#ugh i hate it. i think this is why i like hanging bags so much cause its a simple sorting pricess and simple to put them up

[be-good-to-bugs]

there is a god and he is cruel

[padawansuggest]

Breha: *giggling*

Bail: *annoyed*

Mace: You want… to give Kenobi back? Didn’t you fight tooth and nail to get him moved in with you two.

Breha: We did, we adore him, he’s such a sweetheart, please don’t take him back.

Bail: Take him back or I’m tanning his hide.

Breha: Careful, he might like that.

Mace: *head in hands* What could he have possibly done to offend you this much?

Breha: *laughing* It was at brunch- with my SISTER-

Bail: I don’t care about that part, I have never seen something so vulgar-

Breha: *breaking out into giggle snorts*

Bail: He put a tea bag right into a glass of champagne.

Breha: *snorting louder* I’ve never seen my sister and husband agree on something before, they both hated it. I adore Obi-Wan, you cannot have him back.

Bail: That was a thirty-thousand dollar bottle-

Breha: Why is it the only time you can stand to criticize him it’s something good related? What did he feed you that has made you so biased against his odd tastes?

Bail: *thousand yard stare* there are some things I cannot speak of.

Mace: …he used to feed me salt cookies when he was tiny.

Bail: 😳

Breha: 👀

Mace: Yeah. He always said he mixed the ingredients up, but I think he’s just… like that. I think he burnt off half his taste buds on Mandalore later, he’s always been a bit of a mess.

Breha: 😍 I adore him. We’re keeping him.

Bail: ugh. I need a refund. Or a therapist to break the trauma-bond.

Mace: Good luck with that. Didn’t work for me when he was a toddler, and that’s the easiest age to remove a trauma-bond. Have fun. *hangs up on them*

[wreckedandpolemic]

can't seem to get it right - matty healy

prompt: secret admirer

day 1 of the lovely @abiiors' valentine75 prompts!! i actually dont think this is very good i am very much a one trick pony in this space However i had fun writing it and thats what matters!!!

no warnings here this is v v short and sweet <3

Nauseated, you swat at the tacky, heart-shaped balloon as it drifts into your vision, ignoring its owner’s affronted scoff and stomping off down the hallway. Matty snickers behind you and you turn your glare on him. He holds his hands up in mock-surrender. “What’d that balloon ever do to you?”

You roll your eyes. “Fucking hate this week. It’s not even Valentine’s yet and this whole fucking place is full of dickheads who think their hormone-fuelled ‘love story’ makes them the centre of the universe. Just an excuse for brands to paint themselves pink and flog you shiny crap that’ll go in the bin after five seconds.” A strange look flickers across Matty’s face, but the bell rings sharply before you can question it. You trudge off to your class — double History, ugh — and don’t think on it for another moment.

The boy that sits across from you in History, Cameron, has a massive crush on you, flirts incessantly, flushes when you turn a smile on him. He’s not hard to look at, sweet-faced and kind, and not totally hopeless with a textbook, either. So, when he blushes and stammers his way through asking you out when you mention not having any Valentine’s plans, you think, this could be fun. “Is it gonna be worth my time?” you ask, leaning towards him and grinning when he flinches. “Convince me.” Eyebrows go up around the table at your challenge, Cameron smiling nervously and stuttering out something that passes for an affirmative. You flash your teeth, predatory. Maybe you shouldn’t play around with boys like this, but it’s so much fun. And they make it so easy.

The next morning, a card addressed to you has been slipped into your locker. The message is short, but sweetly poetic, witty in a way you hadn’t known Cameron could be. It’s unsigned, but the sentiment is adorable, and you make a mental note to get him a gift later. You catch sight of Matty sloping down the hall, and wave him over. “How sweet is this?” you say, smiling cheek to cheek. “Didn’t think he’d actually convince me to go on a date with him, but… Who knows? Might actually be fun.”

Matty’s face falls for a split second, before he rearranges it into smooth blankness that quickly crumples into confusion. “Wait– date? With who?” he demands. 

You tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. “Cameron. From my History. He’s nice.”

Matty scoffs. “I’m sure,” he huffs, rolling his eyes. Your face scrunches, displeased. “Sorry, sorry,” he says, shaking his head. “I’m sure he’s a top bloke, and you’ll skip off into the sunset holding hands and pop out a million adorable little blonde babies.”

You splutter a laugh, shoving him gently. “Don’t be a dick. He’s nice,” you repeat, fixing him with a glare. “I haven’t even agreed to the date yet, nobody’s skipping off into the sunset.”

Shrugging, Matty kicks idly at the row of lockers. “Yet,” he teases, and the brief flare of awkwardness between you melts away. “Listen, I really don’t feel like hanging around this shithole the rest of the day. Wanna come smoke?” he offers. You shouldn’t — you really shouldn’t — but that’s never stopped you before. Especially when it comes to Matty and the teasing grin he dares you with.

“Go on, then.” You shoulder your bag and follow Matty out of the gates, the short stroll to your favourite smoke spot passing quickly as you chat back and forth about nothing.

“I can’t believe you’re actually going on a fucking date,” Matty tells you, voice thickened by the smoke pouring from his mouth.

“Oi!” you snap playfully. “Why’s that so unbelievable, huh?”

“Well, you’re hideous, for one,” he says, gasping when you stomp down hard on his foot. “I’m messing, I’m messing! You were the one being mardy about Valentine’s Day, like, yesterday, though.” He shrugs, passing you the last of the joint. 

Flicking away the roach, you blow out rings of smoke. “Yeah, I dunno. Probably won’t go, but it’s kind of nice being chased.” You scoff, leaning back against a tree. “I know you don’t have that problem, ‘cos you’ve got all your fuckin’ groupies.” A sharp edge creeps into your words at the end, and you bite the inside of your cheek to curb it. “But some of us aren’t used to that attention every second of the day, and we take it where we can get it.”

Matty shrugs. “Touche. Don’t think he’s worth your time, though,” he says, tone thick with something you can’t decipher through the weed-induced haze enveloping your mind.

You wave a hand dismissively. “Shut up, you dick.”

After dousing yourself in body spray to cover the weed smell, you let yourself into your house, stopping short at the bouquet that sits innocently under the hallway mirror. Red carnations bound around pink roses and an inexplicable spray of miniature daffodils, a muted pink ribbon tying them closed.

“Hi, love!” your mum shouts, appearing around the corner. “Those came for you while you were out. No name. Looks like you’ve got a secret admirer,” she grins, nudging you as you flush.

“It’s just this bloke from my History.” You wave a hand dismissively, but you can’t help smiling at the bouquet. “Trying to convince me to go out with him for Valentine’s.”

Your mum’s eyebrows shoot up to her hairline, eyes so wide it’s comical. “You? Valentine’s?” she says incredulously, face softening into a warm smile. “Love, that’s great. You’ll have such a good time,” she smiles.

You scoff. “Steady on, I haven’t said yes, yet.”

Smirking knowingly, your mum pads off into the kitchen, shouting back at you to be down for tea in an hour. You pick up the flowers on your way upstairs, arranging them delicately in a vase on your windowsill and snapping a quick picture. You debate texting Cameron a thank you, but decide against it — he sent them anonymously, after all.

Strangely, though, Cameron’s behaviour the rest of the week is at odds with the gifts that keep piling up. The chocolates aren’t a surprise, and nor is the single red rose laid across your desk, though maybe a little dramatic. But he doesn’t take credit for any of it, nothing in his face even indicating there’s anything he should be taking credit for.

That Friday, the last day Cameron has to convince you, a little, flat box finds its way into your schoolbag. You peel off the ribbon and find a delicate necklace nestled against deep blue velvet. It’s exquisite, a crystal pendant hanging off a thin silver chain. You slide into your seat in History, a little bemused, and smile at Cameron. He smiles back, twirling his hands nervously. “Everything was lovely,” you say, and his brow furrows in confusion. “The card, and the chocolates, and the flowers. I’d love to go out with you.” He breaks into a wide smile, sunlight practically beaming from his face. “But the necklace is too much — it must’ve cost a fortune!”

He blinks innocently at you. “Um, that’s great. I’d, um, love to take you out. But, uh, I didn’t get you any gifts,” he says, biting his lip.

Your head spins as you sift through your memories of the last week, reexamining them through a new lens. All at once, something clicks into place, and you bolt out of your seat. “I’m sorry,” you rush out. “I can’t go out with you. I’ve gotta– I need to go.” You shove your stuff back into your bag, leaving Cameron stuttering and baffled at your back, and dash off.

You find Matty where he usually is, tucked away in a practice room and engrossed in a guitar. Taking a second before he notices you outside the door, you fix the necklace around your neck and smooth your hair nervously. Should you put on some lipgloss? No, that’s crazy, right? It’s Matty. Your heart is racing, your mouth suddenly dry. How were you so fucking stupid? Of course fucking Cameron from History didn’t write that stupid card. 

Taking a deep breath to settle your nerves, you turn the handle of the practice room, and it rattles but stays closed. Locked, obviously. You clap a palm to your face; this is off to a terrible start. Then, Matty looks up, eyes lighting up as they find the pendant at the hollow of your throat, your heart melting at the sweetness in his face.

Matty stands up to open the door. “Hi,” he says, and all the tenseness melts from your body.

“It was you,” you whisper, collapsing into his arms and resting your head on his shoulder. “All of those lovely things were you. And you let me bang on about fucking Cameron all week! Matty, I feel like a total idiot, I’m so sor–” Matty cuts you off by pressing his lips to yours, tentative and gentle.

“Knew you’d figure it out eventually, love, smart girl that you are,” Matty murmurs against your lips, and you smile softly, face flushed. He pulls you close, his body warm against yours, and tugs you into the practice room, pressing you up against the door as soon as it clicks shut. 

You lose yourself in his kiss, his hands steady at your waist as you melt against him. His tongue parts your lips and sweeps your mouth, tasting faintly of cigarettes and spearmint gum. Breathless, you break away, a string of saliva briefly connecting your lips, and you giggle quietly as it breaks. “Thank you,” you murmur.

A dopey smile crosses his face. “You’re welcome,” he says, cupping your jaw and pulling you back in, kissing you so hard it steals the breath from your lungs. A quiet squeal escapes you when he dips his head to bite at your neck, and you indulge him for a moment before pushing his head away gently.

“Down, boy,” you say, giggling when he kisses over the necklace at the hollow of your throat.

Matty’s eyes shine hopefully as he looks down at you. “So,” he dips his head to kiss you. “Can I finally take you out?” He punctuates every word with a kiss, butterflies swirling in your stomach.

Widening your eyes, you look up at him with a pout that splits into a smile without your permission. “Well, my Saturday did just free up…” you tease, and he rolls his eyes. “I’d love to.” You stretch to your tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek.

Matty grins, his joy practically infectious, warming you through and melting your heart, leaving it dripping stickily down your ribs. His lips meet your neck again, his next words murmured against your bruising skin. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

[snowyballlz]

|| Lip Gallagher x reader

Requested by my friend @quacksilvxr xx

Warnings: F!oral sex, P in V sex, Pet names(sweetheart and darling)

Summary: your failing math and your teacher has given you a partner to tutor with, little do you know its your best friends older brother that you hate.

“This is the fifth time you have failed math y/n!” your teacher says in a disappointing tone. you prop yourself up onto your desk and roll your eyes “i couldn’t give two shits miss” you lean you head back.

“language young miss!” your teacher rolls her eyes, i’ve found you a tutor and he’s going to help you, “but miss-” you say in an exaggerated tone “no buts young miss ill send him out to find you when school is over”.

you groan as you slide off the desk walking out the classroom flipping off the teacher, you walk out of the school lighting a cigarette taking a drag from it.

“hey you shouldn’t be smoking in school” a familiar voice says, “oh go cry about it” you chuckle talking another long drag from the cigarette, the person sits beside you and its none other then your best friend Ian.

you hand him the cigarette watching him as he takes a drag from it “ugh my teacher got me a tutor because i’m failing math” you grab the cigarette from your best friend taking another drag from it.

“why not just skip?” the red haired boy suggests, you sigh laying your head on his shoulder “my parents will kill me if i fail again you know what their like” you hand him the cigarette.

it was after school and you were putting your books into your locker “your teacher said i needed to tutor you” a voice says, you slam your locker door shut looking at the figure in front of you.

“oh fuck no” you roll your eyes walking away “cmon y/n i don’t like this anymore then you do, just come over and we can get this over and done with” he follows you.

you turn around to face him “whatever phillip Gallagher ill be around later” you flip him off walking away.

you had just arrived at the Gallagher house trying to mentally prepare yourself for whats about to come, you knock on the door and Fiona answers.

“Oh hi y/n!” she greets excitedly “Ian isn’t here he’s actually at work” you roll your eyes and sigh “actually I’m here for lip” you cross your arms together “oh um well okay” she says confused “LIP!” fiona screams out ��Y/NS HERE FOR YOU” you scoff as you watch him walk down the stairs sliding a shirt on over his head.

“hey just come upstairs” he grins. you were sitting on his bed and grabbed your bag and pulled out some books “so math huh?” lip chuckles “yeah i know I’m failing you don’t have to rub it in”.

some time had passed and you had started to get the hang of it “it’s getting hot you don’t mind if i take my shirt off?” lip questions, you scoff “yeah whatever”.

he takes his shirt off and you couldn’t help but stare at his body, the way his abs looked, his triangle tattoo, you were so focused on the boys body.

“huh like what you see?” lip smirks and raises his eyebrows, you quickly snap back to reality looking up at him “fuck off Phillip” you scoff looking away from him.

“thats it” lip sits by your side throwing your books onto the floor “why do you hate me so much y/n” his brow furrowed, “your annoying” she groans looking at him in the eyes.

you look down at his lips then back up to his eyes and before you knew it your lips were on his, lip began to kiss back “wait what will Ian think of this?” he looks down at you.

“i don’t care” you says as you quickly put your lips on his shoving your tongues down eachothers throats, you climbed on his lap straddling him. he puts his hands on your waist kissing you back before ripping off your shirt.

you quickly unclasp your bra and he kisses you down your neck leaving deep purple marks then sucks on your breasts, you let out a moan and quickly cover your mouth.

“don’t cover your mouth sweetheart” he looks up to you, he stops and lays you down on the bed pulling your pants down and begins playing with your clit through the fabric.

“look at how wet you are for me and i didn’t even think you liked me” lip chuckles as he props your knees up and gets between your legs. he begins kissing your thighs leaving purple marks yet again.

you moan at the friction and tilt your head backwards. he then gets to your wet cunt and licks your pussy with the fabric in between him and your cunt.

you moan once again “please” you grip his hair and tilt your head backwards. “please what darling?” he questions “e-eat me out please” you plead.

he moves your panties exposing your cunt, he licks your clit causing you to moan more, he sticks one finger in your hole causing you to gasp at the sudden feeling gripping his hair harder.

he soon inserts another finger causing you to almost go over the edge “i-i’m gonna cum” you say between shaky breaths

“cum on my fingers you can do it” he says while licking your clit. before you knew it your thighs clasped around his head, your head tilted backwards and your legs were shaking.

he pulled his fingers out and licked them right in front of you. kissing you hard once more him shoving his tongue down your throat. you heard the sound of a belt unbuckle and before you knew it his pants and boxers were on the floor.

he slid into your already really wet hole slowly going back and forth to get you adjusted to his cock, once you were comfortable with the feeling he began to thrust into you hard.

you wrapped your legs around his back making out with him hard. you soon felt another orgasam coming on “i-i’m gonna cum again” you moan loudly into his mouth

“just wait a little longer y/n im about to finish” he says. he starts thrusting harder and faster making you hit your climax and as you were riding that high he came into your hole breathing heavily.

he slides out and lays down next to you. “Ians gonna kill me” you look over towards lip “he doesn’t have to know” lip winks at you and smiles “i cant believe i just did that” you stare into his eyes “i knew you wanted this darling” he chuckles looking up at the roof.

[opalimagines]

Bad Influence

After your first week at school, a teacher warns you about your friendship with Rick, and you realize just how the people of Blue Valley see him. Takes place early season three.

Rick Tyler/gn!reader

Warnings: tiny reference to sickness/vomiting

Notes: There was a request for Rick keeping snacks on hand for a speedster so I've been working that into a few parts of the series :)

"(Y/N), if you could stay for a moment..."

Surprised to hear your name, you stopped in the doorway and looked back at Mr. McFarlane, who was standing near his desk. You turned to Rick and smiled. "See you later."

"Yeah, sure," he said, readjusting his bag where it hung from his shoulder. Rick gave you a nod and continued down the hall to his next class. Usually, you would walk with him since your class was on the way, but apparently Mr. McFarlane had different plans.

You moved further into the room again, playing with the loose end of your backpack strap. After sitting at a desk for 45 minutes, you were itching to at least walk a bit before having to do it again. "So, am I not doing as well in class as I thought?"

"No, no. Your work so far has been excellent." Mr. McFarlane sat on the edge of his desk with a sigh. "Myself and a few other teachers are...concerned about your friendship with Rick Harris."

"It's Tyler, not Harris." Rick had mentioned how he used to go by a different last name before he found out who his dad really was. Some of the teachers hadn't gotten with the program yet, which made you feel bad for him. You were going through something similar—having to go by Swift in public instead of Garrick—but at least you had the name of someone who loved you. While Harris was also Rick's mom's name, his uncle had soured it. "Why is there concern?"

"I know you're new to Blue Valley, but Mr. H–Tyler is not. He has a certain reputation for behavioral issues, and I would hate to see a bright student like yourself get involved with someone who could be a bad influence."

"I–"

"Excuse me?" Since school began, you'd been nothing but respectful to your teachers, just like your father taught you. At that moment, you weren't really feeling it anymore. "You obviously don't know Rick very well at all. He's a good person and a good friend, and I'm not going to stop being friends with him just because the teachers here want to be judgemental towards certain students."

"I need to go or else I'll be late to my next class. We wouldn't want Mrs. Thomas to think I'm being corrupted by a bad influence."

Without waiting for him to say anything else or dismiss you, you simply walked out, bumping right into Cameron Mahkent as he approached the door. You stared at him a moment before giving him a nervous smile. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he said before entering the classroom.

You couldn't help the shiver up your spine knowing that he was Icicle's son. But that didn't do much to stop your annoyance at Mr. McFarlane as you quickly headed down the hallway towards your next class.

"Ugh, I think I'm out of snacks."

You continued to dig through the front pocket of your bag just in case, but you were pretty sure you'd eaten your last package of crackers when you first met Rick at The Pit Stop that evening.

"Here..." Rick opened up his backpack and took out a candy bar, handing it over to you.

"You don't have to give me your food. I can go run and find something."

"It's fine," he said, turning back to his homework. It wasn't like he actually ate that type of candy bar anyway—he was more of a nutty buddy guy—but you didn't need to know that he kept his own stash for you. After all, he'd feel pretty bad if you crashed while hanging out with him.

You smiled at him and opened the wrapper. "Thanks." As you took a bite, you flipped through the assignments in your binder to find the next unfinished one, and you rolled your eyes when you saw the subject at the top. "Mr. McFarlane. What a jerk," you mumbled.

Rick glanced at you as you pulled the packet out and started writing on it. "You never told me what he wanted to talk to you about." You were acting strange the next time he saw you afterward, but you'd avoided saying anything.

