#theabyssgazesalsointoyou

[lohstandfound]

trick or treat!!!! 👻👻

Jake was never really still. He was always moving. Fiddling with something, tapping his fingers (like he was playing piano, Rich had noticed), bouncing his knee, running a hand through his hair.

Jake was always moving, except for when Rich was lying across him. Maybe Jake would mess with Rich's hair for a little bit, hesitantly. As if any sort of movement would ruin the peace they had. It was nice.

"You can breath, y'know," Rich said with a soft laugh.

"I'm breathing," Jake retorted.

Rich: "I feel like I'm resting on a statue."

Jake: "Then move."

Rich: "But I like it here."

Jake: "Then stop complaining."

Rich: "Then you relax."

Jake: "I'm relaxed!"

Rich: "You're never relaxed."

Jake: "That's a lie."

Rich: "No it's not!"

But sometimes it ended in bickering.

[theriverpointace]

trick or treat!!

doodle of the boy!! happy halloween, ilysm! 🩵🩵🩵

[rising-above-stars]

aaaaa your reblog reminded me: i love kakapos so much that i did an entire presentation on them in high school but i didn't know about takahē until recently, are there any other cool new zealand animals that you like??

yo, that's so cool! And yes! I love all our birds but here are some favourites. This might end up as a long-ish post.

The first bird owns my entire heart but is unfortunately extinct, and that is the Huia. I was told about them because my aunt uses huia imagery a lot in her art and I did an art study on them. Traditionally, they were used a lot in Maori cultur such as their tail feathers held great significance as symbols of friendship and respect. They were also used as accessories. However, I believe they quickly became extinct after Europeans arrived due to deforestation and over-hunting. Owning part of a huia bird became a high fashionable demand (I could have this wrong), and female huia beaks were set in gold as broaches.

(Male huia in the front, female huia at the back)

Closely related to huia is the Kōkako. "In Māori myth, the kōkako filled its wattles with water and brought it to Maui as he fought the sun. Maui rewarded the bird by making its legs long and slender, enabling it to bound through the forest with ease." (Department of Conservation). I just think they're really neat.

Fantail (or pīwakawaka) aren't necessarily native but they're very common. I love them and they low-key remind me of fairies for reasons I can't quite explain.

Kākā and Kea are part of the same family. Kākā are large parrots and they're pretty neat and live more in forests, keas are little shits but super intelligent and are alpine birds. You often hear stories of keas picking at rubber seals on cars or windscreen wipers.

(L: Kākā R: Kea)

I cannot make a post about New Zealand animals without mentioning the kiwi. There are about 5 species, I think: Brown Kiwi, Great spotted kiwi/roroa, Little spotted kiwi, Rowi, and Tokoeka. When I was a kid, I needed to have music or something to fall asleep and one of the cassette tapes my parents used to play had a story called 'how the kiwi lost its wings'. To sum up, the Tāne (atua/got of forests and birds) asked the birds for volunteers to live on the forest floors to eat the bugs or something. The kiwi was the only one to volunteer after all the other birds refused. So Tāne shrunk the kiwis wings and made their beak longer.

(Image is of the little spotted kiwi)

Morepork/ruru! These are owls and they're super cool! Occasionally, I'll hear one or two at night. They're very common and one of the only birds on this list that isn't under immediate threat of extinction.

Pūkeko are swamphens. When I was a kid, I learnt about takahe before I learnt about Pūkeko, so when I first saw one I got excited and called it a takahe. But they're quite common, my siblings and I would make a game of counting how many Pūkekos we see on the way to/from our grandparents. As swamphens, they're usually wetland birds. But due to the loss of habitats, they've adapted to other environments such as paddocks and croplands. But they're primarily swamp birds.

I would see wax-eye/tauhou birds a lot in the back gardens. They're small olive green birds with a white ring around their eyes. Their name in te reo (tauhou) translates to 'stranger' or more literally, 'new arrival'.

Tūī are another favourite. These guys are honey eaters, typically eating from flowers. They're also songbirds and can mimic songs. They're quite common as well, and have a very distinctive call. You often hear them before you see them.

I think there's a limit of 10 photos so I can't add anymore but there's also the New Zealand Wood Pigeon, or Kererū. These guys are gorgeous too. They also mainly eat fruits and flowers. I don't know if this is correct, but I think I remember someone saying that these birds sometimes get drunk off of the fruits or flowers they eat. They were historically a major food source for Māori, and we're considered a taonga (treasure).

