#sometimes the serious moments just slap you in the face and it's like DANG. that's good. xD

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

JACOB KNOWS JACOB KNOWS JACOB KNOWS JACOB KNOWS JACOB KNOWS

[lallyloo]

kiss prompt "i love it when you kiss me"

It’s spring, and the lilacs are blooming, and the weather is warm.

Rhett is sixteen and Link is still fifteen, so it’s up to Rhett to drive them everywhere they want to go.

And today they’re at the river.

They're lying on the river bank, and Rhett's been talking about the most recent girlfriend to dump him, and how he’s had the worst luck lately. He can get girlfriends pretty easily, but lately he’s had a hard time keeping them. If he doesn’t get bored, they seem to, and he’s dumped quickly with little explanation.

Link’s been quietly listening to all of Rhett’s little insecurities.

Maybe they don’t like him.

Maybe he’s boring.

Maybe his breath stinks.

He asks Link to smell it, and Link leans in as Rhett breathes into his nostrils, 'hahhh hahhhhhh', and Link says it’s okay, same as anyone else’s breath would probably be.

Rhett is friendly, and he's nice to girls.

At least he thinks he is. He tries to be.

So maybe he’s just bad at kissing.

Link makes a ‘pffft’ sound.

“I doubt that’s it,” Link mumbles as he stares up at the clouds, “I love it when you kiss me.”

Rhett whips his head in Link's direction.

“What??”

Because they’ve never kissed. Not once. Ever.

Link glances over at him, nonchalant, “What?”

It takes a moment before realization dawns on Link’s face and his eyes go wide.

“Did I say that out loud?” A blush is traveling up his neck as he stammers, “I didn’t mean that.. I just meant.. I was only...” Link stares at Rhett for a moment. “Aw shit.”

“What?”

“Nothin’.”

“Link, what?? Why’d you say it like that?” Rhett’s face is etched with confusion.

Link sighs, and props himself up on his elbow, so he’s facing Rhett. “You swear you ain’t gonna laugh?”

Rhett mirrors his pose, looking more serious than he’s ever looked as he whispers, “I ain’t gonna laugh at you, man.”

Link has to close his eyes to say it. “I.. Us.. kissing..? I think about it sometimes..”

“Sometimes??”

“Yeah.” Link peeks an eye open to look at him.

“How many times??” Rhett asks.

Link clamps his eyes shut again and quickly spits out the words, “Twice, maybe, I dunno, maybe more, five or six times, maybe seven”

“Seven times??”

“I don’t know! Stop askin’ me about it.”

“What do you think about??”

“Dang, man, I don’t know,” Link flops back on the grass, and slaps his hand over his eyes, sounding like he’s in pain, “You kissin’ me, or me kissin’ you, whatever.. I wish I’d never said nothin’.”

“You really think about it??”

“Yeah..”

Rhett stares at him, waiting for Link to say more, or look at him, or something.

When Link doesn’t move, Rhett breathes out, “Why?”

“I don’t know, dude, shut up. Forget I ever said anything.”

“Well I can’t just forget it..”

“Pretend you forget then.”

“Pretend?? I don’t know if..” Rhett’s voice trails off.

They’re quiet for a minute and then Rhett leans closer and gently pulls Link’s hand away from his face.

And Link looks up at him as Rhett dips his head down to kiss him.

They push their lips together for a moment or two, uncertain, and when Rhett pulls back, Link closes his eyes and makes a kind of frustrated sound, breathing noisily out of his nose.

Rhett flops down beside him, looking up at the sky, groaning, “It was bad, wasn’t it? That’s why I keep getting’ dumped!”

“Nooo,” Link whines, “It wasn’t bad, dude, it was great.”

Rhett stops his groaning and glances over at him. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Link frowns up at the sky, looking pained.

“You sure?” Rhett asks, “Because you look kinda upset about it.”

“Yeah.”

“What’s wrong then?”

“Well, now I know what it’s like, and you’re still gonna be out there kissin’ a bunch of girls instead of me.”

Rhett looks away for a moment, surprised, staring up at the sky and the clouds, and it looks like it might rain in a bit, and maybe they should grab their stuff and head on out, and he’s got a test at school on Monday, and he should probably go home soon and study, and maybe he’d be okay with kissing Link some more.

Maybe they could do it a lot.

Maybe he doesn’t have to always be looking for a girlfriend.

Maybe he could have a boyfriend. For awhile.

Rhett looks back over at Link. “You really wanna.. kiss me more?”

“I mean, yeah, dude. I think about it a lot.”

“Seven times?”

Link laughs, “More than seven.”

“Eight?”

“Way more.”

Rhett rolls onto his side, and leans in to kiss Link again.

It lasts a little longer this time, and Rhett tries a couple moves with his tongue, and Link tries a couple things too, and Rhett’s pretty sure he’s not a bad kisser after all.

And Link’s definitely good at it.

“I think I love it too,” Rhett breathes as they pull apart.

Link gives him a confused look, “You love what?”

“When I kiss you.”

[random-bi-writer]

My Reaction to Thanks To Them

Took me two days to finish my projects first before watching this but it is definetely worth the antagonising wait.

Spoilers for those who haven’t watched it yet.

NO. WHY WOULD YOU START WITH THAT?! FROG DAMMIT, IM ALREADY CRYING AND IT’S ONLY BEEN THREE SECONDS

And once again, Anne made me laugh.

Wait...there are sponges that aren’t yellow?

Get Some Therapy Challenge: Failed.

Nah, that british gay man who dresses like a straight person ain’t human to begin with.

Goddamit, of course he shows up.

I see a picture of what seems to be Luz slapping a cake on her dad’s face.

Child, you need to get out more often.

Why would they freak out- oh. right, Abominations...

I wonder if Disney let a full season, we would have a more in depth scene about Vee meeting the others for the first time instead of this.

Hallway of pictures. There’s the dad throwing baby Luz in the air (that explains a lot about Luz) Chat Noir cosplay, 

Hate that I can see the dad’s full face, but it’s too fucking small for me to stare at.

Nevermind.

Pfft. I’m sorry, I had to rewatch this 5 times to make sure I’m not watching a fanmade amv instead of the episode. Also nice to include Hooty photobombing.

The amount of sadness with the drawings is just...

Designs. Gus, yes. Willow, maybe. Amity, maybe less dark colors and ditch the hat. Hunter, goofy boy.

Mirabel Madrigal.

VEE! MY BABY BOY!

Damn, that explains the haircut. Still miss the ahoge, though.

They’re so cute, especially Amity, I want to pinch her cheeks.

I prefer the non-romance cute. Lumity is so cute and wholesome that it’s disgusting.

Aww, the boys are having fun.

Willow looks like a mom with her hair down.

Is that spanish, I hear? I’m so proud.

I thought you were over that.

So Willow likes photography now.

Aww, Hooty’s there.

Vee is more babey when he speaks spanish.

Lmao. You’re gonna have three more kids once you meet King and the Twins. Maybe four, depending on the Collector. Or five, since Eda is kinda of a child sometimes. Wow, you’re gonna be busy.

Wouldn’t people find it suspicous to see four kids walking around town during school hours? Why aren’t they going to school, then again, it would cost a lot.

Babeys.

Luz, for the love of all things holy, get some therapy.

Pfft. Luz what the heck?

Aww, it’s nice to see other humans liking Luz...that better not be a prank...

Damn, imagine if Luz lost her dad from a car crash, this scene would have been really something.

Ugh, gross.

Dang. Nice, Hunter.

Babey Boy.

The back cover looks gay.

Flashbacks? Nice.

For some reason, I’m thinking of Marcy.

Oh, so it’s a nightmare.

Manny Noceda. Am I getting that right?

I’m gonna be honest, I have no idea what I should say about Camila’s nightmare.

Shit. I know this a serious moment, but look at the picture of Camila and Vee being cute together. Probably the last thing I should focus on.

You know that feeling where you feel like something’s bad is going to happen? I’m getting that from the egg.

Oh, god. That is disgusting and horrifying.

Hunter, no.

LMAO, Amity’s face!

Lmao, the Huntlow shippers are getting fed

Belos is gonna show up when Hunter’s alone, isn’t he?

God dammit, why am I always right? Can’t I be wrong for a change?

Lmao, Willow.

Are they watching Amphibia?

Gus is afraid of firelights. Amity is a mood with the circles.

WOLF! TO BE LIKE KING!

Siblings!

Is the shadow fucking necesarry

Luz looks weird smiling like that.

Wait, that black haired actress looks like Luz.

NO

Lmao, that’s saying it midly.

Huh, both of the siblings eyes glowed blue.

Fucking hell, he’s inside of him.

Damn, they went hard at the animation again.

Oh damn, having a basilisk on your team really is good.

AHH THAT WAS CLOSE. TOO CLOSE!

No...no...No! Hunter and Flapjack deserve to be happy together!

Lumity call back, I don’t remember which episode..

Aww...I thought Vee would be coming.

Lmao, Vee.

So Thanks to Them is just Season 3A jumbled together.

Wait...Thanks to Them....Thanks to Disney...LMAO

[the19thduckpotato]

Blood of the Father (early Dad Might ficlet)

Disclaimer: we played fast and loose with the medical side of this story so please just focus on the Dad Might.  XD  

Trigger warning for blood and injury.  

As always, all the fondest gratitude to @my-favorite-aesthetics

Now then, on with the story!  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Plit...plit...plit... As Toshinori stumbled into his office, his blood dripped down in a ghastly trail behind him.  He was quick to shut the door then hobbled to his desk. The bottom left drawer held bandages,, the bottom right cleaning supplies.  He pressed his hand against his side with a grimace, fumbling out paper towels and cleaning solution. Leaving the drawer open, he awkwardly wiped the tile floor, soaking up the crimson spots.

"...and your office will of course have luxurious carpet in whatever color you choose," Principal Nezu had chirped. "Tile," Toshinori had quietly but firmly replied. "Hmm?  But why?" "I imagine I may be called upon even while I teach here.  And it's imperative that no one know my secret, sir." "Well of course, but how would carpet--" The tall blond had burst into a sudden fit of coughing at that moment.  Embarrassed, he had fought to regain control then held his blood speckled hand out. "Tile can be washed" he explained, eyes elsewhere.  "Carpet stains." The principal had regarded Toshinori with his bright beady eyes then nodded.  "Oh I quite understand!" he replied amicably.

A few moments later, he was at his desk and glanced back to make sure he  got all the spots Toshi swore darkly. The trail was still there, thicker and darker.  Idiot, he scolded himself.  In such a hurry, I didn't think.   He quickly dug into the left drawer now, his internal anxiety clock ticking loudly.  Sure that any moment, someone would burst through the door. Hurry hurry hurry!

Izuku's footsteps were loud in the silent hallway as he headed to All Might's office as he did every day after school. Sometimes Toshi was there, sometimes he wasn't, but he was okay with Izuku waiting for him and doing some homework. Then they would usually work side-by-side, Toshi on paperwork, Izuku on more homework, the only sounds turning pages and the clicking keyboard. Unless I take a nap... can I afford the time? Will he let me? Well, he's never objected... I've never asked, strictly speaking, but. He shifted the backpack on his shoulders. I can at least take my shoes and jacket off, that'll be nice. He smiled softly, glad to have a place to be so comfortable and casual in. As he approached Toshi's office, he heard the small clicking and thumping of someone interacting with the desk in there. Oh, good, he's in. He tapped on the door, opening it a crack. "Hi..."

Toshinori froze guiltily as he heard the tap, watched the door begin to swing open.  Nononono shi--!! Then heard the voice and relaxed fractionally.  At least the kid already knows my secret.  But he doesn't need to see me like this. He grabbed at the bandage roll, hoping to cover his wounds before Midoriya saw them... then groaned as he lost his hold on it.  The roll seemed to almost gleefully bounce off the desk and tumble toward the boy at the door, unraveling like mad.

Izuku froze, eyes wide, heart spiking in his chest. Then... "...Dang. What happened to you?" He opened the door all the way, picking up what was left of the bandage roll and walking over to the desk, trying to keep his voice casual. I'm probably succeeding... don't overact it... or just don't be worried, I'm sure this happens a lot. Keep yourself a pleasant presence, yes....

Don't freak the kid out.  He may know your secret but let's not ruin his idea of heroes for now. "Runaway Quirk," he explained, accepting the limp bundle that had been a tightly wound bandage roll.  "This poor woman had something like massive porcupine quills.  She was having a bad day and I tried my best to help her."  His upper left arm was sliced in several spots, his right forearm a bit as well.  His dress shirt was understandably in tatters, barely hiding the puncture wound on his right side.  "Easily fixed.  Was just trying when you showed up."

Izuku winced sympathetically, hissing through his teeth. "Ooh. Yeah, that stinks. Can I help at all?"

Don't show weakness. Toshinori sat up stiffly, grinning.  "Nah, I should be fine!"  He attempted to wrap his upper arm in the bandages, grimacing in pain and growling in soft frustration as the bandage thwarted his attempts to control it.

"..." Aahh... "...Are...you sure?" Izuku's voice sounded somewhere between concerned and puzzled. Surely he can't be serious... does he dislike my help for some reason? Does he not think I can do it? "I know how to wrap a bandage, it's okay..." He tilted his head, eyebrows wrinkling.

Toshinori fought with the bandage a moment longer as what he had managed to wrap was already staining red.  "I don't want to trouble you," he replied.  "This is noth--"  He hissed sharply through his teeth as his wounds began to painfully throb in immediate disagreement.

"...Forgive me, but I think I'll be more distressed if I walk away," Izuku pointed out matter-of-factly.

Toshi's head began to ache in tandem with his wounds.  "Perhaps," he said with some difficulty, clutching his side, "you're right.  Some medical practice.  A grand idea.  All right, come here."  He gestured toward the bottom left drawer before wincing again.

Izuku knelt on one knee, opening the drawer. His movements became softer and more fluid in response to Toshi's strained voice. He looked up attentively, waiting for the next instruction.

"Antiseptic," he wheezed.  "Some thicker bandaging material."  He began to realize the steps he had skipped in his wasted haste.  "I'll need you to...ah..."  He looked guiltily at Izuku, the dark circles under his eyes very evident.  "This could get unpleasant.  Are you sure?"

Izuku’s eyes were soft, but expressionless, as was his voice. He nodded once. “I’m sure.”

Toshi gazed at the boy for a moment and felt something stir within his chest.  Gratitude?  Pride in this boy?  Sudden determination to be as brave as young Midoriya was being at the moment? Kid.... He opened his mouth to say something then shook his head, ears pinking.  "All right.  I'll need you to pour some of that antiseptic on that cloth and press it against these slashes on my upper arm.  I might get...ah...loud..."

Izuku’s jaw tightened for a moment, but he hoped it wasn’t noticeable. “Alright,” he nodded again, putting the antiseptic on the cloth as requested, then standing, ready to put it on. He paused, asking, “...Do you need anything to bite on? I usually use my sleeve, but...” he motioned to Toshi’s ragged business-shirt sleeve. “Well, that’s not gonna work.”

Toshi seemed to only half hear him, resigning himself to being about to destroy his fan's image of him.  "Hmm?  No no, nothing like that.  I promise you, if it were that bad I would be visiting Recovery Girl."  He rolled back the tatters of his sleeve and took a deep breath.  "Whenever you're ready."

"Well-- if you're sure... do you want a countdown or not?" No, wait, I shouldn't have said that, that's one sentence too many, don't keep him waiting-- but I can't DO it now, that'd be rude...

Toshi regarded his student with a gentle smile.  "That's thoughtful of you.  But no," he added, tensing up once more.  "Let's go ahead and power through this, what do you say?"

"Alright." He put the cloth on, being as gentle as he could.

Toshi's reaction was immediate.  His back arched rigidly and he bared his teeth in a dangerous scowl.  His eyes squeezed shut as cords stood out on his neck. Don't scream, it'll freak the kid out, don't scream don't don't don't

"I'm sorry," Izuku whispered quietly. I know it hurts a lot.

Tears stood in his eyes as he tried to smile.  "No, I'm sorry for making you do this," he rasped out.  "You don't have to continue if you don't want to."

