#they started beeping/moving so I swapped to video

[inonibird]

undefined

g o n k

[pink-bandana-writes]

Candy Cane Stripes

Raphael x Reader

Summary: On a chilly day in New York, you head to the lair to show off your sparkly red holiday nails…

Note: Well, here we go, first fic on the new blog. I’ve been cleaning out my room, going through my stuff and this just…felt right. I think I needed a fresh start here. Consider this my new era. The turtles are in their 20s in this.

Warnings: None?

Word Count: 1.5k

Reader Is: Female

It was a chilly, New York winter day and you were down in the lair, desperate to warm up after having walked through the snow and ice to get there. Donnie had set up the heating system down there pretty well, managing to keep heat in their living space despite the obvious draftiness of the sewers.

You had brought some winter supplies for the boys, namely, hot cocoa ingredients, some wintry mugs, and all of your favorite holiday movies on DVD. You were wrapped up in one of the scarves Raph had knitted for you, red and white candy cane stripes. It matched the nails you’d just gotten done a few days before, to commemorate the beginning of the holiday season.

Leo and Mikey greeted you when you entered, Mikey playing his video games on the TV and Leo reading something in his spot on the couch. Donnie was in the lab, as usual, and Raph was working out. You could tell by the steady clinking of his weights in the distance. You couldn’t help but blush a little, thinking of the big, strong turtle.

You’d been friends with the turtles since you were in high school and they were teens. Now, you were all in your early twenties, you’d finished college and were working basically full time at a game store downtown, which meant you were always able to get gaming equipment and games for them with your generous employee discount. Lately, you were trying to figure out the rest of your life, and if you were being honest…you wanted Raph, and the rest of his brothers, for that matter, to be a part of it.

Once you got comfortable, you pulled out your cocoa ingredients, pouring a mug of milk and cocoa mix, squirting in lots of chocolate syrup before giving it a good stir and sticking it into the microwave. You readied a can of whipped cream, squirting some in your mouth, only to come face to face with the turtle in the red bandana himself.

“Oop.” You mumbled, eating the whipped cream. “Hello.”

“What’cha up to, shorty?” He asked, giving your head a playful shove.

“Hot cocoa. You want some?” You held up an empty mug, wiggling it around temptingly.

He grinned. “I could be convinced.”

You mixed together another mug full of cocoa and swapped it for yours in the microwave. You turned to grab the whipped cream, but Raphael had it, doing the exact same thing you had just been doing. You giggled. “Hey!”

“One sec.” He said, holding up a large finger and taking another hit of whipped cream before handing it back to you.

You shook your head, chuckling as you sprayed a spiral of whipped cream on top of your drink, nursing it in your hands as you took your first tentative sip. It was then that Raph finally noticed the sparkling red color of your nails, accompanied your candy cane accent nails. He stared for a long moment before you looked up, catching him.

“What’s that look for, big guy?”

“Huh?” He met your eyes. “Oh, nothin’, nothin’.”

You took a sip of cocoa and set it on the counter, holding out your hands so he could get a closer look at them, taking each of your human hands in his much, much bigger ones. Raph admired your little fingers, the way the red polish glittered in the light as he moved them ever so slightly.

“When’d ya get these done?”

“This week. Thought they would be nice for the holidays and all that.” You shrugged. “Plus, red happens to be one of my favorite colors.”

He smirked, thumb rubbing over the back of your hand. “Oh it does, does it?”

“Mmhmm.” You nodded, eyes meeting his.

Raph’s voice got all soft. “It’s a good color for ya.”

Heat rose to your cheeks at the implications. “I think so, too.”

The microwave beeping caused you to part, grabbing the mug for Raph, careful not to burn yourself on its hot exterior. You handed it to him and he sprayed some whipped cream on it before going through the basket of things you’d brought down to the lair. He shuffled through your DVDs before holding up a copy of the Grinch.

“It’s you!” You said, laughing mischievously.

He deadpanned. “Ha. Very funny.” He continued to look through them, pulling out Barbie in the Nutcracker. “What’s this one for?”

“I brought that specifically at Mikey’s request.” You defended. “But it is a cinematic masterpiece nonetheless.”

Raph chuckled. “I’m sure it is.”

The two of you moved to the living room, Raph carrying your basket for you. Leo greeted you as you sat down, barely looking up from his book to do so. You pulled out your Switch and booted up Stardew, Mikey sitting upright at the sound.

“You playing Stardew?”

You grinned. “Maybe.”

“Can I get on?”

“Absolutely.” You laughed, booting up the Co-Op farm you’d started with the boys. Well, you mostly played with Mikey, but Donnie hopped on every so often.

Raph picked one of your movies from the basket and pulled it out, opening the case and staring at the DVD. Looking at it, his thumb might be too big to pop it out in one piece, so he handed it to you.

“Hmm?” You asked, looking up. “Oh.” This wasn’t the first time he’d asked you to do so. Borrowing your little hands, as he liked to say. You popped out the disk and handed it to him so he could put it in the PlayStation.

With Home Alone playing in the background, he sat beside you on the couch, his arm settled on the back cushions, brushing against your back. He watched your screen every once in a while, fascinated as your little pixelated character ran around, planting parsnips and fighting little green blobs.

Your phone buzzed, a notification from Tinder blinking on its screen before going black again. It was one of their promotional messages, begging you to try their premium service, but why would you when it was already so rough out there?

Raph was quiet for a long moment before saying, “You tryin’ to date again?”

“I was. I don’t know.” You shrugged. “The dating pool up there is rough.”

“Hmm.”

“What?” You looked over at him.

“Nothin’, I just…I think ya should delete it.”

“I probably should.” You shrugged and leaned on him, hoping he’d finally take the hint.

“Yeah, her crush isn’t on there anyway.” Mikey chuckled.

Raph narrowed his eyes. “You got a crush?”

“I do and you’re gonna be down a brother if he doesn’t shut up about it.” You glared at him over your Switch, causing the youngest turtle to laugh mischievously.

“Huh. Didn’t know that.” Raph crossed his arms, withdrawing them from around you, jealousy bubbling just beneath his surface. It was almost hilarious how oblivious he was, if not utterly infuriating.

You stayed for the rest of the movie before starting to pack up your stuff to go home. “Hey Raph, would you walk me back?”

“Sure.” He replied, a little shorter with you than usual. “Got everything?”

“Mmhmm.” You nodded, looking up at him.

“Great. Let’s go.”

The city was quiet, snowflakes falling. You loved New York in winter. There was so much to do and it was beautiful. Well, until the snow turned to slush, that was, then it wasn’t so fun. But right now, the way it looked, it was like your own personal snow globe.

Raph got you to your apartment in one piece, and he was about to turn to leave, but you put a hand on his arm.

“Hey, do you wanna come up? Hang out for a bit?”

“Uh, sure.” He nodded, motioning up to your fire escape. “Race ya.”

“Ha. For your sake and mine I hope the elevator’s working today.” You chuckled, walking into the building and taking the elevator up to the fifth floor. Once you were inside, Raph’s hulking silhouette was looming in the window. You crossed the room, unlocking the window and opening it for him.

“Thanks.”

“Mmhmm.” You hummed, watching as he entered the room, standing somewhat awkwardly as he waited for you to say something.

“So…this crush ah yours…I know ‘em?” Raph asked tentatively, shifting from one foot to the other.

You chuckled. “You…do, actually. Pretty well, I would think.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh.”

“Oh.” You repeated, taking a few steps closer, looking up at him. “It’s okay if you don’t feel the same, though. I get it.”

“Wait, you mean me?” His eyes widened, staring at you. “Holy shit.”

You burst into laughter. “Yes I mean you! Who did you think I meant?”

“I dunno, like Leo or…Casey or somethin’ not…” His expression softened. “Me?”

“You.” You confirmed, taking that final step and taking one of his gigantic hands with your own.

“Are ya sure?” he asked, fingers tentatively curling around yours.

“Positive.”

He grinned. He looked around your apartment. “Aw, shorty, where’s your mistletoe when I need it?”

“You don’t need it.” You assured him, standing on your toes as he met you in the middle, finally, finally pressing his lips to yours.

Tags: @thelaundrybitch

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Friday, July 28

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[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Dawn's Vacay by apachefirecat (Dawn, Spike, PG/K+)

Dead by apachefirecat (Spike/Buffy, Dawn, PG/K+)

Impressed by apachefirecat (Spike/Buffy, R/M)

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[chocominnie]

One Last Time 02  —  Pjm. (M)

⇢ pairing: Jimin X Reader

⇢ Genre: Idol!Jimin, Exbf!Jimin, model!reader, sad au, fluff, tons of smut, angst

⇢ Synopsis: Your idol ex boyfriend Jimin cheated on you. You two have been broken up for a while now and the media has been keeping track of you and him. You’re trying to get over him, but the things that happen inbetween makes you re-think the entire breakup, and so does Jimin…

⇢ Song : xxxxx

⇢ Previous : 00   01

⇢ Word Count : 

⇢ Warnings: dominant jimin, makeout sessions, this is honestly a sad angsty au, cheating, pregnancy, unprotected and protected sex, a bunch of sex, no really a LOT of sexual themes too, I know I’m forgetting some but sorry in advance!

⇢ Copyright: please do NOT repost, translate, or modify my works in any way, shape or form, on any platform. If found doing so , it is considered as plagiarism and appropriate LEGAL action will be taken

⇢ Authors note: This is my mini series for the summer! Get your tissues, things to take your anger out on, and sit back and watch the drama unfold. Shall we begin?

Your eyes shoot open, chest heaving heavily as you let out a blood curdling scream. Not this again. The same dream over and over again each night. It leaves you sleepless. The time on the clock on your nightstand reads 3:04 am. Just only four hours ago is when you fell asleep. But a full night’s sleep hasn’t happened for a year so why would it matter anyways.

Once you catch your breath you unplug your phone from the charger and read some of the notifications. From your window, the night-time critters sing their songs along with the persistant owl that’s somewhere around the apartment complex. You’d only noticed him, the owl, just a few months ago when your cat started meowing with his hoots. 

A missed call from your uncle. 

Immediately you unlock your phone and dial the number. Bringing your index finger to your mouth you gently nip on it waiting for it to answer, The rings are agonizing to you. If something has happened you only wish and pray it wasn’t as bad as you think. He’s the only parental figure left in your life.

‘‘ Princess! Hello I was just calling to speak to you earlier. But I realized you are five hours ahead of me and you had probably went to sleep.’‘

His soothing voice calms your emotions making you let out a tiny breath of air. Thank god.

‘’Hey Charlie.” You sigh. Looking towards your left, you spot Clara purring quietly next to you. You can’t help but to smile while bringing a hand over to rub her head with your thumb.  She’s so small under the shining moonlight from your window.

Her white coat shines brightly amongst her, making you remember the first night you had brought her home. All she did was sleep, and it worried you because you had no prior expierence caring for anything, let alone a small animal. Clara only drank kitten milk and slept back then. Occasionally being awake enough to nip at your fingers whenever you pet or touched her.

Now she’s a bit bigger and walks around the apartment like she owns the place. Quite the little attitude she has, but its too damn cute for you to scold her whenever she does something wrong. 

“ Yes I did fall asleep from after a gathering at someone’s house.’’ You continue on, bringing your knees to your chest after opening the curtain of your window fully.

The moons brightness illuminates the entire room, but not so bright for you to complain though. ‘’ Oh- was it Jimin’s? Tell him I said hell-’’

You bite your lip hard at his name. He doesn’t know and you wont even dare to let him know. Knowing him, your uncle would have a fit and oppose to come back to Seoul to ‘set the record straight.’ to Jimin. That’s the last thing you want to do, cause trouble.

‘‘ It was his brother’s house warming party.” You say, lowering your tone in your voice. You look at the nightstand for a couple of seconds just before opening the top drawer of the wooden, polished piece. Your hands shakily pull out a picture of you two together.

It was taken at  Marne-la-Vallée, France right infront of Cinderella’s castle. That was the day that you and Jimin had to went to Disneyland in Paris, France. You cant help but to think, with the picture in hand, that it was one of the best nights ever. It was also the same night your virginity was taken.

‘‘ Oh.. I know that tone. Are you two arguing at the moment.”

You shrug, “ I mean you could say that.’’

No you cant.

‘‘ Alright alright I won’t talk more of him. Let’s change the subject.” He chuckles deeply into the phone.

‘‘ How’s Europe? Anything new happening on base?”

‘‘ Same old Same old. It’s been what? 2 years since I’ve left Seoul? The food is different over here. They don’t have kimchi pancakes sadly.”

You can only imagine the frowny face he makes at you whenever he doesn’t approve or like something. It always turns out to be funny.

You giggle into the phone shaking your head slightly, “ Of course. You are in Europe Charlie. Where are you getting food from anyway if you are on base?’’

‘‘ I can go off base to a certain mileage when I am off duty. I just have to report back in time. But you do know that you can always come live on base with me...’ He trails off.

Oh boy. Here he goes. He’s always talking about moving you on base with him. Hell, he’s been talking about it since before he had to go to be based in Europe. By then you were twenty years old and old enough to live by yourself. Growing up in Daegu, Korea since you were six, you felt as if Korea was home to you and you definately weren’t ready to leave yet.

Especially, after losing your parents here. Around eight years old, your aunt and mother were on the way to pick up your father from the airport. With your mom and dad also being military and based in Korea with your dad’s bestfriend, your uncle Charlie, your father had been called to take military leave to go and be based in Korea for the National Guard.

On the way back from the airport, a drunk driver had struck the car knocking them off the road and colliding head first into the railing of the bridge. All bodies were reported dead upon collision, including your aunt. Charlie didn’t take the news well at all, and so did you. Only eight years old and still a bit new to a foreign country. It was devistating for you and Charlie. Charlie did what was right and stepped up to be your legal guardian while taking some time off from the military. Till this day, he treats you like his sacred little daughter and you can’t ask for anyone better than him.

 “You are old enough to live on your own and housing is avail-”

You jump at his voice on the line again, being too spaced out from the tragic memory. Before he can go on any longer you cut him off. ‘‘ Im fine with the apartment you left me. Im paying the bills on time and taking good care of it.”

‘‘ Alright fine. But that option is always available you hear me? I will always be ready for you to come with me.’’

‘‘ Okay Charlie” You groan.

‘‘ Alright.. sweetie it’s getting late on this side and it’s already 3 am on your side. Get some sleep okay? Don’t you have a model shoot thingy or something? You have those a lot.’‘

‘‘ Yes i actually do in a couple of hours. It’s been a while since I’ve did a shoot. Please eat and sleep well. Don’t injure yourself.’‘

‘‘ I promise. You promise to do the same right?’‘ He says, rustling movements are in the background.

‘‘ Yes I promise. Good night sleep tight..’‘ You smile as you wait for him to finish the rest.

He chuckles one last time on the other end, ‘‘I’ll always love you, goodnight‘’

Beep Beep Beep

You in a racy light pink lingerie with white duvets and sheets is the concept of your comeback. It’s supposed to symbolize the “Night After’’. Camera’s click and directors yell and praise you in your subtle yet damaging moves and facial expressions. You want.. no need for this comeback to be successful. Not only did your manager schedule this, but she is making sure that they release this same very day.

Nobody in this company’s industry has ever did this before. But you, you are sort of the special one. The special foreigner as they say. It’s not like you don’t like it but you don’t like that they label you as that. Stylists, employee’s hell even anybody who works there treat you as a princess. It’s not bad, but it’s just weird.

‘‘ One last one. Give me a sexy yet innocent look mama.’‘ Elliot, the director says, smiling wide at you.

You slip a finger into your mouth and do a little pout with your lips.

Elliot busts out into a roar of happiness with his hands clapping furiously. ‘‘That’s it mama yes! That’s just what we needed!’‘

Adjusting his microphone earpiece, he turns around to greet and thank everyone, ‘‘ Alright everybody this concludes our shooting! You all worked so hard today. Make it home safe, eat well.’‘

Finally. You sigh out in relief and close your eyes. It’s been a long day. Almost 6 hours of shooting. Three Videos, and five swap outfits for each session of shooting for the ‘’ Night After’’.  As everyone heads out and starts cleaning up you bow your head slightly and thank them.

A stylist brings you a satin robe to cover yourself in. You thank her and put it on just before getting up from the bed and walking towards wardrobe. Once you are done putting on your clothes, your manager leads you straight out the exit. Outside awaits the car that drives you everywhere. Literally everywhere.

‘‘ Tomorrow somebody has put in a special request for you to appear as the main lead girl in their music video. It’s short notice and I told them I would have to bump some things around and notify you. But they are paying us and you good money to be in it.’‘

Money? Sounds like a plan.

‘‘ It’s fine. Who am I shooting for?’‘ You say, fluffing your hair just a little while inspecting yourself in the rear view mirror.

Your makeup is still intact with no ruins and the contacts they had given you suited you very well. A hazel with a slight bit of teal. Suddenly the car moves off into the busy streets of Seoul. You can’t help but to notice every couple that walks along the sidewalks. They seem so happy, glad to be around each other.

On the floor of the car lies your little mini backpack filled with all of your items and belongings. Picking it up, you begin to dig through it looking for some hand lotion to soothe your semi-dry hands. Once you find it you gently start to squeeze the tube.

‘‘ Kim Namjoon.’‘

You freeze. Namjoon? The same Namjoon from the group? Joonie? It’s been well… a year since you’ve seen him in person. Hell since you’ve seen all of Bangtan Sonyeondan together. Except for lastnight when Hoseok and.. that guy showed up.

You sigh already knowing the answer from the question you are about to ask.

‘‘ From…?’‘ You ask then put the lotion back in your bag. Slowly you rub your hands together to moisturize.

Your manager quickly flips through the daily planner, ‘‘ Bangtan Sonyeodan but this is for one of his mixtape songs.’‘

Thank goodness.

‘‘ That’s fine. What time will the car be arriving tomorrow?’‘

‘‘ 8 am on the dot. You need to be there by 8:30. I’ll be tending to one of my other models tomorrow so you will be alone. I can send som-’‘

‘‘ No no it’s truly okay. I know how to manage things myself. Besides, I learn from you.’‘ You reassure her with one of your winning smiles, laying your head on her shoulder.

‘‘ Aigoo what am I going to do with you?’‘

The day ends very well. The movies you’ve been watching have kept you occupied. But not occupied enough for you to keep crying at all the sad parts in the chick flicks. Breakups, someone had died, someone had even just spilled something onto the floor and that was enough to send you into tears.Only because when the main lead boy rushed to help clean it up, it reminded you of Jimin last-night helping Isabel.

‘’What is going on with myself.’’ You blow your nose into a tissue for what seemed like the thousandth time today. Clara lets out one of her meows beside you then goes back to grooming herself.

You place her onto your lap and begin to run your fingers through her fur over and over again. Such a soothing effect to you as you stare into space sulking in your thoughts.

Why is it that you weren’t enough for him? Why is it that every single little thing reminds you of him? You gave him your all and he gave you his but what happened? Where did you go wrong? Cooked, cleaned, satisfied his needs. You guys had even started to plan out what you wanted out of a family. When you wanted a baby and what you would name it. It was fun. The whole relationship was fun. Right until that scandal.

Ding.. Ding.. Ding.. DI-

You unlock your phone immediately to stop that annoying dinging noise. Not surprisingly it’s a text from Jeon Jungkook.

Kookie : Im coming over I’ll be there in exactly 3 minutes.

Kookie: Don’t think about leaving either.

Kookie: Im bringing someone with me.

Kookie: We need to have a serious talk babycheeks.

You roll your eyes at the nickname he’s given you. No matter how many times you tell him you want him to change it, he declines. There’s no point in asking anymore.

Why would he want to talk anyways and who is the person he’s bringing. Eh.. it might just be Ryan they seem to do everything together as a team.

As soon as you step foot out of your bed the sound the door clicking makes your head shoot up. How in the living hell does he know the password to your house? Rage takes over you. That’s something that you hate. When people invade your personal space. In this case, personal home.

‘‘ Jeon fucking Jungkook!’‘ You scream, abruptly stomping your feet all the way to and out your bedroom door. Suddenly you stop at the sight of the two faces staring back at you.

Jungkook’s expression holds a concerned yet upset face while the other just stands there calm and cool. But you on the other hand are way besides that level.

Your eyes must be filled with rage and the expression on your face is no good. How dare he disrespect you like that? Bringing him into your home, knowing the bad blood between you two. Oh, they both have something coming towards them. You begin to walk to them again making each step make the floor shake.

‘‘ Get out. Both of you. One you invade my personal private home..’‘

You grab both boys by their collars, making sure to grip the one on the right’s harder than usual. ‘‘ Two, you fucking invite him over here.’‘ You drag each of them towards the exit. Which is going good until Jungkook rips your hands away from his shirt and takes you over his shoulder.

You’ve had enough of him and his invasive ways. Pounding on his back with your fists, you make sure to scream into his ear. “ Put me the fuck down Jeon Jungko-”

You hiss at the stinging sensation on your ass. Did he just? Jimin stands there awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. You make sure to make eye contact with him and roll your eyes. Something that always had and will piss him off.

‘‘ Hush. I told you all of us needed to have a deep talk about you.’‘

Jungkook plops your frail body onto one side of the couch in which he sits next to you. He motions for Jimin to come sit across from the both of you but you aren’t having it.

