#not having comments to boost my morale was extra noticeable

[amtrak12]

.

[fandoms-are-my-friends-1321]

Adoring Stands

Here’s another JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fanfic! I love Mista with my whole heart, and I came up with this idea the other day and had to write it down. As always gif and characters are not mine, and if anyone would like to make a request, please feel free to ask!

Description: Guido Mista’s stand, Six Bullets, absolutely adore the reader, and they love to show the bullets affection in return. When Mista tries to rest after an exhausting mission, he is greeted by an adorable sight.

Warnings: cursing, mentions of fighting and violence from the mission, otherwise none (if I miss something though, don’t be afraid to point it out!)

After a successful mission, the Bucciarati gang loved to go back to the Libeccio for a five course dinner. Bruno spared no expense when it came to boosting the moral of his comrades, and each person took their seat in their usual spots. Abbachio sat to Mista’s left, his headphones playing classical music as he drank from his wine glass. To Mista’s right was Y/N L/N, the newest member of the team, followed by Fugo and Narancia. Bruno and Giorno sat across from Y/N and Mista.

“Excellent work today, Y/N. I must say your fighting skills continue to impress me.” Bruno commented as he took a bite from his garlic bread.

Y/N gave a slight smile as they bowed their head in respect. “Thank you, Bucciarati, but the mission would have failed without the help from the rest of the team.”

“Come on, don’t be so modest! You totally kicked that stand user’s ass.” Mista playfully nudged Y/N in the ribs, and they returned the favor by punching him in the shoulder. Narancia snickered at Mista and Y/N’s antics, and the rest shared knowing looks. The chemistry between the two of them had always been present, and the others loved to tease Mista about when he would make an actual move.

“What are you laughing at, uomo idiota?” Mista asked as he glared at Narancia. 

The younger boy laughed even harder as he twirled spaghetti around on his fork. “It’s nothing, Mista. You’ll figure it out eventually.”

The group continued to eat in silence, or it was silent until Mista’s stand, Six Bullets, complained about their own hunger. They all tried to climb up onto Mista’s plate to steal some of his food, except for Number Five, who had been punched by Number Three and knocked back onto the table. Number Five rubbed his swollen gold cheek as he started to cry, but Y/N quickly scooped them up into their hand.

“Easy now, Number Five, there’s no need for tears. Number three may pick on you, but you are just as valuable as the other bullets. Here, I saved you a little something.” Y/N offered part of their tiramisu cake to Number Five, and the bullet squealed happily as it pulled the dessert off the fork. Number Five quickly shoved the coffee-flavored cake into their mouth before the others caught them in the act.

Number Five hurried back to the group, and they whispered to Number One the kind deed that Y/N had done, hoping to earn some brownie points with the leader of the group. Of course, this wasn’t the first time that Y/N had slipped the Six Bullets desserts or extra snacks on the side apart from what Mista gave them, but it still excited each of them every time.

One by one, the other bullets sneaked off to steal some tiramisu from Y/N, trying their best not to catch Mista’s attention, but he wasn’t a fool. “Y/N! I told you not to sneak extra snacks to these guys! The last thing they need is coffee, especially since I will be the one dealing with the aftermath.” Mista shook his head, but Y/N simply giggled as they looked towards the Six Bullets.

“Do you all promise me you won’t trouble Mista? I would appreciate it if you take it easy on him, and if you behave, I might be able to spare a macaron or two.”

“We promise, Y/N!” The bullets replied in unison, causing Mista to shake his head at them, but Y/N noticed the start of a smile on the Italian’s face. After lunch came to a close, the Bucciarati gang headed back to their secluded hide out to rest. Bruno told them that it would be better if everyone lay low for a while in case other enemy stand users were still searching for them. Fugo and Narancia sat down on the couch in the common room of their hideout since Fugo promised that he would help Narancia with arithmetic problems. Bruno sat at the table by the window drinking a cup of tea and recording the details of the mission. Abbacchio sat across from Bruno listening to Monteverdi, taking a moment to reach across the table and take hold of Bruno’s hand. The capo smiled at the gesture and rubbed his thumb against the back of Abbacchio’s hand. Giorno worked on trimming a bonsai tree that had been a basket a few moments earlier before he transformed it with Golden Wind. The atmosphere radiated with tranquility, that is until Mista started pacing the floor.

The flirty interaction between him and Y/N was not the first, and yet the more time that passed the more that Mista felt something growing deep in his chest. It felt warm and comforting, but at the same time it made his stomach twist into nervous knots. The others told him numerous times that the feelings he experienced each moment he stood beside Y/N was love, but Mista still had some uncertainty. What if Y/N flirted with him for fun? It wouldn’t be the first time someone played with his feelings and left when boredom took over. “I’m going to go lay down for a while. Maybe some rest will help clear my head.” Mista walked down the hall and opened the door to the room he typically slept in.

Mista expected to see an empty bed, but the sight in front of him made his heart leap with joy and astonishment. Y/N laid on their back, their favorite blanket tangled over their legs as their eyes remained closed. The Six Bullets were curled up on Y/N’s chest, also in deep states of sleep. Number Five snored lightly as they nuzzled into the soft fabric of Y/N’s shirt. Mista grinned from ear to ear at the sight in front of him, and he thought to himself that this moment was sweeter than the chocolate cake he had for dessert that afternoon.

Trying his best not to wake Y/N or any of the Six Bullets, Mista crept over to the dresser and sat his hat on the oak furniture, running a hand through his curly locks. He crossed over to the side of the bed that looked the most spacious and settled into the spot. Mista leaned over and lightly touched Y/N’s shoulder. “Hey, you’re hogging my bed, bellissima.”

Y/N let out a groggy mumble as they opened their eyes. Their chest felt heavier than usual, and as soon as they looked down to see what was causing the weight difference, they noticed that the Six Bullets were still snoozing away. “I’m so sorry, Mista,” Y/N apologized. “I thought you were busy, and these guys were ready for their nap, so I offered them a comfortable place to rest. It appears I dozed off myself.”

Mista brushed the back of his knuckles against Y/N’s cheek, causing them to blush. “No need to apologize, especially after the ass kicking you did during our mission today. You deserve the rest, and clearly my Six Bullets are in the same boat.” It was Mista’s turn to blush as he glanced away to look out the window. “They really seem to like you Y/N, adore you is more accurate, and they aren’t the only ones who adore you with all their heart.”

Y/N gasped at Mista’s confession, but they could feel their heart swell with joy from his sentimental words. Y/N had developed feelings for Mista months ago, but after so many failed relationships, they thought that it would be impossible for someone like Mista to reciprocate the feelings. They reached for his hand, and Mista turned back to face Y/N. “I think you should lay down and rest a while too, Mista. I would say that you look even more attractive when you are exhausted, but I wouldn’t dare lie to the person I’ve had a crush on for months.”

A chuckle rumbled from Mista’s chest as he reclined on the bed and wrapped an arm around Y/N’s waist, pulling them closer into his warm embrace. The Six Bullets seemed to enjoy the extra warmth from Mista’s sweater as well, and for once in a long time, Mista felt at peace. “I’m glad to hear that you would not lie to me, tesoro, because now that you have confessed your feelings too, I will be by your side for as long as I live.”

Tag list: @pansexualtimcurryvampireelf

Y/N hummed as their eyes drooped shut, sleep taking over once again. Mista fell into his own peaceful dreams, but none of them could compare to his current reality where his dream had already come true.

[dilucids]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤCelebrity crush, Genshin boys idol! au

admitting you're their celebrity crush and their reaction to your reaction

includes: kaeya, diluc, zhongli and xiao

( can't stop thinking about idol! au genshin. any type of celebrity but it's hinted that you're a singer in xiao's. )

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 KAEYA ALBERICH ━━ FROSTWIND SWORDSMAN 〕

━━ this man is sooooo fucking slick with it.

━━ he'll slyly bring it up in an interview or a live with a smirk on his face and then act as if it never happened when someone questions him.

━━ his members just stares at him when he brings you up, knowing, that beneath that sly persona and nonchalant act, there was millions pounds worth of fan merchandise in his room.

━━ he would evade the subject and if it's an interview, the host would have to pry answers from his members instead as he sits there proudly with a smile on his face as his members tell his fan behaviour instead of him.

━━ in a live, he would somehow convince his fans they were hallucinating but someone would post the clip and everyone would just go ballistic, it'd be one of those "top ten things i can't believe kaeya managed to get away with: gaslighting his fans into believing they were crazy."

"Who's your favourite celebrity?" Kaeya reads out from the comments passing quickly through his Instagram live, he pretends to think. A smile forms on his face when he 'decides' on an answer, "probably [Name]."

He watches the comments speed through even quicker before changing the subject, dropping the matter as if it never happened. His fans are all freaking out though, wanting to get more details on his crush on the celebrity but Kaeya ignores all comments about the subject. They never die down though, only ending when Kaeya himself ends the live.

━━ you may have ended on the same show some time after him and the host brings it up ( 100% planned for views ).

━━ it makes you smile because you've already been informed about this topic by your fans and kaeya's.

━━ you'd end up thanking kaeya for the support and say that you've also been lowkey a fan of his group but you've never openly stated that to anyone.

━━ his fans and your fans immediately get to work and start tagging kaeya's insta/twitter, group and personal, under the clip of you shyly admitting you're a fan of his also and he goes mental.

━━ probably sits there watching the entire interview with a huge smile on his face, and it doesn't leave, not even after he finishes the interview ( bonus: diluc is very disturbed ).

━━ HUGE ego boost for the rest of the day. kaeya's normally very confident but he's extra confident, like starts strutting around like he's the shit and even had the balls to nod his head at diluc as if to say "what's up" with the largest shit eating grin on his face.

━━ diluc definitely thought he was picking a fight.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 DILUC RAGNVINDR ━━ DARKNIGHT HERO 〕

━━ more likely to come from one of his members than him.

━━ or he'd be very smooth with it, and brings it up rather subtly. it'd be a small "oh, i ingest their content and enjoy it" and he'd just continue about his day

━━ and his fans will still go insane because diluc actually enjoying something seems weird, especially another celebrity's work

━━ this would obviously reach you, who was an open fan of his group, and you'd freak out when you see it but wouldn't bring it up because he only said he enjoyed your work, not he was a fan.

━━ would definitely get questioned if he was being interviewed on a talk show, he wouldn't evade the question.

━━ he doesn't really see a point in lying, so he simply shrugs and tells the host that he is a fan and owns some merchandise.

"Diluc, a few fans are curious about your statement the other day," the host redirects the questions to Diluc, who raises an eyebrow. "Is it true that you're a fan of [Name]?"

The question makes his heart pick up a little, he leans back on his chair and clears his throat, composing himself before nodding. "I am a fan," the host seems happy by his response. The conversation continues to steer in this direction, asking Diluc if he had attended any fan meetings or merchandise, how he would feel if you two collaborated for a project and then finally ending once the host asks other members if they were fans of anyone.

━━ he thinks nothing of it, continuing with his day as usual but when he gets mentioned by your twitter? the man loses his shit.

━━ he sits there staring at his screen like he was hallucinating and literally tunes everything else out, staring at your little: "i'd love to work with you too!" message with a small smiley face at the end.

━━ he checks the account multiple times just in case it was one of his fans trolling him but clicking on the @ takes him back to your account so he gives in at some point

━━ he types out a normal, professional "thank you, i hope a time comes when we can collaborate" and "i look forward to more of your works" but he's still losing his shit.

━━ stays in his mind for at least a week.

━━ fans always bring up the fact that y'all never did end up collaborating.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 ZHONGLI ━━ VAGO MUNDO 〕

━━ the public is very aware.

━━ he's never made an attempt to hide how he is a fan, not even the massive poster in his room or the little keychain that he hangs on his bag nor the red eyeliner belonging to a makeup brand that you became a brand embassador for, also now one of his favourite brands.

━━ so no one is really surprised when he talks about you or your upcoming work, what is kinda surprising is when he straight up says that he says you're his ideal type.

━━ not because it's shocking that you'd be anyone's ideal type but because they didn't expect the out of the blue question from host and it's even more mind boggling when the man doesn't even stutter nor even think before just saying your name.

━━ members are sat beside him literally losing their shit in both negative ( scandals and shit ) and positive ( it's fucking hilarious ) ways as he just blinks.

━━ he doesn't even look the slightest bit worried as he stares dead straight through the host's head.

━━ obviously scandals emerge, there are positive and negative reactions. some people suddenly realise how good you two would look together and others are mad you "stole" their man because we have delulus in all fandoms.

"So Zhongli," the host starts before clearing his throat, obviously a tad uncomfortable under the eldest member's sudden gaze, "who is your ideal type?" The members also seem curious, as they stop their interactions, staring over at their unusually emotionless member.

One member laughs, waving the question off as a joke and as a way to avoid any possible scandals, knowing that Zhongli wouldn't filter his words due to his lacking understanding of social cues. "C'mon, there's no way that he has an id━━"

"If I had to say, then [Name] suits my preferences." The member who tried to wave it off blinks, staring at Zhongli like he just murdered someone and other members laugh. The host seems pleasantly surprised, peering at the camera with a raised eyebrow and a certain look on his face. The entire studio never gets over it.

━━ it's brought to your attention on twitter because twitter is usually where shit goes down.

━━ you've always been aware that zhongli has been a fan but you've never been able to speak up about it due to your management.

━━ luckily for you, your contract with your previous strict company had ended just a while ago and under your new management, you were more free to do whatever you wanted.

━━ so obviously, you quote tweet the video, tag his account and say in a jokingly way that he should take you out on a date first.

━━ he doesn't publicly reply to your tweet because he already got in trouble with his management for answering such a risky question anyways and your tweet is a little too suggestive.

━━ but he also wants you to know he has seen the tweet. so his solution? to slip into your dms.

━━ and all of a sudden, the next time you're both seen together, you're besties? so people started connecting dots and shit, were they good at connecting them. moral of the story: never underestimate zhongli fans because collectively, they may be able to beat zhongli in an iq test.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 XIAO ━━ CONQUEROR OF DEMONS 〕

━━ best believe this man got death threated or held at gunpoint into admitting you're his celebrity crush.

━━ or he didn't do it at all and his members confessed for him just to tease him.

━━ happens on a group live, members are just vibing.

━━ xiao is sat in the back somewhere, scrolling through his phone with his earphones in so he doesn't notice his members shifting the camera to him or jumps onto him whilst holding the camera.

━━ when he does notice though, he takes out his earbud and your song just blARES through his earphone and it's fucking loud.

━━ he immediately turns it down but his fellow member already has this shit eating grin on his face and jumps onto xiao, successfully grabbing his phone and showing the live of 100k+ people.

━━ his homescreen is one of those "boyfriend/girlfriend/partner material" lockscreens of you and it shows that your song had been playing.

━━ xiao literally attacks his members and grabs his phone back, walking off to escape the embarrassment but can hear the echoing laughter as he walks down the hallway and slams his door closed.

Xiao lets out a sudden 'oompf' when his members glomps right ontop of him, grinning widely as they held up a camera to show off themselves and Xiao. Glancing at the camera, Xiao takes off an earbud, freezing when a loud upbeat tune echoes throughout the open area. Xiao ignores the feeling of his face heating up and turns down the song, ignoring the obvious gleeful stare of his member.

Almost on instinct, he moves his phone away but curse his parents for their genes because all it takes is a little stretching for his member to have his greasy fingers all over his phone, ripping it out of his hands and immediately running away to shield themselves from the wrath of all 5" and a bit of Xiao. When they deem it safe, they click on the home button of the screen, grinning amused at the homescreen.

"Look at fanboy Xiao!" And just like that, Xiao's cold demeanour had been shatteres infront of a plethora of people.

━━ you find it one of the most endearing things ever.

━━ literally how could you not? you find pride in yourself to have such a popular member of an idol group enjoy your work and it helps gain a little more confidence in yourself.

━━ it's brought up on a talk show kinda casually where the host is one of your friends so they are slightly teasing you for it all the whilst remaining on the professional side.

━━ and it's obvious to say that you're embarrassed by the way you chuckle and mess with your fingers and hair, but you hold yourself together anyways and manage a sweet "thank you for the support" to xiao when the host asks if you wanted to say something in case he was watching.

━━ and the very next day, on xiao's official instagram, he has a signed album and poster of yours, tagged and everything.

[msoogabooga]

Wasting Away (Tom Riddle x Reader)

Chp. I - A Sworn Enemy

Warnings- None

Word Count- 2146

Summary- You have singlehandedly decided that Tom Riddle is to be your sworn enemy until the end of time.

A/N- Hello! This is my first chaptered Tom Riddle fic. Hope you enjoy and tune in for more!

•••

Tom Riddle was the loneliest boy that had ever existed. You were certain of it whenever you witnessed him walk alone in the corridors or when he picked at his food in the great hall while everyone around him chattered amongst themselves, leaving him be. Ever so often you take a glance at his parchment paper in Defense Against the Dark Arts, where he sits next to you, and you catch him writing lines of beauty. Words that flow together and create great works of art. That is until he catches you staring and covers his paper with his arm, not before cursing under his breath at you of course.

Oh yes, though you felt a sense of pity for the lonely boy, you swore to hate him until the day he died. It wasn’t always this way, of course. You wouldn’t be so cruel as to hate an innocent peer. In fact, you even thought to befriend him of course. The unforgivable day happened outside on the castle grounds. It had been raining quite heavily that day. You ran through the downpour of the storm as your house scarf floated behind you and your mary janes began to stain from the wet dirt. You had finally reached the shelter of an arched corridor and began drying yourself with your scarf. A sudden clatter startled you as you turned your head towards the direction of the noise. The black-haired Slytherin boy was crouched on the ground picking up a bundle of textbooks and parchment papers he had dropped. He began to grow more frustrated when he realized they had become soaked from the seeping rainwater that came through the window. With a pitiful frown, you rushed over to help him.

“Better the books than yourself,” You said with a smile, acknowledging your rained-out state as you began to pick up pieces of parchment. “The storm came so suddenly. I hardly had any time to rush to safety and, well, this happened. I was playing Quidditch you see. It was a bit cloudy, sure, but not even the greatest prophecies could’ve predicted this storm. You’re quite lucky, though. You don’t seem to have a drop on you, except on your schoolwork of course.” Tom Riddle snatches the parchment from your hands so fast that it leaves you with a papercut on your hand. You wince and take your hand back before shooting him a glare.

“Do you mock me?” He spat.

“I was just trying to help,” you explained with a grumble in your voice. “You didn’t have to be so harsh.”

“What makes you think you are allowed to talk to me?” Tom picks up the rest of his items and stands up. You stood up right after.

“Well excuse me all high and mighty. I didn’t know I needed to sign a prerequisite form before daring to stand in your presence. As I said, I was just trying to be of some assistance.”

“I never asked for any assistance. You’re making me seem pitiful.”

“Or maybe, get this, I was just trying to be nice!”

Tom scoffs. “Nice? Yeah, alright.” He makes a sharp turn and begins walking in the opposite direction of yours.

“What is wrong with you?” You shout. “I don’t even know who you are!”

Tom stops. He began walking towards you once more. You take a step back, unsure of what caused him to turn around. “Of course you don’t. I don’t expect you to. But I know everything I need to know about you. You’re the type of person to befriend a lonely kid because you feel it’s your moral obligation. Because you think that this will help boost your popularity points. Don’t think I don’t see right through you. I see the way your friends whisper and giggle at me in the corridors. You may not think I hear it but I do. So if you think you’re going to make a fool out of me for your own benefit then you’re clearly mistaken. So you can go back to your friends and tell them all about our interaction because I know you will. Now, goodbye.”

He walked away before you even had a chance to respond. You wanted to clarify. To say that you don’t approve of your friends gossiping. That you genuinely meant to help him out. But your saltiness took over and you only replied with, “AT LEAST I HAVE FRIENDS.”

You were unsure if he heard you or not because he had already disappeared from view. But you were satisfied. You knew who he was, obviously. That part was a lie. Tom Riddle was quite infamous for his knowledge in Defense Against the Dark Arts and is an acclaimed member of the Slug Club as well as yourself. You had even made eye contact with him a few times while you had dinner with Slughorn and the rest of the Slug Club. But you never expected this innocently kind looking boy to be so cruel at your act of kindness. You didn’t know much about him but you did know one thing: Tom Riddle was now your sworn enemy.

This is made extremely evident at his increasing side glare while you two sit together in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Not by choice, of course. Assigned seating was never more painful than this moment right here. Still, the most you can do is glare back while everyone silently reads. You open your textbook as a way to distract yourself and flip to the unit you are currently on. Iguanas, iguanas, iguanas. Though you are puzzled as to how they were linked to dark magic, you took down notes anyway. You follow the pattern of dipping your quill in ink and writing line after line. All while you feel the hot glare of Tom’s eyes on the back of your neck. The bell signifying the end of class rings and you take a sigh of relief. Enthusiastically to get out of there, you begin gathering your materials, scooping your textbook in your arms all at once. Tom clears his throat quite obnoxiously enough to gain your attention.

“You miswrote something.” Tom states. You shoot him a dazzled look. “In your notes. I couldn’t help but look at your sorry excuse for parchment paper. It just reeked of misinformation. Sure enough, you wrote down that iguanas were omnivores when they are in fact herbivores.”

“Since when do you care so much about iguanas?” You ask, raising your eyebrow at him. “And why do you even care about what I write in the first place?”

“Well, one, I don’t. And two, I would just rather not be sitting next to the girl who got low marks on the iguanas exam. It would be quite embarrassing to witness.”

“Oh go suck an egg,” You retaliate. Tom Riddle scoffs and leaves without responding to your comment and your best friend, Wendy Slinkhard, replaces him.

You had met Wendy in the Slug Club. She was top of the Ravenclaw class, earning high marks that introduced her into the Slughorn's group. The first thing you noticed about her was the way her doe-eyes lit up every time someone mentioned writing. It was all she ever talked about. Her grand aspiration to become a famous author in the wizarding world. She had quite a euphonious voice when describing her life, casually mentioning the fact that she is indeed muggleborn and unafraid of any criticism. How her entire family is made up of writers and she is thrilled to follow the legacy. She had the most elegant way of describing things you had ever seen, almost like works of poetry roll off her tongue. When you ask how she comes up with these unique words she just responds with, The wizarding world seems to give a great muse to the imagination. Whatever that means, you are unsure, but it seems important enough.