You don't have to smile. "I don't want to stop." He kept it on the wound a moment longer, counting to ten in his head, then took it off. "That's good, right?"

Toshi's muscles untensed as he smiled for real.  Kid....!  "Yeah," he replied in a somewhat strained voice.  "Yeah, that's true."

"Oh you mean the--"  Toshi peeked at the bandage and grimaced at the amount it had soaked up.  "--uh, yeah, yeah, you're doing great.  Just a few more spots to get." Haven't even checked my back yet.

"Okay. Where next?"

"Up to you, really.  Plenty to choose from, heheheh--ow."

Izuku winced in commiseration again. "You got any pain relievers anywhere?"

Toshi's eyes grew wide.  "Oh YEAH!"  He almost slapped his own forehead... if it wasn't for the headache he'd surely give himself doing so.  "Dig in that drawer some more for me, please."

"Sure!" He crouched down again, rummaging about, looking for bottles. He held one up. "This one?"

Pain-bright eyes squinted at the bottle and Toshi nodded.  "That's the one.  Thank you, young Mi--" Weak. Torino's voice.  Toshi tried not to squirm.

Izuku read the instructions on the bottle and shook out a pill, holding it out to Toshi. "You need water?"

Can't even sort out your own medicine let alone bandage yourself. ...stop... Toshi rubbed his aching head, trying to listen to his student. Some great hero, tcha!  You shouldn't even need medicine.  If you had taken care of One for All like you were supposed to-- Stop. Young Midoriya asked him something but Toshi couldn't hear him over the relentless Torino gremlin running amok in his head now. --then you wouldn't even need help.  Back in my day--your MASTER'S day--we were actually made of sterner stuff.  But here you are, whimpering like  some lost abandoned puppy with a thorn in its paw.  Shaming every hero that came before you, shaming your Master-- "I said STOP!"

Izuku froze, shrunk against the desk, eyes wide. N-no you didn't!! What did I do wrong?? I'm sorry!!

Toshi looked up, his heart freezing as he realized he said the last aloud. Your fault. His breathing was ragged, his eyes remorseful.  "Forgive me," he mumbled.  "That was not directed at you, I swear."

Izuku's face morphed to concern, though his body stayed frozen. "Then-- who..."

And now he thinks you're crazy.  Perfect.  Just keep digging that hole, junior. Toshi stared at his hands miserably, wanting to talk but not wishing to burden so young a face with such adult problems.  "...water, please," he whispered, hating himself for shutting Izuku out.

"...Okay...." Izuku placed the pill in Toshi's hand carefully, making sure his hand was gentle when it brushed against the large, shaking one. Standing up from where he crouched, he set his backpack on a mostly-clear part of the desk, pulling out a partially-empty sports bottle and holding it out. "Is this good? I can go and get a cup from the break room if no."

"This is perfect," Toshi replied, really meaning it.

"Okay." Izuku smiled softly, more in his eyes and voice than his mouth.

Coddled by a child. Toshi placed the pill in his mouth and sipped water.  ...and what is wrong with feeling cared for? The Torino voice fell silent at that.

"You're still bleeding," Izuku half-whispered. "That's a lot of blood gone so far, are you sure you shouldn't be worried?"

Toshinori's face crinkled pleasantly.  "Kind of goes with the job," he confessed.  "I uh... can you ah..."  His ears blushed red now.

"Yeah?" He tilted his head. ...Keep going? Do something else? Oh dear, I should hurry... he's still bleeding, that's bad....

"I haven't really looked at my back.  Could you ah..." I need a new shirt. He pulled out more bandages and poured antiseptic on them.  "...check it for me while I get my arm here, please?"

"Yeah, I can." Izuku moved around to the back of the chair. "How did she get your back, anyway?"

"She was like that one blue character in your video games--the speedy hedgehog?  Mach?  ...anyway, she was moving kind of like that and I was shielding some bystanders."

Izuku blinked. "Ma--Sonic, but yeah." Didn't they have Sonic when you were a kid?? "--Oompf, yeah. That must have been really hard." Did you not get to play video games? ...Aaww, that's sad.... Right away, he noticed a large patch of blood staining a mostly-intact patch of shirt on Toshi's shoulder. "Okay yeah, there's definitely something there... I can't really get a look at it, though." He took a look at the rest of the ruined garment. "Your shirt is... pretty much done for, though..." He grimaced. "Do you think I should cut it instead of you taking it off?"

Toshi gave an embarrassed smile.  "Maybe.  I'm sure me trying to take it off would prove both futile and possibly pull some muscles I shouldn't be moving at the moment.  Ah, scissors are in the other drawer."

Izuku nodded (which Toshi couldn’t see) and moved to poke in the other drawer.

Toshi bit his lip.  The kid might have to dig some bits out, too.  That's asking a lot, even from someone as devoted as him.

Izuku pulled out the scissors, keeping them angled down and away from Toshi as he moved to the back of the chair again, then carefully and quickly snipping through the remnants of the bloodied shirt.

Toshi cringed and waited for the pull of shredded fabric from skin... completely unaware of the three inch piece of Quirk quill still embedded just below his shoulder blade, like some large splinter.

Izuku carefully snipped around it, leaving a small piece of fabric stuck with the quill in Toshi's back, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"How is it back there?"   A tiny snort of a giggle--oh no a pun ee hee!--quickly dissolved as he remembered he needed to remain professional. Also, laughing hurt. ...but it was a nice pun.  Maybe--does young Midoriya like puns?

"...nnh." Izuku let his head thunk onto the headrest of the chair. A muffled snort escaped.

Toshi heard the groan and began to apologize for the words...when he heard the snort.  Turning his head carefully, he looked to Izuku with faintly impish eyes.  "You caught that, huh?"

“I did.”

A smile was threatening to sneak out.  "....my apologies, I kinda like wordplay.  Must be a hero thing," he explained quickly.  "The quippy one liners and all.  Yeah!"

“I’ve noticed,” Izuku continued to snip, grinning. “And they’re all very funny...” he got stuck at the collar.

A warmth was flickering in Toshi's chest now, hopeful.  "Y-yeah?  ...oh hey, having trouble there?  ....wait, what is THAT?"  And he pointed the piece of fabric still lodged below his shoulderblade.

"...Ahm."

One eyebrow rose, the other scrunched down.  "Ahm?"

"That's a piece I couldn't get out. That, if her quills work like porcupine quills, I probably can't get out." His voice softened regretfully. "...All Might..."

Toshi's breath caught sharply in his throat, not at this new information but at the tone the boy used saying his name.  It sounded...concerned?  worried?  scared?

Izuku's voice was so low and small it was almost a whisper. "I don't... think I can do this properly. You've lost a lot of blood, n... I've never taken care of anything this serious before. Do you think...."

You IDIOT. The Torino voice was back. "Oh my boy, please forgive me.  I foolishly thought that I--" Admitting you screwed up? Toshi's gaze dropped.  "Let me call Recovery Girl.  Could you....could you stay with me?"

"Of course..." His hand curled carefully around an unhurt part of Toshi's arm. "I'm sorry. Believe me, I would have avoided her too if I could," he said with a small, lopsided smile.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Toshi replied firmly.  "If you are hurt like this--though I pray it won't happen often--please, please seek medical help as soon as possible."  He looked guiltily at his stained shirt tatters.  "I came here because I thought I could-- I mean, because her office is much farther than mine.  And people would have worried."  And discovered my secret.  "I don't want that."

"Yeah, I would. I don't think I could move much in the position you're in." He grimaced, finally managing to get through the shirt collar. "...Though to be fair, I think people would worry more if they saw you with infected old wounds... of course, I'm sure you didn't know how bad it was, given your surprise at... that." He gestured towards the quill, gently moving the shirt and discovering an entirely new form of panic. "...Ah."

"You keep making new noises that I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable with," Toshi teased.  "What is ah?"

"Sorry. Uhm." Izuku looked a bit like a nervous frog, his voice squeaky. "I maaaaay have uhhmmmmm snippedatinybitofyourhairimsorry"

Toshi b l i n k e d.  Very.  S l o w l y. "HERE, EAT THIS!" "Ah," he replied in the same tone young Midoriya used, unsure how to respond to this new information amid all the rest.

"It's just a tiny bit, I promise! You can't even notice, it's just..." he gently brushed at the little snippings of Toshi's dandelion floof. "There's, ahm. Bits."

"Bits," Toshi squeaked. Did he shiver just now as the kid brushed the newly snipped bits?  Goosebumps speckled his arms and the warm feeling in his chest grew a bit more. I'm torn up, losing blood, getting a haircut while having a spine imbedded in me....and yet I'm ok with this.    ....??????

"You can't even tell, really... it's just-- I don't want it to get into the wounds... a-and of course it's your hair, I didn't mean to obviously but--"

Toshi snorted.  Then giggled.  The giggles became laughter.  And though it hurt, the laughter grew louder.

"aaAaAaaAA"

Toshi jumped at that, then winced in pain.  "Good or bad?" he gasped.

"--Huh? ...Oh. Sorry. I was just still freaking out that I cut your hair."

"Oh right!"  Toshi snorted again and then winced again.  "Doncha worry, my power doesn't leak out of my hair!  That was a one time thing."

"...Oh. That's good." Didn't even think of that....

Even so, Toshi tried to peek at the golden snippets.  "Oh right, I was calling Recovery Girl."

Izuku nodded. "I think it's safest, yes. I don't think I could pull that spine out without... well." He made a face. "Doing a lot of damage I'd rather not describe." He looked at the chair. And the floor. And his hands. "Also, you're bleeding Everywhere. And I'm not sure you can keep that up for long."

Toshi made a moue of distaste, glancing about the room.  "Hrhm.  True."  Is it bad that I'm super curious to see the spine?  How did I not even notice--wait.  ow.  OW.  Oh there it is.  O W.  frack. He held up one of his few unstained fingers to silence Izuku as he called the nurse's office.

Izuku nodded, placing the slightly sticky scissors on the desk. He watched Toshi make the call, wondering if there was anywhere he was supposed to be applying pressure until medical assistance got there.

((TBC))

[theolddarkmachine]

Imaginary- Chapter Twelve

Midoriya Izuku’s life was turned upside by fate.

Eri’s life was turned upside down by circumstance.

And Bakugou Katsuki is about to learn that even imaginary friends need to grow up.

Also on AO3

A/N: I won’t lie to you, I’ve been a bit on the fence about this chapter, which is why it’s taken so dang long to get out. Like, I like it, but the longer I look at it, the more I start to wonder if I really like it. Sooooo here it is, before I just keep sitting on it and not posting it XD apologies in advance.

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The sun is a pleasant shade of golden, and even more pleasantly warm as it shines in through the windshield. It coats Izuku with its gentle heat, leaving his skin dusted in its gilded warmth in a calming way as the car idled at one of the few stoplights in the town.

An equally bright pop song sets itself as the soundtrack for the morning and he finds himself humming along as he bobs his head in time with it.

Life had seen a quantifiable upswing since the aquarium several days prior.

Eri had been happy, almost overtly so; work had been great; and the sun had been shining every single day.

Yeah, life had been going well, and for the first time in a long time, it felt like the ground was finally back beneath Izuku’s feet where it belonged.

For the first time, in a long time, he actually felt like maybe he could be the dad that the young girl deserved.

Flicking his gaze to the rearview mirror, he watches as Eri keeps her attention turned toward the window, kicking her feet and swaying along to the song. The ever present smile on her face is bright, rivaling that of the sun. Izuku hadn’t realized how little he had seen that smile until it was a constant, and he knew exactly who they had to thank for that.

Slowly sliding his attention back to the road as he eases onto the gas, letting his mind wander over the blonde who had torn into their lives like a whirlwind. Gold and ruby flits across his mind’s eye as his heart flips in his chest before speeding up, hammering itself painfully against the back of his ribs.

Bakugou’s presence had grown up through the cracks of their lives, the roots twisting and turning around the hard earth that had been their previously until it was like he was always meant to be there.

And Izuku owed him so much for that. So much more than he could ever give in return, but he knew he had to try. If nothing else, he had to make it known just how important Bakugou was to them.

Was to him.

Heat rolls slowly across Izuku’s cheeks at the intrusive thought. Quickly shaking the words out of his mind, he pulls the car into the parking lot, settling on the spot furthest from the entrance if only to avoid the trap of the parking lot and its parking vultures.

“You ready for a good day?” He asks Eri, gaze meeting her’s in the rearview as he turns the car off. The colorful pop song goes quiet as the power cuts, leaving a momentary pause before Eri’s smile pulls wider.

“Yeah!” She says excitedly before undoing her seatbelt and wiggling to the edge of her booster seat. Her excitement was contagious, making Izuku’s veins hum as he undid his own seatbelt and got out of the car. Opening Eri’s door, he offers her a hand as she slides out of the backseat, her shoes making a loud tap as she lands.

Grabbing for her backpack, Izuku holds it in his fist as he kicks the door shut, not bothering to lock up for the short walk from their spot to the entrance.

Eyes set downward in a vain attempt to not be blinded by the sun’s bright rays, Izuku listens to Eri’s happy humming as they walk, biting down on the edge of his grin as they went. A breeze twists around them and he can’t help but think that it feels like a near perfect moment.

“Kacchan!” Eri exclaims suddenly, hand tightening around Izuku’s. Her sudden proclamation makes his heart squeeze in his chest as his head snaps up in time to see the blonde just ahead of them at the walkway to the front doors. The tense line between Bakugou’s eyebrows smooths as he looks in their direction, mouth quirking ever so slightly as he raises a hand and gives a half wave.

“Kacchan!” Eri says again, dropping Izuku’s hand and leaving him to follow as she runs towards Bakugou. The wind snatches at her hair, leaving it a shiny silver wave behind her as she opens her arms wide before making a leap into Bakugou’s arms.

Catching her easily, he gives her a quick spin that makes her laugh ring louder in the courtyard. It fills Izuku’s insides with something warm and saccharine as he stops just a few feet from the pair as Bakugou carefully set Eri back down.

“Hey rugrat,” he says, fondness turning his usually rough tone into warm honey. That soft sound of his voice smooths over Izuku’s skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake as he watches the pair. Standing there in a perfect snapshot moment, he takes in the way Bakugou smiles at Eri before tapping her gently on the tip of her nose.

“Ready to kick today’s ass?” He asks, settling back on his haunches as he speaks to her. Izuku knows he should say something about he’s crude term usage, but he can’t bring himself to as he watches Eri push her arms out to give him two thumbs up.

“Yeah!” She answers loudly before cocking her head. “Are you?”

A sharp snort makes Izuku jump slightly as Bakugou lifts his hands in front of him, mirroring Eri as he returns the gesture.

“Who do you think you’re talking to, of course I am,” he growls before uncurling his hands, leaving his palms open to her. There’s a sharp slapping sound as she smacks their hands together in a double high five.

“Good girl,” Bakugou says, dropping his hands to his knees and tilting his head toward the daycare. “Now get in there.”

Her answers is a high peal of laughter as she turns on her heel, grabbing for her backpack from Izuku before running toward the front doors. Watching as she disappears behind the bright red of the entrance, Izuku turns his attention back to Bakugou just in time to see him stand and shove his hands deep into his pockets.

Standing there, he doesn’t look as hard and callous as usual. Instead, the sharp line of his mouth, usually downturned in a harsh scowl, is pliant and curved slightly up.

It’s a good look on him, Izuku thinks before pushing down the stray thought.

“How are you allowed around kids?” He asks, words laced with teasing. It earns him a pointed scoff that pulls his grin higher at one edge.

“Because they recognize that I have a gift, stupid Deku” Bakugou says, rolling his eyes as he moves ever so slightly closer to Izuku. “Good fucking morning to you too, by the way.”

His own laugh startles him as it pushes its way between them, circling around them both as he shakes his head slightly.

“Good morning, Kacchan,” Izuku offers, shifting his weight to knock their shoulders together. The quick contact zips through him, leaving a tingling feeling crackling behind his belly button as his face warms.

