#that and the “jacob is easy to fall in love with” that he also said in this podcast

[hyohaehyuk]

urvampiregirls: we talk about jacob anderson’s “fuck don’t you look good?” but do we remember sam reid’s “holy sh*t that very, very, very beautiful man”

Source: Interview With The Vampire 1x02 Podcast with Sam Reid

[advent-if]

DEMO TBA 🌑 CHARACTER INTROS (5/5)

A fine line separates civilians from saviours, saints from sinners; it was never a line you expected to cross, but one you did anyway. Now, the fate of Advent City’s clueless citizens or cunning criminals rests in your hands… best not to let it slip from your fingers, mm?

Thirteen years ago, your life changed. Thirteen years ago, you swore requital. Now, the opportunity has arisen for you to either defend the city from the dark or rid it from the rot spreading throughout its core. 

Now, it’s your turn.

Play as Advent City’s saviour, a daring vigilante here to protect those you love or ruin those you hate — the choice is up to you. Learn to inspire fear, earn respect, fall in love, or even become the greatest superhero this city has ever known.

ADVENT is rated 18+ for explicit language, violence, explicit sexual content, substance abuse, and more. It deals with heavy themes; discretion is advised.

Customise your character’s appearance, personality and intentions: are you a hero spurred by the desire to protect, or an anti-hero propelled by the promise of retribution? Does your alter-ego vastly differ from your day-to-day life, or is it an extension of your nature? Are you ruthless or compassionate, ingenious or Machiavellian, courageous or psychopathic?

Choose your origin story: were you a rich orphan à la Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark, a Regular Joe turned hero on being given powers by a mysterious force, or born with them for reasons you’re desperate to find?

Fight villains who threaten the safety of the city and its inhabitants, and maybe even a supervillain who happens to be your foil…

Romance 1 of 5 characters, each of whom come with their own hefty baggage, and have interesting(?) reactions to yours…

Manage your new life and all its nuances. Who said being a saviour was easy? Try to separate your old life from this new one by keeping your identity a secret, maintaining old relationships, forging new ones, keeping your loved ones safe, etc. etc… damn.

the Head of Police: Luis/Luz Aguilera (m/f): Stern, sexy, moody. Relentlessly hardworking and caring to the point of no return. They want to be the one to clean Advent City’s fucked up system, not for glory, but simply because it’s the right thing to do. Unfortunately for them, that also means putting up with your whole shebang… maybe try to keep the arguing to a minimum?

the Journalist: Vincent “Vinny” Jacobs (m): Cheeky, suave, opportunistic. Inordinately ambitious and impressively dedicated to their cause. He’d never miss an opportunity to investigate something deeper if it intrigued him enough. Unfortunately for you, he’s now focused solely on the up and coming vigilante stalking the streets. Uh oh.

the Childhood Friend: Arya Anand (m/f): Sweet, thoughtful, kind. Patient to a fault and excessively trusting. You guys knew each other really well, once upon a time. But now that they're back, years later, you’re not quite convinced by the “I’m okay”s and forced smiles they seem to be hiding under. Surely it has nothing to do with you, right?

the Other One: Nian (f): Unpredictable, flirty, mysterious. Fast to arrive and quick to disappear. She’s someone you meet often in your… line of work… and curiously, she’s always ready to help you. Behind her mask and catsuit is someone you suspect is dangerously similar to you. As long as you two have the same goal, it shouldn’t be a problem…

the Heir: Josephine/Joseph Bieri (f/m): Arrogant, cunning, brash. Annoyingly haughty and odiously elusive. They were an asshole when you first met five years ago, and seem to be an even bigger one now… worse, they’re in the way between you and taking down their Mafia kingpin dad. Although, getting close could give you an advantage - just try not to punch them.

reblogs are appreciated! thank you so much for your interest <3

[venusbyline]

Nate Jacobs NSFW Alphabet

⚠️: Smut, Nate Jacobs x Female Reader, slightly switch!Nate, mention of cnc.

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Nate isn't the aftercare biggest fan, he only cares about it if you're already in real relationship. He'll probably lie in bed with you, watching a random movie on TV while cuddleing you against his chest, or massaging your shoulders and feet before you fall asleep.

B = Body part (Their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

He's very proud of his muscles. He worked hard to have a body as attractive as that, so he definitely brags about it a lot. He also knows he's lucky to be so tall.

I think Nate's an ass guy. It doesn't matter if your ass size, he loves squeezing and biting your soft skin. But in non-sexual context, I think the part of you he loves most it's your eyes. If you give him that puppy dog eyed... Girl, this man will become even more madly in love. The innocent vibes it's everything to him (even if you're not and he knows it).

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically)

Remember what I said about Nate loving your ass? If you're taking it doggy style, you can bet he'll take his cock out first just to cum on your ass.

If you're giving him head, he'll wanna cum on your face. He loves the feeling when he sees your pretty cheeks covered by his cum.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Nate'll never admit it if you ask, but he LOVES being choked and slightly degraded. He'll wanna make you jealous on purpose, just to see you to get on top, riding his cock and grabbing his throat with your little hands, cursing him with anything your angry brain can think of.

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

It's kinda obvious, but Nate's VERY experienced. He has already fucked so many girls from that city. Sometimes it gets depressing for you, knowing how many your classmates have already been fucked by your boyfriend in the past.

HOWEVER, you're the first girl who has really able to explore his switched/submissive side. Before Nate dating you, he never let anyone sexually dominate him (even gently).

F = Favorite Position (Pretty self explanatory)

Doggystyle. This guy loves feeling you so small under him, his whole big body covering yours as he fucks your pussy, so rough and listening to you whining. If you start moaning too loud, he might grab your throat or cover your mouth with his hand (we know Nate's hand it's REALLY big, so don't be surprised if he ends up covering your face too much).

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous?)

Well... Nate's very serious. He has anger issues and lives with a dark mind, in addition to having his own character deviations. So let's say that he uses sex as a way to de-stress and let out all his frustrations. Often.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes)

No hair. Nate's obsessed with his personal hygiene, to the point where he thinks his own pubic hair it's disgusting. As time goes, maybe you'll be able to convince him this is nonsense, but he'll still get sullen and probably shave it all off the moment the brown hairs starting show up.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect)

We know Nate's more aggressive. He's not very romantic during sex and you already knew what you were getting into before you started dating him. But if you have a rough day, maybe he'll take it easy and try to be more soft. However, don't expect the romantic aspect being a routine.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

Curiously, Nate doesn't jack off that much. Before he met you, he always got some random girls to distract him. Now he has you, he doesn't have to worry about that. But he keeps some pictures and amateur home videos that you two made so he can use it as motivation for moments when he's alone and needs cumming.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

As I said before: choking, giving and receiving.

Spanking, he loves spanking your ass, your face... Any part of your body you allow.

He really likes degrading you, especially if he's jealous. He calls you an attention whore and says you're just a stupid whore... If he's in a good mood, he's a little less rude or uses a more soft voice (maybe calling you "MY stupid little whore, MY attention whore...)

Breeding kink AS FUCK. Nate fucks you and talks dirty about getting you pregnant. So considering that... he has creampie too, it's obvious. Despite his fucked up Daddy issues, I think he likes being called Daddy in sex.

Things like pulling your hair and spitting on your mouth and face too. Draciphilia's also his kink, your tears flowing while he fucks you and humiliates you make you even hotter.

A light CNC/rapeplay too, but he doesn't know how telling you that, so he'd rather just picturing it for a while. But if he ever tells you and you consent and set your limits, you'll discover an even darker side of your boyfriend.

L = Location (Favorite places to do the do)

Party bathrooms and his truck. He loves taking risks, the idea of someone seeing you in a vulnerable moment like that makes him fucking jealous and turns him on even more.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

The moment Nate starts feeling jealous, he becomes aggressive and horny. AND HE'S ALWAYS JEALOUS!

Your innocent and worried look at him when he's angry about his personal issues their also things that turns him on a lot. He knows he NEEDS to fuck you at that moment.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Nate won't share you. He's been totally against threesomes since he started dating you. Even though he was a huge womanizer, nowadays he still wouldn't feel comfortable seeing a woman touch you either.

Much less a man. He would rather be killed than let another man touch you, his girlfriend, only his.

If you dare suggesting something like this, you can be sure that will cause one of the worst arguments in your entire relationship.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

As good as Nate's at eating you out, I feel like he'd rather you give him head. He loves taking control of this situation, making you kneel and take his cock to the back of your throat. He grabs your hair and forces you trying to fit every inch of his member into your mouth, also controlling the speed.

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc)

Nate likes fast and rough thrusts, to the point where the noises of your hips clashing and your loud moans echo throughout his house. Therefore if you're having sex in secret in a public place, he covers your mouth to avoid interruptions and trouble.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc)

Nate's the real biggest fan of quickies. Anywhere it's time. Are you at a party? He just drags you to the bathroom and fucks you there.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc)

He takes a lot of risks, especially due sex in public places.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last)

Because of his athletic body and because he's already used to very rough training routines, Nate can last a long time, so you're sure cumming many times. As for the number of rounds, I think he cums twice. Although he's not really tired and can keeping going if both of you want, it ends up not being so euphoric.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

There aren't so many toys for you two using... Who needs them when you have those huge hands or his own belt spanking you if you're being a brat? But... Let's say that sometimes he likes using some dildos and a Hitachi Magic Wand on you, seeing you crying and overstimulated, dripping for him.

U = Unfair (How much they like to tease)

Nate loves teasing you, he wants seeing you beg for him, begging for his cock. He may deny your orgasms or let you feeling overstimulated until you need to use your safe word.

But don't you dare tease him back when you're on top, it won't end well for you after sex.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

When Nate's dominating you, he barely makes sounds other than dirty talk. Just some low growling and swearing. But when he's punishing you or rapeplaying, he won't mind yelling at you as many times as he wants.

When you're dominating him, he's more vocal and really likes whining for you.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

When Nate loses a football match, he gets angry easily. He pushes himself too hard and ends up taking it out on you, yelling that you distracted him from his goals or something like that. But all of this always ends after angry sex. Once, you were so tired of his explosive behavior that you decided he needed learning to use his mouth to something more useful.

You knew that behind that angry and aggressive facade, your boyfriend was just frustrated with himself, so you needed to show that you weren't disappointed with him. It wasn't long before he was lying on the bed, you on top of his face using it to rub your pussy while he swallowed your juices and jerked off his own cock, rubbing his nose against your clit and whining muffledly, as you moaned loud and called him a good boy.

X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants)

I think his cock it's about 7.5 inches, quite rosy and thick enough to always makes you scream by pain and pleasure when he gets inside your pussy roughly. Sometimes you literally can see the shape of his cock marking the soft skin of your stomach as he fucks you.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Very high. He's Nate Jacobs, don't expect anything less that from him.

Z = ZZZ (How quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

It takes a while for him to start feeling sleepy, so you can be sure that you'll sleep well before he does.

[sungbeam]

nonidol!eric sohn x f!reader

you won't think golf is a boring sport after he's done with you! (but it's not about golf, and it's not about swings. just a young heir with money, love, and a thing for you.)

▷ genre, warnings. technically s2l, country club au, summer break au, starts with him already into you, slight pining? idk, fluff, humor, rich people™, golf lol, swearing, drinking, kissing, it gets like actually romantic, Eric Sohn bc he's so attractive someone help me.

▷ word count. 11.4k

▷ inspired by swing my way (cha cha malone & phe r.e.d.s)

a/n: my submission for the deoboyznet summer on you event! and @mosviqu who implanted the idea of country club rich boy eric into my brain @@

It wasn't like Eric Sohn, heir to his parents' multi-million dollar investment firm, prized shortstop of the UCLA baseball team, planned to spend his entire summer charming his parents' clients and partners. A summer spent at the Beverly Hills Country Club wasn't something new for the young heir either. The rolling, emerald green hills for golf; the clean cement tennis courts; the dim and classy bars were all ingrained in him since childhood. They were environments Eric had learned to thrive in, and when one had the advantage, one was always taught to wield it like a blade.

At least, that was what he was taught. Over the years, he'd also learned that his extroverted personality and charming smile were disarming—and his pretty boy appearance often resulted in others underestimating him. That was their mistake.

"...that trip to Taiwan will be such a great opportunity to explore the relationship between our companies."

Eric clasped Mr. Thomas Tsaur's hand in a firm shake as the two men stood at the final hole of the golf course. Eric beamed. "Yes, of course! I know my mom would love to see the night markets around Taipei; my parents have been looking forward to the trip all year," he said, as easy as breathing air. Of course, he didn't really know if his parents were looking forward to it. If he was the one on his way to Taiwan instead, he knew that he himself would be ecstatic.

During business meetings—and meetings that weren't officially classified as business, but were definitely about business—Eric tried to stay as true to himself as possible. Once in a while, some of the persona he'd built up slipped through the cracks, but there was a reason he liked baseball more than business.

Mr. Tsaur made a pleasant reply back about promising a fun-filled tour of the city with his wife, and the two of them were splitting up. There were offhanded comments about seeing each other for dinner when Eric's parents finally arrived, but that was all that was left of the interaction.

Eric jogged down the hill toward the conventional path where a white-topped golf cart sat waiting for him. His driver and caddy companion for the day was Jacob Bae, a regular worker here at the country club whom Eric had known for at least a couple years now.

But instead of just Jacob and the cart, Eric found that someone else had joined the group.

You sat in the second row of the golf cart with a circular serving tray pressed over your lap. Like some of the other staff members at the club, you wore the standard black, collared shirt and black skort. He'd seen you around this place plenty of times this summer and even greeted you once or twice, but he knew you were new.

Oh, trust that he knew a new face when he saw one, especially when said face was as pretty as yours. The only shame was that you were often assigned to areas where Eric didn't exactly frequent, but he never took himself as the type to give up easily.

You and Jacob were sharing a laugh as Eric approached the golf cart with his golf putter in hand. "Hey guys," Eric chirped.

All the attention flickered over to Eric, but he couldn't stop staring at the way the slight breeze this afternoon was making your hair fall in your face all pretty. Even in a braid, the little strands fell out to frame your face.

"Oh, hi Eric! How was the last round?" Jacob asked as he twisted around in his driver's seat to watch Eric round the back to put his putter away. You had shifted in your seat slightly to follow him with your eyes, as well.

Eric slid the stick into his bag and caught your eyes. His smile widened. "It went well. Same old, same old," he chuckled, bracing a gloves hand on the roof of the cart. "When'd you get here, Yn?" He asked you with a nod of his chin.

You perked up at the sound of your name. Cute. "Ah, just a few minutes ago," you said. You sheepishly gestured to your empty tray. "Haknyeon dropped me off a few holes over to deliver drinks, and then I saw Jacob over here and walked over to catch a ride back to the clubhouse."

"I can't believe he just ditched you," Jacob chortled.

Eric circled around the cart to take the seat in the front beside Jacob. "He ditched you?" He frowned, leaning his arm over the back of the seat to look at you.

As the cart began making its smooth return down the path and over a small bridge, you smoothed your braid over your shoulder. "No, no! He didn't ditch me; we were just headed in the same direction until we… weren't," you mused. "I mean, if Cobie wasn't here, a walk back wouldn't have been the worst thing anyways."

"I guess," Eric agreed, biting his lip. "So, uh… ever played golf before?"

"Golf? It's been a while, but yeah, I've driven the occasional golf ball across a green."

From the driver's seat, Jacob slapped his right hand down on Eric's shoulder. "Yn-ie! This guy's one of the best casual golf players you'll probably ever meet. His swing? So clean."

Eric chuckled, clasping a hand on the back of his neck, when he felt your attention flicker back to him again. "I'm no pro…"

"I'll have to see that for myself then," you said with a smile.

The golf cart slowed to a stop in front of the doors into the main kitchens of the clubhouse proper. Because this main kitchen was so large, they were given their own set of doors directly to the outdoor courts and beyond for easy access. While Jacob would drop you off here, he would have to continue onward for Eric's proper spot.

You clambered out of the golf cart, poking Jacob in the shoulder as you went. "Bye, guys! Thanks for the ride, Cobie."

"Bye, Yn!" Both boys chimed together. When you disappeared behind the swinging kitchen doors, Jacob pulled the cart back onto the main road to carry onward.

Eric settled into his seat to face forward once again. He lifted the cap off his head and carded a hand through his hair to let the strands, dampened with sweat, dry a bit. "I didn't know Yn was allowed to work the golf range," he commented as innocently as possible.

Jacob made a small humming noise. "Yeah, we're short a couple people out here because of the Ferndale event going on down by the gazebo."

"She wasn't sent there?"

"Did you want her to be sent there?" Jacob grinned slyly at the young heir, who turned his gaze elsewhere.

Eric coughed. "I didn't say that."

His companion still would not wipe that knowing smile off his face, even as he slowed the golf cart to a stop and Eric hopped out to collect his equipment from the back. "I didn't say you did," he snickered as Eric walked away.

He didn't give Jacob the satisfaction of an answer, instead, saying a "thank you" for driving him over his shoulder, before ducking inside the clubhouse locker room.

Jacob shook his head in amusement and began making his way further down the path to return the cart. Silly, silly kids.

You didn't realize country clubs were real until you were sitting in the office of the Beverly Hills Country Club's hiring manager and being hired. That was about a month ago, and no, you still didn't believe it was real. The entire training experience, in fact, had swept through like a fever dream.

The summer season had just begun, though, and they had taken you on in a rush of desperation. You hadn't failed to notice how relieved the hiring manager looked when you told him you'd worked as a waitress at an upscale wedding venue before you moved cross-country, and knew how to carry a drink platter and dirty dishes. That was part of the reason you'd been hired on the spot. You'd also mentioned your extensive knowledge of how to fold cloth napkins into swans, and you liked to think that was your true selling point. (Don't ask, the last part was because you had been very bored while waiting in the backroom during a wedding.)

And while you cared little about cleaning pools or catering to rich prick egos, you did care about the crisp green bills that graced your eyes with more frequency than a Superman actor on Hollywood Boulevard. There was also the possibility to gain some more experience in the dining and catering world; if you were lucky, you could butter up your manager to let you help out in the kitchen some.

After all, that was why you were here so far from home.

"Yn, you've got company at table five," Haknyeon said as he passed by you on his way into the kitchen.

You gave a nod out of instinct. You brushed your hands against your black waist apron, absentmindedly reaching up to also smooth out the black vest on your upper half. Usually when you worked at the club's restaurants and bars as wait staff, your uniform consisted of a white button down under a black vest, followed by a black skirt and apron. It was classy and chic, and definitely added to the expensive atmosphere.

You could see table five in your section up ahead. It was a little early into dinner service, but there were still people who came in. To your surprise, the company at table five was none other than Eric Sohn himself, along with two others you recognized as his parents. They were dressed casually—meaning semiformal. It was something out of a dinner cruise, with Eric's dark brunette waves styled effortlessly messy and the top three buttons of his dress shirt undone to reveal the slightly bronzed, toned skin beneath—

You cleared your throat, plastering a smile on your face as you approached the table. "Evening, everyone. Mr. and Mrs. Sohn," you gave a small greeting bow to his parents, then swiftly doled out little napkins for their drinks. "It's nice to see you on the grounds again today."

"Oh, Yn! It's very nice to see you this evening," said Mrs. Sohn with a delicate flourish of her wrist.

"Yes!" Mr. Sohn chimed in, "What have you been up to? Eric says he saw you on the golf range today."

Your eyes darted to Eric's, then went back to his parents when you realized his eyes were on you. You laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear and bracing the end of your serving tray against your waist. "Oh, uhm, yeah! I was just summoned down there to get some drinks to the Santos family—you know them, right?"

