#the first doodle page is all from over the course of like. a whole week.

[cidandy]

an unholy amount of cidandy doodles + a bonus unhinged dandy

sorry i saw that post & it's literally the type of shit he'd say you can't try & tell me i'm wrong here

closeups under the cut :^)

this one's my favorite :^D

[tonyboneysblog]

Hey!! I saw your touya fic and OMGG its so cute 😭 could you write more about being childhood friends with touya? I also couldn’t check your request rules page, it said post not found so sorry if this goes against any of your rules!!

broken arm one shot!

parings: Touya Todoroki x reader

wordcount: 1.3k

notes: I was actually so excited to make this request- ANNON I COULD KISS YOU.

warnings: none!

summary: you got a broke arm everyone wants to sign! but Touya just wants his doodles on it.

At this point in your life, you felt as if you’d experienced all the pain you ever could.

until you older brother decided to push you off your trampoline.

And yeah- maybe your body also decided to fall in a way that broke your arm- but it’s all your brother’s fault!

your mom told him not to be rough, and he was.

he got grounded for as long as you had to be in a cast.

Now the cast specifically could’ve been your favorite part of the whole ordeal- you got to pick out the color.

you chose your favorite of course.

Your mother even drove you to your favorite food place! Maybe this will repay the incoming trauma you’ll have of trampolines.

The first person to sign your cast was your older brother, it’s just said “sorry sis.” and you weren’t in the mood to accept the apology so you scratched it out with the black sharpie your mom lended you.

The second person who signed your cast was the first one you saw when you walked into school.

school kids love singing casts, even if they didn’t know the person.

and you in-fact, did not know half the people who signed your cast.

Then when you finally made your way to your first class with a grin, you got to see your best friend’s reaction.

Touya Todoroki.

You watch his face twist into absolute horror and your smile falters slightly.

Touya taps his fingers against the wooden desk quickly whilst stumbling over his words, “W-what.. how?!”

“Elder bro broke my arm, no biggie.” You shrug- grin returning.

Touya’s mouth stays in an “o” shape as you talk, you really didn’t expect him to be so…upset?

it was only a broken arm.

You sit next to him, he tenses slightly like he always does.

“No biggie? Your arm is broken?!” He says breathlessly.

“psh-it’s barely broken!”

It’s snapped like a fragile stick when your brother pushed you.

Touya smacks his face into his palms with an annoyed groan.

You giggle loudly at Touya’s distress, truly it’s just a broken arm- no biggie.

Touya rises from his hands, looking down at the cast that’s almost filled to the brim with names.

“Where’s the pen?” He questions quietly.

You hum softly after handing the share to him, thought there’s not really enough room for Touya to write anything.

Touya grabs your forearm gently, turning it slowly trying to find the perfect spot to write something.

but there wasn’t enough room.

Touya puffs his cheeks slightly as his brows furrows, “I can’t write anything.”

You remove you arm from Touya’s grasp, seeing if you could find a spot yourself yet you were still unable to.

You sigh softly, “Sorry Touya…”

Touya crossed his arms and huffs, “it’s fine.”

“You can write your name of the next one?”

Touya pokes your bicep, “you’re not breaking your arm again.”

You in turn flick Touya forehead, “I’m not planning on it- the doctor said we’ll have to change it out at some point.”

Touya rubs the spot you flicked softly, his face stuck in a scowl.

“Don’t let anyone write on it before I do then.”

You snicker softly, reaching into your bag with your free hand to grab all of your school supplies.

“Fine-“ you mumble, “I promise, Touya.”

For a moment, you swear you could see Touya’s ears maybe go a little pink.

Could be the pain medicine though…

About a week after that conversation, your cast was requested to be replaced.

It got severely itchy and it felt soft in places- not supposed to be like that.

So your mom called to get it replaced.

The day the did actually get a new cast was on Saturday, a day where you usually don’t see Touya because he’s too concerned with his training.

One time he told you not to even bother calling because he won’t be around to answer the phone.

But you had a promise to fulfill! You don’t care Touya’s training.

Training does him no good anyways, just gives him new burns.

Your hand shakes slightly as you ring the Todorokis home phone.

Of course it rings, and rings…and rings some more.

Maybe you should’ve listened to Touya? Well he has like twenty siblings so at least one of them would answer.

except for baby shoto of course.

But, Mrs. Todoroki comes in clutch anyways! Answering the phone with her soft, sing song voice.

“Hello, This is Rei Todoroki.” She says quietly, almost like a whisper.

Your voice wavers as you speak, “u-uhm is Touya there, perchance?”

Rei stays quiet for a moment until finally speaking again, “he’s home, why?”

“Oh- this is Y/N! I-I wanted him to sign my cast.”

Rei hums, it sounds…excited! Rei must be excited it’s little old you!

“Ah I see, I’ll tell him you’re on your way.” You can practically hear the smile in her voice.

You out on your shoes as fast as you can, which isn’t fast because you only have one working hand.

Then you bike hour way down towards the Todorokis house.

It was a sixteen minute bike but it would be worth it, you’ll keep your promise to Touya no matter what.

And when you finally arrive you knock on the door to see the second oldest, Fuyumi.

You can see the surprise in her eyes when she opens the door to you, “Y/N!- wait I thought you didn’t come on Saturdays?”

You shrug your shoulders and scoot your way through the door.

You hear your feet pat the ground softly as your quickly make your way through the house, looking for that soft tuft of white hair.

Only to find it sitting down in his room.

You wave your hand, “surprise!”

Touya stares at you for a moment before speaking, “mom already told me you were coming.”

“Just pretend.” You groan softly, your small little jazz hands deflating.

Touya drums his fingers softly onto his desk, “why are you here again?”

You pout softly, “Why’re you so mean? I can make Natsuo sign my cast first yknow..”

Touya’s eyebrows raise slightly, “cast?”

“I got a new cast”

Touya extends his hand, reaching for your forearm before you pull away.

“Your design better be so fricking awesome.” Your brows furrowed.

There’s no way you waited a week just to see Touya draw some stupid sun with sunglasses.

“Sit down then.” Touya says sternly.

You sit down onto the soft pillow near the table, waiting patiently for Touya to join.

Touya joins you shortly after, grabbing your forearm and placing the sharpie onto it.

At first he draws a small cat, seems to be just a practice because he continues to draw on your cast.

You can see his tongue poke through his lips in concentration.

When you first hopped on your bike you expected to be at the Todorokis for maybe five minutes at most.

Touyas quite serious about training.

But here you are an hour later, letting Touya draw and doodle all over your cast.

And when he’s done, it covers the entire cast.

How are you supposed to let the cool kids sign your fast now?!

You see Touya puff out his chest slightly, a proud look on his face.

“You like it?” You voice slightly monotone but his face brimming with joy.

Your original cast had all of the popular kids names on it, even the high schools who hung around the school signed it.

It was like a losers trophy- proof that kids actually liked you!

In your heart it’s worth millions of dollars.

Yet, when you look down at Touya simple little doodles.

You can’t help but feel your heart swell.

The original may be worth millions- but Touya’s…

His was priceless in your eyes.

You smile, “It’s perfect, Touya.”

[bobawitch]

Highschool Battlefield | C.S

pairing: chris sturniolo x fem reader <3

cw: none!

wc: 2,379

a/n: OMG YALL IM SO SORRY! i did not mean to disappear off the face of the earth thats so my bad. life got crazy and my writers block was unrelenting. but heres the first chapter in a chris fic that ive been working on off and on. hope yall enjoy ;P

Chapter One:

You always had a distaste for “normal” highschool activities like pep rallies and homecoming afterparties. Which landed the question of why were you here? At the homecoming pep rally for your highschool. Well that was easy, your best friend Allison had dragged you. She had begged you for the last week and a half to come and eventually you gave in. Now Allison was the literal opposite of you, popular, bubbly. She was the girl everyone loved, and you were her best friend that no one understood. Most of the school just knew you as Allie’s friend, it wasn’t uncommon for people to not even know your name. She had it all, the style, the boyfriend, the grades, she was head of student council as well as head cheerleader. Honestly sometimes you wondered why she was your best friend, you were nothing like her. You were the outcast art kid that could have amazing grades if they cared, but you didn’t. Honestly if you hadn’t met Allie in 2nd grade you doubt y’all would’ve become friends. So now you sat on the top of the bleachers watching Allie lead the cheerleaders in their big routine, the football boys sitting on the front of the bleachers as the rest of the school screamed and cheered. Even though the homecoming pep rally was mainly for the football team the other sports teams were encouraged to wear their jerseys. Among the jocks you saw Chris, anybody that was anybody knew who Chris Sturniolo was. Potentially the most popular lacrosse player in the whole school, and way out of your social group. Though his older triplet brother Nick was a good friend of Allie’s so sometimes you’d cross paths. Your eyes drifted from his messy curls over to Allie and her beaming smile. You grinned to yourself, looking down at the sketchbook in your lap. A small sigh escaped your lips as your thumb pushed the volume button on your phone. Djo blared in your ears and you closed your eyes, laying your head back against the wall.

As you drifted into your own imaginary world you felt someone tap your shoulder and your eyes shot open. You were met with Allie’s big blue eyes and toothy white smile. You nodded at her as she sat next to you. “Hey.” You mumbled, tugging your earbuds out of your ear by their chord. You grabbed the pencil out of the ring of your sketchbook, opening it to the page of doodles of people in the auditorium. “I’m so glad you came Y/N!” Allie nearly yelled into your ear. You smiled over at her. “You’re my best friend, of course I came!” You shouted back. She grinned, leaning her head on your shoulder as her boyfriend came up to her. Jackson, Allie’s boyfriend, head of the football team. They were textbook prom queen and king. You gave a half smile at Jackson as he nodded to you, pulling Allie back to her feet. “Hey babe, the sports teams are going to get some pizza, wanna come?” Allie nodded before looking back at you. “Yep! And you’re coming with Y/N.” You looked up, your eyes fluttering in a confused look. “Uh, no thanks I’m good.” Allie shook her head and grabbed your arm, tugging you to your feets and causing your pencil to drop next to your docs. You sighed, Allie got like this sometimes, where she’d decide it was her turn to pick what we did. You slowly bent to grab your pencil and stuff it along with your sketchbook, back into your bag. You then adjusted the ratty flannel that clung to your arms as Allie let Jackson lead her away, following closely behind. You loved Allie but whenever she tried to force you into going places with Jackson and her cheerleader friends you felt a bit out of place. It was overall uncomfortable for you and usually no one would talk to you. 

Soon enough the 3 of you arrived at a pizza place by your school and you stepped out of the car. A singular earbud securely tucked into your ear as Allie and Jackson pranced into the place, arm and arm. You crossed your arms as you walked in afterwards, finding a seat at the end of the table where some of the hockey and lacrosse players sat. You pulled out your sketchbook and began drawing again, peering into the back where a tall boy with black hair flipped some pizza dough. You quickly began a sketch of the boy, it was a hobby of yours to just sketch the people around you. It was so common that you had almost managed to draw everyone in your small high school. “That’s really good.” You jumped slightly from the sudden voice, looking up and being met with bright blue eyes. You stared at none other than Chris Sturniolo who met your gaze before looking behind him to see the boy you were drawing. “You’re really good at drawing.” He spoke again. “Oh uh, thanks. It’s just a hobby.” You shrugged, suddenly feeling the need to put your sketchbook away. He watched as you slid your sketchbook closed, setting down your pencil. “You’re Allie’s friend right?” He kept eye contact with you as you looked at the rest of the table. All of his teammates were chatting and laughing and yet here he was looking at you. “Uh, yeah.” You finally answered his question, looking at Allie who was talking to Chris’s other brother, Matt. Matt was on the hockey team with the triplet’s friend Nate, though you could still feel Chris’s eyes boring into the side of your face. “Does Allie’s friend have a name?” He spoke once more, causing you to turn. “Oh, sorry. Yeah hi, I’m Y/N.” You quickly muttered out. You weren’t good with socializing and you couldn’t quite wrap your head around why Chris Sturniolo of all people was talking to you. “I’m Chris. Nice to meet you Y/N.” You smiled lightly before looking down again, staring at the cover of your sketchbook. “Oh Y/N you met Chris?” Allie was suddenly sitting shoulder to shoulder with you, smiling with joy. “Uh, yeah.” She smiled and leaned closer to Chris. “You’ll have to excuse her, she’s not very social.” She said, nudging you playfully. You rolled your eyes before nudging her back, a smile tugging at your lips. “I am too, I just wasn’t expecting anyone to talk to me here.” You rebutted, looking at Chris again. His lips were tugged into a playful smirk. You rubbed your nose, your rings gently clicking against your septum piercing. You looked back towards where the pizza boy was, he had since left causing a sigh to escape your lips. “Did your muse disappear?” Chris teased from across you. You rolled your eyes. “Not my muse, I just like drawing candids.” “Then draw me.” You scrunched your nose, furrowing your eyebrows as you studied the boy’s face. “Uh no.” You shook your head, slowly opening your sketchbook and swiping past the drawings of the pep rally. “Why not?” You could’ve been imagining it but you almost thought you heard genuine hurt in the boy’s voice. “Because.” You tried to search for a reason but honestly you didn’t know why you wouldn’t draw him. “Because why?” He leaned closer, his tone a teasing and playful one. You sighed and flipped to an open page. “I don’t draw people when they are posing for it.” It wasn’t your best argument but it would work. “First time for everything right?” You sighed, examining the blue-eyed boy that sat in front of you. You chewed on your inner cheek before giving in. “Ok fine. Just act like I’m not drawing you please.” 

Chris’s grin was impossible to hide as he bounced up and down in his chair. He cleared his throat before looking directly at you, apparently this was how he wanted you to draw. You shook your head, yet another sigh escaping your lips. “No, just start talking to your teammates and I’ll draw you. I don’t want to draw you staring at me.” He furrowed his brows, obviously confused as to why you cared so much but obliging anyway.

You stared at Chris’s features as your pencil danced along your sketchbook paper. You hated to admit it but Chris was actually pretty fun to draw. His hair swooped it a way that you enjoyed replicating. After about 20 minutes you had filled an entire page of your sketchbook with quickly drawn poses of Chris. You cleared your throat to catch his attention, him immediately stopping his conversation with his teammate and looking at you. He smirked when he noticed the clutch you had on your sketchbook. You slowly slid your sketchbook over to Chris before sliding your hand back. For some reason watching him inspect your drawings of him made you anxious, your heart beating out of your chest as you waited for some kind of reaction from the boy. He stared intently at the page before his hand gripped the edge of it. With a long ripping noise he pulled the page of drawings out of your sketchbook. You watched with an agape mouth as he folded it up and placed it securely in his pocket. “Thanks pretty girl.” He winked at you before turning to his teammate and beginning to speak again. You were absolutely stunned, staring blankly at the insanely popular boy. “Uh… yeah. Don’t mention it.” You looked over to your phone that lit up and frowned, taking your sketchbook and stuffing it in your bag. You stood, leaning over to Allie. “Dad called, I gotta get home. See you tomorrow.” Before you left the pizza place.

-

You gazed into your friend’s mirror, glaring daggers at your own reflection. Once again you found yourself questioning what you did to get into this predicament. You were in a black denim mini skirt with a black lace tank top hugging your curves, complimented by your signature fishnets and platform doc marten boots. You looked over to Allie’s bed where your green denim jacket laid. Quickly you grabbed it, snaking it around your arms before pulling it around your waist, hiding your torso from yourself. You hated when Allie made you dress up for things and today was no exception. Somehow you had talked Allie out of making you wear a big dress to homecoming but when you attempted to talk her out of making you go you were less successful. So you sighed and put on your least tomboy outfit before heading to Allie’s. She also insisted on doing your hair and makeup. You had sat as still as possible as the girl did a “clean girl” look on you. You quickly fixed it by adding some dark eyeliner and a little bit of liner on your waterline, darkening your eyes. Seemingly content with your look and her own, Allie dragged you to your truck. You had agreed to drive her so she could get wasted even if it meant you had to be at a high school dance completely sober. Not only that but Allie had already signed you up for going to at least one homecoming after party. 

Within no time you had gotten Allie to the school, helping her tipsy self out of your passenger seat before walking her over to Jackson. Jackson smiled at her and she quickly tackled him, smashing her lips against his. You cringed and looked away, making a fake gag face. You hated PDA, maybe just because you had never experienced it with someone, maybe because watching people swap saliva was gross. Who knows. After the two broke apart Jackson led Allie off towards the opening of the dance, looking back at you and nodding for you to follow. You looked down at your beat up boots before sighing and slowly dragging your feet to the front. Alison walked in with Jackson without a second glance at you, just expecting you to blindly follow her into your own personal hell. The overwhelming urge to cover your ears hit you like a ton of bricks, followed quickly by the smell of teenage sweat. You sighed walking over to a table that Allie had thrown her bag on. You sat down and pulled out your pocket sketchbook, grabbing your pencil from the messy bun you had thrown your hair into. You were granted a few fleeting moments of peace before you felt a tap on your shoulder. Upon swinging your head around you were met with a newly familiar pair of eyes. You felt your heart leap through your throat as you stared at the Sturniolo boy. “Hey pretty girl. Wasn’t expecting you to be at one of these, doesn’t seem like your thing.” He spoke in his usual charismatic way though he was forced to a near shout by the loud music. Chris held eye contact with you as he sat in the plastic chair next to you. “It’s not my thing, Allie made me come.” You replied to him in a shout, looking over to where Allie danced with her boyfriend. You sighed before looking back to Chris, a smirk still on his face. “Oh and stop calling me pretty girl. I have a name.” Chris chuckled, causing you to wonder if what you had said was funny. Chris opened his mouth to say something but before he spoke you felt a weight collapse on your shoulders. Your nose was immediately filled with the rosey perfume you knew Allie wore to events. Your hands moved up to hold her arms that had wrapped around you. “Hey Allie.” You said, Allie’s drunken giggling in your ears. She looked up and smiled at Chris. “Hii Chrissy!! I’m so glad you met Y/N, she’s so funnn.” You looked at Chris who was softly admiring you. Eyes darted away as your cheeks grew warmer. You stood, one hand still holding onto Allie’s arms and the other catching your sketchbook. “Come on Allie let’s go dance.” Allie smiled and moved her arms, grabbing your hand instead. You set down your sketchbook and gave a glance to Chris before walking off to the dance floor.

[hispieceofcake]

🕸️My thoughts and feelings on Beetlejuice 🪲 (at least for a while)

I know a lot of people probably won't care but I really want to share my thoughts and talk about this character and that's what I'm going to do, There are a lot of thoughts and feelings accumulated inside my head and I need to get them out, it's a little mess but I think it will be fun to read.

I've had this on my mind for a while, which has finally become one of my biggest, if not the biggest, hyperfocuses for now and I'm going to share a little bit of it now >:)

I really didn't think I would have the courage to post this because I'm not that confident in sharing my things but I CAN'T TAKE THIS GREEN DEMON GHOST MAN OFF MY MIND😫‼️

The beginning of this happened when I was already in another hyperfocus on the character Adam from the series Hazbin hotel on Amazon(I was already a fan since the pilot on YouTube), and then a slight curiosity hit me..."Who is his voice actor?"

