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imaginingsoftly · 5 years ago

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4 Times You Cooked, and 1 Time He Did - Kevin Hayes

Type: friends to lovers, Y/N insert shorts, 4 + 1 story

Requested: No

Warnings: swearing

(Y/N = Your name)

1. The day we met

Your hand was curled into a loose fist, ready to knock on the door in front of you. Your new neighbors had moved in the day before, and, from the sounds coming from the apartment as the move-in occurred, it was a group of very rowdy boys. That meant you made cookies as a welcome, hoping that it would butter them up so they’d be a little nicer if you needed them to quiet down in the middle of the night. Of course, in order to drop off the cookies and say hello you needed to actually knock on the door and introduce yourself. So far the shyness was winning on that front.

Just as you finally steeled yourself to knock, drawing in a deep breath in the process, the door you were standing in front of opened suddenly. You stepped backwards in shock, stumbling slightly. An incredibly kind-looking face stared down at you in surprise as a hand shot out to grip your elbow. “Sorry, I-”, “Shit, are you-” You and your neighbor stared at each other in silence as you both spoke at the same time. Your neighbor smiled, nodding his head at you. “Go ahead.”

Well this wasn’t how you wanted the conversation to go at all. “Sorry. I’m Y/N. I’m your new neighbor.” You gestured at your apartment door, maybe a little needlessly, as you were the only other door on this part of the hallway. “I just wanted to introduce myself, and welcome you to the building.” The guy looked at you seriously as you spoke, like what you said was the most important thing on the planet. He was cute, in a friendly kind of way. He also looked familiar, though for the life of you it was impossible to figure out why.

“And you brought cookies?” He smiled down at you when you nodded slowly. “I’m Kevin. If these cookies are as good as they smell, I think I’m going to be happy I chose to get an apartment instead of a house.” He chuckled lightly at his own joke, and you smiled gently at him. Kevin. It was a fitting name for him. He let go of your elbow suddenly, like he just realized he was still holding it. Honestly, you had forgotten as well. “I’m sorry to meet you and run, but I’m unfortunately late to a meeting. Thanks for coming by though!” You started to back out of his doorway when you remembered the cookies. “Here,” you said as you held the plate out, “these are for you. Welcome to the building!” Kevin stared after you for a couple of seconds as you backed away before responding quickly. “Thanks, Y/N. It was nice to meet you.” His smile followed you into the apartment and stayed in your thoughts for hours after the meeting.

You worked through dinner to try and get ready for the upcoming playoff push. As a marketing manager for the Phillies, the playoffs were your favorite part of the season. It was a time where you could change up the content from your usual stuff, and this year’s playoff ad video was going to be great. One of your summer interns had come up with the idea of using fan videos of some of the highlights of the season to create a mashup, and the video her and the rest of the crew had designed was coming out beautifully. The slogan was going to have something to do with the fans being another part of the team. You watched the video over again and marveled at how well it had come out. The intern needed to become a full hire after this season.

A knock at your door made you jump, though when you opened it there was no one. Your plate, however, sat on the floor outside with a sticky note attached. Thanks for the cookies, it read, my teammates really enjoyed them. I barely got to eat one. The handwriting was slightly messy, clearly boys handwriting. You smiled at the note, and then at the door across the hall from you. It would appear you had a new friend.

2. Dinner and a show

“You know,” Kevin said as he walked through your front door, “I think you’re going to get me cut from the team if you keep feeding me cookies.” He said that with a mouth full of cookie so you took it with a grain of salt, rolling your eyes at him from your position in front of the crock pot. He looked good, dressed in his game day suit, though the tie sticking out of his pocket and the curls still damp from the shower ruined the effect a little bit. These nighttime dinners had become something of a tradition over the last couple of months, after Kevin had come home from a preseason game right as you were returning from a playoff game. You’d ended up sprawled on his couch with a pizza between the two of you, and a tradition was born. Tonight it was tacos, and the steak you had slow-cooked while you were in the office getting ready for the upcoming winter meetings made the entire apartment smell like what you pictured heaven to be.

Kevin dropped onto one of your counter top stools with a heavy sigh, and you slid a beer across to him along with an ice pack. He took the beer thankfully, but then raised an eyebrow at the ice pack. “I saw the hit,” you said as a means of explanation. “I turned the game on when I got back from work. Ice your face so I don’t have to look a black eye for the rest of the week.” Kevin raised his middle finger at you, but did as you asked. Your time together had become a nice way to wind down after your work and game days. Both of you spent so much time in the chaos of professional sports that sometimes it was nice to just slow down and enjoy a meal with someone that understood why you sometimes wanted to sit and eat your meal in silence. Kevin understood that more than you had ever expected. Accurate to your first impression, Kevin and the boys could get extraordinarily loud at times. He was the loudest person in the room, minus when he was with his shorter friend that fought so much, Travis something, but he could also be so quiet on these nights.

The tacos were delicious, and Kevin ate his body weight in home cooking like usual. It wasn’t that he was incompetent in the kitchen; you’d seen him cook pasta and a few other basic things, but he wasn’t one for just throwing something together unless he’d made it a thousand times before. “You know, I think I’m going to have to keep you around just for how well you cook.” You rolled your eyes, like you always did, but you also couldn’t ignore the tug in your chest that your heart gave when he said he would keep you around. Joke or not, you were becoming pretty attached to Kevin. He was sweet, and goofy in an awkward and not at all athlete-like way. Couple the awkwardness with the math skills and you would peg him for a math professor, not a hockey player. “So,” Kevin began, talking around chunks of yet another cookie, “how was work? Did you revolutionize baseball today?”

You laughed out loud at the thought. Like offseason meetings were ever that exciting. “Planning for contract announcements, actually. I wanted to have the guys returning or just signing on make a little video either thanking the fans for their continued support or introducing themselves, depending on where they played last year, but everyone vetoed it.” You rolled your eyes at the memory. Greg, who thought he should have gotten your job despite your better qualifications, very loudly made his dissent clear. In the end, everyone else followed suit.

Kevin, thankfully, was on your side. “I would have loved something like that! Especially for the new guys; you’ve gotta get the fans on your side before they have time to hate you.” You chuckled at his statement, even as you nodded in agreement. Getting Kevin amped up about any subject was your favorite thing to do. His accent wasn’t always clear, but times like now the Boston really came out.

“Thanks for the support, Kev. It’s nice to know at least somebody is on my side.” He leaned over to squeeze your hand reassuringly, and you only had one thought: you were in deep trouble.

3. The one where you made his date dinner

Kevin’s voice was frantic as he threw pots and pans around his kitchen, smoking something sitting black in the sink. “Y/N, please! I need help! She’s gonna be here soon, what do I do?” The panic was new, and you swallowed to joke that almost came out of your mouth in response. He really did look stressed, and the hair you knew he had meticulously styled was now running wild around his temples in frizzy curls. He stared down helplessly at what you thought was supposed to be spaghetti. You sighed, walking over to stand in front of him.

“We’ll make something else.” Kevin’s face still looked panicked, and you reached up to grab his face with both hands. “Kev. It’s gonna be okay.” He nodded. You smiled slightly, and he smiled back. “I’m going to go get a couple of things from my kitchen. Get out a couple of beers, trim the chicken, and I’ll be right back.” You patted his cheek gently and hurried out of the apartment. Hopefully you would be able to get rid of the smell before she got there. Kevin had a date, a girl he’d been dating for a few months, and you had shown up with the flowers he forgot to buy right as the pan of burnt spaghetti went into the sink. You were still trying to figure out how in the hell a box of spaghetti had turned into the black brick sitting in his pot, but that was a question for another time.

With minimal time and a general lack of great ingredients, you settled on beer-battered chicken and a salad. Thankfully you’d gone to the farmer’s market that morning, and had made Kevin go with you. There were tons of fresh vegetables sitting on his counter that would now get some good use. The only thing you needed from your apartment were cashews and some flour, which you grabbed before hurrying back across the hall again. Kevin was still panicking, though slightly less so, and the chicken was almost ready for the batter. You shouldered Kevin out of the way, throwing the beer, flour, eggs, and a couple of other ingredients into a bowl. Kevin hovered over your shoulder anxiously, at least until you elbowed him in the ribs. “Back up, Kev, I promise I’ve got your back.” He sighed, and finally sat on the counter out of your way.

He didn’t speak until you threw the chicken into a pan of oil, and even then he spoke so quietly you almost didn’t hear him. “Thanks for always having my back, Y/N.” You smiled over at him, though the chicken spitting oil quickly grabbed your attention again. The past year and a half had been nice. Kevin’s exodus from Philly for the summer came right around the time that the Phillies occupied most of your time and visits with Kevin were limited to late night meals, especially as he and the girl started dating. Kelsey, maybe? Or Karly? You hadn’t actually met; honestly, you weren’t sure she’d met any of his teammates either. It was weird no one had really met her yet, especially for a relationship that had lasted for at least two months. “Spring training is soon, right? When do you leave for Florida?”

“In a week. When do you guys play in Tampa?” He answered the week after next, and you nodded. You had gone to their game in Tampa the year before when it fell during spring training, and it looked like you would be doing so again. The chicken was finally finished, and you threw together a small warm salad with a fresh cashew Caesar dressing. The plates looked good, and Kevin was already washing the dishes when you turned around. “I can get these, Kev, go fix up your hair.”

He turned around teasingly, flicking water in your general direction. “What the hell is that supposed to mean, Y/N?” You shrugged. He raised an eyebrow, and you were saved from a response by the sound of knocking at his door. Kevin quickly dried his hands, and you gathered your flour container. Kelsey/Karly stopped short when she saw you in Kevin’s kitchen, and you held out your free hand with a smile. “I’m Y/N, I live across the hall. it’s nice to meet you.” She raised an eyebrow like she was unimpressed, and your hand dropped to your side slowly. Her next words told you enough about what kind of person she was. “Why the fuck are you here?” So she was going be like that, then. Kevin stood behind her awkwardly, and you hurried towards the door before it got any more weird. He held out a hand to stop you, but said nothing when you turned your head up at him.

You closed the door behind you softly, knowing that an echo from the door slamming would make the entire interaction even weirder. It wasn’t until the door had almost clicked closed that you heard a soft “thank you” from Kevin. A loud argument and a slammed door later the date was over, and you waited for most of the night for Kevin to come over for comfort food. He never came, though you woke up to a sticky note on your door with two short sentences.

I’m sorry. Thank you for everything.

4. Taco Tuesday

It wasn’t just the fact that there was about half the roster sitting in her apartment, or the fact that they were all halfway hammered. It was the fact that Kevin hadn’t bothered to tell you the ‘couple of guys’ he’d invited to dinner was every member of the team not married with children. Nolan was the only mostly sober guy of the group, and that was only because he was coming off of a stomach bug. Thankfully, that stomach bug meant he was the one designated to help you prep for dinner. The guys had begged for your steak tacos after hearing about them for Kevin and then Travis, who had suckered his way into one of you and Kevin’s post-game dinners. Right now, your main concern was having enough meat to feed everyone.

Hands slid around your waist, squeezing slightly when you jumped. “I’m sorry for all the guys. I didn’t think they would all be so interested.” Kevin had to lean in close to your ear in order for you to hear him, and not for the first time you were thankful he was your only close neighbor. The people you shared a wall with were only around for about two months out of the year, and it wasn’t quite that time of year yet. “I promise I’ll keep them mostly chill, and we’ll get out early. I know you have an early call time tomorrow.” Oh, yes. First big road trip of the season. The early April roadies were your favorite, because the thrill of the travel hadn’t worn off yet.

Voices sounded from behind you both, someone commenting on how close Kevin was standing, and he jumped away from you with an impressive amount of speed. You lamented the loss of his body heat, though your next thought was a mental slap on the wrist for thinking about Kevin that way. No matter how into him you were, you couldn’t think like that. You were just friends. Travis slid into the conversation then to make more comments about the two of you, though you knew he meant well. Kevin had finally broken up with Kelsey/Karly, and Travis felt bad because he had been the one to set them up in the first place.

“So Y/N, how come you never bring a guy around to the bars with us?” You could have killed Travis for making that comment. He knew you had a crush on Kevin, had guessed it one night after a particularly rough day, and you were waiting for the day he decided to tell Kevin. “I might bring one around soon,” you said, much to the delight of the crowd around your apartment, minus Kevin. His head snapped up in a mixture of hurt and confusion, and you almost wished you hadn’t brought it up. “I have a date next week with a guy from your marketing department, actually.” Groans of disgust mixed with teasing met your ears at the same time Kevin slammed his beer bottle onto the counter. You would have to explore that outburst at a later date.

Kevin was distant for the rest of the night, and you had a feeling it had something to do with your date. The look on his face and the knowing smirk on Travis’ followed you into your sleep that night, and you tossed and turned until you finally went on a run around the city as daylight broke. A sticky note was waiting on your door when you got back, three brief sentences that made you release tension you hadn’t realized you were holding.

Have a great trip. Revolutionize baseball. You’re the best.

+1. Kevin finally says it

The date had been awful. There were really no other words for it. No matter how many times you dated someone involved in sports, their misogyny never ceased to amaze you. Jake had spent most of the little time you’d dealt with him mansplaining his job and hockey to you, no matter how many times you’d explained you understood both. If he worked for the Phillies, his position would have fallen under your management. In other words, you would have been his boss. You knew what his job entailed, but he couldn’t seem to get that.

But really, the icing on the cake? When he asked if you’d gotten a job with the Phillies so that you could marry some baseball player. As if you could see those boys as anything but loveable idiots. Like hopeless little brothers. You’d gotten up and left then, dropping enough cash on the table to cover your tab and then some before storming out. The text you sent Kevin was angry, a request for beer and a friend, and then you’d walked the mile back to your apartment in heels that were starting to give you serious blisters. The blisters and the red you were still seeing almost caused you to miss the sticky note on your door. Two words, and a scrawl that was very clearly Kevin’s. My place, 8 pm. That note made you smile despite what was quite possibly your worst date ever, and you hurried into your room to change into something more comfortable before heading to Kevin’s.

You walked right in after a knock, and the sight waiting for you almost made you wish you had waited. Soft music was playing from the speaker on Kevin’s kitchen counter, and something in the kitchen smelled heavenly. Kevin looked soft, the Kevin you were used to, in a worn Red Sox t-shirt and some sweatpants that hugged him just right. You were thankful you’d gone with leggings and a long sleeve shirt, especially when Kevin turned around and saw you. His eyes lit up, and you didn’t miss the subtle up-and-down he gave your body. It all felt incredibly domestic, though you didn’t want to drop too deeply into your feels before you’d even had dinner, so you quickly shoved those thoughts away. “Wanna talk about it?” Kevin passed you a beer as he asked, and you shook your head.

“Guy was a dick. Acted like I didn’t know anything about hockey, and then tried to mansplain his job, which is my job, to me.” Kevin snorted in disgust. He mumbled something that sounded like ‘dick’ under his breath, but the oven timer drowned him out. You jumped onto the kitchen counter as Kevin pulled on a couple of oven mitts. He had baked a lasagna, clearly homemade, and you took a deep breath as he placed the dish next to you. Kevin gave you a knowing smirk, and you knocked your beer bottle against his head gently. He knew you too well. His mother had cooked that lasagna when she was around for the mom’s trip, and you’d fallen in love with both the food and his mother. “Kevin, I love you.” He ducked his head, busying himself with scooping you a heaping plate of food. “That was the idea,” he mumbled under his breath. You chose to let it go, although the comment was filed under your list of things to ask him about at some point.

Kevin handed you a plate of lasagna and offered up a slice of fresh bread, which you took gratefully. He scooped himself a matching plate, though his portion was definitely smaller and more diet-approved, and nodded you towards his couch. Rizzoli and Isles was set up on the television, a drama that you and Kevin had been slowly working through together. It was fun to watch him pick apart the locations and inaccuracies, as well as pointing out places that he had grown up terrorizing. He didn’t ask any more about your date, for which you were grateful. The silence was peaceful, minus the occasional comment about the show, and you devoured your food in an amount of time that impressed even Kevin.

It wasn’t until later, when you were cleaning up his kitchen together, that you brought up his earlier comment. “Kev, what did you mean earlier?” He shot a confused look in your direction, and you sighed. “When you said ‘that was the idea’. What did you mean?” Kevin didn’t respond as he finished washing a plate, and he turned off the faucet after he handed you the plate to dry. You were patient, putting away the plate and then dropping the towel as you waited for a response. He would get there, in time.

“I’ve liked you for a long time, Y/N.” Wait, no. Kevin? Liked you? You were frozen, unable to form a sentence. It was like he’d watched your dreams and decided to play a sick joke. Kevin ran a hand over his face and through his hair at your lack of response. “I always knew I didn’t have a chance with you, so I figured being your friend was just as good.” Now it was really just like the Twilight Zone. Either that, or Kevin was reading your mind. It was the exact battle you’d had with yourself several times in the last year-and-a-half plus. Your head spun as you tried to come up with a response, but the only one you came up with was to surge forward and kiss Kevin.

It was like nothing you’d imagined. Kevin was a lot taller than you, enough so that it made kissing him a little difficult at first. After he got over the initial shock of you jumping him he crouched a little, and you wound your fingers through the curls at the nape of his neck. Kissing Kevin felt right, like the one thing you had really been missing over the last couple of years was him. He smiled as you drew back for a breath, and you couldn’t help but smile back. “Yeah?” You laughed at his question. “Yeah,” you repeated, leaning in for another kiss. Kevin obliged, and you melted against him.

You finally left Kevin’s the next morning, rushing out the door so that you could shower before heading in for another game day. Kevin’s kiss on your cheek and a promise for an actual conversation followed you out, though the smile on your face lasted all day. You returned to your apartment that night to see a sticky note on your front door, in Kevin’s writing like always.

My place, 10 pm. Kiss for entry.

#Kevin Hayes Imaging #nhl imagine #nhl imagines

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hamhamparadise · 5 years ago

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August 6th, Happy Birthday Hamtaro!

Hamtaro is our main protagonist of the show! Finally, it’s his time to shine!

Hamtaro is often referred to as a “golden hamster”, albeit his fur being cream-colored like pretty much all males in the series, and he sports an orange semi-circular stripe that runs around his forehead. He also has an orange spot in his butt and his back is orange up to the tail.

Hamtaro's personality is the embodiment of childish innocence, kindness and adventurous. He is also apparently oblivious to love matters, as he considers them “too complicated”. That, however, doesn't stop him from becoming a great friend to anyone that spends more than 2 minutes talking with him. Hamtaro likes to help his friends, and he is also a natural born leader, that all the Ham-Hams run to him to ask him for an opinion or decision on a subject. Hamtaro is also very dumb not only to love, but other stuff that should be quite obvious for many, but to be honest this is a common occurrence between all the Ham-Hams You could say many of them are just small furry 5 year olds though that might be a given due to the target audience. During the series he keeps growing up, if only subtle, and sometimes we can see an slightly annoyed or a blatantly angry Hamtaro, but these times are quite rare.

Hamtaro lives with his owner Laura Haruna, the human side protagonist of the series. He is a good friend to Brandy, the Haruna’s dog . The series starts when Hamtaro's family moves to a new town, and he goes out to explore. However, before that, he lived in Sumire Town together with Laura. Hamtaro is the only Ham-Ham of whom we know his parents are, more specifically his mother. He was born to Yuki, a white hamster that was a pet to a kindergarten in Sumire Town, which Laura attended.

However, and we won't go too deep on this, the Hamtaro manga originally gives a whole lot of different family trees for Hamtaro (there's 5 of them in different generations!). Hamtaro's Japanese name is Hamutaro-kun, which it's pretty much a direct translation. The “taro” part is a common suffix for boys names. For example think of Momotaro (Peach Boy). Hence, Hamtaro's translated name would be “Hamster Boy”.

In the Japanese dub, Hamtaro finishes most of his sentences with “nanoda” or “noda”. This is just a cute addition to his speech, emphasizing his childish portrayal as it is mostly used by kids. He also refers to himself as “boku”, which is mostly a young boy’s way of saying “I” or “myself”. Compare to Boss’ “Ore-sama” which is more smug and thinks very highly of himself.

Hamtaro's birthday is once again another Goroawase pun. Same reason as Cappy is the fact that the words for 8 and 6 can be read as “Hamu” or Ham. According to some interviews from Ritsuko Kawai, Hamtaro’s creator, Hamtaro's original birthday date before the anime started was July 24th! (That might be why Prince Bo’s birthday is that specific date now.)

Relationships

Hamtaro is an involuntary stud. For a guy that literally has no interest on love, he has quite a bunch of ladies after him.

Bijou, naturally, is the main one. Albeit Hamtaro only sees her as his “best friend”, multiple media and merchandise like to picture the two together, sometimes even in clearly couple situations, for obvious reasons, as they're both the main characters of the series. They interact in pretty much any episode, and they even have a “date episode”. However, Hamtaro is too dense and never really officially reciprocates Bijou's feelings. This is the most supported pairing from the fans, but sadly the series never offers a proper conclusion. There is, however, the third movie, in which Hamtaro appears to be really focused on his task to “retrieve” Bijou from the pirate gang. This can be interpreted as he being jealous, or he just being his usual goofy self of “don't be mean to my friends”.

Sparkle comes a close second. Although she was very abrasive to the Ham-Hams at first, in later episodes she develops both a crush on Hamtaro and a rivalry for Bijou, which given her straight-forward and fighting nature, makes her a quite obvious contender for the hamster’s heart.

Continuing on, and to far less degree, we have a whole array of secondary hamsters that one way or another fall in love with the hamster, but we won't get on much detail: Oshare, Bijou's French friend, apparently out of nowhere, develops a crush on Hamtaro that is not hard-pushed as she is only officially in love with him for one episode.

Lapis, although not ever really developed, is very close and friendly to Hamtaro, and that makes Sparkle put her under the radar of possible love rivals. The kiss she gives him in the cheek (which make him blush like crazy) doesn't help either.

Lazuli, Lapis' sister, also falls in the same category in early episodes, however she quickly leans towards Snoozer.

Barette, in her original episode, appears to be interested on Hamtaro, but that fades away later on.

Penelope, apparently, has a crush on Hamtaro, but we don't know if this is short lived or not. In the presentation audios and also in the Love Love Attack Plan song, as well as a bunch of episodes, it is implied that Penelope has a crush on Hamtaro. Given how easily she crushes on many other creatures, this might be just a phase.

And then, we have two other contestants, although these are up to debate as they were probably more meant as a joke than actual love interests:

Jingle, who apparently can't ever remember Hamtaro's name, is always around to offer his jammin’ support, and even take care of him when he was sick. He also pushes Hamtaro into becoming a wild hamster and travel with him a few times, so clearly has an interest in the golden boy.

Bo, who considers Hamtaro his best friend, clearly expects a lot from the boy and acts a little embarrassed and nervous about him. Their relation in the third OVA clearly shows there's something going on. Now, although I have been pointing out that Hamtaro clearly has no interest in love, this has two exceptions. Both are exclusive for movies, so it is debatable whether we should consider them canon or not since Hamtaro acts pretty ‘non-canon’ in these movies to be honest.

First, and this one is also featured in the series, is Laura. Mainly in the first movie (but also in later episodes), Hamtaro develops a clear crush on Laura. And we're not talking innocent “I love my owner”, he really loves Laura romantically. The whole plot of the first movie is how he wants to spend Laura's birthday with her and he is sad and jealous when she goes out with her friends, but specially freaks out when Kana mentions Travis. In the anime he also worries when Laura tells him she is going out on a “date”, and he stalks her to see with whom. We can discuss if this is some kind of innocent love, but it is undoubtedly romantic love.

Lastly, we have Hamtaro's only love for a same species critter: Princess Cye-Ra. In the second movie, Hamtaro falls in love the very same moment he sees Cye-Ra in the flesh for the first time. This is painfully clear as he gets awe struck and then nervous and blushy around her. Later on he gets a kiss from her on the cheek, and he pretty much freaks out and ponders why his heart is beating so fast. Later on, Cye-ra reunites with her fiance, and Hamtaro is truly devastated. But, to date, this is the only time Hamtaro has truly loved someone.

