#that doesn’t mean tina had to become the physical punching bag of the all the teams

[cheese-water]

Tina’s pov of purgatory 1 is required reading for fans of ALL teams. So many iconic moments (making the tea originally for Bagi, eating maggots in the snow, taking charge and hiding with Missa and Rivers when Bolas was hunting for easy pickings, her entire conversation with Mariana, her ongoing hatred of Fit, scary dog privileges, the rivalry with Cellbit, GG ninja’s betrayal, I COULD KEEP GOING) are integral to understanding not just SoulFire but purgatory as a whole, all found in her streams.

Plus, the after purgatory party segments hold a special place in my heart. The meta conversations with Tubbo and Bad over what it was like being the most hated team and how it felt for Bad being “the most hated player.” Then later with everyone in the call just playing games while Tina draws the SoulFire co-leaders or joins in herself. The vibes are fantastic and were a great cooldown after the high stress event. I can’t recommend her pov enough.

[fandom-necromancer]

Past, Present, Future

This was prompted by the amazing @skyewillows! I know you likely intended this to be the other way around, but this is the idea that first came to me XD Also sorry for the delay! Hope you enjoy some angst!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 (Warnings: near death experience, slight body horror?, anti-android sentiment)

It had been supposed to be easy. It had been supposed to be a simple mission: infiltrate the warehouse in the early morning and gather intel on the operations inside. They had known the warehouse was used to store and refine Red Ice. They had known they were the newest dealership in Detroit and therefore would soon get trouble with the other people in the business or get integrated in their doing. That was what should have made it easy: Inexperienced humans afraid or at least worried about what was to come. It shouldn’t have ended like this, Nines thought as he laid in the trunk of a car, motor control deactivated and helpless in the hands of the competing drug den.

All had happened far too fast: Gavin and Nines had infiltrated the warehouse and hid in close proximity to the people milling about. They had learned most of what they had wanted to by the early afternoon, from how they synthesized the drug to where they planned on dealing it to the people. Gavin and Nines were both pretty confident all they would have to do now was wait for the night to leave in silence. Instead, a package arrived in the afternoon that the idiots promptly opened, setting off the bomb inside that ripped through the many shelves as well as one supporting pillar. The explosive chain reaction of instable intermediates in the refinement process from Thirium to Red Ice as the first explosion reached a tank did the rest. Nines could only shield Gavin from the falling debris as the roof and walls were coming down. His human had been his only priority at that moment and even now, when he should worry about his own fate, it filled him with relief to know Gavin had been alive up to that point. His memory had become a bit hazy afterwards as a steel rod from the concrete wall had pierced through his chest while protecting his human, pinning him in between two pieces of debris.

He remembered Gavin’s shocked face, his Thirium-coated hands on his face and… he had been speaking then… what had Gavin said to him? Nines only knew how he had interrupted him with the plea to flee as his sensors picked up on distant voices ordering others to search for survivors. He remembered how Gavin had ran. And then he had found himself in this trunk, immobilized and patched up where the steel rod had pushed through his body. He didn’t want to know what would happen next. Patching up an android to take with them was nothing they did from the goodness of their heart. And knowing that they knew their way around an android’s system well enough to immobilise one made Nines bad feeling even worse.

He tried to reconstruct the path his capturers had taken from the pattern of turns and times spent at red lights. Unfortunately, his GPS was offline too, so all he could do was look for overlaps in his maps. He had found several matches by the time the car stopped, and the engine was killed, but it helped little in forming an escape plan. He was still immobile and as he was lifted out of the car, he couldn’t make out enough to determine which one of his preconstructions had been accurate. A dark bag was put over his head, then he could hear someone giving orders again: ‘Get it inside and hook it up. At least this pig can be of use for us.’

Nines wished he could have struggled. He wished he could have seen where he was dragged or that he could have contacted someone. Even if it was ultimately hopeless, he wouldn’t feel so damn hopeless. His stress levels were dangerously high, and he knew he did the android equivalent of panicking as he was dropped on the floor and could hear computer fans as well as the very familiar sound of a maintenance rig being initialised. Not much later he was hoisted up and connected to the rig. Only then he felt his motor control being returned to him and with the strength of the soldier unit he had been designed to be, he pulled at the arms holding him captive. But however hard he struggled, all he managed was flinging the bag off his head as the arms compensated his thrashing and ultimately restrained him fully. ‘Let me go!’, he hollered even before he could see the lone man that stood leaned over the terminal. ‘Let me go and maybe I’ll grant you a quick death!’

Fury was the only reaction he could manage in his situation, unwilling to let his desperation and fear overwhelm him. He couldn’t give up yet. Even if his pre-constructions showed him no possible way out of here if there wasn’t external help. No, he had to ignore that. Humans made mistakes. Maybe this one had made an error when attaching him to the rig. Maybe he- ‘Shut up, tin-can!’

It could have as well been a punch to the Thirium pump. With how much affection these words could be uttered in the right moment, the right place and time and person, it hurt almost physically to hear it in the context it had long lost. Gavin had said it so many times, these exact words. In the precinct, meaning it. On a case, when Nines thought it was a good idea to remind him of proper police conduct. At a bar night when Nines had been a “phcking know-it-all”. On the backseat of their car when he had reminded him this position wouldn’t be comfortable at all. In the early morning when Nines tried to coax him out of bed when Gavin would have liked to cuddle a little longer.

But no, this time it was uncaring. Condescending. A simple disregard to his feelings, thoughts and person. The words of someone who considered him a mere thing. Switching to his soldier protocols he tried again to push and pull against the arms keeping him immobile with no regards to his component’s integrity. He only managed to pull some of his pseudomuscles apart, the rig didn’t move one bit. ‘Stop that, can’t have you losing any more Thirium!’

Nine looked up to the man that pulled a thick flexible tube over and lost his composure. He couldn’t keep up the façade of that fearless predator when he got the feeling he knew exactly what would happen next. And that recognition filled him with pure terror. ‘No. No, stop!’ The human ignored him, stepping closer and onto the platform. ‘Please, don’t!’, Nines begged, trying to keep the end of the tube in his vision, but the man had already stepped behind him. ‘No, please, I’ll do whatever you want. Just please, don’t-‘ ‘Shut up!’, the man interrupted him, his fingers roughly prodding his neck until he had found the right place to press to open the hatch to his neck port. ‘You are just a machine, don’t pretend you feel anything. This is just a fancy program Cyberlife installed to keep their property intact. Playing with human minds, that’s all you plastics ever did.’ Nines wanted to protest, to plead, but the man had already pushed the tube into the port used to refill or replace an android’s Thirium. The RK900 blinked at the sudden intrusion, but the man was already stepping back, attention back on the terminal.

‘Please’, Nines tried once again, knowing it was utterly futile. ‘Please, don’t do this. I have family. We have a cat. Please, I just want to get back to my life!’ ‘You have nothing, bot. Your family has you and can buy another one – sorry – adopt another one now that these idiots were fooled by Cyberlife’s plan.’ ‘That doesn’t make any sen-‘, Nines had begun to protest but choked on his words as he felt the rig accessing his Thirium pump and redirecting the flow without him being able to intervene. ‘No!’, he screamed, static mixing with his voice. ‘No, you can’t do this! Please. Stop!’ The man just stepped back and smirked at him. ‘Sweet dreams’, he teased, then turned and left.

Nines was completely alone in the small room, being notified of his Thirium levels dropping rapidly while he could see the blue liquid flow through the tube on the ground to who knows where. He couldn’t believe he was harvested for the very drug he and Gavin had tried to fight since it had popped up on the market. Gavin… Gavin was safe now, wasn’t he? He tried to remember what had happened exactly as Gavin had disappeared, but nothing came up. Whatever the steel rod had damaged, it must have caused some sort of short circuit causing his systems to shut down to protect themselves until he was removed. He must have made it. He must have made it to safety. Nines just couldn’t bear the thought of him being shot while running away or being caught by the gang to be interrogated or worse. No, Gavin had to be safe. Likely furious and wanting to safe him somehow. How would he react to learning he died? They had been together for quite a while now. He would either be angry and in denial about the fact or struck by grief so hard Nines couldn’t possibly imagine what would happen to him. Gavin was a ride-or-die kind of person and they had found mutual unconditional trust in the other. Hell, they had planned to marry eventually, Nines knowing he would have to be the one to propose to the surprisingly shy man. It would have been perfect.

They could have had so much, Nines regretfully realised. Not a great ceremony, but one of few guests. Tina would have been there. Nines would have convinced Gavin to invite Hank and Connor and maybe Sixty with Allen. Gavin in turn would have convinced Nines to allow Elijah and Chloe there. And besides that there would have been a full life ahead of them. Maybe they would have gone on vacation. Left Detroit for the first time or maybe even America. There would have been Christmases that weren’t coined by revolutions and New Years that wouldn’t traumatise half the population when androids first dared to insert themselves into society. Birthdays and the struggle to find the perfect present. Weekends spent on roadtrips, movie nights with friends, new cases keeping their minds busy. And then the little things. Playing with their cat and laughing at it. Watching a movie only for Gavin to halfway through fall asleep leaned against Nines. Days spent in bed because it was just to comfy. Moments when the sun just fell right through the window on Gavin’s face. Seeing him smile one more time. Hearing his voice whisper sweet nothings. Hearing him call him with another silly nickname. The smell of coffee in the morning. The curses when having overslept. The slow beat of a heart. The way he sighed in content and caressed Nines face when he thought he was already in stasis. The colour of his eyes…

Nines’ systems were shutting down one after the other. His countdown was ticking down. His thoughts were running slow and sluggish. He was long hanging weakly in the arms of the rig. Warning messages popped up, informing him of imminent terminal overheating. Nines ignored it all. He didn’t want to die in fear. He didn’t even want to know he was dying. He tried to remember his short life with Gavin and to imagine how it could have been. It was no surprise to him his mind soon began to fray as his systems switched to critical condition and he saw Gavin before him. Heard his voice: ‘Nines. Stay with me.’ ‘I will’, Nines hummed with a content smile, his tinny voice almost unrecognisable as one. ‘I will fix this, don’t worry’, Gavin’s voice told him and Nines thanked whatever sick twist of fate gave an android the possibility to lose logic in it’s last moments. ‘I know you will’, Nines spoke, not understanding his own words as his voicebox was running on less and less power. ‘I’ve always been safe with you.’ ‘Phck, Nines. Phck, phck, phck!’ ‘I love you, Gavin.’

