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yoonia · 1 year ago

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Chance Encounter | 06

⟶ Title | Chance Encounter

⟶ Summary | Sometimes your fangirling can cause you a lot of problems. Add alcohol and your clumsy thumb into the mix, followed by waking up to an accidental DM getting sent on Instagram, and your life changes forever. The entire mess leads you to an odd form of friendship with the man who you had always admired. But what happens when your two worlds collide, blurring the lines between reality and dreams? Will you be able to return to your real-life once this is over?

⟶ Author's note | It's finally here! After a long wait, I have finally returned with this story. I think this would be the perfect time to reveal the reason why I haven't been updating this series in a while and that is...*drum roll*...because google docs lost the entire files for the rest of the chapters lol I'm back, though, and I have every intention to finish this series because I still have a ton of ideas to share featuring this amazing man. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Six

“Are you guys still at the mall? Seriously, did you have to take so long to pick your—bathing suit?”

Pressing your hand on your mouth, you muffle the sound of your laughter while Christian continues fuming on the other side of the call. “Bathing suit? Damn, you sound older than Momo’s Dad,” you almost choke as you tease him, unable to stop yourself from laughing.

“Okay, bikini, swimsuit, whatever,” he says, grumbling on the phone, causing you to laugh harder.

“It’s not that we lost track of time because of the bikinis,” you answer him with your voice lowered, not wanting to draw any more attention from the people roaming around you when you had already drawn enough eyes on you just by giggling to yourself. Having people glancing your way is already making you feel uncomfortable enough, even more so when it feels like you are hiding a big secret from the world and you have an irrational fear of getting caught growing on you.

Speaking to Christian like this makes you feel that way. It feels like you are keeping an important secret from the world. Although you have to admit that this is exactly what he is—a wonderful secret that you want to keep to yourself for a bit longer.

Thinking about this puts a smile on your face. One that stays with you when you cheerfully add, “We just had a little detour while shopping, that’s all. We’ll be back on track and finish things up in no time.”

Just as you are saying these words to him, you cast a glance towards the other side of the store where you currently are. There, you see Momo leaning over one of the glass showcases lined inside the store with rapt attention, eyes glowing over the collection of expensive branded watches lined up properly on display. Right beside her, Em is basically doing the same, and it is almost comical to see their expressions mirroring one another, with the bright lights coming out of the glass display reflecting on their faces to make them shine. And neither of them is even bothered by it, too mesmerised by the flashy collection that they have been eyeing on.

“Is ‘detour’ a code word for saying that you guys are getting carried away at the mall? You’re not trying to buy everything you see on display, are you?” Christian speaks on the phone again, and you are forced to stifle your laughter as you listen to what he is saying. Even without seeing him, you can already picture his pouty face and the curious frown that he normally gives you when he is trying to understand something that he couldn’t get a good grasp on, which often happens when you share some of the things that you do when you are not with him. You turn to look at the watch counter, watching silently as Momo is helping Em choose between a couple of watches that the storekeeper has personally picked out for them.

“No, it’s an actual detour. We sort of encountered some kind of—distraction.” A smile comes to your face when you recall what had happened. To remember the reason why you and Momo had ended up in the exclusive watch store with Em, the last person on earth that you would expect to be hanging out with.

It was quite awkward at first to have Em join your shopping date, when you barely knew anything about her except for what you have learned through the few cordial encounters you had with her, especially after the cryptic comment she made about the gift she is looking for.

But you are thankful that you had Momo here with you today, as she managed to defuse the situation, knowing exactly well about your habit to overthink and worry about the things that you don’t fully understand. Once Momo jumped in to break the ice, you finally gained enough information to not be as wary as you were when you first met Em earlier.

“What kind of gift are you thinking of getting?” Momo asked her while the three of you were browsing through the shops and did some window shopping before making any decisions about where to go, and Em—having no knowledge of the turmoil happening in your head at that moment—nonchalantly answered,

“Something that would give a nice message as a congratulatory and send-off gift.”

Momo stole a glance your way then before asking. “Send-off? Is it for a friend of yours?”

“Yes,” Em said, looking at the two of you with a bashful smile that told you more than any spoken word could. “He’s a really special friend of mine who is moving to the States sometime next month. He got this terrific offer that would allow him to make more music, which is basically a huge upgrade to what he’s been doing here lately,” she explained, then she turned to you with a request, “He’s also a good friend of Rome. I mean, Christian. Since they’ve been spending time together quite often lately, would it be okay if I ask you not to say anything to Ian when you see him? I don’t want to spoil the surprise too soon. We’ll be leaving for the States together once the date is set, but my friends and I are planning to have a send-off party the weekend before. I’m thinking of giving the gift to him then.”

The smile that came to your face was almost spontaneous. The relief that you felt must have been palpable, yet you couldn’t get yourself to reel it in. Though you did manage to control your composure when you promised her, “Your secret is safe with me,” while you tried to qualm the feeling of guilt for having suspected the relationship that she has with Christian.

On the phone, Christian gives you a sarcastic scoff and says, “Riiiight—”

“It’s not what you think, I promise.”

“No, I get it. Those discount sale offers can be quite intriguing,” he says, obviously having the wrong assumption about what you are truly up to. You wish you could explain, yet this is just another secret that you would have to keep from him. At least until the end of the month, when Em would finally be able to reveal her surprise gift for her special friend. “Look, just go ahead and have fun with your friend. You deserve it,” Christian adds, though his voice sounds lighter, no more of his feigned annoyance is heard. In its place, you can hear his smile, which only draws your own to appear.

“Thank you,” you say to him. “Aren’t you supposed to be busy right now?”

“Yeah, I’m in the middle of a break, but we’re getting back into it in a minute,” he says, already sounding a bit distracted just as the noises behind him start growing a bit louder. “Call me when you’re back. Maybe, you know, you can give me a little preview—”

Knowing where this is heading, you quickly cut him off before he could say the words, “Goodbye, Ian.”

He chuckles on the phone. “See you later, baby,” he says, before ending the call, all while your heart is racing so violently in your chest for the endearment that he had just given you. Immediately, your face grows hot, and your mind seems to be swirling up to the air with the joy blooming inside you.

Still feeling as if you are on cloud nine, you almost miss it when Momo turns to call you over, “I think we’ve found the perfect one. Come here and take a look at this, try to see if you like it too.”

Putting your phone away, you rush towards your best friend and your new shopping companion, Em, who appears just as giddy and excited as Momo is to show what they have found. Seeing their combined reactions, you cannot help but share the same sentiment, and it adds a bit of pep to your footsteps as you come to join them in finding the perfect gift for Em’s secret crush.

“How about this one?” Em asks you as she shows you yet another pair of bikinis that seems a bit too revealing compared to what you are used to. You make no comment about her choice of outfit as she hands the delicate pair to you, choosing to take a good look at the piece to appreciate her genuine effort in helping you to find the piece that might fit your taste more.

Ever since the three of you came into the store, both Em and Momo have been assisting you to find the perfect pair for you to buy, as they took notice of your indecisiveness right away. Everything you are seeing in the store has been lovely that it is making it impossible for you to choose, yet the two girls have only been of little help to you. Because when Em keeps choosing the most revealing and extremely daring ones she could find in the store which makes your face burn each time you try to imagine yourself wearing them, Momo has been choosing the ones with the brightest colours and flashy frills that you would never be able to wear without getting your face burning in embarrassment.

This time, however, the piece that you are holding in your hand seems to have caught your eye. It is a solid coffee-coloured triangle set with beaded strings, and a halter top that covers just a bit more skin compared to the previous ones she showed you. The piece sure looks like a major upgrade from the small black piece that she showed you earlier with the top which barely covered your boobs and the thin strip bottom, and while it looks revealing, it seems a bit more appropriate to wear at Momo’s house this weekend—where some or any of her family members might be present—compared to the other ones she has shown you so far.

“You know what? This one actually looks quite nice,” you say to her, acknowledging her taste in style and suddenly believing that you might actually look good in something that seems quite daring.

Your comment seems to please her as her face instantly brightens. And for some reason, it makes you just as happy to see her getting excited for you. This new feeling is quite—odd. Not more than an hour ago, the air of awkwardness that was present had made it hard for you to start a conversation with her without Momo’s help. You cannot deny that the underlying doubt that you felt about her relationship with Christian had made you feel inferior while being around her. Added with the way she looks and dresses and how she wears her confidence so openly, something that is quite the opposite if compared to you.

But that feeling is no longer present now when you have finally gotten to know her a bit better, and once you got to see her bubbly personality that seems to fit your and Momo’s energy perfectly.

Once that bridge has been crossed, you begin to see and understand why she is able to get along with Christian and his friend group. The more you spend time with her, the more you are able to see how kind and friendly Em really is. And that despite her pristine appearance, she could be quite—clumsy.

Much like you are.

Perhaps knowing that you aren’t completely different from one another has been the reason why you are beginning to feel comfortable hanging out with her without anyone else’s helping you.

“Great! I knew you’d like it. The set comes with a cover-up too,” she says, plucking the thin piece of coverup from the rack that appears to be a part of the set for you to try on. “Here, try them all on together and see if it’s something you’d like. Oh, and try the black one too,” she insists, quickly snatching the similar set in black before handing them to you along with the coffee one. She looks at the sets you are now holding and sighs dramatically. “I still think the previous one was hotter, though.”

“Oh, no,” you quickly say to her, shaking your head when you recall the one she mentioned. “The black one you picked for me was not a bikini top, those were nipple patches.”

Your comment makes her laugh. “Yeah, I admit, those were more daring than the rest. But I have a couple of them at home and they’re really comfortable. And I bet you’d look really good in them.”

You almost grimace as you try to picture yourself wearing those tiny things, though you hide it the best you could, knowing that Em has rocked those types of bikinis perfectly and is evidently loving them to bits. You know this because she has shown you a few photos of her wearing them from her social media, and you have to admit, she does look good wearing all the daring pieces you saw that you almost feel envious of her confidence.

Em leaves you be as you make your way to the fitting room at the back of the store, only to suddenly return before you can get there so she can slip a couple of new items into your arms to add to the pile that you are about to try on.

“Here, try on these too while you’re at it. Can’t hurt to know how they would look on you, can it?” she says, while you only roll your eyes and laugh at her.

“Fine, if it makes you happy.”

Sliding into one of the vacant booths, you finally get to take a look at what you have gotten with you so far. Aside from the two complete sets that Em got you earlier, you also find the black top which you classified as nipple patches among the pile. This one is adorned with gold chains tying the top up to hang around your neck, making it look a bit more classy compared to the ones that Em initially found when she first started helping you.

Shaking your head and chuckling at Em’s sneaky antics, you put the tiny thing away to have a look at the others. Other than a new pair that looks similar to the black and coffee sets that you liked earlier, you find another bikini set which Em managed to slip in. This one looks just as revealing as the other ones, if not just a bit more, with a brighter colour that makes them pop in your eyes. You hold up the red halter bikini top which comes together with a thong-like bottom that leaves almost nothing to the imagination. Although, there is a sheer long skirt that comes with the pair, what seems to be a coverup that looks to be sufficient enough to cover the bottom half if you need it.

Surprisingly, you find yourself liking this piece as well. Just when you are pressing the pieces against your body just to imagine how it would look on you, you hear a knock at the door before Momo speaks to you from the other side.

“Em told me that you’re in here. So, have you finally found something you like?” she teases, while you can only shake your head and laugh.

You look down at your stash with a sigh. “Will you be patient? Perfection takes time.”

A scoff is heard from your best friend, and you can almost imagine her rolling her eyes at you. “Or you’re just being too picky. Hurry up and try them on, then come out here so we can see it. Em already approved the ones I picked.”

You smile at your reflection in the mirror when you recall Momo slipping into a fitting booth with an arm full of bright-coloured bikini sets. “Why should I show you mine if I didn’t get to see what you’re buying?”

“You’ll get to see them later when we’re paying for them. I only want to see yours to make sure you’ll look hot in my jacuzzi,” she says, making you laugh.

“Okay, let me try these on. Now leave me alone.”

You hear nothing from Momo other than a simple, “Okay,” and you start choosing the ones you want to see yourself in. Surprisingly drawn towards the red bikini set, you immediately pick that one to try first. While you can never possibly imagine yourself wearing it this weekend, you want to see if it would be something that you could wear sometime in the future.

The thin fabric feels like silk on your skin, but they are surprisingly comfortable. You are originally not one to wear something this revealing, always have been choosing the modest ones whenever you could, yet you can definitely see yourself in this set even if it may not happen for a while.

“Which one are you trying on now?” you hear Momo asking, and you absentmindedly answer her while admiring your own reflection, turning left and right to see yourself from every angle, making sure that the piece actually works for you before you can buy it.

“It’s the red one that Em found for me.”

“Really?” you can hear Em squealing from outside, excited to hear that you are trying out the piece that she seems to like. It makes you stop to hear her voice, realising that she is also out there, crowding the front of your booth with Momo.

“Seriously? Are you guys actually standing out there together waiting for me to show these?”

“We just want to see them,” Momo whines, while Em chimes in curiously,

“So? How do they look? Do you like them? Don’t they look gorgeous?”

They actually do look gorgeous, and it makes you look more appealing while wearing them. You feel the sudden urge and excitement to show them, especially Em, just to make her happy to see you trying this on. Yet, thinking about stepping out of the booth right this minute makes you feel a bit insecure.

“Um—do I have to step out and show you guys? They’re really—well, I feel exposed,” you hesitantly admit, feeling every bit self-conscious about stepping out of this booth.

It is one thing to wear this on a beach or while you are lounging in a fancy jacuzzi. It is another thing to be flaunting it around while being in the middle of a mall. With strangers around you to see. Momo seems to get this when you hear her snickering from the other side of the door.

“Then take pictures of them and send them to me so we can have a look.”

“Ooh, good idea!” Taking out your phone, you start taking pictures of yourself. Posing right in front of the mirror, you find the best angles that would be able to show the set that you are wearing, before covering your bottom half with the sheer skirt and taking photos of yourself wearing the complete set as well. “Hang on, let me try out the others before sending them to you.”

You barely hear Momo’s response as you quickly change out of the first bikini set, then repeat everything again as you try out the other two which you liked earlier—the coffee and black ones that you would feel more confident to wear. Feeling cold, you rush to quickly send all the pictures, adding a short comment for the coffee-coloured one in the message, ‘I’m getting this one for the weekend.’

Once you are done, you place your phone aside and change back into your clothes as you wait for Momo’s reaction to the pictures you sent. When you hear nothing from them, you simply figure that they might be still looking through the photos and think nothing of it and focus on sorting out the pieces you tried on before taking them with you.

But then Momo calls out to you from outside, getting you confused when she asks, “What’s taking you so long? Did you take the pictures yet?”

You stop in the middle of tidying yourself up. “What do you mean? I sent them all to you already.”

“Really? I’m getting nothing on my phone though.”

Wondering what the hell went wrong, you pick up the phone to see what happened with the messages you sent her. Only to have your stomach dropping once you open your message app, finally realising what you have done. Because you already did send out the messages and the pictures, except that you had not been messaging Momo the entire time.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck—” you curse at yourself when you see Christian’s name and his profile picture on top of the message thread. Panicking, you quickly begin deleting all the photos, even though deep down, you know that it would be no use. Minutes have gone by since they were sent out, and while Christian would often take a while to check on his phone whenever he is busy, you can already see that he had seen the pictures already, even if it had only been mere seconds before you started deleting them.

A sharp gasp and a desperate cry leave your lips as you drop down to the floor, feeling like your legs are giving up on you, drawing Momo’s concern when she can hear everything from outside.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Covering your face with your palms, you groan defeatedly before answering, “Nothing’s wrong. Just give me a minute.”

With a deep breath, you pick up your cell phone again to call Christian, who answers the call within the first ring, confirming your suspicions that he has been holding his phone the entire time to witness your shenanigans. The photos showing off the outfits you were trying on wouldn’t be such a big deal if you hadn’t been showing that much skin, or the funny and sultry poses you did to show off the sets which were originally meant for your best friend, or the fact that you have not even been dating this man for more than a day for you to be showing him—all of these things together.

“Did you open the text message? Please tell me you didn’t get it,” you immediately question him even before he could finish saying hello.

“Mhhmm—” is the only response he is giving you.

“That wasn’t supposed to be for you,” you continue blabbering, hoping for any slight chance that he might have not seen them and you had been quick enough to delete them before he could. “I’m so sorry. I was too shy to come out and show them to Momo when she asked to take a look so I took the photos for her instead.”

“Mhhmm—”

“What does that mean? Oh my God, you’ve seen them,” you worriedly question his lack of response and groan deeply when you realise what had happened. Though knowing that he had no doubt seen the photos only makes you grow more concerned about other things. “Oh no, you’re still working, aren’t you? Did anyone else see it? Is someone there with you?”

Christian chuckles softly on the phone. “Yes, I’m still at work. Don’t worry, Dabin had just stepped out of the room when I opened your text.”

“Okay—” you softly answer, though your voice fades to a muffled groan as you sit back against the booth and hug your folded legs as if it can help you hide from the world, which is clearly not missed by Christian.

“What’s wrong? You sound funny.”

Sighing, you refuse to raise your head as you answer, “Nothing. Just trying to figure out how to bury myself so I would stop feeling embarrassed.”

While you are busy covering your burning face, you can almost hear the smile on his face when Christian speaks again, “I guess I have to get used to this, huh?”

“To what? What do you mean?”

Chuckling softly, he answers you with a teasing voice, “Getting stray messages coming in when least expected. I don’t mind it, though.”

Burying your face deeper into your folded knees, you let out another groan. “Please stop. God, I wish I was at least drunk.” Thinking of how often this has happened between the two of you, you can only sigh to yourself. How could you have forgotten that you have been messaging constantly with Christian while you were out the whole day? “Fucking stupid. I should’ve paid more attention.”

Your comment makes him laugh, though he quickly tries to console you by saying, “Hey, it’s fine. The messages are gone on my part too. I was just about to ask you about them when you finally noticed and they started disappearing.”

“Thank God I was quick enough, though,” you say with a sigh. “I’m sorry again. Please forget that this happened.”

You hear him chuckling softly on the phone. “Forget? Hah—Now, that would be a bit hard to do,” he teases, making you smile. It is quite funny how easily he makes you feel calmer, when you were so close to crying over your own stupidity merely moments ago.

“Ian, please.”

“I’m just teasing you, baby. Don’t worry about it, okay? Besides, no one else had seen them and they’re no longer on my phone. Although, I wish I had saved them—”

Your cheeks have been growing warm with how gentle he is when speaking to you and calling you with this new endearment that he has chosen for you, but that quickly changes with his teasing that you roll your eyes. “Really?”

He laughs. “I’m joking, baby. I wouldn’t do that to you. Besides, I can always keep them in my memory—” he says, while humming softly as if he is closing his eyes to recall the photos again, “—or wait for a chance to have you showing them yourself for a private preview.”

“Hah, we’ll see about that, Mister,” you scoff at him, making him laugh. But as you find yourself feeling better and feeling less like an utter idiot, you cannot help but whisper to him, “Thank you, Ian.”

“Anytime. Now go on and continue shopping with your friend. Don’t mind me while I’m here trying to work and not think about those photos. I’m going to be dealing with a ton of stuff here anyway, so I probably won’t remember any of them by the end of the day,” he says, drawing a smile to your face. You feel grateful for the way he is able to help you qualm your trepidation and dread simply with his gentle voice and comforting words.

Yet, in a typical fashion of his, Christian reminds you of his mischievous ways as he teases you for the last time before ending the call, “Hey, babe? I think I liked the red one the best on you.”

Past the entire shenanigans happening during your shopping spree, followed by the busy week where you had to go through classes and assignments while Christian was keeping up with work, the weekend finally comes.

