#u kno who u r asshole i do not know how u did not get the hint | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

choupichoups · 5 years ago

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CHAPTER FOUR :: Previous chapters

Eliott falls helplessly infatuated with his best friend’s little brother— he knows he’s writing up his own death wish going after this boy, but fuck if Lucas isn’t the most beautiful thing he’s ever laid eyes on.

Or: Eliott’s under the impression that his best friend’s new step brother, ‘Lulu’, is a literal baby. Nobody tells him the guy’s actually a fucking babe-y.

His phone lays face down on the nightstand, chiming with accusing vibrations from god knows where. He hasn’t exactly kept up with the outpouring of messages since Friday night.

Eliott doesn’t know what day it is.

With a burst of energy that sends both dread and respite coursing through his chest, Eliott pushes himself towards the bathroom, standing under the warm pressure of the shower until it turns cold, freezing pelts numbing where his back is hunched over the tiled walls.

He doesn’t feel any better. There’s a steely blankness in his mind, a faint ringing echoing its walls that has Eliott wondering how he’s able to move around.

When he gets out, shivering from the cool air breezing in from his open windows, the mere sight of the light emanating from his nightstand grips him with inexplicable anxiety. The familiar drop in his stomach is so unbearable he can’t even bring himself to approach his fucking phone. His eyes search out a pack of smokes out of reflex but a spiteful voice inside his head berates him. Make it worse, why don’t you, it says, go ahead and prove them right, then.

He goes into the kitchen and gulps down two glasses of water instead. He supposes his piece of shit brain has an effective way of keeping him in check sometimes.

His laptop is asleep on the kitchen table when he turns around and Eliott taps on it, stares blankly at the timestamp on top of the screen— it’s Sunday afternoon. So he hasn’t been out of the grid for that long then. Not long enough to miss classes, at least. That’s good. It’s good.

That eliminates the chances of school related emails being included in his growing pile of notifications.

He slides gingerly onto the chair, switching to his Netflix tab to resume whatever movie he’d been watching before he left for that party on Friday. Eliott watches the screen move, colours and sounds around him, none of it sticks but he appreciates the background noise. Appreciates the change in scenery. He’s gotten a little sick and tired of watching the ceiling in between bouts of fitful slumber.

Eyes still dull from exhaustion, he follows the fast paced sequence playing in front of him until the muffled music clears up, until the teeny voices from his speakers start making sense again, until his brain latches onto the idea of the film, until he recognizes the title, remembers the bits he’d seen from Friday.

He’s frowning down at a particular twist in the plot when his lock turns, dragging slow and soft, as if it would help mask the disruptive shriek of metal against metal. He doesn’t react much to it— only stares at the door with vague wonder, but ultimately can’t bring himself to care even when the door creaks fully open. He’s genuinely surprised to see Adrien’s head pop out from behind it, searching eyes wandering about until it lands on Eliott and a brilliant smile immediately lifts the entirety of his best friend’s face.

So Lucas hasn’t told him anything.

Eliott’s heart clenches. It has nothing to do with relief.

“Hey!” Adrien sounds so excited that Eliott wants to smile, but his lips don’t get the memo. “I brought lunch. Or dinner, I guess? Whatever.”

He makes himself at home, banging around in Eliott’s kitchen as the movie plays on, now abandoned. Eliott relocates to the couch, letting Adrien’s off tune singing and his computer’s noisy faux explosions fill his head. It’s comfortable enough that Eliott’s eyes fall shut, head tilted back against the back of the couch.

It’s dark outside the next time he wakes. His laptop’s now connected to his tv screen, playing a different movie. Adrien’s lounging beside him, spoon stuck in his mouth, eyes trained on his phone.

“You gonna share that or what?” Eliott manages to croak out, reaching for the bowl of take out in Adrien’s lap.

Adrien practically jumps at the sound of Eliott’s voice and that finally, finally fills him with enough humour to conjure up a smile. It feels fucking good. He hopes it lasts.

“Fuck off, yours is in the fridge,” Adrien says once he recovers, sliding his bowl far away from Eliott’s reach.

Eliott groans, “That’s too far.”

“Your place isn’t that big, calm down.” But Adrien gets up anyway, dragging his feet as he heads for the kitchen to heat up the leftovers. Eliott isn’t hungry, truth be told, he does want to continue this streak of normalcy, though. He wants to keep smiling and feeling and eating. Maybe it would push him on a fast track to being himself again come the next day. Whatever being himself means.

Hot food is plopped down on his legs with no warning and his resulting yelp has Adrien in stitches. Eliott’s sorely tempted to dump the entire thing over Adrien’s head, see who’s laughing then, but he did bring Eliott some free food so he gets one single pass for being an asshole. Eliott flips him off, lips still curled in a smirk as he nibbles on his first bite.

They watch the movie mostly in silence, only with the occasional commentary from Adrien, who’s prone to being very vocal about how angry the characters make him. There’s something off with his behaviour though, almost like he’s forcing the cheer into his voice. Eliott looks over just in time to catch him tapping away on his phone for the umpteenth time.

So Eliott pauses the movie, confirming his suspicions when it takes Adrien a full minute to realize that there’s now silence where the movie villain’s cheesy droning spiel had just been. He reaches out, one hand curled into a fist, and Adrien stares at it blankly before slapping his palm against it, closing his hand over the fist, holding tight like a child afraid of the dark. He looks like a child too, Eliott’s eyes adjusting to the lack of light to find Adrien’s wide, watery gaze on him.

“I fucked up, Eli.”

Well that’s new. It’s usually Eliott who fucks up between the two of them. “How much?”

“Big time.”

Eliott sits up from where he’s half melted into the couch cushions, kicking at Adrien’s leg until he does the same. “What happened?”

Adrien eyes him, says, “Nothing, don’t worry about it. I’m just being stupid.” But he sounds pitiful enough that Eliott can’t not worry about it.

“Look, Adri, we can’t both feel like shit,” Eliott says, earning a snort from the other end of the couch. “Only one at a time and I called dibs already so just tell me what’s wrong so you can feel less shitty about it.”

Adrien wipes his eyes. Sniffs a little. “Lucas is missing.”

That’s the last thing Eliott wants to hear. “What?” he chokes out, forcing a neutral tone. His heartbeat picks up in protest. “Since when?”

“Friday, god, I should’ve gone to that stupid party—”

This is all your fault. “What do you mean he’s missing?” Neutrality out the window, apparently. Good thing Adrien doesn’t seem to notice, too busy trying to yank the hair out of his head as he is.

“I don’t know, he’s been kinda weird recently to be honest, and now he’s not coming home or answering his goddamn phone.” Adrien nibbles on his fingernails, a nervous tick the both of them share. “I’m freaking out, like— what do I tell our parents? They can’t even leave my brother alone with me for two weeks without him going missing, fuck. I’m so useless. What if we get a baby brother? Or a baby sister? How much would I fuck up then? Jesus, I would probably drop an actual infant and—”

Eliott shakes his head, takes Adrien’s phone away to do something. “Calm down,” he hisses, not sure if he’s addressing Adrien or himself. “Have you checked with all his friends?”

“The ones I know of, yeah.” Adrien grabs a cushion and buries his face under it.

A thought occurs to Eliott then, unwanted but he’d rather that than any other worse scenarios. Maybe it’s not his fault. How bold of him to assume Lucas would care that much about Eliott, just another boy chasing him around. Maybe the answer is much simpler. Maybe it’s got nothing to do with him at all. “Maybe he met someone,” he suggests, and he has no right to feel jealousy catching fire like a candle wick, rapid to burn. “Went home with them?”

“No,” Adrien denies, muffled. “Lucas doesn’t do that.”

Flashes from Friday night’s party make him swallow, throat clicking at the image of Lucas and that guy headed fast towards the bedrooms. “You sure?”

“Uh huh. Hundred percent.”

Adrien’s phone interrupts them with a startling ring. Instinctively, Eliott slides a finger to accept the unknown call, putting it on speaker so Adrien could hear as well. “Hello?” Eliott answers, hesitant, when Adrien looks like he doesn’t plan on emerging from his cushion any time soon.

Confused silence, and then a timid, “Adri?”

Lucas’ voice. Eliott drops the phone on the table like it’s suddenly grown spikes.

It’s a good thing Adrien comes alive at that moment, his cushion flying off the living room and into the kitchen. “Where the fuck have you been?!” he practically screeches in the general direction of the phone.

There’s some static, the sound of sheets ruffling. “I don’t— I don’t kno— no, shit, hold on.”

Adrien’s face is flushed with anger. “The fuck you mean you don’t—” He rubs a hand over his face. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Eliott sincerely doesn’t know whether to be thankful of, or lament the fact that Adrien keeps the phone call on speaker.

“Of course? Of course? So why the hell haven’t you been answering my calls, Lulu?”

“I’m sorry, my phone died,” Lucas groans from the other end, sounding miserable. Like he’s—

“Are you hungover?” Adrien voices out the question in Eliott’s head.

“Yes.” The one word packs such heavy attitude it almost makes Eliott laugh— until he remembers it’s Sunday evening so Lucas being hungover means he’s been drinking again on Saturday and well into the morning after. “Would you tone down a little?”

“No, I won’t tone the fuck down. Do you know what time it is? And you sound like that? Tell me where you are, I’ll come get you.”

“I’ll be home tomorrow.”

“Lucas,” Adrien pronounces the name slowly, how he always does when upset. “Where are you?”

Unperturbed, Lucas repeats, “I said I’ll be home tomorrow, father.” And then he hangs up.

Adrien looks two seconds away from flinging his phone out the window. It’s times like this when Eliott truly appreciates being an only child.

“Whose phone number was that?” Adrien asks, visibly holding back from redialing the unknown number.

Eliott shrugs and heads into the bedroom for his phone; there’s no harm in checking his contact list. He figures it’s time to stop avoiding the inevitable anyway. At least Adrien being present would alleviate some of the stress from checking on his unread messages.

Turns out he doesn’t have the phone number Lucas used registered on his phone either but what he does find out is that Lucas has blocked him on Instagram. And it shouldn’t hurt. It really, really shouldn’t. It’s a fucking phone app, the act is borderline juvenile. The laugh he lets out is rusty, unfamiliar to his own ears, bitter in its quietness. He should have seen it coming, it’s what he deserves after all. But knowing so doesn’t make it feel any less horrible.

“You okay?” Right. Adrien’s there beside him, clueless as to what Eliott’s done to his precious little brother. Eliott knows he’s played a dangerous game and now Lucas holds all the cards.

“Yup, just peachy.” Eliott shoves his phone behind the couch. Out of sight out of mind. “You want a drink?”

Adrien sweeps a hand over his eyes. “I need ten.”

“I only have cranberry juice.”

“Ugh, fuck.”

“We can use the fancy glasses and pretend it’s wine.”

“Yeah, okay, close enough. Juice me up.”

Come Tuesday afternoon, Eliott feels less like living as a hermit deep into the woods and more like throwing people deep into the woods.

Irritation simmers at the surface of his skin like gasoline, ready to ignite at the slightest provocation. So he does his best to stay away from the crowds, and forces himself to interact only when he’s cornered, because apparently some people can’t read the atmosphere despite his closed off demeanor.

Mysterious, some would call him and it’s so fucking stupid. Aloof. Intimidating. Cool.

He’d laugh if he weren’t so keyed up, throat scratchy with the urge to snap, shoulders hunched to keep in a festering fury he has neither time nor will to put out.

It doesn’t help that his hands have developed a mind of their own, obsessively checking for a message that will never show up. He’s irritated that there’s only one voice he wants to hear. He’s irritated that people still try their luck in approaching him, he’s irritated that they laugh and speak and move around him like he isn’t some ticking time bomb. He’s irritated that despite all the noise and the clamour, everything is still so goddamn boring, nothing to pull him out of his head, nothing to crack open his barrier, nothing nothing nothing.

His most wakening moments happen during the events leading up to, and the ones following after, himself getting punched in the face.

It’s exactly how it sounds like, but in Eliott’s defence, it's completely and utterly not his fault. Just a giant misunderstanding and too much testosterone involved in the mix.

It happens when Eliott’s just about to leave campus, skipping out on the final half of his last class so he could catch the early bus and continue being miserable at home. Hands busy untangling his headphones, he doesn’t realize he’s got company in the hallway until he hears a very unimpressed, very familiar voice coming from the other end. Eliott throws himself into the next hallway, heart beating erratically while he stands with his back plastered against the wall.

“Listen, Nathan,” Lucas is saying, thankfully unaware of the film worthy stunt Eliott had just pulled. He slumps down on the ground and accepts the fact that he’s officially the king of being at the wrong place at the wrong time nowadays.

Or maybe the king of eavesdropping is more accurate?

His phone vibrates against the floor where it’s shoved inside his pocket and Eliott scrambles to kneel up, cursing under his breath as he fumbles to muffle the sound of the missed call.

Cautiously, he peeks out, but both boys are still occupied with their conversation. Eliott ducks back into his hiding place, rationalizing if the loss of dignity he’d experience should someone catch him crab walking towards the staircase would be worth dodging Lucas’ ire.

Maybe he simply puts the king in panicking, at this point.

“Nigel,” Nathan— or Nigel, really, corrects him. Eliott winces in sympathy. So that’s how Lucas plays it, huh.

“Nigel. I’m sorry about the party,” Lucas continues, and Eliott knows exactly what he’s going to say next. “I was a little drunk.” Fucking hell.

Nigel lets out a breathy laugh. “Come on, Lucas, you can’t say you felt nothing.”

Alright, Eliott’s sympathy is quickly fizzing out.

“Feel what?”

“There’s something between us, Lu.”

“We met four days ago,” Lucas deadpans, ruthless in a way that has Eliott a little taken aback. There’s no hint of the playful tone Lucas had always used around him.

“You kissed me at the party.”

“I said I was drunk.”

“You weren’t, why don’t you just give us a chance? I could be—”

“No,” Lucas interrupts, “it’s nothing to do with you, you’re a great guy so don’t bother wasting your time on me.”

“You’re not ever a waste of time.”

That gets a laugh out of Lucas. “That’s uh, sweet, but I’m serious. Please.”

Eliott squeezes his eyes shut. You’d know if I was rejecting you. He thunks his head on the wall behind him, staring up at the pale ceiling as he wills for time to turn back.

But of course it doesn’t. All that happens is that Eliott misses the rest of the conversation he’s listening in on and only realizes it’s over when shuffling footsteps make their rapid way straight towards where Eliott is squished into a corner.

And oh shit, oh shit, oh shit—

Except Lucas rushes right past him, anticlimactically.

Eliott knows he’s got about two seconds to decide whether he’s going to let him go or if he’s going to gather the balls to at least apologize.

In an act of bravery that probably surprises the deities themselves, Eliott calls out for Lucas, wincing in preparation for a storm as he traces the way Lucas’ entire body tenses up. A voice in his head tells him to leave it, that they’re headed straight for corrosion and nothing he says would change anything. Eliott almost succumbs to it.

But Lucas keeps walking, not once looking back, and Eliott feels a deep-seated panic settle over him, the magnitude of it louder than the jeering from his own mind. He trips all over his own two feet and hurries to match Lucas’ pace. “Lucas, please, I just want to say—”

“Sorry?” Lucas bites out, only stopping when Eliott physically stands in front of him to block his way. “Is that what you wanna say? Or are you above apologizing to your failed conquests?” Eliott recoils, mouth opening a little but Lucas doesn’t let him speak. “Nevermind, I don’t actually care. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Adri.”

Lucas keeps his head lowered, and Eliott’s chest constricts, hands slightly shaking where they’re hidden inside his pockets. God, he’s always been terrible at confrontations; he’s either too angry or too much of a coward to say the right thing. It has never occurred to him to apologize in exchange for Lucas’ silence, though, and he doesn’t want Lucas to think that’s all Eliott cares about. He only wants to— he wants to—

What? What exactly does he want?

Lucas steps to the side, intending to walk off again, and Eliott can’t have that. He doesn’t have the words lined up quite readily in his mind yet but he knows, for sure, that if Lucas just stays for a couple more minutes, the words will come to Eliott. He can feel it, it just—

His hand belatedly grabs for Lucas as his mind chases after the words, almost missing Lucas’ arm entirely. But just as quickly as he’s held, Lucas shakes Eliott off, stepping backwards violently enough to have him careening into the wall. It goes against Eliott’s every instinct to not reach out steadying hands as he watches Lucas stagger. It’s only the intensity of Lucas’ glower that stops him, like he’d have no problem smiting Eliott into smithereens if he dares to lay another finger on him.

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?!” Lucas throws his backpack on the ground between them and Eliott watches it skid to the tip of his boots, a dawning dread churning at the pit of his stomach. “You made it very clear where you stand, Eliott. Now why don’t you be a man of your fucking word for once and just fuck off!”

A part of him flares at the harsh words, naturally, but Eliott understands he’s reaping his own harvest. Although Eliott is many, many terrible things, not once has he ever refused to take responsibility for the hurt he’s caused, no matter what state of mind he’d been under at the time. So Eliott shoves down the anger that heats his blood, ignores the temper pounding at his head, and swallows twice before speaking. This will not be a repeat of Friday night.

He picks up the discarded backpack and carefully approaches, making sure to leave enough space between the two of them so as to not smother Lucas. “Please,” he says, voice quieting as he stretches an arm out to hand the bag back to its owner. “Just look at me, please?”

Lucas’ shoulders rise and fall with each breath, the very picture of righteous fury, but when he does look up, Eliott’s met with none of the animosity he expects. Instead, Lucas’ eyes are wide and scared, tears threatening to spill from those lovely blues. Eliott is shot by the sight of it, unprepared to see Lucas — headstrong, spitfire Lucas — looking so devastated.

He can’t comprehend how someone so beautiful could allow someone as unworthy as Eliott close enough to hurt.

“Don’t do that,” Lucas says just as softly, and Eliott flinches as a finger ghosts along below his eye. He brings his own hand up, chasing after the whisper of Lucas’ touch, and Eliott realizes he’s also crying like some pathetic echo to Lucas’ feelings. “Stop it, I’m supposed to be cussing you out right now,” Lucas scolds, snatching the bag from Eliott’s hand. “I can’t do that if—”

Eliott would have loved to hear the rest of that sentence, even if it’s just more insults hurled towards him. He’s sunk low enough to admit that anything is better than a cold shoulder from Lucas.

As it is, he never gets to hear the full of it, because someone is pulling him back by the arm in one second, and then he’s down on the floor in the next. Eliott registers the familiar pain at the bridge of his nose once his head stops ringing.

Fuck, at least that punch literally knocks the sadness part of his rapidly cycling moods— Eliott doesn’t feel much like crying now. No, irritation comes flooding back with a vengeance and if it weren’t for the sight of Lucas’ figure standing in front of him, Eliott would’ve gotten up and returned that blow twice as hard.

“What the fuck?” Lucas yells at the perpetrator, blocking Eliott from view when the guy tries to go in for more. Eliott sits up, one hand feeling around his nose, content to let Lucas handle whatever the hell’s going on for now. “What’s your problem?”

“He’s bothering you!” Ah. Good old Nigel. Where did he even come from?

“We were talking,” Lucas hisses, shoving Nigel back when he hovers too close. “Would you fucking chill? What are you even doing here—”

“Talking?” Nigel sneers, eyes cutting towards Eliott, who waves back with a slightly bloody hand and inwardly snickers when it seems to piss the guy off even more. “I was fucking worried about you, that’s why I came back and this is what I get? Is this why you rejected me? Hung up on Demaury, are you?”

“I’d watch the next words coming out of that mouth, Nick.”

“It’s Nigel! Fuck, whatever, you want to be another notch on his bedpost? Go ahead, but don’t come crawling to me when he—”

Eliott pulls Lucas back and launches himself forward, letting the satisfying crunch of Nigel’s nose under his knuckles power him through the inevitable sting that comes after. Behind him, Lucas mutters a high pitched, Jesus Christ.

“Stop, just stop. Sit down, Eliott.” Lucas rushes to push himself in between the two of them and it would be so, so easy to move him. Just put Lucas to the side and continue letting off some steam, but Lucas doesn’t sound like he’s playing around and Eliott would like to live until he graduates, at least.

To Nigel’s credit, he does look like he’s regretting everything he’s said right about now. Maybe part of it’s the bleeding nose but Eliott would bet it’s mostly due to the pissed off expression Lucas is currently wearing.

“Sit,” Lucas repeats. Eliott sits with only minor grumbling. “You.” He directs his scathing voice towards Nigel who’s halfway to quaking by now. Eliott scoffs, the guy wouldn’t survive a day as Lucas’ boyfriend. “Go to the nurse.”

“You’re making me go alone?” Nigel squeaks out.

“Want him to hold your fucking hand or something?” Eliott can’t help but pitch in, biting back the rest of his words when Lucas levels him with a look.

“Shut up.” Lucas rubs a hand all over his hair, making a bigger mess out of them. “You know what?” he says, chuckling a little maniacally, “I don’t even want to deal with either of you.”

And then he just takes off to the end of the hall. Eliott, for the second time within the hour, falls all over himself to follow. He still hasn’t apologized and he has to do it now.

“Lucas, I am so fucking sorry,” he blurts out once they’re alone at the stairwell. Eliott’s still standing by the door, hesitant to keep going as Lucas eyes him from the bottom of the stairs. “I was a dick on Friday and even before that I— I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve to be treated like that.”

“Okay.” Eliott’s head snaps up, and Lucas laughs, backing up until he hits the wall, the distance between them ever increasing. “Okay, I just. I just don’t get it. Why did you go after me if you were just going to ignore me in campus? And why did you go for someone else while I… while my dumb ass finally thought… I mean, I know you aren’t exactly a date to marry type of guy but come on, me and her? At the same time? Why?”

Eliott shakes his head against the questions, words stuck at the tip of his tongue, refusing to come out. He has so many and too little to say all at once. He wants to say that Lucas scares him so he’d taken the coward’s way out. He wants to say that he only did it to prove something to himself— wants to say that he failed to prove that exact something to himself.

“I freaked out, okay? I just, I didn’t— I don’t know how to handle you,” he forces out, voice small, vaguely aware that none of that likely made a smidgen of sense. Even so, he makes his way down the stairs with no protests coming from Lucas.

“And?” Lucas prompts, sounding slightly less murderous this time.

“And what?” Eliott steps down the last stair, finally on level ground with him.

“That— that’s it?”

“I don’t know…”

A long silence follows, like Lucas is waiting for him to continue. But it quickly becomes apparent that no follow up is coming through. “Nice. Okay. Good talk,” Lucas snorts, “see you around.”

“Wait, wait.” Eliott truly hates himself for losing words when he needs them most. “Lucas, please, I can’t… I can’t stop thinking about you.”

There’s a lump in his throat that threatens to choke him up every time he wants to lay it all out in the open— a well groomed defence mechanism, maybe. And the easy solution is to shift the blame away from himself, remind Lucas that Eliott’s free to do whatever he wants as long as he’s not committed to one particular person, but he knows that’s not the point here. What Lucas wants to hear is something that Eliott is yet to admit even in the safety of his own head.

The fire exit door opens to mild chattering from a group of girls heading up the stairs and Eliott doesn’t even flinch, doesn’t care about how this might look like to them. Lucas, on the other hand, takes it as an opportunity to shove past Eliott.

“Better fix that then,” Lucas whispers, drawing close yet maintaining it so that not a single part of them is touching. “Cause you can think all you want, Eliott, but you’ll never have me.”

Looking into his eyes, Eliott understands the phenomena of even the warmest blue oceans being unable to hide the cold black down under if you only push deep enough. They brush shoulders as Lucas slips inside the door, leaving Eliott to stand alone on the landing, struck speechless.

