#the last one they put out was terrible but i'll still keep playing that crap if they're willing to put it out

[stabbingandorbeingstabbed]

there's nothing to do at work today and i'm all alone with no supervisor so i brought my laptop and guess who just found out they released a new nancy drew point and click game like a month ago everything's coming up kady !!!

[sasha199]

Gale/ Wyll drama pt. 6 This one's for all my fellow citizens of the Holy Rolan Empire.

Y’all…this game hits different when your Tav is a stand in for yourself.

My sister and I are playing a multiplayer as ourselves, as sisters. I was romancing/flirting with both Gale and Wyll. I made a move on Lae’zel too but THAT ended in tears. Sister is pulling both Astarion and Shadowheart.

(I’m Sasha, sister is Marlie.)

The Last Light Inn is bustling, as usual. Harpers have a knack for keeping their minds occupied, they're survivors first and foremost. After the acquisition of the Moon Lantern, Marlie and I are on a first name basis with most of the people here, but as I approach Quartermaster Talli, the nearby Harpers go quiet. Everyone stares at us. I do my best to ignore them and I greet Talli with my usual enthusiasm. She gives Minthara a hard look as she doles out heavy armor and weapons, but gives me no grief. The conversations pick back up again as we walk away. 

Marlie makes her way over to Dammon to see what he's been working on. The tiefling blacksmith has a knack for harnessing the power of infernal iron, and we had managed to gather more on our recent venture. Astarion seems to be looking in every direction at once as he follows her, his footsteps eerily silent. 

As I enter the main common room Alfira rushes over, her face is stretched taunt with worry. That's not new, she's been struggling since the death of her instructor and friend Lihala. I gather her in a brief hug, the bells of her bard's collar tinkling faintly. "Everything alright?" I ask. I absently do a head count of the children over her shoulder, my heart sinks as I remember that Mol is still missing. 

"No," her dark golden eyes dart back and forth between mine, "It's Rolan, I can't find him."

"Rolan? Lia's brother? He's probably drying out somewhere..."

"No, you don't understand, I don't think so. He's been missing since last night."

"Alfira, I'm sure he's fine." That man was more of a headache than I had ever anticipated a wizard could be. 

"When did you last see him?" she asks me. 

I picture in my mind's eyes the swaggering, scowling, tiefling, hair always coiffed to hide his ears as if he's ashamed of them. His golden eyes were lidded and drooping, he leaned over the bar like he was preparing to take a nap right then and there. Granted, the fight with Marcus had been exhausting. I'd rushed downstairs to help Jaheira, who had already wild shaped into a panther, and Rolan had been engaged with a horrible winged monstrosity. I had cast Mage Armor on him as I ran past trying to put myself between the children on the first floor and the creatures descending from the sky. The golden light from my spell was still emanating around him, making his eyes shine. 

He sneered at me before I could speak. "Just stay away from me," he slurred, "I'm so sick of you and you're self-righteous heroic crap. None of this would've happened if you hadn't interfered in our business. We'd be in Baldur's Gate by now. Together. Safe."

The "we" he was referring to were his siblings. They'd been ambushed by a group of cultists from Moonrise, and taken prisoner. Many members of the tiefling refugee group had perished in that conflict. I had first met the trio when our party had been in search of a healer for the tadpoles swimming around in our brains. His sister, Lia, and I had become close during that time, and she had been keen to aid the refugees as they journeyed to Baldur's Gate from Elturel. Rolan thought I was a bad influence on her. 

I was hurt by this outburst but not terribly surprised. Rolan was not what I would call a kind man. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened to your family-"

"They're dead for all I know," he sloshed more wine into a silver tankard, dribbling the frothy liquid onto the counter, "I don't need your help... or your pity."

"I'll rescue them," I snapped. "I would never abandon Lia, or Cal." I reminded myself that Rolan had saved Alfira, saved the children. It was his magic that allowed them all to escape and take refuge at Last Light. I owed him a lot. It would be wrong to walk over, wrap my armored hands around his red neck and watch gleefully as that stupid golden light left his black eyes. "They're strong and capable, they'll take care of each other. I trust them to manage until I can get them out."

He turned to face me fully then, his tail lashing behind him, "They're MY responsibility." He bared his fangs at me, lowered his head as if to charge me, but his voice was quiet and menacing, "You go save the world, or whatever it is you do. I'll fix this."

"Well fuck." I say coming back to reality. Alfira is still looking at me, pleading with her eyes for me to take action. 

"Stay calm," I tell her, "If he's still alive, we'll find him. Lia would never forgive me if I didn't look out for him."

I reach out through my mind, through the tadpole connection to Marlie and Astarion. "Time to rally," I think harshly, "Rolan has gone to Moonrise. Maybe we can still catch him."

"Who?" Marlie responds.

I sigh and send her a mental image.

"Oh, that egotistical shit." I can feel her exasperation, the bitter taste of it curling on my tongue through out mental connection. "I'll be pissed if we did all that work to keep him alive only to fail here."

***

***

Marlie and I had grown up in the wilds to the south of Baldur's Gate. It's an entirely different environment from where we are now, but the intensity of the Shadow Curse has turned this city into a wasteland of sorts. I'm never so grateful for my tracking skills as we make our way towards the ruined battlefield. I avert my eyes from the slaughtered tiefling bodies that litter the ground not far from here. I can still hear Asharak's encouraging voice if I think hard enough.

Marlie and Astarion are stealthing in the darkness, I can't see them but Marlie sends me flashes through the tadpole of the landscape, and I know they're scouting for shadows. It's then that I hear "DETONO" from somewhere up ahead. The ground vibrates with the force of the spell and I jump over a low wall, moving towards the sound.

"Rolan!" I shout, rounding, a corner. Minthara leaps ahead of me, her sword glowing with divinity, and my eyes flash green in the darkness. In one smooth motion I pull fletching to cheek and loose an arrow ablaze with dread and malice. The shadow it embeds itself into shrieks and collapses in on itself. I hear Astrarion off in the distance laughing as an attack misses him. 

Soon, it is over, and panting I turn to Rolan. "Gods damn it all." He shouts before I can say anything. "Anyone but you...can I do nothing right?"

I don't know what to say, I feel like I'm in the wrong. I reach out tentatively and he recoils, teeth bared again. I was prepared for his reaction, but this is too important, why doesn't he ever cast it on himself? Rolan is now glowing with a bright yellow light, I mutter the incantation and he looks down as three arcane shields buzz around him for a heartbeat. I'm heartened to see his face soften slightly. 

"If it helps," I venture, "when I re-tell this story, I could say you killed all the monsters?"

"Who gives a damn about your stories," there's a note of despair in his voice, "All I care about is getting my brother and sister back." 

"Instead he found himself cornered by shadow fiends and in desperate need of rescue." Minthara's melodious tones almost echo around us, the group has re-gathered and Marlie and Astarion are looting somewhere in the darkness.

"From you of all bloody people." Rolan snarls, looking particularly devilish in the flickering light of his torch.

"You were trying to help your family," I say quickly before I lose my nerve, I don't know why I'm attempting to make him feel better, "you're - you're too hard on yourself."

"Or not hard enough." There is no appreciation in those yellow eyes, only contempt. He looks like an entirely different person from the man who filled the air with sparkles at the grove's celebration. The man who basked in my applause and asked me if I needed anything before retiring to spend the evening alone. That man is dead apparently. 

"Are you in the habit of collecting wizards who nurse a death wish?" Minthara steps up next to me, absently looking over some loot Marlie gave her, she sneers at Rolan, "Seems they cannot help but follow in your wake. Like ducklings."

"I'll return to Last Light." Rolan storms away, torch held high, he mutters something else but I can't make it out. I'm pretty sure he's cursing me. 

"Moonrise would have eaten him alive."

"And you should have let it," Minthara tosses the loot casually on the ground, apparently it does not meet her standards. "There are too many fools in the world as it is."

When we return to Last Light, Rolan is drinking in the corner again. 

"Don't do it." Marlie says to me.

"Do what?"

"You have enough on your plate, don't go asking for more."

"I'm not."

She lowers her voice, "You can't save people from themselves, Sasha. Let him be miserable if he wants to be."

I sigh and walk over to Rolan's corner.

"Gods, what now..." He mutters into his tankard. I keep my distance, feeling awkward, wishing I knew what to say. He turns to me, he looks haggard, defeated. "Come here to gloat? "

"Yes." I respond half thinking.

"Well I'm not here to grovel, so PISS OFF!" He takes a hardy swig. 

It shouldn't matter, I owe him nothing. As I walk away I wipe my nose absently on my sleeve. I'm not crying, everything is fine. I'm perfectly fine. 

Marlie is at my side as I step out into the yard. "Did you find...?" I trail off as she nods her head slightly, sending me a mental image of a haughty, finely dressed man. Last I'd seen him he was sitting across from a one-eyed little girl, a board game between them. I swallow a lump in my throat and say a silent prayer for Mol. 

"To Moonrise?" She asks me as I digest the image. 

"First to camp," I say, "we can't take Minthara back there."

"Right. Who are you going to bring with you instead?"

I look at her, an image flashes in our tadpole connection. "Right," she says again, "poor Daddy's Boy."

[fazfacts]

FNAF WORLD SENTENCE STARTERS!

dialogue taken from the original game, update 2, and even the mobile port! feel free to change these as needed.

❝ Everything that happens out there has an effect here. ❞

❝ Do you understand? ❞

❝ This is a safe place. ❞

❝ Something went very wrong. That's why I am here. ❞

❝ I won't let the same happen to you. ❞

❝ I will put you back together. ❞

❝ I know you may feel like going out and taking a stroll, but something seems very wrong today. ❞

❝ All is NOT well in [___]. ❞

❝ We are working on it. ❞

❝ The point is that something is horribly wrong! ❞

❝ We aren't prepared to deal with situations like this. ❞

❝ Go see what you can find. ❞

❝ It has been jumpscaring me all day! ❞

❝ I think I found a clue as to what is happening! ❞

❝ You don't know as much as I do. ❞

❝ Whatever has gone wrong, we have to fix it. ❞

❝ It will be an adventure!❞

❝ How wonderfully convenient! ❞

❝ Be careful; things only get more dangerous from here! ❞

❝ I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle! ❞

❝ I'm not sure if you would find your way back up! ❞

❝ Be ready to fight! ❞

❝ Good luck! ❞

❝ This is a horribly spooky place. ❞

❝ I think I'll stay right here. ❞

❝ I don't think everything here is as it seems. ❞

❝ This whole place is full of illusion! ❞

❝ Looks like trouble up ahead, but you should be used to that by now. ❞

❝ You should be used to that by now. ❞

❝ They look like abominations to me! ❞

❝ Don't get lost! ❞

❝ You don't really believe that, do you? ❞

❝ There is a task for you to complete. ❞

❝ The truth is that there is no safe place. ❞

❝ You don't understand that; you were made for one thing. ❞

❝ You were made for one thing. ❞

❝ You are being played. ❞

❝ You are being led through hoops. ❞

❝ Play along for now. ❞

❝ You are being pulled on a string for [their] amusement. ❞

❝ Yes, well, everything attacks at random. Doesn't it? ❞

❝ The one who pulls the strings is watching. ❞

❝ Follow the trail that they have created for you; play along. ❞

❝ One thing is true: nothing here is as it seems. ❞

❝ Everything else is a deception. ❞

❝ Nothing else matters. ❞

❝ Don't be deceived by the one pulling the strings. ❞

❝ Something terrible is coming. ❞

❝ It wasn't supposed to be like this. Now it's all a mess. ❞

❝ Now there is only one thing to do. ❞

❝ I'm impressed. ❞

❝ What are you doing here? Can't you see that I'm busy? ❞

❝ I didn't know what else to do. ❞

❝ I don't want to disappoint people. ❞

❝ My mind isn't right. ❞

❝ I've made something terrible. ❞

❝ I'm sorry. ❞

❝ There is no way back out. ❞

❝ Come have a seat. ❞

❝ Let's fish for a while. ❞

❝ You have nowhere else to go. ❞

❝ That's some real dedication. ❞

❝ Great job! ❞

❝ There is always an over-achiever in the bunch. I guess that's you. ❞

❝ So it's your fault then, for my misery. ❞

❝ It's never enough for you people. ❞

❝ Don't you get it? I can't do this anymore! ❞

❝ It is time to put you in your place. ❞

❝ Was I REALLY the villain in your mind? ❞

❝ I just do what is demanded of me! ❞

❝ Ug. Grr...Zrr...GRAAAAAMMM!! ❞

❝ This isn't fair... ❞

❝ It was never fair. ❞

❝ It was supposed to be me. It was always supposed to be me! ❞

❝ You haven't seen the last of me. ❞

❝ We are still your friends. Do you believe that? ❞

❝ Let's start with something simple! ❞

❝ I have faith in you! ❞

❝ You can do it! ❞

❝ Aww, don't give up! ❞

❝ You'll get it eventually. ❞

❝ Is this your first time playing a video game? ❞

❝ Keep up the good work, sport! ❞

❝ Awww! It's so cute when kids try to play games! ❞

❝ Wow! What a moron. ❞

❝ You suck! ❞

❝ You still suck! ❞

❝ Aww, I'm laughing at you, not with you. ❞

❝ Um, learn to play? ❞

❝ Ha! Poser! ❞

❝ Get some skills and call me in the morning. ❞

❝ Dumbass. ❞

❝ I'm losing patience with you! ❞

❝ This is your last chance! ❞

❝ I'm gonna kill you!! ❞

❝ Didn't your mommy ever tell you that you can't kill a rainbow? ❞

❝ The next time you see a rainbow in the sky, that is ME, coming to your house! ❞

❝ What's this, a space shooter? ❞

❝ Holy crap! Is that my voice!? ❞

❝ Sorry I'm late for the party. Fashionably late, of course! ❞

❝ Do a barrel roll! ...Sorry, I'm not sure what came over me. ❞

❝ You won't get tired of my voice, will you? ❞

❝ At least I went down in a blaze of glory! ❞

❝ You haven't seen the last of me! ❞

❝ ...Well, actually, yes, this is the last you'll see of me. ❞

❝ Welcome back! I hope you are ready for even more adventure! ❞

❝ Look, is it okay if we just cut the crap here? ❞

❝ What are you even doing here? ❞

❝ I've already put in my application at the Fazburger down the street. ❞

❝ Go find yourself a nice indie horror game. Get some hot chocolate. I don't care. ❞

❝ Don't let that discourage you. ❞

❝ There is still a lot of adventure to be had here! ❞

❝ It's not all fun and games. ❞

❝ There is an important task that you must accomplish. ❞

❝ There, are you happy? Enjoying the freak show? ❞

❝ Oogie, boogie, boogie! ❞

❝ You know how all of this works, right? ❞

❝ When someone visits my house and I want them to go away, I just answer the door like this. ❞

❝ I'm like BOO, and they're like WHOA, and I'm like YEAH! ❞

❝ It's time for a reality check. ❞

❝ Take this chump stick. You need to find [___] and hit [them] in the head with it. ❞

❝ One time, I answered the door to some Trick-or-Treaters like this...they were like "trick or treat!", and I was like..."I'LL EAT YOUR SOUL!" ❞

❝ They ran away screaming and crying. Man, good times. ❞

❝ Hey, do you want to build a snowman? ❞

❝ Just kidding, I already made one. And I gave him two heavy-armor Gatling guns.❞

❝ One time, I mailed myself in a box to my grandmother looking like this. I jumped out and was like- "BOO!" Yeah. RIP. ❞

❝ Fun fact: did you know that if you took out all a person's blood vessels and lined them up, end to end, in a straight line...that person would die. ❞

❝ Find the clock, and set it back an hour. Daylight savings tonight. ❞

❝ I can hear [___] laughing from here. It's like nails on a chalkboard. ❞

❝ You need to beat that fool upside the head with the Chump Stick! Everything depends on it! ❞

❝ Don't check the tree in the back corner. That's everyone's business tree. ❞

❝ Let the Chump Stick guide you! ❞

❝ I once knew this guy who would put ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise all on the same plate together. Then he would stir them into an orange goo. People like that are the real monsters. ❞

❝ You've been through a lot. ❞

❝ I am ready to reveal myself. ❞

❝ You see, I've been there all along. ❞

❝ It was me. ❞

❝ I caused the Bite of '87. ❞

❝ It all makes sense when you think about it. ❞

❝ All hail Bouncepot! ❞

❝ But did you know that I can touch my nose with my tongue? Both of them! Yeah, you didn't know that. ❞

[aneenasevla]

Red Velvet - Chapter 2 (part 1)

MasterList / Akane’s profile / Last chapter here Art by @aneenasevla

Chapter 2 - Shake It! (part 1)

"Hey, babe, I found a good place!," Okubo says, while  Tomori gets into the car.

"Great! What's the name?," she asks as she sits next to him, in the passenger seat, and puts on the seat belt. "So I can send her the address."

"Put it on Google: Brazuca’s Bar, in Romaji because you won’t find it in kanji. I've already sent the address to Iron Fingers, privately," he starts the car, heading down the main road. "It's a Brazilian bar that Himuro recommended to me, he said the music is great and so is the food. There's a lot of other stuff there too. I'm kinda curious, I've never listened to Brazilian music much. It's gonna be something new for me, and I think it'll be new for you too."

"Brazilian, huh?," Tomori smiles at this. "Good choice! She has loved these places since high school. She'll feel at home there," She searches for the address on Google. "And it will be fun for us too! Brazilian establishments are very cozy."

"So you've been to one?," he asks, curious. "What is it like? Do you have a song reference so I don't feel lost? Put one on the stereo for us to hear."

"Only once, when I was eighteen and Kane was nineteen. Teenage girls, recently graduated from high school and with more hormones than common sense, you know the drill," She blushes a little, playing with a strand of hair, giggling. "But that wasn't the place you chose, so I'm very curious! Anyway, the music that plays most in these places are very famous genres in Brazil. Pagode and funk. And no, it's not American funk. It's another type," She looks for a song to use as an example.

"Pagode? Isn't it Samba?," he raises an eyebrow. Then he listens to the song when it starts playing. "Hmmm… the rhythm is quite romantic, isn't ir…? Which one is this?"

"Pagode. Music to dance close to, skin to skin," She giggles. "Everything is very physical in these places. I think it's the perfect place for Rihito, and for Akane too. But only if he knows how to behave. But we can both dance too, I'm available for you, hehe."

"I'm a terrible dancer," he blushes a little. "But for you, I can twerk like I'm the master of gigolos, so you can laugh in my face."

She laughs loudly right there, her shoulders shaking. "Laughter is what keeps a relationship alive and well, love! I laugh now, but I'll give you all the treats later to make up for it."

"Anything you want to give me," he smiles, and then laughs softly. "Wow, the music is really putting me in the mood! Show me some Funk, so I know what to wait for."

Tomori's smile is now a little more embarrassed. "Okay... but don't judge...," She chooses a specific one, putting the music on. And the rhythmic and intense beat startles him a little.

"Wow," he blinks. "Okay, I kinda like the beat, ahahahhaha... holy crap...," He starts laughing like an idiot. "I don't even know what this girl is singing but it seems very vulgar..."

"And it is! Akane loves these things, seriously," She laughs again, scratching the back of her head. "It's really fun to dance to, but if you read the translation of the lyrics, you'll blush like a virgin girl, hahaha!"

"Sorry, but now I'm curious to see this friend of yours in flesh and blood, and I think I hit the nail on the head, again. I'm getting scared with my luck..."

"I told you that day, Naoh. Rihito has no idea what he's gotten himself into," She gives a sharp, dangerous smile again. "But seriously, this could work out really well. She has the ideal energy to be on the same wavelength as him. Someone who won't be intimidated."