There was nobody home when you arrived at Momo’s house in the morning, as her family members were mostly out for the weekend, so you and Momo got to enjoy the entire house to yourselves and hang out in the new jacuzzi for as long as you like. While lounging in the hot water during the afternoon, the two of you talk about the day you spent at the mall. You share with her your apprehensions about Em and how your feelings changed after spending time with her and getting to see what kind of person Em truly was. Then Momo shares her curiosity about the secret crush that Em harbours and who it might have been directed to.

“Could it be Dabin?” she curiously asks you after chugging down her cold beer, while you shake your head.

“Not sure. She only said that it was one of Ian’s music producer friends, and Dabin has a lot of projects coming up with Ian so I don’t think it would make sense for him to leave,” you tell her, to which Momo groans softly.

“Yeah, that would be hard to figure out then cause we know Christian has a ton of friends, and I doubt you’ve met every single one of them already.”

Hearing this makes you smile. “You’re right, he does have a lot of friends and connections.”

“Speaking of Ian,” she suddenly says, turning to you with a sly grin on her face. “Are you excited about tonight?”

Your eyes grow wide, and you immediately feel your nerves spiking when you are reminded about what is happening tonight. After having only met Christian in person twice the entire week and only during classes, with both of you being so busy with your daily schedules, he finally called to propose taking you out on a date once he is done with his project this week. Once you found out that Momo has another plan tonight after hanging out with you, both you and Christian agreed to set the date for tonight, once he is done with the day and after Momo drops you back at your place when she leaves at sunset.

“I’m more nervous than excited, to be honest,” you admit to her, while Momo waves her hand at you.

“It’s fine. Everything’s going to be just fine,” she says, consoling you in her own way. “You’ve gone out with him before, so it’s going to be nothing different than those times, right?”

You ponder about it for a moment, and it only makes you frown just to think about seeing him tonight.

Because, no, absolutely not. It wouldn’t be anything like the times you shared with him previously.

Because this time, it would be a date. A real date. Not just a simple meet-up at the coffee place like the times you had to meet him after class to discuss about the class assignments, or when you came with him to the work party, or the night you joined him and his friends for drinks. This is different. It would be just the two of you—no friends, no assignments, no other people around that he has to meet up with as he is handling his business. It would be just you and Christian doing whatever it is that he has planned for you.

“I don’t think there’s anything for you to worry about, though. The guy likes you, and you like him too. I’m sure things will be great. Just like how it’s always been. Both of you are similar in a way, so I’m sure he’ll make it comfortable for you instead of making things awkward for a first date.”

You rest your back against the side of the jacuzzi, with the hot water bubbling against your sides, massaging your toned muscles and rubbing away the tension you have in your body. You relish the pleasure you are getting while taking in what Momo is saying. She wasn’t completely wrong. Things with Christian have been flowing so easily. You have always been so comfortable when you are near him, while he seems to have always been able to sense your mood, always keeping up with your pace instead of going about things in a more rushed and lavish way.

Perhaps the only thing that makes you worried is the fact that things have also been proceeding the way you had never once thought they would. How everything that is happening now feels like a dream, and there is a deep fear haunting you that once you are with him, once everything between the two of you changes to a new direction, you would be forced to wake up and face reality, to see that nothing is as beautiful as what your mind keeps telling you to see.

Just like what happened back then with—

Shaking away your worries, you tell yourself that things are different now. Things have to be different. Because you have no idea how you would be able to deal with it if things turn the other way around once again.

“You know what? Maybe you’re right. I’m worrying too much,” you finally say to Momo, making her smile with relief, not realising that you have also been consoling yourself by saying this.

“Good. That’s the spirit. Just enjoy everything and have fun with him. I’ll help you get ready if you want to and we’ll make sure you’ll be knocking him off of his feet once he sees you tonight.”

Closing your eyes, you try to relax and give in to the comforting warmth around you, trying not to overthink and let your agitation takes over when you are supposed to be having a good time. Both now, as you are lounging in this fancy jacuzzi without having to spend a single penny, and later, when you are about to see the man who has always managed to cause your heartbeat to race wildly in your chest.

You remain in the hot tub only for a while later, stepping out just as both of you start feeling more relaxed and you are ready to continue the lazy afternoon pampering each other and relaxing on her cozy pool-house. It isn’t until sunset when you are finally ready to leave, with Momo dropping you off before she heads out to where she needs to be.

“Remember—” she says, once you stepped out of her car, “Don’t be so nervous and relax, enjoy your night with him. You won’t be able to have a good time if you’re worrying too much.”

“I know. Thanks, babe,” you answer her gratefully, somehow finding yourself believing in your own words this time.

“Anytime,” she says, before quickly adding, “Oh, and wear something sexy!”

“Goodbye, Momo,” is all you say to her as you shut the car door close, and you soon watch her car rolling out of the parking lot, leaving you all on your own to get ready for your first night out with your new boyfriend.

[06.58 PM] From Christian: I’ll pick you up around eight. Will that be okay?

[07.03 PM] To Christian: I’ll be waiting ;)

[07.04 PM] From Christian: I can’t wait to see you :)

Just when you had thought you were ready for your fateful first date, the text that Christian sent you only makes you feel on the edge. Once again, you feel tense. The tension that you feel as you are reading his texts may not be as daunting as it was before, when your imagination kept running wild and your insecurities kept taking over with still many hours left before the date happens, yet it doesn’t mean that you are not nervous enough about tonight.

The thought of meeting up and being alone with him tonight seems nerve-racking. But just like how you managed to get over your worries earlier, you keep repeating the same comforting words in your head like a spell as you continue getting yourself ready to see him.

Everything is going to be okay.

You continue reminding yourself of this as time continues to pass. The clock is ticking, your heartbeat keeps racing, and your feet would not stop pacing each time you try to relax. You can barely able to get yourself together with nothing distracting your running thoughts, but by the time eight o’clock rolls around, you have gathered up enough composure to stop pacing around your living room and pulling at your dress as you wait for him to arrive. The long trails of discarded clothes that you left behind in your bedroom when you couldn’t decide what to wear would have to wait until you return home. Right now, all you can think of is how you are going to keep it together once he is here.

A knock comes at the door, and it makes your heart do funny things even before you get to see him in person. After giving yourself a brief pep talk while shaking your trembling hands to make them calm, you finally open the door. Your heart begins doing that funny thing again, skipping a beat and rushing at the sight of Christian standing right in front of the door, waiting for you, wearing his dashing smile on his face while being surrounded by an air of confidence that makes you look at him in awe.

Stunned speechless, you say nothing to him, giving him a chance to take the sight of you in. His eyes trail down on you with an appreciative look. Going from your face to your dress, and it makes your skin grow warm under his perusing gaze. Seeing that you are still unable to speak, a smile expands so subtly on his face as he greets you first, “Hey.”

“H-hey,” you stammer in response, which only makes his smile grow wider.

“You look great,” he says, making your cheeks burn even hotter.

“Thanks,” you chuckle softly. “You too.”

Christian laughs softly at this. “Are you ready? I have an Uber ride waiting for us downstairs. I hope you don’t mind. I figured if we were both going to have drinks afterwards—”

You look up to him as he speaks and feel an instant sense of relief. Because it suddenly becomes quite obvious to you that he might be just as nervous as you currently are when you notice him rushing as he speaks, and he doesn’t seem to know what to do with his hands when he keeps slipping them in and out of his pockets or running them through his immaculate hair.

“I’m set to go. Thanks for thinking ahead,” you quickly reassure him before he could continue with his rambling, and a visible look of relief appears on his face.

“After you,” he says as he steps aside to let you join him once you have your jacket and purse with you, locking the door behind you as you leave for the night.

It is a warm night, so the two of you decide to have the ride drop you off a block away from your destination so you can enjoy the short walk there, with the sight of the city’s main river accompanying your walk. As you walk side by side with him, his hand entwined gently with yours to keep you by his side and the conversation flowing slowly as you talk about your day, you find yourself steadily getting more and more comfortable. The tension that has been following you the whole day soon fades, while the familiar ease that you have often felt when you are with him starts coming back to you.

It doesn’t take long before you finally reach the restaurant that he had chosen for tonight’s date. Situated right at the end of the boardwalk that you have been walking on and not too far from the clear river is a quaint pizza place, partly hidden from the main road but still open to the view around the neighbourhood to allow you to enjoy the comfortable atmosphere around you. He finds a table for two outside, quite a distance away from the sidewalk that you can have your own space without having to worry about the passing crowd. A soft tune of music is playing from the restaurant, giving you a pleasant welcome as you both begin perusing the menu.

He makes a suggestion to order their signature dish, the cheese pizza, which you are completely fine with, while you choose the appetiser and one of their pasta plates to share between you two. As he hasn’t been drinking alcohol as often lately, Christian chooses a glass of their special draft beer to taste and a bottle of soda to go with his dinner, while you order a glass of cheap wine that costs nearly the same as his orders.

This is all happening so fluidly—how you talk about the menu without worry and choosing what the two of you would like to have and share—that it feels almost natural to do something like this. There is no hint of awkwardness existing between you, helping you to forget that you are on an actual date instead of casually hanging out with him, even if the feeling lasts just for a brief moment.

Your stomach has been in knots since you left home with him. While the short walk here and the conversation that was shared from then until this moment have helped a little to put you at ease, he would constantly bring back the tension either with his gestures or by being particularly flirty. Each time his fingers come brushing gently against your hand, sparks instantly start flying in the air around you. Your skin would tingle when you are talking to him and he leans closer to listen with rapt attention, and your chest would feel tight when his eyes are looking deeply into yours.

And then he reminds you the reason why you have always been so captivated with him and how you began to harbour a deep crush on him, as he shares with you about everything that he has been up to lately—of the long hours he spent filming with his crew and the long nights he spent working on post-production, and also about how he is slowly diving back into making his music again. It is the moment you look into his eyes when the flutter in your chest returns, when you get to see the clear sight of his love and passion for what he does, the look that is so captivating to see that you are once again lost for words.

The waiter returns to your table just then, setting down the drinks that Christian ordered before pouring the red wine into your glass. Once he is done, Christian leans forward to get closer.

“So—how about you? You said this week has been busy for you,” he inquires so suddenly, sounding genuinely curious to know what you have been up to this week while he has been busy with his own thing and you haven’t seen each other after attending his last class.

“Oh, just the usual,” you answer with a shrug. You tell him everything about the classes you went to this week and all the mundane things you would usually do during the day. But then as you begin sharing with him about your assignments, and the exciting things you do during your part-time job in the night, your excitement grows. He should be able to notice it from the tone of your voice, or the way you keep twirling the wine glass in your hand as you speak. Either way, there seems to be no way Christian would miss the way you are enjoying these things, as he keeps his eyes on you the entire time, looking deeply at you as he listens, taking in everything you are sharing with him.

“Speaking of your work—” you hum, suddenly recalling the day you joined him during filming. “I kind of missed being in that environment, to be able to see you work and see how you handle things in the set. Your crew seems so fun to work with too.”

Hearing this makes him smile. “You’re right. I’m lucky to be working with a group of talented people. Working with them has been fun,” he says, before he suddenly tilts his head and you see him getting curious about something.

“You know, I’ve been wondering—” he starts as he leans closer over the table to gently ask you, “How did you get here?”

You raise your eyebrows. “You…picked me up. At home,” you answer him, feigning innocence, even if you have quite an inkling of what he is trying to ask.

“I’m not talking about being here,” he chuckles softly. “How did you end up studying film production? Have you always been so interested in making videos and movies?”

You bite your lips. Not feeling sure how to answer him at first. “It’s quite a long story,” you finally tell him. “And a part of it might be a bit embarrassing to share.”

Christian gives you a reassuring smile. “I got time. And I won’t laugh, I promise.”

Sipping your wine slowly, you try to decide where to begin. Once you gather enough courage, you finally admit to him softly, “Actually, I could probably say that I got interested to dive deeper into this because of you.”

Christian’s eyes grow wide in shock, obviously not prepared enough to hear this. “What—?”

Chuckling softly, you begin to tell him everything. “When I started college, I knew I was either going to study art or film, but I have to admit that I had no direction to know where to go. I’ve always loved movies and old films, and I loved the artistry behind creating music videos. I’ve also been drawn to documentary videos for a long time, but I never knew if I would be able to take up the challenge to dive into that world. And then I remember stumbling upon your videos during that time—” you stop briefly as you recall finding his raw videos before his crew grew into what is known today, but it was seeing him sharing those raw videos and making the process behind them seem like such a fun thing to do that got you so drawn into the entire process and finally getting to love it as well.

“I tried to see if I would like it, so I started by learning and doing photography while saving up to buy my own camera set. Then you started sharing your travel videos and your post-production process online, and it got me interested in learning more about photography and film. And I was right about it being so much fun. I found the kind of challenge I was looking for in film major.” You stop for a brief moment and cannot help but smile as you recall those days when you finally had your mind set on it. “Let me just say that switching from art major to film production was the best decision I’ve ever made in life.”

You turn to smile at him just then, realising that you finally get the chance to do the one thing that you have always wanted to do. That you finally get to do what you had always imagined you would be once you meet him in person. “Thank you for inspiring me, by the way,” you say to him with a grateful smile, before adding playfully, “And if it wasn’t for you, I probably wouldn’t end up taking the post-production course to finally meet you in person.”

Christian has been in such awe as he listens to your story that he seems to be lost for words. You feel worried that you might have been oversharing with him and that you are making him uncomfortable with your confession. A part of you is relieved that you get to say all of this instead of keeping them to yourself, but another part of you is afraid that he might feel burdened by the admiration you have for him, and you are worried that it might only push him away.

But seeing him getting flustered makes you feel intrigued, curious to know how he feels about what you had just said to him. Clearing his throat, he rubs a palm over his lips to cover his bashful smile, though you can still see the crimson shade materialising on his skin.

“You’re flattering me too much that I have no idea what to say,” he says with a nervous chuckle. Noticing your silence as you are waiting for his response, and perhaps noticing how shy and tense you seem to be feeling, Christian scoots his chair closer until he is within inches of you and reaches for your hand, once again igniting the sparks between you as he takes your smaller hands between his larger ones.

“But I’m glad that finding my videos was what led you to me,” he gently says as he rubs his fingers against yours. “Or else, we probably wouldn’t be sitting together like this tonight, and I wouldn’t get to know your amazing personality and talent.”

This time, you are the one who is flustering in the middle of what was supposed to be an innocent conversation. With his hand on yours, his deep eyes looking intently into yours, and his presence being so close, you are not only feeling sparks rising between you, but also heat simmering in the air that you start feeling a different kind of tension. The kind that gets your chest filled with delicate flutters and your body growing warm.

The food arrives, granting a short moment of reprieve from the rolling tension as he finally leans away and the two of you soon dive into the beautiful meal while the conversation between you lightens.

“So,” he says while eyeing you expectantly as he slowly devours his food. “Tell me more about your, um—little adventure at the mall.”

You immediately laugh at this. “There is nothing more to share. If any, I think I may have already overshared with you by accidentally sending you those photos.”

Christian softly chuckles, and he glances at you with a sly look dancing in his gaze. “I have no regrets of it happening,” he says, while you can only shake your head.

“I’m sure you don’t,” you taunt him in return.

Despite playing along, he probably suspects that you are still feeling uncomfortable about the mishap that happened that day. He reaches across the table to once again cover your hands with his. “Don’t worry, nobody else saw those photos, I promise. And you deleted them from both devices already so you won’t be able to find those photos anywhere on my phone, I’m sure,” he says, reassuring you. Though it is hard to feel immediately relieved when you see the playful grin growing on his face soon after. “Lucky for me, I have quite a good memory, so I won’t have to look for them again to remember everything. Like the coffee-coloured one that you said you were buy—ow! I’m kidding!”

Rubbing his upper arm which had just become the victim of your reflexed slapping, Christian laughs, pleased to see your reaction. You tease each other a while longer while you continue enjoying your meal, with his hand occasionally reaching out to you at every chance he gets, from brushing against yours to entwining his fingers between yours whenever he likes it.

When casting your gaze down on your joined hands, your heartbeat would start racing rapidly. Everything still feels like a dream that you want to pinch your skin so badly to see if you would wake up from this, yet you can still feel his warmth through your entwined fingers, letting you know that this moment is real.

Then you would look up to see his face, to see his smile from up close and listen to his voice as he chats with you, and you realise that he is real.

Instead of allowing your nerves to take over and have yourself be intimidated by his presence, you choose to savour this moment. Because the more you open yourself to him, and the longer you are together with this man, you finally realise that the infatuation that you feel growing between you isn’t simply a figment of your imagination. That it is truly there, and it is just as real as the two of you, present and blooming steadily even without any of you realising it.

Once dinner is done, Christian takes you to another walk just to have more time with you. This time, he chooses to make a stop at the small dessert spot not too far from your place and start from there.

You can feel his eyes on you while you are slowly licking at your ice cream, savouring the taste and this serene moment you have together as you walk on the side of the street, with nobody paying attention to any of you.

“Have you been enjoying the night so far?” Christian suddenly asks you once you arrive at your place and he is now walking you to your door.

“Do you hear me complaining?” you question him, drawing a smile to his face. “I had fun. I think it was the most fun I’ve had in a while, to be honest.”

Chuckling softly, Christian nods his head. “Same with me. I always love being with you,” he admits slowly. “You always make me feel—” he sighs, as if having trouble finding the right words to say. “Comfortable with myself, if I have to describe it with words, and that’s not even half of it.”

Soon enough, you are standing right in front of your door, with your hands entwined and he is not showing any sign of letting you go. Deep down, you also feel like you are not ready to part ways with him. Your chest feels heavy as you are not ready for the night to end this soon.

So you turn to him, smiling as you nervously ask him, “Do you want to come in?”

His smile grows, and there is something showing in his gaze that looks quite unfamiliar to you when he says, “I would love to.”

He follows you as you walk into your warm home, still with your hands interlaced with one another. The moment the door is closed right behind him, Christian reaches out to you and pulls you to him, before he finally does the one thing he seems to have wanted to do all night long, as he soon leans down, capturing your lips in his to a deep, long kiss that takes your breath away.

And the heat that has been simmering between you the entire night erupts into flame.

#kvanity #christian yu scenarios #christian yu x reader #christian yu fanfic #christian yu fluff #christian yu smut #dpr ian x reader #dpr ian scenario #yu barom x reader #yu barom scenarios #khh scenarios #khh fanfic #khh smut #dpr ian #christian yu

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d0llcuries · 14 days ago

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I know it might be a little weird, but could you make a headcanon of what it would be like to have Tsu'tey as a father being a girl (like daddy's little princess, he's heart is softened by his daughter and his partner) and Trudy as a mother (she being a scientist and having an avatar like Grace instead of a military woman and fell in love with Tsu'tey like Jake for Neytiri) please? I don't know why but I think they would be such an amazing couple with a super cute dynamic and even better parents, Trudy is too good to be just a military woman.

Thanks so much and plis never stop writing, you are too talented for this 🥰💕

NOT ALOT, JUST FOREVER

pairing(s): tsuʼtey x fem!daughter! reader + trudy x fem!daughter! reader

summary: being tsu’tey and trudy’s daughter means living between two completely different worlds, and you wouldn't have it any other way.

author's note: beyond thrilled for this request!! it's not weird at all i think it's super creative and overall a really lovely request! i only hope i did the whole “trudy as a scientist and not an aviator” concept justice ദ്ദി ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ ).

TSU’TEY IS A WARRIOR. a warrior of few words and fewer indulgences. yet somehow, your existence has shifted the soil beneath his feet. he doesn't understand it—the way a creature so small can root him in ways no battlefield ever did, how his spirit trembles more at the sight of your scraped knee than it ever did facing his fiercest enemies. the jungle's dangers are tangible, something he can see and fight. but this? the vulnerability that sneaks up on him every time you reach for his hand? that is an enemy he never learned to face.

HE NEVER SAYS IT ALOUD, but you are his soft spot, his ache in the quiet moments. he lingers at the edge of your games, arms crossed and posture deceptively indifferent. only his fingers betray him, twitching whenever you teeter, always ready to reach out. he remembers the first time he held you—skin still flushed with warmth from your mother’s womb—and thought, how could something so small hold such power over him?

