#plus i just have bad luck and whenever i’m not in the pit i feel like i get stuck next to the most boring people 😭

[steviescrystals]

the pre-concert anxiety is hitting me rn and you would think with this being my 28th concert i would get over that but apparently not!

[ellenripleysbelieveitornot]

What about an Akechi/Joker role swap AU where Akechi is still the detective prince and Joker is still the Shujin delinquent, but the major difference is that Morgana never lost his memories and found Akechi before he approached Shido with his metaverse assassination plot?

Like, imagine Akechi, bitter and jaded, who has just awakened Loki and felt the terrifying and thrilling rush of the berserk power. He's formed a plan to get back at his piece of shit father, even managed to set up a meeting, which he had to set up months in advance, and on the day he's going to present Shido with info on the metaverse, he winds up arriving a few minutes late, because even though he intended to be early, he was accosted by a talking cat (he's been in the metaverse, so he can hear him) on the way over, and in the whole wtf-ery of the moment, lost track of time. Shido, being Shido, refuses to see him and will not reschedule because he doesn't like having his time wasted.

Pissed off, Akechi leaves to find Morgana still waiting for him outside. So he doesn't look like an idiot yelling at a cat on the street, he brings Morgana back to his shitty apartment, where Morgana explains why he had found Akechi and whats up. He doesn't know about Yaldobaoth taking Igor's place, he just knows there's two champions, and Akechi was the one he found first, so he must be Igor's chosen champion. (It is my theory that it doesn't actually matter who was Igor's and Yaldobaoth's champions, it was more about the choices they each made and where they ended up.) 

Akechi has no interest in saving the world, but he knows that if he wants to get back at Shido, he needs to become someone of consequence, so he agrees to undergo Morgana's training, since Morgana clearly knows more about the metaverse than he does, and he can use it to solve cold cases, earning him a place as the Detective Prince. He changes a few hearts, to pacify Morgana, too. It takes a couple years, but during his senior year in high school, he makes it, earning himself the cooperation of the police and the spotlight of the public eye. He's getting so close to making Shido notice him that he can practically taste it. Also, what’s this ‘velvet room’ he keeps dreaming about?

Then Morgana finds Kamoshida’s palace and is like ‘heyo, you thought changing hearts in the metaverse was cool, check this shit out’ and Akechi is admittedly intrigued , so he takes a look. He sees the inside of Kamoshida’s heart and is appropriately disgusted and says to Morgana, ‘hey we should totally kill this guy’s shadow.’ Morgana’s like ‘why is your first suggestion always murder, we don’t know what would happen if we killed his shadow, Igor wasn’t very clear about that bit, we should try stealing the treasure instead’ and Morgana has been useful (and it’s been really nice to have the company these past two years, though he won’t admit that) so Akechi agrees ‘fine, we’ll steal the treasure, but if that doesn’t work, then I’m killing his shadow.’

And that’s when Ryuji and Ann make an appearance (’ohmigawd, goro, be more careful with that damn app, i s2g.’) Ryuji’s mom apparently thinks Akechi is pretty neat and watches all his interviews, so Ryuji knows who he is and is delighted to find out that the lame-ass detective his mom has talked about is actually a grumpy badass in the metaverse, with this shadow that has some kind of insane power, and hey, he helped them bring down Kamoshida (alive,) so maybe he is actually pretty cool, even though sometimes he spaces out and talks about evil twins and some longed-nose dude. He decides then and there that he’s going to be Akechi’s best friend, since he apparently has none, and Ann is all too happy to join in for the ride, and all of Goro’s protests have fallen on deaf ears, and they know about the whole detective prince thing being a facade, so he might as well indulge them for now. 

The ‘Phantom Thieves’ (a name that makes Goro want to roll his eyes whenever he hears it, and why is everyone calling him ‘leader?’) gain fame and change hearts, gaining new members such as this weird-ass artist dude who fights with ice, and oh, god, one Nijima is bad enough, don’t tell me there’s two! and she uses nukes, wtf?!

Around this time, he also meets Shujin’s delinquent, enigmatic transfer student whose talk of hope and justice never quite seem to reflect in his stormy grey eyes, and he and Goro are clearly birds of a feather in a way, he can tell, there’s just something about him, and he thinks this guy might actually be his best friend, but don’t tell Ryuji that, he’d never hear the end of it.

Akechi learns the truth behind Akira’s arrest and Shido’s involvement and he is disgusted to find that he genuinely wants to help this guy, and he can’t do that if Shido’s dead, maybe he doesn’t want his revenge as badly as he thought??? Oh, ew, I have feelings that aren’t anger and it’s all my friends’ fault, I can’t just leave them and go off to get revenge, they’d literally die without me, those lovable idiots. Also, when Ryuji saw his home, he pretty much insisted he stay with him instead, and Ryuji’s mom reminds him of the good times he had with his own mother, and he honestly doesn’t think he has the strength to disappoint her like that. So, he decides to change Shido’s heart, but he knows that there’s no way that this little group of miscreants is strong enough to take on the fucked up bullshit that he’s seen in Shido’s heart, so let’s hit pause on that for now.

Shido had Wakaba killed via completely non-supernatural ways and stole her research, same as before, so Futaba still has a palace. He found out Akira worked at Leblanc a while ago and started dropping by, and then somehow Ryuji found out about it, and now all the Phantom Thieves know, so much for a peaceful place to get away, but he actually doesn’t mind that much, and Akira lets Akechi keep an eye on the shop when there are no customers so he can go out and do errands and Boss doesn’t mind, so they’ve ended up hanging out there as a group from time to time and talking Phantom Thief business, so Futaba knows who they are, and asks for their help.

Okumura’s palace pretty much goes the same, Okumura dies somehow, are we responsible, why does murder actually make me feel kinda bad, stupid friends and their stupid good influence. 

Goro attends the Shujin student fair as guest speaker, whoa, the class president being friends with Akechi does have its perks, doesn’t it? Akira finds them all there together and approaches them, tells them he saw them go into the metaverse, awakened his own persona, and saw a guy in a black mask kill Okumura’s shadow, hey why don’t I join you, you probably need all the help you can get, who’s heart are we stealing next, how about Sae, she knows my probabtion officer and has been giving me hell, plus I already checked, she definitely has a palace.

They agree, and oh, hey, Akira can hear Morgana talk now, but WAIT A MINUTE?! Didn’t he hear Morgana talk before when he told Goro that Leblanc didn’t sell sushi, even though Goro hadn’t asked for any?

They hack Akira’s phone, learn that Shido (Akechi recognizes that voice) will have thugs waiting to capture them when they leave the palace. They plan around it, pull the metaverse switch and manage to sneak a heavily drugged Akechi out of the warehouse Shido stashed him in by traveling through the metaverse. Shido’s lackey’s have written a fake suicide letter from the leader of the Phantom thieves, and the chief of police, under Shido’s orders, delivers a statement confirming its authenticity, and look the plan succeeded. All they need to do know is take down Shido.

Things are going great, until they get to the engine room, where Joker, having realized what happened, is waiting for them. Joker, who lost everything after he transferred, who discovered the metaverse completely alone, who didn’t mean to kill that guy’s shadow, but he attacked him first, and Shido had somehow known, had been keeping an eye on him, had him convicted for a crime that he didn’t commit in the hopes that he would break because he needed an agent in the metaverse, and so far he’s had no luck. Joker, who had nothing left to lose and had accepted the only hand that had reached out for him.

They fight, and when it looks like things are going badly for Joker, he pulls out... a second persona?!?! At least, it looks like a persona, but something about it is off. it looks familiar somehow. And then Akira asks if they knew it was possible to fuse personas and Akechi realizes what he’s looking at. These aren’t the clean executions that Caroline and Justine perform, these are personas that have been ripped apart and haphazardly thrown back together with no thought to form or elegance, look, there’s a Yaksini’s arm, and that bit right there clearly used to belong to a Rangda, and I think that piece might have belonged to a Seiryu, and Akechi should stop listing personas now because Ann thinks she’s going to be sick.

They keep fighting. Joker can’t understand the difference in power between them. After all, aren’t they the same? Unloved, unwanted, soldiers pitted against each other by some bullshit higher power?

When Joker shoots the bulkhead door closed and Futaba reports that she’s lost Joker’s reading, Akechi vows then and there that he’s going to kill Shido after all. And he almost does. He stands there, with his gun pressed to the head of the shadow of his father, his friends can’t blame him, and even Morgana knows better than to try and stop him. But he doesn’t. He remembers Akira’s madness there at the end, and wonders what he would have become of him if it weren’t for Ryuji, who somewhere along the way, he’d realized he’d stopped tolerating and started actually liking. Ann, who shared his woes about being in the public eye and swapped tips with him about how to handle the press. Yusuke, who, although he was still completely bizarre to him, appreciated the beauty in life and didn’t tease Goro for his taste in Grandpa clothes. Makoto, who knew the importance of hard work and who, between herself and her sister, had caused Goro to pick up some healthier coping mechanisms. Futaba, who made fun of him for his food blog, but liked the same nerd bullshit that he did and would bombard him with memes until his day somehow became a little less shittier. Haru, who dreamed of starting her own business and actually cared about Goro’s opinions, and could threaten someone with a smile in a way that even Goro was jealous of. And Morganna, who had reminded him what it was like to not be lonely, and demanded more sushi than he could afford, but always made sure Goro ate his fill, instead of getting so focused on his work that he forgot.

Akechi guesses that he must have turned soft somewhere during the past several months, but after seeing what happened to Akira, he can’t help but be grateful, knowing with certainty that if things had turned out differently, that would have been him. Hey, Morgana, you know that world-saving bs you talked about two years ago? Let’s leave this piece of shit here to rot and focus our attention on that instead.

And you guys know the rest.

Or, at least, that’s how I thought it would go. Feel free to share your thoughts. :)

[tsukkisbean]

how they cheer your up | headcanons

genre: fluff

characters: iwaizumi hajime, miya osamu, terushima yūji, kunimi akira x gn!reader

warnings: none!

a/n: hello if you’re seeing this, that means my scheduled post worked, yay!! hopefully this shows up in the tags otherwise i’ll have to reupload it at a later time (sorry in advance if that’s the case hehe). i’m also trying my hand at writing for other characters so hopefully this does their characters justice??

anyways, i hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy and happy! if you requested something from me, sorry i haven’t gotten to it even though i said i would. i’ll try my best to complete them when i get the chance, thank you for being patient with me 💖 all boys after iwaizumi are under the cut!

iwaizumi hajime

best boy iwaizumi would without a doubt use exercise as a way to cheer you up

but don’t get me wrong, he’s not going to force you to run a marathon or anything like that

i imagine him taking you to one of those entertainment/game parks (not really sure what they’re called ahh) where you guys just hang out all day

when you get there, he’ll immediately take you to the batting cage so you can just channel out all your anger into your swings

once your blood is pumping from the adrenaline he’ll take you to the trampoline area where you guys just bounce around and do flips into the foam pit to burn off all your extra energy

you’ll just be chilling, jumping up and down on one of the trampolines, your back turned to iwaizumi when he straight up scoops you up and tosses you in

he’s cackling and dying of laughter and when he finally offers to help you out you grab his hand and pull him in

when he doesn’t resurface you get nervous, where could he be?

from the corner of your eye you see the foam rumbling slightly but you react too slowly and iwaizumi pops out and tackles you in the biggest hug, peppering kisses all over your face and people are staring as you scream your head off trying to pry him off of you

for dinner, you guys indulge in all the greasy food the park has to offer, and by the end you’re stuffed

to help with digestion you suggest a game of mini golf which iwaizumi gladly agrees to

for someone who played volleyball his aim is absolutely horrifying

he argues that the windmill is IMPOSSIBLE to get a good score on and no one can ever get a hole in one

luck must have been on your side because you get a hole in one right after (and so does the small child behind you guys, but you choose not to tell him that)

you end up destroying him (he lowkey hints that he let you win but we know that’s not the case)

when the park closes, instead of taking you straight home, he’ll take you to a nearby park and the two of you just stroll around enjoying the chill of the night and the stars in the sky

miya osamu

he pulls you onto the couch next to him and the two of you look through baking videos on youtube and osamu being osamu cannot decide because he wants to make them all

eventually you guys settle on a cake recipe by cooking tree (a/n: 10/10 would recommend watching them, their videos are super soothing and aesthetic esp if you enjoy cooking asmr!!)

so at 9pm you guys set off to the grocery store to buy the ingredients you guys are missing 

the trip takes much longer than expected because osamu keeps putting in more and more snacks that you guys definitely don’t need

so instead of shopping osamu is trying to grab as many snacks as you can while you trail behind, trying to put them away  because your pantry is already way too full

by the time you get home it’s close to 12 and you’re tired but osamu insists that you guys start now

for the most part all goes well, you guys manage to get the batter to look smooth in the cake pan (definitely some playful flour throwing here and there)

the real problem is assembling the cake. at this point you’re wondering why you guys decided on a 3-layered cake that required cutting

teases you for cutting the first layer slanted and so you pass over the cutting to him but his slicing work is just as bad and you just have to bring up the fact that he owns a restaurant but apparently his knife skills suck

you thought cutting the cake would be a problem?? now you guys have to fill the layers and it’s a complete disaster; there’s whipped cream just everywhere and at this point you guys are half filling the cake half throwing it at each other

cake ends up being iced unevenly but that’s the least of your problems

you guys pour the decorative icing on top and instead of running over the sides only slightly, it drips messily down the cake and onto the counter and now you guys have a blob of a cake

you guys spend the rest of the night cleaning up and pass out on the couch and in the morning you guys enjoy a sweet breakfast together <3

terushima yūji

terushima is a free soul and so he believes expressing yourself through art is one of the best ways to feel better

when he sees that you’re down, he’ll immediately whip out all of his salon products and pull you into the bathroom

he takes you by surprise saying that he wants you to whatever you want to his hair - today his hair is your canvas

at first you’re reluctant, but he insists - as a hair stylist it’s all about experimentation with styles and colours and plus he can easily fix whatever you do considering that it is his job after all

so you guys scroll through pinterest together, trying to find some fun hair ideas that you’d be able to pull off on your own (with some instruction from teru of course)

you finally decide on a style and so together start on getting all the hair dye ready

he explains to you the different types of develops and how important they are in the hair colouring process - there are different volumes and will essentially affect how much your hair colour changes

after all the colours are mixed and ready to go, you gingerly grab a piece of hair, constantly checking your phone to make sure you’re doing it exactly like the photo

meanwhile terushima has the softest smile on his face, watching you through the mirror - he thinks you look absolutely adorable with the way your brows are furrowed and your tongue sticks on slightly as you focus

as you run the colour brush along his hair, he’s constantly encouraging you, telling you what a good job you’re doing and how he’s so excited to the end product

while the dye sits in his hair, you sit in his lap

once it’s time to wash out the hair dye, you bring him to the sink and carefully run your hands through his hair, trying your best to give him the best head massage he’s ever had!!!

after toning and a hair treatment, your masterpiece if finally done!! ofc being the boyfriend he is, he takes a million photos and posts them on social media to show how talented his significant other is - like not only is it your first time dying someone’s hair but you managed to pull off RAINBOW hair!! (a/n: think sehun from exo as a reference hehe) he literally will not shut up about you to his clients tomorrow

kunimi akira

kunimi has a rep for being lazy and just overall a really nonchalant kind of person but he’s sharp, so when you’re feeling down he immediately picks up on it even if he doesn’t confront you about it

however i don’t think he’d be as aggressive as the other three and do something huge rather he tries to make you feel better only in smaller ways and it definitely adds up

like in the morning he’ll make you coffee or tea or whatever you want - orange juice, a bakery bun? he’ll make an excuse saying he wanted something from the convenience store anyways and head down. when he comes back  with three bags of food and drinks he’ll insist that he just grabbed whatever he saw because he was “too lazy to decide” n b d

throughout the day he’ll be a lot more affectionate than usual, hugging you whenever he gets the chance, maybe even a kiss on your forehead

when you tell him you want to go out on your own for a bit  he doesn’t argue - whatever you need to do but when your back is turned he’ll slip you a handwritten note telling you to enjoy your alone time and that he l-word you and it’s even signed off with a teensy teensy heart that you almost don’t notice

when you get back, you’re greeted with the smell of your delicious food mixed with a burning smell and on the kitchen table you see takeout from your favourite restaurants and in the garbage is a black burnt mess - kunimi insists he doesn’t know how it got there even though its quite obvious

you bring the food to the living room and to your surprise there’s a blanket fort set up with pillows spread out all across the floor

when you try to question him, he just shrugs saying that it’s not that hard to throw a blanket over a couple of chairs, even a baby could do it

today he lets you choose the movie even though it’s technically his turn and when you choose a  comedy he doesn’t complain about the obnoxiously loud and hot headed lead character

when the movie is over, he quickly cleans up all the trash, making sure you don’t have time to move from your spot

when he comes back, he flops on top of you, holding you close

then he plays the spotify playlist that he made for you; it’s a whole mix of songs - slow, upbeat, instrumentals - anything he thought might help you feel even the tiniest bit better

and so you guys just lay there not speaking, enjoying each other’s presence until you fall asleep

[cosmicbash]

One the angsty prompt ideas I’ve been thinking about is Kells practicing how to cook for weeks so he can surprise Em by cooking him dinner, maybe for an anniversary or something, and on the day Kells has planned to surprise him, Em is hours late, leaving Kells alone for the evening. If you’re interested maybe you could write something like this? 🥰

3 years together. One thousand and ninety five fucking days between him and this old dorky man.

It's insane. Downright impossible to believe but Colson knows it's as real and true as the 2 year sobriety chip he's got hung around his neck on the gold chain Marshall gifted him with it this morning.

Both their relationship and his sobriety are as intertwined as their lives are now. Marshall's like the glue that holds all of his pieces together. Picking Colson back up, time and time again whenever he shattered in the beginning and filling in the gaps with his own loose pieces until it was Colson's turn to do the same. Which, by then, it only made sense to combine their puzzles and broaden the picture.

Now Marshall swoops in for Casie's PTA meetings he can’t make during tour. Holding the phone and helping him FaceTime for soccer games and school conferences when flight delays or bad luck keeps him late.

Colson tags along to Whitney's first few dates out in LA, weaving through the public spaces Marshall never could without drawing attention just to make sure she's safe and respected.

They tag team any situation involving the girls, even though Alaina and Hailey both still snicker at him from time to time, and Casie rolls her eyes at Marshall's rules. They're more than just dating now.

They're family.

And even just thinking about that brings tears to Colson's eyes.

Or maybe it's the onions. Baze said chewing gum helped mitigate this fucking problem but goddammit does it burn-

"Fuck!"

He has no idea how he got it in his mind that he could actually cook a meal, let alone a full anniversary dinner for Marshall but here he is. A pot and pan already cooking on the stove and his fingers knicked a dozen times in his rush to cut up more veggies for the sauce. 

It's insane.

But Colson's following through with it anyway, because he fucking loves Marshall and that bastard cooks dinner for them every single holiday or occasion so it's about time he stepped up to the plate and did it himself. 

Plus he's been secretly practicing for weeks with Baze over both FaceTime and a few in person lessons. Perfecting his simmering styles and meat seasoning to make the tastiest meal he can manage all on his own.

So far the last three times he's made the dish his bassist had given stellar reviews so there's little chance he'll somehow fuck it up tonight knowing it's for Marshall…..at least, he hopes.

The minor setbacks his butchered fingers have brought aside though, so far everything was coming along perfectly. His noodles are boiling (never over the rim, thank you wooden spoon trick), his meats marinating, and as soon as he tosses these sliced onions in his sauce will be cooking down beautifully.

All in all the night is starting to look like it just might be perfect.

Until 6 o'clock passes by and Colson's ears never pick up the click of the front door knob, or the hum of Marshall's escalade pulling up front outside.

The food's still simmering, minutes away from being actually done so he doesn't worry too much. Sure he was hoping to have a sweet moment where his boyfriend comes home and catches him cooking at the stove like a traditional housewife, but seeing his face when the food's done and plated promises to be just as cute.

Besides, Marshall has always fit the housewife role so much better than him anyway. Even the apron Colson's wearing is one of the older rapper's, stolen from his small collection in the pantry to protect his designer sweater.

Colson doesn't start to worry at 6. Traffic can be a bitch.

7 though? And then 7:30 when his texts go unread and his calls ring all the way through to voice-mail? That's when the blonde starts to fret. 

He's luckily put off plating because some brief flash on uncertainty had run through him after the food finished so it's stayed warm and simmering on the stove. But even that had to come to an end before 7:30 because his sauce would singe or his noodles might squish, so now Colson's trying to keep busy by perfecting the presentation. Shaky fingers swiping around the edges of Marshall's plate to clean up a splatter of sauce. Every Chopped Judge rambling off feedback in his head until he has it looking like something he's certain even Gordon fucking Ramsey would ask for a bite of.

By 8 the dinner table is set. His plate, Marshall's, the bucket of low alcoholic wine they both love chilling as a centerpiece. Colson even lights a few candles and adds some flowers from this mornings gift exchanges to keep himself from screaming.

There's a pit in his stomach that's steadily been growing though. Every passing minute and glance to his phone where he finds no change only carving it deeper. 

Marshall should be home. He never runs this late at the studio without a call, let alone without a message. He's treated his work like any other 9-5 job since before they ever even got together, always strict about his routine and careful to make up for over run hours by leaving earlier the next day. Usually Colson likes to bust his balls and insist he live a little more spontaneously but tonight isn't the one to pull that.

Especially not if it means Marshall's going to completely forget to check his fucking phone and leave him trying not to think the worst.

Colson only males it another 5 minutes before he caves and texts Paul. Fingers tapping fast across his screen to draft multiple desperate sounding messages before he finally settles on a "Em bust his phone again?" That feels just casual enough to not embarrass him in the off chance Marshall decides to burst through the front door seconds after it sends.

The door stays closed though and Paul doesn't open the message at all. 

Now Colson can't even start passive aggressively eating dinner on his own if he wanted too. The pit in his stomach has torn itself open wide into a nauseous chasm. Every scary possibility he wanted to avoid thinking about spilling forth from the dark trench like ghouls.

He's dead. Some crazy fan broke into the studio and shot the whole place up. No one's gotten around to tell him yet, that's all. They're too busy dealing with the fallout.

No, Em's security is beyond top tier, and with how close Colson and his current bodyguard are he knows the guy would call him immediately. Marshall's fine.

Unless… what if he was in a car accident? Or some road rage incident gone fatal? Colson's seen Marshall's short temper flare up while driving. They've made dozens of jokes about it in the past, so is it really that unreasonable to believe?

Colson's pacing in the front haul when he calls Porter. Phone tucked between his ear and shoulder while he fights his shoe laces, heart racing in his chest. Prepping to fly out of the house the second Denaun tells him what fucking hospital Marshall's staying in, praying it's at the ICU section and not some fucking morgue.

"Kelly?" The older man sounds confused when he finally answers. Voice high and tone light like he's expecting this to be a butt dial. "What's up man?"