“Well hello there,” Wendy says in her wispy voice. “Seems you have quite a charmer for a partner.” She looks over to Tom Riddle who has just left the room.

“Right.” You reply, getting ready to leave alongside Wendy. “It’s like nails on a chalkboard every time he speaks. I’m telling you, Wendy. You couldn’t bear sitting next to him for an hour.”

“Oh, I am sure of it. I’m not sure if I feel too keen about my partner as well. He is, to put it shortly, not quite attentive. Constantly asking me for notes or an extra quill, it’s quite annoying really! But overall, nothing compared to who you have to deal with. Tom Riddle. I always knew there was something off about that lad. Merlin knows why Professor Slughorn chose him of all pupils for the Slug Club.”

“Well he is exceptional at the Dark Arts, I’ll give him that. He has such a crude way of showing it as well. Constantly showing me up. Making me seem as inferior in knowledge as opposed to himself. A real nightmare.”

“Well, if it means anything to you, nothing good can ever come from being exceptional at the Dark Arts.” Wendy gives a slim smile and nods.

You and Wendy walk alongside each other on your way to your next class. Coincidentally, both of your classes are right next to each other. Though you really do miss having her in the same class. You speak to no one in History of Magic. You just sit alone with your face in your hands, hearing your professor go on and on about some troll war you don’t care too much about. Your quill picks up every once in a while to jot down scribbles of information. Something, something... Troll War. Not the most exciting subject if you were to be honest. But it sure beats suffering another hour with Tom Riddle constantly pointing out every minor flaw in your notes. Something about your professor’s voice sends you into a bit of a drowsy state. The way his words flowed so slowly and sterile. Slowly bringing you closer and closer into a…

“Wow. You look bloody awful.” You jolt awake at the sound of Dahlia Ferdinand looking down on you. She is dressed in her Hufflepuff Quidditch jumper and stands with arms crossed and a smirk spread across her face. You lift your head from the desk and detach a piece of parchment that had stuck on your face.

“How long has class been over?” You ask groggily.

“For about an hour, give or take.”

“She’s joking!” Wendy calls out, running into the room and standing beside Dahlia. She adjusts her giant red glasses and flattens her skirt. “Only a few minutes. No need to be so childish, Dahlia.”

“Oh come on. You never appreciate any of my jokes.”

“Dahlia, you know I hate your immature remarks. They are plain and unfunny.”

Dahlia rolls her eyes. “You must be real fun at parties.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been invited to one.”

“Don’t worry. We can tell.”

You let out a snicker before covering it up with a cough. Wendy, seeing right through you, shoots you a glare before adjusting her glasses once more.

“Speaking of parties…” Dahlia continues, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a green envelope. “Marcella Rosier invited me to the Slytherin common room party tomorrow night. From what I gather it’s going to be a grand event. Her uncle supposedly is bringing in firewhisky from Hog’s Head. Naturally, I expect you two to come with me.”

“Firewhisky, Dahlia?!” Wendy interjects before you can respond. “You know that is very much against the school rules. Not only that but against the law as well. And don’t even get me started on the policy of dorm-hopping in the middle of the night. I don’t even trust that Rosier girl to begin with. I’ve heard a load of terrible things involving her. Why are you even friends with such a person?”

“You know, Wendy, you sound like nails on a chalkboard sometimes. A simple no could do. What about you?” Dahlia responds, now addresses you.

“Oh,” You say suddenly. “Well if you’re going then I guess I’ll go as well.”

“So will I,” Wendy adds on, much to both you and Dahlia’s surprise. “Only to drag Dahlia out and scold her when she gets carried away with the firewhisky which I know she will.”

Wendy and Dahlia glare at each other and you cough. “I promise you, Wendy, that I will keep Dahlia outside range of the firewhisky.”

Wendy nods, satisfied. The three of you go your separate ways. You head straight to your dormitory, ignoring all work assigned for this weekend and your rude encounters with Tom Riddle. You raid your closet and begin the hunt for an acceptable outfit to wear to the biggest party of the semester.

[roselen-mylady]

the game

"First one to kiss Thor wins." Wanda suggested. Y/n tried to hide her scoff but judging by Nat's elbow in her ribs, she hadn't been successful. "Come on, Y/n!" Wanda groaned, rubbing her forehead in frustration. 

"Oh, you come on! What? Are we going to play 'would you rather' after?" Y/n joked, earning yet another jab from Nat. The two red heads glared at her annoyed but Y/n didn't care as she took a sip of champagne.

Pepper had convinced Tony to hold another party in hopes of boosting the team's morale and while it wasn't the first time he'd done it, the parties were still enjoyable. Y/n couldn't help the enthusiasm and joy that came with drinking, dancing and mingling. Everyone came, at least everyone she knew, along with a hundred other people Tony knew. Even Peter had started to attend the last few parties, granted Tony only made him a frequent attendee once he'd reached 18.

The parties were fun, yes, but still being the drama and excitement addicts they were, Y/n and her closest friends craved the thrill of their little games. They played them at every party. The first was a simple game of truth or dare and the second had been the cliche spin the bottle. But with each gathering their dares and games grew more and more risky. And Y/n loved it. They all did.

But tonight was different.

Tonight was boring.

"You're just upset that Bucky didn't want to make out in the closet with you last time we played." Nat accused. A deep frown settled on Y/n's lips from the stab at her pride but she quickly waved off Nat's insult with a dismissing hand.

"That's because he knew I was drunk off my ass. I didn't really wanna make out with him either, he's my friend. You know what alcohol does to me." She argued, getting a short disbelieving nod from Wanda in return.

"Uh huh. Or maybe cause he knows you're into his best friend." Nat suggested, sipping her own drink with a smirk as she narrowly dodged Y/n's threatening hand. Wanda giggled at the interaction, knowing there was truth behind Nat's words. She had seen into Y/n's mind and her fondness toward Steve practically screamed back at her.

"I'm not into Steve. The man is too self righteous for his own good and you know I'm into bad boys." Y/n shrugged, her attempt at hiding her feelings becoming transparent in her friends' eyes.

Yet before either of them could argue further and perhaps bring up the kiss she almost shared with Steve during spin the bottle, Sam and Bucky arrived. "Who's into bad boys? You've come to the right place ladies, I'm the baddest of them all." Sam flashed a charming smile to which they all rolled their eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sam, but I think Bucky has you beat on bad boys." Y/n challenged, sending a playful wink toward the soldier. Sam gasped, mocking hurt while Bucky rolled his eyes rather unamused with the discussion.

"That's right, weren't you the second shooter in the JFK assassination? That's gotta be as bad as it gets." Nat commented causing a dark flush on Bucky's face. A short flash of guilt appeared on his face but he instantly brushed the comment off deciding not to dig into his cloudy memory for the truth. The second shooter was just a conspiracy theory anyways. But then again, so was the Winter Solider...

"What are you, a cop?" Bucky let out a strained chuckle, bringing his drink to his lips subtly trying to pull himself from the conversation. Y/n offered an apologetic smile and he returned it gratefully before she turned her gaze away.

Despite his closed off nature she'd actually become a sort of friend to Bucky and while at first it was rocky, she rather enjoyed her friendship with him. Through Bucky she heard stories about Steve when they were growing up and she saw another side of him that she wished she'd known.

"You ladies up to another game?" Sam questioned suddenly. Nat nodded sharing a look with Wanda but Y/n's focus had been drawn away. While lost in her thoughts about him, her gaze had drifted to the man of her fantasies and she shamelessly watched as he talked with Tony and another man she didn't care to remember.

He was smiling, a sight that she cherished even if he'd never notice. The blue of his eyes seemed to shine brighter than any fireworks she'd ever seen and her heart skipped a beat just looking at them. His blonde locks had grown out while she had been snapped away but not enough to make him appear drastically changed. In fact she wasn't sure if anyone else had really noticed. Maybe she was just a stalker.

"Well, we were going to play one but Y/n thinks it's not big enough." Wanda replied, giving Y/n a glare as she turned back to the group.

"Well, it wasn't. I feel like everyone's used to our shenanigans so there's no challenge." Y/n shrugged, peering at the others with a bored stare. Sam shook his head, refusing to let the tradition die.

"What did you guys have in mind?" He asked, looking over the three women as they glanced around the party.

"Wanda suggested a competition to see who could kiss Thor first." Nat explained. Bucky scrunched his nose in disdain at the dare, exchanging a exasperated look with Y/n.

"Thor would do anything, if you asked him." Sam sighed, drinking whatever liquor he had requested. Y/n remembered him saying something about woman being attracted to a man who can handle hard liquor but she had chosen to ignore him. Though she did have to admit it must've been hard for him to compete with both of his best friends being able to drink without the effects of the alcohol they consumed.

"That's what I thought! Thor would gladly abide anything if it made us happy. He's too kind for his own good." Y/n playfully rolled her eyes as they looked over to said god. He had slimmed down significantly during his time with the guardians and Y/n could almost swear that there wasn't an ounce of body fat left on the man. His hair had been cut as well, returning to his signature length and his beard had been trimmed down to a reasonable length. In other words, the Asgardian had almost every girl swooning once more.

But Y/n was swooning for another.

The same man she had for years.

"We could make it more of a challenge." Nat proposed. The group turned to her with interested eyes, the only one who hadn't seemed to match their intrigue being a very grumpy Bucky. "We could expand the dare to all Avengers. Unless you guys wanna be pussys and limit it only to men." Nat winked.

Wanda's face flushed at the suggestion and quickly shook her head. "I have a hard enough time kissing the people I've known for years let alone all the new Avengers." She squeaked. Sam chuckled nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, not that you guys are pussys I'm just saying that is a lot of people. That'll take forever. Let's just stick with Avengers pre-snap." Sam's laughter grew at Y/n and Nat's disappointed expressions, having reaped them of the extra challenge they'd been searching for.

"How about this?" He began realizing without a catch the game wouldn't be that much fun for any of them. "You have to get them to kiss you but only using cheesy ass pick up lines." Sam explained, looking rather proud of his game plan.

"What type of kiss?" Y/n questioned suspiciously.

"Any." A buzz of laughter and eagerness flooded over the girls and Y/n smirked knowing she'd been born for this challenge. "Are we all in agreement?" Sam asked looking to each for affirmations. Once everyone was on board they put their hands in the middle, a sort of ritual they had developed as a way to insure everyone's commitment.

But another presence had been added to their usual group and they turned to Bucky to see what he would do. He had never been on the scheming side of the games and usually was a victim but now he had a choice. Though he'd rather be removed from the plan all together he figured he'd might as well get it over with while he still knew what was happening.

"Yeah, alright but I'm not doing make outs. You guys do your lines or whatever, get your kiss, then I'm out." Bucky told them, putting his vibranium arm into the middle along with the rest. With childish grins on their faces they let their hands fall as Sam stepped forward.

"As per tradition, you all start off with a good luck kiss from moi." Sam explained, putting a dramatic hand over his chest as he turned to Wanda. She scoffed at his attempt at charm allowing him to peck her lips with a teasing smirk. Turning to Nat, he hesitated allowing her to quickly kiss him, learning the hard way that coming onto her was an easy way to get a black eye. The smack of her lipstick made Bucky shake his head, his 40s mindset unable to grasp how easily they'd all accepted the concept.

Sam then turned to Y/n, noticing the way she subtly glanced in the direction of Steve as his arm came around her waist. "Looking for someone? Cause your prince charming is right here." Sam flirted earning an eye roll from the woman before him.

"I thought we were supposed to do the crappy pick up lines." Y/n raised a brow, keeping a hand on his chest to get some distance.

"I said cheesy not crappy. I'm offended." He frowned playfully only to have it wiped off his face by the soft peck of her lips. She pulled away just as quick, slipping out of his hold and shaking her head.

"Oh, how will you ever recover?" She replied sarcastically, making the girls laugh quietly beside her. He smirked turning to Bucky.

"Alright, Buck. Let's get this show on the road." Sam announced patting Bucky's shoulder roughly as he urged him forward. Surprisingly Bucky seemed more nervous than he did annoyed so Y/n decided to take the lead this time, stepping closer to the brunette.

Deciding to keep it simple for Bucky's sake she trailed her fingers along his forearm, giving him a gentle smile. "Hey, can I borrow a kiss? I promise I'll give it back." She spoke smoothly. Sam cackled behind them but Y/n paid no mind instead smiling back at Bucky as he chuckled softly, grateful she hadn't used one of the dirty lines he was sure she had.

Shaking his head he leaned down, placing a gentle kiss to the corner of her lips. Though he made it seem like he was annoyed by the games he was forced into every party, he found Y/n made them more enjoyable, being one of his only friends.

"Go on. You better win since it's your fault I'm a part of this." He grumbled and Y/n laughed, nodding before running off to claim more lips.

On the other side of the room a certain blonde had caught sight of her, his eyes narrowing slightly in interest as Tony leaned closer to him. "I think Y/n's playing another one of those games. I swear that girl is going to be the death of me. Let's just hope Morgan stays innocent." Tony mumbled, bringing his glass to his lips as he surveyed Steve's expression.

"Yeah." Steve replied dully, his focus directed at the only girl in the room he couldn't keep his eyes off of. Tony smirked knowingly, deciding he'd allow Steve to ignore him just this once.

•••

Y/n had this in the bag.

Thanks to Sam she had a wide range of pick up lines to try out and she planned to use the right one with each.

The first person she recognized in the crowd was T'Challa and she made her way to him slyly, his gaze falling on her as the crowd parted. "Ah, Ms. Y/n. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He questioned, a bit of mistrust in his eyes when he recognized the smirk on her face.

"Just seeing how my favorite pussy cat is." Y/n replied with an innocent shrug. He squinted suspecting her ulterior motives. He'd been to enough of Tony's parties to know that she along with Nat and Wanda usually had some kind of game and while he was entertained by it he also knew he needed to maintain decency being a King.

"He is very happy you're here to make things interesting. He was just telling me about how boring this party was. Also he was telling me he should ask you when you're going to bring Peter to Wakanda, that boy won't get off my back." Shuri spoke up, stepping closer to the pair with a pleased smirk. T'Challa didn't seem to share her amusement but knew most of what she had said was true.

"Well, you'll be happy to know that I have to be in Wakanda next week, I'll see if he's free to tag along." Y/n replied, turning her gaze to the spider boy. He still seemed to follow Tony around like a lost puppy but Y/n hoped maybe their field trip to Wakanda would break him out of his shell.

"Would it be wishful thinking if I hoped your visit to our kingdom is the only reason for your presence now?" T'Challa questioned. Shuri and Y/n laughed answering his question. There was another game going on. "What's the challenge now? Let me guess, I should be expecting Ms. Romanoff and Ms. Maximoff next?"

"More than likely. But there's a twist this time." Y/n explained, noticing the bit of curiosity in his eye as she sipped her drink. "If you like my pick up line, you have to give me a kiss."

Shuri giggled next to them excited to hear whatever line Y/n had planned. The young princess was always up for some mischief especially if her brother was the victim and this was what made her adore Y/n so much.

"And what if I don't?"

"I'll just have to try again, I suppose. You know how persistent I am." Y/n winked. T'Challa shook his head, catching sight of Wanda across the room having already collected her kiss from Thor. With a silent sigh, he turned back to Y/n figuring he'd best not hold her up any longer.

"Fine." Y/n smiled, locking eyes with Shuri for a moment before turning back to T'Challa. She stepped forward, the soft click of her heels sending a chill down his spine as she put a hand on his upper arm. Her lips curved into a smile and he braced himself for the line that seemed to bring her so much pride.

"Meow you doin'?" Y/n smirked, her voice smooth as velvet as her eyes stared into his. Laughter erupted from his sister and he turned to her as Y/n burst out into her own fit of giggles.

"I don't get it." T'Challa told them, dumbly trying to use the little bit of context he was given to understand the joke.

"Oh, brother! As soon as we return home we are watching Friends! Now give her a kiss so that she may have a chance at winning!" Shuri spoke through laughs. T'Challa shook his head but lifted Y/n's hand nonetheless and placed a soft kiss to her knuckles.

"I feel cheated." He grumbled but the laughter from both girls was enough to take his mind off the pick up line that went straight over his head.

"Pleasure doing business with you, King T'Challa." Y/n curtsied before turning away to find her next victim, leaving T'Challa and Shuri with entertained smiles.

Next on her list was Bruce Banner, the most lost out of all of the men who had experienced the game. The first time they decided to target just one person, he had been the focus and while he enjoyed Nat's kiss, Y/n and Wanda following in the act seemed to put him in a daze for a week.

"You got T'Challa right off that bat? Sometimes I hate how good you are at this." Nat's voice cut into Y/n's thoughts as the two stood together surveying Bruce.

"There's nothing to it, my friend. Give a line, get a kiss. It's science. Did you already get Clint?" Y/n questioned, trying to see where she was at as far as the competition went.

Nat shook her head softly, glancing over at the other men they'd still needed to kiss. "No. He's not here. He says he wants us to take his retirement seriously so until then he won't be at the parties, I guess." She explained and Y/n nodded quietly. One less guy to convince, she reasoned.

"You know I'll never get used to his transformation thing." Y/n commented, gesturing toward Bruce with a nod. Nat followed her gaze, leaning into Y/n to see past the crowd of people in front of her.

"Yeah, me either." She replied. Y/n's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she glanced at Nat through the corner of her eye but ultimately decided it wasn't something she really desired to question further.

"You better save your best pick up line for Steve." Nat warned, the smile on her lips all too knowing for Y/n's liking. Her mouth ran dry and the familiar rush upon hearing his name coursed through her making her face burn.

"For the last time, I'm not into-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Too bad though. He's been watching you ever since the game started." Nat whispered, turning Y/n's head in his direction with a poke to her chin.

The red on Y/n's face grew darker at the sight of Steve looking back at her, his eyes locking with hers over the rim on his glass. A soft shade of pink settled on his cheeks to match her own and his gaze faltered before returning to the man he'd been talking to.

"Save the best for last." Nat teased softly as Y/n turned back to her. She tried to brush off Nat's words as she stalked off toward Bruce but she couldn't get the image of Steve out of her mind.

Had he ever looked at her like that before? Was she losing her mind?

A long sigh escaped her as she tried desperately to focus on racking her brain for any science puns she had.

"Y/n! Hey, long time no see!" He cheered, pulling her into a side hug. The laughter that bubbled out of her chest was involuntary as she practically disappeared under his good arm.

"It's nice to see you too, Bruce. How's the arm?" Y/n questioned gesturing to the cast that seemed to be permanent on the larger than life limb. Bruce offered a tentative shrug, looking down at it.

"Tony and I aren't sure if it's ever going to heal. He's been looking at the possibility of getting a prosthetic but I don't really mind it. We beat Thanos, that's all that really matters to me." He replied. Y/n smiled kindly at him, putting her hand on the cast as her fingers trailed Steve's signature. She couldn't help the racing of her heart when she realized he'd signed right below her own.

"So, Nat tells me you guys are doing another game. Why do you guys do that anyways? Don't you get embarrassed?" He asked, genuinely interested. Whatever Nat had told him seemed to make him more aware and Y/n found herself open to his questions.

"I don't know. I trust everyone on the team so kissing them isn't a big deal. If anything I think it makes us more open to one another. Not to mention half of us are touch starved and probably need a kiss every so often." She laughed thinking back to her poor Bucky.

Bruce laughed too, "Well, maybe next party you'll find a way to get everyone to play. That'll be a sight." He chuckled imagining everyone competing against one another in some intimate game. Y/n nodded perhaps taking the suggestion maybe a bit too seriously.

"Maybe...I've gotta win this game first though. I'm sure you know the rules." She raised a playful brow and crossed her arms. He nodded remembering Nat's line with a loving smile. "Good. Let's see."

Her hand rose to her chin, staring up at the ceiling for a moment as she thought. Bruce watched with a entertained smile as her eyes lit up before looking back at him.

"Hey, baby. If you were an enzyme I'd be a DNA synthase so I could unzip your genes." She nudged Bruce's side making him laugh.

"That was the worst." He chuckled and Y/n laughed as well, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, but you laughed so..." He nodded wrapping his free arm around her shoulders and leaning down to press a kiss to the top of her head, the most accessible spot from his outrageous height.

"I'm gonna remember that one." Bruce told her, his head bobbing unconsciously as he already began practicing the line in his head. Y/n bowed proudly before disappearing into the crowd once more.

"Who's next?" She mumbled to herself, running her hands along her dress, absentmindedly flatting the bunching in the fabric. The dress had been her favorite, hugging her perfectly as many of the tailored clothes Pepper sent her did. But this one was different.

This one was blue. But not just any blue. It was the same dark navy Steve wore on every mission. A color she found herself buying more often, whether it be on a folder or on a dress. She was almost attracted to it as much as she was to Steve and while it seemed a little silly, it made her happy knowing she could express her hidden feelings through little things such as that. She truly was head over heels but she could never tell him that. She could never risk the rejection she feared she'd be met with if she dared make a move.

So she loved him from afar.

•••

"Oh no. Not pick up lines." Tony groaned next to Steve, his eyes nearly disappearing into the back of his head as he rolled them. Sam chuckled, nodding his head.

"It's true. Everyone is going to get hit on in the most undesired way possible tonight." He grinned, his lips still buzzing from the kisses he'd recieved.

"Yeah, you have bird brain here to thank for that." Bucky grumbled from Steve's left. Sam frowned, glaring at the semi stable hundred year old man.

"That's not what you said when you kissed Y/n." He retorted.

Steve tried to fight the jealousy that boiled in his gut but Bucky had already noticed the frown that reached his best friend's face.

"Only because I want her to win. She's my friend." Bucky explained, hoping his emphasize on 'friend' would put Steve at ease but the super soldier would never truly be at ease unless he had her in his arms.

He'd lost so much over the years including her and now that he had it all back-had her back, it felt wrong that they weren't together like he hoped. But he couldn't just tell her. What if she didn't feel the same way? What if he lost her in a way that no infinity stones could reverse?