TRUDY NOTICES IT TOO. she watches, amused, as he paces along the clearing’s edge while you struggle with a flower crown, petals and stems slipping through your fingers. he catches her smirk and glares, but the edge dulls the moment you call, “daddy, help me!” his pride dissolves as he kneels, calloused hands surprisingly gentle as he threads the flowers, each petal treated like something precious, as if winning this small battle for you means everything.

HE’S NEVER LEARNED HOW TO SAY NO TO YOU. no one really believes it. tsu’tey, head warrior, with a daughter who can wrap him around her finger. it's almost comical. warriors have seen you perched on his shoulders, his hands steadying your ankles with fierce attention, as if the entire jungle’s weight depends on your safety. when the hunters tease him, it's always in whispers, for none would be foolish enough to say it to his face.

TRUDY ENCOURAGES THE MESS. she lets you dig through the dirt, muddying your fingers as you paint the bark of a tree. she’ll ruffle your hair with dusty hands, or press her nose against yours and whisper stories about the sky people, but never in a way that makes you afraid of them. she’ll hold some odd gadget in her lap, her fingers nimble and focused, but she always makes room for you, explaining her tinkering in a strange blend of science and dreams.

TSU’TEY DOESN’T UNDERSTAND IT, this fixation you and trudy have with the stars, tracing shapes and murmuring about worlds and distances that stretch too far to see. it feels impractical, frivolous, yet he cannot tear his gaze from your face, lit up by wonder. he doesn’t understand the science, no, but he understands that quiet, wide-eyed look of awe you wear when you turn toward the night sky.

SOMETIMES YOU CATCH THEM BEING WEIRD, your parents, in moments they don’t think you’re watching. trudy sidles up to tsu’tey, wrapping herself around him like ivy on a tree, grounding him in a way nothing else does. you, hidden behind a tree, watch the way his usual stoic lines soften around her, watch the way she coaxes out a gentleness he barely understands. he’s the rock, unyielding, and she’s the wind, wearing him down in soft waves. it’s strange, but even at your age, you know it’s love.

YOUR MOTHER’S LAUGH IS LOUD, STARTLING. it breaks through the quiet of the forest, raw and unchecked, and when tsu’tey looks at her, it’s with a mix of exasperation and awe, a slow smile tugging at his lips, as if he’s still in disbelief that she is his.

TSU’TEY TRIES TO TEACH YOU TO HUNT, but you’re far too much like her, curiosity spinning you in every direction but the target. you tug on his arm, asking why the plants glow, why the ikran call out at dawn, and though he sighs, there’s patience in his hands as he steadies your bow. his answers are clipped, bare—“because eywa made them that way”—and you frown, dissatisfied. HE’S A WARRIOR, NOT A POET, but he tries for you, tries to see the world through the lens of wonder you wear.

YOU’VE NEVER BEEN AFRAID OF HIM, not like others are. to them, he’s a force, quiet and commanding, silencing crowds with a single look. but to you, he’s dad. the one who lifts you to pick the highest fruit, who lets you clamber onto his shoulders despite the fact that you’re nearly too big now, who calls you his “little warrior,” though anyone can see you’re a reflection of your mother.

YOU MAKE HIM LAUGH. it’s a quiet sound, almost lost between the trees, a reserved chuckle he saves just for you. it’s there in those unguarded moments, like when you drift off mid-story, cheek pressed to his chest, breathing softly in a rhythm that seems to ground him.

WHEN THE DAY ENDS, your family is wrapped in twilight colors. tsu’tey holds you close, his arms anchoring you as you drift between sleep and wakefulness. trudy hums an off-key melody from a time long past, and beneath the canopy, the sounds of pandora settle around you, your father’s heartbeat a steady drum grounding you in his embrace.

you’ve inherited her stubbornness, MUCH TO TSU’TEY’S DISMAY. once your mind is set, little can change it, and trudy often encourages you with a grin, while tsu’tey tries to hold firm, though his resolve quickly falters under your gaze. eventually, he’ll sigh, muttering that you’re “just like your mother.”

WHEN YOU’RE SICK, tsu’tey never leaves your side, discomfort tight in his chest, unused to the helplessness it brings. trudy works calmly, hands sure as she mixes medicine from plants she’s studied, but tsu’tey watches with a taut, silent worry. only when you reach out, your small hand grasping his, does he finally relax, grounding himself in the strength of your presence.

TSU’TEY DOES NOT TRUST BOYS, least of all the sully brothers. when they come around, he watches them like a hawk, shoulders tense, eyes narrowing every time they get too close to you. even when they're just playing, tossing a ball or climbing trees, tsu’tey stands at the edge of the clearing, arms crossed, every muscle on alert. neteyam is polite, respectful, but it’s lo’ak who makes tsu’tey’s jaw tighten—the boy is too reckless, too bold. he doesn’t care that they’re still young; boys grow into men, and tsu’tey has seen too much of the world to be naïve. but when you laugh, loud and carefree, chasing after them through the trees, he can’t quite bring himself to pull you away. still, his eyes never leave you, the protective weight of his gaze making sure they understand—they may play, but they’ll never cross a line.

TRUDY, OF COURSE, FINDS IT AMUSING. she’ll shake her head and laugh when she catches tsu’tey scowling from his post. “they’re just kids,” she says, tousling your hair as you sprint by, face flushed and beaming. trudy’s always been the more lenient one, the one who believes in letting you figure things out for yourself. when you ask if you can go with the sullys on one of their adventures, she’s quick to agree, despite tsu’tey’s gruff protests. “they’re good boys,” she tells him, nudging his side. but even as she says it, trudy watches you with that same quiet intensity tsu’tey has—her kind of protectiveness isn’t loud, but it’s always there, a constant force just beneath the surface.

IN THE END, YOU’VE CHANGED THEM BOTH, reshaping their edges, carving space for softness amidst the warrior’s strength and the explorer’s curiosity. in you, they find balance. and as the night settles, they hold you close, a quiet promise between them that, whatever the world brings, this—their family—is worth everything.

#tsu'tey #atwow #avatar way of water #tsu'tey x reader #tsu'tey x y/n #tsu'tey x daughter! reader #tsu'tey imagine #tsu'tey oneshot #tsu'tey headcanon

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nerves-nebula · 5 months ago

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I fucking adore your comic panelling, any advice on how to do it? Like specific ratios or ways to divide the page?

god there's so much advice i COULD give but i really dont wanna end up writing a book here. so I guess I'll say this: however you divide the page you should be CONSISTENT with it, i literally just learned/internalized this but it's made comic paneling soo much easier. when you break that consistency it will be more impactful. hold up lemme grab some pages.

so i recently started making loose stitches a 4 tier comic. it's not the exact same for each page cuz i'm lazy but i think it's made legibility way better. before i think it was kinda uhhhhh a little all over the place. not BAD but a little difficult to tell where your eyes supposed to go sometimes. which isnt great for a commic.

the page on the left in particular has always bothered me cuz i always read the top panels incorrectly and it's like. fuck man what is the paneling here why is it in two columns ????? that's so hard to understand. but the page on the right can be more or less easily understood (by someone who knows how to read comics) even without panel borders because it's just a simple 4 panel square.

one thing my comic professor really stressed was that he didn't like weird paneling or weird borders. for the most part, a square is fine. AND HE'S RIGHT. weird paneling is fun and cool but should be used sparingly or with intention, cuz if you do it too much then like. how tf are ppl gonna read your comic.

that being said there are a lot of cool ways to cut up panels even if they're just squares hold on lemme grab some examples

so the panels here are all square but the image in the one at the bottom is almost like a mural. one thing i really like to using is a lot of heavy BLACK, what can i say silhouette's have my entire heart.

in my fable comic, I used a 3 tier system. it wasn't the same exact size across all pages but all pages had 3 tiers of paneling. that way i can be a little more flexible with the SIZE of the panels to emphasize the more important things, without it feeling like it's all over the place

meanwhile in my comic final i used a 4 tier system where each tier was nearly the same across every page, but you can collapse tiers together for establishing shots and big reveals so that they're more impactful. it's still fully within the grid system I set up so it doesn't feel like it's messing with shit either.

ok i just spent a lot of time rambling about this one particular concept and it's probably not even what you wanted to hear about :') i didnt even go into ratios or anythinggg guhhhh sowwy

other than all that i'd just say you gotta keep looking at what comic artists have written and take note of how they use space and cut things up. there's this book called How To Read Nancy and it has all these exercises for understanding the building blocks of nancy. for real the author is OBSESSIVE and goes through everything of a 3 panel nancy strip from body language to spot blacks to the minutia of the background. we used this book in my class and did some of the exercises in the back and i think it's really good at getting you to THINK about what you're drawing. and you can easily pirate it if you're broke.

also try to make sure things dont get stagnant on a page. zoom out if you're only doing close ups (i try to make sure every page of loose stitches has at least one full body shot even tho I'm lazy and wanna just do talking heads- talking heads arent interesting!!)

also, take advantage of the fact you're drawing a COMIC. you can do shit in comics that you can't do in other mediums, try to implement them when u can! ALSO PRACTICE. you're not gonna get better just by reading and watching. you gotta do it lol. ok ok that's enough and you didn't even ask for that stuff you asked about PANELING sfdasfsd byeee

#nnstuff #ask #comic #nnart

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gabby1baby · 4 months ago

Text

Dating Miles Morales (Earth 42)

Author's Note - I'm not fluent in Spanish so I'm sorry if any of the Spanish words are wrong. Please feel free to correct me if I messed anything up!

- I feel like you'd have to be the one to approach Miles and make the first move

- Since his dad's death Miles kinda became closed off except for with his family and people he knows well - Plus he has a resting bitch face which makes people at school kinda nervous to approach him - It'd be a slow-burn romance with Miles being hesitant to develop a relationship with you because he's scared of losing someone close to him again - You two would talk to each other every once in a while at school which leads to you becoming friends with Miles - Soon you're partnering up for any projects and assignments if you guys share any classes together and hanging out with Ganke after school - Eventually the two of you develop feelings for each other without the other person knowing - Miles goes to Aaron to talk about his feelings for you, who gives the best advice that he can - Aaron suggests trying the shoulder touch on you but Miles is not making that same mistake again -After a while, Miles decides to tell you how he feels - He's surprised to learn that you reciprocate his feelings but he's happy nonetheless - You're the only person besides his mom that Miles allows to touch his hair, it's comforting and helps him relax - You guys sometimes have conversations in Spanish if you're fluent in the language - If you're not fluent in Spanish then that's okay, because Miles is willing to teach you - If you're a nerd as well Miles is on his knee proposing to you in his mind - Bonus points if you share the same interests as him and you're willing to accompany him to Comic Con - Dates are either at your place or his and it's usually just chilling and watching a movie or studying and finishing any assignments from school - His life is chaotic as it already is and he just wants some form of stability in his life, which is his relationship with you - He loves cuddling with you, whether it's at his place or you doesn't matter, he just wants to be close to you - He's not all that big on PDA but he will hold hands with you in public and give you a kiss - He has his hands all over you in private though

- If you're going out at night and you let Miles know, he's definitely gonna be following you around as the Prowler to make sure you don't get hurt - I keep seeing people portray 42!Miles as a sugar daddy but I don't think that's true considering the fact that he's 15 and we see that in ATSV it's implied that Rio and Miles are struggling financially on Earth 42 - I do think that if Miles were to have money on him though, he'd try to buy you something that you'd love that's also affordable

- You eventually meet Rio and Aaron and the both of them love you very much (but Rio loves you more)

- Miles makes sure that you don't know he's the Prowler, but eventually you find out on your own or he ends up telling you

- Obviously you're pissed when you do learn that he's the Prowler and you guys don't talk for a couple of days

- You guys do have a conversation about it afterwards and you come to terms with it, but you can't help but be worried for Miles now that you know what he's doing - From that point on, Miles would sneak into your room through the window if he needs to be patched up or if he just wants to talk before and/or after going on a mission - Miles' favorite nicknames to call you include princesa, hermosa, mi amor

#earth 42 miles morales #spiderman #across the spiderverse #atsv #Gabby's Headcanons ⛦#Gabby's Masterlist ⛦

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gffa · 1 year ago

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Hi there! I’m someone who’s been following you for Star Wars for a while but I’ve become really interested in your DC comics posting recently, and I was wondering - since the franchise has been going for so long and has so many instalments - what you would say to someone who wants to start reading these comics/watching the shows/movies but doesn’t know where to start? Have a lot of the comics been retconned? Is there a particular order one has to read in? Where does one even find these comics…?

My interest in this franchise was literally sparked by the Jason Todd telephone poll so I’m definitely interested in reading more about him - he seems like a character I’d like - and the rest of like, the… Batfamily, I think they’re called? I just have no idea where to start lol - my knowledge of DC is limited to seeing bits of Teen Titans GO when I walked past my little brother watching TV, and watching the Lego Batman movie with him xD

Also! If I’m correct, after observing the fandom, Talia seems like an interesting, complex female character (with some bad writing), like Padmé or Bo-Katan? I always love those kinds of characters, just wondering if I’d got the right impression of her.

Hi! You've got a solid idea of things so far, so hopefully, this shouldn't be too hard of a climb to get used to the structure! And I'll do my best to explain the structure of comics without getting too lost in the weeds about it. 😂

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW: In my view, comics aren't meant to be a single coherent whole and it's helpful to drop that idea before you get started because otherwise you'll drive yourself around the bend in a fruitless attempt to make everything line up neatly, when it just never will. There is no one single "true" version of the characters, there is no one single creator who is the highest authority on a character, no matter who created the character or even who is most famous for writing them, these are shared characters being written and drawn by a multitude of authors and artists who all have varying takes on them. The characters should stay true to a core personality and traits, but the flexibility of an author to write a character differently from the last person who wrote them is a feature not a bug imo. I like to think of comics as stories being told by different authors playing with action figures and we're in the audience enjoying these stories, regardless of how some authors fit really well together and others completely clash with each other. You can try to make them mesh (sometimes that's fun!) or you can just shrug your shoulders and pick what you like out of the pile of comics that have been handed to you (you'll probably drive yourself less over the edge this way!). Jason is particularly difficult on this aspect, because he often doesn't have a regular book to be written in and his overall place/point in the Batman comics is murky at best somedays and so he is wildly different from author to author. I personally enjoy this, because I think it works for Jason as a character who has some core beliefs, but also is kind of a mess who doesn't really know what he wants, so he veers wildly from one reaction to another. You can read comics in a variety of ways, but I genuinely do not recommend trying to read "in order" because it's a nightmare to try to keep track of everything once it's been a few years and the numbering of these series is the most confusing thing you'll ever meet. Instead, I think it's better to focus on picking up trades (collections of comics that originally came out in single issues, but are put together in a single volume that tells the whole story of that particular run) that sound interesting or come recommended. (And, honestly, it's not even satisfying even if you did do all the work to read them in order. Throw out the idea that comics have a coherent timeline, because they do NOT.)

CONTINUITIES AND DIFFERENT ERAS: The ONLY context I think you need (other than a general sense of the Batfam, we'll get there in a minute) is to understand that there are sort of four "continuities" that you're likely to run into, and this is EXTREMELY simplified/streamlined, so nerds don't come for me on this unless you have a better streamlined and simple version. 😂 - Anything published before 1985-1986 is all "Pre-Crisis" and while reading a lot of the older comics can be super fun, they're generally not super relevant to current comics - In 1985-1986, there was a comics event (an event is where multiple different comic books are all written to be part of a bigger storyline, whereas normally, they don't cross over that much, each book usually has its own self-contained storylines) called "Crisis on Infinite Earths" (which is different from "Infinite Crisis") that was basically a way for DC to streamline all the different versions of the characters running around into one manageable universe. This ran up until about 2011 and I'll often refer to it as the "preboot" or "post-Crisis" continuity. (This is where Jason's death happened, in the storyline "A Death in the Family".) - In 2011, DC wanted to reboot their entire universe with an event called "Flashpoint", with the purpose of creating an all new lineup of 52 comics that new readers could jump right into, which isn't a bad idea in theory. The problem was that people were really attached to the preboot versions of the characters, a lot of the Nu52 comics were really badly written, and there was almost no collaboration. You expect a certain amount of contradiction just by the nature of comics, but there were major issues with "nobody is talking to each other, so everything is a giant mess".

- In 2016, for a variety of reasons (probably including that sales for Nu52 had dipped back down pretty far again), DC rebooted their universe again, with "Rebirth", which is the continuity we're in now. I'm still catching up (I left when Nu52 happened) but I think a lot of preboot events are leaking back into the continuity, but that's not the same as saying it's equal to the preboot continuity in total. This is also the era that I generally talk about the most because I've found it genuinely the most engaging to get back into! Generally, as long as you understand those four eras of continuity, I think you'll be fine in understanding how things are put together. If you want to know where something falls, just check the date and that'll tell you! But, honestly, yeah, background details change all the time, so even within a single continuity there will be retcons--just that there are MASSIVE differences in the Nu52 era that might confuse you if you're unaware of the reboot shenanigans. (Or if you want to understand how Jason returned--like, preboot continuity has the explanation that Superboy Prime (don't ask) punched reality so hard that it shook Jason back to life, even if they never found out about it, that's what happened. I think Nu52 said Talia dug him up and put him in the Lazarus Pit? Don't quote me on that. I flamed out hard on Nu52. Rebirth continuity, they have no idea what the hell happened and I'm not sure there's an explanation. I just assume the Reality Punch leaked back in or something.)

SO, LIKE, WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THESE CHARACTERS? AS SHORT AS I CAN MAKE IT: - Bruce Wayne witnesses his parents being murdered in front of him and this traumatizes him so badly that he withdraws from life to obsess over it, eventually travelling the world for several years to learn every kind of skill he can, until he comes back to Gotham at, like 22 years old or whatever and becomes Batman to fight crime. The only rails on this ride is his butler Alfred who basically raises him from the time he's eight and Alfred is working MIRACLES here, but there's only so much even he can do. He is absolutely Bruce's father figure, even if they rarely frame it in those terms, because Thomas Wayne (Bruce's father) is such an important figure in their lives and because Alfred is extremely British. - Bruce is Batman for a few years, usually depicted as being super grimdark because he's shut his heart against loving anyone ever again because the pain is too much. But then one night he's at a circus performance and there's a terrible "accident" where a little 9 year old boy (shhhh we ignore any other versions than that he was nine, dammit, it's important for the thematic parallels!) witnesses his world-class aerialists parents falling to their deaths. Dick Grayson's grief and loss spark something in Bruce and he takes on this grieving, angry, brilliant little boy as his ward. Now, not even God can stop Dick Grayson, who is going to get justice for his parents' murder, so eventually Bruce reveals that he's Batman and Dick basically barges his way into creating his sidekick persona, Robin. Bruce is not a fan of this, but seriously. He couldn't have stopped that kid, he tried. He could only put a leash on him. Dick brings light and joy back to Wayne Manor and they have the most fascinating relationship--they're father & son, they're brothers, they're best friends, they understand each other like no one else does, they fight like no one else in that family does, they love each other, they're so angry at each other, they're co-dependent and absolutely batshit about each other, they basically raise each other from the time Dick came to Wayne Manor. - Dick eventually grows up and starts clashing with Bruce more, especially as he gains his independence. Different versions happen differently in different continuities, but eventually it hits a boiling point and either Bruce fires him as Robin or Dick quits because he can't deal with this. He goes off to become Nightwing, while Bruce eventually meets another kid who (in the most common version) tries to steal the Batmobile's tires because he needs the money. Circumstances happen, Bruce eventually ends up adopting Jason Todd, who becomes the next Robin. Things are relatively stable for awhile, until Jason learns about his birth mother and runs off to try to reconnect with her, except the Joker's got his sticky fingers all up in this situation, and it results in Jason dying in the exploding building.

