#they do this reveal at the end like “OHHH GUESS WHO'S BACK” but as somebody who never played inazuma... uhh idfk that guy

[brambletakato]

im unsure if they'll bring back descole for nwos, but if they do im pretty sure theyre gonna kill or shoot him out back. sorry

[derangedangel]

Imported - Klaus Mikaelson

Summary: Based on this song by Jessie Reyez & 6LACK. You and Klaus make an arrangement to get over your past relationships.

Word Count: 5,123

Author’s Note: I LOVE this song, and this took me forever to write for some reason. I knew where I wanted to go, but actually getting there is hell. Honestly, I don’t know if the timeline for Klaus in this lines up with the part I tried to match in TVD, but just deal with it for the story’s sake. 

*gif is not mine*

You, you're in love with somebody else Maybe I could offer some help Get over them by gettin' under me

It had been two weeks since Jason practically stomped on your heart. Two years of will he or won’t he finally led to won’t he. At first you chalked it up to him being away so much for work. Long distance relationships were a pain in the ass. But now he made it clear. How could your heart hurt so much from someone you never officially dated?

Your girls took you out for the night to get your mind off things. All you did was work and come home, so they though it would be good for you to get out. You pregamed a little at your apartment, so now you were buzzed, but you still weren’t feeling this little outing. 

You sat at the bar watching your friends dance to the music. Your head leaned against your hand, your elbow sitting on the bar. Your eyes gazed around the bar examining everyone. The couple who couldn’t get enough of each other in the corner. The guy at the other end of the bar checking out all the girls on the dance floor. The bar tender trying to get a second to himself leaning against the back wall. Finally, your eyes landed on the dark blonde sitting two seats over from you. His eyes were set on his glass in front of him. He looked a little sad. Like his heart was broken too. Maybe that’s why you decided to speak to him.

“You look like someone just kicked your puppy.”

The man looked up, a slight glint in his eyes. 

���I could say the same about you,” he said, a smirk on his lips.

“Touché,” you said tilting your head to the side, pointing your drink in his direction. “But seriously. You look just as bad as me. Who broke your heart?”

“Who said anything about my heart being broken?”

You just looked at him, your eyes saying ‘don’t lie to me.’

“Caroline,” he said her name like it stung his lips. “She got married the other day.”

“Ouch,” you said scrunching up your face in pain. You scooted over onto the stool next to him.

“To an old friend,” he added.

“Oooo insult to injury.”

He took a long sip of his bourbon before he spoke again. “He’s a good man. I know he’ll treat her well.”

“Don’t feed me that bull. That’s what you’re telling yourself to make you feel better. How are you really feeling?”

He turned his head and looked at you, taking you in. He could tell you were buzzed, but you were being genuine.

“I hate it. I loath him for getting to be something I can’t to her. I resent him for marring her, but I don’t blame him for wanting to do so.”

“You must have really loved this girl,” you said sadly.

“She wasn’t ready to be with me when I wanted her to. I understood and told her I would wait.”

“Wow... you make my situation seem so minuscule. I mean, I think I loved him. I never told him.”

“What happened with...,” he trailed his question waiting for you to say his name.

“Jason. Just your typical mutual attraction but not wanting to commit. Biggest waste of my time. Honestly, I feel so stupid for sulking over him.”

“You had strong feelings for him. You shouldn’t feel stupid for that,” he said a little too softly for your liking. 

You stared at him for a moment taking him in. He was cute. His lips colored the perfect shade of pink. His blue eyes had just a hint of green in them to make you want to see them out in the sunshine instead of this dimly lit bar. 

“Umm... we’re sitting her discussing our sorta exes but we don’t even know each other’s names,” you pointed out.

“I’m Klaus,” he said stretching out his hand to shake yours. 

You giggled at the formality but shook his hand. “Y/N.”

________________________________________________________________

“Y/N,” you heard your name shouted then a loud giggled followed. 

“You okay Megan,” you asked your friend as she stumbled next you making you turn away from Klaus. 

“I’m great,” she shouted throwing her hands up in the air. “Are you okay? You’ve been sitting over here practically the whole night. Why don’t you dance with us?”

“I’m alright over here. I’ve been talking to my new friend,” you said and gestured over to Klaus and he gave a little wave.

“Ohhh...,” Megan said her eyes growing big taking in the man next to you. She leaned in closer to you to whisper, but she was still loud as ever. “He’s cute. You should take him home. You need to get laid.”

Your mouth dropped open. “Megan,” you whisper yelled. 

“What? You know I’m right,” she said in a lower tone catching on that you were mad. 

“Maybe, but you said that kind of loud,” you pointed out embarrassed. 

“I did,” she asked not completely sure loud she had actually been speaking even though she could have sworn she whispered. “Oh, well,” she said then practically skipped away back to your other girl friends on the dance floor.

You slowly turned back to Klaus, dropping your head into your hands shaking it. “I am so sorry about that.”

“No need to apologize,” he said but you could hear the smile in his voice. 

Dropping your hands, you looked up at Klaus. “She’s a sweet girl, but when she drinks she has no idea how loud she actually is. She thought she whispered that last bit to me.”

“I’m sure of it. But it’s always nice to hear a compliment.”

“Well you got to hear that you’re cute and I heard that I need to get laid.” You looked down at your empty glass then said, “I’m going to need another one of these.”

Klaus chuckled. “She meant well. Just looking out for a friend.”

“Yeah trying to get me to sleep with a hot stranger is definitely looking out for me.”

“So you think I’m hot,” Klaus said smirking at you. 

“Oh please, you know you look good,” you replied smiling back at him. 

“Like I said, it’s always nice to hear a compliment.”

You shook your head rolling your eyes at him. “Well I’m sure you don’t have a problem getting laid as my friend so eloquently put it.” 

Klaus’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “So we’ve gotten close enough in the span of an hour to discuss our sex lives?”

You shrugged, “Hey, Megan brought it up first. I’m just rolling with it.”

“Well since Megan brought it up, my sex life isn’t at the top of my priorities list right now.”

“See that’s your problem,” you said pointing to him.

“Excuse me,” Klaus asked confused but slightly intrigued. 

“Stay with me here, Klaus. I’ve always heard the best way to get over someone, is to get under someone else.”

Klaus just looked at you in silence.

At this point, it was definitely the alcohol talking but you couldn’t stop yourself. “We’re both stuck on our sort of, should’ve, could’ve, would’ve been exes. It seems as if neither of us are looking for a relationship. Why not help each other out? If you catch my drift.”

Klaus’ lips curved up into a smirk. “I’m following you.”

“Wanna get out of here,” you asked smiling.

“Go tell your friends you’re leaving,” Klaus replied then stood up. “Meet me at the door in 5. I’ll pay the tab.”

You quickly went over to your friends and told them you were heading out. They all whined talking about how this night was supposed to be for you, but you assured them the night went great and for them to let you know when they made it back home safe. 

About 15 minutes later, you were in a hotel lobby. Klaus said a hotel would be best since you probably didn’t want someone you just met in your home. Although you argued that you were about to sleep with said stranger you just met, you still agreed with him. The elevator ride felt agonizingly long. It was silent except for the soft elevator music playing in the background. As soon as Klaus opened the hotel door and you both were inside, your lips pressed against his in an urgent kiss. 

“Woah,” Klaus said stumbling back slightly. “Someone’s in a hurry.”

“It’s been a while,” you said as you pulled away to pull your shirt over your head. Klaus walked backwards to the bed as you followed him.

“I guess Megan was right,” Klaus said making fun of you.

“You talk to much,” you said before pushing Klaus back onto the bed then hopping on top of him reconnecting your lips. 

We can skip the wine and dine Go straight for the wind and grind She wanna cum, I can make it happen, fuck trying

After that first night, you and Klaus continued to meet up a few more times over the course of the next few months. The two of you promised to keep it casual. No feelings. Just sex. After it was over, usually one of you would leave right after. Sometimes you stuck around to shower before going back to your own place. 

Things were becoming routine for the both of you. One of you would send the other a text, and the two of you would meet up at the hotel. You learned the ends and out of each other. Since it was purely sex, neither one of you didn’t mind telling the other flat out what they liked and didn’t like. Klaus was a quick learner. 

One night there was a bad storm out and Klaus sent you a text late at night. You told him there was no way you were coming out in that weather. He asked for your address and 10 minutes later he was there. At first, you liked just going to the hotel. It made it more excited. But it was nice to have Klaus in your own bed.

You two began to get comfortable around one another. Naturally that was bound to happen when you constantly see someone naked. Klaus revealed that he was a vampire and had a daughter. Both being reasons why he preferred to go to the hotel. It kept you out of any unnecessary danger and he didn’t need his daughter asking questions. Apparently she was a very curious little girl. 

________________________________________________________________

“Oh my God,” you shot up, pushing yourself from off the top of Klaus’ body.

“What? What’s wrong,” Klaus asked genuinely confused as to what ruined your mood. 

“You just called me Caroline,” you said as you wrapped the bed sheet around your body.

“I did?”

“Yes,” you shouted sitting on the edge of the bed now. “Look, I know we’re not together so it shouldn’t matter if you say her name during sex, but it’s just too weird. Maybe we should put a brief pause on this.”

Klaus moved across the bed to get closer to you. “It was a mistake, love. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

“No,” you said standing up. “The mood is ruined now. I’m just gonna head out.”

Klaus laid back in bed and watched you as you put your clothes back on. He tried to reach out to you a few days later hoping that was enough of a pause, but you told him you two needed space. The sex buddies thing was getting a little complicated and you thought time and space was the best way to make things not be weird. 

Two weeks later Klaus reached out again and you would have met up with him at the hotel, but aunt flow was making a visit. You texted him that you were just going to lay on the couch all day.

Thirty minutes later your doorbell rang. 

“Ughh, who comes to someone’s home without texting first? It’s the 21st century. Only lunatics or serial killers do that,” you mumbled to yourself mad you had to get off the couch. You looked through the peephole before opening the door only a few inches.

“Lunatic here,” Klaus said when you opened the door. You were about to ask what he was doing at your apartment when he lifted his hand showing what he brought with him. “And I brought ice cream.”

“What kind,” you asked trying to see the flavor, opening the door a little more.

“Cookie dough,” he replied grinning.

“I guess you can come in,” you said trying to act like you wouldn’t have let him in even if he didn’t have any ice cream. 

You walked to your kitchen, grabbed a spoon, and immediately dug into the ice cream. You moaned as soon as the creamy goodness toughed your tongue. 

“Not that I’m not loving this ice cream right now,” you said as you dug your spoon in for another bite. “But I know you didn’t come all the way over here just to bring me food.”

Klaus was standing across from you, leaning against the counter. “My siblings were irritating me for the millionth time this week,” he said the paused for a moment. You nodded at his response, used to him mentioning how annoying his brothers and sisters could be. “And I wanted to check to see how you were doing.”

Your gaze met his through your eyelashes as you took your focus off your ice cream. “I’m okay.”

“After last time-,” Klaus began but you interrupted him.

“Don’t even worry about it,” you said waving your hand like it was old news and you didn’t want to hear it. “It was weird, but it’s okay for you to think about her when we’re-” you said but now Klaus was interrupting you.

“It’s not okay,” he said standing up a little straighter. “We were doing this to get over them. Me thinking about her when I’m with you... it... complicates things.”

“Klaus, it doesn’t have to be that serious. You miss her,” you said shrugging. “That’s okay.”

“I still shouldn’t have called you her name,” he said edging closer to you. “You’re not Caroline,” he said in a low tone that made your stomach feel funny.

The two of you stood there for a moment just staring at each other until your phone started ringing. You quickly scurried to your living room to answer it. While you talked on the phone, you watched Klaus walk in and sit on your couch. 

After you got off the phone, you looked up at Klaus and pulled a lackluster smile on your lips. “You want to stay and watch TV with me? I was in the middle of a Law and Order: SVU marathon.”

Klaus smiled shyly and said he would stay and watch with you for a little while. It felt like things were shifting between the two of you. What started out as a sex buddy was turning into an actual friend. 

Nursing a broken heart But who'd've thought it'd take me ages? I ended up here 'cause my girl said, "Fake it 'til you make it"

Klaus had just put Hope back to bed after a bad dream when his phone started ringing. He was shocked to see your name light up his screen. The two of you always preferred to text.

“Y/N?”

“Klaus,” you shouted excitedly into the phone. “I didn’t think you would answer. It’s so good to hear your voice.”

“Are you drunk,” he asked, a smile on his face at the though of you drunk dialing him. 

“Sure am,” you said happily. 

Klaus heard the music and shouting coming from the background. “Where are you?”

“I’m at the Cat’s Meow! Megan’s here with me,” you replied.

“Hiiiiii,” Klaus heard Megan squeal from next to you. 

“You’re out drunk with Megan,” Klaus asked slightly worried about you now.

“Yeah. We were ready to go home but Megan couldn’t figure out the Lyft app,” you said then laughed. “So I called you.”

“Do you want me to come pick you up,” Klaus asked with a smile on his face.

“Yes, please,” you said. 

About twenty minutes later, Klaus walked into the Cat’s Meow. He looked around the crowded karaoke bar trying to find you in the dim light. Megan squealed from one of the stools against the wall and he spotted her. 

“Where’s Y/N,” he said once he caught her attention. 

“Oh, hi,” Megan said a huge smile on her face. “You came!”

“I did,” he nodded. “Where’s Y/N?”

Megan pointed to the stage. Klaus followed Megan’s finger and saw you on stage hula hooping. 

“You’re doing amazing, sweetie,” Megan yelled. You looked over at her giggling and spotted Klaus. 

“Klaus,” you yelled loosing your focus on what you were doing. The hula hoop dropped from around your waist and you practically bounced off the stage. You through your arms around his neck and pulled him in for a hug. “You came!”

Klaus was shocked by your sudden outburst of affection. His hands were up in the air unsure of what to do in this situation. You pulled away, a smile lighting up your face. 

“Um, you ready to get out of here,” Klaus asked as he took a step back from you.

“Yeah,” you said nodding your head happily. “Come on Megan,” you said grabbing her hand then looping your other arm through Klaus’.

The three of you walked out of the karaoke bar and headed down Bourbon street.

Five minutes later you complained that you were starving and Klaus just had to go into one of the burger places nearby. He tried to convince you it could wait until you at least got to his car and he could get you something else to eat, but you refused.

You walked into the nearest diner and sat down at a booth. Megan sat across from you and Klaus sat next you. You and Megan ordered food and Klaus scrolled aimlessly on his phone. 

You were talking to Megan about the new Ryan Gosling movie then you stopped mid-sentence, you’re eyes growing big. “Oh my God,” you said ducking down into the booth.

“What,” Megan said turning around to see what you were looking at.

“It’s Jason,” you said in a low voice. His appearance sobered you up some. Klaus straightened up and put his phone away in his pocket.

“And he’s with someone,” Megan said turning back around to face you.