Recognition lit up in Eric's mother's eyes. "Yes, yes! Marina and her kids! Ah, well that sounds nice; I'll have to see if I can bump into her at the spa or something. Eric gave you a ride back in his cart, didn't he? The walk back is awfully far."

You nodded. "Yeah, of course. He was with Jacob, so I just hopped in the back and rode back with them here."

"I still owe you that golf date," Eric cut in smoothly, the hand with his Rolex draped over the back of his chair. His smile was casual, innocent, the kind that so easily could make anyone do his bidding.

"Golf date?" His parents glanced curiously between the two of you, and you felt heat rush up to your cheeks.

"It was just an offhand comment," you said sheepishly. "Jacob was telling me about how great of a golfer Eric is and I said I wanted to see his swing some time." Before anything else could be said on the matter, you tucked your tray under your arm and replaced it with your notepad and pen. "Can I get you anything to drink? An appetizer to start?"

That drew away the conversation promptly. It wasn't like you were uncomfortable with the idea of going on a date with Eric Sohn, it just wasn't that simple. Though the club officially encouraged good relationships between staff and club members, they didn't exactly encourage the romantic kind of relationship. Obviously, it would be impossible to enforce a no-entanglement policy completely, but you wanted to stay on your manager's good side.

You nearly folded in half over the counter of the tiki bar at the pool. Sweat streamed down the side of your face, and you were pretty sure your baby hairs looked akin to a lion's mane under your white baseball cap. Thank god the club didn't force you to wear a black colored hat instead; the black polo and skort were death enough.

Jacob chuckled as he passed you a clean, damp towel that had been soaking in ice water. "Before you get heat stroke," he said, then returned to preparing a tray of drinks someone had ordered at the hot tub.

You thanked him profusely, dabbing your face and neck with the cool blessing. "Sheesh," you groaned. "I think I need to reapply my sunscreen soon. How are you out here all the time, Cobie?"

He grinned with a half-hearted shrug. "Well, I work with cold drinks and I'm under the shade. And—" he tapped the handy little fan clipped to one of the structure poles of the tiki bar, "—this beautiful work of engineering."

"I need one of those umbrella hats and squirt bottles kids bring to Disneyland," you grumbled and plucked yourself up from the bar. You returned the towel to Jacob so he could toss it into the soiled towel bin on the other side of him. You watched as he finished up filling the tray and whistled at the pool waiter who had ordered it for the group at the hot tub.

As the waiter walked away with the drinks, you thought aloud, "How could they stand to be in the hot tub in this heat?" From here, you could see the group of girls gathered in the bubbling jets of the hot tub at the far end of the pool in their bikini tops and Gucci shades.

"They're not standing—they're sitting."

You sent Jacob an unimpressed look, to which he simply smiled wider.

"Hey guys!" Ji Changmin huffed and puffed as he collapsed onto the barstool next to you. He had a towel hanging around his shoulders and a white sweatband holding up his dark bangs dripping with sweat. "Can I get an ice water, hyung?"

"Yeah, man," Jacob said, already dumping a scoop of ice in a cup.

"You alright there, Changmin?" You glanced over at the club's dance instructor with barely concealed amusement.

Changmin took the corner of his towel to dry the dribble of sweat making its way down his forehead. "Whoever thought it was a good idea to do hot Zumba in the height of summer needs a reality check. I think I'm dying."

As one of the country club's primary dance instructors, not only did Changmin lead all of the dance activities on the grounds, he was also supposed to take over any dance aerobics classes like said hot Zumba. You knew it wasn't his favorite, but it was still funny to make faces at him through the window as he did can-can kicks in leg warmers with all of the rich moms.

You leaned down to check if he had the leg warmers on. He did not. At least he finally had the good sense to break uniform.

Jacob slid over an ice-cold glass of water, and Changmin drained it like a man who trekked through the desert for seven days. You glanced at Jacob's digital clock on the counter behind him—he kept it so he could be on time for all of his breaks.

"Oh shit," you said, quickly fixing your cap and adjusting your hair, "time for me to get back to work."

Changmin straightened. "Where are you stationed today, Yn-ie? Chanhee and I wanted to come pick you up later for dinner before we have to come back."

"That's right!" Jacob slapped his palm to his forehead. "We have to all be back here for the banquet. I almost forgot, damn it."

You cocked a brow at him. "Wow, you, Jacob Bae, almost forgot about the major event all of our jobs are riding on that's taking place tonight?"

A smile curled onto your face when Jacob narrowed his eyes at you. "Don't you have work to do?"

You let out a laugh and began backing away from the tiki bar and your friends. "Kim has me at the ice cream bar until the end of my shift, Changmin. I'll catch you boys later!"

Jacob and Changmin raised their hands in twin waves to you as you walked away. If you remembered the time on Jacob's clock correctly, you had about fifteen minutes to get up to the indoor ice cream bar for your shift.

Tonight, the country club was hosting a banquet for one of the business men here. It was supposedly one of the most important events for the club's reputation, so it was all hands on deck. Everyone from Chanhee at the spa to Haknyeon in the kitchen were called upon to clock into work once again tonight to help out. You were glad you weren't a part of the set-up and takedown committees, but you were expected to wait on the banquet. Jacob was supposed to be bartending tonight, as usual, and your other friends and coworkers would be waiting alongside you.

You glanced up on your walk out of the pool area and nearly tripped over the soles of your sneakers.

Coming in hot (literally) were none other than Eric Sohn, Lee Hyunjae, and Lee Juyeon—all of whom were very much shirtless. Swim trunks hung low on their waists, their stomachs carved like triplet Michaelangelos. Seeing shirtless guys at the pool wasn't new for you, but these guys were actually around your age.

Eric saw you first and waved. "Yn, hey!"

"Hi guys," you greeted back with a shallow nod of your head. "Nice day out for a swim."

"I know, right?" Hyunjae raised a hand to shield his eyes from the unforgiving summer sun. "You must be baking in that uniform, Yn." He raised his chin to gesture at the all black attire.

"I don't suppose you'd be able to join us?" Juyeon smiled. He knew you probably couldn't join them because you were clocked in, but he had always been pretty nice nonetheless. He and Hyunjae were cousins, and the Lee family was well-known around here for being big names in the legal sphere, as well as being one of the larger families. There was another cousin of theirs around their age running around here somewhere, too.

You gave a helpless shrug. "Duty calls, unfortunately."

"Yn, hey wait—" Eric caught your attention as you were about to continue walking up toward the main clubhouse. He flashed you that smile again, the one that made your stomach do flips and would convince you to do flips for him if only he asked. "You won't happen to be working at the banquet tonight, are you?"

"How'd you guess?" You replied good-naturedly. "Why do you ask?"

He began walking backwards toward the direction his friends had drifted off to, his smile tilting up slightly. "So I know which cologne I should wear."

And it definitely wasn't a trick of the summer sun that made you see him wink at you.

"He's into you."

"He is not—" you wrestled your sleeve up your forearm and made a frustrated noise when the button would not go through, "—into me."

Chanhee gave you a nice, slow eye roll just so you would see it, and he yanked the sleeve away from you so he could roll it up himself. "A lot of men around here like smelling nice, but no one pulls out the Acqua Di Gio just for the service girl or a business banquet," he hissed as a fellow waiter rushed past you two in the narrow corridor. "Jesus, why is this button such a bitch?"

"That's what I'm saying," you hissed back at him as the two of you both struggled to fix your sleeve. "Not the cologne thingy—I hate how you're able to just take a whiff and name the cologne. What kind of demon nose do you have?"

Chanhee sighed and collapsed against the wall opposite to you when he finally managed to get the sleeve right. The two of you were currently on break, not hiding, in this corridor. In T-minus two minutes, you would both have to be back out in the hustle and bustle of cleanup or after-party drinks in the lounge. Because the main course had finally been served, a lot of the waiters were allowed to go on break. The banquet thus far had gone relatively smoothly, other than the fact that when you had served Eric all of his courses, he'd made sure you practically melted on the smell of his cologne.

It wasn't your fault you had to bend down close to him to not spill the hot food. And it wasn't your fault that he chose to put his mouth right to your ear when he told you a joke, masking it as asking for more water.

You couldn't decide if you were going to giggle or let your knees buckle at that moment. Thank god you managed to laugh behind your hand and hustle away before anyone noticed.

But that was besides the point. The point was that Chanhee had also passed by Eric, caught the faint trail of Aqua De Whatever, and connected some dots.

"If you want a demon, you talk to Changmin," he said. "I just know my shit. And I also know that you only break out the Acqua Di Gio when you want to attract someone, and based on the fact he's currently seated around about fifty other businesspeople…" Chanhee made a wild, desperate gesture with his hands, eyes widened. Are you getting this? He seemed to ask. Because I will smack you if you aren't.

You fanned yourself, justifying it by thinking about how hot the back hallway was and this outfit was, rather than admitting that it was because Eric was hot. "Okay, okay. Come on, we have to get back out there," you said, already turning your heel toward the door.

"I'm just saying that clearly he's been trying to tell you something," Chanhee added as you both broke out of the hallway and into the kitchen. He grabbed a circular serving tray from a stack on the counter next to him to hand over to you.

"Well, what do you suppose I should do with that?"

He pressed his lips into a thin smile, taking hold of a small, empty cart and pushing it ahead of him. "Just keep an open mind, darling."

You and Chanhee separated at the kitchen doors out into the banquet hall. While he would be a part of cleaning up, you needed to head over to the next-door parlor where the party had moved post-dinner. Business would continue as usual, just with a few more drinks and pool involved.

The parlor room was arguably one of your favorite rooms in the club with its cozier atmosphere created by the evergreen walls, tiffany-shaded lamps, and dark oak furnishings. It was also outfitted with a hearth (unused during the summer and spring) and a billiards table. Most of those who had chosen to stay had migrated with a certain crowd of people they planned to continue chatting with. Your job, as well as the few others recruited to the parlor, was to be a fly on the wall until somebody needed something. If tips were passed around, you were free to pocket them.

You were probably standing and waiting for only five minutes before you saw Eric stand up from where he was on the far side of the room. He shouldered his suit jacket off and draped it over the back of his armchair, exposing the white dress shirt and black vest beneath. Whew, he was wearing a full suit to this event? You wondered how he even survived, but all conscious thought flew out the window when he caught you staring and started smirking to himself. The smug, little expression stayed etched into the sharp planes of his face even as he strolled over to the pool table and lined up his shot.

You wondered—and it was just a thought—what it'd be like (possibly) for him to lean over you—

"Excuse me, miss?" You shook out of your daze and remembered why you were here. Unfortunately, it was not to admire the young heir watching you from the other side of the room, but to serve guests.

For the next couple of hours, your job was exactly what you did. You had been so focused on running back and forth from the bar in the other room and back that you always seemed to have missed Eric trying to catch your eye again. If he wanted drinks, he had to suck it up and ask someone else who just happened to be near him instead.

As the evening dwindled into a sweet, humid night, the amount of guests also began to trickle down. You had grabbed a rag on your way back to the parlor room and said goodbye to your coworkers on their way out. Some still lingered for last minute clean up, and though you were technically done for the night, you wanted to wipe down anything you had missed. It was something simple that you could do to help out a colleague, and it wasn't like you were in a rush to go home.

When you walked back into the parlor room, however, you blinked—surprised—at the sight of an individual left. He leaned against the billiards table, one hand holding the edge of the suit jacket draped over his shoulder and the other scrolling through his phone.

Eric glanced up from his device and pocketed it at the sight of you. "Hey."

"Hi," you said back. "Uhm, can I get you anything—"

"Oh, no no. I'm good." He shook his head, pushing off from the table. He shot you that signature boyish smile of his and your heart began doing cartwheels. "I just wanted to ask if I could give you a lift home."

You opened your mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Truthfully, you were caught off guard, stunned. This wasn't what you were expecting from him.

He saw your hesitation and let out a sheepish laugh, cupping the back of his head. "Sorry, this is so out of the blue. I… it's a little late out right now, and I didn't know if you had a ride or not. I know you're not usually scheduled to work so late."

"You know my schedule?" You blurted. Though, the thought did warm you and amuse you.

His eyes widened. "I mean, uhm, definitely not in the creepy, stalkerish sort of way! I uh, I like to think I pay a lot more attention when it comes to you." His admission didn't do much to slow the racing organ in your chest cavity. You always saw Eric Sohn as one of those smooth and collected young men who were born to charm. But seeing him flustered and tripping over his words because of you?

You ducked your head slightly, flattered and most definitely charmed still. "I'd really appreciate a lift home, Eric."

You both shared a smile in the slightly dimmed, slightly warmed lights of the parlor room.

Once you had finished glossing over the surfaces of the parlor room with your rag to catch any rings made by perspiring liquids, your manager dismissed you for the night. Eric told you he would meet you out front where he would bring his car around for you. You found yourself standing at the edge of the curb with a gentle, yet rare summer breeze wafting through your hair. You had your bag slung over your shoulder, and you grasped the strap and fidgeted with the material.

A car pulled up to the circular driveway��it was a sports car. The Corvette, sleek and aerodynamic, was doused in a shiny orange coat of paint that glimmered even in the night. The passenger side window rolled down so you could see Eric leaning over the center console and waving to you.

"Hey, hop in!" He said to you with a grin, lowering the music he was playing.

Gingerly, you walked up to the car and managed to maneuver yourself inside. The passenger seat was lined in soft black leather, and the inside of the car made it all the more easy to suffocate on that delicious cologne of his.

Eric had ditched his suit jacket and vest in the backseat of the car, leaving him in just his white dress shirt and slacks.

"Nice car," you whistled lowly as you buckled yourself in.

His mouth tilted upward. "Thanks," he said. He fussed around with his phone for a second before passing the device to you. "If you wouldn't mind putting your number and address in."

"Oh." It was a brand new contact page. You didn't question it, swiftly inputting all of the necessary information before returning his phone to him.

Eric took a peek at the address, then pulled out of the country club's driveway. You didn't live too far away from the club, luckily. It was only a few minute's drive, but the walk sometimes felt a bit longer. California didn't exactly have the most convenient public transportation system, and in an area like Beverly Hills, it was near impossible to find a reliable bus or train service.

"Any music preferences?" He asked you quietly.

You shook your head. "I'm not super picky. What you have on is all good with me."

"I have to confess, Yn," he said with a half smile, eyes darting toward you, "that I was trying to steal your attention all night."

Your stomach flipped and you suppressed the smile that threatened to crawl onto your mouth. "Really?"

He laughed. "Yeah, but obviously, your work ethic beat me out, as well as my own luck."

"Any reason for seeking me out?" He'd technically had your attention all throughout the banquet, but he had also needed to entertain and chat with the other people around him. While the after party was sometimes used for business discussion, too, the banquet dinner itself was the main event.

"I mean, besides wanting to talk to the cute girl eating up all my thoughts?"

He was turning onto your apartment complex's street all too soon. The car slid into a parking spot along the curb, and he twisted in his seat to face you. "I really want to take you out, show you a good time. It doesn't have to be something fancy if that's not your vibe; we can always start with golf."

You let the smile bloom on your face at the reference to the "golf date" you both had yet to schedule. You still wanted to see his swing, after all. "Then it's a date," you said, "I should have a free day two days from now, if that works for you."

Eric bit his lip. "I'm all yours, hon."

Before you could start doing somersaults from excitement, you resolved yourself to getting into your apartment first. "Well, thank you again for the lift, Eric. You have my number?"

He nodded. "Never losing it."

You grinned something fond. He grinned right back at you. "Get home safe."

"I will. Good night, cutie."

You slammed the car door shut and left Eric to his lonesome. Through the passenger side window, Eric watched as you disappeared into your apartment complex, safe and sound. He had almost given into the urge to ask if he could walk you up, but it was a miracle you had even taken him up on his offer to drive you home.

He pulled up your contact and sent you a text so you could have his number, too, as soon as possible. He deposited his phone into the cup holder, then punched the roof of his car with a shit-eating grin on his face. He'd scored your number and a date in one night—damn right, he did.

You had reasoned with yourself that this was okay based on the fact that you weren't on company time.

"Shoooooot," you whistled with a slight arch in your brows and applause. You tracked the distance Eric's driving shot sent the golf ball flying, and in the early morning sunlight, the white sphere disappeared over the crest of green hill.

You figured being courted by a club member during your own free time was a loophole you could live with. Especially when such a loophole looked so good swinging a golf club.

His follow through was just as beautiful as he was, his arms lifting the golf club over behind him from the arc. When he lowered the club to turn back to you, he was beaming. "What's the verdict?"

Your golf club was currently acting as your arm rest as you staked the head against the grass. "I don't know, Eric," you sucked in a breath, teasingly. "I think you could've gone pro."

He laughed then, eyes narrowed into glorious upturned crescent moons. "Thanks, cutie." He made a gesture to the tee. "All yours."

"Let me preface this by saying that it's been awhile," you were quick to say as the nerves suddenly bubbled up into your chest and made you wanna do a jittery shuffle. You should not have let Eric go first.

"No worries," he chirped. "Why don't we practice first?"

Yes, practice. Thank god he knew where your head was at.

You eagerly agreed, and set your golf ball up on the tee. Nervously, you smoothed your gloves down the front of your pleated golf skirt. You lined up the face of the golf club with the ball and pulled it back a millimeter—

Then chickened out.

"Performance anxiety," you grimaced to your date.

"Oh, well, that's okay!" Eric set his golf club down on the field and made his way over to you. "Can I help?"

Yes. "Please do," you chuckled, leaving room for him to take your club.

But instead, he shook his head. "No, no. You won't learn anything from just watching, silly goose."

He grabbed the golf club over your hands and lined both of your bodies up correctly. Your breath hitched at the feeling of his front pressed against your back. His mouth was so close to your ear again, and there was that damned cologne making you see hearts.

"Sorry, is this okay?" He asked softly.

You gulped, nodding. "Yeah. Perfectly okay." You wondered if he could feel your heartbeat quicken like a drum crescendoing. If he wasn't careful, your heart might just fall out and run to his arms.

From this position, Eric smoothly guided you through the steps of a perfect swing. The pullback was cranked over your shoulder, then the club would swing straight through, followed by the arc back over your other shoulder and the appropriate turn of your body. As he had explained to you, getting the perfect swing or shot in sports mostly came down to the follow through. If one could not back up their initial movement, then why make the shot?

"—and you turn your body—yeah, just like that," he praised as you automatically rotated yourself from the side to the front, the toe of your foot digging into the ground and turning with you. "That's beautiful."

He backed up from you then, giving you some space. It suddenly felt like you were missing something with him gone. "You should try it now!"

You took a deep breath in as you lined your golf club up with the ball again. Cranking the club back over your shoulder, you swung it down and back up again. When the face of the club met the ball, it did so with a resounding PING!, and the ball went sailing.

(That sound… mwah. The sweet, sweet sound of triumph.)

"You did it!"

"I did it!"

It hadn't gone as far as Eric's had, but it had definitely traveled farther than it would have without his help. You whirled to him, clasping his hand with yours as you both shared equally radiant smiles. A giddiness flooded into you, and no doubt into the glow of your face.

"See? Not too bad," he said, squeezing your hand.

"All thanks to you," you pointed out.

He shook his head, using your linked hands to lead you back to where your golf bags were waiting a little ways back by the cart. "Nah, you had it in you, Yn. It was just performance anxiety, as you said."

The two of you each grabbed your own bags and hiked them over your shoulder to head down the hill and find your respective golf balls. From this view, you could see that the other patrons of the club were slowly trickling out onto the acres surrounding. It felt strange to be here as not a staff member, but as a guest instead.

Eric piped up, "Is it weird that I was hoping you would ask for my help?"

"Not really," you mused, then meekly added, "'cause I was kind of hoping you would offer your help."

He looked about as happy as you felt, and he swung your hands together between you.

