#she wanted a music studio but i was like nah that's boring so i gave her a predebut pop star apartment instead 🌟

[solpng]

[binniedeactivated]

txt ideal types™️ || 👾

a/n; just want to say that this is not factual! this is based on my own opinion! if you have questions on why i think this don’t be afraid to send them through ask! hope you enjoy!! 

soobin;  --- since soobin said he is the type to let his s/o lead the relationship while he sits back, LMAO i honestly think soobin��s ideal type is a girl who is confident. I say confident because someone who is shy isn’t going to be comfortable telling a guy what to do. since he’s laid back and chill most of the time i feel like he wouldn’t mind someone whose the same way. someone who he can have deep conversations with and also act crazy with when they’re both feeling a little hyperactive. I really think someone whose very bubbly and hyper would make him a little flustered because he doesn’t want to bore her by doing the things he likes, and he wouldn’t know how to keep up with her energy. soobin likes to read books, watch tv shows and eat. he likes to eat bread and ice cream all day. he doesn’t like moving. so someone whose moving and doing a whole lot of shit constantly is going to tire him out LMAO. I also think since soobin is a little messy he needs a motherly type of girl that can help him with his habits. with soobin you’ll basically be a mom, leading the relationship and cleaning after him occasionally. I also think soobin would love someone who is romantic and is sensitive when it comes to him. he loves feeling loved and cared about and knowing that there’s someone who got his back through anything and everything. he’s very affectionate and light hearted so he needs someone who isn’t mean lmao!! he doesn’t like a whole lot of roast sessions and things like that and even if he does don’t go overboard with him because he’ll get sensitive asf. 

--- as far as body type goes i feel like soobin doesn’t care. honestly. he’s really big so no matter what you’ll always be smaller than him even if you’re a little thick lmao. if you guys would like to know whether or not soob is an ass or boobs type of guy though i think he’s both. some boobs with a little ass would fluster him. all the way. he doesn’t expect much but if you’re well endowed in either, he’s going to be really touchy (with permission of course) and he’ll always make you feel comfortable in your own body. 

yeonjun; -- oh god, this boy. nah jk. i honestly think yeonjun needs someone who creative and can introduce him to new things. since he really loves music and stuff I think he would love someone who can introduce him to different types of music. he’d love stuff like his s/o making playlists for him and sending him new songs randomly. i also think since yeonjun is a big foodie he would loooveee a girl with an appetite lmao! he would love her even more if she can cook the food he likes, or cook good food in general. he would really love someone who can introduce him to new kinds of of food and feed him when he’s hungry. whether it’s spoon fed or just dropping by some food to the studio for him when it’s lunch time. despite his stage presence i think he’d love someone who is sweet and easy going. outgoing as well! since he’s very shy and timid around new people he would LOVE if his s/o approaches him first. although he’s more of the lead in the relationship, i think he would love if his s/o knows how to lead as well especially when he’s feeling needy and needs affection. he doesn’t want a girl that let’s him lead ALL the time and let’s him put in 80% while they put in 20%. he wants it to be 50/50 at least.  since he’s the oldest in the group it’s likely that he’s always taking care of the members so he needs someone who is willing to take care of him. he would also LOVE a funny girl omg. if you can make him laugh you automatically have his heart. he would love having a girl that’s also his best friend, one whom he can make inside jokes with. he would also love a stylish girl! i think if you dress well it would be easier for him to notice you since he’s very fashionable himself. he’d also never take his eyes off of you and remind you about how good you look everyday.  with that being said he would love a girl he can go shopping with! that can buy him cute shirts and clothes that matches his style. he would love it even more if you introduce him to a new kind of style. he would love dressing up and going on random dates and taking lots of pics! 

- as far as body type goes i think yeonjun would be attracted to curvier girls. he just gives me that vibe. of course he’d be attracted to any type of body type,  but i think curvy is more his thing. if you’re wondering whether he is an ass or boob type of guy i think yeonjun is an ass and thigh type. so if you’re thicker around that area expect yeonjun to be all over you. LMAO (with permission of course). 

beomgyu;  -- gyuuuuu! okay so in my opinion gyu doesn’t really have an ideal type. he’s the type of guy where it’s like, if he likes you he likes you and if he doesn’t he doesn’t. as long as you know how to treat him and like having fun with him he’d love you! in all honesty i think beomgyu is a free spirit. he likes all types of girls in every size, shape or color. he doesn’t have a preference.  just be yourself and don’t try to act too show-offy in front of him. i lowkey think beomgyu would like a motherly type of girl though and someone who is just as hyper as he is. since beomgyu is a mama’s boy he needs a girl that treats him like he’s her son LMAO but also let him be an adult too. like don’t baby him all the way but take care of him and check up on him often. he’d also love a clingy s/o. one who texts him and calls just to tell him how much they miss him. affection is key with gyu! if he can lay on your chest or cuddle with you all the time he will fall in love with you. i repeat HE WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU. hold his hand, kiss his cheeks and play wrestle with him. also, build a relationship with his mother! i think gyu would love someone whose close to his mom. of course don’t be a creep but make sure you aren’t a stranger to her. since gyu is family oriented when it comes to his parents i think he would really appreciate if you took the extra mile and got to know his family. he’d love taking you to daegu to spend the holidays with his family and have fun eating and making jokes with them. 

-- as far as body type goes beomgyu really doesn’t gaf. like fr. just as long as you’re confident in your body he would love you. and even if you aren’t he’d remind you about how much he likes it. if you’re wondering if beomgyu is an ass or boob type of guy though, gyu definitely loves boobs.

taehyun;  -- (my MANNNN- i mean ahem) okay so, tyun is tricky af but I pay special attention to him because of this reason. in all honesty i think tyun LOVES the game of hard to get. he likes feeling like he got it in the bag with you, but he doesn’t at the same time. he would love a girl who is very confident, smart,  and can adhere to his mind games.  reverse psychology would have him SHOOK lmao! initially i think if tyun saw a girl he likes he would make it known he likes her just by doing little stuff like being nice to her or smiling at her and stuff. he would like it if she does it back too, but not becoming too engaged. i think his whole relationship would be him and his s/o playing hard to get. the both of them know they love one another and are very affectionate but they’re also a little mean to each other as well. cracking jokes every now and again and play wrestling. don’t take it too far though! he wouldn’t like if you gave him so much cold shoulder to the point where he thinks you no longer like him. tease him a bit though, he likes feeling like he’s still trying to win your heart.  he would love a girl who is funny too and who is intelligent enough to have educational conversations if it ever came up. he’d love if his s/o does crazy shit just to make him laugh. i think he would also like someone with a slick mouth! lmaoooooo. i’m sorry but he does. tyun has a smart mouth himself so someone who can match his energy would definitely win him over. take care of him though! even though tyun claims he doesn’t love affection but he loves if his s/o kisses him all the time and cuddles him. tyun is lowkey very clingy so he’d hate to be by himself when on tours and things like that. he would love feeling like he’s needed and cared about! he would also like someone whose very thoughtful, like buying him things that reminds you of him.  

--- as far as body type goes i think tyun doesn’t care but he’s like yeonjun in way. a fashionable curvier girl would catch his eye faster. 

heuning kai; --- kaiiiii<33 in my opinion i don’t think kai has a type either. he goes with the flow really, but if you happen to joke and play with him alot he’d fall in love with you. i think kai is very quick so it doesn’t take much for him to fall in love with someone. he is the type to be a little hesitant about his feelings though. i think kai would love a girl who is just like him. who is hyper at times but knows when to be chill. I think heuning is actually very chill off camera to be honest so he’d love a girl who is the same way. honestly i think kai would like a girl whose on the sexier side. feel me? like not a cutesy type of person but someone who acts and dresses sexy, but has some cutesy traits about them. someone like that would take his heart. he would also love someone with a whole lot of humor but very sweet at the same time. someone he can laugh at anything and everything with because lord knows this boy finds everything funny asf. he would love someone that baby’s him but not too much. let him do things on his own but if he needs help that’s where you come in. he would love someone he can cuddle and kiss all the time. so if you aren’t that affectionate you wouldn’t match well with kai. he would also love a girl with an aesthetic type of fashion style! kai’s style is the epitome of a 90s sitcom teen boy crush with his baggy sweaters, baggy pants and old fashioned sneakers. i think someone who has that old-timey style as well would be really cute for him and he would love for you to dress in his clothes all the time. i think kai also likes play fighting a lot but he wouldn’t be too rough with you. be ready for that lmao! kai would also appreciate if you took time to get to know his sisters since he’s close to them. he’s kind of like beomgyu when it comes to family, he would love inviting you around them all the time so it would be amazing if you built a relationship with them. 

--- as far as body type goes kai really wouldn’t care. he’s really big so he’d love anyone smaller than him no matter their size or shape. i think a fashionable girl with a cute smile would catch his eye first though. 

[kirieshhhka003]

aaa oki then! could i pls have hcs for trish, bruno and johnny with a ballerina s/o? like, she’s shy about it and most of the times trains alone. like what do they think about it, if they help when she hurts herself (not that they wouldnt but most of the times i deal with it alone if u know what i mean ksbdks) and that sort of stuff ksbdj sorry im bad describing stuff and my english isnt the best but thank you!!💖💖

I don’t know much about ballet and ballerinas and some things may be incorrect, sorry about that, but I really tried to find information about it. Thank you for your request, my precious anon💚

Note: in this writing all characters are already in a relationships with S/o!

Bruno, Trish and Johnny x ballerina S/o

Bruno Buccellati

When he picks S/o up after her trainings he genuinely wants to feed her some delicious meal in his favorite restaurant, she looks so tiny, Bruno needs to feed her. BUT, all ballerinas are on a strict diet, and most of foods he’d like to offer S/o just can’t be eaten

Bruno peeked into the gap between the door and frame and he saw S/o practicing. She was so beautiful and nifty, she was like a little fairy dancing in a soft sunset light

Once Bruno had a day off and he decided to make a little surprise for S/o and visit her. He bought fresh fruits and a bottle of wine on the way to her house. Finally he was there, knocking on the door of his beloved’s home. S/o was so surprised to see Bruno and happily let him in

Bruno noticed that she was limping on her left leg and of course it worried him. “What’s wrong with your leg?” - he asked. “Oh, this? I got a little trauma from my recent training, nothing too bad, don’t worry ‘bout that” - S/o responded with a nonchalant smile, but, of course, Bruno didn’t believe her. “Show me” - “ Listen, Bruno, it’s not serious, just a couple of bruises, that’s all” - but he sat her on a sofa in a living room and took off her socks

Man’s eyes widened when he saw S/o’s feet, all covered in bruises and calluses, nails on a few fingers were missing. “Nothing serious, right?” - he asked rhetorically. Then he gently rubbed S/o’s cheek and said - “You don’t need to deal with that on your own. You can always ask me for help, and I’ll be right there”

Trish Una

When Trish was 7 she saw a “Swan Lake” on a TV. A little girl was so impressed with this “strange dancing”, ballerinas were so graceful and lissom, like a fairies from the other universe. Later her mom explained that this dance is called ballet and all the dancers had been studying for years to dance like this

She begged her mom to give her to a ballet lessons after school, but Trish didn’t think it would be that hard and painful, so Trish gave up on a ballet after the third lesson. Years later, she met S/o - a professional ballerina, who daily spend hours practicing and sharpening her skills

From the moment Trish woke up she felt bored, she tried to cook, clean her room, watch TV and listen to her favorite music, but she still felt overly bored. So she didn’t hesitate to visit S/o on her training and then hang out somewhere with her

When Trish arrived to the studio, S/o was practicing in, she was wondering why there was so quietly, and she didn’t meet anyone, even on a registration. “/Name/ are you here?” - “Trish, is that you?” - she heard from one of the rooms. When Trish walked in she saw S/o sitting on the floor patching up wounds on her toes

“Are you okay? Let me help you” - she said and started to carefully dress her wounds. “What happened?” - “Nah, I decided to take a little break and realized that my toes hurt,” - S/o chuckled but fell silent when she noticed the expression on Trish’s face. “Stop overworking yourself! You’re a human and need to get some rest! Now, change your clothes, enough of work for today, we’re going have some fun!”

Johnny Joestar

Every time Johnny sees her bruised feet his heart twists into a tight knot. He doesn’t say anything aloud but S/o can read a question in his eyes “Is that really worthy?” But he knows that ballet is S/o’s biggest passion, and asking this question will deeply hurt her feelings

But every evening Johnny helps S/o care for all damages on their feet and knees, he gently takes off all old dressings, applies healing ointment and puts on new patches. And when Johnny’s finished he slightly tickles S/o’s soles to make her chuckle and kisses one of her knees

Though he doesn’t understand why S/o’s still doing ballet, Johnny can’t deny that her dancing skills are amazing,. It hurts Johnny every time he bondages S/o’s sprained ankle or sees her bruised knees, but the way her eyes lit up while she dances, Johnny just can’t take it away from her

Johnny doesn’t approve of S/o’s diet in any way. “What diet? You’re a pansie, do you even weight something? I can see your ribs even though all your clothes, so shut up and eat your fuckin’ beefsteak, don’t cheese me”

Masterlist | Smut Masterlist

[ashestoashesjc]

A Necromancer & His Zombie Boyfriend On A Couple's Retreat

Short Story 1/2/(3)/4/5/6/7/8/9/10

"RrRRrrrr... grrr? <Hey, uh, babe... seen my arm anywhere?>" rang Sett's voice throughout their cigar box of a house as he rummaged through closets, opened cabinets, overturned couch cushions. 

Shutting and latching the front door behind him, Ulrick began flipping through the stack of envelopes clutched in his right hand. "Huh? Oh…”

“Okay, so… don’t get mad,” Ulrick began, as meekly and guilt-tinged as one can make a shout. “But... there was this huge, I mean HUGE silverfish…” 

“GRrrr! Rrrrr. <Dude! Not cool,>” could be heard as Sett stomped his way to the foyer. 

“I know! I’m sorry! I’m weak!” moaned Ulrick. 

Sett sighed as he entered the cove and laid his single remaining hand on Ulrick’s left shoulder, the other sleeve draped flaccidly at his side. “Grrrr. <Well, yeah.>” he said. Ulrick snickered. 

“You know, having your boyfriend kill a bug for you is exceedingly normal,” Ulrick said, separating the bills from the letters that weren’t bills. There were very few that weren’t bills. “Almost conventional.” 

“Rrr. <True,>” Sett replied. “Rggrrrr. <Probably while the arm’s still attached, though.>”

“A mere quibble.” 

“Rrrrgrrr? <So, where is it now?>” Sett asked. 

“Ugh. Still getting cozy with the silverfish, I’d imagine,” Ulrick admitted, guilt creeping back into his voice. He covered his eyes with his free hand and shuddered. “In… the shower.”

Sett sucked air through his teeth in a compassion-filled cringe. 

“Yeah,” Ulrick sighed, resigned to his trauma. 

“Grrrr. <Don’t worry,>” said Sett. “Rraarr. <I got it.>” 

Ulrick slid his hand down his face with a grateful groan. “God, I love you.” Sett pulled him forward by his collar and pecked his forehead.

Continuing to sort through the mail, Ulrick came to a red envelope and, seeing it addressed to Sett, handed it over. “Looks important.”

Confusion clouded Sett’s eyes for the first few, slow moments spent undoing the envelope’s seal flap, until suddenly, a surge of realization like lightning drove him to violently tear the crimson paper away.

As he scanned the contents of the letter contained within, words failing to do his emotional state justice, Sett began to fist pump wildly, God help anyone in the flight path of his singular elbow. Ulrick looked on in entranced bewilderment.

“Was there itching powder in that envelope?” asked Ulrick.

Sett shoved the creased letter in Ulrick’s face, his manic energy not yet dissipated. Ulrick took it and held it out at arm’s length until his eyes brought the words into focus. 

“A couple’s retreat?” he wondered aloud, lowering the paper enough to peer over the top at Sett.  

“Grrgrrrr. <An all-expenses paid couple’s retreat.> Rrrrrr. <At a swanky resort.> GrrrrRr. <Complete with water skis.>”

“This is from a contest?” he asked, rotating and inspecting the sheet. “When did we enter a contest?”

“Rrggrrrr? <You know those entry slips we’re getting in the post all the time?>”

“The ones I’m always throwing away? I’m familiar.” 

“RrrRrrrrr ggrrrr. <Well, your aim could use some work, because some of them wind up in the mailbox,>” said Sett, with a shrug.

The sound that next filled the room, colored with exasperated mirth, was one Sett was used to Ulrick making, though one that never stopped bringing a flush of heat to the place where his heart used to be. 

He grabbed Ulrick by the hips and the two began to sway back and forth. “Rrrrrr. <Just imagine it,>” he purred dreamily. “GrrrRRrrrr rrrrRrrr grrr...arrrr? <Massages, rock-climbing, a luau. And… did I mention waterskiing?>”

Swaying still, Ulrick looked up with his head cocked. "I've... never heard you mention waterskiing before."

"GrrRrrrrrr. <I enjoy a lot of things I don't talk about.> Rgrrrrgrrr. <Like country music, or bad chick lit,>" Sett said before twirling and dipping Ulrick in a blur. "Rraarrrr. <I'm a multi-layered zombie.>"

Breaking clumsily away from the songless dance and squeezing the bridge of his nose, Ulrick set down the remainder of the mail on the side table by the entrance and looked his boyfriend over. “It’s totally free?”

“Grrarrr. <It’s totally free,>” confirmed Sett. 

Ulrick raised an eyebrow. “No catch?” 

“Rrr… <Well…>”

-

“And streeetch! That’s right! Streeetch!” 

At the front of Meadow Grove Resort’s famed yoga studio balanced - one foot planted on the ground, the other hooked deftly behind her neck - Chrysanthemum Smith, a remarkably limber 60-year-old instructor, urging her out-of-shape contest winning students to achieve the same feats of flexibility.   

All around Ulrick and Sett, a pretzel factory’s soon-to-be-discarded collection of heinous, gnarly undesirables had been given life in the form of sweaty middle Americans. 

That pretzels went through a less agonizing process being baked at 500 degrees was a fact Ulrick was both confident in and envious of. His legs were angled in a way he was sure he’d feel for weeks to come. 

Sett, on the other hand, had apparently been a contortionist in a past life, the way he bent himself into poses, well, a pretzel would gawk at, holding each position stoically before moving gracefully on to the next. It also helped that he couldn’t feel what would leave most tendons shredded rags.

Ulrick gave up the pursuit of dislocating his pelvis and instead went to poke Sett in the cheek. Through his mask, Sett made a chomping motion at the finger, though remained otherwise totally still. "Okay, but this kind of bites, right?" Ulrick signed. 

"A little. And not in the fun way," Sett signed back.

On a pair of blue, rubber mats to their left were two women - one in a biker's jacket and tattered, patched jeans, short red hair tied into a haphazard ponytail; the other a dark woman donning a shaved head, flower-patterned maxi dress, and combat boots - the former of whom suddenly grabbed Ulrick's attention with a nod. 

"You're telling me," she signed. 

And in an instant, they were no longer alone in the hazy, secluded sphere that made their reality.

So taken aback was he that he blurted aloud, "You sign?" 

The yoga instructor shushed him from her place at the head of the wide room, leading him to duck down sheepishly. With the forced inclusion of an overly casual air, he said more than asked, "You sign."

"Oh, yeah," the woman chuckled gruffly. "Mom's Deaf." 

Taking a sudden interest in the conversation, Sett's head swiveled to the leather jacket-clad woman. "Shit yeah!" he signed with fervor, eliciting a harsh snort from the woman. The instructor's head whipped around to glare her way, but went ignored. 

Sett's hands jumbled for a moment before he continued. "I mean, I'm sure that must have been very difficult for your family and--"

She gave a dismissive wave of the hand. "Nah, don't worry about it. She's capital 'D' Deaf. A congenital thing. Whole family's been signing forever."

Her wife - Jen, they later learned - chimed in with, "Di does it at home, too. She's taught me half the lyrics to Boys for Pele." 

"Wow!" Ulrick said with teeth-clenching enthusiasm. "That's so great! Isn't that so great, Sett?"

The mask did nothing to conceal Sett's raised, beaming features. "That's so great!" he signed. 

"I'm sorry!" bellowed the lithe yogi, shattering all delusions of serenity. "Am I boring you?" 

Several overlapping voices came to the general consensus of "Christ, yes."

One of the husbands, portly and somewhat resembling the famously affable capybara, asked, somewhat less affably, why they were being stretched into taffy when they should be outside taking one-on-one lessons with the beach volleyball instructor. He was joined by a few surly “yeah!”s. 

They were met with an unimpressed crossing of the arms. Though it should be noted Smith’s foot was still being held comfortably behind her head. 

"I would suggest, in the future, that you more closely scrutinize contest entries," Yogi Smith advised in as calm a manner as it seemed she could now manage, though with an unmistakable edge to her voice. "In order to partake in our facility’s more... physically involved activities, you’ll first need to align and cleanse your mental, emotional, and spiritual energies.”

This provoked a studio-wide groan, with the exclusion of Jen, who seemed just eager enough to cancel out the cloud of grim impatience encircling her. 

“Unless, of course,” Smith said, shifting poses to something favoring the letter ‘G’, “you’d prefer to construct your own schedules. In which case, a full price admission to Meadow Grove Resort remains available.”

She sleekly extended her right leg, pointing its foot pin-straight toward the sliding studio doors. “Don’t, as the masters of yore were wont to say, let the door hit ya.” 

When no one moved and the room went quiet enough to hear an acupuncture needle drop, Smith resumed a standing position and bowed three times to each division of the studio. “Namaste. Namaste. Namaste.” 

Chrysanthemum Smith had in no way undersold how ‘aligned and cleansed’ couple’s therapy and its airings of dirty laundry and subsequent ferocious dissolutions of decades of marriage; couple’s pottery, the same thing but with clay vases; and couple’s finger-painting, a bonding exercise in shared humiliation, would make their minds, emotions, and souls through sheer gut-rending hilarity.

Ulrick almost didn’t want to stop watching people who, hours ago, seemed all confidence and bravado, now being brought to tears by an instructor’s criticism of their macaroni art lacking ‘depth.’ 

But their confinement was over and they were free to roam the grounds as they saw fit and Sett, without even feigning to look for a map of the resort, made a beeline for the largest body of water (and the largest gathering of humans) he could sniff. Ulrick was still surprised at times by how agile Sett could be on his feet when on the hunt for blood - or recreational watersports - and struggled to keep up. 

Their long-awaited waterskiing adventure began almost as soon as they arrived at the lakeside, the instructor needing a volunteer at that instant to man the skis while he lectured another guest on the controls of the boat. At nearly a head taller than anyone else present, Sett didn’t need much more than a raised hand to stand out. 

Things were going great; Sett mounted on skis as long as he was tall, the boat revving greedily for take off. At Sett’s thumbs up, the runabout hammered off in a thunderous roar. And then, all at once, things were going wrong. 

The envisioned majesty of skimming the motionless calm of the crystal river was halted abruptly with a leaden Sett stumbling mid-lake in his skis, trying and failing to correct himself, going feet-over-head, and sinking like an anchor to the agitated silt of the riverbed below. 

Ulrick, though he jumped with concern at the first hint of a misstep, expected a brief swim back, perhaps slowed a bit - but not much - by Sett's stoney limbs. He’d been the star diver of his local swimming hole as a teen and still maintained some of the underwater dexterity, though nowadays tended to lurk the floors of bodies of water like a carnivorous bottom-feeder; eating habits included.

But then a few minutes passed, and nothing. A lifeguard and two of the more experienced swimmers among the guests plunged into the river and searched for fifteen minutes, cracking the surface now and again for a gulp of air, all to no avail. The water was too cloudy with sediment to see past a certain depth, and the orange-purples of dusk were beginning to settle in. They'd need to return in the morning with a diving team.

It'd now been forty-five minutes, and three of the resort’s other guests were consoling Ulrick, one herself on the verge of waterworks. They'd just witnessed a man - someone's significant other - torn tragically from life's teat, and in front of the man he loved, no less. 

Ulrick, for his part, was positively miffed. 

"When I get my hands on him..." Ulrick started, before one of the grievers tossed him a teary-eyed questioning look. "Er, that is... would that I could only put my hands on him... again..." he corrected. 

