#so uh yeah prepare for some Changes TM

[gorgongorgeous]

well twitter’s imploding

and so is this blog. my god do i have a lot of cleaning up to do. best get to work i guessss

[writingforfishes]

worm when uhh. yeah.

iirc one of your fics mentioned Otto having been with people possessing various sexual organs. were they also of various genders or is that not solidified

in my brain atty is men only but Otto seems like he'd have been Resident Bi Slut in his late teens/early-mid 20s. attraction can be fluid tho so maybe even if he was, that could've changed since then.

also uh if they both have backstories somewhat, is there a story to how they met and got together? the proposal and wedding preparations? wedding day maybe..

cuz like I've read All of them and it's like slice of life ottocus, early relationship stage/kink confession ottocus, honeymoon, sick otto, roleplay, Mark's party, hiatus, atty's birthday (probably not the exact order chronologically but I think that's the post order since the first one?)

obvi this is like kinkfic stuff so I don't expect any overarching plot or something but you gave Otto so much trauma there has to be more dots to connect between then and "the beginning"

I think at some point it was said that they had mutual friends and Mark introduced them. beyond that....? 👀

n I doodled some silly Atticus frames after reading the newest one 😭😭 (they're just so funny 💔 I had to produce that visual) do u want

errr hopefully whenever u read this u had a good sleep beforehand (watch me already be awake by then 💀) and manifesting u and ur friends being ok soon!! yeeting healing and peaceful energy at y'all smh.. fr tho once everybody's good u should all go get tea or cupcakes or somethin

imma go pretend to sleep but actually draw and dissociate for like an hour until I pass out byeeeee

@worm-writes-hicfics

This must've sent when you opened the page up, because I JUST got it!

Oh, Otto is bi as hell. You're right on the money with that.

(Just erased a lot of text because it's more trauma that isn't really helpful to the question.)

He went a little wild in college. (Definitely Bi slut era.) He never finished his degree. Peek alcoholic life so lots of Stuff (tm).

He is still on the asexual spectrum (grey/demi). Having a kink that is related to arousal would probably make sex fun, I would assume! (Though I don't relate, personally. It's been interesting to write from that perspective and I'm probably doing not-so-well on it, but I'm trying!) But, like he told Atty in one story, a relationship based primarily on sex never worked out for him.

As far as Atticus, they actually have been physically attracted to all genders, but they haven't really had much romantic attraction. I don't think it would've mattered at all what gender (or nongender) a person was. They are also asexual in the same way I am, so they haven't had any experience with sex by the time they met Otto. (But plenty of experience with masturbation and knowledge of their own body.)

(Try and imagine THAT vulnerability as they say they want to masturbate on his couch to his hiccups!!)

They doubted they had romantic attraction as well before Otto and still have doubts about being completely romantic. They would probably fussily identify as demiromantic if they were forced to define it.

I think the stories have been mostly masc focused because, for some reason, I enjoy experiencing hiccups in masc identifying and presenting people more than femme. I think I would also enjoy hiccups in nonbinary or non-gendered people, I just haven't experienced that, yet. (That I know of.)

I, myself, find femme just as attractive as masc beyond the kink. (femme and masc identified by societal gender roles, of course) And I find nonbinary energy and non-gendered energy attractive as well! I find PEOPLE attractive. (I know, I'm pulling a Schitt's Creek David moment with that, sans sex. I would QPR with anyone, honestly.)

The story of how they met is a work in progress. I think Mark was a lead detective on a case based around a series of robberies.

Atticus was one of several renters in an apartment complex where a bunch of robberies took place on the same day. During the interview Atticus mentioned that in addition to some valuables being taken whoever the idiot was who robbed them knocked a mantel clock, a family heirloom, off where it was sitting as they left. Ever since, the clock hadn't worked right.

Atty was more pissed off about the clock than the TV and laptop. Mark happened to "know a guy" and that's the short story of how they met. I might flesh it out a little more at some point. We'll see. No hiccup content, though.

I'm trying to remember what I had ultimately decided for the proposal. I had a thought of it at one point. I need to come back to it with something else because whatever I thought of didn't stick in the lore. It was probably incredibly adorable though. Something like Atticus giving Otto a poem to read over and get his opinion on and the last line being "Will you marry me?" or some cheesy shit like that. You know, something to make you scream "OMG, I hate this so much! Augh why?!! I love them!!"

I might try to workshop that a little more and see what I come up with. I honestly don't even know which one of them actually proposed.

I will say, expect inconsistencies in the stories, for sure. I was initially writing them as a one-off so, much like a pilot to a series is inadequate in predicting the tone of a show once it's picked up, the first few stories were me just realizing I was actually crafting characters that might last a few more times and have deeper story potential.

I should probably explore Atticus' base friend group in addition to Otto's. Otto's is basically Mark, Ralph (Mark's detective partner), Alice (Mark's wife), Margie, Cindy, and Jana (Mark's Ex). I do think Atticus knew of Cindy previous to meeting Otto, but I don't think they were friends.

I guess because Otto was based around a character and his friends are based on other characters in the same show, I sort of borrowed from that so much that I neglected to give Atticus a proper social group.

I mean, this is kink fic so...it's not necessary but...it might be interesting to explore.

I WANT ALL ARTS YES PLEASE!

Ahem.

Yes, that would be nice.

[angstyaches]

hey! it is a rather different request this time. uh. i know you’ve been having some Mental Health Days tm too, so you absolutely do not need to write this if it’s too much or if you don’t want to. so i’ve been having some pretty fucked time lately, and that included me getting weirdly nauseous because my thoughts were too fast? if that makes sense? like. emotional motion sickness? so i was wondering, if any of your ocs suffer from depression or any other mental illness, could you write them getting sick from that w their partner comforting them? (id especially love shayne and charlie, but it’s up to you!)

i know this is a very intense request, so you can very much 100% ignore it/delete it/tell me to stfu/ whatever you need. thank you, i hope we all feel better soon <3🍄

Note: this is not the fluffy fic I was talking about yesterday.

Mild spoiler alert, but I want to give some context. While I was working on this and one other fic, I started thinking about how difficult it can be to believe someone loves you when you’re at a dark point in your mental health, and I want to explore that a bit with both Charlie and Shayne. That’s why Shayne says “Thank you” at the end of this fic; he’s not being an asshole, he’s just taking a moment to recognise and appreciate that Charlie loves him.

CW: anxiety attack, emeto, mild touch aversion and trust issues

_____

Charlie had been sitting in the single armchair with his laptop all morning, lost in the depths of the Internet. It had started off as a single scouring of his university’s website, which had ended in him lightly stalking the Facebook page for their LGBTQA+ society. From there, he’d ended up finding a Facebook group for incoming students for his course, and gotten added to a private chat with a few of them. One girl had found a copy of the semester’s reading list, and from there, Charlie had gone on a tangent of trying to find cheap copies of the books on various websites. His older brother Jonathan had warned him about how university libraries sometimes only stocked one copy of a book that sixty students would all need on the same day, and Charlie wanted to be prepared.

It wasn’t until someone in the chat said they were leaving to go get lunch that Charlie realised how long it had been since he’d looked up from the screen. He said goodbye to them and closed the lid of his laptop, stretching his arms out over his head. His legs were draped over the arm of the armchair, so he stretched those out too, almost kicking Shayne in the head since he was sitting on the sofa.

“Oh! Sorry,” he giggled, hopping up and placing his laptop on the cushion where he’d been sitting. “I hope you don’t feel like I’ve been ignoring you.”

“Nope.” Shayne had his head propped up on one hand, his eyes slightly glazed over. He sounded like he could have been in a bad mood, but those were sometimes hard to distinguish from normal moods, so Charlie tried not to read into it.

“How are you doing?” Charlie asked, slumping down on the sofa. He reached over and brushed his fingers through Shayne’s hair, his heart sinking when Shayne flinched at the contact. “Something wrong?”

Shayne shrugged, gaze dropping to the floor as he folded his arms across his middle. Charlie immediately began to analyse the situation, his heart thrumming with the frantic worry he always felt when Shayne began to clam up.

“Are you feeling sick?”

Shayne shrugged.

“If you are, I can get you some medicine.”

“No.”

“Okay.” Charlie cleared his throat. “I was thinking of having lunch soon, if you want to join me.”

“No, I don’t –” Shayne leaned forward, burying his face in his hands. “You don’t get to decide what goes in my body, Charlie.”

“Whoa.” Charlie sat forward too, wishing he could get a glimpse at Shayne’s expression. “That’s not what I was trying to do.”

Fists clenched by his sides, Shayne got up from the sofa. “Just leave me the fuck alone, okay?”

“Okay,” Charlie said in a small voice. He wrung his hands in his lap, letting his eyes follow Shayne across the living room.

He paused by the door to the hallway, like he was considering whether or not he actually wanted to storm out. In the end, he turned around again, crossing his arms.

“Shayne?” Charlie eased himself to his feet. He knew sudden movements probably wouldn’t make Shayne any worse, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

“No.” Shayne shook his head and started walking back and forth. His fingers were digging into his upper arms. “No. Don’t. Don’t.”

Charlie felt sick. He couldn’t tell if Shayne was talking to him, or to himself.

As much as it killed him to just stand and watch, he kept himself planted on the spot and let Shayne pace back and forth. It was better for him to use up some of his nervous energy for a few minutes. Charlie knew the last thing he should do was try to control him when his anxiety acted up, since it was usually the feeling of losing control that caused it.

What he wasn’t expecting was for Shayne to suddenly turn and fling himself towards him, head hitting Charlie’s shoulder with force.

He was gasping as he tried to get words out. “I-I can’t – Charlie, everything’s messed up. My stomach, my chest – I can’t fucking breathe–”

“Oh, lovely, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Charlie whispered as calmly as he could.

Shayne exhaled deeply, his body falling still for a moment. It felt like a calm before a storm. Charlie held his breath, not quite sure what kind of storm to expect. He realised he wouldn’t have been shocked if Shayne had turned around again and punched a hole in the wall.

In the end, Shayne just jerked his head back, his eyes watery and unfocused. The tension in the air changed, becoming less intense but a lot more delicate.

“Are you okay?”

Shayne shook his head.

“What’s wr–?” Charlie started to ask, cutting himself off when Shayne abruptly spun on the spot and leaned over, a weak stream of sick pouring from his lips. “Oh.”

“Fuck,” Shayne whimpered, pressing a hand over his mouth. It had landed mostly on the glass coffee table and not on the rug, at least. He gave a muffled “Sorry” from behind his hand before he sank back onto the edge of the sofa.

“Hey, don’t – don’t worry.” Charlie dragged over a metal bin that lived in the corner of the sitting room, mostly for used tissues and snack wrappers to be thrown into. Luckily, it was empty now. He knelt down in front of Shayne, who was still covering his face as he leaned on his knees. “There’s a bin, in case you feel sick again.”

Shayne just shuddered in response.

“Hey,” Charlie sighed, resting a hand on his shoulder. His breath was a serious of ragged gasps again, making his body convulse so badly that Charlie couldn’t tell if he was still retching or not. “Are you okay? What – what happened there?”

“Everything… Everything was too fast, in my head.” Shayne let out a shaky sigh, fingers clinging to his hair now. His eyes were squeezed shut. “Charlie, what the fuck’s wrong with me? What am I going to do?”

“Hey, hey, hey, look at me.”

“I can’t.”

“Look at me.”

“I can’t, Charlie!”

“Shayne, trust me, alright?” Charlie extended both arms, palms facing up. “Squeeze my hands.”

The breath shuddered out of Shayne as he took Charlie’s hands, closing his fingers tightly.

“Alright, now, count backwards from ten with me. Ten –”

“Ten…”

By the time they reached zero, Shayne’s grip on Charlie’s hands had relaxed, and there didn’t seem to be any fresh tears on his face. He was shaking, and his eyes were searching Charlie’s like he was waiting for them to spit out the meaning of life. Charlie had never felt like more of a fraud, a charlatan; he hadn’t even been sure that the counting-backwards-from-ten thing would work, but he was glad that it had.

“Okay? You with me?” Charlie whispered.

Shayne nodded distantly.

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah. No.” Shayne’s teeth chattered as he fought to compose himself. “Sorry. Physically, yes, but everything – everything else is just…”

Charlie shook his head, feeling like his heart might break from watching Shayne try and fail to find the right words. “Lovely, it’s okay.”

“Fuck. The coffee table,” Shayne groaned.

“Hey, that’ll be easy to clean up,” Charlie half-laughed. “I’m gonna go do that now, and then I’ll make us some tea, okay? Do you want to lie down while you wait?”

A short nod, a glassy gaze.

“Okay. Maybe don’t lie on your tummy, though,” Charlie said as Shayne began to move, anxious that he would resort to his preferred position for sleeping and relaxing. “It might make you sick again and make it hard to breathe.”

“’Kay,” Shayne murmured, curling up on his side with his knees almost all the way up to his chest.

Charlie stroked his shoulder and prayed to a god he didn’t believe in that he’d be able to understand what went on inside his head one day. He had a heavy feeling in his chest as he got up from the floor.

Charlie turned around at the door. He both loved and hated how tiny Shayne looked, curled up on the sofa. He drew a deep breath. “I love you.”

Looking exhausted, and also like he was about to start crying again, Shayne nodded and said something in a very low voice before letting his eyes close. He’d mumbled it – badly, even by his own standards – but Charlie was almost certain that Shayne had said, “Thank you.”

[sendme-2hell]

Ranking the books I read in April

aka just ranting about the books I read in april pls ignore me

1. The Space Between Worlds - Micaiah Johnson 

I cannot believe this book wasn’t nominated for a Hugo! I like the Hugo list (of the books I’ve read) but cmon. This book is like if you combined the social commentary in The City We Became and the queerness of Harrow the Ninth. Seriously this book had everything I wanted: parallel universes, great character development, social commentary, woc sapphic slow burn, satisfying ending. Also I feel like the title is paying homage to W. E. Dubois which is cool. “Between me and the other world, there is ever an unasked question: How does it feel to be a problem?” Like there is just this very cool idea of talking about other worlds as in literally other universes but also different worlds due to social and racial hierarchies. 

2. Plain Bad Heroines - Emily m. Danforth 

Horror, Hollywood, boarding school, everyone is gay, the narrator talks directly to the reader and it is hilarious, copious footnotes, have I mentioned how many sapphics there are? It’s hard to keep track. Plus polyamory. I just really loved this book and I felt it all came together in a way that was worth it. 

3. Steel Crow Saga - Paul Krueger 

This godamn book. I loved this book so much. I was so ready to yell about it on tumblr and tell people to read it. But apparently the author is someone who has harassed a lot of women so...uh...yeah. Nevermind I guess.

 I do want to say it is the most accurate depicition of a Sherlock Holmes superfan that I have ever seen in media. 

4. The Tiger’s Daughter - K. Arsenault Rivera

What if we went on a long trip on horseback and we were both lesbian warriors...jk unless…

Yeah so I loved this book so much. A lot of it is about navigating familial responsibility, fighting literal and metaphorical demons, fighting the patriarchy, fighting your anger, fighting tigers, etc...and yet I kept thinking to myself “this is the most romantic book I have ever read” and honestly I am gonna stick by that. It also has the “you think me a monster so I will become one” trope which is great. It is set in an Asian-based fantasy world and I did read a goodreads review that said it was as accurate to the countries it draws inspiration from as Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse is to the Russian and Scandinavian cultures it takes from. So that’s not great. 

5. Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo

Speaking of! A few months ago I tried to read Shadow and Bone in preparation for the tv show and I could not finish it. The writing was...bad. Anyway I really liked Six of Crows and even though, yeah it’s tropey (I’m looking at you, Helnik backstory), there’s a reason those tropes work. Plus you cannot go wrong with a heist. About halfway through I did realize that there are six mcs and three couples so its kinda just like a giant triple date, which really changed how I read the whole story.

I’m very glad I did read it before seeing the tv show because I was able to be appropriately excited for the Crows and catch the Wylan reference and everything, but I also got to see the Alina stuff without having to read about it. 

6. Crooked  Kingdom - Leigh Bardugo 

I think I somehow liked this even more than Six of Crows, but for narrative simplicity I’ll put it after. I really like it when you put people in an impossible situation and see how they figure it out. Especially if they get out in a clever and reasonably possible way that ties together many different plot threads and has a few good fake-outs. This did all of that, and also developed every character in a way I found satisfying (except [redacted] *cry emoji*). 

Kaz pulls a Baru Cormorant with some money stuff and now I wonder if they would be friends. 

I read this after watching the show which was good because I knew who Zoya and Genya were but bad because there is a point where Nina is like “here is how shadow and bone ends.” She’s just talking to Mattias and casually spoiling everything for me. So there goes my dreams of living spoiler free until the end of the show. 

7. The Miseducation of Cameron Post - Emily m Danforth

My expectations for this book were....very different than it turned out, and I’m glad for it. After reading Plain Bad Heroines I shouldn’t have been surprised at how well written it is. I really appreciated how nuanced it is. It doesn’t spell out its ideas or themes and therefore lets you really sit with them. I would rank it higher but I don’t really enjoy reading about high school. 

8. Foundryside - Robert Jackson Bennett

I love a good found family, especially if at the beginning of the book they are on opposing sides. Enemies to friends = best trope! Also it’s sapphic that’s always good. But the best part of this book was the worldbuilding which was so cool. 

9. Malice - Heather Walter

Remember what I was saying about “you think me a monster so I will become one”? This book is the definition of that trope. Women becoming unhinged after being treated like shit, we love to see it! Especially if it’s gay. I do have to say, authors who write duologies where the first book ends on a cliffhanger, I see what you’re doing but yes, I will be preordering the next book. 

10. Fugitive Telemetry - Martha Wells

I don’t have much to say because Murderbot is so consistently excellent.  uh why is it so cathartic when xenophobes disrespect Murderbot and it’s humans step in and shut that shit down. Gets me every single time. 

11. Queen of Coins and Whispers - Helen Corcoran 

This book was like half romance half politics and unfortunately I did not find the politics that interesting or well written. But the romance was A+. It reminded me of Priory of the Orange Tree a LOT. Though significantly less dragons and I’m taking many points off for that. 

12. The First Sister - Linden A. Lewis

I wanted to like this book a little more than I did. There was just maybe too much body horror for me. Interesting characters and world though. There was  a location named Cytherea that they mentioned a lot and it was very distracting. I guess I still have tlt brainrot. 

13. Shorefall - Robert Jackson Bennett 

I think this book was well plotted out but it didn’t quite have my attention like Foundryside did. Also yet another book where a woman’s girlfriend ends up in her head. This time no one had to die so that’s nice. TM and SD take notes! 

14. The Deathless Girls - Kiran Milwood Hargrave 

Ok I LOVED the Mercies by KMH so I was a little disappointed in this Dracula retelling. It got interesting in the last 50 pages, but unfortunately that is not enough for me.

proud of myself for not reading a single straight book this April 

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #375

“why do i see her, the never-ending night  /  why do i see her, wearing nothing but the dark?”

