#until eventually getting their happy ending? yeah nope. gonna need at least 20 chapters for that lmao

[osakaso5]

IDOLiSH7 6th Anniversary Special Story: Full of Heart...

Chapter 4: Unreasonable Demands

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

Tamaki Yotsuba: I'm glad you can get your photo now, So-chan. But are you sure you can make it to the North Pacific?

Sogo Osaka: I think so... He did say he could make a stop at the nearest yacht harbor.

Sogo Osaka: What about your photo? You mentioned that Re:vale could help...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah. I just messaged them, and they said they were gonna come pick us up.

Sogo Osaka: Pick us up?

[Toot toot!]

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ah! That's Momorin's car!

Momo: Tamaki! Sogo!

Yuki: Good evening.

Sogo Osaka: I'm sorry you had to come all this way! Tamaki-kun didn't tell me you were coming for us until just now...

Momo: It's fine! Hop on!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Where are we going?

Yuki: Back in time.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Heh. If I could time travel, there's a ton of stuff I'd wanna do.

Yuki: Same here.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I bet you would too, So-chan.

Sogo Osaka: Sure.

Momo: I've got a ton of stuff I'd change, too. But sorry, we're not actually going back in time. We're going to Yuki's place!

Tamaki Yotsuba: That's fine. There's a bunch of stuff I wanna do there, too.

Yuki: Like what?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Playing the guitar. Teach me.

Yuki: Okay.

Sogo Osaka: You could've asked me, too... Though I'm sure Yuki-san has better foundations and technique...

Tamaki Yotsuba: I don't wanna learn from you. You'd get on my case about being bad. Yukirin seems way nicer.

Yuki: I'm a lot scarier than you think.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Huh..? Oh, right. No way am I gonna learn from you. I'll just ask Ban-chan.

Yuki: Ban's not any better, you know. He'll click his tongue and call you an amateur.

Tamaki Yotsuba: If he did that, I'd start crying...

Sogo Osaka: I would, too...

Momo: I'd cry so much, my tear ducts would never recover...

[Toot toot!]

Momo: Ah! We can talk later! Hurry up and get in the car!

Sogo Osaka: ...Thank you!

Momo: Off we go! 

- - - -

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yaaay! Long time no see, Yukirin's place.

Sogo Osaka: Tamaki-kun, you could at least thank Yuki-san for his hospitality.

Yuki: It's fine... Hey. Tamaki-kun, wait, at least put some slippers on before you walk in.

Tamaki Yotsuba: It's fine.

Yuki: It's not fine. Put them on.

Sogo Osaka: I'm sorry about him! I'll make him wear them! Tamaki-kun, come back here. You can't just run into people's homes like that.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I was so excited that I had to floor it.

Momo: I guess you'll need to install traffic lights at your entrance hall, Yuki.

Yuki: I'll paint a little crosswalk on the floor while I'm at it.

Sogo Osaka: Thank you, and I'm very sorry for the trouble...

Yuki: I was joking. I guess you can be a bit soft on Tamaki-kun, too.

Sogo Osaka: Oh, that was a joke?

Momo: So, what's up?

Momo: You needed help finding a childhood photo for Welcome to Kids' Room, right?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Y'know the apartments I used to live at? There was this guy there who had a camera.

Momo: A guy with a camera?

Tamaki Yotsuba: I forget his name, but I think he lived in our neighborhood. He took a family photo of us.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I wanna meet him, so I can ask if he could reprint the picture we put in Mom's casket...

Tamaki Yotsuba: And for that, I need you guys to make some shady deals.

Re:vale: Shady deals..?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah.

Re:vale: Shady deals!?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah. I need the help of some underground type guys for this. Can't Re:vale make that happen?

Yuki: You want us...

Momo: To make shady deals...

Sogo Osaka: Re:vale... Please. If it's at all possible, then I'd like you to help him, too.

Momo: Now even Sogo's asking... No, hold on just a minute!

Momo: I'm not sure where you got the idea that we make ANY kind of shady deals to begin with. Yuki, do you know what they're talking about?

Yuki: I have no idea. You?

Momo: Nope... I feel like shady deals are the one thing we can't help with...

Tamaki Yotsuba: No way... I was sure you guys would have some leads.

Yuki: What kind of a deal were you planning?

Momo: I think we'll be more helpful than any of the "underground type guys" you had in mind.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I need someone to hack into every surveillance camera in the world, to find out where that dude is now.

Sogo Osaka: Every surveillance camera in the world..?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Even though most people don't realize it, there's shady organizations that control the world from the shadows!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Or at least that's what it said in this "Scary Truths of the World" book that Isumin had.

Yuki: You mean you read it in some book about the occult? And you went ahead and assumed we were associated with these shady organizations?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah... Re:vale kinda gives me that sort of vibe sometimes...

Momo: I never knew people saw us that way. Heh, not bad.

Yuki: So basically, you want to know where that camera guy is now? Good thing I happen to know a private detective.

