#oh and yup I have of course sang all of these tonight except two

[angst-is-love-angst-is-life]

No one asked but I think my favorite Epic songs to sing are, in no particular order: Just a Man, My Goodbye, Wouldn’t You Like, No Longer You, Monster, Scylla (especially her solo at the end), Dangerous, Charybdis, Would You Fall in Love with Me Again

[sheeple]

The intern | 10: Birthday parties part II

GIFS NOT MINE. THIS IS ALL FICTION. Genre(s): intern!au / fluff / mild angst Group(s): NCT / Red Velvet Pairing(s): Moon Taeil x fem!reader Summary: The new Elysion Publishings intern is the youngest they ever had. It’s not a problem until she grabs the attention of the IT guy. Warning(s): Age-gap of five years [Masterlist] [Mini masterlist]

My phone rings as we ─ Johnny, Taeyong, Wendy, Taeil, and I ─ walk out of the office and I see it’s Mark. A smile spreads on my face as I answer my phone.

“Hey hey”, I say, my voice cheerful. The others look at me surprised at my sudden switch to English I always do with Mark.

“Yo. How’s you’re birthday going?”, he questions, a smile obvious in his voice.

“Meh”, I shrug, “it was okay. Got a lot of ‘happy birthday’-s.”

Johnny and Wendy look at me with weirdly and I mouth ‘Mark’. Wendy frowns and shakes her head, her eyes telling me to hang up.

“Do you wanna hang-out tonight? Eat pizza, play some videogames or watch a movie? Since it’s your birthday, you know”

I pout. “I’m sorry, my dude. I’m already going out with my friends and sing some karaoke.” I run a hand through my hair with a sigh.

Mark whines loudly. “But I wanted to hang out!” He shuffles around. I can only imagine him wildly throwing around his limps, just throwing a hissy fit in general.

“What if... you’re coming with us?”

“No!”, yells Wendy in protest. Oh right, I forgot they’re cousins.

Mark chuckles at the protest of his older cousin. “Sounds fun. Where y’all meeting up?”

I look at Johnny and he signs me to give my phone.”We’re going to Suyi’s Karaoke Bar before eating somewhere.” He hums and nods a couple of times before giving me back my phone.

“So I’ll see you there.” Mark’s voice sounds cheerful.

I say goodbye to him and end the call. As I pocket my phone, Wendy looks at me sourly.

“I can’t believe you invited him! I already see him like every other week.”

I roll my eyes. “If things worked out between him and me, you wouldn’t see him ‘like every other week’.” I make air-quotations as I say the last part.

“Wait, what?”, butts Taeil in with wide eyes. He pushes Taeyong away to rush next to me.

“Well...”, I trail off.

“She and Wendy’s cousin, Mark, went on a date a month or two ago”, interrupts Taeyong with a glare towards the eldest.

“Yeah!”, smirks Johnny. “Isn’t he the same age as you? Born in ‘99?”

I glare at the two boys, seeing right through their attempts to make Taeil jealous. And from the look of it; it’s kinda working. Taeil chews angrily on his bottom lip and he balls his hands in firsts.

I frown. He has nothing to be jealous of. Mark and I are just friends. It weirds me out thinking about being more than friends with him. My choice of ignoring the whole thing is the best choice I made. The conversation picks up again with Johnny and Wendy being idiots.

We soon arrive at the karaoke band and we see Mark leaning against his bike. I yell his name and rush towards Mark. He looks up from his phone and hugs me once I reach him. He spins me around and I laugh loudly.

“Look at you being an adult now.” He wipes away a fake, non-existing tear and I punch his shoulder.

“Don’t act as if you’re not two months older than her.” Wendy laughs in a teasing way with a grin.

We go into the karaoke bar and Taeyong walks up to the desk. He says that he has a reservation on the name of ‘Lee’ and the guy behind the desk nods as he types away.

He leads us towards some privet room and explains how everything works to us. From choosing the songs to calling assistance.

I hang up my coat on one of the hooks and let myself fall on the couch. Wendy drapes herself next to me and says her arm over my shoulder.

“You’re going to duet with me, no matter what”, she whispers in my ear and I nod with a giggle.

“Of course! With who else am I going to sing Truth Hurst?”

After singing our hearts out and duetting with almost everyone, we walk laughing out of the bar. 

“So, what’s next?”, questions Mark as he puts his hands in his pockets. 

“Well, we were going to eat somewhere...” I throw Wendy a pleasing look, Mark joining me.

“Fine! He can come. But I want no whining, no screaming, and definitely no flirting”, she says as if she’s talking to a toddler. 

Mark just smirks and throws an arm over her shoulder. “When did I ever do that, dear cousin?”

“Well...”, trails Wendy off and starts to list the times he was basically a child during past family gatherings.

As we walk, I see Taeil walking far in the back. “Are you okay?”, I question and start to walk next to him. 

“Hm? Oh, yes.” He smiles at me, but I’m not convinced. 

I grab his hand and pull him with me, so we’re closer to the group. “No sulking on my birthday, mister.” I swing our linked hands back and forth between us and hum some song that we sang earlier.

“Can I... can I ask a question?” Taeil licks his lips and looks at me. 

I nod with a slight smile. We start to walk a little slower so we’re out of hearing distance of the group.

“Do you like Mark?”, he asks bluntly with his face beet red. 

I chuckle softly under my breath. “Oh yeah! He is such a great friend. We connect really well since we’re only a couple months apart and we both speak English.”

“Not like that. Do you like-like him.” 

I stop and look Taeil in his eyes. “Are you asking me if I have romantic feelings for him?”

He nods and I scrunch my nose in disgust. “Ew gross! He’s more like a brother than anything else. Oh my god.” I shiver thinking about it.

A sigh of relief leaves Taeil’s lips and he squeezes my hand lightly. We pick our pace back up so nobody noticed we were gone for just a smidge.

“Ready to fill our stomachs!”, cheers Taeyong as he pushes the door open of the Korean BBQ place. We take a seat around a table fit for five people. 

A waiter comes and takes our orders. We order all different kinds of meats and side dishes. And of course, Soju.

I am placed between Johny and Taeil, with Taeyong seated between de cousins in front of me. 

“Wait, so, don’t tell me this is your first time eating k-bbq”, asks Wendy while throwing a shot of Soju behind. 

I shrug. “I never had the chance. Eating alone is never fun, so why would I go without anyone?”

“Except those three am ramen trips.” Mark gives me a knowing look and we giggle.

“Okay, something is going on with the both of you and you guys have to spill it”, muses Johnny with folded arms.

“It’s nothing, really. We just hung out a lot the past couple of weeks. (Y/n) is a very bad sleeper and I game until late, so we planned these late-night trips to the grocery store and ate ramen so neither of us has to go alone”, says Mark with a smile.

I giggle. “Yeah. We live in the same neighbourhood and the closed grocery store is only a five-minute walk. Two if you run.”

“Wait. Do you live in that new-build block? Four streets behind his?”, asks Wendy as she leans backwards, almost falling off her chair if it wasn’t for Taeyong.

“Yup. The apartments are surprisingly spacious for what the rent is. I think that’s why Mr. Kim placed me there.”

The group stops. “THE BOSS PAYS FOR YOUR HOUSING?!”

I flinch a bit. “I mean... yeah? I get paid less than the other interns because of that.”

“Now I really want to see your place”, hums Taeyong and the others agree. 

“I mean, we can stop by a grocery store after we’ve eaten and buy some food and drinks and hang out at my place.”

The group agrees as we stuff our faces with delicious food. I bite my lip. I just hope I cleaned my apartment enough.

With our arms filled with snacks and booze, we enter the lobby of my apartment complex.

“Good evening, Mrs Choi”, I greet the old lady that lives on the ground floor next to the staircase.

“Good evening, child. I see that you brought some friends”, she notes and I smile. 

“Yeah, we’re celebrating my birthday today. Sorry in advance if we’re making too much noise.” I bow slightly with a small smile.

Mrs Choi chuckles. “Go and be young, child.” She waves us off before entering her apartment. 

“Such a cute little lady”, says Johnny with a smile as we walk up the stairs. 

“She’s the sweetest. She helped me settle in and makes wonderful kimchi.” I fetch my keys out of my pocket and unlock the door.

“I don’t think I have enough slippers for all of us...”, I mumble, removing my shoes. I lead them into my apartment and place the food and drinks in my kitchen. 

“Just... seek a place around the living room. I’ll grab bowls and glasses for us.”

“I’ll help you!”, chirps Wendy as he follows me in the kitchen. She opens the fridge and a gasp leaves her lips. “Are you serious?! There’s only one thing in your fridge!” She grabs one of the ice tea packs from my fridge and I chuckle awkwardly as I scratch the back of my head.

“I told my mom that I missed my favourite brand of ice tea so she sent like twelve litres of it. She also sent my favourite type of candy.” I open up up a cabinet above me and shove the stacks and stacks of candy.

Wendy laughs loudly. “You’re a child.”

[vino-and-doggos]

Cheers to the New Year

Read on AO3  |  Written for @lilbreadbun

Rated: G

Words: 2201

Summary: Just returned from active duty, Roy Mustang is bartending his Aunt Chris's karaoke holiday party at the bar. A beautiful blonde takes the stage and her voice puts Roy under a spell. If only it weren't too good to be true.

Happy holidays, @lilbreadbun, from your Secret Santa!! This is something that I’ve wanted to write for a very long time, so thank you for giving me the opportunity to write it! I hope you enjoy <3

~

Bah humbug, Roy thought to himself. Half his mind was joking, but the other half was dead serious. 

It wasn’t that he hated Christmas — he used to love the holiday, in fact. It was more that he couldn’t enjoy the holiday anymore. Fake trees and pre-packaged holiday sweets reminded him too much of Maes, a man for whom even Ebenezer Scrooge would have emptied his coffers in pursuit of the perfect Christmas present. He sighed and put down another dry glass on the rubber mat behind the bar.

Roy looked at the dark wooden interior surrounding him and had to stop himself just short of rolling his eyes at the tacky — yet festive, his sisters assured him — decorations that littered the bar. Tinsel trees shoved into corners and ornaments hung from the ceiling left remnants of glitter on every flat surface. Lights were strung everywhere, casting the bar in an odd, multicolored glow.

Because of course, a bar called Christmas Cheers had to go out for the holiday of its namesake, right?

The biggest problem was, in Roy’s opinion, that it attracted the now-college age people that he went to high school with who were home on winter break. It was cute and kitschy and Instagrammable or Snapchattable. Life was not designed to be lived through the screen of a smartphone or viewed through filters. And those that desired to do so did nothing but grate on Roy’s last nerve. 

There was a reason Roy lost contact with his friends from high school when he joined the military, and frankly, he had no interest in trying to reconnect. He would take the group chat with the friends he made while deployed over the flesh and blood frenemies who dropped him for enlisting any day.

Glancing at the clock, he let out a groan. Only half an hour until they opened.

“I don’t wanna hear that, Roy-Boy,” he heard a gravelly voice say from around the corner. 

Roy really did roll his eyes this time, but now it was a gesture in quasi prayer to Someone-he-wasn’t-even-sure-existed to grant him patience. Because if he was given strength, he surely was going to hurt someone before the night was over.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Chris. I’m just really not looking forward to this. I can usually handle normal nights, but karaoke? It’s going to bring in every screeching college girl in the tri-county area. You’re lucky that you’re friends with the DA and that the cops don’t police this place for underage drinking, because this stunt is going to -”

“Cut it out, Roy,” Chris said exasperatedly. “Your melodrama isn’t going to help you get through the night. Yes, there will most likely be underage college kids here trying to drink tonight. Luckily, though, I have a really good bartender,” she emphasized while motioning to him, “who knows how to properly check IDs.”

He grumbled, “That doesn’t stop their of-age friends from buying drinks for them.”

“Seriously. If you’re going to be like this all night, go and wallow in your room, Roy. I understand you’re grieving, and you’re working through your tour overseas. I want to support you the best I can, but this is also my business. If you’re not going to be full of Christmas Cheer tonight -” Roy rolled his eyes again - “then I’ll ask one of your sisters to bartend.”

“No,” he replied, a tone of longing edging into his voice, almost as though he wanted her to do just that. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

He turned back to the bar and began prepping lemons, limes, and oranges, but he couldn’t help but smile when he heard his aunt mumble, “Who knows. Maybe you’ll meet someone tonight.”

Roy had to admire her optimism, if nothing else.

~

“Hey man, can I get two beers?” a kid with jet-black hair pulled back into a ponytail shouted over the music. Behind him stood a short blond with long hair who had a smug grin on his face. 

“Just need to see some ID first,” Roy said back over the dulcet tones of a curvy brunette with pouty red lips murdering “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

Who the hell sings this at karaoke? Roy pondered.

“Aww, come on, we’re legal,” the blond said, his voice lilting with the cadence of someone trying to convince another of what they’re saying. And failing, miserably.

