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toxicrelief · 11 days ago

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Crawling Back to You

Chapter One

Synopsis: You quit. The Guardians of the Globe? What a joke. You are surrounded by assholes. Rex-Splode being the biggest of them all. Except, now he keeps trying to call you. And there's a knock at the door.

Pairing: Rex Sloane x F!Reader

Word Count: 3.3k

Chapter: 1/?

Masterlist of all Chapters

• TW: alcohol mentioned,

Note: My first attempt ever at a fanfiction. Could not find any Rex x Reader on Ao3, and I am a sucker for a slow burn. Just watched two YouTube videos on how to use Tumblr, and here’s the first draft of chapter 1! Please tell me what you think! Once I have more chapters I’m going to post it on Ao3 as well.

Background: Chapter 2 will character build the MC more, this chapter is meant to be more of a hook.

“Go away!”

The knocking stilled for a moment; you stood just a few feet from your front door. God, he did not know how to take a hint. You had turned your phone off over half an hour ago when he first tried to call you. And you were sure if you turned it on now a litany of notifications would hinder it from running smoothly for at least a few minutes.

The silence lasted a bit longer before a few more knocks rapped against the door. It was dark out; it must be late. But to be honest, you were not sure what time it was. After all your phone has been powered off for who knows how long, and you were not about to just sit in front of the microwave for your time-checking purposes.

“Please-” A soft voice said through the door, followed by a soft thud. The assailant must have just put their head against the door. You could picture it. A sad, pathetic sight. With a sigh and a roll of your eyes you responded.

“Why Rex.” It was not really emphasized as a question, but an exasperation. Running a hand through your hair you turned and put your back against the door. Against your better judgment, your fingers brushed against the cool metal of the lock.

There was another long pause, for a second you thought you could hear his breathing, quick, erratic, messy.

It is odd to think that everything has led to this. Years, months, weeks, days, it did not matter, a lifetime had passed since you had both met. He’s an asshole. Has always been an asshole. It was the first thing you thought when he opened his damn mouth during your first encounter. Never had you ever met something so egotistical as Rex-Splode. God, even thinking his name made you want to rip your hair out. It was insane to you that someone could be so in love with themself that they did not even have an identity outside of their “secret” identity.

Maybe he was ashamed on some deeper level. If he was even capable of being that self-aware. Maybe the only interesting things about him were his abilities. Who he is on a level past that is so disappointing and pathetic, pathetic, that he has erased it. He practically lives in his costume, in fact, you once saw him wearing street clothes and before you could fully be surprised, he disintegrated it to reveal that he was in fact, still wearing that damn costume.

But you had to admit, he was able to jump into the action much faster than you because you had to grab your backpack and pull your own costume on. Which regrettably you still are not great at doing with complete efficiency.

He was a good hero though, you could admit this to yourself internally. As unpleasant as he was as an individual, he made up for it in a lot of ways with his competence. They had definitely gotten their asses beat loads of times, but he was never one to give up.

This was one of the few things you admired about him, but as of right now, it was the bane of your night.

“I… I have to talk to you.” The voice responded finally, “Fuck- Please Joy.”

You found yourself rolling your eyes once again. You hated that nickname. And you made it well known. You held nothing short of disdain for that stupid, stupid-

And then he whispers something, it hardly makes its way through the wood. You cock your head slightly in surprise, pointing your ear towards the door. And then you hear it again, a little louder this time, you had not imagined it. Rex had just said your name, your actual name, not your alias, or any of his ridiculous nicknames for you, your given name. You could count on one hand how many times you remembered him saying it.

Suddenly you’re unlocking the door, bad idea, and you’re pulling it ajar just slightly, bad idea.

His hair is wet, it must be raining outside. It’s too bad you cannot hear it in your apartment, it would be nice to lull off to sleep to the rhythmic tapping. There is also a faint scent of alcohol. Great. Much to your surprise he is wearing street clothes right now, but part of you wonders if even now he is wearing that orange and yellow suit underneath. That cannot be comfortable.

After a few moments of silence, you realize you are just standing there looking him up and down. Is he not going to say anything? Your mouth parts slightly, ready to say something snarky, your brow rising.

“Can I come in?”

Silence again. No, you cannot come in, I hate you and I hate your stupid face and your stupid ponytail, man-bun, whatever it is. You have done nothing but complicate my life and make me feel miserable.

“Fine.” Shit.

You shuffled slightly to the side, letting him come in. He took in your apartment for a second, seemingly forgetting why he was here. In the dim light of your apartment you could see now that not only was his hair wet, but he seemed to be almost soaked, scratch that, he definitely was soaked.

“Did you walk here?” Disbelief is clear in your tone. Headquarters was much too far, a twenty-minute drive on a good day. Maybe he had been drinking at a nearby bar, but that was still quite the walk.

“What? No.” There was that familiar indignation. Most assuredly a lie though, there was no other reason why he would be quite literally trailing water into your entryway. Rex had a way of seeming disingenuous no matter what he said, which made it hard to see through his lies sometimes, but you were starting to be able to pick up on certain cues.

He walked up to a shelving unit in your living room. It had books on it, not that you ever had time to read, they were mostly birthday and last-minute housewarming gifts. There were some framed photos too, well kind of. There were picture frames that still had the generic stock footage in them from the store. A sad reminder of the fact you could not have a normal life, and now Rex was staring at them.

“You like the family tree?” You finally quip, sighing as you leave to go get some towels from the other room “You’re making a mess everywhere.” You state dryly, handing him a towel and drying up the trail he left from where he was standing to the front door.

Rex simply gave an absent-minded hum. He never shut up for this long usually, it was nearly impossible to get a word in without him feeling the need to have the last word during your first. Even if you were not saying something that could be argued with, he always seemed to find a way. He hesitated for a moment just standing holding the towel before he tried to dry off the ends of his pants which were the major culprit of the indoor mess.

You could not deny your mind was racing, and he was apparently in no hurry to explain why he wanted to come in. After spending far too much time making a sad attempt at banging down your door, he was suddenly docile. He was not looking at you and his hands were fiddling with the damp towel. If you did not know better, you might even think he was nervous. Had he even looked at you since entering?

“I like your apartment, the interior design in here is… nice.” He finally said.

What.

“Oh, thanks?” What? “It actually came mostly furnished; I did not want to search for furniture while also trying to settle in with the Guardians you know? Kinda…busy.” What is happening right now?

“Oh.” He seemed almost disappointed. “Well, it’s nice.”

Great talk.

“So-”

“Uh-”

“Oh sorry-”

“No, you go first.”

YOU’RE THE ONE WHO WAS JUST BEGGING ME TO LET YOU IN WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘No, you go first’ WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

“Not to interrupt your sightseeing in my apartment, but what exactly do you want Rex?” Silence. Again. Is he drunk? He’s not swaying, but you definitely caught the scent of it earlier. He was not usually the poster child for moderation either. But he was also not slurring, then again, he has said approximately seven words since walking in so how can you really know.

“You have to come back to the Guardians of the Globe-”

“No.”

Theres the eye contact, first time since he walked it, but now it felt weird. You wish he would go back to staring at the embarrassing frames on the shelf.

“You’re a strong asset to the team-”

“Oh do not give me that rehearsed bullshit. Is Cecil feeding that to you right now? Because that’s a new low for him.” That was not a new low for Cecil, he has definitely gone much lower. You knew this after learning more about the ReAnimen.

“Fuck, Joy what do you want me to say?” He held his hands out in exasperation, taking a step towards you.

“I am not going back; you’re wasting your time. I am sure that you have better ways to spend your evening than being here beating a dead horse. Also, I am getting tired of you calling me that.” You step back towards the door, grabbing the handle to escort him out.

“Half the Guardians just left on some bullshit expedition to Mars, only Rae, Kate, and I stayed behind.” He folded his arms and did not budge. “If anything happens-” He gritted his teeth, man it must have almost physically hurt for him to admit that you were a good member. It was not too long ago that he practically threw a fit when Cecil introduced you. “At least wait until the others get back to go on this pity party.”

Rude.

“Seriously?” You could not believe the nerve he had to beg to be let in and then pull whatever this was. “If you need back-up so bad ask Mark.”

“He left with them.”

You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. “Honestly Rex, I do not care. You’re a big boy, I think you can hero without me holding your hand for a little bit.”

“What is your deal!” He glared but then closed his eyes taking a breath. “I did not come here to fight or force you.”

Cute, he’s doing self-affirmations now. Okay, time to go. Out.

“Alright this has been fun, bye Rex!” You started to open the door just to feel it slam shut again. Your gaze snapped up to his hand pressed against the door. He moved fast.

“Fuck this isn’t-” He was a little too close for comfort. You back away, your hand trailing off the door handle. His eyes follow you closely.

“Rex, you’re drunk-” You start, your arms crossing over your chest.

“No-”

“It is really late-”

“No-”

“I am tired, it’s been a really long day-”

Your name, said loud, for the third time tonight, finally shuts you up for a second.

“You’re not listening.” There’s a tense silence now, his hand is still against the door even though you have stepped away. “I’m not drunk.” He almost whispered, shaking his head as if even he did not know where he was going with this.

Right… sure…

If there was one more long silence you were going to do something violent.

“Do you need me to call a car to drive you back?” You said quickly, turning around to go get your phone. He did not say anything, but you could hear him impatiently tapping his foot behind you. After a second of holding down the power button your phone flashed to life. As you expected it struggled for a bit, once fully on a litany of messages flashed across the screen and your notification sound went off an obnoxious amount of times. You turned around to see Rex now pinching the bridge of his nose. It was such a bizarre situation you almost wanted to laugh. But instead, you ordered a car. Five minutes out.

“You did not really leave because of me, did you?” It takes you off guard, his voice is soft, there is no layered sarcasm. It is almost vulnerable feeling.

“What do you want me to say?” You mirrored his words from earlier back to him, raising your eyebrow. Was it one hundred percent his fault? No. Was it approximately ninety-two-point-eight percent his fault? Yeah, that sounded about right. But what productive would come from telling him that?