"Because it was stupid." And because you thought it would hurt him, but you suspected that it wouldn't be much of a surprise. "Apparently, you have a bad reputation and 'behavioral issues', and our teachers think you'll be a negative influence on me."

Rick put his pen down. He'd seen this coming. Beth and Courtney had both gotten the same talk. A tiny part of him hoped that things could get better with the new school year, but obviously not. "What do you think?" he asked quietly.

"I think it's complete bullshit." Rick had never heard you curse quite like that before, and he realized you must have been even more upset by this than he thought. You turned around in your seat to face him, your knees pressing into his outer thigh.

"You're one of the sweetest people I know. And you're so smart. I mean, you taught yourself chemistry so you could decode your dad's journal! That's not even mentioning how you went to fight Eclipso without your hourglass because you knew your friends needed you. You're a great friend, Rick, and I don't care what anyone else says. You're not a bad influence. The JSA is lucky to have you."

Rick smiled, willing the warmth that rushed to his cheeks to go away. "I think you're the only person that's ever called me sweet, but...thanks."

"Don't get me wrong, Beth is still the number one sweetest." You didn't turn around again, instead leaning back against the arm of the couch. "But you're very close."

He laughed softly as he went back to his work, but you didn't find yourself as motivated anymore. "You know what...." You closed your binder and shoved it into your backpack. "Do you want to take a break and grab something from Richie's? I can run us over there. Then maybe we can do some work on the hourglass."

You had taken him on runs a few times—because all of your teammates really needed to get desensitized to it—so he was mostly used to traveling at high speeds by then. The first couple of tries hadn't been so pleasant.

"Sure," he said, placing his notebook on top of his bag so he could stand.

In a blink of his eye, the two of you were at the corner where the coffee shop mural was, just out of the way enough to not be accidentally seen by anyone. And he was only a bit queasy as a result.

"Feeling okay?" you asked as you let go of him.

He took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Alright, let's go," you urged, crossing the empty street. "I would kill for a banana split right now."

Rick followed you with a little smile and a shake of his head.

[phantomhunting]

We're Here and We're Queer // Sanders sides modern teen AU

CHAPTER 1 - queer teens have immense crushes on each other and wont fucking CONFESS ALREADY.

<Next chapter coming soon>

CW: implied abuse, and intrulogical being intrulogical (mostly Remus)

Ships: Logan x Remus, Roman x Virgil, Remy x Janus, Emile x Patton

Patton was sitting in his room in front of the mirror, trying to make his light cyan hair look good, but it was too messy. He sighed, the reflection of his soft blue eyes staring at him from the mirror. "I hate this" he whispered. He sighed again and got up, going to his closet and taking out his favorite top, a baby blue vest with a white button-up. He put it on and grabbed his school bag and walked downstairs to get some breakfast.

There wasn't much to eat at home, even though the Mor family (which Patton was part of) had a lot of money. He decided to eat some overly-sugary cereal with lactose free milk (because he's lactose intolerant). When Patton finished eating, he could hear his father walk up the stairs. He quickly washed the dishes he used and placed them neatly on the dish rack. He checked the time, '8:10' was what the clock read. "You're late to school again." his father exclaimed as he entered the room. Patton started breathing heavily, scared of what his father might do. "I-i was just leaving!" He grabbed his bag and ran out the house before his father could do anything. He ran all the way to school, not wanting to be even more late.

- - -

Virgil was sitting in the back of the class with his small dagger shaped fidget, barely listening to the teacher. He was waiting for the break so he could hang out with his friends. He and his older brother, Logan, have recently moved into this city, and a group of students have accepted them in as one of their own. Virgil always doubted if they actually liked them or if it was just because they're new, but at least he'll make the most of it. After two long and boring math classes, it was finally break time. Virgil put all his stuff in his locker and grabbed his food from his bag. He ran to the back of the school, which was where the group always stayed while in there. Roman, Patton, and Remus were already sitting and chatting there. Virgil was hesitant to approach, not wanting to intrude. Then, he suddenly felt a hand touch his shoulder. He jumped and let out a squeak, turning around to see... His older brother, Logan!

"Lo.. don't ever do that again" he tried to sound intimidating but he was so much smaller than him. "What did you get?" Logan asked, pointing at Virgil's lunchbox. "Oh- umm, it's just some bread with a piece of cheese on it" Virgil answered. "You know, you need to eat more than that, Virg" Logan's tone seemed harsh, but Virgil knew Logan cared a lot about him. They both walked over to the group, and sat down next to them.

"Virgil! Logan!" Patton called, happy to see his friends. "Hello!" Remus called as well, only happy to see Logan. "Hi..!" Roman whispered quietly to Virgil, blushing slightly. "Hey, Roman.." Virgil responded, hoping his makeup hides his red face. "Ree, is that new?" Virgil asked, pointing at the collar on Remus' neck. "Why won't you ask your brother~?" Remus responded, making a flirty face to Logan. "Ew- you could've just said yes" Virgil wanted to throw up thinking about his brother and Roman's brother having... Adult times. Remus scoffed. "Has anyone seen Barry? We were supposed to study now but he's not responding to my texts." Logan quickly changed the topic. "Probably still asleep, he oversleeps constantly" Remus responded, taking out his bottle (that's full of some blue liquid that seems full of sugar) and taking a sip. Logan is disgusted by the drink, but moves on, "he's usually here by now..." he checks his phone's notifications again. "Ugh, why does it matter? We're having a conversation here now" Remus rolled his eyes.

There was silence for a few seconds, only the sounds of Patton's chocolate chip cookies in his mouth were heard. "Wassup nerds" Janus sat next to his younger brother, Patton, and placed his bag of oatmeal cookies besides him. "Good morning, Jan" Remus smiled. Virgil and Roman rolled their eyes, they both disliked Janus a bit too much. Janus flashed a sarcastic smile back at them both, raising the tension.

"hey, Remus, may i speak to you in private?" Logan asked, cutting the tension. "Ooo~" Remus smirked. "About a serious topic. Now." Logan hurried. "Alright alright" Remus got up, and Logan followed. They both walked inside the building, they were out of sight in a moment. "Well.... Uh, Roman, did you see the vid i sent you?" Virgil asked, attempting to start a conversation without Patton or Janus. "I did! Wait- we're talking about the dnd one, right?" Roman hurried to clarify, and Virgil nodded, "yeah so i did watch it, it seemed really interesting! I'd love to do a game with you some day" Roman blushed. Virgil smiled awkwardly, wanting to show Roman his years of campaign planning just for him, but he knew it'd seem weird. "Hey, lovebirds, there are more people sitting with you" Janus exclaimed, signaling at himself and his brother. Roman and Virgil both burst into denying chatter, while Patton giggled to himself. They all spent the rest of the break talking about some math teacher that got pregnant from a different teacher. Remus and Logan didn't come back.

- - -

At the end of the school day, as Patton walked out, he saw two cute boys talking right outside the school's gate. He took a deep breath and approached them. "H-hey! My name is Patton, and I think you look really cool, wanna be friends?" He asked, seeming as innocent as a baby. The taller one chuckled, "sure. Im Remy, this is my twin brother, Emile" he smiled, and took a sip out of his coffee. Emile smiled a bit, already knowing he's got feelings for Patton, he always saw him around, hanging with hus classmate, Virgil, and he always seemed so sweet and caring. It was obvious he liked puns, just perfect for him. "He's awkward" Remy whispered to Patton, and preceded to be slapped by Emile. Patt giggled, but in a friendly way rather than a bullying way. Thats when Janus whispered into Patton's ear, "we need to get home, bitch" and laughed.

"LANGUAGE!!" Patton shouted. Janus just kept laughing. "Sorry, uh, this is my brother, Janus" he explained to his new friends. "Is Janus your actual name?" Emile asked, his sweet honey colored eyes glowing with curiosity. "Nope, its Julia. But i really hate that name, so i changed it. Too feminine" Janus explained, grabbing Patton's hand, "now, me and my beloved brother need to head home. See ya!" he dragged him off to the bus stop.

- - -

"he was amazing!!" Emile called, flapping his hands. "His brother was hotter." Remy replied, sipping his coffee like the bad bitch that he is. "Sometimes i really dont get how you're my twin brother and not some distant uncle of an uncle" Em joked. "What can i say, I'm the Picani with the most personality" Remy flipped imaginary hair (his hair is too short). "Pfft, yeah, right. You dont even know what you're gonna do next week, i already know what im learning in college." Emile joked as they both started walking home.

[cxtori]

word count: 1,684

Series Masterlist

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Typical Story ~ Hobo Johnson Bad Day ~Justus Bennetts

Tori's Note: Once again being reminded of how bad I am at writing action scenes. let's ignore it please lmao

You rub at your eyes with the heels of your palms, the bright light of your laptop screen becoming too much for them to handle. You feel like you’ve been staring at it the entire day, though, you’ve only been working on reports for an hour or so.

Today was just not a good report writing day and you’re tempted to take a page from Dazai’s book and disappear for a few hours. Or a few days.

You let out a sigh and lean back in your chair with a stretch, your head hanging over the back of the chair to look out at the sky through the window.

You lean back further to look down at the street, watching as dozens of people walk by, some with children, others with shopping bags, some running in a hurry and others taking a little stroll.

And then you find a familiar face amongst them. It was Hirotsu, walking casually down the pathway, his hands in his pockets.

It wasn’t entirely unusual to see someone from the Port Mafia out and about. It’s bound to happen when you live in the same city. And the office is located by many popular shops and cafes. Even so, you’re a bit surprised to see him there.

It’s been a few weeks since you first met Tachihara and you, foolishly, haven’t been able to get those amber eyes out of your head ever since. There was something about him that had gotten stuck in the back of your mind and it had become a growing agitation for you.

You had no business thinking about a Port Mafia member, you knew that. They were dangerous criminals whose actions only gave you more work. Though you guess you could be grateful for the job security. Even so, you’d be damned if you said you didn’t find the guy attractive. It’s too bad you’re supposed to hate each other.

You push away the thoughts with another exaggerated sigh and stretch your arms across your desk, resting your chin on the pile of papers in front of you. You’ve barely had your eyes closed for 10 seconds before you’re being tapped on the head.

You open your eyes and look up to see Kunikida standing above you, knocking you on the head with his notebook.

“Come on, Y/n,” he scolds, a hint of annoyance in his voice. “I need those reports done by the end of the day. No time for resting.” You groan loudly, spreading yourself further over the desk.

“These aren’t even my reports! Dazai was supposed to finish them.”

“Well, Dazai isn’t here and I still need them completed.”

“Ugh, why are you always dumping his work on me? Give it to Akiko, she’s not doing anything,” you comment with a pointed glare at your sister who only gives you a sly smile in return.

“I give it to you because I know you can be trusted to get it done on time.”

“Damn me and my timeliness,” you mutter and fold your arms under your head. “Just give me five minutes. If I read the words 'preliminary investigation summary' one more time, I think my eyes are going to fall out.”

Kunikida gives a huffy sigh, but doesn’t push any further.

“I was going to have you show Atsushi how to do it, but it seems the little brat has disappeared.”

“Cut him some slack, Kunikida. He’s only been here for a few days, he’ll need time to adjust,” you say, your words a bit muffled by your arms. “I just hope he doesn’t try to take off. I don’t think he’ll last long out there.”

“I say we let him leave if he wants to,” Ranpo comments, popping the marble into his soda bottle.

“You’re just jealous of the attention he’s been receiving,” Akiko says. Ranpo just averts his eyes, taking a swig of his drink.

“Speaking of receiving attention,” Kunikida starts, shifting his gaze over to the blond-haired boy sitting quietly at his desk doing his own work. “Kenji, you caused quite a stir in town the other day.”

“Haha, yeah, sorry about that.”

You close your eyes and lay your head back down as your mind tunes out the conversation now drifting into pointless reprimanding. You appreciate the moment of peace, even if it is filled with your coworkers jabbering.

Unfortunately, your moment of serenity is very short lived as the door to the office is suddenly blown off its hinges, flying into the room before shattering into pieces on the floor.

You lift your head up but don’t bother to stand, even as a group of men in suits, armed to the teeth, clamber into the office with guns pointed. Machine guns. That’s excessive. There’s a moment of tense silence before three people push their way to the front of the group.

The Black Lizard. You feel your chest tighten, but not out of fear, more out of pure annoyance. So that’s why Hirotsu was here. He wasn’t in this part of town to get a nice cup of coffee, he was here for an attempted raid. You were already having a tiresome day, this is unwanted.

Hirotsu gives an insincere apology for the intrusion, but you don’t hear any of the conversation after when you see the familiar face beside him.

Those honey-gold eyes you’ve annoyingly had stuck in your head for weeks. The smirk plastered on Tachihara’s face falters when his gaze meet yours, like he’s surprised to see you. He knows you work for the ADA, why wouldn’t you be here?

You don’t have time to think about it as gunfire rings out. You drop to the floor, dragging most of the items on the desk with you. You grab your stapler and launch it at the head of one of the gunmen, knocking him out.

The rapid gunfire slows as the others quickly handle the situation. Feet shuffle past you as you lay on the floor under the desk and you recognize one of the pairs of shoes. You reach out for them, effectively tripping the person they belong to.

Tachihara tumbles to the floor in front of you, whipping his head around to see what caught him.

“What the hell!” You snap. You know you can’t expect much. You’re not friends, not even good acquaintances. But this was insane. He blinks at you before that smirk creeps back onto his face.

“Don’t get mad at me, I’m just following orders,” he smirks and your face heats. Whether it’s with a blush or out of anger, you’re honestly not sure. Whatever happened to not wanting war?

You open your mouth to say more, but before you can, Kenji is quickly lifting him from the floor and out of your view.

The gunfire by this point has completely stopped and you decide it’s probably safe to stand now. You wrap your hand around the broken off leg of a chair nearby and get to your feet. As soon as you’re vertical, one of the men charges at you in an attempt to take you down.

You sidestep and swing your stick into the back of his head, bringing him to the floor. Just as the man crashes, Atsushi comes bursting through the door, intense fear on his face. But his fear is quickly replaced by dumbfoundedness as he takes in the scene before him.

Whoever these mafia members were, they weren’t very difficult to deal with. Even the Black Lizard had been taken care of, their unconscious forms laying on the floor.

Kunikida scolds Atsushi for disappearing while the rest of you take in the mess that you now have to clean up.

“What should we do with them?” Kenji asks. Kunikida gives him a look as though he should already know the obvious answer.

“Just throw them out the window,” he instructs calmly. “Ami. Heal their injuries before Kenji tosses them out.”

You groan and look around the room, the various members scattered around as well as the pile of them resting on top of each other.

“Ugh, I would rather finish the reports,” you mumble. “Can’t we just leave them like that?”

“No,” he says sternly. “A fall from this height in their state could be bad. Now do it before they wake up!”

“Fine, fine. Jeez,” you mutter under your breath. You drop to your knees beside a few of the men, placing your hands on two at a time. “Pop in here and wreck the place like that. You’re lucky I hate Kunikida’s scolding.”

You get the few men laying around the room ready for Kenji to chuck out the window before making your way to the pile in the middle of the room. You let out a huff and start working your way through them. Heal two, toss one, heal two, toss one.

You come to Gin and Hirotsu, healing the latter very carefully, afraid to be in contact with him should he wake up. You didn’t want to get mangled like the poor office door.

And then you find Tachihara, still out cold.

You place a hand over his chest as it glows with a golden light. Your eyes travel up to his face and you soon find yourself staring. He’s somehow even more attractive when his face isn’t scrunched in a scowl or stretched with a murderous smile. What a shame.

You become acutely aware of how warm his body is beneath your hand, his heart beating steadily against your palm. You pull your hand away and call for Kenji to throw him out the window.

He comes to collect him, effortlessly picking him off the floor and launching him through the window to join the others on the street.

You look around the room, office supplies and papers on the floor, broken fragments of tables, chairs and the door scattered around, bullet holes in the walls. They really went overboard this time.

“Just following orders”. And that obnoxious smirk he’d given you. What an asshole.

You had to get him out of your head.

taglist: @chuuminn

©Cxtori 2024 please do not copy, plagiarize, repost or translate any of my works. reblogs and interactions are appreciated 🧡

[peacesmith]

Beach episode!

word count — 900+

genre — fluff, slight slight slight angst if you squint but it’s resolved very quickly, family yay

pairing — reigen x kanke, maya is included omg!

content warning — reigen and kanke are being gay and in love again, but that’s alright. kanke also has a slight sensory overload.

notes — uhhh i love maya and everybody should thank @charlies-crushes for creating this child because she’s my child now. but anyways i wanted to make a fic based off of the few things charlie’s told me about maya and what i could gather. hopefully i can make a full blown fic or comic of her and kanke hanging out once i get her characterization down.

hands and knees i love you maya.

tag list — @bambikisses66 @over--heaven @charlies-crushes @sharkruss | tag list

It was unbearably hot for some reason in Seasoning City, Japan.

It was so hot in fact that Spirits and Such Consultations Office had to shut down for the day.

Nobody wanted to come out to get an exorcism in the heat, and it seemed like the spirits didn’t want too either. Funny.

Kanke laid against his chair, his tie loosened up and shirt, for once, unbuttoned. He had abandoned his jacket a long time ago and Reigen was in the same boat as him.

“Ugh… It’s so hot. Kanke… Why is it so hot?” Reigen groans, leaning his head back against the chair. Slightly swiveling around a bit.

“I dunno… Maybe it’s because the AC is out?”

Jeez, he hadn’t even thought about that. The AC being out was probably the worst thing to happen.

They’ve been having minor problems with the office. Occasionally the lights would go out, sometimes the service would be slow, or there would be a few leaks. But the AC being out was probably the worst of them all.

He groans again. He felt like he’d die if he went out there. With eyes closed, he stays there for a moment. The lights seemingly a little brighter than normal, which was slightly overstimulating, but he was too hot to get up and dim them.

But his suffering wouldn’t last any longer when the door to the office opened.

A young girl coming through the door. Her bag on her shoulder with her phone in her other hand. Kanke lifts his head up and speaks.

“Oh, hey Maya. ” He then lays his head back, feeling his head starting to get hot.

Reigen on the other hand repeats Kanke’s words, only strained out. Given that he felt as if he spoke anymore, he’d explode.

Maya looks between her two dads before sighing. Rubbing the back of her head. It’s hot, yes, but she didn’t think they’d be this miserable. Lousing around together suffering in heat together.

“Why haven’t you guys gone home yet?” She asks. The blond male a few feet away from her puts a hand on his forehead. Forcing himself to speak. “If we walk, we’d melt.”

To be fair, Reigen’s place wasn’t very close. Much to both adults’ dismay.

She sighs again before turning around, unlocking her phone and typing in something. She’s quiet for a moment, then she turns back around.

“Come on, we’re going to the beach.”

‘It felt even hotter on the beach. ’

That was Kanke’s thought as he stood a few feet away from Maya and Reigen, watching with a soft expression as he put the sunscreen on various parts of her face and arms.

His eyes squinted, but not due to the sun. It was mostly due to the loud noises of the beach, a faint ringing in his ears.

