#very rudely i might add but my mom was nice enough to let me finish

[archived-and-moving]

tobi on my dash <33333

Quil in my inbox <3333

Wait actually!! I just found my sketchbook w/ some old wings au drawings I did!!

please forgive the shitty computer camera, but look!! wings!!!

[roberttchase]

Brettsey prompt - established brettsey relationship and jealous Sylvie.

Have some cute Brettsey with kids! They are from my Must Love Dog series. This is set in the future. I will be writing more with them but for now, have a tiny little sliver.

At four, almost five years old, Adelaide Casey is going to be the death of Matt. Whether it’s from her curious, independent personality, or him being wrapped around her finger, he’s not sure which. It’s early; barely eight am, but the little girl has been restless since Sylvie left for her usual cycle-bar lesson, and she’s been asking for the past twenty minutes straight to go to the park.

Matt’s usually pretty good at tuning things out (he had to be when Otis and Cruz were galavanting around the firehouse), but the relentless determination his daughter seems to have woken up with is finally cutting through the barrier. That, or he just can’t say no to her. Looking at where she’s laying splayed across the couch, playing with two small animal figurines, he smiles. He sends a quick text to Sylvie, then walks over.

“Go get dressed and we can go.” The words make the tiny girl freeze, then she hops up, grinning and all but running up to her room.

They’ve been working on letting Addy dress herself more, and make more decisions, instead of just telling her. It’s definitely an ‘Addy-day’ as she so affectionately calls them, because when she reappears a few minutes later, she’s dressed herself and looks proud. Looking her over, Matt thinks it could definitely be worse. He and Sylvie have been explaining to her about the weather lately, and how to dress accordingly. It’s September, and the little black and white striped leggings with panda faces on the knees, paired with her favorite short sleeve shirt that reads ‘Jedi in Training’, should easily be enough to keep her warm.

“Can you put my hair up like Mama’s please?” Big blue eyes look up at him and Matt is amazed (as always) how much she looks like Sylvie.

“Of course. Do you think you can sit still for me long enough?” He teases, taking the hair brush and hair tie from her little hands, leading them to the living room. She sits on the coffee table while he sits on the couch behind her, brushing her wild mess of long, curly blonde hair.

“Papa, do you think Mama will wanna to get a donut after? She’ll be real hungry from the bike, right?”

Matt snorts as the hair tie hangs loosely between his teeth, pulling her hair up before catching it all with it, pulling it through to make a ponytail.

“She might be. Are you still hungry? We have more oatmeal and banana,” he offers, knowing exactly what game she’s playing at. He can’t help the smile taking over his face.

“No! I’m allll full. Jus’worried ‘bout Mama.”

“It’s very sweet of you to worry. When she finishes and meets us at the park you can ask,” Matt suggests, kissing her head. “You ready to head out, Chief?”

“Yes sir!” She gives him a mock salute and he laughs, following her to put their shoes on.

“Can we take Beau? I’ll walk him!” She freezes in the middle of the hallway, making Matt stumble.

“...we can. But only if he wants to go. Go find him and ask okay?” Another thing they’ve been working on- everyone has feelings, even animals. You have to ask before assuming someone wants to do something.

Moments later, while Matt’s pulling on his Nikes, Addy comes back with Beau trailing her, little nub wagging wildly. Matt nods and grabs Beau’s leash off of the hook near the door to the garage, handing it to her. She clips it on and grabs her sunglasses, another new development lately.

“Let’s head out. We can go to the park a few blocks away, yeah? The one with the tire swing?” When he gets an excited smile and wiggle, Matt lets her out into the front yard and locks up.

The walk doesn’t take long, and Matt, as always, is impressed with how well she walks their little frenchie. They get to the park that’s blissfully empty, though he’s not surprised. It’s early enough most kids are just waking up. He’s sure that Andy, their two year old, is just waking up with his Aunt Stella, Uncle Kelly, and their three year old (his best friend) Jackson. Sleepovers with the two are common, enough so that they know they’ll happen twice a week. Addy prefers Cruz’s twins, even if they’re almost two years older than her. Beau starts sniffing around near Matt, extending his leash to the longest it can be.

“Want me to come with you, or do you want to explore and play alone for a bit?” Options, Matt reminds himself, as his daughter thinks them over.

“Alone, but together later?”

“Of course. Go play.” With a smile, Matt watches Addy run over to the large structure, climbing up the little fake rock wall. They’ve come a long way from three months prior, when she was scared to do it on her own. Now she’s handling it like it’s nothing, and Matt couldn’t be more proud. Around ten minutes later, a mom and her two girls who seem to be around Addy’s age appear, and within seconds all three girls are talking and playing.

“They seem to be getting along,” the mom, a red head says, walking over. “Normally Katie’s pretty shy, but she seems to be warming up to your daughter quickly. I’m Elise.”

Matt’s never been one to just talk to other parents, that’s Sylvie’s specialty. He’s of course capable of making small talk, but his reserved nature makes him weary of it. Giving the woman a smile, he nods.

“Addy’s pretty quick to make friends,” he supplies, not fully sure he even wants to give her name out, but it seems rude not to. The girls look well adjusted enough, and his paranoia is put to rest when he sees their features resemble the woman��s next to him. “Matt, nice to meet you,” he adds. Beau snorts and Matt can’t help but laugh. “And this is Beau.”

They talk about their kids, and Matt’s unsure if he’s imagining it; he’s never been good at picking up signals, but it feels like Elise is flirting with him. He’s suddenly, acutely aware he doesn’t have his wedding ring on, doesn’t have it at all, actually. An accident a few months back involving cribbing being dropped on his hand and swelling had resulted in his ring finger swelling enough they’d had to cut his ring off. He definitely needs to get it replaced.

As the minutes tick by, Matt relaxes a bit. Elise is nice enough, and maybe she really is just being friendly. He can’t imagine her flirting with her kids so near by. Or...maybe not. The redhead is inching closer to him on the bench, and the firefighter tries not to look uncomfortable. Before he can say anything else, he hears Addy yell ‘mama’ at the top of her lungs. Looking up, Matt sees Sylvie walking towards them, breathtakingly beautiful. Though she may have just come from spin class, she’s still the prettiest woman in the world, blue eyes bright and smile wide.

Elise, for her part, looks only slightly thrown for a loop. He watches her smile tighten as Sylvie walks over. There’s something unreadable in her expression that Matt can’t quite place.

“Hey sweetheart,” Matt stands and presses a kiss to her cheek.

“Hey love. Hi! I’m Sylvie, Matt’s wife. Nice to meet you.”

Elise’s eyes are calculating, then she huffs. “Elise.”

Watching the interaction, Matt feels like he’s missing something, but with the way Sylvie is suddenly eyeing the woman, he thinks that maybe his first assumption of Elise flirting with him was right. By now, Addy’s next to them, clambering to try and get into Sylvie’s arms, one of her favorite places to be. Sylvie, while still reaching down to hold her, keeps eye contact with the other mom, cocking an eyebrow.

“I think we’d better get going,” Elise informs them, when her twins start making their way over. When Sylvie doesn’t reply, Matt speaks up.

“It was great meeting you!”

“Likewise Matt.”

When the family is walking off, he turns back to his wife, looking at her curiously. “What was that?”

“She was flirting with you, and needed to be put in her place.”

Matt’s not sure what to do with the information that Sylvie is jealous, and not only that, she’s adorable when she’s jealous, like a grumpy cat.

“Mama, can we go get donuts? You must be reaaallll hungry after workin’ out….”

[walkerismychoice]

Unwritten - Chapter 2

Book: Platinum

Pairing: M!Raleigh X MC

Rating: This series will contain mature themes. Any necessary warnings will be listed before each chapter, but the overall series rating is 18+

Series Summary: Newly discovered talent Aria Campbell get unknowingly assigned to help write Raleigh Carerra’s latest album and rehabilitate his image in the process.

Summary:  Aria and Raleigh start settling into the beach house. Things could be going better.

Word Count: 1868

Master List

Kidz Bop?! Aria can't decide if she's more mortified or pissed off at Raleigh's response to the prospect of writing his album with her. At 22, she can't be more than 5 years younger than him, maybe less, but she hasn't kept up with his personal details other than catching an occasional tabloid headline. And sure, she might be from a small Midwestern town, but between her outfit, an off the shoulder royal blue top and distressed black jeans, and her long, wavy black hair, she thinks she comes off as cool but not trying too hard. But what if the fact that she thinks that means she's not cool at all? Whatever. Maybe she should just slap a big snake tattoo on her neck and then Raleigh would respect her. Does he think all those dumb tattoos make him edgy? His tattoos are kind of hot though....No, scrub that thought. Raleigh Carerra is proving to be nothing more than the arrogant bad boy the media makes him out to be.

"Okay then..." Aria mutters under her breath, more of a question than a statement.

Fiona glares towards the Escalade. "Just hold on." She charges forward and tries to open Raleigh's door, but of course it's locked. "Hank!" she calls out but he's already anticipating what she wants, unlocking the doors before she asks, and she flings the door open. "Raleigh, get out of the car."

Raleigh scoffs, "I'd rather quit making music than write this sell-out album just to make the label more money. I don't need any of this."

"Have you forgotten that Ellis and the legal team at Overknight Records helped keep you out of jail? It's not too late for charges to be filed. This was the deal. You make this last record, redeem your image, and then you can do whatever the hell you want. Until then, you are going to apologize to this very talented young woman, and then get your ass in that house and start writing with her. Unless you want a felony on your record. You wouldn't look so bad in orange I suppose..."

"Oh, fuck off, Fiona," Raleigh grumbles as he gets back out of the car.

"I'd be glad to, but if you remember our contract, I don't get my bonus until you finish this album. The sooner you finish, the sooner you can be rid of me nagging you all the time. So like I said, get a move on. Oh! Before I forget..." Fiona reaches in her pocket and hands Aria a key and and an archaic looking cell phone and then does the same for Raleigh.

"The fuck is this? I didn't know they still made these." Raleigh pries open the basic flip phone, navigating the limited features. He attempts to key in a number before frustration sets in and he seems about ready to chuck the phone into the ocean. "This piece of shit doesn't text or dial out."

Fiona smiles smugly as the scene unfolds. "Oh it works perfectly fine...but only for approved, pre-programmed numbers."

Curious as to who's in her list, Aria powers up her phone and checks the contacts. Her mom, dad, and sister, as expected, along with some professional contacts including Hank and Fiona. She's pleasantly surprised they included Shane as well. Aria had put him as one of her emergency contacts, so they must trust her judgement as far as he's concerned. Her nerves start to settle ever so slightly with this lifeline.

Looking at his list, Raleigh scoffs and snaps the phone shut. "Is this a joke?" His hardened features are a bit disconcerting, piquing Aria's curiosity.

"I can assure you each of your lists was carefully selected to facilitate your creative process. Now, I'll leave you both to it." Fiona turns and heads in the opposite direction of the beach house.

"Where are you going?" Aria asks, concern creeping into her voice. Normally she doesn't need someone to hold her hand, but these aren't normal circumstances, and she's not quite ready for Fiona to leave her alone. She kind of feels like a kindergartner being dropped off for her first day of school to be honest.

"To the guest house. Where Frank and I are staying," Fiona replies.

"I knew there was something going on between you two." Raleigh chimes in with a devilish grin.

Hank coughs. "That would be unprofessional."

"There are two bedrooms," Fiona adds, rolling her eyes.

Now Aria's panicking a little inside. Or maybe a lot. She's expected to stay alone with this very intimidating celebrity who very well may hate her already?

"Wouldn't it make more sense for us all to stay together? The main house is more than big enough," she suggests .

Fiona lets out a terse laugh. "No. Absolutely not. It's enough that Hank and I have to stay and babysit to ensure this project gets done. We can't be bothered by singing and music playing at all hours. Think of it as a gift that you won't have to consider our sleeping habits while you work."

"I don't care who stays where, but I just need to know where my bed is at. It's 11am, and I should still be sleeping for at least a few more hours yet." Raleigh tilts his head towards the back of the truck, directing Hank. "You can bring my bags to my room." He takes off, the scent of alcohol hanging in the air as he passes.

Must be nice to order people around like that, Aria thinks as she reaches for the bags in the trunk. She's not too good to carry her own luggage.

"Ms. Campbell," Hank places a hand on her arm to stop her. "That's not necessary. Why don't you go inside and start settling in while I bring in your things."

Well, he is offering. It would be rude to turn him down, wouldn't it? Aria follows Raleigh into the house, and not wanting to ruffle any feathers more than she has merely just for existing in his space, she stands back and allows him to select his room first.

While she waits, Aria takes a look around. Although the exterior style of the home hints at its age, the inner design is exactly as modern and kept up as Aria would expect at a place where celebrities stay, with lots of white, shades of blue and blue-green accents, and nautical themed decor scattered about.

In the great room stands a gorgeous white baby grand piano that probably, no definitely, costs more than everything Aria owns combined. Aria steps over, gently striking a key, and for the first time since she signed the contract, begins to allow herself to get excited about making music here.

"Ms. Campbell?" Hank breaks Aria's chain of thought. "Where would you like me to put your things?"

"Oh...I need to pick out my room." She jogs up the stairs ans Hank follows. There are 6 rooms total, three on either side of the corridor. The first two are a bit smaller with bunk beds, so Aria counts them out, but the next two have promise.

As she approaches the last pair, one door is slightly, ajar and she notices Raleigh passed out face down and snoring on the bed already. Of course he would choose the master bedroom for himself, but as Aria looks at the remaining bedroom, she doesn't really mind. Although she considers taking one of the bunk bed rooms just to be as far from him as possible, she cant resist the spacious yet cozy space with a king-size bed and seaside view.

"I'll take this one." Aria directs Frank and he gently places her suitcases on the floor before excusing himself.

Aria kicks of her sandals and plops on the bed, staring up at the textured ceiling. Now that she's alone, she has no idea what to do with herself. Obviously getting straight to work with Raleigh is out of the question but that doesn't mean she cant try to get started. Pulling out her song journal, she stares at a blank page and laughs because if she doesn't laugh, she might cry. To say she's overwhelmed would he an understatement, and if she hadn't signed a contract, she might be calling her mom to come pick her up, proving to be a failure once again. At least their's a binding piece of paper to keep her from quitting this time. Maybe a walk on the beach is what she needs to pull herself together.

It's a typical June day, warm and sunny but not scorchingly hot, and a light breeze brings gentle waves rolling ashore, not quite reaching the hem of her rolled up jeans as Aria dips her toes in. She closes her eyes, taking in the smell of the salty sea air. The only sounds to be heard on the deserted stretch of private beach are the water crashing against the sand and some seagulls chattering in the distance. If not quite inspiration yet, the ocean is at least bringing a sense of calm, an escape she'll have when she needs it.

Aria wades around, walks up and down the oceanfront a few times before deciding she should probably go face reality. That or at least go get some food since her stomach is grumbling, and it's likely well past lunch time. She meanders to the kitchen and opens up the refrigerator, delighted to see its been fully stocked, and settles on some sandwich fixings.

"Ahh!" She let's out a startled yelp as she whirls around to place her items on the kitchen island only to be stopped short as she crashes into a tall figure.

"Easy there, Chiquita," Raleigh grasps Aria's arms to steady her. "You might want to watch where you're going."

Momentarily mesmerized by his firm grip and the sparkle in his eyes, Aria shakes free and comes to her senses. She's too annoyed at the moment to be intimidated by his star status or won over by his charms. "You could clearly see me here and anticipate where I'd be headed. And my name is Aria." She plunks the food down on the counter with a thud for emphasis.

"But you're so small." Raleigh pats her on the head.

There's a time and a place for cutesy nicknames, but this is so not it. "Again, my name is Aria, and as your colleague, I ask you to refer to me by my given name." She should stop there but she can't help herself. "And for your information, I'm average height."

Raleigh shrugs. "Well you're still shorter than me...Anyway, what's for breakfast? I'm famished."

Aria rolls her eyes with a huff, already mid preparation. "I'm making myself a sandwich for lunch. What you decide to make yourself isn't really my concern."

Raleigh chuckles. "You're feistier than I thought. I like it."

Her cheeks are burning and she lies to herself that it's all out of anger. Without another word she finishes up and scurries upstairs to eat and stew in her room in peace. Raleigh Carrera won't get the best of her today. At least not that she'll let him see.

[renaxwrites]

Eleven

.02  -  Ready to Run

synopsis: the number Eleven had always appeared in milestones of your life. it was a constant, and you didn’t know why. but you would soon find out when you study abroad in japan and meet Him.

pairing: tsukishima kei x fem!reader

warnings: none!

masterlist: here :)

a/n: hey y’all! I decided to give tsukishima’s mom a name, just to give her more familiarity for the story. I stuck with the ‘moon’ name theme, so her name is mizuki, meaning ‘beautiful moon’ or ‘water moon’. also, English will be in bold. btw, see if you can spot the lil meme ;) I hope you guys enjoy <3

     previous || next

There’s a lightning in your eyes I can’t deny. Then there’s me inside a sinking boat, running out of time. 

“We have now landed at our final destination, Japan. Please make sure to gather all of your belongings. Thank you for choosing to fly with us, we hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.”

Antsy, you jump up impatiently, cursing yourself for choosing the window seat, having to now wait a god-awful two more minutes to leave the plane.

Eventually, crisp, non-artificial and suffocating air blows your through hair as you rush outside to flag down a taxi to take you up north. The drive wasn’t too long, which was too bad. The journey to Miyagi prefecture was breathtaking, with mountains, scenery and all. Soon you stand outside a gorgeous residence with a quaint cherry blossom tree in the front.

You let out a quick sigh, and play with your locket, hoping to not let your nerves get the best of you as you walk up to the door. For some reason, knocking on doors and ringing doorbells and such made you nervous, so the second you step up to the door, you say a quick prayer, muster up all the courage you could, and are about to knock, when a pretty, blonde-ish woman greets you with a flourish.

“Welcome! We’re so excited to meet you! Here, let me help with your things, you’ve probably had a long trip…”

“Thank you,” you bow quickly before the two of you start hauling in your luggage.

“My name is Tsukishima Mizuki, but please, call me Mizuki, if you’re comfortable enough. I hope you don’t mind, it’s just me in here for the time being. I actually took time off of work so I can be here when you arrived! I have two sons, so I’ll admit it’ll be a nice change to have a girl in our company,” she laughs. Her warm, light-hearted laugh was enough to put you at ease and let down your guard.

“Thank you,” you say again. “My name is (y/l/n)(y/n), but call me (y/n).” You offer a small smile.

“Well, (y/n), I’m so glad you’re able to stay with us.” She leads you over to the dining area so the two of you can sit. “I can’t say I’ve ever met anyone from the U.S... I’ve always wondered what it was like over there...so I apologize in advance if I pester you with questions, haha! Sorry, sometimes I’m super curious about other cultures, so please let me know if I’m ever invading your space, then I’ll zip my lips!” Mizuki makes a motion of zipping her lips shut, then puts her imaginary key in her pocket.

You chuckle. “I don’t mind at all. I’m actually curious about culture over here as well. That’s part of why I chose to study over here!”

Mizuki ‘unzips’ her lips and forms a small ‘o’ in surprise. “Ohhh! How exciting! So, if you don’t mind me asking, did you study the language before you arrived? You speak Japanese very well! And that reminds me, you’re from the US, so you can speak English also, right?” she clearly is excited to get to know you, and the longer you converse with her, the more you feel comfortable.

“Well, my mother is Japanese, so she taught me the language. My dad was born and raised in America, so yeah, I am fluent in both English and Japanese. By the way, you have a very beautiful home, or, in translation, you have a very beautiful home.”

Mizuki laughs again. “You are one interesting girl, (y/n). I can already sense you will bring some joy to this home. On a different note, my boys will be home soon. My oldest, Akiteru, isn’t home that often due to work, but he promised to stop by so he can meet you. So you might see him around once in a while. My youngest, Kei, is actually your age. He goes to Karasuno High School not too far from here. You’ll see each other a lot, so if he's ever disrespectful, make sure to report to me,” she playfully demands.

You fake salute with a hearty “Yes ma’am!”

You both chuckle, then Mizuki checks the time. “They’ll actually be home soon, so I should start making dinner. Is there anything you prefer to eat? I can try to look up some American recipes, but I’m afraid it won’t taste the same…”

Waving your hands frantically, you fuss, “There’s no need to go through all that trouble! I’ve eaten plenty of the same meals you’ve had, so honestly, anything you make is fine. I might add I’m not a picky eater either, so hopefully that makes things easier!”

Mizuki hums and nods her head. “I’ll make some ramen tonight then. That sound alright to you?”

“As long as you let me help!”

                                  ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The past couple of hours had been the best you’ve had in a while. You can already tell that the stay in this particular household was going to be pleasant and serene.

Or so you thought.

Dinner was finished and the table was set. All that was left was the arrival of the boys. According to Mizuki, each boy came home at a certain time every day. If that was true, then Akiteru would be here in three minutes, and Kei would be here in Eleven.  

