#they would get on like a house on fire... one way or a nother

[pbaintthetb]

anyway part of the reason I think so much about a "Ryunosuke dies on the Burya instead" au is because, as we see, Ryunosuke uses Kazuma's death to become better. It's huge for his character and it influences him, but it's a point of growth

I feel like Kazuma would use Ryunosuke's death to become worse. And that's very fun.

[obxthornton]

Blackout - Rafe Cameron x Reader

Summary: Drunk night with Rafe Cameron

warnings: angst, fighting, drugs, alcohol, blood, fluff, mentions of drunk driving (dont ever), nice rafe

WC: 4133

"Good Afternoon Mr. Cameron." I smiled lightly at Ward. He always tipped a twenty dollar bill at the end of the day. It was Friday which meant it was his weekly golf match against 2 of his buddies. I knew Ward from the days of me and Sarah laying out by her pool when my brother and her boyfriend would be doing god knows what.

"y/n how are you doing?" He asked smiling at me. I nodded, "Pretty good sir. Can I get for you anything?" 

He hummed in response thinking, "Old fashion. Never too early for a drink." He laughed and I fake laughed in response. "Right out sir. On your tab?" He nodded

I turned away and walked into the inside and behind the bar pouring the drink, making it extra strong the way he liked it.

I walked out behind the bar holding the drink and walking toward the side doors. I went to open it but it opened for me. 

My face fell as I saw a Rafe Cameron standing in front of me blocking the exit. "y/n." He said smiling at me wickedly.

I gritted my teeth and looked up at the boy. "Rafe. I'm trying to bring this drink to your dad so excuse me." I said to the boy annoyed. 

"Oh, I got it." He said grabbing the drink from my hand before I could even say anything. I frowned my eyebrows at the nice gesture, "Okay." I mumbled before turning back around and walking back into the room.

"Excuse miss, can I get beer?" A man said at the bar. I nodded and walked behind the counter grabbing a beer and popping the top off of it handing it to him. 

"y/n! Can you make a strawberry daiquiri?" My coworker Elise said. "Sure babe," I said grabbing the mix out of the mini fridge and I poured the mix in the blender along with ice and rum. 

After I made the drink I walked out and handed it to my coworker. Walking past Mr. Cameron's seat I saw he didn't have a drink. "Did you want another drink?" I asked.

"I never got my first one." He said. My jaw clenched and I looked behind Mr. Cameron to see Rafe finishing off the drink, setting it down at the counter, a smug smile on his face.

"My apologies sir. I must have accidentally given it to the wrong table." I said before walking back to the bar and making the drink. I sat it down infront of Mr. Cameron, "Here you go, sir. Again, I'm so sorry. 

"Here's the money for the drink, I'm closing off the tab." He said handing me the exact change for the drink. 

"Yes sir. You have a nice day." I said gritting my teeth. I looked up at Rafe's smug face, "Mr. Cameron is your son on your tab or is he paying for his own drinks? Just so I know." I asked.

Ward shook his head, "he should be on his own tab." 

I smiled. "Of course sir."

I turned away before walking towards Rafe Cameron and the two other kooks who were with him, topper and Kelce. 

"Waitress. 'Nother drink." He snickered holding up the empty glass. 

"What the hell dude," I asked Rafe. "I could get fired, your underage. You made me lose a tip from your dad." I huffed.

Rafe shared a smile with his friends, "I don't think you heard me. Another. Drink. Waitress."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring his command and walking towards the only Cameron I could tolerate at the moment. "Hey Sarah, you need anything?" I asked. Her eyes lit up and she grabbed my arm pulling me down into the chair next to her. "yes! please y/n come to this party with me. Please I need you there." I sighed looking at the girl, "Tonight?" Sarah nodded, "Please, we can pregame at John b's and then go." I sighed once more, nodding at the girl, "Okay." She let out a giddy noise and hugged me. I wonder what I had got myself into. 

___

"The parties at toppers house?" I said as we pulled up to Sarah's ex's house. "That's why you're here." She said smiling at me as she turned off the car.

"Why even come to your ex's party?" I asked.

"I have other friends that are here but they'll leave so I need you." She smiled. I sighed and got out of the car walking around the front. After a long day of working at the country club, this was exactly what I wanted to do. Hint the sarcasm. 

"Come on it'll be fun. We get free drinks plus we're super late so it'll be over soon. Hey at the end well go back to my house okay?" She said. I nodded and followed her up to the house.

As soon as we stepped into it music was playing and I immediately went to the kitchen to grab a drink. I poured beer into a cup from the keg and handed it to Sarah before pouring me one. "Thanks." She said taking a sip.

I took a sip of my drink before we walked to the backyard where people were swimming, dancing, and kissing. 

It was around 2 hours later and after many more drinks when topper, Sarah's ex finally spotted us.

"Sarah. Glad you could make it." Topper said walking up.

"Well, I didn't come because you asked me to," Sarah said taking another sip of her drink.

"Y/n." Topper smiled. I rolled my eyes at the boy but gave him a small one in return.

"Oo I'll be right back Kay?" Sarah said pointing to a group of girls who I assumed were from her school. I nodded as she walked away and looked back at Topper who was still there.

"We got some yayo in the basement if you want some," Topper said motioning to the back stairs.

I shook my head and took a sip of my drink, "I do not mix well with cocaine trust me." I shivered at the thought of 2 summers ago.

Topper looked at me confused but I waved him off before turning around and filling up my cup. I turned back around as I took my sip and Topper was now replaced with Rafe making me jump. "Jeez, dude. Your face is terrifying." I mumbled taking another sip of my drink.

"This party has a no pogues allowed policy." He said.

I raised my eyebrows up and then down, "must have missed the sign at the door. I only saw the no douche one."  He scoffed at me, "Oh so I'm the douche huh? You got me in trouble with my dad because You put my drinks on his card." I thought back to yesterday when I did charge Rafe's drinks to his dad's tab. Per his request.

I shook my head, "I don't remember doing that." I said as I took a sip of my drink.

"Yeah, you did. And now I can't go to the country club anymore." Rafe said. 

I laughed. "Oh, this is perfect! I love my job now. Can't wait to go to work on Monday." 

Rafe smirked at me lightly, "Oh so you're not going to miss me?"

My smile fell, "No I will not miss you. You tip me pennies from your pocket. And that's worse than zero tips." 

"Come on y/n I know you'll miss my pennies." He said hitting my shoulder with the back of his hand.

I smiled lightly at him and hit his shoulder back, "Will not!" 

An arm slid around my waist tightly and I looked to my sighed and saw some guy who I had zero clue was. "Hey, I'm Zach." He smiled at me.

I held my arms infront of my chest and laughed awkwardly. "Hi," I mumbled.

"Move along buddy, making the girl uncomfortable," Rafe said motioning to me.

"Yeah, you are," I said trying to move his arm from around my waist.

"And who am I talking to?" Zach said letting go but now posting up to Rafe. "Her boyfriend?" He asked, "Or just some punk bitch."

Rafe now also squared up to the boy, they were both the Same in size and their faces were inches away. 

"Guys please," I said rolling my eyes and setting down my drink.

"Oh, I get it," Zach said.  "She's the bitch." 

Rafe swung first making the guy fall back onto me, he's head hitting my nose before he regained his balance and swung at Rafe. I wiped my nose and saw there was blood on my hands. I muttered a quiet cuss word before I was pulled back.

"Y/n you're too close you're going to get- never mind youre already bleeding," Sarah said huffing annoyed at me. "Your brothers going to kill me."

"It may be broken," I mumbled touching it and wincing.

"You need to go to the hospital," Sarah stated.

I shook my head. "They don't do anything for a broken nose. Plus I have alcohol in my system and I'm broke so." I grabbed a napkin from the table and put it up to my nose. I turned around and saw that Rafe and Zach were still fighting, now surrounded by an audience.

Sarah's phone rang and she grabbed it out of her pocket and silently cursed, "I'll be right back." She jogged told the front door opened it and stepped out.

I sighed and turned back to Rafe and Zach. "Oh my gosh please someone knock someone else out or break it up!" I yelled at the two boys. My calls were drowned out by the yells of encouragement from their friends.

"Y/n I'm really sorry but I have to go. Topper said he'd give you a ride home." She said. I nodded and waved her away for her to go home. Wheezie probably got caught sleeping in Sarah's bed as a cover.

"Sweet it's still going on," Topper said from next to me sipping his drink. 

"Can you please make it stop?" I groaned. He looked at the time on the oven and shrugged, "It is getting late. Go ahead."

"Hey!" I yelled. "Cops are down the street!" The swarm of people crowded around the fight dispersed and ran out the front, back, windows everywhere. Topper stood next to me sipping his drink and I grabbed another napkin from the counter throwing the used one in the sink.

Rafe tried to run also but I slapped my arm infront of his chest. "I wouldn't go home. Sarah's getting her ass beat." 

"But the cops, I got coke on me, man." He said trying to go again. I put my hand on His chest again and pushed him forward alittle. "There's no cops Rafe."

"Right." He mumbled

-------

"You know, thanks for Getting my nose broken," I mumble looking down at the soaked napkin.

He rolled his eyes, "he called you a bitch!"

"Well, id rather be called a bitch than have my nose broken Rafe." I scoffed.

"I wouldn't!"

I threw the napkin into the sink and shook my hand. "I'll give you both right now bitch." I said putting my hand into a fist and pulling my arm back. 

Topper grabbed my fist and looked at the tile floor we were on. "Go punch his nose outside or in the bathroom. I can't have any more blood on this floor." He said to us like we were crazy. "After you fight, come help me clean up." Top said grabbing a trash bag and walking away.

I blinked slowly at the boy before shrugging, "Outside or bathroom?"I asked Rafe.

He rolled his eyes and went into the pantry, "what you need is to fix your nose." He said diving threw the medical supplies.

"Shit Rafe it's crooked!" I yelled at him looking at the reflection of my phone.

"It's always been crooked." He said walking out of the cupboard with a box in hand. "Splint from when Topper broke his nose last year playing golf." He said proudly holding it up.

"Gross I don't want dirty splint! It still has dried blood on it." I wined swatting Rafe's hand away.

His face dropped, "then what do you want me to do?" 

"CVS?" I asked. He sighed and shrugged throwing the splint in the trash. "Topper we're leaving, be back later!" He yelled grabbing his keys out of his pocket and walking to the front door.

I grabbed some more napkins for the car ride and followed him out of the door. Maybe it was the alcohol but he and I were getting along, well better than normal.

"Your seats are so far back," I mumbled pushing it up. "I'm not much shorter than topper and he's your only friend why does he have it pushed back so much?" 

"I have other friends," Rafe said turning around to reverse his truck out of the driveway.

"Do you have any friends above the age of 17? Alittle creepy." I said raising my hands up in defense.

"Do you? Work friends don't count" He shot back. 

A big smile went across my face as I started laughing, "We're losers!"

Rafe pulled into the CVS parking lot and unbuckled along with me. "You got a fake on you?" Rafe asked. I pulled out my wallet and grabbed my ID, "I'm Alexis Taylor from 15778 Shoreline road. My birthday is April 17, 1999, I'm 21." 

He smiled at me, "Perfect. Because I need a beer and you need cigarettes."

"And you need to get a butterfly stitch for your face," I told Rafe. He touched his finger lightly to his temple where blood was now on his finger. "That guy didn't even land one hit on me, how did that happen?"

"Rafe you were losing that fight," I told him. He scoffed at me, "I was winning that fight."

I patted his shoulder, "keep telling yourself that."

I got out of the car and walked up on the sidewalk. Rafe opened up his car door and stepped out, "I definitely won." He said. He took another step before slipping and falling into a big puddle of old rainwater and mud. He sat up and wiped his annoyed face off. My lip quivered as I tried not to laugh. He stood up and wiped off his shorts and his blue shirt was now covered in dirty water. 

"Don't. Don't say anything." He said pointing at me. I smiled and held up my hands in defense. I threw my napkins in the garbage can outside and I walked inside.  I waved at the poor worker who looked as if he just wanted to go home and debated with himself on why he decided to work the night shift at a 24-hour CVS.

"You got. You got alittle something." I told Rafe as I grabbed a leaf off of his head. 

"Yeah? Well, your nose started bleeding again." He said. I touched my nose and groaned at the blood on my hand. Nothing I could do now.

I walked to the back where the medical supplies were and grabbed a splint, butterfly stitches, and some bandaids. I'm sure Rafe got a scratch or two from that face plant in the parking lot.

Rafe came into the aisle with a case of beer and a bag of pretzels. "What's the pretzels for?" I asked. 

"Don't you like pretzels?" He said.

"There my favorite." I smiled, "Okay super important question." 

"silver splint or nude split?" I held both up to my nose. 

Rafe thought for a moment, "Nude. Silver clashes." I nodded and put the silver one back.

"Ready?" I asked and he nodded. We walked back up to the front and we placed all our stuff on the counter infront of the poor dude who just wanted to go home.

"Pack of Marlboro too please," I said grabbing cash out of my wallet. I smiled lightly giving the man my fake ID.

The man looked between me and Rafe, "You guys look like hell." He said before ringing up the items grabbing the cigarettes and putting them in the bag. 

I looked up at the back mirrors that were placed all along the wall and I laughed, I hit Rafe's chest and pointed to it and he laughed too.

Blood streamed out my nose and dripped down onto my shirt. It covered the entire bottom half of my face I guess thinning out from the alcohol. Rafe stood next to me covered in mud and soaking wet. His hair was messy and he had blood lightly on his temple. 

We looked insane.

Rafe lead his head towards my ear, 

"We look insane."

--------

A cigarette dangled from my lip from the bed of Rafe's truck and a beer in my hand. He threw his beer can behind him and opened up a new one.

"Stop moving," I mumbled trying to put the butterfly stitch on Rafe's temple. He took a sip of his beer making me pull my hands away and glare at him. "What did I just say?" 

"Sorry princes." He said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and placed my wrists lightly on his face as I lined up the stitch on one side pulling lightly and matching it on the other.

I felt Rafe's eyes on me and he moved his head lightly so he could look at me better. I laughed lightly, "really!" I shook my head at the wrinkled stitch.

"You look really nice." He said.

My breath hitched and blinked slowly, "how much to drink have you had today?" 

"A lot. And some coke." He said. I shook my head and grabbed a bandage out of the box. 

I opened it with my teeth and patted my leg. Rafe swung his leg up on my lap and I raked up his shorts a tad so I could put the bandage on a cut on his knee.

"Kiss it better?" He asked. I grimaced at his muddy knee, "No that's disgusting."

He groaned, "What about the one on my head?" 

"Are you going to kiss my nose?" I asked. He grimaced also, "There's dried blood."

"Exactly," I said pushing myself off of the truck. "Well, I'm going to get topper to take me home."

Rafe groaned, "It's not even late! It's barely 3."

Waving my finger at him in a no motion, "You said that an hour ago."

"Lemme drive you home." He begged.

"You're drunk Rafe I am not having you operate a vehicle. Come on, it's kinda cold." I said holding out my hands. He grabbed them and hopped down grabbing the CVS bag and throwing me the bag of opened pretzels. I opened it and ate one as he closed the tailgate of his truck. 

"Topper?" I said as I pushed open the door of his house. "Ready to drive me home?" I said in a sing song voice. 

I looked in the living room to see the boy dead asleep on the couch, mouth open, trash bags tied throughout the room. We totally forgot to help him clean up.

"Well, he's asleep guess I have to drive you," Rafe said twirling his keys on his pointer finger. I grabbed the keys and banged them on the counter, "I'll just sleep in the guest room. Come on let's get you to bed."

I said grabbing his hand and pulling him up the stairs. Rafe stumbled on the 4th step almost falling making me giggle lightly, "Shh!" I shushed him and probably myself. "Shh." He said back as he walked up the stairs. We were both alittle more drunk than we had bargained for.

I guided the boy to topper's room and sat him on the bed. "Shoes?" I said. He took off his shoes and put them in my hand, "shoes."

I opened up topper drawer, pulled out some red plaid pajama bottoms, and threw them to Rafe. "No shirt." He mumbled pulling off his own. 

"Wait till I turn around for you to change asshat," I mumbled turning around.

"I don't care." He said as I heard his shorts being pulled down.

"I know you don't. But I do." I said rubbing my head. After moments of silence, I turned around and hesitantly turned around to see Rafe under the covers. 

"Perfect. Now. Go to bed." I said picking up his dirty clothes and throwing them into Topper's bathroom.

He groaned and moved to the far side of the bed, "the guest bed isn't made." He muttered with his eyes closed.

"Couch," I stated.

"I would not lay on that." 

"Floor."

Rafe groaned, "Come on just lay right here I don't bite. Hard."

I rolled my eyes and opened up toppers door to leave. "I'm joking. Y/N come on just get some sleep." He said. "Look I'll face this way." He said turning to face the wall.

I rolled my eyes and slipped off my shoes knowing he wouldn't shut up if I didn't. I grabbed a shirt from Toppers drawer and slipped off mine and put it on. "Face that way the whole time," I growled as I lay down next to him, facing his direction.

I closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep, not going to lie topper's bed was 10 times better than my own. 

Hot breath hit my face and my eyes fluttered open to see Rafes face right in front of mine. His eyes open and his breath smelt of beer. "Hi." He said smiling.

I wanted to roll my eyes at him or tell him to turn the other way but the alcohol in me made me smile back. "Hi," I whispered back.

Rafe's hand cupped the side of my cheek, his thumb rubbing over my cheek. He leaned in slowly pressing his lips gently onto mine and the crazy thing was;

I kissed him back.

---- 

Weeks passed and even though Rafe was not allowed at the country club he still came on any day that wasn't Friday knowing that was his dad's day. He didn't mention a single thing about that night with their little adventure.

To be honest, y/n wouldn't have remembered it if she didn't wake up next to him.  y/n didn't think she drank that much but then she realized she and Sarah pre-gamed with some hard liquids at John b house. 

Y/n is what she would call a functional drunk, you couldn't even tell she was drunk.

Rafe was drunk and high and probably didn't even remember when he got her nose broken, which was still healing.

She wouldn't dare tell JJ she hung out with the kook. Or even Kie. Kie was the girl's best friend and she wouldn't even speak about that night with her. 

