#she’s supposed to be loosely based off Mimi

[underfell-crystal]

Massive brainrot about my new demon gal for @ivyprism‘s DND campaign

[softxhariana]

34+35 live stream

description: ariana’s live stream before debut of 34+35 remix music video.

word count: 2.22k

A/N: little piece based off this live stream that ariana did in the countdown to her releasing the 34+35 remix music video with doja and megan. obvs not included every question but just a few fun bits and harry mentions for you x

also disclaimer, this is NOT real, if u don't wanna read about these two then don't, i’m not tryna act like they’re together it is fiction.

❤ anywayz hope u enjoy luvs xox

❖   "HELLO EVERYONE! thank u for coming to this premier,” ariana smiled sweetly at the camera, as the video cut to a shot of her for the beginning of the countdown.

“we had so much fun making this 34+35 remix video for you, and uhh, we hope you love it.” she continued, playing with her hair. no matter how long she did this for she swore she would never cease to get slightly nervous in these situations. where it was her alone, in front of a camera. but her fans made her feel at ease, and she felt she owed them something, as she hadn’t done many quarantine interviews like other celebs have.

“i thought i would come celebrate and join the countdown with you guys. which is something that I've never done before, but i’m very happy to be here and i was very excited to get some questions from you all...” she held up the sheets of twitter questions she had received, “um that i’m gonna be answering while i’m here so, i cant wait to celebrate this together and countdown and answer some of your questions!” she finished with a smile.

and it was genuine. a real smile that her fans were thrilled to see.

ariana was genuinely so happy and content with her life right now. with her family, her music, her friends, harry. harry her FIANCE!! might she add.

everything just felt perfect, and after all the shit the last couple years had thrown her way, she appreciated the break.

 she got her love back, she was making music that she fully loved, and put her whole soul into, and she had fans who had stuck with her and supported her through some of the darkest times in her life, that were now able to experience her happiness and personal growth with her. so truly, little things like this, felt like the least she could do for them.

“ohh this is a good one because its 34 35 related” she tucked her hair behind her ears, “@noirgrande said ‘ummm its just i wanna the end of 34+35 is it awww shit or nooo shit, i just wanna sing the song right”

“umm it is indeed no shit” she confirmed, smiling matter of factly at the camera before reciting the closing line of the song.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“@arianalocks1223 said ‘will we get to see the track list before the songs release?’” she paused for a second to process - which turned into a few more seconds, she was a bit slow today. she had told harry with full sincerity that she thought it was because she was getting old but he had just cracked up at her absurd statement, and told her that if that was the case he’d still think she was a milf

“you will!” she nodded with certainty, “indeed. ummm... i can tell you them now” she blurted, oops.

“i suppose thats not like... is that against the rules? can i do that?” she turned, to question scooter who was supervising off camera, not wanting to get her label mad at her for releasing too much information, something she has a tendency to do. 

after getting the nod of reassurance from him she turned back to the camera, “so out of ‘POV’, you go into, um, an interlude called ‘someone like u’. after that is a song called ‘test drive’, after that is the 34/35 remix with doja and meg” she smiles lightly, “and after that is a song called ‘worst behaviour’, and after worst behaviour is... a song called ‘main thing’...” she finishes, a shy smirk forming on her face, dimples appearing, “so that’s the tracks.” 

continuing with the countdown, ariana felt her heart warm at the love her fans were giving her and this album. she loved interacting with them and making them happy and proud of her so knowing she had done just that, was an amazing feeling.

“umm hesbloodsline... @hesbloodsline ... i’m really fond of this question because its really to the point, ‘where's the pig and where the fuck is harry?’” she smiled, holding in a laugh.

“piggy’s here, she's great, she's really doing so well and life is really good for her right now, she's really thriving and doing her thing” she ranted, a hint of sarcasm in her voice, “um, i make her big salads everyday that she likes, she's doing really great. she asked me to stop posting her as much because she's actually really offended by a lot of your jokes that you make on twitter, she asked me to have a word with you guys” she continued to joke, well aware that she probably found herself more funny than anyone else did right now.

“she doesn't like the jokes about being eaten, they really hurt her, umm yeh, and she asked me to convey that... no she’s great...” she finally decided to answer, “and harry, is on set today, so um, yeh thats where he is... but don't worry i will tell him to keep you in the loop, i’ve got you” 

ariana unconsciously let a small smile take over her glossed lips when talking about harry. he had been so excited about this new project and seeing him passionate and happy about anything he’s doing, always made her happiest.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“nicole! @nastyctrl. nicole said ‘who helped come up with the concept for the positions music video, love u sm ari’ love you so much to, i love you so much more” she paused, she loved this story,

“um this is actually a really funny story, dave and i had been going back and forth on several different concepts, and i couldn't, like... marry one... i couldn't really, like, really commit to one, i wasn't 100% sold. and it was missing a certain element of empowerment. and i kept, you know, trying to think of things that would make it more impactful cause i wasn't loving what we had...”

“anddd then me and harry were on this huge hike, and he just turned to me and was like, ‘what if you were the president?’ which was like, not at all fitting cause i was dying and complaining the whole time. but i was like,” she tried to imitate a shocked face through her smile and laughed 

“and when i called dave he was like ‘oh... kay, ill call you guys back’ and had the whole production team redo everything, and i had mimi pull completely different outfits and we completely started over cause that idea was what i was, craving and missing. and i was like, wow, thats so perfect” she smiled, shrugging her shoulders, “so yeh, honorary directing credit to harry styles, if you liked that”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“this is from @borderlinevinyl, who said ‘how much of the album was recorded at your little home studio?’ ummm..” she sang, looking off camera in thought, everything in quarantine had honestly just blurred into one so she was struggling to remember what exactly she recorded where,

“um... a lot of it was... i think i did parts of everything here and parts of things at tommy's i know i did, um, the final chorus ad-libs for positions at home” she began listing in her head, “i know i did all of off the table at home... i know i did the final chorus of my hair at home because we- i-” oops. she had to control the laugh threatening to leave her lips at the lack of subtlety in her correction

“-i got out of the shower and he was like ‘oh your whistles are really here right now’, and i was like y’know what... yeahh they are aren’t they” she laughed as she squinted her eyes and recited that part of the conversation, even trying to imitate his deeper accent.

she had been singing in the shower - as she always did - and harry joining her never seemed to stop her from belting out any whitney or old one direction classic she wanted to. he would even join in sometimes and they'd end up with their own mini concert, dancing around naked, shampoo and conditioner bottles in hand singing their hearts out to everything from high school musical to nicki minaj to fleetwood mac.

while it felt like too bold of statement to make as she truly revelled in and enjoyed everything they did together, showering with him was truly one of her favourite’s. whether it was steamy shower sex that had all glass surfaces in the room fogging up or letting loose and dancing and singing under the pouring water, every moment felt so intimate and sacred. it truly made her feel like they were they only people in the world. 

of course he would claim she was out singing him every time she whistled and would jokingly try to replicate the note but he was truly just in awe off the sounds that came from her mouth (in all senses of the word;)

"-and so i opened ‘my hair’ and just randomly did that” she continued, “um what else did i do here, i did the a lot of the backgrounds and ad-libs for 34+35 here, um, obvious was done at home, a lot of six-thirty was done at home”

caught in her own thoughts she only realised she had probably been droning on for too long when she caught scooters eye across the room and with a blush she shook her head as if to clear it, “this is an annoying answer, everything was kind of all over the place but i did a lot, a lot, a lot of the vocals for the album at the house" she finally finished the long answer, moving on quickly as she realised she didn't have long until the premiere and she wanted to answer as many of the questions as possible.

“ok, second last question from hannah, ever- @everdxystxless, im sorry i don't know how to pronounce that” she laughs looking up at the camera with wide eyes, not sure how exactly how she was supposed to go about pronouncing the username, 

“im sorry, um, but anyway she say’s ‘ari baby, how do you feel about harry getting to do a movie with florence pugh, we know your a big fan of hers, ps. i love you so much!’ well hannah, i love you too” she replies, as she thinks back to when harry first introduced the two, after she had gotten over the initial fangirling, the pair became amazing friends. florence struck ariana as such a genuine, loving person and they shared the same dry sense of humour. plus ariana might of been just a little obsessed with her accent - not that she would ever admit that and scare the girl off.

“and... um, yeah, it literally, made me beyond happy, i was fully like, fangirling when i met her the first time” she laughs as she plays with her hair, “she honestly, probably was like, ‘who the fuck is this girl? what is she doing?’”ariana imitated, a faux scared/weirded out look on her face, playing the part of a mildly pissed off florence - which she luckily had never been on the receiving end of, “im sure i was being the opposite of subtle about it but, no, she really truly is the sweetest, kindest, most beautiful, talented human being” she emphasises, the thought of any news outlets of fan’s trying to spin a ‘jealousy’ story about this making her internally role her eyes,