Just as Ulrick had begun mentally reviewing the basics of the Arts of Throttling, a movement, barely noticeable, shook the surface of the lake. Then bubbles, then the full break of the water as a head rose into view. Then the screams of onlookers as, in the fading light, a ghastly lake monster began its murderous approach. Then screams of a different kind as people began to make the connection proper. Then there was weeping, fainting, more than one declaration of faith renewed. It was a miracle!

Later, after insistences for medical attention were politely but firmly refused and the religious stragglers begging for just a smell of Sett’s waterlogged clothes were shooed away, Ulrick asked why he waited so long to resurface, to which Sett said, "GrrrrRRrr. <Well, at first I was just sort of embarrassed.> RrrrrrrGrrrRrrr? <Then I thought, "How often do these people see miracles?>"

"Oh, sure," groaned Ulrick. "A man comes out of a lake after half an hour and it's a miracle. A man comes out of a grave after a few months and it's "Grab the torches and pitchforks, everyone!""

"Rrrr. <Babe.>"

Ulrick gave a pouty grumble. "I'm just saying. One's a little more miraculous, is all." 

Sett pulled Ulrick's head into his chest and stroked his hair. "GrrrRrrrRrrr. <Shh, I know, dude, I know.>" His heavy, soaked clothes and lack of body heat didn't chill Ulrick as much as they should have, and though a fine coating of sand covering him from head to toe gritted against Ulrick's cheek, it only made Ulrick rub his face in rebelliously. 

"Okay," Ulrick said, resting his fists on Sett's chest and gazing up into his eyes. "What's the next activity? I think we’re... due-au for a luau?" The moment the words left his lips, his face collapsed into disgusted regret.

“Rgrrr... <Actually…>” Sett said, wrenching off his mask and shaking the excess water from his hair, teasing a blush out of Ulrick. “GgrrrRrrrr? <Doesn’t watching the stars by the lake sound pretty relaxing?>”

Ulrick grinned and took a seat on the shoreline, running his hands through the tufts of ryegrass stretching out in waves around him. He tapped a spot to his right and Sett, half-cocked smile in tow, came lumbering over to take it. 

Hours flurried past, changing nothing about the image of the intimately silent pair but the number of stark white pinpricks in the sky they beheld. 

They threatened to sit silently basking in each other forever. 

And then Sett said, “GRrrrrgrrr, rrgrrr, graargrr. <So, Diane and Jen gave me their number, and they want to plan an outing.>” 

Unease shot through Ulrick’s veins, but he held his tongue in search of the correct words. “O-oh?” 

“Grrr? Rrgrrrrr. <Isn’t that cool? People want to spend time with us,>” said Sett, ensorcelled with the twinkle of every new star. “Rrrrr. <With me.>”

“That might be…” began Ulrick, before noticing the glimmer in Sett’s eyes and faint lift at the corners of his mouth as he stared up towards a great unknown. He sighed. “It’s going to be great.” 

Sett rested his hand on Ulrick’s, their fingers interlocking. He smiled, and the two gazed into an ever-darkening firmament, speckled with a thousand stars and a thousand futures. 

[kaalamarii]

MC’s Totally Rad 80s Party

I haven’t written in years and my new obsession with Obey Me + not working=me attempting to write again. Also new to tumblr and don’t know wtf I’m doing.

Summary: You’re feeling homesick and the boys throw a party for you. 

Pairing: None yet. This is just the prologue and then each demon will have their own part. Like a Choose Your Own Adventure sort of deal, I guess?

Word Count: 2339

Warnings: Set before Belphie’s out of the attic.Talk of sex, talk of alcohol. General cheesiness. Probably some swearing b/c I’m a potty mouth. I’m also the CEO of Run On Sentences. 2nd person pov/female mc, also a random OC that is mentioned (from mc/your life pre devildom)

As much as you’d hate to admit it, you were having fun in Devildom. 

At first, you felt nervous, scared, not knowing what to expect. But somehow the six demon brothers had wormed their way into your heart and you had developed a soft spot for each of them. And you knew the feelings were mutual. You knew that no matter how much they insulted you, picked on you, that they all cared for you.

It was surprisingly comforting, you thought. Though you knew any of them could easily kill you, you felt safe around them. They didn’t feel like predators, but protectors.

Still, a part of you missed the human world. You missed your phone, your family, your friends. The human world was, well, home.

The homesick feeling sunk in on one particular night as you were bored and organizing your room and found an old invitation smashed and crumpled in the pocket of the jeans you were wearing the night you got to Devildom. Unraveling it, you smile. 

“Come to Lizzie’s Totally Rad 80’s Party! Costume contest, photobooths, and lots and lots of booze and amazing food.”

You sighed. You had known Lizzie since the first grade, and although you had drifted apart since becoming young adults, the two of you always had a bond. You had been looking forward to that party. You had a super cute Madonna costume all carefully pieced together and had the perfect gift for Lizzie. 

You laid back on your bed with the invitation still in your hand, wondering what everyone back at home was doing and whether or not they were worried about you. Where did they think you were? You made a mental note to ask Lucifer about it later.

Your thoughts are interrupted by an obnoxious pound on your door. “Yo, MC! Open up! The Great Mammon is here to spend time with you!”

You both rolled your eyes and chuckled at the needy demon friend of yours before getting up to let him in.

“You know,” you say, “you don’t have to knock so loudly.”

Mammon scoffed, waving his hand at you, “Yeah, yeah.”

He made his way over to your bed, sitting down at the edge. “I’m bored. What’re ya up to in here?”

“Just doing some re-organizing.”

“Oi,” the second born said with a sigh. “That’s definitely not going to kill my boredom.”

You shook your head with a smile as you finished putting some things up. Mammon picked up the invitation on the bed and read it. He looked at you. “Where’d you get this?”

“It was in my pocket when I got here. It’s for a friend’s party from back at home.”

“Did you go?”

“I didn't have a chance to,” you say with a frown, looking over the invitation again. “She gave me this and the next day I was here.”

Mammon looks at you while you scan the flyer, noticing your sadness. 

“But it’s okay,” you continue. “Lizzie has a lot of other friends, so it’s not like she’ll be missing out not having me there.”

“But you missed out,” Mammon replied.

“Yeah, well, there will be other parties.”

You’re playing off your disappointment, but Mammon could see through it. He knew the look well, having disappointed many people many times. Still, he didn’t press it. He wasn’t so good with all that, and what if you started crying? He would not know how to handle that.

“I should go,” he said awkwardly. “You’re being all weird.”

You nodded, his blunt comment not bothering you much. You were used to it and knew it was him covering up his softness for you.

What you didn’t notice was Mammon stuffing the paper into his pocket as he left your room. 

**

“I wanted to run an idea by you all. Something for MC,” Mammon told his brothers the next day at school when MC wasn’t around.

“Yes, I agree,” Asmo said, not even bothering to listen to Mammon’s idea was, “That girl needs some slap and tickle, if you know what I mean.”

The others all gave the Avatar of Lust a blank look. 

“You know, the mattress mambo, bumping uglies, playing hide the salami, riding the flagpole, the down and dirty, boning…”

“What the hell?!” Levi cried, hands going up to cover his ears.

Satan snickered.

Asmo continued, “knocking boots, making love, if that’s your thing. Oh! And then there’s eating out, eating ass…ugh. You all are such prudes.”

“Hmm, eating,” Beel said, the rest of the words in the crude list quickly forgotten as he held a hand to his stomach. “I’m starving.”

“Okay, STOP!” Mammon said, frowning. “That’s not what I’m talking about...and nobody will be doing that with MC.”

“Nobody but you, huh, Mammon?” Asmo said, nudging his brother with his elbow.

“NO! Why would you say that? I’d never be with a lowly human like that!”

“Except MC, right?” Levi teased his already embarrassed brother.

Asmo smiled dreamily. “I’d do delightfully dirty things to MC.”

“First of all, no you wouldn’t. Second of all, why are we still talking about this? This is what I came to you for.” The Avatar of Greed slammed the flyer down on the table before all his brothers. “MC was invited to this party and never got to go because she came here. I think we should have our own 80s party at the House of Lamentation.”

Asmo was the first to accept the idea.  “Oh! I love the 80s! One of the sexiest decades...tight pants, mini skirts, big hair.”

Leviathan’s face lit up. “The 80s had some awesome anime! It’s when Studio Ghibli started!”

“Nobody cares, Levi,” Mammon replied.

“Nobody cares about you, Mammon! Scumbag.”

“Hey!”

“Does that say amazing food?” Beel spoke up over his arguing brothers. “I’m in!”

“I’m in too,” Satan said, “It’s been a while since we’ve had a party at the house. I know where Lucifer hides the alcohol.”

“Yeah, in the kitchen next to Cerberus' food,” Asmo stated.

“Nah, he moved it,” Beel replied. “It’s not in the kitchen anymore. He moved it once when I found it looking for snacks.”

“Yeah,” Mammon added, “When he confiscated that expensive bottle of tequila I bought in the human world, he put it in the music room.”

“Oh, really?” Lucifer’s voice boomed from behind them, making the five demons jump.

“G’aaah!” Mammon yelped. 

“I guess I need to find a new hiding spot then,” Lucifer said, walking over to his brothers. “What is it you all think you need alcohol for?”

Levi handed the invitation to him. “We want to throw a party for MC.”

Lucifer looked over the paper, brows furrowed. “Why?”

“She’s feeling homesick,” Satan explained. 

“Ya, she showed me this last night. She seemed all moody, so I thought maybe we could do this for her.” The second eldest told him.

Lucifer picked up the paper, looking it over. The rest of the demons looked up at him, hopeful. “And where would this gathering take place?”

“At home,” Satan replied, receiving a glare from Mammon.

“Hey, Satan, what’s the big idea! I’m the one that came up with the idea. I was up all night plannin’ this!”

“You were up all night planning a party for MC?” Levi teased. “How romantic.”

“Shut up! It’s not romantic!”

The demon brothers started arguing again until Lucifer cleared his throat. “Enough, you two. We can have the party for MC.”

The demons all cheered.

“BUT-” 

Their cheers turned into frowns. 

“I knew there’d be a but,” Mammon whined.

“No alcohol. Not on a school night. And it’s over by midnight.”

The younger brothers all started protesting.

“This isn’t up for debate…”

More protesting and boos from his brothers.

Lucifer pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay, I guess we can have some alcohol.”

“Over by 2 am?” Mammon asked, with an award winning smile.

Lucifer sighed. “Fine.” 

The group cheered and Lucifer let a smile play upon his lips when the others weren’t looking.

**

A week later, you were doing homework in your room when your D.D.D. goes off, distracting you. Your eyes flick over to see that Mammon had sent a message to the group chat between the brothers.

(Mammon:) Alright, Beel and Levi have gotten the food. Beel, didn’t eat any of it, did he?

(Levi:) Food’s safe.

(Mammon:) Okay, good.  Asmo, Satan, you two got the decorations?

(Satan:) Yep, got everything.

(Asmo:) Remember there’s a costume contest! Though we all know I’m going to win it.

(Levi:) No way! I’m going to win it! Diavolo is giving out Grimm as the first prize and I’m going to win it so I can get the new Ruri-chan figurine!

(Lucifer:) How does Diavolo know about this party and when did he become part of the planning?

(Levi:) He overheard us talking about it at RAD and got excited. He just kinda sat down and started planning stuff with us. Apparently some of his favorite music and movies from the human world are from the 1980s. 

(Lucifer:) Okay, we need to change some of the rules of this party then.

(Mammon:) ugh

...What the hell? Nobody had mentioned a party to you…

And why were they talking about the 80s? Wait. you got up, searching for the invitation for your friend’s party. Where did it go?

D.D.D. again. This time a chat between all brothers excluding Lucifer.

(Satan:) We need to get some booze. The invitation says booze.

(Levi): He’s not going to let you all drink with Diavolo around.

(Satan:) Yeah, I know. That’s why we’re going to find whatever is lying around the house and spike the punch bowl.

(Asmo:) ❤❤❤

(Asmo:) This party is going to be amazing! I hope MC will like it.

(Mammon:) Of course she will! Our parties are way better than any stupid human parties!

(Satan:) How would you know, Mammon? Like you’ve been to any parties in the human world.

(Levi:) Lolololol

(Mammon:) Hey! I’ve been to tons of human world parties! 

(Levi:) Sure, you have.

You couldn’t help the grin that took over your face as you reread the messages over and over. The boys were throwing a party...for you. You thought back to the night you were feeling homesick. Mammon actually listened to you complain about missing your friend’s party! And they’ve seen the invitation.

You immediately open up the Akuzon app, hunting down pieces for your costume. An 80s party for you, thrown by your favorite demon guys? Asmo was right... this was going to be amazing.

**

At breakfast the next morning, you try to act surprised as the demon brothers sit down one by one, all smiles and hand you a white envelope with your name printed neatly on it.

“What’s this?” You ask, pretending you don’t already know.

“Open it,” Mammon replied, a twinkle in his eyes.

You turn the envelope over and gently rip it open. You pull out a folded sheet of paper that was literally a copy of your invitation to Lizzie’s party, except Lizzie’s name was crossed out and your name was sloppily written above it. The date and time was also crossed out and rewritten. ‘Booze’ had a question mark drawn on after it, which was also crossed out with a ‘NO’ beside it.

“Surprise!” The boys howled.

You felt tears gathering in your eyes.

They all slowly, one by one lost their smiles. 

“Aw, man,” Levi whined. “She hates it! I told you the invitation was stupid, Mammon!”

“Hey! I didn’t see any of you assholes trying to make up an invitation!”

“Cause you just had to be the one to do it! And now you’ve made her cry,” Levi argued. “Idiot!”

Asmo shook his head. “Drop dead, Mammon.”

“Guys,” you speak up, wiping your face with your sleeve. “These are happy tears, okay? I love it.”

Their smiles return.

“I can’t believe you all did this for me. For demons, y’all are pretty sweet.” You got up, giving each one a hug. “Also, I’m going to slay all of you in the costume contest.”

**

You felt nervous as you got ready for the party. You tried to calm yourself as you teased and sprayed your hair a bit before tying a headband over it. You lined your eyes with black and added some colored eyeshadow. The outfit itself consisted of a black miniskirt and a couple belts over lace tights and a sheer shirt with a black bra underneath. And of course, lace black gloves with lots and lots of bracelets and necklaces.

You checked yourself out in the mirror, confident and self conscious at the same time. You wondered to yourself how the boys would react seeing you like this. 

It’s not like you hadn’t shown skin around them before, and you admitted to yourself that you liked the way they all looked at you when you wore something revealing. Even your RAD uniform didn’t keep much to the imagination when you sat down and it rode up your thighs. And you had caught more than one of the guys ogling you as you walked around the house in your pjs, which usually consisted of short shorts and a tank top.

The sound of loud music echoing through the house and bass rattling the room pulled you from your thoughts. You smiled, eager to see how your boys dressed up and decorated.

You couldn’t get that smile to leave as you stepped into the dining room and saw all the decorations. Neon greens, yellows, blues, and pinks glowed under black light.Colored streamers hung from the ceiling and the table and walls were adorned with various 80s pop culture; posters of John Hughes movies, records and cassette tapes, Rubix Cubes, Trolls, and Pac-Man. “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley blared from giant speakers.

You felt herself blushing as she looked around the room in awe...they put so much work into this. For you. 

You scanned the room, searching through the room of your scattered friends until you set your eyes on the one you wanted to go to first...

Masterlist

Mammon      Satan      Lucifer      Levi    Beel     Asmo      Belphie

[unibrowzz]

Mod (finally) reviews all 67 winners of the Eurovision Song Contest Part IV: The 1980s

Ah yes, the 80s. One of my favourite decades for music overall, and one of the only decades in Eurovision where I wouldn’t immediately jump at the chance to change most of the songs that won, the other decade being the 2000s. 

But at least with the 80s there was more quality songs per year, whereas the 2000s was mostly drivel.

I also count the 80s as being somewhat of a turning point in the contest’s history, and by that I mean it always seemed to me like it was the decade where the UK really began to stop caring. Most people know the song that won in 1985, but nobody knows what won in 1986. Everyone knows Johnny Logan won twice, but couldn’t name his second song. Everyone knows Celine Dion competed, but can’t remember if she won or what she sang. 

That and countries also started experimenting with more modern sounds and outfits towards the end. The early 80s is just an extension of the 70s I swear. 

But that’s enough of all that, how do I find the winning songs?

1980- What’s Another Year?

Country: Ireland

Artist: Johnny Logan 

Language: English

Thoughts: Ah yes, the song that makes every 50something woman in the UK and Ireland all doey-eyed and rosy cheeked as they remember back to when they were a teenager watching this on TV and drooling at the lovely looking sad Irishman singing his sorrows into the microphone.  Or that’s my experience with this song anyway. Another experience is that most vintage fans I know tend to dislike this song on the grounds of it beating out [insert song here] Everyone has their favourite from 1980 since it was honestly a pretty strong year, but even though this song isn’t my first place for that year I can still clearly see why it won. See, 1980 had a lot of pop songs, so a slow, sad song like this one was bound to stand out, whether it was popular or not. Luckily for this one, it turned out to be a popular choice. Other songs wouldn’t be so lucky… Back on track though. Like I said, this is a very sad and melancholy song with sad and melancholy lyrics, which not only made it stand out in its year, but also made it stand out amongst other Eurovision songs of its time. It’s strange to think, but at this point in the contest’s history there hadn’t been a winner with lyrics so solemn and personal. See, in modern Eurovision, every other song is the artist baring their soul about their horrible ex-boyfriend, or their depression, or past abuse, or whatever, so knowing there was a period where songs like that were so rare is just… surreal to me.

Is this my personal winner for this year? This or Greece tbh, I don’t mind this one

If no, what is? Greece- Anna Vissi- “Autostop”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 23rd

1981: Making Your Mind Up

Country: United Kingdom

Artist: Bucks Fizz

Language: English

Thoughts: Ah yes, the UK winner that nobody really likes, but the BBC still forces at us anyway because they’re proud they came up with a gimmick that everybody remembers. Or maybe it’s not that well remembered, but nobody would know that because we’re reminded of it every year. This song is… alright. Just alright. The first listen of this one is always the best, because after a while it just gets kind of annoying. The singing ESPECIALLY starts to grate you for a while. Even in the studio version the two girls sound unbearably shrill and whiny, and I’m not sure if that’s their fault or the songwriter’s (since if I remember correctly only one of them was a professional singer). I’m seriously convinced there’s no way for a female vocalist to pull this off without sounding terrible.  Again, this one’s perfectly fine and serviceable, but that doesn’t mask the fact it’s still the worst UK winner and the worst winner of the 1980s too. 

Is this my personal winner for this year? No

If no, what is? Portugal- Carlos Paião- “Playback”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 58th

1982: Ein Bißchen Frieden

Country: West Germany

Artist: Nicole

Language: German (Translation: “A little peace”)

Thoughts: This song gives me a really warm, nostalgic feeling, and I don’t know why. I mean, I know this one did well internationally, so it’s possible I just heard it as a kid, but given how I grew up in the early 2000s, “Eurovision is a shitty freak show full of weirdos from the USSR who gang up on the UK and don't vote for us on purpose” era Britain, that’s highly unlikely. Anyways, this is such a warm, fuzzy kind of song. It has a lovely… round-the-campfire, singalong kind of vibe, like this is meant to be sung by a load of long haired hippies with flowers in their hair and CND symbols drawn on their cheeks. And it’s… … Also kind of bland. If you’ve been reading my personal winners so far, you’ll have noticed I definitely have a soft spot for old German entries, so it’s a shame I find the one song they actually won with to be so… generic. It’s like they got tired of being unique so decided to send the same saccharine fluff everyone else was sending, and guess what, it paid off majorly, because this song was a huge hit at the time. Something about that kind of bothers me, like, out of all the entries they sent, it’s the one that’s the most “Eurovision-y” that ended up winning. And there’s something depressing in that.

Is this my personal winner for this year? No

If no, what is? United Kingdom- Bardo- “One Step Further”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 50th

1983: Si la vie est Cadeau

Country: Luxembourg

Artist: Corinne Hermés

Language: French (Translation: “If life were a gift”)

Thoughts: You want a tip on how to stand out amongst Eurovision fans? Say you like this song. Probably won’t make you very popular, but you’ll stand out at least. I will confess, I, too, was part of the hate-wagon for this song. Like most fans I knew, I’d complain about how boring and uninteresting it was and how it, ahem, “robbed” so many other entries, and how basic it was, et cetera, et cetera. But… honestly? It’s not even that bad. Sure I had other favourites from 1983 (the ones I could stand watching anyway, the host that year was so unimaginably terrible I gave up watching halfway through. I DARE you to watch the whole thing without wanting to neck yourself), but this song gets way more hate than it deserves. I honestly don’t think this song is half as bad as I made it out to be myself, or as bad as the fandom makes it out to be. It’s got a decent melody, some solid vocals, some appealingly 80s instrumental, like there’s a lot I like here. …Until you read the lyrics and realise they’re almost as half-assed and lazy as All Kinds of Everything’s, but I digress. Did I prefer other songs from that year? Of course. Am I going to complain about this one winning? Nah. It’s alright. 

Is this my personal winner for this year? No

If no, what is? Sweden- Carola Häggkvist- “Främling”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 41st

1984- Diggiloo, Diggiley

Country: Sweden

Artist: Herreys

Language: Swedish

Thoughts: Whenever I was a younger fan I used to describe this song as being drunk-dad-at-a-wedding-music performed by three sentient Ken dolls, and I still stand by that statement. And I don’t really know how else to describe this one. It certainly has its charm, and it’s still a likeable song, but it also feels very… vapid. Like if this song were a person, they’d be a bit of a bimbo. And I mean, the song’s about how the singer’s oh-so-happy and prancing down the street in his brand new shoes, so that’s probably a fair description. Part of me wonders if that’s down to old Eurovision songs being vapid in general or if it’s down to the schlager genre itself requiring songs to be kinda neutered and happy-go-lucky, but even though I do like this song, it does come off as being a bit bland. A bit by-the-numbers and playing-it-safe. And I don’t mind songs like that, but I’d rather they didn’t win, y’know?

Is this my personal winner for this year? Not really

If no, what is? Italy- Alice & Franco- “Il Treni di Tozeur”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 15th

1985- La det Swinge

Country: Norway

Artist: Bobbysocks

Language: Norwegian

Thoughts: Ah yes, the song which finally hauled Norway into first place after years of being a regular last-placer. Maybe the UK should take some notes instead of blaming Brexit. Or Russia. Or Iraq. Or anything other than their own apathy, for that matter. But this is about La det Swinge and not the UK, so what are my thoughts on it? Well it’s… It’s the kind of song I imagine my mom and aunt would sing at a wedding if they ever attended one. It’s a very fun song, a little cheesy, sure, but it’s hard to not like a song that’s this upbeat and cheery.  And yeah I know it’s because it’s schlager and that’s generally a really cheerful genre by default, I touched on that in the review above, 

Is this my personal winner for this year? This or Israel

If no, what is? Israel- Yizhar Cohen- “Olé Olé”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 14th

1986- J’aime la Vie

Country: Belgium

Artist: Sandra Kim

Language: French

Thoughts: This song is an enigma because I’m an absolute slut for 80s pop, yet, for some reason, I find this song painfully average and uninteresting. Now, I’ll get it off my chest and say that 1986 was also a painfully average and uninteresting year, and most of the time I just felt myself remembering the singer more than the song, and even then I struggle to remember what some of the acts even were. It was just such a boring blur of a year I’m surprised the juries even managed to stay awake to pick a winner. And I GUESS you could argue that this song is so upbeat and peppy that it woke them up, but that doesn’t excuse how bloody generic it is. Like, this is the most generic 80s song you can imagine, and not in a good way. It feels more like stock music than an actual publicly released pop song. Had it not won, I doubt it would’ve stood out to me at all; it would’ve just faded into the background with all the other muted, 80s-coloured mush from this year. Basically, there’s a reason the singer’s age is the only thing noteworthy about this song.