You didn’t want to read too much into that.

As expected, Akiteru arrives exactly three minutes later, where he swings open the door with a grin. “Where’s this mysterious creature that my mom’s been babbling about for months?”

Laughing, you get up and raise your hands in the air. “Most likely me!! And for months? My file can’t have been that interesting, was it?”

Akiteru chuckles, “Seemed like any old generic file to me. Probably the fact that you’re from America is the one thing that did it.”

The two of you turn to Mizuki who giggles and shrugs, “Can’t blame me can you?”

“Seems fair. My name is Tsukishima Akiteru, but Akiteru is just fine honestly. We only see each other sometimes, but feel free to ask me any anything! I’ll write down my phone number for you later. I would do it now but I’m starving! Long day at work...Ah, look at me babbling and being rude. What’s your name by the way?”

“(y/l/n) (y/n), but just call me (y/n), I don’t mind.”

“First name basis in only five minutes! Who woulda thought...ha, not me! Anyhow, I hope you’ll enjoy being here, we’ll be like a little family. Big brother Akiteru will take care of you whenever you need help or advice. Okay?”

You nod excitedly. “I’ve never had a brother. Or any siblings. This should be fun then…”

Akiteru laughs. “Well I’m glad to be the first closest thing to a sibling you’ll have. Speaking of which, where’s Kei? I’m so ready to eat!” As if on cue, his stomach rumbles.

Mizuki checks the time. “Any minute now.”

Just then, the door creaks open, and the room goes silent as you hear a shuffling of shoes being taken off. As his footsteps move closer, you can already tell this first meeting wouldn’t be as smooth as Mizuki’s or Akiteru’s.

Kei walks in with multiple bags on. You swear you can catch slight whiff of his scent from where you’re sitting.

A light mix of sweat and cologne? Mint?

You can’t put your finger on what it is, but it smells good…

And just as quick as the scent came, it was gone. Kei was gone.

You wondered what you missed in the split second you zoned out, but it must’ve been nothing due to the fact that Kei’s face showed surprise as he walked back in the room. You tried not to notice how attractive he was, despite only wearing a plain crescent sweatshirt and gray sweats. Nor the fact that even though his pj’s were plain they still clung to the evident muscles he had. Not the way those sweatpants hung loose on his hips and fit in just a certain place either…

Or definitely not the fact that he was now staring at you.

You felt yourself blush, and seemed to forget how to talk.

He beat you to the punch though.

“Who’s she?”

Mizuki shook her head. “This is (y/l/n) (y/n). She’s from the United States and is going to be staying with us for a while. Be nice and introduce yourself.”

Kei huffs. “I’m Tsukishima.”

Akiteru catches on to the lack of interest. “Tsukishima? No first name either lil’ bro?”

“Kei. Tsukishima Kei. But we’re not on first name terms yet, so I didn’t think it mattered. Haven't seen you in a minute Akiteru, is she why you’re home today?”

His big brother, still trying to spark some interest, pipes up, “Yeah! I mean, it’s not every day you get someone from a whole different country moving in. Plus you’ll be school buddies! Come on lil’ bro get excited about that at least!”

Kei, or Tsukishima apparently, slowly sits down as he took that fact in. “Is she really going to the same school as me?”

His mother sensed the displeasure in his voice, but she wasn’t going to take that attitude toward you, the new guest. “Yes, Kei, and you show her around the campus tomorrow when she starts.”

Tsukishima huffed again, “Do I really, I doubt we’ll have the same class, plus I have practice and a whole lot of other things to do.”

You try to ease the tension. Speaking for the first time, you announce, “It’s okay, I actually have to meet the vice principal for my schedule, then I’ll see what happens from there. So don’t worry about it!”

Tsukishima turns to you. He smirks. “So she does speak.”

You blush again, but are quick to retort, “Yup, in both Japanese and English, whichever you prefer.”

There’s a falter in his smirk, showing that he didn’t expect you to have a comeback.

“This will be interesting,” he simply states.

He says nothing else for the rest of the night. Just silently listens as Mizuki and Akiteru ask endless questions about you and your home country.

Though he remained silent, his presence seemed to affect you the most, even as you all retire to your separate rooms. Even as you lay in bed and stare at the ceiling, knowing he was in the next room. Even as you closed your eyes and drifted off to sleep.

For the first time since your parents’ accident, you had no nightmares.

There's a devil in your smile that's chasing me. And every time I turn around it's only gaining speed.

[shigarakis-fifth-hand]

Yandere! Shigaraki x Reader; All An Illusion

❤️ Enjoy the series! one two

Y/n Kayama, the class president of her middle school all three years, straight A+s, the school's star athlete and of course, the one with the most volunteer hours. She lived a perfect life, almost too perfect. There was something she was hiding, and I needed to find out. Ever since I saw her win at the recommended students' application exam for UA, I knew I needed to keep up with her and that she would be valuable. I remember that day like it was yesterday.

"Now Shigaraki, All Might will be watching on security cameras, so you cannot get near the students," Toga spoke into my earpiece. I looked out onto the 5 students in front of me. The son of Endeavor with red and white hair, a blue-haired girl, a guy who controlled wind, a shape shifter, and someone who controlled vines from his hands. These were the kids that were the best of the best and recommended for having a greater chance to get into UA. 

The headteacher Aizawa was having them race for their first test. All of the guys looked at each other confidently, ignoring each other except when they gave each other looks of disgust. The girl, on the other hand, walked around nervously, looking up at people with her eyes down. She was the shortest in the group, and the guys kept smirking at her behind her back. She was a joke, and I couldn't help wondering what she was doing here. Someone really recommended her?

"Have a good target Shiga?" Toga asked as I could tell she was excited to have someone. I didn't even notice the stupid nickname, I was too wrapped up. "No, the best one I can see is Endeavor's son, and even he is boring. I don't know why we need to add a child to the all they do is cause trouble.", I could hear Toga gasp, and I laughed, knowing that these kids were her age. 

"Anyways, I'll look into the son once they're over. I'm recording now to show All-For-One." Toga had hacked into the school cameras and was watching the cameras from afar. She had made me come to get a better look at them, so here I was, hiding in the bushes, watching a bunch of kids. Sure, they were 18, but they all had baby faces that made me feel weird.

"Thank you for waiting!  Now head to the starting line. Surely all you know how a race works! Run to the end of the line and run back. Your body and any effects of your quirk must stay in your lane, and not interfere with other contestants. Any willing to do so will get you immediately disqualified." Present Mic told the kids as they nodded. "Don't think too much about it. Use your quirks as much as you can. The first person to cross the finishing line wins. Now, wait until we say go." Aizawa instructed before giving a nod to the blue-haired girl. What was going on there?

 As the counter started to go down from five, I watched the girl breathe in and out before getting ready. Suddenly, she was confident. Once the mark said go, it was a flash, but I saw everything. The girl froze the path with a step of her foot, using wind to push her self to the end of the lane and back in an instant. her feet barely touched the ground, but when they did, the ice slid her faster and faster. Before any of the boys, she was done. She began breathing heavily, sinking to her knees in exhaustion. Seconds after her, the guys finished in surprise. "What?! How'd she win?" The plant controller walked up to her angrily. 

"She crossed the path before you Haruko, now step back," Aizawa growled protectively as Haruko's face turned red. "Hell no! I'm not letting some girl win!" Immediately vines sprouted out of his hand and wrapped around the girl's throat and lifted her off the ground. The drama was getting good... 

Immediately, Aizawa and Mic began running towards the fight while the girl choked. You could see her face becoming pale as the guys behind Haruko started yelling towards him. But then, plants sprouted out of the girl's hand, pushing Haruko far from her. The vines crumpled down back into the ground as the girl began to breathe. Everyone grew silent as they stared at her. Did she just use that guy's quirk against himself? "Haruko, Nezu's office. Now!"  

Haruko stared at the girl in disbelief as he walked off. "Y/n!  Are you okay? I should have disabled his quirk but I was too in shock and I'm exhausted from all our training and-" The girl smiled at Aizawa. "You should have seen the look on his face! I can't believe I won!" She jumped up and down in glee like she forgot what just happened. She turned towards the boys as they all bowed to her. 

"I think we are all deeply sorry for not stepping in. Not to be rude, but your win caught us off guard. I hope you accept our apology." The shapeshifter apologized as the wind-controller spoke up. "Yes, we are in the wrong as well. I hope you can accept my apology." She smiled at him, then looking at Endeavor's son. She just looked at her in disbelief. "You... used all of our quirks in the race, and then used his against himself. How did you do that?" 

She just smiled and shook her head. "It was nice meeting you guys, but I am going to see my mother after this. I hope I meet you all someday. Good luck with the academic exam." And with that, she stepped away, grabbing her bag and walking away, leaving all the guys in shock, glancing at each other with confused looks. "Boss? Hello? Did you see that?! She's awesome! She can use other people's quirks! Did you see that Shiggy?" I nodded, staring at the girl who walked away. "She's perfect." And I began to make our plan.

I had the League start following her around from that very minute. I watched her walk to school in the morning, had Dabi watch her walk to her volunteering center, had Twice walk with her to her house, and I even watched her sneak out from time to time to go to parties and such. That's when I started listening to her conversations with her friends. 

I did this for months straight before she got into UA. I remember I sat on her balcony, knowing the UA results were coming that night. That's when I heard her cheering, and watched her spin around her room in happiness. Even though I heard All Might's gross voice congratulating her, I was still happy. That night was the first night I snuck into her house to see if I could find anything to reveal a dark secret. Nobody was that perfect. 

From the moment I started following her, I saw how she was treated by her parents. I saw how she cried whenever she was alone. I saw how she made herself throw up, and how she would train all night and then not eat the next day. I saw how she counted calories, kept a pocket knife in her locker behind her mirror, and looked so sad sometimes even though she always gave a fake smile.

The way her parents treated her was the worst part though. When she hurt herself, I knew she'd get over it. But her parents were a whole other story. I was there the day that her mom was taken to rehab. Poor Y/n had to sit there and watch her mom be taken away.

"You bitch! You made your father do this, didn't you? You want me gone, don't you? Think you run the world, now don't you? Just you watch, nobody will be there to keep your father from smacking the shit out of you whenever he likes! Think you can take him because you're in UA? Well get ready you motherfucker, you'll regret it! You'll r-" And then the car door slammed shut on her face. I wanted to kill her at the moment, but I knew that she wouldn't be able to hurt Y/n anymore. 

Nobody knows this, but I'm the one that called the rehab center. I had been watching the family for months, and I had plenty of pictures and videos of her getting drunk and high off meds day after day. Y/n thinks it was her father, and I'm going to keep it that way. I can't have anyone hurting the next member of my League.

But then there's her father, the worst man alive. They say villains are the worst, which is wrong. From when I watch Y/n at their school's swim practice, I can see the scars from years ago are still very visible. I've seen the way he yells at her, smashing beer bottles on her head, threatening her, chasing her, and beating her, I want to kill him. It would be so easy to slip my wrist and decay his whole face. But to only bring more issues into Y/n’s life would be hypocritical. 

That's why I sent an email to Aizawa, full of pictures of him hurting Y/n. She thinks that he just figured it out, but it was me. That girl doesn't know it, but I'm the best thing that's ever happened to her. And she will realize it whether she wants to or not. I might not be in love, but damn she's nice to look at.

Lately, the plan has come all together. We have recruited everyone for the League... except Y/n. We need her to be complete, and then we can bring the entire world its knees. If we can get her to steal All Might's quirk and use it, then possibly we can beat him using his quirk. All of us agree that she will be valuable to the league. Now, all we have to do is infiltrate using Kurogiri, grab her and then get the hell out of dodge. So here we are, watching the USJ and all the students in front of it.

"Look, that's the files of all the UA students! We can find Y/n's if I'm fast enough!" As Thirteen led the students inside, Toga ran to get a file. "Here ya go! They won't notice if one student’s files are missing." I smiled, inserting the paper into my pocket. "Okay Toga, go meet up with Kurogiri. I'll send an alert if something goes wrong." She nodded and skipped away as I sighed. Damn, it was happening. I had dreamed about it ever since Brother gave me the idea. So here we were, about to kidnap Y/n from her whole life. 

Honestly, she should be thanking us. I just couldn't wrap my mind around what she was all about, and honestly, I didn't trust her one bit. I would keep my eye on her for a while. I didn't trust anyone else's judgment but my own. Dabi was driven by sex, and Toga and Twice were driven by the possibilities of friendship. Kurogiri was too damn respectful to ever suspect a woman, and Mr. Compress didn’t like to “interfere” with girls. They had no idea the kind of girl they were dealing with.

I walked around the side of the building and peeked through one of the windows. Y/n was in the mountain area, but Kurogiri and everyone else already knew that. I hated that I had to hire so many random guys for this job, knowing that they just liked looking at teenage girls. Her hero suit showed off all of her legs and was skin tight to where you could see her chest and waist. These guys were surely jerking off to her in their free time, knowing what kind of people they were. 

Such creeps. 

I didn't even like talking to them, and I didn't want them touching her. Working in the villain area made you work with the scum of the Earth, the type that raped girls and sold them to each other for profits. I despised them with a passion, but it was the only way we would be able to hold off everyone until we got Y/n.

And then, I saw the portal open inside the center of the USJ. I smiled, watching the heroes and students so surprised. Immediately, most of my men and then Toga ran to the mountainside, leaving the Nomus and a few of the guys to fight off the students and teachers. I watched from afar as this tye-dye haired freak propelled him, his green-haired boyfriend, and Y/n up in an ice tower for safety. Slowly I saw the teachers begin making their way closer and closer towards the mountains. I growled in anger. 

I thought the Nomus would be enough, but the teachers must be too concerned with the students to bother. Especially Aizawa, the black-haired gay one who took care of Y/n before the dorms became a thing. He had taken care of her sister too and had become so much more protective of her.

That's when I saw Toga grab Y/n and hold a knife to her neck in front of those two spike-haired freaks. I knew she was doing it for the show, but I hoped she wouldn't hurt our new member. Y/n will have a hard time befriending Toga if that's how she sees the bubbly, murderous blonde. I could see the fear in  Y/n's eyes too. I see Aizawa running towards them and they and Toga do too. Then she does something that neither of us talked about. She throws Y/n off the cliff and into a portal. I can hear her scream from here. I rest against the window and sigh, looking up into the sky. I smile happily, thinking about our accomplishments. "Now onto step two."

Ignoring the crying and yelling of the students inside, I stroll inside a portal peacefully. "Stop villain!" I look up to see Tenya Iida. I know his father, Brother once fought against him. "What have I done to classify me as a villain? Huh?" The boy is lost for words since he has been gone this entire time to get help. "Y-you're Tomura Shigaraki! I know you!" I just shrug as he looks at me bewildered. He has no idea I took his classmate, and am leaving the scene. "Exactly, now please, if I may." I turn around as the portal closes. 

"Oh, and I'll tell Y/n you said hi." I smile as he begins to run towards me. Luckily, the portal closes just in time. I happily stroll into our hideout. Looking out, I see the beautiful kitchen. Ever since Dabi robbed the bank, Kurogiri spent his time remodeling. That man dresses to impress, and I appreciate it. It looks nice, nothing like a villain hideout at all. It's more of a mafia castle than villain hideout at this point. A nice condo at the very top of a nice complex. Of course, nobody goes through the main lobby without a disguise, so Kurogiri comes in handy on the daily. Toga did get tan once and dye her hair, so she did the grocery runs for awhile. 

Maybe someday (y/n) will be trusted enough to go get groceries and come back. One day I'll destroy the world, and she'll be there to watch the world burn.

I sit on one of the bar stools and wait for everyone to come back. "How'd it go?" Dabi asks, walking in from the staircase. "Successful of course. I would have let you go, but I don't trust you so I didn't want to." I laugh at my joke, which he just snickers at. "I can't believe you trusted a random guy with Y/n. You should have seen how he threw her down the stairs. I think I heard her in pain." He grins at the thought of her getting hurt. The sadistic freak.

 "What? Someone threw her?! I told those guys to be easy on her or else they were dead! If she gets hurt, our entire plan is ruined! I'll have that guy's life in my hands if he ever shows his face here." I angrily storm downstairs to see his friends. Just a bunch of muscular guys, but with no quirks. Not much of a threat, so I won't care when I kill them all. No witnesses are the way to go for me. "Which one of you dealt with the captive?” I asked as one of them raised their hand, as if they were proud of it. “Great. Thank you.” I walked back upstairs, trying not to disintegrate them there.

I just hope Y/n doesn't get terrified of everyone here. It'll be harder to get her to agree with us and work with us. I know she'll try to run off, but I'd rather her not get away. I step up the stairs and into the main room again, where Dabi has another drink in his hand. "So he just threw her down there? What about the bed I put down there?" I ask as he laughs. "Yes, he threw her down there carelessly and she landed on the bed." He laughed as I walked by, smacking him in the back of the head. "Don't be a dick to her, alright?" I exclaim, opening the door and beginning to walk down.

Immediately I see her, sleeping on the cold hard floor in a position as if she has been thrown. I growl, extremely annoyed. I tighten the blindfold around her eyes. She can't use her quirk if she can't see, so she'll be keeping this on for a few days. I pick her up like a feather and put her on the bed against the wall. I tie her arms and legs to the bed, making sure she can't escape. There's a pain killer, a note from Toga, and a glass of water beside her, just so she doesn't die before we can even do anything. I sigh, walking back up the stairs slowly. In the back of my mind, I can still hear her soft breathing.

Shutting the door behind me, I make eye contact with Dabi. "How does she look? Any head injuries?" he asks as I just shake my head. I already don't like how concerned suddenly he is for Y/n. She's not a play toy, she's going to be our next weapon. "Now what?" Dabi asks as I nod towards the door. "Well, you kill the guys downstairs, I get my hands on the guy who threw her, and then we discuss the plan at dinner. I want to talk to her tonight, to calm her. I'm holding myself responsible for keeping her in the basement all night. I don't trust any of you with that task." I explain to Dabi as he nods, only half listening from what I can tell.

 "She just needs to keep that blindfold on. I'm looking over her profile and-" I rip it from his hands. How dare he read about my girl?! "Let's see that. Straight A+s, third in the class, went to a private middle school and was voted Most Likely to Succeed in her 8th year. That's not hard to believe. Her teachers all say she's a good student, and she was expected to win the Sports Festival by 54% out of her entire class. Wow. Sadly, she won't be able to participate, but it'd be fun to see her beat up all those guys in her class." Dabi smiled as he looked at her profile picture.

"Buzz off loser, I thought I put this in my pocket ya thief. I know all of that, I've been keeping track of everything." I fold it back up and put in in my pocket. "Dabi! Shigaraki! He's here." Toga opens the door, followed by another quirkless, muscular dude. It must be the guy who threw Y/n down the stairs. "You're the one who handled Y/n when she came into the building from the portal, right?" The guy smiles and nods proudly. I want to smack him immediately, but I have a better idea. "Well thank you." I reach out my hand as he takes it to shake. The moment he touches it, he screams before turning into dust within that second.

 "Good. Now go down and finish all of them Dabi. Thank you Toga." Toga smiles as she takes the spiral staircase to her room. I look outside to see that the sun is setting. What a day.

I smile and begin to make my way down to Y/n. Picking her up, I carry her upstairs to the main room and tie her into a chair. I remove the rag from her mouth and tighten the cloth on her eyes. I sit there, staring at her as the rest of the League comes up to join me. We all sit on the couch until Toga hops up with the knife in her hand. "Get ready!" She smiles, overly excited as she cuts a slit into Y/n’s arm. Immediately she starts squirming until I can tell she is fully awake. “Hey! Cut it out!” I tug the knife away from Toga, feeling sorry for Y/n.

 "Hello?" Her voice is dry, and from the wet cloth on her eyes, I can tell she has been crying. She's so pathetic, we can shape her into a real villain. "Hi Y/n~Senpai! Remember me?!" Y/n immediately flinches before realizing she is tied up. "W-what?! What's going on? What do you want from me?!" She yells until I put four out of five of my fingers on her neck. "How about you tell us about your quirk? What is your weakness?" I ask as I see her bottom lip quiver. How pathetic. "Tell me, or else I put all five of my fingers on your neck." I tighten my grip on her neck. She gasps, sucking up all the air she can. "Shigaraki..." She whispers in fear.

"My quirk is Theft. If I look someone in the eye, I can steal their quirk for 24 hours. If it's a quirk that is hard to control, sometimes I can't use it without messing up. I use a contact on my right eye to block my vision whenever I don't want someone else's quirk. I've used a lot, from Mt. Lady's to Aizawa's." I smile, letting go of her neck. She bends over in pain, gasping for air. 

"What's your blood type Y/n? Have you met your soulmate, or in a relationship? Anything tracking your location? Any metal implants or anything in your hero suit that is magnetic? What about flammable?" Kurogiri asks as she shakes her head no, writing it all on a clipboard. "No soulmate or relationship? But you're so cute! We should get milkshakes when all this drama is over w-" Dabi shushes Toga, stopping her from rambling. 

