#my phone camera and lighting is kinda garbage

[heilos]

I finally have all my Sonic movie posters framed. They’re all 27 x 40 inches so this is gonna be fun trying to find enough wall space lol.

[copperbadge]

You know, I had thought that the old jokes about bad airline food, which were very common in the 1990s, had stopped mainly because airline food had gotten better. It had to have, right? As food technology and chemistry improved, we must have fixed that. I just couldn't know, because mostly I fly Southwest and rarely take a flight longer than about four hours, and Southwest just doesn't do meals.

But now I think probably it's just that airline food is much rarer. Even flights that would have had food twenty-five years ago (pre-9/11) now mostly don't. So it's not that the food is better, it's just rarer. The comedy is less relatable.

I will say that the mushroom tortellini I got in my "lunch" on this flight home was pretty edible, but when the tray was set in front of me I looked at the hardtack bread roll, the very basic salad with its little pot of bland yogurt dressing, and the tortellini in very scant tomato sauce, and I thought, I bet I can hack this. (It's kind of a conference trick of mine -- I have startled many a stranger at a conference breakfast buffet by producing from seeming nowhere a breakfast sandwich, and then informing them that they, too, can take a croissant from the pastry rack, eggs and sausage from the chafing dishes, and jam from the condiments, and make a breakfast sandwich fit for a king.)

Then I decided to write some fanfic of my own damn novels because Eddie Rambler has definitely done this, and if anyone can fix airline food it's him, and if anyone's going to be a willing accomplice, it's Noah "self-propelled trouble magnet and food garbage disposal" Deimos.

"Hey there, friends and fans and everyone keeping it new out there!" Eddie Rambler said, but unlike his usual Photogram openings, his voice was hushed -- not subdued, but much quieter than usual. "I'm coming to you from somewhere over the arctic, and pretty much everyone else is asleep, so I'm trying to keep quiet, which as everyone knows is for me quite an effort. And if you're wondering why I'm not my normal golden well-lit self, it's because I'm filming this in the first-class cabin of an airplane using ambient light and a phone flashlight for a spot." 

He leaned back, so that his face wasn't filling the camera anymore, and the rest of the room came into view: a tiny nook with a reclining airline seat. The arm was lifted, and Eddie was sitting sideways on the cushion; on the reclined back of the seat, next to him, Noah was perched, grinning impishly.

"Now, I couldn't sleep so Gregory kicked me out of our two-person cabin, and Noah here had a cabin to himself because his folks are sharing one and he's the odd man out, so he let me come in here to film. Friend of the gram Noah Deimos of course, NoahTheTerror -- " Eddie and Noah both pointed at the same empty space, where a link would later go to Noah's Photogram, "and I are both flying first-class for only the second time in our lives. When I traveled with Truly Tasty I was always on the bus because we had a lot of equipment, and Noah used to be a peasant -- "

"I'm still a peasant," Noah said. 

"You're a prince, kiddo."

"I'm a peasant prince," Noah insisted.

"I could kick you back to Economy," Eddie said, grinning at him. 

"Well, princehood has perks," Noah allowed. 

"Anyway," Eddie said, slinging an arm around Noah and ruffling his hair, "the two of us decided to stay up and get into mischief, which is why we're filming at thirty five thousand feet. We were just going to play cards, but we got to comparing notes about airline food, and about five minutes in I said, whoa, this is content, let's not waste it. So, young prince, tell me what you were saying about airline food before we started filming."

Noah nodded. "First class food is okay. It helps that you're eating it in a really fancy seat and you know how much you paid for that fancy seat. But it's still kinda..." he stuck out his tongue, waggling his head. "It's just served in fancier dishes. And outside of first class...I mean, I'll eat it, but I won't like it."

"It's difficult to make good airline food. There are a lot of requirements," Eddie said. "It has to be mass-produced, it has to keep for reasonably long periods of time, some of it has to be reheatable on an airplane, and I don't know if you know this -- I don't know if YOU know this," he added, turning to Noah, "but our tastebuds literally change when we're on an airplane. Something to do with altitude and pressurized cabins. That's why bloody marys are such a popular cocktail. Tomato juice tastes better on an airplane."

"That's nuts," Noah said.

"So do nuts, actually," Eddie told him. "So you end up with some issues. Bread doesn't keep well or reheat well and the texture gets super weird, that's why you don't get good pastry and your bread roll is dry even in first class. Meat is hard to cook at scale or reheat. Sauces tend to separate -- cream sauce is the worst. Vegetables do okay because you can make a whole bunch of salad at once and it'll stay relatively crisp, and protein in sauce is still the most easily reheatable form of food, but stuff like eggs or breakfast meat has to be pretty greasy to reheat well. And then it's just, you know, greasy."

"So, chef, what's the solution?" Noah asked, clearly feeding Eddie a line, grinning as he did so.

"I am so glad you asked," Eddie replied, just as faux-rehearsed. "I managed to weasel two economy-class dinner meals out of the flight attendants -- don't worry, there were spares, nobody went hungry because of this -- and we're going to hack you an airline meal that's both edible and reasonably nutritious. Ready?" 

"Ready!" 

Eddie pulled up a tray table that had been folded flat against the wall, and reached in the other direction to bring two trays of food into the camera's view. "So we've got two meals that each have a salad, a little cup of dressing, a roll with butter, and chocolate bites for dessert. This one is a chicken curry noodle bowl with some mango chutney stir-in over here on the side -- I'm using 'curry' and 'chutney' both very loosely, as does the airline -- and this one is mushroom tortellini in pesto. That's actually pretty good, stuffed pasta does well in this kind of situation and I like a pesto, the bright notes really flare. What's the dressing that comes with the salads, Noah?"

Noah checked one of the little bottles, squinting. "Yogurt dill."

"Pretty good. Probably pretty bland. Oh, we also have salt and pepper. Okay, so what we're going to do is take the worst parts of the meal and add a little bit of the best part and basically make you a two-entree meal that's superior to a single entree with sides. Pop open that bread and give our friends a demo."

Noah tore open the plastic surrounding the bread roll, which was oblong, slightly smaller than a hoagie bun. He tapped it on the tray and it clattered stiffly. He broke off one end and crumbs went everywhere; the inside looked dry when he held it up to the camera.

"This is not a good bread roll," Eddie said. "Butter will make it edible, but we can make it better. We have the technology. We have...the dressing. We're going to just get this bread to a nicer texture by adding some of the dressing..." 

He split the roll with a knife carefully while Noah opened the dressing, then poured a generous dollop onto the bread, spreading it with the knife. "Let that sink in a minute, let's pick out the best lettuce and tomatoes for the sandwich, here we go...all right. You want a spicy chicken curry sandwich or a veggie sandwich?"

"Curry," Noah said. 

"Good call, the dill dressing's going to go nicely with that. All right, we are going to really stir up this chicken in sauce -- it's okay if the noodles get mixed in, that's what we in the biz call texture -- and make sure everything's blended. This mango chutney's going on the other half of the bread to moisten it, and this is -- this is going to get me yelled at by my culinary school teachers," he told Noah, "but we're going to throw that pepper right on the mangos there. It'll add kick to the curry and the hope is that you won't actually get much flavor other than spice. We'll see how it goes. So you got dill dressing with lettuce and tomato, mango chutney with pepper, all that is making the bread nice and soft, and we're going to take some of the chicken curry and slather that right on top." 

Noah used a fork and spoon like tongs to scoop curry onto the roll, sitting open on the plate, and then Eddie closed it carefully. Noah reached for it, but Eddie held up a hand.

"Not yet. Finishing is important," he told the teenager. "You have to let the flavors and textures settle a little, and this is also going to ensure it isn't as messy as it could be to eat, because we're classy assholes."

"Nobody classier," Noah agreed.

"The bread needs time to absorb more liquid. So now we take this paper tray liner and just..." Eddie wrapped the sandwich up in the paper, ignoring where the curry stained it yellow, folded the ends under, and tucked them into a complicated pleat that kept the paper tightly wrapped around the sandwich. "Just let that sit for a second -- if we were actually hacking this meal in economy, now's when you'd eat the rest of the curry, while the sandwich settles. What we're going to do is make a veggie sandwich with this other one. Guess how."

Noah frowned. "Well, there's the other salad, and the dressing, and I guess the pesto..."

"Sure, but where's most of this meal's bulk?"

"The pasta -- are you gonna put tortellini on bread?" Noah asked. 

"Carb on carb can be delicious but we're going to be more delicate than that -- we're going to open up this tortellini and get that awesome mushroom filling out of it and use that like a pate spread," Eddie said.

"Can I change my order? I want the mushroom pesto sandwich," Noah said. Eddie laughed.

"All right, you're the kid, you get your pick. Let's get this tortellini unfolded," he said, and set to work. 

-----

Six hours into their ten hour flight, after Eddie used the first-class wifi to post the video, there was a knock on the door and Gregory put his head in. 

"Hey, you're up!" Eddie said, looking up from his book. Noah gave Gregory a wave from where he was playing video games opposite Eddie. "Am I unbanished from our suite?"

"You are in so much trouble," Gregory said affectionately.

"For what? Noah and I have been super duper quiet, we didn't wake you up or bug Michaelis and Jes or anything."

Gregory held up his phone. "Hacking Bad Airline Food With NoahTheTerror," he read from the screen. 

"That mushroom sandwich was choice," Noah said, without looking up from his game. 

"Curry wasn't bad. Pepper might have been a mistake. I'll workshop it," Eddie said. "Why?"

"Eddie. I love you, but we are literally on a plane owned by a company whose food you just called terrible and hacked so it would be better. Half the internet wants an encore when we get served breakfast, and meanwhile the airline seems torn between promising to upgrade their food offerings and suing you for slander."

"Libel, surely," Eddie said. "I did it in the public record."

"It's libel if it's written down, all you did was talk," Gregory said. "Technically slander."

"Oh, is that all I did?" Eddie asked innocently. 

"I blame you," Gregory said to Noah. "You were supervising."

"I'm an innocent child," Noah said, still not looking up from his game. "Easily led astray. Sounds to me like I came under the sway of a bad influence."

"Anyway it's not libel OR slander if it's true," Eddie said. "They won't sue me, if they do I'll bring one of their awful bread rolls to court and make the judge eat it. Nobody would rule against me after eating one of those."

"The dressing helped, but dressing can only do so much," Noah added loyally. Eddie held his hand out for a fistbump and Noah bumped it, finally setting his game aside.

"Seriously, are we busted?" Eddie asked. "Like, genuinely in trouble busted?"

"Probably not, it's mostly just evidence I can't leave you alone for a minute," Gregory said. 

"Well, the solution to that was to let me keep pestering you in our own two-seat suite and not banish me because you wanted to sleep," Eddie pointed out. 

Gregory opened his mouth to say something, then glanced at Noah and paused. 

"If you'd like to leave Noah to his video games and come back to the suite, we can discuss that where young princeling ears aren't listening," he said finally.

"You can just say Eddie wanted to make out," Noah said. "I'm sixteen, not six."

Gregory rubbed his eyes with one hand. "Eddie?"

Eddie leaned over and planted a kiss on Noah's forehead. "Behave yourself. Hydrate and have a snack before we land."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Noah called as Eddie left, snickering. 

"On a scale of one to ten, how much trouble am I in, honestly?" Eddie asked, following Gregory back into their cabin, which had one chair reclined (covered in blankets that Gregory had turned into some kind of napping nest) and one upright, with Eddie's stuff piled on it. 

"With me, a two. With the airline, probably a five. You might have to do a follow-up," Gregory said. 

"Like, the breakfast follow-up, or like an apology?"

Gregory shuffled aside so Eddie could shift his stuff off the chair and sit -- then settled in his lap comfortably, arms resting on his shoulders.

"Well, I say you double-down and make the breakfast post," he said. "But I am now prepared to distract you with making out, as Noah so charmingly put it, if you're interested."

"Oh, now you've seen my impressive sandwich-making skills you're ready to join the mile-high club?" Eddie asked. 

"That mushroom thing did look kind of good."

Eddie kissed him. "Tell you what, when they do breakfast service I'll use all the butter I saved from the rolls and make you an incredibly mediocre but edible egg sandwich. If I can get more dressing I could probably even make a decent mayo substitute." 

"You can't use my phone for extra lighting," Gregory told him, and Eddie was going to protest, but more interesting things were happening and by the time he remembered to be sullen about it, breakfast was being served. 

[legolasghosty]

also from your additions because they're fun: to protect an actual partner who doesn't want the attention for pairing of your choice! :D

Heheh yes of course! Thanks for the ask!!!!

"Alex, over here!"

"Luke, is it true your next single is due soon?"

"Julie, who are you wearing tonight?"

"Reggie, Alex, is it true you two are dating?"

Reggie blinks, still unused to all the flashing lights of the cameras on red carpets. But that last question at least needed to be answered, for all of their sakes.

"Yep," he says, grabbing Alex's hand and relaxing when his best friend squeezes his. "Two years last month."

"Why all the secrecy?" another reporter asks, pointing a mic at them.

"We weren't really in the market for attention," Alex answers, the lie flowing smoothly to anyone who didn't know him. "And potential backlash over us being in a queer relationship is always a concern."

Reggie lets go of Alex's hand to wrap his arm around his waist instead. Nothing he hasn't done a million times, it's just usually not like this. It feels easy though, because it's Alex. They're best friends and they both know what's going on, even if the public doesn't.

"Plus, I wanted to keep him to myself," he says, leaning over to peck Alex on the cheek.

"Shut up," Alex protests playfully.

"So why come out now?" someone else demands.

Geez, Reggie thinks, why do so many people seem to think their entitled to knowledge of their personal lives just because the band is famous?

"Eh we figured it was time," he offers, just like they planned. "Lots of people already knew, so it's not a big deal."

"Guys, band picture!" Julie calls from a few steps further down the carpet.

Reggie hides his sigh of relief with a wide grin and a wink for the cameras before he and Alex join her and Luke for more photos. Sure, being more openly affectionate with Alex is fun, but it's still lying to call him his boyfriend. He sends a mental sorry to his partner back at their apartment. It's not necessary of course, both his and Alex's partners are on board with this. But still.

Once they make it inside the movie theater, Luke manages to get them all away from the crowd and into a large, family restroom.

"Everyone okay?" Julie checks as soon as the door is locked behind them.

Reggie lets himself relax against Luke's side. Thank goodness for his qpps. "Yeah, I think so," he says. "I feel like I should send a million sorry texts though."

"Agreed," Alex responds, sitting down on the floor and tapping out a steady rhythm on the tiled floor. "I know it was Willie's idea and everything, but it still feels weird."

Luke shrugs. "Makes sense to me. Pretty sure it'd kill me to have to lie about my relationships in front of that many people. You guys are brave."

"Well it keeps him safe," Reggie says instinctively. "This is sort of the best we got for everybody at the moment."

"You guys are going to have so much fun defacing the gossip magazines tomorrow," Julie adds, grinning.

"I think they were talking about going on a shopping spree for glitter pens while we're here," Alex agrees.

Reggie laughs. That sure sounds like their partners. "Well I guess we better get some good stuff out to make fun of then," he decides, standing up and straightening his suit jacket.

"And, you know, hear our song in a movie," Alex snarks, taking the hand Julie offers him to stand up.

Luke cheers. "Let's go!"

Reggie grabs Alex's hand and they all sneak back out into the lobby. The crowd surrounds them and Reggie definitely spots a few phone cameras pointed at them. But hey, this is the goal, right? Keep everyone from asking questions about their love lives and protect their real significant others from all the publicity garbage. So they might as well have some fun with it.

"We should do that whole crossing arms and drinking champagne thing later," he whispers to Alex as they find their seats in the movie theater.

"You'd better not spill any one me then," Alex teases. "I kinda like this jacket."

"Awww, but it would look so much better on Willie's floor," Reggie retorts.

"Wow, that is truly an awful line," Alex groans, laughing. "And I actually hang up my suit jackets, unlike someone I know."

"Sue me for having other priorities when I get home." Reggie wiggles his eyebrows just as the flash of a camera goes off right behind them.

Alex rolls his eyes at the brightness, but then the director comes onstage to introduce the film and the theater erupts into cheers. Movie time!

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

"Wow, have you read this one yet?"

Reggie looks up from where he's been drawing little mustaches on him and Alex in People. His partner is holding up another gossip magazine, folded open to an article apparently about their 'relationship'. Reggie has to admit he's a bit distracted by the way his boyfriend's dark hair falls around his face and the fact that he isn't wearing a shirt at the moment.

"Earth to Reggie?" Bobby says with a smirk, waving the papers at him. "You have got to read this one, it's a compilation of your guys' cutest moments."

"Oh no," Reggie laughs, wriggling across their bed to take it. "Ten bucks says they put that Instagram post from last summer in the top 3."

"I mean, it was a pretty cute picture," Bobby agrees, snagging some more glossy pages from the stack Willie left outside their room this morning. "Hard to top last night though."

"We are pretty cute," Reggie says, nodding in an attempt to look serious. "Not as cute as you though."

"Awww, you flatter me," Bobby responds, clapping a hand to his chest. He flops down onto his back and flips through the pages to find the next article about 'Ralex', as they have been dubbed.

"Hey, it's kinda hard to top a solid 10," Reggie continues, setting his magazine aside to roll on top of his partner. "Like come on, Alex and I are cute, but have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"Flirt," Bobby retorts, one hand finding the back of Reggie's neck to pull him down into a kiss.

Reggie grins into it, sliding his hands into Bobby's hair as he nips at his bottom lip. Fake dating Alex is great, but he'll take real dating Bobby over that any day. And if doing them together keeps everyone safe, then so be it. The gossip magazines are pretty entertaining at least.

[creativeashproductions]

Proceed With Caution // Evan Buckley

IN WHICH: The reader doesn’t expect to become involved in a hostage situation with her fiance’s older sister, the older sister’s best friend and the best friend’s date from hell. With the addition of a SWAT member, how will the taking of dispatch change?

Warnings: Swearing, blood, threats, angst, guns, hostage/kidnapping

Words: 5.9k

A/N: Recently got into the tv show 9-1-1 and completely fell in love with Buck so here I am writing for him as well. This takes place during the season three episode ‘The Taking of Dispatch 9-1-1’. Reader and Buck are already in an established relationship.

TO BE TAGGED SEND AN INBOX/ASK PLEASE!

Masterlist

The apartment was quiet as the sound of your keys clattered in the bowl on the countertop. It was pretty early in the morning, so you had no doubts that Buck would be just waking up. On his days off, he would use the first day to catch up on sleep; based on prior times, he would be up in half an hour.

“Buck?” You called out from the kitchen. You heard a groan from the loft where Buck was in the process of waking up, “I forgot to drop off that book Maddie wants to borrow. When I get back, do you want to get breakfast?”

A grumble you somehow translated to approval was what you received in response. You jogged up the stairs to the loft to grab the book from your bookshelf. Buck’s bare leg stretched out from underneath the comforter on your side. The soft sighs Buck made in his sleepy state tugged at your heart; the sighs grew louder when you bent to kiss his head.

“See you in a bit.” You whispered to the sleepy soft male. He sleepily grinned in response before curling into your pillow.

The sound of your footsteps softened on the steps back to the main level of the apartment. Your keys snagged from the bowl before you gently closed the door behind you. The sun was gorgeous to be awake to see and had Buck not worked a long shift, you’d have adored watching it with him.

Your car pulled out of the parking spot in the Los Angeles Service Center’s direction that Maddie worked at. Your lips quirked as the radio spewed out the station that Christopher listened to in the car. You could even pick up the book in the backseat where he called his spot. The book could be found in Buck’s Jeep as well.

It had maybe three days since you’d seen the young Diaz, and damn did you miss the kid. Christopher has his enigmatic quality that demanded you love him for all that made him simply Christopher. The second you’d met him, you knew he would mean a lot to you.

You hummed in time with the song that was currently Christopher’s absolute favourite. Slowly you went from humming to singing along when the light turned green. A handful of songs came and went on the admittedly long drive due to traffic.

It was about forty minutes after leaving your apartment that you parked next to Maddie’s car in the parking lot. Lucy was sitting at the front office with a grin you matched. The woman buzzed you before she clocked out with her reprieve Jake.

“Hey, Sue!” You grinned at the older redhead. Sue had absolutely no problem seeing you, given that you were welcome in the building.

Sue’s first interaction was when you came to the centre to pick up Maddie when she came to work sick. Maddie had managed to keep it under wraps for an hour before Sue caught on. Ever since, Sue was fond of asking Maddie about her brother and you.

“Maddie’s not in just yet.” Sue spoke with a kind smile, “If you’ll excuse me, I have to meet with one of our sit alongs.”

You nodded towards her while beelining for the woman’s bathroom, hoping to catch Maddie after using it. You’d drank too much water on your run earlier this morning. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate in the time you’d entered the bathroom, several things happened. Lucy ended her shift, Jake started his shift, and a group of strangers entered the building.

Your hand went to push open the door when through the crack, you saw two men you’d never seen before. Years of your job gave you enough feeling to know that something wasn’t right. That being said, you eased the door closed and attempted to find a hiding spot.

The garbage was too narrow and had no lid. The few seconds you had left, you glanced up. The ceiling hadn’t been renovated in many years. Rectangular sheets could be raised. Thankful of the rock climbing lessons you’d done with Maddie, you managed to crawl into the ceiling just as the two men entered.

“Nobody’s here.” The one-man with his head as pale and shiny as a cue ball. He gave off the most creepy vibe; the shorter Hispanic man wasn’t as violent looking, “Kinda hoping someone tries something. I’ve wanted to try out this.”

The man waved the large gun in his hand with a sick smile that twisted your stomach. That was the moment you’d realized something was very wrong. The second they left, you gently dropped back on the ground. Your first instinct was to send a message to Athena, but there was a fatal flaw. You’d expected to be in and out of the building quickly, so you’d left your phone in the car.

“Fuck.” You swore. One hand roughly running over your forehead as you contemplated figuring out a plan.

The building had many cameras throughout that you knew the blindspots for. The year after high school and during the summers, you’d worked in the building. Despite having worked here when you were younger, it was never during Sue’s shift. Over the years, you’d come to know the blind spots and a few cameras that were decoys. You even remembered Maddie and her friend Josh complaining about three cameras not fixed yet.

“Think.” You breathed, making a pattern of pacing, “They’ll need a lookout. They’ll take out the security guard first. The front doors are out. It’s a team, so they’ll also need eyes on the building. Terry is definitely a hostage.”

Of course, you’d end up in a volatile situation during the first half of your day before your shift started. The only comforting thing about the situation was the holstered gun on your hip and the badge on your belt. Maybe you should backtrack to why you had a gun and badge; you were an LAPD member, specifically SWAT.

“The changeroom.” You breathed, recalling it was down the hall with no camera. All you needed to do was pretend to be a dispatcher. The changeroom, now mostly a file room, had a few extra maroon and blue uniform shirts.

You timed it. The man holding Sue’s tablet was in the process of talking with his cohort, so you dashed to the room. You took no time in changing into a loose maroon shirt with your thick sweater overtop to hide the gun in the small of your back.

Your holster, badge and personal shirt tucked in the bottom of a box for safekeeping. As soon as you saw your entry, you sat with the group of hostages a hall over. A few looked surprised but let it go when you raised one finger to your lips.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” Maddie hissed from the other side of a startled Josh. Both of them were surprised at seeing you here, “Oh my god. Buck is going to kill me.”

“I was dropping off your book before I get breakfast with Buck, but it appears my small bladder saved my life.” You snarked with your eyes scanning the room, “What’s going on?”

“That is my date from hell, Greg.” Josh inconspicuously pointed towards the man, clearly giving orders. The anger flared inside you, “You need to get out.”

“Josh, no offence, but I’m an officer with the LAPD. I work with SWAT. I’m your best bet of making it out alive.” You informed the dispatch duo, who went still as Cue Ball patrolled the hallway with a sadistic glint in his eyes.

“They took control of the building for a reason we don’t know about. We’re still working but under strict monitoring. They said it will be an hour, but we’ve seen their faces.”

“No witnesses.” You finished for Maddie with a deep sigh, “Unfortunately I left my phone in the car. Did they take yours-”

“They took Linda’s EpiPen. Of course, we don’t have phones.” Maddie sighed, leaning back to rest her head against the wall. Not even having a SWAT member by her side was comforting; your badge put a more significant target on you.