- Bruce is Not Doing Well after this, so in comes our favorite horrible little stalker gremlin Tim Drake, who hunts down Dick Grayson and says, hey, you gotta become Robin again because Batman's going to get himself killed if you don't. Dick is like, no, I fucking do not. Tim responds with, well, guess I gotta do it myself then and basically barges his way into being the next Robin. He bonds with Dick as a brother (who is far and way Tim's favorite, imo), he does his best to be as good of a Robin as he can be. - Things are better after that, they're fairly well into Batfamily territory by this point. Jason comes back and, originally, it was supposed to be a trick, it was a villain pretending to be him, but was later retconned to actually be Jason who came back and... it's complicated. I don't think they really knew what to do with him once he came back, so he kind of ping-pongs around with varying levels of villainy for awhile. - Then we get to the time around Batman R.I.P. where a lot of shit happens all at once, especially for Tim. Bruce dies fighting a Justice League villain, Tim also has his bio-dad die around this time, his relationship with his ex-girlfriend/good friend is kind of going to shit, the boy he's in love with (not canon at the time, but current day storylines basically confirm it was true) also died and it wrecked Tim, like he lost his MIND over Conner Kent's death, there's this annoying little shit Damian Wayne who has showed up as the bio-son of Bruce, and then suddenly Bruce also dies. And Dick has to become Batman because Gotham needs Batman and he's in mourning and dealing with Jason being back and everything OFF THE RAILS as various people are like, "No, I'M going to be Batman now!" and Dick has to shut all that shit down and take up the mantle himself despite that he doesn't want it AND deal with Damian being an emotionally traumatized 11 year old baby assassin who has been abused into being a killer his entire life (I mean, it's comics, don't take it too seriously) and he needs something to hold onto or he's going to leave and go back to killing, so Dick and Alfred give the Robin mantle to Damian, which pisses Tim off because he's not doing well and sees it as a betrayal (while Dick was asking for his help as an ally, that he was ready to graduate to being more than just Batman's sidekick) because he's lost so much. - So we have Dick & Damian as Batman & Robin (THIS ERA WAS SO GOOD), Tim as Red Robin (fandom way overplays Tim and Dick's tension, they come back together after their dramatic few months), and eventually they find Bruce who was lost in the time stream (don't ask) and then, WHAM, Nu52 happens. But basically, that's the Robins timeline. I'm skipping over Steph's turn as Robin because it was so short and it was clearly set up just to knock her down, as well as not touching on Cass much because this is long enough as it is and I'm trying to circle back to focusing on Jason-friendly stuff.

WHERE TO START: Ask a dozen different people where to start and you'll get a dozen different answers! I think starting anywhere is fine and it's going to depend on what you like--for example, I'm personally not that into the animated DC movies (not enough of my Blorbo) but "Batman: Under the Red Hood" is generally very well-regarded as an updated version of Jason's return and is nicely self-contained if you want to watch it without much other context. I also think watching the Justice League animated series from 2001 is fantastic if you want a funny, charismatic, streamlined adaptation of what the Justice League is like. (Batman: The Animated Series was groundbreaking at the time and a really good adaptation, but very dated by this point in time, so I hesitate to recommend it too much, even though it's beloved to me.) The Wayne Family Adventures is an absolutely adorable, delightful webtoon adaptation that is very light-hearted compared to the mainline comics! I like recommending it to new fans because I think it's super easy to start reading without too much extraneous context and gives you an idea of the characters' relationships to each other, so long as you understand that it is EXTREMELY soft and is much in the vein of LEGO Batman content--you're not supposed to take it super seriously, there are times it's deliberately crossing into something like parody territory, but that doesn't mean it's not genuinely funny, charming, and a great read. @fantastic-nonsense has an incredibly thorough list of recommendations for comics by character here, and you can scroll down to the Jason Todd section and start reading there! Or you can check out the "A STARTING POINT: BATMAN IN OTHER MEDIA" section because I pretty much 100% agree with everything she says about the various adaptations. I like recommending "Young Justice" as an introduction to DC, so long as you understand that it's a loose adaptation and that the team compositions and various relationships are not always going to be accurate to comics dynamics. I have my own comics recs tag, but I'm more Dick-focused, so your mileage is going to vary on how useful you might find my recs! But basically, you can't go wrong with starting with "A Death in the Family", then "Under the Red Hood" (movie then comics) and "Red Hood: The Lost Days". Basically, anything by Judd Winick has a good chance of being a solid read for him. It's hard to recommend Jason comics, because so many of them are either not great or require knowledge of the events that are going on around the same time--but, honestly, once you're familiar with the set-up, I do think you can pick up almost any trade and pick up context along the way. I personally also loved "Robins: Being Robin" series, because all five of the Robins working to solve a case together and being unhinged weirdos at each other is my jam. (But I like pretty much anything Tim Seely writes!) I also always recommend the 2016 Nightwing series because Dick is my Blorbo, but I also think "Robin & Batman" by Jeff Lemire is a fantastic story to understand who baby Dick Grayson is and his relationship with Bruce, and both "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory" are some of the best Batman comics I've ever read, but they can be tough to get through if you don't like Tim Sale's very stylized art.

WHERE TO FIND THESE THINGS TO READ? The movies and animated series should be on HBOMax and/or Netflix, and comics I always recommend hitting up your library to see what they have--so many libraries have a ton of comics available, especially digitally! And, if you have a library card, it's very possible that your library partners with Hoopla, where they have a ton of Batman comics! You can also check out DC Universe, which has almost all DC comics if you get a subscription.

TL;DR: If you want bigger context on how all this stuff works, start with either "Justice League" or "Young Justice", they're really cute, fun adaptations. If you want to get straight to the Jason stuff, start with "A Death in the Family" --> "Under the Red Hood" --> "Red Hood: The Lost Days" --> "Batman: Urban Legends vol. 1". (And, yeah, you have the right impression of Talia! She often gets written as a villain, but she's also often a lot more complex than that, it really depends on who you get to write her. The corner of fandom I hang out in is generally more generous to her, but some of the actual comics can be kind of rough. But she's complex and has a lot of sharp edges, so, you know, I love her, too. 😂)

#lumi.txt #dc #batfam #jason todd #comics recs #long post

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evilwickedme · 2 years ago

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I saw in the tags you mentioned spideypool fic recs 👂 I'm listening

breaking the DC streak to go to Marvel because fun fact I've been into DC for six months and into Marvel comics for eight years so

anyway a majority of my spideypool bookmarks are from 2015 and I have no idea if most of them are any good which is an interesting problem to have but I still have a solid list for y'all

Say Anything...Except That - I was following this from the first chapter and I'm now mutuals with the author which was very fanboy moment for me (if you're seeing this, hi!). it has a lot of old school fanfiction.net quirks to it which might be a bit difficult to swallow if you've only been reading fic for a few years, but honestly I think this fic is really good and holds up to this day. it's been a while since I read it last but iirc Deadpool has to protect Spider-Man or Peter from assassination attempts and there's a lot of pining involved. also mattfoggy ended up having a nice arc because this was 2015 and Daredevil had just aired (this is technically incomplete there's one chapter left but if I had to reread it multiple times when there were only like ten chapters you can handle it)

under attack - more fics by people who are wayyy too cool to have followed me back and yet somehow did? anyway this is part of stackthedeck's team red slash series (ELITE ship fyi) but this one is spideypool focused and has some nice fluff. fighting as flirting idk what else to say it's golden

#NoPlaceLikeHome - do y'all know ask-spiderpool? you should it's one of the best blogs on this damn website and a must-read for spideypool shippers. anyway this is that version of spideypool's first time together which is cute :D short and sweet basically. sciderman has a lot of fics for the spiderman fandom in general and their ask-spiderpool au in particular and they're all worth reading

Dissonance - another longfic that took half a decade to write about deadpool protecting spider-man from harm. I actually don't know why this trope is so good peter really can defend himself but there you go

Perfect Enough - ohm y gOD this fic series is so good. this au hinges on such a tiny difference in peter's history but it makes ALL the difference. anyway in this world basically nobody has a functional secret identity anymore except for spider-man. meanwhile, wade wilson and peter parker start dating. so much plot, two separate longfics each around 140k, good luck this CONSUMED my life

speaking of consumed, rippling - this is part of a series called Into the Multiverse and is based on the Spiderverse film so it's Peter B. which I LOVE (spideybpool FUCKS). the series spun out of the authors' other series and it is, in fact, a pain to read the main entries in the series without reading the other serieses which means that I did spend two weeks doing little to nothing except reading deniigiq's work, but a. it was worth b. this one can be read as a standalone! wade jumps in front of a bullet for peter b and he angsts about it I love it

finally ahem speaking of Peter B, did you know I've been writing spideypool fic since 2015 and I wrote one specifically for spiderverse? I'm a mess (but I'm the mess that you wanted) is really a mix of spiderverse and comic canon like, five years into the future, and deals mostly with like, depression and suicidal ideation on Peter's behalf, but hey there's also a plot AND a happy polyam ending which, what else could you want really

anyway sorry the list isn't longer I didn't bookmark so many of my favorite spideypool fics and now they're lost in the void forever :/

#my team red or defenders folder is massive but so much of it is just daredevil #randomly I have five separate fics saved for jessica jones/matt murdock and I don't even know their ship name #anyway I accidentally clicked post instead of schedule so have fun with this like three hours earlier than intended #spideypool #spideybpool #marvel #marvel comics #spiderverse #fic recs #marvel fic #gail speaks #ask #anonymous

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void-of-unparalled-chaos · 3 months ago

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This whole civil war on reading vs not reading comics is baffling to me. Like honestly this whole arguement is stupid.

Full disclosure before people come after me: I am a comic reader! I love reading comics (although I havent been able to read nearly as many as I would like)

Anyway yeah my whole 2 cents on this.

On one hand, I get why avid comic readers are annoyed. You're favorite character being what you perceive as wildly misinterpreted and being unable to find the content you want is annoying. But also it's so easy to just... click off? Like no one is forcing you to read it, just go find a different work instead of complaing to the author or whatever.

Also, comic characters have been written and rewritten by so many people and have had so many changes to their storylines and personality that a lot of stuff being argued as "not canon" very likely could have been at some point! And that's not even talking about other media like shows and movies.

The first example that comes to mind is Superboy (Conner "Kon" Kent). Comic Kon and Young Justice Cartoon Kon are drastically different in both personality and appearance. Comic Kon is the most bisexual coded person I've ever seen and Cartoon Kon is a grumpy asshole who looks like he stepped straight out of bootcamp. But guess what? Regardless of which one you like most both are canon in DC!

As far as I'm concerned, comic timelines and characters are a mess with or without other media types and we should be allowed to pick and choose whatever traits we want from it. Do I want Kon to have bisexual hair? Yes! Am I ignoring that Batman beats his kids in some runs? Also yes!

And because I saw a few complaints like these once before I'm going to address them.

"Character A can't be into this. It only happened like 1 time in the comics!"

Yeah but it happened. If people want to take that little hint of a trait and expand on it then power to them!

"Character A never actually had this role or did this so stop writing them like that!"

It's called a headcanon or an AU. This may be surprising to you, but both of these are common in fandom spaces. If that headcanon or AU is popular it's because people obviously like it. That person may not be you, and that's fine too! Just let them have their fun and leave to read something else.

And I'm not claiming to be innocent in all this btw! Lord knows I get loud and angry about many MCU fans' interpretation of Jake Lockley from Moon Knight. That being said, the reason I'm loud and angry isn't just "oh they made him less friendly and changed some personality traits". Its the fact that they interpret him as an "evil" alter which perpetuates hateful stereotypes about a very real and very stigmatized disorder with very little decent representation. The whole "Jake is an evil bloodthirsty alter" spreads those fearmongering ideas and has the potential to harm actual systems in the long run whether it's intended to or not. Disclaimer: I am not a system, but I do try my best to listen to what they have to say. By all means listen to their opinions on the situation over mine.

Even so, I don't go and yell directly at those creators. I click off. I don't have to read or look at their stuff if I don't want to.

Another complaint from comic readers I see a lot is "oh but it's so easy for them to just pick up a comic and read it! They are just being lazy/stubborn/etc." And honestly...

It's really not!

It took me YEARS to start reading comics because it was so overwhelming and I had no one to help me. Keeping track of all the comic runs is hard enough let alone actually finding and reading them. Comics are simply not well organized and it's hard to find a part to jump into when so many of them rely on prior knowledge.

"Well ask somebody who works at a comic bookstore!"

I did. He had no answers for me and looked like he would rather be talking to literally anyone else instead of a clueless 15 year old girl. Stepping into spaces like that can be intimidating in itself for a variety of reasons, let alone trying to ask for help. Online it's not always much better. So many people won't give an honest recommendation and others won't be specific enough. Many comic runs have similar titles, and honestly it's best if you just know the name of the writer.

Trying to break into comics is just genuinely difficult for a lot of people depending on their situations whether it be enviornmental, financial, or mental.

Also you can't just force someone to read the comics! If they don't want to and just want to watch the shows or absorb fanon content then that's their preference! You don't have to interact with it! Am I saying that no one should read comics? No! But I am saying that not everyone has the same accessibility and the way some comic readers treat these people isn't doing favors. Attacking them over stuff and getting annoyed at them isn't going to encourage them to pick up a comic and read it but rather push them away from something really fun.

Okay now that's out of the way, time for me to turn my sights on the "not reading" camp.

You can't just attack people for suggesting canonical content under your prompts. Unless they are being a dick about it. Then you can go ham. But if someone is coming in like "hey btw A is a thing that happens canonically and it might be fun to do!" then there is no reason for you to act like they just ate your baby!

It is also not completely unreasonable for someone to simply suggest that you try out a comic or two (provided that they are being polite and are actually willing to help you with clear reccomendations). There is no reason for you to get pissy at them, just as it is not a requirement for you to take up their advice. If you don't want to read it or can't currently that's fine, but just know that you have the potential to be introduced to something you really enjoy and that consuming canon content will more than likely help you with your writing!

#moral of the story here is that this needless fighting is stupid and its not that hard to be respectful of different opinions/prefereces #the back butron and block button exists for a reason #curate your own online experience #its not that hard to treat each other with respect and understanding of other peoples wishes #fandom is supposed to be fun not whatever bullshit this is #I am so fed up with this debate honestly #cant we all just get along and enjoy our blorbos?#canon vs fanon

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moodymisty · 2 years ago

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Hello, Jordan! I love the stories you write, at least the ones I have read (I didn’t want to spam you, so, I only reblogged one of your Crosshair stories)! I was reading your kinks and thought to myself I might have an interesting idea for a story if you are interested in it, of course!

So, I am a big fan of Alpha (ARC Commander Alpha from the comics) and Captain Fordo (From the 2003 cartoon). I haven’t seen you write for them, or talk of them, but your bio says you are a reader of the lore, if I am lucky enough would you be willing to write my thot for one of them? If not, that is fine.

Here is the idea:

The female reader is one of many civilians that join the Republic military following the first year of the war, and she trains and fights alongside (your choice of clone). She often disappears to remote areas of the base or Star Destroyer to write her own fantasies of being with (choice of clone). But this time, she can’t seem to find her data pad (I think that’s what it is called) in her footlocker that sat in front of her bunk. Not wanting to ask anyone who was in the barracks, she slightly panics until (choice of clone) clears his throat. Turning around slowly, she is horrified to see her data pad in the hands of the clone she often masturbated too.

-end

I was going over the kinks you have listed and picked out a few. I used their numbers so, please forgive me for being lazy. Of course, you can pick and choose, mix, and match. Since I picked them based off what I know or feel like these particular clones are like.

3, 9, 13, 18, 20, 25, 34, 40 and 41, 54, and lastly 72. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

With much love,

Notthatfanfictionwriter

Author's Note: Awww I'm so honored you like my stuff!! And don't worry about spamming me, it flatters me so much to see people people spamming my notifs i take it as a compliment. Lord knows i've done it before to people on this webbed site. ALSO.... fordofordofordofordofordo I love Alpha but Fordo. This was a fun experiment in making the smuttiness in the form of daydreams/thoughts, rather than actually happening. I hope you and everyone else enjoys the style change. I've also never written for Fordo before, so I hope it's ok...;

Relationships: Fordo/Fem!Reader

Warnings: NSFW, Oral (Male receiving), a tiny reference to Face fucking, a tiny bit of dirty talking/voice kink, daydreaming,

''You're going to shoot yourself in the foot one day, if you keep whipping your blasters around like that."

Packing up your rifle in it's case, you look over to the clones beside you; Oone of whom was playing around with his blasters in a way that was a bit too reckless for your liking. He gives you a bit of a dirty look, while one of the other clones in his group claps his hands together and prays: 'Please let that happen please, that would be hilarious'.

His reaction makes you let out a chuff of air as a laugh, while his friend basks in his irritation. Turning away, you call the target plate you'd been using back to you, so you can clean and finish up. It's absolutely full of holes and well used, throwing it in the trash now that you're done training on it.

Maybe it would be a stretch to call it training however; As it's more just keeping yourself entertained and from getting even the tiniest bit rusty. Hyperspace is boring, especially when there isn't much to entertain yourself on a ship this large. At least planet side on base, you have some fresh air and maybe if you're lucky, you'll see a rare animal or two.

Taking your rifle case and leaving the practice range, it's a struggle to not let all the white and grey of the walls, ceiling, and floors, all blend into a blurry mess. It's quite late and the ships lights are dimmed slightly lower, in a way to poorly simulate a regular day night cycle. As such, it's late. You don't know how many hours it's been since you've last gotten some rest, but it's long enough that you're going to make a straight line right to your tiny little broom closet of a room, and lay down.

"You're going somewhere fast,"

You only look up one you realize they're speaking to you, seeing familiar red painted armor. One of Fordo's men, judging by the particular markings. His standing guard at his station at the crossroads of two hallways, the other person that should be with him seems to be missing from his post at the moment.

"Got bored at the range, and no one's roped me into training against yet. So I'm gonna try and get some shut eye." The trooper nods, his one note chuckle distorted ever so slightly be the reverb of his helmet.

"Don't let me keep you." You wouldn't mind having a chat but, unfortunately your thin, cold bed is a bit more tempting at the moment.

"Tell Fordo I said hi?" His hands shift on his rifle, nodding. "Will do. I'm sure he'll be glad to hear it." Nodding you take your leave, not keeping the trooper from his duties any longer.

While it can admittedly be a bit lonely at times being one of a few civilian fighters aboard a vessel full to the brim with clones, but at least you have your barracks to get away from it sometimes. A nice part about it being that only half of the beds in it have actually been claimed, and with the ship's work rotations always moving, it's not uncommon for you to be completely alone at times.

Punching in the code and entering once again it seems everyone's gone, at least until someone has the same idea as you to steal a little time for yourself. On a Venator class ship you're always on call, but at least for this moment, you're free. It probably won't last long at all but at least you can enjoy this moment of freedom, for as long as you have it.

Grabbing your personal datapad from your locker you decide that in your rare moment you'd work on a bit of a personal hobby. Maybe you can write a little bit before you get too tired to keep your eyes open.

It's more a guilty pleasure than anything; Some self indulgence during a phase where you have little to no time to yourself.

None of this will ever, ever see any eyes beyond yours, as it's meant just for you to enjoy.

It would be mortifying for anyone to lay eyes on it, just in general, let alone if they realized the main male character served as little more than a fog over what was pretty much Fordo down to the atom.

Gods, you were inconsolable. In the dark writing dirty little stories about you and the man you're infatuated with, your commanding officer, you might as well hide under the covers and sneak around as if trying not to get caught.

Opening the current thing you've been toiling away on you read all the way to where you had previously stopped; Right before things were starting to get good. Biting the inside of your cheek your fingers slowly type, trying to put your sordid thoughts to words.

The heat of your breath brushes over the harsh material of his armor, almost fogging it. You can feel his gloved hand on you, cradling the crown of your head with a firm pressure. He keeps that pressure, ever increasing, until your lips drag against the fabric of his flightsuit. The waterline of your bottom lip touches the fabric just for a moment, leaving a tiny darkened stain of spit.