“I’m sure you are,” smiled Roy, “but I’m sorry, I have to see some ID for anyone who looks younger than 40.” He hesitated for a moment. “For both of you.”

“Oh, well, Ed. We tried!” the first kid laughed.

“Ling! You just busted us!” the one apparently named Ed yelled, smacking his friend on the shoulder. 

“Listen,” Roy started, “I’m feeling especially festive tonight, so I’ll let you stay and drink any non-alcoholic drink you want for free.”

The boys weighed their options by silently exchanging looks before Ling turned back to Roy.

“We’ll take two cokes — but can you put them in lowball glasses with drink stirrers?” Ling asked with an air of conspiracy.

“Sure thing, kid,” he chuckled, pulling out the soda gun. 

Right before he handed the drinks over, he stuck a lime on the rim of the glass. As he handed them over, the boys nodded in solidarity and thanks. Roy just smiled in return.

He turned to the far end of the bar, the end closest to the stage, to check on the patrons seated there. A few indicated refills, so Roy pulled out new glasses and started pouring. As he was pouring the perfect mug of beer, he heard the tell-tale clicks of a song with an a capella opening.

“Shot through the heart, and you’re to blame, darlin’ you give love a bad name!”

Huh. This chick wasn’t bad.

Roy walked the beer to the end of the bar, taking a moment to catch a glimpse of the small stage through the crowd. What he saw caused his jaw to drop.

A stunning blonde in a deliciously tight, yet simple, black t-shirt and a pair of jeans that looked as though they were painted on danced about the stage. Her loose hair fell just past her shoulders and swung around her rhythmically as she whirled around. She danced in a way that made it obvious that alcohol flowed through her system, but Roy didn’t remember serving her. The impressive part is that she actually was on-key and hitting the marks without staring at the screen. Bon Jovi’s melody blasted through the speakers, and the audience was eating it up.

“Ohhh, you’re a loaded gun…”

Damn. Roy shook his head and went back to refilling drinks. She was a siren, and he was not immune to her call. Over everything else, he continued hearing her voice singing the upbeat rock tune. He had to ask another patron what their order was three times before he finally understood what they were asking for.

The song ended with raucous applause and cheering. Mostly male, Roy noted, but many females sounding out their appreciation, as well. The DJ had to shout the name of the next singer repeatedly through the system before they approached the booth to grab the microphone. It was the wildest the bar had gotten all night.

However, the excitement was short-lived. The next singer (Roy thinks he heard the DJ call him Alex?) decided to sing Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven.” Why can’t this crowd — with the exception of one — pick karaoke songs that are worth a damn?

Despite the current song filling the bar, Roy couldn’t get her out of his head. Her song rattled around in his brain, her voice continuing to envelop him in strains of familiar melody. Just then, he heard a female voice from behind him.

“Hey!” it exclaimed brightly.

He knew that voice.

Roy turned on his heel to meet the amber eyes of the best Bon Jovi impersonator he’d ever seen or heard waving at him with a sweet smile on her face. Her beautiful blonde hair was now tied back in a low ponytail, bangs still draped across her forehead; it was darker than he originally thought it was, more of a honeyed blonde. He decided to play it cool and nodded his head in acknowledgment.

“What can I get for you?” he asked, trying to make sure he was heard over the music, but also making sure his voice sounded smooth and rich.

“Just a water, please,” she responded, eyes shining in the incandescent holiday lights.

Roy chuckled deeply as he reached for a glass. “Singing take it out of you?”

“It always does,” she nodded, laughing in return.

“Always?” Roy questioned, barely registering that he had even spoken it aloud. “I’m sorry,” he started, waving his left hand and placing her water glass down with his right. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

“Nah, thanks though,” she winked.

He followed the head of blonde hair through the sea of people and sighed. 

She was so out of his league.

~

Hours later, the crowd was winding down. Only a few were left, and hardly anyone left was singing. The DJ announced last call for songs and the bar, wishing all a happy holiday season.

Roy had already started to clean as best he could behind the bar — bottles in their proper place, the beginnings of labels for the cooler — when he heard that voice again.

“Hey!” that same exclamation; that same intonation. He smiled as he faced her.

“I’m surprised I didn’t see you again,” he said, smirking.

“I had someone grab me water when they came up for their drinks,” she explained.

Huh. So that’s why he didn’t see her for the rest of the night. Wait a minute.

“You got up there and sang and danced like that completely sober?” he questioned.

His tone was light and teasing but with an underlying tone of awe and surprise.She laughed in response. Roy could have sworn that she made the room brighter. 

“Yup. My mother used to say that I’m a natural-born performer.”

“She was right,” he affirmed. “I’m Roy, by the way.”

“Riza,” she offered, extending her hand across the bar.

He took her hand, so soft and warm in his cold, calloused palm, and shook.

“I just wanted to say thanks for the fantastic service tonight. Many lesser bartenders would have lost their cool with the number of people in here, but we never waited long for drinks.” Riza smirked as she pulled a $20 bill out of her back pocket and slid it into the fishbowl that was acting as a tip jar.

“That’s way too generous; I can’t accept that,” Roy protested weakly. “You said just had water all night -”

“Don’t worry about it,” Riza interrupted, waving him off.

“Listen…” Roy started. “We have an event here on New Year’s Eve, too… Same kind of stuff as tonight, karaoke and drinks, but there’s also going to be a buffet with food… If you’re interested?” he trailed off hopefully.

“Oh, that sounds fun! I think I’ll still be in town then, but I’ll have to double-check. Will you be working?”

This was it. Take the chance, Roy.

“I was scheduled to, but I’m thinking about taking the evening off to enjoy the party.” Do it, Roy. Shoot your shot. “Would you be interested in coming with me?”

“Oh!” Riza said, a blush dusting across the bridge of her nose. “I - well, I’m - not really - um -”

The shot missed the target completely.

It was Roy’s turn to turn red. 

“Forget I said anything, I was just thinking that maybe we could... Oh my god, please, I’m sorry, just -” 

“Roy, stop, it’s fine,” Riza cut off his rambling. “I just didn’t quite know how to say…” She paused and inhaled. “I’m in a relationship.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said, and this much was true, in more ways than one. “I didn’t know.” Roy hoped that the earth would open up and swallow him. Right then.

“How could you?” she chuckled. “We just met.”

“Babe? Are you ready to go?” a voice sounded to Roy’s right. A decidedly feminine voice. 

He whipped around to see another blonde with waist-length hair the color of cornsilk. She stood by the door with a group of four or five others.

“Riza?” she prompted.

“Sorry, Liv, I’ll be right there,” Riza smiled before turning back to Roy. She extended her hand to him once more. “Friends?”

Smiling, he agreed. “Friends.”

Riza walked to the door and grabbed her coat from Liv. As she was walking out the door, she shouted over her shoulder, “See you on New Year’s Eve, Roy!”

Friends. He could do friends.

He smiled and started humming. He was almost to the chorus before he realized the tune was “Auld Lang Syne.”

He might have been shot down, but at least he wasn’t shot through the heart as Riza’s song might have suggested. There was an odd sense of hopefulness about him, though; a new year was coming. Sparing the whole “new year, new me” nonsense, Roy truly felt like the next year would bring about healing, hope, and friendship.

Bring it on.

[sassyshoulderangel319]

A Retreat Birthday

Notes: Happy Birthday Lyric! @moonlight-lyrics

 @eequalsmcscared, Join our little party!

“Mom! Mom! Mom!” I shouted, running into the executives office that she and Dad shared. She looked up.

“Yeah baby?”

“Lyric and Oliver are flying here for Lyric’s birthday next week and the executive suite is open. Can I have it for Lyric’s birthday party? Please? I promise I didn’t tell anyone it was booked when it was free. It just is free. Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?” I pleaded, hands pressed together like I was saying a prayer---which, technically, I kind of was?

Mom gave me a look. I wasn’t a dishonest kid and she knew that.

After a moment, she sighed. “Alright. But you’re going to give Molly a night off on the graveyard shift so she can go home when it’s over.”

“YES! Deal! Thanks Mom!” I bolted out of the managers’ office, stumbling over my own bare feet, and back to the front desk, where I worked. I picked up the call and booked the executive suite for the party. “Oliver, Mom agreed!” I exclaimed.

“Awesome! So it’s ours for the night?”

“Yup. We can have a whole party and won’t bother anyone!”

“That’s great!” Oliver agreed. “Hey, do you think I could ship my gift to your island?”

I scrunched my nose. “Uh... maybe. I can’t guarantee it’ll get here on time, but I can go to the resorts P.O. box on the mainland every day to check.”

“Hmm... it’s just too heavy to fly with comfortably.” He thought for a moment. “Nah. I’ll just bring it with me.”

“You know she’s going to be exasperated that you got her a present, right?”

“And, what? You’re not giving her a present?”

“She and I agreed that the party at the resort and a massage with Taylor were going to be her gift from me. But... yeah I did. Just a little one though so she doesn’t push me off the dock.”

Oliver snorted. “We’re both terrible friends.”

“I’d argue that us getting her gifts when she said she didn’t want us to makes us spectacular friends,” I teased.

“Okay: mood.”

It was my turn to snort. “Oliver, you’re such a meme.”

“Mood,” he repeated.

I laughed. “Walked right into that one,” I said. “Okay. So are you coming the day of the party or the day before? Lyric’s gonna be here the day of.”

“I’ll be there the day before to help you set up if you want me to.”

“I can handle it. I’ve set up dozens of parties here.”

“Oof. Good luck.”

“Thanks. It won’t be too hard. It’s just one small party for three people in one room. Better than decorating the whole ballroom or beach by myself. Did those before. They weren’t fun and took hours. I’ll be okay with this one,” I said. 

“Okay then I’ll arrive on the day-of too.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I said. “Hang on. I’m getting another call. Call you back later.”

“Bye!” Oliver hung up.

“LYRIC!” a familiar voice shouted moments after you touched down on the soft, sandy beach. You heard feet running down the dock and before you can react, you were smashed into a hug.

“Oof! Hi there!” you grunted. Familiar giggles echoed in your ears. You’d heard those giggles many times before.

Cassie pulled away and beamed at you. “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to---umph!” Her singing stopped when you put your hand over her mouth. She peeled it off. “What?” she complained.

“Don’t sing it for all the world to hear!” you hissed.

Cassie rolled her eyes. “Lyyyrrriiiiic!” she moaned. “It’s your birthday! I have to sing for you!”

“You really don’t.”

Your friend sighed. “Fine. But we’re singing for you tonight.”

You smiled. “I can live with that.”

Cassie laughed and slung you into another hug. “Let’s get you all checked in, yeah? I convinced my parents to let us have the executive suite for the night.”

“No way. Isn’t that, like, the fanciest one in the resort?” you asked.

“Yup. You’re totally worth it,” she said, leading you into the lobby. She ducked behind the desk, clicked a few buttons on her computer, and grinned. “There you go! All checked in. Here’s your key!” Cass held out two plastic cards. You took them. “Want me to walk you to your room?”

“Sure if you have time.”

“Oh yeah I have time,” she said casually, pushing something on the phone on the desk. “Let’s go.”

You two chatted while you walked. You asked how the resort had been, she asked how life had been. She also teasingly asked you if you’d found a special someone yet.

The sand between the big main building that housed everything in the resort except the rooms and the huts that were the guest rooms had been churned by dozens of footprints in every direction. The path to the executive suite---which was slightly farther removed from all the others for privacy---was only marked by several sets of Cass’ footprints. Presumably as she set up for the party.

“So when’s Oliver going to get here?” you asked, climbing up the stairs to the room and fiddling with the key.

“He should be here any minute now. He said he was going to try and make it before evening,” Cass said.

You unlocked the door and pushed it open, fully ready to drop your bag on the floor and collapse on the bed to rest after flying all the way from home to the resort. Your wings were sore and throbbing and needed a break...

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” another familiar voice shouted, slamming you into another hug.

“Ollie?” you demanded. “What the f---how did you get in here without me seeing your footprints?”

Oliver shuffled his wings. “I can fly too,” he said with an impish grin. You rolled your eyes.

“Of course.”

“Now we’re all here!” Cass exclaimed, following you into your room. You gave her a small little glare. She rarely lied to you, but you could also understand why she wanted to keep the surprise a surprise. “I have some work I have to finish, but your massage with Taylor is in fifteen minutes? A half-hour? What time even is it?”

“Time is a construct,” you said jokingly.

“Mood,” Oliver deadpanned.

Cass snorted. “Okay. Anyway. Your massage is soon. And then I will be back to party it up when your massage is finished and I’m done with work.”

“Okay! Bye Cass!” you called as she slipped out of your room. Oliver engulfed you in another hug.

“Lyric! Happy birthday! It’s great to see you!”

“You too! It’s been forever!”