And then he fell.

  He fell on a surprisingly real floor. ‘Phck, Nines, sorry! Nines? Nines? Phck can you hear me? Say something!’ Nine could barely understand the words uttered as his sensors glitched and switched on and off repeatedly. ‘Okay, your LED is still on, please let that mean you’re still alive! Alright, I will get you out of here, just hold on! We will fix you, we will fix you!’

He… wasn’t dead yet? Nines tried to access his internal sensors and saw that he had been disconnected at a Thirium Level of twelve percent. He was still about to die, but the countdown was trickling down a lot slower now that the blue blood wasn’t forcibly extracted. Unable to move he was once again dragged over the floor for what felt like an eternity when Nines watched every millisecond pass by. If this wasn’t an impressive illusion of a dying operating system, then that had to mean Gavin was really here. And that he was about to save him. That there was indeed a future to look forward to.

The sun outside caused his optics to white out, so it was a little sudden as a bottle opening was pressed to his lips. Havin a hunch, Nines allowed the liquid to be poured down his throat. It took a while until his levels rose and several bottles were emptied, but as they sat at stable 60%, Nines could run a quick diagnose and regained access to all systems that remained intact. It weren’t many, but he could jerkily move, he could talk through heavy static, he could hear, see and feel. And he used all of these abilities to jump up, hug Gavin and kiss him clumsily on the lips. ‘Gavin!’, he gave vent to his relief and promptly kissed him again as if he could loose all this again the next second. ‘Hey, buddy, tone that down a bit’, Gavin laughed embarrassedly. ‘Everyone is watching.’

Nines couldn’t care less. ‘Gavin, I want to marry you’, he burst out instead and as Gavin looked at him in surprise and wanted to respond, Nines just interrupted: ‘Elijah can come if Connor is invited too.’ ‘Alright, not what I wanted to say’, Gavin chuckled, trying to free himself of Nines embrace that was more of a vice by now. ‘We should take time off. Drive somewhere. I want to hold you.’ Gavin pushed him away fully now, holding onto his arms. ‘Nines, what’s wrong?’, he asked with worry. ‘I will get you to a repair shop, don’t worry.’

Nines closed his eyes and vented his internal systems that had heated up yet again. ‘I almost lost this’, he whispered. ‘All of this. You. Our future. I don’t want to wait anymore should this happen ever again.’ Gavin looked at him and sighed. ‘Nines, this won’t happen again. I promise. We are partners, remember? We look out for each other. I know, I was quite… I was almost too late this time. But I will always be there.’ Nines looked to the ground, unsure if his legs would support him much longer. ‘Hey’, Gavin said softly, lifting his head up. ‘You know what? Vacation doesn’t sound too bad. I’ll see what I can do, okay? But let’s get you fixed up first, okay?’

The android rested his head against Gavin’s, noses touching. ‘Okay’, he nodded and let himself be guided towards a car by his human.

[all-the-love-harold]

Chapter 9 - Everything Begins with a Heartbeat

Chapter 9 is here! @lovesmelikebrandnewstarlight deserves a special shoutout for helping me out with the title this time and for being the most supportive friend ever. Let me know what you think about what’s going on with Harry and Poppy! 

Chapter 8 

Master Post 

May 12th 2017 – 5 Weeks

5:00am

“Poppy wake up, it’s album day, wake up” Harry said softly into her ear as she stirred a little, hiding her head under the pillow. “Come on love, you’ve got work today,” she lifted her head, and looked at Harry

“Fuck you for releasing your album on a Friday and making me go into work” she said in a croaky sleep ridden voice

“Soz” he pulled the blankets off both of them and jumped out of bed “I’m going to make us coffee, you can get dressed”

He walked out of the room and Poppy rolled back over, groaning loudly and pulling the covers up over her head. She was excited for Harry, she really was, but it was early and she wasn’t supposed to be working on Friday’s any more. She heard Harry’s careful footsteps heading towards the bedroom and she slowly sat herself on the edge on the bed, moving her hand towards her stomach.

“Everything alright love?” Harry said as he walked back in the room, seeing her holding onto her pregnant belly

“Yeah” she said, ever since her doctor’s appointment last week, every little symptom stressed her out, from morning sickness to headaches. She was paranoid that  she was  going to lose the baby and she wanted to do everything she could to make sure that didn’t happen, and so did Harry. “It still doesn’t feel like this is real H”

“It will feel real after your scan next week” he handed her a cup of tea “drink this”

“Thanks” she said grabbing the cup and taking a sip “Oooh” she remembered the gift she bought for Harry “I have a present for you”

“For me?” he said surprised “Why?”

“Because you made a killer album and I’m proud of you” she stood up and opened her wardrobe, leaning down to find where she’d hidden the gift. It wasn’t much, a new journal because she was sick of the sight of the old one, and she thought a new era for Harry deserved a new Journal to write things down in, and a kiwi fruit, because that song had taken on a new meaning since she found out she was having a baby. Poppy handed him the gift bag and he unwrapped the journal first, untying the string and opening it, reading the message she wrote him on the inside cover.

“There’s always more songs to be written H, can’t wait to hear them”

“Thanks Pop, can’t wait to play them for you” he smiled

“There’s more in the bag” she gestured towards the bag as he opened it again

“No there’s not?” he handed her the bag and she looked inside, she must have forgotten to put the Kiwi in there when she got back from doing her groceries

“Stay there” she said, running out to the kitchen and grabbing one out of the fruit bowl, heading straight back to the bedroom “Catch” she said throwing it to him “Baby Brain”

He let out a full body laugh “you got me kiwi” he chuckled “that’s amazing”

“I thought you’d like it” she hugged him “Now go and shave and I’ll drop you home on my way to work”

“Who said I had to shave”

“Lou, and her and Harry will be waiting for you back at your place, so off you go.”

There was no way Harry could go to the studios with Poppy, aside from the fact that his suit was back at his place and he couldn’t turn up in nothing but his boxers, there would be hundreds of fans waiting for his arrival and she knew that he needed security with him. Not only was this a big day for Harry, but it was a big day for Radio 1, it was rare for them to have artists as big as Harry live in the studio, they usually pre-recorded interviews or they were done over the phone, so she needed to be there, to make sure things ran smoothly.

 Poppy got dressed, throwing on a pair of leggings and a long jumper, she’d started to gain a bit of weight with the pregnancy, not enough to make it obvious but enough for people to notice, so she stuck with baggy clothes that hung loose around her body. No one at work knew she was expecting  yet, she’d told Ben that she needed to take Friday’s for a few weeks to help Harry with a few things, so that she could reduce her stress levels, and when she finally reached 12 weeks, she would tell him the real reason.

Harry came out of the bathroom, clean shaven and dressed in an old shirt of his and a pair of track suit pants.

“You ready?” he asked as she put the final touches on her simple makeup look

“Yah” she nodded, turning around and grabbing her bag and car keys “Are you?”

“No” he admitted, referring not to his physical readiness to leave the flat, but to his readiness for the world to hear the album.

“You know it’s already out back home, it’s been out for a few hours”

“I know, it’s already out here too love, came out at midnight”

“Oh yeah” she said, opening the front door “I might listen to it at some point.” He let out a breathy laugh and followed her out and down the stairs to her car which lived in the basement. The trip to Harry’s house was mostly silent, his nerves evident already, until she remembered her morning sickness.

“You’re going to need to cover for me H”

“What do you mean”

“I don’t usually start work until 9 and by then the morning sickness is usually gone, or at least the vomiting part of it has, but there’s no way I’m going to make it through this morning without puking, so you’re going to have to cover for me, if someone asks you what’s going on”

He chucked a little “I’ll tell them you ate something bad”

“Thanks” she said pulling into his driveway, as he opened the door and punched the code into the gate to open it, she drove in so she could turn her car around and drop him closer to the door. “I’ll see you there H.” He smiled and closed the door behind him, making his way inside.

Harry’s house wasn’t far from the BBC Broadcasting house, and it only took her ten minutes to get there this early in the morning. It was almost 6 am when she walked into the building, the queasy feeling setting in.

“Morning everyone” she said, walking through the door to nick’s studio, handing them a cup of coffee that she’d picked up from the early bird café downstairs

“Hiya” Nick said, taking the coffee from her “Not used to seeing you this early”

“Big Boss Ben’s here, I’m here” Poppy laughed

“He’s not here yet” Nick laughed “But thanks for the coffee”

“Well, we’re supposed to be treating Harry like a celebrity, so I had to come in earlier to prepare myself for that.”

“Big day, guys big day” Ben walked in, plate of ham and cheese croissants in hand, the smell of which made Poppy gag, strong smells were really starting to get to her. “Right” he said “Poppy, is everything organised in the green room?”

“Not yet, but Harry’s requests were very little, just water, tea and fresh fruit”

“Great” Ben said “Alright, you two are live in three minutes” he pointed at Grimmy and Tina, “get yourselves organised and we’ll keep you posted on Harry’s arrival”

Poppy walked out of the room and rushed into the bathroom, locking the stall, and throwing up straight into the bowl of the toilet. Letting out a large sigh, hoping that nothing else was going to come up, she stood and flushed the toilet, using the back of her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead and leaving the stall, finding Ella, the receptionist looking at her with concern.