‘‘ Don’t you do it.” You glare at him. Jungkook sighs harshly only to pluck your forehead two times. You whine and rub it with your index and middle finger.

Jungkook shakes his head in disapproval, ‘‘ When are you ever going to learn? Jimin sit down now.”

‘‘ Truthfully.. I feel as though I shouldn’t be here so-”

“ Good. Get out you are unwanted.” You snap back causing him to give you one of his long stares with no facial expression at all.

Jungkook glares at you just before getting up to throw his hands in the air full of disappointment. “ Enough! “

Yelling. Something else you don’t like to hear being done at yourself. You finally sit still and quite avoiding any eye contact with the both of them.

He sits back down and clears his throat. Jungkook gives Jimin a look before continuing on.

‘‘ I gathered us here to talk about you..”

‘‘ Why. Im fine. How many times do I have to say it. Im fine im fine im fine im fucking fine!’‘ You exclaim, getting more mad by the second. When will people accept this?

‘‘ Baby.. ’‘

Your eyes shoot up to him and his soft voice. You didn’t want to but you did because his voice to you is like candy that melts into your mouth.

‘‘ Don’t call me that. You have a girlfriend at-least be loyal to her rather than what you did to me.’‘

‘‘ Fuck is anybody going to just sit here and listen? Can we at-least get to the source of the problem? Huh?’‘ Jungkook leans back into the couch clearly pissed by your attitude.

Jimin’s the first to speak and holds a firm eye contact with you, almost daring you to break away from it.

‘‘ Fine. Im just going to cut straight to it then. Why are you so jealous? You aren’t okay at all. I seen the way you looked at us yesterday. You wanted to break down so bad but you didn’t. It looks like you’ve been dropping weight day by day why aren’t you eating well?’’

You’re taken a-back by his jealous comment. Although you are you just cannot admit it. You are jealous. You do want him back. You cant bear to see him with another girl but you. But the fact that Jimin is concerned makes you really hope. Just hope that there is something left of you still in his heart.

‘‘ Jealous? Jealous tuh.” You scoff, leaning into Jungkook’s arms where you rest his head on your chest. You only do this just to see Jimin’s reaction and by the look on his face he doesn’t enjoy that move one bit.

‘‘ Yes jealous. I mean why else would you put almond extra-

‘‘ Woah. No need to go there. We established that it was a so called accident lastnight.” Jungkook does finger quotes into the air and looks down at you.

You lift your head up and furrow your eyebrows in annoyance, “ So called? So you really believe that I did it on purpose. Wow Jungkook. Escort yourself out.’’

He sighs, wrapping his arms around you securly in hopes of you settling down a  little, “ Honestly it’s not like that. I wasn’t there to see you bake them nor was I watching her eat it. Im just saying that you knew Jimin was coming and obviously his girlfriend was going to come too. It’s a little sketchy is all.”

There’s no fixing what he said. Him adding onto his explanation just made things sound worse than what he’s trying to say. You don’t have time to be ganged up on, nor like it at all. It’s best if they both just leave, to not turn nothing into something.

‘‘ Get out. Now. Before I call and tell Ryan what you said and then she’ll definitely deal with you.’‘ You say, removing yourself from off of him and onto the other side of the couch with your legs crossed.

Mad isn’t even the word to describe yourself right now. You’re just a mixture of all emotions.

Jungkook now looks of sorriness written all over his face. You bite your lip and shake your head while pointing towards the door. He sighs heavily and takes one last look at you while removing himself from the couch. You watch him slip on his coat and shoes.

Jimin gets up from his spot on the couch, ‘‘ I’ll be leav-”

‘‘ Sit down we aren’t done talking.” 

He looks at you with his eyebrows furrowed, sitting back down slowly.

Jungkook keeps his head down as he wraps his blue scarf around his neck. Poor baby, but he shouldn’t of said it. “Please better yourself and talk it out with each-other. Im leaving.”

‘‘ Make it home safely.. Kookie.” You sigh once the door closes behind him. Now you’re here. Face to face with Park Jimin.

The same Jimin who cheated on you. The same Jimin you haven’t seen in a while. You take a few moments to take in his appearance. He seems to have re-gained his muscles that are peaking through his black, longsleeve shirt. His thighs are still thick, just like his luscious lips. Of course he changed his hair color to black. But who knows, he might change it again.

‘‘ You’ve been doing well?’‘ You say, voice low but enough for him to hear. You drop your eyes to your lap instead of keeping intact with his.

‘‘ Yes. But you have not. Im disappointed in you. Why are you doing this to yourself? Don’t do this because of me.”

‘‘ Jimin you don’t know the feeling. You don’t know how it feels to be left wondering why you weren’t good enough for someone. Why they had cheated on you. You don’t understand at all and wont ever.’‘ Your voice cracks on the last sentence and you an feel the lump in your throat become sore.

He bites his lip unsure of what to say next. Those words had hit him good inside. ‘‘ Im sorry. I truly am. But you know the reason why we had to end it. I fucked up bad and the media was making the scandal bigger and messier day by day. It was better to just call it off.’‘

One by one your tears start to drop. You nose begins it’s running trip but you sniffle it back up.

‘‘ You could of denied it. You know you could of made a statement and denied it. But you felt something for her didn’t you? Didn’t you?’‘ You semi-yell, sobs already starting to take it’s way over.

He bites his lip once again and ruffles his fingers through his hair, “ Baby..’’

You wipe your tears with your hands making your face even more puffy from the crying. “ I am jealous. I am I admit it Jimin. But do you know i have been suffering for one year and two months? I can’t sleep at night because im so used to your touch at night. I look at every couple in Seoul and think to myself, Dang they seem so happy. What’s their secret?’’

Jimin sits up, making eye contact with you with tears welling up into his eyes. It hurt’s you more than yourself to see him crying. It always has.

‘‘ Please don’t do that. Don’t do this to yourself. Please get help from someone to try and move on. Please. I don’t like to see or hear you make yourself suffer.’ He begs, getting up from his seat and coming towards you.

Jimin sits next to you, hesitantly opening his arms up to you. Would it be wrong to embrace him? He’s being too sincere, but thats what you want right? You decide to just do it, and lean into him only for him to pull you in closer into his chest.You just lay there crying and sobbing while he runs his fingers through your hair. You shouldn’t be doing this. He has a girlfriend. But it feels so right.

‘‘ What does she have that I don’t? Why couldn’t you love me the same way you love her “  You cry into his chest, soaking his shirt with your tears. 

You’d been waiting for this moment to just let it out. Let everything out.

‘’ Please don’t make this harder than what it is right now. Just try and forget me and move on. Please.” Hypocritcal. How does he expect you to get over him when he’s the one whos holding you so tight right now. Soon enough his sniffles join yours in harmony.

You raise your head up and look him deep into the eyes while you wipe away his tears, “ Don’t cry Jimin. I’m the one supposed to be crying over you. Don’t cry.’’

He takes your hand away from his face and wraps his fist ontop of yours, “Please promise me you will move on okay?’’

You shake your head no, “ I can’t make that promise.”

He doesn’t say anything. He gently cradles you in his arms and lifts you up. You don’t think to where he is going. You just close your eyes and grab onto his shirt firmly not wanting to let go.

Soon enough you feel the cold sheets over your bed. He covers you in the duvet and leans down to your forehead.  A kiss. Your fist is still locked onto his shirt in which he tries to pry it away but you don’t want to let him go. He sighs and raises his arms up as he takes off the shirt revealing an extra plain white wife beater under it. Taking your other hand, he wraps your hand into another fist onto the shirt to where both of your hands are holding onto it.

‘‘ Please better yourself for me baby. Sleep and eat well. “

Is all he says before turning off the lights and walking out your bedroom door.  You can hear him putting on and zipping up his heavy coat but you just don’t make a sound.

The apartment door clicks and beeps letting you know he’s already gone.

[shipskicksandgiggles]

5 with Parkner

Also if possible Tony being stressed as heck that they met and immediately started flirting?

For the romance asks?

ah. okay so like all my old favorites that I was too scared to write? got it, how we feeling about dumbasses not using their real names

prompt: "Do you believe in love at first sight?" (from this list)

Read (Like We're Meeting) For the First Time here on ao3

~~~

“Are you excited?”

“I’m fucking terrified dude, what the hell does this even mean?”

Harley had his phone on speaker as he ran around packing a suitcase, his Discord broadcasting voice chat as loud as the tinny speakers would allow.

“It means you’re getting somewhere in the world. You should be proud.”

“I know, I know. And I totally am, don’t get me wrong, but all I’ve ever known is this tiny town. Christ, what about my mom? I’ve only ever lived with her and my sister, this is huge.”

Basically, Harley had an internship. Up until about an hour ago, that internship had been long-distance.

When he was 12, he’d proved himself to Tony Stark of all people by helping fix the Iron Man armor. Then, when he was 16, he’d been offered a position where he could learn and be mentored by the man himself. Initially, he had turned it down because he was still basically a kid, he couldn’t move to New York. Fortunately, Tony came back with an alternative: he could work from Tennessee, he would just check in via video chat every so often.

Harley was 18 now. He was taking a gap year and thinking about where he’d go to college, but legally, he was an adult, and Tony Stark was offering to relocate him to New York so he could finally get the full internship experience.

“But like, good huge right? Life changing, career altering, fan-fucking-tastic? C’mon Jay, why are you so panicky over this?”

“Because this is completely and utterly batshit fucking insane, Benji. This is…” he trailed off, at a loss for words.

“This is everything you’ve ever wanted,” Benji filled in. “It’s too good to be true.”

Then there was Benji. It’s funny how they met, but after a fight over sci-if media on Twitter had led to a truce over Doctor Who, they swapped Discords and learned that apart from disagreeing over Star Wars and Star Trek, they had pretty similar interests.

It was an interesting friendship. Neither one had seen the other’s face, and since he wasn’t on his personal account at the time, Harley had chosen to go by his middle name when he introduced himself. No need to have anybody trying to find him, even if they weren’t a creep.

Which Benji wasn’t. They might not video call, but voice calls were telling enough, and he certainly sounded close to Harley’s age. He’d heard Benji in every mood from over excited to just waking up in the morning, and he didn’t think he’d ever get tired of it.

He sighed. “Maybe that’s it. Point is, I have to get on a plane tomorrow and I have no idea how to pack to move across the country, so I’m going to let you go and actually go get my mom.”

“That’s valid. Text me when you land okay?”

“Of course, darlin’.”

His phone beeped to signal Benji hanging up, and he dug his way out of a pile of clothes to plug it in so it wouldn’t die later. He looked at his mess of a room and sighed deeply.

“Mama!”

~~~

Peter tossed his bag into the back of the car that pulled up before realizing that Happy wasn’t the one driving. “Mr. Stark?”

“Hey Underoos. Hop in.”

Tony Stark was sitting in the pickup lane of his high school, sunglasses and all.

“Not to sound ungrateful or anything, sir, but where’s Happy?”

“It’s his day off,” Tony shrugged. “Anyways, I was out running errands and figured I’d save you the trouble of taking the subway.” He leaned over and popped the passenger door open. “You coming?”

He’d had weirder days. “Sure.”

What could only be described as Dad Rock played softly from the radio, and Tony drummed on the steering wheel as he waited for the car in front of them to move. “It was your last day of school today, right?”

“Yeah. College here I come,” Peter cheered half heartedly.

“Well, you have summer vacation first. Plus college is going to be so much fun.”

“I just have to find my Colonel Rhodes,” Peter joked, remembering all the stories Tony told him about his MIT days.

“You’ve got your one friend though. Ted?”

“It’s Ned, Mr. Stark.” He checked his phone. Jay should be texting him any time now to say he landed. He didn’t want to say he was worried, but people he- he didn’t want to say loved- cared about had died on planes, and he didn’t want Jay to be added to that list.

“You okay, kiddo?” Tony asked.

“Everything’s fine,” Peter assured him. “What errands do you have to run?”

“Oh, I’m pretty much done. Mostly groceries and other boring adult stuff. We just have to stop for one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a surprise.” He slid down his glasses for dramatic effect. “Let’s just say your summer is about to get a lot more fun.”

“That’s not terrifying at all,” he grumbled. “Wake me when we get there, I’m exhausted.”

~~~

He woke up disoriented. “The hell?”

“We’re here, kiddo. There’s someone I want you to meet.” Tony climbed out of the car, and Peter followed, blinking to adjust to the harsh sunlight. He hung back a little as Tony strode forward to meet with someone.

That someone barely hit the bottom of the stairs coming out of an airplane before Tony enveloped him in a hug.

“Geez old man, you’d think you’d missed me or something,” the guy was saying, and gosh if that voice didn’t sound familiar.

“Little shit,” Tony said affectionately. “When did you get so tall? I’m putting bricks on your head when we get home.”

The guy laughed, and Peter froze. There was no way-

“Harley, I want you to meet the other intern.” He was dragging him over to meet Peter, and he considered running away.

Peter snuck a quick glance at his phone before they made it to him. Jay hadn’t texted him yet. There was still a chance it wasn’t him.

“Hey, I’m Harley,” he said, extending a hand to Peter. “Harley Keener.”

Maybe it was good he hadn’t seen the guy’s face before. He might have actually imploded.

“Peter Parker.”

Harley paused briefly. “It’s good to meet you Peter Parker,” he smiled. “Sorry, I have to text a couple people and let them know I’m on the ground, then we can do this meet and greet for real, huh?”

“Sure, man. Take your time.”

~~~

Harley texted his mom and Abbie that he made it to New York, then he opened up Discord and pulled up his thread with Benji. Peter’s voice reminded him so much of his, but the guy had been radio silent all day.

To Benji: landed safely! hope your exams went okay :)

There was no immediate reply, so he pocketed his phone and turned back to Tony and the other intern. “Sorry about that, you know families.” He noticed that Peter had pulled out his own phone.

Wait-

“It can’t be,” Peter whispered.

“No fucking way.”

“Harley!” Tony yelled, scandalized.

They ignored him. Peter looked between Harley and his phone before tapping something out on the screen.

His phone dinged.

From Benji: they went great, weird thing though, kind of ended up at the airport myself

“Holy fucking shit.”

“Oh my god. Jay?”

“Benji?”

Peter nodded, and Harley couldn’t resist running forward and pulling him into a tight hug.

“So this is what you look like in person?” The question was muffled in Peter’s shoulder.

“Could say the same about you,” Benji, no, Peter, returned.

“Always wanted to meet you in person. Thought it would go a lot different.”

Tony looked between the two of them, an expression somewhere between confusion and horror plastered on his face. “What the hell is going on here?”

They exchanged a look.

“It’s…” Harley started.

“A long story,” Peter finished. “Can’t say I was expecting this plot twist though.” He threaded his fingers through Harley’s, and he grinned.

“Amen, darlin’. What do you say you give me a tour of the city?”

“Mr. Stark can drive, but I’ll narrate,” Peter agreed.

Harley ducked into the backseat of the car, which unfortunately meant letting go of Peter’s hand. “I can work with that. We ready to go?”

Tony sighed. “So, you too have met,” he concluded as he put the car in drive.

“In a way,” Harley confirmed.

“So I guess that means I don’t have to worry about you two not getting along?”

“If he can keep Star Trek out of his mouth we won’t have any issues,” Peter laughed.

“Same goes for you and Star Wars, asshole.” Harley poked him in the side from behind, and Peter shrieked.

“Okay, okay. Boys, no fighting. At least not while I’m driving. I’m just happy you two are actually going to be friends.

“Friends, definitely. I think we can do that,” Harley winked in the mirror.

Peter turned in his seat to smile at him. “Totally.” He turned back around, and waited for a beat until he spoke again. “I mean, do you believe in love at first sight?”

Harley leaned forward to kiss Peter’s cheek, and they both fell into a fit of giggles when Tony nearly pulled over the car just to yell at them for being gross in his presence.

When he finally caught his breath, he looked at Peter with his dorky smile and rosy cheeks. This was his Benji, and god he was glad he finally got to meet him.

[bechloeislegit]

25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2020

Day 5 - Chloe's Smile

Author's Prompt: Chloe is sad over her Grandmother's death, and isn't smiling much. Beca and her daughter decide to make Christmas cookies to help Chloe get her smile back.

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

"I don't want to do this," Chloe whined as Beca stood at the kitchen counter, holding out a to-go coffee cup. "It's Christmas Eve."

"Then don't," Beca said, setting the cup on the counter in front of her. "I'm sure your folks will understand that you have Sophie and Santa to deal with."

"I can't stay home," Chloe said. "We have to get Grams' stuff out of her room at the nursing home today. They already have someone moving into the room the day after tomorrow."

"At Christmas? Really?" Beca said, coming around the counter and pulling Chloe into a hug. "It's only been a week since Grams died."

"I know," Chloe said, frowning as she heard the patter of two little feet coming through the living room.

Their three-year-old daughter, Sophie, came running into the kitchen. She squealed when she saw Chloe standing there.

"Mommy!" Sophie cried out. Seeing her mother dressed and ready to leave the house, she asked, "Where are you going?"

"I have to go help Grandma and Grandpa with something today, baby," Chloe said as a tear fell down her cheek. "Mommy will be back in time for dinner."

Sophie started running and quickly closed the distance between her and Chloe. Chloe bent down as Sophie launched herself into Chloe's arms. Chloe stood with Sophie in her arms. Sophie put her hands on Chloe's cheeks.

"I will miss you," Sophie whispered.

"I will miss you, too," Chloe whispered back, as she wiped the tear from her eye.

"You're going to be late," Beca said.

"I'm going," Chloe said.

"Let's swap," Beca said, reaching for Sophie, and placing her on her hip.

She used her free hand to give Chloe her coffee. Chloe leaned in and kissed Beca. She then kissed Sophie's cheek.

"Goodbye, my loves," Chloe said. "I'll see you when I get home."

"Bye, Mommy!" Sophie said and waved as Chloe made her way to the door leading to the garage.

"Give your folks a hug from us, babe," Beca said.

"I will," Chloe responded.

Beca and Sophie watched as Chloe went out the door to the garage. They heard the car start up and Chloe pull out of the garage.

"Mommy wasn't smiling," Sophie said. "Is Mommy still sad?"

"Yes, sweetie," Beca said. "Mommy's still sad. But, you know what?"

"What?"

"We're going to do something to make Mommy happy today."

"What are we gonna do?"

"We're going to make Christmas cookies!"

"Yay!" Sophie squealed and clapped. "Mommy loves Chwistmas cookies!"

"I know," Beca said. "They always make her smile."

"I miss Mommy's smile," Sophie said, frowning. "She has the best smile in the whole world."

"I agree," Beca said. "Let's make sure we have all the ingredients so we can start making cookies and make Mommy smile again."

"Okay," Sophie said, pushing against Beca to be put down.

Beca put Sophie down and Sophie went running to the pantry. She opened the door and looked back at Beca.

"What do we need?" Sophie asked. "I'll get it."

Beca laughed as she made her way over to Sophie. "We'll both get it. But, first, we'll have to decide what cookies we want to make and find the recipe."

"I like chocolate chip cookies," Sophie said. "And the cookies with sprinkles on them."

"I like those, too," Beca said. "And so does Mommy."

Beca went through the pantry and pulled out what ingredients they had on hand. She checked her recipes and made a list of grocery items she needed to get.

"Come on, Soph," Beca said, picking up the toddler. "We're going to the store."

"Then we can make cookies for Mommy?"

"Yes," Beca said. "Then we can make cookies for Mommy."

~~ Day 5 of the 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2020 ~~

Beca and Sophie had been home for about thirty minutes when Beca was presented with figuring out how to preheat the oven.

"Come on, Stacie," Beca whined through the phone. "Stop laughing and help me out."

Whining was not something Beca would ever admit to doing, but felt it was necessary in this situation.

"Just set the oven to the temperature you need," Stacie said. "And press start."

"How will I know when it's the right temperature?"

"It will beep to let you know it's ready."

"Huh," Beca said and set the temperature. She pressed start and smiled. "Okay, I started the preheat thingy. How do I set the timer when I put the cookies in?"

"Don't you pay attention when Chloe cooks or bakes?"

"I pay attention to Chloe when she cooks or bakes," Beca said. "I don't pay attention to what she's doing to the oven."

"You're such a softie for her," Stacie said, chuckling. "How about I come over and help you out? Chloe deserves to have something special done for her and I don't want her to get burned cookies. I'll be right over, okay?"

"Okay," Beca said. "Thanks, Stacie!"

Beca placed her phone down on the counter and looked at Sophie. "Aunt Stacie will be here soon to help with the cookies."

"Can we start without her?" Sophie asked, from her seat on the stool at the counter.

"Sure," Beca said, pulling the cookie cookbook toward her so they could read the recipe.

"We need a big bowl," Beca said, looking at the cabinets. She turned to Sophie and asked, "Soph, do you know where Mommy keeps the mixing bowls?"

Sophie pointed to one of the cabinets and Beca wasn't surprised to find the mixing bowls inside. Sophie was always in the kitchen with Chloe so, it stands to reason she'd know where things were.

"What about the standing mixer?"

Sophie pointed to the pantry and Beca went and, of course, found the standing mixer.

"Thanks, sweetie," Beca said, placing the mixer next to the mixing bowl.

"You welcome, mama," Sophie said with a big smile.

Beca placed the beaters into the mixer and set the mixing bowl in place. She then looked in the drawers and cabinets until she found the measuring cups and spoons. She grabbed the eggs out of the refrigerator.