“We have to warn someone.” Josh mumbled to both Maddie and you, “You’re on shift Y/N?”

“Not for a few hours. I was supposed to drop off the book and get breakfast with Buck before my shift. This was supposed to be five minutes tops, so I left my phone in my car.”

“I already did.” Maddie spoke with a sad look on her face that overtook the fear, “I just hope he gets the message.”

Your hand reached out to squeeze the woman you’d had a hand in raising Buck more than their parents. Maddie had become family when you first started dating Buck. The in-law part of her familial relationship to you never crossed your minds; you were simply sisters to each other.

“Who?”

“Chim. I told him I loved him.” Maddie finished with a teary gaze. It made you sick seeing that look again after Doug.

You remembered seeing that haunted look when she stumbled out of the thicker woods covered in blood. You’d stayed by Athena’s side when Buck clutched her so tight and sobbed with her. It had been before you’d become serious with the man, but it was that frightening day that Buck fell for you. You’d just finished a taxing shift with your team when you heard about Maddie was missing, and Chim was in the hospital. You’d ignored the exhaustion to search high and low through your work contacts before narrowing the search area.

“Good thing Chimney obsesses over the little things.” You spoke, slouching down against the wall, “We’ll get throu-”

“Don’t do anything stupid.” Maddie warned you with her brows furrowed together, and you saw what she was doing. Despite your years of experience and the gun you had, she pushed her fear down behind the concern that a big sister shows her young siblings.

“I won’t.”

At 8am, Buck was just entering the apartment building from grabbing the mail addressed to both you and him when Chim had called.

“Yup, go for Buck.” Buck spoke, opening the door to the apartment he’d only temporarily left. His morning had been late after his long shift the night before. The most productive thing was dressing for his breakfast date with you and grabbing the mail.

“How come 9-1-1 doesn’t respond when I call?” Chimney questioned the younger, now confused male.

“Uh, is that some kind of riddle? Like who watches the watchmen?” Buck asked, closing the door behind him. His eyes scanned around for any indication you’d returned home, but the bowl was vacant of your keys.

“Neither of those things are riddles. Okay, I just tried calling 9-1-1, and I got the high call volume message. Did I miss an earthquake or something?”

“Nope, pretty chill morning.” Buck responded as he closed the fridge door with a bottle of water in hand. The entire conversation wasn’t concerning to him, given that Chimney was often like this.

“Where’s Y/N? She’s the police she’ll know-”

“She’s not home right now. Wait, why are you calling 9-1-1? Is everything okay?” Buck slowly asked with his brows coming together. The sigh of frustration from Chimney was answer enough.

“Your sister said that she loved me.”

“Yeah. Wasn’t that uh, the whole point in that big date you had last night?” Buck inquired on his way to the table. He had a feeling this was going to be a long conversation that would hopefully pass the time until you got home.

“You declare your love, and she declares hers? That’s how it went with Y/N and me.”

“Yeah, I know, okay, but she didn’t, all right? At least not last night. Look, she made this big deal saying that she couldn’t say those words, and then this morning, she blurts them out and hangs up on me.” Chimney speaks, pacing in his own apartment. The side by the side of Chimney and Buck’s separate apartments told different tales of their states.

“It’s still not quite sounding like an emergency.”

“’Cause I sound insane.” Chimney spoke, staring up at the ceiling with a battle in his mind. He wants Buck to talk him out of this, but he also wants Buck to agree with him, “She’s at the call centre. What could happen there? You know what, forget it, I’ll try Y/N again.”

“Again?” Buck questioned just as his co-worker ended the call. Buck tugged his phone away from his ear to stare at it confused.

You always answered the phone if you weren’t working at the moment, but given you still had hours, he found it unsettling. After seeing the news report with the ladder truck on top of him, calls weren’t ignored between you two. That feeling of concern grew when you didn’t answer his call either. Nor the second one.

“Nah, she’s probably talking with Maddie.” Buck spoke, but that second-guessing feeling didn’t dissipate. 

In the call centre, you’d been marched to one of the stations with a deep hope that you’d remember everything. It had been years by then since you’d worked as a dispatcher. It didn’t help with the gunmen patrolling the room.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” You calmly questioned the caller.

“Hi, my cat is up the tree by my house. Could you send someone?”

“Can I get your name?” You went through the motions of getting her name and address before you informed the woman, “Okay, the LAFD and LAPD no longer respond to calls of cats in trees. The cat will make its way down on its own. If the tree is in your backyard, I’d use the time to garden or read a book on this beautiful day.”

“Oh, thank you. I’m sorry for taking up your time.”

“It’s no problem. Having a wonderful day Susan.”

In no time at all, you’d been rotated into the board room away from Josh and Maddie. It gave you time to inspect everyone you hadn’t made contact with yet. No one appeared harmed other than in distress with the situation.

“Downtown. They don’t want anyone downtown.” Linda whispered as Maddie was guided onto the floor by the elbow. You’d only gathered her name from her near-silent introduction to you when the hired guns had been far from your area.

“Let’s go.” Greg snapped, roughly pushing you towards the conference room. Something deep in your gut already predicted that someone was going to be stupid.

It was your sharp eyesight catching the minuscule agitation in Greg’s interactions with the Cue Ball guy. The slight tightening of his grip on the gun, the tension in the room growing stifling. And everyone knows that when emotions run high stupid things happen.

“Why do they keep moving us around like this?” The man beside Maddie questioned. He was definitely the most shaken of the group. He was basically shaking like a chihuahua.

“To disorient us.” Maddie spoke, staring at the group monitoring the dispatchers currently in play. Her eyes refused to leave them.

“So, we can’t make a plan.” You finished for your sister-in-law. Objectively out of everyone, Maddie, Sue and you were the most collected individuals for various reasons.

Maddie had lived in a volatile house with a man that could be unpredictable if a situation called for it in his mind. Sue had been working in the centre for years to navigate the emergency while you walked into dangerous situations.

“Jamal.” The shaking man spoke, holding his hand out towards you, “Are you new?”

“No.” You spoke as you shook his hand, “I’m Y/N. Maddie’s sister-in-law. I’m filling in as a favour for Sue.”

The lie slipped off your lips a little too quickly. You decided to come to this hostage situation as if you were undercover. It meant having to ignore that Maddie was in the situation with you.  

“Worst day for a favour.” Jamal snorted with his eyes pinned on one of the armed men holding all your lives in their hands. You’d have spoken, but Jamal checked out mentally from the conversation waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The shoe dropped when the IT Specialist announced numbly, “Jake’s dead. They shot him.”

It didn’t matter how long you’d been working for the LAPD, any death, whether it was a civilian or a criminal, it was still was startling. Jake, the security guard that alternated shifts with Lucy, wasn’t someone you spoke with. He was on shift when you weren’t here or just missed the shift change.

“We need to get a message out.” Jamal spoke, glancing at the only people in the right state of mind, and those were Maddie, Josh and you. Terry had seen the violence these men had no issues with.

“I did.” Josh breathed, thinking of the arguably cute security guard he sometimes liked to stare at, “A woman called about onions in an omelette. I dispatched an officer.”

“To the restaurant?” Maddie inquired with her pinkie connected with yours for comfort. Both of you would prefer your SO’s hand instead.

“Not exactly.” Josh replied, staring at his best friend with a glimpse of hope in his brown eyes.

Hope may be the only way you could get out of this without hurting anyone in your admittedly surface level plan.

“Buck will think something is up.” You added 

Buck had begun pacing the kitchen of the apartment with Chim adamantly telling his friend his plan to go to the centre. Buck had joined Chimney in the concerned department when you had failed to return to the apartment, return calls and to make matters worse, so was Maddie. His texts had gone unanswered as well, not even having the read receipt on.

“She’s not picking up either. I tried Y/N and Josh, but neither replied. When I tried Maddie and Josh, it went straight to voicemail.”

“Now, I’m definitely going.” Chimney announced, shoving his wallet into his pocket just as someone began knocking on his door.

“What if something is wrong? I know Y/N is a member of SWAT but radio silence? No text to let me know she was called in early?” Buck thought aloud with his finger dragging along his thigh, “Maybe we should call the police.”

“I...think someone already did.” Chimney informed Buck as he stared at the sudden appearance of Sergeant Athena Grant at his door.

“What? What do you mean?” Buck hastily questioned, leaning against the kitchen island. He could just faintly hear Athena speaking on Chimney’s end of the phone, “Chimney? What’s going on?”

“Athena was sent to my apartment. Hang on, Buck, I’m just gonna tell Athena what’s going on.”

Buck stepped away from the island to settle on the stairs to the loft, impatiently waiting for Chimney to finish speaking. That fear of losing pieces of his life expanded deep in his gut, just like the times Maddie left in his childhood. That fear of being left behind.

“What’s she’s saying now?”

“She’s making her case.” Chim whispered as he continued to eavesdrop on Athena’s call with her higher-ups, “Now she’s folding like a cheap suit.”

“All right, let me talk to Athena.” Buck demanded antsy to figure out the situation that clearly had something wrong. That fear he’d thought of early flared catching the tail end of Athena’s conversation, “No! No, no. We can’t just send in SWAT. If there is someone inside the call centre doing something, they’ll know we’re onto them.”

Unfortunately, Buck was correct in this thought process, all thanks to living with a SWAT member. He knew these things after the years he’d been with you.

“Maddie? I think I can sneak up to Terry’s computer. Maybe get eyes on the place-”

“No!” Terry nearly shouted, stiffening when Cue Ball hesitated in the doorway at his sudden shouts. You all held your breath for his reaction, but thankfully he was called away by one of the men, “They have-”

“Terry, I need you to calm down. I’m familiar with these types of situations. I’m SWAT. I need to get on top of this. Don’t be a hero.”

Maddie’s head began to shake when your arm was roughly grabbed by Greg, “Your turn.”

You were separated from Josh and Maddie, but instead of being pushed into one of the dispatcher seats, you were pulled to the original hallway.

“I don’t like how friendly you are with them.” Greg spat, shoving you to rest against the wall, “Don’t move.” 

You catch the eyes of Maddie with an apologetic expression before you used the pacing routine to sneak away. You didn’t release your breath until you were attaching your holder to your hip in the change room. By now, your team would be aware that something was wrong, Hondo would be hell-bent on finding you.

Until you had help, you were on your own.

You used each blindspot of the cameras in the halls to the stairwell, and you used a broom to adjust the cameras. The cameras not kept you from view but not appearing suspicious. Once at the floor where Terry was practically always at you softly closed the door. 

You’d only started to sit down when you heard the ding of the elevator, “Shit.”

You slipped into the closest containing extra parts if anything broke. Through the crack, you saw Terry being held at gunpoint. The gunman that had been holding the tablet on the floor, Ellis as you’d heard.

“You’re telling me every cop in the city has just disappeared?” Ellis demanded as Terry, and he disappeared around one of the corners. The tapping of a screen indicating Ellis was searching for something with Terry’s involuntary help.

“I’m telling you, I don’t know!” Terry snapped back, creating even more tension in the room, but Ellis didn’t move to grab his gun.

Ellis appeared to the only one reluctant to discharge your weapon, unlike Cue Ball, who just happened to join the party.

“Figure it out!” Ellis spat, turning on his heel at the sound of approaching footsteps. You could see him roll his eyes at his team member walking into the room.

“What’s going on here?” Cue ball questioned the duo in different kinds of distress, and you swore Cue Ball enjoyed the intimidation from his teammate and the IT specialist.

“That police car’s not the only one that’s gone dark.” Ellis nervously spoke, stiffening for the volatile reaction that one could expect from Foster.

“You think they know we’re here?” 

“Foster, it could be a system glitch.” Ellis offered keeping one eye on Cue Ball while monitoring Terry’s work as well.

Cue Ball spoke a sentence that sent chills up your spine, “Time to cut our losses.”

As Foster and Ellis began going over their personal plans made out of Greg’s knowledge, you noticed Terry glance over. His eyes widened slightly before quickly looking away when you raised a finger across your lips.

“We can go down the back stairs. I have a car waiting around the corner, we split the art up between the five of us, and we go our separate ways.” Foster spoke, revealing his plan to double-cross Greg, which in all honesty made sense. Greg was ill-fitting to be in charge of their operation, unable to control his lackeys.

“I like that part of the deal.” Ellis breathed, skirting around the trigger happy criminal only to halt in his steps, “Wait, you’ve got a car parked down the street? You were always gonna double-cross Greg.”

“You weren’t?”

“If we’re gonna do this, you can’t just sell famous works of art on eBay.”

“You can’t sell them from prison either.”

At that moment, something almost shifted in the area, something that made you pull your gun from your holster. Your body telling you something was about to happen. It happened in a split second. Foster fled the room leaving only Ellis just outside. With Terry frantically shaking his head, you tiptoed to the unsuspecting criminal.

“LAPD!” You shouted, pointing your gun towards the shocked man, “Put the gun down and put your hands up.”

“Aren’t you a dispatcher?” Ellis questioned, blinking in surprise.

“Aren’t you supposed to be intelligent? Next time check the schedule I haven’t worked here in years.” You spat, keeping your gun pointed on him, “Do I say-”

The sound of two guns going off made Terry flinch and scream as he instinctively dropped to the ground. IT was supposed to be safe, but Terry had now heard three gunshots in under two hours. He really didn’t want to see the outcome of the shots.

A moan coaxed Terry to peek out through the privacy glass. Ellis was on the ground while you kept your gun on him. He didn’t see anything else when the power went out. He didn’t see you drop to your knees, but he heard you.

“Terry...get down. Lay on your stomach with your hands insight, and don’t move.” You informed the terrified IT just as the floor was swarmed.

“Put the gun down!” The sound of Tan’s voice was welcoming as you slowly placed the gun on the ground. “25-David I have Y/L/N. The suspect is down, need medical.”

You got back to your feet when Tan nodded his head, “Thank god. There’s a possible body in the IT room along with the It Specialist Terry.”

“You got your badge on you?” Tan questioned as he cuffed the moaning Ellis up, “Street can you escort her down?”

Street nodded from his position, watching Tan’s back before guiding you to the stairs with hawk eyes. Even off duty, you kept your head on a swivel.

“You caused quite the commotion.” Street spoke halfway down the stairs when you barely mumbled. He caught you as you went down like a sack of potatoes, “Y/N!”

“Adrenaline is crashing.” You moaned, looking at your shoulder where the maroon had grown darker, “I think he shot me.”

“26-David I’m in the stairway. Prepare a medic.” Street spoke into his radio before he strapped the gun away and swept you into his arms, “Think you can have my back?”

“When don’t I?” You wheezed, with the sweat starting to bead on your forehead. As you crashed from adrenaline, you barely noticed being placed on the ground at the main entrance.

A paramedic cutting your borrowed shirt to reveal the bullet hole in your shoulder courtesy of Ellis, the only member who’d thought wouldn’t shoot his gun. You could vaguely hear Maddie calling out your name as you were loaded onto a gurney.

“M-Maddie?” You spoke, tilting your head to see Chris holding Maddie back from, “Chris! That’s my sister in law.”

Chris only let Maddie go when Hondo gave the all-clear, and you were so thankful when Maddie’s hand encased yours.

“Don’t close your eyes.” Maddie pleaded sick with the amount of blood on your skin and soaking through the gauze, “Who’s gonna help me put up with my little brother?”

“Buck.” You breathed sluggishly, blinking as the artificial lights changed to natural with the gun shining through the glass front doors.

“You didn’t let me close mine in that ambulance, so I need you to do the same. Don’t close them. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.” Maddie cried as an officer pulled her aside as you were stopped. You wouldn’t remember it, but Maddie had to watch as you coded right in front of her.

Maddie had to watch them perform CPR on you and fight for a pulse. She had to think of how’d she’d tell her little brother she’d killed his fiance. The counting of the paramedics sounded as if underwater, and as they did, the world went quiet. Her mind checked out as the trauma settled in.

Maddie stumbled out of the building into a zoo of officers, medics, and news reporters almost robotically. She barely felt Chimney hug her, but she wrapped her arms around him and sobbed.

“It’s all my fault.” Maddie gasped, collapsing against him, “If I had-”

“Maddie?”

Chimney felt Maddie stiffen at the sound of Buck’s voice amidst the multiple voices milling around. Maddie raised her gaze to meet Buck’s blue eyes dripping in relief and question.

“Buck.”

“Maddie, where’s Y/N? Her car…” Buck trailed off, catching the utter heartbreak in his big sister’s eyes. A look he’d come to know in his line of work as a firefighter. The utter devastation that came with watching someone you love die, “No. No.”

“I got a pulse!” Came from the nearest ambulance, and Buck skirted around his sister and Chimney, “Ready to transport!” 

Your eyes slowly blinked at the white ceiling of the ambulance with pain in your midsection courtesy of chest compressions. Breathing came painful, and the bullet wound throbbed, but it all faded when you saw blue eyes above you.

“Buck.” You sobbed, more like groaned, as he was urged to sit on the bench holding your hand, “Maddie?”

“She’s okay. Chim’s got her. Can you keep your eyes on me? I need to see those big beautiful e/c eyes.” Buck soothed, bringing your hand to his lips, “Did I ever tell you my favourite colour?”

Despite Buck’s best attempts, you continued fading in and out of consciousness but continued to be stable. He spoke about the funny video Eddie had shown him of Christopher at the end of their shift last night. He talked about everything and anything under the sun during the short ride to the hospital.

The last thing you saw was Buck being held back as the paramedics pushed the gurney into the ER. Everything turned black.

The beeping was the first thing you heard before your eyes fluttered open to a stark white room and that unmistakable hospital scent. You noticed the second thing as Buck holding your hand in both of his with his forehead pressed against them.

“Buck?” You moaned to the one person you had wished to see. The man whose eyes were bloodshot from crying, “What’s wrong?”

“Your heart stopped beating twice. I thought I was gonna lose you.” Buck cried with his lips pressed against your hand, “I was so worried.”

“Hey. I’m fine. I’m here.” You cooed, tugging one hand away to run through his messy hair with a soft smile. His blue eyes brighten at the familiar feeling of your digits in his hair, “I’m not going anywhere. This isn’t here for decoration.”

His eyes found the ring he’d gently placed back on your finger from when the nurses had removed it. It only left your finger when you were on duty, in which it was slung on a necklace hidden under your uniform.

“Better not be.”

“Does the hospital have a chapel?” You questioned out of the blue leading to Buck snorting as you giggled, “I’m serious. When I was bleeding in that building, all I could think about was you. If Maddie is anything like you, she’s waiting in the waiting room with Chimney.”

“You aren’t wrong. All the chairs are taken. Our family was waiting for you to wake up.” Buck breathed, leaning closer to press a sweet kiss to your lips, “Are you sure?”

“About marrying you?” You softly questioned the man who couldn’t help but believe this was a dream. How he’d somehow got the girl of his dreams to agree to marry his ass, “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. All I want to share is your last name for the rest of my life. You are it for me, Evan Buckley. All the flaws you see are beautiful to me.”

“Only you would want to get married after being shot mere hours ago.” Buck chuckled with a sigh pulled from his pink lips, “I’ll get the doctor for you and find out if we can be married here.”

While you were checked out, Buck left the room to go back to the waiting room where the 118 and your co-workers waited. Everyone perked up at his appearance, Christopher asleep on Eddie’s lap.

“Is she okay?” Bobby questioned as the tension in the room grew more and more. It shattered into relief when Buck grinned.

“She’s sore as expected. She’s gonna catch some sleep, but she’d like to see Maddie.” Buck replied, pinning his gaze on his big sister with her curled into Chimney’s body. Her cheeks flooded with tears of absolute relief, “C’mon.”

The waiting room started emptying with Buck’s promise to keep everyone updated, but before Bobby could step away, Buck asked for him.

“Do you need a few days off?” Bobby questioned just as Buck came closer to the seasoned firefighter.

“No. But could you spare an hour?” The expression on Buck’s face was enough for Bobby not to ask any further questions. He simply followed Buck back towards your hospital room, where Maddie and Chim waited.

“What’s going on?” Bobby inquired, with the addition of the hospital assigned Priest holding the standard bible. Chimney could only shrug in response to whatever was going on.

“I know there have been times we haven’t seen eye to eye, but Bobby, you’re like a father to me. You gave me chance after chance when anyone else would have given up. You guided me on how to be a man. Y/N and I would like it if you’d be here for this.”

“Wait, are you getting married? What about the wedding?” Maddie spluttered, flicking her gaze between her brother and you. Her question surprised her boyfriend and Bobby.

“We’ll still have it. But I want to marry her without the pressure of our parents. Just a private ceremony with some of the people that mean the most to us.” Buck answered for the two of you, “Would you stay?”

“Of course.” Maddie softly spoke with a slideshow of memories playing in her mind of watching Buck grow up.

Watching Evan go through all kinds of injuries, all in the name of attention but never getting it the way he deserved it. She remembered giving him advice for asking out Donna and holding him when he was rejected. The little toddler with the impish grin somehow turned into an idiot in the hospital.

Maddie saw the man her little brother had turned into with the help of the 118 and you.

Buck’s fingers made quick work of buttoning his short-sleeve uniform with the sudden appearance of his friend.

“That’s new.” Eddie spoke from his opened locker holding his uniform and a picture of his family on the door. It was a picture of Christopher, Buck, you and Eddie from the zoo a couple months back.

Buck looked over at his best friend, “Hm?”

“The ring.” Eddie snorted dramatically, looking at the ring that had been living on his finger since he married you five days ago, “Did my invite get lost in the mail?”

“Nah, we just got married in the hospital. We’re still planning the wedding to appease both sides of our family. And I promised Christopher he could be in the wedding. With Y/N on medical leave, the planning will be faster. She’s going stir crazy after five days.” Buck finished tucking in the shirt into his work-issued pants. Lastly, he slid his ring onto the metal chain he had bought recently.

Like you did, he would wear it around his neck when working for safety reasons.

“I’m happy for you, man.” Eddie told his friend just as the bell rang, “You’ll have to tell me how you’re liking the married life.”

“But first, we have a job to do.” Buck supplied all the while jogging to suit up in his turnout gear with Hen and Chimney.

[cowsaresushi-coral]

I was just trying to do a pose practice doodle.

Yeah...

EDIT: I keep editing this post because I HATE the filtered version because although it reads stronger and has a better direction of lighting, I just kinda destroyed all of the background, and it’s liveliness. I spit on you. I love my art in its raw state. (1) is without the overlay garbage. (2) is with the filter junk.

P.S. Madras is holding a phone in camera mode. Make of that as you will.

Other Versions (sketch, without the BKRD V)

Sketch:

Without background:

[helliontherapscallion]

(Y/n) and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week: Tuesday

Monday     Wednesday     Thursday (Part 1)     Thursday (Part 2)     Friday     Saturday     Sunday

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Warnings: anxiety, doctor’s offices, taking pain pills (not sure if I need to tag that, but just in case), stalkers, blackmail, swearing, non-consensual taking pics of nudes, slight body dysmorphia, self-loathing, toxic friends

Word count: 5,326

(A/N): another long chapter, my little wlw heart loved writing this chapter! Also holy shit I was not expecting the first part to blow up, thank you to everyone that read it! Gosh, it’s enough to make a grown woman cry :’)

You cracked open your crusty eyes to Wilbur poking his head into your room. “(Y/n), Dad wants you.”

You groaned rubbing at your eyes in an attempt to get the sleep out of them. “I’ll be down in a sec.” Your voice was scratchy and thick with sleep.

He closed the door silently and you heard his socked feet thumping down the hallway. Your pain faded slightly into soreness, but your shoulders and upper back were slightly stiff. After you drug yourself out of bed, you shambled down the stairs to see your family at the table eating breakfast. Your stomach growled loudly, making you blush slightly in embarrassment. 

Your eldest brother snorted. “Hungry (y/n)?”

You slumped into your seat next to him slowly shoveling food into your mouth. “You have no idea.”

“You wouldn’t be that hungry if you ate dinner when you got home like I told you to do last night, young lady. You better eat every single thing on that plate.”

There was no arguing with a stern Dadza, so you reluctantly complied. Meanwhile, Tommy and Tubbo were telling Wilbur about your match animatedly. 

“And the ball was like fwoosh and she- the ball and-and-”

“And she hit it and Haley hit it to the other side! It was so cool!”