"I still have doubts, that dumbass only gets along with nut jobs and sex workers, 'cause they're paid to put up with him. So I dunno...," he then looks at her. "Are you in the mood for a bet?"

"A bet? What kind?," She arches an eyebrow, interested.

"What do you want from me?," he waggles his eyebrows.

"An autograph from Kaolan Wongsawat!," She says immediately, her eyes shining with excitement. "I only need his for the trinity of my biggest idols to be complete!"

He makes a face, as if he had sucked on a lemon. Of all the famous fighters he knew, it has to be the Thai God of War… "Okaaaaaay… if I win I want to take you on a tour on Osaka for a month. Give your boss a heads up because you're going with me after Christmas and you won't be back until the middle of February. Got it? Oh... one more thing," he looks at her, in an intimidating but lascivious tone. "You won't be able to walk for a while after that."

"Oh my God, you...!," She blushes a lot, giving a nasal laugh followed by a snore. "You're terrible, Okubo Naoya...!," She holds her face in her hands with an adorable smile. "Now I feel like losing on purpose, ahaha... even though taking a month off from the bakery would make Kanny's life difficult. But okay, I'm in! I'll see what I can do..."

"Alright! And it's gonna be good timming 'cause if he doesn't get this girl he'll cry in my fucking ear for weeks, and I want to be far away when that happens."

"Tell me about it…," She sighs. And then she looks up at him, her expression serious. "And I saw that face you made, y'know? I already told you that you don't need to be jealous of Kaolan Wongsawat, silly. I wouldn't trade my human mountain for anyone..."

"I know, it's just that you're too pretty and he's too…," he stops himself. "Well! I want my girl to only care about me, and to look at me, and only me, with star in her eyes," he looks at her with a smiles. "Just like you're doing now."

She pats his shoulder, and then snuggles her head there, closing her eyes. "I won't call you cocky only because I've caught you looking at me the same way manny times. ‘We’re even."

He laughs a little, before changing gears in the car.

…

Panther: 

honey, I’m already here!

wya?

Wolfie:

we're almost there! 

just one more block away

we'll be in a blue suv

are you at the entrance?

Panther: 

yep

and I'm enjoying the music already

a brazilian bar, eh

you know me so well

hey, I'm gonna get a table for four

it'll be easy to spot me

but just to be sure, I'm wearing my favorite coat, you know which one

Wolfie:

I'd recognize that coat from a mile away lol

ok we'll park and then meet you inside

brings back some memories, right?

both of us, sneaking into that pub to get shitfaced lmao

Panther: 

it sure does lol 

we'll talk more at the bar, it's cold as hell outside

And her icon went offline.

Akane goes inside the bar, looking for a table big enough for four people. She found one on a good spot, sitting down and taking off her coat, letting it fall to her waist. She was never ashamed of showing her tattoos off, but she still adjusted her cleavage to keep her breasts in place. This caught the attention of a waiter, and she ordered a juice. If that Rihito guy was like Tomori told her, she wanted to be sober to face whatever he threw at her.

The atmosphere was already buzzing, despite it still being relatively early. She could only imagine what it would be like later, at nightfall, when the music was at its peak and the alcohol had risen in the blood of all those people. The buzz of random conversations gradually increased in volume, making it difficult to hear her own thoughts, which might be a good thing, all things considered.

It doesn't take long for her to see the waiter further ahead, bringing the juice she ordered, walking a little slowly so as not to bump into the customers.

"There you go, miss..."

"Send the menu, sweetheart," she smiles. "I’ll look at it for now. I don’t even know how much the juice costs, I ended up ordering it on impulse…"

"Of course. And no need to worry about that, miss," The waiter places the menu on to the table and the tray under his arm. "Your juice has already been paid for."

"Huh? Really? By who?," She raises an eyebrow. Was there some busybody who wanted to ruin her date? She gets worried, pushing the juice away lightly so as not to give this annoying stranger any ideas.

"That gentleman over there," The waiter indicates with a discreet nod of the head the long counter facing the bar, where some people were sitting. "He said you know him..."

And she sees him there, sitting on one of the stools with his back to the bar, his arms resting on the counter. He wore a dark green shirt that molded to his muscles in such a way that it could only have been planned. He lifts his head a little and smiles, his expressive green eyes looking at her with obvious, warm interest, a few strands of unruly bleached hair falling over them.

Oh yes, she knew him. From photos, but there was no way to get confused. And apparently he wasn't confused either. She felt relieved that it wasn't some other cocky man and then smiled, taking the glass.

"Thanks, darling," she nods to the waiter and drinks some of the juice, looking directly at him. She knew her look was spot on, so she put it to good use.

No sooner said than done. The interest on his face was so obvious it was funny, a second before he managed to compose himself. He himself was already drinking, picking up a glass and slowly turning it into his mouth without taking his eyes off hers. He almost seemed to be waiting for something...

"Akane!"

The excited scream steals her attention, and as she turns around, she comes across her friend, Tomori, coming towards her with a huge smile, and right behind her, the almost seven-foot gorilla she recognized as her new boyfriend.

"Girl, I missed you! Still the biggest clotheshorse in the whole town, eh!"

"Go big or go home, isn't that what they say, Peahen?," she gets up and hugs her friend, laughing. Then she look at Okubo. "Holy smokes, did they build a freakin' wall in front of me and I didn't see it 'till now? Is that your pet gorilla, Tomori?"

Tomori returns the hug with a loud laugh, before turning around and saying, "In the flesh, honey! Kane, this is Okubo Naoya. Champion of Ultimate Fight and of my heart," She coos playfully. She had always been an helpless romantic, even in her days as a crazy delinquent, and she knew how hilarious her friend found it. "Naoh, this is Agata Akane, the crazy girl I told you about."

"Hey, nice to meet ya," he bows a little, hugging Tomori by the shoulder. "Tomori talks about you a lot. She really likes you, y’know."

"And who doesn’t?," she jokes, laughing afterwards. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Okubo. So… that blonde bull over there is your friend, right? Is he shy? Why don't you introduce him to me?," she points with one of her well-painted claw-shaped nails.

"Big bull- jeez, has Rihito arrived yet?," Tomori looks where Akane was pointing. And sure enough, there was Lihito, sitting with his back to the bar. He widens his eyes a little before looking away, mumbling to himself for a second before seeming to make up his mind and standing up from the bench. "Yes, it's him! Wasn't he going to arrive just half an hour later?"

"He must've tried to lose us," Okubo murmurs to his girlfriend. "Welp, sucks for him, but we arrived...," he says out loud, pulling a chair for Tomori to sit down, then taking his place, while the other man comes closer. "This is my friend, Rihito…"

Rihito approaches, looking momentarily embarrassed. Apparently, the cute couple ended messing up his plans of wooing her with his mysterious charm... well, at least paying for her juice had worked. And the look of embarrassed annoyance, even though it only lasted a second before being suppressed with a confident smile, had been strangely cute.

"Hey. Is this the lady I've heard so much about, Tomori?"

"Yep! Rihito, this is Agata Akane. Akane, this is Nakata Ichiro, but he prefers to be called by his nom de guerre. It's something you have in common," Tomori smiles, and Rihito a little to the side, his eyes narrowing a little as he smiles crookedly.

"Seems like it. Noms de guerre and the fascination with big cats...," He deliberately lets his eyes roam over her shoulders, focusing for a second longer on her set of tattoos "Nice to meet you, Miss Agata."

"Likewise, Rihito," she smiles sharply, extending a hand to him, as if waiting for a kiss. "I saw you from afar, but up close... it's more interesting this way."

"Yeah, same to you," He takes her hand, and Okubo and Tomori are secretly relieved to see that he had managed to contain himself, not pulling her towards him with that wild excitement that they knew well. He just brought her delicate hand to his lips and kissed it, his eyes fixed on hers. "You were already beautiful in the photos, in person… 'Panther' couldn’t be a more appropriate definition hahaha…"

"My spirit animal, my dear," she winks and then looks at the other two at the table. "So, shall we start with an appetizer to warm up? I started with a glass of juice because I didn't want to get hammered before you guys got here, so I'll stick with that for now. Here's the menu," she sits back down and hands it to them.

"Thanks", Okubo takes the menu. "Oh, nice, this one looks tasty," he points to some cheese cubs. Akane looks at him as she sits down, crossing her legs elegantly. Rihito immediately looks at her. She was wearing a short dress with a side slit… that was open almost all the way down to her hips. No sign of panties there. Or a bra; that red dress and those stockings were the only thing that prevented him from seeing everything. And that thing covering her entire thigh... was that the same tattoo she had on her shoulder?!

He swallows discreetly. Holy shit, how the fuck was he supposed to hold back? None of those two saps prepared him for that! He knew from her Instagram profile that she was the confident, "likes to leave nothing to the imagination" type; he didn't mind at all, he even liked that type of woman, because they were the most likely to accept his advances. But that? Walking around in such a revealing dress and without any sign of underwear, with all the confidence in that hot, tattooed body that she was displaying? She was basically asking him to fuck her right there in the pub's bathroom! He couldn't believe how lucky he was!

He forces himself to keep his thoughts in order and his blood away from the lower half of his body. He had made a promise, and he was a man of his word. He was going to take things calmly, test the waters and tame that wild cat until she was all soft and eager to get busy with him. The juice scheme had only been partially successful thanks to the interference of those two, but that was okay. They still had all night.

"Hehe, of course," He nods, making a point of sitting right next to her, hands together on the table to contain the urge to take a good grip on her exposed thigh. "You can order more of them, if you want. There may be more where that came from, after all...," He arches an eyebrow.

"How generous," she laughs softly. The invisible clothing tactic never failed, he had his eyes on her and only her. It was exactly what she wanted. "But for now the juice is enough... help yourself, an empty bag won't stand, and if you fall, you'll take one or two poor bastards with you," she laughs softly, drinking some more.

Rihito was so taken with her that he even began to notice details in her face: the vibrant red lipstick on her full lips didn't stain the glass, it was so well applied. Even her makeup looked flawless; he had no idea how much she'd applied on her face, but her blue eyes seemed to want to hide shyly, beneath her thick, dark lashes. Her vibrant blonde hair had some well-hidden colored streaks. He had to concentrate on responding to her appropriately and not look down to look at her cleavage, which happened to be very evident in his point of view.

"Haha, lady, I can knock down a lot more bastards than that," He manages to say, forcing himself to keep his eyes fixed on hers; he discovered it wasn't that difficult, because those blue irises were quite impressive. Contact lenses? Or was it natural? It was hard to say, and if it was the second option, he wondered if that meant she was mixed race, like Kanami. "But no need to worry. I can be quite gentle when I get the right encouragement, hehe..."

"A stuffed gorilla, as I said," Tomori jokes with a smirk.

"Oh, c'mon! A gorilla?," He turns to her, his bravado lessening a little, giving way to a slight embarrassed indignation. "You'll make your friend think I'm a Neanderthal or something!"

Tomori laughs a little, shaking her head. "Considering how long it took you to make an Instagram profile, that definition is appropriate."

He snorts, rolling his eyes. And then he smiled, looking sideways at Akane. "I had a nice incentive."

"Hahahahaha…," she laughs softly. "In that case I'm happy I helped you with leaving your cave. It strokes my ego, you know?," She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, showing the colored lower part; how many colors were there he didn't know, but he counted at least three. "But it'd be good to eat, you'll need energy for what's to come. I heard that the dance floor gets really busy at eleven. What do you think?," She looks at the other two too.

“Lady, I want to stroke much more than just your ego!” He hums in thought.

"In that case, I'll fill the whole tank. We don't want to lose steam for the night... but anyway!," He leans a little towards her, and Tomori and Okubo enter into a brief alert, which passes when he just rests an arm on the table next to hers. "Tomori told me a little about you. You've been friends since high school, right?"

"Yeah! Did she ever told you guys about how we met? It was very intense," she smiles at her friend, leaning a little on the table. Okubo gets a little embarrassed and discreetly looks at the menu, and then turns to call the waiter. Akane laughed a little and turned her body towards Rihito, out of respect for her friend, looking at her with a naughty little smile. "How can I describe it... once upon a time there was a peahen who liked a lion... except that the peahen was a wolf underneath all the feathers. She challenged a panther, who also liked this lion, and they fought. Then they saw that the lion was an asshole, so they got together and put the sucker in his place. They shook hands and have been friends ever since. The end," She waves the fingers of one hand theatrically. "But of course, the wolf went to college and now she makes delicious cakes with her Butch friend..."

Tomori laughs loudly, her shoulders shaking a little. "And on top of that, the butch friend  managed to get herself a 'stone' in the last few months!"

Rihito blinks, confusion written in every line of his face. And there was the stupid face she had seen in the photos Tomori had sent her. "Stone? Like... in 'stoner'? Tokita isn't a pothead, even if he looks like one... Hey, what's so funny?," He blushes a little when the girl laughs even louder, placing a hand over her mouth.. "Okubo, your girlfriend is parroting those bizarre slang words again!"

"Relax, 'stone' is what you call a lesbian's very masculine girlfriend. Or in that case, a bi chick's boyfriend," Akane looks at Tomori. "But, like, for real? I saw a hunk near her in the pics you sent me. It wasn't him? She's dating a girl?"

"No, it’s a real guy. Black hair, kinda stuck up...," Okubo says, now more relieved, as there is no cleavage in his field of vision.

"Oooh... oh honey, that's no 'stone', c'mon now," she makes a face, and then she looks at Okubo. "So you're all friends?"

"Sometimes he is, when Kanny decides to act like the 'man' in the relationship...," Tomori laughs again, while Rihito, still a little confused, responds, "Yes, we are! Okubo and I have known each other for almost five years and have been hanging out together ever since. It was actually thanks to me that these two met, hehe."

"Oh, you?"

"Yep! I was the one who invited him to stop by the bakery the day he met her. He kept bitching, but I convinced him. You're both welcome," He smiles smugly. "And like you girls, we kind of met because of fighting, right, man? We're both fighters. We were lucky to come across two hot-blooded fighters too. There's no better way to form a solid friendship, right?," He laughs at Akane.

"Actually there is, but some take longer," she laughs too. "In our case we had a common enemy, that's what brought us together and we saw that it wasn't worth fighting over him. So, are you a fighter too? Wow, now I'm interested in seeing you in action later, in a controlled environment, of course...," she smiles suggestively.

"Maybe one day...," He arches an eyebrow at her, also smiling suggestively. "Then you'll see that I also have a lot in common with panthers and leopards... I can even give you a quick demonstration, if you want."

"Oh yeah? Let me see," She gets excited and slowly holds his chin in her fingers. "C'mon, gimme a smile, I swear I saw little fangs in there..."

Okubo laughs at the Rihito's surprised face.

Tomori gives an absurdly devilish smile when she sees Rihito shuddering, becoming completely disconcerted for a second, his eyes widening.

“I warned you, you casanova wannabe. Now deal with it.”

Rihito, on the other hand, was trying to remember how to move his tongue to form cohesive sentences. He had been warned to behave more courteously and was trying to follow that to the letter, so the last thing he expected was for her to go the opposite way. Damn, no one had ever told him he had “fangs”… he felt the long, manicured nails brush against his chin, sending a shiver down his spine that reverberated through his muscles and bones, and he could only imagine them scratching on his shoulders and between his shoulder blades as he pounded into her. Wild as a big cat, a dangerous predator... the thought caused a brief lapse in his self-control, making him open a wide, sharp smile, his heart racing in a brief jolt of adrenaline.

"Lady, you can look as much as you want. But be careful, I don't warn you before I bite. Raaawn!," And he closes his teeth very close to her fingers.

Tomori and Okubo exchange tired looks. He had held on for about ten minutes. Must be a new record or something.

Akane, on the other hand, laughs out loud for half a second. "Hahahahhahaha, there you are…," she purs, withdrawing her hand, but smiling immensely. "And I was right, you have little fangs! So cute!"

Okubo looks at Tomori, whispering, "Okay, it wasn't his fault this time..."

"No, it wasn't. I told you she was terrible," Tomori whispers to him in response, arching an eyebrow. "Do you still doubt that they can get along, love?"

"I do, but at least now I'm hopeful," he smiles a little, and then he looks to the side. "Hey, our order's coming!"

The waiter arrives with some snacks and four colorful drinks in the Tropical style, leaving the plates on the table - curiously made of black clay - in front of the two couples - "Here it is! Please enjoy."

They saw a variety of cold cuts, French fries, salami and a small plate of what looked like dried meat accompanied by fried cabbage and a strange yellow sand-like flour. According to tthe waiter, it was called "Farofa”, cassava flour, typical of Brazil. And there were some yellow buns too, which looked warm and freshly made.

"Thanks! Finally, this looks delicious...," Tomori sighs contentedly, straightening up in the chair, while Rihito laughs too, his gaze now showing the hunger he feels more clearly. And not just because of the appetizing food that was placed on the table. He was still going to try to contain himself, he had promised, after all. But damn, it was so good to see that he seemed to have met his match in that woman. He couldn't wait until he was alone with her...

"It arrived just in time, I’m as hungry as a lion. Or a leopard," He smiles again. "And I don't have only fangs, miss. I have claws too."

"Ohhh… really?," she looks at his hands. "I don't see any... do you play the guitar or something?"

"He does, we even have a band. Nothing too serious 'cause our schedules won't allow it, but we had our moments of glory," Okubo adds happily.

"Oh my... tall, strong, green eyes, cute little fangs and now he even plays guitar? What a catch, eh...," she jokes, patting him on the shoulder as she laughs a little coquettishly. "All that's left is you being a good dancer, then I'll be a goner," she takes a salami and bites into it, still looking at him.

Tomori had to rest her forehead on her boyfriend's arm to stop herself from laughing when Rihito's chest ballooned, his face lighting up in an absolutely hilarious smug happiness. If he were a peacock, he would probably have opened his huge tail by now.

This was one of Akane's specialties. Grabbing men by their giant egos and making them dance to the beat of her tune, like trained dogs being led on leashes. Obviously that incorrigible womanizer would not be an exception to that rule.

"Then today is your lucky day, Miss Akane, 'cause I'm a hell of a dances! Hey, can I call you by your first name? It sounds too good not to be pronounced, haha..."

"Call me Sekihyo, it’s my nom de guerre. Then I call you by yours," she smiles more, her eyelashes falling slightly, only making her eyes look even more piercing. "And you are, eh? Then let's hit the floor at midnight. I want you to show me these moves."

Okubo tries not to laugh, and busies himself with the food, offering a bite to Tomori, as a cute gesture.

She accepts immediately, all happy as she bats her eyelashes at him. The next few hours would be a real show in itself, so it was good for them to enjoy it with a little cuteness while they still could.

Rihito doesn't even pay attention to the other couple, completely absorbed in his back-and-forth with Akane. It was the first time in a long time that he felt so encouraged to have a conversation with a woman, instead of rushing things so he could finally take her to the nearest bedroom. He decides he wanted to enjoy it more, seeing how far they could go before the attraction became unsustainable.

She wanted to play, didn't she? Oh, they could definitely play then.

"Haha, alright then. Sekihyo...," He lets the H click on his tongue. "Midnight then. Always that magic hour, right? Until then, I can show you other of my attributes…"

"If you want, I'll show you mine too. I have some," she continues eating the food, taking a sip of the juice; now it was in another glass, more alcoholic, but still not much. "You're being so generous with yours, I think it's only fair I show you too."

"All in good time. Anyway, I was the one who asked to meet you first, right? I think it's fair that I first show you that I'm not wasting your time," He puts a salami in his mouth too, chewing slowly, insinuatingly... and then widens his eyes and says, amazed, "Wow, it's so salty! But it's actually good, you know? I-I mean...," He swallows quickly, a little red, and Tomori once again hides her laughter in Okubo's arm.

