#stop oh god sister daniel is so hot?? you cannot do this to me loves I'm gay

[dapg-otmebytheballs]

Sister Daniel and Satan Phil in Halloween Baking 2k23

[fiery-assassin-arc]

Bare Yourself - Iris’ POV

tw nudity mention, tw abuse mention

The chiming of the bells coming from St. Auodeon’s Church is enough to bring chills to me, even though it’s a nice spring day. Memories from Catholic school hit me like a train, thinking of Yvette almost. I wonder how she fares—not that it matters.

 She made her choice when she wouldn’t even help me anymore, and I’m the fool for trusting her still.

My hands go to the cross necklace I decided to wear today, the cold metal unfamiliar since it has never remained on my neck until after school. I look over at the nuns, bowing in respect to the people who are entering, seeking a familiar face.

 “Father Daniel.” I announce his name, walking over to him. The nuns look up and smile. Of course they remember me.

 He turns, gives me a soft smile. “Ah, Iris. What a pleasure to see you on holy grounds again. It’s been what, a few months?”

 “Just one month, Father. I heard the bake sale was a success.”  I look over at the nuns. “Sister Harriet, you look lovely as ever.”

 “Oh stop it dearie. I remember when you were just a wee little girl, scared of the ruler. And now look at you, all confident and strong.” She reaches for my wrist and I retract slowly.

 “I was hoping if you weren’t too busy Father, I would like to speak to you.” I whisper the last seven words softly so only he could hear.

 He nods. I don’t tell Father Daniel much. Mainly the nightmares that never wish to cease their orchestra in my skull. And for some of the acts I’ve committed. I couldn’t stop myself from crying when I told him I killed someone, but he never turned me in. Just told me to find some way for forgiveness to seek absolution. Strangely, in the world we live in, we accept it.

 And this church was now polytheistic.

 He takes me to the confessional booth, sitting on the side so he can appear aloof. Once I sit down, my hand goes to my cross. Rubbing the metal until it hurts my fingertips.

 “Father I have felt plagued by the past.” I start off, lean my head against the chair. “For two weeks now, I have gotten nightmares involving . . .” I exhale slowly, thinking if I say his name, he’d appear like Bloody Mary. My finger goes over the rosary beads that were conveniently placed beside me, inhaling deeply.  He’s not here. He won’t get me here. He won’t he won’t— “Remington, someone who had wronged me in the past.”

 He hums. “What about him that plagues you?”

 “I think he’s back.” I breathe the words out. “He attached me in the woods, I know he did. And my family thinks that I’m imagining it.” As the priest remains silent, I sit back and continue. “You know it’s been over three years since he died?”

 “I remember that day, you had come into my church that following night. Still in your gown. Be grateful it was so dark no one recognized you.” He looks up to the sky, probably apologizing to the Gods.  

 “Yeah, thanks for that.” Almost three years ago, after the wedding was off the air of television due to a electrical circuit being cut, I drove the wedding limo towards this very church. When I made it here, still stained with blood, ready to confess my sins, Father Daniel welcomed me inside.

 “Do you believe his spirit is unrestful, due to the nature of his death?”

 “I don’t know.”  Every time I think of the alternative than what I have experienced, it gives me a headache.  “But due to a random Titan bringing people back, if you haven’t heard, anything is possible.”

 “It frightens you, the idea of him back in your life?”

 It makes me sick. He takes my silence as confirmation.

 “I’ve also had dreams… memories of us. I’m not sure, but they feel like they happened. Showing me what he really was.” He’s silent the whole time. Something wet hits my hand, my fingers are burning from the rubbing of the rosary beads.

 The dreams have started last year on my birthday, showing me glimpses, through motion or a whole movie-length. It’s either our happiest moments, or signs of his abuse I didn’t speak out on. That lunch scene genuinely frightened me.

 And I have no idea if it was real, or he’s fabricated it years ago. My heart rattles inside my ribs, hurting me. How deep did his influence run?

 “That is something I don’t think I could help with,”  Father Daniel leaves his side of the booth and walks for a moment. Then he opens my door, his green eyes soft with concern. Hands me a tissue. “I think that we are done for today.”

 I let go of the beads, see the paint is rubbed onto my skin, a rich brown. I must look a mess in front of him. Shaking, crying. “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

 “Breathe, child. It is natural to let go of your emotions.” Father Daniel takes my hand, helps me out of the booth. We go out to the back of the courtyard. “There are things even I cannot assist with. Hearing one confess, hear their problems, but at their own mental expense, I feel it would be too much for their soul.” He gingerly places a hand on my shoulder, smiling at me.

 “Of course, Father. What should I do?”

 “I would suggest talking to someone with knowledge of the mind. Perhaps they can help.” I grimace, but he doesn’t notice, or he did. “Or journal, do something to find ways of what it means.” He inhales, continues. “Sometimes God doesn’t have the answer for it all. I hope you find peace, in what you are going through, Iris.”

 I nod, hear a distant clap of thunder over on the east side. It vibrates within my skin. Hot tears slide down my face. “Thank you.”

  Perhaps it’s because I was born in water, or maybe my zodiac sign, but I love the feeling of it.  The floating, the light twinkling through the glassy ceiling of blue. Submerged ten feet underwater in my pool with flowers floating above, I feel a sense of peace. My hand slowly moves in the water, my eyes open. It doesn’t burn.

 My body twists and glides effortlessly, hair tickling my skin. Finding peace through swimming, ballet. Things I used to do before— they can help me. Sure, I could take Father Daniel’s suggestion of seeing a therapist. But not now. Not until I get him out. Out of the physical realm and my mind.

 And these damned memories. Why are they resurfacing? And are they real?

 I swim back up to the surface, pushing my hair back. All that I hear is my breaths, the muffled sounds from my music, and the water moving with me in tandem. I’ve sent the servants home, and I usually pay them while having them every six months. It’s better being alone. No one hears my screams from my nightmares.  No one has to see my battle.

 I’ve had one person to see my vulnerable side like that, and she’s in a crypt in the frozen tundra. Per my demand.  I wasn’t going to let him turn her to rubble. I trusted him.

 I pull myself out of the water, pulling my hair to the side to wring it out of excess liquid. Maybe I could cook something, get my mind off of today. “Radio, off.” I command, and the radio silences, leaving me in quiet. It’s fine. I can make it one day in silence.

 I wrap the towel around myself and exit out the pool room, making my way to the bathroom, and turn on the shower, nice and hot. I strip myself of my swimsuit and get in. Wash the chlorine from my hair and skin, ignoring the sting of soap in my eyes. I blink it away, scrub it out.

 I don’t want to close my eyes.  I don’t want to see the darkness.

I wash my back, the scars showing lines where I was hurt. Can’t believe it’s been six years since that day. As I look, I notice some look older, a bit more darker than the others. As if I had these scars before my kidnapping.

 Couldn’t be my wings giving the scars. It’s a weird sense of anatomy how they come out,  but never resulted in my back bleeding.

 And I remember the pain of each whip, but on some parts, it hurt worse. Hitting something that was there prior.

 I shake off whatever idea I have, despite the chill and continue to shower. Wanting it out of my system. Maybe… Maybe Dad was right. Maybe it was just because of his anniversary of his death that I imagined it. No. It sounded stupid as soon as I thought of it. Dad can be right on many things, but not this.

 Definitely not this.

 I change into some sweatpants and a big shirt once I’m done, splash some cold water on my face before walking out to the living room. I bend to the fireplace and start it up with some wood and a flame. The sounds of the ember popping a comfort to me. When I exhale, I notice how cold it is.

 “Nick?” I say into the silence, before groaning. “Not in the mood for this, big brother. Next time use a lock.”

 “You’re not as aware of your surroundings as you used to be.”

 My instincts are quick, grabbing the fire poker and pointing it straight at the intruder in my home. He stands at the front door, arms behind his back. Clad in blue, the symbol of our clan proud in the center of his headband. A soft smile. Sad, but soft nonetheless. It’s been four months since I’ve seen the man in front of me. Four months since I almost killed him in revenge.

 Not since the funeral of our friends, clan, of Frost.

 “Hi, Sub-Zero.”

[imnotinclinedtomaturity]

Love Yourself (Chapter 5)

title: Love Yourself summary: A lot of things about Dan’s life are pretty great. He gets to make the music he wants, he’s got a great fanbase, and his manager is his best friend. A few things about his life suck a bit more. He’s currently lacking inspiration, he’s rather lonely, and he’s stuck in a rut. Dan’s been going to the same coffee shop for years. It’s quiet, it’s quaint, it’s near his home. Most importantly: none of the employees give a shit that’s he a world-famous singer. Things change when he meets the new barista. chapter words: 5k story words: 20k (so far) chapter: 5/? rating: t warnings: language genre: singer!dan, coffee shop au, barista!phil, slow burn [[ao3]] [[previous chapter]] [[first chapter]]

Dan woke up to a persistent vibration coming from under his head. Sleepily, he pushed himself up on his elbows and tried to dig his phone out from under his pillow with his eyes closed. Finally, his fingers latched around the phone and he tapped the answer button without processing who was calling.

“About time you answered, Daniel. I’ve called three times today.” His mother sounded annoyed, but not distressed.

“Sorry, Mum.” Dan forced himself into a sitting position, propping up against the headboard. The curtains were drawn tight over the window, blocking almost all light from entering the room. “What time is it?”

“It’s nearly 8:30. I thought you said you had a busy day today. Are you’re just now waking up?”

“Huh?” Dan rubbed his free hand down his face, trying to wake himself up. What am I supposed to do today? Mentally, he ran through his to-do list. Grocery shop, working on writing new music, plan Germany — Ah, yes. That’s what he was supposed to be working on today. Belatedly, he realized he hadn’t answered any of his mother’s questions. “Yeah, I just woke up. I kind of had a late night last night.”

“Oh.” His mother’s voice was clipped. “I suppose you and Isabella did something after dinner, then?”

All at once, the previous night’s events rushed back to him. Fuck. “Um, no, actually. I, uh… I didn’t spend any more time with Izzy last night.”

“Oh?” The tone of his mother’s voice shifted. “Why was that?”

“You were at the same dinner as me. I’m sure you can imagine why.”

His mother was silent for a minute. Dan wasn’t sure if she was hoping that he would elaborate, but there was no other information he was willing to volunteer on the matter.

Eventually, his mum spoke again. “It’s been a long time since you introduced us to anyone you’ve dated, you know.” Dan could tell that whatever she meant to say, that wasn’t it. Or at least not all of it.

“What’s your point, Mum?”

“Just that after you broke up with Alex you implied that you weren’t planning to bring anyone else home unless you were… how did you put it? Sure of them?”

“Correct, that’s what I said.”

“Does that mean you’re sure about Isabella?”

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the Camel.

“You practically forced me to bring her, remember Mum?”

“You’ve been dating nearly a year, surely that’s long enough to mean that you’re sure of someone.”

“That’s… one thought.”

“She’s talking about wedding rings, how else am I supposed to think?”

Dan fell forward, burying his face into the fluffy duvet. “God, that actually happened, didn’t it?”

“I think you should really consider whether this is the person you want to marry.” Dan tried to interrupt, but his mother kept barrelling on. “Out of all of the people you’ve brought home, she’s by far been the worst. She was rude and controlling and condescending. You’re lucky your sister is so confident or I’m sure your girlfriend—” the word was dripping with distaste "— would have upset her.”

“Mum— ” Dan sat back up, shoving the duvet off him. If his mum was going to get into this conversation, he needed coffee.

His mother kept talking, ignoring his protest. “I cannot believe you’re serious about someone like her, Dan. Do you not see how vain and self-absorbed she is?”

“Listen—” Dan tried to interrupt her again.

“And the way she talks about you, it’s very concerning dear. I don’t want to speak out of turn—” Too late there, Mum. “— but she seems to only be interested in your relationship for shallow reasons.”

“MUM, STOP.” Dan all but screamed. “Let me talk, will you?”

His mother sighed deeply, but didn’t say anything else.

“I’m not thinking of marrying Isabella. That was the first time I’ve heard her mention a ring and — well, that’s not where I’m at in this relationship.” Dan grabbed a plain black mug from the cabinet.

“Then where are you in this relationship?”

“I’m not serious, I promise. I’m, uh…” Dan trailed off, not sure how phrase this gently for his mother. “In it for pretty shallow reasons, too.”

That shut his mother up.

There was almost a full minute of silence while his mother recovered. While he waited for his mother to piece together what was so shallow about their relationship, Dan began pouring coffee grounds into the coffee maker.

“You mean you’re using her for publicity and money too? Your career is going plenty well on without that!”

This time, Dan was the one shocked silent. Dan snapped out of it when the coffee grounds were overflowing from the basket onto the counter. Shit fuck. Desperately, Dan tried to shovel some of the grounds back into the bag.

“Dan? Are you still there?”

“Sorry.” Dan called it good enough and flipped the machine on. Guess the coffee is just gonna be strong today. “Um, no. That’s not what I meant.”

“What did you mean, then?”

“What do you mean?” Dan was baffled.

