#they were cancelled when the flyers lost

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

02/10/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Long Post is Long. Cast & Crew Sightings; David Jenkins; Matt Maher; Clowning; Rhys Darby; Rosie; Samba; Max Trolling Reminder; Coyote Vs Acme Cont'd / Articles; Watch Party Reminders for Feb 11; SafeSpaceShip; Art Director's Guild Nominee; We Need to Be a Lighthouse! Game; AdoptOurCrew Choose Your Own Adventure; Love Notes; Daily Darby / Today's Taika;

= Cast & Crew Sightings =

Well as you can imagine, the David Jenkins IG is the big news of today. The clowning forecast has gone up significantly. Dad posted one of the late-blooming SaveOFMD banners in NY and attached Elton John - Candle In The Wind to the post. This song has some very specific significance to our fandom.

Apparently back when we lost Lucius in Season 1, Chaos Dad posted this song to Nathan Foad. Src @cptn_brightsky's Twitter Post

Now ADD to that... David Jenkins ALSO added this picture of Matthew Maher standing in front of a saveOFMD flyer found out on the street.

NOW OF COURSE, we are all clowning, but I think as usual Chaos Dad is trying to give us info without giving us info since the fandom pays so much attention to every little detail.

@saltpepperbeard has a theory that I'm down to clown with until I turn blue in the face. Src.

So yeah, as always take the clowning how you will, but I'll be honest, this looks like great news to me. It really does. CLOWN ON MY FRIENDS.

= Other Cast & Crew Sightings =

Rhys Darby's going to be at The Bourbon Room Hollywood next Friday, 2/16 at 8 PM PT.

== Rosie ==

Since doing cute stuff just doesn't stop in the Darby houshold, tonight I wanted to make a special shout out to Rosie Carnahan Darby, Rhys' Wife who has been active the last couple days. First and foremost, she knit a little blanket and hat for Samba's baby!

Second apparently she's restocked the Awesomeness Comedy website with more Buttons McGinty books and Comedy Special DVD's in case you're interested.

Oh and by the way, Samba loves the blanket:

= Vico Ortiz =

Tonight Vico was out performing with Them Fatale Drag Kings at their last night at their home bar Redline! Just some shots from their IG stories, feel free to check out more.

== Max Trolling ==

Gentle reminder luvs, if you're going to IG, or Twitter to troll Max posts, let's try to remember not to post OFMD/Negative comments on any posts that are celebrating underrepresented groups. We want to support those groups. Please note however, if you'd done it previously and didn't know, don't beat yourself up! We all make mistakes, just please try to keep it in mind going forward! (If you can delete your previous posts, great, if not, again not the end of the world).

== Coyote Vs Acme Cont'd / Articles ==

Why Deleting and Destroying Finished Movies Like Coyote vs Acme Should Be a Crime

This article is from yesterday but this blurb was pretty damn specific so I wanted to make sure if you missed it you got to see some of the reasons why Max did cancel OFMD.

"Some of the company’s tactics post-merger were garden-variety ruthless, like eliminating 87 series from its streaming platform Max, so that they won’t have to pay union-mandated residuals to the talent that created already-existing programs or pony up funds to produce more seasons of existing ones (such as “Our Flag Means Death,” one of the company’s most popular and critically acclaimed comedies—canceled after just two seasons)."

= Watch Party / Event Reminders =

Feb 11: Q+ and AdoptOurCrew Season 2 Live-Rewatch Party

Times: 2PM GMT, 9 AM EST, 6 AM PST

Watch Party Hashtags:

#OurFlagMeansBBC 

#OurFlagMeansRewatch

#SaveOFMD 

#AdoptOurCrew

= Feb 11: Relax I'm From the Future Watch Party! =

Sunday February 11th, 1 PM PT. 4 PM ET, 9PM GMT

Watch Party Hashtags:

#PiratesFromTheFuture

#SaveOFMD

#AdoptOurCrew

== In Person Events: San Diego CA ==

February 11, 2024 at 4 PM at Maritime Museum of San Diego

Costumes & Cosplay Encouraged! Location: Maritime Museum of San Diego 1492 North Harbor Drive San Diego, CA 92101

Hashtags:

#SafeSpaceShip

#SaveOFMD

#AdoptOurCrew

= Art Director's Guild Award Nominee! =

Sorry, I forgot to add this one yesterday!

Ra Vincent - Nominee for Half-Hour Single - Camera Series. Src: @AdoptOurCrew and ADG

Check out the Design Presentation: OFMD_s2_art.pdf

== We Need To Be A LightHouse! ==

Have YOU heard of this awesome new Monkey Island Inspired Point and Click Adventure Game by @blueberreads and @eldawee? They've been working on it for months and it's FINALLLLLLLY HEEEERE!

These folks are so incredibly talented! Please go check it out here! https://dawee.itch.io/lighthouse If you're using a MAC OS you'll most likely need to download an executable at the bottom of the main page. Just FYI! If it prompts you with the "you downloaded this from the internet" error just click OK. I already started playing with it and I'm in love.

I pushed Ed and he asked if I wanna do something weird xD Okay no more spoilers, GO CHECK IT OUT!

== AdoptOurCrew Choose Your Own Adventure Game!==

In honor of the s2 watch party with Q! tomorrow, @adoptourcrew did a really adorable choose your own adventure game on twitter today! They did polls and let the majority pick which direction they wanted the story to go!

Since it was a lot of pictures I made a separate post so you can see the whole story: @adoptourcrew Choose Your Own Adventure here on tumblr. Please check it out!

== Love Notes ==

Alrighty lovelies. It's been another busy day. Lots of clowning, lots of hope, lots of emotional roller coasters. I hope you had a good time and generally it was more positive than negative. I have a lot I want to say, but my brain is still pretty foggy. So I'll make this short.

Sometimes when things go well, our brain gets excited and then they overcompensate when we calm down. It starts to think a lot more negatively because it had so much extra dopamine for a time. When that happens, little things can be really devastating. I just want you to remember that we all make mistakes and YOU, you beautiful imperfect being are not your mistakes. They hurt, and we learn from them, but they don't define us. Try not to listen to your brain if it's telling you otherwise. You are so very wonderful.

Anyway, I hope that makes sense.

Here's a picture I found today I thought really applied to all you wonderful people. Thank you to all the folks who reached out to me and checked in and sent me love when you knew I was struggling (there are too many to list and I don't know if you want to be tagged so please just know how much I appreciate you). I love you all so much, and I'm so lucky to how found people who make me feel like it's ok to be me.

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

Tonight is once again animal themed. I wish I'd made that Taika gif last night for the lovebirds theme, but here we are.

[factual-fantasy]

10 Asks! Thank you!! :}🔥

To be honest, I have no idea. I don't know anything about how real armies are structured so I have nothing to base it on. :/

The only ideas I really have is the ranks or "value" of certain types of soldiers. Standard green Koopa troops are among the lowest rank and the most disposable. The flying parakoopas a valued much higher and would be trusted with more important jobs.

The most valued soldiers are the blue shells. In comparison to the other Koopa types, there's not that many of them.. they are an elite type of Koopa and most of their species are employed as body guards for Bowsers hidden palace. Who better to protect his beloved koopalings, then the toughest fighters and fastest flyers around?

The blue shells are lead by one Commander. Though there could be a few.. captains..? Generals..? That work beneath him. :0

@beryl-shade

I imagine they wouldn't swim that far down, but with Blue around to watch over them? I'm sure most of the crew would be up for swimming out in the deep! :D

Unfortunately Red wouldn't be able to forage or survive for very long. He's only a mere skittish 5 year old <XD

I imagine the crew would be in shambles if Red was lost like that. Especially Coco and Seafoam. There would be a lot of crying, fighting, blaming each other, fearing the worst..

Once they find him, Coco would probably be extremely clingy for a long while. I can see her carrying Red around and not letting him walk around on the deck unattended..

AAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DD

Unfortunately though, or fortunately- the Mario Bros aren't aware of the death that follows 1-Ups. In fact, no one is! :0

Up until the bros showed up, the 1-Ups have been associated with life, healing and prophecy. Being viewed as messengers from their gods, or being gods themselves..

When the bros showed up, the 1-Ups would appear when needed. One of them showed itself to Mario on his way to Bowsers land.. one of them Showed itself to Luigi before his Goomba encounter..

But it wasn't always right before disaster. The 1-Up can/have shown up days or even weeks in advance. So the connection to 1-Ups and impending death hasn't been made to the bros or anyone in the mushroom kingdom. Which is probably for the best 😅 wouldn't want to give more anxiety material to Luigi!

:DD THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :}} ✨💞✨

@glitchhayden418

<XD It's been a change for sure. But I wouldn't get used to it if I were you! This romance stuff is still out of my comfort zone. I'm still an angst connoisseur at heart :}

@ghfhgkfngjvfnvfnvmfkf

Yooo the Horsea line! Very cool :}}

@theangelofangst

AAAA THANK YOU!! :DDD ✨💖✨

The bros bodies can only absorb one power up at a time. They don't mix or cancel each other out. :0

If you were to hand Mario 2 power ups at the exact same time. One of them physically had to touch Mario first down to the atom. He would absorb that one and the other power up would just sit idle in his hand. :/

AAAAA THANK YOU SO MCUH!!!! :DDDD 💞💞 IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE IT!! :}}

And who knows, maybe someday I'll go back to Refinedtale and draw more for it! :0

[storiesaplenty]

Take a Flyer

Lord Debling x f/Reader (18+)

Bridgerton Masterlist

“Flyers” were shoes, so this phrase describes having sex while still dressed or “without going to bed.”

Just like all my other stories, has not been proofread, but please enjoy.

Warnings. Smut below the cut. Unprotected sex. P in v. Creampie

WC 583

From my previous account plentyoffandoms.

©️ storiesaplenty 2024: do not repost or translate my work. This is the only place I post my work.

Summary: Lord Debling did not care that a dinner party was happening in the next room. He has been gone from his wife far too long, & he is going to make up for lost time.

"Alfred, please." She whined as I bent her over the arm of the settee, bunching up her skirts.

"Please, what my darling?" I questioned as I undid my own breeches

"The guests are waiting."

"What did I say in my letters I sent home?" I fisted my cock, slapping it against her leaking pussy.

I pushed just the tip in, savouring the feeling of her warmth. Oh, how I have missed this.

She pushed her hips back or tried to take me deeper. I pulled back, making her cry out in frustration.

"What did I say, my dear?"

"That I will be dripping with your seed every day that you are home."

"And I intend to keep that promise, my love." I slammed into her, reaching around to cover her mouth as she let out a scream of my name.

"Was too long without you wrapped around my cock. Lord, I have missed you."

"And I intend to keep that promise, my love." I slammed into her, reaching around to cover her mouth as she let out a scream of my name.

I have been gone for 5 months, and I regretted not bringing her along with me this time, but she insisted on coming with me the next trip.

I have been home only three days, and I have spent every single moment buried deep within her walls.

Our meals were brought to us in our bedroom. The moment we were done, I was on her.

But not today, no.

This dinner party had been in the works for months now, and there was no way she was going to cancel it, so she was up before I was this morning, and she has been on the go since.

My cock ached for her all day, even finishing myself off would not do the trick. Not when I have my wife so close to me, whose body and soul I have missed more than anything.

So when I found her in our drawing room, waiting to make her entrance and suprise everyone that I was home, I had to make quick use of our time together, knowing how our dinner parties can go well into the night, sometimes the next day.

My pace was slow, savouring this moment of being in her once more, but then the thought of someone walking in on us, awake something in me.

I pulled her hips back with every single thrust. Groans and moans falling from my own lips as soft pants left hers.

I couldn't hold back anymore, with one final thrust, I stilled as I came deep within her. My face scrunching up at the intense pleasure.

A soft gasp fell from her lips. I pulled out of her and watched as my spent slowly started to leak onto her thighs. I put the skirts of her dress back down and myself away.

"I am sorry, my love. Once they are gone, I will make it up to you." I have always made sure she finishes, doesn't matter if it is by my cock, fingers or mouth.

She cupped my face in her hand, and I leaned into it, kissing her palm.

"I know you will, Alfred. Come. Our guests are waiting and I am very hungry."

I sat there, talking with an acquaintance, watching her out of the corner of my eye, knowing that her and I share a dirty little secret between the two of us.

The thought of her sitting there with my cum leaking out of her, made my cock twitch in my breeches.

Oh yes, I will be making it up to her once everyone is gone.

Tag list: @madhatterbri

[saithebatguy]

Bat Tours and Ballybogs Pt. 1 || Alistair & Sai

TIMING: Recent PARTIES: @deathsplaything & @saithebatguy LOCATION: On the edge of town SUMMARY: Alistair shows up to Sai's bat tour, but the tour is interrupted. CONTENT WARNINGS: drug use tw (in the vein of frog spit)

The necromancer didn’t venture outside of their usual routine. They hadn’t been adventurous in any form for eight years. Ever since they’d lost their sight, that had been the end of it. But with them taking time off of work at The Sugar Pot, they’d decided to force themselves outside of their comfort zone. Someone had posted something about a bat tour, and Melody had practically begged them to go. Okay, so Alistair was fond of the flying things. His business partner had read the flier to them with enthusiasm to the point they simply couldn’t say no. 

That’s how they found themselves waiting at the meeting point late one evening, opting for their mobility cane over Brutus, seeing as how Alistair had no idea how Brutus, their guide dog and familiar, would react to a bunch of bats flying everywhere. It was hard to forgo the crutch of being able to see through their dog’s eyes for convenience, but they had decided to give a bit of trust in their fellow man. Hopefully they wouldn’t live to eat those words.

They shifted on their feet a few times as they waited, not hearing any other footsteps near them for a few minutes, but then they heard someone. “And here I thought I was going to be stood up for a bat tour.” Alistair announced the new footsteps, a sly smile creeping onto their features as they turned their head in the direction of the sound, sunglasses covering their unseeing gaze. “Are you the one giving the tour?” Alistair raised a brow, remembering the familiar name. “The guy that drives people places and also gives bat tours. Full of side hustles, you are.” The Scotsman's accent slipped through as they teased the stranger. “The name’s Alistair.”

_____

Sai had come to the conclusion that no one in town knew much about bats. Just last week, one of his riders told him they didn’t even know there were bats in Maine when he was trying to get them to take one of his Maine Bats: What YOU can do to help flyers. No bats in Maine! He knew most people didn’t think about bats as much as he did, but he hadn’t been prepared for that. So he’d cooked up the idea to start bat tours in town and spread some of his bat knowledge. Soon he was plastering his flyers advertising ‘FREE Bat Tour!! Learn about Maine’s eight native bat species!’ around town.

When the night of the tour came around, Sai found himself running late. He’d tried the library’s printers again. It was a mistake. They were painfully slow. He’d only made it through two sheets, when he noticed the time, and canceled the rest of the print job to run out to his car. Ah well, he’d just have to use his usual flyers. They weren’t customized to the tour, but they’d give people the basics.

Thanks to ignoring the speed limit, Sai made it to the meeting point on the edge of town only a couple of minutes late, a stack of papers on Maine’s bats in hand. He’d expected a horde of waiting people, ready to learn about the wonders of the local bat life. Only there was only one person, leaning on a walking can. He tried to put on a good customer service smile as he walked up. One was better than none, at least.

“Sorry, got caught up preparing,” Sai said to them. “Sai, nice to meet you.” He was surprised to hear the other person mention the ride service. Word got around fast, apparently. The internet was already proving to be better than the papers he’d put up in person. Maybe he should have posted this tour there too. “Yes, that’s me. Here, I have –” Sai patted his pockets for the business cards he’d printed out, before realizing he’d left them back in the car. “Well, you have my number from the flyer.” He glanced around, “We’ll give it a minute to see if anyone else shows up. Here, take a flyer. So what do you know about bats?” If it was just Alistair tonight, he might as well tailor it to Alistair’s knowledge level.

_____

Unable to hide a smirk, Alistair shook their head. This guy, whoever he was, was enthusiastic about bats. “A flyer was handed to him, and Alistair shook their head again. “Mate, I’m completely blind.” He told the other with a quirk of their brow above their sunglasses, tapping their cane in front of them to draw attention to how they were getting around. “Usually I have a dog with me, but I figured he wouldn’t fit with the whole bat part of things. He’d probably snap at them, thinking they’re a bunch of toys.” Alistair wiggled their fingers as they spoke. “Hope that doesn’t complicate things for you, of course. Might be more of a listening tour than a sight-seeing tour.” He tacked on with a toothy grin. 

Alistair hummed to themselves as they waited for people to show up, knowing most didn’t care much to do things like this. Especially when they didn’t have people like Melody to force them into it. The least she could have done was come with, but no. She was busy with Tommy. Always an excuse with her, that one. They couldn’t help but roll their eyes at the thought. 

Pulled back to the present by a simple question, Alistair realized that they knew more about bats than the average person. Being an individual of science, they knew more than the average person. “I know there are eight species of bats in Maine,” they spoke, echoing what was on the flyer. 

They let out a sigh, deciding to be a bit more forthcoming with their information. “Truthfully, I know a bit. I’m a former pharmacist, so I took a lot of science classes to get to where I am now.” They shifted from foot to foot, thinking of what they knew. “I know that they’re blind like me, and use echolocation to get around.” They looked thoughtful for a moment, thinking if it were possible that they could scream as loud as they could to get around. “Maybe I’ll take after them and scream at objects to get around,” they mused, echoing their thoughts.

“Personally, I’m partial to the nectar bat, but those aren’t native to Maine. The Eastern pipistrelle is adorable, but they all are, aren’t they?” Alistair leaned to one side, head tilted upward in thoughtful contemplation. “I’ve taken enough biology courses that you don’t need to go dumbing it down for me, how about that?” They offered with lifted brows. 

A few minutes had passed, now putting them ten minutes after the tour was to start. “You sure you want to do this? It’s just me, and I don’t know if I’m all that fun of an audience.” They admitted, patting a finger against the side of their sunglasses. “You a biologist then?” He asked, wondering why the guy was so into bats, anyway. “Or just a hobbyist?”