To be honest, that night with Rafe, the one that she could barely remember and was splotchy in her mind, was the best night she had in years. 

~~~~~~~

Rafe Cameron pulled the butterfly stick off of his skin, rubbing his ringer over the now-closed wound. He still couldn't quite remember where he got the cut but he assumed it was at Topper's party. He pretty much had a blackout. He didn't think he drank that much but he remembered he came over early and pregamed on some hard alcohol.

He just knew we went and then he woke up in Topper's room with a massive headache. He wondered why his clothes were disgusting or why there was a CVS bag full of empty beer cans and cigarettes in the bed with him.

He didn't even smoke.

He assumed he and Kelce got into some stuff but when Kelce told him he didn't even go to the party it left him even more confused. When he asked Topper what had happened he just said "Not my place dude." With his hands up in defense.

Even more confusing was the blood on the passenger side of his car. 

"Did I kill someone last week?" He asked Kelce and Topper as they walked into the country club around noon on a Monday. 

"You are thinking about it too much man!" Kelce said rubbing races shoulders, "Relax."

They sat down at a table outside before they would go golf. "Nope, I got it!" He said snapping his fingers together.  "Pretzels. Why do I remember pretzels that's so stupid I hate pretzels." He mumbled putting his fingers on his temples.

"What can I get for you boys?" Y/n asked walking up to the table of kooks making Rafe's head snap towards her. "Sprite, Coke, and Fanta?" She asked.

"Hey y/n, your nose is healing well." Topper said.

She touched the splint on her nose lightly, "another week and it should be fine." 

"You didn't break that nose in my car did you?" Rafe asked. The girl let out a uh before she shook her head, topper shot her a smirk. "Damn it," Rafe muttered turning to face forward. 

"Uh, those drinks are fine thanks," Kelce said waving her off. "Dude what was that."

"You know who's the only person under 40 that likes pretzels? Y/n!" Rafe said huffing, looking over at y/n grab a pretzel from a bowl on the bar counter.

Kelce laughed looking over at Topper and then back to Rafe, "Dude I think you're stretching it."

"I know she has something to do with last Friday."Rafe turned to look at her. "I just know it."

~~

[writemekpop]

Sleepless | Lee Taeyeong

Summary: Your boyfriend Taeyong has been moaning your name in his nightmares, but he refuses to tell you why...

Genre: Established relationship AU, angsty

Word Count: 0.8k

“Y/n! Stop!” Taeyong begged, his tear-streaked face squeezed against the mattress.  

He woke up with a jolt, his terrified eyes meeting yours.

Your boyfriend’s nightmares had been going on for a week. Every night, he cried your name in his sleep, his voice husky and breathless.

“Baby, I’m here, it’s okay,” you whispered, wrapping your hands over his broad shoulders. “What was it about?”

“Nothing. I’m fine,” he said, rolling to face the other side of the bed.

“That’s the fifth time this week. You’re not fine.”

“I’ll sleep in the spare room tomorrow,” Taeyong replied gruffly, as if the conversation was over.

“I don’t care about my sleep, Taeyong, I care about you. I think it would help to talk about it.” You ran your fingers over his rippling back muscles.

Taeyong turned to face you. His lips opened for a moment… then he shook his head. “You wouldn’t understand.���

His words stung. You knew Taeyong had had a traumatic experience when he was a kid, and you hadn’t, but… he had never made you feel bad about it.

You bit your lip. “Fine then. Sleep in the spare room – for a week.”

“Fine.”

--

The bed was chilly without your boyfriend in it. The white bedsheet could have been an iceberg.

For a few nights, you put up with his tortured nightmare sounds through the wall.

Then one night, you heard a sound that you would never forget. It was a howl, a sound of pure anguish, that tore through the air. You had to go and check on Taeyong.  

You rushed to the bed in the spare room to wake him up.

Taeyong’s eyes shot open. They looked weirdly glassy, like he was looking through you.

“Did it burn you? Oh, baby, let me kiss your wounds!” Taeyong said.

Taeyong’s lips stroked your face, your neck, your waist, as his anxious eyes roamed over every inch of you.

“W-what are you talking about?” you said. “You’re scaring me…”

Taeyong squeezed you into his chest, his arms caging you in a hug. He pressed a soft kiss on your lips, then pulled you into his arms again. “Not too bad – singed hair – second degree – we’ll be alright.”

In your hair, he whispered, “I thought I’d lost you, I thought I’d lost my angel…” 

Your heart swelling, you held his head in your hands, forcing him to look at you. “Baby! Nightmare – that’s all it is.”

Taeyong froze. Like a blind man seeing for the first time, he looked in wonder at the small bedroom, then back at you.

“But the… fire…” he said.

Taeyong sat down on the bed, hard. The mask had fallen again, and his face was unreadable. “Sorry. ‘Nother nightmare. Go back to sleep.”

“No Taeyong… what fire?” you said, sitting next to him.

When Taeyong met your eyes, his face was stony and you knew he wanted to shut you out yet again.

But after a long moment, something in him softened.  

“When I was twelve – some people who hated my father burnt our house down. If I hadn’t warned my parents, I would have lost them.”

He took your hand and kissed it. “Ever since we moved in together, I’ve been getting these nightmares, where it’s you getting hurt – only – I can’t save you this time…”

Your heart throbbed with love for Taeyong. All this time, he had been worrying about you.  

“You should have just told me!” you said.

Taeyong chuckled hoarsely. “Honestly, it feels good to tell you.”

“Of course, it does, you idiot. I’m your girlfriend,” you said, lightly punching his stomach. You looked into his eyes. “I can’t understand what you’ve been through, but let me just listen, okay?”

Taeyong nodded warmly. “I’ll never hide another thing from you, baby.”  

“Wanna go back to sleep? You can come back to the master bedroom,” you said, chuckling.

“Can’t sleep,” Taeyong said, glaring at the corner as if he was warning the shadows not to come any closer.

“Well, I can think of a much better way to pass the time,” you said, eyeing him through your lashes. You let your fingers skate innocently to the waistband of his shorts… then underneath…

A grunt sounding in his throat, Taeyong swept you effortlessly into his arms and carried you into the master bedroom.

“You, my dear, are plenty hot enough to start a fire,” you giggled.

Taeyong’s smile dropped.

“Too soon?” you asked.

“Definitely too soon,” Taeyong agreed, but he was smiling. He leaned in to kiss you again.

—

MAIN MASTERLIST

Let us know what you thought in the comments or on anon! 💋

[lovezbrownies]

I just sent a completely different ask, so I hope I'm not spamming you, but I just had another thought about your works, I could totally see Queen Nia being forced to have a sham marriage with another kingdom's ruler for the sake of alliance, if threatened with a devestating war otherwise for example, and I could also see that ruler forcing her to carry a heir, and that being the reason why she despises her own child, being forced to carry a child for a relationship she never wanted, all the while having a secret (or possibly open secret) love affair with her "faithful lifetime servant". This would also totally open the door for a polyamorous relationship with the darling, but that's a whole nother' can of worms. None of this is a request by the way, just thoughts I had about your work that I figured you may enjoy, feel free to tell me to keep it to myself.

Hello! :3 This is actually very very fire wait let me cook. (so sorry this took so long dunno whats up with me lately) This got so long I love it :3 also! i love love getting unique asks like these! Super appreciate any and every ask I receive :3 don't be shy <3

Masterlist.

Queen Nia x GN!Reader.

Queen Nia is known as a delinquent by the Board of Chiefs and staff who are close to her. She likes to bend the rules, she doesn't listen to anyone's orders, and she hates being told otherwise. And what can anyone say? Nia's the queen, and she's been the queen since age 16, she's old enough to realize that what she says, goes. Nia is as stubborn as a mule, and she lets anyone who defies her know that fact well.

But what happens when the stubborn mule is forced to be faced with the truth? When the threat of war looms over her head and the only way she can ease it is by marrying some heir? Well she'd go nuts! Nia is reckless sure, but first of all, she's a queen, and she wants to be known as the best Queen of Xelera ever. Maybe that's why she hires assistants to do work for her and then she would take all the credit. So, Nia steps up, and agrees to the proposal. Marry the king of a faraway land's kid, the heir of their kingdom, let's name it Misal for convenience's sake, all in the hopes of avoiding war. She is smart enough to make it clear and concise. Nia doesn't love them, she never will, and she will openly cheat on this heir with her real spouse, that is you. Nia doesn't bother to get to know her new royal spouse, takes you up as the Queen's most treasured servant, and goes on with her average life. She barely tolerates it when she has to speak with her so-called ''spouse" about whatever responsibilities they expect her to accomplish. Like just send the document over to her assistant! Is it so hard to let Nia live at peace as she hand feeds you exotic fruits.

Over the years of a resentful, heated marriage the two royals are forced to have at least two kids to continue the Royal Bloodwen bloodline. The other kid is for the heir's ridiculous, tainted, nasty bloodline. Nia's hatred for children almost triples when its the kids from her war-preventing marriage. Nia would shower you in gold while her kids can barely speak to her.

Nia is openly and clearly unfaithful, something she's established from the start. Even inviting you to her wedding and spending most of her time with you during said wedding. If Nia's royal spouse dares to anger her in some way she'd banish them off to whatever summer house her father had before his passing. If the king, her spouse's father, dares to impose war on her due to her treatment of his child she will threaten him back saying she'd gladly end his pathetic heir's life and broadcast it for all to see and send out her soldiers pillage his kingdom. Nia becomes smart about this situation. She'd plant spies in Misal. She would tell the Chief of Military to increase training, to spread military propaganda, to spend more money on equipment. All of this is to make sure that Xelera becomes the strongest Military entity in the world. No one can threaten her any longer, she'd keep the little heir under lock and key. Only to use this unintelligent heir as bargaining bait against Misal's king. "Give us more of this or your heir dies." And if Misal tries to call their bluff, a day later a video of said heir, knocked out, a knife barely grazing against their neck, if they woke up it would mean immediate impalement and immediate death.

Safe to say, Nia would be cute to her amazing darling, while an absolute cunt to everyone else around her.

[sibillascribbles08]

Nother Jasonnie prompt, can't tag cause they were on anon but this is 139! I gotta be honest this took so long partially cause I could NOT decide what they would be betting on and then I was struck with the best idea ever.

“Donnie what did you do to the kitchen?” Jason shouted the moment he got home. A lengthy day at the office. He hoped on the way home that he could just come in, curl up on the sofa with his daughter, and catch his breath for a bit.

Instead he finds… whatever this is. It’s definitely some new invention except the entire contraption is built around half the kitchen. Ropes, pulleys, mechanical arms equipped with brushes and towels, all of it hovering around the sink. 

Donnie—his husband, love of his life, the stupidest genius to ever exist—must be putting the final touches on the device in question. Holly sat on his shoulders, smiling. 

“What, you don’t like it?” Donnie straightened up and twirled the screwdriver in his hand. “I thought it was about time we finally rid ourselves of the worst chore in the house.” 

“Boo dishes!” Holly giggled. 

Jason crossed his arms. “Considering I’m the only one who does them around here, I fail to see the point of this.” 

“So you don’t have to do them either.” Donnie threw open his arms before he began to point at the parts of the contraption. “The flip of a switch and this will pluck all those gross dishes out of the sink, rinse them, and then deposit them into the dishwasher.” 

“Gross dishes.” Holly nodded. 

Jason’s gaze trailed over the mechanics of this whole thing. Donnie truly made ingenious devices on a regular basis, but this one was definitely made on a whim. But why? What did—

Jason finally noted the actual dishes in the sink, the top of which was a very cheese crusted pan. 

He sighed. “Holly want grilled cheese again?”

“Grill cheese!” The two year old chanted, kicking her legs. 

“Yes, and as usual it got everywhere and got stuck.” Donnie crossed his arms.

Jason rolled his eyes. “Wow, maybe that wouldn’t happen if you used less cheese, like I said, and stopped ruining the seasoning on my cast iron pan.” 

Donnie cringed. “How can you cook in it when it’s so greasy?”

“That is the point! You’re so lucky I don’t tattle on you to Mikey who would probably launch you into the sun for pulling things like that.” Jason groaned and ran his hands down his face. “I’m too tired for this. I just got done with work. I need to sit down.”

The smile returned to his husband’s face. “Yes, yes, go sit. I’m going to fire this up while you relax.” He reached up to lift Holly off his shoulders and held her out. 

The little softshell beamed at Jase, sticking her little hands out and reaching for him. He’d never been able to resist it and pulled her into her arms. Not in a huggy mood however, it seemed. She quickly climbed up his chest and onto his shoulders this time, resuming her sitting position. Her hands ruffled his hair before she nuzzled her nose into it. 

Jason sighed, tolerating it and the inevitable amount of spit that he’d end up having to brush out later. “Fine, I’ll go sit down. But I’m betting this is going to end in a disaster.” 

“Scoff, ye of little faith.”

“So sure of yourself, huh?”

“Naturally.” Donnie put a hand on his chest. “In fact, I’ll meet your bet. I bet it’ll run at least well enough that it becomes a permanent part of the apartment.”

“Uh, huh. And if I win, you do dishes for a week.”

His husband gave a horrified gasp. He grit his teeth as he glanced at the crusted cheese, but then narrowed his eyes as he turned back to Jase. “Fine. And if I win, you’re on bath duty for the week.”

Holly gasped and gripped Jase’s hair so hard that it hurt. “Bath?” 

“Ow, no.” Jason spoke through his teeth and reached up to get his daughter to let go. “Not right now. Maybe later.” 

She blew a raspberry but settled down. 

“Come on, let’s let Dad make a fool of himself on his own.” He turned to head into the living room. “Do you want to watch something on TV?”

“This is going to work.” Donnie called after him. 

Jason ignored it. He plopped onto the sofa and turned the TV on. Holly less climbed off his shoulders and more rolled down onto his lap. 

He didn’t even remotely enjoy most of the kids shows on these days, but thankfully Holly was also strangely fascinated with nature documentaries. Probably due to her being Donnie’s daughter, if Jason had to guess. Then again his father would sometimes tell funny stories about him standing two inches from the TV whenever factory lines were on the screen. 

At any rate, he opened the first animal one he could find. Life cycles of island parrots, sure. It worked its magic well enough. He leaned back against the sofa and Holly curled up on his chest, eyes glued to the screen. 

Jason gently ran a hand over her shell. “How was your day?”

“Mmm,” she just hummed at first, still watching the screen. “Fun.” 

“Yeah? Watched Dad build something crazy in the kitchen.”

“Grill cheese.” 

Jason laughed. “Yeah, guess that would make it a good day.” He was about to ask if she got a nap, but that question was answered as she curled up even tighter. Her eyes struggled to stay open. She never lasted long with him around, mainly because he was so much warmer than her. 

Sadly he didn’t get the chance to listen to her usual squeaky snores. Something snapped in the kitchen, followed by a loud whirring noise, a clang, and then the shattering of ceramics. 

Jason jumped off the sofa, keeping an arm around his daughter to hold her steady. Not steady enough to keep her still, however. The motion woke her right back up and she whined and rubbed her eyes. At least she didn’t burst into tears. 

He rushed into the kitchen and tried not to scream. Half of the contraption was tangled up inside itself, metal limbs straining against their bonds. Three broken plates on the floor, along with a huge puddle of water. And was the pan in the ceiling? Oh it was. It absolutely was.

And Donnie stood there, eyes wide and still crouched down like he had to dodge something and was too afraid to get back up. He glanced at the mess, the device, and then at Jase. 

Jason shifted his grip on Holly so he could hold her with one arm and placed a hand on his hip. “Didn’t work, huh?”

His husband avoided his gaze. “Well… perhaps I need to adjust—”

“Didn’t work.”

“I just need to try—”

“You lost, Donnie, admit it.” 

“Ugh.” He straightened up, fists clenched at his sides. “Fine. Fine. This set up was too rushed. Next time—”

“No. Stop. No next time.” Jason sighed. “I can do the dishes, Donnie, it’s fine.” 

“But it could be easier.”

“Easier than cleaning up the aftermath?” He pointed at the floor and then the ceiling.

“W-well—”

“That’s your job, by the way, along with dishes for the next week. As per our agreement.” He turned around on his heel to head to the living room once more. 

“Ugh, fine! Fine. I’ll do the dumb dishes for a week. You think that’s such a big deal?”

“It will be when Holly leaves the crusts off her sandwiches again and I leave them to soak.” Jason smiled at his daughter who only blinked at him. Obviously not taking in the conversation. 

Donnie let out a horrified screech. “Jase! You wouldn’t dare!” 

“After the five times you’ve left it in there for me to deal with? Yeah, I would dare.” Jason sat on the sofa once more. “Now clean the kitchen.” 

“So cruel!”

“You knew that long before you married me.” He curled up against the cushions and once more Holly lay down on his chest, already trying to doze off again. “And then you went and did that anyway, and now it’s way too late for you to back out.”

“I know we’re bickering, but there’s no way I’d back out of this.” Donnie shouted back as the clink of broken plates came from the kitchen.

Jason smiled, relaxing further into the sofa. Yeah, he knew that. He wouldn’t back out of it either.

Even when his genius husband got stupid ideas like this.

[mllelaurel]

Starlight Enclave - first five chapters

Wow, Salvatore has VASTLY improved on female characters through the years. Already there are more than four named ones (guess how many Shard had?), none of them are described in terms of how fuckable they, they are allowed to be competent and successful instead of refrigerator bait/cannon fodder, and they have internality. This better hold, or I shall be most disappointed. 

I like Dab’nay in particular. She seems cool. 

Okay, I probably should go back to spoiler cuts at this point, as this is an actual recent book. 

-

‘“She was half elf and half drow,” Gromph dryly replied. “That is sin enough.” 

Kimmuriel shrugged and let it go.”

Man, Kimmy’s mellowed out over the years. Back in Shard, he would have been high-fiving Gromph on that statement. In a lineface way. 

(Oh, hey, I can copy-paste from Hoopla. Hurrah!)

-

Fucking Gromph. Why is your name like that??!!! Also apparently he’s real creepy about Catti-Brie. And despite what I’m about to say about her below, I would not wish that on her in any way shape or form. 

-

‘Racist because my goddess said so and that is a hill I will die on’ was nnnnot a great intro to Catti-Brie. ( can only assume she’ll grow as a person. Ideally within this book. But as of this point, the amount of microagression Drizzt puts up with from her is. Um. Not low. 

-

Speaking of Drizzt. Ya boy seems depressed. Like ‘I took a wonderful and refreshing eight hour nap starting at 5:00 PM and why do I feel like shit? I think I’ll go back to sleep’ depressed. 

-

I really want to know how the fuck Entreri went from too pissed at Jarlaxle (for valid reasons) to be in the same room with him, to them being besties again. Bob better give us the flashback of them working shit out. Or a short story. Or something. 

Okay, I suspect what happened was Jarlaxle got enough words in edgewise to tell Entreri that he did not betray him of his own free will. And got emotionally naked enough to not only admit he’d left himself unguarded enough for Kimmuriel to alter his memories, but to convince Entreri there was no way he was lying. 

How he got Entreri to not kill Kimmuriel after that is another question. Possibly by making sure they’re never in the same room again for the next hundred years. 

Whatever is going on with Jarlaxle and Kimmuriel is a whole ‘nother question. Questions. I have many.  

With any of these, I can assume lots of things. But what I want is text answers. On the page. With alphabet. 

-

I do kind of love that Entreri and Zak are getting along like a house on fire. Not only because it makes me happy, but it says good things about their mental states. Given how similar they are, the fact that they are responding positively and empathetically to this other person who reminds them of themselves is very, very good. 

And Jarlaxle is watching them, rubbing his hands in glee. “Respect was important between those two...” indeed. Boy, you just want a threesome. Or at least to not commit Geek Social Fallacy #4, but you want it real bad! 

...Shit, now I want that threesome. Ffffffffff. 

-

“[Jarlaxle] used his favorite wand, gluing the crafts together with a glob of viscous goo...” Okay, I know how that wand works, I’ve seen it in Servant of the Shard. But also, we allllll know what that sounded like. 

-

Okay, I just really like this line: “They, we two, Bregan D’aerthe, Luskan itself—we are all Jarlaxle’s treasure. He’s like a dragon, but he hoards people and power instead of gold and gems.”

Also namechecking the dragon sisters! I’m kind of hoping they return and I haven’t even ‘met’ them properly yet. 

[bigavidmostallsportsfansaftyco]

To may for this child kid at the fucking dinner table like the man typically pay or the girl friend in stead of do Dutch 50/50 so sad but so true brother str so gf fuckining so gd fen lazy I so so redivilious totally firings totally ridiculous it so really really is

So so ludercuis

It just so totally just is woman votebespally Hispanic and some white some liberal white womanote iike it’s the 1960 50 down south Alabama Mississippi

Just when Martian Luther king and Malcolm X was around

Woman who vote that way should

Should

Watch the film I have on the vhs that I have

Movie or that I taped on

Ha long a go on bus I just tell them to watch it woman have more freedoms than they do now than they ever thay ever bever did and did