So I went looking for who he was and I ended up being so interested in the actor, who is Alex Brightman (I love him a lot by the way and I can't wait to go see the musical and see him in person) and also in the characters he played and voiced, and in particular one of them won my heart.😔🩷

That's exactly what you're thinking, it was Beetlejuice.

For some reason he caught my attention and over time I ended up becoming quite fond of the character, even more so when I remembered that my parents watched the character's film when I was a child, which made me even more eager to research and look for any possible bit of information on the internet that I could find.

AND YES !

I actually achieved a lot and I'm going to share it <3

Firstly, the 1988 film, which was one of the first pieces of information I found about it, after all, it was in it that the character made his debut (apart from the story of its creator Tim Burton). And I know Beetlejuice is a pervert in this movie, but I try to ignore that and try to just look at the good side of him being a good character.

Secondly, and I think this is what caught my attention the most, is the cartoon of 1989 with the same name as the character called Beetlejuice where the character acted as the protagonist alongside Lidya (In this one there's nothing about him wanting to force her to marry him like in the movie, it's just a cartoon of them having a good friendship and being best friends).

And man, the way I was happy when found out that the cartoon had 4 seasons and about 68 episodes, I was almost like that kitten TikTok meme ✨ HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY ✨

Like, wow, a source of potential Gifs, icons, dividers, photos, edits, there was so much I could do that I didn't even know where to start because of all the hustle and bustle and animation I had (And of course I spent the next few weeks pestering my friends about it during class with every little bit of information I found🤓👆).

At the moment I'm trying to look for a website that has all the episodes together or just some, but so far I've only been able to find them on old DVDs. When I can find a website I will gather all the links and post them, so that more people can watch.

And one of the best parts...I FOUND A WHOLE COLLECTION OF 🩷VALENTINES' DAY CARDS🩷 and I'll probably make another post later to post all of them or at least their links, they're all official. This made me even more excited because I love all that romantic and cute aesthetic of the Valentine's Day season, hearts, red and pink decorations, heart-shaped candy boxes, love letters, Decorated store windows, stuffed animals, I just love everything (even though I don't have a valentine, and I don't want to🙃).

To give you an idea of how focused I was on this little green-haired corpse demon ghost man, everywhere I have the opportunity I make doodles or drawings of him all over the places, walls, notebooks, tests, napkins, classroom board, and in my sketchbook, in which I'm making an entire page dedicated just to him and Lidya, which maybe later I'll post too. Even more so after I managed to find several official reference sheets from the studio that designed and animated the cartoon, so now the drawings will be much better.💋

There is so much information that I managed to find that I am having to organize my thoughts because unfortunately I am very agitated and anything takes my focus easily, but as soon as I can really focus on that, it feels like I'm somewhere else.

But now talking about the Broadway musical, (which as said before has my beloved Alex Brightman as the main actor), I've always liked the idea of musicals, and even more so when his story is about my favorite character, and speaking of musicals, I REALLY WAS OBSESSED WITH THE SONG "SAY MY NAME" 😫🩷

And oh boy, I spend almost all day singing it or with it resonating in my mind, whenever I read, write, draw or do anything to do with Beetlejuice, I put on my headphones and listen this song as if it were the greatest masterpiece made in history.

AND I'M SORRY BUT I NEED TO SHARE THIS SONG WITH YOU GUYS

Leaving the character a little, and going to the actor...he is simply the SWEETEST AND CUTEST MAN I'VE EVER SEEN!!

After I discovered that he voiced the characters that I like most in the Hazbin Hotel fandom and played the character that I like so much, I developed a huge affection for him, not just for his work, but because he is so sweet, fun and funny that I can't help but love everything and everything I find about this man online.

Alex Brightman bringing the character Beetlejuice to life and voicing Adam, Fizzarolli and Sir Pentious

That's it for now ,folks, that's all I have stuck in my mind for now or at least what I can remember

I apologize if this isn't so good, I'm writing this while I'm at school at 7am after waking up at 5am while my body is sore after a presentation.

So, thank you for reading 💞

[lemonykoo]

burnt out - tighnari

Pairing: Boyfriend!Tighnari x Student!Reader

Genre: Angst, I guess? Comfort later, though. Female reader.

Word Count: 2.5k

Notes: You’ve been working toward your degree at the Academiya for four years now, and as the days go on, Tighnari starts to notice that your diligence to your studies has gone by the wayside. Just when he thinks he has to have a talk with you, it’s brought to his attention that you aren’t just slacking off, but that there’s a bigger problem at hand. (Very self-indulgent lmao.)

Warnings: mentions of burnout and all the things that come of it! Tighnari is unaware of the situation so he’s a bit brash at first. (He also might be a little OOC im so sorry.) Vomiting is also mentioned – not graphically, just mentioned a few times. Also not entirely for sure how the Academiya runs in genshin but I structured it kind of like college to make it easier for me :)

“So, I got the exam, right? And I looked at the first page and was like, ‘Whoa, I know this stuff!’ And I just went through the whole test like that, so I think I did well! There were a couple I was confused about, but I think I got them, so I’m not too worried.” You stood from the crouched position you had been in and sighed, wiping the sweat from off your brow as you waited for an approving response from your boyfriend.

“You always study hard, so I would expect nothing less from you,” was the response Tighnari gave and oh, how damaging to you would it soon turn out to be.

It was a slow process, of course. It wasn’t like you just woke up one day and decided that you had no urge to even step foot on the premise of the Academiya, let alone even gaze in its direction. It was a gradual feeling that started to bubble within after four years of diligent studying and research to graduate and obtain a much sought-after degree in biology. This was a goal you had always been passionate about. Ever since you were young, you always wanted to learn more about the world around you, specifically nature’s role in it. You were still in the process of trying to write your thesis, with the help of your just as diligent boyfriend, Tighnari. Of course, the thesis work was all you – he was just there for support and to help out when needed. A lot of your time together was spent outside in the rainforest, collecting data and observing nature do it’s thing.

You spend a lot of time at Pardis Dhyai, since a lot of your research revolves around botany, but you also travel to Gandharva Ville not only to see your lover but also for research purposes. Your time spent in the rainforest with the forest watchers was always brief and you’d return back to Pardis Dhyai almost as soon as you left, but your stays have gotten longer. At first, you said it was because your work that needed to be done back at “home base” as you referred to it as didn’t have to start as soon as you woke up in the morning but then you changed your story to “Gandharva ville has more materials I need for my research.” Either one was acceptable; after all, students do tend to travel all over the place to gather material and data for their research topics. It wasn’t uncommon for you to even go someplace else in Sumeru for a couple days. The only problem with your second excuse was that you spent more time in Tighnari’s abode rather than outside inspecting plants and their habitats.

“You’re still here? I thought you said you were going to go out in the field today,” Tighnari said, seeing that you sitting at his desk, a notebook opened in front of you. The pages were blank except for a few scribbles and doodles. When he had left earlier, you had told him you needed to go into the field and see how the plants you were observing were doing since you hadn’t since last week. But it appeared that you hadn’t even attempted to leave.

“Oh, yeah, I had a lot to do this week so I thought I’d take it easy today, actually,” you answered.

“Understandable,” was all he replied with, a feeling of doubt surfacing that was quickly shaken away.

This theme of your “I need to blah blah blah” statements and then never actually doing what “needed” to be done became a very frequent occurrence. “Didn’t you say the test this week was super hard? I haven’t seen you touch your notes once in the past two days,” Tighnari noted as you ate lunch one day by a stream.

“It’s not until later in the week so I have time,” you said, shrugging. He decided not to press the issue further, putting his trust in the fact that you’d most likely just study when it came closer to time. Though, he’d really suggest starting now, but oh well.

And it continued like this, but you’d come back and explain that you didn’t do as well on that test as you thought you would followed by, “I should’ve studied more, but I just felt like I couldn’t.” Tighnari asked why you would return so late to Pardis Dhyai when you had work to do there, but you’d just brush it off and say that you could take care of it, you just might have to work longer one day. He’d stand at the entrance of your little “home base” and wave at you, telling you to have a nice rest of the week with a voice in his head saying that something was up with you but he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

You were always so diligent with your schoolwork. So focused and never missing a due date. You were always in the field, ready to learn and make observations. You’d go through notebook after notebook, filling the pages with endless pieces of knowledge and experiences you had come across, completely immersing yourself in your work and loving every minute of it. But now, you were different. Things had changed over these past four years. You weren’t as eager to go out in the field with him and when you were, the enjoyment didn’t last long and you’d get restless and distracted from the tasks at hand. Your stays at his place consisted of basically just you sleeping over until you stated you were ready for him to walk you back to Pardis Dhyai. You didn’t have your nose in books or notes anymore or ask him to quiz you for your next test. It was almost as if you weren’t even a student anymore. Were you just… becoming lazy? Surely not, as that was so unlike you. Perhaps… you had grown to dislike your degree choice, or realized that you just didn’t like it as much as you thought.

Tighnari decided he needed to address this concern of his to you and figure out what was going on. Maybe you just needed a little push to get going again! If that was the case, he was always there to encourage you. Hopefully you hadn’t forgotten all the times he’s helped you with your research, because if you were stuck and didn’t know how to continue with it, he’d totally help you out just as he had before.

When Tighnari entered Gandharva Ville, he was approached by Collei before he could reach his home. “Master Tighnari!” the young girl greeted. “I was waiting for you to return. I was wanting to ask you if there’s anything I could do to help (Y/N)? I didn’t know she was sick and I feel bad for not keeping her company while you were gone.”

“Sick?” Tighnari echoed. “I didn’t know she was sick, either.” His brows furrowed and gazed off into the distance, looking at his home and wondering what he had missed while he was out.

“Oh?” Collei bit at the inside of her cheek as she followed the male’s gaze. “I figured (Y/N) hadn’t ate yet, so I made her a couple pita pockets so she could take a break from her studies. When I walked in, though, she was sitting on the ground with her head in her hands. She said she had just thrown up.”

A lot of thoughts were running through the forest ranger’s mind. At first, he had wanted to retort and say that you probably weren’t studying earlier, but rather drawing meaningless doodles in the pages of your notebook that should have your work written on them instead. But you had thrown up? Tighnari didn’t even waste another second, but instead headed straight to his home.

Upon entering, you were seated on the bed, braiding a series of small flowers together into bracelets, something you’d always do when you were little and out playing in the forest with your friends. You had made several of these for Tighnari in the past, all of which were dried and turning to dust somewhere in a vase in his house. You looked up before going back to your braiding. “I know, I know. I’m not studying. You don’t have to say anything this time,” you said softly, a bit of strain in your voice.

Ouch. “That’s not-“ he sighed, “Collei said you were sick?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I just threw up a little. My throat still hurts a bit, but I’m fine,” you responded, a bit of what he assumed was embarrassment written on your face.

Your boyfriend observed the space around you. A half-eaten pita pocket lay on a plate, discarded on his desk, cold and stale. Next to it, your books were open and your notebook was out and he was surprised to see that you had actually been studying. “Why did you throw up? Had you eaten something previously that upset you?”

“No,” you replied. “I hadn’t eaten anything all day until Collei made lunch. I had been doing work all morning since you left.” As Tighnari observed you, he made note of the redness of your eyes. He remembered when he left this morning on his forest ranger duties, giving a hasty kiss on your cheek before he departed, hoping not to wake you up since you were still asleep. That was another thing – you’ve spent a lot of your time taking naps or just laying in bed until it was time to eat, but sometimes, you’d even skip that. More pieces started to fit together in his mind.

Before he could hit you with another round of questions to try to deduce why you had gotten sick earlier, you said something that tied it all together for him.

“I was just doing some of my work and I got overwhelmed. Before I knew it, I felt the need to vomit and thankfully-”

The rest of your statement about how you got out and away from Tighnari’s things just before you vomited didn’t matter because it suddenly made sense now. He just… he just didn’t know how to tell you because it was obvious you weren’t aware of the situation.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he said, coming to sit next to you on the bed. He picked up one of the carefully made bracelets and ran his hand through it before taking it off and laying it back down. The silence was unbearable to him. “About what you said earlier, though, I’m sorry for always getting onto you for not studying. It’s really none of my business. I just know how much you want this degree and I don’t want to see you give up on it.” Maybe he could ease you into this conversation to make things easier.

You exhaled a tired sigh. “It’s okay. I know I should study more. I just… don’t always feel like it and when I do go to study, like today, I just get so… sick. I threw up last week, too, in Pardis Dhyai. I don’t know what’s going on, to be honest.”

“Do you think that maybe you’re just burnt out?”

Your eyes widened a bit, and you peered up at him as he looked at you, his eyes full of concern and worry. You quickly looked away, your fingers fumbling with the flower bracelet in your hand. “No. How could I be burnt out when I love what I do?”

“I understand thinking that, but (Y/N), it’s more common than you’d think.” He shifted his position to be a bit closer and he gently grabbed one your hands to still your fidgeting. “You’ve worked so hard for so long, it’s normal for this to happen.”

“Yeah, but I always take breaks,” you retorted. “I shouldn’t be burnt out already. Not like this.”

His thumb rubbed gentle, loving circles into the back of your palm. “Even before you joined the Academiya, you were working on what your thesis would be and what research you would do. You’ve put in so much time for so long.” He paused, watching a tear drop from the corner of your eye. “You haven’t mentioned your thesis in a while, either.”

“They keep getting rejected,” you hiccupped, pulling your hand away from his. You turned away, feeling a sense of shame because of the position you were in. You pulled your knees up to your chest and let out a shaky breath, feeling the sick, overwhelmed feeling from earlier settle into your stomach again. “I keep trying to come up with something new and interesting, but it’s never enough. I want to keep trying because I love this – I love the research, the new things I discover, the people and places. But ever since my third thesis was rejected, I just felt… I just felt sick every time I think of doing field work.”

Tighnari didn’t know how best to comfort you in this situation. If it was him, he would just want to be left alone to regain his composure, but he knew you didn’t function like that. He moved his position to sit beside you once again and he placed an arm around your waist to pull you toward him. “It’s not uncommon to get your thesis rejected, y/n, so don’t let that discourage you-”

“But it keeps happening,” you cried, your tears dropping onto his clothes. “I don’t feel like this dream of mine is even meant for me anymore. Maybe I’m not cut out-”

“Hey, hey,” Tighnari interrupted you, his voice firm. “Don’t even begin to think like that, because it’s not true. Some of the smartest people out there have gotten multiple theses rejected. That doesn’t mean they weren’t capable of achieving what they wanted. It just means it took a little extra time. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But there is something wrong with you discrediting yourself and your abilities, because you are more than capable of reaching your goals and everyone around you can see that.”

“I’m just worried that if I don’t achieve this, I’ll let you and everyone else down,” you murmured.

“You could never let me down,” he said, sincerity clear in his words. Your lips quivered and you felt more tears surface as you turned to hug your boyfriend. Those were some of the exact words you needed to hear at the moment, and you would most likely need to him say them again at a later time, but right now was all you needed to feel a spot of hope begin to grow inside you. Once he was sure your cries had calmed down enough for you to listen to him again, Tighnari planted a kiss on the top of your head before he pulled back to give you another on your nose. “And you know I’m always here to help you, no matter what it is. I’m rooting for you, Collei is rooting for you, and I’m sure the other forest watchers are, too. We all know that you’re capable of accomplishing this, now you just have to believe in yourself.”

[read-write-thrive]

Steve paced the linoleum, sneaker just off white squeaking every time he turned. He was just aware enough to refrain from crinkling the gifts he held in his hands as he glanced again at the clock on the wall, then to the board. DELAYED stared back at him, minutes ticking by without change.

He had no reason to be nervous, not really. He had last seen Robin 11 weeks, 6 days, and roughly 13 hours ago, when he’d seen her off at this very same airport. Hell, he’d talked to her on the phone less than 24 hours ago to reassure her that all the plans were in place to pick her up at the right time and terminal. Two semesters of college hadn’t dulled her anxiety, somehow, but Steve didn’t mind. He’d call her every day if they could, to reassure anxieties or just to shoot the shit. They had tried to, her first semester away, but phone bills and clashing schedules weren’t too kind to them. This semester they’d scheduled calls twice weekly instead, which worked in theory but didn’t stop Steve from missing her terribly. At one point he started scribbling down notes so that he would remember the stories he wanted to tell her on their next call, much to the mockery of almost all of the kids (when he was really bothered by it, he reminded them that he’d gotten the multiple concussions AND stayed in Hawkins for them, which usually shut them up).

The spiral of his thoughts was cut off by a new rush of people coming his way—another arrival at the Indianapolis airport. Steve froze in his tracks, peering past the stream of people to see which gate they’d come from. But before he’d even gotten the chance to register that this was the flight he’d been waiting for, he was bowled over by a flurry of freckled limbs and mismatched green luggage.

“Steeeeve!!!!” Said flurry shrieked, somehow dropping everything onto his right foot while throwing herself at him in a giant, uncoordinated hug.

Steve was laughing in joyful relief before he even registered doing so, stabilising them both and hugging her back just as fiercely, trying to match her tone as he half-yelled back, “Robiiiin!!!”

Robin was laughing just the same, just short of snorting into Steve’s collar, “Oh it’s so good to be on the ground again, Steve I swear they make flying more stressful every time! And I get to see you, of course, though I could miss Indiana and be fine with it, especially with this awful humidity and having to see my extended family again, and missing G—Some people from school, yup, no one in particular—“

Steve couldn’t stop his happiness, fully content to let her ramble herself hoarse. He’d really missed this. He hugged her tighter unconsciously, inadvertently crinkling the goodies in his hands. At the noise, he swore and pulled back from the hug, “Damnit, I had this whole thing planned out—“

Juggling the meagre bouquet of random flowers to one hand, he held up the little sign he (and some of the kids) had worked on, as he had meant to do to welcome her arrival.

Robin paused her rambling to read the sign, cracking up as she did so. “Willkommen zurück zur Hölle!” Had been written several times over, first in messy pencil then bolder marker, with a few doodles of flames along the bottom of the page.

Steve grinned, “I thought you’d like it, even though all you’ve done this semester is complain about your German professor.”

“It’s not my fault he hates me!—“

He shoved the flowers at her to cut off the much-repeated rant, “And these are for you. Mostly because I hate hearing about all these dates you’re going on with no flowers involved! What happened to romance, Rob?”

Robin took a moment to softly smile at the gesture before jumping right back into their usual banter, “It’s not that easy, Steve! Am I supposed to be giving flowers or getting flowers? What if there’s allergies involved? Plus, you know I’ve been on all of three dates and none of them were the flower-giving types—“

Steve once again let her ramblings wash over him as he picked up her luggage and started walking back towards his car, her right at his side. He was so happy to have her back, even if just for the summer break.

[nights-at-crystarium]

Fragments - episodes 12-14 author notes

Hi hello and welcome to yet another ramble about Fragments C: I’m doing these regularly because there’s so much I wanna say about my idiots, and I like looking back and appreciating the work I’ve done.

You can find similar breakdown posts on older episodes in my pinned!