_____

Of course, Sai realized, taking in Alistair’s sunglasses and cane. Probably not a lot of other reasons to wear sunglasses at night. He’d spent too much time around vampires with bad fashion ideas to think much of it at first. “That’s fine, the flyer’s more so you have something to take home so you don’t forget it. Maybe I could mail you one if you read Braille.” It would probably have to be a custom order, which didn’t bode well, and Sai was light on funds at the moment. But maybe he could get a discount for bulk. There had to be some sort of Maine mailing list for the blind. Maybe it could open up a new demographic for the Conservation Society. “Good thinking on the dog. That would probably spook them.”

Sai wasn’t sure how much pharmacists learned about bats, but apparently not much, since they’d only gotten it half right. “Actually that’s a common misconception. Bats can see pretty well. They just use echolocation too, at least most of them do.” Sai said. “I don’t think humans can do it, but that would be cool, wouldn’t it?

“Even if you can’t see them, we can probably get close enough to some of them where you’ll be able to hear them chirping. Not sure about the tricoloreds,” said Sai, in reference to the eastern pipistrelle. “But they should be coming out of hibernation around now. I think we can probably find a few.”

After a long wait, it was pretty clear no one else was coming. They might as well get going. He waved away Alistair’s note that they might not be a fun audience. “Happy to have you, but if you like the tour, make sure to tell your friends. Let’s head down this way,” Sai said, as he set off down one of the streets. Last year, some tricoloreds set up camp in the attic above a law office building nearby. With any luck, they were still around.

It took a moment for Sai to figure out how to answer their question. The real answer was that bats were his family, more so than the Noxferatu or the human family from his last life. Hobbyist felt almost offensive in that light. But humans were always focused on what was or wasn’t paid. “I’m not a biologist or anything like that. Bats are... I mean, if you know about bats, you probably know a lot of them are threatened from human development. Now white-nose syndrome too. So I try to do what I can for bat conservation. And do things like this to build awareness. The more people like bats, the more they’ll do for them. Vote on bills, build bat boxes. That’s what I’m hoping anyway. I just don’t get paid for it.”

—-

Alistair smirked, shaking their head at the idea of the guy going out of his way to have it printed in braille. “As considerate as it is, I have people to read to me if the occasion arises.” They replied with a shrug of his shoulder. The idea of their dog chomping at the air as bats flew around them was quite the idea, however they decided against it in the end. Poor guy in charge wouldn’t get to see his precious bats. The spellcaster shifted their weight from foot to foot, trying to hide their discomfort in being the only one present. 

A bit miffed to learn that bats weren’t blind like they were, their appreciation for the flying mammals decreased a bit. They should have taken that course on wildlife back in college, they would have known something, at least. “They’re losing style points already,” they murmured to themselves with a dissatisfied huff. 

The idea of being able to just scream to get around amused Alistair, even more so at the idea that it would freak people out. They were a tad strange, and sometimes it was easier to lean into it than fight against it. More than anything, Alistair wanted to leave. They wanted to leave and pretend none of this ever happened because it was just them and some random dude. In the woods. At night. There was undoubtedly something that would go wrong. They felt it in their soul. 

As they began to walk, Sai began to speak of bat populations and the need for conservation. Ah, this they could talk about. Climate change and habitat loss and a hatred for capitalism– no, Alistair. Keep your cool. Don’t scare people off with the incessant need to converse about their deep hatred of capitalism. “What, like around fifty percent of species are at risk of population decline, right?” They remembered reading that somewhere. “Don’t have a yard, but I’d help out in my own way if I could.” They spoke, thoughtful for a moment. 

“As a kid, I was interested in bats.” They finally confessed. When they were a kid, their parents would bring animals to practice on. Alistair would set as many free as they could, much to their parents’ ire. “But more importantly, my brother was fascinated with them.” They spoke, remembering Blair, their brother’s fondness for wildlife. “The brown long-eared bat was his favorite.” Alistair told Sai as they walked. “I’m from the Scottish Highlands.” 

“As the closest in age to my brother, I got to hear the most about the bats and the Scottish wildcats.” Alistair pulled a face, clearly no love for his brother on their face. “Know all about how bats can eat up to twelve-hundred mosquitos in an hour.” They made another face. “They are cute, I’ll give them that.”

____

“Yeah, that’s about right,” Sai said to their mention of half of bats being at risk. It was good to hear someone hoping to do more. The hardest part was getting people to care in the first place. “There’s a lot you can do. You don’t need a yard. Building awareness. Calling representatives. Voting. If you have money, research could use it too. Remind me at the end of this, I have a booklet in the car about it.” There was the flyer on helping bats, but he might as well send them home with the full 60-page version he and Dave put together.

Walking ahead, Sai couldn’t see the other person’s face as they shared that their connection to bats came from their brother. But Sai understood family ties. How they changed you and shaped you. Why it might bring Alistair out tonight. That was why Sai was here, wasn’t it? “I don’t know as much about Scotland’s bats,” Sai admitted. “I’ve lived in Maine for a long time.” He would’ve loved to go see more of the other bats of the world, but there was too much holding him here. 

The law office was still there, waiting for them as they walked up. He wasn’t sure when it’d been abandoned, but it looked worse with every year. The sign above the door was sagging down into the front doorway and the windows were sloppily boarded up. The green belt it butted up against had started to creep in too, with moss climbing up one of the sides, and a small fern starting to grow out of the door frame. It was out of sight, just down a small hill, but he could hear the creek from where they stopped outside the building.  

From the sidewalk, Sai could make out a hole under the eaves. Sai called out to the bats silently. There was no hesitation in the creatures. He’d been right, their hibernation was over. They followed his call, like they always did, darting out from under eaves one by one. He thought about offering for Alistair to hold one but decided against it. Family love of bats or not, some people got jumpy when too up close and personal with the animals.

“And here are the tricoloreds, or the eastern pipistrelle,” Sai said. The bats flitted around the two of them, darting back and forth, in that fast, unique way bats had, chirping. Sai smiled at them as he watched them fly. About the same number as he’d remembered. No major losses over the winter, then. “They like it here because of the creek.”

—-

There was a deep hatred stewing in the back of Alistair’s mind about giving money to people. They were selfish, kept it all to themselves because no one else deserved it but himself. Other people could give money, not them. Finally, they let out a quiet sigh and nodded their head, knowing there was no easy way to get out of the situation then to simply take the pamphlet and move on with their evening. “Yeah, sure.” They spoke simply, shrugging a shoulder. Anything to shut him up, they reminded themselves.

“Scotland’s bats… I think there are ten different breeds?” Alistair thought, though they were unsure of its accuracy. It had been so long since they’d seen their brother, seen any of their family, for matter of fact. “So what, uh… what got you into bats?” They asked, trying to keep conversation moving instead of coming to an awkward silence. 

Then, there was a silence. They heard the sound of running water, then the flutter of something flying. They weren’t sure if it was a bat or a bird. Silent still, they waited for something to happen. They weren’t sure where they were standing, weren’t sure where they were. They had to have full trust in Sai, and that was a scary thing for them to do. 

Then, they heard it. The sound of flapping wings beginning to surround them. There was something magical about it, they thought as they listened. For a moment, they wished that Brutus was around, knowing that they would have been able to see the bats through their companion’s eyes instead of being forced only to listen. As Sai told them what bats were flying, Alistair nodded, a certain amount of wonder in their eyes. They were, at least for the moment, happy. 

“Is it because there’s more insects around water or do they just like having a water source?” They asked with a tilt of their head. There was the sound of something else, then. Something… not a bat. Plap, plap, plap. Alistair frowned, eyes darting in the direction of the sound even though they couldn’t see a thing. “Did you hear that?” They asked, brows furrowing as they listened again. Plap, plap. 

_____

He nodded at Alistair’s remark. “All of them are hibernating bats out there, aren’t they?” Sai said. What got him into bats? That was an impossible question to give a real answer to, to a human anyway. As soon as he said the words vampire spawn, they wouldn’t take anything else he had to say seriously. “It’s sort of like with you, with your brother,” he said with a shrug. “Family interest.” Both completely true and not true at all. “I imagine they probably make you feel more connected to yours?”

Sai was about to answer Alistair’s question about the creek, prepared to start explaining what made an ideal bat habitat – they were making too much casual conversation when this really was meant to be an informational tour – when Alistair suddenly seemed distracted. Sai paused, listening. “Hear what?” Sai could only hear the fluttering of wings, the groaning of boards in the night’s breezes. But just as he was asking, a motion out of the corner of his eyes caught his attention, and he saw what Alistair must have been hearing.

Coming up from the dip the creek was set in, was the biggest, what looked like a frog, that Sai had ever seen. As large as a dog. A big one, the kind that looked like a child could ride them. The creature was fat and round, like it had spent all winter eating who knew what, with lines of sickly green webbed ridges running down its back.  

Sai released his pull on the bats, and they went wheeling off down the street away from the two of them. Something this big could probably swallow the bats whole. Realizing Alistair wasn’t seeing the same scene, Sai filled them in, speaking slowly and softly to try not to startle it. “I, uh, I’m looking at the biggest…frog I’ve ever seen.” As Sai spoke, the creature flicked its yellow eyes toward two of them.

—

When Sai asked Alistair if they hibernated, they nodded their head in response. “Yep, they are. Can’t say that Scottish winters are relatively fun.” Alistair frowned at the man’s assumption, it couldn’t be more wrong. “I have no love for my family.” They said instead, deciding to move on and focus back on the sound. It was getting closer until it felt like it was right next to them. Everything after that happened rather quickly. One moment they were listening to bats, the next they were being sprayed with something. 

Alistair let out a sound of disgust, holding their hands in the air. “Great, it’s all over me.” Alistair complained, feeling the liquid seep through his clothes and onto his skin. Frog, giant, well that could only mean one thing, and it wasn’t good. “We have to leave before it gets you next.” They decided, taking a step backward, only to realize they had no good way to get away without aid. The frog creature sprayed again, this time hitting Sai. Neither of them spared.

“Listen, we're about to get really high really fast.” Alistair told him while they still had their wits about them. “That’s a ballybog, now get us out of here.” Alistair held out his hand, pleading for the man to guide them away. 

____

Sai wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting the frog to do, but spitting on them hadn’t been on his list. He didn’t need to be told twice not to stick around. Clearly, Alistair had a better idea of what was going on than he did. Sai grabbed their hand and ran down the street back toward where they’d started the tour. Not as fast as he might have been on his own, but a glance back confirmed that the frog wasn’t a fast runner either, as it followed them down the street with slow lumbering strides.

Sai made it two blocks away from the old law office, before he tripped over an uneven chunk in the sidewalk, pausing their retreat from the creature He managed to let go of Alistair’s hand just soon enough to not pull them down too, as Sai caught himself and his balance. He glanced around them to get his bearings, and tried to quickly decide the fastest way back to his car. He liked the idea of having something solid between them and it. “We need to find my car Sai said. “We’ll be safe there,I think.” 

 It sounded like Alistair had recognized the creature, and knew something about it. “You know what it is?” 

_____

Trying not to trip over anything as Sai dragged them along, Alistair stumbled along with Sai’s hand wrapped around theirs. Then, he was let go, stranded in the middle of nowhere when he heard Sai’s movements somewhere beside him. “Mhmm, that was fast.” They spoke, feeling a bit lighter than usual. They swayed a bit, trying to keep their balance in tandem “Fuck, I haven’t come across one of those in so long.” They muttered, running a shaking hand through their red hair. They stood beside Sai, pulling out their mobility cane and unfurling it. “Well, it better not get through a car.” They grumped, beginning to swivel the cane out in front of them to look for a car. “Where’d you park it?” They asked, tapping their foot impatiently.

“It’s a ballybog. They’re common where I’m from.” They explained, waving a hand dismissively. “They’re wee shits that have hallucinogenic spit. Which is what you’re currently absorbing.” They pointed out as they continued to deal with the floaty feeling. The longer time went on, the thicker Alistair’s Scottish accent became. They blinked a few times, trying to reorient themselves. “Well ye gonny look?” They demanded, flailing their hands. “We gottae get oot of ‘ere ‘fore we haver.” It was too late, Alistair already was talking nonsense. They’d gone full Scottish. They let out a groan, knowing that there was no way Sai could decipher what they were saying. “Scriob seo.” They muttered, beginning to walk around with their cane until they ran into something, hoping it was a car. 

_____

As Alistair spoke, their words got more and more incomprehensible, although Sai collected that they’d encountered giant frogs before. “I parked back where we started the tour. ” Sai said, looking back at the frog, quickly gaining on them. “But that might be too far.”  

After spouting more gibberish, Alistair took off down the street. How they might know where his car was, Sai wasn’t sure. But there was a car down the street. He had no idea how to break into one, but surely it couldn’t really be that hard. Maybe he could pry the door open or break the window. That second option might affect how good of a shelter the car was from the frog, but it would be better than nothing.  “I see a car,” he said, grabbing Alistair’s free hand again, to tug him in the right direction. “Hopefully, we can still wait inside until it leaves” Surely, the owner would understand.

___

Continuing down the path to god only knew where Alistair let their cane swing around in front of them until he hit something solid, They put their hand out and touched it, realizing it was, in fact, a car. They could feel the metal under their hand, then hit it with their hand to be met with a window. “It’s safety.” Alistair spoke with a shrug, turning toward the sound of Sai’s voice. “Let’s hope the owner doesn’t come around, aye?” Alistair tried the door, and found that it was unlocked, as if it was meant to happen. Because that’s what was happening right now, right? Divine intervention or whatever.

Alistair ushered Sai over, hoping that he could see them waving him on. Alistair didn’t waste any more time, scrambling into the car and closing the door behind them. It was quiet and safe from the creature that was plapping around out there. So much for bats, now he was high and trying to think of a way out of this situation. A car door opened and closed, and Alistair could only hope that it was Sai and the ballybog hadn’t figured out how door handles work. Alistair raised a hand, ready to use a burst of energy to knock them away if it came to that. “Ye better nae be a frog creature.” They snarled, their accent still thick and hard to decipher.

_____

Sai was relieved that the car was unlocked. He hadn’t been looking forward to trying to learn how to break into one while fending off the frog. So far the most it had done was spit on them. As far as Sai could tell, the spit hadn’t hurt him. Although Alistair was acting off. Probably the high he’d mentioned. But Alistair had made it clear they should get away from the creature as fast as possible, and Sai didn’t want to find out firsthand if there were any other reasons why. “I’m not the frog,” Sai said, as Alistair made a move like he was ready to fight Sai as he got in.  “Frogs can’t open doors,” he pointed out. It seemed like Alistair might not be in the state to understand that. Sai slammed the car door behind him, just in time. 

He watched the frog out of the windows as it bounded up to the car. It would have to get bored of them eventually. Or Sai hoped anyway. He could wait a few hours at least, but the closer things got to sunrise, he’d need a better plan.

[usafphantom2]

The story of the D-21 Drone and project Senior Bowl, the Most Secret Program ever developed by the famed Lockheed Skunk Works

At Beale Air Force Base (AFB), in California, you would think that the SR-71 Blackbird program would be the biggest blackest deepest secret.

But you would be wrong.

The biggest secret was Senior Bowl.

The top secret D-21, the high-speed, high-altitude spy drone air launched from the the back of a Mach 3 A-12 aircraft

M-21 and D-21.

According to Air Force Test Center History Office documents, all manned flights over the Soviet Union were discontinued by President Dwight Eisenhower after Francis Gary Powers’ U-2 spy plane was shot down May 1, 1960. However even if the US government was planning on using satellites for reconnaissance, the technology was still a few years away and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) determined unmanned drones could fill the gap until satellites became viable.

For this reason in the 1960s the famed Lockheed “Skunk Works” developed the D-21 a highly-advanced, remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) designed to carry out high-speed, high-altitude strategic reconnaissance missions over hostile territory.

The D-21 required a mothership to launch given its ramjet engine, which needed to be air-launched at a certain speed to activate. Initially, Lockheed testers used an M-21 (essentially a modified SR-71 Blackbird) to air launch the D-21 drone. The D-21 would be launched from the back of the M-21. Ideally, after conducting its reconnaissance mission it would eject a hatch with photo equipment to be recovered either mid-air or after the hatch landed.

However, on the fourth flight test, the D-21 experienced an “asymmetric unstart” as it passed through the bow wake of the M-21 causing the mothership to pitch up and collide with the D-21 at Mach 3.25. Crewmembers Bill Park and Ray Torick ejected from the M-21, but Torick’s flight suit became ripped and filled with water when he plunged into the ocean where he drowned.

Tagboard Flyers: the story of the B-52 bombers that carried the D-21 Mach 3 ramjet-powered reconnaissance drones

B-52 and D-21.

After the accident and after the death of Ray Torick, a test flight engineer, the M-21 launch program was cancelled but testers still believed the D-21 would make a valuable reconnaissance vehicle and decided to launch the drone from B-52Hs under a top secret test program named Tagboard. The new code name for the D-21 project became Senior Bowl.

It was Kelly Johnson, President of Skunk Works, who suggested to use the B-52. As a result of Johnson’s advice two B-52’s were modified: 61#0021 and 60#0036. Both B-52’s are still in the US Air Force (USAF) inventory. The ultra secret 4200 test squadron was formed at Beale.

Only a few of the men that flew the SR-71 had been read into the program: out of necessity one of the few included my father Richard “Butch” Sheffield, SR-71 RSO who had already been read into Oxcart in 1965. In his unpublished book he writes that on the flightline he was with Bob Spencer, SR-71 pilot. They were taxing out when they saw the B-52 with a drone underneath it. Spencer asked ‘What is that under that B-52?’ My Dad responded ‘I have no idea.’ He couldn’t tell Bob Spencer the truth.

These two B-52‘s were kept away at the end of the runway apart from any other operations.

D-21

D-21 drone.

The D-21s were used on four flights over communist China but none of these missions fully succeeded.

Two flights were successful, however the imagery could not be recovered from the D-21’s hatch. The other two operational flights ended with one being lost in a heavily defended area and the other D-21 simply disappeared after launch.

The main mission of the D-21 was to fly over China and take pictures of its nuclear weapons test facility in the remote west central of the country near Lop Nor.

The pictures were supposed to be dropped in the ocean and recovered by the Navy. During the Cold War this information was necessary for the defense of the US.

B-52H print

This print is available in multiple sizes from AircraftProfilePrints.com – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS. B-52H Stratofortress 2nd BW, 20th BS, LA/60-0008 “Lucky Lady IV”.

The fourth and final mission of the D-21 drone took place on Mar. 20, 1971 and was undertaken by D-21 #527. Experts at the 4200th Support Squadron and at Skunk Works concluded that #527 must have malfunctioned. It was thought to have gone down near Lop Nor. This drone is on display in China at their national aviation museum. So we know that it got close.