Put those verry same woman’s in the muslum country’s of gems Baruite nor Afghanistan or Saudi Arabian or Iran the telran with the iotola in charge or palastine or Gazza strip those very same woman will want to come back to the us or Canada and vote ford trump so fast thir head a spin the muslum woman get harassed raped even be headed

Be stay safe vote for Donald trump not Harris walk nothing but a continuing action of the old regime administration and way of life Biden and his drug cartel adicgitud son did nothing for this country scince there Bonn elected and Biden scince he has a senIter in the U.S. congress or the whole state of Delaware scince he first took the senators chair seat way way back in the late 19)6 when Jonson was in office a nother bum or fool of a us president he Jonson speaking of Jhonson educated the

N

The whole gdam Vietnam was is that Harris in Walzer you way want for a president yes or no and thay get s lot of out troops killed invent men now thir woman

Have no husband or father in thir family now the kind mom has tor thir father have to work harder giving thir skyrocketing home and food and baby formals now way I’m voting for trump im voting for for Harris’s no to Harris and waltz will hurt this country trump will help it lower the housing cost an food and baby formals cost the cost of gasoline in cars automobiles vote trump over harras Iautomatacy would any day I love trump and our once great green big beautiful country that is be stsy safe be stay good mostimportantaly god bless you rembrr god Jesus our good in

Savior love us all and he no matter what is going save us from this hellhole of a gdam freaked mess the current adminsstration created do rightfully so created the made a so call freeken mess pig sty mess right out of this one green wonderful country they shirts hell did and not god Jesus snd Jesus is pissed for what the dems did to his one big in green in beautiful creation work of art

The so righteously destroied now her so angry he going to come down one more last time to save all my church good going people and hope community church and it’s paster joe sanatuti and paste harvest manasquan United Methodist

And other st Marty S church church in point bero st Martha’s point pleasent paster Dave with the beard and he most defantsly looked like jusus Christ ho is most defantsly going to safe us from

The one fire the Bronx is burning lite it did in the 1970s that’s Biden our one former president the evil gargamel in the White House at least

Here not running or president any more Obama be hind the Seans Black Lives Matter and the one gread proud organisation is the scocsliest fashiest origination the one proud organstization the so called salvation gods great army have so called have so called become of reasentaly

That why thir all going straight to hell when Jesus criest home sos our planet to save all his church so all church called and internet buddies of mine the one in North Carolina lives in Madison nc queen loyal

And my Canadian she lives in Canada wester n Canada my wille Nelson lux and my green eyes trump suport any

Suportaing friend green eyes with blond hair my slaskin mackinled fried from snowy cold ankerage alaskaa d my foldable streamer moons magic mode frem colored streamer and sanders thr talking dog city the cigar in his mouth and my miss fast my other nj streamer from nj south nj that and my game exbox I play exbox games playing shark her too play it save vote for trump cannot harrass or minnadoys wall please thank you thir not ever bever comming back from jesus hell the devils hell love god bless y’all

[imagineauplots]

Wednesday!au what if...

What if there is a nother set of murderous outcast family at Nevermore?

Let me introduce you to the Fowley's family

The Fowley family has been around for hundreds and thousands of years, notorious amongst the outcasts for their wealth, powers and strength. Despite being a member of the higher broad of Nevermore and one of the biggest sponsors of the school, the Fowley has never sent their children to the school as they loath the history of the land.

Only few people know how their wealth stays around for generations after generation, though there are numerous speculation about it, one of which is them involving in multiple dirty businesses with the mafia.

It's not difficult to find a Fowley in the crowd. The family is blessed (some even say cursed) with their unique golden eyes.

Melvin Fowley

The patriach of the house. The cold-hearted man of many mysteries. One thing that is sure about Melvin is his cruelty. Rumors has it that he murdered his own brother and father to inherit the family dynasty.

It's hard to say of he loves his children or not though it's clear that the man will never win any "best-father-of-the-year" award. He is notorious in his circle for his harsh punishments on his children.

After the death of his wife, Leanne, Melvin refused to remarry.

Elliot Fowley

Melvin's oldest son and also the rightful heir to his dynasty, which also means he has received some of his father's horrendous punishment.

Melvin is determined to trained Elliot young but also paranoid that he might one-day die at the hand of his son as history might repeat itself.

Elliot is notorious amongst his peers for having no mercy what so ever towards his opponents, his cruelty and his temper. Elliot blames his father for his mother's death and therefore despites the man as a result.

Elliot relationship with the rest of his siblings are tumultuous to say the least, though it is safe to say that they care for each other.

Elliot was born with the ability to produce and control fire. His power could be incredibly destructive when his emotion is high and once it got lose there is no way back from there.

Viego Fowley

The second oldest, Melvin's son with his long time mistress Beatrice Green. After Viego being born, Melvin locked Beatrice in a mental hospital in Italia and kept her there till a fire wrecked the hospital and killed Beatrice in the process.

Growing up, Viego is the forgotten child in the family and experienced neglect from his father. He somewhat built a relationship with the the twins as they also experience the lost of their mother at a young age.

Viego is a mystery, though he refuses to have anything to do with his father's business, instead started his career as a scholar, it's clear as day that he is not someone to mess with.

Viego power is certainly a booster for his career as the man can summon, control and manipulate plants and vegetation.

Aluvia Fowley

The only Fowley girl for the last century and the older half of the Fowley twins.

Aluvia looks so much like her ancestor, the last Fowley woman, Meriette Fowley, that she appears almost identical to Meriette's portrait.

Aluvia inherits the distrustful and paranoid nature from her father, though not as serious. She masters the act of a helpless innocent little girl, which she uses quite often to get what she wants. In all truthfulness, Aluvia is calculative and would stop at nothing to gain what she deems herself deserves.

Aluvia share a set of skills with her brother (both are teleporter and telekinesis) Aluvia get her way with mind magic, another similarity between her and her ancestor.

Aidan Fowley

The youngest of the family. He is about half an hour younger than Aluvia.

Though he was considered the younger brother, Aidan makes it his responsibility to be Aluvia's protector besides partner in crime.

Aidan shows himself to be scarily intelligent, fiercely independent and incredibly prideful. He also isn't fazed from neither his father or from Elliot. After the death of Leanne, Aidan started developing hatred for his father.

Despite being impulsive from time to time, Aidan proves himself to be a ruthless and efficient killer, who enjoys killing to a certain extent

Aside from the power that he shares with his twin sister, Aidan is also a shape shifter, something that he inherits directly from his mother's line.

[cyberaxolotl]

y’know what i WILL write something quick and small about couples cuddling and i will either write it all in one go or forget about it forever in my drafts!!!

Quiet Night

Multi-ship fluff (Lottaham, Wigglefunny, Snorplo)

The stars shine bright across Snaxburg, sending beams of light down upon the tops of huts, only being shadowed by the large structures themselves. No trees to shadow over the town, only the towering silhouette of the Frosted Peak, which the moon sat across from. As the people in town settled down, and bugsnax around either went away for the night or just started to come out, all became still and silent.

So it is, the fire was soon doused, the grumps around it already partially dozing away. Shelda, in all her years, had gone to bed before the rest, leaving Filbo with Chandlo and Wambus.

“That’s it for tonight, everyone.” Filbo said, grabbing the pail of water he kept nearby. He splashed it purposefully in the direction where Shelda would have sat, not wanting to deal with the consequences of getting either of the other two soaked. “It’s about time for us to be in bed!” He added.

Chandlo yawned, his tusks glinting in the moonlight. “You’re right about that, dawg. Snorpy was in bed a few hours ago.” He stood up tiredly, stepping over the log he was sat on. “See you dawgs in the morning!” He exclaimed, though quietly, and then walked away.

“Hmh. Same goes to Triffy, she was probably off to bed quite a bit ago.” Wambus stood up, putting his hands on his back to crack it and relax after sitting still so long. “Night, Filbo.” With that, he walked away.

“Night~!” The lighter blue grump smiled, putting the pail down. He let out a yawn, then walked in the direction of his own hut, internally wondering which crochet frog he’d sleep with that night.

Wambus stepped into the doorway of his home, leaving his hat on a hook. “Triffy?” He asked quietly, looking at the bed. Triffany was in her usual spot, still as a stick, with her knees tucked up closer to her body. He couldn’t help but notice her in-ordinary expression, one of slight disdain. ‘She’s havin’ another nightmare…’ He thought, walking over.

He quickly found his way on the bed, shuffling up behind her. Gently as to not startle her awake, he put his arms around her, slipping one under her waist and the other over her. He started gently scratching the fluff of her collar, stroking her. “Yer okay, Triffy… Ain’t nothin’ here…”

“..!” He felt her take a sharp breath and jolt a little, before quickly relaxing. “Didn’t notice ya come in…” She said quietly.

“I wouldn’t dream of sleepin’ anywhere else.” He continued petting her fur, which she appreciated. “‘Nother nightmare?” He asked.

She sighed. “It’s that same one all the time recently. I’m starting to wonder if it’s some kinda prophecy…” She let out a small chuckle at the thought.

“Hmh, sure hope it ain’t, if it’s as bad as whatcha always tell me about…” He put his head over her shoulder, leaning closer to her.

“Ah, well, we don’t hafta worry about it now. Let’s just get back to sleep, yeah?” She accepted his closer embrace, shutting her eyes again. Wambus purred quietly as she did, slowly coming to stop petting her fluff.

In the house across from theirs, another pair of grumps were getting ready for bed. “You sure you wanna sleep here? It’s a small bed, and I wake up real early…” Gramble asked, sitting on his bed, fiddling with his hat in his hands.

“Gramble dear, we both wake up really early. If anything, it’ll be nice to wake up with you in my arms.” Wiggle looked over at him, digging through her bag. “Ah, here it is!” With that, she pulled out a blanket, one with little pompoms attached.

The rancher chuckled. “Alright, if you say so…” He accepted as she walked over, holding the blanket behind her like a cape. “Wah-!” He jumped when she jumped at him, grabbing him with the blanket and wrapping it around both him and herself. Given his small stature, he was wrapped around almost completely by her and the blanket.

“How’s this for a good position~? You, cradled around me, and this lovely blanket.” She pulled him up, getting his head closer to hers, and putting her arms more properly around him.

He let out a soft chuckle, smiling at her. “It’s perfect, Wiggle..!” He put his arms around her waist, bringing his head closer to the voluminous fluff of her chest.

“I’m glad. I’m hoping my presence will help with your sleep walking, keeping you here in my arms…” Wiggle’s voice trailed off, her curling around him. They felt warm in each other’s fur, like they were meant to be there together.

He purred softly. “I hope so too…” He mumbled out, then shut his eyes.

Once again, their neighbors were heading in for the night, one of them already long asleep.

Chandlo walked upstairs, his posture slack, a rare occurrence. He was immediately greeted by Snorpy’s bed, the inhabitants of which being, of course, asleep. Snorpy always went to bed at eight PM on the dot, no later, no earlier, and he also woke up exactly twelve hours later. Chandlo found the strict schedule impressive.

‘I gotta wonder how you stand to sleep like that…’ He walked up to the bedside and thought. Unlike him, his housemate slept in a very still position, his arms at his sides and his legs aligned with his hips. The green grump always slept entirely sprawled out. ‘Heh… Guess that’s part of the reason we don’t share a bed.’ He could picture himself accidentally throwing himself on top of the other, and he didn’t want to do that.

Aware of how light of a sleeper he was, Chandlo leaned down slowly, putting his hand on the bed frame to steady himself as he placed a small kiss on the other’s forehead. “Mmh… Chandlo..?” It seemed his gentle efforts were not enough, Snorpy’s eyes opening slightly, sounding groggy.

“Didn’t mean to wake you, Snorpdawg. Go back to sleep.” He smiled down at him, a little flustered to have been caught.

“What are you doing up at midnight..?” Somehow, he knew the exact time.

“I was just heading to bed, bro. You know I tend to stay up late.” Chandlo shrugged, glancing away.

“Mh, well, alright…” Snorpy, tired and groggy, didn’t question it further. He returned to his position, noticeably relaxing as he did.

‘He’s so cute…’ The athlete thought, then turned away, walking over to his own bed.

I am going to fall asleep too now goodnight reader

[let-them-read-fics]

Conflicted Connections

Requested By @rc11: “Reader is drunk and calls Rosé to pick her up since she’s worried. And on the way home, the reader confesses but since she knows Rosé is out of her league she gets all sad. All fluff throughout the way, and the next day she avoids Rosé since she recalls herself confessing and is to embarrassed to face her. Gets a lil bit angst but then they somehow make up at the end.”

Pairing: Rosé x Fem!Reader

Word Count: ~ 6,505

Warnings / Misc. – Mentions Of Alcohol & Partying, Angst, Fluff

Disclaimer: This writing is a work of fiction, and no disrespect is meant for those mentioned herein. 

A/N: Thank you for the request! I had fun writing this one, and I really hope you enjoy it. I stuck with the gist, but I added quite a bit :) AND WHO ELSE IS HYPED FOR THE SHOW??? 🥳 I can’t wait to see our girls own that stage 😌

PS ~~ The song used is called "Baby, I Love You" by Tiffany Alvord, and it was specially requested.

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

With yet another steaming cup of tea in hand, Rosé makes her way back to her room, settling onto the soft cushions of the bed. Her notebook lays open in front of her, lyrics and annotations beautifully etched into the paper. 

She pulls her guitar back into her lap now, allowing her fingers to glide along the strings as she strums out whatever comes to mind. Nothing makes her feel as relaxed as this; she's free to sing whatever she feels -- to play whatever feels right. If only for a little while, she can connect back to her roots and remember how she felt as a little girl; when her heart and mind were unburdened by fear of judgement.

Life isn't always easy, but she takes comfort in the fact that her love of music will always remain childlike, in the sense that there's always something new to discover or tell the world. It goes without saying that being a songwriter is much easier when you're inspired, and Rosé can attest to that. A certain someone has become her muse over the course of the past few months, and her mind is constantly filled with ideas for new material. 

As another line pops into her head, she takes the page between her fingers to flip to a clean sheet. A few seconds later, thinking she found one, she begins writing. Soon, though, she discovers that this wasn't an empty page: in the upper right hand corner, a small heart is drawn, encompassing the words "Hi Rosie" and a small smiley face. Your initials are printed next to the doodle, and the sight brings a soft smile to her face. You must've sneakily drawn that when she wasn't looking one day. 

Her fingers run along the markings, tracing over the lines as your face flashes in her mind for the millionth time today. The universe must've been listening, because no more than 5 minutes later, her phone starts ringing. She reaches backwards towards the bedside table, and her fingers soon make contact with the device. 

"Hey, I was just thinking about you--" She starts, before being interrupted. 

"BABY YOU LIGHT UP MY WORLD LIKE NOBODY ELSE--" Your voice booms through the phone as you sing loudly, nearly making Rosé go deaf in the process. She blinks a few times to refocus her thoughts before chuckling lightly.

"Y/N?"

"Rosie I'm at this really fun party, you should come hang out!" Your words come out slightly slurred, but excited nonetheless. It's a bit hard for her to hear you now over the music blasting in the background. 

"Ah, I don't know…" She trails off, voice unsure. She'd much rather spend the evening writing about you than at some random party. 

"Pleaaseee?" You drag out, making sure to whine for even more emphasis. "I miss you." 

Rosé's heart skips a beat at that last part, now thudding obnoxiously loud in her chest. She misses you too, probably more than a 'friend' should, but she can't help it -- you're simply too amazing.

She takes a breath, knowing that she'll likely regret her next decision -- after all, hiding her feelings becomes harder every time she's around you. Regardless, she can't find it in herself to say no to you. "Alright, fine. Where are you again?"

You let out a loud cheer upon hearing her cave in, and she just knows you look like a dork, likely having that stupid little smirk on your lips that she loves so much. 

After getting the address from you, she goes into her closet to find a good outfit. For anyone else, she might've just shown up in whatever was comfortable; but knowing that you're there is enough motivation for her to put a bit more effort into it. 

Her signature style shines through: she dons a black crop top and jeans, paired with a long, hickory colored trench coat. She finishes the look off with her white sneakers, giving the outfit that final umph that it needed.

With one last look in the mirror, she adjusts her clothes and hair again before heading out.

-----

The moment that Rosé steps foot inside the house, her eyes widen. She's been to plenty of parties before, but never one as chaotic as this. A large crowd is gathered in the living room, making the area that was likely once spacious now appear cramped and tiny. Some people move with the rhythm, while others dance wildly to the beat of their own drum. The music was audible from outside, but inside is a whole nother story: it's nearly deafening now. 

In front of her, just past the living room, two guys are fist fighting. To her left, a long hallway is filled with couples making out, likely on their way to the bedrooms. She grimaces before pushing her way past everyone and walking towards the kitchen.

The bright strobe lights from the living room still manage to reach the area, but things are definitely a little calmer here. That's not to say that it's quiet, though: people are gathered around the counters, downing shots and cheering each other on at the same time. Some stumble around, nearly falling over as their friends laugh hysterically and help keep them vertical.

In the adjacent room, two teams of partygoers are busy playing beer pong. It seems to be boys vs girls, and Rose smirks when she discovers the latter are in the lead. 

She scans the rooms one more time, but you're still nowhere to be found. A pang of worry settles in her chest, but it only makes her more determined to find you.

And, 10 minutes later, she does. You're outside in the backyard, sitting near the fire pit with a bottle of wine in your hand. The flames are dying down now, long ago forgotten about -- the stars shining in the midnight sky had captivated you, stealing your attention away from keeping the fire fed. 

Before she begins her journey over to you, she takes a moment to appreciate how beautiful you look. The remaining embers flicker lazily, creating a deep haze that casts onto your body. The shadows contrast with the light, making your features pop in all the right ways. The sound of someone shouting again brings her out of her daze, and Rose makes her way to you.

At first, you don't notice her. Your eyes are wide, filled with wonder as you gaze up at the sky in awe. Space has always baffled you, and Rose thinks you look adorable when you get like this. 

"Y/N," she says gently, standing beside your chair. After pulling your eyes away from the sky, you meet her gaze. A light blush rises to your cheeks at the way she's looking at you. 

"Hi Rosie," you slur. The words come out cutely, but she can tell that you're much drunker than you had been when you called earlier. 

"How much have you had?"

You scrunch your face up in thought as the last two functioning brain cells in your head go to work. She can practically see the wheels turning, and she can't help but laugh at the look of effort on your face. 

"...a lot." You ultimately conclude, taking far too long to come up with such a simple answer. "Alex gave me a couple of his special mixes earlier, I had some shots, and now--" you declare, holding the wine bottle up triumphantly, "--this!"

As soon as she heard his name leave your lips, she frowned. Alex is one of your coworkers and friends, and he's totally in love with you. You're oblivious to it, but Rose isn't and she can't stand him. On top of the fact that he's a guy, he has the audacity to like you? Well, she can't exactly blame him for those things, but that doesn't mean that she has to like him. She's civil around him for your sake, but that's all.

"Do you want some?" You ask, always willing to offer her whatever you have. Sharing is caring, and you definitely care about a certain Australian beauty. 

She looks down at you before shaking her head. "No, I'm good." You swish the liquid around, peering down into the bottle as it glides from side to side. "Me too," you say, setting it down beside your chair. "Let's go dance!" You suggest excitedly, using your strength to hoist your body out of the seat. Sorely miscalculating your moves, your foot doesn't quite connect with the ground how you intended; you stumble, falling right into Rosie's waiting arms.

She was watching you carefully, having a feeling that this would happen. 

"Nope, I'm taking you home. No dancing for you." You whine and pout, but Rose doesn't budge. Eventually you give up, and allow her to hold you close as she helps you walk out of the house. You rest your head on her shoulder, and she has to fight the butterflies that take flight.

