#through my fucking hijab and I was just so done with it and left the gathering even tho I actually wanted to sit with them but was so angry

[oceanmoss]

idk how to express my frustration at my family and religion and social expectations without sounding immature or hateful at my culture or westernised or annoying as hell but also it's very true they're oppressive as fuck and it's so enraging I also know they're amazing smart mature ppl like that can coexist with the fact that they're unhinged

[espressokiri]

Heyy, I’m Muslim and I’m also a huge simp for Todoroki, Bakugo, Iida, and Kaminari. Soooo can I have them with a Muslim (possibly hijabi) s/o?

Todoroki Shoto, Bakugou Katsuki, Iida Tenya, and Kaminari Denki x Hijabi!reader

In which reader is a hijabi Muslim.

Warnings: None

Genre: Fluff (literally half these ideas came from late night talks with my bestie @that-weirdo-in-the-corner)

Note: My first headcanon <3 I hope you like it!

Todoroki Shoto

We’re all aware of this mans lack of physical affection and aloof nature, along with his social awkwardness. That’s a recipe for odd encounters and hilarious misunderstandings.

This man gained interest in you when he noticed you were elegant even while in training/battles, along with your sweet nature and fashionable modest wear.

He researched about your religion and had found out that only women who are married are allowed to go out alone with their partners.

Poor boy didn’t read/research enough.

He decides to get to know you from a distance, respecting your boundaries and it wasn’t that hard to avoid physical contact as he himself was not one to initiate it.

When you did get closer and formed an emotional bond, you’ll be met with the weirdest encounter;

“Shoto, what are you doing?” You blinked, not understanding what the half-and-half male was doing bent on one knee with a ring box outside your family home.

“I read that we can only go out on dates together if you’re married.”

You want to smack your head on the wall but you were flattered at the same time.

Had to tell him that you were allowed on dates if you were chaperoned by a family member or friends.

Had Fuyumi chaperone you two, she was very delighted but had kept watch from a distance.

Shoto has the best time learning about your religion, curiously asking questions and gains a deeper understanding of how things were in your perspective.

He keeps a respectful distance even during dates, making sure he wasn’t crossing boundaries.

Would scour the whole of Japan to find halal food.

Tells you that he called Endeavour shaytaan and you choke on the water you were sipping on, laughing out loud.

Fasts with you one day and is betrayed at how full he felt after one bite.

Hands you Endeavour’s exclusive credit card for Eid.

Todoroki is just very genuine and he tries his best to keep you comfortable around him, also carries hijab pins in his backpack just in case you need some.

Bakugou Katsuki

Oh God.

Listen, he’s very respectful in his own way but it took him time to work through it with his competitive nature.

Man has done his research thoroughly and he is ready to commit.

“I can cook us a vegetarian meal that won’t be boring to the tastebuds like the crap they sell out there.”

That’s his way of asking you out, making sure his parents would be home too because he knows two people of different genders should not be left alone.

Makes the best damn vegetarian dish. Vegetarian because he has yet to figure out what halal is.

Tries to learn some words, does excellent but his way of speaking is even more aggressive than an Emirati accent. He has your Arab friends shaking in their shoes.

It’s Ramadan? Prepare for three am calls that consist of him yelling at you to get up. Yes, he breaks his sleep pattern to wake you up to eat. Yes, he makes you video call him so he makes sure you eat well and hydrate. Yes, he ends up fasting with you so you don’t feel alone. Will he tell you that? No.

Sometimes he makes Iftar for you and brings it in a bento, giving it to you after school so you can have a good meal.

Watches you with wide eyes and mouth open in shock when he sees you eating when you’re supposed to be fasting;

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO EAT YET!”

“I- I’m on my period?”

“SO?”

“We’re not allowed to fast while we’re on our period.”

He stays quiet the rest of the day.

Admires different styles of hijab you do.

Eid? He’s the best dressed alongside you. 

Bakugou would be a good partner, respectable, and tries his best to understand and make you feel comfortable in his own way.

Iida Tenya

This boy knows everything already.

Has done research the second he realized there was a Muslim classmate, and as a good fellow class president it was his duty to make sure everyone was comfortable.

Has extra scarves with a small tin full of pins for you kept under his desk in case of emergencies or if they get damaged in training (which wouldn’t happen as Hatsume had created one that would resist damage.) It was a nice thought.

He does slowly wants to get to know you more as your sweet nature made him feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Keeps a respectful distance at all time.

“Asalam Alaikum, Y/n! It has come to my attention that Ramadan is nearing soon so I have made a list of dietary necessities you may need to intake in order to help your quirk during the holy month.”

“Iida, that’s so sweet of you! You didn’t have to! Also, how did you pronounce that so well?”

“As you class president and friend, I am honoured to do such! To answer your question, I had listened to someone say it on repeat before I practiced.”

This man has every word on repeat just to soak it in his brain.

Averts his eyes even if he sees your ankle, angry at himself for accidentally glancing.

Sir, I promise it’s not a sin to look at an ankle accidentally.

Sees your Hijab bunching up and start showing bits of your neck and shoulder? Grabs the end of the scarf and pulls it down to cover again, avoiding touching your skin.

Checks the ingredients list of the snacks you’re buying for gelatine or alcohol, making sure it’s halal/vegetarian/vegan friendly.

Upset you can’t find halal gummies? This man goes online and orders a bag of certified halal sweets for you to enjoy because you deserve simple joys like this.

Makes sure you pray on time, has the MuslimPro app on his phone to keep track.

He also scrolls through the app to learn more.

Iida is a perfect gentleman and he’s also making sure that you stay spiritually on track and don’t get distracted <3

Kaminari Denki

This man is a physically affectionate person. 

He will make the mistake of bounding over to you and slinging an arm around your shoulder or pull you into a hug.

But he will learn and try to control the affectionate urges, limiting himself to hand holding if you allow it.

He thinks you look wonderful with the different coloured hijabs.

Tries making you wear a yellow and black one to match his hair.

Forgets that you can’t eat everything and anything, especially casual things like gummies.

Will apologize profusely when he realizes after you tell him it has gelatine.

Tries to stave off of gelatine infused products.

“Not even water???”

“Denki, I swear to God I’m going to smack you.”

Yes he’s that guy.

Tries fasting with you, just sleeps through the whole day till it was time to eat.

When he see’s you dozing off in class because of staying up all night either because of suhoor or special night prayers during the last ten days, he’ll zap you to keep you paying attention.

He is honestly your hype man when it comes to modest fashion, especially during Eid. This boy will dramatically kneel on the floor and look at you like you’re the light of his life.

Get’s excited when you hand him Eid money because you love him and he has cute child-like tendencies.

Tries greeting your family members, comes out as gibberish.

“Asalamasjdaskjdhashjs”

“Not quite there yet, Denki. A-plus for effort.”

He’s a fun guy who tries to better himself around you, making sure he’s aware of his actions and makes an effort to not mess up around you because he’s never felt so in love with a person as he has with you.

[awanderingdeal]

Maybe you could write o’knutzy date night and them just being so fucking in love?

Hi Anon! This one kind of wrote itself and it's a bit random, but I quite like it? I hope you do to!

CW: food

Let me know if you think I missed any content warnings.

Rating: G

Credit for Leo, Finn and Logan go to @lumosinlove

"Did I win?" Logan asked, tearing his helmet off as he stumbled from the Huracan.

Rashid, the tall, wiry brunette who had been saddled with the job of making sure that he, Leo and Finn were given the VIP treatment gave a small chuckle. "Yeah," he nodded, "You definitely got round the fastest."

"See, this is why we don't let him drive," Finn scoffed. "Zero self preservation."

"You're just a sore loser."

Finn pushed Logan out the way, taking the spot in front of bemused looking Rashid. "Can I go again? I mean we're already breaking our contract just being here, why not risk death, huh?"

Rashid glanced his watch, his forehead crinkling slightly in the centre before he managed to school his features into a smile. "Er, yeah, I'm sure -"

"Hey, no, it's okay. We've been here way longer than we should have been already," Leo interrupted. "Let me apologise for my bo-," he paused, clearing his throat quickly. "Let me apologise for my teammates. They're athletes. Can't help being competitive y'know?"

Rashid waved his hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it. Trust me you're very well behaved by the standards we see in here."

Logan winced internally, figuring those standards were probably not too high. "Non, we are sorry. If you can show us back to where we left our things, we will leave you to get on with your day."

Rashid showed them off the race circuit and back to the large glass atrium where they had entered. Once they had gathered their bags, Logan thrust his hand out towards the attendant, "Thanks again, you were fantastic. We'll let the management team know we were very satisfied."

Leo stepped forward next, adding his own thanks and sliding his wallet from the front pocket of his backpack. "Here, let me give you a tip. I know this was way above your pay grade."

"It's not a bribe though, you can still go to media and tell them we're total jackasses if you want. Get that dollar," Finn added, leaning casually against a metal beam that.

Logan groaned, pulling the brim of his cap further down his forehead. "Please ignore him."

Thankfully Rashid didn't seem to take any offence, his laugh deep and sincere. "No, no media. I know this isn't very professional, but there is one thing you could do for me?"

"Go on," Logan said, gesturing for him to continue.

"An autograph? I have twins and they are big fans of The Lions," Rashid said, and Logan breathed a sigh of relief that this was not some outrageous request. "They would love if you could sign something for them."

"Of course," Logan smiled, reaching forward to accept the pen Leo offered. He slipped one his photocards from the pouch slung across his chest, having learned to carry them almost everywhere after a few occasions of meeting a fan who didn't have anything for him to sign. "Is it okay for me to do it on the back of this, or did you have something else?"

"No, that is perfect. Thank you."

"What's their names?"

"Oh, one second. I have a photo." Rashid's patted the breast of his jacket. He hesitated, his eyes flicking back up to Logan's face before he pulled out a small square, barely larger than a passport photo. "This is Nia," he said, pointing at the young girl sporting a maroon coloured hijab that matched the jersey she was wearing, and a wide smile that showed off her braces. "And this is Ari." Rashid's finger traced over the matte paper to the boy sat next to Nia.

"They look like great kids," Logan gave the rehearsed sentence. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy meeting fans, but right now he was on a date and it just wasn't exactly what he wanted to be doing in the moment. He shoved the slight resentment away, concentrating on writing something meaningful on the back of his photocard.

***

"It's not a bribe though!" Logan punched Finn lightly in the arm as soon as they had pushed through the doors to the parking lot. "What were you thinking?"

"Hey, at least he didn't near fucking out us," Leo drawled, stabbing at the button on the car fob.

Finn climbed into the front passenger seat, grasping Leo's hand across the console. "Don't stress about it, I don't think he noticed anyway. And even if he did, he probably just thought you were going to say your boys. Just three bros hanging out, racing cars. Can't get more straight than that."

Leo wrinkled his nose, and Logan wanted nothing more than to lean into the front and kiss it. He resisted though, there were too many other cars in the lot to risk it.

"Thanks for arranging it, Lo. It was fun," Leo turned to look at him.

"We're not done yet. I was thinking we could go get ice-cream?" Logan said, laughing as Finn's eyes brightened.

"At Fortescue's?"

"At Fortescue's," Logan agreed, rolling his eyes. He preferred the parlour on the other side of town that brought out new flavours each week, but could admit the quality was better at Fortescue's and it made Finn happy, so he was happy.

"They do the best vanilla there."

"Leo, what did we do so wrong to deserve a boyfriend who thinks vanilla ice cream is something to get excited about?" Logan sighed, playfully exasperated.

Logan never did get an answer to that question, but thirty minutes later, wandering through the quiet woodlands that Fortescue's ice cream parlour backed onto, Logan was asking himself something different.

He clutched his ice cream cone, a combination of double chocolate and birthday cake flavoured which was the most adventurous Fortescue's got, in one hand. His other was tucked into Leo's swinging in the space between them. A few feet ahead, Finn had carved their initials into a tree and was working on the heart to surround it.

What had he done so right so deserve these two?

[guiltgoreglory]

Heat Waves (Chapter 1: A Warm Welcome)

(Very) Brief Summary: Reader is a government contractor joining the team in Benghazi.  (Eventual Tanto x Reader) (2,684 words)

Chapter 2

Foreword: In this series, the reader will be loosely based off of Nikita from the TV show Nikita (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_(TV_series)). The reader has an extensive background in black-ops and is currently an independent contractor working with the department of defense in coordination with the executive branch. If you have any questions about the character, feel free to reach out to me and I can clarify. The story will generally follow the plot of the movie with the exception of a few scenes. Lastly, the POV will shift throughout the story, a change in POV will be signaled by a line.

Author’s Note: Hey guys! I have a full plot already set up but it has been a long time since I’ve written a fic. I’m so sorry if the writing is kinda shitty but I really wanted to get it down in writing. I hope you like it!

You closed your eyes and rested your head against the headrest, trying to find an ounce of comfort in the cramped seat. The dull hum of the plane was cut through by various murmurs amongst the travelers. After a minute or two, you deemed the effort fruitless, letting out a frustrated sigh. Instead, you opened your eyes and looked out the window, watching as the monotonous view trailed by. For the next several weeks, maybe even months, you’d once again become acclimated to discomfort. This shitty seat is probably as good as it gets, you thought. The department will likely have you shacked up in some storage closet on a grimy 20-year-old cot. You have had worse and at least you’d be occupied. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Silva shift. You turned, watching him from a row back, across the aisle. He grimaced as he took off his wedding ring, putting it into a small metal container. He didn’t appear to notice your gaze as you turned your attention back to the window, the heat already radiating in. You felt sorry for him. Leaving people behind is never easy, especially kids. Luckily, you didn’t have that problem. 

As the plane began its descent you skimmed the team comp in your head. You’d been thoroughly briefed on the contractors, on top of all the research you had done on your own. You were joining alongside Jack Silva. A family man in real estate. Pushed to fly back overseas for the money to support his family. From all that you had seen, he’s a good guy. He seemed to be good company. It’ll be nice to not be the only strange face, you thought.

You readied yourself. Benghazi is far worse than most believed. Ever since the department even suggested you might be helpful here, you’d been keeping track of the chaos. It was only a matter of time before it erupted into a full-blown civil war. 

As the landing zone came into view you checked your hijab, making sure not a hair was out of place. You wore a casual white button-down shirt with a gray tank top underneath. You unfolded the sleeves, covering as much of your skin as possible. Given the heat, you’d love to run out in something a little more breathable, but the beige cargo pants would have to do. Next, you checked your “cello” case that sat in the seat next to you. Moving the strap towards you for a quick and effortless disembark. Being you had its perks, one of which was bringing some of your own firepower. 

You cracked your neck as a familiar ding came over the com. 

“Welcome to Benghazi.”

_

The two men settled into the car, watching over all the civilians walking past. Rone leaned forward, pulling a handgun out of the back of his pants. “It’s loaded.” Jack accepted the gun readily, cocking it within his lap. 

“How’s the team here?” 

“Good. Three ex-marines, one ex-army ranger. It’ll be nice to have some more team guys around.”

Jack briefly glanced back at Rone. “Guys?”

“Yeah. We’re waiting on one more before we head out.”

“You work with him before?”

“Nope. Defense department assigned her.”

Jack furrowed his brow slightly, pursing his lips in surprise. “Alrighty then, what’s she look like?” Jack looked more intently for another westerner standing out like a sore thumb. 

“No idea. I’ve been told that she will find us.”

“Oh how ominous.” A smile tugged at the corner of his lip. 

Rone hummed in agreement as he eyed the rearview mirror. Out of the crowd, a body began to beeline towards the car. “Think that’s her.”

Jack nonchalantly stretched, turning towards the back of the car to catch a look. 

_

You approached the dust-covered truck, already craving shade from the burning sun. Your sunglasses did little to protect your eyes from the glare off of the ground. As you got closer, you could see Tyrone eying you from the side mirrors. You adjusted the straps of both your cello case and your duffel, making sure not to make any sudden movements. You made your way to the driver’s side door, turning to face him. “You Tyrone?” you asked, knowing full well it was.

“Yes, Ma’am. And you are?”

“Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you, Y/N. Hop in.”

You nodded, moving back towards the rear of the car. Swinging the back door open, you threw your stuff onto the ground next to the seat. Leaving just enough room for you to climb in. As you sat down, you angled yourself towards Jack so that you could have a proper introduction. He noticed your movement, turning back to face you. He reached out his hand for a handshake. 

“Jack Silva”

You took his hand. “Y/N.” 

He settled back into his seat as Rone started the car. “Just Y/N?”

“Just Y/N.” You affirmed. 

As Rone made his way through the city they began to catch up, making friendly jabs at each other. You yanked your duffel towards you, rummaging through the various clothes. You could feel Jack’s eyes peeking at you ever so often through the mirror, making sure you weren’t doing anything unsavory. Trust is earned.  Finally, you found your shoulder holster. You unbuttoned your shirt, throwing it on the seat beside you. You put on the holster, adjusting the straps as needed so that it sat comfortably. After you were satisfied you again began to look through your luggage, pulling out two black pistols. You loaded a magazine into both of the guns. The sound quickly drew the attention of both men as the conversation briefly paused before they returned to their conversation. You paid them no mind, knowing that any response would probably make them more antsy. You then cocked them before placing them within your holster. Grabbing your shirt, you put it back on, leaving it unbuttoned. It was opaque enough to conceal your firearms as long as no one looked too close. 

“So, Y/N,” Rone directing the conversation towards you, “The Defense Department didn’t tell me much about you. What branch you from?” 

You turned from watching out the side of the car. “Covert operations.” 

That definitely piqued his interest. Jack let Rone do the questioning, but it was clear he was just as curious as him. 

“Alright. SEAL Team?”

“Uh, no. It’s a little more complicated.”

“Oh I get it, you’re on some James Bond shit huh.” He chuckled to himself as you smiled and rolled your eyes.

“Pretty much.”

Rone left the questioning there, knowing he’d probably not get much more of an answer, at least not until you’d come to know him a bit better. The two of them shared a look before the car came to a sudden stop. 

“Shit. No, no, no, no, no this isn’t good.” Rone’s body tensed as he assessed the situation. 

Civilians began to run around the car, whimpering in fear. You straightened up, readying for a shit show. You positioned yourself in the middle of the back, between the two men so you could see as much as possible through the windshield. 

“Fuck.” Rone’s discomfort quickly seeped through his cool resolve. “Who the fuck are these guys?” 

“What do we got?” Jack stayed still, his eyes scanning over the various armed men.

“Brigade we coordinate with, February Seventeenth Martyrs. This ain’t them.” He looked back past you and he switched into reverse. Moving back a few feet, the path was blocked and the car jolted forward. “Shit we’re boxed in.”

You settled on your knees, carefully unclipping the straps keeping your guns in place, just in case. Both men leaned out of the window. Jack looking up towards the man on the balcony readied to run.

“We bailing?” He asked, voice calm and collected.

Rone, giving no response, pulled out his radio. “Base this is Rone. Come in, over.”

“This is Base, go Rone.”

“I’m in a Jam off Fifth Ring Road. I’m lookin’ at about 8 armed tangos here.”

“Copy that, sit tight.”

“Sit tight, that’s great advice.” Everyone in the car became increasingly more agitated as the armed militia made its way in your direction. 

You took a deep breath. “If we’re bailing we gotta do it now.” You glanced at your bags. You could leave the duffel. There wasn’t anything particularly important in there. The case on the other hand couldn’t be lost to a rampant terrorist cell, if you did, the government would be up your ass about it for at least another 10 years. You fidgeted slightly, knowing that the opportunity to flee was about to pass.

Jack clenched his jaw. “They got a KPV.”

Fuck this is bad. 

“Base we ain’t got all day.”

“Hey, Rone. They’re trying to get Feb 17 to back you up, but we’re coming.”

Deeming that transmission utterly useless, Rone whipped out his cell. “Oz I’m in a jam of Fifth Ring.”

“Ty.” Jack interjected as the men became uncomfortably close.

“Rone, 17 Feb QRF is being alerted.”

“Fuck that, the only Quick Reaction force I want is my guys.” Without an immediate response, Rone continued on. “Send them. I want my guys.” He said more adamantly. 

“Negative, Rone. Just hang in there.”

“Maybe I’m not making myself clear. I’m looking at multiple radical insurgents with AKs and a 50-cal technical set to blow my rover all the way back to Zimbabwe. Over.”

You watched as a man dressed in a disheveled suit made his way around the vehicles and debris. He’s the big guy.

“It’s not my call, brother.”

Goddamnit. Looks like we’re either talking our way through this, or we go out quick. The thought gave you the slightest bit of comfort.

Rone looked towards Jack frustrated. You could sense he felt an inch of guilt for getting his friend stuck in this hellhole.

“Here we go.” Jack said nonchalantly as he could given the circumstances.

You crossed your arms, giving yourself easy access to your handguns without looking too conspicuous. A man stood at the front of the rover, yelling something you couldn’t understand. He pointed his AK right at you, maybe it wasn’t on purpose but you couldn’t help but mentally scoff. Well, that’s not very nice.

“Welcome to Benghazi.”

The man in front banged on the hood as the leader moved towards the driver’s side window. Jack raised his hands up innocently as Rone smiled at the man. 

“Salaam.” Rone raised his badge up to the man in the suit as he gazed at him incredulously. “Libyan visa. Official. Libyan government.” The leader looked him up and down. 

The guy with the AK was now in Jack’s face. His gaze shifted forward, doing his best to remain calm despite the barrel of a gun being inches from his forehead.

“Friendly? Hm? Friendly?” Rone again gestured with his badge.

Rone whatever game you’re playing it better fucking work because last time I checked a friend of Al-Qaeda is no friend of ours. You did your best to blend into the back of the car, feigning as the harmless woman. 

“Pull over for inspection.” The leader said sternly.

Rone shook his head. “No.” 

“Pull over for inspection!” He was now angry, his voice shaking with every word.

Alright, this is how it’s gonna go. You crept your hands slightly closer to your guns.

Rone’s voice remained steady. “I’m sorry, sir. I can’t do that.”

The man at Jack’s door yelled once more. Banging his palm against the dirty surface. Then the slightest movement came from Jack. 

It’s showtime. You thought. You gripped your pistols and whipped them forward, pointing them as the secondary soldier positioned at the front of the rover. Jack and Rone acted similarly with Jack’s gun pointed across at the leader, and Rone’s gun pointed at the soldier beside the door. The soldier at the front adjusted his AK, pointing it more fervently towards the car. 

“Look up.” Rone pointed towards the sky with his empty hand, never moving his gaze from the leader’s eyes. “Go ahead, look up.” Some of the aggression left the leader as he looked towards the sky, confused. “You see the drone?” The man looked back down. “No? That’s okay. The drone sees you.”

Nice play, Rone. You thought to yourself. A couple of Americans? No problem. We don’t pose that much of a threat. But good ol’ American air support? Now that carries a little weight. 

“Sees your face. We know who you are.”

Jack, facing the soldier at his door, swallows hard. Keeping with Rone’s power play, he maintains eye contact.

“If anything happens to us, your home, your family, boom, gone. Give us the order to let us go.”