Sogo Osaka: You know a private detective? Did you meet him while studying for a role?

Yuki: No... I met him while looking for your manager...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Oh, Ban-chan!

Yuki: Yep.

Momo: But if that private detective couldn't find Ban-san, how useful could he possibly be?

Yuki: Probably not very useful, no.

Momo: But you still kept him on your payroll?

Yuki: Well, Ban taught me not to keep replacing our bandmates, and you taught me to hold people dear...

Momo: Oh, Yuki! You're such a good boy!!! You're a gentleman and a hottie rolled into one!  

Yuki: I sure am. I'll even forgive you for our earlier argument.

Tamaki Yotsuba: You guys had a fight?

Momo: We butted heads over our Welcome to Kids' Room photos, that's all.

Sogo Osaka: But why would you fight over your childhood pictures..?

Momo: Well... 

- - - -

Rinto Okazaki: Then it's settled. This will be your picture for the show, Momo-kun, and this will be yours, Yuki-kun.

Yuki: Wow..! You look adorable, Momo! A little round-cheeked boy with a tan, playing soccer. It's so cute.

Momo: ...Holy crap... A listless pretty boy, playing the guitar...

Yuki: I like this photo. I feel like it'd be a great source of energy whenever I'm tired from work.

Yuki: I know we talked using each other's selfies as lock screen backgrounds,   but I think these childhood photos would work better.

Rinto Okazaki: Great idea! I happen to have these picture lockets, would you like some?

Yuki: A locket? If I put Momo's picture in that, it'd be like he's my son.

Yuki: That could be kind of funny. Should we try it?

Momo: No way...

Yuki: What!?

Momo: I can't take this photo! As both your fan and your partner, I think this picture's bad news!

Yuki: How is it bad news!? Are you saying I'm not cute in it!?

Rinto Okazaki: I think you're positively adorable!

Momo: You're wearing SHORTS! Since when do you wear shorts!? There's no way we can show this on TV!

Yuki: And why not? Even I was once an innocent kid, like Iori-kun and Tamaki-kun.

Rinto Okazaki: I think you're still plenty innocent, Yuki-kun!

Yuki: That's it. I'm making a copy of this picture, and putting it inside your locket.

Momo: Oh, no you don't! I'm not wearing that, you hear me!?

Yuki: But you said we should use each other's pictures as lock screens!

Momo: I didn't say anything about our childhood pictures! I'm gonna lose my mind if I have to walk around with a picture like this dangling from my neck!

Momo: And how did you just so happen to have two lockets lying around!?

Rinto Okazaki: The president got them for you.

Yuki: He wants us to have each other's pictures?

Rinto Okazaki: No, he actually wanted you to have a childhood photo of himself and I.

Momo: Wait, I wanna see that!

Rinto Okazaki: Here it is.

Momo: Wow! You went to a studio for this one!

Momo: Okarin, is the one sitting on the chair you? Does that mean our prez is the one standing up?

Rinto Okazaki: That's correct.

Yuki: You and Rintaro look really alike. The suits look chic, so it's actually kind of cool.

Yuki: Was this taken for a special occasion?

Rinto Okazaki: Our neighborhood cameraman needed something to display on his shop window, so he took a picture of us.

Rinto Okazaki: We received the lockets as thanks.

Rinto Okazaki: He thought that if we brothers kept a picture with us, we'd always be able to find each other, no matter how far apart we end up.

Yuki: Huh. So it's a novelty gift. If you can call it that, anyway.

Rinto Okazaki: This was 20 years ago. Come to think of it, there was a picture of the cameraman's two sons on the window, too.

Rinto Okazaki: Though even our parents said they'd only ever seen the older brother.

Yuki: I see. Maybe something happened to the younger one, then. Poor thing...

Rinto Okazaki: Perhaps...

Rinto Okazaki: The older son's business failed, too, and eventually, the camera shop closed its doors for good.

Rinto Okazaki: My brother remembered the cameraman thanks to this picture. That was probably why he wanted you to have some, too.

Momo: So we could keep each other's pictures close by?

Rinto Okazaki: No. Like I said, it's our picture he wants you to put in the lockets.

Yuki: I think Rintaro's a little too in love with himself.

Rinto Okazaki: I'm sorry about him...

Momo: Ahaha! Still I think it could be funny to walk around with your picture hanging from our necks! Right, Yuki?

Momo: It would really show off our loyalty to Okazaki Productions, don't you think!?

Yuki: ......... Do you really hate the idea of having my picture that much..?

Momo: Uh, no...

Yuki: I see how it is. You refuse to keep my picture in a locket, but the Okazakis are fine?

Momo: I didn't mean it like that...

Rinto Okazaki: Ah, how unusual. Normally, it's Momo-kun doing these sort of interrogations.

Yuki: I can keep your photo in a locket, you know. I could even make you lunch for your practice match, Momose-kun.

Momo: Dang! I'm starting to feel jealous over my picture self..!

Yuki: I hope you'll grow up into an idol and be happy with me.