As the two of you near the door, Rose spots Alex in the living room. She shoots him a cocky grin, as if to say 'checkmate' before she leads you out the door.

-----

The ride home was getting off to a rather interesting start. It took Rosie a while to wrangle you into the car and buckle you in, but she eventually managed to do it. Now, though, a new problem is arising: you're being flirty, and she doesn't know what to do with herself.

"You're so pretty," you compliment, leaning over the center console to whisper the phrase in her ear. She gulps and attempts to calm her heart down, but she's having trouble. "Shush," she commands, blushing as she lets out a little giggle. She tries to remind herself that you're just drunk -- that there's no real meaning behind your words -- but it feels good to pretend.

After a moment, you return to your seat, and she lets out a sigh of relief. 

Barely 2 minutes later, you place a hand on her knee, saying gently, "You always take such good care of me. Thank you, Rose." She sneaks a glance at you, and her heart nearly melts at the smile you're sending her way. Your eyes are shining with sincerity, and she'd surely get lost in them if she weren't busy driving. 

The rest of the ride is filled with more flirting and compliments from you, all of which send her into a gay panic, but she wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

----

Now, laying in your bed as Rosé rounds up some pajamas for you, the effects of the alcohol really begin setting in. You're still in the playful, teasing phase, but you know you'll have a major hangover tomorrow. Whatever Alex put in those drinks is catching up with you and running its course throughout your body.

"Rosie, do you like anyone?" You call out, toying with your fingers like a toddler. She emerges from the bathroom, washcloth in hand, just as you ask the very words she's been fearing.

She goes to respond, but you interrupt her with a drunken giggle. "Because I do. Her name rhymes with nosey." You chuckle at yourself, but she's too busy trying not to freak out to return the gesture. When you don't question her further, she relaxes her shoulders. How many more times could she get away with avoiding her feelings?

She pushes the scary thought away, instead opting to bring over your clothes and give you a minute to change. Thankfully you're coherent enough to do that on your own -- the thought of you flirting with her while half naked and self-assured sends her wild, and she knows she'd slip up and confess. 

Once you're dressed, she comes back over to the bed and sits down in front of you. She brings the rag up to your face and slides it across your cheeks and neck, knowing just what you need. This isn't the first time she's done this for you, and she can't deny the rush she feels when you look up at her with those big eyes, filled with gratitude.

You sigh at the coolness, relishing in the way that it soothes your hot skin. A soft thank you slips past your lips as your eyelids flutter shut, and Rosé almost lets herself imagine that you're hers. That she just brought her girlfriend back home and now she's taking care of her. But before she can get too lost in that fantasy, she pulls away, slipping the rag into your hand so that you can use it on yourself now.

"Well, I think my work here is done." She declares, patting your leg lovingly. She moves to stand, and the action prompts you to speak up.

"Wait," you start, grabbing her wrist before she can get away. You meant to tug gently, but you must've misjudged your strength; in an instant, she's close to you again, just a breath away. Her face is right in front of yours, and you can feel her warm breath against your lips. 

Her eyes are wide now, and a subtle tremble runs through her. She's never been this close to you, and although she's terrified, she doesn't want to move away. She wants to give in -- to lean forward the tiniest bit and capture your lips -- but she can't. Her breathing becomes labored as she notices your gaze move from her eyes to her lips. Do you like her back? Surely not, you're just drunk...right?

Her pink lips look so kissable right now, the gloss on them shining in the low lamplight. She's close enough that you can smell her fruity shampoo and feel every jagged breath she draws in.

"Y/N--" 

That's all it takes to set you into motion. You bring a hand up to her cheek, cupping it sweetly as you press your lips to hers. She sighs at the contact, melting into your embrace, and allows herself to let her walls down. Her lips move against yours slowly, unsure -- this is new for both of you, and you're testing the waters. One of her hands comes up to rest against the back of your neck, and she pulls you impossibly closer. 

After she subconsciously bites your lip - the action drawing a groan from you - she snaps back to reality and pulls away. Her lips are red and swollen, and you have to stop yourself from leaning back in. She looks like she wants to do the same, but she centers herself before she can.

"I, uh, I'm gonna go. Goodnight, Y/N." She says breathlessly, swallowing as she runs a hand through her hair. She doesn't give herself anymore time to change her mind, and soon she's rushing out, failing to even give you so much as a second glance. 

Shocked, you sit back and let your mind try and piece together what the hell just happened. The kiss worked well in sobering you up, at least for the time being, but you wish it hadn't. Now, you're forced to sit alone with your feelings again, lips still tingling with the memory of hers against them.

----

The Next Morning

*ring ring*

The blare of your ringtone sounds especially loud now, making you wince in pain. Your head is pounding, and that definitely isn't helping. Quickly, you roll over and pick it up, keeping your eyes closed as you press the button and hold it to your ear. "Hello?" You ask groggily, voice still laced with sleep.

"Hey, Y/N. The girls and I are going out later; do you wanna come with?" Jennie's sweet voice asks. You rub your forehead, now opening your eyes and staring at the ceiling as you ponder your options. With a glance at the clock, you see that you've already slept a good portion of the day away.

"I'd love to, but I'm pretty hungover right now Jen." You chuckle despite yourself, grinning when she laughs back.

"Rosie told us you might be dealing with that." Jennie laughs again, but you go quiet. Did she tell them everything that happened, or did she try and forget about it? After all, she basically ran away -- surely she regrets it. You scold yourself for even thinking that someone as out of your league as Rosé could like you back.

"Jisoo whipped up her special 'hangover-reverser' drink for you, as she calls it." She adds, hoping that'll win you over. Lost in your thoughts, you forget to answer her. 

Jennie takes your silence the wrong way, saying, "You don't have to come, but we'd love to hang out." She sounds sad at the thought of you staying home, and a feeling of guilt creeps into your mind. Work has kept you from hanging out with all of them recently, and they miss you. You miss them too, and quickly decide that a hangover (and the awkward situation you'll be subjected to when face to face with Rosé) aren't enough of a deal breaker to decline their offer. 

"I'll be over in a few. Tell Jisoo to make a couple more for the road… I'll need all the help I can get." 

Jennie laughs again, and you pep up at the sweet sound. She celebrates, and you can hear the girls clapping in the background, shouting praise at her for convincing you to come. The two of you say your goodbyes, and you begin getting ready.

-----

"Jisoo, you're a lifesaver." You confess, flopping back onto the couch. The unnie responds with a smug, "I know," from her place in front of the mirror. 

You lick the remaining liquid from your lips, and Rose shifts in her seat across the room. She can't get the feeling of your kiss out of her mind, and seeing you do that only makes things worse. 

"Here's the second one," Lisa says, smirking as she pats your shoulder and hands you the cup. You smile back at her and smack her butt as a wordless thank you.

"Alright, so where exactly are we going, girls?" You ask as you tuck your feet underneath your body.

"I was thinking we could shop around Hongdae. They changed some stuff since we were there last, and it looks awesome." Jennie informs.

"Sounds good to me." Jisoo replies from the adjacent room, applying the finishing touches to her makeup. 

Lisa agrees as well, and so does Rosie. At the sound of her soft voice, you make eye contact with her for the first time today. Ever since you arrived earlier, you've avoided her. She's done much the same, refraining from saying much to you at all. The girls haven't seemed to pick up on the tension yet, but they're observant; surely it won't take them long. 

As you replay the fateful events in your mind again, you allow your head to lull back and rest against the cushion of the couch. Last night, Rosé’s eyes were speaking all of the words she could never tell you out loud, sparkling with repressed desire. It wasn't hard to tell that she was nervous, but she kissed you like she had been waiting to for an eternity. So, clearly, your confusion at the whole situation is understandable. Why did she run away?

"Ready?" Jisoo asks, kicking your foot to get your attention. 

"As I'll ever be." You state as you stick a hand out to her. She understands immediately, swiftly helping you up. A little groan leaves you, your head spinning from standing up so quickly, so she doesn't move until you get adjusted. 

"Thanks," you smile, giving her a sweet kiss on the cheek. Having such good friends always comes in handy, but there's something special to the little moments like these. She hums in response, and the two of you lead the way out to the car.

Rosé watches the whole encounter as she falls in line behind you, wishing she were in Jisoo's place. Last night was a wake up call for her, unexpected in literally every way, and she panicked. Looking back now, she wishes she would've at least explained her behavior to you. The kiss awakened something within her, releasing all of the feelings she's held in for so long. She didn't rush out because she didn't enjoy the kiss; if she had any idea that that's the impression it left on you, she would've ran back in and kissed you a million times over.

Lisa notices Rosie's furrowed brow and downcast eyes, and instantly knows something's up. 

Now in the car, she leans in close to ask, "Everything okay?" 

"Mhm." Rosie replies, doing her best to sound like her normal self. 

The years have made Lisa an expert at reading the slightly older girl, but she doesn't want to push her. If she wants to talk about it, she will.

"Okay…" Lisa trails off, coincidentally making fleeting eye contact with you through the rearview mirror. On any other day, you would've fought Lisa over the seat next to Rosé; but today, of course, is unlike any other. You're in uncharted territory now, and you have no idea when -- or if -- you'll return to normal. For now, you make do with the passenger's seat, keeping yourself busy by looking out the window. Jennie's driving is smooth, and you appreciate that in your altered state. A low pulsing still vibrates through your head every now and then, but it's become much more bearable. Jisoo truly knows what she's doing with that concoction.

----

Hongdae, Seoul -- A Few Hours Later

"Jennie," Lisa huffs out, struggling to carry everything she’s been handed. "How much stuff do you need?!" The maknae does her best to keep the bags from touching the ground, but that task is proving difficult. 

"We're almost there!" Jennie says, dismissing the younger girls complaints. 

A few minutes later, you're seated at the new restaurant Jennie's spent the night talking about. Seeing the girls so happy today has taken your mind off of your own problems somewhat, but sometimes the issues are unavoidable… like right now. 

Though she tries to be discreet about it -- even going so far as to hide behind her menu -- you can feel Rosé's eyes on you. The waiter seated you at a booth, and of course she happened to sit right in front of you. Having her attention has always been something you enjoy, but you're so embarrassed about what happened that you can't help but shy away from it now. If drunkenly confessing your feelings for her wasn't bad enough, you also kissed her. What could be next?

Rosie's dying on the inside a little more with every minute that passes. The past few hours were filled with plenty of fun and stupidity for the lot of you, stopping in just about every store you came across and joking all the while. But the entire time, you and Rosé kept your distance. Occasionally you'd crack a joke to make her laugh or the two of you would share a look, but the air around you was always thick with the emotions you couldn't give voice to. It also doesn't help that part of Rosé is afraid you didn't even really mean to kiss her. If she blames it on your drunkenness, she doesn't have to process her feelings; she can just go back to suffering in silence. When she looks at you, though, she knows there's no denying what you both feel for each other. 

"Can I get you started with some drinks?" The waiter approaches again, pen and pad ready to go.

"Do you have sikhye?" You inquire, raising your head to look at him.

"We do."

"Great," you smile, getting an idea. "I'll take one of those and a glass of water, please." He jots down your request before recording the other orders and setting off to get the drinks prepared. 

In order to preserve the plan, you don't dare look in Rosé's eyes.

A couple minutes later, he returns with a big tray of drinks; it's a wonder he didn't accidently drop any on the way. Jennie and Jisoo ordered multiple for the table so you could sample them, and you smile at the gesture. They all look tasty, but one in particular catches your attention.

When he hands it to you, you wordlessly slide it over to Rosé. You know she loves it, and you did order it for her, after all. She lets out a little gasp of excitement, and you choose this moment to really look at her. Her eyes are shining again, and you laugh -- if anything is capable of cheering her up, it's something that she can eat or drink.

She beams at you while extending her hand, gently resting it against yours on the table. It's warm and comforting, and you can't help but want to hold it forever. Her fingertips brush against the soft skin of your wrist, and you almost melt at the tenderness of the motion. 

Thankfully the other girls aren't paying attention, or else you'd be thoroughly embarrassed. They continue on with their conversation, leaving you and Rosé to get lost in your own world for the next while.

More time passes, in which you place your food orders and the waiter later brings it out to you.

"Enjoy, ladies." He declares before bowing and returning to the host stand. 

"It looks so yummy," Rose moans, snatching up her chopsticks before digging in. The other girls agree as well, and soon all of you are eating like there's no tomorrow. The flavors go perfectly together, and you pat yourself on the back for choosing the dish you did.

"Do you wanna try some?" You ask after noticing Rose eyeing your plate. You quirk an eyebrow at her as you wait for her answer, which comes in the form of a sheepish nod. 

"That's my girl," you declare with a smile on your face, happy to bring back some of your playful banter. Rosie's heart speeds up at the title, but she tries not to show it too much. Although it's a bit unmannerly, you reach a bite of your food across the table to her and grin when she takes it. Her cheeks puff out in that signature chipmunk pose, and your smile widens. 

"Yah, that's delicious." She sighs, closing her eyes to allow her palate to focus on the flavors. 

You shake your head at how much of a dork she is for food, but giggle despite yourself. She really is the cutest.

-----

"Good evening, everyone, this is the manager speaking. Our lounge area will open in 10 minutes, and karaoke will begin shortly after!" 

Lisa looks at Jennie incredulously, her mouth hanging open. "They have karaoke, too?? How cool is that!" 

Jennie smirks, knowing how good she is at choosing places to take you guys. This joint is definitely somewhere that you'll frequent whenever you're around. "I know right?" She asks, satisfied with herself.

In Rosie's eyes, the karaoke announcement was fate working its magic. She's spent the day mulling over everything that's transpired, deciding earlier that all she needed was one more sign. Now that she had that last little push, all she has left to do is gather up all the courage she possesses. 

As the 5 of you finish up your meals and wait for it to kick off, she racks her brain for the perfect song to sing. She's going to confess.

---

Fully stuffed and satisfied with the amazing dinner you just had, you all follow the waiter towards the lounge area. Located in the back of the restaurant, it's complete with 1 main, corner stage, and 2 smaller ones off to the side. Plush couches and chairs stretch out in front of the stages, allowing the audience to kick back and enjoy the performances. 

A small bar is tucked away in the far corner of the room, stocked with a vast array of different liquors and mixes. Strips of light line the shelves behind the bartender, giving the space its own unique style, and you take some time to admire it all. A few small disco balls hang from the ceiling, placed strategically throughout the room to allow for the most amount of ambience possible. All of the different colors of the rainbow take their turn cycling through the projector, flashing and shining around the room in their random patterns. It's a very welcoming place to be.

You're the first guests in there, so you're free to choose whatever stage you want. "Which one should we go to?" Jisoo asks, doing a little half spin as she looks around the room. 

"Really, unnie? You have to ask?" Lisa rolls her eyes and scoffs; she thought her best friend knew her better than that. Obviously Lisa wants to go to the big stage. How else would she show off all of her moves while she sings?

"You're so dramatic." Jisoo grumbles, sending the maknae an annoyed look of her own as she's dragged over to the performance area. You, Jennie, and Rosé trail after them, shaking your heads at their behavior. 

----

"Come on, we're going first." You bite back a laugh as you watch Lisa tug Jennie up from her spot on the sofa, where she had just sat down and gotten comfortable. Jennie tries to protest, even pointing at the drink she just got from the bar to convince Lisa to let her stay, but she isn't having it. They walk over to the kiosk built into the wall, and take their time in choosing a song to sing.

Their performance is a wild ride, to say the least. Lisa forgets the words at one point, opting to compensate by freestyling a rap and dancing around wildly while everyone hypes her up. She could've just looked at the lyrics on the stage screen, you realize, but that wouldn't have been even half as fun. Jennie breaks into the box of props sitting just off stage, pulling out a multicolored, frilly scarf and wrapping it around her singing partner. To finish off her own look, she rummages around until she finds a comically large top hat and pair of heart shaped glasses.

"Golden buzzer!" You shout out, pressing an imaginary button on the table. The girls celebrate, and your combined laughter fills the room. 

Next up is Jisoo, who decides to put her charm on full display and serenade all of you. She starts off on stage, letting her deep voice lull you into a state of entrancement before she approaches the couch. She greets each of you individually, giving you separate attention just like a rock star would, and all of you go wild for her. She tries to keep up the edgy, heartthrob persona, but it fades a bit when she cracks a smile, her eyes turning into those adorable crescents that you all love so much.

As her song comes to an end, you excuse yourself to the bathroom. In order to go through with your plan -- that is, singing a song to Rosie -- you have to calm your nerves a bit first. You splash water on your face and sigh as the chilly liquid slides down your skin. A bead of it trails down your neck, soaking into the cotton of your collar the second it hits it, and you're reminded of last night. A familiar warmth runs through you at the memory of Rosé's hands on your body, taking care of you like always. She's the definition of girlfriend material, and you always kick yourself for waiting so long to tell her about your feelings.

A basket of paper towels sits on the marble countertop of the sink, and you reach forward to grab one and dry your face. With one final look in the mirror, you throw the paper away and exit the restroom. 

Too busy mentally preparing yourself for the performance, you fail to notice that Rosé is already standing on the stage, mic in hand. You lift your head as you near the stage, and she makes eye contact with you; she looks nervous, so you give her a reassuring smile and move back to your seat. Behind the nervousness, you can see how excited she is; you're intrigued. 

"So, this song goes out to a very special girl here tonight. I hope you like it." She announces shyly, garnering some applause from the small group of diners that have filtered their way in from the restaurant. She presses play, and shakes her hands out in an attempt to get rid of the anxiety building within her. Up until now, keeping her worries in check had been doable; though as she stands alone on stage, looking down at the object of her affection, she's afraid all over again. And yet, somehow in an instant, you take some of those fears away. You're looking at her with so much love and encouragement in your eyes that Rosé thinks she can accomplish anything. 

The song -- one you're hearing for the first time tonight -- picks up, and she begins.

There are three words, & I want you to know they are true

There are three words, that I've been dying to say to you 

Burns in my heart, like a fire that ain't goin' out

I need to let you know

You're unintentionally holding in a breath as she croons the words out, singing straight to you. Her soulful vocals ring out across the space, making goosebumps appear on your skin; her voice always strikes a certain chord within you, the beautiful tones sounding like Heaven. She makes it feel like you're the only two people in the room; that even the world stopped for a moment to watch this play out.

I wanna say I love you, I wanna hold you tight

I want your arms around me & I, want your lips on mine

I wanna say I love you, but, babe I'm terrified

My hands are shaking, my heart is racing

Cause it's something I can't hide, it's something I can't deny

So here I go

Baby I lo-o-o-ve you

The smile on your face can't be wiped away by anything; no natural force of the universe could get in the way of this. Your heart swells at her confession as things finally fall into place. Possessed by the love you hold for the goddess in front of you, you decide to be brave and join her on stage. 

She squeals and covers her face as you approach, and the audience erupts into cheers at this. They whistle and clap loudly, and you can hear the distinct voices of the girls from behind you. Pulling her hands away, Rosé's adorable face is revealed in all its glory. She has tears in her eyes, and they let you know that the past 48 hours have been just as much of an emotional rollercoaster for her as they have been for you.