After gathering all the ingredients for their first batch of cookies, Beca carefully measured the dry ingredients into a bowl and set it aside. She lifted the beaters out of the mixing bowl and read the next step in the recipe.

"Cream the butter and sugar together," Beca mumbled as she read the directions. "Sounds easy enough. Soph, can you hand me the butter, please?"

Sophie picked up a stick of butter and squeezed slightly. "It's squishy!"

"That's okay," Beca said, as Sophie handed her the butter. "It's supposed to be squishy. I need the other one, too."

Sophie handed Beca the second stick of butter. Beca continued asking Sophie to give her the ingredients. She placed everything into the mixing bowl and turned the mixer on; nothing happened. Beca saw that the mixer wasn't plugged into an outlet; she plugged it in just as the doorbell sounded. Beca looked at Sophie.

"That's Aunt Stacie," Beca said. "Don't touch anything. I'll be right back."

Beca opened the door and let Stacie in.

"I brought the ingredients for Aubrey's meringue Christmas cookies Chloe likes so much," Stacie said as they walked toward the kitchen.

There was a loud crash just as Beca stepped over the threshold into the kitchen. Beca's heart stopped as she rushed around the counter to see if Sophie was okay. Sophie had pulled over the bowl with the dry ingredients and was sitting in the middle of the floor covered in flour and sugar. Beca gingerly stepped through the flour and lifted Sophie into her arms. She glared at Stacie when she heard her best friend laughing.

"Are you okay, Soph?" Beca asked.

"Yes, Mama," Sophie said. "I'm okay."

"Want to tell me why we have flour and sugar all over the floor?"

"I was helping."

"Didn't I tell you not to touch anything while I was gone?"

"Yes," Sophie said, nodding her head up and down, throwing flour and sugar onto Beca.

"So, I'll ask again," Beca said, trying to brush off some of the flour and sugar from Sophie. "Why is there flour and sugar all over the floor?"

Sophie put both of her little flour-covered hands on Beca's cheeks and looked her in the eye as she said, "I. Was. Helping."

Stacie snorted, causing Beca to glare at her again. Stacie covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile.

"Stacie, we'll be right back," Beca said. "I have to change and clean this one up."

"I'll sweep up while you're gone," Stacie said. "And, just brush the flour out of Sophie's hair. If you try to wash it out, you'll just make a gummy mess and that will be harder to get out."

"I got this," Beca said.

"Sorry," Stacie said, holding up her hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to make it sound like you didn't. Go take care of Sophie. I'll clean this up while you two are gone."

"You don't have to do that," Beca said. "But, thanks."

Beca turned to walk upstairs, but quickly turned back when Stacie yelled out, "Wait!"

Beca frowned when she saw Stacie snap a photo of her and Sophie with her phone.

"I want Aubrey to see this," Stacie said, looking down at her phone.

"Whatever," Sophie said, causing Beca to laugh.

"That's Mama's line," Beca said, tickling Sophie as they went upstairs.

~~ Day 5 of the 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2020 ~~

"Okay," Beca said as she closed the oven door. "That's the last batch. They should be ready just about the time Chloe gets home."

"And Mommy will smile?"

"I hope so, baby," Beca said. "Why don't we order pizza tonight and give Mommy a break from cooking?"

"Yay," Sophie squealed. "Pizza!"

"Do you want to watch a video until the cookies are ready?" Beca asked Sophie.

"Okay," Sophie said and left the kitchen with Beca following close behind.

Once Sophie was settled on the sofa, Beca went back to the kitchen.

"Chloe being sad is really getting to Sophie isn't it?" Stacie asked as Beca walked back into the kitchen.

"Yeah," Beca said sitting at the counter across from Stacie. "She misses Chloe's smile and mentions it all the time."

"Your wife can surely put anyone in a good mood when she smiles," Stacie said.

"That's true," Beca said, smiling softly. "She'll see a stranger on the street who looks unhappy with the world and smiles at them. Their faces will light up and they look happier, all from seeing her smile. She's amazing."

"Well, you and Sophie baking cookies for her is sure to bring her smile back," Stacie said. "Even if it's just for a little while."

"I hope so," Beca said.

"I should get home," Stacie said, standing as she stood. "Aubrey's taking me out to dinner and I want to have time to get ready. Let me know how the cookies go over and give Chloe my love."

"I will," Beca said. "And, thanks for your help today. I'm sure Chloe will call later to thank you for the meringue cookies."

"I was happy to do it for her," Stacie said, as Beca followed her to the living room.

"Sophie, Aunt Stacie is leaving," Beca said, getting the toddler's attention.

"Bye, Aunt Tacie," Sophie said.

Stacie kissed the top of Sophie's head. "Goodbye, sweet girl."

"Talk to you later, Beca," Stacie as she opened the door and walked out.

"Bye," Beca called after Stacie. Beca looked at Sophie, "Mama's going to clean the kitchen before Mommy gets home. You stay out here unless you need something, okay?"

"Okay, Mama," Sophie said, turning back to her video.

Beca walked into the kitchen to survey the mess she made and shook her head.

"Chloe's going to kill me," Beca mumbled as she thought about where to start cleaning first.

"Mommy!" Beca heard Sophie squeal, followed by the front door closing.

"Hey, baby," Chloe said. "Where's Mama?"

"Kitchen," Sophie said, pointing toward the kitchen.

"Beca!" Chloe's voice made Beca freeze.

Beca looked over her shoulder to see Chloe, standing in the doorway, frowning as she looked around the kitchen.

"I can explain," Beca said.

"Explain what?" Chloe asked, standing with her arms crossed over her chest. "When I left this morning, this place was spotless. Now I have to clean this mess before I can even think about making dinner."

"I got dinner covered," Beca said. "I promised Sophie we'd order pizza tonight. And don't worry about this mess. I'll clean it."

"You bet your ass you will," Chloe said. She took in a deep breath and let it out. "I'm going to go lie down for a bit."

Chloe didn't say anything more and walked out of the kitchen. Sophie came in and ran over to Beca.

"Mommy's not smiling," Sophie said with tears in her eyes.

"I know, baby," Beca said, wiping Sophie's face. "She's upset with mama because I messed up the kitchen."

Sophie laid her head on Beca's shoulder and Beca held her tightly to her. Sophie sniffled a few times and Beca rocked her back and forth.

"Can we have cookies, now?" Sophie asked, with a pout.

Beca chuckled and said, "You sure are your mother's daughter."

She reached for a chocolate chip cookie and handed it to Sophie. Sophie bit into it and smiled.

"Mmmmm," Sophie said. "Dese are good."

Beca smiled. "I have an idea. Let's take Mommy some cookies. See if we can make her smile."

"Okay," Sophie said.

Beca sat Sophie on the stool by the counter and grabbed a plate. "Which kind should we take her?"

"That one," Sophie said, pointing to the chocolate chip cookies. "And that one. And one of those."

Beca placed two of each cookie Sophie chose on the plate. She poured some milk into a glass.

"Let's go, Soph," Beca said, picking up the milk and the cookies.

Beca used her back to push open the kitchen door and followed Sophie out. They quietly made their way up to Beca and Chloe's bedroom. Beca stopped them outside the door.

"Here," Beca whispered, handing the plate of cookies to Sophie. "You give these to Mommy."

"Okay," Sophie said, holding the plate tightly, using both hands.

Beca slowly turned the knob and opened the door so Sophie could enter.

"Mommy?" Sophie said.

"Yeah, baby?" Chloe said, sitting up on the bed.

"We bringeded you some cookies," Sophie said, walking slowly over to where Chloe was sitting.

Chloe smiled when Sophie stopped in front of her.

"Mama, look!" Sophie squealed and turned to look at Beca. Her movements caused some cookies to fall off the plate. "Mommy's smile is back."

Chloe grabbed the plate to save the rest of the cookies. "Careful, baby," she said, her smile wider. "Did you make these?"

"Yep," Sophie said. "Me and Mama and Aunt Tacie made them, just for you. They're good!"

"I'm sure they are," Chloe said, smiling at Sophie's excitement.

Chloe looked at Beca, leaning against the door, holding a glass of milk.

"Is that for me?"

"Um, yeah."

Beca walked over and handed Chloe the milk.

"Thanks," Chloe said, quietly. She held up the plate of cookies and said, "So, this is why the kitchen is such a mess."

"Yeah," Beca said, sitting next to Chloe and lifting Sophie onto her lap. "Sophie wanted to do something to get your smile back. Sorry about the mess."

"No," Chloe said. "I should be apologizing to you. I'm sorry for yelling at you about the mess."

Chloe bit into a cookie and smiled at Sophie. "You're right, Soph. These are good!"

"Told you," Sophie said, taking a cookie and biting into it. "I like the sprinkles."

"You made me Aunt Brey's famous meringue cookies, too?" Chloe asked, picking one up and biting into the airy confection.

"Stacie made those," Beca said. "You know Aubrey won't give me her recipe, no matter how many times I ask."

Chloe smiled and laughed. Sophie smiled, too, because she was happy to see her Mommy smiling again.

~~ Day 5 of the 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2020 ~~

Later that night, Chloe was tucking Sophie into bed so Santa would come. Chloe leaned down to kiss Sophie goodnight.

"I'm glad you got your smile back, Mommy," Sophie whispered.

"Thank you for helping me get my smile back, baby," Chloe whispered back. "I love you, sweet girl."

"I love you, too, Mommy," Sophie said before turning over and closing her eyes.

Once Chloe was sure Sophie was asleep, she quietly left Sophie's room and went downstairs to find Beca. She walked into the kitchen just as Beca tossed the sponge into the sink.

"Hey, babe," Beca said, walking over to Chloe. "All done. Now, I know it's not quite Chloe Beale clean, but it is about two steps up from the normal Beca Mitchell clean."

Chloe smiled and pulled Beca into a hug.

"Sophie's already asleep," Chloe said, giving a Beca a quick kiss. "Let's go upstairs."

"Mmm," Beca said, pulling Chloe closer and waggling her eyebrows. "Whatever do you have in mind?"

"Well," Chloe said, kissing Beca again and walking backward, pulling Beca by the hem of her shirt. "Santa has a lot of work to do before she can go to bed."

Beca's smile dropped.

Chloe laughed as she turned around a ran upstairs.

Beca sighed and followed Chloe.

[harringtonstudios]

knowing it’s selfish.

plot: you’re a first-time actor and you’ve caught the butterflies for your co-star. 

A/N: this is kinda long oops! let me know what you think ;)

It’s been a long two weeks. After months of recording audition tapes and walking into chemistry readings, you had finally booked your first role. It had been an extremely lucky process and you had secured a contract for a high-budget Netflix movie. Once the scripts had been sent out, you had gotten a chance to meet the rest of the cast in a table reading. That had been an incredible day, especially getting to interact with Sandra Bullock, a staple in your childhood movies. You’d vibed well with all of the other cast members, and when filming started earlier this week, it’d been easy to slip into those friendships again.

Flying into California early in the morning was stressful enough without having to rush to the executive studios in order to pick up alterations they had made for a shorter script. After the bustle of traffic, even at five in the morning, and making sure all of your baggage was set in the hotel room Netflix had graciously provided you for the next two weeks, you had gone out to explore the area, unable to sleep. After a walk around the uneventful block, you had run into one of your co-stars near the front entrance. Colson Baker stood there, wearing a white tank and gray sweatpants, smoking what looked like a joint. He shot you a smile and you waved as you decided to take another shot around the block, suddenly nervous. 

This wasn’t a new feeling. The first time you had met Colson, he had been standing in the corner of the room, sipping on an iced coffee. He’d immediately caught your eye in his black turtleneck, earring dangling as he looked around the room, taller than anyone else here. You’d braced yourself, took a quick deep breath and then walked over. It took less than a minute for you two to start laughing and soon you were so immersed in the conversation that it took a pat on your shoulder to come back to the slight buzz of the room. The pat had been from Danielle who quietly whispered that the executives were calling the meeting to order. Embarrassed, you had sat down where your name was written and smiled as Colson came to sit right next to you. After running through the entire script, realizing you and him were going to play some weird fucked up type of lovers, you had thanked the Hollywood gods for their amazing casting choices. Everyone left pretty quick, so you’d just given him a high five and then walked out of the room, cursing yourself silently for not getting his number.

The second time you’d seen him was on your Instagram timeline. He’d been tagged in a picture with one of your distant industry friends and you had dived into a black hole of “Machine Gun Kelly.” Scrolling through his pictures, listening to the songs he’d put out, watching music videos, it had been a lot. The little butterfly in your chest had started to grow larger wings and you immensely regretted researching him and finding out all these little things that had you smiling at your phone screen while wrapped in a burrito blanket.

Steadying your heartbeat you turned the corner back to the front of the hotel only to catch him pacing, holding his phone up to his ear. You walked into the lobby past him, towards the elevator, glad he was too busy to talk to you. As you stepped in, you heard someone shout and you held the door open as Colson came running into view.

“Hey Y/N! How have you been,” he asked grinning. 

“I’m good Colson. Just flew in this morning, how are you doing,” you replied.

“Bored. I’ve been here for a couple days and there’s nothing to do around here,” he said, gesturing to the lobby. The elevator door started beeping and you awkwardly stepped out back into the empty area as he retracted his hand from the door. 

“You wanna grab breakfast?” you asked, heart jumping up a little. 

“Yeah dude! That’d be awesome,” and the tone in his voice lit you up.

Breakfast had been fun, both you and Colson bouncing your energies off of each other. After a successful morning, you had swapped numbers and decided to ride to set together each day, with you driving cause apparently he’d gotten his license taken away. Most nights you would both come back and end up exploring the area, going to expensive bars and dance clubs. On set, you two would always end up getting involved in some shenanigans, trying to have as much fun as you possibly could on a movie. There was never a dull night and quickly the two weeks disappeared.

-

It was the last night for a majority of the cast and even though the main characters still had a few weeks left, they decided to throw a party for everyone leaving. You felt extremely blessed to be involved in this project and even more blessed when Sandra Bullock handed you a beautiful journal winking as you opened it to a note. write down a couple of thousand thoughts you have every day. see where it takes you. You laughed as you hugged her and then felt someone hug you from behind.

 “Three’s a crowd Baker,” Sandra barked out as she walked away and you snorted before turning around to properly hug him. 

“What are you doing tonight?” he whispered into your ear and you shivered automatically before stepping back and shaking your head. 

“Nothing, sleeping probably, why?” 

“No reason, just stay up yeah?” he smirked and then walked across the room to talk to the other cast members. You rolled your eyes and turned towards the room, taking in the sight of an amazing cast you were experiencing for the last time.

-

Driving back to the hotel room alone sucked. It wasn’t a long drive, but the quietness of it all was eerie. Even with music playing, you felt slightly unsettled as you drove down the suburbs, darkened roads, with an empty passenger seat. Colson had disappeared before you left and then had sent you a four second voice message telling you to go back without him. You had been a little disheartened, especially after his questioning earlier, but you had brushed it off and started the rental car. 

Changing out of the nice dress you’d worn to the wrap party, you threw on your comfortable oversized t-shirt. You had already packed earlier and seeing as though nobody was around, you turned on some music and closed the lights, turning on just a single lamp. Dancing around the room to somebody else had never felt this good and you got lost in the beats when you suddenly heard loud knocking on the door. 

Reaching for the handle you pulled it open to reveal Colson standing there in the sweatpants you’d seen him wearing the first day holding up a bottle of Jameson. “Partying without me?”

You threw him a look and then moved aside to let him in, he put the bottle down and looked over at you. Huffing you strode over and screwed the bottle open before taking a sip straight. There was a beat of silence and you stood there with the bottle before he grabbed it from you. 

“That’s how we’re doing it?” and you nodded as you closed your eyes, feeling the beat stronger as liquor burned down your throat. 

-

Half a bottle of Jameson later, you were feeling yourself. Colson had sat right on the desk, legs dangling off and you were dancing around to the songs he put on. Occasionally, you would get him up and he’d join you, but you could tell he liked sitting there watching better, and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t crave the feeling of his eyes on you. It took the beat of two more songs and then he came up right behind you, hands slowly resting on your hips. 

He leaned down and whispered, “You okay with this?” and you smiled before whispering back, “Yeah.” Girls Need Love played in the background and you rolled your hips with the music, swaying with him. You could feel the rhythm in your bones and you turned around, staring into his eyes as you moved in tune. Looking up at him, you scrunched your face together and he broke into a laugh ruining the sensual tension gathering. “Oops,” you muttered before breaking apart from him. 

“Come back, I wanted to do something,” he murmured and you felt your cheeks warm up as you faced him again. His hands came back to settle on your hips and you felt the heat of them seep into your skin. He leaned down and the next thing you knew, you were kissing Colson Baker, eyes closed as he pulled you closer to him. 

You wrapped your arms around his neck as he grabbed the back of your naked thighs pulling you up, walking towards the desk. Breaking apart, he put you down and you quickly said, “I think you have too many clothes on.” He pulled off his shirt, exposing his tattoos in the dim light of the lamp. 

You reached for him again, bringing his lips back to yours, wrapping your legs around his waist. Arching into him, he ran his palms up your back as your kiss deepened. Suddenly, the music cut off as your phone started ringing. Ignoring it, you kept Colson near you, continuing the kiss. A second later, his phone buzzed in his pants and you sighed as you reached over to see who was calling you this late at night. 

You quickly grabbed and picked up the call as you realized it was the assistant director. Colson was on the phone when you looked over at him, mumbling his words and you tuned him out as you tried to have a pleasant, coherent conversation, while your head spun slowly.

“Yeah, okay. No problem. Have a great night. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” you said before ending the call, slumping over on the bed. You felt the bed dip, Colson falling next to you and you stared at the ceiling trying to recall the conversation you just had. 

“Guess we have an entire week left to make out,” he whispered and you wacked him in the arm before laughing. An extended week, a newfound relationship, and some Jameson, you’d never felt this lucky before. 

[aggedyann]

Making Himself Worse

“It’s almost like you’re trying to make yourself worse,” Tim fussed, watching Ethan sneeze while pulling his scrub top over his head. “Bless you.” He sighed.

“I’m fine.” Ethan tried to sound reassuring, but his congestion belied him.

Tim sighed. “You’re not getting better. You’ve been sick all week.”

“It’s just a cold.”

“That kept you up all night.”

Ethan couldn’t argue that point. His cough had certainly been persistent, and when it had given him a break, he’d woken himself up sneezing.

“I’ve got to go to work.” He explained, patiently. “Full schedule that would have to be rebooked. Diabetes class to teach today, too.” He cleared his throat against the hoarseness.

Tim sighed. “Don’t forget to take your voice.” He called after Ethan as he left the room, pretending not to notice as he flipped him off.

Tim pulled the blankets over his head and tried to go back to sleep; it was 5:30 am after all, and he’d been out late celebrating the show getting picked up for another 13 weeks. He could hear Ethan sneezing his way around the bathroom and then the kitchen and wondered how many sneezes were due to Ethan’s typical morning sneezes and how many were from his cold.

He heard the front door close without Ethan popping back in to kiss him goodbye. Momentarily sulky beneath the blankets, he rolled over, covers over his head and went back to sleep. If Ethan wanted to be a stubborn ass, so be it; he was the one who’d suffer the consequences.

“Hatshoo!” Ethan walked into the staff office and swapped his hoodie for his scrub jacket, immediately burying a sneeze in its sleeve.

“Thought you would have called in today.” Toby said in lieu of bless you.

Ethan grabbed a tissue off his desk. “I’mb finde.” He sniffled.

“Fine is spelled with an ‘n’.”

This was met with a glare from Ethan over his tissue as he blew his nose. “I’m fiNe.”

“You’re here?” Lisa walked in and dropped her purse on the chair next to him. Ethan pretended not to notice as she handed over cash to Toby who whispered “told you.”

“It’s just a cold.” Ethan rasped, sitting down at his workstation.

“God, your voice is shot.”

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, how am I supposed to teach with the voiceless sneeze machine?”

“Shut up, Toby. I’m not that bad.” Ethan glanced up at the white board with the room assignments. “I’m in 10? I thought I was in 7.”

“We moved you in the corner. That way only Neely has to listen to you sneeze all day.”

“Lucky me.” Neely commented, walking in and sitting down in front of her computer.

“Sorry.” Ethan apologized. Neely had been working with him all week, and had been more patient than the others in putting up with his coughing and sneezes.

She shrugged. “After 3 years of your hay fever, I’m used to it.”

Ethan shot her a grateful look. At least she wasn’t betting on if he’d call in.

“How are you feeling?” She asked.

He shrugged. “It’s a cold. I’m ok. I’ll rest up this weekend.” He assured her as Tiffany walked in.

“You’re seriously here? You can’t even talk.” She stepped over to Toby and slipped him some cash.

Ethan muffled another loud sneeze in his jacket collar. “Ahshoo! It’s just-“

“A cold. We know.” Toby finished for him. “I’ll see you at 2.”

Ethan grabbed his tissues and the box of masks he’d been using. “Anyone else got any comments?” He snipped. “If not, I’m going to get to work.”

2:15 diabetes ed. Ethan could all but breathe a sigh of relief. Well, if his clogged sinuses would let him. He blew his nose again, attempting to clear out the congestion, dumped hand sanitizer on his hands, then took a long drink of water. Taking a trip to the fountain, he set his water bottle under the automated water dispenser and filled it, then headed back to the room.

