#smacks booker

[zvdvdlvr]

baby, pass the bottle quit with all the stallin’…

🥃 — synopsis. You- Draco’s fiancé- make a bet.

🥃 — warnings. Alcohal consumption. I messed with the timeline like I always do. Weird scenario? Idk. I wrote this to get back to writing for Draco.

Draco watched your bet Ravenclaw Booker Winston 20 galleons you could down a bottle of Firewhisky before he could. Booker raised the stakes to 50 galleons: you were a fifth year and he was a seventh so obviously there was no way Booker could be out-drank by someone so early and so early in the evening.

Your bet got little attention. People had bet against Booker before and lost. But you confidently accepted and handed him a bottle. Booker’s friends waited until both bottles were uncapped before yelling ‘go’ over the blaring music.

The rest of the fifth-year Slytherins watched in awe, screaming ‘Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!’ while you put the opening of the bottle between your lips and throw your head back. Mattheo chuckled in disbelief, smacking Blaise and bringing his attention from the lightskin he was flirting with. Blaise sucked his teeth and shook his head. 

“Go get your woman, mate,” he said into Draco’s ear. “Before someone else makes a move on ‘er.”

By now you were about done with half of the 750 ml bottle of Firewhiskey. Your chest heaved and the white button down you were wearing flashed along with the color changing LED lights. He parted through the crowd of Slytherins, Ravenclaws, Gryffindors, and Hufflepuffs alike as he reached where you were just finishing the bottle. You threw the glass down on the ground, whooping. You coughed and Draco watched you scream along to Chase Atlantic’s ‘Okay’ as you caught your breath.

You hadn’t even noticed Draco, basking in the hoots and hollers of everyone in the party. A fifth year had downed a bottle of Firewhiskey before Booker Winston! You’d definitely be the legend for the years to come. And honestly, Draco would be lying if he said he didn’t find the way your teeth shone in the seizure-inducing lighting and how much your chest heaved as you sang along to the music. You were definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Another wave of screaming filled the room as Booker- pissed- threw his hands up and gave you a sack of 50 galleons. You held the bag in the air and laughed as fifth-years carried you on their shoulders as if you’d singlehandedly won the Quidditch World Cup. 

Draco followed as you savored the victory over a seventh year on the shoulders of your classmates. You laughed at something one of your friends had said and slid down, letting men and women pat you on the back to congratulate you for unofficially taking over Booker’s spot as the ‘Keg King’ (an odd name, yes, but it was an honor nonetheless).

Finally Draco appeared at your side, one hand at your waist as you danced with your girl friends and spun around with the people that entertained you. Your shirt was almost entirely unbuttoned, revealing the emerald green of your sports bra. “Merlin, trouble,” Draco muttered as you turned to him and immediately linked your hands together around his neck and stepped closer to him. “How does it feel to be the Keg Queen?” He joked, lips grazing your ear.

“Like I’m fuckin’ invincible,” you replied. You looked at Draco with that million dollar smile that so many had tried to copy. “Definitely a party-starter, don’t you think?”

Draco laughed. His ring-clad hands grasped your hips and pulling you closer to him as more people showed up to get drunk and have a good time. “Yeah, trouble.” 

You swayed with Draco, caught in his eyes. It goes without saying that you were one of the most influential pureblood witches was an understatement. Luckily you got along with your parents enough to pick the pureblood candidates to marry (your parents believed arranged marriage was best to keep the blood pure). Your parents and Draco’s were more than pleased with the arrangement as you had all known each other since conception. Everyone knew you were together, but not that you were getting married as soon as seventh year was completed. 

Everything was always too much for both of you. But right here and now, just being two drunk and in-love teenagers was perfect.

[outermaybanks]

Request for John b: John b punishes female reader for being a brat. (daddy kink, maybe bondage kink if you want)

a/n: omg my first request !!! thank u so much for requesting i hope u like it ♡ also John B just radiates someone to call his girl ‘pup’ i can’t help it. nsfw 18+

John B putting you in your place

You couldn’t help it, not really. Sometimes John B was just so… preoccupied with whatever was going on at the moment, which right now was a Pogue hangout. 

You had come to John B’s with direct intentions, ones you thought he was well aware of, but soon after you arrived, JJ came out of the guest bedroom with the news that Pope was on his way with Kie. You looked to John B, confusion over your face.

“Bonfire,” he answered simply before pressing a too quick peck to your lips, then walking past you to follow JJ outside.

You couldn’t believe your boyfriend was so oblivious sometimes.

Fine. You thought. If he wants to play dumb, I can play dumber.

You went into your bedroom, which was really John B’s bedroom but for the past year and a half of your relationship, it had become yours too. You went straight to your dresser, to the bottom drawer, all John B’s favorites resided there; white tank top, no bra, ripped denim shorts, and your black thong. 

After you got changed, you went into the bathroom to reapply your mascara before you put your hair up in a messy bun, John B’s favorite to grab. Then you gave a spritz of your perfume before walking out of the Chateau, feigning casual as you strode straight up to John B, who was currently in a beer chugging contest with JJ.

JJ surrendered first, which meant he was the first to notice your outfit, his jaw going slack and his eyes immediately averting to his friend, just as John B finished his can.

“You lose!” John B shouted, still oblivious as he threw his can to the ground, it was then he noticed the weird look on his friend’s face, and turned to see you. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

“You won? Good job, baby!” You cheered, coupled with a small jump.

“Jeeeesus christ,” JJ said, fully turning around to avoid looking at you.

“Sweetheart, your outfit…” John B chuckled to try and seem light hearted.

Your eyebrows screwed together, a small pout on your lip, “What? I thought you liked this outfit?” You looked down at your outfit. 

“I like the outfit,” JJ spoke up, his back still turned to you. His comment earned him a smack on the arm from John B.

“Baby girl,” John B said slowly, trying to get the hint across. “I do like that outfit, I just think… it’s too cold for it. I want my girl to be warm.”

“It’s July, Jombee, I think I’ll be fine.”

John B got a serious look in his eye. “Y/N…”

“John Booker,” You mimicked his tone. “I don’t understand what’s wrong. JJ likes the outfit," you argued.

“Let her wear what she wants, man, you’re not her dad,” Kie spoke up from the hammock.

“Yeah, John B, you’re not my dad,” You repeated slowly, looking at him with a smile before walking over to the cooler, bending down to reach inside for a drink.

You barely got the lid off before John B raced over to you, pulling you aside. “Okay, point taken. I’m sorry you’ve been feeling neglected, okay? Just go inside and change and I’ll make it up to you later.”

“Why would I feel neglected, Jombee?” You tilted your head to the side, batting your eyelashes, still feigning innocence.

“You’re pushing it, pup. Be a good girl, go change.”

Now you were annoyed. This was his fault, he was the one who wasn’t paying attention to you when you clearly needed it, and now he was threatening to punish you? 

“I don’t want to change. I like this outfit.” You crossed your arms, huffing a bit.

John B took a deep inhale, his eyes devouring you as they scanned your body. Then he walked away, leaving you confused and following after him.

“Hey, guys, we’re out of logs, can you guys make a run?” John B asked. You furrowed your eyebrows, you had just seen a stack of logs behind the shed he pulled you to.

“Keys?” Pope asked, and John B reached into his pocket, tossing the keys to him. JJ immediately took the keys from Pope and the two boys raced to the van, while Kie took her time getting out of the hammock.

“Don’t have too much fun without us,” Kie mumbled as she walked past.

“What the hell was that?”

But John B didn’t answer you, he grabbed you by your wrist, leading you inside with very little fight from you. Once you reached your shared bedroom, John B practically threw you inside, slamming the door behind you.

“Dude! What the hell a-”

“What did you just call me, pup?” John B asked, towering over you. His eyes were huge and hungry, filled with lust. The air around you changed, and suddenly, you didn’t feel so vindicated.

“Fine! I’ll change my outfit!”

“Nuh uh, too late for that. On the bed, now. Face down.”

Your bottom lip quivered a bit, but you obeyed, laying on your stomach on the bed. 

John B’s hands slid up the back of your thighs, the cupped the plump of your ass as he let out a took a deep inhale. “You think you’re so clever, huh?” His hands moved up, fingers sliding under the strap of your thong. “Didn’t know my girlfriend was such a slut, prancing around in practically nothing in front of my friends.” He pulled back the strap and let the string snap you, causing you to hiss.

“Noooo,” your whine was muffled by the mattress. “Wasn’t for them, just you… wanted to show you what you were missing…”

“Yeah? Well you got my attention, baby girl.” His hands reached around to unbutton your shorts before he pull them down your legs. You let out small yelp when his hand came down on your right cheek.

“Thought this was what you wanted, pup? My undivided attention.” You don’t know when John B got his pants off, but you could feel his hard dick pressed against your ass. 

“Mmmm, want you Jombee…”

“How does a good girl beg?” His hands were now pawing at the flesh of your ass.

“Please daddy, please fuck me?”

His hand came down again, making you wince.

“Thought I wasn’t your dad?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry I was bad, I’ll be good,” you pleaded.

“Go lay by the headboard.”

You crawled to the top of the bed, then looked at him as you turned to lay on your back, hesitantly; you didn’t want to make the wrong move. But he nodded approvingly, so you committed, laying with your back against the pillows.

John B reached around his neck, untying his bandana, and immediately your face scrunched with confusion, then morphed into upset when he brought your hands up to the headboard.

“Daddy…” you whined, leaning forward a bit. “I’ll be good, I promise. Just wanted you.”

“You have me, baby girl. You’re gonna have all of me,” John B said softly as he tied the knot connecting your wrists to the headboard. 

John B kneeled in front of you, his dick perfectly at eye level. You bit your bottom lip as your mouth filled with saliva at the sight of precum leaking from his perfect pink tip. “Open.”

You looked up at him through your lashes as you slowly opened your mouth, but John B shoved his thumb into your mouth, forcing your mouth open wider before replacing his thumb with the tip of his dick, slowly sliding in.

“You said you wanted to be a good girl, right?” John B asked, and you carefully nodded with your lips wrapped around him. “Be a good girl and suck daddy’s dick.”

You kept your eyes on him as you began moving your head back and forth, opening your throat as wide as you could to fit the thickness of his cock. Despite your throat being used to his size, tears began springing to the corners of your eyes.

John B took a deep breath, a small moan slipping out. “There’s my good girl.” His hands found their way to your bun, his fingers digging into it. You wanted to be his good girl more than you wanted anything else, with each movement you tried to hollow your cheeks more and more. You ached to touch him, feel close to him, so you gave your all to sucking him off, hoping if you did a good enough job, he’d allow you to touch him.

“So fucking good at this, baby, fuck- you want my cum, sweet girl?” John B said softly between labored breaths, you nodded your head the best you could without disrupting your goal at hand. “Look at me, pup.” Your eyes immediately raised back to his eyes, but John B held your head up to look at him anyway, as his hips started snapped fucking himself with your mouth. You clenched your legs together underneath him as you felt your wetness pooling just from pleasuring him. 

“Here it comes, be a good girl, okay baby? Yeah? You’re so fucking good for me, just for me. Feels so fucking good- ah- fuck!” John B just before you felt his warm cum spill into your mouth. You swallowed it all before licking his tip a few more times for good measure as the man above you caught his breath. 

“Such a fucking good girl.”

“Yeah? I was good?”

“You sure were pup,” John B said before his head dipped down to press a soft kiss to your lips, he could still taste himself on your tongue. You pulled at your restraints, desperate to touch him, which made John B laugh.

“My poor baby…” He taunted, making you whine. “Ah ah, good girls don’t whine.” You settled for pouting instead. He gave you a devious smile.

“I want you to remember this the next time you feel like giving me a boner in front of my friends.”

John B lowered himself between your legs, rubbing the tip of his still hard dick through your folds. You bit your lip as you watched him; this had been what you were waiting for all day, but nothing could have prepared you for the delicious stretch when John B suddenly slid all the way in to the hilt, a loud gasp turned moan escaped you. John B chuckled as he lifted your legs higher before he started his movements.

“This what you wanted? Speak up babygirl.”

“Yes daddy, this is what I wanted,” you breathed out as John B started with a slow pace. 

“Yeah? Poor girl just needed my cock?”

“Needed it so bad, Jombee, craving you all day.”

His pace picked up, spurred on by your words; John B was always a sucker for dirty talk. You let out a pathetic moan as you tried to move your hips to match his movements. 

But John B didn’t want to share control, so he pulled out, a disappointed gasp falling from you. With his hands on your waist, John B turned you to lie on your stomach, forcing your hands tighter together. His hands once more palmed at your ass before his fingers slid down to open you up for him to slide back in, his cock reaching deeper inside you and pulling sinful noises from you against your will. 

“Fuck- mm- Jombee- oh my god-” You panted out between his thrusts as your face was pushed into the pillow from the position of your bottom, and the movements of John B’s hips. Small uh’s fell from your lips as your brain turned hazy from the bliss of pleasure. 

“Baby girl just needed to be fucked dumb, isn’t that right, pup?” All you could muster was a eager nod of the head, John B chuckled before slapping his hand against your right cheek, pulling you closer to him by your waist as he moved faster.

“Close- close daddy, so close,” words fell from you without thought. “You feel so fucking good, daddy, you fuck me so good.” 

“Already? Poor baby, so pent up. You gonna cum on my cock babygirl?” “Please let me, daddy, I want to be good. Want to show you how good you fuck me, please.”

“You gonna let me cum inside you like a good girl?”

“Yes!” You practically begged, on the edge of your orgasm. “Please, daddy, cum inside me, wanna feel it.”

John B knew just how to send you over the edge as his hand snaked around your bodies, inbetween your legs to slowly rub circles on your clit. You face fell back into the pillow as you let out a scream in pleasure, before your boyfriend’s name fell from your lips.

“Shhh, I’m right behind you baby, so close, just be good, let me use you a little longer.”

You bit your lip to try and suppress the moans caused by the overstimulation, but when his pace faltered a bit, you heard him let out a grunt before you felt familiar warmth of his cum inside you. You hummed with pleasure, proud of yourself for pleasuring him.

“You did such a good job, pup,” John B said softly, in between breaths as we reached up to untie the bandana from around your wrists. When your arms fell back down, you mustered up your strength to wrap them around him. John B held you close, laying on his back so you were laying on his chest. 

You two laid there for a few minutes, catching your breath as John B caressed your head and whispered praises to you. “So proud of you. You’re such a good girl for me, Y/N. I love you, so so much.” He pressed a kiss to your head, and you let your eyes close, still buzzing from your orgasm and happy with your choices for the day.

©outermaybanks 2024

[starfxkrreloaded]

People need to tag their work better I’m trying to find a John b fix to diddle my daddle to, why the fuck is the entire john b prompt tag full of JJ and Rafe fics. I want JONATHAN BOOKER ROUTLEDGE’s fat heavy hairy balls smacking against my equally as fat ass.

thats a big pet peeve of mine as well ngl

[mrsmiagreer]

LAST BOX

Warnings: Fluff, a little cussing, kissing, a little suggestive

Characters: Milo Greer × Gn!Sweetheart

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“I’m almost done…Are you sure you don’t need any help with that box?”