Episodes

Now, since pretty much all Hamtaro episodes focus on the boy one way or another, we will only highlight a few. Episode 1 – Hamtaro!

Naturally the first episode of the series is a very important one! Hamtaro gets to explore his new house and meets a few new friends!

Episode 24 – Hamtaro, please come home!

Hamtaro gets trapped in a box inside a truck that is going to some place far away! Laura and the Ham-Hams frantically look for him but will Hamtaro ever returned?

Episode 114 - Hamtaro, the Knight A typhoon blocks Laura's parents from getting home, so Laura and Hamtaro spend a scary night alone. Hamtaro decides to act as a Knight and protect Laura!

Episode 135 – Hamtaro gets Cold

Hamtaro overhears Laura wrong and thinks she doesn't like him anymore, so he goes on a journey with Jingle. But he catches a cold, and Jingle has to take care of him!

Episode 251 – Oh no, Hamtaro!

Hamtaro is stuck at Mindy's house after playing, and he has to return, but Boss decides to pretend to be him so Laura doesn’t get worried!

Episode 271 - Hamha-Man the Justice Hero

Hamtaro dreams that he is a Hero of Justice and have superpowers! Who will he fight?

Movie 1: Adventures in Ham-Ham Land!

It’s Laura's birthday, and he prepares a lot of gifts for her! However, Laura leaves with her friends, which makes him really sad. And a bit angry when he learns that Travis is there too. Later, the Ham-Hams learn of Ham-Ham Land, when there's a magical seed that allows a hamster to speak the human language! Hamtaro wants to use it to wish Laura a Happy Birthday!

OVA 1: 3000 Hammy Steps on Search of Mommy

It is Hamtaro's birthday and he decides to go search for his mother! She is apparently in a far away place, but his friends are there to help! Meanwhile, the Ham-Hams that are left preparing his birthday party!

Hamtaro's birthday is a very special day for everyone! Happy birthday!

#hamtaro #birthday #text #screenshot

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chopperiv · 5 years ago

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Alright I’m going to talk about TAZ: Graduation

It’s not going to be pleasant so I’ll put it under the cut. I just have to vent, and this seems as good a place as any to do it.

I just finished Episode 4, the newest episode as of this writing, and I’m utterly, thoroughly, unbearably bored. With every episode so far, I’ve been excited to see what new adventure the Grad Gang will get into this week, and every time, the answer has been “they don’t”. Instead of the boys gallivanting about, having fun escapades across a world lovingly created by their dear brother, The Adventure Zone: Graduation is shaping up to be a long, tedious slog of half-baked characters, scenes that go on far too long, and absolutely no narrative arc whatsoever.

Travis’s pacing as DM is glacial. I was willing to forgive the first episode, since it was the first one and of course he had to introduce a lot of information to both the players and the audience. However, the episodes and scenes since then have been slow-paced at best, and borderline-anchored at worst. Have there been good goofs? Yes, absolutely. These are still the McElroys we’re talking about; I think they’d have to actively try not to be funny to actually not be funny. And Travis has had his fair share of good bits! But a lot of the time, if there is a memorable scene or specific moment from Graduation, it’s the players who are the ones making it better, and Travis just provides the backboard for them to bounce off of. Master Firbolg taking an accounting class and not understanding it in the slightest (”WHAT IS SYLLABUS?!” “I am...dunce.”); Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt getting scammed by the “Realm of Goodcastle”; Argo Keene’s surprisingly heart-tugging backstory and ongoing fascination with limes! These are all great bits!

But nothing is happening on the story side of things. There’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it indication that the woods are more important than they seem at the end of episode 1, and now, in episode 4, the group finally has a D&D-esque goal: track down a monster. Though even still, they’re tracking down a monster to give it a subpoena. On the one hand, that’s goofy McElroy antics. On the other, it’s an indicator of just how annoyingly rooted in accounting and other boring mechanics this world is.

In the trailer for the season, a joke was made about how the school treats Accounting as its most important class, but then Travis turned around and said “no, actually, it really is the most important class, and everything in this world revolves around accounting, including major game mechanics”. The joke became reality, and you can hear in the episodes as the players (Justin especially, even out of character) strain to deal with these boring mechanics. Again, there are only 4 episodes released at this point, so maybe in the future I can look back and say “wow, remember when I thought the accounting rules were boring?”, but as it stands right now, it seems to exist mostly as a limiting factor on a) how much money the boys get, and b) how much property damage they’re going to be allowed to get away with.

In general, the idea of this arc seems to be “watch as these characters have a fun time doing stuff!” But in practice, the arc has become “watch as these characters hang around in places with no real direction until given a forceful shove by the DM!” Without an overarching narrative throughline (e.g. Find the Grand Relics; Defeat the Abominations; hell, let’s bring back Travis’s last stint as DM with Find out who killed Jeremiah Blackwell) the characters end up wandering around from scene to scene, told where they’re going by the DM and occasionally given choices on which of two paths they want to take to the same destination. I mean that last part literally. In the fourth episode, Travis shows the boys two shops and asks which one they want to go into, only to reveal that both doors lead to the same place. (Side note: Travis, you don’t get to dunk on Griffin for naming his store “Fantasy Costco” when a) Fantasy Whatever is a big part of the Adventure Zone brand, and b) you just took the E out of Barnes and Noble, said it was a pun, and called it a day.)

And let’s talk about the NPCs. I was a little worried when Travis said he had created something like 50 NPCs as proper characters (e.g. with sheets and everything), because there was no way that I or anyone else was going to remember that many characters. And there are a lot. The only one whose name I can remember off the top of my head is Rainier, and that’s because she’s the one the cast interacts with the most. Everybody else? No idea. Now, having a lot of NPCs isn’t necessarily a negative thing, but they either all have to stand out in some way, or it has to be accepted that not all of these characters are going to be important. And yet it feels like with every new character introduced, we’re expected to try to remember who they are.

I’d like to end this off by saying that I don’t think Graduation should be written off as “bad”. It’s not “bad”. But as it stands right now, I can’t really call it “good” either. Four episodes into Balance, we’d met Killian, and Magic Brian, and heard “ABRACA-FUCK-YOU!” for the first time. Four episodes into Amnesty, the crew was all together, had already had one encounter with the Beast, and was gearing up to take it on again with a proper plan. Hell, four episodes into Dust and Commitment, the story was ending! The one thing I want from this series at the moment, above all else, is for there to be an ongoing narrative to bring me back every week. As the series currently stands, we’ve got nothing. No antagonists looming over the hill. No overarching goal the protagonists will have to accomplish at some point, but are taking a temporary break from. They’re going to deliver subpoena to a Xorn, and I have no idea if that should be treated as a joke or not. Time will tell, I suppose.

People have claimed that “well Balance started out slow too, give this series time” and I have given it time. I’ve given it four episodes. As I said: Balance’s first arc was nearly over after 4 episodes. We’d had Barry Bluejeans, and Magic Brian, and learned about the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet. In Graduation, we’ve had nothing even close to any of that. If I was reading a book, and that book hadn’t introduced its plot yet after four chapters, I’d probably get bored and stop reading. I don’t see why the same can’t be said for a story-driven podcast where they supposedly play D&D.

TL;DR: I don’t want to dislike Graduation. I’ll still probably listen to every new episode when it comes out. But right now, I’m not anticipating the new episode. Travis, if you read this, I’m sorry about how harsh I’m sure I’ve come across.

I just really, really want to like this series.

#The Adventure Zone #the adventure zone: graduation #taz: g #taz: g spoilers

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princessamericachavez · 6 years ago

Text

The Fjorester Talk

ARE YOU GUYS READY FOR ME TO OVERANALYZE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CONVERSATION IN THIS CAMPAIGN BECAUSE I SO AM LET’S DO THIS

Okay, first of all, I would like to thank Matthew Mercer for my life. He really went and gave me the exact scene setting I’d been daydreaming off ever since we talked about Fjorester/Tangled parallels.

Look at Travis’s face during that description. This is the face of a man who knows his moment to show his shipper colors has come

Honestly, Jester’s fascination with the beautiful jellyfish really hit me because she was just talking to Caduceus about how big the world is beyond his confinement and she too is experimenting all this for the first time and my heart can’t take it. She was so unusually quiet and contemplative at that moment.

And then Travis had to go and say “Yeah, they are beautiful” while looking at Jester like THAT. (Marisha knows what he’s doing. HE KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING)

I can’t believe they really gave me this exact scene and then proceeded to keep killing me with feels as if this moment alone wasn’t enough.

SOMETIMES THINGS THAT ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ARE THE THINGS THAT CAN HURT YOU THE WORST

this is gonna come back and haunt me at some angsty point in the future isn’t it????????????

Jester asking if Fjord is worried about the orb thing and being afraid that the captain will hurt him.

Like okay this is a consistent thing the one person who seems to be most worried over Fjord somehow being put in danger by his story and the one who’s always encouraging him to find answers and make sure he’s okay is always Jester. She’s so worried about him.

But Fjord is calm and confident and he has complete faith in what they can accomplish together.

“I feel like we take care of ourselves pretty well” totally felt like a throwback to when Jester was defining her relationship with Fjord to Nott back at the beginning and said “He watches out for me. I watch out for him. You know, we’re a good team.”

“I promise I’ll heal you if you start to hurt, okay?”

EXCUSE ME HOW DARE YOU TWO DO THIS TO ME? THOSE LITTLE SMILES. REMEMBER WHEN FJORD ASKED JESTER TO TELL HIM IF HE STARTED CHIPPING AT HIS TUSKS AND AFTER THEY AGREED THEY MADE THIS EXACT SAME FACES????

And then there’s that pause, and they could’ve totally stopped the conversation there but then Laura Bailey had to come for my heart with that soft way in which Jester finally asks: “Do you ever get sad?”

And I want to talk about that phrase.

Like. The sentence, the delivery, Laura’s face... it said so much about Jester.

I mean, Jester should know that everyone gets sad sometimes, but in her head Fjord is this strong and steady and fearless person who she puts her absolute trust on... so maybe he doesn’t get sad. Jester tries so hard to pretend that she’s never sad, maybe because she doesn’t know that others go through it too, that it’s completely okay to not feel happy and cheerful all the time.

The way she asks it is so desperate for confirmation like she’s scared like she really needs something to hold on to. There’s some heartbreaking yearning in her voice like she doesn’t want to feel alone anymore.

And when she further explains what she means “Sad that sometimes things don’t work out the way you were hoping?” you can see Fjord pause and process and realize that she’s talking about herself.

And Fjord who feels this enormous pressure to be a good leader, to present himself to the world in a certain way, who is so frustrated for the events that transpired a day ago... and who’s never lied to her, just nods and says “yes, sometimes”

“Are you sad, Jester?”

He says it so carefully, so softly, while looking at her as if he just discovered something. Because, to Fjord, Jester is unbreakable. Nothing gets her down, none of the horrors they’ve gone through or the fights or the pain.

When Fjord FINALLY asks this, he’s looking at Jester and maybe for the first time realizing how much she’s been carrying in her chest.

And, of course, because this is Jester we’re talking about, she tries to brush it off saying it passes quickly, she literally smiles through the tears as she says it.

I feel personally victimized by Laura Bailey

And then Fjord does this wonderful thing that I think is always part of healthy friendships and relationships: he doesn’t push to know what the problem is, instead he offers. It’s a give-and-take and he opens up before to be on equal ground.

I really think when he talked about the things he had that he doesn’t anymore Fjord was talking about losing his crew and Vandrin, who was clearly very important to him. We’ve rarely seen Fjord talk about this but survivor’s guilt clearly weights on him so much, it’s nice that he can open up a little bit more about it with her.

“What makes you sad, Jester?”

And, oh boy, when she talks about missing her mom and being sad that they had to leave so quickly... like dude, that whole clusterfuck started with Fjord falling into the water while pursuing his personal business... and if you don’t think he feels responsible for that shit you’re WRONG

“I... am sorry that we had to leave in the way we did.”

But “sorry” is not enough. We’ve seen that Fjord absolutely can’t handle Jester being upset and his default mode is “what can I do to fix this?” After the Gentleman reveal it was dealing with Algar to make her feel better about her mom’s safety. This time, you can see him formulating a plan: If Jester can go to Nicodranas, what if we can get her mom out of there?

“She thought about it one time, with my dad. She was planning to leave with him.”

I LOVE THAT FJORD ASKS WHAT JESTER WANTS FOR HER MOTHER BECAUSE HE ALWAYS DEFERS TO HER JUDGEMENT WHEN IT COMES TO HER HOME AND HER FAMILY AND RESPECTS HER WISHES AND THAT’S SO IMPORTANT TO ME

“I would like for her to be happy. I would like for him to love her.”

I’m gonna make a whole separate post about how Marion and the Gentleman’s relationship parallels Fjord and Jester

“I would like for her to not have to work anymore”

That’s like super interesting because, so far, she’s presented herself as someone who not only accepts but embraces her mother’s life as a normal one, a cool thing... but here for the first time we see hints of her perhaps not being entirely into it, maybe seeing the risks and the unsavory people she has to work for sometimes (like Algar or Lord Sharpe)

“That’s very noble of you” “I’m very noble” heartwarming words of affirmation.

“Well, how ‘bout...” SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY FJORD SAYS THIS, COMPLETELY CHANGING THE MOOD BETWEEN THEM FROM A SAD CONVERSATION TO PARTNERS IN CRIME MAKING A PLAN JUST GETS TO ME

And of course, Fjord talks about the treasure islands and all these things that in D&D language means “we’ll collect a lot of loot” but what’s more important is that he cheers her up.

Jester spends 90% of her time trying to make people happy or make them laugh and brighten up and to see someone else do it for her when she most needs it kills me.

HE GETS HER TO SMILE.

Seriously, look at Matt’s face. Same, Matt. Same.

And of course, Fjord brings up again the “we take care of each other” because THAT’S THEIR THING. THAT’S WHAT THEY DO. THAT’S WHAT THEY ARE DOING RIGHT NOW.

And then Jester comes up with the crazy version of the plan to bribe the Gentleman into going back with her mother... but Fjord, bless him, is the romantic one this time, sure Marion can woo him herself.

And the way he says it.

He’s goofy, making faces and ‘sound effects’ and it’s so on-brand with Jester’s humor and what she needs right now.

“And she’s just...”

“...amazing” (he said while intensely staring at the girl standing by his side)

LOOK AT THEM HOW DARE THEY.

“Don’t be sad”

THE WAY HE SAYS IT GUYS I CAN’T HE’S SO SOFT AND GENTLE AND SWEET I CAN’T

And what’s most, he’s asking her not to be sad, because the boy can’t handle seeing her sad.

ALSO, DID YOU CATCH HOW PERFECTLY THE MUSIC SYNC’D WITH THE MOMENT??

IT WAS ALL TOO PERFECT. THE DND GODS HAVE SMILED UPON US

And Jester looks up like this:

Like she’s almost startled by his gentleness.

And there’s just a gentle violin in the back like a freaking Disney movie.

“Your mom is very proud of you, that much was clear.”

“Yeah... thanks, Fjord.”

“Don’t mention it.”

HER LITTLE SMILE.

THE WAY HE KEEPS LOOKING OVER AT HER.

BYE.

GOODBYE

I’M DECEASED

MARISHA IS A MOOD

#fjorester #fjord #jester lavorre #critical role #cr spoilers #sofia's nonsense #fjester #jic because i need every shipper to see this #GU Y S #IT'S HAPPENING #IT'S UNDER THE CUT BUT I APOLOGIZE TO MOBILE USERS IN ADVANCE

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actuallykiwi · 6 years ago

Text

That Time Nick Asked Annie to Dance

The sun was setting over the city.

Nick was enjoying a few minutes break in the walkway outside the agency. It’s not that they were terribly busy, but like he always said, “There’s always another case to close.” Ellie was inside organizing the files from the past few cases they had worked on. One of them, the most recent one, was closed just a couple days ago. It was one of the many that didn’t have a happy ending.

She paused as she came across it. Her small fingers brushed over the name on the front of the file, and then over the large, burning red stamp: CLOSED. The red ink hadn’t even dried yet. She sighed and stacked it in its proper place with the others before gently placing them in a filing cabinet and deciding to join the detective outside.

Nick was taking a long slow drag of his cigarette when his assistant leaned on the wall beside him, her head hanging low. “The cases that end in death are always the hardest to push past,” she muttered. He nodded somberly. “And unfortunately all to common.” He watched the smoke swirl in front of him as Ellie lifted her head slightly towards him. “Do you think she’s okay? She’s been gone a couple days now. She normally bounces back so quick...” Nick took one more drag before stomping the cigarette butt into the ground below. “She’s in mourning, Ellie. She just lost someone very close to her.” He sighed. “But you’re right, I am beginning to get a little worried about her. She would’ve normally let us know she’s gonna be okay by now.” “Should we go visit her? She lives right outside of town, right?” Ellie asked, gesturing toward the direction their friend lived in. He thought for a moment before thoughtfully rubbing his chin. “That might be a good idea. She could probably use some company now that she’s had time to grieve.” She smiled and stood straight up. “Tell ya what. You go spend some time with her and I’ll make some dinner and bring it by in a little bit. Sound good?” Nick chuckled. “And how long have you had this planned exactly?” She winked before walking back toward the agency. “Oh, a couple days or so.”

It had never really dawned on him until he was walking out the city gate into the Fens; the whole city was quieter and a little gloomier without her around. Everyone had gotten so used to her smile, her laugh, the goofy faces she always made, and although they didn’t always enjoy them, her awful jokes. It had only been two days, but it’s as if Diamond City had a little storm cloud over it. The city needed its sunshine back. It’s not that she wasn’t there anymore, she literally lived just northeast of the city, about a block away. But she hadn’t actually been in the city since the incident, and it showed. Nick felt a small sense of dread that she might not be home, or if she was that he might find something awful. This thought quickened his pace, and he rounded the large green wall of the city to her makeshift apartment. One of the DC guards made his patrol in front of her building just as Nick approached. He tried not to appear worried as he asked if she was home. The guard nodded and continued, and Nick approached her door.

He took a deep breath before gently knocking. “Annie? It’s Nick.” He waited for a moment but there was no response. He tried not to imagine the worst as he reached for the doorknob, but paused when he heard muffled music playing towards the back of the building. Nick carefully scaled the side of the building where the music grew louder until he reached the back deck. It was a small concrete porch of sorts. An old red pre-war grill restored to almost-working order sat to the far right away from the building. Against the back wall to the left rested a few wooden lounge chairs, freshly painted bright blue and yellow. A tiny fire pit glowed warmly in the center near an equally small table with a radio on it, the source of the music, playing DC Radio. This was surrounded by a few also-freshly painted lawn chairs, one of which filled Nick with relief. In it sat Annie curled up in fetal position, watching the fire flicker over the old newspapers piled within, a fire poker by the legs of the chair.

He smiled to himself as he watched the light dance in the strands of her blonde hair. As he carefully approached her left side, he noticed her eyes were red and puffy, and she had small bags under them. She remained unmoved until he was mere feet away from her and he gently cleared his throat. “Nice night for a barbecue.” She squealed and jumped into a straight sitting position, quickly swiping her glasses off and rubbing furiously at her eyes. “N-Nick! I-I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to come over! Uh, how have you been?” She sniffed and flashed him a brilliant smile that would’ve been believable if her eyes weren’t so swollen and oh-so-strikingly blue from all the tears. He shrugged and scooted a chair closer to her before taking a seat. “Ah, little tired from the influx of cases to solve, but... I’m more concerned about you to be honest. How you holdin’ up?” Annie replaced her glasses and laughed sadly. “I’m... okay. Hangin’ in there, you know?” Nick studied her for a moment. Not in the way he usually did when no one was looking, but in the way he did when he was trying to figure out a client’s true emotions. “It’s okay to not be okay, Annie. You don’t have to wait to show your feelings behind closed doors. It’s not human to be happy all the time.” He flashed her a sideways grin to show he was teasing. “It helps to mourn with friends, people you trust. If anything, that makes your bright happy side all the more enjoyable- not that it’s not enjoyable, mind you.” She laughed again and nodded. “I know. I just wanted some time to, sort things out, you know?”

She sighed and her smile slowly faded as she sunk in her seat. “It’s just... Nick, I’ve traveled all this way to find him. I chased down every clue he left behind over two states away, ever since he ran away from home. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and when I finally find him-” Her breath caught and Nick placed a worried hand on her knee. She bit her lip as a tear escaped down her cheek. “I’ve come all this way. I had so much hope that I was going to bring him home, or at least we’d be together. I put this apartment together so we could have a place to stay, catch up, but now he’s... my brother is...” She covered her mouth as her emotions overcame her, and Nick embraced her as she quietly began to sob. “I know, doll, I know. But you don’t have to go through this alone. We’re all here for you.” She gripped the back of his trench coat in response as he just held her for a while. He couldn’t help but think back to about a year ago when Sole was going through a similar situation. They also thought losing a loved one was something they had to face alone, and Nick had told them the same thing. He wasn’t as close to them as he was to Annie, though, and he didn’t hold them like he was holding her now.

After a few minutes, Annie finally took a deep breath and Nick released her as she sat up and rubbed at her face again. “Thank you,” was all she said as she sat back in her seat, folding her glasses and tucking them into her jacket pocket. They just sat for a while, Annie taking a deep breath every now and then to calm down. They both perked up a little when Travis popped in on the radio.

“Good evening, Diamond City! Hope you all are doing well tonight, but that especially goes out to Little Miss Sunshine! You’ve all heard her on here once or twice to brighten up your day a little, but she’s been feeling a little blue lately. We’re all here for you, Annie! Bring us back that smile real soon!”

Annie and Nick both let out a small chuckle and she bashfully tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “See? We all miss ya back home.” Nick reassured her, and she smiled. “I’ll come back soon, I promise.” He smiled back as the next song played melodically through the old radio.

I’ve got the blues, I feel so lonely

I’d give the world, if I could only

Make you understand...

Nick thought for a moment before getting up to his feet and standing in front of her, good hand reached out towards her expectantly. “May I have this dance?”

Annie blinked before grinning and taking his hand. “Absolutely. Hope you don’t mind having a few toes squished though, I’m not a good dancer.” He lead her over to the empty space of the deck. “Well,” he placed a careful hand on her waist as hers found his shoulder, “good thing I am.”

Baby, won’t you please come home?

I have tried in vain...

Nick carefully lead her through basic waltzing steps for a while, making sure his toes were avoided. It didn’t always work though; her boots still somehow collided with his feet, which was followed by frantic apologies and laughs from both sides. Eventually, though, she got the hang of it, and they danced smoothly from then on.

Baby, won’t you please come home?

Cause your momma’s all alone...

Once he was sure she had it down, he took her right hand above her and she spun for him, giggling all the while and causing him to laugh as she was spun back into his arms. At one point, he took both her hands and they both twisted around, which lead both of them into a fit of laughter. Now both her arms draped his shoulders and his her waist, both of them smiling at each other as they swayed softly to the ending of the song.

Baby, won’t you pleeeease come home!

“There’s that smile.” Nick said softly to her. Annie smiled widely up at him and tip-toed to give him a hug, which he happily returned. “Hope the dancing stirred up an appetite!” They turned to see a mischievously grinning Ellie approach with a large tray of food, which she carefully placed on the table by the radio. “Ellie!!” Annie exclaimed and ran to hug her friend. Ellie laughed and patter her on the back. “Glad to see you’re back!” She laughed and met Nick’s eyes behind her. Nick was grinning from ear to ear, and maybe it was the light from the fire, but she could have sworn if he was human he would be blushing.

{Song: Baby Won’t You Please Come Home- Bessie Smith}

#fallout #fallout4 #nick valentine #fanfiction #writing #Sunshine in the Wasteland #short stories

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thekrazykeke · 7 years ago

Photo

I love this man. To be honest, I’ma hoe for all of them men in Black Panther, so it’s whatever. Every single one of them can get it, and I don’t even know who I want to take me first, Erik or T’Challa? ....Hm, both. Both is good. This chapter is potentially, likely, triggering for some people. Please read this with caution and know that my inbox and IM is always open, for anyone, at any time.

You’re not bothering me. Never think you are bothering me.

Continued from here, boo.

The minute the apartment door swung open, your eyes snap to Nadia’s face, and you see it, the bruise the size of a fist swelling up her right eye.