Who’s one person who changed how you viewed something? I hold Rhett & Link responsible for "curing" my homophobia. I went through a phase where I shipped them like CRAZY, and they're still my "OTP," and it really made me question why I had such a disgusting belief. The switch was officially flipped when listening to their podcast with Hannah Hart, who discussed growing up as a lesbian surrounded by homophobia. Let me tell you, it felt fucking good to let that repulsive belief go. It was my former religion that tied me to it, but it could no longer be an excuse to me, even when I stayed Christian a while longer. And here I am now as a bisexual woman who wants to deck younger me dead in the face. :') Were you ever scared of driving? What scared you about it? I am TERRIFIED of driving. I'm most scared of getting in a wreck and killing somebody, something I would never. Ever. Ever. Forgive myself for. I'm also petrified of, once again, getting in a wreck and I wind up paralyzed from the neck down. The most memorable time that you skipped school, what did you do? Nothing very exciting. What was the last topic you did thorough research on? Why? Toxic masculinity for an essay in college. What is a dish you absolutely love, but hate to prepare yourself? I don't cook, so. Of the many different American accents, which one is your favorite? New York. Is there anything hanging from the doorknob in your room? No. Why did you move to where you’re living now? Because we had to get out of our former house because the growing mold problem was a health hazard (especially for Mom, given her then-recent cancer diagnosis), and our family friend newly owned this house as a part of the former resident's will. Said resident knew Mom as well and the house problems, so she wanted Tobey to help us into this house anyway. What’s your opinion on wearing pajamas in public? Do you yourself do that? I literally couldn't care less. I do it a lot. Do you usually fill up at the same gas station? No; Mom just pays attention to the price. Are you currently looking for a new job? No. I don't plan to until I'm done with TMS therapy. Are any of your relatives musicians? No. Have you ever had an asthma attack? Thank goodness no. My mom has asthma and I have seen her have an attack, so I know they're terrifying. Have you ever been in a hospital and not felt safe? There was one occasion during a psych hospital stay that my roommate had WILD anger issues. She would explode out of seemingly NOWHERE, to the point once or twice she had to be put in solitary because she would literally scream and damage shit, like throwing tables and such. She scared the piss out of me to the point I finally plucked up the courage to tell the nurses that I needed a different room. What’s the highest fever you’ve ever had? I don't remember. Have you ever been hospitalized for a day or more? At psych hospitals. I think my shortest visit was just shy of a week. Have you ever had surgery? Two. Are you lonely? I'm admittedly very lonely. Are you mad at someone right now? No. Do you eat late at night? I sometimes need a small midnight or so snack because I cannoooooooot sleep when my stomach is growling. If I'm in basically any sort of discomfort, I have extreme trouble sleeping. Who do you miss? A lot of people. I miss Jason, Megan, Mini, Hannia, Emily, Journee... I don't feel like dwelling on those I've lost. Who do you admire most? Mark. If you could transform into any animal what would it be and why? Maybe a cat. Quick, agile, stealthy, majestic, well-equipped to defend itself... sounds pretty good. Are you more artistic or mathematical? Definitely more artistic. Which supermarket do you usually shop at? Wal-Mart. When was the last time you went to McDonald’s? I'm not sure, but it's been a while. Maybe around a month. What was the last chocolate bar you ate? I believe I had a 3 Musketeers because I was really craving one. Who was the last person you talked to on Skype/video chat? The woman who was doing my evaluation to determine if I was a good fit for TMS therapy. Can you remember the first time you ever talked to the person you love/like? Does he/she remember? I think I might have a vague idea, but I don't really remember. Would you be able to have a relationship with someone you didn’t find attractive, if they had a nice personality and treated you well? Yep. It sounds cheesy, but I do mean it when I say a beautiful inside blossoms into the body itself for me personally. Does the last person you kissed have brown eyes? Yes. Have you ever really liked someone to begin with, then changed your mind about them? I guess you could say Girt, because I had a pretty big crush on him when I started HS. We were just friends for way too long that when we finally dated years upon years later, it felt much too weird. He really was my "brother from another mother" by that point. Has anyone ever told you that they wanted to spend the rest of their life with you? Aaaaand he left. :^) If you decided to dye your hair, would you choose to go lighter or darker? Lighter. I want to dye my hair pastel colors so very badly. Do you know what the Enneagram is and if so, what’s your type? INFP. Do you listen to Mayday Parade? I only know "Terrible Things," which I positively adore. Do you have trouble falling asleep at night? I have an extremely hard time sleeping at night. It's honestly one reason I sometimes sleep so much during the day. Are you on a laptop, desktop or phone/iPod? A laptop. Have you ever been so angry that you screamed out of nowhere? I've screamed into a pillow. What’s the longest movie you’ve ever watched? I dunno, maybe over three hours? What was the last thing you watched on Netflix or Hulu? I have no clue. What do you think about your current relationship status? I mean I miss being in love and having someone who sees a future with me, but I know in the deepest part of me that it's wiser that I stay single until I figure some things out. Of most concern, I don't have a job or even a confident sign I'll have one soon, I'm not in school headed for a career, I don't drive, I don't cook... I'm a liability, financially and in other ways. It wouldn't be fair to my partner or even myself to go into a relationship with a heavy risk of heartbreak because I'm taking too long to get to where I want to be. I'm 25 now - if/when I get into a relationship, I want forever, and I'm not wasting time on anyone for almost inevitable failure as romantic partners. I want to AT LEAST have a steady job before I enter another relationship. How many people have you kissed? Three or four. Do you go out on dates? I have no one to go on a date with. Do you kiss on the first date? I never have and probably wouldn't, but I guess if things went very well and I was really into the person, maybe I would. What’s the farthest you’ve gone with someone? Doing to do. Would you rather receive a stuffed animal, flowers, or chocolate? I'd really appreciate any. I think flowers are sorta overrated though honestly, like someone ripped some healthy flowers from their roots and doomed them to a quickly-approaching death, but society still has a part of me thinking "oh that's sweet." I think more than anything, I'd be crazy over a meerkat plushy. Or would expensive jewelry just be fine? You really don't have to do that for me; I don't really wear much jewelry at all anyway. Odds are you'd be wasting your money. What’s the cheesiest romantic gift you’ve ever received? I don't know. Do you like romantic poetry? Yessssssssss. Have you ever been rickrolled? I'm unsure. Do you like bologna? Yeah. It was my favorite lunch meat as a kid. Have you ever had a nose bleed? Yes. Have you ever puked on a fair ride before? No, because I don't go on rides that generally induce that sort of risk. What animals have you ridden? Just ponies. What is your parents' idea of grounding you? Taking away my access to the computer. Dragons or unicorns? Dragons! Do you wish vampires existed? Uh, no. At the moment what is your favorite song? I'm going through another phase of really digging "Castle of Glass" by Linkin Park. Have you ever been pantsed? No. What is your favorite magazine? I don’t read any. Did you ever like Barbies? Do you currently like Barbies? I never really was, I just played with them when my little sister wanted to. I was more into playing with my dinosaurs and Pokemon and stuff. I'm not into them now, either. What’s your favorite hit song right now? I don't know what songs are "hits" right now. What’s your favorite element? (fire, water, air) Fire, aesthetically. Have you ever been to a wild party? Nah. Do you put on a robe when it’s cold? I don't own a robe. Is the last person you kissed gay? She's demisexual. What breed was the last dog you saw? She's some sort of hound mix. We think there might be dalmatian in her, too. What type of day are you having? It's been all right. I'm just REALLY not feeling this damn heat. Driving an hour and back to the TMS office in a car that has no A/C is agony. Have you ever thought about getting your nose pierced? It's been pierced multiple times, and I want to do it again, but this time with a nostril hoop versus a stud so the goddamn thing stays in. Do you prefer warm or cold weather? I have an incredibly strong preference for cold weather. Fuck the heat. Like just 70*F is "too hot" to me. Who was the last person you talked to in person? My mom. Do you hate the person you fell hardest for? No. Do you like rain? Yes, but I don't like being caught out in it. I just like looking at and listening to it. Have you ever liked somebody and never told them? Yep. Do you like to cuddle? If I really like you and it's not too hot, yeah. Are you shy? I'm excruciatingly shy. If you were paid 1 million dollars to spend the night in a supposed haunted house, would you? Hunny, I'd do that for free. Which do you like better- zebra print or leopard print? I'm not really a fan of either particular pattern on anything but the animal. Do you have any stickers on your car? I don't have my own car, but Mom has one that allows her to park in her old school's parking lot. Do you watch Pretty Little Liars? No. My sister Misty, tho

[bisexualsforprompto]

Guilt and Love Chapter 4

“So demon spawn whos this soulmate we’ve heard so much about?” Teased Jason at dinner. “None of your business Todd.” Damian replied curtly. Dick started to crack up, “He-he has Ladybug on one wrist! And a French girl on another!” Jason almost spat out his steak, “Two soulmates?! Damnnnn. When’d you get so smooth?” Damian rolled his eyes. “Well, not really smooth if one is an insect!” Dick continued chuckling. Jason joined his laughter while Tim stifled a laugh. Bruce decided his son probably had enough ridicule, “That’s enough boys.”

“Fineee.” Jason snickered until he was able to calm himself down. Damian picked at his food, something didn’t sit right with that blonde kid and he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He was barely paying attention to his family’s antics. He also couldn’t stop thinking about the Ladybug on his wrist. Some kind of superhero maybe? Damian stood up from his seat at the table and began to walk down to the batcave. “Where are you going?” Tim asked. “I need to research a certain blonde heathen.”

Turns out the blonde heathen was a model named Adrien Agreste, son of the famous designer Gabriel. Damian researched him for hours on end without avail. He recognized the presence of everyone who walked down to the batcave and when they realized he wouldn’t leave the computer he recognized their departure too. Damian couldn’t find anything all that helpful so he switched gears to look for superheroes named Ladybug. He didn’t expect to find anything but oddly enough there were thousands of hits, he clicked on the first site, a video clip.

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news! Nadja Chamack reporting live on the akuma Queen Wasp. Here are our heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir on the scene once again!” “Ladybug”...Marinette had also mentioned her Damian realized. She’d also mentioned Chat Noir, but as if he did something wrong… He quickly changed gears and searched Chat Noir. The post from the Ladyblog came up.

As of 2:27pm this Thursday Ladybug has confirmed that Chat Noir is no longer coming to fight akumas. Did our dynamic duo have a falling out? Stay tuned! Alya, Ladyblogger out!

‘Interesting’, Damian thought. ‘Marinette called that kid Chat. Maybe there is a correlation.’

“Damian it’s three am.” Dick said as he walked over to the boy at the computer. “And?” Damian asked, eyes still glued on the screen. “And don’t you want to be well-rested for your little coffee date tomorrow?” Damian narrowed his eyes at his brother, “How did you know about that?” Dick punched Damian in the arm playfully, “Hah you’re not denying it’s a date. And I may have overheard…” Damian scowled, “Overheard or eavesdropped?” “Who can say really?” Damian growled, “I can’t believe you.”

“Don’t change the subject. Come on you have to sleep.” Damian rolled his eyes, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” He continued scrolling trying to learn about Chat Noir and Ladybug. “Hey that’s my line!” Tim said as he rushed into the room with coffee in hand. “First Grayson now Drake, you just keep multiplying.” Dick picked Damian up much to his chagrin, but he was too tired and Dick was far too much bigger than him so he squirmed until he realized he wasn’t going to win this battle. Dick threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried him to his room.

Dick threw his adopted brother on his bed, “Stay.” “Not a dog Grayson!” Dick chuckled, that statement was the last thing to come out of Damian’s mouth before he drifted to sleep.

Damian woke up to the sound of his phone ringing, it was 8:30am, he should’ve woken up awhile ago. He answered the phone groggily, not checking the caller ID. “Yes?!”

“Oh my gosh! I’m sorry did I wake you up?!” Asked a panicked girl with a heavy French accent on the other end. “Marinette? No, no sorry. What were you calling about.” He perked up a little. “I was just calling to see when you wanted to go for coffee.” Damian winced when he remembered the time, “Maybe make that brunch. How about 10?” Damian could practically see Marinette’s grin over the phone in her answer, “Sounds amazing! Where would you like to meet?” Damian was a little groggy but he still wanted to treat Marinette well, as she should be treated, “Can I have the address of your hotel? I can pick you up and take you somewhere. Maybe give a small tour of Gotham since you haven’t been here before.” He wasn’t nervous for her response, no way. He wasn’t afraid she was going to yell at him for asking for the place she was staying, absolutely not. It was ridiculous to imply such a thing.

“Sounds perfect! I’ll send you where I’m staying!” Marinette exclaimed. Damian let out some breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Perfect, I’ll be there at 10 sharp.”

~~~~~~~

Marinette brushed her hair once more for good measure. “Can you imagine Tikki?! He’s so chivalrous, he’s picking me up!” She sighed dreamily as Tikki giggled. “I hope you enjoy the date Marinette, you deserve it!” Marinette grinned as she took her purse and walked out of her room.

~~~~~~~

“Oh Marinette where are you going?” Asked Lila with a sickening sweetness. “None of your business Lila.” Lila faked sniffling and Marinette turned around, prepared to tell her off but then saw her surrounded by the whole French class. They were not happy, even Adrien who was normally impartial. “Are you going off with that Wayne kid?” Adrien asked stone faced. “So what if I am?” Marinette asked her ex partner. He ran after her and dug his nails into her skin, “Don’t leave. He’s bad news.” Marinette struggled, “Let go of me Adrien!”

“You heard the lady.” Said a voice causing Adrien to jump back. There in full glory stood Red Hood, Nightwing, and Red Robin. “W-what are you doing here?!” Squeaked the model. The class gawked at the heroes before them. Dick wanted to say they were here to check on their newest member of the family, but he figured Damian would not appreciate them giving away their identities. “That’s not important, but what is important is not touching a girl when she says no. And what’s important is not just standing by and letting it happen!” Jason, the hothead he was, yelled at the class. The class fled tails between their legs out of the lobby.

Marinette smiled, “Thank you. That was much appreciated! So I’m guessing Robin told you I’m his soulmate…” Marinette was a little surprised, Robin had seemed so...Not like the others. If he teammates were kind maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. “Wait, wait you met Robin?” Marinette gave them a confused look, “Uh yes…” Nightwing stood in shock, “Do you know his identity?” Marinette shook her head, “Of course not. Believe me I know how important secret identities are.” Nightwing stood in a stupor just like his brothers, this meant she had two names on her wrist like Damian. ‘Could this mean Marinette was Lad-‘ Nightwing’s head started to pound. ‘What was I thinking about? I can’t remember.’

Damian walked into the lobby of the Wayne hotel, when he saw his brothers in costume talking to Marinette he immediately regretted telling them where she was staying. Damian gave them the death stare as Marinette skipped up to him. Nightwing gave him a look, it said ‘I need to tell you something.’ Damian nodded at the silent communication and headed out with Marinette.

~~~~~~~

“So Damian I need to tell you something.” Marinette fidgeted with her fork not looking her soulmate in the eyes. She felt so bad that she hadn’t immediately told him that she had two soulmates. A loud ringing made Damian fall out of their engrossed conversation. He checked his phone and almost gasped, “I’m sorry, Marinette but I really have to go. To be continued?” Marinette nodded, although she was enjoying his company she was nervous to tell him about her second soulmate. “I’m going to call my butler to pick you up.”

“B-butler?!” Marinette exclaimed. Damian gave her an odd look, “Uh yeah…” The pieces started to click in Marinette’s mind. She hid her face in her hands, “Oh my god you’re that Damian Wayne!” She banged her head on the table. Damian almost chuckled, although it was refreshing to know his soulmate was sweet to him without knowing he was rich. “I’m going to have to take the car I drove you in, but Alfred will be around soon. Let’s do this again soon Marinette, if you’re available, of course.” Damian said shyly. Marinette nodded as she stifled a blush. ‘She’s kind of adorable’ Damian mused as he left the café. He checked his notification from his father once more, it simply read “Killer Croc”. Damn it why couldn’t Damian just live in a normal city?!

~~~~~~~

Croc wasn’t all that difficult, especially not with him, his father and all his ‘brothers’ there to help. What was difficult was explaining to his brothers that he never met Marinette as Robin.

“I’m telling you Grayson, the only time I’ve ever seen Marinette was as Damian.” He protested. “But baby bird, if that’s true that means your soulmate was lying about meeting Robin!” Dick said, millions of warning signals going off in his head. Damian shook his head, “Or it means she met somebody she thinks was Robin. Drake pull up the security footage from Marinette’s hotel, specifically last night.”

Tim pulled up the feed and Damian scowled, oh how heads were going to roll...

Taglist (y’all know how this goes):

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@panda3506

[transromanticism]

alright i’m back with more shitty prompts !

so idk the build up but somehow shawn figures out gus is in love with him (maybe juliet tells him bc she’s tired of seeing them both miserable all the time and well she’s kept her mouth shut for 6 years but she’s tired of them being idiots).

anyways so shawn finally has confirmation that his feelings for gus actually aren’t unrequited (wow who would’ve thought (answer: everyone but him)), and so he finally decides to do something about it.

so he goes to gus’s apartment when he’s not there and fills it with flowers and food (yes i am aware i use this in every fic but shh) because this is gus and if he’s actually finally going to do it then he’s going to do it right and gus is always a sucker for those big romatinc things and so shawn makes sure everything is absolutely Perfect (he even steals one of gus’s really nice button downs and a tie).

so he waits for gus to come home and when he does shawn is all prepared for what he’s gonna say but super nervous.

but then. gus does come home, but not alone.

gus stumbles in the door with some guy and they’re kissing and by the time they get to kitchen/living room area, gus’s shirt is half unbuttoned and shawns just standing there frozen.

and then gus turns on the light (shawn only had candles going) and then he kinda shrieks bc what the hell is shawn doing here.

“uh i didn’t know you had a roommate” the guy says awkwardly.

“i don’t. shawn what are you doing why are you here? wait. how’d you get in?”

shawn’s brain catches up and he chokes out an awkward chuckle and says “uh sorry i didn’t think you’d be bringing anyone home.”

it’s silent and awkward for a moment as gus looks around the room and asks “what is all this?”

and silently shawns blaming the heat and stuffy apartment and the candles are making it worse, but he feels light headed and the back of his eyes are burning as he makes his way to the door, claps his hand on gus’s shoulder and says “nothing man don’t worry about it.” and a part of him can’t help but hate jules and hate that she thinks she’s more observant than she really is.

and he shoots gus a smile (one of his fake ones that he hopes gus doesn’t notice) looks between them and says “have fun!”

gus is still Shook (tm) so he doesn’t really say anything.

and as shawn leaves and jumps on his bike, forcing himself not to take a left and drive down to mexico forever, the weight of the stupid little plastic cereal box ring in his pocket feels as heavy as his heart.

anyways ! idk how it ends either gus puts everything together or shawn just comes clean but !!! happy ending !!!!

nice prompt: / madison: ahah what if i made extra angsty?

GODDAMNIT this is legit making me scream but here we go: kinda spoiling everything but gus puts everything together, but like shawn ends up coming clean too bc i like muliple choices

gus is left Shooked(tm) over his apartment’s state.

he looks around multiple, taking everything in, and not being able to make sense of anything.

until, of course, his date calls his attention. “you okay?”, gus just nods to that.

and everything starts to catch up. shawn’s mannerisms, specially. the fake smile nobody but gus knows is fake. the way he kept looking between gus and the guy. his (i mean, gus’s) button down and tie. what the hell?

before the guy could say anything, gus turns to him and starts, “hey, you know what? why don’t we end the night right now and meet again tomorrow, uh?” the guy keeps staring at gus, extreme confusion in his eyes, “now, c’mon, son, up, up!” he pushes him to the door and out his apartment.

“but i don’t even hav-”

“BYE!” gus shuts the door, loudly, and sighs. looking around his apartment once again. “fuck”, walking around, it starts to down on him, the flowers and the food and the candles. he truly hopes he still has a change, because the last thing he wants is to not have shawn in any way just because he waited too long to tell him.

he changes his clothes, cheeks if everything is like shawn left them, and calls him.

“gus, i’m so sorry-”

“come back”

“what?”

“come back to my apartment”

10 minutes after, shawn’s knocking at gus’s door.

“i am so, so sor-”

“first of all, shut up, let me talk. second of all, how the hell did you even get into my apartment?”

shawn holds up a key, “you really need to find better places to hide your keys, man”

“okay, whatever. third, why, why this,” he points to their surroundings “why all of this, why now?”

shawn looks at gus with growing panic, the desire to run clear in his face. clear to gus, that is. “i, jules told me,” that you’re in love with me “and having the confirmation that i have i chance, i took it, so here we are. i’m sorry”

it’s gus’s turn to stare, and so he does, and if he doesn’t do anything, he’ll start crying, so he jokes, “fourth, you need to stop apologizing,” and they both laugh, a wet laugh, full of feelings one not dare to name it, but a sweet sound nonetheless. shawn makes mention to keep on the joke, apologize again (he wants to, let’s be real), but gus already shoots him down, “don’t you dare, shawn”

they stare at each other now, a soft smile in their faces. both aware of each other’s feelings, but still not so brave to voice it. not yet, at least.

“why do you gotta be so like this?” gus steps closer.

“oh, i’m not sure. never learned how to dial down,” shawn steps even closer.

“how will i manage you?” so close, yet not enough.

“you already know” they both close the gap between each other. slowly, the kiss is deepened, and not before long they’ve become tangled up into each other.

“wait,” shawn breaks the moment, “what about that guy from earlier?”

“shawn, for real? i sent him home,”

“i mean, yeah, but,” he doesn’t complete, but the question’s been hanging in the air for long enough to be known.

“i can’t believe you’re asking this. i love you with a capital L, nobody can beat that, specially some guy i barely remember the name of,” shawn’s smile gets the widest it got the day, and gus has never been so kissed. until now, that is.