“Who knows, maybe she’ll go easier on him after she sees that, deep down, he’s just an idiot with the personality of a golden retriever?”

Akane, however, smiled even more; Tomori felt that she was enjoying this more and more with each minute. Oh boy, he was teasing the monster too much...

"It really is, right?," she eats another salami. "There's a spicy one here too, if you want," she takes a toothpick and offers it to him. "Be careful, Brazilian food tends to be very deceiving. This is one of them."

He swallows again, looking at the snack she offers him. Oh, damn, had they already reached that stage? He was really enjoying how she wasn't making a fuss, exactly as Tomori had described. He smiles sideways.

"And how can I say no to such an offer? And I don't mind. I like a little spice...," He closes his mouth on the snack, his lips close to her fingers, and he had to restrain the perverted impulse to stick his tongue out and lick them. He had already taken enough risks with that playful bite.

And the intense burning came straight to his tongue, after a few bites. She looks straight at him, a mischievous smile on her lips while she herself eats the same snack as if it were nothing.

"So? You like it?," she says as if she wants to laugh, looking at him seductively. Something about it reminded him a lot of a certain twink from a certain bakery, and that gave him goosebumps as much as the spiciness.

The snack went tearing down his throat; he had to hold back to keep from coughing and panting like a thirsty dog. Holy crap, that shit burned! He hadn't imagined it would burn so much! Did- Did she know that? Was that why she were smiling like that?

What a she-devil. Satan's spawn, like the scary twink from the bakery. But that only served to stir him up even more. Oh, he was going to give her a well-deserved retribuition later...

"It's- It's very spicy," ​​He nods, quickly pouring himself some water, trying to ignore how Okubo and Tomori seemed about to burst into laughter. "Strong flavor. Apparently you're quite used to this type of food... do you like a little heat?," He asks, the provocative tone becoming implied.

"I was baptized in Fire, honey," she raises her eyebrows. "I'm not perfect but I'm training to go to Hell, since there's no way I'm going to Heaven anymore," she throws her hair back, revealing the color underneath. He saw blue, purple, pink and red amidst the yellow, falling like silk ribbons on her shoulders, and now the leopard skin tattoo was completely visible.

"... Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go wherever they want," He was surprised how he managed to say that sentence clearly, considering that his tongue was a bit numb. It was probably that rainbow she had for a hair that made him regain his focus. Or the tattoo on her shoulder, which he was already fantasizing about kissing and biting later. "And they can drag someone with them. Not that said someone would complain."

"I'm almost asking for us to change tables, Naoh. Things are going faster than we expected," Tomori confides quietly to Okubo, with an air of laughter.

"Not yet, babe, this is getting funny as hell. I'm getting all the details for the guys, they'll want to know," He laughs softly and speaks in the same tone. "but, hey... we can hit the floor as a excuse to make ourselves more comfortable, what do you think? And honestly? These songs are putting me in the mood to rock with you, and I'm not even good at that..."

"I think it’s perfect. I want to let Akane do her magic," She laughs softly, placing her hand over his on the table "And don't worry about that. The important thing is to have fun, not to put on a show. We'll make our own show later, at your place or mine..."

"My place, please. My bed can handle it better," He jokes, laughing softly.

Akane noticed them, feeling  if she teased any more it would look awkward.

"Ohh, what time is it now?," she pretends to be surprised and raises her head, looking around, her hand on top of Rihito's, even running her nails a little over his skin. "Guess it's time for us to shake it up a little, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Rihito looks at the clock on his phone. "It’s almost midnight. Time flew, damn..."

"Get ready, because this place is going to get heated pretty soon," Tomori assures, smiling excitedly. "If you're still not sure, boys, just follow Akane and me, and we'll know what to do. Right? War veterans and such..."

"Hey, I don't need guidance. I know my way around a dance floor like that. And I've always been the type who likes to coordinate...," Rihito smiles insinuatingly, straightening his shoulders and looking even broader and more imposing.

"Oh, so you like twerking too?!," she opens her eyes, pretending to be absurdly excited. "Nice! I wanna see!"

He didn't even have time to justify himself, when the lights suddenly went out and a bunch of neon lights and colored spotlights invaded the room along with the sound of a characteristic siren. A bunch of people suddenly cheered, clapping and howling at the sound, alerting the two fighters. An extremely seductive male announcer's voice speaks with a strong accent:

"Laaaaadies and gentlemen, from now on the most awaited moment of all begins, the Dance Floor is officially opeeeeen..."

Akane howled a little along with the chorus that followed. Several people gathered in the middle of the dance floor, leaving the tables.

"Woohoo! Right in time!," she smiles a lot, getting up and leaving her coat on the table. "Tomori, how about we go first? So we can warm up a little, like we used to do?"

"Girl, that’s exactly what I was thinking!," Tomori throws her arms up with an excited exclamation, exchanging a high-five with Akane afterwards. "We'll be right back, Naoh, Lihito!"

"Wha- you two will go first?," Rihito blinks, surprised, immediately turning to his friend when they leave the table. "Are you cool with this, man?"

"Oh c'mon, don’t you wanna watch it first?," Okubo smiles, suggestively. When the girls were far alway enough, he adds, "Are you gonna waste your chance to look at her the way you've been wanting to since you saw her pics on Instagram? Now you can, and no one's gonna judge you…"

That made Rihito pause. Okay, when he put things like that, the perspective became very interesting…

"Damn, what’s worse is that you're right," He smiles, excited. "But in my case, I’m just in this to have fun. Aren't you worried that someone’s gonna grind against your girl in the middle of the dance floor or something?"

"Nah, not this time. Tomori said the girls always go first, and then the guys join. Hey, look," he pointed with his head, and there were only women in the dance floor. "Man, that's a really nice sight," he said, but he was looking directly at his girlfriend.

Okubo was grateful that Tomori told him beforehand that first only the girls will go for the first song, then the couples would mix.

Rihito immediately follows the direction of his gaze, and finds himself compelled to agree. Damn, apparently they had been incredibly lucky, because there were only hot girls on that dance floor! The thought of seeing them dancing close to each other left him almost on edge... and one of them already had his special attention, her incredibly tanned skin and multicolored hair making her stand out in that ocean of curves, legs and tempting breasts. Without the coat, he could clearly see all her curves, shamelessly displayed in that tight little dress.

"Hell yeah… it’s practically the best buffet in all of Tokyo… and I’m going to try the most exotic dish," He smiles hungrily.

"Heh, there’s an exclusive dish there, don't you fucking forget," Okubo warns, half seriously, half jokingly. "But they are giving us a hell of a gift, so enjoy it. Damn, Tomori," he practically groans, seeing his girlfriend swaying to the rhythm of the music along with her friend. "Fuck, she's such a tease…”

Rihito laughs out loud. "Looks like I'm not the only one getting lucky today, huh! Feast with gusto, pal... because I'm going to do the same..."

He watches the two girls dancing together, his eyes fixed on that scene that seemed like something out of one of his most erotic teenage fantasies. But Okubo could rest assured that he wasn't interested in Tomori, but in her dance partner. And what a partner, may God be fucking blessed... he watched attentively every movement, every sway of those hips, how her breasts swayed lightly under her dress, the sweat already dotting her golden skin like small pearls, or drops of dew that he wanted to catch them with his tongue, following their descent until they were lost in her folds, in her navel, between those wonderful legs...

What he wouldn't give for her to be wiggling like that in a hotel room, just for him, preferably without any clothes on...

The first song ended, which was the signal for the rest of the patrons to join in. Okubo gave his friend an encouraging slap on the shoulder. "Come on, Iron Fingers, let's have a feast!," he smiled very naughty, so much so that Rihito wondered which one of them was the single guy after all.

"Right behind you, Egghead!," He quickly follows him, restraining himself from running like a dog that was called to eat by its owner. He felt completely confident now, sure that he wouldn't be rejected and that now he could go all out. That dance was very physical, insinuating, so the prohibitions imposed by the sugary couple did not apply there. He doubted his illustrious company would want it any other way.

The two girls were laughing with each other, panting and sweating a little, but they didn't look tired. Great. The two men got closer, and Rihito takes advantage of his size to make Akane feel everything when he leans against her, not enough to make her feel cornered, but enough to make his intentions clear. It was a strategy that Okubo and he used frequently, even when they were both single. He found himself really appreciating how smaller than him she was, how delicate she seemed close to his impressive frame. That did a lot of good for his male ego.

"Excuse me... are the two ladies up for a different partner for the next song?"

"Oh? I was wondering how much longer I'd have to wait," Akane smiles, leaning against him and taking his hands with hers, facing away from him. "Let's dance..."

Okubo approaches Tomori and holds her hand, turning her a little before bringing her against his chest. "Hey, did you miss me?"

"Always...," Tomori arches an eyebrow, smiling lasciviously, and damn, who would have thought that such a cute and petite girl could look sensual like that? Rihito now understood well why his friend had fallen head over heels for her. But he doesn't pay too much attention to it, because Akane's hands intertwined with his and her back pressed against his chest demanded all his attention, and he would give it with pleasure.

"Come on... I always thought of panthers as graceful animals, you know, Sekihyo? I want to see if its true," He says quietly in her ear.

"I thought you already knew, handsome," he feels a volume passing between his legs, and he notices that it was her buttocks passing right over that spot as she rolled her hips. "But it only gets better if you show me what you can do…"

She turns and faces him, starting to dance to the rhythm of the music, moving her feet and shoulders, snapping her fingers, looking him up and down, inquisitive and expectant.

... Holy. Fucking. Shit.

To hell with self-control. To hell with promises. She clearly wanted him to be direct and physical with her. The sugary couple could stay there, circling each other slowly as if this were the slowest foreplay in the history of humanity. That gourgeous woman and he weren't really interested in taking it slow. They had already played enough.

She wanted it fast and hard, didn't she? Then that was exactly what he would give her.

She feels that huge hand wrap around her waist with the speed of a snake's pounce, bringing her to him in a single pull. And she sees that Tomori hadn't exaggerated when she said that the blonde gorilla was strong. His hand was like an iron noose. He also had a lot of control over his own strength, because she didn't feel any pain or discomfort. She just found herself unable to escape those fingers.

"I'll show you... you'll see as much as you'll feel."

And he began to move his hips along with hers, rubbing himself against her without any shame. And damn, that unit of a man really know how to twerk!

Akane didn't expect that, panting lightly with his grip. Wow, that was a really nice surprise. Now things were getting really good.

"Wow, so you aren't all bark and no bite?," She smiles a lot, turning around to face him, one hand on his shoulder, placing it close to his neck, the other going on top of his butt, moving her hips along with his, following the rhythm. Her excitement was reaching the stratosphere, may Daddy Satan be blessed… "You'll make me fall harder and literally..."

"Not here on the dance flor, babe," He gasps at her, smiling that predatory smile, and once again showing off those little fangs. The way he was glued to her, leaning down so he could whisper in her ear, made her think he must have been dying to have those canines on her neck, like a male cat would do with a female when he wanted to mate. "Let's just dance for now. We can continue the show later, behind closed doors, if you want."

His hands held her tight around her hips, guiding her movements to coordinate with his. He then makes her turn around, again pressing his broad chest against her back, wanting her to feel all his muscles working in sync as they dance. Rihito was both proud and a little embarrassed of his resourcefulness. Many people considered dancing something only for women and fags... but damn, if he could stay like that with her for longer, he would continue twerking like there's no tomorrow!

And the woman in front of him seemed to fully agree with that, he was sure; even more so when she held his face while she moved, so there was no one calling him anything!

"Holy shit," Okubo commented when he took a look at his friend, seeing if they had the green light to do their thing. "Okay, love, I think we're free to go. Look...," he smiles while looking at the other couple. "From now on it's an adult film session and I want to do my own, not watch others do theirs."

Tomori laughs loudly, taking the opportunity to imitate Akane's movements, just to make the poor man behind her even more excited. "Fine be me! They can sort thing out themselves from now on. Come, I want to dance like this for you in your bed...," She takes his huge right hand, slowly biting the tip of his index finger.

"I swear, woman, you're begging me to carry you outta here," he laughs. "And I really liked it, you know? If it's going to always end like this, I want to come here often," he follows her as eagerly as she does, both of them disappearing into the crowd. "We can send Miss Agata a message saying that we left, so they won't look for us, just in case..."

"Take it from me, Naoh, there’s no need. She's quick-witted enough to figure it out on her own," Tomori guarantees with a chuckle. And then she confides in him, quietly, a little astonished, "But damn, babe, I didn't know Rihito could dance like that! Have you ever seen him make those moves?"

"Yeah, one time when we're playing Just Dance," he laughs. "Everyone ended up knowing about it later. We don't make fun of him only because Himuro ended up winning, the dude is a GoGo Boy to the fuckin' core.

She laughs loudly, pulling him by the hand with excitement. "​​There's something I want to see. But now I just want us dancing, preferably without clothes to get in the way."

"I love you so fuckin' much," He laughs in a very idiotic while leaving the bar with her, like two teenagers going to do something naughty.

Akane, all the while, had seen a glimpse of the couple disappearing. She smiled to herself; her cue was right there. She turned to him, moving a little away to look at him dancing, with the excuse of twirling to show herself, and she was loving what she was seeing too. Under the lights, with his eyes half closed and biting his lip, he became sexy... she approached him and pulled him a little, bringing his lips closer to his, and moving away, just to see if he would follow, trying to complete the distance. And she felt like she had won when he did exactly what she had predicted.

Big, dumb and hot. Exactly the way she liked it.

The current music ended, and she smiled, looking at him. They didn't really need any more games, he was wrapped around her little finger.

"So... let's get going?," She indicates the exit with her head, in case he didn't hear because of the loud music.

"Show me the way," He says in a breath, and yes, she no longer saw any bravado or presumption there. He would probably grab her right then and there if it was socially appropriate. His arm immediately circles her waist, bringing her close, almost possessively, as if he were afraid she would change her mind midway. "I'll follow you wherever you want."

"Come on, I’ll just get my coat, pay my share and we can leave…," she pulls him by the hand, languidly leaving his embrace. "Then we can talk more in private… I know a nice place."

"I can pay if you want, no problem," He says quickly as he follows her. "It’s the bare minimum. I said there could be more where that juice glass came from, didn't I?" He jokes, smiling sideways.

"Alright... just this time, handsome," She smiles sharply. "'Cause this time I really wanto to."

She grabs her coat from the back of her chair, and they prepare to pay the check and leave.

Damn, that could only be the universe recognizing how unfair it had been to him all those years and deciding to make it up to him in one fell swoop! He really wanted to kiss her again, but no, there would be a much better place for it. He could wait a little longer. He had waited all that time after all.

It's then that he receives a text message. Okubo had transferred him some money, saying, 

EggHead: sorry bro, I forgot to pay our tab 

sort this out for us LOL

He rolls his eyes with a laugh. That pervert who was almost as helpless as he was... he was so eager to get home fuck his own girl that he almost turned into a deadbeat. Not that he blamed him. He understood it perfectly. He himself was almost running with the tabs in hand, wanting to end this as quickly as possible so he could go with Akane to a place much more appropriate for what they wanted to do. If he hadn't been determined to preserve a modicum of dignity, he would already be jumping and punching the air like an idiot.

NEXT PART HERE

[worksby-gabriella]

USO Girl?

Halloween!Steve x Halloween!female!reader

Summary: Steve and reader meet at a Stark Industries halloween party, but the reader is dressed up as a USO girl. 🇺🇸

Warnings: None really, just a terrible title.

Request from: @lighterthanstardust (technical difficulties with tagging at the moment)

Putting on the last few touches of your red lipstick, your phone dings.

Nat: Are you still coming? I wanna introduce you to some people :)

Y/N: On my way

Natasha had been begging you to come to Stark's Halloween party for the past month, you kept saying no because you're content with your little tradition of buying candy, curling up and watching horror movies every Halloween. But Natasha was persistent, and adamant about you going. She would come to your workplace at shield, whether you were training, taking a call, or welcoming a new recruit, and bother you until you gave in.

You were pretty sure the reason she wanted you at the party was so she could introduce you to her co-workers? Friends? Family? Whatever she called them, you've heard her refer to them as many different things over the years. And well, you guessed correct based off the text.

Shutting your door and walking out of your apartment complex, you could hear your silver kitten heels click clacking on the cement ground. Getting into your car and checking the adress off the piece of paper Natasha gave you, you turn on the ignition and speed off.

Pulling into the parking lot of a very tall building, that you assume is Stark Tower, you see a red headed figure standing out front.

As you park your car and get out, Natasha starts walking towards you. Pulling you in for a hug and letting go, she takes a good once over of your USO girl costume.

"Damn, 'might as well take you home tonight girl!" She says as she twirls you around.

"Thanks but look at you, Kim Possible!"

Natasha hooks her left arm with your right arm, as you both start walking towards the entrance.

"What are supposed to be anyway?"

"A USO girl, it was a last minute idea because I didn't have a costume. Had to rumage through my grandmother's closet." You answer.

"Hm, it's cute."

As you enter the building she leads you to an elevator, and punches the button that says: 17th floor. When the elevator stops, and opens you notice there's not as many people as you thought there would be. It seems to be more of a small get together for Halloween. To the right there's a group of five people, and Maria Hill whom you've talked to a good amount of times already, all sitting on white couches. There's about two handfuls of some other people scattered here and there, dress in different costumes.

"Tasha' where is everyone?" You whisper shouted as she led you to her friends, The Avengers.

"This is everyone, Y/N"

When Natasha and you reached the group she stopped in front of everyone and introduced you to them.

"Guys, this is Y/N, she works for shield."

"Hey!"

"Hello."

"Nice to finally meet you!"

"So you're the girl Nat keeps talking 'bout, eh?"

You knew who they all where so you didn't bother asking for names, instead you just said your "hi's" back and settled on the couch by Nat.

"Where's Steve?" Nat asked,

"The mans is old as dirt, he's probably just walking to slow. He'll be here eventually." As Sam says this he moves his eyes to you and asks,

"So what's up with the costume?"

"Sam reall-" Maria starts to say but you interrupt.

"Ha ha, it's okay Maria. I'm a USO girl, I didn't have a costume and it was a last minute idea, I had it on hand."

"Be careful, Y/N, gonna give Capsicle a stroke there."

They all chuckle at Tony's joke,

"Capsicle?"

"Just ignore Tony" Natasha says rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

After about an hour of conversation, and Halloween music playing in the background, you volunteer to get the second round of beer from Tony's bar. But Bruce stops you,

"Oh, you don't have to get them. Sit down I'll get it."

Not stopping and ignoring his offer you say,

"It's fine, I can get them."

He smiles warmly at you as you get up to go to the bar.

When you open the small refigerator door, you grab six beers including one for yourself. When you close the door and start to exist the bar you crash right into someone's hard chest.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, i wasn't lookin-"

You cut your self off looking up. Completely mesmerized by the man in front of you. Steve Rogers. You knew he was attractive, but you didn't know he was this attractive.

Chuckling Steve tells you, "It's okay."

He looks down at the beers in your arms,

"Let me grab one for myself, then I'll help you carry those over there."

Waiting for him to grab one, he walks back to you, takes three cans from you, and taps the small of your back to signal you to start walking, sending a shiver down your back.

"So, a USO girl, eh?" Steve asked.

"Oh, yup, didn't have a costume."

"So then what's that?"

"My grandmother's"

Realizing what you said you just said you look at him with wide eyes.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to call you old."

Steve lets put a louder laugh causing everyone to watch both of you as you and him make your over to them.

"So, I see you've already met Steve." Nat says with her eyebrows raised.

Knowing what she's suggesting you roll your eyes and say,

"Yes, I have."

"So, I guess I was right. You did give him a stroke."