“Where is he?”

“Let’s talk inside.” Nadia’s hand on yours is firm as she tugged you in, using her hair to shield the bruise from view; the motion too familiar, practiced. The organ in your chest throbbed with pain and you think you’re about to have a panic attack or something.

"Where is that nigga, is he here?” Your hands clench then unclench, and you can’t focus on one thing, eyes darting around the room, categorizing how the living room is trashed; broken glass shards sprinkled everywhere, TV broken, a hole or two punched in the walls.

It’s a mess.

“Calm down, Y/N.” Nadia says, voice entirely too calm, nonchalant.

“Is. That. Nigga. Here?” You enunciate each word forcefully, eyes widened and crazed, angry.

“He not here. Simmer down already, shit.” Exhausted already by the conversation, she flopped down on the couch. “I called you because I needed your advice.”

“Waterboard that no good ass nigga.” You immediately suggest, taking a seat beside her.

“What, no. That’s,” she laughs, “That’s crazy. Y/N, stop it. Be serious.”

You aren’t laughing. “I’m deadass. I know somebody who know somebody. They’ll snatch that bitch nigga up off the street, rough his punk ass up, and--”

Nadia couldn’t listen anymore. “I’m the one who started it by spitting in his face!”

“...The fuck. Why would you do that?” Almost always joking, Nadia wasn’t somebody who deliberately provoked people, or at least, she didn’t start something she couldn’t slick-talk her way out of. “Spitting on people is nasty, yo.”

“He dared me to do it. And I was just...” Sighing explosively, she ran her fingers through her hair. “...I found a pregnancy test in the bathroom trash, and I know it ain’t yours. You barely here, for one, and I can’t see you or Erik being that careless.”

And you had an IUD, but still. Making a motion for her to continue, "So the muthafucka got his side bitch pregnant, and you got pissed.”

For the next half hour, you listen to her with a sympathetic ear as she told you that for a long time, things had been rocky between Travis and herself. He had not intentions of settling down -- with her, though he loved to lead her on with a carrot-stick maneuver and saying he might, he might, he might, while fucking around on her. He knew about the hookup she’d had with Erik and all the other times, with other people, while they’d been on a break. According to Nadia, the guy even made fun of her naivety in thinking he’d marry ‘a woman whose legs were always wide open’. The hypocritical dipshit.

That’s why she spat on him.

Couldn’t really blame her for that, not really.

“The girl he got pregnant, she’s only twenty one, Y/N. Twenty one...”, Shaking her head, Nadia laughed.

“Hey, hey, hey.” As tears stung her eyelashes and her voice wobbled, you reached out, pulling her towards you for a half hug. “It’s okay. Fuck that dude, aigh’t? I know people say it all the time, but you are going to find someone and be happy.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. You are a phenomenal woman and someone is going to recognize you for your worth. Don’t let some idiot take that away from you. You hear me?” Hot tears warmed your shirt and you rocked her gently. “It’s okay. It’s okay, I promise.”

“I ain’t got nobody no more...”

“It’s okay...”

Honestly, after that whole experience, you were drained. The thought of going out and being sociable, it made the hairs on the nape of your neck stand on end. Nadia wasn’t hearing that though.

“B i t c h! This is an important milestone in your relationship. Meeting a family member?” Shaking her head, an ice pack over the swollen area, she gave you a thumbs up and painfully sincere smile, “Girl, if I was you, I wouldn’t have even brought my thick ass over here to deal with my bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit, Nadia.” You interjected, for the fiftieth time. “You my friend and you needed me. Case closed.”

“Whatever. I’m good. I’m gonna sit here and try and figure out who I can pay off to try and fix these damages before the landlord see this shit.” Tilting her head back, she sank more comfortably into the couch. “Forreal, you should go. See what’s good wit Erik and this mystery family member, actually find out what Erik does for a living. I’m betting it’s something physical. His arms hella strong.”

“Bitch.” You elbow her gently.

“What? I’ma single pringle now, so I can look,” Nadia said defensively. “It’s not like he would notice me anyway. The nigga got eyes for you only. It’s cute as fuck, keeping it one hunned.” Although you didn’t want to leave Nadia alone, she took your cellphone and texted Erik to come get you.

When he came to pick you up, she all but shoved you out the door.

“You still gon do this wit me, right? Meeting my cuz?” Erik could tell what was up immediately. “I can reschedule, it ain’t nothing.”

And he would, you realized, he cared for your personal comfort more than what his cousin would think. Wrapping your arms around his shoulders, hands finding the nape of his neck, you tilt your head up and he took the hint, kissing you. “You don’t have to reschedule. So, where is this dinner taking place?”

Turns out that it’s the Queen’s Cove, the most expensive hotel in the area. Some of the most important political figures and celebrities stayed there. Fuck, even Obama and Michelle had spent two nights there! You were internally spazzing out, mind going one hundred miles an hour, wondering exactly who Erik’s cousin was, who Erik was--

‘I’ll find out tonight. To-night. OMG. That’s not enough time! Holy fucking shit! Oh. mah. Gawd. Chill, Y/N. Just. chill.’

Calling up every ounce of zen in your body that you had, you manage to smile at Erik who’s eyeing you warily, probably catching the goofy, weird expressions you’d made while wigging out.

"Clothes, we both need new clothes.” You say decisively.

“I don’t really--”

“Nigga, bring ya ass on!”

“Aigh’t already, damn!”

After an exhausting rest of the afternoon spent looking for the perfect outfit, Erik dropped you off at your favorite salon to get your hair and nails done. It was a last minute walk in appointment and Chantay wasn’t the happiest seeing you -- until she saw the amount of money you were paying her. While she worked her magic, you and Breanna texted back and forth, with y’all going through potential jobs and reasons for all this mystery and secrecy that Erik was doing.

Bre also promised that she would send Dre to put Travis in check asap. Then the topic changed once again when she sent you the link to an article about the Wakandan king, T’Challa.

Apparently he was slated for a press conference tomorrow morning?

‘She so dumb, but I love her silly ass.’ Smiling faintly, you replied that yes, the king was pretty fione, but he was a little too lean for your tastes. You ain’t want a man that didn’t know how to handle all your thickness. You cracked up laughing when she sent you a poop emoji, murmuring an apology when Chantay told you to keep still.

Once that appointment is concluded, the two of y’all took note of the limo waiting outside.

The. Limo.

GSLKDHFSKFLJSD!!!

“Y/N?” Neither of y’all utter a word. So he tries again, “Y/N Y/L/N? Is that you, ma’am?” The driver asked, professional and relaxed, unruffled, by the fact that he’s being gaped at.

“That’s me.” You reply weakly. He opened the door for you.

“I got the license plate number in case you go missing.” Chantay whispered out the corner of her mouth. Placing a hand over your heart, you throw up a peace sign and she waved, removing a cigarette from behind her ear and lit it.

Question after question flew through your brain. You wanted to touch everything but at the same time, it was important to show some class. He drops you off at the apartment where you quickly shower, moisturize, and change (Nadia is gone but where you don’t know and have no time to find out), and when you come back out, the few people lingering around eye you with appreciation, curiousity and lust.

The drive to the Queen’s Cove is completely silent but you don’t care. This feels like some straight up black Cinderella-out-the-hood type stuff.

The next time the car pulls to a stop and the door opens, it’s Erik who’s reaching a hand out to you. Without hesitation, you take his hand and he helps you out of the limo, appraising you with hungry eyes. Although your inner mantra is that you’re in public and this is indecent, especially for a place this fancy, you give him a once over too.

“Damn baby, you lookin’ like a whole snack.”

Cracking a smile, because regardless, Erik gon be Erik, you let him kiss the corner of your mouth, so close to your lips. “Mmhm, you look handsome too, baby. Let’s go meet your cousin.”

“You right, you right.” There’s a distracted air about him and he can’t stop looking at you.

Admittedly, that swells your ego. That floaty feeling carries you through what might have been an epic freak out and meltdown because again, there were celebrities and politicians milling about, everything looked expensive.

Fuck, even the air smelled rich!

The maitre d’ led y’all to a private booth/sitting area in the far back, not easily noticed by other people. And there, already seated... Is the King of Wakanda. T’Challa Udaku.

“Cousin! There’s bobotie on the menu!” Eyebrows raising, you glanced at Erik pointedly, but he merely pulled out the chair for you. The whole ass king, T’Challa, put down the menu only to smile at you brightly, “Oh! I am so rude. Hello. You are Erik’s woman, yes?”

“I’m Y/N. Nice to meet you, Your Highness.” You said primly, about to raise up and possibly mangle an attempt at a curtsey, but Erik’s hand on the nape of your neck keeps you seated, the gesture effortlessly casual, but intimate.

“Please, there are no need for titles. Did you not tell her that, cousin?” Erik sat down too. “...Oh, Bast, he did not tell you that.” T’Challa, the king of an African nation, frowned. “N’Jadaka...”

“N-who?” Your brows furrowed.

T’Challa sighed and Erik eyeballed him, expression annoyed. “Bruh, don’t come at me like that! What with yo bitch ass Council putting that gag order on a nigga, what could I tell her but the kiddy shit?”

“Um...” You try to speak up.

“The conference is tomorrow, cousin. You could have informed her at least two weeks in advance.”

“You think I’m slow or some shit? Like I can’t read, muthafucka? Of course I know it’s tomorrow! I brought her down her to meet yo cornball ass, but we can bounce if you gon be on some other--”

THUMP!

Slamming your fist into the table, ignoring the throbbing pain searing through the appendage, you glared at them both. “If both y’all grown ass men don’t start actin’ like y’all mofos got some sense and recognize we in public, right now...” You say through gritted teeth.

“Sorry, baby.” Erik mumbled.

“My apologies, Y/N.”

After that, the tension faded away. The dinner felt relaxed and normal, like you were eating out with ya man and another brother or something. During that dinner though, Erik explained that he was a prince, third in line for the throne to Wakanda. The two of them made some questionable quips and remarks that bordered on being too dark, and you were most certainly going to be talking to Erik about that later.

Erik, that wasn’t even his real name.

It’s N’Jadaka Udaku.

There’s something beautiful about the way the vowels rolled off your tongue and N’Jadaka, likes when you use it. Oh, yeah, he definitely liked the way you say his name, if his hand on your thigh underneath the table is any indication, the slow circles he’s rubbing into the satin smooth brown skin, teasing you.

“Hi! I’m Mitchell and this is Cassandra, and we--”

Oh. No.

It feels like the bottom of your stomach has fallen out. You are half afraid to even look up and see if they’re as close as you fear, but when you flick your eyes to the right, yes. Yes they are, right here.

Waiters.

Ha!

Right now, they’re pestering T’Challa, asking if he wants a refill of his drink, and you glance at ya man, trying to non-verbally signal to him that we had to get the fuck outta dodge before they noticed us. And either he was just horny or he got the message, probably the former, but he was about to get up when Cassandra turned and finally noticed us.

Shit!

“Y/N! Hi! Oh, goodness. This is such a coincidence, running into you and your beau again. I told Mitchell that I saw you at my other job and he didn’t believe me at all.”

Somehow, you manage to smile, “Such a...small world.”

There’s a pregnant pause. “Erik! Hi, hello!” Again, she offered her hand for a shake.

He ignored her outstretched hand. “This is a private dinner. Family only.”

Mitchell snorted, his handsome features twisting into a sneer. “Family? Y/N? No way. I grew up with the girl, that’s straight ghetto--”

Cassandra elbowed her hubby abruptly. “Honey.”

“Nah, let him finish his sentence.” Erik took a swallow of wine, finishing off the glass. “‘Straight ghetto’, what?”

“I was going to say that Y/N and her family are an...unscrupulous bunch.” Lying through his teeth, Mitchell plastered a smile onto his lips, though his eyes are bitter, cruel. Jealous. “It’s very unfit for her to be sitting next to, and dining with, royalty.”

T’Challa raised a finger, “Forgive me for sounding uncultured in this. English is not my first language and I have not been to America often,” It’s clear, if only to you and Erik, that he’s downplaying his own intellect, he’d talked circles around you about a lot of topics and explained things without making you feel stupid. “But I believe you are insulting not only myself, and by extension, all of Wakanda, you are also insulting my own cousin, a prince, and his choice of female companion? Y/N is quite a lovely and intelligent, funny, woman, after all.”

“I agree! I so agree!” Cassandra nodded her head vigorously. “Y/N and I, we were friends once upon a time ago in college.”

Unable to stand all this double talking and hypocrisy, your mouth opened, “Bitch, when?” You sounded so done at the moment. “Is it after you caught a case of jungle fever and decided that you were finished fucking Tim, who went on to become a famous country singer by the way, and chose this light bright nigga to be your Negro husband? I bet you were very disappointed that the rumor of all black men having big dicks isn’t true.”

Cassandra paled, standing there, gaping at you. Mitchell, however, absolutely exploded. “You ghetto ass dirty hoodrat bi--”

One right hook and an uppercut and Mitchell hit the floor with a pained grunt. Erik put his foot on his chest, keeping him in place. “I’m from Oakland, California, straight up out the hood, my nigga. Erik Stevens, ask about me.” Grinding his heel into his chest for a few more seconds, he stepped over him, “Let’s get the fuck up outta here.”

“Yoink.” You grab the bottle of wine, patting Cassandra’s shoulder ‘comfortingly’. “I’ll just take this for the road. Since we such good friends, you got me, right? Right. I’ll holla at you on Facebook, boo boo.” With a wave of your fingers, you accept Erik’s hand, smiling big and pretty, especially when he adjusted his grip so that his arm is around your waist, headed for the exit.

“Bill me for any damages, yes?” Smiling a camera ready smile, T’Challa dipped his head in farewell to Cassandra, accidentally stepping on Mitchell’s hand and followed after his wayward cousin and date.

Once y’all are outside, embarrassment overtakes you and you’re about to apologize to T’Challa but he only wagged a finger and smiled. “It was very good fun tonight. I almost thought you were too timid for my cousin but you have such a vibrant personality, Y/N.”

You look at the ground then away from him, unable to keep eye contact at the sincerity in his tone. “Careful, nigga, or you and me gon go round three for you flirting with my girl.” Erik joked, tilting your chin up a little to kiss your forehead.

T’Challa shook his head and chuckled, “Take care of each other and stay out of trouble, eh.”

Then y’all go y’all’s separate ways. Erik and you get in the limo, while a fierce, bald lady opens the door to a sleek sports car, and T’Challa gets in that. Both vehicles take off in opposite directions. You reach for Erik’s hand and he holds your hand in his lap, his thumb tracing circles around the pulse point, a pensive expression on his face. You want to know what’s up but you also are afraid to know what’s bothering him, secretly figuring that it’s you and the drama that follows you around like a bad smell.

When the limo drops y’all off at his crib, he immediately strips of the outfit, carelessly dropping the items of clothing onto the floor and elsewhere, motions agitated. You follow after him silently, carefully following his lead. The two of you shower together but he doesn’t touch you, or make any lewd comments. He gives you some clothes to sleep in and you think that y’all aren’t going to talk about the elephant in the room when he turns his back to you, and reluctantly, you turn so that you’re facing away from him too.

Only twenty minutes of this and you think you’re going crazy.

You’re about to get the fuck outta dodge when he speaks, “I need...I need to tell you somethin’.” Heart sinking in your chest, you try to turn around but he holds you in place, apparently not wanting you to look at him while he tells you...whatever he needs to tell you.

Pretty sure you were prepared for anything than what he told you about his life before he and you started sleeping together and became a couple. The uncensored version of who Erik Steven is...or rather, who he had been.

Killmonger.

All of it.

You’d like to think you were a tough as nails type of bitch, but that story had you crying hard as shit. Whether for N’Jobu, N’Jadaka, or T’Challa and his father. Or Erik’s victims...it’s a mystery.

You just hurt.

“I couldn’t...couldn’t keep hiding what I done. I mean, I could, but tonight, if anything, proved that all that shit tends to come out one way or the other. And I wanted you to hear it from me, not nobody else.” He swallowed. “I ain’t gon be mad or, or, stop you if you choose to leave me. I understand.”

The next time you attempted to turn around, he didn’t stop you. Legs on either side of his chest, hands resting on his abdomen, you stared down at him with red and puffy eyes. “If I got up right now to leave, would you choke me out, smack me, or shoot me in the head?”

He cleared his throat, blinking rapidly, eyes suspiciously bright, “No.”

“Do you have any plans to cheat on me?”

“Fuck no.”

“Couples fight, they argue. That shit is normal. I might get mad and say some hurtful things, or you might be the one to do all that. We might yell at each other. That is normal. What I won’t accept is being made into Boo-Boo the Fool when you get mad and feel you have to prove what a man you are, then cheat on me with another bitch.

I won’t be your punching bag or doormat. I am your woman, more than that, I’m somebody daughter, they sister.

I’ve got too much respect for myself to let any of that foolishness go on. I will drop yo ass wit the quickness and cross the street to avoid speaking to you for years, if necessary.” Pausing, you take a breath, letting your words sink in.

“Do you understand?”

Erik’s cautiously rests his hands on your hips. “I understand that, and I respect it. But I’m asking you to please, don’t throw that shit I told you in my face if you get mad. Ion care bout nun else but don’t do me dirty like that, Y/N. I’m tryin’ my best, baby girl.”

Baby girl. Oooh fuck, that nickname did things to you. You needed to get your hormones under control, bih, this is a serious moment! “’Kay.” You say, voice quiet, and you bite your bottom lip.

He seemed to sense the turn in your attitude because he soon leaned up and kissed you open mouthed and nasty, squeezing your ass cheeks, the boy shorts you wore offering little to no protection from Erik’s groping hands, “You gon let me fuck you now, ain’tchu, baby girl?”

Oh, this bastard. Moaning yessssss, you don’t resist when he yanks off the shirt you wore, accidentally tearing it a little before flinging it away, then yanked off the booty shorts, shoving his boxers down just enough to free his cock, teasing your wet pussy folds before pushing in alllll the way inside you.

“You mines, you my baby girl, you gon stay wit me.” The words are quietly delivered every time he fucks up into you, and your eyes screw shut, breaths coming quick. “Say it.” A particularly hard roll of his hips punches the breath out of you, “I can stay like this all night.”

And you know he can, he would, tease you, the both of you, until he gets what he wants. “I’m yours, your baby g-girl,” Erik sucked at your throat, intent on leaving a hickie. “I’m not gon leave you.”

It’s like your words flipped a switch or something because he’s switching positions so that you’re beneath him and he’s fucking you nice and slow. Then again, this doesn’t really feel like fucking. It’s not rough or quick, with spankings or some choking. Whatever it is, it’s intense, and the way he’s looking at you, the way he kisses your shoulder, murmuring how good your pussy feels, and other sweet, perverse things, eventually sends you over the edge. You don’t deny it when he mutters, “You my baby girl...” Right in your ear just before he pushes inside you as far as he can go, filling you with his cum.

After all, it’s not like he’s wrong; you are his.

#mcu #erik killmonger #mcu imagine #erik killmonger imagine #black reader #black panther #marvel #black panther imagine #marvel imagine #erik killmonger x reader #thekrazykeke

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kz-i-co · 7 years ago

Text

AvPD: Part II

» Summary: You put your job in jeopardy.

» Pairing: Jung Hoseok (Jhope) / Reader

» Genre: Angst / Fluff

» Words: 4.6k

» Part 1 ╫ Part 3 | Part 4

» m.list ╫ bts masterlist

You woke from the dim sunlight peeking through your shades and the soft breath hitting the back of your neck. You moved startled and then remembered the events of last night. You looked at the time and realized you had to get ready for work.

After you were ready to go you noticed Jhope still fast asleep in your bed. Should I leave a note? You thought.

You didn't want him to get the wrong idea if you were gone. You took a piece of computer paper and grabbed a pen and simply wrote that you had to go to work.

You couldn't help but think about him all day, and you felt bad for leaving him unnoticed. In your mind you felt tensed about it but you knew he wasn't quick to misunderstand. You didn't even have his number to reassure your disappearance.

Once you got home, nothing was different until you saw Hoseok's sweater lying on your bed. There was a note sitting on top and you blushed just reading it to yourself.

'I might not always get to stay the night but just in case, keep this warm for me.'

You ghosted your fingers over the soft fabric before reaching to finally pick it up. You wrapped the warm fabric around your figure, letting it hang low. It was a little big on you but you never felt more comfortable. You were glad all your worries about this morning were gone.

You heard a knock on your door and you smiled hoping it was Jhope and once you got your answer you felt a little disappointed.

"Hi (Y/N)." Momo looked up sadly.

"Hi." You welcomed her in.

She leaned up against the back of your couch. "I'm so sorry (Y/N), I had no idea what you were going through.....I shouldn't have-"

"It's okay, you didn't know." You shrugged.

"I wanted to help you fit in and have fun but I was doing the opposite." She pouted.

"It's really okay."

"Do you want to go get some frozen yogurt, just the two of us?"

"This late?" You asked.

"It's only 8:30, if you don't want to I understand." She smiled.

"No, that's okay, I can use fro-yo I guess." You brushed your hair behind your ear.

She wore a big smile and grabbed your hand leading you out.

....

You went to the local frozen yogurt shop and it wasn't too crowded from being so late at night. You and Momo picked up a bowl and you pulled the lever for vanilla chocolate swirl. You went around to the toppings only picking a few.

"That's all you're getting?" Momo asked you holding her layered filled bowl.

"You know they charge you by weight right?" You arched your eyebrows.

"Yeah, and I'm paying so go nuts."

"I'm not a big fan of variety, I'm simple."

"Okay." She looked at you amused.

You both sat down by the window and you ate in silence as Momo kept on talking about her daily life. Ever since her and TJ broke up, she has bothering you non stop, even though it's only been a few days.

"Whose sweater is that?" She asked out of random concern.

"What?"

"The sweater, it's a guys sweater obviously.....wait is that Hobi's?" She asked confused.

"Yeah." You shrugged.

"Please explain."

"He gave it to me." You softly spoke.

"Why? Are you two-" She started.

"No." You quickly said.

"But you like him?" She asked with a devious grin.

"No." You said more quiet and couldn't help but blush.

"Aww." She smiled, until her eyes made contact outside the window. She suddenly looked crushed.

You followed her eyes and saw that it was her ex TJ goofing off across the street at the local bar. He looked to be flirting with another girl and Momo couldn't contain her anger as she got up and out of the shop.

You groaned to yourself following her.

"What the hell Travis." She yelled crossing the street.

"Hey." He greeted with no anger in his body. You looked both ways before you crossed the street. It was pretty late so not as many cars were out.

"We've been broken up for a whole 3 days and you are already out with this trash."

"Excuse me?" The girl responded with attitude.

You felt anxiety already being in this type of environment.

"You heard me."

"Come on ladies, don't fight." TJ wrapped his arms around them both, you just stood there wanting to leave.

You started backing up until you bumped into someone. "Hey." A guy you didn't know gave you a sinister look.

You tried to back up but bumped into the side of the building so he was blocking you in. You tried to steady your breath.

"Hey get away from her." Momo pushed another guy away but he grabbed her wrist.

"Or what?" The guy near you pulled a strand of your hair.

You flinch away.

Momo tried to get closer to you but TJ wrapped his arms around her. "Hey let's just talk."

"You can go to hell." She tried to get out.

"Hey what's going on here?" A local security interrupted. Thank God.

"Nothing we're just having fun." The guy next to you said.

"No they're harassing us officer." Momo was finally let loose from TJ's grip.

"She's my girlfriend, shes just joking." He said.

"Officer, we don't even know these guys." You said.

"Okay let's get you ladies home." You and Momo followed the officer.

....

You got home and went straight to bed. Momo apologized for getting you in another dangerous, traumatized situation, but you weren't up to hearing it. She understood and left you alone.

You hated that you couldn't have a normal life and you hated that out of all people the worst things could happen. Like God was punishing you again and again.

Work was calm and you took your time that you were one of the last people in the building. You were in the red room, developing your pictures.

It was pretty dark so it was more intimidating as you jumped from the sound of someone opening the door.

"Sorry." You saw that big goofy smile.

Jhope? What was he doing here?

