#probably awful attempts at writing an irish accent

[vara-drakaina]

Fictober Day 1 “Old Time’s Sake”

Fictober Day 1 Prompt: “It will be fun, trust me.” Inktober Day 1 Prompt: Ring

Style: Fanfic (Oneshot) Fandom: Borderlands Pairing: Zane Flynt X OC (Platonic) Warning: Mentions of Violence, Probably Terrible Attempts to Write an Irish Accent

Song Inspiration: “I Fell In Love With The Devil” by Avril Lavigne

Hi guys, so I’m new to Tumblr (well, posting on Tumblr, lol) and I wanted to get started doing writing. I’d like to one day do requests, so I figure Fictober is a good way to get my work out there. I’ll be writing for a bunch of fandoms, so hopefully ya’ll might see some you like! Instead of following just one prompt list, I’m going to be following both the Fictober prompt list and Inktober prompt list. I think it presents a neat challenge to mash up both lists, so that’s what I’ll be doing! This story uses an OC I made a long time ago for the Borderlands franchise, as well as her backstory. As such, she doesn’t really have an appearance. I never got around to writing that story, though I hope to in the future. I think everything stated here is pretty self explanatory. Ask me any questions you might have about her! :)

Without further ado, here we go!

###

“Ya know, you seem a lot more down than somebody workin’ for Hyperion ought ta be,” Zane said, pausing their catch up session to look over the mouth of his bottle at his drinking buddy. “Yer Handsome Jack’s personal assassin and ya get all the new tech for nothin’. Hell, yer the one makin’ half the new tech, Theia.”

Theia sighed and slammed the rest of her brightly-colored cocktail. He was certain he’d seen at least five kinds of alcohol go into that drink, and not much else. She flagged down the bartender and gestured for another round for her and her Irish friend, before sighing again.

“Keep in mind, Jack doesn’t know that I’m his assassin. As far as he knows, I’m just the middleman... uh, woman. Ugh…” She cradled her head in her hands as the bartender served their next round, though the action had nothing to do with how much alcohol she’d consumed. “Zane, how did I manage to end up here? How’d I go from that ditch on Achlys to Senior Weapons Development at Hyperion?”

“Well, I’d have ta guess it had something ta do with me pulling you outta that ditch in the first place,” he said, clapping his free hand on her shoulder while taking a drink. “What does it matter how ya got here, yer here now aren’t ya? Sure Hyperion has a bit of a… shite reputation… but ya’d be an eejit not to work for them. ‘Specially since yer too good to get airlocked like the rest of the gobshite.”

Theia tilted her head to give an exasperated look to her old mentor. He grinned back at her, sipping his cheap beer like he was the happiest, most fulfilled man in the world. She shook her head and smiled genuinely for the first time that night.

“I may have known Jack since long before Hyperion was in his sights, but that doesn’t mean I’m safe from his mercurial tempers now. I’m not sure I could count how many times I’ve had that pistol aimed at my head, but it’s definitely more than I could count on both hands,” she said it with a joking tone, but nobody alive on Helios would deny that fact, a fair few had seen it in person. “My scientists used to place bets when the department had a bad week, but the ones that bet against me learned pretty quickly that it was a waste of their money.”

They both chuckled and took sips of their drinks, the thumping of the music filling the silence between them.

“Didja ever think the ones bettin’ against ya had a chance?”

She scoffed, “I threw my lot in with them more often than not. There were a few times I started the betting pool against myself.”

Zane bellowed with laughter, and Theia did her best to laugh along with him as she drank her Pandoran Iced Tea.

“Sometimes I think about the man he used to be and the man he is now and wonder why I never followed through on what the Watcher asked me to do,” she stated, the pounding, upbeat music suddenly out of place in the somber mood. Zane knew the ‘he’ she was referring to, even if she didn’t specify. “I could have stopped all this before it even started.”

He threw his arm around her shoulders, quietly choosing his words so as to end this conversation quickly. It wouldn’t do to have a conversation like this in the middle of Helios, where anyone could be listening, as much as he’d be happy to help out an old friend.

“Ya can’t think like that, Theia. We’re assassins, not heroes. Ya know damn well there aren’t any heroes in this corner o’ the galaxy, and there’s no use beatin’ yerself up about it,” he scolded, grunting before he continued, “An’ anyway, if that Eridian reeeally wanted you ta off him, it woulda sent ya after you became an assassin. It’s just poor feckin’ plannin’.”

Theia chuckled, leaning her head on Zane’s shoulder appreciatively as he downed the rest of his beer and set the empty bottle down on the bar.

“It should have sent me after he became a nutcase,” she sighed, “Maybe then I wouldn’t have fallen in love with him.”

“Aye, maybe so, but the heart wants what the heart wants. Maybe you woulda fallen fer him anyway. There’s no way of knowin’ and there’s no use in wonderin’. Now hurry up an’ finish yer drink, we’re goin’ ta Aquator.”

Theia gave Zane a confused look, before shrugging and downing the rest of her drink.

“And why, pray tell, are we going to Aquator?” she asked, placing the empty glass on the bar and nodding at the bartender as they stood. Zane shoved some change in the tip jar as they walked away, before giving her a mischievous look.

“Just a quick question, are ya married in Aquator, by any chance?”

The alcohol hadn’t come even remotely close to knocking her on her ass, but that question did.

“Uh… no, definitely not,” she responded as they stepped into the hanger elevator. “Just what exactly are you dragging me into, Zane?”

“Oh, not much… want ta get married?” He smiled as sweetly as a crafty assassin could as he kneeled and presented her with what was clearly a wedding band, not an engagement ring.

“This is for one of your jobs, isn’t it, you tipsy old codger?”

“Come on, ya know ya want to! It’ll be fun, trust me,” he exclaimed excitedly to Theia, grinning, and after a moment she was smirking just as brightly back at him. He was at his old antics, and she could use the distraction. “Fer old time’s sake, what do ya say?“

Theia held her left hand out as daintily as she possibly could, “I suppose I could handle having a little bit of fun, for old time’s sake.”

“Thata girl!” Zane laughed, sliding the simple band on. She rolled her eyes, and pulled him up to his feet as she made to type in her credentials into the keypad on the wall.

“I’ve got some new tech we could test out on the field while we’re at it. It’ll make getting out of my meeting with Jack this afternoon much easier.”

“Have I ever told ya yer my favorite corporate sugar mama?” he cooed, throwing his arm around her shoulders again.

“I’d have to be older than you for that to be true, and we both know you’re old enough to be my father,” she retorted, shoving him off playfully.

“Maybe even grandfather!” he joked, “How old are ya again, lass?”

“Old enough to know you act like you’re five.”

“Gotta stay young somehow, don’t I?”

[angelicwolf98]

Dark Anticipations

A/N: This is my first time posting fanfic on here so please go easy on me. I wrote this almost two years ago, so, for now, it's unedited. My writing has greatly improved since then, so I want to see what people think of the story and see if it’s worth rewriting or not.

Pairings: platonic!Mark x OC, platonic!Jack x OC

Warnings: mild violence

Pain.

That’s the first thing my brain is able to register as I slowly regain consciousness. A dull, throbbing pain that reverberates throughout my skull.

What happened? Where am I?

Then I hear the voices. Fear grips my heart at the realization that I’m not alone. Continuing to feign sleep, I do my best to listen in on the conversation, hoping it could shed some light on what the heck’s going on.

There are two voices, both male. One voice has a deep baritone, while the other is more high pitched with an accent that I can’t quite place. These voices sound so familiar, yet I can’t put my finger on where I’ve heard them before.

“How long do you think she’ll be asleep?” the accented voice asks.

“I don’t know,” the deep voice responds. “From what I can tell, she took a pretty hard hit to the head, so she may be out a while.”

“I just don’t understand why they brought her here. I mean, what do they want with a freaking kid?”

The deep voice sighed, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

A sudden wave of intense pain shoots through my head, causing me to involuntarily groan.

“I think she’s waking up,” the accent says.

“Hey, are you okay?”