“midsommar is, like, one of my all time favourite movies, and she's amazing in it, and harry’s like so fucking lucky its crazy. so yeah, thats insane”

~~~~~~~~~

"...so yeah... thank you so much! this was so much fun!” ariana exclaimed as she wrapped up the Q&A, smiling wide at the camera, she knew her fans were going to love the music video and she couldn't wait for them to watch it, plus interacting with them in this way always made her happy.

“i love you guys, i miss you” she reminded, “i am so appreciative of everything you've done for this album, for these singles, for this music. i hope that, um, that this makes you super happy, i hope it makes you smile...we had so much fun shooting it and um, the girls are so fantastic, so i hope you love this and i hope you love the deluxe!” 

ariana didn't know how many more ways she could say thank you and express her gratitude but she still had over a minute and a half so she’d have to come up with something, even if it meant she’d sound like a broken record

“i am so thankful for everything and for the love that you've shown this music i cant even begin to articulate it properly so, thank you! i appreciate it so much” she breathed out all in one, “but anyway, the video should be starting soon, so... i hope you like it, don't refresh! it’ll be here soon... i promise... just don't refresh” she urged dramatically, she was really dragging this out, “but yeh” she got out through laughs “the video should be starting anytime now, i love you guys” she blew a kiss to the camera before moving as close to the lens as possible “byee”.

🖤 there u go!! i hope you liked it, and any feedback would always always be welcomed and so so appreciated pls and thanku x 

[lambourngb]

re: your tags on that one post abt plotholes in rnm: what are the plotholes that make you lose the most sleep?

(this is my main btw, my rnm blog is @curlyguerin )

Hi! Okay... strap in, because there are a lot of little and big things that wiggle into my thoughts and makes me wonder ...am I the only one who couldn't follow that plotline?

In my opinion RNM suffers more from abandoned narratives and continuity errors than plot holes I guess, since we only have 2 seasons, with at least 2 more to go I guess I can hope they come back to these issues... but: [Under the cut plus some spoilers for season 3]

Things I would like explained :

1. What did Jesse Manes fund with family money in 1x08 ? I'm guessing it was surveillance of the town and the search for more aliens that could have escaped the military in 1947-1948. The idea that Jesse funded Caulfield is just laughable to me, along with how he was able to get his Army-assigned son moved from Germany to New Mexico for 5 years and no one noticed?? Caulfield has to be separate from whatever Jesse was doing in Roswell. Clearly there is still an ACTIVE military project focused on aliens because Flint isn't AWOL, Flint also takes Noah's body to Area 51, so where was Jesse in violation of his orders (Alex's threat to Jesse in 1x08 and then shipping him to Niger)? Surveilling citizens and setting up cameras all over town?

2. Did they ever build an Air Force base on the Fosters Homestead Ranch? (1x01-1x02) ...then it's never mentioned again.

3. I am aware I am the only one who cares about this little bit, but the show seemed to set up a narrative in season 1 about the spotlight Roswell shined white victims of crimes - like Katie and Jasmine, that the town of Roswell holds quite a lot of racism regarding justice- vilifying Rosa for over 10 years, ignoring the deaths of people around Ranchero Night, and then Noah kills Wyatt Long's best friend Hank Gibbons in 1x13. I dunno, I was expecting more from Wyatt in season 2 about this than picking a fight with Michael over Mimi's missing persons sheet and showing up with a crossbow in 2x04. And like, there was a theme of people going missing in season 2!! Mimi, Jenna, the weird twins from 2x06, Charlie -- but yet, no closer scrutiny by Sheriff Valenti other than her focus on Max Evans and the story about Mexico- Like this felt not like a plot hole, but a dropped narrative -- to wrap up the fate of Racist Hank in a missing persons sheet in 2x01. To treat him weirdly like all of Noah's other victims (who were women and men of color and poor), but for a few factors like he was white, he had actual lines in the show over a couple of episodes, and he's one of the few townspeople we learn his first and last name still sticks out in my mind as strange. The Doylist explanation is the actor wasn't available for season 2, but the Watson-perspective of this is just someone the in-show universe doesn't care about ...? Okay. I will keep that in mind, and try to ignore the fact that the town of Roswell swings wildly back to caring about white victims again in 2x13 with Jesse Manes.

4. The Alighting from 1x13 - just how far away was it from happening? Noah was ready to stick a sheriff's deputy, the town event planner and Michael (who probably would be been the only one to go missing without much fanfare, except maybe by Alex) into a pod...for how long? Months? Years? What was his endgame? how did he expect to go unnoticed by the town while he waited for his alien salvation/alien UBER to arrive? Could he just mindwarp everyone into forgetting about the pod squad? Since we didn't see any alien ships show up in the six months from 1x13 to 2x13, and no further follow up by any of our heroes about what Noah was babbling about... I'm going to say this should come back into play for season 3, otherwise it's the most egregious plot hole from season 1.

5. Why did Flint want to work with Helena? Jesse had this master plan that Helena knew all about apparently but she never shares the plan with Flint? Jesse never shares this plan with Flint either? Why? As far as I can tell from the plot of season 2, Jesse takes the console piece from Alex, he was going to kill Alex to keep him out of the way, use the console to blow up civilians, he created a paper trail that pointed the finger at Max, and then when everyone knew the truth about aliens, he was going to use HIS atomizer bomb to release the toxin that Charlie had already developed for Project Shepherd to kill all the aliens.... WHY would Flint want to stop that, especially since they fight in 2x11 over how slow Jesse was moving in his plans? Other than objecting to killing Alex, why would Flint turn Alex over to Helena to blackmail Michael into building a second atomizer bomb? He should have just kept Alex out of the way until it was all over and let Jesse proceed with his plans. Flint's desire to work with Helena Ortecho remains a plot hole to me, that is explained in the most flimsy way of he thinks his dad isn't serious about killing all the aliens even though he has the means? And if he takes Alex from Jesse's control so easily, why not steal the bomb Jesse had too?

6. These are more gripes about continuity, not really plot holes, but the fact we have this loose timeline of events but it doesn't match the weather of filming.... Like Heather Hemmens looked so gorgeous in that little silk outfit in 2x01, but she's wandering outside in Dec in Roswell New Mexico looking like that. I get that it was filmed in August/Sept of 2019 but come on... so my main frustration is I have no idea what season and month is supposed to be on screen. Universe timeline says Winter but filming schedule meant it was early fall with still having the heat of summer there...then the show ends in May/June in the universe, but we all know RNM wrapped in Dec 2019/Jan 2020 so they are all bundled up in winter again.

7. Also on continuity, small things like Rosa's birthday being wrong, the fact her astrological sign isn't Pieces for either date, openly letting Greg Manes see Rosa, not seeming to care that Liz's ex-fiance hears that Rosa is alive - like i'm sure her "dead" sister came up in conversation between Liz/Diego

- the show gives us this beautiful conversation with Michael sharing his background with Alex in 1x10, but then Alex completely forgets it in 2x04 by dropping some line like "this is what you do with family" when Michael expresses confusion about a height chart. Also, on the same note- the jabs about the Library being a dive bar, also felt like a drop in continuity because Alex knows that Michael just lost his mom (1x12) , the government IS studying aliens, and his brother is in a pod, so like, he has some very valid reasons to drink if that's what he wanted to do with in his life in early season 2!! but, also he knows Michael is a genius??

- Why Alex never mentions Rosa, Isobel's blackouts/why Michael gave up UNM, or even hint about what happened with his dad in the shed during his conversation with Maria in 2x05 is also beyond bizarre to me. It was an "information" dump conversation that Alex still doesn't share all the information he has about a situation and just ends up looking kind of judgmental in my opinion.

- the truck conversation in 2x06 between Maria and Alex, why Maria prompts a girl's name when Alex says he's never been in a real relationship INSTEAD of addressing the very real elephant in the room, Michael Guerin, that they had a conversation about in 2x05- also feels like a gap in continuity.

8. Science wise- the pathogen that Charlie developed? It was supposed to be so specific that it could kill a leader of Al Quada and all of their direct descendants but leave the rest of the population unharmed. [Which um, that's a war crime, but whatever!] How was Maria affected? the DNA they had at Caulfield to develop it - like, Maria was descended from Louise and Louise lived free. The only person that pathogen SHOULD have affected was Michael (if they used Nora to base it on) Unless you're telling me that there's some protein in "alien dna" that is so specific to aliens, that no other human shares it, but also so completely undetectable that Kyle couldn't find it in Maria's blood... ? I suppose it's possible. I hope we get more explanation about that in season 3. It makes me wonder why Caulfield/Project Shepherd ever let Patty Harris go after she volunteered for some study then, and remained content to just pay her medical bills through a fake insurance company? [But also didn't flag Mimi and all the doctors that Maria took her to???]

9. Michael's hand. I'm going to reserve judgment about this, because some of my salt on this is based on season 3 promo pictures, but I really thought that moment in 2x13 when he takes off his hat, while Alex is singing, you see him without the wrapping on his hand, that maybe he found some peace with Jesse dead and demolishing the shed with Alex. But then it looks like the hand-danna is all over season 3, right up until the finale of season 3, so... was that a mistake in wardrobe AND not a beautiful moment of character growth??? I wish I could extend some grace to RNM about that, but alas... see above for why I have trust issues.

10. Perhaps I wasn't watching season 1 closely, but I thought Noah's madness was brought on by the fact he was stuck in his pod? That it was "lower class travel accommodations" and Isobel's scream at 13 got his attention? I assumed that he stayed in the pod, possessing Isobel on and off, right up until he used her body to kill Rosa in 2008, absorbing enough power to break out. So how did Noah find Jim Valenti so quickly? If it was through Isobel's memories, then why did Jim not immediately have Noah, some random alien approaching him about his recently dead daughter, hauled off to Caulfield? Jim pays $1,000 for Rosa's body, putting her in a pod [Noah's broken pod??] and stores her, waiting for...something? An alien to come along to bring her back. So did Jim know about The Savior? Why would Jim work with Noah and vice versa? Again, I'm hoping we get more about this in season 3.

11. Was there a point of keeping Alex in the Air Force? He arranges a place for them to work on bringing Max back, but I feel like anyone could have done that? Like Isobel had money, she could have rented a storage facility. All of the equipment was borrowed from the hospital, not the military. The information about 1947-1948 was from the drives decoded from Caulfield or the AAR report left by Flint in the Project Shepherd bunker (which again was decommissioned, not an active military installation). I could support the decision if it had provided some richness to the plot or some conflict within the character, neither of which really happened. Alex hacking the government and going undercover in the Air Force to protect Michael is basically fanon. I love that fanon, but alas...

12. Finally, the time jump. What year are we jumping into? 2020? 2021? Why does it make me think none of those questions above will be answered.

[alolanrain]

Have some more HC! Though these are more based around Gou, Chloe, and the Galar League experiencing AshTM at his fullest.

———

Gou, Chloe, and Professor Cerise watching Ash one morning having a full stilt conversation with Mr.Mimy and Pikachu, and I’m talking a full conversation one human would have with another.

Mimy makes an off handed comment when Ash avoids eating the small sun tomatoes that the Pokémon had set into his plate. Ash fires back with a tired “I do not!” And both Pikachu and Mimy shoot back absolutely gibberish at the other three humans stand point.

Everyone pauses because their kinda used to Ash generally understanding Pokémon better then they were but not at this extent. They watch as Mimy huffs and crosses his arms before glaring Ash into submission who wilts over his plate and stuffs one of those tomato’s into his mouth and glares at Pikachu was was snickering over his own cucumber slice.

———

Ash taking Gou, and Cerise forcing Chloe to go to because Sunlight is good for you Sweetheart, to Oaks lab and Ranch.

Chloe likes the country view, though she doesn’t like how early they had to get up, and makes small talk with Ash as they walk from Viridian through the forest. She keeps a tight and painful grip on Gou’s arm so the boy doesn’t dart off somewhere and the other two leave them behind.

Besides the grip on his arm Gou is excitedly yelling-talking about how amazing Oaks ranch is supposed to be and how all the super strong Pokémon are there as well. It’s during another reiteration when a loud cry echoes through the early morning fog and Ash, who was walking half dead on his feet, peeks up and skips ahead of the frozen pair.

Both Chloe and Gou go to warn him, or in Gou’s case pull him back, but their once more stun frozen when Ash opens his arm out and a giant Pidgeot comes drifting down from the tree canopy and perches itself onto Ash’s arm. The young adult/old teen easily holding the large bird Pokémon no problem on one arm.

“Everyone!” Ash turns to look at his two friends, “meet one of my first Pokémon! Pidgeot!”

Ash’s smile is tired and a bit strained, more so with his backpack filled to the brim with science paperwork from Cerise to Oak then the giant fucking bird perched on his arm, and he looks angelical and also strangely a bit scary with how the Golden morning rays splash down from between the trees.

It takes a few seconds for them to realize what happen before Gou goes into a MASSIVE freak out and starts asking Ash all these questions which he answers none to instead talk to Pidgeot. Having another full stilt conversation while Pikachu sleeps in his shoulder.

Pidgeot leaves after rubbing its beak against both sides of Ash’s head and tapping lightly against Pikachu’s. Immediately disappearing into the leaves. Gou jumps Ash again and Chloe has to drag him off the poor Pallet boy. The only explanation that Ash gives them is that Pidgeot is his and that they protect Viridian forest and all the other Pokémon in it.

“But there’s nothing to protect the forest from.” Gou points out.

“That’s what you think!” Ash covered a yawn before waving at the two. “We’ll be late at this point, come on.”

They make it to Oaks ranch. All the while Ash is eyeing any coffee shop or bakery that is, super sadly, not open yet because of how early it still is. Ash doesn’t even bother knocking. Flouncing in with Pikachu practically stumbling/melting off his shoulders down to the scuffed hardwood floors before moving upstairs.

Gou and Chloe hiss at him because it’s obvious that no one is home or no one is even up. Ash waves them off, stating that he’s been doing this since he was six years old, and moving to the kitchen after closing the door behind the two and towing off his shoes. Chloe and Gou following nervously after him and quietly hisses at Ash to stop being so loud, going clanking pots and pans, as Ash makes Arceus forsaken coffee in the professors house.

Ash continues to ignore them. Forcing them to sit in the kitchen table chairs, leaving the island open, and telling them if that they don’t want coffee then they can just not talk. Chloe gets huffy but she still ask’s for a cup, which Ash happily obliged after getting what she adds to her coffee, and Gou still starts to quietly rant about how they couldn’t be doing this at all but he still doesn’t get up from his seat that Ash forced him into.

Not long after the smell of, probably illegal coffee with how strong it smells, coffee drifted through the kitchen. Loud knocking sounds came from upstairs and a string of curseing soon follows as a door opens up.

“Good morning!” Ash does the unthinkable and bellows as loud as he could. Chloe and Gou finally stiff up to tell him to stfu and not anger the Professor when Professor Daisy walks in like a half alive zombie.

“You.” She points to a tired but insane grinning Ash. Shuffling forward and cupping both of the boys cheeks before swaying his head back and forth. “Are sunshine incarnation and, therefore, a bane to my existence.”

“But you love me.” Ash slurred with the way Daisy keeps squishing his cheeks.

“I do,” She mumbled and tugged him into a loose hug, “but fuck you at the same time.”

This sends Ash into giggles, because that’s just Daisy for you, which worsens when he sees Gou and Chloes shocked faces.

“Oaks are affectionate without their coffee in the morning-Argk!” Ash was cut off by a swift back of the head hit from Daisy who didn’t even tear her eyes away from the pot.

“Little fucking shit,” she growled, “That’s just Gary.”

“And Green!” Aah whined. Running his head.

“And Green.” She was quick to agree.

Soon Professor Oak actually comes up from his lab, sleeping down there AGAIN Professor?, and then Gary soon follows. Pressing himself up agains Ash’s back and starts to mutter how Ashy is a sunshine God and how he’s the only one who knows how to make good fucking strong coffee in this house hold. I’m talking about you Daisy-

“It’s because he stashed the illegal good shit somewhere away from us.” Daisy makes it out by taking a loud pointed sip and eyeing Ash, and by extension Gary who was pointing because the pot was tk far away from his position as a human Komala, then the cupboards.

“It’s not there.” Ash mumbled while setting the pile of paperwork on the table and stuffing the now empty bag off the chair so he could push Gary lightly into it to go make the brunettes cup.

Chloe at that moment decides to just... roll with the punches and just take the cup of coffee without complaint. It is in fact that good illegal shit and she made a zipping close motion over her mouth when Daisy sent a glare her way.

Gou is having his mind blown to smithereens for like the fifth time that day but he decides to keep quite so he can question Oak about a bunch of stuff like his last few research papers.

“Ash’s pokemon actually helped a lot with those papers.” Oak purposely chooses to ignore Ash’s clear facial expression of pure agony when Gou sent a wide eyed look at him.

Ash’s pokemon are mostly moved to his house by know besides Muk because he eats the Professors food recycling and compost so Gou and Chloe don’t get to see any of them besides what he has on hand and Muk.

“You should go and show Lance and Agatha what you caught.” Daisy makes the mistake this time because now Gou has, once more, descended upon him asking if he knows THE Champion Lance.

———

It happens in the same day. Chloe was supposed to be back in Viridian an hour ago for school but her dad called her out for the day saying something like, it’s more educational! And you get to see more of Kanto then you’ve ever had before!, which is whatever.

Gou is freaking out even more, like to the point of hyperventilating, as he reads off any facts that he can fine on the Kanto Champ and E-Four. Ash doesn’t even bother listening, to tired still because Daisy and Gary drained the entire fucking pot before Ash’s second cup, and he’s instead texting Lance to meet him behind a Denys so he can fist fight the man instead of their Dragonites.

Lance, being the League Dad that he is, decided to wait for Ash and His friends right out in front of the front door. Decked in his casual wear because he Dad.

Ash, on sight, gets the giant urge to punch Lance because he needs to just Stop but he settles for stomping on his feet when Lance pulls him into a hug and keeps an arm curled around him as he leads them through the castle to his office. Chloe and Gou don’t spot him because their both to preoccupied with freaking out about being in the Kanto/Johto League Castle to see Lance and Ash tripping each other up throughout the entire way.

———

Ash got the other Champions addicted to Boba. It got to the point that they always go out a get some after meetings or during their lunch breaks during those meetings.

Ash’s favorite is orange cream with mango jellies that fill the entire bottom of the cup.

———

Dawn has kind of become a sister between Ash and Gary, they form the Gremlin Trio, and this causes the adults such as Professor Oak and Delia to cring slightly because the trios dynamic reminds them of Red, Green, and Blue.

[imjeralee]

Comfort in Despair: Chapter 18 - The Witch of Wedgehurst

Leon x F!Reader

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon

Summary:

Galar is rich in folklore and tales of the supernatural.

As a Pokemon Researcher who specialises in ghost types, this is a great opportunity for you to investigate and learn more about the paranormal.

Along the way, you meet Leon (in the most awkward way possible) who becomes embroiled in your adventures.

^ Basically this story is about ghosts :/

Rating: General/Teen

@marydragneell​ oh my goodness, I almost forgot to keep the tag list on my chapter updates. Sorry T_T

The Witch of Wedgehurst

...

...

["Oh please, say to me You'll let me be your man And please, say to me You'll let me hold your hand Now, let me hold your hand I want to hold your hand."

- I Want To Hold Your Hand, The Beatles]

…

…

In the laboratory, you are occupied with Leon’s flowers and Pokemon School is forgotten for now. You are keen to display them and intend to keep them for alive for as long as possible, and you grab a pair of scissors from Magnolia’s stationary tub and find a spare vase in the cupboard underneath the sink which you rinse out before you fill it with some water.

You’re not a professional at flower arranging in any manner whatsoever but you carefully unravel the cellophane and neatly take the flowers out one by one, placing them over the table until the bouquet rustles, and you suddenly hear a loud squeak.

“What was that?”

Looking up and around, the ghost pokemon haven’t seem to have noticed. Gengar and Runerigus are playing upstairs, shadow tag or something, whilst you have left Mimikyu on her own with pieces of blank paper and some felt-tip pens.

Perhaps you’d heard wrong.

With an inward shrug, you pull out another flower and the squeaking returns and it occurs to you it’s coming from within the bouquet so you gently pry some flowers apart and it’s then you see a tiny little yellow pokemon nestled within, blinking its massive, bright and wet eyes at you.

“Oh!” you exclaim, before you scoop the Sunkern out and hold it up in the base of your palms. “Oh my gosh, what are you doing here, little guy?”

It squeaks and jiggles up and down in your palm, shaking its two leaves happily.

“I wonder how long you were in there,” you murmur, before you gently place him over the surface of the table.

He ends up rolling around in a semi-circle and comes to a stop, lying on his back. Squeaking for you, he is unable to get up so you scoop him into your palms once more, inch a mug over and prop him up against the handle. He squeaks loudly with gratitude and you giggle.

“So cute…” you coo, as you reach over and pet him affectionately on the leaves. “You can stay right here with me.”

But he must be hungry and thirsty, you think, so you find Magnolia’s mini Phanpy watering can by one of the potted plants. It’s almost empty so you fill it in the sink and head over to your little Sunkern before you sprinkle some water over his leaves.

He blinks and looks up, then begins gulping some of the water and bounces up and down on the spot.

Pulling a seat out, you plop yourself down and pick up one of the flowers, snipping off an inch or so of the stem before you slip it into the awaiting vase.

The ghost pokemon eventually return to you, with Gengar slinking into one seat and Runerigus standing beside you and you smile at your pokemon as they gather around. Mimikyu pokes your arm with a claw and as you turn round, she's waving a piece of paper in the air; she wants to show you what she drew and you take the picture off her. It's a crude drawing of Mimikyu stabbing a Pikachu, complete with blood. Below, she has scribbled ‘Me Kill Pikachu’. You put the drawing down, then turn to Mimikyu who giggles and waves her tendrils around happily in the air.

“….I think I’m gonna keep an eye on you from now on,” you murmur but she merely snickers and climbs into a seat.

With a shadowy claw, she picks up a single flower before she's joined by Runerigus who copies her action, twirling the flower around in his fingers and Gengar does the same.