“She’s clearly using you, Dan. You know models rarely get the kind of recognition that very famous singers do and, well, I get the impression that that is what she is looking for. I don’t know what you could possibly be getting from her that makes it a fair exchange. The way she treats you is dreadful, and it’s so obvious that she —”

“SEX!” Dan interrupted before he could process his own words.

“What?”

“I don’t know what you think I’m in it for, but, um…” Dan trailed off, fiddling with his empty mug.

Finally, his mum seemed to get the picture.

“You’re telling me you’re just in this relationship for sex?” Her tone was eerily neutral.

Dan could feel his cheeks burning. “Well, um… Do we have to have this conversation, Mum?”

“Yes, Daniel. This is important.”

“Jesus fucking… It’s not just that…” Dan tried to think of how he’d phrased it to Louise last week, and find a less descriptive way of saying it to his mother. “Look, being in a relationship is nice right? You get a lot of… stuff that you wouldn’t get if it were just… that.”

“You’re going to have to be more transparent.”

“She likes going out to bars and restaurants and she pushes me out of my shell, which is good sometimes. She’s affectionate and can be really nice, I swear. I know you didn’t see that last night, but I promise. I just like being with her, when it’s just us, and she’s. You know. More herself.” Less shitty, Dan tacked on in his head.

His mother silently contemplated his words. “But you’re not thinking of marrying her?”

“Fucking hell Mum, I already told you. No.”

“And it’s not serious?” She sounded hopeful, happier than she had the whole phone call.

“Not to me.”

“It clearly is to her. Does that mean it may become serious?”

“Look, Mum.” Dan ruffled his hair. “I’m not dating for a life partner right now. I’m just dating.”

“Well, Daniel, I’d highly advise you to stop seeing her before things do get serious.”

“What happened to liking and supporting everyone Addie and I bring home? You adored Adaline’s last boyfriend and he was a dumbass.” With more force than necessary, Dan pulled the coffee pot from the machine, a bit of it sloshing out and burning his hand. What a great start to the day.

“You know I support you, and your sister, no matter what. And that’s why I’m saying this. Isabella seems like danger, mark my words.”

“Jesus, you make her sound like I’m dating the fucking devil or something, Mum. She was nervous, she wanted you guys to like her. Sure, she was… a lot, but that’s not how she is all the time, okay? And just because she’s more extroverted than me doesn’t mean she’s controlling.”

“She didn’t come across as controlling just because she’s more extroverted, she came across as controlling because she seemed to have very strong opinions about how and where you spend your time. Don’t think I didn’t notice her reaction to you giving Adaline that ticket.”

“Oh.” What the fuck was he supposed to say to that? “I mean… to be fair, she’s gone on the last few little trips with me, so I can see where she’s coming from.”

“I don’t care if you’ve taken her on a million trips, she still shouldn’t expect that you bring her somewhere and be mad when you don’t. I can’t fathom why you’re dating her if you aren’t serious. Surely you could find sex elsewhere. I’m not sure if you realize this, but you’re famous.” Right. That was where he got his snark.

His cheeks had only just calmed down from the last time his mother made him talk about his sex life, but they flushed red hot again.

“Mum, I told you. It’s not just… sex.” The word came out strangled. “That was a poor choice of words earlier. It’s more than that. It’s nice to have someone who always wants to do something with me, especially when we decide just to lounge at her place and watch a movie in bed together. You know I’ve always been a physical person and I can’t get that from a friend and I certainly can’t get it from a… fuck buddy.”

“So find someone else to have intimacy with,” she said, almost begging.

“I don’t have time for that, Mum. I’ve been traveling almost constantly and now I’m working on a new album.”

“Get one of those dating apps that your sister uses. She’s been on three dates since she’s been single.”

“Right, I can see that going fantastically. I’m sure famous people have great luck finding meaningful relationships on Tinder.”

“Okay, well maybe you’re right there. But regardless, darling, I want you to be happy, both now and in the future. I think you need to remember that by dating her, you are closing yourself off from other relationships. And even if you are only looking for something temporary and light, you can do better than her, Daniel.”

Dan’s phone started buzzing. He pulled the phone away from his ear enough to look at the caller id. “Mum, Louise is calling me. I need to answer this.”

“Tell her hello and I expect her round for dinner soon. Think about what I said —”

Dan cut her off before Louise’s call could go to voicemail — and before she went into another lecture. “Goodbye, Mum. Love you.”

Phil was mopping up the rainwater that customers had tracked in when the door chime rang. Great, another customer to bring in more water. Phil started to make his way back to the register, looking up at the new customer.

“Dan!” He smiled brightly.

Dan looked adorable — a mess, but adorable. He was sopping wet from the rain, his hair drenched, and his white jumper soaked through and clinging to his body. In his arms, he was carrying a young girl — maybe five or six. She was wrapped in what appeared to be Dan’s black raincoat. He flashed Phil a brief, but warm smile before turning his attention to the girl.

“Okay, Darcy, down you go.” The girl shook off the raincoat as Dan lowered her to the ground. In her hands, she was holding Dan’s phone, coloring books, and a laptop.

“Here you go, Uncle Dan.” She held the objects up for him. Dan took them from her hands, setting them on the bar. Phil briefly thought through his last conversation with Dan — he’d said that his sister was turning eighteen? Or nineteen? Regardless, this couldn’t be her child, right?

“Thank you. Darcy, can you say hello to Phil? Phil, this is Louise’s daughter, Darcy.”

“Hi Phiwl!” The little girl — Darcy — waved up at Phil eagerly. “Can I have something to drink?”

Phil waved back at her as Dan lifted her into one of the high chairs at the counter. “Of course, but what do you tell Mummy?”

The little girl put on a stern face and wagged her pointer finger around. God, she’s the cutest. “Uncle Dan said no sugar!”

“Good girl. Now, how about some hot chocolate?”

She clapped her hands together. “Yayyy!”

Finally, Dan properly looked up at Phil.

“Hey Phil,” he said, dimples on full display.

“Hey Dan.” Between Dan’s cute interaction with a tiny child and his deep dimples, Phil couldn’t stop smiling. He dragged his eyes over Dan’s outfit once again. His black jumper was soaked completely through. “You’re wet.”

“Am I really?” Dan deadpanned. He pulled out his wallet — which was somehow also a bit damp — and smiled again. “I only had one waterproof jacket and I figured better me than her.” He jerked his head towards Darcy.

How sweet. “Why’d you go out at all? It’s downpouring out there.”

“The wifi cut out at my flat and I desperately need to do some work today.”

“I see. So you’re going to be here for a while?” Phil wiped down the counter where Dan was dripping water.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind Darcy and I bothering you,” Dan said with a nervous chuckle.

“Of course not. You look freezing though.”

“Er, yeah. Didn’t think this through.” Dan pulled the wet jumper away from his chest slightly. “Sorry, I’m getting the floor all wet. You were just mopping, too.”

Phil shrugged. Secretly, he thought it was worth the floor getting wet again if he got to see Dan looking so adorable. Plus, his wet jumper was clinging a bit tighter than usual and… well, it didn’t leave a ton to the imagination.

“Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t finished anyway.“ Phil tapped his employee id into the ipad. "So a hot chocolate and triple espresso, one sugar?”

“Yup,” Dan nodded. He lowered his voice. “Go a little light on the whipped cream, though, will you? I’d rather her Mum not completely kill me.”

Phil giggled. Apparently Dan was the fun, only somewhat responsible, uncle. But then again, “only somewhat responsible” was probably the best you could hope for when that uncle was a loaded, famous musician.

Phil swiveled the ipad around to face Dan and grabbed two mugs, moving down to the espresso machine. He’d long since stopped telling Dan how much he owed, partially because it was often the same, but mostly because it always made Phil feel more awkward when Dan left a fifty percent tip.

When Dan was done paying, he held up a finger at Phil and mouthed be right back. Phil watched him out of the corner of his eye as best as he could while he made the coffee. Dan had returned to the little girl and was helping her pick out a picture in her coloring book while trying to dig out the crayons from the small box. Honestly, he’d probably be better off just letting her get the crayons out; his hands were much too big to be easily fitting in the box.

“Which one are you going to color, Darce?”

“Hmmm. I like this one and this one.” The little girl pointed to two of the pictures. “I wanna make one for you for your fridge-a-gater.”

Dan smiled at the little girl, playing with her ponytail. “I’d like that. You pick which one.”

The little girl looked at the book with serious concentration. “I’m gonna do Eeyore because you were all grumpy this morning.”

Phil could see Dan trying not to roll his eyes. “That will look great on my refrigerator. I’ll be right over there okay? Let me know if you need me.”

The little girl was too entrenched in her coloring to respond. With a quick glance back at the girl to make sure that she was okay, Dan slid down the bar until he was in front of Phil. He leaned his long arms on the counter and rested his head in his hands, flashing Phil another wide smile.

“Hey there,” he drawled. Flirty?

“Long time, no see.” Phil sat Dan’s coffee down in front of him. “Drink up, Mr. Grumpy. Apparently you need it.”

“Shut up. I had an early morning, okay? My mother decided to call at eight thirty.”

Phil looked up from the hot chocolate he was making, unamused. “I’ve been here since seven, I don’t want to hear it.”

Dan shot him a sympathetic look. “Yeah, well, I was up super late, okay.”

“For your sister’s birthday thing! How was it?”

Dan winced. “I don’t want to get into it. She was great, family was great, food was great. Isabella, not so great.”

Ah, right. Isabella.

Phil didn’t know much about her, other than what he saw in the media. Dan rarely talked about her — really only bringing her up if he was on his way to meet her. From what he’d seen online, they looked fairly happy. They were always photographed out and about, usually at bars or fancy restaurants. Phil knew how relationships in the public eye could be though — sometimes they looked amazing from the outside but terrible from the inside. From the little he’d heard Dan mention Isabella, it didn’t seem like the best relationship. But, hey, who was he to judge.

“Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good,” Phil said.

Dan made an expression that, if there wasn’t a child present, would probably have been accompanied with a fuck it. Instead, he brought his coffee cup up to his lips, taking a tentative sip.

“Ah, warmth. That’s great. I’m freezing.”

“Oh!” Phil suddenly remembered. “I have a jumper in the back. It’s dry. You could put that on if you want?”

Dan’s eyes widened. “Yeah that’d be great, actually. If you don’t mind.”

“Of course not. I’ll be right back.”

Phil ducked into the back room. Well, more of a closet really. He opened his backpack and gently unwound the jumper from his camera. With less care than he should, Phil set the camera back in his bag and headed back into the coffee shop.

“Here,” he threw the jumper at an unsuspecting Dan. The jumper smacked him in the face and fell to the counter with a soft thud. “It’s a bit off brand for you, sorry.”

Dan held up the bright blue jumper. “Pugs not drugs?” he read, laughing. “God, Phil, you’re too precious for this world.”

Phil could feel the blood rushing up to his cheeks. Dan had always been known for his high end, edgy fashion sense. Phil’s quirky pug jumper was probably really different from what he was used to wearing. Phil hoped it would be okay.

Dan looked towards the door and then Darcy, who was concentrating on her coloring. Seeing that nobody was around, and with absolutely no warning, he pulled the soaked white jumper over his head, leaving him bare chested in the middle of the coffee shop. Phil could see cursive words inked down his left ribcage. Oh god.

Suddenly, Phil was worried about blood rushing to a different part of his body entirely.

“Yes, Daddy.”

The words were out of Phil’s mouth before he could stop them. Luckily, they’d come out in a joking tone, at least, but he still couldn’t quite believe he’d said them. Before Dan could so much as react, Darcy interrupted.

“Why did he call you daddy, Uncle Dan? You don’t have any babies.”

Dan trained his eyes on Phil, quirking an eyebrow.

“That’s a good question, Darcy. Apparently Phil doesn’t realize that I’m definitely not a Daddy. I’m much too little.” Dan said slyly, his tone not-so-subtly hinting at a double meaning.

Phil choked on air and did his best to remain composed. He didn’t feel like he was doing a great job. How could he? Dan was standing just across the bar, shirtless, and dropping hints that he was into, well, that.

“That’s… something to remember.” Phil’s voice came out husky.

Dan winked at him. Was Dan flirting with him? “I bet Phil wants to be a Daddy though.”

Phil swallowed thickly. He glanced over — Darcy appeared to have lost interest and gone back to coloring. His eyes flickered back to Dan, feeling daring. “Not exactly the name I’d choose, if given the option.”

Dan’s eyebrows shot up, looking both stunned and interested. “And what name would you choose, if given the option, Phil?”

Phil leaned his elbows on the counter and placed his head in his hands, much like Dan had earlier. From this position, he was eye level with Dan’s chest. It wasn’t a bad view. “You’re a smart boy, I’m sure you can figure it out.”

Dan looked down at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes. His tongue darted out to wet his parted lips.

“Sir?” Dan’s voice sounded strangled.

For the first time since Dan had pulled his wet jumper off, Phil finally sensed he had the upper hand. Curious to see Dan’s reaction, Phil lowered his voice. “Good boy.”