I haven’t commented on any of the ShB episodes yet, so here we go. Chapter 2 is estimated to last for over a year real-time, it correlates to the msq events up to Amity. The name honestly I’m not too proud of, I didn’t wanna spend too much brain juice on it :’> But the cover.....

Obligatory ShB spoiler warning!

- Investigating each other. They’ve become completely new people since ARR.

- Despite what he thinks of himself, our lord and savior Crystal Exarch has the ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ grandeur ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆.

- Vivi’s self-image is similar, he doesn’t see himself as anything grand no it’s not a height joke but Exarch rapidly grows in his eyes as he learns about him.

- He sports an outfit I once doodled and found cute, I’m just being cheeky about his newfound obsession.

- He also appears fragile to Exarch, who’s literally seen a world where he died being this young. Exarch wants to protect him, to say the least.

- Vivi’s perceived helplessness and lack of agency in ShB, although it’s nothing he hasn’t already been through in his other WoL misadventures.

- The Light, of course the wicked white surrounding them.

Episode 12 I’m proud of writing-wise, but not art-wise. Turns out the Ocular is a bigger bitch to draw/paint than I’d anticipated, and, although I’ve mostly figured it out by now (having just released episode 16 for patrons), the colors and light in the episode 12 will forever stick out like a sore thumb to me, probably until I find the time to redraw it. Same goes for the Scions, learning to draw a whole bunch of new characters over a week (roughly, an episode takes 7~14 days to complete), well, I should’ve taken a bigger break and practiced some more.

I’d even apply the ugly word “crunch” to this episode. But ah, the best page wasn’t crunched, hell started breaking loose a bit later. Yeah I don’t work in order, usually I do the most important frames first.

A bit of a sidetrack: even though I sometimes find myself wanting for more time between episodes, I don’t think I can afford making the releases even more sparse, current 2-week cycle ensures that this story WILL reach its finale in some distant 2028 if not later, I’m not kidding, it might take even longer and I’ve only been working on the script for a year. The broad strokes are complete, but I indulge in adding more sweet nonsense here and there. Or sometimes a raw af dialogue pops up in my head and MUST be included in some chapter. In other words, help, this behemoth keeps growing.

Personally I’m loyal to my fandoms, and not in a rush to finish the comic, but my mmo experience bangs on that nothing lasts forever: I don’t know where the xiv community would be in 5+ years from now, and I need A LOT of people supporting me, allowing me to work on this full time. So I’d rather keep a steady pace while it’s still possible.

As I get more xp in painting backgrounds and learn all the ShB character designs, it should become easier for me. Currently I’m fumbling through a new field, so please bear with me :’D

Back to the main topic: I came up with and scrapped at least 2 ideas of the transition between ARR and ShB, the timeskip was always planned, but Vivi needed some more introduction still. Current iteration of Exarch “interviewing” the Scions seems the most fun and creative to me.

Also, tea parties with Urianger and Feo Ul :> They’re his only two friends in my hc, Urianger he purposely revealed himself to, and Feo Ul, merely being a soul in a sparkly shell, can see Exarch’s soul as well, hoods are useless. All while they’re somewhat reliable, truly the paragon of pixies who wouldn’t randomly spill his secrets (probably).

Vivi’s a mirror. Every single one of us is, to some degree. We react and adapt to the way the others treat us, and so does Vivi. Unintentionally, of course. It’s a natural “passive trait”. All the Scions except Urianger (for the same reason he managed to trick the pixies, he’s just a special smartass) see their reflections in Vivi, direct or warped.

Y’shtola is basically this:

Can’t promise equal amounts of screentime for all the Scions, but the twins and Thancred are the closest to Vivi, you’ll definitely see more of them.

He’s 26 now, which is still rather young by the elezen standards, and he’s way too tired (tm) probably like most WoLs at this point in time.

Maybe not of life itself, but he’s definitely sick of the Source and all its inhabitants. For all he cares, this place can go to hells.

His state just so happens to be perfect for the isekai love story that awaits him. How did he get there? I know, you’ll have to stick around until I deem it appropriate to drop some flashback episodes. I’m leery of loredumping too early on: firstly, you current readers will get more invested over time, therefore have more fun learning about him at a later point; secondly, I’m personally not a fan of tragic backstories right in yo face, before the main story gets a chance to breathe. And, mind you, Vivi’s past isn’t even THAT tragic, just, well.. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes \o/

In this episode I wanted to show his practical approach to things. He may possess an Echo, Blessing, soul stone and whatnot else, but gotta stick a good ol’ dagger in a boot just in case. He’s a doubter, just a tiny bit paranoid.

Also he has The Chair (tm) where he dumps clothes on. His room in the Rising Stones looks vague for now because we indeed don’t return there for years in real time, I don’t need to spend my energy on designing this room in detail just yet.

Most items don’t hold any special meaning, he simply prepares for a journey into the unknown. Well, there’s the journal he dumps his cringy thoughts in, and doodles sometimes. The trinket he holds here is a Princess Ai easter egg:

I talked about Vivi’s character influences and inspirations here if you haven’t seen yet C:

Exarch’s glorious meltdown does a good job averting eyes from Feo Ul being right there in the beginning of the episode 14, but yeah they’re present not for no reason :>

Mentally he’s still in the msq cutscene.

Gotta mention that there’s no amnesia, insanity, or other sad brain fuckery ever in this comic. Vivi’s head’s made of dense and sturdy stuff x’D

Just a meme I made because I had to :>

There isn’t much Deep Meaning in this episode, the visuals speak for themselves, and I’m DAMN PROUD of them.

We don’t see Exarch in this moment ingame, so I took my creative liberty to illustrate the range of emotions he goes through in like 5 minutes before finally rushing out to meet his hero in person, forgetting that he can teleport at will (yet another hc of mine) anywhere in the Tower’s vicinity, and doing so on foot.

That’s it for now, thank you for reading this and enjoying Fragments C:

[marvel1012]

Sins of the Father - Pt. 3 "Sam"

Synopsis: AU 3rd season episode of The Bear. Carm makes a startling discovery, and must navigate the fallout.

Warnings: cursing, mostly

Word count: 3,170

Author's note: The epic conclusion to our saga! Enjoy!

Part 1 | Part 2

________________________________

It took Carm a week to put together a list of halfway houses in the greater Chicago area, and the better part of another week going building to building, looking for Sam. On his third try, he noticed the name “S. Morris” on the directory outside the door. Number 302. 

“No time like the present,” he whispered under his breath, and rang the buzzer. 

“Whaddya want?” His biological father’s tinny sounding voice coming through the ancient speaker. 

“It’s Carmen. I wanna talk.” 

Silence. Nothing happened. A breath, two breaths. Then, the sound of the door to the building buzzing. He quickly grabbed the handle and swung it open, stepping into the foyer. The room was illuminated by a single bare bulb hanging from the ceiling, and the dingy tile looked every bit as old as the intercom outside. One whole wall was composed of numbered mailboxes, and looking ahead, through a second door, he saw the stairwell. 

Of course he’d be in some shitty walk-up. 

Carm started the climb up to the third floor. By the time he reached the top of the third flight of stairs, his heart was pounding. Maybe he’d been skipping out on the gym a little too much lately. Apartment number 302 was the first door on the left from the top of the stairs. He knocked, and the door swung open a moment later. Sam didn’t say anything, just beckoned him inside. 

Carmen followed Sam into the shabby studio apartment, passing a tiny kitchenette to their right as they made their way to the combo living and sleeping area. When they got to the end of the short hallway and emerged into the open space, two things struck him simultaneously– the place was mostly empty, practically devoid of furniture and personal items, but the walls were covered with some of the most breathtaking still-life drawings he’d ever seen. He actually gasped as he took them all in. There were a few figures, mostly bare backs and disembodied hand studies, but what really grabbed his attention were the more traditional pieces. Over by the window, shiny fruit spilling out of a bowl onto a table, and there, a vase filled with exquisite flowers, their petals so detailed they seemed like they could pop right off the page. 

Sam realized he had stopped in the doorway, so he turned. He followed Carm’s gaze to the walls and nodded, “Oh, yeah. Those. I used to doodle a lot as a kid, but I picked this up while I was away. The prison library actually had a book about drawing fruit and shit like that, if you can believe it. I think it kept me from goin’ crazy,” he smirked and shook his head, “well, crazier.” 

Carmen was at a loss for words. All his life, he’d wondered where his talent for art had come from. Growing up, Donna had yelled at him for spending his time in class drawing instead of taking notes. Mikey and Richie had teased him mercilessly about his clothing sketches. Nat had liked to look at his drawings, but the best she could ever manage were stick figures with circles for heads and birds in flight that looked like stretched out M’s. Now a long held, secret hunch had been proven right in the most shocking and unexpected way. He’d always wanted to believe that he’d inherited his artistic gifts from Jerry. Now he knew the talent had come from his father, just not the one he thought.  

Carmen realized Sam was watching him, waiting for some kind of response. He pressed two fingers to his lips and nodded, “I draw some, too. Your stuff is good.” 

The corner of Sam’s mouth twitched up in a smirk at the complement. He walked over to a cheap black futon pushed into a corner against the far wall. Apparently he had been using an overturned plastic milk crate as an end table and nightstand– he quickly cleared off the top and moved it out into the middle of the room, then he settled onto the futon and indicated that Carm should have a seat on the crate across from him. “Have a seat.” 

Carmy did as he was told. The sharp plastic on the bottom of the crate pressed through the fabric of his pants and into his skin as he settled onto it. His nerves were jangling and tight, and he couldn’t help but bounce his right foot rhythmically against the side of the crate. He slid a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, craving a smoke to clear his mind, but before he could get the cig to his mouth, Sam shook his head. “You can’t smoke in here, there are rules.” 

Carm sighed and returned the cigarette to the pack, stuck the pack back into his pocket. Now what? “I, ah, did what you said.” 

“What’s that?” 

“I went to see my mom. I asked her about you.” 

Sam’s eyebrows flashed. “Oh, yeah? She give you an earful?” 

“Guess you could say that.” He bit his lip, peeling a little bit of chapped skin off with his teeth, not really sure how to proceed. “She, ah, said you guys had a one night stand, and that’s how, well, I mean,” he trailed off, visibly uncomfortable at the implication. 

Sam was staring intently, enjoying watching Carm squirm. A cold grin spread across his face. “That’s what she said, huh?” He sucked his teeth, laced his fingers around the back of his head and leaned into the futon, stretching out fully and crossing his ankles in front of him.

“Did you believe her?” 

“Huh?” 

“Don. Did you believe her story? About me?” 

Carmen pursed his lips. He didn’t like the sound of his mom’s nickname coming out of this stranger’s mouth. He decided to let it go, this time. “Maybe some of it? But not really.” 

Sam nodded, still smiling. “So you came to me. You wanna know what really happened.” 

This jagoff is having the time of his life. What a sick fuck.

Carm shrugged, “Sure.” Who else could I ask? 

The older man sniffed and shrugged back. “Alright, here’s the deal. Jerry and I worked together for a while, before he opened the restaurant but right after he, Jimmy, and Lee started the KBL front,” he chuckled, “talk about the three stooges, amiright?”

Carm just stared, nonplussed. 

“So, ah, anyways, your mom helped out in the office sometimes, doin’ billin’ and shit, I dunno. I didn’t really care, all I remember is she had cans like you would not believe. And those skirts she would wear, with the panty hose? That little black line up the back of her calf? Jeeezus fuckin’--” 

“Hey! I get it. I get it, alright? That’s my mom.”

Sam cleared his throat. “Well, let’s just say she knew what she was doin’. We were together for months before you came along. Jerry made it sooo fuckin’ easy, too. He was always runnin’ from job to job, tryin’ to look legit while he was screwin’ around with those other two assholes, playin’ at bein’ gangsters. Ha! Ain’t that some shit. Fuckin’ Jimmy is Polish.” 

Carm rolled his eyes, tried to steer the conversation back to the point. “So my Da– Jerry. He didn’t know?” 

“Fuck, no. I mean, he figured some of it out when Don got knocked up. By that point they hadn’t touched each other in so long, he knew she was fuckin’ around on him with somebody. Had ta be.”

“And then what?” 

“Yer mom had you. And you came out lookin’ just like me.” That soft, malicious laugh again. “I couldn’t believe it, you had my eyes and everything. Right there in fuckin’ Jerry Berzatto’s face. You were like a blinkin’ neon sign, kid.”  

Carmen felt his chest tightening up. He really didn’t want to have a full blown panic attack in front of this douche bag. He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. 

“And?” 

Sam unlaced his hands and sat forward on the couch, arms draped over his knees. He was leaning in toward Carmy now, studying him. It felt like being sized up by a man eating lion. 

“He couldn’t fuckin’ handle it. He tried to take care of you for a while, and Don told me to get lost. She wanted to fix things, she said. I think we all know how that went.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean, Jerry couldn’t cut it. There you were, a tiny reminder of what Donna and I had done. He finally had enough of her bullshit, I guess. And you were just the straw that broke the camel’s back.” 

Carm’s brows furrowed. “What are you saying?” 

“Kid. Come on. You’re related to me so I know you can’t be that fuckin’ dense. You’re the reason Jerry finally left. He had put up with so much from Don over the years, hand to God the dumb fuck tried, but in the end it wasn’t enough. With a broad like Donna, it never is.” 

Oh, shit. It was happening again. Carmen pressed a fist to his sternum and stared at that singular point, trying to focus on his breathing. Not right now, don’t do this now. 

“Y-you’re…that’s not…” 

“Not true? You think I’m lying? Why would I? Jerry Berzatto was a sleaze bag and a criminal that let another man fuck his wife for months, then he split when he couldn’t deal.” Carm couldn’t see it, but Sam was rubbing his fingers across his top lip, considering his next words carefully. 

“When I saw what a shit show that house turned into, after he left, I knew I had to take you away from it. Away from her.” 

All at once, the world screeched to a halt. Carm sat there, frozen, burgeoning panic attack stalled out, so still he didn’t even bother to breathe. Finally, he looked up at Sam from under his mop of curls. Their eyes met, and there was that predatory stare again. 

“You– what?” Carmen whispered. 

“I tried to take you away from all that– that– chaos, that Don created for everybody around her. I know you don’t remember any of that, you were so little, but when Jerry left, shit really hit the fan. And I wasn’t gonna just walk away. No fuckin’ way. You were mine.” 

“You– kidnapped me?” 

“That’s what they put me away for. Even tacked on an extra 15 years, because I had a gun under the passenger seat of my car. I never fuckin’ touched the thing, forgot it was even there. Shitass detectives doubled my time over that stupid gun. Aggravated kidnapping my lily white ass.” 

Carm was still struggling to process the idea that his birth really had caused the destruction of his parents’ marriage, a confirmation of the guilt that had hidden all these years in the darkest recesses of his heart. The news that his biological father had kidnapped him just wouldn’t compute. He didn’t know what to say. He ran his hands through his hair and held his head practically in his lap. 

Sam kept talking, trying to fill the loaded, awkward silence. “I slipped into the house one afternoon. Donna was passed out on the couch, she didn’t even realize I was there. You were napping in your crib, so I just picked you up real easy and carried you out to my car,” this time, his smile was kinda sad, “I even had a car seat for you. Me. A fuckin’ car seat.” 

“How did I—?”

“Get back home? Jerry.” 

Carmy’s head snapped up, his eyes wide with surprise. “My dad?”

The older man’s expression darkened. “Jerry. When Donna woke up and couldn’t find you, she called him. He knew what kind of car I drove, so he reported you missing and gave the cops a description of you, me, and the car. Pulled us over on the I-94.” 

“My dad– saved me?”

Sam leaned over and poked Carmen hard in the chest. “Jerry Berzatto is not your father! I am your father, you call me Dad now.  You’re mine and we belong together. We always have! You’re not like them, and you know it.” 

Carm absentmindedly rubbed the sore spot on his upper chest where Sam’s finger had dug into his skin, barely paying attention to the other man’s proximity. His eyes were fixed on a sketch on the wall, a hand study– he knew it was impossible, but he could almost swear they were Donna’s. Donna’s hands on Sam Morris’s wall. 

And still, Sam kept talking. “We should have been together all of those years. You and me, kid, we’re two of a kind, I just know it. But we can be that way now, Carmen. Make up for lost time. You and me, we don’t need anybody else. You don’t need Don, or Natalie, or that little prick Richie that was always hangin’ around your house,” he gently reached out to cup Carm’s cheek, turning his head so they were face to face once more, “let me be your family now, Carmy.” 

From somewhere in the dimmest shadows of distant memory, there was a flash of something, some impression that he could barely put his finger on. It was the vague notion of a voice, and the smell of cooking grease, sweat, nicotine. Strong arms holding him tight and the voice was saying, “Carmy Bear”. No, wait, maybe it was “I gotcha, Carmy Bear.” 

“Carmy Bear,” he breathed. 

“Huh?” Sam looked confused, not entirely sure what he’d heard. 

“Carmy Bear.” Carmen slapped Sam’s hand away from his face and jumped to his feet. “My name is Carmen Berzatto. I have a family, and I don’t need anything from you.” 

Sam stood now too, looming a full head taller than his son. “You don’t belong in that family and you know that’s the truth. Every time Jerry looked at you, he saw me. Every time Donna looks at you, she sees me. They took care of you, but they don’t love you like I do, Carmen.They never have, and they never wi–” 

Carm shoved Sam hard in the chest, knocking him back onto the futon. He sat there, momentarily stunned, as the younger man stood over him, practically shaking with rage. “You think you’re smart because you exploited the weakness in another man’s marriage? You think there’s something special about you because you took advantage of someone who was lonely and sick? You think you’re some kind of fuckin’ hero because you stole a child?” 

“Carmen, I-” 

“No! You’re nothing to me! Nothing!” He turned away from his father and ran his hands through his hair again, drowning in the waves of emotion breaking over him– anger, sadness, longing, love, hope, and pain. 

Sam was saying something, but Carmy was too far away to listen. He was suddenly overcome with scenes from his childhood, flashing before his eyes like one of those old photo slide shows. 

He was 8. A brief period where Donna was completely sober. The smell of blueberry pancakes on the kitchen table before they left for Mass. Her smile. 

He was 10. Hiding behind some bushes in the backyard after they switched Lee’s ginger ale with mouthwash— Nat’s dark blue eyes shining in the afternoon sun as she kept a hand clapped over her mouth, trying so hard to be quiet and not to giggle. 

He was 14. The first time Richie called him “Cousin”. 

He was 17. Cooking with Mikey, helping him perfect the spaghetti recipe that they’d use at The Beef. Laughing at his crazy stories, experimenting with flavors, not a care in the world. 

He cut Sam off mid-sentence. “I know who I am. And I know where I belong.” He turned to face his father. “I never want to see you again. Stay out of my life, or I’ll make you wish I had never been born.” 

“Mission fuckin’ accomplished,” Sam spat. 

“Fuck you,” Carm muttered as he marched out of the apartment. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do if Sam pursued him, but thankfully that didn’t happen. He practically ran down the stairs and through the foyer, hitting the push bar with enough force that he stumbled onto the sidewalk. Once he’d recovered his balance, he shoved his hands in his pockets and marched toward the train station, breath misting in the chilly air. 