You press a kiss to the back of her hand, feeling your chest tighten at the way it lightly shakes against your lips. You take a step closer and wrap your arms around her waist as she hooks her right one around your shoulders. Her left hand holds the mic between you two, making it so that you can sing the next part together. 

I've never said, these words to anyone, anyone at all

Never got this close, cause I was always afraid I would fall

But now I know, that I'll fall right in-to your arms

Don't ever let me go

I wanna say I love you, I wanna hold you tight

I want your arms around me & I, want your lips on mine

I wanna say I love you, but, babe I'm terrified

My hands are shaking, my heart is racing

Cause it's something I can't hide, it's something I can't deny

So here I go

Baby I lo-o-o-ve you

The entire time you're singing, she can't take her eyes off of you. She watches as your lips move along with the words, your face scrunching up occasionally to aid in hitting all the notes, and she even forgets to keep singing a couple times. You're so close to her, just like last night. She vows that this time will be different, though. 

After you finish the verse, Rosé surges forward, closing what little distance is left between you. During the performance you had gradually migrated closer to one another, so that made her job all the more easy.

She leans into you and smiles at the feeling of your racing heart. It lets her know that this is actually happening -- that after spending so many months waiting to finally confess and have you return her feelings, it's happening.

She tastes the strawberry chapstick on your lips, and it reminds her of the time she told you it's her favorite type. You used to wear a vanilla kind… does that mean you switched to strawberry after she told you that? (Yes, yes it does).

You bring your right hand up to her jaw and cup it as you move to deepen the kiss. A soft groan escapes her lips at this, and she doesn't waste any time in kissing you back even harder than before. It's long-overdue, and she can't get enough of you.

All too quickly, though, Rosie gets lost in the embrace, and the lounge is filled with feedback as the mic drops to the floor. She jumps at the sudden noise before snatching it up, her face crimson with embarrassment. After placing it back on the stand, she turns to hide her face in your neck. You just chuckle as you wrap your arms around her again. She snuggles in close to you, and you rest your head against hers.

"Awwww, they grow up so fast!" Jisoo wails, wiping imaginary tears from her eyes. 

"Cough it up, Jendeukie." Lisa smirks, sticking a hand out in front of the other girl. Jennie shoots her a glare, but nonetheless reaches to the table in front of her to grab her purse. 

"Not another word, Manoban." Jennie says, shoving the 5 dollar bill into Lisa's waiting palm.

The younger girl clears her throat dramatically before saying loudly, "I TOLD YOU SO! Nobody ever listens to the maknae." 

You and Rosé can't contain your laughter anymore, and neither can the girls.

Soon the two of you are back on the couches, cuddling in the corner seat as the others make kissy noises at you. 

She's nestled up against your side, resting her head against your chest contently. 

"I know we kinda did things out of order and all, but I might as well ask. Will you be my girlfriend?" You smile dorkily as she raises up to look at you, a playful smirk of her own tugging at her lips. 

"Absolutely, Y/N." She has stars in her eyes and a dreamy expression on her features as she leans in to kiss you again. 

[sweetestlamb]

I've Got You Under My Skin Part 2

Author's note: Can you tell I'm inspired? A double fic post who is she? Dedicated to @serxeins because I know I can always count on you to read and comment and give me some good vibes.

Summary: She's not jealous.

He's not there the next day and it puts her in another foul mood, honestly who was he to invade her life like this and then leave as he pleased? She would be the one to send him away not the other way around, she was the one in control here.

She goes all the way to his house after work to inform him of this, slightly more prepared for his state of dress- he's only wearing a thin white shirt and flowy pants, both made of soft looking cotton.

"No wonder you're still sick. Look at you're wearing." She rolls her eyes at him not waiting to be invited in, he never waits for her and ignores her when she tells him to go away. It's their thing. Blatant disregard.

"That's shaming, that's no way to speak to a sick person. What medical school did you go to?"

"One that taught me to prioritize honesty over niceties."

She has more porridge but it's her mom's recipe the one she used to make when she was feeling sick and it was hard to keep anything down. She had suddenly remembered it the night before and woke up early to prepare it from sensory memory alone, she was hardly a chef but this was the only meal she could make without fail. If her eyes had prickled with instead tears as she stirred the pot that was no one's business but her own. She hadn't been able to make it for years now but for some reason she couldn't stop herself this morning.

"What's this?" He asks curious over her shoulder, his chin barely grazing her skin. She doesn't move away ignoring the thrumming his closeness elicits.

"Porridge."

"It smells good. It doesn't look like grandma's porridge. Where did you get it?"

"I made it." It's embarrassing admitting that she made anything for him, she feels like she's showing her hand far too much but can't get her mouth to stop revealing her heart.

"You're full of surprises. Let's heat it up."

He looks better now, no longer flushed and sweaty. The fever must have broken over night, he looks rejuvenated scooping the food into a pot and warming it up.

His house looks a bit cleaner today as well, the windows are open allowing a wonderful breeze to fill the space and sweep away the stench of sick in the air. She walks aimlessly until she sees a bit of material on the floor, bending to pick it up she glares at the material in her hand. It's a light pink scarf, thin and almost sheer. He has an eclectic style but this is indubitably a woman's scarf, she almost throws it on the ground in a fit.

"What are you doing?" He breaks her from her shock, walking towards her with twin bowls in his hands.

She almost hides the scarf away feeling ashamed of the searing hotness that rips through her chest like a current. But foolishly she swings her hand up presenting the offending item instead, narrowing her eyes as she peers at him.

"What's this?" She challenges, a voice in the back of her mind begs her to shut the fuck up but her anger pushes her forward recklessly.

He tilts his head looking intensely at the item before pursing his lips and answering, "I think it's a scarf."

No fucking shit Sherlock.

She looks at him unimpressed and unamused not quite understanding why she cares so much that there's a scarf- a feminine nother scarf in his house.

"I had a guest earlier. She probably left it." He replies lightly sitting their food down on the table and she follows him briskly still not satisfied with his answers.

"Give me back my porridge." She says childishly snatching away his bowl just as he's about to eat, the look of annoyance on his face brings her nothing but pure joy.

"What's your problem now?" He argues reaching for the bowl but she tugs it further out of his reach. With a long suffering sigh he stands up, stepping closer to retrieve the bowl but that move brings them chest to chest and she stares up at his bright eyes.

Bringing his hands up he touches the scarf in her hand, she drops it abruptly not wanting him to touch it at all now.

"Don't."

He stares at her long and hard, Adam's apple bobbing as their eyes lock. He shakes his head a tight smile on his face now and she wants to kiss that smug look right off his face. Wait.

What. What am I thinking?

The sound of his doorbell chiming breaks them free of this heated staring match, but not immediately he looks at her puzzled and is that something hotter, before slowly turning and walking towards the door.

"Hey, I think I left my scarf--"

A decidedly female voice sounds from the door and before she can second guess herself she grabs the discarded scarf from the ground and sashays over to the door. He looks completely surprised to see her walking over but barely reacts when she barrels next time, pulling the door open wider to see who's here to see them.

It's the new teacher that just moved into town, she hadn't yet been introduced to her but she'd heard nothing but bad things from the landlord. She was supposedly a man stealer.

"Oh! I didn't know you had a guest." The woman's gentle voice lifts in awe at her sudden arrival at the door.

"Here's your scarf." She thrusts the item fiercely at her, watching as the other woman jolts in surprise.

Du-sik looks curiously between the two seeming to feel the weird energy surging in the air.

"Miss Yoon this is--"

"Was that all you needed? We were in the middle of eating. He needs to regain his energy." She cuts him off, having no desire to be introduced to the other woman. The school teacher glances between the two of them being nodding slowly as if realizing something.

"Yes that was all. I'll leave you to your meals."

She watches as the school teacher disappears from sight, turning to walk back to the table.

"That was rude. Do you two have a problem with each other?"

Shrugging non-committally she pushes his porridge back across the space already digging into her own.

"Your meal will get cold. Stop saying nonsense and come eat."

He stares at her for a long time before retaking his seat and tasting the thick broth, she tries not to watch and wait for his reaction but it's probably a failure.

"It's delicious. I can't believe you made this."

Overlooking the backhanded compliment she hides her smile behind her spoon before looking up with a glare, "I'll never make it for you again." But it's an empty threat because she already made three containers worth in case he falls ill again.

"I'll turn off your electricity until you do."

She guffaws at the threat, grabbing the closest thing (a pen) and throwing it at him. It pings off his forehead and falls to the ground.

"Ow. That hurt."

Her phone vibrates in her pocket, no doubt her roommate asking about her whereabouts she had just suddenly disappeared out of nowhere after running out of the office. Swiping to open the phone she prepares for the onslaught of messages.

"---kiss it better."

She freezes at the words, dragging her eyes from the phone back up to his steady gaze. He's staring brazenly seemingly unashamed but the tint of red on his ears give him away, he's not at confident as he's pretending to be.

"What did you say?"

"I.....said you should kiss it better."

She has no clue what he's talking about but instinctively her eyes move down to his lips, blush pink and tempting they stand out on his pale skin. She wonders how they would feel under her own, if they would pucker up and press or bloom open giving her their sweet nectar. She wonders how many women he's kissed and if he's ever thought about kissing her.

"My forehead. I meant my forehead... because of the pen. I was just joking." He looks dazed now, still under her appraising gaze and she coughs swiftly moving her eyes and staring out the window.

"Mi-seon's looking for me. I should go."

Thankfully he doesn't comment on her running away again, he merely nods and collects their bowls.

"Thank you for the meal." She nods in response, her voice lost at the moment terrified of why she keeps coming here, what could she possibly want?

He walks her to the door, both of them dragging their feet and taking their sweet time.

"That was the worst part about not having parents."

She halts at his sudden confession, squeezing her fists tightly as she glances over at him.

"Not having anyone who cared when I was sick. It was never clearer how alone I was until those fleeting moments, there was no one to pat my back or bring me food or tell me I would be okay."

It's an ache she's used up, the ache of wanting something she'll never have. Years spent pretending she didn't miss her mother everyday. His honesty forces her own to the surface.

"That porridge was the one my mom used to make for me. I haven't made it since she...."

She doesn't finish her sentence but the look in his eyes tell her that she doesn't need to, he understands loud and clear.

"Thank you for making it for me. I'm honored." There is reverence in his voice as if he's never meant anything more in his life, it makes her heart tremble.

They don't speak anymore as she puts on her shoes and lays her bag across her body, reaching behind her he tugs the door open for her.

With a solemn nod she turns around ready to leave but a moment of temporary insanity makes her turn back and grab his shoulder for support, there's a look of genuine shock of his face before she leans onto the tips of her toes and presses her lips against his forehead.

Her cheeks are on fire as she draws back and his face looks painful from his red it is.

"You're going to be alright." With her last strand of courage she wraps her arm around and pats him on the back in comfort, his eyes are glossy and he looks years younger.

"I'm going."

She's aching to run but she walks away calmly until she's out of sight, throwing herself to the ground as soon as she turns the corner grabbing handfuls of her hair.

So much for being in control. Fuck.

[rebelwrites]

Restoration

Jax Teller x Daughter Reader

“You gonna actually behave for your father this week?” You mum asked as you packed your bag.

“Maybe, depends if he pisses me off or not” you shrugged.

The thing was your mum and dad split about 4 years ago, a year after Abel was born. They had you at a young age, at 15 to be precise, you was now 18 and had seen their relationship completely fall apart, you saw how he treated your mum towards the end of the relationship and you hated it, you hated how he made your mum feel, how you saw the whole thing. However you were grateful Abel was still too young to understand what was going on.

“Y/N please, I know you don’t get along with him but he is your dad at the end of the day” mum sighed.

“Not gonna change my opinion on him” you laughed.

Even though your parents weren’t together anymore they never actually filed for a divorce.

“Just try” mum said placing her hand on your shoulder “for Abel at least, it’s hard enough on him as it is”

“And it’s not hard for me mum” you spat “try going through school where everyone is obsessed with the sons, constantly badgering me about them, about dad, asking if the fucking rumours are true”

You knew that your mum wasn’t completely innocent in the whole relationship break down. So you had an attitude with them both.

The drive to Teller-Morrow was silent, neither you or your mum spoke because you were your father’s daughter at the end of day, your mum always said it was like having a female Jax in the house, the way you held yourself, your attitude, your temper. So no words were spoken just for Abel’s sake, he didn’t need to see his sister and mum biting each other’s heads off.

Climbing out of the car, you grabbed your bag from the boot, before wandering off to find your uncles, at least you had a good relationship with them, it was just the relationship with your dad that was rocky.

You didn’t get it, he was such a good father to Abel, but with you it was a different story, one of his biggest regrets was you seeing the breakdown happen, all the arguments that happened when you were younger. Since then you saw the man that you once saw as your hero as the bad guy.

“Hey kiddo” Jax grinned, opening his arms to you.

“Whatever dad” you huffed walking by him, dumping your bag on the picnic bench before placing a cigarette in your mouth.

“She’s in a mood, sorry Jax” you heard mum say, making you roll your eyes. “Give her a couple of days and she should calm down”

“She’s so much like me it’s scary” he sighed as he watched you laugh with Tig and Happy.

“If you’re gonna talk about me can you at least go somewhere where I can’t bloody hear you” you snapped not looking at them.

Jax knew that with both his kids being here with him for the week, he was going to try his hardest to mend the bridges that had once been burnt. He wanted nothing more than getting his little girl back.

“I will speak with her” Jax nodded as he took Abel into his arms, who was grinning at the sight of his daddy.

At least one of his kids didn’t hate him.

However he had a plan, he knew you loved bikes, so he had one sat in the garage waiting to be restored and he was hoping it was something you could do together and then he could teach you to ride. He knew it wouldn’t magically fix the relationship but at least it would give you a memory that wasn’t bad.

Your mum had now left, which meant you were stuck with your dad for the next week, no doubt it would be a week of you looking after Abel, it always was when you were here, the club came before you. It always had and always would.

“Table in 5” Jax shouted as he walked into the club, he didn’t miss the eye roll that came from you, he knew what you thought, you had only been here 10 minutes and he was putting the club before you. But this time would be different.

“Okay so everyone knows my relationship with Y/N is very much on the rocks right now” Jax sighed running his hand over his face. “And I know it’s my fault and I want to fix that, so this week I only want to be involved in club business if the shit has hit the fan. Anything else speak to Chibs, I need to fix things with my little girl before it is too late”

Everyone nodded, they knew how much Jax loved you, you was his first born at the end of the day and it killed him knowing that you hated him.

“Anything we can do to help we are here” Happy nodded.

“Thanks Hap but this is something I need to do on my own, I created this mess so I need to fix it” Jax sighed “If it can be fixed”

It was now Wednesday and Jax still hadn’t made any progress, the bike lay untouched in the garage, and you hadn’t spoken more than a few words a day to him.

“Uncle Hap am I being a bitch?” You sighed looking up at him as you lit a smoke.

“Honestly kiddo, I know where you are coming from but he is the only dad you are gonna get” Happy said placing his hand on yours. “I know the reasons you have for hating Jax but he misses his little girl, I’m not saying forgive him straight away but stop shutting him out”

“I miss my dad” you sighed “but you didn’t hear me say that”

“My lips are sealed” Happy nodded “you know he took a step back from the club this week to spend time with you and Abel”

“I didn’t know” you sighed running your hand over your face.

“I think he wants to restore a bike or something with you” Hap smiled kissing your head “he’s in the garage”

Trudging into the garage with your head hung low, you felt guilty about how you went off at dad this morning.

“I’m sorry” you mumbled, not looking up.

You heard him sigh and his footsteps getting closer to you.

Talk about irony, the radio had started playing bad husband, scoffing as dad placed his hand on your shoulder.

You can be a liar and a good father A good dad, but a bad husband

“Guess the song is 90% right” you sighed “you are a good father to Abel at least”

“Hey look at me kiddo” Dad said lifting your chin. “My biggest regret in life was letting you see all the fights between me and your mum. I know that has done so much damage to our relationship but I never stopped loving your or your mum okay”

You stayed silent, you didn’t know what to say.

Forever be a hero in my eyes, But there’s always another side. To a good father. A great dad, but a bad husband

“Look me and your mum still love each other and we probably always will” he sighed “we just don’t work well together okay but that doesn’t mean I stopped loving you”

All I want is for us not to hurt. And it’s been an exhaustive search to find the words

The song was basically saying everything you couldn’t.

But I’m not so sure how to close this. I just don’t know how some people can be so good At one thing and so fucked at a whole ‘nother, shit, it’s no wonder

You both just stood there not saying a word as Jax pulled you into his arms holding you tight.

“I’m not saying we have to go back to being as close as we once were but I want a chance, a chance to mend the bridges I burnt, I want to be in your life and not as someone you hate” Jax whispered.

Nodding your head, you sniffed as a tear fell down your cheek, this was the most you had talked in a year. All you wanted to hear over the past year was that your dad still loved you.

“You don’t have to say anything yet sweetheart” dad whispered kissing your head “now what do you say to helping your old man fix this bike up and then I would like it if you let your old man teach you how to ride”

“I’d like that” you mumbled.

The next few days flew by and your mum had arrived to pick you and Abel up. Pushing yourself off the bench you walked over to her with a slight smile on your face.

“Come on, let’s get you home” mum said.

Glancing over to your dad you smiled softly before turning back to your mum.

“Actually mum, I think I’m gonna stick around here a bit longer” you nodded feeling Jax place his hand on your shoulder squeezing it softly. “I wanna stay with dad, we still have a bike to finish”

-

Your mum stood staring at you, confusion spread all over her face.

“You want to willingly stay?” She questioned

“Yup” you nodded.

“Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?” She laughed before turning to Jax “you okay with her staying?”

“Course I am” he beamed at the fact you wanted to stay with him longer.

As soon as you said bye to your mum, you headed back into the garage leaving Jax stood there in his own world.

“Come on dad the bike isn’t gonna fix its self” you laughed rolling your sleeves up.

The hours flew by and you was both covered in grease, Chibs walked outside hearing all the laughter coming from the garage, a smile formed on his face as he snapped a photo of the two of you before walking back into the club house.

“Okay a know normally a would bring this ta table but no one is to disturb Jackie Boy, a don’t care wha it is, if it’s club business, Ye arms fallen off or Ye are on fire, ye come ta me” Chibs smiled leaning against the bar. “Tha is until further notice, this is wha they both need”

Everyone nodded in agreement, it was nice to see you and Jax not at each other’s throats and they knew that the fact you wanted to stay here meant you really wanted to rebuild the relationship

Standing back from the bike something clicked.

“Why does this bike look so familiar?” You asked.

“Well princess it was your grandads” Jax grinned draping his arm around your shoulder.

“JT’s” you said looking up and he nodded. “Wait and you are just letting me have once we have fixed her up?”

“That’s the plan” Jax laughed “he would have wanted you to have it and it’s better than it sitting gathering dust”

You were in awe, you knew how much this bike meant to him. Wrapping your arms around him you gave him a tight hug.  

Neither of you talked about much other than the bike, outside of the garage you were slowly building things back up, you both knew it would take longer than a week but it was a start.

“So your mum says you’ve been getting into trouble at college?” He asked as you were packing the tools up.

“Meh” you shrugged “someone said something, I didn’t like it so I fucking punched them and broke there nose. No biggie”