Momo: I don't think I can talk to your picture that easily... Or that casually...

Momo: Then again, wouldn't it be a little pervy if I started calling this picture of my partner "Master Yuki", or something..!?

Rinto Okazaki: I don't see the problem. Re:vale's already got an eccentric image, after all.

Yuki: I feel bad for my unwanted younger self. Give him back to me. I'll raise him with little Momose here.

Momo: I told you, that's not it! I'd never neglect little Yukito-san..!

Rinto Okazaki: There you go, starting some bizarre family roleplay. Allow me and my brother's picture to join in! 

- - - -

Momo: And that's how we started arguing.

Sogo Osaka: That sounds rough...

Yuki: Here's Momo's picture, by the way.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Wow! Momorin was so cute! Used to be super tan, too! With shiny white teeth!

Sogo Osaka: You really did put it in the locket.

Momo: Wanna see Okarin and his brother?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Okarin was adorbs, too! And I've never seen his brother! He's cute!

Yuki: Not anymore, he's not.

Sogo Osaka: So you did use Okazaki-san's picture for the locket.

Momo: I thought it'd be funny, and a good way to advertise our agency... Yuki's is too real for me to walk around wearing it. Do you get what I'm saying, Yuki?

Yuki: Not at all. I still feel bad for little me.

Momo: Don't you get grumpy on me again!

Yuki: ...In any case, I can introduce you to a useless private detective.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I'd rather you introduce me to a useful one. Does your detective pal know any better detectives?

Momo: Good point. If he's in the business, he's gotta know who his biggest rivals are!

Yuki: I'll try asking him.

[Dial tone]

Yuki: Hello, it's Yuki from Re:vale. Do you know any good detectives, other than you? Like, the king of private detecting or something...

Yuki: What..? There's a detective so great, he's only spoken of in legends..?

Tamaki Yotsuba: ........! A legendary detective..!!!

Sogo Osaka: He sounds like someone who could help! That's great, Tamaki-kun!

Yuki: I have a job for that detective. Get in touch with him for me. I need to find somebody. Yeah. I'm counting on you.

[Beep]

Momo: He's going to introduce us to a legendary detective!?

Yuki: He's willing to try, at least. I'll get in touch as soon as I hear from him again, Tamaki-kun.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Okay! Thanks!

Yuki: But... If it's too hard for you to get a hold of that picture, you can quit if you want, you know.

Momo: You guys must have better things to do, anyway. It's not like Ban-san or Maneko-chan are forcing you to do this, right?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah, but...

Tamaki Yotsuba: I wanna have something like this pic of Momorin playing soccer, or Yukirin playing the guitar.

Re:vale: .........

Momo: Right. I hope you find your picture, Tamaki. We'll help in any way we can.

Yuki: If you run into trouble, call us.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ehehe... Okay! 

- - - -

Sogo Osaka: .........

Sogo Osaka: They even drove us back to the dorm.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yukirin's cooking was so yummy, and Momorin played with me a lot. Re:vale's super nice!

Sogo Osaka: It's because you're such a good kid.

Tamaki Yotsuba: .........

Sogo Osaka: You're so honest and kind, there's not a single person who wouldn't want you to live a happy life.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Haha... That's the opposite of what I used to hear, though.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Like when something I had broke, or something didn't make it to me in time, or something I'd been excited for didn't work out.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Apparently it was all a punishment, 'cause I'm such a bad, nasty kid.

Sogo Osaka: ........

Tamaki Yotsuba: I'd get mad and yell, "That's not true!", but still. Sometimes when I'm having a bad day, I remember that stuff.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I fall down, or something I like breaks, or I get caught in a rainstorm... And I wonder if I'm being punished.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I mean, I'm not THAT good of a kid. I don't work hard, I'm kinda rude. Plus I'm dumb.

Tamaki Yotsuba: ...If I was smarter, maybe I would've gotten a copy of that photo before it went into Mom's casket.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I don't have any pictures 'cause I'm an idiot who can't take proper care of anything.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Meanwhile, you're good at keeping things clean, and you do everything right.

Sogo Osaka: ...You're not an idiot, and the photo thing wasn't your fault.

Sogo Osaka: I can't believe anyone would say things like that to a child. Of course you're not being punished.

Tamaki Yotsuba: .........

Sogo Osaka: I can guarantee that you're not, so don't worry.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ahaha! So-chan, you're acting kinda cool all of a sudden.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Thanks. 

To be continued...

[dancewithyoutoday]

OTP Tag Game!

I was tagged by @whaticameherefor, thank you so much my friend!!! <3 I could do these things all day lol

1. Ian x Mickey (Shameless)

2. Damon x Elena (The Vampire Diaries)

3. Brian x Justin (Queer As Folk)

4. Claire x Jamie (Outlander)

5. Clark x Lana (Smallville)

6. Wade x Zoe (Hart Of Dixie)

7. Rae x Finn (My Mad Fat Diary)

8. Seth x Summer (The O.C.)

9. Jane x Lisbon (The Mentalist)

10. Emma x Hook (Once Upon A Time)

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

Yes, I do. It was the pilot episode lmao

2. Have you ever read a fanfic about 2?

Nope. I started reading a fic about them a few years ago, but stopped after the first chapter. I guess I didn’t connect to the fanfic versions of them, so I’ve never tried again. Maybe because I felt they were already perfect and canon didn’t need any ���improvement’? idk.