THANK YOU GOODNIGHT *mic drop*

[donnieluvsthings]

anyway i’m still thinkin about roceit newsies au...this got SO LONG its basically a bullet fic of the whole plot at this point but uh enjoy!!! its has all the sides and remy and emile bc i rly wanted to shove them all in here aldkaldka

this is based on the musical mostly bc i have never watched the original movie all the way thru oops

roman is jack and remus is crutchie (thanks boop). remus does crazy stunts even with his crutch and roman is Constantly Worried TM and overprotective of remus even tho remus can DEF take care of himself

on the other hand remus knows roman hates working as a newsboy and just wants to escape to some small town where he can become a local artist of some sort. remus wants roman to go CHASE his DREAMS even tho he’s afraid roman might leave him behind

roman may be the actor but remus is great at coming up with gruesome yet intriguing headlines that get people to buy papers and would totally be a great author of some sort

ON THAT NOTE roman dreams of santa fe and can picture it perfectly but whenever he tries to explain it, it comes out as senseless rambling and longing. it’s remus who can really put into words what roman feels (bc theyre bros and they just GET each other)

virgil as davey, patton as les, logan as sarah (its the musical but they have an extra sibling okay. let me have older brother logan)

virgil and patton show up and virgil is super untrusting and hates that theyre basically lying to get people to buy papers but patton is just EXCITED to meet New People!!! and looks up to roman (and remus), like, instantly

it helps that roman promises to take them to a real actual theater after they sell all their papers owned by the one the only emile picani !!!

also roman is the one who first calls him “virge” which is like jack saying “davey” instead of david. yes this is necessary information

so they sell their papers (and roman briefly meets an ESPECIALLY handsome guy wink wink) and go see emile who performs some variant of That’s Rich like the star he is. u cant take singer emile away from me

roman also performs bc i said so. he spies someone watching him during his act up above the stage and climbs up there when he’s done

janus. its janus, if that wasnt clear or u dont know the plot of the newsies musical aldkaldlal

so yeah janus as katherine!! he may be pulitzer’s son but that doesn’t mean his father wants him to be a journalist. pulitzer thinks he should prepare to inherit the publishing company or be a banker or smth, not be a journalist

i just think janus’ “society is a LIE” vibe fits with katherine. i mean, just look at Watch What Happens. “give life’s little guys some ink,” “they’ll storm the gates,” “rich greedy sourpusses” .... idk it just SCREAMS janus to me

ALSO, katherine technically lies about her identity for like 3/4 of the musical, so

anyway! roman meets janus and janus is all suave and lowkey flirty at first but then roman starts flirting BACK and jan is like “uh oh how to talk to cute boys????”

so then he gets all “i have more important things to do” *hair flip* and goes back to the article he’s supposed to be writing about emile’s theater (a lot of his notes are about roman’s performance but nobody needs to know that shhh)

roman draws a portrait of jan and leaves it there and janus gently & dramatically picks it up, stares at it, and tucks it into his suit with a soft smile

uh oh prices for papers went up! virgil steps up and helps roman lead a strike. turns out his caution works GREAT with roman’s determination and they keep each other from going towards extreme overthinking (virgil) or extreme stupidity (roman). they are a TEAM and they are BESTIES.

remus: lets SET THE PAPERS ON FIRE

roman, starry eyed: HECK YEAH LETS DO IT

virgil: how about we dont do that and instead form a union

and then the twins are like GOOD IDEA and tell everyone else. virgil may be a cautious and untrusting and afraid of public speaking but he has good ideas dangit

the intro to seize the day yknow? virgil says a Good Idea (which can probably be traced back to him always listening to logan rant about his studies) and roman spreads the message in a Firm Rebellion-y way to the other newsies

and patton is there doing his absolute best. he may be small but he knows that this isn’t right or fair to the newsboys and he’s ready to physically fight someone

enter logan who is lowkey really proud of virgil for stepping outside of his comfort zone to do whats right. logan may be scared out of his mind for his little bros but he’s gonna help them as much as he can between college and trying to work side jobs to help their fam

basically logan knows janus and tells him that he should report on the strike bc logan wants to help his bros AND his friend however he can

cue janus seeing his opportunity and TAKING it. he’s gonna write about this strike even if no one else will!!! take THAT, father

he also maybe possibly wanted to see roman again. but roman never needs to know that okay what he doesnt know cant hurt him

seize the day happens!!!! they strike!!!! they r powerful!!! but then no one else from any other sections of new york strike with them and they lowkey get rekt

remus mocks the delanceys but that was a BAD decision cuz now theyre targeting him and he gets taken to the REFUGE

roman is SAD bc his brother’s been taken away, no one showed up to help them strike, his brother’s been taken away and he just wants to get OUT of there. run away to santa fe, his ideal world, but he can’t even articulate that because his brother is gone

how is that just act one. how have i written so much yet left out so much???

remus is at the refuge and he’s a little more scared, now, that roman really will just leave him behind even though he knows deep down that roman would never.

still. he writes roman a letter and maybe he goes into a little too much detail about his injuries and the refuge but hey, that’s remus. he writes about how maybe they can run away to santa fe together. he signs it “your brother” and i CRY because they are the best bros

roman reads it and ALSO cries. especially because there it is, the description of santa fe he can never come up with by himself. remus rly does know him, huh

total scene change: janus finds the other newsies (and logan) in a restaurant? bar? and is like “!!! ur on the FRONT PAGE on my newspaper” which i just decided is called the snake instead of the sun

virgil didn’t totally trust janus would follow thru at first but now he’s convinced. they did it!!!! theyre on the front page!!!! the world WILL know!!!!

cue tapdancing!!!!!! king of new york is an absolute bop. i need logan tapdancing daintily and then janus LAUNCHING into some complex tap routine bc the newsies think he too will dance daintily

i know they wouldnt,,, actually dance but just let me have this self-indulgence in this entirely self-indulgent au

the Bro Trio + janus go hunt down roman to show him the paper and find him painting stuff at emile’s all sad and upset bc, well, they lost and remus was taken

but virgil is trying to show him that they made progress!!! sure pulitzer won but he won the BATTLE and actually the poor guy’s head is spinning bc theyre gonna win.

“cmon, ro, if i’m is telling you to be optimistic there must be hope”

see virgil calls him RO and its cute bc roman gave him the nickname ‘virge’ and now virgil’s giving him the nickname ‘ro’ theyre just besties okay

roman is unconvinced but then logan, who roman has actually never met before, steps in with Facts and Statistics, and patton adds some adorable words of encouragement, and janus sassily waves their Front Page Story at him, and roman starts realizing they DO have a chance

but then uh oh pulitzer threatens remus and the Bro Trio and roman is forced to speak out against the strike or risk ruining the lives of everyone he loves. and also he finds out that janus is pulitzer’s son and is Betrayed TM

theres some “he’s just trying to build up a false confidence in u so u can plummet to even greater depths” parallels in there somewhere....u can’t trust many people as a newsie and when roman DOES trust someone turns out he’s the son of the guy ur trying to fight

so roman says overnight in pulitzer’s basement, sleeping on an uncomfortable old printing press, and makes his decision

now for the RALLY

remy is spot conlon bc he DESERVES to be the leader of the brooklyn newsies. brooklyn, flushing, richmond, etc all show up to a newsies rally and are like YEAH!!! STRIKE!!!!

virgil is trying to tame the crowd nervously and keeps waiting for roman to show up bc they work best when theyre working together!!!! finally roman’s there and virgil introduces him (the attention isnt solely on him now thank gosh)

but then roman starts talking about how they dont stand a chance and how they shouldnt go on strike and virgil is just. confused and upset and angry

especially when he sees one of pulitzer’s employees slipping roman wads of money

virgil corners roman afterwards and is absolutely RIPPING into him. roman could fix this if he would just tell virgil the truth, tell him he doesn’t care about the money, he just wanted to keep him and patton and logan safe—

but roman knows if he tells virgil, then virgil will turn all his anger towards pulitzer, will be able to convince roman to keep going, and roman won’t. he can’t put virgil, put his family, at risk.

so he lies.

he doesn’t mean any of it. but he says it.

and maybe he kind of understands why janus lied, too.

he says he’s never had anyone to take care of him or remus, not like virgil does with his parents and his older brother. he says virgil will never know what it’s like.

virgil scoffs and glares and beneath all his fury looks crushed. but there’s still fire in his eyes, a spark roman saw that first day that only grew and engulfed any doubts virgil ever had.

roman says he’ll take the money and go, leave new york behind.

virgil says fine. we don’t need you. because you know what? all those words you said were mine. i didn’t have the courage to say them back then but now i do. we don’t need you.

(because i watched that scene in the movie and like YES go OFF davey i mean virgil)

roman flees to his “bedroom” which is really just a fire escape and just longs for remus’ reassurance. he has the letter but it doesn’t seem as encouraging now, not when he’s lost everything else important to him.

then janus shows up and roman’s mad at him but not mad enough to kick him out. and janus watched roman just give up on everything they’ve been fighting for and just wants to know WHY. why did he turn his back on the newsies when they were so close?

and roman, tired and upset and defeated, just says they wouldn’t succeed. even if all the newsies went on strike no one would report on it, anyway, because pultizer has all the printing presses on lockdown, even the one janus published from. and they already lost once! what more could they possibly do?

roman looks out over the railing, chest heaving from his rant, longing for his imaginary santa fe where he doesn’t have to face his failures. janus stands next to him and puts his hand over roman’s.

“i don’t have a simple answer to that question....but here’s a start.”

and janus pulls out a paper with roman’s words (well, and virgil’s, because virgil said it first but roman rephrased it powerfully, and that’s why they worked as a team) typed out, words that make the strike not about newsies but about ALL working children in the city who are being exploited for their youth and naivety.

it’s an entire article, expertly written. if published it would get the word out to the other newsies that they haven’t given up and show other working children and adults alike that this is IMPORTANT and they aren’t going away.

and then roman remembers his drawings of the refuge and remus’ graphic descriptions and shows them to janus and hey!!! they have a plan!!! they just need to print it....

roman’s like yo there’s an old press in ur dad’s basement he’d never suspect anything

and theyre both so excited and theyre gonna DO this, FINALLY, and janus sees hope on roman’s face again, maybe permanently this time, and janus just leans in and kisses him.

its very sweet and cute and theyre in LOVE

they pull back and kinda stand there awkwardly for a few seconds before both of them start grinning

and they both know its fragile, that they’ve hurt each other and trust was cracked, but it wasn’t broken completely, and they can fix this. they believe in each other and that’s enough for now.

and then they go find virgil at his house

roman knocks on the door and virgil opens it and just. glares at roman. and roman starts rambling apologies and explanations and tries to tell virgil about their plan and did he mention he’s sorry

virgil kinda just stares at him as he goes on and on and the only thing that stops him is patton running out and launching himself at roman

then logan appears behind virgil, and virgil kinda just smiles

“glad to have u back. again.”

and then they go sneak into pulitzer’s basement and print the article with jan’s writing and ro’s drawings and remus’ descriptions and the other newsies go spread the papers ALL around the city

the next morning EVERYONE is out on strike!!! u cant get ANYWHERE without seeing ppl, newsies or otherwise, filling the streets with chants of “seize the day”

roman, with the Bro Trio and Janus trailing close behind, waltzs on in to pulitzer’s office and flings the money pulitzer gave him back on the desk and is like whatcha gonna do NOW, joe??

pulitzer angrily tells them he’s a fool for going back on their deal and logan steps in sayin pulitzer is a fool for letting this get so out of hand over a 10 cent price increase. his sales are down 70%!! objectively the price increase was like the worst business decision ever

virgil’s like plus it’s making u look bad that ur business is the reason most of these kids are suffering. people really love kids, mr pulitzer and patton smiles brightly but in like a menacing way

then emile walks in with a ~dazzling smile~ and is like ur son told me about this whole situation, it’d be a shame if i contacted my good friend governor roosevelt who won’t be as kind as these brave newsies since u tried so hard to stop him from being elected :)

((in the show roosevelt is actually there but i want emile to have a moment to SHINE))

so pulitzer’s like FINE and talks to roman alone and roman wears him down, throwing words from janus, virgil, and pulitzer himself right in pulitzer’s face until FINALLY they have a deal. he’ll lower the prices by half AND pulitzer will buy back whatever they don’t sell full price

roman bursts out of the office into the streets where all the newsies are waiting and is like WE WONNN

and since they published all that stuff about the refuge in the paper, the guy who runs it is being arrested and REMUS IS FREE

the twins hug for like a full two minutes

then pulitzer offers roman a job as a political cartoonist and roman’s like. well idk now that this is over i should probably...head out

bc lowkey he’s thinking virgil still doesn’t wanna see roman ever again and he did say he would leave, so

but then virgil’s like come on, ro, you don’t really think we want u to leave, do u? what’s santa fe got that new york aint? tarantulas? sandstorms? stampedes? you can’t go to santa fe what if you DIE—

and logan says new york’s got us!

patton: and we’re family, right?

then janus is like you got a union to lead! and...you got me.

and remus is like bro, anyone can dream, all you do is close ur eyes! but some made up world is all you’ll ever see. (bc he’s the wordsy one, u see. he helps roman have the poetic realization that his santa fe isn’t real, but this IS)

so roman says well if u guys INSIST.....and then he takes jan’s hand and kinda asks w his eyes and then kisses jan in front of all the newsies who proceed to cheer obnoxiously

when they break apart roman leads janus by the hand over to the paper-buying-cart and slaps some couns down on the table and BUYS SOME PAPERS BC THEYRE NEWSIES BABEY

and everyone lived happily ever after🥰

[grows-onyou]

This Party Sucks

Whoever invented small talk should be beaten with loaves of old bread. The two of us are sitting in a small bedroom with drink cups in our hands making stupid, awkward small talk. It looks like a guest bedroom by the bland, unused look of the room. He, Mike (I think), looks nervous. I probably look bored but if I were to be honest with myself I’m also nervous about agreeing to get matched up with a guy at the party of an acquaintance I don’t know all that well even though I said something stupid like “yeah, we can chat or whatever.” And now here we are making stupid small talk. 

It can’t be easy being gay in the suburbs of the Deep South. Or anywhere in the Deep South where country music and talk radio reign supreme on the air waves. Atlanta proper has a thriving LGBTQ+ community but we were well beyond the city limits and I think Mike mentioned something about having recently moved there from somewhere even more southern and less hospitable. 

“Is talking about movies and tv shows we’ve never seen or ever going to watch what you were hoping for at the party tonight?” I finally asked.

“No.” Expressed with an air of dejection. 

The look on Mike’s face gave every indication of wanting to hide and cry because Gregg decided to jump straight to the “I don’t know what tact is” zone. Great job Gregg, you idiot.

“I’m not leaving. I don’t think either of us are enjoying this conversation but I’d like to chill here for a while with you.” Was my attempt to salvage the situation and Mike’s dignity. But what the fuck did I mean by that? What the hell does “chill” mean?

Not dissimilar to a puppy hearing the word “leash” or “walk” Mike’s spirits shot back to life and he asked if we could hold hands together. 

“Sure?” Why? Why did I agree to that? But also why did I also not mind it? His hand felt warm and I liked how his arm rested against mine. It had a weight I wasn’t accustomed to when cuddling. I didn’t move away when he rested the length of his body against me in the bed. 

“Is this ok? Are you ok with this? Is this fine?” 

“Yeah I guess this is ok, or whatever or something.” Gregg, you silver tongued devil you. It beat the hell out of small talk and if I were honest with myself I thought he was cute and I enjoyed it. 

We made slightly more substantive conversation with each other about nothing I really recall. Without noticing the gradual changes in our configuration I found myself holding him in my arms close enough to feel his breath on my face, his heart beat on my chest, and the distinct impression I could feel his erection against my leg. I didn’t mind. I think by then I had given up on the absurd notion of two dudes just chatting about dude things in a spare bedroom and pulled him onto me so he could feel my erection growing against his. 

His eyes looked soft and nervous and with a shallow breath asked me again if I was ok and if this was ok with me. I replied with rubbing myself into him again and he replied by asking if he could put his hand beneath my shirt. Mike was a champion and prince of consent and I probably learned more from him than I’d like to admit. 

“Go ahead.”

His hands felt heavier against my chest than I was used to but by then I found I enjoyed the difference. The weight. The force. Vocabulary redundancy. His hands betrayed nervousness though and his breath was quick and shallow against my mouth. 

I inquired if he wanted to kiss.

“Is that ok?” 

I replied by licking the parting of his lips. He replied by burying his erection as deeply into mine as he could and putting as much of his tongue into my mouth as he could. I guess his answer was “yes”. The stubble caught me off guard. Somehow I hadn’t anticipated that and I had to wrestle with that for a moment in my stupid little brain. 

He sensed my hesitation and asked maybe 9 more times if I was ok with him and the situation. I replied by gripping the small of his back and pulling him into a long, slow kiss. He replied by continuing to try and erode the fabric of our pants at the crotch through the powers of lust and the coefficient of friction. 

I asked if he’d like to continue this in our underwear. You know, for comfort. I took the moan in his throat and the shudder along his spine for a yes and began to help him out of his clothes as he eagerly reciprocated. Smooth, Gregg. Real smooth, calm, charmer. Totally in control. Nothing but chill. In truth I was terrified. Here I was kneeling on a bed in my boxers staring at the wet spot pooling on Mike’s boxers at the tip of the outline of his cock. What was I doing? What was supposed to happen next? I couldn’t stop staring at him. 

He asked if I was okay a few more times and I pulled him onto me so that his boxer lagoon matched the wet spot that was beginning to form on my boxers. His entire body trembled as he breathed and despite my stone cold exterior (So Stone Cold! TM) I was terrified at what I wanted to do next. The fear you feel getting on a roller coaster with a known history of injuries didn’t come close to how much effort it took to make my vocal chords say the words I needed them to. 

“Can I take them off?” I asked with my fingers in the elastic strap. 

A silent and equally terrified nod affirming. 

I moved to pull them down so I would be at eye level with his form. His eyes looked at me in apprehensive terror. He was absolutely covered in glistening precum but also completely uncircumcised. Is this what they’re naturally supposed to look like? This? My awkward terror was temporarily suspended by amusement and incredulity at evolution. Wild. 

My silence and lack of any single action filled him with a tangible sense of dread and he began asking if I was ok and if he looked ok and if I wanted to stop and again he seemed on the verge of tears. Gregg, you fucking moron. You should probably fix this situation. My own terror returned. How? Doing what? The greater terror was my own lust. I knew what I wanted to do. I could feel myself on the verge of shaking and knew if I waited any longer everything would fall apart. 

I took him in one hand, feeling the soft fuzz of his hair against the sides of my hand and looking him in the eye asked if he was ok. 

Again the terrified affirming nod. 

With an equally terrified deep breath I pressed my lips against his wet tip in a kiss. His body froze and his breaths were whimpering pants. The salty tang of precum on my lips. So weird. But I enjoyed it. It was what I wanted. I looked up into his eyes asking a silent permission to continue and he silently nodded. 

A lick of the tip from my tongue. More tang. Sharper. Another whimper. Now what am I supposed to do? What do you do with the foreskin? Sliding my tongue down the back of the tip beneath the skin. No longer tangy. Kind of funky. But I wanted this too. I wanted to know this. Running the tip of my tongue inside his foreskin around the head. More tang mixed with more funk with whimpers settling into deeper moans. 

Don’t over think this Gregg. Don’t use your teeth! Never use your teeth. Breath through your nose. Relax your jaw. Relax your throat. Uh, this is going to be difficult. Don’t over think this! Get out of your mind and focus on what you’re doing. What am I doing? Giving the head of his cock little French kisses around the foreskin to the accelerating tempo of his breathing. Feeling the twitching and jerks of him in my hand. 

Nothing about this seems real. I don’t believe it’s me doing this. But I am. And I love it. It’s exactly what I want to be doing. Looking up I see Mike’s eyes shut and his fists clenching the sheets as if he’s trying to destroy the forces that hold the atomic particles together. I pull my mouth back so that my lips are resting against the tip of his cock and contemplate more of the inevitable. I’ve applied just about everything hoods and labia have taught me to the head of this cock, apparently to Mike’s enjoyment, and it seemed like time to start on the length of him. Don’t fuck this up. Don’t over think this. Control your breathing, breath through your nose, relax your throat and jaw, and take him in.

Hello gag reflex. Not that bad, not that good. Certainly remember hearing myself make a quite undignified sound as his cock reached the back of my throat but it also strangely satisfied. I could feel the warm skin on my tongue and against my lips. Relax, breath through your nose and work with your tongue. More tang, more funk, the feel of his heartbeat through his legs against my face. Using my free hand to run my fingers through the wispy hairs of his testicles and more intense squirming as a result. 

Another plunge down the length of him and no bad gagging this time. Good Gregg. And another. His body bucking against the mattress and another plunge into the back of my throat. A hand resting on the top of my head now gripping the hair. Not forcing, just resting and gripping. Calm down, breath through the nose, relax the jaw, use your tongue on the skin against it. Feel the twitch of it against the roof of your mouth. 

A push down, gag reflex. The muffled and inarticulate “hrrrggllt” of suppressing the gag. The way his body pulsed at the noise my throat made. Tang and funk. More twitching. His hand letting up enough that I have some mobility along it’s length. His moans becoming unintelligible whimpers again. Him trying to make words no person could possibly discern. A pleading quality to the whimpers and the hand on the top of the head pushing me further down him. 

At least I probably won’t get it in my eyes. The twitching and the increasing tang. The funk long washed off onto my tongue and throat. The whimpers almost crying as his body shakes. A fruit gusher, an Asian pear, a fig, okra, a tube of toothpaste, nothing really prepares you for it.

It’s 1:35A.M. in an Atlanta suburb and your mouth is filled with semen and you try to not spit it out all over him as he shudders. It’d be easier to swallow it if his cock wasn’t still deep in your mouth but you want to savor this moment. The not pleasant but not unpleasant bitter brine that plays along your tongue. 

You manage to put it down your throat with another Tony award winning sound and make sure you clean the rest of the cum off of his cock and out from inside the folds of foreskin. At this point his ability to form words have returned to him and you can make out “it’s too much, stop, I can’t handle it.” and you remember from your own experiences that he’s probably feeling like being struck by lightning. Sexy lightning. 

You remember your usual oral sex routine and he shouldn’t receive any less. Kisses on the insides of both thighs and slow lingering kisses up the center line of the torso and across each nipple. His breathing is entirely heavy pants and you notice your own boxers wet spot has grown considerably in size as well. 

[spacegaywritings]

Drunk Kitchen - Chapter 1 / 2

Summary: Remy and Virgil have some fun with adult juice but their fun is about to drop when the craving for sustenance Can be read as purely platonic considering there is no lip-kisses. Tags: food mention ×missing your soulmate ×Alcohol ×Drunken Shenanigans ×Drunken Flirting ×Drunkenness ×war metaphors from drunk idiots taking cooking too serious

tumblr links:1 / 2 || ao3: 1 / 2 / all. My KoFi  - Support me ♥ or Commission me Story under the cut!

  The sun was low, the day was crisp. Afternoon settled over the land and into the bones of workers hungering for the sweet end of their weekend shifts just to make a bit of extra money and finally be with their beloved home.

Outside, a few people got ready to enjoy the Saturday night, to go wild and party and dance until their bodies had different shames and their head carried different names. The first groups emerged from the home-coming crowds as the birds flew back to their nests and the first buses took the party people over to the pool of sweaty bodies and alcoholic beverages.

Inside, some people reunited their families, others were greeting the next groups of wellness-seeking average people who just lived for getting a meal cooked for them once in a while.

In other places, the party was already high up. It was autumn, Saturday afternoon and so late, you could almost call it evening with the clouds closing in to frame the sun. The bright star was slowly descending, disappearing behind the busy streets and high skyscrapers.

Virgil and Remy... they were the last kind of people. Ever since their roommate - Emile, lovely and beloved datemate of theirs - was out to meet his parents and do some catching up stuff, Remy had decided that it was time to do some catching up as well.

Holding up a bottle of strong alcohol, he had invited Virgil into the “fun” they would have and all the other could see was the impending doom within a bottle. Still, he had given in and willingly decided to slurp some of the disgusting and burning liquid from Remy’s bouncing navel piercing.

Virgil had never forgotten his doubts as quick as in these moments.