The room has been nearly silent other than two sets of gentle breathes, but when he finally does speak, the deep rumble of his voice cuts through the still air like a vibroknife. It makes your thighs tense, pressing together as you feel the thumb of your heart beat in your cunt.

"Take it off for me. Or do you like the feeling?"

He doesn't have a name, but whenever you imagine him- it's always Fordo. It's so desperate and almost pathetic, but at least you keep your thoughts jotted down here instead of making a fool of yourself in the field.

Clumsy hands freeing his cock from the fabric you can feel the heat of it against your face; Against your lips as your wrap them around the tip. That unique taste, tongue against the head of his cock. His hand doesn't shove your head down to gag on him, but instead just serves as a weight, firm guidance as your lips slide down towards the base.

He keeps it slow, steady listening to the way your mouth makes the wettest, lewdest sounds as his hips twitch upward towards your mouth. He's only a small bit of pressure away from taking complete control, his chest rising and falling faster as he lets out a groan.

"Kriff; Come on, you can take a bit more. I know you can."

You know Fordo isn't talkative. He often times rarely if ever speaks until he absolutely has to. Would that change when he's exposed like this? Or would he continue to be a stalwart, silent man- peering down at you between his thighs?

Neither option is less preferable, but it's impossible to deny the desire to have your Commander 'command' you. That stern voice, maybe distorted by the echo of his helmet, or perhaps not, telling you in intimate detail what he wants you to do to him. Or what he wants to do to you.

Your mouth takes as much of him as you possibly can, the wet heat of your mouth pulling a low, shaking groan from him. Suddenly however he grips your hair and begins to pull you off of his cock, looking down at little stains of spit that dot either corner of your mouth.

"Enough of that. On the desk."

You can't resist the way your thighs press together just a little bit more at the ghostly voice of Fordo in your head saying such things.

Not as if there was ever a single bit of hesitation in your mind, you quickly come up off your knees, standing in front of him in the small space between his chair and the desk. With one hop you move to sit on it and watch as he stands, filling the space between your thighs. His hips force them to spread wider, hands moving to grip your hips and pull you close enough that you teeter just on the edge, grinding against him. You can feel the weight of his cock against your thigh, slick with your own spit.

His own hand lines himself up with your entrance, the other still harshly gripping your hip as he slowly, slowly-

Suddenly, a voice interrupts you from your thoughts before you can continue with them.

"Captain Fordo is requesting you in his quarters. Something about your next mission."

Your head suddenly turns on a swivel, only to see a trooper standing in the doorway of your small barracks. He's delivered his order and takes his leave before you even have a chance to recover from your surprise.

You have to go, as much as you might want to finish up what you'd been in the middle of. You decide to just roughly jot down the rest of what's in your mind, just so you don't forget.

Throwing your legs off the side of the bunk they hit the ground with a soft thud. You've been there multiple times, but not for anything close to the lewdness you think up when it's late. He's probably just going to update you on some innocuous report, before then dismissing you. As much as you would hope it would be a little bit more exciting.

Arriving and opening the door to his quarters it's the exact same as the last time you'd been here; Sparce and devoid of anything beyond the bare necessities. Not uncommon, for clone quarters. Fordo is standing close to the small desk towards the side of the room, looking up when he notices you. The way he perks up slightly isn't lost on you, though he presumably is just surprised to see you here so quickly.

And in usual nature for Fordo, he's right to the point.

"We're exiting hyperspace soon. When we drop planetside, I'd like you to take sniper support. Since our usual is still in the medbay."

Seems simple enough. You nod, making a mental note to give your rifle a once over before you head out. Not that it needs it, but you enjoy the peace of mind the action gives you. Better safe then sorry.

"Sure thing. I'll be ready by then."

He expects no less than that from you, and you haven't let him down once yet. He watches you leave, the door closing behind you. He has no need to lock it, so instead he sits back down in his chair, leaning back ever so slightly. Dark brown eyes glance to the left, and notice something unfamiliar resting on the corner of the desk.

She left her datapad here? Picking it up Fordo glances over the unlocked screen, before deciding to take a look. He doesn't really see any innate harm from it, until he starts reading and realizes just what he's gotten into.

The flush of her skin, it feels so hot to the touch it might almost boil. His cock feels almost in her stomach, impossibly deep and stretching her perfectly. Every move he makes the sound of skin on armor echoes in the small, cold confines of the room, now filled with the scent of sex.

He's rough; You feel any harder and he's going to leave marks. On your hips, thighs, the way his teeth scrape against the exposed skin of your neck.

Fordo in all his stalwart nature falters, reading the lewd words you'd written up and feels his face getting a bit hot.

The edge of the desk digging into your stomach it's impossible not to hear the way it groans until the battering it's taking, as he fucks you almost into the desk itself. Your hands grip the edge like it's a lifeline, toes curling in your boots as you feel your own wet arousal slick against your outer lips and almost leaking down your inner thighs.

"F-For-" A rough thrust of his hips cuts off your words before you even have a chance to speak them. Your legs tighten around him even has the edges of his armor rub uncomfortably against your skin, but you're too foggy minded by the way he's fucking you to care in the slightest.

You'd slipped up; And while you'd avoided using any names through hundreds, even thousands of words, you forgot and habitually wrote his name in once.

It's... Enlightening.

Fordo has long thought his secret affections for you were largely nonsense and had relegated them to a secured lockbox at the back of his head, so to see that it seems to go both ways, he's nervous but, hopeful.

He keeps reading, and soon finds himself immersed in your daydreams like they're his own.

You get back to your barracks in record time, still apt to finish your little daydream before you have to purge it from your mind again. The light flicks on the moment it sees motion, walking in the direction of your bunk. But when you reach to grab your datapad and get back to your little moment of self indulgence, you notice that it's nowhere to be seen.

Oh shit.

Where is it? You swore you'd left it here when you had gone to talk to Fordo, but then you remember that it had been in your hands, and the only option is that you'd left it behind in his quarters.

Which is an actual nightmare scenario, considering what is on it. There's more than a fair share of things you'd never want anyone to see, let alone him. You just hope you can get it back, before he gets a little bit curious. As no matter how cut and by the rules Fordo is, curiosity is a tempting beast.

Bursting off the bunk you quickly race down the halls backtracking all the way to Fordo, where you quickly open the still unlocked door. Once you do, you see the red paint of his armor, along with something in his hands. It seems like your nightmare has come true, even as you speak as if attempting to see that you've misread what is happening in front of you.

"Fordo? What are you-" He gets up from his seat, still holding the piece of technology in his hands.

"You left this behind." Your entire body freezes up. You can tell by the way he isn't exactly meeting your gaze that he absolutely saw what was on it, at minimum what you were currently working on. Gently taking it from his hands you hold it close, pursing your lips.

"You are a very good writer. At least, as far as my experience goes." Fordo hasn't exactly had the time to read to many things beyond reports in his time.

He, decides not to bring up where he'd glossed over his name, but instead uses it as fuel to say something he'd been hoping to gather up the courage to do for quite awhile.

He'll have to keep it a secret but; Kriff it. He wants a day off. With you.

"When we're back planet side, how about we get a drink." You're still wide eyed holding your datapad close, but can't help but nod.

Well, this all turned out a bit different than you'd expected. Not that you're complaining.

"Yeah, sure. I'd like that."

#captain fordo x reader #the clone wars 2003 #Captain Fordo/Reader #reader insert #reader #mywriting

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vdragon-creations · 1 year ago

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Spring Stars! (Part 1) The Cheetah, The Turtle, and The Awkward Hurdle!

(2003 Donatello x Sasha Fic)

✨💛💜✨

Authors Note: Heyo everyone! It’s been a bit, but it’s finally here! I’ve been working on this for a bit (I think about three months now) and it’s finally done! I've been through this and edited what I could so it's not a complete mess. Be warned, this is an OCxCC story, and my writing is, pretty cringe, to put it nicely. (Though I have a nice Art piece in here for you, so that's something!) If those two things turn you off, you’re free to leave, but for those of you who choose to stay…thank you. And I’m sorry! XD Without further ado, let’s get this Fluff Fest rolling!

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Donnie wasn’t sure when it had happened, but it didn’t really matter anymore. Ever since Mikey brought it up, it was all he could really think about. Once seemingly innocent words and actions had now become so confusing, and as “The Smart One” it was honestly a little frustrating.

“Another Nerd Date Night with your Girlfriend?” His brother in orange shouted from the couch, all while not taking his eyes off his comic book. Donnie had been heading out of The Liar, duffle bag over his shoulder and tools in hand. He was going to the part of the sewers where Leatherhead and Sasha lived, so that the two of them could work on a project involving some new blueprints they received from The Professor the last time they went digging through the junkyards. But the words of his brother made his brain freeze. This wasn’t the first time his brothers or friends had made a comment about how close he and Sasha were to each other, but it was the first time someone had outright called her his “Girlfriend”. Quickly shaking off his surprise, Donnie just shouted back, “Can it, Chucklehead!” And left The Lair.

But little did he know, that he wasn’t the only one dealing with these kinds of thoughts.

Sasha had only known the Turtles for a few months by now, and loved every moment she got to hang out with them! She had lived by herself for so long in the middle of the dessert, that she didn’t realize just how lonely she was. Until she met Leatherhead, Honeycutt, and The Turtles. And especially Donnie. She really didn’t know why. Maybe it was his smarts that made them click together? Or maybe it was his softer nature that made him so likable? Just, something about him felt so comfortable. She felt like she could be open about her interests around him, at least most of them. And these little late night lab sessions with him really just felt like it as “their time”, even if they didn’t have complete privacy. Getting some time alone with Donnie would’ve honestly been one of Sasha’s biggest dreams! But….at the same time, for some reason she didn’t understand, it also made her nervous and fidgety. She noticed how her heart rate would spike up every time he got close! How good his voice sounded as they talked about their work! How she'd catch herself staring at him from across the room! This feeling was so beyond anything she had ever felt before, and it was both exciting…but scary. She had started to fear that is was part of her “Predatory Instincts” wanting to kick in.

Sasha had gone to Leatherhead and Honeycutt about this feeling, hoping that at least one of them might be able to give her an answer! She didn’t wanna spend another Lab Session with Donnie feeling this way, and just not understanding it anymore. But, genuinely wasn’t expecting the two of them to say what they did.

“Perhaps you’re experiencing what you earthlings call the “Birds and Bees”? You are a teenager after all.” Honeycutt suggested, him and Leatherhead sharing a look and snickering a little. Sasha raised an eyebrow and sat up from her position on the couch. “The birds and what-now?” She asked, having never heard that phrase before. Leatherhead chuckled and walked over to the couch and sat next to her, “What I think he’s trying to say Sasha, is that you’re starting to gain an attraction to Donatello. As more then a friend, and are starting to see him more like a potential partner. Or Mate if you will.” The second the word ‘mate’ left Leatherhead’s mouth, Sasha’s face went hotter then the sun, redness on her cheeks could almost be seen through her fur. She swiftly got up, “What? Are you serious?? Don’t play around with words like that! Besides, how would that even work?” Leatherhead was about to open his mouth to answer that last part before Sasha quickly shut it down, “Don’t you even start with me!” “Sasha, we’re merely just speculating on the possibility. And it makes perfect sense if you think about it. You're both teenagers, share lots of interests, and spend an ample amount of time together. And having seen the way you two get along…. I can’t help but see it.” Honeycutt said.

The words they said, bounced around in her head all day till the time came for Donnie and her to start their Lab Session. She HAD to know what these feelings were, and she was gunna be keeping a very close eye on her behavior. If there was any truth to Leatherhead and Honeycutt’s words, she needed to know before herself or Donnie got hurt! Besides…..would he even feel the same way?

✨💛💜✨

“Uhhh, Sasha? You in here?” Donnie asked, sticking his head into the archway of Leatherhead’s Lair, looking around for his spotted friend. Sasha was over by the small half kitchen just out of view, and after hearing Donnie’s voice, her heart leaped a bit. “Yep! Just getting some coffee ready so we can start!” She called out, sticking her head out to greet him, giving him her ever friendly grin. Donnie’s lips curled into an unstoppable smile after seeing her face. Feeling better about the day already. When Mikey’s words filled his head again, he quickly felt butterflies bouncing around in his stomach. “Ah, ok! I’ll go ahead and get us set up!” he chirped as he made his way over to the lab set up across the room. Leatherhead, Honeycutt, and himself had built this small workstation a long time ago, and ever since Sasha came to New York, it only got bigger. She had so much energy about learning and building new things, and with Donnie being a big influence and teacher, the workplace only became bigger as the two of them seemed to feed off each other's enthusiasm.

Sasha poured them both a mug of coffee, taking a very deep breath before sighing. With all the shaking she could feel her nerves doing, she wasn’t really sure the coffee was necessary to keep her alert. “Come on, tonight is no different then any other night! Get your act together you Scaredy Cat!” She growled at herself. Finally grabbing the Coffee and turning around to join Donnie. “Two cups of dirty bean water! Coming right up!” She chirped as she walked over to him, setting up his own tools on the work desk. Donnie looked up, giving an amused smile and chuckle before walking up to her and taking one of the mugs, “That’s a colorful thing to call it! True though.” He said, before taking a sip of the warm beverage. It helped soothe his own jitters but it wouldn’t last, and he knew that. Sasha took a sip of her own mug and took a seat, getting straight to work on reading one of the blueprints. That’s when Donnie noticed how quiet it was in the room.

“Where are Leatherhead and Honeycutt?” Donnie asked, looking around the room. Sasha’s stomach balled itself into a knot hearing him ask that. She had totally forgotten that they weren’t there for once. That fact didn’t help with her jitters, but she did her best to swallow it and not let her feelings show. “I think they left a little while ago. Out looking for supplies I think.” She answered, not looking back up at him. “Oh…” Donnie said, realizing that he and Sasha were actually going to have a night alone to work. His olive green cheeks starting to turn dark as that thought ran through his head. “W-well that’s good, no distractions or random noises right?” Donnie said taking his seat next to her, grabbing a few of his tools and parts, letting a nervous chuckle leave his chest. Sasha only responded with a small hum, continuing to “read” the blueprint in front of her.

About an hour passed with the two of them working in silence, until finally Sasha let out a small grumble. The sound caught Donnie’s attention quickly, “What’s wrong?” Sasha’s face was contorted into a confused and irritated expression, head resting on her hand as her other hand started tapping one of her nails on the table. Donnie got up and loomed over her shoulder to look at what she was glaring at. “Whatcha' working on there?” He asked. “Just having a hard time reading these blueprints we found…” she answered, still not looking up at him. It was like she had finally forgotten all about those nerves she had before and went back into her own little world. “Want some help?” Donnie asked bending down a bit more to see exactly where she was on the page. His head very very close to hers, though she didn’t seem to notice or care. “Sure, it’s just this little bit right here that has me stumped.” Sasha said, her clawed finger tapping at the part of the blueprint in question. “It talks about a special part being needed-” she began speaking, but Donnie’s attention began to quickly fade as he listened to her words. He’s eyes slowly traveling from the page she was pointing to, up her arm, then shoulder, finally landing on her eyes.

They had spared a few times, worked together, and even enjoyed movie nights with his bros, but this was the closest he had ever been to her. Getting to see her eyes this close was so breathtaking, their beautiful blue color contrasting with her golden fur. “Her eyes look like gems this close…” he thought to himself. “Hmmmm, I see…” he said softly, thoughtlessly responding to the things Sasha was saying. “Maybe there’s a missing page…” Sasha said, still focused on the blueprint, paying Donnie’s closeness no mind. “So pretty…” he thought to himself again, his eyes traveling again, fallowing the tear stripes on Sasha’s eyes. Right to the corners of her mouth, with her dark colored lips, as a thought crossed his mind that hadn’t before…

“How soft…are they?”

He’s eyes stayed trained on them for a bit, just watching them as they moved. Sasha’s voice being only an echo in his head. Saying things, but not really clear enough to make anything out. “What do you think Don?” Sasha asked, still staring at the blueprints. She waited a second to hear his reply, but she heard nothing. So her eyes left the paper for a moment to glance up at him, “Don?” What she saw almost made her heart stop as Donnie wasn’t looking at the prints at all, but rather his eyes seemed to be fixed on her! With him this close it was a lot easier to see the darker shade of green dusting his cheeks, which Sasha thought was impossible for a reptile to blush. Being this close it was hard to tell exactly where he was fixed on, as that mask of his always seemed to hide what his eyes actually looked like. “Uh, Donnie?” She asked, now turning her face a bit to look at him directly. Heat now crawling it's way onto her cheeks too. The movement of her face made Donnie snap out of his daze, quickly blinking only to be met with Sasha’s eye’s staring at him in confusion and surprise.

There was a brief second of awkward silence where the two just stared back at one another, till Donnie realized just how close he was to her and practically leaped out of his shell and relied back, letting a surprised yelp slip out! Causing Sasha to also flinch and let out a panicked cheetah chirp! “Oh shell! I-I’m so so sorry! I-I don’t know what-“ Donnie was starting to say when Sasha also started panic talking too, “It’s ok! It’s ok! I just…wasn’t expecting that!” The two of them just caught their breath or a moment before Sasha continued, “I was asking what you thought about my theory that we’re missing a page of the Blueprints?” Donnie hyperventilated a bit more before shakily responding, “O-Oh R-right…uhhhhh. That, well…uh… y-yeah, that would make sense. If it talks about a part that’s not included in the plans we have, they must be on another page.” His words where coming out unfocused and unsure, something that was so unlike him. Sasha’s eyes farrowed at him slightly, like trying to read a poem for the hidden meaning behind it. The look made Donnie even more nervous and he quickly tried to bounce back, “Yeah, I-I guess the next time we go to the Junkyard, we’ll start looking for a missing page! M-Maybe The Professor has seen it!”

“Agreed...” Sasha trailed off, still looking at him quizzically. Donnie’s lip quivered into a shaken quick smile, as he started to feel incredibly embarrassed by his actions. His shame burning bright on his cheeks as he could feel the butterflies in his stomach dancing around again. He nervously laughed to hopefully get some of them out, but it did him no good as he just felt like he wanted to cry. Holding it back as to not upset her more. “I-I guess I’ll start m-making more of the pieces we need!” He said, tying to sound chipper despite the crack in his voice. Sasha was about to say something, but Donnie didn’t give her the chance before Don put his head down and went back to his seat. This time, scooting his chair a bit further away from her so he wouldn’t be in her way. Sasha just stared at him in utter confusion, “Uh…o-okey. Let me know if you need anything from me.” She said, trying to sound soothing, as if to not sound harsh or offended by what just happened.

Donnie didn’t really respond to that, and just slouched in his seat and started working. Sasha just looked at him for a moment before returning to her own work in silence, except for the sound of her heart pounding away in her ears. She placed her hand on her chest, her ears drooping a bit. That moment with Donnie so close, looking at her with eyes so earnest, and his half parted lips, it was… like a dream. But that really happened, and from the looks of it, he seemed like he wanted to…

Sasha shook her head and forced herself back to work. It was a preposterous thought to have! There’s no way he as feeling that way about her! Not in the slightest! She was just reading too much into it, not helped by Leatherhead and Honeycutt’s words! There was no way on earth the two of them could be having such romantic feelings towards each other! Sure they were capable of human emotions, but they were of different species and attraction seemed pointless from a biological standpoint! Attraction and partnerships are meant for the evolutionary purpose of reproduction, and that was impossible between the two of them! So… why was she feeling this way towards him? Was it just strong friendship? Predatory instincts to hunt him being screwed in her mind? Or was it actually love?

With a small sigh, Sasha let the thoughts wash over her as she got back to reading the prints. Meanwhile Donnie was having his own inner struggle. Practically beating himself over the head for not thinking for once! Usually he’s the only one out of his brothers to stop and think about a situation before doing something so fucking stupid! But no! This time his teenager brain just had to have hormones take over for once and let him make a complete fool of himself! Forget her personal boundaries, he might as well have just grabbed her and started kissing her when she looked his way! So much for making this night not feel awkward! Now she probably thinks he’s a fucking nutcase and wants nothing to do with him! Besides, even if he had kissed her… who’s to say she’d even go for it? He and his brothers aren’t exactly the most handsome guys on the planet, maybe better looking as far as mutants go, but Sasha was… stunning. Her fur shone like gold, her eyes looked like sapphires, and her voice was like an angel! She was brilliant, and witty, and gentle and kind to all around her. Basically everything Donnie could ask for. But, far far out of his league. And now, he probably screwed his friendship up with her just because of his brother’s stupid words...