The lack of rush or worry in Denaun's voice almost soothes Colson's panic right on the spot. Surely he wouldn't sound so casual if something had happened. 

It's enough to keep Colson from immediately pleading for Marshall's safety at the least. "H-hey, uh nothing really-" Maybe Marshall is even with him right now, realizing how fucking late its gotten and how shit of a boyfriend he's been and that's why Denaun sounds awkward too. "Just uh, waiting for Marsh to get his slow ass home ya know? Sorry, aheh, I'm probably sounding like a fucking needy girlfriend right now, calling his friends and shit-" the longer Colson rambles the more embarrassed he actually feels in the moment.

God he must sound pathetic right now. Panicking over Marshall being a few hours late.

"Waiting? Didn't Marshall head out like 2 hours ago?"

"W-what?"

Colson's blood feels like actual ice in his veins.

"He isn't home? I mean, I know he was gonna stop at- fuck is it already half past 8? Marshall seriously isn't home?" Denaun's sudden panic only heightens Colson's own, but he can't get any more words to come out. Not with how a rock feels like it's jumped up his throat. "Shit, Ryan are you getting through to him? Try Paul-"

Ryan's there too? 

"What? Paul's gotta fucking answer-"

They can't get ahold of Paul either?

"Kelly have you-"

Marshall's missing. Colson's been standing around making dinner for hours, worrying over the portion sizes and appearance of his plates and Marshall's been fucking missing. What kind of partner is he? What will he even tell Hailey? Alaina? And fuck Casie is supposed to be coming up this weekend so they can all go vacation together before his next tour-

The front door bumping into his shoe startles Colson out of his frozen panic. Denaun's angry shouting dropping from his ear, as he twists and meets a pair of sheepish blue eyes peeking around the hardwood.

"Hey." 

Marshall's…..

"Is that my apron?"

So fucking dead.

"Is this your--" Colson's fingers are curling around the edge of the door so fast he doesn't even care that it makes his phone fly to the floor. "That's what you want to fucking say to me!?" His anger is boiling fast, replacing the cold in his veins with lava. "You fucking piece of-"

Marshall stumbling inside with the yanked door is expected, but the flash of bandages and a sling douse Colson's flames like a bucket of water. "Ow, fuck just give me a second to explain-"

He's hurt.

Now with all of Marshall visible Colson's hyperaware of dry blood splattered on his white graphic tee and scratches partially hidden within the rapper's beard along his cheek. "I got in an accident out on the M-8, it was minor but-"

Colson really can't handle all these rapid mood switches Marshall is putting him through today.

“You fucking idiot-“ Tears are bubbling up in his eyes and it’s like his hands can’t reach his partner fast enough. Pulling Marshall into his arms for a tight hug despite the pained noises his actions inspire. “Stupid, old asshole-“ Marshall’s hurt, the cars probably wrecked, but he’s home and that’s enough of a relief to finally smother that pit weighing down his stomach. “Don’t ever scare me like that again!”

A moment passes before he’s hugged back, shock more than likely freezing his partner up but when Marshall does loop his good arm around Colson he pulls him close. So close Colson is the one who’s bones feel like they might ache. “Can’t make any promises about that,” The older rapper’s palm feels warm when it climbs to cup his neck, Marshall’s face turning to press a kiss into Colson’s throat. 

That brush of lips is the final crack to release the flood gates.

"I love you."

"I know."

"I really really fucking love you."

"I know baby."

"I don't care how old your ass is, you better hold out and fucking die after me like a proper goddamn boyfriend, you hear me Marshall?" He's getting snot all over the older rapper's shirt. Full on smearing it across his own cheek and the fabric with every pointless rub of his face. "I love you so fucking much. Can't do this without you."

"Told you I'm not dying after you unless you kill me first, and I'm chasing you into the afterlife once you do go too. Fuck all the marriage shit, death ain't parting us either you brat." Marshall's tone is light and his palm is doing wonders to comfort him by rubbing circles into his back. It's enough to slow his hiccupped breathing down a few notches. "I dunno if you noticed but, I'm a little obsessed with you."

That drags out a wet snort. "Y-yeah?" When Colson pulls back to meet Marshall's eyes he swears he can see a wet shimmer starting to glaze over his partner’s as well. "Prove it then."

There's a flicker of something in blue eyes, so fast that Colson almost thinks he hallucinates the emotion altogether. But then Marshall's wrapped up arm wiggles between their bodies. The dark blue of the sling catching and sliding so his scratched up fist can shimmy its way partially out. "Planned on it-" There's something clutched tight there, black peeking out from between Marshall's finger and thumb. It's got Colson's heart dropping down into his stomach all over again. "What do you think I was driving so late on the M-8 for?"

"Marshall-" It can't be.

"Colson." But his shithead of an accident victim boyfriend is pulling back, both his good arm and slung arm awkwardly flailing in the air for a moment as he drops down on one knee. The visible wince not hidden as well as Colson imagines the man wants it to be. But Marshall's eyes are softening, and the blonde feels completely cemented in place. The only part of him moving being the uncontrollable shaky quiver of his bottom lip. "I had a whole moment planned, there were flowers, balloons, and those stupidly expensive alcoholic chocolates you love, but they all got absolutely trashed in the crash. Like, half of Detroit is probably going to think the Macies Thanksgiving parade started early. Paul called to have it all replaced, and honestly some intern is probably going to come banging on the door in about 20 minutes but I don't want to wait-" There's a flash of genuine worry that's furrowing the skin between Marshall's brows as he continues. "So I'm sorry this isn't gonna be that fancy perfect proposal you've always dreamed of-"

"Shut up." Colson's voice can't go above a whisper. His tone quick and clipped from how anxious he is to hear the man finally finish. "Just- shut up, ask me. Ask me Marsh, please-"

"Fine, always need to rush me."The rapper's lip quirks at the corners. Hands transferring the small box between eachother with a bit of fumbling. "Will you, Colson Baker-" Until Marshall can finally get it open with an audible clunk. "Legally commit to being with my annoying old ass forever?" 

[thewritewolf]

Multiple Second Chances Chapter 1: Pranks

When something goes wrong with the miraculous of the main duo, they each choose a hero to take over for them while Marinette tries to make things right. Of course, with so many former heroes now compromised, they can't let old guardian rules drain their pool of heroes even more.

A Snekmouse story.

@adrinetteapril

First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Read on Ao3

“Hey, sugarcube!” Plagg said as he phased into the purse where Tikki was hiding.

“Plagg!” She hissed at him. “You aren’t supposed to be here! Go back to your chosen right now!”

“Yeah, yeah, in a minute,” Plagg said, irritably waving a paw at her as he peaked out. It quickly returned to clutching his prize.

“No not in a minute, right-” Tikki suddenly froze. “What are you holding?” Her voice became edged with panic. “What are you holding?”

“What, this?” Plagg hefted the black orb he held. To a human eye, it would look like nothing more than a black pearl. But to a kwami? They could see the rolling clouds of crackling dark energy in it. “Just a little gift for a too-handsy little snake.”

“Get rid of it! That can cause some serious damage in the wrong hands!”

“Relax, sugarcube,” Plagg said, rolling his eyes. “I didn’t charge it that much. Just enough for some bad luck and maybe some illnesses. Real ones, to go along with her many fake ones.” His ears twitched as he sensed a good opportunity to cross the room. The moment he tried, he was pulled back. He looked around to see Tikki grabbing at his orb.

“While I agree she isn’t good, this is too far! And you might endanger our chosen with this recklessness. Not to mention their identities!”

“Then it's a good thing I wasn’t asking for your permission!” Plagg tugged at his pearl, but Tikki refused to let go. Being the ancient being of immense cosmic strength he was, he did what came naturally - he pulled back even harder. “Gimmie my ball!”

“No!”

“Spoilsport!”

“Instigator!”

As they each drew on more of their energy, the orb - fragile enough already - began to crack. White energy, no doubt Tikki’s doing, poured out.

The orb shattered, driving them into opposite corners of the purse.

“See what you-” Plagg coughed. “See what you did?”

“Me?! You- You’re the…” Tikki trailed off as she rubbed at her forehead, whimpering. “I don’t feel great…”

Plagg couldn’t reply, all his attention focused on gripping his stomach and trying not to be sick. Outside the purse, there was a commotion and Plagg slinked away into his chosen’s bag just before the class emptied.

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

Adrien wasn’t entirely sure what happened, but after what had sounded like a small explosion, the room had filled with a horrible stench that had effectively canceled their Physics lessons for the day. And since that was his last class of the day, Adrien quickly found himself back in his room.

“That was super weird.” Adrien set down his messenger bag and opened it. “Any idea what it could have been, Plagg?” His heart dropped when he found his kwami curled up into a ball, shivering. “Plagg!” He gently grabbed his kwami and held him in his palm. “What’s the matter?”

“Blegh…” Plagg opened an eye and looked at him. “I, uh, I won’t bore you with the details but you’d better transform. Ladybug will be looking for you.”

“Wh- Huh?” Adrien frowned. “Are you sure? Will you be alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry, pigtails has a good head on her shoulders. She’ll know what to do.” Plagg gagged, his fur standing on end. “Or at least she’ll be able to figure it out with all those musty old Guardian books around.”

“If you say so… Plagg, claws out!”

Something immediately felt off. Besides being more than a little nauseous, he didn’t feel as strong as he usually did. But there was something that he couldn’t quite define that wasn’t right about this either. It was almost like there was something heavy in his gut, like a stone. Shaking it off, he got ready to leave.

After locking his door and turning on a piano recording, Chat Noir slipped out of his bedroom window and began running over rooftops. Just like Plagg had said, it wasn’t long before Ladybug was calling him. He answered quickly.

“Hey bugaboo.” With Plagg’s health on the line, he got straight to the point. “My kwami said you might know what to do?”

Ladybug bit her lip, a sure sign of worry. “I do, but I don’t like it. We’ll talk about it in person. Meet me here.”

Her face was replaced with a map of Paris, a blinking red dot showing her location. He raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t any of their usual haunts - the top of the Eiffel Tower, the spires of Notre Dame, any number of rooftops across the city. Instead, it was a garden filled with hedges. With how early into spring they were, they weren’t likely to see many civilians around, but still. He had a bad feeling about this, but followed her dot anyway.

“M’lady,” he said with a bow as he landed beside her. “What’s the news?”

“Plagg is sick, right?” Chat blinked in surprise but nodded. “My kwami is too. This isn’t the first time she’s gotten sick but, well…” Ladybug began pacing. When she started talking it was like a dam breaking down and everything came flooding out at once. “Last time I had Master Fu, but now we don’t have Master Fu and he was supposed to teach me everything but then, you know, and now he’s gone and I have his notes but I might be able to decipher them but I don’t know if I can do it and I-”

“My lady.” Chat caught her shoulders and stopped her in her tracks. “Take a breath, please. Okay? You can do this. If there is an answer to be found, you’re the one that can do it.”

To his surprise, Ladybug wrapped him in a hug. “Thanks, chaton.”

“No problem, bugaboo. Now,” he said, “is there anything else I can do to help? I want Plagg to be better as soon as possible. Plus, I don’t know how well I can fight feeling this weak.”

“About that…” She stepped away and pulled out an egg shaped item and opened it. Chat’s eyes widened as he saw all the miraculous ever seen fight alongside him. His wonder turned to dismay when he looked up to see sorrow in her eyes. “We’re going to have to take a break, kitty. Plagg and Tikki can’t get any better unless they get some rest.”

“You… want to take my miraculous?” A pit of dread opened up in his stomach. “But-”

“I know, and I’m sorry. But I promise it’s only temporary! I’ll even let you pick your… the person who will be filling in for you.”

“Okay…” That was something, at least. “So what miraculous would I be handing out?”

“I’ve actually given that some thought,” Ladybug said as she sat down. Chat followed her lead and watched as she sat the miracle box on the ground between them. “So the main issue to us taking a break is that we have to purify akuma, right?”

“Right. That’s why Master Fu brought out the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous in the first place, right?”

“Exactly! Now, I was doing some research and found out that the Yang-aligned zodiac miraculous can also purify corruption.”

“So…” Chat screwed his eyes shut as he struggled to remember his Chinese lessons. “Monkey, Tiger, Dog, Dragon, Horse, and… Rat?”

“Well, in our case the Mouse. Very good!” Ladybug smiled and Chat’s heart skipped a beat. “So those six miraculous could replace me. Well, mostly.”

“First, no one could ever replace you,” Chat said firmly. “But what do you mean ‘mostly’?”

“Only the Ladybug has access to the Cure. Which is why I think this one,” Ladybug pulled out the Snake miraculous, “would be the perfect choice to pair with one of the others.”

“The Snake?”

“Yes. It’d be the best way to reduce collateral damage until we can get the Cure back. If worst comes to worst, I can transform, but we have to avoid it whenever possible so Tikki can recover.”

“Smart as usual, m’lady. Who do you plan on giving it to?”

“Chat,” she chided. “You know I can’t tell you that.” She clapped. “Now, I know I usually choose all the new heroes, but given the circumstances, I’ll let you pick the other.”

Chat perked up a little and looked very carefully at the six miraculous. He had never seen the Tiger or the Dog in action and ruled them out. Monkey? Helpful, but too random. Horse? Too situational. Dragon? Maybe. But then he saw the Mouse and remembered the last wielder of that miraculous. He grinned as he picked it from the rest.

Marinette would be perfect! She was smart, just like Ladybug so she could definitely help take the lead. Not to mention Multimouse made for an excellent hero. He wasn’t super certain on how viable that powerset would be, but knowing Marinette, she’d find a way to make it work.

“The Mouse?” Ladybug said with a little confusion as he slipped the necklace into his pocket. “Not the one I was thinking you’d pick, but it’ll work just as well as the others.” She pulled the bracelet out and stashed it in her yoyo. “We’ll meet up tomorrow evening so you can give me your miraculous.”

Chat Noir smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Careful, you’re sounding like Hawkmoth.”

She rolled her eyes and gently punched his shoulder. “Go home, Chat.”

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

Naturally, Chat Noir did not go home. After all, his mind was already made up on who he wanted to give the Mouse miraculous to. Pulling his civilian phone out of his pocket, he sent a text to Marinette and asked about homework. Once she responded, he knew she’d be home. Hopefully alone in her room.

It took longer than he thought it would, but after a few minutes Marinette responded and Chat Noir went on the prowl. He couldn’t see much as he looked in from afar, but what he could tell was that there wasn’t anyone else in her room as she paced it frantically. In a few heartbeats, he had crossed the distance and landed on her balcony. His cat ears twitched as he heard her talking to herself.

He crouched down and knocked on her skylight and sat down while he waited.

The trapdoor opened just a crack. Blue eyes peering up at him, first curiously, then in shock.

“Chat Noir?!”

He bowed his head. “The one and only!”

“What- Why are you-”

“Can I come in?”

“I- Sure?”

Marinette opened the trapdoor completely and he slid inside, landing on the floor of her bedroom.

“So, um what can I-” Marinette was cut off when he pulled out the little box holding the miraculous. “No…”

“I, uh,” Chat Noir rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Sorry, I know Ladybug has a whole little speech, but I’ve never heard it in person.” A lie, but he wasn’t about to admit he had been so caught up in Ladybug’s eyes that he hadn’t committed her speech to memory. “I’m sure she told you it when you got picked to be Multimouse last time, but…”

“Chat, I can’t be-”

“I know, you’re worried about the identity thing,” Chat said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It really wasn’t a big deal that I found out. I’m surprised Ladybug took your miraculous over it, but I know that you’re more than up to the task. You’re smart, you’re brave, and you made a great hero!”

She looked between him and the box. While she was clearly torn, it was also very clear that she had been touched by his praise. Slowly, she took the box from his hands.

“I… accept.”

“Good. Let me fill you in on everything that’s going down. Or, at least as much as I’m allowed to tell you.”

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

Several hours later, Adrien was back in his room, playing the piano for real this time. It wasn’t his usual arrangement, but rather a jaunty ragtime tune, the kind that he knew Plagg liked. His kwami was resting in his favorite trash can, the last time he’d do so for who knows how long.

The prospect of not being a superhero weighed heavily on Adrien. What if he never got to become Chat Noir again, and he was shoved back into his regimented life with no hope of escape? What if Multimouse and his replacement were too good and Ladybug decided that he didn’t need to come back?

He shook his head, pushing the thoughts away. Ladybug cared about him, she’d never just abandon him. And he had meant every word he’d said to her - he knew that if anyone could heal the kwami, it was her.

But still the lingering fears remained…

At least until he heard a knock on his window. Framed against the dying light of the setting sun was Ladybug holding onto the string of her yoyo, face pressed close to the glass as she tried to look inside. His heart began beating a million kilometers an hour as he jumped up from his seat, nearly falling flat on his face as he rushed to open the window.

“L-ladybug!” He said, poking his head out the window. “What, um, what are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry to ask you this, given how awful your previous experience with this miraculous was, but…” Ladybug pulled out a black box with red markings and presented it to him. “Adrien Agreste, here is the miraculous of the Snake, which grants the power of Second Chance. You will use it for the greater good.”

“I accept!” He eagerly took the Snake miraculous. The excitement of being a hero became tinged with fear. “...Are you sure, though?” He frowned. “I kind of made a mess of it less time…”

Ladybug smiled warmly at Adrien. “It showed that you have determination. Not many people would be able to go that long trying to make things work. It also shows you are patient.” She took his free hand and set it over the miraculous. “Plus we both know how kind and caring you are. Perfect traits for a hero.”

“And what about Luka?”

“Hawkmoth knows his identity,” Ladybug said with a shrug. “Besides, I know you have the makings of an excellent hero. Now,” she said, moving past him to sit on the edge of his bed. “Let me tell you why we need you…”

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

The following day came far too swiftly. After giving Plagg all the hugs the kwami would allow, Adrien had transformed to meet up with Ladybug. He must have looked like a mess since her blue eyes softened immediately when he landed, and in a moment her hand was cupping his cheek.

“I’m sorry, kitty. I know how much this all means to you, but I promise you’ll be back in the cat suit before long.”

He sniffled and put a hand over hers. “I’ll miss you.”

She got a thoughtful look in her eye and looked away. He let her hand slide off his face, where it took up position cupping her chin.

“You know… we could still keep in contact.”

“How?”

“Master Fu had a dropbox that he prepaid a couple years in advance. We could leave letters there for each other, if we’re really missing each other.”

Chat perked up. “Really?”

“Mhm,” Ladybug hummed. She reached into her yoyo. “Here, you can have the spare key. It should have the location written on it.” She closed her eyes and turned around. “Detransform, hand me your miraculous and I’ll leave a letter when I’m done.”

“Right. Claws in.” Adrien gave one last sad look to Plagg before he took off the miraculous and he vanished. He pressed the ring into Ladybug’s hand. “See you soon, m’lady.”

“We’ll be back before you know it, chaton.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Adrien said. He ran away until he was out of the gardens before slipping on the Snake miraculous. In a ball of green light, a new kwami appeared. “Hey, Sass. Miss me?”

[lemonietrinket]

Reach ||| Felix x Reader

Summary: After finding out that you are older than him, you feel like the chances of your crush liking you back immediately go from low to zero in a matter of minutes. But there are a few other things you don’t know about Felix, besides his age that you somehow managed to miss, so not all hope is lost...

Genre: Fluff, angst, with some small bits of humour thrown in  Warning(s): Some poor language (inferred: text abbreviations) Word Count: 4329 (+11 photos of fake text) Theme Song: Sing Me - Day6 