And I guess these count as birds since one species won the New Zealand Bird of the Year in 2021, but we have two species of bats! The long-tail bat and the short-tail bat.

Also Tuataras! According to the DoC (Department of Conservation) website, "Tuatara are a rare reptile found only in New Zealand. They are the last survivors of an order of reptiles that thrived in the age of the dinosaurs." I just think they're super neat.

[thesquirrelqueer]

2 6 7

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

I'm gonna be real, I mostly see boyf friends and richjake as BroTPs but I'll still consume ship content of them because I like seeing how other people interpret the characters

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

I used to be pretty neutral about richjer and the ship name spicy bis really drove me away from it for a while but now I think it's a really fun and interesting ship

7. Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?

I used to really like boyfs then I kinda got tired of it cause it was really oversaturated in the fandom

salty asks

[rebuke-me]

here's the most in depth art i've made in a while for my best girls!!!

thank you SO much to @lunesart, @theabyssgazesalsointoyou and @mountain-dew-tickledpink for helping me with the signatures of the girls!! you're all lovely and i'm so thankful for all of you (and especially thanks to abyss for letting me borrow ur chloe design <3)

[christineee-canigula]

intro

this is a casual christine appreciation blog, run by @ode-to-the-moon icon by @theabyssgazesalsointoyou

submissions are open if you want to share headcanons about christine :) ships are also welcomed, as long as it’s not anything problematic

navigation:

#general >>> textposts from mod

#christine thoughts >>> posts from others about christine

#christinecore >>> non bmc related posts that are very christine

#art >>> fanart (may include other characters and ships)

#writing >>> drabbles and fics

#submissions >>> asks

#other >>> off topic

[coldsoup-warmsalad]

BMC ZINE SUBMISSION FORM IS OUT NOW!! :D

I got 30+ notes so I’m taking that as a yes!

The deadline to submit is March 15th, 2024!

You can submit anything BMC related as long as it fits the guidelines in the description of the form!

Share it with a musical loving friend or a creative artist!

I’m also tagging everyone who interacted with the original interest check post, sorry if it annoys anyone!

@46-reasonable-hamsters @jeremywhere @dragonairice @rad-rat-with-a-tophat @lunaryuwu @thesquipirl @dodgy-little-shit @thetheatergremlin @zipper-zipp @shadowspirez @artistic-gay-walrus @racoons-in-a-trenchcoay @magicalplaylist @theabyssgazesalsointoyou @warriorblood1 @m00nlight-mexican @richielipschitziloveyou @thesquirrelqueer @anatmosphericman8 @sweet-shut-eye @coconut123but @dustylogicalityrat @lsrgkwtvr @sea-jello @weighted-raincoat @thesnailkiwi

[rad-rat-with-a-tophat]

the super duper cool @theabyssgazesalsointoyou and I are going to be hosting a pinkberry fanweek from Dec. 19th to Dec. 25th! Any type of fanwork (writing, drawing, making edits or moodbaords, etc.) is welcome! The prompt list is as following.

Day 1 (Dec. 19th): sweet/holiday

Day 2 (Dec. 20th): apologies/space

Day 3 (Dec. 21st): drives/snow

Day 4 (Dec. 22nd): sleepover/weekend

Day 5 (Dec. 23rd): sun-kissed/morning

Day 6 (Dec. 24th): dancing/flowers

Day 7 (Dec. 25th): free day!

Days 1-6 have two prompts so you can choose between either or do both if you want to. Participation in every single day is not necessary, so you can choose which days you want to participate in. If you are going to participate and post your work on Tumblr, please use the tag #pinkberry week 2023

[bemorechiill]

Drawing request (if you're still taking them): Butch Christine. I saw theabyssgazesalsointoyou 's drawing and now I need more art of butch Christine because whoever sent in that ask was so right.

i unfortunately couldn’t find the original design but hopefully this works!