He ignored it, continuing to watch them as he held the beach ball gingerly in his grasp. The sounds of loud children screaming, birds cawing, music blasting was a lot to handle. And the sand between his toes made his skin crawl.

He hated it.

It wasn’t exactly loud, just overwhelming. Maya noticed that look on his face, when his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes and the way he squinted. She didn’t say anything for the moment, continuing to watch Reigen put more than enough sunscreen on her.

Once he was done, he turns to Kanke. Although his smile slightly faltered at his partner’s expression.

“You alright?” He asks to which Kanke could only nod and hum. Continuing his hold on the ball as he forces out his words.

“I just… Haven’t been to the beach in a minute, that’s all. ”

Reigen didn’t buy it for a second. He knew Kanke, and by the looks of it, he was overstimulated. He waves off Maya for a moment, telling her he’ll be back soon. Watching her run off for a moment and then turns to Kanke.

“You don’t have to lie to me you know. ” He says, leaning over slightly and digging into the bag he brought with them. He pulls out a pair of headphones and hands them to Kanke, which he takes from him.

The Esper lets out a small huff and puts them on. The ringing in his ears was dying down a bit, and his head feeling clearer. Giving Reigen a small smile.

“You shouldn’t keep those things a secret, from me or Maya. If you’re overstimulated, try to communicate with me alright?”

Try. Kanke repeats in his head and places the ball down, grabbing onto Reigen’s hands. He rubs his thumbs across his knuckles, a silent thank you. No words were needed between the two of them. Reigen leans in to kiss Kanke before—

SPLASH.

Maya’s holding a water gun with a cheeky smile on her face. Waving it around. “Come on! It’s super hot out here and I wanna get in the water with my dad’s, not watch them kiss. ”

She splashes them again, a chuckle escaping Reigen’s lips. He shakes his head and cracks his knuckles. Reaching out his hands, he starts to chase after Maya to the water. Leaving Kanke there for a moment to watch them. He smiles, glancing down at the ring on his finger.

He was so worried about being uncool in front of Maya, he forgot for a moment that they don’t care.

With a sigh of relief, he raises the ball and kicks off his shoes. Chasing after them to the water. He yells with a small grin on his face.

“Don’t forget the ball!”

[stabbyfoxandrew]

It's all good! I never expected to get a quick answer, as I sent so many questions and kind of knew you'd probably have to think about some of them. I was going to comment directly on the post, but character limit caught me, ugh.

I don't know why but I can imagine most angels kind of being a bit bitchy, so I totally understand Neil! I'd probably do the same lol I hope Andrew at some point just starts buying clothes for Neil, like Andrew one day just shows up with one bag in hand and just gives it to him, no justification whatsoever. But… if it's the clothes Neil died in, do they have blood? Or did they get magically cleaned? How physical is he when he's walking around invisible? Does he have to constantly dodge people when walking around? (That sounds so fucking annoying, I constantly have to do that myself) If somebody spilled sauce in whatever place he's supposed to be currently occupying, would he end up full of sauce? Do his clothes ever get dirty? I'm just envisioning him walking to a laundromat to put them to wash, and just hanging out invisible and shirtless while he's waiting for it to be done.

I'm dying to know what Incident you're talking about! I'm like "feeed me moreeee".

Aaahh, was the part "Unless there are any other semi-invisible people in it." in the last wip post a reference to Kevin's guardian angel?? Is it someone we know? Also also, is there somebody extra in the team (since they couldn't recruit Neil)?

I'm glad to help! I'm glad I can contribute a bit to the story, it makes me happy. I definitely get the blurry weeks too, even months tbh. I haven't been much better, but I'm alright. The best I can possibly be atm. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with Webkinz, I didn't play that many games as a child. I had a Nintendo DS, tho. I miss my Super Mario Bros :') Anyway, just try to take one day at a time, you know? <3

Aw. I hate character limits so much. D: Like, come on man. Let me yap! But anywho. I'll be yapping under the cut! :) <3

You’re absolutely right about the other angels. Like, “Uh… this kid looks insane and also he’s talking to his charge? That’s… not allowed. We are not messing with him. No thank you.” 

Also omg that would be really cute. Andrew just throwing a plastic bag in Neil's lap and sitting down beside him. Neil just: What’s this? | Andrew: I'm tired of looking at that hoodie so I got you one that's not ripped all to hell.

Neil’s clothes aren’t bloody, thankfully. (Oh my god. Can you imagine the night Andrew met Neil if he’d been covered with dried blood? That would’ve gone so differently. And badly. :’)) But no. His clothes had been miracled clean. Like, when he ‘woke up’ to the bright light, he was clean.

Neil doesn’t generally get out of the way. If a human walks through him, that’s their business. (They will experience a sudden chill, but Neil doesn’t know that he has that effect. And he doesn’t care. Lol.) 

Ooh. That’s interesting. So let’s see… If, for example, Neil were sitting in the dining hall with Andrew and the monsters— invisibly of course— and someone spilled something on him… I think I’ve gotta say it would just… get all over him.

And Neil would accidentally pop into Andrew-mode because the shock of suddenly being doused with soda or soup or whatever would have him ‘letting go of the button’. Andrew would likely get choked, Neil might have to do this invisible heimlich maneuver… It would be… Not good. Hilarious, but not good. 

So that’s why Neil typically chills on the roof whenever Andrew isn’t Traveling. Less of a chance to majorly fuck up if he’s not around all the humans. :)

Yes, Neil’s clothes sometimes feel dirty to him. He’s since learned to magic them clean. :) A lot of trial and error on his part. Luckily he doesn’t have to strip naked and wash his clothes in the dorm’s laundry room. Lmao. Naked angel vibing in the corner. Gkldjglk 

Ahhh, I can’t tell you yet. TWT I’m sorry…

Also! Not really. Andrew was mainly just being a smart ass! :) He likes to do that. (We do know Kevy's angel.)

As for the team. No. Janie is still there, but otherwise they haven’t got any other new players. See, Kevin had picked out this striker for them to go see. Out in some tiny town in Arizona. But before they could fly out to see him play, his coach called Wymack to say he’d up and transferred suddenly with only a month left before graduation. Didn’t say where he was moving to or why he was leaving. Kevin was devastated that they’d lost this kid because he could tell he had potential. :((

<33333 I hope things get better soon for all of us. Also, Webkinz is a virtual pet game and I love it dearly. :) I have a couple of pets named Andreil and Kandrew on it right now. Haha. 

Thanks for always being so lovely! <333 I love you dude!! <3

[caramel1mochi]

Weekend Together [Gekko x F! Reader] [2]

Heya! Welcome back!

Thanks for all of the likes, reblogs and follows, I can't tell you how much I appreciate every interaction on my posts! Also I feel a bit better I'm not the only one simping for fictional men, haha...

Anyway, please be patient with my abhorrent formatting I JUST discovered that shift + enter is a thing that exists and I'm very humiliated.

❤ฺ·。

Gekko x F! Reader

Part 1 - Part 2

Genre: Fluff

Synopsis: Gekko gets over his anxiety and finally asks you out, watching delightfully as you finally let your guard down. Or so he thinks.

。+❤ฺ·。❤ฺ·。+❤ฺ· +❤·。❤ฺ·。+❤ฺ·

Jett looked toward the group, clearly irritated.

“그 잘난 체하는 작은… we’ll show him, I’ll empty his wallet one of these days!” <That smug little…>

“Are you gonna mug him, or something?”

Gekko joked, but was quickly silenced once everyone’s eyes locked onto him; a sense of determination flooding each and every one of them. Maybe... too much determination.

Killjoy spoke up.

“Warten! The date! You’re going on that date, Gekko!” <Wait!>

“Date?”

“That’s right! You’ll go on that date and ask her where she’s from!”

Wingman gurgled on Jett’s lap, forcing a smile on the Korean’s face. Gekko quickly looked down on his bag to notice the empty display. But after the fifth time, he was hardly surprised she managed to steal him under his nose.

“See? Even Wings agrees!”

“That’s not what he–”

“Please, Gekko? For me? Think what that money could–”

Just as she went to speak another word to guilt him into following through, he put a hand on her face and pushed her away with an unamused expression.

“I’m not using A/N just so you guys can win a bet. She'd kill us if she found out, you know that?”

“Come on, fam. You’ve stalled for a whole week already! She’s probably forgotten about that Deadlock thing by now!”

Gekko blushed and leaned back on the seat once more. True. He’d even picked out a location and everything. Even the perfect time to go, one that would align with your schedule. But he just couldn’t make the first move, not when you’d barely even bother to say ‘hey’ back.

“Chale, man, I don’t even know how to ask her.” <No way,>

“Mate, look around you! You’ve got so much good advice just waiting to be handed to you. All you have to do is ask!”

He lifted his chin and looked towards the obvious solution that sat literally just opposite to him. That’s right, Killjoy and Raze, a set of warm smiles lifting their cheeks. The first ever officially established couple in the protocol.  How could he be so stupid? They're right there! He could just ask–

“Erm, mate, I wasn’t talking about them.”

Gekko met his gaze with a raised eyebrow.

“Okay, fine. Show me your ways, wise sage.”

❤ฺ·。

Even when you were getting ready for bed, you had to run around for your nightly routine to make sure everything was ready. And by the time you finally laid down, covered yourself with the blanket and closed the lamp next to you, your phone buzzed with a notification.

With a deep sigh, you took the phone and checked the oncoming text. But it was from the last person you’d expect.

Gekko. 

‘Are you free tomorrow?’

Ugh. Tomorrow was supposed to be your private time. By the looks of things, he was about to follow up on that promise he made a week ago.  And what you hated more was that you remembered.

‘Yes. What is it?’

‘I was wondering if we could go out?’

…

Oh. Wow. 

You didn’t know what to say, really. He actually followed through. When’d he get so bold, anyway? He could hardly muster up a sentence around you, not when he starts acting like a teen who’s experiencing their first ever crush in their entire life. 

Oh wait.

But it still surprised you. Usually, you’d hang out with the posh ones. Professional, poise, well spoken. Two-faced. Which is why you were one of the superiors. So, in a way, Gekko was a refreshing change of pace.

So, whatever.

‘Sure. What time?’

Unbeknownst to you, as you put your phone down and covered yourself with your blanket, this simple text made Gekko’s heart skip enough beats it nearly constituted an emergency.

[lyneytricks]

IM A SUCKER FOR SCARALAYLA CONTENT PLEASE BESS MY SOUL

Hi!! Welcome, welcome!!

I've never written so fast in my life. You're lucky today, this scenario appeared directly into my head the moment I thought of them~~ Ahhh revising eachother's theis-es? How's that callled? Anyway!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

Genre ➸ Fluff 

Warnings ➸ Probably ooc Layla. Scara's named Kunimitsu, Layla’s bad at flirting™ Not proofread :3 

A/N ➸ I was malding during the entire writing process T-T I’ve had Quererte a ti by Ángela Carrasco stuck in my head and I had to hold myself back so hard to not write angst, hope you enjoy :D 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

“Hey, your wording’s off on this part” Kunimitsu states, pointing at Layla’s paper “Listen to this... ‘Based on a sample size of 124 cases, we could only attain 60 percent accuracy. Results are not reliable enough to be implemented as a rule’ That sounds weird. Are you half asleep, or something?” Taking a pen, he crosses out words, writing annotations and replacing them, hunched over the desk like a mad artist. 

“The change inbetween sentences is too drastic, you should change that... And I'd also change ‘attain’ for ‘achieve’, but maybe I’m just too picky” Groaning, he sets the pen down, stretching and looking at the cafe's ceiling “How’s mine going? Any thoughts?” 

Rubbing her eyes, Layla yawns, taking a sip of her coffee and looking at what she’s written down “Well... I know it’s supposed to be about Inazuma’s societal and political issues, but... Don’t you think you’re making every problem in the nation out to be, uhm... The Shogun’s fault? This looks less like an academic paper and more like hate mail to Tenshukaku...” 

Giving him his papers back before he can give off a petty comment, Layla taps her thighs, trying to hype herself up “So... This place is closing soon...” swinging her legs back and forth, she tries to finish the sentence, while Kunimitsu raises an eyebrow at her, drinking what remains of his tea “And? I know when this place closes, we’ve been coming here together for a month straight, what are you getting at?” 

Layla takes her own papers from the desk, getting them inside her folder and placing it inside her bag “Uhm... Would you want to... I don’t know, go somewhere? We still have time before everything around here closes, so I thought-”  

Kunimitsu cuts her off, looking at her as if she’d just threatened death upon his family “Why would you ever want to go with me? It would be of much more use to you if you just went to sleep, your thesis is basically finished already” Taking his bag in one hand, Kunimitsu gets up, placing some mora on the table and getting ready to leave 

Think, Layla, think! What do the characters in romance novels say!? “I, uhm... I just thought, since you’ve been so stressed over your thesis... We could hang out? Just for a while, to de-stress, maybe..?” 

“Ugh, fine” 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

[symptoms-syndrome]

Ugh reading my old psych reports is always such a mixed bag. I don't rly know why I do it.

My most recent psych report is mostly just about autism. And it's fine. Says all the normal stuff about autism. Struggles with "reciprocal social interaction," also apparently they said I have a "very restricted affect," which is interesting. It's not something I'm aware of. I know that I do TRY and make faces sometimes to convey how I feel but that's very much a conscious effort. It said I have "low imaginative play" or something like that which I'm not sure what they mean by that. I know what it means for kids but not for adults.

But it also includes some background info from my previous psych tests, ones that were done somewhat punitively in middle and high school. It says I struggle to make relationships with others. I'm "paranoid and oppositional with those around [me]," "intense and volatile," and that I "place [my] needs before others, while simultaneously relying on positive feedback from those around [me] to feel good about [my]self."

On one hand, I know that that testing was obviously biased against me in the first place. I was also in a really, really hard spot. Plus, obviously, I don't have a full memory of what I was like to confirm or deny any of that. But on the other. What if they're right? They're the professionals. What if I'm so self obsessed I don't even see my own shortcomings? What if all that psychobabble is why I can't make friends like I want to? It's hard to fix something I don't even see. I wish someone could point out exactly what I'm doing wrong. I did wrong bad things a lot as a kid without knowing. People told me all the time that what I was doing was wrong or bad and it always took me by surprise because I didn't know.

I really, really wanted to make friends my whole life. I never really understood why I couldn't. It feels like I need to investigate, dig into what those professionals saw in me and eliminate it. Like digging out a bullet from a wound. How am I supposed to be a better person if I don't confront my flaws?

I also feel like I'm so, so buried under all the diagnoses I've gotten over my years in psych. BPD NPD OCD ODD PTSD MDD GAD all these fucking acronyms and labels all before I was even an adult!!! How am I supposed to know who I am when who I am has always been defined by a DSM code. I've always been a disorder or a sickness. My therapist says most of those diagnoses are bullshit, either just in general or for me specifically. Which, and I know I'm a biased party, but I agree with.

I want to be a good person so, so bad. I don't know why people don't think I am one. I feel like I need to try harder. There's something rotten inside me and I need to find it and get rid of it. But I can't find it. I'm trying my very very best but still can't manage to be a person who's okay for other people to be around and I don't know why.

TW for CSA stuff under the cut.

It also notes in both previous tests that I was "very sexual" and "had sexual relationships with classmates and adults." It says that I reported "it's what my brain did and I didn't like it" and that "I didn't know how to stop."

That makes me sad. I don't remember explicitly any of that, but the idea makes me sad.

It really is one of the ways I try to connect with others. It's the way my brain feels like it's wired. It's got very clear rules, it feels like. It's a clear exchange. And like. I don't know. It's something I know I can offer that people will want to take. "They want to have sex with me" is sort of my default...I don't know. Instinct when someone shows interest in me. I know it isn't true all the time. I just feel like sometimes it's all I can give. My other interests and everything is sort of secondary. Like...people will listen to me talk about Sonic or let me be weird or will hang out with me if I give them sex.

I hated hated hated being called sexual or a pervert or anything like that in school but it was also like. The thing that everyone defaulted to when talking about me. Even friends made jokes about it that I hated. I was always the sexual one. And at the time I didn't really know why, because I didn't feel like I was very sexual. Now I know that it was mostly dissociative barriers.

It just makes me sad, also, because like. Isn't that one of the big red flags for CSA? Why didn't anyone do anything about it other than punish me? Why was a child being punished for being sexual when they should have been...I don't know. Helped? It was clearly an issue that was fairly obvious. I don't know why I was punished for things I just didn't understand.

And now I'm all messed up about it. I don't know how to have close relationships because my brain just puts sex as a major factor so if people don't want to have sex with me...I don't know what they want.

[idealisticrealism]

TCL 2x08 recap

Well, I guess it’s not surprising that I broke my record with this one lol. Honestly this episode made me suffer so goddamn much and I loved every single minute of it. 

So in honour of the hiatus this week, have this very belated monster instead lol

Like seriously, you already know you’re ~In For It~ when the ep opens with Thony watching her baby boy sleep like she’s been sitting there practically all night ugh.  And then her hurriedly packing a bag with enough clothes to last at least a week or more and not even waiting for the rest of the household to wake up before getting Fi to get them out of there?? God you just know she spent the whole night thinking about the danger she’d put them in, and all the choices she’d made, and now she’s doing what Thony does and Trying To Fix Everything Herself. At least she finally tells Fi a tiny bit more about what’s going on with Garrett and the FBI though (sidenote: I find it really cute to imagine the conversation last night where the family is all ready to go to bed and Garrett is just like ‘oh don’t mind me, I’m just gonna hang here on your couch for a couple hours… any chance you have an iphone charger?’ lol). But ugh I love Fi’s “If we go, we go together” to Thony bc firstly these two and their sisterhood gets me every time, but also it’s reminiscent of Arman’s “We’ll do it together” from 2x07, and now I’m emotional thinking about the fact that for years Thony could only truly rely on herself, and now she is surrounded by people who love her, who want to help carry her burdens with her and who would do anything for her. Plus the whole “Oh so this is about him?” / “No, it’s about you! It’s about our family” exchange is so goddamn amazing because the truth is that it’s both– Fi and the kids are her family, but now Arman is her family too, and she is doing whatever she can to protect them all ughhhhhh

Ugh Chris and Fi continually have such incredible scenes together. I love their dynamic, the conflict and the support and the way that they’re still always a team. There’s such a well done mix of parent-child dynamic (like her reassuring him when he started to freak out that the cops had come back), and a kind-of-team-mates situation (him helping get the kids ready to go to JD’s, etc), which makes a lot of sense for an oldest child and a single parent. Chris has shown before that while he’s definitely a moody teenager lol, when it comes down to it, he really does take that ‘man of the house’ role seriously and if Fi’s biggest protector– like when he got in between her and Marco and defended her when Marco was yelling at her in like 1x09 or whenever that was. Which is probably partly why he ended up going to the police station too, because he couldn’t face her being punished in order to protect him when his whole job (as he sees it) is protecting her. 

