#was so ready to make it all pretty and formatted too the relief of decorating has vanished rip lol

[collectivecloseness]

Forgot tumblr mobile had like a word limit 😭

I have 3 versions of something with Steve, Kurt and Eddie ready to post over the next couple of days, but I’ll have to see if I can fix my laptop first rip

[daydream-believin]

The Never-Ending Roadtrip (there’s nothing wrong with Ohio)

Summary: Reader joins Douxie in the quest for Nari’s safety. He’ll need company won’t he? - (Part 5) ohio hijinks. national forests, a b ‘n b.   next- (part 6)  start here -> (part 1)

Warnings: swearing, meat eating, idk gambling kinda?

Word Count: 6620

A/N: AAAAAHHH i gotta stop writing shit at 3am. it’s showing. also i cant believe i reworked their entire planned trip route for this. ajhqhdsjhfljh i have no excuses for any of this

Douxie was uncharacteristically quiet during the trip through the first bit of Indiana. Y/n hung over the railing feeling awkward. The treetops below flew past her in a blur. Y/n kinda felt bad, like maybe she had broken him. Did she nudge a little too hard? She had thought, if anything, her flirting would get him flirting too. Hell, Doux flirted with everyone. It was just part of his charismatic persona he’d built over the years. And he had been so strange this week, but especially strange during the time they’d spent on the road. Every time Y/n had thought she’d figured something out with him, he’d surprise her.

Douxie was still processing what had happened earlier that day. He may have been going mad finally, immortals do tend to do that, but he was starting to think Y/n had feelings for him too. Which was something he had to be imagining, and yet she kept making it really hard to dismiss. Maybe it was just that their trip to St. Louis had felt pretty damn close to a date. His gaze lingered over her form, looking out at the scenery, covered in his jacket, a little piece of him to always cling to her skin, mingling their scents. His eyes snapped back to the sky in front of him as he narrowly dodged a telephone wire tower.

They had decided on taking one last pit stop before settling for the night. They were making their way up to Cleveland, which was a little unnecessarily high north into Ohio, but since Y/n was the one holding the map so to speak, she got to shift their course, almost to her whim even. Douxie was happy with anything as long as they kept moving. There was something she wanted to see in Cleveland. It’s not like Douxie wouldn’t enjoy it too, though. In fact, if her memory served her correctly, Douxie might enjoy the trip more than her. Back to that last pit stop. Hoosier National Forest. Somewhere nice and nature-y for Nari, and as a bonus, nice and forested for magic boat hiding. It would be a good opportunity to stretch out their legs.

Speaking of stretching, Y/n stretched out her arms to the expanse below, her fingers spread with the wind whistling between them, and she let out a soft groan. She was just trying to make her shoulders less stiff, she had been holding onto that railing tightly for quite a while now, but Douxie did not like that action one bit. He locked his staff in place at the helm, giving him just enough time to loop his arm around her midsection and pull her back into the center of the ship. He was able to return quick enough to stop them from hitting the top of a particularly tall evergreen. Y/n was still confused as to what just happened.

“Why don’t you take a seat now, Love.”

She did as she was told, less confused now, yet disgruntled at the fact the Doux had just scooped her away like she was a tiny kitten he was keeping from jumping off the couch.

Hoosier National Forest was magnificent. Well, Y/n thought all forests were wonders, but this one was still great, promise. There were tall trees and big rocks and waterfalls. What more does a national forest need. She managed to convince Douxie that they should go for a hike. Just a little trail, only half an hour, scouts honour. They had flown most of the way, and a brisk walk was what they all needed. It would be good for Nari, after all. Archie took a hard pass, in favor of yet another nap in the sun.

There was a waterfall nearby. A small one, but a waterfall nonetheless. Y/n had pulled up the map of the forest on her phone. Thank the stars for living in a cyberpunk dystopia. She led the way on the trail, until Nari told her that she could feel the waterfall and they could get there faster if they stepped off the path and made their own way. A bad idea, really, don’t do this. Y/n was all for it, to Douxie’s dismay. He had hoped she’d be more sensible, but no, now they were climbing down a steep rocky hill with a literal spirit guide. Nari led them through more twists and bigger rocks to climb over. Douxie tried his best to keep up with Y/n, to keep a hand on her, but she and Nari were moving too fast. At least he could still see them. If Y/n ate the dirt he’d just have to patch her up, he supposed.

Once they made it to the waterfall site, coming out of some brush, they took a moment to rest. Apparently, they were supposed to relax and enjoy feeling the waterfall’s aura or something but Douxie was too preoccupied on assessing the damage from the trek. After he voiced his concern, Y/n boasted that she made it here with only a few scratches and only one cut. Completely normal Dewdrop. Douxie was going to make her take the actual path back. He was probably ruining the waterfall’s calming energy.

After patching up Y/n with bandages and alcohol from the pack on his back, Douxie took a moment to actually take in the water feature. It had carved itself through the rocks it came forth from. It wasn’t powerful when it began, but capable of cutting through solid sediment now. Thousands of years, spent in the same rock formation, and yet none of the water flowing was water that had been there before. Constantly moving, and going nowhere. Neatly polished stones as it’s only reward. Doux was starting to get uncomfortable thinking about this insentient piece of nature now.

They weren’t planning on stopping again until the next national forest, Wayne, so they picked up a bite to eat from a camp store on their way out. Not exactly a restaurant, their meal consisted mostly of beef jerky, almonds, and some dried fruit. Eh, good enough. It was easy to eat on the fly. Pun intended. And it reminded Douxie a little of the dried winter foods he used to eat back in the day. A good meal indeed.

` ` `

The sun had set hours ago. Douxie was keen on spending another night flying until morning but Y/n and Nari looked like wilted flowers. Nari a little more literally. They were slumped over on each other, barely keeping their eyes open. Y/n’s eyelids fluttered. He supposed they could spend yet another night actually getting a decent amount of sleep, in a comfortable bed, and not the deck of a magic flying boat or whatever. They were still in Wayne National Forest but he could see lights up ahead. Not many, but enough that it was probably another tiny town.

Douxie steered the boat to the outskirts of the town. Not much going on, but they were in the middle of nowhere yet again after all. He called over to Y/n, who gave a jolt at the sound of her name, waking her up enough to give him her attention. He watched as she looked around, gaining her bearings. The town itself was nothing they hadn’t come across dozens of times before. Despite the inky blackness from the thin moon, and the remoteness of location, the town had a homey vibe to it. A relief, after yesterday. This town had either already started decorating for Christmas despite it being September, or never took down their decorations from last year. The lights in the trees made up for the absence of the moon, glistening off the orange leaves. This town still had a drive-in movie theater, and it was showing Roman Holiday, for some reason. It looked like more than half the town’s population was parked in that drive-in. It was almost like this little place was stuck in time.

Y/n pointed over to a gingerbread house. The hanging sign swung in the wind, reading Avalon Bed and Breakfast, painted in fancy blue cursive letters. There was an illustration of a floating island under the script. Douxie wasn’t exactly feeling good about that name, they had had enough of spending the night in someone’s final resting place last night. Sure, it looked harmless enough, but most Venus wizardtraps did. There was a wrap-around porch, illuminated by the warm light spilling from the windows, and a woman sat in one of the rocking chairs, telling a story to a couple of children, sitting on the ground around her feet. Y/n’s pupils were really big, locked onto the scene. Avalon B ‘n B it is then. If all goes well, they leave this place in the morn with a magic buzz, not entombed. Or it could just be a regular inn with a sacred namesake. It was always hard to tell with these things.

Douxie hid the boat in the nearby forest and they set off for the B ‘n B on foot. There was a chill in the air. Y/n put her hood up to shield from the wind to their backs. She threaded the fingers of the hand not attached to Nari through his. Douxie’s hands were too sweaty for her to keep doing this to him. Hopefully she wouldn’t stop. Archie jumped up on his shoulders, ready to hide if need be by shape shifting into something much smaller and less noticeable than a cat. Y/n googled the inn as they walked. They were listed as pet friendly, however their website revealed that this policy only extended to cats. Luckily for them, Archie was cat-passing. No need to become a rat that stayed in Douxie’s cap.

As they stepped inside the large wooden door, they were bathed in an orange light. There was a deep scarlet rug under their feet. The atrium they stepped into had a bench with too many colorful cushions stacked on it, an antique mirror that was probably silver-backed behind that, and a counter blocking the way for you to step into the rest of the house, with a few keys hanging behind it. The old man behind the counter stood as they entered, grinning.

“Welcome to Avalon! Name’s Robert. Why, what a beautiful family you have here.” He leaned over the counter to speak to the veggie lady. “And what’s your name, Little Miss?”

“I am Nari of the Eternal Forest.”

Y/n laughed, in an effort to be convincing, “Oh, she’s going through a wee fairy phase, it’s our fault, we took her to a renn faire last month.”

“Oh, how adorable. Could I get a name for your reservation Ma’am?”

“Casperan.”

“Perfect. And we have both a room with a single queen, and a room with a queen and a twin. We also have a room with two twins available, but I’m sure that wouldn’t serve you folks well.”

“We’ll take the single, our little one still isn’t very brave when it comes to sleeping in new places.” It was cheaper.

“Alrighty, here you go. We ask you to pay the bill up front if that’s okay with ya’ll,” Douxie came forward to hand the man his card, which he promptly accepted with a flourish, “And don’t worry about your feline, he should be fine as long as he can get along with our resident kitty cat, Sammy.”

“No worries, it should all be fine, Archie here is very friendly,” Y/n gave Robert her biggest smile. She shot Archie a look when the man turned away. He better get along with Sammy if he knew what was good for him. Speak of the devil, a little gray cat one could only assume was Sammy came trotting over and sniffed the feet of these new people in his domain. Douxie put a none too happy Archie down to greet the new friend and told him to play nice. Sammy sniffed Archie, hesitated for a moment, but then rubbed his cheek on Arch’s shoulder. Douxie let out the breath he was holding. Archie kept his tail from flicking and chirruped to the gray cat.

After passing by an archway that led into the dining area, where several old ladies were playing bridge, Robert led them up the stairs and through an unevenly rugged hallway to their room, near the end. “Now take your time settling in, but do join us downstairs soon, you’ll miss all the fun.”