“Ohh, do you want to help me out?” you ask with a smile, and everyone nods. “Thank you, I would like that very much.”

The pokemon respond cheerfully and together, you work on preparing the bouquet which doesn't take long with your pokemon helping you. Mimikyu and Gengar pass you the flowers one by one and you snip the stems off carefully and pass it to Runerigus who slips it into the awaiting vase. You finish up in a few minutes or so, and Runerigus appears to have taken a liking to flower arrangement and his skills are impressive. He’s very careful and gentle with the flowers which you are grateful for and once the vase is full, you empty the packet of flower food supplied and pick the vase up.

“Now grow strong, my pretties,” you say with a cackle, and your pokemon join in, grinning and chortling by your side. “Alright, let’s go home.”

The pokemon cheer and Gengar leaps into your shadow whilst Mimikyu and Runerigus return to their capsules.

You want to display the vase in the house, somewhere in the conservatory where it can get as much sunlight as possible. Donning your jacket, you slip Sunkern into your pocket since he doesn't have a pokeball yet and when you ensure that he won't slip out, you smile as he squeaks and nestles himself into the small slot. He looks rather cosy and you proceed to switch off all the lights of the lab and inspect the space once more in case you forgot anything, then carefully scoop the vase up with one hand, close the door and lock it behind you.

As you pull the key out, a loud swoop penetrates the atmosphere along with an alarmed squeak from Sunkern; a dark shadow has appeared from literally out of nowhere and with claws out, it dives for your bouquet and proceeds to tear at the flowers before you can stop it.

The momentum knocks the vase out of your hands and it meets the concrete, shattering into various pieces.

"NOW!"

You're staring wordlessly at the mess on the ground and so you don't even notice the trio of youngsters who jump out from the bushes by the lab with a loud battle cry and their arms are full of little pebbles, which they promptly begin to toss at your direction.

"Witch!" they yell, "take this, you evil witch!!"

Their voices are so far away, your gaze transfixed on the destroyed bouquet at your feet.

Making no effort to avoid the stones, one sharp pebble in particular smacks you in the side of the head and the edge tears at your skin.

Gengar immediately emerges from your shadow on the door, his eyes glowing a furious red as he holds his arms out. The stones stop in mid-air, surrounded by a dark purple glow, before they go shooting the opposite direction and towards the kids. He is joined by Runerigus who leaves his capsule in a burst of light. He guards you, preventing any loose stones from hitting you; they smack into his large and rocky body instead though the pebbles are akin to a piece of cork being thrown against a brick wall, and he roars as loudly as he can at the children.

They wail and scream as Gengar pelts them in return with their own stones, and they spin on their heel to make a hasty retreat only to be met with Mimikyu.

"Pick on someone your own size!!" Mimikyu growls, before her ragdoll disguise splits into two, unleashing many shadowy tendrils to smack them on their rears as they scrabble away. Spearow follows them, who is promptly returned to its pokeball by one of the kids.

She attempts to chase after them but you say, "Mimikyu, stop."

"But-"

You shake your head and her ragdoll body pieces itself back together and she shuffles over to your side; you thank the pokemon for protecting you but the damage is done. Leon's flowers are ravaged and you gaze limply at the scattered pieces of the broken vase.

"...It's ruined," you mumble under your breath, before you emit a sigh and shake your head. "...I can't believe it."

You had them for less than fifteen minutes.

They were a gift to you.

From Leon.

Leon.

Frustration claws its way into your system along with an overwhelming urge to mourn, and the corner of your eyes become prickled with tears; you dab at them hastily and Gengar pats you on the head whilst Mimikyu and Runerigus rub your back. You thank your pokemon again and lower yourself to a crouch, picking up the broken pieces. They join in, helping you tidy up the glass and the flowers silently, before Runerigus finds an intact white flower which survived the onslaught and he nudges it for your taking.

"Oh...Thank you, Runi."

His eye creases slightly before he plops his large hand atop your head and you smile at him as you hold the flower gingerly in hands. You will protect this flower at all costs.

"He says...it's going to be okay," Mimikyu pipes up and you nod.

"Thanks Mimi. Thanks everyone. C'mon...Let's go," you murmur.

With your pokemon by your side, the walk back home is a long one.

...

Sonia's not home yet and Magnolia and Yamper are still sleeping. It's just you on your own as usual. It's a typical night you suppose (aside from the stoning), and after you carefully put the salvaged flower into another vase in the conservatory, you lift Sunkern out from your pocket and settle him into one of the larger potted plants where he can sit in the soil and hopefully soak up all the nutrients he needs to grow healthy and strong. Sunkern glances around his new home and squeaks happily at you before burrowing inside, closing his eyes.

He's out for the night so you head upstairs to take a shower. Gengar, Mimikyu and Runerigus remain in the lounge, watching you plod upstairs with your head low.

"Let’s find those kids and kill them, mi mi," Mimikyu growls, curling one claw into a tight fist.

Gengar and Runerigus throw each other concerned glances before Gengar floats up and into the air, shaking his head.

"Then let's curse them, mi."

Gengar pauses, partially tempted, but shakes his head once more.

Killing or cursing children is not the answer so he iterates that they should focus on cheering up their trainer.

He suggests they should call Leon, perhaps.

"Call Leon, mi?"

He nods, and Runerigus seems happy to go along with this plan too.

"Yes, let's do that, mi," Mimikyu replies, clapping two tendrils together, "Rotom?"

There is a brief silence until your phone comes hovering towards the lounge, having been summoned.

"Yo wazzzup, what'zzzz the - Bzzzrt!! What???"

Mimikyu envelopes Rotom with her tendrils and reels him in to sit in front of her, tapping at the screen with her claws, going through the phonebook and finding Leon's contact number. You only have five contacts so it didn't take long at all and she spots Leon's name and hastily presses the button. Rotom switches to phone mode and it rings for a few seconds. The ghost pokemon wait with baited breath as they huddle in front of your phone, watching the screen.

The screen flickers on before Leon abruptly appears.

"Hi - oh, what's this?" he utters, shocked by what he's seeing.

"Mi hello."

"Mimikyu?"

"Yes, it is mi, Mimikyu."

"What's wrong?" Leon asks, before he asks for your whereabouts. Are you okay? Has something happened? Arceus, are you in trouble???

"It's an emergency, mi mi, the flowers. She is in trouble, mi. Come to the house."

"I'll come over right now!" He exclaims without a second to spare; he promptly hangs up and Mimikyu giggles, clasping her tendrils together.

Her work here is done.

...

"I can't fight it anymore. I ran away from you once. I can't do it again. Oh, I don't know what's right any longer. You'll have to think for both of us, for all of us."

"All right, I will. Here's looking at you, kid."

"I wish I didn't love you so much."

Sappy, romantic music plays from the TV as you watch the couple on screen embrace tightly.

"They make it look so easy," you mumble as you sit slouched low on the sofa, grabbing a handful of chips from the bowl and shoving them into your mouth and crunching on them noisily whilst Gengar and Runerigus sit beside you, sipping their tea.

Then the doorbell rings and there's someone pounding on the front door.

Who could that possibly be, and at this hour?

Did Sonia forget her key again?

You stop stuffing your face and emit an exhausted 'mrrgfhhh', before you drag yourself up and off the couch, yelling, "Sonnie, you're lucky I'm home tonight!" as you shuffle over. Once you're at the door, you peer through the peephole and gasp when you see who it is. "No way!" you exclaim under your breath.

You hastily unlock the front door and throw it open, revealing that it is none other than a flustered-looking Leon who stands in full Champion gear on your doorstep.

For a second or so, you both blink at each other before spluttering out simultaneously:

"Leon?!" "Are you okay?"

You blink whilst his face goes red.

"I'm okay." "Mimikyu called me and said you were in trouble!"

"...Sorry."

"Um. Y-you go first."

Leon subjects you to a look from head to toe; here you are barefoot with a large bag of original-flavoured chips in one hand. No trouble here.

You cringe, hoping he didn't hear you yelling about Sonia.

"I-I'm fine, Leon, there's no emergency," you toss a glance to the lounge where your Rotom phone and the rest of the Pokemon wave and waggle their fingers and claws at you. "Wait. You said Mimikyu called you?"

He nods and notices the cut on your forehead.

You quickly piece two and two together and cringe again. ".....Oh god, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Leon. It's a false alarm. I'll keep a closer eye on Mimikyu from now on. I'm fine. Really, I am."

He does not look entirely swayed so you nod vigorously to convince him.

"Um, do you want to come in?" you ask, holding the door open.

"Ah...I-I can't. The beauty pageant is tonight."

"Tonight?!"

"Yeah."

You blink cluelessly as you had absolutely no knowledge of this but you supposed it was due to your lack of interest in current affairs. However, Leon didn't mention it to you either and neither did anyone else; you can only presume no-one in your limited social circle is interested in the pageant and you're brought out of your reverie when Leon raises a hand to carefully brush away some hair from the side of your face and you freeze on the spot as his fingertips gently press against the small wound.

You wince under his touch and he murmurs, "What happened?"

"I got stoned. Literally," you grumble with a roll of your eyes.

"Mimikyu mentioned something about flowers."

Your face falls. "Oh. Right. Um....yeah, about that..." you give Leon an exasperated look and sigh, "...they're ruined."

You tell him about the kids.

Leon's expression softens before he pulls his hand away to wrap around your own. "I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you. Come with me."

"...Where?"

He chuckles. "My house."

And Leon smiles reassuringly at you and so you nod and grab your coat. Returning your pokemon into their capsules, you slip into your shoes and fling a glance to the staircase. Magnolia hasn't woken up so you quietly lock the door behind you and join Leon on the stony path. He gives you a warm smile and you return his smile with a fond one of your own, pulling the lapels of your coat tighter to yourself.

"So, how long do you have before they notice you're gone?"

"Half hour or so."

"Really?"

"Yes, they think I'm in my dressing room."

"Oh, Leon."

He's snooping out to see you; this isn't like him at all, but you can't help but feel happy.

"When Mimikyu called, I was so worried. I had to see you," he utters.

You pause slightly in mid-step, your heart fluttering for the umpteenth time; Leon responds with a sheepish smile.

As you meander further down the path with him, you sigh and throw your glimpse to the night sky. It's getting colder and Leon sticks close to you which you are grateful for as he provides some extra warmth to you just by being close.

Your footsteps echo one another and your shoulders nudge together. On several periods, you'll carefully slide your glance to his direction and you will see him smiling to himself. You like that about him, how he's always wearing a kind smile no matter what.

With that thought in mind, your cheeks warm up all over again and your fingers suddenly brush together as Leon steps a little closer to you than necessary and the sides of your palm briefly come into contact.

You stiffen somewhat yet you do not retreat from his action so your hands linger millimetres apart in some kind of limbo before Leon ultimately takes charge and uses his pinky finger to hook around yours and pull you in just a little closer to him. It's a careful and calculated movement on his part to test the waters but it's enough to make you blush.

As Leon glances at you from the corner of his eyes to gauge your reaction, you weave your pinky finger around his in return and for a while as you're walking along the linear path from Wedgehurst to Postwick, you wish this tender moment you are sharing with the Champion would never end, though you inwardly hope there would be more.

As though reading your thoughts, Leon decides to step it up a notch and slinks his ring finger around yours.

He's becoming bold for good reason, and you encourage him further by mimicking his action and looping your middle finger around his and this continues until the rest of your fingers entwine together and the two of you are holding hands very firmly.

Neither of you say a word nor do you look at one another but your heart pounds and he clears his throat silently. You dare to sneak a peek at him again to see what he's up to, and you see he's got this goofy smile plastered on his handsome face and his cheeks are tickled pink.

His hand is much bigger than yours and also a lot warmer and the base of his palm is rather callused, probably from long and hard years of training with his Pokemon. Initially nothing else happens until Leon gives your hand a squeeze and you respond by rubbing your thumb over his and this sets off a brief fondling session where he slides his thumb over the smooth skin of your knuckles and you shiver somewhat before you squeeze his hand playfully in return.

This enjoyable moment does unfortunately comes to an end when you arrive at Leon's house and as if on cue, the front door opens and Leon's mother pokes her head outside, glancing at the two of you in surprise.

"Leo!?" she exclaims, before she sees your joined hands and her eyes actively pop out of her sockets. "Oh my."

"Hi mum."

She giggles and holds the door wide open; ecstatic to see you both, she proceeds to usher you inside. "This is such a lovely surprise! Come in, come in, my dear!"

"Thank you very much."

She's not alone. Hop emerges from the lounge, clutching Wooloo in his arms. "Lee???"

"Hi Hop."

He shouts with joy, diving for his older brother, "What are you doing here???"

"Unfortunately I can't stay for long," Leon replies, chuckling.

The grandparents are missing but you imagine they're most likely fast asleep. Leon sheepishly explains to his family why he's brought you over but his mother says no reason or explanation is necessary and she's extremely glad to have you over and see you again; you will need to catch up later, she says. She's smiling widely at you and you're not sure what's quite going on.

"What in the name of Arceus happened to you, dear?" Leon's mum asks; she has noticed the nasty cut on the side of your head and your bandaged arm.

"Ah....it's nothing. Just an accident."

"Oh dear, let's get that looked at ASAP," she hastily steers you to the kitchen where she seats you in a random chair and Leon follows, settling himself into the chair beside yours whilst Hop lingers at the doorway with Wooloo. Leon's mum bustles around the kitchen, locating the first-aid kit from a cupboard near the sink which she brings over; immediately, Leon begins sifting for the appropriate supplies.

"Mum, I can take it from here," he says, fishing out a cotton swab, some ointment and a clean plaster.

Surprised, Leon's mum nods and nudges the kit further for his taking. Then she hastily makes a swift exit, grabbing Hop and Wooloo along the way.

"Whoa!!" Hop exclaims, but she goes 'sshhhh, they need to be alone!' and then it grows silent.

You watch their retreating backs whilst Leon reaches over and dabs at your cut with the cotton, sweeping ointment over the wound.

"Tell me if I hurt you," he murmurs.

"...M'kay."

You sit still in the chair with your back straight as much as possible, head tilted to the ceiling slightly so Leon can brush the small cut with the ointment. He applies the plaster over your skin once the task is completed, smoothing it down with his fingers.

"There we go."

"Thanks Leon."

He grins, leaning forwards in his seat to grab and squeeze your hand affectionately. "...You can call me 'Lee'."

A smile worms its way across your face as your gazes meet and you're both smiling at each other; however, the moment is short-lived when Leon catches glimpse of the clock behind you on the wall and his smile drops.

"I should go."

"Okay," you say, with a sulk.

He chuckles and releases your hand, rising to stand and adjusting his cap and you follow him out of the kitchen and into the landing; mum and Hop return, keen to know what's going on and what's up between the two of you and whatnot. He exchanges some brief words with his family before they share a quick embrace; he needs to return to Wyndon. The beauty pageant is beginning in forty minutes and his presence cannot be missed.

"I'll see you guys soon," he promises as he exits the house and steps into the front yard. Mum and Hop follow him out and so do you, watching as he releases Charizard from his capsule. The flame pokemon lands on the ground and spreads his wings, glancing at Leon expectantly.

"Bye Lee!" Hop shouts, waving fiercely as Leon climbs over Charizard's awaiting back.

"Be safe, dear."

"I will!" Leon yells with a wide grin; he waves to his mother and brother before his eyes lands on you and his grin widens. Your cheeks heat up and you wave as the flame pokemon manoeuvres himself into position, stamping his large and bulky hind legs over the ground as he prepares for lift off. Leon pats the side of his neck and the pokemon huffs loudly. "Charizard, let's go!"

Emitting a loud roar, Charizard flaps his wings and in one massive swoop, he takes off to the sky, disappearing in a blink.

Leon is gone.

You linger with his family outside before they decide to retreat into their warm and toasty house.

"Why don't stay here for the time being, my dear?" says Leon's mum, nudging her head towards the direction of the living room.

"Yeah!! Let's watch the beauty pageant together!" Hop exclaims, and you nod.

"Thank you. That would be nice."

"I'll get the popcorn!" Hop yells, and he rushes past you and into the kitchen.

“And I’ll get the camera,” says mum, before she dashes to one of the cupboards near the mantelpiece, pulling it wide open and lifting out an old-fashioned camcorder which she hastily switches on. "I always record all of Leo's programs or shows."

You join her as she plops herself down on one of the plushy couches and Hop returns into the living room with a large bowl of popcorn. He climbs over the settee with Wooloo and switches the TV on, passing the popcorn to you, and the TV, switched to the Galar main broadcasting channel, is now playing the Miss Galar Beauty Pageant theme song with the logo slapped over the screen. Checking the clock on the wall, you think Sonia might be home by now...no doubt, she'd be watching the pageant too.

"Have you watched the Miss Galar pageants before?" Hop asks, and you shake your head. "It's a blast! Lee's been a judge for five years now!"

"Oh, r-really?"

He nods. "Yeah, and some girls get really attached to him after that."

"Oh," you say again.

You're not really surprised.

"I swear, every year some floozy decides to latch onto our Leo and obsessively call him 'hers'." huffs Leon's mum, who shakes her head as she stuffs some popcorn into her mouth.

The show begins and it's an impressive display; the stage is alit with loud modern music and bright lights, accompanied with dancers and pokemon in funky costumes who parade around onstage and you watch as two men and a woman in evening outfits along with a Clefable appear at the very end of the extravagant opening, excitedly introducing themselves as the presenters of the program; it's taking place at Wyndon stadium and the pitch has been converted from Pokemon battle arena to a stage ripe for a pageant, with a massive T-shaped catwalk, tonnes of spotlights and various tables and chairs for the judges. It's a full audience, too.

The judges are introduced; looks like Leon made it in time because he's sitting at his designated table and waving to the crowd once the spotlight is on him. The audience cheers at wildly for him as he smiles and waves. He is impeccable as always.

With camcorder in hand, Leon's mum flicks her gaze to you and directs the camera to your direction to record your reaction whilst Hop points and hoots excitedly.

"There he is, there he is!!! Lee!!!"

"Thank you," Leon on TV says, and your heart thuds terribly when you see his grinning face on screen.

The remaining judges are introduced but you're too busy gawking at Leon to pay attention to the other judges and when the camera returns to the Champion, Hop exclaims and jumps up and down in his seat all over again.

The pageant begins, curtains rising, and the contestants step onto the stage; the judges are strategically seated so they can get a good view. The contenders consist of tall and beautiful young women dressed in swimsuits with ribbons looped around their bodies detailing where they're from. There's Miss Postwick, Miss Wedgehurst, Miss Turrfield and so on.

Each and every single contestant proudly stride past the judges and Leon, waving cheerfully to the crowd with massive smiles on their faces. These ladies are extremely fit and slender, with lean bodies and not a single blemish on their body. Their high heels are a ridiculous height yet they have no difficulty as they perform the rehearsed routine with the dancers and Pokemon behind them.

It's a long show.

You plough through two gruelling hours with Hop and Leon's mum, going through three or so bags of popcorn altogether as each and every single contestant go through several montages; they are interviewed and questioned, receive the opportunity to show off their dresses and swimsuits, demonstrate their unique talents, talk about their goals and visions for Galar and soon it's time for the results, beginning with third place.

"Are you ready folks? It's time to reveal who our third runner up is!" exclaims one of the presenters and you are all on the edge of your seats as you await the result.

A red throne has been carried to the middle of the catwalk where the winner will sit. After the short drumroll, Miss Spikemuth is called out and the audience goes wild. A pale-skinned young woman with long and flowy jet black hair stalks over to the three-tiered podium where a man in a tuxedo with a ribbon and tiara is waiting for her. The camera shifts to Leon and the judges who clap for her.

"Congratulations, Miss Spikemuth! Now......second runner up....is-!!!"

"I hope it's Miss Ballonlea," you utter. "Her talent was very impressive."

"Yes, that flute recital was very enchanting," says Leon's mum.

"I hope she wins too," says Hop.

"Miss Ballonlea!!!"

You, Leon's mum and Hop whoop, then you all exchange a high five.

Miss Ballonlea, a blonde-haired woman, joins Miss Spikemuth on the opposite of the podium whilst crying incessantly.

"And finally, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for...WHO will be this year's Miss Galar????"

The drumroll intensifies.

And the living room is quiet until-

"Miss Postwick! Miss Postwick!" cheers Leon's mum, whilst you're secretly rooting for Miss Wedgehurst to win.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of this year's Miss Galar Beauty Pageant IS.........."

The suspense is killing you all.

"....MISS HULBURY!!!!"

A small fraction of the crowd who hail from the city cheer wildly as an extremely attractive young woman steps forwards, clasping both hands over her mouth in shock. Confetti is tossed over her and a fanfare plays; Leon and the remaining judges move to stand, clapping as she glances around the stage, awestruck and numb. The unsuccessful contestants clap, though some look a little annoyed by the results.

"Give it up for Miss Hulbury!!! Congratulations, your city must be very proud of you!" the TV presenter roars wildly into the microphone and he beckons her to join the other two crowned contestants, though she briefly steps on the podium for a few seconds or so before all the winners leave.

They head for the red throne though Miss Hulbury seats herself down and soon, you see Leon leaving his seat and heading for the stage.

This is the first time you've watched a Miss Galar Beauty Pageant and you're not sure what he's doing, but a whole shebang of awards are presented to Miss Hulbury consisting of a glistening silver tiara, a silver sceptre with the symbol of Galar, a ribbon and a red velvet cape that...looks similar to Leon's????

The tiara is carefully fastened atop her head by the young man in a tux and she is handed the jewel-encrusted silver sceptre. The ribbon is also fixed around her torso and Leon arrives at her side as the cape is looped over her shoulders; she looks at him and smiles.

The newly crowned Miss Galar rises to stand and joins the Champion, who offers his arm to her.

As you watch the scene unfold, you lean forwards in your seat, your eyes glued to the screen. Hop and Leon's mum swerve their gazes to you.

Background music begins to play and Wyndon stadium is alit with cheering and applause.