Eliott’s figured it out, you know. The big elusive formula to avoiding heartbreak.

He’s sitting on Sofiane’s couch, a bag of ice pressed to his smarting nose. He doesn’t think it’s broken but then again, it’s gone too numb for him to really tell.

Going numb. That’s it, that’s the formula.

It’s worked out so, so well for him. People can say shit all they want but Eliott still thinks he’s lived some of his best years ever since he just stopped caring. Except somewhere along the way, he’d made a mistake, had possibly gotten too complacent, too confident with the life he’s gotten used to and now—

He’s tripped up. Because he sure as hell is the furthest thing from numb right now.

And it honestly hurts like a fucking trainwreck.

You’ll never have me.

He squeezes his eyes shut, welcoming the sting that comes with the movement. “Sof,” he calls out, a little nasal from how careful he is to not agitate his injury.

“Yeah?” The cushions dip under Sofiane’s weight and Eliott feels a glass of water and some painkillers being shoved into his hand.

“Why did you wait so long for Imane?”

His question goes unanswered long enough for Eliott to remove the ice bag off his face.

“What?” Sofiane asks, rightly confused.

Eliott sighs, “You’ve had a crush on her since before high school. It’s not like you’re ugly—”

A snort, “Well thanks.”

“—and there were lots of easier options,” Eliott continues as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “Plus we’re friends with Idriss! Isn’t that, I don’t know, intimidating?”

“I’m not looking for an easy relationship, Eli, I want a real one.” Sofiane shrugs. “Why would I be intimidated? Idriss is nice and I haven’t done anything wrong so it’s not like—”

Eliott looks up when Sofiane cuts himself off, watching the morbid realization settle over his features. “What?” He might as well play dumb for as long as he can.

“Who did you get in a fight with?”

“I told you, some punk with a hero complex.”

“Over what?”

He puts his nearly melted bag down and reaches for the glass of water, taking his time in swallowing down the painkillers. “Nothing.”

“Eliott, I can’t help you if you won’t tell the truth.”

“Who says I need help with anything?”

“Uh, the fact that you came here with a bleeding nose for starters?” Sofiane shakes his head, watching Eliott practically drown himself with his glass of water. “Eliott.”

“Hm?”

“Please tell me you listened to what I told you at that party.”

Oh god, he really should’ve gone to Idriss. There’d be less sympathy and more laughing but at least Idriss doesn’t know that Eliott’s maybe slightly a little more than attracted to Lucas.

“What party?”

“Stop acting dumb!”

“I’m not!”

A pillow is thrown at the crown of his head but it thankfully misses his face, and Sofiane sounds like he’s laughing more than anything, so Eliott figures it’s safe to drop the act. “Okay, fine, no, I didn’t listen.”

“Ugh, Eliott.”

“I know. And I fucked up.”

“Already? It’s been less than a month.”

“I know, fuck.”

“So what happened?”

Eliott shrugs, getting up to toss his ice bag in the sink. “Nothing. He told me to leave him alone.”

Sofiane’s got a strange constipated look on his face. Good to know some of his friends have that much faith in him. “Wait, Lucas said to leave him alone?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re sure?”

He returns to the living room and drops back down on the couch. “Unless ‘why can’t you just leave me alone’ has another secret meaning I’m not aware of then yes, I’m very sure.”

Sofiane whistles lowly.

“It was my fault though,” Eliott admits, poking at the threads peeking from the cushion covers. “He saw me and Eleanor.”

“Oh.” Sofiane actually looks a little apologetic. “Sorry, I didn’t know—”

“It’s fine, nobody forced me to approach her. And I said some shitty stuff too so it’s not like it was all because of that.”

“Adrien doesn’t know?”

“No.”

“Fuck.”

“Mhm.” Eliott pulls at the ends of his hair, only feeling slightly better now that someone else is privy to his little secret. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I mean, nothing happened right? So is it so bad to just move on from this?”

“Yeah. Problem is that I don’t want to move on.”

Hearing that, Sofiane straightens his posture, turning fully on the couch so that his whole body is faced towards Eliott. He sees enough of Sofiane’s giddy smile from his peripheral to feel like he’s just activated the guy’s slumber party mode.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Sofiane goads, grin widening when Eliott responds with a groan.

“Shut up.”

“No, really, is the Eliott Demaury actually crushing on someone right now?”

Gross understatement. “I will eat all the food in your fridge if you don’t stop.”

Sofiane laughs him off, arms swaying about as he wiggles in his spot and damn, are the guys really going to be so happy to see Eliott catching feelings? Well, probably not Adrien considering the context but still.

“Are you gonna do anything about it?” Sofiane stops his bird mating dance and schools his expression into somewhat of a serious one.

“Which part of he told me to leave him alone did you miss?”

“Fuck, that’s right eh?” Lip caught between his teeth, Sofiane peers up at Eliott like he’s got something to say but is holding back for whatever reason. Eliott narrows his eyes at him until he continues with a hesitant, “How about give it some time? And then shoot him a text message? No harm in asking for one more chance, it’s a yes or no question.”

“He has me blocked on Instagram though, and he never gave me his phone number.”

“Oh my god.”

“Yeah.” Eliott thunks his head back down on the couch, fingers busy tracing invisible patterns on the covers. “How did Idriss react when he found out about your crush on Imane?”

Sofiane shrugs, slumping down on the space beside Eliott. “He got all winky and said he’d put in a good word.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.” A pause, and then socked feet poke against his, annoying enough to have Eliott looking away from the very interesting ceiling Sofiane’s apartment has. “But I also don’t have a, uh, colourful relationship history like you so… no offence.”

Eliott blindly throws a cushion in Sofiane’s direction and relishes in the squawk that follows.

“But hey?” Sofiane continues when Eliott doesn’t say anything in response, “let it rest for a while, Eli. If you still feel the same after that, then at least you’ll know it’s really serious this time.”

He already knows. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Eliott.”

“Hm?”

“You weren’t always like this.” It’s a statement, not a question, so Eliott isn’t sure what he’s supposed to say in return, but it seems like Sofiane isn’t looking for a response anyway. “Adrien’s known you forever and yeah, the past couple of years might be at the forefront of our minds right now but we know you’re a good guy. Adri knows that the most.”

Eliott quirks an eyebrow and Sofiane raises his hands, palms up as he shrugs.

“All I’m saying is that things might not be as bad as you think they are, okay?”

“Okay.” Eliott still thinks it’s pretty bad, but he’s not going to argue against a source for hope.

Eliott wishes he could say he gets productive for the next two weeks that follows but really, all he’s done is drink coffee, pretend to start on his assignments, and miss Lucas’ snarky messages. Not necessarily in that order.

Sofiane’s taken pity on him five days in and sometimes lets Eliott borrow his phone to pine over Lucas’ Instagram posts. Granted, Lucas doesn’t post much but the one photo he put up of himself looking bored at the skate park is enough to last Eliott for a few more days.

He’s very much aware that he’s being wildly pathetic, rejecting parties left and right (he already knows they’d be boring anyway), rejecting dates left and right— also potentially boring, but he’s mostly afraid of further proving to himself that Lucas has already ruined him for everyone else and they haven’t even kissed yet— or hugged, for that matter. Pathetic indeed.

On Friday, though, he gives into Idriss’ well-meaning and most likely accidentally set up date with one of his classmates. If only to ward off any suspicions from how weird he’s acting. Adrien’s been side eyeing him a little too much for comfort these days.

So he’s on this date and the guy’s very cute but he’s also talking about American football like it’s a gift from the gods themselves. Eliott knows nothing about American football. This would usually be the time when Eliott would excuse himself to the bathroom and speed google some facts on the subject so as to impress his date. But right now, he doesn’t care about being unimpressive at all.

The guy, Aron, is an exchange student from California— all tanned skin and pretty smiles and endearing accent. He’s probably what the kids these days would call a snack.

It’s too bad Eliott can’t help but think that Lucas’ smaller silhouette would look beautiful against the red backdrop of the massive booths they’re sitting in. How he keeps wishing to brush his hand against soft brown hair every time he glances up, hands lying limp on his lap when he’s met with the blond of Aron’s neatly styled coif instead. The blue of Aron’s eyes isn’t quite deep enough and Eliott can pinpoint exactly which shade it is on his dried up palette at home. He still can’t figure out the right mix for Lucas’.

Anyway, the point is that he’s losing his mind.

When they reach a short lull in conversation, Eliott rushes to say, “I’m just gonna run to the bathroom real quick.” And proceeds to lock himself in a stall, sit on the toilet lid, and stare at the lights blankly.

The bathroom door slams open not long after and Eliott stands up on instinct, ready to remove himself from the vicinity should there be some kind of beef brewing, but only one set of footsteps pace to where the sinks are.

“Hey, you still there?” The person says, presumably into his phone.

Eliott reaches to unlock the stall, he’s had enough eavesdropped conversations to last him a lifetime thank you very much—

“Lulu? Can you hear me clearly?”

You have got to be kidding me. Fate must think this is funny. He must be some kind of joke to the deities or something.

“I’m at work, Lucas,” the guy says regretfully enough and Eliott does pull the stall door open then, keeping his head down as he tugs on the knobs of the sink, washing his hands for lack of any other excuses to stay. “Where’s Yann? Didn’t you guys go together?” The tap shuts off, Eliott reaches for the paper towels. “Oh— oh, damn, good for him but— no, you should stay there and I’ll call your brother okay— what do you mean no? Lucas, shut up you sound shitfaced.”

If Eliott’s learned anything from his accidental sleuthing adventures, it’s that Lucas is a terribly reckless drunk. Finally raising his head, Eliott meets eyes with Lucas’ blond friend through the mirror. It’s admittedly a little funny how he gapes wordlessly at the sight of Eliott.

Not one to miss an opportunity, Eliott takes advantage of the obvious distraction and snatches the phone from the guy’s hand — Arthur, his name tag says — he’ll apologize profusely later but Eliott really doesn’t want a repeat of Lucas going missing for an entire weekend.

“Where are you?” he says into the phone, noting that there’s no blaring music coming from the other line. If Lucas is where Eliott thinks he is right now then at least he’s outside the house already.

“Whoa.” Lucas’ voice is slightly distorted coming from the other line but Eliott still sighs at the first sound of it after the too-long silence. “You’re not Arthur.”

“No, so where are you?”

“Nooo, where are you?” Lucas giggles into the phone and Eliott has to suppress a smile. Fuck, this is serious but Lucas is being an idiot. “You sound like someone I know.” If he’s being this friendly with Eliott then it only means that he’s past the point of tipsy and well into happy drunk territory.

“Wanna take a guess?” Eliott easily dodges when Arthur tries to grab his phone, the latter flinching back in surprise when Eliott has the gall to put a finger to his lips and shush him.

“Mmmm,” Lucas stalls, but Eliott knows he’s got the right answer. He tries not to dwell on the fact that drunk Lucas remembering his voice sends another one of cupid’s arrows straight into his heart. “Weed guy.”

And Eliott laughs, inexplicably happy about that. “Where are you, Lucas?”

“I don’t know…” His syllables drag as he speaks and Eliott hears some shuffling and then a worrying crash, before Lucas’ laughter can be heard from a distance. “There are two blue houses!”

Yeah, Eliott knows exactly where he is. “Stay there, okay?”

“Why?”

“I’m—” But he’s not sure if Lucas would only run off if given that information. “We’ll get you home.” He doesn’t wait for another response, returning the phone back to a stunned Arthur. “Remind him to stay where he is every few minutes, god knows how many times he’ll forget.”

Eliott dashes out the restaurant like a man on a mission, bullshitting about some urgent emergency as he passes by a confused Aron. He feels bad, really, but if he doesn’t trust sober Lucas to follow any given instructions, then he trusts drunk Lucas even less.

When Eliott gets off the bus and jogs the rest of the way to the house, it’s a relief to find Lucas’ hooded figure sitting on the pavement across from where the party is still obviously going strong.

“Lucas.” No answer, Lucas doesn’t even stir. “Lucas, come on, let’s get you home.” He reaches out gingerly, testing the waters by poking at Lucas’ arm.

“Go ‘way,” Lucas says, sounding a lot less friendly than he’d been on the phone.

Eliott looks around and spots two empty beer bottles beside Lucas. He blinks down at them, having a hard time understanding if Lucas is actually even more drunk than he’d been earlier.

“You can’t stay out here.” Eliott sighs, crouching down in front of him.

“Well why not?” Lucas lifts his head off his curled arms, unfocused eyes glaring at a spot just above Eliott’s right ear.

Without much else to do, Eliott sighs again. “Let’s go.” He tries to tug at Lucas’ sleeves to get him to stand, but only succeeds in making Lucas stumble backwards from how fast he tries to get away.

“Don’t touch me, I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Oh god, he’s dealing with a child. “I’ll tell Adrien.”

“You won’t tell Adri shit!” Lucas stands up, finally, but only to walk up to Eliott and point unsteady fingers to his face. “You’re not even supposed to know where I am! He doesn’t even know I like— he doesn’t know you played me! You. Won’t. Tell. Him. Shit.” He pronounces each word with a hard jab to Eliott’s chest.

And okay, fuck, he’s got a point. “Fine, suit yourself.” Eliott steps back, hesitating, but maybe it’ll be smarter to have someone else take Lucas home instead. He turns around, looking through his contacts to see if Sofiane or Idriss would be available.

“Fine!” Lucas screams from behind him and Eliott looks over his shoulder in time to catch Lucas sitting back down on the ground, hands pressed to his eyes.

No. Eliott can’t walk away from him like this again.

Eliott marches back to where he came from and promptly throws Lucas over his shoulder, barely staggering even when Lucas starts kicking and punching as much as his drunken limbs would allow.

“Let me down!”

“Not until you behave yourself.”

“Now!”

“You won’t get anywhere like this and you know it.”

“I fucking—” Lucas slumps down, body steadily getting heavier as he stops struggling in Eliott’s hold. “I hate you,” he mutters softly and that, moronically enough, is what makes Eliott stumble. He tightens his arms around Lucas, pausing to realign his balance. “I hate you,” Lucas continues, sniffing in between words. “Why are you even here? I told you to stop already.”

Eliott slows his walk, Lucas’ hitching breaths sending freezing pelts straight to his chest. They stop moving once they reach a corner, Eliott lowering Lucas down so he can stand on his own two feet, but Lucas immediately curls up, crouching on the ground like standing is too much of a chore at the moment.

“Hey, I’m sorry okay?” he whispers back, bending at the knees so that they’re level with each other. “I promise I just want to get you home safe, that’s it.” He digs around his pockets for his phone, placing the device inside Lucas’ hands once he finds it. “Here, Adrien is speed dial 3, call him any time you feel you need to. I don’t care if he yells at me, I won’t walk away from you again.”

Lucas fiddles with Eliott’s phone, running his thumb along the screen once before clutching it to his chest. “I can’t go home.” He blinks, a tear escaping from his eye.

Eliott brushes it away before he can stop himself. “Why not?”

“My parents think I’m sleeping over at Yann’s and mom will be so disappointed if I come home like this,” he says miserably, more tears running down his cheeks.

Ah. Shit. “Come on, get on my back.”

Once Lucas is settled on his back, now much calmer than earlier, Eliott continues walking, but turns to a different direction this time.

“Where are we going?” Lucas asks drowsily, lips pressed into Eliott’s shoulder.

Where indeed.

Lucas is a near dead weight behind him when Eliott finally gets his door open. It’s a struggle when Lucas refuses to cooperate and lets his legs slide down every time Eliott lets go of them to search for his keys. But eventually they do make it inside.

Eliott drops Lucas as gently as he can on the bed, huffing once he’s successfully done so without cracking any heads in the process.

He roots around his closet for some clothes Lucas can use for the night when the sound of jackets and pants zipping startles him from the task. He turns around, eyes wild, when Lucas starts throwing his clothes — everything— off himself.

Eliott almost wipes out when he slips on a sock in his rush to get to Lucas before the dumbass has the chance to remove his underwear off with his jeans.

“Stop, stop, hey.” Eliott catches Lucas’ hands, laughing when Lucas opens his eyes just to glare at him.

“It’s so hot.”

“It’s really not.” Eliott huffs another laugh, waiting until Lucas’ hands go slack in his before letting go, but he does help remove Lucas’ jeans when it’s clear that the latter is going to stay irritated until they’re off.

It’s a workout to get him to wear a shirt, what with Lucas being hellbent on removing as many clothes as possible. Eliott knows it’s bound to get cold in the middle of the night, though, and he will not be responsible for Lucas catching a cold in his bed.

“You’re so nice,” Lucas mumbles once he’s settled, looking warm and cozy in Eliott’s loose shirt. He’s so fucking cute, and it doesn’t help when Eliott feels those arms sliding around his neck, tugging him forward. Lucas doesn’t use much force to have Eliott following along helplessly, but it’s not like it would ever take all that much to have Eliott willingly inching into his space.

Dredging up whatever’s left of his common sense, Eliott anchors his hands on either side of Lucas to keep somewhat of a distance between them.

He shakes his head, arms trembling not only from the strain of keeping his weight off of Lucas. “No, you’re just drunk.”

Lucas smiles, eyes half mast, still pretty under the hint of moonlight. His fingers brush maddening strokes over Eliott’s hair. “Eliott?”

“Hm?”

“Why have you never kissed me?”

Eliott’s heart thuds a frantic rhythm in his chest. “You never let me, baby.”

The fingers in his hair stop moving, and Lucas’ eyes flutter close, Eliott watching the shadows of his lashes flirt along smooth cheeks. “I’ll let you now.”

“I know,” he whispers, leaning down inch by minuscule inch. Lucas’ breath is warm and smells of alcohol, but Eliott knows he only has to duck down and bury his face in the space between his neck and shoulder to get his fill of the scent he’s truly been missing.

He doesn’t. Maybe in the future he’d have the privilege to do so. Hopefully.

Eliott lets their noses touch, light and fleeting, before he leans up and drops a gentle kiss over Lucas’ forehead.

“Goodnight, Lucas.”

#skam france #elu fic #fictag #take this away from me before I reread #and change it for the 100th time #I wasn't kidding when I said it's 8k of pining #now clearly labelled to avoid '3 scarlet letters' fiasco HAHA

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the-coolest-mallard · 5 years ago

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Like a Kickass Guy | ASC

Louie gets high at Mei’s party and texts Nemo and Tae.

@justkeepdancing-nemo @moon-yeongtae

Louie: holy shit u guyyyyyy Louie: shit has been going dowwwwwwwwn. Or upside down? down and up really lol Louie: i may not have muscles n shit but guess WHAT I DID Tae: hulked out and killed someone? Louie: woah man no! Duuuuuude have u seen me? impossible Louie: i'm too cute to go to jail yet Louie: i mean EVER Louie: im too cute to go to jail EVER Louie: did a keg stand lol. sorta Tae: whoa nice Tae: how you feelin? Louie: a m a z i n g Louie: you won't BELIEVE how good i am Louie: i felt like IRON - no. i felt like CAPTAIN AMERICA. LIKE A KICK ASS Louie: GUY Tae: nice dude i'm glad ur having fun Tae: is mark there Louie: he was here somewhere. he asked me to come Louie: dunno where he went. maybe he's with johnny idk Louie: but who cares lol Louie: i'm great Louie: no more sads Tae: wow you're really drunk huh? Louie: nooooooooooooo Louie: haha I was gonna drink Louie: but then this weird girl showed up Louie: and now i'm super

Tae: but you said you did a keg stand Tae: that's like drinking isnt it? Louie: is it? i thought it was just a hand stand on a keg lol Louie: who knows? not me Tae: i mean i guess Tae: what weird girl Louie: idk blond. weird. she wanted me to CHEAT ON MARK WTF Louie: i mean she seriously helped me out but also Louie: wtf Louie: weird. so weird. but we went to the bathroom and she Louie: gave me t his stuff n i'm like Louie: wow i mean i can't stop talking Louie: i think I've said some seriously stupid shit Tae: wait Tae: what? Louie: what? i didn't tell you anything stupid did I? Louie: i don't think i did. thank god. imaigngi f i told u that Louie: lololol i'd die forever Tae: louie what are you taking about what stuff Louie: stuff? which stuff Louie: im not tellig Tae: what did she give you Louie: ohhhhhhhhhhh Louie: oh i can tell u that haha Louie: she called it all kinds of weird stuff like snow white or whatever which is bizarre af but whatever Louie: i like sniffed it and it felt super whack Tae: LOUIE WHAT THE FUCK Louie: and then it was like Louie: wow Louie: idk man i wanted to not feel sad and i feel good now Tae: holy shit what the fuck i cannot believe Tae: louie that was so dumb Louie: you're so dumb! Louie: no that's not true Louie: you're my faovriedgof person ever Tae: where the fuck is nemo why isn't he here to tell you how stupid that was where are you Tae: you're at mei's right Louie: yeh i crashed lol Louie: well no mark and johnny wanted to crash Louie: and since mark's been cool and let me stay at his place i was like Louie: well i should probs go Tae: yeah well THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD'VE FUCKING DONE COKE OR WHATEVER YOU DID jesus fuck Nemo: wait wtf did i just read Tae: yeah Tae: i have to go fucking get him Louie: why are you maddddd? im not bugging anyone! i'm having fun! Nemo: wait whats going on! Nemo: louie are you okay? Louie: i'm FINE Louie: i'm super Nemo: he did cocaine? Louie: super human Tae: he's at mei's party and he fucking YES Louie: you could say Louie: ughhh stop making this so big Tae: do you know how many kids my brother had to see in the hospital bc of drugs louie? Nemo: yeah that stuffs really bad Nemo: its human chemicals Nemo: do you feel okay? are you dizzy? Louie: do you know what else is bad? life. being sad. freddie mercury leaving too soon. presidents. earthquakes Nemo: louie D: Louie: tthe hunger games Tae: hey louie seriously how are you feeling like Tae: in your body Louie: that's a weird thing 2 akks dud Louie: im fine! Tae: okay but like Tae: if u close ur eyes and like idk try to feel what's happening like is your heart beating really fast? do you feel like puking? do you feel like you're moving? Louie: oh i mean yeah lol Louie: my heart is skipping faster n when i Louie: wait i gotta shut up shut up Nemo: tae yah is that bad? Nemo: would jun hyung know? Tae: i'm asking him right nwo Louie: so fussy you guys are fussy im gooood Nemo: louie just keep texting u ok Louie: look how good i am Louie:

Nemo: very pretty Tae: yeah gorgeous how's your breathing Louie: wouldnt u like 2 kno Louie: how's your butt Louie: bet its still kicckable Tae: you have literally never kicked my ass at anything Tae: nemo does your appa know about this stuff? you probably shouldn't ask him huh? Louie: DON'T AOISFJPDOGN Nemo: its human drugs Nemo: so not really Louie: 4 THE LOV OF GOD Louie: that guy lredy probs haaaaaates me Nemo: his magic wouldnt work either i dont think Louie: im a toxin to freidn parnets Nemo: yeah if he ever finds out we woudl be banned from being in the same school i think he'd transfer me to that catholic place and appa hates catholicism Nemo: this is why you shouldnt do drugs louie :heart: dont yu wanna keep being my friend Louie: :cry: :cry: :cry: Louie: you're my best mate wgodidpsdggdfh Louie: you too tae Tae: wow rude Tae: oh okay Louie: wow Louie: dont be such a bitch tae Tae: well you started it when you did cocaine Louie: i used to think u were the coolest but maybe im demoting u n promoing Louie: nemo Louie: nemo ur the new hottie Tae: the what Louie: what? Tae: louie i'm coming to get you Louie: whyyyyy the partys still partying Louie: ppl be FITIN Louie: man ud fit right in with your muscle bod Louie: well cept one fitghts girls Tae: where are you in the house Louie: idk the dance place. the life space Louie: where everyone is? Nemo: is jun going too? Nemo: aghaldkfjaskldfj Tae: yeah Louie: wait wait wait wait wait Nemo: ugh im sorry i cant be there Louie: where u going Nemo: louie im so sorry just keep texting us Louie: no Louie: i should dkslefadkad Tae: hey louie what's your favorite queen song Louie: skedlolde Louie: what? ohhhhh wow tough choice man i mean Louie: there are soooo many good SONGS Louie: lately i've been listening 2 somebody to love a lot cause i been dfpsogdpsjsd Louie: buuuuuut Tae: i like don't stop me now Louie: that's my OTHER FAVORITE Louie: man u vibe so well with me i hate it Louie: ha ha ha Louie: j k this is why we're bffs Nemo: hey queen was on the CD you gave me Nemo: ive been listening to it! Louie: reallyyyyy? did you like it? Louie: hey hey tae tae. taeeeeeeee. tae you should send a slefdie Louie: slefit Louie: sel fie Nemo: course! i love it Nemo: maybe i'll pick a song and choreo a dance for it Tae: you want a selfie? Louie: oooooo yes please nemo Louie: and def yes pls tae Louie: do smehthing cute Nemo [deleted]: ugh louiealkf Nemo: where's mark again? Nemo: im gonna text mark Louie: idkkkkkkk Tae:

Louie: he went to do some stuff with johnny Louie: woahhhhhhhhh Louie: waogdisjdpsgjosg Louie: shit Tae: that's me coming to get ur dumb ass Louie: wait ur coming to get me? Louie: shit shit shit wait i gotta skedoled Louie: skedadled Tae: what? Louie: well much as i think ur great im ok Louie: also i thinkk hoooo shit Louie: gotta ifnd a window lol Tae: louie if you don't stay there i will fucking murder you Tae: i'm serious Louie: deth by tae or tdeth by uncle d when he fins out Louie: shit mn if i stay its a double featur Nemo: :/ Nemo: please louie, we're worried about you Nemo: we love you! we just want to make sure you're okay Tae: yeah Tae: you're gonna stay the night with me okay Louie: oh god Tae: it'll be great Louie: hahaahahahahahaha Louie: N E M O Louie: tell him why i suddenly Louie: sgosigdsgsdg Nemo: louie i think you should Nemo: um drink water Louie: im good ill just find Louie: makr Louie: mark Nemo: that's also good please find mark Louie: n go to his place? Tae: what did i say Nemo: nothing he's on drugs Tae: i said stay put Louie: im really good thouuuugh Louie: n mark will look out for me Louie: marks nce Tae: well mark left u alone and you did cocaine so i mean not that that's his fault i'm just saying Nemo: ugh what if mark did cocaine Nemo: u dont think mark did cocaine did he Louie: dont blae me him 4 ME BEING ME Tae: DID MARK DO COCAINE Louie: honestly i dont dieossgodkh Louie: NO Tae: fuck Nemo: he might not have! we dont know Louie: i dont deesrve mrk naywayl ol Tae: nemo never do cocaine please Nemo: i cant see mark lee doing cocaine unless someone told him it was fun dip Louie: he n johnny were just doing fun stuff 2gether Tae: lmfao Nemo: id probably DIE if i did cocaine so dont worry ahha Nemo: big no no for fairies Louie: speaking of immenditd death Louie: we sure windows r no go Nemo: which is why u shouldnt do it solidarity c'mon louie Tae: if you aren't there when i get there i will be very upset Nemo: he will be Nemo: wont u louie Louie: im scared i dont want the lady 2 yell at me Louie: pls i wanna leave Tae: I'm almost there Louie: DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD= Louie: what if i hid in the bathroom Nemo: its gonna be okay louie :heart: Nemo: just um, sing a little queen Louie: no its not ill be ded 4ever n dragged home n stuck with my asshole fam n never escape n ded Nemo: you won't be dead you'll be safe Louie: shit someone said its the COPS Louie: im double triple dead Louie: n thats bullshit Louie: my fam isnt safe they suuuuuuuck Tae: WHERE ARE YOU Tae: fuck there are so many people Louie: trapped in the prison of xistance Louie: a house of horrs Louie: horors Tae: i'm serious louie i can't find you Louie: just make urself taller Louie: ill see you Tae: i'm gonna yell for you Louie: ok ok ok Nemo: ugh fksjf

#justkeepdancing-nemo #moon-yeongtae #t: like a kickass guy #r: lemo #r: taekwonduck #r: afternoon snack club #tw: drugs #i mean that's a main topic

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basically-i-write-shit · 5 years ago

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wow, just read that ice skating AU with Tsukki being Yams coach. I love it. It was also sad in the end, since his little sister said that not many are nice to her older brother. I had an idea. what if one day Yama shows up with a bruised eye right before a competition. Hotarou is upset since her bro doesn't tell her anything and Tsukki is upset becuse Yama cant compete looking like that but also worried. Yama tries to hold it together but breaks down during practice on the ice (1)

(2) and Yama tells him that just some boys in his class decided to give it to him since he is an ice skater & calls him slurs becuse of it. Tsukki can’t really do anything, but he is upset about the whole situation. And Yama cries more bc Tsukki is kind of like his only friend despite their age difference. They talk for a while and Tsukki buys him french fries and hamburger since that is his fave food and Yama is in fucking tears. its okay since he isn't going to compete :) Hotarou approves!!!

I forgoooot about this god bless u anon

Tadashi is late. Again. Unlike last time he was late, Kei is on time, and waiting impatiently. He takes the liberty to skate laps while he waits, thinking of a suitable punishment for showing up late a week before a competition. Seriously, there’s only so many competitions Tadashi can compete in that aren’t national competitions, and Kei still hasn’t convinced him on that yet.

He’s making his third leisurely lap around the rink when Tadashi stumbles in, holding a crying Hotarou. Kei can’t see Tadashi’s face, but he assumes he’s fine-- he’s more focused on Hotarou. He rushes over to the door and climbs rinkside, kneeling at Hotarou’s side as Tadashi sets her on the bench and rushes into the bathroom.

“Hotarou-chan, are you okay Did you trip and fall outside?” He checks her over for scrapes, but can’t find one. Hotarou keeps crying, her little hands pressed over her eyes. Kei helplessly fumbles, searching for something to do. He’s no good with crying, kids, or crying kids. God, why did Tadashi rush off? “Hotarou-chan, I need you to tell me what’s wrong, okay?”

“S- Someone h- hu-- hurt Tada-nii!..”

“Wha--” Kei frowns, brows furrowing. “Someone hurt Tadashi?”

“I-- It was so scar- y!..” Hotrou throws herself at Kei, clinging to his shirt, and Kei wraps his arms around her, rubbing his back.

“Shh, it’s okay, Hotarou. It’s okay. Hey-- can I leave you right here while I go check on Tadashi? I’ll be right back.” Hotarou nods, sniffling, and Kei grabs a blanket and wraps it around her. He ruffles her hair and goes to the bathroom, steaming with anger. “Alright, who did it?”

Tadashi is locked in a stall, sniffling. “I- I don’t-- kno- kn- know what you mean.”

“Yamaguchi, don’t lie. Hotarou-chan said someone hurt you. Now open up.”

A moment later, the stall door opens and Tadashi steps out. There’s blood on his school shirt. That’s-- not good. Tadashi’s holding a hand to a bloody nose, and Kei thinks that’s the extent of that. Thank god. He lifts Tadashi with ease and sits him on the counter, wetting a cloth and wiping the sweat from his face. There’s a bruise forming on left eye, and that...that won’t be good for competition. He combs Tadashi’s hair from his face.

“They jumped me on my way to pick up Hotarou...She scared them away by screaming when she came out of the rec center.” Tadashi whispers.

“Tell me you had someone chase after them. That’s-- That’s assault..!”

Tadashi looks down, ashamed. Kei sighs before he tilts his head back.

“Hotarou was crying, and I was bleeding. No one saw-- I just wanted to get here. Please, let’s just ignore it and get to work. My routine needs to be perfect for next week.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re looking at the wall, not at me, Tadashi.” Kei sighs. This just isn’t good. “I’m gonna call your mom and take you to the clinic. You have a concussion.”

“Wh- Wha-- No, I can’t! I’m fine, Tsukki. Really.”

“I don’t think so. We’re taking you to the clinic.” Kei pulls Tadashi off the counter, holding him as he walks him out. “Hotarou, will you help carry Tadashi’s skate bag please?”

“Y- Yes, Kei-Sensei! Is-- Is Tada-nii gonna be okay?..”

Kei pats Hotarou’s head, smiling. “We’re gonna take him to the doctor, and he’ll be just fine, Hotarou-chan.”

And he is. Well-- mostly. He has a mild concussion and he’s not able to get on the ice for a couple of days. He isn’t able to compete because of the practice he missed due to the concussion; a week later, on his first day back, he comes back to the rink on time, though he’s a bit jumpy and paranoid. Hotarou is looking a lot happier than the last time Kei saw her.

“Okay, Yamaguchi, we’re going to work on your routine so we can get you ready for a competition in Tokyo in a month.”

“Right.” Tadashi’s been distracted. He sighs, closing his eyes. “I kinda lost a lot of practice time, didn’t I, Tsukki?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to have you practicing on a concussion. A fall could make it worse.” Kei hops up on the side of the rink and presses play on his phone, the speakers playing the song Tadashi arranged for the competition. About halfway through practice, Kei shuts off the music. Tadashi just can’t focus, and he’s falling more than usual. Kei can tell there’s something on his mind. “Yamaguchi, are you feeling alright?”

Tadashi startles, nodding vigorously. “I- I’m fine, Tsukki. Just a bit frustrated. I’m not landing that last triple!”

Kei nods, humming. There’s an awkward silence, before Tadashi clears his throat.

“I- I...don’t think I wanna go to competition, Tsukki.”

Kei blinks. “...What? Why?”

“I dunno. I just-- I start uni in in a month, I don’t wanna be known as the ‘figure skater’ in college.”

“Yamaguchi...You love skating. Why would you quit?”

“I won’t quit, I’ll just keep renting private ice.”

“You promised me you’d compete until your second year of university.” Kei says. He runs a hand through his hair, looking away. He wouldn’t admit it, but he feels...betrayed. “Yamaguchi, you promised.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t feel like getting beat up in the streets and called a fag in front of my baby sister again, okay?!”

Tadashi’s words echo through the rink, and Kei is glad he sent Hotarou to the other rink down the hall with Kuroo and the other fun-time skaters.

“...What?”

Tadashi’s knees wobble and he collapses on the ice, sobbing. “They called me a fag, Tsukki. While they were beating me to a pulp, they called me every slur in the book, and spit at me. B- Because some of the guys found out I figure skate and thought that was good enough reason to beat me up..!”

Kei kneels at Tadashi’s side, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Tadashi, that’s...horrible.”

“Yeah, well I know that, Tsukki. Thanks!” Tadashi’s head falls into his hands with a whimper, and Kei carefully pulls him into a hug, sitting on the ice despite how cold it is. They’d both regret it later, but Tadashi needs Kei right now.

“Do you know who did this?”

“S- Some guys from my class...”

He nods. “And they got in some big trouble for this, right?”

“No--” Tadashi shakes his head. “No, I can’t tell on them, they’ll get even more mad. I don’t-- I don’t wanna-- know what they’d do to me.”

“Tadashi you need to tell someone so this never happens again.”

“B- But--” Tadashi whimpers. “Tsukki, what if they’re right?..What if-- What would you do if I...was...gay?"

The rink is dead silent for a few seconds.

“Well I wouldn’t beat the hell out of you and give you a concussion, that’s for sure. I’d support you. Just like I’ll support you quitting skating if that’s what you really want, and not because some assholes think it’s funny to pick on people for things they can’t change about themselves.”

Tadashi sniffles, turning his head to look at Kei. “R- Really?..”

Kei smiles. “Really.”

“If I go make a police report...will you come with me?” Tadashi asks weakly. “I don’t wanna bother or scare mom, and I-- well, I don’t have anyone else to go with...”

Kei nods. He know how bad Tadashi’s school life is. It feels nice to be needed-- because, well, as much as Kei pretended he was this big bad guy who doesn’t need friends, but he does get lonely. And he knows Tadashi does too.

“I will, Tadashi.” He pats his shoulder. “I promise. But will you please, please keep skating? Finish this competition, and then tell me how you feel.”

Tadashi nods, sniffling. “I will.”

Kei smiles, ruffling his hair, and climbs up. He offers a hand and helps Tadashi onto his skates again. “Let’s practice for another hour, get that police report done, and...well, you have a competition in a month, but I suppose I can let you have McDonalds tonight just for tonight-- since you’re being so brave and going through with this. My treat.”

Tadashi beams happily. “Large fry?”

“You’re pushing it, Yamaguchi-kun.”

“Aw, I’m Yamaguchi-kun again? So mean, Tsukishima-sensei~”

“Just get back to practice before I make you do laps.” Kei says, skating to the edge of the rink and hops up on the side again, pressing play on the speaker. Tadashi laughs, getting into position, and though he teases Kei for yelling at him (”your step sequence is sloppy!” “Slow down on that quad until you can land it without stumbling.”), he makes sure to listen to his criticism seriously and adjust what he needs.

After the crying, he’s a lot better. Both emotionally and in practice. It’s reassuring to Kei, at least. He’s happy, for at least a moment.

When practice is over, they leave Hotarou with Kuroo for another half an hour while they go a block over to the police station and file a report about the incident, but there’s not a lot they can do since it was a week ago and he doesn’t remember much because of the concussion. But it makes him feel better, at least.

When they finally make it back to the rink, Hotarou bounces up to them with a bright grin.

“Kei-sensei, Tada-nii-chan, how was practice?!”

“Great, Tarou-chan! My routine is going great.” He pinches her cheek with a smile, grabbing his skate bag with one hand and her hand with the other. Kei grabs her other hand, smiling at the happy squeal she gives when he tells her he’ll buy her a happy meal.

Tadashi catches his eyes, smiling, and mouths a silent “thank you” to him-- not just for volunteering to get Hotarou food so he didn’t have to use the rest of his allowance buying her a happy meal.

When Kei comes to the rink the next morning, well-- he’s relieved to see Tadashi come back. And he's going to make sure Tadashi wins his next competition, so he can see him skate even more.

#haikyuu!!#tsukkiyama #yamaguchi tadashi #tsukishima kei #kei tsukishima #tadashi yamaguchi #fluff #figure skating au

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clamorbelli · 5 years ago

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whaddup . it’s ya boy , skinny penis . ok so there’s not much to put here except hi to any new people that might’ve not seen my intro for noelle & angelo ( CLICK HERE ). i’m jaz, & this here is my newest babe, sebastian higgings. i’ve definitely missed stuff, but underneath the cut u’ll find plenty of fun stuff abt him. and by fun i mean tragic , bc sebastian is a piece of shit. ; )

‹ LIKE THIS OR HMU IF YOU’D LIKE TO PLOT WITH SEB. ›

TRIGGER WARNINGS : death, drugs, alcohol, emotional instability, therapy mentions, unhealthy habits, blood mention.

◟ * ◊ ─ keith powers + cismale + he/him » * believe it or not sebastian belongs to the higgings family. they are 26 years of age and are known to usually spend their time around buena vista apartments. the photographer has been living in victoria for 22 years. the people closest to them describe the bisexual + aquarius to be +inspired and +autonomous as well as -callous and -debauched.

sebastian is the ( current ) eldest son of the late johnathan and sasha higgings, born to the couple when they were happy, in love, and a shining example of what marriage should be. sebastian was a momma’s boy through and through from the day he was born, severe separation issues plaguing his infantdom, only rectified through intense therapy. his bond with his mother, even after finally being convinced she wasn’t the only nice person in the world, never wavered however. they were thick as thieves.

there was never anything remarkable about seb’s childhood except his fondness for the family camera whenever they went on holiday. his parents first believed it was a desire to model, but they soon came to understand it wasn’t being in front of it that seb wanted, he wished to be behind it. from then on they gave him a disposable on every trip, and before long the house was full of his amateur photography.

when he was ten, the unthinkable and unfathomable happened. his mother died. seb had been an entirely normal, average kid up until that point, but part of him died the day his mother slipped away forever. it was impossible for it not too, with the amount of time they’d spent together, his dependency on her at birth, the fact she was his best friend and it didn’t matter what the kids at school thought. as a child, he was ruined, affected for the rest of his life in ways he didn’t quite understand yet.

seb was sixteen by the time victoria was adopted into the family, and his reign of terror on victoria had long since begun. he came home with bloody noses and bruises more times than he could count, he sneered and spat at other kids in the playground, knowing they could do little except beat him to a pulp and have their parents foot the bill. he started drinking all too early, dabbled in drugs no sixteen year old should’ve touched, spent nights away from home, uninterested in the new woman in his father’s life.

victoria, however, was a different story. the pair got on like a house on fire, likely because of their bratty, conniving ways. at that age sebastian was like gasoline and his newfound sister was the match. natalya still had seb’s heart from when they were kids, his sister being the one thing in life he still felt warmth for, but victoria had managed to form a relationship of her own with him. for a while it was them against the world, until cassandra stepped in, pitted the girls against each other, and made life infinitely harder for a boy already on the brink.

he and his father argued daily. blazing rows that ended in smashed kitchenware. seb was losing it but the higgings patriarch failed to see his behaviour as anything more than childish cries for attention. seb didn’t know the empty feeling in his chest wasn’t normal. he didn’t know he shouldn’t play with girls emotions until they cried. he didn’t understand why he only felt things when he was getting into schoolyard fights or looking through the lens of a camera.

seb graduated high school and chose to do an online course for photography, honing his skills whilst remaining close by until his sisters graduated. when they did, he only managed a year without natalya before leaving the city himself, he would miss victoria dearly, but they facetimed every day and skyped properly at the weekends. before he left he told his father to stick his businesses up his ass. he was disconnecting from his legacy. his final words to his father were full of toxicity and rage, as they had been for 12 years now.

he went to new york, cliché and crazy as it may have been, and found a surprisingly immense amount of success. through some ridiculous means, his shots were picked up by a local, renowned photography blog, the owner of the blog also owning a gallery, wishing to display his work. from then on it was up and up. seb travelled the globe, was able to shoot the most incredible places, spent his weeks on planes and trains and on his feet. he had his dream, he made a name for himself, he didn’t need his father.

seb may have had the career of his dreams, but his personal life was a shambles. full of one night stands with no substance, exes that hated his guts, friends who’d found it too unbearable to be around him. he was arrogant, confident in himself to a fault, unable to connect with passion on any level except with his work. he was a riot, a fun guy to be around who was willing to try anything once, but he lacked the ability to form meaningful relationships. people came and went and seb was left, alone, in his fancy apartment somewhere in manhattan. he was as lonely as he was the day his mother had died, things in that regard had never changed.

the phone call he received when victoria died shook him to his core, the male feeling something other than debauchery for the first time in a long time. his father? a fucking waste of space who failed to keep his children safe, but victoria? he flew home just days ago, having one emotional instinct left in him – his brotherly instinct. natalya was still alive and god knows seb was going to lose another member of his family.

PERSONALITY :

ok so yeah, seb’s an dick. when i say emotionally unavailable i mean . . . highly, on an unhealthy level that requires some serious therapy. seb lost himself when his mother died and since then he’s been trying to find some solace in these flings he always has but, of course, he never will. he’s apathetic when it comes to people becoming attached to him so tends to be particularly cruel with ppl who get involved w him.

asshole . like, just not . .. a nice person . will point out someone’s faults, will tell u if ur skirt is ugly as fuck, willing to laugh in your face if he thinks what you said is stupid. just doesn’t . . give a f. needs to grow up.

hOWEVERRRR R rr. ofc if he was like that 24/7 he’d never even get people into bed in the first place so he can, of course, turn on the charm. he’s very flirtatious, loves sex and sexually charged conversations. flirting is a hobby for him and it’s one he has fun with. if ur not looking for anything deeper, seb isn’t too bad ig . if you can engage him on things he wants to talk about, keep things chill, not take his dickheadedness to heart, etc, he can be manageable. sort of.

massively confident, but unfortunately it’s justified. he’s beautiful, he’s talented, he’s rich of his own accord, and he’s successful. he’s massively independent, but finds it hard to work in a team.

he’s ! lowkey ! a visionary !!! when it comes to photography he really is that bitch and is genuinely incredible at his job because it’s something he’s actually passionate about. he never turns down the opportunity to photograph, so even though usually he loves money, he’d be willing to do a lot of photography for free whilst he’s back bc ? he just loves doing it, and it reminds him of his mom and how she encouraged him.

uHhh bad habits to the max. the only one of my charas who regularly takes hard drugs and drinks, has a penchant for mdma and is looking into microdosing to help his artistic ability.

WANTED CONNECTIONS :

exes from before he moved away

fwbs

best friend, probably only 1 bc . . . intolerable

any kind of connection from before he moved, bc it’s always exciting to see someone again after four years right

enemies lmao

people he knew in new york, if anyone has charas who’ve been there recently

people that were friends with vic

i dunno i’m not good at these y’aLL KNO I LIKE BRAINSTORMING DOMFDOD

give me some angsty shit too

#victoireintro #❛ · ˚ . — 𝒗𝒊. casey frey fan club! › out of character.#finishing off memes and getting to ims now ! finally odmfksds

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faunusrights · 6 years ago

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OFFAL HUNT REMASTER LIVEBLOG // CHAPTER 9

oh goody!

well this is it. the Date Chapter. the chapter, in which, the Date happens. lowkey im so fucking hype for this stupid goddamn chapter AAAAAAAAAAAA this is when the sexy got kicked up about seven notches and i know its gonna be a fucking twenty from here on out so LETS GO LESBIANS LETS GO

“Is this your date, Ms. Fall?” he asked.

Cinder didn’t look away from Glynda. “Mhm.”

STRAIGHT OUT OF THE GODDAMN GATE WE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A SECOND TO EVEN GATHER OURSELVES JUST STRAIGHT UP HUH!!!!!!!!! ‘is this your date’ im legally dead

What the fuck.

already im fucking THRIVING im so glad this chapter’s mood got encapsulated within the first ten seconds and im definitely gonna have to re-read this chapter for the full unannotated experience OOOOOOOOOH MY GOD IM SO READY

Glynda’s thoughts ricocheted inside her head like coins left in a dryer. A part of her couldn’t understand what was happening and disengaged. The rest of her, grasping for purchase in all this, reasoned that going with Cinder was better than staying here confused, alone, and utterly displaced.

glynda ‘i aint ever had a gf before’ goodwitch at her PEAK right here. like GOD shes gone from ‘cinder’s trying to murder me’ to ‘cinder just plopped me right into a date’ like CINDER. CINDER YR CHANGING GEARS SO FAST. YOU DIDNT EVEN SEND FLOWERS OR ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

is it because shes a u-haul lesbian or

Higher, Glynda realized the dress itself was backless, revealing the black tattoo she’d seen so often before, perfectly centered between sharp shoulder blades.

this gay energy is BONKERS, quite frankly??????? where did cinder get her dress from? why does she have it? did she buy it just for this fuckery? or will she pull the ‘i just had a this lil number laying around’ line????????? does she wanna seduce glynda to death?????? was this PLANNED OR DID SHE JUST DECIDE SHE WANTED A DATE AND WTH LIFE REALLY IS SHORT ON REMNANT THESE DAYS?????????? cinder fall please explain your workings to the class

maybe Glynda wasn’t the only one who’d become adept at reading her opponent.