“Say it wasn’t my fault.” He rasped. He stepped towards you again. You stepped back again.

He almost looks hurt.

“The car is going to be here soon, let me show you out.”

“Goddamn it.” His jaw tensed and he looked away, but did not say anything else, and stepped aside so that you could open the door.

The tense feeling did not stay behind you in your living room, it followed you down the hall. The other apartment doors one by one make you feel like you were in a box of mirrors. Did it always take this long to get to the elevator? If you lived in an apartment building with less stairs you would have jumped at that. Quickly running down the stairs with only the footsteps resounding in your head. The idea of the two of you standing side by side in the elevator as 13 floors passed was not one you were fond of.

You shook your head to yourself remembering his outburst about not being drunk. You were getting very tired of the lies. Pressing the elevator button there was nothing left to do but wait in more silence.

Maybe you should go back to the Headquarters with him.

If he was telling the truth about the Mars trip, then it might be better for you to be around. Even if Rex was lying through his teeth earlier about you being an “asset” in his eyes, you actually were. Even if he did not truly think so.

God, no what are you thinking? You have not even been gone twenty-four hours; you haven’t even been able to sleep on it. No way.

But a part of you wanted to make sure Rex got back safe. Even if he made horrible decisions and bruised your pride more often than not, you had been through a lot of fights together. And he does not seem to be thinking clearly.

With a ding, the elevator door opened, and you stepped in, Rex following behind. You pressed the button for the first floor.

Begrudgingly, you had to admit he had even saved your skin more than once, not just in the field but to the team before as well. He was not one to step down when he thought someone was being unrighteously lectured. Even if he did not like the person being lectured very much. He must have had some sense of loyalty. God forbid you defend him though, or he would get upset you did not let him handle it himself. Now you were getting irritated all over again at several unpleasant memories.

If you were one hundred percent honest you were probably going to go back to the Guardians after a week, maybe less. It would be embarrassing after the scene you made about leaving “for good” but you were meant for it. What good were you if you were not a hero? A week. Maybe less. Rex gave you approximately fourteen hours.

You glanced over at him without turning your head. He was biting the inside of his cheek, staring straight forward. No readable expression. Why was he so quick to try hauling you back? He could hardly stand being in the same room as you for more than five minutes. You used to pride yourself on being mostly likable, you had very few enemies. You were even nice to Rex for quite some time, but it did not make a difference. He was just an ass. An ass who thinks to come to your apartment when he’s drunk? He turned his head slightly and you faced forward again with a snap.

The elevator dinged again, ground level.

Hurriedly, you leave the elevator, a certain discomfort you couldn’t place enveloping you. The glass doors are an entryway ahead of you, showing clearly how much it was pouring outside. No wonder he was unintentionally giving your floor a spot clean. You could see the car waiting outside, the rain showing even more clearly in the beams of the headlights.

You could hear it now, the thrumming of the rain. It immediately made you feel more relaxed. You did not hold the glass door for Rex.

It was very cold outside; you should have grabbed a coat. I guess you had more pressing matters on your mind. You sighed to yourself, not able to hear it over the rain. The windshield wipers of the car squeaked as you got closer. You waited a moment for the driver to open the passenger window, telling them where to take him, and to make sure he gets inside fine. If the driver was just some random guy this would have been highly irregular and definitely not in their job description. But it was one of Cecil’s guys, so they knew exactly where to go.

The passenger window closes, and you go to open the back seat for Rex. Once again, his hand stops the door from fully opening and you prepare yourself for another short-lived argument. But you glance up and he’s just… looking at you.

There’s that feeling again, from when you left the elevator. Was it apprehension? Waiting for him to say something stupid? You shifted back slightly; he leaned forward slightly.

Odd.

“The driver will take you to the headquarters.” You say finally, your gaze jerking from his eyes to his shirt collar. You could see a sliver of orange and yellow and for a second you thought triumphantly that you knew it. He is wearing it still, typical. Focus.

“Come with me.” His brow is furrowed, he must be angry. Angry he was not able to force you into submission, into coming back.

“No.” You said softly, managing a sympathetic smile. You needed at least twenty-four hours of not being around that ridiculous team.

He leaned forward slightly more; you were very close now. That feeling again. Manual breathing is now the only thing that enters your mind. How do you remember to breathe when you are not actively thinking about it? How did you manage for so long until right now? Because this is taking a lot of effort to make sure you’re breathing normally.

“Please.” He’s not looking you in the eye, his eyes have flickered down for a moment, a blink and you miss it moment. You did not blink, and you did not miss it. His lips are slightly parted, and he edges forward what could not have been more than a millimeter. Your gaze returns to his eyes. There is no way. He is drunk and you are imagining this, go to bed.

“Goodnight Rex.” You finally say, but you do not back away immediately. He is entirely in your personal space. But a small insignificant voice in your mind is screaming at you not to move, not to go back to your apartment. You had to know why he was there. For Pete’s sake, it had only been fourteen hours. Why were you now standing here feeling crazy wondering if he was actually leaning forward more. You needed him to explain.

And then you stepped back.

If you did not know better the emotion that crossed his face would have looked a lot like disappointment.

Rex got into the car and closed the door. You turned around to watch it drive off. A shiver ran through your body. Damn rain.

He’s an asshole. Has always been an asshole. It was the first thing you thought when he opened his damn mouth during your first encounter.

Divider credit: @/ saradika

#are you sure?#rex splode #enemies to lovers #no beta we die like rex splode apparently #rex x reader #slow burn #angst #angst with a happy ending #canon divergence #rex sloan #rex splode x reader #rex splode fanfic #invincible season 3 #rex sloan x reader #invincible rex splode #invincible #fanfic #rex doesn't die

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holdmymallowsweet · 9 months ago

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A Wisp of Affection

Richard Jackdaw x f!MC

Word count: 1,635

A chance meeting in the depth of a summer night leads to some playful banter, and an intriguing question.

Also on AO3, properly tagged

a/n: I’ve been feeling a certain way about this ghost boy lately, and then I came across Sasha Alex Sloan’s “Dancing with your Ghost” by chance and it put me in a wonderfully melancholic mood. And now that you know what to blame for this, enjoy.

There was something enticing about the Forbidden Forest at night. Laced with a prickling sense of danger, it promised adventure and glory- or perhaps notoriety, for those bold enough to venture into it. He might not have met an untimely death, if it hadn’t been for his odd fascination with the place.

Soft footsteps and rustling in the grass told him someone was approaching, and he felt her presence before he even saw her.

She found him again.

He turned his head to look at her, which always startled her a bit-

But then, where was the fun in getting his head cut off, if he couldn’t use it for comedic effect? And it always made her laugh in the end.

This time was no different, eyebrows raised in a slightly disturbed frown, corners of her lips twitching upwards, she gave him a quick huff of laughter before closing the distance between them.

“Hello, Jackdaw.”

She strode over to him, disturbing a swarm of fireflies as she went, before she sat down.

“Hello, you. Out for a midnight stroll?”

“Always, you know me.” She flashed him another one of her playful smiles.

He returned it fondly. They both liked to pretend that she came across him by accident when they met like this, usually in the depth of night, when everything was quiet, save for the ambient sounds of the forest. He always found it romantic, although not many agreed, at least not the girls he tried to court when he was alive.

She took a deep breath of air. The fireflies illuminating her skin when they flew close and the serene look on her face made her feel like something out of a dream. More of an apparition than himself. The sight would have made his heart flutter, if he’d had one. She brushed a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear, only getting it at the second try, and he wished he could have done it for her.

He’d known they were kindred spirits when he sent her off into the cave where he met his demise. When he noticed she still had her head, the next time he saw her, he was both relieved and disappointed. He wasn’t entirely sure how tangible relationships between ghosts could be, but Merlin, he’d have liked to discover it with her, if it had come to that.

Curious, fearless, playful and teasing in a way that felt warm and endearing rather than malicious. Traits that Anne had once shared with her, before Azkaban cruelly burnt them away. Perhaps that’s why he’d briefly entertained the notion of picking up where he left off with this one.

It was quite pointless to think about, really. He wasn’t of her world, and she wasn’t from his time, not even born yet when he was alive. It was no matter, he’d never mature- mentally or physically- beyond his 17 year old self. Whatever it was that they shared on these summer nights, it was a fleeting sensation. Soon enough, she’d outgrow him, worry about employment and other adult responsibilities, perhaps remember him as a schoolgirl crush as she aged while he would be no different than he was now. Waiting around for the next lass or lad who’d indulge him, but she’d likely always be one of his favourites.

He looked up at her- which reminded him that he was still holding his head, which he promptly replaced on his neck- waiting for her to speak. In the beginning, he’d tried to woo her with tales of his adventures, but she wasn’t easily impressed. Understandable, as she had plenty of adventures of her own under her belt. Over time, he realised that it was more rewarding to enjoy the silence with her, until she’d suddenly have a thought, or a question that led to something- a jaunt through the forest or sometimes just a bit of teasing back and forth between them, but he loved it all the same.

“How’s Anne?”

All right, not what he’d hoped for.

“Much the same, really, but I don’t want to talk about Anne right now.” He only ever visited her in St. Mungos out of a sense of moral obligation, she only vaguely remembered him and they no longer had anything to talk about anyway. Being ultimately responsible for her fate, the guilt would forever stay with him, but he didn’t want to let it spoil the moment.

She said nothing, only measured him with those piercing eyes of hers that seemed to see right through him, in more ways than the obvious one. She’d always been the perceptive sort, had a knack for figuring out what went on in the heads of others. It could be quite unnerving, but thrilling at the same time.

“How come I never see you around the castle?” she asked, evidently content to drop her previous question.

“Why, did you miss me?”

He’d avoided her on purpose. She had her own life in the light of day, and he didn’t want to constantly fight the temptation to invade her privacy. This was at most a dalliance, not the romance of the century, and it was better that way, considering their circumstances.