AN: A request from anon, I’m so sorry it took so long! I hope you like it, it did turn out a bit angstier (and a lot longer) than I originally intended but the fluff I think makes up for it!

~~~

You always felt so giddy and light whenever Felix was mentioned in any capacity in your vicinity. Your heart could never stop pounding at the speed of light, while your stomach was always alive with butterflies, fluttering up into your lungs and leaving you short of breath.

But now, dread slowly began to seep through your body like a poison, the butterflies ceasing up and stuttering. Their corpses fell to the pit of your guts, and those that did not became lodged in your chest and throat, leaving you without air for another reason entirely.

Your fingers numbly opened your laptop and pressed the keys of Felix’s name. You never searched him, you felt like it was an invasion of privacy, especially when he was normally right there within your physical grasp if you so wished to take it (which you never did, you were too afraid to take the leap). But this was something small, and though it was somehow something so huge while being so, you let yourself off just this once. Not that you could stop yourself even if you’d tried. 

The screen turned white, the search bar scrolling unnaturally slowly, until finally Google returned your worst fear.

Age: 19. In bold, unavoidable text. As if you were stupid. And you felt as if you were.

It had to be wrong, it had to be. An inaccuracy in results. You’d seen them happen before, whales with four legs and members of other groups being represented by the wrong photo.

You clicked on the first webpage and scrolled, your eyes unblinking, unwavering. And then the second. And then the third. 

19.

You pushed yourself away from the desk, your face a stone wall while your thoughts ravaged in your head. 

You couldn’t comprehend how you’d been years older this whole time. You’d assumed he was your age, you were on such a similar wavelength that your subconscious hadn’t considered he wasn’t.  Meanwhile the irrational part of your brain refused to be quiet. He isn’t even 20 yet, it said, think old you were when he was 18, when he was 17, when he was 16—

It was only three years. It wouldn’t mean anything in half a decade but it still weighed so heavily on your shoulders.  

You knew Chan was still messaging you, the light on your phone wavering in the corner of your eye, blurred with brimming tears.  The truth was though that you weren’t even crying, not with the rest of your body at least. You didn’t feel like it, the usual energy you had festering and leaving you empty, meaning the tears built up but refused to fall.

All of those beautiful smiles that put the sun to shame and had been directed to you meant little now—only that he probably liked you as his senior, nothing more. There was a chance that he only smiled at you to curry more favour, not because he genuinely liked you. All while the age-hierarchy indicated that all of those texts were probably just him responding to you because he felt like he had to.  Even when hope tried to remind you that he didn’t grow up with it, and regularly texted first, the voidful feeling crushed it.

Because, ignoring all of the age-related qualms, you still hadn’t bothered to even ask him how old he was. That surely made you a bad friend, and if you couldn’t be a good friend to him then what partner would you be? You were undeserving of him, and he most definitely did not like you back.

Aimlessly, you moved from your desk chair to your bed, dragging the cold weight of you phone in your hand and letting the screen turn black. As you lay dejectedly upon the covers, your thoughts trailed off to think of the boy you’d fallen so hard and quickly for. His radiant smile that you wanted to be the reason for, his pretty eyes that you always found yourself gazing into no matter how much you told yourself not to, his adorable hands that you just longed to hold... It was as if his features were emblazoned in your mind, and nothing could wash them away, and it only made thinking how these things were out of reach for you now hurt more.

Hearing your phone vibrate by your head where you’d discarded it, you absentmindedly flicked your eyes up to look at the lit screen. Seeing who the notification was from, your fingers immediately opened it up before you could stop yourself, eyes scouring over the messages.

You’d forgotten all about the restaurant trip you had agreed to last week. Everyone was going to be there. Your thoughts briefly turned to rationalising an escape route—maybe if you claimed sick Chan would let you stay home, or maybe if you even told him the full truth he would?

It was nonsense of course, everyone was going, so you would have to attend at least for their sake. Plus, he would always say that moping wouldn’t help after all, and you had to face your demons eventually.

Nevertheless, it didn’t stop you from feeling a shedload of regret for agreeing. Even if there was no way you could have known, you scolded yourself for putting yourself in the line of potential damage. 

Still, you couldn’t deny how badly you wanted to see everyone and catch up on everything—make new plans, learn new gossip—but you knew if you glanced at him, even just once, you would shatter.

With your mind in turmoil, you felt drawn to the clock ticking away endlessly on the other side of the room. It felt as if it was counting down to an end, though you put a quick stop to your melodramatic heart’s ramblings in this circumstance. You couldn’t focus on the sound for your own sanity’s sake, otherwise you wouldn’t head out at all.  Opting to check the time, you spotted that you still had an hour and a half before you had to get ready, if you pushed it. And yes, rushing was not something you preferred, but you’d already made an exception for yourself today so why not another?

You slipped under your blankets, rolling over to face the wall and shut out the world. Gravity played its part and pulled the tears from the barricades of where they’d halted, clearing your eyes so you couldn finally close them comfortably.

You’d get through it.  Perhaps things would be ok.

.

.

.

Smooth jazz music wafted across the air in the restaurant much like the rich scents of delicious food from the surrounding tables. With everyone smiling at one another, laughing into their drinks and desperately apologising to the next table over, you’d never felt more out of place.

You’d strategically sandwiched yourself between Chan and Jeongin, praying that this combination would be the most likely to not attract the attentions of Felix. But, to your luck, the person you were so desperately trying to avoid ended up sitting right opposite you.  And, to make matters worse, he seemed very intent on trying to catch your eye, send you smiles, and—the worst part by far—talk to you.

Aimlessly picking at your rice with your spoon, you felt awful; not only were you unable to handle the situation quite literally right in front of you, you had practically become a deadweight in the group. Even when Jeongin asked you things, the boy who had grown up so much and never failed to make your laugh with is sass, you could barely muster answers configured of multiple sentences. All the while your eyes were cut off from looking at the vast majority of the room, forced to the confines of the table, your hard left and your hard right. 

Soon enough, the time came where Felix finally spoke to you, and god you wanted the word to swallow you whole. 

“Hey, Y/N, can you pass me the soy?” 

Gulping, your forehead creased as you slipped your hand across to take the sauce from Chan and rigidly pass it across the wood.

He seemed to pay no mind to your wordlessness, replying with a bright, “Thank you!” All you could do was pray that would be the end of it. 

But one of the qualities you admired in Felix was his diligence, and it took the form of gentle persistence on this occasion nonetheless.

“Hey, Y/N, do you want to play some video games at some point?” he enquired, hastily adding, “Jisung and I have been meaning to get round to trying out this new multiplayer, and it seems right up your street! The art is really cool, and I’ve already downloaded some of the soundtrack because it’s just that good.”

You centred your eyes awkwardly on your rice, answering as simply as you could, “Sorry I’m busy.”

You heard him chuckle, seemingly completely unfazed, and the sound snapped another one of your heartstrings, “Well, obviously not right now, but maybe, like, tomorrow evening?”

“Y-yeah, busy.” You hated how he quickly caught onto your silence and followed suit, but you also had to be thankful in some shape or form. Maybe you could get this night over and done with, and then get over your crush too and save yourself the majority of the heartbreak that you presumed was inevitable.

However, Felix was not that easily deterred and by your luck—or was it misfortune?—you suddenly saw movement out of the corner of your eye.

Taking the risk and glancing up ever so slightly, your gaze met the sight of your crush leant in over the table. His head was cocked cutely to one side, the feathered tresses of his fringe effortlessly accentuating his features, his hand reaching towards you carefully without a particular aim other than to try and show something. He’d inclined over to try and reach you, and you had accidentally fallen right into him, your eyes catching his and he smiled.

It wasn’t fair. Those pools of rich chestnut had held you and very nearly broken every single one of your defences.  Your breath hitched in your throat.

“Are you ok?” he asked, and you could only stammer incoherent phrases, your cheeks heating up as you tried to hold yourself together. 

There were many reasons why you had fallen so quickly for this boy in particular, like his resilience as mentioned earlier. Though another one of those things was his selfless kindness, and it had arisen to bite you: of course he would notice your silence, your crestfallen expression and worry.  “Y/N? Do you feel sick? Do you want to get some air?”

Unable to respond once again, emptily swaying your spoon in a half-empty bowl you heard his voice at a strange distance. You didn’t snap back into focus, and only then barely so, until he continued, “Come on, lets get some air.”

Head empty and crowded at the same time, you looked up without fully understanding why. You could only rationalise that it was to see the sight of Felix sending a nod to Chan to your right, before asking Changbin to shift a bit so he could get through. Your heart lurched at it, the amount of care he offered you gnawing at your lungs.

Before you knew it, Jeongin was helping you stand, and you were out from around the table, following Felix a few steps behind. 

Your focus once again settled on him and him alone, even though you’d promised yourself before you arrived to never do so again. You wanted to believe that he did all of this because he liked you back, that he’d fallen for you just as hard as you’d fallen for him, but you’d convinced yourself he was just extremely kind—and he of course was, therefore meaning that the story was all tied up and set.

Nevertheless, there wasn’t much that could have prepared you for what followed.

.

.

.

The cold hit your face and knocked the daze out of you, and you suddenly felt very awake, as if you’d fallen face first into a pool of ice cold water. Having stepped out onto the balcony, you had been plunged into the night with little to protect yourself with. Hence you wrapped your arms around yourself as best you could, drawing your jacket closed as your eyes surveyed the street just metres below.

The lamplights were warm against the navy of the night, and the few people that were still out dappled in and out of the shadows. You let your mind wander as to where they were going; a graveyard shift, out to a party, home. You wondered if any of them had someone waiting for them, a love they couldn’t wait to see and hold again after a long day out. The thought sent a pang through your heart. 

The change of scenery had successfully distracted you from the person who had both directly and indirectly led you into it, but you couldn’t exist painless forever. You had to confront him now.

It was Felix who spoke first, though. Before you could even turn around, his voice, deep and sweet, danced across the breeze. “Hey, do you feel any better?”

You nodded simply, lips pressed together as to avoid anything stupid and sudden.

He sighed, a sound filled with relief but also an edge of something else. “Ah, that’s great. You do look it... the light’s returned to your eyes a bit.”

The wind buffered around the nearby buildings, a police siren wailing in the distance, catching your attention to the junction at the end of the street. Turning your head away from him, you shivered at the cold, listening intently to it fading away into the hum of the traffic. 

“I guess you found out then,” Felix began suddenly, a car horn making the both of you jump.

“Found out what?” you asked, keeping your head ducked low as you turned back towards him. 

You heard him pause but remained afraid to glance up. He hesitantly shuffled on his feet. “Th-that I have a crush on you.”

The world continued; the traffic bustled along the mainroad, people hurried along the streets, dogs barked at nothing. 

But to you, everything went silent. Dead quiet. No wind, no clatter of shop gates, no mildly drunken yelling.  Just your heartbeat, beating harder by the second, and the sound of your crush’s nervous breathing.

You looked up at him at last, to see his face obscured by his arm as he rubbed the back of his neck idly. He moved it away eventually, revealing his head downturned as yours had been just moments before.

You stood transfixed as his voice wavered, knocked by the wind as he attempted to explain, as if he needed to rectify a mistake. “I-it’s ok, I don’t want to ruin the friendship now, I—uh...” he broke off as he swallowed thickly, and you noticed that his cheeks weren’t flushed from the cool air, but rather from the tears that were welling in his eyes. “I want you to know that I’m so happy with being just friends, and... I really hope I haven’t made you feel awkward around me and—I’m sorry I...” 

You found it so cruel of the world to make his eyes glisten as if they held the stars when they cradled tears. It was a form of twisted irony that he didn’t deserve.  But it was the final straw that made your heart snap.

The spring of tension and worry and fear uncoiled as you reached across the deck for him, pulling him into the care of your arms. You were taken aback by how neatly they fit around him, how perfectly he rested against your chest and how his nose nuzzled into your neck. 

“No, it’s ok! Shh, don’t be sorry, you have no reason to be sad. Please don’t be sad,” you found yourself whispering, your voice so fragile that it no doubt was carried away by the wind as soon as it fell to his ear. 

You rubbed your hand soothingly across the mid of his back, the other tracing up to his hair and stroking the tresses there.  Meanwhile, Felix remained confused. he longed to sink into your touch, his fingers gripping at your jacket being proof of that, but he couldn’t bring himself to relax. 

“What...? Why are you...?”

A smile slowly rising to your lips, you didn’t waste a second. 

“You haven’t ruined anything, I’d be so happy with being friends with you too, but—I like you Felix, I have a crush on you too...!” you rushed, pulling away to hold him at arm's length. Upon seeing his shining, wide eyes and his puffed, pouting lips you sighed in relief. Reaching up, you cupped his face in your palms, like you’d wanted to do for so long. “God, I was such an idiot...!” 

“No, you’re not stupid!” Felix emphasised, barely coming to terms with your confession himself.

Though you nodded desperately, caressing his cheek with your thumb. “But I am. I thought you didn’t like me back.” It was then that reality decided to hit you full force, the sound of the rest of the world returning to yours as you exclaimed, “Oh my god, you like me back?!”

“Y-you like me back?!” he echoed, hands fumbling at his chest before finally gaining the courage to come to your shoulders instead. There he delicately ran his fingers across your shoulders, as if to check if you were even real. “Why—why wouldn’t I like you back?”

“Because you’re younger than me!” you said, “I didn’t think you’d see me as even viable, like, I thought you saw me as only a senior to you and that...” You gazed into his eyes, no longer cradling stars but rather glistening with the gold from the restaurant behind you, watching as they widened even further. “Why would I not like you back?”

“Because you’re older than me! I thought I wasn’t cool enough for you, and that you only were nice to me because you had to look out for me!”

His answer forced an astonished laugh out of both of you, and before you knew it the pair of you were in borderline hysterics. Felix fell back to cover his mouth with his fist, walking an aimless circle as you merely bent over, hiding behind your palms. 

“We’re so stupid!” he announced, his eyes wide and incredulous, all the signs of tears long gone. 

You sank your teeth into your bottom lip as you knocked your head back up, staring at him incredulously as you shook your head. “At least we both are.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, returning to you, his hands reaching for yours, “we can be dumb together.”

“Exactly, it’s merely proof that we belong together.”

You didn’t think your words through then, but any fear was met with strength, as Felix showed no sign of disagreement—rather the opposite, gently caressing your hands in his before you finally interlocked your fingers. Back together, only inches apart, you were once again in each other’s solace, stood against the auburn haze of the city night and the cold it brought.

“I don’t want to be friends with you anymore,” he murmured, the brightest grin on his face as he glanced to your lips.

“Neither do I.”

Desperately trying to keep yourself together as the proximity and the intentions of both his and your words, you leant in until your foreheads met. There you welcomed the grace of the small touch with your whole heart, wondering if you would reach out to what you had dreamt of.

With your eyes closed, unable to take in the sight of his soft beauty, you took in the scent of him as his deep voice caught your attention. “Can I kiss you?”

“Yes!” 

Your words barely rolled of your tongue before the final gap had been closed between you and your lips met at last. 

His kiss was not what you expected; it was soft yet deep, as if he wished to instil final proof that he meant everything he’d said. You couldn’t help but melt into him, your hands drawing away from his own, only so you could loop them behind his neck. He mirrored you, his hands finding the small of your back, and pulling you closer as you pressed into him. 

Perhaps this time the world did stop, to momentarily regard you and the kiss that summarised all the feelings that had lingered in your soul for months. After all, it was a resurrection event too, as the butterflies’ sparks reignited, sending them spiralling throughout your body and you back into radiant life.

It didn’t matter to you though, as your world stopped and that was all that was important in that second. Just the feel of his lips soft and plump between yours, and the hum of absolute relief that mottled through your throat at the touch.

You pulled apart with a gasp from both sides, still entwined with your arms. 

Felix cursed, smile immediately returning to his features.

“What?” You cocked your head inquisitively.

“It’s so cold,” he said, exaggerating a shiver playfully to emphasise his point. 

You rolled your eyes at him with a chuckle, stepping away but instantly taking his hand into yours. It was a decision of mixed results, as yes you were holding his hand, but now you had to come to terms with just how tiny they were and how devastated that made you.

“Hey, stop ogling my hands!” he pouted.

You perhaps would have pressed the matter if you weren’t still dazed by how quickly everything in your life had changed for you. You swept your head back, before pulling your best Australian accent, “You don't like me ‘cause of my personality...”

He immediately caught on, the two of you immediately wailing, “Only ‘cause my body!”

You continued to laugh together as you made your way back inside the restaurant, grateful to be in the warm again.

“Honestly, I try to be nice to him one time...!” Felix said, pursing his lips as he shook his head.

“I know right! And he just throws it right back...!”

“Terrible hyung!”

“Hundred percent!”

As you turned the corner to where your table was, you only just caught sight of Hyunjin looking over in your direction before he suddenly shouted.

“Finally!” 

Confused, you took the lead, “Hey, sorry guys, I hope we weren’t gone for—”

All of a sudden you were confronted with seven guys sighing and sinking into their chairs with relief. Changbin was rubbing his eyes, Minho had his eyes centralised on the ceiling, all the while Jeongin was grinning wildly at Seungmin, a hand outstretched and beckoning for something, to which the elder was desperately miming for him to cut out. 

No answer came to mind until you noticed Jisung exasperatedly smiling at the two of you, or more specifically your interlinked hands. 

Glancing at Felix, silently asking him if he knew about this to which he shook his head bemusedly, your attention was taken away by Chan who had stood, making his way to the both of you.

“At last,” he stated, his features folded into tired relief, “praise the lord, I was starting to think we were going to need divine intervention—”

You heard Minho pipe up behind, “By divine intervention he means me!”

“—but thankfully we didn’t. God, I’m just happy that you finally did it.”

“Thanks...?” Felix looked at him sheepishly. 

You exhaled a laugh, bringing your new boyfriend a little bit closer to your side—something he of course didn’t have a single gripe with—ahead of catching Chan’s attention. “Bang, what is all of this?”

He pouted. “Hey! You can’t get mad at us for being sick of you two! Imagine having to watch two obviously-in-love people dance around the in-love-with-each-other part for months. It was driving us insane!” Before you could interject, the he continued, “It doesn’t matter now, we’re just happy that you’re together now at least. And look! Because I’m a good leader I’ve moved myself out of the way so you two can sit next to each other.”

Unable to quite comprehend this further development, that the entire group had been anxiously waiting for you to get yourselves together and confess for as long as you’d literally liked each other, you murmured a ‘thank you’, before  beginning to make your way to your new seats.

Your food was inevitably cold, but neither of you minded at all. The rush of newfound love had sated your appetites rather enough for tonight, though you expected you could go for one more thing. 

Ignoring the bustle of his group mate’s comments, and the rather proud smile of Chan opposite you, you turned to Felix, “Hey, do you want to share some ice cream?”

The look on his face made your heart flutter instantaneously.

It was as if the sun had risen, his pretty smile gleaming while his nose scrunched sweetly. “Yes please!”

Knowing his favourite flavour of the top of your head, you sat back and let Hyunjin call for the waitress so everyone could order desserts. Even when the others spoke to you, and even though you felt even more alive than normal, you always found yourself looking back to Felix, taking in the sculpture of his adorable face that you now could hold between your fingers if you so wished. 

He meanwhile got shy under your gaze, smiling to himself as he looked away coyly.

As you leant in to whisper how adorable he looked in his ear, you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket.  Taking it out swiftly, your heart swelled as you read the message upon your lockscreen. Sending a thankful grin to the man opposite you, you quickly turned your attention to detailing your order to the waitress.

And at last, things were much more than ok.

~~~

AN: ok so this took longer than i imagined (like a solid 4 hours at least, idek i wasnt actually counting) 

the irony is i actually wrote that felix’s age was 20 until i luckily checked and found he was still 19. i’d forgotten to count that his birthday hadn’t happened yet but. yeah. proud stay moment.

apologies for any poor quality ss, my phone hates me

i hope you enjoyed anon and so again for the wait!

Masterlist

[takerfoxx]

Blood Island, Chapter 6

Okay, one last chapter before I start working on cross-posting!

...

She left.

Nuriel didn’t bother waiting for daybreak. She didn’t even prepare herself for the journey. She just climbed down from the ship and started walking, following the twisting paths of sand as they wound around stone hills and cut across canals of water. It didn’t matter what direction she was going, just so long as she was heading away!

She couldn’t stay. No, no sir, not a bit. The Carmilla’s Fancy was now officially demon territory. As far as she was concerned the birds could have it back!

And wasn’t it just her luck?! Wasn’t it bad enough that she be thrown to her death during a monstrous thunderstorm? Wasn’t it bad enough that she had to wash up on a bizarre island inhabited by…by monsters of both feather and scale, enormous spiders, crawling slugs, and most likely ghosts as well? But no, now she had to be stalked by a demon, a being powered by Hell itself! If she stayed too long under its watch it would no doubt drag her off into the Pit!

She kept walking, sometimes stomping through the sand, sometimes sloshing through the shallow canals.

Hell, she might’ve been better off just drowning after being thrown overboard! At least then she might have had a chance of escaping eternal damnation! Who knew, maybe the Saints and Angels would have taken pity on a poor, young sinner. But if she consorted with the spawn of Hell itself? Oh no, no salvation for her!

It was then that Nuriel noticed that she had left the labyrinth of sandbars, canals, and smaller islands, and was now walking along the island’s coast, with the open sea now to her right.

Nuriel stopped and stood in the sand, staring out at the surf. It had not been too long ago that she had been thrown into those very waves, abandoned to drown as punishment for her perceived crimes. The memory of her struggles to escape her watery grave were still very fresh in her mind.

But more pressing was the memory of golden light and green eyes, of a black smile grinning up at her from the water.

Nuriel shivered. It would not do to forget that there was another monster out there, one that prowled the depths. She couldn’t stick to the coast lest it reach out and drag her under. She couldn’t move further inland lest something find and eat her. And no matter where she went, there was no place that the red-eyed monster couldn’t find her. Hell, it probably was following her right that second, watching with amusement as she tried to get away from it!

Was it even possible to be even more fucked than she already was?

Shaking her head, Nuriel moved forward. She had to keep moving. To stop was to die. She had to find…someplace, someplace where she wouldn’t be followed. But what were the chances of that happening?

Nuriel had no idea how long she walked. She passed by the grove of red fruit that the chirpers had shown her, around towering cliffs, through a lagoon around which slept a family of weird, shaggy things that looked like horse-sized turkeys, complete with blunt beaks and crested heads. She walked under towering bridges of stone and past lush jungles. She waded through canals that drained out into the ocean.

Then, as she passed by another hill that rose up from the beach, she caught sight of an odd tree.

It sat on the top of the hill and was strangely shaped. Nuriel paused and looked up at it. There was something very strange about its leaves. They were certainly thick, but were unlike she had ever seen, too large to be like the trees back in England, too sharp-edged to be palm fronds, and they most certainly weren’t needles. Plus, they were moving in an odd way, one that couldn’t be explained by the wind.

And then she heard a familiar sounding cackle, and she froze.

And then the tree suddenly lit up with dozens of golden eyes, and she understood.

No.

With a shrill cry to action, the first of the birds leapt from the tree, spreading its wings wide. Nuriel didn’t stick around to see the rest take off. She ran.

As her feet pounded the sand, she cast a fearful behind her. The tree was now abandoned, revealed for the naked dead thing it was, and the birds were giving chase, darkening the sky behind her, their bloodthirsty screams filling the night.

No.

This couldn’t be happening! Out of all the things she had to run into, it had to be them?

Then she felt something hit her shoulder. The lead bird rose up, cackling as it went, leaving a gash in her shirt. The skin beneath was barely scraped.

This was of no relief. Another bird reached her, and she was cut again, this time along her back. They were going to cut her down little by little until she slowed, and then they would descend upon her en masse.

She was going to die.

No.

She was going to be brought down.

No.

She could feel them now, feel the hot lances of pain as their talons slashed through her clothes.

No.

She was going to be eaten alive.

No.

She was going to die here, now, tonight, and there was nothing she could do about it.

No!

Then, as she rounded another cliff, hands flailing as they futilely tried to protect her head, she saw a chance.

She had come to a bay, in which a river emptied into the sea. And it was surrounded by a thick grove of bamboo.

Desperate for any kind of shelter, Nuriel found a final burst of energy and took off, pursued by vengeful screeching and the flapping of dark wings.

The birds struck again and again, slicing away at her clothes, cutting into her flesh. But she didn’t stop. The pain galvanized her on, the terror giving her legs strength and speed.

Somehow she made it. Nuriel burst into the bamboo thicket, throwing herself between the shoots and forced herself further and deeper in. Behind her, the birds screeched with rage as they tried to follow, but while they were small enough to fit, their bodies weren’t properly shaped to navigate the tight spaces.

Once she had gone as far as she could, Nuriel collapsed. Her back, shoulders, and the back of her neck felt like they were on fire, crisscrossed with hot agony. Furthermore, she was covered with something wet and sticky.

Hands shaking, Nuriel touched a finger to her shoulder and brought it to her eyes. Even in the dark she could tell that her fingers were now slick with blood.

Something inside her broke, something she had been struggling to hold together for a very, very long time, long before she had even washed up on the island. Nuriel slumped down and started crying, great, shaking sobs wracking her body.

This is the end, she thought with great bitterness as she sobbed and wept like a little child. I’m done. I’m beaten. If I don’t bleed out here, something else will find me. I’m dead, I’m fucking dead, I’m-

It was then that she surfaced enough to notice that the birds were no longer screaming. And in that absence, she heard something through the nearby river, something…large.

Now too scared to cry, Nuriel tried to get up, but the burning fire that was her back flared up so much that it brought fresh tears to her eyes. Gritting her teeth, she moved herself around as much as she could to try to get a look through the bamboo shoots.

What she saw told her that her night had somehow gotten worse.

A long, dark shape was moving through the river, heading toward the sea. It was huge, easily over twice her height, and had a vaguely crocodilian shape, if a crocodile walked along on two massive legs; with a bullet-shaped head suspended on a long, thick neck; and an equally thick tail that stuck out far behind it. Instead of a front pair of legs, it had a two clawed hands.

Though it was only in silhouette, Nuriel had no trouble seeing the rows upon rows of sharp teeth whenever it opened its mouth, or the two huge sickle-shaped claws, much like those on the feet of the feathered butchers, only this one had one on each hand.