A large hand is placed on my arm, startling me. I quickly sit up and crawl backward as fast as I can until a wall prevents me from moving any further.

“Whoah, hey! Easy, easy. It’s all right, we’re not gonna hurt you,” the deep voice says.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm my pounding heart, I finally focus on these two strangers. The minute I look up at them, my jaw drops. I now realize why their voices had sounded so familiar; it’s because I know exactly who these guys are. I mean, how could I not! I watch their Youtube videos every single day!

I glanced at the man to my left. He had dark brown hair that was flipped to the side, facial hair that was more stubble than anything else, and bright brown eyes that were filled with concern. He had tan skin, and his facial features suggested that he was probably part Asian. He was pretty built, but his muscles seemed relaxed, and his hands were slightly raised in a non-threatening way.

Focusing on the other man, I can tell that he’s slightly built too, even though he’s much skinnier than his friend. His dark brown hair is similar to the other guy’s, except it’s more spiked at the top. This man’s facial hair is more grown out, but not to the extent of being called an actual beard. He has pale, white skin, and cerulean blue eyes that are also filled with concern.

“Are you okay, lass?” the pale guy asks in his accent.

Lass…

His accent…

It’s Irish…

I mentally slap myself for not recognizing this sooner. Still gaping at these two men, I struggle to find my voice.

“Y-you’re, you’re Markiplier…” I stutter towards the Asian. “And you’re… Jacksepticeye…” I look at the Irish man in awe. Their concern soon turns into surprise.

“So… you do know who we are?” Jack asks. I can only nod. Of course, I know who they are! They’re two of the biggest names on Youtube! Well, on the gaming side of Youtube, anyway.

As the shock of seeing my two idols finally wore off, my mind was immediately bombarded with a million questions. What are they doing here? What am I doing here? Where exactly is “here”?

I glance around to find that we’re in some kind of filthy, dank holding cell. The only piece of furniture is an equally filthy single mattress that lays at my feet. I’m guessing that’s where I’d been laying only a few minutes before. I see a rusted bed frame in the far corner, which is probably where the mattress came from. Seeing just how aged and fragile the metal looked, I can understand why they would choose to lay on the floor instead of the bed.

“I know you probably have a lot of questions,” Mark speaks up, “and I promise we’ll answer as much as we can. Is it all right if we sit with you?” He asks this hesitantly, and I can tell he’s trying his best to show he means me no harm. I hesitantly nod, and they both sit on either side of me.

I don’t know how long we sat there talking, but what I do know is that as time passed, I began to feel more comfortable around them, more…safe. I told them that my name was Hailey Peters and I had just turned fifteen only two weeks prior. I explained that all I could remember was that I went for a walk after being cooped up inside all day due to a heavy snow closing school. I slipped on some ice, hit my head, and before everything went dark, I had seen two pairs of glowing eyes looking down at me.

Mark and Jack tensed as I said that. I looked up at them, seeing the distress in their eyes.

“You know who brought us here, don’t you?”

Mark sighed, “You wouldn’t believe us.”

“Try me.”

“You know our evil alter egos, that the fans made up and we brought them to life in our videos?” Mark asked.

I nodded. I knew all about Jack’s and Mark’s demonic alter egos, or better known as Antisepticeye and Darkiplier.

“Well, somehow, they’re real…and they’re the ones who took us…” Jack continued.

I let this new information sink in. Dark and Anti are real… and they kidnapped us… no. No no no no no. Heck no!

I stood up and faced the two Youtubers.

“Look, I may be one of those fangirls that squeals every time Dark or Anti makes an appearance in your videos, but I know fact from fiction!” I started rambling, “I mean, what is this, a fanfic! There’s no way Darkiplier and Antisepticeye are real!”

“Oh, but my dear, we are very real.”

I froze as a deep, demonic voice spoke behind me. Mark and Jack jumped up quickly, their eyes wide with fear as they stared at the figure behind me. I slowly turned around and came face to face with not one, but two demonic beings. The very beings that I didn't believe existed until now… Darkiplier and Antisepticeye.

They looked completely identical to Mark and Jack, but at the same time, were completely different. Dark was clad in his usual attire of a white dress shirt and grey suit, which matched his deathly grey skin. Anti wore black torn jeans and a black t-shirt that was stained with the blood that dripped from the slit in his throat. His pasty, white skin had a greenish hue to it, while Dark was surrounded by a blue and red aura of light.

I gasped in fear and began to back away from the demons before I felt a firm hand grip my shoulder and pull me backward. The next thing I know, Mark was standing in front of me, shielding me from Dark’s piercing red eyes. Jack moved forward a bit, trying to keep his counterpart’s malicious green eyes on him instead of me.

I was silently grateful for them attempting to keep me out of harm’s way, even though we had just met. Because I knew very well what these alter egos were capable of, and the fact that they were alive terrified me.

“Ḑ̣̔̄ò̘̐ͅ ̫͚̀̕y̖̭͆͗ỏ̠̣́û̘̞́ ̣̙̂̆b̛̫̱̆ė̢͍̈́l̳̰͂͠ì̝͖̾e̪̲͂̓v̜̲́̓e̱͚͂͒ ̟̥̀͛w̬͖͒̈́ĕ̼͙͋'̞̼̈́́r̬̻̒̔e̝̱͊͠ ͖͓̇͝ŕ̯͆͜e͚͓̅͊a͕̘͌̈́l̩̙̎͝ ̨̗̍͐n̛͔̩̆o̩̙̾̽ẉ̬̂͐,͍̈́̉ͅ ̫̳̇̊H̥̤̄͘a̩͇͛̚i̳̘̊̊l̫̜̅͝e͈͚͆̈́ý̢̗͐?” Anti asked with a psychotic smile.

My heart skipped a beat at the fact he knew my name. Jack placed his hands on my shoulders as Mark kept his stance between me and the demons, both men's eyes never leaving the glares of their egos.

“What do you want, Dark?” Mark finally asked.

Dark smirked, “I thought it would be obvious. We’re here for the girl.”

My body shook with fear, and I felt Jack’s grip tighten on my shoulders.

“Over our dead bodies,” Jack growled.

The demons chuckled. “W̲̑e͊ͅ'̱͑l̼̽l̝̕ ͓̐g̈́͜l̮̉a͎̿d̙̔l͙͝y̰͠ ̫͛t͚̋a̠͋k͙̎ẽ̱ ̖̈́ṷ͛p̲̊ ̪̎ṭ̀h͇̑ḛ̀ ̡͆o̖͗f̠͒f̛̹e̮̕r̂͜…”

“Once our plan is complete.”

Dark flicked his hand, sending Mark and Jack flying across the cell. They slammed against the wall, Jack slid to the ground while Mark crashed into the old bed frame, causing it to completely fall apart. Before I could even react, Dark and Anti grabbed my arms and dragged me away. I kicked and screamed, fighting with all my might, but it was no use. I was powerless against these two demons.

“Hailey!!”

I heard my name echo through the hallway as Mark and Jack threw themselves at the cell bars, all the while yelling threats and curses at the demons. Dark and Anti took no acknowledgment of it as the dragged me into a room and tied me to a chair. By this point, I was crying, my anxiety spiking to new heights.

“What do you want with me?!”