👏 when 👏 will 👏 they 👏 kiss 👏 already 👏👏👏👏

me: this is a slowburn also me: if u assholes dont give me this in the next ten seconds-

“Unarmed? As if you could be so helpless.”

cinder’s style of flirting is just. commentating on a person’s deadliness. that’s IT it’s the only TRICK SHE HAS and its working, is the thing,

im reading the description of the table and remembering the shitpost and oh my god i have to draw this???? hell IS real!!!!!! COULDNT YALL JUST TOSS EM IN A PLAIN BOX,

Cinder eyed her from her bastion of dark cushions,

cinder, ass-deep in cushions: this is peak cuddle territory come and join me

Cinder, for her part, seemed delighted Glynda had noticed. Touching the pendant more gently than Glynda might have ever thought her capable of, Cinder said, “Yours? You didn’t seem to mind parting with it.”

im still deeply enjoying this powermove the novelty NEVER wears off (and at risk of light spoilers i do enjoy its place in this story 👀)

Cinder let the necklace drop, settling against the swell of her bust once more,

/lightly coughs 👀👀👀

im losing my MIND at how gay this bit is i physically cannot HANDLE IT and if they even describe the meal once im gonna pop off cause i am. SO HUNGRY RN. AAAAAAAAAAAA

Cinder indicated a dish of lamb and vegetables, served on a bed of rice and drizzled in some sort of sauce.

SRY THIS ISNT GAY BUT OH MY GOD IM SO HUNGRY I WANNA E A T I T THAT SOUNDS SO GOOD UGHGHGHGHGHGH WHY DID THIS CHAPTER HAVE TO BE TODAY OF ALL THE DAYS,

Glynda cleared her throat, working out: “The Grimm.”

like. GOD WE KNOW GLYNDA IS JUST SO FUNCTIONALLY BAD AT CONVERSATION BUT OF ALL THE THINGS glynda please just. just. stop thinking abt her sexy tattoos for a fifth of a second,

“You can control them.” A sedate blink. For all the world, Glynda might have just commented on the weather.

which is a faux pas for a date!!!!!!!!!!! at least tell her the DRESS IS SEXY WE ALL KNO WHATS WHAT YR THINKIN ABT

Glancing down as though it were being pointed out to her for the first time, Cinder shrugged and adjusted the end of the glove a little higher on her bicep. “And?”

a quick aside im enjoying how like... visually expressive cinder is in this remaster! i can see her facial expressions and her motions really clearly in my mind’s eye which is a fun little boon if only because i have to redraw this nonsense hjsgdfjhfksgd but cinder’s got a Good Face this time around! A QUALITY FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You should know by now, there’s something about you that’s simply irresistible to Grimm.”

HERE COMES THE PLOT (and a single surviving line so far... this one sentence has survived all the world could throw at it... we stan)

Cinder straightened, and Glynda saw that this was what she’d been waiting for.

“It isn’t every day the great Glynda Goodwitch kneels before her adversary, is it?”

HELLO??????????????????????????? WHATS THIS WORDING????????? honestly tho for a second i thought she meant like. quite literally and i thought id missed some PROPER SHIT RIGHT THERE BUT YEAH WTH!!!!!!! C I N D E R

“You cheated. You can’t beat me on your own.”

yes glynda we gathered that yr a top

“Really, Glynda? Poison?” she sneered, something like offense simmering in her expression. “After all this?”

looks at the camera

anyway,

god im literally losing grasp of words to say because theres such a charged mood in this scene............. theyre brushing fingers............ trading jabs.......... im slurpin it up babey!!!!!!!! this rly is the BEST remaster of this whole scene it DESERVES this wordcount!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Beat you,” Cinder corrected. “And call it a point of pride.”

yes cinder we gathered yr a brat,

this dynamic is why this fic is so fuckign good when will winter have a swift return to add even more fuckery to this wild ride

Then, with a heavy-lidded look, Cinder found Glynda’s hand between them, the touch so sudden and daring that Glynda flinched. The fabric of those gloves was smooth against Glynda’s flesh, and for all that cruelty had marked every other instance of contact between them, Cinder was surprisingly gentle.

whomp there go my nuts

WHAT IS THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHO MADE THE EXECUTIVE CHOICE TO ADD THIS LINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELLO???????????? im losing my BRAINCELLS

What she wasn’t ready for was for Cinder to guide her hand to her own throat and hold it there.

THERE IS IT THERE’S THE KINK IT’S BEEN SPOTTED

oh my GOD what even IS THIS WHO ADDED THIS SECTION WHO ALLOWED THIS TO COME TO P A S S WHAT THE FUCK EVEN IS RN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELLO????????? HEWWO??????????

Now… Now Cinder interested her.

tbh how can i liveblog this? what commentary can i POSSIBLY add that we arent already all THINKING. we just launched into a level of hell so deep that lucifers gonna have to pull some goddamn tricks to follow us down here!!!!!!!!!! WHAT IS THIS SCENE! THIS MOMENT! IM SCREAMING

Glynda mirrored the expression back at him, and finally, he coughed, not making strong eye contact with either of them. He set their plate before them and hurried out without so much as a check-in.

i just KNEW that was gonna happen JHGDSFGJHKSDF he was gonna walk in on SMTHNG but i didnt think itd be CINDER’S CHOKING KINK,

okay i took a break and ate my weight in roast chicken and we’re back babey

Almost nervously, her fingers carded through her own dark hair, and there, among the locks, Glynda spotted a glimpse of something white, structured and ridged.

AND I AM INSTANTLY KNOCKED BACK UPON MY ASS 👈W👈H😨A👈T👈

It was easier to ignore the rest of it—whatever it was.

glynda you are a fool and a moron im withering into DUST

On no level had she expected those to be Glynda’s words.

then what... did she expect... well probably -- and rightly so -- ‘bitch WHAT ARE THOSE’ TBH

wait sorry i have to jump back because i forgot customary fingerguns on the most brazen bit of Shit yet:

Cinder was occupying herself with something else: the head of a dragon, perched over the door and staring down at the two of them with red, glossy eyes.

👈👈👈😎👈👈👈

okay BACK TO THE FIC

Fangs snapped together around the word.

aka back to me horni

/chanting TEETH! TEETH! TE

okay but the reason i doubled back to catch that fingergun is because we’re getting ass-deep into plot now!!!!!!!!!!! WITCHES AND DRAGONS BABEY......... HERE’S WHAT OFFAL HUNT IS ALL ABT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i cant rly drop more fingerguns than that because any astute reader will start realising the dots im shouting abt and honestly half the fun of this fic is the ride so >:3c

“Funny. I was sure he would have told you.”

that blow was so low i think cinder hit the concrete with that one

oh god theyre gonna get to the bit and i-

“Is that what all of this has been about? You called me here to remind me that I'm autistic?”

/SCREAMS

The words were delivered firmly, calmly, but Cinder’s response was the opposite, sudden upheaval seizing her. Her expression opened in something akin to panic. “Wh—no? What? No! That's not what I—”

/SCREAMS

oh my GOD CINDER YOU HAVE FUCKED UP LEGENDARILY!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD SHE WAS FELL ASS-FIRST ONTO A LANDMINE OH MY GOD

offal hunt v1 cinder: im totally in control and im playing glynda every step of the way

offal hunt v2 cinder: OH JESUS OH FUCK OH NO THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT-

Cinder seemed genuinely stressed now, speaking quicker as though trying to bury the last sixty seconds.

i knew this remaster would have sections that would blow me away but this bit really took the fcuking cake DGHSJFSJHFDG holy SHIT this is AMAZING

It was difficult to tell in the low light, but if Glynda wasn't mistaken, there was a bright flush of embarrassment coloring Cinder’s cheeks.

this is SUCH prime content hey remember in one of the early liveblogs that cinder would descend into full dork? WELL THE DESCENT CAME EARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! /pops bottles

“Cinder.” There was a very real line of threat in Glynda’s tone. “Don’t.”

oh this whole scene just keeps getting better i am LOVING this dynamic now!!!!!!! before it was all pretty one-sided so having the conversation rock back and forth is 👌👌👌

That Witch soul of yours—it was designed to void out everything but the prey before you. To be numb to all human emotion. To focus on the hunt and nothing else.

finally the fruit of 50% of my fingerguns COMES TO LIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! PLOT PLOT PLOT

“This is bullshit.” Jabbing an accusing finger at Cinder, Glynda said, “You’re a liar. You’re a criminal!”

i LOVE glyndas pottymouth in this its such a good like... change from her being strict and formal and teachery and now shes full on gremlin huntress hell YES BABY!!!!!!!!!! GO OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“There’s all kinds of things I bet he never told you.” Cinder continued. “Did you know he was close to your predecessor? The Witch who came before you—they were inseparable.”

SRY IM LIKE STRUGGLIN TO COMMENTATE because so much of this like. speaking as an Old-Ass Reader this is like. a LOT! A LOT HAS CHANGED and yet,,,, stayed the same,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, yall kids WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL CHAPTER LIKE................ 15 FOR THIS SHIT (but like. chapter 15 was different because this chapter used to be like chapter 7? so now everythings moved along so chapter 15 doesnt sound that impressive but trust me it was a different fic back then)

When they fell away, burnt and ruined, she could see Cinder’s bare arms for the first time. The red lines drawn across her skin sloped down the entire length of her arms, circling her elbows, carved into her wrists. They ended right at her hands, ensuring any long-sleeved garment would hide them. Every covered inch of her was filled like a canvas, like abstract art.

lets pause the fight scene for glynda to be gay!!!!! god im. okay look i said this earlier but im so glad we have more cinder like this tbh. the first version was rly lacking w/ cinder content until late-game when the plot sorta. got itself going? but now we’re eye-deep in this content i LOVE cinder i love this WEIRDO who is a HUGE LOSER and IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Glynda could not dispel the fear that she had been telling the truth.

and after committing Some Amount In Damages, we’re at the end of the chapter!

okay so i really enjoyed this version SO MUCH MORE. everything abt it was polished and worked together so much better and it really needed the space to breathe in its own chapter. its been horny, gay, intense, hilarious, and way more in one chapter and its SO good this really is PEAK offal hunt!!!!!!!!!!!! good job diesel and kc but im still going to murder you both,

#rwby #offal hunt #liveblog

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christiavn-blog · 6 years ago

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╰ ♡ ✧ ˖ jung jaehyun. 23. he/him. have you seen christian park? they used to be so humorous before their heart got broken. now they just seem to be very cold. i think it had something to do with his ex boyfriend leaving him for someone else, but who knows how accurate that is. i know, we should get them a new car to help cheer them up! maybe then they’ll start acting like smiling at strangers, helping someone off the ground, listening to a soft playlist. ( ruby, 19, pst, they/them )

hello ! jfkdsls first of all, thank u for reading

christian’s always been a big Family person ! he’s very close with his dad and looks up to him :^) his mom passed away when he was little in a car accident and he doesn’t remember much of her. but he did know that she loved palm beach and would always go there with dad. he’s originally from jacksonville !!

anyways he and his dad bonded over Cars & christian is such a stereotypical manly man . he loves cars and working out and jogging in the morning. he just emits dad / big brother energy to everyone he comes in contact w. he used to be very happy go lucky, laughing all the time, smiling at strangers, making jokes ,,,,, being an overall crackhead.

he’s bisexual and it was hard for him to come to terms w/ that at first because he’s like bro im not gay ? im Manly man ....,, but he eventually was like alright, what abt it ?

he was scared to tell his dad at first but his dad was very accepting of him and proud of him for being able to come out !

christian used to go around looking for parts so he could fix up a ‘67 chevy impala (weird flex but ok) he found (its his dream car) and one day he just saw this CUTE ASS DUDE at like a car repair shop. and he was just huge heart eyes & it was a mess. the dude had like his shirt off, wiping down the car hood,, it was like a movie scene from an 80′s romcom

any christian decided to say fuck it and started talking w him, and was like asking if he would help him fix up the impala ? and the dude (his name was oliver) was like ye bruh

so everyday they’d kind of work on the car together and accidentally touch hands or christian would stare a little too long at him,, sublte flirting,, and christian eventually learned he was Gay so it was iconic ? ‘cause oliver was casually like “yeah my ex boyfriend...” and christian was like oh word ? haha .

and they started hanging out,, went on some dates,, and boom they were boyfriends !! and they’d make out in cars all the time and be super cute ,, go the movies,, wow

and sometime,, like 5 months into this relationship, there’s this new Gay dude in town . and he becomes friends w the two of them. but,,, as u may have guessed it,, he starts to try to steal christian’s mans. they hang out all the time,, and he even confesses to oliver like hey bro i got a crush on u haha *blush emoji* and oliver’s like oh ? thats so crazy haha.... but me and christian r boyfriends so :^) ?

but the new kid doesnt give a fuck. he keeps trying to steal oliver and christian NOTICES and is like fuck no ? and hates this new kid. but oliver is like christian stop ur being mean :/

and christians like huh. what do u -- what do you mean he’s trying to steal u like......literally..........

and christian kind of shuts off a bit and distances himself from them bc they’re getting close and hes being made to be an asshole if he says anything abt it ? and next thing u kno: “christian we need to talk.”

and he breaks up with him.

christian fixes up the chevy by himself. and after that he feels empty. he got into a bad depression and would drink a lot or drive recklessly in his new car ( like speeding )

and his dad was like bro. stop. and christian decided he was gonna move somewhere else to get away from it all.

and that’s how he ended up in palm beach !

he’s very kind, gentle, n soft,, like a giant mastiff puppy. he looks scary but he isn’t. but if you piss him off or get on his nerves he WILL throw his beefy hands at you.

has a tendency to be pessimistic now a days. and harder to open up to. tends to shut new people out and isn’t open to dating bc he’s in his feelings smh.

he would marry his car if he could. he LOVES that thing and if anybody tries to go between him and his car he’ll bite ur hand off. it’s his most prized possession and when he’s angry he’ll go to wash his car until he cools off. or he’ll go for a drive.

he likes soft playlists,, as u could tell.

uhmmm,, thats it ? i have some wanted connections here but if nothing floats ur boat we can brainstorm ! :)

#soft boy hours tonite ?#tsunamintro #hello i'm ruby & i hope to write w/ everyone and have a good time :)#i'll start im'ing people in a bit !!

5 notes · View notes

plsdonttellmay · 6 years ago

Text

|3!7(|-|

A look into the Iron Kids group chat between Harley, Peter, and Riri.

Sequel to Bold of You

Translation for Harley’s nonsense at the bottom

Spider-Son: @Son Prime Mr. Stark totally just admitted that Riri was his favorite.

Son Prime: wut???? thts blsht >:((((

Spider-Son changed their name to Pun-Son

Pun-Son: IKR?

Dad’s Favorite: HA! I fucking told you

Son Prime: fuk off riri

Pun-Son: Ya, this is a private conversation.

Dad's Favorite: Y’all are the dumbasses having a “private conversation” in the group chat

Pun-Son: Shit

Really?

I thought @ing him would make it private.

Oops

Son Prime: pete i lov n rspct u but ur a fukn dumbass

Dad's Favorite: This is why dad loves me most

Pun-Son: ;’((((

Whatever.

Anyway

So,,,,

The rest of the team knows you guys exist now.

Son Prime: shiiiiiiiiiiiit

Dad's Favorite: What happened?

Is everyone okay?

Are you okay?

Is Tony okay?

Pun-Son: Ya, everyone's fine, dw.

Son Prime: thn wut hpnd????

Pun-Son: IDK???

Mr. Stark just said I did a good job

And then fucking Captain America was like

“Hey, everybody it's Peter Parker!”

Dad's Favorite: Damn. So now they all know?

Son Prime: thats ruf buddy

Pun-Son: Nah, it's fine.

I panicked and then said that Mr. Stark had lots of kids

And that Peter and Spider-Man were totally different kids.

Son Prime: wow. cnt blev u managed 2 lie 2 captain america

i figd he cld smell lies

or that u would spontaneously combust if u tried

tht was specific 2 u btw

Dad's Favorite: Has anyone ever told you you're a dick?

Son Prime: not 2 my face but thts what i assume theyre saying wen they dub chek tht mr tony isnt my real dad.

Dad's Favorite: Not a bad assumption ngl

Pun-Son: Also, point of order, didn't lie

I just,,,,,,,

Implied.

Heavily.

To the point of lying.

But didn't cross that line.

Son Prime: wow pete ur a saint

Dad's Favorite: They bought it? Just like that?

Pun-Son: TBH they were way more interested in the group chat.

Like, they legit forgot they were trying to figure out who Spider-Man is.

I told Cap your usernames.

Dad's Favorite: Well I'm glad the team knows the truth now

Son Prime: wut? abt mr tony runin a daycare?

Dad's Favorite: No about me being his favorite

Dad's Favorite: Hey guys??? College fucking blows. I'm gonna murder whoever came up with it

Son Prime: sup riri?

Dad's Favorite: Literally just told you. College blows

The Live-in: *break dances gently*

What's wrong, Riri?

Son Prime: atm u if i had 2 ges

Dad's Favorite: Mostly that you're trying to comfort me via meme.

SHIT

Beat me to it

Son Prime: :p

The Live-in: You guys are the worst.

Dad's Favorite: You're the one who decided to be the middle child

The Live-in: WTF, no, I didn't??

Also, Harley is literally less than 4 months older than me.

Son Prime: god pete ur practically an infant cmpared to me

The Live-in: -_______-

Can we go back to talking about Riri’s problems now?

Please?

For the love of science.

Dad's Favorite: Nah I'm good actually. Roasting you is way more interesting

The Live-in: THE W O R S T

Son Prime: srsly tho. u ok riri?

Dad's Favorite: Yeah I'm fine. Just got assigned a group project

The Live-in: Was it at least a class you have a friend in?

Dad's Favorite: Peter literally everyone in that class is 7+ years older than me. If I had friends do you think I'd talk to you two?

The Live-in: Yes

Because you love us.

You've said so.

Son Prime: hes got a point

Dad's Favorite: Lies and slander

The Live-in: Seriously, though.

Are you good?

Dad's Favorite: Yeah. It's not like they're actively mean to me or anything. It just sucks not having friends

Son Prime: tell us if they start bn dicks. pete n i will kick thr asses. we r still ur big bros

Dad's Favorite: Yeah I know <3

God I can’t wait until you two are finally here and I actually have someone to talk to for once.

The Live-in: Yeah!!!!

We should get an apartment.

And a dog.

A secret dog.

Dad’s Favorite: Why is the dog secret???

The Live-in: Because I can’t have a dog at my apartment.

And your mom is allergic to dogs.

And Harley’s little sister is scared of dogs.

So it would have to live with dad over the summer.

And he won’t let us get a dog if he knows ahead of time.

That’s why a secret dog.

Dad’s Favorite: Hell yes secret dog.

The Live-in: I vote pitbull.

Son Prime: sum1 convinse me not 2 murder ths lady

Peter PARKOUR: ?????????

???????

?!?!??!?!?!?!??!?!?

Harley, WTF you can't just say that and then not elaborate.

Dad's Favorite: Siding with Peter here. Who are you trying to murder Keener?

Peter PARKOUR: Dude.

Seriously??

Are you literally ignoring us right now?

HARLEY, YOU HAVE YOUR READ RECEIPTS ON!

Son Prime: Read: 3:23

Dad's Favorite: Harley I swear to god you're going in the nearest lake first time we meet

Peter PARKOUR: Wait.

Hold on a damn minute.

Are you telling me?

The two of you haven't actually met??

Like IRL???

Dad's Favorite: Yeah. I mean we Skype and text plenty but we've never been in the same room

Peter PARKOUR: That's wild??

I mean

I know the three of us haven't been together

But I figured you had met without me.

Son Prime: wait. wen did u 2 meet?

Dad's Favorite: Figures that's what gets his attention instead of murder

Peter PARKOUR: When I went to tour MIT?

Have you and Mr. Stark not gone yet?

Son Prime: nope

Peter PARKOUR: Why not??

Son Prime: i dunno. keep puttin it off

Dad's Favorite: I smell a lie. I don't know what it is but you better watch your back Harley. I will find out

Son Prime: ok baskin robin

Peter PARKOUR: Can we get back to the murder?

I feel like we glossed over that.

Son Prime: no

Dad's Favorite: No point. Either they decided to leave Harley alone

Peter PARKOUR: Or??

Dad's Favorite: Or they're dead

Son Prime: & ull nvr kno

Peter PARKOUR: You two need to chill.

And meet.

Seriously, we've been talking for a year

And you two haven't even laid eyes on each other.

H O W?

Dad's Favorite: Let's start with the fact that we live like 20 hours away from each other?

Peter PARKOUR: I'm not even going to grace that with an answer.

Actually

I am

Mr. Stark has like a fleet of planes??

You could literally make a day trip out of it.

Son Prime: hes actually got a point…

Peter PARKOUR: I almost always have a point.

You two just ignore me.

Because you're assholes.

Dad's Favorite: That's fair

Dad's Favorite: @Son Prime

I saw this and thought of you

Peter In The Middle: WHAT

THE

FUCK

IS THAT THING EVEN REAL??

Dad's Favorite: Lol yeah. Saw it at the thrift store

Son Prime: What I want to know is why the FUCK it reminded you of me.

Peter In The Middle: Oh damn.

He broke out the capitals and full words.

He's serious.

Son Prime: Actually it's just a new phone Mr. Tony sent me. Can't figure out how to turn off the damn autocorrect

Dad's Favorite: Why is it that you 2 are geniuses but can't figure out how phones work half the time?

Son Prime: Excuse you this is 1 of those prototype StarkPhones that literally nobody knows how to use yet.

Peter in the Middle: Are you really never gonna let the group chat thing die?

Dad's Favorite: No

Son Prime: Absolutely not.

Peter in the Middle: It was one (1) time you assholes.

Son Prime: I feel like we’re forgetting about the horror show that somehow reminded Riri of me.

Peter in the Middle: I was.

Trying to, at least.

Thanks for the reminder.

Dad’s Favorite: I’m not forgetting. Ever

Son Prime: Explain???

Dad’s Favorite: Should I tho?

Peter in the Middle: Depends.

Do you want me to show Mr. Stark The Video?

Dad’s Favorite: You wouldn’t

Peter in the Middle: Try me, bitch.

Son Prime: Video????

Dad’s Favorite: Don’t worry about it

Peter in the Middle: I’ll send it to you later.

Dad’s Favorite: I hate you

Peter in the Middle: :D

Cow mug.

Now.

Dad’s Favorite: It says Tennessee on it.

Peter in the Middle: Wait.

That’s it?

No inside joke????

Dad’s Favorite: Nope

Peter in the Middle: What the fuck?

Now I feel dumb.

Dad’s Favorite: :))))))

Son Prime: |-|4 ! |=!6(_)|23|) !7 0(_)7

Dad's Favorite: What the fuck does that even say??

Peter in the Middle: Is that???

Even approaching English??

Son Prime: |\|0 !7$ |_337

Dad's Favorite: Stop

Son Prime: |\/|4|{3 |\/|3

Dad's Favorite has kicked Son Prime out of the Iron Kids group

Peter in the Middle: Harley is texting me

Saying to tell you to unblock him.

He has something important to say.

Dad's Favorite has added Son Prime to the Iron Kids group

Son Prime:

|3!7(|-|

Dad's Favorite has kicked Son Prime out of the Iron Kids group

Peter in the Middle: Fair and valid.