Toby hadn’t given him too much hell after the first class, so Ethan knew he had it coming after this one. He sucked hard on his cough drop as Toby brought the half dozen participants in.

He pulled his mask down as Toby introduced himself as the dietitian, and when given an expectant look, spoke up for his introduction. “I’m Ethan.” His voice cracked, and he saw his teammate bite back a smile. He cleared his throat. “I’m Ethan. I’m the diabetes educator. As you can probably tell, I’ve got somewhat of a cold.”

A laugh, disguised as a cough from Toby.

He turned to glance at Toby. “Hope I haven’t given it to you.” He managed a syrupy tone despite his hoarse voice.

“Never better.” Toby came back in the same tone. “Would you like to get started?”

“Hah-Ahchoo!” Ethan hesitated, turned around and sneezed powerfully, tucking his masked face into his elbow. Sniffling, he straightened up, sanitizing his hands again.

“Bless. Now that that’s out of the way?”

Ethan provided a quick overview of diabetes, the differences between type I and type II and that this course would focus on type II. He switched to medications, being interrupted by a second, equally powerful sneeze, this time blessed by the entire class. “Ahtshoo! Excuse me.” He managed, blushing. “I’ve got to change my mask.”

Toby jumped in. “Let’s take 5. Ethan’s portion gets a little dense. He’s almost done though.” Ethan shot him a relieved glance and ducked off to the empty staff office. He managed to clear his nose slightly, clearing his ghost of a voice and slipped a new mask on.

He finished his spiel on medications and switched over to assisting Toby with creating carb counting plates for 45 minutes, only interrupting Toby once with a poorly timed sneeze.

Toby transitioned back to him for the second hands on portion of the class. Checking blood sugars. Ethan grabbed the kit work had assigned him and began to demonstrate, narrating as he set up the machine, wiped his finger down, poked it, and placed the blood on the strip. “138.” He read, when the meter beeped.

Toby frowned. “High for you.” He whispered.

“Sick.” Ethan whispered back. “This cold is kicking my ass.” As if to prove his point, he buried another harsh sneeze in his forearm.

“Bless.” Toby frowned again, then began handing out meters.

He provided back up as Ethan made his way around the table, making sure each student was able to check their blood sugar, noticing for the first time how pale Ethan was. How pronounced the dark circles were beneath his eyes. A twinge of guilt briefly passed through him for betting on Ethan showing up, and, like Ethan, he couldn’t be more ready for 4:30.

It was pouring rain when Ethan left the clinic. He walked the two blocks to his car, wishing he’d brought his jacket instead of his hoodie – he was soaked. “HahShoo!” He sneezed freely, aiming it towards the ground, as he unlocked his car. It was a slow drive home…the rain and an accident on the freeway slowed traffic, doubling his commute time. Ethan, drenched, shivered and sneezed the entire drive home.

At the apartment, Tim was beginning to fret. Ethan was typically home by now. He reached for his phone to try calling, when he heard the door open, followed by a loud “Ahshoo!” announcing Ethan’s presence.

He looked over to see Ethan, wiping his nose on a wad of rain drenched tissues. Ethan was soaked from head to toe. Tim grabbed the box of tissues, handed it to Ethan, taking the useless wad of tissues from his hand.

Ethan took fresh tissues and blew his nose. He looked up at Tim, shivering.

“You’re drenched.” Tim stated the obvious.

“It’s pouring rain.” As did Ethan.

“Go get out of those wet things. Take a hot shower before you make your cold worse. I’ll have soup ready when you’re done.”

Ethan nodded, swiping at his nose with the tissue. His sinuses were still blocked, but the chill had caused it to start dripping. He grabbed clean joggers and a sweatshirt, then slipped into the shower.

Tim began heating the chicken soup he had made earlier. He could hear Ethan sneeze from the shower and winced. He definitely sounded worse than when he’d left this morning.

20 minutes later, Ethan was out of the shower and in dry clothes, making his way to the kitchen. Tim set a bowl of soup before him. “This should finish warming you up.”

Ethan ate the soup, beginning to look drowsy.

“You’re worn out.” Tim commented gently.

Ethan clapped his napkin to his nose. “Hatshoo! Yeah.” He slowly admitted, shivering.

“And still chilled. I know it’s just after 7…but…”

“Laying down sounds nice.”

“We can watch a movie in bed. Maybe take the NyQuil early…I’ll wake you for your snack.”

Ethan nodded, coughing as Tim placed his bowl in the sink. “Go. I’ll be right there.”

Ethan was under the covers when Tim came in carrying an extra blanket and the thermometer. He dropped the blanket over Ethan and scanned the thermometer across his forehead. “99.6.” He sighed. “I told you you’d make your cold worse. If you leave this bed this weekend, it’s for the couch.”

“Ahshoo!” Ethan smothered another harsh sneeze into a tissue.

“Bless you. You want to watch your favorite?”

Ethan shrugged, yawning. Tim found “Jurassic Park” in their video library and put it on, laying next to Ethan, relaxing as Ethan’s sneezing grew sleepier and less frequent until it was replaced by congested snores.

[spookyhalloweennights]

Long Distance Love (Zayne: sfw)

The buzz of your phone in your pocket had brought a smile to your face despite how stressful the day had been. You had a feeling you knew who it was as you pulled your phone free from the confines of your pocket, the screen illuminating around the edges to show the new messages that had come through. 

‘I can’t believe the last episode of the show! You had tricked me! You said it was a good ending! I hate it!’ 

Attached to the message was a bunch of the crying emojis, and you could only laugh at how ridiculous he was being. You took a moment or two before you actually responded to him, the red brick house you lived in coming into view as you finished your stroll around the neighborhood. The need to get out of the house was overwhelming so you had decided to take a walk to get some fresh air. 

‘I said it was a good ending, I didn’t say that you’d actually like it.’  You replied simply, attaching the emoji that had its tongue sticking out to the message before sending it off again. Instead of shoving it back into your pocket, you simply held it in your hand knowing that you would get a response shortly after. 

‘Fair point but still! Also are we still on for movie night?’ Came the next reply from him, you could only grin as the familiar feeling of a blush began to creep up your neck before settling across your features. 

‘Of course! Wouldn’t miss movie night for anything! I’ll be home in like two minutes and then I can get my computer setup!’ You were quick to reply, he merely responded with a thumbs up to the message. 

The pair of you had settled on the latest animated movie for your typical movie night, Zayne had actually suggested it and even went as far as to make sure he had it rented for the night despite you having a streaming app that would allow you to watch it. You had protested against him renting it, but he had merely dismissed it and told you that it was his turn to pay for date night anyway. 

Upon arriving at your front door, you had noticed a package that was left in front of it. Shoving your phone back into your pocket, you picked the package up and examined the label to see who it was from. A giddy smile was quick to make an appearance as you noted it was from Zayne. After having accepted his request for you to be his girlfriend, you had started receiving packages from him, of course you had sent some yourself in reply to his. Whether it was your favorite book, a shirt you’d think he’d like, a jar of notecards for him to open at different times… The list went on, opening your door you walked inside and shut it behind you, quick to make a beeline to your room. 

The fans of your computer whirred to life as you hit the power button, while it started you opened the package. A box of your favorite brand of popcorn was inside, some chocolates and sweets, but most importantly there was a new candle. Your other candle had finally reached the end of its life and you vaguely remember telling him about it the last time you two had spoken. 

Setting the box off to the side after settling on a sweet to munch on during the movie, you finally opened up the video app you used to stream movies on with him and talk. It took only a few more moments for it to fully load after you had logged on, clicking on his profile picture and then the call button. 

“Hello?” His voice came through, the old pair of headphones you were wearing muffling his voice a little. 

“Hey! I got your package!” You were quick to jump into the conversation, a grin on your face. “I love the candle, I’m surprised you remembered me mentioning it.” 

“You’d be surprised at what I remember that you tell me.” He chuckled, the movie showing up on your screen and beginning to play. You adjusted your audio settings so that you could hear him clearly while the movie played. “Like the time that you were at a friend’s house swimming and their dog had gotten hold of your bikini top strap and was pulling on it.”

“To be fair, it was pretty funny, terrifying at the time since the dog was pretty big. Well… At least about as big as me.” You explained with a laugh. A flutter of nerves rose up in you at the question you had been wanting to ask him for awhile now. 

“I have some vacation time coming up, I’ll be off for a week…” You began, the silence almost deafening from your usual banter and talks. “I was thinking I could get a plane ticket and fly out to visit you, if that’s okay with you?” You found the courage to finish the question, it had been months since the two of you had officially gotten together and you were dying to see him. 

The silence stretched on and the nervousness you had felt before began to amplify. “Zayne?” You asked, hoping for some sort of reply. 

“I..” Zayne had started but then seemed to pause as if he was looking for the right words to say. “I don’t think you’ll be impressed by what you see but… I’d be okay with it.” He responded, a wave of relief washing through you. 

“Great!” You chimed, the conversation changing and going back to your usual discussions, the air light with the promise of something else. 

The following weeks were spent talking about what you would do when you got there, where you would stay - which Zayne wouldn’t let you rent a hotel room for the time you were there, he claimed that they couldn’t be trusted but you had a feeling it was just to get to spend more time with you, and so on. It continued even right up to the night that you were packing your bags for the week, deciding to stay for the entirety of the time that you had off. 

“Are you nervous?” He asked, his voice coming through the speakers you had installed a little while ago as you moved about your room making sure that everything was in order. 

“A little, I haven’t been on a plane before… You’ll be there at the airport right?” You asked probably for the hundredth time. 

“Of course, I wouldn’t want to miss meeting my girlfriend for the first time. I’ll be there with a giant sign that says your name on it.” He responded, the reassurance calming your nerves for the moment. “You better get some sleep, it’s getting late for you.” 

“I will.” You paused briefly. “I love you Zayne, I’ll see you tomorrow.” The words still felt heavy on your tongue as if they weren’t supposed to be there, but you knew it was from how your current state of mind was. 

The beep of the call ending gave you a sort of comfort, knowing that he wouldn’t have to listen to you fret over your choices in clothing or what time exactly you had to be up. He reassured you that you got this, that you would make it on time and that he would be waiting for you. No doubt he would be, he had been hesitant at first but it quickly changed to excitement at the idea of spending time together and being within arms reach. 

When your alarm went off the next morning, you had already been awake five minutes prior, silently counting down the minutes that signaled the start of something new. After gathering all your bags and having a very quick breakfast, you were quick to dash out the front door and head to the rental car you had. Packing everything up and getting into the car, you made your way to the airport. 

The flight was pleasant and not to mention the beautiful view you had gotten by picking a window seat. You had made a new friend during the flight, an orc who was in the same boat as you, the two of you were quick to strike up a long conversation even going as far as to swap numbers to keep in contact since you would be in the same city as her. 

Once the plane had landed, and you had gathered your bags you headed into the waiting area, the familiar wave of butterflies rising up in you, making you nervous again. You held onto your phone, the flurry of texts coming through now that you were on the ground and in an area that had reception. 

‘I can’t wait to see you!’ Was the last one that you had received minutes before the plane had actually landed, with the quiet reassurance behind the message you moved forward. Scanning the crowd before a bright, colorful sign was held up with your name on it. The colors made you gasp in surprise, you had heard of how once someone had found their soulmate, colors burst to life before their eyes but you didn’t think it would be like this. The world around you seemed brighter, and you practically shoved your way through the crowd to get to him. 

“Zayne!” You called out, grabbing the drider’s attention, he was much more beautiful than what you ever could’ve imagined. He had long, white hair that was tied back, his skin a pale blue color before it shifted into a much brighter sapphire blue on his legs and abdomen, both of which are covered in a soft hair. 

His excited grin turns to shock as he begins to look around him before his gaze finally turns back to you. He steps forward hesitantly before a warm smile takes the shocked look, he captures you in a hug and twirls you with a laugh that had the others cooing at the sight of you two. “I had a feeling…” He began but you simply cut him off, cupping his face with your hands and pressing a kiss against his lips. 

“You’re absolutely gorgeous.” You stated as if it was a well known fact, a rosy coloring covering his cheeks from the sudden kiss. 

“I could say the same thing about you.” He responded, he set you down, taking some of your luggage so that you had a free hand which he quickly took hold of with his own, lacing your fingers together as you both silently moved towards the exit. 

“I’m glad to have met you.”

[gh0stbra1nz]

jiann x male reader

request: You're a K-Pop-centred Youtuber who occassionally does collaboration videos with idols. During the promotion period of Newkidd's latest release, Come, Jaewoo and you are set to do a video together during which you'll do one another's make-up.

note: hey bud. first of all, thanks for being my first request! i don't know newkidd super well and i don't know a thing about make-up but i did some research and tried my best lol. i hope it's alright!

word count: 2.6k

Room tidied, filming set-up prepared, lighting adjusted; [Y/N] had readied everything for the arrival of Newkidd's member Choi Jaewoo, also known as Jiann, and yet he was still fidgeting with the unbuttoned sleeve-edges of his baby blue shirt.

It was a typical video, that which he would be filming that day. He had done it a handful of times already, once his Youtube channel had really begun to grow in popularity and his offers to small entertainment companies for collaborations were accepted. [Y/N] had done this before, but nonetheless, the idea of meeting Jaewoo in person was something that brought upon him a strong sense of giddiness.

[Y/N] had been following Newkidd's activities as a rookie group for some months already and had quickly developed a low simmering crush on the very member he'd be filming with that day.

It was therefore on that high of utter excitement and nervousness that once Jaewoo himself had finally arrived, naturally glowing and somehow even more handsome than [Y/N] remembered, that the youtuber's behaviour morphed into one of a skittish hyper-activity, desperately trying to come off as calm whilst they introduced themselves.

Not much time was allowed to trickle by with their minimal conversation before [Y/N] had to get to work and the camera beeped to show it had begun filming.

Jaewoo gave his second small bow to [Y/N] prior to sitting, a broad yet somewhat awkward smile on his face. [Y/N] was determined, however, for this to not be a negative experience for the young idol.

Sloppily rolling up his sleeves, [Y/N] went to stand behind Jaewoo's chair, bare lips pulled into a happy smile and hands softly clapping down onto the other man's shoulders, mildly startling him.

"Hi!" [Y/N] cheerfully greeted his eventual audience, sight directed into the camera.

At his exclamation, Jaewoo curiously peered up at him, a baffled grin adorning his face.

"Oh, we're filming?"

His voice itself was melodic, [Y/N] came to realise, somehow a blend of soft and deep. That thought in itself though, also made him realise how much he was blindly infatuated by the man.

"Yeah," [Y/N] confirmed, cutting off his own wonderings, "We're going straight into it! Introduce yourself to the viewers."

Jaewoo nodded, quickly facing forward and flashing a winning smile.

"Hello, I'm Newkidd's Choi Jiann!"

"Mhm, and you guys know I'm [Y/N], your local mess of a fanboy!" He took the opportunity to lightly squeeze Jaewoo's shoulders, prior to letting his hands drag as he moved to instead stand abreast the idol, "You know what we'll be doing today, right Jiann?"

The black-head's lips momentarily pursed, his expression playfully twisting into one of pondering.

"Something related to make-up?"

[Y/N] chuckled, tilting his head in agreement.

"Well my desk is, in fact, currently covered by palettes and brushes, so that was a calculated guess," He allowed himself a quick glance down at the man, finding him to be already gazing up with a keen smile. [Y/N]'s heart skipped a beat.

"Today will be really fun, and quite possibly a disaster, because after I do your make-up you'll be doing mine!" He paused, squatting slightly so that he and Jaewoo were at the same height, eyes locking at what [Y/N] decided to call a safe-risky distance. "Have you ever done make-up before?"

Jaewoo belatedly shook his head, a light laugh bubbling past his lips.

"Never, I'm afraid."

[Y/N] offered an almost timid smirk.

"Honoured to be your first," He cheekily replied, tossing in a wink for good measure, prior to straightening himself and already reaching for some wipes.

The idol seemingly had no qualms about the joke, merely chuckling as the tips of his ears very faintly dusted pink.

"Alright, so, let's get started and in the meantime you can tell us about yourself or whatever else you like."

[Y/N] got to work with wiping the other's minimal make-up off, being careful to be gentle but to also let his touch linger across the expanse of his cheeks and wide chin. Jaewoo spoke rather stiffly at first, giving a status-quo introduction of himself as a member of Newkidd whilst continuously peeking at the youtuber, wanting to take a glance at the look of concentration that had settled upon the younger's face.

"Your skin is gorgeous," [Y/N] stated once Jaewoo had briefly paused, and the compliment brought on a stronger blush than the previous one, now possibly a shade of pink on his ears that could be evidently seen on video.

"Thank you," He gingerly murmured, and [Y/N] couldn't help but admire the way Jaewoo looked up at him with a bashful smile.

"I'm thinking － since you have black hair － we should go for a sultry type of look," [Y/N] eventually states, pulling away and setting down his wipes, "Smokey eyes, red-tinted lips, that kind of stuff. What do you think?"

Jaewoo simply nodded, more than willing to go along with [Y/N]'s plan as the other must have certainly known what he was doing, considering the following he'd been informed the youtuber had. Then again, perhaps it was also due to the fact that [Y/N] looked really cute with his blue shirt and ruffled [h/c] hair and Jaewoo would most likely agree to anything should it leave the younger's mouth.

"Perfect. So I'll apply some toner, which helps with any dry patches you might have," [Y/N] squeezed some into his palm, "This is more out of habit though, seeing as how your skin is literally as beautiful as the rest of you."

Jaewoo didn't get the chance to reply before delicate hands were patting and rubbing along the curves of his face, making his breath catch in his throat and his dark eyes lock with those already staring back at him. [Y/N] offered a warm smile.

"Next, I'll put on just a bit of lotion and we can get to work on your look."

Jaewoo thickly swallowed, head tilted up at a better angle for the artist to work. "Okay," He said, to show he was listening.

"Right, so you guys had a comeback a couple weeks ago, didn't you?" [Y/N] asked, instigating a conversation for while he did what he needed to. Jaewoo quickly caught on, humming.

"Yeah, on the 28th," He replied, then briefly looking to the camera, "It's called Come. Please support it a lot."

[Y/N] nodded, "You really should check it out, the song's a banger and they all looked super great in the video."

Jaewoo dipped his head that was liberated from [Y/N]'s hands as he wiped them clean. "Thank you," he spoke and proceeded to watch as said male fiddled around with his boxes, intrigued.

"Apart from your own," [Y/N] had turned to show he held a square box of sorts in one hand and a brush in the other, "have there been other comebacks you liked? Ah, and this is just some foundation I'll be applying now."

"Oh, there are lots of talented senior artists with really good music this month, like Got7's You Calling My Name and EXO's Obsession," Jaewoo answered, attempting to ease his pulse that repeatedly quickened whenever [Y/N] dipped in particularly close.

It was strange, because Jaewoo had had his make-up done countless of times and his body had never reacted such a way. Perhaps this was different because [Y/N] was a guy, who just so happened to be very attractive.

[Y/N] let out a sound of agreement, startling Jaewoo from his thoughts about him.

"Yeah, those were awesome," He brought the brush along Jaewoo's left cheek, gently dragging it straight down then to blend in the powder, "Even Jessi and Victon delivered this month." He lifted his gaze to that of the idol's that was intent on him, and he quirked a playful brow when he saw Jaewoo to be dazed enough to answer in delay.

"Definitely."

Giving the final strokes, [Y/N] leaned away again and changed the box with another, clicking it open and analysing the colour for an instant before swapping it for a different one.

"Now I'll be applying some light blush mixed with highlighter, just to give some colour to your face."

After having said so, [Y/N] proceeded to mix the two, tapping his brush to bring the excess to fall into the lid. Of the hand that held the box, he freed his index finger to gently nudge Jaewoo's head upwards by his chin, their faces once more closer than necessary and causing a spark to continuously flow in the air between them.

"We'll put some on your cheeks, nose and chin so as to better define your facial structure," [Y/N] murmured in explanation, pulling his eyes away to focus on the way the soft bristles of his brush swept over Jaewoo's smooth skin.

"So, Jiann, what do you like to do in your free time?"

The question seemingly caught the idol off-guard for he rapidly blinked himself awake from his unfocused state, sight momentarily dropping to [Y/N]'s hands that had since closed the box and begun grazing over his desk, clearly in search of a specific palette.

"I play the piano sometimes and listen to music, but other than that I spend a lot of time with my members."

[Y/N] hummed, eyes directed upon the box he'd picked up, studying the colours.

"I didn't know you played," He said, and Jaewoo was oddly happy to see that the youtuber had finally looked to him again, "I'd love to hear you one day."

Jaewoo instantly smiled, quickly nodding, "I'll make it that you do."

The eager response made [Y/N] chuckle, a fond upturn to his own lips as he adjusted his grip on the fine brush he held.

"You can't go back on your word now, it's on camera!"

"I promise, [Y/N], I'll play for you."

A pregnant pause ensued, Jaewoo's flush returning at full strength after he processed what he'd said, and [Y/N]'s heart beat wildly against his ribs.

"I'll look forward to it then," He swiped his tongue over his bottom lip, briefly biting on it before smiling.

"Okay, now I'll begin doing your eyes. We're going for a dark look: black eyeshadow blended into deep purple at the end, with a fine liner along your top lids and at the edges of your bottom ones."