Drinking was far beyond by now, the sun was burning with the last intensity of a stubborn yet dying ally. The last words were spoken and Remy sagged against his love.

“wmhwmhw V..”, he mumbled and snuggled against the taller boy.

Virgil swatted at the other but made no attempt at actually pushing him off or anything. Instead, he wrapped an arm around him after trying to get at his little coffee bean. He wavered on his feet but made sure to lean against the counter as Remy just decided to give in and crush Virgil with the whole weight of being responsible to hold him up.

“The fwuck yo...yo wan-mmm “, Virgil hiccuped as he snuggled the other, “uh.. Ri?”

His voice was low and the words came out much clearer than expected but Virgil was worse off than Remy, despite the heavy hiccuping that came from the smaller of the two.

“VIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii”, Remy shouted at once, then dragged the syllable along as if it was a piece of chewed out, wet gum rather than a nickname.

The man in question just let out a grunt in reply but looked at the shorter guy with hazy hazel eyes. Heh, hazel hazy... hazyel... Pf..

Virgil’s lips twitched into a lazy smile. His arm tugged at Remy who had not enough control over his body to resist the strong suggestion of cuddling closer. The tall, slightly curvy man chuckled a bit and flapped his long lanky arms around his lovely Remy.

“Ri-Ri - Remyyyyyy”, he giggled in a singsong voice as he rocked from left to right and left to right and further to the right and then stopped.. because he lost the unsteady rhythm his drunkass-stupid mind had set up before. He was even too silly to follow his unconscious motifs.

The smaller man was torn between giggling and breaking off the whole hug but the rocking movement was something between nauseating and comforting in a way that he felt too mentally and physically weak in his knees to put a foot down and stop it. He just let his baggy body sluggishly fall from one to the other side within Virgil’s soggy grip.

“Nuuu”, Remy protested. He was so short of breath, he just snuggled back against Virgil’s chest and let out more distressed noises of Remy’s Complaints :tm: “Vii....”, he started again, his mind gathering every bit of brain juice he had to actually continue his intention and voice whatever weird thought had built up in his mind, “food..we..”

Remy swallowed.

“we need foo...fofof..foof....” Remy scoffed at himself, indignation taking over as he felt anger rise against his useless mouth. How dare it just suck at wording like this? “f-food. FucKING food!”

Spit flew against Virgil’s purple shirt but he was too dizzy to really see it. His mind was everywhere and it felt as if nothing was steady but instead, all was moving. He knew nothing should be moving and he had stopped rocking forever ago.

Wait, where was he? Oh, oh yes. Remy.

“uh.. what?”

He blinked and redirected his attention to the other again.

“Uh.. fo-forgot to .. uh .. what .. um, did you say? “

His mind was still drawing a blank at him so he just stared at Remy, hazel eyes empty and void of expectation or thought. He lacked about anything but a high blood sugar level and tons of alcohol. Yes. Yes, so much alcohol of it.. of this bottle and another bottle and oh man..

“Virgil - Vi Vi vI vI v iv iv viv - bitch! virgIL you stupid fucker”

Remy ranted on and patted his chest violently, insistently. The other blinked and just... nodded again, his wavy attention slowly wobbling back into place as Remy wanted to have it. His mind felt like these ... these screens ..oh man these screens... sleep screens? These screens that happen when you do not use your shit and then your technology gives you that DVD screen and the symbol changes colour and wobbles from one corner to another and usually just hits walls.

This was his mind right now.

“Virgil” Remy flapped a hand against Virgil’s cheek. “Like,... food... we gotta eat and this shit.... food... just food, man”

He voice started to sound like he was talking about a conspiracy rather than preparing a meal with one of his datemates.

Virgil carefully nodded. Still, his face seemed as droopy and out-of-this-world as before. Connecting to him seemed about impossible bit Remy was trying his best and somewhat succeeding at this point.

At last, the taller one was looking down at the man in black. A slightly oversized top was hugging Remy’s sides and slacked a bit around his chest area. Forever stoic, the tall over squinted at Remy and nodded.

“Food”, he repeated.

Slowly, at an incredibly ancient pace, Virgil’s mind seemed to start and actually process the idea of food, a meal. Yes, food. Food sounded good, sounded like an amazing thing to have. Oh, yes food could be tasty and they could eat together and have really tasty food that was delicious.

“Em has foood”, he argued eventually.

Yeah, whyever the hell would Virgil make food if it was not in order to satisfy Emile’s petite hunger. His mind just could not comprehend the idea of .... making a meal when Emile was gone. Why would he? It did not make sense.

Unless..

Virgil blinked, a flash of intelligence brushing through his alcohol-numbed braincells. Remy.

“hungry... uh.. you “, he started at first, then swallowed, his mouth tasting of cherries and kisses even sweeter than sugared fruit. And it tasted of a lot of alcohol. It could rival a bottle of common sanitising solution, to be candid. “You are hungry?”

Remy nodded eagerly!

His head bopped up and down immediately but once he had executed the movement for a bit, his head seemed to understand that the pressure and pain seemed to come from the sensation of sudden and repetitive movement of his innocent brain. If he tried harder, maybe he would just make a little cocktail in his head.

Heh, like a brain milkshake when you ate icecream a lot and it started hurting so you shake your head until the pain comes off. Brainfreeze was bad. Yes.

But food!!

“ah - uh.. food”, Remy repeated once more, “cook - um,.. we should cook.”

Virgil nodded without understanding and let himself be tugged along. The smaller boyfriend was freeing himself from Virgil’s wide hugs and he quickly made it out of the embrace and stepped away from the loving support that was his boyfriend’s stable shoulder.

Without missing another heartbeat, Remy strode forward and dragged Virgil along. Together, they made a move, they made progress, they took a whole step after the other until Remy - the genius of the two - made a big realisation- Virgil had been his support all along.

His body did not like being without any wall or shoudler to lean on. Instead of moving forward, he was suddenly experiencing the force of being forced downwards and he and Virgil bonked their heads together as they stupidly collapsed into the floor.

No braincell was lost in the process of making this fall. They were just as silly before the fall and they would continue to be silly even afterwards. Honestly, they were not more clever, now that they had experienced the first hardship.

Oh no. Those were drunk idiots.

Hurting heads clanked together and Virgil slid over the body underneath him, his throbbing temples restricting his reason and patience.

What had happpened? Did they not want to make food? But the food... Where was the food?

“Where ‘s Em?”, Virgil mumbled and scrambled his twig of a physical vessel back into a seating position at last.

Remy was still on the floor, groaning and cursing unintelligible strings of words. Maybe they were made-up words. They sounded made-up. Virgil’s boyfriend was beautiful and a really clever writer so he probably knew how to make words. Wow, such great skill.

He really wanted to kiss him now but a part of him was still mourning after the - once again - new realisation of a missing Emile.

“Viiiiiiiiiii”

A voice whined and the black bundle of boyfriend was moving towards him again, hands facing him and arms outstretched as if to grab Virgil like a lifeline.

“Em is not here...”, Virgil responded and laid back down to his partner.

Misery loves company ♥

The tall boy curled around the smaller one and gently hugged him from behind. Remy let out a little hiccup and snuggled into the embrace.

“n we dun hav food”, he argued silently and nudged Virgil’s chest with his heavy head. It was running on pain and simply pressing against his skull for no reason but to be dummy annoying.

That stupid bitch.

“We uh.. can umm.... do this thing - like..uh, cook..” Virgil swallowed, his body suddenly invigorated by the energy of being right about something, by having a single functioning braincell in his godforsaken drunk-ass head. “Cook! Oh my fuck, we-we can cook!”

The raven man twitched and tapped the floor insistently.

“PIZZA!”

Virgil nodded.

“uh.. how.. how do you.. uh ,,, we? How ... how pizza? How do you make uh, ujm.. pizza”

“Oh !! o ! yes, pizza!”

Virgil’s mind was already swirling around the idea of hot, cheesy, greasy food. Tasty, doughy and absolutely amazing for his mouth - his tastebuds. It felt like a relief already.

In foolish happiness, the two got up. It took a while, longer than a few moments but rather multiple minutes until they had climbed and dragged themselves back up to the position of standing, sophisticated human beings. Not that they were a part of the fancy beings but rather that they seemed to resemble this species a bit more than any other.

Eventually, Remy hung over the drawer filled with snacks. He needed to eat, wanted to eat and he had a certain craving for the greasiest of foods. The black dude grabbed the crisps and hugged them to himself, snuggling up on topf of the kitchen counter with the little snack as Virgil got minced meat to make a killer festival of a greasy pizza dish. Remy started off good! His hands grabbed the package from two sides and started pulling. For some reason, still, his grip seemed to slip. His fingers just couldn't grasp the material properly. It was one of the shiny packages that felt smoother than these matte ones. Virgil liked the texture better so they usually got these rather than other ones.

Just.. today.. they didn't seem to want to open and Remy, in his silly mind, was convinced that more violence and stubbornness would solve the issue better than scissors would ever be able to. Virgil got a pan and was ready to got. Meat, pan. What else would a person need?

His drunk mind started working, gears setting into motion and letting his thought process start. Just as he realised that maybe some oil would be helpful, he heard a loud sound, a sudden shuffling and scattering.

The hazy mind of Virgil redirected his shortened attention span to the source of sound and was met with the sight of Remy covered in spices and crisps. Opening the pack of crisps with a little more aggression was not as practical as he had expected it to be and now he was stuck on the kitchen counter, covered in crisps and crumbs and excess spice powder.

“...uh..”

The tall blob of confusion looked at the orange boy. Yes, Remy was now officially orange. Those were spicy crisps! Honestly, if someone was able to pull off being covered in crisps, drunk out of their mind yet still look somewhat remotely attractive then it was Remy.

The hungry man giggled, his body vibrating and and shaking in amusement. The crisps travelled down, sliding off his clothes and down onto the counter.

“I am tasty!”, he cheered, arms stretched out and ready to hug and tackle the issue at hand, “look!”

The taller one of the lovers just shook his head and leaned in, snatching one off the crisps with his tongue and welcoming the spicy hot treat into the drooling cavern that was his mouth. A hum escaped his mouth and he nodded his head sagely.

“Very tasty”

The two giggled further, Virgil curling his tall posture into a slightly crooked “l” as he  leaned closer to the counter. His hand grasped the edge and promptly encountered one of the lost crisps that cracked and broke on impact. A dying screech could be heard after the lethal contact. A few crumbs could be found on the inside of Virgil’s hand as he retreated his palm in the curiosity of an innocent child’s mind.

“huh..”, he observed wisely. His tongue leaped at the crumbs and he absorbed the piece of sustenance.

“We need to clean .. uh.. that”, he added after chewing on his food and eventually swallowing it down. His left vaguely gestured towards the mess of roasted potatoes decorating one of his datemate’s bodies.

It was a wondrous sight but would turn Emile into an upset little puppy rather than a happy and excited Golden Retriever. He did have the soft energy of one.

Remy nodded again. One of his hands bravely sneaked one of the crispy delights and rewarded his watering mouth with the taste of bell peppers.

“Ish gwood”

Virgil snorted.

“Em- uh.. We- we need to clean”, he reiterated, “we gotta clean.”

The smaller man suddenly shook, his body coming to life and more avalanche of crumbs suddenly breaking from Mount Remy and crashing down onto the kitchen counter with silent pitter-patter sounds. It was like raindrops but less liquid and more dry. More crunchy and crushing.

Satisfying.

“We! Uh, we can..ah- do uh.. um! Bowl! V! Get a bowl!”

The taller of the two broke away from his waiting stance and slowly descended to his knees to pick up a bowl. His mind comprehended the things a bit better by now. The alcohol might be fading or maybe the one bit of crisps was absorbing ALL his alcohol within him.

Or magic, obviously.

They got the crisps from the kitchen counter and off Remy right into the bowl which was then settled in Remy’s happy lap. He was welcoming and neighbourly to the bowl, hugged it and treated it right because he was proper and gentlemanly in his foggy mind.

Virgil looked at the bowl, full and rich with greasy little pieces of potatoes and a mix of spices.

“uh.. they um.. they will be bad”, he thought aloud and tapped against the bowl as he fished another bit out of it. His mouth was accepting the treat willingly and his stomach howled in anticipation. Only his mind was still twisting and turning and nothing made sense. Not that he minded too much. His body was warm and cozy and his thoughts seemed to fly. “we um.. should eat all.”

Remy hugged the bowl, his face immediately scrunching up in distaste.

“Food!”

The smaller man curled up, his legs moving up and his back hitting the wall as he pulled his knees up to his chest. The bowl was put between his chest and the knees.

His precious treasure.

“Ri, we... you are eating it. We will eat it”, Virgil compromised and reached out for the bowl but Remy hissed at him. The heart of a betrayed man was on his tongue as he scowled at the other and gently snuggled his little meal.

A soft puppy face spread over his facial features.

“We eat it..?”

His voice was softer than silk, the tone lowered to a plead. Virgil’s smile was soft and genuine when it appeared and settled on his features. He tried to mimic a similar level of gentleness with his voice and carefully brushed over the back of one of Ri’s hands that was grasping the bowl.

“We will eat it all. No throwing away.”

Remy smiled at him and nodded enthusiastically.

“We share!”

The two were calmly eating out the bowl, enjoying the greasy treat and Virgil allowed himself to lean into the counter and lay next to Remy. The latter eventually decided to be a good bean and switch the bowl with Virgil. Once one of his datemates was sprawled over his thighs, Remy brushed through the pastel pink hair tips of his love’s soft strands. The home dyejob was long ago and the colour was faded so much that the bleached hair slowly took over but Virgil seemed comfortable with a tuff of cotton candy as his hair.

He hummed.

“Food... V.. “, he commented and gently patted his head - earning a little gasp from the other in his state of mindless relaxation. “perfect”

Virgil giggled, the words of his Remy immediately prompting the response their datemate would usually add to it.

“Do you mean ‘purrfect’ ?”, the two inquired in unison before falling victim to their own giggles which soon consumed the incomplete throuple. They would both hear Em’s voice without him being around.

Remy softly nudged his love and Virgil let out a soft grumble. He decided to groan back and nudge again to insist on his wish that the tall boy move.

“We still need to cook, yanno”

Virgil giggled, wobbling on his feet with his wonky stand on the ground. He shifted his weight from one side to the other and moved like a wave to balance his uncertain steps.

“Heh.. cock”, he commented, intelligently so.

Remy joined his hilarious giggles and soon enough, the Virgil curled over the other, hugging him and vibrating in laughter as his smaller roommate shook and twitched in his soft snickers.

“C-cok..!”, Remy tried to correct yet failed as his breathless lungs swallowed half his sounds. Instead, his miserable attempt at setting things straight ended up in making the whole endeavour even gayer. “Co-..cockpfffffffffff”

Virgil shook his head, head red with laughter and euphoria as the words hit him and the meaning actually reached his mind. For some reason, repeating “cock” was amazing and his mind chanted it back at him, echoing the stuttered out attempts at saying “cook” that Remy produced with little success and much struggle.

“c-...”, Virgil laughed loudly, drawing back and wobbling onto his feet once more instead of blanketing his love with the abomination of his oddly large body, “co...cocc!!”

Remy had just composed himself to as much as breathe for a little second but the words Virgil threw into their version of a conversation quickly rekindled the fire of shrieking laughter and gasping snickers.

The two continued simply repeating each others miserable shots at saying “cook” a few more times, wild banter or unfinished words and breathless syllables were between them and filled the room with the warmth it was missing with their datemate still out. Heads grew hot and glowed in amusement at their stupid joke. Nothin could stop them but their horrible need to breathe after all.

They calmed down and their laughter died down.

Virgil decorated the floor, hugging the cool tiles with his warm tomato head as Remy patted the empty counter he sat on, his hand just mindlessly moving against it, stroking it ever so gently like a lover should be caressed. The tall boy was already half asleep as Remy’s hazy look wandered over the mess of a kitchen.

Crisps were still scattered wildly around the kitchen counter (mostly limited to where he was sitting) and even the floor. Cups, shots and little decorative umbrellas were clotting the sink and a few empty cans and bottles lined the side of the sink that did not have a drying rack. Even further, there were towels and napkins everywhere.. and more importantly, a pack of meat and a whole bottle of olive oil.

Why.. Oh, yes. The food.

His lethargic sight was enriched by the eventual addition of crisps creeping into his field of vision.

“V!!! V! The fooooood”

His words emphasised the food part. The significant part. Oddly enough, he could experience a moment of déjà vu yet without any recollection of similar events happening to him. Or happening at all.

The patch of pink and purple pastels was still on the floor but slowly, the legs within the pink yoga pants started stirring up.

He groaned again, feeling the déjà vu also but not being able to quite place it. The past minutes were lost on him. Virgil’s eyes blinked at the new day and new situation before him. Everything was fresh to his drunk mind and he nodded as he signaled he had heard his smaller lover.

He scratched his butt but made sure to flip himself over so he could see the other hovering over him on his divine place on the kitchen counter. Far above him, posing on the clouds of this mundane kitchen. The house’s own Cupid was shooting him glances of love and blinked in charm with his lovely eyelashes.

Virgil smiled up at the divine sight of his love. His sight was blurred by the pinkish veil of his hair that pretended to protect his lazy eyes from the longing lights in the kitchen that shone down onto him.

“Hey there, beauty~”

His smile grew into a little grin as he winked at the comfortable god.

“V you silly noodle~ “

Remy giggled back and curled into himself once more, by now fully laying on his kitchen cloud. His legs were slightly bent, the one pressed against the counter a bit more so than the one above it. One of his arms was supporting him as he leaned on its shoulder. The other arm was lazily draped over his rich middle.

His fingers traced hearts over the counter as he blinked into the pink madness of his little giant.

“What do you want, my love~?”

Virgil smirked up at his adorable master, a stupid happiness painting his facial features with a certain softness. Maybe it was just the fact half his face was covered in his bangs completely falling all over his eyes and even tickling his nubby nose.

The two gazed at one another, each a picture of the epitome of beauty to the other. They relished in the affection, the rosy vision and blurry flutters in their heart.

A noise could be heard. Remy blinked, awakening from the trance that was the spell of love his precious Virgil had cast on him with just his soft looks.

A rumble and grumble could be heard. A hollering and squeaking of demands and curses was thrown around - all coming from the hungry monster in Remy’s stomach. He looked down at it, a distant look in his eyes.

Confusion rolled in his mind but Virgil seemed to remember - or just suddenly have a little bit of understanding left in his mind. He blinked his eyes further open and patted the floor, gently stroking it before pulling himself together and sitting down properly.

“Riri, the f o o d!”, he told him and grabbed the counter to support himself in getting up. His tall body was soon hovering over the counter and gesturing towards the oil and meat once more. “We can cook the meat, man”

Remy nodded, rubbing his eyes. He carefully pushed himself into position once more and soon enough sat proudly on the counter, cheek a bit red from laying on the counter. He played with the sunglasses on top of his head and grabbed a nearby bottle. Taking a huge swig from it, he swallowed the acidic liquid.

His face immediately grimaced as his taste buds detected the different sensations coming at them and his reaction was immediate. The bitterness of alcohol, the intense burning of it down his throat made him scrunch up his facial features entirely. A fire was felt in his mouth but it was calmed by the abundance of sweetness mixed into their cocktail blend was finally reaching him. A taste of fruity freshness and the acidic undertone from lemons and limes washed the bitterness way and made him forget about the disgusting aftertaste of cheap vodka.

Ugh, who bought this shit anyway. It was one of the most widely-ruined alcoholic beverages on this planet and people just saw it as cheap ingredient for a sad cocktail in their plan to get smashed with as little money and effort as possible. Which he and Virgil did too, so he could not really judge that.

Virgil.. Virgil who was looking at him, head tilted and exposing his neck a bit. His pastel purple shirt around him was loosely hanging from him and barely covering his collarbone and general neck area.

The tall pastel boy reached for the bottle before Remy got to unscrew it and made sure to empty the rest into his big mouth. Remy just blinked at the other, shaking himself in disgust for a moment before he received the empty bottle in his hands and finally shut the holder of horribly disgusting sweetness.

“Good”, Virgil reviewed with a click of his tongue.

A pleased expression settled on his face and he looked like a peaceful statue of stone that would sit in some temples and parks.

Remy shook his head, his piercings clanging together with silent sound akin to jingling bells. The taller datemate cleared his throat again and pointed ta the stove.

“You gonna come.. come and uh.. help me cook?”, he asked softly as he looked at his lovely datemate. He was such a handsome piece of man. A fine man in black from head to toe, even his earrings and piercings were black (safe for the septum in silver than graced his lovely nose).

The smaller goth got down to the floor and quickly wrapped his arms around Virgil’s soft middle.

“mmmh”

Remy hummed and gently snuggled up to the walking softness that was one of his boyfriends. Sometimes he just realised that they had not touched in a while and it felt ridiculous.. wrong, in a way.

The closeness was remedying the little void in his touch-o-meter. He snuggled up to Virgil’s chest, hugging him close and simply enjoying how the embrace was returned. Virgil’s large arms folded around him, carefully holding him and shielding him from the touch-starved life without him. The taller one softly started rocking after he pressed a little smooch to the top of his head.

“Got you, Smalls”

Remy let out a sound of protest but stayed within the hold. No fight, no resistance. It was just cuddling softly, eyes closed and hearts opened as the warmth of affection lulled them in. Slowly, the weight in Virgil’s arms became more present, the pressure against his chest a little uncomfortable as Remy dozed off, falling against the tall pastel bean.

“ m nodt smahls”

His eyes fought to open again and he lethargically burdened himself with blinking at the other.

“Ssure not l-llove”, Virgil giggled in return and leaned down to hug more of his little lover.

Emile was still not with them and it was nagging at him.