Everyone starts chuckling at Tony's joke while Steve shakes his head with a goofy smile on his face, looking down at his shoes.

"Hm?" You ask after taking a sip of your beer.

"Well the loud crash?"

"Oh! No, that was me dropping all the beer."

Everyone is moving onto different conversations but you an Steve keep talking. Asking eachother question after question, inventively listening to one another.

Nat was watching both of you out of the corner of her eye.

"So where's the costume old man?!" Sam says, sorta struggling to keep his eyelids open.

"Didn't know we were dressing up." Steve answers with a shrug.

"What?!? No way. Absolutely not. Who doesn't dress up for Halloween?"

"Apparently, Capsicle."

Jerking his head toward Tony he points at him saying,

"Hey! Who're you to talk Stark, you're not dressed up either."

"When you're Tony Stark, Rogers, you don't need a costume to be cool" Tony argues in his defense, flicking off some imaginary dust from his suit.

Everyone keeps talking, drinking, occasionally dancing, and getting drunker and drunker. But Steve has the inconveniency of not being able to get drunk, and you're so caught up in his baby blues that you completely forget you were drinking.

You're definitely drunk, but not from alcohol. You're drunk off of his seafoam eyes, his charm, his kindess, his authority, his every detail.

When two a.m rolls around, and everyone is drunk of thier asses they start heading up to a couple of floors higher, most likely to whatever rooms were up there to get some sleep, already dreading the morning after.

Since you and Steve were sober, well you were more sober than the rest, You and him stayed behind to clean up empty bottles, empty beer cans, and fallen decorations.

You pickup some beer cans to go to the bar and throw them away but when you come back, Steve asks you,

"Would it be wierd if I asked you out?"

"No, no it would not be wierd"

You're both smiling at eachother, Steve is holding orange, black and purple streamers in one hand, while your holding a beer bottle.

Next thing you know he's dropping the streamers, and walking to you.

He kisses you. Lips on lips. Moving so perfectly in sync. It's igniting, it's new, it's exciting, and brilliant. So brilliant that you drop the beer bottle to lay your hands on the nape of his neck, but the bottle has other plans. It crashes to the floor and shatters, causing you and Steve to pull away from eachother and chuckle.

As you both bend down to pick up the shattered peices he grabs your hand, and tilts you head up to look at him.

"So, will you go on date with me?"

"It would be crazy of me to say no, Steve"

My first actual fic!! I hope you've all liked it, btw I THRIVE of off feedback so please tell me what you've thought.

If you've liked this fic please like and reblog. REBLOGS HELP WRITERS A CRAP TON!!!

🤍💙🖤

[silky-stories]

Just a Bad Day (Corpse and Friends/Reader)

Genre: Light angst, Fluff, sort of Platonic but you could take it otherwise

Words: 1628

Related Songs: PETIT BISCUIT - Sunset Lover https://youtu.be/wuCK-oiE3rM ZYAN, Sia - Dusk till Dawn | slowed https://youtu.be/7LLKAL6ERDA

Summary: (Y/n) has a bad day and her friends are suspicious

Disclaimer/s: Depressive episode, slight anxiety, big sad :(

Notes: I left out what it was that made the Reader upset so you can let it be whatever you want :)

———————————————————————

"(Y/n) you're fine, you don't even have your webcam on today, you'll be okay." Rae teased you softly, getting a couple chuckles from the few people that had joined the Among Us lobby a bit early.

She had overheard your quiet mentions of being nervous and having your webcam off, both due to the fact that you had a bit of a hectic day and didn't have time to make yourself presentable. It didn't bug you that she responded with a joking tone, she wasn't aware of the tear streaks that framed your cheeks and red, puffy eyes you just couldn't hide with the high quality camera you have. She didn't know, no one knew, how were you supposed to be mad about that?

"Ha ha, yeah... guess you're right." You plastered the most fake smile you've ever made to your face to at least make it sound like you were happy. Thankfully, it seemed to work as the conversation moved on without you.

Less fortunately, your fans were a little more perceptive, although you should have expected that considering that some of them watched you on a daily basis. Your chat was filled with near exclusively kind remarks, from a modest 'Are you alright?' to full on paragraphs that passed by a bit too fast for you to get through more than the first few words. You muted yourself in the discord chat so only your audience could hear you, reassuring them that you were fine, no matter how much your broken tone betrayed you. It didn't work as well as you wanted, but that wasn't their fault.

Soon enough the whole gang was together and ready for the game to start, they sounded excited. It was nice to hear that your bad mood hadn't leeched onto your friends, that was the last thing you needed right now.

A deep sigh came from your mouth as you saw the red lettering fade in and off of your screen, "Dammit..." You weren't ready for an imposter game, you were sort of hoping that you could go a whole stream without one actually. Even worse, Corpse was your partner, which meant you'd end up dragging him down with you.

The game began, the layout of the Skeld loading in and the colourful avatars of your friends scattering to do their assigned tasks. You did yourself a favour and didn't move right away, giving yourself a second to take a deep breath and at least attempt to put some effort into doing a good stream. Your fans deserved it, they were all so nice and had been so supportive, they didn't need to be worried about you.

Unfortunately, when you did move, your partner had unknowingly sabotaged the reactor the second before you did anything, making it look a lot like you sabotaged it yourself. It wouldn't have been a problem if Toast hadn't been passing by the second you did. You went to kill him, but since you were both right next to the emergency button, there wasn't anything you could do in time.

The pit of anxiety in your stomach only grew as the animation flashed across your screen, you didn't even know how you were going to defend yourself. As the voting screen came up you only felt worse, no one had even died yet, so you were going to be the first one out on the first game. Great.

"So (Y/n), did you just sabotage reactor?" Toast piped up the second he had the chance.

You were silent as everyone did their played up reactions for the camera, trying to use that time to think of something. It didn't work to say the least.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Your words didn't sound even slightly convincing, not to mention the tired tone of voice you couldn't seem to get rid of that did nothing for you.

Before Toast could get too far into his rebuttal, which didn't really matter after your lame defence, your partner piped up.

"Hey Toast, was anyone else near you guys?" His low tone said nothing of his intentions, you were jealous.

"No, it was just the two of us in cafeteria." He responded, not sure where Corpse was going with this.

"So, technically speaking, it could have been you and nobody would have seen it except for (Y/n)?"

The gasps that followed in response to the new idea were small, but promising nonetheless, even if they were more as a joke than an actual response. It was because of that fact that you were so surprised when the vote ended up being skipped, only two people actually voting for you, one of them being Toast.

You felt a twinge of relief, maybe you could still win this, maybe you could actually have a good night to make up for the terrible day you had.

...

It hadn't even been a minute when you accidentally killed Toast in front of Poki and Jack.

As the meeting started, you tried to say something but you just couldn't seem to get any words in by the time everyone had voted except for you.

"So (Y/n) first and then Corpse?"

You didn't even know what to say.

"C'mon (Y/n), just vote, it'll all be over soon."

What was there to say?

"(Y/n)?"

Why were you taking this so hard?

You quietly clicked on the checkmark to vote for yourself as fresh tears began to spill over your cheeks. You hadn't said anything during the meeting and, seeing as your avatar was now floating through space, you wouldn't be able to say anything now. Useless...

Your chat was going crazy now, flooded with concerns and kind affirmations directed towards you. Your gaze drifted over them mindlessly, not taking anything in, it just looked like a big white blur.

By the time you shook yourself from your dazed state, Corpse's avatar was just finishing it's trip across the screen, floating hopelessly through space as yours had mere minutes ago.

The defeat screen only hammered in how stupid your mistake was as it came and went, just as everything else had without any input from you.  The conversation picked back up quickly, jokes and teases were exchanged, you couldn't even make out what they were saying until the attention was put on you.

"You okay (Y/n)? Not feeling too into it today?" Toast's remark was clearly a joke, just a little jab to get a chuckle like usual.

Unfortunately, you weren't feeling like usual tonight.

"No..."

It was almost pitiful how broken and sad that one word came out. Your voice had even cracked as you spoke, you figured you must have been just depressing to listen to. If you weren't downright embarrassing you probably seemed like a child for not keeping it together like the others did when they were upset.

Surprisingly enough though, that's not what happened.

"Wait really? Crap I'm sorry."

"Oh no, are you okay?"

"Do you wanna stop playing?"

It was stupid, but for the first time that day you felt okay crying. So you did.

"I'm sorry... thank you..." you mumbled, using your sleeves to wipe your tears, "I just had a really bad day, but I... I still wanna play with you guys I just..."

Damn it, what did you do to deserve friends that cared so much about you?

"I know what to do." Rae spoke up, her grin shining through in her tone, "Group hug!"

Her avatar ran over to yours, nestling herself beside you in a sort of makeshift hug. Everyone else followed suit shortly after, and soon enough you were in the middle of a little circle, fitting perfectly in the middle.

A small sob-like laugh broke free from your lips, "Damnit, you guys are the worst." You joked with a smile, chuckling at the childish but heartfelt display.

The night only got better from there, and even though you weren't at your best, everyone was even nicer than usual and it helped to turn that bad day into a pretty enjoyable night.

After about an hour you decided to stop your stream, deciding to cut it short for the sake of your mental health.

"Yeah I think I'm gonna get going too." Your farewells seemed to spark a response from someone else.

"You too Corpse?" Jack piped up, somewhat confused as he hadn't mentioned anything earlier about doing a shorter stream.

"Yeah, I got some stuff to do, don't worry I'll still be playing with you guys on Friday."

"Alright, well see ya both later!"

"G'night!"

"Have a good sleep!"

"Feel better soon (Y/n)!"

You sighed gently as you disconnected from the discord call and the Among Us server, leaving your audience with the usual 'Stream Starting Soon' screen that you didn't feel like changing.

"Well, that's about it for tonight." You spoke, taking a minute to read the chat silently before continuing, "Thank you guys for all the support, I know I didn't say much tonight but I read a lot of what you were saying, it's really appreciated."

A buzz came from your phone, you picked it up and smiled at what you saw.

Corpse

[ hey, wanna talk? ]

You said your goodbyes to your chat and shut off the stream, grabbing your phone and heading straight to your room. You hadn't even made it to your door by the time you were dialling your friend's number. Flopping down onto your bed, you put your phone on speakerphone and felt a warmth fill your body as a familiar voice filled your room.

"Hey."

"Hey." You responded, turning to your phone even though neither of you could see each other.

You supposed today wasn't so bad after all.

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-yigas]

Yay! I'll be a patient little footsoldier! When the time/mood strikes... my request would be for someone (some asshole like Cil or Astor) to realize Kohga is trans and give him a hard time about it, and for Sooga to just defend the hell out of him/his identity. Especially if the discovery happens in an unexpected way, like he starts his period somewhere and is outed and already feeling vulnerable (happened to me, it sucks). Sooga standing up for trans rights is just so good for the soul <3

Ooh i get the feeling on the period, anon. Long story at work, it's super embarrassing. Hope this helps!

"I'm pretty fucking sure dude's got mange..."

Kohga nodded at one of the yiga soldier's words. He hated this weird guy telling him what to do all the time. He also REALLY hated that Astor kept telling him how useless he was. Always calling him a failure, and with Ganon's influence, it didn't leave Kohga with much to say. He sat upon his chair, trying to just let Astor ramble on his shit alone. But Astor just, wanted problems today. He sat in front of the weird deviled egg demon, praying over it obsessively.

"I apologize for yet another failure on their end, my lord. You do not deserve as such. Granted, their actions play into the greater picture, but the incompetence of so many of their followers. It's upsetting."

That was the last straw for Kohga. To make fun of him was one thing, it was something that unfortunately happened often. But to talk shit about his ENTIRE crew? That wasn't right. Cil, Von, and Sooga watched as their Master got off his throne, giving Astor's shoulder a slight shove. Astor turned around, looking at Kohga as if he was just a toddler.

"Hey. You talking shit about ME? I get that, I talk loads of crap about you too. But about MY boys? That shit is off limits for someone as slimy lookin' as you."

Astor chuckled, clearly finding Kohga's words amusing.

"How cute. Unfortunately, they are all but fools. They believe their master is as they see them. But no. Their master is but a fool. A fool who brings the wool over their eyes."

Kohga was going to ask him what he meant, when he saw what Astor was looking at. Kohga had his period earlier than he was supposed to, all over his chair. He crossed his legs, just knowing he was soaked in blood. Astor didn't let him just wallow in his shame.

"You are a fake. A liar. A deceiver. You are a FAKER. A fake man, running a fake army."

"I'm...I'm not a fake."

"But you are! Your competency is fake! Your strength is fake! Your BODY is fake. All of it. Flesh, bone, and womb. You are no leader, let alone a man."

Maybe...maybe Astor had a point. He couldn't even tell his boys that he was different from them. If he couldn't keep his shit together here...maybe he was just a shitty excuse for a man. He still had all the parts. The only way he could call himself a man was by title, and title alone. He felt himself shrink under Astor's smirk, only to have the view replaced by Sooga’s back.

"I will not let a blind seer say such nonsense. Master Kohga is a man. A man who does too much to deal with a pathetic eel like you."

"SHE is a woman. A fool. A mockery of all Ganon stands for-"

"Wait so what's happening here?"

Cil piped up, just now standing up from his seat. Sooga put his hand on his shoulder, and after gaining silent permission from Kohga, explained.

"Master Kohga was born as a woman. But he is a man in soul. So that makes him a trans man."

"Wait so he still has a vagina?"

"Yes."

"Ew. Er, I mean- doesn’t matter. Kohga could have nothing, doesn’t mean THIS train wreck gets to make him uncomfortable."

Cil stood up, finding himself peering behind Master Kohga, and glaring at Astor. Astor chuckled, shaking his head.

"You're both the same fool as every other man in history. Blinded by the scent of a woman."

Sooga leaned down to Astor, clearly not appreciating his words.

"One, you REALLY don't know what you're talking about. With me OR Cil. Second, you have some nerve, speaking such foolishness."

Sooga felt Von appear at his side, cracking his knuckles.

"Actually guys, let's test how full of shit he is. He says Ganon is all powerful right? Well. Surely he's powerful enough to protect his little prophet from a bunch of 'idiots', right?"

Another blade master locked the door, standing in front of it. Cil chuckled, taking enough slow steps towards Astor to make him very uncomfortable.

"That's the smartest thing you've EVER said, Von. Let's absolutely test his claims."

Astor suddenly didn't look so confident.

"You. You can't hurt me. Making an enemy of me makes an enemy of Ganon-"

"Don't think of it as making an enemy. Think of it as uh...a sacrifice to the guy. Little bit of blood IS a god's deal, right? He doesn't want it, he could absolutely stop us. Till then...its us against you, little man."

Von picked Astor up by his collar, slamming his back against the wall. Sooga turned to Kohga.

"You want to watch first, or would you like to get cleaned up?"

"Much as I want to see him get his ass kicked, I'm...really embarrassed right now. So, clean up please."

"Understandable. I'll have someone take care of the chair, lets get you a bath."

Cil called out from his hold on Astor's throat.

"I will record the important parts for you, Master Kohga."

"Thanks Cil, you're a peach. And you,"

Kohga lifted his head up to look at Sooga.

"I love you."

"I love you too. A terribly handsome man, you are."

[ambivalent-anarchy]

You've Got Moves (Part 2)

Masterlist

Part 1

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Warning: None

A/N: Better late than never, right?😂😂 (wow 2 fics in one week that's crazyyy) Also I put one of my favorite comedy tiktoks in the dialogue soooooo oops? Also Harry and Ned are wingmen who share one brain cell and I like it that way

I might make one more part to this but idk

---------------------------------------

It took 7 months for Peter to ask you out.

It took the time for MJ and Asher to become a couple, homecoming to go by, MJ and Asher to break up, winter formal, midterm exams, MJ and Asher to get back together, and Christmas to go before Peter Parker gathered the guts to even consider thinking about asking you out.

Scared wasn't even the word for it.

Harry Osborn, the new transfer student, laughed at how nervous Peter was at lunch. "Asking girls out is easy, Peter. I do it all the time!"

"You say it like it's the simplest thing on earth," Peter dreaded, to which Harry shrugged.

"Because it is! You just ask. How is it that I've only been at this school for 2 months and I've had more chicks than both you and Ned combined?"

"Hooking up is not a hobby of mine. That's why," Peter retorted with a pitifully unintimidating glare.

Harry shrugged with his shit-eating grin. "It's not my fault the girls and gays can't resist these lips."

Ned chimed in as he threw a french fry into his mouth. "Peter, this isn't like Liz last year. You and [Y/N] are already really close, dude. I'm sure you can just ask her. Who knows? She might say yes!"

"But what if she says no?," Peter groaned. "Then I'll just be one of those people she avoids and barely talks to out of awkwardness." He shifted in his seat nervously. "I don't want that."

"But if you don't say anything then you'll always regret it," Ned pointed out.

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. "Peter, pull out your phone."

Peter raised his eyebrows in confusion, but followed Harry's instructions.

"Go to her in messages and say 'hey let's get dinner'." He smiled. "See? Simple."

Peter opened your messages in his phone and stared at your profile picture.

'You can do this, Peter. You can do this.'

He bit his lip. "Okay but should I say, 'let's get dinner' or 'do you want to get dinner'?" Seeing Harry's impatient face, he explained himself. "I just feel like those two sentences have completely different vibes, y'know?"

Harry glared at him. "Are you really about to have us telling you what to tell your crush like a bunch of girls?"

Peter didn't know how to answer that question seriously. "Uh...yes?"

Harry pondered the question for a small bit before simply shrugging and answering. "Hmm, go with 'let's get dinner', so you'll sound all confident and assertive."

"Okay."

Before Peter could press send without thinking twice, Ned stopped him. "Well, actually now you sound a little aggressive, man."

"Really?," Peter asked with a wince, immediately erasing the message.

"Yeah, I mean the last thing you wanna be like is the guy that's all like 'let's get dinner' like you're some kind of caveman."

Peter groaned. "Oh no, definitely not."

Ned ate another fry. "You want to ask her to dinner, not tell her to dinner."

"I'll go with 'do you want to get dinner' then," Peter said with a nod.

That one didn't sit well with Harry. "No Pete. Cuz now you sound like a pussy."

Peter slammed his phone onto the lunch table. "This stuff is tough!"

Ned turned towards Harry. "No but listen. The last thing Peter wants to do is come off as the overly masculine type that's all like 'let's get dinner cuz I'm the breadwinner, bitch', y'know?"

Harry shook his head. "Yeah but women also love assertiveness. You have to know what you want."

Peter stared at the table, desperately wanting the conversation to be over. Why would he even go to these two for relationship advice? Harry was the king of hookups and Ned's relationships never lasted longer than a few weeks. What was he thinking? For a guy with a 4.5 GPA, he sure did feel stupid.

"I got it!," Ned exclaimed. "Okay. Text her this. 'Dinner would be something that I would enjoy taking you on, but only if YOU were also interested in attending the meal'." He held his hands up for praise.

Harry nodded. "Mhm. Perfect balance. And the more words the better."

Peter just stared back at them, wondering where he'd gone wrong in life. "...no.... I'm not gonna send her that."

Harry shrugged. "Welp,' he sighed. "I guess some people just don't want to be helped."

So close to slamming his head into the table in front of him, Peter felt a tsunami of relief hit when he saw Asher walk into the cafeteria.

Asher was your best friend. If anyone knew the proper way you'd want to be asked out, it'd be him.

The second Asher noticed Peter looking at him, he made his way over. "Hey Peter. What's up?," he asked as he found an empty seat.

Harry spoke up before Peter had the chance. "Hey Ash. Pick one. 'Let's get dinner' or 'do you want to get dinner'."

Asher thought for a second. "Depends on the girl," he said before taking a bite into his apple. "-but 'do you want to get dinner' is nicer. Why?"