Nuriel clamped a hand over her mouth to keep any sound from coming out. Her pain momentarily forgotten, she ducked down as far as she could, listening to the deep growls of its breathing and the water sloshing around its legs.

She closed her eyes and mentally willed the crocomonster to just keep walking, keep on its moonlight stroll, and to pay no attention to the tiny, insignificant, quivering creature that was hiding nearby.

The sloshing stopped.

Oh no.

Nuriel opened her eyes again. The crocomonster had stopped and was now standing still in the river. It lifted its head and sniffed the night air.

The blood. It smelled her blood.

Then it turned its head toward her.  

The next thing Nuriel knew, the crocomonster had forced its massive head into the bamboo thicket, bending back the stalks with its two clawed hands, revealing where she was cowering.

It looked down at her, a monstrous black shape blotting out the stars, and she looked back up at it.

Then with a guttural growl it stepped forward and bent its head toward her. Nuriel tried to run, but she had neither the space nor the strength, and its jaws closed in around her.

It lifted her up, the dagger-points of its teeth pressing into her. Nuriel thrashed and kicked, but it did no good.

But it didn’t bite down. It just held her there, carrying her as it returned to the river, wading back the way it came.

Nuriel gawked as she was carried through the air. It’s taking me home, she realized. It’s taking me home to its nest. But to what? Save her for later? Feed her to its young? Regardless, whatever it intended for her, she would not survive.

Suddenly the crocomonster stumbled. Nuriel’s body jerked terribly, and some of the teeth punctured her.

The crocomonster stumbled again, and she tumbled out of its mouth.

Nuriel hit the river. The shock and the cool water momentarily numbed her pain but not her fear. She knew she ought to start swimming, but her limbs wouldn’t respond.

There was very little current, so she was surrounded by nothing but darkness and cold and the sound of the crocomonster’s legs as they thrashed through the water. She heard its hoarse and distorted roars. It sounded like it was in pain.

Maybe it’ll step on me, she found herself thinking. The possibility didn’t seem so bad. At least it would be quick. Probably.

And then, as she drifted off, waiting for it to finally end, a most curious thing happened. Out of the dark a golden light appeared, one that was moving toward her.

Was that an angel, come to take her away? If so, then God was even more merciful than reported, if He was to overlook her life of thieving and deceit.

There was something in the light, something that was…vaguely human in shape, but far too long and sinuous. It was swimming toward her like a dolphin, its body rising up and down. That didn’t look like an angel.

And then it got close enough that Nuriel could see its face. It was the face of a girl, framed by long, flowing hair. There were stripes across the face, and its eyes…

Its eyes glowed bright green.

…

Nuriel Cunningham woke to the sound of falling rain.

This time, there was no gradual drift back to consciousness, no slow rise from the depths of oblivion. It wasn’t a fight, it wasn’t a fade; one moment she was dead to the world, and the next her eyes had snapped wide open, and she was lying on her back, staring up into darkness as the rain’s clamor filled her ears and her heart pounded away in her chest.

She was…where was she? Was she alive? Had she survived? Had the crocomonster actually brought her back to its lair? Was she moments away from being feasted on by its young?

Or maybe she had washed up on the beach, and the birds were watching her from above, waiting for her to show some signs of life so that they could snuff it out!

Or maybe the sea monster had hauled her through dark waters and had brought her to its underwater lair, and she was to be made its bride!

(of the available choices, she found herself hoping it was the latter)

Surprise was still coursing through her, so Nuriel made a concerted effort to slow her breathing and take in what information she could gather.

Fact 1: She was not dead. This was encouraging.

Fact 2: She was somewhere dark, lying on a flat, hard surface. This was discouraging.

Fact 3: It was cool, but not outright cold. This was neutral information.

Fact 4: It was apparently raining, but not on her. So she was probably inside…something. This honestly could go either way.

Fact 5: She did not…

Nuriel frowned.

Though she had yet to build up the willingness to move, now that she was taking stock of herself, she didn’t seem to be in any pain. Now, that was just odd. Encouraging, but also very odd, because by all rights she ought to be in agony. The birds had ripped her back and shoulders apart, and she had been stabbed in the belly by the crocomonster’s teeth. And yet she could not detect any hurts.

This might be a problem. Maybe she was dead.

Nuriel concentrated on her right arm. It lifted. The fingers tingled, and it felt a little sluggish, but it lifted.

She laid it on her stomach. She was still wearing her shirt. She ran it over the fabric until she found the holes where the crocomonster’s teeth had gone through. But the flesh beneath was whole.

Nuriel breathed in and out. Her chest lifted and sank. Well, she felt alive.

Letting her hand lay across her stomach, Nuriel then shifted her focus to her left arm. She curled the fingers and ran them across the surface she was lying on.

Wood. Old wood.

Uh-oh.

Nuriel slowly sat up. Every bit of the way she expecting her back and shoulders to flare up in hot agony, but it didn’t happen. She felt woozy, yes, and strangely tingly, but she didn’t hurt.

Nuriel looked around. It was as she had feared: she was back in the Carmilla’s Fancy. It was dark, but meager light shown through the chips, holes, and cracks in the hull, though oddly enough no rain was coming down through the holes in the deck. She tilted her head and listened. From the sound of it, something had been laid over the deck, some kind of covering.

Her bad feeling growing, Nuriel reached behind herself with one hand and up to her shoulders with the other.

The back of her shirt was a shredded mess, but there were no bloody gashes beneath. She was fine.

Then, just to make sure, she lifted a trembling hand to her ear, the one that the bird had torn. The flesh was still ragged, but it no longer hurt. The infection was gone, and the skin healed.

Nuriel slowly laid back and stared up into the shadowed ceiling as she tried to make sense of this.

By all rights, she ought to be dead. Even if the crocomonster had failed to end her, something else would have. She had been torn and bleeding, a sure signal to any predator that an easy meal was nearby.

But she wasn’t dead. She had been returned to the ship. She had been made well again. Her wounds were all closed, both the ones she had gotten fresh and the ones that her first encounter with that evil bird had given her.

Green eyes swathed by golden light, swimming toward her out of the murk.

Nuriel shivered. The sea monster had brought her back; there was no other explanation. Perhaps even with the red-eyed monster’s help. It would not surprise her if they were in league.

As for how she had been healed, it was magic. It had to be magic. The whole island was probably full of it.

But what kind? Was she now touched by demons? Was her soul now irreversibly stained? Was Heaven’s Gate now forever closed to her?

Oh, come off it. Like you had half a prayer of getting in anyway.

Well, she was alive. That was the important part. In the end, survival was all that mattered-

Wait!

Nuriel’s upper body bolted straight up. She hastily swung her leg around and seized the boot, hands thrusting themselves inside, fearful that she would find-

St. George was still there, resting snugly in his hidden sheathe.

Sighing with relief, Nuriel drew him out and lay back again, hands clasping him to her chest. It was all right. She still had him.

Nuriel’s head slumped to the side.

Then she frowned. Wait, there was something there.

The pale light was shining in through one particularly large crack, and it was illuminating something…new. Nuriel sat up and crawled over to investigate.

It was the basket of fruit, still full. Sitting next to it was a corked glass bottle. And on it was a piece of paper.

Nuriel picked it up. As she did, it unfolded in her hand, revealing itself to be a very, very long piece of paper, one that spilled all the way to the floor.

It was another note, no doubt courtesy of the red-eyed monster. Only this one wasn’t a few short messages and amusing illustrations. This one was…long.

Sighing, Nuriel set it aside. There wasn’t enough light to read it by, and right now she was too tired to give it the effort.

She then looked to the fruit. Twice she had rejected the gift, but now she no long really had the luxury. Healed she might be, but she was still very hungry, and her throat was parched with thirst, something that the sound of rain was doing nothing to help.

Nuriel picked up the bottle and yanked out the cork. She gave it a sniff.

Wine.

Wine that could have any number of things added to it, her father’s voice cautioned. Are you willing to take the risk?

Do I have a choice? Nuriel thought bitterly. Besides, in moments like this, a bottle of wine was exactly what she needed.

Holding onto the bottle with one hand, she grabbed the basket of fruit with the other and dragged it back into her dark corner.

[malfoygrass]

Could you write about a instance where either Draco or Astoria gets jealous and how they react?

-Why Not Both-

Draco Malfoy wasn't jealous! He wasn't, really, he had a perfectly good (if vindictive and social climbing) girlfriend named Pansy and he did not envy Harry Potter one bit. Especially not for taking little Astoria Greengrass to Hogsmade for a butter beer.

Why would he care about Astoria Greengrass, really, she was a baby, fifteen to his ( and Harry's) seventeen. Cute as she was and virtually off limits thanks to her frankly scary older sister Daphne, she barely registered on his radar these days. Except Draco was lying to himself and he knew it.

Astoria was different from the other girls in her year, Draco had caught her on more than one occasion smuggling illegal herbs and flowers to and from the dungeons and she as well might have seen him do one or two things he wasn't supposed to do when the 'Potter Stink' badges were distributed. She was secretive, the little slip of a girl, with her wide blue eyes that caught any detail in peripheral vision, silky brown hair, usually braided in a different classic hairstyle each day. She had a habit of following Draco with her eyes whenever they were in the same room, daring him to approach her and find out what she knew, crack open her secrets and maybe, just maybe, make her smile or steal a kiss. Which he didn't because he wasn't aware Astoria Greengrass existed .

Maybe he was fixated on her outing with Potter because she made her make believe look so easy. Little Astoria, daughter, sister, princess. Her circle of friends played the part of a court of storybook characters, the knight, the fairy, the jester, the simpleton, the smart peasant. In her vicinity everything was pastel, everything was pleasant, people drank tea and discussed the weather, classic books and the latest magic breakthroughs. To step into her world was to allow oneself to fall for her fairytale facade where only Astoria was in control of the narrative. Manipulative minx.

How Harry Potter fell for the ladylike princess act Draco didn't know but he wasn't fooled, Astoria was anything but docile under all her social graces, she liked her narrative and wasn't above hexing others to keep her court of roses in perfect working order. In her fairytale (or what she let people believe was her fairytale) everything was perfect and all a princess needed was a prince... Hence the date with Harry Potter.

Why couldn't she have picked him? He was a better bet! Did it really have to be the stupid chosen one. He was marching over to break up the lovebirds..but no, he wasn't jealous.

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

Some people thought that Astoria Greengrass was above things like petty jealousy, or stealing someone else's boyfriend. She used to think so too, until she turned fifteen and Draco Malfoy began to notice her when she didn't want him to notice her.

That's when she discovered that no, she wasn't above stealing someone else's boyfriend, especially if that someone else was Pansy Parkinson.

At first Draco's meddling in her affairs had been annoying. Taking her precious Venus Faetrap back to Professor Sprouts greenhouse and subtly blackmailing her with the fact that he knew who had hexed Taylor Featherstone into keeping quiet about her stash of Larkspur and Belladonna.

She showed him she could play the same game, let him stew on his juices when he realized she'd known who was distributing anti Potter merchandise. Let him understand she wasn't to be intimidated when he caught her watching him slip a nasty potion in Collin Creevey's treacle tart. She was quiet not stupid and he wasn't all that he appeared to be either.

She didn't know when watching him had passed from a necessary evil to an entertaining pastime, but as it was, she began to learn his habits. The way he took his breakfast and which subjects he excelled at. For a Malfoy, Draco did hide alot in plain sight, like his love for sweets for example, and his perchance for illegal charms to keep himself perfectly clean and put together. Also Astoria could tell that he didn't care for Pansy, which was unfortunate since Astoria was beginning to care...for him

And she absolutely hated Pansy.

And feeling jealous was annoying, Astoria Greengrass didn't do jealousy as a rule, really, her life was perfectly put together in theory, every step planned down to the letter, plus there wasn't a chance in Hogwarts that Draco Malfoy liked her back.

It didn't mean she disliked Pansy Parkinson any less for getting to kiss Draco. The older girl was a vindictive menace, Ugh couldn't the pug faced cow tell that he didn't liked to be mauled in public?. If anything the day Astoria broke them up, she'd be doing Malfoy a favor. As soon as she figured out how to make Draco aware of the fact that she liked him she was going to push Pansy down a very deep wishing well.

But first she needed to find out if Hermione Granger liked him too. Because the rumors said she did and Astoria didn't have the heart to push HER down a well, Pansy Parkinson at least was decent competition, Hermione Granger was way above Astoria's league. It was like pitting Ron Weasley against Victor Krum.

Hence why she was making an effort to engage Harry Potter into conversation about Hermione Granger and somehow in an effort to get him alone, she'd ended up having a Hogsmade butterbeer with him.

Would her luck ever cease to amaze her?

Harry Potter tough, he was what her father would call a fixer upper. One conversation with him and Astoria was itching to take over his disastrous of life. The boy who lived needed a wardrobe overhaul, a decent magical attorney and a healthy dose of self preservation.

Oh Harry Potter was a project waiting to happen, Astoria felt her magic itching to just make his life better, cut his hair, fix his eyesight, feed him red meat.

Finally after making another subtle suggestion about a magical oculist in diagon alley she was getting ready to grill Harry on Hermione Granger when Draco flounced over like an a peacock

"Couldn't you have picked a better candidate for your new prince charming little Greengrass?" Draco sneered "this one is dead meat already, with what is coming for him"

"What did you just say big Ponce?" Harry Potter growled back "one can't even have a butterbeer in peace without you getting into one's business"

"He's not getting into your business Harry" Astoria murmured demurely but Draco saw her eyes flash in rage "he's meddling in mine, and for that I apologize"

"Astoria you are coming with me" Draco wagged a finger at Potter "I never knew the Greengrass house to consort with the rabble and you won't be starting now"

"Look who's talking, why don't you go off and suck face with Pansy" Astoria shot back "I'm sure she's thrilled anytime she gets closer to doing to you whatever dementors do with people's souls" then just to be petty she added "at least Harry Potter is pretty"

"Thanks Astoria" the clueless griffindoor mumbled just before Draco exploded "oh.. now I get it" Harry mumbled quietly to himself as he got what was happening and decided to stay out of Malfoy's lovers quarrel.

"Are blind? Out of all the people in my year you had to pick HIM? I never thought you to be a Potter fan"

"He doesn't have a girlfriend and Papa would love him, bad eyesight and all" Astoria fired mortified "And you don't get to tell me what to do, I can have as many dates as I want, kiss as many boys as I want, go cr... WHAT ARE YOU DOING" She squeaked as Draco pulled her away from her table dragged her out of The Three Broomsticks with as much force as he could

"Now listen listen to me Porcelain, jealousy does not look pretty on a face like yours, this ends now" Draco hissed as soon as they were far from onlookers "you want me to leave Pansy, fine! I will but if you ever let Potter or any boy so much as touch you again..."

"Break up with her" Astoria demanded a little out of breath trying to look him in the eye despite being so much shorter than him "break up with her and you'll be the only boy I will ever allow to touch me"

"You don't make the rules here" he was so close he could almost taste the butterbeer in her breath

"I'm not above kissing him to prove my point and you know it"

"Over my dead body, you're mine" he said just before he kissed her.

It was an impulsive kiss, hard and demanding, Astoria gave as good as she got pulling him by the lapels of his robe until she was out of breath "your jealousy will be the death of me"

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

Later after trying and failing to stay away from each other during the subsequent school years, plus the battle of Hogwarts and the aftermath of it all, Draco's inability to let Astoria go and his need to stamp his ownership all over her would make itself known in the form of a particularly binding marriage contract and an over the top wedding.

Not that Astoria minded, after all...she did make him get a magical tattoo with her name in bold cursive.

[cheemerthelizard]

Crusader of Life (Kakyoin x Reader) Chapter 13

After the whole dream fiasco was sorted out, Joseph decided to take a day off from Stand attacks and let everyone relax a little bit before Egypt. Nothing could go wrong. At least, you hope so...

“So, what brings us here, Mr. Joestar?” Kakyoin asked.

“Well, for one, I need to tend to my chickens!” Avdol rushed away, and everyone followed after him, until they reached a small cottage in the middle of the island.

“Hello, everyone!” Avdol said cheerily, looking down at his chickens. “Did you miss me? Hello, Prince! Lionel! Micheal!”

You had never seen Avdol so happy, and his joy was certainly contagious, especially to you.

“That couldn’t be the only reason, right?” Polnareff asked. “Surely there’s more to this pit stop than just chickens.”

Joseph chucked a little bit. “You’re right,” he shrugged. “We have a little... special surprise for all of you. Plus, we’re about to be making our way to Egypt, our final destination. We thought it would be good to let you relieve some of your stress before we face off against Dio.”

“Really?” Your eyes widened with excitement. “You’re actually letting us take a day off?”

“I sure am,” Joseph laughed. “Now, get out of here, before I change my mind.”

“Yes, sir!” Kakyoin chimed. He grabbed your hand and started running.

“Wh-aah! Hey!” You could barely keep up, but you had to if you didn’t want to eat grass for breakfast. “Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see,” Kakyoin answered, and gave you a little smile. Of course, that seemingly put you in a trance, and you ended up almost tripping.

“Woah! Slow down!” you laughed.

“But we’re here!” Kakyoin had stopped suddenly at a little patch of land with a big rock on it. “A good place to sit and talk.”

“You pulled me along so excitedly to sit at a rock?”

Kakyoin nodded, almost shamefully, and you responded with a laugh.

“I love it when you get so excited about small things like this.” This time, you took his hand and pulled him onto the rock with you. The two of you ended up talking for a long time, almost thirty minutes, about anything that came to mind. Stands, life back home, even just your interests. Times like this were always wonderful with him. Eventually, though, you couldn’t hold it in anymore, and you started to cry a little bit.

“Oh, was it something I said?” Kakyoin asked.

“No, no,” you reassured him. “Not at all. I’m just worried.”

“Worried? About what?”

The tears started to become more rapid with every word you said. “What if I die? What if someone else dies before I can save them? Kakyoin, what if... what if you die? I would never forgive myself if I can’t save you in time. I’m just so scared. All of you are so brave, and you always face danger with no hesitation. I wish I could be like that, but my Stand can’t fight. Ace can’t fight.”

“Oh, (Y/N),” Kakyoin pulled you closer. “Which one of us hasn’t been scared?”

“Jotaro,” you immediately replied. “And Joseph, and Avdol, and Polnareff, and... and you! You’ve never been scared.”

Kakyoin started laughing, as if he just couldn’t hold it in. “Me? Not scared of anything? Are you kidding? This whole time, I’ve been afraid. Afraid we might not make it in time before Holly dies. Afraid that one of my only friends will die in the battlefield. (Y/N), I’m afraid of losing you.”

You sniffled. “R-Really?”

Kakyoin nodded. “And everyone else has been afraid at least once, I’m sure. Both Polnareff and Avdol have been way too close to feeling the kiss of death, and Jotaro and Mr. Joestar are going on this trip specifically to save their family member. I’m sure they’re absolutely terrified they won’t make it in time.”

“I g-guess you’re right.” Your breathing was still very unsteady and sharp, but you had started to calm down.

“Oh, and one more thing.”

“Uh huh?”

“If I die, promise me you won’t blame yourself.”

You chuckled, while still trying to hold in your tears. “I promise, but only if you promise the same thing.”

Kakyoin nodded. “Well, I’m getting hungry. Maybe we should go back to get some food.”

“We definitely should,” you agreed. You shot up from your spot on the rock, and immediately felt a sharp pain ripping through the bottom of your left leg. “Ow!”

“What happened?” Kakyoin asked.

“I think a snake bit me,” you replied, making sure not to cry more than you already had. Eventually, Kakyoin spotted the snake, and started muttering something to himself.

“Red on black, friend of Jack. Red on yellow, kills a fellow. That was red on yellow!” he exclaimed. “We need to get back now!”

The two of you sprinted back from where you came, making sure not to run into anything on the way. You had made it about halfway whenever you toppled over.

“Kakyoin!” you cried. “I can’t feel my leg!”

Kakyoin stood there for a second, until picking you up and carrying you the rest of the way. Soon, the cottage was in eyesight, and you were met with two waving hands.

“Hello again, Kakyoin and (Y/N)!” Joseph said cheerily.

“Mr. Joestar...” Kakyoin was out of breath by the time you had gotten over there. “Snake bite... (Y/N)’s leg... red on yellow... leg is numb...”

“I was bitten by a venomous snake,” you finished his thoughts. “And I lost feeling in both of my legs now.”

“Uh oh,” Joseph’s tone immediately darkened. “That’s bad news.”

“I’m here,” Jotaro burst through the foliage, breathing heavily. “What’s going on?”

“I called him over with Hierophant,” Kakyoin explained. “I was going to call Polnareff, too, but I couldn’t find him.”

“Well, what are we going to do?” Avdol asked frantically. “This isn’t a Stand matter. Killing the snake that bit her won’t stop the venom from spreading.”

“The only way to stop it from infecting (Y/N) is to get it completely out of her body,” Jotaro muttered. Then he gasped. “I have an idea. (Y/N), are you still able to duplicate life?”

“Yes,” you answered weakly. Foam had started forming in your mouth.

“Good. I’ll need you to do that.” Jotaro summoned Star Platinum and had him press his lips to the bite. “Duplicate your blood. I’ll suck out any infected blood.”

“Okay.”

The feeling of blood being sucked from a wound was really weird. And from how forcefully Star Platinum was inhaling, you were sure all of your blood was being diverted straight to it. But you kept duplicating it, and so you never ran out. In fact, you started to feel better. You had almost regained feeling in your left leg, and everything else was feeling fine. Eventually, you had regained all senses, and shouted, “Now, Jotaro!”

Star Platinum wasted no time ridding himself of the infected blood, spewing it to the floor. Meanwhile, Jotaro was making a distorted face, like he had just eaten something he didn’t like. Guess venom blood wasn’t his favorite meal. You quickly wrapped your arms around him, almost crying.

“Thank you,” you were breathing heavily. “Thank you so much. So, so much.”

Jotaro seemed reluctant at first, but in the end, he decided, just this once, that you could hug him, which you were thankful for. How else would you show your appreciation for him saving your life?

“Alright, that’s enough,” Jotaro eventually said, shoving you off of him. “And you’re welcome.”

“Alright, I’ll bet you guys are hungry! How about we eat something?” Joseph suggested.

“That sounds nice,” you answered.

“I’m starved!” Kakyoin replied.

“I’ll go find Polnareff,” Avdol said, walking away.

“Will one of you go start the fire?” Joseph asked. “Jotaro! I’m sure Star Platinum can get it going really quick.”

“Sure.”

And soon enough, the whole team was sitting by the campfire, eating dinner. Apparently a Stand user had attacked Polnareff (again), and Avdol had gotten there just in time.

“And this time, I think I’ve truly learned my lesson,” Polnareff said. “I have to accept that my sister’s soul is now at peace.”

The six of you had been eating in silence for a little bit, until Polnareff spoke again. “Oh, and I heard that (Y/N) had a little encounter of her own.”