3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr screen saver?

Uhm, once maybe? I can’t remember.

4. If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

Well, they actually didn’t end up together in the show, they were only a couple for a very short time, but yeah, even though I was sad about it, I eventually accepted it, because it was the right thing for Rae in that moment.

5. Why is 1 so important?

Because they make me feel things no other couple has ever made me feel. They were two fucked up kids who needed love and understanding, two fucked up kids who fell in love in the darkest place. They are two men who know and understand each other in ways that no one ever could. They never gave up on each other, they could never be apart, their love is so strong it overcame time, distance, heartbreak and even two boyfriends lmao. They complete each other, they’re the actual definition of soulmate and I think no one deserves happiness more than they do. Plus, I kinda feel very very protective of them, I would literally protect them with my life if ever needed. Last but not least, they’re the OTP who made me fell in love with fanfiction. In fact, I only read Gallavich fics and I could never imagine my life without them anymore. 

6. Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship?

I would say funny, because Patrick would always tease her or try to make her smile, but he was also dealing with the trauma of losing his wife and daughter, so it wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows between the two of them.

7. Out of all the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry?

Ian x Mickey and Damon x Elena. Hands down. (s1-s5 Delena, at least)

8. Out of all your ships listed, which ship has the strongest bond?

I’m gonna cheat and say Gallavich, Delena and Claire x Jamie. I could never choose just one, because well, Damon was willing to wait for Elena for 60 years and more (and he really did until Elena finally woke up); Claire and Jamie reunited after 20 years and never stopped loving each other, not even for a day; Ian and Mickey’s bond is so strong that literally nothing could tear them apart. So yeah, I’ll go with these three!

9. How many times have you read/watched the 10’s fandom?

I watched OUAT just once. (if I understood the question?)

10. Which ship has lasted the longest?

Uhm, Delena I guess? They became human again and we were shown that they remained together until the day they died.

11. How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up?

They went through a few ups and downs, but the worst break up was in season 2 when Wade cheated on her.

12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8?

Definitely Damon and Elena, they were supernatural creatures themselves after all, so at least they’d be prepared lol

13. Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason?

Rae did hide it, for a while. She was too embarrassed to be seen next to Finn, because of all her insecurities and low self-esteem :(

14. Is 4 still together?

Yes, foreverrr!

15. Is 10 canon?

Absolutely, they even got married :’)

16. If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

I literally know nothing about Hunger Games, but I’ll go with Delena again.

17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 5’s ship?

Let’s just say there were... many external factors lmao. Clark’s initial fear of hurting her, Lana marrying Lex, Clark becoming a jerk when exposed to red kryptonite, and finally... the Beast itself, green kryptonite. I don’t remember precisely how, but Lana finds herself sort of trapped in a suit made of green kryptonite, and that’s obviously the death of her relationship with Clark, since they literally can’t stay near each other and are forced to say goodbye.

Shh, Giulia, it’s fine. It’s been a long time, you’ll get over this.

18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond?

Ian and Mickey. I love all the ships I mentioned, but Ian and Mickey are my children, I will always choose them over anyone and anything. Seriously, don’t touch them.

19. Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s tumblr page?

Unfortunately there are very few pages that post about QAF and Brian x Justin nowadays, but the answer is yes, I would.

20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all forever, which ship would you sink?

Jane and Lisbon, I’M SORRY.

This was so fun, thank you!!! asgshajaj I’ll tag @sickness-health-all-that-shit, @whatyouandihave-makesmefree, @beckyharvey29, @thisfeebleheart, @gallavich-and-millagher, @itwasnttheplanokay. I apologize if you already did it :))

[tsfanart]

The Last Week--Chapter 6

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

--

At 5:30 on Friday evening, Logan got into his car, drove across the street, and pulled over. He froze. It felt weird to not get out of his car and ring the doorbell...but Logan didn't feel like wasting his time anymore, either. So, with a wince, he lifted his hand and honked the horn.

Virgil came out a few minutes later and got in the passenger side. "Hey!" he greeted. "How was your day?"

"It was fine, and yours?" Logan asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Pretty normal on my end," Virgil said, but then he trailed off.

The car ride was quiet the rest of the way, but when they reached the restaurant, Logan softened a little. They parked the car and made their way inside.

"Oh, hey there, guys!" the host greeted them. "Funny seeing you both here so late in the year!"

Virgil shrugged. "Yeah, well, here we are. Reservation for two?"

The host found the reservation and led the boys to their table, and Logan smiled a little more. Virgil couldn't have come up with the idea at the last minute if they had a reservation.