Honestly this show just loves stomping on my heart– Thony’s face as she says goodbye to Luca just kills me, because it just takes me back to 1x06 and “I just want to hold Luca without thinking it’s going to be the last time, you know?” ughhhh.  Back then it was Luca who could be taken from her at any moment, and while tbh that still remains a possibility (whether from rejection of the liver, or one of Kamdar’s men coming after him), now the fear is more that she might be taken from him, that she won’t live to see Luca and the others come home. And god the shot of her standing there alone as they drive away, not even able to force a smile and a wave as they go?? I already feel personally attacked by this episode and we’ve literally only just gotten to the title credits ugh

Ok as much as I hate female characters being killed off to further the development of a male character, I do kind of look forward to seeing what happens with Garrett as a result of all this. Also oooh his suggestion of a mole is interesting– hopefully not Jefferson though, bc he’s cute and I like him haha. I think Garrett might be grasping a bit at the mole idea because if that’s not the case, then he’d have to face the idea that maybe it was him that messed up and left her vulnerable somehow. Also lol getting Kamdar on profiteering is so Al Capone; he’d probably love the idea of following in such famous footsteps. He’d have his lawyers get him off immediately though, bc lbr he can afford the best. But damn Russo’s “[these men are] never the ones pulling the trigger”-- don’t we know that all too well ugh

Of course Thony is doing housework lol– I’m going to take that as a subtle throwback to 1x01, when she was frantically cleaning the kitchen after Theo’s murder and Fi said that she does this when she’s spinning out. Bc though she looks outwardly calm rn, I definitely think she is spinning out, especially with the way she freezes at the knock on the door. But ugh the way she practically slumps in relief at Arman’s voice just gets to me; she’s there alone, spending every moment in fear of someone coming to hurt or kill her, and then the one person she feels safest around– who has literally proven (twice!) that he’d kill for her– turns up instead. (I’m not crying, you’re crying). Though I’m guessing she was expecting him– from the way they talk about meeting with Garrett, it sounds like they’ve been in communication between last night and now; plus, given that Fi took the van, Thony has no transport to get to any meeting location. But ugh the way he only ventures a few steps into the laundry– far enough that he gets a small glimpse of the rooms beyond, but still not really entering her home, because he has no idea whether he would be welcome in that space or not. And when he sees the neatly made bed that is clearly Luca’s, and hears the kind of eerie silence that never exists in a house full of kids, he knows what she’s given up because of him. I love his “you should have gone with them”– telling her that she doesn’t need to see herself as trapped like he is, and that he wouldn’t blame her if she left, even if it caused Kamdar to retaliate against him. Her safety is what matters to him more than anything else. And then omg when he says he’s going to stay with her (Is anyone else hearing faint strains of ‘Someone To Watch Over Me’ playing in the distance or is that just me??), and she just nods???? (never mind me, I’ll just be over here screaming into a pillow for a few minutes at the idea of them staying there alone together aaaahhh). But also oh man I am obsessed with the fact that the old Thony would have said that she was fine, that she was handling things and she could manage on her own. But now she has learned to trust him, and to let herself rely on him to be there for her. She knows that she’d be safer with him there, and she also knows that he doesn’t have a place of his own at the moment– but above all that, she just wants him there. She needs him, and she’s still hurting for the both of them about what happened last night– you can see it in the way her eyes are less able to hold his, and hear it in “I keep playing it in my mind… what he made you do…” ughhhh.  I love her line “maybe we could have done something different” because I could see him instinctively taking that to mean she wished that he had found another way, had made another choice rather than shooting Maya; but she’s actually wishing they’d been able to do something that would have prevented Robert ever using him in that way, would have prevented that pain and burden being put on him. Like I definitely think she is struggling a lot with Maya’s death, but when it plays over in her mind, I don’t think it’s Maya that she’s focused on. I think it’s Arman’s face that she keeps seeing, the panic and then the pain as he realises what he’s going to have to do, and the devastation afterwards, his tears in the car still haunting her. Honestly even though this show hasn’t given us a Thony-crying-in-the-shower scene since the pilot (which is both a good thing and a tragedy, honestly lol), I’m absolutely certain she sobbed in the shower last night after taking off that red dress. Crying for Maya, for Garrett, for herself; but above all, for Arman.

And now, standing here with him in the laundry, she seems like she’s trying not to cry again, her voice all low and her body tense, and it’s only a minute before he cracks and has to reach for her; he’s clearly been holding himself back from her but he just can’t anymore. But ugh the gentleness of the way he touches her arms– instead of just pulling her into an embrace, he basically asks permission to hold her, giving her the chance to either step back and maintain her space, or to lean into his support. And though she hesitates for the tiniest moment– which I’m interpreting as her being afraid to hold him because she feels that if she does, she might not be able to bring herself to let go– she soon gives in and just lets herself have this, lets herself lean into him and wrap her arms around him. Tbh I wasn’t sure at first if her arms were still kind of between them, but after many rewatches I’m convinced she’s definitely holding onto him– and plus I stg there is a sound right before she sighs, like movement against fabric, and I choose to believe the sound mixer person put it in there as the sound of her arms wrapping around him under his jacket lol. And then oh god the sigh. The way she closes her eyes and lets out that breath, lets herself have just those couple of seconds to forget everything else and just be held by him?? Help??

Except ugh that’s all she allows herself– after that one brief moment, her eyes open again and her jaw clenches, and she bites her lip and holds on just that little bit tighter before she forces herself to move back and away, getting them both back on task. And he lets her go immediately– the whole time through the hug he kept his grip light, giving her the control, and honestly the hint of reserve in the way they hold each other makes perfect sense. For him, it’s about not wanting to push her; for her, it’s about protecting herself. She may trust him completely, and be able to rely on him for anything, but she’s careful with her heart, and he’s still married. He’d never deliberately string her along or hurt her, of course, but his situation is still complicated and she doesn’t know what is going to happen. What she does know, though, is that she loves him, and that this might be all she ever gets to have of him. 

God it is such a blessing that the caddy is so recognisable (and probably very inefficient in terms of gas lol), because it means that the bike is the go-to choice for transport these days, and I am so supportive of this lol. Not only is it hot, but I am definitely into all the semi-embracing involved haha. Like what’s the bet Thony actually holds him closer than she needs to on the ride, sinking into him in the way she couldn’t allow herself during their hug? And ugh they look like such a sexy matching pair with their jackets (ngl I saw a jacket the other day that looked a fair bit like the one she wears in this ep, and I ended up buying it lol), which just further highlights their partnership as they face off against Garrett. But oh boy, this is awkward: “now we’re going to take Kamdar down for murder. Him, and whoever pulled the trigger [...] I’m going to make sure every one of those bastards rots behind bars” and lol well if they were planning on trying to tell you the truth before, Garrett, they sure ain’t now.  And ugh the way Thony stands up to him and says that they can’t help him catch Maya’s killer, and Arman immediately looks at her– possibly wondering if she’s about to tell the truth, but trusting her enough not to try to stop her if she is– and then instead she protects him, using logic to explain to Garrett why they can’t help, yet still lying to him just like she’d said she didn’t want to do. Honestly I love so much that even despite her reluctant regard for Garrett, and the way she feels indebted to him for the ways he’s helped her family (though lbr that’s got to be tempered by the ways in which he has previously also hurt her and her family), there’s no question about which side she’s on. Even from the start, her loyalty to Arman outweighed Garrett’s threats and the power of the law behind him, and though she wants them all to be on the same side, she will protect Arman to the end, even if it means completely betraying Garrett and screwing him over. Still, she and Arman are caught between a rock and a hard place rn, trapped by both Kamdar and by Garrett. But if they can take down one, they can be free of the other, so they agree to set up the meet to trap Kamdar. I love that when he brings out the listening devices (sidenote: they’re cool and I’d probably choose the USB or the necklace lol) Arman immediately refuses to let Garrett put her at risk by making her wear one, while Garrett tries to push her into it by using her family as an argument– and I could have easily seen that escalating into a conflict between the two men but Thony just calmly uses logic again and tells Garrett about Kamdar always checking for wires. And ughhhhh that means that this is yet another moment where the writers could have given me the gift of the Robert-making-her-undress reveal but didn’t! Goddammit haha. Anyway to Garret’s credit, he does actually listen to her most of the time, which is why I can’t help but have a certain fondness for him haha. But ugh I’m forever obsessed with all the little glances between Thony and Arman in this scene, the silent conversation happening that Garrett is not a part of– this is some legit married behaviour lol

Okay I’m like unreasonably delighted by the fact that Thony brings Arman in through the front door this time? Like look it could have purely been due to filming factors (ie, having the whole thing shot in the kitchen/lounge area saves having to film them walking through the laundry first), but still. The symbolismmmmm. @enigmaticfox has already made this amazing post about it (seriously go read it) and like she said, there’s something so impactful about the way Thony opens the door wide and grants him access (get your mind out of the gutter Laura), and then when he hovers in the kitchen– looking to her for direction, not wanting to overstep his bounds– she instantly invites him further into her space, the place that is her home and her sanctuary. I love that she takes her shoes off– part habit, of course, but also a sign of feeling comfortable and secure– while he leaves his on. Which is also likely partly habit, since leaving shoes on in the house is common in the US, and also when a guest in another’s home in Mexico. But I also think he is half-expecting to be dismissed at any moment, and so taking off his shoes would feel kind of presumptuous, like it would be sending a message that he’s now here to stay regardless of what she wants. And ugh the way his eyes move around the space, taking it all in, and then focus over in the direction of Luca’s room– while he doesn’t look directly at her bed, I’m choosing to believe he clocked it and realised that that area is her ‘bedroom’, and so despite his intense curiosity about this aspect of her life that he hasn’t yet seen, he respectfully keeps his gaze away, letting her have her privacy. And then ugh I could even get all metaphorical about the way he sits on a single chair while she sits on a couch (aka, furniture which is designed to be shared by multiple people) and also with one of Luca’s toys right next to her– her family isn’t there, but they’re there, always beside her; meanwhile he's alone, visibly separate– except that with her body language, she bridges that gap between them. And don’t even get me started on the way she crosses her legs up under her, much like she does when around her family– like with her taking the shoes off, this is another sign of how safe she feels with him, basically the human equivalent of how a cat will only sleep with its paws tucked under its body when it's around people it trusts. You don’t sit like that if you feel there is any chance you need to escape the situation or protect yourself; it's purely the way our instincts are wired. But ugh anyway of course his first question is to ask her if she’s okay– he knows her, can see she’s struggling just from the look on her face, from the way her eyes are mostly fixed elsewhere rather than meeting his; and all he wants to do is try to ease that burden. I think that being in her space– what is so clearly a family home, but now completely devoid of that family– has really highlighted to him what helping him has cost her, what it could cost her if they don’t get this situation with Kamdar and the FBI resolved as soon as possible; he suddenly feels he’s done nothing but drag her into danger and pain and emotional turmoil, and you can hear in his voice that when he says “then you can get back to your family and forget about all this” he also means forget about me. And then when her response to that is to look him in the eye and tell him “We have to be done with this guy”, you can see how it affects him– there's something so soft and grateful in the way he looks at her ugh, knowing that even after everything she’s been through because of him, she still hasn’t abandoned him; that they’re still in this together. 

So I’ve decided that Agent Chan is one of my favorite side characters lol. She was there during the hotel raid in 1x10 as well, right? Though ugh her not-super-subtly pointing the mic and talking into her earpiece is making me stressed lol. As is the fact that Armony literally cannot control what Kamdar will say– god how terrifying to walk into that situation, knowing that they’re being listened to by the literal FBI, and knowing that Kamdar is exactly the kind of man who loves both the sound of his own voice and gloating over other people's misfortunes? Honestly it’d be a miracle if they managed to pull this off without him saying something that tipped off the FBI about their involvement with Maya’s death. (Also sidenote, but something I love about this show is that we repeatedly see cleaning ladies? Like I mean this one that’s just walked past Armony may turn out to be plot-relevant, but we also see them when they have no bearing on the plot at all– like at Cortes’ place, and in La Habana, etc. I like to think that the show is reminding us that these women are always there, and they are not invisible). Anyways I swear that Joseph has never checked either of them at the door like this before, but sure I’ll just roll with it haha.  And then oooooh damn who do we find in the office? Not Kamdar, but Nadia. I have questions about this, because firstly Arman said they’d ‘set up a meet with Kamdar’– so did they actually contact anyone to say they were coming? Or did they just rock up? Because if they’d contacted Joseph or whatever, then surely they should have known Kamdar was out of town. Unless Arman contacted Kamdar directly and the devious prick just thought it would be funny to have him be faced with Nadia instead when he got there? Which tbh would be consistent with his character, and would also answer my next question, which is when the hell Kamdar put Nadia in charge, considering that last night at the party she seemed very out of the loop. So ok headcanon time: Arman messaged Kamdar to make a time for the meet in the afternoon, and RK (I’m getting sick of typing Robert or Kamdar lol) decided to have a little fun, and immediately called Nadia and told her he wanted her to run things while he was away. It’s genius, really; he gets to score points with Nadia by showing her he trusts and values her, and he gets to set up Arman to most likely have another fight with Nadia while also not getting his cut for the deal. Win-win for RK lol.

Anyway I do like that Thony was the one to suggest aborting mission first; though lbr that was likely mostly because the whole point is to get RK, but at the same time I think she wants to leave Nadia out of things if she can. (another sidenote: I find it very satisfying that Garrett believes Thony and Arman had no idea about Nadia’s connection to RK lol– oh Garrett, you sure miss a lot, don’t you buddy). But ooooh then Nadia insists that she’s RK’s right hand, and so they can deal with her– and tbh I think that that pisses Thony off big time, because Nadia’s supposed to be Arman’s wife, and yet she chooses to ally herself with the man who is trying to destroy him?? I think that that is the moment when she decides that she can’t keep going out of her way to try to protect Nadia, especially since doing so potentially endangers herself, Arman, and her family. Both she and Nadia have chosen their sides, and so now it's just a matter of bahala na– whatever happens, happens. Of course Arman can’t see it like that, and simply has to protect Nadia; partly because she’s family, but also because he’s already betrayed her once by falling in love with Thony, and can’t face the idea of betraying her in this way too. And while Thony understands his need to protect her, I can see her being frustrated about it, especially given her temper– like is he really going to put protecting Nadia above potentially saving the rest of them??? 

Okay the fam all rocking up at JD’s and being welcomed so warmly is just so cute ugh. I just love them?? And then ugh J-Fi being all cute in the kitchen (while putting away the biggest slices of pizza the world has ever seen??) and Jazz watching them is just so funny– I know, girl, I ship it too. Although apparently JD’s gf is called Laura so maybe I should ship that instead, out of solidarity to a fellow bearer of the name lol. (Ngl, I would date this man in a heartbeat haha). But ugh this height difference kills me, and so does their comfort together ugh. He’s sweet and kind and he makes her laugh, and he loves her family like they’re his own (bc they are). So please pleaaaaase writers let them be together ughhhhh

Ooooh Garrett is Big Mad about Arman sabotaging the sting, and lbr Thony’s not delighted about it either. But ugh the way she looks at him every time he says ‘my wife’ and defends Nadia so vehemently? You can see how much it hurts her, each time a sharp reminder that he’s not hers–  she used to have better armour to protect her from that reality, but the more time she’s spent with him, the thinner it’s gotten, and now every reminder pierces straight through. And yet even despite that, she still comes up with a way to get RK without endangering Nadia– but she doesn’t do it for Nadia’s sake. She does it for him, and then when she realises that there’s no way to make the plan work without him taking back his place in Nadia’s life– and all that that entails– she does what she has to do and lets him go, even though it means breaking her own heart. (I’m fine, I’m not crying, shut up). But god this scene was so fucking LOUD with things unsaid; for example, when Arman says he can’t get the keycard bc of being kicked out, the natural response from an outsider, ie Garrett, would be ‘well just kiss and make up then??’ because of course the expectation is that as the dumped party, he would be wanting to fix things and get back together. And then there’s the way Thony suggests it– the “well maybe you should reconcile” where she almost manages to hide the unwillingness with which she says it (it’s the tone and the maybe that gets me, bc someone who was emotionally unaffected in this situation just wouldn’t sound like that). And then to immediately follow that suggestion– that very reasonable suggestion of a man making up with his wife after a big fight, aka something that most people would presume he wants and is already actively trying to do– with the statement “It’s the only way we can protect our families”?  Like honestly they’re both acting as if she’s sending him to the gallows rather than back to the life he was living literally less than a week ago, which is not at all a normal way to behave in this conversation– that is, unless you’re sacrificing the very thing you want most, and telling the man you love to go back to his wife even though it means the two of you can never be together. Because like I said in this ask, it would be a real dick move for Arman to go profess love and devotion to Nadia, and then drop her again the moment he got what he wanted from her– and so if he is going to go ahead with this reconciliation, he has to be all in; he has to commit to making his marriage work, because both he and Thony have too much honour to do otherwise. Which means that getting the keycard for Thony will basically be his parting gift to her, and they both know it; it’s in his quiet ��alright’ and his grave expression, and it’s in the way she looks at him like the words I don’t want you to do this are screaming inside her head. Which, honestly, is a huge fucking deal in itself; even if she’s not admitting anything aloud, she’s still letting him see what she previously would have done her best to hide, and I can’t help but feel that that– the truth written all over her face, the silent admission that this was never just a one-sided thing– is her parting gift to him.

Meanwhile Garrett is just over here seeing all this intense eye contact and mutual angsting and is all like ‘Seriously guys? Right in front of my salad??” lolll. Like honestly, if he didn’t know they were in love with each other before, he sure as hell does now. Though unless he really is an absolutely terrible FBI agent, he’d no doubt have already had some fairly major suspicions based on… well, everything these two have done since they met lol. And I mean the way he looked right at Thony when Arman said Nadia had kicked him out of the house suggested he has a pretty clear idea of what’s up haha. But ugh okay headcanon time: Thony can’t face the idea of the long ride back home with her arms wrapped around Arman– possibly holding him for literally the last time– or the conversation that he might try to have when they get to the house (she’s holding things together right now, but there’s no knowing how long that will last, especially if she has to Talk about it), so she asks Garrett to give her a ride back, saying something about how they don’t have much time so Arman needs to go and start working on the keycard (read: on Nadia) right away. And Garrett looks between the two of them and then is all ‘right, sure, yeah’ and so she just turns and heads straight for the car, and Arman immediately takes a step as if to follow her and reach for her arm, but then he stops and clenches his jaw and turns back to the bike without a word, his movements jerky and rough as he shoves on the helmet and then roars out of there, leaving Garrett standing in a cloud of dust. And Garrett just sighs and shakes his head, then walks around to get into the car. Thony’s staring out the window and he can see the muscle working in her jaw, so he just starts the car without a word, and neither of them say a thing until they reach her house and she starts to get out. “Hey, Thony,” he says quietly, and when she half-glances in his direction, he adds, “I’m sorry.” Because even though he thinks she’s definitely better off being as far from Arman as possible, he knows a little about having a broken heart. She tells him that Kamdar needs to go down for everything he’s done to them, and Garrett promises her that he will. Then she nods and climbs from the car, and he watches as she disappears into the house alone. 