Senior Bowl lasted from January 1968 until Jul. 15, 1971. Interestingly, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Ben Rich (then retired president of Lockheed’s Skunk Works) finally had an opportunity to tour Russia himself. While in Moscow, the KGB presented Rich with a gift of what they thought were the remains of a stealth fighter that had crashed in their territory. As it turned out, the wreckage was actually pieces and parts of the lost D-21 Drone!

Be sure to check out Linda Sheffield Miller (Col Richard (Butch) Sheffield’s daughter, Col. Sheffield was an SR-71 Reconnaissance Systems Officer) Facebook Page Habubrats for awesome Blackbird’s photos and stories.

Photo credit: U.S. Air Force

[supercimi]

recently i hadn't been successful at getting myself to write

althu i defnitly have the want to write feeling, but my time hadn't been timing very well ;<

okay maybe im also lazy --;

but i have managed to brainstorm stuff while busy with real life stuff so that's a good thing :D (althu i mainly did that without writing it down because i will be mid work or chores but it's alright..i remember some of it...or i will....probably -x-;)

funny thing is when i do finally have some free time i will do anything but write TwT

even browsing my old stuff :D the stuff that never saw the light of day >:3(kinda proud of that for some reason?)

was reading what seemed like a piece i wrote for some tag game or something? it really didn't feel like something i wrote xD

according to google docs i last opened that one back in 2020? but im not sure when exactly i wrote it

btw it's incomplete and probably willl never be(maybe? who knows?) but here it is cuz it made me laugh ;3

======loading========

Today was awful, and not okay, kinda awful, nope. It was just awful. 

ok, that was a bad start, let's be classy.

Hello, 4th wall alien, this is Ribbica, and your day can’t be worse than mine. 

Also, I am lost.

How lost?...well…*looks around*...somewhere underwater I guess?

*you are filled with disbelief* 

*it shows in your reading*

You don’t believe me, do you? Well, can’t blame you. Who’d believe some fictional character they are reading about?! 

…..

Oh, you are still reading?....guess aliens aren’t all that bad.

Then seeing as you are my only source of escaping reality. I'll rant about my awful luck recently, we cool? Rather, you don’t get to say no.

.

..

 'Hello and welcome to our esteemed yeeting service, here we can throw off any stress or emptiness you feel!' 

It started with a flyer smacking my head on the way to work. With all the wind and sand in the air that morning, I am lucky it was just a flyer that hit me.

What? It was windy, yes. But windy weather won’t pay bills.

Anyway, seeing it odd I threw it right away, go smack someone else’s face.

That certainly won’t be the last time I see that ad, or so my gut was warning me. But I ignored it, work won’t do itself.

As if howling winds and angry bosses weren’t enough, the weather kept getting worse.

One day it was just strong winds.

Another was heavy rainfalls.

The rest were nearing a typhoon.

But nope, work won’t be cancelled, can’t work outside? work inside! working online to be exact, all the lagging and errors didn’t make it any easier.

Another thing to add to my stress. Hmm? What? You also had to work online? Oh then maybe studying?..hmm strange didn’t know aliens needed to do that.

Anyway, the weather cooled off, enough to be a freezer yeah. But we were getting the hang of it.

Sadly that meant no going out, getting out meant freezing to death, not getting out was dying of boredom or nagging bosses in the comfort of your own house, alone.

At least I could practice painting. If my crazy workload ever lessened, Being an overworked adult isn’t fun.

Join a good company they said, having so much work they’d pay well they said, 

Yup, wonder why.

The odd ad chose those days to strike again. Online this time.

Even creepy ads were cooped at home huh?

 By that point, I had just gotten nagged at online and ran out of my comfort food.

So it was just me and this ad, I ignored it for being annoyingly tempting.

Then it was the same old routine: wake up, prepare for work over some fruits, work, work, some more work over noodles, lagging and heavy workload crashes, other work, and so forth.

I might as well have turned into a computer from how much work I did.

Even my beauty sleep was spent dreaming about work.

As if accompanying my tired self, the weather outside was getting quite crazy.

Once it’s a blizzard, another a typhoon, others a sandstorm.

Scientists were theorizing about all this being a dream, seriously just what happened?

Leaving the world crisis aside. Work went on as usual.

Those slave drivers didn’t relent at all. I had good pay at least, didn’t get to relish in its benefits at all, but, meh. Who needed entertainment anyway. Lol 

*you strangely feel a certain camaraderie with this character*

Don’t gimme that look, I don’t need a 4th wall breaking alien to pity me.

Anyway, being a work zombie was my life at that point, didn’t matter that scientists found out about a black hole nearing earth and causing an utter disaster, didn’t matter that earth was being colonized out in space, didn’t matter that my car was stolen by a crazy monkey. None at all.

At least until the power went out, a blackout in the middle of a global crisis, who would’ve thought?! Just nice!

My work-zombie mind couldn’t process what happened and had the great idea of going outside.

[marattsirelson]

Mother Accuses American of Dumping Children in Freezing Room

Mother Accuses American of Dumping Children in “Freezing” Room https://ift.tt/uqUNJfk   The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court on Oct. 31, 2023, is suing the carrier for how they allegedly handled the situation with the two unaccompanied minors.   American Accused of Misinformation, Not Providing Adequate Accommodations The lawsuit was brought by Amber Vencill as the mother of the two children traveling unaccompanied with American. The pair were flying from Missouri – where they visited with their father – to Syracuse, New York, to visit her current partner and his family.   According to the suit, the children had one connection at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). While they made the first flight without incident, their second flight from Charlotte to Syracuse was cancelled, which is where the family claims trouble began.   Per airline policies, the lawsuit claims her partner – identified as “Ted” – was called after the cancellation and told the children would be aboard a flight to Syracuse at 9:00 a.m. the next day. Their mother accuses American of giving her different information, sending an e-mail claiming they wouldn’t fly until 5:21 p.m. In the interim, Vencill claims American told her the children “would be in a nice room for unaccompanied minors where there were beds and their own bathroom.”   The family claims none of that happened. Instead, they say the children were put in a “freezing” room for lost children with only one sofa and the lights remaining on all night. They further say a phone number given to call the children did not work, and they were only able to speak to them by calling the airport directly.   During a conversation with the children, Vencill claims they said they were not given food or drink by the airline, and another “kind woman” not employed by the airline bought them food. Ultimately, the children were able to continue to Syracuse after the overnight delay. When Vencill reportedly e-mailed the American board of directors detailing the situation, she claims she was only offered an apology and a $150 refund of the unaccompanied minors fees.   Vencill and her attorneys are requesting an unspecified amount from the airlines in compensation for the incident. American Airlines has not provided a public comment about the accusations.   Keep up with everything American Airlines on the FlyerTalk Forums. via FlyerTalk – The world's most popular frequent flyer community https://ift.tt/ujGEVrc November 07, 2023 at 05:32PM

[vechkinfan]

Lost In The Shadows ~ (Part 1)

A/N: This is my first time writing for the Lost Boys, but they are my current hyper fixation. So my brain must produce all the content, since I haven't been able to find much Lost Boy love out there. So thank you all who said they'd love to give this a read. Please let me know what you think and if you want to be tagged/ removed in more potentially.

Words: ~4.8k

Pairing: For now The Lost Boys X OFC

Warnings: None yet! Just the boys being themselves.

Summary: The warnings and the hundreds of missing persons flyers never bother Charlie all that much. She knew the dangers of Santa Carla when she moved there, she just never thought she'd fall victim to the darkness the city held. Little did she know she was the closest person to that darkness, and the lost boys wanted to know why she was so special that Max chose to keep her around.

Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5

"Now Charlie, I'm trusting you with the shop tonight, do you think you have things handled?" 

Charlie, who had been half-heartedly watching the few customers browse the aisles of the VideoMax, drumming her fingers against the lament countertop in a rhythmic pattern, looked up to see Max standing by the door. Eyeing her with a cautious gaze as if he was on the verge of canceling whatever his evening plans entailed so he could stay back and help her out. Granted Charlie was new to the job, only being in Santa Carla for about a month now, but she could handle it. This wasn't exactly rocket science afterall. 

It's not like she expected a stampede of people anytime soon either, given it was a fairly warm summer night and the thrills of the boardwalk were much more appealing then any old VHS that was sitting on the shelf. The most she expected would be a group of rambunctious teens running through the front door to hide in between the aisles as their friends chased them. 

"I'm fine Max, relax will you." She tried to give him a reassuring smile as she stood to her full height. "I think I can hold down the fort for a few hours while you're gone." 

Shifting his weight, he slid his hands into his beige dress pant pockets, cracking the tiniest of smiles. "Thank you. I owe you big for this, given it's such short notice afterall."

Charlie rolled her eyes playfully as she sank back down onto the red vinyl stool behind the counter. Fingers absentmindedly finding the closest pen beside her, allowing her to fidget with the cap. Pulling it off and back on again as she stared at Max. "You don't owe me anything, now get going before you miss…." She thought for a brief moment, setting the pen down, just now realizing he hadn't said what he was actually doing this evening. "Well before you miss your big something or other." 

Max chuckled softly at her, before he gave a wave goodbye and Charlie carefully watched as he pushed open the doors and disappeared into the crowd of people meandering around the boardwalk. She hoped that whatever he was going to tonight would relax the man, he needed a night off from whatever was stressing him. Which clearly wasn't the VideoMax, because even on a slow day it was bringing in a profit. But it was something, and Charlie just couldn't quite put her finger on it yet. 

She had actually only just met Max a month ago when she was hitchhiking her way to Santa Carla. Charlie knew it was a stupid idea from the get go, the bright red flashing lights in her brain going off as a distant warning about that type of reckless behavior. She had heard the horror stories of women being picked up on the side of the road and never being heard from again. Except for the greyhound she had paid an egressus ticket price for, had the engine blow out about fifty miles away from her destination, filling the entire cabin with thick black smoke. Unfortunately for her, all the passengers had to evacuate immediately. It was typical Charlie luck at that point. The universe was laughing in her face with how close she had come to making it to her new 'home'. 

However, her luck seemed to take a perverbiable nose dive as the driver announced that the bus was no longer functional and it'd be waiting for a tow truck from the greyhound station at the nearest town, so the passengers would have to find alternative routes. Leaving about twenty or so people stranded on the side of the highway. 

The world at that point didn't leave her with many options, and she didn't have the money to hire a cab to take her the rest of the way. Not to mention she doubted her badly worn out converse with the soles half gone, and holes in the black canvas sides would have made it that far. 

So that's how Charlie found herself thumbing her way down the interstate at nine o'clock at night. Canvas bag slung over her shoulder and her heavy over stuffed duffle bag in her free hand. 

 For a while she had no luck, the road seemed to be barren the majority of her walk. The several cars that did eventually drive by either never saw her or they just didn't feel like picking a stranger up. Admittedly if Charlie was in their situation she probably wouldn't have stopped either. She would have just driven by without looking out the window, ignoring the helpless stare of the person. Stamping down whatever conscience she had left, reminding herself that the risks far exceeded the reward in that case. 

But someone must have been looking out for her that night, because about two hours into her long trek Max pulled over in his red convertible and offered her a ride. He was a sweet man, very friendly with a sense of humor, who thankfully didn't chop her up into a million little pieces and scatter her body around California. 

Charlie would forever be in his debt for that. 

On top of stopping for her, he even offered her a job at his video store to get her up on her feet, seeing as they were both headed to Santa Carla. Plus the two quick side eyes he gave towards her overly stuffed bags sitting on her lap gave her situation away quite quickly. But he never brought it up, didn't even ask about why she was headed to the murder capital of the world, a fact see learned off the back of the Welcome to Santa Carla sign as they reached the city line.

Max was even generous enough and offered her a place to stay above the store. It wasn't much, two rooms and a small bathroom, occasionally having to share space with extra inventory, but it was more than enough for Charlie. Plus if she worked extra hours at the store he offered to lower the rent, which she happily agreed too. Any amount of money she could save up the better. 

And that's how she found herself sitting behind the register counter on this boring Thursday night. Typically Charlie covered the morning into the later afternoon shifts, before Max would come in towards the evenings. But tonight she was facing the night crowd, which meant rowdier people and more of them. None of which Charlie really liked dealing with. But she would do anything for Max, she owed him her life at this point and in truth he had slowly turned into a fatherly figure for her. Which Charlie had never had up until this point. 

She didn't want to disappoint.

Thankfully the evening passed fairly uneventfully for her, only having to ring out a handful of customers. She even had been unwillingly roped into a conversation about the newest John Carpenter movie. An older gentleman scoffing at how the genre was being ruined by how bloody the movie was. Frankly Charlie didn't care, she had liked the movie The Thing, but she wasn't in the business to disagree with the man. Instead she silently nodded her head in agreement as he spoke, doodling a strange geometric shape on the pad of green post-it notes that had been sitting by the telephone. 

"Charlie my girl! I see the store is in one piece still." The bell above the door rang as she raised her head to see Max stride in with a bit of pep in his step. 

More than she had seen since she had met him. It was crystal clear that whatever he got up to seemed to brighten his spirits.

Smirking, she shoved the post-it notes away from her. "Only had to put out two fires." She stated plainly an air of seriousness laced in her words but once she saw Max's smile falter she held up her hands in playful surrender. "I'm joking, I'm joking. There were no fires, just one angry man pissed at hollywood." 

Furrowing his brows for a brief moment Max stared at Charlie, but he quickly shook his head at her jovial antics. "I'm glad everything went smoothly, besides that. But you're free to go, I can close up for the night, it's the least I can do." Shimmying off his slightly oversized striped sports coat, he placed it on the counter. "Go enjoy the rest of the evening, the boardwalk is still open for a few hours. On my way back I actually heard a concert going on down at the beach, might be worthwhile to check out." 

"You know I don't do crowds." Charlie chuckled as she got up from her seat and wandered over towards the employee only door. 

She prided herself on her innate ability to avoid people. Living in Santa Carla was the mecca for tourists, and the boardwalk was the end all be all for all of them. And despite the VideoMax being off the main road, she had managed to avoid getting into that mess. 

"You've been here a month Charlie, and I haven't seen you leave your apartment except to come to work. You know I just worry." Folding his hands over his chest, Max watched as Charlie stepped into the room quickly. Only to re-emerge seconds later with her small canvas bag. "Humor me for once, just go out and see if you can enjoy yourself. Here," reaching into his pant pockets he pulled out a stack of small red stubbed tickets. "I found them in the inside of my jacket tonight. Must have forgotten about them when I bought them last." 

As she slowly made her way towards him, she glanced up at Max's smiling face and then to his outstretched hand. Eyeing the semi familiar tickets, having seen them on almost any tourist who walked through the door. "Carousel tickets?" She asked with a raised brow. "You know I'm not five right?" 

"Depends on the day, if you ask me." He said with a smug shrug. A playful smile pulled across his face as his eyes glimmered with mischief. 

With a loud gasp Charlie covered her heart in mock hurt, "You wound me with such cruel words." But after a few moments she snatched the tickets from his hand and stuffed them into the back pocket of her black denim shorts. He'd never know if she never put them to use. "We both know I'm at least eight on good days. It's my great math skills with peoples change that gives me the edge." 

"I wouldn't say it's great, but around here you definitely have the edge." He winked and wandered off down the new release aisle seeing a middle aged woman in the midst of what appeared to be a dilemma. Two VHS tapes in hand and still a look of utter confusion plastered across her face. 

Charlie shook her head and silently laughed to herself as she made her way out of the Video store. Slinging her bag over her shoulders as she looked down the boardwalk. To the left most of the stores had closed up for the night, their lights and obnoxiously buzzing neon signs switched off, except for the two food vendors that were positioned by the stairs that lead down to the beach. Knowing they would get lucky if they waited long enough for the bonfires to die down and people to start making their way back towards the parking lots. 

As she tilted her head towards the right, that's where all the action seemed to be. She could hear the distant screams and the methodical clicks of the rollercoaster chains as it slowly raised its passengers up the mountainous hill before letting them drop, the night air instantly filling with laughter and the screams of guys' girlfriends that had been roped into going on just one quick ride. 

The warm summer breeze surrounded her, wafting an intoxicating scent of sickly sweet cotton candy, popcorn and freshly fried funnel cake that held just the tiniest scent of puke in the undertones. 

It'd wouldn't be the boardwalk if some unsuspecting kid didn't lose their dinner to a ride they knew better than to get on right after eating something greasy. Her third day in Santa Carla actually entailed some bratty kid throwing up all over her shoes just after he entered the video store. So not only did she have to clean it up but had to suffer with the rancid acidic scent reaching her nose every time she took two steps until her shift was over. 

Charlie found herself wandering aimlessly through the crowd of people. Trying her best not to get food spilled on her, there had been a close call with some man's hotdog. The dude barely noticed her presence as he plowed into her, shoulder to shoulder, with such force it knocked Charlie back slightly. Thankfully the ketchup drenched end of his hotdog just barely missed her army green jacket, cause she was in no mood to remove stains from her favorite piece of clothing. 

From the boardwalk she was able to see the concert Max mentioned earlier, except even from where she stood leaning against the railing she knew it wasn't exactly her taste in music. Perhaps if she was high and drunk out of her mind she would have made her way down to the sandy beach and joined in with all the people dancing like complete idiots. Except she was none of those things, and she would rather be caught dead than dance sober in public. 

Instead she drummed her fingers impatiently against the weather worn wood railing. Wondering what was an acceptable amount of time to be out at this hour, before she crept back to the VideoMax. Hoping that Max would be busy in the office with paperwork or buried in the inventory supply closet, so he wouldn't notice her coming back almost instantly. She would surely get a disapproving dad look from him if he caught her coming back now.

A couple, a few feet down caught her attention briefly as they practically ate each other's faces. Charlie's nose crinkled in disgust as she watched them make out, completely oblivious to the onlookers that would stop and gauk for a few moments before continuing on their way. She could never imagine being that in love with someone that the embarrassment of public displays of affection wouldn't affect her in some way.

Turning away from the spectacle, she sighed to herself. 

Instead she panned the crowd of people once more, before glancing over at the missing persons board. She was under no illusion when it came to Santa Carla, people came here to go missing. If your head wasn't on a siviel, if you didn't question your own decisions, your own picture would be plastered on top of hundreds of others, only to be buried a few days later by even more. You'd be lost, forgotten about in time until one day no one would even remember you existed.