“You and the squirt have a good weekend?” Bakugou asks, nodding his head in the direction of Izuku’s car. Dipping his chin in acknowledgement, Izuku hopes that it does something to hide the pink tinge that’s quickly becoming a common reoccurrence whenever Bakugou was around.

Slowly, they start to make their way to the edge of the parking lot, falling in step side by side.

“Yeah, it was pretty good. Eri did miss her partner in crime, though,” Izuku hums thoughtfully, cutting his glance towards Bakugou as he continues, “how about you?”

If he hadn’t been looking toward him, Izuku may have missed the stormy look that passed across his features, dropping his grin and pinching his brows together. Then, almost as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone as Bakugou gives a halfhearted shrug.

“Just had some work stuff,” he says quickly, keeping his eyes set ahead. A muscle twitches along Bakugou’s jaw as he clenches his teeth around something he doesn’t say.

“They even make you work on the weekends?” Izuku asks, curiosity shading his tone.

“What?” Bakugou returns, setting the full force of his scorching gaze on him. It burns at his sternum, charring the skin and bone beneath as Izuku flicks his gaze toward the daycare building in answer.

“Oh, yeah,” the blonde continues, almost sheepish, as he turns his attention back forward. “Sometimes. When it’s serious.”

The soft shuffle of their feet over the pavement fills the quiet between them as they finally arrive at Izuku’s car.

“Well I hope they’re paying you well for it,” he finds himself saying as he leans back against the driver’s side door and crosses his arms over his chest. Humming darkly, Bakugou turns to face him, tracing his stare across the planes of Izuku’s face.

“The pay is shit, but I at least get to meet some good people.” Bakugou’s words are weighted and heady, and they find their way beneath Izuku’s skin and force his heart to rush faster in his chest. A liquid heat eases along the bones of his ribs, finding the spaces and weaving through them before pulling tight enough to crush the breath that’s in his lungs.

“Yeah, I bet that helps,” he manages to breathe as he looks up at Bakugou. Holding the almost expectant set of his gaze, Izuku searches the near endless depths of his ruby stare.

“Sure does, shortstack,” Bakugou replies lowly, the nickname a sweet endearment hanging from his tongue as he leans closer and presses a forearm to the hood of Izuku’s car. The movement boxes him in, wedging Izuku between the sun warmed metal of his car and the rolling heat from Bakugou’s chest.

Trying to remember how to breathe around the stifling pressure of the blonde’s presence, Izuku watches as Bakugou drags his stare down ever so slowly to find his mouth.

“Thank you,” Izuku croaks suddenly, the sharp sound of it making Bakugou jump slightly as he arches a brow in question. He doesn’t miss the way that Bakugou doesn’t move away.

“Thought I told you there wasn’t anything you needed to thank me for,” he says instead, words erring on the side of teasing. A rush ricochets down through Izuku, turning his insides to mush as he tears his eyes away in hope for just a moment of reprieve from the heat that’s burning him alive.

“I know,” Izuku says far too quickly, and far too loudly. He keeps his attention set on the trees that separate the daycare from the business next door, counting his breaths as he traces their tops.

“I know,” he says after several moments, sliding his stare back to the man in front of him.

“So then stop that, stupid Deku,” Bakugou replies with an ease as if he believes it’s truly that easy. And maybe it is, but looking up into the melted garnet of Bakugou’s eyes, Izuku knows he has to.

“No,” Izuku says, voice iron with resolve as he puffs out his chest. Lightning crackles over his breastbone where their chests brush. “I want to do something nice for you.”

The sudden proclamation widens Bakugou’s eyes as he tilts his head, as if observing him as Izuku continues.

“To thank you.”

Stomach churning as he lets the words rush, he returns the inquisitive stare. Suddenly, everything feels as if its curling in on him, but the one pinpoint of hope is the gleaming red just inches above him.  

“Yeah,” Bakugou finally says, and Izuku feels the small word as it tickles across the bridge of his nose.  “You said that.”

His eyes dart down quickly to Izuku’s mouth, and he pulls the full of his bottom lip between his teeth without thinking. Something dark rolls across Bakugou’s eyes, deepening the garnet into something almost sinister. Something that he swears he can feel branding him.

For just a fleeting moment, Izuku wonders what it would taste like if he kissed him.

“Be at our place at 5pm on Friday,” he says, voice embarrassingly breathy as he catches the way Bakugou’s tongue darts across his lip.

Then, he pushes back. A sudden cooling rush of air wraps itself around Izuku, and for the first time since he’d arrived at the daycare, he feels like he can breathe.

Opening his mouth to say something else, he snaps it shut as Bakugou taps his finger on the tip of his nose like had had done with Eri.

“I guess I’ll see you then,” Bakugou says, mouth blooming into a full, blinding smile that crinkles the edges of his eyes before he turns on his heel. Facing back toward the daycare, Bakugou starts to head back toward the building as he raises a hand in quick goodbye.

Letting his gaze linger on Bakugou’s back until he disappears around the building, Izuku tries to ignore the burning heat that radiates from the tip of his nose where Bakugou had touched him.

Another careful breeze tickles over his skin as he drags another breath through his teeth before climbing back into his car to head to work.

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[hpdabbles]

Into the Snake Pit  2

Remus glances up the moment the common room door opens but it’s not  Severus  so he ignores the group of seven-year purebloods that walk in. They have their noses raised in the air, acting too important and Remus hates them for it, but the werewolf still blushes when Malfoy winks at him.

He hates how easy it is for him to be flustered and Lucius Malfoy enjoys this piece of information greatly. It’s hard to guess if he’s serious, everyone knows the seventh year enjoys harmless flirtations just to watch people squirm.

Recently, Remus is his latest target and he can hear the Malfoy heir laugh from across the room obvious enjoying his effect on the fifth year. It’s not fair.

Remus knows that people only flirt with him on dares, or punishments for losing something and apparently now for just amusement. It shouldn’t hurt but it does. It reminds him how undesirable he is, how beneath them he registers in the eyes of those around him.  

He stands up suddently uncomfortable in the room. He marches by the seventh years, eyes forward, chin raised and emotions effectively cut out of his face. He is aware of the jeers, and sneers but he refuses to let them win.

Think murder and walk. Remus chants in his head planting his steps in a confident matter. One that dares anyone to cross his path. It’s very effective in getting people to leave him alone.  Think murder and walk. 

It feels like ages but he’s out of the common room, allowing himself one breath of relief. He was aware that Malfoy had run his eyes up and down his body but hadn’t done much more so he let it slide.

He checks his pocket watch - the one his father gave him not too long ago. Usually, it was supposed to on his seventeen birthday but with the illness, his dad’s gotten the family wasn’t sure if he is around for Remus’ coming of age.- and winces.

Severus isn’t usually this late. Not unless something has delayed him and he can only think of one group that goes out of their way to make life hell for the half-bloods..well, go the extra mile anyway. 

Remus starts to speed walking, twisting his head and taking sniffs of the air. He sometimes wishes he had a map of the school, something to let him know where everyone was but he has to settle for tracking his best friend on smell alone.

He has to hastily dodge other students and the always watching eyes of the school portraits. It’s not curfew yet but it’s nearing the time making Remus more nervous as time goes by.

He doesn’t bother asking fellow students if they have seen his friend, those that wear any color other then green won’t bother even listening and those that do wear green would waste time mocking him instead of helping.

It’s nearly an hour later - forty-five minutes to be exact- that he finally picks up Severus’ sent. It’s surrounded by the smell of the Marauders and he quickens his steps until he’s full-on running.

Remus doesn’t know what they have done, but he knows it’s something horrible if they manage to get Severus alone. Goodness, why did he let him alone? Yes, it’s been a few weeks since they tried anything, giving the werewolf a false sense of security that they finally, finally, have gotten bored of harassing his friend so he hadn’t been there to escort Severus.

Now the other half-blood was paying for his carelessness. 

He spots them then.

 Surrounding Severus in the clock tower courtyard their backs to Remus with Black making some kind of comments that has Sev shaking his head and sneering.

His best friend has been backed into one of the walls but he doesn’t lower his gaze off of them, looking ready to fight them off even though he knows he’ll lose. 

Black says something again, hands moving around him a dramatic flair, almost frantic like he’s begging for something but the Slythrian doesn’t want anything to do with them and he sneers more intently obviously refusing whatever they want. 

Potter seems to be at his wit's end, as he tugs on his own hair then step forward to say something that has Sev jerk back, terror in his black eyes.

Pettigrew's shoulders shake in a obvious laugh before he waves his wand in the air, not exactly a threat but a very clear reminder that it could be. 

They must feel so big, cornering someone and doing so when they think no one will find them. They must feel like so fucking untouchable, on their high horses and their endless amusement at hurting others.

Severus jerks again, the terror in his eyes taking a larger form. The wolf in Remus roars with protective rage. He sprints at full force towards the group his want in his hand and shoots his sting hex before they can turn around.

It hits Black right in the rear, stinging enough to have the teen shrieks in pain as he jumps away but enough it’ll leave any marks. Can't have bias-headmaster turn the blame onto him no can he? 

 The other Marauders all turn wide eye not used to Remus resulting to violence but the full moon is too close now so he’s working on only wolf’s instincts. 

“Rem!” Sev yells amaze as if he wasn’t expecting anyone to come for him. It makes him so much angrier. The werewolf makes sure to plant himself in between him and the Gryffindors wanting to keep his friend behind him where he is safe.

“Ow ow ow. Dang Lupin, I like it when you get rough with me but not that-”  Black starts rubbing his bum until Potter slams an elbow into his ribs at the same time Pettigrew stomps on his foot. “I mean- Lupin, how are you? I’m very interested in what you have to say!”

Potter jabs him again with his elbow and Black hastily adds. “Respectfully! I’m very interested in what you have to say respectfully!” 

Pettigrew slaps a hand onto his forehead with a shake of his head and Potter sighs long-suffering. Black just looks nervous. 

“What?” He can’t help but ask. Even Sev, who always never been able to pick a bickering fight with him doesn’t know what to say to whatever just came out of the Gryffindors’ mouth.

All the fight somewhat drains out of him, suddenly confused by such odd behavior. What? Was this a new angle? Was Black trying to get him to lower his guard?  

Black looks frozen with fear for only a split second before he takes a deep breath visibly gather his courage. “I meant that you must have an incredible mind since every part of you is incredible and that you're more than just a pretty face and I think it must be tiring not have enough people realize just how amazing you are!”  

Oh.  He’s making fun of him. Of course. Black just like Malfoy. He just trying to show the world how utterly desperate and pathetic Remus is by making flirtations and watching him get flustered. It’s a trick. A joke. 

Remus’ face clouds with rage and Black actually looks started before he honest to Marlin pulls out note cards from his robes. His silver eyes run over the words, reading at a rapid pace as Potter groans.  “No Sirius, not that notes. I told you not to bring those.”

Black ignores him.  “In hopes to show you how sincere I am, I made a list of all the non-physical things about that I think are amazing. One, you always turn in your work on time. That means your reliable and dependent. Two, you never sound disrespectful even though I know I irritate you. Three, you have a big heart always helping Reggie and-”

“Sirus for all that is good and magical shut up”   Regulus says appearing out of nowhere that even Remus jumps. He gives his brother a cool unimpressed look before he grabs the Slythrains arms.  “I told you to make amends not make yourself make a fool. We’re leaving. Come find us when you figure it out.”

Quick a snake the youngest Black snatches the notecards out of his brother's hands.  “I’m taking these back. I told you to study them not read them out loud. Idiot.”

He leads them away from the  Marauders. Remus is surprised by the strong grip he keeps on his arm, but can’t help and look back at the Gryffindors. Potter and Pettigrew awkwardly pat Black’s back as the most attractive of the three bury his face into his hands. 

Once they are out of sight, Reggie releases them. But not before he realizes he’s all but holding Sev’s hand and blushes darkly. 

 “Sorry about that.” He nods his head towards the courtyard and the wolf inside Remus, now that he knows his little pack is safe, settles enough to wonder what the youngest Black had to do with all this. 

“Regulus. You set them to this?” Sev sounds hurt if he was prone to show too many emotions but the other Slythrians catch the tone easily in his voice. The third-year winces looking suddenly very shamed.  His friend presses on. “Why? Why would you do that?”

Remus looks between them feeling like he shouldn’t be watching this. He always suspected  Severus liked the younger man more then he let on, even if he wasn’t aware of the boy’s crush on him, but this may just damage any chance Regulus ever had with him. 

The younger boy shifts tension coiling his shoulders taut and swallows thickly. “Sirius approach me. It’s been so long since he’s...since he last tired and I heard him out. We’ve been reconnecting lately and I...I missed my big brother.”

He looks up pleadingly at them, begging them to understand, and Remus once again wonders why this poor kid is a Slytherin. The snakes eat people like him alive, too much emotion. 

“He’s trying again.”  Regulus continues when they say nothing. “I’ve...He promises to help me. Escape. From you know what.”

At once the half-bloods stiffen. Yes they know, a war is going on and the Slytherins are all expected to be on one side, a side that would have people like them killed, people like Remus’ mother dead. 

They have a better chance of not taking the mark but someone like Regulus? Someone who had nowhere to run when his family pushed for him to join? Sirius Black has all but ran away from his family to the safety the Potters offer, he’s going to be okay, unlike his younger brother. 

 “Fine” Sev says, unhappy but willing to understand.  “Fine.”

Regulus smiles a relived love-struck little thing and suddenly Remus can’t take it anymore. His wolf forces past his mouth filter and he blurts  “You two should kiss. Mark each other as mates.”

Remus isn’t sure who is more horrified at that moment. He turns on his heels walking away before he has to face the situation.

This,  he decides,  Is all Black’s fault. All of this. 

He so busy mentally cursing the other fifth year he completely ignores Malfoy when he arrives into the common room. He just walks up to his bed, crawling under the covers and wants the day to end. 

[mysamcedesmadness]

So, You Got Yourself a Little Girlfriend

Like most of these chapters, this one just kinda came to me/flowed out. This is the fourth installment of something I figured would be a one shot. Lol. Hope you enjoy.

Henry woke up pretty early, That wasn’t usually the case. Usually, he had to drag himself out of bed, sneak coffee, because his mom (with all of her bad habits had the audacity to police his). And morning coffee was definitely one. But, today, he was surprisingly energetic. He had a SICK dream about Charlotte last night, and that dress, and what shoulda, coulda, woulda happened if he had her all alone at a picnic. He blushed and reached for his phone to check the time, wondering just how early he had gotten up. Only 30 minutes before his usual time. Not too bad... But, he had a couple of texts from Charlotte. He immediately perked up and checked them.

One of them was from the previous night, so he was unsure of how he missed it. But, then again, he’d spent some quality time in the shower and he hadn’t been sleeping very well prior to last night, so he crashed pretty much right afterwards.

That one read: Hey, are we gonna be the type to wish each other good night? I forgot to bring that up as a discussion topic. In fact, now that I’ve brought it up, what about good mornings? You know what? - I’ll just open a sharable document and send you the link, because some other questions weren’t asked too, now that I’m thinking about it. 

He giggled and caught himself, and looked around, relieved that nobody was there to hear that.

The next one was 30 minutes before: Wishing you a good morning! Here’s the document link. 

Now, he flat out laughed. She was so... efficient all of the time. He wasn’t about to read whatever that document was. They could talk when they walked to school. Shucks! School! He had to make himself a little more presentable today! Did he have cologne in here somewhere? He had to get more, he was pretty sure. He might try something new out. But, for today... Dang... He went pushing through his closet. Why do I have so many plaid shirts? Was there an 8 year sale? Those and raglan shirts were literally all that were in this ding dang closet.

Henry wiped a hand down his face and found one of his raglan tees. At least they hugged his body. Charlotte liked his body, right? He had no idea what she was physically attracted to! All these years and he couldn't remember one crush, not even a celebrity one, besides Captain Man and she totally got over that quickly after meeting Ray.. and Ray was alright back then. Sometimes, Henry could swear the guy was losing his marbles. Why was he thinking about Ray??? Which reminded him - he owed him a piece of his mind for that camera stunt…

Henry washed up, got dressed, brushed his teeth, skipping breakfast and coffee and played with his hair for like 20 minutes before he heard Piper yell, "Henry! Let's go, or we're leaving you!" We're? His heart rate accelerated. Was we're including Charlotte? Was she here already? Because, he wasn't ready yet! 