It hit you, then, that you were still holding hands. But you didn't let go, and Eric didn't say anything. He just helped you find your golf ball, line up another shot, and hugged you from behind like it was nothing.

From across the pond, Jacob, Changmin, Chanhee, and Haknyeon pulled up over the bridge. The four of them were all piled into a golf cart, and Jacob stopped it just over the crest. They all knew about where you were today and why you were dressed in proper golf attire rather than the country club uniform. They watched with wide eyes (and maybe a camera or two) as you and Eric had a good time.

"Young love," Jacob sighed fondly from his spot in the driver's seat.

"I think it's gross," Changmin giggled. He yelped, furiously rubbing the place on his shoulder that Chanhee had whacked. "Hey! I was kidding!"

Chanhee rolled his eyes. "Let them have their moment. I'm glad Yn-ie let herself have fun with him."

"They look like they're having quite the time," Haknyeon said. "They're cute."

Changmin poked his head in between Jacob and Haknyeon from the backseat. "Just a thought, but what if we turned on the sprinklers like in High School Musical 2?"

An exchange of looks, a deep consideration… "No," they all chorused. They would get their asses kicked for that.

You were on lunch break when Changmin practically crashed onto the bench next to you with a crazed look in his eyes. "You. Me. Spa. Now."

You couldn't even say goodbye to the sandwich you were eating before Changmin grabbed your arm and dragged you across the club.

"Changmin! What the hell—"

"I'll explain in a second!" He hissed back at you while ducking into the service entrance of the spa.

The backdoor led to a staff break room, where Chanhee was currently (coincidentally) seated on a stool eating a box of Pepero while watching a cartoon on his phone. The man glanced up from his phone at the loud commotion, one cheek full of his snack, and he blinked. "You're lucky I'm not with a client right now."

"Yeah, yeah," Changmin said, dragging you and a stool over to Chanhee at the same time. He pushed your shoulders so you would take a seat. Changmin placed his hands on his hips as he stood before the two of you. "You're never gonna guess what I just overheard."

"What?" You and Chanhee asked at the same time.

"Well, you know Clara?"

Chanhee jumped right in. "The one fooling around with that Brian Yang guy. He's the heir to that one corporation monopolizing SIM cards or some shit."

How the hell…?

Changmin's head bobbed vigorously. "Yes, yes! That's the one. Anyways—I was walking past the manager's office and they were talking loud enough to hear with headphones on. Apparently, Clara and Brian had a nasty, nasty split, and Brian got her fired."

Silence.

Chanhee's eyebrows flew up. "Like… fired-fired?"

A grave nod. "Fired-fired."

You held your head in your hands. "Just because of a break up?" You asked. "Clara is such a nice girl."

Your friend's lips were pressed into a line. "Doesn't mean he's a nice guy. I dunno—" he threw his hands in the air and let them flop back against his legs, "—it's fucked, man. He said it was, like, too awkward to be around her all the time since he was here all the time. And because his father is one of the stockholders of the country club, Manager Kim could do little but do his bidding."

Your heart had fallen into the pit of your stomach. Drama like this didn't really happen often here, but there was always something going on.

You always thought there were assholes here, but sometimes they just kept on reminding you of it.

"And now I'm fooling around with one of the club members," you thought aloud. The realization hit you, a golf ball to the face. "Oh my god."

Chanhee's hand came up to your shoulder and gave you a soothing, warm squeeze. "Eric seems like a good guy, Yn-ie. You never know."

"But you really never know," you murmured. There was a reason why the club discouraged romantic relations between club members and staff. Perhaps this time, it wasn't about work productivity, but about keeping your damn jobs. You needed this job. You needed it so desperately because of the money, the opportunities, the connections. Not to mention all of the people you'd befriended here… it didn't seem right that you were scared of what Eric could do to you, but reality was settling in fast.

The Sohns were a major shareholder in the club, which meant they could pull strings like tying a shoelace.

But Eric is good. He's been good, you reasoned.

Changmin crossed his arms as he leaned back against the wall behind him. "You should talk to him. At the very least, you only went on one date, so it's not like you're completely involved yet."

That was a good point. You were going to run with it.

When Eric invited you over to his house, you should have known you were about to drive your beat up sedan into the driveway of a palace, not a house. A house was for normal people, not whoever the Sohns were, you knew that much. To say you were intimidated by the massive front lawn, iron gates, and limestone arches and columns would be an understatement. Maybe you should have worn something nicer.

You pulled up to the curb of the roundabout—he'd mentioned to you that you could just park there. Apparently the garage was a little inconvenient for guests, but you weren't complaining. The front of the house was a marvel to look at, and wherever that garage was would have left you unable to fully soak in this modern wonder. Plus, you had some time to pull yourself together before seeing Eric.

The plan was… no plan, really. He wanted to hang out with you, and you'd mentioned your love for cooking. Thus, he proposed a miniature cooking class in his kitchen, along with dinner on the patio. It sounded nice. It also sounded great when you remembered what you needed to talk to him about. (Yay.)

It's not a big deal. Eric's cool.

You finally managed to trek your way up to the front door and you booped the doorbell. It was one of those loud bells that must have echoed throughout the house, because you could clearly hear it from the outside.

A couple minutes later, you heard the locking mechanism come undone. The door opened after; you swore that every time you saw this guy, you became speechless.

You had seen him in a dress shirt before, but this tank top and over-shirt thing was new. It was casual and comfortable, yet chic. His hair was styled in the same manner his clothing was—simple and so attractive. A silver chain and matching silver rings added the subtle touch of elegance to pull everything together.

"Hi," he grinned—he was always smiling, you realized. It was such a pretty smile. He stepped aside and gave you room in the doorway. "Come on in, cutie."

"Thanks for having me over," you said pleasantly, trying not to openly gawk at the front foyer with the sky-high ceiling, chandelier dripping with crystals, and grand staircase wrapping around the walls up to the indoor balcony.

He closed the door behind you as you deposited your shoes by the small rack. Eric wrapped a loose arm around your shoulder to guide you through the foyer. "Of course! I'm so excited you're here; I went out—actually no, I…" he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "ordered it off that grocery app. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for."

"Grocery app?" You laughed. "Are you talking about the stuff for dinner?"

"Yeah!"

The two of you entered the kitchen. It was a wide, open space that flowed straight into the living room. The cabinets were smooth and snow white, accented with countertops marbled with black and hints of gold. Though clean, it was a space well-loved with a recipe book left open to a lobster risotto; little candies left in a jar on the island labeled with chalk; barstools that weren't quite aligned, like they'd actually been sat on. The living room, too, was beautiful. Massive, but beautiful, with a wraparound couch sectional and a flat screen with family photos hung above it. It was framed by shelves filled to the brim with CD and DVD cases, more family photos, books, and little baubles.

And the lighting. Oh man, the natural lighting from the windows making up the entire back wall… it led out onto the acres of land his family owned, as well as a patio that overlooked the valley.

Eric had mentioned dinner on the patio. If your math was right, that meant you would probably be dining at sunset, all while overlooking a splendid view—how romantic. God, you hated how giddy you were starting to get. Those butterflies in your stomach would not cease.

"You have a really, really beautiful home," you murmured, letting him take your bag from you to place on one of the barstools.

You had always thought that big houses like this would be so difficult to fill. What was one supposed to do with so much space anyway? From the pictures on the wall, you could see Eric's parents, himself, as well as a sister who must have been out making her own mark on the world in that special Sohn kind of way. Even with just four people in this place… they still managed to make it feel like a home and not a house. It was like your own house back in your hometown, across the country. It was lived-in and warm and yours, and that was the beauty of it. And you were certain by just looking at this place that the Sohns were a family who loved each other.

How could you not believe in Eric? Not with all of this to vouch for him? He had grown up loved.

"Thank you," he said. "It's one of my favorite places to be. That's why I still haunt it like a ghost," he joked. He placed a warm hand on the small of your back and led you over to the fridge where he had put all of the grocery delivery bags in. Even the fridge was relatively stocked. "Not sure if everything I got was right, but hopefully it'll all turn out delicious anyway."

You helped him unload the bags onto the kitchen island, raising a brow at the labels on the groceries. They were on the higher end of price and quality, which definitely wasn't a problem, but holding a hundred dollar bottle of red wine just for sauce was making your anxiety levels spike. "Oh, no. It all looks great, Eric. Thanks for getting these, by the way. I would have gone out and brought them here, but—"

He waved away your worries. "You're busy and you're working. Plus, it lets me technically pay for dinner," he said with a cheeky look on his face and gesturing with a finger gun. It was cute. He was cute.

"Smooth, Sohn. I see you."

"That's what they called me in high school," he played along, dancing on his toes behind you to fiddle with his phone and turn on a speaker somewhere (you didn't know where). "Smooth Sohn."

You snorted, slapping a hand over your mouth. Eric's eyes glittered with a mutual mirth. "Whatever you say, honey."

He waltzed back over to you, tongue in cheek. "I like that better though—honey." He leaned back against the counter next to you and watched as you sorted out the ingredients in different piles depending on how they should be prepped. "So what's the plan, chef? You're the boss."

"I'd love to know where your knives and cutting boards are," you said.

He leapt into action. "Say no more!"

In reality, you did have to say more. It wasn't that Eric didn't know where everything was in the kitchen, he just wasn't as well versed in using the kitchen. He'd told you while teaching him how to hold a knife properly that he really only came in here for ramen. Good news was he could crack an egg with one hand; bad news was that was about all he could do. It was still charming, nonetheless. And the cute cooking lesson gave him plenty of opportunity to get close to you.

He had even insisted on you teaching him how to chop carrots like how he had taught you how to swing a golf club—over and around him—with your hands over his and your body wrapped around his, your chin on his shoulder.

But with dinner well past done, the two of you made your way out onto the patio just as the sun was sinking into the embrace of the valley below. It melted into the sky like a broken yolk, saturated and golden. He let you have the seat staring out into the valley. The way he looked at you though, made you feel like you were his million dollar valley view.

The table was set with twin glasses of red wine (amazing what a good wine paired with beef stew could do for the soul), plates separated by a hot stew pot, and a couple of candles for ambiance.

"Wow," he moaned as the beef melted on his tongue. "This is so good. And you're telling me you're pretty, smart, and can cook?"

You held back a giggle so you could swallow your bite. "And I'm single," you jested.

"And you're single!" He leaned his head back, eyes closed. "Thank god for that."

Eric leaned his cheek on his fist, his head cocked slightly and his eyes on you with a swoon-worthy admiration. "Thanks for coming out tonight and hanging out with me."

You could kiss him. "Please, I should be the one thanking you. It's been really fun hanging out with you." It was surreal, actually. The fact that this young heir had deemed you "worthy" or whatever to court and entertain—it wasn't like you defined your self worth by his attention and affection, but this felt nice. Your conversation with Changmin and Chanhee the other day came to the forefront of your mind.

"I, uhm, think this is a good time to ask if you wanted to do this more often? Hanging out with me, I mean."

You weren't sure if this was what you thought he was asking you. He reached for his wine glass, and in the fading sunlight and the candlelight illuminating the bashful expression on his face, your heart pounded.

"What I mean to say," he tried again after a small sip of wine, "is would you be my—"

"I think we should talk!" You cut in before you heard anymore. You were getting jittery, unable to figure out when was the right time to bring up the thing, but also, you wanted him to say his thing, and it was just a mess. But when you saw Eric's wide eyes, mouth zipped up, you repeated in a much calmer tone, "I think we should talk about something. It's not… it's not super serious or anything. I could just be overthinking."

Oh, you felt bad. He looked like a kicked puppy, but you saw him pull himself together for you. "It's—you're probably not overthinking, Yn. What's on your mind?"

The wine glass was put down. He even put his fork down.

Were you making a big deal out of this? Probably not, right? This was important, you reminded yourself. You pursed your lips. "So one of my coworkers—former coworkers," you amended, "Clara. Her name's Clara. She and this guy you might know, Brian Yang…"

He nodded. "Yeah, I know of him."

"Well, they kind of had this thing going on between them. And the other day, she was fired because they broke up and he thought it was too weird that she was working where he was hanging out all the time," you rambled on. "And I uhm, I just wanted to make sure from the get-go that… you know… it's stupid, I don't know. But it's my job, y'know? And—and I need this job, but I like you a lot, Eric. Am I making any sense?"

Neither of you were eating anymore.

You looked at him, hopelessly, searching for signs of understanding.

He leaned in slightly and reached for your hands over the table. "Yn, sweetheart," he said, lacing his fingers with yours over the pot of beef stew, "that is a valid point to bring up, and I can understand what you're probably thinking. That—that news must have been scary, or at least nerve-racking, and Brian's a dick for that—"

You nodded, swallowing.

"—and I don't want you to risk your job because of me," he said earnestly. "But I really want to see where this goes, you know? If anything happens and you don't feel the same way, then no harm, no foul. I'm not gonna take my emotions out on you like that asshole; that's not right."

The breath you had been holding in fell from your mouth, a wave of relief. A sappy, grateful sort of smile worked its way onto your mouth and you met Eric's own kind expression. "You are actually perfect," you let out a breathy laugh. "Where have you been all my life?"

He grinned. "Funny, that's what I've been thinking about you." Eric set your laced hands on the side of the table as he raised his glass to you. "So what do you say? Can we try this?"

You lifted your glass to gently clink it with his. "Let's do it."

"So he's perfect, but he hasn't kissed you yet?" Chanhee's gasp of incredulity hit you in a gust of air. His lips pursed like a penguin's beak. "Figures."

You sent him a look. "Oh, please. Figures what? He's just being… I dunno, chivalrous!"

"Chivalry is dead," Haknyeon snickered as he waltzed by you with fresh towels to lay out by the pool. "You should make the move, Yn."

"So you two are, like, dating now?" Asked Changmin as he hopped onto the tiki bar stool next to you and Chanhee. He kept on glancing down at his watch; he must have only a small break in between his dance classes today.

"They're 'seeing where things go,'" mocked Jacob with a shake of his head. He swirled a rag around the innards of a glass to dry it.

You sent them all dirty looks now. "Cobie, out of all the times you choose to be an imp—"

"An imp," Chanhee muttered, glancing away as he took a sip of his piña colada, "I'm dead."

"If it makes you feel better, Yn, I'm supervising a tennis match with him and the Lee cousins later today. I can get a feel of where his mind's at," Jacob offered.

You drummed your fingers against the bar. The offer was tempting… "It's fine," you insisted. "We don't have to rush things. We go to the same university and we live in the same city now. It's not like we don't have time… right?"

"Riiiight," Changmin drawled with an over exaggerated wink. He frowned at his watch, hopping off his stool. "Damn it, salsa class time. Catch you losers later!"

As he darted off into the distance, Chanhee sniffed. "Says the loser." He plucked the pink umbrella out of his drink and set the decoration down on his napkin. "You're not wrong, Yn-ie. Taking it slow isn't a bad thing. From what you told us, it seems like you're both on the same page now anyway."

"Thank you," you said.

"Maybe he's trying to plan a romantic moment." Haknyeon rejoined the conversation now that he had done his towel delivery.

Jacob nodded with an approving turn of his lips. "You might be onto something. He seems the type."

Your heart was fluttering as if it sprouted butterfly wings. Oh, the thought of kissing Eric Sohn in romantic lighting…

"I think you should take her back to her job before she drifts fully into La La Land." When you snapped back to reality, Jacob's eyes were twinkling, eyebrows wagging.

Haknyeon nudged you with the back of his hand and nodded up to the clubhouse. "C'mon, Yn-ie. I think Manager Kim wants to brief us on dinner service anyway."

Hours later, Jacob found himself on the tennis courts, overseeing a match between the three Lee cousins—Sangyeon, Hyunjae, and Juyeon—and Eric. He often thought it was luck that got him to land this job where all he did to pass the day was make drinks, drive golf carts, and occasionally play doubles with club members. For all that it was, he considered himself very content.

"—that was a foul," Jacob declared, jogging to go catch the tennis ball before it bounded into the bushes.

Hyunjae let out a groan. "Nooo! It hit the line. Jacob, please, I thought we were cool!"

Sangyeon shook his head, smiling as he caught the tennis ball from Jacob with his free hand. "Hyunjae, we all know your eyesight is shit."

Hyunjae wrinkled his nose. "Hey! No one asked."

"Can we take a break?" Juyeon asked, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "I think I need some water."

The boys all murmured their agreement, and Jacob reached down into the mini cooler he'd lugged out to toss them ice cold bottles of water. It was just one of the few perks that came with the club membership.

While Sangyeon and Hyunjae were bickering about eyesight and foul lines, Juyeon settled into a seat by them to referee. Eric sidled up next to Jacob as they both absentmindedly watched the chaos unfold from afar.

Jacob whistled. "So… Yn said she had a really good time with you the other night."

Eric perked up at the sound of your name. "She did? Well that's a relief to hear."

"It wasn't clear?" Jacob asked, face tilted in question. "I mean, not to completely expose her or anything, but she's been gushing about you all day, man."

A giddy smile took over the youngest Sohn's face. "She was?" He licked his lips, drawing the pad of his thumb over the corner of his mouth to catch the water that had dribbled from the bottle. "She's—she's so cute, hyung. Like, I don't know if this is weird for you because you're friends—"

Jacob coughed in amusement. "It's fine. Think of me as your guardian angel."

"Right," Eric piped up. "I think… I think we really hit it off, y'know? And I mean, she probably told you we just kind of had dinner and she had to leave, but she'd come after work, so she was probably tired and—"

Ohhh. Jacob understood exactly what was going on now. His heart warmed at the thought that Eric was being so considerate and not forcing you to stay. He was thinking about your long day, and didn't wish to prolong it anymore. Little did he know, you probably wouldn't have minded hanging around a tad longer.

"—I wanted to kiss her—"

Wait huh. Jacob tuned back in. "When?"

Eric blinked. "Uhm, at dinner. Or at least, when I was walking her out to her car." He glanced away and his smile softened at the thought. "I wish I had, actually. The moment was right there, and the lighting was perfect, and her smile—oh my god, her smile."

Jacob's eyebrows flew up to his hairline. So this was where Eric's mind was at; good to know. "Then do it—kiss her."

"Right now?"

"No! Not right now—"

"Hey, you guys ready to play again?" Juyeon called. The three Lees had already maneuvered themselves back to court.

Eric and Jacob exchanged glances. This conversation wasn't over, Jacob's look seemed to say.

They nodded to their companions, though. "Yeah, we're ready."

It did not come as a surprise to you when you found out Eric had a home theater in his basement. It was something like you'd pictured from the movies, the ones with the rows of dark leather armchairs, deep cup holders, and a giant screen and surround sound system. The foot of the theater room even had a little snack station to make popcorn, and a mini fridge stocked with drinks.

You and Eric shared the couch on the bottom floor that was big enough for the two of you. It was a random Tuesday, and you didn't have work today, so he'd suggested swinging by and hanging out with him for the day. You couldn't possibly refuse.

Eric scrolled through the movie options on the screen with the remote. "Are you sure you don't want any popcorn?" He asked you.

You shook your head. "I'm good, really. But it sounds like you want popcorn, Eric."

He caught his tongue in his smile. "Maybe."

If you weren't supposed to be watching a movie, you would have gladly curled up on that couch and stared at him for the rest of time. His jawline was enough to make a girl go mad, and the fact that he was just so sweet, too—

"How about this one?"

You snapped out of it, barely flicking your gaze back over to the screen in time to avoid him finding out that you were just blatantly staring. "Uhh, sure. I haven't seen this one, actually."

"Really? Oh my god, we have to watch it then." And so you did.

It was about halfway into the movie that you realized there was a draft coming down on you—the air conditioning in this room was awfully high, but you didn't want to say anything. You hiked your legs up onto the couch and hugged your arms, leaning back slightly against the quilt draped over the back of the couch. (How conveniently placed…)

Eric saw your movement from the corner of his eye. "You cold? We can share the blanket."