Anti chuckled maliciously, “Y͋͜ó̭u͕̔ ̢̈s̢͂ȇ̲e̬̾,̠͝ ̭̽ḱ̪ĩ̢t̫͊t̮̓e͍͗n̦̐,” I cringed at that nickname, “ĕ͉v̘́e̱̓n̰͠ ̣̅t͔͆h͓͂o̭̚u̝͆g̤͠h̛͕ ͈́ẅ́ͅe̠͂ ̥̌a̬̋r̨̅e̠̋ ̥̀o̤̾ư̫r̨̂ ̻̂o̺͐w̼͝n̡͊ ̺̉ḇ̈́e̥͝ǐ̠ñ͓ǵ͜ŝ͕,o͆ͅů̗ṟ̆ ̼̈́ẽ̢s̺̓s̡̚e̩̽n͇̋c̤̈́e̝̾ ̣͐ị̌s͚̃ ̙͑ŝ̟t̯̾ȋ͖l̐ͅl̰̎ ̮̄c̞̈́o͓̔ṇ̽n̦̅e̦͂ç͝t͉̃e̺̎ḍ̓ ͂ͅt̠̽o͌ͅ ͉̉t̠̾h̖͊o̯͆ş̐e̛ͅ ̧̓m͕̋o̤͛r̞̄o̭͆ṅ̢s̝͗.W͐ͅh͚̉ḯ̗c̼͂h̻̀ ̲̕m̹͒e͙͛a̺͑ň͕s̟̓ ̦͐ị̚f̥͗ ̜̆t͖̓h̭͑e̠͌y̼͝ ̻̍d̼͒ì̻ẹ̉…”

“…we die.” Dark continued. “While we can hurt them all we want, we can’t kill them without killing ourselves. So to free us of this, we need the blood of our makers, and the essence of an untainted soul.” Dark smirked at the as my mind struggled to wrap around this information. They needed my soul… They were going to take my soul…

“Ẇ͙e͑͜'̺͗v̜͐ë͓́ ̧͝n͎̑e̖͊v̝̏e̜̚ȓ͚ ͕͝s̲͠e̜̾ẻ̱ṅ̞ ͍͝s͓̅ō̼m̱̈́ė̝ō̜ṇ́e̪̾ ̦͋s̪̚o̪̓ ͖͐p̡̈́u̖̅r̯͝e͔̾,” Anti said as he scraped his fingernails across the blade of a very large knife. Dark slowly walked behind me as Anti continued to speak, “I̲͌t͎̑ ̜͘w͙̚ȃͅs̱̎ ̣̇a̺̎l̼̒l̦͝ ̐ͅs̨̑o̼̒ ̬̈p̲̈́e͕̍r͕͌f̣̄e̼̋č͚t̳̍,̬͂ ͚̋u̦̓ś̢ ̫͒f̺͐i̧̓n͚͋d̮͘i͕̎ñ͍g̬̽ ̰͠t͖̚h̡̍ḛ̆ ̳́v͍̎é̥r͍̾y̘͝ ͙̃t̯̆h̫͝ĭ̞n̡̕g̜̐ ̦͐w͙͐e̼͘ ͓͐ṉ̉ě̳e̝̓d̟͐e̝̔ď̥ ͎̊m͔̂o̫͝s̡̏ẗ̺́.”

“And now, we can finally be free.” Dark was now standing behind me. He gripped my hair painfully tight and yanked my head back, exposing my neck. Anti walked towards me, an insane glint in his green eyes as he raised the blade. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing that there was no escape. Just as I felt the cool metal touch my delicate skin, a loud bang filled the room.

“W̧̊h̗̿à̤t͖̄ ̧̎t̮̄h͍̎e̝̒—”

I opened my eyes just in time to see Jack smack Anti across the face with a metal pipe. He fell to the ground.

“How did you—” Before Dark could finish, Mark tackled him to the ground and stabbed him in the chest with a knife he had grabbed off the wall. Mark began untying my hands from behind me while Jack worked at the ropes around my feet.

“How’d you get out?” I asked as the astonishment wore off.

“Took a screw from the bed frame. Picked the lock,” Jack huffed breathlessly.

Suddenly, I saw movement behind him. Just as I yelled in warning, Anti lunged at Jack and pinned him to the ground. Jack used all his strength to hold Anti’s arm back, which still held the knife. Mark freed my hands and rushed to help his friend as I finished untying my feet. Once I was finally free, I looked up to see Anti lying on the ground with his very own knife protruding from his chest. Before I could say anything, Mark grabbed my hand and we all bolted out the door, ran through the maze of hallways, and finally found the exit. But we didn't stop there.

Once we were outside, we continued to run, trying to put as much distance between them and us. We kept running until we couldn't run anymore. By the time we stopped, the building we had escaped was miles away. All three of us collapsed as we caught our breath. It was only now that I realized we’re in the middle of a forest.

“Hailey, are you okay?” Jack asked breathlessly. I looked at him with tired eyes.

“I-I don’t know…” I then told the boys everything that had occurred while we were separated. When they heard about the demons’ plan, their faces fell in defeat. I knew what they were thinking. As long as Dark’s essence is attached to Mark’s, and Anti’s to Jack’s, then they weren’t really dead. They’d be back, and probably very ticked off.

Mark hoisted himself up. “Come on, we should keep moving. Who knows how long we have before…” He trailed off, but Jack and I both knew what he meant. We were all thinking it. We may have escaped, and we may be safe. But the question was, for how long?

[mindflayedr-blog]

5th Year // Hogwarts! Wyatt Oleff x Reader SERIES

Happy 800+ followers to me!! Thank you guys so much and I love you as always! I had a lot of fun writing this imagine 💓 I hope you guys enjoy is as much as I did writing it xx 

This is kinda long whoops, sorry you guys. I might make a part two for this because I have so many ideas for this imagine that it won’t fit in one post! \

***I MIGHT MAKE THIS INTO A SERIES!!! SEND ME AN ASK IF YOU WOULD WANT THIS TO BE A SERIES!!!!***

Summary:

Warnings: Cursing as usual

Characters: It kids & female!reader

Pairing: Maybe romantic ;) Wyatt Oleff x reader, slight Scorpius Malfoy x reader (bc I love him), and platonic IT cast x reader

Some key: Sentence in italics means that the perspective changed.

Also I set this in the Curse Child era because it’s more realistic :~)

It was the most exciting time of the year for Y/N. It was time to go back to Hogwarts, her beloved school. Y/N couldn’t wait to leave your boring home and be back in the wizarding world. She also couldn’t wait to see what 5th Year has in store.

As soon as Y/N’s luggage were taken care of, Y/N quickly boarded the Hogwarts Express. Students were also trying to get in the train, so it was pretty hectic, but thankfully to Y/N, she managed to get in. The next challenge for her was to find a seat, each compartment seemed to be occupied. Hogwarts students seemed to have doubled this year. Last year there were a couple of empty compartments, but this year every single compartment seemed full.

Y/N ventured around the train’s hall trying to find a compartment, when suddenly compartment 3B slammed open.

“Where the fuck’s my chocolate frog, Jack? Did you eat it? I swear if you did you, owe me one.”

“Not if I run away!” A boy with dark brown hair zooms out of compartment 3B followed by a boy with curly hair. Y/N giggled at them and proceeded to check out the compartment.

Y/N looked in and saw a boy with light brown locks reading. Y/N knocked on the compartment door to get his attention.

“Hey um… Is this compartment full?” Y/N said as she stood by the door nervously. She didn’t really like talking to new people, it made her nervous.

“It kinda is, but we can squeeze one more person in.” The boy replied as he placed a bookmark on his book and closed it.

“Oh thanks I thought I was going to have to move to another coach.”

“No, no need. You can stay here.” The boy said as he scoot over closer to the window so she had room to sit.

“Thanks again.” Y/N smiled as she took a seat next to him.

The train’s whistle sounded loudly, indicating that the train would be moving soon.

“Where are those two idiots? The train’s about to move.” The boy commented following an eyeroll. Y/N laughed a little remembering the two boys who ran out the compartment minutes ago.

“They should be back soon, they’re probably going to be yelled at by Prefects.” Y/N said and gave the boy a reassuring smile.

“That’ll be funny, them getting in trouble and all.” The boy laughed a little making Y/N laugh slightly too, “Anyway, my name’s Wyatt. Nice to meet you…?”

“Y/N, my name’s Y/N.” Y/N replied in a friendly tone.

“Y/N… Nice to meet you, Y/N.” Wyatt said while giving you a rather cute half smile.

“Nice to meet you too, Wyatt.” Y/N said as she gave him a smile in return. 

As soon as the train started moving, two boys entered the compartment. 