"Hi, someone you work with said you were in here." His smile was warm, then turned to serious and guilt. "Momo told me what happened last night....shes really sorry."

You just shrugged.

"She said she's a bad friend for you."

"No, it's not her fault." You softly spoke. "I'm the bad friend."

"No (Y/N), you're an amazing friend." He smiled causing your heart to flutter.

He walked around looking at the photos that were hung. "These are amazing, you took these?"

"Yeah." Your voice was barely audible. Your feelings for Jhope were growing stronger. You were already intimidated by him before but now that you started to like him, you were nothing but nervous.

"Wow."

"The camera deserves the credit." You blushed.

He turned to face you and looked at the table. You were finally finished with your developing so you had the lights back on.

"Is this a Sony alpha a9?" He asked amazed.

"Hmm" You looked up. "It belongs to my job."

"Wow, can I hire you?" He teased.

"Hire me for what?"

"Me and Momo's dance festival is coming up this weekend and it would be amazing if we had a photographer that knew what they were doing."

"How much?" You teased with a smile.

"Seriously, you want to?"

"Oh um." Should you? You're camera was decent enough.

"Between our team we could probably pay you $1000." He said causing your eyes to bulge out.

"What?"

"I'm sorry is that too cheap, $1200, Key usually is in charge of that."

"I don't know." You grew more confused. You knew Momo and Jhope for 3 months now and still had no idea of what they did. You figured it had to be more of a big deal then just dancing for sport.

"You're clearly amazing, it's not just the camera its you also." He laughed.

.....

Later that night you thought a lot of what Jhope said. You told him you had to think about it and he clearly understood but the problem was, you only had two days to decide. You took one photo from work and compared it with one photo at home, that you took with your own camera. The quality was too big of a difference. If you wanted to take this job for Jhope, you had to use your work camera.

Was $1200 worth your job?

You really wanted to, and you really wanted to for Jhope. The camera stays in your desk all day anyway and no one checks to see if it's there. Why were you even imagining? It was too dangerous. You couldn't.

"You working late again Bambi?" Minhyuk asked you with his smile showing.

"What? Oh um yeah." You looked up from your phone from checking the time.

"I'll see you....tomorrow?" He asked.

"I'm off tomorrow but I'll see you Sunday."

"Okay." You softly smiled. He pushed his bright red hair away from his face.

When the coast was clear and the rest of the building was gone. You took out the expensive camera and placed it gently in your carrying case and put your home camera inside the drawer.

This was a life or death situation, if you were caught you could get fired.

The next morning, you got dressed causal for public's sake and continued in your way to the festival. It was a little miles away and once you got there you saw how packed it was. You couldn't believe you knew someone performing in this event.

You went up to the gate, waiting like everyone else. "There was a ticket saved for me." You softly spoke.

"Last name." The woman said.

"(Y/L/N)."

She nodded and handed you a lanyard with a tag saying V.I.P. Wow.

"Thank you." You bowed.

The place was making you already have anxiety from how crowed it was. People were already drinking, if that makes sense. You made your way around the stage until you saw guards blocking the stairs that lead to the back of the stage.

"Um." They moved as soon as they saw you, which was nice that you didn't have to explain. You walked up the stairs almost tripping in the process. You moved the curtain and once you stepped inside, you saw many people running around getting ready or other people practicing.

"(Y/N)." You turned around and saw Jhope jogging up to you. "Hey." He tapped your shoulder comfortably.

"Hi." You shyly looked down.

"Raise your head high so you can show off your beauty." He whispered next to your ear.

You couldn't help but blush. "Let me introduce you to the crew."

He held your hand leading you farther back stage. "(Y/N)?" Momo said as soon as she saw you. "The photographer you hired is (Y/N)?" Momo asked Jhope.

"Of course, she's amazing."

"Are you sure this is a good idea? No offense (Y/N) but are you okay with this?" She asked concerned.

You just nodded with a small smile.

"Have you seen her pictures?"

"Yeah." Momo smiled finally liking the idea.

You pulled out your camera and put the strap around your neck.

"You brought your work camera? You said you weren't allowed to use that unless it's for work." Momo began to worry again.

"They won't know." Your voice was quiet.

"We got a trouble maker here." A guy you didn't know said causing you to smile. They were welcoming you in a way you never experienced before, it felt nice.

"Be careful." She said. "Come on, we have to practice really quick."

"Are you sure you're Okay with all of this?" Jhope pulled you off to the side.

"Yeah."

"That divider is where the photographers stand." He moved the curtain so you could see the stadium full of people. There was a walkway in the middle and funny enough there was already a few photographers standing there.

"Thank you." You started to go but Jhope pulled you into him one last time for a warm gentle hug.

"Thank you for doing this." He said and once he pulled away he took your hand and kissed it gently.

You were a mess that you couldn't even look at him.

"I'll see you later." He blushed as well that he tried to play off.

You made your way through the crowd trying to steady your breath and climbed up to the platform. You saw the stage clearly from there. You were already taking photos of the crowd. It was beautiful.

....

Later on in the day after a bunch of dancers performed, your growing impatient irritation was finally satisfied when Momo and Jhope's group made their way on stage. They were dressed for a hip hop theme and you couldn't wait to see, even though it will be through your lens.

You took many photos throughout their routine that you sensed the ending was near. You wanted to get a closer look not realizing you were standing near the edge of the platform. As you started to lose your balance, the crowd stood up clapping for your friends performance. The platform was higher then you thought that you landed on your ankle in a painful matter and fell further to the floor.

As Momo and the rest were smiling at their standing ovation, Jhope quickly ran off stage making it to you as fast as possible that Key yelled after him from him leaving the stage too early, causing confusion throughout the crowd.

"(Y/N) You Okay?"

You had tears streaming down your face in cruel agony, but not because you were in pain, but because of you holding the damage camera in your hands.

He was on his hands in knees, seeing your knees all scrapped up.

"Your ankle is starting to swell, we need to take you to the doctor." He pulled you up as Key and the rest of the group made their way over seeing the commotion. He helped you up as Jhope and walked you to the EMT's.

....

"Thank God you are okay." Momo said as you were finished up with the EMT's. They said you had a small sprain and needed to be on crutches for a few weeks. In your mind you didn't need them from the ankle boot they gave you.

"You took pictures too hard." The group laughed but you clearly weren't. It was clear that you were angry.

"Guys." Jhope shoo'd them away.

"Are you Okay (Y/N)?" He asked you sweetly.

"No, I'm not." You wiped your face.

"Does It hurt still?"

"I'm not talking about my ankle." You stood.

You still held the camera in your hand. "I'm sorry (Y/N), can your job fix it?"

"They don't know I have it, and if they find out this happened I will be fired." You raised your voice to a tone you never heard before.

"This camera is $5000, I don't have that kind of money."

"We will help you pay for it." Momo said.

"You know what, I can't deal with this anymore....I'm better off on my own." You started to walk the opposite direction.

"Let me help you." Jhope gave you your crutches.

"I don't need your help, I need you out of my life.". You yelled.

"(Y/N) I know you're hurt but you can't do this-"

"If it wasn't for you this would of never happened." You regretted your words.

"What The fuck is this coming from?" Momo joined in angry. "We didn't ask you to steal your camera from work. Jhope was trying to get you money you should be grateful."

You snickered. "You guys are always making me do things I don't want to do and you never let me decline."

"It's not our fault you have a disorder." She responded.

"Momo." Jhope warned.

"No it's not your fault, so just stay away." You finally left and they didn't stop you.

You pretty much cried yourself to sleep that night. You lost all your friends because of your big mouth. You were just so angry that you couldn't help putting the blame on them when it was your fault all along.

You just wanted the perfect pictures for Jhope but it was the camera not you. You should of just declined instead.

The next day you figured you were going to get fired so you went straight to the mechanics office and gently knocked on the door.

Thank God it was Minhyuk since he was the sweetest with you. "I'm sorry."

You handed him the broken camera. He looked at you shocked and couldn't say a word.

"It was nice working with you and I'll get the money some how." You left before he could say a word.

As you passed down the hall Changsub spotted you. "What happened to You?" He noticed you on crutches.

"Long story." You simply said.

"Dont you work today?" He continued.

"I did....but Minhyuk will tell you."

You continued making your way back home, you didn't bother looking back.

You woke up from your phone ringing. Once you saw the number you grew confused. It was around 9am so you didn't expect anyone to call.

"Hello?" You answered tired.

"Hello (Y/N), I heard you broke your ankle are you okay dear?" It was your boss?

Why didn't she sound mad?

"I'm fine, it's just a sprain." You simply said.

"Okay good, take as much time as you need dear."

You weren't fired?

The next day, you got up and got ready for work like normal. You had to get your questions answered. You couldn't sit home without knowing any longer.

You entered the building and nothing was different yet. "Morning Bambi." Ceci at the front desk greeted.

You made your way down the hall with your crutches but as soon as you passed the mechanics office, the door opened scaring you.

"(Y/N)." Minhyuk quickly guided you into the room.

"What's going on?" You were confused.

He handed you the Sony alpha a9. "What's this?" You asked.

"It's your camera."

"What?"

He smiled and nodded. "You fixed it?"

"I did....and you're lucky I had all the parts to replace it."

You squealed in excitement.

"Now what did we learn?" He teased.

"I know, this camera is never leaving the building again." You nodded.

"Good, be careful." He gave you a warning look but was teasing.

You never loved Minhyuk more then this exact moment. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome."

....

You quickly exchanged your two camera's and finally relaxed in the chair. Minhyuk saved your job and you didn't know how to repay him for that.

You got up, going to the red room and the coast was clear once you entered. You grew confused seeing photos hanging but no one in sight. When you got closer you saw that they were your pictures. All the photos you took were well developed and they looked stunningly perfect. Minhyuk must of hung them for you. Another debt to add to your list.

You took all the photos and placed them in an envelop so they couldn't get damaged. You thought that maybe you should just mail them but that would be childish.

You thanked Minhyuk once again on your way out and went home to change really quick. Half way to get to the bus stop, it started pouring. You were at a point where you didn't need the crutches, at least to you. Your ankle felt fine and the boot was keeping it sturdy enough. You didn't want to turn back and grab an umbrella from the sudden weather but instead put your hood up getting soaked anyway.

You were relieved once you got on the dry bus. You saw a group of guys goofing off towards the front of the bus and you just sunk farther down in your seat. You tried to ignore it as much as possible but that soon ended once they stood at your attention.

"Aren't you the girl that was with Momo?" The one guy asked.

"Oh yeah, look who it is." TJ greeted.

"Please leave me alone." You said softly.

"What's wrong? You have a boyfriend already?" They teased.

"I was talking to You." The guy yelled annoyed. You pulled the string signaling the bus to stop and you quickly shoved through making your way off the bus a few bus stops earlier then you wanted.

But it wasn't enough since they followed you off. "Oh no, she's injured." They teased.

"I really like your-" Another guy started grabbing at your back side. You shoved him away but he backed you up into the side of the building.

"Hey, leave her alone." You saw a guy that was familiar to you. Key, Jhope's friend.

"Or What?"

"I'll call the police for sexual harassment."

The guys stood their ground. "Come on (Y/N)." He pulled your arm that you happily accepted and he lead you away from them.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

You just nodded.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

He had an umbrella and he kindly held it over you.

"I have your photos." You started to hand him the envelope.

"That's fast." He smiled. "Can't wait to see them." He continued to walk with you.

"You can just take them." You stopped.

"Don't be silly, I have the money with Jhope."

"You can just mail it too me." You shyly spoke.

"We're almost to Hobi's apartment, he's probably dying to see you." You doubt it. "Come on, we need to get you out of this rain anyway, you'll get sick."

He continued pulling you only a few more blocks and you felt chills once you stepped inside the building. Key knocked on the door and not too much longer the door opened seeing a excited Jhope but as soon as he saw you that expression changed.

He looked at you the opposite of what you oringally thought. It was more guilt and sorrow.

"The pictures are done." Key made his way inside with you.

"Let me take your coat." Jhope offered you.

"That's okay, I'm not staying, I'm just dropping these off." He looked down at the envelope.

He took them and handed them to Key. "You need a change of clothes."

"No-"

"You don't have a choice." He looked up at you as he pulled off your coat and hanging it on the rack.

"Have you been crying?" He tilted your face up.

"Dude, those assholes were harassing her when I saw her, I can't imagine what would of happen if I didnt threatened them."

"Are you Okay?"

You nodded.

"Wow these are incredible." You heard Key say from across the room.

"Im going to give her some clothes." Jhope told Key and he lead you to his room.

He scrimmage through his drawers and pulled out sweat pants and an oversized t-shirt. You took the clothes and closed the bathroom door behind you. Things felt tense and you just wanted to be home.

You left his room and saw him sitting patiently on his bed. "Thank you." You started to pass him to leave the room but you felt a small tug on your wrist.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I should of known better then put you through that."

You turned to face him but had to look down since he was sitting. "It's not your fault, I wanted to go....I'm sorry for what I said to you.....and Momo."

"I promise, I will give you the money to fix-"

"No need to." You smiled. "My friend at work fixed it."

"It's not broken?" He asked.

"Nope, it looks brand new again....he saved me."

"He?" You hear jealousy in his voice.

"Yeah." You didn't think anything of it, since nothing really happened with you and Jhope. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He hid his mood. "I'm just happy everything turned out okay."

He looked down and back to your eyes. "You look good in my clothes."

You blushed.

"You hungry?" He asked getting up.

You nodded cutely and turned around but once again he pulled you making you fall into his chest.

"So um." He started. He was looking at you passionately. "Is everything okay....with us then?"

"Yes." You whispered.

He was close enough you could feel his warm breath brush your face. You felt shivers up and down your spine. He made you feel different, in so many ways.

"Would you be mad if I tried to kiss You?"

Your heart skipped a beat. You just shook your head for permission, not knowing what to say.

You closed your eyes as you saw him lean forward. Once you felt his lips brush yours, his door opened making you both jump away from each other.

"Hobi, I'm leaving....(Y/N) Did you need a ride home?"

"She's staying for a while." Jhope grinned not letting you speak.

"Okay, the pictures are amazing by the way....I left the money on the table." Then he left.

"Lets order jjajangmyeon."

....

You sat on the couch next to Jhope tensely as you waited for the food to settle. You were half way through the movie and your mind still couldn't get that kiss out of your mind. You wanted him to try once again and you were too nervous to bring it up.

You shivered just thinking about how it would of felt.

"Are you cold?" He asked breaking your thought.

"A little."

"Here." He reached over you and pulled the blanket over you. You stared at him closely tempted to lean in but you were too scared.

He looked at you amused but not teasing and you looked at your lap embarrassed. He loved seeing you all fluttered.

"I'm sorry." You whispered.

You felt him tilt your head in his direction and he gave you the moment you were waiting for, a gentle kiss full of love and passion.

"You want to go to bed?" He asked sweetly.

You glance at the time and noticed it was almost 12. You nodded and let him guide you to his room. He was being careful for your ankles sake. You threw your hair up and got into the bed. He had a scented diffuser on so the room wasn't pitch black. You faced him trying to fall asleep but the butterflies in your stomach wasn't letting that happened.

When you opened your eyes you saw him watching you. He softly smiled and leaned into you once again, bringing his lips towards yours in a deeper kiss then before. Your lips responded and you were amazed that you felt comfortable. The kiss turned deeper that you were now lying on your back as he hovered over you.

You hadn't kissed anyone since you first boyfriend back in high school, but it felt nothing like this. Your lips had pins and needles and every part of your body he touched left tingles in its place.

You felt him move your legs so they were now wrapped around your waist. You moved your head a little so you could catch your breath and he continued on kissing down your neck. Your hormones were acting out like you never knew before.

"You okay." He asked looking down at you.

"I'm tired." You smiled.

He smiled back and moved to your side. "Are you warm?"

You moved closer to him as your answer and cuddled into his chest. "Would you be mad if I asked you out on a date?"

You opened your eyes to look at him. "No." You smiled.

"Okay, (Y/N) will you please go out with Me?"

"Okay." You blushed.

Jhope was the perfect medicine for you and you knew things were going to change and you couldn't wait.

#bts one shot #bts imagines #bts scenarios #bts angst #bts fanfic #bts fluff #Bangtan imagines #bangtan scenarios #bangtan fanfic #bangtan fluff #bangtan oneshot #hoseok scenarios #hoseok angst #hoseok fanfic #hoseok fluff #hoseok imagine #jhope scenarios #jhope fanfic #jhope fluff

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sinceileftyoublog · 6 years ago

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Live Picks: 8/30-9/2

L.A. Witch

BY JORDAN MAINZER

We got ya covered through Sunday!

8/30: Set It Off, Subterranean

We previewed Tampa symphonic rock band Set It Off’s set at The Forge earlier this year, describing them as “a Warped Tour-approved band who has released three albums, the most prominent 2016′s Upside Down but the best 2014′s sickly sweet Duality, which found success in the grand condition of cheesy concept records, its theatrical, sweeping melodies and instrumentation overcoming its less palatable pop rock aspects.”

Since then, the band has signed to Fearless Records and released a new song, the faux-industrial emo, overproduced “Killer in the Mirror”.

Indie pop duo Chapel and rapper De’Wayne Jackson open.

8/30: Round Robin, Thalia Hall

We don’t know much about this performance other than that it’s a night of improvisation by people who live in, are from, or are rooted in Chicago music. Judging by the lineup, it’s a must-see. It includes Roscoe Mitchell, Akenya, DJ The Twilite Tone, poet Kevin Coval, Tortoise’s Jeff Parker, and SILY favorites like Matana Roberts, Haley Fohr of Circuit des Yeux, Mind Over Mirrors’ Jamie Fennelly, Chicago Symphony Orchestra cellist Katinka Kleijn, Matchess, and Makaya McCraven.

8/30: L.A. Witch, Beat Kitchen

Drawling psychedelic band L.A. Witch released their self-titled debut last year and have been touring strong off of it ever since. Expect to hear lots from the record and hopefully some new material.

Spacey band Moonwalks and local sludgy post-punk duo Pussyfoot open.

8/31: Miguel, Union Park

We previewed Miguel’s show at the Riviera earlier this year:

“War & Leisure, the latest album from Miguel, is, as its title suggests, simultaneously political and personal, the former somewhat new territory for him. The songs are varied as usual; he’s sultry on “Wolf”, funky on the synth-addled “Told You So”, and ready for the radio on the Travis Scott-featuring “Sky Walker”. Stylistically, it’s sort of a combination of his previous two albums, the drug-induced Kaleidoscope Dream and guitar-oriented Wildheart. And while it’s not as earth-shattering and trendsetting as those two, it’s perhaps his most cohesive and fully realized effort.”

Since then, he’s performed “Remember Me” from Coco at the Oscars and shared a new song, “Python”, among other things. At his headlining North Coast Music Festival slot, he should mix it up between his last three albums live, concentrating on War & Leisure.

8/31 & 9/1: Kidd Jordan and Friends, Constellation

Dog/Days is a week of free performances at Constellation, Links Hall, and Hungry Brain. This Friday at Constellation, jazz saxophonist Kidd Jordan plays with pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist William Parker, and drummer Alvin Fielder.

8/31 & 9/1: B-52′s, Ravinia

The Athens, Georgia freak new wave band’s got a decade worth of untouchable material, and they play almost all the highlights during their live set, plus the goofy as hell title track to Funplex. What’s not to love?

New wave legends Culture Club co-headlines. Thompson Twins’ lead vocalist Tom Bailey opens.

9/1: Barrence Whitfield & The Savages, Reggie’s

Soul Flowers of Titan, the new album from Barrence Whitfield & The Savages, is purportedly inspired by Sun Ra and the King Records/Federal Records Cincinnati sound of the 50′s-60′s. Is the latter noticeable? Definitely. The former? Not sure. Most of the songs, like the chaotically horn-laden “Slowly Losing My Mind” and the garage-meets-soul “Pain”, are in line with tracks from recent efforts Under the Savage Sky and Dig Thy Savage Soul. Though I guess the spirit of blues ditty “Let’s Go to Mars” is closest thematically to “space is the place,” much of Soul Flowers of Titan sounds right at home with the rest of Whitfield’s discography. And that’s a good thing, since Saturday at Reggie’s they’ll play a lot of it, plus some highlights from the band’s pre-Bloodshot Records days.

Garage rockers The Woggles headline. Baby Money & The Down Payments, the project of Chicago based songwriter Pamela Maurer open.

9/1: Sumac, Empty Bottle

Post-metal band Sumac headlines Empty Bottle as part of Scorched Tundra X. Earlier this year, they released a mammoth collaborative album with Keiji Haino, and next month, they follow up 2016′s What One Becomes with a new full-length, Love in Shadow. So far, they’ve released the 15-minute “Attis’ Blade”, which builds and sprawls to a mid-section of noise, quiet strumming, and back before revealing longing growls from Aaron Turner. I’ve heard the rest of the album, too, and it’s a good mix of new territory for the band combined with what they’ve always done well. 21-minute Opener “The Task” starts like a traditional metal song but dissolves into a calm eye before the storm of more brutality and the band’s trademark buzzing dissonance, all before ending with organs and Turner’s guttural moans. “Arcing Silver” is the shortest and most straightforward of the bunch in terms of its arrangements, peaks, and valleys, though it does end with some ambient guitar squalls that introduce more jams. And the introductory guitar tones on closer “Ecstasy of Unbecoming” are more reminiscent of Sufi music than metal, though distorted power riffing kicks the rest of the song into high gear.

Avant-garde metal band Yakuza, doom band In The Company Of Serpents, and hardcore band Couch Slut open.

9/2: Matthew Dear, Estate Ultrabar

We previewed Matthew Dear’s DJ set at smartbar earlier this year:

“Truth is, I have never been a huge fan of Matthew Dear’s original material for whatever reason–but his almost 3-hour entry in the DJ Kicks series from last year shows just how good of a curator he really is, starting with a meditative Nils Frahm track and just exploding into a dance frenzy from there. That’s why his DJ set at smartbar should be one of the best you’ll see all year.”

This time around, he’s headlining a BBQ at Estate. He’s releasing a new album Bunny in October and has revealed two tracks: the hypnotic “Bunny’s Dream” and the repetitive “Echo”.

Remix extraordinaire Josh Wink, Canadian DJ Kenny Glasgow, Fortune, Pershan, and Nick Jannite also spin.

9/2: Rapsody, Union Park

After being prominently featured on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, last year, Rapsody released her own “one of the best of the decade” rap albums. Laila’s Wisdom sees Rapsody proud to be a black woman in the rap game. “Yeah, they call me black and ugly / But I go so hard, make the whole world love me,” she spits. Sure, her features--Lamar, Anderson .Paak, Black Thought, Busta Rhymes, and BJ The Chicago Kid among them--are impressive. But her flow, especially on songs like the unstoppable “You Should Know”, the funky “Pay Up”, and the skronking “Power” (she outshines even Lamar on that one), is the main attraction. She’ll be worth the one day price of admission at North Coast.

9/2: Hannibal Buress, Chicago Theatre

We previewed Hannibal Buress’ set at Arcada Theatre back in March:

“Hannibal Buress is both a comedian for the world and Chicago, so seeing him in the area presents lots of opportunity for in-jokes. (The one about the ridiculousness of being asked for an ID at O’Hare airport from his 2015 special Comedy Camisado comes to mind.) While he’s probably best known these days for his role on Broad City, he’s increasingly building up his filmography and TV appearances and has recently started a podcast, The Handsome Rambler, on which he’s interviewed Open Mike Eagle and Run The Jewels. But he’s funniest on stage.”

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sharonitwd · 7 years ago

Text

Unexpected Delay, CHP: 16

Not more strangers...

AO3 Link

Happy 6th anniversary TWDG!!

“HOLD ON EVERYBODY!”

Travis struggled to keep balance with only one arm wrapped around the railing, the screeching of the frozen wheels against the tracks filling the air as his body threatened to fall over the edge and on to the tracks.

The hanging obstruction remained untouched and blocking their path down the tracks, the closer the train got the more frighteningly heavy it looked. It’s a miracle that one semi-truck could still be holding the tanker only a few feet off the ground from the overpass, a miracle nobody appreciated.