"My hero," you joked as he removed the quilt from behind your heads and draped it over your laps.

Because the article wasn't exactly miles long, you and Eric had to shift over closer to each other. Not that you were complaining. The arm and leg pressed against yours were warm, and it gave him the perfect opportunity to raise his arm and place it over the back of the couch behind you.

As you both watched the rest of the movie, you gradually let yourself lean into him, and his arm eventually fell to rest directly around your shoulders, pulling you into his side.

"I always liked the ending of this movie," Eric murmured softly to you as the credits rolled. He brushed his fingers along your arm in a warm, soothing manner. "What'd you think?"

You stayed with your head tucked onto his shoulder. "Hmm, not bad. I think they could have cut the romance though."

"Ah, I see your point," he said. "Sometimes directors just like to force it for the sake of a subplot."

"Wholeheartedly agree."

His fingers danced up to your shoulder and began playing with your hair. He pursed his lips. "Are you a fan of romance movies? That's kind of a random question, I guess."

"Not really—a random question, I mean," you said, and pulled your head off of his shoulder to face him. The thought occurred to you of how close your bodies and your faces were, sharing warmth and skin. You saw his eyes dart down away from yours for a split second. "I like romance movies. I think they restore my faith in humanity," you mused. "You?"

"I like 'em, too." He released a small exhale, an almost-shy smile etching itself onto his face. "Most of them are just… feel-good movies. They're really sweet, and I've always kind of wanted something like that."

"High standards," you whispered, though playfully. "Wouldn't we all like something from the movies?" To you, this was what the movies were like—"handsome guy sweeps girl off her feet, and he's perfect and she's happy." You were already living out your too-good-to-be-true dreams.

He laughed. "True. I think it's just a matter of waiting for the right person to come along, maybe. And following through."

You bit the bait. "Following through?"

"Backing up your initial swing," he clarified. "Something to drive the ball home and make sure you mean it. I feel like maybe that's what people forget about romance—that there's still an after, beyond happily ever after."

Wow. "Your brain," you praised. "That was actual poetry, I think. Is this how you get girls?"

He bit his lip through a smile, leaning closer. "Only one girl. I hope it's working."

"I think it's working a little too well," you admitted, voice barely audible now.

You could feel the warmth of his breath fan over your lips as he came closer, about ninety-percent of the way; the other ten percent was left for you to either push forward or pull back. He was giving you the decision on a gold platter.

And who could deny something served so beautifully?

You closed the gap between you and pressed your lips against his. It was soft, at first, as the nerves in your brain and your vital organs threatened to go haywire. You breathed him in, your noses slotting against each other. He cupped the back of your head with his free hand, the other curling around your waist.

When you broke apart, it was for a split second, until he was kissing you again. You were half in his lap at this point, your legs draped over his, your side pressed to his chest.

Foreheads pressed together, you shared a breath of air with him. He nuzzled his nose against you as if unable to be so far from you. "Be mine," he said, simple at first. Then, "Please."

You smiled against him and felt his mouth do the same. "Only if you'll be mine, too."

"As if I would say no," he laughed, leaning in again, and crushing his mouth to yours. The theater room filled with both of your giggles as you fell backward.

If this was the happily ever after, then you would gladly follow through.

a/n: to anyone who read flight risk, i just redeemed myself from valentine's day

tbz m.list

permanent taglist: @flwoie @vatterie @seomisaho @hqrana @ja4hyvn @tinkerbell460 @kaaimins @hyunjaespresent-deobi @otterly-fey @zzoguri @floatingpluto @winterchimez @ethereal-engene @gyulfriend @polarisjisung @jaehunnyy @shakalakaboomboo @loveliestfelix @bless-311 @zhaixiaowen @leaz-kpop-life @amourdsr @pxppxrminty @kqyutie @sseastar-main @kxthleen14 @fluorescentloves @mosviqu @justalildumpling @jaerisdiction @super-btstrash-posts @jundundun @http-gyu @mvvnsseul @outrologist @vernonburger @maessseongs @kflixnet

[thelioncourts]

You may have answered this elsewhere, but what are some of your favorite Jam moments, either in videos or in print? :)

oh, god, there are so many. I'm going to forget all of them, but !

s1 interviews where they talked about texting each other pictures and sam had his photos on live and jacob thought it made him incredibly interesting and they would update each other as they got new fangs in the mail.

their zoom auditions that landed them the roles, the deciding factor really wasn't how they acted as lestat and louis, but how they interacted as themselves with one another.

their date to the vampire boutique to buy vampire things and they bought candles they were supposed to light together but sam, ever the forgetful husband, lit his way before jacob and jacob was Disappointed.

speaking of ever forgetful husband, the reddit q&a where jacob was like 'oh sam is trying to get into the writers room' like the husband that knows everything or when asked about their first scene and sam said one thing, then jacob corrected it, and sam commented back like 'oh yeah jacob is right.'

jacob's teeny tiny teasy pics of sam from sdcc 2022 before any of us knew just how much they were going to ruin us.

"most fulfilling partnership...cREATIVE partnership"

when they got out to the main sdcc 2022 panel and sam was so nervous and jacob gentle started rubbing his back and they looked at each other and sam put a hand on jacob's thigh and AHHH

sticker shop date

l.a. date where they went to universal

walks along the beach in san diego

meeting in the rehearsal room all masked up and whatnot

eric's "the only difference between these two and their characters is that I've never seen these two fight"

jacob saying that sam's hair is really cool when it's put up

sam on ep2 of the iwtv podcast saying that when he met jacob he knew it would be really easy to fall in love with him...

jacob's one interview where he said that the coffin was comfortable when there were two people in it and associating sam's bday with valentine's day

jacob crying as hard as he did during the s1 finale because not only was it the acting, but it was also the acknowledgement that he would be losing this with sam in some way

prague dinner dates every single night........

taking delainey paddleboating in prague

the entire s2 finale reunion and how the mics were cut so they could have that moment, how they didn't really discuss it, how they just know each other as they do and it was them, and it was real

the tv insider jenga game where jacob was like 'what's my favorite snack?' and asking sam and then going 'why am I asking you?' but sam still answered anyway

when they walked up to each other at the s2 premiere for the first time (don't talk to me about it)

the entire s2 premiere, I am not allowed to Speak

the 92ny screening and every teasing little interaction they had on that stage, GOD

the interview where they talked about their dinner in prague and sam chose it as his last meal if he could choose one, even though he didn't like the food that much, but --

how sam said that filming s1ep5 it was so hard to see jacob as he was but jacob tried to alleviate his problems with it and so they have fun videos of jacob spinning and also sam took home his prosthetic eye

the locket bailey made with both sam and jacob's pictures in it and she showed sam and he was like 'oH MY GOD CUTE'

seine river walk, my beloved

clubbing in paris that I'm legally not allowed to talk about

swapping contacts, like who does that, why

sam saying that there's no one he would rather be nude and bleeding with

the paleyfest 2022 interview where bailey was talking about how sweet they are and jacob made the CUTEST face and then was like 'sam. are we best friends?' in the most giggly way and sam was just. so fond, so 'yeah, we're best friends'

in jacob's interview with autumn where she was like 'I tried to get sam to sing when...' and jacob just. fully knowing 'he's not going to do that' in the most deadpan way

the s2 premiere cute interview clips where jacob just goes and lays down and stares at sam (?????)

jacob talking about (during s2) how grateful he was to film with sam and how it felt like home and it was comfortable

the video with delainey where they go through several of the episodes and analyze scenes and they spent way too long giggling about bdsm and just reminiscing

the way any and everyone talks about them, it's so not normal (compliment)

I'm sure there are hundreds more, I'll add to it as I think of things

[letters2won]

GOOD 4 U!

03; Bewitched

Your legs bounces up and down as the realization hits you.

You’re not a regretful person. You don’t regret accidentally taking a raccoon home instead of your beloved dog or how you showed a Jacob Elordi edit in front of your English class when you meant to present your presentation on “The Outsiders”.

But fake dating? not your smartest idea…

You have to be crazy for suggesting it. You have to be even crazier to agree to it. But what do you expect from a down bad admirer and a girl who wishes to move on?

The adored cat-like boy sitting across from you, felt his hands get sweaty. He knows you’re here to lay out some ground rules, but this was basically a date in his eyes!

You two sat in awkward silence, unsure on how to start the conversation. “Can’t believe your ex hates my guts… I'm just a silly little guy!” he joked out and you let a giggle slip out.

After that small joke he made, you guys were able to relax and have a smooth conversation. Jungwon even managed to started a debate on how cats were better than dogs.

“You’re literally betraying your own dog right now!” you said through fits of giggles. He was laughing alongside you as he ate the shared cake you guys got.

Soon after you two were full off of sweets and had calmed down, deciding it was best to start the rules as you see the sun setting.

“How should we go about this..?” he began, trying to hide his excitement.

You pondered for a minute before responding, “Rule number one! Don’t fall in love!”

Jungwon's smile falters a little before he proceeds to roll his eyes, “Seriously? Am I not your type?” he teased.

“Maybe if you were Choso..” you seriously considered and he glared at you.

“Of course you’re a Jujutsu Kaisen fan.. it all makes sense now.”

“HEY?!”

You huffed and then continued, “Oh another one! Rule number two, we hold hands and give each cheek kisses to make it believable!”

Jungwon's eyes widened. He only ever imagined giving you small pecks of kisses, he can’t believe his manifestations are coming true right now. You on the other hand can’t believe you really came up with that. Feeling embarrassed, you moved on rather quickly.

“Oh! I got one! Rule number three, only our close friends will know the truth.”

“Do we have to let them in on our plans..” he mumbled.

“Well yea! I suck at lying, I even got a whole medal at home for being the worst liar in school!” which you stated a little too proudly. He should’ve questioned that but he didn’t, instead he gave you a love sick smile and sighed dreamily, “You’re so talented…”

“Rule number four, We go on dates every friday or saturday!”

Jungwon added on, “We should also always go to each events..” and you weighed the pros and cons of that. For a second, you almost forgot that this was your student council president that was going along with everything that you were saying.

He plays such an important role for the school yet here you are dragging him into your little petty revenge plan on your ex without an incentive.

“Jungwon, what do you want to benefit from this? I feel kind of selfish for only thinking about my side of the plan..”

He let out a hum before giving you his famous dimpled smile which has you bewitched. “I want to spend more time with you in all of this.”

There it is again, that funny feeling. Something about Jungwon is making your heart do somersaults and cartwheels. You’re still confused about what's happening and tried to push it aside. You never felt like this with your ex so why now?

You cleared your throat after realizing you were staring at him with a dumbfounded look for a good moment, “O-oh okay! Easy peasy!”

He let out a breathy laugh as you tried acting nonchalant, shifting in your seat feeling your face get hot. “Moving on! For the last rule…hm.” You two started thinking hard, almost felt like your thinking caps were going to explode any second now.

You gasped and gave him a wide smile, “ Rule number five, every Thursday you watch the new Jujutsu Kaisen episode with me.” He gave you a deadpanned look.

“I’m not watching Jujutsu Kaisen with you.”

“Please! None of my friends wants to watch or hear my thoughts and since you’re my soon to be boyfriend you have to tune in to my rant sessions about them!” you rambled on, giving him those expecting wide eyes.

Jungwon was gone. He had officially lost it. Soon to be boyfriend? Yeah, he’s agreeing with everything you're saying from now on.

“I’ll do anything you ask me from now on queen!”

Oh boy… he is down bad.

PREV ✩ MASTERLIST ✩ NEXT

╰┈➤ this feels kind of rushed… i hope you guys enjoyed </3

SYNOPSIS in which you’re DEFINITELY not upset that your ex moved on really easily (spoiler alert: you are!). Yang Jungwon, the student council president is glad your ex moved on because it’s time for him to shoot his shot (just not in the way he wanted.. a win is a win in his book!)

TAGLIST < open > @firstclassjaylee @sincerelyrki @w0nslvr @poollabug @mrchweeee @nanuer @jwonistic @nyfwyeonjun @jiamini

[dwreader]

Interview with the Vampire Episode 2 Podcast Transcript

Special Guests: Sam Reid and Jewelle Gomez

"Being a vampire is hard, its very difficult to endure and exist forever basically and you need to have quite a lot of strength and internal power to endure and Lestat recognizes that in Louis. When he sees him on the street and thinks that very very very beautiful man just pulled a knife on his brother in the middle of the street to look powerful to save his own skin and he has enough strength to do that and Lestat thinks this guy has enough strength to endure. And he's also got the hots for him really badly..." -Sam Reid

Sam Reid Interview

N: Sam Reid, thank you so much.

S: Thank you for having me.

N: Don't you be nice, I'm coming in here and I'm mad at you. My question is this- how dare you?

S: What are you referring to exactly?

N: Here's what I think of Lestat, I think Lestat is a messy bitch who lives for drama. What did you know about Lestat coming into the audition?

S: I know the books, I've known them for a very long time. I heard they were making it and I said I hoped I would get the chance to an audition for it. The thing that freaked me about the auditon was the majority of it was in French. It had all the lines in English but it said in paranthesis in French. I studied French in school and my sister speaks fluent French but I am not fluent so that was a bit stressful.

N: You and Jacob did your chemistry tests over Zoom, I mean does anyone have chemistry over Zoom? That must've been so tough.

S: Yeah,. I don't know what they were looking for or how to gauge chemistry from that cause it was really glitchy and speaking over each other and trying really hard to act into the camera which just wasn't really working. Jacob is such a lovely person and a fantastic actor and just an easy person to be around so I could tell he was gonna be a very easy person to fall in love with. It was fun, in fact I just came with having ice cream with Jacob. And he says hello

N: Omg I'm obsessed, give me this footage, I want ice cream footage, I want strolling the streets of downtown New Orleans footage.

S: And we hang out all the time, we've become very good friends. Cause it is a crazy journery we're on and its a crazy job so it's nice have a very good friend.

N: So Lestat has a life well before the show starts and he's been on this journey and you have the different versions of Lestat from the book and you have this amalgation. What sort of conversations did you have w/ the showrunner Rolin Jones about your version of Lestat?

S: The premise is for Louis to revisit the interview so Louis has a more nuanced way of describing Lestat so my question was how much of this is the real Lestat and how much of is Louis' version of Lestat? Because obviously this is a memory. This is all through Louis's eyes so is this actually how Lestat is like or is he different? and I think we play with that on and off. What's really important about this season is you're playing a character seen through somebody else's eyes.

N: Right right right, Gordian knot. It's a bit of a layer.

S: And everyone kept telling me stop thinking about it too much don't think about it and I didn't and I don't think about it too much when I'm doing. There will come a day when I think Lestat turns around and goes actually this is how it fucking happend.

N: Okay well Sam, you're just making me so mad cause you're too kind and too funny. cause I was coming in with hard hitting questions and I was livid at Lestat. This is what's so fun about the show and what its doing so right as a genre story, is the humor and the personality. [coffin scene plays] I mean Lestat is out here, it's such a funny monent for Lestat its like OK you wanna own a club? I was like Louis you have unlimited power and you want a club? Dream bigger!

S: I think it goes to show how in love Lestat is with Louis that he's gonna give him these things that mean absolutely nothing in the context of vampire world. But what Lestat doesn't understand is that what Louis needs is that power and is control over his life. There's a lesson for both of them and in this moment, Lestat doesn't understand.

N: Here's another question I have.. I just need you to tell me, where is Lestat's money coming from??

S: He's got investments and he's got bankers and lawyers in France. When he got turned into a vampire, he was given like the most ginormous amount of money like an entire room of treat.

N: You're giving us so much backstory, I didn't even know that.

S: If you think about inflation over the years  its just like an obscene obscene amount of money. And if you've lived through the centuries you're able to follow the trends of markets..

N: That's why I would be a vampire or travel through time, like people say they would kill Hitler and yes I would do that too but I would also get some good property, like get some good spaces like I'd go back to like 1899 when its cheap and buy it all up. One Park Ave apartment!

S: Thats why all vampires are pretty damn rich, like Louis in 2022 in Dubai he is really mega rich, he's got Francis Bacons.

N: I didn't even clock it. You also know he's rich cause his penthouse is so cold. Rich people really love stone floors and sharp edges, you know they want you to know if you're poor  you could die in here.

S: Exactly, and you're never comfortable..

N: Why do you think Lestat chose Louis cause as a viewer there's a question from moment one - do these men really love each other, are they just entangled, the whole time you're watching.. do I want them to be together?

S: Being a vampire is hard, its very difficult to endure and exist forever basically and you need to have quite a lot of strength and internal power to endure and Lestat recognizes that in Louis. When he sees him on the street and thinks that very very very beautiful man just pulled a knife on his brother in the middle of the street to look powerful to save his own skin and he has enough strength to do that and Lestat thinks this guy has enough strength to endure. And he's also got the hots for him really badly. He tries really hard to be a good normal guy as best as he can and I think when he has dinner with his familiy and he screws up, he does actually feel quite bad that he's made a mess of that cause he was trying really hard to be on his best behavior. Instead he hypnotizes his brother and makes a big scene. He's starts making innuendos and brings up God, which is never a good thing with Lestat. So he does his absolute best to pretend he's drinking wine and eating food.

N: What was it like to go from covid isolation to sex scenes?

S: Um, hmm. The sex scenes were kind of the easier part and we were all in the same bubble together and we were getting tested all the time like daily. It was a funny time cause we had these mad contacts on and they're quite cloudy. Jacob and I really clung to each other a lot of the time cause we couldn't really see, everyone else had masks on and you could only the person just in front of you. So it was this very comedic languid dream like place.

N: Can we talk more about the contacts, the makeup.. I cannot take the nails, the long nails, the cutting everyone.

S: The nails were a real process, originally they were press on / stick on nails and I had so many action I was always grabbing stuff and they were constantly popping off and so they said you should get acryllic. It took me a long long time to get used to acryllic nails and a lot of people would just come up and talk to me, like I would be in a restaurant and someone would just be like hey I love your nails. it was free reign for people to come up and chat so I became a nicer looking person with the nails.

N: It's like nails and hair. You always had short hair right?

S: Yeah it's usually always short. My hair was short when I first arrived in and it grew out over the course of the show, so we extended it with extensions and then it was my own hair. At first Rolin was like you know I think you could have short hair your hair looks good, I was like no no no no.. I think if you're gonna play a character like Lestat you kind of  have to have the nails and the hair. And he likes to accentuate things if he's really pissed off he'll flip it all the way back you know.

N: And there are time we are almost getting drag queen level drama from Lestat,  he wants you and everyone in a 10 mile radius to know when he's mad.

S: It's drama, he loves drama. I love him very dearly so I don't want to say anything bad about him but he wants to create a bit of drama he'll create a bit of drama. And if he wants to be really seductive in a moment and flip it and be really ugly, he will. He does what he wants whenever he wants and he'll make sure everyone's watching him do it cause he know he looks great doing it. He's a super vain guy but his heart is in the right place I would say.

N: Nope Sam, nope. Okay. Sam. I'm gonna have to push back. I know you played him but I'm saying you're wrong. .. One thing I think Rolin does so well that you and Jacob capture is this is now an interracial relationship, it charges these questions Anne was already asking - what is it to be human, what is power, what are relationships. [incinerator argument scene plays] Do you think that being a vampire being hundreds of years old, that Lestat think of himself as above race?

S: I don't know if he thinks of it like that, I think he definitely acknowledges the prejudices that exist, he acknolwedges it as soon as he meets Louis and I think once you become a vampire, that you can transcend that, thats what Lestat fully misunderstands about Louis' situation. I think he has a lot to learn in that regard.

N: Lestat is kinda like humans are trifles, we don't have time for it. Louis believes humanity is worthwhile and still wants to be apart of it.