It was gunna be a long night in the lab...

✨💛💜✨

Hours had passed by, and while some of the nervous tension had dissipated, the two mutants still hadn’t spoke a word. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t be too out of the norm. They had many nights in the lab together where the two wouldn’t speak at all, and rather enjoy each other’s company in silence. But this? This was just…awkward and heavy.

Sasha was hard at work, reading and taking notes on some of the plans. Meanwhile Donnie was nearly finished with one of the parts needed for their project. Absentmindedly, the two had been grabbing things around the desk to continue their tasks without looking at what they where reaching for. Sasha was searching the desk with her hand to find the highlighter, while Donnie was also feeling around for a pair of wire cutters, only to find themselves feeling something else. They both paused and finally looked up to find their hands resting together.

They looked at their hands and then quickly whipped them away from one another. “S-sorry, I was looking for my Highlighter…” Sasha muttered meekly, feeling the knot in her stomach tightening again. “No no, it’s my bad. I was getting distracted. I was looking for my wire cutters…” Donnie said, bashfully rubbing the back of his neck. Sasha’s ears perked up, and turned to reach somewhere behind her on the desk, holding up the wire cutters, “Oh! Here you go! My bad, have no idea how they ended up on my side.” She handed him the cutters, making sure that her hands where as far from where Donnie would grab them as possible. Donnie noted this before taking them, “T-Thanks.” He said, before turning back to his work. That was something Sasha would do a lot. Not just with himself either, but his brothers too. Anytime it wasn’t absolutely necessary, Sasha would avoid touching them with her hands at all. And whenever contact did happen, Sasha would always subtly rub her hands like they were in pain.

But, Donnie decided it would be best to ignore it for now, but he still felt like the air was a bit too awkward. So, it was about time to break the silence up and try to get the night to feel more “normal” again. “Sooo uhhhh, how’s Plato doing? I didn’t see him when I came in.” Donnie asked. Sasha stopped what she was doing and looked at him with a raised brow. “Huh?” Sasha hadn’t really been listening to what he had said. Donnie looked back at her and smiled softly, cocking an eyebrow up as well, “The last time you came to The Lair, you said Plato had gotten sick. I didn’t see him when I came in. I wanted to know how he was doing.” Donnie clarified, letting out a soft chuckle. “OH! Y-yeah! That! He’s fine now. He just had a minor respiratory infection, nothing too serious. He’s resting right now over in his little tent.” Sasha said, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb to an area of the room where Sasha had set up an old child’s play tent. Pillows and blankets covered the floor around it, along with food and water bowls. “Well that’s good, I was pretty worried about the little guy.” Donnie said, pretty relieved to hear he was ok. “Oh yeah! He’s a tough little tortoise! Much like a few other turtles I know!” Sasha said with a smile. Donnie looked at her a bit surprised by that comment, which she ended off with a little wink.

Donnie gulped and started stammering, “C-come on now! W-we aren’t that little!” Sasha couldn’t help it, and just started snickering at him. Donnie was glad the heaviness had finally lifted and it seemed like Sasha held no issues with him, letting a smile spread on his face. Enjoying the sight of her giggling away at him.

“She’s just too cute…”

Donnie rolled his eyes, smile still on his face as he did so. “Well, if you’re just gunna just sit there and laugh at me all day, one of us should be getting some work done on this thing!” Donnie retorted, getting up from his seat and picking up the part he had been working on, turning his back to her as he walked over to the wall next to the desk.

Attached to the wall was a robotic project, intended to be a mech of some kind. The plans for this small mech where on some Blueprints Sasha and Donnie found, and the two fingered they’d at least try to make a working one! So far it seemed to be going great, minus a few hiccups here or there with finding certain parts or having missing pages of the Blueprints. The two of them where pretty smart though, so little things like that were nothing they couldn’t work their way around. Donnie started opening up a hatch on the back of the mech and crawled inside, shimmying his way down till only his legs were poking out. “Well, while you’re in there, I’ll go ahead and get another pot of coffee ready for us! Didn’t think we’d drink the other one so fast…” Sasha said wondering over to the kitchen. “WE ALREADY DRANK THE WHOLE POT!?” Donnie yelled from inside the mech. “Afraid so my friend.” Sasha chirped back over her shoulder. “Oh man! No idea how I’m gunna sleep tonight then! I’ll be so wired I’ll probably be up for a week!” Donnie replied, the sounds of him knocking around inside the mech echoing through the lab. “Donnie I’ve seen you stay up for weeks on projects before. WITHOUT caffeine might I add. Don’t go blaming the coffee.” Sasha playfully scolded him. “Hey! Who’s side are you on!?” Donnie whined. Sasha just giggled, pressing the brew button on the machine.

Soon, the coffee machine was humming away as a nice hot dark brew came from the spout. Sasha breathed in the smell, enjoying it quite a bit. When you live with huge Crocodile Mutant in the sewers, few good smelling things are so easy to come by. Sasha’s ears and tail wiggled softly with contentment, until her trance was broken by Donnie’s voice from inside the mech. “Oh shell!” He said, sounding a bit annoyed. Sasha hurried over to him a little worried, “What’s wrong Don?” She asked, leaning over the entrance to the mech to try and see inside as Donnie started crawling out of the hatch, “I forgot a piece I need back at The Lair! I’ll have to go grab it!” Donnie said, getting back onto his feet, dusting off his plastron. “If you want I’ll run and grab it for you! I am a cheetah after all! Speed do be my thing.” Sasha offered. “A kind offer, but my deck isn’t the most organized. Wouldn’t want you to get lost trying to find it.” Donnie said, honestly a little embarrassed. Sasha always seemed to keep her workspace pretty organized, and the thought of her having to sift through all of the junk on his desk was unbearable. That, and he kept a small photo of the two of them together on his deck, and always hid it from her when she’d come over. He’d never be able to show his face to her again if she found it. “Well, if you’re sure. Is there anything you’d like me to do then?” Sasha asked, still wanting to at least get some work done while he was gone.

Donnie thought it over and then snapped his finger, “Oh! There’s a box of wires in there under the control panel! My fingers are bit too big to fit in there with the wire cutters, and I need to get the power working in there! Think you could do that?” Sasha nodded and saluted to him, “Aye Aye Sir!” Donnie couldn’t help the little grin on his face seeing her do stuff like that. “Well then, the wire cutters are in there already! So you should be set!” Donnie said, heading around her to leave. “Won’t be needing them!” Sasha said, looking over her shoulder at him with a sly grin. Holding up her hand, showing off her non-retractable claws. “I come pre-equipped with better tools.” She quipped, giving him a playful wink before hopping into the mech’s hatch. “Alright! I’ll be back in two shakes of a turtle’s tail!” Donnie said as he took off. Sasha snickered before shouting after him from inside the mech, “You don’t even have a tail!”

Sasha sat in that mech for a moment, waiting till she could no longer hear Donnie’s footsteps, and then breathed a sigh of relief when finally alone. She was very happy that the night was no longer so damn awkward, but it was still a lot to happen all at once. But, she couldn’t slack off now! Donnie needed her, and she was gunna be useful to him! So she crawled her way to the front part of the mech with the control panel. “Lucky for me cats are flexible! This thing is so cramped I’m surprised Donnie could fit in here with his shell intact…” Sasha muttered to herself, noting all the pointy bits of metal and wiring all around her. “Now…if I where a wire box where would…Oh! There you are!” Sasha scooted over to a small metal box under the control panel and opened it, revealing tangled, frayed, and unconnected wires! “Oh man, this is a mess…” She sighed, “Well, better get to work…”

✨💛💜✨

Donnie came running into The Lair quickly, heading straight for his desk. “Woah! You’re back pretty early Donnie! Your hot nerd date go well?” Mikey quipped, looking over his shoulder from his spot on the couch. “I told you it’s not a date Mikey! And no, I’m not back. I’m just looking for something I left behind!” Donnie snapped back, digging through the junk and loose blueprints on his desk. “Suuuuure, whatever you say Don!” Mikey snarked before turning his attention back to the TV. Raph wasn’t too far from Donnie’s workspace, currently beating the stuffing out a practice dummy. “Hey bro, you know, not to agree with Mikey or nothin’ but uhhh…don’t you think you outta give it a rest?” Raph said, his tone sounding concerned despite being preoccupied with his opponent. “Give what a rest?” Donnie asked, honestly a little annoyed, this interruption from his brother’s was wasting time when he could be finding that part he needed and getting back to Sasha. At the same time, Splinter and Leo came out of Splinter’s room, wanting to hear what was going on. Raph stopped punching his dummy for a bit and looked at Don with an almost bewildered expression, “You seriously need to ask that? I’m talkin’ about this whole ‘We’re just friends’ thing you keep spoutin’! I mean, I know we aren’t nearly as smart as you, but none of us were born yesterday Brainiac.”

Mikey muted the TV and quickly sat backwards on the couch to peek over the top of the seat to watch the bullets that were about to fly. Even Splinter and Leo seemed a bit interested, if not also on guard. “Is your shell on too tight, or do you just have too much of your practice dummy’s stuffing lodged in your ears?! I’m not putting on an act! We’re JUST FRIENDS. End of story.” Donnie argued. “Oh for fuck’s sake Donnie! Do you hear yourself? There’s no denying how you feel about her, we see it all the time! You two ain’t exactly very slick.” Raph growled. “And why should you care about it?! What our relationship status is doesn’t effect you or anyone else! And what we decide to call it matters only to us!” Donnie snapped back, he and Raph now squaring up to one another. “Maybe, but I do know that the more you say something, the more true it can become! What happens when you say that ‘Just Friends’ garbage a few too many times Donnie? I see the way Sasha looks at you, we all do! What if you say that so much that one day Sasha will just stop being the way she is with you now? All because you kept playing Chicken with your own feelings?” Raph said, jabbing Don in the plastron with his finger. “You’re stupid if you actually think Sasha would end up thinking such a thing!” Donnie growled, honestly the idea that Raph would think this little of her was a bit irritating. Though, he did have a point...

“Oh really? Then I don’t see why you don’t just come out and tell her how you feel already!”

“It’s not that simple Raph!”

“Nah nah, you’re right Donnie! It’s not, especially when you’ve got more Brains then Guts! Sounds like a chicken’s excuse to me!”

“And what would you know about relationships like ours!?”

“I know enough to see when a girl likes a guy, but is holdin’ back cause she’s scared! You’d think that after all the crazy shell backward things we’ve been through you’d pick up on that and swoop in! But nah, Mr. Smarty Shell is too selfish to think about other’s feelings. Let me guess, the whole genius thing makin’ you think feelings are too beneath you? Again, just sounds like being chicken to me.”

“Ooooooo! You just got told Donnie!” Mikey shouted from the couch. Donnie huffed and muttered under his breath as he turned his back in anger and snatched the part he needed from his desk. He started to stomp his way out of The Lair when a small fuzzy hand grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him. “My son please. Take pause and consider your brother’s words. Fear is a natural thing, and it’s ok to feel it. But you can not let it control you.” Splinter said, the soothing way he spoke instantly making Don feel more guilty. He glanced back at his father, who wore a concerned but understanding expression. “A life without balance is hardly worth living. And if you ignore parts of your heart that yearn, then you will surely find life a harsh and painful place. And I would hope Sasha knows this too. But perhaps, if you learn this lesson together, you two will forge a bond stronger then any fear.” Donnie was silent, and just looked down at the floor. “Please, heed my words, my son…” Splinter pleaded with him. Donnie sighed and nodded his head, “Yes, Sensei…” he said softly, pulling his arm away from his father’s grip and continuing to walk out of The Lair.

“Do you think he’s gunna actually go through with it Master Splinter?” Leo asked, walking up to his father and placing a hand on his shoulder. Splinter sighed, “Only time will tell my son.”

✨💛💜✨

Donnie mulled over what Raph and Splinter said while he walked back to Leatherhead’s place. What if Raph was actually right and Sasha was afraid to tell him anything cause of how he kept calling them “Just Friends” this whole time. What if we was just being a coward for not being honest with her about his feelings. It was eating him up inside and he just had to put an end to it! Confess his feelings and let her make her own choice. But…how? When?

His train of thought was interrupted by what sounded like… singing…

The closer he got to Leatherhead’s Lair, the louder and more clear it got. And now he was able to make out the voice. It was Sasha! He quietly entered and looked over at the Mech, another grin growing on his face. He couldn’t see her, but he sure could hear her. The song she was singing didn’t sound familiar, and was mostly something self composed. He never said anything about it, but he had seen loose papers on her desk before that looked like poems or possible songs. She always seemed to get nervous when she noticed them on her desk and would hide them quickly.

Donnie continued listening to her voice for a bit longer, before finally letting his presence be known. He cleared his throat, “Sasha, I’m back!” He chirped. Sasha’s singing stopped instantly with a loud and startled chirp, fallowed by a metallic thud and a few whines in pain. Donnie winced, dropped the part he had in his hands and ran over to the mech’s hatch. “Oh shell! Sasha! You ok!?” Sasha crawled out of the hatch, rubbing the top of her head, “Yeah! J-just surprised me and I…bumped my head!” She muttered. She started to stagger a little as she tried to lift herself up from the floor, and Donnie quickly took action. He wrapped his arm around her back, with her arm around his shoulders, helping her up to her feet. “Must’ve been a lot more then a bump, you’re hardly walking right!” Donnie fussed, leading her over to the deck and setting her gently into a chair. “No, no, no! I’m fine Donnie! Really!” She said, taking her hand off her head and looking up with a smile that…didn’t convince him at all.

That’s when he noticed what looked like…a red color in her light blonde hair. This made him panic, “No! You’re not Sasha! It looks like your bleeding!” He said. Sasha cocked and eyebrow at him, before looking down at her hand and sure enough, small smears of blood where on the palms of her gauntlets. “Oh, well that explains it…” She grimaced, now with a tinge of worry in her voice. “Hold on one second, and let me get the First Aid Kit!” Donnie ordered, taking off into the kitchen and opening the cabinets. “O-okay…” Sasha muttered back. Her eyes were stinging as uncontrollable tears of pain and embarrassment were starting to bead up. She looked towards the entrance, noticing the part Donnie had brought back was now in pieces on the ground. Her ears dropped, “Oh no! Donnie, your part! It’s Broken! All that work-” she whimpered, trying to get up and grab it. But she was quickly stopped by Donnie's hand pressing down gently on her shoulder, “Can be done again, and doesn’t matter right now. But you do! So just relax and let me take a look.” Donnie ordered again, his soft voice sounding less panicked then before, but definitely still worried.

Sasha begrudgingly sat back down, and Donnie got right to work. First by gently placing his hand on the top of her head to feel around for a bump, Sasha winced in pain when he hit it, a few tears breaking loose and running down her cheeks. He parted her hair to take a look at the damage, and found a small bump with a slight gash in it. “Oh shell…you hit whatever it was pretty good. Any deeper and stitches would’ve been needed.” Donnie exclaimed. “Yeah, I…uhhh…couldn’t hear you when you came in. Made me jump quite a bit…” Sasha admitted, clearly embarrassed, and not explaining her little solo concert she was having. “Well, we’re gunna patch you up. Don’t you worry!” Donnie said, a bit more chipper now, comforted by the fact that the damage wasn’t as bad as he originally feared. He bent down in front of her, placing the First Aid Kit on the floor beside him and opened it. “Alright, firstly, we need to clean it.” He said, digging through the kit and finding a few wipes. He tore them open and pulled them out using a pair of tweezers, and then looked back at Sasha. “This will sting just a bit. Is that gunna be ok?” Donnie asked. He sounded apologetic, but it was more or less a rhetorical question, as despite any argument she could make, this needed to be done anyway. Sasha sniffled and nodded softly.

Donnie got in close to her and cupped her chin gently, tilting her head down a bit so he could see the bump again. Using his other hand to gently dab the wipe on the cut with the tweezers. As soon as the wipe make contact, Sasha hissed in pain, a small growl bubbling up from her chest. “Sorry…” Donnie muttered gently, continuing to clean the wound. Sasha sniffed, “It’s ok, I’m just sorry about the hisses and the growls. It just hurts like- OUCH!” Quickly cut off by more stinging pain. “Sorry again…”

He made a few more dabs with the wipes, swapping out the tools for some bandages, “Ok, I’m just about done! Now to wrap it up!” He said. “Got it doc!” Sasha chirped weakly. The bump on her head still made her feel a bit dizzy, but she’s had worse in fights along side the Turtles. Donnie gently placed a gauze pad on the bump, before securing it with some medical tape. “Sorry about the tape. I know it’s not gunna be the most comfortable to wear, or…take off. But it should still work for now.” Donnie said, finishing up his handy work and putting the items back inside the kit. “I’m sure I’ll manage.” Sasha said, gently placing her hand on the bump to feel of it herself. Donnie looked back at her, it had been the first time he had actually paid attention to her face since the bump. He noticed the wetness on her cheeks, and it broke his heart. He didn’t like to see her in pain, much less crying.

Sasha took her hand off the top of her head and then felt something brush against her cheek, her eyes flew up to look at Donnie who was much closer then she expected! He had that same deep and thoughtful stare he had earlier that night, only now his eyebrows where turned upwards. Giving him a mildly concerned look. And if this stare wasn’t enough to make Sasha’s heart nearly leap out of her chest, Donnie was now cupping her cheek. His calloused thumb just lazily wiping at the tracks her tears made on her fur. “Are you sure you’re ok?” Donnie asked, in a daze but focused at the same time. Sasha was taken off guard by his question, “Huh? Y-yeah, of course Donnie. N-no need to get so worked up over it! I’ve had worse you know. Remember my leg? It ain’t exactly very pretty!” “Yeah…I know…” Donnie responded, still staring at her. “But…I don’t want anything else to happen to you. Not while I’m around…” he added softly. Sasha’s eyes grew wide, the heck was he on about!? It was one bump on the head, and now he was talking to her like she was on her deathbed or something!

Sasha gulped, now even more painfully aware of how close they where, and the knot in her stomach now doing backflips to the rhythm of her racing heart. “Don, are you sure YOU’RE ok? You’ve been kinda-“ Sasha tried to argue, but she trailed off after her eyes rested on his. It’s not fair! That mask of his always shielded his eyes, so she could never tell where exactly he was staring. Yet her eyes where so big that trying to hide where she was looking was all but impossible! Sasha’s lips tucked in for a moment, only to see Don’s lips do the same. “So…he is staring at them…” Sasha thought to herself. She felt the heat from her body rush to her face, her breathing start to quicken. This wasn’t good, and this feeling was starting to scare her a little. “Donnie…” She tried to bring words to her lip’s but couldn’t think of any.

It was like the room got so much hotter and Sasha was quickly loosing control of her restraint, but that’s when she noticed his eyes flicker up a little and he blinked. “Oh shell…” He said, now seemingly snapped out of he previous daze. Sasha rolled her eyes, “Donnie I told you I’ve had worse-” “Not that! DUCK!” It was more obvious now, and she turned. The generator that had been sitting next to the mech, was now beet red, sparking, and steaming up like crazy! Rattling like it was about to blow! Before Sasha could get to her feet, Don quickly scooped her up into his arms, and leaped across the room just as it exploded, sending metal shards, smoke, and heat everywhere. The boom echoing all over the sewers.