“Are you serious,” you asked annoyed and a little hurt. 

“And he’s coming this way,” Megan said a slight panic in her voice.

“Well you’re just full of good news aren’t you?”

“Y/N,” Jason asked surprised to see you even though you both lived in the same city. The girl he was with tightened her grip on his hand. 

You wiggled uncomfortably in your spot sliding up in the booth. “Hey.”

Jason looked across the table making eye contact with Megan. “Hey, Megan.”

“Whatever,” Megan said crossing her arms over her chest, turning and looking out the window.

“Who is this, love,” Klaus asked as he through his arm over your shoulder pulling you into his side. 

You turned at him confused but he winked at you so only you could see. Even though you were drunk, you caught on to what he was trying to do.

“This is Jason, sweetie,” you said placing your hand on Klaus’ thigh.

“Oh, yes. You’ve mentioned him once before.”

“I’m confused,” Megan mumbled then you kicked her under the table. “Ow.”

“Cousin, right,” Klaus asked pointed up at Jason.

“Uh, no,” Jason replied a little agitated. 

“He’s an old high school friend, remember,” you said to Klaus knowing it would annoy Jason. 

 “Oh, of course, that high school friend,”  Klaus said stretching his hand out to shake Jason’s.  

“And you are,” Jason asked even though he felt like more than just a high school friend to you. 

Klaus squeezed his hand just a little too tight. “Klaus, the boyfriend,” he answered smirking. He let go of Jason’s hand and pulled you in a little closer to him. “I have to say, I don’t know how you let her slip out of your grip,” Klaus said then turned to you, “but one man’s loss is another’s gain.”

You stared at Klaus in awe over what he was doing for you. Jason was at a loss for words, so Megan spoke up. “And on that note, I would say it was nice to see you, but it wasn’t,” Megan said cocking her head and pursing her lips.

Jason turned to Megan with a close lipped smile and said, “Well, it’s always a joy to see you Megan.” He turned back to face you, but you were still staring at Klaus. “It was good to see you, Y/N.”

“Un huh, bye,” you said hardly noticing Jason anymore. 

After Jason walked away with his date, Megan said. “Oh my God! That was hilarious. The look on his face... he was so jealous. And he’s keeps looking over here now.”

“How about we give him something to look at then,” Klaus said, a smirk slowly rising on his face.

“I love to put on a show,” you said smiling. Then Klaus leaned down and connected his lips to yours. His other hand that wasn’t already wrapped around your shoulder came up and pressed against the side of your face. The kiss was slow, nothing too crazy for public viewing. It was all an act, but there was still something intense about it. 

Megan was shocked. She knew about your situation with Klaus, but she understood it was a private thing. Something behind closed doors. “Oh, wow. So this is happening,” Megan said to herself.  

You smiled into the kiss before Klaus pulled away. For the rest of your time in the diner, you and Klaus stayed pressed up against one another. After you and Megan ate your food, Klaus stood up and grabbed your hand to walk you to his car. At that point, you weren’t sure if it was for show, to keep you steady in your drunken state, or because of something more. 

Klaus drove Megan home first. The two of you managed to drag her upstairs to her apartment and into her bed. You put a glass of water and Advil on her nightstand for when she woke up in the morning. On the way to your place, you dozed off in the passenger seat. Klaus tried to wake you up once you made it home, but you were too tired to get out of his car on your own. Klaus decided it would be best just to carry you instead. 

Klaus laid you down in your bed and handed you the over sized t-shirt that you were using as pajamas.

“You need to change,” Klaus insisted trying to hand you the t-shirt.

“Nooo,” you moaned. “I’m just gonna sleep like this.”

“Y/N, you’re fully dressed with makeup on your face.”

“Ughh can you do it,” you asked. You sat up as much as you could and tried to pull your shirt over your head but got tangled. Klaus chuckled to himself and helped you pull your shirt over your head. He pulled your shoes off, then helped you with your jeans. Luckily, your makeup wipes were on your nightstand next to you. Klaus pulled one out and helped you wipe your makeup off.

When he was done, you fell back into bed and sighed. Klaus was about to leave your room, but you mumbled into your pillow. 

“What was that, love?”

You adjusted your head so you weren’t talking directly into your pillow. “Stay.”

Klaus was a bit taken back, but he did as you asked. He slipped his shoes off and laid in bed with you. You cuddle up to him resting your head on his shoulder. 

“Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me for laying in bed with you.”

“No, for earlier... with Jason. You didn’t have to pretend to be my boyfriend,” you said sleepily.

“Oh. Don’t even think about it.” Klaus carefully tried to readjust himself under you. He had laid in bed with you multiple times before, but this was the first time it wasn’t after sex.

“You’re so good to me, Klaus,” you mumbled barely audible but Klaus understood you anyway. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

Klaus just laid underneath you, unable to respond. You quickly feel asleep soon after and Klaus just wrapped his arms around you as he stared up at the ceiling.

When you woke up the next morning, Klaus was gone. The side of the bed that he occupied nothing but a cold indent of where his body laid. At first, you told yourself it was because he had a child to get back home to. Then you reminded yourself he was just a sex buddy. He didn’t need to stay the night. He had done more than enough picking you up and bringing you home. 

_______________________________________________________________

Three weeks after the run in with your almost ex, you had some news for Klaus. You texted him to meet you at the bar you first met at. You two became regulars there in the weeks after you met, and it seemed like a fitting place for your announcement. 

“I met someone,” you said excitedly. You watched Klaus’s eyes for a reaction.

Klaus knew you had news, but he didn’t expect it to be that. His eyebrows rose in shock, but he held his composure. “You did?”

“Yeah. We’ve been on two dates so far, and I didn’t want to say anything until I knew how I felt, but I really like him.”

“That’s great, Y/N,” Klaus lied. 

“That being said...,” you trailed off, hesitant about what you were about to say. “I think it’s time to break off our arrangement. After that whole thing with Jason at the diner, and me meeting this new guy, I’m in a good place now.”

The bartender sat a glass in front of Klaus and poured his usual bourbon. Klaus gulped down half the drink before he spoke. “That seems like the logical thing to do. As long as you’re happy.”

“I am,” you said smiling. “I just hope everything is okay between us.”

“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?”

“It’s just... this whole thing started out as just sex,” you said fidgeting in your seat. “And I’ve come to really enjoy our friendship outside of that. I don’t want to lose this.”

“I don’t plan on going anywhere, do you?”

“No,” you said shaking your head. 

“Good then,” Klaus said taking a sip of his drink. “You should know by now it takes a lot to get rid of Klaus Mikaelson.”

“Well, you are a thousand years old. Old men tend to be stubborn,” you said smirking.

“Watch it, love,” Klaus warned smirking back at you. 

The two of you sat at the bar a little longer just talking. Klaus was doing a good job of pretending like his feelings weren’t hurt. But what did he expect? The two of you were just sex buddies. You were intelligent, beautiful, and people were drawn to you. Of course some man would catch your attention and ask you out. Klaus was just playing himself thinking this could go on uninterrupted. 

Get over them by gettin' under me, uh But you might O.D. if you get too much of me

A knock sounded at your front door. You looked through the peep hole then opened the door surprised.

“Klaus? What are you doing here.”

“I need to talk to you,” he replied, rolling his shoulders back nervously. “Look, I know our relationship was strictly sexual, and that was fine for a while. You were ready to start back dating and I understand but-”

“Hey, Y/N, you ready to go,” a male voice said interrupting Klaus. Klaus looked over your shoulder and saw a man coming from out of your bathroom.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you had company,” Klaus said, hurt evident in his voice. 

“Klaus, it’s-,” you tried to explain but Klaus interrupted you.

“No, I’m sorry. I’ll let you be.” Klaus turned around and walked away.

You stood in your doorway shocked and confused. “What just happened,” you whispered to yourself. After you wrapped your brain around what Klaus was possibly trying to tell you, you took off down the hallway. 

“Klaus, stop,” you said as you caught up to him.

“What,” Klaus said somberly. He looked disappointed. 

“Finish what you were trying to tell me.”

“Why does it matter,” he asked wounded.

“Because I want to know,” you said sternly. 

Klaus sighed taking a moment before he spoke. He spent all afternoon trying to work up the nerve to tell you how he truly felt. Although it seemed like you already moved on from your arrangement with him, he might as well tell you the truth. 

“I fancy you alright. When you told me you were ready to start back dating and that you were seeing someone new, I was upset. I got comfortable with what we had, but it turns out it wasn’t suitable for me anymore. I want more with you. I want a relationship.”

Before Klaus could get another word out, you reached up, placing your hands on his face, and pulled him in for a kiss. It was short, but you tried to put all your feelings for him into it. Klaus blinked slowly gathering his thoughts after you pulled away. 

“What- why did you kiss me? What about the man in your apartment?” 

“I kissed you, because I feel the same way,” you said smiling. “And that guy in my apartment is just an old friend. He’s in town for a little while and we were only going to go to a movie.” 

“Well now I feel-“ 

“Stupid for jumping to conclusions,” you asked as your wrapped your hands around Klaus’ neck, pressing your body against his.

“I wasn’t going to say stupid exactly,” he said wrapping his arms around your waist. 

“Foolish. Ludicrous. Thick,” you listed off teasing him as you kissed him in between each word.

“Well now you’re just listing synonyms for stupid, which I don’t appreciate. But if you’re going to keep kissing me, then I’m sure I could learn to live with it.”

“Oh, you’re going to have to learn to live with a lot of things with me,” you said nodding up at him.

“I can’t wait,” Klaus replied before leaning down to kiss you again.

[hecohansen31]

Look. A society where most people are "normal", some are "little", the normal ones can become mom or dad to the little ones, who can't take care of themselves when they are alone. Duncan is an adult, who never thought about taking care of a little fuck everyone and has a crush on his secretary who is cute and a bit clumsy. One day, she agrees to invite him and he discovered she is a little, trying to act like an adult because her parents never accepted her status. Will Mr Shepherd be her daddy?

(A/N): Hello there, lovely! 😘✨

I honestly loved this request just so so much and I am glad that you sent it and I hope that I wrote in a good way, I low key felt like this ended up being goofier than it was supposed to be! 🙈

Also guys... I am very sorry if asks are slow, I have had just the worst week with anxiety and next week a new course is starting so I don’t think that I’ll be able to write much, and it honestly makes me feel the worst and I hope that you won’t hate me... 🙈.

WARNINGS: Little! Reader, Duncan being an idiot, Issues With Parents And DDLG themes. 💖

Duncan Shepherd had never wanted to care for a little.

It might have seemed heartbreakingly horrible to say, but around little he felt like he needed to show some sense of responsability and a moral backbone that he didn’t own.

Littles were nice for a one night stand, as long as they wouldn’t protest for being left alone the following day.

He didn’t think that littles shouldn’t have existed as so many did, but it wasn’t just his thing.

So, it could only be in Fate’s plan for Cupid to make him fall for a little one.

He had set his sight for some time onto his secretary, a sweet thing, always smiling and fidgeting around him, clearly nervous and a bit embarrassed around him.

(But Duncan loved that blush).

She always fretted around him and he appreciated her precise and concise work, and he couldn’t help but beam at her soft “good morning, Mr Shepherd, what can I do for you?”.

(No words had never sounded so lovely for him).

That day he had managed to make her overcome her fear of people’s judgement and of being fired, to make them go out on a date, suggesting it was just a date between two colleagues,

But he had managed to make her relax quite a bit, since the start of it, having her smiling softly with him, at some silly thoughts of his, meanwhile she hid that beautiful smile of her under the glass of watershe had chosen instead of wine.

“I prefer to stay sober, since I know you won’t”.

And like this he had discovered she could be quite snarky...

... that also was part of her charm.

He knew that she was pretty enamoured with him, already, by the way she twirled her fingers though her hair and smiled gently almost hazily at him, so when he suggested he gave her a lift back home (“I don’t want my best employee to wander alone at night”), she had immediately accepted.

He had gentlemanly accompanied her back home, till her door, and over it, since he had some “quite trouble” in his bladder and asked to use the restroom, meanwhile she fixed him something to drink, in order to thank him fo the good night.

(He would have preferred a kiss).

She instructed him on how to reach the bathroom, but he accidentally counted the rooms wrong and ended up in an another room, which wasn’t clearly her bathroom.

Stuffed animals, onto a pinkish bed, not the only pink thing in the room, alongside a baby blue desk, where a little pile of children books appeared, and a childish set up of sticky stars was set up in the entire room.

He soon found her by his side, and when she realized what he had discovered shock went through her body and she started blushing, profusely trying to apologize for what Duncan had seen.

Which he didn’t understand: she had never old him about a child.

(Not that it would have been a problem for him).

(He was just that enamoured).

“... I honestly hoped that the truth wouldn’t have come out this way” she mumbled, not meeting his gaze and focusing on her shoes, almost ashamed “... but I guess it isn’t a secret anymore, so, Mr Shepherd you must know...”.

“I don’t mind the fact that you have a child” he blurted out, probably the wine talking.

Which got her quite confused because she stared at him as if he had uttered the most idiotic thing ever, and then huffed out:

“... I am a little, Mr Shepherd”.

Ohhh, that made a little bit more sense.

“... and I know that you don’t particularly like them, so I can totally understand why you might fire me” she continued talking with him, not looking in his very surprised eyes “...Mr Shepherd?”.

“Why did you hide it, from me?” he asked, feeling like it was not only her fear of disappointing him that had stopped her from revealing all the truth.

His eyes graced over each childish design in the room, strangely finding it cute and adorable.

Exactly as he found her adorable.

Maybe he could take responsabilities, if it meant getting that lovely sweetheart...

“... my parents...” she started slowly, again her eyes on her shoes and Duncan couldn’t help but push her chin up, getting her to focus on his eyes and her discourse “... they don’t believe in the entire “little population”, they think I just want to be treated as a baby, and don’t want any responsabilities”.

He knew that there were people who thought it this way, but he hadn’t thought somebody would take their words seriously.

But seeing the way she shifted uncomfortably, as if she expected him to shout at he, he was truly heartbroken.

He moved closer, careful not to make her feel crowded, gently pushing the hair out of her face and gaining her attention, as he moved his hand onto her cheek, making her move closer and meet his eyes.

“I don’t think it that way in the slightest, and I am sorry that your parents are assholes who think that” he mumbled, and a gentle light shone in her eyes, but she kept on shifting his glance, ashamed.

“Still... you don’t like very much littles” she replied, meanwhile she fidgeted with his fingers.

“That is true” he shot back, and she almost pushed away, but he gripped her tighter an cornered her gently “... but I like you and I don’t care about anything else”.

[lightsandlostbells]

Druck season 2, episode 5 reaction

Sorry this is late! You can blame it partly on the ~polar vortex~ and partly on fatigue. 

anyway, who’s ready to solve the great mystery of the ages, Whose Dick Is That

Episode 5

Clip 1 - Hotel Hardenberg

The doorbell is ringing. Mia wakes up in utter contentment, love that little shot of her foot stirring. The apartment seems to have been tidied up and Alexander’s bed on the floor put away.