__________________________________________________________

When the doorbell rang, Pete and Natalie gave each other puzzled looks across their dining room table. Nat’s eyebrow raised in a silent question, and Pete shrugged. “I’ll go check.” 

He definitely wasn’t expecting to see Carmy when he opened the door. He smiled, clearly thrown. “Oh, hey Carm. Uh, whaa–what’s up?” 

Carmen still had his hands jammed into his pockets, and he didn’t return Pete’s smile, only gave him an apologetic shrug. “Hey Pete. Is Nat here?” 

“Sure, yeah, she’s in the kitchen feeding Antonia her lunch. Come in.” 

As the pair turned the corner into the eat-in kitchen with Pete in the lead, he tried to cover the awkwardness of the unannounced visit by acting excited. “Hey, look who’s here, Nat! Carmen dropped by!” 

From her perch in front of her daughter’s high chair, Natalie looked up, swiping a strand of hair out of her face and inadvertently leaving a smear of sweet potato baby food on her forehead. She was so surprised to see her little brother that she didn’t even notice. 

“Carm? What’s wrong? Is everything okay at the store?” 

Carmen made a simmer down gesture with his hands. “Yeah, everything’s fine, Sugar. I just needed to see ya.”

Well attuned to the usual antics of his wife’s family members, Pete could immediately sense some Berzatto drama incoming. He headed over to grab Antonia. “We’ll just go, and leave you guys to it.” 

“No, Pete, if it’s alright, I’d like her to stay. And you, too.”  

Pete glanced at Nat, who gave the tiniest of nods. He settled into one of the dining chairs. 

Carmen reached down and picked up his niece. Cradling her to his chest, he inhaled deeply. She smelled like Johnson’s baby shampoo and sweet potato puree. As she looked up into his face, he could see so much of Pete in her features, but her earnest expression was all Sugar. He smiled down at her, just taking her in for a second, and then sat down in the nearest chair. 

Natalie could tell there was something weighing on him. And it was freaking her out. She saw Carm looking stressed all the time at work, but this was different. Whatever this was, it was really heavy.  

She leaned toward him, that same serious look on her face that Antonia had. “Carm. Are you okay?” 

Carmen looked from his niece, to his brother-in-law, to his sister, and nodded as if he’d just made up his mind. 

“Sug, there’s somethin’ I gotta tell ya.” 

Fade to black, credits roll…

[merakiui]

I was reading through your tags and you mentioned at some point the kazuscara roommates finding your onlyfans and I think I completely combusted—thus i present to you my brain rot of late: you attend the same school as them but you’re not actually friends, all you know about kazuha is that he’s the friendly regular at the cafe you work at, who makes polite conversation every now and then but otherwise is nothing of note. In reality he’s been stalking you for weeks ever since your first encounter, and is dead set on the idea that you’re this innocent, weak thing that needs to be protected (maybe he stepped in when you had a bad customer and your meek reply helped fester his delusions?). Scara, on the other hand, is only aware of your presence since you’re his favourite cam model that he recently found. (Since he’s a harbinger he’s probs loaded) Weeks of funnelling money towards you cause him to feel this unwarranted possessiveness, believing that since he’s been providing so much in your “relationship” that it’s time you reward him in turn. However, despite the unbridled interest they have toward you neither are aware of each other’s feelings for you— that is, until you happen to run into the both of them heading to your class. While both are known for maintaining their stoic masks, they’re friends for a reason— and instantly can tell the attraction their roommates have towards their own “lover”. After kazuha finds your onlyfans he’s certain that you’ve been coerced and wants to save you, while scara thinks it’s time that he’s stopped letting other plebeians look at his possession—so, despite their initial reservations, come together to form the ideal plan. When you find yourself waking up groggy in a room you don’t recognize, all they can do is look on with glee whilst planning their next course of action with their new belonging. They’re friends after all, and good friends share though, don’t they?

This is v long srry lol you can ignore this ofc!!

AAAH, ANON!! YES!!! <3 I couldn’t resist writing more on this concept. orz They make for such a terrifying pair when they work together!

(cw: yandere, stalking, nsfw, implied kidnapping/drugging, unhealthy behaviors/relationship, delusional thoughts, savior complex, implied violence)

What if Kazuha and Scara were just acquainted with one another and actually became closer through their mutual obsession with you? Yes, they’re roommates and ought to get along because they’re living together but they haven’t exactly clicked yet. They talk every now and then and know little things about each other. Nothing too special. They don’t really hang out outside of their dorm either, what with their class schedules being vastly different. And Kazuha’s always out of the dorm doing who-knows-what. Most of his time is spent at a café, where he’ll write and read and stare at you while you work. On the other hand, Scara prefers to stay inside if he doesn’t have a good reason to go out. He likes his alone time. Although he has enjoyed going to the library every now and then to study.

So maybe they need to find some common ground. Maybe they need a push in the right direction before they get closer.

Kazuha likes to stare. Talking to you is great, but he worries he’ll say too much and then he’ll be a nuisance, or you might not want to talk to him at all since you’re working. But you always regard him with a warm smile, happy to scribble his name on the plastic cup because you remember him. Because you recognize his familiar face and soft, gentle eyes. He’s the one who saved you from that rude customer, after all, and he’s a polite regular. Why wouldn’t you know him? You might look like you can handle those types of situations, but what Kazuha saw that day was something entirely different. You were nervous—so soft-spoken and scared. He absolutely has to protect you from those kinds of people now, doesn’t he?

And he does exactly that. He’s your second pair of eyes—your valiant knight in shining armor—who sees and hears all. Sometimes he goes to the café with the intention to simply watch over you and make sure no one’s bothering you. He can recall one time when a customer was speaking rudely about you because her drink hadn’t been prepared in a ‘timely manner.’ In reality it’s impossible to make a drink within a few seconds, especially when you’re already preoccupied with making another customer’s drink. She must’ve woken up on the wrong side of the bed, or maybe she’s just a hateful person in general. You didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of such fiery insults, though.

Her eyes just can’t see your perfection and therefore she does not deserve to see out of them.

Kazuha’s willing to wrestle with all of this darkness if it means you’ll stay safe, oblivious, and pure. You’re like a defenseless kitten, unable to protect yourself from the scary world. He writes about you a lot in his journal; you’re his muse—someone who constantly shows up in poems and short paragraphs where he tries to describe what your dream date might be or what type of wedding you’d prefer. Things get darker the deeper you delve into his writings, where you’ll find entries in great detail. Kazuha writes a lot and he doesn’t even mean to. He just has to get all of his thoughts on paper before they abandon him and he’s left with emptiness.

Everything you do is pure; you’re almost an equivalent to a holy being. Your smell is pure. Your body is pure. Your actions are pure. Your smile is pure. Even when you’re on the verge of crying from harsh customers or when you’re turning down a confession, you’re still pure. And Kazuha likes that about you because it’s special. There aren’t many people in his life who are completely pure. He’s been through a lot of rough things and has seen firsthand how impure people can be. It’s only fair that he gets a chance to protect purity itself.

He might have some impurities, but that doesn’t deter him from watching over you. As gentle and unassuming as he is, there are times when even he loses his composure. Not many are privy to these dark emotions of his. His smiles are sharp and venomous and his eyes fill with a gloom so dark it can swallow you whole. You’ll never see this side of him; he won’t allow it. Instead you’re treated to his sweet, calm side, where he feigns perfection in hopes of catching your interest.

As for Scara… He doesn’t really care about Kazuha in the beginning. He’s just someone he has to live with. It’s not a big deal and as long as he doesn’t try to make lots of pointless conversation everything will be okay. He prefers the peace and quiet, considering he’s acquainted with people who are far from peaceful and quiet. Scara’s relieved that Kazuha leaves the dorm so often because it gives him an opportunity to watch his favorite cam star’s most recent video. He’s your most loyal follower—someone who’s paid lots of money just to have access to the highest tier of rewards and such. He even got a private video where you addressed him and moaned out his name with lustful thoughts of him. Having lots of money comes in handy.

When he finds out that you go to the same school as him, he’s a little shocked. He didn’t expect you to be so close. You’re practically within touching distance. If only he knew your schedule. If only you were in one of his classes. It’s really annoying that he only knows your online presence and not who you might be in your personal life. The last thing he’s going to do is consult Childe, that popular athlete who knows literally everyone in the school for whatever reason. Surely he knows you. But he’ll die before he ever asks Childe for a favor.

Scara loves you out of every other cam model because you’re different. You’re not just trying to get fast cash. You’re genuine. You listen to your subscribers and their feedback. You do your best to improve and do even better streams than the previous ones. All of your hard work is overlooked by the other fools who watch your streams, but it isn’t overlooked by him. Scara appreciates your attention to detail and the way you’re able to hook him with your breathless voice alone. You’re very skilled at what you do, so it’s only fair you get paid for it.

But buying your services isn’t enough. It’s not a real relationship, but it certainly feels like it when he buys preferential treatment. Private shows, special requests, odd favors—you do it all because he pays for it. But this relationship isn’t going to be one-sided forever. You’ll have to pay him back in full eventually. Scara likes to think he has patience and that waiting is fine. It gives him more time to plan his next move—to figure out what he should do to finally have you all to himself. So that those private shows he watches through a screen can finally be real.

Scara finds the journal sitting innocently on Kazuha’s bed, its maroon cover and maple leaves pulling at his curiosity. He might not know everything about Kazuha, but he’d recognize this journal anywhere. His roommate almost always has it on his person. Scara wouldn’t be surprised if he slept with it. To say he’s curious would be absolutely correct. He can only wonder what Kazuha writes in that thing. Perhaps it’s just notes for a class. That’s what anyone would think, right?

Scara opens it and flips through the first few pages. They’re normal for the most part. Just a bunch of haikus and other useless scribbles. When he skips over some pages, he starts to find things that are far more interesting than poetry and doodles of cats. He finds the majority of the journal is comprised of information. More specifically, there are facts and other knowledge about you—the cam model he’s been obsessed with ever since he stumbled upon your onlyfans. He reads through as much of the journal as he can and instantly learns so much: your address, your roommate, your workplace, your friends’ names, names of any potential exes. The list goes on and on.

Scara doesn’t have anything against Kazuha. His first impression of him wasn’t anything groundbreaking. He thought he was a pushover at first. But now that he knows what this journal holds… Well, it sheds an entirely new light on his roommate.

Just days before Scara took a peek inside his journal, Kazuha discovers your secret online life. He snoops through Scara’s laptop when he steps out, having left it open and unlocked. He’s just trying to find what could have caught Scara’s interest, as he’s almost always glued to his laptop on specific days at specific times, with his headphones on and his gaze unyielding. He doesn’t intend to find the file of one of your private videos—something that was meant only for Scara’s eyes.

He clicks on the video out of interest. He’s not sure what he was expecting to see, but it definitely wasn’t this. Kazuha sits there and stares at the sight before him. You’re dressed in skimpy lingerie and you’re muttering the dirtiest things while coating your fingers in lube. And your hands are stroking a thick toy and you’re addressing Scara and you’re lining it up to your hole and— He shuts the laptop before it can get even more explicit than it already is. He’s so conflicted, fraught with a betrayal so strong it weighs his heart down.

Why would he have this sort of video on his laptop? Did you give it to him? Did he make you do this? Are you in danger? Are you still pure?

Kazuha can’t kill on campus. It’s way too risky and he’d be one of the first suspects if Scara’s body is found. Besides, it’s not like he has the full story. He doesn’t know whether or not Scara’s done something that’s worthy of death. You could just be in a tight spot. He knows how easily you give in when you’re under pressure. Maybe you’re just doing this because you feel like it’s the only thing you can do. Not to worry; Kazuha will save you before Scara can ruin your purity with his twisted fantasies.

They confront each other when the time feels right. Kazuha struggles to keep a smile plastered to his face for the sake of politeness, while Scara holds in his raging temper so that he can bear some semblance of cooperation. Neither of them is happy to hear that the other went through their stuff, but they force themselves to make up because a more pressing issue is at hand: their connection to you.

Kazuha says he’s your secret admirer. Scara says he’s in a relationship with you. There’s no way you’d ever date someone like Scara—Kazuha knows this for a fact. Yet he falters at the confidence in Scara’s tone. That can’t be the truth, right? Despite this, Kazuha still strikes up an offer: If they work together to get what they both want, they’ll be unstoppable. With Scara’s riches and his influence and Kazuha’s charisma and clever thinking, they can easily get their hands on you. Of course this means they’ll have to share, but it’s not a big deal when they’re already in so deep. They both know the other’s secret; now they’re swearing to keep it in the pursuit of having you all to themselves. And luckily Scara agrees to the deal, but that doesn’t give Kazuha a reason to lower his guard.

However despite how well they work together when it comes to planning the kidnapping and actually executing it, they both have their own reasons for wanting you. Scara wishes to make his relationship with you a reality—to toss aside the screen that once held him back and finally do all of the things he could only do in his dreams. Kazuha seeks to protect your fragile heart, lest you crumble under Scara’s intense way of doing things and cling to him for salvation. You can’t do those sorts of things with Scara; he won’t allow it. Your purity is meant for him and no one else.

But sharing is caring and some have to learn that the hard way. It definitely brings Kazuha and Scara closer together, even if neither of them will admit it. If they look past their desires, they can be friends. And soon enough they’ll have to accept this new friendship if they want to avoid any unnecessary complications.

However there are times when they’ll cooperate in order to do things with you. They’re a packaged deal you can’t get rid of.

[astaroth1357]

Demigod MC Series: Athena

So. I have to deal with the virgin goddesses… By mythos, there really shouldn't ever be children of Artemis, Hestia, or Athena (yes, Athena was a virgin goddess). PJ got past that by making it canon that Annabeth and her siblings were born from cracking open Athena's skull (yes, that's also more or less the canon explanation). They gloss over it real quick but I remember, Rick. I've always remembered and that mental image has haunted me for years...

I can't, in good conscience, ignore the history around Athena's worship (call it an academic restraint) but I REFUSE to do the skull thing. So, since I make the rules here, I'm going with magic adoption. They still get magic powers, they're just more human than demigod. Cool? Cool.

Demigod MC Series: Intro, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hades, Dionysus, Demeter, Athena

Lucifer

The human that popped out of the portal seemed to have enough sense not to attack everyone in the room for a change, but even Lucifer could tell that was more of a strategic choice than for lack of ability...

Their very existence was highly unusual… and quite worrisome. He wasn't even aware Athena could have "children" of her own, but apparently she had been taking in some particularly bright humans to raise and train like her own...

Unbeknownst to him, a surprising amount of human scholars, diplomats, and generals have her to thank for their trade… and that alone should speak to the level of intrigue at play here. 

Was this an accident or Athena's attempt to plant an Olympian spy in the Devildom too…? Either way, he didn't trust them from the get go…

Look, Lucifer isn’t stupid. Athena is a goddess of Wisdom and War and war happens on more than just the battlefield… 

Since they've shown up records have been going missing, official documents keep getting misplaced, and he swears that there's some kind of bug in the student council room...!

It's infuriating watching the MC suck up to Diavolo when he's almost certain that they're running their own agenda behind the scenes! And he can't prove any of it!! They cover their tracks too well!

Lucifer has one of those corkboards covered in newspapers and string in a secret wing of the Castle - 100% dedicated to just tracking the MC's activities…. The longer they're there, the more obsessed he becomes...

He swears between Simeon, Solomon, and MC he feels like a shepherd wondering why the sheep are growling… The Devildom has never been in more danger than it is right now... Send help.

Mammon

To be honest, he kind of thought that they were just going to be Satan 2.0 but that's not really true.

They're more than just a book sponge! Though they do read, like a lot. Let’s just say from one schemer to another… Game recognizes Game.

They come up with plans and ideas soooo fast, it’s insane! Honestly, there are times where he has a new money-making plot and he just brings it to the MC first to run it over. 

Nine times out of ten, not only do they sniff out any problems but they have a solution for him in a matter of minutes! His scheme game has been on point since they’ve shown up!!

They’re also even better tutoring than Satan is, so he’s even managed to get a couple A’s for the first time in his life! Lucifer actually told him he was proud (which he secretly recorded and now uses as a ringtone much to his brother’s regret...)

So yeah, he likes them... buuut that doesn’t keep him from thinking they act a little weird sometimes... 

Mammon: *points to a unused tower close to the RAD building* Over there is the Tower of Sorrow. We use it for storage.

MC: Ah. Interesting… *starts writing in a notebook, muttering* It may need a few minor tweaks but the location is defensible...

Mammon: *stops* Ya say somethin’?

MC: *looks back up* Nope! Say, you’ve been to the Castle a lot haven’t you? Do you know any good ways in?

Mammon: Uhm… Why do ya want to know that…? *starts looking around for Lucifer*

MC: In case of emergencies. I like being prepared. 🙂

Mammon: Look, I don’t know what Lucifer might’a told ya…

MC: I’ll pay you a thousand Grimm for it.

Mammon: Well shit, ya want those maps with or without color?

... Yeeeah, that’s pretty weird… But it’s probably fine. I mean, as long as they keep giving him money, who’s he to complain? 🤷‍♀️

Leviathan

Also thought that they’d be a lot more like Satan but was pleasantly surprised that they were into more than books.

What else did they like exactly? Military strategy!!

It’s been a looong time since he’s been able to talk to someone who’s actually interested in all the battles he’s fought, both in the Celestial Realm and the Devildom, and their curiosity is kind of flattering...! Not a lot of people take his strategic prowess all that seriously anymore...

Plus, they are the BEST partner to have any turn-based strategy game. Hands down. He once got stuck on a level of D-COM for weeks until the MC walked in and mopped the floor with the AI!! They have a serious head for probability and tactics.

The House once made the mistake of letting these two be on the same team during a Hell Game and they absolutely demolished the competition. Mammon didn’t even get a single shot off before half his team was lost to a rigged paint grenade… It took a whole day to clean up… 

However, Levi’s also noticed some odd things about the human… He likes that they’re interested in his past but maybe they’re a little… too interested?

Levi: -and that’s how we defeated the Four Horsemen before they escaped from Purgatory. 

MC: Wow, Levi that’s seriously impressive!! *furiously scribbling on a notebook*

Levi: Well t-thanks… 😅 But, uhm... are you writing that down…?

MC: Hm? Oh no, just doodling. *they lift up the notebook to show a bunch of cute little sketches on the page… and not the magic-based invisible ink all over them…*

Levi: Oh you draw too? Can you do fanart???

MC: Eh, sometimes. But say Levi, can you tell me about your naval ranks again? I’m still really curious… *gets the pen ready again with a smile*

Satan

Oh, it's been a long game of cat-and-mouse between these two… and unfortunately, it’s been pretty addicting too.

He honestly had every intention of tricking the human into making a huge mess do he could bother Lucifer, but at every turn they proved just a hair too clever for him...

He once gave them a cursed book to “lend” to Lucifer, but they saw through it the moment they touched it and lifted the spell before handing it over.

He rigged a podium to spray glitter during one of Lucifer's speeches but the MC disconnected the trigger mic before he even got on stage. It was pretty dang frustrating...