“Everything alright?”

She nodded, taking a mint out of her bag and popped it in her mouth “I think I ate something funny last night”

“You’ve been looking like shit in the mornings for a few weeks now, you’re not pregnant, are you?”

She laughed nervously “No, not possible” she lied.

“I don’t believe you, but you’ll tell me when you’re ready” she walked out of the room, and Poppy looked at herself in the mirror, holding onto her stomach, and taking a deep breath before exiting the bathroom. Ella was her work wife, she knew most things about her and she could tell when things weren’t right, and if this wasn’t such a high-risk pregnancy, she would have told her about the baby, but she couldn’t risk it.

Poppy made her way to the green room to get everything set up for Harry, placing a bowl of his favourite fruits and a pot of tea on the table, leaving the water in the mini fridge, because she knew he liked it cold. As weird as treating Harry like a celebrity felt, she knew she had to keep this professional for the sake of Radio One. Harry’s people were also responsible for other high-profile people, and she couldn’t be seen treating Harry differently to them.

The morning ran smoothly, Harry arrived at 6:30, taking photos with Fans outside the building before coming into the green room, where she had his album displayed next to the fruit bowl. The interview with Grimmy ran smoothly too and by the time it was finished, Harry was feeling much more relaxed about the release of the album. Poppy had to duck out of  the room a few times, when the morning sickness became too much, and a few people noticed, but she was  able to play it off as food poisoning until Grimmy asked.

“You ok hun?” he asked once Harry had left. Poppy and Grimmy had become quite close since she  started working for Ben, spending time together in her lunch breaks and outside of work too, usually with Harry around.

“Yeah, just got a bit of food poisoning” she said shyly “Good job at keeping that professional, I know it’s hard when you know all the answers to the questions you’ve got to ask”

“Gotta treat it like work” he nodded “You sticking around today? Or are you out for the day?”

“I’ve got a few emails to respond to and phone calls to make, and then I’m outta here”

“Leave em for Monday babes, go home and get better”

“I second that” Ben called out “You’ve been puking all morning, you had Harry’s team worried for you, and every time you left it looked like Harry wanted to run after you”

“Surprised he doesn’t have food poisoning too, he’s been living in your flat for the last week”  Grimmy chimed in

“He gets lonely in his big house” she laughed “refuses to eat what I cook him though”

“I’m still not convinced that you’ve never slept with him” Grimmy said

“I promise you we haven’t”

“Don’t believe ya, you’re too close with each other”

“Swear on my Life”

“Whatever, just make sure he makes me best man at the wedding”

Poppy rolled her eyes and walked away, making her way towards her desk, which sat adjacent to Ella’s, looking out the window. When she sat down, she took a moment, to take a breath and try to settle her stomach. After a few minutes the urge to vomit passed and she got to work, hoping to be out of the office by lunch time. By 11:30 she’d responded to all her emails, scheduled a few guests for the coming months, and worked out Ben’s dairy for the next week, so she decided to call it a day. She packed up her desk and locked her laptop in its cabinet, saying goodbye Ella and Ben before going to find Grimmy.

“I’m out for the day Grim, I’ll see you tomorrow night?” she stuck her head around the corner, where his desk sat

“I think I’m going to head off too, Friday innit” he stood and grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair “Shall we grab some lunch, if you’re feeling up to it?”

“Lunch sounds wonderful”

***

May 13th 2017, 8:00pm

This was Harry’s first full show as a solo artist, and he was nervous about it. He’d spent most of the day rehearsing and being a Saturday, Poppy had been at home relaxing, doing some research about her condition, to try and ease her mind. It didn’t work, she’d only stressed herself out even more. That’s why she was glad to be here at the garage, to take her mind off things for a while. She was standing next to Nick and Gemma when Harry walked out on stage with the band. Opening with Ever Since New York had been her idea, because it was an easy song for the crowd to sing along to.

“Oh tell me something I don’t already know” he sang, a smile spread across his face “Sing it” he grabbed the mic off it’s stand and held it out to the audience and they all sang it back to him. Watching Harry perform had always been something she loved, he truly was born for it, but standing there, in a crowd, largely filled with his closest friends and family, singing his songs back to him, was a special moment, there was a sense of solidarity with everyone in that room. They were all in this together, friend, family or fan, they  were here for Harry, no matter what.

“Hello” he said into the mic after singing Carolina “I’m Harry, nice to meet you, thank you very much for having me, how are you?” the crowd cheered and Harry spotted Poppy, tears forming in her eyes “Good! Poppy are you crying already?” she laughed, refusing to respond to his mockery, sending him a thumbs up instead “alright, she’s crying already” the crowd laughed and she hid her face in Nicks shoulder “So, my album came out yesterday, and uh,  I wanted to do a show, and uh, I’m going to play those songs, for you I hope you enjoy them, and uh, this is my first show in a long time, my first show ever, so it’s a night I won’t forget and I thank you very much for being here with me, this is Meet Me in the Hallway”

Throughout the show, every time Harry made eye contact with Poppy, he’d smile and wave, or make a silly face at her if she wasn’t singing along. Poppy and Nick spent most of the evening dancing along and beaming proudly at their best friend while he had the time of his life on stage.  After Harry finished his cover of Ultra Lightbeam, Nick turned to Poppy, with teary eyes “Pretty shit isn’t he”

“Awful, dunno why all these people like him” she joked, tears filling her eyes as well.

“That was not my song, uh thank you so much, uh, it’s uh always a little strange performing after not doing anything for a long time and I uh I’m a little rusty in the joints, I’m overwhelmed, since I put out the single, by your support your continued support, I couldn’t ask for a better group of friends to share this with”

“That’s us” Poppy and Nick said, jumping up and down pointing at themselves

“Yes, I can see you two idiots over there, I like you, you’re my friends” he said looking at them as they both high-fived

“We’ve made it” nick said sarcastically, as Harry introduced the crowd to his band.

The ‘Whoo hoo’s’ from Only Angel, echoed around the room and as Poppy and Nick danced he leant over to her “He’s never going to admit this, but I swear this song is about you”

“It’s just not” she gently pushed nick “he wouldn’t do that”

“He would” he said, yelling out a whoohoo with the crowd.

“I feel very lucky to have some friends and family in the audience tonight, I’d like give a special shout out, to my best friend in the whole wide world Poppy, without her, this album would not have happened, so if you’re near her, uh, I don’t know, maybe give her hug, but uh, be gentle because she’s pre – uh fragile, she’s fragile, uh this is Sweet Creature” he blushed smiling towards Poppy

Gemma turned and gave her a curious look, as a fan tapped Poppy on the shoulder and offered her a hug. She was lovely, asking her a few questions about Harry, while he sang Sweet Creature, a song that she knew was about her for sure.  For the rest of the show, Gemma kept a close eye on Poppy, watching as her hands occasionally brushed over her belly while she was dancing.

After the show, Poppy Nick and Gemma, made their way backstage to see Harry. Jeff and Tommy were standing in the corner, trying to find the bottle of champagne that they brought to make a toast with and muster enough glasses for everyone in the room. As they walked in Poppy shot Harry a look, telling him that she noticed his slip up and he mouthed a quiet “sorry” at her, while he continued his conversation with Sarah.

“Great show H” she said to him when he had a free moment. The room was so full of his friends and family that it was hard to move around in such a small space, but it was heart warming to see all these people here to support him.

“Thanks” he smiled “and sorry, about the slip up”

“It’s alright, Gemma may have noticed, but I don’t think anyone else did” she admitted “she might think it’s yours though���

He shrugged “we’ll clear that up when the time comes, let her think it for now if she wants.” Tommy came around and handed them both a glass of champagne and before Poppy even thought about not being able to drink it Jeff was standing on the table trying to get everyone’s attention.

“Guys” he shouted “Can I have your attention for a minute” the room went silent and everyone turned their attention to Jeff “Thanks, I’d just like to give a quick toast to Harry, we’re all proud of you H, it’s a great album, and I’m sure I speak for everyone in this room when I say that we’re excited to see where it takes you, you did a great job tonight and I’m sure that’s the first of many great shows, so” he raised his glass “to Harry”

The room erupted in a toast “To Harry” everyone responded and took a sip of their drinks. Poppy noticed Gemma look at her in that moment, so she brought the glass to her lips, making sure none of the liquid passed throughand handed the glass to Harry as soon as she looked away

“Drink this so Gemma doesn’t get suspicious of my full glass” he nodded, looking over to where Gemma was standing with Anne and downing it like a shot “Christ, I didn’t say skull it”

He shrugged “Didn’t want her to see.”

The venue only allowed everyone to stay for an hour after the show, so Harry invited everyone who was left to go back to his place for a few more drinks, but Poppy was tired, and she decided to call it night.

“I’m going to call it night H, I’m exhausted”

“Alright love, that’s probably a good idea, I’ll call in tomorrow, before I head off to L.A” he said slurring his words a little.

“Thanks” she wrapped her arms around him bringing him in for a hug “I’m proud of you”

“Wouldn’t be here without you love” he smiled “can I call you cab to get you home?”

“I’ll get the tube, it’s fine” she said searching her wallet for her oyster card

“Please” he said “it’s safer”

“Fine” she said, knowing that he wouldn’t give up until she agreed, especially if he was a little drunk.  

Poppy got home half an hour later and headed straight to bed, falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Pregnancy was really starting to tire her out, it was rare that she was awake past 10pm anymore and she usually took an afternoon nap. It was strange sleeping without Harry next to her, but she knew she would have to get used it, he was going to be away for the next two weeks and after that he would be constantly going back and forth, getting ready for the tour.