He grabbed his backpack and ran to the stairs, stopped and froze when he saw her and Jasper laughing and talking by the door. He took a deep breath and reminded himself, “It's just Char." Then, he ran down the stairs. "Mornin' peeps!"

Jasper immediately began chatting him up about a new fish buffet that Charlotte had already turned down. She and Henry made eye contact and she glanced over him and fought a pleased smile. "Mornin' Hen. I texted you. Guess you were busy working on that hair, huh?" She teased.

He blushed and nodded, "That's literally what happened."

Jasper called out, "Hello???"

Charlotte answered, "Jasper, nobody wants to eat buffet fish!"

Henry followed up with, "Yeah dude, that sounds nasty. Buffet food sits on those warmers for God knows how long. I'm surprised nobody's gotten sick."

Charlotte added, "They have! And it's only been open for two weeks!"

Henry cringed then reached for her hand as Jasper grabbed the door, not noticing and complaining, "I swear, you two have no sense of adventure." He walked ahead to the car with Piper as Henry locked up and when they were sort of alone, he kissed her.

"That's all I've thought about since last night," he confessed and they parted and headed for the car. Jasper nor Piper had seen that.

"Guess that answers question 6," Charlotte said. Henry tilted his head, "You didn't read the document."

"I thought we'd have time to go over it on the walk to school. Gimme the Cliff notes."

"It's not a report. It's questions," she said as he opened her door and helped her inside. "Just open it. You can add the answers.."

"Henry, what are you doing?" Piper wondered, looking at him weird. “Get in the back. Charlotte's up front." Jasper was watching this, now. Henry jumped into the backseat and Jasper smirked. "What were you going to do? Sit on her lap?" Piper wondered.

"Yes, Henry, what were your intentions for Charlotte's seat?" Henry slapped him on the chest and he gasped and held himself. "Ouch! You know I have sensitive nipples!"

"Say anything remotely like that again and you're walking," Piper said.

.

Whenever they got to school, Charlotte wasn't acting any differently. Henry was. Well, he felt different, at least. He felt like the earth had moved under his feet and wasn't sure if she felt that too. She went to her locker and he let her, not wanting to seem clingy, but then again… he usually went to her locker, so he should probably go. Because there was nothing in his locker that he needed at the moment. "Henry, what are you doing?" She wondered, slightly chuckling.

"I think I'm maybe overthinking!" He said, nervously.

"My God! Does it hurt?" She teased. He pouted, but noticed her smile and quickly matched it. "Dude, just be yourself. That's obviously who I like."

"Just be myself, Miss Goodnight/Good Morning texts?" He taunted back.

"Well, you never replied, so that's cancelled."

"Wait, what? Really?" He panicked. Has he already made a bonehead boyfriend move? She fought a smile. "When did you become this playful?" He wondered.

"Maybe your playfulness is contagious. Maybe you transmitted it in that sneak kiss this morning."

"I'm gonna transmit a whole lot more than that." She stopped smiling and looked concerned. "Wait. That came out wrong. I meant.. I'm gonna be kissing you.. like a lot, so… more where that came from…"

"My class," she said, eyeing him weirdly. "Henry… you look great today, by the way." He blushed. "Whatever you did this morning paid off." She glanced around, quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek and went into class. He just stood there, looking good, grinning and waving.

"Henry Hart, have you no class?" Ms. Shapen asked, passing by.

"Okay. That's very oddly worded. I'm on my way to class." He pointed his thumb in a direction and went that way. Where's he going? Charlotte wondered. His class was the other way… And there he goes. Henry finger gunned in the right direction of his class as he passed by again and Charlotte was the one giggling now.

.

At lunch, Henry laid on Charlotte's shoulder - something he sometimes did when he was sad, so Jasper asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said.

"Why are you nurture surfing Char's shoulder?" Charlotte was chewing, but turned her head to look at Henry's face to see what he'd say about this, since they said that they weren't making any announcements, but weren't necessarily hiding it.

"Charlotte's my girl," Henry said and squeezed her side.

Jasper's eyes widened and he asked, "After just one date?"

"I'm a good kisser," Henry said, shrugging.

Charlotte laughed and covered her mouth so she wouldn't spill, then added, "It's true though." Henry smiled, rubbed her side, where he'd previously squeezed, and sat up. "Did you make it to class on time?" She wondered. He nodded, then the conversation went as normal as usual. Jasper didn't even bring up their status again.

Oh, but after school…

The first thing Henry did was step off of the elevator and confront Ray about the camera. "Dude, you and Schwoz put Charlotte in that dress, AND you tried to watch our date on a spycam?"

"You're welcome," Ray said.

"I'm not welcome. She almost got hurt!"

"That's why you're welcome. I helped you save her!"

"You put me IN the situation with that stupid dress!" Charlotte fussed and Henry nodded, folding his arms.

Ray clasped his hands together and said, "Charlotte, unpack that thinking. What a woman wears is no excuse for what those guys did."

Henry nearly exploded, "Are you serious? She KNOWS that. The point was you were wrong, Man!"

Ray nodded, "I can see how the two of you feel that way." To Henry, he whispered, "But you liked the dress, didn't you?"

Henry angrily whispered back, "I loved it!"

"Besides the point!" Charlotte fussed from the panel, as she took her seat.

Ray called out, "Sorry, Charlotte!" She rolled her eyes. He pulled Henry aside a little.

"Why are you touching me?"

"Shh. She hears really well."

"She's got perfect hearing, perfect vision and perfect teeth," Henry bragged without thinking.

"Shh. How did it go?" Ray asked. "Make a fool of yourself? Did SHE? She step on your toes dancing? Did she shoot her drink out of her nose fake laughing at one of your terrible jokes?"

"What? No. Why would any of that happen? And why would I tell you about it in excitement, if it did?"

"So we could laugh at Charlotte for being bad at dating, why else?"

Henry fake laughed then announced, "Yeah, I'm leaving this conversation." He went over to Charlotte as she was turning dials and wondered, "Is Ray looking over here and being suspicious?" She glanced at Ray doing exactly that and nodded. "He's trying to find out about us and masking it in his anti-Charlotte rhetoric."

"I have no idea why that man dislikes me so much."

"I think it's just your season. Couldn't be Jasper forever." She frowned.

“Awww, cheer up, Char. It can’t be you forever, either.”

“You know, he could just be a man and deal with his unhealthy habits instead of inflicting them upon the kids in his life.”

“Could he? That seems pretty evolved and he’s not really… that way.” She rolled her eyes and Henry gave her a hug. “You always smell really nice.”

“I have this thing called soap. I mix it with a little water, apply reasonably and rinse. Works like a gem,” she said, pulling away from this hug that lasted longer than necessary for her. “You seem to have some of that too.”

“Yeah, I like to pair mine with some strong acting, softly scented deodorant. You know, keep things fresh. Also getting ready to add a dash of cologne to the team.”

“Ooh, cologne’s being added to TeamSmellGood? I hope you pick something musky.”

He gave her a big smile and said, “I sure will, now.” Then, he reflexively kissed her on the lips. Her eyes widened, because HELLO - they were on the clock, in front of others, and basically, nothing about this situation was the plan! He flinched and covered his nose and mouth with his hands. “I swear, Char, I didn’t intend to do that…”

“AHA!!!” Ray yelled, rushing over. “I knew it. I knew that the date went well. You got yourself a little girlfriend now, and suddenly you’re too self-righteous to laugh about Charlotte’s social failures.”

“I have the least amount of social failures in this entire building,�� Charlotte said. Ray ignored it.

“You two should have disclosed the information to management.”

“For… professionalism? Because, in this very room, I’ve been almost killed at least a dozen times by one of your tantrums,” Charlotte complained, returning her attention to the screens.

Henry interrupted, “Ray, there’s nothing to disclose…” Charlotte threw him a look. “I meant it's none of his business.” She nodded once and got back to work. “I’d have told you, if you hadn’t nearly got her assaulted last night just so you could spy and possibly laugh at what you thought was going to be embarrassing for her. Honestly, I’m still kinda sensitive about that, so I don’t plan on telling you anything.”

“Just tell me this… Do you officially have a girlfriend now, because when you do, you’re kinda annoying, and I just wanna know what flavor of whine you’ll give me at down times on missions.”

“I vote on telling him nothing,” Charlotte said.

“I’m not telling him nothing.”

“Good job.” Henry leaned against the panel and started talking to Charlotte about her notes for a certain class. She was complaining that he spent the class on his phone and should have been taking notes himself. He refuted that he was trying to answer her questions in the document, to which she pointed out that such things will not be deemed reasonable excuses for slacking off and wanting her to bail him out in class…

“Wait… Wait! Are you two creating a couple bubble? Because couple bubbles are restricted in the Man Cave!”

“We’re literally talking about school,” Henry said.

“There was some coding in there, though. I don’t know what, but some of that was couple bubbling, and I will not stand for it!”

“Then go have a seat,” Charlotte suggested.

Ray scoffed and looked at Henry, “Are you going to let her talk to me like that?”

Henry shrugged, “My girl does what she wants.” Charlotte nodded her head.

“Your ‘girl’.... I KNEW IT!”

“Yes, of course you did. It was obvious. You just wanted me to say it to hear me say it. You saw me kiss her on the lips.”

“I’ve seen you kiss tons of people on the lips, half of them you’d never seen before. That proves nothing!”

Henry laughed nervously, scoffed several times, and told Charlotte, “Not tons. That’s definitely hyperbole.”

She shrugged. “I don’t care about who you kissed before me.” He sighed with relief. “But, you’d better never try that again.” She threw him a look to let him know she meant business and he received that message.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Within moments, there was an alert for a call, and once again… everything around them went back to normal.

[yellowsugarwords]

Walking Dead Game FanFiction - “Why Don’t We Kiss?”

Title: Why Don’t We Kiss? Characters: Clementine, Mitch Summary: Mitch and Clementine learn one night that neither of them have been kissed. To help each other out, they kiss each other and realize they have feelings for one another. Author's Note: This is actually so cute I’m so happy with this one :) Requested By: ebimanami support me with ko-fi ♡ ---------♥️♥️♥️----------

The apocalypse killed a lot more than people. Clementine learned that the hard way.

Since AJ came along, Clementine’s childhood had long since passed. Any childlike wonder had been rapidly abandoned. When taking care of a child alone at 11, any opportunity to act like a kid had to be surrendered. She was tending to a kid. She didn’t have time to be one.

Her trust disintegrated, even within the people she’d been by the side of for years. You never knew when someone, someone you loved and trusted, would throw you under the bus for their own chance at survival.

But it also killed Clementine’s dreams — the opportunity to develop naturally, to be happy, to experience what normal teens got to. To graduate elementary school, to write her first final, to fail her first final. To have her first drink at a house party and break her first bone from playing sports on the playground. It had all been ripped away from her.

On nights when Clementine pondered, she normally sat on Ericson’s front steps, staring off through the front gates, wondering what laid out there.

Even when she wasn’t on watch duty, Clementine rarely went to bed at the same time as everyone else at Ericson. Sleeping was a challenge, especially since Delta’s threat was made known. Often times, Clementine put AJ to bed, waited until he fell asleep, then slipped out. She didn’t want to worry the child, but also wanted to ensure he was actually going to sleep. The last thing she needed was an overly-tired AJ during the day when they had chores to do.

Chores. AJ spent his days doing nothing but chores. His childhood had been robbed from him too.

The thought caused Clementine’s brows to cave. Sure, she could sit around and feel sorry for herself - she had been doing it for 8 years — but AJ? She felt bad because he didn’t feel bad. He didn’t know about the world before. He didn’t know about what he was missing. He thought this was life.

Clementine groaned and stood, stretching her arms and her legs. The more she sat and felt sorry for herself, the less sleep she would get. Seeing as tomorrow was wood chopping and hauling day, she couldn’t spare the energy.

“Hey,”

Clementine tensed with her arms overhead — the exact opposite of what she was trying to do — and froze. The voice felt oddly far away, too far to be recognizable. She glanced around, but finding nothing she was ready to chock it up to having little sleep.

“Clem. Watch tower.”

Turning, finally given a location, she spotted the figure. She couldn’t make out a face seeing as they were too far away, but she began to trot closer. Then, standing at the base of the ladder, she spotted Mitch’s head peek over.

“You’re up late,” he scoffed.

Clem smirked and crossed her arms. “I could say the same to you.”

“I’m up late with a purpose. You’re just up late.”

Clem rolled her eyes, knowing full well he couldn't see them, and started to climb. Without offering a lick of debate, Mitch stepped back and waited.

Groaning as she hit the top, Clementine brushed off her knees and stood. “How late are you up here?”

“Until 6.”

Clementine’s eyes widened. “What? Nobody’s coming to switch out at 3?”

Mitch shrugged. “It was supposed to be Aasim, but apparently he needs his ‘beauty sleep.’”

Clementine smirked. Mitch’s disgust at the notion brought her some joy. “So, you offered to take his shift for him?”

Mitch nodded, leaning over the railing, his gaze sweeping the dark woods. “Yeah. I knew he wasn’t going to work the shift anyway, and I sure as shit wasn’t about to let the post be empty for 3 hours.”

Clem raised a brow. She’d always had a lot of respect for Mitch and the way he handled responsibility, but especially how he handled it now. “You don’t mind the lack of sleep?”

“I don’t sleep anyway,” he scoffed.

Clementine remained silent, as if hoping he was going to elaborate on that point. When he didn’t, she leaned against the railing too. “By choice? Or,” she carried out the ‘r,’ hoping to make it sound playful.

Mitch didn’t react. “I can’t stay asleep.” He hesitated. Clem watched as he shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t want to sleep.”

Strangely, Clementine felt a rush of calm at the statement, despite it being over Mitch’s discomfort. But their discomfort was shared — she wasn’t alone in her struggle. In their world, Clem believed everyone would eventually have sleep issues. It was hard to find enough peace to sleep — your most vulnerable and trusting form — when you were constantly surrounded by people waiting to betray you. To stab you in the back — figuratively or literally.

“You too?” The words left her lips in a rush before her brain could tell her to stop. Her heart was pushing the words out, begging her to voice them, praying for her to confide in someone.

Mitch turned, his cold stare meeting hers and softening — like ice under first glimpse of sun. “You too?” He questioned back.

Classic Mitch. A simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ would be too simple. It would be giving up some power he had. Clementine smirked, not enjoying the topic of conversation, but enjoying Mitch’s presence. “It’s been happening for years, but more so since I got here.”

Clementine could sense a faint flicker in his brow. Discontent, possibly. “That long?”

She nodded, her gaze shifting to the forest. She could feel the night breeze whisk past her ears, chilling them. It brought a wave of reality to her before she got lost in her own head.

“What about?”

“Hm?” Clem asked, not tearing her gaze from the trees.

“What are you losing sleep about?” He clarified, his stare also locked dead ahead. Clementine didn’t need to turn to know he wasn’t looking at her. “It’s always something. We don’t lose sleep over nothing.”

Dang, it really was happening to him. If it wasn’t, he wouldn’t know that.

Clementine cleared her throat. “It’s stupid.”

Mitch said nothing. Clem knew that was his weird way of saying “If it’s bugging you, it’s not” but Mitch always struggled with vocalizing things like that. Soft things.

“I think about my future.”

Mitch scoffed. “Future?” He said it as if it was a joke. A punchline. “What future?”

“That’s exactly what I think about,” she claimed, turning and casting a smirk. It held a shadow of offence, but Mitch didn’t care.

“Alright,” Mitch scoffed, leaning against the railing, his back facing the woods. Clementine wanted to scold him on how that was the exactly opposite of what he was supposed to be doing, but by that logic he would kick her off. Frankly, she didn’t want to end their conversation yet. So, she crossed her arms, leaned deeper into the railing, and said nothing.

“Go on.” Mitch prompted.