At one point he got so desperate that, just as a test, he tried to trap them in the House's Music Room. Fortunately for them, it only took a few minutes to work out an escape. They even passed by him in the hallway with a wink!

It's confounding! It's infuriating!! 

...and it's so damn sexy... He should be furious but he’s just in awe!!

Add on that they know their art, literature, and multiple different crafts thanks to the tutelage of their adopted mother and that’s it. He’s finished. This boy is in love.

Truthfully though, a part of him is 90% sure that they’re also gathering state secrets… Like, they’re watching Barbs and Diavolo far too close for comfort - but he just can't bring himself to care. 🤷‍♀️

The MC could walk into his room one day and say, "Hey, do you want to help overthrow the monarchy with me?" and he dreads it because deep down he knows that he wouldn’t say no…

Take some notes, kids. Some bad influences get you to drink or do drugs. Others pull you into a centuries long conspiracy to destabilize and topple rival realms from within… But he has fallen for their brain hard. Devil help them all…

Asmodeus 

They’re pretty clever, he’ll give them that, but uh… Are they a little off to anybody else?

Asmo is a charmer by birthright so he has a bit of nose for when someone’s just a liiittttle too nice… Not much of a nose mind you, because he can be thrown off by compliments himself, but enough to think that the MC might be a little too… “kind” for their own good...

First off, who wants to spend that much time with Levi?? They don’t even seem that interested in anime! They just keeping asking him for old war stories…

Then all the sucking up they do to Diavolo and Barbatos? Look, he gets it. Diavolo is a delicious piece of man-hunk and his butler could give him a lesson or two in sweet-talk (and he has), but they seem to be just a little too… nosy.

Of course, Asmo’s suspicions disappear pretty quickly after they start to spoil him with spa nights and beauty secrets they picked up from “casual research” into the subject.

And you know, get a little Demonus in Asmo and start massaging his back? Oh, sweetie he’ll sing like a bird!! … with gossip. Singing with gossip.

Asmo: So I’ve heard that Lucifer has been spending more time at RAD than usual… His whole club is talking about it, they think he’s meeting with some witch!

MC: Hm, is that so? *works on a knot near his shoulder blades* What do you think?

Asmo: Ooh~! Right there, MC! *purrs and lays his head on his arms* Well come on, this is Lucifer we’re talking about! I’m sure he’s just working.

Asmo: Hmm... though come to think of it, I think I heard him asking Barbatos for the spare keys to the Tower of Sorrow…

MC: Oh really? Huh. *works out the knot and gets up* I just remembered that I left some papers with Satan... I’ll be right back.

Asmo: You’re going already??

MC: *waves him off quickly* I’ll be right back, Asmo. *hurries out the door to do totally on-the-up-and-up things… surely*

Beelzebub 

Honestly he doesn't like this one… But not for the reasons you'd expect.

He agrees with everyone else that they seem a little shady, but Solomon and Simeon are too so it's not like that's anything new... 🤷‍♀️

No, no. He dislikes them because they're the person who FINALLY figured out how to keep him from eating all the food in the kitchen!!

Turns out that the trick was to put a teleportation charm on the fridge door that would send all the food away if it’s opened after a certain time of night… 

And where does it go? The Purgatory Hall fridge. And where does the Purgatory Hall food go…? The HoL fridge…

It doesn’t sound so bad until you remember that it means half of their fridge is now Solomon’s leftovers…. 🤢

After they put the same kind of spell on the pantry, it was all over… He couldn't get midnight snacks from the House anymore… Everything was contaminated by Solomon…

The MC is a nice enough person, he doesn’t have a lot of complaints about them, but he wants them to leave. Now. This is inexcusable… He’s so hungry… and he doesn’t want to die by “goulash” or whatever Solomon calls his latest culinary catastrophe… He’s still too young for death… 😓

Belphegor 

In a way, he absolutely could not have asked for a better person to help him get out of that attic.

… In another way, he got one of the worst possible people to try and kill... Like. They saw through his scheme sooo fast…

How was he supposed to know that the human had training in body language and sniffing out lies???

Getting the door open was a piece of cake for them. They knew enough magic to undo the seals and just rummaged around Lucifer's stuff long enough to find the key to the door. He could not have found a more competent individual for a break out, really.

It’s just… well he didn’t expect to go from locked in a room like a prisoner to tied up in enchanted rope, still like a prisoner but now mobile. 😑 

They even used his own hug ruse against him! They caught his wrists when they got close and tied him up before he could shake them off...

Admittedly, it wasn't exactly the best look for them either - what with walking Belphegor downstairs to the others like a one-man-prison-caravan but they're as silver-tongued as they are sly so they talked their way out of it beautifully… 

And like hell was he going to trust them after that!! And not even Beel liked them so something had to be up...

Well, you want a detective? Look no farther than Belphie (no seriously, it’s in the canon). He can put things together pretty fast when he puts his mind to it and watching the MC for a while gave him enough proof to work off of...

He always knew that, humans were bad news and the MC just proved it to him all over again. They are bad news, bad bad news and they’re going to-!

Overthrow… Diavolo…? Is that what he is getting from them…? Huh…

Wait a second, MC. You might just have him interested… 😏

[mizunetzu]

wait okay i have so many ideas you have no clue- okay so basically y/n is too scared to confess to either ushijima or shinsou (you decide lol) so he just puts love notes in his locker :)) but ushijima/shinsou catches him one day so he teases him about it but he liked y/n too so he lowkey confesses and its super fluffy i- 🥺🥺 i've had this idea for so long but i have no clue where to start writing it myself lolll

Guess who...took 4 months...to do Mr. Shinsoussimps request...not me...ahahaha...what are you talking about...BUT ANYWAYS IM SO SORRY MR SHINSOU PLS TAKE THIS FIC AS MY APOLOGIES

——————

Ushijima x reader - Secret Admirer Love Letter-kun!

⚠️warnings - none

Pronouns- male, he/him

——————

(Y/n’s) hands shook as he traced the linings of his love letter.

It had a red, heart-shaped sticker on the seal flap, with the words ‘To Ushijima-san’ written in royal purple across the back. The letter had slight crinkles from the shaky grip (Y/n) held it with.

His heart raced purely thinking about how Ushijima would react. Would he even react? Or would he just look at him with that blank stare and walk past him? Would he be ridiculed for being a man giving a love letter to another man?

Every single intrusive thought made (Y/n) want to tear up the letter and flush it down a toilet. Nonetheless, he stood next to Ushijima’s locker, waiting for him to appear.

His legs shook. His heart felt like it was going to explode out of his chest. He could physically feel the sweat running down his forehead. He was probably gaining stares from other students for standing near Ushijima’s locker and panicking silently.

All these ‘what-if’s’ was beginning to make (Y/n) second-guess his decision. Maybe he couldn’t do this after all...

No! He had to! He’s been harboring his feelings for Ushijima for years now, and he was getting nowhere! Even if it was rejection, and he certainly hoped it was not, he needed an answer!

Just as if right on cue, (Y/n) heard the familiar deep voice of Ushijima coming down the hall. He wasn’t saying much, but the accompanied grunts of acknowledgement to Tendou’s ramblings was enough proof it was him. Without thinking, (Y/n’s) panic took over him, shoving his love letter into Ushijima’s locker and dashing out of the way.

He blended himself in with the gaggle of students near their lockers, watching Ushijima as he opened his own locker.

“Ara?” Tendou cocked his head when the letter (Y/n) slipped in fluttered out. It landed on the floor gracefully. Ushijima bent over and plucked it off the ground.

“Our Wakatoshi~kun has a secwet admiwer?” Tendou squashed his face together and boared curious eyes into the heart-shaped sticker on the note. Ushijima grunted.

“It seems to be a love letter.” Ushijima’s low voice sent even more panic through (Y/n). He didn’t want to be there while he opened the letter. But here he was, 10 feet away from him as he carefully peeled off the heart sticker from the envelope.

Ushijima’s eyes silently scanned the letter, it’s meticulous, thought-out writing filling Ushijima’s eyes. The silence rang so, so loud to (Y/n), as he watched Ushijima read his love letter with his emotionless face.

After what seemed like forever, Ushijima lifted his head up from the note. (Y/n’s) heart stopped.

“It is a love letter.” (Y/n), and Tendou, deadpanned.

Tendou reached for the letter. “Fiiiiine, then let me see-!”

Ushijima pulled the letter away, raising it above his head and out of Tendou’s easy reach. He lowered the letter and cradled it to his chest.

“No. It’s mine.”

(Y/n’s) heart fluttered. Could this mean-?

“But it does, however, have no name.”

“Awh. Poor Wakatoshi-kun’s admirer must be rewwy shy~”

(Y/n) internally facepalmed. Of course he forgot to sign the note! Why wouldn’t he?! (Y/n) crinkled up his nose. He was still determined to get his feelings to Ushijima.

He turned around, and walked to class. The next day, for sure, he was going to give him a love letter with his signature on it this time.

——

(Y/n) stared down at his paper, then shifted his eyes to the alarm clock sitting tauntingly at his dorm room’s desk, with the bright red numbers 10:35 pm glaring so menacingly at him. Like it was telling him to hurry up and sign the new love letter he just wrote. (Y/n) re-read the letter on his desk for the 6th time that night.

Everything was perfect. It explained his feelings perfectly, explained how long he’d been smitten for him for, hell, he even doodled a small picture of Ushijima himself with a heart next to it in the corner of the page.

Everything was there, except his name.

Did he really want to put his name, though? I mean, (Y/n) saw how...endearing Ushiwaka’s face looked reading his original letter. What if he ruined that when he finds out it was him who wrote it? And not some cute girl?

(Y/n) stared at the empty space on the page where his name was supposed to go. His hand gripped his pencil tighter than he should’ve, and began to write.

‘(L/n) (Y/...’

He stopped. (Y/n) thought about it for awhile, then grabbed his eraser and scrubbed at the name until it was pristine white again.

‘Your secret admirer’

Was all he wrote.

He packaged up the note in another small envelope, pressed a cute little heart sticker to the flap, and went to bed.

——

The next day, (Y/n) made sure to rush to school early to slip the note in his locker. He wanted to see his reaction to his new note. It made him feel sorta high. What kind of face would he make? Would he be delighted? He hoped he would.

(Y/n) crammed the note into Ushiwaka’s locker. No one was around. Good. No one saw him shove the letter through, therefore no one could tell Ushijima it was him. (Y/n) sighed contently, and timpered off somewhere secluded, but somewhere he could still see Ushijima and his locker.

After scrolling on his phone for what seemed like an hour, he heard Tendou’s familiar voice, humming a strange song and trailing next to Ushijima. It was his daily indicator that Ushijima was near. If he could hear Tendou coming, almost 100% Ushijima would be there too. (Y/n) pocketed his phone quickly and peeked behind a row of lockers.

Ushijima silently unhinged his locker, listening to Tendou talk. However, they fell silent when another letter fluttered out from his locker, this time landing so perfectly in his hands.

“Ara ara? Another note from Admirer-chan?”

“Yes. But I know it’s a boy, Tendou.”

(Y/n’s) heart dropped. He watched as Ushiwaka peeled off the heart sticker once more, while continuing his conversation with Tendou.

“Oh yeah? How so?”

Ushijima stopped, and reached into his locker once more. He pulled out (Y/n’s) previous note, and pointed to a line of text scribbled on there so neatly. Tendou raised his eyebrow, and leaned down to inspect the note.

‘-Besides, there’s no way someone as amazing as you can like a guy like me. It’s weird right? I hope you don’t think it’s weird. But I wouldn’t blame you.’

“Ahhhh~ makes sense...” Tendou hooked his arms dramatically over the back of his head. “But do you? Does Wakatoshi-kun think Secret Admirer-kun is weird?”

Ushijima traced the two love letters with his eyes. “I think he’s brave.”

(Y/n) clutched his tightening chest. It suddenly became really hard to breathe. How was Ushijima being so unintentionally sweet?

Tendou cooed. “Awwww, Is our Wakatoshi-kun catching feelings for his Admirer-kun?”

Ushijima folded the two notes back into their envelopes silently. He said nothing to Tendou’s remarks, while gently placing the two love letters back into a safe spot in his locker.

(Y/n) brisk-walked away, flustered, before he could hear his answer.

——

Writing notes and hiding them in Ushijima’s locker became a sort of habit for (Y/n) in the past few weeks.

Every now and then, he’d write a short love letter signed “Your Secret Admirer” or “Admirer-kun” and slip it under Ushijima’s dorm room door or the cracks between his locker. It became an addiction of watching him unravel the note with the tenderness of an angel. For such a big dude, he held each love letter (Y/n) wrote him with such delicacy.

(Y/n) walked with a pep in his step as he arrived to the school building early, like he’d usually been doing. He’d recently been writing small letters, playground compliments like “I think you look nice today!” or “the way you play volleyball gets me all fired up!” but this was the first time in a while he wrote a good chunk of his feelings out.

At first he thought he would make Ushijima uncomfortable, but after many of his personal notes filled with the most wonderful explanations of his feelings, or rambling about dates he’d like to take him on, he’s grown more comfortable with it. Especially after seeing the teeny tiny, barely noticeable blush tinting his cheeks as he read them.

(Y/n) stopped in front of Ushiwaka’s locker. It was a familiar stop, after cramming in letter after letter inside for about a month or two now. It’s been so long that (Y/n) couldn’t even remember himself.

Just as his hand met with the cold metal locker to slip the note in, two hands slammed down on (Y/n’s) shoulders, effectively scaring him shitless.

“I’ve caught you! Secret admirer-kun!”

“Uwaaaah!”

Tendou made a show of flamboyantly pointing his lanky fingers at (Y/n), bending his back father then (Y/n) knew was possible in the process. (Y/n) jittered, swinging his hands in front of him while stuttering incoherently.

“I-it-its not-! It’s not wh-what it-! T-the letter-I was just-I-!”

“There’s no use for it now, Secret-Admirer (L/n)-kun! You’ve been caught red handed!” Tendou stuck his tongue out heartily while (Y/n) broke into a cold sweat. If Tendou kept yelling the whole damn school would hear him.

“I-I’m not the one leaving notes in Ushijima-kun’s locker! I was just-!”

“Oya? Then how did you know Wakatoshi-kun was gettin’ notes in his locker in the first place?” Tendou eyed him down half jokingly. (Y/n) sputtered.

“More importantly...” Tendou dramatically pointed to the envelope half-sticking out from the slits of Ushijima’s locker. “Whaaaaats that!?”

“That’s-!”

There was no use fighting Tendou on this. (Y/n) deflated, defeated and grasping on to the wall of lockers for support. “Uuuuu...”

“So, Secret Admirer-“

“S-stop calling me that! Just (L/n) is fine-!”

“-Secret Admirer-kun, what made you fancy our lovely Wakatoshi-kun?”

(Y/n) turned around, facing the locker as Tendou smiled his usual, Tendou-grin. (Y/n) didn’t wanna look at Tendou and his stupid knowing smirk.

“He’s just...I dunno, he’s just so-cool...and stuff...and he’s so nice...looking...”

“Ah, such sophisticated words-tell me, do you write all of this down in the letters you give him?”

“Hey!” (Y/n) whipped his head around.

Tendou chuckled, and part of (Y/n) wanted to smack him upside the head. Tendous laughter eventually died down, as he pretended to wipe a tear from his cheek. He looked back at (Y/n), who was blushing profusely and had his arms crossed.

“Phew...haha...” Tendou cleared his throat. He pointed straight at (Y/n). “Now, here’s some ultra wise words from Satori-sama!” He mimicked a fake drum roll on his lap, before pointing at (Y/n) again.

“Ja-jun~! You should Wakatoshi-kun how you feel about him!”

(Y/n’s) heart got stuck in his throat. “A-are you crazy! I could never! I-I’m not...I’m not...I’m scared..”

“Hm? But you’re not scared to write about how much you wanna kiss him alllllllll oveeeeeer-?”

“That’s different!” (Y/n) yelled, more quietly this time. He turned back to the locker, and tipped the rest of the note in sticking out inside the slit. The note disappeared through the gap, just like all of its predecessors. “Like this, I can tell him how much I love him without him knowing it was from me! What if he’s disappointed it’s me and not some other dude?”

“I’m veeeeeery sure he won’t be. But suit yourself, I guess.” Tendou shrugged. He turned around and left, but not before saying,

“But you’d better tell him yourself before he finds out from someone else.”

“Wait-what does that mea-“

(Y/n) looked back, only to find Tendou gone. (Y/n) stood there, perplexed, before dashing off to his own locker, so he wouldn’t be spotted near Ushijima’s.

——

Everyday when (Y/n) went to slip another note into Ushiwaka’s locker, Tendou’s words would ring in his mind.

‘You’d better tell him yourself before he finds out from someone else.’

He knew that. He knew that but he couldn’t stop himself from cowardly slipping notes into Ushijima’s locker, just to run and take cover as he opened them up. And one time he could swear Tendou was looking right at him in his hiding spot when Ushijima was reading one of his letter.

(Y/n) shook the thoughts from his head. That happened 3 days ago, and nothing happened. Tendou was probably just trying to scare him into telling him. Yeah. There’s no way anyone could’ve found out about him being Ushijima’s secret admirer.

He huffed and strode up to Ushijima’s locker, just like he did every time before that. No one was in the hallway. There was no footsteps, at least to (Y/n’s) knowledge, and Tendou wasn’t around with his booming voice. If (Y/n) could hear Tendou coming, chances are Ushijima was not too far behind.

Tendou wasn’t there. (Y/n) was safe. He smiled and rose the letter up to the slot in Ushijima’s locker. He slowly crammed the note in, slowly, slowly until-

Slam!

A large, calloused hand slammed against the locker, making (Y/n) jolt up in surprise. (Y/n’s) heart stopped beating. He felt someone lean against his ear, and then they whispered:

“So Tendou was right. You were the one leaving the letters in my locker.”

“Ushijima-kun-!”

(Y/n) whipped his head around by the speed of lightning, pressing himself against the locker wall as if he’d disappear into it. Stupid fucking Tendou! Of course he’d tell Ushijima!

Ushiwaka didn’t move from his spot in front of (Y/n). His arm outstretched on the wall beside (Y/n) didn’t falter either, making him blush even more. God, he wanted to disappear.

The letter, now hidden crudely behind (Y/n) sweaty back, was being smushed as he tried shrinking in on himself.

“I-I-“ (Y/n’s) mouth ran dry. “It’s not what it looks like-!”

“Hm.” Ushijima’s deep voice manage to startle (Y/n), despite being right infront of him. God, he was close. So close. He’s too close. Oh god, why is he so close?

Ushijima suddenly grabbed (Y/n’s) hand, making him sputter in surprise as Ushijima pulled it out gently. A letter with a red heart sticker on the flap was wedged in between (Y/n’s) shaky, sweaty fingers. Ushijima looked at the envelope, while (Y/n) averted his embarrassed eyes.

“...But it’s exactly what it looks like.”

Words perished in (Y/n’s) throat. If the locker would just open up and swallow him whole, now was the time.