Wilbur merely smiled listening to them ramble about how badass you were last night. They made you feel genuinely happy that they admired your volleyball abilities; they were probably your biggest fans and that made your day most of the time. You remembered the first match they came to during your freshman year, they had run up to you right after the end-of-match whistle blew to spew about how good you were on the court. They met the team that day. Your team adored having them at your games, over the years they slowly replaced your school’s mascot. They played a huge part in morale boosts before and during matches. 

He looked over to you, “I didn’t know my little sister could be so badass.”

You felt your cheeks flare up. “It’s nothing I haven’t done before. It really wasn’t anything special.”

“(Y/n),” Philza pursed his lips, “you did all that with a bruised back, I’d consider that something special.”

“Wait (y/n), you’re hurt?” Tommy and Tubbo looked at you with wide concerned eyes.

“Yeah, but it’s not that bad. I can still move and stuff.”

Techno rolled his eyes, “it’s bad if you’re going to the doctor for it.”

“Eh, it doesn’t hurt as bad as it did yesterday, so I’m not worried.” 

“You’re deadass wincing everytime you move your arm,” WIlbur deadpanned, “it clearly still hurts.”

“Well yeah, I didn’t say the pain went away completely. Fuckin’ dumbass.”

“Language,” Philza glared at you two, gesturing to the two fifth graders watching the exchange with interest. 

You and Wilbur resumed eating and murmured out a defeated “sorry Dad.” You both glared at Techno when he huffed in amusement. 

“If you three keep bickering, you’re going to be late to school. Remember, you two have to drop off Tommy and Tubbo today cuz I’m taking your sister to her appointment. Now go get ready, I’ll take care of your dishes.”

Your brothers took off up the stairs, each competing to get to the bathroom first. Occasionally, you would hear shouts and slapping noises. You felt glad you didn’t have to deal with that today. Judging by Techno’s gruff voice laughing and an explosion of loud complaints from the rest, you assumed that he won today. “I swear, they’re gonna put me in an early grave.”

“You and me both Dad, you and me both.”

You went into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of pain pills from the junk drawer. Various bottles of Motrin and Advil were scattered around the house because when you live with a rambunctious family like this one, people are bound to get hurt and headaches are common. Popping three into your mouth, you washed it down with a glass of water. The sound of the running water faucet and the slight splashing of water filled the silence of the room. 

“How’s your back? Does it feel any better?”

“Kinda, today it just feels more sore than throbbing, my headache went away mostly, and my shoulder doesn’t feel any worse, so that’s better I guess.”

He shut off the water and reached for a towel to dry off his wet hands. He moved over to the freezer and grabbed a frozen package of peas that your family never ate. You all used it whenever one of you would get a bruise. He moved behind you and held it against your back without warning. Flinching forward from the unexpected temperature change, you winced with the wave of pain moving brought you. 

“Shit, sorry.”

“You’re good. Just give me a little warning next time,” you chuckled. He gently placed it back on your back and you sighed from the slight relief that it brought you. You leaned into the peas and closed your eyes. “That feels amazing.”

“I bet. That bruise was pretty bad yesterday, can I look at it again?”

You reluctantly left the sanctuary that was the medical grade frozen peas and leaned forward, moving your hair out of the way for him. “Knock yourself out.”

He made a hissing noise as soon as he moved your shirt out of the way. “Dad, it probably looks worse than it feels.”

“...Have you seriously not looked at this yet? It looks pretty bad, hun.”

“Well, sorry I can’t move to look at my back without being in pain. I’ll try harder next time.” You snarked him.

“Hey, watch the attitude. Here, I’ll take a picture so you can see how bad it is.”

You heard the rustling of fabric as he fished his phone out of his pocket and the obnoxiously loud click of his camera app. You turned around to look at the damage. You squinted at his bright phone screen. Your entire back was swollen in some areas and was covered in ugly reds, blues, blacks, and purples. You made a disgusted noise in the back of your throat and cringed away from the screen. You always got nauseous seeing injuries.

“Yikes.”

“Yikes isn’t the only word I would use, it’s bad (y/n).”

“It looks worse than it feels, I promise. I’m gonna go get ready so we’re not late to my appointment. It sounds like the boys are finally done with the bathroom.”

You hobbled up the stairs slowly and made your way to the bathroom. The door was wide open ready for you to use. Turning on the light, you closed the door in a hurry so that your brothers wouldn’t try to get in again to hog the bathroom like they usually did. You frowned at your appearance. Your hair was sticking up in every direction and you had dark eye bags around your dull looking eyes. A few pimples dotted your skin like constellations in the night sky, but much uglier and more out of place. Turning your body, you scanned your figure. Your eyes watered as you realized that you had gained some weight. Adrian, Sammy, and Annie were right, you looked like garbage all the time.

You ripped your eyes away from yourself in the mirror with disgust etched deep into your features. You were disgusting through and through. Ripping your brush through your hair, you winced at the pain emanating from the back of your head. You deserve the pain for letting yourself go. Once you were slightly more satisfied with your appearance, you stepped out of the bathroom and quickly changed into the clothes you would wear today. You decided on a hoodie and a pair of tights. You didn’t feel like dressing yourself up. 

You once again walked down the stairs and slipped on your shoes to meet your dad in his car. You idly scrolled through your phone while you waited for him, looking at your notifications for the first time that day. You had ten texts from the group chat that you were in with Adrian, Annie, and Sammy.

Sammy <3

(Y/n) where the hell are you?

Adrian <3

Do you guys think she ditched us?

I knew she was ignoring us

Sammy <3

Who ignores their friends?

Annie <3

(Y/n) apparently. 

She has more important things to do ig

Oh my god

Do you guys think she skipped school?

Adrian <3

I wouldn’t put it past her

Maybe she finally gave up

(Y/n)

I’m sorry guys, I just have a doctor’s appointment today

I would never ignore you

Sammy <3

Yk, it’s hard to keep defending you when you keep ditching us..

(Y/n)

I’m not ditching you!

I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys about my appointment

I’ll make it up to you guys

Adrian <3

How?

You’ve already skipped out on us enough already

Annie <3

Oh ik!

She can write our final research paper for us Dri!

I haven’t started it yet lmao

Adrian <3

Saaaame lmaoooo

Sammy <3

Guys, what about me???

Adrian <3

Idk, figure it out yourself

Sammy <3

Rude!

Uhhh

Ur gonna put together my final presentation for us history

(Y/n)

Alright, I can do that for you guys

Sam can you pls send me the rubric? 

Annie <3

Thanks love ;)

(Y/n)

No problem, I like doing things for friends

My dad’s coming, I gotta go

Talk to you guys later

Adrian <3

Byeeee (y/n), ur the best!

(Y/n)

: ) <3

You put your phone down as your dad started up the car and pulled out of the driveway. The drive was quiet as you stared out the window and thought about how much work you now had to do. On top of your own classes, you had two more to write and a presentation to make in a class you hadn’t taken since the first semester in your sophomore year. The research papers had to be at least four full pages long with a minimum of ten sources each due on Friday and you had no idea how big Sammy’s US history presentation has to be or what it’s even about. But that was fine, you’d do anything for your friends. 

“So, who were you texting? Your boyfriend?” He asked jokingly.

“Oh, just Adrian, Sammy, and Annie. I don’t have a boyfriend Dad,” because you were a closeted lesbian, but you wouldn’t tell him that anytime soon. “You know that.”

“I know,” he chuckled, “it’s been a while since I’ve seen them. How have they been?”

“They’re good. Adrian got a job at the diner, he’s a host. Sammy and Annie have been focusing more on raising their grades.”

“Good for them! You should invite them over for dinner sometime.”

“I was actually thinking that I could maybe go hang out with them on Halloween...?”

“(Y/n), the family was going to take Tommy and Tubbo trick-or-treating.”

“I know, but there’s always next year. Plus, we haven’t been able to hang out in so long! We’re always free at different times.”

“I don’t know (y/n), what if they don’t want to trick-or-treat next year? What were you planning on doing with them?”

“We were just gonna hang out at Annie’s house and watch some horror movies,” you lied. He would never let you go if he knew you were going to a party. Especially one where alcohol would be involved and hormonal teenage boys ran rampant actively scouting for an easy lay.

“...I’ll think about it.” The car pulled into the doctor office’s parking lot.

“Thank you Dad! It’s been a while since we’ve all hung out together.”

He chuckled as you both walked into the lobby, checked in, and waited for your name to be called. About ten minutes later, you were summoned by a nurse so you went into the back leaving your dad to wait in the lobby. The nurse recorded your height and weight (much to your dismay, you gained four pounds) and asked you the standard questions about your injury and uncomfortable questions about your overall health. The clacking of her acrylic nails on the plastic keyboard filled the awkward silence.

Once that was done, she left and you had to wait a little bit for the doctor. After slipping into the backless gown the nurse left, you mindlessly scrolled on your phone. Jumping when someone knocked on the door, you looked up to see your family’s doctor smiling at you.

“Hello (y/n), how are we feeling today?”

“I’m alright.”

“I hear that you had quite the fall onto some concrete, is that true?”

“Yes, I landed on my back and the back of my head.”

She reached over and squirted hand sanitizer onto her hands, rubbing it in and looking back at you. “Can you please lay on your stomach so I can take a look at your back?”

You nodded, shifting on the uncomfortable paper covered cushioned table onto your stomach. You felt her cold hands gently graze your bruises before she pulled out her stethoscope. “Can you take a good deep breath in for me?”

You complied and she instructed you to let it out. Doing this multiple times along your back, she put her stethoscope away and continued prodding at your exposed back. 

“There’s definitely some swelling in multiple areas… It doesn’t feel or sound like you cracked or broke any ribs, which is excellent… Do you have any pain deep in your shoulder when you move it?”

“Yes, I landed on it wrong last night at my volleyball match.”

“How would you describe your pain? Stabbing, sore, throbbing…”

“More sore, but a little stabbing pain when I move my arm.”

She moved her fingers to examine your shoulder. “It doesn’t sound like a sprain or fracture, can you move it up and down for me?”

You moved your arm up and down, front and back, and side to side. “You still have a full range of movement, that’s good. Can I have you sit back up again?”

You sat back up and she started testing you for a concussion. After passing her tests, you were cleared of having a concussion. “Alright (y/n), it appears that you only strained your deltoid and teres muscles and you have severe bruising along your back. Make sure you ice your back and, if you have one, wear a shoulder compression sleeve. Anti-inflammatory medications such as Ibuprofen will help with the swelling. Other than that, you have a clean bill of health! You can still participate in volleyball practices, but you need to take it easy. Don’t do anything that will strain the muscles any further.”

“Thank you Dr. Samson,” you smiled at her. 

“You’re welcome. I’ll leave you to change back into your clothes and you’re free to go! You may leave the gown on the table.”

She left the room and you redressed yourself. Walking out to the lobby, Philza’s head perked up when he heard the door opening. He stood up and walked over to you with a slightly worried face. You both walked back out to the car.

“So?”

“Dr. Samson said that I don’t have a concussion, sprains or broken bones. She told me that I just strained my shoulder muscles and I need to keep ice on my back.”

He visibly slumped in relief. “Thank god. What’d she say about volleyball?”

“She said that I could keep playing, but I have to take it easy.”

“Good, wouldn’t want you missing finals on Thursday. Do you know if the team you’re playing is any good?”

“Dad, of course they’re good, we’re the top two teams in the area.”

“I bet their setter is nowhere near as good as you are and I bet the setter and spiker aren’t as synced as you and Haley are. You two make a good pair.” 

“Yeah we do, don’t we?” You looked out the window and smiled a little and felt your ears turn red. The very mention of Haley’s name was enough to make you feel like you were on cloud nine. The car fell silent again as you neared your high school. 

In your AP world history class, the class was looking at the test you had taken yesterday. Surprisingly, you got a 74% on the multiple choice part and a 50% on your essay portion, so that landed you with a just below passing grade. You thought you completely flunked that test yesterday, so that was a pleasant surprise. It took a good portion out of your overall grade in the class, lowering it from a comfortable A- to a slightly alarming B. You supposed it could’ve been a lot worse. Besides reviewing your tests, the class didn’t do much except starting the reading for the next chapter.

Your psychology online class went like it usually did, however your phone blew up with texts about midway through the block. Glancing down, you saw that it was Haley. Shouldn’t she be in class?

Hales : )

(Y/n) meet me in the locker room right after school

I need to talk to you before practice starts

It’s an emergency

(Y/n)

What’s going on?

Hales : )

I’ll explain after school.

Can’t talk about it over text

(Y/n)

Alright, see ya then ig

You felt your gut twinge. Something’s wrong, but you didn’t know what. You were worried about Haley, usually she was really bubbly. You’ve never seen the senior act so strange before. You could only wait the block out until the bell would release you from the confines of the library and into the locker room. After sending a quick text to your brothers that you were going to stay after school for your practice, you stared blankly at your laptop’s clock as you counted down the minutes left in the class period. Ten minutes. Eight minutes. Four minutes. Two minutes. Thirty seconds-

You shot up from your seat as the bell rang. Pushing past some groups of freshmen that congregated in the hallways, you made a beeline for the locker room. In the locker room, you found Haley sitting on the metal bench on the opposite end of the locker room with her back facing the last row of lockers and facing the brick wall. She was clenching her phone in her hand with an iron grip. You hurried to sit next to her.

“Hales, what’s going on? Talk to me.”

“It’s bad (y/n). Like, really bad.”

“What’s bad? You’re worrying me.”

Wordlessly, she unlocked her phone and handed it to you. On the screen was something that you weren’t expecting to see. You scrolled through the contents and felt your stomach drop with each scroll; someone took pictures of you and Haley throughout the match last night. Every picture was a violation to yours and Haley’s dignities, they had gotten zoomed in pictures of your boobs and asses. Deeper, there were even pictures taken of you changing into your volleyball uniform through your open window. You were only in your underwear. Haley had a similar picture that you scrolled past as fast as you could. Scrolling to the bottom of the text message thread, the person that sent Haley the pictures added a caption to the last picture. It was a picture of you and Haley together celebrating your match, her arm slung around your shoulder with your mouth open mid-laugh.

Unknown

I’m sending these out to the entire school unless you stop hanging around her.

If you tell anyone, the pics will be printed off and put in every single locker and bathroom the school has.

You’ll be the sluts of Klinkver High. 

Cut all ties now. You have two days. 

Do not try me.

“Jesus christ Haley. Who the fuck would do this? This is sick.”

She took her phone back and locked it without looking at the screen. “I don’t know (y/n). I wanted to tell you not to openly talk to me for a few days. We don’t know who took these, we don’t know what they’re capable of. I don’t wanna risk angering them.”

“We can find them! If we look close enough, we might find a few clues where they were sitting. Do you remember seeing anything suspicious last night?”

“(Y/n), our best option is to leave it. We just can’t talk in person anymore; we can still text each other.”

“Hales, how are we gonna not talk? I’m your setter.”

She ran a hand through her thick black hair. “I don’t know (y/n). Just-just don’t talk to me anymore, I don’t want your pictures leaked.”

“I don’t care about my pictures. My name’s been drug through so much shit this past year that it won’t affect me. I don’t want your stuff leaked.”

She gave a watery laugh, “you care too much, I love that about you…” Glistening eyes turned to look deep into your own. “I’m so scared (y/n), I don’t know what to do.”

You pulled her into a hug, wincing slightly when she squeezed her arms around your upper back. She buried her face into your shoulder and started shaking with muffled sobs. “Haley, I promise I’ll catch whatever sick bastard is doing this to you. You don’t deserve this.”

She said nothing as you rested your chin on the top of her head and started to rock her back and forth slowly. You two stayed like that even after her sobbing resided, finding comfort in each other’s presence. Glancing at the clock, you realized that you two have been in the locker room for an hour. Practice was set to start in fifteen minutes, people were going to start coming into the locker room soon. 

You reluctantly pulled away from the hug and looked Haley in her bloodshot eyes, “I’m not going to let those pictures of you get leaked. I swear on my-”

The door to the locker room swung open and loud laughter echoed throughout the room. Haley pushed you away and speed walked off to a bathroom stall, slamming the door shut behind her. 

“Damn (y/n), what’d you do? She’s pissed.” 

“It’s none of your business, Zara.” 

“Oh, so it’s a lover’s quarrel then~” She cackled, her hair bouncing slightly with each heave of her shoulders. 

“For the love of… Haley and I aren’t dating, we’re both straight.” She’s straight.

“Mmhm.” She brushed past you to go to her locker. You followed her, your locker was in the grouping next to hers. You shared the area with Haley. You changed as fast as you could so that Haley would have time to change before practice starts. Speed walking into the gym, Zara was hot on your trail wearing a shit eating grin.

“Why are you in such a rush? Giving your girlfriend the silent treatment?”

“Zara. We aren’t dating. For the last time, we’re both heterosexual, not homosexual!” You wildly gestured with your hands to emphasize your point, your voice being amplified by the vast gym. Coach Williams gave you a confused look from across the gym. 

“You just keep telling yourself that.”

“I’m serious.”

“Hi serious,” a soft voice replied from behind you, “I’m Jazzy.”

You groaned at the pun at the same time Zara started cackling, giving the short libero a high five. “Nice!”

“That was so bad, Jaz.” You couldn’t help the smile that found its way onto your face.

Zara poked your cheek with a wide grin. “C’mon, you’re smiling!”

“I am and I hate it.”

Your bickering continued with Jazzy watching you two with a content smile. The remaining members of the team (Haley, Marlene, and Zuri) filed into the gym right as Coach Williams blew her whistle. 

Practice went by slowly without Haley talking to you. Sure, you had the rest of the team, but it didn’t feel the same with you guys ignoring each other. If the team or Coach Williams noticed you two not talking to each other, they didn’t say anything. By time practice was over, you all went to the locker room to change. After slipping into your fuzzy pajama pants, you sat on the bench and texted Wilbur to come pick you up. He was supposed to pick you up after practice today because he and Techno took the car home after school. Five minutes passed and he still didn’t reply. He probably won’t see the text until you got home from walking.

You sighed, resting your chin in your palm as you leaned forward. One by one, the girls left the locker room until it was only you and Haley left. 

“Do you need a ride (y/n)?” She asked gently.

“But what if the person sees us together? I can just walk home, it’s not really a big deal.”

She rolled her eyes at you. “It is a big deal. It’s cold and dark out. You could get kidnapped or something. You don’t even have a coat with you. I’m giving you a ride whether you like it or not.”

You playfully rolled your eyes at her and stood up to walk next to her, “okay, mom.”

“Don’t give me that attitude young lady.”

“You can’t tell me what to do, you’re not my real mom!”

She gasped and lightly smacked the back of your shoulder, “I married your- are you alright? Shit, I didn’t hurt you did I?”

“No, you’re good. It’s just this damned bruise.”

She moved her hands and frantically turned you around to pull the neck of your shirt down. You two stood in front of the school’s main entrance with the nauseatingly bright fluorescent light bouncing off the reflective surface of the tiles. The orange tinted street lights lit up the sidewalk outside.

“(Y/n)-”

“I know what you’re gonna say.”

She scoffed, “oh really? What am I gonna say then, o wise one?”

You turned around to face her, “‘oh, this is bad, yadda yadda yadda.’ Everyone’s been saying that about it. Honestly it looks worse than it feels. Tis but a scratch, m’lady.”

She snorted and covered her mouth, “never call me ‘m’lady’ ever again.”

You started to walk to her car in the empty parking lot. “Or what? What’re ya gonna do?”

“I swear to god, (y/n), I’m gonna leave you here.”

“Do it, pussy. Bet you won’t.”

“You really wanna bet?”

You grinned at her, “hell yeah.”

She broke off into a mad dash to her car, laughing freely into the night sky. You chased after her trying not to move your arms much, your laugh mixing with hers like a perfect symphony composed of the world’s best musicians. The sound of your rubber soles slapping the pavement resonated throughout the parking lot as you quickly gained on her. Reaching out to grab her shirt, she smirked at you and sharply turned to the right into the grass.

You grinned as her pace slowed down slightly. You’d be able to catch her at this pace. You pushed your legs to move faster as she looked at you from over her shoulder and shrieked in surprise at how close you were to her. You cackled at her reaction, reaching out once again, you grabbed her hand. She was stopped dead in her tracks as your shoulder was yanked with the sudden momentum, making you hiss in slight pain. Despite that, you didn’t let go of her soft hand. 

You both stood there under the moonlight and the soft orange street lamps trying to  catch your breath. The slightly damp blades of grass tickled your ankle as you shifted to face her better. Through gasping breaths and a dopey grin, you said “you… lost, pussy.”

She let out a breathy laugh as she pulled you to her car. “Shuddup.”

“Make me~”

She opened the passenger side door for you and got into the driver's seat. Her car smelled like vanilla and citrus. “Oh, you will later when I make you do more sets in weight lifting tomorrow, hurt shoulder be damned.”

She turned on the ignition and the car revved to life, soft indie pop wafted from the speakers. She backed out of the parking space and sped off to the main road. “You wouldn’t…”

“I’m your captain, (y/n). I can make you do whatever I want.” You felt your cheeks heat up a tad. You were happy that she couldn’t see you.

“Naw, you’re too much of a softie for that. Admit it, I’ve got you wrapped around my little finger.”

She chuckled as she pulled into your driveway and put the car in park. “...Alright, maybe you do. Just a bit.”

She turned to look at you. She looked stunning with the shadows accentuating the contours of her face perfectly. You found yourself glancing at her lips and leaning slightly towards you. To your surprise, she started leaning into you as well. Before your lips could finally mesh together, she pulled back with a sigh and ran her hand through her hair. You felt a rush of disappointment and fear course through your veins. She didn’t like you like that, you should’ve known better. You were so stupid. So, so stu-

“I can’t (y/n). I want to kiss you so bad, but we can’t. Not yet at least. Not until we find the pervert that took those pictures of us.”

You sighed, “right.”

The car was filled with awkward silence. Not even the soft music streaming from the speakers could alleviate the awkwardness. God, you really screwed up your friendship, didn’t you? Sammy, Adrian, and Annie were right; you messed up everything you touched.

You coughed, “I think I’m gonna…”

“Yeah…”

You grabbed your bag and walked into your house, the smell of chicken slapping you in the face instantly. Without checking in with your dad, you hurried up the stairs, desperate for the warm comfort of your bed. That, and if you wanted to get Sammy’s presentation and Adrian’s, Annie’s, and your research papers done by Friday, you had to start as soon as you could. You were going to skip dinner for tonight, you’d just grab more breakfast tomorrow morning. 

You plopped on your bed and got started on your research paper. Luckily, you already had all of the sources you were planning on using and the rough outline of each body paragraph, so writing the actual paper wasn’t going to take long. You worked until you heard a knock at your door. 

“(Y/n),” Techno’s monotone voice called out, “dinner’s ready.”

“Tell Dad I’m not hungry. Practice’s got me beat, I’m going to bed soon.”

He grunted, “you know he’s not gonna like that right?”

You felt frustration start to swim circles around your chest, “Techno, just tell him that I’m not hungry right now. Please.”

“Damn, you don’t need to be like that. I’ll tell him.”

You heard his stomping footsteps thumping down the hall. Shit, you pissed him off. You were a terrible person, he was just trying to get you to eat something, Pushing back the tears that threatened to spill from your eyes, you forced the panic that was starting to swirl around your body in laps deep into your being. You didn’t have time to deal with your failures and stupid emotions, you had to get this done. You didn’t have time to think about Haley’s warm breath ghosting across your lips. You didn’t have time to think about how she probably regretted almost kissing you. You didn’t have time to fall into an anxiety spiral, you needed to focus if you wanted Adrian, Annie, and Sammy to forgive you. You ruined yours and Haley’s friendship and did the same to yours and Techno’s. They were the only ones you had left. You needed to be a better friend.

Taglist (comment if you want to be added or if I missed you, it won’t let me tag some tumblrs :((( ):

@immadatmostthings  @thaticecreambish  @hee-hee-haw  @dearnataliealoveletter  @wasteofspacze  @dcml04  @bbigbbrainn  @dirtydiavolo  @vanhakirja  @rinzyx05  @misselsbells06  @ialexabsuniverse  @im-a-depressed-gay  @energy-drinkk  @mothra-main  @i-need-hugs  @dragons-lurk-here  @katj733  @m4r-s  @vievi  @dykeragee  @waterstrawberry  @aplaintart  @kakamiissad  @myunfinishedsymphony  @nagitokinnieissad  @autumnpleaves  @justanothergirlwithdemons  @zachariethememerie  @moon-asia  @m0on-blue  @strawberrysodababy  @akikko-yataro  @haikkeiji  @shiningsunrises  @cinnamonmochi  @queen-turtle-boiii  @imanewsoul  @sparkling-gayyyy  @angelicaschuyler-church  @vixenfoxpup  @ella-ivanov  @shio-yuki  @mosstea-png  @ijustshatbricks

[platypanthewriter]

The Devil Looks After His Own (Ch.1)

Little Steve Harrington is so lonely he tries summoning a demon with a ritual advertised on TV--but luckily, it doesn't work, and a buff, non-human nanny hired by his mom shows up minutes later.  Years later, they're best friends, and Steve still doesn't know the truth.  For @magniloquent-raven​!