You nodded, and gulped down the bite you had taken. “I did.”

“A snake, huh? Must’ve been scary.”

“It kind of was,” you admitted. “I was terrified, actually.”

“We all were, I’m sure,” Kakyoin added. To your relief, the others nodded. Maybe what he said was right. Everyone gets scared from time to time.

Suddenly, interrupting your peaceful dinner, a loud splash came from the edge of the island.

“Ah, the surprise is here!” Joseph got up, and beckoned for everyone else to follow. When you had reached the shore, there was a giant submarine, waiting for you.

“Ta-da!” Joseph exclaimed. “I got it from the Speedwagon Foundation!”

“I don’t know about this,” you muttered. Unfortunately, Joseph overheard you.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, the boat we had before was fine, and there was a lot more of a chance that we would survive if a Stand user attacked us. I’ve just got a feeling in my gut.”

“Well, the Speedwagon guys have already taken our boat back to the shore on the other side, so unless you want to swim to Egypt, I guess you’re out of luck.”

You sighed, and reluctantly boarded the sub. “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”

[janiedean]

Now I want to hear the Stannis rant (when you have time)!!

hahahah have fun XD okay so for context, the tags I mentioned the aforementioned rant in:

#one day i’ll rant at lenght about how dnd never got stannis#bc they cannot conceive that a dude with THAT kinda moral compass is a complete disaster when it comes to interpersonal relationships#nor that half of the issues stannis has are bc he’s literally starving for people to see he has worth#while slaving for them anyway and being more competent than anyone else that passes before him#but this is not the day i guess

now: this is... a thing that I honestly struggle with when it comes to this fandom because the side that hates stannis thinks he’s a selfish arrogant asshole without feelings and the side that loves him is like ‘omg such a great battle commander GO RIGHTFUL KING HE’S SO BADASS’ and I feel like neither is an accurate reading because the first sees the character at mere face value (and most likely skipped the davos chapters) and the second only cares about his so-called badassness, but... thing is: stannis is an extremely competent person who’s also a disaster at relationships because he feels like no one cares for him (which isn’t exactly untrue as I’ll rant about later) who in turn everyone judges as uncaring and unfeeling when he actually isn’t and who in turn compulsively pursues what he can pursue because he has to compensate and who on the other side is absolutely starved for recognition except that he doesn’t get it.

and like... at this point I have to lay down the premises in the sense that while I really wish I didn’t, I... kind of really do relate a lot to that aspect - people assuming you’re cold/aloof because you aren’t immediately excited about things or don’t wear feelings on your sleeve - and tbh I really really love that grrm made a character who has the Good At Battles And So On reputation... a complete interpersonal rships disaster, because it actually gives him a whole new layer that I don’t see really discussed often and since that’s what I relate to... it’s sad. for me personally at least.

anyway, thing is:

the fact that stannis was the unloved baratheon brother is the exact first thing you learn from the acok prologue - I mean, ‘Stannis, my lord, my sad sullen boy, son I never had, you must not do this, don't you know how I have cared for you, lived for you, loved you despite all? Yes, loved you, better than Robert even, or Renly, for you were the one unloved, the one who needed me most.’ like, it’s the first thing the narrative throws at you in the face the moment that he does something that already puts him on the reader’s bad side ie dismissing poor cressen, but it’s basically the key to the entire damned point;

because first of all it implies stannis (who’s the middle child out of those three) felt like both his brothers didn’t love him and with their parents dying the way they did that goes too, and if we take into account the proudwing episode - he saves the damned hawk, he’s all happy he got it back to fly, robert mocks him for it and his uncle convinces him to let it die - it’s basically the metaphor for his life because whatever he does, the people who should notice don’t care;

this actually should be discussed along with the whole siege of storm’s end because like... stannis held out by almost starving himself and his men (but renly never mentions it whenever he speaks so I should suppose he doesn’t remember it as an extremely traumatic event when he was in the castle, so stannis made sure he actually had enough food to not starve most likely when no one else did) for robert and if he hadn’t done that when he was barely twenty if not nineteen they’d have lost the rebellion, which you’d think would give him nice things, right? no, because robert gives him dragonstone which stannis sees as a slight, he feels like robert loves ned more than him and he’s p. resentful about it, renly basically bypasses him when it’s time to claim the throne with the amazing explanation that ‘he’s not amusing and people wouldn’t like him’ when that’s not how succession works and he doesn’t seem to get one inch of appreciation by his relatives that he almost died for;

now he has that compulsive thing when it comes to laws and sticking to justice.... considering that he feels like all of his entire family wronged him since he was a teenager (and like, i’m obv. not blaming robert for not having been the best bc he also had trauma bc their parents died I mean we have issues but I get it) and like both his brothers feel like others (ned, loras/the tyrells) are more their family than him and/or that they don’t care for him because he’s sour/not immediately expansive/etc... are we surprised that he has that much of a problem with the concept of compulsively following justice/the rules? considering that when it comes to that it’s written black on white and fairness is objective, obviously he’s a sucker for the rules and he feels that strongly about his birthright - that’s because he feels like he can only trust in objective ruling that everyone should follow rather than people;

this is where I go personal, but... a thing that’s extremely common if you tend to be shy/not immediately an extrovert/if it takes you time to get to know people/if you aren’t a funny person automatically is that people start to assume you don’t have feelings or you don’t care about others, which in turn means that you tend to become even worse because the moment you open up you’re terrified that the other person will hate you, and that’s... peak stannis because the way he’s when the books start is out of all of that plus having married someone out of obligation for robert and getting humiliated on the same wedding night plus having just one daughter everyone sees as defective and that renly openly mocked at some point too but never mind that, and like... another thing with stannis that people don’t really notice is that while he’s crap at expressing his love for his daughter because he’s shit at feelings and relationships, he also loves her really fucking much and as someone else pointed out he didn’t educate her to marry into some other family, he educated her to be his heir and with davos’s male sons and so on, like he didn’t give her just a lady’s education, he gave her a full-on heir education, which outside dorne is unheard of, and in his last adwd chapter as much as dnd didn’t read it... he told people to put her on the throne if he died and to fight for her same as they would have for him. like, it’s obvious that he does love her, he’s just complete crap at showing it... same as he is in general because he doesn’t feel like he can be open about his feelings with people and because he pretty much has no fucking clue of how it works, which is... well... what happens when you grow up with that kind of emotional stuntedness;

that is, unless he’s talking to davos, which is what I’d really fucking like for people to realize. like, never mind the show, but when book!stannis talks to davos he immediately goes from 100% completely closed off to being all soft and as affectionate as it goes and I mean guys... just a couple quotes but:“He seemed ten years older than the man that Davos had left at Storm's End when he set sail for the Blackwater and the battle that would be their undoing. The king's close-cropped beard was spiderwebbed with grey hairs, and he had dropped two stone or more of weight. He had never been a fleshy man, but now the bones moved beneath his skin like spears, fighting to cut free. Even his crown seemed too large for his head. His eyes were blue pits lost in deep hollows, and the shape of a skull could be seen beneath his face. Yet when he saw Davos, a faint smile brushed his lips. "So the sea has returned me my knight of the fish and onions.""It did, Your Grace." Does he know that he had me in his dungeon? Davos went to one knee.”-"I am lowborn," Davos reminded him. "An upjumped smuggler. Your lords will never obey me.""Then we will make new lords.""But . . . I cannot read . . . nor write . . .""Maester Pylos can read for you. As to writing, my last Hand wrote the head off his shoulders. All I ask of you are the things you've always given me. Honesty. Loyalty. Service.""Surely there is someone better . . . some great lord . . ."Stannis snorted. [...] but I trust none of them as I trust you, my lord of Rainwood. You will be my Hand. It is you I want beside me for the battle."that’s TWO, and when davos says that his lords wouldn’t want him for a hand stannis goes like you’re more important than them to me pretty much, and in general the moment they’re alone together he’s way more open and vulnerable and sincere than he is when literally anyone else... that is because davos is the literal one person that not only is his actual friend (bc he doesn’t really have any other friends not even between his relatives), but also someone who:a) actually thinks the world of him;b) hasn’t batted an eyelid at his sense of justice I mean guys let’s be real he cut off davos’s fingertips bc he was a criminal at the same time as giving him a lordship after davos saved his life and everyone else’s and davos has the bones with him always because he thinks they’re his luck I mean k that’s extra but he actually does see stannis’s point when it comes to fairness;c) hasn’t disappointed him once;d) has only ever acted in his best interest;e) is the kind of person who’ll call him out on his bs rather than kiss his ass for honors and to someone who has stannis’s issues knowing that that kinda person exists means a whole damned lot;f) doesn’t think he’s there just to run the show without getting thankfed for it nor takes him for granted nor doesn’t recognize his efforts, which is 99,9% of his remaining issues with everyone else - ie that he does his job and does it well but no one recognizes it and everyone else passes in front of himg) sees his worth, which is a thing stannis is literally starved for but doesn’t get from many others period;which means he has one healthy relationship with someone bar maybe his daughter. one. that’s... not really that great or good whatsoever;

I mean there’s a reason why stannis wants that throne so bad. not that he cares about it, but that’s his right, so anyone else getting it would be the umpteenth time in his eyes that someone cheats him off something that’s rightfully is (storm’s end, his brothers’s love/affection/support etc); 

like, it’s not about how stannis is such a great badass fighter strategist, it’s that he wants the throne that badly because not getting it would be just the last straw in the list of slights he feels that he’s been at the end of for his entire life and one more humiliating than any of those others, because otherwise he wouldn’t give a damn;

and like... what I think dnd missed and a lot of people also do is that the ‘great commander who wins fights’ doesn’t mean he also can’t be a guy with extremely bad issues when it comes to interpersonal rships thanks to trauma and to the almost entirety of people around him writing him off as the not fun boring guy who only cares about laws when the only reason stannis cares that much about what’s fair and what’s not is that he feels like everyone else has been unfair to him.

and like....... recognizing that would require admitting that stannis is the farthest thing in these books from a badass conqueror guy who wins battles and wants to be king and will be an equally badass king - he’s an extremely competent guy who became competent at his job out of sheer stubborness and perfection complex who is everything but an emotionless machine (regardless of what people who should know better ie his brothers might think) and who has been disappointed so much in this sense that he can only have a healthy relationship with one single person who is not so coincidentally someone who saved his life, didn’t see anything wrong in his strike for justice, recognizes his worth and would die for him, which... is really not anyone else’s case in his immediate vicinities (not counting his soldiers and so on but that’s another problem entirely). that requires admitting that westeros crap toxic societal standards have hurt him too and that he has a second side that’s not really so cool (guys being emotionally stunted is not fun, I’ll 100% guarantee it to you, and people assuming you’re cold or emotionless because you can’t immediately open up to them is even worse) and that if you want to project greatness on him you should also embrace the fact that he’s a complete human disaster who is as starved for recognition/appreciation as jon is and there’s probably a reason why they were getting along so well in adwd.

and like, I think the fanbase who hails him as the new coming of jesus doesn’t recognize that because it interferes with the fearless conqueror dude fantasy - which is his superficial reading, not his actual reading, same as people deciding he’s emotionless just out of superficial reading, while dnd obviously didn’t know how to write him since S3 because they couldn’t decide what to do with him... but obviously, because dnd have no idea of how to write a male character who is both a strong military commander and an emotional disaster who wants recognition for his own worth and isn’t a power hungry asshole. nvm that dnd have no idea of how to write emotionally vulnerable male characters (see what they did with jaime tyrion theon and sandor and that’s not even counting jon or robb) but stannis was obv. too complicated for them to even consider actually trying for real.

/two cents

[cheemers-writing-archive]

Crusader of Life: Chapter 13

“So, what brings us here, Mr. Joestar?” Kakyoin asked.

“Well, for one, I need to tend to my chickens!” Avdol rushed away, and everyone followed after him, until they reached a small cottage in the middle of the island.

“Hello, everyone!” Avdol said cheerily, looking down at his chickens. “Did you miss me? Hello, Prince! Lionel! Micheal!”

You had never seen Avdol so happy, and his joy was certainly contagious, especially to you.

“That couldn’t be the only reason, right?” Polnareff asked. “Surely there’s more to this pit stop than just chickens.”

Joseph chucked a little bit. “You’re right,” he shrugged. “We have a little… special surprise for all of you. Plus, we’re about to be making our way to Egypt, our final destination. We thought it would be good to let you relieve some of your stress before we face off against Dio.”

“Really?” Your eyes widened with excitement. “You’re actually letting us take a day off?”

“I sure am,” Joseph laughed. “Now, get out of here, before I change my mind.”

“Yes, sir!” Kakyoin chimed. He grabbed your hand and started running.

“Wh-aah! Hey!” You could barely keep up, but you had to if you didn’t want to eat grass for breakfast. “Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see,” Kakyoin answered, and gave you a little smile. Of course, that seemingly put you in a trance, and you ended up almost tripping.

“Woah! Slow down!” you laughed.

“But we’re here!” Kakyoin had stopped suddenly at a little patch of land with a big rock on it. “A good place to sit and talk.”

“You pulled me along so excitedly to sit at a rock?”

Kakyoin nodded, almost shamefully, and you responded with a laugh.

“I love it when you get so excited about small things like this.” This time, you took his hand and pulled him onto the rock with you. The two of you ended up talking for a long time, almost thirty minutes, about anything that came to mind. Stands, life back home, even just your interests. Times like this were always wonderful with him. Eventually, though, you couldn’t hold it in anymore, and you started to cry a little bit.

“Oh, was it something I said?” Kakyoin asked.

“No, no,” you reassured him. “Not at all. I’m just worried.”

“Worried? About what?”

The tears started to become more rapid with every word you said. “What if I die? What if someone else dies before I can save them? Kakyoin, what if… what if you die? I would never forgive myself if I can’t save you in time. I’m just so scared. All of you are so brave, and you always face danger with no hesitation. I wish I could be like that, but my Stand can’t fight. Ace can’t fight.”

“Oh, (Y/N),” Kakyoin pulled you closer. “Which one of us hasn’t been scared?”

“Jotaro,” you immediately replied. “And Joseph, and Avdol, and Polnareff, and… and you! You’ve never been scared.”

Kakyoin started laughing, as if he just couldn’t hold it in. “Me? Not scared of anything? Are you kidding? This whole time, I’ve been afraid. Afraid we might not make it in time before Holly dies. Afraid that one of my only friends will die in the battlefield. (Y/N), I’m afraid of losing you.”

You sniffled. “R-Really?”

Kakyoin nodded. “And everyone else has been afraid at least once, I’m sure. Both Polnareff and Avdol have been way too close to feeling the kiss of death, and Jotaro and Mr. Joestar are going on this trip specifically to save their family member. I’m sure they’re absolutely terrified they won’t make it in time.”

“I g-guess you’re right.” Your breathing was still very unsteady and sharp, but you had started to calm down.

“Oh, and one more thing.”

“Uh huh?”

“If I die, promise me you won’t blame yourself.”

You chuckled, while still trying to hold in your tears. “I promise, but only if you promise the same thing.”

Kakyoin nodded. “Well, I’m getting hungry. Maybe we should go back to get some food.”

“We definitely should,” you agreed. You shot up from your spot on the rock, and immediately felt a sharp pain ripping through the bottom of your left leg. “Ow!”

“What happened?” Kakyoin asked.

“I think a snake bit me,” you replied, making sure not to cry more than you already had. Eventually, Kakyoin spotted the snake, and started muttering something to himself.

“Red on black, friend of Jack. Red on yellow, kills a fellow. That was red on yellow!” he exclaimed. “We need to get back now!”

The two of you sprinted back from where you came, making sure not to run into anything on the way. You had made it about halfway whenever you toppled over.

“Kakyoin!” you cried. “I can’t feel my leg!”

Kakyoin stood there for a second, until picking you up and carrying you the rest of the way. Soon, the cottage was in eyesight, and you were met with two waving hands.

“Hello again, Kakyoin and (Y/N)!” Joseph said cheerily.

“Mr. Joestar…” Kakyoin was out of breath by the time you had gotten over there. “Snake bite… (Y/N)’s leg… red on yellow… leg is numb…”

“I was bitten by a venomous snake,” you finished his thoughts. “And I lost feeling in both of my legs now.”

“Uh oh,” Joseph’s tone immediately darkened. “That’s bad news.”

“I’m here,” Jotaro burst through the foliage, breathing heavily. “What’s going on?”

“I called him over with Hierophant,” Kakyoin explained. “I was going to call Polnareff, too, but I couldn’t find him.”

“Well, what are we going to do?” Avdol asked frantically. “This isn’t a Stand matter. Killing the snake that bit her won’t stop the venom from spreading.”

“The only way to stop it from infecting (Y/N) is to get it completely out of her body,” Jotaro muttered. Then he gasped. “I have an idea. (Y/N), are you still able to duplicate life?”

“Yes,” you answered weakly. Foam had started forming in your mouth.

“Good. I’ll need you to do that.” Jotaro summoned Star Platinum and had him press his lips to the bite. “Duplicate your blood. I’ll suck out any infected blood.”

“Okay.”

The feeling of blood being sucked from a wound was really weird. And from how forcefully Star Platinum was inhaling, you were sure all of your blood was being diverted straight to it. But you kept duplicating it, and so you never ran out. In fact, you started to feel better. You had almost regained feeling in your left leg, and everything else was feeling fine. Eventually, you had regained all senses, and shouted, “Now, Jotaro!”

Star Platinum wasted no time ridding himself of the infected blood, spewing it to the floor. Meanwhile, Jotaro was making a distorted face, like he had just eaten something he didn’t like. Guess venom blood wasn’t his favorite meal. You quickly wrapped your arms around him, almost crying.

“Thank you,” you were breathing heavily. “Thank you so much. So, so much.”

Jotaro seemed reluctant at first, but in the end, he decided, just this once, that you could hug him, which you were thankful for. How else would you show your appreciation for him saving your life?

“Alright, that’s enough,” Jotaro eventually said, shoving you off of him. “And you’re welcome.”

“Alright, I’ll bet you guys are hungry! How about we eat something?” Joseph suggested.

“That sounds nice,” you answered.

“I’m starved!” Kakyoin replied.

“I’ll go find Polnareff,” Avdol said, walking away.

“Will one of you go start the fire?” Joseph asked. “Jotaro! I’m sure Star Platinum can get it going really quick.”

“Sure.”

And soon enough, the whole team was sitting by the campfire, eating dinner. Apparently a Stand user had attacked Polnareff (again), and Avdol had gotten there just in time.

“And this time, I think I’ve truly learned my lesson,” Polnareff said. “I have to accept that my sister’s soul is now at peace.”

The six of you had been eating in silence for a little bit, until Polnareff spoke again. “Oh, and I heard that (Y/N) had a little encounter of her own.”

You nodded, and gulped down the bite you had taken. “I did.”

“A snake, huh? Must’ve been scary.”

“It kind of was,” you admitted. “I was terrified, actually.”

“We all were, I’m sure,” Kakyoin added. To your relief, the others nodded. Maybe what he said was right. Everyone gets scared from time to time.

Suddenly, interrupting your peaceful dinner, a loud splash came from the edge of the island.

“Ah, the surprise is here!” Joseph got up, and beckoned for everyone else to follow. When you had reached the shore, there was a giant submarine, waiting for you.

“Ta-da!” Joseph exclaimed. “I got it from the Speedwagon Foundation!”

“I don’t know about this,” you muttered. Unfortunately, Joseph overheard you.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, the boat we had before was fine, and there was a lot more of a chance that we would survive if a Stand user attacked us. I’ve just got a feeling in my gut.”

“Well, the Speedwagon guys have already taken our boat back to the shore on the other side, so unless you want to swim to Egypt, I guess you’re out of luck.”

You sighed, and reluctantly boarded the sub. “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”

[black-ice-and-flame]

Technicolor Shinsoxmale!reader

Soulmate AU inspired by @suneaterssun ‘s work, things appear in black and white until they meet their soulmate's eyes

WARNINGS: depressive behavior, anxiety, insecurity, and homophobia

Word Count: 2,351

Shinso leaned against the wall outside his classroom, watching and waiting.  He should be walking by soon. 

Right on cue his figure came around the corner and Shinso straightened up from his spot, his eyes instantly drawn to him. 

The boy in question paid him no mind though. He hardly gave anyone a glance as he walked down the hall, his head tipped toward the floor, fingers curled into the end of his shirt. 

Shinso remembered when he first walked down the hall like this. When the usual bright smile he’d become accustomed to seeing on L/N’s face disappeared. 

Shinso had just put his stuff away in his locker and made his way toward his classroom. As he looked around at everyone he couldn’t but help but think about how he would react if in just one glance with a stranger around him splashed his world with color. 

He’d never really thought about soulmates a lot before, but for some reason recently, it was all he could think about. 

That probably had to do with him. 

When Shinso heard that familiar deep laugh echo down the hall it caused his heart to race in his chest. He glanced out of the corner of his eyes as L/N walked by with his group of friends, that dazzling smile that always drove Shinso crazy, stretched over his face. 

It took a Shinso a while to come to terms with the fact that he liked another guy. When he finally let it stop bothering him he couldn’t stop himself from consciously being aware of when he walked by. He couldn’t stop his heart from fluttering whenever he saw his smile, even if it was never at him. 

He tried to accept the fact that L/N would never return his feelings, plus, it was bad to date someone you knew wasn’t your soulmate. 

However today something with L/N changed. Shinso was getting his stuff together so he could go home when he saw L/N walk by and blinked in confusion at the sight of him. 

He wasn’t smiling anymore. In fact, L/N wasn’t even looking at anyone anymore. 

Shinso watched him as hollow feeling settled in the pit of his stomach, wondering what could’ve possibly gone wrong. Continuing to watch as L/N walked right past him, watching as L/N’s his arms wrapped around his stomach. L/N’s lower lip was trembling and Shinso wanted so badly to reach out to him but knew it wasn’t his place. 

So from that day on, Shinso had kept an eye on him, hoping to find out what caused the guy he liked to lose his happiness. 

He didn’t find exactly what caused L/N to appear unhappy, but Shinso did notice something else change about him. 

L/N’s friends were gone. 

Shinso couldn’t even remember a time in the last few weeks where he saw L/N’s friends anywhere near him. 

Even though he knew it was a slight bit creepy, Shinso wouldn’t head toward the cafeteria until L/N walked by him. He needed to make sure he saw him do something besides sit in his classroom all day. 

Entering the cafeteria Shinso let his eyes search for L/N. He found him sitting at a table in the far corner of the cafeteria, alone like usual. 

Shinso swallowed hard and looked away when he saw L/N move his head to look up, knowing he would be caught staring. He didn’t want to disappoint himself by learning L/N wasn’t his soulmate, even his racing heart told him otherwise. 

As he got his lunch and went to sit with his own friends he couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to date L/N. If anyone here had a quirk to read thoughts Shinso would be sure that they’d be shocked he was feeling so strongly this way. 

He’s just gotten very good over the years at keeping his face neutral on most subjects.