Alexander has left her Post-Its as a parting gesture, there’s one on her phone with a heart. Charming move! He comments that she snores. Also charming from a certain perspective (that perspective is Mia is adorable). His other Post-Its in the apartment indicate that he’s made her rosehip tea and thank her for staying at Hotel Hardenberg, what a dork. 

Mia gets up to go but then strips the bed. A sign of her compulsive neatness and need for order, especially after that order has been broken by staying at Alexander’s? Or just her wanting to be a thoughtful house guest? Or her wanting to erase the evidence of her presence? All three?

On the way out the door, Mia runs into Björn, who describes himself as a friend of Alex. So, probably not his brother. He’d tell her if he were his brother, right? Saying “I’m Alex’s brother” seems more trustworthy for most people than “I’m Alex’s friend.” And he gave his real name, we know that Alex is referring to a Björn in his text messages with Sam, so Björn can’t have been worried about Alex telling Mia about him and Mia knowing who he is.

Björn says he’s here to get something. I sure bet Alex doesn’t know about that! Something shady is happening! He asks her name and Mia gives it to him. Ohhh, dear girl, you don’t know it but that was probably not a good move. (The biggest plot twist would be if Björn was some totally harmless guy that Alexander had wronged, so Björn was trying to avoid him at all costs and Alexander was trying to find him and apologize.) (I 100% do not believe that is the case but damn it would be a trip.)

The clip started with the doorbell ringing so that must have been Björn. Was he trying to see if Alex was home so he could sneak in while the place was empty? Because evidently Björn got into the building fine, and usually there’s better security in those places, and he’s the one who opens the apartment door, not Mia, so he must have had a key. My guess is that Björn is like the sister’s boyfriend/ex/friend who would have had access to the apartment before Alex moved in.

Alexander sent her a text that he’s in London, doing business/real estate stuff for a few days. #ishereallythatrich - Heh, but what are the odds he’s doing something else?

So I bet that’ll come back eventually, that Mia saw Björn entering the apartment, and she didn’t tell Alex right away. But damn, imagine if Mia hadn’t woken up with the doorbell and Björn walked in on her while she was sleeping. Or if she hadn’t left yet and caught him rummaging around through Alexander’s shit.

Clip 2 - Linn the apartment ghost

One week later due to the hiatus, Mia and Alex are texting. When he asks her how she’s doing, she starts to type out a friendly reply but then stops herself, but unfortunately Alex can see when she’s typing

He asks her to go out for a drink, she says she has to study. They have some “banter” and I know they are flirting but it just makes me tired that part of their dynamic is “I won’t go out with you” followed by “Are you sure?” It’s an issue that extends beyond Winterberg, Noorhelm, or any other version of this pairing - men are socialized not to take no for an answer from women, and it’s too prevalent in real life to really get over it in fiction. Like this texting could’ve been about anything else, more banter about them snoring (Mia says he also snores) or her playing the piano or his Post-Its or literally anything other that this no-yes-no dynamic. 

It’s exacerbated because it is a case of “Well, she doesn’t really mean no, she does actually like him.” Mia almost seems disappointed when Alex stops texting back. And again, one of my big problems with how Noorhelm and all its equivalents have been portrayed is that we don’t need more stories where a girl keeps saying no when it turns out she kind of means yes. You can’t separate this individual story from the larger cultural trend. 

LMAO, Linn announces her presence by loudly slurping on a drink behind Mia  She just wanted to see what’s up with Mia and has been standing there a while. This moment is played for laughs but I think it’s also meant to be a reminder that hey, Mia and Alex aren’t in their own little bubble, other people exist and are eventually going to find out that something’s happening with them. It’s almost like Mia has been caught. 

New shot during the end titles of Mia in a hoodie looking dramatic. So far we haven’t seen any of these little end scenes in action. Are these just for promo? I think it’s more likely that they’ll happen in a later episode, I just find it interesting that none of them have taken place yet.

Clip 3 - Dicks in the air

Photocopies of boobs and blurred out dick drift by like tumbleweeds with nipples as Mia heads into the school. A girl hands her a boob picture for some reason, as if Mia needed one for personal use.

When she steps into the school, there’s boobs and ass and dick and the middle finger everywhere. We can hear a literal buzz as people observe. Accompanied is graffiti that says Abi Chaker Clan 2019 - 12 Years Family! Lmao, is that a teacher frantically trying to gather up copies on the stairs? You try your hardest, sister.

Kiki steps up and observes, takes a picture of the display. Where have you been, Kiki? Last we saw you, you were breaking Carlos’ heart.

Kiki thinks she recognizes Alex’s penis in the pictures, and Mia is like “get that picture out of my face plz.” Kiki hands it to Mia as she walks away, and Mia can’t resist a glimpse of the dick, which is blurred out for us viewers, by the way. I’m just laughing at the thought of Kiki the dick detective solving this whodunnit. Remember on New Year’s where Mia was kinda “???” about Kiki’s future profession and ended up with influencer? I would say Kiki’s true calling is solving phallic-related crimes and picking dicks out of a lineup except, as we learn later in the episode, she ain’t that great at it after all.

Hanna shows up in an echo of Kiki’s entrance and is like, WTF, we’re in trouble. They see Alexander and Jonas hugging it out in the distance and are like, when did they become friends? So I’m guessing this graduation prank is taking the place of the Yakuza fight, and it’s Alex and Jonas who have the suspicious friendship rather than P-Chris and Isak. I APPROVE. The Yakuza thing has always been out of place IMO, tonally, and I didn’t like how the fight ended up leading to excuses against William smashing a bottle on a dude’s head. This prank is something that’s serious but not so serious that I’d consider it a red flag/dealbreaker against Alexander. It’s also a lot closer to Mia personally, and affects her and basically all the characters - the Yakuza thing felt weirdly disconnected from Noora and the girl squad, only something that involved them because they happened to witness that one fight and some of their friends/boyfriends were involved. 

It’s also a replacement for the Penetrators trashing the cabin, and I fully realize that this is hypocritical but I also prefer this somehow even though it’s functionally the same thing, destruction of property. Maybe because again, it’s more connected to the rest of the characters as a plot point.

There’s this rather extravagant shot of someone throwing a bunch of the copies over the banister and they float down around Mia, just a ton of boobs and butts and dick wafting like snowflakes, and it’s so ridiculous that I love it.

Clip 4 - Mia keeps some interesting things in her bag

Leonie’s leading a meeting, again. This time it looks like more of the graduating class, not just the committee. She explains that somebody, probably several people, broke into the school Saturday night and made copies of their …. She trails off and Carlos helpfully supplies the displayed body parts with anatomical precision.

Someone give Leonie’s actress an award for that brief look of disdain at Carlos after he says “You’re welcome” and before she turns away. 

Because someone sprayed the Abi Motto on the wall, the school thinks someone from our year did it. Carlos and Jonas call it bullshit, fake news. Just as an aside, I’ve seen the term “fake news�� pop up as a joke in SO many films and TV shows recently, including that Kurt Russell sexy Santa movie, and like ... I certainly understand why and I’m not opposed to “ironic” usage, I’m also just aghast that we’re at a point where it’s mainstream, you know? 2019, man.

Anyway, one of the new and expensive copy machines broke from the prank and “copy orgy”. Sam whispers to Amira that they didn’t just make copies - so was there a literal orgy on the copy machine? Or just the weight of people’s asses broke the machine? 

Kiki says she thinks it was Alexander, and I thought it was extremely fishy for Kiki to be so quick to blame Alexander, and that maybe she was involved in the prank or even trying to frame him, but obviously that turned out to not be the case. So I think she just wanted him to be guilty so he could get in trouble. And she’s telling Mia, who she thinks will be an ally in blaming Alex.

So now they owe 4500 euros to the school. Either who did it owns up and settles it with their insurance, or the school takes it out of the Abi account. Leonie gives the culprits a chance to reveal themselves. Man, what if Leonie was involved? The perfect crime, the least likely suspect…

Alex smiles over at Mia but that expression fades, Sara waggles some xeroxed breasts at him and he smirks. So those are her boobs, right? She seems pretty proud.

No one confesses to the crime, so Leonie says they have to raise the money again, thanks for nothing. Lmao, Leonie is such a hall monitor type that she’s really growing on me.

There’s some tense music as Mia is exiting the room, and of course Alexander is waiting for her. She walks right by him, to the door. On second thought, she turns around, pretends to rummage in her bag (we see she still has the dick pic so I guess the possibility that it’s Alexander’s is enough for her to keep it around) and then pulls out what she was looking for - a middle finger. That’s so petty, I’m in love with her. She goes out the door and Alexander does not seem pleased.

I mean, to be fair to him, Mia did jump to conclusions right away. (Conclusions that happened to be right, although not about the dick pic.) And I think this was in a way about re-establishing the natural order of things, getting back to “Alexander’s a selfish asshole” territory rather than her liking him, in addition to the whole class being punished. To be fair to her, too ... it’s only recently that he’s shown some decency, and he has a history of doing crappy things. 

Alex was texting Mia on Saturday, though, right? About wanting to go out and get a drink with friends? So maybe that will be used to exonerate him, he was busy with other people. (EDIT from the future: Lol, nah, his “drink with friends” turned into the prank, I guess.)

Clip 5 - Team Michi

Mia has handed over the dick pic to Hans for his opinion, I guess? Hans seems to be a penis connoisseur so I understand the sentiment. And his opinion is that it was a “heavy petting orgy” at least. He asks Michi for his opinion. Good, Michi is there! I think it’s nice if Hans is getting a little romance of his own, although he better be treating Michi right and not taking him for granted.

Hans teases Mia about why she wants to know so badly about what happened at the school on Saturday night, and if she isn’t a bit jealous. She says curiosity isn’t the same as jealousy. Sure, but the two aren’t mutually exclusive.

Mia goes to ask Linn for her opinion (Linn is sleeping already) and Michi feeds Hans. They have a little couple moment. Aww. HANS, TREAT MICHI RIGHT. He’s cute and he makes food for you. 

I’m wondering if the whole Hans/Michi thing is going to be a parallel to Mia and Alex, where a relationship that didn’t seem feasible at first becomes something real, and maybe they’ll have some relationship difficulty when Mia and Alex do. Though in the beginning of the season Hans and Michi seemed to parallel Alex and Kiki quite clearly, or at least Mia was making that connection, so who knows.

Clip 6 - Always look before crossing

Mia is leaving for school in the morning, and who should be there but Alex with two drinks in his hands. Rosehip tea or cocoa if he’s feeling sentimental. 

We don’t hear what he’s saying because Mia has her earbuds in, so it’s just the faintest sound of his voice over the music. She ignores him and goes to unlock her bike, he keeps talking, she points to her earbuds to indicate that she’s not listening. We see him mouth “please” and she finally takes out her earbuds and accepts the drink. Which I would too, because I’m shameless and thirsty and I wouldn’t turn down a free warm beverage in the morning.

There’s a little editing blip because in the clip, the music doesn’t cut out right as she takes out the earbuds, it’s a moment or two later when she puts them in her pockets. They fixed it in the full episode, though, and it cuts out when she takes out the earbuds.

Alex clearly sees Mia taking the drink as a victory and smiles. They walk along side by side by a moment until Mia calls him out for being spoiled and doing whatever he wants and not owning up to it. He says they were drunk. Wait, so he DID do it???? And he says she’s blowing it way out of proportion?? I’m surprised because I thought we’d learn that Alex didn’t do it after all. It seemed too obvious, Kiki was so eager to blame him that it seemed like a misdirect. And I mean, I don’t think it’s right that he and the others are making the entire graduating class reap the consequences, but I don’t think the prank is an unforgivable thing he did in itself. 

They argue a little and she’s about to bike across the road when Alex grabs her and pulls her back just as a car goes by, honking. She’s like … this doesn’t change anything. Alex is like, well it kinda does. “I saved your life, Mia Winter!” Well, she was distracted by him in the first place, so consider it even? (I binge-watched Russian Doll on Netflix this weekend so I can’t help but think this moment could have taken a drastically different turn.)

Mia bikes away but is smiling, which is awfully chipper for someone who just had a brush with death. I would be in the fetal position the rest of the day.

Alex stares after her and walks in the other direction. Errr … away from the school? I assume he was going back to his car, parked closer to Mia’s place.

So that mystery was done solved pretty quickly and anti-climatically. Kinda disappointing because I think it’d be fun to drag it out just a teensy tiny bit more - the mystery element of Skam is something that’s really underrated, when you think about it, even though it’s a large part of what kept people watching in real time.

Clip 7 - Sam just drops a bomb

We get a closeup of Sam blowing a bubble with her gum and then popping it. Like how she’s about to burst that bubble about Mia and Alex? 

The girls are discussing the prank and that Alexander was in on it. Kiki is like, I knew it. Damn, she really wants him to go down. I don’t blame her, though.

When Amira asks how Mia knows, Sam says Alexander probably told her. WHOA HOLD THE PHONE. Druck is throwing curveballs everywhere this episode. I did not expect to see Sam reveal this information so quickly and casually; I thought she’d save it for a more dramatic moment later on, after Mia and Alex definitely were a thing. Sam says Mia is always talking to him, and Mia rushes to explain that it was all because of Kiki (lies) and she told him what she thought of him (well, that part is true) and that Leonie told her about Alexander (another lie - not looking good for Mia).

All the girls get a text at the same time. Sam says her battery sucks so we conveniently get Hanna reading the text out loud for us viewers. Alexander has arranged a benefit concert to make up for the damage so no one has to pay extra. BOY SAM WILL BE PERFORMING, and there will be a surprise musical act, too. I’m just glad to see the toilet man again. 

The girls are excited and Hanna’s like, TIME TO STOP STUDYING. I don’t think she needs much of an excuse, really.

Alex texts Mia to say if she doesn’t come tomorrow, he’ll cancel everything 😊 GODDAMMIT. I realize Alexander is supposed to be a dickhead, but do we really have to keep this manipulative crap? Can he not just be like … arrogant and jerkish without that element?

Kiki looks at Mia getting another text, and you can see the suspicion all over her face. Sam’s comment struck a match.

Clip 8 - Mia crosses that bridge, y’all

I love when we get a long-ass Friday clip, thanks, Druck!

Mia shows up to the benefit concert by herself, and Toilet Sam is rapping onstage. Hello again! She runs into Kiki and says she’ll join the group in a minute. Does she need to talk to Alexander first?

We see Mia putting on that bright red lipstick in the mirror. I am sure she’s doing it just because she likes the color and not because there are any Alexander-related motivations that she would never admit.

Mia notices Alex skulking across the club and staring at her like some kind of Edward Cullen wannabe. It’s only episode 5, I guess they still have time to pull off a sudden vampire twist. (And I mean ... Alexander did just pull Mia out of the path of a car ... a Twilight parallel if I ever saw one.)