She wanted to raise a brow, but didn’t. “I think about the future I missed out on by being here.”

“Here?”

“Apocalypse here,” she said. “Not here here. Not Ericson here.”

Mitch hummed in understanding.

Clementine hesitated, debated if she should say what sat on the tip of her tongue, then caved. “We didn't get to be normal.”

Mitch snorted. “I mean, everyone here wouldn’t ever be normal. Apocalypse or not.”

Clem stayed silent for a moment. Mitch could tell she was being serious and eased off. “I mean,” Clem scoffed, turning so her back also faced the woods. “We didn’t get to go to prom. Or graduate. Or move out for the first time. We didn’t get to do any of the things we should’ve been able to do.”

Mitch remained still. “I never thought of it like that.”

“That isn’t what keeps you up?”

“No,” he said softly. “That’s about keeping everyone safe.” Clementine’s shoulder loosened, drinking in the sorrow in his stance. “Specifically Willy,” he continued. “But everyone.”

Clementine sighed, closing her eyes, facing the school building. “You shouldn’t need to worry about that.” She sighed. “Not when you’re still a kid.”

“Then what should we be worrying about?”

Clem smirked. Sometimes, Mitch’s playfulness and inability to take a lot seriously paid off. “I don’t know,” she hushed, facing him. “We should be thinking about high school graduation. Prom. Applying for schools.”

“As if I would ever go to college.”

Clem snorted. Mitch smirked.

“Fine,” Clem scoffed. “Then we’d be thinking about dates for proms. Suits and dresses. What colour corsage we wanted.”

“That sounds lame.”

“Dates for prom?”

“No, getting a corsage.” Mitch scoffed. “Sounds stupid.”

“It’s French and it’s formal.”

“Stupid.”

Clem rolled her eyes, arms crossing. “You’re telling me you never think about how you didn’t get to ask out a prom date?”

“No,” Mitch scoffed. “Never.” Clem raised a brow. Mitch didn’t look at her.

“What about asking a girl out in general?” Clem pushed. “Or getting your first girlfriend? Or your first kiss? Unless you’ve already had it.”

Mitch didn’t say anything.

Clem’s jaw dropped. “You haven’t,”

Mitch scoffed, whipping around to face the trees again. Maybe if he buried his stare into darkness Clem wouldn’t see how embarrassed he looked. “Shut up, you said it yourself. We didn’t get chances to do stuff like that.”

Silence hung over them, and Mitch couldn’t tell if it was guilty or not. Clementine couldn’t tell if it was angry of not.

“I haven’t had my first one either.”

Mitch turned to the side, slapping a hand to his hip. “So, then are you done making fun of me?”

Clem smirked. “Maybe.”

Mitch smirked back and returned to watching. Yet again, silence.

“We could change that.” Clementine’s voice sounded different this time, and turning to face her Mitch could see why. Everything about her stance had changed — her posture, the weak sagging of her shoulders, the way her eyes met his as if glancing through a curtain. She seemed shy.

“We could?”

Clementine stood patiently, waiting for him to connect the dots. When he didn’t, her hands slapping impatiently to her sides. “We could kiss each other, Mitch. That’s what I’m suggesting.”

God, boys were dumb. Maybe getting her first kiss wasn’t worth it.

Mitch’s body jolted, as if the concept of kissing Clementine had genuinely never crossed his mind. Having it presented it to him made him flustered. Genuinely flustered. A version of Mitch Clementine had never seen before. It made her smile, but she fought back her bubbling giggle.

“Are you being serious?” His voice was squeaky. It was crazy adorable, but Clementine would never tell him that.

“Yes,” she said through a sigh, flopping her hands again. “Why not? Then we can both say we’ve been kissed. We can act like normal teenagers.”

As weird as the idea was, Mitch didn’t mind it. Besides, out of all the girls he could be kissing, he didn’t mind it being Clementine. She was bad-ass, and strong, and assertive. He already admired her. She wasn’t a bad choice.

In fact, he would even say she was a great choice.

“Alright,” he finally sighed, standing upright. “Let’s do it.”

Mitch was expecting it to be awkward and flustered, like he remembered seeing in those corny teenage romance movies his sisters loved to watch. Where the two blush, and giggle, and impishly kiss each other before melting into little puddles.

Instead, Clementine closed the gap between them, cupped his cheeks, and planted her lips to his.

She had force, but was still soft. The firm way she held his face and the right way she leaned against his chest was strong, powerful, but nothing like the gentle way her lips hugged his.

So, he snaked his arms around her and tugged her closer.

It felt good. Right. Like Clementine was perfectly made for the notch in his chest and the crook in his neck — the perfect contrast to everything he was.

And then, they snapped away.

Their grips held for a new moments longer, Clementine’s hands still brushing his face and Mitch’s arms still locked around her hips. Their faces were red, and warm, and tinted with buried affection creeping to the surface.

Then, Mitch cracked a toothy grin. “Does that make this our prom?”

Clementine, for the first time since nightfall, laughed. Heartily, and happily, and with her whole body. “I guess you can say that.”

Mitch smiled.

He knew he would. ---------♥️♥️♥️----------

[withlovingregards]

RoBalt?

A commissioned fic for @sparkyyoungupstart, with characters from the podcast Pokemon World Tour: United

Cobalt wasn’t known to be the smartest person in his traveling group of friends, with him usually paying attention to his Pokemon or a certain blue haired girl rather than what was going on around him. He had his strengths, but being perceptive had never really been one of them, which had never bothered him. Until just recently, when he was having trouble putting two and two together.

 At first, it was just a guessing game. He and Rose had been traveling together for quite some time, and had been through a lot of situations together, from tracking down rockets, to going to court, and even saving the Legendary birds. They’d shared many memories with one another, and they’d grown a strong bond. Cobalt and Rose were known as good friends, and since the day they set foot on their Pokemon journey, people had been mistaking them for a couple. In the beginning, the two very adamantly denied this assumption, because no, they weren’t a couple. They were just Rose and Cobalt, and that’s all that they needed to be.

 But the more time they spent together, huddling for warmth during the Pokemon induced winter, having a beach vacation, and putting criminals in jail, things started to change. Or, Cobalt thought they had. Rose, even under stressful situations, seemed to smile at him more freely, with all the joy on her face of someone who was just so content with their life. She would still call him an idiot every now and again, though it seemed to carry the weight of affection rather than exasperation. And sometimes, the girl seemed to sit closer to him than necessary, brushing up against his side but making sure not to look at him.

 Cobalt wanted to ask her if everything was alright, if she was looking for comfort because of something that had happened, but he found himself very reluctant to break the deeper connection they seemed to have made. So instead, he found a reason to be just as close to her.

 It hit him like a ton of bricks when he’d happened to have mumbled out some stupid joke, admittedly not one of his best, and Rose had just looked at him and burst into laughter. In the midday sun, her eyes sparkled so brightly and conveyed emotions to him that words just couldn’t say. He gulped and wanted to thunk his head against a tree. He liked Rose more than a friend should.

 As soon as he confirmed the thought, there was no going back from that. Every thought seemed to revolve around her, and dang it, it would have been easier to just stop thinking about it if she wasn’t always with him. But every time he wanted to mention the fact of his changing feelings of her, he stopped dead in his tracks.

 Did she like him? Would she even want to be more than just friends with him? Man, what if this was just her getting more comfortable around him as a friend, and it wasn’t even romantic.

 But finally, after what seemed like weeks of him worrying over this as if it was the end of the world, it finally clicked in his mind. The way that she stuck close to him, the way that she would do something before immediately looking back at him to see his reaction. The way Rose seemed to always have room at her side for him. She wanted this just as much as he did, she was just waiting for him to make the first move. Cobalt had finally gotten the confidence to ask her on a date, had been mere moments away from asking her the simple question, when he’d had the thought.

 “A conflict of interest? Cobalt, are you an idiot?”

 Cobalt frowned and stared at Cira, who sat across from him at the cafe table. It didn’t sound as nice coming from this girl over the other. Somewhat dramatically, he sighed and sipped at his juice. It would be hard for a criminal to understand the complications between the two.

 “Rose comes from a long line of Officers. Actually, I’m pretty sure her direct line was one of the first, or something like that. And I’m one of the few non-Jenny’s to be in the police force-”

 “You’re not a cop!”

 “I went through the training program and helped Rose take in all those Rockets a while ago. We’ve done more labor than the entire Kanto region in the past couple months. I think it’s safe to say we’re both cops.”

 It was Cira’s turn to huff out an annoyed breath. She was starting to regret the fact that she’d popped up to hang out with her… friends. Knowing how head-strong the blonde was, she just leaned back in her chair and gave him a wave of her hand for him to continue his ridiculous explanation.

 “Our work is important to us, but she’s important to me too. And I know that if I had to choose between work and her… it would always be Rose.”

 Okay, even though Cobalt was acting like a moron, that was really cute. Cira went to say something, but the girl in question had finally come out of the coffee shop and was slowly sauntering over to them. Without a second thought, she sat right next to Cobalt and gave them both a smile.

 “Sorry it took so long, but you can’t rush perfection,” Rose sighed, closing her eyes as she took her first sip of the very sugary “coffee” she’d ordered.

 “Can you even call that much sugar a drink?”

 “I can’t hear you over this little cloud called heaven.”

 Cobalt snickered into his juice, ready to just forget the conversation that he’d just had with Cira. But the orange haired girl had other plans.

 “So Rose, what do you think about dating in the workplace?”

 Cobalt was barely able to keep himself from choking on the juice that had gone down his throat. When he’d finally got his breath back, he was glaring at Cira, who only had eyes for Rose. Rose cocked her blue brow, not understanding why the question had been posed.

 “Um, I don’t know. I’m not against it, I guess? As long as the work gets done?”

 “But sometimes you have to weigh your options, you know? Work is important, your relationship is important, can you even balance the two without sacrificing something or breaking the rules? Is it even worth it?”

 “Cira, that’s some pretty heavy stuff you’re laying down,” Cobalt snapped, close to growling, “Not really a good conversation for lunch time.”

 “We’re friends aren’t we? Friends can talk about serious things every now and again, especially when it concerns someone close to them.”

 Cobalt was going to battle her. Right here, right now, that would probably shut her up, right? He was ready to stand up and do just that when Rose finally said something.

 “Balancing everything in your life can be difficult sometimes. Trust me, I know from personal experience. Sometimes it can get overwhelming and you think that that’s it, there’s nothing else you can do. You think you have to pick the road that seems the easiest to travel.”

 Both Cira and Cobalt turned to look at their friend, instantly forgetting their own emotions to let Rose vent hers, listening to her wisdom. She seemed so serious, but then she gave Cira a small, but strong smile.

 “But that’s the way that life works sometimes. It pushes at you to see if this is really what you want. And sometimes it’s not, but I like to think if you’re asking this question, you already know the answer. When push comes to shove, you have to make your own path, even if it doesn’t look possible for the happily ever after you want. And in the end, you know that you’d drop everything for Bonnie.”

 “Wait, what?” Cira shook her head, shaken out of Rose’s deep answer after the twisted ending.

 “You guys have grown so much together, have helped each other grow and become somewhat good members of society. You lean on one another, rely on each other, and you know you’d do anything for one another. ��Work’ may want something more from you, but maybe it’s time you either create your own future or work towards that compromise.”

 “This isn’t about-”

 “That’s so sweet,” Cobalt said, mockingly, liking how the tables had turned, “Bonnie means a lot to you, huh? I’m glad you can trust us enough to tell us about your vulnerable heart. I knew you were never as mean spirited as you tried to be.”

 Cira flushed a deep red, not liking the way everything had turned on her, but was so embarrassed about how Rose had clamped on some of her own relationship insecurities. It took her a solid minute or two, with a concerned look from Rose and a smug one from Cobalt, before she was able to really say anything.

 “Shut up.” And just like she always appeared and disappeared, Cira got up without a word and started walking away, throwing her hood over her head to help hide her deep blush.

 “Did I say something wrong?”

 Chuckling, Cobalt threw his arm around Rose’s shoulder and pulled her closer in for a side hug. “No, I just don’t think she was expecting that kind of answer. Me neither.”

 “It’s just how I feel,” Rose said with passion, slow to pull away from the hug, but did so to take some of her drink.

 Cobalt watched her for a bit, actually contemplating the things she had said, even if it hadn’t been aimed at him. It was still good advice, and Cira had kind of accomplished her goal, in some way. Cobalt knew what he needed to do.

 “Rose, how would you feel about a date tonight? At that one restaurant you pointed out earlier?”

 Quickly whipping her head towards the boy, giving him a good slap with her hair, Rose’s eyes widened when she realized that he was actually serious about it. However, the shock didn’t last too long, giving way to a kind of shy smile.

 “So that conversation was actually supposed to be about you and me?”

 “Yeah, but I listened to some of that sage advice and decided rules be damned. So, what do you say?”

 “Of course I’ll- wait. What does a date have to do with dating in the workplace?”

 Cobalt pulled out his “badge”, his face a bit somber as the little bit of guilt washed over him, for only for a few seconds. This was the right choice.

 “I think the police force will look the other way with when it comes to the two of us.”

 The confusion was visible on Rose’s face as she tried to put the pieces together, and then Cobalt saw the annoyance on her face just before she yelled at him.

 “How many times do I have to tell you that we’re not cops?!”

[justsoyoudonthaveto]

Would you believe that a) it’s Halloween and I’m writing about a Christmas movie; b) we’re just 2 months away from this entire shitty year and c) this is my 100th blog post?!?!?  I can’t believe it and I’m living that right now! 

I’m sure you’ve all noticed that I’ve taken a huge break from doing these this year. And with this year, I’m sure you all understand. For a long time I didn’t want to watch sunny shows where the hero just wants to be happy and explore his need to be a mime in Paris while simultaneously running away from his family’s law practice, where the heroine just needs him to buckle down and be serious. Running away from a well-paying job? Are you freaking insane? And love might be all you need, but it sure is helpful if you don’t have to worry about medical bills. This year has been exhausting, and I just couldn’t. As much as these movies are comfort food, I needed something different, which explains why I watched Great British Baking Show twice, learned how to make a killer lemon drizzle and amazing bread, and stress-read Twitter about the state of the country. All of which means that this weekend, which saw me take time off to self-care and watch BBC’s North and South for the first time and immediately plan for a re-watch, has me back to Christmas Movies, with this gem of a movie that should have everything. So let’s get going for One Royal Holiday.

I will start by saying I love Laura Osnes. I voted for her when she was on the Grease reality show, and saw her in Bandstand 3 times. I am less of a fan of Aaron Tveit, more so because of the horrendous man perm he had to sport during Les Miserables. However, it’s not nearly as bad as the man bun I just saw on the latest concert version of my favorite musical, so I guess I should move on from the perms. Except how the hell did those perms mean an Academy Award for best hair and makeup? WTF? Anyway.

Aaron plays His Royal Highness Prince James of Galwick. Is that near Lichtenstein, or Cornwall, like that one where the heroine was from New Jersey? His mom is played by the amazing Victoria Clark and she better sing, damn it. And in the very first scene, where Queen Gabriella and Prince James are in some kind of hospital benefit thanking them for the care they gave their late husband and father, Queen Gabriella is wearing a tiara. I’m sure we’ve learned something from the countless viewings of Downton Abbey (as well as anything the Queen does) and one does not wear a tiara to a benefit during the freaking day. British accents are on point though. Good for them.

Laura Osnes is a nurse named Anna, who is heading home for Christmas, and her home is some tiny New England town where her dad owns an inn. Looks like her mom is dead. Present wrapping montage, and we’re not even 10 minutes in. And Anna is off home where there’s a wicked nor’easter heading her way (she’s in Boston).

James has to make a Christmas Eve speech, which apparently the entire monarchy of Galwick is depending on. But not before he and his mom stop at Donny’s Donuts for tea. Anna’s there for coffee and is freaking out over a “Christmas Cruller” which is basically an eclair. But horrors, the storm has grounded the royal plane, and the hotel in Boston is full up, and James and Anna have had a meet cute over the eclair, and we’ve found out that Galwick is in Northern Europe. Anna is offering her dad’s inn, and now her own car when the royal car driver says he’s not going to drive to Connecticut. Queen Gabriella is already in love with Anna, and her free eclairs, and they are all carpooling to Connecticut on roads that are remarkably traffic free. Oh, and BTW, James has not told her he’s a prince, and she’s just said her town has a Christmas Eve Pajama Ball and Oh My GOD I think I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of Christmas Movie Cliches and I love every minute. BTW, James is a huge pill.