Perhaps that's why Charlie even stuck around Santa Carla. Sure the graffitied words on the back of the welcome sign warned her, but the hundreds of missing persons flyers only confirmed it. But to normal people it should have had them running to the next town over. Not Charlie though.

Maybe on some level she was hoping to vanish from this hell hole planet. 

Turning around, she rested her back against the railing. Shoving her hands into the front pockets of her black jeans, fingers fiddling with a few loose coins she had forgotten she put in them, most likely on her last take-out run. However, as she looked out at the crowd she noticed a pair of piercing blue eyes staring at her from across the way.

A lit cigarette hung from the man's lips, as the three guys beside him continued to talk amongst themselves. All of them didn't look out of place on the boardwalk, no, quite the opposite, they blended in well almost making them unnoticeable if you weren't paying real attention. Making her wonder how long they had been behind her, and how long the guy had been staring.

His bleached blonde mullet and all black get up, had her brain screaming bad boy to Charlie. All four of them did, actually. BAD BOY, in big bold capital letters flashing brightly above their heads. Warning her to keep her distance. 

His friend, well she assumed he was his friend, looked like he crawled out of a Def Leppard music video, blonde hair teased to hell and back. He had the heads of several women turning as they passed, eyeing him up and down like they were starved and he was the last steak on earth. His ego was clearly just as big as his hair because he winked playfully at them and smirked devilishly as they giggled amongst themselves before giving him an awkward wave. 

Tall, dark and brooding also didn't make a good case for them. He was by far the most muscular of the bunch, with long dark hair that framed his face in even more darkness. His black leather jacket did nothing to hide the fact he was shirtless underneath, letting the entire boardwalk see the dark wispy trail of hair that lead from his navel under his too tight jeans. If he wasn't standing on the boardwalk in Santa Carla she wouldn't be hard pressed to believe he was a model. 

The last one, who was now punching the arm of the wannabe hair band member, was the least intimidating of the group. His cherub-like face was framed by long blonde curls that would make any girl envious. His bright colorful patched jacket and his uncanny fashion choice of jeans and chaps was really the only thing strange about him. 

When she circled back around to the bleach blonde, Charlie noticed a tiny smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. His cigarette was now pinched between his fingers, before tossing it to the ground causing the glowing embers to scatter across the boardwalk from the force. With the tip of his black boot he snuffed it out easily, eyes still trained on Charlie. 

He made no moves as he continued to stand there, however his friends seemed to take notice of his attention. All of them looked up and over to her before laughing wildly to themselves.

Charlie felt her cheeks warm, and a flood of embarrassment washed over her almost instantly. Caught red handed, so it seemed. 

Taking that as her queue to leave, she pushed off the railing and started back towards the Video store. Her feet carried her at a quick pace, but it seemed like it didn't quite matter how fast she was walking. In less than a minute, she heard the roar of motors screaming loudly behind her followed swiftly by a motorcycle abruptly cutting off her path. 

The bleach blonde was sitting on top of his bike, idealing for a few moments before three more bikes surrounded her. Blocking any way out she might have been able to slip through. 

"So the new video girl finally makes an appearance." The wannabe rock star said from her left, revving his engine playfully with a smirk. "Was wondering when you'd come out to play with us." He laughed, which seemed to only earn him a pointed look from the bleach blonde. 

"Yeah, cause we aren't allowed in the video store any more." The curly hair blonde added, inching his bike closer to her side. His eyes gave her a slow once over, before smirking.  

"Can't imagine why…" She mumbled to herself quietly, knowing exactly why Max had probably banned them. However the bleach blonde must have heard her, cause another devious grin spread across his face. "What is it that you guys want?" She shoved her hands back into her pockets, nervously twisting her fingers in the loose fabric. 

"Came to introduce ourselves." The bleach blonde said smoothly. "David." He reached out a gloved hand towards her, calculating eyes watching her almost in a predatory way. A look that sent shivers down her spine and caused the hair on the back of her neck to raise. It was a feeling she had never experienced before from another person, and it worried her slightly.

Charlie ignored his hand, as she looked him over with a scrutinizing gaze. It was clear just by the tone of his voice and how the other guys reacted to his comments that he was the leader. The man with the plan that everyone followed. 

"Nice to meet you, now if you'll excuse me I have to get home." She really didn't care to learn the rest of their names. Instead she used the small gap the curly hair boy made when he moved his bike up, to slip out and around them. 

"Nights still young, what's the rush?" David asked as he followed her with his eyes again. 

Shrugging her shoulders, trying her best to play it cool, she rounded their bikes until she stood in front of him. "Yeah what's the rush, babe?" The blonde with the blown out hair laughed, earning a chuckle from the curly haired boy. 

Ignoring their harassing comments she leaned forward, hands resting on David's motorcycle handles. "I don't have a death wish like some people." Her eyes stared into his, only glancing down when she saw a mischievous smirk tugged at the corner of his lip. Clearly amused by her tenacity, which had come out of nowhere. Charlie usually never was this forward with people. 

"Night boys." With that she spun around and disappeared into the surge of people who had just exited the Carousel. 

********

It had been about three weeks since her run in with the bikers on the boardwalk. Don't get her wrong, she had seen them individually over those days. Cruising by on their bikes, revving their engines like maniacs or walking by the store front only to peek their head in to give a devilish smirk and a quick 'what up hot stuff?', before disappearing. 

For the life of her she had no idea as to why they held such a fascination towards her. Perhaps it was because she didn't swoon at the two blondes' advances, or cowar at David's deathly gaze. Instead, she either ignored them completely or gave a half hearted wave in their direction just to shut them up.

"There's the best looking girl on the boardwalk." The blonde in the fishnet shirt practically yelled as he entered the video store trailed shortly behind by the patched jacket kid. 

"Paul, you know that shit doesn't work on her." 

"She'll break one day Marko, no one can resist my charm for that long." Paul smirked as he leaned over and rested his arms against the counter. 

"Aren't the two of you banned from this store?" Charlie sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. Sizing up the two boys, Marko and Paul. It was strange having names to their faces suddenly, because what she was calling them in her mind certainly wasn't close to the real thing. 

"David wants to know if you want to go riding with us tonight. Maybe find out that name of yours as well." Paul reached over and grabbed the stack of sticky notes from beside the phone. Along with having the balls to grab the pen that was sticking out of the breast pocket of her army jacket. "Plus ‘banned’ is such a strong word, babe. We're more like uninvited."

He began doodling quietly, presumably waiting for an answer from her. But Charlie just blinked at him, her brain still processing the nerve of this guy. Clearly that ego of his hadn't popped at all, it seemed to only grow exponentially by the day. Maybe all the hairspray was eating away his brain. 

For once she actually didn't regret losing her name tag in the toilet all those weeks ago. Charlie could only imagine the harassment she'd get if her name was proudly displayed and easy for them to find…. Well if they could read, Paul certainly didn't look the type. Pictures books were probably more his speed.

Marko let out an amused laugh, seemingly at nothing, causing Charlie to glare in his direction. 

"Aren't they the same thing?" 

"Nah, if Max isn't here we're more than welcome." Marko piped up, clearing his throat from his laugh. Spinning the lollipop display on the edge of the counter around, only stopping it when he plucked a red one from the holder. "So are you in?"

"I don't even know you guys." Charlie stuck her hand out towards Marko, who began unwrapping the sucker impatiently. She motioned with her finger for him to give her the cash for the item he was most certainly trying to steal. 

At her words Paul's head shot up and a feigned gasp escaped his lips. "Sure you do. You know I'm Paul and that idiot is Marko." He pointed at the curly haired blonde who was fishing around in his jacket pocket for the quarter he owed Charlie. "How much more of an introduction do you need?" 

Charlie opened her mouth, ready to let Paul in on a little secret. That knowing peoples names and being friends weren't mutually exclusive. However before the words could even escape past her lips, Max walked through the door. Eyes zeroing in on the two biker boys almost immediately, which set his lips into a fine line. Clearly annoyed they were inside his store. 

"What did I tell you boys, you aren't allowed in here." Max's voice settled across the store front. His tone on the verge of anger caused the hairs on her arms to stand up. She had never seen Max this pissed before "Are they bothering you Charlie?" 

"No, they were just leaving." She forced a fake smile, hoping the two blonde idiots would take the queue and leave. "Weren't you." 

"Yeah, we were just leaving. Right Marko." Paul grinned wider, sliding the stack of posted notes back towards Charlie. 

"Yep." Marko said as he popped the sucker out of his mouth. 

"Catch you on the flip side, Charlie." With a playful wink, she watched Paul shove Marko towards the door. The two of them only stopping to size up Max for a brief moment before disappearing into the night. 

When she heard the door fall closed, she sighed heavily, sinking back down onto her stool behind the counter. Eyes drifting to the sticky note that Paul had given back to her. A crood drawing of two stick figures on the back of a poorly drawn motorcycle. With the words Me and You etched and circled above the peoples heads in scratchy handwriting.

"No good punks they all are." She lifted her head, seeing Max glaring out the front windows making sure the boys were really gone and not lurking out front somewhere. "They didn't threaten you did they?" Turning his attention away from the crowd that picked up outside, his eyes focused on Charlie. Looking her over cautiously as if he half expected her to be missing an arm or leg after talking to those two. 

"What? No?" Yeah they seemed like the bad boy types but none of them had ever made any attempts to hurt her. Or put a hand on her for that matter. Paul seemed the biggest threat and it was only because he seemed so damn persistent, and the only hurt she'd get was the punch to her ego when she finally gave in and let his smooth talking ways win. "Just annoyingly persistent is all. I'm sure they're harmless." 

Waving off his concern, Charlie went back to rewinding the VHS tapes that had been returned that afternoon. Ninety percent of them needed to be rewound despite the 'be kind, rewind' sticker she had slapped on all the plastic casing a few weeks prior. Hoping her idea, that she unabashedly stole from Blockbuster would make everyone's job here a tiny bit more bearable. But, like all things, people seemed to miss the hints. 

Stepping behind the counter Max jokingly placed the back of his hand against her forehead in passing. Which caused her to stare with an unamused smirk dead ahead of her. "Just making sure you aren't sick. Cause I don't think I've ever heard you stick up for those punks once since I've known you. Don't tell me they are wearing you down." 

"I'll have you know it takes more than a few charming words, rockstar hair and bad boy bikes to wear me down." OK, that wasn't entirely true. Charlie was a sucker for just about anything that gave her positive attention. Except she knew better than to act on it. These guys were probably treating her like a game, who could get Charlie to break first. Especially because there were far more beautiful girls walking the boardwalk every night. Easier pickings so to speak. 

She just had to wait it out. Eventually they'd lose interest in her newness and set their sights on someone else. 

Tag List: @readingafterdarkness @pitiful-anonymous-vampire @ilikechocolatemilkh

[cottagecore-onceler]

Chapter 2 / Onceler x Reader

You woke up. Your bedroom was filled with extremely bright, warm light, which only seems to be appearing in the mornings of cool, early October. You had the eeriest dream about your childhood friend. Wait, who was that? The more you tried to remember, the hazier it became, eventually slipping away entirely. Could it be Onceler? You haven’t seen him in such a long time, since his family moved. You gave up trying to grasp the details. It was time to get ready for work. 

You dropped out of college last year. Your mental health had suffered a lot after the incident, but you were getting therapy and overall doing better. On one of your beloved hiking trips you saw a child disappear into a waterfall in the Truffula Valley. It was never seen again and you couldn’t even imagine what the family was going through. You weren’t able to put it into words at the time, but you needed to slow down a little bit and take some time for yourself. So you decided to quit school and move to your parents’ old cabin, located in the outskirts of Truffula Valley. Having spent the best moment of your childhood there, it was still your favourite place in the entire world. The cabin was old and almost unrecognisable from the wild nature surrounding it. Your parents told you it was built by your great-grandfather, a biologist studying these amazing trees. The bookshelves were filled with notebooks he kept writing until his death, which happened somewhere in the early 70s. You loved reading them as a child - what he wrote felt more like a fairytale full of magic creatures than academic analysis. After he had passed, your grandmother, his daughter, tried donating them to a university library in town, but they very rudely declined the offer, calling his writings “pseudo-scientific gibberish”. This made you very angry when you were little - you wanted to experience his world and everything in it. As you got older, you realised he probably lost his mind living here, entirely on his own for decades. The forest got the best of him, but you weren’t going to follow in his steps. You have never, ever been happier.

(Vashti Bunyan - Diamond Day playing softly in the background)

During mornings like these you’d wake up extremely early to watch the sun rising from in-between the colourful Truffula tufts, all accompanied by the sky changing its color every 3 minutes or so, from hazy, purplish blue to light lilac and soft pink. You sat outside your cabin and gazed at it calmly while drinking an oat milk latte. After finishing your coffee and breakfast you had to start preparing for work. You recently got a part-time job in Greenville, the hours were ok, the pay was ok, and - since it was an obscure movie theatre - sometimes you could sneak in and watch some niche, old films. Early October in Truffula Valley was your favourite time of the year - the tufts were still colourful yet already fading into the most beautiful, warm shade of orange. You put on your favourite outfit and biked to town, feeling the soft, autumn breeze on your rosy cheeks.

Work was really dull that day and you actually had to cancel two screenings already, because - surprise, surprise - no one came. “People in this town are really uncultured these days” you thought, wondering what happened to the customers who used to storm the cinema on a daily basis. You took a deep breath and realised it really wasn’t your business and you shouldn’t get irritated. “Only two screenings left”, you thought, uncontrollably yawning. One of them was definitely going to take place - it was kind of a big event, management posted flyers all over town a month ago already. The movie was Citizen Kane, an old, black and white classic, which’s hype you never really understood. “Who cares about the problems of some rich, white dude”, you’d always chuckle when anyone mentioned it. It was just so outdated. The second screening, sadly, could actually get canceled. It was an Agnès Varda 1962 movie called Cleo from 5 to 7. You saw it last year and thought it was really ahead of its time.

As you predicted, more and more people started coming in for Citizen Kane. You were extremely bored, yet polite, handing clients their tickets. At some point, the line disappeared, you looked down and started remembering that eerie dream. Was there a cinema involved? You still couldn’t get yourself to remember the hazy details. Suddenly, a loud voice brought you back to reality:

- Can I get a ticket for Cleo? - you heard and looked up.

- Oh my god! - you shouted way louder than you should’ve - Oncie! 

Such a coincidence, you actually thought about him this morning. And there he was, standing in front of your counter. It really seemed like he hasn’t changed at all since you saw him at the age of, what was it, 8? He seemed to only have grown in terms of height, being so exceptionally tall you had to take a second, searching for his round, bright face somewhere around the tacky, vintage ceiling. He smiled at you, showing off that wide, extremely cute smile, which was one of the most vivid images of him left in your memory. 

- No way! Y/n? - Onceler seemed excited - so good to see you! Do you live around here?

- Yes, well, actually no, not exactly in town. I moved to my parent’s cabin in the Truffula Valley, you remember it?

- How could I forget? - his face brightened up - that means we’re sort of neighbours right now! I just moved down there too.

- Really? - you smiled - moved away from the ranch? 

- Yea! I’m actually, sort of, starting a business? Or at least trying to - you could see his smile turning awkward and forced, so you decided to drop the subject immediately.

- Your ticket! - you suddenly remembered you’re supposed to be working - Unfortunately, I think we’re gonna have to cancel that screening. You’re the only person who showed up and there needs to be at least 5 people.

- Aw! I was really excited to watch it - he sighed - Are you playing anything else then?

- Yeah, Citizen Kane. A bit overrated for my taste, but it’s a classic.

- Okey-doke, then I’ll have one ticket and… - he stopped abruptly and a subtle blush appeared on his cheeks - will you still be here when the movie ends?

- Yea - you said, a little bit surprised - company policy, you know. It might seem pointless, but we had a popcorn machine stolen once. 

- Yuck, really? - he flinched and laughed - then maybe we can grab a beer after the movie? I haven’t seen you in ages.

- Okay, sure, why not - you replied with surprising confidence, which must’ve been a result of his incredibly calming presence.

- Then, um, see ya later! - he waved at you and disappeared into the big door on your right.

The movie started and everyone vanished. You noticed yourself being a little bit nervous and couldn’t really figure out why that was. Were you developing a teeny tiny crush on your childhood friend? “Not again!”, you thought to yourself, “you literally spoke to him for 2 seconds”. He got really handsome over the years - his eyes were big and blue, his smile was heartwarming and kind with something unexplainably sexy about it, his hair… ah, his black hair. Accepting the invitation was definitely a good choice. After all, you haven’t really spoken to a friend in months. 

Wondering about all these things and replaying that short encounter in your head, over and over, you didn’t even notice when the 119 minutes passed. People started walking out. You tried not to stare too much, but couldn’t really help yourself. You spotted him in the crowd and he immediately looked at you as well. 

- Hey! - Onceler shouted approaching - let’s get going!

You biked slowly, as he walked next to you. The nearest bar was about 20 minutes away, but the evening was warm. The whole town was covered in a lovely, dusty blue fog, successfully covering its hideous, decaying buildings. You didn’t like Greenville. The northern half of it consisted of creepy suburbs, where all houses looked exactly the same and costed way more than a normal person would earn within two lifetimes. The southern half was simply neglected, deprived of life, joy and culture. This is where the movie theatre was located. It was once a popular spot, where teenagers would go on dates and parents would take their children on sunny weekends. However, since streaming services became an option, people stopped coming whatsoever. Its days were numbered, you were sure of it. 

- How’d you like the movie? - you asked.

- I liked it! It was… interesting.

- Really? - you asked with genuine curiosity. That was an unexpected take on Citizen Kane.

- Well, no - Onceler replied and laughed - I fell asleep at the beginning and woke up when the lights turned on. I’ve been so exhausted recently. I feel stupid.

- Don’t! - you smiled at him - I once fell asleep on Nosferatu. Black and white movies tend to do this to your brain. 

- There is something weirdly soothing about them - he agreed.

- So… - you decided to push the topic a little bit - why are you so tired? Is it because of the new business?

- Yea, it is - he said, looking down - Let’s just say it is not going very well. 

