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pokeexehasstoppedworking · 4 years ago

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Love Doesn’t Do Encores Ch6 The Entrance Ceremony

(Notw: I am aware that Piers also appears in Pokemon Masters EX and Pokemon Masters will be canon also to the story line but not until after the Sword and Shield story line.)

You perhaps should've seen it coming when Hop's excitement was reignited when he heard Leon left him a present and you gladly handed over one of the bags to which he opened up in a hurry but looked utterly confused at all the healers and camping food until you explained the reasons why Leon got them all for him. Which he understood with a nod. And after a moment more of resting you decided to walk back with him towards the road, but the two of you ran into another familiar face in the form of Gloria. Or more like she almost ran into the two of you as she ran into the train station as you got up from your seat. Your sobble still sore over how many times he already fell from your shoulder and so resorted to gripping your shoulder sleeve harder.

"Geez Glory!," Hop commented raising a brow, "What's gotten you in such a hurry? I thought that was my thing."

"Sorry," she apologized leaning over to look around you and Hop at the station, "Did Leon leave yet? You said somethin' about stopping him so we could say good bye."

He again sighed and slouched a big bag in his hands. "Yeah he's gone back to whatever he was doing. I suppose I can't catch a train after all." ...He gave a small smile though. "But I guess I can't complain! He's the Champion! So of course he's gotta be like SUPER busy! We'll come face to face again soon enough!"

Gloria smiled back and nodded in agreement. "YEAH! Besides, maybe we'll see him at the Opening Ceremony tomorrow!"

You nodded at them. Although you knew he wouldn't be there as in game if the current events kept up, but you didn't want to break their hearts or anything so soon.

"Are you two endorsed trainers?," a man's voice asked from behind the three of you turned around to the man in the small store like stand in the train station. His smile widened as he nodded to his side where a stack of books was settled. "Would any of you three be interested in joining in our charity dex events?"

"Charity dex?," you asked obviously confused.

And the man nodded again gesturing to the two different book stacks one smaller than the other. "Yes! For just five dollars you can purchase one of two dex books and enter the dex challenges to win a variety of prizes! All proceeds goes towards the power crisis fund raiser."

There was that mention again about the power crisis. You wondered how dire it was exactly. Gloria seemed to take interest in it though and walked right up to the stand staring at the books. "....What's exactly the challenges?"

"Well there's the Poke-Dex challenge and the Curry-Dex challenge?" He explained holding up one of the small books, it had a picture of a plate of some kind of food etched into it. "The challenge is too take a picture of every labeled curry, or pokemon, on the pages and when your albums are fully completed, you turn in into your local pokemon center to claim your prizes! And there's no time limit. It's all for charity and you get a neat scrap book out of it. We already sold a few to some people on their way on the train. Would you be interested in joining one of the dex challenges?"

"I dunno. Sounds like a scam to me, Glor," Hop commented glancing at the books. "I always thought photography was Victor's gig. And we're already got the gym challenges ahead of us tomorrow.......Glory?"

Dexes?? As in completing the entire pokemon dex for this game?? Was this how it was manifesting in this game? You guessed so. It WOULD be weird if Gloria just discovered her pokedex had a limit of numbers in order to 'complete' it like a game's challenge. but a curry dex?? You faintly remembered there being some kind of food challenge in game but you couldn't remember it too well.

"I can't believe you wasted twenty dollars on two scrape books and camera film." Hop gave a small frown at the rolls of film and books Gloria was carrying along with the bag of goodies provided by Leon from earlier. "You don't even have a polaroid camera for all of that."

"No, but Victor does! I'm sure he won't mind if I take his old one." She waved him off. "Besides! It'll be fun and easy! Just fill up a whole book with pictures of pokemon and curries! How hard can it be?"

Hop's face deadpanned. "That's not exactly what I meant."

The three of you had left the train station not longer after that and had taken a small detour to the grocery store you were previously in that morning so Gloria could buy herself a decent amount of film rolls. It was crazy how many rolls of film you could cheaply buy in this world for a mere ten dollars, although you were sure Hop disagreed. So you decided to change the subject by asking the two a question.

"So," they both turned to you, "We're leaving for the Entrance Ceremony tomorrow morning right?"

"YEP! Bright and early! The morning train leaves at seven thirty sharp and we have to get our Dynamax bands from Professor Magnolia tomorrow! So we're gonna have to get up real extra early if we don't want to miss it. These train conductors are always on time, whether it's a good or bad thing. But those bands will be worth it to be able to dynamax and complete our Badge Circles!"

"I see. ...What's a badge circle??" You don't remember hearing anything like that from the game even when you played it way back when. "I don't think I know how these gyms and badges work."

They both gave you a confused look and for a moment you thought you goofed up before luckily Gloria unknowingly saved face for you when a look of realization came over her. "OH RIGHT!! You're not from this region so you wouldn't possibly know how the gyms work!" You thanked whatever god was listening for this great save as Gloria happily explained. "You see there's ten gyms each with their own gym leader unique to their own type of pokemon, but in order to compete in the finals at the end of the year you only need eight badges to complete your Badge Circle. A Badge Circle is like a puzzle but instead of carboard puzzle pieces you use badges to make it, then you present it to the official board who helps host the Gym Challenge. They're also the ones who's going to be checking to make sure your endorsements are legit at the Entrance Ceremony," she explained as you listened. Never knew when this info might come in handy later. "That's where four of the gyms are optional. While usually they give you they're own unique piece for the Badge Circle..Both Rock Type and Ice Type Gyms offer the same shaped badge. So does the Fighting and Dark Type Gyms. So usually you'd pick either one of the two choices, grab it, and then move on. Lots of people don't see the point of battling both gyms for the same piece as it's not required." She smirked before pointing a confident hand forward. "BUT NOT ME!! What's the point of me joining the Gym Challenge if I don't at least try out every gym at least once! We have a full year until the finals anyhow! That should be plenty of time for me to get what I need!!......Plus...m-maybe because I'm also kinda hoping to get some pictures and a few autographs. It's not everyday you get to see such famous people. Hehe."

You rolled your eyes with a smile. Just like a teen meeting a famous person but Hop sighed again. "I just don't see why you're going through all of this trouble. Won't it make more sense to just focus on one thing?"

"Hop you need to broaden your horizons a bit! It's gonna be our first times away from home! It's not just about the Gym Challenge!" She smiled widely at him. "It's about seeing new things! Meeting new people! Getting to see all kinds of new pokemon! It's...." Her smile dropped for a bit as she looked down. "It's actually a bit scary.....but I guess that's what's also making it so exciting." She smiled again. "Plus I know you're also doing the challenge so it's not like I'll be going into it alone right? Ill have my best bud going through it with me!"

Hop stared at her for a moment before clearing his throat and nodded looking away. "Y-Yeah! You're right. "

"See? Told you! It'll be fun! And I'll have Y/n as a traveling buddy anyways! So it should be fine."

You nodded in agreement as the three of you continued to walk back towards their homes, and both children mentioning the new pokemon they had been able to catch while out on their little adventure today.

"So how many pokemon did you guys catch?," you asked curiously.

And Gloria proudly answered, "NINE! And Hop caught five!"

You did a double take at the two. "Wait. You guys caught fourteen pokemon between the two of you in the few hours I was gone!?"

"Yeah! Hop's really lucky! He's got a shiny butterfree!"

Hop gave a sheepish smile and in a similar fashion to Leon raised a hand to rub the back of his head. "Well I guess I was just lucky to catch it off guard enough to catch it in the farmer's meadows."

Oh yeah. Weren't shiny pokemon a pokemon born with a rare color variety compared to most of their other kind? Wow. Well it sounded like the two of them certainly had a fun time out and about. "Wow. It sure sounds like you guys had a fun time." The three of you were coming up to the roads that split into to directions to both of the children's homes.

Gloria nodded again. "Hey! Hop! Come over to my house so I can practice my camera."

"What?," Hop's brow rose again, "Don't you mean Victor's camera?"

"Same difference! If I take pictures of all the pokemon we caught then it'll be good practice and give me a head start on the challenge! Plus who else would have a picture of a shiny butterfree?"

He sighed. "I swear you can bounce forward on anything like a ball."

You chuckled as the three of you made it to Gloria's house. Finding her mother in the kitchen cooking food and the first thing you noticed was the delicious smell coming from the kitchen stove, whatever she was cooking smelt of spices and your stomach growled. She looked up for a moment and smiled at the three of you, asking what the bags were for once she noticed, so you explained to her what had happened with you and Leon that morning as the two kids went off towards the door outside. She chuckled when you explained how Leon got lost on his way to the train in the early morning and got lost to only somehow end up back in front of his own home. Calling him 'a sweet young man for helping the kids out like that' and asking how your day went. Overall it was pretty well and you soon found yourself sitting down at the kitchen table resting yourself from all the walking around town you did. It was still fairly early in the day being only twelve something in the afternoon- You jumped when your Sobble all of a sudden chirped curiously and half climbed onto the side of your head to look towards the opposite side of the house as a flash of light came from one of the windows from outside. A minute long pause. And then another went off. A total of fourteen flashes with about a minute pause between them and while you tried to wrangle your sobble from your face without hurting it and it was enough to catch Mrs. G's attention as she stared with a brow rose.

"Gloria, what are you kids doing? I hope you're not practicing electric type moves near the house" her mother demanded. "You already almost caught your bed on fire from teaching your scorbunny Ember inside!"

"It's fine Mum!," Gloria's voice came followed by her head appearing in said window and waved what could only be described as a polaroid camera. "We're taking picture of our pokemon! Can you believe that I already have fourteen pokemon for the dex challenge!"

Her mother gave her a confused look placing a hand on her hip, "Dex challenge? What are you talking about?" She asked just as her Munchlax came toddling him yawning with another green pokemon behind him. He must've smelt the food and woken up you figured.

However Gloria's eyes lit up with a gasp! "Make that soon to be sixteen! You caught a Budew!?"

"Oh?" She glanced at the pokemon at her feet glancing up at her. "Oh yes. It was one of the two that always hangs around the flower beds. I always thought they were rather helpful for planting so I thought-" She paused as Gloria was already gon-

BANG!!

Both of you and the three pokemon jumped and turned to Gloria in the door's entrance camera in hand and scorbunny at her heels as she grinned at the Pokemon at her mother's heels before lifting the camera at them. "SAY CHEESE!!"

"Gloria! What are you-" She was cut off by two flashes that blinded you for a moment and you reached your hand up to cover your face as a white coated your vision. "GLORIA!!"

"Whoops. Sorry Mum!"

"WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING!?"

"Taking pictures of pokemon. Duh."

"I can SEE that! Or I would if you hadn't blind sided me.....Wait. Isn't that Victor's camera? What on earth were you doing playing with it!? You know that's not yours!"

You groaned and rubbed your eyes as they contined to talk. You trying to rub away the white dots that came with the flash as your sobble sat there. And you suddenly felt a small hand pawing at your face, as if your sobble was mimicking the movements you made at the attempt of clearing your vision. It was cute....But it would've cuter if you could see it.

"But Mom," Gloria pleaded, "It's for a good cause I promise. There's this Dex challenge and if you fill up the entire book with pictures when you can win something! Plus it's fun!"

"Well watch where you're pointing that thing! The last thing we need is you blinding someone."

"Yes, Mom." "Sorry Ms. G."

You finally opened your eyes still lightly rubbing them as you blinked and your vision was slightly blurry, but it quickly cleared revealing the two teens and their mother standing there as they looked at you. And Mrs. G held out a hand to you.

"Oh dear. Are you alright, Y/n?"

You nodded. "Yeah. I guess. It was just real bright for a moment." You paused as the camera was held out pointed at you by Gloria.

"Hey, Y/n. Can I take a picture of your sobble?"

A picture of your- "Oh. Yeah sure! Just lemme close my eyes for a minute." She nodded as she held the camera up to her face and you slammed your eyes shut as the words left her mouth.

"Hey Sobble!" The pokemon turned to her. "Say cheese!" Another flash of white lit up everywhere and your sobble chirped in surprise as his eyes went wide and it swayed as you reopened your eyes. Gloria smiled as the camera made a whirling noise and a moment later a perfect picture of you with your sobble staring towards the camera came out through a slot in the bottem as she grabbed it. Examining it with a smile. "Yep! That makes seventeen now!"

You gently took the sobble off your shoulder and into your arms as it swayed wide eyed, before shaking it's head and scowling towards the two teenagers, letting out a very loud squeak of annoyance at her before leaning back into your arms like a cat would still glaring at the two of them. You kinda felt bad so you ended up scratching it's back making it give a pleased sound and smile after a moment. What a cute newt thing!

"Hey Glory. Shouldn't we be dropping off some of your pokemon at the center for your rotomi boxes?," Hop asked

Gloria nodded before looking at him. "Hey. Doesn't your grandpa have a purrloin?"

"Yeah he sure does."

"Think he'll let me take a picture of it?"

"I don't see why not! C'mon!"

"Wait! What about lunch?!," Gloria's mother called after the two already running out the door. She stood there for a few moments, before sighing and shaking her head. "I swear! If those two were pokemon they'd be rapidashes for how fast they head off to things."

You chuckled at her. The rest of the day went by very quickly. You had ended up helping Mrs. G clean up after she had started cooking and she gave you some curry as a thanks. You never had this kind of dish before. It was some rice with some kind of red sauce with the same spice smell from earlier, but neither of you were complaining as you ate. It was actually pretty good. Nice to have a peaceful meal considering the past couple days with how chaotic they were. Although you did have to keep your sobble from trying to grab food from your plate and to appease it you fed it a few peices of pokemon food after Mrs. G offered. Gloria didn't return until later that evening where you assumed she had dropped off some of her pokemon with Hop. The camera secured around her neck by a strap and her hands was one of the journals you noticed she had purchased. So you asked about it and her face lit up and she showed the both of you the eighteen pictures she had taken. Some of them you had recognized. Gloria's scorbunny. You and your sobble. Mrs. G's two pokemon of course, and a couple of Hop's. Including a yamper like Sonia's. What you didn't recognize was a few new ones which she gladly told you the names of them. But the most surprising one was her phone but it looked as if it was posessed by a rotom. When asked Gloria explained that it was perfectly normal for someone to have a rotom phone with their very own rotom. She probably assumed you didn't have any of that back in 'Kanto'. Time flew by and other than Mrs. G scolding Gloria for snapping a picture of the curry she had saved her for dinner, it was pretty easy for you to follow your routine before once again falling asleep on the couch and dozing off for the night. Until the very next day of course. You were just laying there peacefully snoozing away peacefully until you felt a harsh shake on your shoulder and a light was shown on you. Of course you being asleep ignored it in favor of turning over on the couch and curling into the blanket even more. Again a harsher shake made you groan in protest at whoever was trying to kidnap you from slumberland.

"Y/N!!" A young girl's voice shouted fairly close and loud next to your ear. Startling you awake with a snort, sitting right up and blinking and rubbing your eyes at the harsh light that extended on you. "Time to wake up or we'll miss the train to Motostoke!"

"Uuuuuhhh," you groaned peeking your eyes open and blinking groggily up at the form of Gloria smiling at you. You yawned a bit. "Gloria? Wha-....*yaawwn* What time is it?"

"Six o four in the morning!," she stated happily before leaning back up and it took you a moment to figure out it was still dark in the early hours of the morning and the light was coming from the light bulb above you. "You need to hurry up and get ready before we're late! I still need to pick up my Dynamax band from the Professor too!"

"M' up," you mumbled reaching a hand out to slowly toss off the blanket from your form as Gloria backed away.

She turned as you both heard her mother's tired voice call to her, asking what was up. What you needed to wake you up was a nice hot shower so that's exactly what you did. Dragging yourself out of bed, you trudged into the bathroom and took a deserving hot shower, brushing your teeth, and opting to instead of the overalls lent to you by Mrs. G wore the black shirt with the Eevee print, slacks, and the non rubber shoes you also picked up. By the time you came out, with everything else in the gray plaid bulking back pack of yours, the smell of food was already in the air and it didn't take you too long to find out why when you look over and saw Gloria holding what could've only been described as a plain waffle in one hand obviously in the middle of eating it, and going through her big brown back pack with the other as her mother looked at her.

"Uh huh. And are you sure you got plenty of clothes?," Mrs. G asked raising a brow, "Extra pokeballs? Your region map? How about the revives Leon was nice enough to get you?"

"Yes Ma!," the teen mumbled half way through eating, "I already went through this last night!"

"Well it never hurts to double check! Especially since you can't lose that endorsement letter or else they won't let you register for the challenge at all," she looked up and noticed you before smiling, "Ah! Y/n! Good morning, Dear. I hope you slept well."

You nodded shifting the backpack over your shoulders, "Yeah thanks! ......Hey. Where's that sobble?" You rose a brow while looking on the floor. Strange the little guy wasn't around.

"He was hungry so I gave him some food to tide him over for you. And speaking of which you must be hungry. I'll get you some breakfast. You aren't starting off your trip on an empty stomach."

"But Mom! That's gonna take even longer! Hop's already waiting for me! We still need to grab the dynamax bands before we go and we'll miss the train if we wait-"

"How about you guys go get the..bands and I'll *yaaawwn* meet you at the train station?," you suggested. You weren't really in the mood for any arguing in the morning, and to be honest you were hungry and the idea of starting a long trip on an empty stomach just didn't appeal to you.

You were lightly surprised when Gloria agreed to it and after a few more moments of going through her pack, left with Hop you assumed, as her mother kindly handed you over some food. More waffles but you weren't complaining. Your sobble at some point noticed you were awake and soon enough you felt that familiar feeling of the little guy crawling up your clothes only to plop itself into your shoulders. It really liked being carried around didn't it? Your muddled mind didn't know when but sometime after you finished the pancakes you were out the door bag in your hands, one hand holding it and the other digging through it to make sure all the few belongings you did own for now were secured. Sure enough you found the non perishable food Leon had given you, the few clothes, and of course your Sobble's pokeball tucked somewhere in the bottom of it all. You decided to keep your sobble out for the time being as it seemed to enjoy being out. The early morning light was starting to peek through with the light pinks and yellows of the sunrise. Already as you made your way to the train station, you saw the farmers and their wooloos out in the fields. Early to bed early to rise you guessed. You saw no sign of the teens, guessed they were still getting the dynamax bands from the professor, even as you walked right into the train station. So you did the only thing your tired self could do. You once again plopped yourself into one of the seats tiredly and waited for the two to arrive. It couldn't have been that long(or maybe it was but you didn't notice) but you perked up at a familiar voice.

"So out with it, Glor! How many did you catch again?"

"I already told you eight! You saw me take pictures of them yesterday remember?"

"Oh right! Sorry that's just the sleep talkin'. " You turned to the door as the young voices got louder. "But look at how many you caught! You're well on your way to building a fine team! I caught myself a special one not to brag."

" I KNOOOWWW!! I'm so jealous you caught a shiny before me!" Gloria walked right into the train station with Hop right behind her.

He shrugged with a proud smile. "Well what can I say? I'll make a difficult rival."

"Where are we heading again?"

"The Gym Challenge will begin Motostoke and our train's waiting so let's go-" He paused finally looking away from her and seeing you sitting there. Upon catching his eye you smiled and waved mumbling something like 'Good Morning'. And he smiled. "Hey! Y/n you're here!" You stood up to meet them with a light yawn as they approuched. "I thought you'd be on the train already.''

You chose not to mention you haven't gotten any money to pay for the ticket entrance and waved. "Nah. I said I'd wait for you guys at the station and I wanted to keep my promise." Looking to Gloria you noticed something around her neck, so you pointed and asked. "Hey. Isn't that your brother's camera?"

"Hm?" She blinked and looked to the camera around her neck. "Oh yeah! I'm gonna need it if I'm gonna finish this Dex Challenge too!"

Hop groaned and rolled his eyes. "I still think it's a waste of time but I guess it's your choice." He jabbed a thumb to the awaiting train. "It's nearly seven thirty. We should probably get on before it takes off." He suggested and the two of you agreed. Walking towards the small gate-

"Not so fast you three!," an older but familiar lady's voice cut through the air and the three of you all turned around as a result.

Hop's golden eyes widened. "Wha-? What're you doing here, Mum?" He asked turning around just as the two mothers of the children walked right in. You were confused at first two, before seeing what they were holding in their hands and you immediately understood why they had followed you here.

"I knew this day was coming since the moment you chose Grookey as a partner, Darling," the older woman smiled fondly at him, a smile you remember your own mother used to have way back when. She held up the small rolled up thing in her hands. "You took off so fast you two didn't take any sleeping bags. Did you forget you probably won't be able to afford hotels most of the time or won't be able to sleep in one every night? You can't expect a free bed around every corner."

Both looked immediatey sheepish as Mrs. G spoke. "Professor Magnolia was kind enough call and let us know that you three would be setting out now." She held up a small looking back of her own. "So here. A little last gift to see you well set on your way. All the kit you'll need for camping! And the reason why you should always double check BEFORE you take off." Gloria made a face and looked away before her mother made her take the small kit, which consisted of a small compact tent you could carry over your shoulder and another sleeping bag, before crossing her arms with a frown. "Honestly! I swear you'd lose your head if it wasn't attached to your neck sometimes."

"HEY! I only forgot this one thing," she protested and her mother hummed.

" Ah yes. Like you forgot to tell me about how the two of you snuck off into the Slumbering Weild." In an instant she froze and you could've sworn a little color drained from Gloria's face in that moment. "And yes, I heard the news from young Leon. I'm glad someone bothered to tell me!" She sighed and her other hand was held out to you. "Here we are! A bit of pocket money for your journey. Buy yourself a little something at the pokemon center. Maybe some potions or something!"

You stopped and blinked at the small twenty bill in her hand before shaking your head. "Oh no! I couldn't possibly take your money! I-"

"Happened to save my child from a dumb idea. It's not much but something tells me you could use it anyways."

Well......It wouldn't hurt to have some money on you in case of emergencies even if it wasn't much. So you reluctantly took it from her. "I....Thank you."

She nodded to you before turning to Gloria and pointing a finger at her with a serious look. "Now. Remember that Scorbunny will battle to the very end for you so don't you go pushing the poor dear too hard! Come home to rest anytime that you need. After all east or west, home is best." She smiled. "No matter what happensout there, if you and your partner are together I know you'll be fine. Take my advice to heart Sweetie. As long as you have your pokemon at your side and the energy to carry onwards, you'll naturally find that you always have a smile on your face."

Gloria stood there for a moment before nodding to her mother and you blinked when she all of a sudden hugged the older woman, seemingly startling her too for a moment before she smiled and hugged the child back tightly like any mother would....Well except maybe yours. She was always seeming to be too busy working or making sure you worked hard to get good grades or worked hard enough to help out with the bills with your after school jobs. You didn't notice the frown come over your face as Hop mimicked his friend in giving his own mother a hug who like the other mother mirrored a smile and hugged back patting his head.

"Remember. No matter what happens out there, if you and your partner are together, I know you'll be fine."

Hop smiling pulled away and gave a big grin. "Thanks Mum! And just think of how lucky you are!" He raised a determined fist. "Mother to the first ever pair of Champion Brothers! Because I'm certain to be the Champion next! You'll see!"