[mountain-dew-tickledpink]

Katrina HCs 🤍

ALMOST DONE WITH ALL THE GIRLS LETS GOOOOO

-Has done cheerleading since around fifth grade

-Became friends with Brooke through Chloe! Chloe and her did cheer together in middle school so she and Brooke got introduced together

-Filipina (stole this from @theabyssgazesalsointoyou because I loved their face claim for her sm)

-Heavily closeted lesbian, does not come out for a while. Might have a few people know

-Went out with Jake for a short period of time in freshman year and hated it. She just couldn't feel anything and ended up feeling guilty because it was after his and Chloe's first ever breakup

-She and Stephanie are really close, Cleo (my HC name for book!Chloe) and her are also pretty good friends. They're a lil trio and not as popular as Chloe and Brooke but still "cool"

-Dyes her hair blonde

-Listens to mostly pop and stuff, but because of Stephanie's taste in music she kind of knows different things about new wave music

-Not an artist but likes to doodle on Stephanie and Cleo when she's bored

-Can dance pretty well!!! Likes to make the others do tiktok dances with her

-Makes friendship bracelets, has some for all the girls minus Jenna and Christine (at least during canon, idk post canon). Brooke likes to make them with her too

[h0n3yk1tt3n]

3 12 21

3. As a fic writer, are you an evil dictator, a ship captain, a trauma dumper, a mad scientist, a carefree hedonist, or a vengeful rogue?

I think... considering I have more ship fics than anything else but the trauma tends to cut deep when it is there, I'm inclined to say ship captain with trauma dumping tendencies. Maybe. That's the best answer i can think of.

12. Which fic would you trust to do your taxes?

Now I know the typical billionaire of real life is a tax evading douche canoe, but I'm gonna say one of my Weakness fics (hi becca) because I like to think that Jeremy is a billionaire that Isn't a major shit. You know, once the stories progress further lol. Sooo I think I'm gonna say Joyride.

21. Cast your mutuals in [insert fic.]

Oh this is hard... L2C has the widest cast but the most trauma (and death) whereas most of my other fics are tamer but confined to like, four characters (that actually do anything) at most.

Ok I'm just gonna go off of the main six Survivors in L2C to make things slightly easier for myself. I'm gonna go with @/biscuitbakerbecca for Zoe: strikes up a good balance between taking things seriously and finding the good in the misery whenever possible. @/peanut-butter-and-theatre for Jake: trying desperately to not get bogged down by the misery of the Green Flu to the point of ignoring trauma until it literally can't be ignored anymore. You, Luna, for Alana: much more insistent that things will turn out ok and downright convinced of this for a LONG time before things look their bleakest. Im debating on who to have @/novethegreat and @/theabyssgazesalsointoyou as between Rich and Jeremy: they're both well aware of how shitty things are, but Rich at least finds humor where he can while Jeremy soldiers on with little to no funny business. Aaaand @/cryptids-and-muses for Jared: mostly fucking around while knowing just how bleak things are because hey, might as well have fun as the world burns to the ground.

[lohstandfound]

jake dillinger 🥇

How I feel about this character: My boy, I love him. He's so tragic. I want him to be happy, but I just don't let him (often).

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Rich, Chloe, Brooke (occassionally. usually popular polycule), Jeremy, Christine (dependant on the situation)

My non-romantic OTP for this character: jake 🤝 people who despise him at first /j this is mostly the case of Brooke and Michael, but my favourite platonic relationship for Jake is him and Brooke. they're besties your honour. you can see that in a few of my fics (like deities au, the flower shop au, poets fic)

My unpopular opinion about this character: ooooo i dont know. like. any opinion i have of him is. like. shared by my mutuals??? i dunno. he's the definition of perfection. he puts on the good boy who can do no wrong act because if he's supposed to be perfect then he's gotta make it look like it. the only way he's really good at talking about emotion/what is feeling is when it comes out in convoluted metaphors in poems or something because words come easier on paper. im just glad im seeing less of dudebro dumb jock. he's not stupid, he puts on a persona. i had something else to say but i forgot it

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: he should be allowed to blow up. he shouldnt have to be okay with everything that happened. let him be anything other than chill

[theriverpointace]

you work at an antique shop?!? that's so cool whatttt

thanks! yeah, it's this little place downtown, a small business among like a dozen other small businesses. it's almost a family business lol, with the exception of me and the ladies who work at the other location across the street. i mostly just price inventory and keep some of the displays (jellies, candles, tea, quilts) neat, but sometimes i also get enlisted to help set up the displays! here's a display i set up (mostly) on my own :3

on the side of the street i work at, it's a combination antique stuff and newer home decor stuff, like the towels and apron in the photo, and it's sorted by different themes. at christmas we have like five different christmas themes set up. it's all christmas. but rn we have two christmas areas, in the back of the shop, and a half-dozen or so assorted other styles. rn we've got lavendery purply stuff in the front walkway and its so pretty. we've also got two or three consignment areas that are rented out, i think it's two boutiques and then my boss's mother's tea stuff.