Is this my personal winner for this year? Not really

If no, what is? Luxembourg- Sherisse Laurence- “L’amour de ma vie”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 49th

1987- Hold me Now

Country: Ireland

Artist: Johnny Logan 

Language: English

Thoughts: Ah yes, the superior Johnny Logan winner.  And I’m not sure why everyone forgets this one because Mother of Mercy this song is in another league entirely compared to the other schlock Ireland’s won with. Like this is their best winner, no competition. One of their best songs overall as well. One of the best entries from the 80s, one of the best winners of the 80s, one of the best winners… Yeah, I really like this song.  I’ll admit to sleeping on this one for too long myself, always dismissing it as some boring Irish ballad to go with all the other boring Irish ballads they somehow managed to win with (we’ll get to that later), and always agreeing with people who said XYZ country (always Yugolslavia) should have won instead.  Basically I learnt the hard way to never judge a song on its country and genre. But one day I found myself in the midst of a revisiting trip, going back to winners I didn't pay much attention to, just to see if there was anything I’d missed the first time round. And something about the lyrics in this song resonated with me a lot more than I thought they would. In a strange way, it made me feel older; like I’d grown up and was able to relate to the words in a song and appreciate it more than I could when I was younger. The line “what do you say when words are not enough?” especially hits harder than it should; as someone with autism I tend to find showing emotions difficult, even in virtual conversation where I’m not using my voice or face, because… Well, what do you say when your words aren’t enough?

Is this my personal winner for this year? Yes

If no, what is? N/A

Personal ranking (out of 67): 2nd

1988- Ne Partez pas Sans Moi

Country: Switzerland 

Artist: Céline Dion 

Language: French

Thoughts: Telling people Céline Dion won this thing is a new favourite hobby of mine, just to see the confused reaction. And that’s the most interesting thing about this song because it’s… fine, I guess? It’s a perfectly serviceable 80s power ballad, but there’s no bells and whistles to make me sit up and declare it any better than just “okay”. It’s basically the ballad equivalent of J’aime la Vie from 1986, in that it’s extremely 80s and also in French, but there’s nothing to make it that memorable aside from the singer herself. And even then this isn’t the song that made her famous anyway. Even her singing doesn't make this one stand out, partially because the song doesn't do anything special with it, and partially because she just blends in with all the other good singers of this era. And that’s kinda sad to think about.

Is this my personal winner for this year? Hmmm....

If no, what is? Greece- Afroditi Frida- “Clown”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 22nd

1989- Rock Me

Country: Yugoslavia

Artist: Riva

Language: Croatian

Thoughts: So this is another song it really took me a while to get into (there’s lots of those, trust me) and one that was very briefly in my top three overall favourites. It’s slid down a few slots since then, though I would still say it’s… Somewhere in the top 15.  I don’t really have a lot to say about this one, if I’m honest. It’s just a good, fun, solid song which stood out in a very dull and ballad-saturated year, nothing more, nothing less. The lyrics are nice too, being about a bored musician who learns to love music again by teaching himself how to play pop songs to entertain his friends. That’s a unique subject and I can imagine it resonating with a lot of people who’ve fallen out with a hobby they used to love because they took it too seriously (providing they either speak Croatian or have looked up the lyrics, of course). I mean, it resonates with me at least. All in all, I just like this song for its message more than anything else.

Is this my personal winner for this year? No

If no, what is? Portugal- Da Vinci- “Conquistador”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 9th

[makeupbychio]

to our baby // C.H

Pairing : Calum Hood x Female Reader.

Words : 7.9k

Summary : You’re a makeup artist from Brazil, and by accident you met Calum on Christmas Eve in a Uber. The question is whose Uber was it? Yours or his? but one thing is for sure, he believes in soulmates. A glimpse of your pregnancy in a video.

Warnings : Fluff, fluff and fluff. Angst, mentions of miscarriage and blood. 

Inspired by : Kylie Jenner’s pregnancy video. I don’t know if you like Kylie but Stormi is the real goat. Classic rom com movies. Love for Brazil and the family that I have there. Blue music video by Beyoncé. Kehlani’s pregnancy. Baby fever.

a/n : hi babies, so I love dad!sos more than myself. I poured my heart on this one and hope you like it. Feedback is more than welcome and love y’all. Happy reading. Also this give me such rich vibes because, duh, successful parents. Also I did the moodboard and it’s the first time I did one.

2 months

Your best friend Natali decided to start recording this moment, and that’s how your video starts with a soft piano melody that Calum created for the entire video.

“Are you recording this?” you said looking at your bestie’s phone.

“Yeah, cause’ it is official” your bestie said pointing at the doctor’s monitor. A little peanut of 7 weeks growing inside you. Your doctor is rubbing that cold gel in your belly and your eyes are looking at the monitor with bright, shiny, sparkly eyes but inside you are afraid too. “Hi baby, this is your mommy”.

+

3 days ago…

You’re in a cafe with your best friend, it’s almost night time when you decided to go for a cup of hot chocolate and a good slice of cake that you’d been craving the whole week. Calum, your boyfriend is on press tour promoting the last two singles so you’d been hanging out with your best friend.

Once you’re walking back to your place, suddenly you started to feel like crap and disgusted by the smell of coffee that a stranger was drinking and passed by you. Your best friend noticed when you gagged and told you to hold on till the next shop.

“Hi Marcela!” your bestie said to the cashier of the shop. You should have say hi too but you ran to the bathroom. “Sorry, she ate something” she said waiting for you in the other side of the door. Once you were done you were still feeling like trash.

“Hi Marcela and don’t worry I didn’t spot anything” you said. Marcela’s your best friend’s cousin. They’re from Brazil, so do you. She works in a big pharmacy, that the owner’s her brother, Pablo. “How is that pretty boy who plays the guitar?” she asked you, and you laughed that she didn’t ask about how are you.

“You just saw him a couple of weeks ago” you said. “How are you tho?”.

“Ya’ know, excited for the surgery” she said referring to her breast surgery and you’re so happy to see her finally in the process of a trans woman. “Well, before you go you should go back to the bathroom with this, on the house” she said giving you a pregnancy test. Before you refused, Marcela interrupted you. “Your boyfriend’s birthday party was wild so I’m just sayin’” your best friend gave her a look to behave. “I mean I don’t judge you with that hottie and a wild night” she said pushing you back to the bathroom.

You didn’t give her an answer, because she was right of what happened that night after you and Calum were alone. Ugh, in that moment you wanted him in the other side of that door and not your friends that are just making you more nervous.

“I would like to have his babies too if I could” Marcela tried to break the ice of this moment with a joke and your best friend punched her to be quiet. “What?! I’m just trying to make her laugh”.

“Y/N? U okay? 10 minutes have passed” Natali said knocking the door.

“I’m too coward to look at the result” you said in a shy voice in the other side. Your friends looked at each other and encouraged you by telling you that whatever the result is they are going to be with you and support you.

You left the bathroom to show them the two lines in the test. It’s positive. You’re pregnant. It wasn’t the first time tho, but that story’s for later.

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“This is how I found out about you” your best friend said to the camera. “Your mother and I were living our lives having fun and working hard when she met your father”.

“I think that the story of your parents is unique, your dad loves to tell how he met your mother” Mali said to the camera.

“Once I saw in a well known tv show that you met your soulmate three times before being together. I didn’t believe it cause’ I used to think that love is a scam but one day…” Calum said to the camera. He remembered when he listened that line while watching this tv show he said ‘fuck off’ but kept watching it. Two days after that he finally met you.

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3 years ago…

It was Christmas Eve, and your biggest opportunity in your career as a makeup artist. You won this with a lot of effort. You had 5 clients that day, everyone wanted to get all glam for the day by you. You were late because there was no taxi or Uber available until one driver accepted your call. It was snowing and the Uber arrived outside one of your client’s house and you ran with your suitcases full of makeup.

Once you sat in the back of the car, a guy entered the car too, hurry like you.

“Excuse me?” you asked him. “This is my car, you must have another car plate”.

“Hell nah miss. I’ve been waiting for twelve minutes” he said showing you his phone he noticed your accent and your beauty.

“I have the same one!” you showed him your phone. “Please, I’m late for work” you begged him.

“I’m late too!” he resisted.

“Can you please tell this man that I called you first?” you asked the driver.

“Sorry, the app is crazy today so maybe the system gave to me your calls” the driver said through the rear-view mirror. “But I got her call first, sorry buddy”.

“Ugh thank you! Why you don’t go on your car? For sure you have a car if you live in this neighborhood” you said at the strange man of the leather jacket.

“My car is in the mechanic" he said. “Please please I will call your couple to explain why you are late if you let me take this Uber”.

“Excuse me?! I said I’m late for work!” you were tired and you have two clients left and one of them is a billionaire, so you started to get angry at him who didn’t understand that you’re in a hurry.

“Work? You must have a boring life” he said before leaving the car. You were not going to tell him your life and explain yourself. You thought to gave him the middle finger but it’s not the day for that, you just told the driver to go.

Two months after that episode you were doing a beautiful gold eye look on a tall and handsome guy. He’s so nice and you found cute when he asked you about makeup, skincare and your career.

“So if you want more intensity with the pigment you have to spray setting spray directly to the brush and then take a little of the shadow” you told Luke when you are done with his makeup.

It was the day when they were recording Valentine’s music video.

“Dude we are waiting for you, what the hell?” Calum asked Luke when he arrived the set.

“Sorry the makeup artist is so cool we were talking a little bit. She told me she’s from Brazil and her skin looks amazing. I’m going to say to call her again for the next videos” Luke said showing the guys how amazing he feels with his gold makeup.

Calum wanted a little bit of glitter on his cheeks, but when he went to the room where you did Luke’s makeup. He didn’t find you. Another makeup artist told him that you had to do Lady Gaga’s makeup for a magazine cover when he asked about you.

Calum was going to ask how she ended doing Luke’s makeup if she does biggest celebrities looks because he was surprised and realized that she (you) must be a talented MUA. But he forgot to ask.

Two months after again. 5sos were going to Coachella but not to perform. They were excited for the weekend to have fun and to see all their favorites musicians on stage.

This festival is all about outfits, makeup, accessories, influencers, etc. But also to get to know upcoming good artists from different countries and music genres.

“Ashley how we end up here? I don’t speak portuguese” The boys said to their friend who wanted to see a brazilian artist.

“Me neither! But I love Pabllo so much” Halsey said. “Please, come on! It will be fun I promise”.

Once in the VIP section, Luke hugged a girl that Calum didn’t recognize. 

“Look Y/N” Luke said showing you to rate the glitter he applied.

“It looks amazing!” you said. And after that Luke introduced you to the rest of the boys telling them about the makeup you did on him for Valentine’s video, and Halsey recognized you since she’s a fan of makeup and to be honest you should be the one who is glad to meet her.

“Hey I think I know you from somewhere” Calum said trying to remember your face and before you said something and before the boys said a dirty joke, Calum remembered. “You stole my Uber! It was my Uber”. After a couple of jokes, and you clarifying that you didn’t stole anything, the show started.

Pabllo is the first brazilian drag queen to perform in this huge festival. You were Pabllo’s makeup artist, Calum didn’t need to ask you that. He saw you enjoying the show.

“This look is amazing” Calum said about the pink look you did on Pabllo. You thanked him for that compliment because it took you almost two hours.

“I also did chilean and argentinian artists makeup” you said proud of your work for this two weekends. After this song Pabllo is performing you have to go backstage to touch up the makeup. So after you said bye to everyone and before you went back to work Calum invited you to their place where they are staying for an after party when Beyoncé closes this festival’s day.

And after that, you two have been inseparable.

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Today your career’s immensely different. Today you’re one of the most famous MUA in the industry. With a lot of famous clients, most of them billionaires including people from music, films, fashion industries, etc. You also opened a makeup studio in LA. This took you years, hard work, tears, sweat and blood to be who you’re today, always proud to be an immigrant. Nobody believes you when you told the story how you get into makeup. You come from a poor town in Brazil and every single night when you were in highschool you ran away from home to go to bars and do drag queens makeup, since then you’re friends with Pabllo and every brazilian drag queen.

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“Like I was saying this is how she told your father about you” your best friend said while in the video that moment’s playing. You and Calum are in Arraial Do Cabo beach, your favorite since you have memory. It was sunset time, you were standing in the water holding hands when you told Calum the big new. The 35mm video shows how Calum lifts you up and kisses you so tenderly with the beautiful crystalline water as the background while he kneels to kiss your exposed belly in your bikini.

Of course you asked your doctor if you could travel to Brazil, your homeland. This was a trip that you planned with Calum for so long, you missed your family so much and also you didn’t want to cancel it since it was also Calum’s vacations. Once you arrived back your parents house you told them and your brothers (you’re the younger sibling) the big new. All of them cried and hugged you and for dinner your mom did all of your favorites brazilian dishes and desserts that you missed so much and you have to eat for you and the baby.

It was summer in Brazil and that night there was a storm but hot as fuck, as always. You were looking at the beauty of the city during night while you waited for Calum for bed time after an amazing day. He showed you the pictures he took during the day, he didn’t know if your glow was because you were at home, like when he visits Australia, or if it was the pregnancy. 

The next day you decided to go for a picnic with your family, a tradition you have. You went to the same place that is close to your old house. The picnic area has multiples simple grass courts where kids play football. You filmed the moments when Calum and your brothers started playing with the kids of the neighborhood including your nephews, your heart melted to that view of the children laughing when Calum failed a goal and Calum’s heart melted at the view of you playing with your nephews in the grass and then dancing with them. They love to show you what they had learned about samba and capoeira. The only thing on Calum’s mind was that it feels just right with you and that he can not wait to live what he’s watching, with you. With each of them holding your hands you came back to picnic table.

“Baby you’re going to have amazing avós, tios and primos” you said while filming your family members that picnic day. Your parents kissing your forehead and your brothers filming you playing carefully with them the match. 

“She still has it” your eldest brother said to the camera and then filming the picnic day. You can’t explain how much you love your family. You bought them a house in a good side of the city when you became rich. You were dreaming that your whole life because you came from a really poor part of Brazil but with the hard work of your mom, as a hairdresser, and your dad as a fisherman, you always had food and a house full of love. You consider your step dad like your real father, because he’s been there for you since day one and he taught you almost everything of life.

The first time Calum went to Brazil to meet your family, he already knew about your step dad. He and your brothers were harsh with Calum. The three of them have been always protecting you. When they realized how much Calum loves you, they treated him like family. Calum admires that coming from your step dad, and more than ever he has to show you that he would never do what your biological father did to you. He’s going to be the best dad in the world because he always wanted this with you.

Your last night in Brazil you found yourself looking at the balcony. You were sad for leaving again and for an specific memory. Calum noticed you were not sleeping and he knows you better than himself.

“Why you told me that you were scared to tell me the big new” he asked you. You told him that you didn’t know how he was going to react. And also because you didn’t know if he still wanted a family with you after your miscarriage you had last year.

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1 year ago…

You never understand why the brain always remember the bad moments or the traumas. Sometimes you feel like this happened yesterday and some nights still haunts you. It was your mistake even when everyone told you that it wasn’t your fault. But it was.

You were back from Europe after all the fashion weeks in different countries. You travelled a lot, with no stop doing tons of makeup looks to tons of models to almost every designer that called you. Back in LA you continued with your clients and your studio.

You remembered that night, Calum was back too from the shows they did in Australia and New Zealand. Both of you were exhausted. In the middle of the night you started to feel feverish and thirsty so you went for water downstairs. Before you passed out you felt a strong ache in your back. The noise your body did against the floor got Duke in a second running where you were. He started barking when his help didn’t work which woke up Calum. He knew something was happening because you were not in bed and Duke was desperate. When he found you in the kitchen floor he called emergency when he saw blood in your shorts, he waited the ambulance next to you and holding you all scared because he had no idea what was happening.

In the hospital when the doctors did all the exams and gave you the medication you needed, your doctor went outside to talk to Calum explaining him what happened. You didn’t know you were pregnant until the moment you woke up and your doctor explained to you the same. Your doctor told you that the cause was the non-stop work you did, without eating well or drinking water, sleeping less than 4 hours, too much flights and the baby couldn’t make it. After a couple of days in the hospital to recover, your doctor told you to stay and rest at home all the time you needed. Calum was there for you all the time, taking care of you and letting you know he loves you, even when you felt guilty and barely could look at his eyes.  You always thanked him for what he did because after that you thought he was going to break up with you. Your family, the guys and friends were there for you too and until today you go to a therapist.

Despite all the sadness that brought you the hardest time you had ever lived. It taught you to take care of yourself, to put your health first and to slow down with work even when it’s your passion. So now when your doctor said that you were pregnant, you decided to keep this a secret until your baby is born. You want to live to the fullest this pregnancy, taking care of you and your child, so that’s why you don’t want any paparazzis following you everywhere or things that damage your mental health because you don’t want the baby to feel your anxiety or panic over unnecessary scenarios.

You told your loved ones your plan, you told just the right amount of people that you were pregnant, people who you can trust. You told your clients the secret and that you were going to work and keep doing their makeup until you start to show.

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“He just told us like ‘hey look at this’ and for our surprise it was the first ultrasound scan” Michael said to the camera while a video of that moment plays. Calum telling the boys that like if it was a simple meme on instagram, their faces, reactions by jumping and screaming were priceless. “And we were so confused and I remembered I said ‘wait this a baby’”.

“Come on guys!” Luke said when you and Calum were goofing around the arena during soundcheck playing like kids and hugging each other. Then in the dressing room waiting for the show cuddling in the sofa laying your bodies in the limited space, Calum’s kissing your nose and the rest of your face and you’re caressing his cheeks and stubble softly with your nails. You promised Calum that you’re going to be careful every single show you will come to see him.

“Every single picture or video you find about your parents, you can see the chemistry” Andy, who is the director of this video, said to the camera and then a video he did for Calum’s birthday party is playing. “Everybody say happy birthday to Cal… one, two, three!” Ashton said through the microphone when it was time to sing at Calum. Then you two kissing and partying, and then leaving the club with all the flashes directly to your faces and other cool little moments of you two playing in the video to show how could your baby’s parents are.

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3 months

You were in your first trimester when Calum found himself stepping into the elevator for the ultrasound which is going to reveal your baby’s gender. Andy’s filming everything and zoomed to little details that showed that Calum was nervous and anxious to see and hear his baby for the first time. He’s waiting for you that you’re on your way after doing a client’s makeup.

Your style have always been so urban and grunge. You always wear baggy shirts with cool designs on it or bands/singers merch or vintage shirts. And now it’s even more comfortable to you wearing that.

Luke was waiting for you to drive you to the clinic. It wasn’t a surprise when you saw paparazzis pictures of you arriving with Luke and rumors were already on social media but till the end everyone denied your pregnancy. But it was funny but crazy some of the rumors.

Plastic surgery, that you were cheating Calum with Luke, that you were expecting a baby, etc.

“Please guys, leave her alone” Luke said to the paps when he got out the car. He had to lie but he wanted to scream at them to give you space because of the baby but he couldn’t. Everyone was so protective with you and you understood because none of you wanted you live another miscarriage.

If it depends on Calum, he prefers that you don’t lift heavy things or anything that requires too much effort. “How are you feeling today baby mama?” he asked knowing about your morning sickness. You told him that you were perfect that you just want to know the gender of your baby.

“You’re fifteen weeks now” your doctor said rubbing again the cold gel against your belly. Calum was in a chair next to you rubbing your leg focused watching the monitor just like you. 

“Hey chief u are putting too much pressure on” Calum said on the defensive watching how hard the doctor was pressing the gel in your belly.

“Don’t worry, Calum. It’s just the skin. There she is” the doctor said once finally found the perfect take of the baby checking every detail and told you both that everything is okay.

“She? Can we hear the heartbeat?” Calum asked already covering his mouth and he can feel the chills going down his body tearing a little bit. Andy who was inside the room, zoomed to the monitor and also the only one who knew the gender before the reveal party.

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4 months

Make it last forever

Come on, baby, won’t you hold on to me, hold on to me?

You and I together

Come on, baby, won’t you hold on to me, hold on to me?

Blue

Calum till the present day after your baby was born, he sings this song to her at nights. His voice activated your baby, she really loves her daddy’s voice and she showed her joy with shorts kicks in your belly. She demanded when she missed Calum’s voice or warm touch or when she was having a really good time after he sang or talked to her.

“Babe I think your daughter’s having a party in there” you said feeling her feet. You also had your mom and daughter quality time, you talked to her most of the times telling her typical brazilian stories your mom told you once, or giving her a couple of wise words or you also sing to her even when you can’t compare your voice with Calum’s with brazilian or typical lullabies.

“Hi baby, I know you love this private concerts at night but mommy has to sleep too” he said closer to your bump. Calum helped her to go to sleep by telling her stories or how he can’t wait to have her in his arms. “Well, as I can see you want to be awake I’m going to tell how I met your gorgeous mother” he started. He keeps telling that story too, you always tease that she’s going to get bored of the story but Calum tells the story every single time with more love.

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5 months

Short videos of yourself in sweats and your bra showing your growing belly of five months in the backyard taking the sun of LA and the spring that is left. Then in the pool, next with Duke aka your partner of naps when Calum was in the studio, who at the first months he laid his head on top of your belly but now that is bigger he just lays next to it.

Since you got your doctor’s confirmation, you did mini videos in the mirror of your bathroom to see the progress. Filming from different angles with different clothes like underwear or bikini, short or long dresses, thigh or loose, etc. Calum loves to appear in the take behind you kissing your neck and landing his hands in your belly. Now talking about bathroom, he also loves to help you to get into and out the shower, wrapping you with towels, putting your socks or shoes if you can’t reach your feet, zipping up your dress and if you had a rough day he prepares you a bath with bubbles and candles and joins you. He loves doing all of the previous thing before you got pregnant. You do by yourself your makeup, of course, but he teases you about he’ll be an amazing makeup artist.

“Not after what you did to me that time” you said at him remembering that funny video when he did your makeup.

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When Andy isn’t around you’re in charge of filming like early in the morning when you wake up before Calum. Every morning he woke up with his head near your belly and his warm touch around. He looks so at peace sleeping because you know that the previous night he fell asleep late talking with the baby, it’s been his routine lately so in the morning you take the camera and film your view, you take the opportunity to brush Cal’s messy morning curls with your fingers for a while.

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6 months

Calum had a surprise for you since you couldn’t travel to Brazil or neither to Australia because it was too risky as your doctor said. He told you that today you two have Ashton’s birthday lunch. He wasn’t lying because it was Ashton’s birthday but also the surprise he had so he was filming since early in the morning.

“Babe can you help me, please?” you called him from your shared room. He went upstair with his camera.

“Damn look at you! Baby mama slaying!” he praised you looking at you with troubles with the unzipped dress. You blushed but gave him a pose with your belly at the camera.

“Please help me, next week I have to buy clothes and underwear that can fit me” you turned and he slowly helped you because he didn’t want to damage the dress that barely was fitting on you. “You can say it” you said with a pout since you noticed that any piece of your clothes were fitting you.

Calum knowing about your hormones and how you’re feeling with the shape of your body, which he thinks that you can’t look more precious but understand your struggle, he just wanted you to feel good. “You look amazing honey and you know how much I love this dress” he said with a smirk and hugging you to kiss your neck and grab your ass.

“Okay Hood, let’s go if you don’t want to have twins…daddy” you teased him before he got more horny. You winked at him and grabbed your bag to go downstairs but he stopped you.

“I think that with this you’re going to look even hotter” he gave to you a luxury package ready for your reaction. You opened it and found the shiniest gold heavy chain, you looked at him shocked. “I got a similar one too, it represents the name we choose for our baby” he said and you were already tearing up and told him that it’s beautiful and he told you not to worry knowing that the next thing you were going to say that it wasn’t necessary because of the price. Once outside you kissed him before he helped you to get into the car.

“Still don’t understand why Ash’s going to celebrate his birthday two days before” you asked Calum while he’s driving.

Calum’s a really bad liar but he did his best to keep his surprise. “I told you babe, he’s going to be in Australia for the next weeks”. Lie. And you remembered how mad you were at Ash when he told you because he was going to miss the baby shower.

But once you arrived Ash’s place and went to the living room and saw a bunch of people jumping and screaming ‘surprise’ at you, you got scared and hid your face on Calum’s neck and he can felt a few tears because your and Cal’s families are here. You hugged everyone and thanked Calum once again for this. “I love you so much”.