Harry slammed his fist on the table. "Damn it!"

"Yes!," Ned cheered.

Asher looked around the table. "Okay, by why?"

Harry and Ned went quiet and looked to Peter, who was staring anywhere to avoid eye contact. He began to mumble pitifully."I....I-i wanna.. I wanna-"

Harry and Ned spoke up, already tired of the conversation not getting anywhere. "He wants to ask-"

"-I wanna ask [Y/N] out!," he blurted, feeling his cheeks start to burn when Asher's smirk turned into a wide grin.

"Well it's about time!," he exclaimed. "She's been crazy about you since you met."

"Really? She has?," Peter asked. That wasn't even in the realm of possibility in his mind.

Asher nodded. "She's always going off to me about how-" he mocked your higher pitched voice. "I've been dropping him hints since, like, foreverrrr!"

"Seriously?! She has?"

Ned laughed. "Well Peter. She has been calling you cute since the day she met you..."

"But I just always thought it was the friendly kind of cute, y'know?," he rambled. "Not the boyfriend type cute!"

"How many girls are out here calling you cute for you to make that assumption, dude?," Harry asked.

Asher sighed. "So this is what it's like to have low confidence." He shook his head and gave Peter a disappointed look. "I can't say I like witnessing this, Pete."

"Just-" Peter groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. "Just tell me what will work, okay? I need to ask her out perfectly."

Asher tilted his head in confusion. "She's a simple girl. You just have to straight up ask her out. What's the confusion there?"

"That's what I said!," Harry yelled.

"You know he's got to make it difficult for himself for no reason," Ned pointed out.

"Okay can we all talk about how terrible I am at this after you help me?," Peter begged.

"...yeah."

"Sure."

"Ugh, fine."

Peter sighed. "Alright. So?"

"What are you going for?," Asher asked. "Like a gift or something?"

"I just want whatever's the absolute best way to ask her out."

Asher pinched the bridge of his nose. If he was gonna set you up with your crush, he wanted it to happen right.

"Okay," he said, staring Peter in the eyes with a new sort of intensity. "Think about your best moments with her. Now pick something special from all those moments and voila! You'll have it!"

Peter nodded and stared at the ground as he thought for a while about everything he'd done with you since the beginning of school. You were truly the most extraordinary, most confident girl he'd ever met.

Every time he'd thought you couldn't get more perfect, you'd just show him another side of you that was better than the rest. He always stayed endlessly impressed and most of all, he felt as if he didn't have to try too hard with you. He could be himself and mess up as many times as he could manage and you still stuck around, showing him that there needn't be any worries.

And your style? Fuck, you could make anything work for him. You were the only one who could get him out of his comfort zone and in front of a camera, for something as frivolous as a TikTok. But he'd always do it, and even find the fun in it, because it made you happy.

"Remember how we freaked out that first time when she called you cute, Pete?," Ned said. "She said that you were cute and that you only had to put it use!"

Harry laughed. "This girl is literally giving you the instructions, Peter. Take them."

"Hmm." Peter looked up with a smile and snapped his fingers. "I got it."

-

You tossed popcorn into your mouth and snuggled yourself further into the blanket. "Ash, how can you even say that? 'It' is a horror movie!"

"Yeah, technically," he retorted. "But there's literally not a single part of the movie that's scary. It's more of a drama than anything else."

"You realize the clown phobia rate skyrocketed when the movie came out right?"

Asher scoffed. "Uh, your point? It's not my fault some pussies couldn't sit through it. Still a drama. The story definitely played with your emotions more than your fears."

"Whateverrrr," you laughed. "I can't deal with you."

"Pennywise literally got up and did this," he said before breaking out into Pennywise's dance. He laughed as he kicked his legs out. "What kind of horror movie has this crap in it?" He stopped when he felt the full force of you throwing a pillow on his face. "Ugh!"

"Sit down and get under the covers, idiot," you hissed. "I wanna keep watching these HORROR films."

"Whateverrrr," he drawled out, mocking you. He sighed and plopped down next to you, grabbing a handful of popcorn after.

When school was getting suffocating, marathoning horror movies with Asher were a must. He had an endless repertoire and all the time in the world for his best friend.

Halfway through 'It: Chapter 2' though, the movie was the least of your focus and instead was TikTok.

What could you say? The app was addictive.

It was a big, entertaining, completely useless collage of everything every no-name had to offer, from stupid debates to cringey POV's to fun dance routines.

You tried to hook every friend you could on it. Asher, of course, already knew about it since it first came out and he, of course, had thousands of followers because most of what he posted was random thirsts traps whenever he was feeling hot, which was always. And thirsts traps are always in high demand for the people on TikTok.

You tried to hook MJ on it, but she'd already decided that she didn't like it before even giving it a chance. Even the messy, political side didn't reel her in.

Of course then there was Peter, who didn't know was TikTok even was before he met you. You made it your sole mission to get him hooked, but you'd since given up on that. It was a lost cause. The only time he probably ever saw TikTok nowadays was when he was doing dances with you before gym started. He let you put the app on his phone but he never used it. You wouldn't even put it past him to have deleted it, but it was whatever. TikTok had started his friendship with you, so needless to say, it'd done an amazing job in your life.

Plus your followers were always asking about him. All of the "omg couple goalssss" and "you guys look so cute together" served as massive confidence boosters. A girl can dream, right?

You shifted over a bit when you felt Ash getting closer and closer to you.

When he moved over again, you scooted away, only for him to get closer again. "Ash, what is your deal?"

"Easy there," he chuckled, backing up a little. "I'm looking at the phone, not you."

"You've been all up in my phone all day, what's up?"

"I can't tell you," he shrugged, a sly smirk stretching across his face. "But," he pointed to your tiny screen. "Some idiot is taking wayyyy too long to shoot his shot."

"Shoot his shot?" You gasped. "Who?"

"I'm not at liberty to say," he said with a smirk.

"Nooooo," you whined. "If someone has a crush on me you gotta spill! C'mon, please?"

He laughed and repeated himself. "I'm sorry, but I am not at liberty to say!"

"Bullshit! Who is it? C'mon! C'monnnnnn!"

He shrugged and this time you knew that he was dead set on not giving up the mystery guy.

"Ugh," you pouted. "Fine. Let's just finish the stupid movie."

-

"Kids next door, battle stations!!!!"

And now it was sometime after midnight. The popcorn was all gone. The movie was done and now you were watching old cartoons so that the horror movie wouldn't be the last thing on your mind before bed.

Looking over, you saw that Asher didn't need any cartoons like you did. He was already passed out, snoring as loud as ever.

Grumbling in boredom, you stared at the wall, trying to connect the tiny dots in the designs. It was like something was officially keeping you from being able to fall asleep.

*Ding!*

At the sound of your phone receiving a text, you sat up curiously. Who was texting you at this hour?

You smiled when you saw that it was Peter.

Pete: hey y/n

You were about to send him a quick,"why are you up this late" text, but he kept typing.

Pete: pls dont judge me too hard for this

With that completely vague warning, you furrowed your eyebrows, concerned.

Y/n: whats up r u okay

He sent you a link next, which confused you, but not as much as when you actually pressed it.

It led you to TikTok, and the video was waiting to be pressed to start. Peter was standing in the middle of the screen with one of his typical corny sweatshirts on. The caption at the top read: "For [Y/N] Only". Smiling already, you quickly pressed play.

You slapped your hand over your mouth. "Oh my God."

"So he finally got the guts, huh?," Asher mumbled, having woken up from the loud music on your phone but was still half-asleep.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I wake you?," you asked. You turned down your phone.

"Don't worry about me, you just got a boyfriend," he chuckled, moving to lay down so he could get to sleep again. "Text him back for god's sake."

~~~

Y/n: its been almost a whole year and youre still so cute when you make those

Pete: haha thanks

Pete: uh

Pete: i really like you y/n

Pete: do u think you'd wanna go out with me or get dinner sometime?

~~~

"He asked me out," you gasped. "Ash, he asked me out!"

Asher rolled over and groaned. "I thought that was already established? Jesus, you two couldn't possibly be moving any slower."

You rolled your eyes. "Fuck you."

"Nah, you're with Peter now," he laughed. "You're gonna have to fuck him instead!" That comment earned him another pillow to the face.

You looked back at the messages and sent a tiny cute one. You smirked at the new idea of what was about to happen and turned it off before going to sleep.

~~~

Y/n: kiss me at school tomorrow and find out

~~~

Didn't do a third edit cuz I got lazy but I'm pretty happy with the turnout anyway. Thanks for reading!

Tagging: @allegra-writes, @allegra-soleil, @yumings, @hey-its-grey, @spideyyeet, @sunkissedspidey, @tommyunderoos, @chaoticpete, @snarky--starky, @sovereignparker, @thesherlockianavenger, @bubblebucky, @kelieah, @eridanuswave, @ithoughtthiswastwitterbutfr, @kidney9-9, @gwenvrse

[the-unshaped]

CHAPTER ONE: WELCOME BACK TO BEACON HILLS

Chapter Text

"How's the first day back?"

Stiles Stilinski grinned as his oldest friend, Scott, slapped a strong hand on his shoulder. After what felt like a million years away from each other, he was back, his best friend standing beside him. It was a fantastic feeling.

Walking into the school was bizarre. He had felt nostalgia in the past but nothing to this extent before. Maybe it was because his last school was so much larger, but it seemed like every year they were making noticeable changes. Beacon Hills, on the other hand, was exactly how he remembered. The same white and black speckled linoleum floors, same painted mascot on the walls, same old lockers, same trophy cases lining the main hall.

Stiles was stoked.

Even the classes he'd taken so far, which would have ordinarily bored him since he'd learned a lot of what they were going over already, left him feeling almost giddy. The teachers didn't seem to share the sentiment, but fuck them. He wasn't going to let Finstock calling him Billinski a million times drag him down today.

Stiles and Scott had met up the day before, his dad surprising him with dinner and his childhood best friend as a gift for finishing all his unpacking, but it was even more exciting to know he was going to see him every day. They had talked at least once a week after Stiles finally broke and got Facebook eighth grade year and even more when they both had online gaming, almost every day. It was like they'd never stopped.

Stiles had been begging his dad to move back since the day they left, and he only got more persistent after his reunion with Scott, but no matter how hard he tried to convince him, no dice. That is until his dad's college friend, Adam Wilder, let him know that the Beacon Hills was offering full ride scholarships to the college of their choice to the top 5 graduates and was in need of a new sheriff. Not even John could refuse that kind of help. Despite his worry that he wouldn't be accepted as a transfer, he took a chance and put in an application. A month later and a million moving boxes later, Stiles was leaving his fancy Sacramento apartment and on his way home.

"Not bad, Scott. I've got Dad, my best bud, and my nightmares of a poorly-aged Lydia can finally be absolved because she is still as much of a goddess as the day I left, dare I say more. All is right with the world," he said, eyeing the lean strawberry blonde haired girl down the hall. Scott winced, and pulled at his lock, freeing it from the metal loop before opening it and shoving his math book inside. "I definitely missed this place. What more could I ask for?”

Scott scoffed and scuffed the toes of his shoes against the floor. "I can't imagine why anyone would miss this place."

Stiles eyed him, unsure if he was playing around or not. Leaving Beacon Hills, for him, felt like tearing off a limb, leaving something messy, jagged and bloody in its place. Sacramento hadn't been bad, per se. He made awesome grades and was in a club or two every year. He had some people that could pass as friends he hung out with occasionally, but it wasn't the same as the life he had in Beacon Hills. Also losing a limb, Stiles had survived the initial pain and adapted, but at the end of the day, he knew that it wasn't there and could feel the ache of its absence.

Stiles knew he was meant to be there. It was where he was born m. Where he learned how to tie his shoes and write his name. Where he and Scott made a terrible mess in the kitchen making treats for a fundraiser, and Melissa made them clean all day after school, scolding them even as she ate the last remaining cupcake. It was home.

The only difference between losing a limb and losing Beacon Hills was that there was always a voice in the back of his mind telling him that he could get it back, if only he could convince his dad. It was only a few hours away, and he would eventually be able to choose where he lived. Luckily he hadn't had to wait that long.

Stiles shrugged off Scott's dismissal. "I'm sure you'd miss it once you left."

Stiles closed his locker, and noticed Scott had gone quiet. He took a peek over his shoulder as he clamped his padlock shut and realized he had his eyes trained on an adorable brunette talking to a fierce looking blonde he had noticed earlier in their math class. Stiles looked between them a dorky smirk spreading across his face.

"You are so obvious, man. Your tail is practically wagging."

Scott's eyes shot up, eyebrows knit together. "What?"

"That girl. The brunette. You have your 'unrequited pining' look on your face," Stiles explained, shutting his locker door. Scott frowned, crossing his arms, even as he snuck another peek at her.

"It's not that obvious," Scott muttered.

"I've literally only been here for," he looked at her phone, then back up at Brennan, "three hours and forty-five minutes and I knew the moment you looked at her."

Stiles looked at Scott's downtrodden face then brightened. "Wait, is that Allison? Like love of your life, scary but amazing, Allison?"

The blonde glanced over at them, smirking at Scott. Stiles didn't seem to notice. Even if he had he would have no reason to suspect that she could hear anything he said, but Scott knew differently. He flushed, wrapping his arm around Stiles shoulder, whipping him around to face the lockers in a huddle.

"Dude," Scott hissed. "Keep it down."

"It is her! Holy crap," Stiles laughed. Scott just pouted, his eyebrows still pulled together.

"Yeah, yeah. You're brilliant. Can you shut up now?"

"Come on. You act like people are listening," Stiles said, craning his head around to look at the near bustling halls. "Trust me, we aren't that interesting."

"Speak for yourself. I'm plenty interesting."

"Oh yeah? Let my go ask how interesting you are," Stiles teased. "Yo, All-!"

Scott clamped a hand over his mouth, and Stiles was quick to retaliate.

"Did you seriously just lick me? How old are you? Stiles. Stop it!"

Scott dropped his hand with a scowl, wiping it on his dark jeans.

"I'll have you know, licking people could solve approximately 80% of the world's problems," Stiles said, hitting Scott suggestively. "Speaking of licking, how the hell did you get so built? I thought you sucked at sports."

Scott's scowl bled into a full blown grin, ignoring Stiles' sexual remark. "That was last year. A lot has changed. Now hurry up or we're going to miss lunch. And please try to control yourself a little, okay?"

Stiles gave him a questioning look, but didn't ask. He followed Scott through the halls, weaving through the people, trying to connect names to old familiar faces. Some people were easier to remember than others. He would catch flashes of memories from t-ball and baseball practices, or stories her dad had told him on the car ride here. He had only ever really been close to Scott before they left, but the familiarity was calming in a way he hadn't expected.

Stiles couldn't help but grin when they pushed through the heavy doors to the cafeteria.

The walls were a less than white white, dull and slightly grimy with age. They had long rectangular tables instead of the faux wood round ones at his old school, but honestly he liked these better, even if it was just a bit too much white all together for his taste. Too much like a hospital.

"Wow it hasn't changed at all," Stiles chirped. "I bet Mrs. Green still has that wild chin hair, too."

As if she could hear him, Mrs. Green looked up at him with a scowl. He waved at her excitedly, a lopsided grin painted on his face, and Scott shook his head in amusement.

"Hi, Mrs. Green!"

As they made their way through the food line, Stiles reminisced over the meatloaf and asked if they still had the breakfast pizza with white gravy and sausage balls he loved so much. Scott couldn't help but get secondhand excitement. It had been so long since he had felt normal like this. Not that he didn't like his life or that he didn't enjoy things the way they were, but having a friend that wasn't constantly caught up in his problems was nicer than he had expected it to be.

Stiles continued chattering excitedly up until the moment Scott sat down. At a table. With people. Very hot people. Stiles looked down at Scott with wide eyes, his mouth agape. Lydia Martin. Scott was friends with Lydia fucking Martin? How had this not made it into their text messages?!

Scott cleared his throat, obviously embarrassed.

"Guys, you remember Stiles, right? Stiles, that's Lydia, Allison, Isaac, Jackson, Boyd, and Erica. Cora normally sits with us but I think she-well, actually I'm not sure where she is today."

Stiles' eyes followed down the line, his face flushing. What the fresh hell? Scott was attractive in a totally platonic, nothing sexual way, and he would be blantantly lying if he said he hadn't noticed how fit he was now, but how the hell did they go from being the lanky dorks in class to Scott having supermodel-esque friends?

He immediately recognized some of the faces. Lydia, obviously. Scary hot blonde and Scott's crush, obviously Allison, from the hallway. Then, if his friends being hot wasn't weird enough, he realized with a start who the thin muscular guy was.

"Jackson. Jackson Whittemore? As in the Jackson Whittemore who shoved my Batman figure down the toilet?"

Stiles shook his head incredulously at Scott, like he had been personally victimized by the very thought of his seating partner, and Scott buried his face in his hands. Allison laughed, a musical sound that he had heard about in many different phone calls.

"You shoved his Batman down the toilet?"

Jackson smirked, shrugging slightly.

"Poor guy. So you were always a dick," Erica teased, peeking over the lip of her glass of water.

"We were like 6. I'm sure he's fine," Jackson said, leveling Stiles with a less than pitying glare.

Stiles muttered the contrary gruffly under his breath.

"You sure look tasty. Why didn't you tell us he was so fine, Scott?"

Stiles flushed at the blonde's words, not knowing how to comment to that. He looked to Scott for help, but he just shrugged as if to say, "she's always like this."

The man beside Erica, Boyd if Stiles recalled correctly, rolled his eyes, a knowing look on his face. He wrapped his arm around her and whispered something to her that made her giggle in delight, and Stiles was kind of scared to know what he said to make that noise come out of her.

Stiles, shifted back and forth on his feet, still standing awkwardly near the table holding his tray. He looked at the spot beside Scott, unsure. Out of everything he had prepared for today, this definitely wasn't it.

"You going to sit down Stilinski?" Jackson sneered.

"Actually I was thinking of enjoying my food standing up," Stiles shot back, biting into his roll dramatically. "I'd hate for anything else I love to end up in the toilet."

Scott grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him down onto the bench with strength Stiles didn't know he had. He scowled but kept his mouth closed.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Stiles," Allison said. "Scott talks about you a lot. Like a lot a lot."

"Well isn't that a coincidence, because-" Scott jabbed him in the ribs as hard as he could under the table. Allison smiled bashfully and Lydia rolled her eyes.

"Ow! Stupid overnight muscles," Stiles muttered, rubbing his side. "Not fair."

"You know you aren't going to be eligible for Valedictorian or Salutatorian right?" Lydia asked suddenly, clamping her compact mirror shut. "The policy is that you have to be present for the entirety of your Junior and Senior year to qualify."

Stiles shrugged, trying to keep his overeager inner 9 year old self at bay. "Yeah my dad wasn't thrilled about that, but I told him I didn't care. My GPA is all that really matters. Well, that and my SATs and ACTs."

Lydia gave him an adorable half smile. "Its a shame. It will be nice to have some competition around, regardless. Scott says you're quite the diligent student."

Stiles gave Scott a look that he was too busy ogling to notice. That was strange. That was the second time they mentioned Scott talking about him, yet he knew nothing about any of them. "Is that right?"

Lydia quirked her head, looking between the two, and made a mental note of it.

The rest of lunch went by fairly smoothly, but Stiles couldn't really focus on the various conversations going on around the table, too busy trying to figure everyone out. He could tell that obviously Erica and Boyd were a couple, despite the remark about his attractiveness. Even surrounded by friends, and them frequently chatting with other people instead of each other, he could almost see the personal bubble they had around themselves, so thick it was almost tangible.