“God damn Prefects, thinking they’re all great and shit. They’re such assholes.” Said a boy with dark brown hair as he entered the compartment. He then sat down on the empty seat in front of you and Wyatt.

“Well it was your fault for running around the train. What do you expect? We’re you like expecting for them to give you praise for running around? Like ‘Oh wow, Jack! Good job for running around the train even though you’re not supposed to! Here! Have a Fizzing Whizzbee!’” The other curly haired boy replied sarcastically which made the dark brown haired boy push him slightly.

“Fuck you, Finn.”

“Just laying the truth down.” The boy beside Jack said as he took a seat next to Jack.

“Woah who’s that?” The boy with dark brown hair said as he turned to face Y/N which caused the boy beside him to turn too.

“This is Y/N, I met her a couple of minutes ago.” Wyatt replied while giving Y/N a smile. Y/N then gave the two boys a small, shy wave.

“Hi Y/N!! I’m Jack and this is my idiot friend, Finn.” Jack said as he reached for Y/N’s hand to shake. Y/N took his hand and gave it a little shake, she also went to go shake Finn’s hand.

“I think it’s the other way around, Jack.” Finn said while shaking his head disapprovingly. “But anyway, I’m Finn and Jack’s the idiot one.”

“Honestly, fuck off.”

Y/N and Wyatt laughed at their banter, Y/N knew that she was going to get a long well with these boys.

“Well, nice to meet you guys.” Y/N said with a small smile. She were glad she finally made friends after four years of failed attempts. Y/N wasn’t really the social type. She preferred to be by herself, but this year was different. This year, she managed to make friends with three boys much to her surprise. 

“So Y/N, you’re a fifth year too?” Finn asked Y/N as he looked at her attentively, he seemed really interested in getting to know Y/N. Jack seemed to be interested too, for he was also looking at her attentively.

“Uhm, yea I am. You guys too right?” Y/N replied trying to get the conversation going though she didn’t have to try that hard, the boys were extremely easy to talk to.

“Yea we are.” Jack replied, Finn and Wyatt nodded in agreement, “What house are you in? I’m in Gryffindor.” 

“I’m in Gryffindor also.” Finn said with a smile.

“I’m in Ravenclaw.” Wyatt added while showing you his Ravenclaw pin that was pinned on his sweater. 

“I…I’m in Slytherin.” Y/N said shyly, whenever she told people her house people would almost always suddenly look at her differently, like she some sort of monster. Like she was the most intimidating person in the planet.

Wyatt, Jack, and Finn were different though. The three boys were in complete awe. Jack’s mouth was wide open and Finn had to close it for him.

“That’s fucking awesome, we’ve never met a Slytherin before.” Finn said in complete admiration.

“Right? We’ve never been friends with one, you’re our first Slytherin friend!” Jack stared at Y/N like she was some sort of goddess, Wyatt didn’t even say a word for was speechless. 

“It’s really a big deal, I’m just a regular student like you guys.” Y/N said with a shy smile, she didn’t really understand why they were making such a big deal about her house. 

“It is a big deal! At least for us.” Finn let out a small laugh before he continued, “I bet you’re a fucking badass, dude.” 

“Not really to be honest with you.” 

“Bullshit! Of course you are.” Jack exclaimed as he slammed his hands on his thighs for emphasis. Wyatt nodded in agreement which caused you to smile. 

“I’m reall-”

A prefect knocked on the compartment door, cutting Y/N off. Finn, who was closest to the door, opened it for the prefect. 

“Put your robes on, we’re arriving in twenty minutes!” The prefect said in her thick Irish accent. Finn scratched the back of his head in confusion, he wasn’t sure what the prefect had just said, all four of them did not know what the prefect had just said . “Sorry, I… we completely missed that, what did you say again?” Finn timidly asked while looking down in embarrassment. 

“I said, could you please put your robes on, we’re arriving in twenty minutes.” The girl said slowly, the four understood what she said this time. 

“Alright, thank you so much!” Y/N replied to the prefect with a shy smile, she gave Y/N a smile in return before closing the compartment door.

“That was the same prefect that yelled at me when I was running around the train.” Jack said with a bit of bitterness in his voice which made the three of them laugh. 

“Dude, it was your fault for running in the first place.” 

“Fuck off, Finn I do what I want.” Jack’s remark made Y/N and Wyatt burst out laughing, Finn fell to the floor also laughing and pretty soon Jack joined the laughter.

It was crazy how fast the train ride was with Wyatt, Finn, and Jack. It was nothing compared to Y/N’s last four years before. In the past, train rides to Hogwarts felt like years, but with the boys it went by quick. Time does go by fast when having fun with friends. 

The Welcoming Feast

Y/N sat in the Slytherin table with all the other Slytherins. She felt lonely without Wyatt, Finn, and Jack. She didn’t have anyone to talk to, she were alone in a table full of kids of her own house. She didn’t feel like talking to someone new either, Y/N didn’t have the courage that she had when she talked to Wyatt on the train. 

As Y/N ate her meal, she scanned the Ravenclaw table for Wyatt. She found him in no time for his curly hair was hard to miss. Y/N saw him talking to a girl, though he looked like he wasn’t really interested in the conversation they were having, in fact, he looked bored. She stared at him some more, secretly hoping that he would catch her eye, but when he didn’t Y/N turned away, secretly disappointed. 

Wyatt secretly hoped for the girl beside him to stop talking. She went on and on about this film that she watched over the summer and he sat there trying his best to act as if he was interested. He didn’t even know why this girl was talking to him the first place. He wondered if she was talking to the right person because she was talking as if he should know what she was talking about. Eventually, the girl stopped talking to him and Wyatt never felt so free. 

Wyatt couldn’t get Y/N out of his head, something about her stuck with him and he didn’t know what it was. He began to scan the Slytherin table for Y/N and it didn’t take long for him to find her, for her (hair color) hair and her bright (eye color) stood out amongst the Slytherin crowd. As he ate his meal he found himself staring at her, he watch her toy with her food, looking bored. She didn’t have anyone to talk to, Wyatt secretly wanted to come over to her and speak to her so that she didn’t feel lonely. Sadly he couldn’t, so instead he stared at her hoping to her her attention, hoping that she somehow look at him and wave at him maybe. ‘This is creepy, I feel creepy. I should stop.’ Wyatt thought to himself after staring at Y/N for more than a minute. Deep down, Wyatt was disappointed that Y/N didn’t catch him staring at her. 

After what seemed like forever, Headmistress McGonagall finally dismissed all the Hogwarts students to their common rooms to relax, for tomorrow morning classes would start. 

Y/N followed her Slytherin peers to the Slytherin common room. Along the way, Y/N’s group bumped into a group of Ravenclaws. As soon as she noticed the Ravenclaw robe on one of the kids, Y/N immediately looked around for Wyatt and it didn’t take long for her to find him once again. Instead of just staring at him like in the Great Hall, she mustered up all her courage to yell out his name.

“Wyatt!” Y/N called out making Wyatt turn towards her rapidly. As soon as Wyatt saw Y/N, he couldn’t help but let out the biggest smile. Y/N, without thinking began to walk towards him. Wyatt also, without thinking began to walk towards Y/N. The two didn’t even notice their groups slowly leaving them. 

“How was dinner?” Wyatt asked Y/N with the biggest smile.

“It was boring, I didn’t have anyone to talk to.” She said, giving Wyatt a half smile. “How was yours?”

“I was annoyed and kind of lonely. It was bad. My friend, Jeremy, sat far away from me and this random girl kept talking about this muggle movie that she watched over the summer. Gosh, I wanted to leave.” Wyatt said with an eyeroll which caused Y/N to laugh a little. 

Y/N looked at her surroundings and saw that her group has left her, Wyatt also seemed to notice that his group has left him.

“Holy shit… my group! Fuck they left!” Wyatt exclaimed, panicking slightly. “Fuck, I have to solve that riddle all by myself now.” Wyatt ran his hand through his hair in frustration. 