Shinso started to eat his lunch when he noticed L/N get up after only being there for a few minutes, his food barely eaten. He noticed some of L/N’s old friends moving toward him and Shinso frowned at the expressions on their faces. 

What were they- His own thoughts were answered when he watched one of the boys reach out and shove L/N’s shoulder hard enough for him to stumble and fall over. 

Shinso tried to conceal his shock he felt by the action and opted to raise his eyebrows instead. His heart faltering at the sight of L/N looking up to his old friends with wide eyes, food smeared all over his uniform.

“W-Why’d you do that?” Shinso cringed at the crack of emotion in L/N’s voice. 

He wanted more than anything to move to help but before he could do anything L/N’s friend spoke up. 

“You know why. What you tried to do was disgusting.” The other student's voice was full of venom. 

L/N opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by his old friend once again. 

“You really think someone like you could have a soulmate? What would do if you fell in love with a girl? Huh Y/N?”

Shinso felt his hands ball into fists as they rested on his knees as he watched L/N eyes slowly widen as his ex-friends next words were said. 

“You think just because you’re gay you’ll end up being with a guy? Why would the world make soulmates like that?”

L/N inhaled sharply as the students around them started to murmur. “T-There’s other people like-” 

Shinso felt a pinprick at his heart at the sound of how heartbroken L/N was.

“Someone like you shouldn’t have even been able to get into UA.” 

At that Shinso was on his feet, but before he could make a move to go over to L/N but before he could L/N had already gotten up from the ground and ran out of the cafeteria. 

“That was such a disgraceful display.” Shinso looked over as Tenya Iida and some other kids from class 1-A started to go in on L/N’s ex-friends as well. 

Shinso wasn’t paying attention to them though, he could only focus on the thought that L/N had tears running down his face when he had run out. 

Without a second thought, he got up from the table and walked quickly out of the cafeteria, to the point where he could’ve been running. 

Shinso could feel his heart pounding out of his chest, he just had to find L/N. He couldn’t let him be alone knowing he was crying. So Shinso looked around all over for him, in his classroom, in hidden spaces he himself has gone to for privacy, but no luck. 

When he passed the bathroom he heard a muffled noise and stopped in his tracks, walking closer to the bathroom and listened closely. Once Shinso heard the sniffle of a person he pushed the door open slowly and walked in, letting it shut softly behind him. 

Shinso knew which stall L/N was in, but even though he set out to find him, now being so close to him made Shinso hesitate. What am I doing? He probably wouldn’t want to talk to a stranger about this. 

When he moved to leave though his shoe scraped against the floor and made an audible squeak echo through the room, and L/N’s sniffling and crying were cut off. 

“I’m sorry.” Shinso cringed and groaned inwardly to himself. That’s the first thing he could think of to say?! “I mean, I um, I saw when you ran out and I was concerned about you.” Why was he so awkward?

After a few minutes of silence and Shinso wishing the ground would just swallow him up right now L/N finally spoke. 

“I-I’m fine,” L/N’s voice had come out cracked and raw from crying. 

Shinso stared at the closed stall door and moved away from the bathroom entrance to stop in front of it. 

“It’s okay if your not,” Shinso said gently. Hearing another sniffle come from L/N made Shinso’s stomach tighten in fear, he wasn’t helping like he had hopes of doing. 

He sighed and turned around, sliding down the stall door, sitting down in front of it. 

“I’m sorry, I came to try and help but I’m probably just making things worse right now. I just, I thought you could use someone to talk to...” He trailed off running a hand through his hair. 

Shinso felt a weight press against the door and realized L/N must be sitting with his back pressed against the other side. He tried to keep his pulse under control at the fact of him being so close. 

“I probably looked like such a baby in front of the whole school. I didn’t think F/N would do that to me.” L/N voice wavered a bit as he talked, and Shinso knew he was probably trying to hold back more tears. 

“If it’s okay to ask, what happened between you two? I thought I remember seeing you guys together not that long ago and things seemed to be fine.” Shinso knew this would out him as watching L/N but it was something he didn’t care about right now. 

L/N paused for a moment, “I, I kissed him.” He admitted. “It was stupid,” L/N wiped his face as he gave a strained laugh, “I knew he wasn’t my soulmate, but, I thought I could at least try to be happy before I found one. I’ve been holding in my feelings for so long that they just came out. It was impulsive.”

Shinso listened and bit his lip at the information, “I’m guessing he didn’t take that well?”

“No, what you saw in the cafeteria was only a fraction of some of the stuff he’s already said to me.”

“I don’t get why it matters so much to other people,” Shinso let out a sigh. “Your sexuality doesn’t define you, it’s not the core of your personality. What you do with who you love should only be for you and your partner.” 

Shinso stopped ranting when he realized L/N had gone silent again and he felt his cheeks tint pink and warm up in embarrassment. 

“You probably didn’t need to hear that rant right now,” Shinso rubbed the back of his neck. 

“It’s true though. I didn’t think that anyone else felt that way.”

 When L/N chuckled Shinso’s cheeks flushed more but he also got a small smile on his face at the sound. 

“Your old friend seems like an ass. I would be glad to get rid of someone like that from my life. He didn’t deserve you as a friend.” 

L/N had his hands resting on his stomach, the material of his shirt balled into them. At Shinso’s words though his grip loosened a ghost of a smile gracing his face. 

“Thanks, Shinso.” 

Shinso blinked, his lips parting in surprise. He leaned away from the door to glance at it over his shoulder. “You know my name?” 

“Yeah, sorry is that weird?” L/N asked with a small laugh, trying to play off the feeling his chest tightening in anxiety. 

“No,” Shinso said quickly. “I’m um, just surprised you know it.”

“I remember you from the sports festival. I think you would’ve gone farther if you weren’t against Midoriya,” L/N said moving back from the door as well. 

“Thanks,” Shinso didn’t know what else to say. He’d gotten praise from his classmates but it felt different coming from someone who he thought had never heard of him before. 

Especially coming from L/N. 

“You’re welcome.”

Shinso didn’t want things to go silent again. “Don’t worry about people judging you after what happened, class 1-A kind of went off on your old friends.”

L/N felt his smile grow a bit and he laughed softly, “leave it to the hero course to stick up for someone.” 

“You shouldn’t feel ashamed about it you know.” Shinso couldn’t help but say it, he didn’t want L/N to feel bad about anything that happened, even if he sounded better than when Shinso first walked in. 

“I mean, there’s nothing wrong with being gay. And I’m sure whoever your soulmate ends up being will just the right person for you.” Shinso bit the inside of his cheek at the mention of soulmates, he wanted more than anything for L/N to be his, but knew it was setting himself up for disappointment. 

L/N’s smile was full now, “thank you, your soulmate will be lucky to you have you too and thanks for coming to look for me.” 

“I couldn’t let you be alone after seeing what happened, it just didn’t feel right,” Shinso admitted then felt his stomach flip at his confession.

L/N didn’t seem to mind his words though, “it didn’t feel right being alone and I’m grateful you came, thanks again.”

Shinso tried to keep his face from turning completely red, but let his cheeks go pink again. “It’s no problem.” He heard L/N shift and stand up, so he himself popped up from the ground hearing the lock click. 

When L/N opened the door he was looking down at first, wiping away the few stray tears he had left before looking up. 

Shinso felt his breath escape him as the world around him suddenly bled into color, only focusing on the bright and sparkling e/c eyes.

L/N’s eyes widened and he breathed out, “they're beautiful.” He didn’t know what to call the color of Shinso’s eyes yet, but he knew they were beautiful nonetheless. 

There was no way to keep his blushing under control now, but it was okay cause L/N’s cheeks were just as red. 

L/N smiled tenderly and leaned his shoulder against the frame of the stall. “Guess I did get lucky.”

[krycss]

AO3 Link

Previous Chapter  -  Next Chapter 

Rook could have lived happily for the rest of her life inside that shower if given the chance. Washing away not only the dirt and grime that had built up, but also scrubbing away all of the memories did a wonder on her psyche. The dress she had picked out earlier landed right about mid-thigh. She rolled the sleeves of the green flannel up to her elbows. She sucked in a breath as she glanced into the mirror. She didn’t stare long, just enough to brush her fingers through her hair to make sure she didn’t look like a complete mess. She glanced down at herself, swooshing the ends of the dress playfully. It had been a long time since she wore something nice. Running around the county fighting peggies and camping for days on end made her fashion choices very limited. She wasn’t sure what to do with the pajamas she had so she opted to fold them and bring them back to her room before heading downstairs.

The stairs were a bit more forgiving this time. She held onto the railing and took each step one at a time. No rush. When she reached the bottom she could see Jacob, John, and Faith gathered around the kitchen. Faith was sitting on the island counter top, her legs swinging freely as she ate. Jacob, it seemed, was opting for a liquid breakfast of coffee as he leaned on the counter on the opposite side of the room. Rook didn’t see a plate anywhere near him. His head perked up when he saw her entering the room.

She gave him a smile and a little wave. He nodded back.

She made her way over to John who was currently fighting a losing battle against some scrambled eggs. They were looking a little dry.

“Ah, Cat. I do hope you’re….hungry.” He cleared his throat as he moved the eggs to a plate. “For you.”

Rook simply stared at the plate of eggs and bacon, raising an eyebrow.

“I get credit for trying.” John mused.

Rook laughed and shook her head, giving him a pat on the shoulder as she grabbed the plate. She walked back over to where Jacob was and sat on the counter beside him. She was already shorter than him, she was only about five foot six, and even up on the counter she was still just slightly below him. She wondered what he ate as a child to get this tall compared to his siblings. She wanted to ask if he was planning on actually eating but she realized she left her notebook up in her room. She told herself to get a pocket notebook at some point. She looked over at him to find him staring absentmindedly into his mug. She could tell he either got no sleep whatsoever or had a rough night in general. She leaned over, nudging his shoulder with her own. He glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye. She lifted her plate to him, hoping she conveyed her thoughts.

He stole a piece of bacon.

She stared up at him, slack-jawed.

‘I knew you were cruel.’ She glared at him. ‘At least he ate something, I suppose?’

He let out a laugh through his nose, smirking down at her.

“You need the food more than me, but thank you for the offer.” He finished off his coffee.

After placing his mug in the sink, Jacob made his way into the living room and plopped down onto the couch, an arm resting over his eyes. Faith then hopped off the counter and turned to Rook.

“Joseph had to leave a little early to head to his compound to prepare, if you were wondering.”

Rook tilted her head.

“Right! Today is Sunday.” Faith sung. “I guess you didn’t know that.”

“Joseph would be delighted if you were to join us, but he also mentioned that it’s okay if you feel you’re not up to it.” John chimed in, finally done cooking.

Rook thought on it for a moment as she continued eating. She was scared, she’d admit it. It was certainly way too soon for her to be out and about. As if sensing her thoughts, Faith piped up again.

“If you’re worried about anyone noticing you, don’t be. The Father tends to be the one to grab all of the attention anyways.” Faith grabbed one of Rook’s hands between her own. “Plus, no one outside of us and those who found you know that you’re back. You get to decide when that time is.”

Rook nodded. She wasn’t ready. But she also knew she didn’t want to be alone either, and if they were all going to go then she really only had one option. She nodded once more earnestly, letting them know that was her answer. Faith clapped her hands happily, spinning around on her bare feet.

“I’m so glad! You’re really going to enjoy it, I promise.” Faith pulled Rook along by her hand. “I’ll help you get ready.”

Rook placed her unfinished plate on the counter as she was dragged out of the kitchen. As they passed by the couch she heard Jacob mumble a ‘good luck’ to her. They returned to the room that Rook was staying in for the time being and Faith pulled a chair up to the standing mirror for Rook to sit in. After deliberating with herself for a minute, Faith decided that she’d do Rook’s hair in a half-up-half-down style. Rook just shook her head, letting the girl enjoy herself. Rook found herself relaxing a small bit, listening to Faith’s humming and the feel of her fingers gently combing through her hair. She wasn’t sure where Faith had gotten them from, probably plucked them off of her dress, but Faith was braiding small white flowers into Rook’s hair as she went along. After a while Rook’s attention returned to herself, inevitably staring at the scars at her lips once more. She must have been making some sort of face as Faith was suddenly kneeling down to be eye-level with Rook.

“Do they bother you?” She asked gently.

Rook nodded.

“It’s normal.” Faith hummed. “But, everyone has their scars – whether they’re physical or not. One thing I’ve come to learn from my time with the Father is that our scars are proof that something bad happened, but that we came out on top. Alive. Whatever it was that caused them, didn’t beat us.”

As she finished she moved the sleeve of her dress, showing Rook the scars she earned as Rachel Jessop. The tell-tale scarring of years of needle use and other self-implicated trauma. Rook placed her hands on Faith’s cheeks in a silent thank you. She wasn’t as close with Faith before all of this happened, but perhaps there’s a chance for a friendship to form now, she thought.

“Now! Let’s get back to this. Normally we wouldn’t want to indulge in vanity, but for your first time with us at the Church I feel that’s a special occasion.” Faith pulled out a small makeup bag from the nearby vanity. “Besides, I think I know a certain someone who might enjoy seeing you a little dolled up?” Faith winked, earning a groan from Rook.

  By the time the two girls stumbled down the stairs in a fit of giggles the brothers were waiting by the front door impatiently.

“You know I like a fashionably late entrance as much as the next person, but we really must be going now.” John moved to put his sunglasses over his eyes and opened the door. “You look lovely, by the way.” He added before stepping out.

Rook stopped in front of Jacob while Faith followed John out the door. Rook opted for her old combat boots to pair with her outfit. She looked up at Jacob, careful to make sure none of the flowers fell out with how far she had to tilt her head. Jacob was eyeing her slowly. Rook’s smile faulted a little. She fidgeted with her fingers at the intense scrutiny. As if sensing her discomfort at the silence, Jacob quickly pulled her close and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.

“Come on.” He held the door open for her.

Rook snapped out of her daze, she could feel her face was hot and quickly walked out the door, heading towards the truck ahead. She sat in the back, next to Faith – who was quick to give a knowing smile at the redness of Rook’s cheeks - while John sat in the passenger seat. When Jacob got in the driver’s seat, the four set off to Joseph’s Compound.

  It had been a long time since Rook had been to the island. The last time was when she was sent there to arrest the man. She still dreaded helicopters ever since and avoided them whenever possible. The last time she had been there it was night and her nerves hadn’t allowed her to appreciate the place fully. When it wasn’t filled with peggies glaring angrily at her and the sound of dogs trying to kill her it was actually quite nice. As they pulled off to a small lot in front of one of the many cabins in the area Rook noticed there was quite the variety of people here. There were the normal looking peggies – rags painted with the Eden’s Gate symbol and an overall messy exterior – as well as those in cleaner clothing, dressed for what appeared from the outside to be a normal Sunday church visit. Rook could have sworn she also spotted some children in the distance. She suddenly felt a pit in her stomach at the reminder that her main goal was eradicating all of these people. Though, she still didn’t approve of their methods, she could think on what the future held for her later.

Rook was helped out of the truck by Faith who continued to hold onto her hand as the four made their way to the church. When they reached the door Faith quickly made her way up to the front, stopping to say hello to those in the aisles as she passed. John placed a hand on the small of Rook’s back.

“I’d suggest sitting up front, if you’d feel more comfortable with us nearby.” He whispered.

Rook nodded and John made his way to the front, following Faith’s path and basking in the attention given to him. Jacob was now standing next to Rook. Rook was feeling overwhelmed already but took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. They hadn’t really hit her until just now in this cramped space. Her hand instinctively went to grab Jacob’s which was dangling close to her own. As her fingers brushed against his he quickly pulled his hand away, crossing his arms. Rook flinched, bringing her own hands to clasp in front of herself. She risked a glance up to Jacob who was staring straight ahead. Someone went to walk passed the two of them, passing between them. Jacob leaned over.

“Not here.” He coughed before marching his way up to the front, taking the side aisle rather than the middle.

Rook didn’t have time to think too much on it as she watched him take his place in the corner of the stage. He was in full soldier mode, watching over the church goers. She squeezed her fingers together as she weaved her way through the people still getting to their seats. She understood – he had an image to maintain. And he had a job. He had to be ever-present to watch over everyone. He was their protector after all. Doesn’t mean it still didn’t hurt, but she pushed that aside.

By the time she made it to an empty spot in the front pew Rook was starting to panic. There were simply too many people crammed into this church. The air was stifling and thick. One of her legs was bouncing uncontrollably as she picked at what was left of her nails. She made eye contact with Jacob briefly. He nodded at her and that was enough to calm her a small bit. Knowing that he was nearby meant nothing would happen to her. The noise in the church began to die down as the last of the members filed their way in. Rook took a risk at looking around the room. The woman sitting next to her smiled briefly as their eyes locked. Rook’s heart skipped a beat before returning the smile.

‘No one knows yet.’ Rook reminded herself.

Most of the wanted posters that Eden’s Gate had put out for Rook in the past had her with her hair in its signature tight bun and she never wore dresses when out fighting so she was fairly safe in assuming that no one would recognize her as she currently looked. She let out a slow breath. Suddenly the room erupted in cheers as Joseph walked out from a room in the back of the stage. Rook found herself smiling as she politely clapped. She had talked with Joseph when he was practicing his sermons but had never actually been able to hear the final product. She didn’t need to be a believer to understand the appeal of what he preached.

  By the time the sermon was over, Rook was more than ready to just go back to bed. This was more than enough social interaction for someone who had only just recently been rescued from a kidnapping. As everyone began filing out of the church, Rook wandered around the inside so that it didn’t seem so obvious that she was waiting around for the Seed’s to be finished greeting people. After what seemed like the millionth hug and forehead press, Joseph was finally free to let out a deep breath of his own. The church was quiet once more with only the sound of murmurs as people began walking away from the building.

“I hope you enjoyed your first time here, Catherine.” Joseph’s voice echoed through the empty church.

Rook made her way up to the podium where Joseph met her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and Rook instinctively flinched before relaxing once more. Joseph brought his head closer and Rook knew what he going for as she closed her eyes. Rook never understood the significance, but she had to admit it was a rather touching move.

“Thank you for coming.” Joseph whispered in their close proximity.

Rook separated her forehead from his to nod her head back at the man. Joseph then moved to give his siblings the same treatment before the five of them made their way to the door of the church.

“I believe it’s time for the three of you to return to your duties.” Joseph ordered. “The reaping doesn’t stop for any of us. We must be ready.”

Joseph turned to Rook.

“It is up to you whether you wish to continue to stay with us, Catherine. We would be delighted to have you join us.” Joseph smiled at her.

A part of her brain registered that she may not actually have a choice.

Rook knew she wasn’t ready to go back to the resistance. She had no way of explaining her absence as of right now with her tongue as tied as it was. And she had a feeling that many members wouldn’t be too happy at the part of the story that involved being rescued and cared for by the Seeds. She still needed to make sure she could continue to do her job and so the decision wasn’t that hard to make in the end. Rook looked back over her shoulder where Jacob was talking with one of the soldiers guarding the Compound. She returned her attention to Joseph, nodding her head in Jacob’s direction. Joseph smiled.

“Of course,” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Take care, Catherine.”

She said her goodbyes to the others. Faith gave her a hug and a request to visit whenever she was up for it. John was quick to remind her that should she want to continue to sleep in an actual bed, she knew where to find him. This earned a laugh from Rook who gave his arm a gentle squeeze before heading over to Jacob. Jacob was now standing on his own, his arms crossed as he watched her walk towards him. She held her hands behind her back as she walked playfully up towards him. Her chest dangerously close to touching his stomach as she looked up at him, batting her eyelashes.

“What?” He glared down at her.

Rook pointed her finger towards herself and then towards him.

“You comin’ with me?”

Rook nodded, fighting the cheek-biting grin that was trying to form.

Jacob sighed.

“Of course.” Jacob’s lips twitched as if fighting a smile of his own. “You’re really planning on keeping that promise to annoy me, huh?”

The two of them walked towards the truck that had driven them there. The others had taken their own ways back to the Valley and Henbane. Joseph had just headed towards his own home on the island. Rook hopped up in the passenger seat. She couldn’t deny that she was excited to get some alone time with Jacob, but also to hopefully get back into training. Her muscles missed the push from a gun and the pull from a bow. The truck rocked as Jacob got into the driver’s seat. Rook looked over at Jacob as he let out a rather loud groan, his head hitting the headrest. Rook made a questioning noise.

“I just realized I might have to actually give you a room this time ‘round.” He teased with a smile.

Rook simply laughed, turning on the radio and prepared for the journey back to the Veteran’s Center. Her smile increased when she felt the tell-tale feel of Jacob’s hand enclosing her own.

[jessamarvel-blog]

Why I’m so in love with “Camren”

*Bonus - the last part of this post is a must-see

Hi guys!

This is like a Camren Guide. LMAO.

I’m bored so Imma make a post about my favorite and only ship!

So first things first, to those who do not know what Camren is, it’s a ship name for Fifth Harmony’s Lauren Jauregui and former member Camila Cabello. Camila + Lauren = Camren. Look them up on youtube and get acquainted but I suggest you ready yourselves because it’ll suck you in to the bottomless pit of mixed feelings. It’s a fucking rollercoaster ride of emotions so buckle up if you may.

For those who are new in the fandom, Camren is not that much of a hot topic anymore. Knowing that Camila left the group last year. Both went on separate ways now and they’re said to be in bad terms. Plus, Lauren is supposedly dating Ty at this point in time so... But who knows, right? Maybe the people behind them are just creating drama to survive the show business because that’s what makes people keep up. DRAMA.

To my fellow shippers, we will go down with this ship till we hit the bottom. But even so, Imma still hold on because who knows? Maybe the ship will rise back up! Hold on you guys. Our ship is endgame. I repeat, ENDGAME! :D

Look at that! OMG!

So now, I’ll tell you how I discovered this emotion-wrecking ship. I was about to sleep, watching a music channel in my room when their Write On Me musicvid came up. I saw Lauren and I fell in love. Yes, I’m a Lauren girl and I admit that it’s too freaking hard to keep up with her but I just can’t unlove her. WHY?? So then I searched Write On Me on youtube again ‘cause I just can’t get over her. Then I saw a vid on the recommended portion title “Camren - Write On Me”. My curious ass clicked on it and damn! I have never regretted anything in my life. It sucked me in. I love it and at the same time I hate it. Damn, Camren! What have you done to me? Somehow, Camren made me a harmonizer. I support the girls up until now. Even Camila. They have earned a big potion of my heart.

This lured me in! Such beauty...

Now let’s get on Camren. Imma give you reasons to ship it. 

1. Their background/history

Camila and Lauren are both living in Miami. They both are half Cubans. Camila is half cuban, half mexican while Lauren is half Cuban, half American. They both didn’t know each other’s existence until they tried their luck in joining X Factor. Crazy, right? Both have immediately found solace in each other knowing that they have much similarities. They instantly got close and became each other’s bff in the competition. And little did they know they’re in for a big surprise. They were grouped together! And there came Fifth Harmony. Yay!