- Explain - you asked and suddenly noticed a red spot on his white shirt - hey, you got a…

- Yea - he interrupted and laughed nervously - I know! So, uh… I’ve been knitting. I had this amazing idea of a thing that could be used in so many ways! - you noticed his eyes sparkling - I call it a thneed. I keep trying to sell it, but anytime I show up at the town square, people start throwing things at me - he shrugged his shoulders irritatedly - I guess I should just quit and move back to my parents.

- Um - you sighed loudly, not really knowing what to say. You never knew what to say when people were sad around you - are you sure? Maybe you just… - you smirked - thneed some more time? 

He looked at you with a heartwarming, pathetic half-smile and for a moment it kind of felt like no time had passed since you saw each other last.

- I don’t even know anymore if that’s what I wanna do - he sighed - I thought I had it all figured out, ya know? - he took a deep breath - enough about me. How are you doing?

- Ummm, fine - you mumbled looking down. He caught you off guard. For some unexplainable reason you weren’t prepared to be talking about yourself - nothing out of the ordinary. I go to work, I leave work and bike around. That’s all, I guess.

- Is it? - he grinned - I can’t believe that’s true. What are you hiding, y/n? 

- Nothing, I swear! - you laughed - Seriously, I have retired. And I’m enjoying it.

- So, how do you spend your days in retirement? - he asked.

- So… - you took a moment to think about the right words to make your daily routine sound at least a little bit interesting - I wake up early. I walk around the forest a lot. I read. And if I don’t have any chores or work I bike to the lake and swim a little. 

- She swims a little! - he scoffed - You come to town a lot?

- Only when I have to - you replied - For work, I mean. I don’t really like it here. 

Suddenly he stopped and grabbed the handle of your bike. His hand brushed against yours, which immediately set off a tingly sensation in your chest.

- We don’t need to stay here if you don’t want to - he gave you that heartwarming smile again - you could come see my cottage. I’d show you the thneeds. 

- Sure, why not  - you looked at him curiously. You weren’t expecting this. Although you probably should have; “he was always so kind and understanding”, you thought, “unlike the rest of his family”.

- Can we use your bike? 

- Yea, sure! I don’t think I’ll be able to take you on the trunk though, with umm…

- My abnormally long legs? - he laughed - it’s okay, I can drive. My cottage is not that far away, we’ll manage somehow.

(Porridge Radio - Eugh playing softly in the background)

He hopped on the bike and you sat on the trunk, putting your arms around his waist. It felt good - your breath slowed down, your heartbeat was calmer now, the anxiety had vanished completely. You laid your cheek on his back - it felt almost like a natural reflex - and gazed into the evening sky. You exited the town and rode through the forest. The sunlight was dim, almost non-existent, and a perfect full moon was emerging on the horizon. The cool, fresh air gently caressed your cheeks with a soft evening breeze. You took a deep breath, smelling various types of flowers which grew all around the Valley. Your eyes closed - seemingly out of their own, independent will - and for a moment it felt as if every little thing in the world ceased to exist, besides the two of you, speeding through nothingness. You rode in silence, as the breeze became cooler. You noticed yourself gripping Onceler’s waist tighter, as you got a little cold in your dress and he really seemed like the warmest thing in the universe. Suddenly, you saw a cottage rising from the forest.

- Here we are! - he announced - Welcome to my humble headquarters.

You became a bit pensive during the ride and didn’t even notice you were still holding on to his body. You finally let go of his torso and the both of you hopped off the bike. He didn’t seem to mind.

- Oh! - you gasped - wow, it looks pretty! I don’t think I’ve ever been to this part of the forest.

- I’m really glad you like it - he unlocked the door and turned on the lights - soo… this is my workshop.

It was warm inside. Not only in terms of the temperature, but the overall vibe. The interior was simple and cosy, which made you feel at ease. You sat on a chair next to what seemed like a desk, covered entirely in crochet needles and pink Truffula tufts.

- Oh… so you make them from Truffula trees? - you asked curiously.

- Yea! - he said, opening a beer and handing one to you - they’re extremely soft, don’t you think?

- Yea, I guess so. But don’t you have to like… cut down the trees to get them?

- At first I thought so too! - he raised his voice and suddenly you remembered he actually used to do that a lot as a kid. Whenever he got excited about something, he’d practically yell at you - but then, since it came out I’m not gonna be knitting that many of them… - he looked down and took a sip from his bottle - I found a way of harvesting them, which doesn’t disrupt their growth at all. I made this.

He went up to a wardrobe and started throwing things out of it, looking for something. 

- Aha! There it is.

It looked like a giant pair of pliers with an extendable handle.

- Impressive, Once - you laughed, taking a sip from your bottle.

- Buuuuut… - Onceler looked down again, shrugging his shoulders - can you imagine I haven’t sold even one thneed? It’s crazy! 

- You still haven’t shown me what a thneed looks like - you said - or even told me what it is.

He headed back to the wardrobe and took out a pink, fluffy something. It looked a little bit like a scarf, but had a lot of holes in it. 

- Look, it has all-natural microfibers. It’s super absobernt. You can wear it as a scarf - he put it around his neck - you can use it as a hat, as a top, as a carpet… I think it’s a revolutionary product and I really want people to notice it too! Try it on.

- Okay, show me.

You stood up and straightened your arms along your waist, not knowing what to expect. He came up to you, put the thneed around your neck and started adjusting its numerous holes so it fit perfectly. You felt that tingly sensation again. His face was focused, but so incredibly close to yours you could feel his breath on your cheeks. 

- It suits you - he finished styling it and looked at you with a smile - so, since you’re such a hermit now, maybe we can sit outside? It’s not that cold.

- Yea, you don’t have to ask. There’s a full moon tonight.

- Keep the thneed - he said, opening the back door. 

(Totally Mild - Nights playing softly in the background)

You adjusted the thneed wrapped softly around your neck and followed him outside. He laid a blanket on the grass, carefully, and sat on it, crossing his legs. You noticed your heart rate go a little bit up when you glanced at him in this scenery. You couldn’t stop wondering that this could be your life now. Knitting these weird things, living in the forest… together. You couldn’t stop imagining other things as well. “Stop this”, you thought immediately, “let’s just enjoy this evening”.

- So… what’s on your mind? - you asked, sitting next to him.

- It’s just… I’m working so incredibly hard now and I’m still failing - he said - I wish I was more successful. 

- It doesn’t always come right away, Onceler - you said, sipping your beer - sometimes you have to wait. 

- But I’ve already done so much - he sighed.

- I know what you mean, but, you know, don’t worry - you didn’t know what to say - at some point someone’s definitely gonna buy one, just give it time - you smiled at him. This thneed was really growing on you.

- Maybe you’re right - Onceler sighed - but I really want to make it big. To see everyone using them. Everyone! A world filled with thneeds.

- Do you really? - you scoffed - and how exactly would you do it? You’d need a lot of help, do you realise that? And what about the trees? 

- I guess I would figure it all out along the way. I just want to be the successful one, for once - he looked down with a miserable half smile - are you happy with your life right now?

- I don’t know - you laughed, a little bit confused - is, like, anyone ever?

- I believe so - he smiled - that’s what I want, to be proud of my life.

- Being happy and being proud are two different things.

- To me they’re the same. 

- Wouldn’t you just prefer - you stopped for a second, thinking of the right words - like… just peace of mind?

- I will have peace of mind, when I become successful - he explained - I’m sure of it.

- Seriously? How are you so sure? - you pushed him.

- I just am - he replied.

- Wouldn’t you want something more like… a slow life in the forest? - you laughed - I know it sounds cliche, but imagine it. Taking long walks, enjoying the views, the fresh air. Every day. You know, I feel like living in my parent’s cabin turned out really good for me. I feel like - you sighed and looked him in the eyes with a half smile - I feel like I always knew it subconsciously. That this is supposed to be my life. Here, in the Valley.

- I used to dream of that too, ya know? - Onceler looked at you, when an unexpected, soft blush appeared on his cheeks - actually, when we were little I thought we were gonna end up that way. I mean, the both of us, together...

The look on his face changed slightly. He was now gazing into your eyes with this soothing, dreamy expression. 

- I guess I thought so too - you said - it seemed like… it was the natural way for things to go.

He laid on the blanket, facing the sky. You laid next to him.

- This feels right, doesn’t it? - he asked, closing his eyes.

- Yeah... I think so - you whispered, yawning.

- I’ve missed you, y/n.

Hearing this was the last thing you remember before the both of you dozed off, right under bright, October stars, wrapped in a warm, cosy thneed.

...

You woke up to the same, bright, warm light, which you enjoyed so much every morning. Only this time it was way brighter than before.

“Oh my god”, you thought to yourself, “why am I outside?”. Before you managed to make a quick recollection of the series of events which led the two of you to falling asleep, so peacefully, on a blanket in Onceler’s backyard, you’ve noticed his hand was holding yours, with great intensity at that. The initial anxiety had left. The tangly sensation returned. It was cute.

He looked so at ease. His hair was messy, falling into his eyes. Considering the stress he’s been going through with the new business and all, you decided not to wake him up. You thought about making some breakfast, maybe coffee. You carefully freed your hand from his grip and went inside.

You found your phone on the tuft-covered desk. “Oh no”, you thought as you noticed numerous missed calls from your parents. You opened the texts: “Baby, where are you? Your mom broke her leg and we really need you to come home and help her. Call us asap”. Your heart started pounding again. You had to go, leaving so many questions unanswered. You looked at Onceler through the window, still sleeping, completely unbothered by the sounds of nature waking up. You found a piece of paper, scribbled a note, “phone number!”, you thought frantically, “he needs my phone number”, took your bike and left for your parents house. 

(Alexandra Savior - Can’t help myself playing softly in the background as y/n rides away)

[buckyismybicycle]

CHAPTER 13 [AO3 Link]

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers Rating: Explicit Tags/Warnings: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurities, Body Image Issues, References to Depression/Anxiety/Eating Disorders/Alcohol Abuse, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Alternate Universe - No Powers/Hockey, Team Bonding, Slow Burn, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Top Bucky Barnes, Pining, Idiots in Love, Miscommunications, Requited Unrequited Love, Slight Jealousy

<< Previous Chapter | Series Masterpost | Overall Masterpost

Steve

The weather refuses to let up, but the show must go on, they say. He’s not even sure how the Philadelphia Flyers are going to make it into the city given all the flight cancellations, but they can’t go into a game without practice.

Steve might have been more bummed about going out in this horrendous snow if he wasn’t secretly just a little bit glad that he gets to see Bucky again. It should worry him that two days feels like two weeks, with this Bucky-shaped hole in his daily routines. He can’t remember ever feeling like this, and gets so lost in his daydreaming he nearly messes up said routine.

He washes his mug, sets it on the dish rack, and slings his bag over his shoulders to head downstairs, trying not to think about all the ways he could ruin what he and Bucky have. Trying not to think about Bucky with someone else.

Get a grip. They had agreed to this, and he knows he shouldn’t have, if he didn’t really mean it. He just thought he could handle it, but apparently, it’s not as easy as he thought it’d be.

Even though Bucky had given Steve the extra key to his apartment, Steve has never had to use it. The door’s always open for him, and he enters, comfortable as if it were his own space even though it isn’t.

“Hey,” Bucky greets him casually with a smile on his face as usual.

Steve forgets everything. Valeri who?

“Heya, Buck.” He thinks he manages to sound pretty normal. At least, Bucky doesn’t mention anything if he doesn’t.

“One sec,” Bucky mumbles, fighting with his hair even though he’s going to put a helmet on in less than an hour.

“What’d you get up to on our day off?” He feels like such a fraud, knowing perfectly well what Bucky had “been up to”.

“Oh shit!” Bucky blanches, looking a little horrified. “I totally forgot to text you back, didn’t I? Man, I had a message all typed out and everything. Sorry.”

“It’s all good,” Steve says easily, shrugging.

Bucky is like a tornado, fixing his hair and then his shirt, grabbing his bag and travel mug before picking up his keys to lock up. “I went for coffee with Val, you know the little one across the bookstore?”

Val. Steve forces a smile and tries not to analyze the quick and easy nickname as they get in the elevator. “Yeah.”

“And we just got talkin’, and then I remembered seeing something about a — fuck, do you know what a banya is?”

“Um.” Of course he does, he’d read the page off his search thoroughly. “Like a sauna thing, right?”

Bucky beams at him, looking like he’s proud of Steve for knowing. He should probably say something, but telling Bucky he’s not actually cultured enough to have known that and he’d only read up on it out of jealousy doesn’t feel like a good way to start the day. So, he keeps his mouth shut as they get off the lift.

“Yeah! More or less. Did me hella good, too,” Bucky grumbles, as if his muscles were protesting again, totally oblivious to Steve’s internal moral battle. “Did that flight right after the game not fuck you up?”

Steve laughs, and just like always, his spirits begin to rise just from merely being around Bucky. “I never said it didn’t.”

“You should really try it, I think you’d like it,” Bucky says. “What about you, what’d you get up to?”

Steve tries not to feel the bite when Bucky doesn’t say I’ll take you. “Nothing much, had some errands to do.”

Ah, yes. Using imaginary errands to make himself seem less pathetic, isn’t that a new low?

“Ew,” Bucky chirps too cheerfully. “Sorry you’re an adult now.”

“You’re one too!” Steve squawks. “…Sometimes.”

Bucky’s laugh could cure any ailment, Steve’s sure, because a small smile starts to form on his own face. Steve’s going to give himself whiplash.

Bucky

He doesn’t know what it is, but there’s something different about Steve today, even if it’s not obvious. He’d been quiet on the drive into practice, and even his skating looked a little off. Bucky would know, because he spends an inordinate amount of time watching Steve play.

He hopes it’s not because Steve thought that Bucky had been ignoring him yesterday.

On their way back to their building, he attempts to crack the shell. “So, any plans for Christmas?”

Steve looks surprised by the question, but it does make him all soft again. “Usually, Dugan tries to drag me into his family dinner. He thinks I’m a lonely orphan.”

“Hey, I’m the one with the Batmobile!” Bucky puts on a pout but he’s warmed by the thought that Steve is being looked after. He deserves the big family dinner, and all the gifts in the world, in Bucky’s opinion.

Steve chuckles as they park and hop out. “You should come. He’d take you right in, I bet. And you’d love his kids.”

“Nah,” Bucky says on instinct. “I don’t wanna impose. Besides, I’m a Christmas Grump, remember?”

Steve shoves his shoulder, playfully admonishing him. “Shut up.”

“Make me,” Bucky fires back, waggling his eyebrows.

—-

Bucky hadn’t paid any attention to holidays after he’d lost his family. They only served as reminders of his loss, of the unbearable feeling of being alone and missing out on traditions the Barnes family had built over the years.

He’s surprised when he gets cornered by Dum Dum in the showers after their devastating loss to Chicago, though he supposes he shouldn’t be. In fact, Bucky’s almost positive that Steve has spoken to Dugan after Bucky had asked him not to. He’s not sure if he’s touched or annoyed.

“Really, it’s okay, I –”

“Did I ask you if you were okay or did I ask you if you were allergic to anything?!” Dugan pins him with what he assumes is a stern look, though it loses some of its effect when Dugan’s got a tuft of shampoo bubbles on his head.

“Uh - um,” Bucky stutters, before he even has a chance to think of an excuse. “N…o?”

“Good. You better be prepared to play mini sticks until your knees bleed.”

Bucky doesn’t have a comeback, and Dum Dum goes back to whistling as he rinses his hair.

–

“Did you have Dum Dum bully me into Christmas dinner?” Bucky asks Steve as soon as they’re cleared of the locker room. It’s not that he doesn’t appreciate it, but he feels less than great about it even if he can’t explain why. Maybe it’s because he can’t stop thinking that it’s a pity-invite, that he’s the “new kid” they’re trying to make feel better or maybe it’s just so glaringly obvious that he doesn’t have anyone that he needs to be adopted for a night. In any of those circumstances, he feels pretty shitty about it.

“No!” Steve protests immediately, grimacing as they leave the arena, cold air nipping at him. He tugs his hat down further on his ears. “You told me not to, so I didn’t.”

On first instinct, Bucky doesn’t believe him. In the truck, he turns to look at Steve, and watches for any anxious tics, because he’s discovered that Steve is usually terrible at keeping secrets. His eyes don’t leave Steve’s face, narrowing as if investigating, and that’s when Steve glances over and has to do a double take.

“What? What’d I do?”

Bucky hates how adorable it is, when Steve genuinely looks confused with his big, sparkly eyes. Ugh.

“I don’t believe you.” He harrumphs as he puts his seatbelt on.

Instead of pulling out of the parking lot, Steve sits there a moment, and before Bucky can ask what the hold up is, Steve turns Bucky’s face with a finger under his chin. Their eyes meet and Bucky’s widen a bit at the closeness.

“I swear on my mother’s grave that I didn’t mention a thing to Dugan,” Steve says with a serious, steady voice. “If he asked you over for Christmas dinner, it came from him. He wants you there, Buck.”

It hadn’t been that serious. Bucky had mostly been kidding around, but then Steve just drops this? He’s speechless.

And his chin is still resting in Steve’s hold.

There’s just the middle console between, they’re close enough to kiss, but that’s not something they do outside of sex, no matter how easy it would be to just lean in one more inch. That’s all it would take.

With his feelings threatening to creep up, he does what he always does – he runs away, and changes the subject.

“So. Uh, what am I supposed to bring?”

Steve

They’re on their way to Nashville for a small road trip when he manages to catch Dugan when Bucky’s in the bathroom.

“Heard you invited Bucky to Christmas,” Steve says appreciatively. “That’s good of you.”

“Got a habit of taking in strays,” he jokes, giving Steve a clap on the back. “Besides, figure it’d give you more incentive to come too.”

Clint snorts on the other side of Dugan. Steve tries not to read into it, tries to talk himself down and convince himself that Dugan didn’t mean anything by it past the fact that they’re friends. He just kind of hates how right that statement is.

“Hey.”

Dugan laughs at his weak protest. “You know we look forward to it. The kids love you, and it’s fun. But I swear to God if I hear the missus talk about how tight your shirt is this year, I’ll make you sit in the corner.” Dugan points to his eyes, fingers in a V-shape before pointing at Steve in an I’m-watching-you gesture.

Steve gets a little pink, apologetic and also still reeling from the fact that he was so blessed to have teammates – friends – like Tim “Dum Dum” Dugan. Before he can say anything else, Bucky plops into the seat beside him.