From where he was leaning, Phil could see a deep red flush spread across Dan’s bare chest, up his neck, and into his cheeks. His head fell back in a quiet groan. “Jesus, Phil. Warn a guy, will ya?”

The groan that tumbled from Dan’s lips sent Phil’s mind to dark places. He had visions of Dan making that noise from underneath him as Phil kissed down his neck. If Dan was so reactive to being called “good boy” in a coffee shop, Phil couldn’t even begin to imagine what it did to him in the bedroom.

Phil shook his head, trying to drag his mind back into this moment and away from… thatimage. Forcefully, Phil let out a gruff laugh.

Dan gave him an unamused look, still looking suspiciously pink, and defiantly pulled the jumper over his head. The sweater hung a little looser on him than it did Phil. Dan’s hands were just barely peeking out of the sleeves and his sharp collar bones were jutting out above the neckline.

Those collar bones. They should be illegal. Phil had to bite back the urge to trace his finger down them.

“It looks good on you. It’s good to see you in —” Phil cut himself off before he could say my clothes. “Colors,” he amended.

Dan fiddled with the hem of the jumper. “Thanks. It’s a bit different from the monochrome, huh?”

“It is. The monochrome is good, too. This is just… brighter.” Sexier.

Dan chuckled, pulling himself together, and opened his laptop as he sat on the stool nearest Phil. Phil knew Dan had to work, but he wasn’t willing to let Dan stop talking to him just yet, especially not when it was possible they just been flirting.

“So, what’s it say?” Phil asked, nodding his head at Dan.

Dan looked back up from his laptop quickly. Clearly, he wasn’t too opposed to a distraction. “What’s what say?”

“Your tattoo.” Phil leaned across the bar and poked Dan’s side for emphasis.

“Oh!” Dan smiled. “It’s ‘don’t waste your time, or time will waste you’. It’s a line from—”

“Knights of Cydonia,” Phil finished for him excitedly.

“Yeah.” Dan tilted his head. “You know Muse?”

“I love Muse,” Phil corrected. It felt like the more he learned about Dan, the more they had in common.

“I like Muse and you like Muse, let’s be friends.”

Phil laughed at Dan’s antics. “So what inspired the tattoo?”

“One, Muse is amazing.” Phil nodded his head in agreement, smiling widely. “Two, they are kind of who got me really into music. Three, it’s a good motivator.”

“I like it, it’s cool. It looks good on you.” Phil’s voice unintentionally dipped low again.

Dan blushed again — god he blushes so easily. “Thanks.”

Phil was about to mention the idea for a tattoo he had, but was interrupted by the door chime. He looked apologetically at Dan. “Sorry, I’ll be right back.”

Dan smiled back. “No worries, I should probably actually do some work, seeing as that’s why I came here and all.”

Phil walked back to the register to serve the customer, who fortunately only wanted a simple coffee and a muffin. Dan beamed at him from behind his laptop when Phil walked passed him on the way to the bakery display. Without thinking, he grabbed an extra muffin, setting it down in front of Dan on his way back to the register.

Dan glanced up and mouthed “for me?” Phil sent him a quick nod and handed the customer her bagged muffin.

When the customer was gone, Phil sat down on the employee stool and pulled out his phone. His eyes flickered up to check on Dan, almost out of habit. He saw that Dan had torn the muffin in half and given the bigger half to Darcy. God, he’s just too perfect.

Suddenly, Phil was hyper aware of the fact that Dan had a girlfriend. He was in a relationship. He probably had fans that ignored that fact all the time, and here Phil was totally disrespecting the fact that he wasn’t single.

Embarrassed, Phil turned his attention back to his phone, deciding to let Dan work uninterrupted for a little while.

Dan must have a fairly short attention span, though, because it wasn’t forty five minutes before he was pestering Phil.

“Whatcha doing, Philly?” Phil lazily glanced up from his phone, a little surprised Dan was talking to him.

“Oh, you know, twitter, tumblr, the usual.”

Dan leaned forward over the lid of his laptop. “So you do have a twitter!”

“Yeah, I thought we established that.” Phil sat his phone down on the counter, confused by where the conversation was going. He hadn’t said he didn’t, he’d just… not wanted to give his username to Dan, that was all.

“Does this mean you’ll finally give me your handle?”

Phil wavered for a minute. What was worse, Dan looking him up on twitter, or Dan getting offended that Phil wouldn’t give him his username? Well, odds are he would find out eventually, so…

“Under one condition.”

“Deal.” Phil was taken aback at how quickly Dan responded.

“You haven’t heard the condition!”

Dan shrugged his shoulders. “Doesn’t matter. Deal. What is it?”

“You can’t look me up until you’ve left the coffee shop.”

“Ugh, fine,” Dan groaned, not looking pleased.

“I’ll know if you break your promise,” Phil threatened, wanting to make sure that Dan would keep his end of the bargain.

Dan looked unamused. “Yeah, yeah. Just tell me,” he whined.

“AmazingPhil.”

Dan instantly turned back to his laptop and tapped at his keyboard.

“Hey! Hey! I told you to look me up later!” Phil complained, darting down the bar, and lightly pushing on the lid of Dan’s laptop.

Dan laughed, pushing it back to its fully open condition. “I’m just writing it down, you spoon.”

“Oh.” Phil felt a little chagrined. “Right, sorry.”

“Although on second thought…” Dan closed his laptop lid, eyes gleaming excitedly. “I’ve sent all the emails I need, so I guess I’m done here. Darcy, are you about done with your picture?”

Phil grimaced. He should have known Dan was incapable of delaying gratification. Well, at least Phil wouldn’t be in the room when Dan found out.

Darcy held up her coloring book. She’d moved on from Eeyore to a picture of Tigger and Pooh.

“Perfect.” Dan helped her pack up her things and wrapped her back in his raincoat, making sure the laptop was tucked in well, too. It had mostly stopped raining, but Phil didn’t blame Dan for being careful.

“Well, Philip,” Dan said, turning back to Phil. “It’s been lovely, as always. I’ll be following — I mean, seeing you soon.” Dan laughed at his own joke, gave Phil a quick two fingered goodbye salute, and gathered Darcy up in his arms.

“Tell Phil bye and that you’ll see him soon, Darcy.”

“Bye, Phwil!” Darcy waved her tiny, adorable hand in Phil’s direction. As disappointed as he always was when Dan had to leave, Phil wasn’t completely sorry that Dan was leaving now. Phil wasn’t sure if he could continue looking him in the eye after giving him his twitter handle.

Phil grabbed Dan and Darcy’s mugs to put in the dirty bin and spotted Dan’s shirt on the counter.

“Wait!” Phil almost yelled. “Your jumper.”

“Right!” Dan circled back to the counter, and Darcy grabbed his wet jumper. “Oh, that reminds me, did I leave my coat here last night?”

Phil looked around in confusion. Dan had left his jacket here? Then he remembered the black peacoat in the backroom that had been here when he’d arrived to work. “That’s your jacket in the back? I thought it looked familiar.”

“Black and depressing, who else could it belong to?” Dan said humorously.

Phil rolled his eyes at Dan on his way to the back room. When he brought it back out, Dan was still holding Darcy.

“Er,” Dan mumbled. He tried to extend one hand far enough from Darcy to take the coat, but it wasn’t enough to be able to hold it.

“Um, here.” Phil muttered back. He walked up behind Dan and draped the coat around his shoulders. His fingers lingered a beat longer than they strictly needed to, and he could have sworn he heard Dan’s breath hitch.

“You can bring my jumper back to me next time I see you, yeah?”

Dan turned around to face Phil. Suddenly, they were very close, even with Darcy between them.

“Uh, yeah. I’ll do that. See ya, Phil.”

“Buh bye Phiwl!” Darcy yelled again.

When the door shut behind them, Phil sank onto one of the stools to collect himself, letting out a deep breath. Had this afternoon really happened? Phil wasn’t sure. Dan had a girlfriend, after all, so there was no way he’d been flirting — and besides, Phil didn’t even know if Dan was into guys. But it had felt like they were flirting. It had felt like there was something there.

Barely ten minutes later, Phil’s phone lit up with two notifications in quick succession.

“@danielhowell is now following you.”

“@danielhowell: @AmazingPhil hey there you snek”

let me know what you thought :) i was v excited about this chapter

in case you’re curious, this is the original summary i gave @auroraphilealis for the last scene: Phil goes and gets it for him and Dan strips off his wet jumper and undershirt right there in the middle of the coffeeshop and phil is like yes daddy.

[[next chapter]]

[iminclinedtowriting]

Love Yourself (Chapter 5)

title: Love Yourself summary: A lot of things about Dan’s life are pretty great. He gets to make the music he wants, he’s got a great fanbase, and his manager is his best friend. A few things about his life suck a bit more. He’s currently lacking inspiration, he’s rather lonely, and he’s stuck in a rut. Dan’s been going to the same coffee shop for years. It’s quiet, it’s quaint, it’s near his home. Most importantly: none of the employees give a shit that’s he a world-famous singer. Things change when he meets the new barista. chapter words: 5k story words: 20k (so far) chapter: 5/? genre: singer!dan, coffee shop au, barista!phil, slow burn [[ao3]] [[previous chapter]] [[first chapter]]

Dan woke up to a persistent vibration coming from under his head. Sleepily, he pushed himself up on his elbows and tried to dig his phone out from under his pillow with his eyes closed. Finally, his fingers latched around the phone and he tapped the answer button without processing who was calling.

"About time you answered, Daniel. I've called three times today." His mother sounded annoyed, but not distressed.

"Sorry, Mum." Dan forced himself into a sitting position, propping up against the headboard. The curtains were drawn tight over the window, blocking almost all light from entering the room. "What time is it?"

"It's nearly 8:30. I thought you said you had a busy day today. Are you’re just now waking up?"

"Huh?" Dan rubbed his free hand down his face, trying to wake himself up. What am I supposed to do today? Mentally, he ran through his to-do list. Grocery shop, working on writing new music, plan Germany — Ah, yes. That's what he was supposed to be working on today. Belatedly, he realized he hadn't answered any of his mother's questions. "Yeah, I just woke up. I kind of had a late night last night."

"Oh." His mother's voice was clipped. "I suppose you and Isabella did something after dinner, then?"

All at once, the previous night's events rushed back to him. Fuck. "Um, no, actually. I, uh... I didn't spend any more time with Izzy last night."

"Oh?" The tone of his mother's voice shifted. "Why was that?"

"You were at the same dinner as me. I'm sure you can imagine why."

His mother was silent for a minute. Dan wasn't sure if she was hoping that he would elaborate, but there was no other information he was willing to volunteer on the matter.

Eventually, his mum spoke again. "It's been a long time since you introduced us to anyone you’ve dated, you know." Dan could tell that whatever she meant to say, that wasn't it. Or at least not all of it.

"What's your point, Mum?"

"Just that after you broke up with Alex you implied that you weren't planning to bring anyone else home unless you were... how did you put it? Sure of them?"

"Correct, that's what I said."

"Does that mean you’re sure about Isabella?"

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the Camel.

"You practically forced me to bring her, remember Mum?"

"You've been dating nearly a year, surely that's long enough to mean that you're sure of someone."

"That's... one thought."

"She's talking about wedding rings, how else am I supposed to think?"

Dan fell forward, burying his face into the fluffy duvet. "God, that actually happened, didn't it?"

"I think you should really consider whether this is the person you want to marry." Dan tried to interrupt, but his mother kept barrelling on. "Out of all of the people you've brought home, she's by far been the worst. She was rude and controlling and condescending. You're lucky your sister is so confident or I'm sure your girlfriend—” the word was dripping with distaste "— would have upset her."

"Mum— " Dan sat back up, shoving the duvet off him. If his mum was going to get into this conversation, he needed coffee.

His mother kept talking, ignoring his protest. "I cannot believe you're serious about someone like her, Dan. Do you not see how vain and self-absorbed she is?"

"Listen—" Dan tried to interrupt her again.

"And the way she talks about you, it's very concerning dear. I don't want to speak out of turn—" Too late there, Mum. "— but she seems to only be interested in your relationship for shallow reasons."

"MUM, STOP." Dan all but screamed. "Let me talk, will you?"

His mother sighed deeply, but didn't say anything else.

"I'm not thinking of marrying Isabella. That was the first time I've heard her mention a ring and — well, that's not where I'm at in this relationship." Dan grabbed a plain black mug from the cabinet.

"Then where are you in this relationship?"

"I'm not serious, I promise. I'm, uh..." Dan trailed off, not sure how phrase this gently for his mother. "In it for pretty shallow reasons, too."

That shut his mother up.

There was almost a full minute of silence while his mother recovered. While he waited for his mother to piece together what was so shallow about their relationship, Dan began pouring coffee grounds into the coffee maker.

"You mean you're using her for publicity and money too? Your career is going plenty well on without that!"

This time, Dan was the one shocked silent. Dan snapped out of it when the coffee grounds were overflowing from the basket onto the counter. Shit fuck. Desperately, Dan tried to shovel some of the grounds back into the bag.

“Dan? Are you still there?”