then on the other side of the street, it's all consignment. there are, iirc, two women's boutiques, one area of like kids' stuff, one area of a ton of random stuff that's fun to peruse, and three different antique vendors. one of them always has super cool stuff that i want to get. like this crab sign:

one of them is really delicate like porcelain stuff, and i'm always scared to walk over there, let alone vacuum lmao. always terrified im gonna break smth if i like breathe wrong. and the number of stories my boss has told me about people breaking things and how much she emphasizes that its Not That Big A Deal, perhaps i should relax a bit about it. but i h a t e breaking things.

and the shop always has immaculate vibes. exquisite. everybody who comes in always has a compliment, usually smth like "it smells nice in here" or "you have such fascinating stuff!" i've also gotten a lot of "she's got you hard at work, huh" and "wow, christmas already" comments lol. once i came in to work and i had had a really hard morning so i was crying and she gave me a hug and i took like five minutes to gather myself to Do My Job Which I Am Paid For and within probably half an hour i was feeling so much better bc yeah, it's work, and sometimes im on my feet for four or five hours which sucks, and it's probably not a permanent job, but it's literally just such a nice place to be. maybe i'd rather be at the park or on the couch or with my friends or anywhere else sometimes, but as a job i'd never trade it for the world. in fact i have loose idle daydreams about "what if i stayed there through college. what if i worked there part-time and got a second part-time job and rented an apartment from my cousin who owns like a third of all the real estate downtown and wrote in my spare time and lived here forever." and ig i kinda don't want to do that but it wouldn't be a terrible life either.

anyways long answer but i love my job so much and i kinda never want to quit. i was worried i wouldn't be able to keep it thru the fall semester but i can so :D love it love it love it there

[rising-above-stars]

6 34 45

6. Do you prefer drawing or writing?

oh my god that's a tough question.

i think i might go with writing- mostly because that's what i have the most time for

i love drawing, i love making art, but since i do more traditional art over digital its a lot to set up to do the type of art i like to make. also my drawing skill isn't quite up there in terms of anatomy

34. What’s your favorite flower?

I love hydrangeas and sunflowers and forget-me-nots

45. Is there anyone you would die for?

my friends, absolutely. and my siblings

[insertsickusername13]

this is quite possibly the worst thing I have ever written (not self-deprecating, just objective, I'm awesome, I love myself, blah, blah blah) but I'm sharing it bc the richjake fandom needs to be fed.

inspired by this post (link may or may not work, I'm bad at tech, it's by @theabyssgazesalsointoyou and the gist is rich wearing jake's clothes and jake loving it but I like...twisted the idea. a lot. for my own purposes.) and one of my headcanons that I can't say without spoiling the whole thing. kinda. whatever.

anywho here is this fic. i wanted it to be like 700 words but it's 2611 and I'm not giving you any hints as to what it's about, just read it!! for me!! anywho enjoy

Before moving in with Jake, Rich had spent almost every night at Michael’s house. Despite being hesitant to let a scarred arsonist sleep at their house, Michael's parents had grown to accept him as almost a son within days. He did chores, went to family events, he even started to rival Jeremy’s title as their favorite friend of Michael’s. He didn’t quite snatch the spot before Jake invited him over for dinner one night and, instead of just cooking Rich pasta, gifted him an entire bedroom and house key. (To please Michael’s parents, Rich had always called that night ‘the great kidnapping’)

Rich was endlessly grateful to Jake for letting him move in, happy to not only have his own space but also to get the privilege of waking up to see that gorgeous face in his kitchen every morning. He wouldn’t have it any other way, really.

But there was still that small part of him that was only sixteen, and though Jake gave him independence and a new type of love Rich had never thought would be directed his way (it couldn’t be romantic, Jake was straight, but there was this glowing adoration in Jake’s eyes whenever he looked in Rich’s direction that made Rich forget about the SQUIP and fire), he couldn’t offer the same familial love Michael’s household could. 