***

June 2nd 2017 – 8 weeks

Poppy sat next to Harry in the waiting room of her Midwife’s offices, waiting for her second scan. The  first one had  happened at 6 weeks, while Harry was in L.A, filming the Late Late show, and everything had gone well. It looked the baby had positioned itself so that herr condition wouldn’t affect it until later in the pregnancy, which meant that she probably wouldn’t carry until full term, but it wouldn’t cause a miscarriage. None the less, her midwife had suggested she has a scan every two weeks, just to make sure everything stayed on track.

“Poppy” the midwife called, and both her and Harry stood and followed her into an examination room. “This must be Dad?” she said looking at Harry

“No” she shook her head “He’s just here for support, Dad’s not in the picture”

Harry held his hand out to shake her hand “I’m Harry” he said

“Julie” she said, shaking his hand, doing a double take when she recognised his face “Harry Styles?” she questioned

“That’s me” he nodded

“Sorry, Mr Styles, this is very unprofessional of me, but I’m a big fan of your album”

“No you’re fine” he said, smiling “Thank you”

“Alright Poppy, since bubba is still very tiny, today’s scan is going to have to be another internal one,  so I’ll give you a second to strip your bottom half down, there’s a gown on the table there that you can put on” she motioned towards the hospital gown that sat folded in plastic wrapping on the bed “and Mr Styles, you’re welcome to stay, but if either of you are uncomfortable, you can sit in the waiting room until we’re finished with the scan”

“He can stay” Poppy said, to smiling at both of them. Julie smiled back and left the room, letting her get changed.

“When she says internal, does she mean, like” he moved his two fingers in an upwards motion “Inside?”

“Up my Vagina Harry” she said bluntly unbuttoning her jeans while he blinked at her bluntness

“Yeah good” he said, voice more high pitched than normal “I’ll stay up here then” he moved towards the head of the examination table

“Good move” she nodded, slipping the gown on and taking her jeans and panties off, laying down on the bed, feet up on the stirrups.

Julie knocked on the door, checking that she was ready and walked back in the room, sitting on the stool at the foot of the bed.

“We ready?” she asked, slipping a pair of gloves on. Poppy nodded and Harry reached down and grabbed her hand. The procedure was a little uncomfortable, like getting a pap smear, but it was worth it when she saw her baby up on the screen.

“Everything’s looking good Poppy” Julie said, turning the screen towards her, “Bubba’s sitting there on the left still, which is where want them to be, we’ve grown quite a bit since last time too, which is a wonderful sign” she felt Harry let out a sigh of relief “Shall we hear the heart beat?” both Poppy and Harry nodded

“Yes please” she said softly, trying to hold back tears

Julie pressed a few buttons on the ultrasound machine, and within seconds she could hear the sound of her baby’s heart for the first time. The  last scan was too early for that, the baby was too small, and the technology wasn’t good enough to be able to hear such a small heartbeat. Poppy’s eyes filled with tears and sher felt Harry’s grip on her hand tighten as his other had reached down and started rubbing her shoulder.

“It’s the most beautiful sound in the world isn’t it?” Julie said smiling, “I’ve taken a recording of that for you to take home, I’ll give you two a second, and you can get changed, and when I come back we’ll go through a few things, ok?”

“Great” Poppy  said, “Thank you”

She walked out of the room and she sat listening to the heartbeat for a few seconds. “It’s real Harry” the tears were streaming down her face now “There’s a baby in there”

“There’s a baby in there,Pop” he said, wiping her tears away and helping her sit up “I can’t see it, but I can hear it”

Poppy laughed “It’s right there H” she said pointing to the tiny white dot on the screen “Like a little potato.”

“Your little spud” he smiled at her

“Our little spud H” she smiled back “I know it’s not yours, but you’re the closest thing it's got to a Dad”

“Our little spud” he said helping her sit up, and hugging her “Now put some pants on would ya?”

Poppy giggled and climbed down off the bed, picking up her jeans and panties and slipping them back on, discarding the gown onto the table, and taking a seat in the chair next to the desk. A few minutes later Julie walked back into the room, with another woman, who Poppy  assumed was her obstetrician.

“Miss Thomas, Mr Styles, this is Doctor Miller, she’s going to be your obstetrician, she specialises in pregnancies like yours and she’s got a few things to talk to you about”

“It’s lovely to meet you both” Dr Miller said, taking a seat at the desk “thanks Julie”

Julie smiled and left the room, leaving them with the doctor.

“Now, I don’t want either of you to be worrying about anything, I’ve taken a quick look at your scan and everything is looking very healthy, baby is growing at the normal rate and your placenta looks healthy too”

“Great” Harry said, placing his hand on Poppy’s thigh

“As I’m sure Julie mentioned last time, pregnancies like this often don’t make it full term, and natural births are rare, so normal procedure is to schedule two different C-section dates, one at 35 weeks, and one at 38 weeks, and throughout the pregnancy we will monitor the growth of the baby and decide what needs to happen when the time comes – are you ok with that?”

“Of course” Poppy  nodded

“Great, so 35 weeks would put us at November 17th and 38 weeks would put us at December 8th” Poppy saw the look on Harry’s face, knowing that he was still on tour for both of those dates, and there was no way he could cancel it at this stage. “Now obviously we try our best to let you get to full term, so just because these are booked in doesn’t mean they’re set in stone, what will probably happen in the last few weeks is that you’ll be put on bed rest, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it”

“Good” she nodded

“For now though, you still need to be taking it easy, make sure you’re taking your vitamins and getting enough rest”

Poppy continued nodding along with what she was saying “Has Julie spoken to you about the Harmony test?”

“She mentioned it briefly last time”

“Great, well all it is, is a simple blood test that screens for any genetic abnormalities, and we’re able to tell the sex much earlier than we would be with just scans”

“Cool” Harry said

“It’s not a part of the NHS though, so it’s completely up to you weather you have it or not, it’s quite expensive”

“That’s not a problem” Harry said, looking at Poppy

“I’ll let you two decide if that’s something you want, if you decide to do it, all you have to do is ring up and book in a blood test”

“Wonderful” Poppy  smiled

“Alright, I think that’s everything we needed to talk about for this appointment. We’ll continue with the scans every two weeks for the rest of your first trimester, and we’ll reassess from there.”

“Great” she said, picking up her bag “It was lovely to meet you”

“You too” she smiled, opening the door for them.

Poppy and Harry made their way out of the practice and back to his car, ducking theirr heads to avoid being seen. Once they got in the car and they were headed back to Poppy’s flat, Harry spoke.

“I don’t want you to worry about money with this Pop, if you want that test, please book it in, I’ll pay for it, it’s the least I can do, if I’m not going to be here for the birth”

“Me and little spud are going to do everything we can to keep him in there for an extra week until you get back”

“Him?” Harry smiled at her

“It feels like a boy.”

[iamwhelmed]

Willpower

Wow, first DOA fanfic in YEEAARRS. This time it’s about my favorite girl, my waifu Lei Fang. She’s been my role model since I was super small and playing Dead or Alive 3, and not surprisingly-- I’ve always shipped her with Jann Lee. Tough guy, professional asshole, the one who never looks her way when goddammit Jann Lee the love of your life is right fucking there just TALK TO HER. Anyway... I’ve been meaning to write something for years, but I’ve always been scared I didn’t have as good a grasp on the story as I thought I did lmao

Summary: Lei Fang’s dress was white, and long, and gorgeous-- and the slit up her leg was ripped in three different directions. Her eyes were worse, dead, empty, staring into nothing as she sipped a glass of straight whiskey. There was a feeling Hitomi had, one she hadn’t felt in a long time, a bad feeling, like the last breath of air before you went underwater to drown. Something had changed, something was going to change. Hitomi wasn’t sure she’d like it. 

Jann Lee breaks Lei Fang's heart, and Hitomi is here to witness her coming back together again.

Read it on AO3

Read it on Fanfiction.net

She'd known Lei Fang for awhile now, about three years. Maybe more. Hitomi liked to think they were best friends, closest confidants- rivals. She liked to think they knew each other better than anyone else, that their traded secrets (harbored loves burdened by circumstance) and months spent training and movie nights with popcorn and ice cream- she liked to think they amounted to an understanding unrivaled by anyone they'd known before.

Despite all this, she'd never seen Lei Fang cry.

Lei Fang, who was as fiery and determined as she was stubborn, who got kicked down and rejected again and again for close to a decade and only took it as a challenge, she'd been embarrassed but never sad. Never discouraged. Never heartbroken. Hitomi knew what heartbreak was, felt it every time she saw auburn hair and stern eyes that still felt as warm as strong arms over her shoulders. She knew what it felt like to wonder if he felt the same way, and more than anything, she knew when it got too much and she had to shed her tears and mourn a love she feared would never be. It didn't happen often, only once in awhile, but occasionally. When Hayate smiled at her, when she was rarely reminded that he'd spent more time away than he'd spent at the dojo with her, she'd cry. She was silent for the most part, dug the heels of her hands into her eyes and let it out as she curled into herself on her couch, let the TV blare and block it all out as she remembered slowly but surely how to breath.

Lei Fang had seen it once, showed up at her front door at the wrong time. Hitomi hoped it hadn't been obvious, that she'd smiled enough and that her voice didn't crack, but Lei Fang saw her eyes (and the shameful red rim of her waterline). Anyone else might have asked her if she'd been watching a sad movie, or gotten bad news. Lei Fang? Lei Fang took one look at her, grit her teeth, and said: "Where'd the bastard go? Where is he?" Hitomi had wanted to laugh, but she let out a sob and rubbed at her sore eyes and said: "Busy. He's busy."

Lei Fang told her that no man worth her time would ever be too busy for her. Hitomi guessed she was right, but they both knew these strings around their hearts were far from snapping, despite how sternly they may be strung.