"Now for the important part. We want you to join us. We won't hurt you unless you resist. Now, are you going to fight us, or be with us?" Dabi asks as I hear Y/n sniffle. "I'll be with you. J-just don't hurt me." Toga bursts out laughing. "I would never hurt anyone!" We all roll our eyes as she giggles. Twice tries to make her stop.

"Okay, that is it for today. It's getting late, you need to stay here. We all will take turns watching you tonight. All you need to do is sleep. You've had a long day." Kurogiri's words are strangely comforting as Y/n nods. Slowly, I can hear her breathing slow and realize that she's fallen asleep. 

Slowly, everyone else leaves to go to sleep. The first hour is my shift. I sit on the couch playing video games with my headphones on until I can't do it any longer. I rest my leg on her foot and drift off into a light sleep.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Starcrossed Losers VI (Josh Wheeler xReader)

A/N: Are you guys enjoying the series so far? this is kind of a filler chapter, but not really, all together make the series whole uwu

Words: 2,815

Warnings: Gangrene and Y/N taking the role of the mom friend. She’s under a lot of pressure, don’t blame her.

Previous chapter // Next chapter

When Josh wakes up I’m quietly rearranging the stuff in my bag and writing the inventory on a small notepad, I may stay longer than expected but I’m not unpacking, we never know if we might have to leave in a hurry.

“Hi,” He says in a hoarse voice. 

I look up to meet his eyes and he looks like shit, but he’s awake now, so it’s gotta be a good sign. 

“Hey champ,” I reply with a grin, “you’re okay?”

“I...” Josh looks down to his hand and I see how his face drops, “yup, wasn’t a dream. I cut my finger.”

“Yes you did,” I close the notepad and stare at him intently, “and I had to cauterize the injure so you wouldn’t bleed out, genius.”

“Yeah, I remember that too,” He looks at me with embarrassment, “thanks” 

“I haven’t slept, but I’m sure I’ll be having nightmares about it for a while” I shiver, putting my things away and standing up, “you must be hungry, I’ll get you something to eat.”

“I can go, don’t worry,” Josh tries to get out of bed, but I push him back on the pillows.

“You lost blood and you haven’t eaten in like, a whole day. I don’t want you passing out and hitting your head. Especially since I can’t carry you back.”

“I can do it, I won’t fall,” He insists, trying to push my hand away.

“It’s not a problem Josh, let me go,” I reassure him.

And maybe Josh feels tired and doesn’t want to admit it, but he accepts my help and lays down. I go over to one of the vending machines and break the glass with my hammer. I honestly love my new weapon, it makes me feel powerful and scary. Which is sort of like an improvement. When I get back he’s fast asleep, so I leave the twinkies on the table and I go back to my inventory.

It’s a quiet night and I like it, nights are usually quiet but after all that has happened these last few hours, I seriously needed a break. I have time to sit and make a silly inventory and I can have a nap in peace while Josh sleeps.

I dream about my old life, it happens more often than not. My brain forgets that I’m no longer in that normal world and I still have to make that final project for history class. I like it when that happens, cause my dream self doesn’t remember all that’s happening outside my head. She doesn’t have regrets or guilt, she never kissed her best friend, she never said all those things to him to push him away. She never... killed her sister.

I wonder if I’ll ever be able to leave that behind me. I know everyone had to do terrible things to survive, but my problems only seem to get bigger and bigger as I walk away from them, it doesn't matter if I run in the other direction, I can still see them.

It’s daytime, must be early cause it’s colder than last night and the sun comes dimly from the mall’s skylight. I straighten up on the sofa where I ended up falling asleep and my muscles instantly scold me for the position I forced them to stay in the whole night. Soon I notice that the reason I’m awake it’s ‘cause Josh is grunting and tousling on the bed. I walk up to him and raise his hand to watch its condition and I feel a cold sensation that has nothing to do with my surroundings.

The bandage has a funny smell and a brownish color coming from where the injury is. I carefully take off the duct tape and then the bandage, and I curse under my breath once I see the full result:

His finger is swollen and red, a liquid is pouring from it and I’m sure the skin wasn't damaged as far as where the color reaches. This is wrong. Very wrong. I touch it gently but it’s enough to make Josh jolt awake, I jump back and accidentally drop his hand. He yelps and holds his hand with the other, looking at me with a frown.

“Shit, you scare me,” I reach for his hand but he’s already looking at it with wide eyes.

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything!” I start to look frantically around the table for a new set of bandages and tape, “I mean, I did do it before when I stopped the bleeding, but your hand got infected on its own... not that it’s any better but I mean, it was expected to happen! We don’t have the right equipment and the way I didn’t surely wasn’t the best-”

“Y/N, you’re freaking out,” He cuts off my rambling, “and that’s freaking me out, so just... take a deep breath and help me.”

“That’s what I’ve been doing since you did that to yourself,” I grumble as I finally found what I need, “you know, if we don’t find medicines and stuff, you’re gonna die.”

“That’s nice,” He drags his legs towards the edge of the bed and sits, outstretching his arm so I can put the bandages on it, “So what do we do?”

“We should go out and find them,” I reply calmly, “not you, you can't go anywhere with your hand like this.”

“I’m fine. I can deal with this on my own.”

“Has the infection already reached your brain? You can’t deal with it on your own, you'll die.”

“I heard you the first time. I’m still going.”

“Listen here, you little shit,” I grab his left wrist tightly while I finish putting the tape around it, “I don’t know how strong and brave do you think you are, or if you think that going through all this trouble is gonna make Sam forgive you for whatever it is that you fought. But I spent the worst time of my life trying to keep you alive so you can reunite with her, and I’ll be damned if I let you throw all that to the garbage and die cause you’re too stubborn.”

Josh blinks rapidly after my rant, speechless or maybe just too affected by the infection that he can’t even think of a whole sentence. He gives a short nod and mumbles.

“Alright, I’ll wait.”

“Thank you,” I scowl, “now eat. You didn’t have dinner last night and you need it.”

I throw the twinkies on his lap and he jumps, taken by surprise. I walk out the store to get food for myself and I run into Crumble, who now has Josh’s finger inside a hot dog bun.

“Uhm,” I stare at her lunch tray, “are you gonna eat that..?”

“Smells so nice...” Crumble stares at it and stands up suddenly, “I need sauce.”

She runs out and I’m left there looking at the finger in disgust.

Why, why is my life such a freaking nightmare?

“Hey, Y/N,” Eli is standing against the curtain, I can’t tell if he’s been there the whole night, “you look stressed, princess”

“Please, don’t ever call me that,” I groan, “what do you want?”

“I heard Josh is having medical issues,” He smirks, “the pharmacy is on my side...”

“Listen, I don’t have a say on whether you stay there or not, don’t try to blackmail me.”

“Okay then,” Eli raises his hands and steps back from the curtain, “make sure to get rid of Josh’s body before it starts to stink.”

“Fuck off,” I hiss.

This is all wrong, how did I get myself into this? I was supposed to be a loner so this kind of shit wouldn’t get to me. By this kind of shit, I mean injured people and feelings. I’m a good person, so naturally, I wanna do what’s best for others instead of putting my own safety first. I always did this, even before the end of the world, and it always ended in one thing, which is me, completely worn out and alone.

------------------------------------------

“Katie, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Thank god you called me, Y/N,” I hear her sigh heavily, “I missed you! What’s wrong?”

“Oh, uh...” How do you start a conversation where you’re bound to be the bad guy? “You know Alex, right?”

“Do I know your best friend since childhood?” She chuckles, “yes, what’s with him?”

“Well, you know how I always said he was so nice and all, and that I really appreciated him?”

“So you finally realized you have a crush on him?”

“Yeah- wait, you knew?!”

“Honey, everyone knows. Not Alex, but I mean, definitely everyone else.”

I get up from my bed and start walking in circles.

“You think Stuart knows?”

“Maybe. He’s the one dating Alex, right?” I tell her it is, “okay, then it’s very likely.”

“Okay... good”

“Okay?”

“No, it’s not,” I close my bedroom’s door and lean against it, “I kissed him.”

“You kissed Stuart?”

“I kissed Alex!” Why exactly do I call my sister for this? It’s a mystery, I guess that I fell under the impression that older sisters are wiser, “and he kissed back, but it’s wrong. It’s so wrong, Katie, what do I do?”

“When did this happened exactly?”

“Last week.”

“And you waited this long to tell me?” She replies in disbelief, “How dare you?”

“Hey, you’re not the one with a problem here,” I claim, “besides, you were studying for your english test, I couldn’t distract you.”

“You aren’t a distraction, Vinchi,” The nickname was also used by my family members, when I say Alex was close to me, I mean he even assisted to my mother’s birthdays, “you’re my sister, if you need help I can make all the time in the world to assist you.”

“I just don’t know what to do,” I whine, letting my body fall slowly to the floor, and sitting miserably, “should I talk to Alex? Should I tell Stuart?”

“Don’t tell Stuart without talking to Alex first,” She warns me, “it would cause innecessary drama, and Stuart is also your friend, you could end up hurting him in the proccess and ruining your friendship.”

“I’m the worst friend ever.”

“You’re young, it’s ok. Besides, you had a crush on Alex even before he started dating Stuart, it wasn’t personal.”

“I’m in love with his boyfriend, of course it’s personal!”

“Not because you want to hurt him,” Katie adds, “Y/N, listen, you’re not a bad person. These things happen, and you’ll go through it, and you’ll learn from it. You got this, talk to Alex and fix things.”

“Sometimes I feel like I’m not me anymore,” I say, “ever since the kiss is like I don’t derseve to have my essence back. I need to redeem myself.”

“It was just a kiss, Y/N, don’t be so dramatic”

“Rude,” I hear footsteps coming from the hall, so I move away from the door quickly, “but you’re right. I’ll talk to Alex.”

“Good!- Wait, right now? is late, Vinchi...”

 “He’ll be up, his parents are out of town. I have to hang, but thanks though!”

“I’m one call away if you need anything else,” She reassures me, “good luck”

------------------------------------------

“So I couldn’t find any type of serum-like drink, I just found Gatorade but I don’t think this will- what the hell are you doing?”

Josh is packing up his things and putting them on a transpallet that I have no idea where he found, his face is white and is sweating profusely.

“I feel better now, I need to keep going.”

I take a deep breath and hold the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes in concentration so I don’t lose my cool on this idiot.

“What are you packing?” I decide to ignore the clear problem for a moment, knowing it won’t take us anywhere.

“Food and stuff”

“Food and stuff,” I stare skeptically, “wow, that definitely will keep you going in one piece”

“Y/N, please don’t start”

“Oh, I’m starting” I walk up to him, harshly throwing the Gatorade bottle inside his backpack, “you should take clean bandages too, and duct tape since it seems to be working so well for you. Also, I bet the dust and shit from outside will do wonders with the pus around your finger.”

“You’re sounding like my mother,” He complains.

I give him a disgruntled look and start to walk beside him when he moves, pushing the transpallet in front of him.

“I’m just trying to help,” I state.

“Don’t,” He pressures, “honestly, I don’t need you following me around to make sure I’m okay, why are you insisting so much?”

“I don’t know!” I exclaim loudly, “I don’t know, okay? Maybe I just need to feel like I’m doing something good for the first time in weeks, maybe the guilt of many mistakes is eating me alive and the fact that you don’t let me have my redemption is making me angry”

“Well I’m sorry to ruin your redemption arch, but you’ll have to look for it somewhere else, cause I’m not your guy,” He sees Crumble and raises his voice, “Hey! um, can you tell Wesley...”

He stops himself when Crumble looks around frantically following a crow’s movements above us.

“Huh, nevermind, you’re too nuts to remember anyway.”

Crumble looks back at us and grabs Josh’s arm, nodding.

“I’ll tell Wesley,” Her eyes wander while she thinks of the words, “uh, nevermind, you’re too nuts to remember anyway.”

Then she goes back to chasing the bird. Josh rolls his eyes and keeps going, with me bickering beside him.

“I just don’t get how someone so smart for some things can be so stupid for others”

“Who told you I’m smart?” He replies sardonically.

“Me, after doing the chemistry project together.”

“That was school, Y/N, I was just doing homework, it doesn’t mean I’m smart. I got C’s in everything anyway.”

“No, in our project you didn’t. You can tell someone’s intelligent by the way they act around others, it’s a fact. And you weren’t messy about it. You had every answer prepared and you were creative about it because you didn’t want to upset me. I enjoyed making that project cause you weren’t a shitty partner and that gave us a good grade.”

“So?” He asks, completely indifferent to what I’m saying.

“So don’t be shitty now!” I slap his arm.

“Ouch! Stop harassing me!”

We get to where Angelica and Wesley are, and they stare at Josh in confusion.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Asks the girl, “your finger looks like Tom Sizemore’s dick.”

“Yeah, I lost some blood and...” Josh examines his finger more carefully, “the gangrene it’s spreading, but I’m fine. I’m fine.”

I scoff, crossing my arms and looking at Wesley for support.

“The truest warrior knows when to hold ‘em, and when to fold ‘em” He adds with a worried expression.

“Guys, look, I’m fine. Okay?” He picks up food from the transpallet and puts it in his backpack, “Sam is still out there somewhere, and I have-”

He doesn’t get to finish the sentence before falling flat above his stuff. He fainted. Again.

Wesley laughs quietly before pushing him back to the store.

“You are taking a day off.”

“Stupid Josh,” I shake my head, following Wesley, “we need stuff from the pharmacy on Eli’s side”

“He won’t give us shit unless we raise the curtain.”

“So? Raise the fucking curtain. We can’t be fighting over something so stupid as that.”

“You think I like it?” He looks over his shoulder to me, “I’m just making sure that little crazy man doesn’t slaughter us.”

“He wasn’t going to, in the first place”

“You don’t know that”

“You don’t know it either.”

“Look, I’ll talk to him, see if he has an ounce of kindness left in his heart,” He stops in front of the bed, carrying Josh towards the mattress, “but is he refuses, you gotta stop scolding us like you’re our mother, Y/N, jeez...”

I’m not acting like a mom! 

“I’m not acting like a mom! Now get out of here, before I give you a reason to believe I am acting like your mom and slap your ass with Josh’s belt! Go!”

Okay, maybe I am a little bit like a mom friend.

Wesley walks away from me in a hurry and leaves me alone with Josh, his breathing is even and it doesn’t look like he’s about to die just yet, so I give them as limit a day and a half before Josh starts to have real problems. We need to get those medicines, and we need to find a way to make his gangrene stop.

Things are not looking good.

Taglist.

@letsbloodmagic  @hollywaterpls​

[copias-thighs]

Ignore me, I’m just complaining again as always. For the past month and a half I’ve been pressured into painting a wall for my sister in law and I mentioned before I don’t want to do this at all. Well anything artistic in general for her since she and her younger brother can be rude about it all some times. When she first found out I was artistic, she asked me to do a jungle mural on her wall for her daughter (who was 5 months about at the time) in her house she lived in during that time. Sure, no biggie. I didn’t mind. I was being paid for it, it would be done in time for Christmas, and was being given everything I needed for it, best of all I had no specific date to have it done by. She told me to do what I want, as long as I had 4 monkeys and a tree from the photos she sent me. That being said, I did what she asked and proceeded to draw on the wall she wanted on. Mind you, it’s the first time I’ve EVER painted a whole piece on a wall. I wanted it to be perfect and wanted to take make sure I drew it all correctly. She has a younger brother who was about 13 at the time and he is very, extremely vulgar and rude. He won’t care who you are, he’ll verbally harass you and feel no guilt. Even if you haven’t done anything wrong to him or anyone else. When I started drawing, he yelled, “So this masterpiece of yours is going to be a year long ordeal? Great.” Rolled his eyes and left. I knew what was going to happen, so I started showing up at her house with my noise cancelling headphones to tune him out while I finally started painting. A month passed as I was close to finishing the wall. I was tired, sore, I had a headache, and I had a lot of stress on me because I had so many personal issues eating away at me during that time. I just wanted to finish. My playlist started to buffer a little as I was finishing up painting what needed to be green. Grass, leaves, flower stems, that kind of stuff. I heard my sister in law go “Shhh! Cut it out! She’ll hear you!” Confused, I paused my music and tuned in out of curiosity. So much for noise cancelling, am I right? Her brother begins to get louder screaming, “I don’t fucking care. I don’t see why you’re paying that girl to fuck up your wall! She flat out ruined it! Hell- if you wanted to ruin your wall, I could’ve spread my ass cheeks open and shit all over your walls! You can pay me for it too!” I wanted to hide in a hole and cry. Have I really messed her wall? Was my first time painting something this huge a major fail? I felt horrible. I gathered up what was mine and ran out of there. My fiancé had to be the one to finish it. I got paid for it though, but for what? I didn’t want the money anymore, I wanted an apology that I never received to this day.

A couple of months later, her daughter’s first birthday began to approach. She was born in the summer and my sister in law had a set theme for it. A water theme to be more clear. She had a fancy camera and decided to have a special feature at the party. A backdrop with props. Which seemed pretty cool. She asked me for ideas and I told her some. Making fish using their handprints and glueing a fishnet on the backdrop, things like that. Well she replies with, “Oh cool, I didn’t know you knew how to make those! You’re doing the backdrop for me, right?” Well she never asked me, she just threw it at me.. so I said sure Ig... she told me that she needed the fish and all the backdrop stuff done before the 2nd of June. It was early May so I had plenty of time. Nope. Out of nowhere she calls saying that she needed them within the next few days, and I was nowhere NEAR done. She still demanded it and I scrambled to get it all done. I had to put the wall up on my own and it was barely the middle of May at that point, with the party still set for the 2nd of June. Didnt get paid for it and I literally had no money to buy what I needed since I didn’t have a job. I had to scrimp up about $5 for what you see that she couldn’t spare. At least she kept the decorations. She claimed her 1 year old daughter was upset that there was only ONE dolphin, even though that’s my sister in law’s favourite animal, and was she and her little brother were upset there wasn’t much done for the backdrop.

A year later, summer was rolling back in again and her daughter was turning two. Cute, happy, yay, happy feels. I was at my sister in law’s for a little get together, and she comes up to me, with me feeling dread as I knew what was going to happen. “Ohhh, I cant wait until she turns two! I have such a cute idea! I’m going to have a Mickey Mouse Club House theme with a backdrop saying “I’m TWOdles! Isn’t that cute?!” I uncomfortably smiled and nodded giving a weak “yeah” as a silent anxiety attack started kicking in. She stood there for a good few minutes as if she was waiting for me to ask to help her, which I obviously didn’t, getting flashbacks from how she demanded things to be done last second last time. So she huffed and said, “I need life size cut outs of Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, and Toodles. Do you think you can do that?” I really didn’t know how to, I honestly didn’t. I told her just that, but she didn’t let it go. She ended up telling me to make her just their heads and the words “I’m TWOdles” and how she needed them by June. This time I had a whole month. I wasn’t as anxious, I had time to figure out how to get it done. Well two weeks later she calls demanding it to be done before the day after. I panicked, seeing that I was having trouble colouring the heads nicely without being judged on how you you can see marker lines and such. And when I showed her what I had done, she was upset because it wasn’t enough to cover up the wall. She wanted more things to fill it up. So I hesitantly said large balloon flowers. She can make those on her own, while I finished the heads. NOPE! I had to be the one to do that too. I’ve never worked with balloons, I’m afraid of the sounds they make, I can’t stand them unless they’re the foil ones. I have a huge ass phobia about them and nearly cried as I made the balloon flowers. I flinched, winced, and the threw the balloons with each nasty rubber rubbing sound it made. My fiancé had to literally fucking hold me each freak out I had with those damn things. Well I had to get it all done because it’s my fault for suggesting balloon flowers to begin with. which I did. The day of the party, her family was wowed by it. Her little brother however, was angry I was getting compliments. So he began shouting that he did it all, and he worked really hard on it all. My sister in law was mad too that I didn’t get her daughter a present. Ig the wall wasn’t a good gift.

Now here I am currently, stressing over a wall plus more. My sister in law moved to a new home recently, and needed help painting walls. I painted all 3 rooms. I thought that was the end of that. WELL BUCKLE UP because she said some, “Oooo, guess what! My daughter has been asking for you to paint her walls! She really wants monkeys, lions, and elephants on her wall!” At this point I had enough. I asked, “SHE wants the animals? Or YOU want them?” She went quiet and said, “no, she’s been asking for you!” Pretty damn specific for a 3 year old to want, considering she can barely say anything. She can’t even say her own name. Here I am, sketching on the wall, with my sister in law coming right up to me telling me that she wants fish to be painted on the walls of the toy room after I’m done with the jungle crap. I got really annoyed and said she can easily use the fish stuff from her 1st birthday. She ignored that. After I drew all the crap on the wall in pencil, she stops me in the hall and adds, “Hey! So my hallway looks so bland! Any ideas on how to make it prettier? Like a tree with squares for photos?” I told her she can buy a tree decal on Amazon for cheap, but she cuts me right off screaming “Checked already, they’re $200.” I practically live on Amazon and told her no, they aren’t that expensive. Only to be cut off by her screeching “They’re $200, I don’t have $200! Give me ideas!”