Jack, looking past the AK in his face, doesn’t flinch as the soldier gestures with his gun.

 “I want the car!” 

Within a brief moment, Jack and Rone switched their aim, with Jack now pointing his handgun at the soldier and Rone at the leader. You flinched ever so slightly at the movement, but you remained steady, watching for any worrisome movement amongst the militia. Adrenaline pumped through your veins as you could feel your heart pounding in your chest. You ignored the harsh metal of the rover digging into your knees. This was your guys’ only shot to make it out of this cramped alley. They had to think your little caravan of three had the power of the entire U.S. military revolving overhead when in reality, you were just three Americans with a couple of guns in the middle of fuckin nowhere.

“No, I’m not gonna do that.” Jack shakes his head, leaning forward towards the man. The energy around the car was beginning to shift. Despite the KPV having enough firepower to destroy your car, and about 5 cars behind you, you three possessed the upper hand. They recoiled at the barrel of your guns, not the other way around.

The leader’s eyes began to soften, his harsh exterior falling at the thought of losing everything. For a moment, you actually pitied him. “I earn the right to decide the future of my country.” You understood the sentiment behind his words. Once again the U.S. had shoved itself into the center of a country, with no right to do so. But you, and the men sat beside you, just wanted to keep others safe. You had no agenda.

“You’re talking to the wrong guy. How willing are you to die for your country? I’m ready to go right here, right now.” Easy, Tyrone. Don’t push it too far. 

The leader’s frown deepened as he considered the weight of Rone’s words. He slowly backed away from the car. “Leave here. While you still can.”

You stopped yourself from relaxing your figure even though it felt like the weight of the world had just been lifted off your shoulders. Rone leaned back into his seat, beginning to maneuver the car between the debris. Jack slowly lowered his pistol to the door as the car inched forward. You followed suit and lowered your guns into your lap. You could hear the leader yelling to his men, and their posture relaxed enough to show they weren’t an immediate threat. Air filled your lungs for the first time in what felt like 5 minutes, before you looked behind through the dusty back window, making sure the leader was true to his word and you weren’t about to get shot in the back. You settled back onto your seat, leaning back against the warm metal. You debated holstering your weapons but decided it was best to have them at the ready until you were within the walls of the base.

“We got air support?” Jack’s voice was calm but demanding. You knew the answer to his question but left Rone to give him the bad news. Rone didn’t take his eyes off of the road as he did his best to make it back to base in one piece. 

“We don’t have any fucking support.”

[uzumaki-rebellion]

“Black Boys Bloom Thorns First: [Volume 3, Chp. 3]

Need to catch up? Volume 3 Masterlist HERE.

"Get to flippin like a trap phone But I never lose connection If you feeling that I'm on your line Hit me with the right click And I put that on everything You ain't met a nigga like this…"

Duckwrth – "Quick"

Fucking Tony Stark.

Erik thought that once he left California, he could put distance between himself and the narcissistic billionaire. He learned as much as could from Tony, especially using the Stark labs to study the vibranium his father left behind. Tony's world was seductive. Billionaire freedom was a type of hyper surrealistic living that warped a person's humanity. It was easy to dehumanize others. It was easy to manipulate under the guise of charm, good looks, and fake caring. It was easy to spend money on things that pissed away resources to build weaponry over life-saving tech that could save billions of lives. Instead, it was used by Tony to amuse a stagnant, decrepit, reptilian uber-rich one percent and their government flunkies globally.

Erik had no respect for Tony. Never did. He saw what the man could do without a care in the world. Despite a shared life story over the loss of parents, and a shared life story of being genius children orphaned and forging paths in the world alone, Tony was pampered obsolescence. The world didn't need any useless rich people who pretended self-importance and hoarded the ability to live well from other people. The man, and people like him, would be the first to go once Erik ascended the throne of Wakanda. As his mother Califia taught him from birth, all power to the people. The new world order would prevent billionaires and even millionaires from existing. The new world order under his reign--

Erik saw that Tony focused his attention on Diša, and she was very cool with the man. Erik liked that. Most women would act impressed with Tony's seductive act of asking about them until they figured out if he wanted information from them or just a dip in the sack… or both. He seemed enamored with her hijab and form-hugging tracksuit.

"Have you been on your Hajj in Mecca, yet?" Tony asked.

"I went last year with my father. We spent a month overseas, and it gave me time to re-affirm my faith and also get some work done."

"Work?"

"I'm a graduate TA in the school of architecture and planning. I'm getting a PhD through the Art, Culture, and Technology program. I studied a lot of the ancient buildings throughout Saudi Arabia and we flew to Dubai so I could see some of the newer structures going up there."

"PhD… how old are you?"

Erik raised a brow at the intrusion. Tony sounded like he was interviewing her for his stacked deck of chosen ones. Diša sipped on her latte and Erik watched her succulent lips move.

"Twenty-five next month."

"Where did you do undergrad?"

"Here."

"High School?"

"Private school in L.A.."

"Where?"

"Is this a speed date, Tony? Or a job interview?"

Erik let a sly grin shift his lips. She didn't address him by his surname. He liked that. She wasn't bamboozled by the Stark schmooze and ostentatious display of wealth. Tony looked sheepish.

"You're an enigma. If I'm being too forward, please tell me—"

"Trust me, I would. But you seem fascinated by me and it's cute. I'd call it flirting but I think you're really interested in what I do because of Erik."

Erik cut his eyes away from her as he swirled the last of his espresso in his cup.

"Well, you know this guy, Stevens is—"

"I don't. We just formally met about thirty minutes ago,"

Tony's eyes grew enormous and his mouth went lax.

"Oh, shit. I interrupted a first date."

"No, it's not a date. He's a fan of my radio show and brought me some classic music."

Erik didn't like the amused look shining behind Tony's eyes.

"So we're both learning about you. Outstanding. High school?"

"Le Lycee Francais de Los Angeles. I went to the Marcus Garvey School for elementary, and before that, I was home-schooled by my parents. I skipped two grades. On weekends I went to an Arabic language school. I'm fluent in French and Arabic and I can play the drums. My all-time favorite drummer is Max Roach and I drum the entire album of, "We Insist" with my father and brothers playing percussion and tenor sax the last Sunday of every month. When I grow up, I want to design conscious sustainable homes across the world that cost very little for people to afford and own within a couple of years and not a lifetime. Would you like to know my blood type and astrological sign too?"

"I'm a Gemini, and you?"

"Cute," Diša said with a giggle, "I'm an Aries."

"So is Stevens," Tony said waving his hands toward Erik.

"Why do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?" Tony quipped moving his seat closer to her.

"It's really passive-aggressive to call people informally by their last names. You give off buddy energy but it feels disdainful. What's up with that?"

Erik craned his neck back. Diša was on one.

"Stevens was my intern. I call all my interns and many of my employees by their surnames—"

"Yeah, but he's not an intern anymore, and he doesn't work for you. You're keeping him in his place by distancing your respect. He called you Tony. You call him Stevens. Like some ole subverted slave shit. Might as well call him Boy."

"Okay, this entire conversation just went left," Tony huffed.

The grin on Erik's face nearly split his face in two.

"Oh, you are so enjoying this Stevens… Erik… damn. I feel like the sexiest woman in the world has chastised me. I will be mindful of calling my former protégé by his first name respectfully and I'd like to take you out to dinner."

"No thanks," Diša said slipping down from her stool seat.

"No? Seriously? I have a private jet on standby. We can hop over to New York and have a five-star meal prepared by Chef Lovoirno over at the—"

"It was nice meeting you, Tony. My ex-husband is waiting for me at my house and I have a lecture to prepare later. Erik, another time?"

Erik stood up while Tony sat at his seat flabbergasted.

"Cool. Call me when you have some time," he said.

"I will. Thanks for the music."

Diša grabbed her DJ bag and walked out of the coffee shop. Erik watched her until she disappeared around a corner.

"Sheesh," Tony said.

"Yep."

"I want to marry her. Am I bleeding? I feel like she slit my throat as she left. Jesus, that fucking voice. You hear that voice?"

"Every day online."

"It's like… the gravitas of a Goddess humbling her worshippers. I could listen to her forever. How did you find her?"

"You messed up my moment," Erik said with irritation bubbling up.

"You should thank me. I got the skinny on her for you. Brilliant, trilingual, cares about the environment… musician, DJ, ex-husband, same zodiac sign…"

Erik felt a way about that. Ex was good. Still hanging out with a former husband? Not so good.

"I need to get back to my building. I have a study session."

"I'll walk back with you."

"Why are you here?"

"I have some meetings set up here, and I wanted to check on you. I also have a surprise for you. Courtesy of your grandfather."

"Granpop?"

"C'mon."

Erik and Tony walked together and a few students and staff recognized the strut and smug smile of the billionaire. They reached his building and Tony took him to a dark SUV. Tony's chauffeur and personal bodyguard, Harold "Happy" Hogan hopped out of the driver's side holding a motorcycle helmet.

"Shit," Erik said.

"I thought you might like this to tool around in. I know that muscle car of yours eats up gas."

Erik's black and green motorcycle sat pristine and shiny behind the sedan. The chrome on it was so polished that it glinted in the sunset striking Erik's eye with a harsh light.

"Thanks, man, I appreciate it."

Tony handed him the keys and Happy handed over the helmet. Erik would have to figure out a way to park it without extra fees and fuss. It was an actual help to him now because he could tell his dormmates that he couldn't drive them anywhere to save gas. Erik had become the unofficial taxi service for the Chocolate City crew.

"Hey, Erik."

Three of his dorm brothers rolled up on foot and they looked dazzled by seeing Tony with him. One of them was his sophomore roommate, Damien, who stuck to Erik whenever he chilled in the commons room of their dorm floor. Erik had been sneaking Alexis up into their dorm room fucking her silly, and Damien seemed to have the needs of a voyeur as his roommate. He caught the young man jerking off as Erik pounded the hell out of Alexis. He thought Damien was asleep and Alexis was dripping all over his fingers as he played in her folds as they snuggled under the covers on his bed watching a movie on his laptop. Alexis was a big ole freak who craved dick all the time, and she knew how to pant softly in his ear so that the other men didn't hear them. She had no problem having sex with him under the covers. Alexis had a roommate who never left her dorm room, and they were both tired of fucking in his car or clandestine meet-ups in the back of the library late at night. There was also the problem of her having a boyfriend on campus and she was paranoid about going to a hotel and someone seeing them together off-campus.

Erik was very sly with pretending he didn't interact with Alexis all that much between classes and her man had no clue that his own cheating ass was being cheated on by his own girl right under his nose. Alexis and her boyfriend had a dysfunctional relationship and yet they refused to break up. Erik had other girls he messed with occasionally on the low, but Alexis gave him the best release from his busy schedule. As crude as it sounded, all holes from her were available, and he took advantage. He was reaching his sexual peak as a young man and her hot snatch was just what he needed after grueling classes.

They hooked up at least three times a week, and two of those days always coincided when Damien was in. Erik asked him to leave the first time but the poor dude was exhausted trying to keep up with his course load. It was too loud for Damien to sleep in the commons and Alexis was getting irritated with a wet pussy waiting on him to beat down. Erik's erection was visible through his sweats and banging in the car in broad daylight was out of the question when they both had classes to attend right after. Erik told Damien to ignore them and he proceeded to tear Alexis's ass up.

The second time it happened, they didn't bother to stay under the covers and Damien got to see balls, pussy, assholes, titties, and dick sucking from a very exhibitionist woman. Erik caught sight of Damien's hand working his own dick until he came into some handy tissue that sat in a box by his bed. When Alexis left with stretched pussy walls and a smile on her face, Damien asked Erik about sex.

"How do you get girls to do that, man?" Damien asked.

Erik had been set to tell his roommate to keep his meat-beating to himself, but he figured out that Damien had a guy crush on him. Damien was heterosexual, and Erik recognized the awe and admiration with his easy and open sexuality that the young man carried for him. He also didn't have a lot of friends he could confide in that explicitly.

"You a virgin?"

"No, I've been with women before… just not like that."

"Sweet talk, consent, and condoms, bruh."

"No, I mean… she was doing all kinds of things… and I've never seen a girl's pussy do that." "Do what?"

"It was moving."

"She had an orgasm. Pussy contracts. And Ma has a gorilla grip."

Damien smiled, feeling safe with his curiosity. Erik assumed Alexis' pussy throbbed hard because Erik whispered in her ear about how she was getting off because Damien was staring at her fat pussy. She moaned, and he told her to shut up knowing it would make her moan harder the more aggressive he became. He spanked Alexis, choked her, spit in her mouth, thumbed her puckered anal opening and more when she grew bratty on purpose. Erik revealed that he had caught sight of Damien fisting his dick because of them and the woman broke apart, her hard clenches along his length urging on his powerful release. Erik pulled off his condom and stroked the head of his dick against her clit until he busted a good hot one across her stomach.

"I've never seen that happen," Damien said.

As much porn as the dude watched, Erik was surprised he hadn't seen it before.

"You last a long time too—"

"Dude… look… if you treat a woman's body right, it will do all kinds of amazing things."

Damien nodded and Erik left their room to take a shower knowing that Damien would keep his mouth shut about Alexis. That horny lil nigga was getting the best live porn in his life. Alexis was his fantasy girl and Erik often observed Damien staring at her with wistful looks.

Erik glanced over at his building. Alexis was waiting for him, but his mind was on Diša. His dorm mates peeped his bike and gave compliments.

"Take me up and show me around," Tony said.

His dorm buddies loved that idea. It was better to get it over with and send Tony on his way. It was also a way of getting rid of Alexis.

###

Tony sat in the commons answering questions and chatting up twenty men crammed into the room surrounding him. Happy leaned up against a wall staring at his watch from time to time, and after three hours, Tony was whisked away to the sedan and Erik had to entertain excited chatter and questions asking about his internship and what it was like working for the man for another hour.

He was exhausted mentally when he dragged himself to his room and dropped on his twin bed. After a short nap, he hopped on his laptop to look up Diša. Her full name was Diša Abdullah-Woods, but there was very little of her on the net with her personal name. She never allowed pictures with her DJ name except for the Buttafly logo that was a simple Black butterfly. She was an enigma in a world that over-shared too much.

Erik kept watch of the goings-on in the Architecture school and came across an exhibit in an off-campus museum that would show off designs of the future. Grabbing his keys, Erik left Chocolate City he drove into the city. He parked near an art deco building.

Passing large canvas paintings and a few weird sculptures he checked out miniature structures that impressed him to the point of making him take his cell out to snap pictures for his grandfather and aunt who lived in London. Erik missed the memo of the event being a dress-up affair, but he was able to blend in with some dark joggers, a thin hoodie, and a jean jacket that belonged to his father from back in his day of being a barber in Oakland.

The structures on the display tables spread throughout the exhibit had futuristic homes, business structures, community centers, and schools designed with a strong ecological bent. A mix of using nature, solar power, and wind power for environmental harmony. Once more, Erik heard Diša's voice before he saw her as she stood fifteen feet away from him in front of a dazzling miniature mountain terrain apartment dwelling. Behind her on a wall was a blown-up photograph of her creation with the words, Ancient Tellum-Dogon inspired Dwellings by Diša Abdullah-Woods.

He observed her explaining her exhibit, and he walked around the side of it to get a better look. Her dwelling looked the most futuristic compared to some of the other designs, but it also had an almost primordial feel to it. The dwellings blended in with the color of the brownish-red mountains with garden roofs filled with tiny examples of vegetables grown by small figurines of people sunbathing, working out, or praying quietly on the different levels carved into the fake mountain. There were cisterns on every level that blended in with the natural textures of the mountain walls to provide water for the roof gardens and the homes. There was an aerodynamic curve to allow wind to cool the housing naturally without relying on air conditioning. The greenery also helped with cooling and providing shade.

Dressed in a painted-on brown and white faux snakeskin pencil skirt and a dark maroon blouse, Diša's twisted locs were piled high and clipped tight on her head. Lips the color of a magenta-red sunset, she had winged eyeliner that gave her a vintage glamourous look. Erik found his chest growing tight as the air left his lungs again. Every time he saw her his hands grew clammy, and his mouth lost moisture. He stood and stared at her like he did their very first meeting. But this time around, she smiled at him and he thought he could fly to the moon and back.

"Erik, hi," she said reaching out and patting his arm like he was some little kid.

"I heard about this online. Thought I'd check it out. This is incredible," he said allowing his eyes to drop so he wouldn't incinerate in front of her penetrative gaze.

He wiped his hands on his joggers and swallowed quickly.

"You see what I do now," she said.

"There are a lot of cool designs here. I never really thought about architecture like this… mixing art and ancient tech in fresh ways."

"What are you studying?"

"Bioacoustics, sonic warfare."

"Heavy shit," she said.

A frown turned down the corners of her mouth. He hated seeing that.

"What year are you?"

"Grad student. I'm here for two years then I'm off to the Navy."

"Navy? Why?"

"I went to Annapolis—"

"My God, you're just a baby."

"No, I'm not. I'm twenty."

"Milk breath," she teased.

More people filtered into their area.

"Let's go look around," she said pulling on his jacket and moving him further into another section.

They admired artwork, models structures, and people-watched from a wide doorway. Erik followed her around like a puppy on a leash and whenever she pressed against him to whisper about some work they looked over, he felt the hairs on his arms and neck raise. She led him to a massive metal sculpture that reminded him of a waterfall in Sao Paulo. He told her so and explained his annual trips to Brazil and soon they were holed up in a corner talking about his capoeira, his life in Oakland before his parent's death, and his relationship with Tony Stark and Stark Enterprises. Her eyes lit up when he spoke of his play cousin Marisol, his Uncle Bakari, his Aunt Serah, and his amazing Granpop who survived prison, the death of his daughter, and raising a wild grandson.

"You are a heavy book with a misleading cover, Erik Stevens."

They both lost track of time until he noticed his physics professor stroll in. Tall, thick in the waist, but toned everywhere else, Professor Delany's dark bearded face took in his surroundings. He recognized Erik's face and sauntered over. Erik prepared to listen to him question his preparedness for a Wednesday test, but the man bypassed him and kissed Diša on the cheek.

"Sorry I came late. Papers needed to be graded, and I had an extended meeting during my office hours tonight."

"No need to explain. Hollis, this is—"

"Erik Stevens, I know. One of my best students."

"He's in your class?"

"Yes. Good to see you outside of lectures, Erik."

Erik gritted his teeth. Hollis Delany took up too much space next to Diša. This was her ex-husband?

"Hollis, I'm starving. Can we go eat now?"

"I just got here, honey…"

Honey?

For a divorced couple, Diša and Hollis were super friendly.

"Okay, take a moment to look around, but I'm ready for seafood and wine. My work is toward the front… number eleven," she said referring to the tags that labeled each student design.

"Be right back," Hollis said in a trail of strong cologne.

Erik tracked the man mingling with other people.

"The ex, huh?" Erik asked.

The sun rose from her lips as she smiled and watched Hollis wander away.

"Keep that to yourself around here. We had a scandalous affair, but we stayed friends. He's a wonderful man, but ultimately, I outgrew him."

Hollis was brilliant and had a cadre of swooning grad students vying for his attention in class. But Diša must've been a tremendous blow to his ego to lose. Erik hung out longer just to hear her talk about her future designs. Hollis returned, and Erik left before it became too obvious that he was jealous. He headed for the entrance but Diša and Hollis came up behind him. Outside of the museum, Hollis helped her put on a sweater and they followed Erik toward his car. When he stopped to take out his keys, he noticed the parking ticket on his window.

"Dammit," he grumbled snatching the ticket and shoving it in his pocket.

He had been so engrossed talking to her that he forgot to check the time and feed his meter. Diša had a sympathetic look on her face.

"Parking is easier with my motorcycle, but I've been getting a lot of tickets with my car."

"Sweet ride, young man," Hollis said.

"You have student parking, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I switch off with my bike. I don't use my car as much now, but once it snows, I'll have to ditch the bike, and I gotta figure out what to do with it when that happens."

"You can keep it at my house. I have a two-car garage, and no car right now," she said.

"I can pay you," Erik said not trying to free-load.

"Free is fine. I use one side for my drums and the other side is just some boxes."

Hollis seemed a little perturbed by the conversation. Especially when she mentioned the boxes.

"I can bring it over this weekend," Erik said seizing the opportunity to solve his storage problem.

"Swing it by on Saturday. I'll be home," she said.

Hollis took out his cell and acted like they had to rush off. Erik took one last look at her before her ex urged her on.

"Night, Diša. Your work was great to see. You have a lot of talent," he said.

"Thank you, Erik. Saturday?"

"Saturday," he said hopping into his car.

The engine rumbled with an impressive roar as he pulled away from the curb leaving her behind. At the light, he saw Hollis clasp her hand and walk her to their evening together. Erik wondered if they still fucked. He took healthy peeks at Diša's ass before Hollis showed up and she was quite aware that he was checking her out. However, her reaction to his blatant appreciation was to ignore him and keep talking about her life's work, and soon enough he was focused on her mind and not her breasts or the way the back of her neck curved and had a place for him to press his lips into. He thought of all the women he had before and even the one who captured his heart for a time back in California, Tony Stark's secretary Devika. Even she was no match for this woman. The longer he stayed near her the more she became mythic in his sight. People referred to being knocked off of their feet in songs and conversations, but this was his first experience with that visceral feeling.

Back in his dorm room, he skipped studying and took advantage of being alone there. Grabbing lotion and tissue from Damien's new open tissue box, Erik pulled down his underwear and joggers while sitting on the edge of his bed. He smoothed cool slippery cocoa butter lotion up and down his chubby penis that plumped up the more he tugged on it. Blood rushed into flesh and it thickened more until it was rock hard and pulsing in his hand.

He undressed Diša in his mind, unhooking her bra and letting fat titties spill out so that he could stretch his mouth around them. Her full figure had him rutting and cursing as beads of sweat dampened his skin. Erik stroked his hand down to his balls, fantasizing that his dick was deep inside the pussy of an imaginary Diša who bounced on his dick. Erik had a soft spot for big girls who could handle big dicks, and he just knew that woman would cream all over his thick erection. The orgasm rushed him. He spurted long ropes of semen on the floor, completely ignoring the tissue in his hand as he pretended to fuck Diša against the museum wall with Professor Hollis Delany watching him dick down his ex. Erik sucked in the groan that threatened to notify his other dorm mates that he was beating off, but the thought of Hollis seeing him spit on his dick with hot saliva as he fucked Diša deep in her ass made him cum hard again in thick white streams of jizz that covered his fingers.

He made a big mess all over his bed and the floor.

Pulling up his joggers, he used more napkins to wipe up his ejaculate. He threw the soiled tissues into a wastebasket across the room and felt his cell ring in his pocket. He answered without looking at the number.

"Hey, I forgot to tell you where I live," Diša said.

Erik burst out laughing and fell back on his bed.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing, you just caught me watching something funny."

He grabbed onto his dick through his joggers. She had him hard again. Erik wished she was there to rub on his dick and make him cum once more.