"Personally I'm rooting for Wanda. That girl's smile would make you wanna kiss her. Not to mention her mind control stuff." Sam argued, using his hand to mimick Wanda's powers.

"Is this going to happen at every party?" Fury remarked from behind them making them turn to him, some with annoyed glances.

"You're not allowed to say anything about this, 'Mr. Off-Limits'." Sam proclaimed, feeling a tad responsible for keeping Fury out of the games. Especially after what happened last time.

"I won't be forced to partake in childish games like that. Y/n had it coming." Fury explained, any remorse he might've felt long gone.

Steve crossed his arms, his shirt tightening around his arms as he tried to bite his tongue. "You nearly broke her arm." He suddenly spoke up. Sam's suggestive smirk made him regret it instantly but thankfully Sam chose not to say anything.

"Gotta admit. Her resolve is pretty firm. It's actually pretty hot." Sam wiggled a brow at Steve. The poor blonde wanted to curl up and die in shame but Sam wasn't wrong.

Perhaps it was her determination and strong will that had attracted him. They were characteristics he was known for as Captain America but yet somehow her will was more powerful than his own.

It was one of the many things that he had loved her for. And one of the things that kept him going during the five years without her.

"Ugh. Can we please not talk about my niece like this?" Tony groaned, hating the idea of them sexualizing the girl he'd practically raised since she was a teen. Steve agreed, unsure how much longer he'd be able to stand them talking about her.

"Ooo, look. She's onto Thor now." Peter piped up pointing a finger toward Y/n as she made her way to the golden haired god. Yet the warning glare he received from Tony was enough to make him quiet again and he silently sunk back into the crowd behind them.

"I've got too many kids."

•••

"Thor!" Y/n cheered. Upon hearing his name, the Asgardian turned returning her smile with a brilliant grin. The flask in his hand was opened yet there was no flush to his face signaling he was either only mildly buzzed or close to it.

"Lady Y/n. I was beginning to wonder when you'd come around. I do cherish our time together." Thor's smile was kind and radiant but she couldn't help but think there was still one smile that could outshine even that of a god's.

"Oh, you know I'd never miss a kiss from you." Y/n returned the charm, allowing his arm to come around her waist, resting at a comfortable distance from her hips. Thor had been the most accepting of their games and never seemed to go through the confusion that the rest did. Or maybe that was just her.

"I was just telling Valkyrie of your little games. She finds them truly amusing. Perhaps I'll convince you to accept her into the tournament." Thor explained, gesturing the hand holding his flask toward Valkyrie.

"Well, it's not exactly a tournament, just a little fun to keep things interesting. You're welcome to join if you're up for it." Y/n smiled, offering a small nod of acceptance toward the warrior woman.

"A competition among women where men are the victims? Sounds like my kind of crowd." Valkyrie replied, an excited smile landing on her lips as the two woman shared a look of mutual approval.

"Wonderful." Thor praised, the joy in his tone seeming to radiate off of him, infecting Y/n with each passing second she was in his grasp. "Now Lady Wanda spoke of this night's challenge. I believe you have a suggestive comment in which to lift me yes?" He spoke, looking down at Y/n as she began to giggle uncontrollably.

"Yes, Thor. In return for the pick up line, I get a kiss. But only if you enjoy it." She recited the rules earning a heartfelt smile from him in return.

"If it is spoken by you I'm bound to enjoy it." He told her earnestly. There was something in the way he would speak that made a girl's knees weak and while Y/n was able to withstand it better than most, she wondered if he was striving for that reaction from her.

Y/n shook her head at him, giving him a half-hearted glare as she looked up at him. "Alright, here it goes." She warned him, taking his attentive gaze as a confirmation to continue.

"Hey, gorgeous. Was your father a thief? Cause someone stole the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes." Before Y/n could even offer a wink or a smirk, thunderous laughter sounded from the man beside her, drawing the attention of everyone around them.

A flush of pink bloomed on her face, slightly embarrassed under the eyes of so many, especially Steve, yet she wasn't able to dwell on it for long as she was swept up into the air. Ever the enthusiast, Thor had excitedly boosted her into the air and spun her before allowing her feet to reach the ground again, a little unsteadily from how fast he'd acted.

"You've certainly lifted me, Lady Y/n." Thor told her, bringing her smile back as she regained her balance. "Are you ready for your kiss now?" He inquired, his hand resting comfortably on her waist as he insured she was still willing to welcome a kiss.

With a small nod she leaned up accepting his lips in a teasing yet modest kiss not unlike the one they'd shared before. They pulled away a moment later, smiling at each other as Thor's hand easily slipped away from her waist.

"I'm afraid I must send you off in order for you to return victorious." Thor said, a hint of reluctance in his tone yet in a taunting way similar to friendly banter.

"And that I shall. I'm the best, you know." Y/n declared. Valkyrie laughed beside her, lifting her own glass toward Y/n in a sort of cheers.

"For now. We'll see next time who's the best." Y/n clinked her empty glass with Valkyrie's nodding respectfully as she made a note to get more champagne.

"May the best woman win." Y/n smirked, oblivious to the eyes on her as she walked off toward the bar.

Part Two

[artificialqueens]

Satan's Side Piece (Tatiadore) - Albatross, Veronica

AN: Inspired by the quote “You look like Satan’s side piece” “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it”…but maybe Tatianna wants someone to say something about it. Thank you so much @veronicasanders for writing the smut!

“I just don’t-is this too desperate?” Tatianna worried out loud as she tugged on the hemline of her dress. “It seems like a bit much, you know?”

Courtney was hosting a Halloween party this evening with the help of her roommates. Costumes were absolutely mandatory. And at first Tatianna was excited for the chance to dress up in a sexy little demon outfit, maybe it would attract the attention of a certain someone. But now that the party was in just a few hours and Tatianna was wearing the costume she’d bought off Amazon for the first time since it arrived, she was beginning to have second thoughts. It was much shorter on her than it looked on the model in the picture. The fabric and cut clung to every curve and contour like a second skin. Maybe she should have gone up another size? She felt like her entire ass was just hanging out on display!

And the demon horns atop her head…they weren’t even close to what the ad had shown. These looked like a cheap factory reject or at the very least, a poor knock off of the ones the model had been wearing.

Even now just wearing the whole getup in front of a few friends, Tatianna already felt ridiculous. Willam, one of her best friends and who she’d be carpooling with tonight, brushed off her self-critique. She was lounging in the middle of the bed, nevermind it wasn’t her own, eyeing up Tatianna very carefully. Scoffing, she told her, “Girl, what are you talking about? You look hot. I’d fuck you.”

Whatever sentiment went into that remark did not set Tatianna’s nerves at ease. Shangela rolled her eyes as she arose from her seat at the edge of the mattress. “Ignoring that comment,” she began, “Will’s right. You got the body, the legs. No one’s gonna be able to take their eyes off you. You don’t need to stress about it so much.”

Shangela’s smile was sincere and reassuring but Tatianna still had her doubts. She didn’t want to look like she was trying too hard to get attention. That is not a cute look for anyone. Readjusting one of her shoulder straps again, she voiced her doubt, “I still don’t…maybe I should find something else. Maybe a little longer or more-”

“Like what?” Willam interrupted, laughing at the idea. There was an amused glint in her eye as scooted closer to the edge and reiterated, “Halloween is tonight and the party’s in like…2 hours.”

I’m fucked, Tatianna lamented to herself. 

Sighing, Shangela decided to call for reinforcements. Clearly, Willam wasn’t going to be much help. She had offered for Tatianna to stop by before the party so she could show off the dress, after all, she’d been raving about it since the minute she bought it, but now it seems asking Willam to come over as well might have been a mistake. She just wasn’t that good at providing moral support or talking up her friends. There was only one other person in the apartment that Shangela had left to call on. “Bianca!” she called out, stepping into the hallway. “Bianca, come in here!”

Surely, Bianca would be able to point out the finer points of the outfit.

When Bianca found her way to their bedroom, concentrating heavily on the phone in her hands, she let out a mildly distracted, “What’s up?”

Lightly nudging her girlfriend in the side to get her full attention, Shangela asked enthusiastically, “What do you think?” and gestured to Tatianna standing awkwardly by the foot of the bed.

Bianca took one look at her, announced boredly, “She looks like Satan’s side piece. His personal hooker or whatever,” and turned back to the phone in her hand. Willam’s laughter was loud and immediate, as was Tatianna’s groan of frustration.

Shangela stood stunned in disbelief. She couldn’t even think where to begin trying to rectify that stupid comment. Not that Bianca noticed that she even said anything wrong at all! Instead, she mused out loud, “Think I’m gonna order Thai tonight…you want anything?” Shangela glared at her. Confused, Bianca asked, “What?”

Forcing a tense smile to her lips, Shangela explained through clenched teeth, “We’re trying to tell Tati how amazing she looks.” Her head snapped around to Willam with a silent, seething look telling her to shut up already. It didn’t work.

“Oh,” Bianca noted, voice devoid of any kind of interest. “So do you want anything or not?”

Letting out a defeated sigh, Shangela muttered, “Pad See Ew.”

Bianca quickly returned to tapping away at her phone while Shangela pondered what else she could do to boost Tatianna’s confidence in her costume. In just a few seconds, Bianca happily declared, “Ordered!” and turned back to the other women in the room. “Alright, when’s the party start?”

“Two hours,” Willam supplied as her laughter died down into broken giggles.

“Okay,” Bianca said after a moment’s pause to think. Shifting her focus to Tatianna, she told her, “Take off the dress. I’m gonna fix it up.”

Tatianna instantly lit up with gratitude and relief. “Really?” she asked as a cautious smile rose to her lips.

Shrugging, Bianca answered with a dismissive, “Well, I need something to do until the food gets here.” She motioned for Tatianna to go into the adjoining bathroom and change into one of hers or Shangela’s robes. While she was gone, Bianca turned to her girlfriend and said, “Shange, why don’t you touch up her hair and makeup a little? Something sexier, you know?”

“Can do!” Shangela replied with a gleeful affirmation.

Standing up from the bed, Willam inquired, “What about me?”

“You can…get her something to drink,” Bianca decided. “Looks like she needs it. Maybe some weed too.”

Annoyed at being given such a menial task, Willam reluctantly agreed, “Fine,” and marched off towards her friends’ kitchen. As she disappeared into the hallway, she called out, “I’m doing her lips though!”

As soon as Tatianna reemerged from the bathroom, Bianca took charge of her dress. Spotting the horns left in Tatianna’s hands, she claimed those as well. “I’ll take those, too. I’ve got an idea,” she said vaguely as she glanced over them. Maybe with a bit of hairspray and eyeshadow…

With that, Bianca disappeared down the hallway towards her sewing room right as Willam reappeared with booze and a newly rolled blunt. They ushered her over to the edge of the bed and immediately set to work on giving her hair and makeup a new life. She couldn’t see what they were doing, an act that made her rather nervous, but she had faith in them. Perhaps tonight’s costume will work out yet…she hoped.

*******

A bit over an hour and half later, the women finally stepped back to reveal their work. Shangela, for one, was quite proud of what they had accomplished and Tatianna’s gasp of, “Oh! Wow!” had her beaming from ear to ear.

“You like it?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

Amazed, Tatianna stepped closer to the closet mirror to get a better look as she replied distractedly, “Yeah, I mean… fuck. It looks so much better.”

Her previous perfectly perfect curls had been softened considerably and brushed out into loose, beachy waves. This look was one of Willam’s specialties, having been mastered over many years of practice. The waves fell past Tatianna’s shoulders, alluring and seductive, while her long bangs curled to frame her face beautifully. Even her makeup had gotten an incredible upgrade. Now it featured an intense smokey eye fading into a stunning shade of red and her eyeliner was touched up and given a more dramatic, cat-eye shape. The new shade of lipstick she was sporting was perhaps her favorite; a deep crimson with just a hint of a darker liner at the corners of her mouth. Her lips just looked so much fuller and more inviting.

She thanked her friends repeatedly but they just brushed it off. After all, isn’t that what friends are supposed to do? Now all that was left was to wait for Bianca to return with the dress. As the minutes passed, Tatianna noted to herself that the party would be starting very soon. She silently wondered how many people were going to show up. The hostesses, all three of them, lived together in a modestly sized house so the crowd of friends they could invite must be pretty sizeable. She wondered what exactly they’d be wearing for the party, particularly what-

“Not my greatest work,” Bianca announced as she wandered back into the room, “but it’ll do for tonight.” 

As soon as Tatianna had the dress and horns in her hands, she scurried off to the bathroom to get changed. The first thing she noticed as she put it on was that it actually felt a bit looser around hips. Perhaps Bianca let out the seams? Or more likely, it was the revealing slit up Tatianna’s left side that she had added. It gave the dress just enough flexibility for Tatianna to feel comfortable walking normally again and was trimmed with Bianca’s other major addition to the dress; black lace. It only added about two extra inches to the length of the garment but it worked so well with the cut and deep ruby color of the dress. Bianca had even gone so far as to trim the neckline with just enough of the lace to peak out suggestively as it rested against her skin. It was amazing that just two simple changes had transformed the dress into something so beautiful and seductive.

When Tatianna stepped out of the bathroom, Willam and Shangela’s jaws actually dropped. “Damn,” she heard Willam’s stunned whisper. Shangela, on the other hand, was squealing with pure delight. She absolutely loved the horns atop Tatianna’s head. “Bit of eyeshadow, liquid liner and a heavy layer of hairspray. Won’t last forever but it should get her through the night,” Bianca explained. She had redone the original color scheme of muted black fading to a cherry red, into one of stark, shiny midnight black blending into a shimmering, beautiful rose-gold.

While Tatianna basked in the glowing review of Shangela and Willam, Bianca proudly dubbed her hot enough to be, “Satan’s mistress.”

“How is that any better than ‘side piece’?” Shangela demanded to know in an exasperated sigh.

With her lips curling into a teasing grin, Bianca shrugged and offered up, “Sounds classier.”

Tatianna couldn’t even complain at the comparison. She loved all that her friends had done for her with all her heart. Once more she gave them a heartfelt, “Thanks, guys!”

Checking her phone once more, Willam sprung up from the bed and grabbed Tatianna’s hand. “Now let’s get going,” she said hurriedly as she tugged her friend towards the door. “Alaska’s asking where we are!”

******

A mere 25 minutes later and Tatianna and Willam were sitting in the car just outside the party. Bianca and Shangela had declined the invitation as they wanted a peaceful night in before flying out to see Bianca’s parents early the next morning. Given how late in the evening the party was even starting, Tatianna didn’t blame them. Willam, however, teased them mercilessly about needing their beauty rest in their advanced age.

Before heading into the party, Willam changed into her costume while still in the car, if you call adding a pair of rhinestoned Mickey Mouse ears to a skimpy corset ensemble as “changing”. When Tatianna dared to ask through her giggling about a tail, Willam simply replied, “Didn’t go with the outfit.”

Rolling her eyes as they exited the vehicle, Tatianna kept any additional comments to herself. She knew exactly why Willam had chosen this look. Despite how emphatically Willam would deny it if someone asked, she had chosen to be a mouse to compliment Alaska’s look after the latter had excitedly blurted out that she’d be going as a cat. Alaska’s roommates, however, had their own little theme; all Courtney’s idea of course. Courtney, as the main hostess, had decided she’d be going as an angel, (“More like a fallen angel,” Willam was quick to retort), complete with a sparkly halo and oversized wings, she explained during one of their outings. Adore would be playing her counterpart; a sexy little devil. That may or may not have been the key motivating factor behind Tatianna’s own choice for the evening. 

Knocking on the door, the pair found it quickly answered by none other than the semi-angelic hostess. Letting them in on the fun, Courtney gave Willam a brief once over and asked what exactly she was supposed to be. 

Pointing to her ears, Willam remarked, “I’m a mouse…duh,” and sauntered off in the direction of the living room. Rolling her eyes, Courtney followed after her and swiftly immersed herself back into the crowd of swaying bodies. Figuring she’d join them soon enough, Tatianna made her way towards the kitchen for a quick drink. Just something to calm her nerves after Bianca’s wine barely made a dent.

They had quite a selection of choices, including some mixers to make your own cocktails. Exactly what Tatianna needed to loosen up before heading onto the dance floor! But as she mixed up her drink, fate took a hand and allowed Adore to wander into the kitchen just as Tatianna was about to find her way out.

Adore’s eyes lit up the moment she saw her friend and immediately a wide, toothy grin settled on her face. “Tati!” she called out a mere moment before pulling her in for a hug. “I didn’t know you got here!”

“Just a few minutes ago,” Tatianna explained, returning the warm embrace. “Fashionably late, of course. Took a bit longer to get ready than I thought.”

As Adore stepped away, she took a lengthy gaze up and down Tatianna’s figure. At once Adore’s expression shifted from glee into one of immense appreciation. “Pretty worth it to me,” Adore noted, sounding a bit dazed and distracted.

A humble smile rose to Tatianna’s lips. She couldn’t stop her fingers from toying with the added lace of her hem as she replied softly, “You think?”

Adore’s eyes instantly shot back to meet Tatianna’s as she assured her, “Yeah-Oh!” Adore cut herself off with a little gasp. Her gaze had traveled upwards right to where the shimmering horns rested on Tatianna’s head. Completely delighted, Adore asked excitedly, “You’re a devil, too?”

“Demon,” Tatianna explained with a non-committal wave of her hand, “Or succubus. Whichever.”

“Damn,” Adore murmured, daring to let her eyes drift a little lower once again. Tatianna’s heart was beginning to pound in her chest. It seemed like her outfit really was giving her the attention she desired. But in a flash, Adore’s mood shifted once again to that of childish glee as the music from the living room faded into a new song. “We gotta go dance!” she insisted with a happy grin.

Tatianna faltered for a second. Her gaze darted back to her very full cup; the same one she’d only had a chance to take one sip from so far. “Um-”

“One song?” Adore begged, eyes shining with sincerity as she clutched onto Tatianna’s free hand. “We match so well!”

Tatianna let out a defeated laugh. This was what she wanted after all; any excuse to spend some extra time with Adore. She just hadn’t expected it to come so soon. “Sure,” she relented all too easily, “just let me finish this.”

*******

‘One song’ easily turned into four hours and if Tatianna were being perfectly honest, it still didn’t feel long enough. But her feet were aching after the non-stop dancing and she desperately needed a break. How Adore could keep going minute after minute in that skin tight, blood-red catsuit was beyond her. Even the cherry red horns sitting atop Adore’s head didn’t look like they had moved so much as an inch. Although, Tatianna noted when she chanced to look down at Adore’s feet, those grubby, all black combat boots might have something to do with her stamina. Or maybe that fabric breathes a little more than it looks. It certainly wasn’t latex or she’d have been passed out by now.

Either way, Tatianna was beat and needed a short break. As she and Adore swayed to the music, she shouted that after the song ends, she’d have to stop for a minute. Adore nodded but instead of waiting for the music to switch over, she grabbed Tatianna’s hand and led her back to the kitchen. They only stopped for a few seconds, just long enough to grab two beers from the fridge, and left through the kitchen door into the back yard. No else seemed to be out there, at least not on the patio itself. A few people could be heard chatting away along the side of the house but Tatianna didn’t see anyone near the furniture that Adore was guiding her towards.

They both collapsed onto the wicker sofa with a welcomed sense of relief. Tatianna, for one, couldn’t stop smiling, as Adore handed her one of the beers. Each drank in silence as they slowly came off their dancing high. After finishing almost half of her beer, Tatianna was the first to speak, “The party’s been incredible! I can’t remember the last time I danced that long!”

“Same!” Adore agreed, never taking her eyes off Tatianna’s smile. “Like a few songs, sure, but never-”

“For hours like that?” Tatianna finished with a knowing tone.

Adore merely nodded in confirmation and took another sip. It was here she let her gaze drop down to Tatianna’s outfit again, something that Tatianna certainly did not miss. Her heart was beginning to pound away once more when Adore spoke up, “You really do look amazing tonight. I mean, not that you don’t always look great, but like, that dress…”

“Thanks,” Tatianna replied, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. It was an uncommon feeling for her but a strange wave of shyness had suddenly washed over her. Usually with Adore she just felt nervous or a little on edge. But tonight was different…maybe it has something to do with that hungry look in Adore’s eyes every time she peeked down at the dress. After giving herself time for another shallow sip, Tatianna continued on softly, “It…I spent more time than I care to mention just picking it out.”

“It’s perfect though,” Adore assured her with a sincere smile, looking into her eyes once more.

Scoffing to herself, Tatianna muttered, “You say that now.”

Adore let out a small questioning noise as her head tilted in confusion.

“It didn’t look like this at the beginning of the night,” Tatianna explained. She debated with herself if she should just leave it at that but one look at Adore’s curious expression (and that she was scooting in closer) convinced Tatianna to elaborate just a bit more. “That’s actually why Willam and I were late; I was freaking out a little cause the dress didn’t look like the picture online when I ordered it.” She let out an awkward laugh recalling just how different the dress looked on her than the model. Shaking her head of those images, she resumed her story, “It felt so short and tight…But Bianca fixed it up before the party-literally right before we left. She added the slit up the side and all the lace.” 

As Adore’s gaze fell back to the new additions, Tatianna realized she was toying with the lace again. Pulling her hand away, she let it drum against the sofa cushions while she concluded with, “And then Shangela and Willam redid my hair and makeup. They’re really the ones that got me ready for tonight.”

“Oh,” Adore murmured in understanding. Her eyes stayed glued to Tatianna’s dress, seemingly looking at in a new light. If she were being fair, Tatianna wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or bad thing at this point.

Swallowing her pride, just a little, Tatianna added in with an embarrassed smile, “I just…I really wanted to put in some extra effort, you know?”

Adore’s eyes shot back up to meet hers. She seemed a lot closer now. In fact, Tatianna could just feel the light brush of Adore’s hand against her own now that she forced her fingers to stop their nervous drumming.

Softly, Adore assured her, “Hey, I get it.”

They were definitely much closer than they had been just a minute ago.

Ignoring the pounding in her ears and chest, Tatianna mustered every last bit of courage she had in order to add in, “Honestly…I just wanted to dress up for you.”