S: I think he just doesn't understand yet, I think Louis at this point doesn't understand the enormity of living forever. He's just become a vampire, his family is still around, I think once you see everyone around you grow old die you see wars break outriots break out, you see the ages through the century, you see humanity is in this fucked up cycle that continues on the same hamster wheel. You're this fantastic creature that exists outside of humanity, why do you need to bother engaging with the small little fancies of these human beings. Then Lestat, there's his choice, I'm gonna live it up and have a good time and make a joke about it find it funny. He is very oscillating though so sometimes the joke is at his expense and sometimes the joke is at everyone else's expensve but he is the one who's always laughing. But what I will say is what Lestat feels about humanity is through art, like there is a beautiful pure expression and he really repsects and admires that and love musicians and artists. [opera scene plays] I mean what an amazing gift to read a scene like that I couldn't believe it when I was reading it and then it dawned on me that I would have to play the piano, sing, and speak Italian and kill somebody. Yeah, don't screw it up or you will die. But if you're a good musician in his eyes, he will make sure you're fully appreciated. If you're bad, yes you will die.

N: So the stakes are pretty chill. Either you're good and have a patron for life or you're bad and you die.

[teasing future episodes]

Jewelle Gomez Interview Highlights

N: In this episode, we learn a lot about vampires. I'm wondering how common these are in other vampire stories, like are they things Anne codified or have they been around. First, Lestat saying he had been so lonely, he says there are only about 100 other vampires in the world. What? I thought there were so many more?

J: I think the general idea has been vampires don't create much in the way of community that tehy are individualists in a great sense. No one ever really talks about the numbers but they seem to be very small so I think the tendency is to be inviduals.

N: They said the vampires can't drink the blood of the dead?

J: Yeah, thats a no no. You just don't be doing that. The heart has still got to be beating while you're taking the blood. Cause the blood from a dead person will draw you into death. That's pretty common, everyone knows that.

N: I thought maybe it was a taste issue like its a little sticky its a little coagulated that its not as good. But okay. Another tidbit we get is vampires can't read the minds of someone they've made. So like lestat can't read louis' mind?

J: I dont know if that is a general rule about makers. In general, vampires can read anybody's thoughts based on my extensive research/

N: Vampires live in coffins but do they need to sleep in coffins. I thought that was an old school idea like if you were a modern vampire you'd be like this is my studio apartment.

J: Every novel you read they sleep in coffins, although when I was writing a black lesbian vampire moving into the 20th century having escaped from slavery, she would not be sleeping in no coffin! I was like no no no no no. The big thing about coffin is the security, if you can get in there and lock it. In Dracula he carries his home soil so his coffin is lined with. In my books, I put her on a futon and its pretty uncomfortable but so is a coffin, behind a very thick door and she's good to go.

N: Alright thats the end of our lightning round, okay now Jewelle, what is your relationship with TVC and Anne Rice in general?

J: I read IWTV certainly when it first came out and I had written a single story a vampire story that got published in the Village Voice and then I thought I could write more of these cause people really liked it. Anne Rice's writing made me realize how sensual the vampire story could be and that meant the texture to a lot of my own writing of vampire stories.

N: What is it about vampires for you that you feel like lends itself to exploring queerness and sexuality more so than other monsters?

J: I think vampires have a natural sensuality. I mean the very act of taking blood is skin against skin, touching. The way that vampire interactions are set up is like a seduction in most cases. Bringing someone into vampire life involves an exchange of liquids, the lips touching, parts of the body, its sensual by its very nature. It draws in anyone who is interested in any sensual writing, queer writers allows us to create an outsider figure who's also the hero of the story. For we as queer people, being an outside being at the center our of own story.

N: Certainly this version of IWTV is doing its own thing but very much rooted in Anne's books. Before it was a little implicit, it was coded that Louis and Lestat had something going on. Here it's like this is what its about.

J: I think Louis and Lestat's relationship is core to the story and what moves the story and because its the 21st century we can now look at how two men come together and can find each other. What's really moving about this particular version is when Lestat talks about how lonely he has been for so long and I think he's giving voice to what a lot of queer people feel before they find their queer lover. So its very very moving to be able to experience that loneliness before he's able to find the lover he's been looking for.

N: There's so many ethical questions about being a vampire, like you're a vampire that doesn't wanna kill people. Do you think a vampire has to kill people in order to be really powerful?

J: I don't think so. A vampire has the power to take blood and not kill. To take small amounts from lots of people and not kill. And that's the way I wanted my character to go cause she's creating community, I think the idea that Louis could take blood and not kill, he does finally get to that when we see the interview w/ the older Molloy. I also know that all of us donate blood to the Red Cross we don't die when we give a pint of blood. So I think its possible to donate that amount of blood to a vampire and still live. That made more sense to me, that's how I created my vampires.

N: I love the idea that a vampire would take your blood and give you Orange Juice and cookies. Like here's a couple dried biscuits, take a seat for 10 minutes.

[richincolor]

New Releases

All of these books look interesting to me. I don't even know which book I want to add to my TBR reading list first. 

Gita Desai Is Not Here to Shut Up by Sonia Patel Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books

It’s eighteen-year-old Gita Desai’s first year at Stanford University, and it’s a miracle she’s here and not already married off by her traditional Gujarati parents. She’s determined to death-grip her good-girl, model-student rep all the way to medical school, which means no social life or standing out in any way. Should be easy: If there’s one thing she’s learned from her family it’s how to chup-re—to “shut up,” fade into the background.

But when childhood memories of her aunt’s desertion and her then-uncle’s best friend resurface, Gita ditches the books night after night in favor of partying and hooking up with strangers. Still, nothing can stop the nagging voice in her head that’s growing louder and louder, insisting something’s wrong… and the only way she can burst forward is to stop shutting-up about the past.

Click below to read about all of this week's new releases.

Ida, in Love and in Trouble by Veronica Chambers Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Before she became a warrior, Ida B. Wells was an incomparable flirt with a quick wit and a dream of becoming a renowned writer. The first child of newly freed parents who thrived in a community that pulsated with hope and possibility after the Civil War, Ida had a big heart, big ambitions, and even bigger questions: How to be a good big sister when her beloved parents perish in a yellow fever epidemic? How to launch her career as a teacher? How to make and keep friends in a society that seems to have no place for a woman who speaks her own mind? And – always top of mind for Ida – how to find a love that will let her be the woman she dreams of becoming?

Ahead of her time by decades, Ida B. Wells pioneered the field of investigative journalism with her powerful reporting on violence against African Americans. Her name became synonymous with courage and an unflinching demand for racial and gender equality. But there were so many facets to Ida Bell and critically acclaimed writer Veronica Chamber unspools her full and colorful life as Ida comes of age in the rapidly changing South, filled with lavish society dances and parties, swoon-worthy gentleman callers, and a world ripe for the taking.

Till the Last Beat of My Heart by Louangie Bou-Montes HarperCollins

When you grow up in a funeral home, death is just another part of life. But for sixteen-year-old Jaxon Santiago-Noble, it’s also part of his family’s legacy. Most dead bodies in the town of Jacob’s Barrow wind up at Jaxon’s house; his mom is the local mortician, after all. He doesn’t usually pay them much mind, but when Christian Reyes is brought in after a car accident, Jaxon’s world is turned upside down.

There are a lot of things Jaxon wishes he could have said to his once best friend and first crush. When he accidentally resurrects Christian, Jaxon might finally have that chance. But the more he learns about his newfound necromancy, the more he grasps that Christian’s running on borrowed time—and it’s almost out.

As he navigates dark, mysterious magics and family secrets, Jaxon realizes that stepping into an inherited power may also mean opening up old family wounds if he wants to keep the boy he may be falling for alive for good.

The Rez Doctor written by Gitz Crazyboy & illustrated by Veronika Barinova HighWater Press

Young Ryan Fox gets good grades, but he’s not sure what he wants to be when he grows up. It isn’t until he meets a Blackfoot doctor during a school assembly that he starts to dream big.

However, becoming a doctor isn’t easy. University takes Ryan away from his family and the Siksikaitsitapi community, and without their support, he begins to struggle. Faced with more stress than he’s ever experienced, he turns to partying. Distracted from his responsibilities, his grades start to slip. His bills pile up. Getting into med school feels impossible. And now his beloved uncle is in jail. Can Ryan regain his footing to walk the path he saw so clearly as a boy?

Desert Echoes by Abdi Nazemian HarperCollins

From Abdi Nazemian, the award-winning author of Like a Love Story and Only This Beautiful Moment, comes a suspenseful contemporary YA novel about loss and love.

Fifteen-year-old Kam is head over heels for Ash, the boy who swept him off his feet. But his family and best friend, Bodie, are worried. Something seems off about Ash. He also has a habit of disappearing, at times for days. When Ash asks Kam to join him on a trip to Joshua Tree, the two of them walk off into the sunset . . . but only Kam returns.

Two years later, Kam is still left with a hole in his heart and too many unanswered questions. So it feels like fate when a school trip takes him back to Joshua Tree. On the trip, Kam wants to find closure about what happened to Ash but instead finds himself in danger of facing a similar fate. In the desert, Kam must reckon with the truth of his past relationship—and the possibility of opening himself up to love once again.

Desert Echoes is a propulsive, moving story about human resilience and connection.

Between the Pipes Story by Albert McLeod with Elaine Mordoch and Sonya Ballantyne (Contributor) & illustrated by Alice RL HighWater Press

Thirteen-year-old Chase’s life and identity should be simple. He’s the goalie for his hockey team, the Eagles. He’s a friend to Kevin and Jade. He’s Kookum’s youngest grandchild. He’s a boy. He should like girls.

But it’s not that simple. Chase doesn’t like girls the way that the other boys do. It’s scary being so different from his peers. Scarier still is the feeling that his teammates can tell who he is—and that they hate him for it. If he pretends hard enough, maybe he can hide the truth.

Real strength and change can’t come from a place of shame. Chase’s dreams are troubled by visions of a bear spirit, and the more he tries to hide, the more everything falls apart. With the help of an Elder, and a Two-Spirit mentor, can Chase find the strength to be proud of who he is?

“Between the Pipes” explores toxic masculinity in hockey through the experiences of an Indigenous teen.

They Thought They Buried Us by NoNieqa Ramos Carolrhoda Lab

Horror fan and aspiring film director Yuiza gets a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

As one of the few students of color at Our Lady of Perpetual Mercy, Yuiza immediately feels out of place. A brutal work-study schedule makes it impossible to keep up with the actual classes. Every expense, from textbooks to laundry, puts Yuiza into debt. And the behavior of students and faculty is… unsettling.

Yuiza starts having disturbing dreams about the school’s past and discovers clues about the fate of other scholarship students. It’ll take all Yuiza’s knowledge of the horror genre to escape from Our Lady’s grasp.

How to Lose a Best Friend by Jordan K. Casomar MTV Books

For as long as anyone can remember, Zeke Ladoja and Imogen Parker have been best friends. Their classmates, their parents, and even the school custodian think that they’re meant to be together. And that’s exactly what Zeke wants: for Gen to be his girlfriend. Now that she’s about to be sixteen (and allowed to date), Zeke is finally going to tell her how he feels—in front of everyone at her birthday party.

Imogen loves Zeke with all her heart, but only as a friend. The pressure to be with Zeke has sometimes been overwhelming, but up to this point, she’s been able to manage it. Then she falls for the new boy, Trevor Cook, and she knows the news will devastate Zeke. The last thing she wants to do is hurt her best friend, but she also resents the fact that no one seems to care about what she wants.

The night of Gen’s party, everything goes wrong. There’s backlash, most of it directed at Gen, and Zeke feels emboldened. He isn’t about to give up on his feelings, and he’ll do whatever it takes to prove that she made the wrong choice…even if it means destroying their friendship. But Gen isn’t about to give up on fighting for herself and the freedom to love the boy she wants, not the boy she’s expected to be with.

[theskullkid]

So, if anyone had happened to pay attention to my blog description or the stuff that I reblog, you’d know that I am very queer and also very Christian. One of my favorite things to do is to tell Bible stories, and I decided— why the hell not, I’ll post ‘em on here! I decided to come to you all today with the story of Joseph, son of Jacob, who was sold by his own brothers into slavery. Very terrible of them. I’m well aware. It happened kinda like this:

Jacob was this old guy in the old testament. He had four wives— Rachel, Bilhah, Leah, and Zilpah— and eleven kids. And out of all of them, wifey Rachel and his sonny Joseph where his favorites. Rachel, his favorite wife, because that was who he WANTED to marry (the others were added onto the list after a whole buncha mess that would take a long time to get into); and Joseph, the son bore by the wife he really loved. Jacob favored Joseph so much that Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him and hated the very grounds Joseph walked on. Jacob even made Joseph a coat- a coat of many colors, as the bible says. It set him apart from his brothers, and it was hated by his siblings.

Joseph was blessed with a talent of being able to interpret dreams. I guess it made up for whatever he lacked in common sense. For example, once he went to his brothers and told him about a dream he had. 

“Hey, guys, I had a weird dream last night,” he said, although it wasn’t very odd to him. He knew what it meant. “We were all out gathering sheaves of grain out in the field, and all the sudden, my sheaf jerked outta my hands and rose upright, and your sheaves all jerked outta your hands, too, and bowed around mine! Isn’t that… Weird?” He gulped, because all the sudden, his brothers looked like they wanted to absolutely murder him. 

“You sayin’ that one day, you’re gonna rule over us?” They growled, because they absolutely wanted to murder him. Joseph had enough sense to keep his trap shut at that and shuffled off.

A while later, Jacob sent Joseph to go get his brothers and bring them home, because they were out in the field, doing farmerly things. They saw Joseph coming in the distance, and they all decided that they were sick of him and his stupid coat, so they plotted to kill him.

“Here comes the dreamer,” one of them said, mockingly. “Let’s just kill him and throw him into one of the dry wells. No one would know about it, and we can just say an animal killed him and ruin that stupid jacket as proof, easy peasy.”

Reuben, the eldest, turned a little pale. See, he hated Joseph himself, but he didn’t want to kill the guy. “Um… How ‘bout we, uh, not kill him? Just throwing that out there.” He said, nervously. “Lets just take the jacket and throw him into the well. Leave him there. Lets not get his blood on our hands.” Well, really, Reuben didn’t want Joseph’s blood on HIS hands. He intended on going back to the well and saving Joseph and leading him back.

A bit later, Joseph approached them.

“Hey, guys!” Joseph said, brightly, as the bloodthirsty figures of his brothers loomed over him. “Dad wants you guys back home, how much longer d’ya think you’ll be- ACK!”

The “ack” being the sound of Joseph’s brothers grabbing him, yanking off his coat, and tossing him into the well. For funnies, imagine that little cartoon sound effect that’s used when a character falls off a cliff. 

They left Joseph there, who was pretty much screaming, begging, pleading, and crying for his brothers to let him out, and went to go eat a meal— excluding Reuben, who was out biding some time before he went to save Joseph. As they were eating, they caught sight of some Ishmaelites passing through. 

“Hey, here’s a thought,” Judah said, his voice thick with food, “How ‘bout we sell him? That way, his blood ain’t on our hands, we’re a couple pieces of silver richer, AND we get rid of him. I mean, he is our own brother. Might as well show a little mercy and sell him into slavery.”

His brothers grunted in agreement, and when they finished, they went back to the well. 

“You came back!” Joseph hiccuped, a bruised, tear-stained and dirty mess, relief settled in his eyes. “I prayed you would! You can have the jacket, if you don’t like it- Huh?”

And then they sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver.

When Reuben found Joseph wasn’t there, he freaked out. “What am I gonna do now? This is gonna kill Dad!” He stressed, but his brothers had already taken the coat and smeared it with animals blood. When they presented it to Jacob, he thought that Joseph was killed by some animals, and he tore his clothes and went deep into mourning. When his children and many wives tried to comfort him, he refused it. He said that he’d never stop mourning his son until he was dead right along with him.

Meanwhile, the Ishmaelites went and sold Jacob away to Egypt for slavery. To Potiphar, to be exact, who was one of the officials for the Pharaoh.

You can read the story for yourself in Genesis, Chapter 37: verses 1 through 36 in the Bible! :D

[agirlwithbigdreamsforher]

CHAPTER 8

THE NANNY: CHAPTER 8

Pairing: Andy Barber x Annie Johnson (OFC)

Summary: Working and single parenting is not easy. Andy needs to find a nanny for his son Jacob. Annie, an education degree student at Lasell University, comes to their lives just in time for the big changes in Andy’s life.

Warnings: cursing, cheating, violence

A/N: I did my research, so you can know the distances. Lasell University is in Auburndale that is 5 min away from Newton and 15 min away from Boston, both driving nonstop and without traffic. Walking from Auburndale to Newton will be 48 minutes…or that’s what google said hahahaha. Also, this chapter has violence that could be triggering for some people. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not give permission for any of my works to be copied, used, translated nor reposted anywhere else but here on this blog. Do not steal what you didn’t work for. Minors and ageless blank blogs don’t interact with me or my works. Reblogs and likes are always welcome. Thank you for reading this work of fiction.

Word count: 2021

GIF not mine, if it is yours let me know so I can give you credit :)

                                       ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

It was almost summer break. It was a typical Thursday afternoon. The weather outside was warm and sunny. Jake and Annie were in the backyard playing to be the Avengers, she was always the bad guy and Jake loved to save the world as Captain America. It was just 5:30 when the front door opened, Andy could hear Jake’s laugh on the back yard. He walked to the back door and saw Jake and Annie jumping on the trampoline. Andy leaned against the door frame watching them play, Annie was wearing a beautiful pink sundress and once in a while she let herself fall for Jake to catch her. She grabbed Jake by his ribs and tickle him, making Jake kicked and squawked. Annie looked up and saw Andy staring at them.

“You’re early.” Annie mentioned. She and Jake climbed down the trampoline.

“We didn’t have much to do at the office, they send me home. You can leave if you want, or you can stay and have ice cream with us.”

“Yeah! Ice cream!” Jake run to his dad.

“Thanks,” she put her sandals on, “but I could use the time to check some things for my exams next week.”

“Are you sure? Is Chocolate ice cream?” Andy said while they got in the house.

“If you give Jake that flavor now,” She whispered in his ear sending him shivers down his spine, “you won’t be able to put him to bed later tonight.”

“I think I can handle him.”

“And is cute that you think you can Mr. Barber.” She winked at him.

Annie grabbed her bag, got in the car and headed to the library. She was on her way to the campus, when she changed her mind. Daniel has been telling her nonstop they didn’t spend time together lately, that he missed her and since she was free for now, decided to surprise him.

She parked her car and climbed the stairs of her building. She carefully opened the door, making sure not to make noise to surprise his boyfriend. As she walked to the bedroom she listened soft moaning, panthing and grunting, the closer she got the stronger they became.  The door of the bedroom was opened and there it was Daniel on top of a blonde girl trusting hard into her; Annie froze, watching how his boyfriend was fucking another girl in the bed they shared.

“Are… you sure…no one… will… bother us?” the blonde girl asked him with each trust.

“Mmhm… my roommate is not here till 7:30…”

“YOU ARE A FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!!”

Annie screamed at the couple, both Daniel and the girl jumped off the bed.

“Babe! Is not what you think!”

“Babe?!” the girl said looking at Daniel.

Daniel stand covering his erection with the pillow walking to her trying to hold her.

“LEAVE ME ALONE! I HATE YOU!”

She turned around to leave the apartment but Daniel followed her.

“Babe, please! Don’t leave! Let me explain! I love you! You are my girl…”

“NO! I’M NOT!” she turned to see him, “APPARENTLY I’M JUST YOUR ROOMATE! I WANTED TO SURPRISE YOU! AND YOU….”