From what he could see, Allison and Lydia seemed to be best friends. He wasn't exactly surprised, pretty people always seemed to attract other pretty people, but the vibes they gave off were very different. They were constantly having silent conversations between themselves, checking for opinions as they listened to other people's stories and laughing at inside jokes together. Luckily for Scott, he noticed her eyes would stray over to him frequently, especially when he would start to laugh over something silly.

The most interesting observation seemed to be that while Stiles was away, Scott, Jackson and Isaac had gotten pretty close. Stiles didn't really remember much about Isaac, but he seemed nice enough. He was actually a lot like Stiles in that he was fairly smart, sarcastic, and generally nice to be around, but he had a air of newly self-built confidence around him.

Jackson was the opposite, but to Stiles' surprise, he wasn't as bad as he remembered. Jackson exuded cockiness, that he expected, but he could tell that Jackson was a lot less of a jerk than he used to be when he handed the rest of his food to Isaac before he even had the chance to ask for it. Stiles figured he would be the hardest one to understand, because nothing he said was actually what he meant.

Stiles' thoughts were interrupted when Scott tried to reel Stiles into a conversation about lacrosse, but Stiles was contented to listen to the three guys recap the season so far.

Stiles gradually started feeling a bit more comfortable than he had in the beginning, but something kept nagging at him in the back of his mind: why had Scott told his friends so much about him, yet Stiles was clueless about them? He had heard about Allison, mostly because that was all he talked about, but why hadn't he ever heard of his friendships with the others, especially after Stiles found out he was going to be moving back? They all seemed close. Really, really close. They talked about hanging out on weekends, going to movies, and playing video games all weekend, yet Stiles couldn't remember a single time Scott ever mentioned them.

It was strange. Stiles knew that it was crazy of him to make assumptions from a few passing comments, but something in his gut told him Scott was hiding something.

"Do you have any classes with us?" Isaac asked, holding out his hand expectantly. Stiles shifted so he could pull his schedule from his back pocket and handed it to him. Isaac and Allison looked over it intently, and Jackson snuck a peek, trying and failing to look like he didn't care.

"Chemistry with Scott and Isaac, Math with Scott and Erica, most of the classes with Boyd or Erica if not both, AP classes with Me and Lydia. How did you manage not to have a single class with Jackson?" Allison asked.

"Lucky I guess," Stiles grinned.

Jackson rolled his eyes and Scott elbowed him again. Stiles sucked in air through his teeth and rubbed it until the pain faded. #WorthIt.

"So Scott said your dad is the new Sheriff," Boyd said. It was the first time Boyd had spoken out loud.

"Yeah, he was a deputy here when we lived here before. I guess enough people remembered him from back in the day that when he was nominated, people accepted him."

"Did he tell you how the position opened up?"

Everyone at the table stopped, and eyes were on him. If they were trying to seem subtle, they had definitely failed. Fortunately, though, this Stiles had anticipated. He considered whether he should divulge his true opinions or keep his ideas to himself. After an encouraging nod from Scott, he shrugged.

"Dad told me what they are telling people happened, yeah," he said.

Boyd's flitted to Scott, then he forced a small smile.

"You say that like you don't believe the story."

"I don't."

Boyd looked at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to elaborate. Erica squeezed his arm gently, not tearing her eyes from Stiles, keeping her expression soft. Scott gave him a look and Stiles relented.

Stiles sighed. "My Dad is going to kill me." He looked up to the ceiling as if he were praying for strength to survive. "They are saying it was a mugging or something near the park. That the guy was at the wrong place at the wrong time, got his stuff taken and killed for his trouble."

"That's what I heard too. Sounds reasonable enough, right?" Allison asked, laughing nervously.

Stiles scoffed. "Sure, if he was getting mugged by Wolverine. I haven't seen the crime scene photos yet, but from the conversations I've heard the last few days about the absolute carnage left behind, I don't see how it could be just a simple mugging. They're missing something, they just don't want to admit it yet."

Stiles pretended not to notice Scott tensing beside him. It was no secret Scott wasn't a fan of blood, but he didn't want to embarrass him by pointing it out.

"What does that even mean?" Lydia asked.

"What does what mean?"

"Mugged by Wolverine?"

"Wolverine. You know. X-Men. Wolver-you don't-you don't know who Wolverine is?" Stiles asked, his hands flailing then falling flat on the table, his eyebrows furrowed in distress.

She gave him an incredulous look, her perfect curls bouncing as she shook her head. He ran his hand down his face.

Jackson handed Lydia his phone and her lips turned down. "Man in tights. Not bad."

Allison rolled her eyes and the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

"Nice to meet you, again, Stiles," Allison said again, grabbing her bag and pulling it over her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, it was truly a pleasure. I need to borrow your calculator so let's go," Jackson said, ushering her away. Scott huffed beside him, and Stiles rolled his eyes. Scott was as oblivious as always.

*****

Everything was messed up.

Cora honestly couldn't decide which was worse, living states away with a bunch of strangers that she couldn't get along with to save her life, or finally being able to come home and dealing with all the frivolous drama that came with it.

Don't get her wrong, she was glad that Derek allowed her to come back home. She loved him and she was really glad that finally someone was starting to treat her like an adult, but having to deal with school and her brother's complicated Pack dynamics was stressful.

Being back home was annoying. Living in South America was worse.

Being away from her home, the last bit of family she had left, it had almost killed her. She didn't want to eat. She couldn't sleep. When she did sleep, it was interrupted by nightmares. Often times she would wake up in the dark, thinking the smoke had enveloped her completely. If that weren't enough, she felt more isolated than she had in her whole life. She was the only human in the Pack, which she was used to, but at least when she was home she was bonded with her family.

She sat in the library, head in her hands, trying not to think about all of the homework assignments that were piling up. Derek had said school was one of the conditions to her moving back in with him, but what exactly did that mean? What was he going to do when she got her grades back? Was he going to ship her back off like Laura had? Would he even feel bad?

She sighed. That wasn't fair. Derek had never wanted her to go, but when Laura decided on something, there wasn't really anything anyone could do to change her mind. As much as Cora didn't want to, she was going to have to talk to him. Good thing talking about feelings was a Hale family specialty.

When the bell rang for lunch, she rolled her eyes. As if her brother and his Pack didn't have enough to argue about, Scott's token human friend was supposed to have his first day today. Not that she wasn't curious what all the hype was about, but she didn't understand why Scott was fighting so hard to let his friend in on all their secrets when he was constantly pointing out how dangerous it was to let Cora stay here.

So, just to spite him, she was here, continuing to work on homework she didn't know how to do, and was too stubborn to ask for help with.

Before she knew it, lunch was over with only a little bit of progress to show for it. She walked begrudgingly to Chemistry, knowing that Harris was probably going to pester her about her revisions from their lab the previous week.

Cora walked to her spot, sitting down, dramatically opening her Chemistry book. Her up and coming best friend, Nina, nudged her with her shoulder has she settled in beside her.

"Did you hear there was a new senior?"

"Unfortunately," She replied icily, pulling a snack from her bag. Nina gave her an odd look. She interpreted it as "what the fuck is up with you?" despite the fact that Nina would never actually use those words. "Apparently he's going to be hanging around my brother's group."

"Oh," Nina smirked, knowingly. "The Hot Hale Harem?"

Cora almost choked on her granola bar, making Nina's smirk grow to a full on grin. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You love me."

Cora rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but laugh with her. Nina was different, but she honestly found it kind of refreshing. It was hard for her to remember to think about normal things like boys and shopping, but Nina didn't mind pulling her into her normie girl stuff.

"So, I was thinking," Nina started.

Cora took a deep breath. "No."

"You didn't even hear what I was going to say," she pouted.

"Fine. It'll still be a no, but continue."

"So you know how we have that test on Friday? I was thinking we could invite the guys to study with us."

(Find the rest on AO3 href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27811303"><strong>The Unshaped</strong></a> (16100 words) by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infernal_panda"><strong>Infernal_panda</strong></a><br />Chapters: 2/?<br />Fandom: <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Teen%20Wolf%20(TV)">Teen Wolf (TV)</a><br />Rating: Not Rated<br />Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence<br />Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes<br />Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Isaac Lahey, Lydia Martin, Jackson Whittemore, Vernon Boyd, Erica Reyes, Sheriff Stilinski, Melissa McCall, Peter Hale, Cora Hale, Laura Hale<br />Additional Tags: BAMF Stiles, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Pining, Underage Drinking, Fluff, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Romance, Friendship, Humor, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Supernatural Elements, mentions of abuse, eventually, Happy Ending<br />Summary: <p>After leaving Beacon Hills at age 8, Stiles never stopped feeling the indescribable pull, beckoning him back home. A new Sheriff position opening up gives him the chance to move back, and it’s everything Stiles ever wanted. He has his dad, his best friend, and he’s back where he belongs. </p><p>His first day back doesn’t exactly go as planned, and now he is finding that he was even less normal than he thought. </p><p>****</p><p>A Hale Pack fanfic with all of our lovable characters as they try to integrate Stiles into their wolfyhood and crazy monster-filled lives with Stiles as their unknowing magic friend, and a bit of intertwined fates to keep things interesting )

[deafchild2000]

AU H2O Friendship: Charlotte and Bella

(I don't want any crap about this alone. Free Speech can be practiced but no hate!)

If I had to think of a friendship from H2O that I'd like to have seen, it would be between Charlotte Watsford and Bella Hartley.

(Yes, I am aware that for this to happen, Charlotte had to have stuck around and still be a mermaid for Bella to approach her, but this is an AU of itself!)

So why? Excellent question because at first, one would think they would be as opposite as Rikki and Emma were. But at second glance, if you dig deeper (and deploy better writing and character development), their friendship makes a lot of sense.

For starters, the two would have been their own separate group from the girls, power-wise:

Charlotte has the main 3: Freezing, Boiling and Manipulating/Creating water from an already existing source. Or in layman's terms, Charlotte can manipulate water in its 3 states of matter -Heat being Gas and Solid being Ice.

Bella's powers aren't in a matter of states, but thickness. Realistically, Bella has Viscosity Manipulation:

"The resistance of fluids to a change shape, influencing spraying, injection molding, and surface coating. In everyday terms (and for fluids only), viscosity is "thickness" or "internal friction", thus, water is "thin", having a lower viscosity, while honey is "thick", having a higher viscosity. Put simply, the less viscous the fluid is, the greater its ease of movement (fluidity). The user could make water thicker, making it harder for sea-life to survive or have honey pour out like water by making it thinner. " (from Superpower Wiki)

Therefore, Bella's powers allow her to make any liquid thick in anyway - thick enough to an ooz-like substance, hard enough to walk on, or causing it to explode (or attack).

So, in the best phrasing, both girls have their own sets of powers. And surprisingly, could use them in combinations if they wanted to: constructing paths while avoiding getting wet, creating attacks, creating items from molding and hardening, diversions and escapes to avoid exposure.... Basically, more than we ever saw on the show. And because their powers are so alike and different, it would avoid jealousy between them (especially on Charlotte's part, since she wouldn't feel like she had to compete).

Next, the friendship itself. What would it be like? Bella is mostly seen and notedly described as Bubbly, Caring and Attractive, but with her Status, she's doesn't let anyone get to close to her. In canon, it was Cleo and Rikki's - reckless - use of their powers that caught her attention, leading one to think she thought she was alone. Charlotte is Honest, Humorous (in her own way), and Strong-Willed. However, she is prone to Jealousy and Insensitivity, especially when feeling threatened or stressed.

As canon, we obviously saw Charlotte's worst traits at best and her best traits at worst (bad writing!) and Bella doesn't really stand up much for herself nor let it be known (debatable passive). So as friends, here's how I'd imagine it going down: (For Charlotte) Bella would be able to reach out to Charlotte in her worst moods and calm her down, encourages her to look closely at her actions and the consequences, inspire her immerse herself in her art, implore her to take in to regard of other people's feelings and accept that things won't always go her way/(For Bella) Charlotte would teach her to not be such a Pushover, to raise her voice, to take risks with relationships but call out when said relationships don't seem fair, provide honest opinions where others would rather flatter her, and tell her it's okay to be a little selfish in her life. But the main they both have in common (beside being the "4th" mermaid) is that, regardless of how it came to be, both girls know what it's like to be the outsider and will go out of their way to reassure each other that they're not alone anymore.

Lastly, they would become best friends because, unlike their Mako Mermaid counterparts, the Main Mermaid Trio would never have let them in.

(Y'all gonna think I'm bashing, but on this blog, I'll never be anything BUT honest regarding this!)

Take away the love triangles, legacies, durations and all that, let's tell the truth: Charlotte would have never been welcomed into the group. Not only were they waaayyy too closed off with anybody else aside their group (include boyfriends and exclude families), they had these two rigid yet nostalgic old people where were stuck in the glory days, back when they were young and happier, but disregarded why their group basically broke up (I mean, c'mon! They never even had families! They were still old geezers in the end!). "Only 3 Mermaids" statement only ended up being proven true because the girls (together and on their own) couldn't see past the idea that it didn't need to be "just three", choosing to follow the Past Gen's terrible examples . Max himself was in the wrong too for low-key encouraging Lewis that Cleo would always be the one for him - Basically my logic: If they are meant to last, let it happen on its own. Don't interfere! - and for leading Charlotte to gain and lose her tail, only indulging her because she was Gracie's granddaughter and inadvertly helping her loss only when her bad side became more apparent. Yes, she may be a lot like Gracie , but she has her flaws too. Basically, Season 2 was a mess of misinterpretations, past nalstogia, constant hypocrisy! Charlotte may have been in the wrong, but everyone else constituted to her downfall. Plus, Charlotte was realistic and straightforward on how she felt, having no problem of acting on it (like a certain fiery mermaid y'all like to praise....). Cleo, Rikki (and later Emma) were long ready to dismiss her before they even gave her approval or a chance. A chance they'd never give her, even as a legacy.

(If you by a feel I'm using the same arguments, sorry. As said before, I can't even talk about the second season without ranting!)

Moving forward, lets talk about Bella. For thise who believe they would have let Bella in, even if Emma hadn't left, bless your optimistic hearts. I might have said the same thing, but if the experience with Charlotte was still fresh in the mind, powers and lovers aside, the Ireland-made mermaid was better off if she kept walking when she first appeared. Let's play on the Comet still heading to earth: From 3x01, Bella would try to acknowledge the girls after the guy harassed her, they'd dismiss her. She'd try again at the bar named after Rikki, where they'd do it again until the Water Tentacle takes said mermaid away. Bella still stays to introduce herself, they'd thank her but dismiss her. 3 times would be enough for Bella to believe they'd want to be left alone. Why? Because the girls choose to only stick in 3s and Charlotte is still a fresh wound for them. Lewis might try to get them to befriend her, but they never listen to him anyways unless needed. Bella keeps her distance, the girls are stuck realizing a comet would destroy the world (and regarding the crystals, never wear them.) When comes time, either Emma or Cleo might realize Bella could help, but dismiss it as they'd thing 3 of them are enough to stop it. But Emma's powers can't hold hold the Tower of Light and the world does end. Why? Because they chose to be stuck in their ways and ignore the signs that Bella was meant to be with them for a reason. Yeah, this is all speculation on MY own take of how it would have went, that's beside the point. While it's nice to think Bella would have got a chance, in actuality, the only reason her spot was made was to secure the "Only 3" rule in Emma absence and you can't really deny it. Season 3 was an AU of its own where Bella's introduction all depended on timing and inconvenience on the Rikki and Cleo's part.

That being said, between the two mermaids, the H2O Trio would have never batted an eye at them, not unless they had too. And because of this, Charlotte and Bella would feel it was better to form their own group since they literally would have no one else to accept them.

All together, friendship between Charlotte Watsford and Bella Hartley is one friendship that I would have love to have seen and recognize as it's a friendship formed from loneliness and differences that set them apart from everyone else yet their do very personalities compliment each other and would bring out the best in them. Between their very different sets of powers, traits, interaction with the girls, they just might actually be what the other needed.

[itsokaytonottobeokay]

I've been told lately that I don't look myself and that I don't seeem myself a lot of contemplation as brought me back to tumblr I'm a mom now I wouldn't say that's crazy because it's what I wanted but I do see that I've lost sight of myself with being a mom you have to make a lot sacrafices and I'm okay with that.I'm a stay at home mom and I would like to vent but my husband thinks we should keep our stuff to ourselves so I will but I will vent about myself I'm pregnant with number two and I take care of our 12 month old I vacuum almost everyday,do the dishes twice a day,our dryer took a crap so I have to hang the clothes out on the line,I've been splitting up my work load for the whole week instead of one day because it's starting to be to much for me I pulled a muscle in my back doing 3 or 4 loads of laundry and we have a portable washer so it's small and every week I do probably 7 loads of laundry,I sweep the kitchen floor everyday it get hella dirty or little man is almost walking now just prefers to crawl it's cute me and him have lots of fun when I'm doing chores and even certain chores I have to do while he's sleeping and I try to do things for me but the second I do he wakes up I cook him breakfast,lunch,and I cook dinner for all three of us I also take the garbage out to the can then I put the can out by the curb every wednesday night I fold laundry the same day I do it or it's to late in the day and I have to stop doing it to cook dinner because it's time I try to take my little man outside everyday to have play time with him sometimes I do for myself because this house is starting to suffocate me my man works everyday to pay the bills it had been hard for a long while to find a babysitter I was going to take little mans back to the same one he went to before but there closing that daycare down which I find ridiculous then I found another daycare for september but then a family memeber contacted me and now I'll have her watch him but I've been denied for a job left and right I had a job before but I caught covid from work I had to stay out for three weeks to take care of myself and the baby caught covid so I had to take care of him while still being a little sick then I went back he started daycare and the amount of work you have to put to make sure everything is ready for daycare and I'm one of those moms who make babyfood from scratch then the daycare had me come pick him up saying he didn't seem right and they wanted me to wait 72 hours before bringing him back so I was out of work for a little while then I found out that there staff caught covid there was nothing wrong with him then someone from daycare got him sick he started throwing up one morning when I was getting him reaady and I had to call out and take him to the doctors and my work called me and let me go because my attendence was terrible and I'm like I'm doing the best I can as a parent this is bullshit you guys obvious don't give out enough sick time or pto time it's ridiculous there should be a parent time out invented for parents who have to leave for there sick kids so it's been six months without a job and my man paying the bills and nobody will hire me and I think it;s because how short I was working at my last job and I tell the people when I go for interview all that and I think that's why they don't want to hire me or call me back there's always a lot going on me and my husband are fighting constantly and I don't know what to do anymorre all I do is curl up and crying in bed in the morning then suck it in and go take care of our son but I will tell you I'm not okay and sometimes I just wish for advice but who will read this give me any? if you do I really appreciate it I need something or just someone to lift my spirits THANK YOU for reading this if you get to this point and have a lovely day seriously

[mksc77]

Later that afternoon, Rusty came to the hospital after his last class. Emmett's family was already gone, and Sharon wasn't staying much longer, herself. They'd had to leave the room for a couple of hours earlier that afternoon for required parent/baby bonding time, so Sharon and Emmett's parents, aunt, and uncle had gone out for lunch. They'd spent time together a few times in the recent past, as there had been a couple of baby showers for Emily and Emmett, and they'd gotten together a couple of other times when Emmett's parents had been in LA for the weekend. Sharon smiled to herself, remembering Andy's dismay at having to attend baby showers. They had basically just been parties with gifts, but he'd still grumbled about it. The rest of the afternoon had been spent passing the baby around unless a nurse needed her for something or she needed to eat. Sharon had texted Andy, Rusty, her parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews with pictures, and her phone had been blowing up all afternoon.

Sharon stood up to let Rusty have her seat. "Here, do you want to hold her?"

Rusty shrugged. "Yeah, but if she starts crying or does something gross, I'm giving her back."