Wow, ok.

So I said to do this: Put a large photo of her and her kids with neatly organised smaller photos of family moments around it. Like this:

Nope, she told me that it was “too messy and too thrown together.” Agitated, I told her it’s getting late and that I had to leave. She then started following me around when I gathered all my pencils and erasers, asking when I was coming back over to paint and if I could bring my own paint. I kept calm and said I didn’t have much money to spend to buy paint (I quit my job around November the year before) and that I’ll come over the next time she’s off work. Which turned out to be Mother’s Day. I told her I’m not coming in because I wanted to spend time with my own mom and she tried telling me all these “gifts” her 3 year old daughter was eyeing for her. Joke or not, I got annoyed because I stated multiple times that I have no job and little money to be spending on paint. I have to take care of my mom and siblings back home, buying food and house supplies with what I have. Well my dumbass absentmindedly said “This- This wall is your Mother’s Day present.” She gave me a face and said “I didn’t ask for this! This isn’t for me, my daughter wanted this!” With and eye twitch, I said that this is something SHE asked for and how HER DAUGHTER can barely speak. She can’t even say a full sentence, her name, my name, and if it’s hER DAUGHTER wanting this, what was requested for the wall was oddly specific for her to want. I told her bye and tried to leave as quick as I could to avoid any new “favours” she might have for me. As I start heading to the door, she yells after me, “come up with more ideas for the hallway for me! We’ll talk later!”

Another fun bit is that now she has a son. And for his first birthday photo shoot, she’s going to dress him up as a dinosaur, breaking out of an egg. Problem is, she doesn’t have a huge egg. She comes up to me and says, “So I need I giant egg, you can figure out how to do that, right?” I couldn’t even say no because her family was watching me, waiting for me to say “yes” even though I wanted to say no because I don’t know how to. Hell, I still don’t! I’m beyond scared to make it! When she decided for me that I was going to make her a giant dinosaur egg regardless, mother fucker adds in “Oh! I also need a life size Forky, Mr. And Mrs. Potato Head, Slinky, etc for my daughter’s birthday!” I WANT TO FUCKING CRY SHE NEEDS THE TOY STORY CRAP NEXT MONTH AND I DONT HAVE ANYTHING THAT BIG TO DRAW ON FOR IT AND I KNOW HER ASS IS GOING TO BITCH FOR IT THIS MONTH AND I KNOW IM NOT GETTING PAID FOR ANY OF THIS FUCKING SHIT FUCK ME

[dammn-dean]

Decision Or Collision - Part 2

I know it’s been a while since I posted the first part of this but here’s the continuation! Hope you like it, as usual it’s unbeta’d so all mistakes are on me. Feedback is greatly appreciated!

Characters: Mechanic!Dean, Business Man!Bucky, Reader

Pairing: Could be Bucky x Reader or Dean x Reader (Let me know what you think)

Words: Almost 2.8k

Warnings: Maybe language, AU/Crossover

“You were right, this place is great,” he grinned from his spot, across the booth from you.

You couldn’t help but smile at him as you popped another fry into your mouth. Tearing your eyes from his you looked around the Roadhouse, your aunt’s place aka the perfect place to come for a great burger and beer.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d be up for it ‘Benz guy’,” you teased, using Dean’s earlier name for him.

That made him let out a hearty laugh, “Yeah well, let’s just say I need to keep up appearances for my job.”

“And what is it that you do exactly?” You would be lying if you said this mysterious, well dressed man across from you didn’t intrigue you.

He stared at you with a glint in his eye, as if he was trying to read you. He waited a moment, figuring out what he was going to say. He reached for the mug to his left with, you watched it as he brought the mug to his lips and took a big gulp of his beer. You would never admit it out loud but your eyes were on his lips, he licked them before they softly were placed on the edge of the mug. Then your eyes drifted down his throat, eyeing his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed the amber liquid.

“My father is a very important man, with enemies,” His voice pulling you back to reality. “I don’t wanna divulge too much, let’s just say he’s a wealthy man with a big part in the state government. I just kinda have to play mediator a lot,” he says with a smirk on his lips. “Sometimes it doesn’t work out to great for me, but it’s what you do for family I suppose.”

You gave him a nod, picking up your own mug to take a sip of the golden liquid. You took him in, jacket now off, sleeves rolled up showing off his strong forearms, the thin white dress shirt he was wearing not hiding his thick bicep as it flexed and moved under it as he did normal human things that shouldn’t draw your attention, but they did. It was distracting really, you were trying your best to keep your eyes locked on his but you kept drifting and you just hoped he didn’t notice. He either hadn’t or he was being polite enough not to bring it up.

“How’s everything going over here Y/N?” Your cousin Jo popped up beside the booth.

You gave her a smile with a knowing eye, she spoke to you but her eyes were on James. You rolled your eyes when she started nibbling on her lower lip with a hand on her popped out hip. She was always such a flirt, and apparently she saw something she liked.

“I haven’t seen ya around here before,” she drawled with a grin.

“Never been here before, I’m James,” he smiled back at her and held out his hand, which she took and gave a small shake that lasted a second too long but that was just your opinion.

“Names Jo, my mom owns the place,” she gestured around the Roadhouse.

“And her mom is married to my Uncle Bobby aka this is my cousin,” you explained with a smile as James’ eyes fell back to yours.

“Well it’s nice to meet you Jo.”

“Pleasures all mine James,” she practically purred.

“Would you like to join us?” He was being polite and you loved your cousin but you were ready for this to become a two person thing again.

“Jo actually works here. By the way could you get ‘em to send us another round please?” You asked with a smile.

She let out a huff and muttered some form of affirmation then headed back towards the bar with sway of her hips. You let out a small laugh and turned your attention back to James. Whose eyes were on you with a small smile on his lips.

“She seems nice,” he said with a nod in her direction.

“Mhmm,” you hummed as you took another sip of your beer, finishing it before the next was brought.

“So what else is there to do around here?” He asked after finishing off the rest of his beer, perfect timing.

You both gave thanks to the server and watched as they gathered up your now empty plates and mugs. You waited for them to leave before responding to his question.

“Well honestly not too much, there’s a movie theater, couple hole in the wall restaurants that would surprise you, couple bars. Most people just like comin’ to the Roadhouse,” you answered with a shrug.

James gave a nod and took a sip of his fresh beer. You heard the bell at the door ding, indicating someone new was entering but you had your back and didn’t turn around to see who it was. Your eyes were on James, and his were on whoever it was to walk in. He gave a small shake of his head and a laugh as he sipped his beer again.

“Jo! My usual please, and might I add you look great tonight.” A loud voice boomed from the doorway.

You knew who it was without even needing to turn and look, yet you did to find Dean settling into a stool at the bar, facing Jo who was leaned up against the bar grinning back at him. Did he have to openly flirt with every female he encountered? While it did make you feel a bit better about how he was with you it also made you feel slightly less special, because that’s just how Dean Winchester is. You couldn’t hear their conversation but you didn’t really care to, Jo’s giggled floating around the place was enough.

“You alright?” He could sense a change in you since Dean walked in the bar, and you hadn’t mean to let him effect you.

“Of course I’m alright. Sorry,” you answered with a smile. You gave yourself a little mental pep talk, telling yourself to not worry about what was happening over there. Just have fun with this beautiful and mysterious man sitting across from you.

“Maybe while you’re in town I could show you a couple of the other things to do in town?” You asked with a quirk of your eyebrow.

James’ eyes widened but he still held a smirk, “Oh yeah like what kind of things could I do, doll?”

Your eyes mimicked his, you realized how your question came across. The sip of beer you had just taken got stuck in your throat mid-swallow causing you to start coughing. All while trying to explain what you meant. James laughed amused the whole time, while holding out a napkin for you, which you took patting away any beer that had managed to spill out. God, why were you so embarrassing?

“That is so not what I meant, I mean not to say..” you were cut off before you could add to your embarrassment.

“You alright over here sweetheart?” It was Dean, right beside you with a comforting hand on your back. “Sounded like a lung was about to come up.”

“I’m fine, thanks for checking on me,” you tried to reassure him with a smile.

Your eyes flicked across the table, you noticed James sitting there taking in you and Dean. You really wanted Dean to leave without noticing you being here with James, but it seemed rude to not bring up the fact you were indeed here with someone else. Before you made the decision Dean made it for you, his eyes followed yours and he then noticed James at the booth across from you.

“You remember James from earlier right?” Sure that works, make it seem like you were introducing them.

“Oh of course, sorry man. Didn’t see you there,” Dean seethed.

They each held out a hand to shake the others, almost imitating the weird stare off they had earlier, causing you to roll your eyes.

“We noticed you come in, seems like your having a great time with Y/N’s cousin?” James retorted as their hand shake broke.

“Jo’s been a friend of the family for a while,” Dean grumbled.

“Of course, would you want to join us by chance?” James asked. Making your eyebrows shoot up into your hairline, this is definitely not what you wanted.

“I would hate to intrude.” It sure didn’t sound like he would hate to intrude.

“No of course, join us,” you chimed in.

You glared at Dean, but he either missed it or didn’t care because he plopped down in the booth right beside you, arm up and around the back of the booth behind you. Here we go.

The next few moments were filled with awkward silence. So your mug just about stayed on your lips, draining as much beer as possible. You waved down your server for another one, silently awaiting the next round.

“Maybe you should slow down sweetheart, got to be at the shop early in the morning,” Dean teased to the right of you.

“Yeah, you always have to be at the shop early, never stops you from having one too many.” You shrugged your shoulders.

Dean nodded in agreement before finishing his bottled beer that you hadn’t noticed in his other hand before calling out to Jo for another with a wink that you missed but James didn’t.

“How long have you two known each other?” James asked curiously.

“Well I’ve been working at the shop for a few months, but our families knew each other when I was little,” you eyed Dean as he nodded agreeing. “He was a few grades ahead of me, never really noticed or talked to me when I was here back then. Then my mom and dad moved us off when I was a teen. Wasn’t really until I came back that we really ‘met’ I suppose.”

“I can’t imagine how someone even back then wouldn’t notice you,” James smirked. It was hidden behind his mug but it didn’t stop the effect his words had on you, cheeks heating up at his admission.

Dean didn’t miss the jab, it didn’t sit well with him but he knew better than to bite. Why were you here with this douche anyways? You’d never even came to the Roadhouse with him, so why did you ask some random rich guy to come here with you? More importantly, why did you see him come in and not say anything? Surely this wasn’t like, a date.. was it?

“Oh believe me, I kick myself all the time for not noticing here when we were younger, but I’ve made it up to you sweetheart haven’t I?” Dean spoke directly to you the whole time and you felt your cheeks growing even redder by the second, you couldn’t do this anymore.

“You know what guys, it’s getting pretty late. I think that last beer really went to my head, time for me to head home,” you yawned to help your point.

“Of course, sweetheart,” said Dean.

“Sure thing, doll,” said James.

You closed your eyes and said a small prayer to whomever to let you get through the night. When you opened them you saw James flag down the server for the tab.

“All together?” She asked James, no one else even mattered at the table to her.

“Of course,” he grinned right back at her while fishing a card out of his wallet. You were about to protest when he spoke up again. “His from the bar too please.” James gestured towards Dean.

“No, that’s alright,” Dean held up his hand in protest. “I’ll just pay on my way out.”

“No this is on me, my treat. For all the work you’ll be doing on my car.” James gave Dean a genuine smile, he was just trying to be nice after all.

“I appreciate that but I can get my own tab,” Dean sounded a bit aggravated but James paid him no mind.

“I insist.” And without waiting he tossed his sleek black card on top of the table despite Dean’s words and just like that the server was off, card in hand.

You sent Dean a glare, telling him to be nice. He eyed you back, clearly not happy but he didn’t say anything else besides muttering a ‘Thanks’ to which James shrugged off with a friendly smile. When the server came back with his card Dean slid out of the booth and headed toward the bar without another word at either one of you. You let out an audible sigh, thankful for the relief of being around one of them at a time.

“Thank you James, I had a great time,” you beamed.

“I had a good time too doll, thanks for bringing me here,” he affirmed as he signed the copy in between eyeing you as you slid from the booth.

You reached for your jacket but before you could pull it on he was there, gently taking it from you for you to slide your arms into. You whispered a ‘thank you’, as you watched him reach for his own jacket, choosing to just toss it over his forearm for now. You took that moment to snag up your purse and look towards the bar to say bye to Dean but his eyes were already on you and they held a heat. You stopped dead in your tracks, unsure what the look was for but it didn’t stop the chill from running up your spine.

“You alright?” James asked with a hand on your lower back.

The touch caused you the recoil from and he reacted by pulling his hand from you, worried that his gesture upset you. In reality you were just startled, everything that was happening mixed with the beer you’d had was just too much.

“I’m fine,” you reassured him. “I’m just going to say bye to Dean really quick.” You didn’t really wait for a response before heading over to Dean.

“Heading out, I’ll see you in the morning?” You sounded weird, not like yourself but there wasn’t anything you could do about it.

“Of course sweetheart, be careful.” You didn’t miss the way his eyes cut to James when he said that.

“Just being friendly to a customer from out of town, D.” But were you?

“If you say so,” he muttered before sipping his bottle, lips wrapping around the end before pulling it away quickly.

You nibbled your lip and stared at him a moment to long, your brain swirling with thoughts and questions but instead of verbalizing any of them you just tapped his back and headed towards the door. You sent Dean one more goodbye in the form of a wave on the way out that he matched, they nodded towards another. Once the cool air hit your face making you feel better and more level headed instantly, almost like you could finally breathe freely.

“You need a ride back to your hotel?” You asked as you snatched your keys from the purse on your shoulder.

“I would hate to put you out of your way, I can call a cab,” he pulled his phone out and started typing away on it.

“I insist,” you used his earlier words against him.

He stopped typing on his phone and grinned at you, “Well alright then, I’d love a ride.”

Perma Taglist: @waywardbaby @mannls @msruchita @ashdownbloodline @his-paradox @mamaraptor @sophie-barnes26

Supernatural Taglist: @assassinofmasyaf @jessriley1109 @deaniepie24 @karikatz12481 @deanna-s-winchester @dean-winchesters-bacon

Marvel Taglist: @baebeepeach (Did you change your URL?) @josiejosie0 @technolilly @gabby913 @sonotalice @bexboo616 @gigistorm @just-trying-to-survive-marvel @doublephoeenix @rumoured-whispers @scarletsoldierrr

Bucky Taglist: @hiddles-rose @givemethatgold

Decision or Collision Taglist: @camillechan @thewinchesterchronicles @fairchild21 @faithfullpanicmoon @sunlight-dean @its-a-simply-me-thing  @darkangeldesignstudio @tardis-is-mine @jessieray98 @booksteaandrainyday

(I know it’s an AU, so if you don’t want like this or didn’t want to be tagged I’m sorry! But if you do like it and want to be tagged let me know. Also, if your name marked out it means I couldn’t tag you.)

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Mutilated Mannequin (Part 17)

“I leave you alone with them and this is what you do to them!” Ursa’s voice is shriller than usual. “You couldn’t just leave them be? I almost didn’t recognize him without that scar. Making him get rid of that wasn’t enough for you?” Her voice carries loudly from two floors below.

“I was thinking of his future. I couldn’t send him off to high school with that kind of scarring.” Ozai insists. “They’d rip his self-esteem to shreds. He’s already a softie…”

“Zuko wasn’t enough for you.” Ursa repeats. “You had to do this to our beautiful girl too. She didn’t even have any scars.”

“She had a baby face.” 

“She’s fifteen!” Azula doesn’t need to see her mother to know that the woman was throwing her hands up. “Of course she has a child’s face, she is a child.”

“You had a womanly face when we started dating.” Ozai argues. 

“We’re not the same person! She’s a late bloomer, you can’t rush these things.”

At this Azula’s face flushes. Zuko slumps down against the wall next to her. “Just like old times, right?” He comments. 

“They used to argue about jobs.” Azula shrugs. “Not about us.”  She pauses, it is still a bit of a hassle to enunciate things clearly. She can’t wait for some feeling to return to the right side of her face. “Not about how to raise us, anyways.” Custody matters had been a common topic back then. Ultimately they were left with their father as his income is more stable. Ursa had taken a leap of faith in leaving them behind for her career. She said it was her best chance. Ozai refused to make the move with her because his career is where they are now. 

She supposes that she still holds a little resentment at how Ursa had chosen her career over them. But she can’t say that her ambition wouldn’t carry her to make the same choice. It doesn’t matter anyhow, she doesn’t have the energy to cling to rivalries. Not when she could use her mother’s special brand of care. 

“I guess so.” Zuko replies. 

“I have a sturdy job now.” Ursa declares. “More than sturdy, I have nearly as much wealth as you do. If you think that I can’t get custody of my children after this, you’re mistaken.” 

“You will not take my children. I raised them, I did the hard work.” 

“You raised them and you broke them.” 

“They’re fine. I taught them to be resilient.” 

Azula finds herself lucky that he did. Part of her is inclined to say that she would have given up at the diagnosis if he hadn’t at least taught her to push through things. Not that she is anywhere near ready to embrace her situation. She has hardly accepted it yet. 

The surgery is through with, to her surprise, and with a splinted arm, they had cleared her the very same day that they’d done the procedure. The splint is terribly uncomfortable and she has been fated to wear it for at least three weeks. 

She tenderly cradles the splinted arm and listens for the conclusion of the argument below. 

“They are staying with me, Ursa.”

“We shall see.” 

Zuko seems to smile at this. “We might get to live with mom.” 

Azula isn’t so sure that she shares his delight. She is wholly torn. “Maybe.” she mumbles in way of a response. 

.oOo.

It seems like it has been ages since she has been in the halls of Agni High. “You can go to class, Zuzu. I can take care of myself.” She rolls her eyes and shoves a few textbooks into her shoulder bag. She picks it up off the floor with her good arm and hoists it on lets it rest on her uninjured shoulder. 

“Are you sure that you don’t want help with those?” 

“I can handle a few textbooks.” She closes her locker and gives him a shooing gesture. 

“I just want to help.” 

“And I don’t want people to treat me like I’m helpless just because my arm is in a sling.” 

Zuko seems to hesitate. “Just don’t hurt yourself worse.

She rolls her eyes, and yet, she deep down she has to admit to herself that she appreciates the sentiment. She thinks that this might be the closest they have been since they were children. She can’t exactly place when they had grown apart, but she is sure that father had created the rift with his ridiculous expectations. She watches her brother make his way down the hall before slipping into her own classroom. 

TyLee greets her with a warm smile. She slips into her desk and arranges her supplies upon it. 

“Need a copy of the notes?”

Azula shakes her head. “Zuko’s been getting them for me.” She pulls out the worksheet she had finished the night before. She hands it to Kyoshi who replaces that one with a new assignment and a welcome back.

It is so ordinary.

The day is so mundane it is almost as though nothing has changed at all.

Almost.

TyLee and Mai walk with her as she makes her way to the gym. People murmur to themselves. She might be able to pretend like she isn’t the subject of the murmurs were they not looking at her just a little too long.

Pitying stares that make her both furious and uncomfortable, perhaps furiously uncomfortable.

“Do you want to stop by my house after school?” Azula offers, a small attempt to invest herself in a conversation that didn’t leave her feeling awkward. She almost wants to ask if the state of her face is as bad as their expressions suggest.

“I can stop by if you don’t mind Tom-Tom tagging along.”

“Does five o clock sound good? I’ll have some time after gymnastics.”

“Five sounds perfect and I’m sure mother would love to meet Tom-Tom.” Azula replies.

“You think that she’ll take him off my hands for a bit?”

“Probably.” Azula says. They reach the gymnasium door. “I’ll see you at lunch.” She enters the gym and scopes Kyoshi out. She refuses to sit on the sidelines again. “What are we doing today?”

“You’re sitting out and working on your lit assignment.” Kyoshi shrugs. “The rest of us will be playing soccer after a few warm up laps

"I can still use my legs, Kyoshi. And one arm.” Azula insists. “I can play soccer.”

Somewhat reluctantly, Kyoshi agrees to let her speed walk the track so long as she promises to either walk or stop entirely if she doesn’t feel well. She supposes that she shouldn’t push her luck and makes her way to the track. 

She hears someone sprinting up behind her. Before she can turn around, Yue is standing in front of her, leaning in way too close for comfort. “I heard that your face is all messed up.” 

“Keep talking and yours won’t be any better.” She replies dryly. 

Yue takes a step back. “It isn’t as bad as Jet made it sound.” 

“Jet hasn’t even seen my face yet.” 

Yue taps her chin. “It’s still pretty awful.” She shrugs. At Azula’s scowl she adds a hasty, “no offense.” 