"There she is, Miss Galar...there she is, your ideal....the dream of a million girls who are more than pretty can come true in Wyndon City ~ " one of the presenters begins to sing, joined with a Clefable, with his arm out as the beautiful young woman strolls down the catwalk with sceptre in hand and her arm looped around Leon's, her cape fluttering with his.

You gape as they stride to one side of the catwalk and back, and it feels like the walk of eternity until they return to the middle and Leon pulls his arm away gently so she can return to the throne; they shake hands and she reclaims her seat on the red velvet chair, smiling and waving for the camera.

She blows a kiss, and the screen fades to black.

....

Meanwhile.

It’s night-time.

She discovers she’s standing underneath an old and large, derelict tower for some reason, damp and cold.

There’s a single thought running through her mind right now and it is quite simple: I want to go home.

Home.

Where is home?

….Motostoke….Twenty three…Dorset… Road…

Where is she?

Glancing around, she has no recognition of where she is nor does she recognise her surroundings.

However, the loud crow of a bird pokemon along with a rather frantic and anxious yell of “Miss, are you okay?” grabs her attentions and she glances up to the dark sky to see a Corviknight taxi landing before her. The windscreen wipers are switched on, the rubber blades squeaking against the glass as they swipe away the heavy rain in hypnotic fashion.

The cabbie hops off the vehicle, heavy-duty boots crunching over the squelchy mud as he holds onto his woolly trapper hat which is threatening to blow away in the wind.

“Good heavens, Miss, a-are you alright?” he squawks in alarm as he looks at her from head to toe. Even Corviknight seems perturbed by her appearance, his red eyes widening thoroughly.

“....Home,” she merely says as she settles her limp gaze on the little man, “I want to go home.”

“Uh, Miss, I think I outta take you to the nearest hospital…”

“Home,” she says again, blinking through the raindrops that batter her bedraggled form and pelt her eyelashes. “I want to go home.”

“Okay, where do you live? I’ll give you a ride,” the cabbie replies and he dashes to his carriage, climbs the ladder and returns to his perch atop his large steed.

“Motostoke,” she says, “Twenty three…..Dorset Road…”

"Got it, hop in!"

The cabbie watches her slip inside the empty, awaiting carriage and close the door. She sits rigidly in the chair, staring limply ahead of her.

On the small control panel of the cab, he locks the door, grabs onto the reigns of Corviknight and instructs the large bird to take off to the skies despite the heavy rain. A thunderstorm is in the making and the wind is reported to be over eighty miles per hour but he is undaunted. The cabbie braves the fierce storm and avoids some dangerous-looking clouds; Corviknight, being a seasoned flier with over eighty thousand miles or so of experience, isn’t shaken by the random bouts of lightning and the loud, overhead boom of thunder as they traverse the miserable sky.

He’s not supposed to fly in these conditions, but it doesn’t help that he was trying to get out of the storm and the Wild Area as quickly as possible after depositing a customer near North Lake Miloch and happened to see a blood-stained girl on the ground looking rather lost and dazed near the ruins of the old Watchtower.

However, he can’t shake off the feeling that there is something wrong with her.

She’s drenched in blood, covered in bruises, donned in raggedy clothing…she’s clearly shocked and confused and needs help.

He should report this, and once Motostoke looms into view, he finds the address the girl had stated and presses down on a button that links to the intercom inside the cab.

“Miss? We’re here.”

Awaiting for a response, he is however, greeted with silence and the occasional crackling of static.

He shrugs inwardly and directs Corviknight to land in front of a two-storey detached house with red bricks and a white door and the cab lands safely on the ground, a low but steady grumble emitting from the earth upon arrival. Immobile, he unlocks the cabbie door, climbs off his steed and down the ladder whilst the bird stretches his wings and shakes himself, sending huge droplets of water into the air.

The cabbie goes up to the door of the cab, peers through the window and proceeds to gasp loudly.

The interior of the cab is empty.

He flings the door open and pokes his head inside.

“S-she’s gone?!!” he cries, before he tears off his goggles as though determined to ensure that his old eyes were not playing tricks on him.

Summoned by the commotion outside and a random Corviknight taxi, the front door to the house of twenty three Dorset Road opens and a middle-aged woman and a teenage girl with a Sylveon peek out.

“….Can we help you?” the woman asks.

The cabbie gawks at the woman and lass and points frantically at his own cab. “The girl!!! The passenger!!! She’s gone!!! She asked to be taken to Motostoke, twenty three Dorset Road!!! I swear she was inside and never got out, the doors are automatically locked and only I can unlock or lock and the door alarm never went off, I-“

The pair blink numbly as he babbles and flails uncontrollably over the missing hitchhiker.

“…A girl?” asks the woman, after he gives up on trying to explain and pants and groans heavily.

He nods and takes off his hat, fanning himself. “Yeah!!! She had dark hair and-and she was covered all over in blood, she was all bruised and battered all over!!!! Never mind. Forget it, I-I’m sorry to bother you, ma’am.”

Shaking his head, he wonders who will pay for the cabbie ride. Most likely, it will be deducted from his wages.

However, the woman promptly bursts into tears and rushes back inside the house. The muffled sound of a door slamming can be heard.

The cabbie gawks for a moment or so before the teenage girl with the Sylveon leaves the doorstep of her house and strides up to him.

“That was my sister,” she says, “you’re not the only one to bring her home. Thanks.”

“H-huh?”

The girl digs a hand into her pocket and pulls out her purse, pulling out some frayed notes which she plops into his hand. “This should cover the taxi fare.”

...

[mimithings97]

7:58pm

When babysitting time almost ends prematurely ;) Based on the Drabble Request:

#14 “how am i supposed to know you put a banana in your pocket?”

Word Count: 2k

A/N: For the anon that said ‘Oh my god 😂😂😂😂😂 #14 and jungkook bls crackety crack crack that newborn chickies would be jealous 😂😂😂😂’, I don’t even know what you meant but I love it and enjoy, Mimi x

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

You’re completely fucking neck deep.

And you wished you could say that in any other way than the one you mean. Like neck deep in a steamy bath with salts and candles and the smelly shit Jungkook uses after the gym because it’s a home smell. Or like neck deep on your couch with records soothing the ears and some kind of fried dish sizzling on your cooker. Fuck, like neck deep in the smell of sex as someone pile dri-

“Y/N, Y/N, Y/N! I- er- can’t reach the bathroom door thingy!” 

Nah. 

You’re neck deep in the stress of your two nephews and niece. 

“Yeh, Jae, just give it a big push and it’ll open.” 

“Mmm, tried that!” he’s pouting but still finds the energy to contradict his face by skipping around your legs. 

“Fine. Bathroom door here we come!” But you’re in no way enthusiastic. 

Yoongi, on the pretence that these are in fact his children, would say they’re beautifully brimming with life, immature and youthful in the sweet kind of way, the apples to his eye, the stars to his fucking moon. You’re brother turned real sappy over the course of fatherhood. And to be honest, you’d liked them, at first, when they couldn’t talk, when they didn’t all start dressing the same and you could tell one apart from the other, when you didn’t have to face them alone and without the extra strong arms of your boyfriend.

Yet you find yourself into the fourth hour of damage control to your apartment and toilet brakes consistent with that of an elderly woman with pelvic floor dysfunction.

Jungkook’s better at this than you. He has the ability to reinvigorate his childhood self and channel it all in babysitting days. That and he stashes banana milk to the brim and out of your reach in the top cupboard just so he can retrieve it and play ‘fun uncle Kook’. He’ll say it’s just because he loves banana milk and to be honest, you can’t really argue with that. 

And, shit, you miss him.

“Auntie Y/N.” Her voice is sweet but you see the glint of the devil in her eye, you swear. 

“Yes, Mai.”

“Daddy makes me hot chocolate before bed, and bedtimes almost here.” You frown deep. Yoongi almost definitely doesn’t make them hot chocolate because Sannie has a nut allergy, but how can you tell a child she’s lying. 

“And auntie Y/N.” She strings it out like it’s honey and silk and fuck does it work.

“Yes Mai?”

“I think Jae’s locked himself in the toilet.” 

Fuck! Damn children and their short arms that can’t reach over their heads!

The girl in the plaid pyjamas, watching on amused as you scramble for the bathroom, has more sense than you’ll ever have at 8pm. It’s sad, but sadder when the door creaks and reveals first a sniffle and then an all out sob before the small bundle curls into one of your legs. You’re wearing jeans, but he hugs you like you’re soft and comforting. It kind of thins your edges a bit and you scoop him up in no time, because babysitting is a bitch, but you’re not.

“Oh bubby, did you get yourself trapped in the toilet.”

“Mmm,” a sleeve covered tiny fist rubs at his eyes, and he gives a tinier nod before he flops down into your neck. 

You pace the apartment with shuffled walks, an attempt to soothe the dying hiccups on your shoulder, and find a spot in behind the sofa to watch on as the other two make a plaything out of Jungkook’s exercise band. You should have the sense to tell them to be careful but every time Sannie pulls one end, Mai pulls the other and then Mai, the 5 minute older triplet that she is, sends San flying, is just a bit too good to distract them from. 

It’s a shame the sound of keys and the hallway light has to disturb the ‘peace’. 

“What do we have here!” 

Jae shifts at the same time as you to spare a glance at the man in the doorway. Business casual, because it’s a Friday, looks good on him, and the smile he adorns when the first two bound up and at him with speed looks even better. 

“Uncle Kook!”

“Sannie!” He throws San over one shoulder.

“Uncle Kookkkk!”

And pushes a fist out to the other. 

“Mai my bro, how we chillin.” 

Her tiny fist meets his before pulling back in a fake explosion. You don’t know when the tradition started, why Jungkook thinks it’s appropriate, but because she replies with a small, “peachy, Kookie, peachy,” you might just have to smile and feign sensibility. 

Your early day perception of Jungkook definitely didn’t pip him as one for children, to the extent you genuinely thought he was scared of them. But then he cried when Yoongi announced his girlfriends pregnancy, cried harder when three munchkins were born, and forever since has lived up to the job of ‘best uncle’ despite having 5 others to contend with. Your brother and him were stunningly close like that. It’s how you and Jungkook had met. And now you’ve come to love the 8pm deadline, rather than 10:30, he’s set out of his training session, because now you get to share the wonder that is your boyfriend with three tiny faces. You almost think they adore him as much as you. Almost.

“And what’s up with this little champ ey?”

You give him a gentle shake to rouse him, then he finds your eyes, then Jungkook’s and finally throws two chubby arms in his direction even though Kook already had his hug ready and waiting. Your boyfriends probably sweaty, but the boy pays no mind and finds his peace between shoulder and neck. Jungkook turns your way.

“Hey you,” his eyes glint like that when he misses you. Maybe you blush. 

“Hey you.” 

“Why is the bread baby crying?” Jae’s got rolls for days, arms, legs, hands and feet just round and pure squish and you know it’s because Yoongi can’t say no to him like he can the others.  

“He couldn’t get out of the bathroom.” 

There’s a bottle of protein shake on the side that you’d readied in preparation for Jungkook’s appearance, and he takes it gladly in one hand whilst balancing Jae, impressively on the other. 

“Macho man!” Jae perks his head up a bit at the nickname, eyes a little more alive than when they were puffy, “you gotta start doing your morning stretches like I said. Those arms aren’t gonna grow themselves,” the shit he spouts sometimes you swear-

“I know, uncle Kook, I’ll try, but- but- but, maybe you and auntie Y/N could make another door, a little smaller, fo-for me.” It’s a cute enough statement that you keen, Jungkook too, and you both share a look of despair at the blubbering stutter of baby that is your nephew. 

“I’ll see what I can do for you champ,” and finally Jungkook and his arms are set free, Jae shuffling small steps across the wooden floor with his penguin socks loose and giving you a final moment of broodiness. 

You distract the impending coo you were going to let off in favour of picking up the remnants of dinner, which turned to playtime, as tomatoes and carrots line the cracks in your floor. 

Jungkook’s got a sweaty hand on your neck though, needing stress and the evenings memories away for a few brief seconds. He’s got those kinds of hands. The ones you can talk about for hours because they’re strong, fucking pretty, do glorious things in glorious places and dirty things in others. His hand drops though before babysitting time ends prematurely. Yoongi doesn’t get back until tomorrow morning, so even a wisp of a thought of that man behind you and how he’s definitely sweaty and definitely a feast, is gone, poof, dissipated. 

“How’ve they been? Rough work again?”

“Mmm, of course,” you take a note the bin needs to be taken out as you chuck the last remaining pieces away. 

“Come on, they’re not that bad.” You’re ready to tell him to go suck one and try and do it by himself, but there’s hands on your hips, warm, sweaty, soothing, and a dick against your ass...hard.

“Jungkook!”

“What, they’re really alri-”

“The fuck are you doing the triplets are literally there,” his lips pull back from where they had settled on your neck. 

“D’you mean, I’m not doing anything.” He’s high pitched like he doesn’t know his dicks up your ass, so you scoff. 

“What are you hard for, you mong,” but you go to push him away, arm behind your back, firm to his hip, yet your hand meets something harder than his abs - he works out, but not enough to make him that solid - and definitely a different shap to how his cock normally feels - and you’ve felt him up enough times to know. “And why is your boner shaped like that?”

“Boner, I’m not ev-”

You spin, eye his botched erection, and dip a hand to his pocket. He looks at you, shocked, puzzled, and suddenly you’re prematurely plunging into your grave in the shame of thinking what you were thinking. 

“Wait, did you think this was my d-i-c-k!” 

He waves it, his choked laugh too, in your face. You’re red, and probably crying, but your cheeks are so hot with embarrassment you don’t know.

“How was I supposed to know you had a banana in your pocket!”

He laughs fully enough that the kids seek out it’s source. 

“Uncle Kook, uncle Kook, can I have a bite?”

He gives her the whole thing, still staring at you with teeth on show, a story to tell Yoongi, and one final blow to the shit show that is your life,

“Mai.”

“Yes uncle Kook.”

“Tell auntie Y/N she’s nasty.” 

And when nasty is a whole other word for a child, Mai proceeds unphased, probably believing in the sentiment of the statement. 

“Auntie Y/N.”

“Yes Mai.”

“You’re nasty.”

...Fuck.

[louuieferrignojr]

set me free (chapter 2/?) (crossposted to ao3) 

(chapter 1)

summary: malex au loosely based on “peach plum pear.” alex and kyle finally meet michael sanders

Alex woke with a start and fell off the couch, mindful of his surroundings as he remembered where he was. He noticed the sun coming in through the curtain and the empty couch opposite him, with a folded up blanket and pillow that Kyle left there. The nightmare was still fresh in his mind, but he shook his head to get the negative thoughts out of his head.

He heard footsteps coming, probably someone trying to figure out what the noise was and he looked up to see Kyle, Maria and Mimi staring at him. Kyle was holding a bowl of fruit loops, milk almost splashing onto the floor as he practically flew into the living room in haste. He looked away abashedly as Maria looked down to make sure nothing spilled, before Mimi spoke up.

“Are you okay sweetie?” The motherly tone of her voice almost made him cry, trying not to think of his own mother, before he plastered on a smile and nodded.

“Just a nightmare. I’m fine,” he replied, getting up off the hardwood floor and folding up the blanket that got strewn on the floor.

Kyle was half paying attention to the scene in front of him now, taking a look at his bowl of cereal again, while Maria and Mimi looked at Alex, expecting him to explain his nightmare.

Trying not to make a big deal out of his nightmare, he shook his head and walked quickly past them into the bathroom. Locking the door behind him, he tried to get his breathing under control.

He hadn’t had a panic attack in years and he was not going to start having one now, in a stranger’s house of all places.

He splashed water on his face before unlocking the door, and walking out to greet the rest of them in the kitchen. As Kyle was finishing up his cereal, Alex looked up to see Maria at the stove, with Mimi next to her helping her make the breakfast foods. Whatever it was, it smelled delicious and his stomach agreed, if the noise it made was anything to go by.

The noise did not go unnoticed by Mimi, who let out a laugh before grabbing the orange juice from the fridge, along with a glass from the cabinet.

“Here you go honey,” handing him the jug to pour for himself, before she turned back to help her daughter finish making the food.

As Maria and Mimi finished, Alex got an empty plate and was astonished to see them set out a spread of pancakes, french toast and waffles.

Alex was grateful but confused by the array of food. “Are other people coming over to help eat this?”

Maria smirked, before grabbing herself two pancakes and some french toast with a fork and putting them on her plate.

“Nope. My mom and I thought that after last night, it looked like you two needed a big meal, so eat up!”

Alex turned to his best friend and watched as Kyle piled on the food trying to maneuver it all so everything could fit on his plate at once.

“Didn’t you already eat?” He gestured towards the cereal bowl that was now empty beside his plate.

“That was my pre-breakfast meal man. I’m a growing boy and I need all the food I can get!”

Alex snorted in response, amused, before shaking his head and grabbing a waffle. As he doused his waffle with syrup, he turned to look at Mimi.

“So, where is Sander’s Auto?” He asked, cutting into the waffle and taking a bite. It was delicious and he wanted to savor every bite. Who knew when he’d get a home cooked meal again?

“A few blocks away, within walking distance. Maria will walk you over there and introduce you to Walt and his son, Michael. He’s around your age. They can set you up with some way to get you a car to take for your trip.”

Alex nodded, before turning back to enjoy his breakfast, suddenly very curious as to what this Michael guy was like.

--

“Hey Deluca, what brings you over here?” A voice came from beside a car at the auto shop as he looked at the guests. “Just here to see my pretty face?”

Maria rolled her eyes, before walking over to smack him in the arm.

“Sadly Sanders, I have better things to do than stare at your ugly mug,” she teased, smirking as he feigned hurt, before pointing at Alex and Kyle behind her.

“These two need a car.”

“And what are we supposed to do about that?”

Alex frowned at the question, assuming that this wouldn’t be an issue.

Maria groaned, “Well, my mom suggested a way for them to work for a car. They need it for their trip. Their car got stolen.”

“Wyatt again?”

“Seems like it. They were on their way to…” she stopped mid-sentence, as she realized she never knew their final destination. “Where were you guys headed?”

Alex cleared his throat, ignoring the weird feeling in his stomach as he looked at the curly haired boy, “Roswell.”

Michael laughed, “Big alien fan?”

“Just some unfinished business,” Alex said coldly, wanting the feeling inside him to go away. He needed to get out of this town and soon. He had a plan and he needed to follow through with it. No matter what.

Alex turned away from the conversation to look around the shop, trying to get the image of Michael’s face and curls out of his head. He didn’t need any distractions.

“Okay then,” Michael said, giving Kyle a questioning look. Kyle just shrugged at him, confused. He knew Alex was tight-lipped about certain things, but this was different. He hoped his friend would open up to him soon.

“So uh, what do we need to do to get a car?”

“Well, I can help fix up one of our cars but it’ll cost ya,” Michael said, pulling a white cloth out of his pocket to clean up his hands.

Alex turned to glare at him, “We have no money or clothes for that matter. How do you think we can pay you?”

The silent pleading look in his eyes had Michael sighing, “I can talk my dad into letting you clean up around the shop. The garage needs a new paint job and one of the fences out back needs repairing.”

Alex turned to Kyle who gave him a look, one that suggested that they do this or they’d never get out of this town.

“Deal,” Alex replied, putting his hand out to shake Michael’s.

Shocked at the gesture, Michael could only put his own hand out to accept the handshake.

“Deal.”

[aleapoffaithfiction]

XV.

"When love touches us, it dissolves the walls of misunderstanding and builds a bridge that helps us walk towards each other."-  Mimi Novic

“We’re doing the whole set today. You’re on a roll my man. Let’s finish up strong.”

Don’t ask me what the hell a gastrocnemius-soleus complex is because I certainly don’t remember it although I majored in Human Movement back at LSU. Supposedly, I should feel it all in my calf but I can’t deny how much I’m feeling the pressure in my ankle too. Rather than using a chair for support, we’re on the stairs with my hand firmly grasping the banister with both of my feet pressed down onto the bottom step.

“Come on. You got this.”

My glare swiftly panned up from the steps and landed on Sarai, who stood at the very top of them with her entire leg purposefully exposed to me. The Nike shorts she snagged out of my closet are so loose on her, that she was able to easily pull up the half leg of material to the very top of her thigh. Like a hitch hiker attempting to quickly garner the attention of a driver, she wiggled her leg and ended her antics with a wink that instantly sent my trainer and finally myself into roaring laughter. As ridiculous as it looked, it was by far, the most hilarious aspect of all of her comical actions put forth all morning long to keep me as motivated as possible during today’s physical therapy process.

As soon as my alarm went off at six, I was up to start the day and so was she. We stood together at the sink, brushing our teeth while unnecessarily splashing one another with water so either she or myself would move out of the way so one of us would be able to rinse first.

I won.

I’ve never utilized the granite bench inside of the shower until she disrobed herself and stepped inside with me. What was supposed to be a quick wash turned into a waiting time that I’m sure my trainers were not pleased with, though they patiently waited downstairs with Ben. Just the sight of her impeccable body was more than enough to further ignite my need for her. She’s a goddess in her bare state. The seamlessness in her milk chocolate skin radiates in a manner that triggers me to gawk at her and completely lose awareness of both my surroundings and daily purpose beyond our moment. It’s like waving a steak in front of a hungered wild jungle lion. I will never not pounce at the opportunity to be with her; inside her.

I left her in the room after scolding her back into the bed because she’s certainly not over the flu. The silence from the second floor influenced me to believe that she’d gone back to sleep, but when she thought I wasn’t paying attention, she crept downstairs has and been observing our current rehabilitation process ever since. I would be lying if I didn’t admit to working two or three times harder than my usual under her gaze. Her presence alone served as a motivating factor to cease the sometimes-negative state of mind I tend to fall into when I reflect on all that needs to be done to get me back out on the field. I never look forward to hearing what the media has to say about me, whether bad or good, but like anyone else within my field, I cannot help but to pay attention to it because it’s there and unless you completely shut yourself off from the world, it’s inescapable. In looking at my lady this morning, I’m looking forward to hearing what she has to say when she’s reporting about my explosiveness at training camp and the redemptive comeback season that I’m going to make sure that I have. I have to win it all. I’ve sat far too long for me to not come back and get it done.

“Good job champ. You want to take a break?”

“Nah. Let’s keep going.”

Another two and half hours went by; sending us well off into the early afternoon. Not even the smell of lunch and Sarai and Ben’s loud banter from the kitchen served as a distraction. Perspiration covered nearly every part of me as I trekked up the stairs to the bathroom for a shower and though I took one, it was pointless due to my desire to sit inside of the steam room.