Jax couldn’t help but smirk, you were exactly like him, in so many ways.

“You can’t say anything dad you taught me talking was boring when you can fight it out” just as you said it an idea popped into your head. Spinning round on the balls of your feet you grinned at your dad.

“No, nope happening” He laughed when he realised what you was thinking “me and you aren’t going at it in the ring” he chuckled.

“Why do you think you will lose old man” you taunted.

“Nope it’s not that” he said looking up “I am not boxing with my daughter”

“You’re just scared because you know I’m gonna beat your ass” you giggled squaring up to him.

He knew you weren’t gonna back down. You was a Teller at the end of the day.

“Fine but if you get hurt you are telling your mum it was your idea” Jax sighed in defeat.

And with that you ran off into the clubhouse to tell everyone.

It was now 7pm and Tig was wrapping your fists.

“You sure about fighting your dad kiddo?” He asked.

“Uncle Tiggy I’m sure” you nodded “we need this, well I need this. If I’m gonna let go of the past I need to do this”

“Okay then” he smiled kissing your fist “beat the shit out of your old man”

You were now standing face to face with your dad in the ring. He knew what was happening, and he wasn’t going to fight back, he had overheard what you said to Tig. So if beating the shit out of him was what you needed to forgive him then that is what he was going to let you do.

Punch after punch, you felt the anger flow through your fists, you were fuelled by every bad memory, everything he did and he just let the punches keep coming.

Your emotions got the better of you as you scream, pounding your fists against his chest as you burst into tears. As soon as this happened Jax wrapped his arms around you, dropping to his knees holding you tight.

“That’s it princess let it all out, all the anger, all the pain” he whispered rubbing your back. “I’m never gonna leave you okay, no matter what happens with me and your mum, you will always have your old man in your corner. My biggest regret is you saw everything happen, I never wanted you to feel like I loved Abel more than you, you are my little girl, my princess and I love you”

Once you had calmed down, you felt a weight had been lifted off your shoulders, you no longer felt an immense hatred towards your dad.

It had been a couple of days after the ‘fight’ and you had actually started to open up. The bike was finished and you were just putting the tools away.

“I want to drop out of college” you said “it’s really not for me, I struggle with the exams and coursework”

“You know whatever you decide I will support you” Jax smiled softly at you, hee knew where you was coming from, he was exactly the same when it came to tests and the theory behind things. “If you did drop out what would you do?”

“Actually I wanna be a mechanic” you said looking up. “Maybe I could work here”

“Why don’t you sleep on the idea and if you really want to drop out then we will get it all sorted” he said kissing your head. “Now what do you say we take her for a spin?”

“You think I’m ready for the roads” you laughed.

“You are a natural” he grinned tossing you your helmet “it’s in your blood”

The rest of the day was spent riding round the streets charming, a smile on your face and your relationship with your dad well on the road to being what it once was. Never in a million years you would have thought that restoring JT’s bike would actually restore your relationship as well.

[inc0gnit0-m0de]

Egg hatching story rough copy (small adharan ship invade California, gets raided by soldiers and loses like 20 something eggs) (Town that protag lives in is clled Blythe its on the cali-arizona border)(futuristic 1930’s setting where the gret depression happens 2004)“Look what i got at work hun!” Damn. Lucia groaned inwardly at her husbands voice as she straightened in her chair, her leg ached.. The dolt was always bringing home odd trinkets that while looking interesting or pleasing,were often dangerous. The loud tap-tap-tap of footsteps sounded at her door before being swung open. And a large milky colored orb was shoved into her view, Lucia fought the urge to glower at the exuberant man before her. “what  did you bring home this time Todd?”“A jewel or somethin’, i think thats what ‘boss said anyways” He bounced the sphere in his palms. she pinched the bridge of her nose and tilted her head back, causing long auburn wisps to fall away from her face.This ‘jewel’ was clearly an egg of some sort.It looked like it was laid by a barn owl, if a bit large and transparent-looking.“ Todd where did you get this ‘jewel’?” He handed her the egg as he spoke “ well me n the boss were patrolling and found ‘nother Adharan wreck just inside Cali borders.Had all these white jewels inside of it“  Lucia mm-hmm’d as she absentmindedly prodding at the egg, must be adharan then. “I picked this one cuz it was the biggest,” she couldnt hear him outside of the observational monologue in her head.Todd fidgeted during the pause, “ jus’ thought id get a pretty thing for my pretty lady”. The taller woman snapped to attention in time to tell todd that he did a good job and whatnot, she liked todd of course but he was a bit scatterbrained when it came to random objects beyond the skyline.{timeskip mayhaps idk}The orb filled with white fire pulsated and squirmed, just itching at the opportunity to be released from its hazy prison.Lucia’s eyes, often glazed over with utter unconcern, were alive with a calculated mischief.in her boredom with house-wifery Lucia had chosen to incubate the spawn of her peoples greatest enemy,on Terra,in her house,on the shag carpet.It had to be a crime, a felony of unimaginable extent,that carpet was pretty expensive.But Lucia didn’t care. She was tired of the same dreaded, monotonous routine that she had been dutifully following like the good little housewife that she was.     The good little wife that she had been.Lucia wanted to raise one to these insectoid beasts, just to see what chaos she could create. Spurred on by some unknown force,the egg burst open with a squelch. Lucia would have gagged had she cared.High pitched scraping sound greeted her. she grimaced as a fat grub rolled across the carpet onto hardwood.It wriggled and endulated,it looked mostly the same as the egg. just oblong and with a pair of snapping mandibles that clicked continously.Lucia studied the larvae curiously, she eyes flickered to the corkboad with pinned bugs and arthropods.  The board had a section for hornets, brood included.Lucia smiled, she remembered the days when she would blowoff etteqiuette classes to hunt down hornet nests. She would become trancelike, she wouldnt destroy them like the other children, no,she would sit politely and just, watch.The uniformity mesmerized her, not a single wing nor antennae was out of line. Every single hornet in that hive knew their job and were content with it.Lucia jolted  as the clicking, writhing larvae found its way to her chair and dragged its jaws against her wooden leg. Had she been another woman, she woud have probably screamed in abject horror, but lucia didnt see this gesture as a threat or danger. Her work in the field so many years ago had taught her that this grub was just hungry and was telling her so in the perfect, matter-of-fact way that insects always did.Lucia reached for the cute littleporcelain bowl beside her, a wedding gift from todd’s sister i think. She took a spoon and scooped up a viscous glob of protein powder and various ground up animal bits.“If its gonna grow big it will have to eat as such.” Lucia mumbled to no one in particular.\{timeskip part 2}{ perspective change???}Todd hummed a tune he didnt remember the words to as he changed out of his uniform.He was getting ready to go home after a long shift, lost in his thoughts of nothingness.“Man those adherans are more tenacious than a coon going after a crawdad!” it was his fellow recruits chattering.“Jared of course they are theyre invaders for a reason,and I know you didnt have that stupid accent an hour ago” Todd chuckled as Second-Liutenant McReady smacked Jared on the bck of his head lightly.“You jus cant stand fun ‘round here can ya Nic? You allergic to it or somethin’?” Jared griped in a voice similar to an italian mob-boss as they walked away,bickering becoming quieter but Jared’s over-the-top accents becoming sillier.Instead of catching up with Jared and Nic, Todd hurried to pack up so he could get home to his pregnant wife.{perspective change yet again-}“Yep, i uh, gave birth right at home” Lucia avoided eye contact with Todd, she had wanted to see how far she could go with this little experiment,and pretended to be pregnant while the egg went unhatched.She forgot to include her lack of lying ability as a variable in her calculations.Todd looked at her,then at the baby-sized larvae in his arms,then at her,back at the bug with no expression. Cold sweat beaded at Lucia’s brow, feeling very stupid she was tempted to come clean-The grub wiggled at Lucia in a manner that could only be described as laughing.damn bug.“well , uh, look I-” Her uncomfortable attempt at being honest was cut short as Todd’s face broke out into the single most excited smile on Terra,”He’s got your eyes!”“Wh- Uh yes ‘he’ sure does!” The thin lady quietly huffed a sigh of relief,“Why did you air quote “he”-” Todd began, Lucia quickly snatched up the larvae and wrapped it in a fluffy blanket.The bug spawn gurgled ungratefully.“Dont you have any manners? I just gave birth to a gru- child,i meant child” Todd quickly backed down sheepishly. “Ah uh go rest then ill take care of dinner” he was most certainly going to burn water, but it the thought that counts. After some time and once Lucia was certain her husband was clueless she allowed him to feed the squirming bug.”Soo.. Whats his name? Cuz i was thinkin’ something like Toddlleton or toddy,its like Teddy but i added-” She stuck out her index finger to shush him, she hadnt thought this far ahead, but she sure as hell wasnt going to name her larvae ‘Toddy’. “Uhm..” her eyes anded on her framed copy of Solstice Daily, dated on her birthday, “S-Sol?”{timeskip, Sol’s perspective)“Theres my boy!all ready for his first day of senior year! :D” Sol was yanked into a big bear hug from jis father, “clkclk chhk wubwok” Sol chittered in annoyance, Todd relented and put him down. Lucia glanced over her coffee mug at the two, mostly indisbelief, she had kept this ruse goin for 17 and a half years now. Sol was almost six feet tall now, half a foot taller than his ‘father’, large insectoid eyes protruded from his triangularly angled head, long antennae drooped downwards animatedly and he continued clicking. He had two sets of arms for the love of Moth Jesus. Lucia pondered her next lies.Sol trudged towards Blythe Highschool, anxiously jostling his backpack.He was just barely walking through a little forested shortcut when he heard the clicking and rustling from the bushes, {oh no, what if its an Adharan? Im too pretty to die!!} Sol panic clicked rapidly as the ruslting grew louder. Throwing up his arms in defense of his face, Sol awaited imminent demise.…Nothing happened, for two, maybe three seconds.{what.what are you doing in broad daylight?? Are you trying to get killed?} a new chittering noise interuppted Sol’s dramatic death scenario, a very irritated one at that. Sol lowered his arms just enough to peek at the newcomer, but, he couldnt see anything?? {Where are you? I cant see-} Sol gasped {Are you invisible? A ghost?!} A heavy and disgruntled sigh was heard before a chitinous black hand was waved in his face,causeing him to jump. {no im just short, cool it with the screeching beanstalk} 

[iam93percentstardust]

i was about to ask you to continue your marvels unsolved ‘verse but then i saw your specific ships so i’m going to ask for a fantasy au with winteriron!! but tbh you should do whatever makes you happy it’s your birthday month!!! (happy birthday! your writing makes me so happy thank you so much for it)

Thank you so much!! I’m so happy you like my writing!!!

I ended up being inspired by the magical flower shop AU I wrote last August, but that’s not necessary to read to understand this fic. Since tumblr is still having issues with links, I won’t include the link here but if you’re interested in that one, it’s Chapter 27 of AU-gust

As always, this fic can be found on my ao3!

Roses and Rowan

It’s storming when Bucky drives past Ravenspoint’s limits. The rain is coming down hard enough that he almost misses the sign for the little town in all the gloom, but then there’s a flash of lightning, illuminating the foreboding faces of the town patriarchs glaring down at those who would dare enter their town. Bucky shivers, resolutely turning away as he continues on his way.

He’s not here for them anyway. The patriarchs are long dead, their only descendants long since fled. There’s another flash of lightning, this time illuminating the hill off to the left and the old manor on the hilltop. From what little bit he can see through the storm, it looks like it was once a stately mansion but it’s falling into disrepair now. Bucky blinks and suddenly he can see the golden glimmer of the wards around the whole hill, sealing the house and grounds off from the would-be adventurers brave enough to test their mettle against the ghosts of Rosewood Manor.

Another shiver runs down his spine. The magic is strangely familiar, though he can’t place where he might have seen it before. He blinks again and the golden glimmer of the wards disappears from his view. “Spooky,” Bucky mutters. In the passenger seat, Alpine mraows her agreement. He reaches over and scratches under her chin, grinning when she purrs loud enough to drown out the music coming from the car speakers.

They pull into town a few minutes later, only knowing it by the stoplight Bucky just barely manages to make out through the sheets of rain pounding down. He would have missed it otherwise, the storm too heavy and the buildings too dark to see in the night. Ravenspoint is a small town with a population of only three thousand people, exactly one stoplight, and two streets that run the length of town, connected by a series of smaller cross streets. It’s exactly the last place Bucky ever thought he would find himself and yet here he is, searching for someone who had made it clear he didn’t want to be found.

“What am I doing, Alpine?” he asks the cat. “He told me he didn’t want me to come after him.”

Alpine can’t respond but she rolls over, exposing her belly to him, and he gets the sense of reassurance through their bond.

“I know,” he responds. “Tellin’ people he wants to be left alone when that’s usually the last thing he wants. But let’s be real here, this place is pretty far off the beaten track.”

Another pulse of reassurance.

“Well if you ask me—” the helper figment starts to say.

“I didn’t,” Bucky interrupts before it can say anything else. Damn figment’s been more trouble than it’s worth this whole trip. “Where’s the turn?”

The figment gives him a sullen look. “In five hundred yards, off to the right.”

Even as the figment says it, Bucky spots the glowing lights of the shop in the distance. He slows down and pulls over into one of the parking spots off the street, peering up through the rain at the shop sign above the door.

“Bluebells and Belladonnas,” he reads. “He always did like alliteration.”

“Great,” the figment says waspishly. “Can I go now? I got a hot—”

Bucky flicks his fingers and the figment disappears back to whatever dimension figments come from. Alpine flicks her tail lazily, giving off a sense of amusement and a little bit of hunger. Bucky laughs and scratches her chin again.

“Yeah, I would’ve let you eat it if it wouldn’t have given you indigestion,” he says. “’nother couple of minutes. I’m sure he has fresh tuna for you.”

He sighs and looks at the shop again. The sign on the front says it’s closed but there are lights on inside both in the shop itself and in the apartment above the shop, telling him that the owner is probably still working.

“So what’re you doing sitting out here?” he asks himself. He gives another baleful look at the stormy clouds and the rain still pouring down, groans, and then shrugs his hood up over his head. Nothing for it. The rain isn’t supposed to let up for another couple of hours and Bucky doesn’t feel like sitting in the car that long.

“You gonna be good out here?” he asks Alpine. She blinks slowly at him. That’s a yes, then.

Quick as he can, he gets out and dashes for the cover the awning provides. Once there, he throws his hood back and then knocks on the door. He waits about a minute before knocking again, this time a lot louder. It takes a moment before he sees a person-shaped blob behind the water-streaked glass. He knocks for a third time. The person gets larger as they move closer and then the door unlocks and swings open with a wave of the person’s hand.

“What—”

“You know,” Bucky says, stepping over the threshold. He bites back a shiver as a wave of magic washes over him, verifying that he has no ill intent. “You are a hard person to find.”

“Yeah, some people would take that as a hint,” Tony Stark states flatly, crossing his arms over his chest as he glares at Bucky.

~

Bucky is born with the ability to see magic. Or, at least, that’s the sfigmentlest way to explain it, if not the most accurate. Just about everyone can “see” magic but what they see are actually just the effects of magic—what was produced or what was done. Bucky has the ability to actually see the threads of magic. It’s a Barnes family gift, although none of the Barnes mages have had this ability in nearly two centuries. Bucky is the first in a very long time and because of that, he ends up having to go to school rather than being trained at home by the family mage (also known as Ma to Bucky and his sister).

It's at school that he meets his best friend, Stevie, and Stevie’s other best friend, Tony. Tony is a bit of an oddball, not that Bucky and Steve are incredibly popular either. Steve should be popular because of his dragon heritage and the power that brings him but he comes into his inheritance late and has a strong sense of morality and that gets him into trouble, more often than not. And Bucky just ends up following behind him.

But Tony—Tony is hard to pin down. He has incredible amounts of power, which is unusual in a mage from the Jarvis line. He’s a lot younger than most of the other kids, which isn’t so unusual for people with a lot of power—Bucky can think of a couple examples off the top of his head of people who went to school early because of their powers—but all those people went to school early because they didn’t have control, and Tony is nothing if not controlled. He doesn’t much look like either of his parents and the way he acts sometimes… it’s clear that he’s been through a lot, is all.

It’s not until their fourth year that Bucky starts putting the pieces together, and it starts when he finds out that Tony doesn’t actually get his powers from the Jarvis line but from the Carbonell line instead. He wasn’t supposed to overhear that but he and Steve had gotten in trouble again and were sitting outside the Headmistress’s office while she finished up a meeting with the Jarvises.

That’s when he’d heard it: “The Carbonell magic is strong in Tony,” the Headmistress had said, and that had been all Bucky had heard as the pieces had started falling into place. It had always puzzled Bucky how Tony’s magic, so suited to big things, had come from the Jarvises, both of whom were more skilled in household charms and enchantments, but if Tony was adopted… Adoption was rare in magical families, as magic was so often tied to filial lines, but it wasn’t unheard of, and that explained so much about Tony.

He spends some time in the library after that, researching the Carbonells. They’re an old line, originating in Italy, before coming to the Americas in the late sixteenth century. They’re known for producing powerful mages with the exact same proficiency in metallurgy that Tony’s always demonstrated. The last of them, Maria, had married one of the Starks, a newer family with a proficiency in elemental magics—another of Tony’s skills, Bucky realizes—and that’s where the trail goes cold. He never finds another mention of the Carbonells, or the Starks for that matter, in any of the old history books.

But there has to be more to the story, Bucky knows. Because there’s Tony, who looks just like Maria Carbonell, and that means there has to be more. However, he never brings it up. That’s Tony’s story, and if he doesn’t want to tell them, he doesn’t have to.

He never stops hoping that Tony will, though.

~

Tony is looking at him now, eyes dark and arms crossed. Bucky has changed into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt he’d brought with him as his clothes had ended up drenched, even from just the short run from the car and back out to grab Alpine and his travel bag. His clothes are drying by the fire now as Alpine explores the apartment, sniffing around curiously. Bucky is curious as well, but he’s been so busy drinking in the sight of Tony after almost two years of nothing that he hasn’t taken the time yet to look around.

“What are you doing here, Bucky?” Tony asks eventually.

He shrugs. “I came to find you.”

“Thought I made it obvious I didn’t want to be found.”

“I thought we had unfinished business,” Bucky says quietly. He gazes at Tony steadily until Tony squirms and turns away, busying himself with the coffeepot on the counter. He prepares two cups of coffee, one with more sugar than most people can stand and one with more milk than coffee, and hands the one with milk to Bucky.

Bucky takes one sip and blinks in surprise. “This is decaf,” he says.

“Yeah, and?”

“Tony, you don’t drink decaf. You called it the devil’s brew.”

There’s a hint of a smile lurking around the corners of Tony’s mouth as he raises his own cup to his mouth. “I’d forgotten about that.”

“Seems like you’ve forgotten a lot of things.”

“Like what?”

“Like how I promised you I’d follow you anywhere.”

Tony stills for a moment before he puts his cup back down on the counter. “Bucky—”

“Tony, why?” Bucky asks, not even bothering to hide the anguish in his voice. It’s how he’s felt every day since Tony disappeared two years ago. “You told me we’d talk the next day, only I woke up to find you’d run. Did I push too hard? Was it not what you wanted?” He stops, frustrated and upset, and scrubs his hand over his face.

“Bucky, no,” Tony says, dismayed. He moves forward, taking Bucky’s hands between his. “It wasn’t you. You have to believe me. It was never you.”

“Then what was it?”

Tony bites his lip, hesitating. Even without using his Sight, Bucky can see golden magic swirling under Tony’s skin, pooling at his hands where they’re touching Bucky’s. He blinks and now he can see his own magic, cool silver, gathering at his fingertips, aching to reach out and touch Tony’s. Their magic has always been compatible, always stronger when they’re together, even before Bucky figured out his complicated feelings for Tony.

“Doll?” he asks, immediately regretting the pet name when it makes Tony flinch. He doesn’t take it back though. This is who he is, a little old-fashioned and a little flirty and a lot in love with Tony Stark.

“It’s me,” Tony eventually admits, looking down at their hands as though he can see the magic too. “I got scared. It’s—I’m not who you think I am.”

“Not what? Not a Jarvis? Tony, I’ve known that for ten years.”