Milo stood over the kitchen sink, hands submerged in dish water. Sweetheart cooked, and it was a rule in their new household to clean if the other had made the meal.

“I got it!!” Sweetheart spoke as they ended up dragging (instead of picking up) a particularly heavy box out from one of the other rooms and into the living room. The house was a lot bigger than they were used to and the couple hadn’t decided what to do with some of the space yet.

When Milo met them in the living room and sat down with them, Sweetheart had started to cut through the tape on the top. This was their last box before they were officially done unpacking all of their stuff from both apartments.

When they opened it, Sweetheart’s expression immediately softened, seeing a photo album with a butterfly on the cover at the top. They opened it and started to look through it while Milo was looking through the box for his things.

“Whatcha got there?” Milo spoke, briefly looking away from what he was doing to find out what his mate was holding. When he saw, he stopped completely and joined them.

“Who are they? Who’s that?” He spoke, pointing at the family pictures.

“Those are my little brothers, and that’s me and my little sister” They pointed. Their brothers (5 and 6 years old) were fighting each other, while sweetheart and their sister (8 and 3 years old) were painting and got it everywhere.

Milo knew they had siblings but he hasn’t seen much of them, so this was a new kind of experience for him. “Awe look at you”.

They smiled down at the pictures as they flipped through the book, explaining every picture to Milo as they went.

“These are my parents..” They pointed out, a picture of the two standing back to back like Charlie’s Angels. That was a picture from when they were younger though.

Milo noticed the change in energy, and he knows things haven’t been the best between them and their parents. He put a hand on their shoulder and rubbed it, waiting to see if they would continue or not.

“And this was our dog! His name was Booker and he was always super hyper and slobbery but it was okay because he was so sweet” They went on to explain, showing Milo that they’d be fine.

After an hour of looking through the book, Sweetheart gasped a little, realizing the rest of the box hasn’t been unpacked yet. They gently closed the book and set it aside.

“Okay okay we need to finish this box before it gets really late” they said, digging through it and categorizing the items inside.

“You played baseball??”

Sweetheart chuckled, pulling out an old ball and a jersey with “Greer” on the back. They inspected it while Milo started to explain.

“You bet your ass I did, and I was damn good at it too” He spoke with pride, remembering all of his games and time with the team “I played in about…8th grade. Only for a year, but it was a good time” he smiled, gently taking the jersey from them and looking at all of the fine details of it. He would hang it up in his walk-in closet maybe.

“I really only played one sport growing up. My parents wanted me to focus on school the rest of the time, but I enjoyed it”.

“Yeah i remember you mentioning something about…volleyball was it?” Milo said with a squint, trying his best to remember the right sport.

“Mhm” They nodded. “I have quick reflexes and I found it helpful that my legs didn’t hurt too bad when I would get on my knees for dives.”

“Oh is that why you’re so good at gettin on your knees now— Oww! You can’t be hittin me” Sweetheart had smacked him in the chest, gently but firmly, laughing with Milo.

“Shut upp, another reason I was good is because I was tall so HA”

“Yeah yeah laugh it up”

Milo rolled his eyes, folding up the box and setting it to the side, glad that after two hours, they were officially done taking a trip down memory lane and done separating the last of their belongings.

“Okay I need a shower. Did you wanna go first or..?” Milo said as he stood up from his spot on the floor, extending a hand out to help Sweetheart up from their spot.

“I mean…we could share a shower If you want.. I could give you one of those scalp massages you like…and maybe a massage somewhere else while we’re at it” They quietly suggested after taking Milo’s hand, halfway serious. Knowing him, he would take up on it any time.

“Well well. Since when are you the suggestive one?” He laughed before coming closer to them “You know I want to, Sweetheart. Plus your hands feel so good everywhere you touch, how could I resist the offer?” He smiled at them before gently placing a few kisses on their lips, hand reaching to cup their cheek and bring them and their lips impossibly closer to his. When the kiss broke, Sweetheart couldn’t help but stare lovingly at their boyfriend, so proud for making it all these years and becoming serious enough to settle down with with someone in a house. The two have made it a long way together and they were really happy.

“Alright cmon, let’s go get clean”

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@the-star-fallen-from-dreams Hope this was good :)

A/N: Y’all this is literally my first fic like ever and it took me like a week even after being deleted the first time💀 Idk how good it is but i think it’s cute and sweet. Hope ya liked it :)

[captain-lessship]

Nature Or Nurture? Pt.1

Tw: Discussion of Dead Relatives. A *almost* smut scene.

Out of my way." you said as you brushed past a Gryfindor couple. They made offended noises as you kept walking.

"Oi mate, no need to be rude." one of them called. You rolled your eyes.

You were feared to say the least, amongst other houses and slightly within your own. 'Don't get in his way.' 'He is crazy' and other flattering things were constantly said about you. 

You were the "Ideal Slytherin" the type that fulfilled the stereotype and retained said stereotype. Cold-Hearted. You didn't care about anyone and no one was worth your time but that didn't stop several people from being drawn in by you, you were strong and they wanted to stand next to you, not in front of you. 

A natural-born leader. You were fine with it of course until they disturbed you. Like that annoying Malfoy boy did with his annoying 'Potter' this and 'Potter' that.

A loud smack caught your attention and made you wince in pain at whatever hit your face. You scowled.

"What's your damn problem?" you snapped. You opened your eyes to see a frantic but familiar Hufflepuff.

"I am so so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." You scoffed.

"Obviously." you said, looking at the boy who was now picking up his books. You put your shoe on one of his papers.

"Excuse me, can you hand me that?" he asked. You reached down and picked it up.

"Cedric Diggory?" you read, he looked up with an open hand, waiting for you to hand him the paper. You merely looked him up and down before walking off with the paper.

"Hey! that's my report."

You grinned, "Alatre Ascendare!" you shouted back at the boy, wand in hand. It made all his papers spray out of his books and into the air.

With that, he'd become... intrigued by you.

Several other people came up to him, picking up papers.

"Who's he?" He asked one of the Ravenclaw girls.

"Everyone calls him by his last name. Professor McGonagall forgot to call his first name when he was sorted"

"What is his last name?" Cedric asked, standing up.

"Shouldn't you know? He's in your year."

Cedric was slightly embarrassed. He always tried to know everyone in his year, even if it was only their house and name.

"Sorry, I've forgotten it," he said laughing slightly.

"He's Booker." The girl said walking away from him.

He smiled while scooping up the rest of his papers and began walking in the direction he thought he saw you going. He was looking for you when he was caught off guard by movement in the window sill high above the ground. He looked up and he saw you, simply reading a book like it was the most casual place to read the latest paper.

"Hey!" he called, catching your attention.

You looked down at him and rolled your eyes, "Hello Cedi-Didi." Cedric cringed at the nickname.

"How did you get up there?" he asked.

You grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know, Huff Puff?"

He was getting fed up a lil bit at your childish way of teasing him. "I want to talk to you, can you come down?"

You rolled your eyes, "Incarcerous." you said with a flip of your wand, making a long rope come out the end. "Are you climbing up?" you asked.

He got to the top and sat beside you, letting his legs dangle off the ledge. "So.. You're a fifth year? How come I didn't know your name?"

You glared at him, "That's the big question you had to hunt me down and ask me?"

Cedric had no idea why you were so pissed, "Are you this mad all the time?"

"Only when someone disturbs my read and also the remaining three hundred and sixty-five days. Twenty-four seven. " You said with a mean grin.

"Why though, isn't it much easier to be happy?" he asked. Fair question.

"Oh I am exceptionally happy"

You were just rude. 

He smiled though, " I think you and I are going to be really good friends."

He never left you alone. Every time you were heading to class it was "Hey, can we eat together outside today?" or "Let's play some Wizard's chess." or "Can we study together.”

Your housemates had begun to pick on you, not to your face though. They called him your lost and sometimes kicked puppy, probably from how sad he looked when you turned him down. 

They started to ask you why you didn't like him at all and you had a simple response; He is trying too hard. You were growing used to it but it was very annoying on your off days. Today was an off day.

"Hey! I was wonde-"

You stopped and turned around to look him in the eyes. He felt a chill. They were colder than the dead of winter. He just closed his mouth and sighed. Your heart felt a twang of guilt. What an off day.

"What were you wondering, Cedric?" you asked, trying to sound soft. He turned and looked at you with a smile.

"I was wondering if you'd want to sit on the window sill together again?"

You shook your head yes. He grabbed your sleeve and dragged you to the window sill. You looked up to it.

"So do you do the rope spell to get up?" he asked. You laughed at him.

"No, I took a few classes with Professor McGonagall. Watch this," you said.

You took a deep breath in and Cedric stared as you changed into a bird. You had taken her Animagus class! You had gotten onto the window sill. It took you a little longer to change back into yourself, a few feathers sticking to the side of your face and refusing to go back in properly. You brushed your hair of them and looked down at him.

"Impressed?" you asked.

"Holy- Dude, you just turned into a bird and just flew on your merry way? How long did it take you to do that?" he said.

"I started in her class when I was fourteen and I've practiced every day at this window sill. And it's not any bird, it's a Merlin," you said, letting down the rope and pulling him up this time. He sat facing you this time. It was just before dinner and the sun had started to dip under the mountains. He looked out the window.

"You picked a great place for your hangout."

"Thanks."

He looked at you and how the golden light shone on your features. You looked at him and thought the same but you looked down.

No. Not again. Not your heart getting ahead of you.

You were walking into the great hall for the Opening and Sorting Ceremony. You were excited to see who would join your house and finally eat the delicious food. You sat there welcoming new Slytherins and even clapping for the house of your best friend when they received a new member, which got you a few weird looks from your housemates but they knew not to mess with you and even then most of them knew about your friendship with Cedric.

After the Sorting, you wanted to eat but no food appeared because of the announcement Dumbledore was going to make. You stared down but your attention was brought back when a kid tapped you on the shoulder ad pointed at something you only heard stories about: The Goblet of Fire. The Goblet meant one thing was going to happen, the Tri-Wizard Tournament. You looked at Cedric to joke about it but you noticed a flame-like the one burning from the Goblet in his eyes.

"Oh god.. No." you barely whispered. Cedric was just old enough, seventeen, to compete and you knew he would. 

You just knew. You knew what you had to do. Put your name in and pray it was you, not him. He looked at you and saw your expression and gave you a reassuring smile.

After the entire Feast and Ceremonies, you tracked him down and asked to talk.

"Hey! How was your summer?"

"Great, went camping. Do not put your name in that goblet."

"Woah, topic changed rather quickly, didn't it?" He said, pearly whites lashing with a slight laugh.

You sighed, "Do not put your name in the goblet."

Cedric noticed your genuine concern about him and he softened his charismatic eye-blinding smile into a comforting smirk, "I will be alright. I am strong." he said.

You just shook your head, "If you put your name in, I will put mine in too."

His mood changed, "You shouldn't."

"Why? Think I can't do it?"

"No! No I don't!" he snapped. You were shocked and you felt like someone had slapped you even though his hands were still in his pockets. You felt tears prick at your eyes and thus you turned and walked away, leaving the Hufflepuff regretting his words. 

You didn't know what was wrong with you, you don't cry over stuff like this but he just didn't understand.

You were unpacking your stuff and everyone in the commons could feel the tense aura radiating off you with the energy of ten suns. You slammed your sock drawer shut and yelled.

"Bloody Hell! I can do what I want He can just- Ugh!" You slumped down beside your bed. Your friend, Daniel, raised from his bed and shook his head at you.

"Sad, innit? Simple, to fix it. Become his dream guy."

You flung your head up at him, "I do not like Cedric Diggory like that."

Your other friend, Rich, who was reading a comic book, spoke up "No, you don't at all. Except for the fact for most of last year and even over the summer you were like all 'Will Cedric like this?' 'Do you think Cedric is busy? Is that why he didn't write back?' and my personal favorite, 'I should write to Cedric but he hasn't answered my last letter, should I?' like no, you don't have the hugest crush. Totally not."

You threw a pillow at him, "Watch your mouth." You thought for a minute though. They did have a point.

You felt your face turn red and you heard Daniel chuckle at your reaction. "You like him."

"Yes," you started, "What is his dream guy anyway? What if he isn't even... "

"He literally wears rainbow socks." Rich, who recovered from the pillow said, going back to his reading.

"Maybe he just likes colors," you said. "I like colors."

"We are not going to go over all the less than hetero tendencies he has."

They did have a point; He was either too comfortable, to the point it was almost disturbing, with himself or a little fruity.

"So what is his dream... Lover?" you decided to word it.

Rich and Daniel looked at each other and got up. They walked to you and grabbed you by either arm.

"We got a lot of work to do."

"Wha?-Wait- Whoa! What do you mean?"

"Cut your hair, fix your dark circles and make it look like you've seen the outside world at least once. Seriously, dude, you look like you live by a lamp. NAd we got to teach you how to tie a tie properly." Rich rattled off. This... This was going to be either a disaster or the best thing you ever did in your life.

"Why so blue, mate?" Cedric's friend, Melissa asked. He was moping by the common room bookshelf and overall looking like someone popped his balloon and drank all the milk for his cereal.

"Oh.. Sorry. I just... I feel bad.”

"About what?" she asked, flipping through a witch fashion magazine.

"Well... I yelled at my crus- my friend." he corrected himself. Melissa looked up from her magazine and nudged the guy sitting beside her who was making his teacup float, Carter.

"Crush?" he asked, teacup slightly spinning.

Cedric knew he was busted. "Well... Yes. I... I have a crush on someone."

"And you yelled at them?"

"On accident. I didn't mean to raise my voice at him."

"Who is it?"

Cedric caved and told them the whole story.

"How are you not dead? If that'd been anybody else, they'll have to be hauled to the infirmary." Melissa said.

"He actually is really nice. He really likes birds. He feeds them every morning." Cedric said, smiling at the thought of you and him feeding the birds. He got to hold one as it ate some of the seeds you offered the birds. Little swallows and a few sparrows.

"Yeah, but he once punched a guy in the face and broke his nose so bad the bloke had to have surgery."

Cedric rolled his eyes, "Moving on. How do I make it up and well, tell him?"

"First off," Melissa stated, "We need to fix all that." she said.

"You literally gestured to all of me." Cedric said, frowning.

"Yeah... We got some work. Ok, what is his type?"

"I don't know."

"Useless Cedric, completely useless." Melissa said, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him till he laughed at her silly way o letting him know he is no help.

"Well, obviously, he is a Slytherin so he likes dark, brooding, and... I don't know, snake-y?"

Melissa groaned at this, "That is so biased it is causing my physical pain."

Cedric just shook his head at his friend's antics and looked out the window to see the stars. He thought about you. 

He felt so sure about everything in his life but you came and now, he wasn't sure if you loved him, hated him, or were indifferent. A wild card in his moderately even and sorted deck.

"Cedric, you really like him, don't you?" Carter asked.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

That was a fair but deep question, "He listens to me. All of me. The part of me that are not that good, the parts that fall short, and the parts that get over emotional. He keeps me in sync and makes sure that I am okay. I know it seems like he doesn't care but deep down he cares a little too much. He is such a good person and you can see it if you just really look for it."