"Sorry.” Dan called it good enough and flipped the machine on. Guess the coffee is just gonna be strong today. “Um, no. That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean, then?"

"What do you mean?" Dan was baffled.

"She's clearly using you, Dan. You know models rarely get the kind of recognition that very famous singers do and, well, I get the impression that that is what she is looking for. I don't know what you could possibly be getting from her that makes it a fair exchange. The way she treats you is dreadful, and it's so obvious that she —"

"SEX!" Dan interrupted before he could process his own words.

"What?"

"I don't know what you think I'm in it for, but, um..." Dan trailed off, fiddling with his empty mug.

Finally, his mum seemed to get the picture.

"You're telling me you're just in this relationship for sex?" Her tone was eerily neutral.

Dan could feel his cheeks burning. "Well, um... Do we have to have this conversation, Mum?"

"Yes, Daniel. This is important."

"Jesus fucking... It's not just that..." Dan tried to think of how he'd phrased it to Louise last week, and find a less descriptive way of saying it to his mother. "Look, being in a relationship is nice right? You get a lot of... stuff that you wouldn't get if it were just... that."

"You're going to have to be more transparent."

"She likes going out to bars and restaurants and she pushes me out of my shell, which is good sometimes. She's affectionate and can be really nice, I swear. I know you didn't see that last night, but I promise. I just like being with her, when it’s just us, and she’s. You know. More herself." Less shitty, Dan tacked on in his head.

His mother silently contemplated his words. "But you're not thinking of marrying her?"

"Fucking hell Mum, I already told you. No."

"And it's not serious?" She sounded hopeful, happier than she had the whole phone call.

"Not to me."

"It clearly is to her. Does that mean it may become serious?"

"Look, Mum." Dan ruffled his hair. “I’m not dating for a life partner right now. I’m just dating.”

"Well, Daniel, I'd highly advise you to stop seeing her before things do get serious."

"What happened to liking and supporting everyone Addie and I bring home? You adored Adaline's last boyfriend and he was a dumbass." With more force than necessary, Dan pulled the coffee pot from the machine, a bit of it sloshing out and burning his hand. What a great start to the day.

"You know I support you, and your sister, no matter what. And that's why I'm saying this. Isabella seems like danger, mark my words."

“Jesus, you make her sound like I’m dating the fucking devil or something, Mum. She was nervous, she wanted you guys to like her. Sure, she was… a lot, but that’s not how she is all the time, okay? And just because she’s more extroverted than me doesn’t mean she’s controlling.”

“She didn’t come across as controlling just because she’s more extroverted, she came across as controlling because she seemed to have very strong opinions about how and where you spend your time. Don’t think I didn’t notice her reaction to you giving Adaline that ticket.”

“Oh.” What the fuck was he supposed to say to that? “I mean… to be fair, she’s gone on the last few little trips with me, so I can see where she’s coming from.”

“I don’t care if you’ve taken her on a million trips, she still shouldn’t expect that you bring her somewhere and be mad when you don’t. I can’t fathom why you’re dating her if you aren’t serious. Surely you could find sex elsewhere. I’m not sure if you realize this, but you’re famous.” Right. That was where he got his snark.

His cheeks had only just calmed down from the last time his mother made him talk about his sex life, but they flushed red hot again.

“Mum, I told you. It’s not just… sex.” The word came out strangled. “That was a poor choice of words earlier. It’s more than that. It’s nice to have someone who always wants to do something with me, especially when we decide just to lounge at her place and watch a movie in bed together. You know I’ve always been a physical person and I can’t get that from a friend and I certainly can’t get it from a… fuck buddy.”

“So find someone else to have intimacy with,” she said, almost begging.

“I don’t have time for that, Mum. I’ve been traveling almost constantly and now I’m working on a new album.”

“Get one of those dating apps that your sister uses. She’s been on three dates since she’s been single.”

“Right, I can see that going fantastically. I’m sure famous people have great luck finding meaningful relationships on Tinder.”

“Okay, well maybe you’re right there. But regardless, darling, I want you to be happy, both now and in the future. I think you need to remember that by dating her, you are closing yourself off from other relationships. And even if you are only looking for something temporary and light, you can do better than her, Daniel.”

Dan’s phone started buzzing. He pulled the phone away from his ear enough to look at the caller id. “Mum, Louise is calling me. I need to answer this.”

“Tell her hello and I expect her round for dinner soon. Think about what I said —”

Dan cut her off before Louise’s call could go to voicemail — and before she went into another lecture. “Goodbye, Mum. Love you.”

Phil was mopping up the rainwater that customers had tracked in when the door chime rang. Great, another customer to bring in more water. Phil started to make his way back to the register, looking up at the new customer.

“Dan!” He smiled brightly.

Dan looked adorable — a mess, but adorable. He was sopping wet from the rain, his hair drenched, and his white jumper soaked through and clinging to his body. In his arms, he was carrying a young girl — maybe five or six. She was wrapped in what appeared to be Dan’s black raincoat. He flashed Phil a brief, but warm smile before turning his attention to the girl.

“Okay, Darcy, down you go.” The girl shook off the raincoat as Dan lowered her to the ground. In her hands, she was holding Dan’s phone, coloring books, and a laptop.

“Here you go, Uncle Dan.” She held the objects up for him. Dan took them from her hands, setting them on the bar. Phil briefly thought through his last conversation with Dan — he’d said that his sister was turning eighteen? Or nineteen? Regardless, this couldn’t be her child, right?

“Thank you. Darcy, can you say hello to Phil? Phil, this is Louise’s daughter, Darcy.”

“Hi Phiwl!” The little girl — Darcy — waved up at Phil eagerly. “Can I have something to drink?”

Phil waved back at her as Dan lifted her into one of the high chairs at the counter. “Of course, but what do you tell Mummy?”

The little girl put on a stern face and wagged her pointer finger around. God, she’s the cutest. “Uncle Dan said no sugar!”

“Good girl. Now, how about some hot chocolate?”

She clapped her hands together. “Yayyy!”

Finally, Dan properly looked up at Phil.

“Hey Phil,” he said, dimples on full display.

“Hey Dan.” Between Dan’s cute interaction with a tiny child and his deep dimples, Phil couldn’t stop smiling. He dragged his eyes over Dan’s outfit once again. His black jumper was soaked completely through. “You’re wet.”

“Am I really?” Dan deadpanned. He pulled out his wallet — which was somehow also a bit damp — and smiled again. “I only had one waterproof jacket and I figured better me than her.” He jerked his head towards Darcy.

How sweet. “Why’d you go out at all? It’s downpouring out there.”

“The wifi cut out at my flat and I desperately need to do some work today.”

“I see. So you’re going to be here for a while?” Phil wiped down the counter where Dan was dripping water.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind Darcy and I bothering you,” Dan said with a nervous chuckle.

“Of course not. You look freezing though.”

“Er, yeah. Didn’t think this through.” Dan pulled the wet jumper away from his chest slightly. "Sorry, I'm getting the floor all wet. You were just mopping, too."

Phil shrugged. Secretly, he thought it was worth the floor getting wet again if he got to see Dan looking so adorable. Plus, his wet jumper was clinging a bit tighter than usual and… well, it didn’t leave a ton to the imagination.

“Don't worry about it. I wasn't finished anyway." Phil tapped his employee id into the ipad. "So a hot chocolate and triple espresso, one sugar?"

"Yup," Dan nodded. He lowered his voice. "Go a little light on the whipped cream, though, will you? I'd rather her Mum not completely kill me."

Phil giggled. Apparently Dan was the fun, only somewhat responsible, uncle. But then again, "only somewhat responsible" was probably the best you could hope for when that uncle was a loaded, famous musician.

Phil swiveled the ipad around to face Dan and grabbed two mugs, moving down to the espresso machine. He'd long since stopped telling Dan how much he owed, partially because it was often the same, but mostly because it always made Phil feel more awkward when Dan left a fifty percent tip.

When Dan was done paying, he held up a finger at Phil and mouthed be right back. Phil watched him out of the corner of his eye as best as he could while he made the coffee. Dan had returned to the little girl and was helping her pick out a picture in her coloring book while trying to dig out the crayons from the small box. Honestly, he'd probably be better off just letting her get the crayons out; his hands were much too big to be easily fitting in the box.

"Which one are you going to color, Darce?"

"Hmmm. I like this one and this one." The little girl pointed to two of the pictures. "I wanna make one for you for your fridge-a-gater."

Dan smiled at the little girl, playing with her ponytail. "I'd like that. You pick which one."

The little girl looked at the book with serious concentration. "I'm gonna do Eeyore because you were all grumpy this morning."

Phil could see Dan trying not to roll his eyes. "That will look great on my refrigerator. I'll be right over there okay? Let me know if you need me."

The little girl was too entrenched in her coloring to respond. With a quick glance back at the girl to make sure that she was okay, Dan slid down the bar until he was in front of Phil. He leaned his long arms on the counter and rested his head in his hands, flashing Phil another wide smile.

"Hey there," he drawled. Flirty?

"Long time, no see." Phil sat Dan's coffee down in front of him. "Drink up, Mr. Grumpy. Apparently you need it."

"Shut up. I had an early morning, okay? My mother decided to call at eight thirty."

Phil looked up from the hot chocolate he was making, unamused. "I've been here since seven, I don't want to hear it."

Dan shot him a sympathetic look. "Yeah, well, I was up super late, okay."

"For your sister's birthday thing! How was it?"

Dan winced. "I don't want to get into it. She was great, family was great, food was great. Isabella, not so great."

Ah, right. Isabella.

Phil didn't know much about her, other than what he saw in the media. Dan rarely talked about her — really only bringing her up if he was on his way to meet her. From what he’d seen online, they looked fairly happy. They were always photographed out and about, usually at bars or fancy restaurants. Phil knew how relationships in the public eye could be though — sometimes they looked amazing from the outside but terrible from the inside. From the little he'd heard Dan mention Isabella, it didn't seem like the best relationship. But, hey, who was he to judge.

"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good," Phil said.

Dan made an expression that, if there wasn't a child present, would probably have been accompanied with a fuck it. Instead, he brought his coffee cup up to his lips, taking a tentative sip.

"Ah, warmth. That's great. I'm freezing."

"Oh!” Phil suddenly remembered. “I have a jumper in the back. It’s dry. You could put that on if you want?”

Dan’s eyes widened. “Yeah that’d be great, actually. If you don’t mind.”

“Of course not. I’ll be right back.”

Phil ducked into the back room. Well, more of a closet really. He opened his backpack and gently unwound the jumper from his camera. With less care than he should, Phil set the camera back in his bag and headed back into the coffee shop.

“Here,” he threw the jumper at an unsuspecting Dan. The jumper smacked him in the face and fell to the counter with a soft thud. “It’s a bit off brand for you, sorry.”

Dan held up the bright blue jumper. “Pugs not drugs?” he read, laughing. “God, Phil, you’re too precious for this world.”

Phil could feel the blood rushing up to his cheeks. Dan had always been known for his high end, edgy fashion sense. Phil’s quirky pug jumper was probably really different from what he was used to wearing. Phil hoped it would be okay.

Dan looked towards the door and then Darcy, who was concentrating on her coloring. Seeing that nobody was around, and with absolutely no warning, he pulled the soaked white jumper over his head, leaving him bare chested in the middle of the coffee shop. Phil could see cursive words inked down his left ribcage. Oh god.

Suddenly, Phil was worried about blood rushing to a different part of his body entirely.

“Yes, Daddy.”

The words were out of Phil’s mouth before he could stop them. Luckily, they’d come out in a joking tone, at least, but he still couldn’t quite believe he’d said them. Before Dan could so much as react, Darcy interrupted.

“Why did he call you daddy, Uncle Dan? You don’t have any babies.”

Dan trained his eyes on Phil, quirking an eyebrow.

“That’s a good question, Darcy. Apparently Phil doesn’t realize that I’m definitely not a Daddy. I’m much too little.” Dan said slyly, his tone not-so-subtly hinting at a double meaning.

Phil choked on air and did his best to remain composed. He didn’t feel like he was doing a great job. How could he? Dan was standing just across the bar, shirtless, and dropping hints that he was into, well, that.

“That’s... something to remember.” Phil’s voice came out husky.

Dan winked at him. Was Dan flirting with him? “I bet Phil wants to be a Daddy though.”

Phil swallowed thickly. He glanced over — Darcy appeared to have lost interest and gone back to coloring. His eyes flickered back to Dan, feeling daring. “Not exactly the name I’d choose, if given the option.”

Dan’s eyebrows shot up, looking both stunned and interested. “And what name would you choose, if given the option, Phil?”

Phil leaned his elbows on the counter and placed his head in his hands, much like Dan had earlier. From this position, he was eye level with Dan’s chest. It wasn’t a bad view. “You’re a smart boy, I’m sure you can figure it out.”

Dan looked down at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes. His tongue darted out to wet his parted lips.

“Sir?” Dan’s voice sounded strangled.

For the first time since Dan had pulled his wet jumper off, Phil finally sensed he had the upper hand. Curious to see Dan’s reaction, Phil lowered his voice. “Good boy.”