She nodded in agreement but her face was amused. "Of course you will, Darling. Anyway, do have fun and take care of yourselves. And don't be too worried about not winning. You're welcome back home anytime."

Home huh- A loud train horn sounded off startling the five of you into turning to the train, then you happened to glance at the clock hanging upon the wall and noticed that it was seven twenty eight in the morning. Two minutes before seven thirty and the deadline for the train's departure. So you decided to point this out, having the two kids make a worried frown before taking a few steps back.

"We'll be off now!," Gloria explained lifting her hand a moment to give a quick good bye to the two mothers and turning to the train. "C'mon guys! We're off! Don't want to miss the train!"

You nodded in agreement tailing right after her with Hop behind you. "Wish us luck! Not that we'll need it!"

As the mothers waved good bye, the three of you went towards the gate and watched as Gloria slipped a single dollar into the slot of it. It made a ping noise and you guess it unlocked because the three of you easily slipped by and towards the train. The grey and yellow train's doors slid open with a whoosh sound as the three of you entered just as another horn sounded off startling your sobble a bit making it cling to your shoulder harder. Inside was who you assumed to be a train conductor who gestured for you all to exit through another door to the right which lead to the passenger cars and other people who happened to be on the train with you three. There was about fifthteen other people with you so the three of you had to go to one of the back seats. Yellow painted metal bars were everywhere along with Blue seats with a table between the two of them. Above each pair of seats was a small area to put luggage. You three sat down just as the train was starting off. Gloria breathing a sigh of relief from all the weight she was carrying. You assumed she was carrying more than you already along with the camping equipment she was given just a few moments ago. You ended up looking out the window and watching the station and small town of Postwick move away from your view and starting on your way. Beside you Gloria sighed and slumped into the soft cushioned seat.

"Man. We just left and I'm already feeling beat."

"Well look on the bright side," Hop suggested, "We're finally heading out on our journies! And Lee told me Motostoke is a good place as any to start off an adventure."

"Oh really? How come?," you asked curiously as he explained.

"Well besides the obvious Opening Ceremony going on there. Motostoke is surrounded by a giant piece of land called the Wild Area. It's a real sight! There's all sorts of wild Pokemon juat wondering about everywhere you look! Plus you can camp out, do a spot of fishing, and sight seeing! I don't think I could ever get tired of it!," he explained smiling widely, "But I don't think we'll be able to see it. The Entrance Ceremony's in the town not the wild. But on a lighter not! There's loads of brilliant trainers and all kinds of pokemon out there waiting for us! My excitement's running ahead of me faster than this train can go!"

"Yeah? Well it's too bad. Would've loved to take a couple more pictures." Gloria sighed leaning more against the wall of the train. " Im already starting to understand why Victor likes it so much. Like I wouldn't make it a living like he wants to but it's a nice hobby."

You nodded agreeing with her and extended your arm to allow your sobble to crawl along your arm and onto the table, watching as it curiously crawled up to the window and looked out at the world passing by. You all sat there for who knows how long chatting, the kids pulled out their phones and showed you a few pictures of what looked almost like a castle's high walls and beautiful scenery surrounding it. It was quite lovely. At one point someone said it would take at least a few hours to get to the town so all of you had plenty of time to relax but you couldn't help but let your mind wonder. What was happening back at your home? Was your mother worried about you suddenly going missing? What happened when she went to wake you up but found you completely gone? Did she call the police to file a missing person's report yet? Counting today it would've been five days that you had disappeared and that must've been worrying. And if this happened to just be a crazy dream you surely hoped you would wake up sometime soon. You were soon snapped out of any bad thoughts though. How? Simple the train suddenly slowed down out of no where it caught you off guard and you ended up hitting the table in front of you your poor Sobble chirping in shock as it was sent tumbling across said table and into Hop's extended arms as he thankfully caught the poor thing before it could splat onto the floor below. What the world was that!? Your head turned as Gloria nudged your side. you gave her a questioning look about to ask if she was alright but she pointed out the window and you looked. There was.....Nothing but nature?? Which wouldn't be strange since it was the out doors, and you WOULD have chalked it up to just being another stop on the way to Motostoke but then why did the train suddenly stop like that? Granted you never rode on a train before but you were pretty sure they weren't supposed to stop suddenly enough to ram yourself into a table. One of your hands rubbed your sore ribs where they had hit the table, surely leaving a bruise later but no real damaged luckily. So why had you all suddenly stopped in the middle of seemingly no where? Around you other people were also noticing, muttering to themselves, some getting up to peer out the windows or to take a couple steps up the alley way as to walk up to the engine car.

"Attention Passengers!," a man's voice blared from a loud speaker somewhere, "Due to some unfortunate events beyond our control we have decided to take a quick stop at Wild Station. We apologize for any inconvience and to please wait patiently while we fix the issue. We thank you for your cooperation."

"Wha- Wild Station? That's just outside the the town!," Hop exclaimed holding your sobble in one arm while staring at a map on his phone with the other. Confusion on his face. "Why didn't they just stop inside the city?"

"Let's find out!" Gathering her things into her arms Gloria was quick to jump past you.

"WHA- Hey wait!," you called out extending an arm out to her as she darted up the car past other people.

You stared after her for a few seconds before turning to Hop who shrugged and got up to after her which you followed obviously. The two of you hurried after her as Gloria trotted up to the exit and with a whoosh the doors opened with her stepping out and the two of you followed. On the other side was another train station. Only this one had slightly different colored brick walls and there was a whole bunch of leaves and twigs scattered about. Besides the three of you there was a couple looking over a map in one corner of the station looking confused and lost, a map just sitting in the waiting chairs, and someone who looked to be in some kind of uniformed green vest.

You gave a confused look around. "Where the heck are we?"

"Ill check!'' Before you could respond Hop had already turned to the man in the vest and asked, "Hey, Mr. Station Master!" The man hummed and turned to him. "Isnt this the Wild Area? What're we stopped here for?"

The man sighed crossing his arms. "Yes....This is the Wild Area Station makes no mistakes. I'm sorry to tell you that the train is halted due to a flock of wooloo."

"WHAT?!," both you and Gloria said at the same time.

A giant herd of wooloo!? Oh great! Now what were you all supposed to do?

Hop however wasn't the least bit concered. "What's there to be sorry about? This is brilliant!"

Gloria gave him a look that looked like he just did something crazy. "What is?"

He excitedly smiled widely at her. "This Wild Area is massive!" He explained the sobble in his arms giving a noise of annoyance at his sudden movements. "There are loads of pokemon to battle here! You don't get it do you, Glor? This is the best possible place to put together the greatest team!"

"I don't think we should be taking off, "Gloria pointed out and you nodded agreeing. "We have to get to the ENtrance Ceremony soon or else we'll be considered forfeiting our sponsorships entirely!"

"They take it that seriously?," you asked lightly surprised as she nodded.

"Something about a long time ago a lot of trainers tried to sneak their way into the challenge by claiming they were late to register or something like that. Since then the rules have been pretty strict. Which is why I want to register first and then come back here if I have a chance."

"When is the deadline?"

"Midnight. And as much as I'd love to explore around...Im kinda nervous about securing that spot."

You could totally agree with her on that point Buuut- You pointed behind you. "But the train's going to be backed up for a while by the looks of it. Maybe we can walk? How fair is this Motostoke?''

"Let's step out and see. The map said it shouldn't have been too far away I think."

That wasn't a bad idea and with no objections the three of you stepped out and what you saw made you pause. As soon as you stepped out you were hit with the strong rays of sunlight making you blink but once your (f/c) eyes managed to get a hold of themelves...Well....Breathtaking was a pretty good way to describe it. A giant meadow stretched as much as you could see with a giant lake, a few scattered trees, and A GIANT WALL! A giant wall was set up with a few bridge like structures to the right and you could see a few very tall buildings/structures ahead. You saw what you thought was oil rigs movie, a giant clock which reminded you of Big Ben back in your world, a few sky scrapers, and a few other things you were too far away to make out. Over all it was a very strange but pretty sight as the wind blew through the trees.

"Look at that!," Hop said in awe pointing at the buildings which must've been a decent half mile away. "That's Motostoke way off that way! And between here and there are countless new pokemon waiting to be met!"

Gloria hummed. ".......Well it would be cool to explore somewhere we won't get in trouble I guess."

"EXACTLY!!" He pointed towards the meadow. "Im itching to just see what's out there. It's not too far away and we can probably spare a couple hours. I mean we have until Midnight right? And we left pretty early in the morning."

She hummed again. "Well when you put it that way it does sound like fun!" A smile crossed her face again. "I can take a whole bunch of pictures for my scrapebook! And catch a few more pokemon of course."

You weren't sure that was a good idea- "Well well. You two running off again?"

The three of you turned- You blinked surprised. "Sonia?," you asked. True to your word the orangedhaired professor's assistant was walking right towards the three of you with a smile. "What are you doing here? I don't remember seeing you get on the train."

"Of course you didn't. I didn't enter the train through the station right side of the station," she smiled. "Besides. I figured it'd be an opportune time for me to travel for my research." Sonia gave a sigh and looked to the ground shaking her head. "My grab gave me a proper earful in her own way. 'Those two young trainers are setting out on a journey, but what are you doing with your life?' Her words not mine."

"Ouch Professor," you commented, "That sounds rough." You didn't mean to be so blunt but you kinda understood how she felt. Your mother had asked you similar things to that while simaltaniously pushing you to study more, go to college, and get a job-

Sonia waved you off. "Ah. Never mind that. Nothing to worry yourselves over. " Her eyes lowered back to the teens next to you. "Besides I've been more curious about that pokemon you two met in the forest. I'd been thinking I should look into it so the timing works out fine! If I discover something really huge then maybe even Gran'll admit I got some talent."

Pokemon- OH RIGHT!! You nearly forgot the legendary pokemon they saw in the fog. Although you were still unsure what it was exactly. A thought suddenly struck you. In the game Sonia would uncover some amazing things important to the plot of the game. If ONLY you could remember what it was!

"Yikes." Hop made a cringe face. "Being an adult got it's own challenges eh?"

You frowned and gave a chuckle and shake of your head which made him look at you. "Oh you have NO idea."

"I said you needn't worry about it," Sonia stated a little more firmly. "I'm glad to be on the road really! It's been ages. It'll be great fun to fish and camp and rough it outside again."

"Uh huh. Well you have fun with that! Meanwhile.." He turned with a smile. "I heard there's natural dynamaxing pokemon in the Wild Area! I'm off to go stick my head in as many of those red dens as I can find!"

"Not. So. FAST! Mr. Impatient!" He yelped when gloria grabbed him by the hoodie and with the same frown as her mother stared at him when she yanked him back. "We only got here and you want to run off again into the wild??"

"Oh c'mon Glory. I promise Ill meet you up back at the Entrance Ceremony."

The young girl hummed. ".....What time is it by the way?"

"Oh." You glanced to sonia as she rolled up her sleeve and glanced at her watch. "According to this it just turned Eleven thirty in the morning."

She hummed and slowly released her friend. "Fine. But let's agree to meet at the Entrance Ceremony at six or seven in the after noon. That should be enough time for the both of us to explore and get to the town before it gets dark." She gave a concerned frown. "I really don't want you hurt or lost."

Hop paused for a moment before looking away coughing his cheeks having a light pink hue. "Um....YEAH! I can totally do that!"

Her smile returned. "Then it's settled! Can't lose my rival before I even join the challenge."

"GREAT!!" He turned again. "I'm going to battle the snot out of a bunch of dynamax pokemon and fill in the tale of my legend!" And he ran off.

"DONT YOU DARE FORGET HOP!!," Gloria hollered after him.

Both you and Sonia shared a chuckle at their childish behavior before she looked at you. What cheek. Dynamax pokemon are really on another level you know." She glanced to Gloria. "You'd better dynamax your partner pokemon too if you want to take on opponents that strong." She directed Gloria to the wild. "He's right about red dens. You'll find spots here and there in the Wild Area that emit a red beam of light. If you think you're up to it, check it out. They're usually cave openings with dynamax pokemon inside. But PLEASE be careful. It can be dangerous at times. I wish Hop would've waited for me to warn him before he ran off like that."

Gloria nodded in understanding as you looked down to your sobble climbing up your leg. Hop must've put him down when you weren't looking. "I understand Sonia! You don't have to worry about me!"

Sonia nodded to the two of you. "So with that Ill leave you two off here. The Wild Area is waiting for you. This is the start of your real adventure. Take care now."

You watched as she turned to walk away and....you weren't sure what really compelled you to say it in that moment but you reached your arm out after her. "Ms. Sonia!" She stopped and turned to you with a hum. You paused uncertainly if you should say anything. Would it affect the progress of the game's route? "I just....wanted to let you know that....You really are a great scientist already. And you're going to find a lot of things."

She blinked at you in surprise for a moment not sure what to make of your words, but settled on a smile and nodded. "Thanks. Your kind words mean a lot but we'll have to see what I actually accomplish. I wish you the best sights and experiences of Galar a tourist like you can have!" Before she turned and walked her way towards you assumed Motostoke.

"Wow." You jumped and looked to Gloria who smiled. "That was really nice of you. Even if it was a little out of no where."

You shrugged. "I guess I know how she feels a little bit. Sometimes a few kind words is what someone needs."

"Lee always says something similar, but I think he calls it 'champion encouragment'." She suddenly snapped her head forward and pointed. "Well you heard Sonia! I want to try out my first dynamaxing battle before I take on any gyms! We got about seven to eight hours to get some battling and sight seeing in so I say we give this day all we got!"

-time skip five hours forward-

You lost track of how many times Gloria pulled you along this way and that....but it was an eventful few hours.

You lost count of how many pokemon Gloria tried to battle. Key word being 'tired'. The first pokemon she tried to battle was one you remembered. An Onix. A. GIANT. MASSIVE!! AND CRANKY!! ONIX!! Probably didn't help Gloria snapped a picture of it before trying to battle it. You had to literally grab her and drag her behind you as you ran. Terrified scorbunny at your heels as it charged towards the two of you. Not the greatest start to be honest. But it wasn't as worst as her first dynamax battle. She had found an opening in the cliffside of a cave with red aura around in, one of the dynamax dens and she ran into it without a second thought with you chasing after her. Inside the dark was lit up by a GIGANTIC DIGLETT with the red-black cloud hovering over it's dynamax form. You nearly fainted then and there but when the thing ROARED you felt like you were about to have a heart attack!!! Your sobble poor thing made a small squeal of fright before forcing itself into your backpack to hide immediately. Things just went downhill from there when in the middle of the battle Gloria decided to dynamax scorbunny and all of a sudden you both were having a very hard time standing up from the shaking ground and the debry the attacks caused to the point you literally yelled that you both had to leave then and there but she couldn't hear you past all the noise and therefore barked orders to her gigantic scorbunny from her holding onto the ground. With you clinging onto the cave's wall for dear life hoping it would be over soon. Thankfully it did. It was all a blur really. You vaugly remembered Gloria somehow capturing the diglett and returning scorbunny to it's rightful size. And you two carefully climbed around disheveled cave floor until managing to get out of the cave....where the both of you collasped onto the ground.

"HOW THE HECK CAN STADIUMS HANDLE THOSE THINGS!?,'' you yelled out dizzily into the soft grass. In the game you didn't have to worry about debry being flung at you or the ground giving away suddenly. BECAUSE IT WAS A GAME!! REAL LIFE POKEMON DYNAMAX BATTLES WERE NOTHING LIKE THE GAME!!

Gloria raised a weak hand. "T-They were made a long time ago with top professors, contractors, and researchers to build them strong enough even a dynamaxed monchomp with the strength of a thousand earthquakes couldn't shake it. Dunno how but man I'm glad they did."

You could 100% agree with that! It took a minute for the both of you to recover before the two of you got up, dusted yourselves off, and went off again. Gloria managed to resume battling and taking photos of a few pokemon. Although some of the pictures were so blurry from the pokemon moving they would be no use at all and she didn't catch a lot of the pokemon she tried to battle. But she did win a few and even had two other dynamax battles within the dens you guessed Hop didn't come across. Catching one of them but not the other as you struggled to not lose your lunch or have a heart attack both times. You were not a fan of wild dynamax battles after that. At one point you even came across what Gloria explained was a wild berry tree and demonstrated how to get the fruits off them by forcibly shaking it until a couple berries fell off it. They all had a somewhat bittertaste you didn't like when you tried them tho, but your sobble seemed to enjoy up as you handed them right over when they extended their....hands?? Paws??...towards it. You couldn't remember how much time had passed before the two of you finally had a chance to sit down under the shade of a tree and have a break. Gloria took the time to go through all the pictures she took, must've been about thirty, but only twenty one were salvagable. Curious you took a peak at the pictures she showed you. The pokemon she got pictures of were a onix(of course angering it-), roselia, vespiquen, nuzleaf, vulpix, snover, bunnelby, pidove, miccino, baltou, combee, tryogue, stuffel, diglett(how did she have time to get a picture of that dynamax thing?), metapod, diggersby, hoothoot, bounsweet, noibat, and a pancham. Not a lot but certainly a decent haul for her. It was you who eventually asked the question-

"Hey. What time is it?"

Gloria responded by quickly pulling out her phone and checking the time on it. And she blinked. "It's four twenty seven! It's already been about five and a half hours!"

"Wha-" You looked up to the sky. Didn't look like sunset yet, but it was definately about late after noon. You two hadn't even noticed the time fly by. "We've been out here nearly all day!"

With a hum gloria quickly scrambled to pick up her things. "I think we better head to Motostoke now. I don't really know how long it'll take to walk there and I did promise Hop we'd meet him there."

You nodded scooping the confused sobble into your arms. The walk there was pretty uneventful as you two walked what must've been half a mile, your eyes widening the closer you got, until you finally got there......AND. IT. WAS. NOTHING. LIKE IN GAME!! The entrance to Motostoke was all bricked with a mideival ages meets industrial period kind of look. All the buildings you could see were brick other than the familiar pink pokemon center and there was A LOT MORE people and buildings than in game you remember....makes sense you supposed. This was a real world and so of course there would be a lot more people and buildings. It was so crowded you were certain if Gloria wasn't walking beside you, you were sure you would've easily watched her. The first place you two stopped was the pokemon center where Gloria went inside to heal her pokemon from todays battle and put away any new ones she caught into those Rotomi box things. You were busy marveling at the busy streets and environment around you. You had never been in a city before let alone a town like this so it was quite a shock for you to see. This place even had GIANT WORKING GEARS BUILT INTO IT'S VERY WALLS!! It was like a real steampunk town. But once she came out she.....stopped and stared around her.

"So which way to the ceremony?," you asked her gazing at a few stores lined across the street.

She looked really unsure now fidgiting with the straps of her bag and looking around her. "U-Um...I don't know."

You snapped your head to her. "You don't what?!"

"Im sorry!" She apologized looking around. "I know it's here! I just.....don't know exactly where in town."

You wanted to facepalm but decided not too to avoid hurting her feelings and looked around as well as people and their pokemon passed you two. No signs of Hop or any indication of a ceremony anywhere in sight. No other trainers, no signs, certainly no ceremony!

Gloria suddenly held up her phone. "Maybe I should call him? He might already be there waiting for us-"

"HEY YOU TWO!!" A familiar voice called out and to both of your relief you turned and walking towards you with a shopping bag in one hand, yamper at her feet was your saving grace Sonia waving at you. "Over here!"

"SONIA!" Gloria smiled. "Boy are we glad to see you! We ran into a 'Leon situation' here."

That made her laughed. "Oh really? Real ace of you to make it through the Wild Area. And a Leon situation huh?"

Gloria nodded sighing. "We're kinda lost. Do you know where the ceremony is?"

"You're first time in a city and already lost? But Motostoke is big right?" Gloria nodded and Sonia smiled. "Not to worry. Sonia is here to show you around a bit."

"Thanks, Ms. Sonia." Gloria poltely smiled at the older woman. "Could you point out where we gotta go?"

Sonia hummed. "The Entrance ceremony huh? I get a bit worked up when I think how exciting and moving it was to actually stand on a stadium's pitch for the first time." Sonia smiled off thinking of an old memory most likely. She shook her head. "Anyways. Brilliant young trainer who braved the Wild Area! Do you remember what your goal in Motostoke is?"

"I'm here for the Gym Challenge!,"Gloria shouted determined smile on her face and Sonia nodded.

She nodded. "Yep! The Gym Challenge Opening Ceremony!" She pointed behind her at the busy street. You Guess since she once too here attending the Gym challenge with leon as kids she would know where it would be. "Use that lift over there to get to it K? OH! By the way the ceremony tomorrow is being held at the Motostoke Stadium ok?"

......You looked at Gloria. "There's a stadium here AND a second ceremony tomorrow??" Gloria shrugged at you.

"Well, laters!" She waved a hand at you two. "I'm going to swing by the shops while I'm here but don't forget to register at the Stadium,k?" Gloria nodded and Sonia went to tur- She stopped. "OH! I forgot. I got you a little something." Reaching into her coat pocket and fishing around, she pulled out what looked like at first glance some kind of training card before holding it out to Gloria who curiously accepted it...And her eyes WIDENED at it.

"NO!! WAY!!" She stared wide eyed between the card and Sonia. "Is this what I think it is!?"

She giggled. "Yep. I know Leon already sent myself and Hop a couple so I figured it would be the perfect start off to your own collection."

Gloria gave off a girly teen squeal and practically shoved it into your face making you blink. "OH MY MAGIKARP!! LOOK!! I GOT A LEAGUE CARD!!" You blinked and true to her word it was a card. And on it was a picture of Leon sitting down looking off somewhere. She smiled widely pulling it from your face. "Thanks so much So-...." She blinked. "Hey where'd she go?"

You shrugged. "I guess she left. Come on. We better get going."

She nodded ad the two of you made off for this lift at the end of the street. Along the way you guys passed a few stores. A flower shop, a cafe, a book store, a record shop, a barber shop, and another clothes shop. Once you two were at and on the lift....you became unsure again.

"Um. Now what?"

"I dunno..." Something caught her eye as she looked over and pointed. "hey what's that?"

"What's what?"

"This panel has a button." She pressed it.

"AH!!" You instantly fell to your bottom and Gloria grabbed onto the small pedestol as the lift suddenly lifted the two of you up and around, until it suddenly stopped again and you groaned. Pushing yourself up...and hearing a snicker. You shot a look to the teenager who was snickering behind her hand. "Nice to see you're still standing." You muttered pushing yourself up to your feet again and looking over, in front of the both of you was a giant building with glass doors, in front of the doors was two men in some kind of uniform and sunglasses like some bodyguard and some man with.....A Pokeball head?? Was waving to a few people passing by. A mascot maybe??.....You pointed at the building. "You think that's it or what?"

She went to answer but someone already beat here to it. "Gloria! Ms. Y/n!" Both of you looked over and Hop was making his way towards the two of you. "You made it too? "

You rubbed your aching back. "Yeah. Where are we?"

"Motostoke Stadium! This is where the Opening Ceremony will be held!" He exclaimed excitedly pointing to the large building behind him. "Everyone'll be watching the Opening Ceremony for the Gym Challenge! My mom, your mom, the whole world!! It's getting me a bit nervous really." He shook his head. "Naw. This isn't nerves. I'm only trembling because I'm so excited!"