When his dad finally locked him out of the office, Steve spent the morning sitting in the hallway playing with his Legos.  When his stomach growled, he knocked quietly, and his dad’s voice on the phone continued, so he went in the kitchen to forage.  He found Cheez-its, and olives, and a tightly wrapped triangle of gooey cheese that tasted good in the middle, but had gross, chalky skin, so he licked the middle out and stuffed the rest down the side of the garbage. 

He walked back into the front room and flipped the TV on, just to make some noise.  “In the future,” came the syrupy voice of the man on the screen, “—we’ll have robots to be our helper-friends!”  He chuckled to himself, leaning back in his leather chair, and folding his arms on his huge wooden desk.  “But that doesn’t work for us now, I hear you say.”  

The camera zoomed out, and he waved to a woman with curly hair and long fangs, sitting on the edge of his desk.  She was wearing way less clothes than the man was, and Steve frowned, wondering whether she was cold.  “Our summoning spells are assembled by real lawyers, and airtight!” the man said, and the woman nodded, smiling, and holding up a picture with a lot of numbers and lines.  Steve squinted at it guiltily—he’d seen the man’s ads before, and he mostly remembered the picture, probably.  

The helper-friend lady looked nice, he thought.  

“Too good to be true?  We even include offerings!  Bat eyes, tears of the innocent—” he said, smiling and holding up jars, as ‘ethically sourced from internment facilities’ scrolled across the screen.

Steve frowned around, and then grabbed his LEGO 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, the most complex set he owned.

“Honey,” the man told the woman on screen, and she opened a can of soda, and poured it over her own head, still smiling.  “Perfectly compliant,” he said.  “And just wait, there’s more!  Any purchase comes with a matching, complimentary summoning sigil for a protective home guardian!  Just drip a drop of fluid—” he winked at the camera, and it showed something red splashing across the page, as his voice suddenly screamed “Augh-no!  Don’t—”

Steve had already grabbed the remote and hit the fifteen-second replay, and began drawing out the picture.  He hit it again and again, coloring in different colors, and wishing people in commercials didn’t always yell.  He drew the circle carefully with a piece of thread from the long fringe on a throw-blanket he wasn’t allowed to mess up, then folded it carefully again, grimacing.  He colored in the crosses with a different color so it looked nicer, and drew the little castle wall-looking-bit.  He added a horse.  

When it came time to drip fluid on it, he clicked the TV off, and got a juice box from the fridge, figuring apple juice was way less gross than blood, and it wouldn’t ruin his picture.  

Steve stared at the picture, holding the juice box, and thinking.  He imagined not eating alone.  He imagined the nice lady smiling at his Legos—maybe she’d like the castle set, he thought, like in her picture.  He’d just summon her for a little, he thought—just a few minutes, enough to make them both a PB&J.    

His stomach growled—again—and he frowned at his dad’s office door, sighed, plonked the Camaro in the middle of the picture, and squeezed the juice box to spray over it all.  

Nothing happened.  Steve stared at the picture for a long moment, his eyes welling up with tears, and then kicked the couch.  It felt like his foot broke from the impact, and he spun around in a circle, muttering a lot of words he wasn’t allowed to say in the house.  He hopped into the kitchen, sniffling, and got out the peanut butter, jam, and a spoon—but instead of getting the bread, he sat on the floor in front of the sink.  

He felt a sinking sensation of guilt as he stuck the spoon right into first the jam, and then the peanut butter, sticking the whole spoonful straight in his mouth and licking it off.  Once he’d licked the spoon, he stuck it back in the jar, his heart pounding.  The peanut butter was crunchy and salty, and the strawberry jam was stickily sweet.  He wondered whether his mom would check the bread and know, and cried harder as he chewed, hugging his knees.

The floor in the front room creaked, and he startled so hard the spoon jabbed hard between his upper molars.  He scrambled to his feet, fumbling the lids back on the jam and the peanut butter and shoving them under the sink, his heart thudding in his chest, but nobody came in.  

The couch squeaked softly, and Steve edged to the doorway, the big spoon hanging forgotten from his mouth, to see a tall man with horns and no clothes at all lying across the couch, right up against the forbidden throw blanket.  He raised his eyebrows—they had shiny jewelry in them—and breathed out smoke, indoors, as he looked up at Steve.

He then yelped and scrambled to fall with a thud over the back of the couch.  “The fff—what are you doing here, kid,” came his voice, from behind the couch.  “Where the—where on earth are your parents?!”

“Unhm,” said Steve, who hadn’t ever seen a man wear so much jewelry before, and wondered how much it hurt to have jewelry in your dick.  He took the spoon out of his mouth.  “Uh.  Dad—dad is—in there,” he pointed vaguely toward his dad’s office, his eyes still fixed on the horns sticking up past the back of the couch.  “Do...do you want me to...get him?”  

The naked man popped up behind the couch again, looking kind of mad, and Steve stepped further back, watching the golden chains and jewels glint in the light from the window.  “...you look very pretty,” Steve said politely, and the man groaned, grabbing the blanket as he stood, and wrapping it around his waist like a towel.

“Why the—why are you here,” he hissed, and Steve swallowed.

“I’ll go in my room,” he tried to say, but it came out kind of a weird whisper, and he realized he was starting to cry again, so he turned away, and the man scrambled from behind the couch.

“Wait!  Kid,” he said, and Steve stopped to see him step and spin kind of gracefully around the glass coffee table without catching the blanket on it.  All his nails were pointed, and painted black.  “I’m sorry—” he cut off, staring down at Steve’s picture, and the LEGO 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.  

“...what’s this,” he asked, like maybe he was mad again, and Steve wondered, suddenly, whether his mom had forgotten to lock the door, and the man was a naked burglar, looking for clothes to steal.  

“I wanted to meet the TV lady,” Steve admitted, trying to take it, but the man snatched it up.  “Um, are you—are you a burglar?”

“Am I—” the man glared at him—his eyes looked like fire, weirdly, the blue fire on the stove—but he didn’t look mad at Steve, yet, so Steve just bit his lips together.  “...you drew this?” the horny man asked, more quietly, and Steve nodded.  “Why?” he asked, and Steve knew he was in trouble—even if the man wasn’t supposed to be there, grownups always told each other when Steve did something dumb, like steal the TV man’s picture, which was the point Steve realized he was a stealer, a thief, like on TV.  America’s Most Wanted, he thought, his heart pounding.  

“Why draw this?” the man asked softly, crouching down, and Steve sniffled again, wiping his eyes.  

“He said a friend would come,” he admitted, wondering whether kids had their own jail, or whether he’d be in the one with all the guys from movies, who chased teenagers with chainsaws and knives.  

“You wanted a friend?” the man asked, but even softer, and Steve nodded, clenching his fingers in the sides of his pants.

“I didn’t mean to steal it,” he whispered.  “I won’t do it again.”

“...okay,” the man said.  “Don’t—don’t cry, it’s okay, are—are you okay?” he held his hands up like he was gonna touch Steve’s shoulders, then crossed his arms, frowning.

“I’m okay,” Steve nodded, wiping his nose on his sleeve.  “...are, um,” he asked, cautiously, “—are you supposed to be...in here?”

“Uhhh,” said the man.  “Definitely not naked, right?” he laughed, kinda nervously, Steve thought, and he snapped his fingers.  The throw blanket turned into shiny fringed pants.  

“Ohhh,” Steve whispered, impressed.  “How’d you do that?”

“Oh,” the man said, grimacing.  “Um, let’s talk about you summoning demons, okay?”

“...okay,” Steve nodded, sighing, but then a thought occurred to him.  “Uh, do you want a PB&J?”

 As they ate, the man spread Steve’s picture on the table, with the LEGO 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.

“So this is a circle to summon the demon Belial,” he said, low but kind of intense, like Steve was in trouble, but mostly he looked sort of worried.  

Steve swallowed his bite of sandwich.  “...it’s not exactly the same,” he pointed out, a little sulkily.  “I added a horse.”

“...so you did,” said the man, turning it to look.  “...look, summoning demons is very dangerous—”

“My dad says there aren’t bad demon summoners,” Steve told him.  “He says there are bad plumbers, and bad strippers, but if you’re talking to somebody, and they summoned a demon, they must be good at it, because you’re talking to them, and—and he was on TV—”

“Strippers,” said the man weakly, and Steve realized he was being rude to his guest.  

“I’m Steve,” he said.  “What’s your name?”

“...Bel,” said the man, then, hurriedly, “Bill?”

“My mom likes Billy Idol.  And Billy Joel,” Steve suggested, and the man nodded.

“That’s a normal name that I definitely have,” he nodded, grimacing, “—Billy, I’m Billy.”

Steve considered this.  

“Are you listening, though?  About demon-summoning?  Even a lot of adults have a hard time with it—” Billy started again, holding Steve’s LEGO 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 to his chest like it was a present for him.

“The guy on TV said it was for a helper friend,” Steve told him, feeling a little guilty, but really not too much, since it hadn’t even worked.

“Steve,” Billy said, pressing his hands together over his mouth.  The chain hooking his earring to the ring in his lip swayed and made a bell sound, and Steve stared at it, then remembered to nod.  “Okay,” Billy said.  “Could you promise me you won’t try to summon any more demons?”

“My dad says—” Steve started, again, but he cut off guiltily as Billy slumped back in his chair, groaning.

“Look,” Billy tried again, rubbing his face.  “Summoning demons isn’t like inviting somebody over, okay?  They have to come.  Now imagine if someone called you up to—” he frowned down at himself, biting his lips with pointed teeth, and cleared his throat.  “Uh,” he said, swallowing, and snapped his fingers with both hands—and all the jewelry vanished.  Even his cool horns were gone, Steve realized, and he had clothes on, a little tiny black shirt that showed his belly button, and shiny plastic-y silver pants.  

It was disappointing, but Steve looked into Billy’s flameless eyes and blunt-toothed smile and politely said “...you still look nice...I guess.”  Billy snorted a laugh.  “...I’ve never seen pants like that,” Steve offered, and Billy frowned down.

“What’s wrong with them?” he asked, then shook his head.  “No, wait.  Okay.  What if you don’t want to go somewhere—”

“People make me go places all the time,” Steve said darkly, remembering the week before, when his mom had drug him in for a haircut that made him look like G.I. Joe.  He rubbed his still-fuzzy head, glowering.

“Uh,” Billy said, trying not to smile, but spinning the tires on the LEGO 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, and Steve was a little proud that he liked it so much.  “Okay, a stranger.  What if a stranger makes you go somewhere you don’t want to go?”

“That’s kidnapping,” Steve said, breathlessly, his eyes huge, and Billy pointed the LEGO 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 at him.  

“Yes.  When you summon a demon, you’re kidnapping them, okay?  And they can’t leave unless you let them go.”

“But the man on the TV said—” Steve whispered, then stopped, remembering how he’d made the almost-naked woman pour soda on her own head.  Steve covered his mouth, suddenly realizing she might not have wanted to be almost-naked, maybe the man had taken her clothes off, like Steve with a doll.  “Oh no,” he whispered.  “I’m so glad it didn’t work!”

“Ah, yeeeah,” Billy said, grimacing.  

“Um,” said Steve, reaching a hand over to retrieve his prize LEGO kit, and Billy snatched it back.  Steve narrowed his eyes.  “You were looking for my parents, but my dad didn’t say you were coming over, are you my mom’s friend?”

Billy winced, grimacing.  “Where is she?”

“She’s at work,” Steve told him.  “Daycare is too expensive, so over the summer I have to be good.”

“Wait, are there any grownups here?!” Billy asked, looking horrified, and Steve nodded, pointing down the hall again.

“My dad.  He locks the door.”

“...What if you drown in the bathtub, or try to eat your own fingers, or something,” Billy breathed, and Steve glared at him.

“I’m not little,” he hissed, sliding forward in his chair a little, so his toes reached the floor.  “I’m not a baby.”

“You don’t need a friend, you need a nanny,” said the recently smoking, horned, pierced and tattooed man before him.  “And that’s, uh, that’s why your mom sent me.”

“...did she really send you?” Steve asked, narrowing his eyes, and Billy crossed his arms on the table, hugging Steve’s LEGO 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 against his chest.  

“Yeah.  Yeah, she did,” he said defiantly, and Steve relaxed a little, because Billy sounded like a teenager, just a bigger kid, really.  “She said to put less peanut butter and jelly in your sandwiches,” he pointed to Steve’s overflowing PB&J-bread-burrito, looking smug, “—and just make another sandwich.”

Steve gasped, staring at him, and feeling absolutely betrayed.  “You tricked me!  Why’d you let me make it!”

“It’s okay, I won’t tell,” Billy said, and Steve’s heart was won.

 Billy won it further when he scooted his plate aside to admire the LEGO 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, and Steve drug him back to his room to show him the kits he had.  “Come on,” he said, excited and rude, and Billy slowed way down, grimacing, and flickering back to his pretty bejeweled self, with horns.  

“How about you ask if I wanna do things,” he said stiffly, slowing almost to a stop, and smoking more around the eyes.  

“Oh, yeah,” Steve nodded.  “Sorry.  Can I show you my room?”

“Or maybe, ‘Hey, Billy, want to see my room,’” Billy suggested, taking a deep breath.  

“Okay,” Steve nodded.  “Want to see my room?”

“Sure,” Billy nodded, relaxing like it was some big relief.  

It occurred to Steve maybe it was.  “Sorry,” he said quickly.  “I’ll be polite, I won’t get you fired.”

“Um, yeah,” Billy laughed, shaking his head.  “Maybe don’t, uh, order me around.”

“Yeah,” Steve nodded, thinking hard about it, so he’d remember.  “I won’t say ‘Billy, pick me upOOF—” he wheezed, as Billy yanked him into the air with one arm around his waist.  “Sorry,” Steve wheezed, his feet kicking.  “I-I’ll say Billy would you, sorry—”

“Shit!  Damn it, I mean, uh, sorry,” Billy said, grimacing, and sat Steve back on his feet, straightening his clothes.  

“I’ll remember,” Steve told him, wide-eyed, and then, because Billy looked guilty, “It’s okay.”

 He tried hard to remember, and he usually did, because Billy got all tense and weird if Steve forgot, like he was trying to move underwater, and Steve had to yell “If you want!  If you want!” as Billy grimly bit into the crunchy, burned eggs Steve had made.  

“That was disgusting,” Billy told him, that time, and Steve couldn’t stop laughing, waving his hands.

“Okay, okay, can I—can I just tell you you can ignore me?  I won’t tell, you can just—just do things if you want to—”

“...you sure about that?” Billy asked, snorting softly, like Steve might be kidding, and Steve nodded frantically.  

“Yeah!  Yes!  Don’t, um, don’t eat any more eggshells, I’m sorry!”

“...okay,” Billy said, smiling down at him.  “When am I not supposed to listen?”

“Uh,” said Steve, blinking at him.  “I mean.  You should—you should always listen—”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Billy said, rolling his eyes.

“No, you should!” Steve told him, grabbing Billy’s hand and tugging it.  “What if something’s gonna hit you in the head?  You should listen,” he nodded, thinking about it.  “But once you listen, you should decide what you want to do.”

“What if I wanted to...eat you?” Billy asked him, reaching down to tickle Steve’s stomach, and Steve yelped, giggling.

“You won’t eat me,” Steve told him, leaning into Billy, to give him a hug.  “You’re nice.”

Billy sighed, and hugged him back, tightly.

 Billy was better at some things than other people, like clothes, Steve thought, because Billy was always pointing people’s outfits out, and explaining how they weren’t as good at picking them.  He wasn’t as good at other things, though.  Steve sat down one night to heated-up pasta sauce over Cheerios, and he didn’t want to say anything, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t right.  Billy gave Steve’s mom a glass of water that was completely frozen because she said she wanted it iced, and when Steve’s dad told Billy to make burgers, Billy didn’t buy buns, or tomatoes, or anything, and he threw the meat in the pan until it caught fire.  

Steve was pretty sure none of it was a joke, because Billy frowned between the glass and Steve’s mom, and grimaced over the burgers after Steve’s dad stomped away, and Steve caught him whispering into the phone to the neighbor, hiding half in the fridge like nobody was gonna notice it was open.  

“Billy,” he whispered, and Billy jumped, as Steve crouched down next to him.  The breeze from the inside of the fridge was nice, but it hardened all Steve’s suspicions, because no grown-up had ever left the fridge open, he was pretty sure.  

“Yeah,” Billy muttered back, guiltily.

“...how old’re you,” Steve asked, and Billy flinched.  

“Older than you,” he shot back, and that Steve was willing to give him, because Billy wasn’t human, and some things lived different amounts of time, like trees.  

“Are you a kid too?” Steve asked, and Billy glared at him.

“No,” he said defiantly, and Steve nodded slowly, raising his eyebrows, until Billy groaned, deflating, sitting against the edge of the fridge and letting his legs sprawl out across the floor.  “Look, I’m trying—”

“I won’t tell,” Steve said, reaching out and squeezing Billy’s hand.  “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“...teenager...maybe,” Billy admitted, grimacing.  

“Okay,” Steve said, nodding.  “Billy,” he said, trying to sound like a parent, or a teacher, and Billy’s shoulders hunched.  “You need to tell me you need help,” Steve said, putting his hands on his hips.  “I can help with things like human food.”

“You are human food,” Billy said, fondly, yanking Steve into a hug.

 Most of the people that did magic like Billy ate kids occasionally, Steve found out, as he was reading his Dictionary of the Magic Realms that night under the covers, by flashlight.  Maybe they were mean kids, Steve thought, or maybe Billy was just way nicer.  “Are you a fairy?” he asked the next morning, and Billy laughed.  

“Depends on what you mean,” he said, grinning over.  “Is that slang for—”

“Can you fly,” Steve interrupted, because that seemed the most important, and Billy cocked his head.  

“...actually, I probably could,” he said, considering.  “Not like you mean, though.  I don’t have secret butterfly wings, or anything.”

“Oh,” Steve said, because he'd been privately imagining Billy as they’d first met, with the jewelry and the horns and wings, and it seemed to fit.

“...do you want me to have wings?” Billy asked, sitting aside the dish he was drying, and bending down sideways to try and meet Steve’s eyes.  “I can change form—”

“No!” Steve told him, waving his hands.  “No, I know you like looking like...that.”

“...that,” Billy said, raising his eyebrows as he looked down at himself.  “You saying I need to do better?”

“You’re just—normal,” Steve said quickly.  “Instead of pretty.”

“Instead of,” Billy growled.

“I mean,” Steve yelped, waving his hands.  “Pretty with all the jewelry!  And the horns.”

“I was gonna say,” Billy said, reddening.  “If you’re saying I’m not pretty—”

“Of course you’re pretty,” Steve said, rolling his eyes and sighing, but grinning, too.  He patted Billy’s shoulder.

“Well,” Billy said, clearing his throat, and turning back to the dishes.  “All right, then.”

 A few days later, Billy was moving the kettle off the flame for hot chocolate, and a big gout of steam belched up over his arm, which shimmered into all over scales.  Steve yelped and grabbed him, yanking him over to the sink, and ran water over it, all the while panicking.

“Billy, are you a mermaid?!” he asked, spraying Billy’s arm, and trying not to cry.  “Are you a mermaid, are you okay, are hot things bad for mermaids—”

“I’m okay,” Billy told him, turning off the water, and hugging him close.  “I’m not a mermaid, Stevie, I’m not hurt.”

“O-okay,” Steve gasped, grabbing Billy’s arm to run his fingers over it.  “You—you’re okay,” he whispered, leaning into Billy’s hugs.  “...are you a...lizard?  Or a snake?”

“Nope, not exactly,” Billy said, snorting a laugh, and Steve groaned.

The rest of my Harringrove works

[kitty0boy]

More Marichat fanfiction because I’m obsessed.

It’s set a bit in the future so Adrien is 18 and Marinette is 17. Chat is grown up and can use multiple cataclysms but Marinette isn’t yet (I think the age will be 18 so yeah). It’s also reverse love square, so Ladybug is in love with Chat and Adrien is in love with Marinette

———————————

Another day, another akuma. Recently, Hawkmoth had toned down on the frequency of Akumas, maybe he supposed that he would only akumatize the more powerful emotions and oh boy, was this one really mad.

His name was Trickster, his power was shapeshifting. Doesn’t seem very destructive at first but he can turn himself into anything his little heart desires. From blood sucking mosquitoes to giants straight out of a fairy tale to a frog? This guy could do it all. The problem was, what couldn’t he do? How would they stop him?

She was running a little late to the action, who knew getting away from class during a life threatening disaster would be so difficult. Spotting her beloved partner, she landed beside him. “What have we got today kitty?”

“Just your average asshole Ladybug.” He muttered obviously angry.

“You know this guy?” She asked, why was he so mad about this one?

“Not purrsonsly, he was harassing women on the street, following them around. That is until he was called out for it and arrested.”

“You wouldn’t happen to be the one to correct his behaviour, would you?” Silence. She looked up at him, oh he looked seriously ticked off.

She quickly changed the subject. “Well let’s take care of this quickly. Any idea where his akuma is?”

“His camera maybe, or his phone.” He clenched his fists. “Mon dieu what a creep.”

“Alright let’s get a closer look then shall we?”

He nodded before he extended his baton towards the now troll running down the street. His giant club dragging along the ground behind him leaving an indent every time it bounced off the pavement. Without warning he whipped around and threw it into the air, catching on Ladybug’s yo-yo and sending her flying backwards. Twisting mid air she grabbed onto a street lamp, saving her face from scraping the road. Then she was off again, swinging from roof to roof towards the, what was he now? A Yeti?

“Lucky Charm!” She called and down dropped a baseball? Seriously?

She looked everywhere but couldn’t find what to use it for. She raced around looking for its purpose but nothing came into view. “Come on, come on.” She panicked.

Cat looked over, noticing her struggling. “How much time do you have left?”

“Two minutes! I need more time.” She was shaking now, she couldn’t afford to detransform now. It was too dangerous.

“Got it, brace yourself little bug!” Raising his arm in the air he called for his “Cataclysm!” And pressed his hand to the ground creating a giant crater under Trickster’s feet. He only sunk about 2 feet before becoming a raven and flying high above them. So much for getting more time. She had no choice but to leave. She tossed her lucky charm to Chat Noir and hoped he got the message, he looked over to her and nodded before using his baton like a baseball bat launching the ball at Trickster. Well at least the Lucky Charm had some use. She ran until her last dot beeped and slipped into an empty alleyway.

“That was a close one Tikki, I can’t wait until I grow up.” Tikki flew into her purse and pulled out a cookie. “Don’t worry Marinette, you’ll grow up soon. In the meantime Chat Noir will cover for you.” Her heart fluttered a little at the thought of him. “Yeah, I wonder how old he is.”

“Marinette you can’t know each other’s-“

“Identities I know” she cut off “I just want to know when I will be old enough.” Tikki scrunched her face in contemplation, “18” she said, decided it was ok.

“Really! That’s so soon, oh I can’t wait!” She exclaimed. A little too loudly apparently. She heard footsteps, she needed to transform but Tikki wasn’t ready yet. “Hide Tikki.” She whispered before pulling out her phone. Using the camera, she peeked around the corner only to see a tiger creeping towards her. She gasped slightly as she moved backwards, trying not to make any noise. That was when she heard a small thump behind her and a hand covered her mouth. Before she could scream she felt him lean towards her ear “It’s me.” He whispered before scooping her up quietly and trying to figure out how to escape. Marinette looked around and spotted a window on the second floor of the building beside them. He caught on and calling for another cataclysm, reduced the glass to ash. He lifted her inside before climbing up himself.