Taylor worked your muscles---particularly where the wings connected---with a gentle firmness that felt blissful. There was a cool breeze blowing, carrying the pleasant scent of the sea with it. The thin, sheer curtains that gave the cabana some semblance of privacy while it was being used for a massage drifted like ethereal fingers dancing and reaching endlessly.

The massage oil Taylor used smelled like jasmine. They didn’t press so hard that it hurt, but just firm enough to work out the knots in your muscles. Especially the ones you used to fly. That was Taylor’s specialty, according to Cass: flight muscles and people with wings.

It felt heavenly. Taylor as a person had a calming presence that was almost magical, and you felt that same presence just in their fingers and hands as they carefully massages you.

The ocean was only a few yards from you and the soothing sound of the waves washing high tide in relaxed you.

You took a moment to be mindful---to pay special attention to each little thing. The feeling of the massage therapist’s hands undoing the tension in your muscles, the sound and scent of the waves. The salty sea breeze dancing on your skin, cooling you off as it slipped over the massage oil. The oil’s gentle but wonderful jasmine smell. The back of your closed eyelids’ slight orange tint from the afternoon sun. The taste of the humid ocean air---just slightly salty through your lips parted in relaxation. It felt good.

Somewhere, you heard seabirds calling each other as they swooped over the ocean. You could also hear the families staying at the resort on the main recreation beach several yards away. They sounded like they were having fun.

Taylor was quietly playing some soothing music from a small set of speakers on their small table where they also had their oil bottles. It had a soft drum beat and an instrumental melody that reminded you of home.

You let out a little grunt as Taylor applied pressure to the seam where blue-and-purple feathers met skin.

“Is that alright?” they asked.

“Yeah. Maybe just a little firm.”

“Thank you for telling me. I’ll lighten up a bit.”

“Not too much though, please. It still feels good.”

Taylor chuckled. “I’ll bear it in mind.”

They kneaded around the seams of your wings for a long time. How long, you had no idea. There was no clock in the cabana, and honestly, you didn’t really care. You were determined to enjoy the moment and forget that time even existed.

“That feels good,” you muttered. Taylor snickered.

“Party time!” Cass squealed, throwing open the door to the executive suite. You’d showered off the massage oil and were feeling both relaxed and refreshed.

“What is in your hands you little sh---” you began, before Cass cut you off.

“Cake!” She set it down on the coffee table. The executive suite had a little living room separate from the bedroom where the party was set up. “Also, we had a pizza brought over on the ferry. It should still be warm!” She slid the cake off the top to reveal the pizza box underneath.

“You really didn’t hold back too much, did you?” you asked.

“Nope.” She smiled and passed you and Oliver plates. “Dinner, dessert, and party time!”

After the food had been consumed---it was delicious---the music was turned on and the talking began. The three of you caught up and told stories and laughed your heads off, sitting on the sofa, the arm chair, the floor, wherever. And moving around a lot for various reasons---the most common appeared to be hugging.

What shocked you the most was that Cass would sing bits and pieces of whatever was playing from the speakers. You liked her voice, but she rarely sang---especially around other people. Part of it was minor insecurity but the other part was the fact that she was half-mermaid and her voice could enchant whoever was around her.

But tonight she seemed relaxed and unconcerned---since she knew her enchanting mermaid voice had no effect on you or Oliver. It didn’t really work on friends (something about platonic affection that none of you actually understood). So you got to enjoy it for the night.

The sun was long down when Oliver nudged her with his toes, the clock on the end table reading that it was nearing midnight. “Hey. How about some more surprises for the birthday girl?” he suggested.

Your face fell. “Oh no. What did you two do?” you asked.

Cassie shrugged, scratching the back of her head. “Nothing.”

“Cass, you’re the worst liar on the planet. How everyone who stays at this resort hasn’t figured out your secret yet is astonishing,” you teased.

Cassie laughed. “Fair,” she agreed. She glanced at Oliver. “I think now is a great time for a few more surprises.” She was beaming. You didn’t trust either of them at all.

Oliver laughed and went around the wall that separated the little living room from the bedroom.

He came back with a big squarish package in his arms. Cassie laughed and pulled a much smaller squarish package out from where it had been hiding under the sofa.

“Presents!” Oliver exclaimed.

“You two promised!” you protested.

Cassie shrugged. “Too bad!”

Oliver plopped down so you were squashed between them on the sofa. “Me first,” he said, dropping the remarkably heavy package on your lap.

With a sigh, you tore the wrapping paper off.

It was a large leather-bound book. “What’s this?” you asked hesitantly.

“Open it,” Oliver said.

You did.

It was a scrapbook. Pictures of the two of you---occasionally featuring Cassie---on the island and many screenshots of text conversations.

The most prominent one being a full page devoted to, “Are those avocados?”---“... Those are honeydew.”

You groaned.

The rest of the scrapbook had lots more conversations, the occasional meme, and probably every picture the two of you had ever taken together.

You smiled and gave him a hug. “Okay, okay... thank you,” you said.

Ollie grinned. “You’re very welcome.”

Cassie laughed and placed her much smaller gift on top of the scrapbook.

“Cass you said you weren’t getting me anything,” you said.

She shrugged. “No. I said I wasn’t buying you anything. And I didn’t,” she said. There was a brief pause. “Okay I bought one thing but the rest I didn’t.”

You rolled your eyes and ripped the paper off.

It was a small cardboard box---the kind that usually held jewelry.

You carefully removed the lid.

Inside were two small items. A necklace and a ring. Both had pearls on them. One was silver and the other gold. The necklace had a gold chain on it threaded through a scallop seashell. The gold pearl was between the two holes of the shell in a small gold chamber holding it to the chain. The ring was made of what appeared to be a stainless steel nail with the head bent into a setting for the silver pearl.

You looked up at Cassie. “Pearls are expensive,” you said.

She shrugged. “Not when you find their oysters on the bottom of the ocean yourself,” she said. “The only thing I bought was the chain. I made everything else.” She gave you a big hug, being careful of your wings. “Happy birthday, Lyric.”

You hug her back. “Thanks Cass.”

Ollie hugged you from the other side. “We love you Lyric!”

[elsa-writes]

avengers preference: your birthday

Avengers preference: what they do for your birthday

Steve: "Wake up, (y/n), I have a surprise for you!" On the morning of your birthday you opened your eyes to see Steve standing over your bed, holding a tray with breakfast on it. He knows how much you enjoy eating in bed. He gave up oh the tray, hopped in bed with you, and turned on the tv. You sat up, noticing the large bag at the end of the bed.

"Steve, this is so amazing!! But I just have to know, what's in the bag?" You begged him and wrapped your arms around his waist.

Steve smiled. "I can't tell you that. It's a birthday surprise."

"I mean. It's my birthday now. Can't I open it?" You used your best puppy dog eyes on him.

Steve clenched his jaw. Those puppy eyes were hard to resist. "You know you have to wait for the party tonight." Tony had planned a 'surprise' birthday party for you.

"Aw." You leaned back against your pillow and sighed. Only another 8 hours til you could find out what was in the mystery bag.

Steve turned to you. "I suppose..you can open it. He's probably not comfortable in there, anyways." What??

"what?? What do you mean he?!" You lunged for the bag just as the puppy stuck his head out of the top of the bag. Yup, Steve had gotten you an honest to god puppy for your birthday.

You picked up the puppy and held him to your chest, and the puppy licked your face.

"He's so cute!! I think I'll call you... Tony junior." You giggled. Tony junior squirmed around in your arms, too excited to sit down.

Steve laughed and pet the puppy. "There is no way in hell we are calling him Tony Junior."

"Bucky junior, then?" You suggested.

"(Y/n)! That's not even funny!"

Tony: Despite Tony's love for outrageous parties, for your birthday he planned a quiet night in. You two were sitting on the couch, Tony was telling one of his favorite Iron Man stories. He had already told you it many times over but he got so excited you let him go on.

You were halfway zoning out when something caught your attention.

Tony spoke, "And then the bad guy said, "Will you marry me, (y/n)?"

You turned your head around and looked at him curiously. Tony was already watching you with a small smirk on his face.

"Will you marry me, (y/n)?" Tony asked again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. "Of course you can pick out a different ring if you want, I just thought you might like that one-"

"Tony Stark, are you asking me to marry you?" You raised your eyebrows at him. You hadn't been going out that long, this was ridiculous!

Tony couldn't hold his smile back any more. "Yes! Will you marry me? Please?" He added the please on as an afterthought.

"Tony..I mean, was this your idea of romantic? Restraining yourself from throwing me a big birthday party so we could sit on the couch and watch reruns of the Big Bang theory?" You shoved him over. What kind of a moron proposes like that, anyways?!

Tony fell over backwards on the couch. "Come on! I at least put some effort in it!" He rolled his eyes.

"I know you did not just roll your eyes at me! First you give me a crappy proposal and then you roll your eyes at me!" You picked up a throw pillow and hit him with it. You couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

"I honestly thought you would like it! It was subtle, it wasn't a big deal. You're always talking about how my parties are lame and how you'd rather be sitting on the couch watching tv!"

To be fair he had a point. "Tony. I will only marry you if you come up with a better proposal. Got it?"

Tony smirked again. "Okay (y/n), you make me the happiest man alive-"

"I'm being serious!!" You hit him with the throw pillow. "I'm talking flowers. Candles. Whole nine yards. That will be my birthday present."

Tony looked up at you from his position on the couch. "Don't worry, babe. I've got a few ideas." Uh oh. What had you gotten yourself into?

Bruce: For your birthday, your friend Natasha had planned a surprise party. Almost everyone knew, except for you and Bruce. No one told Bruce, because they knew he would accidentally tell you. Natasha probably should have thought her plan through.

As you and Bruce rounded the corner to the lab in Stark Towers, you both heard a chorus of "surprise!" Come from all around the room. You shrieked, which made Bruce scream, which made the big green guy come out of nowhere. "Bruce!" You yelled at the green behemoth that was standing where your boyfriend once stood. Everyone in the room was standing as still as possible, their mouths gaping at what they saw before them.

"No Bruce. Me Hulk," Hulk proclaimed. "And Hulk want cake!"

Hulk promptly stomped over to the table where the cake and your presents were laid out. Using one ginormous hand, he picked up the whole cake and shoved it in his mouth.

"Wow. Who planned this? Why didn't anyone tell Bruce?" You said, exasperated. You sat down on the ground. So much for a happy birthday. Now you had a hungry hulk to take care of. At least he wasn't angry.

"(Y/n) sad?" Hulk said, turning around to look at you sitting on the floor.

You didn't really know what to say to him. "Yeah, give me my boyfriend back, you big-" you started to speak but found yourself being lifted up in the air by a mighty Hulk hand.

"My (y/n)!" Hulk hollered and squeezed you gently to his chest. This type of thing had never happened before, but it didn't seem dangerous so you decided to go with it. You cautiously placed a hand on his chest.

"Good hulk," you intoned.

"Good hulk." He replied, staring at you with wonder.

"Hulk, can you put me down so I can celebrate my birthday party?" You asked. Wordlessly, the hulk set you down. He didn't seem to know what to do with himself.

"Um, guys, I know the cake is gone.. But maybe we can still try to get this party going?" You looked around the room to your friends. They all seemed pretty shocked that the hulk was calm.

"We can..we can try," Natasha stepped forward. "Tony, turn on some music!" And that was your birthday party, your boyfriend absent and a giant hulk sulking in the corner for the rest of the night.

Loki: Asgardians celebrate everything. So when Loki discovered that humans celebrate birthdays, he decided to take it one step further by celebrating your whole birth month!

The first day of the month you came home to find your entire apartment decorated with "happy birthday banners" and streamers everywhere. Loki was sitting on the couch, quite pleased with himself.

"Loki, what did you do to my apartment?! My birthday isn't even today!" You threw your hands up in the air. Loki gazed at you for a moment, then clapped his hands together.

"This is because I forgot the cake, isn't it?" He sighed and with a wave of his hand, your favorite type of cake appeared on your coffee table.

You scowled. "You're only supposed to celebrate on the actual birthday. Not for a month!" You sat down on the couch next to him, and picked up the cake. "Hey, can you get me a fork?"

A fork magically appeared in Loki's hand and he gave it to you. "I think the idea of only celebrating you once a year is ridiculous! You're my favorite person, you deserve much more than once a year. If I could I would celebrate your birthday all year long, but clearly, you would get mad at me."

You glanced up at Loki. He was being dead serious for a change. "Fine. I guess I'll accept your month long birthday celebration. You really are too sweet for your own good." You winked at him.

"I'm not sweet, I'm the god of mischief! That's it, birthday canceled!" Loki declared and began to wave his arm.

"Wait no!" You grabbed his wrist before he could magic away all the birthday decorations. "Please leave them. I really do like them, I was only joking." Loki grinned. "I knew you would come around!"