Everyone filed out of the train to see the commotion, watching Kenny as his face turned bright red and he paced in front of the train.

Sharon appeared at Clementine’s side in seconds and covered her ears, waiting to let her go until Kenny was done screaming curse words and obscenities at the tank. Duck seemed unphased by the screaming, staring blankly ahead.

"Maybe we could walk?" Ben suggested.

Kenny hung his head, his voice low. "That's fucking stupid, Ben."

Travis walked foreword, shrugging one shoulder. "Can't we just drain it and plow through?"

"That thing's not full of milk, kid. That's gas or diesel, something that's going to explode if we happen to make one spark." Kenny snapped. “It’s another fucking thing that’s going to take fucking HOURS to fix, god FUCKING-”

"Yo!”

Carley was the first to pull out a gun, eyes scanning for the source of the voice. Duck quickly placed himself behind Sharon, Clementine did the same with Lee.

“You keep screaming like that and you're going to get your face chewed off!"

Slowly all eyes looked up, wary of the figures that stood on the overpass. The two stood against the bright morning sky, nearly impossible to make out any details aside from their different height.

"Are you going to be trouble?" the woman asked. "Because we could've just kept walking."

"No, we're friendly!" Lee called back, looking back and forth to Carley and Kenny. “Put your guns down, we don’t want to set them off.”

"That's what everybody says." The woman spoke, her tone suggested she was smiling.

The two talked under whispers, then the shorter one called out again. "You guys got a problem with your train?"

"Yeah." Kenny called, crossing his arms. "You're standing right in front of it."

"Dude, it's a wreck." The shorter one looked over at the tanker, then back to the group below. "It's not so bad from up here. Send someone up here to have a look."

“I’ll go, Carley come up and watch my back.” Lee said, his voice hardly overpowering the ever-present train engine.

Lee only managed one step toward the service ladder before Kenny stopped him. "Anything goes sideways up there- we won't let them escape."

Once Lee and Carley started the ascent Clementine started fidgeting with her fingers. She took a slow step toward the ladder and gaged everyone reaction, taking another step when nobody said anything.

“Um.” Clem faced the group. “I’m going to go up and ”

Sharon was the only one who listened to her, unintentionally squinting at the little girl. “You don’t want to be far from Lee?”

Clementine nodded, taking another step back.

Although nice strangers are a rare occurrence, Sharon couldn’t find the strength to debate with the little girl, the fatigue hit her like a bus. “Go on, just be careful on the ladder, okay?”

Clem sprinted away when she was granted permission and climbed the ladder in seconds, Sharon tried to watch close but found that her eyes started to cross, the world harder and harder to focus on. The lack of a racing heart and semi-clear mind meant that she is only tired, it's not another panic attack.

Sharon turned her attention to her hand, Duck had attached himself to her as he stared blankly ahead. This only made her wonder what Katjaa had told him back in the forest, usually he's only clingy towards his parents.

“Duck.” Sharon pulled her hand free and knelt, meeting his empty gaze. “Do you want to go take a nap in the other cart?”

Duck slowly nodded, grabbing on to her arm again when she stood back up.

“Wait until we figure these people out, alright?” Kenny's voice trailed. “I want everybody ready, just incase. . .”

Sharon opened her mouth, closing it when Duck moved to stand behind her. Lee approached the group with two new people, along with Clem and Carley trailing behind them.

"Guys, this is Omid and Christa." Lee introduced, a relaxed demeanor about him.

The shorter one returned a wide goofy smile to the group. "We just wanted to say hi, and that your train is pretty cool."

The woman nodded. "But we're not looking for charity."

"We could help you guys though " Omid looked to Christa and shrugged, both shifting their weight from foot to foot. "So, yeah. . . Hi, again. . ."

Lee cleared his throat, ending the awkward introduction quick. "The plan is to cut that tanker down and be on our way."

“How are we going to do that?” Ben asked.

“We got a train working.” Lee shrugged. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Duck and I are still pretty tired, so we’re going to try to sleep a little in the boxcar.” Sharon announced. “Wake us up if anything goes wrong.”

“Of course.” Carley nodded, speaking louder when addressing the group. “I’m assuming Lee has this handled. Christa I was hoping to talk to you for a minute, get to know you a little better, if you don’t mind.”

“I’d be fine with that.” Christa smiled.

"And I’d like Ben and Travis to keep watch on top of the train.” Carley continued.

Ben shrugged. “Nothing better to do.”

Travis turned away. “I’m going to need help up, but sure.”

“Well, let’s do this before the train runs outta’ gas.” Kenny mumbled, looking to Omid. "Why don't I show you how this thing works, in case something happens."

"You can't turn it off?" Omid asked.

"Well if you guarantee that it will start back up, once you figure out how to turn it off, sure." Lee said.

“Oh." Omid shrugged and neared Kenny. "Sure, I’ll go.”

Kenny nodded, turning to lead Omid to the engine car. "Someone might want to have a look inside of the station back there, too."

The group turned away from each other.

Omid admired engine car and it’s many outdoor compartments, peeking a glance at Sharon and Duck through the window as they laid down on the filthy mattress and watching as Travis scrambled to climb on top of the cart.

Both he and Christa saw the large bloodstain on his shoulder, though both decided to ask about it later.

“Well, the low fuel light is still off, so we should last for a while.” Omid said, closing the compartment door and continuing to the next. “How long have you had this train for?”

Kenny shrugged. “I dunno,’ a few hours, I think?”

Omid hummed and followed Kenny in to the conductors room, the older man taking a seat and pointing out certain levers and buttons, handing him a pamphlet at some point.

“I don’t know what that does, so don’t touch it.” Kenny said, gesturing to a lever that has remained untouched.

Omid reached out like a child grasping at a new toy, only for Kenny to swat the hand away.

“I said don’t touch it, jackass.”

Omid backed away, keeping his mouth shut and listening closely, learning what levers to move and what buttons to press, along with how much a pain in the ass starting it was.

“We found that shitty little booklet on how to run this thing.” Kenny muttered, leaning in his chair as Omid pulled the paper up close to his face. “I’m kinda scared to experiment with this, if it stops I don’t think we can get it runnin’ again.”

Omid nodded. “I thought it was, like, impossible to start a train without teams of people, or something.”

“Well we managed.”

“. . . So, you have what, seven people here?” Omid asked, looking up and down from the outdated diagram in the book.

“Well there’s me and my- uh ” Kenny bit his tongue and sighed. "There’s me, my boy Duck, and my- uh… daughter?” The word felt wrong in his mouth, he remembered Katjaa’s wish to take Sharon under his wing, but thinking of her that way didn’t sit right with his tongue.

”Kat, she’s an adult, it’s not like she’s some kid-”

“Daughter?” Omid looked at Kenny from the top of his book. “Is that a question or-?”

Kenny sighed again. “Sharon and my son are the ones taking a nap in the back. You met Carley, Lee and that little girl he’s takin’ care of, Clementine. The two kids up on the roof are Ben and Travis, some high schoolers we found out wanderin’ the woods.”

“So eight?”

“Ten, if you and your missus are planning on sticking around, though once we get to Savannah I ain’t planning on taking everybody with me, maybe Lee if he feels like coming.”

“Savannah.” Omid hummed. “Is that on the coast?”

“Yup, there’s boats down there.” Kenny crossed his arms, leaning further back in his chair. “I’m takin’ my family back down to Florida, I’m done dealing with these fuckin’ bandits, and cannibals, and scavengers.”

“Well, who says those ‘cannibals’ can’t float?”

“I’m not talkin' about walkers, I’m-”

Both men turned at the door clicking, then opening wide. Christa stood in the doorway and returned her boyfriends smile. “You learning the ropes?”

Omid nodded. “There are a lot of levers I can’t wait to use.”

“I said if something WERE to happen to me.” Kenny cut in, looking away from Christa.

“Oh, well maybe we can drive in shifts?” Omid suggested.

Kenny muttered under his breath, Christa cleared her throat. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“No, mostly everything I need to know is in this book.” Omid flashed her the booklet and smiled wide. “We’re just talking.”

“So everything’s okay in here?”

“Yeah, hun.” He nodded. “You girls and uh- Lee, doing okay out there?”

Christa hummed. “Lee was telling us about how he used to be a history teacher.”

Kenny didn’t think Omid’s smile could get any bigger. “My kind of man.”

Christa glanced to Kenny, thinking about saying something but then shaking her head. “Well, I should get back, I just wanted to make sure you were getting along.”

“Right, love you.”

Christa turned away. “I love you too, Omid.”

She hesitated, staying just out of sight from the broken window to listen in on their conversation, hovering over the short ladder back to solid ground.

“So, Florida huh?”

Christa descended the stairs and walked back to Lee and Clem, both sat in the grass and nodded. They turned their head to face Christa as she neared.

“I’m going to go back up and see if there’s anything in those cars above, get a better look at the wreck.” Lee stood up. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

“You trust me alone with the girl, already?” Christa smirked.

He shrugged. “You don’t look dangerous.”

“That’s dangerous thinking.” Christa dropped her smile. “Do you always trust strangers as well as you trust us?”

“Well, I uh. . .” Lee locked eyes with Clem, both of their lower lips cringing. “We don’t-”

“Relax, I’m back.” Carley stepped out from the bushes, wiping her hands on her pants. “Just don’t ask me to shake hands any time soon.”

Clementine giggled, cutting it short as Lee left the girls alone and grabbed the ladder.

Christa sat down with the child and groaned, rubbing her sore ankles. “Omid and I have been on the road for a few weeks now, it’d be nice to make some distance on wheels- or tracks- for a change.”

“Really?” Carley joined them on the grass, facing the treeline. “Where are you from?”

“San Francisco.”

Clementine faced the older woman. “Isn’t that really far away?”

“It is.” Christa smiled. “Omid wanted the ‘Great American road trip’ about six months ago, it was going great until the dead started roaming around. What about you two? You from Georgia or just visiting?”

“Most of us are from Georgia. Me and those boys up on the train are from Atlanta, Lee is from Macon.” Carley said. “Kenny and his son are from Florida, I don’t know where Sharon or Clementine are from, though.”

At the mention of her, Clementine pursed her lips, all she could think about is the numbers on her house. “Um, Athens?” She shrugged. “My babysitter was from Marietta, I think.”

Christa stopped smiling at the mention of a babysitter. “Did your babysitter know Lee?”

Clem hesitated, then shook her head.

Carley picked the conversation back up. “Have you always been on the road?”

“Ever since this started.” Christa massaged her other ankle. “We stopped in some cities a few times, took a week with this other group but. . . I don't like sticking with groups, seems to only cause more trouble.”

“Ours was always a little dysfunctional, we survived by sticking together.”

“Our groups always fell apart quick.” Christa crossed her legs and sighed. “How did eight of you survive for this long together?”

“There were more of us. At our maximum we had, nine.” She paused, thinking back to when they first met Ben and Travis. “No, twelve.”

Christa hummed. “Your group have a lot of problems?”

Carley hesitated, not knowing where to begin. Her first thought was Larry and Lilly, though now that they are gone should she really talk about it? The bandits popped in to her head, the memories of both Lilly and Travis getting shot still fresh in her mind.

“That’s not a good sign.”

Carley shrugged. “We’ve had a lot of problem with bandits. Up until yesterday we were arguing every day about anything.”

“That sounds about right.” Christa shook her head, recalling her last experience. “It seemed every day was a new issue, right?”

Carley nodded, her eyes suddenly glued to the ladder.

“How did you get anything done?”

Clementine turned and smiled when Lee stepped off the ladder, with him looking at her Carley hid a smile. “Lee usually keeps the peace.”

Clementine stood and greeted him, excitedly asking him questions too far from the women to hear. He looked down and showed off something attached to his belt, a new holster for his gun.

Christa looked to Carley, recognizing the look the younger woman had in her eyes as she watched Lee, she wasn’t staring at the new holster. She may as well be an open book. “Lee, huh?”

Carley whipped her head around confused then deadpanned at the knowing smirk Christa had. She sputtered half-words as her face heated up, shutting her mouth when Lee approached, wide eyed as he smiled down at her.

“Me and the girl are going to go back up and see if there’s anything in that station.” Lee said, gesturing to Clementine and the building behind him and past the overpass. “We’ll be back in a bit.”

Christa stood and crossed her arms, her coy attitude gone in a second. “Just you and a little girl? Are you sure that’s safe?”

Lee blinked, his eyes catching Clementine's poofy and tangled hair. “Well, I got a gun.”

“Hold on.” Carley stood up as well. “You’re really going to go out there and risk her life, for what? An empty building?”

“I’m not risking her life, I’ll keep her away from walkers, we’ll be smart about this.”

“And what if the dead comes up and grabs her hair, or what if you drop your gun?” Christa said. “What then?”

“Then I’ll shoot the walkers.” Clementine blurted out, even though the thought of holding the object she’s never even touched before scared her, shooting it seemed unimaginable.

“You?” Christa repressed a smirk. “Do you know how?”

“No.” Lee answered for her. “But, if she’s willing, she can learn.”

“A-are you sure about that Lee?” Carley asked.

“I don’t see why not.” Christa shrugged.

“I agree, but a little girl?” Carley gestured to little girl in question, her eyes not meeting the pouting face. “Isn’t she a little young?”

“Just because I’m little doesn’t mean I can’t help.” Clem crossed her arms, squinting as the women didn’t even turn to face her. “I want to help.”

Carley shook her head. “We’re not back at the Inn, there’s so much that could go wrong.”

“You're right, We’re not in the safety of the Inn anymore so we need as many able bodies to help out as possible.” Lee cleared his throat loudly, gaining the women’s attention. “We’re not going to put her on the front lines, but I think everyone would be at ease if she knew how to protect herself.”

“But-”

“Is that really what this is about?” Lee suddenly asked, his voice almost in a low whisper.

Christa placed her hands on her hips, squinting between the two as they stood silent. She doubted her 'lovebirds' theory as the look between Lee and Carley could possibly kill a man.

Carley hesitated, dropping her crossed arms and giving in. “Okay, you’re right.” She sighed. “Do you need me to come with?”

“I got this, you two sit tight and hustle over if you think something's wrong.”

Carley still didn’t like this, pursing her lips as the pair turned and walked away. All it would take is a dark corner or a little distraction for this to end in blood and death. She used the thought of Clementine’s safety as a distraction from the terrible words she said to Lee last night, after killing Lilly she wasn’t really thinking straight, doesn’t mean he deserved to be treated like shit.

Clementine almost skipped alongside Lee to keep up pace, smiling widely as she left the group, this time she wasn’t left behind. Next to her Lee furrowed his brows, re-thinking bringing the little girl with him.

It’s a good idea to teach her to shoot, but is now really a good time? Sure, their little one-sided argument last night annoyed him and he maybe only agreed to take Clementine out because Carley didn’t want him to, but is that a good enough excuse to risk Clem’s safety?

Perhaps the building would muffle the sounds of the gun to stop unwanted attraction, but is that good enough? Would teaching her to shoot be enough? What-if's ran through his mind as he thought about Clementine handling a gun, Clementine alone with a walker, Clementine with someone else's fingers pulling at her hair.

Halfway to the building Lee noticed Clem had lost the spring in her step, instead her hand grasped onto her wrist and she avoided looking at him.

Lee looked straight ahead. “So, uh. How’re you feeling?”

Clem sighed. “I-I know I said I wanted to learn but ”

Lee waited patiently for her to continue, watching as she struggled to say the words on the tip of her tongue. “But?”

“But I’m scared.” Clementine stopped, leaning against the wooden platform attached to the warehouse. “I’ve never held a gun before.”

“Well, we can start now.” Lee pulled the gun out from his holster, switching up the safety lock and presenting it to her in both hands. “There’s nothing to be afraid of, it’s just a thing. One of the first things Carley taught me, know where your finger is at all times."

“Why?”

“Because if you get scared or start shaking you could accidentally shoot when you don’t want to.” He let her take the weapon in her hands. “Don’t point it anyone, unless you want to hurt somebody.”

“Okay, okay. . .” Clem took it in her hands, unsure how to actually hold it. “It’s heavy.” She flinched as Lee suddenly moved her hand, aiming the gun away from him.

“You’ll get stronger.” He adjusted her stance, moving one foot in front of the other, lowering her shoulders, and unlocking her elbows. “When you aim you wanna look right down the top, down this little notch and then line it up-” He dragged his finger along the barrel and tapped the notch at the top. “-with this.”

“Like this?” She asked, squinting as she slightly adjusted her hold.

"Just like that.” He held out his hand. “Once we get inside we can focus on shooting, out here I don’t wanna risk the noise.”

Clementine slowly pulled her fingers away from the gun, dropping it in to his hand. “So, that’s it?”

“Well, there’s a few more things I gotta teach you, but I think learning how to hold it is a good start.”

Clementine smiled. “Okay, should we look inside now?”

Lee faced the building, frowning at the boarded up windows and overgrown weeds, his eyes drifting to the unanswered SOS sign painted on the roof. “Sure.”

He started at the left side of the building, checking for any back exits or open windows, a way in or a way out. The boards that were nailed from the outside looked relatively new, so prying it off the windows isn’t an option.

Rounding the corner he spotted Clementine rushing off, hand already wrapped around the door handle and twisting, she let go learning that it's locked.

“You should wait for me before trying to open doors.” Lee said. “You never know what could be behind it.” Clem apologized and grabbed her wrist again. Seeing her frown and do nervous gestures made him frown too. “It’s alright, we’ll get better at working together.” He returned her smile and looked to the door, eyes catching the open window directly above it. “Now we just need a way in.”

Clem followed Lee’s eyes, nearing the door and squinting at it. “Maybe we could look in?”

“Yeah?” Lee hummed. “I can put you on my shoulders so you can peek inside.”

“Sounds good.” She nodded, a wide smile on her face.

The little girl’s body swayed as Lee held on to her waist, lifting her up above him and planting her feet on his shoulders. She wiggled for a moment trying to gain her balance, she reached out and held on to the window sill, finding it hard to look down at Lee from beyond her dress.

“Um-”

“Don’t worry, I won’t look up.”

“Okay.” Clem pulled herself a little closer to the window, causing Lee to take a step forward and tighten his grip on her ankles. “I can see in, what do I do now?”

“Well- what do you see? Do you hear anything?”

“No, it’s quiet.” Clementine shrugged, eyeing the dusty boxes and silhouettes of dusty boxes. “Lots of crates and stuff, it’s really dark.”

"Maybe we can find the key or figure out a way to knock this door down."

Clem squinted, reaching her arm inside and reaching through the darkness.

“Kenny would probably have me pick the lock, which actually might work now that we have time-”

She stretched, her finger brushing over the lock. With one last swipe the lock clicked. “I think I opened it.”

Lee stopped in his tracks his mouth still open. “For real?”

“I think so.” Clem peeked inside, still unable to see the lock that she moved.

Lee stepped away from the door and lifted his hands, bracing Clementine and safely helping her down. Though instead of reaching for the handle like before she stepped back and let him do it. Lee twisted the knob and pushed, cracking the door open an inch. “Okay, stay behind me.” He said, holding his gun up and ready to aim if any walkers show.

Clementine did as she was told, side stepping to stay behind him yet peering over his side. Lee took a deep breath and shoved the door, rapidly aiming the gun around the room to any large object that stood out, when nothing moved he lowered the gun and huffed.

“All clear, for now.” He said, walking further inside.

All windows had been boarded up haphazardly, with gaps to look out yet not enough to light up the room. The wood itself obviously came from smashed up crates, the boards had rusted broken nails already sticking out and had random chunks missing out of it. With one hard tug a board fell to pieces.

“This wood is all rotted.” Lee said, pulling at more boards along the windows closest to the door.

Clem looked to the ceiling and stood in the doorway, arm stretched to keep the door open. “Does that mean the building is going to fall?”

Lee smiled. “No sweet pea, the boards on the windows are rotted, the building looks safe.”

“It’s kinda dirty.”

Lee chuckled but didn’t comment, taking down one last board before looking over. “You can come in, it’s safe.”

“The door won’t stay open.” Clem took a few steps away and watched as it shut, the majority of the light disappeared slowly. She reached out and pulled it open again. “I don’t like the dark.”

“That’s alright, that’s smart.” Lee said, walking alone the other wall and pulled down a board. “Let’s fix that, I don’t want that door to stay open while I’m teaching you how to shoot.”

With the help of the monkey wrench Lee had grabbed off the train, he successfully pried off every old board from the inside of the building, letting in a significant amount of the morning light through.

“Okay, how’s that?” Lee asked, laying the tool down on a crate while he caught his breath.

Clementine side stepped away from the door and both watched as it shut. The room still looked dark, though not dark enough for Clementine to rush back to the door.

“That’s kinda better.” Clem shrugged. “What do we do now?”

“Well, I got a good look around, aside from that locked closet over there; there’s nothing on this side of those bars that we can use.” Lee said, pulling on the locked door to the secured storage. “So, I’ll teach you how to shoot now and figure out how to get to the other side of this gate in a bit, maybe see if there's something in the closet.”

Lee scanned the floors, brushing away some of the wood that now littered the floor and picking up random bits of trash, bottles and partly-crushed cans would serve well as Clem’s targets.

“Are you ready, sweetpea?” Lee asked, gesturing Clem to stand by him across from the targets he set up.

“I guess. . .” Clem dragged her feet, nervously grabbing the gun and quickly moving it away so it wouldn’t point at Lee again. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"There's a little switch on the side, right there." Lee pointed, watching as Clem turned the gun around and thumbed over the lock. "That's called the safety, when you're not using it you want it on incase you accidentally pull the trigger while handling it."

Clem switched it down, flinching at the subtle click it made, now knowing full well that it could fire if she wasn't careful. Her shoulders rose up as she moved her finger off the trigger, making careful movements as not to accidentally shoot or aim it at Lee again.

“Good, now aim at the can on the left.” Lee instructed, fixing her shooting position and hovering his hands over her ears. “When aiming you wanna squeeze the trigger, steadily, okay? Don't give it a quick yank or pull.”

"Steady." Clem whispered. "I can do that."

"Every Time. It'll be tough, but just remember to do that and you'll hit what you're aiming at."

"Okay." Clem did as she was told; aiming the gun, lining her target down the sights, holding her finger away from the trigger, and taking deep breaths. "I'm ready."

"Good, don't lock your elbows." Lee quickly adjusted her arms and covered her ears. "Squeeze the trigger smoothly and I'll cover your ears, nice and easy."

"Nice and-"

Just at the recoil Clementine nearly dropped the gun, her hands hurt and she didn't think her heart could beat any faster until now.

"You okay?" Lee pulled back.

"My hands hurt." Clem tried resting her hand on the barrel of the gun, yanking her hand away from the hot metal. "I don't like this."

"Try not to touch the barrel when you shoot, it could burn you." Lee slowly moved the gun away so it didn't aim directly at him. "Let's stick with it, okay?"

"Do I have to?"

"Yeah, you do." Lee twirled his finger around, prompting Clem to stop facing him and face her targets, as she aimed again he unlocked her elbows and covered her ears again. "Now this time, aim a little higher."

Clem did as she was told, this time she held onto the gun steady, no almost-dropping it this time.

"A little to the left."

Another shot, another miss, a noise. Just as Lee was about to speak she shot again, the bottle erupted in to tiny shards of brown glass and surrounded the floor.

"I got it!"

"Good shot, you're doing good." Lee praised. "Now, try the right one."

Clem lined up and shot, flinching when the bullet missed and hit the wall, a dull thud following it. "I squeezed too quick. . ."

"It's okay, you'll get the hang of it, you got this."

Clem took a deep breath and this time she patiently lined up the shot, making sure it's perfect and-

Another miss, another thud.

"Aim a little lower."

Another shot, a hit!

"Nice! Now, the last one, then we should stop."

"Okay." Clem nodded, waiting for Lee to finish unlocking her elbows before trying to aim again. Deep breath, squeeze the trigger. The can skittered off across the floor, disappearing from their sight. "I did it!"

"Yeah you did, good job!"

She turned to face him, a bright smile plastered on her face. "I squeezed the trigger, just like you said."

Lee beamed back, glad to see that her fear of the gun had gone with only three targets. "And you did good."

Her smiled faded quickly. "They're not walkers, though."