Of course Alex sends her a text telling her she looks gorgeous. It looks like he wants her to drink with him; however, Sarah comes up to him and gives him a hug and kisses him on the cheek and talks to him. He doesn’t look very enthused, but Mia smirks and shakes her head at him. That Alexander, up to his old tricks! Between that and the copy orgy I’m sure she’s thinking Alexander and Sarah have a thing.

People dance and drink to Toilet Sam’s performance. We see Jonas getting really wasted, and Matteo seems kinda done with it, so it’s Hanna who pulls drunk Jonas off the dance floor, and he tries to kiss her. MY HEART. But she pushes him back and asks what’s up with him. He says, you’re what’s up with me. THE ANGST. I said this last season, but Anselm Bresgott is a great actor. He’s able to convey a lot of vulnerability with his eyes. 

When this happened I thought that maybe instead of drunk Eva/Vilde makeouts we would get sad intoxicated Jonas trying to kiss Matteo in this clip, and I was all for THE ANGST that would bring. Either that or Jonas was gonna make out with Toilet Sam. 

(He did not make out with either of them - yet - but it’s OK because there turned out to be enough of THE ANGST as it was.)

Alexander comes onstage and Toilet Sam gives him a shout-out for organizing, and that they beat their goal (by almost half, awesome). They’re giving the rest of the money to plant trees on campus, to make up for all the dead ones they spent showcasing students’ genitalia. How noble!

Sarah is the surprise performance of the night! So her contact with Alexander was not necessarily about them hooking up, but perhaps her thanking him for giving her the opportunity? Sarah sings idontwannabeyouanymore by Billie Eilish. 

After some more eye contact with Alexander, Mia leaves the room and goes upstairs. But Alexander stands in her path and won’t let her go to the bathroom. Come on, dude. You’ve been doing some things right but this episode you’re doing all these little entitled things.

He’s like, Mia, what do you want. He fixed everything? Everyone’s happy, so what’s her problem? LMAO again at this entitled attitude. She owes him nothing! The thing is - even if she really really likes him and wants to kiss him and be with him - she still owes him nothing! She’s allowed not to act on her feelings because she feels it’s a bad idea! Get out of here with this attitude that Mia is doing him wrong because she likes him but won’t give in and be with him.

He lets down his hood and rakes his hand through his hair in a strangely vampire-ish way, and says there’s something between them. He likes her a lot, but he’s tired of these games. Dude, you’re the one starting many of these games now. Yeah, Mia is definitely responsible for much of what happened earlier in the season, and she could certainly be better about not contacting him, but he’s also the one showing up at her place with a drink and telling her he’ll call everything off if she doesn’t show up to the benefit. He gives her the lines about if she doesn’t like him, say it to his face and he’ll leave her alone forever. Just as he says that, Kiki comes out of the bathroom, and there’s some heavy eye contact between her and Mia, and oh right, that’s what Mia doesn’t like him, that’s why Mia can’t be with him.

Heh, he put down his hoodie to confess to her, because he was being open about his feelings, and then when she’s rejected him, he puts it back up. He’s ~putting up his wall again. 

Mia then goes into the bathroom and has a mini-breakdown, as the song switches from the cover to the original. She’s teary, she’s wiping off her lipstick. Props again to Milena because she’s really selling this season. She looks for some toilet paper, but there’s only the cardboard for the roll. So she goes in her purse for something and comes up with the Post-It Alex left her about Hotel Hardenberg. Ahhhh, now that’s a nice little detail. I’m one of those people who just ... does not clean out her purse until she buys a new purse, lmao, so I can imagine Mia shoved it in there and forgot about it, without being very sentimental about it at the time. But I like that it came back at this crucial moment.

Mia grabs her coat and runs out of the club after him. When she catches up to him, they’re on opposite sides of a bridge, so we know what’s gonna happen. Someone’s gotta cross, or they have to meet in the middle.

She says it’s cold, he offers her a beanie, she comes forward and shows her own beanie, they both put on beanies at the same time. It’s a big beanie fest. What’s important that Mia crossed the bridge and closed the gap. The symbolism is obvious, but ... well, it’s there.

She says that she likes him, but doesn’t want to like him. He’s an egocentric prick, but then he was clever and funny and nice that one Friday, but then he disappears for a week and pulls that stunt copying his dick and plastering it around the school. Alex is like, who said that was my dick? Mia is like, well whose dick was it? Alex nods over her shoulder and we see Jonas stumbling around drunk as fuck. LMAO. Mia had Jonas’ dick pic in her backpack. She was going around thinking she got a glimpse of Alexander’s junk, showing it off to her roommate, and it was Jonas’ all along! And Hanna didn’t notice it was Jonas’ dick??? 

I mean, now I get why Alexander and Jonas bonded so quickly. They’re dick twins, if Kiki can mistake one for the other. I’m sure there’s some situation where that would come in handy (no pun intended?) 

Are the two of you going to help out this completely drunk Jonas who’s by himself and who’s wandering into the street before he gets hit by a car or something...

Alex is like, do I look like someone who whips out his dick when he’s drunk? (I mean...) His penis needs to stay an enigma. Okay, goddammit, that’s funny. But Mia correctly points out that every other girl at school knows his penis, so it’s not an enigma.

When Alex is like, now what, Mia looks past him and says, “Fuck,” and when he turns back to her she’s kissing him. Damn, she’s so smooth. They dramatically kiss and he doinks his forehead against hers, it’s quite sweet. Then Alex goes off into the night, probably to find a few necks to drain. He rummages around in his coat for a moment, making quite a show, and of course it’s his middle finger he finds and flashes at Mia. Flipping each other off becoming their romantic couples’ gesture? I’m here for it. 

He also does a little skip hop as he goes. Mia looks after him, smiling. Oh, Mia. Follow your heart, but take your brain with you.

So that shot during the end credits, of her looking outside at something, is not her in the first kiss scene! When will any of these moments happen?

Social Media/General Comments

The week long hiatus was explained in-universe as an “insta detox” among the girls. Matteo did not let that stop him from posting his regularly scheduled memes, though. #fuckinstadetox

Hanna texts Matteo about why Jonas and Alex are acting all buddy-buddy, which we see in the clips, too. Matteo says he doesn’t know. I thought it was meant to be a red herring and that Alex was probably not directly involved in the prank, but Jonas probably was, and maybe Jonas decided to bro it up with Alex since he liked his motto. Except then Alex turned out to have participated in the prank. I guess their friendship escalated when Jonas had his dick out on the copy machine.

But I like seeing a William have friendly interactions with other characters. That was something I thought was kind of lacking with him in Skam, that we didn’t get a ton of insight into his other friendships. He didn’t seem to care much about Noora’s friends, and he was close with P-Chris obviously, but there wasn’t a ton of detail there as to why or what their relationship was like outside of girl drama. I understand that not every character has to be extroverted and buddy-buddy with others, but it makes me think a lot more of Alex as a person when we see him forming bonds with people who he does not want to bone.

Matteo then texted Jonas about the thing between him and Alex, and Jonas jokes that he couldn’t resist Alex’s face. Matteo is jealous! But totally not really jealous, you know, JOKING jealous. Totally. And when Jonas teases him about it, he says there’s no reason to be, Matteo is the only little bitch in his life. I legit want to pass out. And I think Matteo did too, because he sent back a heart emoji. Six minutes later. What happened in those six minutes? Was Matteo just sitting there staring at his phone, wondering how the hell to respond to that? Getting butterflies and heart palpitations in his skinny stoner body?

There are pictures of the benefit with the girl squad sans Mia ... after she left to run after Alex, maybe? ~Foreshadowing?

I’m Mia right now. I was so annoyed with little things Alexander did in this episode, and I’m still pissed at some of his past behavior, and yet I am charmed by him despite it all. It’s heavily due to the performance. I can’t believe Alexander was one of my least favorite Williams across the remakes based on the first season, and he’s skyrocketing here just by virtue of having a personality.

I also can’t believe I had doubts about Mia in the first season. She has my whole heart now, fuckups and all. 

Girl Sam and boy Sam were rapping together at benefit, according to IG. What if boy Sam replaced Kasper and made out with girl Sam in the finale, since it’s unlikely Manfred will fill that role (or at least I hope to God not)? I mean, if Kiki’s ultimately gonna be chill about Mia and Alexander, Hanna being chill about Sam and Sam wouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

In an alternate universe, this season turned into the German remake of American Vandal from here on out and we spent the next five episodes trying to figure out who covered the school in dicks.

I’m not German so please feel free to correct me/clarify stuff!

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

[lefthandactivist]

The Beginner’s Guide

If you haven’t been able to tell, I play quite a few video games. My steam library has too many to properly pay attention to, and I have to be careful of how much time I spend gaming instead of other practical hobbies.

So when I say that I return to the same games over and over, there can be different reasons for this. Some (like skyrim and minecraft) offer a world where I know pretty much all the rules. I can do quite a bit just within those spaces, and it’s often how I cool down after a stressful day. Others, (darksouls and metroidvania titles) offer bite-size challenges that I can hit head on in my own time. 

But there are a couple of games that left me with something else, something that makes me return to them in the same way I return to certain books. One of these is “The Beginners Guide”.

Now, there are definately spoilers ahead, so if you have any interest in playing this game yourself, do so before reading please (knowing anything going in will probably color your experience, I’m not joking). Furthermore, if hundreds of words on a linear, minimal gameplay indie game doesn’t interest you, feel free to skip over this one. As always, this is mainly to get my own thoughts down (you’ll see why). 

Wow are all of my posts going to start with me telling my readers to not read from now on? Well now that I’m alone with my thoughts, lets discuss.

The Beginners Guide comes from the “same developer” as The Stanley Parable. A game that I enjoyed so much for what it does that when this new title was dropped on steam I bought it pretty much immediately, making it I believe my 300th title owned from the marketplace. I played through it not long after and then proceeded to listen to some sappy music to get myself back in order. If you let it, this game can hit you hard. But once again, I’m probably biased.

The game comes in chapters, each one a different game developed by the narrator’s friend, “Coda”. Nothing is left out of experience to suggest whether this is a true story so we’ll approach it as any other experience.

Chapter 1: Whisper. More establishing dialogue about how these games are incomplete or abandoned in most cases. The interesting points here for me are the labyrinth in the space station (reminds me of the quote “how will I ever get out of this labyrinth? Read Looking For Alaska read John Green!), and what happens when you step into the beam. floating up and seeing the whole level, I remember how these games are made, room brushes and objects, physics code and player camera. this game takes every chance it can to remind you that games have an author. 

Chapter 2: Backwards. I love the ideas in this level. the first time there was a definite “ohhh” moment when I realized what was going on. If I were to play a single level multiple times, this would be one for that, just so I can read the story written on these walls.

Entering, stairs, walls, exiting: I’m going to ignore what the narrator says about these levels. I do think they serve some connected purpose, but I like it more as an act of spite. These ideas are mine, better make the hard (or impossible) to access. as somebody who’s had story ideas floating around with them for a while, I’m always weary to share them, in case someone grabs it and runs away with it before I can do anything with it. Which probably means I should just write the stories instead of all of this..

Chapter 7: Down. The narrator finishes telling us that the engine is best at blocky empty corridors just as we enter an expansive cavern full of slanted geometry. This was the first hint to me that the narrator may not be reliable in all respects - he’s right about the engine, but that’s not what Coda decides to do with it. At the bottom we stay in a cell, which the narrator lets us out of before the allotted hour intended by Coda, which marks the fifth time he openly edits the levels to suit his need. Then we get to the puzzle.

I’m going to talk a little about this puzzle later, but when we get through it, in game dialogue keeps asking us about the puzzle, how we got through it, telling us it’s impossible. We can’t tell them how easy it is to pass through, and in some cases we have to lie to them. then the level ends with the first light post.

Chapter 8: Notes. It was replaying this level that made me want to talk about this game. Here we see a world Coda says is full of other player’s notes. The narrator reveals that they were all written by Coda. It’s convincing, they all sound like they came right from a youtube comment string or reddit thread. I immediately heard this as Coda saying. “your messages into the void are messages into the void.” In a way, he’s criticizing what I’m trying to do here, talking about the game, analyzing it. But the narrator reads this as some troubled artist who needs someone to connect to. The thoughts don’t seem to be written in Coda’s voice, but the narrator sees them that way. 

The level ends with the puzzle again. The narrator sees it as a cut off point, a end of a thought so Coda can move on. I get where he’s coming from, that’s what a lot of these posts do for me, but I think there’s something else going on. this puzzle is easy to the player, but the notes in this level and the talking characters in the last have no idea how you do it. It’s like a ski’ll that other people value and desire, that just comes naturally. I think Coda, if he’s saying anything here, is saying that. He’s able to make these games and say things with them, but he can’t explain how to do it, so the attention he gets about the process itself feels a bit misplaced.

Chapter 9: Escape. Coda makes a series of “prison” levels. each one is different, but they all hold the same idea, there will be some way to escape, but then the escape fails. The narrator hates these, he thinks coda is spending too much time on these prisons, and worries that it isn’t healthy. I think it’s natural, though. Someone described writing as choosing book after book from an infinite library, picking one that added the right next word or changing a previous one, until you land on the perfect book, one that’s always been there but nobody’s looked at before, and you leave with that one. Imagine seeing the room of previous books, would you think the author was obsessed? editing and refining is a natural part of the process.

Chapter 10: House. “You can’t stay in the dark space for too long, you just can’t. You have to keep moving, it’s how you survive”. 

I really like this level. I like how the chores loop but we get new dialogue with our cleaning partner. I like the calm music and how peaceful it is. I feel Coda would’ve had a similar reaction, which is why he made it and was so happy about it. And I hate how the narrator ends it. Describing this life as stagnation, as not living. This level is a lot like the nothing I wrote about last year, or how I feel when I’m doing work with someone and just being in that moment. The narrator takes that away.

Chapter 11: the narrator hits this one pretty much on the head, and I don’t have much to add.

Chapter 12: Theater. This level got to me. The pressure to say the right thing, the yelling at your own self to do better, the solution being to withdraw and hide away. 

This is a performance. Put on your mask and play the part assigned to you.

Chapter 13: Mobius. You can’t play this with your eyes closed, as instructed. you have to see to find out what’s going on, and you have to move. and then someone tells you to tell the truth. these games are draining you, you can’t make new ideas, you don’t know where else to go. and so the level stops.

Yeah, I’ve felt that before.

Chapter 14: Island. 

There’s a lie we tell that the work you do and claim t’o love has to be easy and worthwhile and enjoyable 100% of the time. we say that relationships are only true if they are effortless, that passion is only true if it is effortless, that stumbling blocks mean you were never going to succeed because it should be effortless.

So we lie. We all lie. Because there’s no truth to that. But it’s what we say to keep others from worrying.

Chapter 15: Machine.