The duo were silent. Cedric never got deep but that was the depth of the Atlantic compared to his usual banter and jokes. Cedric just stood up and walked to the door.

"I think I will go for a short walk.”

"But Fil-"

"It'll be a short one."

Cedric walked out from behind the painting of the pear and took a left. He shoved his hands into his pockets and thought about you and he smiled to himself. Before he knew it, he had reached the window sill you loved. He just stared up into the light that was pouring into the stone corridors from similar high windows. He noticed a bird on the window sill and he whistled at it and he heard the tune played back in almost perfect harmony. He saw you slowly shift into you, you had gotten better at it over break, you no longer had to manually shove feathers into your head. A rope fell and he began to climb. Once he got to the top he noticed something different about you. You looked cleaner, not that you were dirty. More put together would be a better term. He stared at you and how the moon and stars lit up your features. You were made for moonlight.

He was made for sunlight, you thought. Bright richly colored hair, warm smile, and features. He was the sun and everyone knew it. People revolved around him in a happy social solar system and you were happy to join their orbit after being pulled in by his gravity. He stared into your eyes, melting down your serious demeanor, and you stared back before you or he knew, you both were leaning in close and gently pressed your lips together. He barely opened his eyes to see you up close. He gently ran his hand up to the nape of our neck. The kiss and following ones lasted for a while and then it hit you both what had just happened.

"Uh... I.. Did you, ya know, enjoy that?" he asked shyly. You smiled.

"Yea... Did you?" you asked, an equal level of awkwardness.

You reached for his hand and he gently slid his into yours. He leaned in for another kiss but you brought up your finger to block him.

"We need to talk about the Goblet ordeal."

He pulled away and shook his head. "I am really sorry about what I said. You could do it, I am just scared for you to get hurt."

"Then you understand why I don't want you to put your name in."

Cedric smiled and squeezed your hand, "I know I know but baby... I want to try. Dumbledore said it'd be safer than the earlier ones. Please.”

The sweet name made your heart melt. You thought about it. What were his chances of being chosen out of all the people who put their names in? Pretty low statistically. That eased your consciousness.

You smiled at Cedric and he smiled back. He went in for a hug and you hugged back. He gently pulled you to his chest.

"I don't sleep very well," he admitted. 

You were surprised to hear his heartbeat thumping like a bass, it was oddly soothing. "Go to sleep, I won't let you fall." he said.

And he didn't.

It was a beautiful day compared to most when the other school arrived. You were chosen by your Prefect to help the ladies from Beauxbatons carry in their items. You had no complaints except that one Durmstrang who accidentally bumped into and nearly knocked you silly. He apologized as you started to cast a spell to make all the suitcases float.

"Wingardium Leviosa." you said and you began to visualize rooms that had been set aside for the students of Beauxbatons. You were done by the time Durmstrang was done with their introduction choreography. You walked in and took your seat.

Dumbledore rattled on about the number of tasks, the rules, and how happy they were to have the two schools arrived for such a big occasion. You weren't listening, you were thinking about how Cedric put in name in the cup the other day and you smiled and acted like your heart wasn't hurting. You clapped after he finished his spill and watched the tables grow to allow room for the two schools to sit and eat. You got up and offered your seat to a Beauxbatons girl whose friend had sat down in the empty seat beside you. You walked to the Hufflepuff table and found Cedric, who smiled brightly at you as he told you to sit down. A few of the Hufflepuffs were off-put by this but they came around after you started talking and not attacking them like they thought you would.

You looked at Cedric, "Do you think you will get chosen?" you asked honestly.

"Well, I think I've got a chance just as good as anybody."

Secretly he held your hand under the table where no one could see. He would rather grab your hand and shout to the world how he felt about you but you had said you wanted to wait a little while to announce your relationship.

"So, Booker, What is your favorite spell?" one of Cedric's friends asked, sensing your unease.

"Oh, I'd say it would be one of the first ones I learned. It's called Ferula, it heals things and wraps bandages around the target. I got hurt a lot and my Mom would use it instead of buying band-aids."

"Your mother is a witch? I thought it was your father."

"Well, My Dad is a half-blood and my Mom is a pureblood. He never really got to learn magic because his non-magical mother was scared for him."

They looked at each other and shook their heads in understanding, "Well, does he know magic now?"

"He knows a little bit. He knows about five spells well enough to cast them."

The topic had slowly changed as the feast progressed to favorite candy, wands, and so on. It was nice. You liked sitting there. They were funny and they didn't seem to have it in them to be critical or mean.

Today was the day. The Goblet would choose the champions. You sat there about to faint as everyone gathered into the Great Hall, waiting with a little more cheer than you had. 

You saw Dumbledore walk up to the Goblet and gently raised his hand. Out flew a strip of parchment and he flipped it over to see a name. You held your breath.

"Viktor Krum." You exhaled so quickly it made your nose hurt. You joined in on the clapping for the Durmstrang man who walked to shake Dumbledore's hand and then on to a room.

Dumbledore raised his hand once again, you felt your palms sweat as he tuned to read the name.

 "Fleur Delacour." You clapped for the Veela as she followed Krum's path: handshakes and to the room.

One last name. One last school. You were going to faint. He raised his hand and he looked at the name. You watched him as if he was in slow motion. 

"Cedric Diggory" You burst into tears. Oh god no... He stood up and walked to shake Dumbledore's hand. 

He nearly made it to the door when the Goblet lit again and another name flew out. everyone was confused, especially Dumbledore after he read the name. He barely whispered it but you could tell it was not good.

"Harry Potter," he said, voice full of unease and a mild tone of rage. "Harry Potter!"

After the whole fiasco, you found Cedric, he was leaving the room and he had a smile on his face but there was a thread of worry behind it. 

You walked up to him and he grinned.

"Can you believe it?"

"Cedric... You can't."

He looked confused, "Why can't I?"

"What if..." you started but were interrupted by Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Booker, We need you. We have a favor to ask." She said with a gesture to follow her. You looked at Cedric and tried to smile, he was happy and well, he was smart enough to not die.

You sat in McGonagall's office and waited. She came backing with Dumbledore, Lady Maxime, The head of Beauxbatons, and Professor Karkaroff, Head of Durmstrang.

"So, Professor McGonagall tells me you are one of her best Animagious students and you have mastered your form. Can you please show us?" Dumbledore asked.

 You looked at McGonagall who smiled and shook her head. You stood up and you breathed in and as you breathed out, you shifted into a Merlin. After the shift was done, you flew up to the iron chandelier and sat up there.

"This Wonderful!" Professor Karakoff said, "He can observe Tournament." now you knew what they wanted to ask. You gently flew back to the ground and changed back into a human.

"Mr. Booker, do you think you would consider? We considered Broomsticks but.. they upset one of the tasks." You looked at the four professors.

'Help where you can.' You heard 

Cedric's voice in the back of your head.

"Of course. It's an honor," you said.

You sat up on the window sill, watching the stars, waiting for Cedric. You heard his footsteps and you changed. You smiled down at him as you sent down a rope, he climbed up and sat right next to you. He opened a bag and handed you a small box.

"I am sorry I didn't write. I never got them because I wasn't home for most of the summer." That explained it.

 "So to make up for it, I got you something.”

"You didn't have to do that, It couldn't be helped." you looked at the box that was wrapped in brown paper and tied with a gold rope.

"C'mon, open it!" he said. You undid the rope and tore the paper. You opened the small box and saw a small gold chain bracelet. Two charms dangling from it caught your eye. One was a gold miniature copy of your wand: Ten-inch, Willow and it had a handle that was carved to look like feathers. The other was a flowering Rosemary.

"Well, the wand is self-explanatory. What about the Rosemary?"

Cedric blushed a little bit, "Well, we actually took Herbology together in our first year. I never said hi though. You seemed scary and despondent."

You chuckled, "I guess I was."

You put on the bracelet and turned to your bag, you had gotten him a little something. You handed him a box that was decorated in silver and tied with a black ribbon. He smiled as he opened it like a child on Christmas. It was a mirror.

He looked at you and you smiled.

"Um, I think it's pretty."

"It's not just a Mirror. It's a memory Mirror. If the mirror can reflect something, it will be stored in the mirror. You then can put it in the moonlight and it will these memories like a movie."

He looked more intrigued now. He looked at the mirror and then slid it into the moonlight. Slowly a replica of his face appeared above the mirror. "How did you get this?"

"Oh... It was a very old gift. I used to make copies of myself.”

"Then you should keep it."

"No... I don't like it anymore," you said, sadness seeping into your voice.

He looked at you, concern on his face, "Why?"

"It was a gift from my Mother. I miss her and I used to spend hours staring at her image from the mirror but all I accomplished was more grief every time the moonlight went away." You looked out the window.

 "She loved us. Me and my sisters. She'd point us out to her friends and talk about us. 'Grace, oh well, she is doing fabulous! She recently got married.' 'Tiffany? She started working at the Ministry' and 'Him? He is going to Hogwarts next year. I am so excited! My wand left me and chose him, Ha! Can you believe that!' She was so proud of us all."

Cedric wrapped his arms around you. "What happened to her?"

"She got very sick. Her wand knew, that's why it chose me. She got to the point where she couldn't walk. A few days after that, I went to wake her up and she barely opened her eyes and asked me to get everyone. She said goodbye."

Cedric felt your tears dampen his t-shirt as he held you. "I am sure she is still proud of you. You're talented, beautiful and no matter what you saw, you've got a good heart."

"I miss her so much."

"Tell me about her."

You smiled, "She would have loved you. She was very firey and aggressive when it came to her friends and family. She would sing us lullabies and rock us. I remember the last time she rocked me was when I was four. I had tripped and cut my knee. She showed me magic that day. She let me hold her wand. Willow and Veela hair."

"Is that why you offered to help the Beauxbatons students? Cause some of them are Veela's like your Mom?"

"No, she wasn't a Veela but her best friend is. She offered her hair when they were making wands. She did attend Beauxbatons though."

You told Cedric about her and in the end, it felt like, in a way, he had met her." She would have stayed and become a professor if she hadn't fallen in love with my Dad. They were very happy."

"Like us?”

You paused, "Yeah. Like us."

Cedric smiled. You let your thought leave your mouth.

"Cedric. You are my home."

"How so?"

"Home is where your heart is."

The clock tower chimed for four in the morning. He looked at you, you had fallen asleep. He smiled as gently nudged you awake so you could sneak back to your commons. Cedric was quietly but hurriedly walking to his when he met someone: Dumbledore.

"Ah, Young Cedric. Early aren't we?" he said, smiling. "Why so early young man?"

"I- Um I was..."

"In the window sill," Dumbledore said, "Follow me, let's talk about this."

Cedric walked with DUmbledore, slightly slower than he'd normally walk. "So, am I in trouble?"

"No. You were just being a teenager. The Muggle equivalent of sneaking out of the house."

Cedric smiled, measured you weren't in trouble. "I guess."

"Mr. Booker forgot to tell you though. He will be watching from above."

"Oh? How- Oh wait."

"He has a knack for it, hm?"

"Yeah. It's so cool. He just goes and flies away."

Dumbledore shook his head, "I've seen a change in the both of you. So has the other professors. They say you seem to care a little bit more about the details and they tell me that he helps people, especially the underclassmen Slytherins. He must know it's rough."

"Yeah... I guess we've both changed."

"Love finds a way to change things," Dumbledore said.

"Love will find a way." Cedric repeated.

"Dragons." Cedric said to you as he looked at you. You were in the library reading up on some potions books since you had nothing else to do.

"Good morning to you," you said, looking up.

"How do I fight a dragon?" he asked, sitting down in the chair across from you.

"Why?”

"Cause... Harry Potter told me that the challenge would be dragons."

You picked up your cup of tea and sipped from it, "He could have lied."

"But what if he didn't?"

He had a point."Ok well, Cedric what do dragons do? Breathe fire. Put out the fire, beat the dragon."

"Ok, but that seems like... too easy." he said.

"Too easy? Well... Maybe if the dragon is focused on something else, it won't have time to deal with you."

He leaned over the table, "What can I distract it with?"

You began sharpening his skill in Transfiguration and now it was time to shine.

You walked in behind the Champions. You were followed by McGonagall, who would let you shift and then send you out to fly around and observe the champions. You shook Viktor's hand and kissed Fluer's hand before you got to Harry Potter.

"I am there to make sure you don't die." The boy looked stunned, but you recovered with a laugh. "No, no. You probably are safe. With or without me."

Lastly, you saw Cedric, he looked nervous but he smiled at you. You hugged him and whispered in his ear.

"Do your best."

You walked to McGonagall, who opened the curtain enough for your bird form to go through. You slowly shifted, which caught the other three champions off guard. You flew out and went up to the clouds. You loved flying. It was just you, the clouds, and the rush of the wind. Your wings could take you anywhere and be strong enough to make sure you got there. You began to dive back down as a cymbal sounded, time to do your job.

First was Cedric. You watched from above. 'Make sure no one cheats.' You watched him intently.

He dodged some of the fire before finding the perfect rock. You heard him shout out the spell and you flew down closer to caw in approval but the rock didn't turn into another dragon and he didn't call out the enlarging charm. It instead was a dog! You mildly panicked but you noticed the dragon was interested in the dog and that Cedric was sprinting for the egg.

He made it into the nest area when the dragon turned and noticed him. The dragon erupted a huge wave of fire on top of him. 

'In case of potential death, help the champion." you flew down but that's when you noticed something. It seemed something was pushing back the fire but struggling to do so quickly.

A line from a poem came into mind, "Eating fire is your ambition."

Cedric had ambition.

He pushed up with the shield he was making. He had the egg, all he had to do was get out of the nest. "Dragons can breathe fire for twenty minutes." He just had to outlast the last fifteen. He counted down and made sure he had a good grip on the egg.

Now!

He pushed up with such force the shield hit the dragon in the face and knocked loose a few fangs. He was sweaty and very tired. He noticed you land and change to make sure he had brought the egg. He smiled as he stumbled to you, he lifted his wand.

"Orchideous." he said. A bouquet spilled out of the end of his wand. And like that he hit the ground out of exhaustion.

Cedric coughed himself awake. He was in the infirmary. He looked and saw you reading a book.

"Morning," he said, not knowing how long he'd been out.

"You inhaled enough smoke to kill a large dog."

"Four-twenty. Blaze it." he chuckled as he did a peace sign.

You laughed but you also rolled your eyes. "I wish I could stay mad at you."

You looked to his bedside t table. "A couple of people dropped you off some gifts. And don't forget," you raised a golden egg, "Mr. Second place, we need to figure this out."

He smiled, "Well, open the egg first." you reached to the top of it and undid it. The scream the egg let out hurt your ears and you could not have shut it fast enough.

"Yeah... That isn't good." You said sitting beside him. He groaned at the dismay of it not being easy.

After opening a few gifts, you spoke up.

"While you were sleeping. Dumbledore announced the date for the second task and another thing."

"What?" he asked, eating some of his Every Flavor Jelly Beans.

"The Yule Ball," you said.

He looked at you and smiled. "So are we going together?" he asked.

"Cedric... I don't think-"

"Please. I want to go with you."