Jaewoo nodded, raising his head without needing to be told to, and [Y/N] mumbled a quick "Thanks," before leaning in and beginning his work.

They stayed silent for a while, but Jaewoo didn't mind. He took the chance to watch the male from up close when he could and obediently shut his eyes when he had to. There was something careful and precise about the way [Y/N] did his make-up that was different from how the staff his group had usually did.

"Alright, open," [Y/N] ordered, "I need to work on the bottom."

Doing as told, Jaewoo allowed his lids to part and flutter open, [Y/N]'s [e/c] eyes glimmering with focus as they bore into the idol's own. He sharply inhaled.

The remaining minute seemed to be a time of stand-still, both passing too quickly and too slowly, their close proximity bringing the two males to shyness.

"We're almost done," [Y/N] quietly stated, in a way akin to a warning, "I'll put some red balm on the inner parts of your lips and blend it out with gloss."

Jaewoo mutedly nodded, heart still thrumming in his ears even after [Y/N] had momentarily distanced himself.

He blinked and the warm hold of [Y/N]'s index and thumb was back on his chin, holding his head and forcing their gazes to meet.

"Part your lips a bit."

And Jaewoo did, watched as the other carefully applied the colour to his mouth and held his breath until it was over.

"All done!" [Y/N] eventually announced, beaming, "I didn't think you could look any hotter and yet, here you are."

Jaewoo dipped his head, attempting to ward off his flattered smile and flustered blush.

"Here's a mirror," [Y/N] said, handing him a circular one prior to stepping aside, allowing him to properly look at the artist's work, "Thoughts?"

The idol spent a few seconds taking in his new appearance, a look he hadn't really tried out yet, and found that the heavier make-up suited him more than he'd initially expected.

"It looks great, thank you," He told [Y/N], looking up at him with a fondness in his eyes that made the younger's chest warm.

"Well, I didn't have to do much, you're naturally good-looking," [Y/N] set a hand upon the man's shoulder, a gleeful smile stretching across his face, "Now that you like your look though, you have to promise to make mine just as good!"

Jaewoo chuckled, playfully shrugging as his left hand went to rub at the nape of his neck.

"No promises, but I'll do my best."

With the timid affirmation, [Y/N] went ahead and fetched a wide headband to push back his [h/c] hair and make it easier for the idol － temporarily-turned-rookie-make-up-artist － to do his work.

Swapping seats, [Y/N] allowed himself to sink into the padded chair and peered up at Jaewoo, smiling. Jaewoo couldn't help but think that he looked adorable with his mussed up hair and supple cheeks.

"You don't have to do the skincare part," [Y/N] stated, vaguely gesticulating towards where he'd left the toner and lotion, on a corner of his desk, "Do you have an idea for a look in mind?"

Jaewoo paused, contemplated, because no, he hadn't thought of anything because he was too distracted by [Y/N]. He looked at the younger's pale shirt and grey jeans, and an idea came to mind.

"Maybe peach or pink colours?"

He was afraid the suggestion was a stupid one, he wasn't experienced after all, but [Y/N] bobbed his head in agreement, lips still smiling.

"Sounds good!" He leaned forward, found palettes of colours that fit the spectrum Jaewoo wanted, and set them in front of the idol, "Here's everything you'll need. Do your best, Jiann!"

The idol quickly got to work, spending more time than most simply to choose the shades he wanted and even more so being perplexed about which brushes were best to use.

At his confused pout accompanied by a frown, [Y/N] chuckled, finally lifting a hand to point at one of the finer brushes.

"This will be the easiest to use."

Jaewoo gave a grateful nod, too shy to speak as he came to realise that he must have appeared to be a fish out of water.

"You don't have too worry too much," [Y/N] said, attempting to put the man at ease, "I trust you'll do just fine."

With nervous hands and a speeding pulse, Jaewoo immersed himself into his work, making sure to do as well as he could and even mimic what he could recall [Y/N] having done on him. The youtuber found it endearing how seriously the idol was taking such a playful task and didn't want to disturb him in any way, only scarcely speaking up.

By the end of it, Jaewoo had given [Y/N]'s eyes a peach-coloured tone, his lips a light pink gloss, and his cheeks a dust of rose; he even went as far as carefully adding glitter along the high curves of [Y/N]'s cheekbones.

He took a step back and smiled, meeting the younger's eyes with somewhat pride and admiration.

"It's not as great as your work, but you still look really handsome, [Y/N]."

》》》

i had no fucking idea how to end it and i was afraid it would get too long so i trimmed the end down a bit. i'm sorry if it wasn't all that great, i'll do my best to improve.

[youarejesting]

BTS reaction: 04 Fidgeting

[MASTERLIST] Request are open!

Warning: a little NSFW mention of mature themes and mention of sensory overload.

Ever your Jester.

Seokjin:

Nervous to go on a plane, as you had recently watched flight 7500 a supernatural horror movie set during a long trip. As you waited the dread of boarding the plane grew. Leg bouncing and fingers pulling at any microscopic lint or frayed edges of your clothes.

“Stop picking at your clothes, Sweet pea” he breathed gently taking your hands into his much larger ones and kissing the tips of your fingers. “I love you, everything is going to be okay, we are going to have so much fun in Normandy, we are going to see the cliffs of Étretat and eat all the french cuisine”

Yoongi:

Boredom was making you restless, you were currently upside down on the small leather couch watching Yoongi working in the dimly lit studio. Telling yourself the same thing before every visit that you would behave, sit quietly while Yoongi worked. This time you had lasted a full eleven minutes before you shifted in your seat the leather groaning as you moved. 

You shifted again laying down, sitting forward, leaning back, tucking your feet underneath you and somehow your feet were now straight up in the air your head was dangling of the seat of the chair. This gave you a direct upside down view of Yoongi who had turned to stare down at you.

“How did you get yourself into this position?” He starred blankly in awe making you sit upright once more, looking down at your hands with a frown knowing you interrupted his work “Come here my restless kitten”

Hoseok:

He was the devil. Why else would he torture you so? Straddling your legs looking down at you he was grinning with a look of adoration in his eyes “Now don’t move my cosmic cutie, I have to teach you that your fidgeting is a bad habit”

He ran his hand down your side and gently squeezed your hip “mmm... I just want you to follow my every move darling. I am your sunshine, therefore, I am your gravity, you can only move when I let you my star”

You moaned wrists pulled against the restraints, back arching just slightly. hoseok's eyes narrowed his mouth falling into a frown. “You never learn” he sighed lifting the small paddle running his fingers along it’s surface his fingers wrapping around the handle. “It’s okay Jagiya, I will make you all better”

Namjoon:

You were sitting at a business dinner, everyone had successfully finished shooting the music video. But Namjoon was just wanting to go home and relax. A bubble bath with his rubber ducky, a good book and the thought of climbing into bed with y/n. He started ripping at his napkin and bouncing his legs, which caught your attention.

“Mister Kim, is something wrong?” you asked him knowing that he didn’t really want to be here. “You look a little tired, my lyrical genius”

He smiled and his hands stopped tearing apart the paper napkin, “I just want to go home”

Jimin:

It was so hot and the A/C was not turning on, it was impossible to sleep. Jimin kept running his hand through his hair only to have the damp tendrils stick to his forehead once more. You rubbed your pointer fingers along the cuticles of your thumbs an action you did when you were tired.

He turned to you, and gently brushed his thumb over your temple wiping a small bead of sweat. “Want to go to a hotel, my princess, one where the air conditioner works” he frowned

“Oh I’m an idiot” you screamed running from the bedroom to lounge digging between the couch cushions to grab the TV remote and digging the batteries from the back you shoved them into the A/C remote which had no batteries at all. The beep and the cold air brought instant relief you climbed onto the bed “I swapped the batteries so we could watch Tangled, my prince”

Taehyung:

You were overwhelmed, you had no idea what was happening but you started to feel sick. The people talking, the lights, the chairs all started to make your body tense. You started to squirm rocking in your seat. A small hum in your throat filling your mouth and your ears bringing sweet relief from the other noises.

“Baby bear” Taehyung crouched in front of your chair, he looked at you with concern holding your face gently in his hand. You pulled back at his contact not wanting to add to the problem, he stood up, “Hold on love, I will fix this”

Taehyung wrapped you in his coat so his scent was the only thing you could smell. Taking Yeontan from his carrier and placed the puppy on your lap he guided you fingers into Yeontan’s dark fur so that you could focus on that feeling he lifted you to sit on his lap holding you in a firm hug to keep you weighted. Remember you had told him it always felt like you were falling apart when you got like this.

He covered your eyes to cancel out the sensation which would help you to calm down, he lent you back onto his shoulder placing his headphones onto your head, playing singularity so he was the only thing you would hear.

Jungkook:

You were in the middle of what was suppose to be a romantic dinner but something seemed to have your bunny boys attention. You watched him quietly his eyes were casted down perhaps he was upset, you bit your lip and leaned forward trying to catch his eye. “Bunny are you okay, is there something wrong, we can go home if you want?”

He shook his head, a smile pulling up the corners of his mouth his little teeth on show and you let out a sigh of relief perhaps he was just nervous. “No everything is perfect”

The evening continued and he ate one handed continuing to look at his lap every now his facial expressions changing from shock fear and then back to a content smile. The waiter took your dessert order and you couldn’t hold it in, you leaned across the table and sighed.

“What are you doing, Jungkook, I could be naked and you wouldn’t even notice me right now” his eyes flicked up to yours and his cheeks turned red as he gave you a cheeky smile and lifted his hand to reveal a fidget spinner his eyes locking onto it before looking back at you.

“I have been keeping it going for an hour” You couldn’t help the laugh that fell from your lips as you leaned forward taking his free hand and kissing his knuckles.

“I think tonight I should keep you going for an hour as a little pay back my bunny”

[untitledtallgeesepodcast]

There were a total of five OSTs released for Gundam Wing (the fifth was dedicated to the music of Endless Waltz, which will not be covered in this post or this playlist). Caitlin asked if I (Cathy) would create a playlist of my favorites. I didn't think she expected I would also write a novel. But here we go.

Let’s listen to some of the music of Gundam Wing!

(All song titles will be described with their English name and also the strangely romanized Spotify name.)

There are three main categories of Gundam Wing OST songs: (1) shoot 'em up fighting tracks which usually feature loud riffs, drums, and blats and blares coming at you at the same speed and frequency of mobile suits firing pointlessly at the Gundams, (2) instrumental, orchestral songs meant for the intermission period of a ballet that was never written or performed, or (3) synthy stuff with saxophones that wouldn't be out of place in a dingy rainy bar scene of a tame movie from the 80s. Most of the really recognizable tracks are in the first OST. OST 2 tends towards less interesting instrumental waltz-like stuff, Sanq Kingdom ballroom music as I've termed it in my head. They're fine, tolerable pieces of music, but you don't hear them and instantly think "Gundam Wing." By the time you get to OST 3, you're digging into the really deep cuts of Gundam Wing OST tracks, some of which I don't remember being in the show at all. (OST 4 is almost entirely character songs.)

We open with two of the best OPs—nay, songs—to have ever been made, "Just Communication" and "Rhythm Emotion," both by TWO-MIX. "Rhythm Emotion" was not, as you may have imagined, a mid-season swap-out. It was only used for about 10 episodes, and you may have even forgotten what it sounded like until just this moment, but "Rhythm Emotion" is no slacker. With alien, wintery synths that make you feel like you're soaring through the sky and between enemy mobile suits, this is one of those songs you would hear heavily remixed for knock-off DDR machines in arcades for years to come. The breakdown is cheesy, overemotional, and yet gives me the same goosebumps I would feel, years later, when listening to Love Live's "Snow Halation." Its more accomplished older sister, "Just Communication," dates itself from its opening note, but it owns its place in time and history unapologetically. Timeless, instantly recognizable, and eminently singable, you could, as Caitlin says in Episode 1, play this in a karaoke room full of randos and you're guaranteed to have someone scream along. There are some songs that make everyone feel like the star of their own shounen anime when they hear it, and "Just Communication" is one of them. Turning it up full volume in your car is like blasting "Take My Breath Away" while speeding on a motorcycle with a leather jacket. You are invincible through all 4:20 minutes of this song.

After that, perhaps one of the most famous instrumental tracks from the series: "The Wings of a Boy that Killed Adolescence / Shisyunki wo Koroshita Syonen no Tsubasa." (That boy is Heero Yuy. I know you know that, but this OST makes it explicit with its last instrumental track, "Code Name Heero Yuy," which is just another version of this melody.) There are a lot of songs like this, fighting tracks that hurry along at a clip, heroic but a little bit anxious ("When the Dragon Swims / Ryu ga Oyogutoki...," "Break Out," "Scattering Left Light / Kakusansuru Zanko" which barely sounds like music and is clearly hoping to be the soundtrack to your next laser tag game). I want to call out among them "Mission Accomplished / Ninmu Suiko," which has a last half that is so tied in my head to the world of Gundam Wing that when I hear it, I am instantly transported. It's almost a letdown that it's just an OST track, because it builds up such amazing tension that it releases just as quickly. "Mission Accomplished" is a bridge between these energetic tracks and more headbang-y, hard metal type fight songs like "Use the Cloak of Darkness / Kurayami Karano Tsukai," one of my all-time favorite guitar riffs from the GW OSTs. A lot of OST 1 is full of this "Enter Sandman" type stuff, though you still get reprises in the later OSTs, like "Well-Planned Tactics / Butsuryo Sakusen." The back half of "Cloak of Darkness," though, is a completely different track, this time pure fascist military fantasy. A lot of OSTs were like this, two short BGMs together masquerading as a one- to two-minute track. I'm not sure if it was just more expensive to list out a bunch of 45 second tracks, or if Otani Kou just ran out of emo names for all of them.

One thing I didn’t realize until this project is that there are no less than five variations on Relena’s theme in OST 1 alone:

Soft Hair and See-through Eyes / Yawarakana Kami...

Inside the Girl's Heart... / Syojyo no Mune no Oku Niwa...

To Beauty, to Elegance, and to Noble-mindedness / Karen ni Yuga ni...

I Feel Like I Can Cross Even That Rainbow Bridge / Ano Niji...

As Relena Peacecraft / Relena Peacecraft Toshite

When you've heard one, you've heard them all, so I’m putting on "Soft Hair...,” the wonderfully 80s and slightly boozy "adult contemporary" version of it, completely with a Kenny G sax. The others feel much more pure and dignified, especially "To Beauty...," which I think of as "waltz music" as it shows up in many of the early series' ballroom scenes. ”Rainbow Bridge..." is a worthy remix/variant, and for another similar boozy 80s feel, also try "Coolheaded Bloodthirstiness / Reitetsu na sakki" from OST 1. While I’ve left most of this playlist in chronological album order, I’ve moved up "I Believed We'd Meet / Kanarazu Aeruto Shinji” from OST 3. This track is not particularly noteworthy to me, but I leave it here as an example of how even later in the series, Otani Kou makes references to this refrain, even if it's not played note for note.

Because like any good soundtrack, Gundam Wing reuses themes and motifs. "Searching for Peace Buried Amid the Corpses / Shikabane ni Umoreta..." and "That Clown Doesn't Need Make Up for Tears / Sono Doukeshi..." share the same melody, only one is a fighting song and another is a mourning song. I actually like the rendition in "Hourglass of a Sad Color / Kanashimi-iro no Sunadokei" (also from OST1) better, but while "Hourglass" is a straightforward BGM track, "That Clown..." shows off one of the more interesting aspects of the Gundam Wing OSTs: its frequent blending of synths, cheesy sax, and more classic orchestral strings. You can hear it in second half of "That Clown...", but also in tracks like "Unknown Pressure / Michi no Pressure," or OST 3's " Behind The Scenes of The Blackout / Anten no Butaiura de," which is a typical "woe is me" orchestral track that is for some reason constantly interrupted by digital "beep boop" mumblings. Without that blend, you're left with a lot of grave-sounding tracks with bombastic Phantom of the Opera-worthy brass sections, like "Soldiers Who Don't Have a Gravepost / Bhyounaki Senshitachi" or "Legend of Zero / Zero no Densetsu." Not that those songs are bad, which is why I include the last of the instrumental tracks from OST 3: "Who Will Give Their Life / Darega Tameni Inochi," which takes itself very seriously and very earnestly, just like the show itself.

One of the other frequent moods of these OST is anxiety, perhaps no better demonstrated than "You Can Hear a Voice Calling the Soul /Tamashii wo Yobu Koe ga Suru", which has a guitar emitting screeches of existential despair. “Signs of Consciousness / Ishiki no Taido" is from this same school, but its second half is more "I am walking into a rave already a few minutes into what I know is going to be a bad trip," which is not really a mood I remember from the series itself. By the time you get to OST 3, you start venturing into tracks that wouldn't be out of place in a horror film. You can hear an example of it in "The Eyes of a Mobile Doll / Mobile Doll no Me," which is on this list because it sounds like a fever dream, but you could also check out "The Abandoned Horse of the Age / Jidai no Sutegoma," which is not on this playlist and has the same effect. Some of them, like "I Don't Like Fairytales / Otogi-banashi wa Sukijyanai," are inspiringly atmospheric, almost hypnotic. Is Gundam Wing horror? [Treize Voice] Yes, the Horror of War.

Some quick call-outs in the odds and ends group: “Tokimeite Harmony” is the 3x4 theme, a literal duet between a violin and a flute, and it’s there for that reason and that reason alone. I could not tell you for the life of me where in the series “Yasuragi no Hitotoki...”, “Kizuna,” “Sonzai Syomei,” or “Kioku no Gyakuryu” come from, but they sound like beautiful tracks from a video game I’ve never played. Similarly, “That Day Was The Last Day I Saw Your Smile / Anohi Saigo ni Mita Egao” is uncharacteristically fluttery and beautiful for a Gundam Wing OST piece, an almost Ghibli-esque track which nevertheless ends on an anxiety-inducing note of unrest.

And finally, the character songs. I leave you with one for each of the six main characters, and then a bonus.

Heero Yuy: "With Only My Words / Oredake no Kotoba de." Did you expect Heero's singing voice to sound like this? Neither did I. I have no idea why they thought this was a good image song for Heero. It's not. I leave it here because you must listen to it. The better "sounding" song is "Flying Away," which shows up in this CD later, but it doesn't give me the same dissonance as this one.

Duo Maxwell: “Wild Wing.” "Good Luck & Good Bye" is the superior song. (there's a little bit of Wang Chung “Everybody Have Fun Tonight" to it), but the sheer hilarity of this chorus (WILD WING BOYS!) means that i have to include it.

Trowa Barton: “Clown / Doukeshi.” What to say about this? This is a typical ballad, something you may play during a romantic moment of a kdrama or during the slow motion death scene in a Hong Kong film that would be released around the same time as GW was. I feel bad for Nakahara Shigeru who clearly is straining himself singing this. but it is nothing if not period accurate.

Quatre Raberba Winner: “Star’s Gaze / Hoshi no Manazashi.” Poor Orikasa Ai. Quatre’s voice is passably bishounen in the series itself, but it's hard to hide that his seiyuu was a woman when it came to the image songs. That said, her voice has a much fuller quality than her fellow pilots, and this is actually a decent-enough filler song. You could imagine debuting an idol maybe in the late 80s with this track.

Chang Wufei: “Knock at Tomorrow's Door / Asu eno Door wo Tatake.” If Wing were a kpop group, Wufei would be the rapper. You don't get to argue with me here. It's hard enough to imagine Wufei actually singing, but Ishino Ryuzou's singing voice also doesn't bear that much resemblance to the voice he adopted for the character. 

Relena Peacecraft: “Love is Not Crying Yet / Ai wa Mada Nakanai.” One of the most unexpected of the image songs is this bossa nova inspired track for Relena. Like Orikasa's ballad, this song almost works as a real song, and the purity of Yajima Akiko's voice is incredibly charming, which makes it all that more surprising that she's actually best known for being the seiyuu to the eponymous Shin-chan of Crayon Shin-Chan.

I do not include the image songs for Zechs and Treize, simply because they're boring. Both of them are extremely well-known and popular seiyuus, who have since done a number of musical projects. You can tell that they will fare better at that endeavor than Trowa’s seiyuu, but there's really nothing interesting to say about their songs. As always, the men of Gundam Wing are shown up by their female counterpart: Lady Une's "Brightness & Darkness" is positively anthemic and fun to listen to. Sayuri doesn't hit all the notes perfectly, and you can sense there is Fleetwood Mac / Stevie Nicks impersonator out there who could really knock this one out of the park, but if I were to keep one image song out of the whole bunch, it'd be this one.

[dettiot]

Don’t Freak Out

A gender-swapped Chuck AU 

“Happy 27th, Padme!” 

Doing her best to smile, Padme Naberrie took the margarita from her brother-in-law. “Thanks, Darred.”

“My amazing sister,” Sola said, coming up to kiss her cheek.

Padme huffed and took a healthy swig from her drink.

“Oh, Padme,” Sola tsked softly. “It’s been five years since Stanford. I know how awful it all was--”

“What, you mean my best friend sleeping with my boyfriend and then getting me kicked out for cheating? Yeah, ‘awful’ is a bit of an understatement.” 

Sola and Darred exchanged one of those married-couple looks, then Darred wandered off to leave the sisters alone. 