“Hey look at me, you can do it. Don’t panic. At least you only have to solve a riddle. I have to know which wall to whisper the password to. Shit, I don’t even know the password.” Y/N said trying to make Wyatt feel better. She managed to let out a laugh even though she was in deep shit. “You’ll be fine, Wyatt. Trust me. Now go okay? Goodnight, I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Bye, Y/N. Thanks for making me feel slightly better.” Wyatt reached out to Y/N and hugged her without thinking which caught Y/N off guard. It didn’t take long for Y/N to return the hug however. 

“Bye, Wyatt.” Y/N said as she pulled away from Wyatt. The two then hurriedly ran to their dormitories, Wyatt ended up solving the riddle and Y/N was lucky enough to have someone from the inside to let her in.  

To be continued. 

I AM SORRY THAT THIS REQUEST TOOK 24354657 YEARS TO BE POSTED OMF, I WAS BRAINSTORMING A LOT OF IDEAS FOR THIS AND I CAME UP WITH SO MUCH THAT I COULDNT FIT IT IN ONE POST!! 

I MIGHT JUST TURN THIS INTO A SERIES MAN IDK, IT’S UP TO YOU GUYS 

But anyway, this was requested by @dauntless-initiate-hola ! I hope you enjoy this!! 

Also, I’m sorry that I havent been posting a lot of imagines/headcanons lately. School is beating my ass whOOp. 

[willswalkabout]

Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An

I had one night in my own room in Bangkok. Once again in Bangkok, Arsenal were playing at 2 in the morning. Luckily this time I woke up to find we’d managed to beat a non-league team on a dodgy pitch escaping with only 1 injury.

I flew the next morning to Hanoi. Having felt like I’d spent too much on taxis in Bangkok, I launched a new plan to avoid taking a solo taxi at all costs. In general while traveling I’ve left couples alone unless they join a larger group. However while approaching the taxi stand I heard an English accent and practically threw myself at one. I knew all the hostels in Hanoi are within a couple of blocks, and it indeed turned out that the guy was from Manchester and was only a 10 minute walk from my place. The walk saved me £10 as the taxi was split between 3. My first night in Hanoi involved going out for some food with 3 dutch backpackers. I had a fun conversation with Elsa, the girl in the trio, about the trials and tribulations of a long distance relationship. Characterised by very fuzzy Skype conversations and the occasional drunk text, where the receiver is either eating lunch, or already in the next morning. We also went to see a film, even writing this now I’m struggling to remember the name, I’ll have to look it up when I get internet (writing from seat 17F on 20:50 Da Nang - Ho Chi Minh flight). The film was awful and 3 of the 4 of us fell asleep a good hour before the end. The next day I met Harry, a Kiwi who was at the end of spending a couple of months in South East Asia as a way of breaking up his move from NZ to London. I spent the day wandering around Hanoi’s French Quarter, though this exploration was delayed by Air Asia letting me know that morning that they’d moved my flight to the Philippines 8 hours later, something that was going to cause me major issues, and led to some infuriating use of their “web chat unsupportive service”. Hanoi gets mixed reviews from travellers which I personally don’t understand. There’s lots to do, it’s incredibly cheap, people are friendly and it feels very European due to the French architecture and street layout. I went out that night with Harry to ‘beer corner’. It was classic Vietnamese organised chaos. Thousands of little stools and tables, shared by travellers and locals, as beers are served at 50p each, by someone that claims to own your stool.

The next morning I had coffee and visited a market with Harry. I’ve got to say it was the first point that I’ve really missed London, as I enthusiastically reeled off all the places he should go as he frantically took notes. I wasn’t feeling great that afternoon, but it was a pleasant surprise to return to my dorm and find that my roommates were now 5 Norwegian girls, who in turn created the nicest aroma I’ve ever experienced in a hostel room. I can only put it down to an apparent desire to keep themselves and their clothes clean on a routine basis. A characteristic very few other backpackers appear to possess. Some, who proudly tell you they’ve worn “this vest for 6 days straight now”, in one of the world’s most humid countries…

That evening I only ventured out to Hanoi’s 5* Intercontinental hotel, as they had one of the best viewpoints over Hanoi’s west lake. The same beer I’d been drinking the night before was a horrific £2.80, but one was worth it for the view. Walking back I saw a bar on the other side of the street which has the PS3 emblem on the outside. On entering they had 4 TVs set up with people playing FIFA 17. It was an opportunity I could not miss. I spent the next 2 hours playing FIFA with 4 Vietnamese guys who were evidently confused as to how I found the place, and who could speak very little English. Not that this stopped them from producing a pronunciation perfect cry of the Swedish striker Ibrahimovic, as he scored a last minute winner.

The next morning I was picked up for my Ha Long Bay tour at 8am. I had booked for 2 days 1 night, sleeping on the boat. The 4 hour drive was one of the worst I’ve experienced. With no leg room on the small and crammed minibus, rough roads, and a driver who seemed intent on using the drive to practice his overtaking before an upcoming F1 fixture, it felt far longer. The bay itself is breathtaking. For that reason I was glad I hadn’t paid more for any added extras/experiences, because for the bottom rate you see what you came to see in all its grandeur and mystique. We visited a cave before kayaking on the first day. That evening I played cards with my roommates, a woman from Azerbaijan (but living in Bow, London), and a woman from Argentina. I also met my first, and to this point only gap year students. Another 2 Norwegians, though due to their schooling system they were 19 and 20. After sleeping with probably the greatest view I’ve ever had from a bed, the next day involved a trip to a particular rock where they’ve built a viewpoint and artificial beach. I was somewhat oddly the only member of the 15 person group who fancied a swim. It was indeed fairly cold outside but the water was a perfectly tolerable temperature. On exiting the water I discovered that quite a decent crowd had formed, to observe this strange white man swimming In the sea in February. It was as I dried myself that this one gentleman pictured above, chose to thrust his phone in my face for a selfie. My only rule when it comes to this situation is to demand one in return, and it may well be one of my favourite photos of the travels so far. I got back to Hanoi late afternoon and was pretty tired, so other than enjoying the well written about ‘Bahn Mi 25’ experience, I retired to reorganise for the flight to Hue the next day. I was fortunate enough to overhear 3 of my Norwegian friends from a couple of nights previous, booking their taxi, and so I got in on that deal, once again saving me a fair bit.

I arrived in Hue in the rain, and made it to my oddly Wild West hostel. It was however one of the nicest beds I’ve had so far. The evening continued with me getting an Indian with 2 Irish guys and a Bristolian. It was actually quite an upmarket restaurant we found with the £8 cost being the most I’d spent on a single meal since Hong Kong. The food was great, and it was fun discussing the Arsenal, Manchester United rivalry with some passionate fans. They also shared my desire to find a pub that would show the England vs Italy 6 Nations fixture. It was a bizarre fixture to watch. If you watched the game you’ll understand that trying to work out Italy’s ruck tactics was hard enough for the players and the pundits, let alone us watching in a noisy bar with no commentary. The same evening I found out that it was meant to rain all day the next day, scuppering my plans to scooter the 5 hour journey to Hoi An. Luckily the company I had organised the rental with were happy to use my deposit to book me the bus to Hoi An, which was about $7.

The next day I got the incredibly comfortable sleeper bus, (though taken in the morning), to Hoi An. 3 rows of double decked 80% reclinable beds, allowing 40 or so passengers to travel in unrivalled comfort. On arrival in Hoi An I went straight to a tailor that had been recommended to me by my Dutch friend in Hanoi. There in ensued 3 extremely stressful hours. Getting my full navy cashmere suit made, took up about 25 minutes of that period. The rest was spent trying to convey what Ellen and Kate wanted made, with the help of measurements they’d sent me and pictures of the items. I would have found this easy if I hadn’t then been asked a multitude of questions I had no clue how to answer. How long does she want the skirt? What kind of fabric does she want? Does she want this double hem? Which pattern is best? I was feeling the pressure enormously, however to be fair to the girls they were both pretty on hand on whatsapp at what was about 8am GMT, to firmly bat away my futile suggestions, and I hope get what they wanted. The items are now in the post back home, except for one loose cotton shirt I got made, and should make it home in about 3 weeks.