You sighed, "Ok ok... But if anyone who isn't our friend asks. We are friends."

"Embarrassed of me?" he asked, half-joking, half-serious.

"No. It's just what if they-" Cedric sat up and leaned to press his head against yours.

"The people who love us will understand and the ones that don't will either get over it or have to fight me," he said, smiling.

You sighed, he was right. "Say, you are allowed to leave. Want to go get dinner?"

"Yes, I am starving," he said. He stood up and went to get dressed.

You waited outside the door for him as you thought about what you were going to do. He walked out of the door and you instantly grabbed his hand. he was a little surprised but you just held on as you both walked to go get food. You walked into the Great hall and headed for the Hufflepuff Table. They looked at you and a lot of them smiled and a few even raised a glass to Cedric.

"Congrats! On both." Melissa said. You and Melissa had become friends because of your life subscription to a fashion magazine and she would help you with other things.

"Thanks," Cedric said, squeezing your hand tighter.

"So Booker, I need your opinion."

"On?"

"Dresses. Sprout said we could all go one day and get suits and dresses and I am sure she'd let you come along!" she said. "Now, what color? I feel like a blue or maybe a pink"

You and Melissa rattled on about dresses, colors, and styles. Cedric got to thinking about the egg. He had time but he needed to figure it out or else it bother him for days. Suddenly, an idea hit him. The first trial was fire so it was maybe water.

"Hey, I think I am going to go get a bath and go to bed."

"Okay, see you later," you said to him.

You went back to chatting when a pair of Ravenclaw girls walked behind you, they were just chatting but your ears caught what the dark-haired one said.

"I like Cedric, Do you think he'll ask me to go?"

You felt your heart drop as you looked to see who exactly it was and saw Cho Chang. She was stunning, beautiful, and kind. You felt a twinge of envy.

Everyone had heard it too and they just stared at you. "Well... I guess I will be leaving now," you said. You stood up and almost ran out of the Great Hall. You ran til you slammed right into someone.

"I am so sorry, I just-"

"Boy, you shouldn't be running in the halls, and what is wrong with you?" It was Snape.

"Oh Professor Snape, I was just... I just am not doing too well. Apologies." You started to walk away.

"Wait a moment," he said walking to you. "What has you distraught?"

"It's nothing... You probably won't get it."

"Try me."

You sighed and sniffed, "Well, I liked someone and I thought they liked me too. But... I guess they don't." you said, trying to keep it as vague as possible.

Snape crossed his arms, "First of all, why should you be the one in tears. Second, never let someone make you cry."

"But I..."

"Loves hurts young man. Know when your beat but go on with your life. You only hurt yourself if you try to stay with the memories." He turned and walked away.

He had a point.

Cedric had just got into the water with the egg. He slowly opened the egg and heard a very beautiful voice come out of it. He listened to it several times and made mental notes about it all. He then thought about you and how you helped him with the Transfiguration. He smiled as he sat in the water. He also needed to tell Harry about the eggs. He had to because Harry told him about the dragons.

He heard a door open and he looked to see you. He waved.

"How did you get in?"

"Quidditch Captain."

He remembered that you had replaced the last one. You were a great Keeper and were very competitive. You once had thrown your shoe at the snitch to scare it away from him.

"Well, I figured ou-"

"Cho Chang. Who is she to you? In one minute or less. I will walk out of here Cedric."

"Uh, I... I know her, yeah, We have some of the same classes and she's smart. Why?"

You huffed "Well obliviously she thinks there's more to you two?"

Cedric turned to fully face you, "What are you on about?"

"She wants you to ask her to the Yule Ball and-" Cedric grabbed your hand.

"Baby. Listen, she might want me to, but I would never. I already have the best date."

You sighed, "You need to start letting me finish my sentences."

It was the day You all went to go grab your suits and such. The previous week, you all had gone and gotten measured and ordered which suits and dresses you wanted.

 You had received a letter that your order was in so you and Cedric walked hand in hand, falling a little behind the group, to go grab the outfits. You all also talked about going to Honeydukes which Cedric responded with the worst thing you ever heard.

"I would but he's already sweet enough." Cringe radiated along with laughter through the group. You had also dragged Rich and Daniel along.

"We aren't even attending the ball, why do we need to come along?" Rich complained.

"You need the sun."

"It is literally snowing."

Despite their complaining, they were having a good time and even reconsidered not going when they met Melissa and her friend, Emma.

You had made it to the shop and began to look at the suits that had come in for you. You grabbed yours and made your way to go change. You took off your clothes and looked at the suit and noticed how finely it had been made. 

You started with the button shirt and noticed something. The neckline went down further than you planned. This is what you got for refusing to wear the typical ones. Dammit. You put on the rest of the suit and turned to the mirror and it spoke.

"Looking good handsome!"

You shook your head and pulled back the curtain to see Cedric and Daniel, waiting for a dressing room to open. Daniel nudged Cedric to look at you and when he did, he turned red in the cheeks and his jaw dropped.

"Cedric. Flies."

He shut his mouth, "You look great." he mumbled out. You laughed as you turned back, shut the curtain, and rushed to change back into your normal clothes.

Cedric looked amazing, not surprised but he could help but make it look like he walked fresh off the runway.

"He could go into modeling in case the writing thing doesn't work." You said, watching him spin and make sure his outfit looked perfect. You smiled at him and checked himself out in the mirror.

"Stay Humble." Cedric's friend, Carter said.

"I am. Do you think I should get a haircut?"

Groans erupted. There was nothing wrong with wanting to look good, especially for a special occasion.

You walked in next to Cedric. He put his arm out for you to loop yours around. You walked at an okay pace and felt eye glue to the two of you. You felt so nervous and like you were sweaty. You looked at Cedric, who looked like it was nothing but a thing.

 You heard whispers and you felt like you were going to vomit if Cedric didn't walk faster. You looked at the people and, despite your feelings a lot of them had genuine smiles, not joking or malicious ones. You felt the nerves wash off a little bit.

You eventually separated, he went to get drinks and you went to claim a table. You saw Melissa and her date, your friend, Daniel so you flagged them over.

"So, Where's Cedric?" Daniel asked.

"He went to go grab a drink." you felt a tap on your shoulder. 

You looked to see Cho Chang and one of her friends.

"Booker. I am really really sorry. I didn't think you would have heard me cause I thought you were sitting at the Slytherin table and I didn't know you and Cedric were a thing.”

You looked at her and smiled, "It's alright. I typically do sit at the Slytherin table and you didn't know. I am sure you weren't the only one with a crush on him. I really appreciate your apology."

"Oh, that's a relief. Thank you and have fun!" she said as her friend pulled her onto the dancefloor.

"Alright. Which one of you told her?"

"Actually I did." you heard Cedric say as he returned.

"Oh my god.."

"I knew it upset you. Don't worry I was really nice about it and she actually said we look cute together."

"That's sweet of her," you said, sipping the drink.

"Yeah," he said, drinking some of his own, "Do you want to dance?"

"I suck at it but yes."

You took Cedric's hand as he led you to the dance floor. He slowly placed his hand on your waist, "One of us has to lead." he said, smiling at you. He then began to swirl and spin you around the dancefloor. You laughed as he tried to spin you as fast as he could and he attempt to dip you. 

After the slow dances were the more enjoyable dances in your opinion. You had to take off your suit jacket to keep up with him and his dance moves. You grew to love the feeling of his hands on your hips and the sight of him looking at you like you were the most beautiful person he'd ever seen.

You and him were growing very tired and had gone to sit down at the table. He sat right beside you and leaned into your ear to whisper.

"You looked beautiful." Now, wait a minute. There was something else besides love in that. You felt your face flush as his hand came up to sit on your upper thigh.

"Uuh, Cedric.. We are-"

"Shh. Let's go. it's almost midnight anyway." He said, "Only if you want to though?" he said with a smirk. No matter what smile he had, you loved them.

You and him walked out into the hallway, he gently pulled you along.

"You aren't the only one with a hideout." he said as he came to a very old-looking door. It was a smaller room but you couldn't get a good look because Cedric shut the door and pressed you up against it.

He gently pressed his lips against yours. He was always gentle at the start. Slowly he started to get a little more forceful, you pressed back and looped your arms around his neck. He lifted you off the door and pulled his lips away.

"We know where this is going to go, right?"

"Yeah," you said, slightly out of breath.

"Do you want it to?"

You thought for a moment. "Yes."

He smiled. He sat you down on top of an old desk and he slowly went to kiss your neck. You sat there, skin heating up as he kissed and sucked places on your skin.

"You are so tense. Relax. I will take care of you, baby." he muttered.

"It feels good..." you breathed out. You breathed in Cedric. He always smelled like parchment, honey, and warmth.

He slowly peppered more kisses to your jawline.

 You felt you should tell him.

"Cedric." you managed to strangle out.

"Hm?" he made a noise to let you know he was listening.

"This is the first time."

He pulled back and looked at you, "You mean?"

You shook your head. He smiled and pulled you into a hug.

"Uh... okay."

"What?"

"It just wasn't the reaction I was expecting is all."

"What? Expected me to go 'What a loser.' ?"

"Kind of." he frowned at that as he went to kiss you again.

"I would never say that or even think that of you," he said before reaching to undo his bowtie. You started to undo the buttons on your shirt.

"Wait," he said. You stopped.

"What? Is someone coming?"

"No, I just... if this is your first time, we are not going to do it on a desk."

"Cedric- It's.."

"It's important to me."

You both decided to wait. Wait til after he won the tournament.

You weren't asked to observe but you were asked to aid. You didn't exactly know what they wanted but they gave you a potion and slowly you fell asleep. Before you took your trip to dreamland you heard 'They'll recuse th-' and you were out.

Cedric wondered where you were until they explained what the task was: Find a loved one in the lake. One problem he saw right away was that the lake was so huge. He remembered what the egg had said but he figured the 'something dear' would be an item or something besides a person.

He planned on using the bubblehead charm and when the signal was fired he jumped into the water. He slowly began to swim. The water was frigid and he was frozen in shock for a moment but he began swimming.

'Why in February?' he thought as he felt even colder as he swam downward. He pulled out his wand.

"Lumos" he mumbled. A light began to shine from the tip of his wand. He looked for the other champions but didn't see one but he heard a whoosh and a pop behind him. He looked down at the grassy forest and realized what was down there.

"Lumos Maxima!" he shouted, still muffled by the bubble. A huge blast of light illuminated the surrounding area. Grindylows hated light and he figured this would be the best way to stun and distract them. He kept swimming.

He thought about you and that's when he remembered something: You can't swim. He immediately picked up the pace. 

He saw what appeared to be four floating figures and one free, swimming one. Harry Potter. Cedric swam to him and saw that the boy had grown gills! Gilly weed, of course! He nodded at Harry and looked to point a half transfigured Viktor. Cedric cut you loose and swiftly swam upwards.

You breathed in as soon as your head reached above the water.

"Oh shit! Holy Jesus, what the- Cedric? Why am I in the lake?" you spat, clinging to him.

"Shh, I got you. Calm down," he said as he swam towards the ladder. He lifted you to McGonagall and you grabbed her arm to pull yourself up. 

You took a towel and wrapped yourself in it. You felt like half drownded cat as you hook your hair and head in the towel and then you remembered: Cedric. You turned and saw him climbing out of the lake. 

You grabbed his towel and started lecturing him.

"Honestly! You could've froze to death! What in the world are you wearing? They make wetsuits!" you fussed at him as you dried his hair and whipped his face.

He began to chuckle, "Ok ok, Mom, chill! It wasn't that cold. Give me the towel, It is colder up here than down there." he said. 

You handed him the towel and he smiled at you. He noticed your face was still a little wet and he gently patted it dry, "You worry so much."

You shook your head at him and just smiled.

You were wrapped up in two blankets and your head was wrapped in a warm towel. You already had a start of a head cold before they shoved you into the frigid lake. Bad sinuses ran in your family: A strong wind could give a near-death experience; Whining and overreactions also ran in your family. You could have sworn there were mini icebergs floating in the water. 

You pulled one of your arms out of the blanket wads and reached for your tea. You had insisted that you didn't need to go to the infirmary but now it sounded pretty nice. You looked out the small window and cursed the climate. 

A February snow. 

You closed your eyes as you imagined yourself at the lake house your parents owned where the temperature was also a good fifteen degrees warmer than anywhere else.

 Along with your terrible blight of physical sickness, you felt a little homesick; Your mother always took care of you when you were sick. She could have easily cured you with a potion but she said it would be better for your immune system if you fought off the illness naturally.

You raised up a little bit when you heard the door of the commons open. You sighed as you saw Cedric.

 The man with a strong immune system who hadn't succumbed to your germs but he was pressing his luck. "Are you feeling any better?" he whispered into the mostly dark room. 

He obviously couldn't see your blanket hive, towel, and shaking hands holding a cup of a nasty, healing tea.

"I'm Fine." your hoarse creeky voice huffed. 

Even though you knew you weren't fine you still rolled your eyes when he sighed out.

"Obviously not."

You laid back on the sofa with a huff and a groan. He slowly walked around and sat on the arm of the sofa. 

He smiled down at you. "You get grumpy when you are sick. Why aren't you in bed?"

"We all know the first years can't wash their damn hands and if I go up there like Sickie McGee, they will die." you mildly joked.

"They have yet to master the magic of soap but this cannot be comfy." He said.

You scoffed, "The arms aren't, idiot but the actual sitting part is quite nice."

"Still and wouldn't it make more sense for you to not be in the commons where everyone is well... comming if you are worried about the spread of whatever you have?"

He was right, "They are called Common rooms because the community is supposed to communicate in them. But you have a point," you looked at his face that dripped with accomplishment, "It isn't a big one but it's a point."

"Can you let me have one win? Pretty please?"

You rolled your eyes, "Nope."

He slammed his hand to his chest, "Oh! Right in the heart!" he fell to the carpeted ground. 

You smiled softly. "If you wake them up, we're going to be in trouble." You smiled as he stood up and walked to sit on the sofa. He was really pushing it.

"Trouble? My middle name!"

You rolled your eyes, "No, it's Daryl. And how have you been getting away with all this sneaking out anyway?"

He raised his eyebrow, "Did Juliet ask Romeo all these questions?"

You stared at him, "Who?"

"It's a play written by a muggle poet, William Shakespeare. It's a story about two-star crossed lovers whose families hate each other. Romeo sneaks to see Juliet out on a balcony or something like that."

You closed your eyes as you sat your tea back down, "Well, I guess our balcony would be the windowsill. I don't think our families would hate each other."

"One day, we'll all get together and have breakfast."

You smiled as you laid your head back, "You wouldn't like my father, though."

"Why?"

"He said if I ever date anyone who can't cook, he'll die on the spot."

"I guess I better practice."

Roger Booker was smoking his cigarette, grey smoke lingering around him. Under his bushy black eyebrows, his icy blue eyes glanced from the clock to his book and back. 

He swept his greying hair back and his free hand went to fix a hair on his mustache, twisting it to shape.

 He looked at the pot of tea his son had made and reached to pour himself a cup but your voice stopped him.