When I first took a walk through of the house with the realtor, I snickered at the idea of a steam room being in the house, let alone me sitting inside of it. I’ve always looked at that as a spa type of a situation that mostly women enjoy. I’m not even into the cold or hot tub rehabilitation practices after extensive workouts at our training facility because my patience tends to wear thin after standing or even sitting there for over ten to fifteen minutes. After moving in, I would walk past it for a while without even considering giving it a try no matter how many times my momma raved about it, but after one mentally draining day earlier this year I needed some time to myself and I chose to sit in there to be away from any outside distractions in the house and most of all, from my phone.

The more technology advances, the more we’re unable to set our phones aside from an extended period of time. They’ve become our source for everything; communication, entertainment, keeping track of health, research, and just about anything else that the internet is able to aid us with. We’ve reached a point of not being able to help ourselves with the manner in which we crave to have them in our hands. We panic when the battery hits below seventy percent, we’re buying portable chargers or begging people to use theirs whenever we’re out of the house or car, and a lot of the time we’re timing just how long we’ll be somewhere based upon how much charge is left. I’m guilty of it, so I have no room to pass judgement on anyone for it. I’m trying to get better at it stepping away from it though and the steam room has been one of my forms of discipline.

With my phone sitting in some other room, I’m able to be one with my thoughts. It’s my time to sort through the clutter in my head to figure out where I’ve gone right, where I’ve gone wrong, and what needs to improve for the betterment of my mental space and what’s happening around me. There are times when I’m sitting there without much of anything to concern myself with and I’m just trying to find a place of relaxation. Today might be that. In the midst of the workout, I was able to management my thoughts. Now, I’m just trying to get these aching muscles together.

“May I join you? Maybe I can sweat the rest of this flu out.” My eyes instantly opened to stare at the beauty of Sarai’s face and I used my hand to gesture her inside. Like myself, her smooth skin was covered with a pure white towel while her braids were pulled up into a sloppy bun with a few strands of them falling all over the place.

“The little green light outside gave away your hiding place.” Her presence sitting alongside me only intensified the warmth swarming my frame. Like a magnet, my eyes glanced over at her illuminating legs as they stretched out in front of her and she blissfully sighed at the feeling of peace.

“It’s okay. I’m willing to share it with you.”

What I thought was solace prior to her presence didn’t feel quite like it does with her here now. Every exhale soothed the tension from the hours of training as the drawn-out inhales of her intoxicating scent drowned me into a drunken elation. The dampened skin of her arm brushed against mine with her slight movements, leaving trails of chills trickling onto various areas of my awakening frame. My every sense instantly became hers to control; hers to summon for anything she desires. She is my peace and yet she is a flammable fluid to the flames; igniting me for what is sure to be severe and fiery. My once tightly closed eyes, ripped open and glinted over at the calmness radiating from her and I wordlessly scolded myself for having every intention to interrupt that. My teeth wrenched my bottom lip when the tips of my fingers met the very top of the delicate towel and our glares instantly met as I unraveled it to reveal everything that I wanted.

“Come here.”

Without hesitation, Sarai stood to her feet leaving the towel idly lying on the bench and gradually straddled my lap in the exact manner that I yearned for her too upon the sight of her. Inexorably, her supple lips meshed into mine, sending a bliss spiraling through every aspect of me. My eyes closed yet again, but it wasn’t darkness I saw. Bursts of colors flashed before me, alleviating any remaining tension I may have had while melting away my awareness of anything beyond the two of us.

As soon as my lips peeled away from hers, I trailed them over any area of her moist skin that was within reach. Her hips bucked, beginning a purposeful tormenting as she grinded into my lap. Foreplay or anything of its sort were the last thing on her mind, prompting me to battle with my lead and her own.

“Don’t make me wait.” And just like that the stiffening worsened along with the tight grip I had on her hips. Just as I had reached for her towel and successfully removed it minutes ago, she was now reaching down between us for mine.

“I never do.” My tongue laved over her nipple causing a sharp hiss to spill from her lips.

With one arm lifting her up to give me just enough space, I was able to discard of my own towel. To feed my ever-going curiosity, my fingers slicked along the wetness oozing from her while unified grunts filled the steamy space around us. As my thumb strummed over her most sensitive point, the impatience worsened. Her fingers raveled into my hair, lightly tugging at it to draw me in for yet another kiss.

“You gon’ ride it?”

“Please.”

I didn’t need to hear anything else.

Within seconds, she was lowering herself onto me; sending a rush of uncontainable chills nipping at every nerve ending I have. The profanity that left me was instant. The warmth from the steam was no longer relevant because it was of no match to the heat of her throbbing flesh snugly wrapped around me. My arm locked around her waist for some form of self-composure, but I failed in what I sought out as she unhurriedly rocked to and from me. Any form of control I thought I have ceased as soon as my head met the wooden wall behind me while my eyes watched her perform.

“Damn, Sarai…” The unparalleled sensation was one thing but her damn near mythical like aura in the midst of it was sending me into a wild delirium. Her skin gleamed, under the dim lighting. The sheen of perspiration covering it only enticed me to lick at her; satisfying any thirst that I have. The perkiness lightly bouncing on her chest sent my attention span into a frenzy as I constantly panned my eyes between her face and them. I’d sound like a dickhead if I thanked God for her getting sick, which then granted me all of the time I’ve had with her this week, so I won’t. I’ll just be thankful for the time and how much we’ve been doing this since she starting feeling better.

A piercing yelp filled my ears as I pulled her down, further deepening myself into her. Shudders washed over me, leaving my mouth agape in a disbelief. I could hear Ben calling my name in a distance from the door, which prompted me to cover her mouth with my own, in a hushing kiss. While it lowered the timbre, if he stepped to and stopped in front of the door, we’d be guilty as charged. The reality of that was of no interruption to our moment or Sarai’s hips.

“Shhh…” My warning against her lips evoked a grimace to form on her gorgeous face as she pulled the bottom one in-between her teeth. With every touch of her finger tips to my scalp, an electricity nipped at my skin, shutting down any aspect of composure I was trying to keep and evoking the animalistic aspect of myself that I only know to show itself on the field. The only healthy drug that exists; she is that. My escape; she’s become that. I don’t know or realize any sense of time when she and I are together; I’ve surrendered myself completely to her without fear of any outcome that our future fate may be.

And in my addiction to every aspect of her, I am secured in knowing that I am not alone in what I feel. I know it to be true in the way that she steals glances of me when she thinks I’m not paying attention. I can hear it in her tone when she’s encouraging me and recognizing the greatness that she takes pride in me having. I recognize it in the way that she looks after me while also holding me accountable to properly look after myself. I can feel it in everything; her kisses, hugs, caresses, shit right now. Right fucking now.

“Fuck!”

My throat tightened while my grip on her hips tightened even worse than they already were. It was her turn to kiss me into a muffled silence. My heart’s writhing against my chest quickened. Our hazy eyes remained locked on one another while a mutual ecstasy arose. Any self-awareness I had left relinquished itself to her world; allowing me to bask in what is unlike any other that was before her and anymore never to come. Our cries voiced out against our lips, hers before mine as I wanted it to be and yet mine soon after.

Breathlessly, I continued to kiss her as our frames shuttered, relishing in the elation.

“You think he heard us?”

“I don’t care.”

And I don’t.

Despite the sweat suit and North Face coat serving as a protective barrier over my body, the brisk whirling air swarmed and numbed me to a standstill as while I watched the doors run around the backyard area to stretch themselves out. Though it hasn’t started yet, the cloudy sky gave warning for the pending snow that should be making its presence known by sometime tomorrow morning. The weather reports are inflicting fear within the tri-state area with their eight to twelve inches predictions but I’m assured in all of it being an over exaggeration.

For the most part, since I’ve been living in New Jersey, we usually never get as much as they say we are. Sometimes, I anticipate one of those historic blizzards and the concept of being snowed in the house but the reality of the headache that is the clean-up process settles in and my mind swiftly changes. Also, being snowed in the house is only a cool situation depending upon who you’re snowed in with.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit too cold out here for them?” I glanced back to find Sarai halfway outside of the sliding glass door fully dressed, but without the barrier of a coat or shoes. Just as I’d been doing, she quietly glanced up at the sky to assess the shift in the weather.

“It’s not too cold for them. It’s too cold for you. Get back in the house.”

“Did you forget that I was born and raised in Brooklyn, Nola man? I’m not fazed by the cold.”

“Yeah, but you’re not completely better yet. Don’t mess up your progress. What’s with the clothes? I thought you were just going to throw on something from my closet to longue around in.”

“I was, until I realized that it’s going to snow tomorrow. I’m going to have to drive to Brooklyn to make sure the ground is salted in front of my mom’s house. Actually, I’m probably going to have to go to the store to buy the salt. She never remembers to get any. Then there’s my house. That’s the part about being a homeowner that sucks. Usually my neighbor is kind enough to help out without me even asking him to, but I don’t want him to feel like I’m depending on him to do it.” To further disregard my request for her to go inside, she stepped out of the door just a bit more and summoned Mowgli to her with two pats to her lap.

“Your neighbor?”

“Yeah, he lives a few houses down from me. He’s damn near sixty-five years old and has a wife, who he’s been married to since he was twenty. It’s admirable.”

“Forty-five years of marriage? Wow.”

“Exactly. They’re still super smitten by one another too. He looks out for me from time to time when it comes to stuff like shoveling snow or putting ice down because he views it as a man’s job. He has that old fashion aspect to him, although I think it’s silly.”

“It’s not silly. It’s proper. I can go to your house and put the salt down. Just give me the keys. You can go to do what you need to do for your mom, so that you can come straight back here.”

“Don’t worry about it. The last thing I need is you getting hurt trying to pour salt everywhere. I have it under control. Besides, you need to spend some time with your friend. I’m sure he’s tired of seeing my face around here. I’m not one hundred percent but I feel a lot better. We can switch back to our normal roles of me as your nurse and you as my defiant patient now.”

“Ben doesn’t pay bills in my house.” My response wasn’t amusing to me, but it certainly was to her. Her laugher was loud enough for both myself and him to hear it, if he’s nearby. Last I remembered, he was sitting in the kitchen, frowning, and complaining about sometime. I wasn’t listening.

“Yeah, but he’s here visiting you. How fair is it that I’m intruding on that?”

“Intruding? I want you here.”

“And you want him here too. Be fair.”

“So, you’re going home?” I knew the answer to that question and yet I still asked though it’s the last thing that I want to hear. I thought she’d be here until she goes back to work. We don’t ever get stretched of time to be around one another in the manner that we’ve had this week and to say I’m spoiled is an understatement.

“I’m like ten minutes away. If the snow isn’t too bad tomorrow, come and see me. If not, I’ll come to see you.”

“Or you can just stay.”

“Don’t be stubborn. You’ve had me for days.”

“Hmm.” Khan darted off to retrieved the nearly deflated football I threw off to the far left. It was in a good condition days ago, before he sunk his teeth into it and put tiny holes around its perimeters.

“Don’t be like that. Come and give me a kiss.”

Rather than walking in her direction, I remained in place to purposefully taunt her with my slight irritation and pigheadedness. She remained just as amused as she’d been when I mentioned who pays my bills. It wasn’t long before I felt her warm body wrapping itself around me. Her giggles were muffled as she pressed her face into the back of my coat while clutching my as tight as she could.

“You are so stubborn. Kiss me.”

“No problem.” I lifted my arm so she’d be able to swing around to be in a closer proximity to my face and I pressed my lips into her forehead.

“Kiss my lips now.”

“Take off your pants.”

“Not those! Come on. I want to get to the store because people are ridiculous when winter storms are coming.”

To oblige her plea, I finally leaned down to give her the “see you later kiss” she needed before parting ways with me for the day. If she just stayed, we could be kissing all day long.

“I’ll call you when I get in the house.”

“Alright. Drive safely.”

“Will do, handsome. Eris, you want to come home with me?”

“No, she does not. Leave my child right where she is.”

“You’re so petty. She loves me. They all do, actually.” Though I waved her off, I know they do. She spoils them whenever she’s around and she’s starting to get them accustomed to jumping up on my furniture. We’re going to have to have a talk about that though, because they know better and they’re going to continue to know better.

“If you’re going to be a momma to my dogs, we’re going to have to split their bills. The vet, grooming, and feeding them isn’t cheap.” We smirked in unison. “I can do that, for as long as daddy is splitting momma’s bills.”

“I can do that for as long as momma is splitting on daddy’s….”

“Okay, okay, shut up! I’ll call you.” Her hands flew up in surrender at the shift in the conversation and she blew me a kiss before stepping back inside.

Aside from rehab, I really haven’t done anything this week other than shack up in the house, as old folks call it. That’s never been me. Since coming into the league, sitting still hasn’t been something I’ve been able to do and I’ve gotten so accustomed to constant movement, that I’m even doing so when I’m on my own personal time.

Whether it’s New York or L.A., there’s always something going on and I somehow find my way being a part of it. Most would attribute it to my age and lack of a personal responsibility aside from myself, but there’s also an aspect of loneliness to this life that you don’t realize until buying anything that comes to mind starts getting old, visits from the family aren’t as frequent because they have their own lives, and having your friends in your face twenty four seven isn’t as entertaining anymore.

My first three years in the league was filled with more partying than I ever experienced. I went from being a young twenty-one-year-old thinking I was coming into this solely to focus on playing football and to provide for those that I love, but that catch exposed me to a totally different aspect of all of this and I definitely got wrapped up in it. A lot of analysts now reference to me as a superstar celebrity who just so happens to be a great professional football as either a deliberate insult or as an unnecessary excuse for the poor attitude, they believe I have. I’ve had fun for sure, but there’s been something about being under the radar while dealing with my injury that has not only humbled me, but also exposed me what I wasn’t seeing in the midst of the partying and drinking.

I don’t miss it at all. It sounds crazy to even say or contemplate, but I don’t. I guess that’s what meeting the right one does to you? It’s a joke that I even laughed at Shep for the way he quickly became head over heels in love and obsessed with everything about Chanel. We used to tease him as a collective whenever he raved about her and humorously dismissed him from our childish Apex Predator’s Club but it’s really starting to feel like I’m dismissing myself too. Am I really clocking the fuck out?

Sheesh.

“Aye. Struggle Face. What the fuck we getting into now that you decided to bring yo ass up for air?”

“I’m about to make some calls for invites. Game night. Order some pizzas and wings.”

“Or we can all just go to Bowlmor Lanes.”

“That’s cool too.”

I guess getting out for some air in Manhattan could be good for me.

I pride myself on my capability to be well rounded in most sports, but bowling is equally a hit or miss. On a good day, I’m embarrassing anybody who steps up to the lanes, but tonight, I’m getting by ass handed to me by both Shep and Ben’s asses. I won the first round and I’ve been in a slump ever since. Maybe it’s because I mentally clocked out an hour ago.

“I’m so mad that we didn’t bet money. I could have been blowing a bag over at the Supreme store right now.” Because I drove, I passed on the alcohol. I’ve been babysitting this glass of strawberry lemonade for a while now. The ice already melted in it.

“I’m letting your ass win.”

“Aye Shep, you hear this sore loser?”

“You know O hates losing. He doesn’t even mind that he’s a sore loser. He’ll tell you that he’s one himself.”

“I will. I don’t mind losing here though, because this shit doesn’t count and I’m not going full out.”

“Now he’s not going full out. Man, whatever. I’m kicking your ass fair and square. You lucky I ain’t put it on the ‘gram and embarrass you even more.” Ben stuffed a handful of fries into his mouth and stuck up his middle finger at me as he chewed them. His lead isn’t even that impressive for him to be talking all of this smack, but I’ll let him have it.

“What’s been up with rehab bro? I know we touched on it before, but how’s it been going since I was last over there?”

“It’s been good. We ramped it up some more and we’re incher closer to working on stamina and agility. I still have those sore days but it’s nothing that I can’t handle. I’m just glad to be back on my feet.”

“Word. We ready for you to bring your ass back. The locker room’s been dulling without you. I been trying to hold it down, but it’s not the same.” It’s always good to hear that. This season has been a tough one to watch from home. The possibility of making it to the playoffs was nowhere near possible. Lost wise, it’s the Giants’ worse season yet. It’s been frustrating to even think about. We were already zero and four going into the game where the injury happened and not much momentum picked up from there.

“I’m working. Can’t wait to be back brother.”

“Yeah, he’s working, playing nurse, and practicing how to make kids all at once. That’s one multitalented mu’fucker.” A bit of Shep’s drink slipped out of the side of his mouth as he snickered at Ben’s slick ass commentary.

“Wait. What you mean?”

“Sarai moved in.” As soon as the lie left Ben’s lips, I sucked my teeth.

“Damn, y’all moving like that already?”

“You really believe this dumbass? She caught the flu and stayed with me until she was feeling better. Since she wasn’t going to work, it just made sense.”

“So, you’ve hung up your cleats to become a nurse now? Okay, house husband. I see you.” Their laughter came with justification. I deserve that. I did it to him for a while, so it’s only right that he does it to me. I can be a sore loser, but in this case fair is fair. The joke’s on me.

“Real funny.”

“You should have seen him. He had Renee in there making all these soups and teas and shit. He was bringing that shit upstairs to her, giving her medicine, and rubbing stink ass Vicks on her.”

“Did you do the choo choo train or the airplane when you were bringing the spoon of medicine towards her mouth?” If Victor was here, he and Shep would have been going back and forth with the jokes endlessly. I definitely miss having his guidance around. He’s still my family nonetheless.

“Ya’ll done?”

“You called me high maintenance for dating a supermodel but you’re with a sports analyst.”

“He’s dating the enemy Shep. I thought you hate the media.”

“I don’t hate the media. I just think the media doesn’t give people the opportunity to grow; well at least some of them don’t. They stick to one narrative about you no matter what you do. Other than that, it’s whatever. I have a lot of respect for plenty of the sports reporters. I love Kim Jones. Kobe and Chad are great additions. Cris Carter is cool. We speak from time to time.”

“But everybody loves Sarai Nazaire though. I’ve never anyone say a bad thing about her. If anything, dudes have been plotting on ways to get at her. You saw Otto at Chanel’s party.” Of course, he’d bring that up. He’s just as entertained by it now as he was that night.

“That’s not important.” I’ve heard more than enough of it. She’s locker room talk no matter where you go. Her name will randomly come out of someone’s mouth at a social gathering and most of all, when I’m surrounded by a bunch of guys who can’t help but to shift the topic of conversation to women they’re trying to turn into another notch on their belts. It’s no lie that she’s a popular name within those conversations, but the part that always remained interesting was her lack of acknowledgement and attentiveness to it. It’s what made them deem her to be intimidating and arose questions of whether she’s a “bitch” in person or not. Of course, she’s never been anything of that sort, which worsened plenty of desires.

I get it. When I was sitting across from her during the interview we did up in Bristol, I could barely focus on what she was saying. My mind was on everything about her other than her words, but by the grace of God I was able to pay attention just enough not to expose myself. Granted, I made the running joke of a video about guys who lust over her, so I wasn’t as composed as I wish I was.

“Does your mom like her?”

“Yeah, she loves her.”

“Yeah, probably because she has a legit job. I can’t say the same thing for all of your past situations.”

“Keep talking shit and you gon’ have frost bite all over yo’ ass from being kicked out in the snow.”

I finally gulped down enough of the watered-down lemonade to leave the glass half filled. My phone vibrating in my pocket captured my attention next.

I miss you.

I wasn’t expecting that. I figured she’d had enough for me for the week, hence why she left but clearly not. I can’t suppress my smile even if I tried to.

I miss you too.

I missed her as soon as she left me standing outside with the dogs.

I grabbed a couple of things from the grocery store and couldn’t help but to grab your favorite snacks. Maybe you can stop by for a little while?

Sarai’s about to have me go out like a sucker in front of my friends. Shit.

I’ll be there in less than an hour.

“I know that look. That boy is out of here. Ben look at him. He’s about to bail out.”

“We’re done playing anyway.”

“We paid for two more games. You really about to leave? If you do, I’m never going to stop making fun of you. Oh, and I’m replacing you with young Shep as a friend. This man is getting married and he’s sitting right here.”

“By the time you get back to the house, I’ll probably already be there. Don’t sweat it. I’ma bust your ass in Call of Duty before the night is over.”

“Nah, we done. I’m never coming back up here again. I’m keeping my ass in Florida.”

“You’ll be back.” I had to laugh. His over exaggeration never ends.

“Yeah, but not to visit yo’ sucker for love ass.”

“Shep, I’m gon’ plan something at the house right before Christmas. Maybe two or three days before. Come through.”

“I’ll be there.”

“You want me to drop you off at the house or yall gon’ stay and play those games?”

“I got him. We’ll play and head back.”

“I’m bringing a gang of bitches back to your crib with me.”

“Whatever.”

As soon as I pulled my hood over my head, I stood up from the table and began to quickly make a dash towards the exit. The pending snow fall left the place without as much of a crowd as they usually have, which allowed me to not be approached by anybody for anything. I usually don’t mind it, but sometimes people don’t understand when you want to have a moment of normalcy without having to stop for pictures. It almost starts to feel like you’re in a fish bowl or like you’re a zoo animal caged in with all of these spectators just looking at you and waiting for you to do something to entertain them. Any moment where I can be out on the scene alone or with people without much hassle is a moment that is appreciated tremendously. I already have slight paranoia of what that type of stuff will be like when I’m a parent and I’m out somewhere with my kid or kids.