“Love ya’ more” he said smiling down at you and kissed your crown. And the next day both of you and your families, the guys, close friends like your MUA’s friends and from the music industry were at your place. You’re wearing a more comfortable outfit than the day before, it was a black fitted midi tank dress and a rainbow tie-dyed hoodies that you and Calum ordered for the baby shower theme because you don’t like that thing that pink is for girls and blue for boys so everyone’s wearing the colorful outfit.

You’re posing in your garden full of beautiful flowers of different colors as everyone’s taking you pictures.

“More to the side” Mali said to have the perfect picture of you and your baby. Andy was filming every moment and zoomed it when you waved at his camera and the other hand on your belly. Then pictures with Calum, then the families, the guys, and everyone who was invited. Every single person can noticed your happiness and pure joy, you were glowing and even more with your soft peachy glowy makeup you did.

In the video the zoom’s now on your and Calum’s matching chains that you were wearing minutes before the reveal. 

“Goddammit just say it!” Michael screamed impatient.

“Yeah, I bet Michael that it’s a boy” Luke said. They actually did bet five hundred.

“Why would you do that?!” Ashton stole words that Calum was going to say.

“Cause’ Y/N has two brothers and two nephews, maths Ash!” Luke said confident about his prediction.

Duke was hiding inside a box with the truth. When you both opened the box, Duke came out with a mini billboard hanging on his collar that says ‘It’s a GIRL!” 

“YES!” Everyone screamed but mostly Michael because now he won those five hundred dollars.

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“Definitely I’m going to be her godfather” Michael said looking at the guys. Andy asked them to say something for the video, they were sitting in the couch.

“Hell nah Michael… Focus! We have to say something to our niece” Luke said at him. “Hi kiddo, unfortunately we’re also your uncles, I’m uncle Luke and just wanna to let you know that you have the coolest family ever and you can count on us for everything”.

“Yeah, I hope you guys have clear that we’re going to spoil this baby a lot” Michael said looking at you and Calum, you nodded at him and he with his partner made it clear by bringing tons of gifts for the baby shower. “Cool, I’m just going to say that never be ashamed of who you are or your dreams and I know I’m going to be your favorite uncle because your birthday’s going to be near mine”. Michael said to the camera while he did his thing with his hair of always adjusting it.

“Hi dear niece, uncle Ash here, you’re so lucky to have your parents and they’re lucky to have you. Hope you have your mother’s features cause’ she’s hot…” Calum slapped his head from behind due to the comment. “Okay! your dad isn’t that bad tho…being serious live to the fullest cause’ life’s beautiful, especially if you play drums” Ashton laughed and you rolled your eyes at how all of them including Calum had been discussing which instrument the baby’s going to love most.

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7 months

“You have to exercise, you gained ten pounds that weren’t planned” your doctor said. “Something light of course, and Calum, by the way you’re looking at me all scared, don’t worry cause’ everything’s going to be okay”.

“I’ve been craving a lot lately, I’m going to start again” you said swinging your legs like a child sitting once your doctor finished cleaning the gel of your belly. So the next morning you started again with yoga, you stopped for a month and that happened. You did yoga every morning with your personal trainer, since you can’t go to her studio because the secret will be revealed. Calum was also there encouraging you and sometimes Ashton, who assured you that he wasn’t there because he finds your trainer attractive.

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@enews: Is Y/N pregnant? She’d been seen attending at 5sos shows this week and fans took pictures of her enjoying the show in the middle of the arena with friends and family in the restricted space. In the pictures we can see that she gained weight by her cheeks. In the picture you can’t see if there is a baby or not due to her outfits. She, with her husband Calum also are the last ones to leave the arenas asking the bodyguards to make sure there is no paps. What do you think? It’s confusing because she and Calum have been posting a lot lately and you can’t be sure about a little 5sos member coming BUT fans are saying that maybe they’re posting old stuff to confuse us and also fans called to respect their decision after what happened to the couple last year. Link in our bio to see the pictures.

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“Do you want to say something to your granddaughter?” your brother asked with the camera to your parents and you melted at how cute your family looked with the hoodies on. 

“Ugh, I can’t wait to hold you, kiss you, hug you, teaching you things that maybe your mommy can’t teach you” your mom said all emotional.

Your dad said to the camera that they can’t wait to have your baby visiting Brazil and teach her all about your culture and country. And you couldn’t be more agree with them. You want to show your daughter her roots, teach her portuguese and bring her to the carnivals in Brazil, spend all day in the beach walking with her in the seashore holding your hand and a lot of things that you have in the list. The same that Calum has in my mind since he found out about his baby but visiting Australia.

“I know you’re going to be smartest and most beautiful baby in the world and as you can see you got us wrap around your finger and every single person that loves you” Calum’s mom said to the camera.

“I’m going to be the best auntie I promise” Mali said to the camera and her dad joked about she and your best friends are the only aunties, because your baby has more uncles that aunties and that’s going to be fun.

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“A doble vegetarian cheeseburger with caramelized onion and fries, please” you said from the passenger seat ordering your food to the worker of your favorite place for your cravings. Not taking risks to leave the car. Since you stopped working when you were five months you’ve been wearing baggy clothes to go outside and your designer friends have been sending you all kind of clothes from baggy and comfy dresses but still elegant and chic to pants and underwear that are the pieces you needed since every day your belly grows. Your best friend was driving and Mali was filming from the back. “And two portions of fries and a strawberry vegan milkshake, please… thank you!” you said with a guilty look to the camera. Later you’re going to ask why your doctor told you to lose weight. 

In another occasion that Michael invited all of you guys for dinner and you had in your plate a lot of things you took. “What do you have here?” Andy asked filming. 

“Well we have mac n’ cheese, french fries and sweet potato fries, two cheeseburgers of course one for me and one for the baby and a lot of salad because why not?” you said raising your shoulders.

But it hasn’t always been this way with your cravings and just beautiful things during your pregnancy because isn’t the truth.

Your cravings were so crazy and even things you didn’t like before that suddenly you want to eat that Calum reminded you that you hate that but doesn’t argue with you because you were going to get mad. It started with a lot of sweet things like cake or pies, fruits or chocolate and a lot of ice cream. Then peanut butter with watermelon, yeah, gross. To food that you love but hated being pregnant. Also food that one day you loved and the next morning you were disgusted and the next one loved again. And it ended with a lot of salty food like cheeseburgers, pasta, nuggets, etc but your loyal friend during the 9 months was ice cream.

“Babe I want to eat feijoada!” you pouted at Calum with a huge crave of your favorite typical brazilian dish. Calum couldn’t believe what he was hearing, it was 2 am and you were hungry and not in the best mood. “And also passionfruit ice cream, please”.

Calum did everything but the brazilian restaurant you love was already closed and he didn’t have idea how to do it. “We have the ice cream tho” he suggested if you changed your mind but that didn’t happen. You were going to start crying, the hormones were doing their thing that day.

Calum really wanted to spoil you but he had no idea what to do. He tried to facetime your family but he would have understood if they hadn’t answered because it was 6 am in Brazil. Thank God, your middle brother already started his day and when Calum told him what he wanted to do, your brother really realized how much he loves you. So he told him the steps, the recipe and the special secret of your family tradition, Calum told himself for the next one to pay attention when you or another person cook this dish.

“K’ thank you man, say hello to the rest, bye!” Calum waved through the phone once the feijoada was done.

“You are going to be a good dad, Cal. Now go to spoil your girls!” your brother waved at him too. And Calum really appreciated that comment.

“Sorry babe for being a pain in the ass lately” you said to Calum while you eat the ice cream laying against the headboard of the bed. He didn’t let you apologize for that because you’re doing something majestic and it was more than normal the things you had been through. 

Even when those moments aren’t going to appear in the video, Calum’s going to for sure telling your baby your crazy cravings. When you cried more than once watching puppy videos on Instagram and Calum asking you “babe what happened?” and you just told him “it’s just that the puppy’s so cute” and he comforting you every time you cried when the hormones were crazy. 

When you struggled with clothes. “Baby I’m doing my best” you said almost holding your breath and Calum trying to zip up your blue dress but in the middle of the night still end up broke. That night was a mess, you were out with Calum celebrating Tyler’s birthday, a friend of yours and you were half undressed that Calum gave you his jacket to cover the mess and then you started to feel sick when you caught the smell of a strong cheese.

How to forget how you feel with your body. The pain in your back, your feet, your breasts or when you felt so tired sometimes. How some days you were feeling yourself and other days you felt the most horrendous person. Some days the sexiest woman in the world and others the most unwanted one when you found a new stretch mark or how big your breasts and butt are, the pounds you gained.

“I promised that I used to be sexy, look baby” you said at Calum showing him a picture of you when you were 18 years old, you were in Copacabana with your friends in a party. Calum every day letting know how much he loves you and told you that you’re always going to be the prettiest woman in the world even when you had chocolate all over your face. He helps you too with your body issues because for his eyes all of these new things are a reminder of your little peanut and he loves every single inch of your body.

+

8 months 

“I’m thirty four weeks today, just a month left” you said to the camera showing your belly. “Look baby, your daddy’s painting your room” pointing at Calum applying the peachy paint in the walls and later you were going to add with black paint some trees and other things like clouds, sun, the moon, etc. 

Calum was already a 24/7 daddy. He called the guys to help him with the crib and the rest of the furniture. He had ready the bags for the hospital and the plan for that day.

+

Since you decided to keep your pregnancy a secret and to stop working and stay at home and not be in the public eye, you still had fun doing puzzles, playing with makeup, inviting your friends when Calum had to go to work. And every day you worked from home too, you still had to manage your makeup studio and your clients glam. 

Tonight you prepared dinner, a brazilian night. You invited everyone and after you were goofing around in the living room with music in the back. The guys made you laugh at their attempt to dance samba. You decided to join the baby mama dance flexing your pregnant dance moves so you started filming with the front camera of your phone and dancing with the rest to ‘All Me’ by Kehlani.

+

“What if she isn’t into makeup?” Andy asked you in the baby shower. This is the first time you speak for the video.

“It doesn’t matter. She can do and choose anything she likes, I just want to teach her that she as a girl that girls can. To empower her if she likes science, art or sports or whatever I’m going to be there for and with her. Baby just remember that I’m going to love you every single day of my life and I’m sure that you’re the coolest and prettiest Maori-Brazilian girl in the world and you should be proud of that. We with your dad are waiting for you, love ya’”. you said to the camera.

“Hi princess, well I’m going to try not to cry while I say this but I can’t explain how much we love you and can’t wait to finally have you in my arms and sing to you and have fun with you. You’re my sunshine and your mom’s my soulmate, that tv show I saw was right about soulmate but the truth is that Uber was mine” Calum said to the camera smiling so big that his eyes crinkled and you giving him a look because that question about if that Uber was yours or his is going to be forever a topic, but one thing for sure is that moment changed everything.

+

“Calum!” you screamed from the living room where you were resting after dinner with Duke in the couch. Calum arrived in a second running from the backyard. You were suddenly scared. “Don’t know if Duke peed in the couch or…” and the next thing you saw was Calum taking the bags and helping you to get up to lead you to the car. He was freaking out inside but he tried to keep calm and always reminding you to breath when a contraction hit you.

Andy filmed when he arrived the maternity floor in the hospital. Everyone was waiting outside the labor room. He gave your mom the camera as she was inside the room with Calum next to you. 

“Five centimeters left” the nurse said. For the video you decided to cover the screen so everyone will see just a black screen.

“Everyone’s here” your mom said while you wait. “We, Cal’s family, the boys, Natali, Marcela and Andy with Sarah”. And all of them were nervous waiting with fingers crossed with shuddering legs and feet against the floor waiting for Calum to go outside to say that the baby’s here and that you are fine.

You didn’t put in the video the ugly side of contractions and the pain you were feeling. The word you heard a billion times was ‘breath’, ‘take a deep breathe’.

“You’re going to meet your little girl” your doctor said to you and Calum once you were ten centimeters ready. You wanted to scream at your doctor for everything that the nurses put on you. How painful the epidural shot was and the every 3 or 5 minutes the contractions were. Till today you’re more than grateful that you had Calum supporting and helping you and also that he didn’t pass out. He’s going to be forever amazed at how your body and mind really did that and carried your little princess. 

“Okay, eight, nine and… ten. Go, push” you heard. “Good job Y/N, keep going please take a breath”. “One more and you’re done” your doctor said and in that moment you felt how Calum held your hand with all of his energy.

“You can do this baby” he said encouraging you. You were tired and all sweaty but your reminder was that one more to hold your baby.

Cries filled the room letting you know that she’s finally here. “Open your eyes mama” the nurse said to meet your baby before you fall asleep.

“You did it baby, congrats” Calum was crying while he kissed your forehead, so do you. “I love you mama” he said. He couldn’t believe that years ago he didn’t believe in love but getting into that Uber that Christmas Eve was, is and is going to be forever the best decision of his life.

To our baby

Ema Kara Hood

October 26

8 lbs, 9 oz

11:15 pm

[be-ready-when-i-say-go]

O’ Captain, My Captain

Thanks to the Old Me music video, I unearthed this old fic. Here is Football!Calum. With a hint of Artist!Calum. 

Calum took his chance. To be selfish. To have both things. Football and Art. 

if you like what I write and post, consider supporting me on ko-fi. It helps me save up for graduate fees! 

_________________________________________

The grass feels different beneath his sneakers. He’s already walked with the team to put the equipment up. The coaches have already clapped him on the back, smiled at him, told him that he made his team proud. Though most importantly, they had hoped he had done himself proud. His mom and dad have already wrapped him in hugs, grins plastered to their faces. They’ve already taken him out to dinner, stuffed him with the fanciest thing on the menu. He’s already cheered in the locker room. His voice is still a little hoarse.  Three championship games in a row under his belt. This game, that took place less than three hours ago, was his last hurrah. His freshman and sophomore year weren’t total defeats. They made it to the finals, but didn’t quite make it all the way. And now with junior, senior, and this first year as a postdoc have felt like fever dreams. 

 It’s amazing to go out on such a high note. He can’t help but smile at the thought, the adrenaline that fueled him as he drove the ball downfield with just seconds left. They were up by one goal. It’s not like they needed another one. Calum was greedy for it. No, he was starving for it. It was the fire in his bones that kept him running down that field. The goalie, normally pretty good at reading fakes, took the bait as Calum juked left a little. He dove a second too early, clearing the right side of the goal and Calum watched the ball sail before hitting the back of the net. Time did not exist. He wasn’t breathing. Just watching the ball, praying it didn’t hit the beam. 

Folding his arms behind his head, he stretches out onto the grass. It’s cool even beneath the hoodie. He’s had some good memories on this field. The summer before he started his undergraduate career, he conditioned with them. He was picked up by his team at his secondary school. He could’ve gone pro. School was never supposed to be his thing. It never was his thing if he was honest. He was bored one day in school and decided to crash one of the art classes, skipping the ever so important free block built into his schedule so he could study and work on homework that was coming up or forgotten until the last minute. The teacher knew him fairly well and he wouldn’t rat him out. They broke out another sketchbook and some pencils. “If you’re going to avoid the other schoolwork, just doodle. I’ll give ya extra credit.”

So Calum figured what the harm, besides a potentially insurmountable stack of after school detentions. He could skip class, fuck about in a sketchbook and get some extra credit. He was all for it. But he found himself skipping his other classes more often. He wasn’t terrible at drawing. He definitely wasn’t great. It was just something he wanted to get better at. He came by the art hall after class and sat, sketching the lockers lining the walls. He sketched classrooms. He was getting good and he was enjoying it. The next year he made sure he was taking art classes. Calum never thought he’d give a shit about school, but he gave a shit about art. While he cared for art, he never saw it as viable. Football was his only option. 

“You thought about uni?” His teacher asked right at the end of Year 11. 

“Not much. School’s not my thing.”

“But art is.”

“So is football,” Calum countered. 

“Aren’t some schools looking to give you a scholarship?”

Calum looked up from the sketchbook, back out the window to the benches for lunch when the weather permitted. “Yeah, some in the States. A couple in the UK, a few local schools. But I can’t. You know, football’s my thing.”

His teacher sat down next to him, gently sliding the book out from Calum’s hand. He already knows what’s on the inside but flips through the pages gingerly. The football field, his friends, his parents and sister, scenes of everyday life. The way Calum captured light was amazing, and normally took years to get just right. It was so easy to see the sort of knack Calum had for it. “What if both could be your thing?”

It wasn’t as easy as just having both things. He needed to keep his grades up in order to play at a university. He had to give a shit and it was quickly showing in his first years that he wasn’t. He was nearly dropped from the team for his grades. The general education requirements were ridiculous and all he wanted to do was run on the field and draw not the other bullshit between. But a chat with his mother changed all that. She was never unfair but always firm. He went to the tutoring center. He got off academic probation. He kept his head above water and pushed through the general education stuff. 

Now here he is, going into his second year of graduate studies for studio art. Here he is, at the end of his football eligibility. Here he is laying in the middle of the field. 

He can still hear the roar of the crowd. The sidelines are still packed with people. His body is sore no doubt. Even the cool down stretch can’t take all the pain away. When he goes to sit up, he’s definitely going to feel it in his quads. Right now in his memory, he is still dribbling downfield. He is still sweating, panting, praying he can get that final goal. Right now he is the little boy in his parent’s backyard, grinning ear to ear as his mother takes a picture before his first game. He is twelve again, running drills after practice until his legs felt like they would collapse beneath him. The only thing that matters right now is the echo of his heart thundering in his chest. He will always miss this feeling, everything on the line. Blood, sweat, and pain all pushing him to keep his eyes open, pushing him to be two steps ahead. 

“Hey!” Calum hears the shouting but thinks nothing of it. “Hey!” the voice calls again. It’s closer to him now. The sounds of running over grass hitting his ears. He’s all too familiar with the sound. “You’re Calum, right? Calum Hood?”

He opens his eyes, squinting up to the voice. He sits up with a nod. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.” The girl’s dressed in a leotard and leggings, duffle bag hiked up onto her shoulder. 

“Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to say congrats on the win. My brother’s on the team.” Now as the sun clears and he can see her face a bit more properly, she does resemble Hawkins. Sophomore. Good guy, pretty kick-ass center fullback. 

“He never mentioned having a sister.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not exactly cool to go to the same uni as your sibling. But I got picked for academics and he got in on football.”

“Looks like you play something? Maybe the dance team?” he questions, gesturing to the bag. 

She nods. “Yeah, sort of.”

“Sort of? Either you dance or you don’t,” he laughs. 

“I do, dance I mean. I also do baton twirling. But didn’t mean to interrupt your moment too much. Just wanted to say congrats. I’ll miss you on the field.”

Calum nods, hugging his knees to his chest. He glances over the opened field. “I’m going to miss it too.”

“It’ll always be here though. In a way, you know?” He hums in agreement with her statement. It will be. Just won’t be quite the same. “We’ll be practicing at the other end of the field. But if it’s too loud or anything, don’t be afraid to shout at us or anything.”

He smiles. “We are outdoors. Only so much I can really complain about it.”

She grins, a small tuft of laughter escaping her. “Touche.” She takes another step. “Well, congrats again, if I don’t see you at the party later.”

“Thank you. It means a lot.”

Calum watches her cross the field for a few seconds longer and continues to sit, knees to his chest. His legs are still sore. They will be for a couple more days. He’s alright with that. Calum reaches into his bag, pulling out his sketchbook and pencils. He tries to capture the scene from memory, the packed crowd, the anticipation, the desire. His chest squeezes and his grip on his pencil slacks. 

The sting behind his eyes confirms the tightness of his chest. He brings his gaze back up to the slightly clouded sky, blurry due to the tears. He’s won. He actually won and he’s leaving. The end is sweeter than he imagined. It’s bitter too, to know that he won’t ever step back into his jersey. But it’s somehow sweeter. To know that his legacy will leave on, for at least one more year as he finishes out his degree in studio art. It’s sweeter to end like this. To end on top, to end knowing that he followed a path that allowed him to chase both loves. 

_________________________________

The house is loud, even from the end of the block. It’s a good thing that the football house is situated pretty close to the rest of the frat houses, or else issues would ensue. Calum’s sure something is up as he closes in on the house.  The ruckus isn’t from the football house, it’s from the house next to it. He’s unsure if he should try the door. The lights are on, maybe he’s early. The text he got told him nine. He’s only a few minutes late. Public transit was a little late getting him from the stop near his apartment, which isn’t terrible. 

The door’s locked. So he knocks, stuffing his hands back into the pocket of his jacket. When it opens, he’s greeted with cheers, slaps to the shoulder. “The man of the hour!” 

“Nah, nah,” Calum smiles, slipping out of his coat. He drapes it over the pile forming in the corner, over the back of one of the chairs. He turns to the kitchen. There’s a fixing for just a beer hitting him. He freezes though, staring at his coaches. “Coach Ball, Coach Hobbs, what’re--what’s happening here?”

They grin at him. Coach Hobbs steps forward. “We know. It’s not cool of us to crash a party like this. But, we figured you might want to know this before ya get sloshed.”

Coach Ball steps in. “We can’t extend your contract. Shite we know. But what we can do, is make sure you always keep a part of us with ya.” He extends a white box with a red bow wrapped around it. 

The air’s not even pressing itself into his lungs it feels. Calum’s hands shake a little as he takes the box, pulling on the mesh bow. Pulling the top off, there sits a white jersey, decorated in his number, 11, staring back at him in green. The school’s name and logo also printed onto it. He pulls it out of the box, tears still slightly blurring his vision.  As he turns it over, he notices his name also written across the back. He’s normally got a crier. Not that he’s crying right now, it’s just a few tears. It’s not like they can retire his number. But the ability to still hold onto it, the memories make him happy. The fact that he can still hold onto this. 

“Thank you,” he whispers, putting the jersey back. He pulls both of them into hugs. His lungs can now fully expand as his coaches pat him on the shoulder, whispered praises falling gently between the three of them. Both coaches leave after that, but not before taking a beer each with them. The room chants for Calum to don the new jersey. He sheds the black tee, draping the white material over his body. A can is passed to each of them. 

“This round’s for Captain Hood,” Trundle shouts. He’s taking over as captain now. “He always sailed this ship to success.”

The words catch in his throat. “It-it wasn’t me. It was the team. You guys sailed yourselves.” There are another round of cheers, cans clinking together and the first seem is bitter as always but Calum gets choked as his throat seizes attempting to not let any more tears fall down his cheeks. 

The party continues, the music thumping throughout the house. Less dancing but more mingling is the call for socialization. The same girl from early comes up to him, leggings traded in for distressed jeans and a lacey cropped top. “Drink looks a little low,” she grins at him, before holding out another can. 

He has no clue if she’s younger than Hawkins or not, so he politely declines the drink. “Thanks though. Gonna drink up on some water right now.” She nods and then shimmies through the crowd. 

When the party dies down, around one in the morning, Calum lingers around to help clean up some before his ride pulls up. The driver is nice, keeps conversation pretty short during the five-minute drive.  As he walks back into his apartment, the first of his roommates to arrive from their nights of mischief, he settles onto the couch. He unzips himself out of his boots, pulling the jacket off his shoulders. He inspects the jersey, thankfully no spills, no stains. He pulls it off, walks to his room and drapes it over the back of his chair at his desk. He’s unsure of whether or not to frame it. Though, his brain is completely sober right now to even consider that. He shimmies out of the jeans and lies across his bed, sleep finding him fast.

 His alarm blares, the next morning. He groans, partially cursing himself for leaving it set. But he knows he needs it. Even though his shift is later in the evening, he’s still got a paper to finish up and his portfolio to clean up. It sucks to have to worry now about tuition, his scholarship covered him for all his years as a player, but now, with one last year and no more sports eligibility, him and his parents are figuring out the best way to cover the costs. 

Calum sits up, the jersey staring back at him. It’s real. He didn’t really dream up the coaches handing him that jersey. He didn’t conjure it up in his subconscious as his own selfish desire to never part from it. That jersey is real and his, his number with him forever. It continues to hit him that his time is up during the week. More and more people stop him in the hallways, on the paths that lead to buildings, in the library, in the cafeteria to congratulate him. The older ladies serving him, heap his plates with extras, smile at him in the way that only older ladies can that make you feel fuzzy on the inside. 