But Lei Fang never cried, not in front of her at least. She just got angry. She punched down walls, kicked over columns. She trained harder than any one person should be physically able to handle. She came back harder and stronger and it still never seemed to be enough. It was a cycle, one she resonated with, respected, and kind of grieved. But she and Lei Fang did it every year now. They went and trained and sparred, and eventually parted ways to go kick some butt in the tournament. Except neither of them ever won, for varying reasons. It happened. They'd win it next time. That's what she figured when she met Lei Fang at the bar a few weeks after the sixth tournament. They were going to have a few drinks, lament their losses, Lei Fang would smack talk Jann Lee, Hitomi would laugh, and they'd get on with the next year.

Lei Fang's dress was white, and long, and gorgeous- and the slit up her leg was ripped in three different directions. Her eyes were worse, dead, empty, staring into nothing as she sipped a glass of straight whiskey. There was a feeling Hitomi had, one she hadn't felt in a long time, a bad feeling, like the last breath of air before you went underwater to drown. Something had changed, something was going to change. Hitomi wasn't sure she'd like it.

"Hey, what's up?" She tried to keep her voice a level up, cheery, normal.

Lei Fang glanced at her from the side, gave her a small smile with a busted lip, and what she could now see was a budding bruise at the bone of her cheek. "You made it."

"Of course!" She made a show of glancing over her face, and skimming over the dirtied, mussed stains of her dress. One of her shoes' heels was snapped. The other strap around the ankle had torn in two. She resisted the urge to let out a low whistle. That jerk had done a number on her this time. "So, should I see the other guy?"

Lei Fang snorted and tipped her glass back, finishing the rest in two, three gulps. She set the glass down and the bartender filled it as soon as it hit the wood, and Hitomi was starting to get the impression that she hadn't walked in on her first drink. "Yeah, I gave him a few good shiners. Maybe that smug face of his will have a broken nose tomorrow."

"Mmm."

The bartender welcomed her, took her card for a tab and filled her glass with a colorful cocktail.

"Did you beat him again?"

"No."

Lei Fang's vacant eyes followed the (second? third? more?) whiskey and round ice as it did laps around the rim, her blue and purple wrist looking worse for wear every second. Hitomi took a hesitant sip of her pink fruity drink and waited.

The silence was deafening and stale. She wasn't used to quiet around Lei Fang. She glanced around the bar where other Dead or Alive contestants had gathered in the distance. She supposed Lei Fang had decided to sit in the farthest place she could. She found no eyes wandering in their direction, but gathered from Tina's shift in their direction and Helena's far-off eye that they were listening. She'd have to keep her voice low.

"I guess I got what I wanted."

"Huh?"

Lei Fang chuckled, smile usually so sly and taunting now sardonic as she stared down the shelves of the bar. Her eyes were still hollow, but Hitomi could see a glaze in the bar light's reflection. "I never wanted something normal. Dinner dates, flowers, romantic birthdays alone… I never wanted any of that. It's boring." She wasn't sure if Lei Fang was talking to her or simply lamenting, so she didn't say anything, just gripped her drink and held it to her like a lifeline. "Never will have any of that, will I?" Lei Fang exhaled, and she couldn't tell if she was laughing or sighing. She watched as Lei Fang's nimble fingers clutched at the bar glass, noticed with growing concern that her hand was trembling.

"Lei Fang?"

"How stupid…" Something snapped. Barren eyes filled with tears that fell in rhythm. That smile, that sarcastic, humorless smile twisted into something bitter, something that Hitomi realized with a starting realization… was heartbreak.

She set her drink on the bar and leaped into Lei Fang, pulling her into her arms and squeezing her as a warning that she wasn't letting go. Lei Fang, who she knew all this time was a warrior, who was a powerhouse and an untoward partition, didn't even put up a fight. She went limp in her arms, weeping openly as she dug her head into her chest and pressed her fists to either side, wept like she'd forgotten to for years. She shook and trembled and whimpered, and she mumbled over and over again as though the realization continued to occur to her. "I'm so stupid!" He doesn't even see me. I'm nothing to him. She heard every word Lei Fang couldn't say, set her chin on her head and fought her own tears because she needed to be the strong one right now.

She glanced up to see if anyone was looking. Helena was burying her head in her pool game with Bass, Tina had turned her back to them completely. If anybody else was paying attention, they weren't letting on about it. Eliot turned to glance over at them, concern filling his big expressive eyes, but Brad Wong wrapped an arm around him and tugged him tight into his chest. Hitomi closed her eyes and buried her head in Lei Fang's hair.

"I know," she hushed, "I know."

Lei Fang had a date. A real, honest-to-god date. His name was Chao Li, and he was the wealthy son of one of her father's friends. He looked handsome in the magazine pictures Lei Fang brought to show her, and according to his father, he'd become particularly well-versed in the art of bowling as a hobby. She'd caught his eye at a charity event in Hong Kong. She said yes when he sent a massive card (roughly her height and maybe her weight) and a wheelbarrow of peonies, orchids, and lotus blossoms. Hitomi was happy for her, because she deserved to be admired and sought after, and just a tiny part of her was smug that she'd bagged such an amazing guy. She mentioned it to Tina in passing one day when they ran into each other at the beach. Tina laughed and whistled and said: "That's what she needs to do. Light a fire under his ass!" She didn't need to ask who Tina meant. They both knew.

Lei Fang came back a few weeks later as they met up for brunch at the pretty cafe near Hitmoi's house, told her Chao Li was just as hot in person as he was on paper. He'd brought her to see a famous ballet, then took her on a romantic boat ride under the blossoming cherry trees and stars. He'd held her hand and told her that he'd never seen a woman so strong and fascinating. He'd said there wasn't a woman like her. Hitomi agreed, and giggled through the whole story. She just couldn't help but notice that Lei Fang's smile didn't reach her eyes.

Lei Fang continued dating Chao Li, though they hadn't gone as far as claiming "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" status. She had a feeling Lei Fang didn't want to put a label on it. That was too normal, too mundane. If Chao Li had a problem with it, Lei Fang hadn't told her. Time passed, a few months went by, the seventh Dead or Alive tournament would begin soon. She worried Lei Fang would pull out, but she was more than happy to start training again. Chao Li insisted that she compete, told her "you have a talent, what use is it to hide you away from the world?" He wouldn't hide her beauty from his colleagues, he certainly wouldn't hide her strength. Hitomi had cooed and told Lei Fang how perfect he was for her, and Lei Fang agreed- but she wouldn't look her in the eyes.

As usual, she and Lei Fang trained and sparred and gave each other pointers, and they grew stronger and better with each day. It felt like there was something missing, though, and it didn't occur to her until Zack was popping up in a helicopter with DOA invitations that they hadn't once mentioned the elephant in the room, the foe she and Lei Fang would undoubtedly face. As she and Lei Fang hopped into the helicopter, something cold and heavy and wet sunk into the pit of her stomach. Dread.

As usual, she and Lei Fang passed the first stages of the tournament with no competition. Wins came easy, and the same people who made it to the quarter finals last year made it to this year too. Mila, Eliot, Diego, Tina, Bass, Kokoro, Rig… Jann Lee. She had yet to mention his name to Lei Fang, not because she was purposely avoiding it but, uh… okay maybe she was a little. But every time they saw the leaderboards, saw his face plastered on the screen by Diego's, she couldn't help but hold her breath; Lei Fang was trying not to notice. Chao Li had been in the audience for every single round, cheered with the crowd and was there when Lei Fang won to welcome her into his arms. So sure enough he hung around them when they chilled out at the bar.

Tina whistled low as she checked him out, said, and I quote: "Damn Lei Fang, got yourself a slick and thick piece of meat!" Lei Fang rolled her eyes and Mila busted into gut-wrenching laughter. Zack pounced and gave the guy a warm welcome, and Brad Wong raised his glass in greeting. The three of them eventually took a seat at the table with Mila and Tina, who were teasing Eliot across the way for being adorable. He got flustered, and mad, but Brad Wong's laughter settled him from doing anything he'd regret. A few hours flew by with laughter and drinks, and Lei Fang was a little tipsy, and Hitomi might have been too. Rig had walked in, sat down, and ordered an Old Fashioned at some point, and Helena had clocked out early into the night. Drunk Lei Fang picked fights with Bass and Drunk Hitomi laughed as it happened. Sober(er) Chao Li tried his best to smooth things over with Bass by stroking his ego. Hitomi was vaguely aware that her sides were killing her and that she'd well run out of air to expunge in fits of hysteria, but the laughter had merely turned to breathless heaves. Bass himself seemed almost amused, watching as Chao Li made his very best efforts toward keeping Lei Fang's hind in her chair.

Hitomi hoped that Jann Lee walking into the bar wouldn't ruin the mood, and it didn't. She, like Lei Fang, seemed to be the only one to notice him walking in. There were greetings, some from Kokoro, some from the bartender, but Lei Fang stayed silent, choosing instead to lean her weight into Chao Li's side. He seemed surprised, if not pleased, oblivious to the sudden departure of the cheery girl he'd known all this time. He wrapped an arm over her shoulders and smiled to himself. Hitomi glanced at Jann Lee to see if he'd noticed them, but the man had set his eyes on Rig and looked ready to spar. Hitomi snorted to herself. Of course he would. She hated to pity Lei Fang, knew she'd never want that, but it was hard not to when even she could say her affections were… recognized. At the very least, Hayate was never anything but kind to her. Jann Lee never seemed to not have a Kung Fu stick up his- Hitomi exhaled through her nose.

Instead of starting a fight, Jann Lee ordered a drink, sat silently a few stools away from Rig and stayed there, staring into nothing. Good, Hitomi thought, he can stay over there. She wasn't sure where Lei Fang sat on fighting Jann Lee again, but she had a feeling she wasn't likely to spring for a sparring match. She had her head buried in Chao Li's shoulder and abandoned her drink on the table. He leaned his head on hers, whispering into her hair. "Are you tired?" Lei Fang shook her head, and he pressed a kiss to her hair. "Would you like to head back?" Hitomi felt her heart pop watching them, though the grossed-out or embarrassed murmurs of the younger contestants might have made her giggle. Bass nearly lamented on his relationship with Tina's late mother, much to Tina's mortified disbelief.