After promising to show back up in a jiffy, they took in the room after he left. There bed was covered in four different green quilts, or that were as many as were visible. The windows were covered in thick green drapes. They came in and laid down their packs. The wallpaper was covered in green vines. There was some fancy loveseat, also green. Nari loved the amount of green. There was an oil painted portrait of a cat on the wall, and below it, a large vintage radio that looked like it might as well had been new. Y/n turned it on. ‘Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered’ was playing. Ooh, she loved this song.

She grabbed Douxie’s hands and pulled him to the center of the room. “C’mon, dance with me Dewdrop.” With a hand extended for him to take, her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. Well, there was no way Douxie was saying no to that face. Y/n pulled him into her embrace the second he tentatively put his hand in hers. It was a sweet, slow love song, so they began to dance sweet, slow, and loving. Nari had made herself comfortable on the loveseat with Archie, who was pretending to be busy cleaning himself to give them one less pair of eyes watching them. Nari grabbed a book off the doily covered coffee table titled ‘Poisonous Herbs and How To Use Them’ that had caught her eye.

As they swayed, Douxie leant down to Y/n’s ear, “Why are we sharing a bed once again, Love?”

“You saw those people downstairs, if they knew we weren’t married they wouldn’t have given us accommodation, you want to go look for a new inn at ten o’ clock?” Douxie nodded, “and I figured we shared a bed last night and that was fine so why not tonight too? Oh stars, did I make you uncomfortable last night?” Douxie could hear the panic surging in her voice.

“No, no not at all, Love. Well, a perhaps wee bit,” Y/n pulled slightly away from him, which he quickly countered, “But in a good way. I- liked it.”

Y/n eyes got big as she scanned his nervous face. A weak smile spread across her flushed face. “I liked it too- oh,” Doux spun her around to the music. She giggled, but soon locked onto his eyes. There were so many things in them that she couldn’t name. Despite the chaos behind them, looking into them made her feel safe, his hazel eyes always did. A brilliant hazel, a little brown, a little gold, haloed in green. Warm colors, the palette of her fondest dreams. Ella Fitzgerald’s sweet voice still sung, Y/n couldn’t tell if the melody was lasting forever or if time had just slowed in each other’s embraces. His gentle touch on the small of her back, the warmth beneath his palm, was going to linger long after they parted.

She leaned closer, resting her head on his shoulder. Y/n could smell a mixture of cheap soap from the motel, the sweat of his skin, and the pine needles from their hike. His hair tickled her face. She could hear him take every breath. It was enamoring. Bewitched indeed, Ella. Y/n was so lost swaying in Douxie’s embrace that she almost didn’t catch what was being sung.

Y/n lifted her head back up. “Wow, I don’t remember the lyrics to this song being so dirty.”

Douxie laughed. “That’s because most versions are not. They cut it off before it gets too far, but this is the full version.”

“And people were listening to this in the fifties?” Y/n asked incredulously.

“Oh, Love, you’d be surprised.”

It took some convincing to get Nari to put down the book so they could go downstairs. She was engrossed in a page about bloodroot, and wasn’t happy about having to stop. Douxie wasn’t sure about how he felt about Nari getting into said literature, and was annoyed that Y/n was slightly encouraging it. Y/n knew all about this kind of stuff, sure, but he trusted Y/n not to suddenly turn on him when the whim found her. Bleeding balroths. Before now, Douxie hadn’t realized that he didn’t quite trust Nari. That was probably bad. Sure, Merlin trusted her, and that should be enough for his apprentice Hisirdoux. But Doux had trusted a lot of people over the years, even some endorsed by Merlin, before his slumber. It was a dangerous game, that trust. The scar on his hand served a permanent reminder, the thread tied onto his pinky, a promise to never forget.

Douxie felt bold, and laced his fingers through Y/n’s this time as they headed down the stairs. Archie took his perch on Douxie’s shoulders, it would give him an excuse not to have to interact with the inn cat. They were met cordially at the bottom of the stairs by the innkeeper’s wife, Sherry. She had been on her way from the kitchen to the dining with a platter of cookies. She beckoned the group to follow her, she’d lead them to where the action was at. Said action was laughing people sitting at the dining room table playing cards, with drinks ranging from a posh teacup to an Oktoberfest beer mug littering the table, children stealing sweets from the platters on the buffet cabinet in the midst of their game of hide and seek, and a new mother rocking her infant by the fire, a quilt draped over her lap.

“Hey folks, the Casperans have joined us finally.” They received a cheery greeting by all in the room.

Y/n didn’t like the idea of Nari joining the children in their hiding game, since Nari was not someone who should be left out of sight, so she suggested the veggie lady go ask the woman in the corner of the table who was knitting if she’d show Nari how. That kept the forest child busy all night. Easily explained to the adults by her being a strange little one, a shy child. Besides Robert there was only one other man in the gathering, so they seemed pleased by Douxie’s arrival. They tried to get him out of his shell and bond over beer, fishing stories, and how much they loved their wives. Douxie was trying his best to fit in with the merry men. As Y/n sat, the blue haired lady next to her offered her hand to shake and asked her name. “Y/n Casperan, pleased to meet you too, Ma’am.” Douxie bit the inside of his cheek, it was all he could do to keep his soul from leaving his body. Archie teased Doux with his eyebrows, which made it worse.

Much to Archie’s dismay, Doux got his revenge by putting him down on the ground and telling him to go play nice. Besides, it would be weird if Doux just left him there on his shoulder all night. Disgruntled, Archie took a perch up on the back of one of the old plush couches nearby. He kept an eye on Nari, since Douxie and Y/n were distracted. He had hoped he could stay anti-social from up there, but no, Sammy saw him from wherever the old cat was in the house and joined him. The gray cat snuggled next to Archie, loafing. It’s not that Arch didn’t like cuddles, he just didn’t want them from this random Russian blue from Ohio. Sammy began to purr; Archie could feel it against his own chest. Sighing, he accepted his fate, but didn’t hold back from flicking his tail in contempt.

The gathering dealt Douxie and Y/n in for the next round. Apparently, Y/n was a card shark, not something Doux was expecting. Y/n’s secret is that she’d oftentimes sneak off from her aunt’s fancy parties to go gamble with the snooty rich men who never thought a little girl in a poufy pink dress could clean ‘em out. They were often too embarrassed to tell the tale so she never got caught. He watched her lovingly as she bluffed and bantered with the other women. Y/n glanced over to him from across the table, catching his gaze. Her own gaze softened at the sight of his adoring expression towards her. She looked back down at her cards and promptly ended the hand. The dealer started passing around cards again, but Y/n refused hers.

“Oh, I sure would love to play another round, but I need to go have a conversation with my husband outside for a moment.” She shot a glance to Douxie and he understood. He stood up from the table and pulled her chair out for her as he did.

“Of course, Love.”

Douxie followed Y/n out to the porch. The soft orange light streaming from the window illuminated her back as she grabbed his hand to lead him towards a more private spot. Now no longer within the sight of the party, she leaned back against the porch rail, facing Doux. The expression he bore was a slightly questioning one, slightly eager. Y/n gulped, here goes nothing.

“So!”

Douxie cocked a brow, “So?”

“I know. And You know. And you didn’t know that I knew but I know, and I don’t know if you know but I’ve made it pretty clear so I’m hoping that you do know.”

Douxie’s eyes flittered back and forth as he tried to make sense of that babble. “Er- Love, could you say that in proper English for me? I think I know what you’re saying, but I- I need you to say it,” He looked away, pushing his hair back with his hands.

“I- Love You,” She lost her courage for a moment, taking a deep breath and not daring to look into his eyes, “This is so irresponsible, I know. But I, Y/n L/n, love you, Hisirdoux Casperan. And- and I have for quite some time now.” She waited a beat with no response. She still refused to look up from the floor as she asked, pleading, “Do you, return my feelings, or- or-“

“Yes.” He cut her off. She hadn’t noticed him getting so close to her. “I, Hisirdoux Casperan, love you, Y/n L/n.” Her heart skipped a beat as he chuckled, “I have for quite some time now.”

Y/n let out the breath she was holding in a dreamy sigh, “Okay.”

“Okay.” Doux brought his hand up to move a stray strand of hair away from her face, and he let it linger against her skin. Y/n placed her hand over his, and drew him closer. Her eyelids slowly closed as she reached her hands up to his hair, pulling him in for a sweet kiss. Douxie couldn’t believe this was finally happening. His eyelids snapped shut and he deepened it with fervor in an effort to show her just how much he wanted this, in case she had any hesitation left. He surely was going to wake up any moment now, alone on the smelly old couch of the bookstore with his songbook on his face. She pulled away from him way sooner than he was happy about. With their foreheads still together, he took in her flushed face. Looking up into his eyes, her voice rasped, “I- I’d- I’d like to apologize.” Douxie’s brows furrowed. His head was a little fuzzy, but he’d not know where she was going with this even if he hadn’t just kissed the love of his life. “I- I’ve been so weary, and for nothing. And-and I’ve probably wasted all this time we could have been happy an-”

He cut her off with another kiss. This time he’d make sure it lasted a good, long time. Although a bit sloppy at first, they eventually found their rhythm together. Their lips slid across each other in sync. Y/n tightened her arms around his neck as she pulled him even closer, clinging for dear life. As they eventually surfaced for breath, the hot ragged breathing visibly mingled in the chilly autumn air. He pressed his forehead back into hers, nuzzling, “I believe it was worth the wait, Darling.”

They could have spent all the time in the world in that moment, if not for the sudden crash coming from the dining area. “Oh fuzzbuckets, Nari.” Doux mumbled under his breath as he grabbed Y/n’s hand to go check out the startling noise. Once back in view of the window, they could see it was a false alarm, as Sherry had dropped a metal platter and was cleaning it up. Nari was still attentively watching the knitting woman, and Archie seemed to be getting cozy with the inn cat. Ooh Archie, you Casanova. Douxie breathed a sigh of relief. Y/n tugged at his hand,

“C’mon Dewdrop, let’s rejoin the merry making.” Douxie obliged.

And the merry making lasted until just before midnight. Surprising, considering the company they were in. They didn’t even stay until the others retired for the night, Douxie wanted to get an early start on the day and also really didn’t want to have to hear another one of Bill’s fishing stories and act like he knew anything about fishing. He complained as soon as the door closed behind them. Archie argued that he had had it worse, which Doux scoffed at. They bickered back and forth, making Y/n smile. She never knew family arguments could actually make her heart fonder. Strange. So this is what genuine love brings.