The world felt so quiet and still for a moment. Tatianna thought she had imagined it when she heard what sounded like a soft gasp catching itself in Adore’s throat. She looked absolutely stunned for a moment, one of the rare moments when she was at complete loss for words. But then, a cautiously excited smile began to tug at Adore’s lips and Tatianna’s world began to turn again. Adore’s eyes lit up as she asked, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tatianna smiled back, hardly able to breathe.

There was a moment’s pause. The only movement was Adore’s hand carefully wrapping itself around Tatianna’s. They stayed like that for a second or two, both waiting and praying the other wouldn’t pull away. When it became obvious neither was looking to stop, Adore leaned in even closer. Only a few inches remained between hers and Tatianna’s lips. But before closing that distance, Adore had to ask, “Can I?”

Tatianna barely had a chance to nod before a soft pair of lips were resting on her own. The moment they touched it was like a wave of warm electricity had swept through her body. A needy, desperate little noise caught itself in her throat as she wasted little time in deepening the kiss. Finally, after having waited for so long, Tatianna didn’t want to delay this moment any more. She dropped the beer to the couch, hearing the remaining contents splattering about but ultimately uncaring of what happened to the bottle. Adore seemed to be of the same mind, however hers was unfortunate enough to clatter onto the cushion and promptly roll onto the ground. 

But that was something to worry about later.

Tatianna’s sole focus was Adore in her arms. The way their lips glided against one another like they just couldn’t get enough. Time meant nothing to her, she simply wanted this moment to last forever. But soon reality forced its way back into her mind. Namely now that her bare leg was feeling suspiciously damp and cold. She was all for ignoring it at first until the beer pooling against her skin began to traveling uncomfortably close to her dress.

She broke off the kiss in order to push the bottle away but as she did so, she heard Adore asking breathlessly, “Hey um, if you want to-tonight, I mean-we can go up to my room.”

Tatianna’s answer came like second nature, “Let’s go,” and in only a second both women were on their feet and rushing back towards the kitchen door.

******

As Adore shut the bedroom door firmly behind them, turning to Tatianna with a smirk, she suddenly found herself feeling shy. It was probably silly–after all, she’d known Adore for almost 2 years and they’d hung out countless times, but this was different. She couldn’t help wonder if crossing this line was a bad idea, as much as she wanted it. Or if it would mess things up with their group. When Alaska and Katya broke up, it had nearly torn their whole friend group apart, and maybe this was a terrible idea, a terrible road to go down. 

Her racing thoughts were quieted, somewhat, by Adore stepping closer to her, taking a lock of her hair and twirling it around her finger, thumb brushing lightly against her cheek in the process. 

“What are you thinkin’ about?” Adore murmured, and Tatianna felt her knees go weak at the softness of her voice. 

“Just…uh…” Tatianna smiled sheepishly. “It doesn’t matter.” 

Adore’s eyes were glued to her body, and the rush of desire she felt from being so openly admired made her forget all her earlier worries. So what if this was a bad idea? So what if it would change their friendship? It was bound to be fun in the process. 

Adore’s lips grazed hers lightly, and she grabbed her by the waist, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss, enjoying the plush feel of her lips, the way their bodies fit perfectly together. Hands were traveling slowly from her hair, down her back, stopping just shy of her ass. 

She tilted her head as Adore layered kisses down her jaw and neck, a soft whimper escaping her lips when teeth dug gently into her pulse point. 

“God, you’re so fucking sexy,” Adore breathed, hot breath against her neck making her shiver. 

Emboldened, Tatianna pushed Adore onto the bed and stood before her, almost posing. 

“You think?” 

“Are you kidding me?” Adore’s eyes raked over her body appreciatively, admiring every curve. “That dress is…fuck.” 

“Hmm…wanna see how I look without the dress?” Tatianna asked breathily, amused at the way Adore’s eyes widened, nodding excitedly. 

Tati slowly pulls the dress up, lifting the hem, letting the clingy fabric slide up her thighs until just a hint of her black lace panties were visible. Adore leaned forward, practically salivating as she pulled it up some more, finally lifting it over her head, and the horns with it. Now in just her bra, panties and a pair of heels, she shook out her hair and leveled a sultry gaze at Adore. 

“Lose the bra,” Adore said. It was meant to be an order, but it came out like a breathless prayer, and Tatianna smiled obligingly. She reached behind her to unhook her bra, letting the straps fall down her arms before slowly, slowly removing it. 

“Better?” 

“Shit,” Adore said, reaching forward. 

“Not so fast!” Tatianna dodged her hands, giggling as she backed away, leaning against a dresser. “This is a little uneven, don’t you think?” 

“Uneven?” 

“We gotta get you naked, too.” 

Adore scrambled to follow her instructions, pulling off her combat boots frantically as Tatianna looked on. She struggled out of her costume, ripping down the zipper and shrugging the stretchy top off her shoulders until it bunched around her waist, giving Tati a perfect view of her tits. 

“Very nice.” 

“Please come back,” Adore said. “Please let me touch you.” 

Pushing herself away from the dresser, Tatianna sauntered forward, now clad only in her panties and heels. She straddled one of Adore’s thighs, watching the girl fisting her comforter while she waited for the green light. 

“Okay,” she said lightly. 

Adore sprang into action, grabbing Tatianna by the waist and flinging her onto her back. After a few desperate kisses, clawing at each other like animals, they both sunk into the moment. Tatianna closed her eyes, relishing the feel of Adore’s hands on her bare skin, the weight of her body gently pressing her into the bed. She untangled her fingers from Adore’s teal-colored hair and reached down to push her costume over her hips. Adore tried to assist, wriggling the catsuit down her legs, giving a rueful chuckle. 

“I guess this wasn’t meant for a fast escape,” she said, and Tati laughed with her, pushing her onto her back. 

“No, but…what’s the rush?” 

Adore finally pulled the garment off and tossed it to the floor. She wasn’t wearing any panties, and Tati couldn’t help her eyes drifting down to look at her, take all of her in. There was a tattoo on her hip that Tati had never seen before, a crescent moon, and she touched it gently. 

She looked back up into Adore’s hazel eyes and was met with a wicked grin. 

“Like it?” 

“Uh huh,” was all Tatianna managed before Adore pulled her body down, continuing the blissful assault of her neck, fingers drawing light circles on her ass that made her shiver. Tatianna’s hips rolled forward, grinding down against Adore’s thigh, the lace of her panties creating some much-needed friction. 

When a whimper escaped her lips, Adore rolled them both over once again, mouth moving slowly down her collarbone, tongue circling her nipples. Tatianna arched up, pulling on Adore’s hair, trembling in anticipation of Adore’s hot, wet mouth where she wanted it the most. Fingers slid into the sides of her panties, and as Adore began to drag them down her thighs ever so slowly, Tatianna let out an impatient whine. 

“Didn’t you just say ‘what’s the rush’?” Adore asked her, amused. 

“Yeah but I…” Tatianna whimpered, lifting her hips, and Adore continued to pull her panties down, spreading open her thighs. She leaned forward, warm breath making Tatianna shiver violently. “Lick it, please, oh god…” 

Adore let her lips graze Tatianna’s pussy, so lightly she thought she might scream. She had a bratty retort on the tip of her tongue when a bang on the door nearly gave her a heart attack. 

“Adore! ” The knob turned, and Adore threw her body over Tatianna’s to shield her from the intrusion. “Are you in here? ” 

“Don’t come in!” Adore shrieked, and Courtney immediately covered her eyes. 

“Sorry, sorry!” she said, speaking through a crack in the door, assuring, “I didn’t see anything!” 

“Can you like, leave?” Adore asked, irritated.

“Yeah, I just needed to ask you, real quick. Uh, Bill’s looking for Tati, and we saw you guys dancing together earlier. Have you seen her?” 

Tatianna clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. 

“Uhhh…” Adore scratched her head, unsure of how to respond. She looked down at Tatianna apologetically, and Tati reached down to smooth her disheveled hair before chiming in. 

“Hey Court…tell her I’m fine.” 

“Omigod, sorry!” Tatianna could barely see Courtney’s face, but she could practically hear the blush rising to her cheeks. So much for skating under the radar with the friend group. “Sorry, sorry! Have fun, kids!” 

“Thanks mom!” Adore called after her with a huge eye roll, then turned back to Tatianna, cheeks flushed. “I’m so sorry about that.” 

“It’s okay. It’s probably better if they know, anyway,” Tatianna said, adding a rushed, “I mean, I’m a terrible liar. And you’re worse.” 

“Hey!” Adore opened her mouth in mock offense. “I’m a great liar. I pretended to be straight for…almost 14 years.” 

“I’m sure it was very convincing.” 

“Well…not really,” Adore admitted, laughing. “But…so you really don’t mind that they know?”

Her eyes were soft and wide, forehead creased with concern, and Tatinna placed a gentle kiss against her mouth. 

“I really don’t mind. But I appreciated you trying to protect me,” she whispered, feeling Adore smile against her, returning the kiss enthusiastically. Her thighs hugged Adore’s hips, drawing her in closer. 

She could feel the tension in Adore’s body melt as they kissed more, going soft and pliable. As a plush mouth traveled down her neck, sucking a wet trail into her skin, Tatianna arched up. 

“So, uh, before we were interrupted…” she began, and Adore lifted her head, a wicked gleam in her eyes. 

“Yeees?” Adore asked teasingly, fingers trailing down Tatianna’s torso, drawing circles all over her tingling skin. 

“Please,” Tatianna whimpered, a pitiful edge to her shaky voice. 

Adore’s spread in a slow, lazy smile before she bent her head again, nibbling down her chest and finally settling in between her legs, chuckling softly as Tatianna’s thighs spread open wider. 

“We really should have done this months ago,” Adore said, and Tatianna nodded vigorously, trying very un-subtly to push her head down. 

“Uh huh…” 

Adore drew closer, and as her lips finally brushed over Tati’s clit, she thrust up her hips, hands gripping her hair for dear life. Those perfect, pillowy lips got to work, and Tatianna shut her eyes, settling back to enjoy the ride. Soon enough, Adore’s tongue was swirling over her, soft and warm and wet, and a moan slipped from her lips. 

“Oh, god…” Her hips jerked up as if of their own volition, responding to every flick of Adore’s tongue, every teasing touch and feathery kiss. “Harder, please, please…”

“Anything you want, baby,” Adore murmured, her low voice making Tatianna tremble as she gripped her thighs tighter. She began to suck on her clit, harder and harder until Tatianna was writhing in bliss. 

“Adore, oh god, I’m gonna come,” she choked out, gasping for air when Adore temporarily moved a mouth to her thigh, sucking a bruise into her tender skin and making her buck up in agony, indecipherable moans escaping her as she tugged on Adore’s hair, directing her back where she needed her most. 

Almost as soon as Adore’s tongue hit her clit again, she began to come, grinding against the other girl’s tongue and moaning shamelessly, riding out wave after wave as Adore lapped her up like dessert, face buried in her pussy until her body went limp. 

It’s a few minutes later, with Adore’s cheek resting on her chest and a hand still tangled in her hair, when she noticed her phone buzzing so much that it had fallen out of her clutch and was now lying on the wooden floor. She sighed and reached for it, but there was no way she could make it in her current state. 

Adore saw what she was doing and laughed. 

“Yeah, someone’s messaging you an awful lot,” she remarked, rolling over to grab the phone from the floor. She handed it over, and Tatianna scanned through her recent messages with an amused, exhausted laugh. 

WILLAM (1:32): Where r u

WILLAM (1:36): Tati

WILLAM (1:37): Hello

WILLAM (1:43): Bitch, I’m looking for you

WILLAM (1:54): Let’s go, my fucking feet hurt

WILLAM (1:55): Tatiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

WILLAM (1:55): I hope you’re dead because if not, I’m gonna kill you

WILLAM (1:57): Um okay, scratch that. Please don’t be dead.

WILLAM (1:59): Tatianna Josephine Santiolini

WILLAM (2:03): ANSWER ME YOU FUCKING BITCH

WILLAM (2:04): Ugh

WILLAM (2:06): You’re a cunt

WILLAM (2:07): !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WILLAM (2:08): NOT A CUNT

WILLAM (2:09): You’re a SLUT

WILLAM (2:11): Hahahahahahaha

WILLAM (2:13): Omg you little whore

WILLAM (2:16): I’m so proud

Tati shook her head, sending out a quick, ‘Goodnight Will,’ and then turning to Adore with an exaggerated eye roll. 

“Hey.” 

“Hi.” Adore grinned, well, adorably, leaning in for a slow, lazy kiss. 

Tatianna sighed into it, wrapping her arms around Adore’s waist and pulling her close. Kissing Adore was honestly everything she’d imagined. Those soft, full lips, which were so delicious that she couldn’t resist taking the bottom one between her teeth and biting down slightly, producing the sexiest little groan. 

“You’re so cute,” Tatianna whispered, nuzzling against her, and Adore’s smile deepened. 

“You’re cuter,” said Adore. 

Tatianna couldn’t help the giddy laugh that bubbled up from her chest. She let out a contented sigh, fingers trailing up and down Adore’s naked back, admitting, “God, I’ve liked you for so long…” 

Adore shivered slightly as nails raked along her skin and pressed a kiss to Tatianna’s jaw. “Fuck, me too,” she murmured into her still flushed, heated skin. 

Tatianna smiled, cupping her ass with both hands, shifting so that her thigh was wedged between Adore’s legs, giving her something to rut against. Her thigh soon grew slick and wet as Adore’s hips rolled at a frantic pace. 

“Tell me what you want,” she said, teeth grazing Adore’s ear. 

“I want…fuck…I want you to fuck me. Oh, god…” 

It was beautiful, watching her fall apart, and Tatianna just wanted more and more. She rolled her to the side, hushing her desperate whimpers and pushing two fingers into her, thumb toying with her swollen clit while she worked her from the inside. 

Tatianna’s eyes never left Adore’s face, watching as her beautiful hazel eyes rolled back, as she arched and thrashed and scratched at her like an alley cat. Curling her fingers again and again until Adore came with a final moan, hoarse and broken. She kept watching her, taking in her body glistening with sweat, tits heaving with gasping breaths, hair an absolute mess, thighs trembling and sticky. She was a perfect disaster, and all Tatianna wanted was to kiss those parted lips some more. 

She curled up beside Adore on the bed, sucking her fingers into her mouth to relish the taste of victory, when she happened to notice the time. 

“Hey, um…” 

“Mmmmm?” 

Adore sounded drugged, and Tatianna raised herself up on her elbow. Her stomach felt a little funny as she ventured, “It’s pretty late…is it okay if I crash?” 

Lashes brushed against Adore’s cheeks as her eyes fluttered open. She reached languidly for Tatianna, wrapping a lock of hair around her fingers. 

“Are you kidding? I’d be devo’d if you left.” 

“Devo’d?” 

“Shit,” Adore giggled. “That’s Courtney’s stupid Aussie slang…” 

Adore’s eyes finally focused, locking with Tatianna’s own. 

“Don’t go,” she clarified. 

Until that moment, Tatianna wasn’t actually sure what this would be. A fun little one-off between good friends? The start of a friends-with-benefits arrangement? But seeing Adore’s expression, the softness in her eyes, the absolute steadfastness as she insisted that the other girl stay, she realized it might be so much more.

[ddixons-angel]

Fated: Season 1

Summary: Gloria Rhee narrowly escapes Atlanta with her brother as the outbreak reaches the city. Luckily, they find a camp outside the city and together, they fend through encounters with the living and undead.

Starts a little before Season 1 and then follows the main storyline of the show.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Glenn Sister!OC

Warnings: major TWD spoilers, language, violence, mild racism

To be Updated every Monday!

A/N: This chapter was kinda hard to write, mainly because of Merle. His dialogue is fun to write BUT at the beginning of the show, we all know how he is… and I was really torn about how to write his… ways lol I hope it doesn’t offend anyone! I felt the need to keep it canonically correct to his character, I’m sorry if it does! Also yeah, Daryl is a bit of an ass in this one too lol

Chapter 2:

“Hey! Tha’s my rabbit!” 

Gloria and the man with the crossbow eye each other carefully. She glances down at the arrow piercing the rabbit then back at the man and his crossbow. She matches the arrow with the weapon and confirms that this man is indeed the hunter who caught the animal. Gloria slowly holds her hand up, showing physically that she doesn’t want to cause any trouble. She gestures that she’s going to throw the rabbit to him and then she does, the carcass landing at the man’s feet. She makes up her mind to recruit this man, the group would appreciate a hunter. 

 “You’re a hunter.” Gloria states the obvious, “do you have a camp?”

The man’s eyes narrow, “Why?”

“I have a camp just back there, we have a bunch of people, women and children. I know they’d appreciate any fresh meat a skilled hunter can provide. In return, we’ll give you a place to stay.” Gloria tries to convince him, letting the fact that she just gave a stranger their location slip her mind.

The man finally lowers his crossbow, “Nah, don’ need ya.” 

“What? Yes, you do. In case you haven’t noticed, Mr. Crossbow, the world has gone to shit and we’re all safer in numbers.” Gloria argues.

“I meant I don’ need a camp run by a damn girl!” he raises his voice in frustration. 

Gloria scoffs at this and almost lets her anger caused by his sexist comment take over when she remembers that the group needs this, she takes a deep breath and swallows her pride, “I don’t run the camp. A guy, a deputy named Shane, he runs the place. Is that good enough for you?”

“Ah, that’s plenty good, ain’ it lil’ brother?” another voice belts out in a southern drawl, a taller and seemingly older man walks out from a shroud of bush, a snarky grin on his face, “so, ya say ya got a group and a camp?”

Wary of being outnumbered, Gloria nods, “we’re in need of hunters, half of them don’t remember the last time they had fresh meat.” 

“Well then, you’re in luck! See, I’m the better hunter out o’ us Dixons, we’ll get fresh meat for ya, sweetheart.” the older man says as he claps the younger on the shoulder.

“I’ll take that as you accepting my offer to come back with me?” Gloria clarifies.

The older man eyes her up and down, “Oh, I’ll come back with ya any day.”

“Man, don’t ya ever shut it…” the crossbow wielder mutters under his breath, shaking his head. 

Gloria brushes off the last comment made by the older man, taking a mental note to stay away from him, “before I take you back to my camp, would you mind telling me your names?”

“Merle.” the older man says, his chest puffed up proudly as if announcing his name is a huge accomplishment.

“Daryl.” the crossbow wielder says, putting the strap of the weapon over his head and letting it hang on his shoulder and over his broad chest, “you?”

“Gloria.” she says simply, her and Daryl have a brief but intense eye contact, she feels that most people would be intimidated by this kind of stare, but she senses no danger in his gaze, “shall we get going then?”

“Lead the way!” Merle grins as he starts to follow Gloria to the camp, leaving Daryl behind him.

The three of them make it back to the camp and as there are two unfamiliar faces with Gloria, their appearance cause the others to become anxious. Gloria waves over to Shane and beckons him to come over, and as he does, Glenn follows.

“Gloria, who are they?” Shane says once he reaches him, his hand on his waist near his gun holster. 

“Shane, this is Merle and Daryl. They’re brothers, hunters. I was thinking that the others would like to have some fresh meat, you know, boost the morale. Plus, Carl and Sophia are still growing, it could do them a lot of good.” Gloria vouches for the brothers, she tries to read Shane’s expression as she poses her next question, “so, are you okay with them staying?” 

Rather than answering Gloria directly, Shane looks over at the brothers, “you guys willing to hunt for the group?”

“If it means we’ll get a place to get some good shut eye, then by all means, we’ll go and hunt for ya!” Merle grins at Shane. 

Daryl looks at Merle with a weird look and Gloria catches this, noticing that something doesn’t feel right with the situation. She doesn’t say anything though, in case it’s a private family issue. 

“Alright then, let’s go get you boys settled in, come with me.” Shane smiles and leads the brothers to the area near the RV.

Gloria is about to follow after them when Glenn grabs her arm and pulls her back, “where the hell were you? I was worried sick about you! You can’t just wander off into the woods without letting me know, you know how dangerous it is now out there?”

“Okay, first of all, Glenn, you gotta breathe,” Gloria says, holding a hand up as if showing a pause, “second, I went to go get water, Amy told me there’s a stream with fresh water in the woods. I didn’t feel right sitting around doing nothing, and with you always going on runs to Atlanta, I had to do something for the group.”

Glenn sighs and nods, “I get that… but is it really that hard to just let me know where you’re going? I asked everyone and they all said they didn’t know where you went.” 

“I told Amy though, did you ask her?” Gloria said, crossing her arms.

“She’s… the only one I didn’t ask…” Glenn admits, causing Gloria to chuckle, “just leave a note for me on my tent or something next time?”

Gloria nods and puts her arm around Glenn’s shoulders, “alright, I’ll do that. You know you’re really turning into mom with how much you worry?” 

Glenn rolls his eyes as they start making their way back to the main campsite. Once there, Gloria takes the now full water bottles out of her bag, placing them in a bin that was labelled ‘UNBOILED’. Glenn had gone back to the RV where T-Dog was studying a map with Dale. 

—

A few days after Gloria brought back the Dixon brothers to the camp, she realizes that she might have made a huge mistake. It turns out that when Merle says ‘we’ll hunt for you’, he actually means Daryl will hunt for the group while Merle sits in the camp and gets intoxicated and sometimes start issues within the group. He had already called T-Dog racist profanities multiple times, irritating the man and almost always needing Shane to break up the two before they start to throw punches. Daryl on the other hand, he actually kept his bargain and hunted for the group. 

“Hey Shane,” Gloria calls out to the deputy as she walks up to him, “I… am so so sorry for bringing someone like Merle to the camp… I had no idea that he’d be such an asshole.”

Shane chuckles at this and waves his hand in the air as if to dismiss Gloria, “Nah, don’t be sorry, you didn’t know. You were only looking out for the group. Now, if you did know how much of a problem he’d be but you still brought him, then I’d have a problem.”

“No, sir, I didn’t know.” Gloria smiles, “I still feel bad though, he’s been making everyone uncomfortable.”

“Don’t feel bad about it, it ain’t your fault.” Shane glances over at Merle then back at Gloria, “plus, it’s not like you didn’t bring anything good to the group, Daryl’s pulling his weight and providing for us.” 