I explored the old town a bit before embarking on a street food tour organised by the hostel, spending my time primarily with 2 woman from Finland and New York. Janelle from NY was so staggered at my age, she then made it her mission for the evening to prove that her guess of 26 was not crazy. To be fair to her the exhaustive surveying gave an outcome of 25.1, which I didn’t really know what to think of.

My second day in Hoi An involved a cycle to the beach which was nice, followed by picking up the clothes, 22 hours after order. They did fit incredibly well, but by the time I’d reviewed each item, tried on mine, and negotiated the postage cost, it was worth returning to the hostel where they were doing a 'free beer’ night. I went out that evening with 3 girls and one guy from California. Hoi An has an odd nightlife scene. There are a multitude of almost identical bars where you can drink fairly cheaply if you go at the right time, befriend the Kiwi rep that walks around shouting their name, and negotiate a bit. Then at 1230 they all close, and everyone moves to the one bar in town that’s open till 5, and inevitably is the most expensive. It was regardless good fun but something I realised I was quite tired off by the next evening (Wednesday).

Nothing however was going to take away from Wednesday being one of the best days so far, due to my final attempt at riding the Hai Van Pass, most famously featured on Top Gear’s Vietnam special, and described by Clarkson as 'One of the greatest coast roads in the world’. Once again the clearly confused Hoi An weather forecasters predicted torrential rains and it was dry all day. It took about an hour to get to the start of the pass, and then began dozens of hairpins, chicanes, and 6km of wide, open, and practically empty sea view. I was in awe, and it was one of those moments that for me helped to justify the entire venture. After taking a sufficient number of photos (many) and falling in love with my bike, which with its Arsenal sticker was christened 'Thierry’, I drove back extremely pleased with the endeavour. I also got some pretty good footage of the ride by attaching a GoPro to my helmet and chest at different times.

I went out with a solely English crew that night. I’d like to say that although I obviously have no issue with English company, it did feel kind of boring discussing bits of London and A Levels. I have just found it much more fun discussing the drinking laws / politics / nightlife / education system of Finland, America, Azerbaijan or Australia over the past few days. I spent most of my time with Calum, who had recently graduated from a school in North Carolina, and whom I felt was equally bored by my harmless compatriots.

Today was a very relaxing day where I only ventured out for Pho (Vietnamese noodle broth), and otherwise caught up on some stuff, knowing that my hostel in Ho Chi Minh is quite lively. I’m actually now standing at the luggage carousel which is taking an age. I’m quite confused as to how it’s reached 1045pm, and I left my hostel at 6pm for a 1 hour 10 domestic flight. I’m sorry again this is quite a long one, but splitting it up felt like more effort. I may have landed in Sydney next time.

[rainbowsockbrian]

A Little Help (a Queen fanfiction)

Chapter 1

click here to read the prologue

disclaimers: swearing, mention of drug use, anxiety

Number of words: 4718

A/N: Welcome into the actual story! I promise to you, all this build up is necessary for the plot. I wanted to write a fanfic that wasn’t just romantic and fluff (it’s still going to be those things), but also tackles a difficult topic that I myself have also dealt with. I hope that you guys can appreciate it.

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I lived in 1974. The time in which powerful men in fancy buildings threatened each other with atomic weapons and they called it a ‘cold war.’ I grew up knowing that somewhere in the eastern end of the world bad people called communists wanted to take over the world. Luckily President Leonid Brezhnev from the Soviet Union and president Richard Nixon from the United States have agreed to not be at each others throats from now on. The Vietnam war seemed to have seized as well. It seemed to be won by the North Vietnamese army, but you would never hear an American admit to it.

Economically things weren’t too great either, since that big oil shock of last year ‘was going to affect’ everyone. At least that was what all the people on the telly were telling us. I didn’t quite notice anything yet.

The biggest hit at the moment, to my greatest frustration, was Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas. I heard it everywhere I went. EVERYWHERE. And no matter the situation, I always left the grocery store or the car with that stupid fucking tune stuck in my head.

Talking about infectious tunes, a Swedish band named Abba won the Eurovision Song Contest this year, making their song Waterloo one of the biggest hits of the year.

As always the tabloids were full of drama concerning British stars. Most of it made up. The headline of this week: BREAK UP JOHN LENNON AND YOKO ONO. I didn’t see any use in feeling bad for them since it probably wasn’t even true.  Let’s be honest, who in their right mind would believe the tabloids?

Well, except for my neighbor Betsy, I guess. She kept me up to date with every bit of gossip going  around about our now twenty-six year old prince Charles. According to Betsy he was a ‘highly respectable young man’ and the ‘youths like me’, could really learn some ‘proper British manners’ from him. She lectured me about it every time I left my door and I would have to keep myself once more from hitting an lonely elderly woman.

At least I didn’t have to worry about that right now. It seemed like I was miles and miles away from everything going on in the world. And miles and miles away from my mediocre apartment in south London. All I could see now were the perfectly round Scottish hills which looked like they had been hiding under a soft green blanket. I used the sleeve of my jumper to wipe away the morning daw on the window of the bus so I could clearly see the dark grey sky hanging above the hills. We were rushing by just at the right tempo for me to see the last few leaves fall from the empty branches on the trees.

‘Are you up already?’ I heard a voice say from behind me. I looked up to see Luc, a colleague of mine. ‘You really should’ve slept a little longer. We have a big night tonight, you know.’ He had a thick french accent, but grammatically his English was perfect.

I rolled my eyes at him and looked back at the Scottish morning sky, my sleeves now slightly wet from wiping the window. ‘What would it matter? They have pretty much lost all their fans by showing up pissed drunk to every show.’ I said, my cheek pressed against the cold window. ‘We work our bloody asses off for them every night and they just-‘

‘Throw all our hard work away by thinking they are better rockstars than they are? Yeah, I’m aware, we’ve had this same conversation fifty times in the last two months.’

I shot him a frustrated look, which wasn’t that hard since frustration was basically my morning resting face.

Luc sighed and sat down next to me on the red leather sofa. His hazelnut brown hair was tangled and a few strands had fallen in his face. ‘Look, all we can do is try to make this last show their best. Make sure they show up half decent and not too late.’

I sat back so the back of my head was resting against the top of the seat. ‘We’re not their nannies, Luc. If they want to make it, then they really need to get their act together.’ I said as the bus was going over a big bump in the road. The roads weren’t the best in this part of the country.

‘They’re not gonna make it anyway. You really think their producers will stick around after this?’ Luc asked me and I felt that he was looking at me.

I just kept my eyes at the ceiling of the bus and shrugged. He was right. Within a few days we would all be without a job. ‘So, what are you planning on doing after this tour then?’ I asked mostly because I didn’t have a clue yet of what I wanted to do.

‘Find another job.’

‘Yeah, but what job?’

He remained silent for a few seconds. In the corner of my eyes I could see his lips slightly parting like he was going to say something and then he closed them again. ‘I’ve been trying to find another roadie job for a while, but no one seems to want me anymore after this disaster of a tour.’ He slightly bit his lower lip. ‘Maybe I’ll go back to my old waiter job…In worst case scenario I have to go back to France to work at my fathers bakery. I already know what he is going to say.’

He turned towards me, straightened up and put up his most stern face. I noticed that he actually looked like an old man when he did that, even though he was only twenty-five. The words that then left his mouth were spoken in French and sounded low and grumpy. I couldn’t help but giggle at the sound of it even though I had no idea what he was saying.

‘And that translates to…’ I pushed him. I wasn’t getting far translating this with my secondary school French.

His face remained in the mocking of his father as he spoke in the same voice: ‘Luc, you’re wasting your time with that music. Did you really think these arrogant Englishmen would welcome you into their country? You could do so much better. You could’ve been the best baker in the entire area. All that wasted potential. Terrible!’

I busted out laughing. Luc’s face softened again and he smiled at me proudly for making me laugh. ‘It’s true, tough. We really are incredibly arrogant.’ I said still having trouble controlling my laughter.