After brushing their teeth, such a mundane thing that Douxie loved doing with Y/n, they settled in to bed for the night. The autumn chill might have come, but it still way too warm for the fifteen blankets the bed had been covered in. They removed the extra and set them neatly on a pile in the loveseat. Or Y/n at least made sure the extra quilts were neatly folded, Douxie had just thrown them off and let them bunch up. Nari got under the covers, like she’d seen humans often do before, but decided it was not a sensation for her. It felt strangling, to have something weighing down at her. She joined Archie where he lay at the foot of the bed and curled up. Archie was not in the mood for more cuddles, and Nari appeared to sense that, and stayed a little ways from the dragon-cat while still trying her best to be close to him.

Y/n nestled in, with the blanket pulled up on her ear, looking cozy as ever. Douxie’s heart skipped a beat. This was still so surreal. This entire day had been surreal. There was no way this wasn’t all one big dream. Maybe he did get eaten at the Missouri motel. Perhaps something was draining his life force but giving him a pleasant dream to pacify his dwindling mind. Y/n noticed him, still standing there at the side of the bed in a trance, and reached for his hand to drag him in. He fell flush against the mattress, and as he picked himself back up, she could see his cheeks were flushed as well. Y/n giggled at the sight of him.

“Get in, just mind Arch and Nari.”

Douxie carefully got under the covers without disturbing the two at the foot of the bed, laying on his side to face Y/n. For a beat they stilled, looking into each other’s eyes and watching each other breathe, miles apart despite being so close, until Y/n stretched an arm out to place it on his shoulder, an invitation. Doux got the memo and closed the gap of sheets between them, and Y/n snuggled into his chest. He tentatively wrapped his arms around her. This was sleep time and he was supposed to be settling down and relaxing but now his heart was beating fast as if he were running. Surely Y/n could feel it, hear it even, with her ears against his heart itself. He hair smelled lovely, like dirt but right as it first starts raining. Gently smiling to himself, he tightened their embrace.

“You know, I wanted to do this last night too. So, so badly.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“Bold words of someone who literally just apologized for wasting our time with her weariness.”

y/n pretended to scoff, but failed to contain her snickers, “Oh, sod off. I am asleep now, and I cannot hear you.”

Douxie woke up to a face full of dark fur. Not an unusual thing for him to wake up to, just not what he was expecting for this particular morning. At some point in the night Archie had climbed up and nestled into the space between his face and Y/n’s. Impertinent, but endearing. Douxie supposed he’d be waking up like this for many mornings to come. This magic moment would become normal, a fact of his life that he got to enjoy. Just him, Arch, and Y/n. His tiny little family. What a lovely thought. What a lovely future.

Breakfast was at seven. That was the best part of staying in a bed and breakfast, Douxie reckoned. The fragrance of the goetta frying was heavenly after not having eaten anything but beef jerky and nuts since yesterday afternoon. The innkeeper’s wife had also made biscuits that she was serving with apple butter and her signature chocolate gravy, which neither Douxie nor Y/n were brave enough to try. The apple butter was just fine, after all. Nari didn’t care for the goetta, or many meats at all, Douxie was starting to realize, instead opting to glop way too much apple butter on a biscuit that she made into a sandwich. The fruit sauce dripped out when she bit into it, which only made the other guests dote on her, telling her how she was just so cute.

Y/n was wearing that new outfit, that Ash Dispersal Pattern shirt. It looked good on her. He hoped he wasn’t being possessive here, but it really made him feel good to see her in it. They would wash their other clothes in New Jersey. Hopefully they’d make it to the garden state and the troll settlement by nightfall, but by the way things were going, Douxie could only do that, hope. They’d make their way through Pennsylvania and maybe tuck through Maryland and Delaware to avoid Philly. The new Trollmarket was under a bridge of a small town in the thick of New Jersey. They’d make it there, that was the plan.

They bid their goodbyes to the people at the bed and breakfast, and headed off to Cleveland around eight. It was an uneventful trip, unremarkable and not even worthy of being described. Although one aspect of it that Douxie enjoyed was that Y/n stayed away from the edge, choosing to hang on his arm instead of the railing. A win-win if he had ever known one. Archie made some sarcastic gagging noises at their pda, but Doux ignored him. He had been waiting way too damn long for this to not embrace his beloved on his own fucking flying ship. Arch could tease him all he wanted. This casual affection he was now allowed to show somehow was worth it. The fact that he could now just touch Y/n? And she would not only not flinch from his touch, but would even touch back? It was priceless to his heart, marrow to his old bones, chicken soup for his soul.

As they drew nearer, Douxie found out that the reason Y/n had directed them to the metropolitan area around Cleveland, pretty high up into Ohio, was that she had wanted to make a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Douxie knew he shouldn’t have expected anything less. He sure knew how to pick ‘em. He could get on board with this, a little trip down memory lane might be nice. There was a reason he’d never been. A lot of his old friends who’ve earned their places in this building had passed on. Yet, it might be nice to see their faces once again.

They once again hid the boat in a wooded area and took a bus into town. It wasn’t a problem finding a close stop, since their destination was a popular tourist destination. They wandered the halls, Douxie told Y/n and Nari about some of the people from bands that he had known. Y/n listened intently. Nari really liked all the pictures and memorabilia. She understood that this was some sort of memorial, and she was making sure that she was being respectful as Hisirdoux told her about it all. She didn’t quite understand why there were tributes to some still living humans, but did not question the humans’ rituals. Perhaps they were going to die soon. All mortals will.

There was a little station with a sundry of instruments, there for people to try out. Everything was most likely out of tune, being floor instruments touched by thousands of hands. That didn’t stop Y/n from grabbing an acoustic guitar to show Nari, plucking at it’s strings effortlessly. It was a silly little ditty, meant to entertain the veggie lady, but still impressive. Wait.

“Since when have you been able to play?”

“Ah, I dunno, Dewdrop. High school, I guess? I can’t really remember when, but my friend Roxy showed me a few chords and then I was obsessed for months.”

“What, I- I gave you lessons just last month. You were terrible.”

“Hisirdoux Casperan we both know that was just an excuse for you to hold me and touch my hands as you positioned my fingers.”

Douxie’s face was red. She was right, of course, but he hadn’t thought he had been so obvious about it. He watched her fingers drift across the neck as she started playing a softer tune. It was a song he recognized. Y/n seemed to get lost in what she was doing, mumbling the words here and there. At one point she started actually singing. Softly, under her breath, but it was audible nonetheless. Either she had forgotten he was there or she was finally getting comfortable enough around him to let him hear the beautiful voice. He hoped it was the latter. Nevertheless, whichever it was, it was like a siren song to Douxie’s ears.

“Why don’t you ever sing?”

Y/n stopped suddenly. She looked up from the stings, her eyes wide. “What?”

“You’re always humming as you do things, but you only ever actually sing when you think no one’s around. Why’s that, Love?”

While he wouldn’t recommend she try out for a singing competition reality show any time soon, her voice was hypnotic to him. Soothed his soul. Not that silky as was traditionally praised, but somehow felt like home, like a less smooth polished fabric, like a well-loved linen. The cadence of her voice was the best sound he had ever heard even. He had only been lucky enough to hear her fully sing a few blessed times, yet he knew that he could listen to her sing forever. Addicting.

“I – well it’s quite embarrassing isn’t it? To sing in front of people. I’m no starlet.”

Okay, now Douxie was ready to punch the lights out of anyone who made her think she should hide the angel voice of hers. Embarrassing. Who the fuck had the nerve. “Hmm. I think that’s bullshit, Love.” Y/n looked taken aback, and morphed into an expression of confusion. Douxie decided this wasn’t a time to be subtle. He cupped her face in his hand, drawing her in to make eye contact. “Let me make this clear, My Darling. Everything I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth has been nothing but angelic. I would never want you to feel shame about expressing yourself, even if I didn’t think your voice was my favourite sound on the planet.”

Tears welled in Y/n’s eyes. She hadn’t expected him to say anything like that. She was so cautious to keep him from hearing her before, but he liked her singing? It was hard for her to fathom. The first time he had caught her crooning to herself while unboxing a new shipment of bestsellers in the bookstore had been mortifying. She had never wanted to relive that, but maybe she wouldn’t have to. She loved singing. Her father had liked to call her his little songbird. She had hidden away that part of herself like a chest of out of fashion clothes in a dusty attic. If someone like Douxie, her beloved, thought so kindly of her though, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to open up the chest and try on a few dresses.

“I- You’re serious? You really think that?”

Douxie held her gaze. “Absolutely.” He tipped her face up towards his to punctuate his point with a kiss.

They continued to wander through the rooms and exhibits of the museum. Douxie stopped to look at a portrait of someone he particularly missed, an old friend he had many good times with. He’d miss the geezer. He really was a great musician. He had taught Douxie a lot of tricks, and Doux wouldn’t be able to play the electric guitar half as well without his friend. He had a different kind of magic.

He was caught in his reverie when Y/n popped in from another room, urging him to come see something. Her excitement was something Doux would never stop enjoying, so he let her grab his hand so he would follow her. Douxie didn’t know what he was expecting her to show him, definitely not this. He was staring face to face with his own poster, circa 1960. They were experimenting with a new style, the rock of the day that was becoming increasingly popular. He remembered it fondly. It was a new age. The drummer in the photo, he was mortal, and while he could have been alive today, sadly he was taken, just ten years after joining the band. Seeing his smiling face filled Doux with peace. So many memories, he was glad he got to make them. And there would be more memories to come, he’d make sure of it. No order of ancient terrors breathing down his neck was gonna stop him from doing what he loved.

He was so lost in thought they he almost missed what this meant. He was in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. How did he not know he was in the fucking hall of fame. They didn’t even tell him. Well, he supposed this version of him no longer legally existed, so that made sense. Still. It was fantastic news. He was pretty proud. Some sweet validation that he always craved. Y/n had brought him here, she’d been here before, she knew. She was showing him off, to no one in particular, but the thought made him grin. Ash Dispersal Pattern in the hall of fame. Heh. He’d have to tell the others; in fact he would announce this to the group chat as soon as he had some free time. Zoe would get a kick out of him not knowing. Y/n tugged on his arm.

“Aren’t you cool, Mr. Rockstar.”