But sometimes that isn’t enough, you have to stop. And when an audience demands you to keep going, but you can’t, they can turn on you. Feeling responsible for your audience, needing to meet their expectations because you know they demand it. It’s notable, that whether you destroy the machine or all the things it’s created, the result is the same.

The narrator doesn’t see this. He needs that social encouragement. Coda wants nothing to do with it.

Chapter 16: The tower.

. This level doesn’t want to be played, the narrator makes it playable.

. The narrator reveals that he had to add an end to the house level. it used to loop the chores forever.

. “I feel like a failure, I guess. When I can’t fix the problem”.

. an author isn’t his works. the works are not the author.

a hallway ends with a message on a wall. “Dear Davey, thank you for your interest in my games. I need to ask you to not speak to me anymore”.

And here’s where I stopped. There are other messages, about how the light posts were added by the narrator, how Coda didn’t want him showing his work to others. Messages talking about how the narrator had taken advantage of Coda’s work. And those messages are important, at least to the narrative. But those aren’t the messages that hit me.

These are:

“When I’m around you I feel physically ill”.

“You desperately need something and I cannot give it to you. I literally do not have it”.

“The fact that you think I am frustrated or broken says more about you than about me”.

Because I’ve been there. I’ve done exactly that. And that person pushed me away in much the same way.

And I had to let them. Because what I was taking was never mine to take. And I sure as hell wasn’t giving in return.

The end of this game, what comes after the tower, is important; you should hear it. but, maybe not here? This game is about authorship, and I find it important for that reason as well, but when I reach the end, all thoughts of that are replaced with thoughts on people. I had to write this one chapter at a time as I replayed it, because here I forget ever trying to see meaning in it other than this: “What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person”.

I cite Paper Towns and Ender’s Game and Catcher in the Rye, but this game was important for that, too. It put that thought into motion, let me control the tempo. playing through it again, I remember why I closed out of it the last time.

It serves well to remember, but “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”

[onceuponahappytime]

Happy Birthday Rini!

Happy Birthday Rini!! I wish you the best this world has to offer. Which of course includes some Mayor Swan Queen smut. Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as our ladies did.

Love you!!! @captainunabasheduniverseworld

Regina is nervous, can’t help it, can’t help to think this is a foolish idea. But Emma has assured her that she is okay with it, that it might be a fun experience.

And maybe a way to go full circle – to truly embrace her dark side, embrace all of her.

Emma has known about her desire – her wish to be close to the Evil Queen. Despite everything that has happened between them the Queen is her safe place, the one person that protected her when no one else did.

A thought she shared with the woman next to her, the woman who somehow managed to steal her heart. Regina has finally been brave enough to admit how she felt about the sheriff, brave enough after a little push from the one person who knew her better than anyone.

The Queen

How all of this let to Queen suggesting having a some fun together and Emma agreeing …well Regina has no clue.

All she does know is that she and her girlfriend are sitting on their bed (their bed –still feels unfamiliar to say but oh so right) waiting for her darker counterpart to arrive.

“Emma, are you sure about this? Maybe it’s a mistakes maybe we should –“

But Regina doesn’t manage to end her sentence when Emma takes her hand into her squeezes gently and interrupts her:

“It’s gonna be okay Regina. Stop worrying. This is just fun and maybe a way to find some closure to this fucked up year. Which reminds me I could seriously use a day off. If I had known being the savior meant so much work ….”

Emma groans but grins while she’s trying to calm Regina down.

“You are an Idiot.”

“Might be Your Majesty but I’m your idiot. Speaking of…her royal ass is late.”

Before Emma even manages to end her sentence purple smoke appears and soon after that the Queen, clothed in a tight red gown.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Her voice is deeper than Regina’s, almost a growl but the look in her dark eyes becomes softer when they meet Regina’s, a small smile on her red lips.

“Funny, Your Majesty, really funny, “Emma tells her but has to laugh. Regina always had a thing for dramatic – both Regina’s actually.

“Nice entrance dear,” Regina’s grin is a bit shy but she calmed down under the soft gaze of the Queen. A lot has changed since the day they split.

Both Emma and Regina are still starring at the Queen – she truly looks stunning

“I’ll do my best. And when you two are done starring at me we might tend to more pleasurable activities?”

Neither of the two women on the bed reacted at first still to amazed by their view. Regina has no idea why the Queen is affecting her like that – she knows that she is beautiful but seeing the other woman …she knows its sounds a bit narcissistic but she can’t help it.

The Queen is breath-taking.

“Well, well I guess this means I have to…kick start things a bit,” with that the Queen reaches forwards pulling Regina in a deep kiss. Regina gasps in surprise, a gasp that soon turns into a moan.

Tongues are fighting for dominance and of course the monarch wins. But Regina doesn’t mind, doesn’t mind the Queen taking control.

She knows she and Emma will be safe with her.

“Lie on the bed dear. I think it’s time that I teach Emma a few things. A few things that will make you scream.”

The last bit came out in a low whisper and Emma follows them on the bed without being told to. Follows and realizes that within the few moments the Queen has been here were enough to make her wet.

Regina is now lying on her bed the Queen straddling her while Emma sits on her right watching every move. Watching the Queen suck on Regina’s pulse point, watch her kiss the place behind Regina’s ear that makes the mayor groan in pleasure.

“She loves that, it drives her crazy doesn’t it my beautiful girl?”

Emma moans softly when the Queen takes her hand into her and leads her to Regina’s silk covered breasts. The Sheriff strokes over the nipple earning a hiss for her troubles before her lips find Regina’s.

Regina can’t really think anymore not with Emma’s lips on hers, her fingers stroking her breast, not with the Queen  slowly trailing kisses down her neck, down to her cleavage. She can feel herself getting wet as she arches into every touch.

Soon the Queen’s hands find their way to Regina’s buttons opening her purple blouse only to reveal more purple.

“So beautiful, “Regina’s other half whispers pressing kisses down, moving further and further south. Then with a wave of her hand the bra disappears.

As soon as the smoke is gone a warm mouth find Regina’s nipple that isn’t taken care of by Emma and softly bites. A wave of pleasure races through Regina’s body which only intensifies when her eyes meet green ones. Green ones that watch every touch, every move the Queen does very carefully.

“She is right. You are fucking goddess,” Emma mutters copying the other woman by biting too, watching Regina closely in case the bit hurt more than it should.

Emma didn’t have to worry Regina enjoys the attention thoroughly, urges both woman on to keep going, to keep sucking , to keep biting.

Of fuck she is wet. Soaked actually

“Are you wet beautiful girl?” The Queen smirks, a hand wandering to the button of Regina’s pants.

“You know that I am Your Majesty, “Regina gasps when Emma’s next bite was harder than the other ones. Emma mutters a quiet sorry but holy shit all of this is so hot.

Could somebody blame her for losing control from time to time?

“I didn’t say you could stop Miss Swan. Keep sucking.”

Both Emma and the Queen chuckle at how breathless Regina is.

“Bossy,” but Emma does as told.

“We are Queens, Sheriff, don’t ever forget that,” said Queen tells Emma with a smirk before turning her attention back to Regina

“And I do know that dear. But how about I check?”

Regina inhales sharply when the Queens delicate finger finds their way into her pants and one finger strokes at her folds.

“Ohhh god.”

“Mhh your Majesty is enough dear. And my my are we wet,” with that she withdraws her finger grips Emma by her golden locks and pulls her up holding her finger in front of the other woman.

“Suck dear. You will find she tastes wonderful.”

Emma doesn’t hesitate and sucks the Queen finger in her mouth groaning at the sweet taste. It isn’t the first time she gets to taste her girlfriend but it always amazes, turns her on again

“Fucking delicious Madame Mayor,” Regina groans at the nickname, at what is happening. God is she turned on.

“I need you to fuck me. Stop teasing and fuck me. Both of you,” Regina tries to keep her voice even but no such luck. Those two worked her up quite nicely.

“Always so impatience beautiful girl.”

The Queen smirks but waves her hand again leaving Regina only in her panties. Another wave and Emma shared the same fate leaving only the Queen fully clothed.

“We are playing a bit unfair here don’t we? Even if you look damn good in that red thing Queenie”

The Queen rolls her eyes at the nickname but instead of answering she pulls Emma close pressing her lips onto hers in one short but intense kiss.

“I’m the Evil Queen dear, I do not play fair. And stop calling me Queenie.”

Emma only grins and then pulls the Queen in equal passionate kiss. Turnabout is fair play right?

“Nope. I like Queenie, it suits you.”

The Queen only growls at that but that’s it for Regina. She grabs the Queen’s hand and puts it between her legs moaning when the hands makes contact with her overheated sex.

“Stop arguing you two. I’m gonna die if you don’t start touching me soon.”

Her Majesty rolls her eyes again but starts rubbing Regina through her panties which are practically soaked through making the other woman hiss in pleasure.

Emma only smirks and turns her attention back to Regina’s breasts.

“Bossy, both of you, “ Regina wants to reply but whatever her reply would’ve been got lost when Emma sucked her nipple in her mouth and the Queen pushed not one  but two fingers inside, panties suddenly gone.

“Ohhh god damn fuck.”

Emma has to admit hearing Regina curse is one of the hottest things she ever heard.

“I need another finger. Now.”

“What’s the magical word dear?” Regina only shakes her head and fucks herself on the Queen’s fingers

“Emma do you want to help your dear girlfriend out a bit?”

Emma exchanges a quick glance with the Queen and kisses her way up to Regina’s ear biting her ear lobe lightly before whispering

“Say please Regina. Say please.”

Regina moans hands grasping for Emma to pull her closer, hips acting on their own accord. But when Emma sucks her pulse point this time, when the Queen moves her fingers just right she breaks.

“Please your Majesty, another finger. Please Emma. Please make me come. Please. Please!”

“Emma what do you think? Do you want to help me make her scream?”

Emma nods enthusiastically and follows the Queen between Regina’s legs and leans in close when the Queen whispers something into her ear. Whispers while her free hand find its way between Emma’s legs and rub at her clit for a short moment, earning a loud groan.

She withdraws her hand again, its Regina’s turn first (didn’t mean she could’ve given Emma a little taste) and smirks when Emma nods.

“Well you said so nicely please beautiful girl.”

With that the Queen pushes a third finger in and crocked them just in the way she knows Regina loves it. While that would’ve probably been enough to drive Regina mad with lust Emma moved down and licked her clit, sucked it into her mouth.

That was it for Regina. She arches into the touch, screaming loud enough that Emma was very glad they put silencing spell on the room

“Yes, yes. Harder. Faster. Please.”

Both Emma and the Queen complied, picking up the pace driving Regina mad.

“Can I come? Please??!”

The Queen and Emma share another glance before the monarch answers with a

“Come for us beautiful girl. Show your little saviour how loud you can scream.”

And Regina does.

She arches of the bed, hips trashing out of her control as orgasm takes her and she thinks she might blacked out there for a moment.

Emma and the Queen just keep licking and rubbing drawing out her orgasm till Regina softly pushes them away, the touch too intense for her to take anymore

The sheriff moves up while Regina still tries to catch her breath and tucks a strand of her raven locks behind her ear.

“Hi”

Green eyes find dark ones before Emma kisses Regina tenderly, sharing a short moment of closeness, of intimacy which is still so foreign to Regina.

“Hi to you too”                                                    

A moment the Queen watches with a soft chuckle. A chuckle that soon turns into a yelp of surprise when both Regina and Emma jump at her and before the Queen knows what is happening she is the one lying in the bed both woman above her.

“So I think it’s time for our dear Majesty to scream her lungs out,” Emma tells her with a grin and within a few moments she and Regina manage to draw more than one scream of pleasure from the mayor’s darker half.

It’s gonna be a long night. And all three women will enjoy every second of it.

Very loudly.

[shima-draws]

I Took the Stars from My Eyes

...and then I made a map And I knew that somehow, I would find my way back...

Thanks to the brilliant @monsterunderthefedora​ for writing a couple of fics for my Timeloop AU, they inspired me to actually contribute more to my own AU lmfao so. Here I am c: (And thanks AGAIN for the awesome fics, bruh!! I really really appreciate and treasure and love them with all my heart so. You could say this is my return gift to you ^^)

Also I’m gonna put this up on Archive and FFNet in a bit, so please keep an eye out for it over there too! (It’ll be under the user Shima2112, just an FYI!)

As usual I’m a little shit who sucks at keeping things short so. You’re welcome, I guess. This is 4k words. Kill me now. Also hey, if you have no idea what the heck is going on in this fic, check out my Timeloop AU tag on this blog! Things will make a little bit more sense. Though I do sum it up pretty well in the fic too, your choice.

And, a brief summary: "Stop, s-stop it, please," Michael begs, crying heavily. "There's no point, Jer—you can't save me! Just leave me here. It's okay." "Shut the fuck up," Jeremy snaps, furious. "Don't ever talk like that. We're going to make it through this. And when we do, I'm going to kiss the hell out of you, Michael Mell." That's what does it. Michael's cheeks immediately flush with a bright pink color, enough to touch the tips of his ears. "Wh-what?" "One, two, three, go!"

This is based off the conversation I had with @monsterunderthefedora​ earlier over IM. I suggested a little something, and now I’ve gone and written about it...from my perspective of things! I hope you guys enjoy! And please don’t hate me for doing this to Michael //throws confetti

Footsteps thud loudly against the floor. Gasps heave out of his throat as he runs, breathless. The only reassuring thought he has is that his best friend is close behind, right at his heels. Having him here is more reassuring than anything.

"How much further?!"

"Down the hall, to the left! It's just outside the corridor!"

Jeremy finally skids around the corner, almost colliding into Chloe's back. Michael manages to stop right next to him, looking visibly shaken, his favorite hoodie drenched in sweat, blood and dirt. Jeremy is sure he looks equally as awful, if not worse. The circles under his eyes are the result of countless time loops before this, loops of running into dead ends, shattering windows and hungry flames devouring them all alive.

He's lost count of how many times he's been here, at Jake's house on the night of Halloween. The party had begun smoothly; it always does, but what soon comes to follow has caused him to relive the night over and over, stuck on repeat.

Most of the time, Rich is the cause of the fire. Sometimes, he isn't. But either way, it's a fated event. Something that always happens, no matter what the circumstance, even if Jeremy tries to prevent it from even starting. By now he's learned to stop wasting time worrying about when the fire is going to start, and more on how to get everyone out safely.

He hasn't succeeded with that. Yet. Hence why he's gone through so many timelines.

He should feel blessed that he's been given a second chance to save his friends from a burning doom—and a third chance, and a fourth, and a fifth, and all the way up until now. But he's sick of this, sick of seeing them die, sick of hearing them cry out for help or sacrifice themselves for somebody else.

He just wants to go home. Maybe curl up in bed with Michael and bury his nose into that faded red hoodie.