Lei Fang raised her head so that her chin set on his shoulder, and she pouted. "You don't have to baby me, I can finish my drink at least." Chao Li grinned and leaned forward, pressing- much to Hitomi's stunned silence- a gentle kiss to her lips. Lei Fang didn't seem to kiss back, but she didn't resist either. She closed her eyes and pouted some more when he drew away. Kokoro's and Elito's faces turned red at the public display, while Tina and Mila and Zack couldn't seem less bothered by it. "Geez, I haven't had that much!"

"Of course not," He smirked and pulled away, standing with his empty bottle in hand. "I'm getting another beer, then. Anyone want anything? On me."

A few people cheered and raised their glasses to another round, and Chao Li graciously took to the bar. Lei Fang met Hitomi's eyes as she readjusted to sit up straight, and met Hitomi's small smile with an even smaller one.

They weren't expecting the crash that came from the bar. Hitomi whipped around to see Rig, lightly pushing Chao Li's half-limp body off of his own, glaring daggers at Jann Lee who, much to Hitomi's surprise, stood barring one raised fist. Chao Li clutched his cheek in one hand steadied himself with the other, nearly tripping on the toppled barstool as he climbed off of Rig's lap, looking for all the world like a scared child, filled with disbelief. Rig mumbled something along the lines of "Was that really necessary?"

Hitomi took a chance glance at Lei Fang and found that she had also heard the commotion, and was readily alert. Her fists clenched and unclenched at her sides, raring to fight, but the look on her face said that she was too shocked to move.

Chao Li scrambled to stand, backing away from Jann Lee slowly, cautiously. Jann Lee scoffed, turned to Lei Fang and nodded to her recoiling lover. "This is who you choose, Lei Fang?" Her mouth opened, but she said nothing. The entire bar had turned to watch whatever the hell had begun unfolding, and Hitomi herself found the scene too disastrous to turn away from. A car-wreck in slow motion. Jann Lee ran a thumb over his top lip, brushing away sweat that wasn't even there as he turned to face her. "You choose a coward who could never defend you?"

"I'm perfectly capable of defending myself!" Lei Fang's voice trembled despite the insistence in her tone. Jann Lee said nothing.

Instead he raised his glass, finished the last drop, and left the bar without so much as a second glance. Chao Li went home that night, and neither Hitomi nor Lei Fang blamed him, but he'd proven Jann Lee right. More than anything, Hitomi knew, that was what would irritate Lei Fang the most.

Lei Fang began training harder than she'd ever seen her train before. More viscous. Unending. She was up before Hitomi was and last to fall asleep. She was constantly challenging other contestants to spar, and winning every time. Hitomi was impressed, if not a little concerned. They sparred one last time before the quarter finals and wished each other luck.

Once again, like every tournament before, Lei Fang went up against Jann Lee.

She was all fierce, no serenity, little grace, only anger. Hitomi watched from one of the upper wings and silently cheered on her friend, hoping against all hope that this is the one time she wins in the ring, because Jann Lee needed to be brought down a peg.

The two went back and forth, exchanging blow after blow, going round in circles with kicks that broke or sprained wrists and punches that made the audience wince. Hitomi herself found her fists squeezing the guarding pole tight enough that it sunk it under her nails. She'd never been so nervous for a fight she wasn't partaking in before.

"Hitomi."

She gasped, twisting around to find her own internal struggle staring her in the face, warm eyes lighting up over a smile as hot as the sun itself, she swore it felt like it anyway. Her cheeks heated against every unwilling bone in her body. "Ei-Hayate!"

He approached the rail to stand at her side, watching with crossed arms as Jann Lee and Lei Fang exchanged bone-breaking blow after blow. Hitomi, though still nervous, shy even, returned to her original position. Hayate tilted his head. "Jann Lee's going to win."

Hitomi blanched. "Don't be so sure! Lei Fang has been training really hard the last few days!"

"Train as she might, there is no surpassing his will."

"She's got a pretty strong will too." She smiled, thought about fights over a cabbage and hot volleyball matches that left dents in the sand. Yes, Lei Fang had a will unlike many she'd ever known. If there was any girl out there who could beat Jann Lee into submission, it was her, and in the face of recent failings, she still believed she would. "I believe in her."

She felt his eyes glancing her up and down. "Some things are stronger than will to defeat the undefeatable."

"Like?"

Hayate turned back to the match, as though he hadn't been skimming over the bare skin between her shirt and pants or the shine in her eyes (a color he'd still dream about to this day, and wake feeling more complete). "The will to love."

She'd been so close, she was sure of it. Just one more well-timed throw, one more blocked fist, and the fight would have been hers. But she'd been too slow, or maybe too focused on hurting him when she should have focused on avoiding him. Thus was the story of her life, she supposed. One knock to the stomach and she was flat on her hind end, wincing as she skidded to the floor and hit the back of her head. Ouch, that was gonna hurt in the morning, not as much as her pride would, though.

Lei Fang winced, raised one hand to the back of her aching skull and glared up at Jann Lee's approaching figure in the too-bright lights of the DOA ring. What a jerk, she grinded in her head. What an absolute ass. She hated him, hated him more than anyone she'd ever had a mind to hate before. She hated him for his arrogance and his smugness, hated him for how cold he was, how he couldn't seem to ever let her win, in or out of the ring. She hated how he'd taken so many years from her, how she finally thought she was done and he riled her up and pulled her right back in. She hated that he'd never give her what she wanted, but he was more than happy to keep her trying. Tears, frustrated, hurt, angry, helpless- they burned at the corners of her eyes like firecrackers but she refused to let them spring to life. She would not cry in front of him. She'd wasted enough tears on a man who would never earn them, and a man who would never care to. She bared her teeth and cupped her bruised and swelling cheek, hissing at him and hoping he saw the hatred in her eyes, because he'd never seen anything else in them before. Lei Fang leveled her breathing as Jann Lee approached, looking down at her with the same infuriating stare the egged her to get up. She wanted to- boy, did she want to- but she was done. She shouldn't have wasted this tournament getting ready to fight him, shouldn't have wasted years trying to get him to acknowledge her.

"Do you see now, Lei Fang?"

"See what?" She spat the words out, like blood in her mouth. Jann Lee cocked his head, once again scoffed at her. How she hated that.

Then he surprised her in the next moment by offering his hand. She glanced at the outstretched arm, then trailed it back up to his cold, calculating face. She must have looked confused, because he carried on. "There is no other man on this planet who can protect you. Wasting your time is foolish." She reached to touch his hand, but paused at the last minute, still feeling for all the world like he'd given her a concussion, knocked her into a coma. He must have. He closed the distance and captured her hand in his own, pulling her up with such strength that she felt the air leave her chest.

Lei Fang found herself face-to-face with Jann Lee, chests inches apart, though he'd released her hand. She glanced from her hands, clasped at her chest, to his face, finding it harder with each passing second to look at him. But she would, because she was Lei Fang, and he was Jann Lee, and he'd never settle for anything less. She should have figured, should have guessed. His eyes bore into hers and never left, the equivalent to burning her fluttering eyelids right off.

A few meters away, Hitomi's jaw was dropping the lowest it had ever gone, and Hayate was smiling to himself.

Hitomi won the tournament, not in short thanks to Lei Fang's enthusiastic cheering in the crowd (she swore she could hear her voice over thousands). Jann Lee, most shockingly of all, bowed out of the competition after that fight. Hitomi wondered if his intention had been to beat Lei Fang all along, if he'd never intended to stick around the competition. Considering Rig hadn't entered, and Mila knocked Diego out in their match, that was probably the best guess.

Chao Li never spoke to Lei Fang again, probably thought Jann Lee would punch him again. Which was fine because he probably would.

Lei Fang started openly talking about Jann Lee and how she was gonna beat him again for sure. She trained hard, but there was no more talk of Jann Lee accepting her. As far as Hitomi could tell, he'd done well more than that. Sure, Lei Fang sometimes showed up to their hang-outs with bruises all over, but the smile on Lei Fang's face was unmistakable (and so were bruises on her nape of her neck that were decidedly not a result of sparring). She did happen to see her friends cry once or twice after that, but it was all a result of watching a really sad family film that left both of them in tears. So did it count? Not really, Hitomi decided.

When they made chocolates on Valentine's Day, Lei Fang stuck to making something coffee-flavored. "I just feel like going a little less sweet this year." Hitomi grinned and kept her thoughts to herself, deciding that was perfectly fine because it meant she had to buy less sugar. The chocolates came out prettier than last year, and tastier (they'd had to sneak a bite). They'd stayed up all night and crashed on her couch watching rom-coms.

When they woke up, the box Hitomi had made had disappeared. Lei Fang laughed at her and said: "He's Japanese, isn't he? There better be a white day gift in March or I'll kick his ass for you."

If Lei Fang's chocolates were passed off to somebody else again this year, she certainly didn't act like it. In fact, Hitomi thought she saw a nearly permanent skip in her step.

There weren't anymore stories about romantic dates under moonlight or tales about a spring boat ride with recited poetry, but there were rants about sparring matches that didn't end her way, and stories where Lei Fang grew red and trailed off before cutting the story short altogether. Hitomi could see the details swarming in her big round eyes, and let her imagination run wild with what Jann Lee might be like when he's being nice.

The eighth Dead or Alive tournament came around, and once again, Hitomi and Lei Fang hit the road and trained. It went about the way it always did, though when they inevitably followed (stalked) Jann Lee to find out how his training had been going, Lei Fang wasn't shy about talking to him. The two exchanged witty banter; she taunted him, and he snarked. To Hitomi's joy, not necessarily surprise, Lei Fang offered to help Jann Lee train.