“Do you remember the deathday ballroom? I thought I’d see you there sometimes, but I never do.”

He made a face. “Not really my preferred choice of location. Or company.”

She chuckled. “Not one for dancing, are you?”

“Did you happen to take a look at the other ghosts? Hardly anyone there who’s not old enough to be my mother. Or my grandmother.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m fairly certain at least some of them died after you.”

“That’s not really how this works.”

She laughed. If only he could dance with her-

Actually, perhaps he could. One of those stiff, boring dances that didn’t involve touching. He watched her as she pushed back that strand of hair again. It was hard to imagine her curtsying in a pretty dress anyway, she looked much better running and scrambling through the forest, with the hems of her robes frayed beyond the capabilities of even the most potent repairing charms.

“You know, speaking of dance partners…”

“Yes?” He was perfectly willing to change his mind though, if that’s where she was going with this.

“Have you ever kissed someone?” she asked, giving him a curious look.

“I’ve done more than kissing, little fledgeling. I was quite popular with the girls in my time.”

She raised an eyebrow and gave him a derisive snort. “Oh? How’d that work out for you?”

He grimaced. Poorly almost seemed to be an understatement, but then neither of them had ever been as good a match for him as her. More willing and able to follow his clues and solve his riddles than Anne, more intrigued by the treasures in his thief’s den than Apollonia- she was a bit of a magpie herself, much like him. They would have been so good together.

“Why, looking to take advantage of my expertise, are you?” She had no shortage of male acquaintances she might possibly want to kiss. Personally, his galleons were on the freckled brunet- that one reminded him a bit of himself. He wasn’t sure what she would have wanted with the sarcastic, blind one, but then there was no accounting for taste, and she always was a bit unpredictable. He wouldn’t blame her either way, there could never be anything real between the two of them, and she had needs like any other person.

“Do you miss it?”

“Obviously.”

She didn’t respond immediately, staring at her outstretched legs, tapping the tips of her boots together.

“If someone kissed you… uhm, had their lips close enough to yours that you would be kissing, I suppose, do you think you could feel it?”

He took a moment to stare at her. “Of course not.”

She turned to meet his eyes. Was he imagining the slight blush on her cheeks? It was hard to tell in the darkness. Was this going where he thought it was?

“I mean emotionally. You can clearly feel joy, and sadness-”

“Only one way to find out.” He swiftly grabbed his head again, holding it so that he was at eye level with her- if she wanted to, she could laugh, play it off as a joke.

Merlin, that startled expression was even more adorable up close, and her theory was already proven right. He couldn’t remember ever being so excited and nervous about a kiss, not even when he was alive. But there was no way he’d tell her, not while there was still a chance that she’d close the distance, and he could perhaps feel the tiniest sliver of her warmth, or get an idea of what she tasted like.

He almost couldn’t believe his luck when she leaned forward, close enough that he could count her eyelashes, only to stop a finger’s width away from his lips.

Then she smirked. “Did you think I was going to give you my first kiss? Just like that?”

“Well, it wouldn’t have to count-” he pouted.

She laughed. “If you want my kiss, you’ll have to earn it.”

“How?”

She stood up, brushing dirt off her robes. “I’m sure you’ll think of something,” she said, flashing him a last, teasing smile before she turned around and started walking back the way she’d come.

“You’re leaving?”

“For today.”

His mind feverishly tried to come up with something, anything, to get her to stay.

“Wait.”

She turned around, looking at him expectantly.

“How about a riddle? Just for you. In exchange for the kiss.”

Her eyes sparkled.

There was no version of forever that they could share, but on these summer nights, for a brief, fleeting moment in time, she was his.

a/n 2 : So there you go, I wrote this over the course of two glorious moody summer nights and it was so much fun. They always say ‘write what you want to read’, and this really is just something I really, really wanted at that moment, but if you liked it as well (let me know if you did) I’m happy. ❤️ This little encounter takes place after the whole Ranrok issue is resolved and Mc is just another (adventurous) student, Anne has been released from Azkaban and is living at St. Mungo’s permanent care ward, while Jackdaw is trying to settle in as one of Hogwarts’ ghosts. Also, I always imagined Jackdaw as a Slytherin (but I’m coming around to Ravenclaw!Jackdaw) and both MC and Anne as muggleborn Hufflepuffs (I just like the idea of those two being awfully similar, but with the crucial difference that Mc really is as adventurous and clever as Jackdaw expected Anne to be), but in the end none of their houses came up 😅 And finally, english isn’t my first language, so if you liked the story but you had a “she keeps using that word, I don’t think it means what she thinks it means” moment, feel free to let me know (just be nice about it) Cheers!

#hogwarts legacy fanfiction #richard jackdaw x mc #meanwhile my poor neglected ominis x mc longfic is softly weeping in the corner #I actually wanted to write this on my balcony since I live right behind a forest for the perfect ambience #but we have a mosquito plague right now so I would have been eaten alive #the romance of a summer night is just unbeatable #hogwarts legacy #richard jackdaw #hogwarts legacy mc #hogwarts legacy fandom #hogwarts legacy oneshot

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peonyblossom · 10 months ago

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Characters/Ships I'll Write For

for reference :)

Pixelberry

All of Us

Alex x m!MC (Dexter Del Rossi)

Tess x f!MC (Jo Moreno)

Alpha

m!Channing Lowe x m!MC (Kalani Mochizuki)

America's Most Eligible

Carson Stewart x f!MC (Juliet James)

Blades of Light and Shadow

Nia Ellarious x f!human!MC (Iris of Riverbend)

Valax x f!human!MC (Iris of Riverbend)

Mal Volari x Tyril Starfury

Mal Volari x Tyril Starfury x m!elf!MC (Hades Nightbloom)

Bloodbound

Adrian Raines x Gaius Augustine

Dirty Little Secrets

m!Carpenter (Emmett King) x m!MC (Brooklyn Peters)

High School Story

Wes Porter x Ezra Mitchell

Payton Saunders x f!MC (Lola Williams)

Michael Harrison x nb!MC (Jamie Baxter)

Mia Warren x Katherine

Ajay Bhandari x m!MC (Matty Wright)

Hollywood U

Thomas Hunt x f/nb!MC (Jackie Winters)

Hot Couture

Marco Di Vincenzo x f!MC (Analise Moore)

Immortal Desires

m!Cas x m!Gabe x nb!MC (Reese O'Malley)

Lewyn Junius x m!OC (Jude Junius)

It Lives Anthology

Noah Marshall x m!MC (Harry Spear)

Ava Cunningham x f!MC (Raven Adams)

Noah Marshall x Connor Green

Connor Green x m!MC (Jesse Harrison)

Stacy Green x f!MC (Ivy Lovelace)

Noah Marshall x m!MC (Devon Yasuda)

m!MC (Isaak Vance)

Imogen Wescott x f!MC (Fiona Vance)

Tom Sato x m!MC (River Vance)

Danni Asturias x f!MC (Merliah Vance)

f!MC (Bailey Vance)

Abel Flint x nb!MC (Ollie Bridgers)

Lincoln Aquino x nb!MC (Keagan Burke)

Amalia de León x nb!MC (Lottie Hamilton)

Jocelyn Wu x f!MC (Eleanor Wilkins) (slowburn)

Matthias McQuoid x m!OC (Ezra Wilkins)

Jocelyn Wu x nb!MC (Benni Locke) (fwb)

Laws of Attraction

Gabe Ricci x Aislinn Tanaka x nb!MC (Sav Zarza)

Murder at Homecoming

Donovan Navarro x nb!MC (Jupiter Stone)

Open Heart

Ethan Ramsey x m!MC (Sydney Valentine)

Ethan Ramsey x Tobias Carrick

Aurora Emery x Sienna Trinh

Queen B

Zoey Wade x f!MC (Quinn Hughes)

Ian Kingsley x f!MC (Quinn Hughes)

Untameable Anthology

m!Kit Jackson x m!MC (Jules Rojas)

Mandy Martinez x Ryder Wilson x m!MC (Barrett Kemp)

Gravity Falls

Stan Pines x Reader

Stan Pines x nb!OC (JD Willows)

Ford Pines x Fiddleford McGucket

Grey's Anatomy/Station 19

Mark Sloan x Jackson Avery x Lexi Grey

Mark Sloan x Jackson Avery

Meredith Grey x Derek Shepherd

Meredith Grey x Andy Herrera

Victoria Hughes x Lucas Ripley

Izzie Stevens x Denny Duquette

Ben Warren x Miranda Bailey

Cristina Yang x Teddy Altman

Maya Bishop x Carina DeLuca

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choicesficwriterscreations · 1 year ago

Text

CFWC F/AotW - Feb 11 - 17, 2024

✒️= Fanfic | 📱= Text Fics/Edits | 🎨 = Fanart Ⓜ️ = Mature Content 18+ | 🔥 = Explicit/NSFW 18+ 🏳️‍🌈 = LGBTQIA | 💘 Valentine's Day 🔹Submitted by creator

AMERICAS MOST ELIGIBLE

Derek Taylor x F!MC Fanart 🎨by @lilyoffandoms for @tveitertotwrites

BLADES OF LIGHT AND SHADOW

Aerin Valleros x F!MC Fanart 🎨by @erixadraws

Happy Valentine's Day 🎨💘 | Aerin Valleros x f!human!mc - @artbyalz

Maiele Nightbloom Fanart 🎨🔹| BOLAS elf!MC by @storyofmychoices for @lilyoffandoms

Mal Volari x F!MC Fanart 🎨💘🔹by @cammarada (C: @storyofmychoices)

A Whitetower Festival of Friendship & Love ✒️🔹| Mal Volari x MC - @dutifullynuttywitch

Woven Threads and Winding Roads ✒️🔹| Tyril Starfury x f!human!mc - @aria-ashryver for @thosehallowedhalls

BLOODBOUND

By Any Other Name ✒️💘🏳️‍🌈🔹| Kamilah Sayeed x F!MC - @thosehallowedhalls for @vampirkit