Pietro: "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear (y/n), happy birthday to you!" Pietro sang enthusiastically over the three tier cake he made you. All of your friends had gathered at you and Pietro's shared apartment to celebrate, eat cake, and watch a movie. The only issue was that your apartment was too small to squeeze everyone into.

"Pietro, this is wonder- oh my god!" You shrieked just as Pietro tripped over Wanda's leg, leading him to throw the cake- which landed all over your shirt. Wanda couldn't help herself but to burst out laughing, bending over and clutching her stomach.

Pietro fell on the floor face down. Ah yes, he loved to use his superpowers except for the time when you needed them the most.

After seeing the mess that had been created, all of you decided to abandon the apartment and go out for a birthday dinner at a restaurant instead.

Natasha: Natasha did not celebrate her own birthday, or anyone else's birthday, for that matter. It was just a habit from work. Someone knowing your birthdate can use it to track you down.

Wanting to break that habit, Natasha set out to give you an awesome birthday. She didn't know much besides balloons, streamers, and party games, so she decided to keep it simple.

It was only you and her celebrating the party, but neither of you minded because you could kiss each other freely without Tony yelling "PDA!".

"I really hope you like your gift," Natasha bit her lip as she handed you the small box. "I had it custom made."

You tore open the paper and ripped the lid off the box, excited to see what treasures were inside.

"Oh my god, Natasha..it's beautiful," you gasped. The present was a simple charm bracelet with a stunning collection of charms were attached- your favorite flower, your favorite animal, and even a small black widow spider charm dangled from it.

You didn't even bother to put it on before grabbing Natasha into a tight embrace. "This means so much to me!" You gushed in her ear. In return she kissed your cheek sweetly. "I know it does."

[hulahoopingholt]

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Live - Philly

Okay, so I was writing this mainly to share the full scoop with my frenemy @msjessicaday, but then I figured there might be some other people interested in hearing about it, so I’m posting it publicly for all to hear about the most amazing time I had on April 7, 2018 at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia. This is MEGA comprehensive, so cutting for extreme length, but do read on if you want a play by play of the show, or if you want to hear how Smash Mouth and Sugar Ray made surprise guest appearances. 

Doors opened at 7PM, and we showed up around 5PM. There were probably about 20 people in front of us at that point. We were surrounded by a really great group of people who were SUPER entertaining and made time fly, thank god, because it was COLD and there wasn’t much to do, haha. People walking by seemed REALLY confused by why there was such a crazy (punny!) line, and when we said we were there for CXGF, most said they’d never heard of it. But then at one point a city tour bus drove by, and the guide looked over at us and said into his mic, “it’s a lot more nuanced than that!” It was fab.

It was general admission seating, and we managed to get 2nd row center seats, thankfully. (I say thankfully bc the theater frisks people as they enter, and so ladies had to line up on the left and guys on the right, which wouldn’t normally be a big deal but since this audience skewed so heavily female, guys from way back toward the end of the line were being allowed in before women who had been in the front of the line which feels like a MIGHTY PAINFUL BIT OF SYMBOLISM WHOLLY INAPPROPRIATE FOR THIS SHOW but I digress, because fortunately we had a guy in our group and we sent him ahead to grab our seats, haha.)

Okay I do have the set list so from here on out that’s what I’m going to refer to, but some of the asides/ad libs I may not have in exactly the right order because there was just a lot going on and my memory isn’t the best.

First off, you can see the first 10-15 mins of this show on Rachel’s Facebook Live but I’m still going to paraphrase what happened.

They started with Where’s Rebecca Bunch? Everybody except for Rachel came out and dramatically looked for where Rebecca could be! Gabrielle had Rachel’s phone out and was filming the crowd. She came around the front during the “the town is all atwitter ‘cause the whole town is on Twitter,” and that + the phone got a really loud cheer from the audience. Then Rachel popped out and was like “um, guys, I’m right here, I was just taking a dump in the scary bathrooms.” (Okay so I gather this whole bathroom bit is scripted but this theater REALLY DID have murder bathrooms, the ladies’ room was ALL this Pepto-Bismol pink, the stalls were a) made of what felt like plywood and b) were REALLY short, like I’m only 5′6″ and my head was WELL above the stall wow.) And then Scott was like “that’s just the song we sing whenever we can’t find you” and Rachel goes “um so you just burst into full band and choreo whenever you can’t find me?” So then they all agreed to start with the REAL opener, West Covina. It was really short, but fab. Highlights included Rachel singing “my life’s about to change...oh my fucking gosh,” and then when she got to “because I’m hopelessly, desperately in love with...” and then Vinnie stepped forward and just PREENED. Our audience LOVED him and cheered for him for a really long time. It actually seemed like they were ready to move on but we were all NOPE, WE ARE HERE FOR JOSHUA FELIX CHAN LET US HAVE THIS MOMENT. But then Rachel finished and instead of saying “West Covinaaaaaa” she sang “PHILADELPHIAAAAA.” And Donna Lynne just casually brought up that final note an octave or two and DAMN that is a talented woman. 

Then the rest of the cast left and Rachel did a welcome and said how excited they were to be in this historic city. The Trocadero is a rock theater, so she asked how many people in the audience were musical theater nerds and thus this was their first time in a rock theater. Only a few people cheered, so she said “ohhh, this is a pretty cool crowd. If it had been me, I would have [raised hand]. My first concert was Bette Midler at the Staples Center.” She introduced the band, which included Adam Schlesinger on piano and Jack Dolgen on guitar/bass. She said that women have been known to throw their underwear at Adam...and in fact, somebody in Boston had given them their dirty underwear, so we just had to be trashier than Boston. She then said women have been known to throw their tampons at him and mimed removing a tampon from her vagina and throwing it at him. She then said “that is terrible and classless, do not laugh at that joke.” Obviously we all laughed. Then she said “speaking of classless, let’s do a song.”

Song was Sex with a Stranger! Dance moves were appropriately raunchy. Girl was feeling herself, as she should. Highlights included “My name’s Jason.” “Shut the fuck up, Jason, I don’t care about your fucking name.” 

She then came back and asked if there were any children in the audience, because it was going to be on a full on sex show. (There was, in fact, one child in the audience, she was behind us in line, haha.) She brought out Vinnie (who walked out with TP on his shoe, oops?) and said “Vinnie...have you ever hooked up with someone in your life...I mean, have you ever hooked up with someone in your life...Vinnie are you a virgin?!” and then got back on track and clarified hooked up with someone you SHOULDN’T have, which then led into We Should Definitely Not Have Sex Right Now. Yup, full on sex show. Lots of thrusting. It was fab and awkward and anything. Honestly, just watch the Facebook Live. It’s about 16 mins in. 

Vinnie then wanted to show off his West Covina hoodie that you can buy at merch. Rachel said he’s a really big fan of capitalism and therefore you should buy his hoodie. FUN FACT in the Facebook live when you hear Rachel say “and that gentleman is holding up a t-shirt,” that was my friend holding up the CXGF he had bought before the concert, BOOM RECOGNITION.

So then apparently Boston had an ASL interpreter, and they shared that Period Sex basically looks like holding up a pager to your face, then two bunnies fucking. So she then demonstrated “paging all bunnies...time to fuck.” Oh Rachel. 

Rachel then exited and left Vinnie on stage. He said he wanted to share something really personal with us, and when he was little he was super into martial arts and thought that was all he wanted to do, but then he saw a Gene Kelly film and that transformed him, and then he went from wanting to do this [martial arts move] to this [fancy Gene Kelly-esque dance moves]. And he talked about how excited he was to have this number in S3...yes, of course, I’ve Got My Head in the Clouds. Oh, but a great moment was before he started he took off his hoodie, and the audience went wild, and you could just hear Rachel from backstage go, “You all are thirsty. He just took off his hoodie.” LMAO WE HAVE NO SHAME IN OUR THIRST. But the number was great, and the HOLY GHOST came out and was AMAZING and sparkly. And then Vinnie said “let’s see who the Holy Ghost is tonight!” and it was GABRIELLE, who did a high kick and smiled and waved goodbye. (Sidenote, can’t remember when this happened, but Gabrielle was all about the high kicks and Jack would always do a drum hit when she did, and at one point made a crack about how Gabrielle never leaves the house w/o a drum set...to which she responded with another high kick.)

So then Rachel came back out and asked who was single, and made all singletons stand up and lock eye contact with someone, and then said “there, you know each other. Now go meet up for drinks afterward.” She then went into this whole bit about how, and she was totally serious, if anybody met their sig other at this concert, she would marry them at their wedding...but don’t think you could cheat the system, bc she would check up on you. She’d go through social media, interview you both, probably watch you have sex to see if you had chemistry...so honestly, is it really worth it? But then that led into Fuckton of Cats, which was amazing, and the whole cast came out with cat ears and they each had their own kitty personalities and it was just the cutest thing ever. 

Then at this point (I’m pretty sure at least) they said how they’d love to meet fans at the stage door, but their schedule is so tight they don’t have time to, so this was time for everyone to get their selfies. So then they posed facing each direction of the theater, like “okay, now this pose is how you’d look when the Eagles won! And now this is how you’d look if someone told you the Eagles suck.” NGL I got some pretty amazing pictures...

Also I can’t remember if this is actually when it happened, but I know the whole cast was on stage for it and it was toward the beginning, so I might be right...there was a center row reserved for cast comp tickets, and there were 3 empty seats. Rachel went “whoa, whose comps didn’t show?” And everybody was mumbling to themselves like “well my people are here.” So Rachel said “actually, those seats are reserved for our founding fathers. That one is Thomas Jefferson... and that one is Benjamin Franklin...and that one.....is Betsy Fucking Ross. Because everybody else is out there with their quills, and she’s like, you know what? I’m gonna sew a GIANT FUCKING FLAG.” 

Next up was The Math of Love Triangles. Rachel segued into it by saying she writes with two guys, so sometimes it feels like she’s in a love triangle. She was going back to flirt with the guys in the band...and when she was by Jack, COMPLETELY wiped out, fell right on her ass. But she kept going, so at first we weren’t actually sure if it was an accident or not. Still amazing. But then she got to the end and she couldn’t hit the high note...just raspy air. We cheered anyway. And she then said the cast has been getting really run down with the tour, and in other shows they’d been telling the audience that, but then Jack said it was a real downer, so she decided not to that night...and LOOK what happened. And Jack goes “yeah, well I also say things like...don’t fall.” ASJDKASLFJASLFD They just roasted each other CONSTANTLY it was amazing and honestly Jack is my new fave. 

Pete came out next, and Jack stood next to him on guitar as they did I Love My Daughter But Not in a Creepy Way. Pete was super earnest and made a lot of uncomfortable eye contact, and all the while Jack was making these “wtf this is so creepy” faces. ALSO there was a guy in the balcony right by the theater who dressed up like Darryl in Getting Bi, right down to the ‘stache, and Pete pointed him out and you could tell he genuinely loved it and said it was his favorite venue just because of that. OH BUT ALSO when Pete came out, he said “wow, Rachel, you’re looking very rock and roll tonight, all that leather.” She thanked him, and then he said “now you’re supposed to say something about me.” So she said “you look....exactly the same as you always do. It’s like the TV show Doug...you know when he opens his closet and it’s just all green sweater vest? Hmmm, which green sweater vest should I wear today? That’s like Pete...but with yacht clothes.” ASDJLKFNASFAK

Next up was Donna Lynne doing Maybe This Dream, and omg, that woman is a goddess. Seriously. That’s all there is to it. On a really shallow/superficial note, it became really clear to me that they frump her up on the show, because she is GORGEOUS IRL, and also a lot thinner than she looks on TV. But her voice...goddamn. She just makes it seem so effortless. Audience adored her and gave her a standing ovation because she’s magnificent and that’s just what you do in the presence of magnificence. But her niece was there and had just gotten engaged so she congratulated her and said “yay love!” before starting, it was so cute. (Jack, being a snarkosaurus, was like “oh they got engaged? And Donna Lynne said yes, and he goes “I don’t know those people.” AJSDKLASDNA)

Then was Women Gotta Stick Together. Gabrielle referred to it as “remember in S1 when Valencia was just always hangry...let’s go back to that.” Apparently normally during this song she comes into the audience and twirls people, but this stage didn’t have steps so she said “if I point at you, you better fucking dance.” Some people were a bit hesitant but overall people were into it and it was fab. Oh and when Gabrielle got to the line “so if some weird troll named Rebecca moves here from New York and is all up on my boyfrienddd” she turned to Rachel, who gave a tiny wave and said “hiiiiii” in that little voice, you know the one I’m talking about. It was adorable.