Dad's Favorite has kicked Peter in the Middle out of the Iron Kids group

Dad's Favorite: Finally I am free

Son Prime: guess who got his xseptns letter!!!!!!!!

Dad’s Favorite: Holy shit!!!! Harley that’s fucking amazing!!!!!!

Potor Purkur: Yessssssss!!!!

Dude, that’s amazing!!!!!!!!!!

Also????

How did you get yours early???

MIT letters aren’t supposed to go out for another week??

Did Mr. Stark pull strings?

BUT ALSO CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Son Prime: na tony dnt do nythng

Potor Purkur: ???????????

Son Prime: xseptns snt 4 mit

Dad’s Favorite: Was it a backup or something?

Son Prime: or smthn

Dad’s Favorite: I swear this is worse than pulling teeth. Spill.

Son Prime: i nvr actuly applied 4 mit

Dad’s Favorite: So that’s the real reason you never came to visit. You weren’t just putting it off.

Potor Purkur: Did you ever even plan on going to MIT?

Son Prime: hell no. ive had ths place n mind since middle school

Potor Purkur: Well?

What is it?

Come on, dude.

Son Prime: u hv 2 prms not 2 tell mr tony

Dad’s Favorite: Sure.

Son Prime: com on @Potor Purkur u gotta prms

Potor Purkur: I promise.

Well, I promise to try.

I’m kind bad at secrets, actually.

But so long as he doesn’t ask

I’m fine.

I promise.

Son Prime: how do u evn hv a scret id @ ths point

Potor Purkur: Honestly??

No idea.

All of Queens should know by now TBH

But

That has literally nothing to do with your college.

Dad’s Favorite: Yeah cmon Harls. Spill.

Son Prime: I’m totally serious right now. Don’t tell Mr. Tony. I want to tell him myself.

Potor Purkur: Promise.

Dad’s Favorite: On my life.

Son Prime: ok hr it goz.

im goin to caltech

guys?

its bn lik 5 min. wts up

Potor Purkur: Holy sHIT

Are you serious??

Dad’s Favorite: You men caltech as in the school in Pasadena California? MIT’s biggest rival since ever? The school Tony loudly talks about how much he hates? THAT caltech?

Son Prime: …

…

yes

Potor Purkur: Holy shit.

*_*_*_*_*

Spider-Son: Hey, guys?

I think dad might have accidentally,,,,,,,,

Built a murder bot.

Again.

Dad's Favorite: W H A T

Son Prime: u ok? r u fiting it???

Spider-Son: No.

No, you see,,,,

The murder bot,,,,,,,

Is actually,,,,,,,,,,,

Karen.

Dad's Favorite: …

Son Prime: ..............

Dad's Favorite: Explain

Spider-Son: Well.

You know how my suit has an Instant Kill Mode?

And Karen keeps trying to make me use it?

Dad's Favorite: Yeah??

Son Prime: i dnt thnk tht counts as “accidentally"

jst irresponsible

Spider-Son: That's what I thought too.

But we're in the jet.

Headed for the mission.

And I joke that I should use IKM.

And Mr. Stark freaks out.

Dad's Favorite: Why???

Spider-Son: Here's the thing.

Mr. Stark.

Didn't make an Instant Kill Mode.

Karen did that.

By herself.

Dad's Favorite: Holy shit

Son Prime: dude wut the FUCK

Spider-Son: I K N O W

Son Prime: uve befriended her at least. hopfully she remains loyal during the robo revolution.

Spider-Son: Karen says hi BTW.

Dad's Favorite: Fantastic. Maybe she'll spare us as well

Spider-Son: Karen says, and I quote, “I don't know about that.”

Son Prime: /sweats/

Dad's Favorite: I'm not even sure how I feel about this tbh

On the one hand: possibly evil robot

On the other: if she's joking this is some seriously cool coding

Son Prime: i have xactly 0 mixed feelings. murder bot bad

Spider-Son: Mr. Stark offered to change her code when we got back.

Son Prime: thk god

Spider-Son: I said no.

Son Prime: W H Y

Spider-Son: Because I love Karen just the way she is.

And she loves me.

Dad's Favorite: Okay, I've decided. That is a seriously cool ai

Son Prime: a srsly cool ai thts gonna kill us all

Spider-Son: Karen promises to spare you.

If you buy me a milkshake.

Son Prime: i cnt bleve my terminator trauma is being taken advantage of by a murder bot.

Spider-Son: :P

Dad's Favorite: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Spider-Son: Oh my God

You actually sent me money for a milkshake.

Nice.

I'm getting strawberry.

Son Prime: fuk u

Son Prime: @Dad's Favorite wut r u doin n june

Dad's Favorite: Probably nothing? Idk I might take an online class. Mostly just hanging out at home

Son Prime: so u dnt hav ny plans 4 vacay or nythng

Dad's Favorite: Not that I know of??

Son Prime: wuts the prob tht u could get ur mom to let you go smwher 4 the month

Dad's Favorite: Depends??

What's with all the leading questions?

Son Prime: bcuz i just told my mom tht mr tony nvitd the 3 of us 2 stay at the compound in june

Dad's Favorite: He did?? Why didn't he say anything??

Son Prime: bcuz he dnt ask. im the 1 plan plannin it

Dad's Favorite: Harley what the actual fuck. Have you even asked Tony?

Son Prime: no thts peters job

Dad's Favorite: Wait Peter's in on it too? How long have you two been planning this?

Son Prime: bout 20 mins. & pete dsnt no yet

Dad's Favorite: Again wtf. Why don't you do it?

Son Prime: hv u SEEN peters puppy dog eyes

speakin of

@The Live-in nswer ur phone

@The Live-in

Dad's Favorite: @The Live-in

@The Live-in

Son Prime: @The Live-in

@The Live-in

The Live-in: Jesus Christ.

You two are awful.

I was in chemistry.

Don't you two ever go to class?

Son Prime: y bother

Dad's Favorite: I do but I know how to text in class

The Live-in: Like I said.

Awful.

Son Prime: wtevr. cn u do it or no?

The Live-in: What exactly am I even doing?

Dad's Favorite: Pretty sure you're convincing dad to let the 3 of us stay at the compound over June.

The Live-in: Oh.

Yeah.

That shouldn't be hard.

Like at all.

He's about to pick me up from school.

I'll ask in just a sec.

Son Prime: c? told u it wld b ez

The Live-in: HE SAID YES

Well, he said yes so long as we can get our moms/aunt to agree.

BUT STILL

Dad's Favorite: Holy shit!!

The Live-in: I KNOW!!

Son Prime: wer gonna get n2 so much bullshit.

The Live-in: B]

Dad's Favorite: B]

Son Prime: B]

Spider-Son: Guys, I may not come back from this mission alive.

Tell Ned I’ve always had a crush on him

Wait.

Shit.

That was just supposed to sound dumb and dramatic.

Not like something to actually worry about.

I’ll be fine.

Mr. Stark won’t let me go on the super dangerous missions.

Son Prime: i swr 2 fuk im gonna kill u parker

Dad’s Favorite: Yeah maybe that wasn’t exactly the best way to start that off.

Also if Ned doesn’t already know you’re madly in love with him then there’s no hope for either of you.

Spider-Son: #rude

One day I’ll get Ned to fall in love with me.

Then you’ll be sorry.

Dad’s Favorite: Oh honey

Son Prime: stop w/ petes crush. i wnna no y he thnks hes gonna die

Spider-Son: H I M

Dad’s Favorite: Christ what’s Rogers done now?

Spider-Son: He’s just doing That Thing again.

The one where he calls me kid and son.

I h a t e it, and IDK how to make him stop

Dad's Favorite: /Hamilton voice/ I'm not your son

Son Prime: congrats on not str8 up murdering him yet

Spider-Son: God he’s just so??

I don't know what, but I hate it.

I swear to God if he benches me again this mission I'm going to strangle him with his star-spangled tights.

Dad's Favorite: You gonna beat him upside the head until he sees…

Stars?

Spider-Son: I HATE YOU!!

I WAS TRYING TO BE MAD

AND NOW I'M GIGGLING!

NOBODY TAKES ME SERIOUS WHEN I GIGGLE!!

Son Prime: nbdy takes u srsly evr

Spider-Son: Fuck off, Keener.

Son Prime: ;P

Dad's Favorite: Hey Peter quick question tho?

Spider-Son: Quick answer.

Dad's Favorite: If you hate Rogers why don't you just not talk to him? Why do you act all polite to his face? Just tell him to fuck off and leave you alone?

Spider-Son: I wish it was that easy.

I mean

It could be

But it isn't.

I have to be polite because we're on the same team.

We're supposed to work together.

I started off kinda rude to him, but Mr. Stark fussed at me.

Apparently what we're doing is bigger than petty squabbles.

Son Prime: uhhh ths is def mr thn a petty squabble tho? mr t wtf

Dad's Favorite: What are you even saying to me right now?? Is dad not mad?

Spider-Son: NoPE.

He just goes along with whatever He says.

Right now Mr. Stark is flying the jet.

Even though it has autopilot.

So I'm left alone back here with Him.

The only other person we brought was Ant-Man and he's asleep so it's just the two of us making conversation.

I hate it.

I'm dying.

Also

I think he doesn't like me looking at my phone so much.

DEAL WITH IT OLD MAN

Son Prime: u rly do snd lik ur bout 2 die. rip n pieces pete

Dad's Favorite: I'm SO glad Tony hasn't cleared me for missions yet.

Spider-Son: I wish you were.

I need someone to hang out with on these.

Speaking of which.

I'm gonna go ask dad if he'll try to teach me to fly again.

Last time…

Did Not Go Well

Also kinda wanna make Him sick again.

It was funny last time.

If he says no the at least I'll have some time alone.

Anyway I'm out.

Talk to you after we kicked ass!

Dad's Favorite: Take a better selfie this time. Lighting was garbage in the last one.

Son Prime: brng me a robos arm

If you didn't need Harley's nonsense translated, I'm impressed. If you did, here you go. He's speaking leet for anyone interested.

|-|4 ! |=!6(_)|23|) !7 0(_)7 ~ Ha I figured it out

|\|0 !7$ |_337 ~ No it's leet

|\/|4|{3 |\/|3 ~ Make me

|3!7(|-| ~ Bitch

#fic #iron dad #iron man #tony stark #spider son #spiderman #peter parker #iron dad and spider son #fanfic #marvel fanfiction #our stuff #bee writes #tony stark's daycare program for gifted children

39 notes · View notes

twiexmachina · 7 years ago

Text

I have a ryomarx mistaken number au that I never wrote, but yesterday, the tweet that Matt “voice of Ryoma” Mercer got shitfaced and passed out on the creator of Neopets couch and.

well.

i got inspired and it got out of hand. and i feel sorry for everyone on mobile.

🍣 22:25 grumpy 🍣 22:26 grumpy im so bored 🍣 22:26 i’m bored at a bar and that never happens 😭

😾 22:31 You? The life of the party? Bored? That never happens.

🍣 22:32 I KNOW 🍣 22:32 but alas 🍣 22:33 im bored

😾 22:35 So you’re texting me.

🍣 22:35 ya 🍣 22:36 dont get pouty grumpy 🍣 22:38 i like you and you’re good to talk to so i text you regularly. more than my friends who i actually socialize with

😾 22:39 I understand. So tell me what has you bored. Because I have a feeling that this doesn’t happen much.

🍣 22:40 u kno me so well 🍣 22:41 theres 2 reasons why i’m like this 🍣 22:42 the first is that because this is a friday so my jobmates go out and we drink

😾 22:43 You think you would be good at that.

🍣 22:44 YOUD THINK 🍣 22:45 but my usual friends had other stuff so they didn’t want to go out 🍣 22:46 my entire friend group grumpy 🍣 22:46 i kno the people here but i dont know them

😾 22:47 I hate that I can understand what that means, but go on.

🍣 22:48 mmmmmmmm 🍣 22:48 im tired of talking about me what are you up to

😾 22:49 You’re deflecting.

🍣 22:49 ya

😾 22:50 I’ll allow it 😾 22:51 I’m at home, as usual. It’s late so I’m just reading. My youngest sister went to bed so we have to be quiet.

🍣 22:52 dont u ever go out 🍣 22:53 ur always home reading

😾 22:51 Not particularly. 😾 22:54 Where I work, it’s tradition to go to some local bar and drink. Network, I guess. But I can’t handle that. 😾 22:57 I spend so much energy managing everyone and making sure that things get done, I can’t allocate the energy to go out and talk to people I barely know. 😾 22:58 So it’s just easier to go home, unwind around family, crash in peace. I also have things to do in the morning.

🍣 22:59 weekends arent your days off

😾 23:00 Exactly 😾 23:00 Also That Asshole would make a scene if I went. 😾 23:03 Make it a Big Deal that the resident hermit is going out to get drinks. If I decided to go, he would not leave me alone the entire night. If I don’t go, well isn’t that just standard. He accepts that I won’t go, so he says nothing.

🍣 23:04 what a prick

😾 23:04 I know.

🍣 23:05 i honestly hate that he’s always up your ass about things like that 🍣 23:06 like...........cant he tell?????? that youre overworked and tired????? 🍣 23:07 but thats kinda where im at right now 🍣 23:08 at ‘i don’t have the energy to talk to these people’ 🍣 23:09 i have before. we dont have anything in common except work. 🍣 23:10 i wouldnt mind talking but all there is is work

😾 23:11 You could recommend sushi places. Worked for me.

🍣 23:14 u underestimate urself. youre easy to talk to. youre grumpy but we do have similar interests and personality

😾 23:15 I like spelling more than you do though.

🍣 23:16 i spent time cultivating this style and both u and my sis get hilariously annoyed by this so it wont stop

😾 23:17 Thank you though. You’re comforting to talk with. 😾 23:23 You said there was another reason?

🍣 23:24 ya this bar only has good beer and its not buzzing the same way

😾 23:26 I didn’t think you partied that hard at a bar. Do you really need something hard?

🍣 23:26 ya 🍣 23:27 see its my dads fault

😾 23:28 I don’t know your age biut I was assuming that you were old enough to not be blaming things on your father.

🍣 23:31 nah not like that. my dad and moms took my little bro over to japan to see family. i didnt go because ~job~ but i always really liked going. dad brought back sake and ive been going over to hang out and drink and just talk. 🍣 23:32 dad brought back a lot of sake 🍣 23:32 it mustve had a big effect on me 🍣 23:33 because this beer is s h i t 🍣 23:34 do you even drink

😾 23:35 Yes, a glass of wine at dinner, most nights. Just a glass.

🍣 23:36 not surprised 🍣 23:37 do u buy vintage wine 🍣 23:38 ive recommended u the best japanese food to eat in the city recommend me a fine vintage good sir

😾 23:40 Not my thing, I just go to the local liquor store. I don’t need anything that fancy or extreme. 😾 23:41 Granted, my father owned a vineyard, so I do know that stuff, I choose not to care.

🍣 23:42 plz tell me u drink boxed wine to get back at your Rich Dick Father

😾 23:44 I don’t hate myself that much. 😾 23:50 Did the bar get more entertaining Sushi?

🍣 23:51 havent forgotten about you grumpy just getting more to drink

😾 23:53 I just realized that you’ve been there for over an hour. How much are you drinking?

🍣 23:54 grumpy youve never been to a bar have you

😾 23:55 Do clubs count?

🍣 23:56 grumpy 🍣 23:56 oh my god 🍣 23:56 grumpy goes clubbing

😾 23:57 I don’t go there in my spare time. I go there because my friend wants me there to be his wingman.

🍣 23:58 grumpy youre literally killing me im giggling at a bar 🍣 00:00 grumpy i think this is the first time that youve implied that you may have a sex life

😾 00:01 Don’t worry I don’t have a sex life. 😾 00:02 I don’t know why I didn’t realize that sentence was a mistake until I sent it. 😾 00:05 Anyway since you’re still dying, I should say that I don’t know why he takes me as a wingman because it goes three ways. 😾 00:06 Either he never had a chance because of just him himself, I fail as a wingman, or I end up getting their number instead.

🍣 00:07 g r u m p y

😾 00:08 i k n o w

🍣 00:09 oh god have you ever hooked up with someone you met in a bar 🍣 00:10 have you gotten a bathroom blowjob????

😾 00:10 You’ve been drinking too much. Also no, I like to be friends with someone before I date them, and especially before I have sex.

🍣 00:11 grumpy this is not drunk at all 🍣 00:12 i dont get drunk 🍣 00:12 i got shitfaced once 🍣 00:13 never again

😾 00:14 Tell me.

🍣 00:15 ugh i hate this memory 🍣 00:16 so have you ever played neopets 🍣 00:17 okay so i know thats a no 🍣 00:17 i haven’t either 🍣 00:18 but s o m e h o w i ended up in their hotel

😾 00:20 Sushi it’s midnight, I can’t be laughing.

🍣 00:21 dont laugh at my shame

😾 00:22 How did you even get there?

🍣 00:21 grumpy do u kno what shitfaced means 🍣 00:22 at least i didnt bang the neopets dude. i was clothed unfortunately because i threw up on it 🍣 00:23 some poor maid had to clean a couch i ruined 😖

😾 00:24 This is still hilarious but I’m seriously worried about you.

🍣 00:25 we cant all be ~rational~ 🍣 00:25 can u still be my friend knowing im like this

😾 00:26 Of course.

🍣 00:35 hey can u start to use emojis or loose grammar or something so you dont make my jokes serious like this

😾 00:37 My opinion of you started incredibly low considering you dialed the wrong number and then proceeded to continue talking to me.

🍣 00:38 yes perfect deflection thank you 🍣 00:40 I’m glad my fat fingers dialed your number. youre a good friend 🍣 00:50 guess you fell asleep good night grumpy. thanks for talking with me. i didnt realize how late it was because time flies when i talk to you

#twiexfanfiction #twiexdrabbles #wrong number au #long post #why should i write my novel when i can write text conversations

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meet-me-at-kingsmeet · 7 years ago

Text

Someone wrote an essay on ao3 about the topic at hand w/ the controversial laurent/incest,csa abuse being sexualized in fanfic and ,,,bitch

Many fictions are like this. In the essay on ao3 (I don’t wanna link it bc *air horn*) it references Oedipus as having incestual relations. Great, you’re right. What else happens in oedipus though? Well first of all nothing is explicit, second of all, he umm?? What was that?? Oh yeah LITERALLY GOUGES OUT HIS EYES WITH CAPE PINS and Jokasta kills her self jendisnskdnl so this person’s point????

Fiction can contain dark material. Umm yeah?? Duh???????? Did we not all in this fandom read Capri trilogy?????? Of course we’re okay w that. In Capri thought how is csa and incest displayed though??? NOT SEXUALIZED AND IS DISCUSSED AS WRONG. So yeah dark fiction can contain controversial discussions, but many of those movies and books often go on the side of: ”look at this serial killer!! So interesting and wrong!! But fascinating!!” Or even “there is child abuse, rape, it’s explicit, but I as an author am describing it in a way that’s detailed it as disgusting.

Because u wanna kno something?? Any big name controversial book or movie that has dark tones but is still praised???? It’s praised bc it DOESNT promote the activities, its AGAINST them. And any person who doesn’t realize this (such as a guy who has Fight Club as his fave movie, bc he misses the point that it’s about toxic masculinity, and instead feels he is being praised for his toxic behavior) is most likely committing that behavior themselves.

So this isn’t about how “all fiction should be pure and good!!” Bc we all loved Capri, and it wasn’t by any stretch unproblematic and not controversial. But one of it’s core message was: csa & incest is bad. Rape is bad. Slavery is bad. Don’t do any of that.

So it’s not popular books and movies that are the problem we are having with the fandom. It’s the people IN the fandom. Writing the fiction!!!! It’s y’all who wanna write laurent/r*gent fic!!! You wanna sit and go “oh I’m doing this bc *air horn air horn air horn*”

Ive been in fandoms awhile and I’ve SEEN how it works. Y’all who sit and think “every fandom I’ve been in had ppl who were into this why is this fandom so sensitive” news flash we’re not!!! You just managed to find the same nasty assholes in every fandom!!!! Just bc you tell yourself that “I’m writing laurent being raped by his uncle not bc I wanna get off or anything haha simply bc I looooveeee controversial works.” You’re a fucking liar. There are plenty of protags existing that went through sexual abuse that are strong and didn’t have to explicitly depict what happened. And if there were??? It wasn’t depicted as good????

Theres no REASON to want to write laurent/regent or Laurent/auguste except for one reason: you LIKE it SEXUALLY. That’s IT!!!!!!!!! Yes I can understand the human curiosity of “well what exactly did happen??” But that’s not what fandom and sex every equate to. Fanfiction when dealing with sex is 99.99% of the time done for sexual gratification.

Literally the person referenced porn in there essay as something that depicts dark themes like rape. And that further proves my point!!!! Porn is for SEXUAL GRATIFICATION ONLY!!!!!!!!! You can sit and watch fight club or oedipus with your family but I guarantee you pipe up and go “hey Mom and Dad you wanna sit and watch this hardcore rape kink porn w/ me?” You’re gonna get looked at like ur crazy!!!!! So to say “hey ppl in fanfic can write laurent getting raped by his uncle or brother bc it’s in porn” is just the CHERRY on top of my argument. You might as well have written “laurent being raped is a form of sexual gratification for me.” Like?????? Nobody here is fucking dumb?????? I see you. I see what you’re doing.

They said like “people should be comfortable learning about their sexual interests” okay sure bitch if you wanna get consentually spanked or choked by all means explore healthy bdsm porn!! pornhub is free and teaches lessons on healthy sex ed!!!! but if ur gonna openly talk about how you’d wanna read ch*ld (rape) porn and see if it sexually satisfies you?? *slamming buttons on microwave* IM CALLING!! THE POLICE!!!!!

It talks about the “think of the children” argument, most likely bc I said yesterday “hey there are teens here who get their hands on this book and interact with the fandom!” That wasn’t me saying “AHHH WE HAVE TO CENSOR EVERYTHING WE SAY BC BABIES ARE ON THIS SITE!!!!” I believe kids and teens reading adult (more mature I mean, not to be confused with porn, tho, I’m not gonna condemn a 15 year old for watching porn) movies & literature can be beneficial. What I meant was that I’m FANDOM SPACES there are ppl who groom 12-17 year olds w/ talk like “oh incest is fine and age is but a number!” See the difference?????

Me: hey teens out there don’t listen to these ppl who are telling you writing and reading ch*ld porn is healthy & unharmful bc they either dnt realize what they’re doing is wrong, or they are predators themselves

ya’ll demons: Oh so we can’t even say “fuck” because a kid might hear us??? *angry white woman screaming and spitting gif*

A big argument I’ve seen is “well I read it bc it’s how I deal with my trauma of being sexually abused.” Now I’ve talked about this in a recent prior post, but look.....I don’t know who told you it was a healthy coping mechanism to read sexualized (ch*ld) rape porn as a way to heal, but whoever did, yourself or another, ITS WRONG! ITS NOT HEALTHY ITS NOT COPING AND ITS NOT HEALING IM GENUINLY WORRIED ABOUT THE LOT OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS BC YOU NEED TO SEEK ACTUAL MEDICAL THERAPY AND GET HELP BC THAT KIND OF BEHAVIOR IS NOT!!!!!!! OKAY!!!!!!!

It’s not okay. People writing ch*ld porn or incest in any fandom isn’t okay because it’s sexualized. POINT BLANK BITCH!!!!!!!!! Y’all aren’t writing some great novel you’re writing porn!!! To nut off with!!!!!!!!