He's come to understand, over many time loops and endless conversations with his other half, that he is hopelessly and absolutely in love with Michael Mell. However, in the midst of all of this insanity, he hasn't really been in the mood to confess his feelings. It's always too hectic to say the words, too crazy and chaotic. It's never been a good time.

"What are you standing there for?! We have to keep moving!" He snaps, giving Chloe a shove.

The girl stumbles forward and swears at him. Well, at least that tactic worked. He's not here to babysit these guys; he tried that once already and it didn't end well. Knives got involved. Don't ask him how, he doesn't like remembering.

Suddenly the house lets out a horrible groaning sound, as loud as a freight train. Jeremy's eyes dart around in fear, looking for the source of the noise. What now? He can't remember what happens next, he's gone through this too many times to keep track. Events change in every timeline, leading to an infinite amount of possibilities of the ways the house can kill them.

"Shit!"

The cry comes from Michael, who is staring at the ceiling, mouth taut.

Jeremy doesn't have time to respond as the teen suddenly shoots towards him.

"Jeremy, look out!"

He feels a weight slam into his side, sending him sprawling across the floor. An enormous crash sounds from the ceiling, and he watches in horror as it collapses on top of Michael, showering him in wooden debris and bits of furniture from upstairs.

"Michael! No!" He shrieks, his voice cracking in the middle.

Immediately he's on his feet again, throwing apart pieces of wood and broken glass.

"Oh fuck," Rich breathes from several paces in front of him. The rest of the group turn around and race over to help, digging through the remains of the ceiling.

"Michael!" Jeremy cries out, shaking. "Michael, Michael, answer me! Michael!"

This can't be happening. He doesn't want to start over again. He doesn't want to rewind time and reset it all again!

"Jeremy, over here!"

He kicks up dirt as he goes, scrambling over to Brooke. She has uncovered a portion of the wreckage, revealing a red piece of clothing decorated with dust.

"Michael!" He screams, giving all he has to clear the rest of it away. Christine and Jake lean over to help, tossing broken pieces of houseware over their shoulders.

Finally a face appears amongst the mess, and Jeremy chokes on a gasp.

"M!"

Within moments he's in the taller boy's arms, his head cradled against Jeremy's chest.

"Michael," Jeremy whispers, rubbing dirt off his cheek with a sleeve. Probably not that affective since Jeremy's shirt is also covered in grime.

"...He's not answering," Jenna whimpers, shaking.

"Michael." The brunette tries again, withholding a sob. "Hey, c-come on, you knucklehead. Wake up. We gotta go."

"Jeremy..." Christine reaches out to him, her eyes full of sadness.

"No, no, no," Jeremy slaps her hand away, shaking his head. "He's fine. He's okay. He—he has to be..."

"Come on, you guys." Rich beckons them all away, to give them a little privacy. The others stand up and follow, silent and melancholy.

"Michael," Jeremy cries, shaking his friend. "Michael, Michael, wake up. I need you, M. I need my player one, come on, please..."

He lowers his head until it's resting on Michael's chest, bawling. It can't be over already. Not like this. How many times has it been, now? How many times has he seen Michael die like this?

Suddenly Michael's chest moves, slowly but surely. His breathing makes Jeremy's head go up and down. And then, like a miracle, he releases a quiet cough.

Jeremy shoots up, eyes wide.

"Michael?!"

"Ugh," Michael groans, his voice a low croak.

The brunette releases a yell of joy and tackles his friend, squeezing him tightly. His call alerts the rest of the gang, who come rushing over.

"Ohhh, Michael! Thank god! You scared the absolute shit out of me!"

"S'rry," comes a mumbled response. Jeremy looks up to see the shorter boy shooting him a crooked grin, his eyes-half lidded.

"Never do anything like that ever again, you asshole," he demands, reaching up to pinch Michael's cheeks playfully.

"Yeah, yeah...”

Jeremy sits up and helps Michael do the same, watching warily as he looks around, disoriented. There's something wrong with the way his eyes wander, almost lost, and there is a weird sense of panic emanating from him. But there isn't time to think about that, they have to get moving. So Jeremy hurries on to the more important questions.

"Are you okay? Is anything broken?"

Michael's eyebrows draw together and he slowly starts wiggling parts of his body cautiously. Finally he puffs out a breath, sounding a bit wheezy.

"No, don' think so," he manages to mumble, wincing. "'M definitely bruised though. And I hit my head real hard."

Jeremy frowns and brushes his hand against Michael's temple, making a noise of concern when something sticky and warm coats his fingers.

"You're bleeding," he observes, leaning over to inspect the damage better. It looks like there's a lot of blood, but Michael is awake and coherent, so it can't be that bad, right? He desperately hopes so.

"Jeremy, we gotta go," Brooke pleads, her eyes wide and her hair frazzled as she peers around anxiously.

"Right, okay," he nods, moving to help Michael stand. Rich comes over to assist, and both of them manage to stand the shaky boy up on his feet. The injured teen groans but steadies himself, shaking the dizziness off.

"You okay, M?" Jeremy murmurs, wrapping an arm around his best friend's shoulder for support as the group finally starts to move. Embers lick at their feet as they stumble amongst the debris of the fallen ceiling, looking for the next closest exit.

"Uhh," Michael swallows, his fingers clamping tightly down on Jeremy's shoulder. Terror flashes across his face for a split second and then he's grinning, albeit with a grimace. "Y-yeah. Just hurts a lil'. I'm fine."

Jeremy notices the slur in his words and chews his lip. Clearly he isn't as fine as he says, if the glazed look in his eyes have anything to do with it. But they don't have time to worry about that—they can fret over Michael once they're out. Or, if something happens and Jeremy's forced to reset the timeline again, there's no need to worry at all. He really hopes it doesn't come to that, though, even though that's the most probable outcome, as usual.

"Jeremy!"

Jeremy hurries his pace, Michael barely managing to keep up with him, and pales when he realizes that half of the floor is gone. The others are looking at him worriedly, their bodies slack with exhaustion, their eyes full of despair. They look about ready to give up.

But he isn't going to let that happen. They've come this far, they can make it this time! He's sure of it.

"We'll jump across," he says firmly, determined. "Jake, can you see a solid place to land that won't collapse?"

Jake looks somewhat surprised at being addressed, but he takes a moment to look across the gap and nod.

"Yeah. See that stretch of tile over there? That should be enough to hold us."

"Okay, good," Jeremy releases Michael after making sure he can stand on his own, and then walks to the edge of the chasm in the floor. Below is a sea of swirling flames, a death sentence to anyone who'd fall in. He gulps and starts to hype himself up. If he hesitates, even for a second, it's the end.

"I need one of you to jump over first," he turns to Jake and Rich, and almost laughs at the way they look terrified. If the situation were any different, he probably would laugh.

"Come on," the brunette urges, beckoning them forward. "One of you needs to get over there first to catch the rest of us."

"Why don't you do it?" Rich mumbles weakly.

"Do I look strong enough to catch you?" Jeremy deadpans, holding out his sorry excuse for arms. They look more like pool noodles, if he's being honest.

"Yeah, alright, I'll go," Jake sighs, his shoulders tending up.

Christine almost steps forward to grab his arm, but she holds herself back, waiting.

"C-can you make it?!" Chloe squeaks, chewing on her fingernails as she stands close to Brooke. Jenna is behind her, shockingly silent for once. She looks tired.

Jake shoots her a cocky smile, but it's half-hearted at best. "Course I can. Just watch."

"Be careful," Brooke whispers, trembling.

Jake nods and blows out an exhale. Then, he backs up, crouching low. Jeremy holds his breath.

Jake darts forward and leaps, flying across the gap. For a moment it looks like he's going to fall, but he clears the space easily, landing several feet beyond the edge of the hole. He holds himself still for a couple seconds, and then he straightens out, all of the tension in his muscles dissolving.

He turns around and gives the group a large, shaky grin. His face is white as a sheet.

"Made it!" He calls over.

"Okay, who's next?"

Jeremy looks at the rest of the group, and they all avoid his eyes, fear clearly written across their faces. He sighs and rubs his temples. He can understand how frightened they are, but now really isn't the time to be hesitant. They don't exactly have all the time in the world to stand here deciding whether to jump or not. The flames devour the walls around them, threatening to bring the whole house down, and if they don't go now they'll be caught in it. Michael had almost been taken out by the house before.

"Come on, you guys. The hardest part is over. Jake's over there to catch you. Unless you'd rather turn around?" He knows he shouldn't be so harsh, but if this is the only way to snap them to attention he will.

Christine takes a brave step forward but before she can get far Chloe pushes her out of the way, her heels clicking across the floor. She looks absolutely terrified, but she tries to hide it with a fierce expression.

"You'd better catch me, Jake!" She shouts, her hands shaking at her sides.

"I will," Jake says honestly.

Seeing that he's being genuine, Chloe takes a deep breath. Brooke covers her eyes, whispering, "I can't look," and Jenna shifts her feet from side to side, visibly anxious.

Chloe jumps, a frightened scream tearing out of her throat. Jake lunges forward and snatches her out of the air, his arms wrapping firmly around her waist.

They stand there awkwardly for a moment before he sets her down, eyes full of relief. Chloe throws her head up and huffs, announcing, "That was so easy!" But it isn't difficult to see just how scared she was as she distances herself from the hole, not wanting to be near it.

"I'll head over next," Rich says, and Jeremy nods.

The rest of them watch nervously as he makes his leap across the gap, skidding to a stop on the other side. He gives them a thumbs up, mouth stretched wide in a grin.

"Okay, Brooke, your turn," Jeremy coaxes her gently, his eyes flickering to the oncoming wall of fire behind them. "Hurry, now."

Brooke stays in place and shakes her head, tears gathering in her eyes. "I can't. I'm too scared!"

"Hey, hey," Jeremy places a comforting hand on her shoulder, trying to seem reassuring.

"It's gonna be just fine, Brooke. They won't let you fall. They'll catch you."

The blonde sobs and buries her head in her hands, trembling. "B-but what if I do fall? What if—"

"Just don't think about it." He says firmly, cutting her off. "Run and jump. Don't even think about the "what ifs". If you do, you'll just psyche yourself out."

She peers at him through the gaps in her fingers, sniffling.

"Will you help me?"

He nods, his hand sliding down to her back to guide her forward. "Yeah. I'll be right here, okay?"

Brooke rubs her arms and gazes across the pit, managing a nervous smile at Chloe, who waves at her from the other side.

"That's it. You can do it. Alright, on the count of three. One...two...three...jump!"

Brooke springs into the air, soaring across. Her hair whips wildly out behind her. Simultaneously Rich and Jake reach out to catch her. A horrible second passes and Jeremy's stomach clenches, watching as Brooke falls closer to the edge...

The boys both grab an arm and haul her up, and she embraces them both, crying. Jeremy breathes out a sigh of relief. Now there's only four of them left, and time isn't really on their side at the moment. The fire is fast approaching, creeping slowly across the wooden floorboards, mere yards away from Michael's back.

Jenna goes next, and it's so strange not to see her upbeat and hyper as she usually is. Her face is solemn as she locks eyes with the others from far away. She pumps herself up before taking flight, landing safely on the opposite end.

Jeremy turns to Christine, who gives him a silent nod. It seems she has readied herself while the others were traveling over to the other side. She makes it over in one piece as well, almost tripping as she touches down on the floor.

"Okay, Michael," Jeremy hurries over to his friend, who is staring blankly ahead, his vision unfocused.

Jeremy notices this and regards him worriedly. "Michael?"

"Hmm?" Michael tilts his head towards the taller teen, and his eyes seem to look right through him.

"Are you okay? You look really spaced out," Jeremy whispers, even though he knows the others are too far away to hear.

The bespectacled boy nods slowly, biting his lip. "Mm. Yeah. Jus'...still a lil' out of it, I think."

"Shit, how hard did you hit your head?"

And Jeremy reaches over and smooths Michael's bangs back, flaring in alarm when he realizes the other teen is very, very warm.

"Jer," Michael murmurs, searching for his sleeve. Once he finds it he grabs on, fingers clenching. "Jer, I don' feel so good."

For some reason, hearing this makes Jeremy want to cry. "I—I know, M. Just...just a little longer, okay? Once we get out of here we'll get you checked out. As soon as we make it over this hole—"

Michael shakes his head, preventing him from finishing. He has a look of sad acceptance on his face, his hand falling to his side.

"You go on without me, Jer. I don' think 'm gonna make it."

Fear shoots up Jeremy's spine like lightning, and suddenly he can't breathe—and that's not because of the choking smoke in the air. He releases a pathetic whimper and latches on to Michael's arm, tugging him along.

"No, no, don't say that, Michael," he whines, pulling him away from the oncoming fire.

"We—we have to make it out. We're going, we're going together."

Michael halts, gently moving his arm out of the brunette's grip.

"This's it for me," he continues softly, as if he's trying to soothe Jeremy. "You'll havta beat the game without me, J."

"No!" Jeremy shouts, tears already beginning to slide down his cheeks, making tracks through the dirt on his face.

"I'm not leaving without you! I won't do it!"

"Please, just go. There's no time—"

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, you're coming with me and that's final! Don't you dare—" He heaves out a sob, voice breaking. "D-don't you dare give up, M-Michael. Don't you d-dare leave me again..."

Michael regards him sadly, tears clinging to his own eyelashes.

"Just...just c-come on. Why can't you do it? You can jump, r-right? Or is there something wrong with your legs...?" At this, the boy in the red hoodie glances away, looking pale.

And then it hits him.

"No...no way," he mutters, backing away. He tosses his head from side to side, clenching his teeth.

"No way...no...! No, that can't be—!"

"That's why I can't go," Michael admits, his voice more small and timid than Jeremy has ever heard it before.

The way his eyes look so lost and distant, the way they can't focus on anything, even the way he stumbled through the house, holding onto Jeremy's arm for support.

He's blind.

The impact from the ceiling falling on top of him had taken its toll. Severe head trauma, combined with a limited amount of oxygen—yes, that was enough to rob somebody of their sight and render them helpless. Jeremy had no idea if it was permanent or only temporary, but it was enough. Enough to prevent Michael from escaping. Enough to make Jeremy have to rewind time again...

No. No. I won't. I won't restart, not this time!

"We're going," he says firmly, looping his arm around Michael's. The other boy's face becomes panic-stricken.

"Wh...what are you doing?! Are you insane?!"

"Yes," Jeremy responds without any hesitation. He's been through so many time loops now, he'd honestly be more surprised if he was still sane. "I'm getting you over there even if it means I kill myself in the process."

And it's these words that make Michael start to struggle, batting his free hand against him in an attempt to break free.

"No! Let me go! Jeremy—you'll die!"

"We won't know until we try! And I'd rather die trying than give up and be burned to death." He hisses severely, backing up. They're going to have to make a run for it. Luckily the path ahead of them is clear of any debris, so Michael doesn't have to worry about tripping on something he can't see.