“Oooooo,” he sings with a gleeful smile. “What are we doing to make Steve all embarrassed now?”

Dugan roars with laughter, and Steve wants to disappear into the floor.

—

It’s always rough to lose the first game on a road trip, and while some of the boys are watching movies or playing card games to unwind, Steve takes the moment to slip away.

He’d had the thought for a few days now, and figures it’s better to do his research. Pulling out his phone, he goes to his Favourites under contacts and selects the second name.

So what if Bucky had taken the top spot in the short time they’d known each other? He was just looking out for Bucky, that’s all.

“Romanoff speaking.”

“Natasha, hi,” Steve greets after her standard pick up.

“Steve. What can I do for you?”

“Ah, well, I’m sorry – I should’ve just texted or something. It’s not hockey related.”

“Oh?” It’s evident she’s curious, so Steve tries not to feel too embarrassed.

“I was wondering, um, if you could maybe just tell me a bit more about some Russian… Christmas traditions that you might know of, that aren’t… too imposing.”

“Already throwing parties for Nichushkin? Cute.”

Steve doesn’t correct her, because it’s easier to let her believe that. He’d read some of it online – the different date of celebration, the religious service – but then Natasha unknowingly gives him exactly what he’d been looking for.

“I’ll send you the address to a delicatessen, they’ll have it all.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” Steve says truthfully. He makes a note in his phone – listing blini and angel wings under things to buy.

“You’re a good captain,” Natasha replies. “I’m heading into a meeting, but text me if you need anything else. Now go make me proud.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Steve jokes.

—

They win the second game of their road trip against Winnipeg, but lose the last to Colorado. It’s another crushing defeat, but they make up for it the very next game when Colorado comes to Dallas this time. Steve’s always believed that playing in their own arena gave them a little extra luck. Whether it’s because the fans cheer louder or simply because it’s home turf, he’s always preferred playing at the American Airlines Center. Sometimes he thinks he spends more time here than at home.

The days of December just continue to fly by and before he knows it, Christmas is right around the corner. He spends all the time leading up to it trying to stop Bucky from fretting.

“Buck, you don’t have to bring anything,” Steve assures him for, quite possibly, the millionth time. “So if you do, no matter what it is, I’m sure they’ll love it either way.”

“That is of zero help to me.”

“What! You’re a great cook! Why do you think I don’t lift a finger to help ya? And I still think about that lasagna sometimes,” he says solemnly.

“See if I ever make you another one after all of this not helping me.”

“You wouldn’t,” Steve gasps dramatically.

—

  Christmas Day comes and when Steve knocks on Bucky’s door, he’s greeted by a large styrofoam box first, and Bucky second.

“What is that?”

“Cake!” Bucky sounds cheerful. “Dum Dum says his kids love cake.”

Steve eyes up the sizable box, and how it’s as high as Bucky’s torso when he goes to pick it up. “How big is this cake, Christ.”

Bucky chuckles, arms around his prize as Steve carries his own trays. He’s hopeful that Bucky will enjoy Natasha’s recommendations, though he’s never known Natasha to be wrong.

He knows that Bucky’s still at least a little anxious, given the fiddling with his jacket sleeve when they’re on their way.

“You know, I’m glad you’re coming,” Steve randomly blurts out. “His kids are very energetic. Can’t keep up with them.”

“Geez, way to sound like an old man there, Cap,” Bucky chuckles. “It’s been a while since I’ve been around kids. God, and they’re so young.” He pulls a face resembling worry.

“You’re gonna be great,” Steve protests. He’s confident in this fact because any time Bucky interacts with younger fans, Steve gets a little dopey watching him

Bucky gives a helpless little shrug, but Steve notices that he doesn’t hide, he doesn’t deny it, and he doesn’t shrink in on himself. It’s close to receiving a compliment, Steve thinks. The thought makes him warm inside.

—

“Here we go,” Steve warns as he rings the doorbell. They’re greeted by all four children barreling towards the door, despite Dugan’s booming voice telling them not to.

At first, Bucky’s eyes widen, as if overwhelmed, before Dugan wrangles his kids back into the house.

“Jesus, whaddya got in there, a whole damn Christmas tree?” Dugan asks, shaking his head as he ushers the both of them in.

“Bucky, this is my wife, Christina. Christina – JAGGER, DON’T TOUCH THAT – honey, this is Bucky.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Christina says with a smile, pulling Bucky into a hug and smacking a kiss on his cheek. “I’ve heard a ton about you. And Steve! I’m glad you could make it again, the kids have been asking all day.”

Steve blushes, and accepts his hug and kiss next. “Thanks for having me back.”

“Told you these two were obnoxious,” Dugan mutters as he picks up the youngest of his children. “This here is Caleb, hey, can you say hi, buddy?”

The child squirms, shy, and hides in Dugan’s shoulder. “Hi?.”

“Heya little guy,” Bucky answers easily, appearing unfazed by the reaction.

“Now you get all shy?” Dugan laughs, amused. “This is my new friend, Bucky. He’s Steve’s friend too, and you like Steve, don’t ya?”

The toddler nods, turning his face to look back at the two of them. “Bucket.”

Everyone immediately erupts into laughter, Bucky possibly loudest of them all, taking it in great stride. “Bucket – you know what? Yeah! Why not! Bucket it is.”

“Bucket!” Caleb echos.

As predicted, the kids adore Bucky.

Bucky

The anxiety melts away pretty quickly thanks to the barrage of children clambering for attention from the both of them. He doesn’t even get a second to doubt himself as they tug him by his fingers showing him the tree, their stockings, the kitchen and just about everything else in the house.

Landon tells him very proudly that he’s eleven, which means he’s the oldest. Bucky almost says I used to be an older brother, too. Brody tugs on his pants in an effort to get him to sit down on the couch.

“Brody’s eight,” Landon informs him proudly.

“Oh wow, you got three whole years on him?!”

“Yeah!”

Landon gives him a toothy smile, and starts showing off a science set he’d gotten that morning for Christmas.

Jagger, who Bucky thinks might be the most energetic of them all, even if he’s only six, is currently trying to climb Steve, and Bucky privately thinks about climbing Steve in a very different way.

[Image: Steve, in a white sweater, and Bucky in a plain navy shirt, looking in each other's direction]

He grins at Steve, who looks so stupidly cozy in his white cable knit sweater. It looks so soft – almost as soft as Steve, and it makes Bucky want to cuddle. The thought terrifies him, that he falls so quickly, so hard, and sometimes he doesn’t notice until it’s too late. It feels like jumping out of a plane without a parachute, the ground and trees coming at him faster than he has time to process.

Except he knows too well what it’s like when he finally hits the ground, and he won’t — can’t — let it happen again.

When they come to gather at the table for dinner, the spread is exceptional. For a moment, he completely forgets what he’s doing, eyes widening at the sheer amount of food.

“Honey, I think you broke him,” Dugan teases as he nudges Christina for her to get a look at Bucky.

She looks immensely proud, and kisses Dugan a quick kiss. They each take a spot at the head of the table and the kids climb all over the two players debating how to sit, before deciding to bracket them on each side of the table, setting Bucky and Steve across from each other.

“Are you comfortable with us saying grace before dinner?” Christina asks Bucky gently.

He’s never been asked that in his life, and his family was never overly religious, but he nods. Having never said grace, his knowledge comes from TV shows alone — he can’t fuck up saying one word at the end right? Surely, even he can manage that.

“The floor’s yours, beautiful,” Dugan announces with a smirk, reaching for Brody and Jagger’s hands on either side. Bucky can’t help but think how Jagger’s hand is so small in his, and holds it carefully, while his other hand is taken by Landon, who reaches for his mom.

Brody takes Steve’s hand, and lastly, Caleb completes the chain.

She closes her eyes and bows her head, the rest of the family following quickly.

“Right. Everyone… let’s think of all that we are grateful for.”

Bucky can’t help but look up across the table, where Steve does the same, without prompting and the world fades a little bit around them.

“Thank you for our health, our work, and our play.”

Bucky tries to look away, to pull himself back from the edge of the plane but it’s impossible.

“Thank you for the blessings of the food we eat and especially for this feast today.”

It’s a private, shared moment; an unspoken understanding or perhaps a declaration that neither of them can say out loud.

“Thank you for our home, our family and friends, especially for the presence of those gathered here.”

“Amen,” he whispers.

[theloganator101]

Anonymous asked:

A friend of mine told me to use the submit post to make sure what I say doesn’t get lost (even letting me use their e-mail for this too).

I’ve been reading Horikoshi’s work before BNHA. I just wanna say that the problems in Horikoshi’s writing had always existed, they just finally reach the critical point through BNHA thanks to its success. I started reading Oumagadoki Zoo somewhere in my high school years. It was a good manga series that got cancelled, but there was a lingering problem with it that annoyed me. The deuteragonist. See, the point of the manga is that a female high school student wants to do something with herself when everyone sees her as a good-for-nothing due her extreme clumsiness. That’s when she finds a help wanted flyer to work at a run down zoo. The zoo is run by a rabbit guy who, quite literally, abuses the animals and does a horribly poor job running the place…and it’s played for laughs. All while said animals can magically become humanoids (some had cameos in BNHA). The main character actually goes out of her way to improving the place, helping the animals with their personal problems, and getting people to come to the zoo. The  deuteragonist was just…there. He did do some stuff here and there, but nothing truly major outside of fight scenes. Their relationship was not great, the bunny guy was harsh and violent to an extent. Mind you, not as much as Bakugou, but enough to sour my perspective with this character (especially when the two were implied to be love interests in the manga). Then, the deuteragonist’s backstory was revealed that the reason he’s a bunny man was because the rabbit guardian cursed him for abusing an innocent bunny in the forest. This left the guy’s mentality to be forever stuck in that state of a child…despite being a grown man by the time of the story’s beginning. Sadly, by this point the manga was cancelled and was left open ended to leave some kind of closer. Point is, seeing Izuku and Bakugou’s relationship up until this point just shows that these were underlying problems that Horikoshi always had when writing characters. He. Literally. Loves. A**hole characters. The sympathetic characters he makes are only there to keep the audience around. That’s it. Even when the sympathetic characters have more personality and engagement that makes you wish they could be explored more, Horikoshi just…falls back on that bias of his. You rarely see his sympathetic main character without some horrible jerk character beside them.

I didn’t even know he made more before BNHA!

I haven’t read or seen the series you explained but from what you said… yikes.

If he loves A-hole characters so much, why doesn’t he just make one a main character!? I’m sure he’ll treat him with more care and respect than he does with Midoriya!

[the-himawari]

A3! Yukishiro Azuma - Translation [SSR] Elegant Ankh (2/3)

*Please read disclaimer on blog; default name set as Izumi

---

Izumi: It’s really crowded here!

Azuma: It is. It looks like the guests are men and women of all ages too.

Tsuzuru: Oh. Isn’t that Director and Azuma-san?

Izumi: Hm? Tsuzuru-kun!?

Taichi: We’re here too~!

Juza: Hey.

Tenma: Director and Azuma-san came too, huh?

Azuma: The four Yosei students are here together? Are your classes done for today?

Tsuzuru: Yeah. Our classes were cancelled all of a sudden, so all of us just happened to get to go home at the same time.

Taichi: I invited all the guys to head home together. But Juza-kun said he was going to an Indian Festival, so we followed him here!

Izumi: Juza-kun did?

Juza: …I wanted to drink lassi*.

Izumi: Ahaha, I see.

Azuma: Authentic lassi is often not sweet. So be careful when choosing on the menu, Juza.

Juza: Oh, really? Thanks for the advice.

Tenma: So you two are… err, I don’t need to ask about Director. Did you make Azuma-san come along with you?

Izumi: …It’s just like you guessed, Tenma-kun.

Azuma: That’s not true. I saw the flyer and wanted to drop by as well. By the way, are all of you hungry?

Taichi: My tummy’s rumbling!

Tenma: I was hungry anyways, so I figured I'd have some curry if I came here.

Azuma: Seeing as we happened to run into each other like this… I’ll treat all of you to curry since you worked so hard in your classes today. And to lassi too, of course.

Tsuzuru: Are you sure about that?

Azuma: Of course. I want us to have a fun and lively time.

Juza: Thanks.

Izumi: Azuma-san, paying for all four university students… Should I help too?

Azuma: It’s fine. In fact, you’re always working hard, so I’ll cover your share too.

Izumi: Ehh, even me!? No, no. I’ll pay for myself!

Azuma: Don’t fret, don’t fret. Well, everyone. Let’s head to the curry booths. If you can’t decide, then it’s alright to get two plates, got it?

Taichi: Woohoo~. You’re so generous, Azuma-san!

Tenma: The food’s over there. Wanna go?

Azuma: See? Come quick now, Director.

Izumi: Okay… thank you very much, Azuma-san.

Azuma: Fufu, don’t mention it.

-pause-

Troupe members: Itadakimasu!

Tsuzuru: Mm, this tastes amazing…! The flavour seems really authentic.

Taichi: Yeah! I mean, I say that, but I don’t know what the real thing tastes like!

Tenma: The lassi tastes great too. Right, Juza-san?

Juza: …Yeah. It’s sweet ‘n tasty.

Azuma: Fufu, I’m glad everyone seems be enjoying it. It’s pretty cute seeing them scarfing it down.

Izumi: Ahaha, that’s true. It really does taste amazing though! Seriously, I wonder what kind of spices they used in this curry. Maybe they’re rare, or maybe it’s an unusual combination…?

Azuma: …You’re the same way, Director. You’re totally lost in your own world. It’s cute.

---

*Lassi is a blended drink made from yoghurt, water, and spices. There are many sweet and salty variations.

previous | next

[heliads]

Still Into You

Based on the request “Luke x reader based on the song Still Into You by Paramore?”

masterlist

Luke is leaning up against the wall, legs stretched out idly in front of him. His girlfriend is curled up on the bed next to him, lips pursed in thought as she considers the lines of music in front of her. They have the same habit of writing songs in worn and torn notebooks, of writing over and tearing out pages until the books themselves are reduced to nothing then reanimated with the sheer frenzy of their music. Luke likes that they have this shared trait, like it’s a sign that they were meant to be together ever since the start.

Y/N feels Luke’s eyes resting on her and looks up, blushing slightly. “I’m not very interesting company, am I? Sorry about that.” Luke just grins. “Don’t worry about it. You writing songs makes me think about songs, and that’s one of my favorite things to do.” Y/N smiles at that, leaning up to kiss him gently on the cheek before settling down again in front of her notebook. She squints at a line, then rubs it away with her eraser.

Luke glances down at the lines of music, but his head’s at an angle and he can’t read a single note. “What’s the song about?” Y/N flashes him a teasing grin. “It’s a surprise. You’ll find out soon enough.” She considers the main melody, adding a few notes as she goes. “I’m not quite sure if it’s happy or sad, not yet. It’s fast, and it’s fun to sing, but that’s all I’ve got right now.” Luke nods, leaning his head back against the wall and letting the faint sounds of scratching pencils and Y/N’s occasional humming take him back to the time he first met her.

Y/N was Julie’s friend, and had been her best friend long before Luke showed up. Luke smiles in spite of himself, remembering the first time he had caught a glimpse of the girl. Julie had been talking with Y/N in her room, and Luke had made a point of walking by so that Julie would be forced to introduce him. From the second Y/N had locked eyes with him, Luke knew he was head over heels for her. Even the way she said her name sounded like a melody, a pure and beautiful sound that Luke couldn’t write even if he tried for the rest of his life (or death).

Every moment spent with her was better than the last, every inside joke and casual conversation inspired him. It hadn’t taken Luke long to realize he loved her, and an even shorter time to ask her out. Luke laughs inwardly, remembering how nervous he’d been to first ask Y/N on a date. If ghosts had heartbeats, Luke’s would have been pounding so loud the entire town could have heard it. Luckily, she had said yes, and the rest was history.

There had been hard times, sure, but the good easily made up for the bad. When the business with Caleb and his club had finally come to an end, with Luke, Alex, and Reggie being able to finally touch people, Luke had practically sprinted over to Y/N’s house. She had looked up at him through tear-glazed eyes, having thought him dead, but her gaze quickly changed to happy shock when he had gathered her up in his arms, picking her up and turning in a lazy circle.

Then there were late nights with the two of them cuddled up close together, and early mornings with kisses pressed to cheeks, and date afternoons with hands entwined for all the world could see. If, you know, they could see Luke at all. It didn’t matter, though. Not with her. Not for anything as long as Luke had Y/N.

Luke is snapped back to reality when Y/N gently shuts her notebook cover, yawning. “It’s getting late. I think I’m going to go to bed.” Luke glances out the window, surprised to see that night had fallen and the stars were already shining through the dim patches of cloud. Luke stands up, stretching, then leans back down to kiss Y/N one last time. He says his goodnights and turns to go, pausing only once to look back at the girl he loves before disappearing back to Julie’s studio.

Luke is frustrated. He’s not sure why, but his blood is practically boiling. Maybe it’s because it’s been a long, stressful week, where he’s convinced himself that things have been good for too long. Caleb wouldn’t just give up, not like this. Something’s coming. It has to be.

Then there was the problem of Luke’s obvious ghosthood. It’s amazing to perform with his friends as a guitarist of Julie and the Phantoms. To play music again, in front of a crowd that can see him and cheer along as if he were just another lifer? It means everything to him. But for every stellar performance, there’s always that one moment when it ends. When the last chord is played and the drumbeats fade away to silence, when Luke finally disappears to the crowd. It just feels like a constant thorn in his side, a reminder that no matter how hard Luke works he will always just be a ghost, unnoticed by anyone except the rare exceptions.

Luke can’t stand to go inside the studio, at least not yet. He doesn’t want to be stuck inside again, in those same four walls with the same few people. So he heads out down the streets, walking casually down the sidewalk as if he were just another ordinary teenager heading home from school. He’s so lost in his surroundings that he almost doesn’t hear someone calling his name, and even then, it takes the person’s running footsteps that stop just behind him to convince Luke that they’re not just calling out to someone else on the street.

When Luke turns around, his frown turns into a smile when he realizes it’s Y/N. She looks amazing today, eyes shining with the bright light of the afternoon sun. She beams at him. “Look who’s out and about! I didn’t expect to see you here.” Luke chuckles, scratching the back of his head absentmindedly. “I figured it would be nice to get out of that studio every once in a while.” Y/N nods, then her happy gaze turns into one of slight guilt, as if she’d just realized something.