He settles down at the benches in front of the library and works on sketching the fountain. He’s been working on it for his final portfolio for a long time. He watches some kids, kicking a football around. His chest warms as they laugh amongst themselves. He decides to put them into the drawing too. He wishes he could capture their laughter, the way they grin at each other and shout at what should be a foul. He wishes he could capture the smiles on their parents' faces as they watch their children. Glancing down to his watch, he notes that his whole break is just about up, so he packs up his things and starts towards the art building. 

In his brief walk, he realizes he could’ve chosen pro. That would’ve worked out for him. But he wouldn’t have these opportunities to still feel human, to chase for that rush of getting the lighting just right in a drawing, in the huge release when his brush hits that canvas. Art is the same need to emote like on the field. It’s just on canvas this time. He could have both things and he’s glad he got them. 

[captainkippen]

RECKLESS • A PUNK! TYRUS AU

Summary: 

RATED TEEN for smoking and swearing. 

TJ never expected to fall in love with a guy who hung out in the library for fun. Cyrus never expected to kiss a guy in the middle of a mosh pit. Once in a while, life surprises everybody. 

Chapter One: Respect The Tub

"Shut up. I'm having a mid-life crisis."

"You're twenty-one."

"Fine, an almost-quarter-life crisis or something, whatever."

"You know, I've seen you overreact before, but this time really takes the cake. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Pfft. It's a great idea. The best idea I've ever had."

"You literally just said yourself that you're having a crisis."

TJ let out a long suffering sigh and glared at Marty. Andi snickered from where she was perched on the edge of the tub behind him. She had two gloved hands covered in bright red sludge buried deep in TJ's hair.

"Don't worry, Marts," she said. "I used to help Bex do her hair all the time when she got bored. Well… one time. If it goes wrong, we can just cut it off. Hair grows back usually."

"Usually?!" TJ spluttered, attempting to turn and face her only to be held in place by her firm grip.

Marty snorted. "Still sure about this?"

"Shut up, Marty. Jeez. You're worse than my mom."

"Hey, your shut your mouth about your mom. That woman is a saint. How she put up with your annoying all these years without committing murder, I’ll never know."

That earned him the bird and he snorted again, blowing smoke into T.J's face. The bathroom of their crappy apartment didn't have a smoke detector, which was probably the only reason Marty was even sat in the room with them. 

"Gross," Andi said with an appreciative smile. She might have stolen the cigarette for herself had her hands not been busy. TJ wrinkled his nose at the two of them. He wouldn't say anything, it hadn't worked the first thousand times and it wouldn't work now, but he had learned that if he made enough disgusted faces Marty would eventually put the cigarettes away.

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes at TJ's face and stubbed it out in the sink. "I'm meant to be quitting anyway. I promised Buffy."

"You made that promise like three months ago."

"Well I gotta have at least one flaw, otherwise it wouldn't be fair to you mere mortals, would it now?" Marty grinned and stood up, stretching his arms up until his back gave a satisfying click. 

"Careful bro," TJ said. "If your head gets any bigger you won't be able to get out of the door."

It was Marty's turn to cheerfully flip him off. As he wandered out of the bathroom he called over his shoulder asking if they wanted any snacks, even though TJ was pretty sure he knew they only had ketchup and coffee left in the kitchen.

"So, this mid-life crisis of yours," Andi said, slipping some more dye on to TJ's head. It slid against his scalp cold and unpleasant, dripping down his neck in a wet mess. "You think Epic Death Red is gonna fix it?"

He considered this for a moment. The brand name was splashed bright and obvious on the bottle, and it glared at him from the sink. It had made them laugh at the time, but now it was in his hair it felt a little daunting. "Nah, probably not. But it'll make me feel better about it, feels productive."

"Turning in your assignments would probably feel more productive."

"Hey, I thought we banned school talk from the tub. The tub rules are sacred. Respect the tub."

"I'm just saying-"

"Did you finish your figure drawing assignment yet?"

"...touché."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence. After a few minutes, Marty loped back in holding a paper plate with an unwrapped Twinkie carefully cut into three pieces on it. Andi let him shove a piece unceremoniously into her mouth without a word.

It had become a sort of tradition. Well... not a tradition. TJ didn't know what you would call it. A habit maybe? Anyways, it had become usual for the three of them to hang out in the bathroom. Sometimes they'd be joined by friends and roommates. Two or three of them cramped in the tub, maybe splitting a bottle of cheap wine between them all, with someone else balanced on the toilet seat and another sprawled across the floor. But today, everyone else was out at work or class or living their life in some tub-free environment.

It was only TJ and Marty that lived in the apartment of the three of them. They had two other roommates, Walker and Jonah, who were pretty decent guys. Walker was an art major like Andi and Jonah had awesome taste in music. Sometimes he and TJ would walk to campus together, they were both based in the music department, but other than that and a shared interest in sports and skateboards they didn't really have anything in common. Buffy, Marty's girlfriend and (by apparent coincidence) Andi's childhood best friend with whom she was now reconnecting, would sometimes swing by to join them too. However, her disgust at  just how useless four boys could be at keeping their apartment in order mostly kept her at bay. Old take-out containers were not part of her ‘aesthetic’ or whatever. TJ was never sure if he was glad about that or not, the two of them spent most of the time squabbling, but she did make Marty happy and it was hard not to be cheerful when Marty was.

"So I had this dream right," TJ said. 

"Oh God."

"No, it's good right. Because it made me, like, realise I should be doing something."

Andi and Marty exchanged amused looks. They were used to it, TJ's various whims and impulses and Important Decisions About The Future That Usually Turned Out To Be Not So Important. They found it funny. TJ might be offended if it weren't for the fact he had listened to them spout of conspiracy theories more times than he could count.

"Go on," Andi prompted. 

"Okay, so like... I'm standing on this cliff, right? Like on the very very edge of it. And I'm staring out to sea all dramatic and shit, and then suddenly it gives way underneath me, right? And I'm falling and falling, and I look down and there's just like... nothing there."

Another pause. "...and that's it?"

"That's it. That's the dream."

"Okay, lay it out for me. How did you go from falling off a cliff to dyeing your hair red? Give me the logic. I wanna follow your train of thought here."

He takes a deep breath, trying to shake away the lightheadedness the mingling scents of cigarettes and ammonia is bringing on, then twists around to face her.

"When you're falling to your death you're supposed to reminisce about, like, all the good shit you did in your life before you fall to your death right? And for me it was a total blank. Like nothing. Like I haven't lived."

Marty groaned. "Not this again."

"What?"

"You have this same crisis like every other month. Last time you wanted to 'live your life' we got arrested for trespassing on private property."

"Well, if you had run faster-"

"Fuck you! I run faster than you, asshole. It's not my fault there were literal guard dogs-"

"Guys!" Andi interrupted before they could really get going. They both muttered half hearted apologies with a huff. Marty sighed and leaned back, stretching his legs up to rest on the edge of the bath.

"The point is," TJ resumed, knocking Marty’s foot away from his face. "The point is that I've done, like, zero important things in my life. And we're adults now, y'know? I can't just bum around doing nothing forever. I wanna do something that matters."

Andi rolled her eyes. "'Adult' is a strong word for a guy who just this week learned what fabric softener is."

"I never claimed to be Martha Stewart."

Marty laughed. "You're criminal enough to be."

"Okay but," Andi said, before another bickering match could spark up. "The real point is... we're only in our twenties. Pretty sure we're not meant to have everything figured out yet, right? I mean, we haven't even graduated yet."

TJ and Marty both hissed.

"The G word is also banned, remember?"

Andi made a face, but didn't press the point. She hated thinking about the future just as much as the guys did. None of them knew what they wanted to do. They spent all their time in sleazy bars moshing to terrible local bands, getting drunk in a moulding tub and watching Andi paint in the student studios. TJ couldn't imagine any of them with nine-to-five jobs, commuting or working for some big evil corporation. He said as much.

"It's two thousand and five," Marty complained in response. "We should totally have robots to do all the boring jobs by now."

TJ agreed. How could humanity not yet be at the point where they had hover boards and flying cars? They had the internet for crying out loud. The possibilities were endless.

"So what're you gonna do?" Andi asked. “How are you, TJ Kippen, going to change the world?

TJ pondered this for a moment. 

"I'm gonna start a band."

*

Sometimes Cyrus seriously hated his friends.

Not in an actual 'I wish I didn't know you' way but in an 'oh man, you suck so hard right now' kind of way. Tonight was one of those times. He would never say that to them, of course, he had no desire to hurt anybody’s feelings, but a little mental cursing never hurt anyone.

He shivered and pulled his jacket tighter around himself. Rain smattered down on the concrete around him. Water seeped through the canvas of his sneakers, soaking his socks and mood both at once. He was cold, wet and fed up. Buffy had asked him to meet her here, outside some dingy rock club filled with scary kids wearing studs and too much makeup, but she was nowhere to be found. She had answered her phone when he called, but the line mostly crackled and all he got was a muffled "-inside" from here.

Whatever. It was fine. It was totally cool that he was stuck out here being eyed by suspicious punks in leather jackets and scary scene kids with scary scene hair. It was great. He could totally cope with the fact that the bouncer wouldn't let him in because he forgot his I.D. and apparently he looked like he was twelve years old. Totally, totally fine. Really, it couldn’t get any worse.

It was as if the universe had heard this very thought and decided to have the last laugh. A large truck roared down the street, sending a fresh wave of freezing water over his legs and shoes. 

Screw this. He was going home.

He hadn't even wanted to come out in the first place. He should be back in his nice cosy dorm room, preferably doing the lit assignment he had due in on Monday, maybe wrapped in a blanket. Two blankets, even. Yeah, his dorm sounded pretty great right now, even if he did have the roommate from hell. Fate had other plans, though. Right as he made the decision to head back, he heard his name being called. Turning, he saw Buffy waving frantically from the door. Huffing to himself, he turned back again and headed to meet her.

"He's with me," Buffy said with a smile to the bouncer. The guy looked doubtful as Cyrus slipped passed, but he didn't question it again. 

"The reception is really bad in here," Buffy said apologetically, pulling him into a sideways hug. "But you found the place okay, right? I mean you're here, so that's good. I didn't think you'd come. I’m glad you did.”

She seemed unusually antsy, and he suspected she was a little nervous about introducing him to her friends. He would be nervous too if he was her, he knew he wasn’t much, especially to a group of cool and interesting people. He decided it was best not to tell her that he almost didn't come. He had been perfectly ready to stay in his dorm all night, even though it was a Friday night and he had little to no social life at the current moment in time with all the work his professors had been throwing at him. Except, Roommate-From-Hell-Reed had come banging into the room, all but yelling into his cellphone to some girl. Cyrus had been able to stand it for about ten minutes, and then he got tired of hearing the word "baby". A night at some dive being shoved around by sweaty drunks wasn't much of an improvement, but at least he didn't have to listen to Reed's obnoxious flirting. 

"It's good you came," Buffy continued. "You don’t get out enough. I think you'll like the band too, and they're friends with Andi and Marty. They’re pretty good - I mean, TJ is a little obnoxious, but they’ve already got a big following on MySpace, and they’re close to getting a deal with Cranked...” Cyrus let her pull him through the crowd, nodding in all the right places but struggling to keep up. Who was TJ? Cranked? What was that? He felt like she was speaking another language. “

They've even got some songs recorded now... did you know Gus- you know Gus Knight? He works at the dining hall. Apparently he’s local and has this whole studio set up in his mom’s basement. He has all the equipment and everything. It's crazy.”

"Crazy," Cyrus agreed, narrowly avoiding getting elbowed by a teary girl gesturing wildly at a boy that looked too out of it to be taking in what she said. The whole arena smelled like puked. He prayed that none got on him. "So when are these Cranked guys meant to go on?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Cranked is a record label, Cy. The band’s called Conduit For Gods.”

The problem was not that Cyrus wasn’t into music. He liked music. He thought it was fun, especially if you could sing bad karaoke to it, and who didn't like to listen to their iPod on the bus? But Buffy's friends' world seemed to revolve around music, more specifically punk music, and the whole scene that came with it. He had accepted a few of their invitations to hang out just to be polite, but most of them involved parties and shows. Parties and shows meant drinking and coming home with wild stories. Cyrus wasn’t a wild stories kind of guy.

As a kid, he had really wanted to be a wild stories kind of guy. He’d longed to be one of the popular kids who knew how to make friends with everybody, who was never bored on a Friday night and wasn’t totally invisible. He had never succeeded in becoming that kind of guy. Even at college, where he'd figured it would be easy. All the television shows and magazines had made it seem like that was what you were meant to do in college - party and drink. Become your own person. Become interesting. 

What he'd learned from actually being in college? He didn't like to party and drink. He had no problem with other people doing it, obviously, but he'd rather he was far away from them while they did. Drunk people had a habit of throwing up on him, and in crowds like this Cyrus had lost his shoe more than once. They might be drenched in grimy rainwater, but tonight he felt like keeping his shoes firmly on his feet. Preferably not covered in somebody's dinner. The other thing he’d learned was that he didn’t really vibe with the whole alternative music scene... or it didn’t vibe with him. He liked things neat and non-violent. In his experience, college-aged punks liked things sweaty and aggressive. Sometimes with a hint of insane thrown in. It’s not like it scared him or anything, he just didn’t want to die in a mosh pit.

“They’re on at ten. You want me to grab you a drink? I got us a table - I know you don’t like being in the crowd.”

He gave her a grateful smile, forgiving and forgetting the last half an hour in one fell swoop. Buffy was a really good friend not just sometimes, but all the time, even if she did make him hang out with scary people that wore studs and eyeliner. She always respected his boundaries.

As she disappeared towards the bar, he meandered his way over to the table she’d pointed out to him. There were a couple of bags and jackets strewn across the booth’s seats, but no people present. Scanning the crowd, he managed to spot Marty and Andi stood off to the side with a couple of other people. Andi caught his eye and waved him over, but he shook his head. She rolled her eyes, but smiled and sent him a thumbs up anyway. He smiled back.

Andi was a nice girl. A cool girl. She wore her hair cropped short and spiky, had a leather jacket with her name painted artfully across the back and her skin was constantly smudged with paint or coal or glue from her art projects. She’d known Buffy forever, and Cyrus was still surprised someone as cool as her was willing to hang out with a loser like him. It was the same with Buffy, honestly. He was always one step behind the laughter and she was the one making people laugh. Once, he’d made the mistake of voicing these thoughts out loud and Buffy had smacked him over the head with a copy of Rolling Stone, telling him he was being stupid and that he was cool. He knew she was lying, but he appreciated the lie anyway. 

A figure loomed over him and he turned.

“That was quick,” he started to say, but the words died on his lips. It wasn’t Buffy.

“Um, hi,” Said the most beautiful boy in the history of all existence.

Bright red hair. Green eyes ringed in black. Torn up denim jacket over plaid over faded t-shirt. Cyrus mentally catalogued all of these things and tried to unstick his tongue from where it seemed to be stuck to the roof of his mouth. He wasn’t sure what to do. How did English work again? What were words?

In the end, he stuck one awkward hand out before he could stop himself and stuttered out a greeted. The guy took it with a warm smile and shook. 

“I’m Cyrus,” Cyrus finally managed to say.

Understanding dawned on the guy’s face. “Oh, you’re Buffy’s friend. That’s cool. I’m TJ, Marty’s roommate,” he jerked a thumb back towards the crowd. Much to Cyrus’ horror, he realised Andi and Marty were watching them with interest. He dropped TJ’s hand quickly. “I was just grabbing the keys to the van, could you pass me that bag?”

Cyrus did as asked, expecting TJ to take it and flee from the obviously crazy person who had just shaken his hand like they were at some sort of business meeting instead of a nightclub, but he didn’t move from where he was standing. Instead, he rummaged through the bag for a second and then withdraw a set of car keys and dumped it back on the table. Turning, he signalled to one of the guys in the crowd and launched the keys through the crowd. 

“So are you sticking around after the show?” TJ said, turning back to Cyrus with a curious smile. 

No. Cyrus was going to go home and shower at least twice then snuggle up in bed and get a good night’s sleep where nobody could accidentally spill a suspicious substance on his nice clean pants.

“Yeah, I think so,” is what came out of Cyrus’ mouth.

“Awesome,” TJ grinned, the thousand-watt smile disarming Cyrus once again. “Well, I gotta scoot, ‘cause it’s my band…”

“Oh! You’re in Condu-whatsit?”

“Conduit For Gods,” he laughed. “Yeah, I’m the singer.”

Oh great, a cute guy in a band. Just what Cyrus needed to make this interaction less intimidating.

“Break a leg?” He offered.

He didn’t know if he was imagining it or not (probably) but TJ looked a little reluctant to go, but after a moment he flashed him another smile and departed. Cyrus resisted the urge to bang his head on the table and berated himself for not being able to hold a conversation like a normal person. Oh man, he had made himself look like a total idiot. Luckily, Buffy returned not long after, and he drowned his sorrows in his drink. 

*

“Okay, not to be dramatic but we have to play the best show we’ve ever played tonight,” TJ said, speeding over to Jonah behind the stage.

Jonah looked up from tuning his guitar in surprise. “I thought the label weren’t seeing us ‘til next week?”

“It’s not a rep,” he shook his head and sighed as dramatically as he could manage. “I just met the most amazing guy I’ve ever seen and I’m pretty sure we’re soulmates, so we have to impress him, okay?”

“Soulmates, huh?” Jonah grinned. “Do you even know this guy’s name?”

“Cyrus.”

“Cyrus? As in Buffy’s Cyrus?”

“That’s the one.”

“Okay, man. If you say so.”

The stage fright seemed twice as intense as usual as TJ clicked the microphone on. Through the glare of the lights and the packed room he could barely make out the table tucked away in the corner where Cyrus was sat. The crowd roared back as he greeted them, and it felt like the entire room exploded into life as the boys launched into the first song. For the first time ever, TJ worried less about cracking a rib as he surfed across the top of the crowd and more about how exactly he was going to ask Cyrus for his number without sounding weird. 

But by the time the show was over and TJ was drenched in his own sweat while blood dripped down from his nose from where someone had accidentally hit him in the face during the last song, Cyrus was nowhere to be found, and the question of the phone number became obsolete. 

[moondustaeil]

secret taste, jjh

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ ⋅ secret taste

⠀  ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀  chapter 2

⠀ about  

⋅  genre : non-idol au. mainly romance + smut (additionally : fluff , angst)

⋅  characters : Jung Jaehyun x reader (other nct members)

⋅  word of warning : a whole bunch of sexual themes , cursing , idk

⋅  word count : 2.4k

⠀ ⠀

⠀ summary

⋅  to provide creative content on a YouTube channel, Jung Jaehyun and y/n are invited together with a bunch of other strangers to test out objects. Unlike the useless gadgets you can buy on the home-shopping channel, they are given the opportunity to test out the most sensual lifestyle products together.

⠀ previous

⋅ ⠀ Intro , chapter 1 

“I can’t believe they gave us the wrong hour,” You said in disbelief as you and Jaehyun walked further away from the filming set. 

Jaehyun let out a scoff when he thought about everything that he could have been doing if only he had received the right hour to show up. “It’s as if they did it on purpose. As if we don’t have other things to do”  he said, by the words he said you could conclude that the two of you were starting to think the same way about the so-called opportunity.

“Let’s just get something to drink instead, by the time we’d get home now, it’s time to leave again” You suggested as you kept the actual time you had to be there in mind, your eyes wandering to Jaehyun to check if he was okay with it, and as you already expected him to, he agreed.

The building’s cafeteria was ignored by you both, just heading out the building to get drinks somewhere else. A little bit too much of the unexpected had happened in the past week for you and Jaehyun to be in that building when you didn’t have to be there.

“Do you know what we’re filming today?” Jaehyun questioned as you two walked through the street, waiting until a random little cafe or coffee shop would pop up just like that. He eyed you for a couple of seconds as he awaited your answer. “Nope, do we ever know?” You said, knowing the answer already, your shoulders shrugged as if you were done caring about it anyway.

The small talk you two had was the longest conversation you had in the short week that you had known each other, though even in that week you had only seen each other three times only. Those three times were probably too awkward for either of you to get used to each other and the partnership.

Before you could talk another step, Jaehyun pulled you with him to the right, into a small coffee shop that you hadn’t even noticed. He was the one to go inside first, but made sure to keep the door open for you and close it behind you as well, at least being half the gentleman society requested him to be.

The two of you walked to a small table, wanting to have a seat first before you would go and order. “Do you already know what you want?” you asked, without the menu already deciding what kind of drink you wanted. Jaehyun hummed, nodding as soon as you looked up at him. “I always order the same, even though I always claim I want something else. Call me boring”

“I’ll go and order” He said and listened to what you wanted before disappearing to go to the counter, your eyes never leaving the sight of him. He was looking so good and yet simple: dressed in black clothes and his black hair making the dark look complete. His body to die for even if you only saw the back now. As good as his body looked in those clothes, his smile and eyes were always the most impressive thing about him.

Even though you had been looking at him the entire time, you hadn’t noticed how Jaehyun came back, both of your drinks in his hands. “Staring at someone? Hm” you heard, making you snap out of your little daydream.

By the tone, you could hear how he was smiling even if you weren’t looking at him. “Nah, not really, no one interesting,” you said, telling yourself and Jaehyun a little lie to stop your cheeks from changing into a rosier color.

“Luckily, wouldn’t want you to stare the entire time” He said back, you didn’t reply anymore, pretending you were too busy sipping from your drink. He didn’t have to know how embarrassed you were, and surely not how you had been staring at him instead of another person in the coffee shop

There fell a short silence between the two of you, at least being less awkward than last time you saw each other. You still remembered how weird it felt to take a kinky BDSM test right beside him, you were glad that moment wasn’t mentioned today or not yet at least. 

Jaehyun cleared his throat “so what do you do in your life?” he asked curiously, wanting to share some more personal details now that you two had time to spend alone instead of in front of the cameras. “I’m in college and I got asked to do this as like something to earn some money” you said, shrugging your shoulders as the accomplishment list in your life wasn’t that superior yet. “You?”

“That’s cool. I actually don’t do anything, or not yet at least. I wanted to start up something with my friends, but the music industry is hard to get into” He admitted, his dream of being a singer probably would always stay but he didn’t know if he was ready for the failure that came along with it. “I’ll start looking for a different job though, maybe something with kids, or translator, I don’t really know” he said, sighing softly as if he didn’t feel sure about what he was telling. 

“You still have time, you’re still young,” You said, smiling to cheer him up a bit more, you weren’t sure if he was actually feeling bad about it. But you felt bad to see him being scared to achieve his dream and instead forced to do something else. 

He nodded at your words, and couldn’t help but smile right back at you when you flashed him a smile. “True, at least I didn’t become a teen dad like I always wished I would be. I mean, I surely wouldn’t have a chance to sing” he said, his voice a bit softer as he admitted the thing he had always dreamed of. As much as the words shocked you, your smile grew even bigger. It was the cutest thing you had heard, it meant that he loved kids and probably loved the thought of having his own little family. “You can still be a young dad,” you said, which only made him nod.

The two of you continued to talk about some other things in your lives or just random things. Your studies, his dreams of being a singer, how the two of you had ended up in the YouTube show, some other personal details like where you lived and if you had significant others. 

Time seemed to go fast as the two of you talked, it was like meeting a stranger who was a friend at the same time. But it had been nice, comfortable and something you’d surely want to do again whenever you had time. With that another promise came to do this at least twice a month, to just be able to catch up and form a bond as the two of you were partners on the channel after all.

It almost looked like he was let down when it was time to leave again, filming wasn’t as fun as spending time just with the two of you.

Once the two of you were at the filming studio, you two immediately could head to the set and sit down. Maybe it was because you two were barely four minutes later than when you were supposed to be back, but on the walk back you two just shared some more good conversations and laughter which made it take longer.

As the two of you sat on the usual chairs and looked at the camera, the staff showed you a forced smile, clearly a little bit annoyed by the late arrival you two made. There were still couples that had to film after you. “So for today we are going to do a challenge involving your heartbeat, we will be trying different things to see what gives the most reaction. We will be having five rounds, the couple who have the lowest heartbeats in total will be able to go on a weekend trip together. Results will be announced later” She explained, loud enough for it to be heard by the microphones as well.