[probably-writing-x]

Admittance pt.5

Guzmán x Reader

Request by anon: heyyy, can you do a part 5 of the admittance series with guzman? i love it so much!!!

Gif is not my own

Requests are open🤍

“Alright, why have you bought me an ice hockey puck?” You laugh as Guzmán walks through the door carrying the food bags with him

“Pick it up,” He encourages, “Hold it.”

You look at him in complete bewilderment as you lift the object into your hand, “What have you done?”

“Nothing!” He laughs, setting the bags onto the table as he comes to sit beside you, “But that... is how much the baby weighs at the minute. Isn’t that crazy?!”

You look at him and watch as the creases appear beside his eyes and his dimples become prominent on his faultless skin. He looks so focused at the puck in your hand like it held just as much life as your swollen belly.

“A hockey puck huh? That doesn’t sound so scary,” You joke.

You were now at sixteen weeks of your pregnancy and things had been going smoothly for the most part. Although it terrified you that you’d be nearing the halfway point and were yet to figure out any system that would actually work for both of you. You hadn’t thought about living arrangements, what you’d do about school, finances, any of it. For now, you were happy with watching Guzmán’s face light up at the slightest mention of the baby.

“What food did you get?” You ask him, reaching over to peer into the bags.

“Sushi!” Guzmán grins, standing up to get the food once again after he snaps out of his distraction, “I heard salmon is good for pregnancy, and you love Japanese food - hence, sushi.”

Guzmán, as always, hadn’t once strayed from his promise of being with you through everything. But what had surprised you most was how conscious he’d been about everything. He made sure to do as much research as he could on everything you were going through and tried to give himself an understanding of anything he could do to help. Even Ander had mentioned how surprised he was to see it.

“Come on, eat your food,” He encourages once you realise how distracted you’d been simply thinking about him.

He’d been nothing short of perfect for this entire time and it never failed to release some of your fears every time he’d give you a bright smile and tell you about how excited he was to meet his ‘mini me’

“So, what’s the plan for today?” Guzmán cocks a brow.

You should tell him that the two of you need to discuss the important stuff but it felt impossible to do when he was sat so close and things were going so well with the two of you. You werent together, and nothing had happened that was more than that kiss at the hospital. You were just a lot closer now. It wasn’t strange for him to wrap an arm around you whilst you were watching a film or for his hand to find yours as you were walking. Nothing had been said, but those little pocketed moments were never unwelcome.

“Movie day?” You cock a brow, “I think Ander and Omar are around so we could watch something all together.”

“Yeah, okay,” He smiles, “But I’m not letting Omar pick the film again.”

- - - - - -

It’s over the next few days that you realise more and more that you should really start to talk to Guzmán about your plans and what would happen once all of this pregnancy had finished. No matter how well he’d been acting, your situation wasn’t perfect. You’d be living in separate houses, he’d still be in education and you still hadn’t figured out if you’d be able to graduate from home or not.

“What are you doing for Christmas this year Guzmán?” Ander asks as all of you finish decorating the tree in your lounge.

It was a little late really, with Christmas only being a few days away, but the intention was there. It would just be you guys for Christmas this year at home - your Mum, you and Ander, and Omar.

“It’s just me and Mum at home this year, I didn’t really care much for visiting my grandparents,” Guzmán explains.

The two of you had already had this conversation. He didn’t want to visit them mainly because he was reluctant to be too far from you. You’d tried to dispute but his mind was unchanging.

“How about you join us here?” Ander’s Mum suggests, “You’re more than welcome.”

Guzmán looks a little shocked and his eyes fall down to you like he’s looking for some sort of confirmation.

“Yeah, definitely, why don’t you ask your Mum?” You smile.

This felt like the closest thing he’d had to a real team in a long time. For so long he’d been flicking between all of the wrong people and never really finding anyone real. Now he had you and this weird little formation of family that somehow was starting to work.

“Okay, thank you, that would be great. I’ll speak to her when I’m home but I’m sure she’d be more than happy,” Guzmán nods to your mother, “Thank you.”

You turn back to the tree and fix one of the lights that had fallen out of line. Guzmán stutters in his movements and sets down a bauble on the side, wiping his hands on his trousers.

“Excuse me,” He shuffles past you with a hand on your back and steps past the group to walk towards the stairs.

You find yourself following him a little while later when he’s not back downstairs and you instead find him sat on the edge of your bed staring at nothing but the room around him.

“Are you okay, Guzmán?” You frown, pausing in the doorway - you’d never seen this weird quiet side of him before.

He glances up at the sound of your voice and smiles, “Yeah, I’m good, sorry. Just thinking.”

Your hands settle over your bump as you stand, still getting used to the strange offset balance it gave you.

“I guess with Christmas coming up, things just feel really real. I’ve hardly been the happiest guy recently, Marinas diagnosis, my father, losing Marina, Lu, Polo, Ander... I feel like I’ve just been keeping afloat in this whole mess around me. And now? It feels like I’ve never been so happy,” He laughs a little, “This isn’t anything I expected from my final year at school, but God, it feels like the best chance I’ve got at feeling like I’m worth something.”

You move over and sit beside him on the bed, taking his hand and placing it over yours on your growing belly, “Guzmán, when a woman’s pregnant, all everyone can talk about is her job in it all. Praising her for it, asking how she’s doing, what they can do, how she’s feeling... nobody ever talks about you in all of this. You’ve been incredible! Always. And that should be more than enough for you to prove yourself to yourself. You shouldn’t just feel like you’re worth something, because to that little hockey puck in there, you’re worth everything.”

A small tear slips out from the side of his eye at your words as he glances down at your belly and emphasises all the love he can possibly muster into his gaze.

“I’ll do everything I can, you know that. And when we get round to moving you into my home, I’ll make sure you’re all settled and I-“

“When I move in?” You raise your brows, pushing away from him a little.

“Well yeah, I just figured that you’d be moving in with me and my Mum. There’s hardly room for me and the baby here, with the rest of you too,” He defends, “Didnt we...”

“Guzmán we never said anything about moving in together. And certainly not about me leaving my family to live with you. Do you think that’s a good idea?” You question, watching as his hand falls away from you.

“You think I’m just going to live apart from my own child?”

“I think that we need to discuss this properly before we make any decisions that aren’t in everyone’s best interests.”

It looks like he practically deflates beside you as his shoulders drop and his eyes fall to the floor, “Yeah, maybe we should talk about it. Seems like we both have pretty different ideas of how this is all going to work.”

“Guzmán don’t be like that...” You sigh, going to reach out for him but stopping as he stands up abruptly, “Guzmán! You can’t be serious?”

“I should head home,” He nods, running a hand over his hair, “You’re still coming to dinner tomorrow? My Mum really wants to see you.”

“Yeah, of course I’ll be there,” You reply quietly, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He doesn’t leave you with a kiss on your forehead, or a small goodbye aimed at your bump, he just leaves. And you stay sat on that bed just as deflated as he had been. Was this the first sign of this evident demise? And had you caused it all by being so reluctant to break the pattern of your comfortable haven with Guzmán?

- - - - - -

As promised, you arrive at Guzman’s house the following afternoon for dinner with him and his Mum. It’s a relief when she opens the door instead of him and you’re not sure why.

“Oh honey! Look at you!” She beams, wrapping you in a cautious hug as she tries at avoid pressure on your stomach, “Come in, come in!”

You step into the house and hand over the flowers you’d brought with you, “These are for you. I’m sorry I’ve been taking up so much of Guzman’s time.” You joke.

“Oh don’t be silly,” She brushes you off, “I’ve never seen the boy so happy, and I’ve never heard him talk about someone so much!”

You’re thankful he’s not around to see you blush.

“He’s just finishing getting ready, you know what he’s like,” His mother rolls her eyes, “Feel free to go and find him, I’ll put these in water. Dinner will be ready in about half an hour.”

“Amazing, thank you,” You smile as she heads off into the kitchen.

This house, though smaller than their last one, was definitely nicer than your own. The lounge was huge and you could already imagine it being littered with toys and baby mats and more colour than this modern interior ever held. You make your way upstairs and try to find Guzmán before dinner to maybe try and clear up some of the grey area from yesterday.

You pass his bedroom and find it completely empty, passing onto the next room that holds your attention more than any other. It’s one of the smaller rooms of the house but it’s nearly completely empty. There’s only a small wardrobe on one wall that you find yourself walking over to. When you open the door, your heart drops a little. Hanging up in the bare cupboard is one single outfit, a baby outfit. It’s a baby grow that seems fearfully tiny, in a pale yellow that’s decorated with small bees swirling in flight paths over the material.

“You weren’t supposed to see that,” Guzmáns voice comes from behind you and it instantly makes you flinch and turn around to see him.

“When did you buy this?” You ask, hands brushing delicately over the tiny body of material.

“About a week after you told me you were pregnant. I needed to clear my head, rethink a lot of things, and try to process everything. And I stumbled upon this little shop in town and I bought that,” He explains, “I was going to keep it until... I don’t know I guess, just later.”

You smile a little and close the wardrobe doors behind you, “And this room?”

“The nursery,” He nods, “I know it’s pretty far away but I had a spare evening so I cleared out this room and thought I’d at least have it ready for when I can buy some furniture, that wardrobe was one that Marina had when she was a baby - I just put it in here so I’d have somewhere proper to keep that outfit.”

You keep silent. How had he become so unbelievably committed to this whole process?

“Even if you’re not living here, I can still use this place when the baby comes to stay with me. Maybe a couple of nights a week if that’s not too much trouble.”

Those words were enough to break your heart into two. This was your baby just as much as it was his. He shouldn’t feel like he isn’t seeing his own child simply because of your imperfect circumstances. But could you really commit to living platonically with someone you hadn’t exactly been seeing as a friend recently?

“I’m sorry for what I said about living together Guzmán. I was just surprised that you’d thought that far ahead, and living together is a big commitment.”

He scoffs, “No bigger than having a child together.”

“It just doesn’t seem like a good idea in the long run. You’re going to eventually want to bring girls home, a girl you’ve met at the club or something. And what? Your summer fling is sleeping in the next room with the baby you have together?” You shake your head, “That’s not fair on you.”

“I don’t want to bring girls back. I’m going to be a father (Y/n), I don’t care about picking up some chick from the club for a one night stand,” He defends himself, “I want to commit to this, to you and to that baby. And I want to be there for you.”

You swallow the lump in your throat, “You really think it could work?”