“Follow.” He instructed before creeping towards the back of the office building. They found an elevator and before he could press the button she grabbed his shoulder, which made him turn around. She pulled him down to whisper in his ear. “Wouldn’t an elevator be too loud kitty?” He paused thinking, “What do you propose?” She looked over his other shoulder and saw a staircase. “We take the stairs.”

“That might take too long, we have to get you out of here fast.”

“You have superpowers Chat, it shouldn’t take that long if you carry me.” His cat ear twitched and without warning he wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her off the ground making a beeline for the stairs. The stairs were those kind of box-y spiral staircases so standing between the gap, he extended his baton causing them to shoot upwards, as if they were in an elevator. She had to tuck her head into his shoulder to avoid smacking it on the bottom of each flight. Reaching the top he put his baton away and wrapped both his arms around her, one behind her back, which caused her to blush, and one under her thighs.

And they were off, though he didn’t get very far before a pigeon started to follow them. She spotted it but wasn’t sure if it was him. “Take a left!” She yelled over the wind and he did, so did the bird. When it turned, a flash of light blinded her but he was still a pigeon. The light came from his foot, which could only mean, she gasped “Chat, he’s wearing a ring! That’s where the akuma is!”

“As helpful as that is purrincess, I can’t do anything until I make sure you’re safe. We’ve gotta get him off my tail.” He huffed in frustration, or from exhaustion. One of the two

She looked around before an idea came to her.

“Cat the sewer system! We need to get down. That way he can’t sniff us out!”

“Got it, hold on tight!”

He quickly pulled something out of his pocket. A blue slice of cheese and popping it into his mouth. He repositioned her so he was carrying her bridal style. “Power up!” He yelled. She felt his hand leave her legs before he twisted around and jumped off the roof, they were going to splat on the road! “Cataclysm!” He growled before extending his hand backwards towards the ground. It made contact with the pavement and it crumbled beneath his hand, they fell straight through the street and she heard him grunt as his back collided with the water. She held her breath. This was gross, something pressed to her lips and she grabbed it inhaling. He started kicking his feet swimming with the current. She had to keep her eyes closed. Luckily it had rained the day before so the water wasn’t just garbage. It was just as disgusting as you’d think it is, but if she had to choose between death and garbage water, this was her best bet. He took a leap before they left the water. Laying side by side. She propped herself up on her elbow and took the baton out of her mouth. Cringing at the stench, she peeled her shirt away from her body, jeez this sucked.

“Sorry Marinette, I was hoping we’d land on the floor.” He panted, she reached over and patted him on the shoulder.

“It’s ok, I’d take sewer water with you over death any day.

Was he blushing, or were his cheeks tinged from the cold water? Catching his breath he stood and held a hand out to her. She took it and stood. He smiled at her and she smiled back. “Claws in” he whispered “Woah woah woah!” She covered her eyes quickly and turned around. He chuckled behind her “Relax m’lady, I just took off my power up.” M’lady? Isn’t that what he called Ladybug? She felt her face grow hot under her hands. “I thought Ladybug was your lady?” She said before she could stop herself. He stammered “O-oh right my bad. I guess the cat got My tongue.” She chuckled slightly before turning around to smile at him, he smiled back and she felt little akumas flutter around her stomach. He eyes drifted from his to his lips. Was he wearing chapstick? What did it taste like? Ugh snap out of it Marinette, there’s an akuma! “Thank you kitty, I’ll be safe down here.”

“I’m not convinced. You’re still out in the open, even if you’re down here. It might be risky to leave you here.” He raised a claw to his chin, trying to decide if he wanted her to stay there.

“Purrhaps if a certain superhero was distracting him, he would leave me alone.” She grinned at her clever wording. She wasn’t usually the type to make puns, but she had to admit, they were kinda fun.

He giggled a little at her pun ‘adorable’ she thought. “You’re right, just please stay safe ok, find a place to hide.” He placed his hands on her shoulders, his thumb brushed over her collar bone and made her blush. “O-ok I will.” She stammered a little breathless. Seriously? She thought she got over the stammering a long time ago. Suddenly, a gloves hand brushed across her forehead before she felt something soft press against it. He pulled back and gave his signature salute before sprinting away from her. Her hand came up to touch the spot where his lips were seconds ago, her face burned and she knew it was as red as her super suit.

“Marinette focus! We’ve got an akuma to capture!” Tikki squeaked. Marinette jumped a little, she completely forgot Tikki was there.

She smacked both sides of her face with her hands “Right! Tikki spots on!” She ran towards an opening, and leapt out, following the trail of footprints no doubt left by the akuma.

She saw Chat Noir pinned to a wall under a bent street lamp, he couldn’t reach it with his hand. The giant shrunk down and changed into an elephant and using its trunk, it made to grab Chat’s miraculous. He almost grabbed it, until her yo-yo wrapped around the trunk and launched him into the building across the street. She ran over to Chat and using all of her strength she pulled the street lamp off of him.

“Thanks bug, the akuma is in his ring.” ‘Bug’ she thought

“Ok then, let’s hope it works this time. Lucky Charm!” And down fell another baseball, the same as before.

“Maybe it was the location last time?” He reasoned.

But she still couldn’t see anything. Was her power broken? “I’ll figure it out, can you provide a distraction?” She asked, “Gladly.” He smiled reassuringly before sprinting towards Trickster.

‘Look at your wrist.’ She had no idea where the thought came from, was that Tikki? She looked down and saw a little bracelet with a loop on it, almost like the loops on a bra. She stared at it curiously “Look out!” She heard before her partner tackled her to the ground. “I don’t know what is interesting about your arm, but please figure it out soon.” He stood and using his baton as a shield, he repelled what looked like water balloons. They were launched back at the akuma who dodged each one, they exploded when they broke.

Chat’s baton flashed red with black spots, it was working! She looked around, the bracelet flashed, and so did her yo-yo and then she saw it. Her yo-yo had a little hook carved into it. She slipped the hook into the loop on the bracelet and the yo-yo spun out into a proper shield. “That’s new.” She exclaimed. Suddenly the vision of Chat using his baton like a baseball bat popped into her head. The solution hit her, “Chat I know what to do!” She yelled leaping out from behind him. The akuma transformed into a giant again and Chat looked at her, “Batter up kitty!” She yelled before pitching the ball to him. He got the idea and hit the ball back to her. She repositioned and angled the shield towards the akuma’s hand. It made contact with the shield and the giant tried to hit it away, but not before it cracked the ring and the akuma fluttered away.

She captured it “bye bye little butterfly!” Throwing the baseball into the air she yelled “Miraculous Ladybug!” And the streets looked good as new.

“Pound it!” The duo said with a fist bump.

The police arrived just in time and arrested the man. “Oh come on I didn’t even do anything wrong! It’s not a crime to take pictures!” He pleaded, “It is to take pictures of people without their consent!” Chat retorted before the door closed and the cruiser sped off.

A small beep came from her earrings, “I’ve gotta go Chat Noir, I’m proud of you though.” She smiled before hooking her yo-yo onto a chimney. “What for?” He asked. “For standing up for those women, being cat-called and followed is terrifying, those women wouldn’t get justice if you hadn’t stepped in. I’m sure they appreciated it very much. Bug out!” She yelled before taking off.

She landed close to where Chat left her and detransformed. “You figured it out! Oh I knew you would.” Tikki came up to hug her cheek. “Figured what out?”

“Your yo-yo can change functions! You figured out how to turn it into a shield today. Chat can do the same thing with his baton.” She explained. Maybe they should experiment on patrol tomorrow then, versatility of their weapons would really help with defeating Hawkmoth. Tikki squeaked suddenly and flew into her purse.

Marinette stood confused before she heard a thud beside her and was encircled by a pair of very strong arms. “There you are, you’re ok.” Chat pulled back and smiled at her.

“Of course I am, I’m a good hider.” She said and put her hands on her hips. He chuckled slightly and crossed his arms.

“What were you doing so close anyways?” He asked, “I uh was getting footage for the Ladyblog.” She lied, he furrowed his brows and stood up straight, “That’s really dangerous Marinette, especially with how strong Hawkmoth is now. You can’t be running around chasing after super villains anymore.”

She looked to the ground, even though it was a lie, hearing him disappointed in her still didn’t feel good.

He sighed before lifting her chin. “I just don’t want you to get hurt Mari, today was a close call. If I hadn’t found you who knows what would have happened. Just promise you won’t chase after Akumas anymore.”

“I promise, I’m sorry.” She said

“It’s ok, besides, if it’s footage you want, I’ve got a camera on my suit.” He said calmly. “Wait really? Where?” She was curious now, did her suit have a camera too? He reached up and flicked the bell on his neck. He lifted his chin as she stood on her toes to get a closer look, sure enough, there was a little camera peeking out from the slit in his bell.

“Woah that’s so cool! And helpful. You should tell Alya, that might make her back off.” Maybe Ladybug should tell Alya too, footage from not one but two superheroes! Besides, maybe they could analyze that footage and see where the akumas come from. “So now that that’s sorted, would like a lift back to school? Lunch just ended didn’t it?” Oh shoot she forgot! “Yeah a ride would be great! I’ve got a-“ she paused in confusion, why did his face turn crimson? Oh mon dieu, she really needed to work on her wording. Her face also grew hot with embarrassment and she looked away from him.

He cleared his throat, “Ok then let’s go.” He turned around and kneeled so she could climb onto his back, that was probably a good idea.

She wrapped her arms around his neck again and he stood holding her thighs for support. In one leap they were on the roof tops running towards her school.

Alya was waiting at the front for her and gasped when she saw the best friend on the back of one of Paris’ superheroes.

“Delivery for a Ms. Cesaire?” He joked, “That would be me.” She teased back Marinette slid off his back and was immediately tackled in a bear hug by Alya, “Where were you girl! We were worried sick!”

“I went to get footage for you, it was clearly a bad idea.” She said for consistency. “Oh Mari, you don’t have to do that for me, if I want footage, I’ll go get it myself.”

“Well in my opinion,” Chat cut in “Marinette’s technique is much more subtle than yours. I guess it just didn’t work out today.” Marinette puffed up her chest and gave a triumphant “Hmph” and the three of them burst into laughter.

“Well I’d better get going.” He said,

“Let me guess,” she put on her best Chat impression “Damsels in distress, ladies in waiting, you’ve got a lot more saving to do,” she mimicked “I can thank you, later?” He laughed at that, “I’m surprised you remember that, look out Ms. Blogger, you got competition for Chat Noir’s #1 fan.”

“A battle that was lost long ago kitten, between you and me, her sketchbook is filled with outfits inspired by your,” she raised a hand dramatically to her forehead “beauty.” She finished, “ALYA!” Marinette squeaked.

He laughed “Well I am honoured purrincess.” He bowed before turning around and grabbing his baton to leave. Something burned inside her and without thinking she walked towards him. “Chat wait!” She nearly yelled, as he turned around she tripped and grabbed his bell trying to pull herself upright.

She meant to kiss him on the cheek, she swears! But he’d turned his face towards her and her lips crashed into his. He was caught off guard but quickly kissed her back, reaching up to caress her cheek with his hand.

Realizing what was happening she pulled back and felt her face go hot again. “Uh I, thank you for saving me.” She mumbled and rubbed her forearm. She looked up at his face, which was tinged a pretty shade of pink. He reached up and ruffled her hair, “Anytime Marinette.” There was something about the way he said her name that caused little butterflies to flutter in her stomach and chest again. He gave her a wink before leaping off.

“Ok girl spill!” Marinette jumped and turned to see Alya holding her phone. “Alya did you take a picture!” She squeaked. “I won’t post it, this is just for me. Ooh maybe I’ll send it to Chat too.”

Her face burned as Alya led her back to class.

—————————————

Thanks for reading!

[foodforgypsies]

The Ultimate Packing Checklist (For your weekend trips, treks and travels)

If you are here right now, I am sure you have watched my video and needed a quick checklist to go through before you leave to live that VACAY life. It is 1 am and i am writing out this post today because 1. It’s about time i release the video and 2. I too, need a easily accessible checklist to go through 20 minutes before my trip (like you saw, I am a devout supporter of the last minute hacks)

Soooooo, lets get to it!

MAJOR TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS:

Mobile Phone (Duh! who would forget that)

Charger + Earphones 

Identification

Cash/Card (Don’t forget to stop by the ATM if your travel is more rural and you need hard cash)

Mask + Sanitizer (That COVID season)

TOILETRIES:

Brush, Paste & Floss (You can make do with other peoples soap and paste, but you kinda totally need your own brush!)

Shampoo & Conditioner (And serum, for that extra frizz)

Deodorant (Especially for that Trek life, leave your BO in the city y’all!)

Cosmetics (SUNSCREEN!!!! Moisturizer, kajal etc. A little lip balm never hurt anyone)

A Comb

MEDICINES:

Any prescriptions, first aid, travel medications you may need. Sanitary Napkins, if required.

CLOTHES & ACCESSORIES:

The following is according to my needs a weekend

3 Pairs of clothes (Including the one I'm wearing)

1 Night suit

Undergarments

A dress (if a fancy night is included in the itinerary)

Socks (Plenty of ‘em)

A pair of shoes and a pair of flipflops

Cap/Sunglasses

Dress for the weather (Raincoat/sweaters)

Towel

I always wear a jumper while travelling and carry those extra hair-ties/Bobby pins, cus, why not.

MISCELLANIOUS:

Garbage Bags (When you have no laundry services)

Snacks & Water (For the journey. Carry a reusable bottle/straw #savetheenvironment)

Neck Pillow

ARTIST ESSENTIALS (Camera/Tripod, Notebook, Pens/Pencils)

Some Games, Cards, Speaker (If you want)

SPECIFICALLY FOR A INTO THE WILD TRIPS/TREKS

Spoon

Flash Light

Portable Charger

Swiss Knife

Lighter

A small knapsack

Sleeping Bag (Portable Blankie, IDK)

Okay, so that’s that. I think I have covered everything you may need for a weekend out on the town or out in the wild. If I forgot anything y’all know what to do... comment. That’s what.

I really enjoy writing and I think I may give this blogging stuff another chance. I hope this list helps someone. I know it’ll help atleast one person (ME). This list has been in my colornotes for a while.

If you just happened upon this and haven’t seen my video yet, what are you waiting for? This blog is over. Go watch some refresing content, LINK DOWN BELOW.

I love y’all and ill see you byotches later! Byeeeee!

Love,

Niki

[arcanescholar]

Hard to Find the Right Words Ch. 2

Omori Post True Good Ending Spoilers. Chapter 1 here

Sometimes you just need to vibe with your friend(?)

The sun hung high and beat down with its telltale brutal heat with not a cloud in the sky to block its fury. Summer was starting to reach its full swing and god damn it she did not wanna put up with the judgy sky orb’s bullshit today. Ugh, riding out to the hospital on her bike at night trying to follow the ambulance’s route was a pain in the ass already that left her legs feeling way too damn sore, and piling on with this was just over kill damn it.

… Huh. Shit, that’s probably why her knees gave out back in Basil’s hospital room. Come to think of it, damn, she should’ve snagged some bandages while she was there, they were all in Sunny’s pocket-

She screeches to a halt, barely stopping herself from running smack into some younger elementary school kids that take one look at her haggard, emotionally exhausted expression and…

Scream.

Then run away, tripping over themselves because the scary nail-bat lady was here to eat their faces.

…

After a bit of fumbling, she yanks her phone out of her pocket and turns the busted front facing camera on to take a better look at her face…

She slept on a visitor’s couch last night, hadn’t had breakfast, just went through one of the most emotionally harrowing nights of her life, then one of the most emotionally harrowing mornings, and now just did what felt like a half and hour of hard pedaling to make it to her planned meet up with Kim cause her sense of time estimation fucking sucks.

“… I look terrible, ugh.”

First thing she’s gonna do, she thinks, is dunk her sore legs in a lake once she gets to the park, but before that, she takes off her jacket, tying the sleeves tight around her waist, leaving her in her favorite crop top to vent some heat off before getting back to pedaling.

The rest of the ride is a bit easier thankfully, a familiar coast through familiar streets and under familiar trees with familiar shade. She passes by the curb that the group first comforted her on along the way, past where she had her picture taken in her favorite coat and decided that she wanted to dye her hair pink one day, past where Kim first snagged her by the hand and dragged her along to meet the Hooligans-

Haahhh…

She coasts down a small hill, letting the bike carry her where it pleases for a bit, hair billowing behind her, standing up a bit on its aged frame and just letting the moment wash over her. She wishes she didn’t leave her headphones at home, this was a pretty perfect moment to just play something dramatic y’know?

But, the ride eventually comes to a stop, as she arrives at the park. The kids were already playing out in force, and that nice garbage collector lady was set up with her stand like always, but Aubrey didn’t have time to snag much extra cash, she was already late for meeting up with Kim by like ten minutes-

“Aubreeeeeey!”

Speak of the devil

“Hah… Hah… Hah…!”

Kim struggles over on her bike, panting for breath-

“Hey.”

“Sorry…! Mikhael- uh, the MAVERICK got in trouble with some girls he was supposed to pay cause he forgot he left his wallet at home so I had to bike back and forth to snag it for him, or else he would’ve followed me here whining the whole time! I’m not too late am I?”

“Nah, I just showed up too.”

“So, uh…! What did you wanna do?”

“…”

Aubrey turns without a word, stepping off of her bike and walking to the back of the park, shuffling her way across the verdant, well kept grass.

Come to think of it, there was way less trash around than before, and with how much she saw Sunny running around town…

Jeez, did he really pick up most of this with Kel? Damn pair of goody two shoes-

Is what she almost thinks, but, after the past few days, it’s kind of hard for her to really make fun of them for it. It’s honestly kind of impressive.

She remembers how many flowers were set up in Sunny’s hospital room in that moment while they waited for him to wake up… How many well wishes and thank you notes sprawled across the tables and some even on the floor itself because of how much space was taken up. For a boy that hadn’t shown his face in maybe four years, that looked like he hadn’t had a decent meal in just about as long, that seemed more like a mystery than an actual person, he really…

…

Was it really good? Was it something he did out of kindness? Was it one last hurrah to try to apologize for what he did to Mari? Aubrey can’t wrap her head around his headspace, and that thought is enough to make her punch her hand against a tree with enough force to shake its leaves… That or the breeze was really well timed-

“Aubreeeey…! I can’t help out if you don’t even talk to me y’know!”

Kim grumbles as she manages to catch up, walking alongside her best friend with the canopy of trees overhead shading them from the sunlight.

As Aubrey turns her head, she takes a moment to stare at her friend, watching the way the sunlight dances across her skin as it peeks out from the trees to light her up the way her smile lit up Aubrey’s worst days.

Kim’s expression was that perfect mix of annoyed and genuinely worried, the kind that makes you feel bad for bringing up a problem in the first place but yanks all your guts out onto the floor to get it settled already, her eyes resolute and determined to get to the bottom of what was happening. Was this her way of apologizing for leaving her behind with Sunny, Kel, and Basil at the lake…?

“… Hhhffffhhhit’sallfuckedup.” Aubrey finally groans, stepping forward into the hidden spot behind the park, the lake’s water glistening in the sunlight, the old statue’s flowers swaying in the breeze, and the same abandoned picnic basket and blanket. Someone really needs to clean that up damn it, but, the blanket makes for a nice place to sit kinda.

She dumps her bike off to the side with more force than she means to, Kim following suit. The pair share a quick look and a nod of understanding before popping off their shoes, their socks, rolling up pants legs in Kim’s case.

They walk together and sit by the edge of the lake, leaving the stuff they took off to the side, dumped carelessly in the grass, dunking their legs into the cool water with a harmonized sigh of relief, a mirrored gesture of leaning back to rest their palms against the grass before flopping onto their backs in near perfect sync, and finally taking in a deep breath to just bring themselves back into the moment.

Without a word, Kim pulls out her phone and a pair of headphones, offering one up to Aubrey that she takes with no hesitation, stuffing it into her ear and staring up at the clouds as music plays loud enough to hear but quiet enough to just let them… Vibe, is the word they’d both use for it.

For a few minutes they lay there, sharing a song, a mellow guitar and the tapping of a drumstick against a closed hi-hat washing over them.

The beach might be out of their reach right now, but sound waves’ll make a good substitute.

Kurayami de yorisou hibi

“… Sunny lost his eye.”

“Holy shit…”

Bokura ni wa beddo mo nai

“Dunno if Basil’s woken up yet either, but… Sunny told us, a little bit about what happened when Mari died.”

“…”

Nai kedo…

“… Sorry I’ve been so cagey and quiet and stuff lately.” She murmurs, rolling over onto her side to look at Kim more properly, her friend rolling over too, her glasses getting shoved slightly till she just takes them off and sets them off to the side.

“I dunno what’s goin’ on but it seems like it’s really heavy… After what went on with your mom and dad though? Feels like you can tell me… well… Just about anything right? After you shut us out and I had to call those three over to your place I started really worrying you were gonna dip back into a screwed up place again.”

“… Gonna be honest… I almost was.”

Kimi waaaa, ima tashika niii-

“But?”

“… But, I managed to realize some important stuff, I think. About… About Mari. About Sunny, Kel, Hero, you, all of our friends.”

Soba de…!

“… I missed them so much it hurt. I missed everything so much that it ached.”

Hohoemu

“And, when I couldn’t do anything about that ache, I turned that anger out on nearly everything around me. If it weren’t for you and the other Hooligans I think I would’ve turned out even worse…”

“Aubrey…”

Sawarasetari shinai

Kurutta koi to

Sashichigaete mo ii nda

Zenbu uketomeru

“… Sunny pushed Mari down the stairs of their home in the middle of a huge argument between them after he broke his violin.” She murmurs, tears starting to trickle down her face, cresting over the bridge of her nose and spilling onto the grass and dirt.

“Holy shit-“

“But… I… No matter what I do I just can’t think to be mad at him anymore.”

Beautiful morning with you

Itsuka, utaitai na

Beautiful morning with you

Kimi to hikari abite

“After I pushed Basil into a lake… Kicked off this whole mess of yesterday and today, I guess it made me realize how precious stuff is.”

“How do you mean?”

“That like… If Basil died right there… And Sunny with him? If he and Sunny drowned in the lake, even if I somehow ‘got away with it’, I’d… I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself.”

“…”

“When it happened I was so freaked out I couldn’t even move, let alone try to rescue him. My head twisted to all sorts of places, like, what should I do to get away if they both die. About how I’d have to run away from town, dye my hair a different color, get as far as I can and never look back.”

Sabishisa wa teguchi wo kae

“That’s… heavy.” Kim murmurs, finding it hard to bring herself to say anything else, but…

Maybe, in a moment like this, there’s nothing she could say. Nothing she could do, except be here in this moment to be someone Aubrey could talk to, reaching out in a moment of vulnerable affection to squeeze her close, one hand resting at the small of her back, and the other pressing against the back of her head, running her fingers through the girl’s hair…

Nando demo ai ni kuru

“So, I guess I get it now. Why he hid away in his home for so many years. Why he took so long to tell us until it exploded like that. Why they did something so… dumbfuck stupid like trying to make it look like Mari killed herself… I get it cause, I think I would’ve done the same thing if we weren’t lucky and had Hero there to save them both, and hating Sunny over it would make me a hypocrite.”

“And we both know how much you hate those…”

Kuru kedo

Futari ikudo to naku

“… I’m gonna try to be better than I was a few days ago. Better than I was a few years ago. Maybe this is just me trying to make excuses and wriggle my way out of the dumb stuff I’ve done but, I want to be there for them the way you were there for me. The way you and the others were, when I had nowhere else to go, so… Thanks Kim.”

“Heh… S’ what I’m here for Aubrey.”

Koko de unadzuite

The pair hold up their hands, and bump their fists in time with the song’s beat picking up, and just in time for-

“AH! There they are! Hahahaha, of course THE MAVERICK would know the right way-”

“Hey sis! Jeez, where were you two, we were wondering what happened!”

“Yeah! Did that smelly Kel and weird Mystery Boy with the knife do something to you after all?! I’ll give ‘em a dropkick that’ll send ‘em flying!”

“… sorry, t-that we weren’t there when… things went really bad…”

Furimuitari sinai

Sodatta ai ni!

Kizusuitatte ii nda

Mou

Modoranai

The Hooligans damn near bum rush the pair, dog piling on them both with muffled shouts in faux-protest as the group becomes a tangled mess of limbs, laughs, and little room for escape.

Beautiful morning with you!

Itsuka! Wakaritai na!

Beautiful morning with you

Bokura umarete kita koto!