From where he was leaning, Phil could see a deep red flush spread across Dan’s bare chest, up his neck, and into his cheeks. His head fell back in a quiet groan. “Jesus, Phil. Warn a guy, will ya?”

The groan that tumbled from Dan’s lips sent Phil’s mind to dark places. He had visions of Dan making that noise from underneath him as Phil kissed down his neck. If Dan was so reactive to being called “good boy” in a coffee shop, Phil couldn’t even begin to imagine what it did to him in the bedroom.

Phil shook his head, trying to drag his mind back into this moment and away from… that image. Forcefully, Phil let out a gruff laugh.

Dan gave him an unamused look, still looking suspiciously pink, and defiantly pulled the jumper over his head. The sweater hung a little looser on him than it did Phil. Dan’s hands were just barely peeking out of the sleeves and his sharp collar bones were jutting out above the neckline.

Those collar bones. They should be illegal. Phil had to bite back the urge to trace his finger down them.

“It looks good on you. It’s good to see you in —” Phil cut himself off before he could say my clothes. “Colors,” he amended.

Dan fiddled with the hem of the jumper. “Thanks. It’s a bit different from the monochrome, huh?”

“It is. The monochrome is good, too. This is just... brighter.” Sexier.

Dan chuckled, pulling himself together, and opened his laptop as he sat on the stool nearest Phil. Phil knew Dan had to work, but he wasn’t willing to let Dan stop talking to him just yet, especially not when it was possible they just been flirting.

“So, what’s it say?” Phil asked, nodding his head at Dan.

Dan looked back up from his laptop quickly. Clearly, he wasn’t too opposed to a distraction. “What’s what say?”

“Your tattoo.” Phil leaned across the bar and poked Dan’s side for emphasis.

“Oh!” Dan smiled. “It’s ‘don't waste your time, or time will waste you’. It’s a line from—”

“Knights of Cydonia,” Phil finished for him excitedly.

“Yeah.” Dan tilted his head. “You know Muse?”

“I love Muse,” Phil corrected. It felt like the more he learned about Dan, the more they had in common.

“I like Muse and you like Muse, let’s be friends.”

Phil laughed at Dan’s antics. “So what inspired the tattoo?”

“One, Muse is amazing.” Phil nodded his head in agreement, smiling widely. “Two, they are kind of who got me really into music. Three, it’s a good motivator.”

“I like it, it’s cool. It looks good on you.” Phil’s voice unintentionally dipped low again.

Dan blushed again — god he blushes so easily. “Thanks.”

Phil was about to mention the idea for a tattoo he had, but was interrupted by the door chime. He looked apologetically at Dan. “Sorry, I’ll be right back.”

Dan smiled back. “No worries, I should probably actually do some work, seeing as that’s why I came here and all.”

Phil walked back to the register to serve the customer, who fortunately only wanted a simple coffee and a muffin. Dan beamed at him from behind his laptop when Phil walked passed him on the way to the bakery display. Without thinking, he grabbed an extra muffin, setting it down in front of Dan on his way back to the register.

Dan glanced up and mouthed “for me?” Phil sent him a quick nod and handed the customer her bagged muffin.

When the customer was gone, Phil sat down on the employee stool and pulled out his phone. His eyes flickered up to check on Dan, almost out of habit. He saw that Dan had torn the muffin in half and given the bigger half to Darcy. God, he’s just too perfect.

Suddenly, Phil was hyper aware of the fact that Dan had a girlfriend. He was in a relationship. He probably had fans that ignored that fact all the time, and here Phil was totally disrespecting the fact that he wasn’t single.

Embarrassed, Phil turned his attention back to his phone, deciding to let Dan work uninterrupted for a little while.

Dan must have a fairly short attention span, though, because it wasn’t forty five minutes before he was pestering Phil.

“Whatcha doing, Philly?” Phil lazily glanced up from his phone, a little surprised Dan was talking to him.

“Oh, you know, twitter, tumblr, the usual.”

Dan leaned forward over the lid of his laptop. “So you do have a twitter!”

“Yeah, I thought we established that.” Phil sat his phone down on the counter, confused by where the conversation was going. He hadn’t said he didn’t, he’d just… not wanted to give his username to Dan, that was all.

“Does this mean you’ll finally give me your handle?”

Phil wavered for a minute. What was worse, Dan looking him up on twitter, or Dan getting offended that Phil wouldn’t give him his username? Well, odds are he would find out eventually, so…

“Under one condition.”

“Deal.” Phil was taken aback at how quickly Dan responded.

“You haven’t heard the condition!”

Dan shrugged his shoulders. “Doesn’t matter. Deal. What is it?”

“You can’t look me up until you’ve left the coffee shop.”

“Ugh, fine,” Dan groaned, not looking pleased.

“I’ll know if you break your promise,” Phil threatened, wanting to make sure that Dan would keep his end of the bargain.

Dan looked unamused. “Yeah, yeah. Just tell me,” he whined.

“AmazingPhil.”

Dan instantly turned back to his laptop and tapped at his keyboard.

“Hey! Hey! I told you to look me up later!” Phil complained, darting down the bar, and lightly pushing on the lid of Dan’s laptop.

Dan laughed, pushing it back to its fully open condition. “I’m just writing it down, you spoon.”

“Oh.” Phil felt a little chagrined. “Right, sorry.”

“Although on second thought...” Dan closed his laptop lid, eyes gleaming excitedly. “I’ve sent all the emails I need, so I guess I’m done here. Darcy, are you about done with your picture?”

Phil grimaced. He should have known Dan was incapable of delaying gratification. Well, at least Phil wouldn’t be in the room when Dan found out.

Darcy held up her coloring book. She’d moved on from Eeyore to a picture of Tigger and Pooh.

“Perfect.” Dan helped her pack up her things and wrapped her back in his raincoat, making sure the laptop was tucked in well, too. It had mostly stopped raining, but Phil didn’t blame Dan for being careful.

“Well, Philip,” Dan said, turning back to Phil. “It’s been lovely, as always. I’ll be following — I mean, seeing you soon.” Dan laughed at his own joke, gave Phil a quick two fingered goodbye salute, and gathered Darcy up in his arms.

“Tell Phil bye and that you’ll see him soon, Darcy.”

“Bye, Phwil!” Darcy waved her tiny, adorable hand in Phil’s direction. As disappointed as he always was when Dan had to leave, Phil wasn’t completely sorry that Dan was leaving now. Phil wasn’t sure if he could continue looking him in the eye after giving him his twitter handle.

Phil grabbed Dan and Darcy’s mugs to put in the dirty bin and spotted Dan’s shirt on the counter.

“Wait!” Phil almost yelled. “Your jumper.”

“Right!” Dan circled back to the counter, and Darcy grabbed his wet jumper. “Oh, that reminds me, did I leave my coat here last night?”

Phil looked around in confusion. Dan had left his jacket here? Then he remembered the black peacoat in the backroom that had been here when he’d arrived to work. “That’s your jacket in the back? I thought it looked familiar.”

“Black and depressing, who else could it belong to?” Dan said humorously.

Phil rolled his eyes at Dan on his way to the back room. When he brought it back out, Dan was still holding Darcy.

“Er,” Dan mumbled. He tried to extend one hand far enough from Darcy to take the coat, but it wasn’t enough to be able to hold it.

“Um, here.” Phil muttered back. He walked up behind Dan and draped the coat around his shoulders. His fingers lingered a beat longer than they strictly needed to, and he could have sworn he heard Dan’s breath hitch.

“You can bring my jumper back to me next time I see you, yeah?”

Dan turned around to face Phil. Suddenly, they were very close, even with Darcy between them.

“Uh, yeah. I’ll do that. See ya, Phil.”

“Buh bye Phiwl!” Darcy yelled again.

When the door shut behind them, Phil sank onto one of the stools to collect himself, letting out a deep breath. Had this afternoon really happened? Phil wasn’t sure. Dan had a girlfriend, after all, so there was no way he’d been flirting — and besides, Phil didn’t even know if Dan was into guys. But it had felt like they were flirting. It had felt like there was something there.

Barely ten minutes later, Phil’s phone lit up with two notifications in quick succession.

“@danielhowell is now following you.”

“@danielhowell: @AmazingPhil hey there you snek”

let me know what you thought :) i was v excited about this chapter 

in case you’re curious, this is the original summary i gave @auroraphilealis for the last scene: Phil goes and gets it for him and Dan strips off his wet jumper and undershirt right there in the middle of the coffeeshop and phil is like yes daddy.

[lalka-laski]

What’s the last vegetable you ate, and when did you eat it? Ermm... some peppers in my cheesy chili burrito yesterday. The healthiest way to go about eating veggies, I know

What was your last Facebook notification for? A like on a photo

What bands have you seen live? Too many to list. I live for shows!

Tell me an interesting fact about your mother: She was born in Belfast & moved to the States when she was 3(?), but spent most of her summers back "home" as a child and teen. This was at the heart of The Troubles in N. Ireland so she has some colorful stories for sure.

What do you think is the most important thing to happen to you before the age of 13? I couldn't narrow it down to a single event. Unless we count the trauma I experienced that gifted me my PTSD, anxiety, & various other mental illnesses. But I don't want to deem that as "important."

What were you super against as a young child but aren’t anymore? Hm... I definitely had a lot of internalized misogyny growing up, so really any side effect of that. Now I love women, support women, and root for women, instead of shaming them or letting my jealousy overtake me!

What are your plans later today? Blue Barn Cidery! It's a beautiful day to get day drunk :)

Are you doing anything exciting this weekend? See above! Then tomorrow I'm getting brunch with the in-laws & then possibly day drinking round two? Do I have a problem??

Who do you talk to the most? Glenn, with Kathleen as a close second.

What are some things you do regularly that make you feel old? Welp, I just went to the mall yesterday and was absolutely baffled by all the shit I saw on the racks. That made me feel ancient!

Who is your best guy friend(s)? Sean. And Glenn too, but ya know he's technically more than a friend :P

Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? I don't mind my complexion but seeing as everyone feels the need to poke fun at it or make snarky comments about it, I guess I'd like to be a touch darker.

If you had a tiny scar on your face, would you get it removed or just keep it? I'd like to say I'd keep it. Scars add character.

Have you had an x-ray in the past year? Nope

Do you think your first love still loves you? He still has feelings for me. Most of which are regrets and "what ifs" so I wouldn't say it's LOVE necessarily but, yeah.

What is something that is “going right” in your life? My beautiful, fulfilling relationship with Glenn. And my equally beautiful & fulfilling relationships with my other loved ones.

When did you feel ready to start dating? Honestly I never felt "ready." Relationships were always scary territory for me.

When was the last time your pet bit you? If you don’t have a pet, have you ever been bitten by someone else’s? I don't have a pet.

Where were you the last time you made out? Our bed

When was the last time you cried tears of joy? I came close to it yesterday! It's a frequent occurrence for me (and for that I'm grateful)

How do you type your sad smileys? :(

Do you have “decorative hand-towels” that cannot be used in your house? Nah

What was the last soda you drank? Root beer yesterday

What was the last thing someone made fun of you for? I got a scuffmark on my brand new sneakers yesterday and Glenn said "Are we surprised? You ruin all your shoes" (To be clear I wasn't offended. He's right! I'm reckless with my shoes because I prefer just being barefoot).

Have you ever had any type of surgery? Yeah, a few minor ones.

Should kids be allowed to get tattoos/piercings without parental consent? Umm, not sure

Who was the last person to hit on you? Can we count Glenn?

What was the last thing you decided not to do, that you were supposed to? Answer the phone

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to tell someone? Oh boy. Any kind of rejection is hard for me so anything in that realm.

What do you put on hot dogs? Mustard, and maybe some relish or sauerkraut

Ever fallen in the shower? I don't think so? Which is surprising.

Do you think that things will get better? They're fantastic right now but yes, I do see them getting even better than this!

Have you ever legitimately saved a person’s life? I mean, not to my knowledge. But who knows.

What’s your favourite book genre? Realistic fiction/domestic fiction/family sagas

Have you ever walked out of a movie at the theatre? Yep

Do dogs like you? Weirdly, yes. But the feeling isn't mutual. Sorry, pups!

Would you say that you project an air of authority? Not even a little bit

Have you ever jumped off a high dive into a pool? Nah

Do you use one towel when you shower or two? (one for hair, one for body) One

Have you ever been to one of the great lakes? I live right on one of 'em

Who do you know that had a baby recently? My friend Tori just had a beautiful baby girl!

Do you like Usher’s songs? Yeah, he was pretty iconic in my middle school years. His music takes me back to cucumber melon body spray & glittery eye shadow.

When was the last time you went to a waterpark? It's been too long!

Have you ever ridden a train? Yep, and I love it.

What do you eat your French fries with? Ketchup or mayo

Do you have family problems? Who the hell doesn't?

What’s the last food you ate that was stale? Hmm... chips?

How do you like your grilled cheese? I recently discovered the delicious of adding a little Caesar dressing to a grilled cheese and OH MAN OH MAN.