"Well I say we go it and get registered before it gets too dark," Gloria suggested.

"You're right!" He turned back to the stadium still pointing. "Come on, Glory! It's time the world knows our names!"

As the three of you rolled up to the doors one of the two men standing in front of the door held one of their hands out in a clear stop motion in front of you trio.

"Can I see your sponsorship letters please?," He asked holding out his hand and Hop didn't hesitate to pull his out of his pocket and have the letter over to the man in the meantime Gloria had slung her backpack off her shoulders and went digging through it. You hoped she didn't forget it all the way back in Postwick. The security guard carefully examined the peice of paper in his hands. Running a hand across the red unbroken seal, holding it up to the light, and then taking a small device out of his pocket. A small green light came out and scanned it for a few seconds until there was a small ding from the machine and the man nodded before handing it back to him. "Head on inside and sign in Trainer. Next!" Saying a quick thanks Hop quickly snatched the letter back just as Gloria pulled out her own (thank goodness she still had it) and handed it to the man who repeated the same process from before before he too handed Gloria back hers and allowed her to go. But when you made a move to follow them he held another hand up. "Sorry, Ma'am. Only registered trainers, staff, and authorized personal are allowed inside. You'll have to wait out here. It's the rules."

You paused for a moment before looking at Gloria uncertain who smiled. "It's alright Y,n. Just wait for us out here ok? It shouldn't take too long. I mean we're just signing in!"

"Well...Alright if you say so." You gestured to a nearby bench. "I'll just wait for you two over there ok?"

They agreed and left you standing outside the stadium as they went inside. Not that you minded waiting of course. Your feet ached and your shoulders from carrying around your backpack all day, so plopping on the bench you gave your sore body a rest before slinging your pack off your shoulders. Your sobble had decided now would be a good time to fully crawl out of your pack from where its been hiding out this whole time and you let it climb on you when you placed your bag down with a sigh and leaned into the bench. FINALLY allowing yourself to rest for a while. You waited for a little while as people passed you, going up and down the lift and and streets as the body guards still stood there making sure no one entered without permission. A few teens Hop's age excited uncluding one boy with bright white fluffy hair and a long pink coat and you thought he looked rather grumpy. At one point you thought you heard a happy yell from somewhere but ignored it as it was probably a child playing somewhere. The sky slowly turning to a light pink as it got later in the day. Eventually the two did come back out but with what looked like white work out bands on their wrist that didn't have the dynamax bands on them. You waved at them as they walked right on over to you.....and with a second boy??

"Hey you two. Who do you got there?,' you asked gesturing to the boy on the other side of Gloria.

To which she smiled brightly and hugged him making you raise a brow. "Don't you recognize twins when you see them! IT'S VICTOR!!"

You stared at the young boy smiling at you. ........THIS WAS VICTOR!! The name of the male avator that you could pick in the game if you didn't chose Gloria to play instead. Looking at the young boy he still looked the same age as Gloria and Hop next to him even if he was a little taller than his twin. How did you not recognize it sooner? He had the same dark brown hair and light brown eyes as his sister and if they had the same haircut they would've looked the exact same (other than Victor's slightly taller hieght). He wore a grey beanie like hat, a red shirt with some logo on it, jeans, brown shoes, and carried what might as well been a giant suit case on his back. And a poloroid camera was slung in a similar fashion around his neck as he smiled at you. Gloria seemed very happy to see him as she excitedly gestured to him.

"Can you believe it!? After a whole year the mysterious photographer finally appeared after disappearing without a trace," she teased making her twin roll his eyes.

"It's nice to know you haven't changed. I wanted to surprise you after the text you sent me telling me Lee sponsored you but I didn't expect you to show up with more people." He turned back to you with a smile. "Greetings! You must be the new friend Gloria told me about. Thanks for saving her sorry butt from the Slumbering Weild. I always knew she'd get into trouble sooner or later without me."

"HEY!" A frown came over her face as she pouted. "I don't get into THAT much trouble! Besides I got here without a problem didn't I?"

He chose to ignore that and you took the chance to talk. "Nice to meet you too. Are you here for the Gym Challenge?"

He shrugged. "Yes and no. I'm here to take pictures of the events as they happen. It's been years since the last Gym Challenge and certainly going to be a long time until the next one after this year is over. But I'm not competing. Never had much interest in battles."

You could understand that. You never had much interest doing a couple things too.

"Y'know Lee had a sponsorship and starter pokemon all ready for you too." Gloria almost looked sad. ''You could've competed alongside us even if you didn't want to battle it would've been fun to have you around."

"Glory, then a Champion's sponsorship would've been wasted. It wouldn't be put to it's full potential. Although I am a bit upset I didn't have the chance to tell Leon myself, but I'm sure I'll be able to thank him later considering you'll be seeing more of me around here soon."

She gave her brother a confused look. "Whatcha mean?"

"I've decided to join Hop on this little adventure If he doesn't mind."

"Really!? That's awesome! Of course!" Hop was quick to agree with a friendly punch to Victor's shoulder. "Why wouldn't I want one of my greatest pals joining me while I write my legend? It'll be grand to have a traveling buddy of my own!"

"NO WAY!!" Gloria's large smile returned! "Oh this is great! We'll be able to see each other for a while more. I haven't been able to see you since you went on a journey last year so this is totally a win win for me in everyway!"

You nodded. "Oh. How'd the registry go?"

She waved a hand. "Oh y'know. We got our Challenger Bands we're apparently supposed to wear all the time so everyone knows we're a part of the registered trainers group. Our own League cards for the challenge. And we got to meet some of the rival trainers in there too! I liked the Sherry girl. She seemed really shy."

"I heard she was sponsored by the Gym Leader Milo but I can't be too sure," Victor replied before looking up at the sky. ".....But in any case I believe we should all head to Budew Drop Inn before the actual ceremony tomorrow." He turned to Gloria. "That way I can show you all the new pictures of pokemon I've gotten. You can use them for that dex challenge thing you told me about."

They turned and you nodded in agreement standing up and grabbing your bag, your sobble grabbing onto your bag as your hoisted it back over your shoulders and followed them guessing they must've known the way.

"By the way how many pictures of pokemon did you add to your collection?," Gloria asked glancing at her twin.

"Um." He made a thoughtful face. "Well let's see. Nessa's Aquarium has at least one of every water type pokemon...and with how many nature preserves I've stayed...and with the hundreds of tourists with different regions pokemon....and trading pictures with fellow photographers from different regions at the International Photographers Expo..........Six hundred thirty four different pokemon!"

There was silence for a moment.

"........WHAT?!"

The four of you made it down the street and over to the six story building that certainly looked like a fancy hotel. Along the way the children explained that the Chairman had not only endorsed as well but apparently paid the hotel in advance to allow all the trainers to stay the night before the actual ceremony took place the next day and the challengers were officially given the go ahead to start their journey. But a small surprise awaited the four of you yet in the hotel when you walked in and you looked around. There was a couple potted plants, two pairs of stairs leading up to another level with furniture, a sign in desk, and an elevator like a regular hotel but the thing your eyes were drawn to was the golden statue. It reminded you of those knights in ancient fairy tales. The golden man stood with his sword held up to the sky, a gleamering shield on his other arm in defense, and his face one of determination to not fail. Quite the craftsman ship. And standing right in front of it with a small yamper at her feet was-

"SONIA!" Gloria loudly greeted startling the poor lady and making her turn around.

Upon seeing who it was she sighed and smiled. "Oh it's just you guys. You gave me quite the jump scare there. But it looks like you both got yourselves registered." She nodded to the arm bands before her gaze drifted to Victor as she blinked. "....Oh. Hiya! I don't think we've met."

"This is my brother, Victor. He's gonna be with Hop for a while. But what are you doing here? I thought you were going out to study."

"Yeah." Hop chimed in. "What are you doing at our hotel?"

"Oh!" She shifted the many shopping bags in her arms. Guess she did go shopping while here after all. "I'm researching the mysterious pokemon that are said to be in the Slumbering Weild. I reckon if I look into some of Galar's lengends I might figure something out. Care to join me?" She gestured to the statue. "You're here already anyways."

"SURE! It'd be fun!" She turned to you."Hey. Y/n new to Galar. I don't think she even knows the legends."

"That's perfect then! While you're doing that, Im gonna go stand in that long like up there and secure a spot for us ok?"

"But I-" You raised a hand as theVictor turned and walked away leaving you with sonia and the other two...and you sighed. "I don't think I was that way when I was fourteen."

Sonia chuckled. "We were all like that at one point or another. But would you like to hear one of the legends? A newbie to Galar like you might enjoy some foriegn tales."

"I'd like to hear too!"

You stared at her for a moment before shrugging. "Why not? I was just cast out from the little tribe."

She chuckled even more before she turned towards the statue. "Alright then. I'm sure you've seen the statue then.''

"Yeah." You rose a brow looking back up to the handsome man's golden face. "Who is he anyways?"

"It's a statue of the hero who once saved the Galar Region. I can run through the legend right quite if you fancy?" You nodded and that was all she needed to continue. "Long ago a great black storm covered the Galar Region." She gazed back to the statue. "People called it 'The Darkest Day'. The land was assaulted by gigantic pokemon but they were defeated by a single young hero bearing a sword and shield. This statue here is meant to depict the young hero of that legend. We still don't understand what kind of sword and shield the hero actually had. And what this 'black storm' is supposed to be is just another mystery. Whatever it was, it blotted all the skies across Galar. I suppse that tracks with it being 'the Darkest Day' but still..."

Hop blinked blinking at the golden statue's face and scratching his head. "Huh...I suppose that hero must've been about as strong as Lee then. Looks like you're going to have your hands full with plenty research though, Sonia. Black storms and swords and shields and all..."

"You'll be alright Sonia!"

She chuckled. "Heh. Thanks. I'll muddle through somehow. Don't you worry." She shook her head. "But legends aside. You three are staying at the hotel tonight though, right? Shouldn't you check in?"

"Probably so. Victor's holding our place in line." With a smiled similar to Leon he smiled widely at her. "And we'll look out for you too, Sonia! If we hear anything about any hero or whatnot we'll tell you!" Gloria nodded with a hum.

Sonia bowed her head in thanks to the two. "Thanks so much. Even if you don't find anything the thought's appreciated." As the kids said good byes and walked around her to a stair case you paused as she lifted her head and gazed at you. "I hope you enjoyed my little tale."

You smiled and nodded. "Yes. It was really entertaining. Thanks for telling me."

She nodded. "And thanks for taggin' along with the kids this far. I know we're practically strangers but there's just....I don't know....really good aura about you." You chuckled. You? Really good aura? That certainly was a first. "I'm sure Lee appreciates it too. He's always so worried about Hop. He practically raised him after all-" All of a sudden it was like a switch flipped off in her mind and her happy smile went to a sudden shocked face. "Oh no. I didn't mean to mention that. Please forget I even said that."

Your brow rose confus- "Y/N! C'MON! We got our room key already!"

You looked up to Gloria's call before back to Sonia before waving good bye and leaving. Wondering what the heck that was all about. Oh well. You had bigger things to worry about- Like the the fact that the three kids had gotten into a fight with four punk rockers!! You had just walked up the stairs and instantly was face to face with the three teenagers up in the faces of four people who dressed in black and red from their face paint to their outfits shouting something about they're going to cheer someone on and no one could stop them. You couldn't tell between the seven people shouting at one another and the front desk clerk trying to calm them down. THANK GOODNESS FOR THE YOUNG GIRL WHO STOPPED IT ALL!! She walked up the stairs and stopped next to your shocked state. A look of shock coming over her own face for a moment before she sighed and that snapped you out of your trance long enough for you to look at her. She was a teenager same around the same age as the other children with black hair tied back in two ponytails by red ribbon, a pink dress, with a black leather jacket and boots.

"What are you lot doin' here?" She had asked in what sounded what a brittish accent but you were sure Britain wasn't a thing in this world. Instantly the fighting stopped from the punk rockers as the they looked to her shocked like a couple toddlers caught taking candy. One shouted what you assumed was her name. Marnie you thought? As they stuttered out excuses. "I know you all are terribly curious 'bout the other gym challengers, but you gotta show a bit of restraint." Well it was nice of her to settle them down before she apologized. "Sorry 'bout them. They're just a bunch of my fans. Call themselves Team Yell and follow me around. cheerin' for me. I think they've let it all go to their heads a bit.....Come on you lot. Back home with you now!" She sighed as they guiltily slunk away past you down the stairs. "They're just so caught up with wantin' to support me and all that they tend to get a bit shirty with other Gym Challengers. Sorry if they caused you any trouble."

With that she simply walked past the lot of you, got her room key, and just walked away like it never even happened. You were still in a bit of shock but shook it off in favor of getting to the room you'd be bunking in with Gloria and have a small break from today. The inner workings weren't too different from the hotels you've been to before and was more than eager to plop yourself down and have a rest. The rest of the afternoon was a blur. At one point all three kids were sitting around the bed helping sort through Victor's collection of photos and helping Gloria glue in quite a lot of them into that small book of theirs. Hop mentioned about calling room service and Gloria suggested the four of you order each a different curry to help her fill in a bit of her curry challenge book as well. Which you had no problem against. It was free room service and you were interested in trying some of this world's curry since it was supposed to be world famous as Sonia told you. You ended up randomly chosing Sweet Curry as someone phoned it to the front desk and waited for it too arrive. It was pretty good. But it wasn't too different from Mrs. G's curry you had tasted other than the sauce on the rice tasted a mildy hot enough to be sweet. Of course that didn't stop Gloria was taking your curry's picture along with Hop's that had a massive egg in what was call a bitter boiled egg curry, Gloria's was a dry smoked tail curry(you hoped that wasn't an actual tail, and you think Victor's was leek curry with some kind of veggies decorating the plate. You ended up letting your sobble finish what food was leftover after you ate and soon you two found yourselves bidding the two boys good night and went to finally rest for the night. After getting a quick shower you decided it was best to go to bed since the actual Ceremony was tomorrow. Gloria had gotten the bed and you borrowed the sleeping bag Mrs. G had given Gloria. As the darkness slowly consumed your vision as your eyelids drooped you vauguly regstered your sobble climbing on one of the shelves.

.........

CRASH!!

Both of you were startled away in the dark from a giant crash and a couple panicked chirps before you were tackled by an invisible spooked sobble burrowing under your arm as Gloria turned on the lamp to reveal the pokemon's mess.

"Y/n! Your sobble knocked over the shelf!"

"Uuuuuuhhhhh!!!"

#piers x reader #pokemon piers x reader #pokemon shield #pokemon sword #pokemon piers #reader x piers #pokemon swsh #pokemon sword and shield #Reader

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lesbiancarat · 3 years ago

Note

Haha its fine! Im book anon for a reason so take all the time you need! Before I start, I wanna apologize for the possible asks you got about the merch and hybe in general. I didn't intend to cause stress and need to be careful bdjahdsj so slap me with a fish!

Onto the ask! But agreed, I mean before the big kpop boom we saw, this was very common. Build a decent fanbase and then move to Japan or China. (Of course sometimes you see INSTANT movement in other countries but that depends on the company and such but you know what I mean) but since we do have the more global kpop era, we may see more companies do America which isn't a bad thing. It makes sense buisness wise so they will jump on it after debut or something. Thus I don't see it a bad thing for kpop groups to promote in America because hey, if in Korea they do sell western artist music who also tour there, kpop groups can also do the same ya know?

Now onto the hybe comment, I will try not to speak too much on it so I will try to summarize. I think my theory is due with merch from their main artist, they think maybe it could work with svt which maybe could but svt has a different fanbase so throwing on random merch won't make fans really want to buy (not saying some won't which kudos to you! As a fan you are allowed to consume what you please except not be a bad apple about it) so thus like the infamous water bottles which was done for bts, they thought why not do it for svt because bts fans sold it out apparently for a 2nd wave of it being sold again. (Which to this day idk why someone in the hybe team thought this was smart. Like...this is just in bad taste imo) I do wanna agree that it appears that hybe doesn't seem to have a proper art team for svt because while sometimes wild, I do know for their main artist they do have thoughtful merch based around say an album concept I recall. Kf course they will make mistakes i.e. the water bottles. I do wish it can improve because even though it is capitalism, I think fans do want decent merch. We have seen interesting ideas like svt making their own magazine and selling it lol. Of course it is hard to please because some fans want subtle merch ideas while others don't mind the vibrant pastel colors we got or some want wild ideas like svt figurines or something. Overall I hope I didn't drag this too much as I just wanted to respond back to you, I agree with many points you said so yeah cx I say let's also wait as this is barely what, a year or even less of svt being under hybe properly. Especially when hybe had its rebranding and expanding so things are being changed, I know fans are worried about this which is valid but let's not panic just yet. Let's come back in a year to this and see what has improved and what hasn't. (OK but peldis sold the boys rings!? :o since when!? I haven't heard of this actually, when did this happen if I may ask?)

Oof yeah sadly with streaming, many view "oh you don't stream it means you aren't a fan" when isn't the case (which is why I personally don't like when certain companies also do "listening parties" which seems a bit ???) I do remember this popped up big in 2017 but many fans called it out so it quiet down a bit. Like we didn't see it so often where fans were causing problems over it so idk why this returned nor what the cause of it was.

But thank you!! It really was a nice closing chapter, I think when I have personal stuff settled I will try maybe get a new bunny? And oohh congrats on the album! (Note to hybe or pledis. Please make the us store a more common thing, it makes things so much easier! Am happy it was at your place quick so kudos to the us store. Oohh wonderful choices! I think for many fans anyone or heaven's cloud seems to be the popular picks? For me, I may have to say game boi or heaven's cloud as well! Those songs make me just so happy? Like game boy is just so creative with the way it was made. As a video game nerd, it is perfection. I could make an essay about this song lol and heaven's cloud is just...wow. I feel so at ease with the song, comfortable and soothed. Like you are on a cloud lol. Also that is totally fine! Rtl was a grower for me (I blame the mv, it didn't do the song jusitice) but it is a bop and can't stop humming the chorus at random moments. Overall a great summer album. Just imagine any of these songs performed live ndjansns

lol don't feel too bad about it! honestly they weren't that bad + i can always delete asks if i really don't want to answer them, i just always get a bit paranoid that things will get out of hand so i may end up getting more serious in those situations OTL

and yeah i agree! i don't think it's a bad thing for groups to promote in the US, as you said, it's similar to groups expanding their fanbase by promoting in china or Japan or other asian counties, it makes sense from a business standpoint and there's nothing wrong with promoting in different countries. i just wish that some kpop stans understood that western and/or global popularity is a bonus and not a requirement for success. while they do have a global appeal, at the end of the day kpop's main audience is korea, and groups that achieve popularity in Korea have already achieved what they set out to do. but there's unfortunately a decent chunk of international fans that prioritize western popularity over anything and can't fathom that a group can be successful without being popular in the US. or they just talk as if their groups western achievements are more valuable than their Korean ones and to me that starts to look like xenophobia... (sorry if I'm repeating anything i said before in regards to this, i feel like i am but I'm too lazy to go back and check OTL)

since you sent this ask hybe released the caratland merch which was actually really nice, and today they also announced that there will be birthday merch for cheol (and presumably all members from here on out). we don't know what the bday merch is yet but some carats are already a bit miffed that hybe is even thinking to capitalize off the boys' birthdays... i bring both of these up bc i feel like the caratland merch proves your point that hybe is capable of designing good and thoughtful merch, and honestly this does reassure me a bit. but on the other hand them trying to capitalize off the boys' birthdays also proves that they still don't fully understand carats wants and priorities as a fanbase. which, if the future of seventeens merch is gonna be quality merch with some shitty cash grabs in between, i can live with that. I'm not gonna like the shitty cash grabs and i think it would be in our best interest as a fandom to not go crazy buying those shitty cash grabs, because if we don't then hybe will hopefully stop wasting their time and put more effort into /quality/. but if we get quality merch for important events like concerts and fanmeetings, i can live with it. as you said too, it can take time for these things to change, and we should all recognize that. but at the same time merch specifically is market driven, so i don't think it's a bad thing if people like @ hybe on twt about any bad merch that comes out in order to drive that change dhfkfj

but also on a maybe more fun note in regards to the merch... with some carats being upset about the bday merch i was thinking about what hybe could do for merch instead that would fill the niche of being at intervals throughout the year that could still be limited time drops but that carats wouldn't be mad at them capitalizing on and then i was like duh! they could literally just make merch off of going seventeen! honestly I'm surprised they haven't yet. maybe not merch for every episode, but they could have a line of permanent gose merch w a basic logo or something and then release limited time merch themed around some of the more popular episodes at various points during the year. I'm actually kind of obsessed with this idea now and for once I'm like hybe/pledis please capitalize off of this!! dhfkgjg

they never actually sold them, but for seventeens 3rd anniversary, pledis planned to sell replicas of seventeens rings. after it was announced carats were understandably upset since the boys worked so hard for those. luckily pledis heard carats concerns and put out an apology and didn't manufacture them in the end. I'm glad that at least they listened to carats even though it would have been better if they had never considered the idea in the first place :(

oh yeah listening parties are definitely just another marketing technique to boost streams. i think like with a lot of marketing techniques, it just depends on the execution. imo if they're done well it can be a good way for fans to connect while listening to an artists music, which is mutually beneficial for the company, but i can totally see a situation where companies get greedy and push it too hard. i don't know anything about what happened with them back in the day, but if you're curious why SVT had listening parties leading up to your choice, they were set up by UMG, the American distributor that SVT worked with for this cb. in this case the listening parties weren't just for boosting streams, but also likely for UMG to gauge interest. SVT isn't officially signed to a US label yet, but UMG's data from the listening parties could be used to show US labels whether or not there's enough interest for them to be signed. which if that happens we'd almost definitely see a more permanent US shop!

ahh yes, once you're ready I'm sure it would be great to have another bunny companion 🥺

yes! heavens cloud and gam3 bo1 are both such feel good songs! my sister actually added heavens cloud to their Spotify after i made them listen to the album in the car dhfkf it's now one of 6 kpop songs they have saved (4 of which are SVT... my influence 💅 DHFJFH) I'm certain we'll see some of the songs from your choice at caratland this year, hopefully it's all of them but I'd especially like to see heavens cloud and wave 👀 I'm also still crossing my fingers for an i wish live performance bc i can't believe my favorite SVT b-side is one of the TWO tracks they haven't performed live not including the new album (the other one being network love, which i would also like to see live!)

#melia.ask #📖 anon #long post #it always takes me so long to answer these bc i am incapable of shutting up OTL

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bubbashawn · 5 years ago

Text

Perfect

author: This ask is from so so very long ago but I didn’t know how to write for pregnant!Y/N so I had to figure that one out lol. I did research on pregnancy and now I’m sure my mom had concerns.

synopsis: Shawn just wants to take care of you.

warnings: requested by anon. 1.3k of workaholic!pregnant!Y/N. It’s kinda angsty but ends fluffy because that’s just what I do and that’s just who I am. 😂

Everything hurt but you wouldn’t go home.