She didn’t finish the sentence, lifted her hand and slapped him hard on the face, leaving a mark on his check. Daniel stood there looking at her with an angry expression and said nothing, Annie turned around, took her bag and keys, and left the building. It wasn’t until she was in her car she noticed she was crying, she didn’t know if she was sad or angry, maybe both, the only thing she knew was she needed to be far away from there. Annie started the engine of her car and drove until she was outside his brother’s house in Boston. As soon as the door open and saw her brother she broke down.

“I thought he loved me… I thought he was the one!”

“Shhh, breath. He is an asshole honey, he doesn’t deserve you.” his brother told her while rubbing her back.

“He said I was just his roommate!” Annie kept sobbing.

“Don’t yell, you’re gonna wake Denisse up. You are welcome to stay you know that.”

“I can’t I have school tomorrow and the exams are next week.”

“And where are you gonna stay?”

After Annie left his brother’s house, she went straight to Sharon’s apartment, she told her what happened and Sharon told her she could stay there until she found a new place to live. Since Sharon already had a roommate, Annie had to sleep on the couch, and she wasn’t going to complain about it. The next day Mark found out what happened and he was fuming; he never liked Daniel, he thought he was a controller and in general a jerk, and once he heard what he did to his friend he hated him even more. Later that Friday, Sharon and Mark went to her house to pick some things for her, some books, her iPad, her computer and some clothing.

“Where is she?!” Daniel asked them as soon as they were inside the apartment.

They ignored him, took a bag and threw her stuff in it.

“I’m fucking talking to you!” Daniel yelled, “Tell me where the fuck my girlfriend is?!”

“Your girlfriend?? Mark stood in front of him, “After what you did to her, she is not your girlfriend anymore.”

“I need to talk to her, I have to explain”

“Explain what?!” Sharon snapped, “How you cheated on her? Cuz she already saw it! There is no need to explain that!

“You’re an asshole and you’re always will be, I’m glad she notice in time what kind of man you truly are.” Both Sharon and Mark headed to the door, “oh! And she said you have to stop calling her.”

Annie spend the entire weekend crying, every time she thought about Daniel she could only see the image of him on top of that girl, and we can add the fact that she was also stressed because of her finals so she was barely sleeping. She looked like a zombie, and felt gloomy but she had to put on a smile for Jake while taking care of him, it wasn’t the kid’s fault her life was falling apart, so she acted like everything was ok.

It was a Wednesday, Annie and Jake where in his room playing with some of his hot wheels, when Jake stood up and ran to the bathroom. She was alone and all of the sudden everything came back to her, Daniel, the exams, the lack of sleep. Annie started sobbing harder and harder, she could barely breathe; when Jake came back she found Annie covering her face, shaking and crying uncontrollably.

“Annie?” She looked at Jake, her face wet because of her tears. “no… no cry” Jake hugged her and patted her in the back.

“I’m sorry sweetie… I’m…”

“No cry” he hugged her thither.

Little by little Annie calmed down, she took a deep breath and saw Jake, who was worried and teary.

“I’m so sorry Jake”

“Why you cry?”

“Cuz I’m sad and tired… and...”

“Not be sad,” Jake walked to his bed and picked up his teddy bear, “here, he take care of you.”

“Thank you” Annie laughed.

“Come” Jake took her hand and made her stand. They walked to the bed and Jake patted his mattress, “you here”

“Jake I don’t fit in your bed”

“Yes, you are”

Annie shook her head and laid on Jake’s bed holding the teddy bear. She made herself comfortable laying on her side in fetal position, otherwise she wouldn’t fit on the bed. Jake went to his small bookcase and grabbed a book.

“I read story, and you slepf.”

“You don’t know how to read”

“Yes, I am, I’m big boy!”

“hahahaha alright, read to me.”

The book didn’t even have words, there were just images but Jake did his best to tell a story for her to sleep.

“Onces upon da times, was a princess named Annie…” Annie closed her eyes focusing on Jake’s voice.

Once Jake finished “reading” his story, he looked down and saw his nanny was sleeping peacefully, he took his blue blanket, put it over her shoulders, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He stood up, grabbed some toys and went downstairs to play.

Around 7:30 Andy arrived, the house was complete silent, the lights were off and there was no smell of food around.

“Jake?” Andy walked to the kitchen “Annie?”

Jake came running touching his lips with his small finger.

“Hi buddy, what are you doing?”

“shhhh, I playing da shhh game.” He whispered.

“Really? Why?”

“Annie is sleeping”

“What?!”

“shhhhh!” Jake said with no patience.

“Alright shhhh, where is she?”

Jake walked to the stairs and pointed up, Andy hold Jake on his arms and went upstairs, Jake’s door was slightly opened.

“Annie cry, daddy” Andy looked at his son confused.

“Do you know why?”

“Sad,” Jake thought a little bit more, “stress?” he shrugged

“Ok, let’s try not to make noise ok?” Jake nodded and put his kid on the floor.

“Go to my room Jake” The kid ran to the other bedroom.

Andy walked in the bedroom, and sat on the little space there was on the bed, he could see the puffiness in her eyes but in general she seemed relaxed. He knew she was taking her finals so maybe she was just having a tough week. Andy touched her cheek with the back of his fingers and she smiled on her sleep, which made him smiled as well.

“Annie?” Andy kept stroking her cheek, “Annie, honey, wake up.”

Her eyes fluttered open, Andy was a blurry image, she closed her eyes again and heard Andy laughed a little. This time she opened her eyes and saw Andy clearly.

“Oh my god!” She stood up quickly. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!”

“Hey, it’s ok” Andy said with amusement once he saw the mark of the pillow on her cheek.

“What time is it?

“Ammm,” Andy looked at his watch “It’s 7:35”

“I didn’t make you dinner,” She was freaking out. Never, in all of her time of being a babysitter, she had fallen asleep while working.

“Don’t worry about it” Andy stood up “Did you sleep well?”

Annie turned around and headed to the stairs, she almost tripped and fall if it wasn’t because Andy grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her against his chest.

“Alright stop!” their faces were closed, “Calm down, so you fell asleep, is not a big deal.”

“I’m sorry” her eyes became watery, “I’m truly sorry” she started sobbing and Andy wrapped his arms around her, and she buried her face on his chest, she could smell his cologne, and he could felt how tense she was.

“Wanna tell me what’s wrong?” she shook her head, “Are you stressed?” Annie nodded, “Why?”

“I don’t wanna lose my scholarship” she lift her head, “and I feel I did terrible on my exams.”

She wasn’t lying, but she didn’t tell him about everything she was going through.

“I’m sure you did well, you are very smart,” Andy rubbed her back, “Don’t worry about dinner.”

“How can I not be worried?!!” she let go of his embrace, “You pay me for it! And I fell asleep while I was supposed to be taking care of Jake!”

“Well, we can always have pizza or Chinese” Andy said putting his hands on his pockets.

“Why are you not angry?!” Annie said annoyed.

“Cuz you are upset,” Andy grabbed her chin up, her brown honey eyes were red “and last time you were upset and I was angry I fired you remember?”

Annie nodded and looked at her feet, “So,” Andy continued, “Since I really don’t want to fire you; I need you to go home and rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He gave her a peck on the cheek and walked out of Jake’s room leaving Annie alone. She touched her cheek, a faded smiled appeared on her lips, took a deep breath and left for the night.

[amelia-friend]

one and one (and one and one)

Jack/Davey, and Katherine/Sarah (they just have a couple of things to figure out first.) You can also read it on AO3: here.

5,300 words, very fluffy.

Summary:

Jack is dating Katherine, her family only just finally okay with him. Barely.

Unfortunately, Jack has just realised he doesn’t love Katherine (like that. anymore.). Jack loves Davey. However, this is okay because Katherine has just realised she doesn’t love Jack (like that. anymore). Katherine loves Sarah. All four of them are fully aware of these facts. Eventually.

Double unfortunately – those loves are illegal. Jack’s convinced there’s an easy solution here. He and Katherine will get married and live in one apartment. Sarah and Davey get married and live in the apartment next door and then just *hidden door* between them so they can all live happily ever after (or as close to it as they can get) with the person they actually want to and no one will be any the wiser.

Triple unfortunately, Davey and Sarah are siblings and that’s even more illegal when it comes to getting married. They’re all idiots but they’ll figure something out. Eventually.

There was an easy grin settling on Jack’s face as he hoisted his papers onto his shoulder. Not that there wasn’t an easy grin on his face most days, but today was Sunday.

Sundays are one edition days. One edition days means long lazy afternoons with the whole world to explore.

And one edition days mean Katherine.

The months since the strike had been difficult for them – Jack hadn’t been kidding when he said girls like her don’t fall for guys like him – and everybody she knew was doing their best to remind her (remind both of them) of that fact. Jack knew how they looked at him – as a threat to their reputation, an obstacle in need of elimination.

Katherine didn’t care though, and if Katherine didn’t care, neither did Jack. They had faced prejudice and scorn, they had faced judgement from almost every corner and still they held strong.

If that wasn’t love, Jack didn’t know what love was.

There was however, just one crack in the façade of his perfect dream.

(Jack’s a liar)

(There are lots of cracks)

(Jack just ignores most of them)

There was however, just one crack in the façade of his perfect dream.

A crack with a high buttoned shirt, freshly polished shoes, and a brain fit to bursting with all that learning now that he’s back in school full time.

A crack that went by the name of Davey.

Jack hadn’t noticed it as first, the turmoil that stirred and twisted in his chest whenever Davey was around. Davey had been new at first, new people always stir up different feelings, and then there’d been the strike and that had to be to blame for whatever was making it hard to breath, and then …

And then Davey went back to school. They’d had a few perfect weeks of endless summer after the strike, when the world seemed to pause and days take a lifetime.

But now Davey was back in school and completely absent from his life Monday to Friday.

(Davey and Les sold the evening paper at least twice a week after school, and Davey would do his homework at the lodging house on at least one more day a week as well)

And Saturdays are exclusively for family.

(Jack has been invited to the Jacobs’ every Saturday since the strike ended, and accepts at least half the time)

Which means that Sunday is the only day of the week that Jack gets to see Davey.

(Which means Sunday is the only day of the week that Jack gets Davey to himself for multiple consecutive uninterrupted hours. Usually. Sometimes they do that on Wednesdays as well)

So Sundays are the special day of the week because Sundays are all about Davey Katherine.

And so, Sunday lunchtime came around, with Jack standing at a crossroad.

He had Davey at his right hand, steadfast Davey, kind and clever Davey who would do anything for anyone, especially if their name was Jack Kelly.

But his future was Katherine. He knew his future was Katherine. His future had to be Katherine, what other choice did he have?

This was a figurative metaphor, but with Davey by his side, as they waited for an appropriate moment to cross the street without dying in the process, and Katherine over the road holding the oversized picnic basket he hadn’t known she was bringing but sincerely hoped she would be – he could see how it could be taken as a literal statement as well.

Sunday picnics were a long standing tradition, stretching back at least three weeks if not longer.

It was just the four of them – Jack and Katherine, Davey and Davey’s sister Sarah. If Jack’s honest, he doesn’t know Sarah very well, but she’s sweet, and her and Davey alternate between love and utter disgust for each other with an alarming regularity that is extremely hilarious to watch, even if not to be caught up in. Plus Sarah and Katherine had recently developed a close friendship, and Jack knew how much friendship means to them. Katherine’s friendship with Sarah. Jack’s friendship with Davey. The Jacobs just make the best friends possible.

A warm breeze danced through the park, carrying with it the distant hum of the city. The autumn sun bathed the grassy expanse in a golden glow that betrayed the fact that soon winter would be here, and their picnics no longer.

Jack stretched out, half-propped up by a large tree, while they sat in their usual square – Davey and Katherine next to him, Sarah diagonal from him. Somehow it’s just how they always end up sat.

Laughter and conversation flowed freely between the four friends, and the lemonade followed suit, while they continued to unpack sandwiches and fruit, and a small tray of dainty little cakes.

Sometimes the food Katherine brings along sets off that heavy feeling in his chest, the one that remembers being fifteen or twelve or nine, with empty pockets and empty hands and an empty stomach, and a line of kids out the door that needed feeding as well.

Katherine knows this.

Katherine does her best to counter with the fact that it’s her father’s money she’s using to create their weekly picnics, and is their anything else that would annoy her father more?

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t.

The food’s always tasty though – once it gets past the pit.

With nowhere to be and nowhere to go and no one wondering where they are, or even caring, they stay put. The sun drifts slowly across the sky, and the four fall into a companionable silence.

Katherine – ever the intrepid reporter – is making notes in her book, ideas to turn into full fledged stories (once she’s back at her typewriter of course). Sarah has some needlework to finish – Jack sees the name Davey, and Les, and Sarah so this must be a personal piece not work but it looks incredibly intricate. He’s not sure he’d pick lying down with his head in Katherine’s lap as the most comfortable position to complete embroidery in, but also, he’s never done embroidery, and Sarah is definitely the expert here. If lying down with your head in Katherine’s lap is the best position to sew, he absolutely believes her. (He’s laid down with his head in Katherine’s lap before, it is a very comfortable position if nothing else).

Davey has his books, because of course he does, thick tomes about things that Jack claim do nothing but confuse him, but Jack lets Davey tell him all about them anyway. Davey’s head is resting against Jack’s shoulder as he reads, his eyes slowly scanning the page. And Jack himself has his sketchbook, because Jack is nothing if not predictable. He sketches quick pencil sketches of his friends, of the wildlife, of the scenery.

There’s a study or two of Katherine – the curls in her hair, the corner of her mouth.

There’s a study or six of Davey – his hands curled around the edges of a book, the exact shape and colour of his eyes, the dusting of freckles across his nose you can only see if you stand extremely close and look.

He doesn’t have any studies of Sarah. He should probably remedy that at some point before she thinks he doesn’t like her (he does. Just not like he likes Davey Katherine).

After the picnic as the sun began to dip behind the horizon, Jack and Katherine walked back to her father’s house, hand in hand. Katherine leaned her head on Jack's shoulder, a contented sigh escaping her lips.

"I had a wonderful time today, Jack," she said, her voice filled with genuine affection.

Jack's grip on her hand tightened, but still he managed a soft smile. "Me too, Katherine."

Katherine returning home was always a moment of genuine amusement for Jack, as not one single member of the Pulitzer household from the lowliest maid to Mr Joseph Pulitzer himself made any attempt to disguise their displeasure at seeing him. They had at least moved away from actively ushering Katherine away from him, and bare-faced comments about his appearance, upbringing and parentage to his face.

Which was progress.

They were starting to like him.

Which was a good thing.

Now they made comments about his appearance, upbringing and parentage behind his back like the well-bred people they are, and only sneered in his face when they saw him walking up the street with Katherine.

Everything’s fine.

A brief kiss – initiated by Katherine (much to the very audible displeasure of which ever butler had deigned to open the door for them) – later, and Jack was on his way once more.

Jack’s thoughts were a muddle.

Jack’s thoughts were often a muddle.

But they were even more of a muddle than usual. And needed time and space and just a little bit of quiet in order to sort through them.

He loved his brothers, loved their life – but he wasn’t going to find a single one of those things if he went back home just now.

He ends up at the tenement building without really thinking about it, his feet doing the work more than his brain. He’s halfway up the fire escape and ready to knock on Davey’s window when he remembers that they have technically (literally) spent fourteen hours together already today, and maybe Davey actually wants to spend time with his family for a change.

Jack takes himself to the roof instead.

It’s quiet up there. Peaceful. The comforter from the last time he and Davey spent hours talking on the rooftop instead of sleeping is still in it’s place in the corner, ready in case the temperature drops any further.

There’s a door creaking open behind him, and he doesn’t have to turn around to know exactly who it is. Davey steps onto the roof, his eyes searching Jack for any sign of something being wrong. “Hey, you okay?”

Jack’s heart almost skips a beat at the look of concern on Davey’s face but brushes it off, avoiding the question entirely. “What are you doing up here?”

Davey settled down next to Jack, their shoulders almost touching but not quite, a hair-width of space between them. “I saw a shadow climbing the fire escape past my bedroom,” Davey’s eyebrow twitched as he spoke, the corners of his lips fighting a grin, “and I wondered who could be foolish enough to be climbing the fire escape at night.” Davey sighed, and the grin escaped, settling firmly onto his face. “There was, of course, only one answer.”

Jack rolls his eyes, a response in and of itself, and shoves him gently with his shoulder.

“You never actually answered my question by the way,” Davey reminds him, and it’s Jack’s turn to sigh.

He shrugs, “Just … thinking.”

“About what?”

Jack hesitated a moment, his heart pounding in his chest so hard he’s sure Davey is able to hear it. “About everything.”

Davey leaned further into Jack, the simple touch sending a bolt of electricity down his spine. Jack stole a glance at Davey, the moonlight casting gentle shadows on his features as he stared out into the distance.

And then, as if drawn by an invisible force, their eyes met. It was only a moment that passed between them, their gazes locking in a way that spoke volumes with no words required. Jack felt the world around them fade into the background.

Jack leaned in.

There wasn’t a conscious thought behind it.

Jack leaned in.

His lips brushed against Davey's, a tentative touch that sent shivers down his spine. For an instant, time seemed to stand still as their connection deepened, as everything suddenly made absolute perfect sense, the taste of possibility lingering in the air, the taste of Davey lingering on his lips.

Davey's response was immediate, his lips pressing back against Jack's with a mixture of longing and surrender. It was soft and achingly tender, in a way neither had ever experienced before, a silent confession of the emotions that had been swirling between them for far too long. Jack's heart soared, and he deepened the kiss, his fingers tangling in Davey's hair as they embraced the intimacy they had denied themselves for so long.

Davey pulled away.

Just as quickly as it began, it was over.

Davey’s breath was ragged, his eyes wide with a mix of desire and conflict. He met Jack's gaze, his voice filled with both desperation and resolve. "Jack, we can't do this."

"Why not?" Jack's voice was a mixture of confusion and longing, his heart pounding in his chest.

Davey's gaze dropped to the ground, his fingers clenching in his lap. "Katherine, society in general, the law... Pick one, pick any of them."

Jack leaned in closer, his voice soft but determined. "Davey, all that stuff, it's out there, yeah. But right here, right now, it's just us." He reached out, his hand gently lifting Davey's chin. "I know what I want, and I think you want it too. We don't have to let all that other crap get in the way."

Davey's eyes met Jack's, a mix of uncertainty and longing in their depths. After a beat, he tried to speak, his words fading into uncertainty. "Jack, I … "

There was a beat of silence, and Davey could see the careful bubble of hope Jack tried to keep hidden behind his eyes slowly deflate in front of him.

Davey closed the gap between them this time.

He placed his hand on Jack's cheek, his thumb brushing gently over the rough stubble. The kiss their lips met in, was at once gentle and passionate, a silent affirmation of the emotions that had been simmering beneath the surface for so long. Davey's lips were soft against Jack's, his movements sure and deliberate. It was as if he had finally given in to the desire that had been building between them, his touch a declaration of the love he had kept hidden for far too long. Jack's heart pounded in his chest as he felt Davey take control, his senses overwhelmed by the taste and scent of the person he had yearned for. The kiss deepened, their mouths moving in sync as the world around them seemed to blur into insignificance. Jack's fingers found themselves returning to the back of Davey's neck, his touch gentle yet possessive, pulling him closer. Davey responded with a soft moan, a sound that sent a jolt of electricity down Jack's spine.

As they continued to kiss, a sense of urgency and longing crept into their movements. Davey's hand slid from Jack's cheek to tangle in his hair, deepening their connection. Their breaths mingled, each exhale a reminder of the shared passion that had ignited between them.

The world slipped away.

Of course, it wasn’t actually as simple as that.

Katherine, society in general, and the law.

It couldn’t be as simple as that.