Back to the sex with Let’s Have Intercourse. Again, nice and raunchy. At the end Scott handed Rachel the condom and walked off stage, and Rachel asked who wanted it. Crowd obviously went wild, which led to her asking “you DO know it’s not a used condom, right? You’re acting like he personally used this condom...to be clear, this is an unused condom, still in its wrapper.” People STILL cheered, but then one woman in that balcony near the stage by Fake!Darryl shouted “I lost my job three months ago!” Rachel looked taken aback and was just like “whoa, okay, well ifI don’t give you this then I’m the asshole, here you go, take your unused condom.” There was a bit of an exchange trying to get the condom to the woman because it kept falling back down to the stage and Rachel joked about stopping the show so we could get this woman her condom, but alas, had to move on.

Rachel brought out Kabir Akhtar, who is an editor for the show and is from Philly. They talked about Philly for a bit (here). Rachel was also giving him props for being so great at editing and said how he fixes their acting and is so nice about it, because she’ll say “do we have a take like this?” and he’ll say “no, the actress was not in the mood that day,” or she’ll say “oh do we have a shot of my dancing from this angle?” and he’ll say “well the actress had some trouble with this choreography.” And he said “well it’s better than saying ‘ya did it wrong, bitch.” WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THEM CONSTANTLY ROASTING EACH OTHER?! and then Rachel said since he’s from Philly, she told him he could perform any song he wanted...he chose Where’s the Bathroom (here). Then Rachel said she forgot a prop so he had to kill some time...so he talked some more about Philly and then led the crowd in the Eagles chant. Jack was SUPER judgey and was like “I cannot believe a bunch of CXGF fans know ANYTHING about sports let alone care enough about them to know the Eagles chant” LMAO.

Rachel came back out and said “let’s do a song that makes me feel the opposite of how I feel about sports...which is interested,” which of course led into Strip Away My Conscience. Gabrielle and Vinnie joined her and it was appropriately sexy. Rachel tossed a thong out into the audience at the end. Alas, just slightly too far to the right for me to grab.

Then Rachel said there are really three types of guys...there are the Josh Chans, the Nathaniels, and the Gregs. And the problem with loving a Greg is how hard it is to have a relationship when they don’t love themselves. So then Jack came out and did I Could If I Wanted To. He changed a verse to be all about Philly, and it was HILARIOUS. It sounds like he changes a verse at most, if not all, venues to be about their current city, but at least some of this HAD to be improv, which made it even more impressing. He went on a rant about how everybody from Philly has to tell you that they’re from Philly, all you ever hear is that they’re from Philly, if he knows where a person is from they’re from Philly bc it’s all they can talk about, he doesn’t even know where his own family is from except for his Uncle Joe, who’s from Philly. And THEN he went off about how he STILL can’t believe a bunch of musical theater nerds care anything at all about sports or the Eagles or the Flyers, our faves are Miss Saigon, and honestly, I’m SO upset it wasn’t recorded because it was ACCURATE and hilarious and I’m in love. (Seriously Jack, please marry me, bye.)

Then everyone came out and Gabrielle announced it was the intermission and time to stretch, so we all stood up and did I’m So Good at Yoga. At first people weren’t really joining in and she said “no, this is no good,” and insisted we do the yoga moves. (But honestly it was really hard, there wasn’t much space.) Rachel was hilarious in this, basically reenacting the scene from the show. And then at the end the whole cast circled her mockingly while she was on the floor, and Scott ended his post basically thrusting his crotch in her face? And the entire cast burst out laughing and Rachel afterward was like “wow, if I had a nickel for every time Scott’s dick was in my face...I’d have one nickel because that has NEVER happened before.”

Oh also after this Rachel was like “you know, that line ‘I come vaginally...’” and went off on her PSA about how most women can’t climax from vaginal penetration alone and gave us extensive details about the wonders of the clitoris. But she acknowledged there were still going to be some guys in the audience going “no, my dick’s so good,” lmao. It was amazing and Jack was amusing here as well but I can’t quite recall what he said, except he expressed wonderment that nerve endings from the clit extend toward the anus in some women.

That led into the Horny Angry Tango. So they were using handheld mics the entire show, and at one point Vinnie and Pete came out to hold the mics in front of their faces so Scott and Rachel could do the dance and still sing. It was oddly comical. Also at some point here, can’t remember if it was before or after, someone in the audience shouted out “SCOTT I LOVED YOU IN ONCE UPON A TIME” and he seemed startled and said thank you. Rachel said “wow, that was like the equivalent of YouTube comment,” and Scott said “yeah, and I think I did the equivalent of liking it.” Then somebody called out “Rachel, they did a musical episode in S6, you should check it out, I think you’d like it.” Rachel said “okay, and that was an Instagram comment.” They then joked that they just needed someone to say “Come to Brazil!” to make it complete.

Then Adam did What’ll It Be and it was lovely and beautiful but honestly I miss Santino sigh.

Next was First Penis I Saw and i was a fucking delight. Donna Lynne is the cutest, Gabrielle and Rachel doing backup were delightful, and seriously, that song is just so much fun and seeing it live made my life complete.

Then, of course, we had Getting Bi. Pete came out and gave it his all, and the cast joined in with inflatable musical instruments. Scott did the sax solo on a kazoo held up to a mic. Digging it.

This is a random aside because I can’t remember exactly when it was said or why but I need to call it out. At some point Rachel was talking (honestly can’t remember to whom or what about, which is making me sad) and it was going on for a while, but then heckler Jack called out “what are we doing, recording a podcast?” And it was LOL seriously this man is my hero can he be onscreen in S4?

So then Rachel did I’m a Good Person and honestly, what else is there to say? It’s an amazing song, Rachel killed it, she made someone in the audience tell her she was a good person...god I just love this concert take me back please?

Then Rachel came out and said in a stage whisper “okay, I just don’t want the band to hear this. But we’re going to do what’s known in rock venues as an encore. So since for a lot of you this is your first time at a rock venue, an encore is when the band, let’s say Smash Mouth (here we all laughed bc wtf Smash Mouth? And she said it was the only rock band she could think of) finishes their set and they walk offstage to go shoot heroin up their eyeballs, and everybody in the audience goes NOOOO WE NEED MORE SMASH MOUTH and starts chanting SMASH MOUTH SMASH MOUTH, and so then the band goes okay we’ll stop shooting up heroin and do one more song, and so they close on All Star instead of Walking on the Sun. Okay, we’re gonna do that.” 

And then Donna Lynne came out to do Face Your Fears and did I mention this woman is a goddess????? Seriously her RANGE is phenomenal, she didn’t even break a sweat hitting any of those notes, her voice is just FLAWLESS and SHE IS A FLAWLESS QUEEN. She started off solo and then the whole cast came out wearing white choir robes to do backup behind her. And when she finished she got another standing ovation (of COURSE, Philly may be obnoxious but we know a little thing called RESPECT) and the cast literally got down on their knees and bowed to her AS THEY SHOULD.

Then there was an empty stage....oh no! But we know to do what we’re told! And started chanting... SMASH MOUTH. SMASH MOUTH. And we had a view of Rachel backstage then and she LOST IT, literally bent over at the waist laughing hysterically at us chanting for Smash Mouth. 

So Smash Mouth didn’t come out, BUT Vinnie and Scott did! They performed Fit Hot Guys. They stripped off their shirts to reveal t-shirts w/super ripped bodies drawn on them. They were doing their thing, and then who appears but PETE, wearing only fireman’s pants and a cap, his torso completely slicked up with what he told us later was Pam cooking spray. Vinnie and Scott were all “whoa what are you doing, have you even seen the show?” and Pete’s like “um YEAH HERE I AM” and got SUPER into it, and when they sang “without these pants” he stripped off his pants to dance in his American flag boxers. Anyway Pete is as pure as Darryl and I will protect him with my life. He also proudly stated at the end that he had just started working out this morning. LOVE.

We had the guys, so next up were the ladies doing Let’s Generalize about Men. The crowd just loved it, it’s such a fun song, and you could tell they were having a blast doing it, but I missed Vella. :( 

Then there was just Rachel. She spoke to us first (I think? I might be getting my order mixed up slightly here) and said how she had chills hearing us chant Smash Mouth, that it was the perfect mix of improv and flash mobs. So then some girl called out “Rachel, I have a question.” And she went “Wow, okay, that was so polite and direct, okay, what’s your question?” The girl then asked if they could do a song from Rachel’s Sugar Ray Jukebox Musical. She said no, they weren’t remotely prepared to do that...but then Adam started puttering around on the piano and Rachel was like “wow, you know some Sugar Ray?” Soooo that’s the story of how we had a brief singalong with Rachel Bloom to Fly by Sugar Ray, and yes, she did the dance moves she did in the video.

 Then we got to Stupid Bitch, which she said she knew everyone could relate to at some point in their lives. Right before the final note, she stopped, walked over to her water bottle, played up taking a looooooong drink of water, and then came back to center stage to hit that final high note. We were proud of her.

And then FINALLY, we closed out the night with Heavy Boobs. Rachel stripped off her shirt (she said we had earned it) and showed off her bra, which she said was a Natori. My friend shouted out that it was a great brand and Rachel nodded and agreed that it was a great brand. The entire cast came out midway with bras over their clothing to dance along with her...and that’s it! That’s the show!

Seriously it was beyond amazing. I didn’t take any photos/video other than the selfie moment since I was so close to the stage I thought it would be really obvious/obnoxious...I KIND of regret that just because I want to LIVE IN THE MOMENT FOREVER, but honestly, it was just SO MUCH FUN that I wouldn’t change a thing. It was more than 2 hours long and it felt like 10 minutes. I laughed SO much, and was blown away by all the crazy talent on stage. And I need them all to be my best friends. 

I know the tour’s winding down now, and tickets are all sold out, but seriously, if they do this again? Do NOT hesitate. Go. Just go. (Also maybe have a guy in your group if it’s general admission, really my best tip.)

Also if anybody was at Philly and remembers anything else PLEASE SHARE I AM TRYING MY BEST TO REMEMBER EVERYTHING FOREVER AND ALWAYS AND I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE ALL YOUR RECOLLECTIONS AS WELL TO HELP WITH THAT EFFORT. <333

[levi-inthesun]

Summer at Camp Duff

Part 4

Where Steve and Stella See Stars

A/N: Just some super soft Steve and lots of fluff.

Part 3 (2 of 2)

The next day you and Steve kept sharing little glances and secret touches. You felt like you were 13 again, except this time it was a boy and you weren’t supposed to have relationships with your co-counselors.

Today you guys were doing crafts, and everyone wanted to learn how to make friendship bracelets. You went around the table, showing the kids in groups of 2 or 3 how to tie the knots properly for the bracelets and how to make little designs in them. Much to your surprise, once you finished showing the kids, Steve slid up next to you with some string of his own and asked you to show him, too. Steve caught on quickly, and soon the two of you were making your own bracelets.

By lunchtime, the kids were all sporting the bracelets they had made, either by them or a friend who had given one to them. You smiled to yourself as you watched El and Max exchange their own, and saw that Will and Mike were wearing matching ones.

The camp week was more than halfway over, which filled you with a special kind of sadness. You had all grown so close, mostly thanks to the night before. You felt bad for the 3 girls who had gotten poison ivy, who felt a little left out, but you saw the other kids reach out to them. Especially Dustin, to Shannon. She was probably the girl Dustin was getting advice about the other day on the hike. Luckily, it looked like he wasn’t following Steve’s terrible advice and you silently cheered them on.

The kids had a free day, that day. They could go swimming, go on the ropes course, or just run around and do whatever. You and Steve were in charge of watching over the field. It had a few swings including a large rope swing, a nice section filled with wildflowers, and a few large wooden towers they could climb up in.

You were grateful that the kids attending the camp were generally very well behaved and got along. You had seen a lot of kids reach out to some of the other kids they didn’t know, and a lot of new friendships were formed.

You found a nice spot amongst the flowers and picked a good bunch. You had started weaving them together when Steve found you.

“Well hiya, Scout!” Steve sang as he sat down beside you. “Whatcha doing?”

“I am making flower crowns.” You said as you finished connecting the one you were making. “Here!” You tossed the one you had just finished making on his head.

Steve fixed it, making sure his hair still looked good, only seeming pleased when you affirmed that it did.

“Show me?” he asked as he picked some flowers.

You taught him how to make flower crowns, and after you had finished a few, Steve proudly presented the one he finally finished.

“For you m’lady!” You rolled your eyes, but let him place the crown on your head. He adjusted it, then began placing flowers in your long pigtail braids as he talked.

“These flowers really accentuate…. Uh… just how pretty you are,” he said quietly.

“Oh” you felt your face flush, “you think I am pretty, huh?” You tried to play it cool, but knew it wasn’t working.

Steve placed the last flower in the braid closest to him.

“Yup,” he said, popping the p for effect. “Actually, I think you’re beautiful.” He confessed, smiling widely at you as your face started to turn the same color as your hair, giving him the confidence to keep going. “I also love your freckles. They are so cute and one day I hope I can connect them all.”

You chewed on your lip nervously. You weren’t used to getting attention like this, plus you were incredibly insecure about your dotted appearance.