You had always been a workaholic and being eight months pregnant didn’t change anything much to your husband’s dissatisfaction. He told you no one would be upset if you took a maternity leave before you gave birth and if they did he would cover it, but you refused to sit around when all your limbs were able. That’s how you found yourself in another argument, same as the ones every other day, about taking some time at home.

“Honey, I just don’t understand why the hospital can’t switch your shifts for someone else? I’m sure your colleagues would be more than happ-”

“It’s not about that, Shawn!”

“Then what is it about? Seriously, Y/N!”

You were a nurse at Toronto Western and technically you should've started your maternity leave two weeks ago, but the idea of not working stressed you out.

Shawn has always been more than happy to pay for you on all fronts but you weren’t that kind of girl. You wanted to work for yourself and help pay for everything from taxes for your shared home in Pickering to paying the check at Monday dinners. You wouldn't let your husband pay for you even if you were carrying his baby.

“I don’t want to not work! I don’t want to feel helpless in the way of money! And I definitely don’t want to depend on you for that sort of thing!”

“Or anything,” your husband basically whispered, a sharp contrast to the yelling.

“What does that even mean?”

You hated to admit it but Shawn was right. Ever since you’d gotten pregnant you wanted to do everything yourself. It’s not like you didn’t trust him but you wanted the sense of control carrying a baby took away. You had told him that and he understood seeing he knew you better than you knew yourself.

“I just, Bub, I just need to be able to do things by myself.”

“But you don’t have to,” he looked at you for the first time that night, his eyes were rimmed with tears, “you are my wife and you are carrying our baby so let me be here with you. I’m here, okay? I know you’ve done things by yourself a lot because of the tours and my crazy schedule but I’m here now.”

“I don’t know how to let go.”

“Let go.”

It sounded stupid, Shawn just saying those words so you’d let go but they worked. He’d always been the one person who’d make you let go and that would never change.

“I’m sorry. I know I should’ve taken leave when I was supposed to but I’ve been so stressed and I threw it all into work.”

“Hey, honey?”

You hummed.

“I love you and I’m going to take care of you, eh?”

You hugged him as best you could. Shawn chuckled as your bulging stomach pressed into his body and your short arms could barely reach around his neck. This was everything you needed, just the tranquil silence of hugging your husband. As you finally let go the ache in your feet came back and the nauseating pain in your head started pushing against you but you let it this time.

“Bubba,” he hummed against your neck, “I’m really nauseous and my feet are tired. Can we go to sleep?”

“Mmm, nope.”

“Shawn, please. I actually can’t stay upright mu-”

“You need to take your vitamin B-6 supplements that I got you last week but still haven’t touched.”

That was true. Shawn had brought home all the pain relievers and at-home remedies he could find but you had brushed it off saying you were fine.

Your husband guided you into the kitchen making sure you were comfortable as he sat you down at the island. He kissed your forehead before going into the cabinet above the fridge and bringing over your supplements and a half full glass of water.

“Slow sips, yeah? If you drink too fast you’ll make it worse.”

You hummed in agreement and Shawn squeezed your hand before disappearing up the stairs. You followed his orders taking slow, small sips and eventually swallowing the pill. You had just shifted from your seat to put the glass in the dishwasher and the bottle back above the fridge when your husband snatched both items from your hand.

“Bub, I could’ve done that.”

“If you bend over or try to reach too high your blood will rush to your head.”

“When did you become an expert?”

He bashfully looked away, suddenly finding his tattooed hand much more interesting than your confused face.

“Itookadadclass,” he spoke so fast you didn’t process the words.

“Shawn?”

“I took a dad class,” he smiled shyly at your shocked features, “I’ve been going for the past couple weeks. I’m not writing a new album because then I’ll have to go on tour and I’m not leaving you alone with our baby. So, instead I used my newfound free time to go to a dad class.”

You couldn’t help but smile at your husband. It didn’t matter that you shut him out, Shawn still did everything in his power to make sure he was prepared for the day you let him in. You felt guilty tears start forming in your waterline.

“Bubba,” his thumbs were stroking your tears away, “I’m sorry for not letting you in. You’ve been nothing but perfect to me and I just keep pushing you away.”

“Honey, hey, I chose to do this, alright? I knew you’d want to do this alone but I wasn’t about to let you. So, it’s all in the past, eh? I have a bath running upstairs and then we’ll go to sleep.”

Sure enough, Shawn guided you into the bathroom pulling your scrubs from your swollen skin before undressing himself and slipping into the warm water.

“C’mere,” he made grabby gestures at your big belly, “relax, okay?”

And you did. For the first time in over eight months you felt completely relaxed. Your husband massaged your hips and slid calming strokes up and down your thighs, his silver wedding band leaving a trail of happy goosebumps. Your head laid back against his trained chest as his hands moved up around your belly.

“Shawn?”

“Yes, Baby?”

“Will you sing to me?”

He hesitated and you knew exactly why. About thirteen weeks into your pregnancy you had felt the first kick. According to your doctor, it was earlier than the average who don’t feel any movement until they’re sixteen to twenty five weeks in. It had been because of Shawn.

The two of you had been curled up on his white couch back at his old condo, your laptop sat on his thighs with Zillow pulled up. Shawn and you were looking for your first real home in Pickering. Some people said it was late in their marriage to buy a house but it made sense because your husband hadn’t really settled down yet, still touring the world every other year. His hand had been resting on your bump when he started singing a John Mayer song and the little baby kicked right into his hand.

Shawn never stopped singing around your belly until you were whining about being too sore from all the movement. He kissed you and apologized but didn’t stop singing to your baby whenever he had the chance,

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“It won’t, I promise I’ll tell you to stop if it does.”

With a kiss to your cheek he started singing, stopping to giggle as the baby kicked along to the beat. You two stayed there until the water was cold. You had completely forgotten about your cramps.

He pulled an oversized shirt over your head, an outfit you lived in when you were home, before lightly dragging you to your shared bed. You laid on your side, your belly on top of his abdomen, and your chin tucked happily under his.

You fell asleep happier than you had in awhile. Listening to Shawn’s whispers of love.

“You look absolutely perfect to me. I love you, Baby, oh and you too, honey.”

Well, almost whispers of love.

permanent taglist: @wholesomemendes @fallinallincurls @ashwarren32 @mendesficsxbombay @haute-shawn @turtoix @prncsnee @http-isabela

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holidaywishes · 4 years ago

Text

i can’t carry this anymore

part twelve: i can’t carry this anymore

Summary: After Freddie goes back to Toronto, You are bombarded with questions and judgements from your family

Warning: mostly angst but some fluff as well

Author’s Note: Here is the angsty chapter, yay! I think I’ve only done angsty sections in this series but this chapter will be (almost) completely angst, with a touch of fluff to round it out, which either means it’s really long or really short. Since I haven’t written it yet, I can’t say yet. Also! I’ve been listening to this song nonstop and I love it. I wanted to put it into something but I didn’t really know how but then this idea of a death in the family came up and it seemed fitting. I hope you enjoy it! Stay Golden, Loves! ❤️

masterlist

the other masterlist

Song Credit: I Can’t Carry This Anymore -- Anson Seabra

You hated watching Freddie leave and that Vita had to see her parents fight but you were too stubborn to admit you were wrong.

“Why did you tell him to leave?” your mom asked

“Mom, please” you groaned

“Why did you let him leave?” Lauren added

“I. Have. To. Be. Here,” you explained, emphasizing each word bitingly, “I made a promise to everyone and I can’t just bail because he needs to get back to training”

“Baby,” your dad added softly, “it’s his job, he’s committed to it”

“But it’s not that simple, dad,” you sighed, “he never talked to me about this. I wake up and he’s telling me we have to leave. I get that he’s committed to his job and I love that about him but this is something that is happening with me and he shouldn’t just expect me to bail on it because he needs me to”

“Sometimes you need to compromise!” Lauren argued

“What do you know about any of it, Laur?”

“Hey now,” your mom tried, “don’t talk like that”

“No, I’m serious. I’m really curious, mom,” you continued, talking about your sister as if she weren’t there, “She’s never had to compromise with anyone. Ever. Her relationships have always been easy!”

“THAT’S NOT TRUE!” Lauren yelled

“Girls...” your dad tried

“All relationships need work, including mine. All relationships need to have some kind of compromise--”

“I DO COMPROMISE!” You interrupted, “the father of my child is gone days, weeks at a time. I didn’t get to have a honeymoon because the hockey season started. I’ve spent more time talking about the Stanley Cup than I have about birthday parties and engagement parties and Christmases. He gave me a beautiful wedding and a beautiful daughter and he loves me every day and I love him every day but this was one thing, one thing that I needed him to compromise on and he wouldn’t”

“Because of his job!” Lauren repeated

“IT DOESN’T MATTER, LAUREN!” You yelled back, “this is my grandparents funeral. It doesn’t just end when they’re cremated or when their ashes are spread where they wanted, it doesn’t end for us the way it ends for everyone else. He should’ve understood that!”

“HE WANTED TO BE HOME WITH YOU SO YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO STRESS OVER DUMB SHIT!” she shouted at you, the two of you standing up to face each other as close as you could before your parents pulled you apart

“DUMB SHIT?! DUMB SHIT?!” you continued, fighting your fathers attempts to pull you away from your sister, “DUMB SHIT LIKE HELPING OUR PARENTS CLEAR OUT OUR GRANDPARENTS HOUSE? DUMB SHIT LIKE BEING A GOOD DAUGHTER? DUMB SHIT LIKE ACTUALLY GIVING A SHIT ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO THIS PLACE?”

“YOU’RE NEVER GONNA LIVE HERE! SO WHY DO YOU CARE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO THIS PLACE?!”

“THEY WERE MY GRANDPARENTS, LAUREN! THIS IS WHERE THEY LIVED! THAT’S WHY!”

“YOU HAVE A LIFE SOMEWHERE ELSE! WITH OTHER PEOPLE!”

“THAT DOESN’T MEAN I DON’T HAVE THIS LIFE TOO!”

“YES IT DOES! YOU’VE STARTED YOUR LIFE SOMEWHERE ELSE, YOU DON’T NEED ALL OF THIS!” You heard Vita begin to cry and you wanted to comfort her but your sisters words were still flying at you to a point where you couldn’t stop yourself from yelling at her

“WHY DO YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE SO BADLY? WHAT DO YOU GET FROM ME HOPPING ON A PLANE?”

“I J--”

“ENOUGH!” Your dad finally yelled so the two of you would stop, “You’re both being ridiculous! (Y/N), we appreciate that you want to stay here but Lauren is right, your life is with Freddie and Vita in Toronto,” Vita was still crying but it wasn’t as intense as it was before, probably due to your mom rocking her back and forth and shielding her ears from the yelling, “and Lauren, stop yelling at your sister. I know your intentions are good but you have no idea what she’s going through so stop trying to get under her skin”

“PAPA IT’S NOT MY FAULT, ALL I WAS--”

“I DON’T CARE, LAUREN!” He finally snapped, his face turning bright red and his posture becoming imposing, “YOU’RE THE OLDER SISTER, ACT LIKE IT OR GET THE HELL OUT!” Everything was silent for a while before your sister eventually left the room and you were left to pick up the pieces

“I’m sorry, Papa...” you said quietly

“You should go home, Liebling” he confessed

“Why is everyone trying to get rid of me?”

“We’re not trying to get rid of you, love,” your mom added, handing Vita to you before kissing your head, “we love you but so does Freddie. You two should be together”

“Yeah, he should’ve stayed--”

“We’re not getting into this again” your dad interrupted

“What your father means is that Vita should have both of her parents with her in a stress free environment. Running around trying to clean up a dusty old house so far away from home isn’t what your new family needs right now”

“But Mama,” you tried, “I can’t just leave. I can’t just let all of you... say goodbye to them without me”

“Is that what this is about?” your mom asked and you nodded, a small tear escaping your eye, “baby, we’re not saying goodbye without you. We’ve all said our goodbyes. This stuff here, it’s just stuff. It’s not them.”

“But it’s all their memories. Their first date, their first fight, their wedding album, your baby pictures,” you rambled, gesturing to your mom, “their favourite shows and favourite clothes. Oma’s old jewelry that she didn’t want to ruin so she would keep in a box, Opa’s old suits that he never had a reason to wear anymore or his dress blues that he kept from the Navy.”

“Baby girl,” your dad cooed, wrapping his arm around your shoulders and guiding you to the bench in the kitchen, “your Oma and Opa lived a very full life. They had things to keep them comfortable and content but even they would agree, that these things are just things. Just stuff, like Mama said, if you want some of it to remember them, we can put them aside for you and bring them back or send them to you. But they are not this stuff. The memories are not in some dusty old suit or tattered quilt, the memories are in here,” he tapped the top of your head and you giggled, “locked away safe where you can always get to them”

“And they’ll never fade” your mom added

“That’s right,” your dad smiled and you did in return, “they would want you to make new memories with your husband and let the stuff just be stuff. Miss them, love them, but don’t worry about all the stuff.”

“Stop saying stuff,” you laughed, “oh papa.. I know it’s all things and I know that I’ll have the memories forever but it’s not just about that... It’s about Freddie wanting to leave so soon after the funeral, without even talking to me. All so he can go back to training camp for another Hockey season. It’s never about him compromising in the smallest way. I needed him here and he needed to be there... I will always come second”

“That’s not true,” your mom said, “his job is important but you are his life. Both of you. Everything he does, he does for you and your little girl. Sometimes it sucks and sometimes it doesn’t seem like he’s listening to you or compromising for you but he is. Trust me, he talks about you two all the time and says he hates that he has to be away but he wants to give you the best”

“I just want him around and sometimes it feels like the league is more important...” You shook your head, kissing the top of Vita’s head to find some kind of comfort in how you were feeling before you went to find your sister

“Laur?” you whispered from around the corner

“What?” she snapped

“I just wanted to apologize,” you said, leading her to turn and face you, “I shouldn’t have yelled like that. I know you mean well but I was -- it doesn’t matter. I’m sorry”

“I’m sorry, too,” she admitted, “I know how much you love him and how important it is to spend time with them. I guess I just thought that you’d want to spend as much time with him as you could.”

“I do,” you sighed, “I just... also wanted to be here. With everyone. To say goodbye to this place, these memories, these things... I didn’t want to come back one day and pass this house and realize that it’s completely different. That whoever buys it just buys it to flip it. It’s an old house and people do that with old houses you know? I just wanted one last memory here since I haven’t been here since we were kids...”

“I get that” she smiled

“But it doesn’t matter...” you continued, “I know that something is going to happen to this place, unless someone in the family buys it and keeps it exactly the same. It’s going to change because it has to. Because they’re gone... God, I can’t believe they’re gone.“ You sighed, dropping your head to your hands, “I can’t believe we’ll never hear Opa’s snort when he laughs anymore”

“Or the way Oma had to wake him up every time he fell asleep with his plate on his stomach” she laughed

“Or the way they would hold hands anytime they walked together”

“I remember when we were kids, they were babysitting us and we caught them kissing in the kitchen after Oma was finished baking cookies”

“I remember that, she had dough on her cheek and he said he was helping her” the two of you giggled at the memories

“I miss them already”

“Me too” you said quietly

“They loved us,” Lauren added, “but they loved you the most.”

“They did not” you scoffed

“No, seriously. They told me,” you laughed but she continued, “they loved me, they never denied that, but they said that you had a kindness to you that they’d never experienced before. They so admired it”

“I got it from them”

“I know,” she laughed, “but I just wanted you to know that you were the favourite.”

“Oh, Lauren....” you sighed, bouncing your daughter on your knee, “I gotta go home”

“Yes you do” she smirked

“Do you think I screwed everything up?” you winced

“Yes.” She joked and you scoffed in response, “no, you didn’t screw things up. But you do need to be there for him”

“Fine...” you laughed before standing up and making your way upstairs to pack yours and Vita’s things. It appeared that your family had already ordered an Uber for you because they were waiting outside to say goodbye.

“We love you” your dad said, hugging you tightly as the driver grabbed your bags to put them in the trunk

“Tell Freddie we love him too” your mom added

“And don’t forget to tell him you’re sorry.” You laughed before hugging your sister and hopping in the car to head to the airport; eager to get back to Freddie and make things right.

Freddie’s P.O.V

You got back to the house and dropped your bags before letting out a sigh. You weren’t sure what would happen when (Y/N) got back but you hoped a lot of time wouldn’t pass before she appeared at the door. Until then, you had to continue with your daily life; that meant waking up early the next morning and going to practice

“HEY FRED!” Willy called out to you, “wait up!”

“What’s up Willy?” you asked as you both walked to the ice

“I heard about (Y/N)’s grandparents,” he started, “I’m sorry.”

“Thanks, bud. She’s still in Vienna for a bit but I’ll let her know you were thinking about her.” He patted you on the back before skating away from you and, needless to say, you couldn’t concentrate and you were quick to run home. Hoping that she would be there when you got there, “(Y/N)?!” You called out as soon as you walked in the door but not hearing a response, forcing you to collapse onto the couch

“Freddie?” her voice rang through the room and to your ear, “baby?”

“You’re here!” you exclaimed, “God, I hoped you’d be here.” You ran to hug her and she giggled as you spun her around

“I’m sorry.. for yelling and for everything,” she said, “I didn’t mean any of it”

“I know, elske” you said before kissing her face

“Fred.. Fred,” she laughed, “Fred! Hold on, we need to talk about this”

“What?” you asked and she stepped back

“I hate that you left that you didn’t want to compromise on this... I know Hockey is important, I know it’s your job but I needed you to be with me, even if it meant not being here. In Toronto.”

“I know,” you admitted, “but I did need to be here. Can you understand that?” She scoffed in response, pushing away your arms and walking toward the couch

“Sometimes, Fred, it feels like it’s all up to me. To carry everything. To carry us, this relationship, this marriage. I can understand a lot, I can put up with a lot but I’m trying to stay strong for my daughter, for you, and I don’t know how much more I can push myself before I break. I need you to put in as much effort as I seem to be. I lost two of my favourite people in the world and I couldn’t re-live their memories because I had to come back here. To deal with this.” She gestured between the two of you while you just dropped your head, “I fought with my sister and made Vita cry because I was tired of compromising. I just.. I’m scared that I’ll have to be this person forever, the one who waits for you to come home. Who drops everything even when things are going well because your career needs me to. I can’t carry this anymore, I can’t be the only one doing the giving in this relationship. I need you carry us. I need you to carry me sometimes, too, okay?”

“Of course,” you said, hugging her close and tucking your face in her neck, “I’m sorry that you feel like you have to carry all of this. I want you to drop your stuff on me, okay? Let me take your stress, let me carry you. Let me do all the things that you don’t want to do.” She giggled at your words before she lifted your chin so she could look at you

“I guess I didn’t realize how upset I was about Oma and Opa. I mean I knew I was sad, I knew I was grieving but I think I was just holding onto all of it because I wanted to be strong for everybody, I didn’t want to crumble and cry because I knew I’d never stop if I started. So I started carrying all this pain and then I took it out on you,” she said quietly, placing her hand on the side of your face as she spoke, “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I’m sorry I was so selfish, I’m sorry I--” she interrupted you with a kiss and you tried your best not to break it, you hadn’t realized how much you’d missed kissing her until you finally had the chance again, but she needed to pull away

“I love you.” She stated simply and you kissed her nose quickly, reciprocating her words before capturing her lips in another kiss and, this time, you wouldn’t let her go.

#Frederik Andersen #Frederik Andersen imagine #Frederik Andersen fic #Frederik Andersen series #penultimate chapter #penultimate #Freddie Andersen #Freddie Andersen fic #Freddie Andersen imagine #Freddie Andersen series #masterlist #the other masterlist

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staczak91 · 4 years ago

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3 days before the Grammys and I gotta say I just LOVE Harry Styles!!! <3

I’m way past the age of tween fandom and fandom in general, but I just have to get my thoughts out about this wonderful musician and person. I’m 30 years old now and most things in the music industry don’t really excite me anymore. I had a major fling with Green Day in my teens and young adulthood, that I’m a little embarrassed about now. And over the years I’ve adored The Beatles, Nirvana, Taylor Swift and a whole host of other musicians (some that I shall not name out of embarrassment) but Harry Styles and his views on life and music just hit different.

I love his mantra to “treat people with kindness” and the fact he even made a campy but catchy song and music video to go along with that beautiful view on life. I love the feminine clothing he’s proud to wear and that he doesn’t hide his sexuality, even if nobody knows what the hell it is. I love the songs like “Watermelon Sugar” and “Sign of the Times” and “Lights Up” and how beautifully written and how much thought and care is put into every second. Really, like most of the world now, I’ve fallen head over heels for Harry Styles.

When the news broke that he was dating Olivia Wilde, my friend texted me an apology and my sister told me in person she was very sorry that he had found someone else. I was a little embarrassed, even though I knew they were joking with me. But, yeah, I haven’t had a REAL celebrity crush in a long time. It’s been awhile. But this just feels right. I’m buying magazines about him now, watching the Grammy’s just for him, and celebrating his birthday, even if it was only to listen to a vinyl (Fine Line) while applying to jobs.

And speaking of Fine Line and HS1, what incredible albums both of them are. The only song I can say I don’t like by Harry is “Woman” (and I can’t even say I hate that song), but the rest floored me. I heard “Sign of the Times” on the radio and liked it when it first was released in 2017 but never took the time to listen to his full debut sadly until March 2020 when I listened to it ands Fine Line for the first time. And what a mistake that was! I was really missing out on something incredible and music that has inspired me once again.

Even though I took awhile to finally listen to Harry, having never been a One Direction fan, I don’t regret how it happened. It was right before the pandemic when everything went downhill and a lot of things changed for me. The music has helped keep me grounded in a lot of ways, and just watching live performances of the songs has got me excited about concerts again. (I’m hopefully seeing him in October, if the event doesn’t get cancelled or postponed.) The only other musician to garner this much excitement in me in recent years is Taylor Swift. But she’s a whole different ballgame and a post for another day.

I guess I’m writing this post because I want to see if there are any crazy Harry Styles fans out there like myself, new fans that were never into One Direction (although I have a soft spot for them now because of my love for Harry), and who might be a little older (30′s) like myself. And also to just get the love out there for this musician finally off my chest. He is an old soul to me, and I love how retro his music is now, and how he’s just doing what he wants, regardless of music industry numbers. I really think this authenticity is why a lot of people are drawn to him now.

I hope I don’t become an obsessive, neurotic fan, but I really love what Harry has given me this past year: some hope, and a new love of music again that I had lost in past years and now gained back. The beauty of “Lights Up” and finding yourself, sexuality or otherwise. The melancholy of “Ever Since New York,” and leaving places behind, which might be my favorite of his songs so far. The upbeat fun of “Watermelon Sugar.” The confusing sexuality of “She.” The craziness of “Kiwi.” There are so many other songs to name (really his whole discography so far plus covers), but then I’d be here all day.