###

Tag List:

@fd-writes @soufcakmistress  

@cherrystainedlipsbaby 

 @tclaybon  

@thadelightfulone

@allhailqueennel @bartierbakarimobisson @cpwtwot

 @shookmcgookqueen @yoyolovesbucky

@raysunshine78 

@the-illlest 

@terrablaze514  @l-auteuse @amirra88 

@jimizwidow 

@janelledarling

@chaneajoyyy​

@sweetestdream92  @purple-apricots​

 @blackpinup22​  @hennessystevens-udaku​

@scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade​ @bugngiz​ @stariamrry​  @honeytoffee​ @meilintheempressofdreams​

@tyees​  @eye-raq​  @writerbee-ffs​  @chocolatedream30​  ​  @mygirlrenee​ @thewaysheis​—awkward

@tchallasbabymama​

@lahuttor​

@goodieyaya​

@post-woke​

@soufcakmistress​

@yomiloo​

@goddessofthundathighs​

@nahimjustfeelingit-writes​

@retroxvailles​

@cydneyrenee4​

@nizzle-mo​

@cecereads209​

@childishgambinaax​

[wish-i-wasnt-a-coward]

Everything and Nothing

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Pairings: Demus, eventual LAMP

Warnings: cursing, rain, tattoo mention, scars, mention of strangling, 

\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\/

It had been around a week since the Princes had taken residence in the small Floridan town. The adults began returning to work seeing as the difficult parts of moving were mostly over. This meant that the twins were left home alone more and more frequently. 

Roman had returned to the shopping district, bringing Remus. Who immediately began plotting their next tattoo. 

Roman’s new friends did spend some days with the twins, often mentioning a third person that she had yet to meet. Remus was his usual chaotic self, harassing Patton to no end, he did, however, manage to win Logan’s begrudging friendship through his constant questions. The two of them had some of the most fantastic conversations about the most random stuff. 

But all good things must come to an end, and in a blink of an eye, the summer was over. Thankfully the four would be going to the same high school, so the melancholy mood was laced with a certain excitement in seeing each other every day, and of course the highly anticipated meeting of Virgil. 

\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\/

Remus had had a good week. They had made a friend, which seldom happened due to their ‘unique approach to life’, as his father liked to say. He had spent time with their twin and parents, which often was hard to do. They had even gotten a personal record of breaking their finger for the fourth time. 

But standing at the bus stop, in the pouring rain without an umbrella because your twin liked the aesthetic, was not high on Remus’s to-do list. 

By the time the bus arrived both of them were soaked to the skin. Remus was sure that if you wrung out their shirt you would get at least a gallon of water. The bus driver gave them a sympathetic smile and nodded towards the back of the bus. 

Roman found a seat quickly next to an emo kid, leaving Remus to fend for himself. They frantically scoped the rows of seats before basically throwing themselves into the nearest one. What a great way to start the day. 

The bus lurched forward and began its course again. Remus looked across the row and out the windows at the lashing rain. Plugging in his earbuds he hit play on the new Mother Mother album, Seven playing in their ears he turned back to look at his unfortunate victim. They were looking down at their phones, earbuds in. A yellow hijab blocking their face from Remus’s view. 

Suddenly their heads turned, as though they felt Remus’s eyes on them. Their bright eyes landed on the fidgety boy. The left half of their face had long red streaks going up and down, that eye also had a glassy look. Any sane person would leave the slightly frightening character alone. Fortunately, Remus wasn’t even remotely sane. 

“Halloo, my name’s Remus, he/they,” they said, “I like your hijab, I’m almost certain you have enough fabric to smother someone while still wearing it” The person smiled at him, “You’re right there is enough fabric. I’m Janus, any pronouns, It’s horrible to meet you,” they said with a wink. 

“I’m guessing you're new around here,” Janus said as she shifted to face the gremlin boy. “Yep, I ‘accidentally’ sent a kid to the hospital and got kicked out of my previous school, so me n’ my twin moved here!” They confirmed. 

Janus didn’t even look phased by the confession. “Well you should do nicely, there is plenty of violence for entertainment. You have your schedule, yes?” Remus nodded, pulling a crumpled piece of paper out of their pocket. “K, most of the teachers here are ignorant sluts. You can always rely on Mr. Flores for an interesting class though” they said with a vague gesture ”Ah, Lovely we have chemistry and gym together” Janus grinned, “I’m looking forward to bullying Mr. Sanders with you” With that, the bus pulled into the school and Janus disappeared into the crowds. 

\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\/

Virgil was tired, then again he was always tired. Just extra tired today. He woke up to rain coming in through the window, meaning he had to clean up the sill and empty all his fake candles. Of course, there was also school, which Virgil was not looking forward to. He couldn’t find a binder for the longest time, and when he did it was one of the ones he had almost outgrown. 

And then, as if the universe had decided to use him as a personal punching bag, some prick sat next to him during the bus ride. They didn’t say anything, but Virgil’s anxiety had been through the roof the whole time. Though in part, Virgil admitted, it may have been because the stranger looked like a fucking movie star. 

Their black hair was damp and had hung around their perfect jawline. Their skin was a soft copper color that reminded the boy of autumn somehow. They wore sword earrings, a distinctive red and white trench coat, and, when Virgil looked down he saw that their nails were painted a lovely sunset orange. 

The entire bus ride Virgil didn’t breathe in fear of annoying the beautiful person next to him. His sibling would punch him and tell him to ‘man up and talk to the kid’. But he ignored their voices in his head. He was content pining from afar. 

He’d done it before and he’ll do it again.

[valkerymillenia]

Now that I've finished season 3 of Young Justice, I'm adding on to my previous thoughts/review.

Anyway...

There's a criminal lack of Spoiler and Orphan, for starters but it's understandable why, this isn't a BatFam show after all (but I'd sooooooo watch a BatFam spin-off of this universe).

Got to see a hint of Suicide Squad! That was a surprise (not really but it's awesome).

Vandal Savage's backstory and development? Literal gold if you like villains (I never liked Savage and yet this interpretation of him just has so much potential!). I do wonder if they will ever approach the "Roy Harper is Savage's descendant" detail...

Thank you, Lord, for all the Klarion! Boy needs to show up more in DC media.

So Halo is bisexual and non-binary? That's pretty awesome but it sucks that nobody in the show seems to get the NB part and everyone codes her as female throughout the whole season, kinda defeats the purpose of having a NB character.

Still annoyed that they used the hijab for hype but removed her actual faith from the character (she literally says "I'm not Muslim", they could have at least left it undefined), you can't bank on a character's traits for "representation" and ignore the meaning behind them, otherwise it's pointless and insulting.

Also, making the Muslim girl the immortal? Badass (and works well with the character). Making it so you can repeatedly kill her to very graphically highlight the seriousness of the situation? A little fucked up, dude.

Still, she's powerful as hell and saved everyone in an amazing display of power.

So yeah, I totally love Halo and her concept is awesome but she was a bit disrespected by the writer and deserves better on some aspects. Oh, and I like the whole "Halo and Cyborg are now related" thing more than I anticipated.

Really happy to get bi Harper Row in the story! Bluebird is such an underappreciated character of the BatFam. The abuse subplot was also very good because it's a topic that needs to be approached in media, victims need to see positive representation.

The Bumblebee baby subplot was... Tricky. It really messes with an important ethical conundrum (yikes, eugenics) that is definitely too complex for younger audiences but I think the goal was to create another future super-kid for the next seasons (still a little icky though but at least they tried to frame it as controversial even to Karen's own feelings). I guess we'll find out.

Granny Goodness has always been a brutal villain and I hope we see more of her. Also, MORE BIG BARDA, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!

Wyynde and Kaldur are SO CUTE! GAH! I need more of them! I just love their relationship so much.

"Who is Dick's family anyway? Is Grayson's father Bruce Wayne-...?" *cue someone immediately redirecting the conversation*

I'm sorry but that what AWESOME and kinda hilarious too. (Yes, Brion, Dick is one of Bruce Wayne's several children, get with the BatFam).

The Anti-Life Equation thing was very well done, I didn't expect it to go so well but every player involved played a great role and the idea of a world with no free will? Shivers, man. Now, it just needs to be readressed in the future because no way would any villain give that up so easily with Halo still alive.

The Geranium City subplot was quite sweet, it brought back some intriguing questions and finally touched a piece of Conner's story that has been hanging since season 1.

Will x Artemis is NOT a thing, thank God! They made such a big deal about it that I was scared and I get the appeal but they are in-laws, it would be so messed up.

I mean, I want Artemis to heal in a healthy way and move on as much as any fan (that limbo sequence made me cry my eyes out, so heartbreaking) but there's no need to force a thing with Will, so I'm glad for the way things got resolved.

Luthor's Infinity Inc reminds me waaaay too much of the Seven in "The Boys"... Still, a smart move. Kinda wondering where it's gonna lead in the future now that they basically belong to Brion.

Terra actually choosing redemption and the Outsiders before trying to kill them was surprising (as was everyone knowing she was a mole), I expected a big fight against her and Deathstroke because that's always been the Terra schtick but instead we got a power crazed Brion, which was a beautifully executed plot twist and as much as it hurts me to see Brion fall (and break Violet's heart) I have to give kudos to the writers, that was well played to wrench our hearts to pieces.

And that new psychic asshole manipulating Brion and making Markocvia into the Light's puppet? Interesting addition.

I really hope Brion gets his own redemption in the next season (orrr maybe he degenerates further into full blown villain? I don't think he has it in him and by the very end he seems to be depressed, lonely and disgruntled with his position already so there might be hope for him yet, but it would be interesting to see him fall further and further beyond redemption and I don't see him infiltrating the Light for the good guys because that would just be a rehash of Kaldur in season 2).

Loved how Lex Luthor got taken down from that bullshit UN position. He's a brilliant villain but he was soooo getting on my nerves in that particular position and it was such a relief to see him fall (which is a sign of how well written it was).

Black Lighting as boss!!!!! Ahhh, that was such a goddamn good choice in this particular universe, especially after he spent the whole season being a voice of reason while going through some growth himself. Still, feels a bit odd merely because he was barely in the bg in previous seasons.

Funny how Conner and M'gann never speak out loud even at home, damn I love this ship (miss my classic timkon though).

That little Robin laugh at the end of the season was such a nice touch, really nostalgic.

What's with the Legion Flight ring on the waitress?

What's with Lobo's finger? So messed up.

Oh boy, now I need Jason and Damian in future seasons (hell, Jon too, give us the Super Sons!!!).

All in all, the third season seems to bring a lot of things full circle at last but also feels like the beginning of something completely new, opening doors and raising questions for a lot of possibilities. It was a very intriguing subversion of a lot of DC plotlines and mythology.

Still... Can we just call the Outsiders the alternate Teen Titans? because that's basically what they are.

CAN'T WAIT FOR SEASON 4!!!!!!

[prophetandprincess]

Oh look! An Update that didn’t take me years to write! Please enjoy

Monica's father informed Alex on Sunday morning that contractors would be coming by the apartment on Monday to assess the damage and see how long it would take to make the place habitable again. Detective Donohoe had stated it was no longer a crime scene later that night and also shared that Alex's laptop and notebook was nowhere to be found in the wreckage. All those sleepless nights of research, gone. Luckily, she was in the habit of backing up her school work online or she would have probably just given up and flown home. As it was, she found her school books, not too badly battered, in various corners of the apartment and dragged them down to Monica's.

Alex was hoping that the repairs wouldn't take too long as she got back from her run Monday morning. While Monica had been more than accommodating, she was a completely functional adult while Alex was floundering to pretend to keep it together. Monica was also used to living alone and while she didn't say anything, Alex knew that she was messing with Monica's daily routines. She was seriously considering taking Steve up on his offer to stay in the Tower just to give Monica her life back. Alex's cell phone going off startled her as she pushed open the front door to the apartment building, the sun barely risen.

"Good morning, Miss Harper," Maria Hill said pleasantly, as if she had been up for hours. "Glad to see that I didn't wake you. Steve told me that you went jogging in the morning, but I was still worried."

"You're in the office early," Alex said, not sure what else to say to the head of security at Stark Tower who had obviously been talking to Steve about her. "Is there a problem?"

"Not exactly a problem, but after a conversation between Steve and Mr. Stark, they seemed to believe that having someone drive you around town might be in your best interest. Before you start to protest," Hill said quickly when she heard Alex inhale, "trust me, there is no way for you to get out of this. I tried. Mrs. Narzari will be waiting to take you to the college for your eight o'clock class. Don't give her too much trouble."

Alex let out the breath she had taken and closed her eyes. "How did Steve rope Mr. Stark into his crusade to save me from my own bad decisions?"

"I don't know how that conversation went down, to be honest with you. They are out on a mission and I got the order late last night. You're going to have to take that up with Steve whenever he gets back," Hill said with a smile in her voice. "Have a nice day, Miss Harper. I'm sure I'll see you around the Tower."

There was nothing Alex could say so she just hung up and went up to Monica's place to take a shower. Once she was done, Alex left the apartment so that she wasn't in the way while Monica got ready for the day. There was time for her to stop at her favorite coffee shop, even though she should be saving money to redecorate her apartment, before the driver showed up to take her to Professor Warren's class. Maybe she wouldn't have trouble staying awake for once.

While Alex's biochemistry materials had been with her when the apartment had been torn to shreds, she wondered if the Professor would have shown her any leniency if it had been shredded in the carnage. The chances that Warren would have taken the destruction of her apartment as an acceptable excuse for late assignments was slim, but he did seem to be showing her a bit of compassion with the extra credit assignment. Alex remembered that she had to meet with Warren today and suppressed a groan. It was going to be an annoyingly long day.

When Alex got back to the building, there was a sleek black SUV at the curb of her apartment building. A woman in a smart black pantsuit exited the vehicle as Alex approached, reaching up to make sure her hijab was in place after a strong gust of September wind blew past. Alex was expecting someone like the driver that Professor Warren had provided, though maybe a little less rough around the edges, even though Miss Hill had told her it was going to be a woman.

"Miss Harper?" The woman's voice was richly accented. "I'm Mrs. Narzari. Miss Hill has assigned me to be your driver. I've been told that you have an eight o'clock class? We should get going."

"I...sure, sounds good." Alex stammered as Mrs. Narzari opened the door for her to get into the back seat. "Thank you."

Alex wasn't sure what to say as the SUV slid into traffic, so she sat back and sipped her coffee while listening to what she thought might be a news station in a language that she didn't understand. There was a beautiful rhythm to whatever language it was and it thankfully filled the silence. Alex was extremely uncomfortable with being chauffeured around by her employer because Steve asked him too, once again her connection to him giving her special treatment. Also, at this point it would be easier for Alex and Steve to just lie and say they were dating than try and dismantle the rumors. Alex really needed to talk to Steve about this whole making decisions without speaking with her streak he was on. The moment she had some energy she was going to be very upset.

Mrs. Narzari told Alex that she would pick her up in the same place later in the day when the SUV stopped in front of the science building. Alex thanked her before she headed up to face another morning with Professor Warren. It was probably the first time that she was early for his class and she got more than a couple weird looks from her classmates. She hoped they didn't think that she had her life together now. They would be extremely disappointed.

Peter came in moments before Professor Warren, looking a little surprised to see Alex settled at their lab table as he took his place on the lab stool next to her. He waited until Warren turned his back to them during lecture before he pushed his notebook across the lab table toward her.

Are you doing alright? I'm sorry I didn't text yesterday, but it was spent mostly sleeping and catching up on all my other course work. How's the apartment?

Alex waited to make sure the Professor wasn't looking as she scribbling back. I'm good and no worries. Any new leads on the thing that tore my place up?

No. I literally didn't leave my house. Both of your Detective friends stopped by to ask me questions. Thank God Aunt May was at the hospital or I would have to explain everything to her. I think they've ruled me out as a suspect. Did you get dedicated time at the lab?

Well that's good and no, not yet. I promise I will do that soon. I lost my laptop in the destruction so it will take me some time to get my life in order.

Peter snorted when he read that and scribbled back, You had it in order before?

Fuck off, Parker.

Peter hid a laugh by coughing, but then Professor Warren focused on them again and they had to actually pay attention in class. It was a good thing they did, as Warren gave a surprise quiz during the last five minutes of class. Alex was pretty sure she didn't fail it, but was happier than ever that she was getting the extra credit.

"Hey, where are you going?" Peter asked as Alex started down the hallway once they had been dismissed from the lab section.

"I have to see Professor Warren," Alex was about to elaborate, but then realized that her classmates probably wouldn't be too pleased to learn that she was doing extra credit work they hadn't been offered. "Office hours. If you learn anything about our friend, let me know, yeah?"

"I will. You remember to get us that dedicated computer time." Peter shot back with a smile before heading with the rest of the students out of the building.

Professor Warren's office was somehow in even more disarray this week, with the paper stacks having to morph more into paper piles, but his desk was still painfully neat. Professor Warren didn't look toward the door when she approached, typing furiously on his computer. Alex knocked on the half open door, wanting him to invite her in to not incite his mercurial temper.

"Alexandra, come in." Professor Warren almost smiled at the sight of her and waved her through the door. It was unsettling.

"You can call me Alex, Professor. No one calls me Alexandra unless they're upset with me." Alex wasn't sure what to make of this almost excited man in front of her, it was very different that the Professor Warren she had come to know.

"Oh, well then please call me Miles. We are working together after all. Sit, sit, we have a lot to cover in a short amount of time." Professor Warren spun around in his chair and started to look for something in the mess.

Alex very slowly entered the room and sat down in the leather chair, not setting her bag down in case she needed to leave in a hurry. There was almost this manic energy about Warren that hadn't been present in class earlier that day. He was even muttering to himself as he located whatever he was looking for and placed it on the desk between them.

"The samples that you collected from Mr. Osbourn were subpar, but not terrible for a first attempt," Warren stated as he flipped open the folder and looked over the paper inside. "Still, they were close enough to the baseline that I had gotten previously to be a viable data point. I'm sure you'll have a steadier hand to get a clean skin sample with a little more instruction and less nerves."

"About the samples, Professor Warren, what exactly is the nature of the paper you need this information for? You said it was something about genetic mutation, but what specifically?" Alex asked as Warren started muttering again, grabbing a pen to scribble something on a scrap of paper.

"The world is changing, Alex, and it has been for a long time. It all started with the serum that created the famous, or infamous, Captain America. While no one has matched the brilliance of Dr. Erskine, it doesn't mean that other people haven't tried and continue to study genetic mutation for the betterment of mankind." Alex felt her blood run cold at the statement, mind flashing to James and everything that had been done to him. "Just think, cures for cancer and other illnesses without the painful and barbaric procedures we use today. Hell, we might even be able to clone organs so that there are spares for those in need. We could do so much good."

"And Mr. Osbourn's samples are helping with that grand plan because…he survived a genetic mutation that cured his illness?" Alex wasn't exactly sure that was correct, but it was better than all the very unpleasant alternatives that ran through her head. Was it all that different than she was doing at Stark Tower? Yet it sounded so...sinister when Warren said it.

"Exactly! While there were some...unfortunate side effects of Mr. Osbourn using the serum too quickly, his degenerative disease has, for the moment, stopped it's progression. The skin and blood samples are monitoring the progression of the disease while the mental questionnaire monitors the...side effects." Warren looked over the papers in the folder again. "Like I said before, you will get better samples this week and Mr. Osbourn has stated that he will continue to cooperate. He seemed to enjoy talking with you."

Alex wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing, but didn't say anything as Professor Warren went through the collection procedure again, using his one arm to showcase taking the skin samples. He was far more chatty than Alex had ever seen him, even making a couple of jokes as he explained how his paper was the beginning research into how this particular mutation may help in the development of medicine for other degenerative diseases. The more he talked, the more interested Alex became until she had to practically run to the SUV for Mrs. Narzari to deliver her to the Tower in time for the start of the internship

"Miss Harper," Liam, her group's instructor, called as she entered the lab. "Looks like the gang's all here and we can get to work a bit early so we can get ahead of the other groups."

"Yes, well…" Alex felt herself blushing. "I may be a bit behind on my computer modules."

Liam raised an eyebrow at that, but then waved his hand to dismiss the information. "We're going to be doing a brainstorming session and the rest of the team can do the heavy lifting on the computer. Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner seem to have a lot of faith in your skills, so let's see what we can do."

"No pressure," Alex said without a hint of sarcasm as she dropped her bag and joined the group of her peers.

Things were a little tense at first, with Zaria and Kyle being a little more weary of Alex than Zachary and Isabella. However, as the day progressed they all fell into a good rhythm of working with one another. Alex even started to have a bit of fun collaborating and, at times, arguing with the other interns. The hours flew by and Alex was a little disappointed when it was time to pack up for the day. Especially because she hadn't gotten any word about her place and when she'd be able to move back in.

"So, about the modules," Liam said when everyone had returned to their stations to pack up for the day.

"I know, I know. I promise I'm not an idiot," Alex felt her cheeks burning again. "For some reason my head just can't wrap around it. I've always had problems with computers but there is something about this program that is just not clicking."

"Why didn't you ask for help?" Liam leaned against the desk with a smile. "Let me guess, you're not good at asking for help either?"

"Am I that much of an open book?" Alex sighed as she dropped down in the chair and tugged at the ends of her hair. "I promise I'll be caught up by the end of the week. I'll stay a bit later to not interfere with our brainstorming sessions."

"Or," Liam gave an almost impish smile, "I could stay and help you get all caught up tonight."

"I can't ask you to do that." Alex wanted to crawl under her desk and hide or the ground to open up and swallow her. "You're a PhD student who I am sure doesn't get enough sleep as it is between working here and doing your course work. Go home and relax."

"Alex, my job is to make sure that you leave this internship with more knowledge than when you started. If that means holding your hand through these computer modules, then so be it. Besides, I can probably talk the Doc into giving me overtime." Liam winked. "Flights back to Ireland aren't cheap."

"Alright, fine, but only because if I have to go through another day of the rest of the interns looking at me like I'm their little sister I will lose my mind." Alex waved for him to pull up a chair. "No hand holding is required."

"Oh, thank god," Liam laughed before grabbing a nearby chair and rolled over to the work station. "No offense, Alex, but you're not my type."

Alex gave him a smile before settling in to be humbled, making sure to send a text to Hill so that Mrs. Nazari wasn't sitting in the SUV somewhere waiting for her. Surprisingly, with Liam explaining things, Alex started to pick up on some of the programs, though she was still painfully slow at them. It was dark out when they only had a couple modules left, but Liam's stomach was growling so loud Alex could hear it.

"Okay, I think that's enough for the night. Besides, Jarvis is probably about to rat us out to someone if we stay here any longer." Alex wasn't being completely altruistic, she had a massive headache, but she wasn't about to complain when she had taken up so much of Liam's time. He also didn't seem the type to coddle someone.

"Oh, Jarvis would never do such a thing, would you Jarvis?" Liam said tilting his head up to direct the question to the A.I.

"I have reported that you are still in the lab to Miss Hill, as she is the head of security," Jarvis came back almost immediately, which made Alex laugh.