"Stop, s-stop it, please," Michael begs, crying heavily. "There's no point, Jer—you can't save me! Just leave me here. It's okay."

"Shut the fuck up," Jeremy snaps, furious. "Don't ever talk like that. We're going to make it through this. And when we do, I'm going to kiss the hell out of you, Michael Mell."

That's what does it. Michael's cheeks immediately flush with a bright pink color, enough to touch the tips of his ears.

"Wh-what?"

"One, two, three, go!"

With his shout the two of them dash forward, putting all they have into their legs. Michael lets out a terrified wail, and then they're airborne, weightless. Jeremy can feel the intensity of the heat right below him, can feel the flames touching the soles of his sneakers—he can hear Michael yelling from next to him, his arm holding him so tightly that he can feel his bones creaking—he sees the other end of the floor, rapidly approaching, sees Rich and Jake and Jenna as well hold their arms out wide.

He and Michael crash headfirst into the three of them, and it's enough to make them topple over in a heap. Christine, Brooke and Chloe gather around them, shrieking worriedly, and help them to their feet.

"Jesus Christ, Jeremy, that was the craziest shit I've ever seen you do," Jake gasps, standing up with Jenna's assistance.

"Why the hell did you two jump at the same time?!" Chloe exclaims, looking more scared than angry.

But Jeremy pays them no mind. Instead he rolls over and flops on top of Michael, whose sightless gaze is fixed on the ceiling. He seems to be in shock, and a little winded.

"I told you we'd make it," Jeremy murmurs, and then he kisses him fully on the mouth.

Gasps erupt from the other members of the group, and he's almost sure he can hear the sound of a camera shutter going off in the background. He's too far gone to really care, lost in the scent of his favorite person, even though it's masked by smoke and dust and burnt wood.

It takes a moment, but Michael finally responds, groaning happily into Jeremy's mouth. Even though their world as they know it is falling apart at the seams, even though the roof might crash on their heads at any moment—they drown in each other, teeth clacking, tongues tussling. It's messy and it's sweet and in the midst of all this chaos it's the most wonderful thing in existence.

Eventually the boys break away, completely breathless. However they look livelier than they have in a forever, across countless time loops. Jeremy has never felt more alive than he does right now.

They stagger to their feet, dizzy, elated. The remainder of the teens' expressions show something Jeremy hasn't seen in a while: happiness. And hope, too. And maybe a bit of amusement as well.

"That was hot," Brooke comments offhandedly, squealing when Chloe elbows her in the side.

"Well..."

Christine smiles and starts to walk ahead, being careful of the hanging wood up above. The rest of them chuckle and start to follow her, picking their way through the mess.

"Hold my hand," Jeremy whispers, reaching over to interlock his fingers with Michael's. The other boy squeezes his hand, his expression showing nothing but utmost love and trust. Jeremy is his guide now, his escape, his sight, his freedom.

"Don't let go. Stay with me."

They follow the gang further into the smog. Their future is so uncertain. They may not even get to see the light of day. They might have to start all over from the beginning, in a new timeline. And if they do make it out, Michael might stay blind forever. But for now, they hold on to each other, and they will for their hope and their love to carry on into the future—whether it be their own, or them from another time—and take a step forward.

"Always."

Da da daaaaah, and that’s the end!!

I hope you all enjoyed that angsty fluffy sappy mess! It was fun to write~

Also, a couple of things:

*Jake’s house is three stories. I figure he probably has rich parents. Or, ya know, HAD. So in this fic they’re on the ground floor--so it’s possible for the ceiling to cave in and the floor to collapse as well. Just to clear that up if it was confusing!

*I have NO IDEA about blindness and if it can really be caused by a ceiling falling on your head. I’m sure it would hurt though. I did a little research and it is possible to go blind from a severe head injury. Combined with all the smoke Michael had been inhaling, he lost a lot of oxygen, so it’s probably possible an accident like that and the oxygen deprivation could take away his sight, even temporarily. But don’t quote me on that. It’s fiction, I’m allowed to bend the rules a little, right?

*I have a lot more ideas for this AU I might write in the future, who knows. But...if you guys are interested, and if you want to come and talk to me about your own ideas--please do! The possibilities of what could happen in all the different timelines are endless, so come and suggest stuff! I’m totally open to chatting about all the different tragedies these kids could go through--//shot (And hell, I already have such awesome support already, from the person who wrote me short fics about this AU--which are also under my Timeloop AU tag here, so please be sure to read them they’re so awesome!!)

Okey thank you for your time, have a great day, I hope I didn’t completely destroy your hearts and souls with this. IT HAD A HAPPY ENDING. I have a legit excuse hhh

[dylan-hague]

Chapter 24

February 19th, 2018. 9:24 AM EST.

Damian leaned his head up against the window in the backseat of Dick's car as they made their way slowly down the road. Part of him deep down wished that he was back in Jump City in Titans Tower, getting back into the habit of patrolling his own city and handing the occasional smaller crime. But Dick had suggested they stay for another two weeks and come along to visit Bruce for his birthday, and how could he and Raven object to that?

He turned to his right, his eyes on the black-haired girl in the backseat beside him. Raven stared out the window as they drove, her eyes hanging half-open as she teetered on the edge of sleep. Damian smiled as her head began to droop for a moment, only to pop back up again as Raven struggled to stay awake.

"You look tired," Damian thought to her. Raven turned to face him and shrugged, a sleepy half-smile on her face.

"A little bit, I guess..." the girl replied. "I don't do good with cars. Always get drowsy."

"I didn't know that." Damian smirked as he tilted his head to the side, continuing their telepathic conversation. "Seems like I've been learning a lot about you lately."

"And yet..." Raven cocked an eyebrow. "You're still an enigma, Mr. Wayne."

"You're the one who can read people," Damian taunted. "If you wanna know something, just reach in and see for yourself."

Raven nodded sleepily as she placed her hand on top of Damian's in the middle seat. Their hands glowed faintly for a moment, and they looked silently into each other's eyes for a moment. Suddenly, Raven smirked as her cheeks turned faintly red.

"Ohhh," she snipped teasingly. "Damian, I didn't know you could dance!"

"What are you talking about?" The boy looked back at her quizzically. "You've seen me dance before. That night at the Pier with that ridiculous dancing game ..."

"No, not that kind of dancing..." Raven smiled curiously. "I mean, like, slow-dancing. Like, fancy parties, ballrooms... that whole thing."

"Oh! Well... I figured I would need to pick it up at some point," Damian shrugged, blushing slightly. "Once Father went public about my identity, I'd probably be dragged along to all sorts of galas and such. I didn't want to embarrass myself like Dick did."

"Maybe you could teach me to dance sometime. I've always kind been curious about--" Raven stopped short as an image projected from Damian's mind into hers. She shot him a look, and he couldn't help but snicker. "You really do think it's cute, don't you, you dork?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist." Damian winked, and the red in Raven's cheeks deepened. "So when did you learn to play piano?"

"My mom started teaching me when I was a little girl," Raven replied. "After I came to Earth, I lived with my aunt in New York for awhile, and she got me a teacher. I wanted to keep learning, because it made me feel a little closer to her... y'know?"

"I get that..." Damian trailed off, his thoughts drifting towards the photograph she gave him at Christmas two years ago. Part of him wished he could have met Arella, but then another part of him wondered if he would be put off by who he was...

Raven squeezed his hand gently. "Don't worry," she assured him with a gentle smile. "Mom would have loved you."

"Thanks, Raven..." Damian smiled back at her. "It means a lot to hear that." Raven's irises swirled a little faster as she looked into Damian's eyes. Her eyelids still hung low over her eyes, and her mind began to drift. "You want to go ahead and sleep for awhile before we get there?"

"Not really," the girl shook her head. "Keep talking to me, help me out here. Okay?"

"Alright..." Damian searched in the back of his mind for a moment, trying to conjure up a good question. "How long have you been a Titan?"

"I came to the Tower two years before you did..." Raven let out a quiet yawn. "It was funny... Nightwing was visiting Kori the day they took me in. There was so much going on between them, I had to go straight to my room to keep from getting overwhelmed by all the vibes they were giving off."

"Two years before me..." Damian nodded. "He and Barbara had decided to take a break, see other people for awhile. I remember Dick didn't exactly handle it very well... he was pretty invested in their relationship. I guess when she left, he reached out to Kori for someone to latch onto while he was hurting."

"That's... wow," Raven thought, glancing up at Dick with pity. "That's really sad."

"Oh no. That wasn't the sad part," Damian replied, rolling his eyes. "The pitiful part was that he still kept that picture of her on the mirror the whole time they were split up." Damian pointed to the overhead visor above Dick's head, where a photograph of Barbara was held in place by a paperclip. "He also had the same picture beside his bed in his apartment. He spent a lot of nights crying himself to sleep looking at it... he could put on a convincing show, make everyone think he moved on just fine. But whenever he was alone at night... it tore him apart."

"Poor Dick..." Raven paused for a moment. "... Poor Kori... I'm happy for Dick and Barbara, now that they've figured everything out, but... I can feel something pulling at Kori whenever somebody mentions Dick. For Tamaraneans, affection never ends... she still loves Dick."

"I figured she probably did. I've seen the look she gets when he comes up in conversation..." Damian's eyes turned to the pregnant woman in the passenger seat. "But I think Dick knew deep down it would end with Barbara. That's just how it is for him... it's always been Barbara. Despite everything, it's always been her."

Damian looked back to Raven. His eyes lingered on her face, where he could just barely see the tip of the scar on her forehead poking out underneath her ebony hair, which cascaded like black silk down her shoulder, sitting bare where her hoodie had slid down her arm, revealing her smooth grey skin. Damian glanced back up to her lips, and his thoughts shifted back to that morning several weeks ago. Something was different about that kiss that morning. Sure, they'd kissed plenty of times before, but this time was different... this time he noticed things about her he hadn't noticed before. The feel of her back under his fingertips, the warmth of her legs around his, the taste that her lips left on his... It was somewhat disconcerting to him, but Damian couldn't help but notice that he had begun to make more physical observations about her, as opposed to the personal things he'd been learning about her up until this point. But that morning, the 25th, that was the tipping point. Raven was a fascinating creature, and he found himself craving further intimacy with her; after he noticed her taste for the first time, it felt as if the rules of the game had changed, and he'd stepped into a world with many more facets than the one he remembered... his cheeks turned vermilion as his eyes shot back to his window, and a sense of shame washed over him. How could he let his thoughts become so crass? He was a Wayne! Heir to the mantle of the Dark Knight! He should be above such baser instincts...

"You don't to feel embarrassed, Damian..." Raven's finger began to trace little circles into the back of Damian's hand as he looked back at her, wide-eyed with surprise. "That kind of thinking is normal for people our age. You have nothing to be ashamed of." Raven looked back at him, a shy half-smile on her face.

"H... how much of that did I... did I let you hear?" Damian could feel his ears burning with embarrassment.

"All of it..." the mage-girl looked down as she ran her finger slowly up Damian's arm. "I feel it, too, y'know. I want to be more... y'know. Intimate. I mean, not like..."

"Oh, of course not!" Damian piped up, realizing what she meant. "Not that. But... yeah. I feel like..."

"Yeah," Raven looked back up at Damian. "It's just... it makes me nervous, that's all."

Damian nodded in agreement. "But... maybe we should try stepping out of our comfort zones. A little bit at a time."

The clouds in Raven's irises began to slow their billowing as she looked back at him lovingly. "Yeah... I agree."

"Ugh, just kiss already!"

Damian and Raven both snapped back to reality as the turned, seeing Dick and Barbara grinning cheekily back at them... with Bruce leaning in through Dick's window, smirking back at them as well.

"Uhh..." Damian looked out his window to see that they were parked outside the mansion. "... Dick, how long have we been sitting here?"

"Five minutes," Bruce answered smugly. "And from what Dick says, you two have been sitting back there making eyes at one another for at least ten."

Damian leaned back into his seat and groaned, his face completely red. Raven turned back to her window, her face just as red as his.

Dick chuckled as he looked at the two teens in the backseat. "Well... Happy Birthday, Bruce."

Titans Tower, Jump City. February 19th, 2018. 6:37 AM PST.

Jon dangled his feet over the edge of the Tower as he watched the first beams of sunlight appear over the horizon. It was strange, not having Damian and Raven with him this morning. They'd been watching the sunrise together for so long now, it had just become part of his morning ritual. But with the two of them still in Gotham, Jon was left to take in the morning all by himself. It wasn't like it was unbearable, but he had to admit he had been a little lonely.

"Hey... Jon, right?"

Jon turned to see Will Batson walking up behind him, a yellow scarf poking out from the top of his thick red coat.

"Hey, Will..." Jon nodded in acknowledgment as he stood up to greet the Leaguer. "How come you're not back in Fawcett?"

"I figured I'd hang around with you guys a little longer," Will replied, his breath visible in the cold morning. "It's nice getting to hang with people my own age for once."

"Well, you COULD just join the Titans, bail on the League altogether," Jon said with a wink.

"Nahhh, no way." Will waved off the notion with his hand. "Once you've been in the Justice League, you don't ever look back."

"Y'know, I heard Cyborg said the exact same thing!" Jon turned back to the sunrise. Will stepped up to the edge of the Tower, peering down over the edge all the way to the ground below. He grinned at he felt his stomach drop, then looked over to Jon.

"Hey, Jon..." Will cocked an eyebrow as he spoke. "... wanna see something crazy?"

Jon tilted his head to the side slightly. "Ummm... okay?"

Without another word, Will held his hands out, closed his eyes, and leaned forward, dropping right over the edge of the Tower and hurdling towards the ground below.

"Will!" Jon cried out at the top of his lungs as he leapt from the Tower, rocketing towards the plummeting teenager as fast as his powers would let him. "Will, take my hand! You're gonna be alri--"

"Shazam!"

With a blinding flash of light, Will vanished, and Captain Thunder swirled through the air, pulling up inches before hitting the ground, Jon following suit. The pair of them tore through the sky for a moment before lighting back onto the roof.

"Ugh..." Thunder groaned, shaking his head in annoyance. "I really need to stop doing that..."

Jon raised an eyebrow in surprise at his friend's newfound demeanor. "W... what makes you say that? It looks like you were having fun."

"That's because as Will Batson, I can ignore the obvious fact that I could very well get myself killed pulling a stunt like that." the hero put his fists on his hips, standing tall as he looked over to Jon. "But as Captain Thunder, the Wisdom of Solomon urges me to think more rationally, and not take such unnecessary risks for the sake of self-entertainment."

"Well... good." Jon shook his hair out before looking back up at Thunder. "... you scared me."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Shazam." Another crash of lightning later, Will Batson was back to normal, and headed for the elevator. "You comin' inside?"

"Yeah, just gimme a sec..." Jon pulled out his phone and took a picture of the horizon, the sun's beams peering through the purple haze of morning. "Gonna send this to Dame and Rae, let 'em know I hope she gets better soon."