Harry Styles: musician, actor, boy bander, rock star, model, the list goes on. And always ready to treat people with kindness. I’m so happy I stumbled on finding this musician a year ago an he really has changed my life and made me more comfortable in my own skin. Thank you, Harry! I hope you rock the Grammy’s on Sunday and can’t wait to see you perform and win. From one in a million fans to the coolest, nicest rock star ever: keep doing what you do. It’s certainly brought a smile to this old soul’s face. <3

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eiennobeautyqueens · 4 years ago

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Namie and Mariah UTABAN translation

Utaban April 14, 2005. Amuro & Mariah Carey Nakai – the guys with the white hat Taka – the other guy Amuro – our beautiful queen that shall continue to sing and dance Mariah Carey – the other female in this video. -just to let you guys know, I sorta combined Mariah and translator together in the translations…- Nakai – oh , here it comes! Taka – is everthing going to be okay? Nakai – oh, we can see the legs! Taka –woa, it’s so skinny. Nakai – yea, it is really skinny! I wonder of this person is skinnier than how it looks on the tv? (just in case you guys didn’t know, on tv, ppl look skinnier than real life) Okay then, let’s introduce our guest today, Mariah Carey!! The kitty is here….. [Amuro Namie comes in] Taka – Amuro-chan? Nakai –yea….it’s Amuro-chan. AMURO CHAN!! Amuro – Hello. Taka – hello….? Amuro – I’m here, because I was invited….?? Nakai – ‘WHAT? It’s Amuro-chan!’ I can’t even say that! Taka – Amuro-chan? Amuro –well, I don’t know how to react to this surprise guest show. Ahaha. Nakai –we apologize that you have to be with us for this stupid surprise show. Amuro – yea…don’t worry though. Nakai – Anyhow, amuro-chan… Taka – Did you know that Mariah Carey will be appearing on this show today? Amuro –yes, I heard about it.. Taka – Do you know Mariah Carey? Amuro – yes, I do know her. Taka – we’re not too strong, so please listen to us. Nakai – she sings like this right? [Nakai starts singing real horribly] Taka –what type of song is that??? Nakai – ummm.. what was it?? Amuro – the Christmas song? Nakai –yea, it’s Christmas song. That’s the only song I know by Mariah Carey. Amuro –oh but Nakai-san, you should ask her how she does her voice training! Nakai –what? Are you making fun of me? Amuro – oh no!! I thought it would be helpful. Nakai – It’s not helping at all. It’s too late for me to get a voice training. OKAY! Let’s really introduce our guest toayd….. Amuro – what? Huh? Taka – Are you okay, Hello Kitty? [Nakai laughing] Amuro – Are you okay? Taka – oh, there goes hello kitty. Nakai – you know, we were suppose to start this show at 7:00, but Mariah refused to come out because she didn’t like her outfit… Ever since that incident she’s been in her room…. Amuro – really? Nakai – I asked when we’re going to start, but they were like, ‘wait!’ [Amuro laughing] Nakai – I guess she’s feeling better now? Taka – She was pretty irritated. Nakai – so Amuro-chan, good luck to you. Amuro – oh my my my, let’s just let Kitty do all the job….I heard that as soon as Mariah sees Kitty, she becomes really happy. Taka –what? Nakai – she’s coming? Taka – it was so weird! There were so many ppl around Mariah Carey, and these two African-american guys accidentally entered Nakai’s room! It was so scary!! Amuro – please don’t get her mad. Amuro & Taka – She sounds so intimidating! Nakai – oh, here she comes. OH! This one looks real! Amuro – wow, here she comes. Taka –wow!!! [Says this right after the camera reveals the boobs] Nakai – this doesn’t sound like UTABAN. Are you sure we are allowed to invite her!! Nakai – okay, let’s introduce our guest once again, Mariah Carey! [Mariah walks in with the kitty] Mariah – thank you!! HI!! Nakai – HI! Konichiwa, this way please. Amuro – HI. Mariah – hello. Nakai – Amuro-chan, sorry about that!! Hey Amuro-chan, say this to Mariah, ‘HEY! You stole my chair!!’ Amuro – please don’t say anything like that! She might get mad! Mariah –do you want your seat back? Amuro – I’ll be fine. Nakai – you should’ve yelled at her to get back your seat back, darn. Amuro – gosh, you are bad! Translator – umm.. did she do anything bad? Nakai – no, she’s perfectly fine, right Amuro-chan? Amuro – yes! Of course! Nakai – okay then, well, in this utaban we have a special guest tonight. We just saw you walking in with Kitty. Do you like Kitty? Mariah – I love kitty. Taka – Oh, also Ms. Amuro Namie have some questions that she wants to ask. [here, Taka is saying this on purpost to put some spotlight on Amuro in front of Mariah] Taka –she’s the #1 aritist in japan. [woa! I am so happy that he said that Amuro is #1 artist in japan!] [Amuro coughs] Amuro – umm. Nakai-san have some several questions to ask about the concert that was performed by Mariah. [everyone’s laughing] Mariah – why are we all laughing? I need a translator. Nakai – Amuro-chan, which song do you like the most from Mariah’s songs? Amuro – I like most of her songs. Mariah –Thank you. Amuro – when I saw you in the PV with all the dancers, you were really awesome and sexy. Mariah -AWWW, thank you. Nakai – Taka is the #1 Japanese comedian. [Mariah claps] Taka – Thank you !! [laughs] Taka – Nakai is also the #1 comedian in Japan. Mariah – really? Nakai – I’m Japanese #1 singer. Mariah – oh, so you’re Japanese #1 singer!? Nakai – DO MI SO!! Mariah – fantastic! [laughs] Nakai – Okay, the hello kitty will now bring in a photo. Let’s see what is on the picture. [Kitty walks in] Nakai – oh, you changed ! okay, here’s the picture. What is this picture? Mariah – Private Plane? Nakai – is this yours!??? Did you ride on this plane to come to japan? Mariah – this? Yea. Nakai – you bought this? Mariah – it was a gift. Nakai –what! From who? Mariah - *sigh* It’s a secret. Nakai –what! A secret! Gosh! Tell us! Mariah –we’ll talk after the show. Nakai – what? Oh, so you are going to tell us. Be more clear! Amuro – wow, Nakai-san. I’m impressed. Nakai – you’re impressed? What did I do? I think you’re in love with me. Amuro – oh no, that’s definitely not it. Nakai – you answered that question too early! Mariah – Do you guys want to go somewhere together with my private plane? Nakai – will you take us? Mariah – where do you want to go? Nakai – Mishima. [there’s an island called mishima in japan] Mariah – un huh..yes? Nakai – It is much much easier to go by the train. There’s no place for the plane to land. Mariah – okay then, we can go to GUAM? Nakai – will you take us on your private plane? [Mariah nods her head] Mariah – we’ll all go…and hello kitty. Nakai – you really want to go with hello kitty, not us. Right? Mariah – no, all of you. Taka – where is your plane at right now? At Narita air port? Mariah – I don’t know, they keep it somewhere. Taka & Nakai – wow.. Nakai – wait, aren’t you going to Guam, Taka-san? Taka – yea. Nakai – why don’t you just borrow this plane? Since you’re going tomorrow. Mariah – you’re really going tomorrow? Taka – would you lend me your private plane tomorrow? Mariah – yea, if I can go. Nakai – don’t’ worry he’ll give it back to you. Taka – I am going to Guam tomorrow with Mariah Carey. Mariah – exactly! Sounds good. Nakai – okay then, let’s go on to our next part. ‘What we really want to know about our divas;’ [Nakai gets up and get pushed by some guy] Nakai – ouch!! What the hell!! Who just pushed me on the floor! [Nakai sees who pushed him and sees that the guy looks angry too] Nakai – I mean…sorry about that. Taka – ummm.. Mariah doesn’t seem to understand what’s going on.. Mariah –no, I don’t , but that’s alright. Taka –okay, the first question is : ‘Would you still want to be a singer if you had to start your life from zero?’ Mariah – I pressed it, what happened? Nakai – oh, two of you said yes? Amuro –yes [Amuro and Mariah stares at eachother] Mariah –oh! Very good. Amuro – taka-san, please don’t embarrass me. Nakai – you said you wanted to ask her some questions! Amuro –later, okay? Nakai- oh I see, you don’t want to belong in our group. Amuro – what are you talking about, I’m in the same group as you guys, right? Taka –nah, I’m not in the same group as Nakai. Amuro – oh yea, you’re right. Taka – next, ‘when you were little, you wanted to do something else when you grow up.’ Nakai –wow, ever since you were young? Taka – okay…then I have a question for you Mariah Carey. How old were you when you realized that you sang better than other people. Nakai – 6th 7th grade? Taka – no one is listening to you! Mariah –when I was four. Taka –woa, you were 4years old when you realized that? Mariah –well, my mom was a opera singer. Taka – oh really? Nakai – how about you Amuro-chan? Amuro – ummm. I never really though that I was a better singer from other people like that. Mariah - I never really thought that I was better than others, but thought that I was good. Taka – I see, okay next! ‘ have you bought anything expensive recently?’ Mariah – I don’t know, I guess. Nakai – what did you buy? [Mariah shows her wrist] Taka –very gorgeous! Mariah – oh, so you speak English, see? Nakai – so you bought it yourself? Mariah – yes. Taka – wow, that looks really expensive. How much was it? Mariah – Darling, that’s private. Taka –how about that necklace? Was that a present? Mariah –oh this too, it was a gift. Emancipation of Mimi, my new album. I want you all to buy it, except you (touching her shoulder) I’ll give you a free one. AND… Nakai –what? The edge of the bread? *Japanese lesson on what MIMI means in Japan. It means the edge of the bread…like the brown stuff…sometimes white, but the little harder edge… you guys know what I’m talking about right? Mariah –don’t start with me! Watch your language, I”ll fight you. Taka –Mariah just gave message that she’ll punch you, Nakai! Ahaha. Just right now, the world famous Mariah Carey said, ‘I’ll punch you!’ Amuro – oh, don’t hesitate, please do punch him. Taka – Are you in love right now? Mariah – I don’t talk about those things Taka & Nakai – (imitate Mariah by saying ) I don’t want to talk about those kind of things! Nakai – (still imitating Mariah) I don’t want to talk about it! Don’t ask me those type of question! Gosh! (Mariah asks how to say I don’t want to talk about it in Japanese to her translator—I don’t want to = Shi ta ku nai no) Mariah – exactly, Shitakunaino! Taka – how about you Amuro-chan? Amuro – I don’t want to talk about it, Shitakunaino! Taka –Do you guys want something right now? Mariah – okay….something I want… (she pushes the button) Mariah – I want to go….nevermind…..I want to go on a trip. (she wants to go to the bathroom) Translator – where? (Mariah is giggling) Nakai –what? She pointed to me?? She wants to go with me? Translator – oh! She wants to go to the bathroom. Mariah –I want the hello kitty to guide me to the bathroom. Nakai –oh bathroom? (Mariah gets up and leave…. ---gosh, what a rude way to do it in Japan….--) Taka –wow, this never happened on the show like this…I think she’s going to leave now too, right Amuro-chan? Amuro –yea… Taka –well then, I shall go now to make a poop in the bathroom. Amuro – ehhhh…… Taka – okay, Amuro-chan, I’ll leave it up to you now.. Amuro –oh wait! Come back and sit down! Nakai – just now, a girl told me that she was going to punch me! This never happened to me before, she’s like this….(Nakai imitates Mariah’s expression) Taka – Maybe…I think she was faking the whole bathroom thing and probably thinking about punching Nakai Masahiro! Maybe she went to see the manager. Nakai –what? She’s coming back? (Mariah comes back with CDs) Nakai – did you really go to the bathroom? Taka –she has something in her hand..?? Mariah –I brought you gifts! Nakai –woooow!! Amuro – wow, how nice!! Thank you! Nakai –gosh! She made me worried! I thought she was going to the bathroom!! OH, here’s your nickname, This is what you were talking about ‘MIMI” the album title! Mariah –exactly! See? And we have a duet on that album as well. Nakai –what? Mariah –don’t you remember? Nakai – oh yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! But, you can’t be better than me!! Mariah- *sigh* I know. Mariah – how come you all are drinking something?? It’s not very nice to a guest. I’m a guest. {wtf! She’s such a diva….gosh} Taka –it’s Chinese tea.. Mariah – well, there’s no Japanese tea? Nakai – hey guys! Get some Japanese tea! Mariah –maybe some Sake. Nakai – what kind of Sake? Mariah –regular Japanese sake. Nakai – hey guys! Get some Sake!! (Hello Kitty brings the sake) Mariah – but I don’t want to be the only one to be drinking! How about everyone else? Nakai – (imitate Mariah in Japanese) Taka –okay then, To the success of MIMI!!! Everyone – cheers!! Nakai – do you like it? Mariah – very strong!!! Taka – how about you Amuro-chan! You don’t look like the type of person who drinks sake! Amuro –this was my very first time drinking Sake!! (laughs)

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ratedbangtann · 5 years ago

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𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐓𝐨𝐩 | 𝙎𝙚𝙤𝙠𝙟𝙞𝙣 𝙭 𝙋𝙡𝙪𝙨-𝙎𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙹𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜, 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚞𝚌𝚔. 𝙷𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞...

Pairing: Seokjin/Plus Size Reader Word count: 5k Warnings: feeding kink, playful sex, dom/sub, body worship, pussy slapping, fingering, unprotected sex

a/n: another plus size fic for all y’all thiccccc queens. i hope you love it as much as i loved writing it. can’t you just see jin loving a chubby girl who loves food as much as he does? this is purely self-indulgent...

As if you weren't already rushing about and panicking enough, your hear your phone ding from beside the bathroom sink, a text message popping up.

Just got in a cab, see you in 15 xx

It was from Jin. And you were nowhere near ready.

In fact, you still had your leg propped up on the edge of the bath, desperately shaving every pesky little hair from every crack and crevice you possibly could. God, this would be so much easier if had less damn cracks and crevices in which to remove unwanted body hair from. This was possibly the only thing you hated about your damn curves; the upkeep.

"Shit, shit shit..." you muttered to yourself, carefully yet ferociously attacking yourself with your razor. As if by some miracle, you didn't catch your skin. Disaster averted.

You washed the remainder of shaving cream off your body and draped a towel around your shoulders. You didn't bother spending 10 minutes trying to tie it perfectly so that one, it stayed up and two, the inevitable gap in the fabric would cover up your modesty. Waste of time. You already had your outfit laid out; a nice red silk dress, a little higher than ankle length, that you felt hugged your curves perfectly and hid the 'problem areas' well. Not that you thought you had problem areas; you loved your damn body how it was. And why shouldn't you?

However, tonight was your first official date with Kim Seokjin; Korean super idol and self-proclaimed worldwide handsome. Quite how this came about, you're still not entirely sure. You knew him by name and face, working at his brother's side as head of marketing for their superior restaurant chain and of course, you had fallen under his ridiculously charming spell rather quickly - you were only human. But who asked who out still kind of remained a mystery...

You definitely remember him visiting the restaurant you held your office in a lot more after the first time he had met you. And you definitely remember you memorising his order to make sure it was already cooking when he was seated at his regular favourite table. And you remember casually joining him for food a few times, sort of like unofficial dates but...

When he had asked you if you wanted to try out a different kind of restaurant to "scope out the competition" - which actually was part of your job as head of marketing - you didn't quite catch on that he was asking you on a real, proper date. At least, not until this morning, when he had an obnoxiously large bouquet of assorted red flowers sent to your home address with a card that read,

Excited for this evening. Will you wear something red? KSJ xx

And so here you were, slithering your body into the red dress you had picked out. It was your favourite and clearly, the colour was Jin's. The rather suggestive slit in the side of the material showed just enough leg that you felt comfortable and hopefully put the idea of bare skin in Jin's mind.

Oh yes, tonight was about that. You were doing your utmost to bed Kim Seokjin. You had had enough of the flirting and the sideways glances. Enough of the brushing of hands and subtle little winks your way. You'd even almost kissed once, you're sure of it. Before Jin's brother knocked on your office door and interrupted a casual conversation laced with hidden meanings.

In your dress, you felt powerful. Really goddamn powerful, like no amount of music awards, album sales or video views was going to intimidate you tonight. That was, until you looked in the mirror.

The material didn't quite sit right around your tummy. It bunched where it shouldn't and highlighted the extra pounds you had.

Damnit, this is my only red dress, you thought to yourself.

And now, you faced a dilemma.

Wear the dress with the lingerie you had picked out, which was causing this bunching. This means that if the possibility of sex does arise, you will look more gorgeous out of the dress than in it.

or...

Wear your control top granny knickers that sucked you in just enough to stop the bunching of the material and look as slim and smooth as humanly possible, therefore enhancing the chances of said sex to begin with.

With minutes to spare, you didn't have time to pick out a new outfit, and it had to be red. It just had to. So, control top panties it was. If the sex happened, you'd just have to excuse yourself to "freshen up" before things got too hot and heavy. In fact, you hid the lingerie you had been wearing in the cupboard in your en suite.

With your heels on, your now smoothly flowing dress and your delicious curves protruding perfectly, you felt ready. Even your cleavage in the silk was looking particularly delectable. Just a few final touches to your hair in the mirror before the bell to your apartment rang out.

You picked up your purse and headed to the front door. When you opened it, there he stood, in all his handsome glory.

He was wearing a tux; crisp, black, simple and classic. His dark hair was styled off his forehead, just how you loved it and he was wearing the thin rimmed circular glasses that made him look smarter than any man you had dated before.

He didn't say anything at first, simply stared at you; your make up, your hair, that dress, your body... God, he loved it.

"You look... Wow. Suppose I won't be the best looking person in this restaurant tonight after all."

You giggled at that. Of course, he'd say that. How much cheesier could he be? How much more predictable? But you didn't care. It was one of the many reason you liked him so much.

"Maybe just the best looking male occupant of said restaurant?" You teased, soothing his bruised ego.

"I can live with that, for tonight," he held his arm out for you to thread yours around his elbow and escort you down to the waiting cab. As you closed your door and headed down the hallway to the elevator, Jin continued his teasing. "But this can't happen every night, okay? I'm willing to let you take the title tonight, but we gotta share in future. Deal?"

"I'll try my best," you smiled.

****

You meal was nice. No really, it was. The food was great, the atmosphere of the restaurant was great, but that's all it was; just nice. Because frankly, you couldn't concentrate on a damn thing with Kim Seokjin sat opposite you and quite clearly going out of his way to tease and flirt with you.

He sussed out very quickly that you had a thing for his lips, so plump and thick and you could only imagine what they would feel like against your skin. You couldn't stop staring and he noticed. Now that he knew this, or at least thought he did, he was playing up to it.

He'd bite down on it and hold eye contact with you while he did, or brush his fingers along them, or seductively take a mouthful of food from his chopsticks; how that is even possible you've no idea. Chopsticks make eating a little less elegant, and yet it absolutely didn't for him.

He played little games with you all evening, making little jokes, flirting away and the god damn lips thing.

So maybe, it was time to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Starting with the slit in your dress; you angled your body slightly, readjusting the way you were sat to show a little more of your upper thigh through that scrumptious slit in your dress. He noticed, and you noticed him noticing. His eyes were diverted to the bare skin you were showing off and his fumbled on the sentence he was halfway through.

You had to hold in a giggle, watching him unable to take his gaze away.

"Jin, may I ask you a... perhaps invasive question?" you cocked an eyebrow, waiting for his attention to draw back up to your eyes.

"Hmm? Oh, um... " he coughed - one of those cover-up coughs to disguise the fact he was openly staring at your bare thigh. "Sure, go ahead."

"Well, I'm clearly a woman with a few extra pounds, to be polite; inevitable really when you work in a restaurant chain and are surrounded by delicious and free food day in, day out. However, you still find me attractive?" His brows knit in confusion.

"Well, yes... Should I not?" Your heart leapt. Clearly, he wasn't as closed minded as the majority of Korean people about their standards of beauty. Beautiful face, beautiful mind... check and check.

"No, if you think I'm attractive then good; you have eyes," you mirrored his ego as best as you could. Yes you loved your figure but you were always still so... insecure underneath. He smirked at you though, buying your confidence and raised his glass to take a sip. "However, my question to you is," you leaned forward a little resting your chin on your hand supported by your elbow, your cleavage on display, "have you always had a thing for a fat girl?"

The liquid in his wine glass bubbled and splashed as he spluttered, choking in surprise. He tried to recover quickly, dabbing his mouth with his napkin. You giggled at the outburst and his attempt to keep calm, finding it oh so amusing.

"Apologies, I just, um... wasn't expecting-" You held a hand up to stop him.

"It's fine, I was just teasing," you picked your own napkin up, wiping away a droplet of wine from his glasses.

"I have though," he said, so casually as if he hadn't just almost drowned in his wine glass.

"Hmm?"

"Had a thing for fat girls, as you so affectionately put it," he smirked, biting his damn lip again.

"What, is fat a bad word?"

"Oh, no, I was just..." he panicked again. You laughed.

"Jin, shut up. 'Fat' isn't negative to me. It's what I am, not who I am. If you like your women to have that extra chub, then... lucky me," you raise your own wine glass to your lips, taking a sip with a little wink in his direction.

Jin felt a stirring in his trousers at the way you owned that word, the way you teased him, the way your red painted lips sipped at your wine. He'd been having trouble keeping his hands to himself all night, but ever the gentleman he kept it to a little light flirting. But there was never anything light about his flirting.

"Your confidence; it's extremely sexy, y/n." He leaned forward on his elbows.

"Don't mistake my acceptance of myself as confidence. I, too, still get discouraged day to day," you said, thinking back to earlier and seeing the way the dress hung on you to begin with.

"Don't we all?" he asked.

"Madam, sir... your desserts," you server appeared out of nowhere, a tray with your final courses balanced perfectly in his hand. "Classic tiramisu for the lady," he placed the dessert in front of you, "and green tea layer cake for the gentleman. Enjoy," he bowed as he placed Jin's dessert in front of him, scurrying away to leave the two of you by candlelight once again.

The two of you wasted no time in digging in, and with the first mouthful you fell into what can only be described as heaven. As the food melted on your tongue, you couldn't help but let out a small moan of approval.

Jin froze, watching you... Your moan caught his attention, the stirring in his trousers starting to bother him immensely. He loved food, but watching someone else love food... Someone like you; he couldn't control his urges much longer.

He started to tap his foot in annoyance, his knee bouncing. He became fidgety, wolfing down his cake quickly in an attempt to speed up the last few moments of the evening. He wanted nothing more than to take you home.

And you noticed all of it. So naturally, you played up to it.

"Oh god, it's so good..." you huffed, mouth half full. You scooped up another mouthful, holding it towards Jin, "Do you want to try?" you asked, innocently.

"No, thank you." His jaw clenched back into place. You were loving this.

You took the bite for him, letting out another approval moan and watching from under your lashes as his gaze lay intently on you and he adjusted the tightness of his tie to give himself more room to breathe.

As you neared the end of your dessert, Jin flagged down the server and impatiently asks for the bill. The server nods, scuttling away to bring over the leather wallet. Jin is already prepared with his card in his hand.

By the time you've finished up, dinner is paid for. You server clears the table and Jin, still remaining chivalrous, takes your hand to help you stand, places your purse over your shoulder and proceeds out of the restaurant with you in tow.