Her frown only deepens as she stalks away from the other girl. It isn’t like she hadn’t been expecting Yue to make things more difficult. No, she had very much anticipated the girl making her feel worse about herself then she did already. 

She hears footsteps again. “Go, away.” 

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No. I thought that you were Yue.” 

“She’s over there.” Katara pointed. “Pouting about something.” 

Azula rolls her eyes. 

“How are you doing?” 

“Better, I suppose. I guess that I’m just going to have to get used to everyone looking at me like that.”  She takes a deep breath. As things stand, she doesn’t feel as though such a feat is possible.  They make her feel like some sort of creature. She casts her eyes to the floor. 

“They’ll get used to it and stop staring.” 

“There are more people than the ones in this school…” She doesn’t like thinking of being in a crowd, walking amid people who haven’t and won’t ever get the chance to get used to it… “this is going to be peoples’ first impression of me.”

“And you’ll know who’s worth talking to right away.” Katara replies. “If they’re rude then they aren’t worth talking to anyways.” 

“I don’t even have a thrilling story to tell. At least Zuzu got to tell everyone that he got his scar saving the neighbor’s kid from a kitchen fire.” Azula slows her speedwalk to a halt. “I get to tell everyone that my plastic surgeon fucked up.” 

“You don’t have to tell the truth.”

“Yes, Toph said the same. She suggested that I tell everyone that I was fighting an evil government agent who threw acid in my face. She also mentioned something about being attacked by a mutant.”

“You should hear her ‘how I went blind’ story.” Katara laughed. 

“I’m sure that that’s entertaining.” Azula glances around the track. “Where’s the nimrod.” 

“He got sent home for a dress code violation. I told him that he needed to stop sagging his pants. They already gave him several warnings.” 

“They let him be the class president…” Azula grumbles. Regardless, she decides that it is doing her well to have more mundane conversations again. 

.oOo.

Azula stares at her applesauce with annoyance. She still can’t eat solids and she is growing sick of oatmeal, apple sauce, and yogurt. She isn’t even sure that a healthy person can live on such a diet. She casts a longing look at Toph’s egg rolls and dumplings and an even more longing look at TyLee’s arrangement of cupcakes. Those are soft and fluffy, perhaps her doctor will approve of adding them to her meal plan.

Katara sits across from her and offers her a carton of orange juice. “I don’t really like oranges.” 

“Neither do I.” 

“Okay, one of you is going to have to move!” Yue stands before Mai and TyLee. “I am not sitting next to the clownfish.” 

“Clownfish?” Mai questions.

“She’s been calling me that since...nevermind.” 

“Since Katty accidentally swam diagonally while doing the backstroke and made our team look like a big joke.” Yue shrugged. 

“And I call her, the eel because she’s a snake.” 

Yue folds her arms and wedges herself between Azula and TyLee with a ‘hmph.’ “I don’t like our new table mates.” 

“You’ll get over it.” Toph shrugs. 

“This table is too crowded.” Yue eyes Suki. 

“Well it’s about to get more crowded.” Chan declares. 

“Move over a little Katara, make some space for Chan’s ego.” Azula remarks. 

“Happy Monday to you too, Azula.” Chan greets. 

It is nice to get back to the playful jesting. Though she still believes that they are due for a talk. The sooner the better, but she doesn’t want an audience. For the time being they will have to deal with the remaining threads of tension. That subtle spark of awkwardness that settles when he sits down. 

Jet follows in suit. 

“Good morning, Jet.” TyLee greets.

“It’s the afternoon.” He fixes his gaze on Azula. Judgement rolls off of him in waves.

“You look a lot worse than I thought you would.” He picks up a french fry and, before popping it into his mouth, says, “you weren’t pleasant to look at before. But this is awful.”

“She was kinda pretty before.” Yue interjects.

“She was really pretty, Yue.” Chan adds. Was, was, was. It only makes her feel that much worse for having lost whatever beauty she might have once had.

“Well she sure as hell isn’t now.” Jet replies. “And if she was such a looker before, why didn’t you take her to homecoming?”

Another relentless blow to her ego.

She braces herself for the next, it didn’t come in the way she had prepared for.

“Because she was changing things about her that I liked the way they were and it was frustrating to watch.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me that before I got the first surgery?” She asks. “You know that I first thought of getting them because of you, right?”

This time it is Chan who looked as though he’d taken a physical hit. “Wh-when.”

“Can we talk about this later?” She sends a cutting state towards Jet. “Alone.”

Chan nods but she can tell by the way he pushes absently at his mashed potatoes that the rest of lunch will be heavy.

“You know what?” Azula asks prompting the whole of her posse to look up. “I think that I have a solution to our overcrowded table.”

Chan cringes.

Without a word, she picks up Jet’s lunch tray and moves it to the corner table. She gestures to it. “Go on, Jet.”

Yue holds a hand up to her mouth, “ooo, Jet, you’re in trouble.” She snickers, “even I haven’t gotten evicted from the table!”

Jet scowled. “That’s fine with me, I didn’t want to look at that anyways.” He motions to Azula. “It’s disgusting.”

Azula lets out a breath, a tickling sensation flutters up in her tummy.

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, Azula.” Katara mutters. But she thinks that he does. She can’t say that she disagrees with him, she has gone out of her way to cover and avoid mirrors.

She feels TyLee wrap her arms around her and snuggle her cheek against Azula’s.

Azula signed and gives him one final glance. She sees him making his way to Smellerbee’s table. He may be tables away but the damage has been done. Chan has his head propped up by his arm and dismally stares at his still untouched meal. And Azula herself feels numb.

[finn-nelson-for-the-win]

The Good Life

Hello, my lovelies! This is my new multi-chapter story that I’ve been mentioning for a while now. It took longer than I’d like for me to get the ball rolling on it, but I have the first 5ish chapters written and/or mapped out and I really think this story is gonna be a fun one.

I’m still compiling my tags list, so if you want to be added (or removed) from the tags list for this story and/or all my writing in general, just feel free to let me know!

@pink-royaute @believethaticanandiwill

The Good Life: Chapter 1

“Do you want anything from the kitchen while I’m up, sweets?” Chloe asked as she walked across the room.

“No thanks. I just have one more person to call and then we can get started, yeah?”

Chloe shrugged and went into the kitchen, leaving Rae alone in the living room.

After finding the contact information from her email inbox, Rae entered the phone number into her cell phone and pressed the green phone icon to make the call.

“Hello?” sing-songed the voice that picked up the call.

“Uh, hiya! Is this Alex?” Rae asked tentatively.

“That’s me! How can I help ya?”

“My name is Rae, well technically Rachel, but I’ve been corresponding with you via email about the room that is for rent.”

“Oh, yes! I’ve been expecting your call! Did you have more questions for me?”

“I do, actually! Just a second,” Rae scrolled down on the webpage open on her laptop, skimming the page until she found what she was looking for. “So, I’m looking at the listing for the open room that’s for rent and it doesn’t mention having a private bathroom or how many bathrooms there are,” Rae trailed off.

“There is a master bathroom attached to my bedroom and a guest bathroom,” the voice on the other end of the phone call said in reply to Rae’s implied question, “If you are interested in renting the open room, you’ll be sharing the guest bathroom with three other people.”

“Three people would share the guest bathroom in addition to me?”

“Yeah! There’re two other girls and one of their boyfriends just recently moved in as well. So it would be the four of you sharing the bathroom at the end of the hall.”

“Oh! The listing didn’t mention that there were only two bathrooms. Is the monthly rent on your website listing for the room correct?”

“Yeah! That bedroom has a south-facing window, which has a really nice view of the neighborhood park, so it’s more expensive than the others. The price online also doesn’t include internet, cable, or any of those extra things that we divide up evenly.”

“Huh, I see…” Rae mumbled as she typed this information into the open note she had on her laptop with details about apartments she was looking into.

“Did you want to arrange a time with me and the others to come see the room that’s for rent? Or did you have any other questions?”

“I think that’s all the questions I had for you right now. I’m still looking around, but I’ll stay in contact.”

“Alright! That works for me. Have a nice day, Rachel!”

“You too, Alex! And thanks again for the information,”

After ending the phone call, Rae set her phone down on the coffee table in front of her and sat back on the couch, heaving a drawn-out sigh.

“Wow, that bad, huh?” Chloe asked from the kitchen as she finished getting herself and Rae glasses of wine.

“Well, it certainly wasn’t great,” Rae replied with a humorless chuckle, “but at least it wasn’t as bad as the girl that said the room for rent would be shared with her Burmese Python named Daisy.”

“I don’t know...after we met up with ‘goat boy’ who was trying to rent out his mom’s basement without her knowledge, Daisy started to seem like she might not be the worst roommate you could wind up with,” Chloe added causing Rae to smile and shake her head at the memory.

“She was kind of cute afterall, but she had no concept of personal space!”

“In all seriousness, maybe you’re just not looking in the right places, Rae-Rae,” Chloe mused as she handed Rae her glass of wine and set the bottle on the coffee table beside Rae’s laptop so she did not have to get up to refill their glasses.

“I’ve been trying to look everywhere, but nothing that I find seems to match what I’m looking for, I suppose.”

“I’m sure you’ll find something that works for you!”

“I appreciate your optimism, Chlo, but I’m not so sure. You remember how hard it was for me to find my current studio apartment, right? And that was without any type of time constraint or added stress. I just don’t know what I’m gonna do if I can’t find somewhere else to live. I’m barely making rent and all my other bills on time every month and since I had to add on another semester to finish my degree, I’m going to have to pay for the upcoming semester of Uni out of pocket. I can’t afford to not find a cheaper place to live and I can’t afford to live alone anymore!”

“Well you still have plenty of time, right? When was it that you said your lease was up?”

“I put in my 60-day notice yesterday, so I have until about mid-June to find something before I have to be out of my current place.”

“See? You have plenty of time to find something! Just keep looking around and I’ll ask around with some of the people I know at work and be sure to let you know what I find, alright?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am! And if you’re still unable to find somewhere to live by the time you have to be out of your studio apartment, my offer still stands.”

“It’s very sweet of you to offer to convert the extra room in your apartment into a bedroom for me to live in, but if I moved in with you it would double my commute time to work, which is bad enough already. Not to mention, I’d feel like such a mooch if I lived here rent-free,” Rae said as she looked around at the upscale and modern decor of Chloe’s living room.

“Who said I’d let you live here rent-free?” Chloe joked.

“That’s very true. How rude of me to have assumed such a thing!”

“Anyways...that’s more than enough stress for you to deal with in one day, Rae-Rae! Now, let’s get back to our weekly movie night! There are cheesy romantic comedies to watch and this bottle of wine isn’t gonna drink itself!” Chloe replied cheerfully as she grabbed the remote to start the movie.

A/N: So this story has been drafted, written/rewritten, scrapped, tabled, and ignored for close to a year now for no particular reason other than I didn’t have a clear idea of where I wanted it to go and I couldn’t bring myself to start yet another multi-chapter story that I lost interest in and hit a wall with (sorry you had to find out like this, but that is where I’m at with two of my multi-chapter stories that I was writing in the latter half of last year, which is why there hasn’t been an update in months :/ ). Fear not, my loves! I have a good feeling about this story and I’m trying a slightly different approach to this story, so wish me luck that it’ll work out for me!

This chapter is quite short and doesn’t really do too much aside from plot development and providing some information that will be relevant in later chapters, so please bear with me because this story will be a bit slow to get up and running, but it should definitely pick up by the 3rd chapter or so.

Thank you for reading and I would love to hear any thoughts/opinions/questions/general feedback you may have about this chapter! Until next time: Stay awesome, my friends! :)

[parkjmini]

Outlier | the end

poly!au: park jimin x reader x kim jennie while your lovers said they needed you, you wondered if they knew how much you needed them. word count: 3988 genre: angst warnings: explicit language

[an]: nothing is medically accurate lmao im so sorry i researched like 70 percent and then i implied everything else so dont trust me idk what im talking abt. but a BIG thank you to everyone who sent me so so so much support and feedback for this entire series bc i wouldn’t have had the motivation to finish. getting those messages after posting a chapter made me giddy for my own story and i know what happens. I truly love interacting with my readers and going into plot/character analysis, i just love hearing everyone’s thoughts and thinking processes bc we all interpret things differently, again, thank you everyone who enjoyed reading this story (: 

prologue . 01 . 02 . 03 . 04 . 05 . 06 . 07 . 08 . the end 

After confirmation of the surgery, it became prepping sessions. Your doctor slowly took you off the chemo and gave you medication to ease any discomfort. You were given less visiting hours because you needed to rest. 

But your troubles stirred when you were alone. The moment replayed in your mind when Jennie told you that they were broken up. There was nothing you could say, nothing for you to fix. Jennie and Jimin were respectfully dating you, aware of your decision for still wanting to be with the both of them. It didn’t feel the same though, it didn’t feel secure or safe.

There was no way you could date them separately. Jimin lacked what Jennie brought to the relationship and vise versa. It wasn’t complete without the both of them. Your nurses didn’t let you worry about that, brushing away Jimin and Jennie during your resting hours. 

Jungkook visited you once after you added him back onto your list. He also brought you a vase of your favorite flowers. There was part of you where you didn’t want to make things awkward, but the other part didn’t allow for that. Instead, you blurted out that you knew about his crush on you. Then, he left quickly after you rejected his offer to be with him.

Hoseok respected your time and didn’t visit when he wasn’t allowed to. You were aware of how he had other important events in his life, but you really wished he tried to see you more. You’d hate to admit it, but Hoseok seemed to be the only person you could turn to for any non-biased advice. Since he stopped coming around often, you had to turn to your nurses.

The two weeks were absolutely the dullest moment in your life. You thought that living in your small town with your mom was bad, this was worse. You were stuck in a huge hospital with no friends majority of your stay. Your nurses were only with you for max ten minutes before they needed to go. You had the television, sleep, and your own nervousness.

Surgery was a big decision, so big that you even called your mom about it. You didn’t have the best relationship with your mom, so calling her was a surprise to even her. She totally didn’t bother to follow up on your life, so she never called first. But, you couldn’t go into surgery with the possibility of death and not tell her about it.

She offered to fly over and you insisted that she didn’t. So when she arrived to see you, you didn’t hesitate to give her a piece of your mind.

“What are you doing here? I told you that you didn’t need to come. Where did you find which hospital I was staying at?” You groaned into your pillow.

Your mom set her things down and crossed her legs while she took a seat across from you. “I asked the school. I’m your mother, for fucks sakes.” 

“Yeah, well you didn’t think that when I was growing up, so now that I’m dying, you decide you should start caring.” You rolled your eyes at her gasp.

“How dare you say that to me? I raised you when your dad walked out on us.”

“If you think being drunk and picking me up from my after school programs means raising me, then yeah. You did great mom.” Your sarcasm came out in train wrecks when it came to your mom; she drew the worse out of you.

“(Y/N), you have cancer and you decide to let me know when you’ve already decided for surgery is not exactly the most responsible daughter thing you pride yourself to be.” She shot back.

Your nurse came in to cue that she only had 15 minutes left before she needed to leave. “It honestly didn’t cross my mind that I needed to tell you since you’ve never cared enough to call me these past years except to invite me to your stupid wedding. Might I also add that you didn’t tell me about until the day before, so that makes two of us.”

“I didn’t raise you for you to treat me like this.”

“You didn’t raise me at all, what are you saying? But how about we talk about something else, since that’s all we ever talk about. News flash, mom, I have fucking pancreatic cancer and I’m going into surgery tomorrow. I’ve been going to chemo these past three months and I have almost to no hair. My body is bruised from being poked by needles. I am dying! Thanks for even having the audacity to come see me before my maybe death tomorrow. Don’t let the door hit you in the face.” You shouted as loud as your lungs let you go.

Your door opened and you both stopped your argument to see Jennie and Jimin standing under the frame. They looked stunned and confused to see the lady who you resembled. “Did we come at a bad time?” Jimin asked.

“No, since this is your visiting time.” You crossed your arms, glaring at your mom.

“Who are you two?” She asked, rudely.

“Mom, that’s my boyfriend, Jimin and that’s my girlfriend, Jennie. Welcome to the modern society of polyamorous relationships where I love two people at once.” Jennie and Jimin have never heard such sarcasm run out of your mouth. You were always just subtle, but this side of you was new.

“Hi, it’s nice to finally meet you.” Jennie stepped forward and your mom got up.

“Well, I can see that you have a whole double life I know nothing about. I guess you don’t need me anymore. Good luck on your surgery and whatever you call a relationship.” She grabbed her things and walked past Jennie and Jimin.

“She was pleasant.” Jimin said sarcastically and you rolled over on your side.

“This is why I never brought you home with me for the holidays.”  Jennie hurried to cuddle up to your side. 

“At least we avoided an awkward argument over Christmas dinner.” She chuckled and kissed your ear.

Jimin sat on your opposite side. “Are you ready for tomorrow?” 

Sitting up in Jennie’s arms, you buried your face in your hands. “No. I’m so scared.” 

“You’re going to be fine. Jennie, Hoseok and I are going to be right outside of your door. We’re going to be with you when you’re recovering. We’re with you every step of the way, we already packed our go-bags.” Jimin tried to comfort you, but you sobbed into your hands. You couldn’t help but cry so much nowadays. Staying strong was hard when you were so vulnerable. 

“And if something happens? Will you be there with me?” It was a rhetorical question that caused them to both fall silent.

“Nothing will happen. They’re highly trained professionals and I made sure you had the best surgeon in this hospital.” Jennie bragged proudly and Jimin laughed.

“Yeah, seeing her demand it was very terrifying. But, she did it. You’re in good hands, baby.” Jimin smiled and kissed the top of your head.

“Can you two just lay with me for the last couple of minutes before my nurse comes and kicks you out?” You sniffed and moved over for Jimin to join the sandwich fest.

“(Y/N), I love you so much.” Jennie and Jimin said in unison, and the unsettling feeling set back into your system.

A group of nurses and surgeons rolled you into a double door room. It was dim, except for the big spotlight that shined above you. Squinting, you saw the surgical masks that blinked back at you.

“Ready?” Your doctor was smiling behind her mask.

“No.” Your voice trembled from your nerves; your palms slick with sweat. “I want to be okay.”

“And you will be, (Y/N). We’re going to start with the anesthetics and we’ll get everything going. Relax, I’m right here.” She held onto your shaking hand and you stared back up at the bright light.

You felt the drugs enter your system, slowly stripping away your consciousness. You’ve already cried out all night your worries and said a few important goodbyes before the day arrived. The jittery feeling caused your body to shake uncontrollably and you were so terrified. This could mean recovery or death.

And while you hoped for survival, you knew the chances were split between the two options. Death was unavoidable, but to die so early shook your bones. Your dreams have just been memories of past events in your life, reminding you of the life you lived. The life you might soon leave. It was harder to ignore death than it was to wish for recovery.

Once your eyelids fell over your eyes, you’ve never felt more alone in your entire life.

“Would you stop pacing? You’ve been walking back and forth for the past two hours.” Jennie complained.

Jimin stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes at her, “I’m nervous.” 

“What happened to ‘it’s going to be fine’ and ‘you don’t need to worry’?” Jennie laughed and Jimin rolled his eyes.

“I can’t help that my body reacts the way it does when I’m the slightest worried. How are you so calm about this? They’re literally cutting her open in that room.” Jimin gestured to the closed doors.

“By not thinking about it like that. I’m thinking about the lovely time I get to spend with my girlfriend when she’s done.” Jennie muttered.

Jimin walked up to her and pointed to his chest, “you mean my girlfriend?”

Hoseok pushed the two apart. “She’s both of your’s. Are you two done making a scene in a hospital?” 

Jimin went over to sit next to Hoseok’s other side, making him stuck in the middle of a not-so-friendly feud. Even though they showed up together for visits, they were incredibly hostile to one another when they were alone. 

They slept in separate beds, Jimin taking over your room and Jennie in her’s. They ate dinner with their own friends and didn’t bother to tell each other about their whereabouts. They mostly spoke to each other in scoffs or groans.

Suddenly, the hallway doors were slammed open and nurses were rushing in a big machine --- a defibrillator.

The three of them stood up, seeing how rushed and hurried the nurses looked. The surgery door opened and a surgeon walked out with sweat dripping down the side of his head. The sound of a flat line heartbeat caught the attention of Jennie.

“Her heart isn’t beating, is it?” She was afraid to hear the answer to her question, her chest rising and falling violently.

Your doctor held the door open for the other nurses and defibrillator. “Her pulse went out, but we’re doing our best. But prepare for the worse.” 

Jennie collapsed onto the floor, bawling. “Holy fuck, we’re going to lose her!” She shouted with heavy tears running down her face. It was like her words pulled Jennie’s heart down to the pit of her stomach. Her whole mind and body were shutting down at the news.

“You have to stay calm, Jen.. we’re in a hospital.” Jimin tried to get her up, but she kept slipping his grasp.

“I don’t care! That’s our girl in there and her heart isn’t beating!” She exclaimed and Hoseok helped with holding her up.