Royal retainer has just let the cat out of the bag to Anna’s dad and now Anna knows that they’re royalty. But because James is such a cool guy, he’s going to carry up their bags up the stairs but because he’s also royal, he doesn’t know that suitcases have handles. Anna’s BFF from high school is now the Sassy Mayor. And James has just asked for the “pillow menu” where the guests get to choose which kind of pillow to sleep on. Sassy Mayor is all about getting the royals on social media for the town, but then she gets an eyeful of Christopher, the royal retainer, and Sassy Mayor is all heart-eye emojis. And here is the first commercial break.

What is this vest and why is it weird?

Sing-a-long at the Inn, and the carolers are dressed like Dickens characters – because carolers are only allowed to dressed like Dickens characters. Gabriella and Anna are bonding over the buffet, while James is on the phone with the Prime Minister of Galwick who is clearly not a monarchist. But Gabriella loves the food at the Inn, and methinks Queenie is going to play matchmaker between Innkeeper Dad and the Cook. James missed dinner and is eating his feelings through a 5 lb container of popcorn, but Anna is nice and brings him a plate of lobster mac and cheese.

As expected, there’s been a huge snowstorm, which is not in evidence with the b-roll of shots of the house. They are snowbound and Anna wants to know what royalty does all day. James says it’s not like a Jane Austen novel where they drink tea and read poetry. No, not at all. Sometimes they have elaborate picnics. And that is a line from this beautiful movie. Another b-roll shot of the Inn, which shows the road completely plowed. But the airport is still closed, so now they can attend the Kentsbury Christmas Parade. James can’t measure up to his dead father with his make-or-break Christmas Eve Speech. FYI, James started dragging the sled of donated toys, and next shot, Anna is dragging it. So much for the chivalry of princes.

FYI – in 2 days, we won’t see any political ads on TV for almost 12 months. Huzzah!

Everyone in the little town seems to think that Anna is dating James because they are walking down the street together. James stepped in a slush puddle and now they both have to take a carriage ride back to the inn. Just go with it. Heart to heart about James’ speech worries. Anna says he should be himself. Oh, how great that advice is.

Husband just asked how great this movie is. I said the words Christmas Eve Pajama Ball. He is seriously thrilled.

The room where the Ball is going to be held had a roof malfunction, and now where are they going to have it? James suggests the Inn, so of course they’re going to do it – and before we can say Hot Chocolate – they are going to decorate the Inn’s family tree! Singing! Tree Trimming! Lights! Husband just is annoyed that all the lights in the big tangle of string lights work, because that is not reality.

DANG IT – they are going to split the ball into Pajama for Kids and Formal Ball for Adults. This is not what I signed up for.

Anna and James meet in the kitchen in their plaid jammies, and Anna name checked Captain Von Trapp, so cool, except for the fact that Christopher Plummer NEVER showed up in a bathrobe. Anna has also introduced James to the magic of a Lazyboy recliner couch. And James is now giving Anna advice about how great a formal ball would be and it’s not a slap in the face of the memory of Anna’s dead mom. Anna is also wearing way too much makeup for late night cocoa rendezvous.

Plot question – why is James a Prince, and not King? Shouldn’t he have been coronated by now?

Anna brought James up to the attic to look for ball decorations, and he seems to have a flair for decorating. They head in to town for more garland, and James borrowed skinny jeans and boots from Christopher, and that’s not weird at all. And Anna has major good ideas for James’ speech, so good for her. Shopping Montage! Decorating Montage! So Many Lights! So Many Trees! Romantic moments by a ladder! Dancing! They are going to Dance to The Christmas Waltz. WHAT IS THIS SONG? Dance Lessons Await! (FYI, I do this with younger son in our kitchen, and it is a delight of my life). Oh, man, dad just messed up that romantic dance.

Dad is Fairy Godfather here and found dresses for Anna to wear that were her mom’s. But first, Gingerbread House Building! James is good at it and he made a castle. And Gabriella just made them a Galwickian Yule Cake (which is an eclair). Christmas Eve is in 3 days, and now there’s black ice on the roads and it’s just too dangerous to go to the airport.

Sassy Friend tells her that she can work it out with Christopher, so Anna can work it out with James, but Anna is being realistic because he’s a prince and she’s a nurse, and if he’s half as eligible as Prince Harry, then she is in the right, and Sassy Mayor is living in La La Land. But whatever, Anna deserves to find Love.

Town Candlelight Sing A Long. Lots of longing looks over the candles, but Anna can’t express her love for James because they have to sing Joy to the World (without the religious 3rd verse). But they are now back in the ballroom for Anna to tell him how she feels, but she is blocked by his phone and the fact that it’s the palace, telling him that he was photographed with Anna in the town square and it’s an international scandal of Christmas Carol proportions. And because Anna is selfless, she says thanks to James and tells him he should care for his people and go be a prince. And because he’s emotionally repressed, he says ok and he heads out.

Sassy Mayor gets to go to Galwick for New Year’s because Christopher is NOT emotionally repressed. Gabriella left a gown for the cook to wear to the ball, and James has arrived home to the literally smallest castle ever. It’s smaller than Disneyland.

SAD TIMES! James and Anna both. 14 minutes left. Anna doesn’t know what to wear, but Dianne the cook looks great in the Queen’s dress. And James has figured out that Anna helped out his dad at the hospital when he was ill. Oh my goodness all the coincidences! Anna’s dress has pockets, y’all. James’ Christmas speech is on the internet, and his military uniform clearly doesn’t fit. And HUZZAH James shows up at the ball and his tuxedo suit does fit. And more about James’ dad, yada yada yada. And they kiss and head into the ballroom where they get to finish their Christmas Waltz. All Laura Osnes’ Cinderella dance experience is clearly paying off here. But we’re not done yet – everyone is in their pajamas at the fireplace for the final scene – and again Cinderella vibes, because James brought her Christmas Royal Bedroom Slippers. But he didn’t bring enough for everyone! The End.

This movie had everything and it was delightful, even if Victoria Clark didn’t sing. Sorry for the blurry pictures – WordPress changed their way of doing things while I was baking and I am still trying to figure it out. Glad to get back into this even if we’re still technically in Halloween territory. Aren’t you glad I watched, just so you don’t have to?

#100 – One Royal Holiday Would you believe that a) it's Halloween and I'm writing about a Christmas movie; b) we're just 2 months away from this entire shitty year and c) this is my 100th blog post?!?!? 

[mysplaced-pen]

Day 2.1: Sometimes Home is a Color

This one is for @a-mess-of-a-princess , who is a new friend of mine. A good pal, a salty buddy, always willing to talk buddy. Also as a kind of apology for getting you into 17 with me im not sorry about that at all lmao

I hope you enjoy!!! I love you!!💛

[ Word Count: 1589 | Prompt: The world is in black and white until you meet your soulmate. ]

“No visible marks, no countdown, no response if skin is written on,” the figure looming above them read off from a checklist. They still couldn't tell anything about the figure. Even their voice sounded like a robot. Interesting. “There's only one more test before we can let you through.” They said. The test they had been preparing for.

Joining this agency was the wrong move, they knew that. But getting off the map was the only way to survive. And they could do that here, as long as they passed this test…

“What color is this?” The figure spoke, holding up a picture. It was of a person they had never seen before, and they were pointing at the person’s hair.

There was no hesitation. “They're blonde.” The figure put the picture away and picked up another, now pointing to the person’s eyes. Again, no hesitation. “Hazel.” Another picture, of a building, the figure pointing to a single letter of a sign. “Red.” Now pointing to a random person’s jacket. “Aqua. Bold choice, if you ask me. With those shoes.”

The figure put the picture down and picked up the clipboard with their checklist again. “Color, check.” They marked a checkmark in the box and looked straight at them. “Agent Vanderwood, welcome to GFX.”

---

Those tests were all fairly simple, but crucial to the recruiting process. Agents were not allowed into the program if they had a soul mark. The agency had begun cracking down on more of the non-visible ones, too. Which is why Vanderwood had to prepare for the test...because they couldn't see colors at all.

It took forever, but with enough practice and one trustworthy colleague, they were able to guess colors by the shade of grey they were. It was excruciating, but worth it.

Who needs color anyways?

---

707 was going to drive Vanderwood insane. What the hell was he on about? A cult drugging people for the sake of happiness? A hacker better than him but it turned out to be his long lost twin? All because of lover’s quarrel and intense sun imagery? What kind of charity association is this? It sounded like a pipe dream.

“But it's over. And we’re finally going to have our party, so you have to come.” 707 said.

“I don't have to come, 07. I'm not part of this mess.” The responded.

“No, you’re not. But you can join our association.”

Vanderwood let out a laugh, “Absolutely not. You tell me all that, then expect me to join that mess? No way.”

707 leaned back in his chair before kicking his feet up, laying them on his keyboard. “You're gonna want to when we release the information about the agency. And no, you're not going to stop me. I'm not going to be the one to do it. So you either join or you go down with them.”

His tone had that unfamiliar serious to it that only showed up when he was extensively late for a deadline or after they tased him. It was intimidating, rare for 707. All they could say was  “...So, the party.”

“Noon, tomorrow. I'll tell V you're coming.” 707 said with a smile, the cheeriness back in his voice. This kid really scared Vanderwood sometimes.

---

The party wasn't actually that bad. There was quite a lot of people as well, considering that their new coordinator had a limited amount of time to invite people. Vanderwood was quite impressed.

They followed Saeyoung’s lead, mainly because they didn’t know anyone else here and was still wary about their agent status, but also because he wanted them to meet V. As much as Vanderwood heard about the guy, they had never met him. It was only fair.

“V!” Saeyoung called out when he was close enough, causing V to turn around. Dang, his hair really was blue. For a second, Vanderwood wondered what it would look like if they could actually see it, instead of the light grey it was, but they chased the thought quickly. Start thinking like that, the thought of finding their soulmate would come with it, and Vanderwood knew it was not the time to worry about that.

“Saeyoung, you look more excited than usual.” V said with a small, almost fatherly smile. “And remember, it’s Jihyun now. Anyways,” He turned to Vanderwood with a smile. “I’m glad to see that you made it, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Vanderwood managed a smile back at him before shooting Saeyoung a look. “I’m sure it’s not good, but thanks. I’ve heard a lot about you too, in a good way.”

V let out a laugh, “I’m honored. And I hope you consider our offer to join the RFA. The members will be glad to meet you. But for now, enjoy the party. Our coordinator did a wonderful job!” He said. On that last bit, he moved to the side, gesturing towards a woman, her back turned. “Hey, Faith!” V called out, making her turn around.

She walked over, smiling at V. “Yeah? Is something wrong, V?” He shook his head, gesturing to Vanderwood. “I just wanted to introduce you two. Vanderwood, this is Faith - our new coordinator. Faith, this is Vanderwood, Saeyoung’s...partner?”

“Babysitter.” They corrected, earning a slap from Saeyoung that they ignored. “Nice to meet you,” They said extending their hand for Faith to shake while turning to face her. And as soon as their eyes met, Vanderwood froze. They could tell Faith did too.

The first thing they noticed was her eyes. They were...brown. Like, actually brown. Not the grey they were used to distinguishing as brown, but the color. It was the first actual color Vanderwood had seen. And then they took in the rest of the room and people around them.

Everything was colored. They could see just how obnoxiously red Saeyoung’s hair was, how nice these decorations really were, how just...vibrant everything was.

Faith saw the exact same thing. And before they knew it, the two of them were looking around the room, bewildered.

“Uh, guys?” Saeyoung said, snapping both of them out of their amazement. “You okay? You both look like you just realized where you were.”

Vanderwood ignored him, as they tended to do, and looked at Faith with a small smile. “I know I said this already, but it really is a pleasure to meet you.”

Faith smiled at them widely. “Same to you, it's a real pleasure. Are you, uh...joining the RFA?” She asked, hopeful.

Oh yeah, that.

They still weren't sure. Going down with the agency was going to be one big hellhole, but being on the map again…

But Faith also changed things, they realized. They could both see colors now. They were soulmates. And things changed when you found your soulmate. The agency would know.

“I-” they started.

“Yeah, I am.”

---

Faith had her legs propped up on their lap, scrolling through her phone. The chat room, probably. It had become a lot more busy since the first couple parties. And with the holidays coming up, the RFA wanted to have a fundraiser, so it just made them all extra busy. It was nice, though. It felt like they were all a little family.

“Hey,” Faith said, making Vanderwood look over at them from the book they were reading.

“Yes?” They answered, putting their book to the side before grabbing Faith’s legs and pulling her more towards them. It made her smile.

“What's your favorite color?” She asked.

They didn't hesitate, “Brown.”

She say up, raising an eyebrow, “Never heard that one before.”

“What did you expect, purple? It's my aesthetic, hun.”

“No, I mean, that's not something people usually say is their favorite. It's nice, but...why favorite? Out of all colors?”

They looked over at them, thinking for a second. Vanderwood was never exactly good at expressing what they felt, but..it was worth a shot.

“Well, it was the first color I ever saw. It’s the color of your eyes. The color of my soulmate. It reminds me of the day I met you and how the world literally changed. And it might seem weird that it's my favorite color, but it holds a lot of importance to me.”

There was a moment of silence before Faith could muster up words. “Wow, I-”

“Don't tell anyone I said that.” Vanderwood said, now blushing and attempting to hide their face. It made Fauth laugh and lean forward, pressing a kiss onto their shoulder.

“I won't, don't worry. That was really sweet, thank you…”

“No need to thank me. You’re the one that made me see it, after all.” Vanderwood said, still attempting to hide their face.

“Yeah, well, same to you. It's the first color I saw, too. And now it's just...comforting. It feels like home.”

Home. Vanderwood never had much of an opinion on that word before. It never meant anything because they never had one. It was all just running and trying to survive, but now...now they were part of an organization that wasn’t out to kill them upon first mistake and they were sitting with their soulmate.

It felt like home. The word had meaning now. But all they could manage to say was, “Exactly. It’s safe, comforting..”

Vanderwood finally showed their face, but only to quickly turn and give Faith a kiss on the forehead, one because they felt like it and two because they wanted to see them blush when they said, “It’s you.”

[deafinatlyafan]

"I'm just saying a dog would help with Anxiety's depression and I would love to have one to pet too." Any ship

(Could be seen as Nightmare part 2)

Tw: dog, nervous Prince. Mentions dog abuse

(I wanted to make this fluff but idk how well I did.)

Morlaity woke up gruggedly and looked around. He was in the coms room laying on top of Romam.

He looked up to his boyfriend and smiled. Why was he so dang cute?! How was he ever so lucky to have him?

 Morliaty slowly turned so he could lean on his side and look up at his partner watching him sleep peacfully as he was drooling.

He was getting impatient and leaned up to kiss Prince on his nose. That made Roman groan sleepingly . Morlaity smiled before quickly putting his head by Romans head.

“Did you just kiss my nose?” Roman groaned.

“Yeah?” Morality suddenly felt nervous was this too far?

“Don’t worry, I loved it. It was just unexpected.” Roman said streaching.

“Well then, Morning handsome!” Morality giggled.

“Morning Second Most Handsomest Person!” Prince teased. Morality moved to give him a kiss.

“You know you drool in your sleep right?” Morality asked. Roman blushed.

“Shut up.” He said as he tried to get up.

“No, dont leave me! You’re too warm!” Morality whined putting his head on Romams chest and hugging him tighter.

“Morality, you’re on top, I can’t move unless you move first.” Roman pointed out.

“Oh then I wont move.” Morality said smiling as he put his head on Romans chest.

 Roman sighed but put his hand on Morlaitys head to play with his hair.

“I swear you’re like an energetic cat.”