You and Jaehyun just nodded, not sure what to expect but in real variety shows, it usually was things like just acting cute to each other and then see who had the highest heartbeat. Though hearing how it was some sort of competition against the other couples, it made things more fun and challenging to win.

“First round: acting cute” 

She announced before she sat down, meaning that it was time for you and Jaehyun to start the challenge. It was you who had to go first this time.

You looked at Jaehyun and thought about all the different kinds of aegyo you had seen before. Most of them were cringy, embarrassing for the people who did it but even for those who had to watch it. It took a few seconds before you had decided what you wanted to do. You crossed your arms over your chest, a pout taking over your lips. “I don’t like this!” you said, your tone childish and sad. In your mind, it would keep his heartbeat low, because why would he melt over something that was sad and surely not cute at all.

Jaehyun’s heartbeat that was displayed on a screen behind the camera, didn’t change that much at all. The 86 beats only making it as far as 88, before lowering again which meant you had done a good job in not being cute but a bad job in trying to get Jaehyun to like you more. 

After your turn, Jaehyun’s turn was there. As simple as it was, it made your heart beat a little bit faster when he shot you a smile and poked his dimple in a cute way. Rather than cute, it was heartwarming for some reason. Your heart went from 90 to an unsteady number of 95, just enough to stay in the limit of not being too high.

“The next round is, confessing to each other” 

The words left you perplexed, how were you supposed to confess to someone you barely knew, and what were you supposed to confess? Love, friendship, your darkest secrets? You had no idea but apparently, Jaehyun made up his mind as he turned his chair towards you to start.

“Here we go” Jaehyun started and pretended to look nervous or maybe he genuinely was nervous, you couldn’t tell yet. “I really like you y/n, you make me smile all the time with everything you say and do.”

The words were short, yet you felt a sudden rush go through your heart, you didn’t know if it stood still for a few seconds or if the beat was speeding up at a fast pace. The unsteady number suddenly consisted of three numbers instead of two. Of course, such a confession made your heart beat faster, everyone would have the same reaction when Jaehyun would be right in front of them, confessing his love.

Jaehyun looked at you with expecting eyes when his turn was over, knowing now you had to do the same back to him, probably without as much reaction as you gave him. “Okay, I’ll start” you announced and got a little bit closer to him.

“I’ve been wanting to tell you this, ever since we met, I feel as if you’re special. You make me feel things I didn’t know existed. And, I guess I want to say that, I like you” You said, a soft sigh leaving your lips but it was luckily inaudible. Through your words, you kept on remembering how you felt when the two of you got coffee just a bit ago.

The heartbeat of the boy next to you went higher as well, and even though that meant that the challenge wasn’t going as expected, it was a good sign to you. A sign that he liked you, if it wasn’t in a romantic way then it surely was in a friendly way. Or he was just easy to convince and flirt with, but you guessed that wasn’t the case. 

“Last round, you’re allowed to touch. No lower than shoulders”

The announcement made you and Jaehyun share looks for a couple of seconds, maybe silence communicating whether you two wanted to win this challenge or not. Or maybe a silent question if you were okay with being touched and touching him. When he nodded his head, you did too. Giving the confirmation that it was okay.

“Let’s do this,” you said as you scooted a little bit closer to Jaehyun, giving him a small and nervous smile before you started. You placed your hand on his upper arm and gently ran your thumb over the skin, it probably was more soothing than sexy but essentially you weren’t here to lose. Your hand slowly ran up until it was on his shoulder, which gave you access to run your fingers over his collarbones.

You no longer looked at the heartbeat meter, it would only make you more nervous about this all. As a sign that you had ended your turn, you sat back and motioned to Jaehyun that it was his turn to take action now.

Without a word, he got closer to you and brought his hand up to your face. His left hand more towards your hair and moved a little strand away from your face, almost like a scene you would see or read in everything related to teen romance. Teen romance or not, the feelings seemed real and genuine from his side, especially when he leaned in a bit closer and pressed his lips to the side of your head. 

Though the touching came to an abrupt ending when the producer said that you ran out of time to continue filming the video. As weird as it had been, you also thought the ending could have been more fitting to the theme of the video. But they told you to do the ending just like that. As any YouTuber would do, the two of you ended it with the words to give it a like and subscribe to the channel before the filming ended.

“Good acting” Jaehyun said to you and gave you a hug, the conflicted feelings of the actions and words made you confused but you returned the hug. You were already happy that the two of you managed to start a little friendship. “You too” you said as you pulled back from the hug.

Once the two of you had grabbed your belongings, you left again. Both like usually parting your ways at the parking, though this time a little bit of talking had happened beforehand.

[mickmarstookmyheart]

Life's a Sick Joke pt 4

Pairing: Mick Mars x Reader

Want to start from the beginning? Here is  Part 1!

Sidenote: As this story is under construction, I would like to warn you that those chapters which don’t have a proper title are written in the main caharcter’s POV!! Be aware!!! Be awaaare! I hope you will enjoy this storyas I did writing it, have a nice day and feel free to leave marks!

4. “Truth or dare?”

Summary: the photoshoot, a bar and some fluff

"So what do you think?" You asked Doc and the designers about your photo settings, showing them your sketchbook.

"Pretty good. Well done, kid." Doc smiled, patted your back, and left you with the others. "Your drawings are brilliant. Even if they are just drafts." Amanda said still amazed by your drawings.

"I don't think they are good. Let's call them acceptable and easily recognizable. They describe them more precise...." You didn't have the chance to finish your sentence due to the boys entered the studio.

"Well hello Everyone. Let's fucking do this shoot, alright?" Vince yelled and you could see that the make-up artists managed to fade the bruise. They were all dressed up into their concert outfits. Vince's upper body was slightly covered but they all had strings attached to their clothes. Mick was wearing a blue one and he and Vince were wearing a black bandana with a pentagram on it. It looked badass. You walked over to your bag and put the sketchbook into it when Mick approached you.

"Good morni.. goddamn. Did you slept at least an hour last night?" He asked you cupping your face with his hands.

"Why?" You pulled away and continued packing your bag, and set your camera.

"Cause you have as black bags under your eyes as black is my hair." He murmured following you everywhere you went like a puppy.

"I know. And I hoped no one will remember me." But thanks for your honesty." You snapped. He was about to go away when you stopped him. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be this asshole, I'm just really tired and stressed. Anyway, you all look pretty fearless. And your make up, too."

"I think it's a bit much...but thank you."

"ATTENTION, everyone! Please listen to me! Okay, so we are starting the shooting now!" Doc declared. Your heart was pounding heavily and your stomach did a backflip. You rubbed your sweaty hands into your pants and walked over to the rest of the boys along with Mick.

"Hello, Mrs. Sixx." Nikki smirked but you just rolled my eyes.

"Hello, Nikki." You murmured, flipping through the pages in your notebook.

"Hi, daughter of Alice Cooper." Tommy snickered and started drumming on your head with his sticks.

"I told you I'm not... nevermind. Hello to all of you. So let me tell my ideas and all the settings I made up last night. And I beg you don't irritate me because I'm not in a good mood."

"When you are not moody?" Vince spoke up. You just glanced at him but didn't tell a thing. You explained to them where to stand and the crew set the lights. Now it was your and the boys' turn. Firstly, you did the photos you wanted to take and then let them do whatever they wanted.

"Oh okay, then." You laughed your butt off picturing them. They were all acted goofy and there is one thing. You have never thought that Mick was capable of doing these faces. He looked like the Dark Lord himself. Someone also put the new album on in the background to set the mood and 'Shout at the Devil' was on. "Okay, guys. What about a photo when you shout at the Devil? In this case, I will be the Devil."

"That will be easy to imagine," Vince screamed through the music. Mick just gave him a look, and if that looks could kill. Vince would be a dead, dead dead man.

"Okay, so three, two, and one!" You clicked the last photo and sighed. "Thank you boys, I think we are ready!" Everyone was clapping so you covered your face with my camera in shyness. Mick had a proud smile on and Vince just mumbled something under his nose. Tommy jumped in front of you and lift you up in the air and spun you around. You were giggling and hugged him.

"You were perfect, babe."

"Thank you, Tommy. I appreciate it, really." You ran your finger through your hair smiling, though still shaking from the adrenaline.

"I hope you are proud of yourself." Mick stood beside you and you can't help but smile at him.

"Nah, it was not a big deal." Mick chuckled and looked at you with disbelief in his eyes. "Okay. It was a fucking BIG deal."

"How will we celebrate that?" Nikki asked with big eyes, ready to party.

"There is a strip club nearby." Tommy offered. Your eyes got big and to be honest you didn't really felt the urge to watch naked women. Mick saw the concern in your eyes.

"Really, drummer?" He asked crossing his arms and gesturing towards you. You didn't want to look like a pussy. You won't have any problems with doing it once.

"Let's go." You agreed with Lee and all the three of them looked shocked by the answer. "What? Aren't girls allowed to go to a place like that?" You put your hands on your hips and put your camera to its place.

"I was kidding but if you are willing to, then come on." Tommy laughed and headed to the changing room. Nikki also followed him snickering.

"Are you sure?" Mick asked when you were alone again.

"Yap." You said not looking at him. Luckily, he didn't know you so long to notice whether you are lying or not.

"Then see you in 10 minutes. I have to get rid of this makeup." He stepped closer and placed his hands on your waist and leaned close to your ear. "You were amazing." He whispered to you. He must've seen your reaction cause he placed a little tender kiss on your crimson red cheeks. Your eyes got bigger and your mouth dropped. Before you could say something he left you there and headed towards the changing rooms.

                ∆

"Are you completely sure you wanna go inside?" All the boys had already gone in, even Vince came with you. You were standing in front of the club and were about to enter the building. You were a bit worried but you comforted yourself with that 'I won't see anything I haven't seen before.'

"Yeah. Let's go." You nodded and Mick placed his arm on your shoulder and pulled closer to him. The air was heavy and damp from the alcohol and cigarettes. The music was pretty good and you liked the decoration and all. Chics were dancing to the music and after scaring a man the boys found an empty table. You sat beside Mick and in front of Vince. He looked at you concerned for a minute and then put his resting bitch face on. A girl approached your table and put some drinks on it. You tried to look away but you noticed from the corner of your eyes that all of them were watching at her. Even Mick, but who could blame him? He is a man after all. Everyone grabbed a drink and leaned back in the chairs.

"To our new photographer chic!" Tommy held his drink in the air and then drank all of it.

"To the tour!" Nikki, Mick, and you said at the same time before consuming the drinks.

"To me!" Vince finished and got up from the table. "If you excuse me, I will find a better company. Someone who respects me."

"He will do this the whole time?" You asked glancing at Vince, who went to some chicks.

"Don't worry. He needs some time to process that he was rejected by a hot girl." Tommy said.

"Hey guys, what about if we play something?" Nikki came up with the idea to change the mood, which scared you a bit.

                                 ∆

"Truth or dare?" Nikki was asking you since the bottle's end pointed at you.

"Truth." You sighed fearing the question he would ask.

"Ahh, that's boring." He pouted and drinking a shot.

"You asked." You crossed your arms staring at him.

"Alrighty, so are you a....virgin?" He leaned closer and narrowed his eyes smirking. After a big pause, you answered.

"Nope, I'm a Capricorn." You said in a serious tone. First, they seemed thinking and you were worried if it was funny at all. Seconds later they burst into laughter.

"No, I mean it!" Nikki was gazing you with a devilish grin and still laughing.

"Still a no." You told him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. How the fuck it even crossed his mind, that at the age of 27 you were still a virgin?!

"I hoped so." He took a sip from his drink his eyes never leaving yours.

"T-Bone, your turn!" You yelled after spinning the bottle.

"Elizabeth, I dare you tooo.." He started.

"Hey, that's not how it works! No cheating!" You were totally messed up. You felt that you drank too much, though you hadn't been this relaxed for a very long time.

"...to kiss Nikki!" He finished his sentence after thinking for a minute.

"What?" Nikki and you gasped, staring at the drummer. He was quite proud of himself thinking of this order. You raised one of your eyebrows and glanced at Nikki then Mick.

"You heard me!" Tommy chuckled before drinking. Looking at Mick was useless since you couldn't see his eyes from that stupid aviators. The only advantage of that this makes him sexier. Wait, what did you just say?

"So, Mrs. Sixx you don't want a kiss?" Nikki came closer.

"You know what happens if someone tries to kiss me ignoring my will, right?" You also leaned closer and whispered in his ears making him frightened. He immediately pulled away.

"Alright. I will stay back. I am afraid of you, now."

                                  ∆

"Sniff it!" Nikki put some lines on your table and since you stupidly chose dare...

"I won't." You felt Mick relax beside you.

"I hoped so. Good girl. I told you she is not like you, idiots." Mick put his hand on your thighs which made you relaxed and tensed at the same time. You drank too much, you felt quite dizzy both from the alcohol and the loud music.

"I'm not gonna do that because I'm a good girl and I don't want to." You murmured.

"Then why?" Nikki asked before sniffing a line instead of you.

"Because I'm fucking allergic to it! So please..." You couldn't finish your sentence cause they started laughing so hard everyone was looking at you. "I'm serious. And it's not funny." You huffed and crossed your arms.

"Is it an existing thing at all?" Nikki asked trying to catch his breath. Mick just only chuckled but didn't laugh at you. He was gazing at you. The alcohol and the place had an effect on him, too.

"So how do you know?" Mick asked Tommy and Nikki stopped laughing to pay full attention. Drama seekers. You hummed but started to tell this beautiful story of yours.

"Well, in the first year of uni there was a party...and we were also playing truth or dare..and well I had to do it such as Nikki told me to. And I did it and they told me that I lost consciousness and my nose was bleeding. I woke up in the hospital the next morning and the doctor told me that I almost died." When you finished your story they were all staring at you in shock.

"I'm glad you didn't!" Tommy smiled and cleaned the table with his arm. Nikki just yelled at him for ruining his drugs.

"Fun fact: after I felt better and left the hospital I had to go to jail for 3 days." You said proudly which surprised you a bit. You never really told it to anyone since you weren't proud of it for obvious reasons.

"No way, man. You sit in jail? So (Y/N), when we will have our wedding?" He was smirking at you, playing with one of the cups.

"Not now. We have to go on the tour, remember?"

After playing several turns, going through many embarrassing situations, and Mick drinking more than one and a half bottles of vodka, he joined.

"I dare you to give us a dance!" Tommy grinned gesturing towards a pole beside your table.

"Wtf dude." You yelled at him. Only a few girls were on stage, Vince must've been with the rest.

"Come on (Y/N), you already rejected several times and now it's not a question," Nikki added not really helping your situation. You looked at Mick who simply patted your thighs and smirked. "Give us a dance, (Y/N)."

"You, too? Oh, Mick noo." He gave you a look which scared the shit out of you so you agreed.

"Fine." They all had a devilish grin on their faces and Tommy yelled.

"Hey DJ or whoever is doing the music put on the...you can pick the music, Cooper."

"Take me to the Top. AND I'm not gonna strip down!" You declared loudly, making them understand.

"Pity but okay." You went to one of the poles and after a few tries, you managed to climb beside it. When the music started you grabbed the pole but hesitated at first. The awful quantity of drinks and the music helped you get through this. When Mick's solo was on you squatted down and stand back really slowly. They also came closer and you heard Vince whistle.

"You give them a fucking dance and you can't even kiss me back? "You just showed your middle finger and heard the boys yelling and clapping. Sometimes you went closer to Mick, Nikki, and Tommy and gave them a look or teased them. You continued dancing and didn't even realize the song ended. You bent over dramatically and thanked them. Tommy hugged your waist and helped you got off the stage.

"What about if we skip the wedding and start with the honeymoon, Mrs?" Nikki murmured in your ears. Mick was completely out of his mind. He wanted to kick Nikki in the balls so badly, but he didn't do it.

"You would like it, huh?" You gave him a smirk and glancing at Tommy.

"That was fantastic! I might be a little jealous of Mick." Tommy smirked and bowed his head in the direction of the guitarists.

"What, why?" Nikki inquired with a ton of questions in his eyes.

"Cause they are together, you idiot." Tommy helped his brother out and pulling Nikki in a sideways hug, looking at Mick and then at you. You gulped and looked at Mick. He was just casually standing there, not reacting a thing. His eyes wandered at you from head-to-toe and vice versa. He put his hands in his pockets and left you.

"Nice job, Tommy." You huffed and sat back to your table.

"Why?" He asked not understanding your reaction.

"Why do you think we are even together?"

"I have eyes, Cooper. I'm a hopeless romantic so I can see the way he looks at you and your reaction whenever he is nearby. And well, this little dance of yours...was not helpful to hide his...you know what I'm talking about." He said before lighting a cigarette and closing his eyes.

"You are a genius, T-Bone. Aren't you a philosopher or something?" Nikki asked with wide eyes.

"Are you sure, Tommy?" You asked him cause you weren't really sure in your own feelings, not even Mick's.

"Totally."

                ∆

"Hello, there." Mick was sitting on his motorbike, smoking a cigarette. You touched his shoulder but he moved away.

"Please don't touch me."

"Why?" You were thinking of what Tommy had said and you weren't expecting this reaction from him.

"Cause I can't be near you...without touching you. And you touch me doesn't really help." He looked into your eyes and you were sure he saw your soul. You couldn't really find the words. You walked over to him and stopped inches away from his face. "What are you doing?" Mick asked. You thought if you act like him, maybe you would understand him. You put your hand into one of the pockets of his jacket. You just simply took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it and you moved away from him. "Please, don't go away."

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. By the way, I can't really understand you. Once you say you can't be near me and then you say not to go away." You sat on one of the boys' bikes while you blew out a cloud of smoke. You couldn't recall when was the last time you smoked but it sure was a long time ago. "So? Are we gonna just stare at each other while we got lung cancer?"

"What are you expecting me to say?"

"To be honest, anything. I don't know a thing about you, apart from that you love to play the guitar and drink vodka. Tell me YOUR story, this time."

"Well, my name is Mick Mars and I am the guitarist in the band Mötley Crüe..." He started if he were in an interview. You rolled your eyes, not believing he acted like this.

"You gotta be kidding me. I can't believe you." You chuckled and rub your hand on my arm. After being in the hot club it was freezing outside, particularly in a tank top.

"Here, take my jacket." Mick was so messed up, not understanding his own decisions and the things he said. He felt guilty for treating you like this, but he had to be away from you. He made his mind last night that he didn't want to attach to you emotionally, cause he didn't want to ruin your life.

"Even Nikki has better lines." You huffed, hugging yourself tighter.

"Oh come on, I mean it. Don't be primitive! I don't want you to be ill on the tour already in the begging." He took off his jacket, stepped beside you, and helped you take on the coat. It felt warm, although it was a bit lose on you. You glanced at him and smiled.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank. Can I sit..?" You bowed your head and patted the motorbike. He sat down really slowly, making noises.

"You know, you make weird noises while sitting down." You stated.

"I'm old. Don't be like me." He lied to you, not being ready to tell you his story. 

"If you say so." You couldn't believe he has pain due to his age. Cause he has pain. You sat closer to him and placed your head on his shoulder. You felt him tense a bit, but after a while, he took your hands into his.

"Dear Satan, your hands are like ice." He put it closer to his mouth and blew it with his warm breath, never leaving your eyes. It tickled a bit, but your heart melted off his softness. He placed a kiss on the top of your hand and then released it. You were disappointed, you didn't want him to finish it. You didn't want him to stop touching you. Now you understood him. You intertwined your fingers with his. They were as cold as yours.

"You are freezing, too!! And don't tell me you are not. I can feel it." You did the same with his hands what he did to yours. "What about going back? It's much warmer inside." You asked looking at the entrance.

"I don't want to. I want this moment to last forever. It's too good." He sighed, thinking it would be the most relaxing time for a long time. 

Next chapter

Tags: @cmft-jr-winchester​  @leatherandheels​

Here are some photos of the boys from the Shout at the Devil era. I own none of them of course.

[jvlesfm]

chicago’s  very  own  juliet  ‘ jules ’  alder  has  been  spotted  on  madison  avenue  driving  a  mercedes  g  wagon  ,  welcome  !  your  resemblance   to  olivia  o’brien  is  unreal  .  according  to  tmz  ,  you  just  had  your   twenty  first  birthday  bash  .  your  chance  of  surviving  new  york  is   uncertain  because  you’re  whimsical  ,  but  being  vivacious  might  help  you  .  i  think  being  a  pisces  explains  that  .  3  things  that  would  paint  a   better  picture  of  you  would  be  dancing  on  tables  past  last  call  ,   curious  eyes  glinting  in  the  dim lights  of  a  club  ,  secrets  and  promises  shared  beneath  silk  sheet  .  (  she  slept  with  her  ,  now  ,  manager  in  order  to  get  signed  to  an  agency  )  &  (  cisfemale  +  she/her  )

hello  frands  !  i’m  keri  (  she/her  )  and  it’s  been  a  lil  while  since  i’ve  been  in  a  group  so  excuse  my  noobness  .  but  this  quarantine  got  me  bored  in  the  house  ,  in  the  house  bored  &  tbh  i’ve  already  watched  tiger  king  twice  i  need  help  .  before  i  make  too  many  tik  tok  references  imma  get  into  jules’  intro  .  and  hopefully  keep  it  short  and  sweet  .  update  :  i  did  not  .

trigger  warning  :  mentions  of  statutory  rape  ,  underage  sex  ,  &  mild  alcoholism

alrighty  in  vague  summary  !  jules  is  your  local  meme  queen  ,  general  jokester  ,  go  with  the  flow  queen  ,  smokes  too  much  weed  and  drinks  too  much  tequila  .  she’s  a  musician  /  instagram  influencer  that  kind  of  mirrors  olivia  o’brien’s  career  cause  i’m  ORIGINAL  .  she  can  be  carefree  ,  careless  ,  effervescent  ,  a  bit  naive  /  oblivious  ,  turbulent  and  loyal  !

a  really  ridiculous  background 

trigger  warning  :  mentions  of  statutory  rape  &  underage  sex  .  daddy  was  a  greedy  older  man  that  got  tied  down  by  an  accidental  pregnancy  resulting  in  lil  miss  naughty  .  so  really  ,  he’s  always  been  rather  resentful  towards  jules  and  in  turn  she  resented  him  but  that  was  only  the  tip  of  the  iceberg  .  the  alder  business  company  came  into  some  financial  trouble  and  was  in  desperate  need  of  investors  ...  leading  him  to  finally  take  an  interest  in  his  daughter  and  to  keep  it  to  the  point  ,  he  basically  pimped  her  out  to  investors  as  a  little  extra  incentive  ya  feel  ?

jules  kind  of  just  ,  blocked  it  out  and  suppressed  that  shit  deep  ,  at  least  she  tried  to  .  rly  she  felt  used  and  a  pawn  in  her  dad’s  word  .  her  mom  was  to  caught  up  in  her  own  downward  spiral  with  a  thinly  veiled  marriage  and  self  medication  to  care  about  her  daughter  .  so  jules  became  the  queen  of  masking  her  emotions  with  humor  and  effectively  not  caring  ;  which  made  her  rather  popular  ...  popular  enough  for  n*sty  teenage  boys  to  make  her  feel  wanted  and  just  leave  when  somethin  better  comes  along  !  you  know  that  stoner  ,  burnout  ,  party  girl  that’s  in  the  ~  cool  clique  ~  that’d  be  your  girl  .

fast  forward  a  few  years  and  finally  jules  turned  18  so  now  dad  could  feel  less  guilty  about  using  her  to  further  his  company  !!  well  ,  it  kind  of  gave  jules  the  freedom  to  do  whatever  she  wanted  ?  as  long  as  she  behaved  in  the  media  ,  ya  know  ..  preformed  LSKDJFSLKD  .  she  rly  turned  to  alcohol  to  help  suppress  the  n*sty  feeling  of  been  used  ,  and  used  partying  and  clubbing  to  just  like  ...  let  it  all  go  !  this  ......  went  on  for  another  year  before  she  finally  had  enough  ,  do  i  have  a  reason  why  she  finally  came  to  her  senses  ?  nope  !

important  side  story  ...  jules  has  always  been  into  music  ,  writing  ,  composing  and  ofc  singing  .  it  has  always  been  her  outlet  and  a  way  to  vent  her  feelings  ..  not  really  about  shit  with  her  dad  and  family  but  more  what  goes  on  daily  ?  she  kind  of  wears  her  feelings  /  emotions  on  her  sleeve  in  that  sense  .  just  so  not  everything  is  ridiculously  bottled  up  LSKDJFA  ,  she  gotta  be  functioning  . 

continuing  on  !  she  ...  ran  off  to  nyc  to  pursue  music  ,  but  her  dad  was  like  hell  nah  and  cut  her  off  ...  yikes  .  so  at  19  ,  in  a  city  she  IS  NOT  FAMILIAR  WITH  ,  she  was  uh  kind  of  desperate  ,  but  as  luck  would  have  it  ,  after  her  first  week  of  suffering  she  met  a  dude  at  a  bar  ,  who  happened  to  be  a  scooter  braun  type  music  /  talent  manager  ...  idk  what  to  call  it  pls  .  anyways  ,  she  was  a  bit  wasted  and  just  poured  out  all  her  fckin  frustrations  cause  she’s  dumb  .  one  thing  lead  to  another  ,  and  the  next  morning  ...  jokingly  ,  she  floated  the  JOKE  of  sleeping  w  him  and  he’d  produce  her  record  ..  which  he  took  seriously  and  next  thing  jules  was  in  the  studio  and  singing  her  heart  out  and  uh  other  things  ,  making  some  money  as  well  as  he  introduced  her  to  the  whole  new  york  scene  .  he  just  made  her  famous  okurr  ,  tbh  she  was  so  naive  to  everything  and  so  heart  eyes  over  this  guy  ..  but  NO  SURPRISE  when  she  got  her  heart  broken  after  she  saw  him  hooking  up  w  someone  else  LDFJSLKDJ

and  time  jump  again  bc  im  rambling  ..  basically  jules  is  still  signed  with  the  company  and  he’s  still  like  her  manager  but  she’s  since  moved  on  and  kept  things  rather  professional  .  she’s  making  enough  money  to  shove  it  in  her  dad’s  face  that  she  can  thrive  on  her  own  .  but  insists  she  does  not  drink  bc  of  her  daddy  issues  !  and  uh  yeah  !

some  sad  excuses  for  wanted  connection

roomies  !  /  someone  she  caught  feelings  for  and  they  kinda  left  her  high  and  dry  /  bad  influence  /  ride  or  die  /  squad  /  frenemies  /  fwb  /  exes  /  unrequited   /  childhood  frands  /  family  frands  /  family  enemies  /  someone  who  strung  her  along  or  she  strung  along  /  idk  all  the  dramatic  angsty  things 

[xtrashmammalstefx]

Ocean Eyes (Douglas Booth x Reader SMUT!)