Steve was going to keep pointing out all the things he liked about you when a bunch of girls came up and started making crowns with you and Steve. They would giggle up at Steve anytime he would say anything, and once you told them he made the flower crown you were wearing you could see the little crushes they had on the handsome counselor grow.

Boy, you thought, if only they knew. You smiled to yourself and found yourself looking over at him, who now had his hair covered in different flowers, thanks to the group of girls.

Once they were all sporting crowns they made, they ran off giggling amongst themselves. After they left, your entire group had found you, and you placed a flower crown that you had made for each of them on their heads. Even the boys loved it. It probably helped that Steve was practically covered in flowers, head to toe now. One of the girls had made him a flower necklace, and he had a few flowers sticking out of his shirt pocket, in his belt loops, sticking out of his socks, and woven into his laces. Needless to say, Steve was loving it. And you were loving seeing Steve like so... soft.

Soon, the boys of the group decided you needed to match Steve and had started covering you in flowers too, even making a matching flower necklace for you to wear.

By the time the dinner bell rang, every single one of the kids of team Hair-iams was covered in flowers.

A few boys made fun of the boys in your group, but Steve quickly shut it down telling them how cool it was to like flowers and that just because they didn’t like it, it didn’t mean they had to squash out the fun the flower wearing crew was having.

You all laughed through dinner, each of the kids taking turns telling jokes, going around the table. It was your turn and you realized that you didn’t remember very many jokes.

“Okay guys here is one of the only jokes I know.” You cleared your throat and glanced at all the kids, who were waiting patiently. “Alright. What did the Ocean say the Beach as it passed by?” you looked at every single kid, giving a nice long pause for effect.

“Nothing, it just waved!” you emphasized, wiggling your eyebrows at them all for dramatic effect. Steve chuckled at you, as did some of the other kids. “Aw come on. It wasn’t that bad!!!”

“Uh, Scout, yeah it was,” Dustin said cringing a little bit.

“Whatever,” you said rolling your eyes.

After dinner, you all made your way back to your cabins and put on sweaters. Tonight you were going on a short hike and stargazing. This was one of your favorite activities of the week, so you were very excited.

During the hike, Steve decided it would be fun to sing songs, except it wasn’t camp songs, it was Africa by Toto, and everyone was belting out with him. Apparently, there wasn’t anyone alive who didn’t like that song.

Once Steve realized you were the only one not singing along, he got dramatic and started singing at you.

“It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you! Come on Scout! SING! There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do!!!!! PLEEEAAASSSEEEEE!”

You just laughed, but then joined in, harmonizing with the group.

“I bless the rains down in Africa Gonna take some time to do the things we never had!!!!!!!”

Everyone sang the chorus again after Steve demanded it since you had finally graced the group with your voice.

You guys sang bits of few more songs, such as ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ guitar parts included, ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’, ‘Heroes’, and ‘Sunglasses At Night’.

By the time you guys finished singing ‘Sunglasses At Night’ you had made it to the clearing, and everyone found spots to lay down on the blankets you guys had hauled up. You passed out little star charts so that if they wanted to, they could find the different constellations. Much to Steve’s disappointment, there was only enough for the kids with how they had spread out.

“Steve” you called over to him, patting the blanket you were on “I know the constellations, I can show you if you want?”

Steve didn’t need to think twice about it. He perked up at your offer and was immediately by your side.

You both laid down, a little closer than you would have normally, but you didn’t mind. You enjoyed being close to Steve.

Steve ended up shuffling his body closer to you as you pointed out and whispered the names of the different constellations.

Steve turned to you and whispered in your ear, “How do you know all of these?”

You turned to face him and tried not to react when you realized how close your faces were. “I uh, I’ve been doing this for a few years, plus I have always loved the stars.” You turned back to look at the sky. “It’s fitting that my name literally translates to ‘star’.”

You felt Steve shift so that he was now on his side, facing you, instead of the sky.

“Ah, that is very fitting,” Steve whispered, even quieter than he had been. You concentrated on the stars and kept talking about them, and he was content to look at you, and listen to you talk about something you loved.

“So anyway, that’s why I think I want to major in Astronomy. My parents think it’s a waste of time, and that it would be better for me to just get married and have a family instead of going to college, but I just don’t think that’s in the cards for me. I never really have.” You thought for a moment before finally giving in and turning on your side, resting your head on your arm, facing Steve.

“I think I could. I mean, it’s something I would like to have eventually. I just… I want more, you know? I want a real chance to live my own life according to my own rules, instead of my parents. It’s funny, you know, because my parents weren’t ever there for me, yet they were incredibly strict and hard on me. It’s like, they didn’t want to accept that their absence from my life was sucky, but they were also overcompensating with the rules and everything.  I think it made them feel like they were good parents.”

You realized you had been talking for a while, and apologized, but Steve just brushed it off.

“I enjoy listening to you talk. Especially about things you are passionate about. Um, but I totally know what you mean about your parents. Mine are the same way.”  He hadn’t realized it before, but when you turned to face him, your faces were just inches apart. His breath caught in his throat as he looked into your eyes.

You could feel the shift in the air around the two of you. Your heart was pounding and wow, you really wanted to kiss Steve, but old habits die hard. Instead, you turned back onto your back and pointed out a new constellation. Steve followed suit and his hand landed right next to yours. You felt your cheeks blush, grateful it was dark out. Steve brushed your hand slightly waiting to see if you would pull your hand away. When you didn’t, he slowly and carefully weaved his fingers with yours. 

You turned your head to face him and saw a ridiculous smile plastered to his face, and you realized yours was probably the same. You gave his hand a slight squeeze and watched as his eyes softened at the gesture. You were only pulled away when you heard someone clear their voice.

“Uh yes. Oh hi, El what’s going on is everything okay?” you spouted nervously.

“Yes.. sorry. Um, some of us are just getting really tired.” El shyly stated.

You stood up quickly, helping Steve up, and gathered everyone together to head back to the cabins.

Once all of the kids were tucked into their sleeping bags, you sat at one of the picnic tables and began unweaving all of the flowers from your hair in the moonlight.

“Can I help?” You turned around quickly, startled, “I mean, it is my fault  your hair is literally drowning in flowers.”

You nodded, and Steve sat next to you, straddling the bench and began taking flowers out of your hair.

“I had a lot of fun with you today Stella,” Steve said, his low voice husky from overuse.

“I did too” you agreed, chewing on your lip as the last of the flowers were extracted from your braids. You took the hair ties out, and ran your fingers through your hair, a few pieces of grass and stems falling out.

You turned towards Steve, tucking one of your legs up on the bench. “It was really nice,” you replied softly.

Steve smiled slightly, and rubbed the back of his neck, “I uh, feel like I may have scared you off earlier. So I figured I’d put the offer on the table,” he said, turning to face you. “I would really like to kiss you.” 

You took in a deep breath as you felt your heart stutter in your chest again. You looked over his face and saw that softness return. Steve was far enough away to be respectful, but still close enough to the point where you could smell him. How in the world did someone still smell good after a long day of camp? You’d have to ask what deodorant he used some other time. You suddenly felt overwhelmed, remembering how vulnerable and gentle he had been with you and you began to feel butterflies gather in your belly as you realized just how badly you wanted to kiss him.

Steve was beginning to stand up but stopped when you grabbed his hand.

“Steve?” you said quietly, looking up at him. He looked down and thought he would melt right then and there. “Would you? Kiss me, I mean.” 

Steve sat back down much closer to you this time. “I was beginning to think you’d never ask.

He quickly closed the gap between you and you felt yourself melt into him the second his lips met yours, moving softly against each other. One of your hands landed on his chest, gently gripping his camp shirt while the other wrapped around his neck. Steve’s hand threaded into your soft hair, the other gently resting on your thigh. 

When you finally pulled away, it was only enough for you to rest your forehead on his, and you smiled, eyes still closed.

You could definitely get used to this.

Part 5

[iknowthekoolaidflavor]

Waking Up in Vegas

Part 1  Part 2

Pairing: Daveed Diggs x Reader

Prompt: The reader spends a wild weekend in Vegas with her best friends, but what happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily stay there.

Word Count: About 2.3k

A/N: Sooo this is my first time writing a rpf or anything outside the Teen Wolf and Supernatural fandom, but let me know what you think because this makes me nervous!

Tagging: @imaginebeinghamiltrash

There’s no need for this gif, I just like it.

The sun was shining through the window punishing me for whatever I did the night before or to remind me why I should’ve refused that sixth shot. Judging by the intensity of my brain pounding against my skull, it must have been seven. As soon as I had any strength to pull my eyes open, I quickly squeezed them shut once more. Maybe I could try again later, when my head doesn’t feel like it could explode at any moment.

The night before, I went out with my best friends, Gina and Ava, we ran into another group of friends who were visiting from out of town as well and became our drinking buddies for the night.

I was still in Vegas.

I reached down, to pull the covers over my shoulders and tugged slightly.

A sharp intake to breath, followed by a groan came from under me, “Highly doubt that’s what you’re looking for”

Finally realizing the “blanket” was a grown man and my hand was still between his legs, I jumped to the other side of the mattress, lost my balance, and fell off the bed entirely. Somehow I managed not to scream.

“Are you alright?”, he panicked making his way to my side to help me

He pulled me up, reassuring me that everything was fine. There was very little space between us. Bits and pieces of the night before resurfaced as I got a good look at his face. Running into him and his two friends, taking shots as a group, bar hopping, then separating ourselves from everyone else. In the corner of the bar, we ignored the world around us and made out like teenagers.

The more I remembered about being on my own with him, the faster the blush spread across my cheeks. We were standing next to the bed, staring at each other like the night before as if nothing else mattered in this moment except the two of us. I finally averted my gaze and looked down. If my blush wasn’t bad before, it most certainly was worse now.

We were both still naked.

I jumped back grabbing the blanket to cover up and squeezed my eyes shut.

“You’re not wearing any clothes”

“And neither are you”, he laughed as he found his boxers to put on, “It’s not like we didn’t see it all last night”

“Do you even remember anything?”, I asked nervously shifting back and forth

“We ran into you and your friends and bar hopped. Around the time we reached the third bar, things got a little fuzzy. You can look now”

“Do you remember the dancing?”, I asked as I began searching for my bra

He pulled it from under his jeans on the ground and tossed it to me, “We didn’t dan...oh. I asked you to dance and surprisingly you said yes”

“We drank..a lot. You shouldn’t be that surprised”, I stated as I motioned for him to turn around so I could put it on

Our clothes were thrown all over the floor and furniture, a bottle of champagne knocked off the table along with a lamp, a bouquet of flowers were scattered across the floor, and a condom wrapper was on the nightstand.

My heart was beating out of my chest as I took him in. He was gorgeous to say the least. A knowing smirk spread across his face and I felt my cheeks burn from embarrassment for a second time.

“What if they’re still asleep?”, a voice mumbled from behind the door

“Then we wake them. We do have to get back home you know”, another said

They knocked three times before they hesitantly pushed the door open.

“Daveed? (Y/N)?”, a man I recognized as one of his friends stepped in with his hands over his eyes, “Are you up yet?”

“Rafa, put your hand down. We’re decent”, he answered

“Thank God”, Rafa sighed as he moved his hand away and looked at the state of the room, “Seems like someone had an eventful night.”

“One that we can’t seem to remember entirely”, he mumbled

“Maybe we shouldn’t have gone to that third bar”, Ava said as she walked into the room, looking around the same way Rafa did

We all nodded in agreement.

“Adrienne and I are gonna get dressed in our room. After that we’re all going out for breakfast...brunch...we’re going out to get food! So be ready”, Rafa said as he turned to leave the room

“Those flowers weren’t here when we got the room, right?”, Ava finally asked

Rafa turned on his heel and marched right back in, eyeing the floor, “Aww Diggs that’s so romantic”, he cooed

“Get out”, he laughed as he threw a pillow at him

I don’t remember much, but I definitely don’t recall getting flowers either.

Daveed sat next to me, across from us, Rafa sat next to Adrienne, while Gina sat across from Ava. Gina was chatting animatedly about our upcoming proposal for work, but I could barely hear what she was saying. Daveed and I were in our own little world, talking about what ever came to mind.

His gaze never left mine and that shy smile never wavered.

What I would give to remember the rest of the night I spent with him. His eyes lingered on my lips for all of two seconds before Rafa started to call our names.

“Attention lovebirds!”, he laughed along with everyone else, “Our food is here”

We both looked at the plates in front of us, wondering when it got there. We were so caught up in each other, we never noticed. He gave me another shy grin before picking up his fork and directing his attention to his food.

“Are you excited for your proposal (Y/N)?”, Adrienne asked after a moment of silence

“What proposal?”, Daveed nearly choked, “I didn’t know you were here for a wedding"

“Smooth”, Rafa mumbled as Adrienne began to laugh at the expense of her friend

“No. Gina and I are working on something to get Tollville Industries to sign with our marketing company. If we get them to sign, the company gets more recognition and of course money, but we get--”

“Promotions!”, Gina sang, “And on top of that I get to see my girlfriend everyday because we’ll finally be working in the same building!”