What is the most challenging meal you have ever cooked? This is baking, not cooking, but I made some focaccia bread the other week & really struggled. What was your favorite thing to do as a little kid? Reading and writing, of course. I was also a big fan of drawing & any other type of craft.

Have you ever been close to drowning? I don't think so.

Have you ever had a panic attack? Mhm

Do you like doing housework? No thank ya

Would you ever get implants? Yeah

Do you own a robe? Several!

Do you have a little sister? What’s her name? Kathleen

Do you like crust on pizza or do you cut it off? Yeah, I leave no crumb of my pizza untouched.

What was the last song you listened to? Kangaroo by David Gray

Have any of your family members been to jail? Some members of my extended family

Is there anyone that you feel you still need some closure with? Nah not really.

Can you remember when you first learned how to read? I don't remember but it was younger than average.

What event in your life has transformed your personality the most? Didn't I already answer this?

Have you ever had any teeth pulled? Fucking seven. At once!!

Do you still want to be what you wanted to be in elementary school? Yeah! I always wanted to be an author (and illustratorr, but I scrapped that one).

What’re some TV shows that you would like to get into? I'm not much of a TV watcher so I can't really think of anything.

How would you feel if you were drafted for the military? I'd die?

What is your favorite Queen song? Under Pressure ft David Bowie. Of course <3

Do you know how to use any foreign currency? I go to Canada several times a year so yeah. Though that hardly counts, ha.

Been kissed by someone who you knew was “bad” for you? Yep. But never again.

Ever taken an at-home pregnancy test? Yep

When was the last time you were at a loss of what to do? Daily?

What did you do on your favorite date with a guy/girl? My favorite date days with Glenn are when we stroll Park Ave hitting up all our favorite little shops and bars. We always make a stop at this delicious chocolate shop and stock up on sponge candy, and then we end the night at our favorite Japanese restaurant for ramen & sake!

What’s a movie you have seen in the theater more than once? None I don't think?

What is the reason you’re still alive? My family & friends

Have you ever had sex in someone else’s bed/bedroom? Yeah

Do you ever brush your hair before you go to bed? Sometimes

Have you ever had a dream about sleeping with a celebrity? (You don’t have to give details.) DANIEL FUCKING RADCLIFFE LIKE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

Has anyone ever told you that they needed you? Do you think they meant it? Absolutely

How did you feel when you woke up today? What was the first thing you thought about? Felt pretty damn great actually! I was excited for the day ahead. I didn't even mind the fact that I have to work this morning :)

Do you still tell your parents that you love them? We're not that type of family. We express our love in different ways though, and I'm perfectly content with it.

Have you ever said “I love you” to someone you weren’t going out with? Yeah

Think of the last person you had sex with. Do you think they’ve slept with anyone else since they last slept with you? BOY HE BETTER NOT HAVE lmao

The last time you dyed your hair, what color did you dye it? Same as it ever was

Think of the last time you went out to eat. Who paid? Glenn & I went to the food court at the mall and got separate things that we paid for on our own

Do you save at least 15 percent of your income? HAAAAAAAAA no

Do you ever go on Reddit? If so, what are some of your favorite subreddits? It's my go-to bedtime reading! I love askreddit, antimlm, amitheasshole, glitch_in_the_matrix... tons more.

Were you ever a flower girl or ring bearer in anyone’s wedding when you were little? I was the flower girl for my aunt's wedding! I made it all the way down the aisle, then turned around & noticed everyone staring at me and burst into tears. Classic Elizabeth.

Are your parents in good health? Thank God, yes!

Have you ever been a caregiver to a sick/disabled relative? No

Is there any type of medicine you can’t take? For what reason? Not that I'm aware of

Do you have a favorite pair of pajamas? What do they look like? I have several cute pairs! But my go-tos are just nightgowns or big tee shirts most of the time.

Do you have any interesting pillow cases? Uh I wouldn't call any of them interesting.

If something on your body hurts, which part is it most likely to be? None!

Are you more afraid of spiders or bees? Neither really

Have you ever worn fake nails? If so, what did the last pair you wore look like? WOW I am literally wearing press-on nails as we speak. Yes, I'm trash. And yes, I love it.

Is Russian or Native American history more interesting to you? Both?

[desktopgargoyle]

the road trip series - chapter 4

AN: I’m sorry this has taken me so long to upload! Trust me to pick the Worst Possible Time to start writing a multi-chapter fic...whoops. I’m really sorry I can’t promise a regular update schedule, but I’m trying my best to write content that I’m happy with and that I hope you will be happy with; I’d rather focus on the quality of the chapters rather than how quickly they’re published, you know what I mean? Anyway, that’s enough rambling from me. Here’s Chapter 4, hope you guys enjoy it! - Danielle

ff.net version | the road trip series

Chapter 4

At Alya’s suggestion, they decide to make a few scenic stops along the way to Marseille. She figures that this way they’ll get to see a little more of the non-Paris edition of France as well as have time to relax and break from the intense driving. Or at least Alya needs a break, especially after the last tortuous forty-five minutes.

The traffic had, thankfully, dissipated and they were finally on the move again driving at just over 100km/h. It was great; they were more energised, they were blasting The Lion King soundtrack, Nino and Adrien were scream-shouting a load of nonsense that only vaguely resembled the actual lyrics, and Marinette had control of the camera, collecting footage for Alya’s blog.

“Smile, Nino!” Marinette giggles, zooming in ridiculously close to Nino’s face. He grins, crossing his eyes and holding up a peace sign as he and Adrien continue to dramatically re-enact the entire Circle of Life scene from The Lion King as best they can in the somewhat cramped backseat of the car.

Marinette turns the camera to Adrien next and he sticks his tongue out at her. Marinette huffs. In true Adrien fashion, he still manages to look abso-fucking-lutely perfect. Curse that flawless face of his. Curse that gorgeous hair of his. Curse – actually no, scratch that. He’s too beautiful to be cursed. Marinette sighs audibly, oblivious to Alya’s slight snickering from the driver’s seat.

“You okay there, Mari?” Adrien’s question snaps her out of her little space out and she promptly turns red, for perhaps the umpteenth time today alone.

“Me? Yes of course! You’re great! I mean – you’re fine! NO. That is to say, I’m fine. Not to say that you’re not fine because of course you are, right? You’re a model! Um…but of course you already know that…why wouldn’t you know that….ha.”

Adrien glances at Nino, eyebrows raised questioningly. Nino simply shrugs in return.

“How about we pretend I never opened my stupid mouth, okay?” Marinette laughs nervously, swiftly turning around in her seat to face the front. “Kill me.” She mouths to Alya before she buries her flushed face in her hands.

In a valiant effort to change the subject, Nino decides that now is the perfect time for a playlist brainstorming session. “So Maribro. I was thinking that we add a new playlist to our repertoire.”

Marinette swivels around again in her chair (making a great effort to avoid making eye contact with Adrien as she does so) to face Nino. “As much as I’d love to, I’m pretty sure you have violated the Playlist Rules, specifically rule number one, on more than one occasion.”

Nino gulps audibly.

“As a result of this disregard for the sacred rules,” Marinette continues. “I, as sole rule-abiding Playlist Executive, do henceforth revoke your Playlist Executive licence until further notice.” She grins smuggle and winks at him before spinning back around again in her chair.

“But that makes it a playlist dictatorship! I will not stand for this kind of oppression! Liberté, égalité, fraternité! Vive la France!” Nino presses his fist to his heart in what is supposed to be a patriotic manner. In fact, he gets a little too enthusiastic and winds up punching himself in the process.

Marinette retorts back that if Nino was so in favour of democracy then he would abide by the agreed rules. The argument (that is, if it can be called an argument) goes on for another couple minutes before Alya decides that it’s time to intervene. Honestly, if she had known that she would end up playing peacemaker between two apparent five-year-olds, she would not have signed up for this job.

In her sharp ‘I-am-in-charge-and-you-will-not-question-my-authority’ tone (which the past ten years of babysitting her sisters has allowed her to perfect), Alya declares that Nino is on Playlist Time-Out indefinitely, Marinette is Chief Playlist Commander, and Adrien is Assistant Playlist Consultant. She herself refuses to be part of this playlist nonsense because, frankly, there is nothing wrong with just hitting shuffle and seeing where they end up. The highly specific playlist names fiasco is just ridiculous, in Alya’s humble opinion.

Nino protests, claiming that the rules specifically ban Adrien from any playlist-related activities, to which Marinette points out that Nino cannot hold such a gross double standard concerning rule breaking, and Alya feels her eyes roll so hard that she’s pretty sure she will soon be able to see the inside of her skull.

“Everyone shut the hell up or so help me god I will turn this car right around and we will all go straight home!” Alya yells. She figures that this trick still works on her younger sisters, even though they’re now teenagers, so it’s worth a try.

The car falls silent and, surprisingly, it remains like that for the better part of fifteen minutes.

Alya breathes deeply and smiles serenely. “See? Was that so difficult? All you have to do is keep calm, breathe, and- FUCKING HELL, YOU MORON! WATCH WHERE THE HELL YOU’RE DRIVING, ASSHOLE! USE YOUR FREAKING TURN SIGNAL! I SWEAR TO GOD I CAN’T CATCH TWO MINUTES OF PEACE! OH, YOU WANNA FLIP YOUR MIDDLE FINGER AT ME?! TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME, BUDDY!”

Marinette and Nino exchange knowing looks and Marinette slams the play button on the ‘we-need-to-distract-alya-otherwise-she-will-get-into-a-fight’ playlist. All the while Adrien looks a little terrified in his corner of the car. He really shouldn’t be surprised at Alya’s outbursts, but he’s always slightly shocked that so small a person can house all of that tension. Sometimes he can practically see the steam coming out of her ears as if she was a cartoon character.

Alya scowls at the idiot who is now driving in front of her and grips the steering wheel until her knuckles turn white. If there’s one thing she cannot stand, it’s reckless drivers. People make mistakes every now and again when they drive, that’s just natural – Alya gets that. But this idiot was just blatantly ignoring all driving etiquette. Nothing pisses her off more than that.

“Hey, we’re coming up to Saint-Étienne, how about we take a break?” She suggests. Everyone is only too happy to comply.

Saint-Étienne is quite pretty, Marinette decides. They grab some pastries at a local café and make their way to the public gardens in the centre of the town, looking out at the architectural bandstand structure, taking in the calm atmosphere, and revelling in its stark contrasts to the hustle and bustle of Paris. Nino and Alya decide to take a walk around the gardens, leaving Adrien and Marinette alone on the bench.

“Can you imagine how awesome it would be to see an actual band playing on the stand?” Adrien grins. Marinette nods in agreement; it really would be a sight. “I can see it so clearly in my head,” Adrien continues. “Either a jazz-swing-blues band or an orchestra, I haven’t quite decided yet, and fairy lights – actually no, lanterns – strung up everywhere, people dancing around. It would be great.”

Marinette rests her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. “Sounds like quite the visual you’ve thought up there,” she smiles. “It sounds really nice.” She does her very best to not imagine that very image in the context of their wedding. Reel it in, Mari. Don’t do this again.

Adrien stretches his arms out. There’s a little voice in his head telling him to pull the cliché fake-yawn move so that he can rest his arm around Marinette’s shoulder but he tells this voice to shut up and folds his arms behind his head instead.

“I feel like Alya needs a break from driving.” Marinette says, between bites of her pain-au-chocolat. “I think she’s hit her limit.”

Adrien nods, sipping his coffee. He winces as he feels his taste buds disappear and is hit with a sudden wave of nostalgia. “Hey, Mari, remember that school trip we took to London?” That trip will always remain one of his favourite memories. It was the first time his father had actually willingly trusted him with some independence, encouraged it, actually.

“Yeah, that was a great trip.” Play it cool, Mari. Cool, collected, no squealing.

“I just got hit with some major déjà vu,” he laughs. Marinette loves his laugh; his eyes go all sparkly and they crinkle at the edges. She still doesn’t hear him laugh enough, but she’s glad that it’s becoming a more frequent occurrence. “Remember being stuck with me the whole train ride there and back?”

“Oh my gosh, how could I forget? You practically force-fed be overpriced snacks and wouldn’t let me pay you back!” Marinette pokes him in the shoulder accusingly in mock outrage.

“Well I wasn’t going to let you starve, was I? And besides, from what I remember you declared that you were ‘willing and ready to just marry this popcorn already’.” He pokes her right back.

“Don’t use my own words against me!” Marinette huffs, folding her arms across her chest and sinking slightly into the bench. Adrien simply smirks at her and holy frick he should not be allowed to be that hot. Granted, he is a model and she is fully aware of that but, nevertheless, he should not look that fricking hot. In a strange moment of self-control, she does not blush and instead opts for sticking her tongue out at him like the mature adult she is.

Adrien is somewhat taken aback by Marinette’s sudden ability to stay cool and flirt back (yes, he will allow himself to believe that she is flirting) with him. He watches as she quirks her eyebrow before sticking her tongue out at him (her nose scrunches up in this really cute way) and he is struck with the realisation that Marinette manages to look both freaking adorable and actually kind of hot at the same time. He gulps slightly, turning slightly red when Marinette looks at him questioningly, and silently berates himself. The tables have really turned this time.