First Birthday ✒️| Adrian Raines x f!MC - @mynotsohealthyobsession

CRIMES OF PASSION

CoP Full F/AotW List Week Ending Feb. 17, 2024

THE CURSED HEART

Kieran x MC Fanart 🎨🔹by @gaiuskamilah for @lilyoffandoms

DESIRE AND DECORUM

Whimsical Walks and Poetic Talks ✒️🎨🔹| Ernest Sinclaire x F!MC - @storyofmychoices for @oh-so-youre-a-nerd

DISTANT SHORES

Distant Shores: An Alternate Path ✒️🔹| f!Charlie Smith x M!MC - @korgbelmont

THE FRESHMAN SERIES

Happy Valentine's, Hater ✒️💘| TFS MC - @choicesmc

Zig Ortega x F!MC Fanart 🎨🔹by @/artsbymena (C: @choiceswithmika)

HIGH SCHOOL STORY

Aiden Zhou Fanart 🎨 by @lilyoffandoms for @cadybear420

Rolling on Forward ✒️🏳️‍🌈 🔹| Aiden Zhou x NB!MC - @cadybear420

HOLLYWOOD U

Cafe Whispers & Scone Kisses ✒️🏳️‍🌈🔹| Addison Sinclair x F!MC - @storyofmychoices

IT LIVES IN THE WOODS

A New Chapter: A Valentine's Day Special ✒️💘 🔹| Stacy Green x M!MC - @korgbelmont

LAWS OF ATTRACTION

Dancing Queen ✒️🏳️‍🌈🔹| Original Characters - @aces-and-angels

Date Night🎨��️‍🌈💘 🔹| Gabe Ricci x M!MC - @choicesmc

Guess Where Magnus is From 🎨| Original Characters - @oh-so-youre-a-nerd

LOA OCs Fanart 🎨🏳️‍🌈by @oh-so-youre-a-nerd

That Place ✒️🏳️‍🌈Beau McGraw, Wind (NB!MC) - @oh-so-youre-a-nerd

The Tarmin Awdernviel Gala 🎨🏳️‍🌈| Multiple Characters by @oh-so-youre-a-nerd

Wind Fanart 🎨🏳️‍🌈🔹| LOA NB!MC - @storyofmychoices for @oh-so-youre-a-nerd

MURDER AT HOMECOMING

Let Me Be Your Valentine, St. Valentine ✒️🎨🏳️‍🌈 💘 🔹| Donovan Navarro x/& NB!MC - @aallotarenunelma

OPEN HEART

Open Heart F/AotW Full Listing Week Ending Feb. 17, 2024

PERFECT MATCH

Sloane Washington Fanart 🎨by @sazanes

Sloane Washington Pajamas 🎨 by @sazanes

Sloane Washington Valentine's Day 🎨 by @sazanes

Sloane Washington x F!Hayden Young Fanart 🎨🏳️‍🌈by @sazanes

Women in STEM/Girl Power! 🎨| Sloane Washington - @cassiopeaicorvus

Written in the Stars 🎨| Sloane Washington - @cassiopeaicorvus

Written in the Stars: Queen Star 🎨| Slaone Washington - @sazanes

THE ROYAL ROMANCE

Cordonian Karaoke: Hana Take 3✒️🏳️‍🌈🔹| Hana Lee x MC, Drake Walker x MC - @angelasscribbles

Goodbyes Are the Hardest ✒️| Liam Rys x MC - @silvermillenniumqueenneptune

Marabelle: The Game of Kings ✒️💘🔹| Liam Rys x F!MC - @tessa-liam

My Lonely Valentine: The Agreement ✒️💘Ⓜ️ 🔥🔹| Liam Rys x MC - @angelasscribbles

Round Robin Chapter 1: Welcome ✒️🔹- @angelasscribbles

WISHFUL THINKING

Anna Koishi x F!MC Fanart 🎨🏳️‍🌈 by @lilyoffandoms for @noesapphic

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rosepetals1 · 1 year ago

Text

🎄 Christmas Tree Dilemma 🎄

Book: Perfect Match

Pairing: M!Hayden Young x Arielle Park (F!MC)

Other Characters: Sloane Washington

Word Count: ~598

Rating: General

Tagging: @choicesholidays; @choicesflashfics Holiday Prompt: "Are you even tall enough to put the star on the tree?" @choicesficwriterscreations Holiday Event: "I told you the tree was too big!"

Summary: Hayden and Arielle try to place the star on top of their huge tree, but after failing multiple times to do so, they decide to call on a third party for assistance.

"I told you the tree was too big!"

Arielle watched as Hayden stood with his heels raised, desperately trying to place the star on top of the tree for the umpteenth time, but to no avail.

"It's not too big! It's just slightly taller than your average tree." He replied, still trying to reach the top.

"Are you even tall enough to put the star on the tree?”

"Of course I am!" Hayden huffed.

But as he continued to struggle, it was clear that he wasn't.

She shook her head at his feeble attempt. "Look, we clearly need help at this point. This 'slightly taller than your average tree' is almost touching the ceiling. I've called Sloane, she said she'll be right over soon."

"Oh great!" He said, nearly losing his balance. "We could certainly use it."

Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Arielle walked over to the door and opened it, and there stood a slightly panting Sloane in her winter clothes.

"What happened? I was told that this was a matter of life and death, so I dropped everything and came as fast as I could."

She added sheepishly, "I also may or may not have nearly gotten into a car crash while I was on my way. But that's okay, the most important thing is that I'm here now!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sloane! I didn't mean to make you rush like that. I was just over exaggerating when I said it was a matter of life and death." Arielle admitted.

Hayden laughed. "Tell me about it."

"...Oh. So what was it that you needed my help with, then?" Sloane asked as she entered their apartment.

Arielle pointed to the freakishly large tree in the center of their living room. "With that."

Sloane pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and her eyes widened as she took in the sight of the Christmas tree.

"Oh my..."

"Oh my, indeed. It was Hayden's idea, by the way."

Hayden rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Guilty as charged. At first glance, I didn't think it was tall enough to the point that it would touch the ceiling but it seems I was wrong."

"You see, we want to get the star on top, but we have no idea how." Arielle explained.

"Have you guys tried using a chair?"

The couple slowly glanced at each other. Then suddenly, Hayden rushed to grab a nearby chair and placed it in front of the Christmas tree.

"I'm guessing that's a no." Sloane laughed.

Arielle shook her head in amazement. "Oh my god, I can't believe it. The solution was so obvious and we were over here having a crisis about it."

"Seems like we got a little drunk off the eggnog from earlier, hm?" Hayden quipped as he carefully attached the star to the very top of the tree.

Once Hayden stepped down from the chair, they all gathered around to admire the final result.

"Finally! We did it." Arielle grinned up at the tree as Hayden wrapped an arm around her.

"It's gorgeous. You guys did such an amazing job!" Sloane marveled.

Dipper walked over to the tree and sniffed it curiously, her tail wagging as she inspected it.

"Do you like the tree, Dipper?" Arielle asked.

Dipper barked excitedly in reply.

"That's a yes. This tree officially has the Dipper Stamp of Approval!" Hayden chuckled.

Together, they all stood side by side, admiring the Christmas tree in all its glory, and basking in the spirit of the holidays with each other.

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

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moonlightteaxoxo · 1 year ago

Note

Hiii!!! I saw your requests were open!! I would love a prompt for the obey me bros (it can just be Satan if you do not want to right all the brothers) but a GN!MC who gives really big cheek kisses to show affection and they do it casually?? Like the bros (or Satan😙) could be working and MC just comes up and 😘MUAH and goes about their day?? Thank you so much!!!

Xoxo ♡

All the om bros x gn!Mc

(This req is so cute omfg)

Playing: kinda hate you kinda love you -Alex Sloane

Lucifer

Well at first it would really catch him off guard how you would do it so casually. He would also be a bit flustered but wouldn't show it at all. Eventually Lucifer would really grow to like it and find it cute whenever you walked up to him and gave him a smooch on his cheek when he was doing paperwork :D

Mammon

Despite what others might believe he wouldn't just get super super flustered and stay like that. He would prolly be dumbfounded for a few secs and then go on bragging about it and demanding more.. In reality he loves it sm and eventually would give small cheek kisses too.

Leviathan

It would prolly occur in his room while he was ranting about one of his new interests. This boy would just freeze in silence and look confused af on the entire situation. After that he would start to question you if he really was worth giving those smooches and you give him another one to shut him up. He may seem reluctant blushing and all but he just really wants it and it sort of makes his day better.

Satan

It would probably be while you two were alone sitting next to eachother talking about a place to go out for fun (date perhaps?) and you got really happy about it and casually leaned close amd gave him a big smooch on the cheek. He almost instantly smiled at the action and was very straightforward about liking it a lot. In my opinion bro is a hugger so whenever youd do that he would give you a small hug. <3

Asmodeus

O. M. F. G he would be really happy about it and definitely do it back! He's very affectionate and he would like returining the favour to you followed by many other kisses throughout the day. He would also like how casual you were about it

Beelzebub

Well you saw him in the hallway and decided to give him a big ol' kiss on the cheek then walk away. Nothing wrong with that right? Wrong. He was thinking about it all day and decided to ask you about it. You told him it was your way of showing affection and he gave you the sweetest smile ever aaaa... No matter how many times you did it, it would always be very special to him

Belphegor

Well in this scenario you two had fallen asleep and woke up about 15 mins before dinner. He was cuddled up to you and you woke up before him and gave him a big kiss on the cheek and tried to get up. Well... His grip on you tightened and he pouted about wanting you to do it again. Well you did but it seemed like that was enough to lull him back to sleep with a death grip on you <3

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lizzybeth1986 · 2 years ago

Text

Harvest Moon

Book: Perfect Match

Rating: PG

Pairings: Basil Park (m!MC) x Sage Young (f!Hayden), Basil Park x Sloane Washington, Kim Washington

Summary: It's Sage's first ever birthday! And what better way to celebrate it than a fun road trip to a place where they can see the last supermoon of the year - just her, Basil, Sloane and Kim. But this time might be a little different - because this time around, Kim knows Sage is a Match...