Awwww. Fetus feels. T_T

2. The connection/vibes

“I heard Lauren singing from the booth and I was like damn! That girl could sing. Then I saw her came out and I was like damn! she’s pretty too!”

“When I first Lauren, I was like ‘Hi, I like you shirt!” 

“I don’t feel like I have a type. I feel like when you meet somebody there’s just like an attraction. It’s more like an energy If that makes sense.” - Camila when asked about the characters she’s looking for a guy.

“I feel like it’s not something physical. It’s more about the vibe. Don’t you just feel like when you get in a room with somebody, It’s like grrr (you’re gonna make me very happy)”. - Camila during an interview (2017).

There’s tons of sweet interactions actually.

3. Their staring at each other

Have you ever looked at someone and get lost while staring at them? It’s like you’re looking at the world and feel like you just discovered the secret to genuine happiness. Like your eyes turn into heart shapes but you’re never aware of it. These bitches mastered that.

The most epic look/stare in Camren history. Here you can see Lauren getting lost like she’s in another dimension.

Camila staring at the world and found genuine happiness. xD

Lauren enjoying Camila’s spoken thoughts. 

Camila appreciating her girl.

Woops. Someone’s droolin. Lol.

I wish Lauren would stare at me like that. Damn, that girl doesn’t even know I exist. T_T

There’s tons of epic looks and stares I can’t post it all. 

3. Their Indirects.

“Indirects are fun.”-Lauren Jauregui

Bitch, we love it. We’re enjoying it. It’s definitely entertaining. You guys, I think some of their posts/tweets are prolly indirects while some are pure coincidence. I really don’t know how to differentiate. Nevertheless, if they post/tweet the same thought but are not meant to be indirects to each other, then I must conclude they are indeed soulmates. That fucking sameness in wavelength is fucking unreal.

The heck?

Oh, come on!

How weird can they be??

C-R-A-Z-Y!

Oh, and I think you should follow their actions on spotify. They listen to pretty suspicious songs. They even post songs that have weird lyrics and that are low key exposing. Camila makes weird playlists on spotify too and they have meaningful songs. She’s even weirder on spotify. That girl is full of feels.

4.  The Sun and The Moon. Sol y Luna

This one’s pretty trippy ‘cause I’m confused as to which of them is the Sun or the Moon and I know Lucy used to post The Sun and The Moon on tumblr and her instagram too.  But fuck it. Imma make it a Camren thing still. One things for sure though, they both have an obsession with this Sun and Moon thing. :*

This one always blows my mind. Fucking soulmates.

5. Mirroring

OMG! Their mirrorings are definitely a must-see. Are they twins or something? Maybe soulmates? I wish I could find a Lauren to my Camila too. Lmao. They’re sometimes so in sync that it gives me goosebumps. 

6. Camila Cabello 

Yes, Camila Cabello. The girl feeds every Camren shippers delusions like hell. She’s the opposite of Lauren who made it a hobby to kill Camren and break her fans’ heart once in a while. Her hatred for Camren is sometimes so questionable. Like girrrrll! Leave it if it annoys you too much. She’s so defensive about Camren that her actions become suspicious. Meanwhile, Camila freely posts too much suspicious shit. Even her new solo songs and even her whole album which according to her, “The album is really not about boys though....”. We get it Camila. You’re in a glass closet. Don’t you think it’s time to finally break free? ;)

Thanks for sharing, Camz. xD

This interview was full of tension. Camila, we know you wanna marry Lauren but can you please tone it down a little bit?? Lol.

Remember her posting this after Lauren “accidentally” liked a Camren pic on Instagram?? Well Camz, it was an accident she’ll never live down now. xD

For me, this post gives it all away. In that quote, Virginia Woolf is a writer who had an affair with someone of the same sex named Vita Sackville-West. Now, why would she post that? And to think it was that time where she’s being distant to her bandmates. Oh Camzi.

There’s also that time when she said “that’s cute” referring to a fan’s Camren phone case.

A post shared by FIFTH HARMONY-CAMREN (@http.camren.otp) on Feb 10, 2017 at 7:45pm PST

Here’s a vid. Hmmmmm???

Also, Camila’s Gender neutrality is freakin’ suspicious. She uses gender neutral pronouns too much. Why can’t she just say he, him, his or she, her, hers? She instead uses they, them, somebody, someone, people. Damn, it frustrates me sometimes! Like what is she really? Gosh!

7. Tha Fans aka The Camren Shippers

What’s an FBI when you got ‘em Camren Shippers?? LMAO. These people notice everything even the girls’ fingernails. I’m not even kidding. These people are so good in making ‘em Camren videos, it’s like they went to Harvard to study film making. Lol. They mastered the art of stalking that even the girls’ very  distant relative or clueless neighbor can’t get away. What can I say? It’s complicated. ;)

Some Camren analyzing videos and blogs make sense while some are far too reaching.

 I’ll give you some links to my fave camren videos. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed55zRm9A-4

^^This one is a long vid showing Camren interaction from January to June 2016. You can see their awkwardness in there. It’ll make you delusional. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_qHPdPAk6A

^^ This one is a crack vid by heybooboodaddi, Camren Shippers’ resident comedienne. It’s super hilarious. This one’s the latest crack vid and it hits so much points. It’s kinda exposing Camila.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_E__YMx0gs

^^ A reaction to Booboodaddi’s crack vid. Those people represent me. CaliforniaLuv84 makes hilarious reaction vids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvx9n3KX5tU

^^ If you wanna drown in Camren feels, you better watch this vid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJiLH1e326o

^^ You gotta see this too but you gotta prepare lotsa tissues ‘cause yer gonna be Crying in Camren. T_T.

Hail ye Camren Shippers! Woooh! :D

Sooo that’s it.

Wait, gonna give you a fucking bonus.

BONUS PART: 

Remember the supposed Camren kiss on Dinah’s snapchat last year which she deleted minutes after? She posted it on snapchat few days before VMAs 2016. Then during the VMAs Camren was a little less awkward. They were standing and sitting next to each other, talking and laughing. They were kinda happy that time. They probably knew it was their last VMAs together so they made the best out of it. Sooo, in that snapchat I don’t think those were bags. I’ll make you guys believe. It’s the most concrete proof that makes me believe that Camren is or was real. Whenever I doubt about Camren, I always go back to this video and get my Camren hopes up.

Here’s the vid.

ispy with my little eyes. ;)

This was the VMAs days after that snapchat!! T_T

Thoughts - I feel like they are aware of the fact that they are so perfect for each other. Dude, that is why they became uncomfortable about it because they acknowledge the fact that it could be real, it could be true.  Because if it were ever real and they didn’t have the chance to make it public, they’ll be stuck thinking how it would feel like being free to show their love for each other, not hiding. They will always have that “what-ifs” until they’re free and get the chance to try it again. If that time comes, they’re free to tell and show the world the truth. Right now, it’s just complicated. So much is on the line. Their careers on top of it all. Who would’ve known they would end up like that? Wow, what a beautiful love story. Let’s give it let’s say 2 or 3 years more. Maybe till then they’ll come through. 

CAMREN IS REAL, BITCHES! Bah Felicia!

(Credits to everyone whom I grabbed those pics, gifs and videos from)

[agilenano]

Agilenano - News: In this episode…

If there’s one room you’d like to be bright and cheery, it’s the kitchen!  We’ll have tips on lighting to keep that space looking bright – even when it’s dark outside. Plus… If winter storms and the power outages, they bring have you considering a generator, we’ve got tips to help you pick the best type of generator for your home.   Ready to take on some home improvement projects, but don’t feel you have the time?  Not possible!  We’ll highlight several projects you can get done in 30 minutes or less! Did you know that some storm doors can make your exterior door so hot that the molding will melt and the door handle could even burn you? Plus, answers to your home improvement questions about fixing an in-floor heating system, best way to discharge a sump pump, ways to lower energy costs, best lighting for a garage door, safest way to install a wood burning stove and more. Do you have a home improvement or decor question? Call the show 24/7 at 888-MONEY-PIT (888-666-3974) or post your question here. !doctype> Read Transcript TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. TOM: And we are here to help you take on your home improvement and décor projects. Whatever is on your to-do list, you can slide it on over to ours by reaching out to us, which you can do by calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974 or posting your questions on MoneyPit.com. Coming up on today’s program, if there’s one room you’d like to be bright and cheery, it’s the kitchen, which is why we’re going to have some tips on lighting to keep that space looking very bright even when it’s dark outside. LESLIE: And also ahead, if winter storms and the power outages that they bring have you considering a generator, we’ve got some tips to help you pick the best type for your home. TOM: And look, guys, are you ready to take on some home improvement projects but you always feel that you don’t have enough time? Well, we’ve got news for you: not possible. We put together a list of a whole bunch of projects that you can get done in 30 minutes or less. Then we’re going to jump into that. LESLIE: But first, we want to hear what you are working on this winter season. What project is on your to-do list? Maybe you started something and you need a hand getting it finished or perhaps you’re looking for some inspiration. Whatever it is, give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT for the answer to your question, plus a chance at winning an amazing product. We’ve got, up for grabs, a Greenworks 60-Volt Cordless Mower. Now, you’re not going to use it right now in most parts of the country but you will be dreaming about those beautiful, green lawns come springtime. And this is a prize that can totally help. It’s battery-operated and it’s got a backup battery, as well. So once one runs out, the other one will kick on. TOM: You can check out Greenworks products and tips on your favorite social site, @GreenworksTools. That mower is worth 400 bucks. It’s going out to one listener drawn at random. Now, you can call us at 888-MONEY-PIT. You can also post your question on MoneyPit.com. And if we are not in the studio when you call, we will take your name and number and call you back the next time we are and throw your name in the hard hat for that week’s prize. So what are you waiting for? Give us a call, right now, at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? LESLIE: Katie in Minnesota is on the line with a question about a door. What is going on? KATIE: I’m having some issues with the front door. My husband bought a storm door. And it’s a self – or it’s energy-efficient. TOM: OK. KATIE: And we have a door behind there: our front door. And there’s getting to be so much heat between the two doors that it’s melting the trim that’s on the other door. TOM: Yeah. Yep. Mm-hmm. Yep. Very common. So, here’s the thing. You don’t really need a storm door anymore with today’s modern doors. Or usually, if they’re installed properly and they have the right kind of weather-stripping and the sills are adjusted so that they seal well, you generally don’t need a storm door. Now, of course, all of us enjoy screen doors so that we can leave our interior door open in the warmer weather. But when you put a storm door on top of a door like that, you do get sort of a greenhouse effect, where the light comes through that storm door and the heat just builds up between that metal door and the glass. And it will melt, as you saw, the plastic trim around the window pane. So that is very, very common, Katie. You are in good company with that. KATIE: OK. TOM: So, I would tell you that in the summer, you don’t want to have that storm panel on there. You’ve got to get that storm panel off and just put the screen panel in. Otherwise, this will continue to happen. KATIE: Yeah, that’s what we do in the summer. But during the winter – so then I had called the company and they had said that there’s a plate on the bottom where you can raise it. So we raised it but then it’s – the whole door is – has frost. Really thick frost. Is that bad for the door? TOM: Well, it shouldn’t be happening in the wintertime. It’s only – it really is a summertime condition, because it doesn’t get hot enough in the cold months to cause that melting. KATIE: Oh, we have it now and it’s winter. TOM: It’s not possible. I think it’s probably melted in the summer, because it doesn’t get hot enough now, not with this kind of temperature, to melt that trim. The trim melts in the warmer weather. KATIE: Right. Well, the thing is is we cut the tree down. The door’s black. And so we just put it in maybe two, three months ago. TOM: OK. Yeah. Yeah, that’s not helping you either. That’s not helping you either, yeah. Is it a steel door? KATIE: Yes. TOM: Yeah. Yeah, you might want to rethink that door color. But I’m just telling you that you don’t need to have that storm door on it whenever it starts to get warm. KATIE: So, I know. TOM: And if you decide – if you are going to have it, you’re going to get this problem. KATIE: Right. My husband said maybe we should just paint it white and see what it does, if it still … TOM: Well, it will be better but I’m just telling you, this is really common and it happens consistently in warmer weather. And it will just only get worse. KATIE: Mm-hmm. Great. OK. TOM: Alright. Well, listen, at least you know that you’re not alone. KATIE: Right. TOM: And it’s – when people see this, they think, “Oh, my gosh. This has never happened before.” No, it happens all the time, believe me. Alright. Good luck with that project. Thanks for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT. If you’ve got a home improvement question, now is a great time to pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, because you’ll get the answer to that question. Plus, this hour, we’re giving away a fantastic prize. Our friends at Greenworks have given us a mower – a Greenworks 60-Volt Mower – to give away. Now, I love this product. It’s got a push-button start so there’s no cords to pull. No gas, no oil to mess with. It’s got a very powerful, brushless motor that’s going to cut through the toughest grass. And because this is a cordless mower, a battery-powered mower, think about it: you can store it vertically and that really makes a big difference in your garage or your shed. If you did that with a gas-powered machine, the oil and gas and everything would be leaking all over the place. LESLIE: You wouldn’t do it. TOM: Nah, you wouldn’t. It would just be a heck of a mess. LESLIE: You couldn’t. It’d be a mess. TOM: And then it wouldn’t start. So, this is kind of cool. It’s part of a full suite of Greenworks Pro 60-Volt Lithium-Powered Outdoor Equipment. They’ve also got a string trimmer, a hedge trimmer, a chainsaw, a handheld leaf blower and more. All the tools include a battery and charger and they’re available exclusively at Lowe’s and Lowes.com. LESLIE: And you know what? You can also get great tips, ideas and solutions for your lawn-and-garden projects when you follow @GreenworksTools on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. TOM: That great prize is going out to one caller drawn at random. Give us a call, right now, with your home improvement question at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974. LESLIE: Alright. Now we’ve got Clyde in Illinois on the line who’s dealing with a chilly floor. I bet your feet are freezing. What is going on? CLYDE: About a year ago, we bought a house. And I went to a one-level slab home. And OK, as you’re coming in, you buy a house and it’s all pretty and everything and then you find out problems. Well, the house originally had water pipes in the concrete. Somebody was – graded the house and they walked off in the middle of winter and the pipes busted. So, when they, say, flipped the house, they didn’t put the concrete or the water-heat system or any kind of tape or anything else in the concrete. TOM: Right. CLYDE: They just covered it up with a vinyl flooring. TOM: OK. CLYDE: So, the house is brick veneer with a block inside. And it’s structurally as sound as a fortress but it’s like a freezer or refrigerator in here. TOM: Right. CLYDE: And so I did … TOM: So, do you think you have active leaks right now in that slab? CLYDE: No. The heating system is no longer. TOM: OK. CLYDE: They went to a forced-air gas and then a heat pump on – down one end and out the other. TOM: Right. Mm-hmm. OK. CLYDE: So, there’s no water. There’s no issues there. TOM: OK. CLYDE: It’s gone. TOM: Right. CLYDE: It’s just the cold, uninsulated slab that just conveys the heat – or the cold, rather. TOM: Right. All the time, yeah. CLYDE: Yeah. TOM: Yeah, that’s unfortunate. CLYDE: I thought about this film – or not film but foil. I’ve used it in a roofing situation and it really worked very well in stopping the heat and cold movement. But I didn’t know how it would be under carpet or under a vinyl flooring. TOM: Yeah, I don’t – you’re talking about radiant barrier. That’s not designed to be under a floor. I don’t think it’ll make any difference, frankly. So, let’s just talk about the problem in general. So, I’ve seen this before. You basically had a home that was once heated by a sub-slab hydronic system, meaning that the water pipes were basically cast into the floor. And the idea was that a hot-water system would warm up that water, run it through the floor and the floor would get nice and warm. And those systems are fantastic until they break. And they’re impossible to fix. And back then, you know, they used copper plumbing pipe for that. Now, today it’s done with a material called PEX, which is pretty much indestructible. So the good news is if you did it again, you wouldn’t basically do – you could have that sub-slab system and it wouldn’t be nearly as prone to breakage as what you have now. But now, once that happens, then people scramble to find some other system that will work. And generally, I’ve seen them take the air-conditioning ducts and try and turn it into a heating system and like you say, run forced air through that. Usually, that’s pretty darn inefficient because a lot of times, that heat’s coming out at the ceiling and certainly not where it should be coming out. So the heat never quite gets down to floor level. So, as you can tell from my description, I’ve seen it before many times. Now, for your house, with the cement slab I think what I would be doing is I would be putting an insulation under anything that I put down. So, for example, if I was going to carpet something, I would probably put 1-inch – even though you have to raise the floor a bit. It becomes challenging around doors and that sort of thing. I’d probably put a 1-inch foam insulation piece under that. But then you have to put a plywood subfloor over it, because you can’t just carpet on top of the foam, obviously. But I think in the rooms where it’s possible, you’re going to have to put some sort of insulation sheet underneath that floor, in order to get past this frigid feeling that you’re getting every time you get up in the winter and walk across it. CLYDE: Right. Exactly. Yeah. Oh, I was afraid – and the house has got – luckily, the vinyl – it’s got vinyl flooring and snap-in. It wasn’t glued down. So that’s a positive. And there’s only three rooms that – three smaller bedrooms that have carpet in them. So, that in itself is just peel it back, take the molding off around the outside and your kickboard or floor molding and then just – and do like you were saying. I never thought about actual foam or that kind of insulation board. TOM: Yeah, I would those furring strips in. And you can secure those down with Tapcon screws, which will drill right into the concrete. And then you can attach the subfloor to that furring strip. You can make the furring strips the same exact thickness as the foam. So if you use the 1-inch foam, you just cut yourself 1-inch furring strips. CLYDE: Alright. Would that then – would the furring strip help eliminate any condensation or – that happens when you have a temperature inversion from one surface to another. That concrete, you think about sweating. TOM: Yeah. What I would do is I’d put plastic down on the slab first and then I’d put the furring strips on top of that. And then you would insert the foam in between that. CLYDE: On the – oh, yes, yes. Understood. Alright. TOM: I think it’s going to make a huge difference for you. CLYDE: Oh, it – yeah, would be greatly. Alright. Well, I do appreciate your callback. This is awesome. I listen to your show and – quite a bit. There’s some of the things that doesn’t apply down south or some other area but I really appreciate your service. TOM: Yeah, we try to mix it up, you know? We’re talking to the entire nation. So, we’re going – when we say – we mean it when we say coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. Because, really, there are folks that are listening in every climate out there. And if you’ve got a question, no matter where you live, we’re going to try to answer it for you. CLYDE: Awesome. Thank you. You have enlightened me in several different areas I hadn’t thought about. So, thank you very much. TOM: Alright. You’re welcome, sir. LESLIE: There’s really a lot there that’s difficult to work with. TOM: Yeah. In the years I spent as a home inspector, I saw that all the time. And it was just such a ridiculous fix to see builders and contractors sell these folks systems where they’re delivering heat at the ceiling level. I mean who in their right mind ever thought that was going to make that house comfortable? Usually, if they get enough heat, they’re paying 50 percent more than they should, because they have to keep pumping it into the house just to feel that comfort. But once that slab starts to leak and those pipes fail, there’s nothing you can do about that. You could put an electric grid down but then you’re paying electricity costs. And that is very expensive, as well. So, well, I think we got him straightened out there and Clyde is on his way to a warmer floor, which is important when you live in Illinois. LESLIE: Well, if your kitchen feels dark and dreary, it might be that you don’t have the right kind or perhaps the right type of lighting. Now, for kitchens, you need three types of lighting: you’ve got to have ambient, task and accent lighting. Now, ambient lighting is the overall light you have in the room. And that’s generally provided by the larger fixtures and natural light from the windows. TOM: Now, task lighting is more focused. It’s calibrated to specific work areas, like counters. And accent lighting does just that. It accents and highlights the architectural details or the objects within that redesigned space, like kitchen lighting that points up from the top of your cabinets or rope lighting underneath the cabinets which, incidentally, is a very easy do-it-yourself project. LESLIE: Yeah. And you know what? There’s no shortage of fixture styles and sizes out there to choose from for all of these lighting types. And it’s definitely OK to mix and match fixture styles. You can put a chandelier over the dining area and install interesting pendants for task lighting. Think about looking at things in the same finish or the same type of design style or period style to sort of blend those pieces together. But go for it. Mix and match. TOM: And speaking of lighting styles, I just today, Leslie, did some work on our task lighting. We had some track lighting that was above some areas of our kitchen, where it was a bit dark. And I took it all apart, put it all back together. Cleaned it up because it was picking up some dirt and grease from the cooking and stuff. Cleaned it all up, put it back together. So, now, not only is the light brighter but the fixtures are brighter, as well. LESLIE: Oh, that’s fantastic. TOM: So, lots of things that you can do in the kitchen to really add some more light there. And it does make a big difference. We love, for example, those little halogen puck lights. Those go under the cabinet so easy. Again, very do-it-yourself. Whether you want to take on a bigger project that requires, perhaps, using an electrician to wire some of the lighting or just doing a DIY project like rope lighting or puck lighting, you can’t go wrong by adding more light to that space. LESLIE: Good point. Alright. Now we’ve got Derwin in Texas who’s dealing with a fascia-board situation. Tell us what’s going on. DERWIN: I have a fascia board that is rotten. The way it’s put on there is I have a 1×4 fascia board that’s nailed up on there and then a 1×2 is nailed on the top portion of the fascia board. TOM: Yep. DERWIN: Which kind of – and the gutter is nailed to the 1×2, so I guess the 1×2 keeps the gutter from resting up against the fascia board, to keep it from rotting. TOM: Got it. Mm-hmm. DERWIN: But the drip edge – there’s a drip edge that’s nailed to the top, so like a 2×2 drip edge. And the top part of the drip edge is nailed to the roof deck and then it lays – the other half is – lays into the gutter. TOM: So what you want to know is how can you get the rotted fascia board out without taking apart your gutter and your drip edge and your spacer and all that stuff, right? DERWIN: Right. TOM: There’s no way to surgically remove the fascia; it’s like one part of the assembly. DERWIN: Right. TOM: So you’d have to take the whole thing apart. Now, it’s not a – it sounds like a lot of work. It’s not a tremendous project to get a gutter off. It’s not something you can do yourself because you don’t want to bend it, so you have to do it with some help to take the gutter off in one piece. But there is an opportunity here and that is that when you replace the fascia, I would not put wood fascia back. What I would do is I would use a product called AZEK – A-Z-E-K. This looks like wood, so it could look like that old 1×4 that you had, except it’s made of cellular PVC. So, it cuts like wood and it looks like wood but it never rots. So I would definitely suggest that this is an opportunity to improve the material that you’re using there. DERWIN: OK. TOM: Now, whether or not you put back the spacer and the gutter the way it was before is up to you. You really don’t need to have a spacer. You could put the gutter right up against the AZEK and then have the roof just lay into the top of the gutter. That would be the most normal assembly for that kind of thing. But if you want the spacer and it just works out better because that’s the way it was before, then what you could do is buy 1×6 AZEK, cut a 1½-inch strip off of it, use that as a spacer and use the rest as – you’ll have a 1×4 left and you use that for the fascia and you’ll have the strip just in one piece. DERWIN: So it cuts just like wood. TOM: Looks like wood, cuts like wood, doesn’t rot like wood. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT. LESLIE: Louis, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today? LOUIS: I have a question regarding a sump pump – drainage water. The previous owner has it routed to the sewer line going to the bathroom in the basement. That’s where the sump pump is, also. And I was wondering, should I reroute that to the outside of the house or should it – is it OK where it is? TOM: Well, you’re technically not supposed to connect a sump pump to a sewer line. You’re correct in that it’s supposed to go outside the house. Part of the issue is that if you don’t have a check valve, for sure, if you have any backup in the sewer, it can come right straight back up into the sump pump and that’s not going to be a pleasant situation. So, it would be preferable that it drain outside and at least 4 to 6 feet away from your foundation of your home so it doesn’t drop water back against the foundation wall. LOUIS: OK, then. Well, I did put a check valve in the – I put a heavy-duty sump pump in it and it requires you to put a check valve in it, which I did. But they put a flex hose from there to the sewer line into the wall and I’m not comfortable with that. And I didn’t think it should go there but thanks for that. I’ll take care of that. TOM: Yeah. And you are correct. So make sure you repair the sewer line when you pull that hose out, OK? LOUIS: I will do that. Thank you very much. TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT. LESLIE: Well, with an aging electrical grid and severe weather seemingly more prevalent than ever, getting caught without power is becoming a lot more common. Now, generators are an option but the type all depends on your budget and your needs. So, there are two basic types. We’re talking about portable and whole-house. And each serves a very specific purpose. TOM: That’s right. So let’s start first by talking about portable generators. They really have come a long way. They are usually gasoline-powered but they can also be propane-powered. There’s a range of power that they provide. The small units can power just a couple of essential items, like perhaps a refrigerator and lights. They can also be taken sort of to-go: places like campsites and tailgates, so you can get a little more use out of them. The pro side is that they’re very affordable. They’re small. You can take it with you. But on the downside, you need fuel to operate them safely. And if you have a power outage in your community, chances are you may not be able to buy fuel at the local gas station, which will also have a power outage and not be able to pump it. So, it’s something to keep in mind, because you can’t store fuel for a very long time. You could also opt for a portable transfer switch to plug them into, which means you could have a couple of circuits permanently wired to that generator. It makes it a little bit easier just to run those circuits. For example, the circuit for your heating system might be one that you would want to wire with it. But again, it’s a lot more hassle than you think, because you’ve got to have that fuel to run it. LESLIE: Alright. Now, there’s also a whole-house option. Now, a whole-house generator, these guys are installed directly into your home’s electrical system. And they can run on natural gas or propane. And they’re tied directly into your home’s fuel source. And they can power the entire house in seconds when the power goes out. Now, these guys use an automatic transfer switch, which monitors your utility power. And when it goes out, that automatic transfer switch turns on the generator automatically, whether you are home or not. And then it will automatically turn off the generator when the power is restored. I mean the other day – actually, a few weeks ago when we had, really, the first snowstorm on the East Coast for us, I’m telling you hours before the snowstorm was even coming my power went off and on, off and on, off and on probably four times that morning. And I’m like, “It’s not even snowing yet.” But we never missed a beat and that’s the benefit of having the whole-house generator. You don’t need to think about it. It’s safer. You’re not storing any fuel. You don’t have to run extension cords. And it’s good for outages even when you’re not home and you’re not able to hook up a portable unit. Now, the downsides with the whole-home generators are they can be expensive. You might not be able to recoup your investment if you sell your home. Although, personally, I think it’s an excellent selling feature. TOM: Oh, absolutely. I definitely think it is. We’re seeing more and more homes that have them. And it’s interesting. You know, when you go to, say, sport games – like when my kids were playing high-school sports and all the parents that were hanging out watching the games, watching practice – the conversations that people have right after a storm, I cannot tell you how many times – and I wasn’t bringing this up but I’m just listening how many people were talking about buying a whole-house generator. It’s like they didn’t think about it until they were out of power for a few days. Then all of a sudden, it becomes a priority. So, don’t let that happen to you. It’s a really good investment. The prices have come down and it’s just a smart thing to do. LESLIE: We’ve got Cindy in Michigan on the line who wants to talk about reducing energy costs. How can we help you? CINDY: Is there a way to lower your electric bills by generating your own electricity? I’ve heard of solar panels and windmills and seems like they cost a lot of money to get them going. And I’m wondering, is it actually feasible, financially, to do something like that? TOM: Yeah. Well, first of all, the most effective way to cut those energy costs – and especially if we’re talking about heating and cooling energy – is to improve the energy efficiency of your home. And the single most important way or easiest way to do that is by improving insulation. It’s amazing how many people simply don’t have enough insulation. And in a state like Michigan, you’re certainly going to want to have 15 to 20 inches of insulation in your attic. Now, as to your question about generating your own power, there are some programs that are run by state governments and by utility suppliers that include different sorts of rebates and different sorts of purchase – I don’t want to say schemes but sort of plans for getting that equipment to your house. So, for example, in my part of the country, they have offers where you don’t actually pay for the initial installation there. You partner with an energy company that does the installation of solar panels. And then, as it generates energy, you get to keep some of that and some of that goes back to the utility company and eventually, it pays off the cost of that installation. So I would investigate solar programs in your area and rebates that might be available. Start with the utility companies and go from there. Because if there’s a favorable program, that’s the only way it makes them cost-effective. You are correct in that a lot of these things are very expensive and don’t make a lot of economic sense. But if there’s rebate money available – either locally, at the state level or federally – it does make sense. CINDY: OK. So you would just call your energy company then? TOM: I would start there, with your utility company, or simply do some research online for rebates that are available in your area. OK, Cindy? CINDY: Alright. Thank you. TOM: You’re very welcome. Good luck with that project. If you’re thinking about taking on a home improvement or a décor project or maybe you need some remodeling advice, whether it’s a project you’re doing now or you’re thinking about for the warmer months ahead, now would be an excellent time to reach out to us with that question at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. Because we are also giving away, to one listener drawn at random, a great product this hour. It’s the Greenworks 60-Volt Cordless Mower. No gas, no oil required. Push-button start. No cords to pull. It’s got a brushless motor that’s really powerful and it will cut through the toughest grass. You’ll get about 60 minutes of run time on the battery. And what’s cool about the battery, the technology includes a battery that will automatically change over to a second battery when the power is getting low. That is an industry first. There is no other mower on the market that does that. But Greenworks, they figured out how to make it happen. So, great time to pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. LESLIE: Yeah. And you can also get great tips, ideas and solutions to your lawn-and-garden projects when you follow @GreenworksTools on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. TOM: That mower is worth 400 bucks. Going out to one caller drawn at random. Make that you. The number, again: 888-666-3974. LESLIE: Alright. We’ve got Alex from Illinois on the line with a plumbing question. What can we do for you? ALEX: I’ve got a septic issue. From the house to the tank, I think the line may be cracked in the middle of it. But the problem is my house is on a slab. And as far as I know, the pipes are in the slab. TOM: What I would do is two things. First of all, you need to have a drain-camera inspection done to confirm what you’re dealing with. So, there is a drain camera that looks kind of like a snake. And it can go 50, 100, 200 feet in the line and can actually give you a pretty decent picture of what’s going on there. And so, let’s assume that you confirm that somewhere under that slab, there’s a crack in the pipe. There’s a way to insert a liner into that pipe. It’s kind of like a fiberglass sock, if that makes sense, that gets inserted into the pipe and then filled up with water to kind of press it against the side and the water is released. And it basically kind of creates a pipe inside of a pipe and uses the old pipe as sort of the structure. But it will stop things from kind of permanently getting in there. Sometimes when you have a crack in a pipe, you get roots that form in there that will clog things up and that kind of stuff. Or you get a rough edge where waste gets trapped. So with this sort of fiberglass sock in there, that solves that. So that’s the way you repair a pipe that goes under something critical, like your house or your driveway or around your pool or something of that nature. But those are the two things you need. Now you’re going to have to do some work here to figure out where – what the company is best to work with on that. But I know that some of the big plumbing companies that do drain-cleaning will have this technology. But the first thing is figure out what you’re dealing with, determine if you’ve got a crack or not or maybe it’s something simpler to fix, OK? ALEX: I appreciate it very much. LESLIE: Well, if you keep telling your spouse or your significant other that you don’t have time to do anything around the house, we are calling your bluff. If you’ve got 30 minutes or sometimes even less, there are lots of improvements that you can make to your home. TOM: That’s right. For example, if you’ve got a window that hasn’t opened since maybe Seinfeld was on primetime, it’s probably because it’s painted shut. So here’s how you free it up. You grab a putty knife and you break the paint seal. Now, if it still won’t budge, I’m going to give you a little trick of the trade. You can take a block of wood on top of the lower window sash. That’s at the corner of the sash, where it’s right over the vertical piece. And then tap that wood with a hammer. You’re actually going to be sort of shutting the window. And the force is going to be pushing that window down. But that little bit of action, that rap with the hammer – one on one side of the sash and one on the other – actually breaks the paint free. And then the window will operate once again. LESLIE: Now, here’s another one: exercise. You know it’s good for you but it turns out exercise is also good for your circuit breakers. About every six months, you want to turn each breaker off and then turn them back on. Then, every month you want to push the test button on the GFCI to make sure that it stays flexible and strong, just like you after a good workout. TOM: You can also check for water leaks in less than 30. Here’s what you need to know. You turn off all running water and then check your water meter. If it’s moving, you’ve got a leak somewhere. You can also check your fixtures and your faucets for leaks. In fact, if you want to check to see if you have a leak in your toilet, just put some food coloring in the toilet tank. If the bowl turns the same color as the food coloring, then you’ve got a leak in the flush valve. And that’s something you want to fix quickly, because it can actually run up quite a water bill over the course of a year. So, you see, look, it doesn’t take a long time to do these little home improvement projects or maintenance tasks. You’ve just got to be motivated to get it done. LESLIE: Alright. And remember, always post your questions at MoneyPit.com or on The Money Pit’s Facebook page. Post your questions. We’ll jump into some of those now. And I’ve got one from Terry who writes: “Our bedroom carpet has had some cat accidents. I’m about to replace the carpeting but is there a stain or odor sealant that I can put over the underfloor to eliminate many old odors? Or do I have to replace that complete underflooring?” I guess she’s talking about the subfloor here. TOM: Yeah, I think so. And Terry, you do not have to remove that flooring, fortunately. What I would do is get rid of the carpet and the padding, of course, and then I would vacuum that subfloor. And make sure you get into the seams of the plywood subfloor, because you get a little dust and dirt that gets down there and that can hold some of the odor, as well. Now, once you’ve got it really clean and dry, what I would do is I would use a primer. Let’s think. Zinsser makes one that actually is an odor-killing primer, specifically made for situations like this. And if you paint that subfloor a couple of coats with this odor-killing primer, you will seal in any stains that have gotten into that floor and you will deal – you will kill those odors. And you’ll be able to carpet right back over that without having to do any further work on that floor. So just look for the Zinsser Odor-Killing Primer. LESLIE: Alright. Next, we’ve got a question here from Blake in Colorado. Now, Blake writes: “I found a nest of baby squirrels living just inside my attic. I hear them when I’m inside the house. Do you have any advice on getting rid of them? I don’t want to hurt them.” TOM: They’re so cute when they’re babies. LESLIE: They are so cute. TOM: But when they grow up, they can do plenty of damage to your home. LESLIE: And they’re not so friendly. TOM: And they’re not so friendly. LESLIE: No. TOM: So you do want to remove those unwanted squirrels. And of course, we do want to do so as humane as possible. So what I would do is I would use a live trap, like a Havahart trap. That’s a cage with a trap door and they go in. Usually, you bait it with some food, then the trap door shuts. And then, of course, you need to pick up that whole trap and you need to take it out to the wilderness somewhere and let that squirrel go free out there. You will find that when you are moving that trap, the squirrels do get pretty freaked out. So I would cover it with a blanket so it’s nice and dark. Keep them calm until you let them go. And when you open that trap, they will just bolt away as quickly as possible. They have no interest in doing a U-turn and hassling you. The key, though, is to make sure that you bait it properly. You need to be careful about the bait because, otherwise, they can – they won’t get far enough to actually trip the pedal that actually closes the door. So, what you want to do is maybe cover that bait area with some peanut butter so they really have to go back in there to get to it. Or you know what else works good is peanuts, in the shell. That works well, too. But again, you have to put them in something where they have to basically get into the back of the cage – the far corner of the cage – so that we’re sure that they trap – that they hit that pedal and actually force that door to close. But that’s a great way to do it. I think Havahart traps are fantastic. I’ve used them for many, many years. LESLIE: Yeah, good point. And this way, you know, you get them, you bring them to another location. You hope they don’t remember that you have really awesome things in your attic and want to come back and hang out with you again. But you’re on the right track to getting those little guys out. TOM: You are listening to The Money Pit Home Improvement Show on air and online at MoneyPit.com. Thank you so much for spending this part of your day with us. Remember, you can grab The Money Pit podcast on all the major podcast platforms, as well as listen on radio. And if you have questions, we’d love to get back to you with an answer. So call us, 24/7, at 1-888-MONEY-PIT or post your questions to MoneyPit.com. I’m Tom Kraeutler. LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself … LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone.   (Copyright 2020 Squeaky Door Productions, Inc. No portion of this transcript or audio file may be reproduced in any format without the express written permission of Squeaky Door Productions, Inc.) The post Episode #1970: Kitchen Lighting Tips | Best Generators | 30 Minute Home Improvements appeared first on The Money Pit. #HomePage