He laughs gently, “It would be like having our own place. We have our own kitchen here, bathroom, two bedrooms. My Mum would be living in the same house but it’s basically like living separately. Nobody else would be up at three am when the baby won’t stop crying, and nobody would be listening to your snoring at 4 in the morning like I have to listen to.”

You chuckle as you feel tears brew behind your eyes, “You’re so sweet, Guzmán. Are you sure though?”

“No. I don’t think either of us are sure about anything. But I know we’ll give it our best shot. And I want nothing more than to be by your side to shoot that shot with you.”

“Okay,” You smile, “Okay, I’ll move in.”

Guzmán’s face brightens up instantly as he moves forward and wraps his arms around you, holding his torso back to avoid your belly, “I’ll do everything I can (Y/n).”

You let out a shaky breath. You wouldn’t let yourself fall for him. You couldn’t possibly. But his touch seemed to now have much more of an effect than it ever had done in summer. Now, it made your heart practically flip in your chest.

You reluctantly had to believe that he didn’t feel the same. Even if he felt like he’d pass out if his heart raced any faster. In learning to love that baby inside of you, he’d found himself falling impossibly in love with the girl who’d hold the other half of that baby’s life.

- - - - - -

Dinner was a success and you ended up sleeping round in Guzman’s room that night. It didn’t feel strange to share a bed anymore and also never felt strange when his arms fell around you as his hands placed themselves on your bump. When you wake up the following morning, Guzmán is nowhere to be seen. It’s far too cold already on this winter morning so you find yourself wrapping one of his blankets around you as you walk through the house to find him. It’s even stranger when you find him stood outside by the pool, topless at that.

“What are you doing? It’s like two degrees out here!” You wince at the chilling breeze, tugging the blanket tighter around you as it also formed a hood over your head.

“Just getting in a quick morning swim, can’t risk losing this body,” He jokes as he turns around to face you, “Did you sleep well?”

“Better, thank you,” You nod, “Until your early morning swim had to disturb me. The bed’s too cold if you’re not sleeping in it too.”

He looks down so you don’t see how his cheeks light up with a blushing glow.

“Come on then, get on with your swim so we can go back inside,” You encourage as you waddle sluggishly over to one of the loungers.

You drop down onto one of them and groan as you try to snuggle into the warmth of the blanket around you as much as possible.

“Are you sure you’re going to be able to control yourself?” Guzmán cocks a brow, “Last time we went swimming in my pool, you certainly couldn’t.”

“Can we please not talk about the ongoings of summer? We all know you were much less capable of controlling yourself compared to me.”

He laughs and it injects a bright, dimple displaying grin onto his face, “Alright, okay. It was your fault though (Y/l/n).”

You scoff, “Lets just not bring up summer.”

He falls serious for just a moment, “Do you regret it? Everything that happened over those few months?”

“What?” You laugh, “Why would I forget it?”

He shrugs and fiddles with the material of the towel in his hands, “You could’ve easily found yourself a boyfriend over summer, not just someone you were sneaking around with.”

“I didn’t want a boyfriend,” You respond, “We both knew what we were getting ourselves into.”

“Yeah, I just don’t think we realised what we’d get out of it,” He smirks, but it falls slightly.

He didn’t just mean the baby. He meant that gut wrenching feeling that made his heart beat, his hands shake, his mind race - that feeling of falling in love with you.

“Well, Guzmán, Id gladly do that summer all over again,” You assure him, crossing your legs on the lounger, “Now get on with your swim.”

Guzmán takes the chance to look at you properly now that you’re not looking back. You weren’t the same girl he’d been on that fling with. You aren’t that girl wearing a bikini at his poolside that he’d learnt to easily untie the strings of at the best and worst moments. Not the girl that would make sarcastic comments as your hair was dripping wet from the pool and your damp skin glistened with a darker glow in the setting sun. Not all of that beauty that he’d convinced himself was only surface deep. You were now seventeen weeks pregnant, wrapped up in the thickest blanket you could find with messy hair and puffy eyes. And it felt like he’d never seen something he could adore so much. Would that make this whole situation better or worse? He feared knowing the answer to that.

“Guzmán Nunier Osuna, either jump into that water or come and warm me up because it’s fucking freezing out here and I don’t want to be out here for longer than I have to,” You pout through your makeshift blanket covering, your eyes remaining shut.

With a shaky breath, mainly from his fear of his own feelings, Guzmán finds it impossible to say no to the latter of those options. His morning swim could wait for another day. For now, you were sat outside his house at a far too early hour on a winter morning, and he couldn’t possibly disappoint you. His arms wrap around you and all he can think of is giving you the Christmas present he’d been waiting for far too long to gain the courage to give. When Christmas rolled around, it would be the final push he needed. And it was sink or swim for whatever your response would be.

How could you possibly sink? Guzmán had already pulled you under from the moment you’d first looked at those eyes and saw more than you’d ever seen in anyone. From first being admitted into this life you’d never prepared for, the last thing you’d expected was to find someone within it all that your heart would want to hold onto forever.

(((I’m sorry but I love this series so much!!! Please send me through your thoughts - let’s chat about this chapter!)))

[emberbent]

Book 1: Fire | Chapter 2: The Firebending Master

The sun set rapidly over Yue Bay. From the deck of the ship, Shinza caught a glimpse of the blaze of orange that had overtaken the sky, raging like an ember for only a few moments. Then, like the rest of the day, it was over in the blink of an eye. She stood along the railing as the boat took her from the docks of Republic City to her destination. Her father hailed from Fire Fountain City; his family made sure every year to send letters and pictures to him, and he’d done his best to foster what interest she’d shown in her heritage, but Shinza herself had never been to the Fire Nation. 

She stood along the railing for a long time, her mind out of focus as it tried to sort out everything that had happened that day. The salty wind lapped at her skin and hair. The moon cast her glow over the glistening water and on Avatar Aang Memorial Island. She’d seen it before once or twice, on one school field trip or another, but it never struck her like it did now. As the boat rushed past, Aang stood vigil over the city, staff in hand, eyes looking toward the future he’d worked so hard for. Shinza felt a weariness, somehow deeply familiar, as if she was coming home from a long journey. Slowly becoming aware of this, she came back to the present, staring at the back of Aang’s head. 

She was him once, she realized.

Shinza finally made her way down the starboard side, hand on the railing to steady herself against the waves. Along the ship, dolphin-seals leapt out of the water. Mai and Zhang were somewhere, she knew. They were keeping their distance to be polite, but she could feel their eyes on her.

“Avatar Shinza,” said a small woman, who had approached her and bowed. “Your room is ready. I’ll escort you.”

“Thank you.” She was too tired to insist that she didn’t need to bow or escort her anywhere. Instead, she followed, suddenly aching for bed. 

The woman slid a key card into the slot and opened the door, allowing Shinza into a room whose opulence caused her to gasp aloud. “This is you,” said the woman, slipping Shinza the card. “My name is Feng. Please, if you need anything at all, ask for me and I’ll be happy to serve you.”

The woman bowed again and was off down the corridor before Shinza could say anything. She slipped into the room and closed the door, steadying herself against the gentle rocking of the ship as she took in the decor. She never would have been able to afford something like this herself, and the fact that she hadn’t really done anything to deserve this made itself apparent, like a rock in her shoe. On the bed sat a neatly folded pair of silk pajamas, burgundy in color, with the Fire Nation insignia embroidered on the back. Idly, she slipped out of the clothes she’d worn that day - tight-fitting pants, flat shoes, and a tank top - and draped them over the back of the chair at the desk, slipping gratefully into the pajamas and then into the luxurious covers.

Her lids instantly fell closed; behind them, she saw visions of Nero, staring in shock, and her parents’ faces as they waved to her from their doorway.

Morning came, and it took a moment to remember where she was. Shinza sat up in bed, flinching as a beam of sunlight came directly in through the window, obscuring her vision. The smell of breakfast suffused the ship; just in time, a knock came at the door. 

“Come in,” Shinza called blearily. 

Feng entered with a tray of food, followed by an assistant with a clothing bag draped over his arm. “Good morning, Avatar,” Feng chirped. “I hope you slept well. We’ll be docking in a few hours; I brought you some breakfast and a change of clothes. This is what you should wear when we arrive at the Island of the Sun Warriors.”

“Thank you,” Shinza replied. Seemed like the only two words she’d said to the woman so far. Feng and her assistant exited the room, leaving Shinza to make her way out of bed and pad over to the tray, which was filled with the most delicious-looking food she’d ever seen. Realizing with a loud rumble of her stomach that she hadn’t eaten dinner last night, she quickly ate her breakfast and drank her tea, feeling like she was starting to come alive.

The bag waited for her. Slowly, she pulled down the zipper and peeled back the flap, revealing the outfit inside: maroon-colored trousers, loose and terminating at the knee; a matching, cropped, sleeveless top, tight-fitting; a gold sash; a set of red sleeves for her forearms and calves and a collar of the same material; and a set of gilded armbands. She’d seen this type of clothing in a textbook, but never in her life did she think she’d ever get to wear anything like this - let alone see the Island of the Sun Warriors herself.

Reverently, she laid out the clothing and slipped out of her pajamas, catching a glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror near the desk. It was the first time she’d seen herself since the previous morning, and it occurred to her now that everyone - the entire world - would be looking to her now. But she knew so little yet, and she looked undeniably like she didn’t know what she was doing. 

Shinza was tall - 5’9”, said her mother, but she knew she was just a hair taller than that. She had her mother’s deep, red-brown eyes, her grandmother’s delicate, symmetrical face, and her father’s slender build. A constellation of freckles occupied the low bridge of her nose. Her hair, fine and black and shiny, didn’t quite touch her shoulders, with short bangs that framed her face. Across her hands, forearms, and torso, her pale skin bore faint purple scars from an accident that had happened in her childhood, too early for her to remember.

Putting on the Sun Warrior clothing and pulling her hair up into a topknot, Shinza still looked a little lost and new, but if she squinted hard enough, she could imagine herself as a seasoned, powerful firebender. Still, the fact remained, which she hadn’t yet been able to properly address: she was incapable of bending fire.

The boat docked a few hours later. Feng came to collect her and bring her to Mai and Zhang near the ramp that led down onto the dock, clucking with delight at having had the privilege to serve the Avatar. “I hope you found everything to your liking,” she said.