“Actually, about that. You remember how we had that date planned in a few days?” Luke nods. He’d been really looking forward to that. The two of them had decided to visit the boardwalk again, and stroll up and down while taking in the wind and the waves and all of the shops that dotted the faded horizon. Y/N winces. “Something came up unexpectedly, and I think I’m going to need a rain check. This honor society at school just announced that they’re meeting at that time, and I can’t skip it. I’m really sorry.”

This should just be a normal occurrence, something that Luke can brush off with a smile and an understanding nod. Yet for some reason, he feels his previous anger start to bubble up again inside of him. “Really? At that exact time?” Y/N nods, looking to all the world like a girl utterly distraught at the news. “It was supposed to be later, but they changed it. I didn’t have a say in it, but I can’t miss the meeting.”

Luke frowns. “But we agreed on that date. I mean, we’ve been talking about it for a while now.” Y/N glances back at him, evidently surprised at his tone. “I don’t have a choice about this, Luke. I can’t change the meeting.” Luke looks back at her. “And what, we can definitely change this?” Y/N raises her eyebrows. “I thought so, yes. It would be super easy to just move it to be the next day.”

Luke shakes his head. “Can’t do it then. I’m spending time with Alex and Reggie.” Y/N furrows her brow. “You spend time with them literally every day. Can we not have our date then?” Luke stops walking, suddenly exasperated. “Your meeting is important and so is this.” Y/N turns to face him. “Why are you making such a big deal out of this? I’m literally just asking if you can put off talking to your friends for a couple hours. I don’t think that’s very hard to do.”

Luke folds his arms across his chest. “Of course it wouldn’t be hard. I’m a ghost, after all. Everyone knows that ghost problems aren’t nearly as important as your problems.” Y/N looks taken aback. “That’s not what I’m saying at all! What’s up with you?” Luke stares at her pointedly. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just tired of feeling unimportant.” Y/N holds up her hands in front of her. “I never said you were unimportant. I’m just confused as to why you think me not being able to make it to one date is equal to an entire argument.”

Luke feels himself getting irritated, and tries to put on a calm face, but all hopes of salvaging this are out the window. “Well, we wouldn’t want you to get too upset about this. How about we just cancel the date? All future ones too, for that matter. It would be too bad if I interfered with your schedule.” Y/N looks horrified, but Luke’s already poofed away, leaving her standing alone and in shock on the sidewalk.

It’s barely been a few hours, and Luke already feels bad about everything. Did he really just say all that to Y/N. And over what, a schedule change? But if Luke knows one thing about himself, it’s that his pride is too big of a stumbling block to overcome. He can’t bring himself to go back and admit that he was wrong, even though he knows that he very much was. So he waits, and waits. A day passes, and then another, and then another. Y/N avoids him the entire time.

After a week, Luke feels crushed by guilt. He’s made a terrible mistake, and he knows it. Why did he have to be so rude just because he felt bad about himself? The other boys have picked up on his bad mood, and try to be extra nice to him. That just makes Luke feel even worse, like he’s upset them too.

Luke’s lying on the sofa in the studio when Julie appears in the door. She knocks twice on the door, alerting him to her presence, then walks in. She comes to a stop in front of Luke, handing him a flyer for a band performance at her school. Luke takes it, frowning. “What’s this about? You think we should do something like this?”

Julie shakes her head. “No, I think we should go. It’s for Y/N’s band. She’s performing, and we should be there to support her.” Luke sits up, looking at his friend. “Y/N doesn’t want me there. Trust me. I messed up things with her big time, and the last thing she wants is to see me in that crowd.” Julie sighs, perching next to Luke on the arm of the sofa. “I would disagree. I think this is the perfect time to get up the courage and see her again.”

Luke is more than hesitant at first, but Julie talks him into it through a combination of calm advice and emotional blackmail. What would you do without friends? So, Luke drags himself out of Julie’s studio and towards Los Feliz High School, regretting his decision the entire time. What if Y/N’s already moved on? What if she really doesn’t want to see him there, and his presence will just make things worse?

Luke wants to turn and leave a dozen times over, but Julie and the boys are there with him, forcing him to stay. Luke follows them into the crowded gymnasium, where he can see a stage is prepared and ready for the upcoming performance. Just as Luke is seconds away from talking himself out of the entire thing, the lights dim and a voice comes over the speakers, announcing Y/N’s band. So this is it- no backing out now.

Y/N and a few of her friends walk on stage, waving to a cheering audience. Y/N is the lead singer, and grabs a guitar from a stand before taking her place in front of the mic. She flashes an easy grin to the crowd, then starts playing.

Instantly, Luke recognizes the song. It’s the one she had been writing all those nights ago, when the two of them had been at her house and everything had been perfect. It’s just like she described- fast, certainly. He still can’t decide if it’s happy or sad, maybe reminiscent or hopeful, even. Then she gets to the chorus, and Luke feels himself lean forward involuntarily as Y/N grabs the mic, singing directly into it as if she were speaking to him herself.

‘Cause after all this time

I’m still into you

I should be over all the butterflies, but I’m into you, I’m into you

And baby, even on our worst nights

I’m into you, I’m into you

For the first time all night, Y/N turns to look directly at him. There’s a twisting feeling in his heart as Luke realizes exactly what the song is about. Him, and her, and everything that went wrong. It’s funny- even as the full extent of the hurt Luke has caused Y/N hits him, he still feels his heart swell with relief. She still loves him, even after all this time and all this heartbreak.

Some things, some things just make sense 

And one of those is you and I

Some things, some things just make sense

And even after all this time

I’m into you

Luke’s heard Y/N sing before, in quiet rooms and empty streets. He’s seen her on stage too, felt goosebumps as she performs with that same captivating electricity every time. But he’s never felt anything quite like what he feels right now, this combination of relief and guilt and love, sheer love, that rocks him to his core.

Before he knows it, the song is over. Y/N and her band perform a few more songs, all excellent, and then he realizes that they’re starting to step off stage. Instantly, Luke poofs away to the hallway just backstage. He opens a door that leads outside, making sure Y/N sees him go, and stands there in the slight chill of the night.

He doesn’t have to wait long. Luke’s barely been there a minute when the door swings open again, revealing Y/N walking towards him. The door has barely closed behind her when Luke moves towards her, crashing his lips onto hers. She looks up at him with this startled smile, reflecting his own teasing grin when he pulls away. “Y/N, I’ve been such an idiot. I messed up. I don’t know what I was thinking that afternoon, but I regret it all. Of course it’s not a big deal to move the date time, and I don’t know why I thought it was.”

Y/N considers him for a moment, a light smile playing on her lips, then speaks. “It’s okay, Luke. Julie tells me you’ve been miserable this whole time, so I knew you didn’t mean it.” Luke frowns. “Julie said what?” Y/N laughs. “She made sure to tell me so I didn’t feel bad.” Luke’s about to say something about how he’s sure Julie has no idea what she’s talking about and he’ll be speaking to her later, but Y/N grabs his hands, pulling him close. “Don’t say anything to her. It was what I needed to hear.”

Luke stares at her for a second, weighing her words, then breaks into a grin. “If you insist. Oh, and by the way, you killed it out there. You were amazing.” Y/N smiles up at him. “You think?” Luke kisses her cheek. “I don’t just think, I know. Loved the first song especially.” Y/N laughs, the quiet sound somehow making the darkness of the night brighter, like the sunrise came a few hours early. “I’m glad to hear it. I’ve been working on it for a while and it just felt right.”

Luke grins, kissing her again. Of course it felt right- it was the truth, the unspoken truth that both of them had been dancing around this entire time. No matter what, the highs and the lows and the worst of the nights, they still loved each other. That’s the way it would always be.

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Might fall for you-Lukadrien June Day 16

So the monster high au came up in the lukadrien vault but stupid me forgot to save the info before it closed. But i had suggested Adrien being on the fearleading team and I thought since he's a werecat, he'd be perfect for a flyer, which I now know sometime appears in pro cheearleading. It was in my head when reading this prompt, so enjoy! Falling for you

“This is utterly ridiculous!”

Adrien could see the magic flying off of Chloe. He felt a little sorry for Headmistress Mendeleiev. She’d be dealing with a few cursed items if this got any worse.

“Our SKRM course is still damaged and we have a season coming up, one you will be cheering at might I remind you. may I also remind you that you had caused that damage by annoying the kraken in the pool?”

“He stole my perfume! Do you have any idea how expensive that was? How are we supposed to work on routines with they’re slamming their stupid skates all over the place? There is a perfectly fine courtyard!”

“Ms. Bourgeois, I am reaching the end of my rope. The SKRM team is practising in the gym. Your fearleading team will have one side and the SKRM will have the other. Now leave, before I have your practise suspended.”

Chloe let out an infuriated huff and stormed off, her magic causing a few things to glow.

“Um, I’d check on those things first, sorry!” Adrien ran after Chloe, who was causing the lockers to rattle. “Chlo, it’s not that big of a deal. The course will be fixed soon and then it’ll be over.”

Sabrina was waiting at the end of the hall, her fearleading letterman jacket on. She was halfway in the shadows, almost impossible to see had it not been for the neon colour of her monster emblem acting as a beacon.

“Sabrina, get out of the shadows! We have work to do!”

“Yes Chloe.”

The boogeygirl stayed smartly out of the way of the puca, sharing a look with Adrien once she’d stormed by. They arrived at the gym, where the rest of the fearleading team was speaking with the SKRM team, some doing more than talk. Adrien flinched when Chloe pulled the megaphone from Sabrina.

“Get in formation right now!”

“It’s gonna be a long practise, isn’t it?” Sabrina asked.

“that’s one word for it. Good luck.”

“You too.”

Adrien was the only guy on the fearleading team and as a werecat, he was light enough and skilled enough to be a flyer. It got easy to ignore Chloe screaming at them from her spot on the ground as he and a bunch of girls flipped, tumbled and were tossed in the air, but every now and then Chloe would say something scathing and distract them. Adrien already felt off balance with the girls shaking under him. When he was on the ground acting as a spotter, he saw that a few of the SKRM members were watching, interested.

“Do you think we could do something like that to avoid an obstetrical?” he heard a minotaur ask.

“Possibly. Though who wants to risk their neck asking Chloe to teach us?”

“We could ask the guy on the team to help. They throw him up in the air.” A gorgon pointed out.

“You’re late on the music, pick it up!”

Adrien put his hands on the bases’ shoulders and pushed up, finding his balance as they held onto to one foot as he brought his other right behind his head. He thought they were doing well, but he could see Chloe wasn’t happy. He also had a feeling that the loud clopping of the skates against the wood of the floor didn’t help either. As he brought his leg down, readying himself to get tossed in the air when one of the cyclops fell to the floor. His height added with his weight, caused the whole floor to shake. Along with already shaky hands, Adrien lost his balance and fell backwards.

Now, Adrien was a werecat, so he had the qualities of a cat, including landing on his feet. He was a decent hight off the ground but was sure he’d be fine. So when he was feeling his body start to turn to land on his feet but was instead caught by something that crashed them to the floor, he was surprised. He opened his eyes to see he was on top the same gorgon who’d pointed him out earlier. He panicked a little when he saw he wasn’t wearing any eye gear to block his stone turning power when he noticed how dull his eyes were. Gorgon contacts, for those gorgons who didn’t like glasses, they covered the magic layer on their eyes that turned people to stone.

“Are you ok?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Um, guess I was falling for you.” Adrien felt his ears flick back when he realised what he said. “Why did I say that?”

Thankfully the gorgon found it funny. He let Adrien get off him before pushing himself up. Adrien noticed he was wearing skates, most likely using them to get from one side of the gym to where he’d fallen. He got up and offered his hands.

“Here, let me help you up.” He took the offered hands, feeling the scales against his fur. It was a strange feeling, but kinda nice. He must have pulled harder than expected because when the gorgon was up on his feet, he rocked forward on his skates but managed to catch himself. Adrien’s ears flicked back again at the realisation of how close they were.

“Looks like I’m falling for you now.” The gorgon joked, his dull slitted blue eyes shining mischievously.

Oh my Bast, Adrien was in trouble.

“Off! Get off of him, right now!” Chloe came over, waving the two of them apart, shooting a glare at the gorgon before turning to him. “Are you ok? Do you need to go to the nurse?”

“Chlo, I’m fine, really. I would have landed on my feet anyway.”

“This is exactly what I mean when I said they shouldn’t be here!”

While Adrien worked to calm Chloe down, he watched the gorgon skate back to his team, sending him a smile when Adrien mouthed ‘thank you’. by the end, Chloe cancelled the rest of practise and he’d gone with her and Sabrina to continue calming her down. he then realised he’d never gotten the gorgon’s name.

                                             ___________________

Monster High parties were always something to look forward to. Extravagant fashion, good music and funny antics depending if there was a reason the party was thrown. This one was down in the school’s underground dock. One of the students had brought their boat and the whole party was spilling from the main deck onto the dock and the stairs. They were incredibly long so no one was going back up, but it was breathing room. Adrien leaned against the railing of the boat, looking over at Nino having fun behind the DJ stand. The original DJ got thrown in the water and was being played around with by the school kraken. He saw a few of the sea monsters trying to help, but he knew Nino would be up there for a while.

“Hey.” Adrien looked up and perked up at the sight of the gorgon that had saved him.

“Hi.”

“Is your friend here? Hoping to not get yelled at again.”

“She is, but don’t worry, she’s more focused on beating out another girl in having more admirers. Um, I never got to properly thank you for saving me.”

“Even thought you would have landed on your feet.” He reminded, though he had a good-natured smile. “I sort of saw you falling and moved without thinking. I’m Luka by the way.”

“Adrien.”

“A pleasure. You were pretty impressive by the way, as a flyer.”

“Thanks. I’ve never really watched a SKRM match.”

Luka looked surprised. SKRM was the most popular sport, even more the casketball. “Guess that explains why I never saw you last season. People always at least come to one game.”

“I also just transferred. My dad had me home-schooled for a long time. I’ve known Chloe for years and have helped her with fearleading so she dragged me when I came.”

“Guess I’ll have to come see you guys at competition.”

“Then I’ll cheer for you extra hard during SKRM season. And I guess I could tech you guys a few basic tosses to help.”

Luka smiled at him. “We’d appreciate it. But enough about ‘work’. Do you wanna dance?”

“Sure.”

He followed Luka onto the made dance floor, easily moving to the music. He noticed the snakes in Luka’s hair moving along with the music as well. Someone from behind bumped into Adrien and sent him stumbling forward. Luka caught him, his hands going around his waist.

“You seem to be falling for me a lot.” Luka teased.

Adrien’s tail flicked around, as he struggled to find words.

“If it’s ok with you, maybe before you teach the team those tosses, we can go out for coffee at the maul?”

Adrien slowly nodded, trying to stop his tail.

Maybe he was falling for Luka.

[myhockeyworld87]

Bubble Wrapped - Part 10

Word Count: 3,308

POV: Reader

Warnings: Same as always, Language, Smut, NSFW, Please see the note in the Masterlist

Teams: Bruins, Caps, Flyers, Lightning, Pens, Jackets, Canes, Islanders (more to come)

Notes: I want to thank everyone that reached out to say how much they enjoy this series and that they wanted to keep reading it. It meant a lot and I read each comment, ask and reblog. You guys are the absolute best!!! I’m not sure if I tell you that enough, but I truly love all my readers and followers. So with that being said, here’s part 10. Happy Reading to all! 

You were feeling quite better after your little tryst with Mat at the stadium. In fact, if you were being honest, he'd made you forget about anyone else that you'd been with since the bubble. Well maybe not everyone, but you were definitely feeling like your old self again. Grabbing a glass of wine, you drew a bubble bath so that you could just soak your cares away. You even lit a couple of candles to give the room that nice glow. As you sunk into the warm water, you could feel all the stress of the last several weeks, just melting away. That was until your phone rang.

 You grabbed it off the side of the tub, flipping it over to see Tyler's name. When his number had popped up the last couple of days, you'd hit decline. However, this time you accepted his facetime. "Hey, Ty."

 "(Y/N), baby, where have you been? Are you dodging me on purpose?"

 "No, I would never." The lie slipped easily off your tongue. It wasn't that you were avoiding Tyler. It was just that you needed some time, and apparently Mat Barzal to get back to yourself. Maybe if Tyler was here, it would've been him to do that, but he wasn't; he was in Edmonton. "I've just been super busy here, though Carly convinced me to take the day off."

 "Well, you deserve the day off. Though I thought you were avoiding me, now that you can't win that bet."

 Ugh, sometimes you hated how cocky he was. "Are you sure I lost?"

 A look of betrayal crossed his face and it had you regretting saying anything. "Are you saying you slept with Crosby?"

 "That's for me to know."

 "And for me to try and find out." He finished the thought for you.

 "I thought you wanted to cancel that bet anyhow." You distinctly remember him saying something about that in one of your conversations. "Or now that the Pens are out, is it a different story?"

 "No, I'm still for canceling it. I don't see why we both can't win." There was a twinkle in his eye and you had to wonder what he meant.

 "Do I even want to know what you're thinking?"

  "Hear me out," he said bringing the phone a bit closer to his face and you had to laugh at the seriousness you saw there. "What if the next time we're together, it's just not a twenty-four-hour thing? What if it's a lot longer than that?"

 "What exactly are you asking Ty?"

 "I don't know. That maybe we just sort of, spend more time together. I miss you."

 His sad little puppy dog eyes were getting to you, but you still found yourself saying. "But we're friends with benefits, Ty. We've always been that."

 "Well…maybe we should change that." Oh well, this was new, though you weren't sure how he wanted to change it. Most of the year you lived in two separate countries. And this year, who knew when he would be back in Canada. He may end up having to stay in the states.

 "And how would we do that Ty? We're literally in two separate places."

 "Well, if we're still in the playoffs when things transfer over to Edmonton, why don't you come here and we can talk about what we want to do then."

 This is definitely a conversation that you wanted to have face to face, and not over facetime. "And what if you're not in the finals?"

 "Wow you have no faith in me, do you?" Ugh, you regretted saying that but you wanted to know what the alternative was, especially if you still were in the bubble and he was out. At any rate, I'll fly straight from here to Toronto to be with you. I figure I could just stay in your suite until the bubble is done. " It would probably work since he was already inside of it in Edmonton.