REQUESTED/ INSPIRED BY: @xcazzax

WARNINGS: Smut, cursing, mild trigger warning

You know sometimes it’s a good thing to have a friend who can be goofy to the point where he’s a dumbass; it just means he’s willing to do anything to put a smile on your face.

For me that friend is Kells. 

We basically grew up together. He knew me better than anyone else in the world, and honestly, I can’t picture my life without the doofus. We were each other’s first kiss (it was during a game of spin-the-bottle and frankly we didn’t want that moment to happen with anyone else) and first sexual experience (I didn’t trust anyone else with my virginity and thankfully he felt the same). 

We are as close as friends can get but nothing more. For us just being in each other's lives is enough. Especially when things get hard. 

Unfortunately, while we got to know each other physically and emotionally well we also got to know each other mentally. I helped get Kells through poverty, depression, stress, and drug use while he helped me through depression, and suicidal thoughts. We were fucked up and we bore witness to that too many times to count. 

So no matter how hard I tried to downplay my dark thoughts (because I hate worrying him when he has other stuff on his plate) I could never bullshit him.

Hence why I was on the set that fateful day.

I’d had a shit-tastic day a couple days before and that night he called me just as I was about to break down. 

“Hey Kells,” I said trying (and failing) to put on a happy voice.

“Uh oh I know that voice,” he said. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said. You know like a fucking liar. “It’s just been a real long day. I’m exhausted.”

“Uh-huh, and what makes you think I’d buy that bullshit?” Dammit, I groaned internally.

I sighed and finally broke; tears erupting from my eyes. I told him everything. How I caught my boss with his grubby hands in my tip jar and how when I confronted him he said I could always earn my tips back and proceeded to grab me by my ass. I told him how I was close to losing my apartment because the rent is a bitch and a half to pay. I told him how I was tired of everything and just wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and never wake up. 

I blubbered and he, like the beautiful man he is, swooped in to save me.

“Okay here’s what’s gonna happen ‘cause I’m fuckin’ tired of this shit,” he began. “You’re gonna come to set tomorrow.”

“I have work genius,” I said.

“Yeah you do baby girl,” he said. “With me. Fuck waitressing, and fuck that piece of shit boss who’s lucky I ain’t there to beat his ass. You’re gonna come here and help me out on set, and when the time comes you’re gonna join me in the studio and on tour. You love music don’t you?”

“More than anything in the world but Kells…”

“No buts baby girl. Oh and Imma take care of your apartment,” he added.

“Honestly Kells you don’t have t⸺.”

“Yeah I fuckin’ do!” he said. “You’re my best friend Y/N, my homie for life. I fuckin’ love you y’ know? It’s not fair that after all the times you’ve taken care of me I haven’t done the same.”

“You’ve done plenty,” I said.

“Nah. Nah baby girl I haven’t. Now let me take care of you before I send Slim, Dub, and Rook down there to kidnap your ass,” he said. “I’m booking you a flight right now and your ass better be on it.”

He booked the flight and made me swear on my momma not to go back to that shitty ass diner again. I swore I wouldn’t and I didn’t. Mostly because I wasn’t lying when I said I was tired of everything.

Two days later I’m making my way to his trailer. I got in the night before and was still pretty jet-lagged but I fucking needed my dude. 

I knocked on the trailer door and an older man answered. One I recognized from years of obsessing over eighties rock and hair metal. 

“You must be Colson’s girl,” Tommy smiled.

“Y-yeah, well sort of...um…” I said oozing fangirliness. “I’m Y/N.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m Tommy Lee,” he said stepping aside to let me in.

“I know,” I said a little too enthusiastic.

“Man she pretty much has like every record yall ever made,” Kells said from his hair and make-up chair. 

“KELLS!”

“What? You do!” he said before he stood up and scooped me up in his arms. “I missed you baby girl.”

“I missed you too,” I said squeezing him back. He then let me go and stood a couple feet away. 

“So what do you think?”

“You look…” I gave him a once over. He had on a long dark wig and makeup which made him insanely glam. “Fuckin’ hot!”

“Yeah?”

“Dude you’re me of course you are,” Tommy said.

“I promise you once this movie is released there are going to be a lot more girl wanting your dick,” I added. 

Kells laughed. “I’m not so sure about that baby girl. Pretty sure if any of us is getting the honies it’s gonna be Doug.”

“Doug?” I asked.

“He’s playing Nikki,” Kells said.

“And he’s doing a fine job of putting the real man to shame,” Tommy said just as Nikki and a younger man decked out in Motley attire entered the trailer.

“Well fuck you too Tommy,” Nikki said.

“Relax dude you know I love you more,” Tommy said kissing Nikki’s cheek. 

“Yeah yeah,” said the dark wild-haired man. “I’m Nikki by the way.”

“I know,” I said again with a little too much enthusiasm. “I’m Y/N.”

“So you’re the one he never shuts up about,” Doug said. “Funny he never mentioned how perfectly stunning you are.”

Those words with that accent were just too fucking powerful. 

“Damn Doug that even turned me on,” Kells teased. 

“It’s-uh-nice to meet you, Doug,” I said. “Loved you in ‘Worried About the Boy’ by the way.”

“Oh-um-thank you,” he said. 

“Yeah baby girl wouldn’t stop drooling over you bro,” Kells said.

“KELLS!” I snapped at him.

“Just helping a homie out,” he said.

“You were pretty stunning as Boy George I’ll give him that,” I said.

“Nowhere near as stunning as you, I’m afraid. Pretty bird,” Doug said staring at me with his insanely hypnotic ocean eyes. No lie I could hear Billie Eilish singing in my head just looking at them.

“Okay, we get it you wanna fuck. You can stop flirting now,” Kells said.

“Shut up,” I snapped at him.

From that moment everything seemed to fall into place. 

The movie was filmed over the span of a couple months or so and Kells made damn sure I was there for every moment of it. Smooth talker even convinced the director to put me in as an extra during some of the scenes. I got along well with the rest of the cast and even had to contain the fangirl in me once again when I met Iwan (hey he may have been a massive dick but Ramsay was one dick I would gladly ride all throughout Winterfell). He was sweet about it though and quickly became one of my best friends. The same with Daniel.

As for Doug well...he was a different, more interesting story. 

He made it his goal to ensure I always had company. If I were on the sidelines handling Kells’s phone or looking over new song lyrics he came up with Doug (if he could) would come and sit by me. He would talk with me and smile at me making those ocean eyes of his shine to the point where I could hardly look away. If I was in a scene he would sneak a glance at me making me sneakily throw death glares at him so he’d know if he was close to fucking up a scene. We created this balance, this...harmony I guess you can say. Everything felt right when we were together, and I could only hope he could feel it too.

Hell, I even remembered what it was truly like to smile…

“Oh my god just tell him already baby girl,” Kells said one day. We were situated at a hotel and he was due to film the scene where Tommy runs around like a maniac wearing nothing but a leopard printed thong. Which he now wore under an open robe. 

“Tell him what Kells?” 

“Why you gotta bullshit me, babe? You know you can’t so why bother?”

“Remind me why I’m still friends with you?”

“Because you love me and your beautiful god-daughter too much to ever leave us,” he said. “And because we love you too much to let you go.” He then tucked a piece of his wig behind his ear. “That’s beside the point though. You are clearly fallin’ hard for Doug and he is clearly way into you.”

“Yeah...right,” I scoffed at the idea. Doug was a great guy, and perfect...far to perfect to get mixed up in…

“Yo, don’t even do that right now baby girl,” Kells said, elbows on his knees now. 

“Do what?”

“Belittle yourself like that,” he said. “That ain’t the Y/N I know. That bad bitch would never think so low of herself or deny herself what makes her happy. So why it gotta be like that?”

I sighed. “I just...I’m trying to spare us the pain I know is coming. I want to spare us the moment when he realizes I’m crazy and decides he doesn’t want that shit in his life and leaves. Is that so horrible? For me to spare us all that?”

“Yeah, it is. ‘Cause you’re not crazy,” Kells said.

“You of all people know that isn’t true,” I said.

“You’re not fucking crazy a’ight? And Doug...he would NEVER do something that fucked up,” Kells said. “Especially to you.”

“I thought the same about my ex’s,” I muttered.

“Yeah well, I told you they were dicks from the get-go. Doug though...he’s different. He loves you.”

“He is something gorgeous I ain’t gonna lie. Especially inside…”

“You see that’s why I love the idea of you two gettin’ together. That crazy beautiful smile on your face is outta this world,” Kells said smiling at me. 

“Fine I’ll have a little chat with him soon,” I said waving the proverbial white flag as we made our way out the door.

“Promise?”

“Of course,” I said. “Do me a favor though?”

“Name it.”

“Next time you wanna have a serious talk with me how ‘bout you do it when you’re not wearing that,” I motioned at the thong. 

He laughed. “You know you love it.” He wiggled his hips while holding up the robe. 

“Careful there cowboy you’re close to having a ball slip,” I teased.

He shrugged. “Nothing you haven’t seen before.”

I rolled my eyes and followed him to where we were supposed to meet up with the rest of the cast. 

Doug greeted me first with a hug and kiss to the forehead. He held me still as I lost complete control and pecked him on the lips. He was shocked (in fact I’m pretty sure they all were) but kissed back gently. All around us the guys cheered and wolf-whistled (ten guesses as to who did the latter). 

Blushing I pulled back. “Damn that some good lipstick you have on. Shit didn’t smear at all.” 

“Who says I’m wearing lipstick? Maybe you just make my lips blush,” he said.

“Or maybe your make-up girl knows how to recognize the high-end stuff from the cheap Walgreens shit,” I laughed. 

It was like that for the rest of the day.

That night I had a hard ass time trying to sleep. I was so wired and my brain so awake and excited with thoughts of Doug. I decided maybe a walk around the hotel would help clear my head.

The guys and I had rooms on the same floor and from what I could tell they were all sound asleep. If there is a God may he watch over my angels tonight. I silently prayed as I made my way down the hall. When I reached Doug’s room though I stopped in my tracks. There were noises.

“Hey Y/N would you like to maybe accompany me to dinner sometime? No...no I sound like a twat. Y/N, my love, would you like to… No, too posh. Come on Doug you can do this. You were fucking Romeo for fuck's sake!.. ‘Sup Y/N. I was thinking maybe…” He groaned. “I sound like a bloody wanker. God this is impossible.”

I had to fight back a laugh. Like seriously I thought only high school guys in movies did this sort of thing. It was pretty sweet though I have to admit.

I knocked on the door just as he started trying another line. “Doug, you awake?”

He answered the door wearing nothing but boxers (it was a pretty hot and humid night in Georgia). “Hey-uh-what are you doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep. Mind if I hang here for a bit?”

“No, not at all,” he said stepping aside to let me in. “I was just-uh-.” He cleared off his copy of the script from the bed and sat down. “Practicing tomorrows scene.”

“Dude relax. There’s no need to be nervous around me,” I said leaning against a chest of drawers directly across from where he sat. “If anything I’m the one that should be nervous.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I know what it’s like,” I said nervously. “Watching someone you care about walk away and never come back because your issues were just too much for them.”

“I wouldn’t walk away from you,” he said. “I can’t…”

I sighed. “You know what I’m sorry. I, um, shouldn’t have unloaded all that on you,” I said. 

“No, I’m glad you did,” he said. “I love that you trust me enough to be able to talk with me about it. And I’d like it if you talked with me more.”

“Really?” My heart took off like Kells’s drums. Doug nodded looking up at me with his ocean eyes. My grandfather once told me that the sun reflects in the ocean and the ocean looks on because no one knows the sun better than he. That’s how I felt right then with Doug looking at me as though I were his sun. “Weird.”

“What?”

“We’ve only known each other for a short time and yet it feels like you’re as much a part of me as I am of you.”

Doug blushed and looked down. “You’ll always be apart of me.”

I pushed off the drawers and stepped closer to him. I placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his cheek lifting his face so he could look at me. I brushed my nose with his before connecting our lips. He kissed back wrapping an arm around me and pulling onto his lap. 

I grinded my heat against his covered length we continued to kiss and touch. Doug slowly moved his lips from my mouth to the skin of my neck. He kissed and sucked on it as his hands slid up my shirt. I pulled back and raised my arms so he could lift it off. He did and tossed it aside before bringing his lips to my breasts. 

“You’re so beautiful, love,” he said between kisses. “So beautiful.”

He hardened beneath me as I kept grinding. Eventually, after he kissed every inch of my breasts, he wrapped his arms around me, picked me up and placed me on the bed. 

He trailed kisses down my stomach until he grasped the waistband of my shorts. I lifted my hips a little and he pulled them off. He brought his mouth down to my heat sending a tingle up my spine. He kissed and sucked on me until I was practically writhing beneath him. “D-Doug I…”

My body tensed up and I released. Happy with the result he moved back up and brought his lips to mine. As we kissed I reached down and tugged at the waistband of his boxers. He knew what I wanted and helped slide them off, tossing them aside with my clothes. His length smacked my thigh, hard and thick. It made me hunger for him.

He grew nervous then. “I-uh-didn’t pack any condoms.”

“It’s okay,” I pecked him on the mouth. “I trust you.”

His body trembled as he reached down and lined himself up with my entrance. “I love you,” he muttered before pushing in. We both moaned loudly as he stretched me and filled me up.

“I love you too,” I whispered clinging to him as he gave me a moment to adjust. After a while, I gave him the okay to move. He did so gently. Thrusting as though he was afraid he would break me.

After a while, I was anything but gentle. When his thrusts picked up the pace a little the feeling was so intense I dug my nails into his back. He groaned but kept at it. My left hand then traveled downward not stopping until it grasped his perfectly round ass cheek. This caught him off guard and with a groaned he thrust right into my sweet spot.

I moaned so loud it was almost a scream and started feeling the tension build up again.

The tension grew and grew. My toes curled and I felt myself tighten around him. Suddenly it was like something inside me snapped. I moaned so loudly I hoped no one was awoken by it, as I covered Doug’s length in my juices. 

Doug’s thrusts became sloppy until with an equally loud, “FUCK! Uh, uh…” he painted the inside of me with his seed. His body trembled as he emptied himself inside me. 

Afterward, he collapsed beside me and enveloped me in his arms. 

I woke up the next morning sore and in bliss. Doug was beside me still slumbering with his arm draped over my stomach. I was about to nudge him awake when someone started knocking violently on the door.

“YO LOVEBIRDS WE’RE DUE AT THE POOL IN TEN!” Kells shouted from the other side of the door, arousing Doug from his sleep.

“GOOD FUCKING MORNING TO YOU TOO, KELLS!” I shouted back. “WAIT… HOW THE FUCK DID YOU KNOW I WAS EVEN IN HERE?!”

“YOU AND DOUG ARE LOUD AS FUCK! DO YOU KNOW THAT?!” Iwan shouted slightly annoyed. 

“IT’S LIKE TRYING TO SLEEP TO A BLOODY PORNO MATE!” Daniel chimed in.

I cringed so hard as Doug chuckled beside me.

“SORRY!” Doug and I shouted back at the same time. 

“Jinx you owe me a shag,” Doug said getting on top of me.

“That’s not how it goes babe,” I laughed.

“I know,” he said kissing my swollen lips. “Still want a shag though.”

“Maybe later when they’re not spying on us,” I said.

“LATER SOUNDS GOOD!” Kells answered for Doug.

“Honestly I dunno how you survived all these years with him,” Doug said getting out of bed. 

“With great difficulty and weed,” I said following him to the bathroom. We took a quick shower, barely managing to not go for round two right then and there, and got dressed (Doug loaned me some clothes so I would have to double back to my room). Once we were ready we opened the door to reveal our three idiots waiting in the hall with stupid smiles plastered on their faces.

“Dude I’m only gonna say this once. She was and is my homie first. So if you hurt her I won’t hesitate to kill your ass,” Kells said staring down the much shorter Brit. “Deal?”

“Trust me if I hurt her I’ll kill my fucking self and spare you the trouble mate,” Doug said. 

Kells relaxed then and smiled. “Welcome to the family bro.”

I watched as the two loves of my life embraced forever sealing our bond as a family. 

And we were. We truly were.

Just me, my best friend, and my ocean eyed lover.

Together forever, no matter whatever.

[mdelpin]

@fuckyeahgratsu​ for @froppyfrosch​ AO3 | FFNet

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong To Hiro Mashima

"Come on, Gray," Ultear cajoled from the kitchen where she was preparing dinner, "I'm not asking you for much. We all have to pitch in until Mom recovers from her surgery."

“But I already promised Loke I’d go over to his house to play Smash Bros,” Gray complained loudly, earning him a glare from his twin sister.

“You can do that any time, you know how much Wendy looks forward to her dance class,” Ultear reminded him before adding with a glint in her eye, “Are you really gonna make her miss it just so you can go play some video game?”

"Dancing is stupid," Gray grumbled in defeat, and Ultear grinned knowingly. There was no way he would disappoint their little sister, and she knew it.

Gray adored Wendy, she was sweet and kind but almost painfully shy. You could usually find her playing with their white cat Carla, or hiding behind a book. Whenever anyone outside of the family tried to talk to her, her face would turn a worrisome shade of red, and she'd begin to stutter. She was also notoriously clumsy.

Both of these things had decided their mother to put her in a class at the local dance studio a few months ago. At first, Wendy had cried and refused to go, but when she saw her mother wasn't backing down, she caved, even trying to be enthusiastic about picking out her dance outfit and slippers.

After a few lessons, Wendy had slowly begun to come out of her shell. She'd made a few friends, and she'd started dancing around the house, practicing her steps to impress her teacher, a woman by the name of Natsu, if Gray remembered correctly.

Gray had to admit his mother had been right. Wendy seemed to be doing better, she was no ballerina, but it always brought a smile to his face to see her trying her best to dance. He supposed taking her wouldn't be that bad, maybe he could treat her to some ice cream afterward at the shop next to the studio. It would ruin her dinner, but it would serve Ultear right for sticking this on him.

A few minutes later, Wendy stood in front of him dressed in her dance clothes and gazing up at him hopefully.

“You ready?”

She smiled at him and nodded.

“Thanks for taking me,” Wendy confided, ”I was afraid I was gonna have to miss it.”

“It’s fine,” Gray waved her concern away as they started walking towards the studio, “How long is this class anyway?”

“Just an hour.”

“Do I have to go in with you?”

"Nah, you stay in the waiting room, but you can watch me from the TV if you want," She looked down at the ground shyly, and he smiled to himself.

He’d make a point to watch for a little while so he could compliment her. She remained quiet for the rest of the ten-minute walk, gripping her dance bag tightly, occasionally taking her water bottle out for a drink.

They arrived a few minutes early, and Wendy changed out of her shoes and into her pink slippers, chatting with some of the other girls as she did so. Gray was already bored. He was about to sit and play on his phone when he happened to glance up at one of the screens, which was showing one of the classrooms.

A guy was standing by himself in front of a mirror and Gray began to turn away when the guy started to dance. The classroom must have been soundproofed, Gray couldn't hear any music, but it was clear the guy was moving to a rhythm.

Gray had never seen anyone so graceful in his life, male or female. Every movement was fluid, and even though it was clear the guy was focusing on his routine, his face was filled with joy as he moved. It was breathtaking, and Gray couldn't tear his eyes away from the screen, hypnotized by every move.

This guy was fit, his tights, did male dancers wear tights? Well, pants, clung to his muscles and since his shirt was off, Gray could admire his torso to his heart's content. His routine was entertaining, a combination of gymnastic elements and moves that Gray couldn't name but knew he'd seen before. Some even reminded him of martial arts. It wasn't at all what he expected from a dance routine.

Though the quality of the camera was not the best, Gray could definitely tell the dancer was very good looking, and he thought the guy seemed vaguely familiar, although he couldn't pinpoint where from. Gray was so caught up in the performance he didn't notice Wendy and her friends giggling at him until Wendy pulled on his shirt. He grudgingly turned away from the screen and gave her his attention, not hearing the door open up behind them.

"What's up, Squirt?"

“I’ve been trying to get your attention for ages,” Wendy complained, “I wanted to introduce you to my friends.” She narrowed her eyes at him, “Why were you watching the TV anyway? I thought you said dancing was stupid.”

Gray rubbed the back of his neck as he felt the glare of several pre-teen girls and their mothers at Wendy’s words. Had he said that? Well, he'd just changed his mind. Dancing was not stupid at all, it was hot as hell.

“That’s a shame, you certainly have the body for it,” A voice from behind him said, and before he had a chance to turn around or respond to what he thought was a compliment his sister completely lost her shit.

Gray turned around to an unexpected sight.

"Natsu!" Wendy, his usually quiet and shy sister, was squealing with delight, hug tackling the dancer Gray had been watching, who'd put on a shirt and was now surrounded by a gaggle of giggling girls.

Natsu took it in stride, ruffling Wendy's hair and grinning at her. "Hey, Wendy, did you have a nice week?"

All this time he’d imagined Wendy’s teacher as a nice older woman who wore her hair up in a bun and carried a stick around to count off the steps. How wrong he’d been.

Natsu looked to be about his age and dear God, he was gorgeous. His hair was the pink of every flower Gray had ever considered beautiful, his eyes a shade of green that was both warm and expressive, reminding Gray of a warm summer’s day.

Oh my God, I sound like a fucking Hallmark card!

If Gray hadn't already known he was gay, he was pretty sure he'd be having an awakening right about now. He felt the draw of those beautiful eyes as they peered at him with open curiosity.