“Deal."

Sharon waited for Rusty to sit down and carefully lowered Marie into his arms. She watched as his face turned from indifference to amazement, just like the first time he held his little sister. "Oh, my god, she's so tiny!"

“She didn't feel tiny," Emily mumbled.

Marie was sleeping soundly, unfazed by being constantly passed around all day. The only times they'd heard her cry, besides right after she was born, had been when she was hungry or being brought back from the nursery after having a test done. "If you think about it, being born is probably a little traumatic," Sharon noted. "After being in a warm, dark, tight space for nine months, you're suddenly in this open and bright place, and people keep messing with you when you just want to sleep."

Emily rolled her eyes. "It can't be as traumatic as having stitches—"

"Whoa, Emily, do not finish that sentence," Rusty interrupted. "Whatever it is, I'm positive I don't want to know." He looked down at Marie. "How the hell did you give birth to something so sweet?"

Sharon knelt beside Rusty and smoothed her hand over the baby's thin patch of light brown hair. "She looks just like Emily did. I'll have to show you her baby pictures sometime."

"I haven't seen the first clue that I had anything to do with her yet," Emmett agreed.

"I keep telling you she has your mouth," Emily countered.

"You're just making that up. There's no way you can tell. Unless she's screaming, she's either eating or has a pacifier bigger than her head blocking it."

"The screaming definitely comes from Emily," Rusty added.

"Whatever. I have to pee." Emily winced as she started to get out of bed, and Emmett grabbed her arm to help her. When she got to the bathroom, she looked around for a few moments before looking back out into the room. "Hey, Mom, is that squirt bottle out there? I thought I left it in here."

"Here it is." Sharon grabbed it from the table and took it to Emily.

Rusty looked confused. "What's that for—never mind. I'm sure I don't want to know."

"I'll let that one pass, but I'm answering next time," Emily warned before disappearing into the bathroom.

"Is that normal?!" Rusty hissed once the door was closed. "She can't even get out of bed without hurting." He knew childbirth couldn't be the most pleasant thing in the world, but he wasn't expecting this.

"Unfortunately, yes," Sharon answered. "Emily has never complained about being hurt or sick unless it was really bad, so I know she's hurting if she's complaining."

Emily emerged a few minutes later, and Emmett helped her back into bed. As aggravating as it was to not be able to just pee and wash her hands and be done every time, the fresh pad and ice pack in the mesh underwear a nurse had given her felt amazing.

Sharon looked up as Andy arrived, laden with gift bags. He put the bags down and kissed Emily's forehead before making his way to Sharon. One perk of retirement had been that they weren't together all day, so she was always excited to see him when he got home from work. The evening kisses were a daily thing now instead of only happening on days where for some reason they hadn't seen much of each other, one of them was off, or one of them left earlier than the other.

"You're early," Sharon commented after he kissed her.

"Yeah...Hernandez came to my desk with a gift bag and asked me what the hell I was still doing there when I had a granddaughter to see," Andy mumbled. "I didn't even tell her she'd been born. She must've heard the rest of us talking about it."

"How awful," Sharon said with mock sympathy. "It's almost like she's a nice person."

"Yeah, yeah. The other gifts are from Tao and Provenza. I guess they had wives to make them bring their gifts to work ahead of time so they'd have them ready to give me when the baby was born. Everyone says congratulations, by the way."

Emily took a sip of water from the thermos beside her and placed it back on the table. "Thanks, Andy."

"You're welcome." Andy crouched beside Rusty to get a good look at the baby. "She's beautiful. All right, kid, give her up."

Rusty stood up and passed the baby to Andy once he was sitting down, a little relieved to give her to someone else. Andy looked down at Marie, mesmerized by her. A little while later, Sharon was holding her again, and she went from being deeply asleep to pissed off and screaming in no time.

"It's time for her to eat," Emily said, holding her arms out for the baby.

"Uh, I think that's my cue to go," Rusty said, grabbing his keys and ready to make a hasty exit.

"Yeah, me too." Andy took Marie from Sharon to hold for a few more seconds before giving her to Emily, then kissed them both on the forehead. "Call if you need anything."

“Thanks." Emily took Marie and waited until Andy's and Rusty's backs were to her before opening her robe and getting her settled. Marie was instantly quiet as she began to nurse.

"I've never been so happy to be a man in my life," Rusty said to Andy as they walked out the door.

Andy nodded. "You said it, kid."

Sharon rolled her eyes and sat beside Emily on her bed. Women supposedly being the "fairer sex" was a big joke. Men were such wimps. Emily was holding Marie with her side to Emily's, so that they were facing each other in what the lactation consultant had referred to as the "football position." Marie's eyes were closed, but her mouth was steadily moving. "I liked to nurse you guys like this, too," Sharon said. "There just wasn't a name for it then. It won't be long before she's looking up at you while she nurses and is clutching each side of your breast like you're going to take it from her. It's the sweetest thing in the world."

"This hurts like crap," Emily moaned.

"I know. That'll get better, too."

"Mom..."

“Hmm?" Sharon lifted Emily's hair up off of her neck. The ballerina bun her hair had been in when they left the house the night before was now in the last stages of a loose ponytail. "You need something?"

"No...I just...I feel terrible for saying this, but I didn't feel this "instant connection" with her when she was born that people talk about. I mean, I love her, obviously, but all I've been able to think about is badly this hurts." Marie had only been a little over seven pounds, but that was a big baby for someone as tiny as Emily. The pain medicine had taken the edge off, and the ice packs were a lifesaver, but she was still uncomfortable and in pain.

"I honestly never felt that with either one of you, either," Sharon admitted. "It was a great moment when I saw you guys for the first time, especially you, because I had no idea whether you were a girl or a boy, but I felt like I'd missed out on some 'magical moment' I was supposed to have had. When I had you guys, people didn't talk about the details of childbirth. The most you'd hear about it was that, yes, it hurt, but seeing your baby for the first time made it worth it. I also had no idea what the recovery was like. I thought the pain would be mostly over once you were born. My doctor had vaguely mentioned 'recovery' a few times, but I just thought I'd be sore."

Emily nodded. "I'm glad it's not just me."

"Honey, she was screaming bloody murder, and you were shaking from the epidural. It's hard for that moment to feel spectacular. I don't know if people feel like they should have felt something like that, so they say they did or exaggerate it, or if some people are lucky enough to have easier births, but I felt guilty when I didn't feel it, too. I'd heard about that "special moment" my entire pregnancy, and I felt guilty when it wasn't what I thought it was supposed to be." Sharon kissed the side of Emily's head. "You're doing great, honey. You're going to be an amazing mother."

"Thanks, Mom." Emily shifted closer to her and leaned against her. "Will you sing the jaybird song?"

Sharon smiled. "I thought I'd heard that request for the last time when you were ten." When Jack was still home, and on nights the few times he came back, he'd always play music and dance with the kids after dinner either in the living room or on the back deck. This one had always been a crowd favorite. Emily had always asked Sharon to sing it when she was upset or didn't feel well, and Sharon had been heartbroken when Emily decided she was too old for it. Sharon put an arm around Emily and smoothed her other hand over Marie's head as she began to sing softly.

"He rocks in the treetops all day long..."

Emily's college friend, Allie, arrived then, and Sharon stayed and chatted for a few more minutes before leaving for the night. She kissed the top of Marie's head and did the same to Emily. "I'll come back late tomorrow morning." Emmett's family was coming over for dinner the next night, and they'd probably end up at the house for much of the rest of the week, so she wanted to clean up and start dinner preparations before she came back. There was no way in hell she was doing any of that tonight. She was exhausted. "It's great to see you again, Allie." Sharon gave her a quick hug, gathered her things, and left the room.

After not eating lunch until almost 3:00, Sharon still wasn't hungry when she got home. Andy and Rusty had ordered pizza, but she got some lettuce, toppings, dressing, and fresh vegetables out of the refrigerator and had salad and wine instead. It seemed to give her a second wind, so instead of soaking in a long bath and going straight to bed like she'd planned, she poured another glass of wine and went to sit by the pool. She was too tired to read, but she wasn't quite ready for bed, so she got comfortable in a lounge chair and listened to music. Andy joined her several minutes later, and she shifted over in her lounge chair so he could fit beside her. She'd been thinking all day about how protective he'd been of Emily that morning, and now, she also had the image of how much he'd adored Marie. It was...kind of hot. She tilted her head up and kissed him more deeply than he was expecting.

“Mmmm, what's that for?" Andy murmured between kisses.

Sharon ran her fingers down the length of his arm and intertwined her fingers with his. "Just for being you." She lay on his shoulder, and they sat in comfortable silence until she finished her wine. She decided to get one more small glass, and she saw that Andy had cleaned the kitchen. It hadn't been in bad shape, but it would've needed cleaning before the next evening, and that was one less thing she'd have to do the next morning. As exasperating as Andy could be sometimes, days like today made her want to get him in the bedroom and never leave.

Continued on ff.net

[suetuke]

SUE TUKE HERE Works at sec hand chances.

WELCOME to my mewe page. I'd appreciate an emoji if you come across my bio. A follow would be great.

POSITIVITY.... only here any disrespectful comments will be removed. Kindness does wonders for everyone. Let's not fight and please I'll only say this once. If we do not get on. You'll be added to a block list... So let's not go there yeah? Great.

MESSAGE ME anytime if you want to talk..

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[BIO STORY]

[Day 1] it was a good day back from a meeting with Janet. Got a lot done.

[Day 2] volunteer kersch was given small jobs around the shop. To see if she has potential of working in the shop. It may be head offices job to get staff working here. But I'm the one that has to put up with no effort. So i want effort.. Overall good day.

[Day 3] viki another volunteer was given small jobs to start off. Late start due to being out most of the day.

[Day 4] late getting back due to being out. Shop wasn't open today. Hopefully longer day in the shop tomorrow. Getting those figures up is what i want to see.

[Day 5] great day today got a lot done today. Happy with everything. Doing a donation event tomorrow. Giving little tasks to the volunteers to see potential.

[Day 6] the 5 pound donation went as cording as plan. Happy with the figures. They're looking better as the days go one. Great day.

[Day 7] longer day at work today. Good figures. Decided to do a bootsale event at the centre. All went as planned. Chose volunteer kersch as assistant manager. Because of her care in work.

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the week is done. Now onto the big reveal. Got some people coming in. As we will start filming our journey.

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[Day 1] new member Edward will be filming the entire process of this. The figured were high today due to little tricks or two. Got a lot done today. Shit night but that's expected. As it has happened before.. Wondering how far we'll get with this. Excites me everyday because that middle point is where it'll all take off. I'm looking forward to that. Introduced the girls to the new member. They're very excited to be going through this with me. Overall good day.

[Day 2] lovely lady got a makeover today. Volunteer vera needs to sort her shit out because it's getting me down. Her behaviour is terrible. Figures are good in the last few days working in the shop. Got the poster done last night. Happy i got it done. Let's hope tomorrow is just as good.

[Day 3] been a really low day. Personal reasons only. Figures are still good. I went over the refurb with Edward and staff. I gave them a chance to decide how the refurb should look like in they're open ideas.. Obviously mine was to everyone's taste. Let's hope all goes great when Janet gets here. We win the refurb and everything will be just great. We need this. Got involved with a pop video. Madalliecat363 was the lady who put the song together. Viki music player. And of course being the best of everything i was the dancer. Edward will have recorded everything so it'll be uploaded to tiktok tonight.

[Day 4] really long dull day. Not happy about the figures today. Laziness with the staff is annoying me big time. Joe came in with his wifes bits and bobs. Sorry to give him bad news but that's just how it is around here. It's not a royal laydeh. Bernie was making excuses to have mable stay at home. I haven't had her back at work for a while now. This can't go on! Not feeling the vibe... At all.

[Day 5] day off took today off filming.. Needed a day to sort stuff out. Got the customer to fill out a survey on they're experience in the shop. I think everything went well. Got a good feeling today. Had to send vera home as her lack of effort was annoying and getting in the way of a successful day. Figures were great tonight. Keeping things going.

[Day 6] today was a short day due to being out.. Hopefully a longer day tomorrow to figure out the challenge tomorrow. Its gonna be a good day. Can't believe I'm nearly at the half way point with this. Successful day even though we were out most of the day.

[Day 7] rot test challenge was done perfectly. Good vibes today. Out with my sister tonight overall a great day. Figures are still good. Let's keep this going.

[Day 8] its been a short day today and because of that the figures are crap today. Not happy with explaining to the staff the lack of effort Vera and viki is putting in. Not happy at all. Antique hunt is tomorrow. Got a lot of other work done today which lifts any day up. Let's keep this going.

[Day 9] Antique Hunt was great. Everything went to plan. Didn't make a lot which let me down. Because of the staffs stupidy at looking at a crapy map.. Annoyed at Vera trying to beat me at scores. I'm not having it! I'll have to play it back to show her who is boss!

[Day 10] got a lot done today. Figures are high today not bad at all. Didn't get round to doing this last night so I'm posting it tonight. Gloria was acting up again to bad she'll have to go.

[Day 11] got things a bit mixed up due to the un tidy back of the shop. Nothing was sorted the morning before by Mike. So I thought of a plan to side track kersch into thinking we were lazy workers. Not at all. We'll it backfired. Vicky handled it well. Great day overall.

[Day 12] went over some things around the shop. An okish day. No figures were made today I'm annoyed about that. Felt ganged up on today by staff. Not happy with the confusion of who's the manager around here. Didn't even need to say that again to the. An item had be vandalised. My guess by Vera since she has been saying shit about me. Trying to let me down. It's not going her way!

[Day 13] mables funeral is today. Its been a good day today. Not feeling great today. We keep going forward. Figures weren't counted up but that'll be sorted in the morning. Out all night. Rip mable

[Day 14] shop was closed today. Didn't make anything due to being out at the funeral

[Day 15] really low day not a lot got done today. In the middle of sorting other people's problems out. Which hasn't gone to plan. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

[Day 16] a lady came in for a refund that didn't happen to her using and getting things customers don't get. No books no coffees and certainly not out of our mugs! Got a phone call from Mrs stubs dealing with the loss of the items they brought it as they were gone. Got big things planned ahead. Night out wasn't as expected.

[Day 17] its been a great day today. Got a lot done and got plans coming up. I know they'll be successful. Golden bag came in with awesome clothes.

Closing the shop for 3 days

[Day 21] Went over some things with the staff. With Janet coming tomorrow everything had to be cleared and check on. Can't disappoint her otherwise. Head office can't complain.

[Day 22] head manager Janet came to the shop. Everything went well till she took me into the back. I'm not sure where we'll be going from here. But it doesn't look good at all.

[Day 23] its fashion time in it. Everything went as cordially to plan. Everything went great. Didn't get any money though :( staff were injured that's hardly my fault. I got told bad news on the phone. The store will be closing.

[Day 24] the last day. Vicky mcculre was in the shop going over her charity in the children's hospital. Nothing better then Christmas and this beauty. Any awesome day ended on a un forgettable moment. Which I will post that in the next post. It's been a long journey but we finally made it.

this is the last of the updates. And I'll see you soon x

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will be adding as i go along in this one.

Link to this one.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdbLAq5d/

[ma-gic-gay]

A few hours (and ice cream cones) later, Donna leaves to go to the Q's to play with Wiley and Ophelia. "I finally found a dress. It took three stores and way too many dresses that fit like crap but I've found one and I'm ready for the Ball tomorrow," Carly says excitedly when she finds him in the park. "I ditched the guards hours ago."

Of course she did. He rolls his eyes. She's going to get kidnapped again or something as a part of some new competitors revenge on him and she ditches guards. The mob is not a friendly business but leave it to her to forget that, less than six months after her kidnapping and rape. Only Carly. "Stop ditching guards."

"Well I've got you to protect me," she argues, smiling. When his expression doesn't change, she relents, "Fine. I'll take the guards when I'm not with you."

"Thank you," he says. "Donna's with Wiley and Ophelia at the mansion."

"So long as Nina's not there, I'm fine with it." Not this again. "Don't roll your eyes or tell me to play nice, Jason! She wants me arrested and she's acting like Nelle wasn't a terrible person! I don't care if she's Wiley's other grandmother."

Sometimes, Carly's exhausting to deal with.

He rolls his eyes again as she rests her head on his shoulder. "You know, Joss has been complaining lately she's feeling stuck in Port Charles. Which is stupid but it reminded me that I've never taken her to Florida, or any of the kids besides Michael and now I want to. So you coming with me or am I bringing guards?"

The last time they went to Florida, Michael was barely one. It was to officially bury Virginia and it was a very bittersweet experience to see Florida for the first time and also be packing up the house of a dead woman.

"Who exactly are you bringing?" Carly cheers when he agrees to go without agreeing fully.

"Donna, clearly. And I'll bring Joss and, do you think that Ava will let me bring Avery? Michael should go too, he spends way too much time cooped up in that house or at Aurora, so him, Willow, Wiley and Ophelia. Ooh, you should bring your kids! Scout and Danny will have fun in Florida and I'm sure Jake would love it. Well, of course, that involves Elizabeth letting you take him. Maybe if we bring Cameron too- well actually, no, that won't work because him and Joss broke up a few weeks ago and it's still way too raw for her. I'd suggest we bring Dante but he broke Lulu's heart so that's a big no, I don't care if he's my children's brother. Should we bring Brando and Sasha?"

She's rambling excitedly about this trip that seems to double in size each minute and he chuckles to himself at the absurdity of it. Somehow, within five minutes, Carly's built herself an entire vacation to Florida. Complete with exactly when they should go ("The third week in June! It shouldn't be too rainy or humid yet,") and how long they should stay (a week, she's decided). This woman owns an island and insists on going to Florida for a week so her kids can see her old home.

Before he can figure out what's happening, someone has taken him hostage, his hands inexplicably behind his back and he notices that another one of the surprise humans has taken Carly hostage. Fuck. No. He can't fight this guy, somehow he's too strong. And he can't reach for his gun because he's got his hands tied behind his back! Which means she's getting kidnapped and so is he.

Of course, the same thing is happening to Carly, but the dude who grabbed her is underestimating her gravely. She's got enough sense to try and kick him in the balls (so that's why she always wears heels) before settling for a good slap or two to wherever she can reach moments before her hands are tied as well.

He's basically fucked. And so is she.

"Let me go or so help me god-" Carly threatens before they put a gag in her mouth which she does her best to spit out. Fucking hell, these people are terrible.

"Let her go," he demands, feet unrooting themselves from the ground as he desperately tries to break out of this hold.

"How sweet, he's willing to sacrifice himself for his girlfriend. Touching, truly. Not going to work, however, Morgan. Enough of the touching goodbye, you better stop fighting if you want to see her alive again," his goon threatens. This guy sounds like one of Cyrus's old guys. Cyrus is behind this. Which means-

Carly comes to the conclusion at the same time he does and spits out her gag (impressive). "You better have a damn good excuse for this."

The goons don't even bother threatening them, they just drag them apart and Jason gets dropped in the back of some truck before he gets knocked out. His last conscious thought is where the hell Carly is and where he's going.

A few hours later, he wakes up, disgusted by the surroundings he's found himself in. He's handcuffed to a chair with his legs and his hands. And there's no blonde in here with him, he realizes. At the very least, he senses that they haven't took his jacket off or phone or gun from him. "Good, you're awake." Who's voice is that? He recognizes it from somewhere.

"Where is she?" He asks instead of worrying about his own surroundings.

"Your concern for her is really quite touching, but your girlfriend is fine," the dude says again, yet another voice he remembers but can't trace.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Sure, you just sleep together, live together and act like a married couple. Oh, wait, is she your wife? That would make more sense," the voice says. Who's voice is that? It's on the tip of his mind but he can't remember.