“Dad! That’s for when Cedric gets here.” He had agreed to let you invite Cedric over on the winter holiday before you both were due to return before the Yule Ball. And he was slowly regretting it.

“When is he going to get ‘ere then?”

“Dad, most wizards have issues with our kind of money and he may be confused in a cab or something like that.”

Your Dad scoffed, “You’d think they’d have a class on it.” Despite Roger being magical, he didn’t call himself a wizard since he barely knew anything about it and had no formal magical education. 

However, his wife, a talented witch, insisted in him learning some magic since their kids may be magical.

“We have muggle studies.”

Your Dad looked at you just as the door rang, you stood up and walked to it and smiled when you saw a familiar face. You invited him in and your Dad stood up to see if the boy was as interesting and amazing as you had made him out to be.

 He was surprised to see just a teenager: Average height, brown eyes and brown hair with natural highlights. Just average and mildly underwhelming from how much you talked about Cedric.

He didn’t know what he was expecting but he wasn’t it. 

He knew that witches and wizards didn’t always fly around on broomsticks and walk around in pointed hats and wild colored robes but he was wondering if this was actually the guy. 

Still, he walked up to him and extended a hand to the boy, “Roger Booker.”

Cedric took his hand and shook it, “Cedric. Cedric Diggory.”

“This is good,” you thought, “He hasn’t star-“

“So, you are a wizard. Are you any good?”

Shit. You knew Cedric, he was going to try to impress your Dad and it was going to end terribly.

Just like you predicted, Cedric pulled out his wand but instead of firing off sparks, he simply went, “Lumos Maxima!” Making the room light up.

You looked at your Dad’s face, seeing very little change. You sighed, your Dad wasn’t trying to be mean, he just didn’t get it. 

Cedric put out the light and looked at you, you smiled back. You all had walked to the lounge and sat down.

“So, Mr. Booker, what do you do?”

“I am a professional photographer. I take photos for events and special occasions.”

Suddenly an idea popped into Cedric’s head, he reached for his wallet, “Then I think you’ll like this.” He pulled out a photo of him and his family. 

He handed it to your Dad and you watched as a pleasant soft smile formed on his face.

“I haven’t seen one of these in years. I took a lot of photos and we didn’t put up the moving ones because we often hosted parties and other people might… You know, ask a few questions.”

You grinned, “I vividly remember the parties.”

Your Dad laughed, “I remember you serving ‘drinks’”

“Drinks?” Cedric asked.

“He walked around with cups of chocolate milk. People, nit wanting to be rude, took them and drank from them. Turns out, the milk had gone bad. “

Cedric chuckled as you shook your head. “Well, in my defense, the milk was on the counter and it was easy to reach.”

“We all learned a valuable lesson that day.”After a few more embarrassing stories and happy memories, it was time to cook. You stood up and walked to the kitchen, leaving Cedric and your Dad to talk.

You brushed back your hair, washed your hands and put in your apron. For the first course, you were going to prepare a garden soup. 

You grabbed a knife as you looked for the the yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes and bell peppers. You reached for a large pot and set it in the stove, lighting it gas with a flick of your wand.

 You walked to the pantry and pulled out some chicken stock, garlic, rosemary and thyme.

You swished your wand and watched as the knife slowly began to chop the vegetables. 

You added the chopped garlic to the pot with a little butter to turn the garlic golden, you followed with the stock and aromatics. It was boiling when you added the vegetables and you turned it to a rolling simmer before putting on the lid.

You began preparing the sides for the main course: fondant potatoes and a mixed salad. You chopped the lettuce for the salad, you diced up some carrots and sliced some cucumbers. 

You went to the fridge to grab some cheese to shred when you heard a loud thud and a shatter. You shut the door and ran to the living room.

You looked in horror when you saw it: your mother’s urn and ashes were on the ground. You looked at your Dad who looked as if he was about to explode with anger. 

You pointed at the web with your wand, “Repairo.” The urn slowly came back together, your Dad opened it and pulled out his own wand, “Wingardium Leviosa.” The ashes began floating and he moved them to the urn and gently put them back.

“What happened?” You asked.

Your Dad was just hugging the urn so Cedric spoke. “The cat jumped up and she bumped the urn and it fell and I tried to catch it and I… I hit into the wall.” You walked to your Dad, who just turned and walked upstairs

You looked at Cedric with a sad but understanding look, “Thank you for trying to catch it. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Is he mad?”

“No. Just really sad. It hasn’t been easy for him. He… he misses her more than anything. He’ll sit down here and hold it when it gets really rough. He doesn’t handle change well.”

Cedric walked to you and took your hand. “I think it’s brave.”

“Him? Oh he really is.”

“No, you.”

You looked at him with confusion.

“Besides when you first told me about her, you never seem to grieve. Your Dad seems to do it a lot and you have every right to do it but you don’t.”

You sighed as you pulled him back to the kitchen, you shut the door. “It isn’t bravery. It’s just trying not to… lose myself in it.” 

You were slowly starting to choke on tears you held back, “There are nights I cry so hard I can barely breathe and I give myself a headache. If I cried every time the urge and feeling hit me, I wouldn’t stop.”

Cedric pulled you into a hug and your tears began to fall. He held you tighter as the sniffles turned into sobs you muffled on his shoulder. He felt a few tears fall down his face as he silently listened to your sounds of pains and a few spoken words about fairness and how it hurt. After your breathing returned to normal with a few hitches, he let you go. You held a hand up to his face and wiped his tears, which made a few more fall from his beautiful brown eyes.

Suddenly the record player began to play, leaving the two of you confused, you turned to the door which you saw closing again. You smiled as you heard the song slowly fill the kitchen. Cedric and you decided to practice for the ball.

Roger Booker walked back upstairs, leaving his wife’s urn on the mantle. He walked to his room and grabbed a few picture frames including a small oval picture frame before walking back down stairs. He placed it beside the urn. 

He watched for a minute as he saw the blonde woman smiling and laughing as she swung her son around in the garden. He watched as she swooped you back up into her arms. 

He smiled as a tears dripped down his face and got caught in his mustache when the ran down the side of his nose.

He put up a wedding photo of her throwing the bouquet and him looping his arm around her waist, proceeding to spin her before kissing her.

He placed a picture of two little girls who were holding a baby on the wall beside a award he won for his photos.

He then put one final photo up. It was in the center of the mantle. You were seven and were forced to wear a bow tie. 

Your older sister who was 12, was holding the cat and smiling with her braces shining and eyes glittering. The oldest who had just turned sixteen was standing beside your mother, looking like a spitting image of the older and taller woman.

The woman, your mother, the tallest, stood roughly in the middle. She was willowy and had a soft smile as her image turned to look at her husband. 

Roger looked back at her before looking to the camera, he used to have chocolate brown hair and a full beard instead of just a mustache. He smiled as he evened up the photo, he took a few steps back and watched as the pictures of the wonders in his life moved.

He heard laughter coming from the kitchen as he walked back upstairs. Cedric was anything but average and he thought his son could do worse but it would be kind of hard to do better.

Cedric woke up because of a strong ray of winter sun. He rubbed his eyes before slowly opening them. He sat up with a light yawn and groan. He got up off his bed and he turned around to begin making it. As he straightened his pillow, he remembered something. He flung around and ran to his calendar, he then picked up a letter you had written. 

Today was the day! You were going to come over this Thursday and on Monday you and him would side aparate with his Dad to Hogsmede and walk to Hogwarts.

Cedric ran to the bathroom to grab a shower and get ready. Due to his running, Amos looked up to make sure his son wasn’t about to fall through the floor or come down the stairs missing an arm. He sighed as he stirred his and his wife’s morning tea, she came to grab her cup before looking at him and grinning.

“Amos, do you remember what today is?”

He didn’t, “Well it isn’t our wedding anniversary. It isn’t February so it isn’t Valentine’s Day… No dear, I think I have forgotten.”

She huffed, “Today is the day we meet Cedric’s boyfriend!”

Amos sighed, “We’ll at least I was on the topic of love.”

She smiled and lightly laughed before walking to the window. “Do you think he’ll like us?”

“We’re great! The real question is if we will like him.” Amos said, lightly burning his tongue on the tea.

“Amos… This is serious! Cedric is absolutely crazy about him.” She said.

He sat down his cup and walked to her,“Carla, he’ll love us.”

Cedric had just got out of the shower and was looking at himself in the mirror, he ran a comb through his hair before drying and fluffing it out with his wand. He then brushed his teeth when he realized that you said you’d be there at ten. 

He stuck his head out the door and yelled “Mum! What time is it?”

“Half past eight, sweetheart!”

He sighed in relief, spit out the foamed toothpaste, put on his bathrobe, and walked to his room where he right for his closet. He pulled on a pair of jeans and an off-white sweater, dug around, and found an old pair of brown boots. He got dressed and laced up his boots before walking downstairs. He looked at the clock to see only two minutes had passed.

He huffed, sad that it would still be a while til you arrived. Carla and Amos looked at each other, Amos sighed and Carla smiled. "Cedric, come to have a spot of breakfast, sweetheart," she said.

Cedric turned and walked into the kitchen. Amos looked at his son, whose sadness was on his face as he looked at the clock in the kitchen. "Ced, a watched pot never boils."

[ongreenergrasses]

quynh + whoever you'd like and 💜

thank you for this one! i missed writing Booker and Quỳnh’s (entirely fictitious) dynamic so i took it in that direction, i hope you enjoy!

Booker’s bent over the tub, scrubbing at a particularly persistent stain, when the door flies open and smacks into his back.

He groans.

It’s been a bad week. The anniversary of Andy’s death is always…

Quỳnh keeps calling it unpleasant, but Booker feels like that’s almost insulting. Fucking sucks is more appropriate.

“Sebastien!”

Booker raises an eyebrow and turns around, sponge still in hand. “Don’t know a Sebastien - mmf!”

Quỳnh has just launched herself at him and kissed him, hard, on the lips.

Booker stares. “What?”

“I,” Quỳnh says proudly, “talked to Nile. They are coming here, to cheer us up.”

“You did what?”

“You are too depressing,” Quỳnh says. “Maudlin.”

“Why are you kissing me about it?”

“I miss them,” Quỳnh says.

“You haven’t even met Nile.”

“I miss her.”

“Okay,” Booker says. “Okay.”

Quỳnh dashes out the door and Booker shakes his head and goes back to the tub. She never answered his question.

He’s still smiling.

❤️ asks

[textingtroublesanswers]

Hello so sorry I am new here! I Just uh stumbled along you could say. Since I am out of the loop, Medic whose Kinder? Also hello hello everyone it’s nice to meet the whole gang ^^

Ludwig sticks his tongue out & smacks his hand against Mikhail's bicep.

Mikhail is trying very hard not to laugh.

"He got me pregnant."

Mikhail is giggling but trying to hide it, "I say sorry."

(Mod Booker: for context, in my Texting Troubles series on AO3, Medic (Ludwig) is a transman with an intact uterus & vagina. After a drunken night at the base, he & Heavy (Mikhail) ended up having kids. Don't let the chapter count fool you, most of the chapters can be read in a minute, five minutes tops, cause they're purely text messages between the mercs. The pregnancy arc technically starts at chapter 14, but the reveal happens in chapter 33, & it officially ends in chapter 54.)

[eiirisworkshop]

Snacks and Midnight Blues

An Old Guard oneshot Also available to read on Ao3 here.

~

Nile opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. She had been laying here, not sleeping, for she honestly wasn't sure how long. They were in a safehouse in Europe; she wasn't clear on quite where in Europe—she'd asked on the way and Andy had answered, but Booker had shook his head and said no, not anymore. That was followed by about an hour of mostly Booker and Nicky discussing? Arguing over? Reminiscing about? A few centuries worth of warfare, political marriages, and border disputes, with occasional interjections and corrections from the others. By the time they got to the house, no one had actually gotten around to saying for sure where they were now, and Nile had forgotten to ask again. Wherever it was, the grocer in town—the only local any of them talked to all day—had spoken what Nile was mostly sure was German.

In the dark, the house was quiet. She could hear the even breathing of the rest of the Old Guard, the distant sounds of nocturnal wildlife, her own heartbeat. It had been a long day. Frankly, every day had been long since she died, the first time. She'd died a few times since then, and would die uncountable times more over the eternity that now stretched in front of her.

That's what kept her up now. The thought of dying over and over—and, maybe even worse, the thought of living.

She let out a breath, kicked off the quilt, got up, and padded out to the patio, barefoot on the smooth stone of the pavers. She dropped into a chair, inhaled the cool night air, fiddled with her necklace, and looked up at the sky—fewer stars than in the desert, but more than she grew up with in Chicago.

Just a couple moments after she'd come outside, deliberate footsteps and the faint metal-on-metal of the door latch grabbed her attention and she looked around to see Nicky leaning around the door, his hair scrunched on one side from sleep.

“Did I wake you up?” she asked softly.

He shrugged. “Apparently.”

“I'm sorry.”

He waved one hand dismissively and stepped the rest of the way outside. “You alright?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I'm,” she laughed once, “just having an existential crisis.”

“That's reasonable.” He smiled a little, a gentle, understanding, but almost teasing kind of grin. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the doorframe. “Wanna talk about it?”

With a sigh she shook her head. “I don't know. I—don't think I know how to. Yet.”

“Well, you have time to figure it out.”

“Yeah, that's part of the problem.”

He nodded.

They fell quiet. She looked down at her lap, fist closed around her cross at the hollow of her throat where there should have been a scar. He pushed off from the doorframe. “You want something to eat?”

She glanced up at him. “Are you...offering to cook?”

“Yeah.”

“What time is it?”

Smirking, he gestured at the sky. “Night.”

She leveled a “thanks, Captain Obvious” look at him.

He chuckled and shrugged. “I have no idea but there's a clock in the kitchen.”

“Okay.” She got up. He opened the door, bowed her through in front of him, clapped her shoulder as she passed.

In the kitchen, Nile reached for the light switch—it wasn't even on long enough for the florescent fixture in the ceiling to completely blink to life before Nicky smacked it back off, eyes shut against the moment of brightness. He reopened his eyes slowly, went to rummage through the end cabinet, set a bunch of candles out on the table, lit one with a match then used it to light the others.

“If you weren't very married, I might think this was romantic,” Nile noted, voice low to not disturb the others still asleep.

“I really hate florescent lights,” he admitted. “Especially at night. They're so harsh.”

“Yeah, yeah, they are,” Nile agreed. “So, what?” she asked. “Am I about to be introduced to proper Italian comfort food?”

“No.” He leaned on the table. “That would take about six hours, and can only be done correctly by a grandmother, which I am not.”

“You don't get honorary grandma status after a couple centuries?”

“Depends who you ask—but no.” He rocked his weight back, opened the fridge and squinted into it against the glare of the internal lightbulb. At least it was incandescent. “As for what I am making, that depends on what Andy bought earlier.”

“You were there.”

“I was busy.”

“You were standing around having your hair played with.”