*+*+*+*+*+*+

It didn’t take long for things to come to a head. It had been days of conflicting emotions, nights of sleepless nights. It was desperation he felt when he was away from Davey, and the guilt he felt when he remembered Katherine. It weighed him down with every forced smile, every feigned laugh.

He tried to continue as he was able to before.

He tried to continue his role as the devoted boyfriend that Katherine deserved. She had many so many sacrifices for him, for them, how could he just abandon her now? He had made promises to her, promises he had truly intended to honour, but things just ended up inverted somehow.

He tried to continue with Davey as well. But how were stolen glances supposed to cope when weighed against the memory of just how Davey’s lips felt against his, the way his fingers carded through his hair. Jack loved his boisterous and over-enthusiastic family, but they didn’t exactly leave much opportunity for hidden moments.

And Jack wanted, he wanted, he wanted.

It’s Thursday before Jack and Davey get the privacy they’ve so desperately been craving. Davey’s selling the evening paper, out of desire not necessity, but Les hadn’t been feeling well, choosing instead to head straight home – leaving Davey and Jack as a two-person team.

They do actually manage to sell the vast majority of their papers, before they somehow manage to find themselves down a little-used alleyway, the cold brick pressing almost uncomfortably into Jack’s back, and he nearly laughs at the thought of Davey that first day they met next to the Davey he knows now. The laugh turns to a moan, as Davey’s lips discover a particularly sensitive spot on his neck that Jack didn’t even know he had, and there wasn’t room for much thinking after that.

*+*+*+*+*+*+

It's Saturday, and Jack’s on the roof of Davey’s building once again. His hair is a mess, and his lips are swollen, and he’s not actually sure where his shirt even is at this point, but he doesn’t even care.

It’s perfect and it’s theirs and it’s…

A door opens.

Panic surges through each of them equally, as they realise the compromising position they have gotten into – instantly releasing their grip on the other, as they freeze behind the brick half wall that protects them from whoever is on the other side.

There’s silence.

(Not true silence, but the lack of voices, the lack of talking at any rate).

They stay frozen.

The not-really silence continues.

There’s definitely someone (multiple someones(?)) there.

They stay frozen.

The not-really silence continues.

Jack’s bored now.

He starts to poke his head over the wall, swatting away Davey’s hands trying to keep him hidden.

And that made sense he figured, as he saw the young couple, their arms wrapped around each other. He supposed him and Davey couldn’t be the only young couple who needed a private moment away from prying eyes, and judging by the long skirts on both halves of the couple, they needed the privacy for very much the same reason. A half-laugh escaping his lips, he’s about to disappear to wait them out, and continue his own very pleasurable time, when the two women spin, their arms still wrapped around each other.

That didn’t stop Jack from suddenly catching sight of her face though, and he reacts instinctually.

“Katherine?” He’s confused more than anything else, but now he’s standing. His voice isn’t loud but the night is quiet and it travels easily regardless.

The pair freeze in an instant. Unwrapping their arms mechanically from the other.

“Jack?!”

Her eyes flick from him down to his chest and back up to his face, and that’s the moment he realises he’s still not quite sure where his shirt is, but it’s too late to disappear behind the half wall again.

They don’t move.

They don’t speak.

They don’t breath.

Katherine takes a small half step forward, her arm half-raised in front of Sarah – an unconscious effort to protect her. “"Jack, I-I can explain. It's not what it looks like. We were just... um...”

Sarah’s wide eyed at this point, her gaze flicking from Jack to Katherine and back again, nodding along with the desperate words Katherine’s spilling.

“Kather…”

“No Jack, I can expl…” Katherine interrupts him, but Jack doesn’t let her finish.

Instead he leans down and grab Davey by the collar (why was he still wearing his shirt when Jack’s has completely vanished. Was definitely not the main thought running through Jack’s brain at that instant), pulling him to standing as well.

Before anyone could react to the new addition to the scene, Jack's fingers gently lifted Davey's chin, and he leaned in, pressing his lips to Davey's in a soft, lingering kiss. The gesture was deliberate, a silent message that conveyed understanding, acceptance, and the shared bond they all had. Katherine's eyes widened as she watched the exchange, the realization dawning on her that Jack knew more than she had thought.

Davey’s eyes open as Jack pulls away and for the first time, he sees the two figures he had previously only heard.

“Sarah?!”

“Davey?”

“Is anyone going to say anything useful besides names?”

The answer, as it turns out, would be an emphatic no.

*+*+*+*+*+*+

Jack has good ideas. Jack has lots of good ideas.

He’s been an authority to most of the Newsies of Lower Manhatten in some way or another since he was fifteen. He started the strike, and faced down one of the most terrifying gentlemen in New York (“Sorry Katherine.” “Don’t be. Imagine growing up with him.” “I really don’t want to.”) at the age of seventeen.

Jack also has absolutely terrible ideas.

“… so yeah – what do you think?”

Jack looks almost pleased with himself. Davey, Sarah and Katherine look at him as though he’s sprouted a third head.

“Well, uh…”

“… I suppose it has potential?”

“Potential – yes!”

Sarah rolls her eyes at Davey and Katherine.

“It’s a terrible idea Jack.”

Jack’s eye flick over to Davey and Katherine, but neither of them can bring themselves to find fault in Sarah’s words.

“I mean, not for you and Katherine,” she continued, “but what are me and Davey supposed to do?”

“Didn’t you hear me?" Jack replied with a grin, trying to inject some optimism into the situation. “You’ll live next door, and we’ll just pretend to live like normal couples, then secretly swap over so we can really live with the person we want to.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow skeptically. “And … how do we explain why me and Davey are living together?”

Jack's face fell, his enthusiasm dampened by the practicality of the question. He trailed off, realizing the flaw in his plan. “You can just get married …” he trails off. “oh yeah.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Sarah repeated, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’m sure our parents are going to be so thrilled when me and my *brother* announce our wedding plans. I’m sure that won’t be suspicious to anyone at all.”

Davey couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of the situation. He nudged Sarah playfully, a mischievous glint in his eyes. She narrowed her eyes at him, a playful warning that he was treading on thin ice. Davey swallowed. He’d pay for that one later, he’s sure.

Jack cleared his throat, trying to regain control of the conversation. "Alright, alright. Maybe the marriage thing is a bit much. But we'll figure something out. We always do."

Sarah crossed her arms, a pout forming on her lips. "Well, I'm not marrying you, Jack Kelly."

Katherine, who had been relatively quiet during the exchange so far, finally spoke up. "Well, you might not have a choice."

All eyes turned to Katherine, her words hanging in the air. Jack furrowed his brows, confusion evident on his face. "What d’ya mean?"

Katherine took a deep breath, her gaze steady as she met Jack's eyes. "I mean, to avoid Sarah and Davey getting married, which is obviously not a feasible option, I… I could marry Davey instead."

Davey's eyes widened in surprise, his cheeks flushing as he processed Katherine's suggestion. He opened his mouth to speak, but Katherine continued before he could find his words.

"Which would mean, Sarah, that you'd have to marry Jack."

Sarah's jaw dropped, her eyes widening as she processed the implications of Katherine's plan. "Wait, what? Marry Jack?"

Katherine nodded, her expression determined. "Yes. Unless you’d rather marry your brother."

Jack couldn't help himself. He let out a surprised bark of laughter. "Ha! You're saying that I'd have to marry Sarah? That's rich!"

Sarah's eyes narrowed, a fire igniting in her gaze. "Oh, you think this is funny, huh?"

Jack held up his hands in mock surrender, his grin unapologetic. "I mean, come on, Sarah. Can you imagine us, married?"

Davey stifled a chuckle, his lips quirking into a smile as he watched the playful banter between Jack and Sarah. It was a relief to see the tension ease, even if it was through their usual teasing.

Katherine shook her head, her lips twitching in a smile. "Well, stranger things have happened. And let's not forget, we're talking about an unconventional situation here."

As the group shared a chuckle, the weight around them seemed to lighten just a bit. Jack's eyes met Davey's, and he couldn't help but feel a rush of affection for the man standing beside him. Whatever challenges they faced, they would face them together.

"Alright, Katherine," Jack said with a grin, "you've got yourself a deal."

Sarah rolled her eyes, a reluctant smile tugging at her lips. "As long as no one here thinks I’m marrying you willingly, Jack Kelly."

Jack winked at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. We all know who’s the Jacobs for me."

As they shared a laugh, the rooftop seemed to transform once again, becoming a sanctuary of shared secrets, laughter, and a bond that could weather any storm. Jack's heart was light as he looked at Davey, a playful glint in his eyes. Without hesitation, he tugged Davey into his lap, their lips meeting in a sweet and affectionate kiss. Davey's fingers tangled in Jack's hair as he deepened the kiss, their connection sparking with a warmth that had nothing to do with the chilly night air. It was a simple yet powerful gesture, a declaration of their feelings and an affirmation of the unspoken promise that they were in this together, no matter the challenges.

Sarah rolled her eyes with an exaggerated groan, a mock expression of disgust on her face as she watched the two boys. "Ugh, get a room, you two. Seriously."

Jack and Davey pulled apart, chuckling at Sarah's playful reaction. "You're just jealous, Sarah," Jack retorted with a wink.

Sarah's feigned disgust quickly melted into a mischievous grin. "Oh, please. Like I would ever be jealous of you two."

Katherine glanced at Sarah, her lips twitching into a knowing smile. "Careful, Sarah. You might start to believe your own act."

Without missing a beat, Sarah closed the gap between her and Katherine, her fingers gently brushing a strand of hair behind Katherine's ear. Her voice was low, laden with teasing. "Oh, don't worry, Kat. I've got my own plans."

And with that, Sarah's lips met Katherine's in a kiss that was every bit as passionate as the ones they had witnessed earlier. The rooftop was now alive with a playful energy, each touch and shared glance a testament to the unbreakable bonds that had formed between them.

Jack wrapped his arm around Davey's waist, pulling him close as they watched Sarah and Katherine share their own moment of affection. Davey rested his head on Jack's shoulder, a contented smile on his lips.

Change was coming.

Terrifying and life changing changes.

But they had each other, and who needed anything more.

*+*+*+*+*+*+

The plan worked better than it had any right of doing.

Katherine’s family was as thrilled as they’d let themselves show when they realised she had cut romantic ties with the newsie they considered so far belong her. (They weren’t so pleased about her plan to remain friends with Jack, but figured that they could distract her from that plan by marrying her off to a far more eligible bachelor.)

(Katherine was really looking forward to announcing her upcoming engagement to Davey.)

The newsies are ready to declare war on Katherine on Jack’s behalf when they find out, until Jack and Katherine together manage to talk them down.

Race slipped into the seat next to Jack one evening at meal time, their shoulders close enough to touch.

“So, you and Davey, huh?” His voice was entirely too casual, a glint of knowing in his eyes.

Jack kept his eyes on his plate, not pausing from his meal for a moment.

“So, you and Albert, huh?”

Race choked on his drink, coughing and sputtering as he tried to compose himself. Jack patted his back gently, a smug grin on his face.

The courtships went even better. Sarah and Davey’s parents couldn’t be more pleased with the partners their children had chosen, and even Les was happy for them (if very confused at the speed Jack and Katherine both had decided they wanted to marry his siblings)

Only Katherine and Davey were there when Katherine announced their courtship to her family, but both  spent the next two weeks describing the interaction in incredible detail to anyone who would listen – her mother’s scream and fainting spell getting increasingly elaborate with each retelling.

*+*+*+*+*+*+

It’s a year, almost exactly to the day, since the start of the strike, since the start of everything being set into motion, and the air of New York buzzes with excitement once more.

The morning of the Wedding of the Century dawns bright and clear.

(Jack is fully aware they are only seven months into the century, but he’s entirely certain that there won’t be a wedding in the next ninety nine years and five months to rival theirs).

Underneath a brightly decorated tent, the gathered crowd of newsies, friends, and family members watched with beaming smiles as Sarah and Katherine, radiant in their white gowns, walked down the aisle, hand-in-hand their steps guided by the melodies of the city's street musicians. Beside them, Jack and Davey, dashing in their suits, stood as the grooms, their eyes doing their best not to get fixated on each other instead of the person they were technically (literally) marrying.

The ceremony was a heartfelt affair, filled with laughter, tears, and heartfelt vows that spoke of love, commitment, and the unbreakable bond that had brought them all together.

And then they were married.

 The joyous celebration continued long into the night.

Amidst the dancing, singing, and laughter, the four newlyweds stole moments of intimacy with their true partner amidst the whirlwind of festivities. Sarah and Katherine shared knowing glances when they thought they wouldn’t be spotted, and when the time was right, they slipped away from the revelry, finding a quiet corner where they could swear their own vows to each other in private.

Meanwhile, Jack and Davey found a secluded spot of their own, far away from prying eyes. Their fingers interlocked, their gazes locked in a wordless exchange that spoke volumes. Despite the roles they had played in the day's events, they knew that the true nature of their hearts was unwavering.

"I love you," Jack whispered, his voice carrying the weight of his emotions.

Davey's lips curved into a tender smile, his thumb brushing against Jack's knuckles. "And I love you, Jack."

Their lips met in a passionate kiss, a union of hearts that defied everything.

In that stolen moment, they reaffirmed the bond that had grown between them, a bond that no piece of paper or societal expectation could take away from them.

*+*+*+*+*+*+

Davey held the last of his belongings in his arms, having already moved most of his things to their brand new apartment only that morning, and took one final look around the apartment that held such strong memories of his family.

Soon he’d have such strong feelings about his new home, he was sure.

With rent being what it is, and jobs being what they are, and age being what it is – the dream of two apartments with a hidden door between will come to them soon, but they’re on their way with a simple two-bedroom apartment nearly exactly halfway between the newsies and Davey’s home (or rather – just his parents and Les’ home now).

And why wouldn’t the four of the share an apartment.

There was nothing to be afraid of.

The future lay at their feet, and they would conquer it.

Davey's mother fell silent, her gaze fixed on her eldest son as he bid his final farewell to the place he had called home for so long. Emotions swelled within her, a mixture of pride, nostalgia, and a touch of apprehension for what lay ahead for both of her children. With a deep breath, Davey turned away from the apartment door and began to descend the stairs. Each step felt weighted with the significance of the moment, a transition from one chapter of his life to the next.

As he reached the landing, his mother's voice broke the silence, the words carrying a mixture of playfulness and longing.

"So, about grandchildren…?"

[zoomertheweimarwolf]

Aitheris | A Ninjago Au

This is one of my favourite episodes in the season, I love the music and just everything was put together so well! Also more art in the middle of the chapter if you want to see!

Chapter 4: Ninja Roll

Thunder bellowed outside the palace, a rough storm by the looks of it, it made Vayu's worries melt away. She loved the rain, everyone did at home, it used to be such a big deal when it rained but now it happens all the time.

However, what she enjoyed most about the storm was todays battle, Skyler was fighting and her opponent couldn't have been more perfect for the occasion.

"Skyler, Master of Amber, versus Jacob, Master of Sound." Chen announced as Jacob began to play his instrument, "Fight! Fight!"

Skyler slowly moved her spear in a circling motion, "Eenie, meenie, minie, mo," she said, her voice becoming more and more stern as she continued, "catch a Jade Blade by its toe!"

Skylar launched the spear into a vase, no Jade Blade, however Vayu knew she would find it soon. Vayu coiled her tail around herself, now that everyone knew there was no point in hiding it anymore, she was always more comfortable in her dragon form.

Her eyes fixated on the fight below before yelps and grumbles could be heard from the people beside her, Kai, the sloppy fire ninja was making his way over to his friends. Vayu did not intend to sit beside the ninja, it was the only place where she could be in her form and get a good view.

she could hear the ninja bickering about something before Kai jumped up, half leaning over the railing he yelled, "SLYLER IS FIGHTING!?"

"What's got him so exited?" Garmadon asked.

"He had a crush on her," Jay nearly chuckled, "but then he found out they might be related."

Vayu hearing this growled, "they are not related you idiots, she is the Master of Amber."

They shot a few odd glances at Vayu, she sighed remembering how no one could even understand her, Skyler barely did, and they have known each other for years.

Vayu zoned out for a bit, only to come back when the crowd cheered as Skyler held up the Jade Blade.

"YES! Go Skyler!" Vayu and Kai said in unison, Vayu's roar clearly rising above the ninja's as Chen sent the Master of Sound falling to his assumed death, poor little guy.

Vayu desperately wanted to go join Skyler, most people would be able to wait to go see their friend, but Skylar was different than most people to Vayu. The two over time have formed a sisterly bond, something Vayu had never gotten to experience in a long time, ever since he left us.

"But then in yesterday's battle," Master Chen shouted, tossing the plate of gems and gold over his shoulder and breaking Vayu out of her trance, "Master Jay and Cole tried to undermine me, by teaming up, and refusing to fight each other. For their insubordination, all of your fancy quarters will be taken away. together all of you must sleep in the chow house! that is all. Thank you, you can go."

"nice one Jay," Kai bickered as people began to leave. "Easy there Romeo!" Jay lashed back as Vayu leaned her tail over the railing, allowing Skyler to join them.

"are you okay?" Vayu asked her, Skyler nodded and began to walk out with the others, Vayu followed and the ninja kept not to far behind them, she could hear Lloyd trying to keep their team together. She felt a slight bit of sorrow for the team before brushing it off, it didn't matter, what matters is stopping Chen once she could, but how would she do that? its not like she could rush over and bite his head off, not only would the guards kill her afterwards, but the Elemental Masters would likely try and stop her too, Lloyd would try and talk her out of it and- UGH! What was she thinking!? she doesn't even have proper evidence! She would have to wait till a later day to figure that out, for now she was ready for sleep.

Vayu sighed happily as she left the building, the weight on her chest lifted as she tilted her head up to the sky, the joyous feeling as the rain washed over her, soaking into her pelt was overwhelmingly amazing, she missed the rain.

her joy was quickly snapped away however as she needed to turn back in order to go inside, she stepped into the building, sending a gust of wind throughout it drying everyone off as they were lead to their quarters, she formed back into a dragon and coiled up in the corner, Skyler soon joining her as her pelt was much more comfortable that any of the makeshift beds. Vayu's tail wrapped around Skyler as the tip acted as a blanket, she rested her head down, slowly falling into a deep sleep.

BANG BANG BANG!

Vayu snaped awake, her head shooting up towards the sudden disturbance of noise as her tail protectively coiled around Skyler, her teeth bared as she let out a low hiss.

"Good morning fighters! oh wait- it the middle of the night," Clouse said with an ere grin on his face, Kabuki came out from behind him, one for each person in the room.

one came over to Vayu, a confused look on her face before she asked for Vayu to turn back, Vayu did as the Kabuki tied roller skates onto her feet, Vayu had never been on roller skates before, as she slipped and quickly grabbed onto Skyler, who helped her up.

Vayu's mind was on staying upright until she hear her friend ask, "If most of us have already fought, why are we all in skates?"

"Only two of you will be fighting," Clouse smiled, "but the rest of you have a chance to affect the outcome."

"Who's fighting? Tell us now," Griffen demanded.

Clouse waved his hands calling all the kabuki back, "The Green Ninja vs the Master of Form."

. . .

Vayu held onto Skylar, she was starting to get used to skates, she could get used to most things quite easily, her mind was elsewhere though, seen how powerful the Green Ninja is, if Chen were to steal his power it would be the end of ever being able to stop him. if Chen stole Chamille's power, he could look like anyone, being able to find each and every person's secrets within a matter of days.

Vayu had already decided who she would fight for, she always had a way around one problem, but not the other.

Chen went on to explaining the rules, then came time to choose teams, most of the masters' joined Chamille, including Skyler.

"Skyler please join me," Vayu begged as she held onto her best friend, "please I dont want to fight you."