"Very funny. We're not married. Now, tell me, where the hell is Carly?"

"Calm your tits," that's a stupid expression, "she's being well taken care of. Let yourself worry about you for a minute, please. Your relationship with her is..."

"None of your business. I need proof she's okay." Why the hell aren't his demands being met? Who is this?

"Protective, how sweet. Answer the question."

"She's my best friend," he answers calmly. "Got any more questions or do I get proof she's okay and alive?"

"You don't sleep with a best friend, Jason." Shut up, they're not labelling things and this has nothing to do with the damn kidnapping!

"And who are you to judge us?" Mouthing off to a kidnapper, great idea.

"Me? I'm just the messenger. Don't shoot the messenger."

What the fuck is this dude getting at? He's speaking in goddamn riddles of sarcasm. "Where is Carly?"

"Well, that's none of your business." This man is absolutely infuriating. He's a douche and dead the second he gets to his gun. Or, really, anything that can be used as a weapon. Maybe even a pair of handcuffs. Kill him with handcuffs, yeah, that'll work after he finds Carly's location out.

"If so much as a hair on her head is harmed-"

"Your threats are in vain, though your concern for her is adorable. Tell me, do you expect you're calling the shots here? You're not, dumbass. I am. Well, technically my boss, but you know what I mean." Infuriating.

"You lay a hand on her and-"

"Are you going to keep threatening me? You're the one tied up to a chair, not me. I can move whenever I want to, you cannot." Bile pools in his stomach at the thought of someone's hands on her, hurting her. Causing her pain. Doing what Cyrus did to her again, as often as they please because he can't save her. "But, for your information, no one's gotten handsy with her yet."

How relieving. "Keep it that way."

"You know, she keeps talking about you like you're some damn superhero. To be honest, I don't see it. You're so in sync though, she's worried one of us are going to hurt your pretty boy face."

"Careful, you don't want to show all of your cards at once," Jason teases. It's probably a bad idea but Carly's kidnapped too and he can't get out on his own dammit.

"Keep mouthing off and I'll make sure she's beaten up good. Bruised so bad it won't go away for months."

That's a damn good threat, he's got to admit.

Clearly enjoying his silence, this dude continues, "Your only chance of getting to her is playing by my rules. Then again, she's been mouthing off to us the whole time we've had her. Stubborn brat, that one is. She won't let anyone even give her food, she's just been saying that you'll save her because it's how you two work." That's his girl. He can't help but smile at the thought of her talking the ears off of a kidnapper. He might talk the dude into letting her go. "You two are adorably in sync, her fighting us using your name as though you're a hero. Tell me, what did you ever do that made her think of you as her hero?"

"I guess I've just always been there to save her," he answers. Looking the kidnapper in the eyes, he continues, "and I always will, no matter the consequences."

"Cute. Your whole hero thing is cute and I think it's adorable that you both love each other so much. She's already about to kill us if it means she'll get a single piece of information on her big hero who always saves her."

Sounds like Carly. "If that's supposed to surprise me, it doesn't. I've known her so long nothing she can do surprises me."

"And you love her enough you'll do anything for her. Touching, really. Never have I ever had the pleasure of having two hostages who are so helplessly in love with each other like you two are, yet they're apparently only friends. Tell me, is there anything you wouldn't be willing to do for her, if it meant she'd be freed?"

"No."

"Good, good to know. I think we're ready to discuss the terms of your mutual release, because she's pissing my guy off so much he's had to get a little handsy." Name, address, the whole nine yards. The second he gets them, that dude dies. "Calm down, it was only once. She won't even scar."

"The terms," he spits out in an attempt to control his anger. This is infuriating.

"In exchange for your mutual release, you will give approximately fifteen million dollars to my boss." Who the hell needs that much money? Whatever. If she's free, he'll do near anything.

"I don't have my checkbook on me right now, but I can make that deal." Donna. How is she dealing with this? He suspects he's been gone long enough now that she's been able to understand what's going on.

"Good. You will make a check for fifteen million dollars to Miss Fiona Svlankovich," the hostage holder says, handing his checkbook to him.

"Wait. This seems too easy."

"It's not, I assure you. Fiona's a bit of an evil lady, but when she says she'll set you free after you do something, you and your “best friend” will be released," he informs him. A bit of an evil lady? She's a lot more than a bit evil.

"I can't exactly sign this with my hands tied behind my back," he says calmly.

"Shit," the hostage holder mutters. "I'll uncuff one of your arms, but only because you don't have any weapons on you." Idiot. He can feel his gun in his pocket as he gets uncuffed and signs the check.

Before he can be recuffed, he pulls out his gun and fires a single bullet into the dude's leg. "Tell me where Carly is or I'll take you out right now."

"On a date or in a murderous way?"

What type of fucking question is that? "Murder. So, her location."

"Someone's horny," kidnapping dude chuckles before he gets punched. "Fine, fine. She's somewhere in this house. You figure out where, that's up to you. So, you gonna kill me now?"

"Thinking about it. You take me to exactly where she is, right now," Jason answers, gun trained at this hostage dude.

Without a witty remark, he gets led the way to Carly. Conveniently, she's screaming at that exact moment, "He will find me and you will die. I hope you look forward to death because he's been getting me out of messes for longer than you've been alive."

She's tied up in a pantry, he notes before kicking the door open. "I swear to fucking god-" she starts before noticing he's there and tearing up. "Oh thank god you're here."

Unceremoniously, her guards pull out their guns and he shoots them both before shooting his own guard, Carly yelping each time. She's not a fan of the sound of a gun going off, nor kidnapping, so he doubts this is fun for her.

He makes quick work of getting her uncuffed and she falls into him, embracing him in a tight hug and burying her face in his neck as he does the same. "I knew you'd save me," she says and he can feel her tears soaking his shirt, but it's okay. He's got extras at home (and, of course, the clothes she bought a few months ago).

"We've got to get out of here," he mutters and she pulls away, tears of joy and relief still flowing down her face.

A few minutes (and dead bodies) later, they make it out of the weird ass mansion they're stuck in. Now, of course, the big issue is how the fuck they get out of here. There's no cars he can see.

"I don't want to walk but I will," Carly says, frowning as she looks at her disgusting outfit. "I liked this outfit too."

To be continued hopefully after this headache clears up

@ryleighjosephine

[punkscowardschampions]

Buster & Rio

Buster: I thought I saw her out last night. It wasn't Buster: I don't know how you stand it though Rio: I don't Rio: I've gone totally insane Rio: Thinking maybe that's what she was after, not enough to come back though Buster: Yeah. Maybe Buster: It's fucked Rio: That it is Rio: Enjoy the wild ride whilst you're here, like Buster: You could come back with me Buster: If you want Rio: No, I have to look after the others, don't I Buster: But who's looking after you, babe? Rio: Who better than me? Rio: Tons of practice, like Rio: Even if self-care ain't a priority Buster: Yeah Buster: Offer stands though Rio: Thanks Rio: Make a habit of it, your Mum and Dad will start charging me rent Buster: Nah they don't need any more cash Buster: insufferable already like Rio: That ain't the attitude, rich boy, never enough, like Buster: You don't have to tell me Buster: Just working on being funny for you, babe Rio: Would you like me to like and say you're improving? Buster: Nah Buster: Don't lie to me Rio: Nothing but truth bombs dropping from these lips Rio: On it Buster: Good Buster: How are you then? Rio: Sneaky Rio: Pretty shitty but getting used to it so, not as shitty as it was, I guess Rio: How about you? Buster: You looked anything but at Nance's thing, if that helps Buster: Yeah same Rio: Good to know I can still turn out a look Rio: Pretty fucked moneywise if I can't Rio: How long is it now, 'til she bursts? Buster: 4 months Rio: Over halfway there Rio: Well done on not totally losing your shit Buster: Cheers Buster: I reckon I have but don't spread that around, yeah? Rio: I'd sooner slate her still Rio: Don't worry Buster: I'm here for that any time Rio: Well, she posts every five fucking minutes so I've got plenty of material Buster: More like 2 minutes, ain't it? Buster: Fuck's sake Rio: The world needs to know Rio: Bless her Buster: I'd rather curse her but whatever Buster: If your sister could have a word like Rio: I think her witchcraft is pretty white (funny, I know) but I'll ask if she's willing to dabble in a bit of black Rio: Help the cause, like Buster: Could always bless my kid so it doesn't turn out like her. I'd take that Rio: Definitely more her speed Rio: At least it'll be cute regardless Buster: There you go admitting how hot I am again Rio: Maybe I really rate Chlo, thank you very much Buster: Well she's single if you wanna have a crack Rio: Yeah? Rio: I think she'd rather I was dead in a ditch but probably just playing hard to get, right? Buster: Yeah. There's a thin line, don't they reckon? Rio: 'They' might be engaging in some wishful thinking, I reckon Buster: Who wouldn't wanna think about you and Chlo lezzing off, I mean, come on Buster: Give the people what they want Rio: You're such a child Rio: A gross one at that Buster: I never said me Buster: If you want me to watch that's on you, in your head Rio: Shut up Rio: No one else is harbouring kinky fantasies about us both Rio: Unless that mate of yours has previous with baby mama too, like Buster: Probably does Buster: She's done a few rounds Rio: Not gonna shade a girl for weighing up her options Rio: not when there's other more valid reasons aplenty Buster: I don't harbour anything but hostility for her, just FYI Rio: Valid Rio: I'm not seeing the appeal myself Buster: Nance had a crush on her once, I reckon Buster: If she'd only sealed the deal I wouldn't be here Rio: Put aside her homophobia I'm sure it could've been a beautiful thing Buster: Yeah Rio: You and Nance talking a bit more now? Buster: I'm trying and I know she is too like Buster: Fuck it Rio: I'm glad Rio: It'll get there Rio: Was surprised to see you Rio: Nice surprise Buster: Yeah? Buster: I reckoned you'd want a warning but it was a last minute decision Rio: Nah, don't need to worry about me Rio: Bit awkward obviously but Nance really appreciated it, I could tell Buster: I know but Buster: Too awkward or do you wanna see me again, before I go? Rio: It was only awkward 'cos everyone else was there Rio: Can't tell a lie, remember? Rio: We could go for a drink or something Rio: if you wanna Buster: You know I do Rio: I dunno, things change Rio: Been a while Buster: Too long, if I'm not lying either Rio: I'd rather you didn't Rio: Had enough of your bullshit to last a lifetime, boy Buster: Of me too? Rio: Never Buster: Good Rio: Is it gonna be different when you're a Da? Buster: Why would it? Rio: 'Cos we won't be able to see each other like that Rio: You'll have responsibilities and shit Buster: You can see me whenever Buster: Just say Rio: Never mind Rio: I'm just overthinking things Buster: I can't blame you Buster: but seriously Buster: I can't stop thinking about you. That's the truth Rio: That's what I mean Rio: You gotta focus on more important things Rio: Your baby, School, all that real stuff Buster: You're real Buster: How you looked the other day was too fucking real Rio: It's just a game though isn't it Buster: What does that matter? Rio: Gotta stop playing at some point Rio: Gotta pick a winner and a loser Buster: Why? Rio: 'Cos that's how it works Buster: It works for us. However we want Rio: Stubborn Buster: Do you wanna stop? Rio: Not the point Buster: That's not an answer Rio: Not allowed to lie Buster: Then don't Buster: Tell me Rio: I don't want to stop Rio: Obviously Buster: So there's no problem Rio: Its that simple, is it? Buster: If can be Rio: I'm just saying Rio: I don't know what I'm saying Rio: But it's easy to hide shit from the world when we're avoiding them all, its gonna be a lot harder when you can't Rio: Are you sure you're up for that aggro? Buster: I'm a pro at hiding Buster: Ask Chlo Rio: As much as I don't doubt you're her fave topic of conversation Rio: I'm alright Buster: Look, I don't know what's gonna happen when the kid's here, yeah? Buster: but there's 4 months to go, remember Rio: I know Rio: I told you I was overthinking Rio: Just it has been a while Rio: Thought I'd be over it by now Rio: No offence, like Buster: Some taken Rio: Come on Rio: Not like we're playing for keeps here Rio: Maybe if we just fuck properly it'll get it out of our system for good? Buster: Worth a shot, like Buster: I'm going home tomorrow Rio: Oh Rio: When you wanna meet up then, right now? Buster: You got something else you'd rather do? Rio: No Rio: Just sooner than I thought Rio: Barely got over the last time, like Buster: We don't have to Rio: Are you angry at me? Buster: It sounds like a no, that's all Rio: I'm not ready Rio: to you know Rio: I don't know why I said it, except I'm being honest and I'm a bit drunk Buster: What's changed, except you're being honest and you're a bit drunk Rio: 'Cos I don't think its going to change anything Rio: fucking Rio: and I don't wanna do it just because I'm trying to prove a theory Rio: but now I said it so that's gonna be in your head Buster: Why do you wanna then? Buster: You said yourself we're not playing for keeps so what does it matter if it's to prove something or whatever else Rio: I want it to be like that night Rio: I wanted you so bad Buster: I can get you some coke Rio: That's not what I mean, don't purposefully misunderstand Buster: What you mean is you don't want me anymore, I understand loud and clear Buster: It's been too long, yeah? Whatever Rio: I knew I'd ruined it Rio: and I knew you were angry Rio: Forget about it Buster: Like I said, whatever Buster: If there's someone else you can tell me that too, it's fine Rio: Oh, there isn't Rio: I haven't got the space in my head to think about anything fucking else Rio: between you and my fucking sister and all that shit that happened there, all that shit I did Buster: You didn't do anything wrong Buster: With me or him Rio: If that were true Rio: Well Rio: Lots of things would be different, wouldn't they Buster: It's not your fault that he's a fucking pervert, Rio Rio: I'm 18, I'm not a kid Buster: He's known you since you were Rio: Yeah well, didn't stop me did it? Rio: He didn't just pounce on me outta nowhere Rio: You know that Buster: I know that you didn't want that Buster: Him Rio: I didn't think he would Rio: I didn't really mean it Rio: I'm so stupid Buster: I know, babe Buster: You're not stupid, he's fucked Rio: But I was part of it Rio: part of the reason Edie's gone Buster: No Buster: He's your best friend's dad. Your fucking sister's Buster: He shouldn't have gone near you Rio: Doesn't matter to her though Rio: He's never cared about her Rio: I'm the one who betrayed her Buster: It does and it will. She'll figure it out Buster: She just needs time. Her head's fucked Rio: Join the club, yeah? Buster: Yeah Buster: I'd run if I could. Ain't happening though Rio: You're better than him Buster: So are you Rio: Promise? Buster: Yeah. You are Buster: I could swear that on my kid's head when it comes out if you want Rio: No, don't do that Rio: I'm not up for using your kid as a betting chip Rio: Especially with the odds stacked against me, like Rio: I know me Buster: I know you too Buster: But cheers, don't really fancy being at the business end of Chlo sober like Rio: Eww Rio: You're terrible Buster: You love it Rio: Maybe Rio: How awkward though, if you make a baby, it should be from really great sex, shouldn't it? Rio: No way to start the poor kid off Buster: Not a question I wanna ask the rents about how me and Nance came about Rio: We all know the answer Rio: 10 kids, its not a question if mine were loving it Buster: Shut up Buster: You were the first though, could've been crap Rio: How dare you suggest such a thing Rio: Offended Buster: Just saying Buster: They were what? 15? Buster: Talk about stacked odds Rio: Ummm well, your parents have been with each other forever so how much experience have they racked up elsewhere before, hmm? Rio: Neither of mine were such saints Buster: Again, no desire to ask Rio: Aww, are you embarrassed? Buster: Fuck off Buster: Just 'cause you're a filthy perv like Rio: Guilty Rio: I'll ask 'em don't worry Buster: Please don't let me know Rio: Fine, fine Rio: Boring Buster: You wish, babe Rio: Yeah, would be easier to ignore Buster: Instead you couldn't ignore me if you tried Buster: Unlucky Rio: Sorry, did you say something? Rio: Hahah Buster: You want me to come whisper it in your ear, make sure you've heard Buster: See how you do then Rio: Do it Rio: You'd break first Buster: I won't Rio: We'll see Buster: Tell me where you are and we will see, yeah Rio: You can't come here Rio: Where do you wanna go Buster: I don't care Buster: Wait Buster: How drunk are you? Rio: I can't drive, if that's what you're suggesting Rio: Put some effort in, McKenna Buster: That's not what I meant Buster: I don't wanna see you tonight if you won't remember it tomorrow Rio: Film it for me Buster: Great idea that'd be Buster: Your brother would watch it, film nerd he is Rio: Don't be so disgusting, he's a baby! Rio: Your eyes only silly Buster: Exactly my point Buster: We can't be that stupid Rio: You've not gotta upload it Rio: ain't my first rodeo cowboy Rio: but fine Buster: Fuck Buster: I know you're joking but still Buster: Trying to kill me Rio: Am I? Rio: Never know now Buster: Rio Buster: stop playing Rio: Don't wanna Buster: You're such a fucking tease Rio: Yeah Rio: So are you Buster: You're worse Rio: You mean I win? Buster: Doesn't feel much like I'm losing Rio: I'm just that good Buster: Says you Rio: I offered you the chance to come find out for yourself Buster: But you also said you weren't ready for me to Buster: Which is it? Rio: I've changed my mind Rio: you've made me horny Rio: but you're too much of a gentleman, I know Buster: You're drunk, babe Buster: I really fucking want to, believe me but Rio: Its alright Rio: I know Buster: Remember when you said, not like this, I'm calling mine in Buster: Where are you though? I don't think you should be on your own just chilling like Rio: Understood Rio: Although we did have phone sex so I demand at least some pictures, thank you Rio: Its alright, I'm with Indie at their flat, s'why you can't come over Buster: Okay Buster: I can call you when she's asleep. Doesn't matter how late it is Rio: Okay Rio: You're nice, you know that Buster: Fuck off Buster: It don't count if I'm only nice to you Buster: And you know I want something Rio: It's okay, I won't tell Buster: Not allowed to lie, yeah? Gotta keep your word now Rio: Don't worry, only wanna sing your praises to you Rio: You're just the same old prick you always were with everyone else Buster: Yeah Buster: I can tell you this 'cause I know you won't remember and no fucker ever re-reads these Buster: I really miss you Rio: Wish I would remember Rio: Shame Rio: Miss you too Buster: Maybe soon I'll get to tell you again Buster: Since you can't ever ignore me like Rio: I don't wanna Rio: That's why Buster: I know Buster: and I don't want you to Rio: What do you want from me? Buster: You already know that Rio: But are you gonna not want me once you had it Rio: is it just to say you did, the conquest or whatever the fuck Buster: How could I not? Buster: I want you so bad Buster: You're so fucking sexy, yeah? Like perfect. It's bullshit Rio: So are you Rio: How are you real Buster: Most of the time I ain't Buster: But you already know that too Rio: Yeah Rio: but I see you Buster: Even when I don't want you to, yeah Rio: Sorry Buster: Don't be Buster: Someone should. I ain't mad it's you Rio: I don't hate it either Rio: Are we fucked up? Buster: I am, but not 'cause of this Rio: That's how I feel too Rio: So we must be right Rio: or both equally delusional Buster: I'll take either Rio: I like you Buster: I know Buster: You're not bad yourself, babe Buster: I don't wanna go home tomorrow. Fuck's sake Rio: Do you have to Rio: I picked a bad night to get fucked up Buster: No such thing Buster: But Chlo is cracking the whip, so no, but also yeah Rio: S'okay Rio: 'Til next time, McKenna Buster: There will be one, yeah? Rio: I hope so Rio: I can't wait much longer Buster: I know the feeling Buster: I will see you around, Cavante Rio: You owe me Rio: Remember Buster: Can't forget. Won't either