They sat at the table and ordered their usuals, and then Virgil perked up. "Oh hey, guess what I brought!" he singsonged. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two pens and a pad of sticky notes.

Logan grinned in spite of himself and reached for a sticky note. He took one of the pens and scanned the room, looking for things to write down. It was a game they always played when they went to Baire's Lair--a combination of I Spy and 20 Questions. They each had to write down three things that they saw around them, and then they would trade piles. Then Logan would put one of the things that Virgil saw to stick on the latter's forehead, and vice versa.

"Alright, you ready?" Virgil asked after a few minutes. Logan looked up and nodded.

"Okay then...time to trade!" Virgil announced. The two exchanged piles of sticky notes and looked them over.

Logan stared down at the notes in front of him. One of them was a green jacket that a man the next table over was wearing; another was the salt shaker that was right in front of them; and the last one was...a Miami State hat that someone on their other side was wearing.

His heart sank at that last one, but he selected it anyway. It was all that mattered at that point, after all.

Logan looked up and nodded, and he and Virgil both leaned across the table to put their respective sticky notes on each other. They sat back.

"Alright, so, you ready?" Virgil asked. Logan gave a thumbs up, so Virgil leaned forward and stroked his chin.

"Hm..." Virgil began, "am I all one color?"

Logan shook his head. "Nope. Mostly one, though. Uh...am I green?"

"No, you are not!"

The game continued as normal for the next few minutes, interrupted only by the arrival of their food. Virgil guessed his pretty easily, but it was a while before it became clear to Logan what was going on.

"Wait..." Logan said, "am I the Harvard sweatshirt that's on the coat rack over there?"

Virgil nodded cheerfully. "Yup! You've got it!"

"Huh. I guess we were kind of on the same page then, huh?" Logan choked out.

Virgil shrugged. "Eh, makes enough sense. It's only a few days off, right?"

Virgil's nonchalant behavior was starting to disturb Logan again. "Yeah...that it is. But hey, no sense in worrying about that, right?" He ripped off the sticky note and crumpled it. "We've still got a little over a day left, after all."

"Yeah, for sure," Virgil said, and Logan looked up, surprised to realize that the other's voice had cracked.

Logan glanced down at his plate and looked back up at his soon-to-be ex shyly. "Hey, um, do you want to maybe get a check or something? And then after that we could..."

"Go to the park?" Virgil finished. Logan nodded tearfully, and Virgil gave a half smile. After paying for their food, the two left to walk to the public park just a few blocks away from the restaurant. They found a patch of grass, moved a foot or so away from each other, and laid down for a while to stargaze and think.

After around half an hour had passed, Virgil got up to lay down next to Logan. Logan turned to look at him.

"I'm glad you're gonna be able to do such great things next year," Virgil said shakily. "Really, I am. And you should be proud of yourself for it."

Logan looked down and picked at the grass below him. He shrugged. "I know, I am. It's just...I'm gonna miss you."

"You are?" Virgil asked in disbelief.

Logan sat up and tilted his head. "Well, yeah, of course. Nobody at Harvard knows what I need when I get anxious at the store. No one there knows how to play our sticky note game. No one else has had an epic pillow fight with me or endured Mr. Spinner's wrath firsthand. And no one has seen me at my worst and decided to stick around anyway.

"And I know everyone says that I'll make new friends and stuff, but...I don't care, okay? It doesn't matter. They're all the same. Just faceless, pretentious blobs." He laid back down again. "But look, I'm happy for you too. I'm glad you're so excited about all this...at least one of us is, anyway."

Virgil's heart sank with guilt. "Logan, I...I owe you an apology for what went down yesterday. I thought I could trick myself into being happy and not caring. Because you're right, everyone around us is saying that."

"Well..." Logan began thoughtfully, "screw what everyone else says. Maybe they don't have the right idea. And maybe...maybe we had the wrong idea here in trying to live in the present this whole time."

"Yeah..." Virgil said. His lip started trembling. "But...we're okay though?"

"I think so, yeah," Logan replied. He outstretched his arms, and Virgil leaned in for a real hug this time.

Eventually, Logan pulled back. "Well, hey, there's still one thing left to do!" he pointed out. He stood up and extended his hand, and Virgil took it.

"That there is," he said with a smile. "So...your room, or mine?"

"Probably yours," Logan said. "We'll head back home and meet up in a few minutes?"

Virgil nodded. "Sounds like a plan," he said. The two walked arm in arm back to Logan's car, and had one last silent car ride home.

--

Shortly after getting home, Logan knocked on the Donovans' door for the last time, hiding his gift behind his back. Virgil opened the door.

"Hey...come on in," he said shyly.

Logan ducked his head and followed Virgil upstairs, but when they got to the door, Virgil paused. "Wait, one second..." He ran inside and got his own gift, and then opened the door again hiding it behind his own back. He nodded, and Logan came inside.

They sat down on the bed. "So...we'll share them on the count of three?" Virgil asked shakily.