"Cheeky bastard," Liam muttered as he got up and stretched. "Do you need an escort home? It's dark out there and crazy things have been happening on the streets."

"No, thank you. Seriously, Liam," Alex said as she also got to her feet. "Thank you. You've probably just saved me days of worry and headache.

"It's kind of my job," Liam laughed as he slung his bag over his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'll see you Wednesday?"

"Yeah," Alex smiled as she started to pack up her things. "See you then."

Once the lab was empty, Alex realized that she hadn't told Monica she was staying late at the lab. She quickly pulled out her phone and started typing up a text, but then she paused. The thought of going back and not sleeping on the couch didn't seem overly appealing. Not when there was an empty apartment somewhere in this very Tower, probably with an amazing shower, that she had been told to use. It was a very tempting thought.

"Jarvis, if I wanted to go to Mr. Roger's apartment, how would I get there?" Alex asked as she headed for the elevators. Even if she decided not to stay there, she was too curious about what Steve's apartment would look like now to not take a peak.

"It is on one of the restricted levels," Jarvis stated as the elevator doors wooshed up for Alex. "However, I've been told that you're allowed into his suite. Would you like me to take you to that floor?"

Alex paused, the phrasing on Jarvis's question making her feel a little weird about invading Steve's space. However, he had offered the apartment, so he probably wouldn't see it as a violation of his privacy if she stopped in. As long as she didn't, like, look under his bed or go through his drawers, it wouldn't be weird, right?

"Yes please," Alex blurted out before she lost her nerve.

Alex was pretty sure the elevator went up, she was too busy mentally berating herself to notice, and the elevator doors opened again. There was just darkness, aside from weak ambient light coming in through the wall of glass windows. As Alex took a cautious step off the elevator, the lights came on to show a sleek and modern apartment. It didn't look at all like somewhere Steve would live. In fact, it didn't look like somewhere anyone lived.

After dropping her bag and toeing off her shoes, the place was too clean to walk around with shoes on, she took in her surroundings. Once she had walked into the living area, she started to see the touches that Steve lived there, a picture of the Howling Commandos and another of Natasha and Sam. Still, there was nothing out of place and the kitchen literally sparkled when she looked over the counter that separated the space.

The bedroom was a little more interesting, even though it was also painfully clean. There had to be someone who cleaned the apartment because there is no way anyone kept their bedroom this clean, even Steve Rogers. Still, there was a framed picture of Peggy Carter on the bedside table along with one of him and James. It was pre-serum Steve, small and tiny, and James looked so terribly young and innocent.

Alex picked up that frame and sat down on the bed, looking at the black and white photo that had yellowed with age. There was something about the picture that pulled Alex's heartstrings. Their smiles, the obvious love between them, and how different they looked while still being unmistakably Steve and James. An odd thought caught her, if her mother felt the same way looking at pictures of Alex and Jake, which snapped her right out of the melancholy.

Hey, I hope that offer to stay at your place still stands because I'm currently in your apartment. Alex texted Steve as she looked into the perfectly spotless bathroom and saw there were fresh towels. Any clothes I can steal to sleep in? It was a bit of a last minute decision and I don't want to go through your drawers.

The reply was almost immediate, which relieved Alex of an anxiety about his safety she didn't realize she had. I had Hill pick up a few things for you when I had the deluded notion that I could convince you to stay there for your own safety, don't ask which time. Check the bottom shelf, closest to the door, in the closet. There should be some things there. Any certain reason you've finally come around to staying at the Tower?

I'm not staying, I'm crashing here tonight. There is a difference. Alex typed back, though she felt herself smiling. Are you keeping safe wherever you are?

We aren't talking about me. Steve texted back quickly. I'm with the others, I'll be fine. I'm more worried about you.

Aren't you always? Alex shook her head as she padded into the closet, a very nice walk in, and found the shelf Steve had mentioned. Take care of yourself so you can lecture me in person whenever you're back in the city.

You've got a deal. Got to go. Steve replied.

The clothes that Hill had picked out were very basic, a black silk pajama set, a pack of underwear, a couple bras, socks, jeans, sweatpants, a couple of T-shirts, and a few sweaters. Along with the clothes was a pair of sneakers and a cosmetic bag filled with makeup. Everything was simple but obviously of nice quality. Maria Hill really did think of everything. Alex picked out what she needed and went into the bathroom. As predicted, the shower pressure was amazing.

There were five missed calls and a voicemail on Alex's phone when she finally got out, smelling like Steve's body wash and shampoo. All were from Monica. Alex mentally kicked herself as she called her friend, realizing that she never told her that she was staying late at the lab or staying at Steve's. Given Alex's history, it made complete sense for Monica to be losing her mind that Alex hadn't checked in.

"I'm so so sorry I didn't check in," Alex said as soon as the call connected. "I got wrapped up at the lab and then decided to crash with a friend to give you some peace and quiet. None of that excuses me from being awful and not telling you."

"I'm not sure what has me more upset," Monica said once Alex was done rambling. "The fact that you've had me worried for hours or that you apparently have friends that I haven't met. Ones that apparently you are comfortable staying with."

"It's Sam, you've met him, briefly." Alex already felt sick with guilt for making Monica worry, might as well pile on the guilt of lying as well. "I was working late at the lab on things and when I saw it was dark, I called Sam and he just told me to crash at his place."

"At least you're smart enough not to walk alone at night now," Monica sighed and Alex could visualize her tugging on her curls. "Are you going to come back tomorrow or are you leaving me for a very attractive, older man?"

"Depends on how much he annoys me. I promise to let you know what I'm doing after class tomorrow. Scouts honor." Alex had to get Monica flowers or just give her a lot of money to make up for all the nonsense she put them through.

"I won't hold my breath, I might pass out," Monica laughed before hanging up.

Alex flopped down on Steve's couch, hairbrush in hand, and looked out at the lights of New York through his window. She was sure there was some lever or knob to shade the windows, but there was something calming about seeing all the other people who were also living their lives in each of those lit up windows, even if it was just the people cleaning the offices. It also gave her time to reflect, which was dangerous. Normally she would have pulled out her laptop and notebook, but both were gone. That meant that, unfortunately, if she didn't want to sit with her thoughts she was going to have to do actual school work.

Two hours later and raiding Steve's fridge and cabinets for snacks, Alex admitted defeat on one particular subject. She was going to have to get a tutor for Russian if she didn't want to fail. While Alex might never have been the smartest person in the room, she had never had this much trouble with anything academic before. It was disheartening and, on top of her inability to grasp the computer programs in the lab, made her wonder if everything else was just a fluke. Maybe she was a better actress than she even knew, fooling the world with the best performance they didn't know they were watching.

Alex still had the number Peter had gotten for her tucked in her bag. After a couple minutes of debate, she typed out a text inquiring if this was the individual offering to tutor people in Russian. After that she basically threw her phone across the room and started getting ahead on other course work. However, after about fifteen minutes she couldn't help herself and looked to see if there was a response.

Hello Alex, this is Olivia, and yes I am still available for tutoring in Russian. My rate is $25 an hour and my schedule is, unfortunately, not set so I will need a little flexibility from you. If all of that is acceptable, send me a place for us to meet so I can assess your skill level. Thank you, Olivia.

Alex wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed that Olivia responded, but she started typing back a reply. Twenty-five an hour wasn't a bad price, but all Alex could think about was the money she was going to have to spend to get furniture back in her apartment. Stark paid his employees well, but it was still going to put a huge strain on her already battered bank account. However, it was nowhere near the hurt that it would experience if Alex lost her scholarship for her last semester of college.

Then there was the problem of figuring out where to meet this Olivia. Even if her apartment hadn't been torn to shreds, the thought of inviting a stranger into her apartment after what happened when she did that the year before didn't seem like a good idea. As she was a guest both at Monica and Steve's apartment, it wouldn't have been appropriate to invite Olivia there, not to mention the Stark Tower would be hard to explain. Still, fumbling through her atrocious Russian in one of the numerous Starbucks in town didn't sound like a good idea either.

That sounds great, Olivia. My schedule is pretty set so I am sure we can find times that line up. How would you feel about us meeting at Washington Square Park? The weather is not too bad yet and that way no one will look at us too funny for talking Russian. How about tomorrow at 2 o'clock?

It didn't take long for Olivia to respond. You must be taking Kuznetsov at NYU. He's class is a bear, but you will come out of it with a good grasp of the language. I think I still have a copy of his syllabus around here so I'll read up on it. I should be done with my route by then. Look for the smaller woman with a bike, black hair, and a leather jacket.

Alex sent back saying she would be there and felt a bit better. At least she had taken control of one of the many spiraling aspects of her life. Now that was off her to-do list, Alex believed that she deserved a break. When going through Steve's kitchen again didn't spark any desire to eat away her boredom, she decided to explore the rest of the apartment. There were only two other rooms. One that seemed to be a guest room that also operated as a computer room. Alex wondered if Steve ever even used the computer or had it because Tony insisted on it being there. The other room was far more interesting. It was an art studio.

The room was not very large, but it was the only room in the apartment that seemed lived in. One wall was windows, with an easel set up in one of the corner to catch the natural light, another one held a drafting a table with a lamp and a half finished sketch, the third wall was all storage with each drawer neatly labeled, the fourth and final wall seemed to be storage for his finished work. Alex turned on the lamp and took a look at the sketch on the table. It was rough, but obviously Central Park. She was no artist, but her untrained eye thought it was pretty impressive.

Curiosity led Alex to start going through his finished works. It might constitute a breach of his privacy, but he had bugged her apartment the year before, and they were even friends at that time, so she figured that she was justified. The various drawers and shelves were filled with sketch books and paintings of all sizes, acrylics and watercolors alike. Most of the paints were landscapes and scenes from around New York, however the sketchbooks were far more personal. There were scenes from the war, from the Battle of New York, and a number of other missions that Alex couldn't put a time or place to. Most were done in pencil or charcoal, but all held a good deal of emotion. It was Steve's diary, in a way, and Alex couldn't stop flipping the pages.

Alex's fingers were stained with residual charcoal when she finally couldn't take anymore, slipping it back into the slot she had taken it from. It was already late, but Alex couldn't bring herself to get off the floor and go to bed. Once again she had been reminded of how human Steve was, as well as the horror he had faced and some that he had committed on others. Apparently it weighed on Steve's mind as well, if the drawings were any indication and the emotion pressed into each pass of the charcoal. Steve Rogers was not perfect, no one was, no matter how put together he seemed. Food for thought.

Eventually Alex got off the floor, her ass sore, and got ready for bed. While there was a perfectly good guest room, something about sleeping in there felt weird. Instead, Alex stole a blanket and pillow off of Steve's bed and settled down on his couch. The blanket smelled amazing, but the pillow was a little harder than Alex liked. However, as she was basically a squatter at his apartment, she couldn't complain too much.

A lot of the lights in the surrounding buildings were off now, but New York never went dark and Alex used it as her nightlight. For the first time in almost a year, she slept throughout the night without a single nightmare before her alarm woke her at five-thirty for her morning run.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Aladdin Queen fic John Deacon x reader chap. 5; Friend like me

*Author’s note*

Now here comes the moment I’m sure all of you have been waiting for, the appearance of the man, the legend, the God himself, FREDDIE MERCURY AS THE GENIE!!!! Okay so work with me here folks, I don’t care which version of the song you guys listen to, cause I did take one verse from the Robin Williams OG version and place it into here even though I mostly used the Will Smith version of the song for the fic so I leave that up to you all (also you can listen to the song just to help set the mood). 

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural​

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@ixchel-9275​

@georgesgentlyweepingguitar​

@queendeakyy​

@geek-and-proud​

@kairosfreddie​

@simonedk​

__________________________________________________________

I felt something grip the shoulder of my shirt as well as a small hand touching my face.  I groaned and opened my eyes to see Abu standing over me. He chattered and hugged me and I was lifted back up to reveal Carpet.  Soon it all came back to me, the cave exploding, the old man taking the lamp, nearly killing me and me falling back down here into the cave of Wonders.

“Thanks carpet.” He waved his tassel around as he bowed in welcome.  I looked up to see the entire cave was blocked off with sand and rock.  “We’re trapped. And whoever that old guy was, he’s long gone with that lamp.”

It was then Abu stepped over behind a rock and low and behold he took out the lamp.  I gaped at him and choked out Abu.

“Abu….why you hairy little thief!” I grabbed the lamp with my left hand and scratched Abu’s chin with the other.  He leaned into my finger and I stood up and looked at it. “I mean, why go to all this trouble for a simple oil lamp? And more importantly how’s it going to get us out of here?”

Carpet then began to point at the lamp, and I emphasis on pointing, it was like he was urging me to rub it.

“Rub the lamp?” he nodded.  I looked down at the lamp and that’s when I began noticing something strange about this lamp.  It was glowing some sort of blue color. “What the….” I blew the dust away from it and rubbed it.

Suddenly the lamp began to jostle in my hands and glow before it shot out a puff of smoke like a cannon, next thing I knew fireworks began exploding out of the lamp and I know I may sound crazy, but I swear I heard laughter as well.  Finally blue smoke just engulfed around the entire cave and I heard a cry echoing through the cave.

Then as quick as it came, the smoke cleared and there stood just a few feet away from me, a blue man with black hair down to his shoulders.

“Oi, 10,000 years will give you such a crick in the neck! But man does it feel good to finally be out of—” when he turned to face me, he groaned and said. “Ohh great we gotta do this shit again? Okay might as well get it over with.” Suddenly he grew giant size as he floated over me and in a booming, thunderous voice, he spoke as his arms crossed over his chest; “Oh great one that summoned me. Terrible one that commands me. I stand by my oath, loyalty to wishes three!”

I was just in shock as a whimper softly came out of me as my jaw was probably down to the ground at this rate.  He adjusted himself and continued, “I said…..’Oh great’….” He leaned down towards me and using that normal voice he used earlier he asked me, “Darling help me out here where’s your boss? I mean if I wanted to fucking talk to myself I could’ve stayed in the lamp.”

“Uh—uhh…..”

“Hello~ Anybody in there?” he waved his hand in front of me.

“I—” I squeaked out.

“Ahh use your big girl voice.” He playfully scowled me.

“I’m…..talking. To a smoking blue—giant?”

“Whoa, whoa okay first of all back that tractor up. I am no giant, okay I find that incredible racist. I am a djinn. Or in English terms genie but let’s face it djinn sounds more fabulous. Like gin and juice, and I can’t think of anything more fabulous than me!” He went from giant size began to the height he was before but remained floating in front of me. “But back to the subject, the main difference between djinns and giants, is unlike giants, I’m real. So c’mon where’s big boss man?”

“Big boss man?”

“Look dear I’ve been doing this a long time and you know how there’s always a guy. You know he’s cheated somebody, buried somebody. You get my picture right? Where’s that guy?”

“Yeah I know that guy. He’s outside.”

“So it’s just…..” he pulled out a telescope and extended far and wide through the cave before closing it up and making it vanish. “You and me down here?” He then noticed Abu who was hiding behind me leg. “And a monkey. I mean I myself prefer cats as pets but to each his or her own. So you rubbed the lamp?” I nodded. “Oh, okay then. Hey you don’t mind if I stretch it out over here do you dear? Thank you.” He floated just a couple feet away from me and began to stretch himself out.

“Wait did you just ask me if you could stretch?”

“You’re my master.”

“I’m your master?”

“Downward dog!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait hang on. No offense but if anything and I can’t believe I’m saying this but it looks like you would be my master.”

“Well not exactly how this whole genie game works. Whosoever rubs the lamp of the jinn, is bound to by thy jinn’s master till the wish fulfillment is complete.” He said as he now stood on one hand and stretched his other arm towards his back.

“Must’ve hit my head harder than I thought.” I said as I rubbed the back of my head.

“So wait you really have no idea how this works?” He came up to me as he continued, “Genie? Wishes? Lamp? None of that?” I shook my head no. “Oh wow okay that-that-that’s a first for me.” The genie then poofed into smoke before levitating just to the corner of my eye before pointing to Abu proclaiming, “Monkey!”

It was then Abu had a mini-drum set on his back, cymbals in his hand and a kazoo in his mouth.  He then proceeded to clap to a beat, like one of those wind up monkey dolls.  I pointed to him before looking up at the genie but he assured me.

“Oh don’t worry about him, dear, he’s fine.” Abu then began walking which made the drum beat in a single rhythm and the genie proceeded to snap his fingers to the beat while moving his shoulders, while trying to hold back his overbite smile to the beat before singing.

Well, Ali Baba, he had them forty thieves Scheherazade had a thousand tales But, master, you're in luck because up your sleeves You got a genie never fails!

Abu stopped with the kazoo note before the genie proclaimed a whoop cheer.  Carpet stood up clapping with his front tassels as the genie bragged.

“Yep. I’m the best, and outrageous. Cause there’s no one more outrageous than me.” But to be honest to me I still wasn’t fully processing this, so I just awkwardly agreed. “Not enough huh? No worries besides that’s not the real me.”

He pointed to Abu again who shot up along with a puff of smoke up towards a higher rock ledge with a real drum set and he began playing a more upbeat tune.  Carpet playing the maracas as the genie floated around strutting and snapping his head to the rhythm of the tune.  

He grew back to his giant sized self before coming back down on the rocks leaning with his arms crossed over one another.

*Genie*

Here I go Uh, ooh, woo! Back up! Uh-oh! Watch out! Uh You done wound me up! 'Bout to show you what I'm workin' with, uh

He held his hands together before opening them up and I saw a swarm of bandits coming towards me.  I raced down the rocks but I was soon surrounded with swords all pointed at me.  Suddenly I don’t know how but my sleeves began glowing as gauntlets appeared on my arms and I proceeded to beat and knock out every single thief that came my way.

Then as I flipped over the last thief I felt the magic in my sleeves gone but the genie stood beside me and handed me the lamp and did the rubbing motion that I had to do on the lamp so I did and that’s when blue smoke came out and there stood the genie once more.

*Genie*

Well, Ali Baba, he had them forty thieves Scheherazade had a thousand tales But, master, you're in luck because up your sleeves You got a brand of magic never fails You got some power in your corner now Heavy ammunition in your camp You got some punch (pizazz, yahoo) and how? All you gotta do is rub that lamp And then I'll say

He then held a giant serving dish before revealing it to be a giant tent of sorts and I was now in a restaurant like setting. Dozens of workers surrounded me prepping everything up like I had seen in the palace, the genie came up wearing a waiter’s garb and he handed me a menu.

Allah I never knew being this pampered would feel this good.  I then saw a tiny version of genie come up to me ear and I leaned in so that I could hear him before I heard and saw the workers, who were just genie in various clothes of servants and servers all pointing out and proclaiming at me.

*Genie*

Darling, wait, what's your name? Whatever, what will your pleasure be? Let me take your order, I'll jot it down You ain't never had a friend like me

Life is your restaurant And I'm your maître D Come, whisper to me whatever it is you want You ain't never had a friend like me

I managed to slide down out of the restaurant scenery but I was soon surrounded by multiple genies who all had a dish full of sweets and treats all surrounding me.  I was so overwhelmed that I ducked down and tried to escape that chaos.

*Genie*

We pride ourselves on service You the boss, the queen, the shah! Say what you wish, it's yours! True dish How about a little more baklava?

To my left the genie made a long row of beautiful gowns, dresses and hijabs appear.  So I grabbed a beautiful emerald green sari and put it on, while on the other side a long row of jewels appeared.  Necklaces, bracelets, rings, anklets, earrings you name it.  

So I grabbed a matching emerald and silver necklace and placed it around my neck.

It was then I felt my arms raise up and I saw myself being connected to blue magic puppet strings.  I was spun around before I was on a stage of some sorts with dozens of genie backup dancers but I was center stage.  I then felt myself being pranced around on stage, doing outrageous gestures and hand motions while holding a cane and I was banging it against my body in rhythm as I pranced across the stage.  

*Genie*

Have some of column A Try all of column B I'm in the mood to help you, dear You ain't never had a friend like me

Oh! Uh! This the big part, watch out! This the big part, oh!

After that the stage disappeared and the genie appeared behind me and as we pointed to the left I saw another copy of him standing on top of his head but his lower body was spinning around with lights coming out of the pants.  When we pointed in the other direction we saw another genie doing a lasso move with his smoky tail, jumping in and out of the hoop.

Before finally the real genie behind me made a crown that resembled the English king crown appear on top of my head before tipping it off of my head.  He took the hat and pulled a rabbit out of it but with the snap of a finger, the rabbit became a phoenix and flew across the floor in flames.

*Genie*

Can your friends do this? Can your friends do that? Can your friends pull this Out they little hat? Can your friends go-WHOOOOO!!!

From the flames appeared three handsome men. The genie pushed me towards them and I proceeded to dance with each one of them.  Each of them either spun me around or dipped me downwards before they poofed away and I landed on a couch with my head resting on the genie’s lap now.

*Genie*

Well, lookie here Can your friends go, Abracadabra, let 'er rip And then make the sucker disappear?

        He helped me sit up right.  And the two of us sat there casually while a choir of genies appeared behind us. Carpet then handed him a certificate of sorts before the genie then handed me the certificate and I felt us zooming almost at lightspeed forward before we stopped and stood up.

        When we stopped I felt myself fly forward but just before I could fall over to the ground, the genie caught me and spun me around towards his chest.  He then made a long scroll come out of my ear that appeared to be three miles long before he whipped it across the cave and wrapped it around him.

        Finally I got around to telling him my name and I couldn’t help but finally get into this song now.  The two of us then began strutting around and moving around each other before we would jump one by one down the ledge, striking a fabulous pose before finally rocking and strutting our stuff.  

All the while fireworks, lights, dancers, and animals surrounded the entire cave, getting into the act like it was all a marvelous show.

*Genie*

Don't sit there buggy-eyed I'm here to answer all your midday prayers You got me bona fide, certified You got a genie for your charge d'affaires I got a powerful urge to help you out So what's your wish? I really wanna know You got a list that's three miles long, no doubt All you gotta do is rub like so

Darling,

*Me*

(Y/n)

*Genie*

Yes! One wish or two or three Well, I'm on the job, you big nabob You ain't never had a friend,

Never had a friend,

You ain't never had a friend,

Never had a friend You ain't never (never!) Had a (had a) Friend (friend) Like (like) Me! You ain't never had a friend like me!

By the end of it all, everything the genie had made appear vanished except a sign that said applause.  I could hear Carpet applauding and when genie snapped his fingers the sign disappeared as he said.

“So what will it be master? Or in this case mistress?”

“You’re—gonna grant me any three wishes I want right?”

“Well almost, there are a few rules a genie can’t do.”

“Like?” He shrunk down to normal height and said as he sat down beside me.

“Well rule #1; You can’t wish for more wishes, three is all you get. Rule #2; I can’t make anybody fall in love with anybody else. Rule #3; I can’t bring anybody back from the dead. Trust me dear, you don’t want that it’s not a pretty picture.” He shuddered before continuing, “Rule #4; I can’t kill anyone. But other than that…..I can do it all. So c’mon wish us out of here so that I can get in the sun.”