“Hey, hey, Charlene brought some egg sandwiches from home that her mom made-” Angel grins at the top of the pile, resting on his side and supporting his head with his hand.

“M-mh… Um… I… had a feeling you missed breakfast again, so, I got worried… I was gonna bring them to the hospital but… when I called to ask where you were they said you were gone…” Charlene explains with her usual quiet voice, this time tinged with affection and worry as she… stands off to the side, feeling a bit too self conscious to dog pile but still holding both Kim and Aubrey’s hands.

“Yeah… After what happened with Basil by the lake and the stuff that went down at his place with him and the other guy, and that day you weren’t answering your door, all of us sorta got together and talked a bit…” Vance continued, directly hugging the pair of girls with a big, doofy grin.

“And of course, I, in my infinite wisdom as The Maverick made the wonderful declaration that we reaffirm our bond as the glorious, Hellacious Hooligans of Faraway Town! Our bonds of brother and sisterhood won’t be shaken like that again, this, I promise! What do you think ladies? Falling for me yet?~”

“shpk lke thhgh hhhhghnn nhhh whhll kll yu-”

“Hmmm? Say that again Aubrey?”

Vance shuffles off just enough to let the girls breathe again, the pair simultaneously sucking in a breath before shouting at the same time with big grins on their faces.

“”Speak like that again and we’ll kill ya!””

In the tackle-hugging dog pile rush, Kim’s headphones got unplugged, and the play button on the song got butt-pressed while it was auto based, but as the Maverick lets loose a yelp and topples off of the pile with only Charlene to catch him, with a laugh from the rest of the group, the rest of the song they were listening to finally gets to finish.

Promises like these might not always stand the test of time, Aubrey knew that for a fact. They can wither and fail and break and shatter in your hands faster than she can blink, but now…?

Beautiful morning with you

Itsuka, utaitai na

Beautiful morning with you

Kimi to hikari abite

Beautiful morning with you!

Isumo, kanjitai na!

Beautiful morning with you!!!

Kimi to, deaeta koto!

Now she kinda understands why Kel was so damn determined.

Even if it doesn’t last forever, even if it doesn’t work out, moments like this are worth fighting for.

She just wishes, in some part of her chest, that it hadn’t taken her so long to realize…

… … …

The hours pass, the sun raises as high as it can be before finally beginning its descent. The rest of Aubrey’s morning and afternoon was spent talking with her friends, practicing her bat swing on any random tree branches they could snap off and throw. Turns out Angel was nice enough to snag her bat for her on the way over too, and Bun-Bun…

Well, Charlene barely fit through the ladder hatch, but, Bun-Bun had a nice, temporary home at her place while Aubrey had to manage everything that happened last night and couldn’t go home to check on her and play with her. It’s a good thing she’s so gentle.

Against her better instincts, she uses her phone’s crappy, busted-ass camera to snag a picture here and there as they spend the day.

Angel and THE MAVERICK practicing dumb poses at each other, Charlene crouching nearby some flowers to see whether or not she wanted to pick them or leave them be to grow on their own, Vance and Kim getting into thumb wrestling matches to figure out how they’d split the last of their candy haul…

They were messy, unprofessional, usually badly focused, and the camera’s issues made it difficult as shit to call them anything close to “good”, but, they were hers…

And as the sun dredged low, and as the group had to split up to go back to their parents’ places for dinner time, that was good enough.

Kim and Aubrey are the last pair left alone once everything is said and done for the day, standing next to their respective rides as the distant laughs, jokes, and banter of the rest of the group echo out into the distance.

“… Hey Kim? ‘Fore I go… I just…”

“Yeah, Aubrey?”

“… Thanks. For spending time with me today. For the music and stuff too.”

“I had a feeling you forgot your headphones with everything that happened. Glad I turned out to be right!~”

“… Yeah…”

“Hey, one last thing before we split off for the day!”

“Huh- Eh?!”

With barely any time to react, Kim sweeps an arm around Aubrey, squeezing he close and tight while lifting her own phone up into the air, the relatively undamaged thing snapping a picture of Kim sticking her tongue out and Aubrey’s shocked, red faced blush at being hugged outta nowhere like that before Kim gives the barely taller girl a big squeezing hug, stuffing her phone into her pocket and damn near lifting Aubrey off the ground.

“Picture for picture, send me some of the stuff you tried to sneak pictures of!~ And... I’m not gonna make the same mistake of leavin’ you to deal with all that alone again, okay? I’m still not good at this kinda nerdy touchy feely feelings stuff, but…”

She pulls away, pushing up her glasses with one hand and scratching the back of her head with the other in an attempt to hide her blush at trying to throw up this kind of bravado outta nowhere-

“Th… The candy doesn’t taste right, if you’re not happy, or something!”

“… Kim that might be the cheesiest shit you’ve ever said in your life..”

“Hey-”

“But… Thank you. I think… I’ll be fine, just for now. If anything else comes up, I’ll tell you, okay? Right now, I gotta meet up with Kel and follow up with him on what we’re supposed to do next.”

“Best of luck with your mission, comrade.”

The pair smack their hands together for a firm high five before going their separate ways.

For now…

She had some god damn pizza to get, and a guy too lovably foolish to give up on people to share it with.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #402

“there’s a space kept in hell with your name on the seat  /  with a spike in the chair just to make it complete”

Have you ever had any really infected injuries? Not an injury, per se, but I've had at least one ear piercing get infected during the healing process. Shit sucks ass. Are you popular on any websites? No. What was the last song you listened to? "Savior" by SWARM. Are you considered popular at school? I wasn't. If you could host your own talk show, would you do it? No. I've got nothing interesting to talk about. If you were starving would you eat food out of a garbage can? I honestly don't know if I could with how squeamish I am about sharing food, even with family. And we're talking about sharing food that's been in the TRASH. Do you know anyone who has changed their first name? I do. Which one of your senses would you be the most devastated to lose? I THINK hearing. I hate silence, so that would just be... haunting. I want to be able to hear people's voices and other sounds. Do you know anyone who has been on life support, and survived? I have no idea. Do your parents have a strong relationship together? God no. They're divorced for a reason. Have you ever read any of Charles Darwin’s works? No. If there was such a thing as a mental health first aid kit, what would you want to be in it? Some ice cream and a Mountain Dew bc I'm an emotional eater, my "graduation" pebble from my partial hospitalization program to remember how far I've come, some cold water to run over my face (or drink), my iPod for music and phone to watch YouTube, a nice, big blanket to turn into a burrito in... that kind of stuff. If you’re in a relationship, are you happy? And if you’re single, are you looking for someone? I'm not actively searching for anyone, no. What is something that people make fun of you for? Always being on the computer. It makes me EXTREMELY self-conscious, and I really wish people would keep their mouths shut about it. Which supermarket do you like to shop at? Wal-Mart. Have you ever been told that your boyfriend/girlfriend wasn’t good enough for you? In the past. Do you think it’s okay to flirt with someone that’s already taken, as long as it goes no further? Fuck no. Do you struggle to say ‘no’ to things you don’t want to do? YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP. Someone attractive is staring at you. What do you do? Probably just kinda smile and blush and look down/away. Are you friends with someone a lot of people dislike? *shrug* Favorite photo search engine? Tumblr for gifs, Google or Pinterest for still images, depending on what I'm looking for. Do you doggie paddle or actually swim in a pool? I'll do both, I think? It's been too long since I've swum. Ever made a snow angel? Ye-ep. Would you ever take up smoking? No. I like having operational lungs. Do you laugh at racial jokes? No. Hate to break it to ya, but they're not funny. Book series you enjoyed reading recently? I've been loving Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland, even if I'm reading very slowly. My psychiatrist has given me a new way to approach my hobbies I have difficulty engaging in, so I'm hoping if I keep it up, my rate of reading will speed up! Are there any keys on your keyboard that have letters fading away? Ahaha, yeah... "a," "s," and "d." A true gamer. How "w" is still alive, I couldn't tell ya. Favorite non-chocolate candy? Sour Punch Straws, probably. The red ones, in specific. Last person you texted? My mom. What did you learn from your first job? That I can't work with people. Favorite website from your childhood? I was a Webkinz A D D I C T. Least favorite flavor of food or drink? Cranberry came to mind very quickly. Least favorite pattern? uhhhhhhh Favorite potato food? Either French fries or Lays wavy potato chips. PC or console gaming? I grew up as a console gamer, so I'm kinda biased. Writing or drawing? Don't make me choose!! I get more satisfaction out of drawing something I'm proud of, but I do way more writing. Who would you put before everyone else? My mom, probably. Lamps, overhead lights, fairy lights, or sunlight? Fairy lights are so cute. How many phone numbers do you have memorized? I shit you not, none. What is your third favourite colour? Hm. Maybe rose gold, or lilac. Can you remember your first phone? If so, what kind was it? I'm really not sure, but I WANT to say it was one of those slide-y, compact Blueberry ones? Who is your favourite character from Alice in Wonderland? The Cheshire Cat has always been very alluring to me. What is the last thing you looked up online? The definition to a word just to ensure I was using it correctly. Have you ever had your fortune read? No. I ain't wasting time or money on that shit. Can you read tarot cards? If you couldn't guess from above, I have zero faith in this kinda stuff, so I don't care to learn. Do you prefer lemons or limes? Lemons. I like lime flavoring in some stuff, though. Are your expecting anything in the mail? No. What would you like to see out of your window everyday instead of what you see now? The forest. Do you own a camera? I do, a Canon EOS Rebel T6. Have you ever written a special note in a book? Yes. Early into our relationship, Jason lent me a book to read, and I wrote a lil love letter in it for him. Do you have any artistic talents? I mean I like to think I'm a good writer and a decent artist. Do you remember the last movie you saw while on a date? Yeah, IT with Girt. It was fun because he's a horror pansy, haha. He did fine, though. What would you do if you found out you were pregnant? Freak the fuck out because I haven't had sex in many years, so that thing's coming the fuck out 'cuz it obviously ain't natural. Favorite thing to get at McDonalds? Look man, I'm shameless, I love me a Quarter Pounder w/ cheese. Plus some fries. :x Do you know anyone named Alex? I know multiple people named Alex, actually. Whose house did you last sleep over at? Sara's. In other words, it's been a loooong time.Would you ever record yourself having sex? God no. Like zero judgment to the people that do, but I get NOTHING out of watching others "do it." I've never actually tried watching porn, but I couldn't have less interest. I know I'd hate it, and a lot. Did the vacuum scare you as a child? I don't think it did, anyway. Have you or would you ever use a dating app? One of my most embarrassing secrets is that I was briefly on Christian Mingle. It makes me want to cringe into fucking oblivion. Who are you most nervous about introducing potential significant others to? My dad. He's... a character. What was the most important non-academic thing you learned in high school? That time fucking flies, so cherish every millisecond. Do you and your friends ever talk about your sex lives? Not really. Even when I was sexually active, I was private about that stuff. I don't care if others talk to me about theirs, but odds are I'm not saying much about myself. What were the best and worst interviews you’ve ever had? What made them so good/bad? I've never had a bad interview, but I mean, I've only had I wanna say four in my whole life. None were anything special either, though. Ever put someone else in the hospital? No. Have you ever sold anything on eBay? If so, what? No. What is the best surprise you have ever had? Finding a container of puppy chow underneath the Christmas tree one year. It was my parents' way of telling me we were getting a dog (which I had been nagging them about FOREVER), and next came Teddy. <3 I miss my boy. Is someone in love with you? I wouldn't know. Ever kiss someone on the first date? No. Ever sleep with someone on the first date? That's a hard no. Do you wear cologne/perfume/aftershave regularly? No. Do you snore? No, actually. Pretty astonishing for someone with such severe sleep apnea. When is the last time someone else slept in your bed? When Sara last visited. How often do you dust? Not... nearly enough as I'm supposed to. Mom gets on me about it all the time. What is the most ‘extreme’ activity you have ever done? Ha, nothing wild, I assure you. I guess riding a four-wheeler through the woods once with our former neighbors, who were good friends of ours.. Have you ever rode on a mobility scooter/wheelchair just for fun? Um, no? That's a jackass thing to do. Some people actually need those. Who’s the most controlling person you know? OH MY FUCKING GOD. OUR FAMILY FRIEND TOBEY. EASILY. She seizes control of EVERY situation, even if she has no right to be involved in it. Does anyone keep a photo of you in their purse/wallet, and if so, who? Not to my knowledge. Do you own a microphone? No. Do you enjoy trailers at the cinema? I do! I like arriving in time to see them. Have you ever been burgled? No, thankfully. Have you ever entered anything into Urban Dictionary? If so, what? No. What’s the last live performance you watched on TV? No idea. Have you ever been embarrassed to buy something from a shop? Not to my recollection. It helps that I'm not the one buying things, like ever. What’s the name of one of your friends’ dogs? Buster! :') He's a precious lil bean. Name a pet you definitely wouldn’t want. A GIANT CENTIPEDE. That's one pet in the invert community that I have ZERO interest in EVER owning. Those bitches are scary. Have you ever needed to wear a tie? If so, when/why? Nope.

[watching-pictures-move]

Put On Your Raincoats #15 | Rainbows in the Dark

To the extent that a porn director crossed over to the mainstream, Gregory Dark would be it. Certainly, there have been directors who did one or two porn features early in their careers, like Abel Ferrara, William Lustig and Wes Craven, but they're known almost entirely for their mainstream work. There are also porn directors who did maybe one mainstream movie, like Gerard Damiano, but their careers were relegated to porn for the most part. Dark is the rare director who was prolific on both sides, so to speak, starting with massive hardcore hits like New Wave Hookers, moving on to directing softcore, thrillers and softcore thrillers with some regularity and eventually becoming a popular music video director. My initial plan was to explore the full gamut of Dark's career. I wanted to get a sense of each phase of his work and to see what elements of his style translated across them. Essentially I wanted to understand Dark as an auteur. But then something miraculous happened. I got lazy. (Also I had a muted reaction to some of his movies and became more interested in another director in the meantime.) So I decided to limit my exploration to a few of his early movies and call it a day.

The first one I watched was New Wave Hookers, his best known hardcore title and considered a classic in the genre. What I expected going in and what worked for me can be deduced from the title. Dark's visual style very much brings to mind the "new wave" in the title: big hair, fog machines and neon lighting, all of which are first seen in the opening credits, in which the female talent almost ritualistically present themselves to the camera. There's some stylistic precedent in the work of Rinse Dream AKA Stephen Sayadian (the artist I got more interested in as I delved into Dark's work), but Sayadian's aesthetic feels culled from the art underground. (Dark reuses a few of Sayadian's actors in some of his films.) Dark's style feels more commercial, almost packaged for MTV. (Dark intended his film as a reaction to hardcore porn features of his era, although I'd argue that his choice of camera angles still feels in line with other films of the era.) This is a movie that looks good and, thanks to some choice music courtesy of the Plugz (whose song "Electrify Me" accompanies the opening credits) and the Sockets (who provide the theme song), sounds good too.

What I gelled to much less was the sense of humour. The movie opens with two buddies played by Jamie Gillis (wearing a tie over a t-shirt) and Dark regular Jack Baker shooting the shit and watching another Dark production. ("That fuckin' guy looks exactly like you. Is that you?") Baker starts expounding on his thoughts about pimping and "programming" women to fuck with music. Baker also notes, "a pimp calls a chick a bitch". They doze off, and when they wake up they find themselves inexplicably in an office. Baker is wearing a yellow tracksuit, Gillis is sporting an East Asian accent, and there's a guy on the floor substituting for their phone. (Gillis asks: "Why do we not have a regular telephone?" Baker explains: "He got the power, the second sight.") As the movie proceeds to make good on its premise, wherein women have sex after listening to new wave music, we're treated to a steady stream of racial taunting. Baker grouses about black music being ineffective for their purposes, dropping the N-bomb. Gillis continues with his accent. The two get into racially charged arguments. A middle eastern client is served in a tent and barks like a dog after he's finished. At one point, Gillis wants sushi and is served by Kristara Barrington while East Asian style music plays on the soundtrack. I recognize that a lot of humour from the era is extremely politically incorrect and has aged poorly, but there's something about Dark's use of racist and misogynist humour that feels especially confrontational. I admit I was a bit bothered by all of this.

Still, there are moments of humour that did work for me. One of the headsets that the characters use has dildos protruding from both earpieces (pointing outwards, of course), and the production design, while not always stylish, is at least endearing in its blatant cheapness. To their credit, Baker and Gillis have undeniable chemistry and do sell the material as well as they can. (I laughed when Gillis, when confronted by the vice squad, drops his accent and exclaims "I used to work in your fuckin' office, and now I'm rich, I'm satisfied, and I'm Chinese, you assholes." Am I a bad person? Probably.) And in terms of how it meets genre expectations, I do think Ginger Lynn and Kristara Barrington have a real magnetism in their scenes.

Given the racial content in New Wave Hookers, it probably won't surprise anybody that Dark was a pioneer in interracial pornography. I am not a sensitive enough writer to begin unpacking all the implications of the concept, but I did watch one of his movies in the subgenre, Black Throat. This was a shot-on-video effort and looks considerably cheaper and uglier than New Wave Hookers, but shares some other qualities. It opens and closes with a punk song that references that film as well as Let Me Tell Ya Bout White Chicks, Dark's first interracial feature, and to be honest, the song is pretty fucking catchy. The movie follows Roscoe, a man who wears yellow sunglasses and both a polo and a Hawaiian shirt and his friend Mr. Bob, a talking rubber rat. He's searching through the garbage while arguring with Mr. Bob over what to eat when he finds a business card. "Madame Mambo's House of Divine Inspiration Thru Fellatio!" (All of the characters pronounce fellatio differently. Mr. Bob says "fell-uh-tee-oh" and calls Roscoe a "fuckin' honky", to which he responds "Fuck you, Mr. Bob!")

Roscoe insists he has to find her. "If I don't find her, I'm gonna die!" (When asked why, he responds, "I dunno, it sounded kinda dramatic, I guess.") Mr. Bob enlists the help of a "young urban professional pimp" named Jamal, played by Jack Baker. (He prefers the term "flesh broker" and describes upgrading his diet, clothes and investments.) Roscoe, Mr. Bob and Jamal go from scene to scene, watching other characters having sex in different racial combinations, asking them where they can find Madame Mambo. (Sometimes they ask the characters directly, other times they talk to their private parts.) The best of these scenes, in my humble opinion, is a light domination flavoured sex scene featuring Christy Canyon. Perhaps because of the dynamic, there's an element of actual acting involved here, and because Canyon is, uh, pleasingly proportioned and has a certain magnetism, I found this scene more engaging than the others, at least until it turns into a regular sex scene.

Eventually they go back to Roscoe's place and find a voodoo ritual taking place where a black woman with multicoloured hair (think the George H.W. Bush rainbow wig from the Simpsons, but straight, not curly) is jumping on their bed while a bunch of white dudes in hats, capes and sunglasses jack off around her. This of course is Madame Mambo and at this point the movie makes good on the title while drumbeats and funk play on the soundtrack. Given the premise, this movie proved (thankfully) lighter on racial humour than I expected going in. There is an element of racial critique in Baker's character, and Madame Mambo is certainly exoticized, but the racial content otherwise is limited to the interracial couplings and doesn't overload the dialogue. However, this is a fairly ugly looking movie, shot on video, featuring unimpressive camerawork and lighting as well as extremely cheap looking production design (although the movie does mine this for laughs). I also found the sex scenes overlong and the music a bit repetitive. I imagine if you were jerking off to this back in the '80s it was easier to get through, but trying to watch it now as an actual movie, despite some decent humour throughout, proved a bit of a challenge.

The next one I watched was White Bunbusters, which despite the first half of the title is not particularly racially charged. The theme song here, crooned in the style of early '60s rock'n'roll, explains that the movie is about anal sex, as the second half of the title suggests. We begin with Tom Byron thrusting into his wife Shanna McCullough (while wearing his glasses) only to be disappointed by her refusal to take it in the butt. The next day at the office (decorated by construction paper all over the walls, drawers sketched in magic marker and a crude sign with their business' name "Acme Proctology"), he hears an ad for the "A-Busters", an enterprising duo who will convince your wife or partner to let you put it in their butt. We cut to the A-Busters office and see them in yellow shorts, lime green suspenders and orange baseball caps, fiddling with their hi-tech instruments (which include an "anal listening device"). Soon we see them go to work on Jack Baker's girlfriend, taking a cash payment after the fact.

Meanwhile, Byron's friend Greg Rome hears about his woes and offers to let him fuck his wife Keli Richards (Rome is named Bob and Richards is named Bobette). Of course Byron takes advantage of Rome's generous offer, but later gets annoyed when Rome insists it was a "one time deal". They're interrupted by Jennifer Noxt, who asks about a secretarial position for the law office next door. Rather than correcting her, which would be the right thing to do, they have sex with her, which is absolutely not the right thing to do. ("So do I get the job?" "We'll call you later, baby.") We go back to the A-Busters, who go to work on a pornstar warming up for her first anal scene (the movie is called Hershey Highway to Hell). Eventually, Byron decides to make use of their services, and in the climax, when he's having a nice dinner with his wife (complete with plastic cups and paper plates), they crash the party and get to work. After it's all over, Byron thanks the A-Busters and shakes one of their hands, only to promptly wipe it off on his suit.

This is as lo-fi as Black Throat, and features a lot of raunchy humour, but thankfully no real racial content outside of the title. Perhaps because the focus is on a specific set of acts (threesomes, anal sex, double penetration), the execution seems more consistently energetic. The ratio of the threesomes is a little off from what I prefer, but I was not unmoved by the scenes involving Keli Richards, Jennifer Noxt and Shanna McCullough. I realize there are more dignified ways to spend one's time than watching in its entirety and singing the praises of a movie called White Bunbusters, but sometimes the lizard brain takes over. I feel compelled to report the facts, and the facts are that this is good at what it does. As an actual movie, there isn't a whole lot to this, but were I to rate this on the Peter-Meter as the filmmakers intended, it would fare respectably.

Where Gregory Dark's style and the sum of his provocations really worked for me was in The Devil in Miss Jones 3: A New Beginning and The Devil in Miss Jones 4: The Final Outrage, a two-part odyssey through hell. (Attentive viewers may note that the original Devil in Miss Jones takes place before the heroine is sentenced to hell, but this is not a direct sequel. There is also a second part by Henri Pachard and later sequels directed by Dark that I did not see. The narrative in the third and fourth entries feels pretty self contained.) The movie begins with close-ups of our heroine, played by Lois Ayres, taking a shower while "A Christian Girl's Problems" by the Gleaming Spires plays over the soundtrack, her interiority hinted at with an astute song choice. (It's worth noting that this was not an original song made for the movie.) The structure intersperses her story with a series of interviews with those who knew her: an ex-boyfriend who "had a disagreement about the relationship" (he slept around); a woman speculates that Ayres was "a closet lesbian" and that "she probably went to live in one of those lesbian islands in the Caribbean"; a girl who knew her as a prude back in high school, a priest with a thick accent who offers a eulogy; her brother, who speaks in new age euphemisms and resents that she was the favourite growing up; and a blind ex-boyfriend who claims she was the loveliest person he knew "after Helen Keller". (This last character describes his sex life as very "normal": no peeing or dogs, wouldn't fuck pizzas, etc.) All these people knew her, but they didn't really know her.

The actual story follows her after she breaks up with her boyfriend (over the phone, as he shaves another woman's pubic hair while feigning innocence). She heads for a bar, brushing off a stereotypical black pimp played by Jack Baker who mistakes her for a prostitute, and promptly orders a "taco" (a draught beer, a Bloody Mary, and a draught beer in three separate glasses). Beside her is a man asleep on bar in tuxedo, who turns out to have been stood up at his own wedding. They hook up, leading to a sex scene scored by a blaring saxophone that I assume was practice for Dark's softcore work. The scene ends when the heroine knocks her head against the headboard and wakes up in a pitch black space near a grave. In comes Jack Baker, riding atop a woman, to tell her what the situation is. "You are dead, you got no clothes, and this is hell!"