“Except I’m not as energetic as a cat.” Morality started  thinking about dogs, knowing that he had to talk to Roman about it.

“No, you’re right. You’re more energetic.” Roman said. Morality lightly slapped Romans arm.

“How dare you. Now I definatley wont get up for a long time.”

“Hon, I love you, but I need to pee. I promise after I pee we can go right back to snuggling.”

“But I dont wanna move.” Morlaity complained.

“Do you wan’t me to pee on you?” Roman asked.

‘I’d rather a dog peed on me’ Morality thought.

“Nooooo.” He repied.

“Then you’re going to have to move.” Roman said.

Morlaity sighed, but had an idea.

“Fine, but only if you agree to consider getting a dog.” Morlaity said.

“Wha-” Roman was obviosuly surprised by this.

“I’m just saying, a dog would help with Anxiety’s depression and I would love to have one to pet too.” Morality said, he wanted to say more but he stayed quiet. The last time he asked about a dog was with Brianna and she got upset.

“Wait, are you serious?” Romam asked. Morality was getting nervous.

“Y-yeah. Is it too soon? I dont know how relationships are supost to work and I dont want kids just yet -not that I dont want kids, I do-but I don’t think we’re there yet-and I want a dog more than I want a kid at the moment does that make me a horrible person? Crap-I’m so sorry I-”

Morlaity was starting to shake as Roman moved to sit up.

“Hey, hey babe, its okay. Theres nothing wrong with wanting a dog or kids. I’m just surprised you brought it up. I can think of getting a dog. A dog would be a nice addition to the family.”

“So we should get one?” Morlaity asked excited.

“Well, this is Thomas’s house so-”

“I actually talked to him about it and hes cool with it! Only Logan seems to be agaisnt it, but he has said he is open to it if we can care for him-or her.”

“I think Its a  great idea.” Roman said hugging Morality closer.

They talked about it for a week, being sure to involve the others. Roman told Morality he found this a big step, but was ready to do it, he just wanted to talk to the others as well.

He also did studies with Logan on what kind of breed could work best and how to care for dogs. The night they planned to get the dog Roman was planning to stay up all night. He was watching vidoes on how to help if they were anxious dogs, alhough he saw it at least twelve times already.

“Roman you need sleep.” Morality had woken up from a dream he didnt remember. He didnt like that his partner was still up.

“But I need everything to go perfecrly Morlaity. What if they’re scared of me when we meet? I dont want them to fear me!” Roman was obviously distresses. Morality leaned towards his boyfriend and kissed his neck.

“I’m sure they will love you. You did more research than i did, and i did alot of it. Come on Roman, our new puppy wouldn’t want you to meet him while you were tired.”

“I know, but-”

“Its okay, I’m nervous too,” Morality admitted, putting his arm around Roman and rested his head on Romans shoulder. “but we need sleep. I’m going to have a hard time sleeping, can you snuggle with me?”

“Did you have another nightmare?” Roman asked frowning.

“I don’t know, I’m tired snd want a hug from my boyfriend.” Morality knew if he gave Roman a job like this it would help Roman sleep better. Roman looked hesitant.

“Just one more time-”

“Babe, you’ve watched it twenty times before I slept. I promise if you forget anything, I, Logan and Thomas will be there to remind you.”

Thomas and Logan had agreed to come. Anxiety didnt want to go for reasons unknown to them, but they respected it.

Roman was still hesitant but he put the laptop away. Deeming this a victory Morality laid down turning so his back was facing Romans.

“Can-can you hug me this time?” Roman sounded nervous. Morality turned to face Roman.

“Sure, you okay?” Morlaoty asked.

“Just nervous. I’m worried our dog wont like me.” Roman admitted.

“Dont worry we will get a dog that loves you! Its okay i can hug you, its been a while! Come here.” Morality beckoned Roman closer. Roman felt hesitant, not used to being the little spoon, but obeyed.

Morality out his arm around Roman.

“This good?” He asked.

“Can you- do you mind putting your leg around me?” Roman asked. Morality proceeded to put his leg over Romans hips.

“This good?” Morlaoty asked.

“You okay?” Roman asked, nervous he was making Morality do something he didnt want.

“Yup, this is great. I love being the big spoon, just wanted to be sure you were comfy before I fell asleep” Morality.

“Yeah, this is good .” Prince said.

“The snuggle is real!” Morlaoty let out a giggle as he said jt. Roman was quiet for a second.

“Did you just make a snuggling pun?”

__

They were at the pet store and Morality was too excited.

“Aww Roman look at them!” Morality was pointing at a couple Cocker Spaniels.

“Aww I wish I could adopt all of you!!” Morality cooed. Normally Roman would find his enthusiasm cute, but he was very nervous.

“They said they sometimes had puppies that out grew their spaces so they had to move them to the back. Do you want to-” Morality raced to the back before Logan could finish his sentence.

“Why wont Morality listen for once.” Logan sighed. Thomas followef Morality “to make sure he didnt play with any animals he shouldn’t.” Roman just nodded his head, looking around.

“Hey you okay?” Logan asked. Roman turned his attention to Logan.

“Yeah, why?” Roman flinched at his voice. It was cracking.

“You know, if you didnt want a dog Mortality would be okay with that right? He’d feel worse if he thought you felt forced to get a dog.” Logan said.

“No no, I love dogs, I’m just-I’m nervous, I want Morality to be happy, but I’m nervous the dog wont like me.” Roman murmured towards the end.

“Oh, well dogs are easy to please and love their owners for life.” Logan said.

“Or hate them for life.” Roman muttered.

“Do you not want a dog or-” Logan was very confused.

“I do, I’m just-I’m just nervous, this is a very big step for me. I wasn’t this nervous with Morality moving into my room because he was basically living there, but this is big for me. I’m happy about it though, i really am. Just, what if Morality finds someone better?”

“I dont see how the two correspond each other; Nevertheless-and I can’t foresee the future- however, I can tell Morality loves you a lot. You know how he felt for Brianna-”

“Exactly! What if he just saw me and liked me because I was the first guy in his sight?” Roman asked.

“If you had let me finished I would have said "how he felt for Brianna is nothing compared to how he feels for you.” Morality fell harder for you. Trust me. I was there.“ Logan turned to look at something and Roman looked in his direction. He see Morality excitedly waving the others over as Thomas smiled.

"He loves you, Roman. This is not platonic.” Logan walked towards Morality.

“You have to see her, she’s so cute I think shes the one! I want to see what you think though.” Morality was basically jumping as he dragged Roman to the end. He was surprised to see an enthusiastic Staffordshire Bull Terrier. He was trying to lick Moralitys hand through the kennel. He felt… something- an interest in her.

“Do you want to see her?” The worker asked smiling, leaning on the kennel. Morality looked up at Roman.

“Yeah, yes please.” Roman answered.

The worker took a key out and put it to the kennel, twisting it. The bull stayed in the kennel even after the door opened but still shook her tail.

“We call her Shadow. Her last owners called her nightmare. Its okay, you can come here Shadow.”

“Why did they call her that?” Thomas asked.

“They thought she was "too much of a sweetheart” and wanted a tough dog. So they just threw her back here, we call her shadow since we didnt want to connect her to her other name.“ The worker roller their eyes when she talked about the owners.

Morality winches a little but smiled sadly at Shadow.

"How old is she?” Roman asked softly putting his hand out for Shadow to sniff. She started licking Romans hand and went up to his leg and pressed against it.

“Wow she likes you already! It took us weeks before she was comfortable enough to come up to us! As for her age,” they took a hesitant breath in, “we can’t be sure but the vets put her around two to three years old.” The owner said.

“She’s so young!” Morality said putting his hand out. Thomas and Logan stayed back letting the couple get to know the dog.

Shadow sniffled Morlaity’s hand again and licked it before putting her head on his hand.

“What do you call a frozen dog?” Morality said smiling. The worker looked confused.

“He’s about to make a pun.” Roman explained.

The worker nodded their head and let out an “ah.”

“I don’t know what do you call them?” They asked curious.

“A pupsicle!” Morality grinned. The worker and Roman laughed. Shadow was still waging her tail in excitement.

___

It had been a couple weeks since they took Shadow in when they decided it was time for a group movie. Morality and Roman were snuggling on the side of the couch (Thomas at the other end of it, ) while Anxiety was sitting on the floor. Logan sat is the single couch. Shadow had just entered the coms room.

Shadow had gotten used to Anxiety quickly and often snuggled with him if Roman and Morality wanted the space. Everybody thought she was heading for Anxiety, but they were surprised when she jumped on the couch, near where Roman was at.

“Hey shadow!” Roman said as she jumped inbetweeb Thomas and Roman (though right behind Anxity.) She turned around and around until she was happy and laid down. Her paw was on Anxietys head, her butt was touching Thomas leg, and she rested her head on Romans lap. Roman heart leapt.

“Hey don’t take my boyfriend away from me! You already have everyone in the house falling for you.” Morality teased petting her head.

“Don’t worry, she can’t take your place.” Roman said putting his arm around Morality before kissing him. Morality grinned.

This was the best day yet.

[doublenuzlocke]

Entry #9: Code: Lyoko au part 2

Mod note: this one doesn’t count for the contest since we’re working with one shots BUT i think you guys are going to enjoy anyway

(So I came up with a cool mic drop moment and had to write the next part of this AU. I’m gonna end up writing an entire fic gdi)

  After the day they’d had, it was only natural to celebrate. Blue had a whole room to herself (because of course she did), so the team had planned a meet up for the night. Sneaking around the staff was Gold’s forte and damned if he wasn’t proud of that.

  “To the downfall of M2!” Blue cheered, raising her cup high. Crys, Gold, Kotone, and Green raised their cups in response, sitting in a sort of circle on the floor. At least Gold and Crys could enjoy the joke. Green was smiling, too, quite the rare sight. Before Gold could point that out, Blue dropped back down in her seat and slung an arm around Green’s shoulders. “If only we’d been there to see that cool thing Crys did, hm, Green?”

  She winked over at Crys, sipping from her cup. Green’s smile faded as he accepted his fate. Crys chuckled uneasily. “I guess?”

  “Everyone should have the capacity to evolve.” Silver said from his seat at Blue’s desk. “Even you, Red.”

  His laptop was open to include Red in their party. Red’s eyes practically sparkled. “You mean it? Then I could battle on my own, right?”

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself, you’ll just cause problems for the rest of us.” Green scowled, gently pushing Blue off his shoulders. Gold laughed, prompting Blue, Kotone, and Red to follow along. Green huffed. “I’m serious here.”

  “Silver.” Crys interjected, her tone calm but probing. “Do you know why I was the first to go through the evolution process? Or how it even ocurred?”

  Gold and Blue quieted to pay attention. Kotone elbowed Crys’s side lightly and half-whispered, “Gonna do some research and experimenting on all of us, are you?”

  “N-No, no.” Crys, flustered, shoved Kotone’s elbow away. “It’s just. It’s good to know in case future trips lead to more surprising events.”

  Kotone giggled and sat back, satisfied for the moment. Silver stared down at the keys of his laptop, tapping them lightly as he turned the thoughts over in his mind. After a few tense seconds, Silver closed his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  Crys deflated. “Oh.” She perked back up, pulling out a notepad and a pencil from her bag. “That’s okay, we can come up with several hypotheses as to why it happened and teast each of them out when we get the chance. If we can figure it out, who knows?”

  Green leaned over slightly, trying to get a look at Crys’ notes. “Add to that how we’re not even sure if the evolution’s permanent or not. Can you switch between them or are you stuck as one or the other?”

  “Maybe it works like my javelins and how Silver has to load more in when I run out.” Blue hummed, looking up to the ceiling. “Or, at least load the new form in.”

  “It would’ve really come in handy when Gold doused you that one time, right?”

  Kotone winked over at Gold, he grinned automatically in response. They were doing their nerd thing, so he’d tuned them out a while ago. Crys groaned at the memory while Red laughed. Silver studied the laptop screen for a minute, then stood. “It’s late.”

  “All ready?” Blue whined, shooting up to her feet. “We haven’t had the proper time to celebrate!”

  “You’re perfectly capable of that without me.” Silver crossed the room to the door, undeterred. “Make sure to return my laptop in the morning.”

  Blue and Kotone continued to protest, but Silver left the room. That guy was a machine. Gold sometimes wondered if that was how he could be so dang pretty. Crys stood, stretching her arms over her head. “I need to turn in for the night, too.”

  “Yeah, you should rest.” Kotone nodded, hopping over to give Crys a quick hug. “Have a good sleep!”

  “Thanks.”

  Crys hugged Kotone back, then waved and left the room. She seemed eager to leave. Maybe they had a test tomorrow Gold had forgotten about? But their excursions into Johto always left them tired. And it wasn’t like Silver to just leave his laptop, Red’s place in the party or not.

  Gold grimaced and stood. He was putting way too much thought into this. Kotone, of course, noticed immediately. “Party’s no fun without Crys here, right?”

  “How could it be fun with that crazy bitch around?” Gold shook his head, his tone surprisingly monotone. He must’ve been more tired than he thought. “I just need to sleep after that shit.”

  “Following them?”

  Green kept his gaze on the wall, away from anyone else. Probably had the most judging expression and that was why the avoidance. Blue and Kotone looked confused before both snapping to realisation and grinning at Gold. Their grins were a little too eager, too frightening. Gold laughed nervously, backing up towards the door, his one exit out of this shark’s den. “All right, see you guys tomorrow bye!”

  Blue and Kotone squealed as Gold ran out the door. Green was really something else (and definitely rubbing off on Kotone in all the wrong ways). All those girls were crazy. Gold heaved out a breath and headed down the dorm hall, towards his room.

  Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Crys’ bright hair bobbing down the hall. And then the rest of Crys, for that matter. It made Gold pause, drawn to the sight. Her room wasn’t down this way. And it especially wasn’t outside. Which was where she was headed.

  Gold took a moment to think about this. On the one hand, he really was tired and wanted to pass out on his bed. On the other hand, he’d totally be down to meet up with Crys and Silver in the middle of the night for an illicit affair. Of course, they’d include Kotone, too, because she’d hate to get left out.

  Either way, Gold found himself following after Crys before he could properly weigh his options. He smirked to himself and slipped out the door, into the night and the now empty campus of their boarding school. Crys was out there, though pretty damn well hidden among the bushes and trees and greenery of their school. Gold jogged to catch up with her. She turned to look over his way, probably from the noise, right as he drew up behind her. He raised a hand in greeting, grinning. “This doesn’t look like your room.”

  “Gold!” She squeaked, her expression absolutely mortified (and cute as heck). Flustered, she stuttered and sputtered cutely, too. “What are you – I-I’m just – shut up!”

  She grabbed his arm and pulled him further into the bushes with her, slapping a hand over his mouth before he could ask what the hell she was doing. She kept her gaze trained on something further ahead for a pensive half-minute before finally releasing him. He tried to keep up an upset act as much as possible. “What the–”

  “Quiet.” She shushed his shout, still looking off in the distance. “I noticed Silver heading out of the dorms after we left. I didn’t really want to follow him, but…”

  “You kinda just did.” Gold deflated. No fantasy three-way make out for him. At least, not tonight. “And now we’re in it.”

  “No.” Crys shook her head, turning to face Gold. “We’re going to stop being suspicious jerks and head to bed. Hopefully–”

  “Isn’t that the direction of the factory?”

  Gold pointed the way Crys had been staring. She gave an exasperated exhale. “Technically, yes, but–”

  “Then we should go check it out.”

  Gold darted off through the bushes and towards their secret passageway. Crys, of course, followed in hot pursuit. She looked upset, but really, she had to be as curious as he was. What would Silver need back at the factory?

  They went down into the sewers, skated to the entrance to the old abandoned factory. They’d made good time, too, considering they nearly ran into Silver and blew their cover. But, mercifully, Silver didn’t notice and went inside the factory, all the way down to the computer room. Crys lead the way down the stairs (“I didn’t even know these existed!” Gold had remarked) and they stopped just above the computer room. More halfway in the ceiling than in the room. Silver sat at the computer, a different screen pulled up on the monitor.