Word Count: 4, 099 words

Note: While looking up this year's celestial sightings would be, I discovered that 29th Sept is when we will see the last supermoon of the year. PM is set in the future but for sure I felt like it would be just extra special for me to do a similar setting for a birthday fic 😁 The events of this fic are referenced in "Saffron Sugar, Turmeric Spice"

Sage is pretty sure no one-year-old has ever had a birthday surprise quite like this one.

Though technically, there was no way it could have been a surprise. This road trip was planned and booked two months in advance, Sloane and Kim have been wanting to check out Cherry Springs State Park's dark sky view for a while, and Basil and Sage have checked the Yearly Astronomical Reference Guide on seasky.org often enough to know that the very last supermoon you'll see this year, will make an appearance on Sage's birthday.

Sure, there are people who'll wonder at the wisdom of driving five hours for a view they could enjoy anywhere in New York. But combining road trips and amateur astronomy is a family tradition. Their family tradition. A tradition the Washington women created and enjoyed themselves; a tradition both Sage and Basil both love. Because the Washingtons are their family.

Sage lets out a low, trembling sigh, and clutches her jacket closer to her body.

Were, she reminds herself, maybe "were my family" is the better phrase to use here. Would still be, if she hadn't opened her big mouth on a visit to DC last week. While Kim stood outside her door, frozen in stunned silence.

The memory is humiliating enough now to make Sage train her eyes with unusual focus outside the car window. She doesn't want to see the worry in Basil's eyes, or the pleas to talk to her in Sloane's.

She isn't sure what she'll see in Kim's, because it's been hard maintaining eye contact with her ever since that moment in the doorway - but she knows for sure whatever warmth she'd seen there before must be long gone.

On the face of it, everything seems the same. After that awkward first day, Kim seemed eager to steer things back to normal. So normal, in fact, that it began to freak Sage out.

It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to talk like everything was okay, while their stares and body language said something else altogether. Damien's wariness. Khaan's clinical interest. Winona's transparent-as-glass attempts to look away from her shoulder. The brief flash of pain in President Thompson's eyes every time she saw Sage. And while there's been enough press releases and outreach designed to change public opinion on sentient andriods....the path to real transformation is slow. And hard. And sometimes downright exhausting.

Sage is tired. She doesn't want to have to go through conversations like that again. And to have Kim - the woman she considered mom even before they met - be the person she had that talk with...would practically break her.

Better to keep off that eventuality for as long as she possibly can.

"Sage, baby," Kim says, distractedly, eyes on the road. "Which song next? Come Fly With Me, Fly Me to The Moon or The Girl from Ipenama?"

Nervous, Sage bites her lip. Kim has never had this much trouble choosing Sinatra songs on a road trip before. Still, maybe guessing why Kim would want these tunes in particular would distract her. The first one probably for the travel vibes. The second fits the theme of their trip and Sage suspects Kim would put the third one on just to get her to translate the Spanish verses again.

"Come Fly With Me for now," she says, "I don't care if it's about going on a plane and reminds me how sick and tired we all got of airplane peanuts last year - it's still a travel song."

Kim's laughter is light like a summer breeze, as she fiddles with the radio. Sloane joins her, her voice so like her mother's that they sound like double echoes. Sage can see the swing of her new earrings as Sloane turns to look at them. Bright yellow hoops that contrast so perfectly with her purple blazer, the spiral-like curls at the edges intricate and made entirely of paper.

Sage feels a glow of pride, looking at the immaculate detailing. Kim had taken up quilling as a hobby only early this year, and already her craftwork could rival any seasoned professional.

"Wonder how Dipper's doing," Sloane murmurs, suddenly rummaging inside her bag for her phone, "maybe I should give Nadia and Steve a call?"

"In the lap of luxury, for sure," Basil says, smiling.

"That dog is so spoiled," Sage lets out an unladylike snort.

Kim looks too preoccupied with the road to say anything, but no more than two minutes later the song on the car radio changes. To a song that Sage is pretty damn sure isn't a regular one on their playlist. Mama Will Bark. With its humourous whimsy, terrible dog puns and periodic howling. Sage almost chokes on her own laugh.

Her eyes meet Kim's in the front view mirror for less than a second; so belief that she's convinced she has to have imagined that Kim winked at her.

Basil and Sloane give Sage her birthday gift at the Campgrounds, just before sunset. She gasps at the beauty she's just unwrapped - A GoPro Hero 35 Black camera kit; the Creator Edition Bundle, the kind that comes with a chest mount, a head mount, a tripod - the works. It's the kind of camera that would work like magic any time, any terrain, any weather. An adventure lover's dream.

"Wow..." she breathes, her chest tight, "Fucking wow."

Behind them, Kim clears her throat. Very audibly.

Spying from beneath her lashes, Sage spots a slight smile. "Oops," she says, not feeling very sorry at all. Secret jokester that she is, Kim likes to front like she cares about the group's collective tendency to cuss at the drop of a hat, but does such a poor job of it that it's become an inside joke among them all now.

Kim chuckles. "What say we all take a small walk after half an hour?"

The three of them nod, and stuff the wrapping paper and used tapes into a bag they've reserved just for garbage, to be thrown at the sanitary dump area before they leave the premises. Basil looks around the near-empty expanse of greenery, "We could go now if you want, Kim."

A small huff of laughter. "Not yet. The moon will be out any minute now. Go put that camera to good use and...moongaze, I guess...I'll just take care of a few things in the tent."

Soon enough, the harvest moon does come out - more swollen, more rounded, more golden than the full moon they're all used to. Its colouring takes on an almost ombre tone - a light gold at the top, melting into an almost red-orange hue towards the bottom. It feels so close you could be tempted to reach out and touch it.

It wasn't like they didn't know what to expect. Sloane told them. Showed them videos, pictures, all peppered with jargon they could barely understand. Explained the science so that by the time they came here they knew that, technically, this was an optical illusion caused by the moon's elliptical orbit. They knew what a perigee was. Enough documentary nights have passed between the three of them to make the moon sound like less of an object of magic and whimsy, and more a funny little rock that orbits the earth every 28 days.

But...but seeing it up there like this, up in a sky unmarred by smog and bright lights, where on any other night the Milky Way would be laid out across the sky like a carpet of stars. And so close, that you could make out - ever so faintly - the lattice work of the craters and the fine lines that connect them. Sage wonders at the sheer intimacy of this experience; of being here, watching this, with the two people who mean the world to her.

"Yknow what," she murmurs, rummaging through boxes and protective cases and quickly setting up the GoPro, "now would be a good time to try this baby out. Like, it is my birthday."

Basil grins. "I'm game," he says looking at Sloane, "have any ideas, babe?"

Sloane looks up, nose scrunched in deep thought. "Would silhouettes take too much time? The moon could shift position too soon if we don't time it right."

"Leave that to me," Sage says, smirking. "I'm the photographer here, remember?"

Sloane rolls her eyes in a way that reminds them eerily of Alana. "I built you from scratch a year ago, remember?"

"Touché," Sage chuckles as she gets to work. The setup isn't easy, and the fact that the moon could shift position anytime makes Sage's movements almost frenetic, but just as she is about to signal to Basil and Sloane to move together for a silhouette shot perfectly set up on the backdrop of a Harvest Moon, she sees Sloane approach her.

"You're the birthday girl," she says, panting, "You should get first dibs on a shot."

Sage giggles. "Trust you to spoil me as much as you do Dipper." She makes a few final adjustments, then turns to Sloane. "You know how to work this?"

"Sure I do. I looked up at least 8 - no, 9 - tutorials!"

She lets out a belly laugh, playfully punching Sloane in the shoulder. "Show off."

Sloane has only one instruction to Basil and Sage when they finally position themselves to her satisfaction. They're already in each other's arms; Sage winding hers behind his neck and fiddling idly with the mess of curls there, Basil flattening his palms against her waist, nuzzling her nose with his.

"Kiss already!" Sloane yells.

Basil grins. "As the lady wishes," Sage barely hears the words over the rush of sensation flooding her, as his mouth descends on her top lip. She smiles into the kiss, her hands already moving to fist themselves in his shirt.

Almost a year since they first met, since that first life-altering kiss outside his apartment door. So much has happened to them since then...but still. Her pulses still race like it's the first time all over again.

Sage takes a deep, shaky breath when their lips part, her forehead touching his, not fully ready to break contact yet. She caresses his back slowly as she lets go, and she knows that the biggest, goofiest, sappiest grin must be showing on her face right now.

She calls out to Sloane as she makes her way to where she's standing. "Your turn, space princess!"

Sage lines up her shot and stands back, noting with satisfaction that the moon looks suitably large - overwhelmingly so - and still very close to the horizon. Basil and Sloane's silhouettes stand out perfectly against the backdrop; Sloane cups his face with both hands as she usually does, her shoulders folding in on themselves as she allows herself to settle into their kiss. Sage knows it's always been this way between them; sharing physical space isn't easy for Sloane, and she needs a partner who will ease her in rather than rush her.

Sage doesn't know what that feels like - she needs an element of surprise, the thrill of brief, needy kisses in hidden hallways. She's always been the more tactile one - for her, touch is comfort. And somehow, inexplicably, Basil seems to understand both their ways of loving, and enjoy it. Love it, even.

Stop being sappy, Sage shakes her head, laughing, you're gonna take the best damn pictures of them they've ever seen, just wait.

The camera captures everything - Sloane standing on tiptoe to kiss Basil, one of his hands tenderly cradling the back of her neck and the other wrapped around her, the shape of their parted lips so heart-stoppingly close as they move away. Sage has taken so many that it will probably be harder to pick the best one from the lot.