“You must be Gray,” Natsu directed a blinding smile at him as he extended his hand in greeting, “Wendy talks about you all the time. I’m Natsu, Wendy’s teacher, nice to meet you.”

"I'm Gray," Gray realized to his chagrin that he'd just repeated what Natsu had said. What was wrong with him? He was never this flustered around other guys, no matter how good looking they happened to be, but he couldn't get the way Natsu's lithe body moved as he danced out of his mind. Gray managed to shake Natsu's hand without making a further fool out of himself, and he dearly hoped that Natsu hadn't noticed his infatuation.

Natsu laughed at him good-naturedly, before clapping his hands to get the girls attention. “Alright girls, everybody in the classroom. We have a lot of work to do for the recital.”

The girls who’d been watching the two of them and giggling ran into the classroom in a large group. Natsu chuckled, “Well, they have a lot of energy tonight, I’m going to have my work cut out for me.”

He looked at Gray one last time before waving and entering the classroom, closing the door quietly behind him.

Gray found an empty chair, and before long he was once again glued to the TV, watching transfixed as Natsu had the girls sit in a circle. It was easy to see why all the girls adored him. While Gray couldn't hear what they were saying, he could see Natsu talking enthusiastically with all of them, his hands making broad gestures in the air for emphasis. There was a lot of laughter before he finally got them to focus, leading them in a series of warm-up exercises.

“You’re such a good brother,” A young mother praised him as she noticed him watching the class, “It’ll mean a lot to your sister to know you were watching her.”

Another woman snorted at the praise, but Gray ignored her. He noticed that a lot of the moms were watching the television, fond smiles on their faces.

“Natsu really is very good with them,” the same mother informed Gray, “And he’s an amazing dancer. I saw him compete once, won every category he was in.”

Gray continued to observe, making sure to pay attention to his sister who was by no means the best dancer there, but she made up for it by trying hard, and it warmed his heart with pride. He watched as Natsu took her aside at one point and worked with her when he noticed she was having trouble, encouraging her until she got it. The hour passed quickly, and Gray found he never looked at his phone once.

Towards the end of the class, Gray saw Wendy take a tumble as she tried to do a pirouette. She didn't get up right away, and he stood up quickly, ready to enter the classroom and get her when the door opened, and Natsu came out carrying Wendy in his arms, as the other girls huddled around them.

“I’m sorry,” Natsu announced to the parents, “I’ll need to end class a few minutes early so I can take a look at Wendy’s ankle.”

None of the parents complained, and Gray followed him as he carried Wendy into a back room. Wendy's eyes were shut tightly, and Gray could tell she was doing her best to hold back tears.

“What happened?” Gray asked, even though he’d seen it on the screen.

"She lost her balance and tripped, but she's gonna be just fine as soon as we put some ice on her ankle," Natsu assured both of them, "I checked it, and it doesn't seem to be very swollen, but it's best to treat it anyway."

Natsu set her down gently on a small sofa, motioning Gray to sit by her legs and elevate her ankle. He opened a freezer and moved some of the contents around until he found an ice pack. He knelt down by Gray’s legs as he wrapped the ice pack around Wendy’s ankle.

“You’ve just gotten your first official dancer’s injury,” Natsu’s eyes crinkled as he smiled at Wendy, “You’re definitely one of us now.”

Wendy opened her eyes and gave Natsu a weepy smile in return. Natsu fiddled with his watch and stood up. “Can I get either of you anything to drink?”

When they both shook their heads, Natsu grabbed Wendy's hand and squeezed it before letting go. "Hang in there kiddo, I know it's a little uncomfortable, but you need to keep that on for about fifteen minutes, I'll be back in a few, okay?"

“Okay,” Wendy replied, she took a shaky breath and pouted at the ice pack.

“You were doing pretty well in your lesson, you know, until this happened,” Gray offered, trying to get her mind off her ankle.

“You watched me?”

“Sure, who else would I watch?” Gray regretted his words as soon as he saw his sister smirk at him knowingly.

"Isn't Natsu a great dancer?" Wendy gushed, "He's won tons of competitions, and he has his own YouTube channel!"

He has his own YouTube channel? I am definitely looking that up when I get home.

"Oh, God, please don't watch that!" Natsu groaned as he overheard Wendy's words, "I only have that up so I can watch and compare videos easily. Especially the poomsaes." In the time he'd been gone he'd changed out of his dance clothes and into a pair of jeans and an MCR t-shirt.

He placed Wendy's bag at Gray's feet and put his own on a small table before grabbing a water bottle from the fridge and sitting across from Gray.

“Poomsaes? You do TaeKwonDo too?” Gray asked excitedly, “What belt are you?”

“Yeah, my dad thought Karate was too violent,” Natsu revealed, “I’m a Second Dan black belt.”

“I’m testing for my Second Dan in December,” Gray was excited to find they had something in common. “We should spar sometime,” Gray offered, excited by the prospect, “I could use the practice.”

"Sure, that'd be fun," Natsu agreed, "I have my sparring gear somewhere. I have a few competitions I have to get through first, though, I can't afford to get injured."

“What dojo do you go to? I hadn’t heard of any competitions coming up.”

Natsu laughed easily, “That’s because they’re dancing competitions. I go to Kian over on Broadway. ”

“That’s where I recognized you from!” Gray snapped his fingers in an aha gesture.

"How long have you been dancing for anyway? I was watching you earlier, you're amazing!" Gray gushed and then blushed as he realized how he sounded, but thankfully Natsu didn't say anything about his little outburst.

"Uhm, It feels like forever?" Natsu scratched his head as he thought, shrugging when he couldn't come up with a number. His watch began to beep, and he focused his attention back on Wendy, stifling a laugh as he realized she'd fallen asleep.

"Poor kid, it looks like I tired her out. I'm gonna take the ice pack off her ankle now, and then I can drive you guys home."

“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that,” Gray protested, feeling guilty that he’d forgotten all about his sister as he talked to the guy he most definitely had a crush on.

“I really do, she shouldn’t put any weight on her ankle for a while,” Natsu reasoned as he removed the ice pack, getting up to clean it before putting it back into the freezer.

“Besides, how else am I gonna find out where you live?” He added in a teasing tone.

“You want to know where I live?” Gray asked in surprise.

“Among other things, yeah,” Natsu grinned.

Gray wasn't sure what to make of that response, so he tried to play it cool, "Well, okay then, if it's not too much trouble."

“It’s not a big deal,” Natsu assured him, “Grab Wendy, I have to close up the studio real quick.”

Natsu grabbed his bag and draped it over his arm. He walked through the studio, turning off all the lights as Gray followed behind him carrying his sleeping sister in his arms. After locking up the studio for the night, they walked over to Natsu's car.

Wendy woke up when Gray tried to put the seat belt on her, confused about her surroundings but rather cheerful to see Natsu was still with them.

The short ride home was spent with Wendy firing question after question at Natsu while Gray tried not to stare as he offered directions.

He'd hoped to be able to talk to Natsu some more, but to his disappointment, he saw his father was outside smoking a cigarette. As soon as the car parked in the driveway, Silver Fullbuster walked up to them.

“Is everything okay?”

“Daddy!” Wendy undid her seatbelt and lowered the window, “I got my first dancer’s injury, I’m a real dancer now!”

“Is that so?” Silver smiled at Wendy’s enthusiasm. He peered into the driver’s seat and recognized Natsu, “Oh hey, Natsu! What happened?”

"She took a fall and sprained her ankle, I didn't want her to put any weight on it, so I offered to drive them home," Natsu hurried to explain, "She should be fine in a day or two, there wasn't much swelling."

"Well, thanks for that," Silver peered into the car as he got Wendy and picked her up, "Gray, are you getting out?"

"Uhm, yeah," Gray replied quickly, grabbing the handle and opening the door, "It was nice to meet you."

"Oh, hey, did you want to stay for dinner?" Silver asked, "My other son won't be here, so there should be plenty."

“I wouldn’t want to impose,” Natsu answered politely.

“Nonsense, I insist.”

Gray could almost kiss his dad, he was so thrilled to get to spend more time with his new friend. Okay, calling Natsu a friend might be pushing it, but whatever he was still happy.

Natsu turned off his car and got out, following them inside.

“Gray, could you let Ul know we have a guest?”

Silver put Wendy down on the sofa and handed her the remote while he went upstairs to check on his wife.

"Yeah," Gray replied, leaving Natsu with Wendy as he headed into the kitchen.

“Who the hell is that?” Ultear whispered as she peeked at Natsu through the kitchen door.

“That’s Natsu, Wendy’s dance teacher, he’s staying for dinner.”

“That’s Wendy’s dance teacher?!” Ultear marveled as she gave him a thorough once over, “Damn he’s hot, all this time I thought it was some old lady. Do you think he teaches adults?”

“Hey! Back off!” Gray snapped at his twin sister.

"Oh, ho!" Ultear immediately teased, "Got a crush already? Damn, I should have taken Wendy to her class and made *you* cook!"

“It’s bad enough you’re going to poison him with your cooking,” Gray stuck his tongue out at his sister before rummaging through the cabinets and drawers, collecting all the things necessary to set the table.

“For your information, I made lasagna, so no one is getting poisoned tonight,” Ultear protested, punching her brother in the shoulder.

Gray laughed, "Well, thank God for that, I might have a chance if he doesn't think about throwing up every time he thinks of me."

Ultear smirked and muttered something under her breath as Gray left to set the table.

“Hey, I heard that!”

Ultear giggled and went back to preparing the salad she’d been working on.

xxx

"It means summer in Japanese, my parents met in Japan in the summer, so they thought it would be romantic to name me that."

Gray could hear Natsu talking to his parents as he set the table and went into the living room to join them, watching with a bit of envy as Wendy draped her head over Natsu's shoulder which he didn't seem to mind.

Throughout the conversation, he learned that Natsu's mother had passed away a few years ago, and he was an only child. Before they could ask Natsu any more questions, Ultear called them to the table.

"So, Natsu, what made you decide to start dancing?" Silver asked in between bites, "It's an odd choice for a boy, isn't it?"

“Dad!” Ultear and Gray chorused, both utterly mortified by their father’s comment.

Natsu chuckled, “It’s fine, he’s right. My mom was a professional dancer, she’s the one who first taught me. I like to think it keeps her close to me.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up,” Silver apologized, “Do you go to the same school as Gray?”

"I don't go to school actually, I'm homeschooled," Natsu announced, not seeming uncomfortable in the slightest by his father's questions. He took a bite out of the lasagna, and his face lit up, "This is really good!"

“Thank you! At least someone appreciates my cooking,” Ultear glowed at the compliment.

“We mostly get take out since neither my dad nor I really know how to cook, so thanks for this,” Natsu rewarded Ultear with one of his wide and toothy grins and Gray could practically feel her melting next to him.

They got through the rest of dinner mostly unscathed, although Gray did learn that Natsu had ADHD and the reason he didn’t go to school is he’d gotten into trouble a lot with his teachers because of it.

Natsu had to leave after dinner, and Ultear sent him home with a plate for his father which he accepted gratefully. He said goodbye to everyone and asked Gray to walk him to his car.

Gray trudged after him wondering what Natsu wanted to talk to him about, but excited to get to spend some time alone with him.

Natsu waited until they were outside before blurting out, "So, are we engaged now?"

“What?!” Gray stammered in consternation.

Natsu’s slapped his thigh as he took in Gray’s panicked expression, his laugh loud and warm as he quickly assured Gray, “Relax, I was just joking. Dinner was nice.”

“Besides, what makes you think I’d be interested,” Gray grumbled, trying to hide his excitement at the fact that Natsu seemed to be just as interested in him.

“Well for one, I’m pretty sure the looks you were giving me at the studio might be illegal in at least ten states,” Natsu retorted, green eyes sparkling with amusement.

Gray’s face turned ashen as his hopes that Natsu hadn’t noticed his ogling were shattered.

“So, are you going to make me wait until next week to see you again, or can I ask you out on a date, seeing as your sister never actually sprained her ankle.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve been teaching your sister for months, and while she can be clumsy at times that fall was obviously faked,” Natsu reported then added with an eye roll, “Not to mention she showed me the wrong ankle.”

"If you didn't think it was real, why did you go to all the trouble to treat it?"

"Well, she's a good kid, and she went to all the trouble, I figured I'd see what you were about," Natsu showed the first hint of shyness as he admitted his intentions.

Gray didn’t know how to respond to that, but he liked the way Natsu could switch from being cocky to shy in the blink of an eye. He decided to ask him something instead, “Why do you like dancing so much? I mean when I was watching you had this look on your face…”

“Well part of it is it reminds me of my mom, but it’s more than that,” Natsu explained looking into Gray’s eyes as he added, “When I was little she taught me that dancing wasn’t really about the steps, it was about freedom and expressing joy with your body. That’s what I hold onto.”

“She sounds amazing,” Gray spoke quietly.

“She was,” Natsu looked sad for a minute but then tilted his head to look into Gray’s eyes as he asked, “So do you really think dancing is stupid?”

Gray was embarrassed at being called out on his earlier words, but he was definitely enjoying having Natsu's eyes on him. He answered honestly, "No, not anymore. I know it's corny, but when I watched you, you made me feel like dancing too."

Gray felt like he’d won a prize when he saw Natsu’s eyes light up at his answer,

"So…uhm date. Yes or no?" Natsu asked, still looking a tad nervous, "Maybe I could show you a few moves."

“I’d like that, you busy Friday night?”

“I am now,” Natsu looked relieved as he took his phone out of his pocket so they could exchange numbers.

Natsu got into his car after promising to call the next day. On a whim, Gray leaned in and kissed him chastely on the lips before gently tapping the hood of the car and waving. “See you Friday.”

Gray snickered at the look of utter astonishment on Natsu’s face, that was immediately followed by a devious smile. It was the type of smile that implied mischief, and suddenly Gray couldn’t wait until Friday, he got the feeling their relationship would be an interesting one.

A/N: This was written for my friend Liz, I really hope you like it!

[purplesurveys]

535

What is your favorite thing to do on your phone? Tweeting, looking at my photos, or more recently, playing Mario Kart Tour hehe. Do you know what you are going to be for Halloween this year? If so, what? I dunno if we have plans for Halloween this year. I don’t really want to spend my money on a costume either. Do you still go trick-or-treating, and if so, how old are you? I do it for some years. I think the last time my friends and I did it though was 2015. Gabie’s sisters trick-or-treated last 2017, but we just accompanied them.

Which Disney princess resembles you the most? Physically? Moana would probably be the closest. Which fairytale seems closest to your life story? I don’t really like fairytales so I don’t know enough of them to identify which one I could possibly relate to.

What color was your first phone? It came in a red Winnie the Pooh skin when my parents got it for me. Was your first phone a flip phone? Nah it was the old Nokia 3310. My third phone was a Sony Ericsson flip phone. Have you ever butt dialed someone? Nope, but I’ve called people in my sleep haha. What is your favorite pizza parlor? Pizza parlors aren’t a thing here; we just have Italian restaurants in general. My favorite place that serves Italian food is Mama Lou’s. What is an old website that closed down that you miss? TWITPIC. I posted so many photos there from 5th grade which was my favorite year of elementary school. I have no idea how to retrieve them since the site shut down around five years ago. I’d be happy even to find out my pictures just floating somewhere around the internet; I just don’t want them gone forever. If you're a girl, have you ever had an embarrassing period story? Yeah, I was in PE class two months ago and was doing sit-ups when my partner looked at me nervously and she said I had a huge stain on my shorts. I had to do the rest of the workout in denim, ripped jeans. ...If so, what happened? ^ That. What was your worst experience in high school? Not having friends and struggling to know who I was and what I wanted. What was your high school's mascot? Meh my school doesn’t have one. How much did your senior prom dress cost you? A few thousand bucks. I didn’t take my prom seriously so I didn’t want my parents to shell out too much for my dress. Do you listen to Grace VanderWaal? I know a couple of songs of hers and I admire her, but I’m not a rabid fan. ...if yes, what's your favorite song of hers? The song she sang at her AGT audition has always struck me. I think I’ve cried every time I came across it. Do you watch America's Got Talent? Nah I only watch the really viral ones and the golden buzzer bits. Which country has the best accent? I can’t distinguish or identify English accents but I reeeeally like the way Tanya Burr sounds when she speaks. That’s an accent I really like. Oh and the one Claire Foy uses in The Crown; I’m not sure if that’s her natural accent but anyhow that one sounds pleasant too. Which country's flag do you like the best? The ones that go outside the box, like Nepal and Switzerland. Libya’s old flag (all-green, no design) was a bit interesting too. Did you cry at your high school graduation? No. I cried the days before. By the time of my grad I think I was just elated to finally finish high school and excited to finally be out with Gab. Did you cry at your college graduation (if applicable)? I haven’t reached that point yet but I have a strong feeling I’ll be trying not to cry the whole time, because my dad plans to be there and he’s never been to any of my graduations yet. Do your parents try to stop you from chasing your dreams? No. I know they support me so long as they know I can handle whatever it is I want to attain. What dreams have stuck with you since childhood? Going to the moon, fighting a fire, having a job that involves caring for animals. Oh and stepping in a wrestling ring. Who is a former friend that you wish would come back into your life? Sofie. She’s still a friend, but I’ve seen her like twice in the last three years. Sad, considering how ridiculously close we were in high school. Have you ever been in a serious romantic relationship? Yes. Who was your favorite Spice Girl? Uh I was too young to ever be a big fan. Did you ever want to be in a band or music group? I wanted to learn how to play the drums, but I didn’t actively aspire to take up a career in music or be in a band. What instrument did you play in the marching band? If you could take any one type of dance class right now, what kind you take? I’d love to go back to ballet. Who got kicked off of your favorite talent show that you were mad about? Pia Toscano and Siobhan Magnus from American Idol, without a doubt. Do you own the entire series on DVD of any TV show? If so, what? My dad got me Seasons 1 and 2 and a bootleg pack of Seasons 3-8 of Perfect Strangers. What show did you always want to be on when you were a kid? Hi-5!!! I always wanted to be a part of that crowd of dancing kids. I had no idea they shot everything in Australia, and that just because they air the show in the Philippines doesn’t mean the studio is also located here. Can you tell the difference between Mary-Kate and Ashley? No, I never paid that much attention to them. I know they dress nicely though. Who is your favorite set of twins? Les Twins! They’re Laurent and Larry, dancers who’ve performed with Beyoncé for the last several years. What is the stupidest baby name you have heard recently? Stupid is kinda harsh...but a weird name I’ve heard of would be Luckysia. I can’t even begin to think where that came from. What is the grossest thing you have ever vomited up? OMG I dunno...straight-up vodka, I guess? I don’t look at the things I throw up lmao. Have you ever thrown up in public, in front of someone else? Yep. ...If yes, was it embarrassing? Very. I haven’t gotten that drunk since. Did you ever take your dog to school? No as pets aren’t allowed in my school. Name one person you know who had a baby in high school. I don’t have a batchmate who gave birth while in high school, but there are several who have since had kids while in college. If you had had a baby in high school, what would you have named him or her? I’d probably have named a girl Audrey and a boy Gino, because those were my favorites back then. I still like the name Audrey but now I’m not so sure if I’d still want it as a first name for my kid. If you had a baby now, what would you name him or her? Olivia. Dunno what name I’d pick for a boy. Do you make lists of names that you like? Yes, but it’s a list for girl names only hah. Do you keep a list of your favorite quotes? Nope, I don’t like living by quotes. Describe your dream wedding in three words. Lots of: flowers, people, food. What is your favorite Chinese restaurant? The Shang Palace in Makati Shangri-La. Does Chinese food make you feel sick? Nope. It’s part of our culture so it would be unusual to get sick from Chinese food. I know it spoils quick, though. Have you ever seen someone throw up on a plane? Nah I’ve only seen that in Mr. Bean haha. I’ve seen more people get dizzy and throw up in boats/ships. Do you get motion sickness? Yes, mostly in cars, and especially if it isn’t my parents driving. Has God ever healed you of anything? If so, what? Do you believe in God? Do you pray, and if so, to whom? What is the most boring church you have ever attended? All of them. What is the most lively church you have ever attended? Do you find church fun or boring? Boring as fuck, but that’s because I’m a nonbeliever and am only forced to go because my mom is a crazily devout Catholic who makes sure her whole family catches church every Sunday. When was the last time you went to a church service? Last Sunday. When did you learn to ride a bike? I never learned :( A couple of years ago my dad tried to teach me and I was able to retain my balance for like three seconds, but I was never able to repeat it. What do you hate the most about summer? When it gets too boring it’s usually easier to fall into depression or negative thoughts in general. What is your favorite thing to do in a swimming pool? Just float in the water and relax. Which part of your body is the most muscular? I don’t know. Do you like sugar skulls? I’ve never encountered those before, so no.  Have you ever painted a sugar skull on your face? Nope. Are you an artist? I am not. Did you ever take Latin in school? No, but we were briefly taught French in Grade 1 because my school's origins is in France. They didn’t keep up the lessons, though. What was the last race you ran called? Idk, does Mario Kart on my phone count? Hahaha Do you prefer to run in the street or on the sidewalk? I prefer to...not run at all. Which major holiday is closest to your birthday? Easter Sunday, typically. Does your zodiac sign fit your personality at all? I don’t care. What is your zodiac sign? Taurus.

[kateofthecanals]

Episode 8.1 Quick Thoughts

- Still no episode title. I guess they were so “busy” “writing” the “ending” that they just plum forgot!

- The opening title sequence had to be reworked to milk the last remaining locations that the show cares about: the Wall, Winterfell, and King’s Landing.

- Opening shot was an obvious callback to Robert’s arrival in the pilot episode (even the same music!! lmao); we know this because Arya smiled at Tinyjon. SUBTLE.

- VERY FIRST FUCKING LINES ARE FUCKING DICK JOKES, well done guys Emmys are already in the mail!

- VERY FIRST FUCKING LINES OUT OF SANDOR’S MOUTH CONTAIN THE WORD “COCK” because of course, OF COURSE.

- As soon as Sansa appears in the yard, Sandor is no where to be seen, natch.

- All this #GIRLPOWER is so overwhelming, guys!!!

- Sansa’s Authoritative Voice™ is just.... hilarious.

- No one in a leadership position can get anything done with Tyrion speaking up for them, as usual.

- We all knew it was coming, and damn if it didn’t happen... SANSA APOLOGIZES TO TYRION.

- Sansa’s personality fluctuations in the Tyrion reunion gave me whiplash. But for the most part, it was pretty satisfying.

- I almost threw my TV out the window when Arya started dragging Jon for mocking Sansa like this bitch wasn’t THIS close to murdering her last season over sleeping in her parents’ bedroom???????

- “WHERE AARRRE MY ELEPHAAAAANTS??!!”

- Cersei is gonna pass off her incest-baby as Euron’s, next week on “King’s Landing 90210″...

- Yara rescue was pointless. If he’d done it in order to secure some of her army to take with him to Winterfell, that would have been one thing.... nah, too complicated for D&D!

- Cersei tryna get Bronn to kill her brothers like she didn’t have 2 PERFECT opportunities to do so last season...

- We now interrupt our program for this delightful Harry Potter/Frozen mash-up sequence! I smell a new ride at Universal Studios, guys!!!

- The dragons like to watch.

- Sandor/Arya reunion.... MEH. Sandor’s dialogue was literally lifted straight from shit Rory has said in interviews -- thanks for making D&D’s job so easy, RMC!

- NO GHOST

- Sam wants a pardon for taking library books lmao bitch you DESERTED THE NIGHT’S WATCH.

- This episode was so boring that even Sam telling Jon his parentage was “whomp-whoooooomp”. And NOBODY addressed the incest in the room, lmao.

- The “my eyes have always been blue” moment made me laugh, I admit it.

- Almost an entire hour without gratuitous child death, whew! Shoulda known from the moment we saw Tinyjon scampering around WF at the beginning that he was doomed. Also.... wights scream now??

- Jaime spots Bran in WF and gets all nervous but it’s like, NOT to worry, Jaime, he won’t hold it against you, he literally lacks the emotional capacity to do so.

- To sum up: BORING. Only 6 episodes this season and they STILL need to pad it out with pointless dialogue and interminable reactions shots/dragon CGI.