He took them up on it.

After a few sparring matches, Lei Fang and Hitomi decided to hit the road again. They wrapped their swollen limbs and put some bandaids on their cuts and waved goodbye to Jann Lee, who was covered in ACE bandages, himself. He'd merely nodded and gone back to training. The girls parted, but not before Hitomi caught the smallest exchange.

Lei Fang dilly dallied and let her eyes wander and watch him as he broke a log in half.

Hitomi bet neither of them knew it, but she saw him turn and smile at her.

[babybluelukex]

I love you

Summary: I don't know if this has been done before, but maybe - Billy starts falling for the reader, and when he realizes this he becomes frustrated with himself?

Requested by: @metalgeardragon

Word count: 2070

Warnings: fighting, angst, douche bag Billy

A/N: hey y'all. I'm writing this on my iPad again since it's easier to type and a lot faster lmao. Thank you so much for requesting this! I love the idea of a very soft Billy. Don't forget, requests are still open! This will be in the readers POV and this is in a slightly different time zone, about a month before Halloween.

Lots of love -Kayla :-)

\ \ \ \

I quickly shoved on my jacket and grabbed my purse, snatching my Walkman on my way out of my room. I could hear the arguing between my parents still happening loud and clearly. At dinner, my dad had asked me about school, my grades, and 'if my lonely ass got a boyfriend yet', while making it very clear that he believes I'm uncap-able to be loved- since he blames me for my parents dying love. I stayed silent like usual just to avoid even more conflict. He usually leaves it at the comments and doesn't expect me to say anything back, but tonight was different.

He slammed his fists on the table to gain my attention, almost screaming my name. I shot my head up to look at him, wondering who the fuck pissed in his cornflakes. "What? What do you want me to say, huh? Don't you think I already have enough fucking problems," I seethed and scooted my chair back. As I stood up, my dad shot out of his chair and gripped my shoulders and shoved me into the dining room wall, our noses touching. "Don't you fucking ever, ever, use that tone with me. Do you understand?" He said calmly, which scared me shitless even more. All I did was stare at him and kept my mouth in a tight line, testing him even more. "I said do you understand!?" He shouted this time, shoving me back into the wall.

"Yes sir."

As soon has he took his hands off of my shoulders, I ran to the stairs, skipping every other step to get the fuck out of doge.

My parents were too engrossed in the fighting that they hadn't even noticed my disappearance. I shoved my headphones over my ears and began walking, to who the hell knows, and tried to calm myself down. This has been a nightly routine for my parents and I. Being an only child means having the attention focused on you, all the mistakes and accidents taken way too seriously, and being my dad's own punching bag for his anger. My mom has always sat on the sidelines, not even trying to get in between to tell my dad how out of line he was. She sat and stared, not even asking if I'm okay after the fact.

Focusing on my own thoughts instead of my surroundings, I seen a blue car in my peripheral vision. I slowly turned my head and see a guy with slightly brown curls, yelling something out of the window. "Um, hello?" I spoke out, removing my headphones from my ears. "You alright out here?" The stranger asked, coming to a complete stop once I turned to face his car. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just needed to get away for a minute," I smiled, beginning to place my headphones back onto my head. "Hey, wait. I can drive you around so you won't have to walk. Pretty girl like you shouldn't be walking out here alone." He smirked. "Oh, li,e that isn't what creepy men say to young girls," I snort. "Oh come on. I needed a minuet to get away too. Let me drive you around."

I shoved my Walkman into my purse and climbed into the car, placing my purse on the floor of the car and buckling myself in. I turned to the guy and held my hand out, smiling. "I'm Y/N, by the way." He gripped my hand back and did a slight nod with a small and tight smile. "Billy. Billy Hargrove. Nice to meet you." I recognized his name, him being a new student at Hawkins. "Oh, so you're the new kid. Nice to meet you," I laughed, facing towards the front of the car and got relaxed, not knowing how long this car ride would be.

"Yeah and gonna be taking over 'King Steve's' spot," he smirked and shifted the car into drive. "That'll depend how well you can do a keg stand. You going to Tina's Halloween party? I'll be going." I smiled and bumped my shoulder with his. "Well, since you're going, looks like I have to."

The rest of the car ride was him talking about California, his stepsister 'who isn't his stepsister'. He asked about my life, if I have siblings and what my parents were like. I told him about how wonderful my mom was, even though in certain situations, she wasn't as great. "What kind of situations?" He cocked his head and looked at me. "Well, that'll be another story for another time." I smiled and patted his right hand. "Oh? There's going to be another time?" He smirked and licked his bottom lip. I blushed and nodded, letting a small 'yeah'.

I told him the directions of my house, letting out some breath I didn't realize I was holding. Billy seemed to noticed and grabbed my bicep to look at him. "Hey, if there's something going on, you can tell me, you know." He smiled and rubbed my arm. "Okay, thanks Billy." I said and hopped out of his car and climbed my way up on the side of my house, to my bedroom window. I waved at Billy as he sped off down the street.

\ \ \ \

Ever since that night, Billy and I had become closer each day. Two days after the night in his car, he showed up at my window at 11:30 at night with bruises on his cheeks on chest, looking like a lost puppy. He spent the night that night, not wanting to go back to the monster named Neil. I told him that night about my own father, how he will hurt me emotionally, but never crossing the boundary of physically hurting me. We had a sort of, heart to heart, that night.

After that, he came back almost every night, spending the night with me and crying on my chest while I run my fingers through his hair. Billy had become someone I can confide in, put my trust in him, and be his backbone.

I had two of his jackets that I use to sleep with at night, as a way to comfort myself for the days he doesn't come over. Billy and I have never talked about how we feel, or how I feel, since Billy doesn't seem to feel how I do. In a romantic way, I want Billy. But in every single way there is, I need him. I have never needed someone as bad as I do him. He is my world at this point.

\ \ \ \

It was Tuesday, October 31, the date of Tina's party. I walked up to Billy's locker and leaned against it, flashing him my big smile. "Hey, you excited about the party tonight?" I smirked, noticing his eyes lit up with excitement. "Hell yeah. This is the night to get shitfaced and have a good time," he smiled and slung his arm over my shoulder. "Are you excited?" He asked me. "Jonathan Byers had asked me if I would go with him since Nancy flaked out and decided to ditch him for Steve. I smiled, but became worried when I seen Billy's face. He immediately removed his arm from my shoulders and took a step away, his face twisting in annoyance and betrayal. "I thought we were going together." He seethed, face becoming red. "Billy, I'm still going with you, you don't have to worry about that," I smiled in hopes of making the situation better in any way.

He shook his head and began to walk away, shooting daggers at me. "No, go with Jonathan. I don't give a fuck who you go with." He sneered at me, disappearing down the hallway. I stood there in shock, not knowing how to handle his reaction. Before I turned around to go to my last class of the day, Billy slammed his fists against a locker and screamed out a broken 'fuck!'

I slowly walked home later that day, not sure if I was in the party mood at this point. Jonathan has always been a friend of mine and Billy knew that. He knew it was nothing more than platonic, especially with Jonathan being in love with Nancy Wheeler from a far. All I could picture was the look on Billy's face, as if I had slapped him across the face once I told him about Jonathan asking me to go with him. I never meant to upset him, especially with how strong my feelings are for him.

I walked threw the front door of my house and ran up the stairs to go straight to my room, not even bothering to pick out a costume for the party. I changed into some slick black skinny jeans with a bright yellow hoodie, and some solid black Doc Martens with yellow shoelaces to match my hoodie. It was nearing seven o'clock and Jonathan had pulled out in front of my house, honking the horn twice. I ran out to his car and jumped in, heading towards Tina's house. Once we had arrived, I noticed Billy's blue Camaro already there, front and center.

Jonathan and I walked threw the door, noticing it was completely packed full of people dancing, drinking, and talking. I noticed Steve and Nancy in the middle of the dance floor, singing along to the random song playing throughout the house. I looked over at Jonathan, silently asking if he would be okay with talking to Steve and Nancy, despite the awkward situation. He nodded and gave me a small smile, placing his hand on my back as he led us through the crowd. Nancy was first to notice us and pulled me into a hug, squeezing me a little too tight. I waved at Steve with a small smile planted on my lips. “Hey, where's Billy? I thought you guys were coming together,” she spoke curiously.

As soon as those words left Nancy’s mouth, Billy walked through the back sliding doors and waltz up to us, nudging his shoulder with Jonathan's harder than needed. “Well look who we have here,” he spoke loudly, grabbing our attention. “How is it partying with the infamous Y/N? I'm surprised she is even here, considers how everything is at home.” He smirked, knowing that hurt me in a way no one but him would understand. “Billy,” I said with a look. “She was supposed to be my date, you know. It you just had to ask her, didn't you?” He seethed at Jonathan, causing him to walk backwards due to the tension,

After having enough, I grabbed Billy's arm and dragged him with me to the empty hallway. “Seriously, Billy? What the fuck is wrong with you?!” I yelled, pushing him to the wall. “Why would you bring that up in front of everyone? I have never done something that shady to you, so why do it to me? Especially after everything I have helped you with!” He shook his head and took a step towards me. “No, Y/N, you don't understand," he stuttered and reached out to grab me. “Oh really, I don't understand? Please enlighten me, Billy.” He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, letting his hands fall to his side. “I fucking love you okay? That's why I acted the way I did earlier. You don't see it, Y/N. I've tried to get you out of my head but it's so damn hard since you're everything I want and need. I'm a fucking asshole.” He shouted, hands gripping mine.