They take more pictures by the moon (Kim pops by shortly after Sage's last shots of Basil and Sloane, telling them she'll take fifteen more minutes before joining them for their walk). Sloane and Sage forming the cheesiest-ever heart shapes with their arms, making Basil laugh so much they're sure his photos will come out a blurry, incoherent mess. Spotting a nightjar on a low branch, lining the shot up so its silhouette is caught in sharp contrast to the supermoon too.

Sage wants to take other, simpler pictures: just them sitting and talking, the moonlight casting a golden glow over their faces...but she can't. She won't. Without Kim, pictures like that would feel incomplete. No matter what problems they may have among themselves, no matter what Kim would think of her...Kim matters too much to be excluded from her most personal, most vulnerable photos of this night.

Almost as though summoned by Sage's thoughts, Kim appears. Her smile seems a little tired, and her right hand seems to curl loosely into itself. A fist, but not quite. She carries a flashlight with a red filter on her right hand, the ones they all bought two weeks ago to preserve their night vision. For the first time Sage looks back at her, and when she looks at Basil and Sloane a few seconds later there is something strange about their smiles that she can't exactly place.

They're ten minutes into their walk when Sage realizes that Basil and Sloane are far behind her and Kim, seeming to take their own sweet time to catch up.

Panicking, she turns to Kim, searching her face for a mirror of the confusion she feels. She finds none. Kim is instead taking deep breaths, putting her hands in her pockets and soaking in the fragrance of the dark cherry trees nearby. Like she isn't in any real hurry either.

An invisible fist seems to close around the center of her chest. Sage can hardly breathe.

"Sit with me for a bit, Sage." Kim's voice is warm, gentle, like the handmade quilt she'd made Sloane one Christmas, that now covers the three of them in their own bed. For the first time she doesn't trust the emotion she reads into it.

Sage doesn't give much thought these days to the inner workings of her own body. Whether she has heartbeats, what causes the fizzing sensation beneath her skin whenever she gets too nervous, how her blushing (which not many notice) isn't a result of too much blood rushing to a singular place but a mechanism set in motion by commands and code. But it's times like these - when her body feels too much, all at once - that she wishes she understood better how it all worked. That she wonders why the magnitude of what she's experiencing alone doesn't cause her body to shut down.

Right now, it's just one emotion - fear - and there's too much of it firing every synapse in this manmade (womanmade? Sloane created her, after all) body.

She feels Kim's eyes boring into her as they settle on the grass.

"Sage, honey. Did I do something wrong?"

For the first time in a week, Sage looks up at Kim and actually holds her gaze this time. Those weren't the words she was expecting to hear, nor is this soft, worrying look in her eyes the one she was expecting to see. She lets out a deep, shuddering breath.

"Thought you hated me," she presses her lips together, hating the way tears form a film over her eyes and blur her vision, hating her inability nowadays to pretend she was strong when she most needed it, "For lying. For not being human enough."

The force of Kim's sudden embrace feels as powerful as a gut punch. Sage gasps at how strong Kim's arms feel, wrapped around her shoulders, engulfing her so that Sage's face is buried in the space between neck and shoulder. She breathes in Kim's distinctive fragrance - fresh herbs and warm tea - and is hit by the sudden sharp memory of the phantom figure she rarely thinks about now. The mother who hugged her just like this when her first crush rejected her in front of the whole school. The mother Sloane programmed her to remember.

"Oh, honey," Kim whispers, hands rubbing down her back in a rhythm that Sage always associated with soft blankets and lullabies. "No. No. No. Never." Her voice is soft and hoarse, almost like she's trying to hold back tears. "I could never hate you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever allowed you to think that."

Sage turns her head in the opposite direction towards the moonlit horizon, cheek still pressed against Kim's shoulder. It isn't Kim's fault, not really. She was trying to tell her nothing had changed. It was...it was just hard for her to believe.

She takes a few deep breaths, tries hard not to let her tears fall. They fall anyway.

When Kim speaks again, her voice is still soft, barely louder than a whisper. "I...I think I know where I got it wrong. That first day, wasn't it? Because I barely said anything."

Sage doesn't answer. There's too much she wants to say; none of it feels right for this conversation. Kim pauses for a beat, then speaks again.

"I think I wanted to take time to process. All those times I saw you crying about your mother, all those times the three of you would look at me...like there was something you needed to hide from me."

"Sorry," Sage says, giving Kim's arm an apologetic squeeze. "We were going to tell you at some point, I swear. I guess we just keep putting it off."

Kim places her hands on either side of Sage's face, raising it as if she wants to take a good look at her. Her eyes are moist too, and the pain she feels at making Kim sad twists inside her stomach like a knife. "Sloane told me you had no clue who you were until you saved Basil from a taser."

Sage nods. "I had all these memories. Huddling under a table with my mom during a storm. Getting jealous when my friends were hogging her attention," Kim chuckles a little at that one. Sage looks down before she whispers, "road trips with Sinatra on the radio..."

Kim's hands come to her shoulders now, as she shakes her head. "Sloane told me about that. All I could think of was what my poor Sage had been through. I felt like I needed to fully reevaluate everything I thought I knew about you with all that in mind. And when the time came to talk...I guess I didn't know how to actually talk about it."

Sage nods and looks away, finally understanding. Her brain is too much on overdrive to immediately respond, the words she doesn't hate me, she doesn't hate me, forming a tattoo in her head.

Kim speaks again. "I wanted to show you that it didn't matter to me...that's why I started speaking to you like before. Except...that backfired, didn't it?"

Sage sighs. Kim doesn't know about all the people who tried to pretend and then screwed up anyway, and Sage doesn't want her to know. "Maybe. But I don't know if I was ready to talk either," she says slowly, "And I can't blame you for taking a day to think."

Kim seems to search Sage's face for... something - Sage can't figure out what - before she moves away, raising her knees in front of her and winding her arms around them. There is a small, tight smile on her lips. "I guess you could say I was...processing."

For a few moments, Sage can do nothing but blink. Several times.

"Oh my God, Kim," once Sage gets it, she can't stop laughing, "that joke was terrible!"

The smile widens. "Sorry my load time took most of the day."

"No! Worse!"

Kim stares at her, all placid innocence. "Kim.exe has stopped working."

"Stop! Stop!" Sage almost punches her arm in her attempts to stop laughing, just like she did at Kim's jokes several weeks ago, and every golden, sunlit, wonderful week before that. "You're killing me here!"

Kim and Sage fall over each other, finding themselves in loop after loop of giggle fits. So much so that they forget what they were actually laughing about - they only have to look at each other before they start again.

When they're done clutching their stomachs and wiping tears from their eyes, Sage keeps her head on Kim's shoulder. Kim keeps her arm around Sage's. All the laughter is gone from Kim's voice now; it is low and measured, as if she's been practicing the words.

"It isn't fair."

Sage tenses. "What isn't?"

"That anyone would make you believe...that how you were built, should make you any less of a person."

Sage smiles wanly. It's as if all the stress and all the pain, all the fear of having to face hostility again, has leaked out of her - leaving her in a weird mix of exhaustion and bliss. She winds her arms around Kim's midsection, closing her eyes against the faint memory of doing this as a child, to a figure who feels more phantom than mother.

"I have my people," she says, "and before you ask - yes, you're one of them. I was just afraid I'd lose you."

Their arms tighten around each other. "Never," Kim says it like a vow, then tilts her head to where Basil and Sloane stand, holding hands and gazing at the harvest moon.

Sage grins, briefly dislodging herself from Momma Kim's embrace and calling out to them.

"Get here, you two! Stop pretending to moongaze or whatever. Kim and I patched up!"

"About time you did!" Basil calls back as they both make their way towards Kim and Sage.

Sage pretends to look annoyed. "We spent, like, a whopping ten minutes yapping here. The least you could've done was sneak in a good makeout sesh."

"Sage!" Sloane says, grinning and hiding her face in Basil's arm. "Not in front of mom!"

Kim laughs. "You two expect me to believe that? I've seen more than my fair share, Trudy!"

Seeing the four of them laugh together in a way they haven't all week, Sage's chest feels so full she can hardly bear it. They all stand together, switching between giggly banter about the rest of the group and gazing up at the golden moon again. They know it's the last time they'll see a supermoon this year.

Kim stops Sage just as they're all about to return to their tents, ready to settle for the night. Basil and Sage look at each other, smile, and go inside.

"C'mere," she says, taking something out of her pocket. Whatever it is, it's small enough to nestle in the palm of her hand. "In the middle of all that yapping I forgot to give you your birthday present, darling."

Sage lets out a soft gasp. In the brief but intense rollercoaster that was today she almost forgot she had a birthday to celebrate.

Kim opens her palm to reveal two large, gorgeous, teardrop shaped earrings - the quilling pattern on them so intricate it reminds Sage of arabesque designs. Even in the dark the colours dazzle: electric blue on the outside, sunset orange on the inside. The double-toned hues remind Sage so much of a fiery sunset, sinking into a deep blue sea.

"Happy birthday, honey," Kim whispers.

This work of art. One that must have taken blood, sweat, tears, paper strips, glue, tools. One that must have taken Momma Kim hours to get right.

Sage tries to swallow a lump in her throat, cursing herself for the fresh onset of tears. "For me?"

Kim lets out a laugh that borders on watery. "Anything for my girls." She steals a glance at their tent, "and boy, of course. Basil's getting a pendant. Don't tell."

She giggles; another implanted memory emerges as she holds out her little finger. This time it doesn't appear with the wave of bitterness that usually follows...this time, she holds that memory to her chest, with joy. And love.

She links her pinky with Kim's, laughing again as the older woman's eyes brighten. "Pinky promise."

They'd asked for a two-night stay when they'd made the bookings. Cherry Springs is an internationally-acclaimed Dark Sky Park, Sloane had explained back then, before slipping into what they all dub her personal "Guide to Understanding Astronomy Jargon for My Very Confused Boyfriend and Best Friend", That means a place that restricts artificial light so you can experience true darkness. The stars can never be clearer in the night sky than in a place like that! You just won't see as much of it when you have a big bright supermoon on the horizon.