Tony’s head jerks up so fast Bucky’s own neck aches in sympathy. “What did you say?”

“Tony, I know you’re not a Jarvis,” Bucky says again, patiently. He’s never admitted this to anyone before, let alone Tony. He can afford to be careful right now.

“How did you know that?” Tony breathes. “We’ve never told anyone.”

“Except for the Headmistress,” Bucky points out. “You prob’ly had to tell her so she could help you with your abilities.”

“We did,” Tony whispers.

He shrugs. “Stevie and I overheard her one time. She said your magic came from the Carbonell line. I got curious, thought it might explain why you and the Jarvises are so different, so I looked it up.”

“You didn’t think that was invading my privacy?”

The words are harsh but Tony doesn’t look upset. He looks—hopeful, almost, like he wants to believe Bucky knows everything about him and doesn’t judge him for it. It makes Bucky bold and he steps forward, right into Tony’s space, as he tugs one of his hands free and uses it to tuck one of Tony’s curls behind his ear, fingers brushing against his cheek.

“You are a puzzle I’ve only ever wanted to solve,” Bucky murmurs, bowing his head to rest his forehead against Tony’s. His hand cups Tony’s cheek for the briefest moment and then falls to his shoulder. Tony closes his eyes and inhales shakily. “But the moment the trail went cold, I stopped looking. It didn’t seem right to keep digging.”

“What did you find?” Tony asks.

“Two names: Howard Stark and Maria Carbonell, that’s it.”

Tony nods. “Those were my parents.”

“Were?”

“Could be are. I don’t know where they went after they left me, but I stopped calling them mine the moment they were gone.”

“What happened?” He feels Tony tense under his hand and quickly adds, “If you want to tell me. Don’t feel like you have to.”

“No, it’s—I want to,” Tony says, sounding frustrated. The space between his brows furrows in irritation. “I’ve just never told anyone and—I’m not sure I’m ready to tell the full story yet. It’s a lot.”

“Whatever you’re ready for, then. And when you’re ready for the rest, I’ll be right here to listen.”

Tony takes a deep breath, steadying himself. “I was born at Rosewood Manor,” he says quietly.

“That place outside of town?”

“Mmhmm. That’s my magic you probably saw guarding it.”

Bucky sucks in a sharp breath. “Tony, that place looks like it hasn’t had anyone living there for fifteen years.”

“Over twenty actually. I was three when—when that happened.”

“You were three? And you had that kind of control?”

Tony laughs humorlessly. “Believe me, that night I had no control at all.” He falls silent. Bucky waits for more, but Tony seems to be done talking for tonight, so he turns his head and kisses the corner of Tony’s mouth instead.

“Thank you for telling me,” he says.

Tony grimaces. “Not like I told you much of anything.”

“You told me what you were comfortable with. Believe me, doll, after two years of nothing—”

“You keep doing that,” Tony interrupts. “Calling me doll.”

Bucky hesitates. “I thought you liked it when I did that.”

Tony looks away, a bitter twist to his mouth. “I left.”

“Yeah…”

“I left right after you kissed me because I was scared and couldn’t face up to what was going on between us even though I promised we’d talk.”

Bucky waits, sure that if he stays silent, Tony will explain further. It’s a trick that he’s used in the past and it’s always worked. Sure enough, after another couple moments:

“You know, I was so sure you were dating Steve? Let me finish please,” Tony says calmly, holding up a hand when Bucky opens his mouth. “You don’t know what it was like. I might have met Steve first but it was so clear that you two were a lot closer than I would ever be with him. So yes, I was convinced you two were dating and that I was alone in my feelings and when I found out I wasn’t, I panicked. I thought it was Tony Jarvis you liked, not—”

“I like you,” Bucky interrupts, unable to keep hearing Tony talk about how he’d thought Bucky wasn’t serious about him, when he thinks maybe it’s the only thing he’s ever been serious about. “I like you as Tony Jarvis, Tony Carbonell, Tony Stark, or just plain Tony.”

“Like?” Tony asks shyly.

Bucky grins and kisses the other corner of Tony’s mouth. “Do you think I would have kept searching for you for two years if I didn’t still like you?”

Tony leans back for a moment, searching his eyes for something before he eventually says, “And what about Tony Barnes?”

Bucky’s heart about stops. He wheezes out, “You—”

“It’s not—I needed a name when I came back to Ravenspoint. I didn’t want anyone to know who I was and it’s a small town. People know every other name I go by, but—I didn’t think you’d mind or I wouldn’t—”

Bucky can’t stop himself anymore. He frames Tony’s face in his hands and kisses him soundly. It’s closed-mouthed and chaste and it’s still the best damn kiss he’s ever had, next to the only other time he kissed Tony. Tony’s hands flutter in the air for a second before wrapping around Bucky’s waist, clutching him to him.

“I love you calling yourself by my name,” he says hoarsely, pulling away long enough to get the words out before he kisses Tony again. “And one day, I swear I’ll give you that name for real, forever and always.” This time, it’s Tony who whfigmenters and kisses him again, sucking Bucky’s tongue into his mouth as Bucky’s hands slide back into his hair to hold him right where he wants him.

“Wait,” Tony pants, struggling against Bucky’s grip to move away. Bucky lets him go reluctantly, gratified when Tony only moves a couple inches. “How did you find me?”

“Your magic,” Bucky tells him, trailing kisses across every inch of his face. “It’s been callin’ out to me since the day you left, leavin’ me a trail to follow.”

“Lucky me,” Tony whispers.

And as Bucky kisses him again, unable to resist for a single second, he thinks to himself, No. Lucky me.

[writing-of-a-british-bitch]

Blame Me - Chapter 1

Fandom: The Walking Dead

Specified gender: Female

Word Count: 4.3K

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x reader, 

TW: canon typical violence, canon divergence, gore, mention of past major  character death, zombies, a lot of time skips

Genre: Horror ig? 

Series: Blame Me

Requests: CLOSED

Masterlist

A/N: (Y/N) isn’t in this chapter much but she will be soon! This is my first time writing for the walking dead, so I know Daryl is probably out of character. Constructive criticism is always appreciated :) Send me a DM or an ask if you want to be tagged! Enjoy!

When Daryl found out about what they'd done to Merle on that rooftop - left him for dead- he was livid. Merle was no angel, that was for damn sure, but that was still his brother, and they just left him there. And when they got there, and Merle was gone, with nothing left but a hand he'd had to hack off himself? It felt like his world was crashing around him. He couldn't do this. Not again. Then this new sheriff asshole had the nerve to tell him to calm down. Fuck that. He couldn't lose his brother, not him too. But Daryl couldn't seem to catch a break, and suddenly they'd lost half their camp, taken a failed trip to the CDC (that almost cost them their lives - again), and Sophia had gone missing. He was sick and fucking tired of losing people. Maybe that's why he was so hellbent on finding a little girl that wasn't even his. They'd set up a little camp on the edge of some old guy called Hershel's farm, but Daryl didn't want to get too close. He had this awful feeling creeping up his spine, something was gonna go wrong. Someone was gonna die. He couldn't take the blame again. So he stayed away. Set up his own tent, his own fire, Merle's bike parked up against a tree, animals on a line. Just like the old hunting trips he used to take with his brother. Sometimes she'd come, but it wasn't her thing. She'd been keeping him company so far. Even if she wasn't really here. Daryl was so focused on skinning a squirrel that he didn't even hear Carol creeping over. She still had remnants of tears tracked down her face, but they'd been long dried.

"Daryl?" Carol's meek voice broke through the silence, and Daryl looked up briefly a grunt of recognition leaving his throat. She sat down next to him on the log he was perched on "Thank you for everything you've done for Sophia. Her own daddy would have never done the same."

She'd thanked him twice already. He found her doll, not Sophia. As much as he wishes he had. Damn near died for it too, since the throbbing pain in his side liked to remind him

"Only found her doll," He mumbled, glancing over quickly. Carol nodded and gave him a small smile.

"Well, that's just one step closer isn't it?" She replied but she got no response except the famous Dixon stare. He wasn't much of a talker. He was just glad she understood that. They sat there for a few minutes, watching the fire, surrounded by the comfortable silence until Carol looked over to watch as Daryl skinned another squirrel, and a little glimmer on his hand caught her eye. "Hey, what's that?"

"What're you talkin' 'bout?" He huffed out, putting the squirrel to one side, and stabbing the knife into the log beside him, finally giving her the proper response she'd been asking for. Carol reached out and took Daryl's hand, examining it, ignoring the blood on his hands. He'd be surprised if she wasn't used to it by now. But she was right. On his ring finger was a silver band. Just plain and simple. Very Daryl. He snatched his hand back the second he realised what she was talking about. Carol was grinning at him, a tender look in her eyes. God damn that woman for being so observant. Though truly, they'd been in the same group for months and none of them ever noticed, so how observant could she really be? "Shut up."

"You're married?" Carol still had that grin on her face, and though her look was tender, there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. His girl wasn't with him. And while he hadn't fully accepted the fact she could be dead, he had accepted the fact that his chances of ever seeing her again were slim. Especially since it'd been so long.

"Worn ma ring whole time and you ain't never noticed?" Daryl shot back, more defensive than he'd like to have been. He didn't like being snappy with Carol, but, as anyone would have assumed, the topic was a touchy one.

"You and Merle were always off somewhere, or sitting miles away from us. Can't blame me for that," She replied, and to be fair, she wasn't exactly wrong. There was a pregnant pause, where Carol was trying to figure out what she should say. Could he even tell her? He didn't want no pity, but damn, talking about his girl, the memories? Talking to someone who wasn't Merle about her. Maybe it'd be nice. Or maybe not. "What happened to her?"

There was that silence again. The pause weighed heavy on both of them. Daryl took a deep breath and looked over at her. Fuck it. If there was anyone he could tell, anyone he could trust, it was Carol.

"Weren't nothin' bad. Didn't feel it then. Merle and me, we was goin' on 'nother huntin' trip. Ma girl only came sometimes. Weren't her thing. She was goin' to visit her ma, gave me this damn thang," He picked up a battery-powered video recorder from by his foot that Carol hadn't even seen. Yeah, maybe he was wrong about the whole observant thing. The corner of his lips twitched upwards as he opened it. "Said, 'just so you don't forget me'. I told her we'd only be gone two weeks," his fingers fiddled with the buttons, and he grew quiet, clicking onto one of the videos, but not playing yet. "Dead started risin' a week later. The ring and these dumb videos are all I have left right now."

Carol watched him as he talked, seeing the blank expression on his face warp into sadness, as he played with the video recorder, the way his eyes flickered over to his ring every now and again. He didn't think he'd been this vulnerable since he'd last seen his girl.

"She must have been really special to put up with someone like you," She teased, trying to make him a little more comfortable, nudging his shoulder. He smirked, finally looking away from the recorder.

"Yeah, she was," Daryl stated simply, before pressing play on the video.

"The hell you doin', woman?" Daryl's gruff voice sounded from behind the camera, as it spun around to reveal Daryl and a girl, maybe a year younger than him, with (H/C) loose and wild, as she danced around a kitchen. There was loud laughter behind the camera, Merle had been a dick when he found the recorder and kept filming them (he knew Daryl hated it). Lord knows he was thanking that asshole for filming it now. Merle said something in his southern drawl that Carol couldn't quite understand, but by the scowl that appeared on Daryl's face in the video, he clearly heard it. The girl beside him let out a chuckle and suddenly launched at Daryl, clinging to his arm as she bounced on her toes. Daryl lowered his glare to her, but Carol saw his eyes soften slightly. Merle spun the camera around to face him and made some raucous comment about christening the new house while he was away before the camera spun back around. It ended a second later, with Daryl swearing at Merle and using his hand to block the camera, and the girl let out a loud laugh.

Carol was smiling at the camera until she looked over at Daryl and saw a hardened look on his face. Damn those emotions of his.

"What was her name?" She whispered, scared if she spoke too loud, he'd crack.

"(Y/N)" were Daryl's final words, before he picked up the recorder, crossbow, his knife and his half skinned squirrel and moved into his tent, zipping it behind it.

His girl always knew what to do. Knew how to help. She was a leader, even if she liked to deny it. She'd know exactly what to do. Shane was a damn idiot, and Daryl knew she would have dealt with him already, rather than fucking about as Rick had. When Shane threw the barn doors open, letting all them damn walkers out, despite the whole groups' protests, he knew right there that his girl would have dealt with him. And when Sophia came trailing out, pale and cold, white-eyed, dirty with a bloody chunk missing from her shoulder, she would have known exactly what to do. But instead, he was the one catching Carol and watching as Rick put a bullet between her eyes. Daryl's girl would have known exactly what to do. But she wasn't there. As much as he wished she was. He was the one who comforted Carol and tried to help. But, equally, he was also the one who threw blame in her face and screamed at her. She didn't deserve that. No way in hell. But, he didn't know what to do. His girl would've.

"There ain't nothing out here but mosquitoes and ants," They'd only left Rick, Glenn and Maggie two hours ago, but Daryl was already starting to question his decision. He forgot how much his brother liked to run his mouth, and his hunger didn't help calm the situation much either.

"Patience, little brother. Sooner or later, a squirrel is bound to scurry across your path," Merle responded, stood over by the tree to have a piss.

"Even so, that ain't much food," Daryl kept his eyes trained on his surroundings. There'd been more than a few walkers sneaking up on them recently, and he was starting to get paranoid that it was the beginning of a herd.

"More than nothing," That asshole really have to choose now to go all quiet? All his damn brother did was talk.

"I'd have better luck going through one of them houses we passed back on the turnoff," Daryl observed, looking over in the direction of the turnoff as Merle zipped himself up and walked over. He had that shit-eating, condescending look on his face. Great.

"Is that what your new friends taught you? Hmm? How to loot for booty? You gotten real quiet since y'all left me on that dead infested rooftop in Atlanta. Them prison pussies soften you up?" Merle teased, looking over at his little brother with an amused look in his eyes. Daryl just snarled slightly, looking back in the direction of the street. "Oh, cmon now, can't be givin' ol' Merle the cold shoulder after all the shit we just went through."

"Man, fuck off," Daryl hissed back, glaring up at his brother. His side was throbbing with what he suspected was a broken rib, or at the very least bruised, after Merle's kicking and punching back in the arena. Merle narrowed his eyes in response, walking over and giving Daryl a light shove.

"What? Ya forget about how I took care of ya? Now ya spent some time with Officer Friendly and you're suddenly too good for ya brother?" He snapped, raising his eyebrows. Daryl huffed and straightened his back.

"Just lay off, Merle. There are walkers crawlin' 'round and ya runnin' ya mouth like a damn fool," he shot back, making a point to keep his voice low. Merle only let out one of his loud raucous laughs, causing Daryl to advance quickly.

"Easy, little brother. Ya lookin' like ya might pop a vein if ya keep gettin' pissed like that," Daryl didn't say anything, just stared back at him, the famous Dixon glare returning. "It's the Dixon's back together again, ain't it a good thang?"

"Not all the Dixons," The younger Dixon grumbled, pulling his crossbow up as a familiar growling filled the air, and a walker stumbled out from behind a tree. A quick pull of the trigger and the damn thing was on the floor, bolt between his eyes. Merle watched him for a second, watched the flash of anger and sadness in his eyes.

"Ya ever find 'er?" He asked quietly, as his brother walked over and pulled the bolt from the fuckers head. Daryl glanced up at him, holding his gaze for a minute before starting to walk again.

"Man, we've been at it for hours. Why don't we find a stream, try to look for some fish?"

"I think you're just trying to lead me back to the road, man. Get me over to that prison," Merle scoffed. Damn it. He knew his brother'd put up a fight but he didn't think he'd pick it up so quickly. Then again, his brother was an idiot, but he wasn't stupid.

"They got shelter. Food. A pot to piss in. Might not be a bad idea," Yeah, and the rest of his family. And his video recorder.

"If ya gonna try and lead me back to that prison, you could at least answer my damn question, baby brother," Merle stated, noticing how Daryl's shoulders tensed slightly. There was silence, apart from the occasional rustling of trees, which made the brothers look around, never letting their guard down despite the conversation.

"Naw. She was up in South Carolina before these bastards starting comin'. Knew I weren't gonna find her here. Doubt she came back," Was his response, but apparently, that was enough for Merle. For now at least.

"C'mon let's go hook some fish," And with that Merle was steaming ahead, leaving Daryl in place. He let out a sigh and spat on the ground before trailing after the elder Dixon.

But of course, they had to save someone else's asses, nearly getting themselves killed in the process. And of course, Merle wanted to rob this poor family. They had a baby for Christ's sake! "The shit you doing, pointing that thing at me?" Merle raged, once they got a good distance from the group they'd just rescued.

"They were scared, man," Daryl reasoned, narrowing his eyes for what felt like the millionth time.

"They were rude is what they were. Rude and they owed us a token of gratitude," God, if his girl were here, she would have knocked his teeth out by now. She loved Merle and cared about him, but they clashed heads more than he and Daryl did. And damn that was a high number.

"They didn't owe us nothing," he shot back, looking back in that direction, even though the red car the group had been in were long gone

"You helpin' people out of the goodness of your heart? Even though you might die doing it? Is that something your Sheriff Rick taught you?" Merle said with a cold laugh, interrupted halfway through with Daryl's comment of "There was a baby!". Merle couldn't help but think that his brother had gone soft. "Oh, otherwise you would have just left them to the biters, then"

"Man, I went back for you. You weren't there. I didn't cut off your hand, neither. You did that. Way before they locked you up on that roof. You asked for it!"

"You know-- you know what's funny to me? You and Sheriff Rick are like this now. Right?" Merle crossed his fingers in front of Daryl's face, only aggravating the hunter further. " I bet you a penny and a fiddle of gold that you never told him that we were planning on robbing that camp blind. I told you that that woman had made you soft. Hell, ya got married just ta make her happy. Dixons don't need no one but each other!"

"Ya leave ma girl out of this, ya hear? Besides, it didn't happen," Daryl growled, voice dangerously low to the point that even Merle knew he truly should drop his sister-in-law out of the discussion.

"Yeah, it didn't 'cause I wasn't there to help you."

"What, like when we were kids, huh? Who left who then?" Daryl hadn't really meant to say it. He hadn't. But once it was out, the air set on fire, and both brothers were seeing red.

"What? Huh? Is that why I lost my hand?"Merle retaliated, pointing and getting right into Daryl's face, knowing how much it got under his skin.

"You lost your hand 'cause you're a simpleminded piece of shit!" Daryl turned his back, moving to pick up his backpack from the floor when Merle lunged forward, gripping the fabric off his shoulders.

"Yeah? You don't know-!" A sharp tug, and a loud rip and Merle's words caught in his throat. Silence filled the air, as the raised and discoloured markings down Daryl's back presented themselves to the world. Some of them were from hunts, or from accidents in the apocalypse, but some, Merle recognised them too damn well from his own time spent with their daddy. Once Daryl had fully clocked what had just happened, he pulled the shirt back up as much as he could and slung his bag over the top. That was it. He'd had enough. " I- I didn't know he was-"

"Yeah, he did. He did the same to you. That's why ya left first," Daryl answered sharply, not turning back to look at him. Merle just shook his head.

"I had to, man. I would have killed him otherwise," Daryl only chuckled humourlessly, and set off in the opposite direction, only turning back when Merle added, "Where you going?"

"Back where I belong," Was Daryl's reply, not even noticing he'd started to spin his ring with his thumb at his side. Old habits.

"I can't go with you. I tried to kill that black bitch. Damn near killed the Chinese kid," Merle tried to reason, but Daryl could only scoff in response. Classic Merle.

"He's Korean," He stated simply.

"Whatever. Doesn't matter, man. I just can't go with you, "Merle pulled a face, and for a split second, Daryl felt guilty. But he was an asshole. If he decided to come, then so be it, but if he decided to stay behind, good riddance.

"You know, I may be the one walking away... but you're the one that's leaving- again."

"What's goin' on that brain baby brother?" Merle asked, leaning in the doorway to the cellblock, slightly alarmed to be sat quietly at the top of the stairway, where his sleeping bag was, spaced out. Normally, he'd be pacing or cleaning that stupid crossbow for the thousandth time. But no, he was dead still. Dead quiet. The others were out and about. Most of them were in the yard, clearing out the walkers that Axel had stupidly let in when he opened the gate. Michonne, Rick and Carl had gone out on a run to their home town for weapons against the governor fucker. And Daryl, Merle and Little Asskicker (who Daryl had found out had been named Judith, but Little Asskicker seemed more appropriate) had been left alone in the cellblock. Rick trusted Daryl enough to keep her safe from Merle.