Gloria nods but then sighs, “he is, but I feel bad for him too.”

Shane frowns at this, confused, “what for?”

“Daryl,” she looks over to the man in subject who looks to be fidgeting with his crossbow, “it feels like he has to work extra hard to make up for what his brother isn’t doing, he deserves better than that.”

“I know what you mean,” Shane sighs, “but I don’t think there’s anything we can do about it, that might just be their family dynamic and how they work as brothers, if that’s the case, you know that no one can change it.” 

Gloria nods sadly, “Yes, sir, I know.”

Shane eyes her at her words, “and what did I say about you calling me ‘sir’? Told you I don’t like that shit.”

Gloria shrugs, “Sorry, it just comes out naturally, especially when you’re in uniform, just happens… sir.” 

Shane laughs and shakes his head, he’s about to say something else when shouting is heard. The two look over in the direction of the voices and see that Merle and T-Dog have gotten into another fight. This time, Glenn is there with them and seems as though he’s trying to break up the fight. Gloria and Shane start making their way over to the three before any more damage can be done.

“Hey, seriously can you calm down?! Why do you have to start shit with people every day?!” Glenn shouts at Merle with his arms out, trying to keep T-Dog and Merle apart from each other.

“Why don’ ya stop tryin’ to get into other people’s business, ya damn chink!” Merle shouts back, smacking Glenn’s hand out of his face.

“You see this?!” T-Dog says angrily gesturing to Merle, “how do you expect me to keep calm when all he’s doing is shouting racist shit like that?!”

Glenn turns his attention to T-Dog, “I’m not saying you’re wrong, T’, bu-”

“O’ course ya gonna defend him, say he’s not wrong, ya colored bitches gotta stick together after the big ol’ white man, huh? Fuckin�� go back to where ya came from!” Merle shouts loudly, swaying on his own two feet.

“That’s enough!” Gloria marches in between the three men, Shane on the outskirts of the fight, ready to jump in if needed, “that type of shit is not welcome here, you take it back and apologize to them, right now!”

Merle scoffs and holds his head high, “Merle don’ apologize to anybody! Let alone a damn black man and a chinaman!”

Gloria glares at him and walks right up to Merle, getting into his face, “I’d advise you to stop that shit, right now.” 

“Oh yeah? Or what?” Merle doesn’t back down and challenges her further.

“Or you’re gonna let everyone see that you got your ass handed to you by a girl. Now wouldn’t that be embarrassing?” Gloria says lowly in a dangerous tone.

“I’d like to see what a slanty-eyed ho like ya can do to me.” Merle then belts out a laugh. 

Gloria steps back, closes her eyes, and lets out a deep breath. Daryl, who had been near the brother’s tents comes out and sees the crowd around his brother, he comes closer to the scene about to call out to Merle and asks what’s going on when Gloria swings a punch and hits Merle right in the face, knocking him down. Shane, T-Dog and Daryl, as well as the other onlookers in the camp are completely shocked by her actions while Glenn crosses his arms with a small hidden smile, knowing this was coming. 

Merle gets up, very obviously raged, wipes the blood from his now split lip, “You bitch!” he lunges forward to pounce on Gloria.

Gloria readjusts her feet and readies herself for Merle’s attack. She swiftly dodges Merle’s punch and counters it by grabbing his arm, turning her back towards him and flips him over her shoulder, throwing the man onto the ground. Gloria grunts as she twists Merle’s arm, causing him to shout in pain as she dislocates his shoulder. 

At this point, Daryl rushes over to the fight, “hey stop! Let him go!” 

Gloria does as Daryl asked and let go of Merle’s arm. Daryl goes to help his brother who pushes him off once he’s on his feet. 

Not wanting to give up his pride, Merle glares Gloria as he his hand presses on his injured shoulder, “I guess I should have known a chinawoman would know Kung Fu.” 

“One,” Gloria starts as she starts walking up to Merle again, “I know Taekwondo, not Kung Fu. Two, we’re Korean, not Chinese. And three,” she gets in Merle’s face again, “I hear you say any type of that bullshit to anyone again, I’ll do more than just dislocate your arm.” 

With one final glare, Gloria turns and retreats back to the campsite with Glenn, T-Dog and Shane following behind her. Daryl’s eyes haven’t left Gloria, he’s quite impressed that a small girl like her was able to hurt Merle. He goes over to him and ushers his brother back to their camp. 

Back at the main campsite, Shane goes over to Gloria with a smirk, “I guess you just made up for bringing Merle to the group.” 

Gloria laughs at this, “Yeah, yeah I guess I did.” 

—

Days have passed since Gloria showed Merle his place, and he had seemingly learned his lesson and stayed away from the main campsite in general. The group had run out of water again and Gloria took it upon herself to collect more from the stream, but not before leaving a note to Glenn, telling him where she was headed to prevent him from freaking out again. She goes back out to the same stream and fills up the bottles, on her way back she’s looking around for mushrooms when she bumps into Daryl. 

“Hey.” she calls to him as he grunts to her in response, she walks closer to him, “how’s Merle’s arm?”

Daryl scoffs at her question, “What, are ya worried ‘bout him now? We popped it back the day ya did the damage, he’s good.” 

“That’s good, I was just gonna say that if it’s still not better, I’d help him take a look at it.” Gloria’s words earn her a weird look from Daryl, “What?”

“Ya hurt him and then ya talk ‘bout takin’ a look at yer work? What are ya, some kinda serial killer?!” Daryl raises his voice at her.

“I have training in the medical field, I used to be a nurse before the world went to shit. Yeah, you’re right, I was the one who hurt him but I’m also willing to help him if he needs it.” Gloria explains, “he may be an asshole, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve proper medical attention.” 

Daryl gives her a look that Gloria isn’t able to comprehend, “if Merle ever comes to ya, it ain’ gon’ be for medical attention… he ain’ gon’ let what happened slide, so jus’ watch ya back.”

“Well, he seems like he learned his lesson, hasn’t been starting any arguments with T’ lately.” Gloria shrugs, “but then again, you’re his brother, you’d know him best.”

“Yeah… jus’ stay away from him, Merle never stays quiet for long.” Daryl mutters.

There is a silence between them as Gloria shifts on her feet, “so, what did you catch so far?” 

“Jus’ these.” Daryl says, gesturing to the line of squirrels and a single rabbit hanging off his belt. 

“Merle doesn’t hunt, does he.” Gloria says more as a statement than a question.

Daryl just grunts as a response, then turns to return to hunting. Gloria follows him, her curiosity getting the better of her; she’s never witnessed a hunter at work before. Daryl leads as he stealthily goes around the woods, examining the ground for any tracks he can pick up.

“He used to.” Daryl whispers.

Gloria looks at him, “what?”

“Merle used to hunt. Used to take me out huntin’, but he doesn’ anymore. Now all he does is smoke up or get drunk.” Daryl explains, smacking away branches that get in his way with his hands. 

“So, he leaves it all to you?” Gloria didn’t know why, but she liked talking to Daryl and getting to know him.

Daryl grunts a yes then pauses, stops walking and turns his head to face her, “would ya stop followin’ me?” 

Gloria frowns at his sudden change, confused and slightly shocked, “What?”

“All yer questions an’ the way ya walk, scarin’ off any game here!” Daryl raises his voice. 

Gloria rolls her eyes and scoffs, “I don’t think you’re really helping with all your yelling, but fine, you want me to go, I’ll go,” she starts to walk off but then stops and turns around when she remembers something, “be careful if you’re gonna walk along the creek, it’s pretty slippery there.” 

Daryl waves her off and turns back around as Gloria does the same, walking back to the camp. She doesn’t get very far though as she soon hears a loud thump from behind her followed by a string of Daryl cursing. Gloria turns around and rushes back to Daryl and finds him on the ground near the creek where she told him to be careful. 

“You alright?” she asks as she makes her way to his side and helps him up, but not without an amused smile on her face. 

“‘M fine…the hell ya laughin’ at?” Daryl glares at her.

Gloria shrugs, “well, I did tell you to be careful, but clearly you don’t listen very well, do you?”

Daryl rolls his eyes and doesn’t say anything else. Looking around, he finds his crossbow lying on the ground and goes to pick it up with his left hand but winces in pain.

“The hell?” Daryl looks down at his wrist and sees that it’s swollen.

Gloria’s smile is now replaced with a look of concern, “Here, let me take a look,” she holds out her hands, urging Daryl to let her examine his wrist to which he slowly but hesitantly does, “it looks like you sprained it.” 

“Great.” Daryl groans, taking his arm back from Gloria, he picks up his crossbow with his good hand. 

Gloria looks at Daryl and notices that he has a gash on his right temple, “we should head back to the camp so I can help you stitch that up.” 

“Why the hell ya wan’ to help me?!” Daryl snaps at her.

Gloria sighs at his words, she’s already gotten used to this type of behaviour from when she was a nurse, “Like I said before, I used to be a nurse and I know that I can help you. Plus, we can’t have our one and only useful hunter hurt. Now, come on.” 

She ushers him back to their camp and she tries to get Daryl to come with her to the main campsite so she can patch up his wound. However, Daryl doesn’t budge but he also knows Gloria doesn’t want to go back to where him and his brother’s tents are set up. 

“Tell you what, you sit there and I’ll bring the first aid kit.” Gloria suggests, gesturing to an alignment of rocks meant to be a small sitting area. 

Daryl nods then heads over to the rocks, sitting down and waits for Gloria to return with the first aid kit. When she returns to him, she gets to work right away, opening the first aid kit and ripping open an alcohol swab to clean Daryl’s wound. 

“This might sting a little.” Gloria says gently before leaning closer to Daryl and gently dabbing on and around the wound. 

Daryl closes his eyes and does his best not to let it show that the stinging is hurting him. Being attentive and good at her job, Gloria notices this and lightly blows on the wound, attempting to soothe it as she continues with her work. Once the wound is cleaned, Gloria looks over it and smiles as she sees that it isn’t as bad as she thought.

“Doesn’t look like it needs stitches after all, I’ll just pop a bandage on it, then I’ll take a look at your wrist.” Gloria explains to him, going through the kit and finding the bandage she was talking about.

Daryl opens his eyes and watches her as she unwraps a small piece of bandage and cuts a proper sized piece. She then does the same with a roll of surgical tape, matching the length of the bandage.

“Come here.” Gloria looks up at him with the pieces of bandage and tape in her hands, ushering him to come closer so that she can patch up the cut.

He obliges and leans closer to her, blushing slightly at how close she is to him as he’s not used to being close with anyone, period. Gloria doesn’t notice this as she is focused on gently placing the bandage and tape on his cut. 

“Thanks..” Daryl says, looking down at his feet, wishing that his blush would go away.

“It’s no problem. It doesn’t look like it’ll scar so you don’t have to worry about your pretty face.” Gloria chuckles, noticing finally that Daryl isn’t very comfortable, “let’s take a look at that wrist now.”

She holds up her hand and waits for him to give her his arm to examine. Daryl stares at her then at her raised hand, then hesitantly but surely gives her his arm. Gloria gently holds his arm with one hand, then uses her other to gently press on parts of his arm, starting with his forearm. As she goes down his arm, gently but firmly putting pressure, she continuously asks if it hurts more. Daryl keeps shaking his head but when she gets to his wrist, he hisses in pain and curses under his breath.

“Sorry.” Gloria says automatically at his reaction. 

She then starts to gently massage on and around the swollen parts of his arm, Daryl doesn’t say anything or pull away, he just sits there watching her as she massages. 

“It’s sprained. Massaging will help spread the dead muscle and blood tissue, that’s what causes the pain.” Gloria explains as she continues to gently massage.

She was sure that Daryl already knew what caused the pain from a strain, she figured that he did since he knew how to pop back a dislocated shoulder. Gloria just had to distract herself from certain thoughts about the man sitting in front of her as she touched his muscles; she’d always been attracted to a man with strong arms and Daryl was definitely a strong armed man. 

“That should be good for now,” Gloria says after a small while of massaging Daryl’s wrist, “let me know if it still hurts or starts to swell, but it shouldn’t." 

Daryl nods and takes his arm back, "thanks.”

Gloria packs up her first aid kit and closes it. She smiles at Daryl and pats his shoulder before getting up and walking back to the main campsite. Just before she reaches it, she turns back to look at Daryl to see him still watching her from where he was seated. They share a brief but intense eye contact before he looks down, then heads back to his and his brothers tents to rest for the night.

—

Next Chapter

And there you have chapter 2! The group has met the brothers and Daryl and Gloria shared a moment~! Is it bad that I found it cute still even though it’s just awkward for him? xD I love awkward shy Daryl

I would really appreciate any comments left for me! I’ll be replying to any comments in a new post because this is a sideblog! 

[stevenbasic]

Memo:

To all staff:

First off I want to welcome all our new stafff members. We’re so excited to have you working with us!

“Wh-what is this?” I asked, holding the paper Melissa had just produced, right after telling me something of a new ‘culture’. It looked to be a memo, addressed to our staff members.“It’s a memo I wrote, silly,” she teased, “addressed to our staff members.”I took a deep breath, and read on….

We are becoming a younger, more modern, and like more vibrant team, something that will no doubt better serve the needs of our patients and our own Doctor J. Along with all the changes we would like to start to introduse a new corporate culture that better reflect’s the changing face of the practice...

“So, uh, Melissa…” I began, already leery of where this was going. What would my associate RNP Vida, or my older employees like Marjorie and Doris think? How would they take this?

“Just keep reading,” she urged, smiling, obviously proud of her creation, this memo, as she subtly leaned across the desk towards me. I...I really…

oh man that perfume…

...I really didn’t want to disappoint her.

Look around. We are a company of women. Many businesses crush women’s ambitions, hold them back, and in the past I don’t think this place really did anything to help. Right? But I want Far Horizons Medical Assosiates to be a place where you can grow and aspire to be something greater. So with this Culture Reset we are going to be putting less emphasis on hierarcy and more of a premium on teamwork, participation and consensis. We want to empower women, help them evolve, let them express themselves…

Ok, aside from the grammar and spelling mistakes, this was beginning to sound like an excerpt from a textbook, or notes from a half-baked lecture from a business class at a local community college...which it likely was. 

Her eyes were so glimmery, she smelled so nice. Her boobs were so big.

But, I mean, this was...I guess…not all bad…?

“Is it okay?” she asked, eagerly watching my face, reading my eyes, my brow, as I continued.

You’ve seen the news, right? Women are rising. We want our fair share, and we can take it! They'll just have to learn what it's like being shoulder to shoulder with their equals. In fact they’ll learn we’re more than their equal

“‘M-more than equal’?” I asked, wondering where this was going, and who exactly “they” were. This seemed more than just some boilerplate morale boosting language. It made me nervous that Melissa seemed to be parroting some of the talking points I’d heard from some of these female candidates running for various offices, around town, in the state, even nationally. Had she had help writing this, from someone else on the staff? Or from someone outside the office? And did I want this sort of mentality here? This was (ostensibly, we can get into that later) my office. My practice, right? “What do you mean, when you say ‘more th-..’?”

“Well, girls, I mean,” Melissa smiled, leaning in even a little more, inadvertently highlighting her stupendous figure, emphasizing the shape of her huge left breast in her top in contrast to her tiny waist as it pushed forward towards met,  “We can be equal and THEN some...right?”

“Uh...I guess..?” I replied, submissive thrills from deep inside me causing jitters in my belly, the mass of that tit like a magnet to my gaze.

“Keep reading,” she told me.

“O-okay…”

In the name of embracing our womanhood, aknowledging the changing face of the practice, I have already instituted Casual Fridays and would like to announce other changes which I think will be important…

 What followed was a not-insignificant list of changes Melissa was suggesting for the office. I read on…

“New desk chairs...okay, I can see that,” I agreed, nodding as I recited the list, “‘We will be redecorating the breakroom and want your suggestions!’? Sure. Time for grooming?” I asked, a bit confused, “Like, putting time aside for, what? Teaching? Encouraging the girls to succeed?”

What I was told was that the girls needed extra breaktime in the day for makeup.

4. Mandatory (girls only!) Happy Hour Meetings. Tues night is Margarita night at Dempsey’s! 

5. Medical Assitants will now have the option of either there scrub uniforms or the professional outfit of they’re choice.

Wait this is what Amelia had asked for, earlier. Rrrrrr…..

“I...I don’t know about the uniform th-...thing. It’s...” I began, but my stammerings began to fail as I watched while, without a word, Melissa stood up from where she sat on my desk, stepped around towards me…

“...i-it’s been s-scrubs for s-so...l-l-long-” I tried to press. 

With a smile she looked down at me, watched me stutter...

“I-I-I th-think…”

...and sat in my lap.

“You were saying?” she asked, with a knowing, crooked smile.

“Uh…it’s sounds...”

“It sounds good?” she offered, her confident weight having settled itself fully onto me.

“I...guess?”

“No problem with the new dress code?” she asked, looking down to brush a mote of lint from the shoulder of my jacket.

“Um, uh…no, it’s-”

“I’m glad you’re seeing things my way,” she concluded with a mischievous smile, dimpled and victorious. Almost as a reward, she blessed me with a nice deep inhale, a straightening of her back and shoulders. Her big chest bulged.

...

“Is that all I have to do,” she laughed at me, seeing me speechless, “to get you to do anything I want? Sit on you lap?” She was joking but I’d found myself like this with Melissa before: with her heavy weight in my lap, her body overwhelming mine, I’m basically helpless - and to my chagrin we obviously both knew it. “You’re too easy!”

“You’re...you’re making fun of me, aren’t you?” I managed, mortified by my lack of will. 

She giggled at me. “Yes, a little..!” she teased, “but don’t try to tell me you don’t like it..!” 

She poked me in the belly. 

“Hey...!” It was then that I realized...shit. I was getting hard, quickly, under the soft girth of her wide, muscular rear. Crap, I can’t let her...

But she just giggled again at my protest, as I squirmed under her, trying weakly to escape more playful pokes. Was she tickling me? I moved, convulsing spasmodically, which only served to rub my thickening shaft up and into her bottom.

She settled her left hand on my ribcage, under my jacket, seemingly oblivious ...but was that roll of her hips...nnnnngh, chrissssst, don’t do it, don’t press back...down into me an accident?

“Your diet must be working,” she commented casually, now inspecting me with hand and fingers,  “You seem so skinny.”

“D-diet?” Her perfume was overwhelming me, and I did all I could not to moan in pleasure. Though I’m sure she could feel me, now totally hard and pressing up into her, she still gave no sign of noticing. 

“All the girls think you’re on a diet,” she said, plainly, “you’ve been looking…”

Her hand ran up my chest and she squeezed my shoulder. 

“...smaller. Like, wow. Just look,” Her right hand squeezed my right upper arm. “I think my arms are bigger than yours…” she said, now showing off her own triceps, which even through the sleeves of her dress looked large, “...by a lot.”

I said nothing as she regarded me, as if seeing me with new eyes...like she was sizing me up. 

“Here, “ she said, abruptly, “your tie is a mess, stand up.” 

“Wh-what?”

“Your tie. Let me fix your tie,” she said, as she stood off my lap, now towering over me, “Stand up.”

Cowed by the confidence of this unreasonably attractive young woman, a girl I’d spent more hours furtively obsessing over than I need to admit, I did as I was told. With as little space as we had behind my desk, when I stood we were face-to-face. Or, rather...face-to-throat. 

I was shocked by how tall she was. 

She smiled, as if knowing exactly what I was thinking.  Stepping back an inch, so her breasts no longer pressed into my collarbone, she began to dutifully straighten my green, striped tie. She looked down at me as she began again to speak. “You have to admit, your employees are all women,” she said, “but this place has been a man’s world for a long time. Now things are changing. We need a new culture, one where all our voices are heard. Where we’re all a little bit more...equal.”

“B-b-but…” I tried, but my voice was quelled as she inched, by a fraction, closer to me. Another wave of perfume filled me. ...what about me?

The physical superiority of this woman was apparent

”Yes it is true…” she continued, as if acknowledging my unspoken complaint, “Some of us are...just a little more equal than others.” Finished with my tie, she inspected her work. “Some of us are more built for the job than others.”

<gulp>

I’m sure she heard me swallow. 

Melissa giggled. “You’re thinking about how tall I am, aren’t you?” she asked, wryly, settling her hands on my thin shoulders. 

“I, uhhh…” I attempted, my heart racing. 

 “It’s my heels,” she apologized, “they’re six inches, so that makes me…”

Her eyes flashed. 

“...really tall <giggle!> They’re new, I brought them in today to wear out after work tonight.”

Her hands slid down my arms, as she bit her lower lip. She seemed to be sizing me up again. Her shoulders - broader than mine. Her hips - wider than mine. Oh god I was so hard. 

“You are coming, right?”

=================================

Super-humbled to have the awesome @fetish3d do some work for our story; the original render for the details I used can be found at his blog here. I also want to thank @ankle4u​ and FantasticMrMoose for their help in getting this done.

BONUS! For those with a healthy fetish for dry, intra-office communications, here’s Melissa’s full memo: 

and page 2 (”there’s a page two??”)

[real-jaune-isms]

Volume 7 Chapter 3 Review

My first time with this, it’s probably gonna be longwinded and awkward...

Starting off with 3 scenes basically happening at once is interesting. The airship flying them in to start the mission, Ruby and Jaune getting briefed on it, and the whole crew getting their gear upgrades. The briefing conversation plays over shots of them all getting their personal briefcases of stuff, and of some normal soldiers fighting smaller Grimm in the tundra. The new clothes scene is most important though. We see: Their happy faces, Blake and Jaune both pondering haircuts while Jaune runs his hands over the sash he kept from Pyrrha (ow my heart), Yang attaching her arm upgrade, and Ruby getting at a new cape before Oscar approaches her. Oh, and on the briefing screens RWBY and JNR are registered as civilian Huntsmen. They have their licenses!!!!

Let’s talk about the cape for a sec. Her red cloak has been an heirloom she’s kept for 6 volumes now and about 17 years. The last vestige of her mother. So is it really such a good idea for her to get a new one and just go with it? Is that abandoning the sentimental value and very essence of the original cape? It’s been worn and weathered since Volume 4, so an replacement or a stitch job would be good, but the latter would be ideal. I don’t really mind the new one so much because she asked for it and clearly she had a reason for that. It’s the exact same in every visual way as far as I could see, and she’s keeping the old one. The message is still alive in her wearing it, and times must change. It’s better to get a new one than risk damaging the original any more.