Which is how they end up staying another night at Cherry Springs, soaking in the brilliance of the stars against a slowly waning moon, shrunk to its usual size. The three of them are huddled together beneath a quilt that Kim had knitted for Sloane, long before she had ever met Basil and Sage.

Kim herself has turned in for the night, early sleeper that she is. She'd kissed them all goodnight before leaving, and Sage couldn't resist tightening her arms around her so she could hold on to her warmth a minute more.

Sage marvels at how comfortably the three of them fit against each other right now: her head on Basil's shoulder, Sloane's lying sideways against his chest, her fingers idly playing with the smaller curls above Sage's neck, taking full advantage of the fact that she feels ticklish there. Sage squirms and buries her hushed laughter in Basil's arm.

Dangly, beautiful, handmade earrings - yellow and blue-orange - swing joyously against Sloane's and Sage's necks. Hugging the quilt tighter to herself, Sage begins to play with Sloane's lovely yellow hoops. Sloane returns the gesture, grinning cheekily, and Basil lets out a small huff of laughter.

They'll head home tomorrow - wind in their hair, the sun on their skin, singing New York, New York. Just as they did before they came here...but not at all the same. They will probably return louder. Happier. More one with each other than ever before.

She looks around at the two people with her, and the woman already sleeping in a tent inside. When she releases a breath, it comes out in a happy sigh.

My people, Sage thinks dreamily, as her eyes follow the long, winding, heaven-bound path of the Milky Way. My family.

Harvest moons refer to the final supermoon of the year, which usually shows up towards the end of September. It's called so because it coincides with the harvest season. This year it actually did happen on 29th Sept. Learn more about harvest moons here, and different kinds of supermoons here.

References for the quilled earrings Kim made for the girls:

I HC that Sloane likes hoops, and this is the first design Kim masters. So the one on the left is Sloane's, and the blue-orange one on the right is Hayden's birthday present.

Currently the latest GoPro in the market is the Hero 12, but since this is set in the future I've given it a different number.

Faceclaims:

Sage Young - Lupita Nyong'o

Basil Park - Eric Mun

Sloane Washington - Nelly Muse

Kim Washington - Aunjanue Ellis

Tagging @choicesficwriterscreations for FoTW and (possibly) Bisexual Awareness Week

Tagging @choicesseptemberchallenge2023 for Day 4 - Moonlight, Moon (pls ignore if the entry is too late)

Tagging @choicesprompts for Flufftober, "Birthday Surprise".

Tagging @haydenyoungappreciationweek and @sazanes for Day 5: Happy Birthday Hayden!

#hayden young #perfect match #haydenyoungappreciationweek #HYAW #HYAW 2023 #HYAW Day 5 #HYAW Day 5: Happy Birthday Hayden!#lizzybeth1986 #content: fanfic

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choicespride · 1 year ago

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Valentine's Day 2024 Masterlist

Blades of Light and Shadow

Hades Nightbloom Valentine's Day Edits - m!elf!MC (Hades Nightbloom) - @peonyblossom

Iris of Riverbend Valentine's Day Edits - f!human!MC (Iris of Riverbend) - @peonyblossom

Bloodbound

By Any Other Name - Kamilah Sayeed x f!MC (Lucy West) - @thosehallowedhalls

High School Story

Jamie Baxter Valentine's Day Edits - nb!MC (Jamie Baxter) - @peonyblossom

Hollywood U

Cafe Whispers and Scone Kisses - Addison Sinclair x f!MC (Alex Spencer), Thomas Hunt x f!MC (Alex Spencer) (mentioned) - @theartoflovingthomashunt

Jackie Winters Valentine's Day Edits - nb!MC (Jackie Winters) - @peonyblossom

Thomas x Jackie Date Night - Thomas Hunt x nb!MC (Jackie Winters) - art by @lilyoffandoms, requested by @peonyblossom

It Lives Anthology

Harry Spear Valentine's Day Edits - ILITW m!MC (Harry Spear) - @peonyblossom

Ollie Bridgers Valentine's Day Edits - ILW nb!MC (Ollie Bridgers) - @peonyblossom

Laws of Attraction

Date Night - Gabe Ricci x m!MC (Fiona Lightwood) - @choicesmc

Murder At Homecoming

Let Me Be Your Valentine, Saint Valentine - Donovan Navarro x/& nb!MC (Edelmina Stone) - @aallotarenunelma

Open Heart

Dr. Sydney Valentine Valentine's Day Edits - m!MC (Sydney Valentine) - @peonyblossom

Two Types of People - Bryce Lahela x m!MC (Jensen Valentine) - art by @lilyoffandoms, requested by @mydemonsdrivealimo

when you really love something, then it loves you back, in whatever way it has to love - Bryce Lahela x m!MC (Jensen Valentine) - @mydemonsdrivealimo

Perfect Match

Beach Love: "Glasses and Missy" at Komodo Island - Sloane Washington x Alana Kusuma - @lizzybeth1986

Wishful Thinking

Art Request - Anna Koishi x f!MC (Nyx) - art by @lilyoffandoms, requested by @noesapphic

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haydenyoungappreciationweek · 2 years ago

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HYAW 2020

Because Tumblr has made some links a bit less accessible and difficult to reach, we've needed to redo some of the masterlists. We also needed to ensure that content that had come from blogs that have since deactivated or that have changed names should be reflected accurately. Unfortunately with HYAW 2020, the post soon became impossible to edit once our mentions hit the 50-mark. Which means we need to make a whole new masterlist.

Still - it's been a joy revisiting every single piece from the first ever character week 💕💕 So much love and so much creativity - it took our breaths away. We can't wait for more of this awesomeness in September!!

In the meantime, we also have the masterlist for HYAD 2022 here! Enjoy!

- @lizzybeth1986 and @sazanes

Day 1: Personality Type

Art

Artist Hayden by @sazanes

Joker Hayden by @/mazeeque (deactivated)

Black f!Hayden by @/pixieferry (deactivated)

White m!Hayden by @hashiedraws

Rebel Hayden by @cassiopeiacorvus

Scholar Hayden by @thefirstcourtesan

Edits

Asian f!Hayden by @robintora

One | Two | Three | Four

Dreamer Hayden by @brycesgirl

Icons by @thequeenofpixels

Animation Edit by @hayesblaine (deactivated)

Adventurer Hayden by @lightsilenced

Headcanons

Ask Meme by @dragonknightofsummerset

One | Two

Ask Meme by @sazanes

One | Two

Ask Meme by @/lizzybeth1986

Ask Meme by @thequeenofpixels

Character Appreciation

Survey on Hayden by @casharlow

Survey | Results

Flower Meanings by @dragonknightofsummerset

Jayden by @khoicesbyk

Day 2: Character Appreciation

Art

Dolores Park by @sazanes

Hayden by @theo-oface (deactivated)

Edits

Costumes by @casharlow

"How Do You Open Your Mouth and Tell Someone You Don't Feel Real?" By @robintora

Female | Male

Identity by @lightsilenced

Fanfic

Kismet by @takingcourage

Metamorphosis by @lizzybeth1986

Headcanons

Iris Young | Sage Young by @/lizzybeth1986

Hayden Young by @/sazanes

Jayden Young by @khoicesbyk

Character Appreciation

Search for Identity | Best Dialogues | Favourite Scenes and Special Moments by @dragonknightofsummerset

Favourite Dialogue by @justanotherdumpingground

Positivity Post by @storyofmychoices

Dolores Park by @thequeenofpixels

Day 3: Hayden and Sloane

Art

Sloane and Hayden Singing "You Are the Sunshine of my Life" Together by @/sazanes

Edits

Sloane and Haydens Picture Album by @my-name-is-lumien

Floral Sloane, Hayden and Dipper by @robintora

Sloane and Hayden at their flat by @brycesgirl

Sloane and Hayden by @lightsilenced

Fanfic

Family by @lorirwritesfanfic

The Morning After by @dcbbw

Moodboards

Sloane and Iris by @/lizzybeth1986

Day 4: Found Family/Friendships

Art

Hayden as Best Man for Nadia and Steve's Wedding by @sazanes

Edits

Found Family by @brycesgirl

Nadia Paints on Hayden by @robintora

Moodboards

Friendship Moodboards by @/lizzybeth1986

Zinnia Paints with Nadia | Heathcliff Bakes with Steve

Day 5: Romance

Art

Hayden in a Flower Crown by @sazanes

Edits

Edit Icon by @casharlow

Surprise Birthday Dinner by @brycesgirl

Hayden's Journal for the MC by @robintora

Hayden Young x Reagan Park by @lightsilenced

Fanfic

The Beginning in the End by @thequeenofpixels

Sunday Morning (NSFW) by @khoicesbyk

Fate/Coincidences by @lorirwritesfanfic

Sea of Love by @/lizzybeth1986

Headcanons

Hayden x Amara (Ask Meme) by @dragonknightofsummerset

Hayden x Selina (Ask Meme) by @/sazanes

Ask Memes by @/lizzybeth1986

Iris Young x Hazel Park: Family and Affection | Sage Young x Basil Park: Home | Iris x Hazel, Sage x Basil, Heathcliff x Rosemary

Day 6: Hayden and Eros

Art

The Matches by @sazanes

Edits

Hayden and All the Matches by @brycesgirl

Hayden and Harley by @robintora

Fanfic

Change by @lorirwritesfanfic

Character Appreciation

Renaming Oneself by @dragonknightofsummerset

* Some of the blogs have not been tagged. This is for two reasons:

1. The blog has been deactivated

2. When we reach the 50 mentions limit on a post, edits become impossible to make on it. To ensure this doesn't happen on the post, I've untagged some of the mentions of the hosts (Lizzy and Sazanes) so that the number of mentions is less than 50 and we can save our posts safely.

- Lizzy.

Do take a look at these beautiful pieces and we hope to see you all in September!!