“Padme,” Sola said firmly yet sympathetically. “I know you think politics isn’t possible for you now. I know you had everything all planned out. But you can still make a difference, accomplish everything you wanted to do--it just has to happen in another way. You’re a genius. You can find a way, I know it.” 

Hearing her sister be so encouraging, so supportive, made Padme feel lower than a snake. But . . . Sola just didn’t get it. When Sabe had betrayed her, all of the dreams and hopes of Padme’s life had vanished. And despite Sola’s belief, Padme didn’t think she could get it back. 

“I just . . . I can’t get over it, Sola. I can’t just say ‘I’ll get over it tomorrow” and move on,” Padme said. 

Sola looked sad and shook her head. “You’re the only one holding you back, Padme.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Padme drained her margarita, wincing a little at all the tequila and blowing her hair out of her eyes. “Yeah, I guess so, but at least I know what to expect, then.”

And with that, she left her sister and went to find Jar-Jar and hide from all of the people at this party that her sister had invited. 

XXX

See, video games made sense. Good triumphed and the bad guys were defeated. They made sense, Padme thought to herself as she moved through the maze, looking for both Jar-Jar and their target. 

A soft beep from her computer was easy for her to ignore, but Jar-Jar, as usual, was on top of everything. “Uh-oh.” 

“Uh-oh?” she asked as she came up behind the target and shot them. She felt a ripple of guilt and looked over at Jar-Jar. 

“You got an email from Sabe,” Jar-Jar said, his voice full of disdain and anger. 

Padme wished she could feel anger. But no . . . all she felt was fear. Because why was Sabe emailing her? What could her old friend have to say to her? Was she going to hurt Padme in yet another way? 

Dropping her controller, Padme crossed over to the computer and frowned at the subject line. “Zork? What?” 

“What?” Jar-Jar echoed in confusion. 

“It’s an old text-based computer game we both liked,” Padme explained, staring at the screen. “I don’t get it.” 

Jar-Jar’s phone started making the super-annoying text noise, and he pulled it out. “Yikes--Mom wants me to get home. I gotta jet.” 

“Okay,” Padme said distractedly, still staring at the email. She did manage to look over at Jar-Jar with a smile. “Peddle safe!” 

Once her friend was gone, Padme hesitated for a long moment, then reached out and tapped the mouse to open the email. There was something attached . . . some kind of file?

Feeling a spark of curiosity, Padme opened it, smiling a little as the troll scenario loaded. A thousand different feelings went through her. Maybe this was Sabe’s attempt at an olive branch? Perhaps she was trying to gauge Padme’s reaction, to know if they could rebuild their friendship?

Because Padme had missed Sabe so much, despite what she had done. Even after all this time, she didn’t know why Sabe had turned against her. And she wanted to know. And she wanted her friend back.

“Attack troll with nasty knife,” Padme typed. 

The screen went black and Padme frowned as she stood up. What the-?

Suddenly, a wall of images appeared on-screen. Padme swallowed, unable to look away, unable to even blink, as a stream of images were fed directly into her brain. 

It felt like it lasted forever and for a split-second, and the next thing Padme knew, it was morning.

XXX

With a sigh, Padme adjusted her tie and headed into the Buy More. She had a pounding headache--whatever had happened with that email Sabe had sent her, it had messed up her head and her computer.   

Stepping behind the Nerd Herd counter, she looked through the folders, hoping against hope that there would be some kind of tricky computer problem, a big install, anything to keep her mind distracted. But there was nothing, so she slumped down in her chair with another sigh. 

“Ooooh, not havin’ a very merry unbirthday, huh?” Jar-Jar said, slouching against the counter. His bright green polo made his tan skin look washed out, which should be impossible. 

Padme shrugged. “Just . . . Sola tried to talk to me, and . . .” 

Jar-Jar nodded sympathetically. “She’s worried about you. It makes her a good sister. And really hot.” 

“Ugh, Jar-Jar, we talked about this,” Padme said, shooting her best friend a look. His long-standing crush on Sola had only gotten more embarrassing since she had married Darred.

“I know, I know,” Jar-Jar said, his big ears turning red. “But Padme--”

Clumsy as always, he knocked the file sorter off the top of the counter, sending papers falling all over the floor. 

“Ooops?” he said, wincing.

“I’ve got it,” Padme said, crouching down behind the counter to pick up everything and organize it.

“Pssssst, Clark Kent comin’!” 

Huffing, Padme felt her bad mood dissipating a little. That was Jar-Jar’s special ability, really: he could always make her laugh. 

“Clark Kent? Really? Doubtful, Jar-Jar,” she said, gathering up the last of the papers and standing up. 

Then she got a look at the man approaching the Nerd Herd desk, and Padme dropped the papers again.

Because his hair wasn’t dark like Clark Kent’s, but a sandy brown. But otherwise? Yeah, this guy was a total Clark Kent. Tall, broad-shouldered, confident walk, and the bluest eyes she had ever seen. 

“Clark Kent?” the man said with a charming smile, his eyes locked on Padme’s. 

“Yeah . . . like Superman,” she said, staring back at him. 

“I see,” the man said. 

Jar-Jar started humming the wedding march, and Padme turned and glared at him. That made Jar-Jar suddenly decide to go help a customer who did not need any help. 

Taking a deep breath, she looked back to the man, trying to act professional and cool and not like a giant loser. “Hi, how can I help you?” 

The man nodded, his lips quirking, and held out a cell phone. “I’ve got a cracked screen, and the sign outside said you repair them?” 

“Oh, yeah--sure,” Padme said, taking the phone and trying not to notice how his fingers brushed against hers and gave her tingles. 

Setting the phone down on the counter, she got to work, falling into the rhythm. “Just have to pop this off and put on the new one . . . there you go, good as new,” she said, handing him the phone back.

His eyebrows went up and Padme couldn’t help feeling warm all over from his impressed look. “You’re good.” 

“Oh . . . no, not really,” she said, flushing. “Just glad I could help.” 

Before the man could say anything else, a frantic-looking dad rushed up to the counter holding a video camera, with a little ballerina in tow. “I don’t understand, I taped the whole recital, but it’s not there!”

Padme gave an apologetic look to the man and took the camera, opening up the tape slot. “Um, there’s no tape in here.” 

“But it’s digital,” the man said blankly. 

“Yes . . . digital tape. You still need a tape in here,” Padme explained, feeling her heart sink, just like the dad’s did. 

She couldn’t help glancing at the man again, who was watching her with a level of interest she didn’t quite understand. Then she looked back at the dad. “Let’s see what I can do.” 

XXX

Padme applauded, as well as several other customers, as the ballerina finished her routine. She looked around and sighed as she realized the man had vanished. She hadn’t even gotten his name . . . 

Not that it would matter. After all, why would a guy like that be interested in some girl who worked at a Nerd Herd counter? 

Something about the news cast on one of the Buy More’s sample TVs drew her attention. The anchorwoman was talking about some big-time general coming to LA, due to arrive that afternoon. 

Suddenly, a string of images appeared before Padme’s eyes, sending a spike of pain into her temple. And with the pain came . . . knowledge. 

“He’s already here. He arrived last night.” 

What? She frowned, trying to understand how she knew that. 

“Padme!” 

At the sound of Jar-Jar’s voice, Padme turned towards him, rubbing her forehead. Her best friend was grinning widely at her. 

“He left a card!” he called out, holding up a small white business card.

Her heart pounded and Padme quickly hurried over, grabbing it from Jar-Jar. “Anakin Skywalker,” she said, staring at the words. “Oh my God.” 

Could it be . . . her luck was starting to change?

XXX

Today was the weirdest day of her life. And that was saying a lot, considering what had happened yesterday. Between the weird flashes of knowledge, feeling ultra-attracted to a complete stranger, and then someone breaking into the apartment she shared with Sola and Darred to steal her computer . . . yesterday had definitely been weird.

But then today, there had been the strange, intimidating man at the Large-Mart, the man she knew was an international assassin. And then . . . Anakin had shown up at the Buy More and asked her out. 

Like, in the flirtiest way possible! Her knees had melted when he looked at her and said, “There’s something wrong with my phone--I didn’t get a call from you.” 

Just thinking about those words made her feel hot all over. Because Anakin was just--he was handsome and smart and made her feel like she was interesting and cool and not a giant fuck-up.

God, was her outfit good? She looked down at the red top and black skirt she was wearing. Yeah, this was good. Heels were a necessity tonight--Anakin was so tall and she didn’t want to get a crick in her neck as she looked up at him.

Taking a deep breath, Padme opened the door of El Mariachi and stepped inside the Mexican restaurant, looking around. 

“Padme!” Anakin crossed over to her, smiling at her. “Hey. You look great.” 

“So do you,” she said, taking in his black button-down and well-fitting jeans.

His smile got even warmer, which should be impossible, but it did. “This way,” he said, resting his hand lightly on her back and making her tingle all over.

They took a seat in a booth and Padme smiled, trying to remember all the rules about dates. Like not talking about exes, going too fast, going too slow . . . 

“So, welcome to LA,” she said. “You’re doing Mexican tonight. Then you just need to do Korean and street food, and you’ll have the full view of the culinary landscape.” 

Anakin let out a soft laugh. “Thanks,” he said, looking at her like he was fascinated with her. 

She blushed and took a sip from her water. “What brings you to town?” 

“Work,” he said with a shrug. “I got transferred here. And I feel . . . pretty aimless. I don’t know anyone here, and I left . . . well, I was dating someone in DC, and it was serious, but--but I felt like I had gotten lost in her. Her friends were mine, her goals were mine, and . . . that’s not really sustainable.” 

Padme nodded, listening and marveling at his sensitivity.

“I’m sorry,” she said slowly. “But . . . but that’s good, that you recognized it.” 

He nodded and gave her a lopsided smile. “Yeah. How about you? What do you like to do?” 

“Oh . . . you know,” Padme said, trying to smile. “I listen to music . . . I play video games . . . I like to go to the beach.” 

His nose wrinkled. “I know this is probably blasphemy, but I don’t like the beach.” 

“Whaattt?” she said, drawing out the word and beaming when Anakin laughed. 

“I don’t like sand,” he said. 

“Ahhh,” Padme said. “See, I was sitting here, trying to think what was wrong with you, and it was down to ‘he hates sand’ or ‘he’s a cannibal’. And I was kinda hoping it was cannibal, because I’ve never met one . . .” 

Anakin laughed harder and Padme couldn’t help her smile at him.

XXX

How had her life become marked by weird? 

There were those cars with flashing lights that went past them on the way to the club, cars that she knew were going to the Ambassador Hotel. And then, when they got to the club, Anakin started acting . . . weird. 

He kept looking around, like someone was following them. But when she tried to look around, too, he noticed what she was doing and pulled her out on the dance floor, despite her protests. And then he was dancing, all cool and hot, pulling her in close to him, holding her close, and . . . 

It was too much. Because he smelled so good, and he was so warm, and Padme had never been so attracted to anyone in her whole entire life. 

Not even Rush. 

And then Anakin grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the club. 

“Anakin--Anakin, what’s going on?” she asked, looking around wildly and spotting a ginger-haired man in a dark suit coming out of the club. 

“Get in the car, Padme,” Anakin said, his voice firm and low and very, very serious. 

“But--this isn’t your car--how--?” she asked as he opened the doors of a Fiat 500. 

Anakin pushed her into the car and slid across the hood, getting behind the wheel. 

“Anakin!” she shrieked as he floored the car. She grappled with the door handle, only for the locks to engage.

“You will tell me what’s going on right now!” she demanded, looking at him.

His jaw clenched and he looked over at her. “That email from your friend Sabe? Did you open it?” 

“How . . . how do you know about that?” Padme asked, staring at him. 

“Did you open it?” he asked again, raising his voice. 

Padme felt her mouth go dry. “Yes . . . ?”

Anakin cursed and jerked the wheel as something made the back window break into a million pieces. 

“Get down,” he said, pushing her head down towards her lap, but not roughly like she thought he would. 

The car swerved and bumped as Anakin drove it. Padme felt her heart pound, wondering what in the hell was happening. 

Suddenly, the car jerked to a stop and Anakin threw open the door. “Out, out, out!” he said, coming around the car and grabbing her hand. He pulled her towards a building, one that . . . she recognized?

It was . . . 

“The Ambassador Hotel!” she gasped. 

Anakin stopped and looked at her. “What?” 

Before she could reply, a deep male voice spoke. “It’s late and I’m tired. Tell me everything so I can finish this and then go get some huevos rancheros.” 

Anakin frowned. “Kenobi, what are you doing here?” 

Padme looked from Anakin towards the ginger-haired man who came up towards them . . . with a large black gun in his hand. She didn’t know what was going on, but . . . she couldn’t help taking a small step behind Anakin. 

“Same reason you’re here,” Kenobi said, eyeing Padme. “Found yet another damsel in distress?” 

The pounding in her head made Padme swallow, looking towards the hotel. Why--why did she know something was going to happen in the hotel? Think, Padme, think!

“We--we have to get to the hotel!” she said, yanking on Anakin’s shirt sleeve as the pieces fell into place. “There--there’s an assassin, he’s going to kill that General Stanfield guy!” 

“What?” Anakin said, looking down at her.

“How could she know that?” Kenobi asked, his hand twitching around his gun. 

Padme looked up at Anakin, trying to convince him. Hoping she could trust him. 

“Oh, fuck,” Anakin said, blinking. “You opened the email . . .” He looked over at Kenobi. “She’s got the Intersect.” 

“What?” Kenobi said, his eyebrows raising. 

“What’s the Intersect?” 

Anakin rubbed his cheek. “The Intersect is a computer--all the intel that the CIA, the NSA, and other intelligence groups gather is encoded into images and fed into the Intersect. The computer looks for all kinds of hidden connections. Sabe stole it, and . . . she sent it to you.”

Padme felt like her legs were about to go out from under her.

“Wait--so you’re telling me all our secrets are in her head?” Kenobi asked, raising his gun.

Faster than she could blink, Anakin drew a gun, too, and pointed it at Kenobi. “You’re not going to kill her.” 

Kill her? Padme swallowed, feeling like she was going to puke. She--she couldn’t--she was just a supervisor for the Nerd Herd, she made twelve dollars an hour! 

And the more time that Anakin and Kenobi yelled at each other, the less time there was to stop the assassin from killing the general. 

Turning on her heel, Padme ran for the hotel. By the pounding of two sets of male feet, she knew Anakin and Kenobi were following her, but she didn’t care. All that mattered was protecting the general. 

XXX

The rush of adrenaline made her dizzy. She couldn’t believe it. 

“I did it! I defused a bomb!” Padme said, punching her fist in the air. She beamed at Anakin, who looked both proud of her and a little confused. 

“I . . . defused a bomb,” Padme repeated as the words started to sink in. “Oh, God.” 

Kenobi rolled his eyes. “Don’t throw up on the C4,” he said, his voice sounding even more clipped than before. 

Padme looked up at Anakin, who shook his head and gave her a small smile. “C’mon,” he said, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Let me take you home.” 

From somewhere, he acquired a black Suburban and drove her back to Echo Park. Padme kept her eyes closed and breathed slowly in and out, calling up on that one yoga class Sola had dragged her to. 

When the car came to a stop and didn’t move, Padme opened her eyes and saw that she was home. She looked over at Anakin and took a breath. “Thank you.” 

He nodded. “You’re welcome. You should go in, get some sleep.” 

“I know . . . I just--I don’t think I can sleep,” she said, fidgeting a little. She took a deep breath and looked at him. “What happens now?” 

Anakin leaned his head back against the headrest. “I . . . I don’t know. Typically, in a case like this . . . we would extract you and take you to a bunker, for safekeeping. Our scientists would work to extract the Intersect from you, and then . . . you could get back to your life.” 

“Anakin,” she said, reaching out and grabbing his hand. “I--I can’t leave. My sister only has me--our parents left years ago--and then there’s Jar-Jar, and--and I can’t do this,” she said, feeling tears threaten. 

Because not only had Sabe once again messed up her life . . . she thought her life was actually getting better with the presence of Anakin. But then, he wasn’t who she thought he was. He was a CIA agent--a spy, an actual freaking spy! And . . . he had asked her out only to get close to her, obviously. Because they were looking for the Intersect, because they wanted information about Sabe. 

So yeah, her life was back to the same loser existence. But it was hers, and she would not leave her family and her friends behind. She couldn’t . . . she just couldn’t walk away from them, even for a little while. 

Because who knew if the CIA and the NSA would even let her go at the end? 

“Please, Anakin,” she said, fully willing to beg him. “Please.” 

For a long, endless moment, he looked at her. His eyes had been like chips of ice ever since they left the club, but all of a sudden, they seemed to melt and become the same warm pools of blue she had seen when they first met. 

“Okay, Padme,” he said softly. “I’ll try.” 

She felt a rush of gratitude. “Oh, thank you--thank you--”  She squeezed his hand, wishing she could just lean over and kiss him--

Wait. Kiss him?

“You’re welcome,” Anakin said, pulling his hand away from her. “Now, really, get some sleep. I’ll be in touch.” 

Nodding, Padme quickly climbed out of the SUV, feeling the cool air against her flushed cheeks. Her feet had barely touched the sidewalk when Anakin gunned the car and drove off. 

She watched the taillights recede in the night and wondered what would happen next. 

And if there was any chance Anakin might like her. 

End.

[creativeskullcreations]

Outside chapter 2: Skyrim and Laundry

Chapter 2 is here, folks! Here we delve a little bit more into Scout's head and see her reactions to stuff.

When Scout woke up, she couldn't recognize where she was for a minute. It was only when she heard muffled singing that she remembered what had happened. They had actually managed to escape. Alive.

'I can't believe we actually got out. I didn't think it was even possible.' She sat up and looked around the room, able to see better now thanks to the light streaming in through the windows. The wallpaper was a faded blue and yellow, the carpet was a stained brown, and there were metal cans all over the floor.

Somehow, though, it was still better than the HQ. Maybe it was the lack of bloodstains and slumped over bodies. Or maybe it was the sunlight streaming in through the window over the sink, making the whole room look brighter. She Jumped to the coffee table, and then to one of the kitchen chairs. From there she was able to climb onto the table, and get a better view of where to go next. Not that there were a lot of options, of course.

'Hmm, the counter seems like a good idea. And there might be something cool there...' She spotted a good area by the fridge and Jumped to it right as her Host wandered in, hair looking damp. Scout watched as she opened the fridge without acknowledging the Puppet, humming some song she'd never heard before. When she closed the door, the Puppet decided to finally announce her presence.

"Hey-"

The Human shrieked, dropping the bottle she'd been holding. Orange liquid went everywhere, soaking the rugs laid out over the linoleum.  She clutched at her chest and gave a pained wheeze.

"Ho-ly shit." Scout deadpanned. "You have a great set of lungs." Yeah she was laying the sarcasm on a little thick, but she felt justified in doing so. Who just screams like that, anyways?

"I forgot you were here." The Host gasped out, leaning down to pick up the bottle. She gave it a disappointed look before throwing it in the trash and grabbing the paper towels. "How'd you even get up there, anyways?"

"I Jumped." If she sounds smug, her Host doesn't comment on it. Instead she wiped up the juice and got a bottle of water out of the fridge instead. She then grabbed something foil-wrapped from a cupboard and leaned against the counter to eat it.

"So," She started after swallowing a bite, "Sammy's already left for work, so it's just us here. Which means we can do pretty much anything we want, so long as I, uh, stick his rugs in the washer first." She grimaced, then took another bite as she waited for a response. When none came she decided to suggest a few things. "He has video-games, Netflix, and some books but I think they're all medical textbooks."

"Video-games?" Scout could vaguely remember seeing something about those on the TV. Commercials mostly, but sometimes they showed up in the shows she watched. She wasn't entirely sure what they were, but figured it was something fun. Or torturous. They did have "game" in the name, after all, and the only games she knew involved Puppets dying at the end.

"Video-games it is! We just gotta take these things down to the laundry room first Lemme find a basket..." She left the room briefly, returning with a faded plastic basket. As she picked each rug up, trying to be quick so they wouldn't drip onto the floor, Scout took a chance and Jumped onto her back. The Host jumped, but other than that didn't react much beyond turning her head to give Scout a look.

"You don't have to come along. I shouldn't take too long." She told the Puppet. Scout just shrugged in response, wrapping her small arms around the Human's neck.

"I know, but I-" 'don't want to be on my own please don't leave me alone' "-want to see how it's done."

The Human blinked. "It's...not really all that interesting. Kinda boring actually." But she didn't do anything to actually stop Scout as she approached the door. She grabbed the handle, but paused before she opened the door. Her breathing began to speed up as she stared at it, tightening her grip. She let go and slowly backed away, only to suddenly drop the basket as she made a beeline to the bedroom.

Once there, she dropped to the floor and reached under the bed, pulling out a metal baseball bat. Now armed, she went back to the door and yanked it open, barely remembering the basket as she fast-walked to the elevator. Upon the doors closing, she breathed a small sigh of relief and wiped some water off of her face.

When the elevator reached the basement, she went over to the nearest washer and dumped the clothes in. She then quickly measured out soap and poured it in. She set the timer on the machine and her phone, but paused before she closed the washer and looked over at Scout.

"What?" Her eyes darted between the Puppet and the washer. "Oh don't you even fucking dare."

"You are kinda filthy, though. The bloodstains are gross, and they were there even before you got sewn to my hand."