Agilenano - News from Agilenano from shopsnetwork (4 sites) https://agilenano.com/blogs/news/in-this-episode

[notsostraightstanley]

Ship: Richie/Eddie, (side) Mike/Stan Description: Based on this Article (because every fandom should have a version of this story) “I don’t have a problem with you liking guys. As long as I’m the guy you like.”  [Or Straight guy worries he’s being homophobic to gay roommate, realises he’s fallen in love with him.] Warnings: Homophobia mention

(Sorry if there’s any mistakes, this hasn’t been read by anyone else. Feel free to tell me if there is and I’ll fix it!)

Read on AO3

Eddie was desperate to move out when he started University but there was absolutely no way he could afford to do that on his own, so he knew he was going to need to get a roommate. He’d asked one of the guys he worked with, Bill, if he knew of anyone looking for a roommate- thankfully he did and suggested his friend, Richie.

The first time he met Richie, Eddie was very apprehensive about living with the guy- he didn’t seem particularly responsible, can he be trusted to pay rent on time? Plus he kept making crude jokes about having sex with Eddie’s Mom. Regardless, Eddie had no other options and needed to get out of his house as soon as possible.

When they first moved in together, Richie had told Eddie about him being gay almost immediately to avoid making things awkward later down the line and Eddie hadn’t had a problem with it.

Over the course of them living together, almost a year, Eddie had grown to really like Richie- sure he could be intense and never knew when to shut his mouth but he was funny and made Eddie feel comfortable- even if he did have an unhealthy obsession with jokes about screwing Eddie’s mom, although recently there was a shift in their dynamic.

Eddie wasn’t homophobic, or at least he didn’t think he was, it’s super cliched but most of his friends are queer and he never had any issue with them, however whenever he walked in on his roommate making out with some dude on the couch or escorting a guy out the flat the morning after Eddie experienced a feeling of disgust in the pit of his stomach.

He had absolutely no reason to feel like this, god knows he’d accidentally witnessed his friends doing much worse (seeing Stan straddling Mike was an image he desperately wished he could erase from his memory) but he’d never experienced this kind of reaction towards anyone else.

Eddie wasn’t too sure when he first started to feel this way but it was apparent that Richie was starting to notice. About a week ago he had come home early from a lecture to see some guy sitting on the couch, sipping at a can of coke, the guy nodded when he noticed Eddie come in and got up to greet him. “Hey, I’m Kyle.” He said with a smile, holding out his hand.

“Eddie.” He said bluntly, with no intention of taking the man’s hand- merely looking at it before placing his keys on the table beside him. When ‘Kyle’ realised that Eddie wasn’t going to shake him hand he awkwardly pulled his arm back, and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a bit uncomfortable. He coughed before speaking again “Um, Richie’s just stepped out to pick up some pizza and snack for the movie, he should be back soon.”

Eddie just looked at him for a moment. He wasn’t sure why but he felt an overwhelming sense of hatred for this guy, it’s not like he did anything to deserve this reaction but Eddie couldn’t help it- he utterly despised the guy. “Cool.” His voice oozed with condescension. He picked up his charger and a book from the coffee table before walking into his room, shutting the door behind him, leaving Kyle to wonder what he’d done wrong. ... Later than night, Eddie left his room to make himself something to eat. When he saw Richie standing with the flat door open with Kyle on the other side of it he breathed a sigh of relief. Finally. He wasn’t sure why he cared so much about Kyle being here, he’s just glad that he’s leaving.

He heard the front door close and he turned to Richie with a grin, although his smile was only met with furrowed brows and down-turned lips. “Why were you a dick to Kyle?”

Eddie thought for a moment, unsure “I, um… I really don’t know, I guess I was just in a bad mood or something.” He suddenly felt awful for how he’s treated Kyle, he hadn’t meant to upset Richie, so he moved to open the fridge to avoid his gaze, not really aware of what he was looking for.

Richie, clearly unhappy with that answer, shifted his weight and let out a heavy breath. Eddie could feel Richie’s gaze on him but made no effort to turn around and meet it, there’s an uncomfortable silence for a moment before Richie speaks up again. “Do you have a problem with me fucking guys or something?”

Eddie whipped round to face the other boy. “N-no, not at all! It’s not like that, I-”

“Then what’s your fucking problem then?” Richie was visibly upset but trying to hide it behind anger.

Eddie didn’t know what to say, he couldn’t tell Richie that he had just hated Kyle- and every other guy he brought home for that matter- with a burning passion without sounding just a little bit homophobic and a big bit ridiculous. “I don't have a problem. Whoever you choose to sleep with is private, it's none of my business.” Eddie watched his converse covered toes as he replied.

Richie scoffed. “What-fucking-ever.” He roughly rubs his face before storming towards his room. He came out a second later, shoving on a hoodie and pulling his satchel over his head. “I’m staying with Bill tonight.”

“Richie-”

“Don’t.” Richie cut him off, stopping at the front door gripping the handle. “So, you’ll be okay if I fuck Bill, as long as I don’t do it here, right?” his voice dripped with venom but his eyes showed clear hurt. Eddie doesn’t get a chance to reply before Richie storms out, slamming the door behind him. … A week later and he’d barely spoken to or even seen Richie. He had come home the next night, not saying a word to Eddie and only really coming out of his room to eat before leaving again.

Eddie had tried to apologise once, only to have Richie slam his bedroom door in Eddie’s face- so he thought it best to just leave him alone for a while. But that was a week ago, and he was getting anxious. What if Richie never speaks to him again? He’s really lost for what to do so decides to ask for some advice.

Stan and Mike, two of his closest friends, now sat in front of him in his and Richie’s shared living room, he was filling them in on the situation. At first, he was apprehensive about telling them considering they’re both queer and dating each other- he didn’t want them to think he was homophobic- but he knows that they would never judge him (or at least Mike wouldn’t).

“... and then he left. He came back the next night but he hasn’t spoken to me since.” Eddie pauses for a second. “So, how do I deal with this? I never thought I was homophobic, but just the thought of Richie’s sex life makes me uncomfortable.” Grimace twists onto his face as he says it.

Stan and Mike share a knowing look but neither speak up.

Eddie notices “What?” Mike opens his mouth to speak but changes his mind. “What is it?” Eddie’s clearly agitated now.

Stan speaks up. “Are you… Are you sure that what you’re feeling isn’t jealousy? I mean, it only seems to bother you about Richie specifically.”

“What am I supposed to be jealous of?” Eddie thinks. “He definitely has a more active sex life than I do, but it seems kind of irrational for me to react like this over that.”

“Yeah,” Mike says, “but maybe… you don’t like seeing Richie with other people, not because you don’t like him being with guys but because you want to be the guy he’s with?”

Oh.

“So you think… I want to… date Richie…?”

The pair nod cautiously.

oh… oh Oh…

It sort of makes sense, he’s never really had a crush on anyone before so he kind of just presumed that he was straight (which was really dumb of him, come to think of it).

“Oh my god!” Eddie’s words were muffled by his hands covering his face. “What do I do? Do I tell him? But what if he doesn’t feel the same way? I’ll have to move out, get a new apartment. It’d be too awkward to stay. What if-”

“Eddie! Calm down!” Stan says, putting a hand on his shoulder. The other boy looks up at him with glassy eyes. “As uncomfortable as it might be, you should probably speak to him. Give him an explanation for your weird behaviour.”

“You’re right.” He groaned, stuffing his face into a couch pillow. “Why’re you always right?”

Their attention is drawn to the door as it opens. Of course, Richie chooses now to come home.

There’s a noticeable awkward tension in the flat as Richie closes the door behind him and walks over to the fridge. The three boys in the living room watch as Richie riffles for something to eat.

“Um… we’re gonna go…” Stan announces as he stands, grabbing hold of Mike’s hand and dragging him towards the front door. “Bye.”

Mike mouths ‘Good luck’ and gives Eddie a thumbs up before being hauled outside by Stan.

The door slams behind them, the thud echoes before letting a deafening silence descend over the flat. The quiet seems to drag forever before Richie speaks up.

“Your friends left pretty quickly.” he says casually, pulling a cheese string out from the fridge and opening it “They hate me for liking dick too?”

“What? No!” He jumps up off the couch. “I don't! They- they’re together, they’re both queer too.”

Richie steps closer to Eddie, pulling off a strip from his cheese string and tossing it in to his mouth. He chuckles lightly. “So it’s just me liking dick you have a problem with?”

“No! Y-yes, sort of.” Eddie is clearly flustered, not sure how to word how he’s feeling. He wished he could have spent some time thinking about what he was going to say before doing this.

Richie tosses his snack onto the coffee table as he moves closer to Eddie again, closing the gap between them. “What do you mean, Eds?”

Without really thinking, Eddie roughly grabs Richie’s cheeks to pull him forwards and smashes their lips together. The kiss is brief and a little awkward but it gets his point across. There’s a pause for a second, Eddie watches as Richie gently touches his lips before looking up at the other boy.

“I don’t have a problem with you liking guys. As long as I’m the guy you like.”

Richie breaths out a small laugh. “I can live with that.” He smiles, bringing his hand up to the back of Eddie’s neck, carefully running his thumb over his skins.

They’re still for a moment, taking each other in, before Richie moves down to connect their lips for a much gentler kiss.

Hopefully, the first of many.

...

Send me a prompt, if you fancy