Ushiwaka plucked the note out of (Y/n’s) hands, ignoring the small protests of (Y/n) himself. He tried to grab for the letter, but Ushijima held the envelope high above his head and grabbed at (Y/n’s) shivering wrists. (Y/n) squeaked.

“...why are you trying to grab it back if this letter was meant for me in the first place?” Ushijima looked oblivious to (Y/n’s) embarrassment. (Y/n) croaked. He didn’t even register what Ushiwaka said with how strong and warm his grip on his wrists were.

He didn’t realize Ushijima managed to peel off the heart sticker and fish out the note with his hand until he started reading the letter. His eyes scanned the words, even when (Y/n) quietly squirmed protestingly in his grasp.

“Mm.” Ushijima hummed. (Y/n’s) eyes widened when he realized what he wrote in today’s note.

‘Y’know, I think you’re really cool with how you’re so dedicated to your club. But maybe...one day we could grab a bite to eat after your club activities? Just you and me? And maybe if I’m lucky enough I just might get a kiss from the amazing Ushijima Wakatoshi-kun~’

(Y/n) wanted no more but to die then and there. Ushijima looked at (Y/n) with an unreadable gaze.

“Ah. So it seems in today’s letter, you would like to go out for food and kiss. I am free after club activities today at 6. Are you free at that time or must we reschedule?”

(Y/n) met Ushijima’s state with a confused face. He said nothing-he couldn’t say anything. All he could do was muster up a weak “w-wha..?”

“So...you are not free today...?” Ushijima’s face was normal, but he gave off the same vibe a sad, kicked puppy would. It was sorta cute. (Y/n) waved his hands around frantically in Ushijima’s grasp.

“N-no! That’s not it! I-I’m free! I’m totally free! I just-“

“You just what?” Ushijima cocked his head to the side bluntly. (Y/n) opened his mouth to say something, but let it clamp shut quietly.

(Y/n) averted his gaze. “Well...you don’t think it’s...weird that I was the one leaving you love letters?”

“But I already knew you were a man in the first place.”

“Still!” Ushijima was genuinely confused. (Y/n’s) voice died down a bit.

“Aren’t you...y’know...disappointed?”

Ushijima’s gaze never left (Y/n’s) eyes. “Why would I be disappointed?”

“I’m...w-well...it’s just...”

Ushiwaka placed his free hand on the other side of (Y/n’s) face, effectively trapping him in between his arms. Ushijima’s heavy gaze was too much to bear. (Y/n) instinctively averted his gaze away.

“You still haven’t given me a valid reason to be disappointed.”

“I-“

“You’re lovely, I believe you are very attractive, and you leave nice letters of encouragement in my locker everyday.”

“Wait-“

“I believe we both have feelings for each other. Therefore, I do not see why you are so hesitant on just doing what today’s lovely note said.”

“Ushi-“

“Is this just an excuse to turn me down? Were the letters not your true feelings? Because if so you just have to say so-“

“Ushijima-kun!”

(Y/n) rasped out between his fingers. He was covering his blushing face, and Ushijima didn’t know why until he realized his face was centimeters away from (Y/n’s). If it weren’t for (Y/n’s) hands cupping his face, they’d probably be able to kiss with one push closer.

“P-ple-please s-step back...”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Ushijima moved back, but didn’t quite move his arms from their positions on either side of (Y/n). He blinked. Silence engulfed them both, Ushijima bluntly staring at (Y/n) as he blushed and blushed into his hands.

Ushijima figured he should say something, and even open his mouth to speak when (Y/n) suddenly piped up, bringing his hands down from his face.

“I-I’m free...at 6...”

Ushijima blinked again.

“Ah. Today?”

“Yeah..!”

“Lovely. It is decided then. Will you wait for me at the gym after practice? If not I can pick you up from your dorm room.”

(Y/n) fought the urge to pinch his arm to see if he was dreaming or not. “I-I can meet you at the gym!”

Ushijima smiled gently, and that’s probably the first time (Y/n’s) seen him smile ever. It was so coaxing, relaxed and warm, (Y/n) wanted to take of picture of it and just stare at it for days. Ushijima let his hands fall to his sides. Not before giving a pat to (Y/n’s) head.

“It is decided then. It’s a date.”

(Y/n) had to remind himself to thank Tendou later.

——————

Lowkey this was so fun to write~ why don’t y’all leave some love in the comments because of that~~?

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 310: A Tale of Two Kacchans

Previously on BnHA: Flashback!Deku was all, “hey, you know what sounds like a good decision? Abandoning my studies at the safest place in the country so that the bad guy who wants to find me and kill me has literally nothing standing in his way of doing that.” All Might was all, “I fucking knew you were going to say some bullshit like that so whatever, but I’M COMING WITH YOU and I’m also going to invite the Hawksquad to come with us, mostly so that I can steal Jeanist’s car.” Jeanist was all, “okay fine you can borrow my car, All Might, but only if you wear jeans.” All Might was all, “okay sure” and he wore jeans and also sunglasses and a leather jacket and it was pretty rad. Anyway so now they’re out there fighting crime and hunting down the LoV and stuff, and absolutely none of it is going to end well, I’m just letting you know now. But I guess we’ll let them enjoy it while it lasts.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “happy belated Kacchan’s Birthday makeste, here’s the flashback you really wanted at long last,” and proceeds to pull the old vestige flashback out of the kitchen drawer and upend its contents all over my Friday afternoon without the slightest bit of warning. OFA III is all “WHAT’S UP I’M JUST SOME GUY, HELLO,” and okay?? Hello yourself. OFA II, on the other hand, is all, “okay yeah I have different hair and stuff, but I’m like 98% sure I’m either Bakugou or his goddamn twin, I mean look at me.” Which, yeah. I looked, and he really is though you guys. Anyway though, so he and OFA II basically just showed up in the First (who goes by Yoichi now)’s prison cell one day all “HEY THERE, WE’RE HERE TO SAVE YOU, APPARENTLY, ALTHOUGH WE SEEM REAL CONFUSED ABOUT IT TBH BUT HEY.” And so they saved him, and Yoichi was all “hey nice to meet you do you want to join my super-exclusive Saving The World Club”, and so they did, and then the chapter ended lol. I would have said yes too.

oh my sweet lord?? I didn’t realize we were getting a color page this week, but LOOK AT THIS

this could have been a fucking volume cover. I’m almost mad that it wasn’t, lol but I mean fkldjslklk just look at it??! Horikoshi out here spoiling us and making sure we’re well fed since next week the manga is on break for Golden Week. well this will certainly help to tide me over. hot damn look at those colors

so now it’s raining on some dumb building in the middle of somewhere

is this where the Hawksquad has set up camp for the night? or are we actually cutting back to the League? that’d be unexpected (but not unwelcome)

ffff nevermind dammit it’s just more random citizens under attack

feels like this is the third or fourth scene we’ve had of civilians being Under Attack since this arc started. I mean no offense, but I think we get it by this point. it’s the end times, etc. etc. we’re well aware that things have gone to shit

so apparently these two guys are facing off against a girl with a mutant quirk. and she’s telling them that she’s not a monster and she was just scared, oh shit. I believe her btw, you can see it in her face

but these assholes don’t believe her at all and they’re pointing what looks to be some type of support item gun at her

you know what’s interesting, is that this kind of random quirk discrimination is the exact kind of thing PLF and the like were swearing up and down they’d put a stop to with their glorious revolution. it’s almost like those guys were completely full of shit. huh

so yeah, fortunately for this woman someone is stepping in and intervening before she can be blasted to bits by this trigger-happy asshole for absolutely no fucking reason

looks like a hero actually stepped in and saved her?? but no that can’t be, heroes are the ones that ruin everything and make everything worse, or so I understand. lol where did all of this sarcasm come from out of nowhere dlkdsjlk I’m sorry guys I just suddenly got swept up in the hypocrisy of certain people’s philosophies out of the blue idek

anyway so it is of course Deku saving her, and now he’s trying to talk thess jerks down all diplomatically instead of just kicking their asses, which is certainly a choice

MOTHERFUCKER I’M

fucking impossible to miss the real world parallels here. shit. this woman nearly died for her crime of Walking While Having A Mutant Quirk huh. and meanwhile Deku is just letting this guy scurry away and even letting him keep that fucking bazooka of his, like, ????

fucking hell she’s crying!!

lmao this chapter is actively trying to make me mad now huh. that’s some genuine righteous anger I’m feeling on behalf of this fictional ferret lady whom I only met two minutes ago. girl you are not the one who needs to explain herself here!! you didn’t do anything wrong holy fuck. everything about this situation sucks so much

fkKJKLMMMHFGH

“I’m sorry I made you upset, please enjoy this panel of tiny!floating!Deku hefting this lady’s massive beach umbrella up for her like the fucking gentleman he is” well okay then thank you sir

and JUST LIKE THAT the tension is broken and I’m entirely incapable of taking the rest of this conversation seriously because Deku’s trying to be all calming and authoritative, but now the illusion has been broken because I know he only comes up to like her knees

“well thanks again for saving me young man. I’ll leave you to it, I’m sure you’ve got more important things to do like protecting your Lucky Charms cereal from all those greedy children”

oh hey All Might

you wouldn’t have just let that guy with the bazooka just walk away to commit more attempted murders would you?? man

OH MY GOD DEKU IS IMMEDIATELY DITCHING HIM AGAIN

I ~CANNOT STAY HERE~ oh, well, sorry to keep you detained I know you’re busy

dfslkjlk oh my god

fucking told you Deku didn’t pack any food lol. it’s literally all notebooks in that bag you guys. he couldn’t just leave them all in his dorm room when he left, because what if someone tried to read them and came across one of the pages where he absentmindedly doodled Kacchan’s name surrounded by little tiny hearts oh gosh

AWWWWW

I needed this Horikoshi. thank you for this wholesome soul-cleansing interaction after all of that bullshit earlier

so now Deku’s climbing up this tall building to eat his lunchbox more dramatically. Tokoyami would be proud

and Banjou is saying that society right now is just like in The Good Old Days (read: bad old days) when quirk society was even more of a mess than it is now

which is exactly how AFO likes it, no doubt

so now Deku’s having a whole conversation with Banjou seemingly out loud lol, weird. and he’s basically saying that they don’t have any clues as to where TomurAFO and the League are hiding right now, and none of the Tartarus escapees they’ve found knew anything either

mmmmmfmhm, marge simpson noises

but you think you can?? you, alone, by yourself?? you think you stand a chance?? I just need you to think this all through a bit more kid

Deku it is NOT JUST YOUR RESPONSIBILITY ALONE, PLEASE REALIZE THIS ALREADY. YOU MAY BE THE CHOSEN ONE, BUT EVEN THE CHOSEN ONE NEEDS HIS FRIENDS BY HIS SIDE GODDAMMIT

and of course my pleading is all in vain, because he’s a fictional character who can’t fucking hear me, and also because I’m pretty sure there’s only one character who is going to actually be able to get him to hear reason here. I’ve been saying it, and I’ll keep saying it lol. so until then I guess I’ll just have to be patient

anyway so it appears we’re segueing into another flashback??? HORIKOSHI PLEASE GIVE ME SOME BAKUCRUMBS BEFORE THE TWO WEEK BREAK, I BEG YOU

dlKSDJLFKWJELKGHSLGKLEKJLFKHLGK

YES, THANK YOU, I KNOW WHERE THIS FUCKING IS LOL, IT’S NOT LIKE I’VE BEEN OBSESSED WITH FINDING OUT WHAT HAPPENS IN THE REST OF THIS SCENE OR ANYTHING LMAO. BUT ANYWAYS DON’T MIND ME, YOU WERE SAYING??

oh my god oh my god I’m not readyyyyy, but also FUCK YEAH I AM SO FUCKING READY LOL LET’S DO THIS

YOU GUYS

I’M ABOUT TO STEP IN THAT ROOM AND YEET ONE OF THOSE FUCKING CHAIRS AT YOU ALL

NOOOOO

I’M ABOUT TO GRAB BANJOU’S GOGGLES AND STRETCH THEM OUT AND SNAP THEM BACK SO THEY SMACK THE SHIT OUT OF HIS FOREHEAD!!! IT’S WHAT HE DESERVES!!! I’M ABOUT TO MOVE TO JAPAN AND GET A JOB WITH DOORDASH AND FIND OUT WHAT HORIKOSHI LIKES TO ORDER FOR LUNCH SO I CAN BE THE ONE TO DELIVER IT SO THAT WHEN HE OPENS THE DOOR I CAN FINALLY ASK HIM “HEY WHAT THE FUCK” IN PERSON

AHHH NO EVERYBODY SHHHHH STOP TALKING!!!!

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL THAT PERSON SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS IN THE BACKGROUND TO SHUT THE FUCK UP, OH WAIT, THAT’S ME

(」゜ロ゜)」 щ(゜ロ゜щ)

LOL THIS FUCKING ASSHOLE!!! LOOK AT YOU!!! YOU’RE NOT KIRISHIMA OR SHINSOU OR IIDA IN A WIG OR ANYBODY LOL. YOU’RE JUST A DUDE. BROOOOO ABOUT FUCKING TIME, WHAT’S GOOD

I CAN’T SCROLL DOWN AHHHH BUT I HAVE TO BUT IT’S TOO INTENSE AHHHHHHH

I CAN SEE THE TOP OF HIS SPIKY HEAD, IT’S FINALLY THAT TIME AHHHHHHHH OKAY I’M GONNA DO IT HERE GOES

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

IT’S HIM. IT FUCKING REALLY FUCKIGN IS HIM OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. WHY AM I SO SHOCKED LMAO I’M THE ONE WHO’S BEEN SAYING THIS THE WHOLE DAMN TIME LMAO. OH GOD. O H MY FUCKING GOD

well okay then sir. so are you an ~ancestor~ or a Kacchan from another timeline or so what’s your deal then

YOICHI WHO IS YOICHI

YOICHI ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT’S UP. LMAO WHO IS YOICHI

(ETA: I’m going to punch myself in the face lmao. he’s Yoichi. he, the First. that’s his name. name reveal at long last what what!!)

MORE IMPORTANTLY SHOULD I BE IMAGINING NOBU’S VOICE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE LMAO I AM ANYWAY BUT YEAH

(ETA: I actually think he’s going to end up being voiced by Nobuhiko whether he ends up being Kacchan or not, just because it fits right in with the general “identical in almost every way” aesthetic he’s got going on.)

TUMBLR HOW WE LIKING OUR ANGSTY ALTERNATE UNIVERSE KACCHAN?? EVERYONE HATED YOU SO MUCH BEFORE THEY EVEN MET YOU, BUT THEY FORGOT TO CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY THAT YOU MIGHT BE HOT LMAO WHAT A TWIST

“some bright-eyed brat” oh come on. IT’S GOTTA BE HIM LOL

oh my god you all are probably TIRED AS FUCK of all my screaming but I’M SORRY IMMA HAVE TO DO IT ONE LAST TIME BECAUSE...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

that face. that expression!! THE FACT THAT HE’S OUT HERE OPENING DOORS WITH HIS FEET, LIKE HOLY SHIT!! JUST ADMIT THE JIG IS UP ALREADY

and so they really are the ones who busted First out of his jail cell huh

so how did they know you were in the room?? why did they come and break you out?? and how, pray tell, did they know to get you to transfer OFA to them?? hmmmMMMMMMMM

oh MY GOD

you guys. oh my god. it’s too much. every last bit of it lines up exactly with the Bakuverse theory sdkjfj I’m short-circuiting. it’s really fucking happening oh my lord

HELLO SEXY ALTERNATE UNIVERSE KACCHAN WITH HIS SEXY FUCKING SCAR, FUCK YEAH WE REALLY ARE EATING GOOD THIS CHAPTER

HELL YEAH WE’RE GOING. WE’RE GOING FULL SPEED YOU GUYS. LMAO I’M SO FUCKING HYPED RIGHT NOW I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF WEFKJLDKFFFF

SO, EVERYONE, LET’S RECAP. -- ACTUALLY NO, I STARTED TO WRITE UP A LIST, BUT I IMMEDIATELY REALIZED IT REALLY JUST NEEDS TO GO IN ITS OWN THREAD. SO I MADE IT AND POSTED IT, AND NOW I’M FINISHING UP THIS HOT MESS OF A RECAP POST. SO NOW WE’RE BACK TO THIS ONE FINAL PANEL OF DEKU EATING HIS KATSU ALL SERIOUS

YES SIR. YES SIR, WE GOING, FULL SPEED AHEAD, WHATEVER, IDK WTF IS HAPPENING BUT YES!!

lol, anyways so as I said in my other post, mysterious sexy guys with tragic pasts are what bring us together as a fandom, so whatever your thoughts are on the rest of it, let’s just rejoice in that. it’s what we deserve

[issaxcharlie]

We say we're friends, we play pretend (1/2)

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x Fem reader

Summary: Charlie and Y/N were best friends and a couple as teens, after their breakup they meet again 4 years later on the bootcamp of JATP and have to work together. Will something else happen or they are just friends?

Charlie must have imagined something like this could happen. Since Kenny discovered her 5 years ago, she has been a really close friend to the director, participating in some way or another in almost all his projects.

In front of him after years, Y/N Y/L, his childhood best friend and ex-girlfriend. The young actor is not going to admit that he saw every single one of her projects or how moved he was by her in each one of them, many times even thinking of maybe sending her a little message saying the incredible job she did.

But he never found the courage.

It’s weird to remember how he spent most of his life next to the woman, now one of the top youth artists with multiple musicals and movies on her hits list. They always had a strong bond, every single day together. Sleepovers, music classes, dancing classes, homework, parties, movie nights, hockey, illness days, pretty much everything. At the age of 15 they began a very sweet and innocent relationship that ended at 18 when Y/N moved to New York to work in her first leading role.

The break up was on good terms but painful, so painful that both preferred to lose contact completely than to have the other from time to time opening the wound again and again.

And there she was. As beautifil as ever, speaking happily with Kenny while Madison and Owen jump up and down, Jeremy smiles and Charlie looks like he wants to throw up.

“Y/N Y/L, my golden star. She is the official composer of the soundtrack, and she will be supporting you throughout the album process as well as helping Paul and me in other creative aspects, I know she is the same age as some of you but she has a lot of experience in this and all the necessary preparation so don't hesitate to get all the knowledge you can out of her."

Everyone introduces themselves until the guitarist is the only one left, luckily for him, he’s in voice rest these two weeks so he literally cannot speak.

They both look nervous but the moment their eyes meet their complicity comes out and both smile slightly.

“He’s Charlie, he is in voice rest but we are fans of yours. We cried yesterday watching your last musical, it was just brilliant." Owen lets out hardly breathing, Y/N turns with a smile to see the Canadian boy who wants to kill his friend and then commit suicide.

“Thank you! This is going to be such an interesting experience.” The singer murmurs as she winks at Charlie.

2 hours later they had both been avoiding each other, Y/N writing in a corner while the band and Kenny discuss costumes with Soyon, in which at least half an hour has been wasted trying to understand what Charlie is trying to say with the few words he writes with an apple pencil on his ipad in his horrible handwritting.