“m!”, Virgil argued, pulling away from Remy at once, “We clan - can!Uh ... um.. Cook and and then be up um.. for uh.. for when Emile uh .. retwurns back uh .. home!” He bounced a bit in his spot and turned his attention back to the stove, quickly moving to put some oil into the pan he had put out before.

“He-he can eat th-the food and ...b..uh.. be proud of us!”

Virgil got on to it, totally absorbing himself in the magical art of fucking preparing food - a meal, even so. The only thing was that the whole process seemed a little lost on him. Once the oil was in and the stove started to heat up the pan along with the oil, he was a bit.. clueless and left to the devices of a person just as unknowledgable as a child. Or, well, a drunkass FULLY grown adult who does not understand life but is tall enough to eat BABIES.

Helplessly, he turned to Remy as the oil startd to change. It did not look just the same as before, there was something happening. There were small bubbles and it felt like some bride’s veil was just dropped in this shit and now everything was slowly whitish but in a really weird and odd blur. Holy fuck, it got more.

There was even more. They got more and more by the minute, soon enough covering the bottom of the whole pan and effectively taking over the oil.

Oh no. It was... It could not be!

This shit was fighting the oil.

“REMY”, Virgil yelled instinctively as he grabbed his smaller man and hugged him close, effectively trapping him in the sweet embrace of absolute and immediate anxiety edging on panic.

The smaller individual stared at the oil, the whitish bubbles in it and saw the sizzling, witnessed the soft little sounds, almost friendly enough to woe him into believing its innocence but he was smarter than that. He would not be fooled into falling for this cheap trick. He was a serious and super intelligent man. He was capable, strong, handsome, gay, hungry and even more fucking gay if he did not mention it before.

Nothing and nobody would or should ever mess with a Queen, a Diva like Remy.

Not even oil. No matter how tasty and delicious it seemed to be .. or smell. How did simple greasy shit already smell so aromatic? Honestly, this was peak restaurant ambient!

Remy held his tall boy and hissed back at the rude intruder.

“Oh, you -”, he challenged with the sudden flow of determination hitting him. The alcohol was driving into his bloodstream and fuelling his confidence to the point of proud idiocy.

He eyed the pan... quickly, he could realise the oil jumping at them, starting the fight, picking up weapons and hitting the first men!

“TAKE COVER!”

The malicious entity has chosen.. death. Ah, alright. Remy saw that. Remy understood.

He was a clever man.

He blinked, refreshing his mind and eyes at once. Within SECONDS - because he was a genius among mortals - he had calculated e v e r y t h i n g.

The oil was coming for them, launching missiles of little white bubbles and hot hard pain at them. It was seething, it was cruel and it was not the last word of blood and injury spoken between them. Remy predicted the attacks swiftly, his mind working overtime at the task of working out a plan as he threw himself against Virgil to dramatically shift them out of shooting range.

They needed to be safe from this evil monster, the ill-spirited being of oily disasters and compromised bubbles of seething, white rage.

“Virgil, Virgil we - “, he started, gasping his words out as if a terrible injury was keeping him from breathing and speaking properly, “we need to stop it!”

The long man nodded, gaze shifting from the monstrosity of oil he had unleashed and the alarmed face of Remy’s usually so calm features. He reminded him of a person at gym, you know, those fitness coaches that were really into physical exercise and they would push you to your limits so hard, you wanted to cry. Kinda. A weird cry of yes and no but it was no maybe, not really. Actually, it was not maybe at all.

It was weird and it was painfully feigned enthusiasm for self-torturing devices.

Wait, how did he - Oh yes, the oil.

“We, um.. uh .. stop it”, Virgil agreed.

A small tinge of regret stabbed him like the shady little bitch it was. Just a fucking little backstabber getting back at him - literally, pun not intended - when he least expected it, when he was exposed and vulnerable. Okay, he was always vulnerable.

Virgil waved his hand around as if to fan the danger away with his magical drunk powers of dummy-thiccness.

“We can distract it”, he slowly suggested, his voice slowing down significantly, “away from us.”

His hands were parallel to one another, as if to indicate a certain length that was the space between his hands. The palms faced one another and he moved the pair of hands from one side to another with an air of importance surrounding him.

Remy nodded with great authority.

“Amazing plan!”

He agreed with a cheer and stared back at the raging fireworks of oil bullets littering the kitchen with greasy spots and defacing destructing. The situation got out of hand, slowly but surely so.

Burning olives could be smelled. They were the souls of the dead, the fallen and forgotten. Their sacrifice would not be for nothing, it would not be dismissed as collateral damage.

Virgil dashed forward, running straight through the shower of oily precipitation raining down on him, his vulnerable pastel soft self. He screamed, screeched and cried in battle demeanour and aggressively threw his head back to face his opponent.

“I will take it from here!”

Virgil stared at the pan, the drawer underneath it heavily attacked by the angrily steaming monster. It was where all the lids were.

“Ri!”, the pastel baby called through the loud hissing and shrieking of the raging dumpsterfire that was hot and burning oil, “You go bash that meat into this shit”

Virgil swallowed hard, the words on his tongue too much for him to comprehend, tears forming in his eyes as he came to terms with what he was about to announce. “I will go get the lid and shut this fucker up”

Silence.

When radios or TV channels hit an error, there was that weird static sound, somewhat intense and monotone but persistent. It was this kind of sound that seemed to dominate the battlefield the oily savage had forced upon this kitchen. Their kitchen..... It would pay for it.

Remy’s beautiful face of love and darkness was derailing into a shocked movement of mouthing protests, proposing empty alternatives to the plan. Virgil shook his head decidedly, not even paying mind to the multiple Remys before him.

It was just an oil job. That shit had messed with their kitchen enough but it would not mess any further with him and one of his dear beloved ones.

He looked down at his arms, spots of burned skin meeting his vision. Future scars of the heroic action he was about to complete. There was flesh missing in his mind, in this kitchen. It was lost like the comrades they had forever missed in battle. The salt shaker, the cocktail glass... The little spoon with sugar crystals still on and around it. They had fallen and they were to never return.

The two engaged in eye contact for a moment lasting longer than a heart’s eternity. Their eyes longingly connected, just a bit, only a second.

Remy gulps down his hesitation and fear. While the oily giant was harmless at first, it was fear-inducing and absolutely horrifying by now. It was teaching them the lessons of obedience and pain - the hard way. Their hearts knew love from each other but they also felt the terror blown into them by the horrific enemy rising in their kitchen.

Virgil nods.

The time has come.

The nod was slow, an exaggerated movement in order to make sure Remy would not miss it. Compared to the following actions, it was basically slow motion. Then, everything happened at once, happened in quick succession and happened incredibly so.

Remy dashed forward to the meat and just flung it right into the pan at once while Virgil slid all over the floor to the drawer and Pulle out a lid just to immediately smash it on top of the pan, covering up the oily mess and saving them from the dictatorship or violence and hatred.

Just like that it was over, they counted their wounds and embraced each other as shivers and memories crawled up their spines. They knew what have been through and they wouldn't be able to just live it down. It would stay.

The raging fire of the defeated oil could still be heard but it was contained at last, it was not out there to hurt them anymore. they were safe and sound in each other's arms. Remy squeezed the pastel blob in his arms, the slightly taller male wincing at the friction and pressure against his wounded skin. His exposed arms smelled like burned meat.

Or maybe it was just the actual minced meat cooking in the pan. They didn't know.

The sage hand turned down the heat of the stove and Virgil gently nuzzled his boyfriend's neck, his fine face quickly hidden in the collar of Remy's black jacket. Not even at home was the place for Remy to take it off. He was more comfortable in it and he absolutely was right in just how stunning and badass he looked with it decorating his biceps.

Virgil gently dove deeper into the embrace and just sighed, softly mumbling nice things, little praises and compliments for his beloved datemate. The other carefully reassured him, told him he was proud and that it was over.

The oil was still angrily boiling and loudly seizing the meat inside.

Remy carefully nudged his love and have his cheek a little smooch.

"We did it" he concluded and gently squeezed his hands. Virgil nodded, lips curved up and humming in affirmation. "You're a brave one, Rem", he shot back.

The addressed man let out a small sound, something akin to a groan. His cheeks were dusted in red feathery delight of a warm blush. He gently shook his head and peppered a few more kisses all over Virgil's scarred face.

"No, you", he softly countered.

Virgil giggled and shook his head as he pulled away and turned to the food. The smell of cooked meat was reaching up to their nostrils, spoiling and temping them with the luxurious scent of a promising meal.

His stomach rumbled in anticipation.

"Cheese?"

Remy tilted his head as he carefully pushed Virgil out of the way to stir the food without getting hurt. Even with some oil spilling around and shooting into his direction, the jacket protected him. Virgil's soft appearance wasn't covered up enough for him to be safe from the deathly syringes of oil doses. He got the hint and stumbled around to get his jacket. Emile and Remy had hade it for him.

He loved it so much.

"Yes, cheese. Of course"

The two, now oddly sober, cuddled up before the stove and got into the whole cooking process.

Virgil got cups of actual water for them at last and they both drank this. They didn't feel ask dizzy and odd anymore, nor just focused and immersed in the idea of eating food. The smell really did it to them.

Virgil had added some spices and Remy sneaked some more crisps into his mouth, occasionally feeding some to his beloved soulmate. Well, one of them.

He softly rests his head against Virgil's shoulder as he stirred cut tomatoes into the mix. Some herbs and beans were added by Virgil at this moment.

Who would have thought they would eventually get to make food at all? They certainly believed in it, during the times when they actually remembered wanting to make food.

The pastel pal snuggled up to Remy, leaning against the much stronger one and simply dozing to the delicious smell of probably just slightly burned food. Remy nudged his datemate to the couch to doze a bit. Virgil was hugging a bundle of blankets rather than covering himself up. He looked ready for more hugs as he silently whimpered for Ri to give up on the food and just cuddle him.

Meanwhile, Remy mixed grated cheese under the food and added fresh lettuce like the genius he was. His mind was young, hungry and drunk but he was also wild and free. Especially free of logic. The emptied cans were cluttered all over the kitchen and barely any space was left unoccupied from the drunk ramblings of idiot amateur cooks.

Towels, trash, cutlery and plates were all over the place, some cutting boards adding to the mix and obviously many bottles and cups. The oily mess all over the counters and the floor wasn't even spoken of at this point. There were still so many other stains in the usually so clean and tidied up kitchen. Usually, Remy would take care of cleaning the kitchen, keeping it neat and clear at all costs but right now, he was not in the mindset. He was drooling over the food the had made. It was probably way past midnight, yet he was focused on the food.

The steaming hot goddess was lazily falling from his big cooking spoons as he stirred and mixed stringy cheese into the mix of spices and meat and so so many tomatoes. Considering their state, they could have cooked worse food. The heaps of reddish "stew" heavily fell back into the pot. By now the strings of molten cheese were drawing lines and twirl through the wonderful creation.

Oregano tickled his nose.

He got a big bowl and basically spilled 80% of the stuff into it. The bowl greedily absorbed the food, taking it in and deliciously spreading itself with the tempting smell and sight. in Remy's mind, he had halved the whole drunk masterpiece of smells and tastes but reality didn't exactly reflect his beliefs accordingly.

He didn't mind the few bits of mashed-up food staining the sides around the bowl. Not that the kitchen was suddenly turned into a worse mess by this. It wasn't a significant addition but rather the cherry on top of a true mess.

Anyhow, the food was done and ready to feed them. He got three spoons in all his laziness and wobble his tickling legs into the living room with his love. Emile would be bs ck soon and he would be able to eat with them and enjoy it along with them. It was just a matter of minutes, right?

The goth popped up next to Virgil, dropping the bowl on the table with the flattering spoons clashing onto the glass table in front of them. Virgil was curled up in his corner, stubbornly and lovingly hugging the pile of pink blankets. They had a rose pattern all over them. As much as Remy adored seeing the contrast of Virgil's mostly white and pastel pink appearance with the more intense rose colour and the floral patterns. Green and reddish hues seemed so stark and radical next to the soft colour scheme that he presented with his peaceful figure of a dozing drunk cuddlebug. Still, the knowledge this used to be a gift his ex had given him didn't sit right with him. Not exactly, at least.

Remy nudged him.

"Love, the food is done", he gently reminded him, him voice pressing against its ground and keeping it as low. It was a ducked down figure in a dark corridor at night when everyone was asleep but the little figure that was the voice.

"huhmm", the pastel punk mumbled softly and stirred ever so slightly, his curled up body opening up for Remy to fill his arms rather than the blanket. His halfway covered face was more visible by now since he tilted it a bit.

Remy smiled a tad.

"Come over love", he invited gently and patted his lap as he brushed over Virgil's arched back with his other hand. "mwmm"

Remy hummed back in return.

The pastel bean shifted over into his boyfriend's lap, resting himself in it with the upper half of his body as he curled up on the new space, now with his arms loosely wrapped around nothing but the love between them.

He felt Remy brush one hand through his dyed hair and his lungs immediately relieved a breath which came out in the form of a sigh. The smaller of the two giggled.

He hummed.

''You slee..sleeby..?'', he asked softly, his voice ending in a low hum.

Thoughts and words were mentally swirling around like noodles in a nostalgic childhood soup. You know – the ones with noodle letters in it. They were aimlessly whooshing from side to side, queerly dancing in an uncertain rhythm with uncoordinated movements guiding them into the unknown. Neither Virgil nor Remy were ready to bring order into the mess of lost letters and unconnected pieces.

There was some sense between them when Virgil basically purred under the ghastly touches, these bare fingers gracing his skull and caressing his pounding head. The tall man curled up into a ball, reaching out to lazily grab one of the hands Remy needed to keep around him somewhere. In his hazy state of mind, Virgil just somewhat expected a random Remy-hand to float around before him because surely the hand to touch him was in front of him .. logically. Yes, he totally deduced that by means of not looking around because his eyes were so heavy with the pleasure of being touched so delicately, the satisfaction of being handled with great care as if he was a fragile glass of thin sugar – just a moment about to break apart, melt away or dissolve into sugary water.

Sadly, his extremely intense and complex calculations turned out to be – surprisingly – wrong after all, leaving Virgil wondering just how he ended up with an empty handful of nothing but all the needs for more body contact he had harboured in it before his attempt at catching more of at least one of his beloved datemates. Involuntarily, he let out a sound of disagreement, a sort of angry hamster sound.

His hand fell over Remy's lap, simply collapsing over it with the sound of frustration and slight anger accompanying the dramatic fall of his unmotivated limb. Virgil instinctively curled further into his fetal position as Remy tried his best to conceal the chuckle rumbling up from within his chest.

He was trembling with amusement but, picking up on the distressed Virgil-sounds, he reminded himself to maintain at least a small amount of countenance in order to not repeatedly poke his sensitivities. The goth was not making fun of him after all or finding his distress to be somewhat entertaining at all. His drunk brain just... short-circuited at how adorable yet odd his lovely idiot sounded when he randomly stretched out his arm just to immediately let it flop down onto his lap and just groan at it as if moving was the worst punishment to ever happen to him.

Virgil's hands were already working up to his hood, confused finger tips tugging at it and letting it clumsily slip through them because fabric was so hard to hold onto. His uncoordinated grip on them caused him to lose his motion many times as Remy leaned back to give him the space he needed to curl his fingers around the hem of his hood. He squealed and screeched in anger at the exhaustive process of getting this right.

Eventually, though, he got his fingers tightly buried in the hood, knuckles turning white as his tired kind just moved his head along with motioning the hood to lower over his head and prevent the access Remy's gentle fingers used to have to his soft hair.

''Oh, darling, nu'', Remy tried softly, his voice attempting to reach out to the closed off taller bean before him. ''Hey there, lil' coff'he bean''

He poked around, carefully searching to reach the long nose in the excess of fabric that stretched over a great part of Virgil's face. It averted itself when Remy fianlly got around to brush against his nose.

''Nu'', he spat out at once, his hands trying to pull the blanket over him as well.

Remy patted his head but the so-called ''coffee bean'' was retreating and hissing at him.

''Com'on, my coff' bean'', he cooed once more, his voice softly sneaking into Virgil's mind, into his heart. Slowly and surely, it got around to actually stop his fingers from pawing at the damned blanket. This cursed stupid pink fabric with its silly roses and vines all over it.

...M.. Shtupid.. roses.. n stupid ''Princey'' guy.. This was their Virg. Theirs only.

Remy kept himself from narrowing his eyes at the enemy. There was no time to be jealous when his little bean curled away from him. This was worse heartache to him than a past lover he and Emile had clearly helped Virgil get over. He nudged him again and the pastel ball returned another hazy noise in reply. It sounded much like a stubborn ''nu-uh!''

''I didn ..laugh about yu, my dear'' He cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes patiently. '' 'm just laughed b'cuz ..am so hap-...happ...happy to be wif..wiff you-you'', he started, a little hiccup interrupting him, ''and to see you“

Another hiccup rudely disrupted his flow of speech.

''in mah lap, hun.''

The charcoal-clad man nudged his love's cheek tentatively, barely managing to draw a response from him. ''mmm.... mean'', he retorted insistently.

''Virgiiiiiiiiiiiil'', he whined at once, ''I made fuuuuuuud!'' He inhaled deeply, sitting a moment for the dramatic effect. Or really, he was just waiting because his mind drew a blank on whatever else he had intended to say at some point in time. Uh.. he had made food.. there was food and he was with Virgil and he made the fud for him and Emi and.. uh..

Ah! Yes!

Remy blinked excitedly and nodded to himself, congratulating his genius of a mind that suddenly recovered the thought process lost to the alcohol dampening and slowing down his cognition. He leaned in, bowing deep over the protesting bundle of purple and black. From the lack of words, he wanted to think that Virgil was dozing off and forgetting about the little misunderstanding between them.

''If yu... wan...nn..wanna'', he slowly suggested, ''I can.. feeed you-hoooo''

Virgil slowly blinked, his eyelids breaking open to reveal his dark embers of small orbs.

''Mh?'', he murmured. His head pushed back to Remy's lap and quickly nudged his chubby stomach with careful, uncoordinated movements of a person not just anything but sober but also sleepy and full of feelings.

He tasted love on his lips and gently brushed his tongue over them. ''Ri'', he demanded, voice soft with sleep and heavy in the exhaustion from fighting to stay awake, stay conscious and mindful of his surrounding enough to understand his present datemate at least.

The addressed man patted his hooded head softly.

''Com’up'', he mumbled back and tugged at the sleepy giant in his lap. Virgil was soon sagged against Remy but at least sitting. His left still fruitlessly brushed over Remy's lap.

Hug... He.. He wanted a hug.. Hug.. Hug Remy.

''Riiii'', he soothed softly, voice still just a whisper if any. The goth drew an arm around him and pulled him closer against his shoulder. ''M here, hon'', he assured patiently, mind already wondering just what they were doing again, '' gotcha close.''

He nuzzled the top of his head and carefully left a not of his love on it with a little peck.

Virgil snuggled up to him, his body fitting just perfectly to his side. They were a perfect match, all that was missing was a bit of food now. And a bit of Emile, of course. Emi would make it all perfect. Remy drew him closer and simply let them hug one another for a bit longer. More like waiting for Virgil to slowly gather up his energy and bodily control to eventually embrace the other fully and just rest in each other's love.

The taller one hummed against his collarbone, eyes comfortably closed in contentment.

''You said.. fud..?''

Remy laughed.

''Yeah''

*** The night draped over the village, hugging every little building and lamp post for comfort and love as it lovingly warmed everyone into a world of dreams and happy thoughts. It was the end of the day, it was late and actually almost time for yet another day.

Emile rubbed his eyes, keys to his car jingling in his hands as he approached the door. He had never expected a catch-up to take this long but the afternoon just spun further and further into a late evening and eventually, they had switched locations in order to extend their get-together beyond the point of midnight.

Any texts of updating information to his lovers had been to no avail. Emile thought they were having too much of a good time or perhaps even went to sleep when 3 am had arrived. He did not know how they were doing but he trusted them to be fine, to relish in just being two chaotic yet lovely cryptids together.

He straightened out his dark blue suit and ran a hand through the strawberry blonde mess of formerly gelled-back hair.

His hands worked to unlock the door and once he stepped inside, he shut the door behind him. At once, a certain.. smell hit his nostrils.

He was not sure what it was but it was obvious that the flat had not been aired out properly. The air was thick enough to try and grab a piece out of it. And the scent? It reminded him of a greasy fast-food truck. If he had to guess, maybe something like chilli cheese hot-dogs? He was not sure but there was something spicy in the hair.

It kinda stung.

Emile blinked and switched on the light, quickly taking off his dark overcoat and the first layer of his suit along with his dress shoes. He was left standing in his vest that was hugging his firm statue, accentuating each and every part of his muscular body.

A part of him wanted to call out for his beloved ones but he knew them, he knew the partying souls living in the calm giant that was the pastel-soft Virgil. He was more than familiar with the outgoing and extra kind of behaviour Remy would display with just a bit of party around or in him. He did not intend to torture them with loud noises when he knew they were wild spirits just waiting to run free and roam around without any constraints. They deserved to rest well after partying hard, to be honest.

Emile slowly moved into the bedroom just to find it .. void of the silent snores and little shuffles that came from the drunk sleep of his beloved mates. Instead, there was nothing and he simply frowned at the empty bed. The bed was made, still so it was obviously untouched. Nothing had happened here and none of his lovers happened here for sure.

A part of him wanted to call out for them by now but something held him back. This something was lingering within him as he peacefully stripped his body off the suit and changed into his pyjamas. When he came across his phone, he decided to tap their contacts and just call one of them and then the other, just in case they went out and one did not pick up at first. With the two being tipsy or even drunk, there was no knowing for sure.

He put the phone on speaker and got into his flannel PJs.

Toot.

Toot..