Rather than taking the Henry Hudson Parkway straight to Fort Lee, I took New York-495 West into New Jersey 495 West because it was the better route and had no traffic whatsoever. That less than an hour time frame I gave her was a promise kept because I was parked on her street no more than thirty-five minutes after my departure from the city. Yet again, my hood was over my head as I jogged up her steps. Aside from the elevator, another great aspect of Sarai’s house is the view of the river. I always take a glance at it while I’m standing outside. Tonight, it looks even better with all of the holiday lighting covering all of the houses. Her banisters are wrapped with white lights and there’s a wreath perfectly hanging on her door.  

“I didn’t think you’re get here this fast.” Our kiss was short and sweet. I could taste whatever chocolate she was enjoying. “And you drove the Rolls Royce. Really?”

“It’s usually the only one I drive.” It’s always funny to see her in Giants gear. It takes me back to when she questioned me about my assumptions of her being a fan or not.

“In front of my door though?”

“Sometimes you’re a bit too humble about who you are. It’s never going to be a surprise that you know people with money. Something smells good. You cooked?”

She stood there and continued to eye my car as I followed the fume of whatever was coming from the kitchen. I had wings while bowling but I have more than enough room for whatever that is.

“Shrimp alfredo. I made a Caesar salad too. Wine is on the counter.”

“I’m on it. Thank you, baby.”

“Uh huh.”

She stood at the door for as long as I was in the kitchen it seems because when I was on my way to the living room with my plate, she was entering with me. The dim lighting set the mood for whatever movie she had on pause.

“What were you watching?”

“The Preacher’s Wife. Whitney is so flawless in this.”

“This is a good one. I’d probably say The Grinch is one of my favorites, but I just enjoy watching A Christmas Story with my step-father Derek because he laughs at it like he’s never seen it before. I mean, he laughs until he has tears in his eyes and it just makes me laugh.”

“I laugh at it too. Ralphie is hilarious. My dad loved that movie.”

In the midst of me stuffing my face with arguably the best alfredo I’ve had aside from my aunt’s; Sarai became one of those people who everyone hates to watch a movie with. If she wasn’t mumbling along to every line that came out of Whitney Houston’s mouth, she was singing along to the songs while bopping that small head of hers. I had to tune her out when she began to rave about how fine Denzel Washington is because I’ve heard enough of that from my momma. He’s absolutely one of the elite actors’ period, I don’t even need to mention his blackness, but there’s a universal attraction to him amongst women of all age groups. He and Idris Elba are always the ones being mentioned.

“Baby.”

“Hm?” I noticed it when I sat down earlier, but it became all I could focus on once I returned from putting my empty plate into the kitchen. While her porch looked as festive as it needs to be, the blandness of the Christmas tree sitting in the corner of the room didn’t make much sense. Around it is boxes of what I’m assuming are the decorations that are supposed to be on it and rather than having the Christmas stockings hanging from her fireplace, they’re randomly piled up together on top of it.

“Why haven’t you decorated the tree? The porch looks great, but what happened in here?”

“I don’t know.” It was mumbled dismissively. She didn’t even bother to look in the direction of the tree.

“You didn’t have time or something?”

“I guess not.”

“Or you didn’t remember to do it?”

“That too.”

“Or you were planning to do it right before Christmas Eve?”

“Exactly.”

“Sarai.” I used the tips of my fingers to turn her head towards me. I kept her jaw lightly in my grasp to stop the frivolous lies in response to my questions. Eye contact became a challenge because she chose to look past me instead of looking directly at me. The once joyous expression on her face as she did her best to match Whitney’s unparalleled tone morphed into an anguished that she did not want me to see or experience. The glossiness in her eyes stifled me.

“It was a tradition between my dad and I. We used to do it together every year. I lost interest in it.” Guilt punched me in the gut at full force.

Her answer was already playing in my mind before she said it. Sorrow only fills her eyes at the subject of him. Typically, she grimaces in frustration when speaking about her mother. The strain between the two of them is a subject she tends to avoid but I’ve picked up on bits and pieces of it. For her sister, she’s usually rolling her eyes and scoffing at the manner in which they’re polar opposites. For her father, his death still torments her as if it happened just a few months ago or less. There’s a void within her life that leaves the pain of his loss weighing on her shoulders and hanging over her like the darkest cloud. The avoidance makes sense.

“What if you and I make decorating the tree our tradition? We’ll continue it together. The memories of you and your dad will always be special. I’d like to honor that with you by breathing life into the tradition again.” The questioning glare she held eased into a quiet contemplation with her own thoughts about my suggestion. If she turns it down, I’m okay with that. I’ll never force it.

“You can say no. I’m okay with that. I won’t push it.”

“There has to be hot chocolate with a lot of marshmallows in it. I’d usually bake cookies. I don’t have any cookie dough in here but I do have those butter cookies that comes in the tin can. You know the ones black moms keep everything but cookies in? Motown Christmas has to be on. My mom isn’t biased and can listen to anyone sing holiday music but for him, it always had to be Motown. Oh, and hats. They’re a must.”

“Okay, I’ll put on the water for the hot chocolate and I know Apple Music has to have the Motown stuff. We can do all of that.” A rush of excitement urged me to leap off of the couch and dash towards the kitchen.

“There’s no need to put water on. I have a Keurig. The box of Swiss Miss k-cups is in the first cabinet. The marshmallows are in there too.” We were a distance away but I heard her loud and clear. While the first cup brewed, I used my phone to look for the music we’d need to really set the mood for what we’re about to do. I don’t know the first thing about decorating a tree because my momma always does it for me, but I’m about to make Sarai’s look like something out of a catalog for the sake of seeing her smile.

“I found a bunch of albums baby. Which one?” “The one with the purple cover. It should have clouds and flowers on it too with something like a picture frame in the middle. I think that’s one of the better albums.”

“The one with The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, and Diana Ross and The Supremes?”

“That’s the one.”

I connected my phone to the Beats Pill she keeps in the kitchen to use while she’s preparing for something and hit play on the album she specifically requested. Michael Jackson’s childhood voice blared into the kitchen’s space immediately. As she dug through the boxes, I left the speaker and my phone in the living room so I’d have free hands for the cups of hot chocolate. Within minutes, I returned with those, with marshmallows spilling over just how she requested it.

“So how do we start this?”

“Well, we don’t have to worry about lights because it’s already pre-lighted with color and clear LED lighting, so I guess we just have to put the other stuff on.”

“Why do you have an artificial tree instead of a real one?”

“Because they shed and I’m not a fan of the smell.”

“Not a nature kind of a girl huh? Noted.”

“No, so don’t ever think you’re taking me camping.” Aloofly, her fingers scratched at her braids while we stood in place attempting to visualize exactly how this tree is supposed to look. I guess you just throw garland on it or something, right?

“Well, maybe we should figure out the color scheme first?”

“I have red and white ornaments, red and gold ones, or red and green. They’re sets and they’re all separated. Which set?” Is this supposed to be so complicated?

“All of them?” Our eyes met while I shrugged. It makes sense. They’re all Christmas colors.

“Okay. I guess it could work.”

Her once tidy living room began to look like a holiday catalog vomited in it as we dumped boxes of decorations everywhere in an attempt to figure out what we were going to do. Once those hats were secured on our heads, we frolicked in silver and gold garland while vocally butchering one song right after another. I didn’t realize I knew so many holiday classics until now.

“Alright, so these are tree picks. You just randomly place them anywhere. Just make it look good, I guess.”

“So, in here?” I stuck one in the velvety red petals into the tree and slapped my hands together to rid them of the gold glitter that donned the edges of the petals.

“Yeah. Like that.”

“Baby, what’s that Run DMC Christmas song?”

“Christmas in Hollis.”

“That’s the one.”

I grabbed my phone to make the switch and just as she knew I would, I start dancing around the living room. I hit any old school dance that came to mind with my camera on to capture it as I did so. She didn’t leave me out to dry. Once all of her laughing was over with, I had a dancing partner yet again. She one upped me by knowing the lyrics, so I had no choice but to go harder in the dancing area.

“Mariah! We have to hear Mariah next.”

“You have to perform it though. Lip sync battle.” “Put it on.”

She may not be able to sing like Mariah. That New York Giants may not be what anyone would consider holiday comfort wear. The sloppy bun she pulled her braids up into may not be what most would consider an ideal hairstyle. They can all go to hell too. All five foot five inches of her danced around the living room in what is by far the most flawless performance of the infectious song. An empty tube that once held golden ball ornaments was her microphone and I was the affection of her eye. I drowned into her essence so much that every lyric suddenly felt like they were written for and about me. The gleam in her eyes illuminated the living room far more than the lights beaming from the tree and the heated glare of the fireplace. Her smile? Infectious. My cheeks were beginning to ache because of my own. I’m never doing karaoke with her.

“Your turn!”

“Nah, you got it.”

“Oh, come on. Pick a song.”

“I’d fall flat after that”

“You better not show anyone that video either. I know I look dumb as hell.”

“You look adorable.” A light mush to my head came instantly.

With an arm hanging over her shoulder, we stood together and observed the work we’d done on the tree. I’m not sure what else we could add. We’ve been at it for hours, putting stuff on, taking some off, and replacing it with what we thought would look better. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, and whatever else.

“Wow.”

“Right.”

“That looks…”

“Like shit.”

“Right.”

We cackled knowingly. It looked like crap all along and yet we continued with carelessly placing all that she had anywhere we saw fit to place it. We had no real strategy or methodology. We sought out fun and that’s what won in the end.

“It’s our shit though.” That prompted me to kiss her forehead. “I needed this. Thank you.”

“I don’t need a thank you. I’m just glad we did it. We can fix it in the morning.”

“No, it’s staying just like that. It’s so funny.” I think Charlie Brown’s struggle tree might look better than the clutter we have sitting in the corner of the room.

“What would happen after you finished decorating the tree?”

The curtains were drawn back just enough to display the falling snow outside. The flakes were thick and beautifully cascading to the thin sheet covering ground.

“A movie; usually my pick.”

“Well, what’s your pick.”

“A Miracle On 34th Street, with ice cream.”

“We’re going from hot chocolate to ice cream?”

“Yes. I’ll fix it. You put the movie on. It’s already in my purchases on the Apple TV.”

Under a red and black flannel throw, we closely curled up on her plush couch with chocolate fudge sundaes. Mine was practically melting as the bowl rested on the coffee table near the sectional. Our legs intertwined at random points while she laid back against my chest savoring every remaining bit in her own bowl. As if she’d never seen it before, her concentration on the film never faltered but I was only able to massage her scalp through her braids while mentally reliving this entire week, including tonight’s festivities.

Shep’s question at Chanel’s birthday party came to mind. I couldn’t and didn’t answer it then.

New York has never felt like home until now. Everything I feel is so peculiar and yet so addicting. It’s absolute, with indescribable and infinite measures. In the midst of a time that I thought would be traumatic and chaotic, I’ve found an unimaginable peace that I have innately gravitated towards and come to cherish more than just about anything else going on in my life. What felt like a bleak future beyond my professional life has now opened up sharp visions of a path to take that will ultimately lead me to a fulfillment. I’ve gone from dreaming about what life would be life with the woman I came to admire on my television screen to now never wanting to envision life without her.

I’ve always heard to love is to genuinely want more for someone than you could ever want for yourself and there’s nothing more that I want than for her to have all of the goodness this shallow world has to offer.

Without being hesitant or unnerved I can confirm his question. It’s without a doubt.

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 46

When I met Ike and Lauren in the cafeteria, they were seated at a table and drinking sodas while having an animated conversation.  I smiled as I made my way to the table, excusing myself as I weaved through the other visitors.  

Ike stood up with a careful examination over my entire form top to bottom with his eyes, and returned the smile that hadn’t left my face since I walked out of my father’s room.  “Is that glass for me?”  I reached for the juice he’d gotten me and sat carefully when he held my chair.  “Now, once we finish our drinks, I think we should head home and have lunch before round two of shopping.”  Lauren was studying me carefully, and I wondered how much she’d learned through Ike and her own observant mind.  

“Is it over?”  She asked, taking a sip from her own glass.  When I nodded, she smiled.  “Good.  Now we can all stop worrying so much, right?”  I bit my lip and took care as I drank.  

“I swear, you’re getting far too wise,” Ike was smiling as he shook his head.  “When you’re ready, ladies, we’ll go home and unload.  And rest.”  His eyes landed on me and I rolled my eyes.  “You’re running on adrenaline now, Liz, but Mimi isn’t coming for my head if she sees bags under your eyes.”  Shaking my head, we sat and finished our drinks, then Ike helped me to my feet and tucked both of his ladies’ hands into the crook of his elbows and walked us back to the overloaded car.  

We gave Ray-Ray the chore of finding people to take Lauren’s purchases upstairs, but I kept the smaller bag with me.  Choosing to dine at one of the outdoor choices, I waited until we’d all ordered to finally put the bag in front of my stepdaughter.  “I felt like you should have a little something new to go with your new room.”  

Ike’s eyebrows rose,  watching as Lauren pulled the wrapped boxes out of the bag.  I hoped he approved of what I’d done, and as I shifted my gaze between the two, I felt more certain he did.  Lauren’s gasp, as she opened the largest box first, showing Ike the small strand of pearls I’d chosen, and each subsequent one, the bracelet, the watch, and the earrings made her father’s smile grow.  

She jumped from her chair and nearly tipped me out of mine in her exuberant show of happiness, but I wouldn’t have wished for a more regulated response.  “Thank you, Liz, they’re-”  She pulled back and I could see her dimple, and her eyes looking slightly glassy.  “Grown up.”  

“A young lady can’t do wrong with a set of pearls, Lauren.”  I whispered, brushing her bangs back and holding her face between my hands.  “And a nice watch.”  I kissed her forehead and felt Ike’s hand on my back.  “I’m glad you like them, sweetheart.”  

Lauren saw a friend nearby and asked if she could show them, Ike nodded his agreement and off she ran, her boxes carefully in the bag they came in, but the wrapping paper still littering our table. 

“That was a-” my eyes met his and he leaned close and kissed me lightly.  “You’re so good for her, for us, Liz.”  I smiled up at him and his hand fell naturally to the top of my bump.  “Now that we’re alone,” I snorted and looked at the people surrounding us.  “You know what I mean,” I chanced a glance toward our daughter and nodded.  “How did it go?”  

While Lauren and her friend gushed together over my gift to her, I told Ike every decadent detail of my meeting with Ben and Klein and by the end he was as relaxed and happy as I felt.  “It’s not over, not until he’s behind bars permanently.”  I reminded him, but my hand joined his on my bump.  “But I think Lauren is right, we can stop worrying as much.”  She rejoined us as the waiter brought our meals, taking away the wrapping paper with a smile as I thanked him.  

We enjoyed lunch, and after I convinced Ike that sitting down while eating counted as rest, we left the hotel for the second round of shopping.  I was taken aback by how knowledgeable Ike was about baby furniture.  I suppose I shouldn’t have been, he was a father three times over, but every single woman I’d met swore that fathers showed none of the interest that mothers did where their children’s needs were concerned.  

He knew my tastes, and he angled us toward the darker woods and high quality sturdy pieces.  He asked questions I wouldn’t have thought to ask, he tested features I wouldn’t have known to try, and Lauren and I watched in interest as he made careful picks.  The decor after the furniture was chosen was more of a family affair.

“Bunnies or bears?”  Lauren asked, her nose scrunched up at the offerings.    

I was surrounded by so many woodland creatures I almost felt overwhelmed.  Bunnies or bears indeed.  I bit my lip as I touched each pattern, wondering if the color mattered, and if blue, pink, green, or some mix of the three with a touch of yellow was the best route.  My eyes met Ike’s and his smile calmed me a bit.  

“Lauren’s was bunnies.”  His dimple teased me and his eyes twinkled.  “Danny and Stevie had bears.”  

Ah, masculine and feminine or luck of the draw?  Before I could ask, the softest looking white lamb caught my eye.  I walked to it, and touched it carefully.  “Lambs.”  I offered softly, turning my head to see the two of them watching me with mirrored smiles.  “Let’s do lambs.”  

Buttercream yellow, with lamb prints, dark wooden furniture and a growing sense of yearning to meet our little one was what we had when we made it home.  The furniture would come in a few days, the walls would be painted by then, and the accents we’d chosen would be in place and waiting.  

“We should plan a babyshower.”  Lauren said with authority as we had dinner in the penthouse that night.  I raised an eyebrow, but Ike nodded.  

“I don’t know anyone,” my words came slowly, but were no less true for the reluctance to admit it.  “Not in Miami, at least.”  I knew people in Europe, I knew my family in Chicago, but Miami?  Well I was having dinner with two of the small handful I knew by name.  

“Then we invite your family,” Ike said with a grin.  “And we make it an event for the hotel.”  I rolled my eyes.  “What?  If we combine the shower with our first wedding.”  My eyes widened.  “Did I mention that Sid left a message that the judge confirmed the divorce?  I got it before we left this morning.”  His eyes belied the casual tone he used to deliver such amazing news and I was gaping at him.  

Lauren squealed, but I stared.  “When would you want this to take place?”  He shared a conspiratory look with his daughter and I suddenly knew what their animated conversation in the hospital cafeteria had been about.  

“I have the office working on sending out the invites to your family now,” I nearly asked how, but shook my head.  Sid.  I had touched base with him before I came back and gave him contact information for Minnie.  “As for our wedding and reception/babyshower?”  His smile grew.  “I think Lauren and June might be able to make something come together.”  I shook my head, but couldn’t fight my own smile.  “I told you, Elizabeth Diamond, I want to marry you, SOON.”  

“And I want to make sure that everyone knows that my baby brother or sister is going to be so welcome to the family!”  Lauren added, smiling at me across the table.  “Are you too tired to come see what my room looks like so far?”  She’d been in the room most of the evening, calling out to Ike when she needed his help, and I’d been regulated to the couch to wait and rest.  

“Absolutely not,” I smiled.  “I want to see how magnificent it looks.”  Putting my napkin on top of my plate while Ike begged off to have a cigar on the balcony, I followed Lauren to her room.  Once again I found myself gaping.  She’d managed to change her room from small girl princess to teenage nobility in one day, and she was right it wasn’t finished.  We still had the painters coming, and the window treatments to select.  “Oh my.” I gasped, as she pointed out the touches she felt brought everything together.  “You have such a truly discerning eye, Lauren.”  She was beaming at me as I touched the high post of the bed she’d chosen.  While I preferred darker stains, she chose a lighter oak, but it managed to look just as regal.  The prints and the colors worked together so well that I wanted to tell her that her father should look to her if he chose to redecorate the resort.  

“I love it.”  She said, with a firm shake of her head.  “It’s so-” She sighed with a contentment that made my own smile grow again.  “Thank you, Liz.”  

“For what?”  I asked, as she easily folded into my body for a hug that I was growing accustomed to.  

“Being you.”  She whispered and my heart tugged at how much I found myself loving her, and Ike and his family.  My family.  “I love you.”  “I love you, sweetheart.”  

Ike was back in our bedroom in his boxers with a jewelry box beside him on the bed when I came to bed.  “Molly’s?”  I asked, starting to undress, but he was on his feet with his hands replacing mine before I had more than half a zipper undone.  

“I told you, Liz, this is my job.”  His lips touched the nape of my neck before he answered my dangling question.  “Yes, the box was Molly’s.  I thought that I’d get your help to make sure it’s all worthy of adding to Lauren’t collection.”  I nearly told him that it was, but he seemed to want me to go through it with him so I stopped myself.  Once he had me bare skinned before him, he pulled one of my loose and comfortable nightgowns from a drawer and let it fall over my head and settle on my body.  “Got to keep you covered so my mind stays on the task.” He offered with a long kiss.  “But as soon as we’re finished-”  I felt a stir with that lingering promise.  

Sitting on the bed with Molly’s box between us, I watched and listened as he told me about each piece.  He was right, there wasn’t a lot of it, but it was quality.  Which I expected from Isaac Evans when it came to the woman he loved.  

“Give her all of it,” I told him, once he showed me the last pair of earrings.  His eyes met mine and I smiled.  “Give it to her and tell her every story and detail you just told me.”  I took his hand and kissed each finger.  “Show her how much you adored Molly, how you remember the reasons you gave her each piece, and how she looked when she wore them.”  He was staring at me as I used my hand to place his on my cheek, leaning into the touch of his skin on mine as he cupped my face.  “Remind her that you won’t forget her mother, no matter how much you love me, no matter how excited you are about our baby, tell her how much she reminds you of her.  She idolizes her, Ike, and after hearing you tell me about her, I can see why.”  

The next morning, after reminding ME why he adored me, how every detail of every moment since we first met was cemented as firmly in his mind and memory as Molly’s was, Ike helped me get ready for another day.  And at breakfast, again in the penthouse, he told Lauren that they would be having dinner together alone that night.  When she looked at me with worry, I smiled.

“Every young woman needs a dinner alone with the first man to love her, Lauren.”  I said, calming whatever fears she may have harbored.  “And I plan on having a nice quiet dinner and a long hot-”

“No baths without me here,” Ike reminded me and I sighed.  “Please?” 

“Fine, a nice quiet dinner and I’ll disappear into a book.”  Amended, I could see that he was appeased.  “Now, as for today-”

We talked about Ike’s schedule, Lauren’s plans for a day of leisure, and I decided to have a salon day.  When Lauren heard, she looked at me with such yearning that I giggled and invited her along.  A girls’ day followed by a father/daughter dinner seemed like a perfect sort of day to me.  

[jokessho]

[Update] Seven plus one Chapter 3

Yo! Thank you all for the feedback and likes and patience! Here’s chapter 3, please try to enjoy :)

FFN

AO3

Yamato inhaled deeply through his nose, letting his body wake up at its own pace. There was no rush to turn off the alarm before it woke Taichi up, since it was a Saturday.