"Ya really think she made me soft?" Daryl pondered out loud, holding Little Asskicker close to him, as he started rocking her slightly. Merle laughed, waving his metal attachment around dramatically.

"This place's 'bout to go crashin' to the ground, and you're thinkin' about your lady?"Merle wasn't a man of affection, Daryl knew that pretty well, but he also knew when he was deflecting. Merle talked about (Y/N) sure, but only briefly. Since the brothers and his girl got separated in the beginning, they both steered clear of long conversations about her. Daryl just stared Merle down, until he let out a huff, and took a few slow steps into the cellblock. "She made ya soft, ain't gonna lie ta ya. Even you can't deny that, little brother. Never said it was an entirely bad thing."

"She made me better. Never really know what she saw in me, but whatever it was, I'm glad she did," Daryl's lips twitched upwards, as he looked down at Little Asskicker. His girl would love her. She'd love Carl too. Hell, she would love everyone. She would've kept things calm.

"Look, I'm an old redneck asshole, but that girl o' yours is the best damn thing that ever happened to ya. Ya ever find her again, you don't let her go, hear me?" He didn't miss the commanding tone in Merle's voice and part of him wanted to laugh at it. Been a long time since he'd heard that tone. Daryl just nodded. "Ya still got that video recorder witcha?"

Daryl nodded, before jerking his head towards the little pile of stuff besides his sleeping bag. Merle climbed past him, careful not to knock the baby, and picked it up. He sat next to his brother, and for a second it was awkward. They hadn't been this close in years. Not like this. But when Merle opened up the camera and clicked on one of the videos, the awkwardness dissipated.

It took a second for the camera to come into focus, as the blazing Georgia sun reflected off the lens. Once it came into focus, Merle was once again filming the couple. Daryl and (Y/N) were stood in a little lake and both of them were just washing dirt and dried animal blood from their arms and legs, chatting too quietly for the camera to pick up. Merle mumbled something behind the camera about "being too fuckin' absorbed in their own world", when suddenly a laughter-filled scream tore through the peace, as Daryl sent a massive splash in (Y/N)'s direction. She was giggling but giving him a playful glare, the famous Dixon glare. He let out a loud laugh as she tried to push him into the water with little success, until he stepped back and lost his footing, pulling them both under the water. The camera shook as Merle let out a roar of a laugh, stumbling forward towards the water, as the pair came up, both sat on their asses in the shallow water. (Y/N) looked over to Merle, beaming with that smile that made Daryl's heartache, but flipped him the bird when she realised he was filming, shouting "asshole" at him. Daryl just chuckled and pulled her into him, no longer giving a shit about the camera, and kissed her, which they were both smiling into. Merle then said something childish like "horny kids" or something before the video ended, with Daryl and (Y/N)'s foreheads pressed together.

"She's something special ain't she?" Daryl said, through a voice that was thicker than he wished it to be, looking down at Little Asskicker with a sad smile.

"Hell yeah, she was."

Daryl didn't know how much more he could take. The prison had fallen, and they'd taken Beth. He swore he'd protect her. Swore to himself, swore to the memory of Hershel, swore to Maggie. And he still lost her. And when the group of assholes found him sat in the middle of the street, practically walker bait, he was starting to get desperate. He'd do almost anything at this point, he was so lost. His brother was gone now too. He couldn't even rely on that asshole. The one and only thing he'd been able to grab to remember his family was that fucking video recorder. But he'd found Rick, Carl, Michonne. And while he wished he could've found everyone, he was more than happy to have found the kid most of all. Though, he couldn't deny the anguish that filled him when he saw no sign of Little Asskicker and a sombre look on their faces when he asked I think it was safe to say that Rick was going off the deep end again. The man ripped a guys jugular out with his fucking teeth! After everything, Daryl honestly couldn't blame him, but last time Carl nearly lost who he was because of it. That couldn't happen again. Despite it all, they kept walking, and walking and walking, along the train tracks to this place Terminus. 'Sanctuary for all'. Somehow he found that hard to believe. But maybe he would be surprised. Maybe it would be a sanctuary. Maybe they could take a break for once. Yeah. As far as Daryl was concerned, it wasn't damn likely.

TAGS: OPEN

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[daughterofluthien]

“decisions were respected” Sorry but didn’t Scott violently throw Isaac against a wall more than once just because Isaac liked his ex girlfriend in canon? That’s the literal opposite of healthy...

Hey, anon!

This is in reference to this post about Scallison for the shipping meme, where I said that one of my favorite things about Scallison is that the show lets them have a healthy breakup, and even date other people while still remaining friends. The scenes you are referring to are a pair of scenes in 3x13 Anchors.

So lets’s take a look.

(under a cut bc it turns out that when you try to be comprehensive, things get v long v quickly 😅)

The Scenes

I’m actually gonna copy/paste the dialogue of both scenes (along with minimal action/inflection notation for context) so that we can really make sure we know what we’re talking about here, so bear with me:

The first of these scenes occurs as Scott and Isaac are getting ready to head to school in the morning. After some initial ‘hey, what’re you doing, are you heading to school’ dialogue—during which both boys seem a bit awkward—we get the following:

ISAAC: [anxiously] Can I ask you a question? SCOTT: Okay... ISAAC: Are you angry with me? SCOTT: No! ISAAC: Are you sure? SCOTT: ...No. ISAAC: [awkwardly] What's that mean? SCOTT: I guess I'm not really sure how I'm feeling... ISAAC: [nodding] Okay. ...Do you hate me? SCOTT: [sighing] No, of course not. ISAAC: Do you want to hit me? SCOTT: [taken aback] No. ISAAC: I think you should hit me. SCOTT: I don't want to hit you. ISAAC: Are you sure? SCOTT: Why would I want to hit you? You didn't do anything, did you? ISAAC: [stammering] No. I mean, um... What do you mean? SCOTT: I mean, like, you didn't kiss her or anything, right? ISAAC: No! Absolutely not. No. SCOTT: ...Did you want to? ISAAC: Oh, yeah. Totally. [scene cuts to hallway outside the room. Isaac flies through the doorway and hits the wall] MELISSA: Hey! You two teenage boys? Don't test my entirely un-supernatural level of patience! ISAAC: ...Feel better?

The scene then ends, and we cut to subsequent scenes of Stiles and then Allison also getting ready for school.

The second scene is much shorter and happens later in the episode, after Isaac saves Lydia from an arrow that Allison fired while hallucinating. He and Scott are in Scott’s room again, and he’s telling him about the incident:

SCOTT: Right at her head? ISAAC: Almost right through it. And she keeps saying the same thing-- that she keeps seeing her aunt. Whatever's happening to you guys is getting worse. If I hadn't been there, then Lydia would be dead. SCOTT: ...What were you doing there? ISAAC: Uh... [scene cuts to hallway outside the room. Isaac flies through the doorway and hits the wall] MELISSA: [groaning] Oh, you guys, come on! This house does not have a supernatural ability to heal! So, stop it!

But of course just the text of the scene isn’t enough to accurately convey everything in even a tiny portion of a larger narrative, because nothing happens in a vacuum. With that in mind, let’s look at...

The Context 

The first of these scenes occurs immediately after the opening credits, and is the first time we see either Scott or Isaac this season. (Assuming you consider 3B a separate season, of course, which is a whole ‘nother can of worms. This tv show we all choose to enjoy sure is Something.)

Often, the opening of a season is used to reintroduce the audience to the main characters—letting us know where their characters arcs are starting, and what they’ll be struggling with this season. Teen Wolf did this previously (and did it well, imo) in 3x01 Tattoo. Act 2 of that episode begins with a series of four scenes showing our main characters getting ready for school in the morning, highlighting where everyone currently is, and setting up where their arcs are going to go.

Scene order taken by itself would seem to indicate that they were trying to do something similar in this episode. It starts off with the hook of Stiles’ extended nightmare sequence. He can’t tell dreams apart from reality anymore, and wakes up screaming. Cut to black, cue opening credit sequence.

Immediately after the first ad break, we get a sequence of three scenes. The first is the longer of the two Scott and Isaac scenes (which, as previously mentioned, occurs as they’re getting ready to head out to school). The second is of Stiles. He’s packing for school, and the audience learns that he’s been struggling to read when he’s awake as well. Finally, we see Allison leaving her and her dad’s apartment. She seems like she’s doing fine, if a little over-focused. But then she gets into the elevator, and has an extended hallucination/flashback of Kate.

We learn soon after this that all three of them (Scott, Stiles, and Allison) are suffering from the aftereffects of their sacrifice in the previous season. According to the explanations we get both from Kira and, later, from Deaton, they’re slipping into bardo, or the space between life and death, and there’s a door open in their minds. 

Okay, problem established.

It stands to reason, then, that all three of those opening scenes are supposed to serve to set up this problem. We’re shown, in three successive scenes, that all three of our sacrificees are, as the kids say, Not Doing So Hot.

(yes I know the kids don’t say that, let me be an increasingly out-of-touch millennial in peace)

This is all well and good, and honestly makes sense! Under this paradigm, the Scott and Isaac scene should be highlighting that Scott is Losing Control. Bardo is affecting him, and it’s causing him to be more aggressive. Giving in to violence in a way that he generally holds himself back from. Heck, the scene even starts with Scott flexing his fingers, and we (and Scott) see the shadow of a clawed hand against the door.

In the context of the narrative, it makes sense.

Except.

eXCEPT—

The Framing

The thing about the medium of television is that, when we’re talking about a scene, we can’t just look at the narrative structure. We also have to look at the scene itself: how it’s shot and directed, how it’s edited, even what music is paired with the scenes.

In the Stiles and Allison sequences, the scenes are very clearly shot for tension and horror. Long lingering shots on the things that Just Aren’t Right. Music that heightens the tension. Stiles gets some nice lil scare chords over the shot of the book that he can’t read, and there’s a very quiet droning in the background of the Allison nightmare sequence that slowly grows into some classic horror soundtrack music.

Okay. So far that tracks with the narrative thesis.

Now let’s take look at the Scott and Isaac scene.

We start out with some of those lingering shots I was talking about, as Scott is halted in his tracks when he notices the shadow of the clawed hand. We see his own hand is human and unshifted. There’s quiet, percussion heavy music over this portion of the scene that increases in tension at this point. Shaken, Scott closes his hand into a fist, and when he opens it, both the shadow and his own hand are smooth and human. The tense music fades out to silence, and he breathes a sigh of relief.

Scott opens the door to reveal Isaac, which startles him. There’s a short musical sting to underline this moment, and then the background music cuts out completely, leaving us (and them) in the awkwardness of this moment. 

And OH BOY. IS IT AWKWARD. 😬

You can kinda see the Awkwardness Inherent in the System in the dialogue that I pasted up at the top—it’s a lot of back-and-forth, short statements, trailing off... And both Posey and Sharman are playing up the awkwardness as well. Neither boy looks like they really want to be there, and that includes Isaac, who initiated this entire conversation.

But here’s the thing.

The thing that really frustrates me about this scene.

It’s not the sort of awkwardness that exists to increase the tension. The sort that builds and builds until it reaches a fever pitch and you know something just has to give. You know, the sort of tension that you would want to build if you were showing how the protagonist of your show is no longer fully in control, and is on a knife’s edge of lashing out at his friend and beta.

Instead, it’s played for comedy.

And once again, a lot of this is down to the music.

Before the dialogue that I quoted at the top even begins, the music starts back up, and this time the tense percussion has been replaced by light, pizzicato strings. (That may not be the exact right term, fyi, I only really know enough about music theory to be dangerous.) But you know, the playful, plucked strings that often accompanies comedic or otherwise not-serious scenes.

Background music tells the viewer how they’re supposed to feel about the events in a particular scene, and the music here is saying that we’re not supposed to find this whole confrontation that dramatic. In fact, we’re supposed to find it funny.

But it’s not just the music that that frames this scene as comedic. It’s also the fact that we don’t actually see Scott shoving Isaac. Instead, the scene cuts to the hallway, and all we see is Isaac flying through the doorway.

Now, obviously I don’t have a direct line to the director and editors’ minds here. But I would bet money that those particular shots were chosen 1). because it’s so much easier to do a wire pull stunt when you don’t have to show what it’s in reaction to, and 2). because it’s kinda difficult to show your main character directly doing a violence and make it funny.

But show someone yeeted into frame, and that’s funny. Right?

(Spoiler alert: not in this context, it isn’t)

Now, I know I’ve been focusing on the first scene a lot—partially because it’s longer and partially because it’s really the only reason that the second scene exists—but I do want to take a look at the second scene really quickly as well. It’s much shorter and generally adopts a more serious tone than the first one, mostly due to fact that we’re smack dab in the middle of the action at this point. The weird visions that the sacrificees have been having all episode have started endangering lives, and they can’t just wait for it to resolve on its own.

But then the focused, intent exposition is broken by Scott’s question of “why were you there.” Then smash cut to a near identical shot of the hallway,and Isaac yeeting into frame.

The thing is, this scene is entirely dependent on the previous one. It only “works”—and I use this term loosely—as a call back to the scene at the beginning of the ep. Heck, both even have the stinger of a frustrated Melissa at the end of both scenes, frustrated at all the boys-will-be-boys roughhousing going on in her house.

Much like the first scene, this one is also set up and framed for Comedy.

Which is um. A Choice. 

But What Does It All Mean

What frustrates me about these scenes, at the end of the day, is that the narrative intention and the directing/editing seem to be fundamentally at odds.

On the one hand, it makes narrative sense to say that the purpose of the scenes is to show that Scott is losing control. That he’s being affected by bardo and the open door in his mind, and it’s putting the people close to him in danger. But then on the other, the way the scenes are actually used are as comic relief. As a way to release tension between very tense, dramatic scenes. 

I don’t think it works, as I don’t personally find it funny at all. But that really does seem to be the intention.

Once again, absolutely wILD choices were made on the part of tptb, and I really wish anyone had thought for two seconds about the implications of all of this, but nO

Ahem.

So now (literally 2K words later I’m so sorry 😅) what does this tell us about the characters? Certainly no one here is arguing that shoving someone is a good or defensible choice, whether it’s due to forces outside the character’s control or not. But even taking the influence of bardo in mind, is it even in character for Scott in the first place?

Because canon can also be written inconsistently/out of character, especially when we’re talking about a long-running show like tw.

One’s an Incident, Two is Coincidence...

Well, we all know the end of that saying.

So let’s end by looking at a few patterns.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this, once again, eXCEEDINGLY long post, this is reference to a post I made about scallison. I said the following in that post:

And I also really like that they [Scott and Allison] didn’t get back together. That they were allowed to be friends. That even though sometimes it hurt to watch someone you love loved love become romantically close to another person, decisions were respected, and no friendships were broken over it.

The first pattern we need to look at, then, is this:

What’s Scott’s pattern of behavior toward Allison and Isaac’s relationship?

And does Scott’s behavior toward Isaac in these two scenes match the pattern, or is it an outlier?

3x11 Alpha Pact: Sacrifice Prep The revelation that Allison and Isaac have grown close enough for him to act as emotional tether for her is very visibly a blow to Scott. He looks like the rug has been pulled out from under him, but he doesn’t look angry or upset, just.... sad. In fact, it looks like he’s swallowing back tears. But he nods towards the two of them and just says, “It’s okay.”

3x12 Lunar Ellipse: “I look for my friends” This is the epilogue of the season. Scott walks into the hallway at all of his friends in turn. Satisfied. Happy. First at Lydia and Aiden, then at Danny and Ethan. Then he turns and watches as Isaac and Allison walk down the stairs, and they’re laughing, and so obviously happy, and Scott’s small smile grows. He isn’t jealous here—he’s happy for them. 

3x14 Illuminated: Mutual Recognition Scott and Allison are both at Danny’s halloween party, but they’re not here together. He sees her from across a crowded room, just like he did at the winter formal, so many months ago. But so much has happened, and they’re different people now. Allison’s with Isaac, and he’s starting to having feelings for Kira, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, and that he doesn’t miss the relationship he and Allison had. For a moment, his fingers slip away from Kira’s, and he and Allison share a sad smile. 

Believe it or not, these are actually the only other examples I could find of Scott reacting to Isaac and Allison’s relationship. And uniformly across them, he’s sad, yes—after all, he loved her, and that relationship is very definitively over now. But he never seems jealous, and he isn’t angry.

So, if the Scott and Isaac scenes in Anchors don’t fit the pattern of Scott’s behavior towards the new couple, what pattern do they fit?

“Hit me.”

The teen wolf writers have a... really upsetting habit, honestly, of “resolving” interpersonal conflict between two characters by having the “wronged” party hit the other. Afterwards, the tension is almost completely broken between them, as if letting the person act aggressively in a way consensual to both parties has somehow solved the problem.

2x11 Battlefield: Derek and Peter After Peter comes back from the dead, he confronts the now pack-less Derek and offers to help him. Derek, likely remembering that Peter killed Laura and was responsible for most of the events of S1, attacks him instead. After taking a beating, Peter says the following:

PETER: Okay, go ahead! Come on, do it! Hit me. Hit me. I can see that it's cathartic for you! You're letting go of all the anger, self-loathing, and hatred that comes with total and complete failure. I may be the one taking the beating, Derek, but you've already been beaten. So, go ahead. Hit me if that will make you feel better. After all, I did say that I wanted to help.

3x13 Anchors: Scott and Isaac We’ve already discussed this scene in uh. Detail. So I don’t think we need to go into the specifics again. But just a reminder that this dialogue exists:

ISAAC: Do you want to hit me? SCOTT: No. ISAAC: I think you should hit me.

5x15 Amplification: Scott and Liam During the previous supermoon, Liam—swayed by grief, the full moon, and Theo’s manipulations—tried to kill Scott and take his power. They’ve since rediscovered an equilibrium in their relationship, and Liam’s back in Scott’s pack, but they’re both still dealing with the implications of that event. In this episode, they’re attempting to break Lydia out of Eichen, but they’re not as strong as they should be, due to the mountain ash laced through the building, and are having difficulty breaking down a door. Then, the following exchange occurs:

LIAM: Hit me. SCOTT: What? LIAM: Hit me! I'll get angry, then I'll get stronger. STILES: Hit him. Hit him! LIAM: I tried to take your powers. I tried to kill you. Hit me! STILES: He also left you for dead. LIAM: I wanted you dead!

6x16 Triggers: Liam and Theo No one actually directly says “hit me” in  this one, due to the circumstances, but the sentiment’s there. In this sequence, Liam and Theo are trying to convince Gerard and the hunters that the whole pack is hiding out in the zoo, so Theo goads Liam into hitting him, in order to stage a very audible fight.

THEO: Okay... Then they have to believe us.[shouts] Isn't that right? LIAM: [whispers] Why are you yelling? THEO: [shouts] You got a problem? Oh, that's right, you always have a problem! LIAM: [whispers] What the hell are you doing? THEO: [shouts] Shut up! [punches Liam] Yeah, you see that, Scott? Your little Beta can't even take a punch. And what do you think, Malia?

While there’s a variety of primary textual reasons here, all of them deal with personal issues between the pair, and all of them involve some level of catharsis for the person doing the punching. Taken all together, it’s honestly a pretty troubling pattern, especially given the inclusion of an actual canonical abuse victim initiating and receiving the violence.

TL;DR

This is a writer issue, not a character issue. The serious narrative context conflicts with the comedic framing in a way that is honestly baffling to me, and it doesn’t fit the established pattern of Scott’s character and actions. Moreover, it’s an example of the writers’ apparent belief that interpersonal conflict can and should be solved through consensual violence.

The pattern we do see, is that the Scott is saddened by the knowledge that Allison has moved on, but he’s glad that she and Isaac are happy. Similarly, Allison is saddened that Scott is moving on as well, because she does still care for him deeply. Despite their conflicted feelings, neither tries to disrupt the other’s new relationship.

On other shows, that would be a season-long, drama-filled plotline. Here, nothing.

And I legitimately love that so much.