I don’t need to fucking cite bc I believe wholeheartedly in writing controversial ideas. Lots of ideas can be controversial from Laurent and Damen falling in love, into great fictions like Doctor Zhivago, which was illegal in Russia for a long time Bc of its themes against the regime. All kinds of controversial fictions written.

Rape fiction on an ao3 website where ppl will write explicit ch*ld porn and try to say it’s “just fiction” ?? Get fucked.

#dont like dont read :)#also this isnt shade whoever wrote the essay if you wanna talk!!! lets talk!!!#you want me to publicly tell you i think ur gross for wanting to read laurent being raped by his uncle??#by aaaalllllllllll means lemme hold the door open for you #yeah its long bc i cant write my thoughts in a short manner #or i could but im too lazy to summarize #anyways!!!#im over it i just wanted to put my stance on my blog and also show that yeah i did see the essay and *fart noises*

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bamfcoyotetango · 7 years ago

Note

Number 7, Chaleigh please. 😁

Oh gosh, this is so very late but the Muses ate the prompt and gave me this .

7. Fake Relationship AU

Hand In My Hand

Raleigh's in the middle of setting up the music for the piano when Hansen, their bartender for the night, cleared his throat behind Raleigh.

"You need help cutting the citrus?" He asked sympathetically.

All the bartenders hate citrus and Raleigh's pretty good with a knife.

The only problem was that Hansen didn't ask for help.

Like... Ever.

"Yeah, actually. I, err, I've been meanin' t' talk with you." Hansen relented, his broad shoulders slumping in a show of emotion Raleigh didn't expect.

"Oh?" Raleigh arranged the music and left the wide performance platform, careful to step over the wires the sound crew hid under the rich red carpet. "Any reason in particular?"

The other man handed over a knife, a cutting board and a bag of mixed citrus. "Look, I know I'm not... the most social."

Raleigh snorted at that, "No shit."

"Oi, fuck off yeah? I'm trying here." Hansen growled defensively before he sighed. "I've got a problem."

"... And you think I can fix it?" He countered dryly as he sliced the fruits into multi-colored discs. "I know I'm the bar's handyman and all but uh, I normally don't fix people as a rule."

"Yes." The blunt honesty has Raleigh setting down his knife and turning to face Hansen. "Look, you're pretty enough that my Dad might be fooled inta thinkin' we're datin', alright? He knows I don't swing too often the other way and Mako's like my sister so I can't ask her an' the rest of the bartenders-"

Raleigh held up a hand and mulled it over, parsing out the basics of it in under two minutes. It wasn't exactly a secret that Raleigh appreciated multiple types of people. Hansen might've been a surly jerk but damn if he didn't fill out his bar polo shirt nicely. "You want me to date you... because your Dad is a hard ass?"

"Look, he's coming to visit in a few months an' he keeps a hairy eyeball on my social media, yeah? He knows when I'm not datin' and he gets all sad an' mopey like he didn't do a job 'n a half raising me. My old man wants to see me happy. So... are you in or what?" Hansen grumbled even as he rubbed at his nose.

Raleigh thought of his Maman, in remission, being overjoyed that her middle child finally found someone.

"I'll make you a deal," He allowed carefully, "if this is for your Dad, then it's also gotta be for my Maman. She's in remission and now she's tryin' to meddle in my love-life. You break her heart and I'll break your face. I'll pretend to date your ass for her sake if nothing else."

"What about...?"

Raleigh gritted his teeth and sucked in a calming breath. "Let's just say he's a bastard."

"... Oh. I guess we need to outline what's not okay to touch as a topic." Hansen pointed out.

"Yeah, might be a good idea." He admitted.

"For starters, don't ask about Mum and I won't ask about the rat bastard."

"Got it."

"By the way... M' name's Chuck." Chuck held out his hand and Raleigh shook it.

"Raleigh."

Chuck, for all of his asshole tendencies, was pretty decent with the whole dating thing.

Once Raleigh got past the scowl and the snark and the Alaskan-sized chip on his shoulder, that is.

He'd even bothered to ask Raleigh for his favorite flower (sunflowers) and had presented them with a scowl at the start of their next 'date'.

Somewhere along the way, dating Chuck had become less obligation and started to feel like... something Raleigh shouldn't enjoy as much as he did.

He shouldn't enjoy the under-the-breath quips that were so sarcastic that Raleigh actually cracked up laughing when he caught them.

He shouldn't sneak glances when Chuck closed his eyes and reveled in the wind coming off of the sea.

He shouldn't save a sunflower from each bouquet Chuck "remembered" to bring.

Raleigh spun a thick stem between his fingers and quietly admitted to himself that if he fell in love with Chuck, it might not be so bad.

It wasn't like the ginger bastard would ever return his feelings after all.

Raleigh was one of, it turned out, a lucky three people who had Chuck's phone number.

""So, Chuck hasn't called in and I have it on good authority that you're dating. I got the Kaidonovskies to cover his shift but could you do us all a huge favor and go check on him?"" Sergio asked. ""He's never done this before so I'm a little worried.""

"I'm on it, Serg. I'll let you know what's up, okay?" Raleigh hummed and then scrubbed a hand down his face as he texted Chuck.

Raleigh: Where r u?

It took near five minutes for Chuck to respond, which was way longer than his usual five seconds.

Chuck: m sick

Chuck: don't come over

Chuck: if I die u get my dog

He snorted, texting as he grabbed his jacket, his scarf and his washable surgical mask Mako had given him for his birthday.

Raleigh: drama llama

Raleigh: Ur not gonna die

Raleigh: I'm coming over

Chuck appeared to rouse at that.

Chuck: NO

If Chuck thought he could out-stubborn Raleigh, he had another thing coming.

Raleigh: YES

Raleigh: I'm making you homemade soup

Raleigh: u giant wiener

Chuck didn't respond for several moments as if shocked that Raleigh would do something that nice.

Chuck: U need my address

Chuck: Or did u expect to kno

Chuck: where I live, u wanker

He did laugh at that, midway through testing a tomato with his fingers.

Raleigh: I could ask Mako

Raleigh: She'll provide the info

Raleigh: with half the hassle that

Raleigh: Ur giving me

Raleigh: btw

Raleigh: R u allergic to tomato?

His phone buzzed with the response as Raleigh finished grocery shopping.

Chuck: no, not allergic to tomato

Chuck: pick up some tissue

As though he sensed he was being a little rude, he followed it with another text.

Chuck: ... pls?

Raleigh shook his head, flicked on his voice-to-text app and said, "Already on it period. Send."

Chuck sent the address and Raleigh pulled over into a gas station to input the address. He paused, contemplated labeling it 'U Grumpy Bastard' and then grinned at it occurred to him.

Chuck's address ended up as 'My Dumbass

An English bulldog sat in his way, Raleigh's arms aching as the grocery bags creaked.

"Uh, hi, pup. Could you do me a favor—"

"Max, get." Chuck rasped, poking his dog with his socked foot to let Raleigh into his apartment.

He toed off his boots out of habit and nudged them into a vaguely neat pile near the door.

Raleigh set all the bags down, found the trash can and the fridge and got to work.

By the time the tomato soup was bubbling on the stove, Chuck had been served eucalyptus tea, meds and tissues, in that order.

Raleigh absently texted Sergio as he watched his soup, keeping half an eye on a bemused and snuffling Chuck. He reigned in the urge to kiss the frown off of Chuck's face.

Chuck frowned and then wrote on the whiteboard Raleigh had brought from home.

'What? Do I have something in my face?'

"Nah. Just an old habit from when my sister was sick. She'd sneak off the couch and then get me sick cause she likes to cuddle when she's loopy on meds." He deflected as he poked at the soup.

The squeak of the marker was proceeded by Chuck gathering his blanket nest and sitting on the tall chair next to the counter.

'U have siblings?'

"Mm, two. Yancy's the oldest and Jazzy's the youngest. I'm the middle kiddo."

'Why tomato soup?'

"I'll have you know that Maman and my Mémé would skin me alive if I fed you anything else aside from this. It's supposed to be loaded with nutrients and good protein to help you get better." He countered with a raised brow.

'Meme??'

"French for Grandma. Maman is Mom." Raleigh explained. He pulled out the bacon, frowned and asked, "Where's your frying pan?"

'Under the stove.'

"... You don't cook, clearly, cause otherwise you'd know that that's the broiler, not a drawer. Also, these are really nice pans and it's a shame they don't get used more often." He talked mostly to himself but Chuck blew a raspberry from behind the covers. "It's true."

'Don't b rude. It's my space u know.'

"Supposed to be our space, remember? Shit, should I move in?" Raleigh asked and Chuck shook his head hard enough to negate that.

'NO.'

Chuck wrote quickly and then thrust it out as Raleigh patted the bacon to get the excess grease off.

'I'm already regretting asking u, alright? The last thing I need is to see u in ur undies. I bet u wear whities.'

"Hey! I wear boxer briefs, you jerk. Tightey-whities are soooo last season. Also, Jazz would murder me for that fashion crime. She's majoring in it and if I'm related to her, I'm gonna not cause her pain by dressing, and I quote, 'like a fisherman with no sense'. She's already tried to kill my sweaters, okay?" Raleigh grumbled as he dumped most of the bacon into the soup.

'Wait. Seriously?'

"Yeah, seriously."

'Ur jumpers r how I know it's u. No one else at the bar wears them like u do.' If Raleigh tilted it right, it might've been a compliment but Chuck didn't do those.

"Uhhhh, thanks, I think. Now, eat your soup and rest some more, alright?" Raleigh served up a decent bowl that would go down well with Chuck and reserved the rest of the soup in the pot, closing it with a lid. "Don't even think about ruining my soup by sticking it in the microwave. Heat it up on the stove on low." He looked at Max. "Do I need to take Max for a poop?"

'Probably. His lead's in the hall.'

Raleigh grabbed the red leash and Max was suddenly at his feet, butt wagging furiously.

He barely had room to tug on his boots.

"I'll be back! Finish that soup, Chuck!" The door closed with a clunk behind him. He laughed when Max tugged him down the street, barely giving him time to shrug on his jacket and wrap his scarf up the right way.

"Is that Max I hear?" Max boofed and somehow his butt wiggled even harder. "It is~" An older woman was sitting on the porch, her hands cradling a warm drink with a blanket in her lap. "Oh! You're not Chuck!"

"Ahh, no. He's sick," Raleigh mentioned with a shrug, his muscles straining as Max tugged on the leash in this woman's direction. "Max, pas maintenant*." He chided.

"You must be that friend of his."

"... Umm," Raleigh's face heated up as he thought about Chuck, who was probably miserably eating his soup and scrubbed at the back of his neck.

"Oh, I see. How long?" Her confidential tone made Raleigh want to combust from embarassment.

"Coupla months," he choked out, "Gotta go, ma'am, Max is, umm..."

"Go on. Chuck's got himself a keeper! You tell him Mrs. Gage said so, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am." Raleigh agreed as Max tugged on the leash again.

"Chuck, I swear to God that you've got the nosiest neighbors—" Raleigh froze at the sight of a man who could only be Chuck's Dad.

He let Max off the leash on autopilot after he closed the door, hanging it up like he'd seen it earlier. Raleigh kicked off his boots again and set them against the foyer frame, this time a great deal neater than they'd been before.

"You must be Raleigh," the man said as though he hadn't thrown their whole plan out of wack. "I'm Herc."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." He let his manners take over, a smile on his face as he shook the offered hand. "Can I get you anything? Tea, coffee?"

'Dad doesn't do tea.' When the whiteboard popped up from the couch, it seemed Chuck had retreated back with his blanket nest.

"Mm, coffee then?" Raleigh hummed as Herc looked between them. "Milk? Creamer?"

"Creamer, if you don't mind."

He busied himself preparing two cups of coffee and then dug into the supplies he'd organized on the counter, muttering to himself in Korean as he read the instructions for the citron tea he'd brought over.

"Coffee 'n creamer for us, tea for Chuck. Don't make that face. It's gonna feel nice and it's yuzu, vaguely lemony with honey." He sat next to Chuck, reaching to adjust the blankets and handing over the tea.

'Ur gonna get sick.'

"Mmm, yeah, probably. Do I look like I mind?" Raleigh pointed out as he gently pecked Chuck on the lips. Chuck grumbled wordlessly but snuggled closer as he drank his tea. He made a noise of surprise at the taste and looked at Raleigh with a wordless question. "So-Yi suggested it when I dropped by the bar. Y'know, half of them thought you got in a fight or dropped off the face of the planet. Being sick never even occurred to them."

'Liar.'

"No, that's what you get when literally three people have your number, you dumbass." He bickered back, looking up when a muffled laugh brought him back to their current situation.

Right.

Chuck's Dad.

"Y'know, I almost didn't believe my son when he said he was dating someone. He works hard and doesn't remember to leave time for himself but I can see he's in good hands with you." The pride Herc had for his son was clear in nearly every word he spoke.

"Yeah, well I could've said the same a while back. Chuck's sweet under like, fifteen layers of asshole, but you gotta have enough patience for the layers." Raleigh ribbed Chuck gently, letting himself touch instead of shying away from Chuck. They had to make this convincing—At least that was how he justified it to himself. "Mmm, you've got a fever." He told Chuck as he brushed the damp ginger hair away from Chuck's forehead.

'No shit, u wanker. What r u doing?'

Raleigh leaned in close and whispered his answer, "I'm being your boyfriend, hell practically the perfect one. The least your dumbass could do is play along, right?"

Chuck huffed at that and leaned into the casual touch. 'whatever. R we still doing that ice thing?'

"Like I'm gonna miss the chance to see you fall on your ass?" Raleigh teased. "We'll just have to reschedule for when you're better."

"I'll leave you two to be cutesy." Herc chuckled and Raleigh nearly face palmed.

They were totally—"Oh God, I'm the worst host-"

'Sorry Dad.'

"Don't be sorry. You two remind me of a better time." Herc only smiled at them and let himself out, nudging Max away from the door with his foot out of years of practice.

Raleigh practically turned the air blue with French curses before he sighed. "At least your Dad's convinced?"

"Why'd you kiss me?" Chuck's voice, as raspy as it was, caught his attention immediately.

"We're supposed to be dating. If I really was your boyfriend, I wouldn't let a cold keep me from kissing you. You were just so adorably grumpy," Raleigh replied before he caught what came out of his mouth. "I-I mean, I've gone and done it with my other relationships, y'know, so I thought you wouldn't mind—"

"Raleigh." Chuck's gaze cut off his voice faster than anything else. "Did you call me adorably grumpy?"

"No," he denied it quickly, valiantly trying to ignore how his face felt like it was on fire.

"You sure?"

"Yes!"

"Raleigh, I-"

"I think I might be in love with you." He blurted and then slapped both of his hands over his mouth in shock.

Oh he was so screwed; Chuck was going to break off their agreement, break up with him even though they weren't really dating and why did that thought hurt so much?

Raleigh made to stand, one foot planted on the floor when Chuck's hand shot out and grabbed the front of his sweater.

"I thought it was hopeless," Chuck coughed before he continued hoarsely. "that there was no way in a million years that sunshine personified would ever like me enough, but you said... You said you're in love with me."

Huh. Weren't they a match made in heaven; oblivious as hell until one of them confessed.

Raleigh settled back into the blankets and whispered, "'Sunshine personified'? Really?"

"Don't you start, Rahleigh."

"Well, since we're actually dating, there is a way to shut me up."

He was going to regret it later, he knew, but the feel of Chuck's tongue in his mouth over-rode the resignation of being sick right along with his boyfriend.

Mako only laughed when Raleigh whined about being sick.

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sapphyrelily · 7 years ago

Text

Five - You Are In Love

It only took me 6 months to write a new chapter orz

“Do you want to go see that movie tomorrow?”

“The action one?”

“You don’t even know its name.”

He laughs at the accusatory tone in his friend’s voice. “I’m not very caught up on what’s showing.”

“Fine. So, wanna go?”

“Sure.” Shirabu rolls over onto his stomach, fingering the edge of his blanket. “Let me know the time, I’ll be there.”

“I’ll check the timing and let you know.”

“Sure. See you then.”

The line clicks off after Iwaizumi says his goodbyes, and even after Shirabu sets his phone down, he can’t stop grinning.

He grabs his pillow to hide his smile in it, but it doesn’t work very well, and he ends up grabbing his phone again. He crosses and uncrosses his ankles as he composes a new text, making too many errors in his hurry.

[Kenjirou]: GUESS WHOS GOING TO A MOVIE WITH IWA-SAN TMR

His phone buzzes with a reply almost immediately, and he grins.

[Taichi]: oh, i coulfnt possibly guess

The sarcastic reply doesn’t deter him.

[Kenjirou]: Yeah, yeah, you’re salty I get it

[Taichi]: i m so much closer 2 getting a bf than u r

[Kenjirou]: lies

[Taichi]: only truths

[Kenjirou]: Forgive me if I don’t trust you

[Taichi]: u trusted me? when?

[Kenjirou]: asshat

[Taichi]: douchenugget

[Kenjirou]: I hate you and your tall ass

[Taichi]: my ass isnt tall, the rest of me is

[Kenjirou]: Spectacular. Like I needed to know that

[Taichi]: o I kno im spectacular.

[Kenjirou]: goodbye

[Taichi]: guees who else thinks im spectacular

[Kenjirou]: Not interested in ur love life

[Taichi]: but u want deets on my sex life n im happy 2 oblige

[Kenjirou]: NO THANKS

Shirabu is about to throw his phone across the room when it starts vibrating, and he curses the name on his screen.

“Taichi, no.”

“Taichi, yes.” His best friend snickers, and Shirabu collapses onto his pillow, groaning.

“So as I was saying, I am this much closer to getting a boyfriend than you are.”

“No one said I’m not making progress.” Shirabu mumbles to his pillow.

“That pretty much confirms that you’re not.”

“Look here, I’m trying–”

“Try harder.”

“Oi, not all of us are like you.”

“Hmm, I suppose I could share some of my charm with you.”

“Ew. Go back to the bin you came from.”

“Rude.”

“Only the best for you,” he croons, and laughs at the dry retching from the other end of the line.

The door creaks open, and he tosses a careless Welcome back over his shoulder, half-listening to Kawanishi’s semi-serious cursing.

“Is that Taichi?” An amused voice asks, and Shirabu doesn’t bother to glance up before putting his friend on speaker.

“–you are absolutely hopeless and I hope you never get together with someone, for the sake of their sanity–”

Semi bursts into laughter, and the voice on the other end comes to an abrupt halt.

“Kenjirou, I’m going to kill you. Stop putting me on speaker.”

��Come to Tokyo and fight me, I dare you.��

“I’ll book a ticket right now, see if I don’t–”

“Mmhmm. I’ll let you know if the part of me that cares comes back from war.”

“You suck.”

“No more than you do.”

“On the contrary, I probably get a lot more sucking action than you do–”

Shirabu chokes and promptly turns the speaker off while Semi howls with laughter.

-----

Semi has entered and left the room three different times, two hours have passed, and Shirabu is still on the phone.

He never thought Kawanishi had it in him to talk for that long.

He’s settling down with a book when he hears “–yeah, of course I’ll tell you all about it. And send you spoilers.”

A pause, and a burst of laughter, possibly at Kawanishi's indignation. “You do it to me all the time, asshole. It’s about time I got payback.

“Mmhmm. Right. I do no such thing, stop spreading lies about me.”

Semi begins to think that he should just listen in instead of reading. Shirabu and Kawanishi’s conversations are more amusing than a soap opera, and infinitely more interesting than his book.

“Whatever. I’m going to shower, my phone’s burning my ear off. Mm. Right. Bye.”

Shirabu tosses the phone aside and collapses on his pillow, and Semi tries very hard to immerse himself in his book.

(He gets called out anyway.)

“How long were you actually listening to us talk?”

Semi glances up, but Shirabu isn’t looking at him. It looks like he’s trying to suffocate himself with the pillow, and Semi wonders what brought that on. “Is that really a question? I walked in and out thrice and you were on the phone for two hours.”

“Hnn.” His roommate rolls over, removing himself from the possibility of suffocation, and regards him with his head on his hand. “So how much did you hear?”

“Do I look like I would really remember everything that you two were talking about–”

“Badly phrased question.” Shirabu cuts him off with a wave of his free hand. “How nosy do you want to be, before I forget whatever Taichi said?”

“Why, thank you for thinking of me and including me in the sharing of your deep, dark secrets.”

“Bye.” Shirabu rolls off the bed and heads for his dresser, while Semi snickers behind him.

“Okay, okay, I was kidding. I was curious about one thing.”

Shirabu looks up from a half-closed drawer, raising an eyebrow at him to continue.

“You’re watching a movie sometime?”

“Oh, yeah.” A hint of a smile tilts Shirabu’s lips up, right before he schools his face back into neutrality. “Tomorrow. Not sure what time yet.”

“Oh, nice. Have fun.” He smiles.

“Why do you want to know?”

“You said I could be nosy.”

“You’re never nosy without reason,” Shirabu counters, walking back to perch on the edge of his bed, his toiletries balanced on his knees. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Semi protests. “Can I not be curious about what 'spoilers' might mean without a reason?”

“No.”

“Suck it up then. There’s no other reason.”

“You’re such a pain.”

“Look who’s talking.”

“Ugh.” Shirabu heads towards the room door. “Bye.”

“I’ll still be here when you get back, you know.”

“Ew. Don’t remind me.”

Semi laughs a little as the door clicks shut behind him, putting their conversation out of mind as he finally starts reading.

-----

Semi's phone buzzes, and he grins at the message.

It’s been a while since he heard from this friend.

He opens up the text, composing a reply, ignoring the creak as the door opens.

“What are you smiling at?”

“A friend is in Tokyo.” He continues replying to the person, snickering at their responses.

“Ooh, exciting. I didn’t know you had friends.”

Semi throws a spare pillow in his direction, uncaring if it hits its target or not.

Shirabu catches the pillow with a huff, hugging it to himself as he rubs his towel over his hair with his other hand. “Am I allowed to know who this mysterious friend is?”

“Since you were so rude, no.” Semi puts his phone down and picks his book back up, smirking at him. “Besides, you have mysterious friends too.”

“Touché.” Shirabu doesn’t comment further. He’s not ready to share the identity of his 'mysterious friend’ just yet.

He can hear the little vibrations as Semi gets new messages, but opts to tune him out as he turns their hair dryer on. It feels good to dry his hair even though they are in the heat of summer, and he shakes his dried hair out to rid it of the excess heat.

“I’m never going to get over how fluffy your hair is,” he hears. Shirabu rolls his eyes, though he knows his roommate can’t see it.

“Semi-san, you can’t really be talking to me about fluffy hair.”

“I believe I just did.”

“Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

“Does the reflection on my phone screen count?”

Semi laughs as Shirabu throws his pillow back at him with another roll of his eyes. “Okay, okay, geez. I have a serious question now.”

“Oooh, scary.”

“Shut up, Semi-san.”

“Come over here and make me.”

“Oh, gladly.”

Shirabu stalks the two strides across their room and grabs the pillow, but Semi keeps a hold on it, already guessing what he’s about to do.

They grapple back and forth for some time before Semi’s grip suddenly slackens, and Shirabu tumbles atop him. But then the pillow is up in his face, smothering him instead, and a push on his shoulder unbalances him enough that he gets rolled over, a muffled laugh above him.

“Yield,” he hears Semi say, but with his mouth full of pillow, Shirabu can only shove against it in hope of a gulp of air.

The grip on the pillow slackens as he knew it would, Semi pulling it back to allow him to breathe. Shirabu shoves weakly against his roommate, trying to dislodge him from where he and the pillow are crushing his chest. “Can’t breathe.”