"You don't fucking need to put me in there, though." Scout glared. "I can just wash in the sink."

"Alright." She closed the lid, then started the washer and timer. "I'll get you some soap or something later. Maybe do that when we get home..." She was mumbling now, words becoming indistinct as she walked back to the elevator, still gripping the bat.

After they made it back up, Host went over to the TV and turned it on, changing the channel. She then turned on a black box underneath it and grabbed a controller, sitting cross-legged on the couch. Scout dropped herself into her lap to get a better view, gaining a brief, odd look from the Human.

"Alright, let's see what kind of games he has on here..." She scrolled through the menu. "Oooh! Skyrim! I think you'll like this one, Scout!" She selected the game, and they watched the opening cut-scene play.

Scout watched her play for a while, through a dragon attack and delving into an ancient ruin and fighting rotted zombies. It was one of the most amazing things Scout had seen since she first found that old TV, and somehow it was her Host doing it all. She wondered, vaguely, if maybe she'd be able to play too at some point. Which is why she was so mad when the phone beeped and Host paused the game, grabbing Scout and leaving the couch.

"Hey, wait! What about the game?!" She wanted to reach for it, but knew it would be futile as Host carried her farther away from the couch.

"It'll be here when we get back, don't worry." The Host assured her as she picked up the bat. "But first we have to swap the rugs to the dryer. It's rude not to, and someone could move them onto the floor if we wait." The Puppet crossed her arms and grumbled, but didn't protest further. So she left the apartment and went straight for the elevator, getting in as soon as the doors opened.

She was able to move the rugs to a free dryer without incident, even explaining a little bit of the process to Scout. The entire time the Puppet hung from around her neck and watched over her shoulder with interest. This changed when the elevator doors opened again, and a woman and young girl walked out, each carrying a basket full of clothes.

Scout went limp, a sudden fear running through her as the two other Hosts walked past. Her Host tensed up, but otherwise didn't react. She simply walked towards the elevator with her bat gripped tight in her hand, other hand coming up to grab Scout's arm. Just when they thought they were gonna get off scot-free, a voice piped up from behind them, startling Scout into attempting a Jump. "Excuse me, lady? I like your dolly!" The voice was high-pitched and adorable, but that didn't help Scout's cold terror. If anything, it just made it worst. Daisy had sounded like that too, after all.

The Host turned, tightening her grip on Scout's arm. "Thank you!" Her voice was way too perky for the situation, in Scout's opinion. Too fake sounding. "I like her too."

"Where'd you get her?" The girl asked, bouncing on her heels. Her mother was loading clothes into one of the washers behind her, but Scout could see her watching them.

"She was a gift, actually. I don't know where he got her from, though. He didn't tell me" She told the girl with a smile.

'Liar.' Scout thought but didn't say. She was too busy trying to look like a normal puppet, though it was a pain to try and keep her eyes still. Instead she focused on the wall and kept her gaze there, watching the girl and mother from the corner of her eye.

"Okay! Thanks anyways lady!" The girl waved before heading back to her mother. The Host waved back with another smile before going into the elevator as fast as she could. Neither her or Scout relaxed until the doors had closed and it started moving. Scout relaxed so much she almost fell off.

"That was fucking terrifying." She exclaimed while the Host scrambled to catch her. She held her in her arms like one would a doll, letting Scout flop over  almost limp from relief.

"It wasn't that bad." She shrugged. "It was just a little kid."

"Yeah but she could've told the government!" Scout looked up at the Human. "I don't want to be fucking experimented on! I had enough of that crap from Riley!"

"Don't worry so much! You'll be fine!" She dismissed as they reached Sammy's floor. "Besides, kids are the best ones to know about you. Nobody ever believes them when they say something's going on. No matter how much they insist on it" There was a bitter tone to her voice. Before Scot could question it, though,  they made it to the apartment and it vanished as she spoke again. "Now come on! We gotta go kill some Thalmor!"

The next half hour was passed by the Host playing Skyrim, this time with commentary from Scout. Everything that happened, she had something to say about it, even if it was just insulting the characters.

"Yeah, you eat that lightning you fucking lizard! What are you gonna do about tha- oh shit! He bit your face off!" Scout gave a surprised laugh as the Dragonborn died, flung away by the Frost Dragon they'd been fighting. "Okay! That's enough of that!." The Host shut off the game, throwing the controller back on the shelf it had come from. "It's almost time to get the rugs out of the dryer, anyways. You wanna come again?"

"No way. There might be more Hosts down there." Scout told her. "Not that I'm, like, scared of them, or anything. But it'll be easier if I'm not there. Y'know?" "Uh, yeah. That's fine if you want to stay." One look at her Host told her it probably wasn't fine. But before Scout could go back on what she'd said the Human had already picked up the bat and basket. "I'll be back in a few minutes, and we'll watch some more Netflix."

Scout watched her leave, feeling a pang of... something in her chest. It was making her feel bad, so she elected to ignore it for now. Instead she took the chance to Jump around the apartment, exploring what she hadn't been able to yet.

It was definitely something, to see the Host World up close and in person. Many things were different than what the TV had shown her. They were much less clean, for one, though that might just be Sammy. Although her Host hadn't made much of an effort to clean up after herself besides washing the rugs either. So maybe Hosts were just messy.

Speaking of, Scout realized she didn't know her Host's name. She knew she must have one, as Sammy had one, and the Hosts on TV had names. So she tried to think back to what Sammy might have called her.

'What was it he said? Stack? Lace? Stace? I think it was Stace... Short for Stacy, maybe?' She shook her head. 'It doesn't matter. One of them has to say her name at some point, right? I'm sure I'll learn it by the end of the night.' She smacked herself on the head, then did it again to turn off her light. 'Stop rhyming, dumbass! You're not one of them, and you never will be again!' She smacked herself again, harder this time, and shook her head. 'STOP!'

When her Host - Stacy? - came back, Scout watched her sweep the floor and lay the rugs down from the counter. When she had finished, it looked much better than it had before, even if it was most likely sticky under there now. She then grabbed Scout and carried her back over to the couch.

"So, what do you wanna watch?" She asked as she turned on Netflix and started scrolling through the shows. Some she would linger on, but others she skipped over quickly.

"How about what we were watching last night? I liked that one."

"You mean The Good Place?" She went up to the search bar and started typing it in. "That's what we watched last night."

"Yeah, that one was cool. Eleanor's my favorite. She takes no shit." And she swore more than Scout did, which was always a plus in her book. "Alright, we'll watch this one until Sammy gets home." Stacy selected it, and scrolled over to the episode she'd fallen asleep on. "Don't know when that'll be, but maybe he'll bring food with him."

Scout made a noncommittal hum, not caring about the food. All she cared about was whether Eleanor would get caught or not.

Whether they would get caught, or not.

[sassyduckqueen]

30 Days of Lukanette- Kwami Swap

Ok so technically, Kwami Swap should come after Comfort but I got overexcited and started to write this so here it is. The Kwami swap. I toyed with the idea of having Luka as Mister Bug but man, I like Adrien as Mister Bug too and I couldn't resist allowing Luka to take on the dragon Miraculous and giving Kagami the snake miraculous. Anyway, here's my version of Reflekdoll :D

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"I don't call the shots, mi'lady," Cat Noir grinned as they all landed on the roof as the magic ladybug fixed everything. Ladybug sighed as Viperion stretched and Ryuko leaned lazily against the chimney. "You're the superhero who captures all the evil akumas and he's the one who rests time. I'm just the cunning, ultra charming Cat Noir and Ryuko is my hot headed partner in crime. Right, Ryuko?"

 "Damn right, Kitty Cat," The dragon grinned, making Viperion roll his eyes. 

 "Right, you two have it easier," Ladybug grinned, giving a bro fist to Viperion, making the cat and dragon roll their eyes in turn.

 "Easy? That's cause we make it look easy," He grinned, gaining a high five off Ryuko.

 "As cunning as you are, that little prank you two pulled off almost made my lucky charm fail,"

 "Actually, it did fail. Twelve times," Viperion pointed out, making Ladybug frown. "Thanks to you two,"

 "Do you know why you two got the ladybug and the snake miraculous?" 

 "Because they require someone with a sense of responsibility," Ladybug pointed out.

 "Nope. Because you two don't have a sense of humor," Ryuko grinned.

 "Pff. Whatever," Ladybug snorted as Cat Noir and Ryuko laughed to themselves. "Me and Viperion have a great sense of humor,"

 "Sure you do," Cat chucked, causing Ladybug to fold her arms in annoyance and for Viperion to look away. "Hey, it's no big deal. You two have some many other great qualities. We're just in charge of the humor department,"

 At that point, both Ryuko's choke and Cat's ring started to beep as well Viperion's bracelet and Ladybug's earrings.

 "Well, you two better going before those clown costumes disappear," Viperion pointed out. 

 "Miss you already, Mini Snake!" Cat Noir winked, making Ryuko laugh.

 "Hey don't call me that!" Viperion gasped as they jumped off the roof, shouting that they were right. "Man, that cat drives me up the wall sometimes,"

 He sighed, shaking his head as the two of them jumped down into the ally.

 "Scales Rest,"

 "Spots off," Marinette caught Tikki as Luka caught Sass before both of them feed their kwamis. Once feed, Sass hid in Luka's pocket and Tikki went into Marinette's purse. The two linked hands and walked out of the allyway as they headed to the bakery. 

 "Hey, are you still doing that video for your website?" Luka asked suddenly. 

 "I'm planning to but I need models and time to do it and-"

 "I know Juleka wants to model. I could try and get her to do it,"

 "That would be great if she could," Marinette grinned. "Juleka's so pretty. It really would be an honor to have her as a model,"

 "I'll see if I can encourage her to do it," He smiled as they reached the bakery. "See you later, Marinette,"

 "Bye, Luka,"

 ~The Next Day~

 Luka played his guitar to her feelings as Juleka looked in the mirror, lifting her hair up and down, up and down before sighing softly. Seeing the moment, Luka stopped playing and looked over at her. She was never confident but he had a feeling that if she was giving the chance, she would be the best model ever. And he wasn't just thinking that because he was her older brother. He knew she was born to do great things and he would make sure she got there.

 "Don't you want to be a model anymore?" He asked, getting her attention.

 "Y-yeah but no one's ever gonna pick me," She mumbled as he strummed his guitar.

 "Have you tried talking to Marinette about your idea?" He asked.

 "I don't wanna bother her with that," She replied as he put down his guitar and walked over.

 "You're really pretty, Jule," He stated, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sure Marinette would love for you to be her model,"

 He picked up her fringe and moved back, revealing both of her eyes. He smiled softly as she looked so pretty.

 "You gotta follow your dreams in life. Don't let them pass you by," He smiled, taking the hair clip and using it to put her hair in place. "You were made for this,"

 He gently kissed her hair as she smiled at her reflection.

 "Go for it," He encouraged, hoping his words helped her find the confidence she needed to ask Marinette. She smiled softly before looking down.

 "W-would you be able to be there if she said yes?" She asked, shyly.

 "Of course, I will," He smiled. "Now you better get going or you'll be late,"

 "Ok," She replied, getting up and grabbing her bag before she quickly hugged him. "Thanks, Luka. You're the best,"

 (***)

 "Alix, could you shine the light a bit more on Juleka's shoulders?" Adrien asked as everyone worked towards getting Juleka ready. She looked great in the outfit but was starting to shrink into herself. Luka gave her the thumbs up as she looked around, trying to take deep breathes. Of course, it would help if Alya stopped filming. Luka felt a little bit out of his comfort zone too. Sure, he had been in Marinette's room several times but it was usual just him and her, where they could be theirselves without worrying. It didn't help that Lila was here. Marinette protested to having her in her room but Alya and the others insisted. Luckily, Lila hadn't done anything yet as Luka was watching her with a keen eagle's eye. "I want her to stand out,"

 "Oh my gosh, Juleka. You look so amazing, I didn't even recognize you," Lila gasped sweetly as she walked in before taking a photo of her without her permission. Luka instantly went on edge. "You know I use to model too. I was one of the top models for Vogue when I was younger. Oh my gosh, I could totally give you tips. You'd be a great model if you could get over your shyness. Not that it's an issues, cause it's adorable. It's just not how models act,"

 "Alya, what is she doing here?" Marinette asked, frowning.

 "Oh, I invited her since she had experience with modelling," She replied, making Marinette frown.

 "I wanted it to be my friends,"

 "Well, this way you and Lila can get to know each other," She grinned, giving her the thumbs up. She frowned and walked over to Luka before sitting down.

 "I'm sorry. I didn't even know she was coming,"

 "It's fine. I'll keep an eye on her," He whispered back as Lila sat down and looked around with a disgusted look. Luka rolled his eyes before he noticed Juleka panicking. He quickly got up and rushed over.

 "Hey, you ok?" He asked. 

 "I d-don't think this is such a good idea," She gasped, looking around as panic settled in her eyes. 

 "Is something wrong?" Lila asked suddenly. "Oh, are you panicking? You don't need to panic. It's just a small photo shoot,"

 "Lila, stop it. You're not helping," Marinette hissed, concern in her face as she walked over to Juleka. "Hey, it's ok. Is it the outfit? It's too tight and the material isn't-"

 "Don't worry. It's not that," Luka smiled, taking her hands. "Hey, just breathe deeply. Like Ma taught you,"

 "If she doesn't feel comfortable, she doesn't have to model them," Marinette smiled, trying to relieve the panic from Juleka. "Or we can do it another day. I really don't mind. Maybe it's something I should do myself. They're my designs. Sorry to put some much pressure on you,"

 Luka led her to the chair, failing to notice Lila's smirk.

 "Hey, why don't you do a couple's shot?" She suggested, causing Alya to look at her.

 "Of course!" She grinned excitedly. "Adrien and Kagami! Perfect! Adrien also has the experience so the photos will be perfect,"

 "I don't know, Alya," Marinette frowned as Luka helped his sister breathe. "Juleka is the perfect model for it,"

 "Well, this gives her a chance to calm down and breathe!" Alya grinned. "Then when she's ready, she can join us!"

 "Perfect!" Lila grinned, standing up. "But shouldn't Marinette also model her clothing? Oh I know. You should model them with your boyfriend, Luka!"

 "Yes!!" Alya almost exploded.

 "I'm sorry but I'd rather stay with my sister,"

 "Luka's right. We should stay with Juleka," Marinette agreed.

 "Oh, that's ok! We'll be in this room and I'll make sure she's ok," Lila grinned, causing both of them to frown.

 "No," They both said at the same time.

 "Lu-Luka, it's fine. Go and model with Marinette..." Juleka mumbled, looking down. "One of us should do it,"

 "It should be you," He mumbled.

 "Seriously, it's fine," She mumbled, making him frown before looking at him with a sad smile. "It will help you get use to the cameras for when you're famous,"

 "Jule..." He asked, getting nod of her. He gently kissed her forehead. "I'll do a couple of photos but then it's be your turn ok? Use these minutes to get yourself in the zone, just like music alright?"

 "O-ok," She replied as Rose sat next to her before Alya demanded that she had the outfit over to Kagami, who frowned softly and tried to argue but Alya simply brushed it off as if it was nothing. Luka frowned to himself as he watched Juleka disappeared behind the changing wall and quickly got changed into her normal clothes before handing them to Kagami, who frowned but slipped behind it as Marinette pulled out three more outfits. She handed one to Luka and one to Adrien before the three of them disappeared behind the walls and got dressed. Luka started to put on the accessories, having no problem until it came to the bracelet. 

 "Don't you dare," Sass hissed.

 "Sorry, Sass. I swear it won't be for long," He whispered, taking it off and handing it to the little snake. "Look after it for me,"

 "Alright but please hurry," The little snake ordered, getting nod of Luka. He picked up his hoodie and walked over as Marinette also came out. Adrien and Kagami grinned at them. 

 "Oh my gosh! We should move this outside!" Lila gasped. "It's such a nice day! We shouldn't waste it!"

 "I'd rather-" Before he could finish his sentence, Alya grabbed him and Marinette by the arms and dragged them outside, followed by the others. They all piled into the Gorilla's car. "Hey, where's Juleka?"

 "She decided to say at Marinette's," Rose piped up. "She'll be fine,"

 "To the Eiffel tower please," Alya grinned.

 "What? No but how will Juleka find us when she's ready to model?" Marinette gasped.

 "Oh, she doesn't want to model anyway," Lila laughed, making Luka frown as the Gorilla started to drive. It didn't take them long to get there and Adrien and Kagami started to model straight as Luka and Marinette stayed back.

 "This doesn't feel right," Luka muttered, playing with his bracelet. "Juleka should be the one here. Not me,"

 "Agreed. Let's sneak away and get our miraculous from the car then we can go check on her," Marinette nodded.

 "Good plan," Luka smiled as they turned around and went to run off but before they could, a huge doll walked over, causing the others to scream and run. It looked exactly like Juleka when she was akumatized. Luka felt his heart sink as he realized she had.

 "Don't leave my friends. You're the very people I've been looking for," Juleka's voice stated angrily. "I've got something very special for your video,"

 She directed a ray of light, causing Marinette, Adrien, Kagami and Luka to dive out of the way and hid behind something as she aimed at other people. Luka ran out of his place, despite Marinette reaching out for him and looked up the huge doll. 

 "Juleka?!" He gasped, causing the doll to look at him as Marinette watched. "Please stop this,"

 "Ah, my rock star brother! You're the one who encouraged me to try and then you go and steal my place! Some brother you are!"

 "Juleka, you know I didn't do that! I wanted to stay with you," He stated. "Please, don't let Hawkmoth win,"

 "I'm gonna show you what it's like to me, Luka!" She growled, aimed a ray at him. He jumped out the way as Rose ran up to her.

 "Juleka! I'm sorry! I should have stayed with you!" She gasped.

 "Juleka is no more! I'm Reflekta. Everyone always forget about Juleka anyway!"

 "That's not true!" Luka shouted but it fell on deaf ears. She aimed a ray of light at Rose but Luka pushed her out of the way, taking a hit and turning into a copy of her.

 "Oh look at that, Luka. Now we can be identical twins!" She laughed as he grabbed Rose's hand and ran as best as he could with her.

 "Rose, get to safe spot," He ordered. She whimpered and ran off, allowing him to duck down. "Sass, scales slither,"

 Nothing happened as he remembered that he took off his miraculous. He looked up and saw the car that they were in go flying towards the south of the city. He got up and tried to run but fell flat on his face, groaning. 

 "Bloody heels," He muttered, getting up and carefully jogging towards the car. It took him a bit of time to get there but he looked around, hoping to find his kwami. "Sass! Sass! Where are you?!"

 "Luka-kun?" The familiar voice of Longg made him spin around and he almost fell again but he caught himself.

 "Longg?"

 "Oh thank heaven. I can't find Ryuko-chan anywhere! Everyone looks exactly the same and I have no idea where she would even be!"

 "Whoa, easy there," He gasped, noting his bracelet and thinking back to the other accessories. A ring, a pair of earrings, a necklace and a bracelet. He face-palmed himself. "We all had to take off our miraculous...."

 "I'm afraid so. I warned her against it as I'm sure Sass warned you but-"

 "Yeah, I know. Trust me, after this I'm never taking off my miraculous ever again," He confirmed as Reflekta and her doll continued to attack everything and everyone. He frowned to himself. He had no idea where Sass was but he needed to take action now. The longer he left Reflekta, the hard it would be to get Juleka back. He frowned to him before taking the choke from Longg and putting it on.

 "What are you doing?"

 "We don't have time to find Ryuko or Sass. We'll have to work together ok?" He smiled as the dragon looked around nervously. "Trust me ok?"

 "Alright but this is a one time thing, young man!" He gasped as Luka grinned.

 "Longg! Bring the Storm!" He declared, causing the little dragon to get sucked into the choker. Luka swiped his right hand over his face, creating the mask and removing the look of Reflekta before placing his hands out as a white light created the suit. Two horns appeared on his head and a sword appeared out of a glowing light before he landed on the ground. He jumped up and ran across the rooftops, getting towards the park and Effiel Tower as quickly as he could, landing on a street lamp near the giant doll. He whistled, getting it's attention. 

 "Hey, Doll face! Aren't you too old to be playing dress up?!" He yelled, hearing an annoyed groan from Reflekta. She aimed a ray at him but he backflipped out of the way before jumping up and landing a kick to her doll, causing it to stumble back as a female version of Cat Noir turned up. "Ladybug?"

 "I see I'm not the only one to change it up today, Viper," She grinned, flickering her hair. "We better hurry this up,"

 "As you wish, kitten," He grinned, making her blush a little before blocking a ray of light with his sword as the other two turned up. "Took your time, didn't you?!"

 "Ooh someone is snappy today," Cat Noir, who was currently in the Ladybug costume, replied. "And it looks like my Lady Noir is playing the easy part today!"

 "So is Drake by the looks of it," The now snake themed Ryuko grinned as she jumped down. 

 "Not so sure, Mister Bug," Lady Noir replied, spinning the baton as a ray nearly hit Mister Bug, which deflected it. "It looks like we'll be taking on two opponents with each others powers,"

 "So keep your head in the game, Serpentine!" He growled, spinning the sword above his head, deflecting the ray as well before the four of them jumped onto a stone block.

 "Stay focused, Mister bug! Use the yoyo as a shield," Lady Noir ordered. He tried to spin it but it hit him in the head, causing her to face palm.