"Yeah, far from it. But you know how these things work now." Lee took the gun from her hands and turned the safety back on, carefully sliding it in to his holster and snapping the strap in place. "We'll graduate you to walker one day."

Clem turned and rattled the barred gate, masking a low noise coming from the supply closet. "Now we need to open that gate, right?"

Lee looked over to it, eyes scanning through the bars and darkness. The keys glinted in the sunlight and further in the back: a blowtorch. "Perfect, but how are we going to get inside?"

"There's a gap up there." Clementine pointed, necks craning to see the top. "We're lucky I'm so little."

Lee smiled, reaching out and hefting Clementine as high as he could lift her, letting go when she grabbed on to the top and crawled inside. He watched carefully though with a wide smile as she slid down the bars and landed on the other side, safe and sound.

As the two basked in pride, something thrashed and broke through the supply closet.

"What the fuck?" Lee whipped around, sizing up the two walkers that got up from the ground, bits of broken door falling from their clothes.

He squinted, reaching for his gun and tugging, looking down at the holster and trying again. He fumbled to get his hands around the strap, flicking it off and aiming.

The first walker had already gotten close, nearly swiping distance by the time Lee aimed the gun. He squeezed the trigger and found himself against the wall with a furious walker trying to bite at his neck, and the gun sliding across the ground.

"Lee!" The little girl watched in panic as Lee struggled to push the walker off of him, grunting loudly and yelling as it descended on him.

Clementine quickly picked the gun up from the ground, unsure of what she can do with it. Aiming down the sights had become harder, he hands couldn't stop shaking and only made worse when the sights happened to point at Lee. With a quick glance she saw that the safety is still on, she made no move to turn it off.

Finally Lee shoved the walker off of him, grabbing his wrench and swiping it up, making contact with the walkers jaw and sending it stumbling back.

Instead of going after it Lee turned to the second walker and swung for it's temple. The first hit made it stumble, it fell to the ground limp at the second hit.

As the third walker came recovered from it's first hit Lee swung, bringing it to the ground and killing it with one more smash.

"Okay, it's okay." Lee panted, eyeing his gun in Clementine's shaky hands. She didn't move. "We're okay, everything's fine-"

Lee's racing mind struggled to process what the movement was in the corner, a loudly gurgling walker emerged from the very back of the gated storage, heading straight for Clementine.

His mind caught up with his mouth and he shouted. "KEYS! NOW!"

Clem ran to the back wall and stood on her toes to reach the keys, the noise of it jingling only further provoked the walker.

Grasping for the keys, Lee shoved it in the lock and ripped the door open. Clementine grabbed on to Lee, letting go of the gun as he slipped it from her grip.

Switching off the safety and two rapid shots was all it took, the walker collapsed.

With the threat dead, Lee put the gun back in his holster and he finally caught his breath.

"That didn't go so good." Clem remarked.

"No, it did not go so good." Lee turned to the nervous little girl and rested a hand on her shoulder. "But we're okay. Everything's okay."

"Lee, are you in there?" Carley called out, opening the door and scanning the room.

"What's going on?" Christa said, walking inside after Carley. "We heard the two gunshots."

"We're fine." Lee said, still catching his breath.

"That didn't sound like practice." Carley crossed her arms, the two women eyeing the walkers littered on the ground.

"We handled it."

Christa rested a hand on her hip, eyes darting between Lee and Clem. She hummed and turned around. "I just hope you know what you're doing with her."

"We're alive, aren't we?"

"Yeah. . ." She sighed and walked out. "You are. . ."

When the door shut Carley looked to Clem first. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm a little shaky." Clem looked to the ground. "I'm not ready for a gun."

Carley shook her head. "This is your first time even holding a gun, you'll do better next time."

"That's right." Lee knelt to get eye level with Clementine. "We learned that everything we will ever do is dangerous. We will get better, smarter, and faster. Okay?"

Clem looked up. "Okay."

"And maybe, when we're not somewhere safe, we should just leave the safety off."

"So, did you find anything we could use?" Carley asked.

Lee stepped inside the gated storage and walked to the back, Carley followed through turned to the right to face the opposite wall, a few steps inside resting on a box sat a lantern.

"We found a blowtorch." He held it up to his chest, proudly presenting the item only to see Carley fiddling with the lantern. "That probably needs batteries, y'know."

"Lee. . ." Carley deadpanned, twisting a knob and producing light. "It's an oil lamp."

"Oh."

"What's next, are you going to call me small?"

The two smiled, not seeing the little girl in between them confused. Just last night they argued on the couch, argued below the overpass, and now they are just. . . joking? Flirting? Being friends again?

"Um, can we leave now?"

#text #twdg #twdg fanfiction #situp walking dead #sitwdg #chapter update

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dotshiiki · 7 years ago

Text

more of the GA AU

You know what sucks? Being sick while on holiday. But this AU must thrive on cold meds or something. So the blatant rip-off of Grey's Anatomy continues … For something that started out as a shapeless piece of I don't even know what, this is actually starting to have some semblance of a plot.

Have some more intern!Annabeth x patient!Percy. And bonus Leo, Nico, Thalia, Rachel, Octavian, and Travis Stoll to join the cast now!

Half the dialogue and narrative is ripped from Grey's, though I kinda picked and chose from a variety of episodes this time.

(Still no title. I have no idea what to call this.)

Parts I and II [here] and [here].

Surgery is like a dance: a precise, carefully-choreographed dance where every member of the team moves in perfect synchrony. It's the first time Annabeth has been part of the steps, and it's breathtaking.

She forgets that it's Dr Castellan leading; she forgets that she's an intern fresh from med school; she even almost forgets that it's Percy on the table (one glance at his unconscious face reminds her of it—tubed and under anaesthesia, he still manages to look like an innocent sleeping child. He might even be drooling a little, good heavens).

Sure, she's practised on cadavers and observed and imagined what it'd be like to stand over the operating table, but nothing really prepared her for this moment.

The moment she steps forward and takes the scalpel from the surgical nurse, this is more than just a game. All those reasons she should quit—the stress, the competition, the crazy hours and long, seven-year slog ahead of her—fly out of her head. It's just her and the body open on the table—this beautiful man who doesn't stand a chance without them—and they get to save his life. She gets to save his life.

Who needs drugs when you have this sort of high?

She could quit. But here's the thing. She's fallen in love with surgery.

Piper's waiting for her when she comes out of the OR, still riding the high of the surgery. She's sitting in one of the plastic chairs that line the walls.

'Hey.'

Annabeth takes a seat next to her. 'Hey.'

'Good surgery.'

'Yeah.'

Piper takes a deep breath, and for a moment, Annabeth's scared she's going to do that thing where she spills her feelings, and Annabeth will have to explain herself, and then there'll be a long discussion that inevitably involves the complicated relationship with Luke/Dr Castellan, which she really doesn't want to get into.

But Piper surprises her. 'Look, we're not gonna do that thing where you say something, and I say something, and somebody cries, and there's a moment—'

Annabeth's breath escapes her in a throaty laugh. 'God, no. I mean, unless you—'

'Nah.' Piper cocks her head to the side. 'Can't believe you can burst an aneurysm surfing. Kinda makes me think twice about it.'

'You surf?'

'You got a problem with that?'

Annabeth holds her hands up. 'No. Surfing's cool. Surfers are cool.' Although cool is too inadequate a word to describe Percy Jackson, not after she's heard him talk—funny, and kind, and so incredibly sweet, maybe—

'Damn straight we are. You should try it some time. Nothing like riding a good wave. And the dudes out there are hot.'

'Oh?' Annabeth keeps her tone carefully neutral.

'Oh come on, don't tell me you didn't notice. I know you're sleeping with McHottie, but it doesn't mean you can't look.'

'I'm not sleeping with Mc—Castellan,' Annabeth mutters. Piper raises her eyebrows. 'Not any more. That's gotta stop.'

'Okay.' They're silent for a moment. Then Piper says, 'So, surfer dude. Kinda hot, if you like the bad boy type.'

'He's not the bad boy type,' Annabeth says automatically.

'No?'

'No.' She thinks of his eyes, serious and so deep when he told her she deserved better. In that moment, she could almost believe that she deserved more than a screwed up relationship with a guy closer to her mom's age than hers, who keeps her around for the off-hour booty calls and the hero worship she flatters him with (because why would anyone else get involved in the mess that is Annabeth Chase's life?)

'Oh my god, you like him.'

She immediately wipes off the goofy smile that's spread across her face without her noticing. 'No I don't!'

'You so do. I know that look.'

'No I don't.'

'Uh huh.'

'He's a patient.'

'For now.'

'Shut up.'

Piper laughs and gets up, stretching. 'You should get some sleep. You look like crap.'

'I look better than you,' Annabeth throws back.

'Not possible.' Piper's still laughing as she walks away.

+++

She leaves Percy Jackson till the last on her evening rounds. He's finally coming up off the anaesthesia and he smiles groggily at her as she does her post-op checks.

'Everything's checking out,' she tells him. 'Looks like you're gonna be just fine.'

'You fixed me?'

'We fixed you.' She pats his hand. 'You'll be out on your surfboard again in no time.'

His fingers curl around hers, give a little squeeze, and let go. 'That's good. Though I think I lost my shot at Nationals this year.'

'There's always the next.'

'Mmm.' Percy closes his eyes momentarily. 'You were in my surgery after all?'

'I was.'

'Good. I'm glad you didn't let Dr Douchebag ruin your chance for you.'

There's something in his stare that makes her heart skip a beat. In spite of her best intentions, she finds herself leaning closer, as if those Carribean-green eyes have their own gravitational field tugging her in.

It's probably a good thing Percy's mom and Callie show up then, this time with a short, spiky-haired dude in tow, because Annabeth isn't sure what might have happened otherwise. She jerks away and starts scribbling quickly on Percy's chart as he tears his eyes away from her to greet them.

'Leo, buddy!'

'Up top!' says Leo, holding out his hand for a high-five. They go into some complicated fist-bump routine that Callie rolls her eyes fondly at. Annabeth forces a smile on her face and nods politely to all of them before she leaves the room.

Nurse Hazel is deep in an argument with another intern when Annabeth goes to return her charts, so she leans over the nurses' station to file them away herself, listening absently to the argument as she does.

'Are you sure that's the right diagnosis?'

'Well, I don't know, I'm only an intern. Here's an idea, why don't you go spend four years in med school and let me know if it's the right diagnosis. She's short of breath, she's got fever, she's post-op. Start the antibiotics.'

Annabeth isn't sure who this intern is—his name's Stoll, she thinks? There are way too many guys in the intern programme to keep track of them all—but he's definitely an idiot. Annabeth didn't need Dr Ramírez-Arellano's warning to know that you keep the nurses happy, period. From the look on Hazel's face, the next explosive diarrhoea case is going to have Dr Stoll's name on it.

Well, better him than her.

Stoll chucks his chart at Hazel, who takes it and marches away, muttering under her breath about arrogant interns and incompetent doctors.

Silena Beauregard, Annabeth's fellow intern, is charting behind the counter. Stoll leans over it and flashes a grin at her.

'God, I hate nurses. I'm Travis Stoll. I'm with La Rue. Who're you with?'

Silena has obviously been following Stoll's argument with Hazel. 'She may not have pneumonia, you know. She could be splinting, or have a PE.' She delivers this admonishment with a toss of her pretty ponytail. Annabeth isn't really sure what to think of Silena yet. She's blonde, too, but unlike Annabeth, Silena has the kind of statuesque figure you'd expect to see on a supermodel runway, not wandering about a hospital in scrubs. Case in point: they're both well into a twenty-hour shift, but the tiredness that makes Annabeth look like a wreck actually hangs attractively from Silena's curvy frame.

Stoll has clearly noticed this, too, from the way his eyebrows shoot up. But he's evidently one of the race of egotistical male doctors, because he says, 'Like I said, I hate nurses.'

Silena glares at him like he's a disgusting glob of bodily fluid that has landed on her shoes. She slams her chart shut and flounces off without another word.

Stoll whistles under his breath. He sees Annabeth watching, and winks. 'She's hot. She seeing anybody?'

Annabeth gives him a withering look, but there's not time to deliver a scathing comeback. Her pager has just gone off.

+++

Piper must have just started a new shift—she has that fresh, put-together look that disintegrates within an hour of being in the hospital (less if you're working in the pit). She and Will Solace are following the gurney rolling into the ER from the ambulance bay. It's one of several; half a dozen burly women in biker jackets are being wheeled in simultaneously, all in various states of injury.

'I don't know what happened!' one yells.

'I heard a crash, checked my rearview,' snarls another.

'Half the club is eating asphalt, banging around like tenpins.'

Annabeth rolls up her sleeves. She's only got two hours of her shift left, but if there's any chance she can get in on a surgery …

It's not like she's in a rush to go home, anyway.

'Donor cycle crash?' she asks.

'Bowling for bikers,' Piper says.

Dr Ramírez-Arellano directs them into the nearest exam room. 'What've we got?'

'Nico di Angelo, 24,' says the paramedic. 'Multiple contusions, pelvis stabilised in transport. Alert before we pushed five of morphine. For a left arm degloving injury.'

Will winces at the state of the crushed bones in di Angelo's hand. 'He must have been thrown out of his car!'

'He was on one of the bikes.'

'Seriously, this guy?' Aside from the fact that the rest of the bikers are all women, their patient is thin and wiry, with a face that looks a lot younger than his twenty-four years. Hell, he barely looks like he's out of high school.

'I know, right?' The paramedic shrugs and leaves di Angelo in their hands.

Dr Ramírez-Arellano makes a quick decision. 'Okay, trauma one, and page ortho. Two of you, stay with him.'

Five hands go up immediately. Dr Ramírez-Arellano purses her lips for a second. 'McLean and Solace.'

Piper and Will exchange high fives through their eyes and disappear into the exam room.

'What about us?' Silena says.

Dr Ramírez-Arellano checks her pager and groans. 'Page from—hey, what do you think you're doing?'

The abrupt question is directed at a spiky-haired whirlwind of a woman, who is limping down the ER floor, flanked by two cronies, both wearing the same thick leather jacket and biker jeans. She's a lot skinnier than the other women, with lean, ropy muscles, but from the way she's issuing her orders, there's no question that she's in charge.

'You two make the rounds.' Biker Chick clutches at a bloody wound in her side. 'I want status reports on all the injured. And find out what happened out there.'

'Oh no, you two aren't going anywhere except the waiting room.' Dr Ramírez-Arellano steps in front of the bikers. 'And you, ma'am, need to let us have a look at that injury.'

'Don't call me "ma'am,"' snaps Biker Chick. 'And you don't want to get in the way of club business. You screw with one of us, and we will all screw with you.'

Dr Ramírez-Arellano doesn't flinch. Annabeth is impressed. Her attending must have nerves of steel.

'Look around.' She points at the beds full of injured bikers. 'You want your girls taken care of? That's all my guys are trying to do. And that wound needs attention. So I'll make a deal with you. I'll let these ladies conduct their investigation, as long as they do not bother any of my patients. And you will settle down and let Dr Zhang here take care of you.'

Biker Chick scowls, but evidently finds this an acceptable compromise, because she lets Frank help her to a bed.

'What's your name, ma—um, you prefer sir?' he stammers when Biker Chick shoots him another death glare.

Annabeth hears her laugh harshly as Dr Ramírez-Arellano pulls the curtains shut on them.

'Call me Thalia,' she says.

Dr Ramírez-Arellano purses her lips and checks her pager again. 'You two—' she nods to Annabeth and Silena, 'get up to the neuro floor. Psych's just sent down a patient, they're paging for a consult.'

'Psych?' Annabeth barely bites back her groan. 'Dr Ramírez-Arellano, I was hoping I could scrub in on—'

Her resident's dark eyes flash dangerously. 'Every intern wants to scrub in. That's not your job. Do you know what your job is? Keeping the labs delivered. Keeping the code team staffed. And making sure the damned pages are answered so I can do my job.'

She flings back the curtain on Frank and Thalia and starts to harangue Thalia, who's resisting Frank's attempt to palpate her abdomen, into sitting still.

Silena sighs. 'Come on.'

The consult turns out to be for a freckled redhead with frizzy curls that fan out in a halo around her head. Silena scans her X-rays—all clean—while Annabeth runs through the chart.

'She belongs in psych,' Silena complains to the psychiatrist. He's skinny and blond, with an upturned nose like there's a perpetual bad smell under it. His name tag reads A. Octavian. 'What are you doing turfing her here?'

Octavian shrugs. 'She's my gift to you. Had a seizure this morning, and another an hour ago.'

'What are you talking about?' Annabeth points to the chart. 'Says right here, "She talks to dead people, her family had her committed." That's psych, not neuro.'

'Well, I don't know what correspondence school you attended, but they obviously didn't teach you not to jump to conclusions,' Octavian sniffs.

Silena's face reddens. 'Why, you—'

'Sorry, ladies.' Octavian's tone clearly says he isn't at all. 'We can't take her back until she's cleared.'

'So you're dumping her on us.'

'She thinks her seizures are visions.' Octavian wrinkles his nose.

'Hello,' says their patient. 'They're not seizures. I'm psychic.'

Annabeth and Silena exchange a look.

'Sure you are,' Silena says. 'And I'm Heidi Klum.'

'You could've been,' their patient says solemnly. 'Why'd you give it up?'

Silena makes an impatient noise in the back of her throat. 'Don't you start. I get enough of that shit from the guys.'

Octavian takes this chance to walk away. 'Hey!' Annabeth calls after him, but he's already halfway down the hall, leaving them to their psych(ic) case. Annabeth sighs and checks the chart again.

'Miss Dare. We're gonna start our workup now.'

The redhead shudders. 'Rachel, please. And it's a waste of time. I'm telling you—'

'Humour us,' Silena says. 'Can you grip my fingers, please?'

Rachel stares blankly at them. Her eyes shift out of focus, turning inwards. Annabeth nudges Silena.

'Miss Dare? Are you okay?'

'Someone …' Rachel whispers.

'Someone what?'

'Someone's gonna check out.'

Silena groans. 'Oh man, she is nuts.'

'I'm dizzy, not deaf,' Rachel snaps. 'And I'm telling you, someone on the fourth floor is gonna die.'

At that moment, a code blue comes blaring over the PA system. Rachel raises her eyebrows at them as the code team charges past on their way to the fourth floor.

'ICU's on the fourth floor,' Silena says crossly. 'People are always dying there.'

Rachel shrugs. 'Believe me or not. I'm just saying, I know things.'

'We're gonna get a CT anyway,' Annabeth says.

+++

'Look.' Annabeth points to the scans. 'Spikes in the temporal lobe. It is seizures. Epilepsy.'

'Huh, so neuro after all,' Silena says. 'I'll page—'

'You think I'm epileptic?' Rachel crosses her arms. 'No—that's wrong.'

Annabeth shows Rachel the scans. 'That's your brain activity. See these spikes here? That's abnormal activity—consistent with epilepsy. Not visions. We should get an MRI, get a better look at what's going on in your brain.'

'There's no way …' Rachel trails off. Her eyes close.

'Is she having another seizure?' Silena asks.

'Rachel? Miss Dare?' Annabeth waves her hand in front of their patient's eyes. 'Can you see me? Can you hear me?'

Rachel's eyes snap open. Her fingers close around Annabeth's wrist. 'When your dad left,' she says, 'it wasn't because he didn't love you.'

Annabeth steps back, stunned.

'I told you I know things,' Rachel says simply.

Silena rolls her eyes. 'You keep telling yourself that.' She steers Annabeth out of the room. 'You okay?'

'Yeah. She just—' Annabeth shakes her head, as if that will clear it of Rachel's words. He didn't love you.

'Did your dad die, or—?'

'No. He didn't.' Annabeth rubs her hands up and down her arms. Is it just her, or is the thermostat in the hallway malfunctioning?'

Silena gives her a sympathetic smile. 'Look, I know the type,' she says, jerking her head towards the room where Rachel is now gesturing to an invisible audience. 'These people just want everybody to think they're a sideshow. They're really good at reading people, telling them what they want to hear—I can handle the case, if you want.'

'You sure?'

'Yeah. Your shift's almost over anyway, isn't it? I'll take her to MRI.'

Annabeth lets her. She'd fight harder for it, but chances are, if the scans turn up anything, it'll be Dr Castellan's case.

There's less than ten minutes left to her shift. She could go straight to the locker room and change out, go home. That's what any sane person would do. She doesn't need to run a last check on any of her patients. They're already settled in for the night.

Her feet carry her to the post-op floor anyway.

She expects him to be sleeping—it's nearly midnight, after all, and his visitors are long gone—so it makes her jump when he speaks up.

'God, they really keep your noses to the grindstone around here, don't they? Do you ever get to clock out?'

'Actually, my shift ends in five minutes.'

'Ah, and I'm your final hurdle before freedom.'

Percy grins when she cracks a smile. 'I knew it,' he says.

'Knew what?'

'You can't leave without saying goodbye to me.'

'I'm just doing my job.'

'Uh huh.'

He has his arm around a round, black-and-white object—a panda pillow pet that his friends or his mom must have brought for him. 'Well, I can't think of a better way to end the day than by saying good night to someone cute.'

Annabeth raises her chart to hide her face. 'You flatter yourself, Mr Jackson.'

Percy blanches. 'Seriously, you gotta call me Percy. Mr Jackson makes me feel like I'm fifty. Anyway, who said I was talking about me? I meant I get to say goodnight to a cute girl.'

'You say that to all the girls, or just the ones that have to put up with you?'

'Only the ones who are hot doctors?'

Her face is definitely flaming now. 'You obviously haven't seen Dr Beauregard.'

'The supermodel chick?' he asks.

There's a sharp stab in her chest that feels somewhat like the one that hit her the first time she laid eyes on Percy's not-girlfriend Callie. Of course he's noticed Silena. Who doesn't notice Silena?

When she doesn't reply, he continues, 'All of you come in during rounds, you know. It's like this whole entourage. But the five of you are interns, right? You and your friend Piper, and Dr Beauregard, Dr Solace, and Dr Zhang.'

Annabeth stares at him, her embarrassment giving way to surprise. 'You know all our names?'

'Shouldn't I?'

'Well, most people don't bother. I mean, we're just interns. Dr Castellan and Dr Ramírez-Arellano are the ones in charge.'

'That's dumb,' Percy says with a frown. 'You're all my doctors. Hell, doctor or not, you're all people. You deserve for me to remember your names.'

People. She thinks of the doctors who refuse to learn their interns' names—or their patients', for that matter.

'My mom would say "personal feelings cloud the medicine."' If you want to be one of the greats, you have to learn to detach yourself, Annabeth. Yeah, that's the great Dr Athena Chase all over. Sometimes Annabeth wonders if her mother is so distant because she's a surgeon, or if she became a surgeon because she was already so detached. 'A lot of surgeons don't bother learning their patients' names. They just see them as case files.'

'But not you. You don't believe that.'

She slings her stethoscope over her shoulders and rests her hands on its ends. 'How do you know?'

'Well, for starters, I don't think I'm just a case file to you.'

I'm not going to blush. I'm not going to blush. 'And what makes you say that?'

'Because your shift ended five minutes ago now, and you're still here.'

And when Percy Jackson gives her that roguish, lopsided grin, Annabeth loses her battle against blushing.

#percy jackson fanfic #grey's anatomy au #grey's/pjo crossover #intern!annabeth #patient!percy #still a blatant rip-off of grey's #these two so want to hook up at some point but how to get them there #the backstory is seriously f-ed up #this is my brain on medication #percabeth

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rogue-rook · 7 years ago

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many highlights from The Stolen Century from a first-time TAZ listener (here there be spoilers)

oh hot damn a flashbacks episode!!!!!