“I did, thank you,” Shinza replied. “But why am I being treated so well? I haven’t even done anything yet.”

Feng looked up at her and smiled. “Yes, you have.” 

With that, the woman bowed and left her alone with her transporters, who looked like proud older siblings as they intercepted her. “Look at you,” Mai noted, looking impressed and giving a little brow wiggle. “You look like you belong on the island. You ready?”

“We’ll walk you down to the dock, and then from there, you’ll be in the custody of the Sun Warriors,” said Zhang. “This is as far as we go with you.”

“It’s been a pleasure serving you,” Mai added. “We really do wish you the best of luck.”

The two took their places flanking Shinza and walked her down the wooden ramp. Custody? Shinza began to wonder if she had any say in this, or whether she could walk away if she wanted to. Something told her she couldn’t, but it didn’t matter: she wanted to see how far this path went. When would they realize they had the wrong person? At the end of the ramp, two Sun Warriors, neither older than twenty, approached and greeted the three of them. 

“Avatar Shinza,” boomed one of the two. “Welcome to the island. We’ll be bringing you to your firebending teacher. But we need to hurry; you’re already late, and the master does not like to be kept waiting.”

Shinza bowed in thanks, turning toward Mai and Zhang, who looked like they wanted to hug her. “We’ll see you around,” said Zhang. “Good luck.” He and Mai headed back up the ramp, and Shinza followed the two warriors inland.

The walk to the temple was short, and the warriors didn’t have much to say to her. Then, when they arrived, they left her alone. She hadn’t felt nervous since her transporters had picked her up in Republic City; worried, sure, and maybe a little annoyed at the sudden upheaval of her life and everything she thought she knew. But now, she was nervous. In what elaborate ways would she disappoint the master with her lack of bending? Would he chew her out for being late? Outside the entryway, she quickly straightened herself out and entered.

The temple was a large room inside a stepped pyramid, covered wall-to-ceiling with ancient, well-preserved murals. Some appeared to be stories: the origin of the dragons, the formation of the Sun Warriors themselves. Others were sacred firebending forms. In the middle of the room, with his back turned to her, stood the firebending master. He was dressed similarly to Shinza; with nothing covering his torso, the sunlight that shot through the entryway illuminated his bronze skin and carved shadows in his muscled back. He seemed to be deep in thought, hands balled into fists at his side. His left leg stopped just below his knee, and where the lower half might have been was an intricately and purposefully designed metal prosthesis.

“Excuse me,” Shinza called. “Sifu? I’m sorry I’m late.”

The man turned; the seriousness in his face dissipated and was replaced by a genuine grin, which reached all the way to his dark eyes. “Hey!” he called, practically jogging over as if Shinza was an old friend of his, and bowed. “Glad you made it. I’m Amrit.”

The confusion was apparent on her face. “Uh… yes. Thanks. Me too.”

Amrit snorted. “What’d they tell you? That I’m harsh? That you’d better be early, because early is on time, and on time is late?”

“I mean, yeah,” Shinza replied. “That’s pretty much exactly what they said.��

Amrit waved it off. “Ah, those two were class clowns. They deserved whatever punishment I doled out. Come on in, let’s get started.”

Shinza followed him into the middle of the room, letting out a deep breath of relief. Amrit quickly sized her up. “Okay, so what are we working with here? Show me some fire.”

“That’s the thing,” Shinza replied. “I keep trying to tell people I’m not a firebender, and no one will listen. I think I’m wasting your time, to be honest.”

“It’s easy to let yourself think you’re not a firebender if you can’t do the high-level stuff yet,” Amrit replied. “It’s okay, just show me what you know. Any little flicker you can muster. This is just an assessment.”

Frustration welled up inside her, but she took a deep breath and ran through a simple form she’d watched her father do, back before he’d retired. At the end, she pushed her hands outward, but no flames came from her palms.

Amrit looked genuinely stumped, picking his jaw up before Shinza could see. “Oh… wow. You were serious.”

She could hear the disappointment in his voice. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Shinza,” he replied kindly, looking her in the eyes. “We’ll figure this out. Don’t worry.”

He walked a slow circle around her, as if maybe she was holding the answer behind her back. The way his brows knit together caught Shinza off guard; he was so handsome, she suddenly felt like punching him. “Okay. I think I might know what the problem is. Can I try something?”

“Please. By all means.” 

Still standing behind her, Amrit planted one hand on her shoulder and one in the middle of her back, palm pressing into her spine. He stayed there like that for a few moments. “Yeah… yep. Your chi’s blocked. Big time.”

Was it really that simple? How could it have gotten so badly blocked? “Okay, but how are we gonna--!” Shinza gasped as Amrit drove his knuckles into her spine in a rapid one-two-three hit, just hard enough to disrupt the blockage. Instantly, warmth spread throughout Shinza’s body. She felt like a ray of sunshine. “This is amazing,” she murmured. “My hands have always been so cold, and now they’re… they’re so warm.”

Her smile was contagious. “I’m glad I could help,” he replied. “Now… let’s see some firebending!”

If this didn’t work, Shinza didn’t know what she’d do. But the thought that it could work - the thought that maybe she actually was a firebender after all - made her heart race. Taking her time and walking through the form again with more precision, she finished the movements and extended her hands. 

From her palms came a pathetic puff of smoke. 

[fueledbysprite]

Nathmarc November Day 9: Dance

oh look im alive

also rip my formatting screw you tumblr

Graduation.

They’ve all been waiting for this day for years, and yet now that it’s finally come, none of them really know how to feel about it. A strange mix of relief, regret, apprehension, and nostalgia hangs in the atmosphere, but a party is a party and they’re not going to waste their last day together as the graduating class of Collège Françoise Dupont. Tonight is the night for one last stab at making memories, before it’s all compressed, packed into a box, and shoved away to make headspace for lycée.

And making the most of it seems to be what everyone is determined to do tonight. Chloe, still on her awkward way to redemption, reserved the most luxurious hall at Le Grand Paris hotel, the effort into decoration and venue for this final night together is obvious. Nino has a mix ready for just this occasion, a playlist to highlight the interesting mixture of emotions that everyone’s going through at this point. Adrien and Marinette, the ever-iconic couple, have already initiated the couples dances, and Ivan and Mylene don’t take long to join them. Rose and Juleka are slightly more hesitant, then Kim runs to the floor with Ondine in one hand and Max in the other.

All while Nathaniel Kurtzberg and his fabulously aromantic best friend hang around by the snack bar, awkwardly watching the pairs (or, in Kim’s case, trio) dance it up on the center floor.

This is the last night, this is the last night, just one last night, Nathaniel repeats it over and over to himself under his breath, but his legs won’t move and his body is too stubborn to ask them to. They’ve been collaboration partners for goodness knows how long by now, but the exact dynamic of their relationship hangs in mid-air, not quite certain in any direction. He is an amazing friend, that part is certain, but is he more? And if he is, how much more? Nathaniel stares at the other side of the room, where the subject of his suppressed dilemma is currently engaged in conversation with Juleka’s older brother.

Marc, Nathaniel softly says his name out loud. That’s who his eyes are on tonight, and as uncertain as he’s convinced himself he is right now, the decisive voice in the back of his head is growing louder and he can’t keep denying it for much longer. No, he knows exactly what he wants tonight, what he’s been subconsciously wanting and hoping and dreaming and wishing for for months, now, but for all he is, he can’t find the right words. To be fair, he never could, not even after a childhood of growing up on comic books, he couldn’t word them himself. That’s what Marc was good at, wasn’t it? Too bad the one time he really, desperately needed Marc’s help with words was the one time he couldn’t.

Alix isn’t helping. At all. He glances over at her for support probably the umpteenth time tonight, but she’s resolutely ignoring him and instead occupying herself with taking a video of Kim’s antics on the dance floor. He already knows what she’d say even if he hadn’t driven her up a wall already with his panicked lament. She’d look him straight in the eye, draw herself up to full height, and, with a completely deadpan expression, say, “Just. Do it.” And he would go off blabbering about how badly he wanted to but just couldn’t and, well, yeah he really can’t blame Alix for resorting to giving him the cold shoulder at this point.

So he’s alone. He takes a slow sip of his shocking purple punch and cautiously chances another glance at Marc. Nathaniel sighs. Last night, last chance, final call…

***

Marc casually glances away from Luka for 0.1 seconds and immediately snaps his gaze back to the guitarist. He couldn’t be imagining it at this point, Nathaniel has definitely been watching him for the last how long had it even been now? He nods along to whatever Luka was saying, smiling with interest, but not really processing any of it. How could he, when his mind has been monopolized by someone else for at least the entirety of today. It’s his last chance to confess, last time he’ll probably ever have to tell Nath how he’s really felt towards him for the past year or so- it makes him scrunch up and hide his head in his hands just from the thought of it.

Well, to be fair, that isn’t entirely true, either. It’s not like they’re going to be attending different lycées or anything, but they aren’t taking the same courses and the chance they’ll actually be in the same class for any of them is pretty low. What Marc’s really most afraid of, even though he’s never going to ever admit to anyone in a million, bajillion years (and yes that is totally a word), is that Nath is inevitably going to end up in a much bigger fish pond than this small collège. And bigger means more people. And if someone new meets him and discovers how amazing Nathaniel really is and then start to feel towards him like Marc does- it makes his stomach twist that this thought has even occurred to him at all, and even moreso that Nathaniel really isn’t his and he has no right to feel possessive of him like this. Being able to even just be his collaboration partner, be producing the scripts to the comics whose concept art he’s only ever admired from afar, having his literal name on the literal front page of the comic books for all to see, he feels guilty for wanting more in spite of it all. Isn’t that human nature, to only ever crave more and yearn and hunger, never to be truly fulfilled? It’s not a nice feeling, but he’s wanted Nath for so, so long, and if he has a chance and loses it he doesn’t know what he’d do with himself.

And of course, the cherry on top of his anxiety, does Nath even feel the same way?

Marc doesn’t even notice himself absentmindedly picking at his nail polish, redone by Luka himself just for tonight, until Luka waves his hand in front of Marc’s face and asks him if he’s okay.

“You seem kind of out of it,” Luka says, and Marc whips his stare away from the either oblivious or now-self-conscious redhead on the opposite end of the room.

“I’m fine,” Marc assures him quickly, cheeks warming.