The resulting sounds from the blast made Sasha’s ears ring, and the bump on her head pound. She tried to move to cover her ears but quickly found that she really couldn’t move at all, something heavy was on top of her. She opened her eyes slowly, the smoke and daze from her pain making it hard to see much at first. But after blinking a bit, her eyes flew open at the sight of Donnie looming over her, holding her to his chest, back facing the blast. He shielded her. Donnie’s eyes were clamped shut till he felt the explosion had finished causing damage. He peeked one eye open, and then asked through heavy breaths, “You ok?” Sasha stared at him, with a look that could only be described as both ‘Awe’ and ‘Shock’. She genuinely felt like she had lost control of her mind and body over the last few hours and it scared her! But…somewhere deep down inside her loved every little moment of it!

It was Exciting! Electrifying! Euphoric!

“I-I…don’t know anymore…” her words came out like a whisper, as she continued to stare at him. Donnie had never seen her like this, but her words, while concerning, for some reason made his butterflies come back in full force. He gulped, “Do you…n-need any water? Or something for your hea-” His words were cut short after Sasha gently started making a shushing noise. He stopped talking and felt his whole body shiver when Sasha brought up her hand to rest on his cheek! Donnie froze in place, more out of fear that she would pull away if he moved. Her touch was like a feather, soft and gentle. Her sharp claws just barely brushing along his olive green skin, now darker stained thanks to the blush that crawled it’s way to his cheeks. This touch felt so electric! Donnie had been zapped a good number of times in the past, but this was so much more different! And yet his body shivered all that same! Like a million little shockwaves going off in every little nerve.

But, it was her eyes! Those ever bright blue orbs of her’s that really made his heart sing! She was staring at him with the same kind of mindless concentration she would have working on machinery. But something was definitely different, a kind of wonder in her eyes that made every part of Donnie’s body feel warm and fuzzy, despite being cold blooded. And unlike his own, Sasha’s eye’s weren’t hidden behind some mask. They trailed from his own eyes, to the place on his cheek where her fingers rested. Then both her fingers and eyes trailed down to his mouth, her fingers stopping just short of his lips…

Sasha’s eye’s where fixated there for what seemed like an eternity, Donnie really tried to not move at all! Being a man of science, he just had to know what she was going to do, and if his hypothesis was correct...

But, Donnie absentmindedly tucking his lips in a little made a tingle of movement shoot through the nerves in Sasha’s fingers. Sasha’s eyes finally blinked and it looked like she had seen a ghost! She saw her fingers, her claws, resting just short of Donnie’s lips! And her stomach dropped like a sack of flower and she slid away from him, pulling back like he was gunna bite her! Her speed alone made Donnie flinch as well!

What Sasha did next could only be described as a panic-filled barrage of words that almost made no sense due to how fast she was speaking! Sasha was always a fast talker, being a cheetah, most things she did were done quickly. But it was especially obvious when she was embarrassed, stressed, or excited. She was curled up into a small ball, babbling on about being sorry for something, rubbing her hand that had touched him vigorously. She had pure fear in her eyes, and a very dark shade of red on her face showing through her fur. And just as it seemed like she was about to cry, a couple of voices could be heard coming from the entrance, calling out for Donnie and Sasha in concern! Donnie looked up to see Leatherhead and Honeycutt running through the doorway looking terrified.

“Oh heavens! Donatello! Sasha! Are you two alright!?” Honeycutt called out as they ran inside. “We heard a loud blast!” Leatherhead added. “We’re fine! Now anyways!” Donnie answered, but then looked back at Sasha, “But-“ Before he could finish his words, Leatherhead saw Sasha shivering and curled up, muttering to herself still. Leatherhead bent down to check on her, noting that she was rubbing at her hand. He grumbled, then looked back at Donatello, “What caused the blast?” He asked. “The Generator! If I had to guess, Sasha must’ve mixed up the wiring work for the power.” Leatherhead said nothing, but nodded, before Honeycutt walked around Donnie. “Oh dear! What a mess! And your Shell!” He said. Sasha snapped out of her quivering state hearing Honeycutt mention Don’s shell! Based on how he sounded, he made it sound like Don was in bad shape. The thought of him saving her like he did, only to have his shell damaged made her worry. “O-oh my spots! Don, a-are you ok!?” Sasha asked, trying to left herself up to see the damage! But as soon as she moved, her eyes rolled back and she went limp. Leatherhead caught her before she hit the ground, “Easy! Easy there my feline friend!” “W-what’s wrong with her Leatherhead!? Is she gunna be ok!?” “Take her to her room and look her over with my scanners!” Honeycutt suggested. “Good idea!” Leatherhead replied, standing up and holding Sasha in his arms. “I’ll help you clean up in a moment my friend.” He said, looking at Donnie, who seemed really shook up by Sasha’s condition. “She’ll be fine, I promise…” he assured, giving his turtle friend a small smile before following Honeycutt to Sasha's room.

✨💛💜✨

After a small bit, Leatherhead came back out of Sasha’s room to see Donnie half heartedly cleaning up the mess made after the blast. His Shell was covered with small bits of debris and soot, along with a few assorted scratches. “Allow me to help you clean your shell my friend…” Leatherhead offered, approaching Donnie as he softly swept the floor, staring at the ground in a daze. When he didn’t answer, Leatherhead simply placed his hand on Donnie’s shoulder, making the young turtle jolt and look up at him, “Oh! S-sorry Leatherhead! I was…just thinking…” he muttered apologetically. “You do that a lot.” Leatherhead joked, a small chuckle escaped from his throat. Donnie didn’t laugh back, and just looked back down at the ground, his eye’s fallowing the trail of dust he was sweeping. “I’m sorry for the mess…” Donnie apologized, not really knowing what else to say. “It is part of the job. Normal for us men of science, correct?” Donnie said nothing once more. Leatherhead sighed, patting Donnie on the back before walking away and grabbing a wash cloth, running it under some water, “Don’t you worry about Sasha. According to Honeycutt, she had a Panic Attack and overheated. Something pretty common with Cheetahs actually. Though that nasty lump on her head probably didn’t help things.” Leatherhead explained as he ringed out the extra water from the cloth and turned to look back at Donnie, who was now looking a little more relieved.

Leatherhead lead Donnie to one of the chairs and had him sit down while he started to clean off his shell. “So, wanna tell me what happened exactly?” Leatherhead asked, trying his best to not sound too nosy. But after some of the things Honeycutt told him about the scans he did on Sasha’s condition, he couldn’t help but ask. Though, he was sure he already knew what happened, he just wanted to hear it from Donnie first. “I-I don’t really know Leatherhead. I just…don’t think either of us were quite ‘ourselves’ tonight. That’s really it…” Donnie responded, trying to put everything that had happened into words, but it was hard to describe something this...new. Leatherhead nodded his head, “Hmmmmm, I see…” It was clear to him that Donnie wasn’t gunna come clean with anything, especially not right now. So he left it be, intending to ask Sasha about it later when she was back to normal.

After cleaning up his shell, Donnie and Leatherhead went back to cleaning up the mess. And after a few minutes, stopped when they saw Honeycutt walk out of Sasha’s room. Donnie ran over to him, “I-Is she gunna be ok?” Honeycutt nodded, “Oh she’ll be just fine. Seems she just had a bit of an anxiety attack, and passed out when the heat from her body got to her. Nothing she can’t bounce back from.” Donnie let out a sigh of relief, hand to his chest to keep his heart from escaping out of his throat, “Thank goodness…” Honeycutt continued however, “And then, there’s the matter of that bump on her head. Nothing too serious, but how did she get it? Did that explosion injure her?” Donnie rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, see, I left something back at the lair and when I came back with it, I think I startled her while she was in the mech. She must’ve hit her head somewhere inside of it…” “Oh, I see! I’ll go and check it out, make sure she didn’t hit anything too sharp.” Honeycutt said, walking over to the mech, before stopping and looking at Donnie again, “And…perhaps you should go back home Donatello. Sasha won’t be wake for a few more hours. But I promise, she’s in good hands.” Donnie looked unhappy and worried, but nodded and left.

Donnie came through the entrance to the lair, and just as his brothers turned to welcome Donnie back, they noticed the absolutely miserable look on his face! Watching as he just wondered his way back to his own room and shut the door behind him. Splinter sighed, shaking his head and went back to his own room. Leo, Mikey, and Raph just looked at one another, giving each other a grimace.

✨💛💜✨

The following evening, Sasha finally awoke from her rest to find Plato laying on her stomach. As she shifted to set back up in bed, the tortoise’s head poked out of his shell and looked up at her, letting out a small happy hiss. “Heeey little man, what are you doing in here?” Sasha said, sounding a little dazed. Just as she asked this, Leatherhead opened the bedroom door and walked in, carrying a small tray with a glass of water and a sandwich. He froze for a moment, then smiled. “Morning my friend! I see Plato has been doing a good job of keeping an eye on you. Poor thing was worried sick when he finally woke up and didn’t see you in the lab.” He said as he pulled up a chair from the corner of the room to her bedside, placing the tray down on Sasha’s lap. Sasha rubbed her head, looking at the tray and then back at Plato, who was now waddling his way to her side to snuggle, “No doubt. Sorry about that little man!” Sasha said, gently using the back of her hand to pet Plato’s shell. The tortoise letting out a happy churring sound in response. “He’s not the only turtle who was worried about you either…” Leatherhead said, in a casual and yet very coy tone. Sasha froze, about to bite into her food and looked over at Leatherhead a bit spooked. “Wanna tell me what happened?” He asked, a small smile on his toothy face, but it was a soft one. Like a friend wanting to comfort rather than just wanting be nosy.

Sasha let out a nervous giggle, trying to play it cool, and failing miserably. “What? N-Nothing happened. What would give you that idea?” Leather raised his brows as his coy smile got just a bit bigger, “Oh you know, aside from you passing out due to stress, Donatello telling me you both weren’t ‘Yourselves’, and Honeycutt telling me that when he scanned you for a health check he noticed your pheromone levels where going through the roof. You know…those things…” Sasha felt heat rush back to her face as she grabbed at her blanket and pulled it up to her chest. She looked irritated, shocked, and obviously embarrassed by that. “So…wanna fill me in?” Sasha shook her head and went back to her sandwich, taking bite, “Thought you said that Donnie told you already…” she said, glaring at him. Leatherhead shook his head, “Nope, I merely said he had stated you two weren’t yourselves. Nothing more then that.”

She glared at him a bit longer, he wouldn’t lie to her like this. And he’s always been there to try and help with her feelings before, be they romantic towards Donnie or otherwise. So, reluctantly, Sasha sighed, her head hung low and she stared at the sandwich on her plate. Suddenly feeling the butterflies coming back, remembering everything that happened the previous night. Losing her appetite in the process. “Truthfully, I really don’t know what happened. It was a lot of little things. Nothing that hadn’t happened before between us. You know? A stare that lasted too long, grabbing for the same item and our hands meeting…” Sasha said wistfully, trailing off a bit, holding one of her hands to her chest. “But, there was definitely something different in the air…” her face contorted into an uncomfortable expression. Leatherhead raised an eyebrow, staying silent and just listening intently. “I really have no idea what it was, but…he was right when he said we weren’t ourselves. There were moments when we got close, it felt…intoxicating…” Sasha added, her breath getting a bit heavier as she spoke. She closed her eyes to calm down a little, her insides doing flips. “I see…and what happened just before Honeycutt and I arrived?” Leatherhead asked, getting up and sitting at the end of the bed. Sasha’s eyes opens slowly as she looked back down at her hand on her chest. She opened it to look at the palm, and her face grimaced a bit.

“After he saved me from the explosion…I just couldn’t stop myself…” Sasha said, staring at her hands, ashamed. “The second my eyes met his I felt my body loose control. My hand just…moved. First it was his cheek and then his…lips…” Leatherhead blinked a bit surprised. Sasha let out a grunt of embarrassment and she slammed her hands over her face. Hearing herself recalling it all out loud was just too much. Leatherhead was at a loss for words, but tried to press on, “D-Did you…” before he could finish asking, Sasha looked up at him with a glare, “No! I didn’t kiss him…” “Oh, good…” he said, relieved he didn’t have to actually say it. Sasha looked back down at her hands, “Luckily I was able to stop myself. But it was…euphoric…” she trailed off, balling her fits up “…and terrifying.” Leatherhead sighed, his low voice creating a deep growl in his throat. “Well, what had you so afraid?” Sasha, opened her hands again, then looked back up at Leatherhead, “You know what did!” She said flatly. Leatherhead nodded. “Well, as much as I understand your feelings about this matter, I’m afraid you’ll have to face them someday sooner rather then later. If you hope too keep working with myself and Honeycutt, and Donatello by extension, you’re going to need to tell him the truth one day. The whole truth…” He said getting up and heading for the door. He placed his claws on the knob before turning around to look at her. She looked like was gunna be sick, he was right after all. If she hoped to remain friends with the turtles, she’d have to be honest with Donnie about her feelings. Sooner rather then later.

“If you need me, I’ll be outside…” Leatherhead added, before walking out of the room.

✨💛💜✨

Another day went by, and Donnie still hadn’t stopped sulking. The poor thing was so distracted and deep in his own thoughts that he barely spoke or ate much of anything since that night in the lab. And his family definitely noticed. His brothers would try to engage him in chit-chat, but aside from one sentence responses, it was like talking to a brick wall. Splinter wasn’t even able to get much out of him other then that he was confused and worried. About what? He wouldn’t say. Donnie had been constantly texting Leatherhead and Honeycutt, asking if it was a good idea to go by and see Sasha now that she had recovered a bit. But, they refused to give their opinions on the matter. Which was fair he guessed, getting them involved in his and Sasha’s confusing relationship wasn’t really gunna solve anything. They needed to be honest with each other about their feelings. And that wasn’t gunna happen by staying apart from each other.

So, with butterflies in his stomach and a box of mini donuts, Donnie headed over to Leatherhead’s place. When he entered, he saw Leatherhead and Honeycutt hard at work. Things still looked a bit banged up from the blast, but no real damage was done. Donnie approached them, a little curious to see what they were up to and to ask where their feline friend was at. Before he could ask, Leatherhead just wordlessly looked over at Don and pointed over to Sasha’s room. Donnie froze in place and looked over to the room, then back at Leatherhead, who grinned at him. Winked, then when back to his business. “Guess they already knew what I wanted…” Donnie thought to himself, now walking over to her room. Every step closer to her door felt like he was walking underwater, and this heavy feeling was coming back. The butterflies in his chest starting to go ballistic, and his body tensed. And now, he was staring at the doorknob, and all he had to do was just…knock and turn it…

He froze in place, looking at his own reflection in the metal, hating himself for being such a coward. He was about to turn and walk away, but then he heard a familiar voice just behind the door.

“Donnie? That you?”

It was so surreal, hearing her voice again in his ears after not speaking to her. For pretty much the whole time they had known each other, they spent every waking hour together. It was strange to have one in the room without the other not being too far behind. And when they were apart, it was like a puzzle with a missing piece. A sky with no clouds. A heart with no beat. And suddenly that super heavy feeling went away. Sure, he still felt awkward, but it was more manageable now that he could hear her.

“U-Uhh, yeah! May I come in?” Donnie asked. “Yes, please.” Her voice sounded like an angel to him, and why would he stay away from such a beautiful voice. He peeked into the room. It was pretty dark in there, but thanks to the light pouring in through the door, Sasha could be seen sitting up in her bed, looking over at him. A soft and sweet smile on her face. Donnie chuckled a bit as he stepped into the room, leaving the door open a crack to provide some light, “How did you know it was me?” Donnie asked, a smile creeping onto his face as he approached her. Sasha giggled a bit, and looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, “I could smell you on the other side of the door. I’m slowly getting better at telling you all apart without looking.” Donnie took a seat on the end of her bed, laughing now, “Oh come on, we don’t smell THAT bad! Right?” Sasha joined in on the laughs too, “Oh come on, you know I didn’t mean it like that.” “I know, I know! I’m just teasing.” Donnie said, letting the giggles die down.

The air fell silent for a second before Donnie handed the Mini Donuts to her, “I just…dropped by to see you. Leatherhead said you were doing much better.” He said, giving her a soft smile. Sasha smiled back and took the box, “Oh yeah, I’m fine now.” She pointed to the top of her head, “Healed up pretty good, thanks to you.” Don felt a heat start to grow on his cheeks, “It was no problem really. I mean, I couldn’t have you bleeding all over the lab. And it was my fault for scaring you after all.” Sasha could feel a little heat rushing to her face now as well, remembering why hearing him had spooked her. She looked down at the donut box in her lap, “I guess you…heard it then?” Her voice was just barely above a whisper, but Donnie understood her perfectly. “Admittedly…yes. I-I did.” He said, a bit worried this might upset her. Sasha felt her stomach drop and all she wanted to do was crawl under the sheets and hide from him. Don could hear her whine a little under her breath, and tried to put her mind at ease, “But don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me!” Sasha didn’t look up at him, but muttered back a soft “Thanks…” Before finally opening the donut box and eating one.

Sasha started munching on the donut while at the same time Donnie was trying to work up the courage to say what he had come to say. But, he still couldn’t make out the words, “This is pathetic! I’ve fought alien armies, evil ninja gangs, crime bosses, and even a literal demon dragon! And…I can’t even tell a girl how I feel about her! What the shell is wrong with me!?” A couple of chews in and Sasha stopped when she saw that Donnie was staring at the floor in frustration. Sasha raised an eyebrow, swallowed, and spoke up, “Uhhh, Don?” He twitched hearing her voice again and snapped his head up in her direction. “Y-Yeah?” He asked. Sasha didn’t feel like beating around the bush on this, after all, Leatherhead said they needed to talk about what happened. So she asked, “I don’t suppose you came here for the donuts…right?” Donnie seemed to go pale, that feeling of anxiety coming back like a battering ram. “I-I uhhhh…well…” Donnie tried speaking, trying his best to think of the words he needed to say. Sasha’s eyes seemed to glow in the dark, and looked like they could see right through him. Her face contorted in mild frustration as she picked up on his hesitation. She understood too well how uncomfortable this was, for both of them.

Donnie noticed her show some discontent with his silence, and he swallowed hard, hoping his mouth could just speak. Cause his brain damn sure wasn’t making any progress. “I-I was just w-wanting to say that…I’m sorry for the other night…” Sasha blinked for a second, honestly not expecting him to apologize. And her silence was deafening to Don, getting more and more anxious the longer she stayed silent. “W-Wah…huh?” Sasha managed to sputter out, honestly a bit confused. Now, Donnie was starting to get confused, thinking that the bump on her head could’ve made her memory foggy, “Well I-I said I was sorry about-” Sasha butted in, “No No, I heard what you said. I’m confused about…why YOU'RE sorry!?” Donnie nervously chuckled, “W-well you know, because of how…weird things were…” There was a moment of silence, then he continued, “I know I’m not the only one who felt it…” Sasha’s ears drooped a little as her eyes wandered to the floor, but they looked back at him, her soft smile was back, “Yeah…but that…wasn’t all your fault. There was definitely something in the air that day, but I highly doubt it was because of you.” She said softly.

“Fair point, I suppose…” Feeling a little bit silly for having the obvious stated out loud. “But still, that night’s events were a bit weird for both of us. A-And I just…just don’t wanna have this weird air to keep happening or…keep us from being close...” Sasha was quite, more then willing to listen to him. She had only known The Turtles for a few months by now, and Donnie was one to keep his emotions under wraps. But had a problem knowing when to start letting them out so things didn’t fester. And it was clear by the way he was talking, this was getting to him. “I was just worried that I had made you uncomfortable, and…I honestly don’t know what got into me. I just, wanted to say I’m sorry. A-And I understand if you don't want to work with me anymore.” Those last words coming out with a little hitch in his voice. And even in the dark, Sasha could see small tears building in his eyes. It broke her heart. Donnie tried, he really did, to keep from crying. But it wasn’t enough. The tears started too flow out, and he held back any sobs, only being replaced by the sounds of sniffling. He felt pathetic and stupid all at once. On the one hand, his logical and scientific brain was telling him his fears of her hating him and never working with him again were completely unfounded! Sasha had shown no evidence of being that kind of person at all in the few month he had known her! However, his emotional teenaged heart overflowed with so many confusing emotions, that it was hard to understand them all at once. Or at all!