“everything begins, and i mean that quite literally, with the light of creation”

the IPRE has some real nostalgic space exploration nasa vibes to it

travis: “i would like to state that, canonically, magnus calls him “cap’nport” because magnus, like I, loves portmanteau”

suggested names for the ship boat thing: boaty mcboatface, spinnaker (which just means boat), stinky spinnaker, laser spinnaker, hyper spinnaker, flying boat, tail spinnaker, fighting spinnaker, lightbringer, sky spinnaker, sky boat, sky weaver, star dancer, starblaster! the winner! starblaster!

the way they arrived at “starblaster” was such peak mcelroy Creative Nonsense

the reporters at this IPRE press conference have had increasingly silly names

justin: “taako and lup go to a bar and do what they always do at a bar, which is hustle people at pool” i love them so much! i didn’t love taako all that much for the majority of this story but now i think he’s cool as shit

I’m so SO SO SO SO SO EXCITED for lup to be a part of this and be a real character and not just a fucking GHOST haunting taako’s umbrella

magnus wants to go train with the bear of power and that’s the most on-brand thing for him to possibly want to do

travis: “magnus doesn’t kill animals if he can help it” not animals, but of course he has no problem killing dwarves, elves, liches, wizards, ya know, all those PEOPLE he’s killed

justin: “taako and lup are gonzo, they're out of here" magnus: “i’m like checking on bear cubs and making sure everyone's okay" merle: “im like increasing everybody’s speed with spells’ very on brand of everybody here

travis: “okay griffin i have a very important question that i should have asked before-” griffin: “is about your fucking hard candy supply?”

the entire set up of this arc is so fun and good

justin: “yeah i've got a fucking genius plan and I'm gonna fix everything! come close, griffin, because I'm about to blow your game wide open. I’m going to make a fake light of creation. I’m gonna spend this year like a survivor contestant on their last legs, crafting a false hidden immunity idol. I’m going to craft, to the best of my ability, a fake light of creation. a decoy, if you will!” THIS IS GENIUS

taako: “okay, that’s all well and good but lup and i are going scrapping. this is the most civilized- this is the most technologically advanced place that we’ve been to yet, and I wanna load the ship up with all the valuable mechanical components I can find, so I’m going fucking looting, I’m gonna destroy as many robots as it takes, I’m gonna take these motherfuckers apart piecemeal, so I can take whatever cool magic is powering them. I’m going to loot this motherfucker to brass tacks, I’m gonna just loot and pillage” merle: “burnt earth” taako: “yes exactly”

lup: “i believe one of these times we’re going to get this right. and we’re going to find a way to defeat the hunger and save everybody inside of it. I have to believe that to keep doing what we do, becasue I have to believe that I’m going to get those 15 dollars back from greg fucking grimmaldis” lup is as cool and funny and DOPE as I was hoping she would be

one of these eps, they just kicked it on a beach for 35 minutes and were shitheads about merle’s attempt at gifts. the literal goddamn definition of a bottle episode. im only like 75% sure davenport was even in this fucking episode

travis has named magnus’s fish, magnus’s father-in-law, a rando reporter at the IPRE press conference, and a kid at one of the stolen century planets “steven”. all of those people/fish are called steven, because apparently travis has a thing for that name

clint just called lucretia “lucinda”

well now i understand why merle’s died 50 million times

taako: “i got bad news for everybody. our arch-nemesis is MORRISSEY”

magnus gets excited to learn to carve wood bc its something he could do with knives and weapons and shit and im like oh THATS the most magnus thing he could possibly do!!!

hey cool so barry and lup’s adorable love OWNS MY ASS

that was the sweetest falling-in-love story ive ever heard and it was like 5 fucking minutes. @ fanfiction writers throw all your barry/lup friends-to-lovers fics directly at my head PLEASE

davenport: “lup can you blow it up?" lup: "can i...blow up a mountain?....well, YEAH! but lets save that for a last resort" the legato conservatory person: “i'm going to firmly request that you don’t blow up our sacred mountain”

taako: “hey I’m taako, from TV” griffin: “uh okay-” justin: “what?” griffin: “you haven’t been on tv yet” clint: “it’s aspirational” justin: “yeah, its aspirational. hey I’m taako from TV. you’re all pretty wanged. you’re pretty fucked. there’s good news and bad news, and the bad news I’ve already covered, with the fucked-ness that you are”

jesus, shit got DARK

oh my god the voidfish that magnus saved in the stolen century is the same one on the bureau of balance base. that’s some heart-tingly shit. that’s that GOOD STORY SHIT

griffin: “your adventures in the back half of these cycles are more fraught than the first half” OH IM SORRY? MORE FRAUGHT??? REALLY, GRIFFY?

griffin’s judge character dude: "magnus, you have fought with others your entire life, throughout your adolescence you celebrated strife. i didn't mean to make that rhyme"

one of the future crimes accused of the IPRE crew is “cruelty to a child who loves them” and im like oh. maybe i shouldnt have wanted somebody to call them out on being mean to sweet ango

oh man i wanna hug lucretia so bad and take care of her and make sure she’s okay

griffin: “she wouldn’t go on to found the bureau of balance for decades, but this horrible lonely year, that’s when she became Madame Director” okay, yep, i love her, and i just remembered i was worried for SO LONG that she was hoarding the relics for her own gain and jesus christ IM SO SORRY I THOUGHT THAT, EVERYBODY, I REGRET IT SO BAD

magnus reading fisher the voidfish a story more like GREAT JOY AND HAPPINESS

justin: “taako like walks by [the voidfish] and you just hear him shout ‘give him the complete works of nathaniel hawthorne next!” griffin: “YOU FUCKING HATE THAT GUY!” justin: “fuck that guy” clint: “what do you have against nathaniel hawthorne???” justin: “he is the worst writer and everybody has to read him and it makes kids HATE reading” clint: “last of the mohicans???” justin: “thats- not him, thats james fenimore cooper” griffin: “BOO-YAH!!! [singing] take him toooo schoool” justin: “yall i know the name of TWO authors from that time period, and he did the ONE pull, that’s gonna sound so fucking smart” oh man maybe I really need to reevaluate my ranking of Favorite Mcelroys, justin just reached for the Deepest Cut To Make Me Love Him

magnus: “i don’t find anything useful in this library, so let that be a lesson, kids, you’ll never find anything useful reading books” yeah take that, you punk ass book jockeys

griffin: “I base it on just how much i like the scene, right? so take plus two bond” whoa what GRIFFY DOESN’T EVEN HAVE A SYSTEM FOR THIS SHIT?? HE’S JUST HANDING OUT BONDS AND ASSETS WILLY NILLY????

magnus: “oh, could i have been learning magic instead of feeding books to my buddy?” griffin: “your scene was really good though” magnus: “oh man i could have become a wizard” yeah and break the continuity of THE ENTIRE GODDAMN SHOW

this Lup and Taako’s Greatest Day chaotic destruction is the most fun shit that’s happened in this show

taako: “I pull off her blindfold to reveal this planet’s ONLY DMV. there’s one DMV on the entire planet” this planet has no people and no animals and no living anything besides the 7 ipre crew and yet there’s a DMV leftover from whatever civilization used to be here. UH UH UH SURE JUSTIN

jesus christ i can’t believe lup’s lich form dabbed in the goddamn middle of this ritual

travis: “griffin, i know this wasn't in the instructions you sent us, but I want to make a lightsaber, can I do that?" griffin: "absolutely not!"

the KrebStar is a dope name

griffin: "so like a lotta bear stuff, then, huh?" travis: "look im leaning into it"

travis: “I’m going to name the helmet BearFace- ya know, naming stuff isn’t magnus’s strong suit- and I’m going to call the pendant 2th Necklace”

griffin: “and she’s holding an umbrella” justin: “fuck you” THIS MOMENT IS SOOO GOOD

justin: "I think i speak for the rest of us, and like the entire audience, when i say I cannot wait to see what these fucking 7 items are"

“that was the last conversation you had with your sister” hey griffin. fuck you

“not all exits are equal” HEY GRIFFIN. REALLY REALLY FUCK YOU

oh man lucretia. i can’t believe you did that to everybody. man that’s. that’s rough

this is heartbreaking holy shit. barry begging his bestfriend TO KILL HIM so he won’t forget the love of his life is SOME GUTWRENCHING SHIT HOLY SHIT

this is a really amazing story and I’m so impressed with the way it evolved from a goofy mcelroy joke podcast into such an amazing compelling story

#the stolen century #balance arc #the adventure zone #taz #taz highlights #mcelroys #mine

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tianamulan · 8 years ago

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So I really really really love podcast and I thought I would make this masterpost of podcast recommendations!! There’s a little bit of everything, and I’ve organised it all, so I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll like! I mention possible content warnings, episode lengths and amounts, good places to start, etc. I will update this post as I find more podcasts! Enjoy~

Fictional Podcasts

Limetown: 6 episodes, 30-40 min each. Crime Investigation of a town whose residents all mysteriously disappeared one night. Has sci-fi elements. Possible content warning for animal abuse/testing in episode 3, and deaths throughout. End of episode 2 is also potentially disturbing.

[Website] [Soundcloud] and in iTunes store.

The Message: 8 episodes, ~15 min each with a 30 min finale. A message from space needs to be translated, and our main character Nicky is podcasting the whole time. Obviously very sci-fi. Diverse cast, including a non-binary person! It’s pretty intense, and because the narrator talks directly to you which includes warnings it could be a little distressing but it’s 100% fictional. Content warning for hospital situations and characters on their deathbeds.

[Website] and in iTunes store.

Life After: 10 episodes, ~30 mins each. This is made by the same team as The Message. Ross works for the FBI, and has lost his wife recently. He’s obsessed with listening to audioposts that she made on a audio-social media site. Content warning for cults and hacking.

Available in iTunes store.

Steal the Stars: Currently airing, as of Aug 2017 they have 4 episodes out. It’s about government officials who are guarding and studying an alien who crash landed on earth years ago. There’s also a love story.

[Website] and available in iTunes store.

The Truth: Every episode is different! Often very dark, but some are more light hearted. Very very visual. My favourites include Starbursts, The One about the Dead Dog, and It’s Your Funeral (Pt1 & Pt 2).

[Website] [Soundcloud] and in iTunes store.

D&D Podcasts

Okay just hear me out before you scroll past this section. I have never played dungeons and dragons in my life, I’m not even a fan of fantasy. But I really love these podcasts. It takes time to understand the rules, but it’s so worth it. The stories told are so original cuz everything can change by the role of a dice, and the characters have free will and don’t have to listen to the narrator. The people in these podcasts are so passionate too. But if you are sure that it’s not your cup of tea then you can move on now.

The Adventure Zone: 3 brothers play D&D with their dad. They’ve just finished their first Campaign as of Aug 2017, so you’ll have a completed story if you start now. There’s 69 episodes, each around an hour or so long, so it’s a lot of content to get through. They’re goofy as all hell. It takes some time to recognise the voices if you don’t know the McElroy brothers (they make other podcasts I mention later). Merle is a dwarf cleric (essentially a priest), Magnus is a human fighter, and Taako is an elven wizard. The Dungeon Master (DM, person who tells the story of the world and plays all the non-main characters) is super talented, lots of great voices. The fantasy in this is very non-traditional, so not like medieval britain, so there’s things like trains and space travel and a costco. Hilarious, very original, and emotional. Also the music is sooo good here’s the soundcloud for just the music. also there’s a pretty active fandom if that’s important to you.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Sneak Attack!: 4 player game with 5 friends (including a married couple). As of Aug 2017 they have over 100 episodes, and bonus eps, all about an hour long. Sherwood is a gnome druid (basically a forest wizard) who is antisocial to everyone but animals and plants. Greaek is a dwarf fighter who introduces himself to everyone he meets he’s a good boy. Brenna is a half-elf bard (musician) who plays the banjo and bagpipes and gets into lots of arguments with Greaek, who is her irl husband. She’s the voice of reason in the group. Akio is a human wizard who dreams of owning a noodle shop, and owns a chicken named Alfredo. Also he’s a necromancer. The DM is amazing, and the whole group is just really nice and wholesome?

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Science & Culture

Radiolab: Beautifully edited, usually about science/tech but mostly about telling a good story. Most episodes are about 40 mins to an hour, and there’s also shorter mini episodes. Good episodes to start with is Colors, Laughter, and Escape!. My favourites include What’s Up, Doc?, The Living Room (content warning for death and illness), Debateable, On the Edge, and Cities.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Reply All: Podcast about “the internet”, but it’s much more than that. Their content is all over the place. Episodes are typically 35 mins long, with the occasional longer ep. This is a podcast I would start from the beginning to get used to the format. Today’s The Day and Hello? are two of my favourite audio pieces ever, they make me so emotional, but I don’t think you’ll get this feeling unless you’ve listened to their ‘normal’ podcasts and gotten to know the hosts. This podcast is very good about content warnings for episodes, both at the start and when they’re about to discuss the content.

[Website] [Soundcloud] and in iTunes Store.

Flash Forward: Used to be called Meanwhile in the Future. Each episode focuses on a possible or not-so-possible future, first starting with a dramatisation of what that future would be like (usually news report kinda stuff), and then an in depth discussion with real experts about how possible that future is. In the first season the episodes were about 15 mins but now they’re up to 40 mins long. A good place to start with would be from the start! All the episodes are great in my opinion, but for examples of the range of topics discussed, you can try Sunward Bound and Don’t Lie to Me.

[Website] [Soundcloud] and in iTunes Store.

Imaginary Worlds: About fictional universes and our relationship to them. Episodes usually between 20-30 mins, and often topical to a recent event. My favourites are The Year Without a Summer (about Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, and volcanoes), Rolling the Twenty Sided Dice (about D&D, would highly recommend if you are unsure about the aforementioned D&D podcast), and In Defence of Captain Hook (about Peter Pan, the last 5 mins of this podcast is amazing).

[Website] [Soundcloud] and in iTunes Store.

Invisibilia: This podcast is about human behaviour/psychology. Episodes are an hour long. I would recommend The Personality Myth to start (but also starting at episode 1 is good). They are usually good about content warning but obviously they often talk about mental health so do with that what you want. As of August 2017 they have just finished their 3rd season.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

This American Life: The most annoying thing about this podcast is there’s only ever the last 4 episodes they’ve aired available at a time, but you can “save” the episode you like on iTunes. It’s about american culture and stories and stuff, sometimes a little hit or miss for me but I’m also not American but there’s still a lot of great episodes. The episode that just came out in August 2017 “We are in the Future” is Amazing, about afrofuturism.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Sawbones: This podcast describes itself as “a marital tour of misguided medicine”. Dr. Sydnee and Justin (not a Dr.) McElroy talk about the history of medicine and all the weird stuff we did in the past to try to cure people. Sydnee has the most knowledge in this pair and Justin is mostly there to ask questions and make jokes. Very fun tone throughout usually but obviously they take time to talk about more serious stuff. My favourite thing about it is just how much this couple love each other.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Oh No Ross and Carrie: Two friends go out to investigate fringe-science stuff so you don’t have to. They have joined cults including Scientology, have their pets get psychic readings, and try juice cleanses and soylent. I’d recommend any episode that covers something that you’re interested in! Episodes are typically 40-60 mins.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Comedy

My Brother My Brother and Me (MBMBAM): The same 3 brothers from the Adventure Zone. Justin, Travis, and Griffin have been making this podcast since 2010 and they give “advice” but mostly just laugh at their own jokes. They answer a lot of Yahoo questions, you know the type. Here’s a taster for their type of humor. They also have a new TV show, and the first episode is available for free, which can help you put a face to the name/voice. They’re never rude or mean but can be very dirty boys so don’t listen w/out headphones. Also probably in public with headphones cuz u will laugh out loud for SURE.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Dynamic Banter: Two dudes talk who also mostly just laugh at their own jokes. They like movies a lot. Here’s a 8 min clip where they talk about alternate titles for Tom Hanks’s classic film Big. Episodes are usually about an hour long.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

It Feels Like the First Time: Three guys are watching Lost, the 2004-2010 TV show about people who crashes on a ~weird island~. If were planning to watch/rewatch Lost and want to listen to more than 1 hour of three guys making jokes about the show then you should listen to this podcast. As of August 2017 they’re halfway through the final season, so there’s plenty of content for you to catch up on. This podcast comes out weekly and talk about 2 episodes of the show at a time.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

The Mortified Podcast: People read their childhood/teenage diaries outloud in front of a crowd. It’s embarrassing and cringe-y and hilarious and relatable and will make you more empathetic to your younger self and the kids and teens in your life because it’s hard out there. Episodes are about 25-35 mins long, usually featuring 2 different diary reads on a similar topic, like Prom or Summer Vacation.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Miscellaneous

Terrible, Thanks for Asking: Nora McInerny is the host of this podcast. It’s about how terrible things are sometimes in life. Nora and guests just talk about the horrible things that have happened to them, like death of loved ones, abuse, mental illness, etc. Obviously, it’s not a casual, feel good listen, it is not for everyone and I would advise some people to not listen to this ever, but it’s emotional and raw and important. The episodes are 40ish minutes long.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Nancy: This is a relatively new podcast, as of August 2017 there are 19 episodes. It’s about the LGBTQ+ community and issues, hosted by Kathy Tu and Tobin Low. The first episode, for example, is about Kathy’s coming out story, and how she needs to constantly come out to her mother who isn’t listening to her. These two hosts are really fun, and so are their guests, and i’m sure that LGBTQ+ listeners will relate to their conversations.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Strangers: Podcast host Lea Thau tells stories about strangers. Or at least they’re strangers to you. It’s not as depressing as “Terrible Thanks for Asking”... usually. Episodes are anywhere between 20 and 50 minutes. Her “Love Hurts” series might be a good place to start, although it isn’t her typical episode structure, but it’s all about her interviewing exes about why they didn’t work out. This podcast is usually good about content warnings.

[Website] [Soundcloud] and in iTunes Store.

Mystery Show: Podcast host Starlee Kine solves weird mysteries like what is Jake Gyllenhaal’s real height, or a video rental store that disappeared in 1 day, or the owner of a really really cool belt buckle found on the ground years ago. There’s only 6 episodes, and there won’t be more. They’re between 25 and 70 minutes long.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Harry Potter and the Sacred Text: The tagline for this is “What if we read the books we love as if they were sacred texts?”. Hosts Vanessa Zoltan and Casper ter Kuile discuss one chapter of Harry Potter per episode, and analyse it using techniques usually reserved for religious texts. The hosts are Religious and Divinity scholars. Episodes are half an hour long, and as of June 2017 they are about halfway through the Prisoner of Azkaban.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

#podcast #masterpost #podcasts #mine: personal #mine: other #i'm sorry for mobile users that need to scroll through all of this lmao

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undercovermcdfan · 8 years ago

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the right impressions | vylance

summary: Dad AU. First introductions is everything. Vylance. Ensemble piece.

a/n: so y’all know the Dad AU—either from my own yelling/fics or @crybabytime’s beautiful comics (click here to go through her tag!), and honestly? I want to make a full-fledged, multi-chaptered fic of it one day. For now, here’s a fic featuring Laurance reintroducing Vylad as his partner to the kids and their reactions. Lowkey, I’ll probably will write a drabble about Zenix & Laurance’s talk

warning(s): divorce ment.

Laurance’s reassuring voice did little to ease his nerves.

“Just act as you normally do—Vylad, they love you,” Laurance said, albeit a little distracted as the clanks and shuffling of the kitchen in the background, “Maybe even more than me.”

Normally, the little statement at the end would make him chuckle and rolled his eyes affectionately. Though the sincerity of Laurance’s tone tempted him to believe in it, believe his reassuring lie… Vylad felt his cynical side jab at the misuse of love in this situation.

Did Laurance’s kids like him? Maybe. But love, he wasn’t sure.

They saw him now and again, though his travels thanks to work kept him from being a constant visitor in the household. They knew him as Uncle Vylad—to the three younger children, he was called this because he was a friend of Laurance; Zenix, the eldest, knew he was their other father… ex-father…? err, Garroth’s youngest brother and was their actual uncle. The friendly face who helped occasionally and had dinners whenever spare time allowed it; he honestly wondered if they could see him as something, something more.

Travis’s eyes always lit up joyfully when he came around, but curiosity and soft-hearted was his nature.

Isabel, while warming up to him slower than Travis, looked to him with admiration and didn’t hesitate to greet him now with open arms.

Malachi was only a baby, and he wasn’t sure if babies really have the “hate” and “love” idea down pat; but even with his little experience, the mild-mannered child still smiled and felt at ease with his presence, so that must’ve meant something.

Only child who looked to him with suspicion, keeping his distance… was Zenix. Though the nature of his and Laurance’s relationship wasn’t revealed yet, with how Zenix acted around him almost made Vylad wonder—did he know already? When the other children expressed their approval in their own way, Zenix’s judgmental eyes were the ones who reminded Vylad that the statement of ‘They love you’ was faulty.

But he couldn’t drag his feet forever.

This was long overdue— and it would be a strange to admit to his boyfriend of the past year that the only reason he’s having cold feet was thanks to his perceptive son.

If it weren’t for genuine nervousness and anxiety feeding thoughts of ‘is this too big of a change? Maybe it’s too soon.’, he’d almost laugh at the absurdity—wasn’t it in most relationships, the parents were the nerve-racking obstacle one would fret over? Not a seven-year-old child with eyes that almost feel although they could pick apart his weakness.

He breathed in, shifting the flowers in his hands as he reached to press the doorbell.

He breathed out.

Laurance’s voice echo in his mind: Just act as you normally do.

Safe to say the flowers didn’t lasted so long.

Travis and Isabel immediately asked for them after they shouted hellos and hugged his legs, nearly knocking him over; they greedily reached up, blues and greens brightly shone with wide smiles—and in truth, Vylad was a weak man and quickly conceded the flowers to the kids.

The house was filled with a delicious smell—which meant, as usual, the dinner won’t disappoint. Eventually, Laurance poked his head into the hall way, hair tied into a bun and bangs pushed back by a headband as he wiped his hands onto his apron; his face, similarly to Travis and Isabel, lit up, though with a little relief mixed in.

“Always one for punctuality, huh,” Laurance mused, stepping into the hall and halfway meeting Vylad for a tight hug, “I’m going to put the finishes touches to dinner—make yourself comfortable, the kids already set the table.”

“Oh, I-I’ll do that, um,” Vylad then sighed, “I’m sorry, though.”

“Hm?” Laurance pulled away, brows furrowed.

“I brought flowers but…”

Laurance nodded in understanding, “You let Isabel and Travis bully them away from you.”

Vylad wrinkled his nose, his frown turning into a slight pout as he muttered, “I wasn’t bullied… they’re simply convincing.”

Laurance laughed, almost leaning in to press a kiss to his forehead but a sudden ringing sounded and he straighten. “That’s dinner timer— can you tell Isa and Travis to wash up, and head for the table after?”

Vylad nodded, faltering slightly as he watched Laurance disappeared back into the kitchen with hurried steps. I wonder which way those two we—

His eyes locked onto another gaze, one that was watching from the stairs. No, not just watching. Glaring. Zenix, who pressed his lips into a thin line, sat on the stairway with arms crossed. Like his siblings and father, he was dressed nicely in a clean button up and black pants; he didn’t say anything and continued to glare for another moment.

“Um, hello Zenix,” Vylad started awkwardly, offering a small smile, “I… um… You should probably head to the dinner table. I’ll handle Isabel and Travis.”

Nothing.

Zenix simply avert his eyes to his feet, brows furrowed and simply ignoring him. Vylad sighed.

He didn’t know what to say—what could he say? He could only leave Zenix to his thoughts, making a mental note of the behavior. While Zenix never expressed overt liking of Vylad’s presence, the upset sight of him was… worrying and maybe his theory of the eldest already being aware was true.

But he can’t dwell on it for now.

Tracking down the little rascals was easy, as the two didn’t go far—they took apart the bouquet in no time, so that was a lost cause. He found Travis and Isabel giggling as they slowly bending the stalks of the flowers into a flower crowns (or rather, attempting to). Vylad smiled and patted their heads as they proudly showed off their half-made crowns, but the two hungry enough to abandon their project when he said Laurance wanted them to wash up before dinner.

Zenix wasn’t on the stairs when the three walked by again. Instead, Zenix was waiting at the table, a seat closest to Malachi’s highchair as the elder fussed over the baby’s bib… and acting a little more subdued than usual. Vylad’s eyes narrowed for a moment. Strange.

He didn’t meet with his eyes, hopping off to the kitchen without even a word. Vylad tried to search in recent memory—either from his own actions or events that Laurance told him, what would be upsetting Zenix.

But as he tried to get Travis and Isabel settled, he came up with nothing.