Logan nodded, and they counted down. And then, as if they were hot potatoes, the boys both threw their gifts in the other's lap and glanced at one another sheepishly.

Logan looked down at his lap. As he had figured, Virgil had made him a multicolored scarf. He smiled and picked it up. "Oh, wow. This is really great. Thank you!" he said genuinely.

"Yeah, it's..." Virgil began. Then he turned red and chewed on his nail again.

Logan tilted his head. "It's what?"

Virgil looked straight ahead and started swinging his feet. "Well, the colors aren't exactly random. I mean, the colors themselves don't mean anything, but their order does."

"Oh yeah? And what meaning would that be?"

Virgil took a deep breath. "Well, I was thinking about how your messages for the week were in Morse Code, among other things, of course, and I wondered if I could do something with that for your gift, and I thought, what if each color represented a different thing? So the pairs of blue rows stand for dots and the pairs of purple rows stand for dashes. And the single black rows stand for letter breaks and the single gold rows stand for word breaks."

Logan smiled in awe, and examined the scarf closely. Virgil turned to look at him. "It's upside down," he clarified.

"Oh! Okay." Logan turned the scarf around and continued inspecting it. Finally he laid it in his lap and let out a high-pitched sound. "Logan and Virgil," he choked out.

Virgil nodded, and Logan leaned over to hug him again. "Thank you so much."

Virgil smiled. "You are so welcome. But hey, now it's your turn!" He picked up his gift, which looked like some sort of atom model made with the wires and styrofoam. "What exactly is this, anyway?"

"Oh, right, of course!" Logan lit up. "That's a Cesium atom. It measures seconds in an atomic clock. Did you know that one electron in the outer shell of a Cesium atom vibrates over nine billion times every second?"

Virgil raised his eyebrows. "Wow, really?"

"Yup!" Logan nodded. "That's the technical definition of a second, actually. Anyway, there are over 250 million seconds in eight years, and I multiplied those numbers together to get...two quintillion, three hundred nineteen quadrillion, one hundred ninety trillion, six hundred eighty-three billion, nine hundred eighty-nine million, seven hundred sixty thousand vibrations all together during the time that we've known each other. And that's the number that's written on the nucleus. Oh yeah, also I used rainbow beads for the electrons because, well, that's self-explanatory." He trailed off and looked away, but Virgil brought his face back around and kissed him on the nose.

"This is, without a doubt, the Logan-est gift I've ever seen in my life. And I mean that in the best way possible."

Logan broke out into a grin and sighed in relief. "Thanks, Virgil...for everything."

Virgil nodded again and shoved both of the gifts aside, and pulled Logan into the tightest hug he could muster. Logan reciprocated the hug and held onto his boyfriend for dear life, and they stayed that way the whole rest of the evening until they fell asleep.

[tatooedlaura-blog]

Twenty-third Christmas

the series is as follows so far:

First … Second … Third … Fourth … Fifth … Fifth Christmas, Part 2 … Sixth … Seventh … Eighth … Ninth … Tenth … Eleventh … Twelfth … Thirteenth ... Fourteenth ... Fifteenth ... Sixteenth ... Seventeenth ... Eighteenth ... Nineteenth ... Twentieth ... Twenty-first ... Twenty-second ... Twenty-third

Here’s the last one … 23 chapters later … no idea it woud turn into this … and am totally glad it did :)

Thanks everyody who reblogged, noted, commented and tagged … you are all gods in my world and I appreciate you from the bottom of my soul :)

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sitting quietly on the couch, fire crackling on the hearth, wind whistling in the eaves, Mulder put his head back, nestling in beside Scully’s as she read something or other with a pastel cover and a beach scene and a faceless woman wearing a floppy hat, “hey, Scully?”

Patiently, she put her finger in her book to hold her spot, “yeah?”

“I want to decorate the hell out of this place.”

She couldn’t fight the smile that burst forth, “only you would use hell to describe Christmas.”

“Come on. I think Maggie would like us to do it up right, our first Christmas back together and in her house to boot. We can intermingle her stuff and our stuff and I can go buy stuff for the front yard and porch.” Having sank his teeth into the idea, it was now exploding in his head, visions of inflatable things and blinking lights and evergreen garland, pointsettas and pinecones and cinnamon-smelling potpourri boiling on the stove, “I mean, it’ll be the stuff of Christmas dreams!”

“Okay, you had me with your overuse of the word ‘stuff’ but then you rolled out the emphatic Christmas dreams ending and moved it right on into over-saccharined insanity.”

Shifting sideways, he pulled his leg up, the ever present Flab jumping on his lap while Dagoo looked on, comfy from his blanket near the heat of the fireplace, “look, even Flab appreciates my saccharine enthusiasm. Look at her. She’d dying to have you say yes because she wants her own Grinch costume and Dagoo needs a Rudolph nose.”

“I think Dagoo wants you to be quiet so he can keep napping.”

He saw the moment he won and grinning, “we should go shopping.”