 "Ah, just my luck," He mumbled as Drake deflected a ray from them again. "I'm gonna have to capture two akumas instead of one,"

 "No, one akuma and one amok!" Lady Noir pointed out.

 "She's right! Reflekta has been reakumatized but that big ugly doll is a sentimonster created by the owner of the Peacock miraculous," Drake confirmed as they jumped out of the way of Reflekdoll's hand before they hit it back "We need to find the akuma and the amok if we're gonna defeat her,"

 "Ok so all we have to find Refleckta's akumatized object and the baby monster's amok," He mumbled, nodding to himself as he deflected a ray again as Ladynoir did the same.

 "Can you manage or do you want to switch back?" She asked, looking at all of them.

 "Come on, we can totally hand it," Mister Bug grinned, causing both Lady Noir and Drake to feel nervous.

 "This all great and all but what do I use a shield or a weapon? All I have is this stupid-"

 "Don't you dare call that lyre stupid!" Drake growled, as Mister Bug and Ladynoir knocked back Reflekdoll. "Your job right now is to stand back and observe. Sure, I get in the fighting but only when I know I have to or if I have second chance active,"

 "Perfect," Mister Bug grinned. "Serpentine can use her second chance and I can use my lu-"

 "Seco-" Serpentine stated but Drake grabbed her hand as Lady Noir stopped Mister Bug.

 "No, wait!" They both gasped at the same time, causing the other two to look confused. 

 "Why did you do that?" Mister Bug asked.

 "Because it's too early," Lady Noir stated.

 "You know nothing about your opponent and you'll only have five minutes left after you activate your power. So you'll want to save it til you actually need it,"Drake added in, reflecting another ray before looking around. He noticed a similar block of stone to the one they were on, only a few feet away. "Serpentine, there,"

 He pointed to it, causing her to rise an eyebrow.

 "When you get the chance, go there and watch,"

 "Seriously?" She gasped.

 "You can observe the battle and even work out where the Akuma and the amok are hiding," He explained. "Since we do know where they are,"

 "It's Reflekta controlling a giant doll," Mister Bug pointed out.

 "Drake is right though. You don't know where the akuma or amok is hiding!" Lady Noir pointed out as the four of them ran off up the doll. 

 "The akuma is probably in the same place as last time we fought her. In her bracelet!" He replied as they jumped up and ran up the Effiel tower.

 "Maybe. We're gonna have to check that!" Lady Noir replied as they landed on the top of it.

 "If I could get my hands on a mirror then I could hit the beam back at her," Mister Bug declared.

 "That's not how it works!" Lady Noir replied as they ducked down from a ray. "The Lucky Charm doesn't just give you what you want,"

 "We'll see about that. Watch and learn," He grinned before throwing up the yoyo. "Lucky Charm!"

 To everyone's surprise, a round mirror popped out of thin air and he caught it.

 "A mirror!"

 "Beginner's Luck!"

 "You're just jealous of my mastery. That's all," Mister Bug grinned. "Ok, Serpentine... let's have a reset point,"

 "I wouldn't bother using it now that he summoned the-"

 "Second Chance!" She shouted, pushing back the head of the snake. "You were saying?"

 "You know what. You do what you think is right," Drake replied, rolling his eyes before the sound of metal caught their attention. They looked over the edge and saw Reflectdoll climbing up the tower. Refleckta herself was aiming smaller rays at them. They dodged them then Mister Bug used the mirror to reflect on back at her, only for it to nothing but create a bright light and annoy her even more. She used Reflekdoll to fire a bigger ray at them but they jumped back out of the way.

 "Very effective, Mister Bug,"

 "But I thought-"

 "May I remind you that the lucky charm doesn't just give you an object to defeat the villain," Lady Noir pointed out. "You actually have to figure out exactly how to use it to win the battle, using your head!"

 "I could always reset the time and we could try again. He could re-summon the-" Serpentine pointed out as Lady Noir lightly hit Mister Bug on the head.

 "No, that won't work because you used Second Chance after he summoned the lucky charm," Drake pointed out as they reflected Reflekadoll again. "We're stuck with a mirror and a pointless reset point. We're in no immediate danger and now you have til the snake head goes back in it's place, which is roughly under five minutes. Your mastery of the second chance is clearly superior to my own, Nope Rope,"

 "And now that you've used your lucky charm, you also only have a few minutes left til you transform back, Bug-a-boy," Lady Noir added in.

 "Well, why don't you try helping us instead of making fun of us?!" Mister Bug gasped as they all ducked out of the way. Him and Serptine climbed up the Effiel tower as the rays chased them.

 "Sounds like Nope Rope and Bug-a-boy don't have a sense of humor," Lady Noir teased.

 "Looks like you two are wearing the clown costumes now!" Serpentine shouted back as they dodged the rays.

 "You bet! I'm the cunning, funny and ultra-charming Lady Noir," She grinned, flicking her hair back. "And Drake is my hot head partner in crime. Right, Drake?"

 "Damn right, Kitten!" He grinned as the two of them faced the doll. "Watch and learn!"

 "Cataclysm!"

 "Lightening Dragon!" The two of them landed a strike on Reflekdoll, causing it to fall down and land on the ground. They landed on top of it, followed by Mister Bug and Septine but Reflekdoll's eyes started to open and shut out of sync of each other and it started to make a funny noise as if malfunctioning. Lady Noir looked concerned as it continued.

 "Do you think that's normal?" She asked.

 "I don't know. I've nevr cataclysmed a senti-monster before,"

 "And I've never used Lighting Dragon on one either," Serprintue added in as they forced.

 "W-what's happening?" Reflekta gasped from inside, causing Drake to remember who was in there. 

 "Damn it. We've been relentless!" He gasped, as they jumped back as Reflekdoll got up and started to direct it's beam everywhere. The four of them landed on the ground.

 "It's as if the Cataclysm and lightening were like a bee sting on a bull," Mister Bug explained.

 "It riled it up without actually wounding it," Serpentine added in as they all jumped back. 

 "We don't have much time before we transform back," Lady Noir frowned.

 "And we don't know where the amok is hidden," Drake frowned as Reflekdoll continued to be out of control. "Reflekta can't control it anymore,"

 "No, Reflekadoll! Stop!" She shouted as if to confirm his words. "She-Cat Noir! She-snake! Bugboy! Dragon-boy! Help me!"

 Reflekdoll moved backwards, stamping on cars and knocking into stuff as it aimed it's beam at everything and anything.

 "We have to help her," Drake stated as Lady Noir gasped in shock. 

 "So you guys like playing with dolls?" She grinned before her and Drake jumped over.

 "Hey! You stole my line!" Mister Bug gasped as he and Serpentine followed. Lady Noir threw her stick towards the eye of the doll, holding it open as her and Drake landed on it. Mister Bug and Serptine landed next to them but before Mister Bug could use the Yoyo, Reflekdoll stumbled forward against causing Drake to fall forward inside the eye then it stumbled forward, causing the other three to fall off, along with the baton. He frowned as him and Reflekta slid across the room but he grabbed hold of her.

 "Wind dragon!" He shouted, turning into the wind and exiting the doll before reforming on the ground as the others joined him. Reflekta got up and backed away from them.

 "These costumes look ridiculous on you!" She declared, holding her hand out. "I'm gonna redo your wardrobe,"

 "You could, at least, show a little gratitude," Mister Bug replied, breaking her bracelet. She fell down as the akuma escaped. "Besides, I think we look pretty good in these costumes,"

 "Don't forget to capture the Akuma," Lady Noir sang softly, pointing to it.

 "I've always wanted to do this," He gasped, excited before opening the yoyo and purifying the akuma. Reflekta turned back into Juleka but Drake suddenly pulled them out of the way as a beam moved by, turning her into a copy of herself. "Oh well. I can just fix it. Mir-"

 "We might want to stop Reflekdoll from destroying everything before we go around repairing stuff," Lady Noir pointed out before she and Drake dived at it, hitting it as Mister Bug looked around.

 "Any ideas, Serpentine?" He asked.

 "None and it's not like I can reset the time line. If I do, the outcome could be worst and we've already defeated one of them," She pointed out.

 "Okay. I admit it. It's not easy been a super ladybug,"

 "Or a super snake,"

 "And I'll admit I like wearing your costume!" Lady Noir replied. "It's a lot lighter on the shoulders!"

 "And I'll admit I like been the dragon!" Drake replied as they both hit it but it seemed to rile it up more. "It's much more fun then been a wise old snake. I think I could get use to it!"

 The four of them dived out of the way of another beam and landed behind a chimney.

 "We've never be able to do this without you two," Mister Bug replied. 

 "Reflekta was controlling the doll from inside it's eye," Drake stated as he looked over.

 "We're gonna have to get inside there and find the object containing the amok," Lady Noir declared, getting a nod of them.

 "But how can we get inside without getting hit by it's beam?" Serpentine asked, causing Mister Bug to nod in agreement.

 "Why don't we just figure out how to use this mirror?" Drake replied, pointing to it.

 "Great idea," Lady Noir grinned before thinking. "Hmm, you're a simple, straightward kind of guy,"

 "Thanks for the simple part,"

 "While I always seem to come up with convoluted plans,"

 "Not to say... surreal," He grinned.

 "Of course, simple and straightward," She gasped as they all stood up and watched Reflekdoll. It turned around and that's when Drake saw it.

 "Kitten, there," He pointed to a x-pin.

 "Of course. That's x-pin on the back of it's head. That's how we're gonna get in," Lady Noir grinned. "And all we need is a..."

 "Screwdriver!" Mister Bug grinned.

 "Or a coin," She replied, pointing to the mirror.

 "That's right. Or something shaped like a coin," Mister Bug gasped, looking at the mirror.

 "How did you even see that?" Serpentine asked.

 "I told you. The snake observes," Drake grinned. "Alright. We'll get it's attention. You two trip it up!"

 "Sounds like a plan!" Lady Noir grinned as Drake and Serpentine jumped down. 

 "Stand here and play the lyre. I'll attack it once you've got it's attention," Drake ordered, moving to hide. He always most flinched as Serpentine attempted to play the lyre. She couldn't play but it did it's job and soon, Drake was slamming his foot into it's face before jumping behind it and running off, causing it to follow. He jumped up into a tree as Lady Noir tripped it up and Mister bug tied it up with the yoyo string before joining them on the back off it's head. Serpentine stopped playing and joined them as they opened it's head before looking inside. He frowned as he saw Juleka's hair clip inside. "That's it,"

 "Alright," Mister Bug replied as Lady Noir used her baton to break it. He captured the feather and purified it before grabbing the mirror and throwing it up in the sky. "Miraculous Mister Bug!"

 The magic ladybug spread all over Paris restoring everyone to normal and repairing the damage done by Reflekta and her doll. Drake walked over to Juleka and helped her up. 

 "W-what happened?" She asked, confused.

 "You were akumatized," He stated. "But we fixed it,"

 "Th-Thank you... oh no! Luka and Marinette! They're gonna think I was angry at them!" She gasped. 

 "Your brother will be here soon," He smiled before moving over to the other three and joining it with their fist bump before the four of them jumped up onto the roofs and ran. 

 "Hey, Drake. I get why you have to be calm and observe all the time," Serpentine stated.

 "We all have our roles to play," He grinned before they all separated. He jumped down into an alley close to the Eiffel tower. "Clear skies!"

 He caught Longg in his hand and feed him so cake he had in his pocket.

 "You did well, Luka-kun," The little dragon grinned, floating up as Luka took off the choker and handed it back to him.

 "Thank you, Longg-sama," He smiled, bowing slightly. The dragon bowed back and floated off. A few minutes later, Sass floated over. "Sass!"

 "Luka!" The little snake grinned, pressing himself against Luka's chest as Luka hugged back. "I was so worried about you when Reflekdoll started to attack,"

 "Don't worry, Sass, I'm ok," He smiled as the snake handed him the bracelet. "This is never coming off again. I promise,"

 With that, he let Sass hide in his pocket and made his way to where the girls and Adrien were. He threw his arms around Juleka.

 "I'm so sorry!" He gasped. "I should have stayed with you and not-"

 "L-Luka... it's fine," She smiled. "I just got really panicky and-"

 "Girls! Luka!" Marinette gasped as she ran over. She caught her breathe for a second. "I'm so sorry, Juleka. I should have realized how important this was for you,"

 "We're sorry too, Juleka," Kagami's voice chimed in as she and Adrien walked over. Alya looked down as well.

 "I'm sorry too. I got overexcited with the idea of a couple's shoot," She mumbled, looking up at her. "Forgive me?"

 "Y-you're all forgiven," Juleka mumbled, looking away shyly. Luka smiled but it disappeared as Lila came over.

 "Oh, dear. I can't believe you let yourself get akumatized over a silly-" She started.

 "You stay away from my sister!" Luka growled, surprising everyone. "You're the whole reason why she got akumatized!"

 "L-Luka," Juleka gasped. "Lila did-"

 "Backhanded compliments! Taking photos of you without your permission! The whole lie about her been a model! Getting your face when you was panicking! The whole idea of a couple photoshoot! Suggesting me and Mari join in and moving it to the Eiffel tower, knowing full well we said that once you were calm, it was your turn and then saying that you didn't even want to model! She had this planned from the start!" He pointed out, causing Lila to tear up.

 "T-that's so silly. I love Juleka-"

 "STOP LYING!" He shouted, causing everyone to looked shock. "You stay the hell away from my little sister or I swear you'll wished you never met me!"

 Lila looked generally shocked as she didn't expect him to explode at her before she sighed.

 "I just go," She frowned.

 "Yes! Go! You're not welcome here or on the Liberty ever again!" Luka growled. The girls went to argue but Adrien stepped up.

 "Luka is right. Everything was going fine until she came in," He replied before looking at her. "Lila just go,"

 "A-Adrien?" She gasped but Luka didn't miss the glare she gave Marinette before she walked off.

 "What the hell?" Alya gasped. "Lila is the nicest person-"

 "She's a liar," Adrien suddenly stated, making everyone frown.

 "And she's been directly responsible for three of our friends been akumatized," Luka pointed out. "Juleka, Kagami and Marc. All of them got akumatized after Lila did something. She on purposely made Juleka freak out, she insulted Marc's writing, telling him it wasn't a true art form and she took a photo of her and Adrien in a couple like pose and sent to everyone's phone, including mine and I'm guessing yours Kagami, knowing full well that Kagami and Adrien are a couple,"

 "Not to mention she was the cause of your almost akumatization," Marinette added in, looking at Luka.

 "You almost got akumatized?!" Juleka gasped.

 "Yes. A few nights ago. Lila tried to befriend me and when I said I wasn't interested and that I knew she was lying, she turned on me and ripped into me, telling me that no matter how hard I tried, Marinette would only ever see me as second best," He replied. "It almost worked too,"

 "But surely, this is just by chance," Alya gasped. "Lila can't be working with Hawkmoth right?"

 "Chloe was," Kagami pointed out.

 "Wasn't that a trick for Hawkmoth?" Rose gasped. Luka frowned.

 "Believe what you want but when she gets someone else hurt, angry or both again and an akuma is going to come for them then you'll see that I was correct," He sighed, shaking his head. "Of course, I hope it doesn't come to that,"

[boxfullofcats]

Certainty of Stars - Chapter 3: Sleepy Cuddles

Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Cal Kestis & Cere Junda, Cal Kestis & Greez Dritus, Cal Kestis & Original Character(s), Cal Kestis & Fayza No'Vastar, BD-1 & Cal Kestis, BD-1 & Fayza No’Vastar, BD-1 & Original Character(s) Characters: Cal Kestis, Cere Junda, Greez Dritus, Fayza No'Vastar, BD-1, Original Female Character(s), Original Characters Chapter Word Count: 1013 Additional Tags: Character Introductions, Canon Compliant, playing with rules of Jedi, but honestly Qui-Gon started it, Universe Alteration, meaning that things like my planet swapping will happen, Author reserves the right to change the title because I couldn't think of a less corny one, Not Beta Read, First Meetings, Flirting, Sleepy Cuddles Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 (Author’s Note: From now on I’ll be doing both a link to AO3, and posting a read more for those that don’t wish to leave tumblr, but first two chapters will always be AO3 only.) Chapter Summary:

"You waiting for me?"

She nearly fell off her rock in surprise and Cal rushed forward to steady her. "Yoda's fuzzy slippers," she cursed under her breath. Cal smiled at her, hands still on her arms, and then she noticed he had a curious passenger on his back. "You got something new there?" she gestured with her chin at the little droid. Cal smiled and grinned over his shoulder. “BD-1 meet Fayza, Fayza this is BD-1. He’s going to help me.”

“Waiting for him to come back?” Cere asked as she came up to Fayza where she perched on a rock, at the edge of the mesa they landed on. Bogono was beautiful, but so different than anywhere else in the galaxy she had been. The boglings had been bouncing around her, used to her quiet presence but scattered when the older woman had approached.

“I saw him earlier, running across a top of a mesa. He was swinging his lightsaber around,” Fayza replied, tucking a wayward piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m thinking he came across as a less than friendly native.”

Cere hummed, knowing what could be out there. “I wonder if he’ll actually be able to help us.” It was clear the former Jedi wasn’t sure if Cal would be able to do what was required in their goal of restoring the Jedi Order.

Fayza pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her folded arms across her knees. “You don’t think he can do it, or you don’t think he’ll come back?” A noncommittal shrug is what Fayza got in return. “I think he’ll do both."

A corner of Cere's mouth turned up. "Awful lot of faith for someone you just met."

It was Fayza's turn to shrug. "I can just tell. Did you know him, before the Purge?"

Cere took a seat next to her and looked out at the horizon. "No. I recognized his name, knew his Master. Jaro Tapal. Biggest Lasat male you'd ever seen." Cere laughed and shook her head, thinking about the past. When things were simpler, before they were betrayed.

The two sat in silence for a while, looking over the mesas in the distance, watching boglings bouncing, and other less friendly habitants make their way across the stone tops that made up this part of Bogano before Cere patted Fayza’s shoulder in farewell and went back to the Mantis. Fayza stayed where she was. She was actually buzzing with energy, not that her stillness communicated such. Something inside her hoped he’d be able to do what the rest of them couldn’t. Maybe it was Naiya’s seemingly eternal hope that had seeped into Fayza and was still with her, even after everything she went through. Naiya always had hope. Hope the war was going to end, hope that Jedi were on the right path, hope even after the Jedi had nearly been wiped out that they would persevere. Hope that Fayza would get away and survive.

Her mind immediately went to Naiya and her lightsaber stowed away in her cabin. When she had first joined Cere and learned that the woman was a Jedi, or formerly so, she had asked to be further trained in using her inherited lightsaber. Cere had refused and that was the end of that.

"You waiting for me?"

She nearly fell off her rock in surprise and Cal rushed forward to steady her. "Yoda's fuzzy slippers," she cursed under her breath.

Cal smiled at her, hands still on her arms, and then she noticed he had a curious passenger on his back.

"You got something new there?" she gestured with her chin at the little droid.

Cal smiled and grinned over his shoulder. “BD-1 meet Fayza, Fayza this is BD-1. He’s going to help me.”

Smiling brightly at BD-1 she said, “Pleasure to meet you, little buddy.” The droid chirped and whistled, clearly pleased by Fayza’s greeting. “Did you two find anything interesting out there?” BD-1 started to tell her in earnest in clicks, beeps, and whoops of binary.

“Whoa, whoa,” Cal cautioned his new friend.

“You got electrocuted!” Fayza shouted and stood up. “By the stars, Cal, are you okay?” She started to check him over, looking for burn marks, making sure he had all his fingers, toes could be checked later.

Fayza was patting his shoulders and then moved up to his face, turning his head this way and that, trying to see if his eyes were dilating. “Hey, hey,” Cal grabbed her hands, stopping them where they were on his cheeks. “I’m all right, Fay. BeeDee has healing stims. I’m good.” Cal squeezed her hands before letting go.

She took a deep breath and dropped her hands. “Sorry.”

“I’m not going to lie. Not used to someone reacting like that when I get injured.”

“Get used to it, Cal,” she warned. “I don’t like seeing those around me hurt. Especially if they are of the Jedi persuasion.”

His eyes seemed to shin a little more before he gave her a crooked smile. “I’ll remember that.” Cal took a seat on her abandoned rock. “How about I tell you about our little adventure before we head in?”

“Sure,” she joined him.

Cal told her about first meeting BD-1, the droid’s defense of a bogling from a bog rat, and his exploration of the planet before he got to the vault. During his tale BD-1 hopped down and settled in her lap, seemingly to be happy to look up at Cal as he talked.

The suns started to set by the time Cal was finished, somber after describing what had gone on in the vault. BD-1 was in a low power rest mode, cuddled in her lap as she had stroked the top of his head as if he was a pet while listening to Cal.

“I better let Cere know what I’ve found,” Cal said in conclusion, standing up and stretching. He reached down and tapped his little friend on the head. “C’mon, buddy.”

BD-1 powered up and beeped at his new friend, following him as they made their way to the Mantis.

“You passed the test,” Fayza could hear Cere say to Cal as she got up.

“So you knew about BD-1.” It was a statement from the young man, not a question.

Fayza could see Cere smile from where she was. “Come on board, we’ll talk inside.” Cere let Cal pass first and then looked to Fayza. “I’m only saying this once, so hurry up.” And Fayza jogged the rest of the way.