Dinner with Laurance was always an eventful fare—but with his children, it went from a sweet gesture they rarely could took delight in to a display of what a warm family was.

From Travis’s need to tell Vylad everything about what he missed since the last his visit and what his best friend from next door, Katelyn, showed him recent, to Isabel proudly showing off the fact she could count farther than her brother despite being the younger of the two, to Malachi’s babbles and absolutely destruction of his food as he mushed it against his face (which got the entire table laughing).

Even Vylad told some stories, interrupted every few minutes about questions of the places he visited and sometimes going off in tangents such as: “Wait, they have elephants in Asia too?” “But he said they’re itty-bitty small kind.” “So, like baby elephants.” “No, no—they’re not babies!” “I feel like I know what itty-bitty means; they’re baby ‘phants!”.

Yet Laurance nor Vylad missed the fact there was one voice who didn’t join in the conversation as much as the rest. Zenix sat at his seat, pushing around the food quietly—and though Laurance kept the smiles up, it would slip away every now and again, a worried gaze landing on the quiet eldest.

Eventually, dinner wrapped up and the table was cleared with the help of Vylad—it was a few moments they had, while Laurance told the kids to wait at the table rather than running off immediately for their hour of freedom before bed.

“Are you ready?” Laurance whispered to him, taking his hand gingerly and Vylad intertwine their fingers, giving the hold a squeeze.

“Yes, but,” Vylad frowned, “Do you think they’ll understand?”

“Well, we waited a year… and I know neither of us think this is a fling, Vylad,” Laurance softly smiled, placing a kiss on his knuckles, “Relax. They’re smart cookies—they’ll understand.”

They returned, hand in hand, neither Travis or Isabel noticed at first… but Zenix did, and frowned immediately.

“Da-ad, can we go?” Travis, slouching and slowly slipping out of his seat, started to whine.

Isabel shushed him, with a quick berate, “Don’t sit like that, you goof!”

“I’m not a goof! You are!” Travis immediately retorted, an offended look written on the child’s face.

“Nu-uh! You’re the one who’s sitting like that—Dad said we have to wait!” Isabel chided him.

“Goody two-shoes!”

“Goofy bad boy—“

“Isabel, Travis—please. What did I say about calling each other bad names?” Laurance looked at the two, who immediately lowered their eyes in guilt, “This is a special night— one that’s almost finished. So please, say sorry to each other.”

Both glanced at each other, shoulders slumped, as they give a unison “Sorry.”

“Hmm, we’ll work on apologies later—both of you owe a hug to each other for the bad names,” Laurance mused while the two kids nodded, pouting a little now but their mood not completely soured, thankfully; instead they turned their eyes to their father and himself, curious.

Laurance shifted back into a bright smile, “I have special news,” he wrapped an arm around his shoulders, carefully looking from child to child—both Isabel and Travis met with their father’s eyes while Zenix distracted himself while holding Malachi. Laurance paused at this, only for a moment, before he pushed on—“You know, Uncle Vylad is a really good friend, very nice and sweet one at that.”

Travis nodded, while Isabel tilted her head. Vylad carefully watched Zenix, who tensed a little as he frowned, keeping his eyes on Malachi.

“And… well, for a while, Uncle Vylad been more than that. I love him a lot—“ “—And I love your father—“ “…yes. We love each other very much, and we been more than friends. A special friend, even.”

Isabel immediately raised her hand, calling out excitedly, “So you’re dating?”

Laurance’s brows raised immediately, his voice not hiding his surprise, “Isabel, where did you learn that word?”

“From Granny Zianna’s TV shows!”

Travis then raised his hand, interrupting Laurance before he could think twice about that statement. “Does this mean Uncle Vylad is our papa too?”

“It’s complicated… but…” Laurance glanced at Vylad, who returned his searching look with a soft smile. “I’m fine with it. But I’m okay if you still want to say uncle as well.”

“Do you kiss?” Isabel called out, squinting at the two.

Laurance sputtered, “Isabel, no. I’m going to have a talk with Granny about what you’re watching, missy.”

Vylad chuckled, winking at Isabel as he nodded. “Your dad is shy, forgive him.”

Travis then waved his arm excitedly, “Will you get married?”

There’s a pause. Laurance glanced at him while Vylad’s brows immediately shot up; well… the question wasn’t a new one, when they passed the one year mark, his own mother asked curiously if they were. But before either could open their mouths to answer, Zenix spoke up finally.

“They can’t!”

The table fell silent as all eyes were on Zenix, who bristled under the attention. “Dad can’t! He has us—he doesn’t need to get married again, or need you!” His arms shifting Malachi, pointing an accusing finger at Vylad, and though the kid’s words stung, nothing was worse than the glassiness of Zenix’s gaze, his voice shaking a little, “Dad is just fine, we’re fine! We don’t need a second dad, w-we already… have…” Zenix’s voice started to die, and Isabel’s hand reached out in concern but he jerked away. Sliding out of his seat and placing Malachi on the floor (who let out a whine), they watched Zenix dart despite his siblings and father called out for him.

“Vylad, I—“

“Go. I’ll watch the kids, don’t worry.”

Laurance shot him a thankful look, before removing himself and chasing after his eldest. Travis and Isabel looked worriedly in their direction while Vylad picked up Malachi, rocking the gurgling child with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Despite the fact… he didn’t have anything to feel exactly guilty for, part of him thought: I should’ve guessed what Zenix was moody about.

He was a smart kid after all—smarter than most would give the child credit. Ushering the kids upstairs, they changed into something more pajamalike and settling in Malachi’s room, as they wait…

Vylad sighed, watching the clock pass the twenty-minute mark. The children—apart from Malachi, of course—were as antsy as him, because Laurance or Zenix haven’t made an appearance.

Zenix’s outbursts weren’t a common thing seen by Travis or Isabel; at least to a serious degree, where he was driven to tears. But then again, Vylad was perfectly aware the tough and protective big brother role the eldest inhabit.

He put Malachi down into his crib, as the child started to drift while an hour almost pass; and when he turned, there stood Travis behind him, slightly hiding behind a big picture book in his hands as he nervously looked up.

“Um…” Travis turned to him, holding a book in his hands, “Dad usually reads but... could you?”

He smiled a little, taking the book from his hands. “Of course,” Glancing at the cover, he recognized the familiar tale, “The Ugly Duckling?”

“Yeah. It’s my favorite,” Travis answered, settling on the floor and Vylad sitting down beside him, “I like the ending.”

“He likes happy endings,” Isabel corrected, abandoning the toys she was playing with and settling on one side and Travis shot her scowl.

But before he can retort, Vylad interrupted the brewing fight with a “Well I like happy endings. There’s nothing wrong with liking them.” Travis gave a look of triumph and Isabel shrugged, looking rather unbothered.

“So I’ll read this and you two promise to go to bed after? It’s almost your bed time.” Both children nodded, snuggling closer to get a good view of the pictures. Vylad began the tale, letting himself get lost in the fairy tale as well.

It was only when Vylad came down, after putting Isabel and Travis in their respective beds, did he find Laurance and Zenix.

Or rather Laurance and fast-asleep Zenix, held by his father.

Both look drained, but when Laurance caught his eye, he gave a victory look as he rubbed Zenix’s back. “He doesn’t hate you.”

Vylad nodded, sitting down beside him on the couch. “I know that.”

“He’s just confused… he’s not as open to the idea because he remembers Ga.. your brother as his other dad,” Laurance said softly, “And he’s afraid.”

Vylad scooted closer and leaned against Laurance as he shut his eyes. “Afraid?”

“He doesn’t want me to get hurt, if you want a summary,” Laurance mused, looking down at Zenix with a gentle expression, “He acts carefree, but deep down he’s soft-hearted kid.”

“Like father, like son, I suppose?”

Laurance chuckled, nudging Vylad slightly before leaning his cheek against Vylad’s head. “I’m not that soft.” Vylad’s brow twitched for a moment and Laurance laughed again, insisting now, “You see me get emotional one time—“

“One?”

“A couple of times, and now I’m stuck with these labels,” he sighed mockingly, “Even though I let you get away with it every single time.”

“It’s because you’re soft,” Vylad pointed out, and Laurance’s nose wrinkled as he frowned.

Silence fell, though comforting and only sounds was the occasional mumbles from Zenix’s sleep.

But it didn’t last long, Laurance’s tone changing to worry as he absentmindedly rubbed soothing circles. “He needs some time, Vylad. He gone through a rough two years and… it being hard for me, I can’t imagine what he’s feeling,” Laurance softly said. “Garroth hasn’t been keeping up lately with his end of the deal, now this? It’s overwhelming.”

“…Should we… you know?” Vylad felt his heart tighten for a moment, his eyes opening and he started to pull away but Laurance’s hand stopped him.

“No! No, no—I’m not going to break up with you,” letting go of his arm and instead touching his cheek, Laurance’s eyes had determination in them, “Zenix is afraid but we just need to reassure that this change isn’t bad.”

“What if he doesn’t… well, like me?”

“He likes you, he’s just… shy about it,” both glance at the sleeping boy, and Laurance pressed a kiss to his forehead, “He always been a grumpy child, but I know him and he talks about you when you’re not here.”

Vylad pursed his lips, the corners curling up, “I hope good things.”

“It’s good things,” Laurance nudged him again, “He likes your pancakes. And your cool hair.”

“Don’t you like those things too?”

Laurance laughed, “Well, maybe you’re just a cool hair and pancakes kind of guy? It’s a very charming point, I must say.”

Vylad then laughed. “Of course you would.” And Laurance joined him.

Maybe they don’t have everything figured out now—but a step forward was a step forward. And surprisingly… he wasn’t discouraged.

“You know, I do have a question.”

Vylad hummed, prompting for Laurance to continue.

“Are you really alright with the kids calling you Dad too? I know you said it’s okay but… if it isn’t comfortable…”

Vylad lowered his eyes, feeling his cheeks grow warm—well he almost forgotten he gave his okay to that. “It’s… nice. I don’t mind,” he admitted, “They’re good kids, and if we’re taking this further… it’s a logical next step.”

“Vylad, technically they don’t have to call you dad unless we’re married. You’re skipping a few steps,” Laurance gave a teasing grin, “Unless you were planning on purposing right this moment.”

There’s a pause. Laurance’s smile faded for a moment, him fully turning to face him properly but then huffed when he noticed the sparkle in Vylad’s eyes.

“Vylad.”

He chuckled as Laurance pinched the bridge of his nose, heaving a sigh. “I’m sorry. But… it’s reassuring to see you a little excited.” Laurance shot him a side-long glare, shifting Zenix in his arms. “That was a mean-spirited joke,” Laurance whined, standing up, “I know I said it was too soon for marriage… I wouldn’t have... um…”

“You wouldn’t have turned me down?”

Laurance avoided his amused stare, and stammered out, “I-I’m going to put Zenix in his bed. You earned yourself dish duty for that joke.”

“Alright,” Vylad stood, rubbing his neck, and Laurance shook his head, turned to head up the stairs; he smiled, “I wonder if it’s a joke if a part of it was true.”

The stairs creaking stopped for a moment. Though Vylad couldn’t see his expression, he knew Laurance heard him. And he knew Laurance wouldn’t want him to see the fact he gotten him, as he hurried up the rest of the steps.

Truthfully, if Zenix didn’t have the outburst, a part of Vylad knew he would’ve answered Travis’s question Will you get married with a “I hope so.”

Because he did.

Just as he worried over the kids liking him, not as an uncle, but as a potential person to… well… join their family, Vylad saw marriage was already on the table. And as he headed to the kitchen, with Laurance’s reaction… it’s reassuring to know it was on his as well.

#aphmau #minecraft diaries #minecraft mystreet #vylance #ahhhhhh i wrote this between classes-- that's why it's kinda rushed?#istg one of these days I WILL right a fic that does this au justice #dad au #dads au #<-- the fact this au has two tags bc my dumb ass forgets which is the write one kills me #my writing

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rionebuys · 8 years ago

Text

'I'm in...' (Chapter 5)

Annabelle Parker. She was constantly on Daniel's mind. She was beautiful, yet she was shy and innocent. Daniel liked that, he didn't know how innocent but it was clear that she was more focused on her career than anything else. He loved her ambition, her passion and most of all he loved her talent. Being in Cape Town and spending time with her really showed him a different side of women. She wasn't like the rest, she was a gem, she was golden and he liked that about her. She didn't think the way other girls did and she didn't dress like them either, she stood out above all of them and he was glad he had the eyes to see her. Daniel just landed at O.R. Tambo international airport, he was back in Johannesburg and he already missed her. He got a text timed last night at 10pm from Donovan. 'Hey bro, both Matt and I landed and arrived safety at your condo. Matt is still heavy jet lagged but we're looking forward to seeing you.' Daniel smiled slightly as he read it, he missed Donovan and Matt, he could imagine the fourteen year old being passed out and his bed being ruined. Ever since Matthew was born he had formed a close with his uncle Danny. If there were sleepovers Matt always insisted on sleeping next to his uncle or at least taking his uncle's bed. Daniel never minded, Matt could be his son for all he cared, he loved that little guy so much. Sometimes when he got visits like this or went back to New York he would feel guilty for being so distant at times with his family, but he couldn't help it, there was a hole in his heart and no one could fill it. Except Belle. He thought, too soon? Speaking of, Daniel saw it was past midnight, he wondered if he should call her and tel her he's safe. Mmm maybe she won't care, or she's asleep. Debating this Daniel decided to just send her a text. 'Just landed and now on my way home. I miss you already. -D' He locked his iPhone and looked out the window as he took the sight of the city again. Being back in JHB was good but he wished that Belle was here with him. He could imagine going to visit her on a daily basis, bringing her flowers, having dinner with her, just not having to rush an or cut their time together short. The way her hair danced with wind on the beach, her content smile playing on her lips as her eyes closed, facing the sun and listening to the waves. Daniel took a mental picture of her that way and it was the only way she replayed in his head. 'Glad you're safe. I miss you too. Sleep tight. X -B' Daniel had a bright smile on his face, he thought she would be asleep by now. Was she busy with studies? Maybe she waited for his text? No she was probably studying. The look of her text told him that she was tired and going to bed. 'Sweet dreams xx -D' Just as Daniel sent the text, Travis pulled up at his penthouse and he took a deep breath. He wasn't as tired as he should be, after Belle's text he was more awake, but he knew he had to sleep and get rest, especially with a fourteen year old in the house. Walking into his penthouse he put his keys down in the bowl by his front door and bid Travis goodnight. The house was quiet telling him they were both asleep. Daniel went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, taking it with him upstairs to his room. Entering his room he saw Matthew passed out, lucky for him the bed was king size so there was enough space for him. Daniel took a minute to look at him. He had the same light hair as his father and the same jaw. He had grown taller in the last three months that he hasn't seen the little guy. Daniel smirked as he knew soon Matt was going to break hearts. Daniel took a shower and got dressed in pajama pants and a white shirt. Slipping into bed next to his nephew, his head hit the pillow and he fell asleep with one thing on his mind. Annabelle Parker. "Waaaaaake upppp!!!" Daniel heard a voice trying to sound like Batman? Smirking Daniel groaned pretending to be asleep. "Noo!! Come on uncle Danny, wake up! You have to spend the day with me!" He was doing his whiny voice knowing Daniel's walls would crumble, it always did. Turning around Daniel looked at Matthew with one open eye. "Happy now?" He grumbled and Matt shook his head shaking Daniel's shoulders. "Okay okay I'm up!" Daniel said in defeat, making Matt attack him with a hug. "I'm so glad we've been reunited Uncle D, the forces has kept me long enough, I almost didn't make it, but I survived." Matt said dramatically, ever since he was little Daniel and him had this hidden game world they lived in, the family tried to understand them but gave up after failing. "I would sure hope so. I can't afford to loose my best soldier to Dr. Evil." Daniel said making Matt's eyes widen. "Her sir, but in battle I think I got infected, not sure but I'll need the antidote." Matt said 'scratching' his chin. That was code for pancakes, the boys' favorite breakfast that they only ate when together. Pretending to be thinking Daniel stood up and put both arms behind him staring down at Matt. "Well soldier, I heard the doctor was in town, just to be sure we would advice you to clean up before further examination." "Yes sir!" Matt said excitedly saluting Daniel before running and giving Daniel a bone crushing hug that he returned. "I missed you uncle D." Daniel's heart swelled at this boy, he loved this kid so much and was happy to have them visit for a while. "I missed you more Matty. Go get dressed and all, I'll make us some pancakes." Matt nodded a left. After Daniel took a shower and got dressed he started on the pancakes. It was the only thing he knew how to make. Throwing choc chips in, he mixed it all together and started making them in the pan. Matt and Don both made their way downstairs just in time as Daniel placed the last pancake on the plate filled with a tower of pancakes. "Smells great! Hello brother." Don said as both him and Daniel gave each other wide smiles and a bro hug. The rest of the day was spent with the three of them doing tons of things, Daniel took them to the zoo and go-cart racing. Daniel felt home again as he had boys time with his boys, Matt was in heaven having his uncle with him and telling him all about the school and girls. Don and Daniel both caught on with the businesses and their lives. All the while Daniel kept texting Belle, he wished they could meet her, they would love her. But Daniel knew that somehow he had to get her here. It was late afternoon, all three of the boys were sitting on Daniel's pent house balcony drinking a cold one. Yes the men drank a beer while Matt drank his beer. They were looking at the sunset out on the city. Taking a deep breath all three of them took a sip of their drinks in sync. "Okay, who is she?" Don asked the question he had been waiting to ask. Matt looked at them and smirked, he was happy at the idea that his uncle found someone. "What are you talking about?" "You've been hooked on your phone as well as had a goofy smile for at least all day not to mention you are not your usual distant self. I was like that once, when I met Sophie, so who is she?" Dan asked smirking. "Annabelle, her name is Annabelle Parker." As he said it in memory of her, they heard a glass broke, both of them looked to their right at Matt who dropped his glass and stared open mouth at them. "A-A- Annabelle Parker? As in you tube singer, gorgeous girl, love of my life Annabelle Parker?" Both raised an eyebrow at him and Daniel nodded. "How dare you break bro code uncle Danny? I had dibs on her first. Is she hot? Like on the videos or better?" Matt asked, Daniel turned his head to Don who only shrugged and drank his beer. Turning back to Matt he answered. "Yes the one and only. She's beautiful, inside and out, she has this sort of elegance and beauty to her that I can't explain. She's like a siren, she hypnotized me with her music and her voice." Daniel said thinking back to their time in Cape Town. "How did you find her?" Matt asked breaking his trance. "She found me. After I saw the link you send me, I was invited to one of ACA's recitals in Cape Town. She is a student there, on her last year. She just preformed and I was lost. I asked her to coffee the next day and she agreed. We had lunch and went to the beach just in each other's company and she stole my heart. Everything about her is so pure and innocent." Don looked at Daniel as he spoke, he had a grin on his face, he couldn't believe it. Daniel actually found his match. The look in his eye, the smile on his face, the way he spoke about her, was all signs of at Don did and looked like when he found Sophie. He thought the exact thought about her. She was his everything the minute they met. He wanted her and he got her. He'll admit he was persistent but how else? "Let me tell you man, when it comes to the ladies, you let them come to you, you know what I'm saying?" This came from Matt and it made both men look at him with an raised eyebrow. Matt just shrugged his shoulders and kept drinking his coke. Shaking his head, Don turned towards Daniel. "So what's the problem?" Daniel looked at him confused, as Don saw this he sat up a little straighter and continued. "There is always a problem. Something keeping you from being with her. Mine was that she was a few years younger than me and still in high school." As he said this both Daniel and Don chuckled. Daniel remembered this, he was fourteen when Sophie told their parents that she had met a guy and that they were in love. Everyone was fine with it until twenty two year old Donovan Shepard stepped through the door. He was a colleague of Conrad, still a college student but on his way to success. Conrad was not too fond of the idea that his seventeen year old daughter fell for this guy and made it almost impossible for them to see each other. At the end of the day Conrad saw the love and devotion in his eyes and gave them his blessing. Sophie was twenty one when they got married. A year later she gave birth to Matt and a year after that, Conrad was no longer. "I remember, dad made it impossible, always sitting between the two of you in a movie and spoiling your time together with work problems." Daniel said as he laughed at the memory, it felt good to laugh with Don again. "Why do you think I took another job at the next opportunity?" Both shook their head and let out a laugh. "So you see, problems, which is yours?" "A few days ago, before I went to Cape Town, I got a call from Jeremy." Don frowned at this. "Your right hand at the company Jeremy?" Daniel nodded taking a sip of his beer. "Yeah, he told me that some things weren't going as well in New York and that it would be wise to relocate." "Relocate? Does that mean you're moving back home? To New York?" Don was excited, he missed having Daniel there, everyone did. Him moving back would be great. Nodding Daniel replied. "Yeah, but Annabelle is here, in South Africa, she's still studying." Don sighed taking a sip of his beer before turning to Daniel. "So what? Get her to move with you." Daniel's face was frowning and Don continued. "ACA is also in New York. She can finish her studies there, as for being too soon, when you know, you know. Sophie and I officially dated a week before moving in, she was fresh out of high school and we got a place together, close to college and work." "What if she says no?" "Then she says no, and you wait until she's ready. Sophie turned me down four times before we did move in together." Daniel chuckled and the rest of the night they went out for dinner and spent the rest of the night together. It's been about a month since Don and Matt came to visit. A lot were on Daniel's mind, the work, what Don said about asking her to move in, Annabelle. She was constantly clouding his mind. They talked everyday, morning, evening and sometimes even through lunch hour. Daniel was falling for her everyday and he knew she was too. He had to move to New York soon, his time was running out. So he thought it smart to go back to Cape Town and discuss this with her in person. Or so his mother advised him. So with a heart beating towards the sky, he entered Anne's cafe. The place was it's usual busy self. He looked around, in search for Belle but couldn't see her, neither could he see Anne. "Hi handsome, what can I do for you?" A voice broke him from his search. He looked to his left and found a girl with blonde dyed hair, a top showing too much and make up that was just as much. Very unprofessional. Daniel thought. "Hi, I'm looking for Annabelle." He said polite. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him from top to bottom. Recognition crossed her eyes and her face fell. "You must be Daniel then? The guy from last time, also the guy she won't shut up about." She said mumbling the last part. That made Daniel smile, he was glad that he wasn't the only one to constantly talk about her. "She's at the back with Anne, I'll go get ." she said and walked away. Daniel waited patiently for her to come back with Belle while having a smile on his face. The smile widen once he heard a loud 'What?!' Coming from the back. It was Belle, and the next thing he knew, she came running out with a look of disbelief. "Daniel?" She whispered and when he nodded she ran to him, giving him a big hug he returned. "What are you doing here?" She asked shocked but so happy. Daniel pulled back still holding her hips as he sighed. It was now or never. "We need to talk." He said and her smile dropped. The couple were seated on the deck at the cafe, both having coffee in the hands, both admiring each others looks while in a serious conversation. "So you're moving to New York?" Belle asked, her tone deflating. She just found him and now he had to leave? Was the universe against both of them? Daniel felt like crap seeing her face fall. He didn't want to leave without her. He needed her, she was his light among other things. He was happy with her around. Daniel his mug down and grabbed a hold of her soft hand. "I have to yes, Jeremy says that people are going crazy without the authority in the offices. But the reason why I'm here doing it in person is, I want you to come with me. I know it's a big step and that we've only known each other a little while but, you don't have to stay with me, I can get you your own place, you can transfer to ACA in New York. This could work." "Wow you've really thought this through. I-I just need time to think please." Daniel nodded his head in understanding, he was worried that she would say no, what was he to do then? The rest of the day Daniel spent with Belle forgetting the awkward encounter earlier. He had a great time with her but had to say goodbye since he had to go back to work and to JHB. He was getting anxious, it's been three days since they talked about NY. Daniel didn't bring it up in their phone call and neither did she. He didn't want to push her but his time was running out, he already started packing and getting things done to leave in a few weeks. Daniel was busy at the office, it was already past eight at night and he had a few files that needed his attention. As he typed away on his computer his phone buzzed signaling a text message. He checked it and saw it was from Belle. The text made him smile , it him excited. 'I'm in. -B.' Copyright © 2015

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