“Yes, we should.” Will’s voice drifted down the stairs where he’d been listening rapturously, with both mind and ear, feeling his father’s win and his mother’s amusement. Coming down further and poking his head past the wall, “right now. The Uncles will love it when they come over for Christmas.”

“That’s right, Scully. We’re gonna have like 20 people here for two days. We owe it to them to make this completely Maggie Christmas worthy.”

Not about to deny Will or Mulder a damn thing ever in life, Scully stood up, holding her hand out to pull him with her then gesturing towards the fire, “put that out so we don’t burn the house down and we’ll go buy out the Christmas sections of everywhere.”

Will hooted, racing back upstairs for a sweatshirt, Mulder gave her a big, wet kiss on the cheek and did as told while Scully just giggled in happy glee.

&&&&&&&&&&&

When the Gunmen had shown up with Will on that bridge, the world didn’t end but began anew, saving Mulder, getting everyone back to the hospital, aiming a homemade and completely genius EMP handheld device at the hovering ship, sending it and its government fuckers as Frohike called them, away for long enough to get the gang safely away in the boat parked just below the bridge.

She’d saved the world but more importantly, she’d saved Mulder with the help of Will’s blood and her ability to completely compartmentalize the fact that her friends were alive and had been hiding her son from her for the past 16 years. Science kicked in, she brought human beings back from the brink of extinction and when it was all over, she screamed at the Gunmen for three minutes apiece then broke down, crying with her equally emotional son in her arms.

Eventually, over the course of the following three days, while the world was vaccinated, her and Mulder learned the story of the past decade and a half of the Gunmen and Will in abstentia. In the silence that hung around them when Frohike finished, Scully breathed out the largest sigh of relief in her entire, God-damned life and looked at her boy, “will you come home with me and be our son again … if you can ever forgive me?”

More crying ensued and an hour or three later, Will moved into the Unremarkable guest room, which was neither a guest room nor unremarkable anymore, given it had proudly been a resting spot for Maggie and would now be the home of her grandson. Within a few weeks, an agreement was floated between the six of them, Scully, Mulder and William moving into Maggie’s home while the Gunmen took over the farmhouse, the basement perfect for computer equipment, enough room for the three of them and the solitude to which they’d become accustom.

They came over three times a week for dinner to see their nephew.

&&&&&&&&&&

Shopping had never been so much fun. Both Mulder and Will had carts, racing down aisles in the local Wal-mart, doing their best not to steer into rows and nearly failing with regularity and hilarity combined. They called back and forth over tall things because, as Mulder put it, Scully was a short thing and needed to be kept track of. They debated icicle lights or fat LEDs for the front porch. They held up garish stockings and neon pink garland and giggled in unison at the metallic orange Christmas tree on display.

They ended up spending nearly all of Scully’s paycheck and she couldn’t have cared in the slightest.

Once back in the car, they stopped for Frosties, eating them while shivering their way home before finally pulling in the driveway and unloading Scully’s filled to the brim SUV. In typical teenage boy fashion, Will informed them that since he was out of school for Christmas break and had absolutely no reason to get up early in the morning, he would like to start the decorating now.

Mulder couldn’t think of one reason to argue and Scully gave them an approving smile, “why don’t you two start and I’ll go make the hot chocolate.”

&&&&&&&&&

It took until the next evening to finish, sleep finally taking the three of them down around two a.m. and lasting until noon. By that night, however, the only thing left were the Christmas trees, standing bare on either side of the fireplace, Maggie’s on the left and theirs on the right. William sat between them, boxes of ornament surrounding his crossed legs, lids off, treasures waiting patiently to be hung. “So, Scullly, would it be better to mix all the ornaments or would you like to keep them separate? Maggie’s on Maggie’s and ours on ours?”

She couldn’t give him a definite answer through the tears suddenly streaming down her cheeks.

Mulder’s heart cracked and with his own eyes damp, he pulled her into a hug, “I think we should mix ‘em all up. I have a feeling Maggie’d like it that way; she’d know that we’re really back together for good this time because, I mean, nothing says steadfast togetherness like mixing the mother-in-law’s holiday decorations in with our own.”

Scully laughed against his shirt, wiggling one arm from her hold on him to ruffle through their son’s hair, “what do you think, Will? Mix or separate?”

“Already mixing, mom, so the question is moot.” He had his own small box on his lap from which he was pulling homemade things, a popsicle-sticky, glittery, shiny, gluey, messy, intricate, woven, carved assortment of historically significant baubles he’d made with the Gunmen over the years. He lay them out on the rug, “we should keep taking one from each pile, nine ornaments each, put them on one tree then do the same for the other. We’ll have an even distribution that way or at least as even as we’ll be able to get given I don’t know your ornament count but we’ll make do.” The silence that hung above him made him look up to see his father shaking his head in befuddlement and his mother about to burst into laughter, “what?”

Mulder nudged Scully with his elbow, “he is totally your kid.”

Pointing to one of Will’s ornaments, “he made a green sequin alien head. He’s both of ours.”

Will held the alien head up to Mulder, “I sure am.”