‘You’re not…’ he said softly, almost like his words were meant to sooth me. Before I could even attempt to blush he had dramatically changed the tone. ‘I mean, you’re a leprechaun.’ He said with a cheeky grin on his face. A grin that I had come far too familiar with.

I put up my best offended face. ‘I’m only half Irish.’ I said. My lips curled down in a pout and I swirled a strand of my red hair in between my fingers.

‘Half a leprechaun then.’

‘I’m not a leprechaun!’

He laughed and his voice shot up a few times like it always did. When he was laughing he sounded like a thirteen year old boy that had just reached puberty. I secretly thought it was adorable. His laugh came to an end and his face turned a little more serious, the smile still remaining on his face. ‘On a more serious note. What are you going to do after this tour? Are you going back to your old job?’

Oh dear God, there was that dreadful question that I was trying to push out of existence. Over the edge of the world into space, preferably. It had always been the plan to eventually go back to my old job. I just didn’t know if I was ready for it. I was so dreadfully scared to end up like last time. This tour had taken me through these Scottish hills and from pub to pub, making so many friends across the way. I had found some peace and clarity in my mind.

But was I clear and peaceful enough to go back to the life I lived a while ago?

‘Aella?’

I hadn’t even realized that I had been silent for a while until Luc had said my name. ‘Are you okay?’

I nodded to shake myself out of my thoughts. ‘Yeah, I’m alright.’ I said as I looked down at my fidgeting hands. ‘I don’t know what I want to do yet. I’m probably just going back to being an employed and lazy piece of shit.’ I said and I let out a sarcastic chuckle. It sounded way to serious for a joke, though.

‘You’re such a pessimist, goddammit.’

‘You are just as much as me a cynic, Luc. And you know it.’

‘Fucking cheers to that.’

After a short silence I stood up from the sofa and walked over to a record player on the other side of the room. I smiled at the old thing and pulled at the needle that was almost falling apart. I turned around towards Luc. ‘You think we can listen to some music?’

He chuckled and turned his face sidewards. ‘It’s six in the morning, Aella. The rest of the crew will wake up.’

‘We will just turn the volume down really low.’ I said as I ignored his refusal and let my fingers go over the stock of records in the closet next to the record player. They were probably all damaged, because whenever we had made a sharp turn all the records would fly out of the closet. We really should’ve attached them in some way. I wouldn’t mind the occasional scratch or bump though. I just felt like being swept of my feet by a beautiful melody.

My freckled fingers stopped at a single that was half hidden between some bigger records and pulled it out from between the mess. I let the vinyl glide through my fingers as I turned it towards the A-side and put it in the record player. When the needle started gracing the single, the room was filled with the voice of Elton John. I slowly nodded my head to the complicated piano rhythm. ‘And I’m gonna be hiiiiIIIIgh as a kite by then.’ I sung purposely flat noted even though I was classically trained in singing. Purposely singing awful just was a lot more amusing.

Luc grinned from the sofa and then threw back his head. ‘Ah man, I wish I was high as a kite.’ He said. I smiled at the thought of all the memories of this tour and realized that for most of them Luc had been smoking. I didn’t know whether it was just a habit of his or if all frenchmen were complete stoners.

The quality of the speakers was really poorly, but I could still feel the beauty as the chords mashed with Elton’s words. When I listened to music, I almost felt like I knew the musicians. Or at least the people they were pretending to be.

I closed my eyes and threw my hands up above my head, swirling them around, led by the music. ‘I’m a rocketmaaaan’ I sang along softly, to not wake the rest of the crew. And I just stood there for a while, letting the music guide my movements.

��You’re so beautiful.’

It was merely a whisper, but I could still hear it over the low volume of the music. I slowly lowered my hands, but I didn’t yet dared to open my eyes. I know I had them closed way too long for any social standards, but the lump in my throat commanded me to keep them from being opened.

I heard footsteps come closer to me until I felt Luc’s presence hovering over me. He was one of those people that had a signature smell without using perfume or deodorant and I think I could spot his from mars if he would ever go there.

I frighteningly opened my eyes and stared right into his brown ones. That little moment seemed to stretch on forever. I didn’t dare to move at all, it was a wonder that I was still able breath. ‘Only you could dance to this music.’

‘You can dance to all music’ I replied, still petrified.

His blue eyes travelled to my lips as he leaned in, his lips slightly parting before they touched mine. And I let them. As a thank you for all the amazing times on tour. For making me feel ten times better than before all of this. But most of all, because I had secretly been hoping he would kiss me.

 *

I could still hear the scratching of the needle over the empty vinyl. Scratch, scratch, scratch. The sound was still playing as I walked through the door of my apartment complex. I hadn’t even fully grasped that I was home again. In spirit I was still in that bus, on my way to Glasgow. In my head I was still standing there with Luc, making out to the Elton John track that had already come to an end. And so it started scratching. Scratch, scratch, scratch.

I dragged my hand over my face as I entered the elevator. What was I going to do with this situation? He had asked me if he could call and I had agreed, but was that really what I wanted? Did I really like him? I seemed to be so sure about that at first.

‘Oh ms. Callaghan, that’s not a way to present yourself! All the youth wears nowadays are those awful jeans and jumpers.’ My neighbor Betsy remarked as I walked down the hallway wearing just that. ‘A lady should be wearing a presentable blouse with an elegant skirt. Below the knees of course. I bet that if our prince chooses a princes she will be very dignified.’

‘I’m sure she will be, mrs. Smith.’ I monotonously expressed as I put down my bags to search for my keys. It would be just my luck that right now of all moments, I didn’t remember where I had put them.

‘Oh, I sure hope he will get married soon. How delightful would a royal wedding be?’ She said and she smiled so widely that all the wrinkles in her face started to fold upwards.

‘Very delightful, indeed.’ I said. I had found out a while ago that answering in short polite answers was the way to get rid of her the fastest. But it took everything in me to not correct her on her narrow minded, elitist and nationalistic ideas.

‘Oh, before I forget, you should really fix your telephone, dear. It hasn’t stopped ringing for the last two days.’ She sternly stated.

‘Well, that’s what telephones are supposed to do, mrs. Smith.’ Oof, I shouldn’t have said that. I braced myself for the impact.

‘Don’t be such a smart mouth!’ She cried out, raising a wrinkly finger with a delicately painted fingernail in the process. ‘I am the one that had to listen to it for two whole days!’

I can’t believe that all my tax money is going to women like this. I could’ve think of better ways to spent my money. And to spent this moment differently for that matter. ‘Forgive me for my rudeness.’ I forced through my teeth as I had finally found my keys and started to open my front door. ‘I will definitely look at my telephone.’

‘Don’t just look at it! Fix it!’

‘I will! I will right now!’ I hurriedly said as stepped inside of my house. ‘So, if you’d excuse me.’

A few mutterings about the ‘youths of nowadays’ still slipped through the crack of my door as I closed it, but I was content with not having to listen to another lecture of her.

As my front door clicked closed, I looked upon my apartment that I hadn’t laid eyes upon in two months. It was almost like I had never left. Like that whole tour didn’t happen. Not the crappy shows, not the excessive drinking of the band, not the kiss I had shared with Luc. None of it. I had always had this feeling after coming home from a vacation. But coming home from work and feeling like you hadn’t really been there at all was a totally new experience to me.

I never had that problem at my old job…

Yeah, but my old job brought along other very pleasant issues like-

I was shaken out of my thoughts by the phone ringing from inside the bedroom. My heart skipped a few beats as I looked at the phone on my bed-stand that I could just see through the crack of the door. Maybe it was Luc…I really really didn’t want to speak to him right now. My chest started tightening a bit as I thought about what I had to say to him. It felt just like a year ago.

I jumped at the sound of a fist pounding on the door, even though it had sounded soft and delicate. I stood there for a fear-filled moment as I was going over my choices. Surely I was exaggerating all this and I should just pick up the phone.  Realizing that fist was probably from a certain wrinkly neighbor that was planning on complaining about the sound of the phone, I finally moved.