“Like I said, I was busy.” He flashed her a playful grin over his shoulder and she couldn't help but laugh a little. He pulled out a block of cheese, nudged the fridge closed with his elbow, set the cheese on the counter along with a downright cute hen-shaped bowl of eggs, reluctantly switched on the—again, incandescent—light over the stove, went through the cabinets, and pulled out a skillet, a sack of potatoes, and a bottle of olive oil. “I'm assuming you like potatoes.”

“I have never met anyone who doesn't like potatoes, and I used to know a girl who was allergic to them.”

“She was allergic to them,” he asked as he started rinsing potatoes, “but she still ate them? You're allowed to sit, you know.”

Nile pulled out a chair and sat in it backwards, nodding as she did. “She's allergic to most food, so it's pretty much impossible for her to avoid all her allergens entirely. She'd pop a Benadryl and dig into a bag of chips. We—” she grinned, then her expression sobered and darkened. “We used to joke that she feared neither God, nor death, nor Lays. And that feels really different in hindsight now.”

“That's how hindsight works. You live through something and experience it a certain way in the moment, then later looking back with knowledge and perspective you didn't have at the time, your perception changes.” He shrugged. “The...nature of our situation means that we are blessed and cursed with a unique perspective on things like death.”

She nodded thoughtfully, watched him set the skillet on the stove, pour some oil, click the heat on, twirl a knife from the knife block between his fingers, and start slicing potatoes into it. “Have you ever lost a finger doing that?”

“Lost one, no,” he chuckled, “but I have cut myself very badly a few times. And not so badly many more. Not often.” He paused. “But I cook often. When you do something frequently enough for long enough, two things happen—you get better at it, so the likelihood of you fucking it up any given time you do it goes down, but you rack up more and more chances to fuck up, so the amount you fuck up overall still goes up over time.”

“And I figure it's only humanly possible to get so good at things, even with ridiculous amounts of time to practice.”

Nicky made a non-committal sort of sound through his nose. “Enough time starts messing with what 'humanly possible' even means.”

“Fair point.” Nile crossed her arms on the back of the chair and leaned her cheek on them. She watched him finish cutting the potatoes then go through a couple drawers until he found an appropriate utensil to stir with. A passing thought made her frown and she lifted her head to rest her chin on her arms instead. “You—you wouldn't have grown up with potatoes, would you? Or did you? I know the factoid about tomatoes being a pretty recent addition to Italian food because they're from the Americas, but I don't think I've ever thought about the history of potatoes until right now.”

He snorted and reached for the eggs. “I was several hundred years old before I ever ate a potato but now, well,” he started cracking eggs on the side of the skillet, “if by some cruel twist of fate I somehow developed an allergy like your old friend, I, too, would take a pill and just keep eating them. Potatoes are great. I would die for potatoes. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I have.”

She blinked at him. “You know what, I'm not going ask. Hang on—allergies. Do we do allergies?”

“Good question.” He tossed the last of the eggshells into the garbage from clear across the kitchen and Nile applauded softly. He gave a cheeky little bow and went back to cooking, intermittently tending the contents of the pan while he busied himself with the cheese. “Not sure. The idea of allergies is quite new, so none of us would have known if used to have them. Booker used to be prone to summer colds, now he's not. Maybe that was allergies he stopped having, or maybe it was colds. None of us get sick like we used to. Then again, I up and stopped breathing in the middle of dinner one time. After I came back, Joe tried my food to see if it was poised, he was fine. I tried some more, didn't die again. Maybe there was one piece that was poison. I don't know.”

“Was it—what's that puffer fish called? Fugu?”

He shook his head. “Some kind of noodles I think.”

“I really don't like the idea the idea suddenly, randomly not being able to breathe.”

“Wasn't fun, but not as bad as a lot of ways I've gone, and it's only happened once.”

“So far.”

“So far,” Nicky amended. “Don't think it's ever happened to Andy, though, so it's probably not a just a matter of time sort of thing.”

“Yeah.” Nile drummed her fingers on the chairback. “That's part of what's freaking me out. The idea that anything that's only a matter of time, I'm gonna go through. Some things, I'm okay with that, 'cause they're gonna be cool, but other things….” She gestured vaguely and got up to pace a few steps to find the words. She leaned against the fridge. “Like—I don't know. I don't know what I mean.”

“I do.” He clicked off the stove, wrapped his hand in the bottom of his shirt, and quickly moved the skillet to a trivet on the counter. “The dread of eventualities, and of watching dominoes fall, knowing there's nothing you can do to stop them at that scale—or, worse, wondering if you could have stopped them if only you'd done it sooner. Get a plate.”

She guessed at which cabinet held plates, guessed right, and got two. “How do you live with that?”

“Not much choice.” He took the plates from her. “Try not to fixate on that 'if I'd done something sooner.' If you could have and knew to, you would have. If you didn't, then you didn't, and that's just how things are.”

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

“Exactly.” He used the same spoon he'd been cooking with to serve, flicked the stove light off, found forks, and he and Nile settled with their food across the table from each other. “Wait.” He got up again, got two wine glasses down, and went hunting through cabinets that did not contain tableware.

Nile stifled an incredulous laugh. “Are you looking for wine to go with our—” she twisted to actually look at the clock “—three am fancy scrambled eggs?”

“Yes. Aha!” He'd stretched to open the smaller set of doors set up above the fridge and found a stash of bottles. “I knew there had to be some somewhere—Booker stayed here a while not that long ago.”

“When, the eighties?”

“Uh, probably.”

She rolled her eyes. “At least wine keeps.”

“Doesn't just keep, it gets better.” He snagged a bottle. “Unless it turns to vinegar.”

“Right, right.” She leaned on her elbows. “So, what's the best wine pairing for three am fancy scrambled eggs?”

“Strongest one you can find. Or, in this case, easiest one to reach.” He winked and she snorted a laugh into her hand. After another brief hunt through the kitchen for a corkscrew, he poured them each a glass of wine, handed Nile's to her over the candles, and resumed his seat.

Just before taking a bite, she stopped. “Do you wanna say grace?”

Already chewing, he held up his fork in a shrug, looking thoroughly unimpressed with the question.

“I'll take that as a 'no.'”

“I stopped particularly caring a long time ago. You're welcome to, though.”

“Nah, I—actually….” She clapped her hands together, grinning, and in one breath quickly rattled off, “God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food, amen.”

Now Nicky laughed. “That was efficient.”

Nile nodded, laughing too as she started eating. “That—mm, this is really good—that was painted on the wall of the Sunday school classroom at the church I went to growing up, right next to a mural of Noah's arc and the rainbow and a couple gay lions. I actually left out the last line or two….”

“There were gay lions?”

“Whoever painted it gave both the lions manes! They were both boys!”

He shook his head, chuckling into his wine. “Ecelénte.”

“It got repainted when I was in high school.” She smiled wistfully between bites. “Replaced it with a bunch of different colored sheep, which was cute, but a lot less cool.”

Bleary and dragging his feet, Joe appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Good morning.”

Nicky smiled warmly and returned the greeting through a bite of potato, but Nile clapped a hand over her mouth. “Did we wake you up?”

Joe shook his head and came to drape himself across Nicky's shoulders. “Went looking for my love, found the edge of the bed first—then I heard laughter.”

Nicky murmured something Nile couldn't understand and kissed Joe on the jaw—Joe responded in kind, then stole a bit of Nicky's food.

Nile reached for her wine. “On the one hand, I really oughta learn Italian, on the other hand I'm pretty sure if I could actually understand what you say to each other on a regular basis I would get diabetes from the incessant sweetness.”

“Learning Italian won't do that,” Nicky said between bites.

“French is more useful,” Joe noted, then gladly let Nicky feed him some egg.

Nile pouted. “I don't want to learn French, it has too many vowels, and Booker can fight me.”

“He absolutely will,” Nicky said. Joe handed him his wine and he continued, shaking his head for emphasis. “But I don't speak what you call Italian. Italian isn't even a language. What you call 'Italian' is Florentine. I,” he put a hand to his chest, or he would have if Joe's arm wasn't in the way, “am and speak Genoese. It is not the same language. Most of the peninsula still speaks different languages from each other. The idea of 'learning Italian' is nonsense.” He took a long sip of wine while Joe smirked into his hair.

Nile gestured contemplatively with a slice of potato on the end of her fork. “I have seen a map of Italy divided up by regional terms for vagina.”

“I want that map,” Nicky said decisively.

“I want it framed,” Joe said, chuckling.

Nicky shook his head again, stabbed at his last bit of food with his fork, offered it to Joe who took half of it, then ate the rest himself. “I swear, every time a country unifies on paper, everyone forgets almost over night what was there before, no matter how long it was there, and no matter how much in practical terms things haven't changed.”

“To be fair,” Nile shrugged, glass in hand, “Italy's been around a long time.”

Both men looked at her flatly and said, as one, “Italy is a newer country than the United States.”

Nile almost spat her wine. “You're shitting me.”

“No.” Joe took Nicky's empty plate and fork and put them in the sink while he nursed the tail end of his drink. “You just think it's older because it preserved the history it was built on, while your country has tried very hard for its entire existence to erase the history it was built on—and a fair bit of its own history, too.”

Nile cringed. “Oof, yeah, good point.” She finished up her food, threw back the last of her wine, and put her own dishes in the sink. “Thank you, Nicky, for cooking.”

“Happy to.” He stood, stretched, set his glass to be washed, and leaned against Joe.

“Time for you to come back to bed.” He rubbed Nicky's arm then looked over at Nile. “What are you even doing up?”

“I couldn't sleep,” she admitted with a downward glance. “Went out for some air. He came to check on me.”

Joe frowned a little. “Are you alright?”

She nodded. “Yeah.” Nicky took her hand, gave it a gentle squeeze, she looked up at him and nodded more firmly. “Yeah, I'm okay. Just,” she squeezed his hand back, “needed a snack and a more ancient perspective, I guess.”

“Ancient?” Nicky echoed, sounding slightly affronted. “I don't think I'm ancient.”

“Andy's ancient,” Joe countered.

“She's going on prehistoric, but you are, like, a thousand years old.” She dropped his hand.

“How old is 'ancient' then?” Joe asked.

“It's consistently been 'before the middle ages' the last several times I've checked, and we,” Nicky gestured between himself and Joe, “are solidly medieval.”

“Okay, okay,” Nile laughed. “You're well past antique, though.”

“We're relics,” Joe said reasonably. “And you are an infant who should really get some sleep.”

“I should,” she sighed.

Nicky moved away from Joe just enough to blow out the candles on the table. Smoke curled barely visible in the faint moonlight coming through the window above the sink and the three of them headed back to bed, Nicky hand in hand with Joe on one side, arm comfortably around Nile's shoulders on the other until she turned to her own bed.

In the dark, the house was quiet. Nile could hear the faint rustle of fabric as Joe and Nicky settled, Andy's even breathing as she slept, Booker's soft intermittent snores, the distant sounds of nocturnal wildlife, her own heartbeat as she drifted off.

[author-a-holmes]

Belated OCKiss24; #1

Prompt: "Almost"

Booker Reed & Cara Evelyn

“And I just wanna tell you. It takes everything in me not to call [for] you. And I wish I could run to you, and I hope you know that everytime I don’t I almost do.” — Almost Do by Taylor Swift

Lila was avoiding him.

Booker had expected it because they’d fought, and despite her unruly temper, there was little Lila hated more than fighting with him.

But that left Booker adrift in a school of vampires, with nothing to ground him, and he found himself drawing closer and closer to the outcast girl they’d encountered their first night at the school. Cara. Lizzy’s roomate.

It had started as a way to check on Lizzy. The girl saw his friend daily, but it was more than that now. He liked her. He liked the way her honey eyes sparkled when he made her laugh. He liked the way her shoulder brushed his as they walked the halls. He more than liked the thought of running his fingers through the thick layers of her hair.

And the worst part was the soft rose-pink blush that made her cheeks glow and pushed Cara to duck her head when their eyes locked for a second too long, because it made him want to pull her into a hug, and kiss the rise of her cheekbone.

This was more than the desire to take her to bed. Or tug her into an alcove and bring them both pleasure. It was feeling, and emotion, and Booker had felt the pain of a broken heart before.

The smart move was to retreat now, before he no longer had a choice... but then she’d laugh, and he’d almost kiss the sound from her lips. She’d tuck a wisp of hair that had escaped her braid behind her ear, and he’d almost lean forward to kiss the soft curve of her neck. She’d smack at his shoulder in playful disapproval of a joke that was making her eyes glow with mirth, and he’d almost catch her hand and bring the palm to his lips.

Almost. But in the meantime, he’d catch her hand and lace their fingers together instead. Delight in the soft, rose-pink blush that spread across her cheeks, and wonder how many ‘almosts’ he’d be able to get away with.

Hey there!

Do you like my writing? Feel like supporting me so I can write some more? Check out my debut fantasy novel ‘Changeling’.

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Changeling’s Ebook is 50% off between March 16th-22nd 2024, so grab your copy today!

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[phiralovesloki]

12, 15, & 20 for the book asks?

Thank you, friend! <3

12. Any books that disappointed you?

In particular, I was very disappointed by Ana Maria and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa. I might have been less disappointed if I hadn't waited for months to get it off of my library holds list, or if some romance authors I follow hadn't hyped it up.

While I did appreciate the look into an aspect of history that I wasn't familiar with (the French occupation of Mexico), I found the lead female character very tiresome.

15. Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

Not really! I tend to read a lot of thrillers and historical romance. I think Babel by R.F. Kuang won a Nebula last year, and The Maid has won a bunch of smaller awards. I also read The Hate U Give this year, even though it's definitely not a new book.

I absolutely loved Babel (like, I couldn't stop thinking about it when I finished it and even wrote a Tumblr post about it). I also loved The Hate U Give, although it was not an easy read. The Maid was a little disappointing--I liked it on first read but the more I thought about it, the less I liked it. But I think I was in the minority there, since it's very popular.

20. What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

Oh man, it was Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn. And yes, it absolutely met my expectations. Exceeded them, honestly. The whole summary smacked of adorkable manic pixie dream girl energy, but I trust Kate Clayborn as a writer, and she delivered a really wonderful romantic novel. Highly recommend!

End of the year book asks!

[danwhobrowses]

WWE Royal Rumble 2023 - Review

It's that time of the year where throwing someone over the top rope is the most difficult thing in the world

Royal Rumble sets the stage for the Road to Wrestlemania, the card looks obvious, but with Vince's returned leering eyes hovering over Trips, what can he pull off?

Spoilers for the Event

Kick-off Kick-off is still kinda pointless, no matches, no fun. Plus Jerry and Booker, you can't get a panel with any Royal Rumble winners huh?

We get clips of Roman on the Tonight Show too, plus a SD recap reacted to by the full Bloodline, Jey took the fall (by telling the truth) which had Roman decide to focus on the night, Sami will be beside Roman all night.

JBL's segment is unneeded, Gabriel Iglesias showing up with an all gold world title was to confirm him being at Wrestlemania. We did have a sequence of the competitors drawing numbers, but it was like stickers on a wall, miss the old tombola.

Main Card

Pat McAfee came back, Cole acted like Steve Austin had shown up. Pat's a good commentator but like, that's what you start with? He almost fell off his chair too.