&&&&&&&&&&&&

It took most of the evening to hang 78 years worth of bulbs and memories, backstories being told for most, Will curious and open, questioning, commenting, loving the fact that he had a history, that he had a family with a history, that he was a part of that history. It was only when they’d finished that Scully suddenly realized, “if these are the things you made with your Uncles, what are they putting up on their Christmas tree?”

Will grinned, “I was confined to a building with them for 15 years, I made so many things that they’ll never miss what I took and besides, they wanted to give me more to bring home but I knew they wanted to keep a lot of it so believe me when I say, these aren’t even the tip of the iceberg … but I need to crash now so g’night and I’ll see you in the morning.” Giving both of them the long hugs they all needed all the time lately, he disappeared upstairs, leaving his parents to their standing and hugging and enjoying and occasional quick kissing.

Before anything got out of hand, Mulder pulled away from her, “I’ve got a gift for you.”

Because after several decades she was sure she knew what it was, she sat down, ready and waiting, grin on and hand out. Seeing her once he came back in the room, he chuckled, “no more surprising you is there?”

“Nope.” Waving her fingers in a hand it to me motion, “gimme.”

Laughing louder now, he sat down beside her, “it’s actually a two-fold gift. Here’s number one.” Opening the plain box, she found, resting quietly on the bed of cotton, the quarter necklace she had found in her mother’s possessions at the hospital, chain gone, Christmas hook attached. Before she could utter more than a small, confused, “Mul-,” he stopped her with a hand to the knee, “I know what that quarter is.”

She’d been wondering since the moment she found it, in the items envelope at her mother’s bedside, “how?”

“I gave it to her. Well, actually, she gave it to me. Back then, it was just a quarter from her purse but she gave it to me the night I met her, the night you were abducted by Barry. I was standing there, lost and confused and angry and scared out of my mind and I had to go do something, anything, just … find you. She’d watched me throw my cellphone at the wall at one point, frustrated as hell that no one was doing anything immediately, all talking and thinking instead of finding. Once I’d decided I needed to do something myself, she stopped me and gave me a quarter and told me to call her if I heard anything, regardless of time or information.” Stopping for a deep breath, he continued in a whisper, “I didn’t find anything out to call and tell her but I kept the quarter in my pocket anyway, holding it and hoping I’d need to use it soon. Eventually I got … we got you back but I kept the quarter anyways. I saw it as kind of my good luck charm at that point but then Maggie yelled at me and put me in my place for running with you so I had the quarter made into a necklace and I gave it back to her, telling her she’d never need a quarter to call me because we’d never be that far away again.”

Scully had been turning it over and over in her fingers, holding, spinning, twirling absently while she listened. When Mulder fell silent, she looked up at him, confusion still evident, “why didn’t you tell me when I found it or years ago, really?”

“Don’t be mad but it was a Maggie and me thing. It was ours. Our link. Our … connection to each other that was just ours. I never really had anything like that with my mother and …” now going sheepish on her, ducking his head, “I didn’t want to share it in case we went our separate ways. I didn’t want you to think of anything of your mom’s with a bad taste. I guess I figured a mystery was better than anger.”

Completely appreciating the logic, she first kissed his cheek, then kissed the quarter, dangling it in front of them, smiling through her ever-present tears, “I love it and the story and regardless of what may happen in the future, I’ve always loved you and always will so you don’t have to worry about that. I do however, wonder why you’re telling me now.”

“Because that was my last secret from you forever. I wanted everything out there when you got your second gift.” Reaching under the couch, he slid out a larger box, perfect size for a round bulb, “Merry Christmas part two.”

With that quizzical eyebrow he so very much loved to the ends of the Earth, he watched her open the box to a clear ornament, a piece of parchment paper rolled inside it, a handful of iridescent confetti heaped underneath it. Carefully unscrewing the sphere, she withdrew the paper, unrolling it carefully, reading intently then shaking her head in wonder, reading a second time just to be sure.

Once she looked up at him, eyes filled with twinkling amazement, he tossed the confetti in the air, covering them both, “so, will you be there?”

Her affirmative answer came in the form of her climbing eagerly onto his lap, straddling him, hugging him tightly as she whispered her, “I could never be anywhere else,” as she clutched her wedding invitation in her hand, the date printed as December 26, the time 2pm, the place being their front room.

“Gonna change your name? Let me make an honest Mulder out of you?”

As she kissed him once more behind the ear before shifting sideways, sliding down next to him, legs still akimbo around his thighs, “I was thinking more about Fox Scully. What do you say?”

Before he could answer, Will’s voice called down to them, in that uncanny way he had with timing, “I’m best man, right?”

Scully buried her head in his neck while he called back up to his son, “of course but you may have to battle it out with Frohike.”

“Naw, we’ll just tell him he’s Gunmen of Honor. He can be on mom’s side.”

“G’night, Will.”

“Night, Mom.”

Turning her attention back to her finally, very near future husband, “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Mulder.”

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Scully.”