 "You seemed to have it all planned out. Don't you?" You needed time to think about this, after all this was Tyler and you weren't sure the man was capable of doing a full-blown relationship, or if you even wanted to.

 "I mean…yeah kind of."

 "Are you sure you're not saying this, just because you're lonely and I'm the only one that will listen?" While things had seemed different with him over the last couple of weeks, you were still a bit skeptical of his motives. Besides, you weren't sure what kind of spell Sidney had weaved on you but you'd just gotten over that or had you, and to give that kind of power to Tyler could be deadly.

 "Look, I'm going, to be honest. There are a few women here that I could be with, but I was thinking about this, you and me, long before I was trapped in this bubble. I told you before you're the only woman that could make me settle down." There was a seriousness not only to the tone of his voice but also the look on his face. You wondered what yours was giving away, and tried to mask your features.

 "Well, I think this is something we should talk about, but definitely in person." At least this would let you stall so you could decide what you actually wanted to do, and you could still have some more fun while you were in the bubble. "So I'll agree to you either coming here or me going there once the conference finals come around."

 "That's all I can ask for, baby." His cute smile was definitely a turn-on and mentally you put that in the pro column for possibly being in a relationship with him. "Hey, where are you? Because it looks like you don't have a top on?" And that right there was what went on the con side.

 "I'm in the tub, remember I said before Carly convinced me to take the day off."

 "Oh, I definitely should've been more observant before," he stated his eyebrows raising up. "So, um…why don't you shift that camera down a little lower." You were waiting for him to say that, but you really didn't mind. Your times with Tyler were always fun and you were sure this would be no different. You found yourself moving the phone, just enough to show him that you were covered in bubbles though a taut nipple did peak out. "Mmm, what I wouldn't give to be in that tub with you. Those bubbles are lucky son of a bitches for getting to caress your skin the way they are."

 "And where and what might you be doing?"

 "Same place I always am, laying on my bed, just dreaming of you, but now I get to actually see you and it makes things so much better." He could be such a smooth talker at times. "Why don't you slide that one hand down baby. Just like if I was there." It was easy to just listen to his directions. His voice and the warm relaxing water turning you on. "You know I'd run my hands all over your body until I could slip it between your beautiful pussy." The fact that he could do these things to you over the phone, made you long for when one of you would be out of this bubble and you could make it a reality. "Just glide a finger back and forth between your cunt baby." A sigh left your lips. "That's it, just like it was my hand doing it. Now, rub your clit. I know how that turns you on. Just slow circles, babe, not too fast. Can't have you cumming just yet."

 "Mmm…it feels so good Ty."

 "Wanna rub it a little faster for me?" His breath hitched as he spoke the words and you obeyed his words with ease. "Slide a finger inside, babe."

 "OOOhhh," you moaned out, your head going back and water starting to slosh around as your hips jerked up.

 "That's it…god your so gorgeous." Water dripped off your skin, as you grew flush from the heated water and your ministrations, and you could only imagine what you looked like as you tried to hold the phone steady and not drop it in the tub. "Let it slide in and out of that pussy." Your fingers followed his command. You could tell that he was stroking his cock, as his free arm came in and out of view of the screen when he pumped it. It turned you on even more, as you worked your pussy over. "Are you getting close babe?"

 "Yes," your voice now echoing off the bathroom walls.

 "Press your thumb on your clit." He knew the action would make you cum quickly, so he must have been close as well.

 "Fuck, Ty." Though you'd already had one orgasm earlier, your legs felt that familiar tingle as your second one of the day started to build.

 "That's it, baby, keep going. Cum for me."

 "Oh…yes…Oh," a mixture of incoherent moans came out of your lips, as you started to climax. You could hear water, spill over to the floor, but you didn't care.

 "Fuck (Y/N)," you heard Tyler say and you could tell he was cumming with you. There was silence on the line for several heartbeats as the two of you both tried to recover. "God, I have never seen anything more beautiful than when you cum."

 "I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not."

 "What? Of course, it is." He sounded offended by your comment. "Why wouldn't it be?"

 "Well maybe because it seems like I'm not beautiful other times."

 "(Y/FullN), you are the most stunning person I have ever seen and it doesn't matter if you have nine hundred layers on or nothing at all. I will tell you that you're the most beautiful woman in the world, every day if you let me." He was definitely trying to score points now and you had to say it was working.

 Now, you kind of felt like you were fishing for a compliment. "Ok, I take it back." You said with a giggle. "You know, you're pretty amazing yourself there."

 He shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I know."

 "And conceited," you teased.

 "It's not conceited, it's confidence baby." You rolled your eyes, but you supposed it was true. The man was so sure of himself that it practically oozed out of his pores, though you knew that deep down he still needed reassurances as we all did.

 "Ok, Mr. Confidence, well this girl needs to get out of the water now that I'm officially a wrinkled prune."

 "I'm not stopping you. Just keep the phone where I can see you." You shook your head, but still somehow managed to get out of the tub and dried off with him still on FaceTime. The two of you stayed up for the next couple of hours just talking about anything and everything. For once in his life, Tyler held nothing back from you and by the end of the night, he knew that you'd been fooling around with some of the guys that were in the hotel, but he didn't seem to care. All that mattered to him was that in the end, he still had a shot with you. It was refreshing and not the Tyler you were used to. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you started to wonder if things with him could really work out in the long run.

 The next morning, you woke up invigorated from your day off. Carly had known exactly what you needed and you headed downstairs bright and early to thank her, only to be sidetracked by Logan. "(Y/N), thank god you're here. The place is a disaster. I don't know what to do."

 This was not what you needed to walk into after your day off, but knowing Logan it was probably some minor problem that you could fix in a minute; two if there was an actual problem. "Calm down. Take a deep breath. I'm sure whatever it is we can solve the problem in no time." He did as you said and you could see the tension just roll off his body. "Now, tell me what's wrong."

 "There's a busted water pipe on floor eighteen and it's flooded one room and going into another, but you're right it's not that big of a deal."

 "NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL! Jesus, Logan, why didn't you say the hotel is falling apart." You quickly wiped out your phone as you headed up to the eighteenth floor, calling maintenance as you went. Luckily, they were already shutting off the water by the time you got there. "What the hell happened? This is practically a brand-new hotel." The pipes barely had dust on them, let alone rust or anything that could corrode them. The room where the pipe had busted was a complete disaster. There was water everywhere, down the walls, completely soaked into the mattress, even in the ceiling. Wait, now that you looked at the ceiling there was a huge hole in it. Who's room was this? The eighteenth floor was one of the ones the Canes were staying on, so it had to be one of them. They were a rowdy bunch, but you thought they kept their antics on the ice.

 "We shut the water off, (Y/N)." Frank one of the maintenance men told you. "But it's gonna take a day or two, to fix it, as we don't have the supplies here. I'll have to shut it off to the other two rooms next to it as well. Luckily, the damage seems to be only in this room."

 "Thanks, Frank, I owe you one for getting it shut off so quick. Have Carly help you get whatever you need. She's good at putting a rush on things."

 "Will do." You looked around surveying the damage. There would have to be new furniture put in this room as it was utterly destroyed, along with the carpeting and the bedding. And then you spotted it. A hockey stick laying on top of the bed, the end coated in plaster.

 Some of the players had gathered outside and if you hadn't been in such a rush to get here, you would've looked at the room number for who to go after. After your relaxing day yesterday, today was turning into a disaster. Carly, somehow pushed her way through several hulking men to get to you. "Frank just told me." Her eyes got big as saucers as she took in the damage. "Holy fuck." Those words seemed adequate. You grabbed her by the shoulder and she seemed to shake herself out of a stupor.

 "What room number is this?"

 "Eighteen twenty-three." Slowly you turned around looking for the guilty culprit, and there he was, all six foot four of him standing there in saturate clothes and looking quite sheepishly. Joel Edmundson, the crop top king, if you recalled from your conversation yesterday with Carly. The only thing was he wasn't the only one that was drenched, standing beside him were Dougie Hamilton and Andrei Svechnikov. "Just breathe," Carly whispered. "Getting upset will do nothing, plus you've got bigger problems."

 "Bigger problems, then a gaping hole in a roof with water soaking the room."

 She shrugged her shoulder innocently. "Well, if Frank is right and we're going to need a couple days to fix this. You need to find three rooms in what's already a completely booked hotel." Damnit, she was right. You were already at max capacity and didn't have a room to spare. You realized that it was a great opportunity for the hotel when they'd been chosen to host the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but you were really starting to wonder if the NHL had a personal vendetta against you when it made the decision to keep this hotel completely occupied the entire time.

 "What am I going to do?"

 "You could send them over to Royal York."

 "Are you kidding me? I'd sooner cut off my left arm, then send them back there." It wasn't that Royal York was a bad hotel, but there was definitely a little rivalry between you and the manager over there. It was a friendly competition on who could handle all these NHL players, but you wanted to be the victor here.

 "They could always move into the suite with you. You have two extra rooms, though someone would have to double up." She eyed all of the men standing there silently outside the room, just waiting for you to explode. "Or someone could always sleep in your bed." She nudged you and then whispered low. "My votes for the crop top king." As much as you didn't want to admit it, he did sort of have that quality about him that appealed to you. Shit, what were you doing even thinking about her suggestion?

 "Two of them can room together, especially after making this mess."

 "Hmm, probably. Just don't rule my suggestion out."

 You gave her a look, the one that said you wouldn't be entertaining that thought, even though there was part of you that wanted to, then stepped out in the hallway to speak to the guys gathered there. "I'm sure you gathered that we have a bit of a…situation here. We're going to need to shut the water off in three rooms for a couple days." The three culprits all shared looks back and forth with each other, and you truly had to wonder what the hell they were trying to do that broke the damn water pipe. "If you're in room twenty-one, twenty-three, and twenty-five we're going to need to relocate you." As you said the names, you realized that the guilty party just so happened to be the same guys that needed to be relocated. "If you could just pack up your things, I'll get someone here to move you."

 All the other players dispersed to their rooms, and finally, Joel came up to you. "Look we're really sorry. We understand if you have us sleeping in cots in the basement or something for the next couple of days."

 He sounded so sweet and, well innocent wasn't the right word, but maybe sincere, that you found yourself saying, "No, we'd never do something like that, but I will need two of you to stay in the same room. There are two queen beds in the one so it's not like you'll have to share."

 "That's not a problem, Svech and I can room together." Joel offered, putting his arm around his teammate.

 "I'm sure a lot of your stuff is ruined, from the water. I can have housekeeping take care of all your laundry, but if you could just grab your other things."

 "Sure, no problem. Just give us like twenty minutes and we'll be ready."

 The three of them disappeared while you made phone calls to housekeeping, letting them know to make this a priority and that they would also be needing to clean up the other rooms in your suite over the next few days. Sure enough, twenty minutes later they had all their gear gathered up. "So, where are we headed to?" Dougie asked as you all stepped into the elevator. You hit the penthouse floor button.

 "My suite." Glances were exchanged and you didn't miss them checking your body up and down appreciatively. "You'll be staying with me until your rooms can be cleaned up."

 "If I would've known that, I would've broken the pipe earlier," you swore you hear Joel mumble, and you had to laugh. The next couple of days were definitely going to be something. You just weren't sure what kind of something.  

[hogwarts--imagines]

History

GIF NOT MINE

Time Set: College

Kenma x F!Reader

Warning: Angst, abusive relationship, talks of trauma, some Fluff. 

(A lot of this relates to me and to be honest it hit me close to home, but this inspired me to write about it and talk about it. a lot of my writing is truly personal to me and the only way I can vent that out is to write..)

Summary: After finally breaking free from him, y/n was able to find herself again and make some friends along the way. 

This song has been stuck in my head and I had to make a mini series with Kenma because Kenma Would be perfect for this story idea :)

Please watch Yuri on Ice because its a perfect anime and I love it so much

History Maker

Y/n sighed, this café attracted way to many people, more like too many girls. All to meet Kuroo the barista. Even though he looked as if he was the type of guy that would play around with just about any of the girls that constantly came in, he paid no mind to them. Doing his job he just kept a friendly face. 

“Ah y/n are you on your way to your evening class?” He greeted you as your approached the counter. Ever since she came to this college Kuroo has gotten to know her favorite drinks and occasional food choices. She came her every day about 2-3 times a day.

“Actually,” She took a deep breath, she hated having to force herself to talk, “I was wondering if there was any job openings.”

“Really?” Kuroo raised his eyebrows in shock, he had mentioned to his boss many times that they need the help and he had been considering asking her and his friend to come work with him. “We actually are in desperate need of more people.”

“Is there a job application I can fill out?” She blushed, she never wanted to work here but with the new changes happening to her, she needed to find a job desperately. 

“Give me a moment to grab it!” Kuroo was excited, he was finally going to have extra help here.

After she got her hands on the job application she stayed in the café to fill it out. When she was done she handed it to Kuroo and thanked him. 

“Don’t you have classes today?” Kuroo asked a little confused as to why she hadn’t run off to class already, it must’ve started already.

“Oh, um well my professor canceled for the day today and my last class is online.” Something in her voice made her sound hesitant. Kuroo didn’t bother to push since it wasn’t his place. 

“Oh okay, well I’ll give your application to my manager and he should give you a call in the next few days.” Kuroo smiled, now he just needed to convince his roommate to come back to this place.

“Thank you”  She gave a relieved smile, something was definitely wrong. 

--

“Kenma, I’m back” Kuroo called out.

“mm” Kenma responded, “I’m in the kitchen.” 

“You good?” Kuroo walked into the kitchen, seeing his friend leaning over the counter on his phone.

“I'm fine.” He didn’t look up from his phone, “My friend hasn’t been on in a while, normally I get a message from them once a day.” 

“Maybe they are busy?” Kuroo asked going to the fridge, “I'm gonna make some dinner.” 

“Yeah maybe.” Kenma shrugged,” It’s unlike them though, even if they were really busy they always sent some type of message.”  

“You have always worried about your friends.” Kuroo chuckled, “Oh that reminds me, we had someone apply at the café so it won’t be too stressful for you if you decide to come back.”

“I can’t, with my new streaming schedule it’ll be hard to work two jobs and do school.” Kenma shoved his phone into his pocket.

“Oh yeah I didn’t think about that, but you should stop by once she starts her job, she’s cute.” Kuroo smiled brightly.

“Maybe, but only because your café has good coffee.” Kenma walked away towards his room and started up his pc. Once everything turned on he launched Discord and sent his friend a message.

‘Hey N/n, are you busy?’

---

Y/n plopped down on her bed, she was done with the day. She just wanted to sleep and forget about her problems. She sat up and looked around her room, boxes were all over her room and everything was almost packed away. 

Thankfully he hasn’t been back. He left for a week vacation back to his hometown and thankfully she wasn’t forced to go. This was her chance to leave and she was going to take it.

*ding* 

Her phone went off, the familiar sound of discords notification filled the silent room. She knew who it was right away and smiled. It had been a long few days she forgot to respond to her online friend. 

‘Hey N/n, are you busy?’

The discord name KoKen was across her screen above the message. She missed her friend a lot. 

‘Hey Ko, sorry, I have been packing a lot this week.’ 

‘Are you moving?’

‘Yes, I found an apartment closer to my college and I have one roommate and I also got a new job.’ 

‘Is he still there?’

‘He comes home Friday but I’m leaving tomorrow.’

‘Does he know where your college is?’

‘No, I never told him’ 

‘I wish I could be there to help you move.’ 

‘You don’t even know where I live :P’

‘I will if you tell me :)’ 

‘No :)’

She smiled to herself, KoKen was always worried about her and she always worried about him. They had met through playing Apex Legends, they had played a match on the same duo team and before the match was over she had sent him a friend request through steam and that led them becoming friends on Discord and they would spend hours playing the game while in a voice call. 

It annoyed her soon to be Ex boyfriend that she talked to this person she met online but that didn’t stop her. She would just talk to them whenever he wasn’t around.

She sighed and got herself ready, She was going to take all over stuff out of here and be gone by tomorrow.

---

Two weeks had passed since she moved and she felt at ease going home to her own place everyday. Her roommate was pretty loud mostly but he was extremely friendly when she met him. He and his boyfriend helped her move, she had explained her situation to them, without giving them to much information, but enough that they needed to know. 

“Well starting today, you will be my roommate and We are going to become best friends!” Oikawa smiled excitedly.

“R-really?” She wanted to cry, it had taken her a long time to find a roommate, it was last minute when she saw a flyer for a roommate in her college that made her give him a call. “

“Do you need help moving?”  Iwaizumi stood behind her new roommate, he had his arms resting on Oikawa’s shoulders.

“Um, If it’s not too much trouble.” She felt her cheeks flush.

Since then, Oikawa and Iwaizumi became her friends. It had only been two weeks but she loved hanging out with them. 

“I’m off to work boys!” She called out, heading out the door. She adjusted her sweater, covering her arms completely as she headed towards the café. 

“Hey y/n!” Kuroo was excited to see her, she had finished her training early and she was already confident enough to take orders and make drinks on her own. 

“Hello” She smiled at her now coworker, “How’s business?” 

“Slow today,” Kuroo shrugged and watched as she threw on her apron, “So y/n, do you live around here?” 

The question shocked her, she kept to herself mostly and all Kuroo knew was she goes to the same college as him. 

“I only ask because I noticed you walk here a lot.” Kuroo pointed out, “And I was going to offer you a ride home if you ever knew it.”

“Oh, I live close, my roommates normally meet me here before I head home.” She let herself relax. 

She was lost in her thoughts while she was making another pot of coffee. She thought about KoKen, She missed her friend, not being able to play games with then was a struggle. She sent them messages daily but it was hard not being able to hear her friends voice and she just wanted to talk to them again. 

“Kuroo” A voice called from the other side of the counter, a voice that sound way too familiar.

“Hey Kenma!” Kuroo was excited, “Hey y/n come meet Kenma!”

“I just want my Coffee.” Kenma sounded annoyed. But why did his voice sound familiar?

“Y/n’s making a fresh pot right now.” Kuroo informed his friend. 

“mm, fine.” Kenma shrugged, he just wanted to go back home and try to get his friend to talk to him again. He missed their voice.

“Kuroo can you come here please?” The coworker’s voice called out, a voice that Kenma could recognize from anywhere. 

“N/n?” Kenma asked unsure if he heard the voice correctly.

Y/n’s head whipped around quickly, she felt her heart skip a beat there was no way this was-

“KoKen?”