Still slightly shaken up I picked up the phone from the horn. ‘Hello? Aella Gallagher speaking.’ I said barely loud enough for the other person to hear my response.

‘Aella, this is Veronica!’ An almost relieved sounding female voice answered.

I felt the muscles in my chest relax again as I realized that it was just an old friend from secondary school. We had met up a while ago to chat and drink coffee. Even though I hadn’t heard from her since, I had never been more delighted to answer the phone to her voice. ‘Veronica! How nice to hear of you! How are you doing?’ I breathed out.

‘Well, I’ve been calling you for the last two days. So yeah, I’m slightly stressed.’ She jokingly expressed.

Suddenly it dawned on me that mrs. Smith had said that I had been called about a million times in the last two days. Well, phone fixed; it was Veronica. But why in the hell would she call me so many times? ‘Oh…’ I let out confusingly. ‘I was on tour. Is something wrong?’

‘Well, yeah sort of.’ She said. It sounded like she was a little bit dazzled herself. Probably because she hadn’t expected me to pick up the phone. ‘My fiancée-‘

I stopped her right there. ‘Stop right there! You’re getting married?! To that guy you were dating last April? Did he propose?’ I said letting out a wave of questions. I remember her glowing as she spoke of him. All around it was not hard to notice how much she loved this guy. But I certainly hadn’t expected her to drop this bomb on me.

‘Well, yes.’ She softly let out. ‘It happened last summer. We’re getting married next year. I will send you an invite, but that wasn’t actually why I called.’

I fell back on the bed next to the phone. As I tried to comprehend this strange conversation. Veronica tended to have trouble expressing herself from time, but this was honestly the most confusing talk I had ever had with her. And that says a lot since I used to tutor her mathematics. ‘You drop a bomb on me like that and you expect me to talk about something else?’

‘Well yes, it’s kind of important, Aella.’

I sighed. ‘Okay, you have my attention. But you have to tell me everything about your proposal afterward.’ I exclaimed, waving my finger up in the air sternly. I wondered what could possibly be more important and urgent than her getting married to a man I had never met before. I wondered what he was like and if he was nice to her. Even though we didn’t speak as often as we used to, I still cared a lot for Veronica.

‘You’ve got yourself a deal.’

‘Spill.’

I heard a sigh come from the other side of the line. ‘So, my fiancé-‘

‘The one you’re going to tell me all about in a minute.’

‘Yes him. Well, I have told you he was in a band, didn’t I?’

‘Sure.’ I said laying down on the grey covers on my bed. I remembered telling her that it probably wasn’t smart dating a musician, since they were always on the road and a lot of times there was drugs and alcohol involved with them. She had responded by saying that he was different. Yeah right.

‘Well, they’re going on tour this October and they still need an assistant stage manager. And I was sort of wondering if you could fill up that position…’ her voice faded out into an expecting silence.

‘Going on tour with your fiancé?’ I asked confused as I sat up straight again. Of all the things she could’ve asked me, this one wasn’t on my list of possibilities.

‘Yes, will you please consider it? You will be paid really well and you can also build up a name for yourself. They’re relatively well known, you know. And well, they’ve been going to a rough time lately…Begin this year they had to cancel several shows because the guitarist had gotten really ill. They just…They just deserve to have everything go right at this tour.’

I detected a sense of sadness and desperation in her voice. I hadn’t realized she had become so close to her boyfriends band-members. A silence fell in which I organized all the information in my head and went over my options. Being a roadie was actually supposed to be a one time thing, but if Veronica thought they were special. ‘What were they called again?’ I asked, trying to recall her telling me the name of her boyfriend’s band.

‘They’re called Queen.’

‘As in Her Majesty?’

‘Yes.’

‘I don’t recall- wait’ I said abruptly jumping up from my bed, leaving the the phone on my silver sheets. I stormed towards my living room, where I had my records orderly stored. I let my eyes frantically go over the selves of my wooden closer where I had labeled all of my LP’s. They were all alphabetically ordered since I didn’t want to lose any of them. When it came to other things I was the messiest person you could imagine, but my records were my proudest possession. My eyes arrived at the letter ‘Q’ and I noticed to my own surprise a label on a black cover saying ‘Queen-Queen II’.

I quickly took out the record and stared at the cover of four men staring intensely at me. As I walked back to the bedroom I turned the cover over and my eyes fell on the names of the band members. ‘John Deacon’. I mumbled to myself. Of course, that’s what her boyfriend was called. Wow, I really was a horrible friend and now it actually backfired.

Veronica’s voice was very softly hearable through the phone on my bed. ‘Aella? Hello?’

I picked it up as I sat back down on the bed with my eyes still focused on the record in my hand. ‘Sorry, I ran out, Ron.’ I said not entirely focused. ‘I just realized that I have an LP from them. I heard a song of them on the radio a while ago and decided to buy the entire album.’ I decided to leave out the fact that I hadn’t actually listened to the record yet. I bought a bunch of them every week and most of them just disappeared in my closet. Including this piece of vinyl.

‘Really? What do you think?’ She asked me enthusiastically. I suddenly regretted my white lie. I couldn’t even remember what they had sounded like when I had heard them on the radio. I just remembered that I liked it.

‘Uhm yeah, they’re good.’

I think, I added in my mind. I went with my fingers over the tracks on the album and ended on the last track. Seven Seas of Rhye. I was almost completely sure that that was the song I had been hearing on the radio. ‘You said they were relatively well known…’

‘Yes, they are. Their second album was fifth on the album charts this year. They have been asked to perform on Top of the Pops…The tour I’m talking about will be a world tour.’

‘What?!’ I yelled out. ‘A-a w-world tour? How would I have missed something like that?’ I wondered to myself out loud.

Veronica remained silent for a few seconds, but spoke up again before I could’ve processed all this information. ‘But you said that you had heard of them…’

Never tell a friend a lie for their own good. It will always blow up in your face. ‘Yes, I have. But I didn’t realize they were such a big deal.’ My voice faded out at the end of my sentence. ‘When will they be leaving?’ I added after a short silence.

‘In a week. That’s why I’m calling you, they can’t seem to find anyone.’

‘A week?!’ I screeched. There was hardly any volume behind my voice, my scream was that high. I would be insane to say yes. I just came back from two months of hardly any sleep. I was totally drained of all energy, there was no way I could dive in, head first, into a high-demanding job like this. It being in a week also meant that I had already missed rehearsals. I had to learn the schedule on the road.

But still there remained a voice in my head reminding me of all the promising details of this tour. I got to travel the world, something I had always wished to do, but didn’t have the time nor money for. This was my opportunity to work with an actual headlining band that were going somewhere with their career. They would probably perform in actual halls, not just the puny pubs that I had visited way too much of recently. Besides, I knew deep down that it was too soon for me to go back to my old job. If I would postpone it a little longer, then I better postpone it in style.

‘Aella? Are you still there?’ I heard Veronica say and it snatched me away from my conflicted mind.

‘Did any of the band members ever get too drunk or too high to walk let along perform?’ I asked her with a specific memory in mind. Having to carry the lead-singer on stage was still one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.

A confused moment of silence followed. ‘Uh, not that I know of.’ She said, confused by my sudden off-topic question. ‘I don’t know how much John doesn’t tell me, but I know all four of these guys, Aella. I can say with a high amount of certainty that things like that won’t happen. This will be a good experience, I promise you. I’m not just saying that because I’m engaged to the bassist. You’ve never experienced a show like a Queen show before.’

It was these words of Veronica that made up my mind. I remembered all the times Veronica had given me advice in secondary school. And mostly all the countless occasions I had ignored those pieces of well-meant wisdom. From the time I had asked cigaret-tommy to the dance, to the time that I skipped school to go to a Beatles concert. All these things had ended badly, every single time. I had to believe my old friend this time, for all the times I had shamelessly ignored her. But also because I actually believed that she was the wiser one of us too.

‘Okay. Count me in then. Will you finally talk about your proposal now?’