Anyway, after we see the few shots of them prepping for this mission, a very old Geist possessing a bunch of ice and hiding in a Dust mine, the airship doors open and we see the team in all their new glory. They jump out accompanied by the Ace Ops, and all make stylish landings. Ruby only uses her pogo gunshots to slow her descent, and Blake swings her weld fixed Gambol Shroud to Spider-Man swing around the buildings to land. But Weiss and Yang use their semblances to do it, and the aura percentages on Blake’s scroll later represent that accordingly. Good attention to detail. And we hear from Weiss that using your Aura can keep you from freezing, a good reason why they can all wear such stylish clothes and not die of frostbite.

After Clover checks in with all the groups about keeping in contact and keeping an eye on Aura levels, Blake catches Yang staring and they have an adorably awkward exchange about Blake’s haircut and how Yang likes it but doesn’t know how to express that. Marrow seems annoyed he has to watch a high school love story unfolding in front of him, but Harriet teases him about being childish and that shuts him up. They head toward the mine entrance, but Team RWBY hangs back to discuss how uncomfortable they all are with having lied to Ironwood last episode about Salem and the lamp. But Ruby reasons that they don’t know if Ironwood is in the right mindset for that bombshell right now and they WILL tell him soon. Fair enough. A flashback to Oscar’s interruption earlier reveals he’s pretty torn about it too since it’s exactly what they hated Ozpin for doing to them. Either way, they enter the mine and a comment about the path being blocked leads to a chilling realization. This is the mine that caved in and killed Ilia’s parents. This is why her life went so terribly, and it’s a major reminder of the awful relationship between humans and Faunus and how bad things can get. That prompts Weiss to try and apologize for her own bad attitude about it all in Volume 1, and some harsh truths from Marrow about complacency with injustice for the sake of living free of making those hard moral choices. Wise words, a lot to think about with this world and even our own.

But there’s no time for thinking about changing the world’s prejudices, they need to send Blake through a dark opening in the rubble to see if it’s safe for them to blast a hole big enough for everyone or if there’s any nearby Dust they might agitate. I get the whole faunus seeing better in the darker area of the cave thing but... couldn’t Marrow have done it too? Or was he too big and thicc and they had to send the lithe teenager? I tease, I tease. Height and muscle mass may be the legit reasons, plus her weapon is also less bulky. Before she goes in, both Blake and Yang see the SDC logo printed on some discarded boxes, likely a reminded of the last place they saw it: branded on Adam’s face. Not a good memory to recall in a tight situation, but it shows they’re still dealing with that. Good news is, when Blake goes through there’s no Dust on the other side. Bad news, the Geist gives a legitimate jumpscare that literally makes Blake jump back in surprise and pull her weapon to shoot at it. That of course clues the others in that she found something, and we see Harriet’s weapon as she deploys mechanized armor to go over her arms and boost her punching strength. Reminds me of the controls for a mech, fake arms you wear and move in the cockpit to move the real giant ones. But these have plenty of power all on their own and bust open the wall of debris. Makes sense to boost her upper body strength to counterbalance the power in her legs.

They chase the Geist into the mine until they encounter the new Centinel Grimm burrowing up from the ground. Team RWBY gets to show off their weapon upgrades/new moves as they dispose of them: Blake does a lot of slashing and stabbing as usual and Weiss does mostly the same plus shooting ice at the bugs and using glyphs to stop them from lunging. But the real stars seem to be Yang and Ruby. Yang added sticky bombs to her gauntlets’ arsenal, and Ruby can now spin Crescent Rose’s blade 180 degrees to slice a severed centinel half on her backswing. Cool. But Marrow shows off his own party tricks with his rifle that becomes a large blade edged boomerang and the ability to stop two Grimm still with nothing but a snap and the word “stay”. Clearly a reference to dog obedience training and possibly showing the power words can have, a reference to The Boy Who Cried Wolf, which I still believe he’s based on. All that kid had to do was say the word and the entire town came running to face a supposed threat. However, I’ve also heard that his inspiration is actually “A Dog and it’d Shadow”, which might suggest he’s going to go down a bad path for the sake of his own benefit... Regardless, Harriet zooms up and tosses the centinel against a wall, which seems to stop it. They report sighting the target and engaging with further hostiles to the others, who take that as a cue to speed things up. When next we see them, Harriet runs past Weiss and Ruby to take down the last Centinel with a single punch before Ruby had time to even take a shot at it. Instead of being petty about a kill steal, our little rose goes gaga over Harriet having a speed semblance like her, while the Hare of course boasts she seems to be faster based on Ruby’s reaction time. They suddenly hear Clover announce he’s fighting the Geist with Qrow, and when it eludes them too everyone converges in a central cavern.

Now let’s talk about JNR’s section of the mission until they meet up with the others. They make their jump too, Jaune having added Hard Light Dust to his shield and using it like Link’s paraglider in Breath of the Wild to float down gently, and then gravity Dust from the central crest to negate the final impact and bounce into a flip landing. Stylish~ We don’t see how, but Ren and Nora landed fine too. And their accompanying Ace Operatives Vine and Elm give rather indirect compliments, much to Jaune and Nora’s annoyance. As they walk through an ice tunnel and Vine reports its stability and their approximate time of convergence, Nora gushes about how exciting it all is before turning her enthusiasm on Ren. He handles a direct compliment about his new outfit about as well as Ren handles any show of emotion... he does not. He just tries to redirect the topic to the mission. Annoying to all the Renora shippers, absolutely, but also kinda his MO. His semblance, his very nature since the tragedy of Kuroyuri is to not get emotional because that can get them in trouble if it’s at the wrong time. He still needs to learn there are plenty of right times to have emotions, LIKE WHEN YOUR UNOFFICIAL GIRLFRIEND WANTS YOU TO RETURN THE COMPLIMENT!!! He better learn from that mistake... But at least there’s dense as a rock Jaune to compliment Nora instead and miss the point of what she was doing. The good boy is trying his best to be nice.

When they hear RWBY’s squad announce the fighting has started they start booking it and slide down an icy slope that’s revealed to have Centinels emerging at the bottom. Vine uses his semblance to stretch out and grab hold of the walls and Elm uses her’s to root her feet in the ground, both so they can stop moving toward the enemy. But that’s not JNR’s style, so they charge right into the Grimm and take them out quickly. A gravity burst shield bash from Jaune, new grappling hook mode for the blades on Ren’s guns, and Nora just bashes some skulls. This approaches earns another indirect compliment before they took finish the journey to the main mine cavern.

Meanwhile Qrow is with Clover and looking very cool in his new digs. They head in and discuss Qrow’s history of teamwork and how he doesn’t really do that anymore... cue sad STRQ vibes. Also he almost trips and Clover catches him, a perk of having someone at your side. After he gets the rundown from Elm, we don’t hear from thes two until they’re chasing down the Geist. It reaches its icy armored body, and gathers extra pieces from the walls around them. Qrow notices one bit it’s trying to get will pull down a support beam and warns Clover to stay back... just in time. The Geist gets away, but in its wake the two men share a conversation about Semblances. Qrow reveals his misfortune and how it burdens him to solitude or else situations like that one could go way worse. But Clover surprises him with the fact that his own Semblance is, of course... generating good luck.

The look Qrow gives him... a lot of people say it’s gay panic as he falls head over heels for this charming military man who can balance him out. I’ve come to see it a bit differently thanks to another post I saw. It’s regular panic. Panic and self-loathing, because he sees his perfect mirror image. Clover is sober, charismatic, a good leader, doesn’t ruin things with his very presence, and has skill and wisdom beyond anything Qrow has been able to demonstrate. This is everything he wishes he could have been for the kids from Volumes 4-6, the kind of huntsman he wants to have been at Beacon... a version of him who might have been able to keep Team STRQ together. But it might also be him getting a crush on a charming guy who balances him out. Regardless, they call everyone to meet up in the middle.

And meet up they do, the various types of Dust in the large central chamber having such effects as floating the dirt their boots kick up and evaporating a drop of Jaune’s sweat when it hits the ground. Cool set piece, though they need to be careful with how they fight otherwise they could set off the Dust and ruin the Amity Satellite launch site... and kill them. The Geist is hanging from a giant piece of ice jutting from the ceiling, and when the teams spot it the big boy dramatically drops down to fight them. Ruby panics upon seeing it added Dust to it’s body so they’ll have a harder time fighting it safely, but the Ace-Ops kick into action almost immediately. Elm and Vine use their Semblances to keep it in place and expose the Grimm joints between its ice limbs, which Marrow throws his weapon to sever. But that leaves some Dust crystals falling through the air, so the Flash gets the lightning in his eyes and speeds in to catch them before they hit the ground... Oops! I mean Quicksilver does his Days of Future Past thing to move around the falling debris at superspeed and grab the Dust... DAMMIT! I mean Harriet gets the lightning in her eyes and pulls a Days of Future Past to move around the falling debris at superspeed and grab the Dust. But the boomerang cuts another part of the arm and knocks more Dust off out of her reach. Lucky for them, Clover is there to catch it just in time. He passes the crystal to Qrow and jumps into the action.

The Ace-Ops continue to run around the Geist and to distract and disorient it, and they get the other arm off. With a flick of his lucky charm, Clover jumps up and loops his fishing line around the Geist’s mask face, and it actually hooks. What comes next brings a look of astonishment to Team RWBY’s faces. He pulls the Geist out of the ice by its face, and Harriet runs up its torso to give a jumping Shoryuken with her mech fists to kill the Grimm. But that leaves a lot of Dust crystals falling through the air, and the Ace Ops scramble to grab all of them. One remains and Harriet runs to get it... it’s a close call... and Ruby beats her to it. Who’s faster now?~ But much to Ruby’s surprise, upon seeing her in action Harriet claims Ruby’s Semblance is unlike any speed Semblance she’s ever seen, that there’s probably more to it than she realizes... or we do for that matter~ I can’t wait to see what they do with that. Yang points out that Ruby has an awful lot more going on in terms of power than Harriet realizes, earning a grin from Weiss and a very cute giggle from Blake. Regardless, mission accomplished and Qrow and Clover have a little banter over if Ruby’s catch was luck or talent. Glad to see the Atlas MVP’s acknowledge our Team has some skill of their own. Even happier to see Elm effortlessly put Ruby on her shoulder and carry her around to celebrate while Yang and Nora start dancing.

Next thing we know we’re back in Mantle as the police ship drops Forest off. He goes into an alley, where Tyrian suddenly appears under a flickering light to creep us all out and kill a short lived fan favorite character. RIP, good good protest boy. 

And that’s pretty much it. Sorry it took a while.

[husbandits]

instead of working on any of my other projects, my gift to you all today is headcanons about what halloween costumes the gang would wear

no reader this time!

Dutch insists on hosting the party, with almost no pushback. He wanted to do a themed party at first, but then no one could agree on a theme, so he got a little huffy and let it go. He dresses up like a classic vampire with a huge cape and one of his more playful suits, covering his face in white make-up (which he doesn't seal so by the end of the night it's runny, but he looks pretty good at the start of the party) and with a pair of plastic fangs that make him a little hard to understand the entire night.

Arthur, John, Abigail, and Jack are the first to arrive, before the party actually starts, so they can help dutch set up all the decorations and make sure the food is ready. Arthur is dressed like Frankenstein('s Monster), with surpising detail on his make-up and care to the prosthetics; it also gives him an excuse to 'borrow' one of John's jackets, making himself seem even bigger as it's ill-fitting. He also uses the costume as an excuse to not actually dance, when that starts up.

Abigail and Jack are in matching costumes, with her as a witch, complete with faux spiders hanging from her hat, milky white contacts (that susan makes her take out after a few hours when her eyes start getting dry) and emerald green skin. Jack is dressed as her black cat. Inititally the costume had been purely an outfit, as Abigail didn't want to put any make-up on him, but he'd started begging when she put hers on, and he ends up with a pink little nose and black whiskers. He also picks up the habit of meowing at people

John overheard Abigail talking about her and Jack's outifts and decided he wanted to coordinate his costume as well. Unfortunately he misunderstood just what she was going for, and ends going as Harry Potter. Abigail loves it anyway.

Hosea tends to center his costumes around what Jack's interests in recent years, since he usually takes him out for a second trick-or-treating in his and Dutch's neighborhood, and this year he's been noticing all the superhero trends. Namely he ends up as an unintentionally relevant Captain America, and Arthur and Mary-Beth end up tiptoeing around bringing it up all night.

Charles had been characteristically cagey about his costume, deflecting with a shrug or a 'dunno' whenever anyone asked, but when he comes up dressed like a mummy, he doesn't make a big deal about it, like they knew already. He doesn't do the the classic 'just tp around self' thing, but instead has one of those body-suits with a bandage-pattern on, and elaborate costume jewelry. He also has thick eyeliner, flashy blue robes, and the classic king-tut headdress.

Susan shows up to the party towards the beginning in her normal clothes, heading up to Molly's part of the house after she greets everyone, a large bag in hand. When she comes down, dressed like Maleficent with her hair tucked under the headpiece, and a fake crow on her shoulder. Molly helped her with the make-up, as well as the finishing touches on her costume, but mostly she'd just wanted moral support. Brushes off compliments with a huff, and before the end of the party she's taken off most of the make-up, since she'd been getting hot

Molly doesn't come down to join things until an hour or so after they've started (a little after Susan), but when she does, she's dressed in an elaborately crafted costume as the Creature from the Black Lagoon. She'd locked herself upstairs to perfect the make-up, blasting tutorials and jenna marbles videos to help boost her confidence as she had considered, when she wasn't ready 'on time', just giving up and half-assing it, but when she is finally satisfied with the costume she looks camera-ready

Mary-Beth ends up reusing the cosplay for her self-insert-turned-oc lord of the rings character from the sci-fi convention she last attended. She's a little embarrassed at reusing it, and apologizes at first, even though it's stunning, and everyone else insists, when she mentions that it's reused, that it's very apropriate, and stunning

Someone (Sean) promised to do a two part horse costume with Kieran, but then completely forgot and Kieran ended up coming as the back end, alone. He isn't all that upset about it though, and ends up holding the costume up with a borrowed pair of suspenders, turning it into more of a satyr costume instead

Strauss, not having realized that Dutch had already picked his favorite costume, shows up as a vampire as well. He's more of an 'authetic' vampire instead of Dutch's more stereotypical look, which seems more and more cheesy as the night wears on, especially next to Strauss' and his extra ex. His outfit is close to something his canon counterpart would wear, if frillier, and he also has his fangs glued onto his teeth, as opposed to simple plastic fangs, so he's actually understandable

If you thought Simon would show up as anything but a pirate, you're kidding yourself. He does it every year, but he does a different costume instead of just reusing the same one. This year he's an 18th century quartermaster and his saber is real metal, if blunted. He's a little more jolly than usual but gets somewhat cross if people give him grief for using the same concept yet again

Sean made a big deal about not doing anything edgy like in years past, and then showed up dressed exactly like Dutch. Hair slicked back and dyed, faux facial hair and beauty mark, he even 'sneaks' into Dutch's wardrobe to borrow one of his hawaiian shirts. He swears its a compliment, but then whenever Dutch's back is turned, he's doing a bad impression, much to the gang's delight

Karen and Tilly have a more subtle matching outfit concept- Karen dressed as a slutty nurse and Tilly as her zombie patient. Tilly's fake wounds aren't as elaborate as she'd initially wanted, but they last much longer than they would have otherwise, and when she acts the part of the costume, limping and tilting her head to the side, she looks very creepy.

Lenny's costume was originally Dorian Grey, but since there isn't actually a lot of physical components to the outfit, and the story is as much abt the portrait as it is the man, he doesn't really get recognized that much. Halfway through the party he gets Arthur to go out to pick a different comstume, and comes back as Dr Frankenstein! Will spend the rest of the night making obligatory 'Frankenstein-Frankenstein's Monster' jokes and goofing off with Arthur

Sadie wasn't exactly... thrilled about the idea of this part of halloween, just because she's not keen on the idea of a revealing costume from the store or putting together something elaborate (and expensive) that she's only going to wear once. As it is, she shows up a little late to the party in an impromptu lumberjack costume (with real axe!) and everyone ends up lowkey drooling over her anyway

Bill's werewolf costume is similarly half-assed, to... less than impressive results. The tears and fake fur glued to his old flannel aren't exactly as well done as they could be, and the cheap plastic fur starts to itch after a bit, but he's recognizable enough, and he ends up having a lot of fun

Josiah has something of a tradition of showing up in elaborate costumes of obscure characters from something he's become interested in, and not having the gang recognize him, much to his frustration. This year he's dressed up as Cecil Baldwin from Welcome to Nightvale, and gets mistaken for Eridan Ampora, 'someone from harry potter', and like three youtubers.

Swanson had been making on and off comments about dressing up as a demon when asked, but at the last minute chickened out and decided to do an angel instead. Unfortunately, the last-minute planning means that there weren't a lot of options available, and he ended up getting more of a sexy costume than he'd wanted. With a pair of white long john's underneath, the 'dress' doesn't come down to his knees and he feels incredibly awkward, but he sticks close to Strauss and Simon and is more relaxed by the end of the night

Javier doesn't initally come in much of a costume, just more elaborate make-up than usual and a little more black than he would otherwise wear, but when he sees everyone else's costumes he heads upstairs to piece something together from Molly's costume collection. When he comes back down as a sexy vampire, shirt pulled open and a trail of costume blood dripping down his chin, using a pair of glue-on fangs she'd gotten for Dutch (that he refused to use). Dutch is utterly exasperated at this point, and goes off to fume with Micah, but everyone else  applauds him for the quick turn-around.

Micah shows up to the party in a full-on fursuit. He gets upset when Arthur doesn't immediately know its him, and then starts complaining about how hot the costume is about half an hour in. He ends up switching with Uncle halfway through the party though, who forgot to get a costume and hanging out in the kitchen listening to Dutch complain, dripping with sweat. Uncle spends the rest of the party half in the fursuit, napping on the couch

[wackapedia]

It Was All Yellow

40!s Joe gets flustered around pretty girls. He meets his pretty neighbor who just moved in.

A/n: hello its me again. Took me a whole day to finish this (plus extra minutes in the shower) Comments are welcome and reblogs boost morale!

Warnings: blood mention. Nothing graphic tho uwu

Joe was sitting at the lobby of his apartment building reading today's paper. It was a bright Saturday morning. He flicked through the pages of the paper, skimming through the news articles about the recent murders upstate. It was too bright a day for stories like that. He looked up from the newspaper to see a lovely lady in a bright yellow dress entering the building, dragging a large travel trunk with her. He drops the newspaper to the couch he was sitting on as he stood up, buttoned his suit jacket and walked up to the young lady to help her.

"thank you" her voice carried through like a melody, speaking after her case was placed inside.

"Its nothing really. Are you moving in here?" He asks, immediately regretting his dumb question. Of course she's moving in.

"I am. I guess the luggage gave it away huh?" She smiles at the man who gets shy around pretty girls.

Nice work, Joe.

The landlady came out and gave her the key as well as some instructions and rules of the building. Not long after, she started gathering her things.

"I'm Joe by the way. Joe Mazzello. I'm afraid the elevator is busted so we'll have to take the stairs." He explained rather quickly.

For a second, confusion shrouded her face until she caught up with what he said. "Oh you mean the lift?"

Ah, British then.

Joe made a mental note to ask Ben, his British friend, why they have different names for things.

"Its all right, my flat is just one floor up. Nothing I cant handle." She said in a cheerful tone he almost felt the sunshine through it.

Joe picked up the heavy trunk carrying it up the stairs. "Let me help you then!" He suddenly felt giddy at the fact that she will be her next door neighbor as he is the only occupant on the second floor.

As they rounded the stairs, she went on to introduce herself. "I'd shake your hand but you're rather occupied at the moment" she joked. Joe laughs. They finally reach the second floor. Joe sets her case beside her door as she takes off her gloves and faces him. She had lovely hands. And she's not wearing a ring of any sort! She extends her hands to him and he takes it in his. Her hands were soft and warm.

"Well, Joe its been a pleasure meeting you and I am looking forward to being your next door neighbor!" She smiled. She releases his hand as she unlocks her door and pulls her case inside.

"Huh.. Hey wait how did you know that we're gonna be- that i live- I never said-" Joe spoke,confused and gesturing to his door down the hall.

"Hmm the landlady must've mentioned it." She spoke as she started closing the door. "Thank you again, Joe." She said, finally closing the door.

"Okay i'm gonna let you get settled then..." His voice slowly fading in his throat. Joe went on with his day still thinking about his lovely neighbor.

The next morning Joe got up and went straight to the kitchen to make breakfast. The yellow sunlight blasting through his kitchen window made him squint at the bright light. He pulled his fridge door open to find nothing but a water container.

Okay, so we're eating at the cafe. And maybe grab some groceries for a homemade dinner. Maybe he can invite his neighbor over.

He was about to return to his room to get dressed when he noticed his indoor plant had died and had completely dried out. It's little leaves gather around the pot, crunching between his fingers. Only yesterday the plant was in full bloom and he'd never neglected watering it and giving it some air and sunshine. He would even spend time talking to it about his day. He should tell Lucy about it.

A little crestfallen about his plant, Joe got dressed and was locking up his apartment door when suddenly his pretty neighbor appeared behind him, startling him a little.

"Hi Joe!" Her voice already cheering him up. He turned to see her dressed in a similar fancy dress printed with flowers.

"I was wondering if I could invite you over tonight for dinner as a thank you for helping me yesterday. I hope you're a fan of pasta..?" She asked.

The thought of having pasta in his system made his stomach grumble.

"You know, you don't really have to thank me about yesterday. But you had me when you said 'pasta'. Did you know I'm part italian?" He joked.

"I figured. Well I hope my pasta skills live up to your authentic taste then?"

"Theres only one way to find out"

"Great! Dinner will be ready by 7. Its a date then!" She said as she headed back to her place. Joe couldn't shake the fact that this woman always seemed to be one step ahead of him.