“I just want you to feel the same way towards me, even though I shouldn't even feel this way towards you. It won't go away and I'm fucking tired of acting like everything's okay.” I grabbed his cheeks and brought his lips to might, his hands going to my hips. Once I pulled away, I couldn't help but smile, pulling on his hair slightly. “I fickimg love you too, Billy.” I smiled, planting a kiss on his chin. “Oh. Well shit, I don't know what to do now.” He joked, pulling me to his chest. “Let's start with you asking me to be your girlfriend.” I laughed.

“Alright. Well, will you be my girlfriend?” He asked, kissing the top of my head. “Thought you would never ask,” I smile and pulled his lips back on to mine.

[fandom-necromancer]

162/907. Continuation

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900

[Part 1]   [Part 2]   [Part 3]   [Part 4]

‘~It’s Britney Bitch~’ Gavin scrunched his eyes keeping them deliberately shut at the rude interruption of his sleep. He didn’t open them, determined to get back to sleep after telling whoever called him to phck off. He slapped his hand on his nightstand with several thuds as he hoped to find his phone. ‘What is it?’, he groaned into the speaker and waited for an answer that justified waking him up in any way. ‘Okay, they didn’t lie to me! It’s me, Gavin, Tina! How do you feel?’ ‘How do I feel?’, Gavin asked as if this was some sick joke. ‘Like shit. Why?’ ‘Ah, just that Nines told Fowler you didn’t feel too well and would take a sick day. He also told me he would go check in on you later. Anything going on there I should know? Anyways, I know you would still come to work one foot in the grave, so how are you? Should I plan your funeral?’

Gavin groaned again, long and pained, as the memories of the day before punched him in the face. Phck that damn toaster. That asshole, that… Why had he arranged this whole play of him being sick? What was that about him checking in later? Why was Tina calling him this early- He pulled the phone from his ear and finally opened his eyes? Sleep wasn’t something he could get back to now, so why bother? It was ten in the morning. Phck. He would have thought it to be way earlier what the- ‘Gavin? You still there?’ ‘Yeah! Yeah!’, he hurried to get out. ‘I’m…. I’m feeling miserable, Tina. But it’s… It’s mostly stuff in my head; I’m gonna tell you later, okay? I just need some time to clear my mind.’ ‘Fine’, Tina agreed. ‘But don’t you go die on me! I need you to restock the breakroom coffee!’ ‘You are the asshole that takes my coffee all the time? I can’t believe it! You do know how to read, right?’ He could hear Tina chuckling over the line and smiled himself. ‘Get well soon, Gav, so you can kick my ass personally for it, okay?’ ‘I will! And… Thank you. See you soon!’

He ended the call and put his phone back on his nightstand with a sigh. His hand came down next to the blue gemstone. He stared at it, followed the white, web-like veins in it for a while until he felt his chest narrowing down on his heart.

Before he could really get lost in his thoughts, there was a knock on the door. ‘Oh, phck me, who the hell…’ For once in his life he was well rested, having fallen asleep far too early and being allowed to sleep in. It didn’t mean he felt good having to leave the bed, but oh well. Whoever disturbed him would get his fair share of his anger, he decided as he pushed back the sheets and grabbed some sweatpants to pull on. It was far from decent, but Gavin couldn’t find it in his will to care.

He was ready to bark some expletives towards the unfortunate soul behind the door, as he opened it, but his words got stuck in his throat as he saw the figure in front of him. ‘Good morning, Gavin. I… May I come in? I brought breakfast as was suggested for me as a means of reconciliation.’ Gavin was tense, ready to explode on the damn tin-can, then met his eyes. These damn grey to blue eyes, so damn soft… He sighed, opening the door a bit more gesturing inside. ‘Fine. Why the hell not? It’s not like this morning could get any worse.’ He closed the door behind the android and went to the kitchen on autopilot, while Nines went further into the room, ambling towards his usual place on the sofa, but not sitting down. Gavin had his hands on the water tank of the coffee machine as he caught himself. The tin-can had his breakfast. Right.

He pulled out the cat food to justify his presence in the kitchen, then walked towards the doorframe hesitantly. ‘Hey, the bullshit about me being sick… That was you, right?’ ‘…Yes.’ At least the android looked adequately guilty about it. ‘It wasn’t a lie though, as you are unwell at the moment. And I wanted to talk to you about… about what you told me yesterday.’ Gavin pushed himself from the frame he had been leaning against and walked out into the hallway. ‘Fine. But listen, toaster: I. don’t.’ He took a deep breath before he continued: ‘If you don’t feel that way, that’s fine, I understand, okay? You needed help, you got help, no strings attached. Business. I’m fine with that. You just didn’t have to be an asshole about it by leaving without a word!’

Nines physically recoiled at that and sat the cup of coffee and the bag holding his breakfast down on the coffee table. ‘That’s… That’s actually what I wanted to talk with you about. Please…’ The android avoided his eyes and laid one hand on the backrest of the sofa.  ‘Would you come over here? Sit with me? I… I am sorry. I was confused and overwhelmed. I…’ He looked up at hearing Gavin’s footsteps and found some courage in the fact that despite his hostile appearance, the man still listened to him and approached. ‘I couldn’t process my emotions to what you told me. I… I needed help figuring it out; usually you are the only one that can help me with this. But I couldn’t talk to you about it when you are the one who wanted an answer and I… I thought of Connor, because he helped me in the past before you came, and… and I left immediately, not thinking about what that might look like to you. I’m deeply sorry, should this have hurt you.’

The silence stretched and even more than before, Gavin’s heart hurt at seeing Nines this distraught. ‘I accept your apology’, he sighed, sitting down on the sofa. He waited for the android to continue; Gavin had already said everything he could bring himself to. ‘Thank you.’ Nines sat down too, keeping his distance from the human and trying to make himself smaller. ‘I feel… I feel a lot for you, but I’m not sure if it’s love. Connor told me it is one form love can take but to be honest his explanation wasn’t as clear as yours normally are. He advised me to tell you what I feel and let you decide if you accept it. And if you don’t… I hope we can stay friends then? I don’t want to lose you.’ ‘Of course, Nines’, Gavin nodded. He wanted to stay angry at this damn machine, he wanted to throw hands and shout and push him away. But that would destroy everything, just as it always did and for once he really didn’t want to ruin this. Especially when there was still hope. So, he anxiously waited for the android to tell him how he felt. Maybe… There was still a chance. But his pessimistic side told him not to believe in it. After all, he was Gavin Reed. He was lucky if he could keep the tin-can as a friend.

‘I… this is difficult for me. I… I hope this isn’t too robotic for you, with Connor I… He is the same and I don’t know how humans-‘ ‘Nines. Don’t worry.’ Gavin hadn’t wanted to be soft just yet, but seeing the android ramble, seeing him desperate for words… Well that had been what had lured him in in the first place, hadn’t it. ‘You are not human, so I don’t expect this to be “the human way”. Just tell me. If I don’t understand it, I’ll ask.’ Nines nodded, glanced at him, then quickly fixed the floor again. ‘I like you a lot. You are my friend. But I realised Connor is too, and it doesn’t even come close to what I feel for you. The same is with everyone else. You are my co-worker, but so is Tina and it isn’t the same at all. I… I thought the discrepancies came from me not understanding the terms just yet, I thought maybe there is some concept I didn’t know of yet. I think in the end, that is exactly what it is. We never talked about it after all.’ He sat up and deliberately looked Gavin in the eye.

‘I like being around you. I favour your company above everyone else’s and especially over being by myself. I… I am happy – truly happy – when I’m with you. I feel safe and… cared for. I know when there is something overwhelming or confusing you are there to explain or to take over. And off the job spending my evenings with you is something I treasure deeply. I like when we watch movies together, I like to cook with you, I like your cat. I like your determination and commitment. Connor calls you stubborn and I guess he is right with his evaluation, but it is not a bad attribute to have. I like you helping me; but not for helping me, if that makes sense? You always take the whole issue and pretend it is normal. I was… I was scared in the beginning because I am defective and no, don’t say I’m not!’ Gavin shut his mouth he didn’t even know he had opened in response. ‘I was scared because there was something missing there, and I couldn’t fill it and it was overwhelming and I couldn’t go and just tell someone. But you acted as if it was normal. You didn’t try to fix me and helped me to do that myself by doing so. I owe you so much and I want to pay you back in some way for it. But I also want to give you something nice regardless of what you did for me. Just for you. And I… And I really like your eyes and that you can’t wink. And the way you speak and still pretend you don’t care when you do. I…’

The android stopped and Gavin found time to process what he just heard. Something he would have never thought to hear with such emotion. He was lost for words and was pretty sure the ability to breathe correctly was overwritten by something that had come out of the machine’s mouth. He could just stare and hope to get back to himself quickly. Nines had trouble identifying all of this and of course interpreted it the wrong way. ‘Is everything alright?’, He asked. ‘I… I really want to love you. Is this enough?’

Is this enough. Gavin knew it was more than he ever hoped for. He hoisted himself up to sit next to the android and hug him from the side. Maybe showing it would work better than trying to search for words. He embraced the hard hull and pressed the android against himself, realising he had never touched him deliberately. It was an odd sensation and immediately Gavin hoped this was okay. He closed his eyes and stayed that way, flinching, as arms were awkwardly draped around him and the pressure rose very unnaturally to equal his own. It had to be a good sign, right? ‘I…’, Nines began, sounding utterly confused. ‘I like this, don’t stop, but… could you answer me? So I’m sure I understand this correctly?’

‘Yes!’, Gavin blurted out. ‘Yes, more than that, Nines, far more than enough for me. I… I don’t think I could make up a list this fast about every detail I like about you, but I love you. And this is more anyone had ever given me.’ ‘Then you’ll… accept this king of love?’, Nines asked still not convinced. Gavin sat up a bit and pushed against Nines’ arms to look the bot in the eyes. ‘Yes. Of course, you stupid phcking toaster, of course, I will! I accept all your terms and conditions, now where do I sign?’