#hayden young #haydenyoungappreciationweek #hyaw #perfect match #HYAW 2020 #HYAW 2020 Masterlist

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choicesfrog · 2 years ago

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Hello! I decided to make a blog to follow my favorite Choices blogs and maybe participate in the fandom more. I'm more a fan of the older books, but some of the newer ones have been fun as well. I have a ton of MCs I plan on sharing here and posting a bit about. I'm really shy, but feel free to say hi!

Books, MCs & OCs, and LIs (This is a WIP)

Character Profiles

Perfect Match: Dez x Indigo (F!Hayden Dreamer), Milo x Everyone, and Carolina x Sloane

The Royal Romance: Elaine x Liam and Eloise x Hana

It Lives In the Woods: Valentine x Ava and Marella x Andy

It Lives Beneath: Cassie x Imogen

It Lives Within: Erica x Amalia

Bloodbound: Olive x Lily

Veil of Secrets: Lennox x Kate and Jade x Naomi

High School Story: Charlotte x Emma

Crimes of Passion: Theo x F!Trystan

Blades of Light and Shadow: Ruelle x Nia

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choicesjulychallenge · 6 years ago

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Choices July Challenge

This masterlist was created for Day Sixteen of the Choices July Challenge��

Day Sixteen prompt: Uncertainty

I would just like to take this time to thank all of you for taking part in this challenge - you’ve all been so amazing and supportive, and your fics have been incredible! This challenge has received so much attention and I am eternally grateful for all of you! Sending each and every one of you love and happiness xx

Nightbound

Fly High (Nik x MC) written by @adrianadmirer

His Heart (Nik x MC) written by @ladykateofhousebeaumont

Perfect Match

Uncertainty (Sloane x F!MC) written by @strangerofbraidwood

Platinum

Uncertainty (M!Raleigh x MC) written by @lizeboredom (NSFW-ish)

The Crown and the Flame

Last Stand (Kenna x Val) written by @kennaxval (SFW; violence)

Uncertainty (Kenna x Val) written by @kennaxval (Warning: NSFW)

The Royal Romance

Not Exactly Sure, But Maybe Sure Enough (Drake x MC) written by @argylemnwrites (PG:13 and mentions of loss)

#choices: stories you play #playchoices #choices july challenge #day 16 #prompt #uncertainty #choices nb #nightbound #nik x mc #choices pm #sloane x f!mc #choices platinum #m!raleigh x mc #choices tc&tf #kenna x val #choices trr #drake x mc #masterlist

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endlessly-searching-for-you · 6 years ago

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Hail, Rain or Sunshine (Sloane x F!MC)

A/N: Hello, it’s @dancetothestoriesinyoursoul Fluffy Friday again! This time my girl Sloane gets some love (ha! Surprise!). As requested by @zaffrenotes - “The text that changed everything” and @likethetailofacomet - “Stuck in the rain”. Hope you enjoy :)

PS. I swear I wrote most of it before I was snatched for a surprise weekend in the mountains!

Warnings: none, pure fluff

Word Count: ~1300

As usual, title stolen from a song (by The Script)

Tagging the rest of my usual squad: @darley1101 @brightpinkpeppercorn @mind-reader1

Hiking. Of all things they could do together this weekend, Kai had to choose hiking. Sloane rubbed her eyes and sighed. She wasn't an outdoorsy person, and she didn't like to wake up early either, but how could she say no to her girlfriend?

Her girlfriend. Even thinking about her was giving Sloane butterflies in the stomach. It's been almost a month, but sometimes it was still too hard to believe it's happening for real.

One day she had a drink too much and confessed her crush. What's even worse, via text. Not that she hoped for anything—just like they say, a drunk mind speaks a sober heart—and she regretted sending it almost immediately. But the next day, when she sat in a chair curled up in a miserable bundle with her cat Ruby in her lap, nursing the headache and looking for programmer jobs in Alaska, Kai called her back.

Well... tried to call. When Sloane recognized the caller ID, she let out a loud shriek and threw her phone like a football champion. The phone hit the wall, making a dent and cracking the screen, bounced off and landed in Ruby's water bowl. That last thing was too much for the fragile electronics' dignity to handle, and despite her best efforts to revive it, the phone stayed dead.

Just as she widened her search area to the remote outskirts of Europe (was Bydgoszcz even a real city?!), she heard a noise behind the door. Two people whispered animatedly, female voice soft and pleading, male hoarse and annoyed. She moved closer, wondering which of her neighbors were it this time.

“Come on, Kai. You know I can't just break into her apartment because she doesn't answer your calls!”

“But Damien, please... I know her. I'm worried. She would never... never...” Kai choked with sobs. “What if it's this Eros thing all over again—”

“Kai, please. You know we shut them down for good.”

“What if we didn't?”

Oh crap. Sloane didn't expect Kai to come here, let alone take Damien with her. And she definitely didn't expect her to be in tears because she thought Eros kidnapped her. Think, think, think!!! She pressed her forehead to the door and tried to collect her thoughts. It was too late to run. Time to face the music. She cracked open the door just a little and peeked sheepishly at her two friends.

“Hey.”

“Oh God, Sloane, you're fine!” Kai jumped into her arms, almost knocking her down. “I can't believe it! What were you thinking?! You had me worried!” She whispered, peppering her face with kisses.

“Uh... Clearly, you two don't need me. I'll see myself out.” Damien smiled awkwardly, but they didn't even hear or see him, already headed inside the apartment.

Sloane smiled at the memory. It was probably the only time when drunk texting made someone happy.

She grabbed her coffee and went through the checklist again. She spent the last few nights looking for a perfect packing list and helpful tips on the internet, barely getting any sleep, just to make sure they were prepared for everything the wildlife could throw at them.

If only that thing wasn't so heavy, she sighed, looking at the giant backpack propped against the wall. The seller insisted it was too big for a woman her size, but Sloane snapped at him. She heard the phrase way too many times and was already tired with it. Can't graduate from MIT? Can't be a programmer? Can't have a girlfriend? Can't have the backpack she wants?! Oh yes, she can and she will! She left the store with her head up, clutching the backpack to her chest, feeling like she had won a battle. But right now, when she tried to pull it up from the floor, she started to consider the possibility of the seller being just a little bit right.

Maybe we don't really need the tent, she thought. Or the camping stove. Or the electric marshmallow toaster. Yes, the toaster was definitely overkill, but it was too late to repack the whole thing again. With a loud groan, she lifted it from the floor and took one last glance in the mirror. Kai would love her khaki shorts, she thought and felt a surge of panic. Weather! Out of habit, she was checking the forecasts for the city, and the two wasn't necessarily the same. She dashed to her laptop, but at the same time, Kai knocked at the door and burst in without waiting for her response.

“Hurry up! We're gonna miss our bus!” Her eyes widened, and she broke into a fit of giggles when she noticed Sloane's luggage. “Oh dear. You know you didn't have to take the whole house with you, right? It's just two days!”

“You know I like to be prepared.”

“Fine. But don't come to me for help!”

“We'll see who will be asking for help!” Sloane scowled at her girlfriend, running down the stairs. “You'll come back begging me to share my tent when it rains!”

“Relax. There won't be any rain, I checked.”

***

“I think we're walking in circles,” Sloane sighed, looking around. “I'm pretty sure I saw this rock already.”

“We're in the mountains. There are a lot of rocks.”

“Yes, but this one looks like a cat. See? Here are his ears...” She pointed at the rock, her finger drawing shapes in the air, and Kai chuckled.

“You're right!” She looked at her girlfriend. “On both counts. We lost the trail.”

“And it looks like it's going to rain, too.”

Sloane was right on that one as well. The sky, bright blue just an hour ago, was now filling quickly with grey clouds. Sun was still peeking through the leaves, but the gentle breeze had a hint of stinging cold. Kai shivered a little and looked to Sloane with a smile, fluttering her eyelashes.

“You don't happen to have an umbrella?”

“No.”

“Even for me? Pretty please?”

“Especially for you!” Sloane snapped in response, but her eyes crinkled and a smile played at the corners of her mouth.

Kai sighed and rolled her eyes dramatically. “Very well. It will be your fault if I get sick. Bring it on, heavens! My girlfriend doesn't care about me!” She tilted her head to the clouds and spread her hands, and as if on cue, the first drop landed on her nose, eliciting a scream of surprise from her lips.

Sloane dropped her backpack on the ground and tried to unstrap the shelter tent, but Kai stopped her, grabbing her hand. The rain around them grew thicker, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. It was still warm, feeling more like a morning shower than rain. The leaves glittered, the soil under their feet grew darker, thousands of tiny droplets trickled down their skin.

Kai took a deep breath, closing her eyes and reveling in a childlike joy. “Can you smell it?”

“You mean the wet soil? It's called petrichor, from Greek words petra meaning stone, and ichor - the blood of the gods, but it's actually caused by a type of bacteria—”

Kai's lips landed on hers, silencing her, and the world fell away. It was slow and soft, Kai's thumb caressing her cheek, her other hand pulling her closer and closer until there was no space between them left. She began to sway her hips rhythmically, forcing Sloane to move with her, and she gasped in surprise.

“What are you doing?!”

“Dancing in the rain!”

“You're mad.”

“I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.” She touched her forehead to Sloane's. “And before you ask, yes, it's a quote.”

“From Alice in Wonderland. I know. I could never understand that book.”

“Oh dear. Are you sure you're not switched with a Match? Can you describe one of Nadia's paintings for me?” Kai giggled, looking at her girlfriend's shocked face and pushing a wet lock off her face. “I'm just kidding! Just kidding!” She kissed her nose. “It's not like I can understand them, either.”

---

And now, before you ask why Sloane’s cat doesn’t have a geeky name - she does! Ruby is a programming language (used by yours truly). And while it’s not a first choice for AI programming, it can be used with good results. Python and Java (top choices) doesn’t sound as nice, don’t you think?

#playchoices #choices #perfect match #sloane x mc #sloane x f!mc #sloane washington #fluffy friday

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