Joe had some breakfast and went straight to the grocers. He was debating if bringing wine for dinner might give a wrong impression. He opted to bring tea instead.

Joe met Ben for lunch. He told him everything about his new neighbor excitedly as Ben kept a straight face the entire time, shoving a sandwich and some fries into his system. "You should've just bought the wine!" Ben finally commented when Joe mentioned about what he will be bringing for dinner. "Just because she's British doesn't mean she wants to have tea all the time, Joe. You americans are just stereotyping."

Joe suddenly felt guilty. "...s-so should I just get the wine..?" He said, asking his friend for advice.

"No! Unless you want to spend the night with her? Is that what you want to do, Joe?" Ben sipped his drink. Joe wonders why is he still friends with this useless fellow.

As he was getting dressed for dinner, Joe was debating which dress shirt should he wear. He doesn't want to be overdressed for the occasion. Its just dinner, Joe.

He finally settled with a pale blue button down shirt tucked into his brown slacks. He picked up the box of fruit tea that he bought for her and headed to her place.

Before his knuckles could hit the painted wood, her door opened to reveal Joe's pretty neighbor dressed in a pale blue dress. "Joe! I was just about to get you! Come in!" Joe smiled and stepped in.

His neighbor has only moved in yesterday morning but everything was neat and in order. Its like she's lived here for years. Candles flickered at the dinner table and on the kitchen. The whole place smells wonderful.

"I see you've settled in rather nicely!" He commented.

"I have! Please sit down, I'll get the food" she motioned at one of the two chairs at the dinner table as she disappeared into the kitchen. She emerged carrying a smoking pot of pasta with pale sauce and some yellow tomatoes.

"I went to the grocers this morning and bought these for you" Joe said as he presented the box to her.

"Oh you didn't have to. But thank you" she placed the box by the kitchen counter.

As they ate dinner, Joe's neighbor asks about him.

They were finishing up their food when Joe asked: "so what about you? What brings you to New York?"

With a solemn voice she answered "I have a grandmother here. She's very sick. The doctors said she has very little time left and I am her next of kin."

"I'm so sorry to hear that." Joe apologizes as the mood shifts between them.

"No its fine." She says as she gets up from the dinner table to retrieve a wine bottle and some glasses. She poured them a drink. Joe smiles to himself.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked while standing next to him, noticing his smile.

"I was about to bring over some wine but my friend decided against it" he explained as he drinks from his glass

"Why would he decide against it?" She inquired, refilling Joe's now empty wineglass.

"Well he thought I might give you the wrong impression" he speaks after drinking, already feeling a little buzzed by the strong alcohol in his system.

"What kind of impression?" She pressed, refilling Joe's glass once more, seeing the blush creeping on his cheeks down to his neck.

Joe's eyes were dazed as he feels his head becoming lighter. He looks at her as she sits on his lap, her hand over his, holding the wineglass close to his lips.

He pours the contents of the wineglass into his mouth as his other hand wraps around the pretty girl's waist pulling her closer. He drops the wineglass to the carpeted floor and loses himself in her eyes, basking in each other's closeness. He couldn't focus on anything else except for the specs of gold in her eyes. He feels the sudden warmth break from his chest. His vision blurs.

/ / /

The next day, Ben waits for Joe at the lobby of their workplace. Joe was never late so maybe he called in sick.

"Hey Rami, did Joe call?" Ben asked his workmate, sitting across his work desk.

"No he didn't. Is he alright?" Rami asked.

Ben explained to Rami about Joe's dinner date with his neighbor.

"Well maybe he's getting laid then" Rami joked as they started working.

As soon as Ben clocked out, he headed to Joe's apartment. He knocked on his door. No response.

He twisted the doorknob to find it unlocked. He stepped in the apartment to find everything in correct order. Joe's music records, eighth grade baseball trophy, and his favorite indoor plant which was given by Lucy for his birthday was healthy, yielding yellow flowers.

He entered Joe's bedroom and even opened his bathroom to find the whole place empty. He decided to head to the police to report a missing person. Just as he steps into the ground floor of the building, a girl in a beautiful Sunday dress walks in, holding the hand of an elderly woman while carrying a large suitcase. She looks up to Ben's bright eyes and smiled.

And before he could stop himself, he spoke: "here let me help you with that.." Reaching for the suitcase.

"Thank you, you are very kind." Her sweet voice blessed his ears.

She introduced herself to him. "I'd shake your hand but you're rather occupied at the moment." She said. Ben laughs and tells her his name.

He carried her suitcase up to her doorstep while helping the elderly woman she was with up the stairs.

When she arrived at the doorstep, she let the elder woman in while she stayed at the threshold, looking at Ben. "That was my grandmother. She was very sick the other day but thankfully she recovered after a hearty meal." Ben was still dumbfounded with her. She took off her gloves and extended her hand to him. He took her hand in his. She had very soft hands.

"Thank you, Ben. And good night." She let go of his hand and slowly closed the door.

Ben felt like he was flying. He headed downstairs, got on his car that was parked by the curb, and drove straight home, thinking about the girl she met at an apartment building. Maybe he can ask Rami for some tips on how to ask a girl out.

A/n: Giallo means 'yellow' in Italian. It is also a genre referring to italian film/literature crime-thriller plots. Nowadays, Italians refer to mysterious or unsolved events as Giallo. (Plural Gialli)

[puppy-the-mask]

Any headcanon scenarios of UT Papyrus, HT Papyrus, or Swapfell Red Papyrus being jealous, or possessive, or yandere in this blog?

Well now there are~! I ended up breaking out my laptop for this one ^W^

(I’m gonna pick one for each skele)

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

Paps-

Papyrus is your best friend, and as your best friend he is there for you to talk to about your problems, like right now.

Your boss had called a meeting, deciding that it was high time to do a company retreat to boost morale and work on team building among the employees for a week, Using THEIR vacation days. You had been planning to use them to go on a trip with papyrus in the coming months and you knew you weren’t the only one with plans.

You called him right after the meeting and when you were done he was silent for a second before commenting on how terrible it was and tried to find ways around it to cheer you up. In the end he offered to at least drive you down to the location. You two could wait a bit longer before going off on vacation...

A few weeks later the trip was cancelled when the boss’ wife wound up in a car crash. Mad and stressed out over the apparent hit and run your boss ended up taking it out on his employees. 

Papyrus, ever your knight in shining armor, proposed bumping up your vacation and soon enough the two of you were packed into his car with the wind blowing through your hair and the radio cranked up to your favorite playlist. 

You didn’t notice that it was a new car. 

Chef-

He liked you, a lot, of course that was a given considering you’re dating. Almost every day he’d visit you for your lunch break, but lately both of you had been busy. Just because he wasn’t there didn’t mean he couldn’t be there in spirit as humans put it. He made sure to put a lunch in the fridge for you, sometimes he even left a cute message for when you were especially stressed out. It was adorable when you’d text him about the flustering little post-its.

Then one afternoon he came home to find your lunch still in the fridge so of course, being the good bonefriend he is, he got right back into his car and drove down to your work to give it to you himself. He greeted the receptionist, having a nice little chat before he went in and picked his way over to your desk but he didn’t find you there. He went to knock on the break room’s door frame when he saw you searching through the fridge, and a coworker of yours blatantly checking you out and making comments right by the door. 

He placed a hand on the guy’s shoulder and leaned down to his level, keeping his voice low but cheerful

“Ah, you must be the new recruit I’ve heard all about!” He smiled wide, showing off his teeth “It is my absolute displeasure to meet you, so why don’t you run along and get back to work instead of blatantly looking at MY mate like the pig you are? Of course if you’d rather stay i’d be glad to prepare some bacon for my lovely little mate, I’m quite the chef you know.” His grin grew as the man backed off before standing as straight as he could with the ceiling being made with humans in mind. He walked right up to you in a few short strides and placed a hand on your upper back 

“ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THIS?” you were surprised to see him and the embarrassed flush on your face was adorable, but the little spark in your tired eyes when you saw him was priceless. When he left after lunch he thanked Justine the receptionist for her gossiping ways with a kiss mark on his cheek and his head held high

Rus- 

It had been a month or so and rus still couldn’t believe that he’d scored you as his partner, but you were, and he loved it. The little moments where one of you would pull the other into a hug, the cuddle dates, it was heaven to him. That didn’t stop him from being jealous though. 

You had needed groceries when he tagged along, his face tinted orange when you insisted on holding his hand the whole way there. of course at one point on your little outing you got recognized by an old friend, and of course, you hugged them and had your arm hanging around their shoulder with a grin when you told him about some of the mischief you got up to with them before you settled at his side, introducing the two. He placed an arm around your shoulders and subtly pulled you closer to his side, exchanging pleasantries before the two of you moving on, making plans to catch up sometime. He stuck close for the rest of the trip, stray touches when you stopped to look at the selection and when the two of you got back he took all the groceries and put them up for you in record time and dragged you to the couch, not even putting on a show before wrapping you both up for an emergency cuddle session. He wants some extra affection since he knows you don’t have any other plans that day. He won’t comment on why but it’s pretty easy to see why he’s holding you so close for the rest of the day. 

[superiordragonlorde]

Jean Havoc

Ok, now we have day 4- Jean Havoc for @teammustangweek . Warnings (because apparently warning free fluff only appears once every blue moon): vulgar language, also depression and implied thoughts of suicide. Ok, I hope you all enjoy!

     Jean Havoc would love to say he was a great judge of character. And usually, he was. But when it came to women, that trait was ejected out the window. And this time, it came back to bite him. Hard.

     Now, he was left to his own devices in the hospital, banging his head against the wall in a steady, slow rhythm. How could he have been so stupid and blind? She was a damn homunculus, for crying out loud! How had he not seen it coming? He’d spent many hours on that hospital bed replaying every conversation and interaction he’d ever had with “Solaris”, analyzing each sentence they’d ever uttered with each other. He’d looked for any slip-ups on either of their parts. But his brain hadn’t found anything remotely close, and so he eventually gave up trying, sinking into self-loathing and pity.

     He couldn’t feel his legs now. The doctor had said that some of his nerves had been damaged, severing the pathway the brain fired commands down. He’d probably never be able to walk again.

     Sitting alone in the hospital was the hardest part of Havoc’s day. His mind never seemed to tire at mulling scenarios and questions. How could he have been so blind, trusting a stranger like that? What could he do without the use of his legs? How could he help the Colonel now? What use was he now to anyone? His mind turned to darker paths after that. He’d found himself staring a little too long at the chemicals the janitors always brought into his room for cleaning or wishing for a pistol in his hand. He’d wondered if he could convince one of the nurses to give him a few extra pills, for the “pain”, of course. If he stocked up on enough of them-

     For some reason, something always snapped him out of that thought a moment before it could be finished. Whether it was himself, a nurse, the doctor, or one of his friends, family, or coworkers varied day-to-day.

     Today it turned out to be Ed’s day.

     The young alchemist knocked on Havoc’s doorway, holding a basket in one hand.

     “Hey,” he greeted in a mumble, shifting his weight on his feet. Havoc forced a grin onto his face.

     “Ed.” He waved a hand, gesturing for his guest to come closer. “Come on in. What brings you here? Let me guess, you got beat up again and Alphonse had to drag your ass to the hospital?” A soft glare was thrown his way, but there wasn’t any heat behind it. Ed shuffled in, standing next to a chair by Havoc’s bed, radiating awkwardness. Havoc motioned towards the seat.

     “Relax, Ed,” he joked. “I’m not contagious or anything.” The comment earned him an amused huff, but that was all. Ed sat down, plopping the basket on the table within Havoc’s reach. Havoc blinked at the confusing present.

     “Uh, it’s a melon,” Ed stated the obvious, rubbing the back of his head. “The first time I got really beat up, the Fuhrer came to my room and gave me one as a ‘Get Well’ present... I guess?” His cheeks were a pink tinge now. He gave the floor a true glare, muttering, “Look, I don’t know, ok. Al said I should bring you something, but we didn’t know what to bring you, so this was our best bet.” Havoc blinked again and chuckled.

     “Nah, don’t worry about it,” he reassured, touched by the strange yet affectionate gesture. “I never know what to get either. Besides, I love melon, so this is a real treat.” Actually, he hated melon, but who was he to say no to two well-meaning kids. Ed visibly relaxed at Havoc’s lie.

     “Ok. Cool.” An awkward silence fell between them.

     “So,” Ed started, leaning his elbows on his knees and holding Havoc down with a piercing stare. “How ya holding up?” It was a typical question everyone who visited him asked, but Havoc felt an extra sense of weight added to it now, putting more pressure on the answer he’d give.

     “Ah, I’m doing fine,” he shrugged, telling the same answer. “Just relaxing here while everyone else is out working their asses off.” A bit of anger seeped into his tone on accident and he hoped Ed wouldn’t notice it. Ed gave a short hum, looking unconvinced. Damn that perceptive kid.

     “Yeah, sure,” Ed murmured, eyes sliding out to the window, staring at the brilliant blue sky dotted with puffy white clouds. It was a shame Havoc couldn’t find it within himself to admire the view.

     “It sucks,” Ed started, drawing Havoc’s attention back. “When everyone pretends that everything’s ok, even though it’s really not.” Those golden eyes turned back to Havoc, who felt a chill crawl up a part of his spine. The kid’s eyes looked like they should belong to a man three times his age, wisened past his years, and filled to the brim with experiences and regrets. “They always tell you that everything’s going to work out in the end, right? They give you a lifeline of hope by saying that, but it’s a lifeline for them, too. I mean, they don’t know what it feels like. And a part of you wants them to, just so someone can understand you. And then you end up hating yourself for even thinking that, because what kind of monster wishes for someone to feel that pain just so they feel less alone in it all?” Those damn eyes pinned Havoc to the bed like a butterfly on display, wings spread for all the world to see. Damn, could this kid read him like a book? Havoc had assumed Alphonse would be the people expert, not Edward. He opened his mouth to make some form of a retort or joke to lighten the mood, but every word he thought of saying died in his throat, leaving him gaping like an idiot. He decided silence was better than catching a fly in his mouth by accident, so he snapped it closed with an audible click. Ed watched him, still as a statue, and as calculating as the Colonel. It seemed like they stayed that way for hours, a prey versus a predator. Finally, Ed leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms with a sigh, and closing his eyes.

     “Look, just-” he paused, gave a deep inhale, and plowed on. “Don’t let the dark stuff get to you, ok. I know that it gets really tempting sometimes, but you gotta push through it. You can’t let it take you over and you have to find a way out of it. It’s going to take some time,” he opened his eyes, meeting Havoc’s own paler blue ones. “But they’re all right, it’s worth it in the end and it does get better.” He glanced down at his automail arm, the hand flexing. “It will get better.” Silence ascended over them again, leaving Havoc to mull over the teenager’s words. He didn’t get very far into his mulling before Edward interrupted them with a scoff.

     “I know I’m not good with words, alright,” he grunted, averting his gaze to the sheets on Havoc’s bed. “But just... just think about it.” He glanced up at Havoc, eyes filled with a silent plea. It seemed like Havoc just could never say no to this kid.

     “Yeah, promise,” he vowed, flashing a small genuine smile. Ed returned the gesture, relaxing in the chair with a sigh.

     “The food here is awful by the way.”

     “Trust me, Havoc,” Ed chuckled. “I know.”

     The rest of the afternoon was spent with Havoc catching up on Ed and Al’s adventures across Amestris, still in search of the Philosopher’s Stone. He’d asked a few questions about the team, enjoying Ed’s colorful retelling of stories about the Colonel and his subordinates, and about current homunculus news. All-in-all, it was a fun day spent with the fiery Fullmetal Alchemist.

     Visiting hours ended far too soon in Havoc’s opinion when a nurse poked her head in, telling Edward that their time was up. Ed stood, cracking every joint he still had left and stretched his automail limbs.

     “Oh, by the way,” Ed added. “If you want, I could call up my mechanic and she could have a look at your legs.” Havoc arched an eyebrow, trying to follow Ed’s thought process. A mechanic was used for machinery, so that meant this person probably worked on Ed’s automail. Automail was used for body parts that were no longer attached to said body. If they were attached in place of the real body parts, then-

     “No thank you.” Havoc drew out the ‘no’, grasping his legs. “I’d like to keep everything down there with me.” Ed blinked, befuddled, then slapped a hand to his face, hissing when it was the right hand that had connected.

     “Fuck,” he mumbled, glowering at the automail before shaking his head and turning his attention back to Havoc. “No,” he barked, exasperated. “I mean, she could rig you up something like a nerve system for your legs. It’d probably be kind of like braces with electrical wiring.” Havoc blinked and felt hope rising in his chest.

     “Has it been done before?” he asked, hardly believing. Ed shook his head.

     “Nope, but if anyone could make it, I know it’d be Winry.” He beamed at the name. Havoc’s hope deflated a bit, but the fire that had started it still burned strong. Was it possible? Ed sure made it sound like it was. He gave a thoughtful hum.

     “I’ll think about it,” he nodded, already processing the idea. Ed grinned.

     “Ok, make sure you do.” He turned to stride out the door, only to pause at the threshold.��“And think about that other stuff I said when I first got here, too, ok?” Havoc smirked, flashing a thumbs up.

     “Will do,” he called out, earning a grin and parting wave from the alchemist. Havoc laid back against the pillows beneath him, gaze pulled towards the sunset painted across his window. He didn’t think he’d try automail, from the horror stories he’d heard it was the most painful experience people had ever been presented with. But it was nice to know that, if he really wanted to, he could walk again. And maybe Ed was right. Maybe it would get better. Those brothers were going to make their situation better, so surely Havoc could too. He felt a grin twitch a corner of his mouth. There was no way he was going to stop fighting, not while those boys were still going at it too.

     It also helped to boost his morale when a plan had begun to hatch in his mind. He could still help the Colonel and his teammates. He was sure that his folks wouldn’t mind the idea, and the store was a pretty nice front for it...

      The grin grew until his face felt like it would split in two. Oh yeah, this was a great idea.

Augh, another angsty one. And seriously, I’ve put Ed in every single one of these. Is this Team Mustang week or Ed week? I mean really... Anyway, thanks for reading!

[higheldertala]

series 12 ranking list

please feel free to discuss and share your opinions on any of the episodes too! also please feel free to ask me any additional questions on my opinion of any specific subject!

ranking scale

good - a decent episode of doctor who.

okay - give it another draft and this would also be a good episode of doctor who.

bad - not great, noticeable flawed, needs a good fix up.

awful - downright dreadful or insulting to watch.

doctor is explicitly racist tier - does what it says on the tin.

i switched this round from my s11 ranking so this ranking is based on the ch*bnall era alone, not as the whole of nuwho.

looking back at my s11 ranking and i feel like it may have come across as a touch harsh. for clarification my big criticisms boil down to the lack of character work and obviously in s11 it was just pretty lacking of decent character work and characterisation which is probably why i ranked them all as bad and below. the same criticism of poor character still exists in this season, maybe not as bad? idk, still no where near the standard for actual good television. of course my opinions and rankings change depending on how/ what I am basing an episode on so this is none of this is concrete as such.

haunting of villa diodati - pretty good. if only all of ch*bnall’s episodes lived up to this standard, it might have actually have been good.

nikola’s tesla night of terror - solid episode, pretty reminiscent of an rtd era historic. i feel like the villian could have been a tad stronger and then it could be moved up to good.

spyfall pt1 - a solid start, sacha is a delight, definitely could used some a bit of tweaking to tidy it up.

fugitive of the judoon - ranking this episode in isolation and it ends up being middling. i feel like the fugitive plotline could be a lot stronger rather than leaving it as ✨a mystery✨. the subplot of the fam meeting jack could be a lot better and more engaging. could be worse but also be a lot better.

praxeus - the location hopping is an awful trope of ch*bnall designed nothing more than to show off the budget rather than be utilised to showcase a good story. also annoying side characters which barely add anything and only exist to become extra tag alongs.

ascension of the cyberman - gets put into the awful tier mainly because of how dull it is. a 50 minute build up for the second part (and yes I know this technically applies for all two parters but this one takes the piss). completely dull and unengaging.

revolution of the daleks - this one is perhaps harsh and it’s positioning could change based on my mood. i just don’t care for it at all honestly.

the timeless children - did no one think to stop this man when destroying 57 years of canon? yes fandom will be completely happy with this im sure(!)

spyfall pt2 - the second part falls apart. the plot is abandoned to become a run around episode, extremely bad moral decisions are made and the resolution literally happens off screen.

can you hear me? - insulting to mental health and completely wastes its fear aspect because all the main characters are severely underdeveloped.

orphan 55 - whatever was the original intent of this episode, the final execution of it is abysmal. a terrible episode of doctor who.

additional comments:

9 of out 11 episodes this series takes place on earth, with over half being set in the present day. THIS IS A SHOW ABOUT TIME AND SPACE TRAVEL. where did we lose you with this concept ch*bnall? wish we could ban earth stories for at least a season or something.

the companions still just exist for the majority of the runtime, occasionally given something to do but nothing of any consequence and are still never key players in the stories they are in. the addition of jack is pure key jangling in an attempt to get a boost in figures.

timeless child bad. destroying gallifrey again actually infuriates me more than the timeless child and i will be ignoring it as canon.

[disgrays-on]

my little bird

Word Count: 2.9k

Pairing: Older!Damian Wayne // Reader

A/N: This one is a bit of a doozy. This will be the last one I post in a while. I hope the length more than makes up for it, though!

It starts out like this:

“Hey, birdie.” You finally called out, pursing your lips as you watched Robin take down another goon with a satisfying punch to the face. “Need any help?”

You had been watching him from a nearby rooftop for the first few minutes after your arrival, low enough that you could drop down safely to step in if needed but high enough that you were far from the possibility of any stray weapons flying in your direction. You were sure that he had been well aware of your arrival, could have even asked for help earlier if he wanted to, but he seemed pretty happy to take all of them down on his own. You watched as his face contorted with different emotions at your nickname for him, not bothering to hide the grin that spread on your face when he settled for displeasure.

“No.” He grunted out, striking one last thug down before landing on both of his feet with the perfect agility that you’ve always known him for. You winced as his kick sent the thug crashing to the ground with a resounding thud, face first. He straightened himself up then, turning to where you were to give you a pointed look. “Don’t call me that.”