Yamato opened his eyes when he felt Taichi’s arm slip from around his waist as Taichi turned to face the wall. Ever since that first night—four nights ago, now, Yamato mused—he had gotten more comfortable with the idea of sharing a bed with another person. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he seemed to sleep better with Taichi next to him. He vaguely recalled having read somewhere that men slept more soundly if they were snuggling with someone.

Yamato’s face reddened.

Not that he and Taichi were snuggling! They were just sharing a bed with their limbs occasionally—accidentally—tangling around the other. Not very often, Yamato assured himself.

Shaking his head clear of those thoughts, Yamato edged his feet off the bed and sat up.

“Getting up already?”

Yamato started at the voice behind him. He turned to look at the sleepy brunet still cuddled under the duvet.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Yamato asked in lieu of answering.

“Nah.” Taichi said, throwing the covers off himself and stretching his arms above his head. “I was just waking up, too. I thought you’d have a bit more of a lie-in, though, since you don’t have school.”

Yamato shrugged, standing. “Yeah, but I’m not sleepy anymore, and some of the others have work and we agreed to have breakfast together, right?”

“Right.” Taichi swung himself to sit upright on the bed. “But Sora will be the first to leave and that won’t be until ten. What time is it, anyway?” Taichi scanned the floor for his mobile, though Yamato already had his in his hand.

Yamato frowned at his phone. “It’s already eight thirty.”

“You mean ‘only,’ right?”

“No, no.” Yamato replied, distracted by the sound of the shower running upstairs. “Sora’s already up and getting ready. I should get started on breakfast.”

Taichi rolled his eyes, though his brain was already conjuring up a mischievous plan. Slyly, he reached out to snag one of Yamato’s wrists, bodily pulling the blond onto the bed.

“Hey!” Yamato yelped, landing heavily, face first, on Taichi.

Taichi grunted from the impact, but then chuckled. “Guess I didn’t think this through.” He wheezed out.

Yamato hid his chuckle in Taichi’s shoulder before rolling off to the side. “Serves you right.”

“Guess so.” Taichi acquiesced before the two lapsed into silence.

The sun was streaming in through the thin curtain, though, in the late-September morning, it wasn’t glaringly bright.

The males contemplated the ceiling in silence, neither really thinking much. They were content to just lie there, not doing anything and not feeling the need to.

A quiet knock on the door snapped both out of their stupor.

“Guys?” Sora poked her head in cautiously. “Oh, you are up.” She opened the door a bit wider. “I thought I heard sounds from here. Anyway,” she looked directly at Yamato. “I just wanted to let you know that I can take care of the cooking this morning.”

“What?” Yamato sat up. “No, no, it’s fine; I can do it, since I’m up.”

Sora frowned. “But you’ve been cooking every day and you’ll continue to do so. I can do breakfasts at weekends.”

“Both?” Yamato offered a compromise.

Sora eyed him for a bit before smiling. “Okay.” She started moving out of the room. “I’ll get some stuff set up and you can join me whenever.” She caught Yamato’s nod before the door closed.

Yamato stood again, moving away from the bed lest Taichi try pulling him in again. Not that the bed wasn’t comfortable or that it hadn’t been nice to just be, but there was breakfast to be made.

“I’ll go for a quick shower whilst you two are busy cooking.” Taichi announced, bouncing off the bed.

“Shotgun!” Yamato called, racing out before Taichi had even straightened fully.

“Hey!” Taichi ran after Yamato, only to have the bathroom door slam and lock in his face. Taichi stuck his tongue out at the piece of wood, then slunk back into his room to dig for clothes.

Yamato walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later, still in his borrowed night clothes, but with a cleaner face and teeth. He smirked at Taichi as they passed in the corridor, only to get a playful slap on the arm from the brunet.

“What did Taichi do?” Asked an amused voice as Yamato entered the kitchen.

“Huh?” Yamato blinked at Sora. She had thrown on her red apron and had apparently just finished putting the rice into the cooker.

“You looked amused by something, so I’m asking what Taichi did.” She clarified, moving to the fridge.

“Oh.” Yamato made a mental note to try to reply in more than one syllable words or sounds from now on. Sora seemed to let it go, though, as she laughed and muttered something about ‘boys.’

Smiling, Yamato grabbed his own apron and started helping Sora with the eggs and vegetables.

They worked in silence for a minute before Sora spoke: “We haven’t really told you about ourselves, have we?” Yamato’s attention snapped to her, eyes wide. “I mean, general things like how old we are and where we’re from.”

“You don’t have to…”

Sora grinned. “It’s not like you’re forcing it out of me.” Her face softened. “I want you to get to know me better. Do we want miso soup?”

Yamato was taken aback by the abrupt change in the topic, but then he shook his head in reply.

“My favourite colour’s red.” Sora said, changing topics abruptly again, as she put the packets of instant soup back into the cupboard.

Yamato wasn’t sure if he should reply by stating his favourite colour. Did he even have one anymore? He had in the past, before his life filled with worries and stress.

“I grew up on the outskirts of town.” Sora continued, not waiting for Yamato’s favourite colour. “My mother runs a flower business there, with greenhouses and huge gardens and all. She’s the fourth generation of daughters to take over the business. As you heard, I didn’t want to do that, so I ran away. I was 16 at the time, and that was six years ago.”

“Your mother didn’t come looking for you?”

Sora shook her head, checking on the rice. “I have a cousin who was more than willing to take over, so I’m not a huge loss to my mother or aunt. And I’m happy here.” Sora turned to smile at Yamato. “I’m happy with my current life.”

Yamato smiled at the eggs, uncertain about meeting such genuine joy he knew the mahogany eyes held.

Sora busied herself with the condiments for a while. “As a bartender, I get to hear so many stories from my customers. Some bitch about their days or bosses or spouses, but others—generally the older ones—give valuable life advice.” Sora turned her full attention to Yamato. “The most valuable can be summarised by: have a close group of friends to share your troubles and smiles with.”

“Seems simple.” Yamato mumbled, still keeping his eyes on the eggs even though they were fine on their own.

“It sure does, but getting there is where most people run into trouble.”

“Morning!” Jou called, walking in to the kitchen.

“Good morning.” The cooks replied in unison.

“Food’s almost ready, so go wake up the others, please.” Sora said, as the rice cooker’s setting clicked from ‘cook’ to ‘warm’.

“Sure.” Jou nodded, heading back out.

“Do I get food yet?” Taichi asked, walking into the kitchen whilst towelling his hair dry.

“Huh, so that’s how. Interesting.” Yamato commented, glancing at Taichi from the corner of his eye before turning to pull out plates.

Taichi lowered the towel around his neck. He waited a few seconds then rolled his eyes and sighed. “Elaborate!”

“Taichi, don’t yell.” Sora scolded, unplugging the rice cooker and taking it to the coffee table in the living room. Chuckling, Yamato followed with the plates and utensils.

“Yamato...” Taichi whined, in a much quieter voice than before.

Returning to the kitchen, Yamato grabbed the eggs and vegetables. “I had been wondering how you get your hair to stick out all over, but I guess that method of drying it answers that question.”

Taichi stuck his tongue out at the blond’s back, tailing him into the living room.

“The faucet in the second bathroom upstairs is doing that thing again.” Meiko announced, ushering Koushiro and Hikari into the living room. “Jou and Mimi are fixing it, which is why it’s taking them so long.”

“What thing?” Yamato asked.

Meiko opened her mouth to answer, only to blush and change her words hurriedly: “Oh, sorry everyone: good morning!” Everyone laughed, Meiko joining in after a second.

“Morning.” Yamato replied, echoed by the others. “What thing?”

“The tap is kind of loose at times and squirts water from the base.”

“Oh.” Yamato frowned. It didn’t sound too good.

“It’s okay.” Sora assured, starting to spoon rice onto Koushiro’s plate. “Jou and Mimi are amazing at tag-teaming the fix.”

“Yes, we are!” Mimi announced, stopping to raise one arm into a bicep flex and grabbing said bicep with her hand. She winked before moving further in with Jou in tow. “The food looks great.” She pecked Meiko on the cheek and gave Hikari a one-armed squeeze in greeting.

Once everyone had served themselves and settled onto the floor, Sora asked about everyone’s plans. Herself, Jou, and Mimi would be working, but everyone else had the day off.

“We’re going shopping; Yamato needs stuff.” Taichi informed through a mouthful of food. Sora gave him a disapproving look, but acknowledged his answer with a nod.

“I don’t, really…” Yamato frowned at his food. “I can manage until I get access to my money in half a year.”

“So you have some money?” Jou asked.

“Well, yeah, but when I left… I guess Natsuko—my mother—froze or blocked my account or something like that. I tried getting some money out earlier, but the card was refused. My—” He swallowed heavily. “My father has a savings account set up for me. It was supposed to be for university, but…”

“It’s alright!” Taichi said, grinning. “I’ll provide for you until then.” This caused Yamato to blush and everyone else to snort into their food.

“How’s the job-hunting going?” Mimi asked Taichi, recovering from his previous statement.

“Alright.” Taichi replied, chewing thoughtfully before elaborating: “I’ll hear back from the park maintenance position next week. Has your boss said anything?” Taichi turned his attention to Jou at the last part.

Jou pushed his glasses up his nose and licked his lips. “Actually, he did ask me about you and your work ethic. I did put in a good word for you, since I do know you’re dedicated to your job. He looked like he was seriously contemplating it.”

Sora smiled. “That sounds promising.”

A grin spread across Taichi’s face as well. “Yeah, I would actually prefer that one, since winter as a park employee could get cold.”

Hikari sighed. “I wish I was old enough to work…”

“Don’t worry.” Mimi said brightly, placing a hand on the younger brunette’s shoulder. “You’ll be 15 in a few months’ time, so you can start looking for work then.”

“I don’t know…” Taichi started, but was interrupted by a glare from his sister. “I mean, you might want to think about education first. You don’t really want to be stuck in dead-end jobs like me for the rest of your life.”

“Education requires money, though, which is something we don’t have.” Hikari countered quietly but firmly. She reached out to start clearing away the empty plates.

“Unless you’re being home-schooled.” Yamato noted, passing his plate into Taichi’s outstretched hand. “I could start teaching you and Koushiro a few things at home, if you’d like.”

All movement stopped and everyone’s eyes turned to the blond. Yamato shifted uncomfortably in the silence and spotlight, but it was thankfully broken by Hikari’s bright:

“Really? You’d honestly be willing to home-school me?”

Yamato shrugged, a smile tugging at his lips. “If you want, I’d be happy to.”

“Okay!” Hikari’s grin widened and her brown eyes sparkled. “We’ll need to buy some notebooks and pencils.”

“I’ll give you some money for that.” Sora smiled as Jou nodded his agreement.

Mimi and Meiko exchanged nods. “We’ll chip in, too.”

“Thanks, everyone.” Hikari said.

“Right.” Taichi stood, pile of plates in his hands. “Now that that’s settled, who’s helping me with dishes?”

“I will.” Meiko volunteered, also standing and grabbing the rice cooker and pan from the table.

With Taichi and Meiko doing the dishes, Sora and Jou went to get dressed for work. Yamato, Hikari, and Koushiro occupied the three showers; the downstairs one, the shared one upstairs, and the master bedroom’s en suite.

About half an hour later, everyone was gathered in the foyer, putting on shoes and jackets.

“Sora needs to leave now and I’ll be walking with her, so make sure to lock up properly, okay?” Jou said, holding the door open for his girlfriend.

“Oh, damn, that reminds me.” Taichi turned, almost knocking into Yamato, who was standing behind him on one foot, trying to pull a shoe onto the other foot, whilst avoiding Mimi who was throwing a coat around her shoulders. “Yamato remember to remind me to get you a copy of the key.”

“If I remember to.” Yamato replied, distracted.

Echoes of ‘bye’ rang out as Jou and Sora left.

“It’s cute that he’s still walking her to work.” Hikari noted, dressed in a thin light pink jacket.

Mimi snorted. “Oh, please, they haven’t been going out that long; of course he’s ‘still’ walking her to work. Honeymoon phase.” She winked at the younger girl, opening the door and stepping out.

The rest of the group followed her out, noting the cool autumn breeze.

“How long have they been together?” Yamato asked, walking with Taichi to the gate.

“About a year, now.” Mimi answered from behind them, followed by the two youngest.

“Only?”

“Jou only joined us three years ago.” Taichi clarified. He held the gate open as everyone filed through.

“Oh.” Yamato was about to say more, though he wasn’t sure what. Thankfully, he was spared the need to think of something.

“Right,” Mimi said, looking down the street. “I have some errands to run before I have to get to work, so you all enjoy shopping.”

Another chorus of ‘bye’s sounded as the group split again.

“It’s quite a long walk to the city centre, but we usually avoid taking buses if we can.” Taichi explained, leading the way down the street in the opposite direction to Yamato’s school.

Yamato nodded, knowing their money situation. Though, had they had the money to spare, Yamato would have preferred to walk anyway; the weather was good and it was relaxing listening to Taichi chatter on about mundane things, with Meiko or Hikari making an occasional comment. Koushiro, as usual, stayed silent, hand secured tightly in Hikari’s.

Yamato had really missed having a normal life; hanging out with friends and not having to worry about anything. His father’s lung cancer diagnosis had come two years ago and, since then, Yamato had been constantly stressed. He had pushed away most of his friends from school, only two close ones remaining now.

Yamato snapped out of his thoughts at an elbow to his arm. Blue eyes met brown.

“Alright?” Taichi asked quietly, mindful of the girls talking behind them.

An affirmation got stuck in his throat, so Yamato just nodded. He swallowed and added: “Just thinking.”

“Don’t.” Taichi smiled, nudging him again. “Life’s a lot simpler if you don’t dwell on things too much.”

Yamato rolled his eyes, a smile forcing itself onto his face. “I don’t know if I should be taking advice from the likes of you…”

“Hey.” Taichi threw a playful glare at the blond, before both burst out laughing. The girls and Koushiro gave the pair weird looks, but neither teen could explain why, exactly, they were laughing, so they didn’t.

“So we’re going for clothes, mainly?” Meiko asked, picking up her pace to join the boys at the front.

“Yeah, some everyday clothes and then winter stuff. Seriously, though, Yamato.” Taichi said, turning to the blond. “How were you planning on surviving winter with what you have?”

Yamato frowned at his feet. “I was planning on getting a job, remember? And it’s not like I really thought the whole thing through…”

“That’s understandable.” Meiko assured, preventing Taichi from picking a fight. “Sora said something along the same lines when she ran away—that it’s not something you really plan on doing, necessarily.”

“Jou had it all planned.” Taichi noted.

Meiko threw him a look. “But he’s Jou.”

Taichi chuckled, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, I guess I didn’t really plan my escape all the way through, either.”

“And you had more than yourself to worry about.” Hikari reminded cheekily.

Taichi stopped, letting Hikari and Koushiro catch up. He threw an arm around his sister’s neck, giving her a gentle noogie. “Oh hush, you.” Hikari giggled and squirmed out of his hold, moving to Koushiro’s other side, using him as a shield.

Meiko chuckled at the siblings’ antics, then turned to Yamato. “I feel a bit bad for you; Jou was able to move out of Taichi’s room and into Sora’s, but we don’t really have any spare beds left for you to move to when you get annoyed with Taichi.”

“Hey!” Taichi barked. He shoved his hands into his cargo trouser’s pockets and pouted. For all of a few seconds.

“So you and Jou were roommates?” Yamato asked as Taichi got over his pouting and joined the front again, walking next to Yamato.

“Yeah.” Taichi threw Meiko a look, past Yamato. “You should have felt bad for me, you know. And now you should feel bad for Sora having to put up with him.”

Yamato rolled his eyes at Taichi’s statement, then he frowned and bit his lip, glancing at Meiko out of the corner of his eye. “Wha—I know it’s a bit rude to ask, but… What if things don’t work out between them?”

Meiko smiled reassuringly. “Then Hikari and Jou will swap rooms; it won’t be a problem. Besides, Sora and Jou seem to get along well enough and they won’t get tired of seeing each other because they’re both working most of the time, and sharing a room is about the only time they have to spend together.”

Yamato nodded. “Do you mind me asking how long you and Mimi have been together?”

“Oh, I don’t mind.” Meiko shook her head, dark hair flapping around. “It’s been 12 years now; since our late teens. It wasn’t easy moving in together almost immediately, but we worked through our differences whenever we had them.”

“Try to avoid getting on the wrong side of Mimi.” Taichi commented. Yamato had almost forgotten he was there. He threw a glance over his shoulder, to make sure the two youngest were still with them. They were. “She’s great most of the time, but can get very bitchy very quickly, if you say or do the wrong thing.”

“And what are some of these wrong things?” Yamato asked him as Meiko covered up a chuckle with a cough.

Taichi shrugged. “I don’t know; it varies.”

“Great.” Yamato mumbled flatly.

“Don’t worry; Mimi’s not easy to annoy.” Meiko reassured him. “Even though Taichi makes it look very easy.”

Taichi leaned forward so he could see Meiko on Yamato’s other side. He stuck his tongue out at her and she retaliated in kind. Taichi grinned, then looked forward again.

A few minutes later had Taichi grabbing Yamato’s wrist and taking off at a run, dragging the surprised blond behind him.

“There’s the store!” Taichi announced, picking up his pace.

“Taichi, wait!” Yamato stumbled, balance off from the pulling and surprise take-off.

“No waiting—now.”

“But we have to wait for the others, too.” Yamato finally managed to get his feet under him properly—only to crash into Taichi’s back as the other stopped abruptly. “Ow.”

“Sorry.” Taichi muttered, turning to look at the rest of their group. “Hurry up, guys!”

Whilst they were waiting, Yamato took time to inspect their surroundings. They were standing on a busy road, surrounded by tall buildings, as was typical of most Japanese cities. A few smaller streets ran off from the main road. In one corner stood a large building with a yellow sign reading ‘TreFac Style.’ Treasure Factory was a chain of thrift stores—cheap and with a huge selection.

“Let’s go in, then.” Taichi said, snapping Yamato out of his inspection. The others had caught up and were now leading the way into the store. Taichi leaned closer to whisper to Yamato: “It’s lucky we have Meiko with us. Her and Sora are really good at finding the best clothes here and they have great fashion sense. Mimi does too, but she tends to forget that she’s shopping for someone other than herself. Jou refuses to come, claiming he gets anxiety attacks from how full it is.”

Upon entering the store, Yamato could only blink at how crammed full the place indeed was. True to Taichi’s words, Meiko seemed to know what she was doing, as she was eagerly waving Yamato over. Hikari and Koushiro had rushed off somewhere, probably to the small school supply section in the back.

“Do you have a specific style of clothing, or can I pick whatever?” Meiko asked as Yamato and Taichi got within hearing range.

Taichi answered before Yamato could: “Pick whatever you think he’ll look good in.” He turned to Yamato with a grin. “Trust her.” Meiko nodded in agreement. Yamato shrugged in reply, never having really cared about what he wore, other than just looking presentable.

Meiko grinned, diving into the muddle of clothing. Taichi spent most of his time looking for the most ridiculous clothes he could find and trying to slip them into Yamato’s ‘to try on’ pile. At first, the blond would just roll his eyes and put the clothes back on their racks. However, after the third trip to the changing booth, he let Taichi slip a hideous Hawaii shirt into his pile and he didn’t put it back.

“Taichi!” Meiko yelled as Yamato walked out in the brightly coloured garment. Taichi, on the other hand, had burst out laughing, clapping his hands. Yamato was laughing, but his face was also coloured in embarrassment as he retreated back into the booth.

Meiko shook her head in a disappointed manner as Yamato walked out in his normal clothes. Then the three continued browsing, Meiko piling even more clothes into Yamato’s arms. The blond wasn’t sure how she found them all so quickly.

“Taichi, you put that down.” Meiko warned, eyes narrowed at the brunet holding a purple wig. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye. “Yamato!” The yell startled the blond so that he dropped a black, glittery vest. “I can’t believe this: you too? Don’t encourage him!”

Chuckling, the teenagers let up the game of finding the most ridiculous clothes or accessories. They still continued to point out some of the weirder garments they chanced upon, but no longer sought them out. Or tired them on, as was Yamato’s case.

Almost two hours later, the group of five were out of the store, carrying three bags of clothing. Most were for Yamato, but the others had managed to find some good deals, too. Hikari was clutching a cylindrical, fabric pencil case in her hand. The case was a bit battered, but Hikari had fallen in love with the picture on it: it was of a strange-looking cat, mostly white, with yellow gloves and an abnormally long tail. Taichi had tried insisting that dinosaurs were cooler, but, with a lifetime of practise, the young girl had skilfully ignored him.

“Are you two hungry?” Meiko asked the two youngest.

“I am.” Taichi informed her, eyes flying to a smaller side-street, where he knew good food stalls to be. Meiko ignored him.

“No.” Hikari shook her head, mimicked by Koushiro. “But I need to use the restroom.”

“Of course.” Meiko smiled, opening the bag she was carrying. “Pop the pencil case in here and we’ll leave the stuff with the boys.” Hikari did so and Meiko handed the bag to Taichi. The girls then left to search for the nearest public bathroom.

“I’ll go grab a snack.” Taichi said, itching to run off to the nearest food stall—one of his favourites in this part of the city. “You want anything?” He asked Yamato, who shook his head. “’Kay, I’ll be right back.” And he was off.

Yamato stood on the side of the street, a bag hanging from each hand. He shifted from one foot to the other and glanced at the boy standing on his right. They were alone.

“Um, I never really properly introduced myself to you, did I?” Yamato asked Koushiro. “My name’s Yamato Ishida. I’m 17 and in my final year of high school.”

No acknowledgement.

“How old are you?”

Koushiro watched a mother pushing a stroller past them, but did nothing to indicate he had even realised Yamato was speaking to him.

“I know Hikari’s 14. Are you the same age, Koushiro?”

Still no answer.

“What’s your favourite colour?”

Nothing.

Yamato sighed, looking around the street that was getting more crowded as the morning turned to noon. “Koushiro?” Yamato tried again, but still the boy didn’t even acknowledge the name. “I promised to teach Hikari some maths and other subjects. Would you be interested in learning, too?”

Koushiro’s silent treatment was really starting to sting. Yamato knew the boy had problems socialising—even with Taichi—but it still hurt. More so when Koushiro immediately acknowledged Taichi upon his return. The boy didn’t say anything, no, but his eyes found Taichi and his posture relaxed a fraction.

“The girls aren’t back yet?” Taichi asked once he was within hearing range. Yamato shook his head in reply and Taichi shrugged, offering Koushiro one of the skewered fishcakes he had bought. Koushiro shook his head, so Taichi made the same offer to Yamato. Yamato, too, shook his head and Taichi shrugged, biting off a corner.

“Um.” The three males turned to look at Meiko, who had just returned with Hikari. “We were thinking that it might be best to take the bus back, since we have so much stuff to carry and we’ve been walking so much.”

Taichi shrugged, dropping his now-empty skewer into the nearest bin. “I don’t mind either way.”

“Maybe the three of you could take the bags home on the bus and Taichi and I will walk?” Yamato tried, knowing that saving even the few hundred yen of his and Taichi’s bus fares would help.

“You sure?” Meiko asked, taking the bags from Yamato’s hands. The blond nodded and Meiko smiled. “Okay. We’ll see you two at home, then.” Waving their goodbyes, the trio started towards the nearest bus stop.