But ugh anyway. I appreciate the symbolism of Arman ringing the doorbell rather than letting himself into the house; it’s not his space anymore, and he doesn’t have a right to be in there without her permission. (And maybe he knows she’ll be more receptive to him if he’s seen as being especially respectful of her boundaries, who knows). Ngl the ‘what the fuck bro’ look she gives him when she sees him standing there is actually kinda funny though. But ok I really want to know how long has passed since they saw each other in the office– probably no more than a few hours, right? Bc I assume Garrett wanted to meet with Thony and Arman pretty much right away after the sting went bust, and I assume Arman went right to the house when he left the meet, so it can’t have been super long? Though tbh I would love if Arman didn’t go straight to the house, and (headcanon time lol) instead took a different road back to the city and ended up stopping by some ravine somewhere, tossing his helmet away from him with a roar of frustration before violently hurling rock after rock over the edge, until he finally slumps back onto the bike, both physically and emotionally exhausted. And then he still doesn’t go to Nadia, but instead rides straight to Thony’s place, sitting there behind the back fence for who knows how long before finally letting out a curse and taking off for ‘home’. But ugh anyway my point (before the headcanoning lol) was that I respect how quickly Nadia went from that sleek sparkly blue number in the office, to her (very cute) around-the-house wear lol. I guess she was upset by the altercation in the office and headed home soon after? Also I love that despite literally being on a mission to woo Nadia back, the first thing he does is order her to stay away from Robert. Like bro are you trying to suck at this? But then ugh when she tells him to leave her alone and go back to taking care of ‘Thony and her kid’– and I wonder if she wishes now that they’d had a child together, so he would have had more reason to stay, since it clearly seems that she alone isn’t enough? Loved that she repeated the ‘there is no us’ and says that he made his choice– but tbh, part of the whole problem is that he hasn’t made his choice? He’s been actively avoiding it this whole time, because while he knows he’s in love with Thony and wants to be with her and would do anything for her, he still loves Nadia as his family, and doesn’t want to just completely abandon her. Especially considering the fact that if she came over from Argentina with RK all those years ago, she likely has no family in Vegas; Thony at least has her little family unit around her, but Nadia has no-one but him. Well, him and RK– and as he says, she’s not safe with RK. Loved getting that bit of backstory that she’d left RK because of being afraid of him (honestly though I am SO curious how one gets away from a man like that and stays in the same city without him trying to drag her back in; unless getting married to a guy who had the protection of a major crime family had something to do with that….?).

Anyway I'm also loving that this scene is proving some of my theories right about Nadia thinking she can control Robert, and also wanting to be around him because he values her. And then she tells Arman to go, and he pauses, clearly trying to find the right thing to say, and settles on the truth, that he’s worried about her. But she’s not interested in hearing it, because she knows that that’s not the issue here. And ugh the shininess to her eyes as she asks him if he loves Thony just hurts me. I hate seeing the pain she’s experiencing because of the two of them and the connection they share– one that they ever intended on, but never stood a chance against, but still. It sucks. I love that even as he made himself lie and say no, it comes out as barely more than a whisper, rather than a firm denial; and then he can’t just leave it there, because on one hand, the lie feels too much of a betrayal of Thony, and on the other, he can see that Nadia doesn’t believe him anyway. But he can’t tell the truth either, because if he were to let that yes out there, she would never take him back; she has too much pride to knowingly be with someone who's in love with someone else. So he settles for the middle ground, because he knows that framing his feelings for Thony as unclear and uncertain and confusing is something Nadia could accept, especially when he says with all honesty that he loves her.  Because he does! She’s his family, has been practically the only family he’s had for years, and he wants them both to always be in each other’s lives. But he hasn’t been happy as her husband for quite some time, and Thony’s appearance in his life just made him able to understand why.

But anyway hooooo boy I do have to say that was some impressive kissing haha– ngl on my first watch I practically had to watch this scene through my fingers, but I’ve built up a bit of a tolerance now lol. And ok I don’t know how much of it was deliberate manipulation, but I did like the way he was very respectful with her, going slow and not pushing, letting her decide if she would let him kiss her or not. And damn when a man can kiss like that, who could blame her for letting him??? 

Gotta say I don’t think I have ever seen a show have scene transitions so goddamn rude as going from Arman seducing Nadia on a goddamn countertop, to Thony sitting motionless and alone in her dark and empty house for hours, to Thony’s entire family laughing and having fun together in the warm light of JD’s place without her???  Like jesus christ writers, why must you hurt me in this way????? (Though ngl the camping in the living room thing was fucking adorable). But ugh Thony calls Fi, reaching out to her family while sitting on Luca’s bed because it’s the closest she can get to being with him, and it’s also a reminder that she’s doing this for him, to keep him safe. And ugh the somberness in her voice is such a contrast to the loud and laughing voices of the family, and even though she tells Fi she made the right call (about sending her family away, about sending Arman away) it seems more like she’s trying to convince herself than Fi. And then she sees Luca, and it makes her really genuinely smile for a moment– and then all too soon he’s gone to play with his sibling-cousins and the call ends and she’s hit again with how completely alone she is. (Like literally when was the last time she spent an entire night alone?? Definitely not since Luca was born, and ughhh that knowledge hurts me).

And then the next thing we see is her curled up on top of Luca’s bed, looking so incredibly small, and tbh I think the writers were having a competition to see how many times they can make me almost cry over Thony in this ep because god dammit this hurts?? Having her so alone and terrified is just awful– and then when she’s startled awake by the sound of someone outside and runs to grab any weapon she can, knowing how little chance she has of protecting herself?? Fuck. She’s so caught up in the panic that even after she hears Arman’s voice, she forgets she’s holding the knife for a moment and has to put it down in the laundry, but then she doubts herself again– she’s been wanting to hear his voice, wanting for him to show up and stay with her like he’d said he would before everything went to hell– so she has to peek out through the blinds to be sure it really is him there. And then she lets him in, heart still racing but her terror replaced by relief– not only that there wasn’t some intruder breaking in to get her, but also that Arman was there, and she wasn’t alone. I really wish we knew what time it was during this scene– ie, like midnight vs just barely pre-dawn, because that would change her perspective of why he’s here. I’m going to assume it’s just late at night, and so she’s looking at him secretly hoping that he’s come to tell her that he failed with Nadia, that there would be no reconciliation and that they would find another way to get access to the office. And hoping that maybe then he would ask if it was still okay for him to stay, to watch over her so she wouldn’t be alone… but instead he says that he’s just stopping by, and then hands her the keycard– and she just stares at it for a second, because let’s be real, it’s like he just handed her a certificate that has ‘JUST RENEWED MY WEDDING VOWS! ALSO MOST DEFINITELY JUST CAME HERE FRESH FROM HAVING EXCELLENT SEX WITH MY SUPER HOT WIFE’ emblazoned across it in fucking giant neon print.  And god the way she takes in a breath and opens her mouth like she’s trying so hard to find something neutral to say– even something simple like ‘okay thanks, I’ll call Garrett’– but then she makes the mistake of looking up at him and the words just die in her throat because she can’t do it, she can’t pretend like this is fine, like it doesn’t hurt to have him standing right there in front of her but now even further out of her reach than he’s ever been. The fact she doesn’t hide that pain from him is huge– yet another wordless admission that she previously never would have allowed herself– and he sees it, and it hurts him too, knowing that he can’t fix it. He’d probably been lying there staring at the ceiling while Nadia slept, trying to figure out what the hell he was going to say to Thony, because how do you tell someone that you love them and wish you could be with them, while actively taking steps to be with someone else? No wonder she cuts him off– I don’t think she could have handled it if he’d tried to tell her what he felt for her right then. So she brushes it all aside with an “It’s fine”– even though they both know it is absolutely not fine, but he respects her decision anyway and doesn’t try to continue the conversation, knowing that he doesn't have a right to try to close the distance between them that he himself has just created.

Ngl when I watched the ep for the first time, I viewed both this moment and the ‘maybe you should reconcile’ scene as him thinking her response meant she didn’t feel the same way about him, and being all angsty like ‘how could she just send me back to Nadia like she doesn’t even care?? Waaaaahhh she doesn’t love me back’ lol, because the idea of him wallowing in completely oblivious misery while she was wallowing in fully-aware misery was pretty damn delicious haha, but then the moment I watched those scenes again I was like ah no he for sure knows exactly what this is doing to them both, and tbh that’s actually even more delicious lol. Because that means that mixed in with all the turmoil and angst and pain, there’s a glowing thread of ‘oh my god she loves me back’ (or at the very least, ‘omg she wants to be with me too’ in case he doesn’t dare hope that she’s like truly ~in love~ with him) but that in turn makes the turmoil worse because it shows exactly what he’s giving up. And I’m honestly so proud that she let him see the truth, let herself be vulnerable and open instead of hiding what she really feels away behind layers of hastily-rebuilt walls. Bc they’ve been doing this dance for so long already where they’ve been practically shouting their feelings for one another through their actions, even as they don’t dare to breathe a word of it aloud; but now they’ve finally at least acknowledged that they’re there, even if they haven’t put a name to them. Which would be really fucking amazing if it wasn’t happening in a situation where they both think that any chance of being together is now gone hahaha. But ugh anyway she manages to bring things back to business by mentioning Garrett (a sure way to kill any romantic moment lol) and then sighhhh she opens the door and shows him out, which is some more downright rude symbolism from the writers tbh. Also this reminds me, I answered an ask about this scene here, which also has my interpretation of his “I don’t know how much time I can buy you”. (Ngl I am immature so I giggle at the implication that he cannot satisfy a woman for very long lol, but also c’mon we already know that’s totally not the case for him haha). But tbh I do love that line, because while he’s mostly trying to protect her by encouraging her to get in and out of the office as quick as she can, there’s also a hint of a plea there; like he’s saying that this reconciliation is by no means guaranteed to last, and is begging her not to give up on the two of them just yet. Which makes her tiny nod mean even more; lbr, he’s going to be clinging to that faint spark of hope in the days ahead. But ugh the way she glances out at him through the blinds one last time while locking the door behind him, and then looks down at the keycard she’s still holding, her jaw clenching? She’d gotten what she needed, but the question is– was it worth it??

Okay seriously, seeing Nadia wake up looking so happy and satisfied really sucks haha. (I mean, this is a great sign for how much Thony is going to enjoy her future life with Arman lol, but damn I really did not need the reminder of all the sexing that occurred– so thanks for that writers, you absolute sadists lol). Seeing her react to the empty bed beside her was hard too, and then the way she smiles at him when he appears with coffees?? Like dammit he’s already broken her heart once and now it’s almost definitely guaranteed to happen again– and even worse this time, because I’m convinced she is going to find out that this make-up was a ruse to allow him to steal her keycard, probably when he inevitably confronts her about the marriage certificate and she realises that the only way he could have seen it is by accessing the office. Not only will the realisation that he used her like that– and even worse, used her in order to help Thony– absolutely shatter her heart, but it will be such a huge blow to her pride that I wouldn’t be surprised if she legit tried to murder him lol. And tbh I wouldn’t be able to say that it’s not warranted, because holy shit this really was a betrayal of epic proportions (no matter how good his intentions were or the fact that he was trying to protect her, it was still unforgivable), and like I said in one of those previous Asks, their relationship will never, ever, ever recover from it. Which tbh is why I couldn’t hate all the Arman/Nadia in this ep, because the way it happened (Arman fighting to get her back, not for her, but for Thony) was literally like watching the titanic get put on a collision course with the iceberg; there’s nothing but absolute catastrophe lying ahead. Plus that’s not even to mention the fact that he was able to convince Nadia to take him back so easily, which clearly shows that the only reason they hadn’t reconciled earlier was because he actually hadn’t even been trying at all. Regardless of what he’d been telling her, he didn’t actually want to get back together with Nadia– especially not when her leaving him had freed him from the obligation that had kept him bound, that had kept him apart from Thony– but it wasn’t until the moment that Thony asked him to reconcile with her that he'd realised it. And then it didn't matter, because like he said in 2x04, he always does whatever it takes to keep Thony safe– even breaking his own heart.

Phew honestly it’s a relief to have an FBI scene, bc this ep is just too goddamn heavy lol. I’m happy to see Agent Chan again, and I hope she was the one who actually messed with his car haha. And then ta-da, looks like the cleaning lady we saw earlier did turn out to be plot-relevant after all, as Thony has put on her trusty cleaning-lady-disguise and taken her place. But ugh I can’t help but think about the fact that she’s in here alone, literally risking her life to get them all free of RK, while Arman is busy canoodling in the comfort of his king size bed. Though lbr, I don’t think anyone hates that fact more than Arman– how awful it must feel, to be deliberately deceiving one woman you love in an incredibly hurtful way, all the while knowing that the woman you love even more deeply is in danger and yet you’re here betraying her (no one will ever convince me that he doesn’t feel like he’s cheating on Thony right now) instead of there protecting her. Aaaand oops I managed to make the FBI scene about Armony lol. Also I get what Russo means with her comment, but I still take offense at her calling Thony ‘your girl’ lol. She is only one man’s girl (and as the song goes, he needs her, lol) and that man sure as hell ain’t Garrett. But ugh of course RK has a fucking advent calendar instead of a safe; thank god Thony gets lucky and finds the ledger after only a few goes, rather than having to search the whole fucking thing lol. But the ledger is not the only thing that she finds– and whatever that piece of paper is, it’s clearly hugely important, because she risks going back to get a photo of it even though she can see Joseph already headed her way. But ugh I do appreciate that Garrett was ready to rush in and save her, but looks like he has learned his lesson about busting in after what happened with Cortes. But also omg the stress of Joseph walking right past her in the hall?? Good thing the old cleaning-lady-invisibility appears to still be effective. Though ngl I was imagining a scenario where he and the other cleaning lady are a ~thing, so when he sees her there he goes over to flirt a bit, and then he realises it’s Thony and they stare at each other like wtf lol. But of course that would not have gone well for the mission, so I guess I will just have to give up on my Joseph x Faceless Cleaning Lady ship dreams for now haha. 

So Thony’s sitting in the kitchen looking at the photos on her phone (or lbr, one in particular, aka the mystery paper) and there’s the knock at the door, and she freezes for a moment, waiting– and then as soon as she hears Garrett’s voice she goes to let him in. And tbh I wonder if her waiting to hear who was at the door wasn’t just about making sure it wasn’t a potential threat, but also maybe she was wondering if it was Arman again, and so she hesitates because she’s not sure she can face him right now? Especially because they’ve now achieved what needed to be achieved, so technically he could call off the reconciliation with Nadia (though as I’ve said before, they both know he actually can’t/won’t, not without it making him an utter bastard). But maybe I’m just making stuff up here lol. Anyway I find it kinda interesting how she and Garrett are a little matchy matchy in their blue tops, like she and Arman had matched in their black jackets. Maybe the costume department showing her connection to both of them? But again, probably just me making stuff up. And then lol of course he casually does the social faux pas of scrolling through someone’s photos without permission, and she gets the phone back real quick, clearly to stop him seeing the pic of the mystery paper. But okay so he tells her they can get RK on criminal profiteering, and I’m confused again about the way he’s changed his tune?? Earlier in the ep he was super against the profiteering charge and was determined for him to go down for murder. What changed?? Or is Garrett planning to use the information gained from the ledger to trap RK in some other way? I need answers lol. But ugh it genuinely sucks when he is all compassionate towards her now because it just makes her feel so much more guilty about Maya… which is why she tries to make it clear to him how grateful she is for everything he’s done for her and her family, and how he’s not to blame for what happened with Maya. I guess she’s hoping that he will remember this conversation after he finds out the truth about Maya, and will know that she did genuinely care for him and that she wasn’t just using him the whole time. (Sidenote, she thanks him for everything he did for her family ‘last night’ but it was actually the night before that. Keep up, writers! lol). Also I can’t remember what ep it’s from, but I swear Garrett has said ‘good work today’ to her before and I’ve decided it’s his little catchphrase lol

Ughghhhhhh have i mentioned lately how much I love the De La Rosa family?? The pureness of the sibling bond between all three kids, and the way that all of them (Fi included) are able to have fun and be silly together? Like ngl this video game scene was an incredibly accurate family depiction haha. Also I love the melodic little sound Fi makes as she walks into the room, like a happy little wordless greeting? God she’s so cute, I want to be besties with her lol. Anyway honestly being here on this little ‘holiday’ with JD has been good for all of them ugh. But oooh the conversation between Fi and JD about Thony is interesting– she tells him it’s unfair for him to say he doesn’t want Jazz anywhere near Thony until the FBI stuff is over, but honestly is it unfair? He’s her father and he doesn’t want her in danger, and I mean before now it wasn’t like there was a way to remove Jazz from that situation, but now he’s back and has a safe place for her to stay, and she’s far better off with him than at the home where Thony’s enemies could find her. And his point about Thony putting them all in danger is kinda fair too tbh. Of course I’m a Thony supporter all the way, though, so I want to say ‘It’s not her fault! She didn’t have a choice!’.... except that that’s not entirely true. With regard to season 1, it was; she was doing whatever she had to do to save Luca, and if that came with a small risk to the family as a whole, she had no option but to accept that and take steps to minimise it as best she could. But now– with all the stuff with Kamdar– it’s different, because it’s not Luca or the family that she’s trying to save, it’s Arman, and she did have a choice. Bc honestly, after 2x04 (when Mr Motel Mustache is dealt with), she could have basically walked away from it all– she didn’t need to continue getting meds with Arman and selling them to help his and Nadia’s debt. And when the fight in 2x05 happened and Arman said they were done, she could have decided that they really were over and that she needed to remove herself from his world, and from him, and he wouldn’t have tried to force her back in; even with RK telling him to get Thony to come clean the office, if she’d outright said no and told him she wanted nothing more to do with him, he would have called one of La Habana’s cleaners and then just gone and borne the consequences of RK’s displeasure himself. But the truth is she was never going to do that. She was never going to walk away from him, not when he needed her– even though she knew it meant putting herself directly in the sights of a man as dangerous as Robert, she did it anyway. But the real question is, if she’d known then everything that would happen as a result of helping Arman, would she still have made the same choice? (Honestly, my gut says yes).  And okay anyway I love that Fi defends her and says that Thony’s the only one who’s always been there for her, but I mean really? How? They’ve been living in separate countries for 15 years, and who knows if Thony has ever even been able to visit before– not to mention that in the past 5 years she’s been completely occupied with just keeping Luca alive and also not going bankrupt from Marco’s assholery. Like I appreciate Fi’s loyalty but I have some questions lol. But oooh yessss at JD’s insistence that they all stay with him until it is all over, I fully support this! Bc as much as Thony being all alone hurts my soul, I love the J-Fi and kids family dynamic– and I mean, Thony’s house being empty means that Arman can come over and that they can…. talk….. without being interrupted lol. Just saying, those two have some reconciling of their own to do  :P