Jimin’s head was in shambles, utterly speechless at what was happening. Hoseok was numb to the news, unaware to how to react. They wanted to stay optimistic, that the defibrillator will work. It had to work. 

“Why don’t you two go outside and get some air? I’ll stay here for any further news. Please... it’s not a suggestion. Go.” Hoseok needed to clear them out before they both stressed him out more than he already was.

Jimin walked Jennie outside. The light breeze clearing their heavy, crazy minds. Jennie was choked up by her tears, constantly wiping at her wet cheeks. Jimin stared at the ground, listening to her sorrows. His heart too heavy to express.

“Aft-er -- everything.. --Jimin --- I’m.. really, truly sorry...--” Jennie had trouble speaking with the endless waterfalls from her eyes.

“--Jen..” Jimin barely got out.

“No.. listen to me first. I’ve felt really guilty about all the rumors. We should’ve never gotten together in the first place, especially with someone like me. I’m known as the campus hoe, right? I can’t hold onto a stable relationship even if I wanted to and now my --- girlfriend --- is-- she’s -- dying.” Jennie cried harder, holding her face in her hands as she slid against the wall and onto the ground.

“I didn’t do anything with Jisoo ever. I don’t know how many more times I need to tell you, but I would never hurt you or (Y/N) like that, especially coming from a place where that has happened to me multiple times. Maybe you’ve always secretly doubted our relationship, considering how we got together through an accidental one night stand.” 

“Through our three months together, I fell head over heels for you, Jimin. I’ll admit it. I liked (Y/N) first, but you had a piece of me I didn’t think I could give to anyone after Taehyung. You’re so open, so understanding, so kind. I’ve never fully gotten the chance to explain myself because you keep shutting me down and every time, I believed that my explanation doesn’t matter. I’ve been devalued my entire life by my partners and sadly, I made myself feel that way with you when you ignored my pleads. But I think now is the best opportunity to tell you because we honestly don’t have anyone else who understands us the way we do. We’re both suffering because our girlfriend is in there not breathing. Our girlfriend, Jimin. I love you and through everything, you’re the one of the only people in this world who knows my struggles.” Jennie held him by the shoulders, so he could look her in the eyes as she gripped onto the only hope left in her life.

Jimin invited her into his arms, holding her tight. He had forgotten why he was upset before. He just wanted to be with his girls. He wished, hoped, prayed that things were back to how they were before the misfortune. 

“I’m sorry for making you feel invalid. I’m sorry for hurting you the way I did.” He admitted and Jennie sobbed harder into his chest.

“It’s okay... -- we’ll --- be...”

“--- Okay?” Jimin finished off and she nodded. 

You couldn’t breathe or move. Your lungs collapsed into your chest and you struggled to supply oxygen to your body. You screamed, but no noise came out and your arms were glued to your side. It was like you were trapped in a motionless body.

Everything was turning fuzzy and a white light blurred your vision. This was it. You were dying. You weren’t sure what realization hit you. Maybe it was the lost of breath and your heart rate slowly declining. Maybe it was the blinding light that caught your attention ahead.

Your memories started flashing before you. Jennie and Jimin flooding your mind. Your eyes scanned for anyone else, but them. However, you were left with scenes of your once perfect relationship.

Your first date night. It was the day you officially joined your partners. Jennie hurried you down to meet Jimin. He was cleaned up nicely, standing all cool against his sleek car. He peered up to see Jennie with the biggest smile on her small face, hand holding yours. 

She told Jimin the news and he was overjoyed, ready to hold you in his arms. He rushed you into the car and it didn’t feel much different than it was when all three of you hung out. The only difference was that you’ve never been more intimate with your best friends. 

Your first kiss. You anxiously sat next to Jimin on the couch during a lazy movie fest you were having with them. He had his arm wrapped around you, twirling the ends of your fingers with his. Your heart beating so fast, being not use to the touching from either of them.

He picked up your chin, knowing that you were distracted. It was an instant spark once your eyes connected and soon, your lips did as well.

Your first ‘I love you’. This moment was one of your favorites. It was Jennie’s birthday and you three were excited for the day ahead. However, a huge storm was rolling in and you were almost home. Jimin insisted in stopping to buy more snacks before rushing back. 

Once you all stepped out from the convenience store, it was showering, pouring heavy amounts of rain. Jennie, you and Jimin were drenched within seconds of going outside. Your plastic bags filled up an inch with collected water. Jimin’s leather seats in his car pooled with rain. All three of you laughed with glee as you marveled the escape from the wet mess.

And you suddenly stopped to admire the way Jimin’s eyes disappeared cutely and how Jennie’s nose scrunched up, her adorable snort catching your attention. In the midst of their happiness, you blurted out, “I love you two.”

The news of your mother’s wedding. An invitation was addressed to you. It had pretty cursive handwriting and a beautiful design. It was a wedding for your mom and her boyfriend, inviting you to join them for an evening of unity. You weren’t aware of them even being engaged, let alone a marriage. 

Jennie and Jimin never mentioned your mom, knowing you didn’t like pressing on too much about her. Their initial reaction was for you to go, until you explained that you didn’t even know she was getting married. You had crumpled up the invitation and threw it away in the trash.

Jennie consoled you, reassuring you that it was perfectly fine that you don’t attend. While you sulked in the living room, they approached you with the idea of still giving your mom a gift to congratulate her. It showed that you were the bigger person and that you acknowledge her efforts. They made you a better you.

Throughout every flashback, and every memory, your heart was searching for something beyond them, an image that wasn’t them. You laid there, dying, and all you saw was your girlfriend and your boyfriend. There had to be more than that and your heart was looking, waiting, for any other memories to surface. 

But nothing. It was only them and you couldn’t help, but feel a little disappointed. For the last few years of your life, you’ve revolved your entire world around these two people. You’re alone, not because you’re not social, but because you chose to focus all of your efforts into your relationship. And as you slowly lost sense of your consciousness, you became regretful about how you lived.

You heard distant voices, “1, 2, 3!” and you slowly opened your eyes. There was a rush of air that filled your lungs. Your vision adjusted to the bright spotlight and the many surgical masks above you. 

“She’s awake! We got her pulse!” They cheered and one of the nurses pulled down his mask.

“You’re going to be okay, Ms. (Y/N). The surgery was a success.” He smiled and you nodded, reaching for his hand to hold to make sure it was your reality. 

“We’re going to move you to your recovery room now, but you did really well.” The young nurse cheered with so much excitement, there were tears in his eyes. He was a complete stranger that just saved your life, yet he was even crying for you.

“T-Than-k yo-u.” You barely made out and he patted your shoulder. You shut your eyes again and felt the bed move and the voice of Hoseok calling after you as natural light hit your eyelids.

Several hours after the surgery and going over the post-surgery care, you carefully sat up in bed. Hoseok had to leave, but the two stayed. Jennie held onto you tighly, and Jimin blinked at you with stars in his eyes. But the thought you had while you were close to death never left your mind. 

“There is something I need to talk to you about.” You began, and Jimin and Jennie shared glances. “There was a lot to think about when I went under, my heart stopped for a few minutes and I was so close to my death. All I saw were our memories. I saw you two, but... something inside of me longed for something else, something more.” 

“If it’s not the three of us, then I don’t want to be in an individual relationship with either of you. That would mean making me choose and I don’t love one more than the other. It’s either both of you or neither. I will always love you two with all that my heart has to offer, but my life is so valuable and I need someone who is going to recognize that. I realized that the best for us is that there simply is no us. I love you both so much, I really do, but right now is not the right time. I’ll never forget us. ”

“Jennie, you were the first girl I love. Jimin, you were the first boy I love. But throughout it all, I won’t try to remember us. Maybe we’ll realize each other’s worth once we’re ready for it and we’ll be new people when we meet again.”

Jennie didn’t let go of your hand, instead, she nodded to every single word that you poured from your heart. “If that’s what you think is the best option for us, then I’ll accept your decision.” She agreed and no longer shed any more tears. She knew it was for the better, even if it did break her heart.

With a turn of events, Jimin was actually the one crying this time. Jimin’s tears spilled down his plump, supple cheeks. It was difficult for him to talk.. it was difficult for him to express how he felt in general. “I felt so regretful because I thought I was going to lose you forever when I was ready to trade my life for your’s. I’m just happy you’re alive and breathing. I respect your decision and I think that you’ll always know what’s best for us three.” 

Your heart was healing, bit by bit. The shock of almost death woke you up and you no longer wanted to be trapped in something that didn’t seem to work out well anymore. It was time for an end. It was time for change and you were more than thankful to have Jennie and Jimin, who loved you so much, they were willing to let you go and live life with no more regrets. 

Jennie smiled before gently kissing your hand, “I’m unsure how long me and Jimin would’ve lasted without you, but we were two people who fell out of love for each other, but back in love through you. I want you to know that even though you felt like you didn’t belong in our relationship, you were actually the connection between us. You were the reason there was an us.”

It was an epiphany ---- you were not the outlier in the relationship. You were the core center. Jennie and Jimin were more than thankful to have you in their lives, who loved them so much, that you were willing to look past their differences and to fight through every trial. 

“You were the reason there was an us.” That single line replayed in your thoughts, in a constant loop. And you smiled at Jimin and Jennie, the monitor beeping being the only noise in the room.

“I love you both, don’t you ever forget that.” 

[sun-kissed-star]

platonic ralbert in a serious car accident pls. i’m in a Mood and i need angst. if it could feature jack, davey, and other newsies that would be swell. i love Brotherhood and shit

Of course, babe! I hope you feel better soon. 

ft. Davey being a mom

(let me know if you want a part two, I kinda left this on a cliffhanger

“Dumbass!”

Albert flinched as Race screamed out the window from the passenger seat, flipping a middle finger at the car that had just passed them.

“Dude, stop it. We’re gonna crash and it’s gonna be all your fault,” he said, poking Race in the ribs so he would jump back down to actually sit in his seat.

“He can’t just switch lanes like that!” Race said furiously, still making certain, very rude gestures at the car. “If anyone’s gonna be crashing cars, it’s gonna be that dude!” He reached across Albert’s lap to honk the horn, and Albert shoved him away.

“Yeah, because you’re distracting him,” Albert muttered, swiping a hand over his face. “C’mon, man, we’re almost there, shutting your damn mouth for a second’s not gonna kill you.” He grinned at Race lazily to show he was joking around, but Race was still glaring out the window.

“Whatever, fine.” He paused, then stuck his head out the window for a second to yell, “You’re still a dumbass, dumbass!”

Albert punched him in the shoulder, tearing his eyes away from the road. “The only dumbass here is -”

He never finished his sentence.

The airbags knocking Race backward and sideways felt like a sharp punch to the gut. He could hear someone scream, - it might have been him - the screech of tires, and could feel Albert throwing a hand over his chest to keep him from crashing into the dashboard as the car behind them came crashing into them, glass shattering and piercing Race’s arm where the airbags weren’t protecting him. The car veered off course from the impact of the hit, and before Race could do anything to grab the steering wheel or leap over to the slam on the brakes, they were skidding down a ditch on the side of the road, the car tumbling upside down and crushing the roof beyond repair.

There was a second of eerie silence. Race’s eyes were squeezed shut tightly enough to see spots, his teeth clenched. He could feel the color drained from his face, and his nails were digging into his thighs in a futile attempt to ground himself.

The hood was beyond repair. The windows looked as if there had never been any glass there at all. The airbags were loud and too big and left a ringing in Race’s ears, but they’d probably just saved his life, so he couldn’t complain too much.

“Woah,” he said shakily, forcing his eyes open. He almost wanted to laugh from the sheer irony, the sudden impact, the everything, but the tears in his eyes said otherwise. “Woah. Are you -”

He turned to Albert, but he trailed off. His best friend - hell, his brother - was sitting, unconscious and dead to the world, in the driver’s seat, his limp hand still thrown over Race’s chest. His face was pale and there was blood trickling from a scrape on his forehead. His other arm was bent at on add angle.

“Al?” Race said, grabbing the hand on his chest and squeezing it uselessly. “Albie? Albie, wake up. Albie, dammit! Wake up! Wake up!”

Race only had to pace around the waiting room and be rudely asked to sit down by an annoyed nurse for a few minutes before the doors were bursting open and Jack and Davey were flying in, looking for all the world like they were about ready to raise the pits of hell themselves.

“You said there was an accident,” Davey said. He grabbed Race’s shoulders, looking him over. “What happened?”

“Nice to see you too, Dave.”

“Cut the crap, Higgins,” Jack said, smacking the back of his head. Hard. He clearly wasn’t in the mood for Race’s sarcasm, which was fine by him. He wasn’t much in the mood for it either, but if that was what it took to put on a brave face until Albert was awake, so be it. “Tell us what the hell happened.”

Race stopped, fists clenched at his sides, muscles tense. He was sure Davey was feeling the strain of his shoulders, like he was feeling the entire world’s weights and stresses loading him down all at once. When he finally did speak, there was a tremble to his voice that he hated. “There was a car crash… and A-Albert was driving… I was sitting in the passenger seat and he felt th-the full force of it.” Before Davey could ask, he added, “I’m fine, they let me off without a couple bruises and some bad scrapes on my arms, but,” he swallowed, “Albie’s not awake yet.”

The firm grip on his shoulders loosened, and when he looked up from his shoes, Jack’s eyes were wide and bugging out of his head and Davey was staring at him in disbelief. He looked away again, his cheeks heating up. “And… dammit!” He let out a few more choice words. “Damn, it was all my fault.”

“Who gave you that idea, Racer?” Jack said. He put a gentle hand on Race’s back, subtly steering him over to a chair, and Race didn’t protest as he was pushed down to sit and Jack slung an arm around his shoulder.

“I-I was distracting him,” Race stammered, leaning into Jack’s side. He didn’t care if it looked childish, he needed someone to ground him and if Jack was a willing participant, he wasn’t going to shy away. “I was yelling at this other driver that switched lanes or something and he kept telling me to shut up but I didn’t care and… and I didn’t… I wasn’t…” He was stumbling over his words through sobs that he forced down. Davey squatted down in front of him, putting a hand on his knee.

“Race, it’s okay,” he said soothingly. “It’s okay. Albert doesn’t blame you, and he’ll be happy to know you’re okay. I promise. I’ve known him long enough to know that, so that means you’ve probably known him long enough too.”

Race laughed bitterly, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. “He can’t forgive me if he doesn’t wake up.”

“Don’t say that. You don’t know that.”

Race didn’t respond. He stared at the floor, keeping his mouth shut for once in his life.

They sat there for what felt like years. Jack and Davey talked to some of their friends over the phone, and Race almost smiled when he heard Elmer and Romeo shouting rapid-fire questions when Jack accidentally put them on speaker.

Finally, just as Race thought he would shrivel up and die in an uncomfortable, plastic waiting room chair, a nurse opened the door and said, “Albert DaSilva?”

Race was out of his chair and darting for the door before Davey could reel him back in. In one breath, he tumbled out, “I’m Anthony Higgins, his best friend. Can I see him?”

The nurse smiled at him softly, patting his shoulder. “Oh, I suppose so. And who are these boys with you, Anthony Higgins?”

“Jack Kelly and Davey Jacobs,” Race said, pointing to them both in turn. “Now can I go see him already?”

The nurse raised her hands in joking surrender, stepping aside and brushing him through the door. “Room B5. We had someone call ahead and get him a private room. He’s not awake yet, so be careful with him, kid.”

Race hesitated right outside Albert’s room. Was he supposed to knock? He drummed his fingers against his thighs anxiously as Jack and Davey jogged up to him, both panting.

“Why does he have a private ward?” Race whispered, keeping up his staring match with the door like it would swallow him whole if he looked away too soon. Was it really that bad? Was Albert in such bad condition that the other patients couldn’t stand to look at him?

“Medda knows a guy,” Jack said from behind him. “She said her babies deserve the best.” He ruffled Race’s hair, obviously trying to lighten the mood. “Not that Albert and you need bigger heads as it is.”

Race rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath. Refusing to give himself any more time to worry, he opened the door, pushing it open with his foot to see inside.

Albert was laying on the bed, completely still. There were IVs in his arms, one of them wrapped in a cast. His foot was propped up with a pillow, his head was bandaged neatly - there was still a tint of red to the stark white cloth, though - and his face was still flushed white. He looked too peaceful.

Race stared at him for what felt like longer than he’d been stuck in the waiting room until Jack was moving him toward another chair beside the bed. He sat down and instinctively reached out to take Albert’s hand, holding it like his best friend would disappear if he didn’t.

The hand on his shoulder was gone suddenly and the door shut quietly. Jack and Davey must have gone out to interrogate the doctors.

“I’m sorry,” Race whispered, but he couldn’t find it in himself to say anything else. He just sat, clutching Albert’s hand, the tears falling with his strong facade.

[yoolee]

If lee wrote otome | #2 - Boss

The Heroine (MC)

CEO MC: Never gets enough sleep, which makes her sarcastic but is also semi her own fault given the amount of caffeine she consumes. Sort of obsessive about long-term planning, unwaveringly believes that a company’s value comes from its employees and will choose them over shareholder dividends every time. Determined to run an ethical company even if it means it’s not the most profitable company. Super duper Type A – aggressive and fearless because she has to be. Sometimes really just wants a cupcake in her hand and a cat in her lap, but then she’s bored and goes back to business planning. Creative risk-taker, decent negotiator. Smart enough to know where she needs help and hire people who can do the things she can’t (or, more to the point, doesn’t want to do). Gets back up every time. Will definitely fight you. Might feel bad about it later but only if someone reminds her it happened.

Love Interests

The BARISTA: Peppy, optimist (or so MC thinks) but it turns out they actually switch up their personality depending on who they’re serving (sometimes they are the chill, hipster philosopher, sometimes they are the rude New York get-it-done eye roller, etc.) actually somewhere in the middle of it all – but really IS an optimist despite themselves. Kind of slippery and hard to pin down. Big family, used to being what their other siblings/parents need from them. Fairly certain CEO MC is headed for an early heart attack with the amount of espresso she imbibes. Probably an author. Maybe an ex-broadway personjust because. IDK.

The PR LAWYER: Worked-three-jobs-put-self-through-college story. Patience, tact, good at calming people down. Detail oriented, a little fussy about appearances. Perennially exasperated by CEO (Please don’t promise to have a cure for cancer In the next three years with no data to back it up. No, you can’t punch the reporter for being a dick. Look, I know you WANT to donate 100% of proceeds to charity but please pick a friendlier one than ‘punch reporters in the face foundation’ that’s not gonna fly) never gets enough sleep. Has a key to MC’s house so they can come yell at her for making their life difficult at whatever hour of the night she insists on doing so. Is on MC’s speed-dial, which means they also get called to DD, though they’d rather not.

FLAKY MODEL(s?): Trust fund kid? Pretty face? Floats through life? The sort of person who will get on the wrong subway train and then just ride it all day people-watching never mind that they had an appointment six hours ago. Pose with a boa constrictor? Sure, as long as it’s being treated humanely. Tarantula on the face? Awwww, it’s fuzzyyyyy. No filter, no worries. Probably drags CEO MC along on a Caribbean shoot and PR Lawyer has to call and yell because that does not look good, okay? And poor MC is like, I thought we were getting a drink and model is like WE ARE we are getting tropical coconut water from the SOURCE here oh wait I don’t know how to drink out of a coconut…who knows why they are attracted to CEO MC, probably because she’s there and sticks around and no one else does. Human puppy dog.

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD: young hotshot venture capitalist, thinks CEO MC is a bleeding heart (your employees do not need that many sick days, lost productivity blah blah blah why do we need a daycare onsite that’s a waste of shareholder money), kind of a math whiz, naturally lucky, doesn’t get along with family (gambling problem in the fam – which manifests in him in investment risks and unresolved issues) butts heads constantly with MC, frequently tries to get her fired – in part because his attempts to do so get her fired up and she does great things, which ultimately is better for the company than when she’s just doing her normal ‘good’ job. She is going to be royally ticked when she figures that out. Manipulative, but relatively benign under it all. The sort of person who smirks instead of smiles. All the time.

CHEF FROM HER FAVORITE RESTAURANT: Also a CEO though on smaller scale, because, running a restaurant IS running a business. Probably under the impression CEO MC is actually like, a graduate student with no money because she tends to get takeout at weird hours. Gruff, grumpy, abrupt, but heart of gold. Basically—will grumble about you coming in late but will add extra veggies to your pasta because you’re looking a little pale and need the nutrients and if you call them on it will snarl that they had to be used up they were going bad and he wasn’t going to waste extra, expensive, PROTEIN on you. (MC asks them out and then realizes the only nice restaurant she knows is the one the chef owns)

PRESCHOOL TEACHER: JUST A DECENTLY NICE PERSON. Checks in to make sure MC has eaten regularly, staying hydrated, needs anything fixed around the house (she can do her own plumbing but doesn’t like the electrical and hey it’s nice to have company). Good with kids. Maybe divorced and wanted them but ex-spouse didn’t? idk. Calm, not easily ruffled, sweet as pie, except when he’s playing video games and suddenly MC understands how he can get through the day without any aggression – he unleashes it on fictional zombies. Blissfully normal, all things considered.