I stood up and went into deep thought about this as Abu came up onto my shoulders.

“Well I’d have to think about it. I mean—there are only three after all. Why are there only three?” I asked as I turned towards him.

“I don’t know, who cares?” He spoke in a high pitched, impatient tone.

“You don’t know? I thought you were all knowing?”

“See that’s where you’re wrong. I never said I was all knowing. I said I was all powerful. The most powerful being in the universe. Whatever I don’t know, I can learn. Why are you playing hard to wish?”

“Limitations? On wishes, huh some ‘all powerful genie’ “I can’t bring anybody back from the dead”. So if you can’t do that, then how can you help me get out of this cave?” I mocked.

Abu chattered in a laughing manner and I said to him.

“Now, now Abu it’s not his fault he can’t do it. Looks like we’re gonna have to find our own way out of here.” As I turned around the genie suddenly appeared before me.

“Excuse me?” He scoffed. “Are you looking at me? Did you rub my lap? Did you wake me up? Did you bring me here? And all of a sudden you’re walking out on me!? Oh I don’t think so, not right now! So you better rub that fucking lamp AND WISH!!” he spoke as he walked right up at me, getting up in my face.  His voice gradually got louder before he ended it on a thunderous note.

I suddenly fell backwards and held my hands up in surrender.  Wow he was pretty scary when he needed to be.

“Okay, okay genie! I wish for you to get us out of this cave.” Then like a flick of a candle, he went from extremely pissed off, to pure joy as he spun around and proclaimed.

“Whoo! She has made her first wish!” He then appeared as some sort of escort as he held out a map and spoke like he was talking through a megaphone or something but it was more muffled and softer. “Thank you for choosing carpets, camels and caravans. Don’t forget to tip your genie on the way out.” He placed the lamp in my hands and he said, “Hang on darling!” he spun around me evoking me in blue smoke.

Next thing I saw was intense light from the sun. We were finally back outside.

“Whoa.”

“Ohh look at this view it’s so—big. I mean cause everything in the lamp is all Brass. Brass, brass, brass. Ohh is that a bit of copper or gold? Nope, brass.”

“So wait, is this magic? Or are you magic?” I asked him.  He shrugged and said.

“We’re kinda a packaged deal. But now it’s time to get down to business.” He placed his hands on my shoulders and next thing I knew, we were flung back and now resting on some chairs underneath the shade.

“Can you warn me before you do that?”

“Ahh don’t worry dear you’ll get used to it.” He shrugged off my answer like it was nothing.

“Okay so do I have to make all my wishes here? Because I mean if I take you back to Agrabah won’t people….”

“Oh no, no, no darling I can totally fit in watch me.” He stood up from his chair and snapped his finger and appeared in human clothing, a long beard that went down to his stomach.

“Right, totally normal.” I said sarcastically. He then changed poses with his left arm in the air and appeared in less baggy clothes, but he still had his blue skin. “Still blue.” He snapped and his skin turned from blue to sun-kissed tan.  He smiled widely and looked down at me.

“Better?”

“Yeah but….not to be rude but must you have the—” I gestured to his teeth and he hmphed and fell back into his chair.

“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t ask about that. I change these teeth and there goes my four range vocals. I mean how do you think I managed that operatic section of the song? My voice is something that not even my magic can replicate. More space in my mouth means more range.”

He then made some grapes appear above him and he took a couple off the vines and he asked me.

“So, whatcha wanna wish for?”

“Well I’d have to think on that.” He hummed.

“You are really not that person, are you?”

“Alright Mr. Smart guy, what would you wish for? And more importantly what’s your name?” as he had taken a bite of an apple he paused to look at me.  He let the apple go and it disappeared and he said sincerely.

“Wow…..no one’s ever asked me those two questions before. Well….I do have a name but I’ve hated it for millennia’s.”

“What is it?”

“Farrokh. But I’ve always wanted to change it to something that felt more—me. A name that won’t define me as being what I appear.” I thought about it and I said.

“Well why not play around the name? I mean you’re definitely not a Stephen or even Sami. How about—Freddie?” He pondered and he said.

“Freddie? Yeah, I think it sounds nice. Love it!” he raised his hands and clapped them together.  “Thank you (y/n) dear.”

“No problem, now what about your wish?”

“Ohh now that’s an easy one. To be free.” He banged on his gauntlets.  I looked at him confused.

“You’re a prisoner?”

“Unfortunately it’s all a part of the whole genie getup. Phenomenal cosmic power! But itty bitty living space.”

“Wow, I never thought djinns lived that way.”

“Yeah. And I don’t mean just going,” he suddenly poofed wearing a butlers outfit and said. “How can I help you?” he poofed away again and appeared tiny and he said as he stood on my shoulder, “Yes my darling what is it?” he then appeared on the table and said, “Welcome to Casa de Freddie how may I serve you?” he then appeared back on the chair back in his disguised form. “Absolute freedom. I wish to be—human.”

“Well why don’t you just wish yourself free?” At that point Freddie began to laugh.

“Carpet!” he called out to carpet.  He turned to look at Freddie stopping in the middle of building some sort of castle in the sand. “Did you hear what she just said? ‘why don’t I just wish myself free?’ Hahaha!” Carpet then began to laugh and that’s when Freddie said to me. “The only way a djinn can be free of his prison, is if his master wishes them out. And the last time that happened was next to uhh—never.”

I stood up from my chair and looked outward until I finally decided.

“I’ll do it. I’ve got three right?”

“Uhh correction you’re down by one. Remember you used your last wish to get us out of the cave.”

“Did I? Or did your temper get us out of there?” I asked skeptically.  He chuckled and scoffed exasperatedly but I raised my brow at him. “Also I thought you said that I had to be rubbing the lamp as I made my wish and last I checked I didn’t.”

“Wow, okay I’m keeping my eye on you clever girl.”

“At least now I can use my third wish to set you free.”

“Here’s the thing about wishes darling,” he sat up on his chair and looked at me. “The more you have, the more you want.”

“That’s not me.” I answered straight away.  He nodded but muttered.

“We’ll see about that.”

“But—there…..” I began to stroke the ends of my hair and twirl it around my finger as I continued, “There is something.”

“Uh-oh. I know that little move anywhere.” He teased. Suddenly Freddie appeared in front of me on his stomach, his chin resting between his palms kicking his feet around playfully as he said, “Who is he? Who’s the boy?” I blushed as I shyly smiled.

“He’s a prince.”

“Aww aren’t they all just Prince Charmings? But they better treat us like Queens, that’s what I always say.”

“No Freddie. I mean he’s actually a prince.”

“Well hold it right there. Remember rule #2; I can’t make anybody fall in love.”

“No, no we already had a connection.” I told him.

“Did they?” Freddie said as he turned to Abu who was scolding like a protective older brother.  Freddie hummed and then turned back to me as I began describing John.

“He’s smart, kind, and—so handsome. His hair is like a rich chocolate, his smile is like a thousand suns and his eyes…..” Freddie breathed out in ecstasy as he said.

“Ohh darling you’re killing me here! You’ve clearly got it bad.”

“Yeah. But he has to marry a…..” suddenly an idea came into my mind. “Freddie can you make me a princess?” At that point, he made a strange face.

He poofed back into his chair and he said to me.

“There’s a lot of gray area in ‘make me a princess’. I could just,” he snapped his finger and suddenly appearing on a rock formation a few feet away was a princess. “Make you a princess?”

“Oh no, no.”

“Yeah then you’d be cuddling with her for the rest of your life. Be specific with your words dear. The deal is in the detail.”

“How did I out here? I wanna go home!” I could hear her whine from afar.  I nodded.

“Got it.”

“But (y/n) what I don’t understand is this; if he already likes you, why change?”

“I already told you, he has to marry a princess.” He nodded and muttered as he stood up.

“Okay, I can do that.” He turned and faced me and continued, “An official wish this time, for those of us that our counting, which now I am.”

“Right, Freddie I wish….” He cleared his throat and pointed to the lamp and mouthed out lamp to me. “Right, sorry.” I grabbed the lamp and began rubbing it. “Alright, Freddie…..”

“Don’t hurt her Freddie!” he exclaimed.

“I wish…..to become—a princess.”

“Back up for me darling I need some room to work. I’m about to fabulize you.” I closed my eyes tightly and I felt him grab a hold of me and the next thing I knew, we were being flung across the sky.

Before finally landing in the middle of the desert just a few miles far enough for us to see the entrance to Agrabah.  

“Little head spinny on re-entry but you good now right?”

“I—think I’m getting used to it.” I said breathlessly. Freddie then went away for a bit by himself as he pondered on my first wish.

“First of all this fez and garb is much too third century. These baggy pants what are we trying to say here, beggar? No, no absolutely fucking not darling. Okay I’m thinking more of a—periwinkle.”

“What’s periwinkle?”

“No, chartreuse.” Freddie claimed as he suddenly made some scissors and a tape measure appear, as well as a pair of glasses and a pencil behind his ear.  He then began doing some work on my and I ended up in a pure black dress that was almost completely embedded with diamonds and sparkles. “Eww no! No! No the form’s all off, the black makes you look depressed. It clashes with your skin tone.”

“This is getting really hot.”

“Yeah black and heat do not mix. No worries darling, I got a plan B. C’mon Freddie work with her here!” He then pulled out some gold fabric as he muttered, “Go gold or go home!”  he worked around me again and this time I was in heavier golden dress and he groaned. “Fuck Freddie you’re slipping. It clashes with the sand. It’s gotta be neutral. C’mon think Freddie, think, think, think you dirty rotter!”

“You sure you got this Freddie?” He then let out a long gasp and he looked like he was about to have some sort of seizure.

“I’ve got it! I just know it!” He then worked on me one last time and soon I had my dress.

It was mostly a pink dress with golden embedding and circular pattern, there was also a mix of bluish-green, it also had a long train in the back.  I also wore a golden strand necklace with five main jewels hanging down around my collar bone in the same color as the patter hidden within my dress with a matching set of earrings, a golden tiara was placed on top of my head with the jewels embedded along it.  Golden heels, and pants underneath the dress.

“Oh! I have done it! And the crowd goes wild! Freddie! Freddie! Freddie is back!” He began to hoot and holler as he zoomed off across the desert, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. “Ohh don’t scald her! Somebody put me out! Someone cool me down! I’m burning up! Woo! I’m back bitches!”

Suddenly a mirror appeared in front of me and I could hardly recognize myself.

“Well, what do you think?”

“It’s—it’s beautiful.”

“Of course it’s beautiful I made it.”

“I—I just can’t believe that this is me.”

“Well, mostly me. I mean I did all the hard work, you just stood there and looked pretty.” Freddie said as he came up to me.

“Wait, won’t people recognize me?”

“Oh don’t be ridiculous darling, that’s the beauty of genie magic. People are seen what they are told to see. You’re perfectly fine.”

“Right. Who am I?” I questioned nervously. Freddie scoffed.

“You’re…..Princess….Ali.” I waited for him to say where I was from but I didn’t get a response from him.

“From?”

“Duh. Ababwa.” He muttered quietly.

“Ah-bub-wha?” He shook his head.

“No, no watch my lips, Ababwa.” He enunciated the place.

“Is that even a real place?”

“What a stupid question, of course it is. All the hottest people go there. Little hot in the summers, mild in the fall, gorgeous view, it’s all in the brochure. I’ll let you read it en route.”

“Right. So how are we gonna get to the city?” Freddie hummed.

“Well can’t ride a monkey.” Abu now knowing he was gonna be next in Freddie’s magic, tried to hide behind Carpet.  “Ah-ah-ah no Abu dear, come back here!” he levitated Abu back in front of us and first made him into a donkey. “Oh no, much to small.”

Abu then slowly phased from a donkey to a camel.

“Ohh good god no. Camels and Princesses do not mix. We need something robust!” He then shifted into a white stallion. “No too cliché, come on bigger!” Suddenly a trunk speared from Abu’s horse face and he then morphed into a giant elephant. “Ha! Now that’s what I’m talking about. And don’t worry Abu, your transformation will only last 24 hours and you’ll be back to your normal self.”

“Abu, you look great.” I said as I walked up to him and he held out his trunk to me.

“She’s got the outfit, she’s got the elephant. But that’s just the beginning my darling. Now, for your entourage.” Suddenly a sandstorm began to surround us and I said.

“Whoa wait, what’s going on? Freddie!”

[lightsandlostbells]

Druck season 3, episode 1 reaction

WE DID IT, KIDS. When Druck’s first season aired, I knew shortly after Matteo’s introduction that I could not wait for his season. But with that came a lot of apprehension that we would ever get Matteo’s season - Druck S1 got less attention than some of the other remakes, and for a long time, the fandom didn’t know if the show would get a S2, let alone S3. Months went by with no official news of when the show would return. Many people thought the show had been quietly cancelled. 

And then, finally, Mia’s season was announced. Ratings and subscribers grew substantially. Druck trended frequently on YouTube and Tumblr. Then finally, we got confirmation that S3 was in the works. So here we are, and to put it politely, my ass is on fire. 

Episode 1

Clip 1 - Matteo’s miserable night

Party time! This opening is pointedly sexual, with the music (”You’re turning me on”) and the dancing, with the closeups of boobs and butts and writhing bodies. Sara gets freaky with a banana. The presence of sex makes sense to highlight Matteo’s alienation, as we see him sitting on the couch, not participating. He’s disengaged from the flirtation and seduction, this isn’t something he wants to be a part of.

Is the guy dancing with Hans the turtleneck dude, or is that someone else? PLOT TWIST: he was never Matteo’s love interest, despite fan theories. He was Hans’ love interest all along!

Matteo gets up, trying to escape this scene that makes him uncomfortable. But Sara pulls him into a dance (much like she’s going to be playing the role of Emma this season, pulling Matteo back into an attempt at a straight relationship). They kiss, and he’s soooo not into it, hugging her and staring over her shoulder into space like she’s his great-aunt who smells like mothballs and he can’t wait to get the fuck out of this family reunion.

He escapes into the bathroom where the boy squad is smoking weed. Carlos showing the boys a sex position on his phone. I’m sure Matteo loves hearing about that. He’s getting high as the boys debate the mechanics of this man-woman sex position. The proper response, honestly.

Oh my God, Carlos just called Kiki a catheter. He meant cathetus. I don’t think you’re ready to integrate catheters into your sex life, dude. 

Matteo looks dead. I know he’s getting high, but this kid looks fucking deceased. Someone revive him already.

When he realizes he has three calls from Kiki, Carlos pulls up Jonas and Abdi, saying they’re going to go hook up with girls. An activity that I’m sure Matteo wants to participate in. Matteo lingers behind. He just seems so wiped. He looks at himself in the mirror and it’s as if he’s disappointed in what he sees.  (The way it’s shot makes his mirror image divided down the middle, like he’s a fractured person.) I’ve seen some later episodes by this point and Matteo seems like he’s really struggling with anxiety, like he just needs to escape sometimes, it all gets overwhelming.

The girl Jonas is dancing with kinda reminds me of Sonja (similar-ish haircut).

HOLY FUCK DID MATTEO JUST PUT THE WEED IN AMIRA’S BACKPACK???? Matteo, that is TOTALLY the worst an Isak has been about this, planting weed on on a person rather than a vase. I guess he assumes a Muslim girl in hijab seems like an unlikely candidate to have drugs, but ... dude. Asshole move. And I wouldn’t trust the authorities not to search the Muslim girl’s belongings for discriminatory reasons, anyway, which would have made it even worse.

Photoshop Markus is at this party and Matteo tells the cops Markus is the renter, LMAO GOD. Matteo is just snaking all over the place tonight. The cops tell everyone to turn the music down, which is pretty reasonable and not nearly as bad as them telling people to break up the party. Or maybe I’m just old. Carlos salutes as the cops leave, heh.

Amira just walks out with her backpack … and the weed. Lol, she might’ve just left because the cops showed up and she figured better to bail now, not wanting to get in trouble, or because she had a curfew or something, but part of me wants to believe she knew Matteo stuck weed in her backpack and she’s walking out to make him suffer. In that case: he deserves it, make him suffer.

Mia wasn’t at the party. I guess she and Alexander were making their own fun, but her presence is missed.

Clip 2 - Survival camp

Matteo’s new room is already a little messy, with beer bottles and remnants of the party. He wakes up and checks his phone, he’s got a Bible verse from mom. One that sounds normal and non-threatening enough, not like it’s about sin and hellfire, but you know. All religious texts are probably loaded coming from Matteo’s mom.

Matteo rolls over and Jonas is conked out in bed next to him. Oh nooooo, my heart. Matteo watches him and then reaches out and slooooowly lowers his hand to lightly touch Jonas’ curls, closing his eyes a little. GODDAMMIT.

If he doesn’t do this to Gereven at some point, touch his hair without having to be secretive about it, then I’m suing Druck.

You can tell Matteo is indulging in this fantasy that Jonas is his boyfriend and he’s waking up next to him, and the fantasy is broken when he looks down and sees that Jonas has a phone number with a little heart written on his arm. A girl. Jonas will never be his boyfriend.

Although I almost don’t think this is specifically about Matteo pining over Jonas - I think there’s definitely some lingering feelings, enough to be disappointed that Jonas might have a girl, but I also think it’s just the wish that Matteo can have this experience with a guy at all, he can wake up next to a boy who’s not just a friend, who he can touch and show affection to. 

The fantasy is further interrupted when Hans walks in (the dreamy music cuts off) and Matteo rolls on his back like he’s totally not staring wistfully at Jonas. Hans throws himself on the bed between them in a perfect face plant, lmao. 

Hans asks Matteo to buy rolls, saying Mia would’ve done that. Hans, if you are expecting Matteo to be a Mia substitute, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. I don’t think Matteo will lovingly wipe your vomit off the tub. (I mean. Maybe when he falls in love and is in just that good of a mood.)

Jonas asks why Hans is in Matteo’s bed, and Hans says he could ask Jonas the same question (DAMN) but Jonas is like … I’ve waited for you. He and Hans stare into each other’s eyes. Lmao, the way their gaze holds without comment or them breaking it off. I’m sure Matteo just loves seeing them “flirt.” But I don’t think the fantasy of Jonas in his bed involves Hans, sorry Hans. Matteo gets up to buy rolls, just to get away from the JoHans lovefest, I guess.

Linn comes in and says she wants to make pancakes but doesn’t know where the pans are, and she doesn’t know how to make pancakes either. Everyone in this flat is screwed without Mia. But Jonas offers to make pancakes, so all is saved! Matteo grumpily leaves Jonas, Hans, and Linn to take a selfie of their “survival camp” to send to Mia, showing they’re totally making it on their own. They look so perky, heh. They won’t be so perky when Jonas leaves and takes his pancake-making skills with him.

Matteo steps outside and gets a text from Sara about whether he slept well. I feel bad for Sara. She’s not just the Emma equivalent, she’s a character we’ve seen in the past who has been entertaining and likable. I don’t want to see her either make Emma’s mistakes like outing Matteo OR get her heart broken by him.

 Hans throws Matteo’s wallet out of the window, beaning him in the head, which is truly the perfect gif.

Clip 3 - Will you surrender?

Matteo goes into school on a rainy Monday morning. We start with some passionate straight kissing in the foreground, coupled with a pic and text from Sara, just to show the kind of shit Matteo is dealing with. A heterosexual assault from all angles. 

He meets up with the boy squad. Jonas is looking to get with Linn’s friend, who is “Emma Watson but blonde.” Sucks for Matteo to hear yet more girl talk, and girl talk from Jonas specifically. The heterosexuality strikes from another corner.

Adding another unwanted conversation topic, Abdi asks about the weed. Matteo seems like he wants to get the hell out of there, so he bails and goes up to Hanna and Sam, asking where Amira is. She’s out sick, so solving the weed dilemma will have to wait another day.

Hanna glances over at Jonas, who finally seems to have snapped out of his S2 funk as he talks about his new girl … does Hanna know yet Jonas has a new flame? Or is she just suspicious?

Man, I keep saying it, but Matteo seems like he’s sleepwalking through life, like this kid is just. Legit depressed. He has no energy for anything. Not even to fake being OK.

Continuity snarl: Matteo puts up his hood as he rounds the corner after leaving the girls, but it’s down a moment later.

The music is kicking in and there’s still almost a minute of clip left, is Matteo going to like … literally run into Beanie Boy/Gereven?

YEP

Well, they didn’t do a rom-com Meet Cute collide into each other or anything, but they passed each other in the hallway! In slow motion!

The big moment: Matteo and Gereven are coming at each other from different sides (like different ~walks of life? ooooo). They lock eyes and then look back at each other once after they’ve passed.

The scene goes into slow motion as soon as Matteo lifts his head and sees Beanie Boy. Matteo is just ambling his way to class and meandering through life, but when he sees that guy, that’s when he starts to feel present in the world, like it’s not just around him but including him. And then Gereven comes into focus as they pass each other.

I adore the music choice for this moment. It’s beautiful, and the lyrics are so lovely. “Will you surrender?” when we see Gereven and Matteo looking at each other, because Matteo’s seeing the boy who will make him give in and stop hiding who he truly is, who will make him surrender to love. And I suspect the same is true for Gereven, that Matteo will make him surrender as will, let go of his fears. 

So I reaaaaally don’t think Beanie Boy was trying to get Matteo’s attention like Even was. There’s nothing about it that suggests so. My prediction is that Beanie Boy, like Matteo was trying to keep his head down and get through life, and they just happened to walk by each other. I mean, Matteo’s just walking down a school hallway, it’s not like Beanie Boy parked his ass deliberately somewhere so Matteo could see him, he couldn’t predict Matteo was going to walk down that hallway at that particular time. I feel like Beanie Boy is very much like Matteo in that he’s lonely and an outsider. He’s not trying to attract attention, he’s not seen smiling or laughing at someone at the beginning. Our first glance at Even was his brightness. Our first glimpse of Gereven (from Matteo’s POV, not the brief moment of him last season which is more of an Easter egg, really) has him in dark clothes, headphones on. I feel like he and Matteo are just checked out of life. And I think that’ll be an interesting take on Even, not so much that Beanie Boy has Even’s confidence and swagger in drawing Matteo to him, but that Matteo and Gereven are both outsiders and recognize their loneliness in each other.

That’s what really makes me love this scene. It’s just a mundane occurrence. Two boys walking by each other. Something that happens all the time. Something that Matteo no doubt does every day, walk by other boys whose faces don’t register. But this time, there’s ... something. Physical attraction? Sure, that’s part of it. But even more I think it’s a sense of connection, something inexplicable that draws them to look back at each other even when the moment should have ended. A gut feeling that this person is also lost, that he would understand. 

Clip 4 - Everyone’s favorite reluctant friendship begins

It’s the first remake to focus on the teacher’s nipples! Matteo is staring at them instead of listening to her talk about their exams. 

Amira comes in and Matteo just gets up from where he was sitting and sits next to her while the teacher is talking. Lol, is that allowed? Is this a study session or something?