So, no more than once a month, Rich would spend the night at Michael’s. It wasn’t the same as it had been before—Rich was a guest this time around rather than a resident—but Michael’s parents still lit up at the sight of him and spent the entire night feeding him and playing board games in the living room. They asked about school, girls, boys—all the things Jake subconsciously knew and didn’t need to ask about. Rich, grinning, would happily answer all their questions while Michael (sometimes with Jeremy, sometimes alone) would do something or other in the background, completely unentertained. 

Rich looked forward to those nights. Jake knew he looked forward to those nights. Which was probably why he decided not to tell Rich he had a 101.8 degree fucking fever.

“Since when?!” he whisper-yelled into his phone speaker, holding it close to his mouth to keep as quiet as possible. He was hiding in Michael’s bathroom, sitting on the edge of the bathtub while Michael and his family ate dinner. He was supposed to be with them, but Brooke had been texting him non-stop for the past ten minutes, and considering their friendship mostly consisted of group events and choosing each other for group projects in classes they had together, he decided it was probably urgent enough to sneak away from dinner to see what the hell was going on. 

“I don’t know!!” Brooke whisper-yelled back, mimicking Rich even though she had no reason to keep quiet, “He was complaining about having a headache earlier?”

Rich ran a stressed hand through his hair. He could hear his heel tapping against the tile floor, though he was completely unaware of the motion. He wasn’t—he wasn’t that overprotective, okay? He knew Jake could handle himself in almost any situation. But he also knew Jake was probably the most independent person he’d ever met, and if he texted Brooke asking for help (technically he’d asked for, quote, ‘love and affection’, but for him, that was practically the same thing), then he was probably on the verge of death. So yes. He was stressed. Not panic-attack-break-down kind of stress, but reaching not-abiding-to-speed-limits-on-the-way-home levels.

“Is he gonna be okay on his own?” he asked, knowing full well that whether or not Brooke said no, he’d probably still end up going home anyway. He thought mournfully back to the wonderful meal Michael’s parents had prepared for him. Honestly, with the image of Jake all alone at home, it suddenly didn’t seem that appetizing. 

“I don’t know, probably. He said he threw up.”

“Fuck. Okay. You don’t need to go over, it’s fine. I’ll be there in twenty.”

“Are you sure? I can probably—”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure. He’ll probably be embarrassed as fuck if he finds out you had to come over and take care of him.”

“He literally asked me to.”

“He’s not mentally stable right now, it doesn’t count,” Rich replied, already getting up and opening the bathroom door. 

“Fair point. Don’t tell him I told you, by the way, he doesn’t want you to know.”

“Seriously?! That ass—” he glanced down the hall to see Mrs. Mell looking at him curiously. “ —jerk,” he amended.

“Shut up. He was being nice, wanted you to enjoy Michael’s house and all.”

“Of course. I hate him. I’m gonna go now, I’ll text you when I get there. Bye.”

“B—” her voice cut off before she could finish. By the time she’d realized he’d hung up, his phone was already in his pocket as he walked back into the dining room. 

Mrs. Mell was giving him an innocently hurt expression, clearly confused as to why he left dinner just to take a phone call in the bathroom. Rich felt guilt well up in his throat—-this house was quite possibly the closest thing he had to a real family—but Jake. Jake took priority over every other thing on this planet, no matter how loving or kind.

“I’m really sorry,” Rich said, walking back to his seat only to stand behind his chair rather than sit down. “Jake’s got a fever and I can’t—I gotta go make sure he’s okay.”

Mrs. Mell #2 (not Rich’s least favorite, just the second one he was introduced to) frowned. 

“Aww, sweetie,” she said, “Are you sure you have to go?”

“Yeahh,” Michael said, voice drawn out by the excesses of weed he’d done before Rich arrived (Jeremy had been over, Rich didn’t want to know what they’d been doing in that basement), “Are you sureee?” 

Rich was positive Michael’s parents didn’t notice his sarcasm.

“Yeah, I know, it’s terrible,” Rich said, deadpan just to piss Michael off, before turning to his parents. “Seriously, I would love to stay, but he’s a total mess. Can we reschedule for next weekend?”