As Will and Jon descended into the Tower, a vibration came from Jon's pocket. He went to check his phone, and smiled when he saw the picture message: an oh-so-rare Damian Wayne selfie, with what looked like his father's courtyard in the background, and his face pressed up against Raven's, both of them beaming.

"We'll be home soon, Jonno!"

Wayne Manor, Gotham City. February 19th, 2018. 12:14 PM EST.

Damian sat in the floor of the family room with an old photo album in his lap, with Raven, Bruce, Carrie, and Alfred sitting all around him. It had become something of a tradition each year when Bruce's birthday rolled around to crack open the album and add to it, while also looking back over the events in recent Wayne history. At first the album was a private project of Alfred's, but on Bruce's 30th birthday he happened to walk in on Alfred adding photos of himself and Dick (who was just starting out as Robin at the time) to the later pages of the book, and sat down to look through it with him. Now they did this every year... and whenever someone new came into their fold, they flipped all the way back to 1968, where the album began with Alfred's career as butler to Thomas and Martha Wayne. This year, there were two new members of Bruce's little family: Raven and Carrie. Alfred had gathered up plenty of photographs (some taken himself, others sent by friends and loved ones) to add for each of them.

"Ah, there he is!" the old butler exclaimed. "That was the first night Master Jason ever went on patrol as Robin. Oh, he was so excited..."

Damian let out a chuckle as he looked back at Carrie. "See this, Kelley? This is why Robins are supposed to cover their legs."

Carrie couldn't help laughing at poor little Jason, standing proud in his little glorified green panties. "Y'know what? I totally get it now." Everyone laughed at that one as Damian flipped the page.

"Oh, jeez..." Raven muttered quietly at the photograph before them. "Is that..."

"Yeah, that was Jason's grave," Bruce sighed. "We're fortunate that he wasn't actually around to fill it..."

"Indeed," Alfred added, casting his gaze down to the bottom of the next page. "By... by God, look how young Master Timothy was!" He pointed to a photo of Tim and Stephanie on the roof of some building in Blüdhaven, from back when Tim was still Robin.

"Hey, I remember that day!" Bruce said with a smile. "Tim had just gotten out of school for the summer, so we decided to take a day. By the end of it, he and Steph had run off somewhere..."

"Just couldn't stay mad at 'em, huh?" Carrie looked over her shoulder at Bruce.

Bruce shrugged. "Tim never gave me a reason to be angry too often," he said. "Everything he did had a purpose to it."

"Except for his sleeping habits, I should say..." Alfred grumbled.

"Okay, that is a good point," Damian said with a smirk as he flipped the page. When Raven looked down to the next page of photos, she had to stifle a laugh when she saw a photo of a ten-year-old Damian, covered in what looked like blood with a stern look on his face, standing proudly in front of a cow.

"Okay, hold on..." the poor girl couldn't fight back the grin spreading across her face. "I know you've mentioned Batcow to me before, but I thought you were kidding!!"

Damian let out a dramatic gasp, smirking back at the Girl. "I would never joke about Batcow!" The young Wayne cried out. "She is the terror..."

"... that moos in the night!" Everyone exclaimed together before breaking out in laughter. Damian looked down at the next page, and was surprised to see a photo of him and Raven at Pier 64 shortly after he joined the Titans, sitting at a table conversing over a cone of cotton candy.

"I didn't know anyone had any photos from that night..." Damian said quietly, thinking back to that conversation. His cheeks turned red as he turned to Raven, who was also blushing.

"Kori had her camera out the whole time..." Raven shrugged, looking up into Damian's eyes. "She sent me this picture not long after everything settled down a few days later."

Damian smiled. "I'm glad she got this picture..." He slipped a hand into Raven's. "That conversation is one I look back on pretty fondly."

"Again... just kiss already, you two." Everyone looked up to see Dick and Barbara walk into the family room. Damian shook his head smiling.

"I'm not to keen on doing something so rambunctious in front of my own father, Richard," the younger Wayne said with a wink. "My standards must be just a tad higher than yours."

"Master Damian, putting aside the fact that you just used the word 'rambunctious' unironically..." Alfred commented wryly (to which Damian blushed a bit more), "... both your father and I have watched you break a man's neck before. You said it was 'fun'. You are, in all honesty, the worst example of behavioral standards in this room."

Damian's face flushed at the butler's statement. Dick, grinning smugly, held up his phone up over the photo album. "Y'know, if you don't want to do it now, I can always just play the video..."

"Nope!" Damian shouted as he snatched Nightwing's phone up and deleted the video.

"Dude!" Dick swiped the phone back in anger. "Why would you--"

"Not to worry, Master Richard," Alfred sighed, an eyebrow cocked as he pulled out his own phone. "I have the video right here."

Oh no... Damian thought. Dick's phone was one thing. But I can't touch Alfred's, or I'm a dead man.

Damian went to look to Raven for support, but by the time he'd locked eyes with her, she already had her hands on either side of his face, and pulled him in for a kiss. Before we could even react, Raven pulled away and threw her hood up, leaving Damian flustered and embarrassed. Everyone cheered (except for Bruce, who could see how uncomfortable the two were), and Alfred slowly put his phone away.

"Okay, maybe that was a little much..." Dick put his hands on Raven and Damian's shoulders. "But trust me, it gets easier with practice."

"Dick, leave the kids alone," Barbara snipped at her fiancé. "You'll have plenty of time to embarrass children when Tommy is born."

Dick stood back up, walking over to the Batgirl and planting one right on her cheek. "Yes, ma'am."

After a moment of Damian rubbing little circles into her back, Raven pulled her hood back off, and the seven of them continued flipping through the pages of Alfred's photo album. Something about it was almost cathartic; after everything they'd been through --- brainwashing, deaths in the family, the literal coming of Satan --- it was important for them to look back on the memories they held closest to their hearts. Tea with Alfred on a Sunday morning, Tommy's ultrasounds, Carrie at the fair with her school friends, and plenty of sunrises over Jump City. Little moments in time that made the rest worthwhile. That's what it's all about, right?

[theno1noahpuckerman]

Jeck-Jess-x-Puck

Tagging: Noah Puckerman x Jessica Martin

Where: Puck and Jess’s room.

contents: Puck’s first arrival into the island, just Random Jess and Puck bonding times

Puck:

Puck paced around the living area his nerves were on the fritz, he was anxious, he felt a little nauseous  being in a strange place, not knowing if his sister was okay not knowing if he was going to see her again and trying to figure out what had happened from the time he walked out of his apartment and into this world. Was this that one place with that goat man and the snow bitch. He sure hoped not eternal winter would seem annoying. He just about jumped when he heard someone stirring. "Shit, who are you?" He asked the woman hoping this time she would actually answer him this time.May 4, 2020

Jess:

Today the former rock star dawned blue hair; head cocked to the side as she took a long drag from her cigarette. "Jessica Martin, also known as Jess Diabolus, Princess of Darkness leader singer of the group Female Antichrist. A feminist alt rock band with a satanic flavor. Part time Scream Queen, been in a couple B movies. But now I am a switch, and have no idea what my live entails. " another drag of the cigarette as she yawned. "And you sir????"

Puck:

Puck blinked. "Okay...well your majesty, Princess of darkness perhaps you care to tell me where I am? if this is hell are you the one whose gonna torture me for eternity then I am very much okay with this. Noah Puckerman. Switch I guess, Busser and future action movie star and #1 badass." He claimed.

Jess:

"Ohhh I like that. Your Majesty, maybe I should have people call me that instead of Miss Martin. That was totally my Mom." smoke plumed from her lips, as she leaned back into her chair. "I don't think think this is hell." she giggled a little bit at the flirtatious comment, playfully her tongue stuck out. "And I only torture with consent lovely. But I promise, it is a good time for all." long fake eyelashes fluttered in his direction as she snuffed out her cigarette out. "From what I gather this is a pocket dimension; seperate from our world. The how and why of that, I am not sure. still working on those calculations.....And while I may not be your torturer as of yet, I am your roommate. So, shall we drink some champange ....get to know each other?"

Puck

Puck raised a brow. "Oh? so you want me to call you 'You Majesty or Miss Martin then?' He wondered and laughed. "Well how do I know I'm not? but I guess whatever this is could be worse. " He said "Whoa well do we at least get a Tardis? Then this would be worth it." He claimed and he chuckled. "That's good to know maybe i'll take you up on that one of these days." He winked at her and he nodded. "Alright sure I can use one, thank you and hopefully you can tell me more about this place. deal?" He suggested.

Jess:

"You my good Pucky, are allowed to call me Jess, or J. For now anyway." Laughter tumbled from her lips, as she got up and and got two glasses. She poured them both glasses, before sitting back down. "Doctor Who fan? I might be myself.....I'm a sucker for a time travel." she offered him his glass. "I don't know much. Spent my first week here drunk. Hit on seriously everyone with a pulse. Mega embarassing. But what I have so far is we were transported into this pocket dimension. It has a mix between an authoritian and bondage and domination rule? Also like add a splash of Orwellian nightmare......That is totally what we are living in right now. The rest we're gonna have to figure out together.

_

Jess:

There was a pout on the glittered up satanic bombshells face. "I cant decide what bikini to weeeaarrr....." she held up to glasses of whiskey. "Help me?" 

Puck:

Puck laughed. "Yeah sure, I'll help Jess." He told her as he walked over to her and took one of the glasses. "Alright, show me the options, beautiful." He prompted with a nod to her room. "Or did you want me to wait out here, put on a bit of a show for me?" He asked with a wink.

Jess:

She smiled as her head cocked to the side. Noah really was growing to be one of her favorite people. Glitter painted lips took a sip of her glass. Easily she slipped into a pose and smiled. "Do you wanna show big boy? Cause I can give you a show." she teased back, giving him a gentle nudge towards the couch.

Puck:

Puck looked over at her before moving to sit on the couch. He laughed. "Is that not what I said but come on you asked for my opinion and as an ex poolboy I might just have a good eye for swim wear now, come on, Jess."

Jess:

She popped into her room, head popped out for a moment. "Oh your in for it!" in a little bit she popped out in a neon blue string bikinni. With a bounce in her step as she strutted into the room. Body still decorated with glitter, and still dripped with her regular diamond necklaces. the ones she hadn't taken off since she bought them with her first check the band made. she was happy she hadn't left them at home. As for the bikini , t was certianly revealing albiet rather plane. "This is like an old faithful...Shows a lot of skin...but I feel like it has no umph....I mean I have my jewerly and the glitter.....but I feel like I should be head to two umph you know?" she did a little spin and a bounce.

Puck:

Puck tilted his head and smirked. "Oh is that right?" He laughed and gave her a once over when she walked out well maybe it's good. You don't want to distract from what you already have, beautiful but turn around and smirked as she bounced. "You know what? I like it."

Jess:

Laughter tumbled from her lips as she bounced next to him. She leaned against him, her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Thanks for putting up with my eccentricities.... You are a good egg."

Puck:

Puck shook his head. "It's fine, Jess I could have ended up with a worst Roommate. You aren't so bad and thanks for calling me an egg."He teased. "But honestly I think you'll be fine. I can't wait for this party it'll be nice make a few friends here besides you and guess me and Sebastian are friends" He said thoughtfully. "Or I guess drinking buddies don't know if that counts. " He smirked.

Jess: 

"Ugh, same. I finally feel like Im getting into a groove here. Like people are finally starting to see me. Not me being somebody's ex girlfriend." she smiled as she got up and began to peel off the bathing suit. "Okay I have at least one more I want you to see." she popped back into her room. Only to come back in a crystal studded bikini. "Too much? And also tell me about this Sébastian...."

Puck:

Puck nodded his understanding at that. "Oh I get that, glad they are seeing you I mean how can people not see you.  of course, I sort of aways grooved to my own tune. " He nodded as he watched her leaving admiring her back side and smiled when she walked out. "No I like that one, it's awesome and Sebastian? you never met him before? Well dudes pretty cool bought me tacos my first night" He smiled at her.

Jess:

She flopped down next to him again, now that her wardrobe has been decided. His kind words brought a smile to her face, and she leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Im glad your my roommate. No I haven't. I upset him a lil bit in chat though. Cause i said cum cow...." she snuggled up against him.May 10, 2020

Puck:

"Well likewise, your royal Darkyness." He snorted as he heard what she said. "A cum cow?Okay that is that best thing I've heard." Puck wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "So how is that bakery of yours coming along?"May 11, 2020

Jess:

Laughter tumbled from her lips, as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Right? I didnt think it was that bad.. " she smiled as she looked up at him. "If i work two jobs for a month... And save up capital..theyll let me open it. How exciting is that?"

-----------

Jess:

Jess had cooked several batches of brookies upon request of the residents. It amazed her they never had the concotion before. It was a personal favorite of hers. Brght pink hair was wrapped up in a messy but and she was wearing an over sized t-shirt that said ' Antichrist Super Star'. With a bottle of cheap champange in one hand, and brookies in the other she made her way into his room. With a small smile, she placed her goodies next to the bed. "Are you ready for the supreme cuddle monster?" @Mega(Tanner, Spice Motta)

Puck:

Puck was unsure how to take Shane being here but for now Jess had offered him sweets. He laughed as he took in her wardrobe. "Hm, I like it." He nodded. "Yeah I'm more then ready for the cuddle monster. He took one of the treats and you know if you still need money for that bakery of yours maybe I'll put in a little donation.

Jess:

She wasn't wearing make up, after all she was just laying in the other room. Most people she wouldn't allow to see her like this. But, Puck was different. When he said she liked it, she smiled and posed. Once she finished posing, she climbed into the bed with him. Arms wrapped around him from behind, and she leaned her chin on his shoulder. "I'm big spoon." she giggled sweetly.May 12, 2020

Puck:

Puck followed her into the room and moved to lay down next to her with a bit of sigh. He let her hug him and sighed. "Thank you, Love." He laughed as he relaxed at the feeling of the girls arms around him. "I really did need this, so my sister, huh? So weird huh?" He shook his head as he let out a breathe he felt he had been holding in all day but there was still a knot in his stomach.

Jess:

"It's no problem. It's what I'm here for." She pulled him closer, tighter. Gently she placed a soft kiss against his cheek. "Yeah. But that is the thing about living in a pocket dimension sweetness. She could be your sister from another dimension, or another time line. We have no idea. The mutilverse is quite large..." acrlyic nails began to run up and down his arm gently. "Even so, it's alot to deal with I know."May 17, 2020

Puck:

Puck shook his head with a laugh. "Well, I guess I got lucky I was given you as a roommate, Jessicakes." He frowned a little. "Not sure if it makes it any better but she did know my dad's name so maybe but it certainly is kinda getting a bit crowded here, isn't it?" He replied and closed his eyes enjoying her touch. "But I'm not even really mad at her it's just never really tried to think about my dad's 'other family'. So it's weird being stuck on an island with one of them." He told her.Message #jeck-jess-and-puck