In an attempt to distract herself from the fact that she not only flirted shamelessly with Adrien Agreste but succeeded in making him bush, Marinette looks up at the sky. Adrien watches her as she squints at a cloud and chews her lip slightly and he finds himself having to also look up at the sky before his imagination runs away with him.

“Is it just me or does that cloud look like a duck wearing high-heels?” Marinette wonders aloud.

For a second Adrien simply stares at Marinette incredulously. The thought is so abstract and outright weird that he then bursts out laughing. “What?” he manages to spit out in between wheezes of laughter. “A duck wearing – how?”

“I’m being totally serious, Agreste.” Marinette deadpans. “Look, if you tilt your head that way and then quint your eyes very, very slightly.” Adrien does as she says and actually, it does kind of look like a duck wearing high-heels. He’ll give her that one, even if it is bizarre.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a ball flies towards them. A small girl, maybe about six or seven, stands a little way away, calling out an apology and running towards them although unable to outrun the ball.

“Adrien, watch your head!” Marinette exclaims, skilfully volleying the ball in the direction of the girl from where she’s awkwardly sitting, half-twisted to face the girl, on the bench. The girl runs closer to catch the ball and thank Marinette.

“Thanks! That was really cool!” The girl gushes to Marinette, tucking the ball under her arm and brushing her messy bangs from her eyes. She grins widely and Marinette chuckles at the fact that she’s missing a tooth. “Hey, aren’t you the guy who’s on the front of all those magazines? My sister Alma has all those magazines and posters and I’m pretty sure she’s in love with you. I’m Jaqueline, by the way. I guess I’ll tell Alma that she’s out of luck because your girlfriend is way prettier than she is and she just saved your life, and your face too, I guess. My sister’s over there by the way, I should probably get back. Do you think you could teach me how to do that? Alma is too busy writing her essay. I don’t get why she would come outside just to write an essay, she said it was something about ‘changing her environment’ or something.”

Marinette flushes red for a second but quickly recovers. She’s always amazed by how much kids can just talk and talk and talk. She’s also a little startled by how fearless this kid is; didn’t anyone teach her about stranger danger?

“Okay, Jaqueline,” Marinette begins. “How about you run back to your sister and bring her over here?” Marinette suggests. She leans in to whisper conspiratorially to the child. “That way, Alma can meet my friend Adrien over here, who’s not my boyfriend, and I can teach you to volley. Sound like a plan?” She grins as Jaqueline nods in affirmation and skips back to where her sister sits.

A short while later, after a particularly shrill shriek from where Jaqueline and Alma are, Adrien is looking slightly uncomfortable but more or less calm as Alma squeals and talks and then squeals some more. He’s used to the fangirl culture, but it’s been a while since he’s had to listen to a star-struck seventeen-year-old tell him facts about…well…himself. For the most part, Alma is nice though. He glances over to where Marinette is teaching Jaqueline to volley. He didn’t know she was so good with kids, he’s really in awe of her, to be completely honest.

Marinette catches Adrien’s glance and smiles, shrugging her shoulders slightly. She turns her attention back to Jaqueline, who stands a few feet away. “You want to make sure that your hands are firmly interlocked when you volley. If your stance is strong, your volley will be strong. If you don’t have that control, you won’t be able to get the ball as high as you want. Got it?”

“Got it.” Jaqueline sticks her tongue out in concentration, readying herself as Marinette gently volleys the ball towards her. The first couple attempts are disastrous and Adrien finds himself ducking a great deal, except for one unfortunate occasion on which the ball hits him square in the face. Marinette laughs. A lot.

After about twenty minutes, Alma, somewhat mournfully, decides that it’s time for them to go. Marinette and Adrien bid the two girls goodbye, agreeing to take a picture with them before they leave, before settling on the grass to continue cloud watching.

Across the gardens, Alya and Nino sit on the edge of the fountain, hands intertwined and Alya’s head resting on Nino’s shoulder. Nino smiles fondly down at her and his heartbeat speeds up ever so slightly. Even after five years of dating he’s still as lovestruck as he was as a teenager, maybe even more so.

He wants to do something special for Alya this year, especially seeing as last year their anniversary celebration consisted of ordering an extra-large pizza and watching reruns of I Love Lucy. He has nothing against I Love Lucy, per se; after all, it was helping Alya with her English fluency for her internship, but it wasn’t necessarily how he imagined their anniversary would be spent. He’s thinking something a little fancier this year, something a little more meaningful.

Sometimes he’s not sure how he got so lucky but he figures it’s best not to question it. If this is what the Universe wants for him he’ll happily take it.

“You’re quiet, everything okay?” Alya nudges him and lifts her head off his shoulder to look at him.

“Yeah, I’m great, babe,” Nino presses a kiss to her temple. “Just contemplating whether or not I can successfully push you into this fountain without getting dragged in myself.”

Alya snorts and swats him away. She knows Nino too well at this point; when he gets quiet like that it means he’s thinking about something serious. Lord knows he can’t keep his mouth shut for more than two minutes under normal circumstances. Her eyes rest on some squirrels chasing each other around, scrambling up and down tree trunks and darting in between the fence and she wishes that, for even just a couple moments, her life could be that carefree.

“I feel like that would be us if we were animals,” Nino muses. Alya hums, she’s not sure if squirrels are really how she’d describe them but she’ll go with it. “Squirrels? What squirr- oh. No, I was looking at those two pigeons over there. They’re fighting over bread.” Nino says seriously, pointing at the birds a little behind the squirrels. Alya gives him the most disbelieving look she can.

“You’re impossible.”

“Excuse you, I thought it was incredibly romantic!”

“Remind me why I haven’t broken up with you yet?” Alya stands and begins walking back around the fountain in the direction of the bench they left Marinette and Adrien sitting at, removing her glasses to wipe them clear from where the fountain spray spattered them and muttering about how if the anniversary goes anything like this the relationship it over.

“Al, you love me.” Nino jogs to catch up with her, grabbing her hand and swinging their arms back and forth.

Alya snatches her hand back and shoots him a pointed look. “You called me a pigeon.”

“Yes, but I also called myself a pigeon. Haven’t you seen The Notebook? If you’re a bird, I’m a bird?”

Alya’s jaw drops. “You just – what – Nino…” For the first time in a long time, Alya is left speechless. (She will admit that she is a little impressed that he just quoted The Noteboook at her, but she is not impressed enough to get off her high horse).

She storms her way all the way back to the bench, huffing very audibly. Marinette and Adrien look up from where they are now lying on the grass, completely absorbed in their cloud watching. Alya’s eyes instantly focus on where their hands are resting on the ground, mere millimetres apart from brushing, before zoning back in to their upper body language. Adrien’s left arm is bent at the elbow and his head rests on his hand. His body is ever so slightly turned towards Marinette and hers to him, her right hand resting lightly on her stomach. They have absolutely no idea how cute they look; to a stranger they could be just any other couple sharing a romantic afternoon looking up at the sky. Alya makes a solemn vow that she will get them together, even if she dies trying. (Okay, that might be a little dramatic but, then again, when is it ever not dramatic with these two?)

“So, uh, how was the walk?” Adrien asks, shifting slightly so that he is facing Alya a little more.

“It was…interesting,” she responds as she sits on the grass beside them. “Nino compared me to a pigeon.”

Marinette blinks at Alya a couple times, not really sure how to respond to this. Adrien turns his head to look at Marinette seemingly trying to find out how he should react to this information. Upon seeing Marinette’s confused look, Adrien is satisfied that he is also allowed to look appropriately confused.

“I also quoted The Notebook, Al. Don’t forget that bit.” Nino sinks down to the ground and wraps an arm around Alya’s shoulder, placing an over-exaggerated kiss on her cheek with a loud smack.

“Really, Nino? Nicholas Sparks? No wonder she stormed over here with a literal black cloud over her head.” Marinette scoffs as she props herself up on one elbow. From beside her Adrien gulps slightly and hopes to God that she didn’t hear him.

“Yeah, whatever, Mari. At least I tried, don’t I get points for effort?”

“Not this time, bro.” Marinette rolls onto her back with a smirk.

“Dammit.”

“We left you some snacks,” Adrien decides that changing the subject might be a good idea. “I had to physically restrain Mari from eating them all.”

Marinette rolls her eyes. Yes, in theory he had physically restrained her, but she wasn’t going to eat them all per se. Even then, his version of ‘physically restrain’ was in fact ‘snatch pastry out of Marinette’s hands and keep box far away from her’.

Alya and Nino stretch out on the grass beside Marinette and Adrien, munching on the leftover pastries. Nino muses aloud that this is almost like a double-date, which results in much coughing and blushing from Marinette and Adrien, and Alya responds in kind, lamenting the fact that this is not a double-date.

Double-date or not, the four of them spend the next hour pointing out particularly strangely shaped clouds, laughing their way into the early evening. They’ve had a little drama along the way, but Alya reckons that this road trip is definitely starting to look up. She curls into Nino’s side as the air begins to cool. He may have called her a pigeon and quoted the cheesiest film on earth to her, but she loves him.

Also he’s warm.

[sonofhistory]

Ok, I want to know everything you thought when watching the musical. The songs, the characters, the acting. And omg, you look cute in the pictures with Jordan and Rory 💕

Thank you! The only thing that really messed up my night a tiny tiny bit was that I am near sighted so while I could still see tiny details and so forth, all the cast members faces were blurry, especially when it was dark, it was like a partial double and ahhh I had to squint on the see and sit on the edge of my seat–I was crying so it made it worse haha. 

So about the cast: Ryan Alvarado (Hamilton) had spirit and he is a GREAT actor, but his voice doesn’t… sound like a Hamilton? If you know what I mean. 

At first, I didn’t really like Julia K. Harriman’s performance too much but then we got to “That Would be Enough” and she had… the voice of a god damn angel and I completely fell in love. 

DO NOT GET ME STARTED ON RYAN VASQUEZ. Oh my god, you know when you are speechless about something but you have so much to say? That is me. Ryan is NOTHING like Leslie Odom Jr.’s performance and oh my god, Ryan swept the whole show OFF OF OUR FEET. He was the light of my entire evening! He was incredible, absolutely my favorite. Leslie’s voice is soft like a angel and like he acts Burr kinda softly but Ryan?? He’s got this studious kinda serious lift to his voice but when he sings it was INCREDIBLE. Definently the best part of the entire show, he got a lot of laughs too because of how serious his voice was and tired it sounded when talking to Hamilton. Incredible performance. He just seemed like the real life Burr to me. 

Okay, everyone’s been saying they love Emmy Ravier Lampman? and I did, but like… not as much as I thought I would. She was a great Angelica and she had such a mannerism of Angelica. 

Isaiah Johnson was incredible as George Washington and that is ALL you need to know. 

Jordan Donica… you will not believe it. Jordan got the most laughs on the entire show you will not believe it we all could not stop laughing it was incredible. Okay, him as Lafayette was absolutely AMAZING! He aced Guns and Ships and his jump was fantastic!! His French accent was impeccable and his facial expressions were AMAZING, his gestures… ahhhhh his everything! I met him at the stage door and I was so surprised with how modest he was about his performance because he was incredible and he deserves to know that. But now, onto Thomas Jefferson–you will not believe it. All he did was walk on stage–but the way he did it? Everyone started laughing IMMEDIATELY. He was so good, and he was so, so, so funny. He was amazing! He stole the show whenever he was on stage because he caught everyone’s eye. Incredible, amazing, a billion times better than I ever thought. 

Mathenee Treco was a FANTASTIC Hercules Mulligan and James Madison. Just his acting was amazing! and his voice totally envelops the entire room. 

Ruben J. Carbajal was so lovable?? Oh my god?? He was amazing?? The way he played John Laurens, all like war like and then displayed Philip Hamilton and just so childish you could almost believe it was a small child (hella tall one though) playing him. 

My brother adored Amber Iman and that’s all you gotta know. 

Rory O’Malley was incredible. He was amazing. He was fantastic. I was laughing my ass off every time he did even a slight movement and I know mainly everyone was laughing at his facial features and I am really sad I couldn’t see them but just he was so good and hilarious–it was my uncle’s favorite part (besides the orchestra). 

Daniel Ching as Charles Lee had us all rioting, he was so good. 

The opening number “Alexander Hamilton” was really, really great. Ryan Vasquez made it ten times better. The way the spotlight switched from person to person when they are going we fought for him, we died for him… had my mouth hanging open. Ryan did a really good job with acting Alexander Hamilton. 

Aaron Burr Sir was so good I cannot take this. Aaron Burr was carrying a book when Hamilton comes up to him and just the way Ryan Vasquez did this like… studios thing was incredible. When Hamilton says that Lafayette’s pants look hot, Hercules Mulligan put his leg up on the table AND SLAPPED IT I WAS SCREAMING. When Lafayette stumbled over “anarchy” the entire theater was in a riot. 