The rest of the movie follows them going through different rooms, the heroine being unable to comprehend her fate, as they watch the different punishments endured by the denizens of hell. There's the room full of "peepers", virgins doomed to only watch sex for all eternity. (One of them explains: "I showed my tits to a guy to get a Gucci purse. He went off an overpass.") There are characters doomed to fuck until their genitals wear out or are ravaged by venereal disease. Baker gives Ayres a raincoat "to keep the come off", but the moment she forgets about it she finds herself getting gangbanged and promptly has to be rescued by Baker (okay, not that promptly, we get to enjoy this for a few minutes). Along the way we're led to believe from the interviews that the heroine might have a fetish for black men, and the conversation between Ayres and Baker grows increasingly heated and racially charged. This idea culminates in a trip to the "racist room", where a white man with a swastika armband is having a threesome with two women of colour while a white woman is sucking off two black men in tribal makeup. Ayres and Baker have a final confrontation on the subject.

"What about all the black racists?"

"Look bitch, when a black man hits a white man, we don't call it racist!"

"What do you call it then?"

"Smart!"

"That's ridiculous, there are plenty of black racists!"

"No dig, you stupid ass white bitch!"

"Look, you're even one of them, calling me a stupid bitch and a white bitch!"

"We'll you're stupid, you're white and a bitch, so what is your motherfucking problem?"

"You're crazy, negro, and you're one of the sickest people in here!"

"That's right, I'm a crazy negro! I'm so crazy I'll eat my own arm!"

This is a deeply uncomfortable scene, and what follows is even more disturbing, as we learn the true nature of the heroine's relationship with her father, a reveal that Dark plays for maximum shock value in depicting "The Ordeal of the Taboo Breakers".

In some ways this isn't all that different from New Wave Hookers, but Dark's direction seems more purposeful here. The stylized depiction of hell, with its black backgrounds and harsh neon lighting, imbue a real sense of menace into the proceedings. With the exception of two scenes, the sex isn't all that outrageous, but Dark's mise-en-scene has a way of rendering it almost as horror. It's not exactly scary and probably still "does the trick" if you're watching this for those reasons, but there's an undeniable charge here. Likewise, the dark humour and the racial content seem to work in tandem here, and Ayres and Baker really sell their adversarial chemistry. (It's worth noting that even by the standards of the video vixens that appear in Dark's movies, Ayres has an amazing hairdo.) Dark may not have entirely thought out his thesis along these lines, but the movie is provocative in its handling of this content, and unlike New Wave Hookers, not in a way that hurts it. At a combined 2+ hours, this probably runs a bit too long, but it does shape the usual procession of sex scenes into a structure that carries an uneasy momentum that matches the heroine's trepidation. We might not like what we're seeing, but we also can't help but keep looking.

[vangoghmusings]

status | kiego takami x reader

a/n: hello! this is chapter two of my hawks multi part fic. i hope you guys are liking it so far! also, ruisu is an oc inspired by my lovely bb @lilacskyura

previously: chapter one

pairing: kiego (hawks) takami x fem!reader

word count: 1.5k

warnings: cursing, sexual innuendos

links: playlist | wattpad

taglist: @mixfi​ @lilacskyura​ @katsuhoee​ @star-mum​ @moonlightinsanity​ @domhoni​ 

                       ⫷ chapter two: amateur ⫸

"So, we have a special someone who is joining us for the campaign!"

Y/N sat still with her eyes closed while the makeup artist worked on her. It was Friday, the day of the Chanel cologne campaign.

"So its a collaboration?"

Ruisu asked, looking up from her phone. Her black hair was tied back, accentuating her freckled cheekbones. If Ruisu wanted to, she could probably become a model too. However, with her analysis quirk and impeccable sense or organization, she found joy being an assistant, especially to as someone as kind as Y/N.

"Yes, he should be here shortly," The campaign directed replied.

"I should've known, it is a cologne campaign after all," Y/N mumbled while the makeup artist applied the false lashes to her lids.

"He's probably super hot," Ruisu giggled, crossing her legs and turning to Y/N. She simply rolled her eyes in response, sitting up and sipping from her iced tea.

"You know I don't like mixing my love life with work."

"What love life?" Ruisu questioned with a cocked brow. Y/N scoffed and placed her hand on her chest as if she was in agony.

"Ouch Ru, sorry I haven't found anyone up to my standards."

The hairstylist came in and greeted Y/N before getting to work.

"I just think you should put your self out there."

"I'm basically on every other billboard in Japan, how much more out there can you get?"

"I don't know!" Ruisu sighed. "I guess you're just intimidating."

Y/N took a sip from her tea and smirked.

"Good."

The stylist proceeded to brush Y/N's hair and add large amounts of gel to it, in order to attempt a "slick wet" look.

The shoot was supposed to give the look of a sensual shower scene. Glass panels, mirrors, blue lighting, and a steam machine were all prepped. The only thing that was left was semi-nude Y/N and the elusive special guest.

Once the stylist finished with her hair, Y/N stood up, tightening her robe and tossed her empty teacup in the garbage.

"He's here!" The director exclaimed and called Y/N over, Ruisu following.

Walking in and standing next to the director was a tall, tan, and fit blonde. Each step he took radiated with confidence. Y/N crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him. She recognized him right away, and to say she was angry was an understatement.

"Y/N, this is the Winged Hero Hawks!"

Hawks stepped towards you and extended his hand.

"Please, just call me Keigo," He said, his voice like velvet.

Y/N pursed her lips and shook his hand politely.

"I don't work with amateurs so I hope you can keep up," She said tartly, turning on her heel and walking towards the set. Ruisu sighed and faced Keigo.

"Sorry about her, she's not too fond of heroes."

"I can tell," He replied with a slight chuckle.

Kiego was ushered to a change. The staff dressed him in tan boxers that matched his skin, the idea was to look as nude as possible. They began to apply makeup and the artists gushed at having the no. 2 hero in their presence.

Y/N eyed him and scoffed. Ruisu walked over and handed her a bottle of water. Y/N cracked it open and drank.

"You doing okay?"

"Not really," She mumbled while closing the bottle. It wasn't known amongst the media but anyone who was close to Y/N knew she had a deep-seated hatred for heroes.

When Y/N was 12, her little brother drowned at the beach. At the time, She had a broken ankle from soccer and was left with no option other than to call for help. She was sobbing and screaming, unable to help her brother. She was quirkless after all. No heroes came. Eventually, the police came, but it was too late, he had already passed. Y/N constantly beat herself up about the death of her brother. He was only 7 and was gone so quickly. As she got older, she placed more and more of the blame on heroes. No one saved him when she needed their help the most. She had no adults to help her either, her and her brother were adopted by a woman who was well on in her years. By the time Y/N was 18, her adoptive mother was already 74. Ruisu and her mother were the only people she had. Despite her fame, she was incredibly lonely.

Kiego eyed Y/N, who was ranting to Ruisu, while the stylist did his hair. Sure he had seen her on the television, news, practically every billboard in Japan, but he had never truly seen her. He would be lying if he said he wasn't excited when he was told he would be working with her. It appeared to be true what all sources had said about her. She was serious, intimidating, and meant business. But most of all, she was devilishly attractive. Being one of the top models across the globe would make that obvious, but to Keigo the shoots and photographs didn't capture how truly beautiful she looked. It would be safe to say that she was his celebrity crush. He watched as the makeup artist stepped towards her and touched up her skin. She spoke to the staff so kindly and thanked them for every little thing. She was known for being a delight on set but always willing to do her best. That kind of ambition was something Kiego admired. A lot.

"You're all set," the stylist told Kiego. He stood up and walked towards the set. The makeup artist walked over and began to apply oil to his body.

"Oh heh, that's kinda cold," He mumbled. He had done several photoshoots in the past, but nothing as sensual as this. He would be the face of this cologne, a lot was riding on his shoulders- er, wings.

Y/N glared at him and turned to Ruisu.

"This is exactly why I don't like amateurs."

"Oh c'mon be nice-"

"Does it look like I want to be fucking nice right now? They're making me shoot with this moron of a hero-"

Ruisu raised her brow and gestured to the water bottle in Y/N's hand. She sighed and rolled her eyes, opening the bottle back up and chugging.

"Just, be professional. You don't really want hero hater publicized around the world."

Y/N nodded and placed the cap back on.

"I know, I know."

"Okay, everyone! We start shooting in 5."

"Thank you 5!" The staff, Ruisu, and Y/N cheered. She handed Ruisu the water bottle and slipped off her robe. Underneath was a sheer tan two-piece, giving the slight illusion that she was in the nude. Keigo's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets at the sight. She turned to face him.

"You ready?"

Keigo nodded, his usual cocky confidence coming back.

"Of course."

The two stepped onto the set. The photographer came forwards to give his instructions.

"Okay so we want seduction, we want sex, steamy, but make it gorgeous. Yes? Yes."

Kiego nodded slowly, the photographer's French accent making it difficult to understand what he was inferring.

The photographer began to pose the two models. He had Y/N press her hands and chest against a glass panel. He then had Kiego press his chest against her back. He tried his best to hide his blush.

One of the staff members turned on a speaker, playing music to add to the atmosphere of the set. The lights were dimmed and the blue lights were amplified.

"And, ACTION!"

The photographer began shooting, Y/N adjusting her poses slightly. To say she was a professional was an understatement. Behind the camera, she was pure art.

"C'mon Hawks get in there! She won't bite!"

Kiego nodded and placed an arm above her, giving a dominating effect. Y/N posed by resting her head on his chest, her lips parting slightly.

'If this is what she looks like posing, I wonder how she looks-'

"HAWKS! FOCUS! Give me more sex, more arousal! Be the alpha!"

Returning from his daze, he nodded.

"Gladly," He growled lowly.

He lowered his head and bit down on her neck, causing Y/N to gasp from shock.

"YES YES!" The photographer cheered, snapping pictures rapidly. "You own her Hawks! Your scent drives her crazy!"

Y/N tried to stay focused and ignore the misogynistic chants from the photographer. She continued to pose while Keigo became more self-assured, running his hands along the curves of her body. He was beyond happy to be paid to lay his hands all over her.

"Y/N turn! We need a new angle."

She nodded and turned to the side, giving a profile of her curves. Kiego was mesmerized, she was glowing under the blue lighting. She made it all look so easy. Y/N raised her hand to cup his cheek, posing and pressing her lips against the side of his mouth.

"YES YES YES!" The photographer cheered.

After 30 more minutes of posing, the photographer gave them a break. Ruisu tossed Y/N her water bottle as she stepped off the set.

"Hey, do you want to grab drinks after this-"

Kiego's proposal was stopped by Y/N holding up her finger as she drank from her bottle. She let out a cool "ah" and closed the water bottle.

"No." She answered curtly.

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Not What It’s Cracked Up To Be ch.5 (baon)

Summary: Edge and Stretch are finally getting back on an even keel. Edge’s broken leg is healing well, Spring is finally here and the flowers are close to blooming.

Be a shame if anything disturbed their domestic bliss.

Tags:  Spicyhoney, Kustard, Established Relationships, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Fluff, Chickens, Depression

Notes: As a heads up, this chapter includes a depiction of depression.

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

~~*~~

Read Chapter 5 on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

Before Edge was willing to leave the house on what was likely a fool’s errand, he went back upstairs to peek in on Stretch. It was difficult to tell what was going on beneath the tangle of the blankets, but he seemed to be more relaxed from his tight, fetal curl of earlier. Probably sleeping and that was good.

Back in Underfell, his brother’s supposedly laziness used to drive him mad, but coming to the surface world brought a few humbling realizations. Depression was exhausting and so was low HP, and he no longer questioned the need for plenty of rest from any of those he cared about.

A closer inspection showed the blankets rising and falling in even rhythm, deep, slow breaths and Edge let out a near-silent, relieved sigh of his own, hoping that Stretch came out of the other side of sleep at least a little improved.

Edge hesitated at the bedside, wondering if he should leave a note. He decided against it. Stretch had his phone, he could text if he needed anything. Enough dithering about, whatever it was that Red was dragging him out of the house for must be at least a little important, the cameras Edge knew were hidden outside their house surely showed him what happened last night and—

Edge went stock-still on his way out the bedroom door, his hand still on the doorknob as suspicion along with sudden anger welled up in his soul. He closed the door with care and with slow deliberation, he pulled his phone out of his pocket to send a curt text back to his brother, Tell me what this is about.

No response and just as he was about to shove his phone back into his pocket came, awful slow these days, bro. hurry up and you can see for yourself.

His phone creaked in his hand and Edge forcibly loosened his grip, shoving it back into his pocket before he could give in to the childish urge to throw it against a wall. It wouldn’t change a thing except give him the extra headache of being without a phone until he could get a replacement. Red would have his fun and there wasn’t an angry text message in existence that would change that. There was only one way for his niggling suspicions to be confirmed and that was to play the game.

But he would have a thing or three to say once they were done, of that he was certain. Edge snagged his keys on the way out the door and headed out to his car.

The address Red sent him wasn’t more than a ten-minute drive to the mostly abandoned neighborhoods of Old New Home. As he pulled up to the abandoned lot, Red stepped out of a shortcut on the curb, hands in his pockets and his semi-permanent grin wide.

It set Edge’s emotions into a roiling conflict. On one hand, he was very annoyed with his brother, verging on furious if this turned out the way he suspected, and on the other…

On the other, the last time he’d seen his brother, it had started with him lying on Edge’s kitchen floor, bleeding out in his arms, and ended with Sans carrying him away. He looked tired, but that was more normal than not with Red.

Interesting to note that he was not wearing a matching collar to Sans, which meant either Sans had no idea what a single collar relationship symbolized, or he knew all too well and Edge wasn’t taking that thought any further. Brotherly concern was one thing, but he was not interesting in knowing the minute details of their relationship, so long as they were happy.

Speaking of happiness, Red’s grin was practically gleeful as Edge got out of the car. “awful slow, there, bro. gimp leg holding you back?”

“Shut up,” Edge said automatically, even as he limped over with cane in hand, “and start telling me why you dragged me out here.”

The mocking pout was all the more disturbing for being on Red’s face. “what, no hug?”

“I’d attempt it to prove a point,” Edge told him dryly, “but I have enough injuries without you literally stabbing me in the back. What. Do. You. Want.”

Red only shook his head, sighing as if with deep disappointment, ah, he was in a cheerful mood, wasn’t he. “all those years of you harping on manners and i ain’t even getting a how’s it going, how you been feeling, looking a lot better without all your marrow leakin’ out. no love at all, boss?”

If he wanted to play, Edge did still remember the rules. “Very well. How is Sans doing? He looked well when he brought me your report the other day. Is he taking care of any more of your work?”

That smile slipped a fraction. “he’s doin’ fine.”

Edge only looked at him, brow bone raised. If Red wasn’t going to discuss the elephant in the room, Edge would be more than happy to allow it to step on his foot. “I’m only asking as the Director of Operations, literally your boss, as you so enjoy pointing out. I’m sure you understand that it’s important for me to know what work my people are handling. In case there are any liabilities.”

That wide grin turned faintly wry, Red’s crimson eye lights gleaming his amusement. “yeah, fuck you, boss. he’s doin’ real good. decided for some dumbass reason he needs to move in. stupid fucking cat is having a fit.”

“Ah, yes, fuck you, only the very best comeback in your arsenal for me, I’m sure. And I can’t even begin to imagine why he’d want to move into that garbage pit you call a home.” Edge crossed his arms over his chest, glaring down at his brother. “All right, you’ve had your fun. Now, where is she?”

Red barked out a laugh. “oh, very good, little brother, already figured it out, didja.”

“Your puzzles haven’t improved since Junior Jumble, it was not that difficult.”

“not for you.” As far as he was out of his childhood years, hearing that rare tinge of pride in his brother’s voice still made him want to preen. Edge squashed the urge, following as Red jerked his head towards overgrown field behind him. “come on.”

The terrain would have been aggravating even with two perfectly working legs. Having one that sent up threatening warning twinges with every step made it all the worse and the soil was loose and muddy, hard for feet and the tip of his cane. Grimly, Edge follow his brother through the hip-deep weeds, taking sour enjoyment in the fact that they were nearly above his brother’s head.

“she was a bitch and a half to find, i tell you what,” Red said conversationally, shoving his way through the vegetation. Edge supposed he should be grateful Red hadn’t either gone all-out jungle trekking and brought a machete or worse, offered to shortcut them, if only to force Edge to refuse. The very thought of taking one of Red’s shortcuts made his gorge rise. His brother tromped on obliviously, or at least giving a remarkable appearance of it, “this little gal has some tricks. little chickie crossed a lotta roads to get here.”

“Care to explain how you even knew how to look for her?” Edge asked sardonically and it was just as well Red wasn’t looking at him, because Edge couldn’t hide his surprise when he answered.

“sure. i was the reason she was missing to begin with.”

Edge stopped, “What? What the fuck does that mean?!”

“keep your hair on, you want me to explain or not?” Red kept moving and after a moment, Edge followed him, hands clenched into painful fists to keep from reaching out and strangling him. All that would do was waste time and amuse Red all the more, and Edge was trying to keep his contributions to his brother’s sense of humor at a minimum. “motion sensor went off at your place in the wee hours last night.”

“Motion sensors that you are not supposed to have.”

“huh, strange thing,” Red mused aloud, “don’t remember anyone sayin’ i couldn’t.”

“I didn’t think I had to!”

“anywho, went over to check it out.” He paused, swearing under his breath as he picked several dried-up thistles from his jacket without even bothering to flick any in Edge’s direction and utterly ignoring Edge’s visibly simmering impatience. “and i saw some kinda animal with too much fur and not enough feathers to be in your coop. your little lady was outside in the fenced area and close to bein’ a midnight snack. so i scooped her up, but before i could deal with the toothy lil’ problem, your liability came swooping in like a fucking bare-ass bat out of hell, firing bones every which way. i shortcutted out before he could turn me into a kabob. didn’t really mean to take her along for the ride, but i didn’t exactly have a wide selection of options.” Red craned his head to look over his shoulder slyly, “’least the view wasn’t bad. he musta felt me getting ready to clean house and hightailed it down. honey bun has pretty good reaction time. better'n yours."

Edge ignored that. “And you didn’t bring her back afterward because?

Red only shrugged. “couldn’t. she weaseled her way loose the second we hit grass again and took off. spent half the night and all morning lookin’ for the little fucker. once i figured out where she was holed up, i messaged you.”

Edge exhaled slowly, struggling with his temper. “And why didn’t you simply tell me all this earlier? Stretch is sitting at home mourning her and you—"

“and if it turned out she got hit by a car or some shit?” Red countered sharply, “really wanted to go there? figured it’d be better to make sure she had her feathers intact before i got his hopes all up.”

That was surprisingly valid as excuses went, and yet, “You could have told me! At the very least I could have helped you search!”

“think so, little brother?” Red looked at him with enough scorn that Edge had to suppress a flinch, “or you think maybe you woulda told stretch, try and cheer him up a bit? i wanted you to look her over, make sure she's all right first, but hey, you go on and call him right now if that’s what you think is better.”

Edge ground his teeth and said nothing. All the arguing in the world couldn’t make Red understand that this might have been the last thin, straw that broke the back between Stretch and a very dark day. His brother coped with his issues in much different ways, in Edge’s experience usually copious amounts of alcohol. Perhaps Sans would have been able to explain it better. Or perhaps he would have already given in and slapped Red upside the head, it was a fair chance either way.

They kept up through the tall grass. It shushed around them in the light breeze, that rustle the only sound, surrounding them, and his car growing small and distant behind them. Red was panting when they came to a small clearing, leaning over with his hands braced on his knees as he panted out, “here we are.”

There, sitting happily in a trodden down area of grass, was Nugget. She cackled out a greeting, loud in the muffling hush of the grass, but concerningly she didn’t move when normally she would be dancing flirtatiously around Edge’s legs.

“Is she hurt?” Edge demanded. He reached for her, ready to carry her back to the car and straight to a veterinarian.

Red scratched at the back of his skull, “see, that’s the thing—”

Before Edge could pick her up, she let out a warning screech and tried to peck at his hands. He snatched them back, staring down at her in bemused shock.

“—she seems to be in a mood of some sort,” Red finished, “can’t figure it out, she ain’t bleeding and she hadta walk all the way over here on her own. i woulda brought her back to your place when i found her, but she was pretty insistent on stayin’ right there.”

Baffled, Edge ran a Check on her, ignoring how ridiculous it seemed to do on a chicken. Her HP was fine, and he thought it better not to question why she had a LV of 2. “She doesn’t seem hurt.”

He reached out again cautiously, ignoring her pinching little beak attacks against his gloves, and lifted her up. Beneath her, the grass was torn up and arranged into a sort of nest and inside it—

Red crouched down to peer into it, mouth twisting crookedly. “huh. where you figure she got the golf balls?”

“I have no idea.” Standing in a field questioning the intentions of a chicken was not where Edge ever expected to find himself.

Red reached in and pinched a small, white object between two sharpened fingertips, lifting it up from the pile to inspect it despite Nuggets increasingly loud squalls of betrayal. “there’s one egg, anyway. least she’s still layin’ for you.”

Tucking Nugget against his side to stop her squirms, Edge only stared at it, perplexed, and said slowly, “That isn’t one of her eggs. Nugget’s eggs are a pale green.”

“huh.” Red set it back gently into the pile of grass and golf balls, and scrubbed hand over his face. “lemme get this straight. your little mini liability found a random egg in a pile of golf balls and decided to settle in and play momma? that’s what we think’s happenin’ here?”

“Would you like me consult my crystal ball? I don’t speak chicken and you’re the one whose been spying on them.” Nugget was getting increasingly difficult to hold and her forlorn and angry cries were either too heartrending or too annoying for Red to ignore. He heaved a sigh, shaking his head.

“hang on to the little shit,” Red ordered, even as he stepped sideways into a shortcut. Leaving Edge alone in the tall grass with an increasingly distraught chicken.

“Hush, hush, come on now,” Edge soothed, gentle petting what he could reach of her feathers. Her loud clucks dissolved into unhappy coos, looking up at Edge with mournfully beady little eyes. How was this his life, Edge wondered, with weary amusement, catering to the whims of a bird that once he would have seen more as lunch than a pet. He gave her a gentle scritch underneath the chin and she crooned softly, her small eyes closing as she finally settled.

Only to squawk loudly as Red abruptly reappeared, “here we go.”

In his hands was a hanging basket with a spray of flowers only just beginning to bloom from the leafy tendrils. It was rather lovely, definitely expensive, and absolutely did not belong to Red.

“Where did you get that?” Edge demanded.

Red shrugged, “only thing that matters is they didn’t see me.” He dumped the flowers out onto the ground in a sad splatter of leaves and potting soil, then crouched down and began filling it with grass. “c’mon, the joke’s getting’ old and the crowd’s restless, let’s get the show on the road.”

Edge made a mental note to have a much nicer replacement sent discreetly to anyone who complained about a missing floral arrangement and started to crouch down to help. Only for his brother to brusquely wave him back.

“hold the fucking chicken, i got this,” Red snapped. He didn’t look up at Edge, stuffing grass into the basket furiously. “you been standing long enough, last thing you need is to get down here and not be able to get back up. bet that leg is singing an ava maria by now.”

Slowly, Edge straightened, watching silently as Red filled the basket and he didn’t protest his leg was fine, didn’t try to reassure him, only let him make a messy little nest in the basket. He added the golf balls, nestling them into the grass, then hesitated over the egg, finally giving Edge a side eye. “uh. so do we take it or leave it?”

“Take it,” Edge decided. “Perhaps Stretch can do some research and find out what kind of egg it is.”

“it’s your funeral, don’t blame me if you end up with pet crocodile or some shit.”

“Nonsense, crocodiles aren’t native to Ebott. Snakes, however—” He trailed off as Nugget renewed her struggles and leaned down to set her in the basket. She settled immediately, fluffing out her feathers and nestling in. “I suppose that’s that.”

“yep, take ‘er home.” Red stood and stretched, both hands pressed into the small of his back as the joints popped. “by the way, i saw you doing work on the coop. ain’t a bad idea, but you don’t have a fox problem, boss.” His brother straightened and tucked his hands into his pockets, his grin colder, sharper, and in that moment, he could have stepped dusty and damaged directly from Underfell. “’least not anymore.”

He was gone before Edge could even open his mouth to ask.

He was alone again in the tall grass with nothing but a contented chicken for company and his car a painfully long walk away, particularly when lugging said chicken along.

“Thank you, brother,” Edge said, with an equal measure of sincerity and sarcasm. There was nothing for it. Edge heaved up the basket in his free hand and started to struggle his way back through the field.