“See ya.” Taichi said, not really caring whether they heard. He bit into another fishcake and offered the last one to Yamato again. “You’ll need the energy. Or something. I got it for you, anyway, so…” Yamato took it, turning away to hide the happiness in his eyes.

The two walked and ate in leisurely silence, making their way through the busy streets. It wasn’t until they turned onto a less crowded road that Taichi spoke:

“What’s wrong?”

“Huh?” Yamato snapped out of his stupor. He took a few moments to blink at the ground he had been staring at. He chewed on the wooden skewer, thinking back and realising he had no idea what he’d been thinking about.

“What’s wrong?” Taichi repeated, since Yamato wasn’t speaking. “I mean, not now, but earlier you looked like something was bothering you. What was it? Something I can help with?”

Yamato frowned, still not looking at his companion. “Earlier, when?” He asked, skewer hanging out of the side of his mouth.

“When I went to get a snack. I came back and you seemed a bit down. Did something happen? Did someone say something to you?”

“Oh.”

Taichi frowned as they walked along. He had already learned that Yamato was shit at elaborating, but this was worse than shit. “Seriously, did someone say something to you? Who was it?” Taichi looked over his shoulder, as if they were still on the same street or as if the person would announce themselves.

“No one said anything to me.” Yamato mumbled, eyes still glued to the asphalt.

Taichi’s head whipped back to the blond. “Then what happened?”

Yamato lifted a shoulder in an indifferent shrug. “That’s just it.”

The brunet stopped, head cocked to the side. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means just that.” Yamato replied, slowing to let Taichi catch up again.

Letting out a huge sigh, Taichi draped himself over Yamato from behind. “Will you stop being so cryptic!” Taichi whined, swinging Yamato back and forth bodily.

“Taichi, stop.” Yamato snapped, pulling at the arms wrapped around his chest. “You’re being an idiot in public—stop.”

Taichi let go, moving to walk next to Yamato. “Explain, then, and I won’t do it again.”

Yamato rolled his eyes at the threat, though he relented as he didn’t want a repeat of earlier. “I mean that Koushiro wasn’t talking to me at all, even though I asked him something and tried to talk.” Realising he sounded rude, Yamato hurriedly added: “I know that he has trouble socialising, but I just thought that he might at least answer one question or something. It’s not really a big deal, but I just wanted to try talking to him for a bit.”

Through Yamato’s rambling, Taichi had kept a contemplative look on his face and when he spoke, it was with clear deliberation: “He doesn’t talk a lot normally, but even less so when we’re out in public. It’s not just you; he hasn’t said a word to me either—ever—when we’ve been out. He might reply with one-word answers if Hikari asks him something, but sometimes even she gets the silent treatment when we’re out.” Taichi smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it.”

Yamato nodded, though he wasn’t convinced; Koushiro hadn’t even acknowledged him. He started at the feeling of another hand in his. He met with a pair of brown eyes as the hand gave a squeeze. “Give it time.”

[anundertaleoftwosisters]

Chapter 15: The Simplicity of Pretending

This chapter has actually been completed for quite some time now, but we held onto it hoping to add more. Instead, we've decided we are going to add two additional chapters to the story.

Also, from these sisters to you, Happy National Siblings Day!

Summary: Time is passing, things are becoming normal again. However, there is a certain unease in accepting things as they are.

Links: [PREVIOUS] [NEXT] [AO3]

Everyone had fallen into a pattern where time became irrelevant. A week had passed. Then another. Then maybe another, but Aly couldn’t be sure of the exact day anymore. What she did know was that, little by little, life was moving forward again. The bruises were lighter, the scars were fading, and her hands had finally stopped shaking.

Mimi had grown complacent, as if she were already forgetting. And Sans was there to replace the trauma with new memories that reminded her what it was like to smile again. Aly could see the two of them growing closer; the way Sans stared at her, or the way Mimi would shyly graze her skin against his bones. Sans was there for her when Aly couldn’t be.

In the days that went by, Papyrus tried to help Aly in the same ways. However, it was impossible to focus on anything but the extra voice echoing across the reverberations of her own words. She dreamt almost every night now. Sometimes they were residual memories, sometimes nightmares. Mimi had even caught Aly’s hands signing in Gaster’s strange language on some nights. However, Aly could tell that there was a reluctance that stopped Mimi from asking about it any further. Regardless of how hard they tried, the tension between them had not completely subsided.

Aly dreamt of his son - sons - and woke up to face them every day; Sans and Papyrus. Why wasn’t that obvious to her before...? Gaster rarely answered her questions about them, so she had learned to stop asking.

She dreamt of parallel universes where everything was the same, but little details weren’t quite right. Sometimes they were nightmares in which Mimi had taken her place.

She dreamt of lives she had never lived - including Gaster’s. The brilliant Royal Scientist that had put science above all else. Eventually he had lost everything to it, too.

...And she was starting to feel bad for him.

Aly watched her dreams as if they were a television show. The more she saw, the more she found herself on his side. She wanted him to succeed. The good intentions were there, but had simply been lost somewhere along the way.

Her soul was almost yearning for these times that she hadn’t actually lived through - a feeling of nostalgia or fleeting deja vu that made her heart ache. Sometimes she would catch glimpses of her parents in these borrowed memories. Unfortunately, there was no easy way to explain these occurrences to Mimi, as much as she longed to share them. So Aly kept them stowed away in the back of her mind, locked tight in her own memories that she was just grateful to now have of them.

Though, these weren’t the only things that plagued her recently.

Aly, seated at the edge of Papyrus’ bed that she had hijacked for herself over the last couple of weeks, flipped through her father’s worn black journal that Gaster had given her. She had read every page multiple times, so much so that the edges of the paper were beginning to fray; the bindings on the book’s spine slowly coming undone.

Part of her still naively hoped that there was an answer within these pages - an answer to anything. But the entries ended just as abruptly as their parents’ existence.

Don’t look for us, the last entry read. It was in her mother’s handwriting, scrawled haphazardly on the same page that detailed their own experiments in soul fusion. Don’t look for W.D. Gaster. You girls will have each other, and that will be enough.

But it was becoming more and more apparent to Aly that it was no longer enough. These pages had been rendered useless now that she had discovered their last message too late.

She unfolded a loose slip of paper tucked in the journal with rough sketches of her parents’ altered extraction machine. She looked at it often, but not too often as to alert Gaster to the fact that she used to wonder if creating another could be used against him. Though he had nothing to worry about now; Aly thought about it less and less with each passing day, surrendering to the impossibility that it would be successful.

Your mother and father were brilliant scientists, Gaster chimed in regardless. I don’t believe any of the Underground would have gotten by in those pivotal years without them.

“Didn’t get them very far,” Aly scoffed.

Perhaps not, but it brought you here. And I am forever grateful for that.

Grateful? That wasn’t a sentiment she knew Gaster to be capable of. It didn’t fit the rest of his disposition, like the wrong piece of a puzzle forced into an incorrect spot.

“I’m glad one of us has benefited from this.”

Gaster was silent for a moment. His responses to Aly’s inherent sarcasm were always the same, so perhaps he was simply trying to find an alternative way to phrase it now.

To Aly’s surprise, he changed the subject completely. Tell me, do you feel any different since that night at the lab?

“What?”

That night, Gaster pressed. Describe to me how it felt when you killed her.

It took a while for Aly’s mind to escape that night. She remembered how the panic felt as her trembling hands texted rapid messages from Alphys’ phone.

Sending Aly your way, she messaged to Sans in Alphys’ stead. Couldn’t find anything of importance during the exam. Everyone is expecting me back soon, so I’ll see you guys when you get back.

She even tried to message Undyne in order to cover all the bases - not that cellular signal to the Surface carried far enough. Regardless, it seemed to have bought her time. Just how much, she couldn’t be sure.

“It… it was unbearable,” Aly’s voice cracked as she answered Gaster. It was a sensation that she had never felt before; something deep in the pit of her soul that knotted her entire chest. “It was almost like suddenly forgetting how to breathe.”

“It gets easier after the first one.” Those were Gaster’s words right after Aly had watched Alphys turn to dust before her eyes. Easier, he said. Easier to watch someone die, or easier to be the hand that killed them?

Turns out... it was both.

The panic lingered through several sleepless nights after Aly had arrived back in Snowdin, reunited with Mimi and the brothers. In the first several hours back, she was determined to somehow gain the control to reset in order to save Alphys from that night, silently running through ideas in her mind about how to take that power from Gaster.

However, it was just as he said. It was getting easier - easier to detach herself. Easier to let Alphys go.

Easier to let herself go.

With Gaster’s guidance on how to deal with the weight of guilt and against what remained of her own moral fiber, Aly had kept herself… busy.

It was harmless at first. Moldsmals in the forest, with no concept of life or death. Aly reminded herself that it was like squashing insects on the surface. However, it began to escalate. Her soul was feeding off of her apathy. Taking the souls of monsters was quelling it; making it feel normal again. Surely there was a scientific explanation behind it that she simply did not understand. But Gaster was confident in it, and it was working. So Aly owed it to Gaster to trust him with at least this much.

My team and I spent a great deal of time researching the adverse effects of Determination in the humans that fell here before their deaths. It was a limited sample size, but there were indeed some patterns worth noting. Most who fell were innocent. However, some of them…

“What are you trying to say…?”

Do you still feel bad about what happened to Alphys? Gaster derailed her once again.

Aly nodded. Of course she still felt guilty. Even though monster deaths were much less jarring than she expected, it was still in her human nature to feel accountable for the choices she made that night.

However, time had begun to heal that wound faster than she could comprehend.

“I do, but… but I feel like I can live with it.” It was as if she could justify it now. After all, she was still here, Mimi was still safe, and they were both stronger for it.

What about killing those creatures in the forest?

“It’s… easier now.” Aly grimaced. Why was she admitting these things?

“Does that make me a bad person…?”

Of course not, my dear.

...How could it not?

This new soul is evolving; finally adapting to its host. And with each soul you take, we, too, become more in sync . How does that feel?

That arbitrary question had been following her for so long. The more Gaster asked it, the more Aly could nearly convince herself that he cared.

It was different now. Aly had time to accept that they were one in the same; her soul was his. His language, his memories, his knowledge had all become hers. And the more she could detach herself from her own emotions, the more she could understand his.

“It feels right.”

Don’t you see what you’ve gained, Aly? It goes beyond sheer strength. You can finally preserve the lost memories of your parents. You’ve given Mimi the happiness of company she’s lacked. Your entire journey up to this point has had purpose.

Purpose. He was right, wasn’t he?

The understanding must have been hard-pressed into her expression. I knew we could make this work. You see the value in our arrangement now too, don’t you?

As much as it pained Aly to admit it, she did. But how was she supposed to submit to this truth when she had spent so much of her energy up to this point fighting it?

“If this is how it’s going to be from now on, then I suppose I never had the choice, did I?”

You still have a choice. Need I remind you that machines can be restored? Aly could feel the tips of her fingertips tingle against her parents’ blueprints from Gaster’s warning. It’s either you, or… someone else.

“No,” Aly said firmly, with a confidence that had been missing before. “We’re passed that, I promise. I choose this.”

I need to know for sure, Gaster crowed. Prove it to me.

 ***

Mimi set four plates on the kitchen table, evenly spaced and delicately decorated with four sets of silverware. Meanwhile, Papyrus tended to multiple pots and pans simmering on the stove behind her.

“It smells delicious, Paps!” she called out, straightening every piece to obsessive perfection.

“It’s a very special day, right?” Papyrus replied.

Mimi nodded, a smile gently gracing her lips. “To think, we’ve lost track of time so much lately, I nearly forgot about it. I’m sure Aly has.”

“Well, surely a breakfast feast like this will remind her!”

Mimi giggled. “If it doesn’t, I don’t know what will.”

As the duo continued meal preparations in the kitchen, Sans appeared in the doorway, led by the invisible scent trails of food.

“This smells like your best work yet, Paps,” he grinned tiredly, with a hint of enthusiasm. “Must be a special occasion.”

“Good morning, Sans!” Mimi jumped up from her task and immediately greeted him in the doorway with a short, yet affectionate embrace.

Sans wrapped one arm around her, accustomed to this level of physical contact now. “Happy birthday, kid.”

Mimi’s heart fluttered under his touch. Her smile couldn’t help but widen.

“Is Aly still asleep?” she asked.

“Probably. Why don’t you go wake her up?” Sans said as he shuffled towards the pot of coffee sitting on the counter.

Mimi nodded. “Okay, I’ll be right back!”

 As Mimi ascended the stairs and approached Papyrus’ bedroom door, the muffled sounds of Aly’s whispering voice grew louder. What started as only being able to hear a few words slowly turned into fuller phrases as Mimi took more steps closer.

“...can’t expect me to do that…”

A pause.

“...going to notice…”

Who is she talking to…?

As Mimi’s hand grazed the door, the conversation on the other side ceased.

Strange.

Mimi tapped her knuckles lightly against the worn wood, but didn’t wait for a response before entering. As she stepped in, she spotted Aly sitting at the edge of the bed, fully dressed in one of Papyrus’ cropped shirts that fell loosely over Aly’s torso, his scarf, and a pair of rolled-up jeans. However, she also noticed that Aly was completely alone in the room.

“Morning, sis,” Mimi cooed quietly.

“Hey,” Aly responded even quieter.

“We… weren’t sure if you were awake yet.”

Aly nodded. “Couldn’t really get to sleep last night.”

Mimi swung around the bed and took a place on the edge of it right next to her sister. “Out of excitement for today, I hope!”

“...What?”

Mimi’s little grin faded with the confusion in Aly’s expression. She really didn’t remember.

“You know… that one day that comes around every year?”

It took Aly a second, but her tired eyes widened when she finally put the pieces together.

“I-It’s our birthday.”

“It’s our birthday!” Mimi parroted with cheerful inflection before scooping Aly into a hug. However, Aly did not reciprocate. Mimi tried to ignore it, only squeezing her tighter.

“I… I can’t believe I forgot.”

“Hey, no worries, sis!” Mimi bounced up from the bed and grabbed Aly’s hands to pull her up as well. “I know it’s hard to keep track of the days down here, but we’ve still got all day to celebrate!”

Aly flashed a hesitant smile from behind the scarf loosely wrapped around her neck. “I don’t know, Mimi--”

“You’re not going to mope around by yourself today,” Mimi exclaimed firmly. “We’re going to get out, go into town, and spend some time together.”

“Everyone in town hates me.”

“That’s not true!” ...Actually, it was a little true. Some of the townsfolk had expressed their concern about previous events. They continued to bring up the times when Mimi was ill, and Aly’s inability to cope with it. Some noted seeing her alone deep within the forest. Others suggested she would… talk to herself.

None of them new Aly like she did, though. Whatever they thought they were observing just wasn’t true - she was sure of that.

...Mostly sure.

“Not everyone can make friends as easily as you do, Mimi.”

“You made friends all the time,” Mimi reminded her.

“It’s different this time.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit, Aly.” Mimi turned to face her. “You are the most remarkable human being I have ever known. Life right now is… different. But we’re the same.”

Aly grimaced, but remained silent.

Things had been difficult lately. Aly never completely recovered from whatever she had experienced with Gaster - something of which Mimi still had no answers about. Alphys had left them with inconclusive results, and Aly herself insisted that she was fine. But there was a lingering strain between them since Aly returned to Snowdin that first night; a tension that Mimi couldn’t correctly place. However, she made the conscious effort everyday to move forward. After all, she was happy - Aly deserved the same.

“Papyrus made a killer breakfast, you’re going to love it.” Mimi shook off her reservations once again and forced a smile. “Do you remember when we were kids? All you wanted was breakfast for every meal.”

The memory was met with more silence at first, but there was a breakthrough when Aly let out a single, uneasy chuckle. “And you would pretend to want it too so that mom couldn’t refuse to keep making it.”

Mimi laughed. “I realized very quickly that my love for pancakes didn’t stretch as far as yours.”

For the first time in what felt like ages, Aly laughed. It was small, but it was genuine. However, it faded as quickly as it came.

“...Things were so simple back then.”

“They still can be, Aly.” Mimi took one of Aly’s hands in both of her own. It was stiff, reflecting the rest of her sister’s disposition.

“We could stay here… like this. With Sans and Papyrus. We can go back to the Surface with them and--”

Aly pulled her hand away. “This isn’t our life to live, Mimi.”

“But it could be. We’ve found a home, Aly. A place where we’re welcome, and loved and…” Mimi paused. “And safe.”

She thought that maybe there might have been a better word to describe what she was feeling, since much of this journey into the Underground had not been particularly safe for either of them. But Mimi believed, with all of her soul, that things could change.

“You don’t have to keep pushing us away anymore, or going off on your own, or feeling like you’re struggling with anything alone.”

Aly walked through the doorway of the bedroom and stopped at the edge of the railway.

“I’ll try, Mimi. For you.”

“Hey,” Mimi called to Aly. “To the ends of the earth, right…?”

Aly faltered, opening her mouth to elicit an instinctual response to the phrase. However, nothing came out before she shook her head and descended the stairs.

 The meal, while cut short by a call for Papyrus’ assistance in Waterfall, managed to still be more memorable than Mimi could have ever hoped for. The past several birthdays had been spent on the road. Different city, different set of temporary acquaintances as she and Aly continued steadfast on the search for their parents. This was the first year the twins got to celebrate it in the comfort of a home, with people they cared about.

Papyrus had surprised them with a cake alongside all of their favorite breakfast items. Cake for breakfast… just like when they were kids. Sans took credit for the idea as his contribution to their modest celebration.

Mimi’s bright smile didn’t leave at any point during the conversation, and even coaxed out a couple more of those genuine little laughs from her sister.

For the first time, it really felt like they were healing.

After Papyrus’ abrupt exit, Mimi rinsed off the dishware one by one in the sink before handing it to Sans to dry. Aly had volunteered to bring cake to their friends in town - a surprising, yet thoughtful gesture. Mimi figured that maybe one good day was all Aly had been needing this entire time.

“Do you think Aly liked everything?” Mimi turned to Sans and handed him a fistful of silverware.

Sans shrugged nonchalantly. “I think her reaction was as good as we're gonna get.”

Mimi nodded, but quickly realized that Sans’ statement didn’t actually make her feel much better. “She hasn’t opened up to me about anything  yet…”

“I think it’s safe to say that she doesn’t plan to, kid.”

Mimi shot him a look. “That’s not true! We tell each other everything. It’s always been like that…”

Sans sighed, taking the next plate from Mimi’s hands and setting it down on the kitchen counter without drying it before turning to her.

“Mimi, do you honestly believe that Aly is the same person she was before you two fell down here?”

“Yes,” Mimi answered without a moment’s hesitation. “She’s my sister. My twin sister. We have a connection that no one else can ever understand.” She pressed a soapy finger against her chest. “I feel her, Sans. In my… in my soul. Like she’s a part of me. Things haven’t been the best between us lately, but… but she’s still Aly. And no matter what you or anyone else says, I know she hasn’t changed.”

Sans’ expression furrowed. The bones of his carpels scratched the rim of his eye socket as he rubbed the area in weary contemplation. He clearly did not agree with Mimi’s response. However, before he could say anything else, Mimi asserted herself again.

“That doesn’t mean she doesn’t need your help, Sans…”

Sans let out a surprised scoff. “Trust me kiddo, I’m the last person in this universe and the next that she would take advice from.”

“I know it doesn’t make sense. But you understand what happened to her better than I ever will, Sans. Whatever awful things Gaster put Aly through…” Mimi paused to compose herself. She could barely stand to think about it, let alone coming to the realization that Sans endured much of the same as well. “Her mind is in a place that I can no longer reach. But you can.”

“This is a mistake.” Sans leaned over the counter and buried his face in his hands. “All of this. You girls shouldn’t still be here. Alphys was supposed to take you-- No, you should’ve left a long time ago. We should have taken you back when you were sick.”

Pain hit Mimi’s heart under the weight of Sans’ words. “...And gone where…?”

“Home, Mimi.”

Mimi shuffled over to the kitchen table. She fell into the closest chair, still facing Sans as he stood frozen at the counter. “Do you… do you want to know what I wished for, Sans? For my birthday?”

“I don’t know what you’re--”

“I wished that we could stay here.” Mimi could feel herself fighting back tears now. “With you and Papyrus. And then when you went back to the Surface, I wished that we could stay with you there too. B-Because… Because…”

When she looked up at Sans and saw the flickering lights in his attentive eyes, she couldn’t hold the tears in anymore.

“Don’t you get it? This is home. You are my home.”

Mimi’s sobs were the only thing to fill the deafening silence of the house for much longer than she was comfortable with. No matter how much time she had spent growing closer to Sans, letting her walls come down still left her feeling so vulnerable.

The silence between them lasted an eternity. She needed him to say something. Anything.

“...Alright, kid. I’ll try to talk to Aly tomorrow. For you,” Sans finally replied. “Just… please don’t cry. Don’t let me be the jerk that made a girl cry on her birthday.”

Mimi couldn’t help but hiccup a laugh through her tears. “It’s still one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had.”

Sans ambled to the chair where Mimi was seated and rested his hand on her shoulder. “...I guess the only thing that could make it better is your birthday wish coming true, huh?”

“We don’t have anyone else, Sans...” Mimi sniffled with her face cupped in her hands. “No one but you and Papyrus...”

Mimi didn’t have to look up at him to feel the shift happening through his emotional barriers as well. He normally always acted so aloof, but surprised Mimi with how much he actually gave in to her requests.

“...Paps and I both want you here,” Sans admitted. “If only it could be that simple.”

“It can be.” The heightened sense of deja vu pulled at Mimi’s words. Sans and Aly had much more in common than either of them would admit. She wiped the tears from her eyes and rested her own hand on top of his.

“I already told you before, kid. As long as you’ll keep me around, I’m not… I’m not going anywhere.”

The butterflies returned. If only there were words to describe how much hearing that meant to her. And although she knew no amount of reassurance would ever suffice, Mimi wanted to at least try to return it to Sans. “Good, because neither am I.”