Men's Royal Rumble Cody Rhodes [30] wins the Men's Royal Rumble (Last eliminating GUNTHER [1]) Interesting but not a bad choice to have Sheamus and GUNTHER renew hostilities at 1 & 2, Miz at 3 though was just to be smacked around until Kofi came in at 4 (liked the Super Mario Tron). Gargano got barely any pop for 5 which was sad. Miz was first to be eliminated due to 25 Beats of the Bodhran, a Gargano superkick and then a Brogue, then Xavier showed up for 6, fake teases of them fighting each other before Kross came in at 7.

See, Kross had a good start there, fighting GUNTHER and Sheamus, he needs physical fights. Gable came in at 8 shooshing everyone, Drew at 9 reminded me how bloody long this ramp is but he Claymored Kross over the rope for the second elimination, we're saving for Brock and Lashley aren't we? Santos Escobar at 10 (in kickoff he was happy with that, dunno why it's the early half) but a mention of Mil Mascaras was funny. Dawkins at 11. Woods and Kofi saved each other by doing Private Party's silly string, but Gunther eliminated Woods and then knocked over Kofi into a chair, his foot was floating over it though.

Out came Brock, eliminating Santos, Dawkins and Gable in succession, squaring off with Gunther until Lashley came out at 13, spearing dudes and eliminating Brock quickly. Brock threw a fit as Corbin came out and got wiped out by Brock. One of my top 3 picks, Rollins at 15, threw in Corbin to eliminate him, Otis at 16, Rey at 17, nice small pop for him still but he didn't come out...Rollins eliminates Lashley, Dom at 18 wearing Rey's mask and ripping it (off camera) as Otis was eliminated. Elias at 19 guitar in hand to hit over GUNTHER, but ate a simul-Claymore/Brogue (why not call it the Double Banger?) before being thrown out. Balor backed up Dom at 20, double intercepts helped eliminate Gargano to no fanfare.

Ugh, Booker T at 21. Pretty shit Spinaroonie before eliminated by GUNTHER (who has been 2v1'd by Sheamus and Drew for a long time, the sores on that man's back), Priest at 22 meant it's a 3 on 1 advantage for JD, 23 is Montez Ford, skins the cat but Chokeslammed out by Priest, wasteful. Edge comes back at 24 so of course JD go one at a time, Priest and Balor eliminated but they come back to save Dom and eliminate Edge, all of these are taking less than a minute. Austin Theory at 25 as Edge fights JD, Rhea attacks so Beth comes out to Spear her. Omos at 26, is Cody 29/30 I wonder? Another GUNTHER standoff but he eats a chokeslam, Braun at 27 to standoff with his old rival and eliminate Omos, 28 is Ricochet to help team up with Braun briefly, GUNTHER eliminated both Drew and Sheamus after Drew attempted to save Sheamus from falling.

Ugh x2, Logan Paul is 29. Still can't change his fucking gear, everyone beats him down, he finally hits a Buckshot without screwing his knee (the lariat was shit), Braun had to save him from falling before Cody returned at 30. It's nice to see him healthy but what's the point of announcing it if he's 30? Eliminates Dom. Logan and Ricochet do a double springboard clothesline to try and highlight reel, Cody eliminates Strowman trying to save Ricochet, Theory eliminates Ricochet. They say final four but I did not see Logan get eliminated, which means he is fucking final four. Cody eliminates Theory after comboing with Rollins, they argue but combine to eliminate GUNTHER, Cody hitting the Pedigree that should've been a storied heel turn. Logan eliminates Rollins, which bites because I feel like Rollins winning could've been the true swerve win, he eats a Cross Rhodes and is eliminated by Cody.

So technically it comes to 1 and 30 (WWE with their first time evers), even though we never truly confirmed that Kofi was eliminated nor did Rey Mysterio get eliminated. The ending was more than textbook after that, GUNTHER using chops and his power but Cody trying to pull babyface fire. Cody cutter only puts GUNTHER on the apron, he uses Shattered Dreams, but then eats a Powerbomb, he hits a Cross Rhodes then eliminates GUNTHER.

*sigh* It of course had to be Cody didn't it? This was an okay Rumble, no love for NXT, no real shock value, no Zayn, no forbidden door, many lasting less than a minute and they keep trying to make Logan Paul a thing. Also technically, since Cody then jumps over the top rope to leave, Rey Mysterio should've won the Rumble just sayin. Big praise for GUNTHER, besting Rey's rumble time record though Rey keeps his record for longest time and winning, but he was sadly never gonna win it, I feel like we're gonna do Rollins/Logan for the mania paycheck which saddens me though, which really means we spent an hour to essentially set up Seth/Logan and more Edge/JD, the rest is all stuff we expected or was already active.

Mountain Dew Pitch Black Match Bray Wyatt def LA Knight (Pinfall via Sister Abigail) Having no expectations for this match could've worked in or out of its favour, it was a kinda 'wait to see how it played out. Bray seems to have borrowed Ronda Rousey's make up artist for the overdone mascara job XD Pitch Black was more Neon Lights match with skeletal neon paint, neon confetti and a neon kendo stick.

It was practically a squash, Knight hit a flying clothesline into the announcer's table and hit Bray with a Kendo stick but that was about it, a practically worthless match whose aesthetic was wrong for the match name. The neon lights do look cool but it doesn't match the theme, we could've used this somewhere else and not slapped Mountain Dew's name on it. Post-match Bray put on a new mask and chased Knight out to the backstage, no-selling Kendo shots and hitting the Mandible Claw, Uncle Howdy showed up and did a flying senton to Knight onto pyrotechnics while four other minions in masks (Firefly Funhouse masks) watched above like muppets.

Wrestlemania trailer after that, no reenacting hollywood scenes though like WM21 so -5 points.

Raw Women's Championship Bianca Belair (c) def. Alexa Bliss (Pinfall via KOD) Michelle McCool (Mrs Undertaker shown in a match with potential Uncle Howdy implications?) was ringside for the only women's championship match of the night. The affair was to and fro, there was barely any pop from Bliss hitting her DDT for 2 though. After attempting the Mandible Claw and Sister Abigail, she was lifted to a KOD and that was it.

Sadly it was tough to get into this match because it felt like such a foregone conclusion, the intrigue wasn't even centered around the women themselves. Post match there was evil Alexa clips with Uncle Howdy and a playground spliced in there.

Elimination Chamber trailer, I wonder what it would be for though? For the women I'd guess it's for the other titleholder but for the men are we splitting the belts? Making it a triple threat? Or using it to the midcard titles?

Women's Royal Rumble Rhea Ripley [1] wins the Women's Royal Rumble (Last Eliminating Liv Morgan [2]) Rhea started also nursing the spear from early, coming up against her former partner Liv Morgan - who wanted to be first, why couldn't we have swapped the numbers? They both got entrances. No. 3 is Dana Brooke, 4 was Emma who got all of the competitors to team on Rhea. No. 5 was Baszler, left high and dry after Ronda backed out, Bayley at 6 narrowly evaded elimination after eating ObLIVion. B-Fab at 7 meant more Top Dolla botch references, first to be eliminated by Rhea not without being busted open. NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez reps NXT at 8, Dakota Kai at 9, Iyo Sky at 10 completing Damage CTRL, who eliminated Dana Brooke, Emma and Roxanne. Natalya at 11 went for Baszler, Candice at 12 had no pop. Damage CTRL feigned allying with Shayna to eliminate her and Natalya before Zoey Stark came out for 13. Xia Li came out at 14, dumbly letting go of the staff she carried after the ref stupidly tried to prevent her from bringing it into a no DQ battle royal. Candice eliminated by Iyo's blindside before Becky came out at 15, using similar gear to the one she wore during her first rumble.

Becky brawled with Damage CTRL having not been eliminated but outside the ring, before being thrown into the Announcer's Table. Tegan Nox was next, followed by Asuka with a huge pop, a huge pop erupted for 17, that's not Asuka: that's KANA! Sadly though she eliminated Tegan, now de-Droudropped Piper Niven made a return at 18, Tamina at 19 to stare her down, Becky came back to rage at Damage CTRL before Chelsea returned at 20 (not a surprise, Cole)...and eliminated by Rhea, Becky eliminates Dakota and Iyo, but Bayley eliminated Becky, then Liv eliminated Bayley meaning Damage CTRL contintued to brawl with Becky to backstage. Zelina came in Street Fighter Gear, announcing that she'll be a commentator in the new game, she had a little street fighter moment fighting Xia Li on the apron, kicking Li out, Raquel Rodriguez at 22, Mia Yim at 23 still trying to make Michin a thing, Lacey at 24, McCool at 25 from the crowd landing the Faithbreaker (Styles Clash) and eliminating Tamina, Indi Hartwell at 26 reminding me that Dexter Lumis didn't even show up tonight, Sonya Deville at 27 eliminating Zoey Stark, Lacey used the Cobra Clutch to eliminate Zelina, Shotzi at 28, Sonya eliminates Indi to nothing, Nikki Cross charges into the ring at 29.

A botch for 30 seemed almost poetic since it was Nia Jax's return, her music hit 7 seconds early and barely got a pop. Everyone ganged up on her, Rhea couldn't do the powerslam but hit a Riptide before everyone eliminated her. Raquel eliminated Lacey, KANA on the apron eliminated Sonya, Ripley eliminated McCool, Mia eliminated Shotzi, Piper eliminated Mia, Raquel booted Piper out but was eliminated by Rhea, Liv eliminated Nikki for the final 3. It's worth noting that Liv and Rhea broke their record for Sasha Banks erasure, but all 3 ended up on the apron, Rhea dodged the mist which Liv was hit by, and used a 619 to sweep KANA off, a blinded Liv left Rhea dangling with a Codebreaker but Rhea won with a headscissors.

I think that was better than the men's, another unsurprising winner but the final 3 made it that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, KANA and Liv could've easily won it too, unlike Cody we built to Rhea earning the spot. Still, Nia at 30 was meh and we did shorthand the likes of Tegan and Roxanne plus we buried Chelsea Green's third debut for the company, while also not really developing more on Becky vs Damage CTRL, since KANA didn't really affect the 3v1 situation, but the match felt more tight-knit. We redebuted Piper Niven properly and the right person won.

Undisputed WWE Championship Roman Reigns (c) [w/ Sami Zayn & Paul Heyman] def. Kevin Owens (Pinfall via Spear) We return to yesteryear with two men once again facing each other, only this time there's not a botch with the handcuffs we never really followed up on. With nearly 30 minutes left on the clock when the bell rang and chants of 'Sami Uso' rang in the arena there was the air that things will get down to business.

Kevin Dunn was at it with the wild camera cuts like he's jimmying a combination lock, Cole also making sure to use a quiet voice on calling Reigns' uranage a Rock Bottom. Owens controlled much of the early stages of the match though, including two Frog Splashes one to the floor and one in the ring but only a 2 count, he did kick out of a Superman Punch too, there was an unfortunate botch where he slipped attempting a pop-up Moonsault (he lost his footing on the twist) but they repeated the spot for Reigns to dodge again and Spear him for 2.

After pushing KO away from a Stunner attempt, we had our deflating ref bump so Owens could get the visual pin via Pop-up Powerbomb, Reigns then low blows Owens and tells Zayn to get a chair, Sami's hesitation nearly cost Reigns as he ran into a Stunner for 2, Reigns gets his own 2 by hitting the Superman Punch and the Spear in succession, Owens and Zayn then talk outside, Zayn imploring Owens to stay down as Reigns then spears him through the barricade, then a pretty gnarly steel steps spot twice. Hesitation again from Zayn as he raised his 1, but Owens' last attempt to fight back led to a Spear for 3.

The Bloodline appear post-match, Roman stops Jey from putting the lei on him as the Usos hit a 1-D on Owens and set him up for a Pillmanizing hip attack from Sikoa. Out come handcuffs to set up defenseless Superkicks, as Sami squirms at the abuse. As Reigns prepared a chair shot, Sami gets in the way, begging Reigns to stop and it's beneath him, so Reigns gives Zayn the chair reminding him that they're family. Further hesitation though prompts Reigns to get in Sami's face, so Sami winds up, and hits Reigns in the back instead. Jimmy superkicks Sami as he apologizes to Jey, Jimmy and Sikoa then beat Sami down but Jey refuses, so Reigns rains chair blows over Sami and leave.

It's hard one to call because like the women's title match the result felt like a foregone conclusion, but the main drama revolved around another character. Unlike the women's match though, Sami was in more direct involvement to the match and Owens put up more of a fight. Honestly I feel that the post-match segment went a bit too long, but it was perhaps the best thing on the show, Sami turning on Roman was well executed, even though they followed it up with a beatdown on him. I do worry though, because this feels more like Sami will fight Roman at Elimination Chamber, lose the match due to Jey interference and then him and Owens will win the tag titles, which I maintain is still a downgrade compared to giving Sami a chance at the main event of Wrestlemania, you heard the pop, it was louder than what Cody got, but I do fear that WWE will once again opt for the salesman rather than the storyteller.

Conclusion Overall it was an alright Rumble, the Pitch Black and Women's title match were low spots and the respective rumbles could've been executed better with making it seem like the most predictable option may not in fact win.

But it was fine, the predictable winners aren't bad shouts and we developed on the key storylines, we'll see how it builds to wrestlemania

Congrats again to Rhea Ripley and Cody Rhodes Rey Mysterio.

[emo-gremlin]

Me, @ravenpoefan, my bff (you know who you are), and my F/os as memes (feat my bffs f/os)

🥰

Bailey: stop dating attractive women

Thunderhoof: Alright, bet. Where all the fine men at?

🥰

Bailey: stop dating women

Me: no. *dabs*

🥰

Bailey: Stop dating women

Ravenpoe: yes I 100% agree, leave us alone, thank you

🥰

Steeljaw: *picks up a visor masquerading as sunglasses* how much is this?

Me: 9.99

Steeljaw: *puts it on* you think I can get some bitches with these

🥰

Me: you radiate the same energy as a 100 gecs song and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing

My bff: I like to think its both

🥰

Me: I just realized something

Jack: what

Me: every single odd number has an e in it

Jeff: oh dear god what have you done

Me: Listen-

Strade: not all of them. 30 and 50 aren't spelled with the letter e in it

Jeff: oh father god

Strade: if you can split a number in half evenly, it's even. 30 and 50 are odd.

Jack: *questions life choices*

Strade: *scoffs* 15+15=30 and 25+25=30

Atlas: 25+25=30? You sure about that?

Jeff: lord have mercy

Me: ok bye

Peter: 3 days into 2020 shaking my fucking head

My bff: *probably dying from laughing so hard*

Ren: one, three, five, nine. And since everything else after is a variable of these numbers, then all odds have the letter e

Jack: you forgot seven

Jeff: it just keeps getting worse

Ravenpoe: WHA- WHAT IS GOING ON *laughs* I can't even-

Thunderhoof: you whole ass forgot about eight - a number with an e and it's pretty fucking even

Ren: why would 8 be brought up if its EVEN in a conversation about ODDS?! Emo said 'every single odd number has an E in it' not 'every single number with e is odd' WHAT THE FUCK

Me: 3 days until 2021 and we're still here

My bff: happy new year's eve

Steeljaw: I'm going to bring this flaming dumpster into 2022 so future generations can see what a mistake this entire madhouse was

John: uh, guys. 2 is odd and doesn't have an e, just saying

Thunderhoof: did you just deadass try to tell me 2 is odd? I'm fucking crying throw this whole household away

Bff: Dying from the last one

Viren: the one thing I notice is no matter how much you want to throw this whole household away you just...can't

Ravenpoe: TWO IS ODD?! PFFT IM SCREAMING

Gabriel: wait what about zero that's an odd number no?