  “That’s the logo for the Rockets!” Crys hissed, pointing down into the room. Gold assumed she was talking about the red ‘R’ displayed on the screen. More surprising to Gold was that this computer did other things than process the virtual world. Crys pulled back, apprehensive. “They’re a crime organisation based in Italy. Why would there be a link to them here?”

  Gold frowned, unable to think up a response. Silver, below them, gave a soft sigh before speaking. “I’m here. With today’s report. Father.”

[danielshae]

Chrono Trigger on Steam: Dang-o

Well It’s Not Exactly Pretty

By DANiEL SHAE

No driving thesis here, just some thoughts and observations of the port.

Like many of you, I’m a lifelong fan of this game. I still have my SNES (actually, I have four of them), and my original CT cart with a “got all the characters to ** and defeated Pink NU Spekkio” file on it. Even went so far as to get a NU tattooed on me. Because I am a sucker for this game.

As you’re probably aware, toward the beginning of 2018 SE granted us a “surprise release” of Chrono Trigger. Like so many others, I bought it immediately. Then? The backlash. Tremendous backlash. Mostly for the weirdly smoothed graphics that appeared to most like a “bad mobile port”. So, somewhat responsibly, six months later SE pushed an update attempting to appease the mobs of enraged fans by allowing the game to be viewed with graphics “similar to the original pixel art”. That description is straight from the in-game menu.

The release of the update was surrounding by a flood of articles purporting that “SE put the original graphics back in Chrono Trigger and now it looks WAY BETTER...” (I’m paraphrasing here). And to a degree, sure, it is certainly better than it was. But dang-o. Guys, this game is still pretty mangled. For a game whose original was so thoughtful, beautiful, and meticulous, this feels sloppy AF. And I know that some people likely worked their asses off, because I too work in the game industry and I understand how it goes. This isn’t just any game, though; it’s Chrono Trigger. I would think that, regarding a game which was completed 23 years ago and is considered by millions to be a masterpiece, people would be a thousand times more careful touching it now than even the original team who created it back then. That’s certainly the case with nearly any other art you’d find in a museum. But that’s not the case here. Square Enix has the resources to do it right, but this port is unfinished.

First 15 minutes of gameplay, I encountered some triggered events which caused me to become stuck inside another sprite and I had to reboot the game to continue (the specific one I remember is returning the girl’s lost kitty at the fair). Thank God for the “bookmark/resume” feature, which is actually a pretty cool addition to the game. Anyway, I’m now 20 hours in (Death Peak after a lot of grinding), and I’m glad to say that pattern has thankfully not persisted.

But there are other issues. Some minor. Some kinda hideous.

I won’t bore you with pixel uniformity (or the apparent lack thereof), but as you can see pictured above, there are some serious issues with mixed aesthetic. You may have to give it the ol’ “right click, view image” to better see what I’m talking about. Most of the assets are displayed in clearly defined “pixels”, but then there are bits like the Epoch, which appear more like, for my lack of real terminology, freaky blurred nonsense. Flying this bad boy around is a uh...well it’s a “trip”. I’m not one to easily embarrass, but between you and me I keep my head ducked and hope to God an NPC doesn’t walk out onto the world map to see my smeared-ass ride rippin’ across the sky to elevator jams. Also I tried switching between “Original” and “High resolution” graphics—Epoch appears to be the same in both. Maybe I’ve just unearthed a bug in my game, but then if so that’s still a problem.

There are lots of other graphical issues: Orphaned pixel noise that becomes painfully visible during effects like white screen flashes. Freaky solid black pixel chunks during the “cool parts” with the Ocean Palace and the Black Omen. The area around Giga Gaia’s face gets honorable mention for some extra weird shit going on when you slap him around (I was using Cube Toss/Iceberg Toss).

As they say: The list goes on.

I’m actually fine with how the battle menu and gauges look now, even if the gauges sometimes cover sprites a little crudely. I get it. Sacrifices must be made. However, the speech panels and game menu panels don’t look like they belong at all to the same game. They’re bizarrely clunky, a different resolution than the rest of the game assets, and frankly the texture on them looks as though somebody was just dicking around with the spray paint tool. Which might be fine if they were the same resolution as the other assets.

SIDE NOTES ON THE MENU: 1) “Settings” can be accessed from the title screen menu and from the in-game menu, and it offers completely different options depending on which you’re in. That’s what they call a UI/UX “no no”. 2) The behavior of the title menu is...weird. That’s as profound as I’m going to be on this bullet. 3) From the in-game menu, to find the “Quit” option, one first has to navigate to “Settings”.

How the hell is quitting a “game setting”?

The hit boxes, or colliders, or [whatever the hell they are] are unpolished as well. This version of the game feels much stickier in places than previous releases I’ve played (SNES, PS, DS). I’ve encountered several NPCs whose colliders are perhaps double their actual width/height, making it a real pain to traverse certain areas.

I can’t make up my mind about the anime cutscenes. I was super pumped at first when they added them to the PS release, but now I almost wish they were a separate thing from the gameplay. Watching those moments in anime, only to immediately see them again in the original 16 bits, ends up feeling a little disjointed. Plus, occasionally (specifically I’m thinking of Frog blowing open the cave to Magus’s keep), it causes the sound to break for a few moments when it comes back from the cutscene to the 16-bit animation. I dunno. Mixed feelings.

I’m still having a blast playing through it. It maintains maybe 85% of the original charm—and 85% of Chrono Trigger is still a hell of a party. I’m glad they added the DS content. I’m not overly pissed that they only opted to keep half of Woolsey’s localization (frog still charmingly speaks in Old English, just not when he’s having flashbacks to being a child/young adult for some reason) but modified parts of it to include some of the newer English dialects (featuring phrases like “nom nom nom”). OK. Cool I guess. We need the newer generations to “understand” our art.

OK, that’s more-or-less the end of my thoughts on this. It’s enjoyable, but extremely messy. I don’t recommend this version for first-timers to the game. If you can swing it, play the SNES cart. On a CRT. Play it with scanlines. Sweet, beautiful, hot, sexy scanlines. And if you can’t, get a DS copy.

Actually I’m not so obsessed with the “glory days” that I’d turn my nose up at a full-on remake of this game. Pls. I’d take a modern Chrono Trigger in a heartbeat.

EDIT: 49 hours. Beat the game. Multiple times. Got all 13 endings. The most noticeable of the graphical issues are: Epoch, beating Magus and warping to 65 Million BC, Ocean Palace appearing, Black Omen appearing, random buildings throughout the world maps, racing Johnny, scenes with the Gurus/Janus being warped away from Lavos, Black Omen after killing Mammon, and pretty much all of the endings. The Epoch and ending credits sequences are the worst. Still, tremendously fun—just not impressive looking compared to the product that was completed 23 years ago.

[junker-town]

The Adrian Beltre Encyclopedia

This is everything you need to know about the wonderful Adrian Beltre, the newest member of MLB’s 3,000 hit club.

Adrian Beltre is about to reach 3,000 hits in the major leagues (has just reached, etc.), and in celebration of his varied, humorous, and never boring career, it’s time to celebrate all the amazing things that have cemented him as one of the most entertaining people in the league at any given moment.

Whether it’s his phobia of people touching his head (he’s serious guys, stop it!), his defensive prowess on the hot corner year after year, or the spontaneous moments in games and in the dugout that give you insight into his personality, Belter is a non-stop barrel of laughs. Even when he doesn’t mean to be.

To try and get those laughable, unique moments all in one place, this is the Adrian Beltre Encyclopedia.

Anti-Head Touching

This might be one of the most memorable pieces of Beltre’s entire career, and it doesn’t even have anything to do with his on-field achievements. He truly, sincerely, does not like people touching his head.

If you do so, you will set him off with a mini-tantrum of frustration which is truly, sincerely hilarious to everyone involved but him. Baseball is filled with perfectly juvenile behavior whether it be in the clubhouse, on road trips, or on the field. But people touching Beltre’s head might be the best example of this and something that never gets old.

Camera Man Check-In

Back in 2011, Beltre had a three-homer game against the Rays. During his first home run trot around the bases, a TBS cameraman followed him down the third base line to home, carrying his camera to track Beltre’s jog.

And then that cameraman absolutely ate it, breaking parts of his camera in the process. Even though he was mere feet from home, Beltre wasn’t about to let the moment pass without a reaction so he pointed and cracked a smile at the poor bloke laying on the turf. It wasn’t blatantly mean-spirited, which is what makes it a funny moment and not a cruel one.

Defensive Dives

Yes, his one-knee home runs are fun and all, but Beltre’s defense is the other half of what has secured his longevity in the league thus far and sometimes his work at third is more fun to watch than his hits (sometimes). Whether it’s a diving stop in the infield to keep a runner from advancing or a lunge to the foul line followed by a jaw-dropping throw to first, his amazing skills while manning third base are a consistent reminder of how valuable he is on both sides of the ball.

Death Stares

We’ve established (and will continue to establish) that Beltre’s teammates love messing with him, and that he will flip out if you annoy him in various ways. But there are also moments where he doesn’t go nuts if people are messing around, he will simply bore a hole in your very essence with one of the best death stares in the game.

Fun With Felix

Felix Hernandez and Beltre were teammates for five years, and we’re sure that tons of fun was had between the two during that span. But they’ve only become more entertaining from an outsider’s perspective since Beltre left Seattle, and boy have they had some classic moments over the years.

There was the “oh shit!” home run off of Felix that Beltre couldn’t believe.

There was the time when Beltre lined out right into Felix’s glove and Felix tossed it right back to him as he walked back to the dugout.

Sometimes the moments aren’t as blink-and-you’ll-miss-them, like the one game where they spent more or less the entire time jawing at each other jokingly back and forth.

Best Friends Forever!

Elvis Andrus Moments

When Adrian Beltre was traded to the Rangers, he was coming off of a stint in Boston where wide swaths of people seemed to really notice him for the first time. It’s not like he wasn’t a good player during his decade-plus in Los Angeles and Seattle, but it wasn’t the same national Beltre experience as fans know now.

So going to the Rangers, not only were his antics known and recognized, but he found a partner in crime to share his goofs with and we couldn’t be happier this happened.

Elvis Andrus and Beltre have more fun messing with each other on the field than possibly any other combination of players in the league. Even when they look mad at each other, you can tell it’s in a love way like people who have been friends since childhood.

It might happen during a huddle on the mound or a break during an inning, but the best moments between these two are when they goof off while in the process of making plays. I mean, just look at these two and try not to crack a smile.

While there are baseball friendships all across the league, there isn’t one as present on the diamond as this one. Nor one that adds to the entertainment of the game in quite the same way.

First Base Ump Fun

Beltre is a shrewd strategist sometimes, even when he’s being cheeky about things. One major example of this is his frequent referrals to the first base ump when he checks his swing. By jumping into action before the home plate official can say a word, he tries for the more sympathetic call immediately and hopes to turn things in his favor.

Even when it doesn’t work out though, his eagerness to get an answer from the ump and the way he points down the first base line is a sight to see.

Hitting For The Cycle

Beltre has hit for the cycle three times in his career, once for Seattle and twice for the Rangers. However, the cycle he hit while playing for the Mariners actually happened against the Rangers, in Arlington.

Which means he is the only person in the history of the league to hit for the cycle three times in the same ballpark. He’s only one of four people to hit for the cycle three times, period. And the last person to do that before Beltre completed the feat in 1933.

Just a fun tidbit that allows us to marvel at his sometimes unbelievable skills, which can get lost amongst his shenanigans.

Home Runs From His Knees

This might be his signature move, and one that he can’t even explain with any certainty as to why it happens. In 2016, Beltre attempted to explain the phenomenon to MLB.com saying,

I don't like doing it, but it normally happens on breaking balls -- when I'm trying to fight off a breaking ball. Somehow my knee goes down and I just see the ball and swing. I don't like doing it, I wish I could stop doing. I think it hurts me more than it helps me. Sometimes when I go to one knee I think that I could've hit the ball better if I didn't. But it happens and it's just reaction. I've been doing it too long to change now.

Good thing he can’t really fix that, as it’s incredible to watch every single time he pulls it off.

Trying to figure out how he is able to generate that type of power from one knee, and the quickness with which he pivots to the ground, is remarkable to say the least.

Listed Age

Beltre was the weirdo prospect who was actually younger than his listed age.

Boras eventually got Major League Baseball to review the case and after a lengthy investigation, they determined that the Dodgers in fact had signed Beltre when he was 15. The signing age for international amateurs is 16.

The Dodgers fudged his age in reverse, and they got slapped with a bunch of penalties for it. Only Adrian Beltre can show up to his major league debut and well-actually Scott Boras about his age.

On-Deck Circles

Adrian Beltre likes his on-deck circles where he likes his on-deck circles. When an ump asks him to move from the spot where he is warming up to the designated on-deck area, he decides: “Nah.”

So he slides the on-deck circle to where he’d like it to be instead of just acquiescing, and gets promptly ejected.

Has there ever been a more perfect distillation of who Adrian Beltre is as a baseball player and a person? Maybe. Has there ever been a funnier distillation of who Adrian Beltre is as a baseball player and a person? Not even close.

Popup Fakeouts

This mostly has to do with his Andrus bond, but Beltre has never met an easy popup he couldn’t exploit for his own benefit. It’s usually just distracting enough to be funny but not dangerous, and Beltre enjoys doing it so dang much it’s hard not to appreciate the joke along with him.

Raising His Son Right

This is pretty self explanatory in that his son, Adrian Beltre Jr., is not only adorable but is mimicking his father as he grows up just like many kids do. However it’s better than a normal kid specifically because his dad is Adrian Beltre.

Beltre Jr. has mimicked his dad’s swing pre-game (and hit some bombs while he was at it!), taken part in some pretty intense games of father-son catch where he showed off some serious sidearm toss skills, and just been an all around mini-me to his dad. With Beltre being such a character, we would be remiss if we didn’t hope for that trend to keep going and the world to grant us another baseball Beltre.

Ridiculous Base Path Running

I mean...he’s the best. How can you not enjoy this.

Or this.

What a goof.

Slow Dribblers

He has no patience for them. Who does? Those balls that come rolling through the infield moving slower than molasses, causing nothing but frustration and letting people reach base every time.

So in the face of slow dribblers, Beltre will not stand for their shenanigans and takes things into his own hands. Like when he tried to surreptitiously kick one foul rather than even making a play. It totally could have worked!

Torn Testicle

Once, Adrian Beltre tore a testicle after a ball hit him right in the...well...testicle. He stayed in the game for the duration, and then afterwards checked things out and said that his testicle was the size of a grapefruit. Later he confirmed that it took two whole weeks for it to shrink back to its normal size (he was put on the 15-day disabled list at the time).

Media reports at the time described it as “severely bruised” and surgery was even considered to get things back as they are supposed to be down there, to put it gently.

But staying in the game and talking openly about the severity of his testicle issues wasn’t even the most Beltre part of this, that would be the fact that after the incident he continued to refrain from wearing a protective cup.

At the time he said it was uncomfortable and he doesn’t like it, but a shot to that area would surely change a normal person’s mind after the fact right? A normal person, sure. But Beltre is beautifully not-normal so he wore one while he healed up and then it was back to the cup-less life.

Tossing His Glove

We’ve already noted here that Beltre loves messing with people, but doesn’t always like being messed with. This is a subset of those fun and games that also happens to be something little league parents scold their kids about.

Yet Beltre does it because everyone gets bored sometimes out on the field, it’s just that 99.9% of major leaguers hide it better than he does. Nothing bad happens because he wants to toss his glove above his head as a line drive sails over him, it won’t come close to interfering and to him it’s hilarious.

Tossing His Glove (subset: Angrily)

There have also been times when tossing his glove has stemmed not from joy and goofiness but from annoyance - at a ball or at a team member. There was the time that Elvis Andrus touched his head (again) during a meeting at the mound and Beltre promptly turned around and hucked his glove right at him as Andrus hustled out of there.

Or the time when a ground ball passed him at third and rather than diving for a play that would have been impossible to make even if he could reach the ball, he just threw his glove at it and watched it bounce right by. Who among us?