Suddenly, Don felt something touch his hand and he stopped, looking down to see Sasha using the back of her hand to gently pet his own. He looked up at her, the look on her face was comforting and soft. “Don, I wouldn’t dream of just throwing away my relationship with you or any of your brothers over one…awkward night. You guys mean more to me then that. You really think I’d do that to you?” Donnie froze and felt himself wanting to shrivel up into a ball. The feeling of guilt growing in his stomach. “N-No, I mean…well, I know you’re not cruel, I was just…” Sasha shook her head, “You don’t gotta explain. I got it.” She softly pulled her hand away from him, rubbing the back of it. There was silence once again in the room, until Don cleared his throat, “Look uhhhh, let’s just say it’s all water under the bridge! No one got hurt, and uhhhh I’m sure we were both just feeling a bit off due to the seasons starting to change.” It was obvious in his voice. Donnie was so bad at bullshitting and they both knew that. He didn’t want to be a coward anymore about his feelings, but without the right words, there was no way in hell he was gunna be able to go through with his confession. For now, it was time to try and calm the situation. So the two of them could just, go back to the way things were. Sasha picked up on this tone, and while she didn’t believe him, she wasn’t having the easiest time knowing what she was feeling either. So she agreed.

“Yeah, I suppose that’s a good point.” She said, her smile ever there. “Let’s not let one awkward night throw us off, okey? It’s all going to turn out good in the end. Right?” Donnie reassured her, though part of him was just saying this out loud to try and fool himself. Sasha nodded her head, “Yeah, I’m sure it will.”

✨💛💜✨

Oh how wrong they were…

The next week proved that all they had done was just make things worse! The two of them continued to work together on projects, hang out with the others, and go out on missions. But, it seemed like the awkwardness between them had only continued to escalate. It went from sneaking glances at one another to being caught outright staring. Accidentally touching each other became a cue for them to just ignore each other’s existence! Even being left alone together for any amount of time filled any room or area they where in with so much tension that you could feel it crawling on your skin. The others had thoughts of stepping in and trying to help them, but to The Turtles and Splinter, they had already tried that and Donnie didn’t listen. And, to Leatherhead and Honeycutt, either of them knew how to approach Sasha about it either. They could only really see it from a male's point of view. Neither of them could fully understand the issues that Sasha had with her feelings, and neither have had a relationship before. It seemed like, Sasha and Donnie were going to be doing this alone.

That was until one night, Don had finally had enough of feeling this way, and finally decided to go and speak to Master Splinter. One on One.

He felt so guilty. His master already tried to help him once, but he was too stubborn and cowardly to listen. Would he even be willing to help him this time? He was feeling desperate, and didn’t wanna loose one of the best things in his life to something so stupid as a crush. If that’s all he was feeling for her after all. Just as he reached his master’s room and was about to knock, he heard Splinter’s voice from behind it, “Come in my son. It’s quite late.” Donnie flinched, before slowly cracking the door open. Splinter was sitting on the ground meditating, facing away from the door. Donnie swallowed hard and walked into the room, closing the door behind him. He walked over and took a seat next to his master. The room was lit only by candles, the golden light danced all around the room. It was always calming in there, but despite that, Donnie was still feeling nervous. He glanced at his master, who had his eyes closed and was still seemingly meditating. “Are you ready to finally speak about your feelings my son?” Donnie nodded softly, “I tried Splinter. I really did! But, I... froze up again. My words wouldn’t come out.” “Fear often freezes the blood of even the strongest warrior. You shouldn’t punish yourself for feeling it’s grip.” “But I do Master, I can’t shake it. Of all the things I’ve been able to do for the world, I still can’t tell a girl how I feel…” Splinter let out a small hum, as if he were thinking, “I unfortunately can’t tell you what words your heart wishes to say, my son. Nor do I have any experience with these matters. But perhaps, you could ask someone else about how to proceed. Perhaps a change in perspective and environment is what will put you on the right path.” Donnie let out a frustrated sigh, he wasn’t one hundred percent sure what he was expecting from his master, though he did have a point.

“But what on earth did any of-“

A stray thought barged it’s way into his brain and let a huge smile grow on his face. The first one he had in days! He shot up from the floor next to his master and ran out of the room while shouting back, “Thanks Sensei!”. Splinter opened his eyes and looked out the room, a small smile growing on his face. “Good Luck to you my son.” He whispered to himself before going back to meditating

✨💛💜✨

April was brewing a fresh cup of coffee in her kitchen before she heard a small knock on her windowsill. She smiled and ran over to it. “Come on in! I made some coffee!” She greeted her purple wearing terrapin friend as he perched on the edge of the building. Don swooped into the window and walked over to the couch as April ran to get the coffee. “Thanks April! I appreciate it! And uhhhhh-” He was about to ask before April answered, carrying a mug for him and taking a seat next to him. “Don’t worry, Casey isn’t here right now. I sent him out with a small shopping list to keep him busy.” Don let out a sigh of relief, knowing that they wouldn’t be disturbed. Donnie took the coffee when April decided to start. “Sooooo, wanna tell me what’s so important that you had to text me for an 'Emergancy Meeting' in the middle of the night?” Donnie looked down at the floor, putting his mug back down on the table. “I uhhhhh…well…need some advice.”

At this she raised an eyebrow, “Advice for what exactly? Why not ask Splinter?” “I went to him already and he can’t help me with this problem.” He looked up at her with pleading eyes, “You’re the only one I can talk to about this. My brother’s haven’t been the best help, and I’d die of embarrassment if Casey was involved.” His cheeks turned a bit dark at the thought, and that’s when it clicked. “Ohhhhh, I get it. This is about Sasha, right?” She concluded, a slight teasing tone escaping her voice. Don’s cheeks became even darker and he softly nodded, looking back down at the floor. April had to fight back the urge to let out an “Awwwwwww”! This was just too cute to her. She always enjoyed watching the two of them interact, it was young love at it's purest. It was just a matter of time before Donnie told someone about it outright. “So…what’s up?” Donnie sighed, “I wanna confess my feelings to Sasha, but…every time I try, I just freeze. It’s like my brain just stops and all that comes out of my mouth becomes mush.” He then started to rub the bridge of his nose with his fingers, “And to make matters worse, we had a…moment the other night. And ever since then there’s been this very uncomfortable feeling between us. And I know she knows it’s there too!” “What happened with this ‘moment’ if you don’t mind me asking?” April was intrigued now, and her romance novel loving side was showing a bit. Donnie shook his head, “It doesn’t really matter honestly. I’m not even one hundred percent sure what happened myself. We both just…weren’t ourselves. And now we can’t be in the same room together without having this weird feeling hanging around in the air!”

“Well, maybe you just need to bite the bullet and ask her out on a date!” Donnie felt his brain screech to a halt! His eyes were huge and it looked like April had just told him that the Earth was flat and the Moon Landing never happened! “WHAT? WHY WOULD THAT HELP ANYTHING?” “If thinking about it too much makes your brain freeze, maybe charging in head first is what you need to do instead. And if going on a date helps you two get to know each other more, it could help you find the words too!” April explained. “How though? And besides, even if I did do that, and by some miracle she agreed to it, where would we go? Don’t know if you’ve noticed April, but we both don’t exactly…” Donnie paused, gesturing to his appearance. “You know…blend in very well!” She nodded and put her hand to her chin. “You do raise a good point.” There was more silence, before April snapped her fingers and jumped up. “I’ve got it! Why not take her out to Casey’s Farmhouse? There’s plenty of space for the two of you to be alone, it’s relaxing! And you know how much Sasha likes to run! Bet you she’s been feeling cooped up being in the sewers and only able to run on rooftops around here!” Donnie thought for a second and grinned a little, “That does sound like a good idea. But…I mean, I can’t just bring her out there without something to do…”

He mumbled to himself for a second, then an idea popped into his head. “I GOT IT!” April got excited too, “What? What?” Donnie started for the window, “Sorry April, I can’t say for sure, but I’ll call you back in a bit to let you know my idea!” He said, sliding open the window. “Oh come on! Could you at least give me a hint!?” Don crawled out of the window, “Only that I need to speak to someone else about it! I need to check something!” Before running off, he stopped and looked back at April, and smiled bashfully, “And, thanks for your help. I really needed it…” April smiled, shrugging, “What is family for Donnie?” And with that, Donnie disappeared into the night. Running full speed to the harbor.

✨💛💜✨

“Of course Donatello! I’m honored to share my books with you anytime you wish!” The professor beamed, taking Donnie over to one of the many piles of garbage on in the landfill. At the base of it was a tent that seemed to be made of old rags and bedsheets. “Thanks so much Professor!” “What book are you interested in?” The professor asked as he got down on all fours and crawled into the tent. “Do you happen to have that book on Star Charts and Constellations still?” “I sure do! One moment!” The professor answered, as he dug around inside the tent. A few more sounds of cloth being moved around could be heard before he let out a triumphant “Ahaaaa!” The professor climbed back out of the tent with a small dark blue book with golden faded stars on the front of it. Despite being a little worn down, The Professor had clearly been taking good care of it! “Here you go my friend! Your map to The Heavens!” He chortled, getting up off the ground, and handing the book to Donnie. “Thank you so much Professor! You have no idea how much this means to me! If there’s anything you need from me and my brothers, you just say the word!” Donnie said, taking the book and shaking his hand. “Your friendship is more then enough Donatello!” The Professor smiled warmly. “I’m just a little surprised you didn’t bring your Cheetah friend with you this time around! I was looking forward to getting to speak to her again! Such a bright young mind she has! I’m sure she’d love this book too!”

At the mention of Sasha, Donnie's cheeks warmed a bit. He opened the book and looked down quickly at it, turning his back on The Professor in an attempt to hide his face. “Y-Yeah, she’s been a bit busy lately, and I didn’t wanna bother her.” He lied. The Professor had a knowing grin on his face, as he raised an eyebrow, “I see.” He muttered, just watching his turtle friend flip through the book, before clearing his throat. “Though, if you don’t mind me asking, why were you interested in this book in particular? I know you’ve read it already, and you still have more books from me that you have yet to read.” Donnie froze, and thought about it. The Professor likely already knew about his crush on Sasha, in fact he alluded to knowing something about it before getting to meet her in person. As Donnie had talked almost endlessly about her to The Professor for weeks after they met. So Donnie sighed a little and looked over his shoulder at The Professor with a bashful smile, “I uhhhh, was planning on asking Sasha out soon. And I just wanted to see if we couldn’t do some Stargazing…” “Ahhhh, I see! A very romantic idea my friend! I truly hope all goes well for you both!” Donnie nodded, looking up at the sky and thinking about how weird things had gotten between them, the stars looking back at him.

“Yeah… I hope so too…”

✨💛💜✨

A few days pasted since Don’s little visit to April’s and The Professor's, and he had been planning the perfect few days with Sasha! But now it was time to ask her out! Which, for once, he had a pretty good idea about how he was going to do it! It was getting some time alone with her without running the risk of being interrupted or spayed on that was the problem! But he fingered tonight was gunna be the best time to do it, as he and his family had invited Sasha, Honeycutt, Leatherhead, April, and Casey over for a movie night sleepover! And since Sasha was in charge of snacks, he was going to offer to help get everything ready with her. And hopefully, have the time he needed to ask her.

“Hey everyone!” Sasha chirped happily, carrying a huge load of snacks and cold drinks in her arms. Leatherhead was close behind, lugginng along his own load of pillows and blankets. Honeycutt fallowed in soon after with a small box of DVD’s in his arms. “I’m sorry if my collection of films aren’t too everyone’s liking. You’re Earth movies are a far cry from the movies I enjoyed back on D’Hoonib.” “No worries Professor! We’ve got tons of movies here! I have our first one already picked out!” Mikey cheered, running over to Sasha to help her set out the snacks on the coffee table in front of the TV. “Shouldn’t we, ya know, vote to pick what we watch first?” Casey asked, a little annoyed. “And what did you bring for us to watch Casey?” Leo asked. “Only the best horror movie ever made! The Mummy!” “The Mummy?” Raph scoffed.

As the others started to bicker about movies, Donnie came out of his lab hesitantly, his eyes instantly landing on Sasha and Mikey over by the coffee table, picking through the snacks and choosing what they should eat first. Donnie took a deep breath. “Ok Don! You can do this!” He whispered to himself before walking over and greating her. “Hey Sasha! Glad you decided to join us!” Donnie said cheerfully. Sasha stopped what she was saying to Mikey to turn her attention to Donnie. She smiled kindly and nodded. “Of course! Wouldn’t miss it for the world! I mean, it IS my first time seeing a movie!” Mikey piped up, “Still can’t believe you’ve never seen one! Not even the classics!” Sasha turned to glare at him, “Well being alone in the desert for several years doesn’t exactly give you many opportunities for cinema going!” Mikey rolled his eyes, “Well, that changes tonight! Cause we’ll being starting off with some horror movies! Hope they’re not too scawy for the itty bitty kitty cat!” He teased. “I’m quite sure I’ve seen a lot scarier things in person then any movie monster on a screen..” She remarked. “No need to play tough Sasha! I’m sure Don would gladly keep you safe!” Mikey jabbed again, laughing harder now. Sasha and Don both glanced at one another for a second, both of them blushing a bit before Don huffed, “Can it Mikey! Besides, Shouldn’t you be getting the chips ready?” Mikey looked at Don a little confused, before noticing what Donnie was up to. A Cheshire like grin spreading over the orange cladded turtle's lips!

“Oooooh, yeah! Right! Thanks bro!” Mikey said, winking at his brother before taking off to go and grab a few bowls for the chips. Leaving the two of them alone for a moment. “What was that about?” Sasha asked, confused by Mikey’s reaction. Donnie nervously shook his head, “N-no idea! Hehe, but y-you know Mikey. Always being a bit…odd.” Sasha raised an eyebrow at him, “Suuuuure…” she muttered, before going back to digging through the snacks and pulling out some bags of popcorn. “Well, I suppose I better get started on cooking these!” Sasha said, starting toward the kitchen, before Donnie followed her. “You want any help with that? I can make the toppings!” He offered. Sasha smirked a bit, her ears tilted back a little, “Donnie my dear friend, do you remember the last time you tried to HELP me with cooking something?” She asked. Donnie froze, the memory flooding back to him, “Oh…uhhh…k-kinda..” he mumbled. “Good, cause I sure do! It takes a special kind of person to set water on fire.” Sasha jabbed a little. Donnie winced at that, him getting more embarrassed now, “I’m sorry! I was just trying to help fix the recipe!”

“By that do you mean only add half of the sugar needed?” Sasha asked, raising an eyebrow at him, snickering a little. “Too much sugar is bad for you!” “So is eating a burnt cake!”. Donnie grumbled a bit, and Sasha rolled her eyes at him, before offering to let him melt the butter needed for the popcorn. Donnie, still wanting to try and be alone with her long enough to ask her out, agreed despite the blow to his pride. The two got settled in the kitchen to start making the popcorn while the others were by the TV still trying to figure out what to watch first. Donnie figured this would be the only chance he would get, so, he took a deep breath.

“So S-Sasha, I uhhhhh…have something kinda important to talk to you about.” Sasha froze in her tracks, and looked over at him with a grimace, “Do you need introductions on how to melt butter too?” She asked, thinking that he couldn’t possibly be THIS incompetent when it came to food. Donnie whipped his head to look at her, cheeks super dark. “No! No, not that at all!” He rubbed the back of his neck “It was actually about our last conversation…you know, about that night…”

Silence…

“I…don’t know if we can keep this up. The way things are going right now…”

Sasha felt her stomach drop, as if her worst fear was coming true right before her eyes. Don looked a bit unsure, keeping his distance from her on the other side of the kitchen. His arm’s were crossed in front of him, but his eyes stayed fixed on her. Despite feeling like she wanted to faint, she steeled herself for what was coming. “And I know you’ve felt it too. Things are still weird between us. And…we can’t keep working together if every time we’re put in the same room, we just start avoiding one another.” Sasha’s ears drooped and her eyes traveled to the floor. He was right, they couldn’t keep working together like this. And her cowardly behavior wasn’t gunna help anything. But the way Donnie, suddenly gave her a bit of strange hope and intrigue. It was like he was pointing out a problem with an experiment, and it sounded like he was on the verge of a solution. Sasha’s eyes traveled back up to meet his, hoping that she was right, so she prodded a little. “Fair. But…I’m assuming you’re not just bringing this up for no reason…” Don slightly nodded, looking a little more bashful now, but still staying determined to fix this situation. Sasha smirked a little, now getting more curious about what his solution was. “Well then, what do you propose?”

Don took a moment to rack his nerves together, taking a deep breath before talking “So, there’s this meteor shower that’s supposed to be a once in every ten years kind of event. It’s gunna be passing right over all of New York in about a week from now.” Sasha was taken aback a little by this sudden 180 in topic and tone, but that just made her more intrigued. The grin on her lips grew a tad, she folded her arms and snickered. “Alright. But…what are you getting at?” She stepped a bit closer to him, her tail starting to sway. A good sign that she wasn’t angry at him or upset, so Don braced himself for his next point that was sure to either make or break this.

“W-well, I just thought that, since it is an outdoor thing, and we have been cooped up in the sewers for a bit longer then I know you’d like, I figured we could could both use a little fresh air and some time alone. J-just the two of us…” Sasha stopped inching closer to him, and her smiled vanished. Slowly turning into a slight frown. Her ears and tail drooped, as her eyes grew wide, and then narrowed at him. It was like she was going through her own thoughts to try and put together what he had said. Donnie stayed silent, wanting to give her time to process her thoughts. But the longer she stared at him, the more his confidence wavered. The only other sound in the room was the hum from the stove, and the muffled voices from the others in the living room.

After a bit more silence, Sasha finally found her voice, “A-A meteor shower? And y-you wanna watch it together? Like, just the two of us?” She asked, trying to confirm what he was asking for. “Y-yeah. I figured with it just being us, w-we could relax and…maybe get to know each other more…” Donnie said, trying explain his logic, though the hitch in his voice made him sound a lot more unsure then he wanted to. Sasha blinked a bit, before her eyes changed, like she was starting to get lost in her thoughts. She crossed her arms, her tail now twitching pensively behind her. She was thinking hard about this, and Don scrambled to try and come up with something, anything else to say! “I-It’s just that, I know that you know that we have some…thing between us, but we really don’t k-know all THAT much about each other yet. A-and I just thought that we could, yah know, in theory, try and reach some kind of middle ground?”

Sasha still said nothing, but based on her ear flicking in his direction, he knew she was listening to him. He held his breath a bit, then Sasha finally spoke. “But…the lights from the city make the stars dimmer here? And, you said a week from now…that’s early Spring. W-won’t it be a bit cold for you?” Donnie was dumbfounded, before stumbling over his words to answer her questions. “O-oh yeah! T-that’s true. But we won’t be staying in the city for this. A-Actually April has offered to let us stay at her and Casey’s Farmhouse! Plenty of nature to enjoy! No city lights to worry about!” Sasha’s ears perked up more at this, “And what about the cold? It’s colder up here during this time of year. I have fur, but…what about you?” She asked, her sapphire eyes filled with concern and intrigue.

“Is she really considering my offer?”

The thought ran through his head before he quickly stammered out, “Oh! No need to worry about that! We can camp out and I plan on bringing plenty of food and some blankets for the two of us!” She stood there silently, eyes locked on him, trying to read him like a book. Donnie felt vulnerable just standing there, and then he heard Sasha hum a little in thought, “Sounds like you’ve put a lot of thought into this…” she said softly. “W-Well, yeah. You’re a really cool person and friend, and I don’t wanna keep going on like this with…” he rocked back and forth a little on his feet, his face starting to burn “…someone that I care a lot about…” he continued, his voice lower then before. Sasha let his words sink in a bit, as her heart fluttered and her cheeks started to burn as well. “I see…” she said, looking at the ground. “Then, if that’s the case, I have just one more question…” Don looked up at her. “What is it?”

Sasha sighed a bit, before looking back up at him...

“Is this a…date?”

(To be continued…)

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