“We live together”, Ava said as she tried not to smile

But their grins said it all. All three of us were beyond excited and terrified for this presentation. If we fail, our boss, who didn’t have any faith in us in the first place, will never let us hear the end of it. We needed this more than ever.

The excitement seemed to be rubbing off on the rest of the table as they begin to smile as well.

“That sounds amazing. Isn’t Tollville one of the top industries for--”

“Yup. Which is also why this may be one of the most terrifying moments of my life”, I mumbled

“You’ve got this. There’s plenty of time to prepare. It can be terrifying when you have all eyes on you, but trust me you forget about it soon enough and all is well”, Daveed said softly

“Is this coming from a previous experience?”

“Experiences”, Rafa chimed in, “We’ve been running this workshop that’s a cross between poetry and theater. We do performances all the time”

The rest of conversation went on about their workshop, how they put it all together, and how they met and became friends in the first place. Daveed’s smile started waiver once the check came. Our time together was coming to an end.

A part of me wanted things to work out, but this was a one night stand there’s nothing to it. You have your fun, say your goodbyes, and move on with your life. This may have been my first one, but I’m sure I know how they work. And that’s what I needed to do given that he lives on the west coast and I live in New York.

After leaving the restaurant, Rafa and Adrienne said their goodbyes and waited for Daveed.

“I guess I can’t say ‘I’ll see you around’ then”, he said softly

“I guess not”

He looked at me and smiled. The look in his eye told me he had something to ask, but couldn’t get it out.

“What?”, I asked

“This was just supposed to be a one night stand. I know this, but I want to ask for your number anyway”, he paused, “If that’s alright with you”

I grinned as I pulled a pen from my purse and scribbled my number on his wrist.

“Hopefully I’ll see you around”, I stepped forward and kissed him on the cheek, “Bye Daveed”

“Goodbye (Y/N)”

We went our separate ways with them heading back to their hotel while we headed to the airport. I knew this could be a risk, but there was no harm in being just friends, right?

Three Weeks Later

I hadn’t heard anything from Daveed since we left Vegas, which I chose to keep in the back of my mind. Getting this proposal prepared for next week has slightly taken over my life. The late nights and early mornings with Gina and Ava started getting to me by the time Wednesday rolled around. At least today was Friday and I had two hours left.

I finished the rest of my coffee, which did little to wake me up. Trying to resist the urge to throw my computer through the window proved to be a challenge given my sleep deprivation and apparent immunity to caffeine.

The research I was conducting had hit a dead end just as my office door was pushed open.

“(Y/N)!”, Greg chirped, “You’re still here, great! I need you to get all the info from the meeting we were in not too long ago. Margaret took notes on it and it’s a mess, no one understands it. So I need you to organize all of it, tables, charts, the whole nine”

“That was from three weeks ago. Why doesn’t Margaret just organize it herself? They are her notes”, I said trying to keep myself in check

“(Y/N), you’re not listening. I told you to do it. Besides I gave Margaret the rest of the day off”, he grinned, knowing exactly what he was doing, “Make sure it’s emailed to me by midnight tonight. Have fun”, he sang as he practically pranced out my office

It was now four o’clock. I was supposed to get off at five, yet here I am organizing someone else’s notes because my boss is a dick.

Maybe I should keep my computer and just toss Greg out the window instead.

I grabbed Margaret’s notes off and got to work. By five everyone, including Greg, were leaving the building. I was nowhere near finished.

“Make sure everything is on my desk by Monday morning so we have time for practice runs”, Gina grinned, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you supposed to be getting off at five too?”

“Not anymore”, I groaned, “Greg decided that I needed to organize Margaret’s notes from that meeting from three weeks ago because no one can understand them. It’s damn near twenty pages and she has the tiniest handwriting I’ve ever seen!”

“That bastard can’t do that!”, she said as she started to remove her coat, “Give me some of her papers. We’re gonna get this finished so you can get home and sleep”

“Gina, that won’t be necessary”, Greg said, magically weaseling his way into my office, “This is a solo project for (Y/N). You two have been so busy working on your little project, that you seem to forget that you have actual work to do. Leave (Y/N) be, she can handle it herself. If she can’t, then I don’t understand the purpose of us hiring her in the first place”

She shot a glare at Greg before making her way out the office. As Greg made his way out, he gave me a sickening grin. I should have thrown him out the window when I had the chance.

By nine thirty, I ran out the office after emailing Greg what he needed. If I didn’t get a drink, food, and some sleep soon, there would be hell to pay.I grabbed all my things, practically running out the building to be free for the weekend.

After getting the mail, I made my way into my apartment, kicking my heels off in the process. As the stress of the week started to dissipate, there was finally enough energy to go through the bills. One envelope stood out from the rest. It was the size of a normal sheet of paper, with an address from Las Vegas. It was probably a bill from the way we left the hotel room.

Reading the address was all it took to get my mind on Daveed again. There’s no reason I should be thinking of his warm brown eyes or that shy smile that made me feel things I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t be smiling and thinking about him, when I know he isn’t thinking of me. He asked for my number and never called. Lesson learned I guess.

I opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper. It had a gold embellishments with the names being the only thing written in cursive, but everything else could be read clear as day. A part of me thought it was sent to the wrong house until my eyes landed on my name along with the same man I met before leaving.

‘This certifies that (Y/N) (Y/L/N) and Daveed Diggs were joined in marriage before witnesses. This day, November 18, 2017’

‘Witness: Ava Nichols’

‘Witness: Rafael Casal’

Holy shit.

[iamthechocobabe]

We All Have Battle Scars

YES. 

IT IS DONE. This bitch is done. I have done it. No more soulmate au’s for awhile now. No more fics for a bit-oneshot smut is where it’s at. Headcannons for life, bros. 

Tagging @roses-and-oceans and @bespectacled-girl as they both encouraged me to finish and gave me that extra boost. Thanks to you guys and to those who’ve put up with my madness so far, I will see you all for a NoctisXReader thing later tonight or tomorrow-possibly Saturday. We’ll see. 

Also, TEARS. FUCKING TEARS MAN, OH MY GAWWWWWWD. 

We All Have Battle Scars A PromptoXOC Soulmate AU based on We Intertwined ~Epilogue: Part 2~ SFW Word Count: 2,064

When the sun began to rise, Talcott wasted no time in jumping in his truck and driving into Insomnia, a few other hunter's in other trucks behind him to help find the four who had gone to save Eos from Darkness. Cor had called and wanted Talcott to wait until he got there, but it would have been two hours and Talcott felt like he had to get there right away or it would be too late-for what, he didn't know. 

The only problem? 

No one had any idea where the Citadel was. 

After navigating the city for almost twenty minutes, getting lost countless times, Talcott finally pulled over by an old ransacked travel agency and found a map of the city. Knowing where to go, Talcott tore through the partially destroyed streets of Insomnia, not a daemon in sight as he raced to the steps of the Citadel. 

Pulling into the large circular driveway, Talcott froze when he saw three men lying motionless on the steps, their true fate unknown. 

Tearing out of the car, Talcott and the other hunter's went to the three, Talcott bending over Gladiolus and almost laughed when he saw his chest moving up and down slowly, showing that he was still alive. 

"They're alive!" One hunter yelled, talking about Prompto and Ignis and had the three use phoenix down's to get them moving again-they helped the three into the truck to get them out of the city, knowing that they would get better treatement in Hammerhead. Two hunter's stayed behind to check out the rest of the Citadel to see if they could find Noctis while Talcott drove away with the three, aiming for Hammerhead as they had a medic station there. 

"The prince," Talcott mumbled, looking at the three through the rearview mirror. "Is...is he...?" 

When Talcott received no response, he nodded, already knowing what had happened. 

They all knew. 

"Alaea," Prompto groaned as he tried to sit up, but collapsed back into the seat. Talcott had only met Alaea once, at his twelfth birthday party, though he knew Prompto was absolutely crazy about his wife and mother of his new child and she had seemed nice-he remembered how she had a beautiful voice when she sang happy birthday.  "Call her, let her know I'm okay," 

Nodding, Talcott wiggled the phone out of his pocket with the intentions of calling Gina, since they had worked together a few times during some hunts. When no one answered, he texted Gina to let her know that Prompto was alive and to let Alaea know so she wouldn't worry; the text message he got back made his eyes go wide as basketballs and he glanced at Prompto through the rearview mirror. 

"Uh, wow-okay, so. How would you feel if we dropped off Gladio and Ignis in Hammerhead and drove Prompto over to Lestallum to get medical attention?" 

"Uh, I'm kind of in a lot of pain," Prompto coughed harshly, positive he had a few broken ribs. "Why?" 

"Because your wife just went into labor," 

Alaea's scream practically echoed all throughout Lestallum-they had no time to get to the medical center in the city to get Alaea a doctor, her labor was going by extremely fast. So she wound up lying down on a few blankets over the floor in her apartment, as once some labor pains started kicking in she couldn't manage to get to the bed. 

For Alaea, it was a nice distraction-thinking about Prompto lying dead somewhere made her want to curl up into a ball and die, but she had to push on-for her child's sake. But after a grueling three hours, she was practically at the ready, Libby and a doctor who had ran over, helping out in whatever way they could and soon started telling Alaea that they could see the head. Kris, Libby's wife, stood by nervously with Wiz and Lonnie, ready to help when it was needed. 

"Push, Ali!" Libby yelled. "You're almost there! Come on, push!" 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Alaea pushed again, collapsing back onto the floor after another push. "And if anyone says I owe money to the swear jar, heads will roll," 

"You've got this," Gina sat next to Alaea and pushed her sweaty bangs off her forehead. "Keep pushing-you can do this," 

"I know," Alaea sat up on her elbows again. "I know," she repeated to herself and pushed once more, feeling a slight weight disappear as Libby helped pull the baby away and into the new sunshine filled world. High pitched screaming filled the room, the baby cold and not liking the new brightness of the sun at all. 

"It's...it's a girl," Libby whispered, tears falling and Kris went over to hug Libby softly. "You did it, Ali-oh, my gods, she's beautiful," 

"’Course she is," Wiz whispered, bringing a yellow blanket from their nursery in the apartment to swaddle the baby after the doctor cleaned her up in the baby bath. "She's the daughter of the most beautiful girl in Eos," 

"Shut up, dad," Alaea laughed softly and sat up to reach out to the baby, cradling her in her arms as Gina brought the coffee table over so Alaea could lean against it. Recognizing Alaea's voice, the baby almost quieted down instantly, now warm and content. "Welcome to the world, Ellie Mae Argentum-you're just in time to see the sun again," 

"You went with Ellie after all?" Gina laughed, her own tears choking her. "Ellie and Ali-that'll be too confusing," 

"It's perfect," Alaea whispered and kissed the little girl's forehead. "She's perfect," 

"The umbilical cord...?" The doctor held up a scalpel, looking around to see who was going to do it. 

Prompto was supposed to do it. 

I wish he could see you now, Alaea thought as tears began to fall in waves down her cheeks. 

The doctor glanced down at Alaea for a second and his eyes widened when he noticed something was off. "Uh, Wiz," the doctor said, glancing up at the new grandfather. "Didn't you say that your ex-wife was a twin?" 

Gina looked up when 'ex-wife' was mentioned. "Yeah, we were twins-why?" 

The doctor looked at Alaea, choosing his words carefully. "Um, didn't you get an ultrasound when you went to the doctor?" 

Alaea shook her head, confused at the doctor's line of questioning. "No, they've had to cut back on some of the electricity for a while now. They could only use enough power to check on the baby's heartbeat," 

"And they only heard the one heartbeat?" 

Alaea handed Ellie to Gina and sat up a bit to focus on the doctor. "What's going on?" 

"Um, you might not want to get too comfortable," the doctor kneeled down by Alaea again. "Because I'm pretty sure there's another baby on the way," 

Prompto ignored the pain in his ribs and right leg as he tore up the stairs to his apartment, not patient enough to wait for the elevator. Talcott followed behind closely as Prompto practically knocked the door down trying to get inside, met with Alaea on the floor screaming and Wiz bouncing a crying baby in his arms. 

"What-what-what-" was all Prompto could muster. The baby was born, the little girl he had secretly hoped for was in Wiz's arms. Why...?

When Prompto spoke up, everyone's heads turned in shock towards him, Alaea going pale when she saw him, looking like she'd seen a ghost. 

All for except Gina. 

"Oh," Gina snapped her fingers. "Right, I got sidetracked when the doctor asked me to get hot water-they found Prompto, he's okay," 

"He's here," Alaea whispered, ignoring Gina and only focused on Prompto. "You...you're here..." 