"we need to get the more powerful people out," Skyler said, "you may think you can beat Lloyd in a fight, but the chances I could are slim Vayu, even you know that."

Skyler rolled off to her team as Vayu rolled off to hers, finally getting used to the skates.

"Thanks for your help," Lloyd said, noticing Vayu's disappointed look as she strayed away from her best friend.

"Anything to make sure my power isn't stolen by that monster," she replied, as she got ready.

Next thing she knew she was skating around the arena, passing the Jade Blade to Lloyd a couple of times as they continued completing laps. however with the amount of people fighting them, and the fact that one of their members was utterly useless on skates, the clock and the score were against them.

Suddenly a large vehicle zoomed past her, she quickly noticed the line of people on the back as she grabbed them, causing most of them to fall. They continued, round and round and round they went, the clock was getting close to 0 and Lloyd would clearly loose, then an idea struck her.

"What am I even doing!?" Vayu hissed as she ripped off her skates and turned into a dragon, she leapt forwards sprinting towards the Green Ninja, grabbing him and carrying him on her shoulders.

They were making plenty of laps but not enough against the clock, Kai waved his arms at Vayu as she flew by him, she picked him up as well, seating himself behind Lloyd.

"We should just tell them what's happening with Chen!" he yelled over the wind, "if they knew what was going on clearly they would help us right?"

They all agreed, it was worth a try, nothing else could go wrong right? Vayu Spotted Skyler, dropping Kai off next to her, She watched as the blue and red ninja talked with the others, it seemed like they were willing to join their side. The others stole the Jade Blade from Chamille from time to time, allowing Lloyd to finally catch up, when suddenly she felt immense pain from her arm as she wacked something away, looking down she could see the blue blood start to drip from the wound as she tripped and fell, feeling something by her feet.

looking ahead Lloyd and Chamille raced for the finish line as the timer reached its last moments, closer and closer and NOW! they both crossed as the buzzer sounded, the two panted as they looked at one another, before Lloyd lifted his Jade Blade high in the air with triumph. Chamille looked around, "She doesn't have her blade!" Jay exclaimed.

"looking for something?" Vayu asked Chamille as she walked over, her head high with pride as she held the blade under her arm while she grasped at her injured one, the tip of the blade lightly coated in blue blood.

They all cheered and laughed in victory, Vayu looked over to see Skyler celebrating, she was happy for her friend but why didn't she come over and help her, maybe Vayu was being a bit too clingy. she winced as she handed the Jade Blade back, the pain in her arm almost unbearable, they were all sent back to the chow house, Skyler getting settled in her own bed on the other side of the room, upset by this Vayu turned back into a dragon, cleaning the wound out. Although it was common knowledge that dragon saliva can be used to help close any wounds back at home, it apparently was not here as she saw Lloyd giving her an odd look as she turned back into a human, resting her head on the window sill, looking up at the sky.

If she stayed still for the rest of the night, it should be nothing but a scrape in the morning considering the depth of the cut, however she knew that wouldn't happen as she rolls around in her sleep. Vayu was cut out of her thoughts once again however as she saw Lloyd standing behind her holding a medical kit.

Vayu looked at him confused as he took out some bandages and wrapped them around her arm, quietly whispering what he was doing at each step.

"I- um... Thanks," Vayu said confused.

"anytime," Lloyd smiled, "it's the least I can do."

"hm," Vayu started to lightly smile, "I'm surprised you even took the time to consider that."

"surprised!?" Lloyd questioned, "I honestly dont even know why Chen or someone else didn't bandage you up earlier. I thought someone would rush over as soon as you got hurt."

"perhaps its because they believe that my dragon form has more pain tolerance or I could do it myself."

"I doubt it, even if they think that its still better to help so it gets better faster."

"hmm."

Lloyd yawned, "well we better go to bed now, unless you want to pull an all-nighter, goodnight Vayu."

"Night Lloyd," Vayu said as she turned into a dragon, coiling up into a ball as she could faintly hear the waves lapping against the stone beach not to far away, and the wind lightly flick at the leaves of nearby trees as Vayu slowly fell asleep.

[s3iz3-th3-fck1ng-d4y]

Quidditch Game

~* Harry Potter x Newsies Quidditch Headcanon*~

At breakfast Sarah and Katherine sat across from David who was tucking into fruit salad as he looked at an arithmacy textbook.

Katherine cleared her throat and David looked up.

“Good morning Ladies” David said with a smile.

The girls did not in fact smile back. David was slightly intimidated by the sombre expression on their faces.

“Whats up?” He asked cautiously

“Cut the crap.Why are you not going to the quidditch match Davey?” asked Katherine with an accusatory tone.

Davey blushed. “Oh yeah. Um I didn’t really think that with the amount of homework I have that it would be helpful”

“BULLSHIT!” yelled Sarah.

“Language Jacobs” called Medda as she walked past.

Sarah ducked her head down to whisper “Thats bullshit Dave and you know it”

Katherine nodded and said “It’s only because he doesn’t want to see his boyfriend”

David turned even more red and the two girls smirked and leant back, satisfied.

“So it is because of Jack” Sarah smiled. “Well now you are definitely going”

David shook his head frantically.

“It-Its not even a Ravenclaw match! What do I need to be there for?” David protested.

“Doesnt matter,”Sarah shrugged” A bunch of our friends are playing. I’m playing as a matter of fact! You can say you are there for support.”

“You’re not getting out of this one easy Jacobs” Katherine laughed.

********************************************

“Hellooooo my Girlies, Bros and Non-Binary Hoes!” Crutchie called joyously into the microphone.

“Morris” Kloppman called warningly from his post beside the announcer.

Crutchie ignored him blissfully and carried on. “Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the year!”

David was uncomfortably wedged in between his brother and Katherine.

“Sorry Bro, its to prevent escape. Sarah instructed us to not let you leave” Les informed him when he tried to protest.

David sulked while Katherine and Les cheered loudly beside him.

“We have a lovely line up of players today!’ Crutchie said ‘On our gryffindor team we have Jack, Albert, Tommy Boy, Boots, Kid Blink, Henry and our Seeker Sarah Jacobs!”

David was a bit confused as to why Crutchie was referring to the boys with their nicknames instead of their real names.

Kloppman thought that too.

“Real names please Morris”

“But whats the fun in that sir” Crutchie said cheerfully.

The crowd laughed

“And our Slytherin team everybody!”Crutchie introduces to a rousing cheer.

“Spot, Morris, Hot Shot, Snipeshooter,Smalls, Mike? No no sorry, Ike! And our seeker Racetrack!”

The crowd roared again. David covered his ears and winced.

“Also everyone. I have been told to inform you all that Race is single, ready to mingle and swings all ways” Crutchie said as he read off a small peice of parchment in his hand.

Race blew a kiss to the crowd and Davey could have sworn that he saw Spot roll his eyes.

“Well,”Crutchie began ”now thats all over, lets start on quidditch”

The balls were released and the players flew into the air.

“ Quaffle goes to Albert, Tommy Boy, Back to Albert, to Jack, to Albert, Back to Jack, Intercepted by Spot. Lovely interception Spotty Boy! Ooo, he did not like that nick name.”

Crutchie was talking at the speed of an auctioneer as the balls were passed around at lightning speed.

“Spot has the quaffle is going to shoot anddd he drops the quaffle from a bludger to the gut. Nice shot Boots!”

Boots smirked and waved to the crowd while the slytherins hissed at him.

“Ooo and boots is off his broom from the bludger that he hit!” Crutchie laughed. “Pride cometh before a fall my friend!”

Boots with the help of his fellow beater Henry swung back onto his broom with difficulty.

“Quaffle back to Jack, to Spot, intercepted by Albert, passed to Tommy Boy. Tommy boy shoots AND SCORES!”

The entire gryffindor crowd went crazy. Tommy Boy turned a loop de loop and flew into a high five with Sarah, who was still searching for the snitch.

“I think Lady Jacobs has seen something.” Crutchie began to get excited. The crowd did too. “Oh no she’s lost it”

The crowd sighed and David watched as Sarah scanned the pitch from a high point. Racetrack was acting like he was looking for the snitch but David could see he was watching Spot.

He laughed to himself.

‘Slytherin in possesion of the quaffle, Morris, Spot, Morris, Hot Shot, OH MY GOD A BLUDGER IS HEADING STRAIGHT FOR HIM!” The crowd gasped” False alarm everybody. It was expertly deflected by Miss Elizabeth Smalls, whos not even on the team!”

Hot Shot nodded briefly at Smalls and attempted to get the quaffle into the goal.

“He shoots. He scores” Crutchie Yells.

The slytherin crowd cheered loudly.

“The two teams have now drawn. Sarah, Race can you please hurry up and catch this snitch. We want to wrap this up before nightfall” Crutchie whined.

Sarah and Race turned to look at Crutchie with unamused grimaces.

Suddenly Race’s face dropped. And he shot straight down. Sarah followed suit and urged her broom ahead.

“People! I think our seekers have found the snitch” Crutchie yelled excitedly.

The two seekers zoomed side by side around the arena following the small golden sphere.

Racetrack reached out and grabbed the snitch. In his over exertion he fell off his broom and rolled onto the ground.

As his broom began to float away Smalls flew and grabbed it by the handle and brough it back to the ground.

“And the game goes to Slytherin!”

The crowd went wild and cheered both sides of players to the ground.

David noticed Jack cheering his friends on but still his eyes looked sad.

[destinyc1020]

Austin though seems like a relationship type of person, I mean he was in a relationship with vanessa for nine years which sounds like he is capable of being a supportive boyfriend/partner whereas jacob elordi is the eternal fuck boy trying use the publicity that comes with being in relationship to further his career. Like austin seems to try to balance life and fame and has done a pretty good job, so him still being with kaia isnt a shock, austin seems pretty genuine.

But its still crazy to think, how timmy, austin, and many others have talked about how hard it is to balance the personal life and their career aspirations, but tom, zendaya and even anya taylor joy being as young they are how they have navigated that and have been able to do it ,is pretty impressive especially with there level of fame.

Yea Austin definitely seems like a relationship type of person, just based on what I've observed over the years, and the things he's said. He also seems to really crave family... Based on his upbringing and some of the stuff he's said in interviews. He's always seemed very genuine and sincere. And yea, I always thought that he and Vanessa were so cute together. 🥰

RE: JE He definitely seems like he just goes from one rlshp to the next, and seems like a clout chaser to me. 👀 I always wonder if he's even capable of really falling in love with someone? 🥴 Maybe one day he'll meet his match and will change lol. Who knows, maybe Olivia is it?? LOL

RE: Relationships Honestly? I just think that relationships in Hollywood are just tough period. Even Tom and Zendaya who've managed to make it work will probably tell you that sometimes it's NOT easy! I know there are challenges. They've just found their groove. Being with the RIGHT person for you also helps tremendously I feel.

But do I think it's easy? NOT in the least. I don't think it's "easy" for anyone. So those who have been able to make it work for years....Kudos to them! 😊 Relationships take time and effort for just us regular-degular folks lol. I can't even begin to imagine how much more so it must take time and effort for celebrities who are constantly traveling, constantly in a different time zone, having to work for months away from home at a time, having tons of people throwing themselves at you...the stresses of fame, etc. It doesn't seem easy in the least imo. 🥴

[lonelier-version-of-you]

I’ve just watched the second episode of the Casualty double-bill: S37E18 “Running on Empty” by Claire Miller. It was fantastic. Really, really good stuff. I definitely thought it was the better of the two episodes, probably because this one didn’t have Faith in it. (The Rash stuff in the previous episode was really good, but the Stevie stuff fell flat to me due to Faith’s involvement.)

The Jacob stuff was great. It’s nice to see him getting more focus lately, he really felt like a background character for a while. Also - wow, I really see what people meant about this episode, Sunil’s injuries were nasty. It was a bit hard to watch even for me, even as someone who’s usually not bothered by the medical stuff in Casualty/Holby.

Charles Venn was great, as usual, and so was the actor playing Sunil. (And, of course, the dog was cute too.)

The Dylan stuff was really interesting. I noted that, within two episodes, both Stevie and Dylan barked up the wrong tree and accused a patient’s visitor of abuse that they hadn’t actually committed - I wonder if that was deliberate, because it really does show how similar Stevie and Dylan are.

I do appreciate it when we get a good “Dylan’s not a saint” storyline. I don’t think the show or the fandom fall into the “Dylan is perfect and can do no wrong” attitude anywhere near as much as with Henrik on Holby, but it does get a bit close to that sometimes, so a healthy reminder that Dylan is well-intentioned but deeply flawed is nice every now and again.

I think Dylan was strongly projecting his own history in this episode, to be honest. He’s been projecting a bit during this storyline in general (understandably, and he’s obviously doing all this for a noble and important cause), but now he’s taken it too far, and it’s causing him to lose focus and see things that aren’t there (metaphorically). I wonder if the choice to name the patient Brian was deliberate, like on Holby when Oliver was struggling with his PTSD (from taking a bullet for Roxanna Macmillan) and he ended up lashing out at Henrik while treating a patient named Roxanne.

Speaking of Henrik, I can’t help but feel annoyed that the one-off elderly patient Brian got more focus on his internalised homophobia and the level of trauma he had from growing up queer back then than Henrik ever did during Henruss, but I’ll try not to start ranting about that because it’s not really relevant to this post.

Anyway, Dylan’s got demoted, which is an easy way to make the fans hate Marcus even more than we already do. Having said that, I find it very amusing that Marcus’s idea of punishing Dylan is... demoting him from a job that he hates anyway.

Nice one, Marcus, Dylan will really suffer for that. /sarcasm

Paige was really, really great in this episode. Shalisha James-Davis’ performance was excellent, too. The scene where Paige and her patient Lloyd went out to see the stars was just lovely. I think this is my favourite episode for Paige so far, actually. It gave her a lot of development as a character. I also like how they’re showing how everything with Ashok is affecting Paige as well as Rash.

I hope she doesn’t have an affair with Teddy like some of the spoiler articles have been teasing, though. I think that would just be piling unnecessary drama into the storyline. Teddy having an unrequited crush, or even Paige maybe being tempted, I wouldn’t mind as much, but I really don’t want a full-blown affair.

There was a great variety of patients in this episode, as well. I’m glad we’re back to having so many patient stories, because I felt the previous two episodes were lacking in them.

So, yeah, that’s me all caught up and ready to review the next episode later this week. :)

[girinma]

i've been lazy with posting this but finished two books on my last boat trip so my thoughts on Kraken by China Miéville and Under Ground by Megan Marsnik.

Kraken

another jacob geller recc and my least favorite of the 3 i've read. Museum specimen collection boy Billy gets his giant squid stolen and enters a world of urban fantasy. It's a fun romp though really good worldbuilding but the central plot ultimately falls flat. 7/10

I don’t understand where breaks between paragraphs are. The scene won’t change nor will the POV character. Why is there a blank line. It feels like it was a web serial and these were breaks from that but if so why maintain them in the print version? Also there will be an indent for dialogue when both lines are by the same person. Why????

Also while I liked the realism of the dialogue it was sometimes difficult to read because of the way things were written as if someone literally said them combined with the accents. Sorry for being anglophobic.

Under Ground

I don’t understand how this book came to a Charleston used book thing when it is so Minnesota regional? A mystery. Anyway it's the 1910s, Katya leaves Slovenia because her parents die and she moves in with her aunt and uncle in Minnesota. but uh oh! the iron mines fucking suck so the miners are going to go on strike. surely the management will be willing to negotiate. right? it's based on an actual strike which is neat. 6/10

In general it's very easy to read and reminded me of grapes of wrath. This is obviously not an Author Author so I cut her slack but there are multiple points where you can tell she’s basically recounting a real thing because it does not fully mesh with the narrative sections. Forrest Gump esque scenes.

I would have appreciated a map of Minnesota because I ain’t been there but also I don’t know how this book escaped Minnesota so ?

For a book about unions, it was Not Socialist Enough. I wanted more vitriol. It tries to paint a happy ending at the end but I think it should be more call to action. “These people will kill you and nothing will ever happen and they keep getting away with it.”

Loved the focus on women, very good. Yes comment on the unpaid household labor the girlies are doing so their husband can work twelve hours in the mine. A shift that long and in that time period? Couldn’t survive without a woman doing everything else in your life.

Boardinghouse is such a good setting. It had a great cast of characters and was very natural to have everyone around. I know they were real but I think it worked really well for the story.

I’ve realized I’m pretentious and don’t really like historical fiction. Like yeah I’ll read it but if I want to read a book set in the past I’ll just read a book from the time period…

Overall it was fine. Not super memorable but it was obviously a passion project so yay Megan happy you finished it and got published :)

AND spoilers under the cut as usual

KRAKEN

The ending is… I don’t know. I like it in some ways and not in others. It did a good job calling back to the beginning and I think it’s very funny to bring The Christian God into this polytheistic world. That being said, I don’t think Vardy’s plan was foreshadowed enough in the middle? As soon as he disappears it’s obvious what’s happening but before that it wasn’t really there beyond the beginning. Also I don’t get it. Ok, he pushed the squid apocalypse forward as cover for his actions? But how did he get Griz to want to steal the squid? I think Vardy giving him the idea should have been made explicit.

I wish the author went more meta with the Griz fight. Like, the book is printed in ink and he is ink! Use that! The author already has some fun with page breaks and italics n such, so put some strikethroughs when Griz is editing reality to delete things and have Billy use footnotes to put things back in. House of Leaves this. Also if he did this he could add like a scene that’s partially destroyed by the memory fire. Literally just add a REDACTED or something.

The little epilogue/finale sucked. Just pairing off characters in straight pairings as if billy and saira or collingswood had anywhere near the relationship of billy and Dane. make it gay. Dane also got a shit ending he should have died with more fanfare. I think the book should have just ended after the cops came and arrested people.

As I said before the worldbuilding is wonderful I love every little concept he comes up with. The gunfarmers are my favorite but it’s all very fun yet aware of the eccentricity. yes everyone has themes weapons and yes people complain about it to their leaders because guns would be more effective BUT NO. The familiar strike and Wati in general was also very fun. Leftist king.

I really dislike Billy’s arc? He starts out interesting - refusing the call, he’s a funny little academic thrust into the world of fantasy. I like how long he’s sad that Leon died but I wished he had more to say about him. Like little things reminding him of Leon and not just reliving the moment he died. But as he comes to accept his role he becomes very much a vehicle of the plot. He becomes simply Hero without ever really using his skills (no preserving no squid knowledge no biology knowledge) and even though yes he lies a bit he isn’t A Liar. He does a little taxonomy at the end with Griz but I want more. He gets a phaser and then he just does what other people tell him. It’s like the author forgot Billy could have any knowledge from before the story started.

Under Ground

Everything after the bar shoot out is rushed but doesn’t go straight to epilogue? Like there was a struggle to wrap things up when the strike fails in real life and nothing good happens ever.

The romance was cuuuuute very cheesy in a This is a Book for Women ;) way but overall it was good. I will take Katka’s “this guy is sooo hot I’m immediately in love with him and will fantasize about him for years before he comes back from prison for being anti-American” over Billy’s “I need to fuck a magician let me call all the women I know.” I did wish there was more of a honeymoon period and not just Paul coming back and being like “I’m also madly in love with you yayayay” because if he got to know her he would have loved her. She is not just some Slovenian girl but she also works on an independent newspaper and does journalism!! His union leader ass would love her pro-labor reporting.

Katka is kind of a bland character though. I KNOW it’s 1915 but she literally is only an individual because she 1. Can type and 2. Likes guns. Could she have a fucking flaw? She needed inner conflict - have her be against the strike and come to view it as necessary, or maybe she’s depressed due to her parents dying and doesn’t see why she should care about the future. She needed something going on Internally beyond “paul <3”