Faintly, somewhere, he could hear something. At first it was so distant and weak, he nearly overheard it, due to the sound of his pyjama stretching over his body being louder than the faint tone in the background. However, once he stilled his movements and stopped dead in his tracks, he was able to identify a sound - even the nature of it.

“I’m on the battlefield like OH MY GOD”

It was Remy’s ringtone.

“Yes, I’m a one woman army”

Emile blinked, the song now clear as day in his mind as he finally identified the muffled sounds. He picked up his phone, fingers flying to grip it and shut the loudspeaker.

“oh la la, oh la la ~”

The song was indicating him to come closer, luring him in and playing hint for his curiosity. The mind was working as he took it step by step through the dark apartment. The end of his pants were dragging over the floor as he sneaked over the ground, his feet merely separating from it with every step he took. His feet ate every bit of sound as he walked, progressing at a speed so slow and cautious, he felt as if he was walking on eggshells rather than the socks Remy had made him by hand.

The sound was getting closer, the persistent, cocky voicelines of the singer were shooting through his mind as he carefully approached the scene. Before him was the darkness leading up to the kitchen. The light from their bedroom was illuminating his way to it.

With a usual movement as if everything was as it used to be, as if there had never been a war and losses in this field of tragedy and blood, Emile switched on the lights and revealed the graveyard of oil and hopes.

The sight was quite a bit- Pans and pots were stacked on top of one another. Spread over a turned off stove and the abused sink who witnessed it all. Stains of any kind seemed to repaint the counter, floor and partly even the ... the ceiling? How did they do that! Unbeknownst to Emile, the horrors of battle drew consequences nobody would be able to imagine. Of course it would paint the world into a new picture, it would change reality and distort beauty into true abominations of cruelty.

There was a bloody puddle of oil on the floor, a pool of death juice tainting the world of the living with what used to be, what used to exist and live and grow. It was no more.

He slowly, respectfully stepped forward, deeper into the red flags of the forbidden zone. There was desolation and chaos. Cutlery, foods and spills whatever in any place and spot free enough to accommodate it. His feet slowed as he progressed further into the field of war, the area of missing people and lost souls.

He walked through the mess, skipping over dead utensils and empty packages. There were bottle caps all around and the worst was little glitter particles and sparkles all around. Maybe they had mixed drinks with glitter. In the context of the battlefield, it looked like the luck and happiness that used to wield yet now it was broken and scattered in the wind of change, the breeze of ends.

Emile watched the drain in horror as he identified tiny pieces of fruit stuck in it. Cocktail cherry bodies blocking the water from ever flowing into the sweet relief of the sewers. It was forever trapped in the sink along with the dying cutlery.

He strove through the devastated lands, through the chaos and destruction. His eyes did not see the past, did not see the struggle to stay alive - to be safe. He was blessed with the ignorance of arriving fashionably late to the scene and just luckily skip out on all the war. He never had to experience the torture of the oil giant. Emile did not even realise how much of a chosen man he was with the entitlement of being spared with mercy and love.

His innocent soul floated above the rotten land, the stabbed and wretched floors and towels soaked with tears, blood and sweat. The salt of ruined soil was poisoning the roots of a new generation. He simply skipped through it, free of guilt or memories. He was not drawn to the tragedy of what used to be. Instead, he marched over to the living-room to finally find the treasure he had been looking for. His flannel-clad self, the pirate of the suffering lands was here to take advantage of the tired soldiers of oil wars.

As unexpected, there was a bundle of black and a bundle of rose snuggled up together, the colours weirdly merging into one fusion of softness. The pattern of roses naturally fit the blackness it was curled up around. It seemed like the most natural occurrence, a home-grown batch of adorableness. Emile blinked, his eyes behind his glasses still needing to adjust to the dark image before him. It was dark because he refused to switch on the lights when his loves could and actually did camp in this space.

“You two are lucky I love you so much”

His whisper slowly weighed down onto them, gracing them in their sleep and rocking them in warmth and affection. They were in the lap of love and safety, dressed in their own schemes and shenanigans with contentment painting their features and highlighting their position with lazy sparkles and soft contact to one another.

Emile bowed over them to draw another blanket over the two, just to make sure to cover them both in the warm coziness they deserved.

For another short moment, he relished in seeing the two embracing one another, Virgil curled against Remy and holding him so close, he would usually fear the other could suffocate - yet he knew better than to worry about them. Remy enjoyed a surprisingly large amount of squishing and a comparably lousy amount of space for sleeping.

After this, he slowly and softly walked away, step by step, back to the bedroom to nap on his own, all alone in their big big bed. He snuggled up with his excess of blankets and soon enough fell into a deep sleep, completely unbothered by everything that used to be and will be. For now, everything was different and so cool compared to how it would be per default but that did not mean his night could not be nice. Relieving dreams soon settled in his mind, abandoning all possible worries in his mind.

Morning was soon to come.

[mrsjaxtellerfan]

Love, Marriage, Baby

Hey, y'all!  I conspired with my girl @lookprettyliveclassyplaydirtyyt to write this one for ya!

Requested by @spnhollis  Hope you enjoy!  Sorry it got a little long!

Reader is the new mechanic at TM, builds a strong relationships with all the guys and starts doing things for the club. Juice ends up with a crush on Reader and it’s super fluffy or whatever you get inspired to write.

Warnings:  mention of serious medical conditions, PURE FLUFF

Here it is a hot summer’s day and we are sitting here in the hospital waiting for our baby to arrive.  I can’t help but think back to the first time I saw y/n, the love of my life.

Flashback

A car I’ve never seen before pulled into the T-M lot and parked by the bikes. I saw a girl with long, curly, blue hair, wearing shorts and a black band tank with a flannel tied around her waist, get out and walk toward the office. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, staring at the now closed door.

“Juicy, boy.  You okay?”  Chibs asks, glancing over at the starstruck lass, snapping him out of his thoughts about the mysterious girl.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.  What were you saying?”  Juice turns back toward the elder gentleman, keeping an eye on the door hoping to get another look at the stranger.

I felt her squeezing my hand. Knowing she was having a contraction, I did my best to help her through it.  When she lets up, I glance down at the women I never would have guessed I would have fallen in love with or who would love me back.

“Hi, I’m y/n.”  The mystery girl says, holding her hand out to the dumbfounded Juice.

“Oh, uh, hi.  I-I’m, uh, Juice.”  I reply, snapping out of my stupor.  Y/n giggles, grasping my hand. Her hand is so small, and warm in my much larger hand.  I can feel the callus’ she had, leaving me to wonder what it is she is doing here.

“Juice, like the drink? How did you get that nickname?”

“Well,” I say pointing over my shoulder, “it’s better than Half-Sac.”

She let out a laugh that made my heart flutter when I heard it, secretly hoping I’d be hearing it for the rest of my life.

Present Day

Knowing she was in pain, I decided to tell her a joke. “Hey babe? What do you call someone who builds dog houses?”

“What do you call them, Juice?”  Y/n gasps out, pain evident in her voice.

“Bark-itechts.” She let out a small laugh, not wanting to hurt anymore than she already was.

“You’re a mess, Juicy.”  She giggles, clenching down on his hand as another contraction hits.

The monitors start beeping erratically, and a group of nurses come running, checking the fetal heart monitor. They put an oxygen mask on her face.  Pulling back the blankets, there is a puddle of blood.

“The baby is breech, compressing the cord and it has prolapsed! She’s hemorrhaging!  Get the doctor!” The nurse yells, preparing her to move.  Everything is happening so fast.  I can barely understand what’s happening until I’m being pushed out of the way.

“What does that mean? Is she gonna be okay?”  One nurse stays behind.

“We will do everything we can.  Your wife began hemorrhaging, the cord was protruding causing the oxygen to be cut off to the child and causing changes in your wife’s circulation as well.  We are doing an emergency cesarean.  I need to get back there.  Someone will come out as soon as we can.”  The nurse stated, rushing through the double doors they took my wife through.

“Just please don’t let her die!”  I drop to my knees, beginning to pray, something I haven’t done in ages.  Gemma comes running back wrapping her arms around my shaking form.

“Oh, baby.  She is going to be okay.”  Gemma soothes.

“She has to be.  I can’t lose her.”  I sob, putting my face in Gemma’s shoulder, my only focus on my wife and unborn child.

Flashback

“Juice, give it back!”  Y/n giggles, playfully pushing my shoulder and jumping to reach the tool.

“What?  I can’t hear you.”  I snicker, continuing to tease her by holding the wrench she needs above my head.

“Juicey, please give it back.”  She bats her lashes, glancing up at me through hooded eyes.  The air is knocked out of me when she slams her body against mine using my surprise to grab the wrench out of my hands.

“HA, I win!”  She tonts, skipping back to the car she was previously working on.  I watch as she bends over the car, looking back at me over her shoulder, giving me a wink while the look of shock still graces my face.

“You going to help me, big boy?”  She purrs, grinning at me with a knowing look.  I snap out of it, with s smirk of my own, making my way up behind her leaning form.  I can feel her breath hitch, goosebumps appearing on her exposed skin.

“Oh, yeah, baby.  I’m going to help you.”  I purr into her ear, placing my hand on the base of her back, feeling the soft skin that has become exposed with her shirt riding up.

Present Day

“Juice!  Have you heard anything, man?”  Jax asks, pulling me into a hug.

“No, nothing yet.  I can’t lose her, man.  I can’t.”  The tears begin flowing again.  I feel myself being pulled into a group hug, full of people I call family, while I wait to hear if my new family is going to survive.

Flashback

“Juice, come on, my family isn’t that bad.”

“Not that bad, babe, they’re awful.” I murmured looking down at her, pecking her on the lips before turning back to the ominous, red, door.  “I can’t believe you grew up here.”  I glance up at the big, white, soccer mom house wondering how this little spitfire came from a home like this.  She giggles, knocking on the door, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Hi, baby!  I’ve missed you!  Who is this handsome fella’?”  A small, older version of y/n glances at me, pulling away from the massive hug she had pulled y/n into.

“Mom, this is Juice.  My boyfriend.”  Y/n states, smiling at me.

“Boyfriend? You didn’t say you had a boyfriend when we talked last.” Her mom stated, looking up at me.

“Yeah, it happened recently.”  She smiles, clenching my hand in her smaller one.  I smile at them relieving some tension that started building.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Juice, was it?”  She states, reaching a hand out to me.

“Juan Carlos, mom, Juice is just his nickname. Is grandpa around? I haven’t had him offer me any brandy yet!” She asked, her white teeth showing.

“Oh, you know your grandfather, dear.  He is in the living room watching the game.  I’m sure he has some brandy to offer.”

“He hates when I interrupt him when he’s watching the game, but he can never stay mad at his favorite granddaughter! I’m gonna go!  Come on babe, he will tell you all his war stories from Nam.”  

“More like his only.”  Her mom laughs.  “Oh, dear, come in, come in.  You can call me Rhonda by the way.”

“So you’re telling me, she ran around naked outside in the winter because she wanted to feel the snow on her tush?” I laugh, glancing at the girl I know I’m going to marry.

“I was a nudist okay, when I was a baby, I HATED wearing clothes. Any chance I got to not weAr then, I didn’t. But I also got sick that day too!”

“Babe, I think you’re still a nudist!”  I laugh, instantly turning red at the thought of what i just revealed in front of her family.  Rhonda busts out with laughter nearly spitting her wine out.

“That is NOT true, I just don’t like to wear pants, or bras. Not fully nudist, just half.” Y/n replies, trying to save me from her dads questioning.

“How would he know that if you guys aren’t married?”  I cough, looking at my laugh, hearing a smack.

“Leave these kids alone, can’t you tell how in love they are.  Remember how bad we were when we were their age?”  Rhonda laughs.  He shakes his head with a small glare.

“And when grandpa caught you guys making out?”  y/n giggles, grabbing my hand under the table.

“Yeah, I do remember how we were, which is why I’m not approving of this.”  Her dad replies glancing at his wife.

“No one asked if you approved of anything, dad. We are just two kids, and when you’re in your 20s you do fun things that you can’t do in your 40s, dad, like get laid.” Y/n quipped at her dad, staring at him with her big brown eyes, probably like she did as a child.

“Hey, now, who is saying we don’t get laid in our 40s?”  Rhonda laughs.

“Grandpa told me, he said ‘after 40, there’s no more fun, all the kids are grown, having kids of their own. They forget to call you unless it’s your birthday, you miss out on a lot.’ I don’t want that, I don’t ever wanna turn 40.” She replies, pouting.

“Shugs, I have had the best sex of my life, since I met Helen, this lady from my bingo group.”  Grandad replies with a grin.

“Yeah, how old is she, Pops, one of the players daughters, or granddaughters?” She lets out a laugh joking with him, knowing he’s happy with Helen.  “When do we get to meet her. Pops?”  It was at this moment I realized without a doubt I was going to marry her.

Present Day

“Family of Y/n Ortiz?” The doctor asks, coming into the waiting room. I stood up, taking long strides toward the doctor, I needed to know about my family as soon as I could. “I’m her husband, is she okay?”

“She is fine, and so is the baby. We are doing blood transfusions, trying to get her platelets up so you can’t see her yet, but you can go to the nursery, and meet your daughter, if you’d like.”

“It’s a girl?”  I smile, tears of relief rushing down my face.

“Oh, I’m sorry,  I didn’t know it was a surprise…”  The doctor breaks off being pulled into a hug.

“Thank you doctor!”

Flashback

“Y/n, you know you don’t have to do this!” I exclaimed, trying to get her to stop.

“Juice, Oakland knows all the eaters and sweetbutts here, it needs to be someone they don’t know.” She continued getting dressed.

“When this is over, I want to talk to you.”

“Yeah, of course.” She plants a kiss on my lips, heading to the van.

She rode in the van on the way to the Oakland warehouse, tied up and blindfolded. The Oakies, as she calls them, claimed a female ripped them off, and she was willing to put herself in danger to help the club. We pulled up to the warehouse, being rough with her, we had to be, but it hurt me. They sat her down in a chair and pulled the blind old off of her. One guy got right up next to her, and she bit him. You could see the anger in his eyes, as he pistol whipped her. I flipped seeing him hit her and pulled my gun, the others doing the same.  After the first shot was fired, it was a storm of bullets before all was quiet.

“Are you okay?”  I ask, untying the binds.

“I’m fine, baby.”  She reassures.  I pull her into a hug before we head back to the club.

“Juicy, what did you want to talk to me about?” She asked, tucking the front of my shirt into her gym shorts.

“Hmm?” I questioned her, looking her up and down, taking in the sight of her in my shirt. I want that forever. “Oh yeah, sit please.” I say leading her to the couch.

“I don’t have a big fancy speech planned, and I know we aren’t at an aquarium, but, Y/n, Will you marry me?”

“Juan, yes.” She pulled me in for a kiss as I slipped the ring on her finger.  Grinning I pulled her into me, swinging her around before I placed her back on her feet.

“I love you.” “I love you too, Juicy.”

Present Day

I stood there, looking at the gorgeous little girl, that Y/n and I brought into the world, in complete awe.

“Can I hold her?” I asked the nurse.

“Of course.  Have you ever held a baby before?”  The nurse asks, picking up my baby girl gently.

“No, um, I haven’t.”  

“Here let me help you.”  The nurse guides my arms in the proper hold before laying the tiny baby in them.  She looks so small in my hold, she peaks up at me, the same way her mother does, and smiles before going back to sleep.

“Mr. Ortiz. You can see your wife now.”  The doctor says, coming into the nursery.  The nurse leads me to the room, daughter in hand.  

“Hey, baby.  Meet your daughter.”  I whisper, walking into the room with our daughter, the nurse leaving us.  Y/n is laying there, hooked to machines, with a small, content smile on her face.

“It’s a girl!”  She exclaims, smiling her megawatt smile at me.  Can we name her Marisol? after my grandmother?”  She asked, looking at the tiny baby in my arms.

“Anything you want baby, anything.”  

“I love you both so much.”  Tears come to her eyes as I hand her Marisol, tears beginning to stream down my face.

“I love you both too, baby, so much. I will never let anything happen to my two girls.”

“Juan, did you call my parents? I want them to bring my grandpa so he can hold her, I know he misses my grandma. Maybe this will help him feel better.”

“OH FUCK! I KNEW I WAS FORGETTING SOMETHING!”  I exclaim rushing out of the room, her laughs following me.

“Baby, your daddy might forget somethings like that, but he will always remember to check for monsters under your bed. He will always do the voices when he reads you bedtime stories, and he will always protect you. No matter what.”

Tag list:  @gemini0410 @spnhollis @lookprettyliveclassyplaydirtyyt

let me know if you wanted to be added to the tag list

[tf-tmnt]

Fallin. Rodimus x reader

this is a Rodimus x reader i wrote like years ago, that i had forgotten about that never got uploaded to wattpad. heres the first cringey ass chapter now.

"What in the hell is that!"

"Jee. I don't know, it kinda just fell outta the fucking sky!!"

"why is it so small?"

"and fleshy."

The different voice jumbled around me as my head spun. I groan, raising my hand over my face to cover the light.

"I wonder if it speaks."

I feel movement, the ground shook slightly underneath me.

"Will you idiots move! I need to see if it's injured." there was heavy movement and grumbles before a gasp. "By the all spark.."

i feel like i recognize that voice, but i just can't put my finger on it. "Ratchet. What is it?" a younger voice calls out.

He sighs. "She's human you dumb ass. you should know this! you wen't to the planet with us for primus sake!" Ratchet..that sounded familiar too.

"She doesn't seem to be injured. Just a bit shaken up, But I'll need to do a full scan back on the ship.." the voice known as Ratchet said.

I groan, pushing myself up from the ground.The small chatter and movement around me stopped as I opened my eyes. Man do I regret opening my damn eyes. I jump back, panic struck through me, upon seeing the giant ass robots in front of me. Most of them looked somewhat familiar. Then It clicked as I whipped my head around, looking at the closest mech.

"Ratchet?" My voice was scratchy.

The bots jumped back, Ratchet's optics widened. "Yes?"

My eyes go wide and go to the next bot. "Magnus? Ultra. Magnus?" I questioned. He just looked shocked but shook his head.

I nod my head towards the one horned, giant purple people eater, "Cyclonus."

My head shifts to one quite a bit smaller, a mini bot. I smile, seeing the white and blue bot. His head was pushed into his shell like body, slightly hiding behind everyone else. "Tailgate?!"

My head whips to each bot. "Brainstorm...Drift...Rewind...Chromedome...Whirl..."

Then my eyes land on him, the bright orangey red paint along with the yellow. Oh my god..my childhood crush stood right in front of me. "Roddy?!" I couldn't help but scream out his nickname. The already confused bots furrowed their brow ridges at me.

"How in the fu-" Whirl was cut off by brainstorm.

"Whoa, how do you know our names? How are you even breathing, humans need oxygen, don't they? What if this is a trap!" he spewed out words before pulling his blasters out, shoving them in my face, i jump back, smashing into the ground.

"Hey, hey, dude, chill, Im not a decepticon or from the D.J.D.-"

"How do you know about the D.J.D?" Chromedome stepped closer to me, kneeling slightly.

I sigh, face palming. "Okay, look, i don't know how I got into this..whatever this is, but Where I'm from you all are apart of this comic book series. You're called Transformers. Cybertronians from the planet cybertron. After the 4 million year war, and cybertron was rebuild, Rodimus set off to find the knights of cybertron, he got a crew, and a ship, the lost light, and set off.. Now I don't know how much of this is the same as my world, but that's how I know about you guys, and as far as the breathing thing..I uh, I don't really know to be honest. Please, just don't kill me, I'd rather not be killed by my childhood heroes"

"Us?" Ratchet asked, surprised.

"Childhood?" Brainstorm squinted at me.

Oh yeah..forgot they don't know earth terms.

"Oh, sorry, Sparkling hood heroes. And yeah. I mean, I was a quiet bitlet. I liked reading and watching TV, and instead of friends, I in a way had you guys, which probably sounds weird to you..so I'll just shut up now.." I blush as I let word vomit spill from my mouth. Ratchet smiled sweetly. He actually smiled, I made him smile! I did that!

Rodimus gawked. "Holy shit. She just made him smile. She really is from another universe if she can do that!" I chuckle and roll my eyes. Rodimus never changes.

"So. I have a lot of questions..Do you know our future? Did we have toy figures?! OH do I get my arms back!? Does Cygate become a thing, cause I ship that shit, when does chromewind get married?! Oh, do I get to be bad ass? I am for sure bad ass." Whirl went on as I just looked at him.

"Um. Yes. Yes. Tbd. Yes. and Tbd. and yes, whirl Very bad ass." i nodded, chuckling at him.

"What is this 'tbd' Magnus asked.

"To be determined" me, whirl and rod answer.

I whip my head around to Rodimus. "I didn't know you were text savvy." I tease.

He smirked. "Gotta keep up with bumbles back on cybertron!" I roll my eyes. I completely forgot those two were like the same age.

"Okay..well, I'm getting bored, soo, to the ship we go?" Whirl turned to the giant, no huge, no, gargantuan ship that was off in the distance.

He walked towards it, not waiting for anyone else to object, we all start towards it. I mutter an "Oh shit." as I stumble and stand fully, before running up after the group, who were just walking.

I bolt up to their peds, I was between Rodimus and Drift, who were talking about..what sounded like how to care for a human. they (Mostly Rodimus, while Drift silently agreed by shaking his head yes.)  Seemed like a kid getting their first pet, which I should be offended being compared to a pet, but since its Rodimus and Drift, I will even bark like a dog if it means it will please them. He talked about getting me a bed, and food, and my own room. Honestly, sounds fucking great, can I get belly rubs too?

"Hey ratchet, you know what all a human needs right?" Rodimus called, looking to the older bot.