“Hey Luka, mind if I steal Marc for a second?” Marinette’s innocent voice comes out of nowhere and Marinette herself suddenly materializes next to Marc.

“Go right ahead,” Luka tells her, winking, and she giggles softly before dragging Marc away. Marc’s mind only strays from Nathaniel to briefly wonder what’s up between Marinette and Luka, but he doesn’t dwell on it for long at all, not when there are far more pressing matters to be addressed. Thankfully his mind zips back to the moment just in time to catch Marinette before she goes too far.

“Stop it right there,” he stops her, and she complies. “I know exactly what you’re doing and I’m not going to let you go any further.”

She looks at him in half-hearted exasperation and frustration.

“If I don’t help you get from Point A to Point B, who is?” she points out.

“I can do it myself,” he says hastily, and she raises an eyebrow that most obviously says “oh, really?”

“I can!” he repeats defensively, and Marinette laughs.

“I’m just teasing, you know that, of course. But really, are you sure you can?” she challenges, and he swallows. “See, told you! Trust me, I can help you, and I know just what to do,” she winks.

If anything, that makes him less at ease.

“No,” he refuses flatly. “I can do it myself and I’ll prove it,” he decides, reasoning that anything is better than another one of Marinette’s failed ploys.

Marinette, bless her heart, may be well-intending, but she was not very good at wingwomaning.

Which was how he ended up here, staring at the floor, heart sinking like he was walking to his own execution, breathing shallow, his mind ceasing to function but his mouth managing to move just enough to whisper words of encouragement to his pitiful self.

“Just put one...foot...in front...of another...” he mutters softly. It works. Too well, apparently, because he ends up in front of Nathaniel a lot sooner than he’d have ideally liked to.

Nathaniel looks up in surprise.

“Oh, hi, M-” But he doesn’t get to finish because Marc knows that if he doesn’t do this now, he never will again.

“Will you dance with me,” he says, voice just above a breath.

“S-sorry?” Nathaniel asks, eyes widening. Marc sets his resolve even more solid and takes a deep breath.

“Will you dance with me?” he repeats, fully aware that the mix is transitioning to the last couples song on the track. It’s now or never.

“Y-yes?” Nathaniel manages to stutter out, and Marc feels himself deflate and soar up with relief at the same time.

They’re both a little shaky walking up to the dance floor. Even more awkward trying to figure out how to go about this. Nath ultimately takes the lead, placing one of Marc’s hands on his own, Marc placing the other on the redhead’s shoulder himself. The first steps are uncomfortable as heck, but they make do, avoiding looking at each other at all cost. At some point, Nathaniel feels a sudden surge of adrenaline and breaks their hold on either to tilt Marc’s chin up, looking him right in the eye.

Their steps become smoother, almost fluid, as their bodies move without thinking, without sensing, practically floating on a fluffy cotton cloud of bliss. They’re lost in each other’s gaze for heavens knows how long, and when the song finally slows to a finale, it feels like it’s been forever in a blink. They jerk back to reality, staggering off the dance floor, nothing short of euphoria in the air. Alix is applauding, and Marinette, and Adrien and Rose and Juleka too. The others don’t seem to have noticed anything, but the world has flipped almost upside down for Marc and Nathaniel.

“So, I guess it’s a little late to ask this, but, uh...you want to be my boyfriend?” Nathaniel asks shyly, cheeks flushed with happiness.

Marc doesn’t even bother giving him a reply, instead tackling him in an embrace, kissing him on the cheek for the sake of holding back. Someday there’ll be a day for a real first kiss, but today isn’t it, and Marc doesn’t care at this point.

They’re boyfriends. They’re happy. And collège is finally over. The only reasonable thing to do tonight is celebrate the heck out of this evening. The first few lyrics of Panic! at the Disco’s Victorious float over from Nino’s DJ Booth, and party the night away they do indeed.

[mama-m1na]

Children of the Crown: Chapter 1

                                                     ~~~I~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                                  Warnings: None

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A twenty-year-old male sat patiently in the bleachers as he watched various groups perform their shows.

The combination of dance, music, flags, sabers, rifles, and various props not really bringing him much excitement.

He blew some of his dark hair out of his face before pulling out his phone to see that the group he came to see was coming up next.

A few minutes later the voice of the announcer rung out through the gymnasium, “And all the way from Temecula, we have Infernus Royal Guard with their show titled ‘Wear the Crown’!”

At the same time a group of girls and a boy wearing red dresses or shirt and black leggings came out and pulled out their mat, set up their castle props, and set their equipment before going behind the castle.

“Infernus, is your guard ready?” the announcer asked before a single red clad female gave a nod before stalking off behind the castle, “Infernus Royal Guard, you may now take the floor in competition.”

The music started as the audience clapped and one by one the individuals came out with their hands on their hips and toes pointed.

Once everyone had reached their drill spots they began their dance work and were for the most part in sync despite not looking at each other save for a few individuals.

The crowd applauded as the sabers were introduced in with simple tosses with their hands placed on the sides of their heads to fit the theme of the Queen of Hearts.

As the show continued on the male watched with his full attention even as various females seemed to try to get his attention in the audience.

He watched the performers until he spotted the familiar form of his house mate on the floor amongst the rest of her teammates.

She had gotten up at six in the morning to eat then make sure her makeup and hair were perfect.

She didn’t disappoint in the slightest.

On top of her head were two identical buns with a black/red crown in between them with the rest of her long black hair cascading down her back.

The crown was secured with elastic loops that went around each of her buns and the one she wore was bigger than the others.

Her dark maroon eyeshadow was smoked from the crease of her eyes with a dark red eyeshadow on her lids and winged liner sharp enough to kill a man. Under her right eye was a perfect red heart that he had watched her trace and fill in without any mistake. Same went for her red lip in the shape of a small heart, like the ones found on porcelain dolls.

All the red makeup popped out against her tanned skin giving it definition.

The intense eye look only added to the facial expressions she gave throughout the performance and whenever she would catch.

When she would somehow lock gazes with the males dark irises he could feel a mischievous and playful aura come from her brown orbs speckled with gold flecks.

About halfway into the show the five girls on saber switched out with rifles as they worked their way around the floor while doing their complicated work.

During the parts where they turned the red tails of their dresses would flutter behind them gracefully.

Once the weapons had completed their ripple the previous flags came out from behind the castle with rifles of inverted colors as they made an “X” formation with no work until all the girls made their way to the edges of the floor.

One by one all the girls came across the floor with white flags that had red and black card symbols decorating the silks as they began their flag feature.

It was full of different work and as they tossed their last toss of the show all the girls screamed in unison, “Heads roll!”

The metallic clang of their flag poles echoed throughout the gym as they slammed their flags onto the ground and began more dance work.

The show ended with the girls looking up into the audience before dropping to the floor as the music ended.

Once the crowd applauded the girls got their equipment off the mat and started to quickly fold it before carrying it off to another part of the gym as parent volunteers picked up the flags and weapons before following the kids.

Outside the gym the groups stopped as a ravenette cried, “Oh my god I botched that rifle work!”

“Mina, you did fine,” a male wearing a red shirt encouraged, “Sister slay!”

Before the ravenette could berate herself further a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist and spun her in the air for a few seconds.

“Seung-hyun!” she scolded turning back to see the Korean male who she spotted in the stands, “You can’t just do that!”

“You did so good!” he chuckled ignoring her faint glare and looks from the rest of the group.

“So you’re Ramen’s room mate, I’m assuming?” an older woman with long brown hair and darker skin asked giving her hand to shake.

“Yes, and you must be Krystal,” the male answered after letting go of the sixteen-year-old, “I’m Seung-Hyun, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” the woman greeted with a smile as she shook his hand, “Are you two a thing, perhaps?”

“Oh no,” the male chuckled, dismissing the notion the pair got often, “We’re just really close. We’ve known each other since we were really young. Like toddlers.”

“That makes sense, the others, mostly that one,” Krystal said pointing towards a brunette with cartilage piercings, “Keep teasing about you two being a couple.”

“Oh, Kerstin? That makes sense but no we aren’t and even if we wanted to it would be illegal,” the male chuckled thinking of a way to get to a different topic.

“Oh, trust me there are ways around that!” Kerstin exclaimed earning a smack from the ravenette.

“Kerstin, no!”

“Bitch, you’re the one who keeps saying how-” Slap!

“Language we are in public and you’re in uniform!”

The adults watched as the ravenette’s expression changed to one of absolute disgust before she wiped her hand off on Kerstin’s leggings after the brunette most likely (one hundred percent actually) licked her hand.

Once the group had finished loading their mat, equipment, and props they all drove over to a nearby restaurant to get some lunch.

In one of the cars a phone began to ring which Kerstin answered.

“Hello?”

“Kerstin, can you give the phone to Rhamina real quick?” asked Seung-Hyun from his car which was driving behind the one they were in.

“Can’t she’s changing right now.”

“...the car is moving though.”

“Yeah.”

“...”

“Mina, your boyfriend wants to talk to you.”

“He’s not my boyfriend and let me finish getting my shirt on!” Rhamina hissed from in front of Kerstin’s seat as she tried to get her clothes on as fast as possible due to being in a window seat.

All Kerstin heard from the phone was a sigh from the male before he hung up.

As the party of about twenty waited to be seated the younger ones went up to a chalkboard the restaurant had for waiting children and began to completely fill it with inside jokes from marching band season or from their previous winter season.

Rhamina sighed out of relief as the group was finally seated and she didn’t have to witness her friends being absolute idiots.

“Guys, this is where we sat last year!” Aurora chirped recognizing the corner seats near the restroom they had eaten in from the previous winter season.

The girls all got comfortable at their table talking about the performance and the other shows they had seen before going up to perform themselves.

Soon the waitresses came around and took their orders for food and drinks before going back to the kitchens.

As soon as the teens were sure the parents weren’t listening in they all huddled closer together and began to discuss their plans for the following day and night.

“So we all down for the overnight at Imperial Hospital?” Kerstin whispered at the table that seated most of the team.

“We can’t,” Emme said gesturing at herself and Cadence, “We have a field trip.”

“Same, I have a track competition tomorrow,” Amelia added.

“Shay and I have a party to go to tomorrow,” Juliet said.

“I’m going to Michigan,” Moh said, “Sorry sisters.”

“Okay so it’s me, Mina, Sam, Sophie, Hannah, Tijarah, Aurora, and Chloe,” Kerstin listed.