Y/N gets frustrated and goes to where they are, approaching behind Charlie's shoulder to see the iPad. She quickly identifies the two words, one so crossed out that it looks like a doodle, but years copying each other's homework pays off.

"He's trying to say that if Luke isn't going to wear bandanas, at least consider wearing beanies." The young woman says as she leans on the shoulder of who was her first love.

Charlie freezes at their proximity, blushing a little at the feeling of being close after so long. Luckily his castmates don't realize it because all their attention is on her.

“You are just good for everything huh? Even deciphering hieroglyphs." Owen comments, smiling at her and winking exaggeratedly to make her laugh.

Charlie can't help but feel insecure with the situation. It could be a friendly thing but If Owen really tries to flirt with her, he doesn't know how he would react. Is sad enough not having her in his life anymore, having her as his best friend's girlfriend would just be too painful.

Now, he knows he’s exaggerating, and a lot. But he has to do something about it. Better safe than sorry.

He stretches his neck to meet the eyes of his ex-girlfriend, who is now only inches away. She quickly gets flustered, but hides it pretty well. The problem is that he knows every gesture perfectly and sees through her mask.

“Wh- What, Gillespie?” She manages to say, Charlie can’t help a smile seeing the way she still reacts towards him.

When you know a person completely, every facet, every gesture, every peculiarity, speaking without words is as natural as breathing. And they had both forgotten how amazing it feels to have someone in your life who is this compatible and magnetic.

They start a conversation, she answers to who secretly still believes as her person while he continues making gestures and mimics that no one else understands, writing a word from time to time to make the talk flow better.

"I know. Hey, it's not my fault! So you excuse yourself with the ‘can't talk’ thing huh? how convenient. Yeah, Ok, I will. I said I will!" Her words are the only thing that they manage to get out of the conversation that the secret ex-couple is having, since no matter how much attention they pay to him, they have no idea how Y/N manages to decipher it.

"I have no idea what's going on but I'll take it as a miracle, I was just going to suggest ignoring Charlie these 2 weeks." Jeremy jokes, everyone nods their heads.

“I mean, it’s still a good option.” Madison replies.

The 14 days go by quickly, and with the former couple spending time together daily, rehearsing Charlie's guitar solos together, with Y/N translating his horrible scribbles, or sometimes simply being close to each other enjoying the company, absentmindedly placing their hand on the other's leg or their forehead on their shoulder for a few seconds during the breaks.

Basically the whole team has noticed the flirtatious smiles and the looks, but Charlie was the weakest rival of both and the one who could release some information about it, and without being able to speak they basically ran out of an informant, since the young singer didn’t let go a word about her unexpected chemistry with the guitarist except the typical ‘we are just good friends’.

But without a doubt the energies began to multiply on Monday when Charlie arrived with the green light to be able to speak and start singing in rehearsals. Madison couldn't attend the first few hours because she was at school, so Y/N was going to cover her so the boys could practice.

“The first on the list is Finally Free, the place where we are going to record it only gave us two weeks from now so it will have to be one of the priorities. For the first rehearsal just vibe with the song and we’ll discover where to go from there. Oh, and good luck keeping up with my golden star, you’ll need it."

Y/N starts the first verse on the keyboard, and gets up to sing the chorus in the center, trying to ignore Charlie and looking up at Jeremy. She hadn’t heard him sing for a couple of years, but the same butterflies appear in her stomach and she knows that she will melt if she looks into his eyes.

Unfortunately for her, Kenny doesn't have the same plan, and just before the second verse ends he tells her to walk over to Charlie, who immediately smiles and sings the pre-chorus with much more enthusiasm. The energy they radiate floods the place, both getting closer and closer. By the time the bridge arrives, their foreheads are practically against each other, their lips only an inch apart, and with a confidence and comfort while singing to each other that makes all those who suspected that there was something between them now practically sure.

Luckily there are only Jeremy, Kenny, Owen and Paul in the room, who decide to play a game of divide and conquer now that the snitch part of the equation can speak.

“Y/N, can you come with me for a moment? I have a new idea for ‘Wow’ and a fresh pair of eyes is just what I need.” Paul says, sacrificing himself for the greater good.

“Yeah, of course, I’ll be right back.” The singer takes the opportunity to leave this staring game with Charlie and quickly walks away from the guitarist, who winks at her in a flirting way in response.

The moment they walk out the door, everyone turns to see Charlie, who has no idea what they're up to.

“What?”

"After what just happened you just can't keep pretending nothing's happening. Man, that was more intense than the whole Troyella moments during all three movies." Kenny pretends to be offended for a second and then nods.

"I have never seen anything like this in all my years of career."

“Yeah dude it was electric.” Owen replies, smirking.

“She’s my person.” Charlie mumbles.

If he’s being honest with himself, deep down he always knew she was the only one for him. But that realization was freaking scary. What's next if the only person for you has already turned the page? gave up without a fight? what's left?

"What?" The three ask in unison, and Charles begins to sing like a bird.

“We grew up together and then we lost the way. Like in those romantic movies where just everyone knows they belong together except the childhood best friends and then they end up ruining their lives by being in denial.”

“From what I saw getting back on track shouldn't be too difficult, Charlie. I assure you that whatever you feel she feels it too. Her eyes don’t lie." Jeremy tries to reason with him.

“Leave your teen problems behind. You are old enough to decide what you want and find a way to make it work. But you have to stop pretending that nothing is happening first." Owen scolds his friend.

“Do you love her?” Jer asks.

“That answer is always going to be yes, I just could never stop loving her even If I tried. And I did.” He really did. The surprise he got when the second he had her close to him his heart began to beat like crazy and all he wanted was to hug her and fix everything. It was as if when seeing her eyes time hadn’t passed, as if only the day before they’d been goofing around together. That bond is so big that he doesn’t believe it’s possible to break.

“Then do something about it, bro! Go get your girl back!” Jeremy advises while Kenny smiles.

“Yeah man, it’s ‘Now or never’ like her song, and I guess ours too now? Since she wrote it for Sunset Curve? Well, anyway, it’s like our song says.” Owen exclaims excitedly.

“Ohhh, musical inspiration, let me try. ‘Get up, get out, relight that spark’.” Jeremy sings to Charlie.

“Jer, you are a genius. If you think about it wake up is actually a pretty good soundtrack song for this situation. ‘It's not what you lost, It's what you'll gain raising your voice in the rain’.”

They both keep singing the song until they reach the bridge, Charlie tries to look frustrated but a slight smile escapes his face.

They are right, he still hasn't lost this fight.

👻PART 2 RIGHT HERE

[lil-pine-mha-drabbles]

can i request tokoyami or tetsutetsu with a

s/o that has adhd? :)

Tokoyami x Reader with ADHD.

There are so many different types of adhd and I didn’t want to disrespect anyone with how I wrote it so I placed in my own adhd. This is ligit how I act every day and I apologize if it’s not what you were looking for.

Also I saw you said s/o instead of boyfriend or girlfriend so I tried to keep it as gender neutral as possible. I usually only write for female readers so I will try my best with this.

I really hope you like it! Here are some people that inspire me! @alpha-bnha-boys and @random-mha-thoughts

There are 1140 words to read below the line!!

————————————

Weeks ago you were sitting on the couch in the common room with Tokoyami when you got this sudden urge, his feathers looked so soft. You slowly reached out and touched your boyfriend’s face as he flinched and froze up. You petted his black feathers as he coo’ed for the first time. He cuddled into you, his head in your lap as you pet around his cheeks and under his chin. You continued the head pats for a while, heard some chirps you’ve never heard from him, and you smiled brightly at his cute sounds. After that first day it became an unspoken rule that after a long day, Tokoyami would lay in your lap and you would both relieve stress through it.

When you were with your classmates you were loud and fast talking, speaking your mind quickly to get to the point before anyone shushes you. Although most times you were shushed by everyone, except for Tokoyami and Kaminari, that’s why they were your closest friends.

You stared out the window of Aizawa’s class and watched some birds fly outside, reminding you of your boyfriend. You looked around a bit at the room of bored teens and an equally bored teacher and decided that you should listen.

After three minutes of listening you started doodling little eyes and flowers into your notes, little faces came to life on the page as you sketched their tiny little noses, and you imagined the little car you drew to drive off the page and down the side of the desk and then wondered if it would crawl up the desk next to you or go under the seat.

Your eyes followed the path you thought best for the small car until it “rolled” up the ceiling and “fell” on your desk. You then decided you wanted to speed run the whole path again and your eyes darted around the room to match what path you made earlier, restarting whenever you got it too wrong.

You were pulled out of your “car racing” when your boyfriend patted your shoulder.

“Yeah?” You turned to him, he sighed when he looked at your notes covered in drawings.

“Schools done for the day, it’s time to go to the dorms.” He gently grabbed your bag and you got up excitedly.

“Can we make ramen!?” You asked him excitedly, and you could’ve sworn his beak shifted in a small smile.

“Okay.”

You talked about the most random things as you passed the school buildings on the way to your rooms. Sometimes Tokoyami had to pull back the conversation to bring you to a conversation he was still interested in by a few phrases,

“Can we go back to that one thing, I’m still thinking on the topic”

“Oh, wait, we were talking about the other thing. Can we go back to that I’m still confused.”

He always made sure you knew he was still interested and if you wished to skip over a subject, all you had to do was say the word and he wouldn’t bring it up again.

You became a little quieter when you reached his room and opened the door for your birdbrain.

You looked at his black nails and watched how the color was chipped in some places.

“We need to paint them again,” you said as you shut the door.

“Paint, what?”

“Oh, your nails. They’re getting all chippy again.” You crawled into his lap when he jumped unceremoniously onto the bed. He carded one hand through your hair and you held the other, plucking off little pieces of each nail until the whole hand was clear of the black polish.

When you dropped his hand another came in its place and you started on that one. Since his hand would be at an odd angle if he played with your hair this time, he picked up his poetry book and read some aloud. He told you which ones he wrote before he read them and at the end of each one you dropped his hand and clapped lightly to the wonderful words.

When you finished re-painting each nail, he wrapped up the poem he was reading and gently put the book back on the side table. The room was rather bright, and considering brightness keeps dark shadow in line, you didn’t bat an eye the first time you came in his room. White walls some pastel stuff and of course, a lot of black.

You sat up excitedly and patted your lap, he turned suddenly and flopped down onto your thighs. “Where’s dark shadow? I’ve barely seen them today.”

“They usually calm down when you’re around so I’m not sure where they are.” That was his last full sentence before he melted into a chirping mess. He coo’ed and shrilled gently and it made your heart soar.

While one hand pet your boyfriend you took a picture of him to send to Kaminari who would most likely laugh. You hugged Tokoyami when he said it was time for bed and kissed his beak which in return, nuzzled your face gently.

You slept soundly that night. Something watching you protectively from the shadows.

When you woke in the morning, a package was on your desk, brown paper packaging tied with white string, in the bow of the string was a dried rose. You knew it was from your lovely boyfriend before you had to open it, he always gave you dried roses to keep or do as you please with it. You smiled and untied the ribbon, the box opened suddenly to reveal pictures on every wall of the box. One of you and him at the beach, he looked very bashful in his swim-trunks and sunburned shoulders, one of you both cuddled on the couch with the fireplace, that was taken at his parents house it must’ve been taken by his mom because his dad was in the background and you and Tokoyami were dead asleep. There were countless others that made your face break into a smile, Tokoyami was a hopeless romantic.

“Do you like it?” You jumped a bit when Dark Shadow’s voice spooked you.

“Yes I do. Where were you yesterday?” You asked incredulously.

“I was making this for Tokoyami. It took forever by the way.” You smiled at your boyfriend’s quirk.

“Were you watching me last night? I felt weird.” They nodded quickly.

“We want to keep you safe.”

“That’s fine, just tell me next time you’re going to do something like that.”

A knock on your door had you turning your head, and you watched as Dark Shadow slunk under it.

“Hi!” You hugged your boyfriend when the door opened.

“Hello, love. Did you like the gift we made?” You pulled Tokoyami onto your bed and hugged him excitedly.

“Yes! Thank you.”

[ofhoneyandrosepetals]

On the Edge of a Ramp

Pairing: Sean x Fem! reader

Description: Sean is beaten on the skatepark by this new girl in town and, when he sees himself paired up with her for a school paper, they quickly grow to each other between sharp responses and pettiness.

Warning: swearings.

Word count: 3,426

A/N: This is such a vanilla enemies to lovers 😅🙈 I just can’t see Sean as someone who would hold a grudge against someone so intensely or even for so long. Have fun!

Requested by anonymous: can you make a sean diaz x reader enemies to lovers?

It wasn’t that Sean hated Y/N, or even disliked her. He just… wasn’t amused by her. Of course he had a reason for it, even if it wasn’t the most justified one: she was his rival at the skatepark. He always thought it was a childish, foolish reason to not like her, but it was what it was, and that fact that he didn’t want to feel that way wasn’t strong enough.

Lyla would always, but always bug him about it, to a whole new level that he thought it wasn’t possible for Lyla to be more annoying than his little brother Daniel.

The first day that she went to the skatepark, Lyla went back home with him.

“How was the skatepark?” Asked both Daniel and Sean’s father, Esteban. Unfortunately, Sean wasn’t fast enough on the answer.

“Sean’s got a new girlfriend,” Lyla teased as she rushed Daniel’s hair.

“What?!” Daniel screamed, but Esteban had only a small smile on his face.

“You?” He asked. “A new girlfriend?” If Sean doesn’t knew his father he’d say the old man was sounding a little ironic.

“No way this butthead got a girlfriend!” Daniel exclaimed.

“Daniel. Language,” it was all Esteban said to the little Diaz, who mumbled an excuse that he didn’t really mean.

“Lyla’s just messing around, this girl actually sucks,” Sean threw his backpack and skateboard on the corner and went to sit heavily on the couch, sighing. He missed the look that both Lyla and Esteban exchanged.

“Care to join us for dinner, Lyla?” Esteban asked.

“What’s on the menu?”

“Tonight is pizza night,” Sean said from the couch.

“Then I’ll stay,” the girl stated, sitting next to Sean. “How’s your knee?” She asked in a low tone.

“It’s fine, it was just a scratch. It didn’t even bleed.”

“That girl kicked the hell out of your butt.”

“Thanks for the reminder, it wasn’t like I already forgot that.”

“So…”

“So what?” Sean never got angry at Lyla before, but she was testing his nerves.

“Whatcha gonna do about it?”

“I planned on just sit on the couch and eat some pizza.”

“No payback?”

“No payback.”

But of course this wasn’t true. Sean did want some payback, he just had no idea of what it could be. 

*

Apparently, everyone at school knew about what happened the previous day at the skatepark. “How come is everyone gossiping about it? It’s not even a big deal,” Sean complained between teeth.

“Well, it wasn’t a big deal to you,” Lyla said, air quoting. “But to everyone, this sounds like the new girl, who no one knows a thing about, just kicked your ass.”

Sean clicked his tongue in annoyance. “High school sucks, dude.”

“Do you know what really sucks?” Lyla asked. She had that glimmer in her eyes that Sean knew pretty well, but he’d always fall for the bait.

“What?”

“Having a whining bestie. See ya!” Lyla took off as the ringbell shouted.

“Saved by the bell…” Sean muttered to himself as he opened his locker and got his book for the right class.

*

Sean sneaked away at the end of school so he wouldn’t bump into Lyla or any of his peers - it was a difficult task, to sneak away from Lyla, but Sean assumed that she was too busy being all over the new girl, just like everyone else was.

He knew Lyla thought she was cool, even if she insisted on saying the opposite: “I think you’re cooler.” Yeah, right, the boy thought to himself.

Sean intended on practicing in the garage, since his father wasn’t working on anything in there and Daniel was going to his friend’s house to play some new game. He wasn’t going to give up just because some new girl basically shamed him at the park, and he still wasn’t sure what to do to give her a comeback, but one thing he was certain: he had to get better with his board.

He was easily defeated on what they bet, and sure enough that girl would defeat anyone from his school, but a boy could hope, right?

*

One week had passed smoothly by. Sean kept training away from curious eyes; Lyla and the rest of the school seemed to forget about his loss - except Daniel, who kept bugging him about who the girl was -, and the school was still all over the new girl. Sean didn’t bother to remember her name, until the unexpected happened.

“Diaz, you’ll pair up with the new student, Y/L/N.”

Sean thought that being hit by his worst nightmare would make him scream but, instead, he only melted on his chair, slowly sliding down and hitting his forehead on his desk, completely defeated like a pancake that went wrong.

“C’mon, don’t make a scene out of it,” he heard a girl say in front of him. Once he straightened himself, he saw it was Y/N. He would make Lyla pay for not making this class with him. “The teacher’s taking us to the library,” she said, looking as she expected him to get up as it was some sort of command.

As a defiance, Sean looked her straight in the eyes and counted until sixty. Just to be petty. He noticed she didn’t look away.

“Okay. Let’s go,” he said after a full minute, grabbing his backpack and his book. Sean was never one for being challenging - he was actually pretty chill -, so this act of him took all of his courage and now he felt trembling on his legs. He was so sure that, if he continued to act like that, she’d probably ended up hating him.

Good, he found himself thinking. I don’t need her to like me.

“I like the end tables,” she said after you two entered the library.

“Whatever,” Sean answered, even though he sat at the table that she picked. What a great way to show some dominance, Diaz, he complained to himself, opening his book on what he thought was the right page and, fist on his cheek, started reading.

Or at least he tried to.

Sean couldn’t focus on the fact that he was paired up with her in this school paper, of all people. He couldn’t stop wondering if people were going to gossip all over again.

“I wanted to say that your book is upside down, it’d be funnier, but it’s only on the wrong page. Actually, on the wrong topic,” she said, sounding like a know it all. Sean felt his cheeks heating up and looked for the right topic, peeking at her book. After a few tries, he found it.

“On the wrong topic,” he mocked her and her coast accent.

“I can hear you, you know?”

“I was hoping so.”

“You really do sound like a loser.”

And that was it for Sean. He closed his book, shutting it with more strength than necessary, took his things and stormed out of the library. “Who does she think she is?” He complained out loud in the empty corridors. As he went to his locker, he thanked the whole universe that he brought his skateboard to school today. It was easy to sneak out, even though it wasn’t his last class of the day.

Sean let his skateboard guide him, but of course he ended up being in nowhere less than the skatepark. He trained and trained; sliding, carving, flipping, anything easy that he could improve to be faster, more agile.

But it wasn’t enough, not until he knew the same tricks as Y/N did, or even more, and way better.

But why was he dwelling on such things? Just because he lost a stupid bet? To an unknown person? Of course that now she wasn’t that unknown anymore, but still, it shouldn’t matter. It would matter and really hurt his ego if she was a better artist than him, which would make him be legitimately disappointed with himself.

It actually bugged him a little that he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

“I knew you’d be here,” Lyla said behind him. “But I thought you’d be, you know, doodling and stuff,” she threw her arm around his shoulder, squeezing it. “Let it go, man. No one even remembers what happened anymore.”

Sean pouted, looking sideways.