Amira coolly ignores Matteo even when he tries to get her attention. Eventually she says she found his weed and how fucked up it was for him to do that, she could have gotten in trouble. A bit of a change because Sana was upset that Isak almost fucked over Eva, causing a demonstration of Sana’s loyalty to her friends. With Amira, it was personal, a risk to herself. Matteo acts shitty too, he’s just like come on, it wasn’t personal, it wasn’t a big deal. Dude! If you want your weed back, that’s not the best course of action. You need to grovel.

The teacher calls on Matteo and Jonas shoots him an entertained look, like ha ha, you got in trouble. Or probably, more ha ha, check out our teacher’s nips. Nice display of Jonas going for that hetero bro bonding that Matteo would love to avoid.

LMAO, when Matteo asks for the week back and Amira says, “What will I get for it?” Matteo is like “IDK, blowjob?” THIS KID. His mind went to that, huh. Remember Even was all “yeah, we had to suck dicks” without two minutes of meeting Isak? And then later Eskild told Isak that talking about sucking dick when you meet someone is a sign someone’s gay? Yeah. 

Amira says she’ll give the weed back if Matteo and his boys join the abi-prank committee. Didn’t they do that last season? The copies of the boobs and butts and Jonas’ dick, didn’t that count as the prank?

The teacher makes them study partners. So far, she’s not a racist, at least? Anyway, Amira and Matteo look positively thrilled to be paired together; meanwhile Jonas is flirting with his seat partner. Oh, maybe that’s what the Look was about. Matteo continues to be pelted with heterosexuality like rotten fruits and vegetables.

Clip 5 - Matteo gets a prom date

Matteo and Sara sit on opposite sides of the bed, texting their friends, on their phones. LMAO, sounds about right, tbh. Truly scorching chemistry. Nah, it’s very Isak and Eskild.

The boys’ group chat has Jonas saying he’s getting laid on Friday. That rotten hetero produce comes in the form of eggplant emojis. Matteo sure loves hearing about Jonas banging chicks!  He’s like, yeah, I’m totally having sex with a girl as well.

Sara asks his opinion about a dress. Subtle (“subtle”) hint about the prom? Yes, as it turns out. But she suddenly leans over and kisses him after he’s like yeah, that looks nice. He looks as excited as you’d expect. He was actually staring into space before she did that.

Sara gets a text, Matteo wants to know what they’re talking about, and there’s some “flirting” until Sara caves and tells him that Leonie likes the new guy from their PE class. GEE I WONDER WHO THAT COULD BE. Matteo offers to investigate for her. Yeah, I’ll bet he’s gonna enjoy that more than he knows. He’s going to become one of the Hardy Boys.

Sara somewhat nervously asks if they should go to prom together, and when Matteo is agrees, she asks whether they’re a thing. It makes me sad how clearly vulnerable she is right now, like she really likes him and is hoping to say yes, but she isn’t sure. Matteo says they’re a thing. Not conveying how utterly miserable this must make him, but not exactly jumping for joy, either. Like Isak tried hard to impress Emma, he could turn on the charm, but Matteo is just sleepy about it.

Sara kisses Matteo again, but before they go further, he asks if she wants to watch a movie with him. Smart move.

I’m sure Matteo will end up going to prom with Gereven. Sara and Leonie can go together? Realizing their love for each other at last. Or just as friends. (But preferably girlfriends.)

Clip 6 - Make a wish

Matteo goes to the abi-prank meeting, looking like he gives nary a fuck. Amira shoots him a nod and he gives her a “what more do you want from me” look. The girls are at the meeting, the rest of the boy squad is not, obviously. I see Photoshop Markus but not Beanie Boy.

All the girls are looking beautiful by the way. Look at Amira, she’s radiant!

Kiki literally goes Fight Club on this meeting. I have to say, if you asked me which Druck character would be a member of Fight Club, it would be Kiki. Her clumsy nervousness is a total front for bloodlust.

Matteo is being rude as hell just taking out his phone while Kiki is talking. The boys text why they aren’t there: Jonas has a date, Kiki is still mad at Carlos (dude, that’s why you need to come, it’s a way to get back on her good side) and Abdi just forgot.

They suggest a flash mob. Lmao, good luck getting Matteo to dance. Or they suggest just randomly hugging teachers. That could get all kinds of awkward, judging by the last teacher we saw with the power nipples. I’m just imagining some short kid going for a hug and getting their face mashed into the teacher’s areola.

Photosohp Markus has a suggestion. I love this dude, sorry. He loves hugging! He wants to practice with Kiki. Kiki realizes in an instant why the hugging prank might not be the best idea. But she’s like, we can group bond instead. Kiki wants everyone to hold hands and Matteo just peaces the fuck out. This prank meeting is pretty depressing, honestly. Way more so than kosegruppa. Kosegruppa might have been uncool or whatever but I got the sense the people involved enjoyed it. This meeting was just excruciating, and barely anyone is there. Look at that tiny circle.

Oh shit! As Matteo exits the room, Beanie Boy is going into it, and Matteo stops him. No, don’t go in there, it’s dangerous! Or actually it just sucks and they’re doing a trust circle where they hold hands. Beanie Boy obviously does not want to hold hands in that room, since Matteo is out here and not in there.

Aww, I love that Matteo has a slight smile? Just the tiniest when he talks to Beanie. Beanie is kinda doing the talking with his eyes, he’s definitely considering Matteo.

Shit, it’s Matteo who offers weed! Matteo is the one being the initiator! The bolder one. I love the idea of maybe having a shyer Even, like it does drastically change their dynamic, but I’m fine with that as long as the show does a thorough job of adapting their interactions, not just a cut and paste. Beanie Boy is the new kid and probably didn’t expect someone to make overtures of friendship (or more…).

And I love Matteo doing this when we’ve seen him sleepwalking through his interactions with Sara and … everyone else, kinda. He’s actually found some courage. Like he could have just let Beanie Boy go off and do his own thing, there was no real reason to offer a joint once he’d warned him off the meeting. But he somehow just felt the need to keep talking to this dude.

Holy fuck, MATTEO putting the joint behind his ear. This role reversal is so much fun already. And it’s even more amusing if you think that this is how some of Evak played out from Even’s POV? We thought Even was this charming, suave, mysterious dude when he stuck that joint behind his ear, because we were in Isak’s POV and Even was some handsome stranger. Later we realize what a huge dork Even is and that he was super desperate to get Isak’s attention and had been pining since the first day of school. So this is like how Even actually was - we know Matteo is a big dork and not a suave dude, but maybe that’s how he comes across in Beanie Boy’s eyes. 

HIS NAME IS DAVID. A perfectly excellent name, tbh. I was worried they were going to call him something like Daniel or Noah, names that already exist in the Skam universe, which would be confusing as hell when those Noorhelm seasons are concurrently airing. “I can’t believe that thing Noah just did in this clip.” Uhhhh which Noah are you talking about, untagged post? Or God forbid, another Lucas, although David’s actor is named Lukas so I figured we would dodge that bullet.

Although it does occur to me that we have do have a David, the Skam France director, soooo … fuck.

I want to make a disclaimer: as fandom knows, David is played by a trans actor. There’s no guarantee that this character will be trans yet, but I think it’s unlikely that they won’t bring it up. The nature of this show seems like they’ll incorporate it into the story rather than let the opportunity pass to talk about trans issues, and I know that trans Druck fans campaigning for a trans Even had a ton to do with this decision, so I believe their input would weigh on the story itself beyond the casting. So I’m going to make speculation and comments with the assumption that David is trans and how that will affect the plot. There are things in this conversation that are potentially relevant to that, for instance. I don’t want to overstep, but I also don’t want to ignore moments of possible foreshadowing or pieces that might be relevant to his characterization.

So for instance, I don’t know if they have replaced Even being bipolar with David being trans. To be clear, NOT because being trans is a mental illness but more as an area of societal marginalization that the character has to deal with, that might be hidden from the other characters and the audience. We don’t know when we will learn that David is trans; while I write this we’re several episodes in, but I don’t know if we’ll learn three clips from now or three episodes from now. I don’t know if David will be trans and bipolar, or just one of the two. I don’t know if the reveal will end up being casual and non-dramatic, or if it will be a big thing like the end of episode 8. I have some guesses about where the story might go, but I’m keeping in mind that there’s a new element that none of the Evak seasons have tackled before, and that may cause big changes to the story. 

Matteo asks David about being new so close to Abi, and David says he killed someone and had to go into hiding. That could be a reference to his dead name. I don’t know if that term is the same in German, but seems like a possible hint. He does say he killed his parents, but that’s after Matteo asks if he had stress with them, so he’s just riffing off what Matteo said. Or just the fact that when Matteo asks about him being new, David wants to know why - maybe he’s wondering if Matteo knows something or heard a rumor. 

Isak asking about Even transferring in his final year got cut off because Emma showed up. Here Matteo just kinda accepts David’s joke and doesn’t question him further.

Matteo is super into him, of course. Look at that body language, he’s all angled toward David. David, too. Tarjei and Henrik had masterful body language so this is very promising.

David points out an eyelash on Matteo’s face and you fucking KNOW later in the season he probably won’t ask, he’ll just brush it off himself. Matteo is like, can I make a wish now? JFC, Matteo is flirting so much, he is intensely looking at David when he says that. Honestly, it’s really exciting to see this dynamic kinda flipped, mixing and matching Isak and Even elements between Matteo and David. David says it was just an eyelash. Maybe he’ll be more of the realist rather than the romantic? God, if Matteo is the more romantic one, I will lose my mind (in a good way).

David does ask what Matteo’s wish would have been, and Matteo is like, IDK, go on holiday or something. David says he knows the feeling and Matteo asks where he would go. Matteo would get in a car and just drive away. David says to go directly to Detroit. David, I’m fond of you already but unless your car turns into a submarine that is not gonna work.

David has been pretty chill so far, but he perks up and smiles when mentioning Detroit at the very end, so Matteo gets hit with the ray of charm. That’s when the music kicks in, too, because Matteo has seen David smile. No turning back now. I presume we are going to be hearing music from Detroit artists this season?

LMAO, I was like oh, Sara’s not there at the meeting so she can’t interrupt their moment, and yet SOMEHOW she managed to anyway. And she kisses Matteo so David knows Matteo has a girlfriend right off the bat. David takes this as his cue to exit.

Why was Sara there, anyway? Did she show up late for the Abi prank meeting? Didn’t she just do a big prank where she photocopied her boobs for the school to see? Or did she just know that’s where Matteo was headed tonight and she waited around for him?

For Matteo, Sara’s arrival cuts into this charged moment with David. With David, it’s a little less intense than Isak finding out about Sonja? Because he’s only shared a few minutes now with Matteo instead of stalking him for a week and then spending hours at his house, although obviously he could be crushing on him for a while already. Though personally I think they might eliminate that part of the story. Anyway, this is like … a spark of hope getting extinguished REALLY early and it makes me wonder how the rest of this story is gonna go. Matteo is the one with the girlfriend, the “obstacle.” Is he going to run hot and cold, go back to Sara after getting with David? 

Matteo looks sad as David goes, obviously. Making it worse is that of course that’s the dude Leonie likes. Matteo takes a drag of the joint before replying that he thinks it’s somebody else. Well, David was someone somebody else liked (ahem), so I guess that does make him somebody else. But clearly David is going to be so much more to Matteo than just “dude Leonie likes.”

Anyway, I love how quiet and down to earth that scene was, how it wasn’t instant smiles and conversational bliss but a little rough, testing each other out. And I think it’s good that Matteo seems to be more proactive around David, because they both seem kinda like chill stoner/emo kids, and two sleepy guys is not going to be that exciting of a dynamic, honestly. Matteo being the instigator gives the story a fresh take, and the contrast between Matteo with David and Matteo with everyone else is really, really important. We can already see that David is the person, the one who makes Matteo slip into a different mode of his being, one that’s happier and more comfortable. The one who makes him wake up.

Social Media/General Comments:

Jonas says he’s better about the Hanna situation than he was before. We’ll see how long that lasts. I hope his S2 attitude leaves a trace this season, like it was such a big deal and had an affect on Matteo feeling adrift from his best friend, so it should play a role in their relationship.

Abdi refuses to get on Instagram, which is convenient for the show’s social media content creators, lol.

As explained in the texts, a pipe broke in the apartment, so Mia, Hans, and Linn had to move out, and Linn found them a new apartment but one with an extra room, so they needed another roommate fast. Mia suggested Matteo as she heard through the grapevine that he wanted to move out. It’s pretty sad because he was looking to leave, so we can assume things are very bad at home. At least it didn’t escalate to him sleeping in a basement.

I’m glad they found a way to move Matteo into the apartment neatly and quickly with the small gap between S2 and S3. I think Matteo living on his own is a pretty big contributor to his feelings of isolation and instability, and assuming Hans plays a similar role as Eskild with his “guru” advice, it helps a lot if they’re living under the same roof. However, it does create a different setup for the two, though, because Hans didn’t “rescue” Matteo like Eskild did with Isak. Living with Hans will give them more opportunities to bond than living apart would, but Hans didn’t nurture and shelter Matteo to the degree that Eskild did for Isak. Hans is like a new acquaintance, and it will take more effort to build them to a point where Matteo feels like he can trust Hans and go to him for advice. Unless it’s solely like “well, he’s the only other gay guy I know” which would be understandable but a bit underwhelming. Hans has a depressing family life, as shown in S2, with relatives who don’t accept his personality, to the point where he adopts a “straighter” persona to interact with them, and it would be amazing to bring in his background to the Pride clip.

LET’S GET SOME MIA/MATTEO CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SEXUALITY GOING, TOO. They made Mia bi but many people think they could’ve done a better job of addressing it, so this is their chance! Don’t just sleep on it by following the OG story structure - make use of those changes.

The only non-confirmed LGBT person in the flat is Linn and you know, they could remedy that this season.

Linn apparently took care of a lot of the move, so that’s progress for her, she got something done for once, lol. 

With the other girls, Hanna and Mia are furtive about why they don’t think it’s serious between Matteo and Sara. I love them for keep their mouths shut about his sexuality.

Seeing Matteo flirt with Sara and make plans to go to the movies with her has me yelling like I’m in the movie theater for a horror film. DON’T GO UPSTAIRS! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!

There are pictures of Matteo and Amira looking smiley and happy because The Incident happens, heh. Matteo looks like he was having a decent time earlier in the evening and then descended into sadness and fatigue. And, you know, getting drunk and high.

Sara posts a pic with Leonie being like #theonewhounderstandsme and if that isn’t screaming for a Sara/Leonie endgame...

Linn super loves flamingos. 

Kiki and Carlos fight because he was in the bathtub getting high and ignoring her texts.

Mia is absent a lot because she’s hanging with Alex, that’s why she missed the housewarming party. The girls miss her. Come back soon, Mia! Don’t just disappear because Noora went to London!

We got a sappy chat between Mia and Alex to remind us that they’re around, at least. Alex misses Mia even though she’s sitting across from him. I guess they’re in their little couple bubble now.

Matteo checks in with Amira and asks if she’s feeling better or still sick, and Amira’s answers make me suspect she knows exactly what bullshit Matteo pulled on Saturday.

When Matteo invited Sara to study at his place on Thursday, I found myself wishing that maybe Hans could save the day and just be so intrusive and annoying that he drove Sara away without Matteo having to make out with Sara or blow her off rudely or whatever. Alas.

I’m laughing how Markus is “Photoshop Markus” even in the group chat. No one else appears to have a nickname, just him.

Leonie and Sara chat; Leonie has her eye on Gereven and Sara is trying to figure out where she and Matteo stand as a couple. I’m really fond of them and I hope they don’t become Emma and Sonja, honestly. Again, just ... nip those relationships in the bud. Let them go to prom with each other, not the boys. Even if they aren’t together romantically, they seem to be the most important people in each other’s lives.

Matteo zips his lips when Jonas asks if he banged Sara, which conveniently doesn’t mean he has to say no. A very Isak technique.

Mia wasn’t in this episode at all, which is strange when she, you know, lives with Matteo and goes to school with him and we saw all the other girls. In-universe the explanation is that she’s with Alexander, but I wonder if they were filming parts of S2 at the same time, maybe? Reshoots? And that’s why we haven’t seen either Mia or Alexander, because the actors were busy. The other explanation is just that Mia is not here because Noora was not there, and Druck felt the need to follow that story. I’d find that really disappointing. 

This is a really promising start to the season, and I already love the tone. It has a very down-to-earth, painfully vulnerable feel. Matteo’s misery is palpable in basically every scene, except the ones with David, where we get glimpses of his better self. I can sense this kid’s internal struggle all the time. There’s also pining and longing in the simplest moments, from Matteo brushing Jonas’ hair while he’s sleeping, to that one look in the hallway with David causing a spark, to the way they look at each other while smoking, David pointing out the eyelash on Matteo’s cheek. It’s quiet, raw, and real. And that is exactly the atmosphere I want from a S3 remake.

I’m not German so feel free to correct me on translations or cultural notes.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

[nancydrew65]

SKAM Austin Season 2 Episode 7 Thoughts

This episode was extremely hard to watch. Sexual assault is an incredibly heavy storyline, but I think SKAM Austin has done an incredible job so far in telling Grace’s story. That being said, I found some parts very difficult to watch and I had to steel myself to get through all the clips this week. As a young woman, this storyline resonates very deeply with me. I have been lucky enough to avoid a lot of sexist comments or misogynistic cat-calls, but especially now, with the whole #MeToo movement bringing to light so many awful instances of sexual harassment, it just makes me so wary. I think Grace’s story is an important one, and I think it is a really necessary one to tell in this day and age.

Up Early

Oh, boy. This is going to be rough. Grace wakes up and immediately knows something is wrong. She finds herself lying in bed naked next to Clay and another random girl.

This scene was shot very well. I felt Grace’s panic as she put her clothes on and hurried out of the house. I felt her anxiety as she impatiently waited for her ride to come. Also, a nice American touch for Grace to have called some driving service. All the other remakes have just walked home.

No matter how many times I watch this storyline, I don’t know if I will ever come to a point where I am unaffected by it. To their credit, I think all of the remakes so far have done a superb job handling the sexual assault storyline (except for William’s reaction to it, obviously).

I have to say, the little things Grace murmured to herself throughout the clip just broke my heart. She was trying so hard to convince herself that she could keep it together.

Oh, no. She gets all the messages from Daniel about how much he loves her. That must be a punch in the gut.

And then she throws up almost as soon as she gets in the car.

I read some comments on the website and was shocked to see how many people were victim-blaming Grace. It disgusted me. What happened to Grace was in no way her fault. Victims of sexual assault already suffer enough from guilt about those events and often times don’t come forward exactly because of reactions like the ones I saw in the comments.

Cocoon

Grace feverishly scrubs her body in the shower as if to wipe off any trace of Clay’s touch from her.

She then huddles in her bed, hugging her knees to her chest, the aforementioned cocoon. I saw a beautiful comment about how this whole experience for her is like a caterpillars journey into becoming a butterfly. I just need Grace to become a butterfly.

Go Away

Well, Eve is kind of annoying at first in this scene. Just bustling in the door and touching and grabbing things.

Oh, god. Of course Grace wants to get rid of that god awful shirt. She thinks she

I do appreciate the fact that Eve left right away when Grace asked her to. That was considerate of her.

And Grace returns to her cocoon and then proceeds to take another shower.

What’s Going On?

A loud party is going on outside Grace’s room while she is trying to research if she had sex or not. Fuck, why is this party going on?

I find it sickening that Grace is forced to communicate with her possible assaulter in order to find out what happened that night. She should not have to go through with that after everything that happened to her. Her agonizing over whether or not to send the message with the smiley face emoji was surprisingly poignant. Hoping he opens up to her, but trying not to appear too friendly nor wanting to appear too friendly.

Finally, Grace goes out to shut that party down… and what the heck is going on in that house?

I mean, I know the Bunny Vampire (?) party is an annual tradition, but Eve should have still asked Grace if it was OK given that they do share the house.

Did Eve really call Grace a bitch? Eve. I am disappointed.

OK, I know that Grace is pushing everyone away and I did appreciate that Eve said she was there for Grace no matter what, but her whole speech sounded so forced. I mean she literally just called Grace a bitch, for god’s sake. It is hard to sound sincere about being there for a person right after saying that to them.

Ugh, the texts from Daniel are just a punch to the gut for Grace.

I found it interesting that they broke the fourth wall with Grace staring straight at the camera.

All I Get

Oh, OK. So it is an essay project that Grace has to write this time around. I find that kind of weird because they did so much to set Grace up as a journalist this season that I just assumed they would take the same route as OG. I guess it doesn’t really matter either way.

Grace looked so uncomfortable with Daniel’s physical contact. I am not surprised.

She pushes Daniel away because she thinks she slept with his brother. Daniel must be so confused right now and I don’t blame him. Of course, I don’t blame Grace either. She feels like she has no choice in this situation and she doesn’t want to hurt Daniel.

Feel Like Me

Grace stalking Clay again - this time on Facebook. God, I feel so bad for her. Tell the girls, please.

Kelsey comes in as a ball of energy, ready to get Zoya onto Prom court. I am interested to see more of this new Kelsey who no longer has to constantly worry about Daniel.

Zoya seems ready to drop the whole Prom thing after the “terrorist” incident. All the girls look super awkward when she brings it up. Did they never discuss it with Zoya?

“Zoya, whoever did that to your locker is obviously going to hell.” Wow. Kelsey’s Christian upbringing is not brought up often, but it’s lines like these, ones that pack such a punch, that makes me wish SKAM Austin delved into this part of Kelsey’s character more.

Aw, and that little line of “You’re the prettiest one out of all of us,” to Zoya was so cute. You can tell it is a compliment of the highest regard coming from Kelsey. I am really loving this Kelsey.

I was kind of worried where they were going when Kelsey asked why Zoya wore her hijab, but SKAM Austin did not disappoint. Zoya wears her hijab because it makes her feel more herself and despite all the hate that it attracts, she still loves wearing it. That was a beautiful statement and I loved Kelsey’s response to it, wanting to be as brave as Zoya. #ImWithZOYA.

And then the girls ask Grace what she thinks and she has to muster up this half smile to agree with them. I feel for her so much.

Worried

Grace is mulling over what to write for the essay competition when Marlon comes up to her.

Well, this Marlon situation is very complicated. I do think Grace was rather harsh on him, but it is understandable; she is projecting her feelings about her sexual assault on Marlon.

I know people were debating about whether it was wrong what Marlon did, starting to hook up with Megan and then stopping. I agree that it is good that he stopped once he realized how drunk she was, but the fact remains that he should have never tried to hook up with her in the first place. They are broken up, he obviously doesn’t have feelings for her, but she does and hooking up with her, even just starting to hook up with her, can seriously mess with her. Megan needs to have closure with this relationship or else she will never get over Marlon. I do think he was right in saying it wasn’t his place to take care of her; that goes along with him not involving himself with her. Just stay away from her, Marlon. Please.

Then Grace gets the text from Clay saying nothing happened at the party. Oh, she looked so happy for a second. The relieved smile on her face made my day brighter. Unfortunately, it all had to be ruined.