PERSONAL TRAINER: “fine, whatever, EAT THE DANG CHEESE if you’re just going to ignore my nutritional advice we’re doing ten more reps” athletic, happiest when DOING versus saying or reading or sitting. Not as impulsive as you’d guess at first glance, because they tend to use working out as a meditative time to make decisions. Didn’t finish college because they realized they just didn’t enjoy it, but they did enjoy working with student athletes, which is how they got into training. Enviably fit. Wants to expand the gym so wheedles business advice out of MC in exchange for not harassing her about her tendency to drink coffee instead of water (she insists it has water IN it, it should count) not particularly intimidated by her, which is a pleasant change of pace.

Supporting Cast (non LIs)

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT: Keeps MC sane, has her back, schedules everything. Good at details, even better at smiling at angry people and making them not-angry through sheer force of sunny personality (actually a ruse, MC is convinced she’s actually the most delightfully evil person ever, but like some kind of fairy tale where when you acknowledge the thing it goes away, refuses to ever dive into figuring out). Older than the MC because we need to stop making middle aged women invisible in stories?? Sometimes has to remind MC of how much she does by holding silent protests (in part why MC thinks she is secretly a supervillain in the making) which are always, always successful.

PARENT COMPANY ADMIN ASSISTANT: Bane of MC’s existence. Smarmy, smily pain in the tush.

CFO: We have put in an official request with the company credit card management to start declining purchases at that coffee shop you go to, no this is not negotiable, it’s not in the budget anymore drink so darn water woman. Completely willing to go toe-to-toe with MC, meetings often involve a lot of yelling, but they’re always productive and no hard feelings.

CIO: Serpent-y, but not in a bad way. Just a very cool-tempered person, very contained, very guarded, very introverted. Never happy when she has to do presentations, so super willing to share knowledge with MC so she does it instead (she is not a great teacher, kind of judgey and shows her frustration when MC doesn’t ‘get’ it right away, but very brilliant, and there’s no malice in the judgement, just no filter). Extremely logic-oriented and process-oriented over people-oriented. Picks up and assess tech very quickly, and good at finding affordable, fast solutions.

RANDOM MARKETING EMPLOYEE:  Set up to be a villain but is actually like gung-ho on MC’s side. Literally an ex pageant queen, went to college on scholarship from it. Out of the workforce for awhile as a stay at home mom when her kids were young, but picks up the new trends fast. Now a single mother, so will literally fight the chairman if he tries to take away the company daycare. Some days uses the ‘people see a pretty face and assume no brain’ to her advantage, some days it wears her out. Unofficially drinking buddy with MC, even though they both feel weird about it given the fact MC is technically boss’s boss’s boss.

BARTENDER: also an ex-girlfriend maybe? Current best friend? Who she turns to when the barista cuts her off from coffee and the chef’s restaurant is already closed. Sharp-tongued, bristly, generally disgusted with MC’s six inch heels and slacks in her leather-jacket, cigar smoke bar. Like lady, you’re lost. Probably on the mob payroll at some point in her life.

ROUTE PLOTS:

(Chairman route?) MERGER – company has just bought another company, which is a major risk move for CEO (can only be one, so do you keep the old one on as a VP? Do you let them go? Will they be bitter/try to sabotage you?) you have to fend off internal sabotage, get everything running smoothly without either company falling apart in the process.  

(PR Lawyer route?) Parent company did something massively shady and it’s tainting your company’s name too, so you have to scrounge to avoid having to fire half your employees and keep the company alive.

(Model route?) New product launch – hence why models are entering the picture. It’s a new business venture in the sense it’s targeted at a completely new audience your company hasn’t catered to before.

(Personal Trainer route?) Company is in its infancy, hugely risky time, and you’re doing everything you can to ensure it’s a success  (maybe including putting your own salary back into it, which means you can’t afford PT so they agree to work with you as long as you give them business advice)

FROM @han-pan- they keep trying to buy new retail space for the gym and MC keeps buying it instead because it’s SUCH GOOD PROPERTY and they sort of exasperatedly are like ugh fine whatever you owe me since you keep swiping prime spots out from under my nose

See the rest here

[flowerboymoongirl]

What are the Odds? 2.

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: Tom Holland accidentally adds you to his friends list, and when you hit him up about about it you think that’s gonna be the end of that. Simple. But Tom does the complete opposite. Let the social media flirting begin.

Warnings: some cursing, bad flirting, annoying brothers.

Word count: 2898

A/N: Thought this chapter was long but once I finished it I felt like it wasn’t, so be prepared for longer chapters, which I hope ya’ll are ok with lol. I have a lot of details in my mind for their specific dynamic together along with relationships of the other characters so im glad ill be able to put most of those details into the upcoming chapters. enjoy.

//////

So about the whole, ‘I’m gonna tell him’ thing you told the roomies.

That... is easier said than done. Watching a celebrity’s private social media page is wrong, but also really interesting. Like those “CELEBRITIES! THEY’RE JUST LIKE US!” articles in those trashy magazines that you use to skim through at the grocery store while your mom did her shopping. Most days, Tom posted what you would deem ‘normal people activities.’ Him walking his dog in the morning. Him having a beer with who you assumed were his roommates. Him leaving his clean laundry on a chair in his room for a few days and then posting about his guilt for doing it. We’ve all been there. But then, he would also post things that you were sure was on the invasion of privacy range you were crossing. He had posted going out to restaurants or clubs that were super exclusive a few times, him drinking with his friends which lead to drunk Instagram stories, (once again, we’ve all been there) or he’d post gym selfies or his outfit of the day, which like, how were you suppose to deny yourself that?

But overall, he seemed like he tried to live as normal a life as possible, and was pretty down to earth for the most part. Which made you feel bad for being so nosey in his life. He obviously wanted privacy, and here you were watching all of his private stories meant for his friends and family. You could practically hear Zoë telling you how you should’ve figured out how to unlink yourself from that list two weeks ago when she told you to. It was exhausting sometimes how often Zoë was right.

Which lead you to finally telling yourself that the next time he posted something you would message him about the mixup and then carry on with your life like you weren’t bummed to not be able to watch Spider-Man’s day to day activities. You needed to get a better hobby.

“Earth to y/n, are you in there??“ Kevin said as he waved his hand infront of your face.

“Isn’t it time for you to go to work? I thought maybe you fell asleep at the dining table for again, until I noticed your eyes were open.” You glanced at the clock. 3:30am. Waking up for the 4am opening shift for work was the worst.

“Uh, yeah. I was totally spacing, guess I’m still just tired.” You said while you grabbed your jacket and keys.

“Don’t fall asleep on the way to work please?” He said while we followed you to the door to lock it.

“I won’t, don’t worry Kev.”

“Alright, later boooo”

You gave Kevin a smile and a wave and walked down the hall to the elevator to get to your car. You were lucky you didn’t live far from the bakery and your coworkers didn’t ever mind if you were late, they all understood that while whole morning shift was the shift to have, it could be hard getting up in the morning. Your drive to work was quick since there was no traffic that early in the morning and when you parked you saw your coworkers getting out of their cars as well. Perfect timing. You said your hellos to the group as you all walked inside and walked to your stations to start the day. You all shared the big back room of the bakery but all had your own little corners with your things. Your corner you had just started to decorate and you had really started to feel like it was your own cute little corner. You had a dozen random colored aprons from your friends/family that you worked in hung up nicely on the walls, a few pictures of you and the roommates on your summer trip to Rosario last summer, love notes left from Theo and Zoë when they came in and you couldn’t go out to make them their coffees because the back was crazy. It still could use a couple more pictures to fill the space but at the moment it was cute enough for you. You smiled while you put your keys and your purse into your locker underneath it and pulled out your phone to put into your apron when you decided a quick look through your social media’s before starting the shift would be needed. 

Theo had already sent you posts to look at on insta and it seemed like Kevin had mentioned you on twitter before he went to bed when you left. You opened your Instagram after you tied your apron on and low and behold, Tom was on the top of the page. he had the newest Instagram story of everyone you followed.

Guess we’re doing this early, you though in your head. You sighed while you clicked the profile and thought about how you were gonna message him and not seem weird. Hopefully it wasnt a gym selfie or a shirtless picture because that would be too awkward to follow with a message. Hey, I noticed you aren’t wearing a shirt and that I do not know you. Hope you’re doing well.

But it wasn’t a shirtless selfie. He had posted a picture of a very sad looking round of dough in a bowl. “Attempt #3 to this whole baking thing, my pizza dough doesn’t seem to be rising 🤨” he had written underneath it. You clicked to the next slide. Same sad looking round of dough.

“Been two hours, and not any growth. Someone help me 😐��� was written in red. Homie was basically begging for your help. This was also a way to sneak in the “hey I dunno you but you added me, no problem to I’ll just let myself out haha🙂” that you were looking for. Realistically, this was your opening for you to casually let the guy know the mistake and roll out looking like a normal human being and help him make pizza. Foolproof. You hit the message button and began to type.

Hey. I think you added me to your close friends list on accident? While I do know how to to make a mean pizza, not sure we know eachother irl haha. As for your dough, if you added yeast to your dough and it’s still not rising, your yeast might be dead 😕 could be expired yeast, or the water you used for the recipe was too hot and killed the yeast. just switch out to warm water instead if that’s the case. Hope It helps!

After reading it a couple times and deciding it didn’t sound too cringe, you sent it.

“There. I did it. Back to our regularly scheduled program.” You told yourself and started your morning setup for the day. As you started to get into the groove of the day time seemed to have a mind of its own and before you knew it, it was time for your lunch break. You were ready for a break after running from the front and back of the house continuously to help with customer service and coffees when needed, and then running back to finish off baking your breakfast items for the day. You had left a water bottle and some leftovers from dinner the day before in the communal lunchrooms fridge and had made your way to the back to get it. Fishing out your phone from your pocket, the screen illuminated and you noticed some notifications pop up. The roommate group text had left a whopping 12 text messages, the apartment had awakened you joked to yourself. Some snapchats from friends and from an ex-boyfriend you weren’t sure you even wanted to open, notifs that your tweet was retweeted a couple times, 2 message notifications from TomHoll-

“OH SHIT!” You yelled as you dropped your food container and almost your phone on the ground. He wrote back. HE WROTE BACK HE WROTE BACK HE WROTE BACK. TWICE?! WHY TWICE?! You wanted to hide, but why it’s not like he could see you through the screen. Why did you out yourself again?! What was the reason you snitched in yourself?! From the notifications details it had looked like he had written you once two hours ago and then another time 46 minutes ago. You wanted to open it but you also wanted to log off of Instagram forever and pretend you weren’t who you were. You screenshotted your notifications just as evidence for yourself that this was really happening and then decided to quit being such a wimp and open the damn messages. There was a green dot on the bottom of his profile picture before you opened his messages. He’s online right now. Great. Totally awesome. He probably sees I’m online too. I’m fucked, you thought in your head. You opened the message convo.

Hey, totally sorry about that, my brother must have added you when he started the group for me, hope my random stories didn’t bother you too much 😅 and thanks for the tips, think it could have been that the water I added was much too hot, maybe fourth times the charm haha. x

and the last message

started over (again) on my dough and added warm (not hot) water instead like you said and I think she’s alive! She seems a bit dry in the bowl but she is growing, so thanks again. I just may have a veggie supreme pizza in my future 😊 x

You were shook. Okay he was a normal person, you knew that. But to write you twice and thank you? And to be so casual about it even though he totally didn’t know you. He was super nice about it and then thanked you like you weren’t snooping on his life for the last 3 weeks. He was much too nice, and he wrote back twice to update you, it seemed rude to not write back now. You double tapped the last message and decided to just keep it to the pizza at hand and keep it short and sweet. Play it COOOL BITCH!

No worries, thought I’d let ya know. You can punch down the dough and spray it with a mist of water, should bring her back to life. Longer you let it proof the more flavor it’ll have, so don’t worry about deflating it. Do put a wet rag over the bowl to help keep your dough moist though, it’ll help it grow if the towel if warm too btw. I wish you luck in getting that (pizza) bread 🍕🍞

“Get that pizza bread? Ugh, why am I like this?” You said as you contemplated telling your roommates. Last time you told them about it they totally did a 180 on what you thought they would say, so maybe this time you should just keep this weird bread conversation with a well known actor to yourself. This was probably the end of it anyways, he’d finish his pizza and go back to not knowing who you were. Though you did worry about if he had sneaked a look at your page when he got your message and seen all of your posts, that you were highly critical of at the moment. A lot of questionable posts now that you though about it. If you were him, you would have clicked on the page almost immediately to get a look at the person snooping on your life.

When he first got the message he was confused as to who it would be, he didn’t recognize the photo or the username. And then he read the message and realized he didn’t recognize it because he did not know this girl.

“Harry you absolute div.” he muttered to himself while he jumped onto her page. Harry had told him he’d make him a close friends list like he had for his page since Tom wasn’t that great at Instagram, and in the process he seemed to have added this girl on accident. He had hoped she wasn’t someone shady and he thought back to some of the things he had recently posted and cringed. There was no new gossip or media info as of late leaking about him in the tabloids so it seemed like this girl didn’t run to press with all of his private stories. He had been drunk one too many times on that close friends group that she could have easily screen recorded and sent out to daily mail or whatever shit tabloid would pay for it.

He scrolled down to look at her pictures.

Cute girl.

American girl, a California girl to be exact. Not LA but San Diego. LA girls were a different breed and a no-no in his experience but this girl wasn’t a LA girl. Her pictures were too casual for that. Picture of her and her friends at a bar, picture of her and her dog walking on the beach, picture of her at what looked to be her job;a bakery. A mirror picture in some badly lighted bar restroom with a friend, both with smiles on their faces and a drink in their hands. She was wearing a a yellow floral wrap summer dress with a pair of wayfarer styled reading glasses. Even in the dingy mirror and the bad bar bathroom lighting she was attractive and seemed laid back. He had already written back to her to say sorry but now here he was on her page looking at her pictures, hoping he didn’t accidentally double tap anything. He had remade his pizza dough the way she suggested and now it was growing, surely it wouldn’t be bad if he wrote to her once more to let her know it worked? He sent another message and tried to work on some emails his publicist had begged him to look into while he messaged Harry on Instagram.

You added a random girl on my close friends list ya div. poor girls probably seen me drunk atleast a handful of times. 😑

Harry immediately typed back.

...but is she cute bruv? send me the username if so, your chance is ruined but I could make a move 👀

He ran a hand through his hair and thought of all the ways to insult his younger brother when the alert of another message came in. She had written back with a corny ‘get that bread joke’ with the emoji and all. He smiled and double tapped her reply. She had a cute personality. He went back to his drying out dough and reworked it as said and followed her instructions once again. He was feeling bold, so he decided to write her again.

Honestly, what would I have done without you today? You saved me with your baking skills and for that I am eternally grateful. Will possibly send you a picture of the final pizza pie once Its finished. 👨🏻‍🍳 x

It immediately had the words ‘seen’ written underneath his message and his eyes widened. She double tapped the message and was writing back, so he quickly jumped out of the message. He didn’t want her to know he was sitting there waiting for a response to his bad lowkey flirting, that would just be embarrassing. Maybe it wasn’t so bad though, that his dumb little brother had accidentally added her, he had thought to himself as her message appeared.

Sounds good Gordon. Or Mr.Ramsey, my apologies.

He smiled when he read the message and you yourself had a smile on your face after sending it. Very cheeky, you thought. You couldn’t help but laugh to yourself about the situation you had just put yourself in. You just had a message conversation with Tom and you actually kept your chill and didn’t make that much of a fool of yourself. He probably couldn’t even tell you were having a mental breakdown from him writing to you. As you got back into the groove of work it seemed as though the rest of your work shift went by just as quick as the beginning of the day from how busy the bakery had been, and now you had just cleaned up and hopped back into your car to go home. Theo had texted you asking what you wanted for dinner and you had just texted him back when you got an another message alert from your phone. It was a picture. It was his finished produced, all baked and pretty, veggie supreme like he had said. It looked as though he has even brushed the crust with olive oil, bonus points for that. 

“The finished product, tastes as good as she looks 🍕🤤” he had sent to you. Just you. Tastes....as good as she looks.....LOL.

“You could say that again Spidey.” You said while you put your seatbelt on and turned on your car. You liked the picture and saw he had yet another story on his page. You clicked it. It was a boomerang of him pulling a slice from the whole pie to bring to his mouth, a picture worthy melty cheese stretch and all combined with him looking just as good as the pizza. “Call me Gordon👨🏻‍🍳🍕” it was captioned. It was posted on his close friends list this time and you couldn’t help but notice, you were still on that list.

[followmetoyourdoom]

Helpless // Chpt 3: Political Turmoil

Can the Xerin queen be saved? What will this mean for inter-kingdom relationships, how long can they truly live in harmony.

Let's play a game called, "Can You Spot All The Foreshadowing?"

Read it on ao3 or below:

The chaos became pandemonium as Laina crumpled to the floor, one scream breaking through the wall of sound.

"Mother?!? MOM!" The second princess of Xeris sprinted towards the front of the hall, her older sister close on her heels. "Mom you're going be fine, you are..." Talia dropped to her knees, hands pressed onto her mother's wound to stop the bleeding.

Laina murmured softly - too quietly for anyone around her to hear - and tried to pull the lonsdaleite shard out of her stomach, stopped immediately by Izira as she knelt down opposite Talia.

"You cannot, mother. You will bleed out," she whispered calmly. But her hands were shaking as she held them out over her mother's stomach.

A magic circle appeared above the wound; the light catching the tears as they rolled down Talia's face. "You can heal her, right?" she asked urgently, not daring to move her hands away from her mother's wound. "Tell me you can heal her."

"I shall try my best."

After she got over her initial shock, Emilia - the Queen of Volta - took it upon herself to calm the crowd, the Borealian and Calixian Queens leaning a hand when needed.

Many of the royals were whispering between themselves, and when the crowd finally settled, horrible cruel whispers filled the air: she did it on purpose… must have been the Queen's plan all along… we all know they don't get on… could mean a civil war… it's the princess, the princess is to blame…

Luckily, Princess Iris heard none of this- saw none of this.

Her vision was a blur, the look of shock so prevalent on her face it seemed stuck that way. White noise filled her ears and felt almost tangible around her. She didn't even notice she was backing away from the scene until she felt her mother's hands on her shoulders.

"I didn't mean-"

"I know," Xiphi said, the anger in her voice not quite hidden, "accidents happen. However this is going to take months to settle. And with things already uncertain…" She looked to her husband. "Be ready for the worst, Jericho."

He nodded, "For now we show support."

Xiphi passed Iris to him. "Keep an eye on her, I shall go help Laina."

Another nod as Jericho took a firm grip on Iris' shoulder, trying ever so hard not to let his frustrations out on her. But he made a note to increase her training time - clearly she still wasn't fully in control of her magic.

But right now, that wasn't what mattered.

As Izira worked her magic and Xiphi glided across the battle circle to lend her own, Acherontia laid a comforting hand on Talia's shoulder. "This isn't something you should see, sweetheart, don't you want to go and sit down? My daughter would be more than happy to talk to you if you wan-"

"Please let go," Talia said quickly, voice wavering. "I need to be with my mother. If you can help, help. But if not then do not stop me from doing so."

"Very well, I can extract the lonsdaleite when it is appropriate to do so."

Talia glanced at Izira who nodded ever so slightly, "Thank you, that would be most helpful yes."

Having now reached them, Xiphi joined the group, summoning her own magic. "I can provide a protective barrier around the lonsdaleite so momentarily stop the blood flow, that way you will have more time to remove-"

"Don't you think your kind has done enough?" Izira shot at her, her concentration slipping.

Talia jumped and quickly reached to grab her sister's arm. "Izira. She can help. We need help. Apologise to the Queen."

"Her wound, Talia; put your hand back."

Startled, Talia did so quickly, trying very hard not to look at the blood smear she had left on her sister's arm.

"We need to act with haste," Xiphi insisted, "she will not last much longer." As much as she disliked the woman, it would not do to have her die in her own daughter's coming of age ceremony.

Izira huffed angrily. "Fine. … And I apologise for my earlier rudeness, Your Majesty."

"Nothing to be concerned about, your mother is my priority." Xiphi began weaving the shield to stop Laina losing any more blood. "Ready, Acherontia?"

"At your command, my Queen" Ati assured her.

Xiphi nodded; Acherontia crouched at the ready, her own magic dancing across her fingertips which cast a vaguely unsettling red glow. Izira narrowed her eyes but said nothing, finishing up the healing around the wound.

"When Her Majesty is ready, you are to remove the lonsdaleite as quickly as possible and I will begin healing the rest of the wound," Izira said.

Not a few moments later, Xiphi gave the word.

Talia moved round out of the way, whispering words of comfort to her mother and stroking her hair as the Queens and her sister got to work.