Even as he said it, even as they were offering to let him take leftovers home with him, Rich was drifting towards the door, mind already focused completely on Jake. He slipped his shoes on as quickly as he could and left, offering goodbye smiles and adult-leaving-an-adult-party waves (since moving in with Jake, a lot of the things he did seemed a lot more adult now. Small talk with strangers, paying bills, going grocery shopping—growing up wasn’t nearly as life-changing as he thought it was going to be. Most of the time, it just consisted of snuggling with Jake on the couch as they did homework together).

He didn’t let his fake smile falter until he was pulling out of their driveway messily, hitting the brakes too hard when he realized he was going too fast and forgetting to switch on his turn signal until he was already rounding the corner out of their neighborhood. He considered texting Jake, but he didn’t find the time to pick up his phone between buying cold medicine from CVS and searching the isles for Jake’s favorite snacks and an herbal tea that was advertised to reduce congestion. With no update as to how Jake was doing, he ran a few red lights and ignored a few laws that were probably important for the safety of everyone on the roads on the way home.

“Jake?” he called the second he opened the door. The whole house reeked of sickness, the blinds pulled down, the lights off, and the kitchen messy. There was a pot on the stove with ramen still in it, a half-eaten pop tart on the island, and a couple of bowls on the counter. Rich cringed. Jake was a neat freak. Not a good sign. 

Rich dropped his bag of stuff on the counter and cast a glance at the living room as he passed, just in case Jake was on the couch. He wasn’t.

“Jakey?” he called again, this time a bit gentler. He knocked on Jake’s bedroom door, not waiting for an answer before opening it. 

Empty. Jake’s bed was a mess, the covers pulled off and all the pillows gone, but there was no Jake. Rich went as far as to check the floor on the far side of the bedroom, but that was as spotless as it had been this morning. 

Okay. That was fine. This was totally fine. Stress level: phone-in-hand-to-call-the-police. Slowly reaching the-love-of-my-life-died-and-I’m-going-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-mourning. 

“Jakey? Where are you, bro?”

The bro felt heavy in his mouth, mixed dangerously with the pure, soft, obviously romantic concern.

“R’ch?” Jake called, voice so hoarse it gave up on the ‘i’ in Rich’s name and slipped right into the ‘ch’ that sounded more like a ‘k’. Rich, previously unaware that one person could sound so completely helpless, stumbled from Jake’s room and into his own, drawn to Jake’s voice like a fucking cliche, metaphorical magnet. 

“Jesus Christ,” Rich breathed. Jake was on his side, piled under both Rich’s comforter and his own. He was shivering, his face both pale and flushed with sickness. Alone. The fact he hadn’t called Rich—he’d just planned on staying here by himself—

Rich, who’d dedicated months to undoing all the damage Jake’s parents had done, sent up a curse directed both at himself for failing to notice Jake was sick earlier and Jake’s parents for leading him to believe he couldn’t ask for help when he was like this.

At least Jake had found comfort in Rich’s clothes, apparently. Four of Rich’s shirts were strewn across the bed and one of his favorite hoodies was being used as a pillow. Another was being used as a stuffed animal, Jake snuggling it with his mouth and nose burrowed in the fabric. Rich, for the life of him, could not figure out why Jake would do such a thing, considering he could hear his rattling breathing from here.

“‘M not feelin’ good,” Jake said, muffled by the shirt. Rich laughed incredulously as he knelt next to the bed and pressed the back of his hand against Jake’s forehead. 

“Yeah, buddy, I can tell. What’re you doing in my bed? You trying to get me sick too?”

For some reason, that seemed to upset Jake. His breathing quickened without deepening, and Rich could practically hear Jake’s snot leaking onto Rich’s hoodie. Disgusting. 

“No,” Jake whispered, his voice cracking, “No, Richie, I’d never, I swear, I—”

“I know, I know, it was a joke,” he replied quietly, making a small ‘shh’ing sound to try and soothe him.

Rich could see Jake frowning even behind his sweatshirt. As gently as he could, he reached for the fabric to take it away from Jake’s mouth, hoping it could help him breathe easier. The second he tried, though, Jake made a whining sound and shuffled away, hugging it closer and letting out a tiny sob. 

“No.”

“No? Okay, that’s okay. But don’t you think moving it will help you breathe?”

Jake shook his head ‘no.’ Rich frowned. Okay, different approach then.