Prompto went to Alaea's side and knelt down beside her, tears in his eyes as Wiz continued to hold Ellie, figuring there'd be plenty of time for Prompto to meet his daughter after the next baby was born. "What the hell's happening?" 

"Twins," Libby explained. 

"Twins..." Prompto looked back at Alaea and she nodded to confirm what she said. "We're...having twins," 

"Yup," Alaea laughed and pulled Prompto down for a long and passionate kiss before letting him up for air. 

"Ready to start pushing?" the doctor asked softly. 

Nodding, Alaea sat up and Prompto held onto her shoulder with one arm and her hand with the other as Alaea started pushing once again. Luckily, the next baby wasn't taking as long as soon enough, the baby was crowning and like before, Libby reached over to help bring the baby to Eos. Unlike Ellie, this baby was quiet and observant, staring in the world as it observed everything around it. 

"Shit, what if it's a girl?" Prompto asked. "We only thought up of one girl name," 

"Wendy Alicia,"

"Fuck that noise, I'm not naming my kid Wendy," 

"You don't have to worry about that," Libby looked up and laughed, tears once again in her eyes. "It's a boy," 

Prompto was now crying as much as Alaea as he watched the doctor bathe the baby boy, swaddle it in a blue blanket and gently hand him to Alaea. Wiz knelt down and placed Ellie into Prompto's arms and together, they watched their children as they settled down and familiarized themselves with their parents. 

"Noctis Xanthus Argentum," Alaea whispered. "Oh, gross," she suddenly said and Prompto looked at her in shock. 

"What?" 

"They're blonde," 

Prompto barked a laugh as he kissed her forehead, her nose, her chin and then her lips. “Blonde babies are beautiful and you know it,” 

Laughing, Alaea ruffled Noctis’ tuft of hair. “They really are,” 

Alaea whiped the sweat off her brow-now that she had gotten her strength back, she wanted to do what she originally wanted to do after she discovered she was pregnant-

Paint the nursery. 

Placing the yellow paint covered brush onto a tray, Alaea scooped up Ellie from her soft, yellow plush bouncer that Libby got for her, Noctis sleeping in the one that ironically was blue with suns on it. Cradling Ellie, Ellie's brown eyes stared in wonder at the newly painted ceiling, sucking on her pink binkie that had a chocobo's face on the end. 

"I know it's silly to paint the walls when we're just gonna move out in a year or so," Alaea whispered. "But you two are the sun in my life, the first confirmed children after the sun came back-it only figured you had a sun in your room to match," 

"I thought I was the sun in your life," Prompto stood by the doorway and grumbled as Noctis woke up and began to coo at his dad. 

"You're one of them," Placing Ellie back in her bouncer, Alaea pressed herself up against Prompto to meld her lips to his before showing him the ceiling. "Ta-daaaaaa!" she exclaimed with a large flourish. 

Looking up, it took everything Prompto had in him not to laugh hysterically, the bright yellow sun Alaea painted looking messy and looking like something a six year old would hang on the fridge. "It's...very you, Chocobee," 

"Fuck you," Alaea stuck her tongue out at him, so Prompto reached forward and nipped at her tongue gently. 

"Swear jar," 

"Goddammit," Alaea reached into her pocket and left the room to place another few gil in the jar. 

When she came back, Prompto was holding Noctis up so he could sniff his butt. When what he smelled was confirmed, he glanced at Alaea with a cocky grin. "You're up," 

"Oh, come on," Alaea whined-after the babies had been born, Prompto had been gracious enough to change the diapers for her so she could recuperate, but apparently that was over. 

"Fair's fair," Prompto said, rubbing his hand over his freshly shaved chin. 

Alaea grumbled as she grabbed Noctis and brought him over to the changing table, the smell already making her sick as she prepared the diapers and wipes onto the table. While doing that, Prompto cradled Ellie on his chest, watching the woman he loved and mother of his children almost glow from the sunlight streaming into the room. 

"I'm happy you were my soulmate, Alaea Argentum," Prompto said quietly, almost quiet enough for Alaea not to hear him. 

Alaea turned back and smiled at Prompto, as always taking his breath away with her beautiful smile. "I'm happy you were my soulmate, too, Prompto Argentum," 

Turning back to the task at hand, Alaea unbuttoned Noctis' dark blue onesie and undid the diaper-when she peeled the crinkled diaper back and saw the present Noctis had for her, she placed the diaper back and stared at Prompto with a look of pure and utter horror. 

"Get the tequila,"

[ashroseevans]

Opposites Attract 1

_____ is a water mage who has had weird and sometimes unpleasant things happen to her through her life. Those weird occurences only seemed to amplify as she got older. It first started when she could use magic that she shouldn't have been able to use except under certain circumstances to just before she transferred out of her old school and moved to Fiore when something even stranger happened. When she moved to Fiore and her new school in a town called Magnolia, she came across a club called Fairy Tail which she hoped would have the answers she's looking for, until she meets a fire mage with the same hidden power as her and her world gets turned upside down.

Natsu Dragneel is a Fire Dragon Slayer who can be too hot headed for his own good. When a new water mage comes to his school after he won a design contest for his clubs logo and is forced to show her the ropes by the Club Master Makarov, he comes to wonder if he can handle being around her. Sometimes they get along, sometimes they don't and other times he just wants to tackle her. But most of the time he just wanted to protect her. Weird feelings that he hasn't felt since Lisanna start swirling around inside of him and he's not sure how to deal with them.

"Argh..." growled a young man as he sat at his desk, scribbling on a piece of paper.

That was the fifth time he's had to start over. He just couldn't get the design right. Letting out a sigh, he ran a hand through his pink hair and erased the bottom part of the design. Why was it so damn hard to get the damn bottom to look like it did in his head?

"Whatcha growling at Natsu?"

The boy, Natsu looked up at the blond standing in front of his desk. She leaned over to try to catch a glimpse at what he was drawing, but Natsu quickly covered it with his arms.

"It's not finished yet, Lucy. It's just a design for the club. Makarov is holding that contest, remember?" he said.

"I remember. But why can't I look at it yet?"

"Like I said, it's not finished yet. I don't want anyone to see it until it's perfect, okay?"

Lucy sighed. "Fine. I was going to offer my help, but seeing as you don't want it, I guess I'll just leave now," she waved her hands and started walking away. "This is what I get for being friends with a pyro."

Natsu rolled his eyes and got back to work on his drawing. It was almost perfect. He just needed to get it to that part first. He put the pencil back to the paper and started drawing. Then it hit him. Maybe Lucy had a spirit that would be able to draw what was in his head for him!

"Wait, Lucy!" he called and jumped up from his desk, running after the blond that just walked out of the room, the tails of his scarf trailing behind him.

She turned around and looked at him, her hands on her hips. "What? You want my help now?" she asked in a slightly sarcastic tone.

"Yes and no," he said. "Do you have a spirit that could help me?" he asked excitedly.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious? I don't have any artsy spirits!"

"What about that crab guy? He can cut out the design I want and I can just trace it," Natsu suggested.

"His name is Cancer and I'm not going to summon him just so you can try to win a stupid contest," Lucy said.

"I'll give you half of the prize money if we win," Natsu sang.

Lucy's eyes widened and she looked at Natsu. "Half of the prize money?" she said, not really believing it.

"Yup!" Natsu grinned at her.

"I'll be able to pay my tuition!" she said. "Fine. I'll do it! Meet me at my room after classes."

"Aye sir!" Natsu said and saluted.

Lucy was silent for a moment as she stared at Natsu. "Leave that kind of talk to Happy."

Natsu laughed. "Well, see you tonight!" he said and ran off.

Natsu stood in the crowd of club members as Makarov stood on a podium. The room was filled with loud chatter from all of the club members and Makarov stood with his eyes closed, waiting for the envelope that contained the results. Natsu was bouncing up and down excitedly, anxiously waiting to hear who won the design contest. He hoped it was him because he already promised to himself that whichever design won, he was going to get it tattooed on his shoulder. It started as a bet with Happy, but as he drew his design, he started to actually look forward to it.

"Well don't you seem excited," Lucy said as she walked up next to Natsu.

"Of course I am. We're going to see who wins the contest," he said. "I really hope it's me."

"I'm almost positive we're going to win," Lucy said. "Did you see some of the other designs? You can almost tell who drew them based on what they look like."

"Argh..." Natsu growled, almost completely ignoring Lucy. "The suspense is killing me." He cupped his hands around his mouth and called out. "Hurry up, old man! Tell us the results already!"

Makarov opened his eyes and leveled a steady gaze at Natsu. "Calm down, Natsu. Mira has to finish tallying the votes."

"Can't she count faster?" he shouted.

"Natsu," came a new voice from behind him, causing Natsu to freeze up out of fear.

He slowly turned around and saw Erza glaring at him. "Aye?" he squeaked.

"You're not the only one who is waiting anxiously to see if they won so calm down, sit down and shut up," she said.

"Yes ma'am," Natsu said and immediately plopped down on the ground.

Lucy looked down at Natsu with amazed eyes. "I still wish I knew how you do that, Erza," she said.

"It's all in how you handle yourself, Lucy," Erza replied.

Lucy giggled. "So you joined the contest too?"

"I did, but I wish we could have voted for our own designs," Erza said. "I was so proud of it. Instead I voted for the one that looked like a sort of abstract version of a fairy."

"Oh, did you?" Lucy asked.

"I did. I wonder who designed that one. It was very well done. If mine doesn't win, I'd be quite happy if that one does," she said.

"Do you really want to know who drew it?" Lucy asked.

"Since we're supposed to remain anonymous until the results are read, I think I'll hold off on knowing until then," Erza smiled

Natsu grumbled as he sat on the floor and looked to the side. Erza was about to open her mouth in reprimand for him making a sound when Mirajane walked up to the podium to hand an envelope to Makarov. Everyone went silent and Natsu jumped up from where he sat on the floor.

"The results are in," Makarov said in a voice that carried through the club room. "No matter who was the winner, all of the designs were well put together and thought out. Now without further ado..." Makarov opened up the envelope.

Fireworks erupted out of the envelope and coalesced into the shape of the winning design. Natsu's eyes widened and a grin broke across his face as he saw his design in the lights above the club banner.

"OH YEAH!" he roared and jumped up on a table, fire engulfing his hands in his excitement. "I won!"

"Damn it, Natsu!" shouted a black haired ice mage named Gray. "Get down from there flame for brains," he said as he jumped up on the table next to him, stripped down to his boxers.

Natsu turned his grin onto Gray. "You're one to talk, streaker!" Natsu said and made a move to shove Gray off the table.

Gray fell back off the table and almost missed landing on Gajeel. The Iron Dragon slayer growled and turned on Natsu.

"Watch it Salamander," he hissed and reached out, his hand turning into iron and extending far further then his reach to smash Natsu in the face and push him far off the table.

Natsu growled and flipped over the iron fist attack before he was slammed into the wall and ran down it. Before he could attack Gajeel in return, Gray flying kicked him in the side of the head and the two of them went flying into Elfman. Elfman rolled a long with the two boys until they impacted with the wall. Lucy watched in shock as the three boys started throwing punches at each other while still rolling around. Erza sighed and just before anyone else could join into the club room brawl that seemed ever present in the Fairy Tail Club, Makarov spoke loudly.

"That is enough!" he shouted.

Everyone who was fighting froze immediately.

"Congratulation's Natsu," he went on when he had everyone attention. "You can come get your prize after you've settled down."

With that, Makarov left the main room and walked into one of the side rooms of the club room. Natsu jumped up and ran passed Lucy, grabbing her arm as he went, and dragged her into the room Makarov disappeared into.

"Come on, Happy," Natsu said as he walked into his dorm room after he parted ways with Lucy. "Let's go?"

The blue cat curled up on Natsu's bed blinked and looked up at him. "Go where?" he asked.

"To get the tattoo!" Natsu said excitedly. "I won the contest, so lets go!"

Happy jumped up and saluted. "Aye sir!"

He jumped up off the bed and wings sprouted from his back and he flew to land on Natsu's head. Natsu laughed and walked out of his room and through the halls of the school. The two of them walked through the main gate and caught the first bus that headed into town. Finally they arrived at the tattoo parlor they decided om and walked inside. They were greeted by the artist and Natsu handed the man the drawing of the tattoo he wanted.

"What color?" he asked.

"Red. Full color," Natsu replied.

The artist nodded. "Just give me a few moments while I draw this up."

Natsu nodded and he and Happy sat down on one of the chairs in the waiting area. The artist returned barely fifteen minutes later and called Natsu into the room and sat him down on the chair. He went through all the steps of cleaning off his shoulder and transferring the design onto his skin before actually applying the ink. Based on what everyone else had said about tattoos, Natsu expected it to hurt, but to him it barely felt like he was being poked over and over again by a toothpick, unpleasant but not painful.

Read more Fairy Tail Stories (and others) here