“Yes, you can,” Semi says, but the pressure eases up anyway. It’s just enough for Shirabu to push the ash blond off and sit up, blocking the pillow when it comes for him again.

They push against each other, the pillow squashed between them, neither gaining an inch.

“Give up.”

“Never.”

“Then I guess you won’t be sleeping with this pillow tonight.”

“I have a spare, don’t worry.”

“I’ll pummel you with this.”

“No, you won’t.”

“Maybe you’re right. Too much mess to clean up.”

“I knew it. You're too lazy to clean up your normal mess, how are you going to clean up if you murder me?”

“I’ll just get someone else to murder you for me,” Shirabu says simply. “And I don’t have a ‘normal mess’, you do!”

“I don’t have that many enemies,” Semi counters, choosing to ignore the latter half of what Shirabu said.

“You’d never know.”

“Now you’re just being dramatic.”

“Did you expect anything less?”

“No,” Semi admits. “But then again, I never take puffballs seriously.”

“Puffball–!”

“Look in a mirror, Shirabu.” Semi gives him a huge shove, his grin half-hidden by the pillow. The action pushes his roommate to the edge of the bed, and his hand shoots out to muss up Shirabu’s hair such that it sticks up even more. “Come back when you look more serious.”

“I’m always serious,” the brunet complains, smacking away the hand and trying to smooth the strands down. But he does get off Semi's bed to return to his own, flopping down and pulling the blanket over himself. “I refuse to talk to you any more.”

“Good riddance.”

Shirabu lifts his head to glare at him. “I will murder you myself, one day.”

“But that day is not today,” Semi guesses. The stony glare Shirabu gives him confirms this, and he snickers as he moves to turn off the light. “Well, whatever. I’ve got stuff to do tomorrow, I can’t stay up and argue with you.”

“Thank god,” Shirabu mutters. “Goodnight.”

“Night.”

Semi pulls his blanket over his shoulders, smiling into the darkness as he relives their tussle.

Living with Shirabu can be fun, sometimes.

-----

Semi doesn’t notice him until he’s nearly on top of him, chocolate eyes boring into cocoa, staring, staring, waiting for a reaction.

Semi takes a step back and exhales deeply. “Koushi, could you maybe not do that?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Suga laughs. They fall into step together, heading towards the shops. “Can’t resist, you know? There’s not many people I can sneak up on.”

“I suppose Sawamura isn’t affected by it?”

“Daichi is so placid,” Suga complains. “He never reacts to anything I do.”

“Anything?”

“Well…”

“Nope,” Semi says, putting his palm up in Suga's face. “I know that look. I don’t need any dirty details, thanks.”

Suga shrugs and grins. “Your loss. But you started it.”

“What can I say? You’re a bad influence.”

Suga gasps in mock-affront, putting a hand over his heart. “Eita, how dare you. I have the purest heart–”

“And the dirtiest mind.”

“You got me.” Suga drops his hand and the pretence, his grin wide. “Glad to know you haven’t changed.”

“And you.” Semi laughs.

“Anyway, how've you been?”

“Eh.” He shrugs. “Ups and downs. School life, you know?”

Suga nods. “As it is with all of us. But you know, other than school, what’s up?”

“…we met two minutes ago and you’re already asking for details on my love life?”

“You’re right, I should have asked immediately.”

Semi rolls his eyes. “You really haven’t changed.”

“Nor do you want me to.”

“Touché.”

“So, so? Give me the details.” Suga nudges him as he steers them towards a bookshop, and Semi laughs.

“Nothing's happened. I’m too busy for a love life. My roommate is irritating, but other than that, every other part of my life is fine.”

“Ah, right. Everyone’s younger than you in your year, aren’t they?”

“Most people, yes. Would you believe that I ended up becoming friends with a few of the volleyball players we used to meet at tournaments?”

“Wow. Some luck. Who?”

“Nekoma’s second year setter and Datekou's second year captain. I think he was a middle blocker?”

“You mean when we were third years and they were second years?” Suga asks.

“Yes, yes. I keep forgetting that they became the third years after us.”

“You’re old,” his silver-haired friend teases. “Datekou’s captain, huh? I think he was a wing spiker.” Suga hums as he thinks, tapping his chin. “Yeah. Wing spiker.”

His gaze lifts, and he gives Semi an amused smile. “Kozume-kun and Futakuchi-kun, huh? What unlikely friends.”

“I know right? Wait, you know them too?”

“Kozume-kun is from Nekoma,” Suga reminds him. “Nekoma and Karasuno are ‘fated rivals’. And Datekou is a Miyagi school, same as ours. We used to have practice matches with them.”

“Come to think of it, Kenma might have told me the same thing about your schools a long time ago.”

“Oooh, first name basis. How scandalous.” Suga wiggles his eyebrows, and Semi punches his shoulder lightly. “I’ll tell Hinata, he’ll be so sad that he wasn’t told about this development.”

The ash blond rolls his eyes. “We’re not that kind of friends.”

“Bah. You’re no fun, Eita.”

“You just like gossip.”

“Now, now, let’s not go making false accusations.” Suga shakes a finger at him, a mischievous look on his face. “Tell me more about your uni life instead!”

Semi rolls his eyes and grins. He’s missed Suga’s antics. “Fine. I’ll indulge you. Where was I?”

“I don’t know. Something about your roommate?”

“Right!” Semi snaps his fingers, the words coming back to him. “So, fate decided that I'm not tormented enough and now I’m stuck with Shirabu as a roommate.”

“Shirabu… Isn’t he that underclassman of yours?”

“The one and only.” Semi rolls his eyes. “I must have offended too many people in my past life.”

“Tough luck.” Suga pats him on the arm. “Is he as awful as he was?”

“He has his good and bad days.” Semi pauses, before a smirk creeps across his face, a thought coming to mind. “Although recently, he's been very secretive about some friends of his.”

“Oh?” Suga leans in, eyes glinting.

“And apparently, he has a partner, whom none of our mutual friends know about.”

“Oh.” His friend nods knowingly. “Very curious.”

“And apparently, they’re catching a movie some time today.”

“What? Why didn’t you say so earlier? Let’s go find out who this mysterious partner is!” Suga is suddenly ten times more energetic and tries to drag him out of the bookstore, but Semi pulls him back.

“We don’t know where they went,” he points out, to which Suga rolls his eyes.

“Give me a few minutes and I’ll find out.”

“Aren’t we kind of violating his privacy by doing this?”

“You wouldn’t have told me if you didn’t want to violate his privacy at least a little,” Suga points out, phone already to his ear. He holds up a finger, turning his attention to the person he called. “Hi Tooru-chan. We need a favour.”

Tooru-chan?

“Did I say 'we'? My bad, you don’t need to know who my partner in crime is today.” Suga pauses, brow furrowing at something the other person said. “Can’t help me? Just what sort of important mission are you up to that you would deny me, your best friend– Wow, you’ve got nerve. Iwaizumi’s gonna kill you if he finds out.”

Semi follows in amusement as Suga weaves between bookshelves, talking to someone whom he assumes is Oikawa. “A date? Are you certain? Well then, who’s this mysterious figure? You don’t know? Wow, the great Oikawa Tooru, stumped at last!”

Suga suddenly stops, a hand over his mouth. “No. No way. Oh man, this is too good. Text me your address, we’ll be right there. Why? I’m coming with you, you dense coconut! Plus, this is the perfect scenario for all of us. What? Then go buy tickets! Get three, we’ll be right over. Hurry up, Tooru, don’t lose him now. Bye.”

Suga turns around, then takes a step back, eyes wide at Semi’s close proximity. “Gee, you scared me. But anyway, come on! We’ve got a movie to catch.”

“What? A movie? Koushi, tell me what happened!”

“I’ll tell you on the way.” Suga grabs his wrist and drags him along. “So my informant–”

“Oikawa.”

“Yes, dear old Tooru-chan. He was stalking Iwaizumi to find out who he was going out with and refused to help me, but what do you know?” Suga levels a sly grin at Semi. “The person we’re stalking just so happens to be the one Iwaizumi’s meeting up with.”

Semi stares at him blankly, and Suga uses a finger to close his hanging jaw. “You’ll catch flies. Lots of them, because it’s summer.”

“We’re in a shopping mall, there are no flies here,” Semi replies. “Are you serious, though?”

“About what Tooru-chan said? Yeah, he sounded dumbstruck. I’m pretty sure it is real.”

Semi shakes his head. He doesn’t know if he’s more confused or stunned to finally have the last piece of the puzzle. “Shirabu’s going out with Iwaizumi?”

“Only one way to find out, don’t you think?” Suga grins. “Come on, I just got the text, it’s the next mall over.”

-----

Oikawa is on his phone and tapping his foot impatiently when they spot him. He’s poorly disguised with a white hoodie over a neon pink shirt, coupled with teal bermudas. The sunglasses on his head seem to be slipping, and he pushes them back just as Semi and Suga approach him.

“Tooru-chan. What the hell are you wearing?”

“Clothes, Koushi-chan, clothes.” Oikawa glances up from his device, then does a double-take. “Semi-chan?”

“Nice to see you too, Oikawa,” he replies drily.

Oikawa shakes his head, causing the sunglasses to fall onto his nose. “Nope. Nuh-uh. You said nothing about your partner in crime being him.”

“He is standing right here. And he’s coming with us.”

“No.”

“Yes. No one’s interested in Iwaizumi’s chastity here except you, Tooru-chan. I’ll pay you back later, let’s go catch up with the lovebirds first.” Suga puts his hands on Oikawa’s shoulders and spins him around, pushing him towards the cinema.

Oikawa’s hands flail, making several pointless gestures before they stop dead, falling to his sides. “Wait, you’re here to stalk Shirabu-chan?”

“I have a vested interest in what my roommate does,” Semi tells him. “What Iwaizumi does is none of my business.”

“If the two of them are really on a date, then it’s Iwa-chan's business as well, no?”

“And that’s why, friends, we are here to stalk them and find out, yes?” Suga slings an arm around both of them, easily dragging them along though both are taller than him. “Now come on. This is prime blackmail material. Tooru-chan, which hall is it?”

“Seven. Wait, wrong direction, that’s the other way.”

With a lot more hustling and bustling and whispered arguments about their extremely pure intentions for following their friends, they make it to the movie theatre, only to find that their seats are at the bottom.

“Tooru-chan, how the heck are we supposed to spy on anyone from the bottom?” Suga whispers ferociously.

“Those were the only seats left!” Oikawa whisper-shouts back.

Semi sighs and pushes on their backs. “Just go. Keep an eye out for them as we walk, we don’t want to be spotted.”

Suga twists to wiggle his eyebrows at him. “Eita, you’re learning.”

“I don’t want Shirabu to spot us and start yelling. Not that that’s likely, but you’d never know.”

“Iwa-chan might lob something at me,” Oikawa says thoughtfully. “Best to just go.”

The theatre is already dark, the advertisements rolling. It’s hard to pick out individuals, but Semi thinks that he might have seen someone with Iwaizumi’s spiky haircut on the left upper side of the hall. He points this out to the others only when they’re seated, and the way the duo immediately spin back to check makes him groan. “You two are so not subtle.”

“Shut up, Semi-chan,” Oikawa mutters distractedly. “I don’t see anything.”

“It’s dark, my eyes may be playing tricks on me.”

“So helpful.” Oikawa turns back around, folding his arms and levelling a haughty stare at him. “Why are you here, again?”

“Not for the furthering of your agenda, that’s for sure.”

“Shh,” Suga hisses. “Even if we can’t find them, we can watch the movie. Sometimes the best part happens after movies.”

“He’s right,” Oikawa says. “Iwa-chan’s not the sort to do anything during a movie, he likes watching them too much. He won’t even let me comment during the showing!”

“I can see why,” Semi mutters. Oikawa makes no comment, and the ash blond hopes that it’s just because he didn’t hear him.

The movie is not bad, though it would have been a lot better without Oikawa’s excited murmuring. Semi can hardly focus on the dialogue with the running commentary beside him, and resolves to find the movie online at another time to rewatch.

Then the credits roll, Suga reaches over to tap his hand, and he suddenly remembers why they were all there.

The glow of the theatre screen is enough for him to make out Suga's gestured message: stay until the lights go up, and wait for Iwaizumi and Shirabu to leave before following them.

It sounds easy enough, and Semi leans back, eyes tracking the people streaming out, trying to pick out any silhouettes that look familiar.

He sees nothing of interest – there are individuals and families and the occasional couple, but he does not spot the two young men they are looking for leaving the movie theatre.

“Maybe they’re waiting for the after-credits,” Suga murmurs. “Everyone knows to wait for those.”

Oikawa snorts, motioning to those already leaving. “Not everyone, apparently.”

“Amateurs.”

“Precisely. Now, brilliant as I am, I have never missed an after-credit scene.”

“And yet, you can babble loud enough for the entire cinema to pinpoint your location.”

The trio spin round at the voice, eyes landing on a nonplussed Iwaizumi, Shirabu sitting impassively beside him. Iwaizumi raises his eyebrows at his best friend’s companions. “Oh, Sugawara, Semi. Nice to see you.”

Semi manages to croak out a Hello, and Suga greets them sunnily. Iwaizumi nods to each of them in greeting before his gaze returns to Oikawa. “Oikawa, how did you manage to get them mixed up in your nefarious deeds?”

“I didn’t,” the brunet protests. “It was all– Mmprgh!”

Suga’s smile never wavers though one of his hands is clamped firmly over Oikawa’s mouth. “We were in the area, and a movie sounded like a great idea. We had no idea Tooru-chan was doing something evil.”

A snort draws their eyes to Shirabu. “Pardon me, Sugawara-san, but you’ll have to try harder than that to convince me.”

“Oh?”

Shirabu nods in Semi’s direction. “You brought Semi-san. That’s plenty suspicious.”

“I’m not a terrorist, brat. There’s nothing suspicious about this.”

“Anything you do is suspicious.”

“Excuse me,” Semi protests. He can hear Oikawa cackling beside him, and vaguely wonders when he removed the gag that was Suga’s hand. “I was just watching a movie with friends.”

“We're hardly friends, Semi-chan.” Oikawa reminds.

“Right. A friend and an annoying acquaintance.” Oikawa lets out a squawk at the description, and Suga laughs. Iwaizumi seems to be smiling.

“I don’t believe you.” Shirabu folds his arms, and Semi can hardly suppress his eye roll.

“Believe whatever you like. I have no cause to follow you.”

Shirabu pauses, head cocked as he turns over Semi’s words in his head. “Really…? Hmm. But no one said anything about being followed, Semi-san.”

Semi presses his lips together tightly, refusing to say anything more. His guilty conscience doesn’t know what else he could say that wouldn’t sound incriminating.

“Hold the thought,” Oikawa interrupts, twisting back to face the screen. “After-credit scene.”

All five of them watch the scene in agreed-upon silence, Oikawa grabbing Suga to gush after it ends. Suga nods along but pushes him away. Oikawa is unperturbed, turning around to talk to Iwaizumi instead.

“Iwa-chan! Did you see that? Do you know what it means? I can’t wait for the next part of the series!”

“That’s another half-year to wait.”

“I know!” Oikawa wilts, slumping on Suga's shoulder. “The tragedy.”

Shirabu rolls his eyes, and Semi privately agrees. Oikawa is entirely too dramatic.

“Were you guys sitting behind us this entire time?”

The words come completely out of the blue, and Oikawa and Semi turn to stare at an unapologetic Suga, who doesn’t seem to care that they are facing down a dragon.

Iwaizumi snorts. “No, we came down during the credits. We had way better seats than you guys.” He jerks a thumb backwards, in the direction of the higher seats, but his raised eyebrows hold a question.

“It’s not my fault that all the good seats were taken!” Oikawa complains.

“Yet now all of us have sore necks thanks to you,” Semi says drily.

“You wanted to come along, you dug your own grave.” Oikawa’s smile is saccharine, and Semi has to wonder what it is that Suga sees in him. Aoba Jousai's ex-captain is even more aggravating than Shirabu.

“Yes, about that. Why did you guys follow us?” The Aggravating Underclassman’s expression is carefully blank.

“Now, now, Shirabu-kun, let’s not go making false accusations, shall we?” Suga is still cheerfully optimistic. “Maybe we just wanted to watch this movie.”

“Maybe?”

“Whatever it is, it’s done now.” Iwaizumi raises his arms in a stretch, then slumps against the seat. “Do you guys want to get dinner?”

Everyone turns to stare at him, and he shrugs. “There wasn’t any real damage done, as far as I’m concerned. Just Oikawa being his usual, nosy self.”

“Iwa-chan!” The brunet sounds scandalised. “I have only the purest of intentions for your well-being!”

“I’m twenty, I don’t need your false worrying.”

“False–!”

“So,” Iwaizumi claps his hands together over Oikawa’s complaints and looks around at the others. “Dinner?”

-----

“A bit ironic to be eating fast food, don’t you think?”

“Not really. We’re poor college students, and there are always seats in a fast food joint.”

“Hmm.”

Through some unfortunate luck in drawing lots, Semi has been elected to purchase their food alongside Iwaizumi. It shouldn’t have been awkward, but given his newfound knowledge, plus the tension that had never really dissolved from their high school days… Well, maybe he was mistaken. It was definitely awkward.

Semi turns around at the sound of Suga’s laugh, and Oikawa’s complaints that follow. Shirabu is sitting stonily between them, looking as though he wants to be anywhere but there.

“Semi.”

“Yes?” He turns back to Iwaizumi, who is wearing a curious look on his face.

“I know you’re the most honest of the three of you–” He jerks a thumb towards their friends, “So I’d like to ask: Was Oikawa up to no good?”

Semi pretends to study the menu, dragging out the moment. He sighs after a second, the words bubbling out. “Truthfully, I’m not sure. I only heard Koushi’s side of the conversation, and all I can guess is that Oikawa was curious about who you were meeting up with, so he followed you.”

“I see.” Iwaizumi looks thoughtful. “You say you only heard Sugawara’s side of the conversation?”

Semi figures that nothing worse can happen even if he tells him. “Koushi called Oikawa to ask something, but one thing led to another and suddenly we were going to watch a movie. I’m not too sure how that happened.”

Iwaizumi shakes his head. “Oikawa and Sugawara are masterminds together. I’m not surprised you got dragged into it, or that you’re not sure how it happened. It’s happened to me before.”

“Really?” Semi’s surprised. Iwaizumi doesn’t seem like the sort to be taken in by anyone’s deceit.

“It was the first time I met Sugawara outside of the court. Not an incident I’m particularly happy to recall.” Iwaizumi frowns at their friends, and as if sensing they are talking about him, Oikawa turns around and flashes his signature grin. In response, Iwaizumi turns away without acknowledging him, and Oikawa looks so affronted that Semi laughs.

“I’ve never seen Oikawa look so offended.”

Iwaizumi snorts. “Spend more time with him and Sugawara together. Every other thing Sugawara says offends him.”

“Maybe his words hit a little too close to home.”

“Maybe. Their conversations sound mostly like shit talk to me.”

“Birds of a feather flock together, isn’t that what they say?”

“Oh yes. That’s probably it. No wonder they get along so well.”

It is their turn, and their conversation halts while they place their order and move aside to wait as it is prepared. Iwaizumi drums his fingers on the countertop, and Semi waits, feeling as though he knows what question he’s going to be asked. “Why did you follow Sugawara, once you realised what he was up to?”

Semi glances back at their friends, who are now throwing verbal insults at each other. Iwaizumi follows his eyes, and snorts a little. “Oh. Were you following Shirabu-kun?”

Semi’s a bit surprised at the suffix, but doesn’t comment, storing away that information for later. “I guess so. I have no reason to follow you, but I admit I was a bit curious about Shirabu being your companion.”

“Curious?”

“He never told anyone in our circle of friends that he knew you, so everyone jumped to conclusions about who he’s been going out with.”

“Going ou–? Oh.” A baffled look takes over Iwaizumi’s face, but he doesn’t get to comment, as their food arrives. They take a tray each and walk back to the table, steps slow to ensure nothing gets spilled.

“Semi.” Iwaizumi doesn’t look up from his path, though his words keep flowing. “You and your friends can rest assured that nothing is going on between us. We’re just friends.”

Semi snorts. “Even if you weren’t just friends, you would tell me that. But it’s your private business. There’s no need for you to tell anyone about it unless you want to.”

“Thank you. That is something that Oikawa and Sugawara wouldn’t understand.”

“We can agree on that.”

Their arrival at the table is accompanied by loud rejoicing from Oikawa, with a slightly more subdued reaction from Suga. Shirabu nods his thanks as Semi passes his meal to him though he wrinkles his nose a little, and the ash blond responds by giving him a deadpan stare.

“You two remind me of someone,” Oikawa announces suddenly, pointing at them. “What’s with this silent communication, huh?”

“You just said it, pretty boy. Silent communication. You and Iwaizumi do that too.” Suga throws a fry at him, and Oikawa pops it into his mouth with a grin.

“Aha, but Iwa-chan and I grew up together. These two haven’t. I wonder why they do that.” Oikawa wiggles his eyebrows at them, and Shirabu pins him with an unimpressed look.

“I live with Semi-san. At this point, he’s like the irritating older sibling I never wanted. Seeing him even more, in my own free time no less, is a horrific experience.”

“Watch your tongue,” Semi warns, mimicking Suga’s action and launching a fry at his roommate. “I’ll put bleach in your shampoo.”

“Save it for yourself, Semi-san. Your roots are showing.”

Suga and Oikawa burst into laughter while Semi throws more fries at Shirabu, and even Iwaizumi cracks a smile behind his burger.

Dinner passes by almost too quickly – insinuating comments and jibes thrown by Oikawa and Suga are countered either by Semi and Iwaizumi’s remarks or by Shirabu’s sharp quips. It’s almost fun, and Semi can feel himself relaxing as the evening wears on.

It’s been a while since he had this sort of easy camaraderie, especially with people his age. It’s nice.

They stay on mostly neutral topics – classes and friend groups and of course, volleyball. Semi finally learns that Oikawa and Iwaizumi go to a university pretty close to his and Shirabu’s, and they agree to ask for a practice match between campuses at some point. Their high school rivalry never did resolve, and it would be fun to settle scores now that they are in university.

“It wouldn’t be very fair to the other players, since they don’t know about the never ending feud between Seijou and Shiratorizawa.” Suga comments. “Everyone would wonder what the fuss is about.”

“It also wouldn’t be fair because we don’t have Ushijima-san any more,” Shirabu grumbles. “Semi-san is a setter, not a spiker.”

“Who said you’re going to be the setter?” Semi counters. “You can spike for once.”

“My spiking sucks!”

“Then work on it. Futakuchi can help you.”

“Ew, Futakuchi.” Shirabu wrinkles his nose, and everyone laughs.

“We still have Makki and Mattsun, so we have the advantage,” Oikawa crows. “See if your ragtag team can beat us now!”

“Do you think we can borrow Kuroo and Bokuto for this?” Semi mutters to Shirabu.

“Maybe, if they have free time.”

“I'll ask Kenma to ask.”

“You guys are cheating,” Suga quips, delighted. “Those two aren’t even from your university.”

“Koushi, shh.”

“Iwa-chan, stop them!”

“Hey, I can’t control this, don’t drag me into it.”

Their conversation derails from there. Semi and Shirabu spend so much time arguing between topics that Oikawa and Iwaizumi finally find out that not only do they attend the same university, they share a room. Oikawa pokes fun at Semi for needing to share a room – with his least favourite underclassman no less – and is promptly put in his place by both Iwaizumi and Suga when they reveal that he is sharing an apartment with three other people.