Jack: *intense regret*

Strade: ok but hear me out, 30 and 50 make up for the fact they have no e by the way they're pronounced third e fifth e

Booker: WHY DO 30 AND 50 FUCKING MATTER THEY'RE FUCKING EVEN

Alan: what the actual fuck is happening

Robin: one is an even number

Me: I'm gonna smack you

Steeljaw: -30 and -50 have an e in them

John: zero isn't a number

Guzma: it can't be divided by 2 though can it?

Ren: it can??? 0/2=0???

Both Jack and Jeff: *in sheer awe of all the stupidity*

Me: OD NUMBERS 1, 3, 5, 7, 9

Gabriel: OD NUMBERS huh?

Elijah: anything that ends in 0 2 4 6 8 is even and the rest is odd 1 3 7 9 stop freaking out yall

Atlas: YOU FORGOT 5

Dimitri: WHAT ABOUT 4

Elijah: what about it

Dimitri: that doesn't have an e in it

Elijah: THATS BECAUSE ITS EVEN

Me: are you guys ok

Bff: IM FUCKING SOBBING RIGHT NOW OH MY GOD

Alan: I'm honestly so confused right now

Ravenpoe: what is going on

Jeff: this is the height of our stupidity, it has to be, or future generations cannot exist

🥰

Ren: you need to stop thinking that you're ugly.

Ren: you are but stop thinking about it

🥰

Strade: 2 tickets please

Bff: what movie?

*camera pans to Strade dressed up as a whole ass minion*

🥰

Alex: I'm so alpha, that I drink BULL'S MILK for breakfast. Keep crying betas.

Lawrence: Shiiiit, look out betas, we got ourselves a badass over here. This motherfucker swallows 🌟 Bull Semen 🌟 *cackles*

🥰

Vegeta: don't expect me to chase you, I'm dominate.

Slappy: *looks at a picture of him* is this him? Now who the hell is this salt and shaker sized man dominating? I don't understand why it's always the men who can't reach the top shelf who try to be all macho macho. Imagine, now you're being dominated by someone who needs a step to climb into bed. And you know I really thought maybe I shouldn't throw insults at this shoebox sized man, maybe I should try to rationalize some of the problematic things he was saying. But then I realized, he literally can't reach that level.

Strade: *walks in the middle of shot* Leprechaun sized ass

Slappy: now imagine being dominated by a man whose feet dangle when he sits in a chair. Why is it always people who cannot reach the overhead compartment in an airplane that have trouble with self worth?

🥰

Me: sorry first time being kidnapped, kinda nervous

Me: so like, why did you pick me? Do you think I'm cute?

Strade: I'm gonna kill you

Me: ok daddy vibes, we love abad boy king and I wanna die ;P

Strade: there's something wrong with your generation

Robin: freeze! Police! You're safe now ma'am

Me: ok we police it's not that deep, chill and did you assume my gender? Because that's offensive

Robin: but I'm here to-

Me: THAT'S OFFENSIVE

🥰

Bff: show me one tiny small object that you pointlessly have

Bailey: ...

Atlas: *cackles* Small dick mother-

🥰

Jak: Are chicken tenders vegan?

Jack: No, Jak, chicken tenders are not vegan

Jak: *goes to speak again*

Jack: chicken wings aren't vegan either

🥰

Jak: *filming a great forest view*

*Lawrence appears in frame*

Jak: hi

Lawrence: ok

🥰

Bo: I love you bitch *strums guitar*

Me and my bff: oh my god

Bo: *strums guitar* I ain't never stop loving you....bitch

🥰

Strade and Jak: yo Gabriel!

Gabriel: *quickly dabs*

Strade and Jak: OOOOOOOOOOO

🥰

Slappy: *screams*

Jack: STOP! I COULD'VE DROPPED MY CROISSANT!

🥰

Whitney: you got something to say clown?

Jack: your mother has a job and is a respected member of the community

🥰

My bff: just think about it, Emo. All the control, all the power, all the FREE CHICKEN

🥰

Jeff: how come every time I take you to the mall it burns to the ground?

Spamton: I blame the economy

🥰

Kylar: I'll be anything you want me to be!

My bff: *whacking him with a huge stick* I WANT YOU TO BE DEAD

🥰

Elijah: why do the good die young?

Strade: mostly because I get impatient

🥰

Jack: I love helping kids, Jeff! I love kids. I LOVE KIDS!

Jeff: Jack, uh I really would not be screaming that at the top of your lungs

🥰

*trying to give Lawrence a makeover*

Lawrence: how do I look, guys?

Ren: o.0

Peter: you look like you just told your friends not to come to school tomorrow man

🥰

Jack: more espresso, less depresso

Robin: *downs 3 iced coffees* I'm still depressed but now I'm fast.

[uten4]

ask game: nicky and yusuf the old gu/ard :D !!

Nicky

– Overall opinion of them: I love that guyyyyy. He's so nice and skilled and intelligent.

– Gender/sexuality headcanons: Mlm obviously, but other than that idk :]

– Favorite moment in canon: His everything in the final fight... taking hits for Andy, guarding the door for the others, etc. I also really like all the parts where he tries to offer comfort to Nile.

– Favorite moment in a fanwork: I haven't really seen any!

– Favorite line, in canon or otherwise: After that doctor defends her tortuous actions by saying, "I believe that this can change the world," Nicky says, "A fine justification. I've heard it so many times before."

– Characters I love seeing them interact with: Yusuf, Nile <3 Plus Andy and Booker of course I love the whole group.

– Sleeping headcanons: See, the thing is it's not even necessary to come up with headcanons here, because all these questions were addressed in the film LOLOL. Pre-sleep: he'll just sleep anywhere. On the dirt ground? Sure probably, if it needs to be done. During sleep: Spoons with Yusuf. Post-sleeping: Either flirting with Yusuf or reacting to whatever catastrophe is happening at that moment.

– Favorite locations headcanon: Danggg..... he's probably been everywhere in the whole world huh..... so I don't think I can think of a place that would be his fave X)

Yusuf

– Overall opinion of them: Very cool guy. Artistic yet upfront about his thoughts and feelings.

– Gender/sexuality headcanons: Mlm obviously, but other than that idk :3

– Favorite moment in canon: Maybe this isn't my *favorite*, but in the first fight scene in the film there's this part where he flips the shotgun in his hand and uses the butt of it to smack the opponent's gun, deflecting it as he's trying to shoot Nicky. Then Nicky shoots that guy in the leg, so he starts falling, and Yusuf lowers the shotgun to the floor, tilted upwards, and shoots their opponent in the head. It's weird but also cool.

– Favorite moment in a fanwork: Haven't rlly seen any!

– Favorite line, in canon or otherwise: "Almighty Allah... Noriko, is that you?" XP

– Characters I love seeing them interact with: Nicky, Andy... plus Nile and Booker ^_^

– Sleeping headcanons: Same as with Nicky

– Favorite locations headcanon: Same as with Nicky

[wweallresultspage]

2k Armageddon ppv results for 3/24/24

there will be 2 hell In a cell matches will be either Raw vs Smack Down or NXT in First one and the winner facing Either Raw or Smack Down or NXT both hell in a cell matches will be 4 on 4 and whoever wins will have the flagship show and plus NXT and Smack Down invaded Raw so now it's a 3 way war now at 2K Armageddon this will lead to a holy war at WrestleMania where it will be a 1 supstars from Raw 1 superstars from NXT 1 superstars from Smack Down in a Triple Threat Match with the winner having full control of the flagship show of either Raw or Smack Down or NXT whatever brand wins the new flagship show moving forward and there a twist two brands that lost thou will have a catch to get the flagship brand of theirs back at Summer Slam to keep the brand warfare going 😉👍

Raw Joseph, Cena, Seth , Cody , Sting Vs Smack down Roman , Solo, Jimmy, Elroy , Undertaker war games match 5 on 5

Joseph cena seth cody and sting won

Jericho Raw vs Edge Smack Down

Jericho won

NXT Creed Brothers Bron Breaker vs Raw Walter IMPRIUM

Creed Brothers and bron breaker won

Hell in a cell match

Raw Goldberg Hogan Nash vs Smack Down Batista Street Profits

Goldberg hogan and nash won

Hell in a cell match NXT Johnny Garango Chama vs Smack down Aj styles Luke Gallows

Aj and luke won

Divas War Games Raw Trish Bellas Becky Liv Morgan vs Smack down Jade Cargill Asuka Kairi Sane , Io Sky, Dakota Kai

Trish bella becky liv morgan won

Main event

NXT vs Raw vs Smackdown

Steel cage match

NXT William Regal Booker T vs Raw Triple H The Rock vs Smackdown Teddy Long Kane

Triple h and the rock won

[zaenight]

h.d.b.h.c chapter 7

"Boys , this here's a rope , this is the way we catch things around here , your gonna have to learn to use it , if your gonna make a hand around here." Shorty explained to the three boys , Daisy watched as she sat ontop of the fence.

"If I wanna get something , I'll just go out and get it." Keith said as Daisy walked over to him , grabbing the Lasso from shorty.

"You'll just... go out and get it?" She said playing with the Lasso , Ernesto thought it was hot.

"Yeah." He stammered , he never really had girls talk to him , From the corner of her eye Daisy saw Ernesto clench his Jaw , ahh Jelousy , She wink , smacking the Lasso into keiths chest.

Going over to Ernesto , she played with his hat , her hand tracing his shoulders , needless to say the boy was redder than a Tomato.

"Go out there and Grab that 1,200 pound steer by the tail and drag em' over here to me , huh? , go on over there , Daisy you best leave that boy alone." Shorty said to Keith before turning to the poor boy who was about to burst.

"Man shorty ain't no fun unless you have somebody to mess with." She laughed , before sitting back on the fence.

"Ernesto cree que se está enamorando de ti." Ernesto said as Daisy winked.

(Ernesto think he's falling in love with you )

Keith got it on the first try , daisy cheered , Booker swung it way to fast and missed , And ernesto got to cocky , it knocked his hat of his head roping himself , Daisy laughed before grabbing the lasso , instead of the Steer , she used the lasso on ernesto , and kissed him on the cheek , and that ... well it made him feel way less embaressed.

"Well that wasn't too bad , Long as ya don't get your neck caught in it , like yours ." Daisy smirked at Ernesto grabbing his hat and dusting off the spots he missed.

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

Now her and Ernesto were with her father , teaching the boy how to mount a horse .

Ernesto groaned as he mounted the horse , Daisy smirked with a small giggle , Colt glared.

"That's not too bad , Why don't you come on down and Daisy will show you how to do it." Colt said as Ernesto nodded.

"It's all in this leg , straight up , and over , got it hot stuff." Daisy said as Colt cleared his throught , And glared , the poor boy gulped , if looks could kill , man he would be seeing el ángel de la muerte right now.

"Man if you can do it Ernesto can do it Querida." He said As daisy hopped down with a laugh.

"Yeah let's see ." Colt said interupting the two.

Ernesto Had a bit of trouble lifting himself up , chanting to himself.

"Let me give you a hand , okay here we go." Colt said , Ernesto ended up falling and landed on the ground letting out a yell as daisy ran over to him.

"Really!" Daisy exclaimed at Colt before rolling her eyes.

"You okay?" She asked as Ernesto nodded.

"Ernesto doesn't think your dad likes me very much." He winced as Daisy helped him sit up.

"Guess you didn't need much help ." Colt said with a sly look in his eyes , Daisy rolled her eyes .

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

"Bring on the cattle!" Booker exclaimed as the two other boys and Daisy sat on the fence , J.T , Molly , and June , stood behind them , as The herd came , Shorty and colt not far behind.

"Woah!" Booker exclaimed over and over , as the cattle ran towards him , The three laughed as he fell , Molly opening the gate just in time.

"Amazing!" Daisy exclaimed laughing , as booker rolled his eyes , before giving a smirk.

[teachandwrite-blog]

Being a teacher is like being a farmer.

You rise early in the morning.

You prepare the field I that is your classroom.

You sow the seeds that are reading, writing, and arithmetic.

You hope for good soil, warm sunshine, and gentle rain that are good homes, healthy foods, and healthcare for your students.

You work with your hands, feet and heart with your plants who are your students.

Your harvest is your students.

Your winter season of fallow fields is your summer break, your empty classroom.

My Grandpa was a farmer.

Once he told me, "When you're a farmer, you live in a seven year cycle. One year will be wonderful. One year will be awful. Two years will lean toward the wonderful. Two years will lean toward the awful. And one year will be right smack dab in the middle."

What can we do during those awful years and those years that lean toward awful to keep on keeping on

Reflecting on women in the Civil Rights Movements helps me.

I read the book Women in the Civil Rights Movement: Trailblazers and Torchbearers 1941-1965 by Vicki L. Crawford, Jacqueline Anne Rouse and Barbara Woods with a group of students in a Civil Rights history class at Converse College.

I learned that the remarkable women in that book had some awful years, too, as they worked toward their wonderful goal of equal rights for Black folks, for all folks..

I learned about Fannie Lou Hamer, who was beaten mercilessly in a Sunflower County, Mississippi jail cell for her efforts to register Black voters.

Later, she would speak before the 1964 Democratic Convention and the nation on behalf of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in opposition to Mississippi's all-white delegation to the convention.

Awful led to wonderful because she hoped and worked, stayed and fought.

I learned about Ella Baker, who worked toward the idea that the Civil Rights Movement was about people struggling together in a democratic society to make American society a more human place for all people (and democratic work is indeed a struggle) rather than about Mosaic type leaders leading an oppressed people to a promised land.

Awful led to wonderful because she lived unseen and unheard by most people in the world, but was the heart, soul, hands and feet of the movement.

I learned about Modjeska Simkins, who taught high school at Booker T. Washington High School in Columbia in my own state of South Carolina and was forced to resign after eight years because married women weren't allowed to be teachers.

Awful led to wonderful as she went on to become the secretary of the S.C. branch of the NAACP from 1941-1957 and helped write the court case Briggs v. Elliott in Clarendon County that grew into the Brown v. Board of Education lawsuit.

These women and so many others - Septima Poinsette Clark who helped create the Citizenship Schools upon which the Civil Rights Movement was built, Jo Ann Gibson Robinson who helped lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and so many others - didn't quit.

The rows they hoed were long and hard but look at their harvest - you, me and the students we teach!

Wherever you fall in the seven year farming cycle, please remember that your work is a seed in fallow ground that is life to all people, regardless of color, nationality, socio-economic status, sex, ability, or sexual orientation.

Your life is shows us that we are human beings of inestimable worth.

Thank you.

Keep farming.

- Trevor Scott Barton, Brown Eyed Stories, 2022