Ratchet Rolled his optics, muttering out a "For fuck sake..." "Rodimus. She literally talks, just ask her for what she needs to survive!" He shakes his head at the young mech. Poor Ratchet, Always dealing with their bullshit. no wonder he is always so Done TM. with life. I would be too. he's too old for this crap.

I drag myself over the rocky and sandy terrain, I was jogging, almost running while the bots walked, we were about halfway to the ship. the 3 suns above us shun brightly , my face was red and sweat dripped down my back and through the gray shirt I was wearing. My jeans stuck to my legs. my red converse, no doubt had sweat pools at the bottom of them. My red flannel wrapped around my waist. I pick a great day to fucking wear jeans. why didn't I grab one with holes in them. I legit only have one pair that DOESN'T have holes in them and the One fucking day I wear them I get sucked into another World and end up sweating my ass off, walking to a spaceship with some giant robots. Just my odds. I grumble to myself as I try to make it down a "small hill" it was 10 foot, and steep as hell. once i was over it, I lost my footing slightly, my converse which had no grip slid against the rock and sand.

"Oh shiitt!!" I let out a shriek as I tumbled down the hill. My face collided with the hard rock, scraping my face, As I rolled down the hill. It got steeper as I fell, and I dropped off the side, landing on my right arm with a sickening "Crack". I scream out in pain, tears mixing with the blood on my face as I held my arm to me. This was just fucking great. I 100% just broke my arm..but look on the bright side, it was my right arm..I'm left handed, so at least I can still draw. I wail out, clutching my arm to me as pain throbbed through it. Everyone turned towards my screeching, optics wide with worry, Rodimus bolts towards me.

"Oh my primus, are you okay?" He gently scoops me up into his servos, turning towards the rest of the group, who just stood, looking panicked.

"Shes...leaking..red goop.." Whirl pointed out, obviously disgusted.

Ratchet shoves through the crowd of bots, pushing his way towards Rodimus and I. "Oh Boy...shes loosing blood. We need to get her to the med-bay!" He shouts, everyone squirms and makes way to start running back to the Ship, which now seemed even bigger than before.

"Will she be okay?" Rodimus asked, looking down at the little being in his servos.

Ratchet sighs. "Yes. humans are tougher than they look. She, from what i can see, she has broken her right arm, and has a cut on her face that will need to be disinfected and stitched up, but other than that she is perfectly fine." He pats Rodimus' shoulder before taking off towards the ship at a faster pace with the rest of them.

The walk..well Run, back to the ship was a bumpy one for me, every time Rodimus would slightly jostle me, I would groan in pain from my arm, making him repeat "sorry" over and over, I'm pretty sure I've heard him say sorry 36 times in the past 2 minutes. The sound of metal moving and air depressurizing filled my ears. The blinding Suns were now gone, the metal ceiling above me blurred in a gray and silver. The clanking of peds running in different directions, and Rodimus yelling out commands to the crew, echoed off the walls. "Drift get the ship in the air, Cyclonus, prepare everyone for take off, Tailgate..see what a human needs to live...Everyone else..er, do your jobs!" His voice boomed, making me vibrate against his chassis. We turned down a hall, the lights above brightening, I guess we were in  the med-bay. Rodimus brought his servos gently to the berth in front of him, letting me roll out of his palm and onto the metal bed. I groan upon impact, but sit up.

"ep, ep, ep, don't move!" I hear Ratchet shout from another room

Rodimus looks down at me, worry in his optics. Then he turns to Ratchet, who was now in the room with a very small, human sized bag in his hand. "Tell me when you're done repairing her." And with that, Rodimus walked out of the room, leaving me and Ratchet. I look about the room for a second. it was huge. well huge for me. there were a couple cybertronian sized desks, and about 5 berths, besides the one i was sitting on. Different Machines were shoved in the corner and to the sides of the room. Papers littered EVERYWHERE.  Messy was one word to describe it, but lets call it..Organized Chaos.

Ratchet Groaned in annoyance and looked down at me. "Ya know. I haven't had to use this stupid holoform in years! I never thought I'd see another freaking human again." he grumbled, placing the human sized bag down in front of me, which i could now see was a Doctors bag.

"Now here I am, using the stupid thing to patch up a human that supposedly from another Dimension, who just happened to fall out of the sky right were we were walking, on a random deserted planet! Ugh!" he continued to complain.

I shyly smile. "Its my destiny I guess.."

"Yeah. yeah. Destiny my aft. you already are starting to sound like Rodimus..Just. Sit still while I do that." he grumbled once more before a high pitched fizzling type sound rang out, along with the sound of Ratchet transforming to Alt mode. A man Appeared in front of me. My mouth dropped open wide. In all my time reading Fanfic, I never imagined Ratchet to look like this.  He looked about 50 but had gray hair, spiked up in the front, white streaked through the sides. he was tan, his eyes a bright and kind blue. he worn an orange button up underneath a white lab coat, Black dress pants with some bland doctor type shoes. My eyes widen as I look him up and down. I breath out a "Whoa." his eyebrows pushed up.

"What? Do I not look good for human standards?" his voice, sounded exactly the same, but more human.

I chuckle a nervous laugh. "No, its just, I've never imagined your holoform like this..not that I've imagined your holoform, cause that would be weird.." I mentally slap myself, face going red at the stupid thing I had just said. why can't i just keep my mouth shut? life would be so easy if I just didn't talk.

he chuckled before walking towards me, and the bag sitting in front of me. "I'm gonna need you to lift up your head" he asks, rummaging through the bag before pulling out a disinfecting wipe, and stalking towards me. He raises it to my face but stops seeing me flinch as he touched my face. "Easy. It may sting a bit.." He pushed the wet rag against my cheek, my skin screaming out in pain as he wiped away all the dirt, rock and blood from my face. Then he cleaned up my arm and started to wrap it, making me hold it straight out as he wrapped the black around it.

"Do you remember anything at all of how you got here?" he questions, face scrunched in concentration.

"I uh..I had just gotten up, and was on my way to work.. Did the same thing I did every other day, got dressed and then its off to work, work was pretty normal..until some lady came up to me, she was talking  about Wolves, and babies, it was weird. but she handed me this necklace and...wait" My hands go to my pockets and root through them till my fingers land on the rope chain. I pull it out, holding it up to the light to show him. the light shined through it, making colors go everywhere. "Anyways, she handed me this, and said something alone the lines of what i guess would translate into. Follow your destiny. Later than night i was walking home, it was late, the moon was shining brightly above me, and I tripped and fell and then next thing I know I'm falling on top of Rodimus!"

Ratchets eyes widen looking at the crystal on the necklace. "Oh my Optimus. we need op- oh primus." he started to panic, stepping back, clutching his chest. breathing heavily his holoform flickering. He was having a spark attack.

"Ratch. breath! breath okay?! look at me, look at me. you are fine okay?" I clutched his arm making him look at me, trying to calm him. He shook his head, looking into my eyes, clutching me back, breathing heavily.

"I. I need to..I need to finish your cast." he breathed out. Of course this idiot is more worried about my stupid broken arm, than him actually dying!

He grabbed onto the roll and continued to wrap it, his eyes staring at it, you could obviously see that something was bothering him. Did I do that? or was it the crystal? why did it scare him or whatever it did to him, so badly? is he okay?

"Done." he pushed down the last side, and looked at his work. I stick my arm out looking at it, my arm would be stuck in this thing for months. ugh. I hate this already.

"Thanks Ratchet..but are  you okay, like seriously, get First Aid in here or something, because you are not okay. what was that with the crystal?" I looked up to eyes, he still looked shook to say the least.

"Pah, I'm fine, better than ever! I may be old, but I can still get around! These hands are as steady as ever!" he waved me off, flickering off his holoform and transforming into his bi-pedal form.

I look up to his bright optics with worry. "No, no, something happened, what happened, what is this?" i pushed the crystal upwards closer to him, he eyed it cautiously. This thing is obviously important, but what is it?

"Ratchet, please, you obviously aren't telling me something, what is it?" i push further, batting my eyes and him and pouting my lip slightly. I'm a grown woman, but pouting should work, it always does, I mean, it works for dogs with humans, why not for humans with cybertronians?

He sighs loudly, crouching down a bit to be eye level with me. "Fine. What you have there...is very valuable, in fact, it could change the fate of our world. you have a fragment of the all-spark. which till now, we had thought was destroyed long ago within the battle, alpha trion had said it was destroyed within a forge.  I-I had glitched out a bit upon seeing it...And I don't really know what to do with it, I would call optimus, but he is busy with bumblebee, trying to restore cybertron, and we are so far in the galaxy, it would take eons before they could even get here..We cannot let anyone else know about this. they will want to take it from you. use what power it still has...from what i know, the all-spark has a way of..claiming owners, it will cling to a certain person, and then that person is the only one able to use it." he pauses looking down even close to me. "though. that does not explain why it sent you here, or why that woman on your world had it in the first place..and as for the wolves....well i have a few theories, but those can wait till tomorrow, you've had a long and stressful day, and you no doubt will be the center of attention for a bit."

he stands completely up, holding out a hand for me to jump into. i quickly waddle over and sit in his palm. he raises it slightly, holding me to his chassis before starting down a hallway. I looked all around, eyeing the different doors as we pasted, till we got to a big opening. it was what looked to be the main hall,  Rodimus'  winged speeches, and Drift whispering things in his audio receptor to say, all happened here. I smile to myself, thinking of all the goofy things they probably do on the ship.

Ratchet takes a turn that has a hall, and at the end, a single door. There was a sign on the front of it, it was written in gold lettering. "Captain of the Lost Light.' under it sat a Rodimus star, which was crudely tapped on. flame stickers all around the wording. Who let him be captain. like for real, like I love Roddy, but whoever thought putting a teenager in charge was a good idea, needs to be fired.

I chuckle at the door. Ratchet scoffs.

"Don't encourage it. He'll add more." he rolls his eyes, holding his servo to the door and banging on it. Almost immediately the door swooshed open. Out popped a orange and yellow head.

"Heya Ratch!-"

"Don't call me that."

"is the Human okay?" Rodimus brought his head down to where I sat in ratchet's palm, holding a digit out to me like a human would a stray animal. Me being me, as the digit got closer and closer, I pounced at it, hanging onto the giant finger. He lets out a shriek and jumps back, falling over his own peds. he topples onto the ground, a hard metal thunk sounded, making the ship shake and then groaning. I thankfully let go before he fell back completely, so i was now slightly hanging on ratchets digits.

"Why did it do THAT!" Rodimus screeched, still sitting on the floor.

I pull myself up towards ratchet, seeing my struggle, since I was doing it one handed, he pushed me back up with the other hand, giving me the silent 'that was dangerous, are you trying to die' look, with a hint of humor to it. I whip around to Rodimus, putting my hands  on my hips.

"IT? did you just call me an IT?" I screech, trying to sound as bitchy as possible. I love dicking with people. It doesn't really trigger me when I am called it. I understand it, coming from Aliens, who are different from humans.

His optics bug out. and he starts to stutter, he knows he fucked up, he went through this with Chromia, when he made the mistake of calling her, he. it wasn't his fault! he's just use to it! I mean how can you blame him, almost all cybertronians are male!

"N-No, I didn't mean, that, I- well i kinda mean't it, I just didn't know what pronoun you use and I didn't know if you were actually just a fem looking mech or-" he blubbered out words, trying desperately to fix his words.

I bust out laughing, I didn't mean to, it was just him. I mean, Rodimus loosing his cool was just too much. He was know as the cocky always ready for anything Rodimus Prime, not blubbering and rumbling for words. "Rodimus. Rodimus! I was kidding, calm down!"

"Wha-What?" he stuttered, his voice quiet as energon rose to his cheek plates.

"I'm not mad or offended. I was just messing with you!" I giggle, as he still sat on the ground

he looked up at me grumbling as he stood up. "Ya know, I don't remember humans being this big of jerks!" he complained, pointing to me in a teasing manner.

Ratchet cleared his throat before speaking. "She had a broken arm and a few stitches, she needs rest, I hope you will care for her properly. she is not a pet, If i hear even the slightest word about her needs not being met I will have someone else do the job." And with that, Ratchet held his hand out to Rodimus, who plucked me from the medics palm. I watched as Ratchet walked back towards the med-bay, and the captain's door shut in front of us.

I turn in his hand to look up at him, he was looking down at me, a small smile on his lips. His optics were even brighter than I ever imagined, they could light up a whole room with their pretty color. I hadn't really realized i was staring at him.

"You okay, human?" he asked, looking me up and down, looking at my injuries.

"huh. what? oh yeah. Yeah!..I'm fine, just got distracted by your optics...thy're pretty.." I mumbled the last part out, hoping his audio receptors didn't hear it.

"o-ooh....hey, uh you want me to sit you on my desk?" he asked, blue on his cheeks, obviously, trying to keep a conversation, despite the awkward tension.

"oh, uh. sure." I smile up at him, as he holds me against his chest, walking over to a desk that was right next to the berth.

there wasn't all that much in the room..that i could see at least. there was a berth, and a desk which was cluttered with papers, which i'm currently standing on, a dresser type thing that had empty blocks of energon on it, some of the drawers were pulled out, showing the different waxes and what would normally be car supplies on earth. there was also a closet..which was latched shut, you could see a blue thing, trying to spill out of the door, it looked almost like a skateboard.

I turn my head back to Rodimus after looking about the room. "Sorry about the mess, wasn't expecting company." he chuckled nervously shoving papers to the side of the desk so that i could sit on the edge. I push my legs down, so they dangled off the side.

"So...what do you need, to like, survive?" he cocked his head slightly, like a confused dog.

I chuckle a bit at his cuteness before answering. "Well, uh. I'm gonna need a bed, a bathroom, a food supply, entertainment, and some different clothes." I listed off different things that I would need to stay on the ship. I knew it would be a while before i could even think about getting back home, that is even if I wanted to.

"Okay, consider it done!...just one question...whats a bed? and a bathroom? and cl-oth-es?" he listed off his questions, holding out his digits.

"i-um-uh." I pausing thinking of how I could explain this to him.. "Okay..so a bed, is like a berth, but soft, and for humans...clothes are...well these" i grab my shirt and tug on it slightly, doing the same to my pants. "and a bathroom is um a...- wait a minute! Can't you just google this shit, you're a Robot for gods sake!" i burst, throwing my hands up at him.  My cheeks glow with embarrassment.

he bursts out laughing at me. "ya know i was on earth for a bit, i didn't learn much but i did know what a bathroom was....mainly cause the human i had to guard constantly needed to use one....plus i can use google. so I kinda put 2 and 2 together." he chuckles again, I roll my eyes.

"Anyways. tomorrow around noon we should be arriving at a depot, so we can get some of your supplies there. for whatever reason, all other species are like, obsessed with earth products, so it shouldn't be too hard to find some things." he smiled down at me.

"Including you?" I ask with a smirk, thinking about the cans of wax that were in the drawer.

"Shut up, not my fault your species makes good products to keep metal shiny and clean." he holds his head high, probably trying to protect his pride.

I grin back up at him, chuckling when a loud voice boomed over an intercom, it sounded like Ultra Magnus. "Lights are now out. Everyone must go into your assigned habsuite, failure to do so will result in punishment from me. Goodnight." the voice shut on ask quickly as it came.

I cock an eyebrow up at Rodimus in question. he sighs. "He's starting this new, curfew thing, cause too many bots were staying at swerves and constantly getting drunk."

I scoff.

"Yeah, I know its stupid. me and Drift and the others sometimes sneak out, just to try and get caught by him. its a fun game, we should play it sometime when your arm is healed." he looked down at me and then to the berth.

"Yeah. I'd love that." I smile up at him.

"We should be getting to recharge." he sighs, shuffling towards the berth, peds dragging on the ground. He falls onto the berth, making the room shake slightly.

his head was now closer to mine, since the desk was right near the head of the berth. I turn towards him and stand, walking closer. he holds his hand out slightly.

"I know it isn't the softest place in the world, but you can sleep over here with me if you want..I promise I won't squish you." He holds out his hand for me to crawl across, onto the berth.

I chuckle softly before climbing on, and across his arm, sitting next to him slightly.  he shifts around a bit and I hear a click before the room goes dark, other than the slight glow of the energon slipping through Rodimus' Armor cracks, and the bright glow of his optics. He shifts a bit again, I close my eyes, curling into him a bit, snuggling the warmth I could get. I drifted deeper and deeper into the darkness till I felt myself being picked up and placed on something much warmer, I sighed in content and curled into the warmth, clinging to whatever was producing. the last thing i remember was the slightest whisper from Rodimus.

"Goodnight little human."

[nyalapeno]

Salt in the Sea - chapter 1

To celebrate Ei-chan’s birthday! <3 He’s my eternal fave character so I wanted to write something for him. 

So here it is - my Eijun-centric Miyusawa fic :) I’ve posted it on Ao3 as well - here it is. [Salt in the Sea]

I hope someone out there will smile reading it~

Chapter 1 ~ I don’t give a damn about my bad reputation~

She... she wasn't listening. At all. His protests went ignored. Gramps had slapped him, but that was still a reaction, if negative - she wasn't reacting, just saying whatever she wanted. Was she purposefully ignoring everything that didn’t fit in with her plans because she was even more bullheaded than an average Sawamura? Or was she deaf? Did she need hearing aids? Was she old enough to need hearing aids?

"Do you nee--" SLAP!

Thus interrupted, Eijun winced and rubbed his cheek to get rid of the stinging feeling. His Gramps couldn't read minds but having known him for fifteen years he could certainly make a fine impression of it. In this case the slap was a preemptive measure as he'd been about to indirectly make a comment about the recruiter's age, and age and calories were risky topics at times.

But it would've been fine! It wasn't like she was listening in the first place.

And now she was tapping on her phone while sharing a table with her hosts. Rude! His mom, instead of telling her off, was watching the proceedings with interest.

"I can reserve the tickets for tomorrow, will that be alright?"

"Certainly!" his mom agreed. "I'll inform Ei-chan's teachers. It's not every day an opportunity like this comes along so I'm sure they'll understand!"

"What," Eijun deadpanned as he listened to his immediate future being planned out without his say so.

"Don't you 'what' me!" Eitoku scolded him. "A recruiter from that Seidou comes here personally to invite you and this is how you react? You should be thanking her on your knees!" Eijun huffed. He already said exactly what he thought about schools like 'that Seidou', not that anyone’d paid him any mind. Wasn't he allowed to have an unpopular opinion?

The recruiter, with his family's full support and encouragement, reserved tickets for Eijun. The travel plan sounded complicated as he’d apparently have to change trains a few times. Tomorrow morning he was going to be visiting the place and there was nothing he could do about it. Well, in theory Eijun could ignore the summons and not go unless Takashima came back in person and dragged him to Tokyo by his hair - when he was younger he used to try such tactics. But they'd just gotten him slapped every time, and besides it was a waste of daylight. So yeah, in theory only. In practice he was stuck.

Honestly, half of the reason he was protesting so much was the woman's total dismissal of his objections. No one liked being seen as an opinionless doll to be dragged around the country willy-nilly. Maybe he was exaggerating but sitting here and being ignored was unpleasant. He'd even rather she yell at him or tell him he was an idiot for not wanting to go. And his family still wondered why he wasn't jumping on the Seidou bandwagon. Were all students treated like air, or was it reserved for prospective students like him? Great advertising. Exactly who did it attract? Masochists?

"...Blech!" Eijun made a face as his imagination ran away with him. His dad lightly smacked the back of his head. Probably decided it already took enough abuse today. Speaking of, the recruiter had been impressed with his slapping skills and in fact appeared to approve of him starting a brawl after the match. He was really beginning to wonder about this super fancy baseball school. Masochists and brawlers... was this real-life Deimon High? Did they maybe have Hiruma Youichi the second? If he went there and met a violent student a year his senior who was called Youichi he would scream, Sena style.

He already felt like screaming to be honest. What the hell was this situation?

The scout was already saying her goodbyes, apparently having finished up with the ticket thing. Everyone was bowing and spewing niceties with not a thought spared for basic human rights while Eijun folded his arms across his chest and scowled at everything, unaware that his attempt looked more like a pout. His verbal protests had been ignored so maybe a visual one...?

"Sawamura-kun," the recruiter said, turning to him. She paused, took in his Rebellious Teenager PoseTM, then smirked. What the-- "I've reserved tickets for you, your mother has the details. Make sure to not be late for the train."

"As if I would be!" Eijun snapped, his offense at the situation temporarily transforming into offense at the insinuation. He was never late! Unless it was on purpose.

"Very good," the lady smirked at him again. Eijun's mouth fell open and he stared, bamboozled. She pretended not to hear the stuff that didn’t fit with her plans but responded to stuff that did? How convenient! "Then I won't be imposing on you any longer. Sawamura-kun, I'll be waiting for you at the first interchange station so you don't get lost." with this parting shot she left, leaving Eijun spluttering as he was insulted for the nth time in one conversation.

"I won't get lost!!" he bellowed after her.

Slap!

"Shut up!" Eitoku shushed him. Like Eijun with scowling, he had his own unique version of shushing.

"Don't complain, Eijun," his dad scolded. "It was thoughtful of Takashima-san to offer, the metro system in Tokyo is confusing. If you really were to get lost you'd be in Big Trouble," he shuddered, as though remembering something unpleasant from his past. Eijun blinked.

"Is it really that bad?" he asked, curiosity overriding offense. He hadn't seen much of the metro during his time in Tokyo so he had no clue.

"Even natives have trouble navigating it," Eishi said gravely. "It's better now, with all the apps they made for passengers, but it's still too complicated for comfort. I'd feel better if you had a guide."

"And I'd feel better if I wasn't going at all," Eijun muttered crossly.