For both “The Story of Tonight” and the reprise Ruben’s voice was like an angel oh my god. In the reprise, Jordan started bouncing on his thighs and winking and all the adults in the room were loosing it because of how many weird sex moves he was doing. 

The Schuyler Sisters was a good song but like,,, Emmy, Julia and Amber didn’t match up for some reason? Like they were a little out of sync on some parts. But believe me when I say that when Burr walked on and started following around Angelica everyone thought it was the funniest thing ever–he delivered his lines as if he actually was Burr and I am so happy he was on. 

Farmers Refuted was hilarious. Like Hamilton keeps stepping in front of the box and to try and get the attention away, Seabury keeps stepping in front of him and acting all pissed off and annoyed. Then Hamilton steps on the box with him and starts waving his hand in front of the paper. When Hercules Mulligan said “oh my god tear this dude apart” I bursted out laughing it was that good–I wasn’t alone. 

Right Hand Man was so, so good. Isaiah did a great job and I loved it! And like always, Ryan Vasquez made us all laugh when he got kicked out. 

Julia did a great job at acting kinda childish for Eliza in Helpless which I highly enjoyed especially because Angelica is acting super mature. 

Woah, Satisfied swept me off my feet. That was absolutely beautiful and amazing, Emmy stumbled over a bit of her lines when the quick part started but other than that, incredible and breath taking. 

One of my favorites of the night was Wait for it. I had been waiting and waiting months to hear this song live and it still brings chills and tears to my eyes when I think of Ryan Vasquez’s awing performance. He went flat on the high note when all the ensemble jumps in and starts singing,, but other than that.. I would pay to see just that song again. 

The first song of the night where I just melted into my seat was History has its Eyes on you. Isiah had the voice of a god damn angel and it was so beautiful and incredible. 

I ALREADY TALKED ABOUT IT BEFORE BUT JORDAN DID MORE THAN JUST AN AMAZING JOB AT LAFAYETTE I WAS AWE STRUCK. 

Definitely one of my favorite songs of the evening if not my favorite to watch was The World Turned Upside Down. Absolutely incredible, I am awe struck. Fantastic, amazing, I have chills just talking about it. 

Alright, hands down my favorite song to listen to that evening was Dear Theodosia. It was so, so beautiful. I melted into my chair at Burr’s voice it was so beautiful, so so so beautiful. I really have no other words to describe how utterly beautiful it was.

The John Laurens song had me sobbing, that is all you need to know. 

NON STOP WAS INCREDIBLE I HAVE NO WORDS PLEASE, PLEASE SPARE ME I WOULD DO ANYTHING TO SEE IT AGAIN. Hamilton and George Washington got laughs?? It was funny, it was amazing and ahhfdahfdhfffdf

Already, all Jordan did in What’d I Miss is WALK ON THE STAGE and everyone lost their shit. He was amazing and so lovable and you already heard all the rest. He kept looking at his own reflection in the top of his cane and acting like an arrogant asshole–it was so good, I was crying in laughter. 

Cabinet Battle #1 was even better than I thought it was going to be. Jordan made it incredible and Ryan (Hamilton) did really good on this one too!!! Cabinet Battle #2 was AMAZING and when Jefferson says “did you forget Lafayette?”, Jordan said that in a FRENCH ACCENT. I was like woah… did he just.. I see you boyyy. 

My aunt’s favorite was Take a Break–it wasn’t hard to see why. Ruben did such a cute Philip and it was adorable. Emmy and Julia’s voices?? Amazing!! It fit in so well together!!

Amber’s voice was even deeper than Hamilton’s in Say No to This and my brother loved her voice as I said before. Just so deep and melodic. 

Alright, here we go… hands down… The Room Where it Happens was my absolute favorite to watch live. You think the music is powerful? You have NO IDEA when you see this song live. Ryan Vasquez did so well?? He went from level 0 to 100 in just five seconds and he is incredible!!

WASHINGTON ON YOUR SIDE WAS SO FUNNY SO MY GODD,,, Jordan pranced around the stage and it was so god damn funny!!!

One Last Time brought my tears… so many tears.. Isaiah had the voice of an angel and he hit all the high notes where they were supposed to be. Incredible. 

THE ADAMS ADMINISTRATION WAS AMAZING. So in the song, Alexander Hamilton is standing on the back balcony and he scribbles off a large stack of papers before just DROPPING them onto the stage when he is about to call Adams a mother fucker. 

Ryan Alvarado did amazing in We Know. 

Okay, I was waiting and waiting and waiting for Hurricane. Hurricane is my most favorite song in all the album and I was waiting forever to see this. It was even more incredible than I though it would be you have no idea. In the eye of the hurricane? Everything paused, everyone is holding furniture and it moves so slowly and beautifully. Tears in my eyes, incredible. 

THE REYNOLDS PAMPHLET WAS HILARIOUS. OH MY GOD, I mean you know historically it is sad, BUT JORDAN AND RORY WERE SO FUNNY. All these papers were flying all over the place?? You have no idea unless you see it but everyone was having a riot over Thomas Jefferson bouncing on the table. 

Burn was amazing. Burn was probably my aunt’s favorite. I didn’t expect much live but oh man was I wrong. I was sobbing for Eliza and Julia’s voice was so beautiful. 

Again Ruben, incredible performance in Blow us all Away. The guy who played George Eacker stumbled on his lines a little bit. 

It’s Quiet Uptown was so… sad. I was sobbing my eyes out and I just cannot believe this?? It was so pretty and so sad and I just?? I cannot believe it. It was amazing, it was so beautiful. 

The Election of 1800 was hilarious again, everyone had a riot over Jordan and Mathenee. Super, super good and of course Ryan again performed amazing as Burr. He was so believable. I loved it. One of my favorite songs to watch no doubt. 

Your Obedient Servant was incredible. I loved it?? Hamilton and Burr did such an amazing god holy shit. It was funny but also so sad to watch because we all know what happens next. 

I was sobbing through Best of Wives, Best of Women–that is all you need to know. 

The World was Wide Enough took my breath away. Burr and Hamilton delivered such a beautiful performance. The only thing was that Ryan Alvarado’s voice didn’t seem… serious enough? Like… you know… you’re about to get shot and you’re contemplating you legacy, it just kind of ruined the mood just a slight bit. My favorite line of the musical is in there so I still loved it anyways. Ryan Vasquez delivered such a good job… his Burr was so believable and everyone I talked to adored him and what he did. 

There was not a person who was not crying at Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story. It was such an amazing way to close, Julia’s voice was incredible and amazing–the voice of an angel. She stole the entire show with everything that she did. Her little gasp at the end? It was so god damn beautiful, I was actually with no words and I have chills–it was amazing. It was one of the best things I watched in the show. When Jordan said “and I tried” he sounded so sarcastic and he got laughs during such a serious song. 

There you go, best night of my life alright. 

[devotedtoagoddess-a-blog]

Munda meme //ALL OF THEM B)))))

Meme || Not accepting!

Cause this meme is a nerd and demanded them all at once, what the hell.Yet Another Munday Meme.Send me a symbol and I’ll answer ooc.

// You do realize I have to put this under a read more now? You nerd. I love you tho.

ѩ - Are there any characters that you love, but simply cannot role play?

Happy go lucky characters. While Nora and Jaune has got some development, I don’t think I could play characters like them even though I love them. A tragic backstory and/or simply a crazy mind seems to work for me.

Җ - What’s your greatest source of inspiration when it comes to role playing?

… Good question. I’d say other roleplayers cause the way people write their muses can be a source of inspiration for me. It can give me ideas I previously didn’t think of, but of course, I make sure not to copy entirely.

ℛ - Are you religious?

Both yes and no. I grew up as a Christian, but I do no longer believe in a God that’s in the Bible or any other book. If anything, I’d say I’m a satanist. That’s closest to my personal beliefs.

♬ - Do you listen to music when you write? If yes, what kind of music?

It honestly depends on my mood, but it is true that I like background noise when I write. At the moment, I’m listening to Markiplier as I write this.

ᚡ - Random fact about the mun?

I was born with a hole in my stomach, so technically speaking, I don’t have a belly button. I’m proud of it though and would never get rid of it, ever. I love my scars, okay?

✒ - Do you have a preference when it comes to gender regarding your muses?

I’d hate to say it, but I seems to lean more towards males although I am trying to change that and give females the same amount of love.

ಹ - Share a story from your childhood!

Hm… Okay, when my little brother and I were little (I don’t remember this, mama told me about it recently), we, uh, apparently saw a movie or something where they had swords. So our clever little minds thought it would be a good idea to grab a kitchen knife, the kind you slice bread with, and play with that. My little brother waved around with it and was like an INCH away from my throat.

Needless to say, mama had a heart-attack when she saw it, but luckily stopped us in time, Jesus. What a childhood.

෴ - Tell us about your day.

It’s, uh… well, I’ve been sleeping all day, but it’s been chill. I’m good. I’m kind of hungry though.

㉘ - How do you usually spend your birthdays?

With my family! I’ve been celebrating every birthday with them and I hope it won’t change. We get bread, cake, lots of soda and whatnot, all the usual birthday stuff. It’s fun.

⨌ - If you ever had the opportunity to clone yourself, would you?

Um… no??? That would be weird.

ᚖ - Do you wear makeup?

Only when I go out to parties. I rarely, rarely wear makeup during every days. I find it too much of a bother to put on and wipe it off (which I never do) at the evenings.

༺ - Do you have any siblings? What’s your relationship with them like?

I have one biological little brother and two step siblings. If you count my mama’s old boyfriend slash friend who has two sons, then I got like four brothers, Jesus. That’s what happens when you have close friends you consider family.

Ah! There’s also Westly and Mir, but I’ll get into that in a second!

Okay, so my relationship with my little brother, Christian, is probably the best it can be when you’re both adults and live by yourselves. I absolutely adore my little bro across the Earth and would do anything for him.

Seriously, if you hurt him, you’re dead. I’m not kidding.

And then there’s my step siblings, Katrine and Tobias. I’ve known those two since they were 4, that’s about ten years ago, so I was 12. Anyhow, I’m on pretty good terms with Katrine and Tobias… eh. It’s on and off. That kid does whatever he wants because he thinks he can get away with it and therefore, he gets scolded a lot. I may not be the one who gets scolded, but I hate listening to it.

Okay! Then there’s my mama’s ex boyfriend slash friend thingy. What this is about is that, my mom met this guy years and years ago and got together with him, then they decided that it didn’t work out, but they stayed friends nonetheless. He had two sons of his own and we would often play with those two when we were kids. David and Daniel are their names.

Now, I haven’t seen Daniel in years cause “he thinks he’s too good for us” or some bullshit like that, so I guess I only consider him a friend. Kinda. Now, David, he’s awesome. He’s a cool bro. He has muscular dystrophy, but he grew up in the country, so he’s used to doing stuff. Basically, he acts like he doesn’t have muscular dystrophy and just does whatever. He’s nice.

AND NOW. Jesus, this is getting long. There’s Westly and Mir. Westly, @kiznabadass, @twilitkey, whatever blog he happens to be on. He’s like my bro. My ultimate bro after Chris. We met online like three years ago or something, don’t count me on that, I’m horrible at remembering times. Anyhow, I love him to death and consider him the older brother I never had. I am the oldest sibling among my siblings, so.

He’s cool, he’s awesome. We talk on Skype like all the time and seriously, my day feels off if I don’t talk to him at least once.

Then there’s Mir. I’m not sure what blogs she has, but she’s also an online friend whom I consider my older sister. She’s like legit awesome and I’m just repeating myself here, but my brain apparently can’t words right now. Anyhow, she’s smart, witty and is so good at writing, she only has to read the wikia page of a muse to get their personality down to a T. I’m not kidding, we (Westly and I) have asked her to pick out muses she know literally nothing about and yet, she still gets it.

She’s cool, she’s awesome. Love her, love all my bros and sisters.

๛ - Share an embarrassing story about yourself!

Oh, god. Oh, gosh. Okay, uh… one time, at a production school, I used to hang around with this girl and this boy all the time, like, we all hit it off pretty well and they were like best friends to me. Anyhow, we’re all sitting at a table, eating or whatever, I don’t remember what we did, BUT.

You see, my male friend, Julian, dropped a coin on himself. He was wearing a sweater and whatnot, so it landed in between all the folds and he couldn’t find it. I spotted it, but I had to like, show him where it was and silly as I was, I put my hand near his crotch to point without realizing it. When they stated that and I realized it, I was so embarrassed, I had to hide in my face in my own sweater for five minutes straight. I didn’t mean to do that and I was just so embarrassed. o///A///o

❤ - Are you and/or your muse currently in love with someone?

Well… both my muses got the hots for Salem and I got the hots for my girl!! @crxdus.

ℳ - Do you think you have a good handwriting?

I do have a good handwriting! When I’m not trying to write too fast, lmao.

☢ - When was the last time you went to the cinema? What movie did you watch?

Oh, holy Jesus, I do not remember. It was like months ago with my little bro, I think. I don’t remember what we watched.

⨕ - Are you a jealous role player?

Nope! As long as everyone is having fun and no one is hurting each other, they’re free to do whatever they want!