“An apartment is nothing compared to a room,” Semi argues. “You still have the advantage of more space. And privacy.”

“But Makki hogs the toilet all the time. Mattsun is always cooking and the whole apartment never stops smelling like baked goods. I swear, I never feel like eating cookies anymore!”

The brunet turns to Iwaizumi, who sips at his drink, never breaking eye contact. “And Iwa-chan thinks he’s my mum, as usual.”

“Someone has to make sure we get our deposit back.” Iwaizumi shrugs, then glances at the rest of them. “Do you know how much hair he leaves in the bathroom drain every day? It’s like living with a girl, I had no idea he had so much hair.”

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa squawks. “I am perfect! I do no such thing!”

“Oh, I know,” Suga nods, completely ignoring Oikawa. “The one time he stayed over at my house, my sister got scolded for the hair that he left in our bathroom drain.”

“How irresponsible of you, Oikawa-san. How could you let someone else take the fault for your bad manners?” Shirabu deadpans.

Oikawa launches into a tirade, cursing them and their false accusations, but everyone sees the half-smile on his face, and no one thinks he means it. Semi thinks his face is going to split from so much laughing, but he doesn’t mind. He can’t remember the last time he felt so carefree.

It’s not until later, when they’ve split into groups as they walk to the train station, that the conversation dies down. Where it was a raging river before, the straits have calmed, the rapids settling, trickling into smaller streams with gentler currents. Their pace is leisurely, comfortable, and it feels like the excitement of the day has finally caught up to them, lethargy weighing them down alongside the heaviness of their meal.

Oikawa’s not surging ahead for once, having chosen to hang back with Shirabu. The other three walk ahead, discussing something or the other.

Shirabu eyes the older boy a little suspiciously. It is not like him to be this quiet and contemplative, despite the excitement of their evening. Even during the days that their schools were rivals, he only remembers the other as this contemplative right before he launched an unexpected attack–

Oh, no.

“Shirabu-chan,” Oikawa quietly begins, eyes fixed on the distant figures of their friends, “What are your intentions with Iwa-chan?”

Shirabu refuses to let his emotions show. The change of topic is abrupt, but he can’t say it was completely unexpected. He had been expecting someone to ask, at some point. “With all due respect, Oikawa-san, that’s none of your business.”

“It isn’t,” Oikawa agrees. “But as someone who had been in love with Iwa-chan before, I want to give you a bit of advice.”

Shirabu is too stunned to say anything, too taken aback by his candour and the easiness with which he speaks of such a topic. The lack of a response encourages Oikawa to continue. “Don’t get your hopes up, is what I want to say. Iwa-chan’s a great guy, but he sees most people as nothing more than friends. You’re going to be waiting a long time if you want him to consider you at all, and I think your affections are better spent elsewhere.”

“Oikawa-san,” Shirabu says slowly, “Thank you for your words, but what makes you think that I fancy Iwaizumi-san?”

Oikawa rolls his eyes, not unkindly. “Like I said, I was there once. That face you have around him is the same one that Makki and Mattsun told me I used to make whenever I spoke to Iwa-chan, and he’s my childhood friend. Lovestruck.” He shakes his head, chuckling. “Maybe I’m wrong – I don’t think I am – but if you want to pursue him in that manner and you get rejected, just remember it’s not the end of the world.”

“Oikawa-san, I have had crushes before. I know what life after rejection feels like.”

The older grins slyly at him. “So you admit you like him?”

“I never said that. I just said I know what rejection feels like.”

“Mmhmm.” Oikawa smirks knowingly. “Of course you do. But again, a crush is a crush, and love is something more, don’t you think?”

“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”

“Love is a lot easier than a crush,” Oikawa tells him. “No jittery feelings, just a blossoming warmth. It took me a long time to realise that, myself. But you know what? You’ll get there when you get there.”

“Yes.” Shirabu deadpans. “Thank you for your sagely advice.”

“You’re very welcome.” Oikawa winks and skips ahead. “Come on. I think they’ve found dessert!”

Their friends have indeed found an uncrowded ice cream shop, and they file inside, swarming the display. Shirabu's on the edge of their group, trying to peer at the flavours. He’s not short, but it’s difficult to see with the others blocking his view.

“What are you getting?”

He glances up at Iwaizumi, then turns back to frown at the glass. “I don’t know. Lychee looks interesting, but vanilla is always a safer choice.”

“Why don’t you ask for a sample, then? No point getting something that you wouldn’t like.”

“Good point.” He tries to catch the attention of the server, but Iwaizumi beats him to it. He takes the two spoons from the server with thanks, handing a spoon to Shirabu. “Here.”

“Thank you.” He bites off half the ice cream, artificial flavour exploding across his tongue. He wrinkles his nose, and Iwaizumi laughs around his own spoon.

“Not good?”

“Too sweet.” He eats the rest of the sample anyway, chewing sullenly on the plastic. “What was yours?”

“Blueberry. It’s good.”

“Hmm. Maybe I’ll try that.”

“I’ll ask for you.” Iwaizumi turns back to the server, while Shirabu reaches up to put the spoon in the bin provided.

There’s a nudge on his shoulder, and he turns, only to startle at the sight of a spoon in front of his face. Semi smirks, but shoves the spoon towards him. “You’ll like this one.”

Shirabu stares at the spoon and the teeth marks in the ice cream. “Did you already eat half of it?”

“Yeah, but I don’t like it and I think you would, so you eat it.”

“I am not your dustbin,” Shirabu complains, but closes his lips around the spoon. Semi lets it go, and Shirabu frowns at him around the burst of flavour. “Hey, this is nice.”

“It’s sea salt with something or the other. Told you you’d like it.”

Shirabu grumbles at him and puts the spoon in the bin, accepting the new sample spoon from Iwaizumi. He thinks he hears Semi go back over to where Suga is calling him as he mulls over the new flavour.

“How is it?” Iwaizumi asks.

“Not bad. Maybe I’ll get this one and the other sea salt thing.”

“You must like ice cream a lot.”

“I don’t get to have it often, Iwaizumi-san. Stop judging my diet.” Shirabu huffs.

(The other doesn’t need to know how much he loves the sweet treat.)

Iwaizumi laughs. “No judgement. I watch Oikawa eat too much milk bread daily, it’s just second nature to watch out for others’ sugar intake.”

“Once in a while is fine,” Shirabu insists.

“Yes, that’s true. But how do I know that this is your first time in a while?”

Shirabu’s about to protest when he sees Iwaizumi’s lips twitch. “You’re teasing me.”

“Absolutely not,” the older says, but he’s grinning. Shirabu holds back his initial response, rolling his eyes instead.

After sampling almost all the flavours, everyone decides on what they want. Suga and Shirabu are elected to buy the ice cream while the others go get a seat.

The wait isn’t long, but as they watch the girl prepare their dessert, Suga asks, “Was Tooru-chan lecturing you about Iwaizumi?”

Shirabu stares at him. He had just pushed that conversation to the back of his mind, and here it was being brought up again.

(He should have expected it, but at the same time, he had been hoping that it wouldn’t be brought back up.)

Suga laughs at his expression. “No, we didn’t plan this, if that’s what you’re thinking. I just happen to know how he works, and what he would have spoken to you about. He probably told you not to get your hopes up, right?”

“If you know,” Shirabu starts, “Then why would you ask about it?”

“Because I’m curious,” Suga says simply. “And because I’m as nosy as he is. Now, I haven’t faced rejection the way Tooru-chan has, so my advice is to not listen to him. Take your own feelings into account. He worries for others because he’s a little more fragile and he took that rejection badly. You, I think, are more resilient.” The silver-haired man hands him some of the ice cream cups and picks up the remainder, tilting his head towards their table with a small smile. “Think on it. But for now, shall we?”

Shirabu follows him silently, turning over the words of both young men in his mind. It’s too much for an evening, especially when he had been expecting a quiet afternoon out. He’s getting tired of all the people lecturing him on things he does not want their advice on. He’s quiet as he picks at his ice cream, and only looks up when he feels something nudge his foot.

Semi raises his eyebrows at him, his eyes holding a question, but Shirabu shakes his head. It’s nothing.

The ash blond raises an eyebrow to convey his disbelief, to which Shirabu rolls his eyes. Don’t worry about me.

Semi shrugs and turns back to the conversation that the others are having, allowing Shirabu to push those thoughts aside and focus on the present.

He has plenty of time later to worry about their advice. For now, he is going to enjoy the company of those he is with.

-----

They say their goodbyes at the station, parting to return to their respective accommodations. Shirabu is still rather quiet, but Semi chooses to say nothing. He had seen Oikawa and Suga speaking to him earlier, and figures he doesn’t need any more 'advice'.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?”

He turns to look at Shirabu, whose eyes are closed as he rests his head against the back of the seat. Semi sighs. “No. Should I be saying anything?”

“I figured you might want to add your two cents' worth, since Oikawa-san and Sugawara-san have already done so.”

Semi snorts. “Who am I to give you advice on your love life? Do what you like.”

One eye opens to regard him. “Hmm.”

“What?”

“Nothing. I don’t trust you on that, but I never trust you.” His eye closes, but Semi does not sense any ill intent coming from him.

“What do you mean, you don’t trust me?” Semi protests, half-jokingly.

“I mean, maybe you let something like that slip again…” Shirabu opens his eyes, staring at him unapologetically. “I can’t think of any other reason why Oikawa-san and Sugawara-san would be so open about giving me 'advice’ like that.”

Semi blinks at him, first in confusion, then in anger. “Is that what you’re worried about? Why they decided to give you advice?”

“It is a cause for concern–”

“And you really think that I would do that again? I said I wouldn’t, and I haven’t. Have you stopped to consider that they don’t mind talking about it because they don’t care about the gender of your partner? I get why you’d suspect I told them, but I swear I didn’t.”

“Why wouldn’t they care? It’s not a normal thing, is it?”

“I’m– What– No– Ugh.” Semi presses the heels of his hands to his eyes, groaning. “Why are you saying that?”

“Because it’s true.”

“Are you saying that whatever you or I feel for others is unnatural, then? That anyone else who is like us – who doesn’t fit society's norm – is not normal?”

“To them it is. To us, it’s perfectly fine.”

“Exactly.” Semi points at Shirabu accusingly. “So why are you so hung up on why Oikawa and Koushi decided to talk to you about it?”

“Well, I’m sorry that I don’t know if they are like us or not.” Shirabu snaps. “Is it a crime now to be on my guard?”

“No, but–”

“Let me deal with my life my own way,” Shirabu says viciously. “I was shocked that they could discuss something so openly, considering how most everyone isn’t so accepting. You can’t exactly look at someone and tell if they’re going to accept or condemn you, now, can you?”

Semi bites his words back, knowing he’s right. “No, but I can tell you that Koushi and Oikawa aren’t the sort to condemn you for that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.” Semi chooses to ignore the sarcastic bite in Shirabu’s tone. “They – Koushi, at least – is very accepting and open. He wouldn’t judge you for your preferences. I don’t think Oikawa is the sort either. He’s an asshole but not a hypocrite.”

“Hypocrite?” Shirabu looks like he’s beginning to understand, but Semi decides to spell it out for him, just in case.

“Neither of them can judge you when they’re both dating men.”

The silence stretches as Shirabu stares at him. Finally, he says, “Are you sure you are allowed to tell me that?”

“They’re not subtle about it, they wouldn’t mind.” Semi says. “Iwaizumi and Koushi were the ones who told me who Oikawa is dating, so I can guess that he doesn’t care that others know who his partner is. Koushi enjoys flaunting his relationship, so he definitely won’t care that I told you.”

“Okay.” Shirabu’s expression is back to neutral. “And what am I supposed to do with this information?”

“Accept that they didn’t mean any harm by giving you advice.” Semi grits out. “Of course, whether or not it’s useful advice remains to be seen, considering both their natures.”

Shirabu snorts, rolling his eyes. “I know. It was sort of useful, I think.”

“…if you think so.”

They sit in awkward silence for some minutes, neither knowing what to say.

“You're really not going to bother me about it, then?”

Semi glances over, but Shirabu’s not looking at him, his gaze trained on the wall opposite them. He sighs. “No. You don’t need advice on what to do with your life. If you want to date Iwaizumi, go ahead. There is literally no reason that you need to tell me about your love life.”

“I never said I wanted to date Iwaizumi-san.”

“I said if,” Semi points out. “You’re practically admitting it, now.”

“I am not.”

“Are too. But like I said, it’s not my business. Whether you do or don’t date him, you don’t have to tell me.”

“…you don’t care?”

“Shirabu, exactly what don’t you understand about 'It's your life, do what you want’?”

“I didn’t think you’d be that approving of my dating someone. If I was hypothetically dating someone.”

“I’m not your keeper!” Semi throws his hands up in exasperation. “Or your parent! Do whatever the heck you want! As long as you let me know when not to come back to the room and interrupt you or something, I don’t particularly care–”

“Don’t insinuate things, oh my god–”

“You want to date him, it’s bound to happen at some point–”

“Shut up, I never said that, and I’m nowhere near even confessing–”

“You just admitted you wanted to confess, so you like him, at least–”

“Shut up, shut up, I don’t know how to do this, okay–”

“You’re not stupid, just try harder, damnit–”

“You sound like Taichi, shut up–”

“Make me–”

The announcer’s voice comes on, interrupting their argument, and the train slows. Semi claps a hand over Shirabu’s mouth, cutting him off. “Argue later, it’s our stop.”

Shirabu slaps his hand away and follows him sullenly, hands in his pockets. The train station is quiet, though the streets back to the university are generously lit, the lights welcoming as they lead the way. There aren’t many people about because of the hour, and their pace is slow, unhurried.

There’s a sort of peace that surrounds them, tranquillity seeping through their skin, permeating their bones. It’s as if the serenity of the late hour is replacing the tension and weight of any other emotion, allowing them a space, a clear pool untouched by wandering thoughts. Shirabu basks in the rare bubble of tranquillity, feeling the last of the agitation from earlier slip off his shoulders.

His head tilts back, eyes lazily tracing the skyline, searching for stars that are unseen. It makes him smile a little, at the futility of his action. It’s been so long, and of course he knows that the stars are obscured, but he still can’t help looking. It reminds him of another time, almost too long ago – almost a year ago now.

(How time flies.)

“Semi-san.”

“Yeah?”

“Remember when we first met in Tokyo?”

“You mean how we first found out we had to live together?”

“Oh, yes. The horror.” Shirabu sounds so sarcastic that Semi has to crack a smile. “But I was thinking of the time after that, when we went out to find ice cream and yet never did.”

“We– Oh. Yeah, we did, didn’t we?” Semi tilts his head back; his turn now, at searching for lights in the starless sky. “We’ve had ice cream lots of times after that, though.”

“Yeah.” Shirabu is quiet as he thinks. “A lot of times.”

“Enough times that I know you never try any new flavours,” Semi teases. “I was actually surprised that you got flavoured ice cream today.”

“I like trying new things once in a while, geez.” Shirabu kicks at his heel, trying to trip him.

(He doesn’t succeed.)

“No, you don’t.”

“Shut up and let me do what I want.” Shirabu grumbles, and Semi laughs.

“You’ll always do whatever you want, regardless of what I say.”

“You’ve got a point.”

They shuffle along in companionable silence, growing closer and closer to the school, passing by familiar neighbourhoods to reach their destination. There’s a tug on his sleeve and Semi looks down, but Shirabu isn’t looking back at him.

“What is it?”

“Are you going to tell Kenma and Futakuchi?”

“About what?” He thinks he knows what.

Shirabu makes an annoyed sound. “What you saw today.”

“No?” Semi’s puzzled. “Why would I?”

“Because they’re dying to know who my 'mysterious friend' is? Don’t deny it, I know they’ve asked you about it.”

“Again: why would I do that?” Semi is perplexed. “Just because they’re being nosy doesn’t mean I have to indulge them.”

“But you were curious too.”

“So sue me for wondering if you were in bad company all the times that you went out and came home so late.” Semi throws his hands up in exasperation. He seems to be doing that a lot, lately. “It’s your life. I just want to know that I won’t have to wake up to an empty room and the cops at the door because you went missing!”

Shirabu stares at him for a second, then lets out a snort. “You are so dramatic.”

“I’m worried!”

“Yeah, yeah.” His steps slow as he turns to face Semi. “Were you following us on purpose?”

“You never give up, do you?” Semi groans, raising a hand instinctively to block the punch Shirabu throws. “No, not at first.”

“Not at first?”

“Stop being so dramatic, geez. I was just telling Koushi the usual gossip he wanted to hear and the next thing I know, he’s called Oikawa and all the pieces have fallen into place like some miracle and we’re in the movie theatre.” Semi rolls his eyes. “I had no intention of following you, but Koushi dragged me into it.”

“Oh.” That shuts him up for a bit. “Sugawara-san is a lot sneakier than I gave him credit for.”

Semi laughs. “Oh, you have no idea. You should have heard the story of how he tricked Sawamura into confessing first. That was hilarious.”

“Sugawara-san did– What?”

Semi laughs harder at Shirabu’s stunned expression. “Koushi never lets Sawamura live it down. The story goes that Sawamura was stuttering and delaying it, and Koushi egged him on until he was half-dead with embarrassment.”

“…remind me never to get on Sugawara-san's bad side. Poor Sawamura-san.”

“Well, they’re very happy together, so I wouldn’t say that,” Semi hums. “I think Sawamura came to Tokyo with Koushi, so you can go witness their lovey-dovey stuff for yourself.”

“You want me to be a third wheel? No thanks.”

“Ask Iwaizumi to go with you.”

Shirabu makes a sound like a dying duck. “Then it’s going to look like a double date. No. No, no, no, I am not doing this–”

“For goodness’ sake, you like the guy, just ask him out!”

“It’s complicated!”

“Then uncomplicate it!”

“How!”

“I don’t know!”

They’re standing in the middle of the sidewalk, yelling at each other, and it suddenly occurs to Semi that they are too close to the residential areas to be making a racket, especially this late at night. His gaze darts about, and seeing no one, shushes Shirabu every time he tries to speak, dragging him along.

“We are trying not to be more of a public nuisance,” he hisses to the struggling brunet. “We probably woke up half the blocks with our yelling.”

“You started it,” Shirabu mumbles.

“No, you did.”

“No, it was you. Stop coming up with embarrassing ideas and I won’t have to yell!”

Semi shushes him again. “And if I don’t give you ideas, you’re never going to confess to him!”

“You’re not exactly the poster child for successful relationships, you don’t get to tell me what to do.”

Semi winces, the memory of a certain redhead and another, broader figure coming to mind. “I know what not to do, which is why I’m telling you what you should do.”

“I will muddle my way through my own relationship mess, thank you very much. You and Taichi can keep your noses out of it.”

“I’m helping you here,” Semi says, exasperated. At this point, exasperation is going to be the only emotion he associates with Shirabu. “Ask Iwaizumi to show Koushi and Sawamura around Tokyo on my behalf because I’m busy or something. Only Koushi and you will ever know it’s a double date.”

“…you are more evil than I gave you credit for, Semi-san.”

“Blame Koushi. He’s rubbing off on me.”

They walk the rest of the way back to the dorms in silence. The quiet surrounding them is broken only by the sound of traffic, the scuffle of their shoes on the pavement, the slight whisper of the wind as it passes them by. Each is lost in his own thoughts, but soon they unite in action – pulling at the fabric that clings to their skin, shifting uncomfortably under the straps of their bags.

It is summer, and it is too hot to be in a city, where the lights add to the heat and the buildings never release their stored thermal energy fast enough. But somewhere in the midst of the cloying heat that melts brains, the duo seem to have come to a silent consensus, a remembrance of their truce – the shadow of a memory from times long past.

They trek back to their room, movements almost in sync, and it feels like they’ve found their own little glade of serenity – individualistic yet slightly interdependent. Slightly compromising, that they may coexist.

The night is warm, but they don’t want to turn on the air conditioning. They make do with the fan in their room, shuffling around until they sit comfortably before it, the wind rustling their shower-damp hair.

“Is it warm enough that we can sleep on the floor?” Shirabu asks, eyes closed in the face of the fan.

“We’re gonna catch colds.” Semi counters, but he is considering it.

“Just for one night. We can use the blankets to prevent a chill. Unless it gets too hot, then all bets are off.”

“Well…”

Shirabu leans over and stretches up to his bed, pulling his pillow and blanket down. The pillow is tossed near the fan, and he uses the blanket to cover the floor, much to Semi’s horror.

“The floor is dirty. You’re going to get sick.”

“I’ll do the laundry tomorrow. Do you want to sleep here or not?”

Semi groans quietly, but does not answer. He leans over to his bed and pulls his blanket off as well, making up his own nest on the floor.

It’s way too cramped on the floor for two young men, and they are almost elbow to elbow when they lie down, the fan oscillating, stirring currents above their heads. The lights from outside peek through the gaps in their blinds, playing out across the ceiling. Below the lights, wandering across the short expanse of flattened blankets, fingers shove against each other, pushing back and forth in a lazy war for dominance over the seam where their blankets meet.

One hand draws away first – there’s the sound of rustling fabric, and Semi turns his head to see that Shirabu has rolled over, resting now with his head on his folded hands.

“Semi-san?”

“Hm?”

“Maybe… Maybe we could go on that outing with Sawamura-san and Sugawara-san?”

“‘We’?”

Shirabu makes the dying duck sound. “I can’t ask Iwaizumi-san. Not yet. But I’d like to see Sawamura-san and Sugawara-san's relationship for myself, and since you’re friends with them…”

“I’m mostly friends with Koushi.”

“Still.” Shirabu makes a disgruntled sound. “Please?”

“Only if you do something for me.”

“What?”

“If Koushi tries to insinuate it’s a double date, you’ll help me push him into a fountain or something.”

Shirabu makes another dying duck sound. “Yes. Yes, yes, yes, I’ll help you with that, no problem. Heaven forbid someone assumes that I’m dating you.”

Semi laughs. “Likewise. I’ll message Koushi tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Then there’s nothing but the sound of their breathing, but the sound of the fan and its whirring. It’s still warm, but not uncomfortably so, and Semi can feel himself drifting.

He doesn’t really register it when Shirabu calls him next, too lost in the realm of half-sleep. He doesn’t really register the soft touch on his arm, thinking it to be part of a dream. He doesn’t really register the extra warmth at his side nor the shuffling that comes with it, because he is almost completely asleep.

He sleeps on. It’s only later – in the middle of the night, when he’s suddenly a tad too warm – does he realise that the burning warmth in his arms, draped across his side – it smells hauntingly familiar; and the puffs of air on his neck – they may not be the fan, after all.

And maybe he’s a little confused, because even in the space between dreams and reality, he knows, he remembers their conversation, and he knows where the affections of his roommate lie.

But he doesn’t let go, though he scoots away a little so that they might cool down. He doesn’t let go, not though he has one arm draped over the shoulders of this figure that he knows well, not though the fingers connected to that hand and arm are cupping a head, the strands of hair soft and pleasing under his fingertips. He doesn’t let go, but leans in – though he’s still half-asleep, still tangled in the tendrils of a dream – pressing his lips to the curve of skin covered by strands of wayward fringe. He thinks, at least, that this might be Shirabu’s forehead.

And as he inhales the scent of camellia and lye, his lips curve up into a smile. A guilty smile, a secret smile; a smile no one but himself and the night know about.

He drifts, and falls back to sleep.

#semishira #semi eita #shirabu kenjirou #kawanishi taichi #sugawara koushi #oikawa tooru #iwaizumi hajime #cygnus #my writing

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