"You ungrateful grandson!" Eitoku shook a fist at him but didn't slap. Maybe his hand was tired? "People make the effort to organize transport for you and you don't have to pay and you still complain?"

"Aaargh, I'm not complaining about free transport! I just don't want to visit this school in the first place, like I keep saying from the beginning! But everyone turns deaf when I speak! What is wrong with this world? Nobody’s listening! Nobody understands me!" he dramatized. Eitoku side-eyed him.

"Well, if you can go on like this then clearly you're just fine," he commented.

"Everyone," Chieko called out before anything else could be said. "I think this calls for a family discussion so why don't we get back to the table? I'll make more tea."

"I'll help!" Eijun yelled then bolted into the kitchen before anyone could stop him or talk some more nonsense. His mom followed while Eishi and Eitoku sat down at the table. Eijun collected the necessities while Chieko put the kettle on. The water was soon ready because they used an electric kettle and not a tetsubin. They did own a tetsubin, but it was being used as a decorative flowerpot instead. Which was just fine with Eijun who didn’t want to boil water on the stove. Not that he boiled water by himself very often.

"Mom, can I have hot chocolate instead?" Eijun asked, hesitating over the fourth teacup. He wasn’t really in the mood for tea.

"Of course, Ei-chan. Just try not to spill milk everywhere again." The kettle clicked as Eijun pulled out his usual mug and the can of instant cocoa.

"Mom! That time it was a new carton, it couldn't be helped!" he defended and went to fetch the milk.

"It could if you poured more slowly."

"Urgh… fine," Eijun waited for his mom to pour the water, then added cocoa powder and milk, making sure to handle the carton carefully. Full cartons could be tricky. "Ha!" he beamed at his success when nothing was spilled. Happy, he stirred the contents of the mug energetically, which resulted in some of the liquid flying out and forming a chocolatey puddle on the counter. "..."

"It's all right, Ei-chan, just clean it up," his mom didn't even seem fazed anymore.

"Uh, yeah, cleaning up now! Sorry!" Eijun wiped up the counter. Somehow, Chieko managed to prepare the tea and snacks in the time it took him to prepare his own drink. Respect. Together, they carried everything to the table.

"All right, Ei-chan," Chieko asked once everyone was sitting down. "Out with it. Why are you so reluctant about giving Seidou a chance?"

Eijun glanced at all his family members one by one. Unlike when Takashima-san was still around this time they looked ready to listen to what he had to say, if a bit skeptical (Eitoku).

"Because..." he took a deep breath. "Because look at how that lady acted! She totally ignored my opinion and just did her own thing, and she's someone who takes care of kids at this fancy boarding school! What if everyone's treated like that all the time? That's really bad especially because they live there! And she told us how she always looks at matches to find and pick the best players for her school like players were flowers or something, and that's so impersonal! Is this a school or a bouquet?  And it sounds like they're all about results and winning and I just don't like it at all! When playing baseball you should enjoy it, not feel like a soldier who'll get killed if he doesn't succeed! And I already promised everyone we'll all go to Miyoshi and recreate our team there so that we can have fun playing together as long as we can and I can't just go back on that because I got scouted somewhere! It's just all bad! And-- and--” he stuttered, hesitant to mention the last reason in front of his Dad and Gramps who’d likely laugh in his face... or slap it. “And the place is probably stuffy and sucky and full of snobs! " With this crowning argument Eijun broke off, huffing. Face having grown hot from his rant, he placed his hands on his cheeks to cool it.

"All I'm hearing is that you're assuming a lot of things about this school you've never seen before, because of what one woman told you," Eitoku commented. "You know what they say about assuming, right?"

"Gramps!" Eijun made a face at the lame comment.

"Hmph," Eitoku scoffed but didn't dwell on the subject.

"Why don't you just go there tomorrow and see if you're right or not?" Eishi suggested. "One visit doesn't equal to signing a pact. You can use that chance to see the place and decide what to do."

"So long as it's an informed decision and not one you made based only on prejudices, we'll all accept it," Chieko added.

"That's right."

"But..." they'd missed the most important part! "But I already said I'll go to Miyoshi with everyone!"

"And I suppose you think that if something comes up that will make you want to change that decision, your friends will get so offended they'll shun you forever?"

"Whu-- huh?" Eijun spluttered, thought process derailing like a faulty train. The depressing vision was unpleasant to consider and made his chest clench, but it was also unimaginable. He just couldn't see such a thing happening. His friends... they weren't like that!

"Is that how little you think of your friends and the bond you share?" Eitoku thundered, probably sensing weakness and decided to strike while the train was derailed. "Is your friendship something so flimsy and shallow it'll break because of distance?"

"No!" Eijun protested, because he didn't think so. "But we made a promise! That matters, okay?"

"Rather than a promise, I think you've been making plans together," Eishi corrected. "Unless you summoned spirits of warriors from ages past and took a blood oath under the moon?"

"We-- what?" Eijun gaped. Where did his dad even get that from? And people said Eijun was weird. "There was no blood oath, what the--"

"Then you were making plans. And plans can change sometimes, which is something I'm sure your friends understand."

"But WHY should I even change those plans?" It was so exasperating. That woman turning deaf to his protests was in its own realm of irritating but this was something else. This was his family telling him that they valued a stranger’s opinion over his. And sometimes the family had a point but it was still grating. The one going to whatever high school he ended up in would be Eijun, not his parents or his Gramps or that recruiter. Didn't he have the right to decide by himself? Whether it was Seidou or Miyoshi or something completely different...

Oh.

"Yes, Ei-chan," Chieko apparently noticed the dawning realization. "We just want you to consider all your options properly, not get fixated on one and reject all others due to lack of information and your defiant, irreverent, bull-headed personality." The adjectives were like anvils falling upon his head and Eijun's elbows slipped, face meeting the table.

"Urgh," he groaned into its shiny surface. He knew he could be bull-headed – hello, his zodiac sign was Taurus the bull – and had no qualms admitting it, but having it pointed out by someone else was a bit... And what was wrong with being irreverent? Japanese were too reverent, someone had to break the mold--

"Ei-chan."

"Yes!" he jumped up like a startled cat. "I understand! I'll... give Seidou a chance..." he trailed off, grimacing. Now that his family was discussing things with him properly his earlier ire had dulled, but he didn't like going behind his friends' backs like this. When he failed to show up to school tomorrow and they asked around and found out he was visiting some snobby school in Tokyo, what would they think?

"What's the problem this time?" Eitoku got to the heart of the matter.

"It just feels like I'm going behind my friends' backs, not telling them about this."

"Then tell them! It's the 21st century, don't you have phones and emails and those liana accounts you use? Why do I have to tell you this?" Eijun felt his jaw drop from sheer disbelief.

"L-- liana account? Wha-- Gramps, you have a LINE account! You talk to me on it! You send stickers! I know you know what it's called!"

"Don't you sass me, young man!"

"Now, now," Chieko mitigated the bickering duo, unable to hold back a smile.

"I'm the one who plays the fool in this house," Eijun grumbled.

"We know," three voices answered in unison, flustering him.

"All things aside," Chieko fixed Eijun with her  ‘I’m onto you’ look. Had she figured out he’d omitted something earlier? Probably. His mom was smart like that. “I think you should consider challenging yourself more, and this is a great opportunity to do that."

"You're never challenged anywhere, are you?” Eishi picked up the line of thought. “Definitely not in baseball, because you're the one who's challenging your friends. And every child your age should test their mettle at some point or they'll never grow. Your mother is right, Seidou might just turn out to be good for you."

"Will it really? How am I supposed to know if it's for me?" Eijun was understandably skeptical.

"You can't know until you find out yourself. By going there if you have to," Eishi paused for a moment, thoughtful. "Did I ever tell you? At one point in my life I wanted to be a musician." Eijun blinked.

"No, you didn't!" He definitely would've remembered that.

"I thought it was what I wanted to do in life, so I set off for Tokyo," Eishi smiled ruefully. "It took me three months to find out that it actually wasn't for me, and then I came back home--"

"Crying to me how 'Tokyo was so scary!'" Eitoku mocked him. They started a minor brawl which was broken up by Chieko before it could escalate. Eijun watched it all and grinned. A random visitor might think Eitoku was in charge of everything going by his personality, but Eijun knew who really wore the pants around here.

"My point," Eishi continued once he settled down, "is that it's fine to decide on something and then realize it was a wrong decision. Making such mistakes is a part of growing up. If you decide to go to Seidou and it won't work out for you, you can always transfer to Miyoshi, or just go back and help out with the farm. No one will blame you for it or laugh at you."

Okay, Eijun took back every complaint he made about his family today. They were the best.

"Speak for yourself, I'd definitely laugh at him," said Eitoku right after Eijun thought that, making him facefault.

"This is supposed to be encouragement?! I take back what I just took back! Ha! See? I'm not that stubborn if I can change my mind twice in under a minute!" he announced triumphantly, causing confused blinking as the others couldn't read his mind and thus had no idea what he was talking about.

"...Back to the subject," Eishi attempted to move on from the weird exchange. "Now that you've been offered an opportunity to attend a school like Seidou I think you should take it, if only to try it out. Even if you're not convinced, being scouted by a school of such renown has to be at least a little flattering, right?" He gave Eijun a questioning glance. Eijun flushed and turned away, grumbling to himself. It was, but hell if he was going to admit that. The pleasure and happiness that bubbled up in his chest when he realized that someone thought he had potential as a pitcher just didn't fit with the rest of his emotions, so he'd made sure to push it to the back of his mind. The feeling was still there but he could ignore it... until his dad's comment right now.

"Right," Eishi nodded after getting a good look at Eijun's reaction. "Whatever you may think now I can assure you, this feeling won't go away. If you don't take the chance it may die down for a while, but then it'll come back when you least expect it and you'll end up wondering what could've been. But by then it'll probably already be too late."

Too late. Eijun flinched as he realized his dad was speaking of regrets. His least favorite flavor was bitter and regrets basically personified it. If he chose to not even see the school, would he end up regretting it? Forever wondering what the place was like and if he could’ve fit in there if he'd given it a chance? He… had no idea. He’d been so stuck on going to Miyoshi with his friends that he hadn’t considered anything else.  Now the possibility his dad evoked made him feel vaguely ill, a heavy feeling settling in his stomach. Remembering his hot chocolate he sipped at it to get rid of the bad taste in his mouth. The sweetness on his tongue washed away the bitter taste the thoughts left and the liquid settled warmly in his stomach, warming him up from the inside and slowly loosening the knot of nerves.

Now that he was trying to be less bull-headed about the issue (what, he could admit his faults if only to himself), he realized he was curious to see what the snobby school looked like. The recruiter’s stories didn’t count as she was expected to show her school in the best light, and besides he hadn’t been too impressed with what he’d heard. So he should probably go there and form his own opinion. Like his dad said, the visit had no strings attached so there should be no problem. Well, as long as no one expected him to pretend to be impressed if he wasn’t.

A slurping sound cut through his thoughts. Eijun blinked, coming back to himself as he realized he’d finished his drink and was now trying to drink from an empty mug. Snorting, he set it down.

"Right," he shook his head to clear it. "I want to talk to my friends about this first, but tomorrow I'll keep an open mind."

"That's the spirit!" Eitoku said, nodding grandly in approval as though this was a state meeting.

"That’s settled then. Crackers, anyone?" Chieko offered, moving the bowl to the middle of the table. One third of its contents was mysteriously missing. Caught off guard, the men (and boy) stared at the different types of crackers like they've never seen any before. Chieko rolled her eyes.

"Alright, more for me."

"You're gonna eat the whole bowl?" Eitoku wondered. "That's probably a lot of--" SLAP!

"Go ahead, dear," Eishi sweated nervously, hand still covering his father's mouth after the strategic slap. As previously stated, age and calories were risky topics.

"Are there any spicy ones?" Ignoring the byplay Eijun peered into the bowl.

"The triangles," Chieko pushed it towards him.

"Yay!" Eijun grabbed a triangle and happily stuffed it in his mouth. He loved spicy food... Wait a second. "Eeeh? These aren't spicy at all!"

"Not for you, maybe," Chieko corrected him. Out of curiosity Eishi tried a supposedly spicy cracker and frowned in thought.

"It is spicy."

"What? No it isn't!"

"Sorry Ei-chan, you're outvoted."

"Let me try," Eitoku also grabbed a cracker. "Hah? It's not that spicy, what’re you talking about?"

"Ha! Two for two! It's a tie now!" Eijun waved his hands in a mini victory dance.

"Your opinion shouldn't count in the first place, Eijun; you once put a whole habanero pepper in curry."

"Hey! I ate it later, didn't I?"

"Because no one else would touch it. Not even dad."

"Excuse you, I'm perfectly capable of eating real man's food! ...But that time he overdid it."

"I don't want to hear that from someone who later made jalapeno ramen!” Eijun protested. “Which I also had to eat, by the way!"

"Of course you had to eat it, no normal person would eat such a thing." What a hypocrite!

"Then why even make it in the first place?" Eijun yelled in exasperation.

"Now, now," Chieko soothed them. "Ei-chan, it's getting late. If you want to talk to your friends you should do it soon. There's no way to tell how long you'll take, and you should also make sure to pack something for the road. It's three hours from here to Tokyo, even if you take the shinkansen."

"Right! I'll just make a group chat, I guess," Eijun thought out loud. Eitoku rolled his eyes but didn't comment.

“But first please help with the dishes,” Chieko said with a pleasant smile. Somehow Eijun didn't think this was about the dishes - well, not only. But it couldn't hurt to have an additional talk with his mom.

He went.

Then he had to go back for the mugs.

[andromedahawking]

OC Bullshit AKA: Group Project Part 1

Maria hated group projects. With a passion. Every time, she ended up pulling all the weight while everyone else skived off.

This time, though, she seemed to have joined a group that shared her pain.

The project was daunting: a full rundown of the 2056 election, primaries and general, due in one month. Five people in the group: Adrien Cranston, Hannah Chase, herself, Tatjana Mekall, and Xander York. By her logic, that was one person for each primary and one for the general, if they wanted to divvy it up that way. Although, none of them were exactly equally weighted—she knew for a fact that the Progressive primary had been a beast that election.

She had been the one to set up the group chat after class that day, already gearing up for another hellish month of dealing with four useless partners and doing the heavy lifting all the way—but this time was different.

Tuesday 2 October 2084, 17:47

MT Hey guys, Maria here. This’ll be a big project, we should schedule time to get together soon to work on it.

XY Hey! Agreed, we should meet ASAP.

If we can get this done early that would be ideal, I have big stuff in English Week 4.

AC I’m free every Monday, Wednesday and Friday after 16. Free all weekends, but Tues/Thurs are no-gos.

TM I’m in Xander’s English too, Week 4 is a major due date so finishing this quick is a really big priority.

MT I’m free past 16:30 on weekdays. Not free until 16 on weekends.

XY I’m free every day after 17.

HC I’m busy Mon Tues and Weds, free after 17 otherwise.

TM I’m free until 20 on weekends, free after 16 on weekdays.

MT So Friday and weekends after 17 work best for everyone?

AC Yeah that works

XY Can do.

TM Yup.

HC That’ll work.

MT Okay. Let’s meet up Friday at 17:30.

AC Meeting point?

HC Does everyone know Lac de la Lune?

XY Yeah I’ve heard of it.

AC Are you kidding I love that place Let’s do it

TM That’s in Walnut Creek, right?

That works for me.

MT Yeah, it’s in Walnut Creek near the Millenial Cinema on Locust.

So, Lac de la Lune at 17:30?

AC Let’s do it

HC That’s good

XY Yes

TM Yeah

MT Alright. It’s set.

See you guys there.

Bonus points to Hannah for suggesting Lac de la Lune. They served the best drinks there. Maria had arrived at 17, not wanting to be late, and got a booth for them. She’d brought her laptop and her textbook with her, and promptly supplemented that with a White Russian. Alcohol made History go down more smoothly.

17:10 gave her the first pleasant surprise of the day: Adrien arrived with all his materials.

“Afternoon,” he said with a wave, sitting down opposite her. “I’m glad you got a booth, I always liked them better.”

“History requires a cushy seat and strong drinks,” she said, smiling crookedly.

“God, relatable…” he groaned. “I look at the project outline and I feel my soul die in my chest.”

“Have you seen the Wikipedia article on the 2056 election?” she asked. “It makes me wanna die. It’s a nightmare.”

“I have,” he said. “I also wanted to die when I saw it. It’s so long.”

“And that’s just the Wikipedia article,” she said. “There’s so much stuff about this whole thing, you could write an entire textbook about it.”

“Someone probably has.” Adrien picked up a menu. “I don’t know what I want to eat…”

“Pick a drink first, that’s my advice.”

“I already know what I want to drink, that’s easy. Food is a lock I can never pick.”

“Burger. You can’t go wrong with a burger.”

“True, but…” He bit his lip. “Burgers weigh me down. I need something lighter.”

“Pizza? You can get it thin-crust and plain.”

“Ooooo. Oo, yeah, that sounds good. I’ll do that.”

The others trickled in early as well. It was 17:20 by the time Xander came in and completed the group. Everybody was actually prepared. It was amazing to see: all five of them, laptops and books at the ready, eager to get this damn thing done swiftly and painlessly.

“Okay, so, first of all,” Hannah began, “we need to figure out how to break this up. It goes from about June 2055 to January 2057. There’s the four primaries, then the general and everything between that and the inauguration.”

“We shouldn’t do one primary or the general apiece,” Xander said. “The Pros and Dems' primaries are a huge mess compared to the Reps and Cons.”

“Yeah, Mazer and Birch were locked in way before Hanover or Scott,” Maria nodded. “We’d be better off going by subjects or something.”

“We also have to remember the 29th Amendment,” Tatjana said.

“Oh, fuck, you’re right,” Maria groaned. “The proportional voting totally changed the dynamic.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Adrien agreed. “And there’s also the VAP Automatic Registration Act.”

“Okay,” Hannah said. “So we can break it up into five groups of subjects, like, um, election changes and things like that… uh, debates, other things.”

“Yeah, that oughta work better,” Xander said.

“Cool,” Maria said. “Let’s do it.”

-

They made some decent headway before their meals came, but it was to be expected that once it was time to eat, work ground to a halt.

“My favourite part of the whole thing is how she was president for two terms, and now she’s a Senator,” Xander laughed. “Like, there’s nothing in the Constitution that says you can’t be a Senator after you’re President! We have two former Presidents as Senators right now!”

“It’s so fucking weird, man,” Maria sighed. “The government is a shitshow.”

“I mean, to be fair, Mazer is a pretty darn good Senator,” Adrien said. “Even if she is a Republican.”

“Don’t you know?” Tatjana said with fake disgust. “Labels are fake. Politics are a lie.”

“Yeah, haven’t you heard of RINOs before?” Hannah giggled. “She used to be a Progressive.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I know,” Adrien said, taking a big bite of pizza. “But still, she’s the only Republican I ever voted for.”

“Oh, so you’re one of those people?” Hannah asked. “You vote along party lines?”

“Not always! I cross the aisle sometimes.”

“Fuckin’ weirdo,” Maria said. “Be a good little Democrat and stay in line.”

“I’m a Progressive, thank you very much.”

“Same here,” Tatjana said. “I don’t matter, though, since I’m first-gen.”

“What, your parents are immigrants?” Xander asked.

“Mm-hm. They immigrated from Germany back in the 40s.”

“Oh yeah, so you’re locked in, basically,” Adrien said.

“Pretty much,” Tatjana said, grinning widely. “I’m a good girl. I vote Progressive.”

“I’m not that far gone,” Maria said. “I stick with the Democrats.”

“Establishment hack!” Hannah gasped dramatically.

“California corrupted you, didn’t it?!” Xander said. “The conservatives got to you!”

“Oh my god, is being a Democrat really being a conservative?” Maria laughed. “I thought there were two other parties that had that base covered!”

“All Democrats are conservatives in disguise,” Adrien deadpanned with a thick Southern drawl. “Don’t y’all get that? If you ain’t Progressive you ain’t American.”

“Oh good, can we get rid of Washington and Oregon, then?”

“Only if we toss in Wisconsin.”

“I can live with that.”

“What? You can’t do that!” Xander said. “That messes up the borders!”

“Look at this noob,” Tatjana said. “He thinks borders are something to be honoured!”

“Toss Wisconsin to the dogs, borders be damned!” Hannah said. “And I’m speaking as a Minnesotan, we’d be better off!”

“Well, of course you want them gone, then!” Maria said. “You have state rivalry in play!”

“Duh!” Hannah took a big sip of her drink. “It’s in my blood!”

“Okay, we obviously need to pro-con getting rid of Wisconsin,” Adrien said. “On one hand, it makes Minnestoa happy; on the other, it fucks up the borders, as Xander pointed out.”

“Wisconsin is good for industry,” Maria said. “I say that cancels out the wingnuts.”

“Well, by that logic, Montana should be counted as an asset too,” Hannah said.

“I mean, they have Teller City!” Maria said. “Teller City does some amazing stuff for robotics.”

“Okay, but that’s only industry,” Adrien said. “What about other things? What does Wisconsin add or subtract from the nation?”

“They have the cheeseheads,” Hannah said.

“We can enjoy cheese memes just as fine without Wisconsin,” Tatjana said. “They can leave and still make dumb memes.”

“You’re right. Memes are a constant,” Adrien said.

“I think we should get rid of Wisconsin,” Maria said. “50 states is a nicer number.”

“Yeah, but 51 divides into 17, and 17 is cool,” Xander said.

“I think we should nix Wisconsin on the grounds that they beat the 49ers last season,” Tatjana said.

“An excellent position,” Adrien said. “You know what? It’s decided. Wisconsin is expelled from the Union. Fifty states again.”

“I’ll drink to that!” Maria said.

“And good riddance!” Hannah cheered.