He hails for a cab, opening the door and letting you climb in first. The ride home, you chatter mindlessly with him, and although he seems interested his mind is wandering. His thigh is so close to yours, your interlocked hands sat just above the slit in your dress, so close to bare skin... He wants to touch, wants to feel how beautiful you are, not just see it.

The cab pulled up outside your apartment, and Jin paid the driver. You tried to pay, at least for something this evening but he wouldn't allow it.

The walk up to your apartment was quiet, your fingers still locked together affectionately, until you had to find your keys and unlock your door.

You turned around to face him, standing in the doorway. Jin made no effort to step inside or invite himself in; but you were about to do that for him.

"Thank you for a lovely meal, Seokjin," you smiled, leaning against the doorframe and looking up at him with a smile.

"My pleasure, y/n. Somewhere different to eat than the place you work, for a change," he smiled back, plunging his hands into the pockets of his slacks.

"It was a lovely place. Maybe we should do it again some time?"

"I'd like that, a lot."

A silence fell on you both as you watching him rock on the balls of his feet uncomfortably.

"Well, I'd better um... get going then," he leaned forward, planting a small and affectionate kiss on your cheek, but lingering as he pulled back.

His eyes darted down to your lips, contemplating. He wanted to, so bad. Did you want him to? Should he ask? Your eyes met, the tension between you feeling like static electricity.

Kiss me, Jin. Just kiss me. Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me! You hoped that perhaps he would be telepathic and hear you yelling at him with your mind. Perhaps he was...

His lips leaned in, the same lips you had been watching so closely all evening, and pressed to lightly on yours, testing the waters.

Almost immediately, you apply a little pressure to mould your lips together. You feel one of his hands tangle in your hair as you stand up straight, coming away from leaning against the doorframe. You place a hand on his chest, as he deepens the kiss with his free hand on your waist. The space between you is now minimal, Jin's broad shoulders and height almost engulfing you.

"Maybe you'd like to stay..." you said as you pulled away, looking up into his eyes. "For one last drink?" Jin only nodded, crushing his lips on yours and pushing you back into your apartment. He shut the door behind him, before resuming another very heated kiss.

"I-I don't have any wine in," you say, breathing heaving between kisses.

"I'm not thirsty," he confesses, continuing to back you into your apartment towards the door he assumed was your bedroom.

Along the way you shed him of his tuxedo jacket, the heavy material landing with a thud along the floor somewhere. You were working on his bow tie when the backs of your legs hit the bed. With the tie discarded you made light work of his shirt buttons, untucking it from his slacks but as you tried to pull it off him, he pushed your shoulders down. Your balance faltered and you hit the bed, Jin immediately between your legs and hovering above you, his bare chest inches away and his lips on your neck.

You had always loved neck kisses, the tickle of them so playful until he reached that weak spot where your neck met your shoulder. You let out a shaky breath, a small moan following much like the ones you made to tease him earlier.

His hand found its way to your thigh, slipping between the slit of your dress that he'd been eyeing up most of the evening. Finally, he could touch the skin, caress, stroke you and feel you. He slid his hand further up your thigh, wanting nothing more than to strip your clothing and get as close to you as humanly possible.

His fingertips grazed over the material of your underwear, the lycra of them somewhat unexpected to Jin.

"Hang on..." he says, a playful and yet confused tone to his voice. Realisation dawned on you as he rose to his knees attempting to lift the skit of your dress past your hips for a better look at what he had felt. You try to stop him, to push your dress back down but it's too late; it's around your hips.

You cheeks flush and you cover your face with your hands.

"What on earth are these?" he laughs, running his finger along the seem.

"No, I forgot I was- fuck! I was gonna change!"

"No, no, don't. I like them," he teases, pinging the waistband of your ridiculously huge control top panties against your stomach. You giggle, hiding your face out of embarrassment. "So sexy, y/n," he leans forward and kisses you again, grinding his hips against the lycra. The feeling sends a bolt of electricity through your spine, a gush of arousal forming at your core. "I'm sorry, but I have to have another look," he jokes, shuffling down again.

"No, stop!" you laugh, trying to pull him back up to you.

"No need to be embarrassed, darling. I'm wearing something quite similar myself." You laugh at his obvious lie. "Here look, I'll show you," he stands off the edge of the bed, kicking his shoes off and unzipping his slacks, pushing them down to reveal... completely normal boxer shorts.

"Liar!" you accuse, still giggling.

"Well, I suppose, but it got my trousers off..." he grins, diving towards you again and planting his lips along the cleavage above the bust of your dress. "So tell me..." he plants more kisses, "why were you wearing such enormous panties?"

"They're control top panties, Jin..." He plants more kisses across your chest. "My dress bunched around my tummy, so I wore them to flatten it down."

"Control top, eh?" he hovers over your face, smirking down at your through his glasses. "I consider myself to be quite the control top myself," his eyebrow lifts as his tone turns low and laced with filthy double entendre.

You have no time to respond to him, as he sits up to pull the enormous panties off you, sliding them down your legs followed by a trail of peppered kisses all the way down to your ankle, before he throws the panties across the room. His hands roam up your thighs, caressing the flesh and sliding up under your skirt to your hips, grabbing hold of your curves.

One hand moved down, towards where you needed him most. He traced a finger through your folds, feeling the wetness that had gathered at the excitement of previous actions. With his finger coated in your arousal, he brings it up to your lips and presses past them, making you taste yourself on his finger.

"So pretty," he almost whispers, before he's popping that finger out of your mouth and diving it back through your folds, circling over your swollen clit. Your chest heaves with the deep breaths you take to keep yourself calm, a groan slipping past your lips that Jin can't help but let get to him. His cock is practically twitching in his boxers, begging for contact but like he had said before; he was a control top, a dom. He wanted to get you worked up before he let his own desires take over.

"How does it feel, y/n? Hmm?" he asks, his lips hovering over yours as his finger work magic on your clit, swirling around and around... You don't answer, simply moan out another guttural moan that rocks through him.

Suddenly he lands his palm against your mound, slapping harshly. You cry out, the pain a sharp contrast to the bliss you were feeling before.

"How does it feel, y/n?" he asks again, resuming his earlier motions.

"S-so good.. It feels so good," you stutter.

"Good girl," he praises. He dips his finger further into your folds, toying with your entrance and slipping one finger down to the knuckle, before pulling out and assaulting your clit again. "What do you want, y/n? Tell me."

"Y-your fingers, Jin... Please, I-I need them inside," you squirm, breathes so shallow. He obliges, dipping two fingers into your pussy this time and curling them, hitting the spot inside that you needed the most. You cry out, the feeling too much.

"Would you like me to make you cum, y/n?" he asks, his fingers working miracles inside you. You fail to answer him again, moaning unintelligibly. This time his free hand slaps harshly at your thigh, making the chub jiggle and ripple and leaving a red hand print.

"Yes!" you yelped immediately, lovely the pain but wanting so badly to please, "Please, please... make me cum!"

"There, not so hard, is it?" he smirks, the pace of his fingers quickening. You feel a familiar heat building in your stomach, crawling up your body and flushing on your cheeks. You're moaning, but it's not enough for Jin. He wants you screaming, writhing under his touch.

Without taking his fingers out of you, he dips his head down, using his tongue to lap at the bundle of nerves he had slapped moments ago. The extra sensation coupled with the fingers he was abusing your cunt with felt incredible. Your body twisted against the mattress, Jin trying his best to keep you grounded with his spare hand.

"J-Jin... fuck, it feels good. Oh my GOD, it feel so, so good," you can't stop babbling, moans and groans erupting from deep within you. Whatever Jin was doing to you, it was nothing like any of the men you had slept with before. Nothing.

He uses his whole mouth on you, those plump lips, his tongue... And his fingers; he's been keeping up the pace, fiercely tapping and pumping against your walls.

You can feel it, the urge to tip over the edge, to let yourself be taken over with pleasure getting closer and closer, the tightness in your abdomen becoming excruciating. You're trying to hold off, for what you don't know, but it's getting increasingly difficult, until...

"What? What the hell?" Your head snaps up to see Jin grinning, licking the mess of you from his fingers and grinning as he does so. You were so close...

"Something the matter, sweetheart?"

"Why did you stop?" you ask, breathless. He smirks, leaning over you again to hover his lips above your own.

"Control..." he teased.

He stood up, removing his boxers, socks and the open shirt he had yet to take off, revealing himself in all his glory. Annoyingly, he had the chiseled body of a greek marble statue. One of those little self-conscious moments revealed itself to you as you looked at him; toned chest, taught abs, thick thighs and... well, an impressively large package.

Fuck it, you told yourself. He likes you. He likes your body. Let him see it. Let him fuck it.

You rolled the dress up past your hips where the skirt had bunched, lifting it over your breasts and head to throw it to one side. Just the strapless bra left, you unclasped it and threw that somewhere too, not caring where it landed.

"Wow..." he muses, licking his lips as his eyes scan over you; every curve, every roll, every bump... "Incredible."

"Then why are you still just staring?" you tease. You spread your legs for him, giving him the perfect view of what he wanted to take so badly. "Come and get me."

He wastes no more time, crawling over you and smashing his lips to yours. His teeth graze your lips, biting down on the bottom to force them open enough to push his tongue in. You can feel him, his cock brushing up against your glistening slit, your pussy aching at the denial of your orgasm.

"Ask me nicely..." he says between kisses, grinding his hips into you. He was completely in control, just how he liked it.

"Please, Jin..."

"What?"

"Please fuck me. I need it." You really did.

Jin snaked a hand around his length, positioning himself to line up with your entrance before slowly, pushing into you until his hips met yours, skin on skin.

"Shit," he hisses, relishing in the warm, wet feeling of you stretching around him. That first thrust is always his favourite, he savours it every time.

Soon he starts thrusting his hips slowly into you, filling you so well you groan at the feeling. His fingers start to dig in to your hips, his nails scratching at the skin. It feels so good, the mixture of pain and pleasure something that you made a note to yourself to explore more with Jin in future.

With every thrust he's brushing up again that spot he found inside you, that familiar tightness growing in your stomach once again. You prayed this time he would let you cum; one denial was enough, surely?

With every thrust, your resolve weakened further and further.

"Oh, fuck... y/n," he groaned, sweat forming on his brow and chest. "You're amazing, god the way you jiggle as I fuck you... I love it," he spoke through gritted teeth, pleasure and lust overwhelming him all at one. "You're so beautiful, so so beautiful..." One hand caressed your cheek, pushing a strand of hair away from your face that had stuck to you with sweat.

"J-Jin... it feels so... ah!" he thrusts particularly hard, making you cry out.

"D-do you know how long I wanted this, y/n? How long I waited to ask you out?" he asks, his hips wildly pounding into yours, skin slapping on skin.

"J-Jin, I'm gonna..."

"Not yet... wait," he scorns, "Months, I waited to ask you out. I was... so busy, the band... oh fuck, I thought about you all the time. All the fucking time," he groaned, his own end getting closer and closer...

"J-Jin, please... can I cum...?" you sob, tears forming at the edges of your eyes. You're sure your make up has smudged but what kind of fucks did you give right now, with a man like Kim Seokjin filling you up?

"Cum for me, baby. Cum on me..." he commanded. Another few hard thrusts, and you did just that.

Clenching your walls against his cock, your orgasm rocketed through your body like a chemical reaction; fast and explosive. Your muscles convulsed as you squeezed your eyes shut tight, crying out an unintelligible string of expletives. Jin held your thighs close to his hips, still thrusting his hips to guide you through it. He made sure that you felt everything; every oversensitive little spark, every thrust of his hips. He needed you to feel as much as you possibly could.

But he was losing control of himself too, watching you hit every high you could. He'd never been so turned on, never felt so good as you clenched around him and writhed in front of him, squeezing your thighs against him as he pulled you as close as he could.

Just as you were starting to come down, his orgasm raged through him. Hot, white strings of cum erupted from him, filling you up as he lost his rhythm. His thrusts were as hard as he could make them, the strength spilling from his body whilst his body performed its own chemical reaction.

The both of you came down together, out of breath, sweaty and totally exhausted. He collapsed onto you, burying his head in your cleavage and hiding his face as he caught his breath. You giggled, looking at him through your fucked out eyes laying sprawled out on you. Both your bodies were hot and sweaty, but Jin found comfort in the extra pounds you had.

"God, you're so soft..." he groans, nestling into you.

"J-Jin, can you get off my tits?" you giggled, pushing him to lay next to you rather than on you. You were far too hot for that right now. Far too sweaty...

"Sorry... so comfy..." his controlling mannerisms seems to have ejected from his body the second his cum did. Now, he was acting a fool again, the playful and stupid Jin you first started crushing on.

"You're cute," you giggle, turning onto your side to face him.

"You're beautiful," he grinned, completely silly and yet completely sincere. "I meant it you know. I have wanted to ask you out for so long. You're just... perfect, y/n."

"Hmmm, yeah. I am perfect," you grin. "But you, Mr. Kim, are the eighth damn wonder of the world." He laughs at that.

"Am I that good in bed, huh?" he joked.

"Absolutely," you grinned, placing a kiss on his lips.

"I'm glad you think so," he sat up, pulling you until you lay over him, straddling his hips. "Because I'm just getting started..."

#kim seokjin #seokjin #jin #bts #bangtan sonyeondan #bangtan #smut au #bts au #plus size #plus size reader #feeding kink #funny #fun sex

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howaminotinthestrokesyet · 3 years ago

Text

Behind The Album: In Utero

The third and final studio album from Nirvana was released in September 1993 via DGC records. The band wanted to make a clear departure from how their second album sounded. They felt that their huge hit album, Nevermind, was too polished as a record. The producer of that second LP, Butch Vig, would later note that Kurt Cobain needed to “reclaim his punk ethics or cred.” For his part Cobain would tell Rolling Stone in early 1992 that the record would have elements to it much more raw then found on the second album. However, he did emphasize the fact that the pop sound would not disappear entirely. He had hoped to start working on it l in the middle of 1992, but distance between band members getting together was an issue as they all lived in different cities. Another issue came in the fact that Courtney Love was expecting their first child. DGC was hoping to release a new record by Christmas of the year, but instead they were forced to go with the compilation album of all the early material from Sub Pop, Incesticide. For In Utero, Cobain showed interest in working with former producer of Bleach, Jack Endino and Steve Albini. They brought in Endino to work on a few instrumentals for the record that were eventually re-recorded, and he was never asked to produce in any capacity. The group went back and forth debating whether to hire Albini or not. In January 1993, the group recorded another set of demos while on tour in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. This would later become the track, “Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip,” which originally had the working title of I’ll Take You Down to the Pavement. The latter represented a direct reference to an argument between Cobain and Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. The band finally decided to go with Albini as a producer despite his reputation of strict discipline within the studio and remaining one of the most opinionated producers out there. He was said to have referred to Nirvana as “REM with a fuzz box, unremarkable Seattle sound.” He would later say that his decision to work with the band came out of sympathy, feeling smaller groups like Nirvana were at the mercy of the record label. This particular statement should be taken with a grain of salt as Nirvana had just released the biggest record since Appetite for Destruction. Cobain had been a fan of the producer based on his work with the Pixies and the Breeders.

Producer Albini wanted to complete recording within a strict two week timeframe. Nirvana paid for the recording sessions themselves on Albini’s suggestion to avoid interference from the record label. The band paid him $24,000 for his services, while he refused any royalties whatsoever, which would have amounted to $500,000. He would continually say that royalties were immoral and a complete insult to the artist. They recorded at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota in February 1993. Krist Novoselic would compare the environment to a gulag. “There was snow outside, we couldn't go anywhere. We just worked." Nirvana during this time emphasized to the record company that they wanted absolutely no interference from them, which meant they did not share anything from these sessions with their A & R representative. For his part, Steve Albini followed suit by only speaking with members of the band. He characterized anyone associated with the group as “pieces of shit.” After a short delay, the band's equipment finally arrived, so the actual recording of the album went very quickly. Each track began with the group playing together as one doing the instrumental aspect of it. For some tracks, Dave Grohl did the drums in the kitchen due to the natural acoustics sounding better. Albini had also surrounded his drums with 30 microphones for each track. They did not remove any take from the album, but instead kept them all. Cobain even added more guitar parts at the end of each day before doing the vocals. Although Albini had a reputation for being opinionated, he let Nirvana decide what to keep. “Generally speaking, [Cobain] knows what he thinks is acceptable and what isn't acceptable [...] He can make concrete steps to improve things that he doesn't think are acceptable." They did all of their musical work in six days, while Cobain said that it was the easiest recording he had ever done. Albini proceeded to mix the album in five days, which actually was slow by his standards because he usually only spent 1 to 2 days on it.

After completion, the band began to send the unmastered tapes to various people including the president of the DGC records. They absolutely hated it saying the songwriting was mediocre, the entire album was unlistenable, and radio would never except Albini’s production. Cobain took the comments personally to mean that the label wanted him to start from scratch and record again with a new producer. He would say, “I should just re-record this record and do the same thing we did last year because we sold out last year—there's no reason to try and redeem ourselves as artists at this point. I can't help myself—I'm just putting out a record I would like to listen to at home." Yet, the group remained dead set on releasing this version of the record as late as April 1993. They had played it for a number of their friends, who had liked it. The singer said, “Of course, they want another Nevermind, but I'd rather die than do that. This is exactly the kind of record I would buy as a fan, that I would enjoy owning." Around this time, some doubts crept up with all members of Nirvana because the mix of In Utero did not sound right. They asked Albini to possibly remix the record, and he flat out refused. “[Cobain] wanted to make a record that he could slam down on the table and say, 'Listen, I know this is good, and I know your concerns about it are meaningless, so go with it.' And I don't think he felt he had that yet ... My problem was that I feared a slippery slope." They took the record to Bob Ludwig for mastering, while at the same time mentioned their issues with the mix to him. Upon completion, Krist Novoselic said he was happy with the result, but Cobain still felt it was not perfect. At this time, Steve Albini gave an interview with the Chicago Tribune, where he doubted whether the record would ever be released. Newsweek would run another article that echoed the comments made by Albini. This caused Nirvana to write a full page letter to the magazine denying the label was putting any undue pressure on them. The same letter would be reproduced as a full page ad in Billboard not long after. The head of Geffen Records, who owned DGC made the unprecedented move of actually calling Newsweek to complain. The band thought about having Andy Wallace remix the release, but once again Albini refused saying they had only agreed to work with him. At the time, the producer also would release any of the tapes that were now in his possession. He only did so after a phone call from Krist Novoselic. The entire album for the most part was not changed at all, except for a remastering. Yet, the producer continually made comments that it was nowhere near the album he recorded in Minnesota. “The record in the stores doesn't sound all that much like the record that was made, though it's still them singing and playing their songs, and the musical quality of it still comes across." He would go on to say that major labels refused to work with him for the next year or so because of In Utero.

As for the music, the producer wanted to go as far away as possible from Nevermind with this record. He felt that the second album made the group look incredibly bad because it had been overproduced at such a level to make it extremely radio friendly. He wanted to create a much more natural sound for the group. The 1993 Nirvana biography, Come As You Are, noted the vision for the band on this record. “The Beatlesque 'Dumb' happily coexists beside the all-out frenzied punk graffiti of 'Milk It,' while 'All Apologies' is worlds away from the apoplectic 'Scentless Apprentice.' It's as if [Cobain] has given up trying to meld his punk and pop instincts into one harmonious whole. Forget it. This is war." If one goes through the track listing, you can count which tracks are over the top punk, and which tracks are more radio friendly pop. The interesting thing is that they correspond equally, 6 to 6. Fans and critics alike would talk about how abrasive In Utero turned out to be, but Cobain and Novoselic really did not see it that way. The bass player had said the band had always had songs as they are found on In Utero. Yet, the group did consciously try to bring fans into the more punk sounding songs by releasing the first two singles that could have realistically been included on Nevermind. Some of the songs found on the record had been written years prior as early as 1990. Cobain used various points of inspiration for the lyrics. The track “Frances Farmer” came from a 1978 biography of the Seattle figure called Shadowland. “Scentless Apprentice” originated from a horror novel that the singer had read by Patrick Suskind. One of the central themes found on the album noted in that same Nirvana biography from 1993 was the fact that every song talked about sickness or disease in some manner. Although Cobain said the lyrics were very impersonal to him, many disagreed with this assessment. Dave Grohl would say this in an interview. “A lot of what he has to say is related to a lot of the shit he's gone through. And it's not so much teen angst anymore. It's a whole different ball game: rock star angst." The singer continued to argue that much of the album had been written years prior to any issues he was going through at the time. For example, “Rape Me” quite possibly could be talking about his frustration with the media in how he has been portrayed over the past couple of years. The track “Serve the Servants” seemed to specifically talk about Cobain’s father and how divorce affected him from a very early age. The Nirvana frontman wanted his father to know that he did not despise him, but he also had no desire to be around him whatsoever. One track, “Gallons of Alcohol Flow Through the Strip,” was actually one of the only improvisational tracks they ever recorded. The song represented a jam session that the group would frequently participate in in during down times at the studio. They had done this quite often, but this would be the first time that it was ever recorded in some form.

Upon its release, the record label took a very low key approach to promoting the album. None of the singles would come out commercially in the United States, as they concentrated all of their press releases at media specializing in alternative music. The band remained convinced that there was absolutely no way that In Utero would sell even a quarter of what Nevermind sold. The record would debut at number one on the charts selling 180,000 copies in its first week. They sold this many copies without big retail chains like Kmart and Walmart selling it because officially the demand was not there. The truth was actually these chains feared backlash due to the graphic nature of the artwork accompanying the album. In March 1994, an edited version of the album would be released with new artwork and alternative song titles. The band made this concession saying they wanted fans who could not go to a traditional record store to be able to purchase the LP. Following the death of Cobain. the third single “Pennyroyal Tea” was canceled, as well as any tour plans. Immediately following his death, the popularity of In Utero on the charts increased by 122% from 72 to 27. The album would eventually be certified five times platinum.

Critics were not unanimous in the praise of In Utero. For the most part, rock writers really liked the new sound from Nirvana. Time’s Christopher John Farley noted that once again perhaps the mainstream may need to go to Nirvana, rather than the other way around. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly emphasized the absolute contrasts on the release. “The music is often mesmerizing, cathartic rock & roll, but it is rock & roll without release, because the band is suspicious of the old-school rock clichés such a release would evoke." David Fricke of Rolling Stone would say that the record was both “brilliant and corrosive,” but undoubtedly a “triumph of the will” for Kurt Cobain. NME’s John Mulvey did not share the same sentiment as he observed the album really was not up to par with previous Nirvana standards. The review from Plugged In did not mince words saying it had absolutely no redeeming value whatsoever. Some reviews became quite bittersweet as you are reminded of Cobain’s suicide. Q said this about the record. "If this is how Cobain is going to develop, the future is lighthouse-bright." Ben Thompson of the Independent merely seemed happy that the record did not represent the punk rock nightmare the group had continually threatened to release. In Utero would go on to top several end of the year lists as one of the best albums including Rolling Stone, Village Voice, and the New York Times. The band would even receive a Grammy nomination in 1994 for Best Alternative Album. As time has passed, critics have lavished even more phrase on it seeing their work with Albini as far superior to Nevermind. Charles R. Cross would write in his Cobain biography, “If it is possible for an album that sold four million copies to be overlooked, or underappreciated, then In Utero is that lost pearl." Pitchfork named it the 13th best album of the 1990s, while it even made Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. NME named it number 35 on its greatest albums of all time list creating quite a sense of irony since the periodical did not think too much of the album at the time of its release.