For now, the bleeding was held at bay by the weaving. Xiphi concentrated on maintaining it while Acherontia placed her hands on either side of the shard. She muttered softly under her breath and the shard began to glow.

"I apologise Laina, this is going to hurt," Ati said apologetically. "But it is the only way."

The Xerin Queen's screams cut through the murmurings of the crowd like a meat cleaver as Acherontia used her magic to wiggle the lonsdaleite free. It remained stubbornly wedged in her abdomen until one final pull of magic and it shot off near the centre of the circle.

It hovered in front of Iris, gleaming menacingly as blood dripped down off it. You did this, the shard seemed to accuse her, you almost killed her. It hung there for a few seconds, vibrating ever so subtly before the magic glow around it died and it fell on top of the pile of broken lonsdaleite.

And then Ati was there, knitting the stone back together before it could harm anyone else.

Iris blinked and stepped forwards nervously. "I need to help her. This is my fault, I have to help her…"

"No, Iris," Jericho stopped her and turned his daughter around, guiding her towards one of the side doors out of the ballroom. "I think we've seen enough here. The Queens have everything under control."

Iris glanced behind her, wanting to help but slowly realising she might do more harm than good. And so she offered up no resistance as she was pushed towards the door, the judging eyes of almost every royal and noble boring into her.

There were two pairs of eyes however that watched her with concern.

Mephisto shifted forwards in his seat, wanting in equal parts to silence the deceitful mutterings and wrap Iris in a hug and never let her go.

This wasn't her fault.

"There is nothing you can do," Praxina whispered, holding her brother back. "Trust me, otherwise I would be right there with you." Her voice shook with anger, calmed only when Mephisto repeated her own gesture.

"You take the left, I take the right?" he joked.

Praxina snorted quietly under her breath. It was nice to always have her brother on the same page as her. Usually nice anyway, she thought as she glanced at Iris as the King closed the door behind her. Her heart juttered as she remembered her dance with the princess, before everything had gone to Klatznik.

Meanwhile Izira was working as quickly as she could to heal around the blood barrier before it broke.

"Mother is lucky the shard was relatively small," she said shakily as she went about her magic. "Any bigger and…" Izira blinked away tears, her eyes meeting her sister's. Their faces were mirrors.

Acherontia, lonsdaleite now safely in its box on the edge of the circle, returned and gently placed a hand on each of the princesses' shoulder. "She will be fine. You are doing great."

Ati continued her words of encouragement, broken only once when Laina began muttering and attempting to gesture behind them. Talia calmed her down and listened to her ramblings about dark shadows and strange birds, trying very hard to keep a smile on her face for her mother.

Soon enough, Izira finished healing her wound, and Xiphi slowly let the blood barrier drop, guiding the blood itself back into her system.

"She's lost a of blood," Izira noted, "we need to get her to an infirmary as soon as possible."

The Queen of Borealis, Adaline, rushed forwards, "Allow me, I can elevate her body with my magic so her wound does not reopen with unnecessary movements. And we shall get there in twice the time, so there will be no need to worry." Without missing a beat she surrounded Laina with her magic and began moving her out of the room.

Talia and Izira hurried to follow her, Xiphi following closely behind. Before accompanying the Xerin royal family and Ephedian Queen, Acherontia grabbed the lonsdaleite chest.

Or she would have done had it actually been there.

Ati frowned and looked around wildly, searching for it. The lonsdaleite was both rare and powerful in its own right. A properly cut gem could boost the carriers magic almost indefinitely - she had intended for it to be a gift for Xiphi, to add to the crown.

And now it was missing - or taken.

Across the room, Praxina frowned. "Something is wrong."

"You don't say," Mephisto muttered dryly, gesturing subtly at the Xerin royals and their entourage as they got close to the main doors. They were situated almost right next to the Runic table, so they had a perfect view of the on-goings.

"No! I mean with Mother!" she stressed, squishing Mephisto's cheeks and facing him in the right direction. "See! She's looking for something. Father, you can see it too right?"

Mephisto, not really given any other choice, looked towards his mother. "Oh yesh, I shee."

The twins' father, Hugo, nodded thoughtfully. "Something is definitely amiss. But I wouldn't worry about it, you know your mother. She'll stress over anything."

"Dat's true," Mephisto got out.

Praxina let go of him and stood up, "I shall go and help her. You stay here and make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

"Will do!" father and son said at the same time, then glanced at each other.

As they burst out laughing, Praxina shook her head. "Please remember we are witnessing a tragedy here."

"Okay, Mom," Mephisto said sarcastically, giving Hugo another reason to chuckle.

"Just… behave. Both of you."

In response, they saluted her, tongues sticking out and eyes crossed. Praxina opened her mouth ever so slightly to retort back, but then closed it firmly and began making her way towards her mother, brushing past the Xerin royals as she did so. If she stayed any longer she'd never get away. There was no winning when her brother and father teamed up, their sheer stubbornness to not take anything seriously was enough to drive even the most patient of people mad.

Acherontia, for her part, was now asking the remaining queens if they had seen the chest.

"Well, Liv?"

The Calixian Queen Regnant thought for a moment. "Can't say that I have," she replied, "these sort of events aren't my style, you know that Ati. What'd you say, Melissa, honey? Notice anything?"

"Nah, love. I was keeping my eye on the boys- Carissa's on it now that the trials are… well over I suppose. But throughout them our Theo kept getting nudging his chair closer to that Voltan Princess. Or trying to anyway," she added, laughing slightly at the memory. Theo was a big hulking lad of seventeen. It was very hard for him to do anything inconspicuously.

"Wait, the Voltan Princess that's friends with the Crown Princess?"

Livia nodded and they began discussing possible marriage arrangements for their son, completely forgetting about Ati.

"Riveting though this is, ladies," she put in, halting the conversation between the Calixian Queens, "that lonsdaleite is very important. I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me immediately should you see a little iron and gold plated chest.

"Yeah sure, will do. Hey Em! EMILIA!!" The Voltan Queen turned her head towards the sound of Livia's voice. "YEAH, CAN I TALK TO YOU FOR A SECOND?"

"OF COURSE LIV!" she called back, bouncing up out of her seat.

Thankfully for her husband, Erik, only the five eldest Voltan children had been brought alone to the ruling kingdom; and this was mainly to find them suitable partners given the high number of potential suitors at the celebration.

Priska, their eldest daughter - and future ruler of Volta -  had already married a relatively new royal Voltan guard she had fallen in love with over the summer. Not much was known about the young man, but he seemed genuine in his love for their daughter (not to mention his magic was nothing to turn their nose up against) and so the Queen and King had allowed it.

Jodan, their eldest son, had no problem catching the attention of the various royal princesses and dames, but alas he did not seem interested in them.

There was of course no rush, not now Priska had a husband by her side, but it didn't hurt to give their children a little push of encouragement should an ideal suitor make an appearance.

Which was exactly what the Queens of Calix were planning to provide.

The Queen of Volta joined the group of Queens, Acherontia jumping forwards immediately. "Ah perfect, Emilia, can-"

"EM!" Livia rushed to embrace her friend who gleefully returned the hug. "You are not going to believe this, Emilia, but," she looked to her wife, "we believe we've found you a match for your Auriana."

As the three Queens shrieked happily and began talking once again about arrangements, Ati sighed unhappily. "Nooo, I need her to find the…" she trailed off, realising they wouldn't be any use to her, not when there was gossip to be had. She wouldn't mind if it was on one of their ladies nights, or even arrangements for her own children - which she still needed to organise - but even so what with the disappearance of-

Archeronita jumped as someone tapped her on the shoulder, sharply pulling her away from her worries.

"GAH! Oh," she turned to find her daughter looking inquisitively at her, "it's just you dear."

Praxina nodded, "I saw you searching for something, Mother. What is troubling you? Have you lost something?"

"Well… yes and no. The lonsdaleite appears to have vanished into thin air. I distinctly remember placing the chest here," she tapped the floor irritably with her foot. "And that was after reforming the stone, placing it in its box, and then returning to help poor Laina - you know the Qu-"

"I know, Mother."

Ati blinked, "Oh yes, of course you do. Anyway yes, it's just… gone!" she threw her hands up in the air, baffled. "I believe someone must have stolen it, if I am being perfectly honest."

The Runic Princess thought for a moment, "Was anyone watching the lonsdaleite while you were attending to the Xerin Queen?" When her mother shook her head, Praxina rolled her eyes. "You should have teleported it back to our table."

"Yes I know that!" Ati snapped, lowering her voice slightly. "But I was a little preoccupied preventing a woman from dying."

"What about asking around?"

Ati whined," That's what i've been trying to do! But all Liv and Mel want to talk about is which daughter is going to marry who's son or daughter and-" She trailed off, an idea flourishing in her mind.

After a full minute of silence, Praxina prompted her, "Mother?"

"Hmm?" She looked up, "Oh yes. … Praxinaaa..." she said coyly, a big grin on her face as she formulated her plan.

"...Yeees?" she answered, matching her mother's tone of voice but frowning.

Acherontia snaked her arm around Praxina's shoulders and squeezed gently. "Be a dear and go talk to the young princess of Xe-"

She was cut off abruptly as the main doors to the ballroom slammed open, Xiphi striding in elegantly. Adaline was close on her heels, attempting to imitate the other queen's royal aura, but failing to do so ever so slightly. Because of course, a queen sets and follows her own rules, not those of others. This was Adaline's downfall.

As Xiphi made her way to the front of the hall, offering the Runic women a graceful nod, the Borealian Queen returned to her seat.

Praxina tugged her mother's sleeve pointedly and began walking back to their table.

Glancing around frantically one last time, Ati reluctantly followed her daughter, vowing to shove her at the young Xerin Princess the next chance she got. This union could prove to be essential, especially with the High Princess showing interest in her son.

Marrying into the two most powerful families on the planet? Why it was an opportunity Acherontia couldn't resist.

Her own husband was a Borealian - the Queen's brother in fact - so they were already guaranteed to have that kingdom on their side, should the reason arise for it. Another two would surely seal the deal.

But for now, Ati would tread carefully. Or, at least, as carefully as her inquisitive nature would allow.

The Queen of Ephedia called for silence. "The events of tonight," she began, "shall not rest in silence. I have spoken to the Xerin Queen and she is now recovering from her injury. My daughter, Iris, will be presenting a full formal apology to Xeris, and her coming of age ceremony will be postponed until such a time when she is able to control her power. I apologise for any distress this accident has incurred and hope the rest of the evening passes without incident.

"Thank you for your time."

Xiphi inclined her head and returned to the throne, ready for the night to come to an end - she had had enough of dealing with pleasantries and politics and calls to action. If a fight broke out here and now, she didn't think she would be able to pay attention to it, let alone handle it.

Thankfully, people seemed to be relaxing now; the egra nectar perhaps encouraging this subdued behavior. People were gossiping, introducing their children to others around their social level and age, and all round trying to put the night's unfortunate incident behind them.

And so the party got back underway, the noise level rising. However, ever so faintly, the crisp chirpings of two crystal birds could be heard amidst the chattings.

If one cared to pay attention, that is.

[emanresusi-blog]

Musings of schizotypals Pt. 1

L.G. - I have a sucky sensation inside. Now that I might break up (for my own mental health) with my boyfriend, I have a sucky realization. I have no friends. I have pushed people for years, stablished unhealthy relationships for years. Now everyone is gone, and I cannot retake relationships that I pushed away years ago. I feel lonely. C.B. - Maybe my impulses to criticize others are a way to avoid criticizing myself. I find myself wanting to tell people that no one cares about their stupid lives but now I realize that's just one of the negative things I used to tell myself. I stopped the stream of negative thoughts about myself. But the thoughts are still there, just waiting to be applied to something. I need to channel this inner critic into something more productive. I know it is a facet of who I am, just one that I misuse a lot. It must be able to do some good somewhere. Constructive criticism about myself and my behavior perhaps. I should meditate on this. I'm feeling good but strangely devoid of emotion simultaneously. Like, my outlook on life is a generally optimistic one at the moment even though I'm not specifically happy about anything. I told my friend that I felt like something more was developing in my mind towards her and she wasn't scared off, so maybe that's why I feel optimistic. At the same time, I feel oddly suspicious and paranoid about her as well. Suspicious of her motives in continuing to talk to me after I told her how I felt, and paranoid for her safety at times (she's blind and also the tiniest little bit naïve, in my opinion). Extending my locus of emotional openness doesn't come easily to me. I really bond with other people to the point that I feel a bit like I'm losing myself. I don't like that feeling, but I love bonding with individuals at the same time. I suppose I'm just a bundle of contradictory neurons wrapped in a skull lol A.C. - So I'm sat in my porch locked out bags packed after another of my alcohol induced binge dissapearing acts I know "only Self to blame" I was only out drinking and chatting nothing bad, but I guess I am selfish, selfishly anaware and selfishly inconsiderate with what I don't think through or when I act rash. Slowly I've become more of a loner and made a habit of losing things family, friends umm jobs, it doesn't feel normal or nice that I might just be a procrastinative, selfish/absorbed individual who can't really get any sort of balance in personal life. I care about making amends and living a normal family life it's just... I don't know. Everyone blames me and punishes me, I don't want a scapegoat for my mistakes but it's very confusing I think if I didn't do what I did I'd damage my self by suppressing it all inside would be worse that's not a justification just a thought. Maybe leading a stable life, to work full time, three kids and relationship is too much. S.C - I suffer from depression and anxiety...I feel sometimes that im different of others because i think i have a few particularities(including that i have only two friends).I often try to explain to some that i can catch thoughts & feelings from people that i know...In fact,from complete stangers too ...I just thought if someone here could uderstand me? And I would like to add that is it okay not to fear of losing my few friends?I am 14 and feel like a misfit..I can't recognize what i am and don't remember who i used to be. R.R. - I have a weird feeling that I'm gonna die soon. Lol. Awkward. 2 near death experiences for me and 1 for my mom. Meh. Now I'm walking around every day with intense anxiety, waiting for an accident to happen. 😢 C.S. - I'm not doing well. I'm emotional... I cried for like half an hour today and I usually don't cry. But I've been sick over something I can't talk about. Very paranoid and scared. Such ugly ruminating thoughts. Barely slept last night and I have such a headache but my mind won't shut off. For the first time in years I feel like punching myself in the head. I've been taking my pills regularly. I see the shrink on Thursday. Which means I have to get through two days of work... I've been mildly sick with a cold for the last week. Oh help! I just want to feel better. A.M. - Today I keep seeing characters from TV shows as people in public spaces (anyone else experienced this?) and there was a shadow man in my lounge. It's odd and not making me paranoid which is also odd. Usually when freaky brain shit happens paranoia activates. Side note; Who the hell puts dried apricot in a hot cross bun!? C.B. - Sometimes I have this urge to be rude to people I don't like. Or that I decide are, as narcissistic as this sounds, beneath me morally or intellectually. It makes me very nervous to confront people but sometimes I do it out of impulse. Like I have this parallel line of thinking that just criticizes the hell out of everything I see. I let it build up and then let it out when I reach a certain level of resentment at the world. Afterwords I feel no better. But it's like I have this good side and this bad side to me. The bad side is the worst me I can imagine: lazy, thoughtless, critical, apathetic, and cruel. The good side is the best me I can imagine: empathetic, supportive, passive, thoughtful. I realize that I internalize these values from my primary caregivers growing up, my mother and first stepfather. I can't see the value in my stepfather very well. Jung had this idea of the Anima and the Animus. One male and the other female. I've always identified my values with the feminine due to the fact that the only support I ever got growing up was from women. I never understood men. I never understood women either for that matter. But they were the people I tried to emulate growing up. I couldn't stand the thought of being like my stepfather or boys my age until I became a teenager. Then I copied my stepfather and began to hate a lot. To be cruel a lot. Because that's all I saw in him. These impulses must be that old behavior rearing it's head. I've always wanted to be my own person but I've never quite known how. L. G. - Okay so I am going to lay one of my biggest problems right now and see if you can help me even if it's just a Little bit because I have no clue :( I finished university last year. Everything fine. My father came to my room and asked me, "what do you want to do next year? you have to think it NOW" and clearly wanted me, pushed me to do oposiciones (this is how we call the process of studying to get a job in the public system). I did the course for oposiciones. I HATED IT. God damn how boring, bland, deadly! I cannot even study for it or understand what they do. But my parents are 100% into it and they don't even contemplate me leaving them. I have to act like I study on days like those because they are so into this, specially my father, who sees working in the public system as my only chance in life because I am schizotypal. You can ask me questions, I will answer if it hasn't been understood. Thanks for the help :) L.G. - This is a bit of a hard to ask question but I will ask anyway...do you have problems maintaining your personal care, etc...? Sometimes I do and my family makes shame of me :( although i think really I'm not that much of a disaster. I mean, now I take care of myself, it's not like when I was really bad where I wouldn't take proper care of myself. L. G. - Do you ever feel like you've got too much contained in your chest and feel like telling anyone about it? Like you had an urge to tell what's ailing you? I've got Friends to talk with but I have too much in my chest and everyone looks like a friend to me now... S.S. - Two things I learnt about myself recently 1 - I will never be able to do a 9-5 job. Because I am too impatient and get angry when someone tells me what to do. Also overthink everything and get bored with routine. The only thing I can do is my own boss and work from home alone.I need to be in control. 2 - I can't ever picture myself in a relationship. I recently met a woman a bit older than myself but we share lots of interests and get on well. But I'm beginning to feel smothered and under pressure to behave a certain way. I just want to be a free individual with no responsibilities. I wasn't born to be a pack animal, but to give others as much freedom as possible and for them to not bug me in return. C.B. - Anyone else feel really anxious when they talk to other people about personal issues? It makes therapy very difficult for me. I'm too nervous around my therapist to open up to him, to really talk about the issues I have. I always just spend the time in my "therapy mode" (where I act pleasant and nice and talk about minor issues to avoid the larger ones). I don't feel like anybody can really help me with some things, and that I would just be making whoever I was talking to feel bad. I want to be able to talk about my motivations, my relationships, my feelings but they make me feel pathetic. Sometimes I feel like less than a person, like I'm really just wearing a mask when I behave as a normal human does. Trouble is I don't know for sure who or what is under that mask. D.S. - Had an irrational mental breakdown in public again one of those crying and screaming in equal parts of anger, frustration and sadness... why am I so easily overwhelmed sometimes.. plus I look kinda scary afterwards.. the neighbors already peg me for weird as it is... all emotionally shutdown and stuff only secs later.. I dont know its always like that.. overemotional first and a few seconds later back to the void.. im done. Im turning 23 tomorrow and I just wish I could skip to my funeral instead.. yeah.. one of those days.. A.M. - Does anybody else wander through life aimlessly? Never really finishing things they embark on, barely following their interests and feeling as though they're waiting for something to shake enough life into them to align them with the dimension that is reality... Being a drifting alien is really getting to me lately, I didn't realise how meaningless I find everything or how far I have drifted from society. I am not referring to deppression btw. P.A. - There’s something that’s killing me inside and I would really appreciate getting it out in a post. I really hope I don’t sound like a total bitch. It’s to do with abandonment, which I hope some people here will understand. I feel so abandoned by my counsellor. It’s the closest relationship I have. I sent her a text a few weeks ago saying I was sad and I never heard back. It has been my psych ward “anniversary” and I thought she’d message me to ask how I am but no nothing. Now she’s just become a grandmother... I know because I’m friends with her son. They are all super excited and spending lots of time together. He is sending me photos of the new baby but it’s just making me even more upset. Why can’t I just be happy for them? I feel so bad and self-centred for feeling this way. I know this little girl will be spoilt rotten with love and I’m jealous, there’s no other word for it. I suspect this is triggering an ancient wound in me, a hole that I’ve never managed to fill. My friend wants to see me tonight but I’m just too upset to see him and I can’t explain to him why *hides under table* C.B. - Sometimes I feel like I am more comfortable being depressed than I am being happy. Being sad feels, I don't know, solid, constant, whereas happiness is a fleeting and ephemeral feeling. Because of this, I got used to lying to myself to make myself more depressed. Don't know if that makes any sense, but I used to love laying in bed and thinking terrible things about myself until I cried my eyes out. I guess I craved that sense of catharsis. These days, I realize that this isn't a healthy way of coping, but I still crave the cathartic feeling I used to get by working myself into a terrible place. I think maybe I crave intense release of emotion because I have a hard time letting go of emotions in the moment and I kind of bottle them up. I still crave that. It's odd, I suppose I'm working to integrate the disparate parts of my personality into a functioning whole. It's like the emotional part of me exists kind of parallel to the rest, separate but connected in form if not function. A.C. - I guess if you can't do anything consistently but your capable of being extremely creative which many are here. Your purpose in life is to create a masterpiece not stand in line and fit the system. S.S. - Got told I'm too much of a negative person earlier and that I should keep all my thoughts secret. But the truth is I only say about 10% of what's actually on my mind. I'm too truthful about my flaws. The last thing I wanna be is a fake who brags. I can't help who I am.