“No pouting at your best friend - only drawing me! C’mon, draw me like one of your french girls.”

Lyla took her own skateboard and, flipping, started skating around the park. Sean sat on his board and started doodling Lyla as she tried to noseslide. More people filled the park, but Sean kept his eyes on his best friend, not losing sight of her. He doodled Lyla on various positions now - be sliding, flipping or failing to grind. He even got the luck to draw her falling.

“Not your best work, Diaz!” She shouted as she realized what he was drawing.

Spending time with Lyla did really lift up his mood, and he hugged her as they parted ways.

Opening the front door of his house, Sean already knew what was coming his way. His father wasn’t looking so amicable.

“You got anything to say, mijo?” Esteban had his arms crossed in front of his chest and a serious look on his face.

Sean only sighed. “No. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left school, but I was just…”

“What? What were you just that made you leave school when you shouldn’t?”

“I was angry, okay?” Sean dropped his backpack and skateboard, crossing his arms too. “Y/N just pissed the shit out of me…”

“Language, boy.”

“And I can’t stand her, okay? She said that I sound like a loser, which I probably do, but who is she to say these things? It fucking sucks that I have to do this damn paper with her…”

“Tone it down, Sean,” his father warned.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I just don’t like her. I don’t want to do this paper with her. She thinks she’s so… much better than me, I don’t know, just because she won the bet at the park.”

“Weren’t those things supposed to be fun? Bet at the skatepark, do some tricks with that thing that you carry around,” Esteban gestured to the skateboard. “It’s all part of the fun, mijo. Don’t be a sore loser.”

“I’m not a sore loser. It was shameful to lose for a girl that no one knew, and next thing I knew she’s this new student, and everyone kept talking about it more. And she was standing there, receiving all the glory for just a stupid bet. Like if she was the queen of the world.”

Esteban patted Sean on the back and hugged his son.

“You know what you’re going to do? You’re gonna forget all about that, finish this paper with this girl, and move on. The Diaz don’t hold a grudge against anyone. Just sound like you don’t care and you’ll be fine, mijo.”

“I’ll try,” Sean sighed. “She’s terrible, y’know?”

“You already told me, I know,” Esteban smiled, a smile that Sean still couldn’t quite tell what it meant. “Go to your room and do your homework. And do not, in any circumstances, repeat what happened today.”

*

Sean didn’t want to speak with Y/N, but someone had to take the first step so they could finish their paper.

But of course that, as always, he got behind of himself and Y/N was the one to take the first step.

“What you think of trying to finish the paper after school? At the library?” She was standing in front of his locker. Was she waiting there for him? And if so, for how long?

“Excuse me,” he only said, in front of her.

“The paper, Diaz. Did you already forget?”

“I meant the locker, you’re blocking the way,” Sean tried to sound neutral, but he was a bit sharp.

“Oh.”

He noticed that she sounded ashamed, but she stepped aside. He opened his locker, grabbed his books and, without looking at her, he said: “Sure, library after class. See ya there,” and left.

Once again Sean felt trembling on his legs, like if that attitude consumed everything that made him who he was and contradicted it. He had to sound like he didn’t care, but was that the right attitude? How could he be chill and careless at the same time? You got this, Diaz, he kept thinking to himself. Soon enough she won’t be able to get you on your nerves anymore.

*

Y/N was sitting in front of him, and he dared to say that she simply looked… weird. Like if she was holding a fart that she knew she couldn’t release, like Daniel did in the dinner table.

“Are you okay?” Sean asked, and immediately regretted. He didn’t care if she was okay or not, or at least he wanted to look like he didn’t care.

“I’m fine,” she answered way too quickly.

Sean wanted to say that she looked all things but fine. Instead, he found himself doing the unpredictable.

“Your book’s on the wrong topic,” he said as he looked down at his own book, just peeking at her at the top of his eyelids.

He saw her expression turning alarmed as she looked down at her book, then she looked confused, brows furrowing.

“Gotcha,” Sean said with a smirk before she could say or protest anything.

“Touché,” she said, looking rather shy, which was an unexpected trait for her. “I guess I deserved that.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“We’re even?”

Sean didn’t respond, not because he wanted to be petty - again -, but only because he didn’t know the answer. Were they even? He did want to forget all of that stupid rivalry, but he didn’t feel like they’d turn out to be good friends. She was too sassy, too loud, too…

Sean looked away as a stripe of sunlight came through the window, enlightening a lock of her hair.

“I guess this is a no.”

Was the hint of disappointment that crossed her words? Sean couldn’t say. Minutes have passed in silence before any of them said anything.

“Have you done your part?” Sean asked in a careful tone.

“Not yet,” she murmured. 

“Lemme know when you finish,” Sean said and pulled his sketchbook from his backpack.

He started doodling carelessly, being wrapped up in his own bubble when he started working on his sketchbook. Everything around him turned off - he couldn’t hear what people spoke, only a sound here and there, if he wanted to really pay some attention. It was just him and his journal, his go-to pal.

“You’re really good at this.”

The sudden voice startled Sean, making his hand go all the way through the page, making an ugly scribble. “Damnit,” he cursed, to no one in particular.

“Shit, I’m so sorry,” Y/N said. “You’re gonna hate me more now, won’t you?”

“What?” Sean blinked, processing her words. “Hate you? I don’t hate you,” he tried to erase the scribble without erasing much of the drawing itself.

“I thought you did, because, you know… I was such a show off at the park the other day, and because of what I said yesterday. Now I fucked up your drawing. I just don’t know when to shut the fuck up.”

“You really don’t,” Sean said, alien to his surroundings and to Y/N herself. It came to him that he probably hurt her with his comment, and even though she did hurt him yesterday, he didn’t want to hurt her back. His father wouldn’t approve of this. “But it doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing…” he stuttered on his own words.

“I see what you’re doing, there’s no need. Thanks anyway.”

“It just sucks, you know?” Sean spat, not caring for the fact that he told himself he would never bring that subject up. “Being picked up at school because of some random person at the skatepark. And then you were here, being all show off, and people started making fun, just because I lost at something that I know I’m not really good at. I’m not serious about skateboarding. I just wanna hangout with my friends and have some fun. You also didn’t help at all to keep the situation light.”

Sean’s face was buried in his sketchbook as he brushed up some lines. He realized the wolf in his drawing wore the same shorts that Y/N did when she was skating. He erased them and drew something new.

“I’m sorry,” he heard her saying. “I wanted to say that the whole day, but it’s not an easy thing for me.”

“Apologizing?”

She only nodded.

“Okay, but under only one condition,” Sean said, still not looking at her.

“Whatever you want,” she seemed eager. Sean bit his lips before saying.

“You gotta teach me that trick. That’s really awesome, and I can’t pull it off by myself.”

She smiled, and Sean would never, in a thousand years, imagine that such a smile would get him strucked. The sunlight in her hair was long gone, but she still looked bright.

“Diaz, you have the honor to be my first pupil,” she said, all smiles and brightness. Something in his stomach twisted.

*

It was the middle of the week, so the skatepark wasn’t packed with people going back and forth on their boards, which was a good thing for Sean, he supposed - he’d hate it if any of his peers saw him learning anything like that in public.

Y/N was trying to teach him an underflip, but Sean wasn’t concentrating enough.

She’s so close, he kept thinking.

“Dude, are you listening to me?” She complained. Sean only nodded. “Okay, then at least get your feet right. Here,” she pointed with her right foot. Sean stepped there. “And here,” he also stepped there. “Remember to keep your feet out of the way so your board has room to flip. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Try again.”

Sean tried, once again, unsuccessfully. “I keep landing primo, this sucks,” he complained.

“It’s fine, I landed a lot like that in the beginning. It’s all part of the process.”

“I don’t think I’ll get it today.”

“Keep your hopes up, Diaz.”

“You think I’m kicking the board up from below right?”

“You’re doing everything right, you just need to practice more, especially your landing. You can practice landing with one foot, if that’s the problem.”

“I think I rather take a break.”

“Or that works too.”

The two of them sat on the edge of the ramp. Sean noticed that her pinkie was far too close to his own - just a few millimeters and they’d be touching. He took a deep breath and looked away.

“Washington has this weird air, but I like it here.”

“How was California?”

“Sunny and warm,” she smiled at him, and Sean felt again that same pinch. “Hey, I’m sorry I was such an asshole.”

“I already forgave you, cut it out.”

“I mean it,” then she grabbed his hand, and the world stopped, and all Sean could see was Y/N.

“You’re forgiven, you know that,” his voice didn’t sound his own voice at all. His voice was hoarse.

She was gazing at him, and if eyes could burn, Sean would’ve already turned into a pile of ashes. He decided it was okay for him to get closer to her, his knee touching hers. The tip of her index finger drew circles on his palm.

“This is weird, isn’t it?” She asked, looking down at her own feet.

It was supposed to be weird, Sean thought, but it wasn’t, not really. He only nodded negatively and mumbled a no. Y/N intertwined her fingers with his and they sat together like this on the edge of the ramp, looking down at all the people skating, jumping and sliding around.

“This is kinda unpredicted.”

“All the unpredicted things have happened the moment you showed up,” Sean said, sounding confident.

“Is it now?” She giggled, and the sound of her giggles made Sean want to look at her, the sun resting on her face, and he wondered if it was warm, or how soft her skin would be.

Sean kept taking in all of her facial features until she broke the moment. “Don’t ruin it, Diaz.”

“Of course not,” he said, cupping her chin with his thumb and index finger, pulling her face up so she could look at him. “I won’t ruin it unless you tell me to.”

[duvetsandpillows]

Lucky One

Pete Davidson x Reader 

Word count: 2k

Warnings: Swearing, mention of needles, slight angst, drug use

A/N: This is my first Pete fic but I think I will definitely be writing more. Please let me know what you think!

I sat in bed, joint in one hand, lighter in the other. I’d been staring at the wall for the past half hour or so, drowning in my thoughts, forgetting the joint I’d been fiddling with was there to be smoked.

I was thinking about everything and nothing all at once. Have I taken my antidepressant? What do they do with the bagel holes? You’re gonna be alone forever. Don’t forget your earring is behind the back left leg of the desk. New thoughts beginning before the last one could end. I was exhausted yet I hadn’t done anything to warrant feeling so drained. I’d only left my bed to piss.

“Hey you home?” I glanced over at my door, reality setting back in, before realizing how messy my bed was; sketchbook and pencils scattered everywhere, weed crumbs and ash from not paying attention to what I was doing and empty monster cans. I kicked as much as I could off the end of the bed before putting the long forgotten joint to my lips and sparking it. The door slowly opened, Pete standing in the doorway holding a bag and a coffee.

“Whatcha doing in bed B?” he asked climbing into the bed handing me the coffee. I took a toke and thanked him while passing him the joint.

“I just don’t feel like moving. I feel like shit, my brain won’t stop for just a second. I just want everything to stop.” My voice breaking as I began to fight back tears. He blew smoke into the air, putting his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side, handing me the joint.

“Breathe B, you’re gonna be okay. I know that sounds like bullshit but I’m here to help you through it.” I took a take and wiped a stray tear from my eye. “It’s always been me and you hasn’t it, that’s not gonna stop now. Did you take your antidepressant today?”

“I can’t remember,” I squeaked, letting the tears win the battle. Pete put his other arm around my chest and squeezed tight, resting his hand on the back of my head and rubbing his thumb.

He would whisper little pick me-ups every few minutes while I cried. “At least you didn’t walk straight into a street light like I did.” I looked up to see him pointing to a small bruise on his forehead. “I saw a woman carrying a dog in a baby sling thing and then boom! Street Light.” I giggled before taking a deep breath and wiping my tears with my sleeves.

“I guess you could say she threw you off your rhythm.” He rolled his eyes and pushed my head playfully before chuckling.

We’d been friends practically our whole lives, yet it was rare for us to talk about deep shit. Not because we didn’t care but we were good at talking each others minds off all the bullshit. 

“Movie, smoke, munch? I brought gushers and twizzlers.”

“Only if I get to pick.”

“Obviously, you always pick.” I scoffed and sat up, rolling my eyes.

“Bullshit, we constantly watching The Mule.”

“Not my fault you can’t appreciate a masterpiece,” he said as he grabbed my rolling tray from the end of the bed and I began flicking through Netflix for something to watch.

“Your hair looks nice by the way,” he mumbled, eyes focused on rolling the joint. I glanced over at my reflection in the mirror, I looked as if I’d just climbed out of the hedge. I smiled and thanked him, deciding to put on Knocked Up.

Pete told me what he’d been up to all week and who the guests were gonna be while we watched the film. I made him a twizzler ring and he attempted to make me a bracelet but he couldn’t work out how to get the knot to stay tight.” After a couple more joints I sat up on my knees and faced him.

“Could... I maybe colour in your tattoos?” I asked, placing my hand on his leg to stay balanced, realizing how high I was after not moving for so long.

“Yeah of course, which one first?” I smiled and pointed to the unicorn on his arm and leant off the end of the bed to grab my pens, Pete grabbing hold of my foot as I almost fell off. After I’d finished the unicorn I moved onto the direwolf underneath. Pete was flicking through the pages of my sketchbook as I added icy blue to the eyes.

“Y’know,” he started, passing me a joint, “I reckon you could be a tattoo artist. You could even practice on me.” I stopped and looked at him a bit taken back.

“I’ve never thought about it before.”

“Maybe you should.”

Once I finished the direwolf I looked up to see Pete had dozed off, I smiled and pulled a blanket over him, moving the sketchbook off his lap. I rolled a joint and glanced at the open drawing of a group of clouds I’d been working on but hadn’t yet worked out what should accompany them.

I thought about what Pete said and picked up the sketchbook and a pencil. I smoked while drawing Frank the bunny’s head from Donnie Darko. It was my favourite film and Pete had watched it with me countless times.

After an hour or so I finished the outline and most of the infill with different shades of blue. I felt Pete roll over and put his arm across my lap. I looked down to see him, eyes half open, observing my drawing.

“That’s amazing.” His voice gruff and low.

“Thank you,” I said passing him a monster from my bedside table. He sat up partially and took a sip before handing it back to me. “Good nap?” He nodded and laid back down into my side.

“You should put that on me,” He kicked his leg out from under the blanket and pointed to the side of his thigh. “Here would be perfect.”

“If you’d like.” He sat up again and gently tore the sketch out of the book.

“Come on then.” I frowned and tilted my head slightly. “There’s a guy that could do this now, you could get one too?”

I stared at him in a bit of shock, not expecting him to actually want one of my pieces on his body. I thought he was saying it just to be nice. Also as I’d never considered getting a tattoo before. Not because I didn’t like them but more because I was nervous; I wasn’t great with needles and if tattoo’s would suit me.

“You up for it?”

“What if I look awful with one?” I blurted, Pete’s smile morphed into confusion.

“Why would you look awful?” You always look great.” I could feel my cheeks getting warm and I couldn’t help but ever so slightly smile. “Plus I think you’d look hot with one,” he mumbled handing me the sketchbook, open to a small drawing of a sheep I’d done high while watching Shaun the Sheep.

“It’s small, if you want it to be hidden then it’s easy.” I looked down at the doodle and thought about it for a moment.

“Fuck it lets go.”

I sat on a chair next to Pete watching as the tattoo artist, Jon, carefully traced over the light purple outline in dark blue ink. I began adding to my sheep. A few clouds in the background, similar to the ones on Pete’s.

“What you doing?” I handed him the paper, glancing over at his leg, in awe at how it was turning out. I looked back at Pete who was smiling at the drawing. I held out the pencil to him, when he didn’t notice I poked his arm with it.

“Ow, dick,” he said pouting and rubbing his arm. “What am I meant to do with this?”

“Add something to it, you got a piece of me,” I pointed to his leg. “Your turn.”

“I can’t draw like you and-”

“And I don’t care. Draw.”

While Pete drew, not phased at all by the needle going in and out of his leg, I chatted with Jon, asking him question about how he became a tattoo artist and what it’s like. I was slowly becoming more interested the more I watched him work. Once he was done he turned to me.

“You ready?” he asked, I nodded nervously and Pete passed him the design. Pete swapped places with me after taking a look at it in the floor length mirror. I decided to get it on my arm as I decided I wanted to always be able to see it now Pete had added to it. I told them I didn’t want to see it until it was finished, wanting Pete’s addition to be a surprise. I looked over at Pete, nerves starting to kick in a little.

“Have I ever told you I’m not brilliant with needles?” He chuckled and took my hand in his.

“Yep,” I winced as the needle hit my skin. “Like the time you gave blood because you thought that nurse was cute and threw up all over him before fainting.” I chuckled before biting the inside of my cheek and gripped his hand tight. “You’re good, just keep your eyes this way,”

Pete kept chatting with me and rubbing his thumb on the back of my hand, keeping me distracted from the pain.

“Should I be nervous with what you drew? It’s just clicked how much trust I’ve given you.” He pursed his lips, holding back either as smile or a laugh. “Pete...”

“Nah nah nah, it’s not that bad, but you said to add a bit of me. Trust me you’ll love it.” I raised my eyebrows before gripping his hand again, feeling a muscle in my arm unintentionally spasm.

“You’re good, it happens sometimes, we’re almost done here.”

After ten more minutes it was all done and he was wiping it up. It was aching it a little but I was really excited to see it.

“You ready to see it?” I nodded and looked at my arm to see the best tattoo I could imagine. The clouds were a beautiful combination of greys and whites, my sheep now with a spliff in its mouth and a second, slightly wonky looking, sheep with a spliff also in its mouth and sunglasses on. It kind of looked like a child drew the second sheep but I loved it even more for that.

“I put our initials at the bottom so we don’t forget who is who.” I giggled looking at his scruffy handwriting underneath. “So... what do you think?”

“I fucking love it!” I said wrapping my arms around him hugging him as tight as I could. “Thank you Pete.” I pressed a kiss to his cheek and let Jon wrap my arm up in cling film.

We grabbed some Taco Bell on the way home, I was designated DJ and he driver. I was, questionably, rapping along to Colson and Corpse’s new song while Pete laughed at me. He slipped his hand into mine, giving it a small squeeze and continued driving and started rapping along as if that was a normal for us to hold hands. I smiled and gave his a squeeze back even though I was a bit shocked. Shocked but yet it felt normal.

“You can roll the next one, my arm aches,” I said flopping onto my bed.

“Is that gonna be your excuse for the next week?” 

“Did it work?” I looked up to see him shaking his head and chuckling as he picked up the rolling tray.

“You’re lucky you’re cute.” I smiled and winked as it sat up. 

“You’re lucky too, you get to look at this cute face all the time.” Pete leant forward and took my hand, pulling me into his lap.

“What would you say, if I asked you out... to dinner or something?” I wrapped my arms around his neck and furrowed my eyebrows.

“What like a date?” His smile and confidence drained from his face immediately and I had to force myself to hold back a laugh.

“It doesn’t have to be no, I just- aw fuck.” I started pissing myself laughing, holding onto him tight to keep my balance.

“Yes I’d love to go on a date, if you hurry up and roll that joint, I teased winking at him, swinging myself off his lap. “I’ll even put on The Mule yeah?”

“I’m definitely the lucky one.”