Speaking of the reconciling, god the way Nadia looks like she’s walking on air as she heads into the club is absolutely killing me (though again, what an excellent sign for future-Thony’s happiness haha) bc ugh it’s not fair that the source of her happiness is built on a lie, and that the whole thing is going to come crashing down around her very soon and leave her even more brokenhearted than before– bc let’s be totally honest here, this reconciliation was doomed from the start; we can’t control who we love, and despite Arman’s best efforts and intentions, at this point it would be easier for him to stop breathing than it would for him to stop being in love with Thony. Plus like I said before, there’s no way the man is going to be able to just ignore the marriage certificate– the evidence that she’s been lying to him since they met, and also the thing that could potentially mean their own marriage is void– and so when he inevitably confronts her about it, she’s going to realise that he got into the office somehow, and put two and two together. And ugghhhh even despite my love of Armony, that moment is going to be so hard to watch, because while Nadia has her flaws, she doesn’t deserve this.  And ugh we see just a tiny glimpse of that hurt when she realises the keycard is gone and is faced with the horrible possibility that Arman took it– but of course Thony protected him and left it somewhere where it would be found quickly, but would also still be believable that Nadia would leave it. Which is just even further manipulation of Nadia and ugh it feels gross to watch (though at least we know that both Thony and Arman feel terrible about it, and are only doing it because they have no other choice).  But ugh anyway on a happier sidenote, it’s cute that Nadia waved to the bouncer on her way in; I bet she’s made friends with all of them and they think she’s the best, and I could totally see her with a whole little army of loyal bouncers lol. (So look out, Arman! haha)

Okay so I might be getting a little conspiracy-theorist here, but I’m going to say it anyway: what if Russo is dirty??? Like what if Russo actually was the mole, and has been indebted to RK this whole time??? I mean I know Garrett found the tracker in Maya’s things, and so he now believes that that’s how RK knew where to find her– but who brought him those things? Russo. Russo, who knows him very well, and so would have known that he would have taken absolutely every precaution to hide Maya, meaning that Maya’s abduction and murder would have had him convinced that there must be a mole in their department. And so she preempts that by planting the tracker in Maya’s things and letting him discover it himself, completely erasing his suspicions and leaving her in the clear. Which makes me also wonder if her big promotion is either a) because Kamdar pulled some strings for her to get her the job she wanted, or b) was her looking for reassignment so she can get away from RK without him threatening to expose her. And so what if the whole reason she is pushing for him to be brought down for profiteering rather than murder is because that’s run by a different department, and so RK won’t know that she was involved? Bc I can imagine that if her department tried to take him down, he’d be like ‘well you better make this go away or I’m telling everyone about our arrangement and taking you down with me’. And so while she can’t risk being the one to take him down, she desperately wants to be free of him, which is why she’s pushing for the profiteering angle. But anyway I know I may be way off base with all this, but idk this theory just has a grip on me now lol. Like I don’t think Russo is bad, I think RK just has her in a tough spot, like he has Arman and Thony and so many others. Plus, the way Russo says “Now you know you’re not to blame” after Garrett finds the tracker makes me believe that she didn’t just plant it to cover her own ass– she also did it so he would be able to forgive himself, because she genuinely does care about him and hates that he’s hurting. But ah well, I guess we’ll see in the coming eps whether I’m onto something here or not lol

Damn, the fact that Thony is waiting for Arman outside despite the lingering threat of RK sending someone to hurt her?? I guess she really doesn’t want him in her space rn / is really trying to keep her distance now that the situation between them has changed. (again, the fantastic post by @enigmaticfox really highlighted this).  But ugh I need to know what she said to him to get him to come over– like I assume she texted rather than calling (hearing his voice and knowing that Nadia was likely only in the next room would have just been too hard to bear), and she was probably careful with her words in the text because she knew that there was the possibility Nadia would see his phone. So did she use some kind of code or something, because a ‘we need to talk’ would definitely not go down well if Nadia were to see it lol. So maybe she made up something about there being an issue with the meds that they needed to sort out, knowing he would understand what she was trying to say– and then after sending it she immediately gets a text back saying ‘on my way’ like he’d been keeping his phone close and just waiting to hear from her. But ugh I feel for the position she’s in– caught between the need to protect her family, and the irresistible urge to protect Arman (even from himself). And even as she asks if he knew about the marriage, she already knows the answer; simply because if he’d known, he would have told her already. They don’t keep things from each other, not anymore, which is why she risked going back to the certificate to get a photo– she wanted to be able to show him the definitive proof, so he wouldn’t be forced to choose between her word and Nadia’s. (Sidenote: from the certificate itself, we can see that Nadia’s surname was De Leon, which is freakin badass; and also that she and Robert got married 8 years ago, which means the maximum amount of time that she and Arman have been together is probably about 7 years, but may well be less). But anyway ughhh the way Thony makes it clear to him that she genuinely wanted to help him protect Nadia, but that if the only way to take down RK is for Nadia to go down too, then she’s going to have to take it, because she has to put the safety of her family first. And then they just stare at each other, because they both know what this means; if he chooses to put his family (aka Nadia) first– and protect her even if doing so means RK walks free– then he and Thony will have no choice to be on opposing sides in this fight. 

And that’s the last place either of them wants to be. 

[karlachgale95]

Hearts of the Multiverse-Chapter Seventeen: Again & Again

              Luz stuck her hand to the wall, able to hang by the palm of her hand, now. Minako followed suit, and then they got into a competition as to who could go higher without losing their grip or balance. Minako was winning; if Luz had known she was a former idol and Volleyball superstar, she would’ve never bet her snacks on the game. Minako was like Boscha but nice—if not a little overconfident.

              “Thanks for playing,” Minako said with a slight smirk, as she slid all the snacks into her backpack.

              “Goodbye cool-flavored chips,” Luz said mournfully.

              Minako sighed. “Oh, don’t look so sad, I’ll still share.”

              “But not this one,” Josuke said, yanking away one of the loose bags of chips.

              “Hey! I won those fair and square!”

              “You shoulda kept a better eye on ‘em,” Josuke said with a grin. He then proceeded to grab another bag and toss it to Okuyasu. Minako raised her fists in the air, seeming ready to pounce. However, Josuke lifted his hands defensively. “Hey, you basically gambled Luz out of two weeks’ worth of snacks. I think you can spare some.”

              “What exactly are you trying to say, Josuke?” Minako asked. “Are you implying that I have too many snacks? That’s not a very nice thing to say to a lady!”

              Josuke simply laughed in response, popping a chip into his mouth.

              Zuko walked into the room, still looking a little under the weather. For some reason it had hit him harder. According to Karlach, it had hit Kaiba a bit harder, too. What was up with that?

              Zuko frowned. “What are you all doing? We should be learning how to manage this stuff from Miles, Pav, Hobie, or Gwen.”

              The younger Peter Parker, who just so happened to be in the room, jumped up. “Oh! I can help you!”

              “That’s true,” Minako said. She slunk closer to him. “We don’t know much about you, Peter. Maybe we could get to know each other better and train!”

              “This isn’t some sort of social—!” Zuko tried to argue. He burst into a fit of coughs before he could finish. “Ugh. I hate this.”

              “I wonder why this affected you guys so bad?” Peter wondered. “I mean, sure, I got a little feverish, but that was pretty much it. Seems to have been the same for Gwen, Pav, and Hobie. I don’t know about Miles. I don’t think he trusts me all that much—given what Gwen’s told me—I don’t blame him.”

              “Hopefully this goes away soon,” Zuko muttered.

              “You’re telling me.”

              Standing at the entrance was Noriaki Kakyoin, Jotaro Kujo, and Jean Pierre-Polnareff. Kakyoin looked just as miserable as Zuko. Luz wasn’t sure why they felt so terrible. Sure, she’d been sick those first few hours, but it hadn’t lasted this long.

              “Well, sit down, I’ll show you some techniques I picked up when I first started out,” Peter said. He pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper from his pocket and tried to smooth it out as much as possible. When it was sufficiently smoothed, he stuck it to the palm of his hand. “No doubt you guys have been facing this problem this morning. Loose papers are the worst offenders.”

              Luz took out one of the maps she’d drawn of the Boiling Isles. It was a rough sketch. It didn’t really matter if it got torn. Sure enough, it stuck like glue. “Whatd’ya know?”

              “See, the key is to relax the muscles. Don’t panic. Your worst enemy is panicking.” He slumped his shoulder for emphasis; to his credit, the paper fell to the ground. “It’s the same for wall-crawling. You relax when you want to let go. I recommend practicing tumbling. Landing without practice can be hell on your knees. Or, at least, that’s how it was for me.”

              Luz took a deep breath in and let the paper fall from her hand. Minako snatched the paper from the floor and eagerly tried to do it, too. It stuck. She then began to try and frantically wave it off. It didn’t work.

              “Just relax, Mina,” Luz said.

              “Easy for you to say,” Minako snapped. “You’ve got this thing down, you’ve got a great girlfriend, and I can’t even get this stupid piece of paper off my hand!”

              “…Is that why you scammed her out of her snacks?” Josuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

              “Shut up! Now’s not the time!”

              Peter pressed his hand against Minako’s and slid the paper off her palm. She blushed, but Peter seemed oblivious. “See? Just like that!”

              Minako simply nodded. If Luz were a lesser person, she might get even with Minako for the highway robbery.

              Suddenly, the translucent, purple-blue form of Gale of Waterdeep appeared in the room. The voice still sounded tinny. Luz supposed he hadn’t perfected that yet. “I have been instructed to tell everyone in this room that the gathering will be taking place later tomorrow morning. The invitation comes from Augustine Sycamore, other professors, and champions from all over the world.”

              “Thanks for letting us know…Gale?” Luz said with a slight hesitation. After all, this wasn’t really Gale. More so an avatar for Gale.

              “Your manners are most appreciated, Luz of the Boiling Isles, however, I am merely a messenger for Gale of Waterdeep.”

              With that, the image shut its eyes and vanished.

              “Illusion magic?” Amity guessed.

              “Kind of,” Luz said. “Gale’s been in school for magic longer than we have.”

              “Then why did it look so rudimentary?” Amity asked, raising an eyebrow.

              “Hey, cut us humans some slack,” Luz said with a slight reprimanding laugh.

              “He’s a human?” Amity asked. “But, how did he—?”

              “Get to somewhere magic?” Luz asked. Amity nodded. “Where he’s from, humans, some elves, gnomes, and the like coexist…sometimes. There’s a lot of strife concerning tieflings and dark elves—for no good reason!”

              “What about the Githyanki?” Amity asked. “I remember Gale talking about his ‘gith’ friend. She sounds kind of…rude?”

              “The Githyanki are proud and they like to fight,” Luz explained. “Oh! I know! They’re kind of like Saiyans, in Dragon Ball.”

              “Ugh, I can’t believe Eda made us watch all those movies,” Amity complained.

              “What are you talking about?” Josuke interjected. “Dragon Ball is great! Man, I couldn’t believe Goku came from another planet!”

              “To be fair, so did Superman,” Minako said, flipping her hair back. “He’s nothing special. I betcha Superman could beat him!”

              “No way in hell,” Josuke argued. “Kaioken totally knocks Supes out.”

              “And we are not having this argument,” Luz said. “It’s still going in 2024, and I’m not hearing it here.”

              “Wait? Seriously?” Josuke asked.

              “At least you know the characters have longevity,” Luz said with a shrug.

              Josuke furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as did Okuyasu.

              “Meaning they’re still popular in 2024.”

              “Ah. Gotcha.”

              Luz shook her head and set off to tell everyone the news. After all, some people were still in bed. Luz walked from room to room, giving people a head’s up. When she came across Miles’s room, she saw him and his parents talking in low voices. The temptation to listen in was so strong, but she fought it off. They needed to make up on their own time, and his parents didn’t seem overwhelmingly mad at him—right now.

              Finally, she got to the last room and saw Giorno, Usagi, and Rei talking to each other just as quietly. She tried to carefully walk away, but the floorboards creaked beneath her feet, alerting them to her presence.

              “Luz?” Giorno asked. “How long have you been there?”

              “Just a few seconds,” Luz said. “I was just coming by to tell you that Gale’s apparition dropped by and told us that tomorrow is the Pokémon Event Day.” She paused. “What’s going on?”

              “We were just talking about that vampire guy,” Usagi said.

              “Now he has even more targets,” Giorno muttered.

              “And we don’t know how he traces people,” Rei added. “We need to build defenses around the shrine.”

              “Well, Gale has been teaching us some protection spells. We might be able to use some of those,” Luz suggested.

              “It could be worth it,” Giorno said. “Back when Vox had tried to hypnotize everyone, it was only myself and Gale who broke away from it.”

              “Still pinning all our hopes on one guy whose portals sometimes mess up is…I don’t know,” Rei said with a hesitant shrug.

              “Maybe we should ask Sokka?” Luz suggested. “He’s pretty good at strategy and defense.”

              “Ask Sokka what?” Said boy asked. Luz hadn’t noticed him walking over from the other side of the hallway. “About the vampire dude? Yeah, I already asked Gale about what he might be able to do.”

When they looked at him, Sokka shook his head. “Look, I plan ahead. I started sleuthing about this case a while ago. Gale said he couldn’t do anything, but if we found his friend or the ‘Ey-si-marr,’ they might be able to do damage to him. That or the skeleton guy—who may or may not interfere on our behalf. His words, not mine.”

              “Great,” Giorno said in mock enthusiasm. “All we need to do is find a rotting corpse, and we’re saved.”

              “I don’t see you coming up with any other plan,” Sokka shrugged.

              “I…have backup plans.”

              “Which you’re not using,” Rei chastised. “I know what you’re thinking, and I sensed a familiar, evil presence lurking around here again. I know you talked with Alastor!”

              When Giorno remained silent, everyone was stunned. Luz shook her head. “You can’t trust him! You know he won’t hold up his end of the deal!”

              “Yeah!” Sokka agreed. “If you’re trying to help Miles, trusting Alastor isn’t the way to go. He probably just wants his soul, too. If he can get two for one in a vaguely worded contract, he’ll probably do that.”

              “I’d obviously read over this one,” Giorno said.

              “And what if you can’t?” Sokka shot back. “What if he’s going to intentionally back you into a corner like last time?”

              “It’s not like I’m leaning towards the Alastor option,” Giorno said with a scoff.

              “Because your vampire dad is the way more trustworthy option,” Sokka said sarcastically. “The guy launched Kakyoin into a water tank, killed a lot of innocent people, made an army of killers, and made sure anyone who’s worked for him is completely under his control. That’s not any better than Alastor.”

              “How do you know all that?” Giorno asked, raising an eyebrow.

              “Like I said, I like to sleuth,” Sokka said. “Especially when it comes to matters of group safety.”

              Giorno was quiet again, seeming to think over what Sokka had said. “So…how do we find a reanimated skeleton?”

              “We could try asking Zuko,” Sokka suggested, somewhat jokingly. “He was pretty good at tracking us back in the day.”

              “He doesn’t seem to be feeling very well,” Luz said. “We should probably wait to ask him.”

              “Good point,” Sokka said. “There’s gotta be a weakness that guy has. Something we’re not thinking of…I’m going to head to the library. They might have something. A lot of people have started contributing to it, even if they’re from different worlds. Helpful for us, I guess.”

              “We’ll go with you,” Luz said. “After all, seems like a lot of us are infected now.”

              And she was trying not to think about this too much.

              “Do you think the others will be okay here?” Sokka asked.

              “I’m sure of it,” Luz said with a thumbs up. “We’ve got a lot of strong people here!”

              “Which reminds me, I need to go grocery shopping,” Rei said with a sigh.

              “We’ll do that on the way home, too,” Luz said with a sympathetic smile and pat on the shoulder.

              …

              “We just don’t want anything bad to happen to you,” his mother said, softly.

              They’d been trying to keep their cool and talk with him the past thirty minutes. Apparently Giorno had talked to his parents the other day. Whatever he had said made his parents want to talk to him again. It was nice just to have a conversation with them. He’d have to thank him later.

              “I’ve wanted to tell you guys for a long time. I was just…scared,” Miles admitted.

              “You could’ve told us,” His dad said. “We would’ve figured something out.”

              “Like what?” Miles asked. “I mean, look in the common area. Zuko is still sick. Minako and Luz can climb walls now, which I’m sure Rei is thrilled about.”

              He paused and sighed. “Being Spiderman comes with a lot of responsibility. It’s my job, with my abilities, to keep people safe.”

              “The world isn’t on your shoulders, Miles,” his dad said softly.

              “It kinda is, actually,” Miles argued. “Our universe’s Spiderman died protecting me. I owe it to him, to Uncle Aaron, to you guys, and to everyone to step up. I’ve seen a universe without Spiderman; you don’t want to.”

              “You can’t do this by yourself, baby,” his mother chided. “It’s too much!”

              “I don’t have any choice,” Miles said. He gave her a small smile. “Besides, I’m not alone anymore. I’ve got friends here, and we all want the same thing.”

              “That’s right!” Usagi’s voice chimed in. She walked into the room grinning and waving. “Hey, we’re heading to the library. We were wondering if you wanted to come, Miles.”

              “But what about that man?” his mom asked. “With everything that’s been going on, isn’t that—?”

              “That’s why we’re going,” Sokka said, stepping into the doorframe. “We’re going to go see if there’s any information or weaknesses on that guy.”

              “Who all is going?” Miles asked.

              “Well, there’s me and Sokka,” Usagi said, pausing thoughtfully. “I thought about asking Mamo, but as it turns out, he’s already there! Luz, Rei, and Giorno are already waiting for us.”

              Upon hearing who was going to go, Miles turned to his parents. “Can I go? It could save us all.”

              They seemed hesitant. Miles thought they might say ‘no,’ before his mom spoke up, “Promise to be safe, Miles. I mean it.”

              “I promise, Mama,” Miles assured her.

              “Then let’s get going,” Usagi said, grabbing his arm, pulling him away. She must be excited to see Mamoru.

              As they were leaving, Kakyoin glanced up, “Where are you all going?”

              “To the library,” Luz explained. “We were thinking we might be able to find something that would help us beat the vampire guy and the Deathbusters.”

              “We’ll go, too,” Jotaro said, gesturing to himself, Kakyoin, Avdol, and Polnareff. That did not sound like an offer, more like an absolute.

              Luz gestured to Kakyoin, “You sure you’re up for going to the library?”

              Kakyoin brushed a strand of loose hair out of his eyes. “I’m sure. I’ll be fine.”

              “Anyone else wanna go?” Luz asked.

              “Now that you mention it, I would love to check out a multiversal library,” Amity said. “It’d be cool to see what kinds of books on magic there are in places like Baldur’s Gate and Paldea.”

              “Oh, Paldea’s books are great and all,” Nemona said dismissively, “But you should check out some of the books of legends from Sinnoh. In fact, I’ll go with you!”

              “I’ll go, too,” Zuko said. “I’d like to see if I can find any weaknesses on Morlun.”

              “Right, that’s his name,” Usagi said, pausing thoughtfully.

              “You’re trying to research someone you don’t even know the name of?” Zuko asked. Miles was sure he saw his eye twitch. “I’m definitely going with you.”

              “I’ll go with you,” Ami said. “I’ve been meaning to check out more Dickens.”

              “That dude is so boring,” Miles’s said. “Don’t worry, I’ll hook you up with good authors.”

              “We’re not going just to read,” Zuko snapped.

              “As disappointed as I am about that,” Kakyoin said. “I agree. We need to keep focused.”

              “I’ll go, too,” the younger Peter Parker spoke up. “We might be able to find out who all is here.”

              “We’re going, too,” Gus said, wrapping his arms around Hunter and Willow. “We’ll find a way to beat that creep and the Deathbusters!”

              “Hold it,” Darius spoke up. “You’re not going alone.”

              “You don’t have to hover,” Jotaro said. “We’re more than capable of defending ourselves. Besides, Avdol has always been the most responsible and mature person I know.”