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purplesurveys · 4 years ago

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1180

The last time you washed your hair, did you use conditioner? Yeah, I’m pretty paranoid and always feel the need to use conditioner because of a bad rebonding job from like a decade ago that stiffened up my hair as soon as it would get wet. It lasted for around a year, so I formed the habit of always using conditioner every time I shower. I don’t think I’ve ever used just shampoo since then.

Do you prefer light or dark jeans? Dark, but I suppose it would be nice to start experimenting with lighter shades as well.

When you listen to music, do you generally sing along, or just listen? It depends if I know the lyrics or I’m feeling the song at the moment. Obviously with my new obsession with BTS I can’t really sing along to entire songs, but I do sing the few English lyrics they have per song, hahaha.

Do you have any of your exes as friends on Facebook? Yeah but she’s been muted for like half a year already, as is the rest of her family. I do have plans to unfriend her entirely; I’m just not sure when I would push through with it, and I already gave Angela permission to log onto my account one of these days to be the one to do the unfriending.

Who was your first love? Do you ever miss that person? Gabie. I miss the friendship sometimes; I don’t think I’ll have a friendship as deep and connected as the one we had, so I will always feel sorry about how that went to waste. But I don’t really think about our relationship anymore as I’m pretty good at blocking off certain memories, so I don’t miss her in that sense.

How many cars are parked at your house right now? Two.

Do you have any Italian ancestry? I highly doubt so. If anything there’s probably a tiny drop Spanish blood in there but that’s the most European I’ll ever get.

Do you prefer water to be ice cold or at room temperature? Like, drinking water? Ice cold, always. I hate warm water.

Has anyone ever told you you’re a control freak? Not to my face, but I know I’m one so I’m sure other people have said that about me at least behind my back.

Do you know anyone who has gone missing? If so, were they ever found? Yes, my friend Mik and one of my aunts. They were both found eventually.

What was the spiciest thing you’ve ever eaten? Eating ghost pepper instant noodles was a pain I would never want to go through again...I threw that shit out after my first forkful, lmao.

Do you need to talk to someone? No, not in particular. In a more general sense I do wanna start gaining more friends though, so I’ve been meaning to expand my circle by creating a new Twitter account just for my BTS dump. In other words, I am a 23 year old with a stan Twitter HAHAHAHA

Is something confusing you at the moment? No, I’m good.

When was the last time you had a real deep chat? Maybe my conversation with Andi a couple of nights back. We were talking about a tricky situation with their ex-friend who turned out to be a real dick when they came out to him a year ago, and they just wanted to get my perspective on how I would handle it.

Who did you last see on webcam? The PR manager for one of our clients, who we all despise because he doesn’t know how to do his job. Thankfully he’s resigning soon so we’re all just waiting for him to leave and finally meet a much more competent replacement.

What’s your best friend’s pet’s name(s)? Angela has two dogs, Hailey and Kennedy. Andi had Apollo, who I wanted to meet so badly but sadly he passed away a week ago at 15.

Have you ever taken a picture while laying in the grass? There are photos of me sitting on grass, but not lying in it. I would imagine that would feel very prickly and uncomfortable.

Who’s your favorite Disney character? Baymax or Flynn Rider.

Have you ever deliberately tried to get someone drunk? I’ve made my friends chug drinks or down shots and it’s happened vice versa, but it was always in good fun and we never made each other harassed from it. It’s just your typical college rambunctiousness, and if anyone felt uncomfortable or iffy then we didn’t hesitate to move on.

When was the last time you used a pay phone and who were you calling? I’ve only ever seen those in my first school, when I was in kindergarten. I never got to use it and they also took them out not long after.

Do you like being kissed on the neck? Yessssssssss

Have you ever had sex with someone you weren’t dating (but had feelings for) in the hopes that they would ask you out later? Nope. I don’t think I would have sex with anyone I wasn’t dating.

What’s the most you would be willing to spend on a good bra? Probably a couple thousand bucks if I thought I looked good in it.

Do you have any of your teachers’ personal cell phone numbers saved in your contacts list? I don’t think so. I never tried getting close with any of them, and I always tried to stay hidden as much as possible. I was just in class to get good grades and pass.

Do you ever stalk peoples’ personal blogs, even if you don’t know them very well? I never really scroll through people’s Tumblrs anymore. That was more of a thing I did in like 2013, but these days going through my dashboard is enough.

What’s one thing about today’s generation that you just can’t stand? Some social media trends done for clout make me revolted, especially when it has anything to do with wasting food. I also hate when they do extreme pranks that I know I wouldn’t find funny if I were ever the victim, like tossing someone’s phone into the ocean.

Be honest: how do you feel about abortion? Pro-choice.

Is there anyone you currently want to reach out to? I would love to catch up with Katreen at some point, but I know we’re at different points in our lives now and it would probably never happen.

What is your favorite piece of art you own? I commissioned my sister to make an artwork of the 2D1N cast, and she did a great job making it! I haven’t gotten to use it or promote it yet, but I will soon. It’s really well-done.

What’s the one thing you apologized for this month? Replying late.

My favorite color is ______? Pastel pink.

I wish I had _____? Longer weekends.

What did you buy today? Nothing – I’d call that a success lmao, I’ve been spending money as if I had a million fucking bucks over the last week. I did have some packages arrive today though: my own copy of 2 Cool 4 Skool (my first physical BTS album!!!!!!); the official poster from their album BE; the Ivy Park sneakers I ordered earlier this month, and an Ivy Park bucket hat Bea had apparently gotten for me as a birthday present.

What has challenged your morals? Vices.

What made you pick up the last book you started reading? I had to read it in preparation for a one-on-one session with my employer’s CEO.

What about your life concerns you the most? Whether a stable future is in the cards for me.

What do you find particularly offensive? Would you say you’re easy or difficult to offend? Probably Filipino-American comedians or influencers who use stereotyping of Filipino accents and habits as a punchline; they do more harm to the culture than good. I can tell you not one Filipino who lives in the Philippines actually finds those funny, and Bretman Rock is probably the only personality who’s able to flaunt the culture in an entertaining and hilarious yet classy way.

When it comes to being offended, I guess it depends on the context. My humor can get pretty dark and low-blowy, but I would have a problem with someone who I know has genuinely problematic views.

What was the last series you finished watching? Do you have any plans to begin another? I think it may had still been Start-Up from last December. I’m not too big on Korean dramas since I find one episode waaaaaaayyyyyyy too long. I don’t think I’ll be starting on anything soon, Korean or otherwise.

What is one way in which you are different from a year ago? What is one way in which you are still the same? I’m single now, for the first time in technically six years. I also think I’m doing better and happier, breakup notwithstanding. OH and I love wasabi now, hahah. As for what’s unchanged, I still like taking surveys and I’m still stuck at home, though the latter’s not really in my control anymore.

If you could learn about anything without the stress of grades or cost, what kind of classes would you take? I’d just go back to UP for the free tuition. We also have the widest range of programs out of any university in the country, so it’s a damn good deal.

Name a song you’ve listened to today? Fly To My Room - BTS

When you were younger, did you have a swing set or a playhouse in your backyard? We didn’t; but one of our relatives that we’d regularly visit did have a playground that I’d use all the time. It’s still there, just very unmaintained since no one uses it anymore.

Is your mall nice? Which one? We have five different malls nearby lol. Mall culture here is on another level.

Do you have a Sonic near you? If so, what’s your favorite drink from there? No. I’m not so sure what they serve there, either. I’m guessing milkshakes?

Will you be voting in the presidential elections next time around? I’ll always exercise my right to vote.

How do you feel about chocolate-covered strawberries? I hate strawberries and I hate fruits, so even if you coat that shit in Nutella and cookie butter and chocolate syrup I still wouldn’t touch it.

Did you ever stop having feelings for someone and then started having those feelings again for them? No.

Do you hate the last guy you had a thing with? I’ve never had a thing with guys.

To whom did you last give the finger? I haven’t had to do that in a while.

What was the last musical instrument played in your presence? My sister’s keyboard.

Do you like sprinkles on your ice cream? Not particularly. They make things look cute, but they never taste like anything tbh so I never saw the point in paying extra just to have them on my desserts.

Honestly, have you ever crashed a party before? Nah. I cringe thinking about that.

Do you know how to do the moon walk? I don’t.

Has anybody ever told you that you have a good singing voice? Never gotten that specific compliment before because I know I don’t have one.

Onion rings or french fries? Onion rings.

Has anybody ever described you as a heart breaker? No.

Has anybody ever told you that you talk too fast? I don’t think so, but I know I have the tendency to do so occasionally, especially while I’m presenting a deck. Once I notice it I make an effort to pace myself.

Who is the best cook that you know? My dad and both my grandmas all deserve that title.

Which meal throughout the day do you skip the most? I literally never have lunch ever.

What’s the largest amount that you can juggle at one time? I can’t juggle.

What was your favorite thing to go on at the playground as a kid? Sandboxes, since I liked the texture; the sandboxes in school were also often empty, which worked well for my introvert self. I find that it’s carried over to today, since I still enjoy touching things like slime and kinetic sand.

Do you know how much you weighed at birth? How much? I think 5 or 6 lbs, I’m not exactly sure but it’s definitely somewhere in that small range.

Which aspect of your daily routine takes the most time? What do you do? Work, for sure. I work a normal 9–6 so that’s already 8 hours out of my day, but I also OT a lot after hours, and I work throughout my lunch break as well so that technically makes it 9 hours. I also like getting up earlier and starting some work before my shift so that I would have less tasks on my plate for the day.

Do you enjoy buying gifts for others, or could you do without this? I LOVE getting people gifts. Food is especially my love language, and I always get food delivery for my friends, family, and my team at work.

What is one thing you are expected to do, if anything? I mean, I have work deadlines tomorrow so there’s that.

How do you tend to view driving? Monotonous or entertaining? I love driving. I don’t think I ever complained about having to do it. It’s calming and relaxing when I’m doing it alone or with a partner; and it can be entertaining with the right set of people.

Do you enjoy talking about music with others? Not always. If I don’t listen to the artist then I can find the conversation quite boring, like if my friends would get into a full-blown discussion about Taylor Swift.

Is acting something you enjoy? No. It wouldn’t even be something I’d be interested in doing.

When do you feel most accomplished? Finishing a work day with no tasks left behind.

Do you think Manwich is amazing or completely gross? Idk what that is.

How many best friends do you have? Two.

Are you a smoker, drinker, pothead or none of the above? I drink sometimes. I also kinda smoke, I guess.

If you have your ears pierced, when did you get them pierced? My mom had them pierced when I was a month old.

Do you own any exercise machines? My mom has this rowing equipment thingy. I don’t have any of my own, though.

On Facebook, do you have people listed as your siblings who aren’t really your siblings? No.

Have you ever drawn or painted a self-portrait? I remember having to draw one as a school assignment, but I’m pretty sure I half-assed that because I couldn’t care less for art class back then.

Who was your last voicemail from? We don’t have voicemails.

Have you ever been falsely accused of something serious? I don’t think so. That’s the sort of situation that would stick out in my memory if ever.

Did you ever set up a lemonade stand when you were a kid? No, not a thing here.

When was the last time you spoke to someone in a different language? Around an hour ago when I went downstairs and chatted with my sister briefly.

Have you ever received an anonymous gift? Nope.

Have you ever camped out somewhere for an event the next day? Nope but I definitely still wouldn’t be opposed to doing that haha.

When were you the saddest in your life? 2016 was fucking miserable. < I’d have to agree. 2017 was also awful.

Do you know anyone, personally, who is in an abusive relationship? Are you? I used to know one but she got out of it. In a sense, I suppose I also was in one.

If you have siblings, have they moved out or do they still live with you? Well they’re younger, so they definitely still live here, with our parents. I’m the first one expected to move out, but I’m taking my time.

Have you ever gotten searched by the cops? No.

Do you like fried rice? Of course. I like any kind of rice.

What was the last thing you drank? Water.

#survey #surveys

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pochapal · 4 years ago

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rank every year of the 2010s from best to worst i want some pochapal lore

[warning for discussion of my fucked up mental health and my myriad traumas. we’re really opening the pandora’s box here gang]

ok time for me to overshare on the internet again! super long post because i can’t shut up and you asked for it. anyway, by objective ranking:

#1: 2012 - halcyon era, my personal peak. spent the whole year writing hunger games oc fics with my deviantart fanfiction besties whom i still think about all the time and always hope are having the best possible day. if you were here for this era understand i still hold you so closely and dearly in my heart <3.

#2: 2013 - god i was such a good example of a human being back then. was the year my writing like actually took off and i had a healthy balance between creative stuff and a social life (said social life consisting of spending lunchtimes at school breaking into classrooms and discussing fandom shit with five other people. reading homestuck updates in the music room on one person’s really shaky mobile data...legendary). highlight of the year and maybe my life was in the april of 2013 when i got out of failing to submit a hard deadline essay by telling my english teacher i wrote a whole novel over the two week break and then producing said novel. god i wish i had that level of like. fucking confidence back me back then knew what i wanted and how to get it.

#3: 2010 - the last year of childhood. i was 12 and played pokemon all the time with my friends and went places and had a moderately successful youtube channel and it didn’t matter that i was bullied so badly at school because i was basically high off life. summer of 2010 was so good specifically. i’d used to get the bus with a friend and go see movies and break into historical sites and get into normal childhood mayhem and maxed out my pokewalkers twice a month and i was buzzed because i had two (2) whole friendship groups to choose from and that was such a huge deal to me the terminal social outcast. it was so simple and carefree and even though everything and everyone involved in this era grew up to suck except for one specific person i kinda really miss it.

#4: 2018 - this was the first year i wasn’t depressed to the point of nonfunctioning. it was 20gayteen, i was on antidepressants, i was as close to thriving as i got at uni (going into town with people once a week, attending art and culture events, getting good grades across the board), i started to write for fun again, i got my cat whom i love dearly, i was exhibited in my uni’s city’s literature festival, GOD i actually nearly attended a pride event that year can you imagine. this year was basically my life’s second peak. miss getting the 8am train and daintily sipping on a cherry coke to keep me from passing out. wish this time could have lasted longer.

#5: 2019 - kinda absolute middle of the road year not for lack of anything happening but because the overwhelming amount of good and bad things cancelled each other out. so like there’s the fact that i was at the top of my uni game this year, was basically making the first steps into a professional writing career (covid i will never forgive you for killing all that dead </3), finally saved up enough to buy myself a gaming pc, and the summer after the homestuck epilogues, but equally 2019 was the start of the Pochapal Gender Fiasco which is by far the most horrible thing i am still currently undergoing and i burnt myself out mentally about halfway through the year (being stuck overnight in a hospital for a panic attack absolutely horrible horrible irredeemable) and then got like super death plague flu that i was sick with for three months (literally recovered less than a month before rona hit. god’s cruel karma.). so like...it kind of averaged out? the good shit was good but not as great as other years and the bad shit was awful but nowhere near as terrible as it could have been. gotta give a shoutout to 90% of my current mutual cohort for following me in 2019...omelette route gang make some noise !!

#6: 2014 - oof. this year essentially marked the start of a four year long downward mental health spiral because everything fell into awful alignment. i’d just turned 16, finished secondary school, had all my friends up and ditch me at once, was home alone for a whole summer, and was hit with Sudden Intense Body Image Issues that i couldn’t explain until uh. after very recent developments lmao. this one goes out to the me of july 2014 who did nothing but lay in bed and listen to the same two marina albums on a loop because fuck i’m attracted to men and also my facial and body hair are really starting to come in and if i think about this for too long i will literally kill myself because oh god i can’t handle getting older which is clearly and definitely the issue going on here. my brain fucking broke super hardcore and it’s a miracle that an overeating disorder was like the worst thing i walked away with.

#7: 2015 - downward spiral year two!! i was so volatile this year it was such a mess. i was totally socially isolated after a brief stint of falling in with a group of people at the start of my first year of sixth form until january where in quick succession a) it turned out every single one of these people was friends with the person who sexually assaulted me whom i obviously had a lot of complicated feelings towards and b) baby’s first crush came out as bisexual but in the “women and also trans women” kind of way which tore me up so terribly in ways i couldn’t begin to understand. no words for the experience of seeing a girl kiss a boy and crying so hard at night you threw up because you could never be her no matter how much you wanted it. actually kinda get the sense what was going on there was bigger than just some crush lmao. then after that i was so mentally ill i basically attended school less than half the time and it was the only year in my life i failed my exams. i ended up having to resit my entire set of first year a level exams because jesus christ was i in such a bad way it was a miracle i even showed up to them. all i did was either have anxiety attacks or enter bedbound depressive slumps for weeks at a time. but it’s okay because it gets worse.

#8: 2016 - downward spiral act iii: the spiralling. prefacing this by saying that i actually had two whole good months (april - may) in that i was functioning enough to do my exams and finish school with decent grades. the rest was super extra mega terrible. my school attendance for year 13 dipped below 65% and literally the only thing that kept me from being kicked out was the fact that i was naturally smart at the subjects i took and also because the school would have a lot to answer for after letting me get to that state despite having a hefty file on how damaged i was. keep in mind every single part of this was fully untreated btw - i was just floundering around and letting it all fester. i spent three solid weeks going to school but locking myself in the bathroom all day every day and having mental health episodes then going home like nothing else happened only to continue the breakdown that night. then things got kicked into fucked up overdrive when i moved out to uni and was cut off from what little support structures i did have. it was so bad all i did was cry all the time and never went anywhere to the point where three separate sources recommended me to the wellbeing and crisis counselling service that i stopped going to after two sessions because i was fucked up in ways cbt techniques could not even touch. at least i tried to make an effort for the first two months of uni which like. good for me?

#9: 2017 - what lieth at the base of the spiral. helltrench year. i was at literal rock bottom. i stopped going to class, i didn’t hand in a single piece of work. i lied to my parents and would book trains each day only to go back to my student flat and sit there and contemplate suicide. like i would just slump on the floor in a catatonic state and vividly contemplate one of four or so ways i could end my own life. i only didn’t because i wanted to wait until the summer to collect my last student loan and transfer it to my parents as an apology for my death which obviously didn’t end up happening. honestly i can’t remember much of the first half of 2017 that’s how bad it was. i remember taking a gender studies class and the teacher made it Weird that i was the Only Male Student in the room and then she sent me a scolding email after i walked out halfway through a class and never returned. apparently i got into a lot of online discourse in this year but i don’t remember anything other than being put on a blocklist by the milkfic author over ace discourse which is funny if you have the context. mostly i just baited terfs and weirdo freaks to get them to say horrible things to me as what i guess amounts to some kind of digital self harm. anyway breaking point came in late august when i got kicked out of university and then nobody could ignore it any more so there was no choice left but for me to seek out help and recover enough to function which luckily i did. i really Do Not remember 2017. you could tell me anything about that year and i’d probably believe you.

#10: 2011 - extra circle of hell for this little fucked up gem of a year. on the surface it wasn’t actually that terrible, until the Summer 2011 Domino Effect Of Bad Shit. up until like may/june it was a pretty all right year! i was 13 and had a surprisingly successful youtube channel uploading pokemon soundfont remixes to an audience of i think ~350-400 subscribers at my peak? anyway then i got hit with the early summer triple combo of childhood friends moving away, cute and quirky sexual assault at the hands of a person in my friend group, and then having some Really Great and Super Appropriate interactions with adults on deviantart. like obviously there’s the actual ptsd-inducing event which totally disrupted and killed the person i was right up until that moment and reshaped every facet of my life for better or worse (there’s an alternate timeline where that didn’t happen and i got into electronic music and/or coding instead) but really it’s the events that followed in its wake which were kind of more fucked up. so like all of a sudden i was super aware of my body and me growing my hair out and being mistaken for a girl in class suddenly became this Less Innocent thing and i ended up spending hours overnight going to transgender questioning forums and looking up hrt timeline videos and having the wikipedia article on tracheal shaving saved because it was a life raft to me whose voice was imminently gonna deepen and i was simultaneously reeling with constant trauma flashbacks and the whole thing was so so fucked up. then i was on deviantart and i don’t remember exactly how but a small group of furry guys ten to fifteen years older than me started messaging me and encouraging and requesting me to produce nonsexual fetish stuff for them and talking to me about stuff like if i’d ever thought about growing up to be gay and i didn’t think anything of it for a long while because they called me a very talented writer and it felt so good to have someone be nice to me after being so alone and isolated for months on end. anyway the only reason i got out of that before it got bad was because they invited me to one of the big furry sites and i was weirded out because i thought it was a porn site and thinking about sexual stuff was a huge trauma trigger so i just ended up blocking them all and pretending like it didn’t happen. at the time half this shit didn’t bother me but in retrospect holy fuck 2011 was such a damaging year. to think if like three events didn’t happen i wouldn’t be the fucked up mess you see before you today.

god fuck this turned out super long but i’m not apologising because this was a therapeutic exercise for me and also constitutes as one of the biggest pochapal lore dumps of all time. come get your food or whatever.

#Anonymous #long post #read all of this if you have vested interest in knowing intimate details about my life or whatever

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harrys-reverie · 4 years ago

Text

Dog Years // Harry Styles O.U.

Part 3: The Bookstore

a/n: hey everyone! welcome to part 3 of dog years. sorry it took so long on the update -- i just got back to college. i hope you enjoy this chapter!!! i personally consider it harry’s very subtle way of opening up to people (how i’d imagine it) as always like, SHARE, COMMENTS, feedback, all appreciated!!! xoo

STORY PAGE I PART ONE I PART TWO

To be fair I didn’t hear from Jeff or Harry for two whole days. I was starting to feel like they lowkey didn’t want me to be part of their ‘team’ anymore. I couldn’t be bothered even if they didn’t, because at the end of the day I worked for Eve, not them. But at the same time all I could do was sit and recollect about my night with all of them. Everything seemed to go so well, and i really thought they liked me. I liked them.

So since Eve figured my pay was now around the clock, if I wasn’t doing anything that I needed to do be doing something. It was just a bunch of menial tasks like picking up garbage around the premises, scooping up vile dog shit and what not. Honestly, it kind of sucked. I rather be fetching candles and dropping them off to Harry.

But finally it was Sunday and it was my day off. A part of me wanted to go back to my nans house, stop in and say hi. Then I remembered Sunday’s were her brunch and bingo days and she went out with all her cute old lady friends. I was starting to feel extremely lonely.

So I was left to myself in my little cottage. It was pretty relaxing, but all the time cooped up in here was becoming boring and repetitive. And to think I had 4 months left of this. Just sitting in my bed scrolling through shopping sites putting tons of clothes in a cart I’d never get around to purchasing. Even being payed around the clock wasn’t enough to buy a whole new wardrobe.