“You’re getting snot all over my sweatshirt,” he said, plain and simple if not a bit accusatory. He sounded so much more apathetic than he felt. He was playing this ‘straight boy who doesn’t care that you look so small and helpless and oh my god I want to kiss you,  wait, no I don’t, I’m straight’ character really well.

That, unsurprisingly, got Jake to let go of it long enough for Rich to pull the sweatshirt away and add it to his growing pile of laundry. There was shuffling behind him as Jake tried to sit up. 

“Do you need anything?” Rich asked, turning back to Jake, “Soup? Medicine? A… Jake?”

Jake was upright and crying. Straight-up tears pouring down his face, eyes red and lips pursed pathetically. He was clenching the comforter against his chest and trying to hide his face behind it without getting snot on it as Rich had previously complained about. 

‘What’s—holy shit, what’s wrong?” 

Rich shot across the room, searching Jake for some injury that could cause him to fucking—

Rich had never seen Jake cry before. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to run and hide, to protect himself from such an unholy sight, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave Jake here. Alone.

“‘M sorry,” Jake sobbed, collapsing forward onto Rich’s shoulder. Rich could feel Jake’s fever through his shirt and, not caring if he got sick, wrapped his arms around Jake and pulled him closer. “I didn’t wanna—I just missed you so much, and you were so so far away and you’re so tiny—”

Instinctively, in a desperate attempt to return some normalcy, Rich squeaked out, “I’m not that short!!”

Jake shook his head and cried harder. Rich ran a soothing hand through his hair. 

“You’re so short your stupid sweatshirt doesn’t fit—”

Rich paused. 

“I’m—what?”

“You—” Jake rasped through tears, “—you always wear my stupid sweatshirt when you’re sad and… and I thought it might make me happy if I could smell you, or pretend you’re here and not at stupid Michael’s, but—but you’re so small it doesn’t fit, and I tried to hug it but it wasn’t enough because I was cold and you’re warm and if you were with me I would never ever be cold, so—so I came here and I didn’t mean to mess up your clothes ‘nd make you angry.”

If Jake continued like this, Rich’s heart was going to erode away into nothing but Jake Jake Jake. He was going to get a false sense of hope that nothing could break. The world was already more golden than it had been before, already so much brighter despite the fact Jake was crying. 

“I’m not angry, idiot. I just wanted you to be able to breathe.”

Jake’s sobbing ceased. Nuzzling deeper against Rich, he whispered, sounding childish, “Are you sure?”

“Of course. Of course, dumbass.”

Jake tried to laugh with relief, but all that came out was a coarse groan and unhappy sigh. Rich kissed Jake’s forehead as he untangled himself and laid Jake back down on the bed, ignoring Jake’s protests. 

“I’m not letting myself get sick, but I promise you, you can have my entire closet until you're better, yeah?” Rich said, unable to stop his giddy smile.

Jake gave him a sleepy but content sound of agreement.

“I wan' that stupid shirt with the nerdy science pun on it," Jake breathed, already drifting off to sleep.

If any other sick person in the universe was asking, Rich would flip them off and tell them it was his favorite shirt and no one could touch it. No one was even allowed to eat spaghetti at the same table as him while he was wearing it. 

But it was pretty, smart, perfect Jake, so Rich took it off its hanger and gave it to the poor guy to snuggle with for the next three days. 

(And if, while Jake was still delirious with fever and sound asleep, Rich snuck from the house and to Target just to get a sweatshirt for himself in Jake’s size, then no one needed to know. If he had to hide his smile behind his hand when he walked into their apartment a week and a half later to find Jake cooking dinner in that same sweatshirt, then only God was his witness. If he was so overwhelmed at the sight that he grabbed the drawstrings and dragged Jake down to his height to kiss him, then that was between him and Jake. 

And everyone else. Because Jake, apparently, felt the immediate need to brag about getting ‘Rich fucking Goranski, like the hottest guy fucking EVER to kiss me, Jenna, he kissed me. Me!!')

[rebuke-me]

WIP ask game

In a new post, list the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

was i tagged? no. fuck that. am i making this thread myself because i want to ? yeah. i make my own rules babey. not many wips bc i finished most of them with deere week! but these r the next ones i wanna tackle :3c

punk au 8

mecha au?

portside au for publish maybe fuck if i know

piano prodigy au but like actually

no pressure tags !! : @theabyssgazesalsointoyou @rising-above-stars @pigeonwit @maybe-i-should-try-harder