Grace goes to Daniel and they reunite. OMG, it seemed like Grace might tell Daniel what happened with Clay!

But then he cuts her off to explain himself. Notable difference in this scene is that he does not say his brother is a psychopath. Well, that’ll come later… Instead he goes on to say that he can’t promise not to get into another fight. Hmm, not a great make-up speech, Daniel. Oh, he says if anyone ever tried to hurt Grace, he would kill them. They proceed to passionately make-out. WHAT?????? OK, if someone said that to me, I would be majorly freaked out. I don’t anyone to kill someone on my behalf, or revenge my death or anything like that. Not even my dad. That kind of thing just makes me feel uncomfortable and frightened. I don’t get why someone (Grace, cough, cough) would be turned on by that.

Daniel leaves, Grace gets that dreaded text. The text where Clay sends a naked photo of her (majorly creepy, dude) and tells her how crazy she was at the party. Grace looks horrified.

General Thoughts

Well, I thought this episode was one of the best this season. So far, SKAM Austin has been nailing it with these scenes about the aftermath of a sexual assault. They included links to an organization, RAINN, that helps sexual assault victims. I appreciated that. A lot. So, I guess we have two more episodes in the season, not one. Thank goodness because it would be very hectic trying to cram everything into only one more episode. Grace still hasn’t told the girls or Eve anything. I hope next episode she finds the courage in herself to confide in them. They will not judge her, and they will support her, no matter what.

[treehousepublishing]

Multiply Me - Chapter 3

Synopsis: Ella Sommers decides her biggest mission is also her last. Despite wanting to correct the Reestablishment’s mistakes, there are bigger things at stake now. Things not even her friends can know about.

A/N: I needed some self indulgent new-gen, so here; post defy me

AO3 link | Chapter 1

KENJI

    Look, it’s not like I didn’t try, okay?

    I pestered Nouria and Sonya and Sara for weeks. They all refused and I got several threats from several of our friends if I didn’t knock it off. Sometimes loyalty is a pain in the ass, I’ll tell you that.

    Also, my deduction skills were used to the best of my abilities. It had to be something medical, right? That’s why the girls knew. Maybe J was sick. But then why not stay? This is the best possible place to get help for people like us. And what was all that “it’s too soon” shit? Too soon… For what?

It had to have something to do with Evie and the Sommers. Maybe Emmaline told her something in those last moments. Maybe she did something to her. Or gave her something. A new power? But then again it’s not like we were all new to this business. I don’t think we would have missed something like that.

    And then there were the coordinates. They weren’t even going that far. They showed a point right in the heart of sector 45, a rural area. Just miles and miles of plantation. Nothing special from what I could gather. Why go there of all places?

Could they have just been bailing? Maybe they just wanted some alone time. After all that happened, I would like some time too if I had to go through all of that emotional thing with her sister and her parents… But if that was the case, I thought they might come back soon.

    But they didn’t.

    In the end, I guess it didn’t really matter why. I knew where they were. I could show up at any given time and drag their butts back out here. But it felt important. What they said before they left, it felt… Like a mission. Like I owed them this much after all the work they had done. For the sector, for the world, even for me. I couldn’t bring myself to go after them without a very important reason.

    And I did try to find one. When it was tuesday. When we had pizza night. When Adam was marrying Alia, I thought I might finally have it, but he told me to leave it alone.

    Little did I know, I was missing more than a reason.

    I was missing a very important ally.

    I was woken by a loud horn on the outside. I raised my head from the pillow, confused. Nazeera was leaning on the small kitchen counter of the tent, sipping coffee. She looked at me with an amused look, purposefully not moving to answer to the call.

    “It’s for you. I don’t live here”    Grumbling, I stood up and started looking for my pants. “What’s that?”

    “I said that if you have a part of the closet, you have authority over the door.”

    Outside the door there was no one, or so I thought. I looked around to find James in the wheel of his brand new - or newly found - 4 x 4. He had sunglasses on and his arm was hanging out of the window.

    “James. What the fuck?”

    “Get in. We’re going to get Juliette.”

    I rub my eyes because I think I didn’t hear him right. I look back at Nazeera and she shrugs, getting up from the counter. I look back at James. He has a sly smile on his face.

    “Why?”

    “My eighteenth birthday party is in two weeks. I want them here. And you’re the only one that knows where they are. So hop on”.

    I try to think about it, but it promises a headache and much second guessing, so I get inside and start putting on a shirt.

    “Don’t wait up for me.”

    I say to Nazeera, who is busy covering her hair with a colorful scarf.

    “I wasn’t going to.” She fixes her hijab into place and hands me a coat. I kiss her.

“I love you”

    “I know” She smiles and touches her forehead in mine. I always think she isn’t going to say it back, but then “I love you too.”

Taglist: @welcometothespeaknowworldtour

[guiltgoreglory]

Heat Waves (Chapter 2: An Ego Check)

(Very) Brief Summary: Reader is a government contractor joining the team in Benghazi.  (Eventual Tanto x Reader) (2626 words)

Chapter 1

Tagging: @abitofpablo​ @kimburgss​ @ceyruh

You watched as the dust clouds trailed behind the buggy. The rest of the trip you all sat in silence, taking in the events that had just occurred. When you saw the base from a distance you decided it was safe to holster your weapons. You wiped the sweat of your palms on your thighs as you willed your heart to slow down, and so it did. The second you felt back at equilibrium, Rone took a quick turn into the base. To no surprise, it was the most conspicuous looking place you could have imagined. You expected better from the CIA. Several armed American guards stood at the gate which was surrounded by obvious cameras. You rolled your eyes knowing that if anyone wanted to target us, it wouldn’t be hard. One guy even wore a New York Yankee’s cap. It’s like they didn’t even try.

“Check the new rides. Gaddafi had a going-out-of-business sale on armored vehicles…” Rone gestured towards the Mercedes amongst several other high-end vehicles. He whistled. Leave it to Rone to keep the tone light. “Max-leveled armored, man. We got a great deal… We stole ‘em.” Rone stared down Jack with the biggest smirk plastered on his face. He seemed extremely proud of himself for that one. You watched as a similar smile tugged at the corners of Jack’s lips. You behaved similarly, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a shitty joke. 

You gathered your things as the car came to a stop. Rone hopped out, throwing the keys to another man wearing a vest, “Sat unattended at the airport.” His stride paused as he watched someone from afar. You followed his gaze until you saw the Chief. This was definitely going to be something, you didn’t know what, but you could feel the subordination getting ready to bubble out of Rone. “Hey, Chief,” Rone called, nonchalantly, almost mockingly. The Chief looked like any middle-aged man who worked in business. Blue blazer, khaki pants, glasses, the whole shebang. His posture screamed superiority complex, you knew from the get-go you wouldn’t get along, not like it mattered anyway.

“I don’t want to hear it, Tyrone.” He called back, shuffling his way back into the building. Rone strutted towards him, duffel in hand. 

“No, no, I understand.” He turned his head for a moment, keeping out of the way of a car

driving past. “I see what you’re going for here,” he called, on the verge of yelling, “Secret spy base with fortified walls, gate cameras,” He fumbled to get his id badge in hand. “and blue-eyed Westerners! walking in and out of this place all day long.” He did a lovely spin for emphasis, pointing towards all the obvious Americans walking around the base. You followed close behind, knowing you were going to need to speak with him as soon as Tyrone was done tearing into him. “But if you want to avoid..” His words were cut off by the Chief slamming the squeaky metal door in your face. His voice dropped a decibel and he spoke, mostly to himself, “That’s so rude”. He placed his phone into the tray mounted on the wall beside the door, before scanning in his card to gain entry. “Can’t believe he just did that to me.” Your heart started to pick up once again. Nothing made you more frustrated than a cocky man being too good to have a goddamn conversation.

The door let out a loud buzz before Rone pushed open the entrance. “Chief, if you want to avoid an international incident,” He continued to track in the Chief’s footsteps, “you send me my guys when I ask for them.” Many of the agents sitting at their computers peeked up to watch the drama unfold. Some took a look at you, the new face, before returning to watch the catfight.

Finally, the man turned to look at Tyrone, squinting in disapproval like a man reprimanding his toddler. “Local faces need to resolve local conflicts, Tyrone.” Aka, your life means little to nothing to me; the incident was just a wrinkle in my daily schedule. He flipped mindlessly through papers within a manilla folder. Wow he’s so important look how busy he is. “We’re guests in this country.” You and Jack came to stand a few feet behind Rone, trying to stay close without poking the bear. 

“We’re unwanted guests, Bob.” Rone rebutted. He’s not wrong. 

“We’re spies, you’re security guards.. Your job is to keep us out of trouble, not get into it yourselves.” God, he’s pretentious. Rone flipped through some files pinned onto a pillar, looking through some photos of notable people of the region. 

“Well help me do my job and give me my guys.” He didn’t bother giving the Chief the privilege of his eye-line as he continued to search through the photos. You heard a buzz, and quickly turned to see the other members of the squad you were now a part of. Perfect timing. You made eye contact with one of them, Chris Paronto. Based on your prior research everybody called him Tanto, the mischievous one. Just then the Chief said some absolute bullshit.

“Here’s what you guys are good at: working out, eating five hot meals a day. What you’re not so good at is doing what you’re told.” God, he was so fucking proud of himself. Look at you little man, showing off your power in front of your team. You let a little of your annoyance slip out. 

“Ironic considering without us, everyone’s a sitting duck.” You whispered softly. The men all turned their heads towards you. Well, I guess now is as good a time as ever to get this over with. 

“Excuse me? And who are you? Some ex-army nobody who can’t let go of the glory of war?” 

Alright, time to rip off the bandaid. You stood a little taller, stepping closer to the Chief, just beside Rone. “Honestly... I’m someone out of your security clearance.” You said assertively. Jack shared a hesitant look with Rone.

“Bullshit.” He turned away from you, readying to remove himself from the conversation. 

“Alright, I think it’s best if we get a phone call over with now.” You dropped your duffel onto the tile, squatting down beside it. The armed men gripped their guns just a little bit tighter. The Chief stood, watching you confused. You unzipped the bag, reaching in to wrap your hands around a satellite phone. You zipped it back up but left it on the ground for now.

“I don’t have time for this.” The Chief began to walk towards his office as you stood, clicking a number on speed-dial. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. The director doesn’t like waiting.” You held the phone to your head, keeping a straight face. That definitely made him pause. He turned back towards you, squinting his little face up. 

“Director of what?” He sighed. 

“Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.” You responded casually as if you were telling him the forecast for the next week. You waited as the phone continued to ring. 

Everyone stood in silence except for one guy. Tanto leaned over to whisper in Boon’s ear. “Who the fuck is she?”

Finally, a voice came over the line. “Y/N.”

“Good morning, Sir. We have arrived at the location.” Everyone had their eyes on you, curiosity getting the best of them.

“Any incidents?”

“One en route to base. Resolved without violence. I’ll have a report to you within the hour.”

“Great.” He took a deep breath and you could hear him adjust in his chair. “I take it you’d like me to speak with Bob.”

“That would be appreciated, Sir.”

“Alright hand me over.” You took steady, calculated steps towards the Chief, holding the phone out for him to take. He gently took it from your hand. His eyes bore holes into the crevices of the tiled floor.

“Hello..” The Chief said tentatively. You stepped back, giving him some room. You crossed your arms across your chest, shrugging in Rone’s direction. You could tell he was living for this. “Yes, Sir…. I understand, Sir. Of course…. Goodbye.” He stood like a dog with his tail between his legs. He stepped back towards you, holding out the phone. You took it gladly with a polite smile. Pressing the phone back to your ear you concluded with a quick farewell before going back to put your phone into the duffel. As you squatted beside it, you looked up towards the Chief. 

“Are we good?” You said. You no longer wanted to squabble and your tone reflected as such. 

“Yes.” He said curtly, returning to his office. The second the door closed, the chatter of the room returned back to normal. You turned back to the men of the team looking at Rone expectantly. 

“Alrighty then.” Rone turned to walk towards their lounge and the guys began to follow. Tanto sucked in his lips, trying to stifle a chuckle. The burly man next to him, Boon, jabbed him in the side before moving towards the room. You waited for Jack, giving him a genuine, small smile before trailing behind. 

“Well, that was fun.” Mark Geist, also known by the team as “Oz”, stated monotonously, walking into the room as he disassembled his rifle. 

“He gets his jollies pushing around alphas because he can.” John Tiegen. Called “Tig”. He’s the brains. The first one to be stationed here. You stood in the corner watching as he placed his things into his cubby. 

“We had this commander back in ranger school, he was a real cockbag…” Creative insult. Tanto began to remove his vest as he narrated on. You figured you’d be here for a minute so you pulled the straps of your cello case off of your shoulders placing it onto the floor, along with your duffel. Now that you were within the compound you took off the hijab, throwing it on top of the luggage. You flipped your head forward shaking out the matted hair before you pulled it into a bun. It was a mess but it did the job.

“So on our last night, me and a buddy, we stole his beret.” He placed his vest down on the table before plopping down onto the worn couch. “Whole barracks chubbed it.”

“Chubbed it?” Boon replied, his tone made you think he really didn’t want to know, whipping out his knife to fidget with.

“Yeah, rubbed our dicks on it.” Tanto replied, the widest smile crossing his face. He looked like the Cheshire cat as he reached for the gaming controller. You coughed, stifling your laugh before your face turned quizzical. He turned back towards you, noticing your reaction before giving you a quick up and down and returning to his game. You sauntered over to Jack to join in the awkwardness of being new. You tuned into Tig as he was beginning to talk work to Rone. He leaned forward over a desk that Rone was sitting at. 

“Leader was a former Gitmo detainee.” They scanned the rugged laptop, you presumed that they were looking for who you’d tangoed with this morning.

“Yeah, those guys usually don’t hold a grudge.” Rone said in his usual sarcastic tone. 

“Hey guys,” Oz’s voice pulled you from your concentration as you turned to face him with a friendly smile. “Mark Geist, Oz.”

“Pleasure.” Jack went to shake his hand and you followed suit.

“Ah guys I’m sorry.” Rone spun on his office chair to face the rest of the crew. “Everybody, this is Jack Silva. It’s our third contract together so he knows the drill. We met training SEALs at Coronado.”

Tanto turned back for a second. “How do you get them to balance that beach ball on their nose?” A few chuckles could be heard from the guys.

“It’s tough.” Jack’s shoulders relaxed slightly, letting himself become more comfortable around his new team. 

“And this” He gestured his hand towards you. “is Y/N. She’s uhh..” He paused for a split second, trying to find the right word to describe you. “black-ops and apparently has the government at her fingertips so she’ll probably be of use.” You smirked, nodding your head towards the guys. Rone rose from his spot, spreading his arms across the room. “So we got three ex-Marines here and one ex-Army retard who likes to rub his dick on things.” Tanto stood proudly facing you two. 

“Kris Paronto. Call me Tanto.” You both shook his hand. You found Tanto’s demeanor amusing, and much to your dismay, his confidence was undeniably attractive. Despite the tall crowd, he still somehow towered above them. You shared eye contact for a brief moment before turning towards Tig. Although he felt easy to get along with, you hoped his casual demeanor didn’t affect his work. In your experience, the joker usually got people killed. Despite this, what you had researched, he seemed to be doing alright so far. 

“Hey. I’m Tig.” He waved towards you two.

“Tig’s been here the longest, so he’ll get you up to speed on the area,” Rone said, stabbing a red pin into a map. Looking in more detail you noticed it was the location of your incident. “This is Boon. Scout Sniper, Zen Master, Holder of Tanto’s leash.” He pointed to the man sitting in the sturdy armchair. 

He looked up from his lap. “Welcome to Club Med.”

“It hasn’t rained since June. It’s not gonna rain again until September.” He walked right up to you two strolling past slowly. “You two will be double-bunked. Not me, because I’m in charge. Gym sucks,” damn “food’s actually good.” Lose, win. 

Tig walked to the center of the room, a few feet from the three of you. “Base Chief is kinda a tool, but who knows, maybe now that you’re here he’ll be moderately tolerable.” 

You shrugged. “No promises but if he gets too snippy I’ll whip out the phone again.” 

“Maybe he just needs a new hat” Jack quipped. Tanto looked up from the TV to point appreciatively at Jack. 

“Don’t encourage him,” Rone said as if talking about his puppy.

“Come on. He’s just a guy with a job to do.”Oz said. Based on the dynamic he was the dad of the group. Honest, serious, tough-love type of guy. Makes sense given he’s the sniper.  “He’s playing his string out, but if you talk to him, Bob did some shit back in the day.” You’d heard it a million times, some badass joins the CIA works his way up until he’s practically just a desk jockey with a power problem. Didn’t gain him any sympathy from you.

“Alright, Jack, Y/N, this is the whiteboard that’s gonna run your life for the next sixty days.” You looked over the various points of the board as Jack made his way towards the couch. Given the limited space you preferred standing just behind, leaning your hip against the back. “I want you to check it every hour cause last-minute moves pop up every minute, such as... where shotgunning it in three hours.” Everyone in the room except you, Jack, and Rone let out an audible groan of annoyance. Tanto slapped his controller onto his lap, looking up to the ceiling. Before concentrating back on the game, he looked at you. You took this opportunity to raise an eyebrow in his direction given his childlike reaction to the news. He responded with a strong but blank stare. You rolled your eyes slightly, breaking eye contact to pay attention to Rone. You were used to being dispatched on the drop of the hat, acclimating to the schedule here probably wouldn’t be too much of a pain.

“Three hours. I’ll let you know when I’m briefed.”

[whippedkoalas]

hii, i love your writing!! can you write something about liv and noah?? (only if you want)

Hi! I haven’t been keeping up much with SkamNL but I had this idea about Noah and Liv so I decided to write it. Forgive me if I made mistakes!

 5 + 1. five times Noah’s drawings change things for his relationship with Liv, and that one time it’s Liv’s drawing that is significant. 

1.

The first time Liv notices a drawing in her locker, she knows it’s Noah’s. She looks at it carefully and smiles. When she looks at the other side of the paper, she notices Noah’s signature and puts it back in her locker. She closes the door.

Noah appears out of nowhere. He greets her with a smile.

She doesn’t answer.

‘You left it on the nightstand before sneaking out of the bed’ he tells her like it’s a secret.

She takes a few seconds to think about the best answer. ‘I know’

Noah is amused.

‘Could we go grab a coffee somewhere and show each other our drawings?’ he looks at her intensely. Liv feels herself blushing.

‘No. I don’t let strangers see my drawings.’

Liv smiles smugly.

Noah chuckles and moves closer to her.

‘Do you still consider me a stranger now that we have shared a bed?’ he murmurs, before disappearing from her sight.

2.

Liv doesn’t know why she is there. She can list a thousand of reasons why she shouldn’t be.

Because Engel is her friend. Because she promised herself to never fall in love with a player. Because she doesn’t trust Noah. Because he will break her heart. Because he’s looking for something she can’t give him. Because she’s not ready to love someone. Because she is not ready to be loved. Because she knows Noah is not ready to love. Because he’s not looking for anything more than messing around and she can’t give him what he wants. Because he is gonna break her heart.

But she is there, lying next to a fast asleep Noah, watching his face carefully, just to be sure he’s really there.

She rests her head more comfortably on the pillow. When Noah opens his eyes, she pretends to be asleep but she’s not fooling him.

‘You’re watching me sleep?’ he asks her with a raspy voice.

‘No.’

Noah gently touches her nose with his finger. She runs her fingers through his hair and then gets closer to kiss him.

Noah takes her into his embrace and kisses her neck. ‘Liv, naked in my bed, what a dream!’

‘I am NOT naked, Noah.’ she replies, hitting his arm with her hand.

‘Okay. but could I draw you, then?’

Liv bites her lip. ‘You want to draw me naked?’

Noah nods. He takes his sketchbook on the nightstand with a pencil. ‘Don’t move, okay? You’re beautiful like this’

When Noah is done, he adds a little heart and an N. and gives her the sketch.

She gives it a quick look and bites her lip to suppress a smile. She doesn’t want Noah to know that she loves it. It’s a simple sketch but it makes her heart melts. It seems so significant.

But then she meets Abel, Noah’s brother, in their kitchen. Noah treats her like a random girl he spent the night with and she suddenly realizes it was foolish of her to think it held any significance to Noah.

As Noah suggested, she leaves the house, leaving the sketch on the pillow.

3.

Liv finds Noah on a bench. She sits down next to him. He’s drawing.

‘Hi. What are you drawing?’ she asks quietly. They haven’t talked since she left the party after witnessing Noah getting into a fight. Noah tried to call her a few times but she couldn’t pick up, she didn’t know what to tell him. She doesn’t know if she can date him after that. Violence is something she can’t accept.

‘You’ he replies. He looks at her, probably waiting for her to kiss him.

She smiles and sighs.

Noah stops drawing and looks at her.

‘I am not getting a kiss, then?’

Liv gives him a quick kiss and then takes a step back. Noah looks sad but she can’t forget.

After a little while, Noah breaks the silence. ‘Liv, you wanted to talk, no?.’

‘You smashed a bottle on someone’s head. I didn’t recognize you. You used violence to deal with your problems. That’s not okay. I don’t know if…’

Noah interrupts her. ‘That guy has been trying to intimidate us for years. He had to be stopped, Liv. I had to do something. I couldn’t just let my friends get beaten up by this guy. I couldn’t. ’

‘violence is never okay. There’s always another solution. You could have called the police.’ she replies, a bit angry.

‘In your world maybe. In reality though? No.’

Liv doesn’t like his tone.

‘Noah I… just don’t know if I can date someone who’d rather fight with someone than call the police.’

Noah takes her hand in his.

‘Please, don’t do that’ he pleads, looking at her in the eyes.

Liv squeezes his hand and strokes his face. ‘I’m sorry, Noah. I just need a bit of space’

Noah doesn’t say anything, he just gets up from the bench, leaving his sketchbook next to Liv.

She recognizes the moment he chose to draw.

Just after their first kiss, they walked back to his place together and stopped by Starbucks to drink coffee. They didn’t know what they were doing but they were so happy.

He drew her smiling and sipping her beverage.

4.

Liv is looking through Noah’s sketchbook when Imaan sits down next to her. Surprised, she closes the book and puts it back in her bag.

She awkwardly greets her friend who smiles back.

‘care to explain?’ Imaan asks Liv with a soft voice.

‘explain what?��

‘why you have Noah’s sketchbook? Why you’re looking at his sketches of you with heart eyes?’

‘how did you figure it out?’ she lets out, relieved to have someone to talk to.

‘my magical hijab told me’ she replies.

Liv takes a moment to know what to tell her friend.

‘I’m in love with Noah. Hopelessly in love with him,’ it surprises Liv as much as Imaan, who nods in agreement.

‘You know when you told us that sometimes you would like to just forget about everything and drink alcohol and hook up with boys? But you know it’s wrong so you don’t? Well… I know that I shouldn’t but I can’t control my feelings. I need to be with Noah.’

Imaan raises an eyebrow.