Time to head home. Home, yes, home, where Stretch was hopefully still asleep, and Edge could only hope that seeing Nugget would shake at least a little of his depression loose. The thought of even a faint smile from his love was enough to make the growing ache in his leg well worth it.

tbc

[let-me-love-you-loki]

Before Too Late (Matt & Nick)

A/N: How the Bucks met their wife. Told from their perspective. 

Nick

           I was exhausted and that was an understatement. We’d just come off a two-week tour in Japan and, almost immediately after our last match, we hopped on the plane back to California. Ten hours later… Matt and I came stumbling into the terminal.

           “You look horrible,” Matt said, looking at the phone in my hand. It was a thing now, recording ourselves on and off the plane for our web show. “Like you’ve been hit by a truck.”

           “Yeah, well, you don’t look any better,” I griped, turning the phone around so I could be seen. I tugged the brim of my baseball cap down. Not even my glasses could hide how bleary my eyes were.

           Matt groaned and rocked his neck side to side, popping the muscles and joints. “I’ve slept three hours in the last day and a half.”

           “I got five, but somebody elbowed me in the face on the plane.”

           “Shut up,” my brother snapped, leading the way toward the baggage claim. He suddenly slowed, and changed direction. I knew exactly where he was heading. “I need…”

 Matt

           “… coffee,” I groaned, making a beeline for Starbucks. Exhaustion, soreness, and jet lag were crashing over me all at once. I ducked into the back of the line, staring longingly at the menu, trying to decide if I was willing to suffer the jitters from an additional two shots of espresso in my coffee.

           “Matt’s feeling a little more human now,” Nick said, hovering over my shoulder with the camera a few minutes later. I was at the bar, stirring milk and sugar into my cup. “He’s got his caffeine, so he’ll be a little nicer.”

           “I don’t know about nice,” I said, taking a sip of sweet, sweet coffee. “Oh yeah, that’s the stuff right there.”

           Nick laughed and headed back toward the main concourse. The clock on the wall said it was half past eleven in the morning. We’d left Tokyo at five in the afternoon. I groaned again, dragging myself along behind my brother. Traveling back from Japan felt like time travel and a Mack truck beating at the same time.

           “Dear God, tell me you’re driving,” I said as I caught up with Nick. He pointes his phone at me again. Sometimes I hated the fact that we’d started this whole Being the Elite web show. Nick always had his camera in my face. “I will literally drive us off the I-10.”

           “We really should move closer to LA,” Nick replied, tucking his phone back into his pocket. Thank God, I thought as I downed another gulp of coffee. “It sucks flying for ten hours and then having to drive another to get home.”

           I fell into the group around the baggage claim, eyeing the conveyor for our bags. “You got LA money? You selling merch behind my back or something?”

 Nick

           I stuffed my hands into the pocket of my hoodie and rocked back on my heels. “I know. But you’re not the one putting miles on your car. That Nissan isn’t going to go forever the way we run it.”

           Matt rolled his eyes and waved me off. “Nick, we both know that when we’re home, we sleep and play videogames. We’re not driving all over California unless we have to.”

           “Here come our bags,” I said, tilting my head toward the belt now spewing luggage. My black hardcase came rolling out first, covered as it was with stickers. I edged my way to an empty space on the belt and snatched it up, grunting when I swung it down to the floor. Matt’s silver one came along not far behind, and I grabbed it too.

           “The Nissan awaits,” my brother said, holding his coffee up in a salute.

           We slumped through the terminal and out into the bright California sunshine. I squinted behind my glasses as I led the way across the street into the parking garage. Matt took a few step detour to toss his now empty cup into the garbage. Once we got to the car, I popped open the back door and lifted up my suitcase.

           “This thing feels twice as heavy as it did in Tokyo,” I grunted, trying to muscle it up into the back seat.

           Matt shoved his suitcase in from the other side. He stood up and raised a brow. “Nick, since when do you have Fall Out Boy stickers on your suitcase?”

           “What?” I looked down and quickly noticed that I’d mistaken the band stickers for my wrestling ones. “Crap. This isn’t…”

 Matt

           “… your bag,” Matt said, leaning against the hood of the car. “Now we have to go all the way back inside and try to find yours. It’s a good thing we put the belts in my bag, huh?”

           “Shut up,” Nick snapped, tugging the suitcase back out of the car. “I’m too tired for this.”

           I came around the car and looked the bag over. I pointed at the handle. “There’s a tag on it. Maybe it’s got a name?”

           Nick turned it sideways and dug his phone out of his pocket. He tapped in the number and clicked the speakerphone. It rang about five times before it went to voicemail.

           “Hi, you’ve reached Y/N. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you. Have a wonderful day!”

           I folded my arms over my chest and grinned. “Sounds cute,” I teased.

           My brother glared at me from beneath the brim of his cap as he opened a text message and tapped the number in again. I watched over his shoulder as he typed out a message.

           Hi, I think I grabbed your bag by accident just now in LAX. I can meet you at the security station to give it to you.

           He snapped a picture of the bag and sent it as well.

           We leaned against the side of the car, waiting for a response. I wanted to go home and pass out. Waiting around for someone who had probably already left—

           Ping!

           Nick looked down, reading the message and grinning. “She’s still here. Look.”

           He turned the phone toward me, where I saw her number and the picture she’d sent of Nick’s bag. “Let’s go then.”

           “Get in the car,” my brother said, tossing me his keys. “It’ll just take a second.”

           I nodded, feeling my brow go back up. “Hell no. You’ll get lost on the way back.”

           He threw a punch, hitting me square in the bicep. I did my best not to flinch as we headed back to the terminal, dragging the accidental suitcase behind us.

 Nick

           I jogged across the main lobby of the terminal toward the security station. Matt was practically strolling behind me. It was surprising since he had been so desperate to get home. A few feet from the station, I stopped and looked around, trying to spot my bag among the people gathered nearby.

           Finally, I saw it sitting at the feet of one of the most beautiful girls I’d ever seen. She leaned against the security counter, tapping away on her phone. I heard the ping! in my pocket and grinned. Her number popped up on the screen with a message telling me that she was waiting at the counter.

           “Holy…” Matt stopped next to me. I didn’t have to follow the line of his gaze to know he had spotted her, too. “She’s not cute at all. She’s…”

           “Beautiful,” I said, tapping a quick message back telling her I was in a ball cap and glasses.

           I watched her, my pulse quickening when she looked up, eyes searching the crowd. When she saw me, she lit up in a smile that…

 Matt

           … took my breath away. She was stunning. Knock-down-break-my-heart-it’s-okay kind of stunning.

           I swallowed hard and looked sideways at Nick. He looked much calmer than I felt. He had confidence in his stride as he walked toward her. I trailed behind, feeling strangely sick. She was so pretty that I couldn’t think straight.

           “Hi,” my brother said, holding out his hand to her. “I’m Nick Jackson. This is my brother, Matt.”

           She turned a million-watt smile at me, making her eyes light up until they snapped like gemstones. I took her hand. All I could think was that she had a strong shake and soft hands.

           “I’m Y/F/N Y/L/N,” she replied. “It’s lucky I’ve got that tag. Otherwise this would have been a disaster. There’s nothing on yours.”

           “I keep telling him to get one, but he doesn’t listen,” I said suddenly, stuffing my hands into my pockets.

           Y/N giggled and looked down at her phone. “Nick Jackson, you said?”

           Nick nodded. From the corner of my eye, I could see the faint blush on his face. She was quiet for a moment as she tapped on her phone. Then she looked up at both of us then deftly swapped out the suitcases.

           “Keep in touch, Nick and Matt Jackson,” she said with a grin before walking away.

           My brother and I stood, slack jawed, and watched as she disappeared into the crowd of people. I pulled out my phone and quickly added her number to my contacts. She’d said keep in touch.

           Give it a day or two, I thought…

 Nick

           … Then I’ll see if she wants to have dinner.

Tag List

@mox-made-me-do-it​ @not-that-kinda-gurl08​ @lilred91​ @imagineall-the-fandoms​

[darkhymns-fic]

A Little Opera Goes a Long Way

Colette Brunel has finally moved on from her pop-idol group to more freely sing what she wants, while famous YouTube star, Lloyd Irving went from playing covers on video to going on the big stage. It was only a matter of time before they teamed up and made a hit single.

But what happens when stage fright becomes a problem?

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters/Pairing: Lloyd Irving/Colette Brunel, Presea Combatir Rating: G Mirror Link: AO3 Notes: Slightly obsessed with idol colloyd helped by this art by @frayed-symphony! Would love to write more on this universe when I have the time.

-

The crowd outside was getting louder. 

They had been growing within the past few hours, and if she peeked out just enough, she could see the multitude of rave sticks and cell phones that lighted each wave from the fans. Colette was used to it – she had heard it so many times! Except, it was different now. Everything was different.

Colette didn’t typically perform in Palmacosta. The port city was a long way from her usual tour gig with her group, mostly going around Tethe’alla, starting out from Meltokio before going back. But the Governor had been more than pleased to let the concert go underway, a stage already being built before it had even been requested! More truth to the very idea that the new single had been such a hit.

When she had arrived, she had heard the ocean rushing across the shore, the beaches filled with with so many people. How nice would it have been to walk across the sand, but there was already so much to prepare for. Would she even have the energy to want to go in the evening?

Colette stood within a small corner, being as small as she could while other professionals scattered all around to get everything ready. Sound check, mic check, light check, special effects check, making sure there were no sudden dips on the floor for when they would perform, that no stray excitable fan had snuck their way backstage to meet the band. (This always happened with Alice though, so Colette didn’t think it would be much of an issue now?) 

Everyone was working their hardest to get things ready and perfect – and all they asked was that she would do the same.

As Colette messed with her green ruffled sleeves, her heartbeat took over the noise. Soon it was all she could hear, all she could even think about! What if she tripped on stage? (Again!) What if she reached a wrong note in her part of the song?

What if she only ruined things for…

“Colette?”

The backstage was dark, most of the technicians still further off into the sides, busy fiddling with the lights, the special effects that would take place. She saw the dazzling flash of the red lining of Lloyd’s outfit before seeing Lloyd himself. He must have found her the same way in the corner – her green and white ensemble a unique look, reflective gold bouncing off the eyes.

“Hey, are you okay? Sorry, they kept me stuck in the dressing room just to get all this stuff on.”

“Oh! I’m fine, it’s just… the usual pre-stage jitters, hehe.” Colette instantly smiled, winking at Lloyd with all the practiced flair of her idol persona. Although, she wasn’t supposed to be in that role now… She was being herself this time. Just Colette. With Lloyd. And…

“Ah, yeah? I’m kinda getting those too!” Lloyd laughed, and she heard the shakiness within its tone. It made sense for Lloyd. He had only performed a few times in front of an audience, and they were usually much smaller. His black gloved hands reached to pull back at his hair. “The uh, crowd is really loud, isn’t it?”

“Y-yeah! But that’s a good thing!” She knew it was a good thing! So why the sudden beating of her heart. Could she really be this nervous? She kept pulling at her ruffles, they were all uneven! And so wrinkled! But wait, weren’t they supposed to be?

Then she saw Lloyd reach out to her…head? She felt his fingers briefly touch her hair, feeling warm.. “Your hat’s gonna fall off!”

“Huh?” Colette blinked. “Oh, it’s supposed to be tilted like that! And it’s held to my hair with a pin.” She bowed her head slightly for Lloyd to observe. “See?”

“Ohh.” Lloyd nodded. “Sorry, I was wondering how it was staying on!”

“Yeah! I’ve worn it before with my group…and sometimes we have to do dance routines so they make sure it stays on tight!” Colette pressed down on her skirt, still seeing wrinkles and dust and whatever else. Or maybe it had just been the lights… but wait, wasn’t it dark here?

She felt Lloyd’s eyes on her still, so she turned back to him, because her heartbeat was less distracting when she looked at him. Even if it still beat so much, its rhythm so steady. “I guess I’m not used to it,” Lloyd was saying. “This outfit feels really…uh, bright?” And maybe he was right, for the rose pinned on his front lapel was such a loud red, right over his heart. More than once had Colette wanted to reach out and touch it. Whoever had designed his costume had really put thought into all its details.

“It’s because of me. Remiel says I need to keep my image…” She was already on the search for a new one, as her producer was being even more controlling than usual. It had taken so much just to get this show to happen, her producer trying to block each step of the way. “I’m sorry, I really wanted it to be casual instead.”

“Heh, that’s okay though! I like that we kinda match, you know?” And when he grinned, even within the darkness of backstage, the sounds from outside reverberating the very floor they were on, she thought she felt everything stand still. “And…man, I’d wear anything just to perform with you!”

“Really?” she asked, still stunned. Star-struck. Completely and utterly. His outfit couldn’t match to his smile.

“Yeah! I still can’t believe we wrote something together!” His voice carried well through the noise surrounding them. And soon everyone would hear that voice, along with hers. Was it selfish of her to want to keep it for herself?

When in the studio together, working on their song, it had almost felt like he was singing only for her, his fingers moving over the guitar strings with barely a glance to them. To have such a voice and to play an instrument too… Why was he wasting time with her?

“Yeah, I’m so happy we did,” she said, still feeling her nerves jitter all around. “And… everyone will finally get to hear it too!”

At that moment, there was some feedback sounding off from stage, distracting her slightly. But experience told her it was a few stagehands probably setting up speakers, making sure none of the wires would get in the way of their feet. They would still need to wear their mics later, and hopefully she wasn’t already wearing them and talking into it without realizing it was on, like she would do a few times before…

She shook out her hands a bit, while keeping her feet still. Her ruffles still looked so uneven, so wrinkled and frayed and… “Maybe I’m more nervous than I thought,” she finally admitted.

She waited for the moment for when Lloyd would be disappointed with her. Like the other members of her group would be, like her producer, and-

The same gloved hand, but now on her shoulder, forcing her eyes back up. Some of the lights started to flicker backstage, along with a shouted instruction from one of the technicians. They dazzled off Lloyd’s red cape, off the golden filigree that decorated the trim of his jacket.

“Hey…” he said, smiling still. She saw a little tinge of nervousness too, but not with the frustration she was used to seeing from so many people. “I’m still here.”

She nodded. “Yeah…yeah!” She nodded again, then felt she was doing it too much. “Sorry… I’m supposed to be used to this. I should…” Be the one to help you through this instead. How strange was it that the experienced pop singer would need comfort from someone who was still starting out?

“We…still have like 20 minutes before we go on,” Lloyd said, looking back towards the stage that was still out of sight for them, if not out of sound’s reach. “Wanna hang out in my room till then?”

Something about the way he said it got her breath hitched in her throat. But at least with all of her stage experience, she recovered pretty quickly. “Oh, I guess we could! Did you want to rehearse or…?” Sometimes she’d do so with her band, usually on Alice’s insistence which usually just turned into fights with Marta…

“Yeah, come on!” That same gloved hand moved down to grip her own, guiding her from the backstage to the hall. 

Passing a few concerned lookers (Colette hoped no one would think to pull out a camera), Lloyd soon took them to a door. There was a piece of paper on it with his name printed roughly. And also… a drawing?

“Oh! Is that supposed to be you?” Colette asked, recognizing the features, giggling at the exaggerated smile she had long grown to like.

“Agh, why’d he put it here too?” Lloyd blushed furiously as he quickly took it down from the door. “Stupid Zelos… sorry, I know it looks dumb.”

“It’s cute!” Colette announced. “Your friend is a good artist!”

“Is… are you sure about that?” But after crunching up the little poster into a paper ball and tossing it in a nearby garbage can, Lloyd tugged her inside the dressing room. “Anyway, I thought it would be good to get away from all the noise.”

“Thank you, Lloyd,” she said gratefully. 

His dressing room was a bit bare, much of it just some bags that he had taken on the trip, still in the luggage. Hanging on the wall, she could see the red jacket she saw him wear to his own shows, more casual than what he was made to wear right now. It looked so loose and comfortable. How nice it would have been to wear something like it too.

“…Also, I guess I wanna sit for a while first,” Lloyd confessed, sitting in his chair just then. Colette made sure to not mention that the same portrait of his face was also drawn on the back of the chair, though she still couldn’t help a giggle or two.

“So, which song should we practice first? ‘Star Shining’ might be an easy one to start with… Or maybe ‘Almateria’? Sorry, I should have thought it through before!”

“Huh?” Lloyd blinked up at her. “Uh, no I didn’t mean we should rehearse actually!”

“Oh…then what are we doing here?” Colette felt so genuinely curious.

“To relax, dork!” Lloyd said with a smile. Then that same smile turned a bit softer, his eyes flicking to the right side of him. She hadn’t caught sight of the instrument at first. “Well… I mean if you wanted something like that, it doesn’t have to be both of us, you know?”

She was only getting more confused by the minute! Was this Lloyd’s way of saying he didn’t want to perform with her on stage? “But both of our names are on the listing…” She brought her hands up, fingers pressing together nervously. “I mean… if you really wanted though, I can step out…”

“What? I…don’t know what you mean, I just meant I wanted to sing for you!” Lloyd reached over to grab the guitar that had been laying carefully by his seat. His fingers were already brushing across the strings, eliciting a few sounds that echoed around her.

She took that phrase to heart, hands now clasped together, the ruffles along her skirt, her arms, her shoulders, less on the forefront of her mind. “Sing for me?”

Lloyd nodded, adjusting the small pegs on the end. “Whenever I get nervous about stuff, sometimes I just play whatever. Um, guess I got it from my dad. He’d sing to me when I was little. Oh yeah, and he plays a pretty mean harmonica!” He was grinning again, planting both feet on the ground as he better fit the guitar on his lap.

Colette had never met Lloyd’s father, but the image of a younger Lloyd already tickled her. But she made sure not to mention it, because that would certainly be strange, wouldn’t it? “That’s…but you shouldn’t have to do this for me. I’m used to this…”

“Colette,” Lloyd called out to her, and she faced him again. 

His white jacket and the red rose hanging from it, black gloves already moving over the strings so deftly, just as it did in the studio that one day they had taken a chance, leaving all other obligations just to finally sing their song together after so many email exchanges and video calls. “Let me sing for you.”

She stood still. She had heard his voice dozens, hundreds of times. She had heard him through those videos before he’d get famous, hair disheveled, and his unbuttoned jacket hanging off his shoulders. His own album sat on her shelf back at home, the cover art for it so different from anything else she had seen. (So many stars and rainbows! With a nice drawing of a boy and his dog there too…) In all of those times, she liked to imagine he was singing for her.

“Okay,” she finally said, leaning against a counter, her skirt just making a tiny rustling sound as she shifted. “Um, what are you going to sing for me then?”

“Something my dad would sing to me,” Lloyd said. She thought his cheeks had gotten even redder. “So uh, don’t laugh too much. I can’t pronounce all the words right yet.”

“I won’t. I promise.” And she really did promise that. She didn’t want to ruin that smile.

The strum of the guitar, followed by his sound, by Lloyd, had always felt truer to her than anything else.

-

Only a few minutes later, a knock on the door echoed in the room. Luckily, the notes from Lloyd’s guitar had been on their very last. “Uh, come in?” he called out, his voice still within that range from before.

Opening the door, a small lady appeared. Her sharply pink hair was in contrast to the dark-hued clothes that most of the backstage hands wore. She wore a headset, and apparently one of the giant headlights in one hand – the kind that usually weighed a ton. “Five minutes until curtain time.”

“Presea!” Colette called out to her old friend, waving at her. “I didn’t know you were working here too.”

“I heard you would be performing, so I requested to join.” Presea shifted the headlight to better fit her grip. “Do you have your mics ready?”

“Yeah!” Lloyd went to retrieve his from his pocket while Colette did the same, but Presea had gone up to them, reaching to adjust it before silently requesting for both to bend down so she could have a better hold.

“I can stall if you need. But the crowd wants you.” Presea turned away after making sure the mics were pinned correctly to their clothes. Still, Colette caught a small smile from her. “I’m looking forward to hearing you both sing together.”

Presea already left, and soon it was just Lloyd and Colette in the room, their smiles wide and excited. From the concert, from the music still bouncing around in their heads.

“Still jittery?” he asked, taking the strap of the guitar to finally pull across his back.

“Yeah! But it’s the good kind now!” Colette was standing on her toes, swaying with the beat she still remembered. “You always sing so good.”

“Ah, it was just…like a lullaby, basically.” That flush again, and she wanted to believe it was because of her. So maybe, for at least tonight, she could. “But if you liked it, then I’m happy then.”

“I am! But…I’m also happy we can sing our song live now.” She turned to him, Presea already disappearing into the swell of the backstage darkness. Colette stepped out the door, but not too far off without her partner by her side.

“Heh, yeah… I’m still really surprised Goodness and Love was such a hit though!” With that, he followed Colette out of the dressing room, both heading towards the sounds of the crowd.

“Hm, I knew it would be,” she confessed, her heart racing. Jitters. But the good kind of jitters.

“Oh? How’d you know?” And somehow, in the way he asked her, she wondered if he suspected what she was about to say… So maybe it was okay.

“Because it’s you.” That was all she would say, teasingly sticking out her tongue before taking his free hand and rushing out with him on stage. But always making sure she didn’t trip them both.

Lloyd was grinning so wide once they came out under the lights, the glare setting the red dancing on his outfit, the green on hers. The crowd was loud, but there was only one voice she would listen for.

-

.

.

.

Everything was so loud, so fast and so much. This wasn’t just like singing out in front of the yard, or to any of his friends that happened to swing by home for a visit.

Lloyd was completely out of his element. 

Backstage, as he tried not to get in the way of other professionals, Lloyd gripped the handle of his guitar case, wondering if maybe he had just made a huge mistake. He was by himself, his so-called producer chatting with some other people in the field, (or just woman he spotted honestly), and he couldn’t bring Noishe along, even if the dog was on the album…He’d only get frightened by all the noise, and for once, Lloyd couldn’t blame him.

“Ugh, shouldn’t have let Zelos convince me…” he muttered to himself. The guy had clear dollar signs in his eyes when he told him about where he would perform. ‘You’re a big hit now! Don’t waste it!!’  

Lloyd knew he’d do better by just crawling into a hole. Any confidence he had hours ago seemed to have evaporated once reality set in.

It was just when he heard the rest of the lineup and …. He had been stupid to think that would matter. Wouldn’t he just embarrass himself on stage? Then she would see…

“Hi, are you Lloyd?”

He turned at the sound of her voice. Was it pathetic of him to have already recognized it then? He had heard her voice a hundred times, picking it out from the chorus of other voices, of other people…

Colette Brunel stood before him, wearing a green skirt, with frilly ribbons in her hair. She had a microphone in her hand, which seemed to echo with feedback suddenly when she held it a certain way. Once Lloyd flinched from it, she hurriedly turned it off.

“Ah, sorry! I didn’t mean-“

“You’re Colette…” he said, already kicking himself for interrupting her. But his brain was going into overdrive, catching up with every admirable thought he had of her. “From the Angels group!”

“Oh! Yeah, hi! We’re performing too. The other girls are still getting ready to go on, so, I wanted a chance to talk with you!” She sounded quieter as she spoke, eyes cast downward. “I probably should have brought them with me, I’m sorry.”

“N-No, it’s okay…but…you know me?” He still couldn’t quite believe it.

“Yes, of course! I’ve watched your videos! I think they’re so good!” And with the way she spoke to him, he could almost believe it. That she liked his songs. She liked them. “I… I just wanted to let you know that your music is… it’s something I’ve needed to hear.” A pause. “Would you ever want to-“

“Colette! We’re on! Hurry up!”

“Ah! Okay, sorry, Alice!” Colette turned around briefly to wave away someone else. Lloyd recognized them too… but he’d never been a fan of that girl in the group. “Sorry, I need to go. But… I hope you keep writing your music! I, I really like it.”

If Lloyd died at that moment right then and there, even before he ever got a chance to perform, he’d be satisfied. For Colette to come up to him and tell him all this… “I… T-Thanks! I don’t…know what to say…”

Colette smiled, gripping her microphone, her ribbons bouncing with her motion. “Just, I hope to keep hearing you sing.” Another shout from way back, making Colette shudder. “Sorry, but good luck!”

And gone like that, disappearing into the crowd, into the bright lights and sound that made up this terrifying world Lloyd found himself in.

Yet the nerves passed through him, and his cheeks ached from smiling. I’ll sing…but for you then. But before he would go over his song, he’d sneak a glance at Colette’s routine, eyes for her, voice for her, and the crowd encompassing it all.