              “Coming from the seventeen-year-old delinquent,” Darius said, his lips pressed into a frown. “Besides, I occasionally like to relax with a nice book.”

              “Alright…let’s get going,” Miles said, before an argument could break out.

              …

              The day had been going well. Miles Edgeworth had been enjoying a nice day out with his childhood best friend turned rival turned boyfriend, Miss Fey, the Clawthorne sisters, Raine Whispers, and Franziska. That’s when some random man and his companion spotted them and began talking about some mystical library. This piqued Lilith Clawthorne’s interest, and soon enough he found himself and everyone else in the library.

              The Northern English man in the pinstripe suit and the doctor-in-training with him were mysterious as Kurrain Village, itself. The man was searching through every shelf, meticulously examining books with some sort of device that screeched like an unharmonious mess of broken computers. Honestly, Wright was more interested in their business than he was. But he felt like staying close by, just in case any of those witches showed their faces here.

              “So, you’re from 2007,” Phoenix reiterated.

              “Oh yes,” the man said with a small, enthusiastic nod.

              “But you’re also time travelers,” Phoenix confirmed.

              “Very perceptive, Mr. Great Ace Attorney,” the man said wryly. “Well, I suppose that’s more so Ryunosuke, but the point still stands.”

              Miles openly scoffed, taking the affront personally. “And what sort of time-traveler doesn’t know what’s coming next?”

              “Well, it’d be terribly boring to always know what’s going to happen next, Mr. Edgeworth,” the man said with a grin.

              Miles shook his head and continued to look for a book that would help his sister. Ever since that dreadful pest bit her, she’d been feeling ill. Although, she’d insist she were perfectly fine. He knew otherwise.

              “So, what’s with that thing, anyways?” Phoenix asked, gesturing to the device the man was using. “Does it locate magic stuff or something?”

              “It locates alien ‘stuff’” the man explained. He paused and ran his fingers through his hair. “The funny thing is, I feel like there’s something here I’m missing, like I’ve been here before.”

              “Like fate,” Maya said.

              “Something like that,” the man said, his smile never wavering. It was too condescending towards Miss Fey, for Edgeworth’s liking, even if he, himself, didn’t necessarily believe in fate.

              “Well, then, what are you looking for?” Miles implored.

              “A book?” the man guessed, more to himself, seemingly. “No, that’s not it. A place, here, maybe. It’s all connected to a specific book.”

              “Like Scooby Doo,” the woman beside him joked. The man flinched. Somehow, that had triggered something.

              Well, if there were something here, it would do well to investigate. The building was three stories high, and it looked as though it had been recently renovated—probably by someone with the funds to do so. There were stacks and stacks upon stacks of books. One could get lost in this library. He certainly could.

              “Beautiful, isn’t it?” a familiar voice piped up. It was the so-called wizard, Gale, Wyll, and the eldest Kaiba brother. Gale gave Miles a small smile and extended a hand. “It’s good to see you again, Mr. Edgeworth. Halsin, Lae’zel, and Jaheira told us about what happened the other day.”

              “I suppose you’re here looking for some way to discover who stole my technology,” Kaiba said. He glared at Edgeworth, but there was a hint of weakness there. He looked pale and unlike himself…like Franziska after that bite.

              “That, amongst other things,” Miles said stiffly. “I see we may be looking for the same thing here, actually.”

              Kaiba scowled. “Perhaps.”

              “You two can look for magic cures and clues, but I’ll be busy perusing the knowledge of the multiverse,” Gale said with a smile. “This place must contain vast amounts of knowledge, surely even greater power. Think of how it could help us—all of us.”

              “I’m sure it’s all for the greater good,” Miles said, rolling his eyes.

              “Well, I’m sure it’s not Graves who stole my tech,” Kaiba continued. He held up a newspaper. The headline read along the lines of ‘Gideon Graves Accidentally Locks Himself Out of Record Company Due to Lock Change.’ “Not exactly the means or brains of a man capable of manipulating the multiverse.”

              They heard a dark chuckle from the table behind them. “Best rumor I ever started.”

              The group turned to see a short man with black hair that drooped in front of his face. He could be surmised in one word: goth. In front of them was an individual with ears like an elf, purple skin, and scale armor. The intimidating sword strapped to their back was also impressive.

              Kaiba glared at the goth man. “And just who are you?”

              The man smirked and did a superfluous jump onto the table in front of him. “Matthew Patel! Former head of the League of Evil Exes.”

              It was starting to make sense. Why Graves had been targeted; it was no secret these two hated each other. However, when Miles had tried to seek out Patel to confirm or deny whether he had made these allegations, he was nowhere to be found. So, why appear now?

              “Mr. Patel, I will not let your theatrics damage that poor mahogany table!” an older voice cried out. And older man in a red and white suit glared at the man standing on the table. “Champion Geeta and Champion Cynthia ordered the creation of this library, and I will not have any part of it sullied!”

              Patel rolled his eyes and did a small jump off the table. “People just can’t appreciate theatre anymore. It’s for the aesthetics!”

              “Right,” the old man said, polishing his glasses. “Well, if you and your friend would like to remain here, you’ll keep this place clean.”

              “Oh, don’t worry,” Wyll spoke up with a small grin towards the more menacing person at the table. “We’ll make sure to keep an eye on these troublemakers.”

              “In other words,” Gale said, sitting down next to the soldier. “Hello Tav.”

              The soldier, who had been mainly stoic, cracked a grin. “Hello Gale. Hello Wyll.”

              “You know this person?” Kaiba asked.

              “They led our group against the Elderbrain. They came up with the plan to save all of Baldur’s Gate, my father from ruin,” Wyll explained.

              “It’s good to see you again, Wyll,” Tav, apparently, said. “I thought I may never see you or Karlach again.”

              “Oh, but we’re both made of tougher stuff,” Wyll said. He gestured to Kaiba, “And to be fair, we’ve had some help keeping here.”

              “Then I owe you a gratitude,” Tav said with a slight smile. They turned to Gale. “And you. No timebombs, I suppose?”

              “What’s that supposed to mean?” Kaiba asked.

              “Gale’s folly,” Gale explained. “Perhaps a tale for another time. But no, I do not seem to be infused with any magic that may cause self and catastrophic explosion.”

              “I don’t want to hear any more,” Kaiba said.

              “Excuse me,” Patel spoke up, impatiently. “You just learned I was the mastermind behind the Gideon Graves plot, and you’re ignoring me!”

              “That’s right,” Wyll said. He glared at the man. “Why did you do that? Are you working with those witches.”

              Patel rolled his eyes. “Hardly. I just saw the opportunity to make trouble for Graves, and I took it. However, these witches could be a problem for us all. And that’s not all. Not even the surface of the problems in this place.”

              “Do you mean Morlun?” Edgeworth asked.

              “Bigger than that,” Patel said. “This whole system is. I can help you, for a price.”

              “We’re not paying you for information we can get out of you—legally,” Kaiba said.

              Edgeworth refrained from correcting him when Patel scowled. “I don’t want your money.”

              “Then—what do you want?” Wyll asked, confusion apparent on his face.

              Patel’s eyes gleamed. “Was he super upset? Did he throw a tantrum? Oh, you gotta tell me!”

              “Well, we almost got fired several times because of his temper,” Edgeworth muttered. “His investigations almost led us to dying. And he only stopped when a mobster told him off.”

              “That’s hilarious!” Patel said with a laugh. “I mean, maybe not for you, but it’s just funny he got that upset. Also, nice touch with the mafioso. I should’ve thought of that!”

              “It was a real riot,” Edgeworth said, crossing his arms.

              “Miles, who are they?” Phoenix asked.

              It seemed the others had rejoined him, including the annoying Englishman with a title as a name. He refused to address him by such unless necessary. Joy.

              “This is our friend Tav,” Gale explained. He turned to Tav. “We’ve had some misadventures together. These people are Mr. Miles Edgeworth, Mr. Seto Kaiba, Mr. Phoenix Wright, Miss Maya Fey, Miss Franziska Von Karma, Miss Martha Jones, Miss Eda Clawthorne, Miss Lilith Clawthorne, Raine Whispers, and the Doctor.”

              “Doctor of what, exactly?” Tav asked.

              “It’s just the Doctor,” the man said.

              “It’s nice to meet you, then, Doctor,” Tav said with a sliver of hesitation. They gave a polite smile to everyone. “It’s nice to meet all of you. I’m glad you’ve been able to keep these two out of trouble.”

              They turned back to Gale and Wyll, “Speaking of trouble, is…?”

              “Astarion with us?” Wyll assumed. Tav nodded. “Figured as much. Yes, he is. We’ve been working on a way to be able to let him walk in the sun again.”

              “That’s…how do you propose?” Tav asked. “I thought the only way was…”

              “Limitations are for sore losers,” Kaiba spoke up. “Granted, I wouldn’t use 700,000 souls just for one person’s sun allergy, but I’ve managed to help Karlach and Wyll with my technology. How hard could it be to help Astarion?”

              Gale in-took a sharp breath at this, “Bit of a loaded question.”

              “Luckily it was rhetorical, and I’m not interested in answers,” Kaiba said. “Just my results.”

              “Well…I suppose…if you’re helping Astarion, I can’t complain,” Tav said. They glanced over Edgeworth’s shoulder. “And there’s the rest of our group!”

              Five teenagers and two other men walked over to the group table. One man had graying, dark hair, red eyes, red sunglasses, a gray dress-up shirt, red vest, and slacks. The other man had wild brunette hair, wore a purple lab coat and goggles, and seemed uninterested *at best* in meeting new people. Two of the teenagers looked like they were twins. One was a boy with wiry, green hair and the other was a girl with braided green hair. They both wore the school uniforms from Hexside. Another was a girl with greenish-gray hair with blue highlights. She wore an orange sweater, green jeans, and old trainers. And the last was a girl with dark hair that covered most of her red eyes. She wore a lot of dark purple and black, and she nearly had a beanie pulled down over her ears.

              “Tav, darling,” the man with the red shades spoke up. “Who are these people?”

              Edgeworth sighed. They went through their introductions again. Wyll was polite enough to do it this time.

              “Lovely to meet you all,” the man said. “I am Stolas, and this is my daughter, Via. Tav and Mr. Patel helped us find each other again.”

              “And then we found the library. We’ve been holding up here ever since. Director Clavell and Champion Geeta have been kind enough to let us stay,” Tav explained.

              “A library should be a safe haven for all,” the older man said.

              As soon as the Director had left, the twins grinned at the group. The girl spoke up, “My name is Emira. The guy not paying attention is our dad, Alador Blight. The dork with the weird hair is my twin brother, Edric.”

              The boy seemed aghast as he took a strand of hair between his fingers and began to examine it. “It’s not really—weird—I’d say. I mean, I don’t have access to all my self-care magic lately, but it shouldn’t affect it that bad.”

              “She’s messing with you,” the smallest one them said. He turned to the group. “Don’t expect some cozy introduction. The library is crowded as it is.”

              “Matt Tholumule, what terrible manners,” Stolas reprimanded.

              “You’re not my dad.”

              “Certainly not,” Stolas remarked. “You’d have better manners if I were.”

              The boy, Matt Tholomule, apparently, growled and muttered something under his breath.

              The last girl shook her head. “Don’t worry about them. My name is Vee. Vee Noceda!”

              “Hey! Are you related to Luz?” Maya asked.

              Vee nodded. “We’re sisters!”

              “Ah yes. Luz Noceda is a great student,” Gale said. “Quite thrilled to learn magic.”

              “Hey,” Eda spoke up indignantly. “Since when have you become Luz’s teacher? I’m her teacher!”

              “I meant no offense,” Gale said, placing his hand over his heart to show sincerity. “It’s just, as humans, the magic system is already a complex one to tackle. It’s taken intense studies to get where I am. If I can shorten the path for anyone, especially a fellow human, well, it’s worth it. By accessing the weave, she’s already leagues ahead of most human witches and wizards I know.”

              “Taking shortcuts isn’t learning real magic,” Eda argued. “Besides, Luz doesn’t need to learn from another human just to learn magic.”

              “And yet, the Titan’s language isn’t very well-progressed. If we’re to win a fight, she needs to learn magic now rather than later. We wouldn’t want to cling to anything outdated. To know Mystra’s secrets and use them for yourself, now, therein lies power.”

              “Outdated?! Why I oughta—!”

              Miles decided now was the perfect moment to step in; there was no telling who would be teaching who ‘oughta’ do what.

              “Ms. Noceda is quite generous, isn’t she?” Miles mused.

              “Is there something amusing about her adopting people?” Kaiba questioned raising an eyebrow.

              “I was adopted, too,” Miles reminded him.

              Kaiba scowled but said nothing. He looked at Patel. “Didn’t you say you had something for us?”

              “Hm? Oh, right. I guess you did cause trouble for Gideon for me, the least I could do is tell you about the…” he dramatically covered his face and nose with his coat. “secret library.”

              “A secret library?!”

              The familiar voice of Luz Noceda caught him off guard. All Miles had wanted to do today was run a small investigation with the people he cared about and find a cure for his sister. Was that too much to ask? And now the library was beginning to fill with noise. They would never find anything at this rate.

              He felt a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Miles. They’re just excited.”

              As much as his circumstances annoyed him, Phoenix unexpectedly brought a calmness Miles wouldn’t have thought possible.

              However, this calm was short-lived as he thought he saw someone familiar in the corner of the library. Regal blue clothing, piercing gaze, well-kempt hair. He blinked and the phantom vanished from view. There was no way…he had died alone in his cell. Gumshoe had delivered the news and the report by his own request!

              “Miles? You okay?” Phoenix asked.

              “Yeah, looks like you saw a ghost, Mr. Edgeworth,” Maya teased.

              “I’m fine,” Miles said quickly, perhaps a little too quickly. He directed his attention to Patel. “Now, I believe you were going to show us this ‘secret library.’”

              Patel gave him a hard stare for a second before shrugging. “Sure. Come on.”

              …

              Luz, despite everything, was pretty darn happy. She knew where everyone was, and now she had extra abilities. If she worked hard enough at it, she could be as strong as Miles, Gwen, Peter, or Pav. Sure, there was the whole Morlun issue to figure out, but they would do that—together.

              Vee was here, Amity’s family (the ones who mattered) were here, Eda was here, and a majority of her new friends! Not only that, but they were investigating a secret library. Mr. Patel glanced around; they were in a corner of the library, inside a secret room underneath the large oak stairs leading to the second floor.

              “How did you find this door?” Gale asked.

              “Mystic powers,” Mr. Patel answered with a small smirk. “My demon hipster chicks told me that there was a room here upon close investigation.”

              “I’m sorry—what?” Miles Morales asked.

              Mr. Patel just continued grinning and opened the door. Behind it was an octagonal room; it looked like it was straight out of Beauty and the Beast. There must’ve been thousands and thousands of stacks of books, tomes, and even some technology.

              “Remarkable,” Gale murmured.

              “Isn’t it?” Lilith asked, almost sprinting into the library.

              “You’re right, Lulu! This is my favorite place in the library!”

              Hooty had not only jump-scared herself but either made everyone else jump (or groan if you were a certain purple-haired abomination witch).

              “Hootzifer!” Lilith called out, throwing her arms around Hooty’s neck. “You’re here! How have you been? Have they been feeding you well? Does the director know you’re here?”

              “Nope,” a voice that almost sounded like Patrick Starr mixed with a New York accent drawled. “But we’ve been taking good care of him.”

              The group looked up to see three individuals standing on a balcony above them. One was a pretty woman with long, dark green hair, grey suit jacket and skirt, cream blouse, and red ribbon around her neck. The next was another tall woman who looked chill and intimidating all in the same breadth. She was magenta, wore a visor, and folded her arms against her chest. The last was familiar—all too familiar to nerdy online spaces. It was a short and stubby skeleton wearing a blue jacket, t-shirt, shorts, and slippers.

              “A talking skeleton?” Mr. Patel asked. “That’s pretty metal.”

              “It’s kind of bonely, actually.”

              “What are you doing in the secret library?” Matt Tholomule asked. “We found this place first!”

              “Actually, no,” the woman with green hair said. “This library is a collective of tomes from within the multiverse. It’s been building upon itself with every reset.”

              “Wait,” Usagi spoke up, a gleam in her eyes. “Who are you?”

              “And what do you mean by reset?” the Doctor asked.

              The woman gave them a small smile. “You may call me Setsuna.”

              She gestured to her companions. “This is Sans and Garnet. They’ve been helping me guard the library from threats. If this knowledge were to get in the wrong hands, it could be catastrophic. We built this oasis of secrets to help ourselves and our allies. You are all welcome here.” Her eyes drifted to the Doctor. “You helped us before. This place is part of your making. Yours and your companions. Along with others who may be missing.”

              “I did?” the Doctor mused. “It’s possible—if you explain what you mean by resets.”

              The other woman Garnet joined in the conversation. “There are many paths the future and past have taken. So far, everything hasn’t ended very well for any of us. We’re looking for a way to get everyone home, to give everyone a chance at living this time. However, most of the time, things end in tragedy.”

              She pulled a circular tome that resembled a clock from one of the bookshelves. Lae’zel’s face appeared in translucent light. “This may very well be the last recordings at the end of the world. Most of our soldiers have fallen, my comrades: Jaheira, Minsc, Halsin, Wyll, Karlach, Gale, Astarion, and even Shadowheart.” She shut her eyes. “Kith'rak Voss and Prince Orpheus are my only allies left standing. I will not fail. I cannot fail. Not when it is so crucial. To think everything depends on the survival of a sixteen-year-old child.”

              She laughed, a wretched and beaten laugh. “I am unsure of how the ensuing battle will go. It’s been written in this universe’s stars and my own has only served to make it harder on all of us. It may be that this war is unwinnable. Gale could not even destroy the enemy after reabsorbing the Netherese orb.”

              “That’s…” Gale trailed off. “Not good. What would possess me to absorb that again? Is our situation so desperate? How did it not end whoever—?”

              “Don’t worry,” Sans said. “We’ve got some tomes of that, too.”

              More tomes played. One was Gale standing in front of a golden throne. The figure ahead of him was fuzzy and not visible.

              “Can you stop wasting my time with your histrionics, wizard? Do me a favor and die pathetically like the others!”

              “Pathetic?” the image of Gale questioned. “I’m afraid you have me mistaken for someone else. No, you and I will both end here!”

              He pulled a dagger from his cloak and jabbed it straight into his glowing chest. The glow became brighter until everything ended in one gigantic BOOM. There were screams that echoed across a cosmic ballroom. However, when the smoke cleared, the figure remained while Gale was nowhere to be seen.

              Current Gale stepped back, seemingly in disbelief. “What kind of monster could handle such damage?”

              “It only gets worse,” Sans said. “We have a lot more. Though, from your face, our point has kinda been proven.”

              “So, this has happened…” Miles began.

              “A lot,” Giorno finished.

              “Well, how do we make it stop?” Sokka asked. “C’mon, there’s gotta be some angle all these other people from other times haven’t been seeing.”

              “Well, that’s the thing,” Setsuna spoke up. “There’s been ‘successes,’ too.”

              Another image began to play: this time, everyone was happy. They were celebrating at a large feast. Food lined long tables full of cooked meats, fruits, veggies, sweets, and so on. Even Jotaro was smiling, which was a little scary.