So yes, I was starting to get a little antsy that I heard nothing from Harry or Jeff. I sneakily biked by Harry’s cottage multiple times to see if he was still there throughout the two days, and his car was still parked in the driveway each time. I hadn’t seen him even around the premises at all doing anything. Or anyone from his group for that matter. I tried to tell myself by the end of the first day that they were all just super hungover. I knew that was a stretch but it eased my mind. Then yesterday rolled around and I had no comforting excuses for why I hadn’t heard from them.

I expressed my worry to Eve and she insisted that they were probably just getting settled. Okay, I’ll take that. That’s got to be it, right?

As I continued to worry in my head about what may have gone wrong I reached for my phone. Nope, no messages. Fuck. This was quickly becoming a bad habit, constantly checking my phone. Bravely I pressed Jeff’s contact, hovering my thumb over the call option. Should I try to reach out? Eh. Sighing, I locked the phone and tossed it to my side. If they needed me, they would act on it. I didn’t want to be a nuisance and bother any of them.

Focusing my attention back on my laptop I popped open a new tab on my Safari browser. I began typing his name, enter and then search.

Instantly an endless amount of brand new and just days old articles displayed across my screen. Harry Styles this, Harry Styles that. There was one recurring theme throughout all of these article titles though, a girls name - Camille.

“Camille Rowe, ex lover of musician Harry Styles states that he’s ‘overly jealous and begged her to stay when they broke up!’ Oh no, poor H. Read more here.”

“Apparently Harry Styles is a Freak in the Sheets! Ex Girlfriend Camille Rowe recollects on her sex life with the pop star in her new book ’Truth Be Told.’”

“Feeling bad about getting cheated on? Don’t feel bad,Harry Styles has been in your shoes too...his ex girlfriend opens up about the mistakes she made that ultimately led to the lyrics of Harry’s sophomore album, Fine Line.”

I couldn’t help but let out a gasp, all this couldn’t be true, could it? I exited out of the tab quickly, afraid to go on and read more of those terrible headlines. I honestly felt bad if all that was true, and if Harry’s ex girlfriend really did that, then I could only imagine how he might be feeling.

I could tell Harry really valued his privacy, why else would he be out here in the middle of nowhere in complete hiding? I thought back to him telling me how he had a disdain for California, I was now beginning to think she had some sort of connection to it. Poor Harry. Almost instantly I was feeling guilty, like I invaded Harry’s privacy by seeing all of those headlines. Imagining what the whole world most think and know of him right now is extremely unsettling. To bring up how he has sex and his most vulnerable moments and just like everyone know about it, it’s beyond fucked up.

Ting.

The world has a funny way of working making connections sometimes. Deep down in my gut I had a feeling it’d be Harry or Jeff who left me a text, it just had to be. Before I even reached my phone I saw the capital H, I knew it was Harry. Of course, he was texting me now, after I saw all that and felt so fucking bad. If he was any other person I’d ask if he wanted to have a nice chat, bring over some ice cream and wine and help him relax.

I wasn’t slow to swipe up on the message and see what he wrote.

‘Hiiiii Colette. Hope you’re well, it’s Harry. Have a huge favor to ask you whenever you get the chance. X”

Hah, he’s acting me for a favor as if I’m not getting paid to help him with whatever he needs. He’s too nice. I didn’t hesitate to start typing back.

‘Hi, Harry! How are you? I’ve been just well! As for the favor...sure anything :)”

Not even five seconds later my phone was vibrating and ringing at the same time, Harry’s name flashing across the screen. Ah, so he’s one of those people who have to make phone calls for everything. My hands felt like jelly as I went to accept the call. Even though we had a great night, him not talking to me for a couple days made me rethink how great that night might’ve actually been. Maybe I was just super tipsy and thought it was amazing when it was just subpar.

“Hello?” I chimed, placing the phone to my ear.

His deep Americanized-British accent greeted me, “Morning Colette!” He sounded extra chirpy this morning.

“Harry! Haven’t heard from you in a while..” I replied nervously.

There was a small pause. “Sorry ‘bout that just keeping busy and what not. I meant to text but, I was so preoccupied I forgot. ‘M sorry, won’t pull something like that again.”

My heart felt like it was being squeezed, my intention was never to make him feel bad but I could sense that I did. I wondered how stressful it was on him always being so kind to everyone, literally everyone. At all times of the day. I had a feeling that most of the time he was putting on an act when deep down he was just having real human problems that he had to keep tucked away.

“Don’t apologize,” I rushed. “It’s fine, seriously. What’s up?”

“A little bit of this, a little bit of that,” He joked. I could hear his soft chuckle from the other line. “Sunday’s.”

“The most relaxing day,” I noted, it was true.

“Relaxing enough where I feel like I should take some time and start a book.”

Oh, fuck. There wasn’t much enthusiasm in his voice anymore. I had a feeling I knew where all of this was heading, and I didn’t like it.

“Any day is a great day to start a book,” I suggested trying to hide my nerves. The universe really was one giant head fuck.

“Actually the favor I was going to ask you,” Harry drawled, a slight tinge of hesitation is his voice. “I really want this specific book.”

Yep, this was his heading right where I thought it would.

“Ooo which one?” I questioned excitedly, like I didn’t know. I was really hoping he’d take me by surprise and say that new Twilight book or something.

“It’s called Truth Be Told. Actually, bet it’s sold out everywhere. Can’t even Amazon fuckin’ Prime it.” He laughed. Maybe he was taking this a lot lighter than I thought...?

“Y’ know what. I don’t need it. Um, do you have any book recs?” Harry rushed.

“If you want that book I’ll go out in town and look for it, but if not I do have some recommendations,” I offered.

“Okay, how ‘bout this? I’ll lend you my car and could you get me that uh, Truth book or whatever and also, get me a book you recommend for me and I have one I recommend for you.”

“You trust me in your car? I just only started to learn to drive on the opposite side of the road,” I admitted with a smile, not like he could see it.

“If ya crash my car, I wouldn’t even try coming back...avoid the wrath of Harry Styles at all costs,” He countered.

“Uh-oh I’m scared,” I fake gasped.

“Hm, should be. I’m not like the papers say, ‘m actually a real diva.”

I was starting to really like this conversation.

“A lot of work, huh?”

“You think you can handle it?”

It’s like I could hear his smirk through the phone. This conversation went really, might I say flirtatious, really fast. I knew it was just his personality and I shouldn’t over think it. But if there is one thing I loved in life, it was a good flirt. And Harry, he was good at it.

I must have been zoned out for a moment because I heard Harry awkwardly clear his throat when I didn’t reply back to his flirtatious line.

“So ‘m gonna pick you up actually. We’ll go back to mine and then you can head off to get those books? Sound good?” He spoke into the line.

“Oh yeah, sure.”

“See ya soon.”

With a click, the call was finished. As much as I wanted to sit back and recollect on what the fuck went down in that call I knew I needed to get out of bed and make myself presentable. He didn’t give me an ETA so I assumed I didn’t have much time on the clock.

I ran to my overflowing duffle, with all the time on my hands I really needed to get around to unpacking it. Was it bad that I wanted to try to look a little more dressed up than just jeans and a tee?

Yep, it was probably bad because I shouldn’t care how I look in front of him.

“Ugh!” I exclaimed, rummaging through all the wrinkled clothing. I settled on black jeans and a black blouse. It looked a bit funeral-esque, I’m hoping it came off as chic. I’d look like a rag doll next to him anyway, the least I could do was try.

He really wanted to go and get his ex girlfriend’s book, huh? I don’t know why he’d want to do that to himself, either way I was going to play dumb as rocks when he gave me the list of the name and author of the book. It’s not entirely an act though, I just read a few headlines. Correction, I just google searched his name and scrolled throw a bunch of headlines about how you have sex and cry — how terrible that would sound if he knew it was true. I will be taking that one to the grave with me.

I swore not even 5 minutes had passed by and the purring of Harry’s engine was already echoing through my house. He was only up the hill after all, but he gave me absolutely zero time to fix myself up. I just had to suck it up and go out there with my frizzy hair and oily skin and tough it out.

But that wasn’t even my biggest concern, my biggest concern was the fact I, a shit driver in the first place, was now being trusted to drive Harry’s extremely fancy Range Rover to a book store of some sorts somewhere. As soon as we traded off the car my plan was to start Google mapping a place and praying that it was close. The quicker I’m in and out of that vehicle, the better.

My phone pinged.

Harry.

“Should’ve gone to the bathroom before I left. Can I come in for a quick wee? X”

I just couldn’t get a break, my bathroom was cluttered with skincare products and dirty clothes piling on the side. I ran to the bathroom swiping up the dirty clothes and tossing them in an empty drawer in the dresser. He’ll just have to excuse all my beauty products, I didn’t want to keep him waiting too long.

“Come in!!!” I texted him back.

The sound of a car door slam was almost instantly followed by a polite knock at my door. Although the cottages were spread far apart I rushed over to the door, not wanting him to stay outside too long, afraid he might get noticed.

I peered through the peephole and was blessed by the handsome looks of Harry. He was tapping his foot against the cobblestone, the hood of his Nike rain jacket pulled over his head completely, while his hair was covered by a black beanie. Even being so covered up he was still so good looking. I opened the door for him, allowing him inside.

“Hi there,” He grinned as I welcomed him in. I’d love to chat but ‘m actually bout to wee my pants. Give me a moment please.”

Harry then fast walked his way over to the bathroom, obviously familiar with the floor plan. He must’ve stayed in one of the smaller cottages before. The smell of his heavenly cologne suffocated the room instantly. I knew I’d still be smelling it lingering in the air even later on tonight.

All the rushing to get ready and let him in, I wasn’t even focused on my stomach which was knotting like crazy. It felt like it could explode from nerves at just any minute. I don’t remember ever feeling this nervous when I had to see him. Granted I’ve only seen him those two times, but I played it off so cool then. I think I was just working myself up over nothing right now.

I heard the sound of running water and momentarily the steps of his shoes making their way back over to me.

��Can we redo the greeting?” He questioned with a big smile.

“Ok..”

“No, ‘m actually just going to pop outside, knock again and everything,” Harry insisted seriously.

“I’ll pretend like you didn’t just rush to the bathroom like a toddler who hasn’t gone to the bathroom all day,” I agreed, going along with his little act.

“Great.”

Harry popped open the front door, shutting it behind him and going back into the hazy morning air, doing a quick spin before making contact with the door once again.

Knock.

I couldn’t help but giggle as I opened up the door for him the second time.

“Morning Colette, how are ya doing on this fine September morning?” Harry asked me extra cheerily, creeping in for a hug. I embraced him back, the scent of his cologne engulfing my senses once again.

“Doing just fine Mr. Styles. Could I offer you some tea?” I asked in a proper tone, putting on my best imitation of a British accent.

Harry rolled his eyes, breaking the act...”That’s the best you got? You’ve only bloody been staying in England for a whole month.”

“Is it that bad?” I asked appalled.

“Terrible.”

“Better luck next time.” I sighed jokingly.

“Don’t even try. I like your voice just how it is naturally, anyway,” He spoke honestly. The second it left his mouth he too looked taken aback at the compliment he had just thrown at me.

“Want to go get those books?” I suggested awkwardly, dismissing his compliment and changing the topic. Back to business.

Harry seemed surprised by how I brushed it off and maybe even a little embarrassed, his finger began fiddling with his bottom lip. I was starting to pick up that was a little thing he did when he was nervous.

“The books. How could I forget,” He replied dully.

“If i’m being honest I don’t even know where a book store is around here,” I huffed.

“I do,” He smirked.

“Well that’s no help considering I’m going by myself,” I rolled my eyes back at him playfully.

Harry was leaning his body weight on the wooden table by the entrance, a huge smirk painted on his face.

“Guess you’re outta luck then.”

“Would it be bad if I asked for you to come with and guide me?” I asked bravely. I was taking myself by surprise with how upfront I was being towards him. It was just so hard not to be when he was just so normal.

His face dropped a little. I couldn’t tell what sort of reaction he was feeling towards my question but he looked upset. I instantly regretted it because I know my request was about to be rejected.

“As much as I’d love to...” Harry began. “I can’t.”

“Stupid of me to ask,” I replied casually brushing it off. I wanted to change the topic.

“No, it’s not. Maybe I’m better off ordering books online, anyways.”

“I mean, I could still, go get it for you. Something to do.”

Harry brushed it off, shoving his hands in his sweat pockets. “Nope, don’t want you to anymore..the ratings weren’t even that good.”

Oh wow, Harry has some pettiness in him. I couldn’t blame him though. I think anybody else would feel the same way. I wanted to just reach out and tell him I knew why he wanted that book, and that it’s not even worth a bother. I really felt for him. I too had a bad ex, as we typically all do. I can’t say it was as bad as Harry’s past relationship, but mine was bad in it’s own unique way.

“Fuck it.” He mumbled before turning his gaze back towards me. “Let’s go get them books.”

I was surprised, “Really?”

“I hate to do this and act like a macho pop star but ‘m really gonna have to go incognito. Can’t even step out the car with ya unfortunately, but I’ll drive us.”

My heart warmed at his offer, I knew he was probably going against what his strict hiding rules were in order to go through with this. If he was just driving a heavily tinted car though, was there still a way for paparazzi to notice him? I was excited, I think he could tell because he let out a small giggle, shaking his head.

“Let’s hit the road then!” I exclaimed.

“After you,” He grinned, holding the door open in front of me and leading me to his car.

_________________

The ride with Harry was going well. He had a incognito get up of sunglasses, a beanie and his hood up, making sure there was no way someone could detect it was him. His car smelled like fresh leather and mint, there was an abundance of chewing gum packets stashed in the front compartment of his car along with miscellaneous receipts. Lucky for the both of us, the roads were almost completely clear and there was no traffic heading into town.

Harry was just as attractive looking while driving as I thought he would be. To be fair there was something so enticing about having any guy drive all manly and taking control. But especially Harry driving was a beautiful sight to see. The background music of the radio was humming in the background as the two of us chatted along casually.

“How are you going to recommend me a book if you can’t even come in?” I questioned him.

He turned to me, “Who said I’m not coming in?”

“You did!”

“Might just be your lucky day then,” He smirked. “Do you have a good recommendation in mind for me? Shall we surprise one another?”

I nodded my head, “Sounds like a plan.”

“No soppy romantic books, please,” He scoffed.

“But those are my favorites!”

“Don’t care. I’ve probably read all the best of them anyways,” Harry argued back, a huge smirk painted on his face.

Deep down I knew already which book I was going to pick out for him if it was there. I didn’t care if it was a romantic one or not because I had a feeling he hadn’t read it yet and I had an ever greater feeling that he’d fall in love with it.

The two of us went back and forth chatting to each other another until we began to reach a cobblestone path that led to a small selection of shops. The plaza was secluded and had just a few small buildings overgrown with ivy unevenly placed amongst one another. I’d say there was a max of 5 or 6 cars in the whole parking lot. To be fair, we were pretty far out of town I’d say we had been driving for at least 20 minutes.

“You ready?” He questioned. I could tell there was a hint of nerves in his voice. He was awkwardly fiddling with his wallet and pushing his hood down. He was now just left with his oversized black beanies and sunglasses as his ‘disguise.’

“Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to,” I insisted earnestly. I didn’t want to push him to be in a situation that could get messy really quick.

“I’ll be fine here,” Harry reasoned, turning his gaze to the entrance of a little shop by the name of ‘Greg’s Books and More.’

“If anything goes bad, it wasn’t my fault!”

I didn’t want to be responsible for anything that might ensue, after all Harry was the one who insisted to walk in the shop with me. I had a good feeling that we’d be set though, there was literally nobody around and we were far from any major city with large amounts of people.

The two of us hopped out simultaneously shutting the car doors together. Walking side by side with him in the bright daylight made me more aware of the height difference between us, one I had barely ever noticed before. His single strides were equivalent to almost double mine and his shoulders were just a slight amount higher than my eye level.

“Good morning!” A sweet old man, short and stout greeted us from behind a counter of the shop. Harry and I both waved back.

“Morning sir, how are ya doing today?” Harry asked kindly, stopping short to stand and talk to the man.

“Just having a cuppa, enjoying the Sunday,” The man replied. “Let me know if you two kids have any questions.”

I shot the man another small smile before turning to Harry. “May the best book picker win?” I joked.

“You’ve got 10 minutes.”

“1...2..” I began counting down, but before I could even reach the number three, Harry was already rushing to the rows of books, an agenda already on his mind. He seemed so confident in what he was going to pick that I soon began to re think what I was going to choose for his book.

I hurriedly rushed to the other side of the bookstore, scanning the shelves with my eyes. The shop was small and I could hear Harry rummaging through shelves on the opppsite side. I had 10 minutes to find the book I had in mind, something I loved that I wanted to pass on to Harry.

The thought of trading off books to someone who a very intimate gesture, an invitation to be apart of another’s brain. I still couldn’t believe I was here right now with Harry Styles, a now friend, spending my Sunday out and about the town. I knew it was my day off but I knew when I arrived back to my cottage I’d want to inform Eve.

As my eyes panned over the endless covers and names of authors and titles a familiar bright blue and green cover popped up. Ah, I knew what this was. Before I had even fully removed it from the shelf, the yellow cursive script was already showing.

Love is a Mix Tape.

Given his career in music I knew right away this would be the perfect book for him. I had read it months ago, but the impact it left on me remained the same. A story not specifically circled around romance, but hints at the struggles of love and loss. It was funny and a joy to read.

I looked over the book making sure there were no imperfections, torn pages or bent covers. Luckily there was none, I angled it to my side hiding it just in case he’d pop out of of nowhere.

Walking up to the cash register there was no sign of him, he was probably still amongst the jungle of books so I took this as my invitation to check out.

“Hi,” I chirped to the old man who sat behind the desk, his glasses almost falling off his face as he read through the book in front of him.

“Hello there love, you all set?” He asked, walking over to the vintage-like cash register.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I put the book down between us already beginning to reach in my purse for my wallet. I really hoped Harry hasn’t read this one yet.

“Can I just give you money to cover both my book and the other customers? Like, pass it on..” I spoke handing the man almost triple the amount of my single book. He looked at me inquisitively and then began to smile.

“I’m sure that young man will appreciate it,” He smiles, a glimmer of knowingness in his eyes. I knew the gesture was small and i knew money was not a problem for him but I had such an urge to just do it anyways.

I thanked the man as he wrapped up the book and placed it in a brown paper bag, graciously taking it from him. Harry was still amongst the jungle of shelves and I didn’t want to prowl or cause attention so I decided to wait outside the store. The air was fresh and crisp, the sound of chirping birds and whistling trees engulfed my senses. I’m almost sure Harry had reached his 10 minute mark, but I wasn’t going to rush him. I had a feeling it was a rare occurrence for him to be able to aimlessly shop around, crowd free.

“Ya ready?” His voice erupted behind me, the bell of the door pinging in the quiet air. I turned to face him, his paper bag tucked underneath his arm.

“Not really,” I joked, it wasn’t a complete lie though. I wouldn’t mind shopping around with him in little hideaways all day. Harry caught up to me and we began the short walk back to his car in quiet. As my hand began to reach the handle he quickly swooped in front of me, opening it himself. I looked at him with a stupid look on my face, in awe of a gentleman.

“Oh thanks,” I spoke sheepishly.

“My pleasure.”

I hopped in and moments later Harry was back in the drivers seat beside me pressing the car on and pumping up the heat.

“Thanks, by the way.” He gestured to the paper bag.

“Oh, not a problem at all! Random acts of kindness or whatever,” I brushed it off.

“Not used to someone covering the bill,” He admitted. “Not like that type of stuff matters to me.”

“Well don’t even worry about it.”

“I’ll get you back next time,” He noted.

Next time. So there’s going to be a next time? A next time of us going to the book store? A next time of us hanging out? A next time of what?

“Should we swap these books or what?” I questioned, changing the topic once again.

“So eager, huh?” Harry laughed.

“Well we’re just sitting here in a empty parking lot, you have any other suggestions?”

“You’re right,” He quipped. “Here you are then.”

The two of us exchanged the bags. He lifted it to his ear, shaking it as if it was a surprise gift and he was trying to guess what it could be.

“Just get on with it!” I exclaimed.

“Hush, hush.” He began opening it, very carefully, soon revealing the book I had chosen for him.

“Lucky for you, I’ve never read this. Thank you,” He seemed very grateful as he looked over the front cover, going back and forth between the pages quickly. “I’m excited.”

“Thank God,” I huffed. “I was nervous you’d have read it before.”

“Nope, never. You did good,” Harry compliments, his eyes falling back to my unopened bag in my hands. “Now it’s your turn.”

Oh, yeah.

“I hate when people watch me open stuff,” I admitted. My hand was toying with the bag as I looked at him nervously. I didn’t like people watching me because I was afraid that I wouldn’t give off the right reaction to whatever they may have given me. It was too much pressure, and especially Harry watching me so intently it made me nervous.

“Want me to turn away?” He offered earnestly. “I know people like that, my sister.”

“Maybe just like causally look out the car or whatever.”

Immediately he began fiddling with his windshield wipers, intently focusing on them as if they were some sort of puzzle. I wanted to tell him not to use them when it wasn’t raining and it’d damage the car, but I’m sure he knew that. I took that as my queue to quickly unpack-age the book, afraid he might cause damage.

When I opened it up it revealed not one but two books. The one on top made my heart sink, I recognized the title right away. It was his ex girlfriends book. Why would he give this one to me? Should I act like I know what it is and what it’s about? No. Play dumb. Underneath it though, was a book by the name of ‘Betting On The Muse’ by Charles Bakowski. Ah, poetry.

“You done yet slowpoke?” Harry interrupted my thoughts, the two books sat between my lap.

“You can look,” I complied. “Are they both for me?”

“Yes,” He replied simply. “But, I have some stipulations.”

“This wasn’t a part of the deal.”

“I would like if you read the Bukowski book first. It’s poems, I want you to read them and guess which one is my favorite when you’re finished,” He instructed sweetly. Although there was direction in his tone, it came off so kind. “As for the other one..” He paused and then let out a huff.

“I don’t even want you to touch it,” He continued. “Don’t look it up, reviews, synopsis...anything.”

“Okay,” I agreed. I was confused but I didn’t want to let that on.

“One day, if I give you the ‘ok’ I want you to read it. If you want. You don’t have to listen to me by any means, but yeah,” He finished awkwardly.

“So just hold onto it?” I asked, holding up the Truth Be Told book. His eyes glimpsed down to it before quickly shooting back up to meet my gaze. The cover was what I was assuming to be her, his ex. Her hair was messy, lips full, topless with her arms covering her breasts in shades of black and white.

“Yeah, just hold on to it,” He stated.

“You’ve got my word,” I smiled. I could feel the tension in the car and I didn’t want it anymore. This was supposed to be a lighthearted excursion and I wanted to keep it that way.

“Great, well thank you for the books. I’ll start mine right away,” Harry began as he started the car once again. “You ready to take back off?”

I nodded watching him look over the book I had gotten him one last time. He smiled at it before turning to smile towards me. I smiled back. He then brought his hand to the radio, clicked a few things on his iPhone and then turned the notch up loudly. As he began to pull out of the cobblestone parking lot, the beautiful sound of his voice filled the car. This time it was in song.

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