‘is he in love with you?’ she asks.

Liv doesn’t even hesitate and says yes.

‘so what’s stopping you?’

‘Engel. His behavior. I feel like everything is against us.’

Imaan gives her a sympathetic look. She takes the sketchbook from Liv’s bag.

‘The choice is in your hands. I can’t tell you what to do. What I know though, is that he is truly gone for you and he’s not hiding it’ she points out, showing Liv one of his drawings.

‘Those drawings tell me more about him than a stupid fight between boys. And Engel would agree with me. You have to live your life, Liv. Engel will understand. There’s a tiny box in her head that is in touch with reality and knows Noah isn’t in love with her.’

5.

Liv finds Engel sitting on the stairs. She sits down next to her and hands her a cup of tea.

‘Hi, could we talk?’ she says quietly.

Engel nods.

‘I need to tell you something. It’s not easy’

Engel smiles.

‘I’m in love with Noah.’ she finally lets out. She feels relieved.

Engel looks away.

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t plan it and I didn’t want to hurt -’

Engel interrupts her. ‘is he in love with you?’

Liv nods. ‘yeah. I think he is.’

‘I think so too.’

Liv gasps. ‘what?’

‘I have Instagram. And Noah’s notifications are on. I saw the drawing he posted on Instagram and I recognized you. I’m not gonna lie. I would have loved to be the girl he is drawing every day. But I’m not. I had convinced myself that he was interested because he’s kind, sensible and he seemed to care about me when we were alone so my mind made up something that has never been there.’ Engel explains.

She looks at Liv and goes on. ‘I need to go now but I appreciate the fact that you didn’t hide what’s going on from me, Liv.’

Engel gets up.

Liv takes a huge breath. ‘I did. I’ve been seeing him for a while now’

Engel smiles. ‘I know that too. Just be happy, okay?’

1.

Noah: I’m outside. Don’t have much time.

Liv leaves her room in a hurry, her sketchbook in hand. When she sees him, it feels like he’s a different person. He’s totally closed off and doesn’t even make eye contact with her.

She knows he’s hurt. She knows he’s not being rational about the whole story because he doesn’t know how to deal with so much pain and violence.

In her head, she hears all the things Noah told her. All the things Abel told her. The story told by Maria, who put some lights on the whole story. 

She thinks about the time Noah drew her naked and how respectful he was. She realizes now how this particular situation shows how much different from his brother he is. His drawing doesn’t show much of her. It is beautiful because it feels intimate without being too graphic. Retrospectively, she realizes how it represents their relationship well. Noah hadn’t even touched her or seen her naked when he drew this but he still created an atmosphere of intimacy and love, where she felt safe, to translate his feelings for her.

Abel took naked pictures of her without her permission in order to make Noah believe Liv had cheated on him. He couldn’t fathom the thought of Noah being happy and loved and decided to destroy it from the start.

She doesn’t know how they can realistically overcome this. But they will. Because they are in love and love has to win this time. It has to.

‘my plane leaves at 5. So tell me what you want to say now’ Noah tells her with his coldest voice.

‘so you’re leaving.’ she says, defeated. ‘what about us?’

‘There’s no us. I’m not in love with you’ he says solemnly.

Liv takes a step forward. ‘Yes you are. Don’t say you’re not. We love each other. So much. We are in love with each other. Don’t let your brother ruin this. What are you going to do in Oslo? Nothing? Just be a dick with everyone you meet because I lied to you and your brother is a fucking bastard? And what then? You’re never going to draw again because you associate it with me? Because I am in everything you draw since we met? Noah, please don’t. Don’t let him ruin this for us. Don’t let him win.’

She takes a step closer. ‘I am in love with you. You are in love with me.’

Noah is still trying to get away from her so she decides to give him something more.

‘Noah. You know what? You wanted to see my drawings, right? Look at them. All I can draw now is you. You. Please. Stay. With me. For you. We can do this. I promise you we can’ she forces him to take the drawings as he refuses to look at them.

Noah takes a few steps back. ‘no we can’t.’ and then he leaves, with her drawings.

In this moment, she lost everything. Noah, her memories with him that she kept in this sketchbook.

At least maybe, Noah will someday look through the book and reads the letter she wrote.

She follows Noah’s figure as he gets further and further away from her. But then Noah stops.

She stops breathing for a second.

With the tears, she doesn’t really register what’s happening and the next thing she knows, she is in his arms.

They’re going to be fine.

[the-original-starfruit-blog]

Lapidot Anniversary Week D3

“Love Thy Neighbor”

The perks of living in a refurbished barn in the middle of nowhere? Lots of serene quiet, an ideal atmosphere for making art, and homophobic neighbors to one-up with your completely, utterly, 100% platonic roommate.

Words: 3,481

Tags: romance/ mutual crushing/ homophobia/ human au/ gay pride/ artist!au/ music!au/ they each have a crush on the other and it's a grand gay old time

(my contribution for day three’s human au prompt !! and yes, this was preexisting cause i was lazy today and didn’t do a painting) @jenhedgehog @lapidot-anniversary-week

Lapis moved the curtain aside to peek out the window. She did a double take, quickly pushing the light fabric all the way aside to get a better view.

    “Oh my god,” she muttered, then louder: “Peridot, come look at this shit.”

There was a note from the other room, the sullen twang of a B flat, a hollow, vaguely discordant thump that sounded like a guitar being put down not as gently as it should have. Another sound, one of their chairs being scraped back, and Peridot came over.

    “Sorry – was I interrupting?” Lapis asked, and she shook her head grumpily.

Lapis suppressed a shiver as Peridot slipped under her arm to look out the window.

    “It’s fine. I wasn’t getting anything done anyway.”

She could feel the younger girl’s body heat radiating through her light summer clothes, the top of her hijab barely brushing Lapis’s shoulder.

    “So what’s outside besides the usual trees, grass and –“ Peridot stopped, her mouth dropping open. “Jesus Christ.”

    “Yeah, pretty much,” Lapis agreed, dropping her voice to a dramatic whisper. “Although it may not befit you to take the Lord’s name in vain.”

    Peridot snorted, elbowing Lapis in the side. She shook her head slowly as she continued to look outside at the house next door, which had been decorated apparently overnight with no less than seven oversized American flags, a large cross, and a wooden sign that proclaimed God Bless America!

    “I always knew our neighbors were wacked,” Lapis said, stepping away from the window. The butterflies in her stomach subsided, though she told herself it was the absence of Christian patriotism being shoved in her face rather than close proximity to Peridot and her warmth.

    “I mean, we’re two reclusive art students living in a barely remodeled barn, Laz,” Peridot said with a grin. “They probably think the same thing about us.”

    She let the curtain fall back into place and went back into the two mismatched couches they called the sitting area, picking up her guitar and letting a couple notes vibrate through the air. She extended one short leg onto the crate-turned-coffee-table and leaned her head back, emitting a sigh of frustration so heavy it was nearly palpable.

    “You need a break,” Lapis said. “Wanna come to the farmer’s market so we actually have something for dinner tonight?”

    “Why not,” Peridot said after a moment of hesitation, leaning all the way over the back of the couch and smiling upside down. Her glasses nearly fell off as she straightened with nervous energy and hopped off the couch.

    Lapis grabbed her backpack from the table and rummaged around inside, fishing out a few crumpled bills and a handful of change. Peridot came down from the loft a few minutes later with a similar yield.

    “Twelve seventy-eight,” she said. Lapis grinned and held out her hand.

“Twenty-six fifty,” she said triumphantly, and Peridot whooped.

    “Gourmet tonight,” she said, opening the front door and letting Peridot out first, “I’m thinking fresh pesto and –“

    They collided as Peridot stopped abruptly, and Lapis swore as she nearly bowled her over.

    “What –“ she began, and then Peridot bent to pick up a sheet of paper from their front step. Her eyes scanned it quickly and she handed it to Lapis, incredulous.

    “Add to the burn pile, I guess,” she said, eyebrows raised as she headed for the car.

    HAVE YOU BEEN SAVED? the paper bellowed, and Lapis allowed for a hearty eye roll before she continued to read. Most are unaware they are living in sin. However, it is not too late! The New Testament proclaims that everyone can be saved if they confess, repent, and believe – despite falling prey to sins such as thievery, copulation out of wedlock, homosexuality

    Lapis crumpled the paper in her fist, scowling, and threw it vehemently in the direction of the house next door.

    She got into the driver’s seat, slamming the door a bit harder than necessary, her cheeks flushed. Peridot, seatbelt already buckled conscientiously, looked over.

    “Do you mind if we make a stop at the paint store on the way home?” Lapis asked. An idea was starting, familiar inspiration blooming in the forefront of her mind. “I have some stuff I need to get.”

                                                                    *   *   *   *   *

The next morning, Lapis was up at dawn. She dressed quickly and headed outside, her bag of brushes and paint heavy on her arm. She had gotten seven sample-sized colors of housepaint for free, and she knew exactly how she was going to use them.

    She hummed as she pried open the metal lids with a paint-splattered screwdriver. She and Peridot had talked about repainting the barn since they moved in, and Lapis had always hated the drab gray that was peeling off the outside wall like long strips of elephant skin. She had been out with a ladder, an old toilet brush and a hose last night, scrubbing away the dirt and loose old paint to prepare the wall for new.

    By the time Peridot had woken up, gotten ready, realized Lapis was gone, and come outside to look for her, her work was done. With her hands on her hips and her back to their neighbor’s house, she stood and admired the seven stripes of color that radiated off the side of their barn. Peridot joined her, mouth agape.

    “You painted a twelve foot pride flag on the side of our house because our neighbors left a stupid flyer on our stoop?”

    Lapis nodded, unable to contain her grin. She wiped a smear of blue paint from her hand to her leg.

    Peridot’s serious facade broke, and she cackled, holding her sides and wiping at the corner of her eye.

    “They’re going to be so pissed,” she gasped eventually, patting Lapis lightly on the back several times, warm and sweet and congratulatory in the sun.

    “That’s the idea,” Lapis said, something in her chest glowing. “Let’s go have breakfast, I’m starved.”

                                                                    *   *   *   *   *

For two days they waited for a response, peeking out the windows every few hours. Bored, Lapis used the rest of the robin-egg blue housepaint to repaint a wall on her side of the loft, and Peridot whined about the fumes until Lapis mixed a pale purple and drove her outside by deciding to do a wall downstairs as well. She opened all the windows and laughed as she listened to Peridot strum her guitar, alternating between mournful minor chords and an angry blues riff that always ended with the accompanying lyrics fuck you, oh-ohhh Lazuli, fuck yoo-ouu.

    That evening, she went outside with purple paint under her nails and two sandwiches on a tray. She sat next to Peridot on their scratchy little back lawn, admiring how the last of the sunset looked coming through the tall weeping beech that watched over the black-eyed Susans in the corner. Cicadas sang in monotone at the few dozen fireflies beginning to stitch through the dark abovegrass.

    “Oh! Wow, thanks,” Peridot said, picking up her sandwich and humming appreciatively as she bit into it.

    “You should eat more,” Lapis said without thinking, knowing how easy it was to forget food when immersed in painting or sculpting. She hoped it was the same for Peridot’s music and that the younger girl wasn’t neglecting to eat on purpose.

    Peridot shrugged it off, her mouth full. Then she swallowed like she had forgotten something, her eyes wide.

    “I forgot to tell you! Look what they put up over there, it’s fucking terrifying.”

Lapis stood up and shaded her eyes, looking at the neighbor’s house. Her mouth fell open.

    There was a life-sized scarecrow decorated in painstaking detail to look like Uncle Sam, painted face accurate down to the bushy white eyebrows. It pointed menacingly in their direction, a red-white-and-blue top hat perched on its head. Yet another flag hung from an outstretched arm.

    Peridot was laughing silently when Lapis sat back down, wide-eyed and shaking her head slowly. She opened her mouth, but then just took a bite of sandwich, at a loss for words.

    “You know what this calls for, right?” Peridot asked, her eyes glittering. Lapis looked over and couldn’t help smiling at the four feet eleven inches of energy practically vibrating by her side.

    “Retaliation.”

                                                                  *   *   *   *   *

The next day Lapis woke up to something horrible poking repetitively at her ribs. She shoved the offending sensation away. It persisted, and she groaned, rolling over and cocooning herself in blankets.

    “Lazuli,” a soft whisper, then louder, “Lazuli!”

She sat bolt upright so suddenly that Peridot squeaked in alarm, jerking backwards and blinking innocently behind her round glasses.

    “Iss still dark ou’,” Lapis slurred irritably, glaring through squinted eyes in the lavender-tinted predawn light that crept shyly through the window. Peridot nodded.

    “I know, I have to get outside before the neighbors go to work so that they’re guaranteed to hear me, and I thought I could use a little extra time to ensure the plan goes off flawlessly –“

    Lapis laid a finger imprecisely over her lips in a shushing motion. The blanket slipped down a bit, and Lapis hiked it back up, feeling the cool air prickle her bare skin. Peridot stopped talking abruptly. Lapis couldn’t tell in the barely-there light, but she thought she saw a dark flush of color, flaming cheeks.

    “Get to the point?” Lapis asked, less cuttingly than she wanted, and her heart was racing so damn hard at the feeling of Peridot’s soft and slightly chapped lips on her finger that she was certain she wouldn’t be able to sleep again.

    Peridot grinned and pulled away from Lapis’s hand.

“What are the gayest songs you know?” she asked. Lapis blinked for a moment.

    “Power of Two by Indigo Girls, She by Dodie Clark, Jenny by the Studio Killers,” Lapis rattled off, then smiled a little as Peridot blinked in bemusement. “Why’d you ask me if you thought you wouldn’t get results?”

    Peridot shook her head silently and left. Her head stopped level with the floor as she descended the ladder, and she added a small, “Wow, thanks!” before disappearing below the edge of the loft.

    Lapis sagged back into the nest of her bed. She touched her finger with her other hand, gently rubbing the spot where Peridot’s lips had been – the spot that, for some elusive reason, seemed to burn.

    She knew it would be useless to try and get back to sleep, but she lay in bed for a while longer anyway before Peridot’s soft music drifted through the walls of the barn. She got up, pulled on a shirt, and went outside.

    Peridot was leaning against the wall of the barn underneath the enormous pride flag, strumming her guitar and looking at tablature on her phone. The sun was coming up, painting everything with a strangely delicate new light, rose-toned and downy gold.

    Peridot saw her and stopped humming under her breath.

“Lapis! Here, this is in perfect conjunction with my plan – quick, sit down, he’ll be coming out here any minute –“

    Lapis sat next to Peridot in the dew-sweet grass, shivering as the seat of her boxers soaked up the dampness with brutal efficiency. Peridot glanced up.

    “Cozy up, we have to put on a good show,” she said, and Lapis felt warmth blossom down her whole side as Peridot pressed against her. She sighed in sleepy contentment, her mouth opening in a jaw-cracking yawn.

    “So wha – aaah – what’s this… retaliation of yours?” Lapis asked. Her head drooped, and it seemed too much effort to raise it again. Peridot repositioned her shoulder so she could still play with Lapis’s head cradled by her neck.

    “I sit out here and demonstrate proof of my blatant protest of their homophobia by playing gay songs under our enormous pride flag. The message would have been sufficiently clear with me on my own, hence the plan, but your presence adds yet another layer of sapphic imagery.”

    Lapis smiled a little at the proud explanation. She was always a sucker for sapphic imagery.

    “Well-planned and meaningful composition,” she said through another yawn, “thought that was my job.”

    “You already did your job with the flag, painter,” Peridot said smugly, strumming a few chords, the notes harmonious as dewdrops in the fresh air. “Now sit there and look gay.”

    Lapis snorted. Her eyes slipped closed.

“Can do,” she thought she muttered, but she couldn’t be sure – everything was a bit dreamlike, a faded impressionist landscape of greens and sunrise hues, blurred through the squint of her eyelashes. Almost chalky with pastel strokes and colors. Peridot’s bare shoulder blushed warm under her sleep-soft cheek.

    It could have been hours later when Lapis first started to wake, surfacing from some emerald-weeded and waterlilied pond jeweled by music she couldn’t differentiate from a dream. She was slowly aware of being curled against something warm and small, and of the song filtering down through the sunlit water of her consciousness – a voice that Lapis rarely heard, less nasal than spoken word and much huskier than expected from such a tiny girl.

    She opened her eyes and was confronted by Peridot’s shoulder, the golden-brown expanse of her skin under the slim smile of her tank top strap. The song was barely audible over the sigh of the wind, but some lyrics got through.

    though she came from the sea

    her smile’s not for me

  a moonshell girl, translucent pearl

    my Lapis Lazuli.

Lapis tried to isolate the lurch in her chest but shifted by accident, her face slipping abruptly and her heart beating hummingbird fast.

    The guitar and Peridot’s voice cut off with equal suddenness, and Lapis felt her move. A poorly disguised note of panic, though she kept her voice quiet.

    “I – Lapis! Are you awake?”

Lapis pretended to stretch with a sonorous movement, as if she were escaping the syrup of sleep, and she must have done a moderately convincing job. Peridot relaxed as she hummed a noncommittally drowsy answer, straightening slowly against the wall. She faked a yawn and wiggled her toes in the grass in front of her, finally looking over at Peridot with a simulated tiredness.

    “Aaah shit – how long did I sleep? Did I miss him?” she murmured, pointing her chin at the neighbor’s house.

    Peridot looked relieved.

“Only by about an hour,” she said scornfully. “You’ll be pleased to know he reacted quite well to my ballads – other than his face bearing a striking resemblance to a pitted prune once he figured out my lyrics, there appeared to be no negative changes in his attitude.”

    Lapis snorted.

“No pitchforks, no torches, no village mob screaming to burn us?” she asked, and Peridot shook her head.

    “You can afford to joke, but we’re lucky,” she said darkly.

“Oh, lighten up, Miss Gloom-and-Doom,” Lapis said, resisting the impulse to kiss Peridot’s cheek - where in the blazing hell had that come from? - before she stood up, trying to hide her furious blush. “I can’t wait to see how they’ll top this one.”

                                                               *   *   *   *   *

The revenge was quick to come in the form of an obnoxious sign, proudly pegged into the center of the neighbor’s lawn – God Hates Gays & Liars.

    “Whatever that means,” Peridot had said contemptuously when she saw it. Lapis loathed that sign, and now a hot little worm of anger burned whenever she looked out the window.

    It took her four days to sculpt three detailed statues, each about eight inches high, and each depicting a different pair of women embracing in various positions, their nudity artfully displayed and accentuated with long, flowing lines of languorous motion. Peridot blushed heavily when she saw them.

    “Wow – I mean, those are gorgeous, but, uh, pretty explicit, Laz,” she said when Lapis emerged, smelling baked by the kiln and her fingernails crusted with brown-red clay.

    “I know. This should, ah, grant them a new perspective on what they’re protesting with all their righteous god-squad fuckery,” Lapis said, carefully gathering her sculptures.

    “Wait – what do you mean? These aren’t for around the house, or gallery pieces? You’re not selling them?” Peridot questioned anxiously, following Lapis as she made a beeline for the front door.

    “Oh, no,” Lapis assured her with a manic brightness in her eyes, “these are going straight on our garden wall. Those assholes will get a very personalized gallery viewing.”

    She marched out the door, Peridot spluttering in her wake, and set the statues facing their neighbors on the low stone wall that divided their two properties.

    The next day, the other house planted two beds of bright, unnatural-looking red-white-and-blue flowers around their sign and around their scarecrow. Peridot, her mouth twisted in unspoken distaste, set large pots of tall foxglove and marigold on the wall between the statues, partially blocking the view.

    Nearly a week passed without retaliation, and Lapis had begun to relax until she went out to water Peridot’s flowers one morning. The watering can toppled from her hand.

    One of her statues had been smashed, a thousand shards of clay scattered along the top of the wall. Some larger fragments had fallen to the ground, and Lapis recognized smooth brown limbs she had spent hours creating, a leg here, an arm there. Shaking with anger, she picked up the sign that had replaced the statue.

    Love is Love, But God’s Law is God’s Law. Keep Marriage Sacred.

She clenched her teeth, a sound of furious despair leaking out of her mouth. She threw the sign violently and fell to her knees, head bowed, slowly picking up the pieces.

    Peridot came out of the house, running across the lawn in fright. Lapis didn’t look up.

    “Laz! Lapis! What’s wrong, are you – “ Out of breath, she spotted the ruined statue and the sign. She slowed to a stop, and then hesitantly put her hand on Lapis’s shoulder.

    After a minute, she spoke again, her voice unusually gentle.

“We can file a complaint, maybe call someone? Destruction of private property on private property has got to be – “

    “It’s not about the statue!” Lapis cut her off, feeling hot tears welling behind her eyes. “I guess – it was never about the neighbors. It’s the principle of the matter. That there are still people like this, backwards-thinking stupid damn people who think it’s not okay for us to love each other – or – or that we’re broken or dirty or – wrong,” she finished, feeling Peridot’s hand drop from her shoulder. She felt a brief flare of panic – and then a small hand was in hers, pulling her upright, and then gentle fingers were under her eyes, doing their best to blot the sadness away.

    “Hey, hey. Hey,” Peridot insisted, touching Lapis under the chin to make her look down. “I know. Some people are shitty sometimes, and lots of people are shitty all the time. But,” and Peridot was leaning closer, leaning upwards, and Lapis’s heart was thundering in her ears, her eyes half-closed, lashes wet and still and sooty, “you have to remember that there will always be people like us, too.”

    She closed the distance between them, and Lapis had room for nothing except the music that seemed to soar from around them, rising like a sunburst in the middle of the hot summer morning. There was a chaotic, tumbling happiness too, the world feeling overwhelmingly warm and bright and wonderful. The smell of cut grass and flowers in Peridot’s hair. Lapis thought they could have stayed like that forever if she hadn’t heard the small cough from over the garden wall.

    She pulled back gently and turned her head.

Their neighbor, who Lapis had never seen before now, stood in the middle of his flower bed, a harmless-looking old man in baggy jeans and a red polo shirt. His mouth was open slightly, and an obviously forgotten hose hung from one hand, pouring a stream of clear water into a patch of already saturated grass.

    Lapis found herself smiling sunnily.

She pulled Peridot tight against her, lifting her up and kissing her deeply. She felt a shimmer of pride as the startled sound Peridot made initially turned into a quiet, satisfied hum. Her arms wrapped around Lapis’s shoulders. Lapis closed her eyes, gently stroking Peridot’s back, and let herself be absorbed in bliss until she heard a series of progressively less subtle coughs, then an offended “Hmmph!” and a door slamming in the next house over.

    They broke apart leisurely, Peridot grinning with the self-satisfaction of a cat as she slid back to the ground.

    “We should have done that a long time ago,” she said breathlessly, her arms still around Lapis’s waist.

    Lapis nodded and kissed Peridot’s cheek. Finally. It was warm and smooth.

“Can you help me take these statues in?” Lapis asked with a smile, touching the warm blush of freckles on Peridot’s face as she nodded. “I don’t think we need to worry about the neighbors anymore.”