              “This looks like a nice future,” Hunter commented.

              “So, when does the shoe drop?” Peter asked.

              A bright flash interrupted the happy scene and left behind nothing but a bunch of floating crystals. Jotaro looked to Peter, “There it is.”

              “Who’s causing this?” The Doctor asked.

              “Don’t know,” Sans shrugged. “Every time we go to check, the image of the guys opposite us are always fuzzy. The case is pretty bare bones right now.”

              Only Wyll laughed, and when he realized he was the only one to do so, he coughed and looked at the ground.

              “Surely there’s a root,” Wyll said swiftly. “If we can find the root, we can beat whoever keeps hurting everyone!”

              “Do you have a plan to find them?” Kaiba asks.

              “We manage to stumble upon troublemakers well enough,” Gale says with a slight smirk. “Wyll is right. We’ll find a way. After all, this is a library.”

              “Alright then, we’ll divvy into small teams,” Sokka said.

              “And who put you in charge?” Kaiba questioned.

              “And your plan would be to what?” Sokka countered.

              It was impressive; he managed to shut Kaiba up in a single comment. Luz was taking notes.

              “Alright then,” Sokka said. “Let’s get looking.”

              …

              Sokka started to shift different piles of books and tomes to different people in his group. Not only was there now the problem of solving the thing with Morlun, helping Giorno, and getting back home, but now they needed to find a way to stop every single horrible possibility that happened in the past. Not only that, but the older people of the group had paired themselves off with each other, leaving them to work together. Not like he wasn’t used to leading a group of disorganized teenagers, but it would’ve been nice to have a break.

              “Alright, so any clues to any spiritual rituals, mystical powers or weapons, or any traces on weaknesses of villains would be great right about now,” Sokka said, flipping through the stack of books in his pile. “Just look through the bold.”

              “Too much of a shortcut,” Kaiba said. “We could take some of them home and investigate more thoroughly.”

              “Absolutely not,” the woman, Setsuna reprimanded. “All the knowledge in this library is for allies only. If any of it should fall into the wrong hands, it could be deadly to us all.”

              “Understood,” Sokka said. He remembered the last time he tried to take information away from a library, and he didn’t want to repeat that mess. At least they weren’t stranded in the middle of a desert this time. “It’s probably for the best.”

              “So, we’re just expected to keep coming back to this place every day in hopes that we find something remotely useful?” Kaiba questioned.

              “You know, I usually hear this, not say it, but your ‘realist’ attitude is really not helping,” Sokka snapped.

              As he was about to skim through another tome, Kaiba continued. He held a book up in Sokka’s face, “According to this one, you and your sister are evil, and he,” he gestured to Zuko, who raised an eyebrow. “and his sister are the ones who help the avatar. I wonder why this is here? Maybe it’s just here to record how much you’ve failed in any timeline you’re in. Honestly, you came up with an amazing military strategy only to waste it over some girl.”

              Sokka dropped the book he was holding, stood up, and glared at Kaiba. “That girl is my girlfriend. I love her, and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her. Not that you’d know anything about something like that.”

              “Ugh. Please, Yugi and his cheerleaders always preach about the effectiveness of the power of love and friendship, but it’s all a distraction.”

              “A distraction from what?” Luz asked. “Being edgy and miserable?”

              Sokka laughed.

              “Well, he’s certainly distracted,” Giorno said, flipping through pages of a book. “He’s been beaten by Yugi Muto every single time he’s dueled him. Well, except when he threatened to throw himself off a building. Of course, Yugi was too kindhearted to let him do such a thing. But, if he continues to be rude, I will not say the same for myself.”

              “Is that a threat?” Kaiba asked. He laughed. “I can’t say I’m surprised from the likes of you—knowing what and who you are.”

              Giorno glared at him. “Not another word.”

              “What’s he talking about?” Miles asked.

              Kaiba pretended to be shocked. “You mean you haven’t told your ‘best friend’ here who you really are? Such a shame. After all, you two seem to be pretty close in a lot of the timelines. Well, Morales is too good for you, anyways.”

              If looks could kill…

              “Everyone has a past they’d like to conceal at one point or another,” Zuko said. “Leave him alone.”

              “I suppose you’d know all about that.”

              “What is your problem?” Sokka asked. “All you do is complain and make snarky remarks about everyone else! Why are you even here?”

              “I’m here to do what you all can’t seem to—find a solution to the inevitable doom creeping closer each day we’re stuck here. But I’m saddled with idiots who always get themselves killed, no matter what we try. And the people I care about die horrifically. You’re all treating this like it’s some sort of vacation or summer school where you get to go to exciting places and meet new and interesting people. That’s not what this is! That’s not what this has ever been! You really care about your girlfriend? Your friends here? Take this seriously, damn it!”

              “Maybe they are!” an unexpected voice chimed in; it was Ami. She glared at Kaiba and placed her hand over her heart. “Look, I understand working hard to avoid losing people you love. I think we all do. I try my best to research ways to protect everyone. I strive for success—to be the best I can be when protecting my friends. However, human ingenuity has its limitations. One person can only do so much. If you keep treating people terribly, closing yourself off, and being a jerk, you’re not going to have anyone to help you! Now is not the time for petty arguments. It’s the time to stand together, look at things from a different perspective, study the tomes, and create a new solution—together.”

              Kaiba looked at her and sighed. “Fine. Perhaps you’re right. Nothing is getting done by being so pedantic on the past.”

              How was she able to shut him up? Well, in any case, Sokka was grateful. Everyone looked a little ill at ease, especially Jotaro and his friends. They’d been skeptical of Giorno like he and Zuko were when they began living at the shrine. Apparently, it was something to do with his dad. But Sokka would be lying if he said he weren’t curious as to what Kaiba had meant, as annoying as he was about it.

              He shook his head and went back to reading the tomes. No reason to let it get to him. His failure during the eclipse didn’t define him. After all, he, Toph, and Suki took out an entire fleet of Fire Nation airships when they were at their most powerful. He didn’t need to justify anything to Seto Kaiba.

              …

              Later, when they were back at the shrine, Miles sat in the open doorway, trying to get some air. He’d seen a few things in those tomes that he prayed would never come to pass…and some he hoped would. So many people could die. There had to be some way to save them, and hopefully it didn’t involve Gale blowing himself up for nothing.

              He sensed someone approaching. Miles barely glanced over to see Giorno sit down beside him. “Nice night, isn’t it?”

              “Other than seeing the millions of ways we could die, yeah, I guess.”

              “Guess I should’ve been more specific—the breeze and moon are nice. Did you know Katara draws her power from the moon?”

              “Well, you know, the tides and the moon are pretty connected. Kind of surprised Usagi doesn’t have water powers.”

              Miles was quiet for a minute before he asked. “So…what did Kaiba mean?”

              Giorno glanced around, as if checking for other people. “Guess it’s time I told you…Miles you have to swear not to tell anyone else. This information is dangerous. That’s why I’ve kept it to myself, you understand, right?”

              “Geez, makes it sound like you’re about to tell me you’re a crime lord or something,” Miles joked. When Giorno frowned slightly and quickly became suspiciously quiet, the realization hit Miles like a charge attack from Rhino. “Wait—really? Dude, how? You’re fifteen!”

              “So are you,” Giorno argued. “Miles, neither of us lives a normal life. Being a mob boss is probably one of the sanest things I’ve told you.”

              “Then why did you wait so long to tell me?” Miles asked.

              “I was afraid how you would react. I mean, your dad is going to be a captain in the immediate future.”

              Miles was quiet for a second. He shook his head. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep your secret.” He grinned. “We’ve got a pact, after all.”

              “Oh, is that all?” Giorno mused. He feigned hurt. “I assumed we were friends.”

              “We are,” Miles said with a slight laugh. “Though, I gotta ask, why? What led you to—?”

              Giorno’s face darkened. “They were selling drugs to kids. I had to stop them—it was like something in me needed to make sure the streets of Italy would be safe for kids to grow up, to be kids. Corruption was everywhere. I saw those in power kill people indiscriminately because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It needed to stop. So, we took out the boss.”

              “I guess you’ve seen a lot,” Miles said.

              Giorno nodded. “Seems we both have.”

              Another respite of silence struck their conversation. It was quiet. No noise in the background. Uncle Aaron had once told him the lack of noise was just as dangerous as a lot of it. It meant something was on the prowl and almost everything else had fled. A chill went down Miles’s spine.

              “Miles? You alright?” Giorno asked.

              “I’m fine. Just tired.” Though, he thought he sensed something. He glanced out into the trees and bushes. There wasn’t anything there to find. Maybe it was the stress of the day that was getting to him. Maybe…

              Miles was pulled into an awkward hug; it was as if Giorno had never hugged anyone in his life. It might’ve been true.

              “I promise, I won’t let anything bad happen to you or your family. You’ve been a good friend to me here, and I won’t forget that. In fact, I’ve never cared about someone so much before. I won’t let that vampire hurt you.”

              Miles was stunned into silence. He didn’t know what to say. Maybe Giorno had seen some awful things today, too. He didn’t want to know. However, the hug, as awkward as it was, felt nice. It felt good to be able to trust someone again. Yet, something bothered him. Giorno’s father offered a solution, but it came with a heavy cost.

              “Gio, don’t do anything that’s going to hurt yourself, alright?” Miles asked, hugging back. “I care about you too, you know?”

              Giorno pulled away and shook his head. “It’s not my first choice, don’t worry. I think I found a clue in the library. The vampire doesn’t seem to react well to radiation.”

              “Great, now all we have to do is break into a nuclear powerplant.”

              “Maybe not,” Giorno said. “It could be that one of Gale’s friends could help us—Dame Aylin. She’s supposedly very powerful and has beaten gods with radiant energy. She may be able to help us—if we find her.”

              “Dude! That’s great! Thank you for finding that out!”

              “The first step is finding her,” Giorno said. “I thought we might try looking together after tomorrow’s festival.”

              Miles smiled. “I look forward to it.”

              A gust of wind caused him to shiver. Giorno stood up and offered Miles a hand. “C’mon. It’s probably a good idea to stay away from doorways for now.”

              Miles nodded, took his hand, and stood up. “Wanna go watch a movie? I think the others are watching some old comedy.”

              “An old romance movie,” Giorno said, rolling his eyes. “I think Sokka fell asleep ten minutes in.”

              “Then let’s see if it works for us.”

              …

              Just beyond the shrine, Morlun sat towards the entrance. The female incarnation of Dr. Otto Octavius prevented him from attacking. Apparently, the moon brat and the mob boss could prove dangerous to him, if properly motivated. Killing their friend may be enough of one.

              “Believe me, I want revenge, too,” Dr. Octavius said. “And you’ll be a good way to get it. However, bolting in there is a fool’s errand.”

              She smiled. “There’s so many more ways we can kill them all if they can’t depend on each other.”

[yposht]

Me and my friend in a nutshell

Hello?

Hello?

Who’s this?

Who’s this? I’m asking the questions, I called you. No, I called you, and you sound like the ugliest son of a bitch I ever heard. You sound like the physical manifestation of some loser’s inner demons! Well, you sound like some total chode’s inability to confront the reality of his past actions. If I ever get your stinky mug in my line of sight I swear to jack off I’ll cock your clock off. Well I’m gonna be the bigger man, and hang up first- ugh dammit! Listen, we don’t cotton to freaks round these parts, scram wierdo! Oh yeah, I don’t polycotton to coping tropes, even my own. So why don’t you split? Looks like I already did. You’re the sad figment of my twisted psyche’s tragic dividend. You’re the un-me. I’m the real me! You wanna be? Me? Kiddo, I was the real me when you were still in my short pants. Hate to break it to ya, but I wore them first. Me bequeathed thee, the psychopathological hand-you-downs. So you’re the one who stained them? Whoever found it, browned it. You’d like me to be you, wouldn’t me? But it’s too late,

you snoze, you lose.

You sleeped, you weeped.

You nappa, You get slappa!

You slumber, a cucumber.

You catch up on some Zed’s, you get out of my heads!

You slumber, ham- BURGER I DON’T WANNA TALK BOUT NOTHIN ELSE!

Listen, this psyche is not big enough for two metaphysical seekers. You couldn’t seek your way out of a cardboard bag! Yeah, I know, cause it would be an egg! OOH! This guy might be better than me- You’re right! I am better than me! Look buddy, know when you defeated. Accept your defecation. No thanks, I’m full, cause I eat pussies like you for breakfast! Look at you, you look so superficial, you probably judge things by their physical appearance. Oh yeah? Your mom’s so shallow, she probably thinks this quip is about her. You’re about as deep as a bowl of soup, and your tongue is about as sharp as a soup spoon! Hey! Say what you want about me, but lay off the soup. If you love soup so much, why don’t you marry soup? Because I’m already married, to justice. Yeah, only a blind girl would marry you. I know everything you’re gonna- Say, and I know everything you’re gonna- Don’t. Oh yeah? Well when God was passing out insight, you thought he said that when God was passing out holy prophets, you thought he said oily faucets, cause your soul has diarrhoea, of the mouth, faucet! Are you so dumb, you’d even answer rhetorical questions? I don’t know? Do you? We can play this game all night. First of all, it’s daytime! And this is no game. Checkmate! Oh! So you admit that you’re checking me out, and you want to mate! You got a license to sell hot-dogs, Chico man? No, they wouldn’t give it to me, because, when I was filling out the application, my penis was sticking out! Oh yeah! You only got one peni? Let me see it… See with your eyes, not with your mouth! I’ll call your bluff, I’ll see your penis with your mouth, and I raise you, with my hand. Ante up! OoOh! Dammit! What’s wrong? I crapped out, but I’m tough, I can suck it up. Huoourgh! Ok! Count of three, we show what’s under the loincloth! Weiner, take all!

1, 2, 3!

[casspurrjoybell-24]

My Mate - Chapter 11 - Part 1

*Warning Adult Content*

Looking up from where I was sewing my bag, I watch Jasper chuckle at something Kelly Webb was whispering to him.

I had the urge to stick fabric pins in her but that was a morbid thought and I'm a better person than that.

Thinking it wasn't as bad as actually doing it though.

Right?

The prick of the needle going through my finger mad me hiss and I lifted my foot from the pedal so the machine would cut off.

Sticking my bleeding finger in my mouth, I looked back up at Jasper.

He really is beautiful.

He had this prettiness about him.

His lips are full and a soft pink, his eyes a little wide and made him seem interested in everything that was said to him.

Sighing dreamily, I wondered how it would be to kiss him.

I bet his lips are soft.

I hate having to wait a whole week until my birthday.

Why did we have to wait until we're eighteen anyways?

Oh right, perverts.

There's been some cases of Werewolves luring unknowing pups by telling them they're their mate.

That's why these days it's one of the first things we learn.

No one is able to find their mate until they're eighteen.

It's just the way things are.

"Get to work, Mr. Frey."

Looking up, Mrs.Ellis was glaring at me and I quickly got to work on finishing my bag.

After class, I hurried to pack up and followed Jesper out into the hall, determined to follow through with the plan I'd thought up in my head.

It had taken a lot of thought.

Keeping me up last night thinking of all the ways it could go wrong.

"Jasper," I called, gaining his attention before he could disappear in the crowd of giants.

He turned around and I waved my hand so he'd know it was me calling him.

He politely waited and even smiled at me.

"Hey Torin."

I almost purred like a stupid cat.

"Hey," I paused to take a deep breathe after running that great distance to get to him.

"I was just wondering... well," biting my lip nervously, I sighed.

"Do you maybe want to hang out?"

Would it be weird to pat myself on the back?

I'll do it later.

Jasper looked down at me with a raised brow before looking up when someone called his name.

I turned around to glare at Bradley down the hall.

"Ugh, sure, text me," Jasper said, patting my shoulder, before walking down the hall to join his stupid friend.

I bounced on my toes quietly squealing.

Why didn't I do this sooner?

It was so easy.

Plus he touched me.

I'm going to faint.

Walking through the halls with a huge smile and a new pep in my step, I exited the school to make my way home.

I'm going out with Jasper Killian.

It has to be perfect.

What should I wear?

Maybe something a little suggestive but not too much so because I'm modest, I promise.

Before we know it, we'll be mated after having a huge ceremony, then we'll get a big family home and fill it up with six pups.

No more, no less.

"What has you looking so smug?"

I was so far gone in my thoughts, I didn't even see Robert as I walked around his shiny car to cross the street.

I turned around and moved closer to his car so I wouldn't get run over by some teenager.

They drive worse than the elderly.

The Alpha male was surrounded by high school girls all eager for his attention and I watched them with distaste.

Robert crossed his arms on top of the car, that stupid smirk on his lips.

They didn't look as soft as Jasper's.

"Oh nothing," I said, still smiling.

Nothing was going to wipe this smile off.

"Jasper just agreed to go on a date with me."

Not in so many words but same difference.

Robby didn't need to know that.

"Bullshit," he laughed, unbelieving.

I gasped and placed a hand over my chest dramatically.

"Don't curse at me, Robert."

"With every day that passes, you turn more into your mother," the big idiot said, laughing up a storm.

My smile slipped and in place was a glare I directed at him.

"You're... you're just jealous," I snapped, stomping my foot.

Robby raised a brow and opened his mouth but before he could get any words out, I rushed to change the subject.

"What are you doing here anyways, daydreaming about the good ol' days?" I sassed.

"Actually, I'm here to pick up my brother. Want a ride?"

"No," was my immediate answer.

I've decided that I can't stand him.

He's always around, not to mention the groping and scenting in my mom's kitchen.

She'd have a heart attack if she knew what that Evil Alpha Werewolf did to her pure pup.

"Not even if Jasper's going to be in the car?" he taunted.

I pouted, knowing he'd changed my mind.

He smiled, knowing this too.

Every since he discovered my crush on his brother, he's used it against me in some way.

Robert walked around the car and opened the door for me, moving the seat up so I could crawl in the back.

He didn't move back and I had to squeeze between him and the door to get in, the whole time with a clear look of annoyance on my face.

He only laughed while fixing the seat and sliding in behind the wheel.

My Mate better pamper me with love for all the times I've had to deal with his insufferable brother.

"Oh, I almost forgot."

I pulled my backpack off and sat it on my lap, digging through it until I found what I was looking for.

The doctor said to give them to someone who needed them.

Who needed them more than Robert?

"I believe you need these."

I slapped the bag of condoms against his chest and waited until he grabbed them.

Robert looked at the bags contents before turning in his seat to look at me.

"What are you suggesting, Tory? That I should use these...with you?"

He seemed to be dead serious.

My face burned as I sputtered out nonsense and shook my head in denial.

Robby watched me do this before bursting with laughter.

"Aren't you going to need these? After all, you have that big date with Jesper," he teased, tossing the bag back at me.

"No. I don't do those things," I cried, fumbling with the bag as some spilled out.

"Sure. There's no telling what you think up in that dirty mind of yours."

"My mind isn't dirty," I yelled right as the car door opened.

I was pretty sure my face was going to catch on fire as Jasper ducked down and glanced between us curiously.

Then his eyes lowered to the handful of condoms I'd picked up off the floor.

My mouth opened and shut.

"Torin wants to know what size you wear," Robert said to his brother with a straight face.

That was it, in that moment, I decided I was going to kill Robert Killian.