You rolled your eyes, jumping down and making your way to where he was. The nickname had slipped past your lips without you really noticing during a particularly slow patrol a while back. Damian had wrinkled his nose at it, lips twisting into a scowl and spitting out vehement refusals as you attempted to explain the name between bouts of laughter. Your saving grace had been the odd bond that you had forged with him, surprisingly sturdy through all the trials and hardships that the both of you have faced together in both your heroic and real identities. Otherwise, you were certain that there was no possible way that you could have escaped that conversation unscathed.

His denial had only lasted for about a week before you found him looking to you every time you called him by the name. His narrowed eyes and unimpressed frown - having been melted away by your persistence - was now replaced by a mixture of exasperation and resignation. This does not deter his automatic response of telling you not to call him that nor does it deter you from using it anytime you can.

“I see you are as helpful as ever.” He groused, dusting himself off.

You sighed loudly, “Well, I’m here now, aren’t I?”

Now that you weren’t so distracted by him, you finally noticed all of the thugs that he had bested, splayed out and out cold all around him. You would have been incredibly amazed and slightly terrified if you didn’t see something like this almost every other night. After a long time of being paired up to patrol together, this was something that you were almost used to. You made a face at the mess that the young hero had made because you had just signed yourself up for a clean up which was, quite arguably, the more sombre part of this whole vigilante deal.

(But when you are an arm’s length away from him, you don’t even bother to hide the fact that you’re checking him over to see if he had gotten hurt in the fight. He doesn’t hide the fact that he’s allowing you the moment to do just that.)

When your conscience is satisfied, you elbowed him lightly and gesturing to the trail of unconscious men, “Now come, let’s finish up here so we can go elsewhere!”

He huffed but moved quickly.

After patrol, you usually preferred to head back home. Change out of your outfit, shower and settle into your comfy bed and sleep until responsibilities called on you to wake up. Other times, you like to find the nearest tallest building (and sometimes that meant one of his father’s buildings) and watch the sun as it rose past the horizon and illuminate the city. The view was always so breathtaking, a city waking up after a long night of rest, a new day and a new beginning. This night found you doing the same, waiting for the dark sky to brighten up from one of your favourite spots.

You hear him before you see him, light footsteps across the rooftop as he approached you. You didn’t know what that said about you, the fact that you knew how his footsteps sounded like. He stopped a distance away, and even without turning to face him, you could feel him questioning your actions.

“Waiting for the sun to rise.” You hummed, twisting from the scenery spread out before you to face him. He looked pensive at your words, furrowing his eyebrows as he contemplated them, so you grinned at him to appease whatever doubts that he had and it seemed to work. You patted the spot beside you, “Watch the sunrise with me, birdie.”

He grumbled something under his breath, something about his father expecting him to be home soon, but after a couple of minutes, moved to sit beside you. Both of you had your legs dangled over the edge, the back of your heels knocking against the building from time to time whilst basking in the comfortable silence.

“You did good today, by the way.” You turned to smile sweetly at him, resisting the urge to laugh when he turned his face away, the tiniest hints of a flush on his cheeks. Tonight’s patrol had been more than hectic, to say the least. A prison breakout meant that everyone had been called in to reel all the prisoners back in. You and Robin had rounded up all that the both of you could but it hadn’t been all that easy. It was safe to say that you were glad that it was over though.  

“I suppose I could say the same for you.” He replied, nodding assuredly. Generous of him to say, you mused, but you made no move to refute his words. You didn’t feel like having another conversation where he somehow boosts your ego and morale despite all the harshness in his voice. You understood that this was his way of showing he cared for you. The both of you were good but together, the both of you were unstoppable.

“You and me, birdie.” You murmured quietly at the tentative sign of the sun rising, the deep inky sky slowly brightening up to a pale light blue, “They’ll remember us for centuries.”

He chuckled, short and sweet.

A few years pass effortlessly and there is a period of time where he runs around without a name, with only the reputation he gained and his family watching his back. This does not stop you from chirping his nickname every time you see him. You were at his side before this and you’re at his side now.

“Deep breaths.” He instructed, hands steadily working on your injury. You winced at his words, running over the circumstances that had led to this exact moment in your head.

You didn’t know what had come over you but a sudden burst of courage and adrenaline had you jumping in front of an incoming attack meant for Damian. At that moment, whatever panic or fear had been far outweighed by your overwhelming desire for him to remain (relatively) unharmed. The gods must have been looking out for you because you managed to escape with only a minor injury, requiring only simple stitches and a dressing. It hurt but at least neither you or Damian were dead, so you supposed it worked out well enough in the end.

Damian hadn’t been too pleased with what you had done, oh no, he was super pissed but you couldn’t find it in yourself to feel sorry. You didn’t want him hurt if you could have anything to say about it. Still, you could afford to complain just a little bit, even if it was internally. And this was how you found yourself sitting on one of the cots in the Cave, watching as he helped patch you up while enduring the painful cold silence of his. You could see him clenching and unclenching his jaw as he worked.

You sighed, breaking the silence, “I’m not going to apologise.”

“I don’t expect you to.” A curt reply as he finished the dressing up before straightening up. His eyes were warmer than you had expected them to be.

You offered him a small smile and he returned it with one of his own. “Then why are you upset, birdie?”

“Because you got hurt.” He answered simply, moving to put all the supplies away.

“And I keep telling you, it isn’t your fault.” You reiterated, wrapping a hand around his wrist and tugging him closer.

“It should have been me.” He mumbled, bitterly.

“I know. I get it and I appreciate the thought, Dami. But don’t you think that’s a bit hypocritical of you?“ You tilted your head when he averted his gaze from you to the wall behind you. You resisted the urge to cup his cheek, to make him look at you, to look into his beautiful green eyes but you didn’t want him pulling away anytime soon. You just wanted to make him understand - whenever he got hurt, you got hurt too. “This is nothing compared to seeing you get hurt.”

A flicker of guilt crossed his face before it disappeared completely, no trace of it whatsoever.

“Then we’ll share the burden together.” He decided, one hand coming up to caress your cheek. His palm felt slightly cool against your warm skin, so pleasantly soothing that you can’t help but lean into his touch.

“Need assistance?” His familiar voice filled you with nothing but relief. You had lost sight of him when the fight broke out but you were glad that he was here now. The thought of him being alright is enough to fuel you with the strength to bring the next thug down with an extra forceful punch. You distantly recalled the night a few years back when the positions had been reversed. The memory brought a small smirk on your face. Young and in love. You supposed there was not much of a difference, then.

“No. You’re quite late to this party, I think.” You commented, quickly taking down the last one before turning to search for him. He looked good, if not a bit ruffled, a playful smirk on his face.

“Well, I’m here now, aren’t I?” You couldn’t help but snort at that one. His eyes roamed over your form when you joined him, and you let them, a small smile on your face ready to greet him.

“As helpful as ever, birdie.” You snickered, slotting into his side as if the two of you were always meant for each other.

“Come, we have elsewhere to be.”

The years pass by easily with plenty of ups and downs of their own and then there is a period of time where he runs around with a bat emblazoned on his chest and a huge target on his back. You don’t stop watching him and taking criminals down by his side. You don’t stop calling him birdie either, affection rolling off your tongue easier than breathing has ever been when he’s around.

The little bites become something like a norm. The sting of the small nips along your neck and afterwards, the comfort of the trail of tiny kisses over the same area; these were things that you’ve grown used to. You found yourself enjoying the attention he gave you in the comfort of your shared bedroom, his doting and loving were incredibly addictive. Almost always, he gave you what you wanted - what you needed - but other times, he found it amusing to drag it on for as long as he possibly could. And sometimes, he’s a little to rough with his ministrations and you have to whine a bit to get his attention.

“Birdie.” You yelped out after a particularly harsh bite, louder than you had intended for it to be. The two of you had been curled up in bed together when he had tugged you closer and pressed his lips against your skin. You had no intentions of letting it progress any further than just that and you had made it clear to him, but he seemed content enough to be where the both of you were. It was easy to get carried away then.

He pulled back almost instantly at your cry, a small frown appearing on his face. The worry slowly clouding his face was almost enough to make you giggle a bit but you restrained yourself in favour of tugging him closer to ease his concerns. You reassured, threading your fingers through his hair, “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” He asked quietly.

“I’m alright,” You pulled back to press a quick kiss on his lips, “All good.”

“Do you want me to stop?” He questioned, green eyes filled with whatever worry was left that you couldn’t relieve. You didn’t mind his show of affection, in fact, you enjoyed it thoroughly. And you knew for a fact that he enjoyed it too. He wasn’t always one for enjoyable pastimes, but this seemed to pique his interest a lot. You wouldn’t be the one to deny him.

You hummed, “In a bit.”

“You’re too good to me.” He had said, and you laughed out then. You hoped he knew that you thought the same of him.

“If my family doesn’t arrive-”

“No.” You said for the umpteenth time that night.

“Why won’t you listen to what I have to say?” He gritted out, clearly frustrated. You would have felt guilty over the fact that you were riling him up more than necessary but he has been trying to say these words for the past few minutes now and you didn’t want to listen to any of it. If they didn’t seem so final, you would have. But you didn’t- He couldn’t. Losing him wasn’t an option.

“Why don’t you listen to what I have to say? I have done so much, we have done so much, for this to just end now. This is not the ending we deserve. We deserve more than this. So believe me when I say that I have no intentions of losing you now. Or ever, for that matter.” You snapped. He looked slightly taken aback and you had to take in a huge intake of air to calm yourself down. Your anger and frustration would do no one good. It was disgustingly humid in the small area that the both of you were trapped in and you could smell the familiar scent of blood, and it made your stomach twist even more knowing exactly whose it was.

“So please, just be quiet and let me help you.” You pleaded, voice quiet, as you pressed down gently on his wound. You hoped the despair that you felt at the moment was not visible on your face. Whatever hope of getting rescued that you had earlier in the hour after you realised that the both of you were trapped and that he was slowly bleeding out had long diminished after he released a single shaky breath. One single breath and you had been ready to quit. “You aren’t dying tonight, birdie. Believe me when I say that.”

He remained quiet and you weren’t sure whether it was from exhaustion due to all the fighting beforehand, from the injury that was making him paler and paler by the second or from annoyance at your misplaced optimism. You hoped that it was the annoyance more than anything else right now.

His hand moved up to clasp the one you had over the gash, and squeezed gently, a simple silent act of gratitude.

It ends a bit like this:

You’ve been at his bedside for the past few hours and you haven’t left since his brother pushed you to freshen up and make yourself more presentable after they found the both of you. Even then, you hadn’t left until he had assured you that he would well taken care of in your absence. You didn’t doubt that but you’ve always been quite the worrywart, especially when it came to him. Your only company seemed to be your worries, the sound of his breathing and the monitor with his (thankfully) steady heartbeat. Your stomach is gnawing at you to be filled with some food, but you can’t bear to be apart from him. Not when he’s like this.

When he wakes up, he smiles at you so tenderly but you end up crying in relief instead. This is perhaps one of the few times that you don’t meet a smile of his with one of your own. But you thought you deserved this at the least, you had been strong when he had been on the brink of death and you could only sit by and watch. You jab his arm lightly, because he was probably already in plenty of pain, and make him promise you, voice cracking, to never do that again, birdie. His lips twists into a small smile. He holds your hand in his, looking at it for a while and then asks you to be by his side forever.

[spicelupin-blog]

Marauders: Looks

Remus Lupin. Sirius Black. James Potter. Peter Pettigrew.

Summary: Short stories to do with the Marauders looks and development during their Hogwarts years.

Pairing: James x Lily. Other than that, only some irrelevant ones in passing.

Warnings: Some mentions of abuse (Sirius) and weight (Peter). 

Genre: Mainly cute friendship stories with some light angst.

Words: 2092

REMUS LUPIN

·         Remus was always a lanky kid. His arms were too long for his body, and his legs were even worse.

·         In his third year, he remembered being jeered at by a group of older Slytherins after he ran into the Herbology professor, causing the mandrakes they were levitating to fall to the ground. Luckily, only one student fainted from the incident and the professor let it go with a huff and a wave of their wand.

·         Yet, the Slytherins didn’t seem keen on letting him go without a lower self-esteem.

·         “Can you blame a Gryffindor for being useless?” Parkinson provoked.

·         “You’re right, especially one like that. He looks like a starved animal.” Laughed Crabbe.

·         “And that scar. I’m guessing he got into a fight with a hairbrush with the state of his hair.” Added Greengrass, gesturing to the bedhead Remus wore almost every day.

·         Once the scar comment was put out there, Remus took off. He didn’t want anyone to see the frustrated tears welling up in his eyes.

·         Everything began changing once fourth year ended. Remus was becoming more confident with the help of his fellow Marauders and his appearance began to reflect this.

·         His arms and legs were evened out by a good height boost of six or seven inches, and his shoulders started widening handsomely. He was no longer a ‘starved animal’, as he began developing muscle all over.

·         When he saw his fellow Marauders during the summer they seemed to have a lot to say about his new masculine build.

·         “Now girls will need a ladder to snog you.” James joked, biting the head off a chocolate frog.

·         Sirius, stealing the rest of the treat from James’s hand, restated, “Now girls might snog you.”

·         During his stay at Godric’s Hollow, he allowed Sirius to style his hair prior to an outing to Diagon Alley.

·         “You look like you’ve just rolled out of bed! How can I be seen with such a wreck?” The always dramatic Sirius exclaimed. Remus, finally peer pressure enough, allowed Sirius to work his magic.

·         Well, technically, it wasn’t magic. Sirius had discovered a few muggle hair products while looking for things to piss his parents off with, only to find he actually enjoyed them. He claimed they were even better than Sleekeazy, which James found great offense to. Remus, realizing there was nothing to lose when it came to his mop of hair, succumbed to anything Sirius threw at him.

·         Remus was genuinely surprised by the outcome. He had expected Sirius to make his hair look similar to his own, as in Sirius words, “My hair gets the birds squawking.” Which made even James roll his eyes.

·         Instead, Sirius let Remus’s hair be like Remus. He used the products to make Remus’s hair softer and his naturally wavy hair was like a fluffy sea of light brown. It wasn’t structured or greasy looking, instead, it was very Remus. It looked as soft as Remus’s personality was.

·         Shockingly, James and Sirius were right. He started receiving plenty of longing gazes from girls when the school year began again. 

·         When Gabriella Moore flirtatiously waved and greeted him at the beginning of term feast, Sirius pointed a drumstick at him and said, “It’s the hair. You’re welcome.”

SIRIUS BLACK

·         Sirius, though he hated to admit it, was a true Black.

·         He might not be a prejudiced, privileged wanker (Sirius’s exact words in fourth year), but he damn well knew he looked like a Black. Since he was a kid, relatives and family friends have doted on his looks.

·         “Oh, Walburga what a handsome set of boys you have. At least you won’t have to worry about the Black name dying out. I’m sure these two will be snatched up fresh out of Hogwarts.”

·         Sirius knew he looked like his brother, or his brother looked like him. The Blacks had a signature look to them, like most purebloods. According to his mother, a pureblood is too important to look like a common half-breed.

·         Sirius was well known for his mop of dark, well-groomed hair. He found that he felt good when it was nicely fixed. No one knew Sirius’s need for vanity was more deep-rooted than a love for materialism or an aesthetic. It was his security blanket. If everyone saw a good looking boy with a charismatic smile, there would be no need to dig further into his life. No need for them to uproot his unresolved problems.

·         Sirius Black was not vain, he was scared. Scared that his mother was right. Even though he knew she was wrong, her views and violence were morally corrupt, he was still riddled with anxiety.

·         He was well known for his lean figure among fellow students. He had a strong back that led into a trim waist down to a butt groups of girls would giggle about. He was never shy about taking off his shirt. That is until he ran away.

·         He left the House of Black with his once flawless skin covered with red lashes. He left the burning under his clothing as he approached the Potter’s home. When the door opened and he was welcomed with open arms, only then he showed his wounds. Mrs. Potter fixed him up, but the scars were forever. He was forever marked by his trauma.

·         But that didn’t stop Sirius.

·         He still took off his shirt. When someone asked what happened to him, he’d make something up.

·         “Fight with a dragon. You should see him, doll.” That got a few clueless girls.

·         “This one lass from Ravenclaw went a bit too hard.” This got even more clueless guys to whoop in response.

·         “Got attacked by a Hippogriff while trying to complete your summer essay, sir. I wanted to get a real life account. Unfortunately, it obviously did not like me very much.” This got him an O on his Care for Magical Creatures assignment.

·         Sirius felt clever coming up with all these myths for his scars, never letting the truth slip pass his lips to anyone except his closest friends.

·         Also, letting the truth be public would ruin the allusion of the mysterious Sirius Black.

JAMES POTTER

·         James Potter was the ultimate Gryffindor. Some people envied him for it, some really hated him for it. But at the end of the day, the only person’s opinion that mattered to James anyway was Lily’s. And just getting her to look his way was an accomplishment; regardless of the scowl present.

·         James, although he didn’t care about anyone else’s stares except a certain redhead, found he loved attention for his appearance. He got extra giddy at any compliments given but acting nonchalant on the outside.

·         “Looking good, Potter.” Smirked a Hufflepuff, leaving James to give a lopsided grin at her retreating back.

·         “Oh Merlin,” Grumbled Remus at that, knowing how James got with a compliment. Adding onto James Potter’s already huge ego was a dangerous choice.

·         “Padfoot, you got the map right?” James asked, ignoring Remus’s pointed look.

·         Sirius’s head bopped up and down, patting his robe pocket for confirmation.

·         “Perfect. I have an idea.” Those were never good words for anyone except a Marauder.

·         “What is it, James?” Peter raised a pale brow, looking a tad nervous already.

·         “It has to do with Snivellus. I think we’ve kept away from him for a long enough since the incident.” With few words, the others knew James was referring to Snape’s near death experience at a transformed Remus’s hands.

·         Remus shook his head, not wanting to get involved but knowing he had no choice. Sirius, on the other hand, just smirked and started spurting off prank ideas to James. Peter wordlessly listened to his best friends throw their ideas to each other, willing to do whatever James told him to do.

·         Merlin, they got Snivellus good that day. And Lily Evans stared at him. Sure, she was glaring, but you have to take what you can get.

·         One thing he knew Lily Evan did take notice of was his hair. He had created the signature dishevelment just for her.

·         The day before the start of third year, James was trying to sort his hair out. He had Sleekeazy at his disposal, but that wasn’t what he wanted. He was going to be fourteen soon, and he wanted Lily Evans to notice him. Or anyone really. Frankly, he was becoming a teenage boy and he just wanted a girlfriend. If Lily needed more time, then fine, but James was impatient.

·         He flipped it all around, brushing and combing pieces determinedly. Yet, he was without the result he wanted.

·         “James! Come get your broom out of the yard!” His mother yelled up the stairwell.

·         He groaned, setting his brush down with a huff. “Coming!”

·         His broom was still leaning on the gate, exactly where he left it yesterday night. He was determined to up his chaser ability. No more losing to Slytherin, as far as James would have it.

·         He eyed it, trying to decide if he needed more practice. The Gryffindor captain’s voice rang through his head, “Practice, practice, practice!”

·         Immediately, James hopped onto his broom, taking off. He did his drills until the sun had set and his mother was calling him for dinner.

·         When he went back inside, he passed a mirror, catching his reflection. His skin was darker from the sun, his eyes slightly teary from the whipping wind and his hair was just as he wanted.

·         All windswept and, to James, cool. He looked like he was always on a broomstick, experiencing new adventure and mischief every day. James gave his reflection his signature lopsided grin, as he found just how he was going to get Lily to notice him.

·         That, and a few cruel pranks at Snivellus. Just for good measure.

PETER PETTIGREW

·         Peter was not special. He knew that since before his Hogwarts days. It became more prominent to him when he became friends with Sirius, James, and Remus.

·         Sirius was dark and handsome. Girls tripped over themselves to just catch a whiff of his shampoo as he passed in the halls.

·         James was athletic and overall cool. He made students and teachers alike melt at his grin.

·         Remus was tall and bookish. Only Remus seemed to not notice girls’ longing stares as he sat reading in the library.

·         Peter had never seen himself as anything to notice. He was short, only about 5’5 with no lean muscle like the rest. He was a bit pudgy from the amount of sweets he ate.

·         Once, James mocked his pouch of fat on his stomach, making Peter turn beet red and let out a forced laugh. He knew James meant it in a joking way, but it didn’t stop Peter’s twisting stomach.

·         He spent the whole month of July on a strict diet. Vegetables and fruit only. Even when his mother brought out his birthday cake on his birthday, he refused the treat with a solemn look. His mother looked a bit taken aback, but ultimately followed Peter’s request.

·         He made it a routine to walk around the muggle village nearby. He’d walk for hours in the summer heat. Sometimes, he’d run up and down the hill by his house with large rocks in his hands. He probably looked like a dip, but he didn’t care. He was going to prove himself as special. He was going to be worth noticing in seventh year.

·         When the Marauders regrouped on the train to school, Sirius was the first to note Peter’s trimmed appearance.

·         “Have you lost weight, Wormtail?” Asked Sirius, biting into a Liquorice Comfit.

·         Peter watched the candy, thinking about asking for one but stopping himself. He’d come so far, why take it all back now? “A bit.”

·         “I can tell,” James nodded, grabbing one of the candies. He pointed it at Peter as he said, “You have an actual jawline now, Wormtail.”

·         Peter felt smug with the compliment. He always had to savor compliments, as they rarely came his way. Before he could reply, their last member came into the compartment. Peter noticed with disdain that Remus had grown at least another inch, and his shoulders were even broader.

·         Remus told the rest of the boys with sparkling eyes of the girls he had a summer romance with while in Portugal. All attention was quickly pulled from Peter’s transformation and on Remus’s randevu.

·         Peter was silent, watching with a familiar envy as the others talked about their fun summers and girls while eating an assortment of treats.

·         “Want a Chocolate Frog, Wormtail?” Sirius inquired, holding out the sweet.

·         Peter looked at the packet for a moment before swiping it, “Yeah, why not.”

·         He would never be able to win the looks contest anyway.

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