“I’m going too,” Seung-Hyun added before taking a sip of his drink.

“Aw, you want to keep, Mina, safe,” Sam teased while she nuzzled up against Rhamina who sighed in disappointment, “That’s cute.”

“Sam shut your face,” the ravenette hissed as she slapped away the female of Mexican descent.

“I’m sure my beloved Mina can take care of herself in those situations, I just want to go for fun,” the male chuckled as he earned a glare from the ravenette who sat a few seats away from him.

“I never asked before but do you believe in the supernatural, Seung-Hyun?” Sam asked glancing up at the male, “I know Mina believes in this stuff but do you?”

“To an extent I guess,” Seung-Hyun replied after some thought, “I haven’t experienced anything like Mina or Kerstin but I do believe in spiritual presences.”

“Interesting,” Kerstin nodded, “Has Mina told you about the thing in my house?”

“Yes actually but I’m pretty sure it isn’t there anymore right?”

“Well, we don’t know but it if it’s still there it hasn’t really done anything recently.”

“Kerstin, didn’t you sneak out just last night because you thought there was someone in your house?” Rhamina asked with a raised brow, “You even looked through the whole house and there was no one there so you just went to Sam’s house.”

“Oh, yeah!” Kerstin said upon remembering earning a laugh from Sam.

“You stupid bitch!” Sam chuckled, “you could’ve died and you don’t remember shit about it?”

“Shut the fuck up, Sam!” Kerstin retorted, “I will expose you!”

“For what? I’m an open book, Bitch. Do it.”

“Fuck you.”

The table erupted in laughter at the exchange between the teenagers before they turned back to the meals which just arrived.

“Don’t eat yet!” Rhamina said as she grabbed Sam’s and Aurora’s hands, “We must pray to the Guard Gods.”

The whole table followed suit and joined hands before turning to the ravenette.

“Okay, Kerstin, go for it.”

“Hey, Guard Gods, We’re sorry for not praying to you during Fall, or really at all for the past year but we still respect you and, um, let us place today and have a good meal without anyone getting constipated or diarrhea. On three guys. 1. 2. 3…”

“Hail Guard Gods!” the group cheered in unison before eating their food.

Once they were finished with their meal the groups went back to the competition site in their separate vehicles.

As the girls reentered the gym as spectators this time they wore more casual clothing.

They watched about five more groups before the floor was cleared and it was time for awards.

“And in third place with a score of 50.51,  50.51,  Infernus Royal Guard!”

“Off with their heads!” the girls cheered in response as their guard captains walked forward to receive their trophy.

“Yeah, Sophie!” Kerstin screeched over the applause from the audience as the captains did their salute.

Rhamina chuckled before she screamed along with the crowd as the award ceremony came to a close.

“See you back at school, Seung-Hyun,” Rhamina said with a smile before the gave the male a hug and walked off the the red car of one of the parents.

“Yo, when are you going to ask her out?” Kerstin asked once the ravenette was out of earshot.

“We’ve told you multiple times that there’s nothing between us, Kerstin,” the male said.

“Bullshit, you it’s so obvious you both fucking like each other.”

“She’s not wrong you know,” Sophie said walking past the two earning a groan from the male.

“Bye, Kerstin,” Seung-Hyun said as he turned to go to his car.

“You know I’m right!”

When the red car transporting Sophie, Rhamina, Moh, Aurora, Kerstin, and Sam arrived back to the school they were all laughing.

“Oh my fucking God! Our new cheer is just going to be Shaniqua!” Moh laughed referring to one of the performances where one of the women’s underwear was visible.

“Hey, someone is probably telling her, ‘Oh, honey I’m sure no one saw it’ and here we are laughing our asses off about it!” Kerstin wheezed causing another fit of laughter to rise from the teens.

“Oh my god!” Rhamina wheezed before opening her door and stepping outside, “I need air!”

As Hannah rolled down her window from a different car Moh asked, “Were you guys talking about Shaniqua, too?”

“The purple with white polka dots,” Sophie clarified upon seeing the red head’s confused expression causing her to burst out in laughter.

Rhamina then shook her head as she gathered her things out of the other car to already see Kerstin in the back seat of Seung-Hyun’s.

“So, we’re taking you home?” Rhamina asked as she put her things in the trunk.

“Yep.”

“Okay.”

About five minutes into the drive Kerstin looked up from her phone and asked, “Can I sleepover?”

“Sure,” Seung-Hyun replied, “Did you need to pick up anything from your house?”

“Yeah,” Kerstin replied giving Rhamina a look that read ‘I need to take a shit.’

Once the car reached the home of the younger, sixteen-year-old Filipino both girls dashed out of the car and into the house once Kerstin unlocked the door.

Immediately the brunette rushed up the stairs to her bathroom leaving the door open and Rhamina to sit on the floor with her back to the door.

They made small talk as Kerstin was taking care of her business.

As soon as Kerstin had gathered her things the two girls got into the car once again and pulled out their phones.

“Oh god, someone uploaded the performance to Youtube,” Rhamina groaned as she clicked on the link sent in the guard group chat.

“Oh! I want to see!” Kerstin said as she scooted closer to see the phone screen, “We didn’t do bad in the beginning.”

About a minute into the video Kerstin screamed, “God dammit, Cadence! Why are you looking over at Aurora?!”

Rhamina winced as she watched herself drop her saber toss because Cadence wrapped her flag a count too late.

“Fuck that was such a bad run,” the ravenette sighed as she clicked out of the video before opening Tumblr.

“Hey, you didn’t place last and from what Krystal told me your show isn’t finished yet,” Seung-Hyun stated as he looked back at the two females using the rear view mirror.

“Yeah, but I’m literally the liability of the rifles,” Rhamina scoffed earning disagreeing responses from the other two.

“You saw how shitty I did!” she continued, “Why the hell did Krystal even put me on weapons again?”

“Shut the fuck up, Mina, this was one of your first runs with that work, your first season on rifle-” “Exactly-” “Shut the fuck up and let me finish! You fucking care about what you’re doing unlike the one who’s always late and fucking around even though she doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing,” Kerstin finished referring to another team member without saying her name.

“She’s been on rifle before, she knows more than I fucking do,” Rhamina huffed as she leaned her head on the window of the car.

“Mina, keep talking like that I’m going to rape you.”

“Bitch, I’ll tuck and roll out of the car.”

“Mina, I swear to God if I have to start using the child locks,” Seung-Hyun teased as the car pulled up in front of the large house belonging to the two people.

The group was greeted by the faint scent of sandalwood as they walked into the home.

Immediately the girls walked up the stairs and passed Rhamina’s studio to her room.

Rhamina left the door ajar behind her as Kerstin took out a vape pen from her purse to which the ravenette responded by closing the door completely.

As soon as the brunette removed it from her lips she offered it to her friend as she attempted to blow rings.

“You’re still practicing?” Rhamina asked as she took the pen from her friend.

“Yeah,” Kerstin said as Rhamina brought the pen to her mouth, “Seung-Hyun doesn’t know?”

“Nope,” Rhamina said after letting out a long, thick stream of the smoke.

“Jesus, that stream was so clean!”

“You can do tricks but this is all I’ve got,” Rhamina chuckled as she handed the device back to Kerstin.

Soon a knock came at the door and the girls began rapidly fanning at the remaining smoke hoping the haze wouldn’t be obvious.

“What is it?” Rhamina asked nicely opening the door a crack.

“What do you guys want for dinner?” the male asked ignoring the unusual smell of the sixteen-year-old’s room.

“Kerstin, what do you want?” Rhamina asked turning back to the brunette who stuffed the pen in her shirt.

“Poke.”

“Alright, and you Mina?” the male asked.

“Pho, since it’s close to that shop,” Rhamina responded.

“Okay, I’ll see you when I get back,” Seung-Hyun smiled reaching down to give the girl a hug, “I love you, bye.”

“Love you too,” she smiled pulling back and closing the door again as the male walked away.

When she turned back to Kerstin, Rhamina was greeted with a skeptical glare.

“We’re just friends.”

“Just friends my ass.”

“I tell all my friends that I love them.”

“... Mina, there’s going to be a day when you realize that statement is bullshit and when that day come I’ll laugh because I know when you realize you’re actually in love with him you’ll one hundred percent be freaking the fuck out about it,” Kerstin said as she plugged her phone into the wall to charge.

“Did you have everything you needed for tomorrow with you so we can just meet up with the others straight from here?” Rhamina asked as she turned on the tv and went to the youtube app.

“Yeah, I think so,” Kerstin replied as she pulled out a portable battery from her purse, “Can you charge this?”

“Sure,” the ravenette replied as she traded the remote with the other female for the battery, “It’s going to be in the other room though, I’m out og outlets in here.”

“That’s fine.”

As Rhamina walked into the next room she looked through the open blinds to see the sun starting to go down giving the room a harsh glare.

She hissed in irritation as she quickly closed the blinds before plugging the battery to charge with a cord she had on the really old computer desk.

Once she finished she went back into her main room leaving the door open a crack.

On the tv was a video of unsettling stories of the dark web which both of the girls liked to listen to from time to time.

“It’s kind of disappointing that the deep web is just an illegal google,” Rhamina sighed as she plopped onto her bed.

“It’s better than being stalked by creeps though,” Kerstin replied as she scrolled through something on her phone.

After about thirty minutes Seung-Hyun returned with the food requested by the females and they gathered in the living room to eat while they watched bad horror movies.

“Jesus christ that’s disgusting!” Kerstin exclaimed as they looked at the screen to see the main character turned into a walrus using human skin.

“I know right,” Rhamina said casually slurping up from pho, “That’s what I said when I first saw this.”

“Why would you suggest this?” Seung-Hyun asked before eating some of his ramen.

“I wanted to share this disturbing mess so Bunni and I wouldn’t be alone.”

After the movie they played episodes of Ghost Adventures in the background as they discussed what would happen tomorrow night.

“So what’s the plan?” Rhamina asked, “There isn’t much security but the people who live near the hospital don’t really like people on the property.”

“We’re going to have to get there like in the afternoon to check it out for any possible entrances,” the male stated lying across the couch with his head in the ravenette’s lap.

“Yeah, there’s a restaurant nearby so we can just be ‘passing by’ then we can actually eat dinner there before we go in,” Kerstin said as she was looking up some things about the chosen site of exploration.

“Oh yeah, Kerstin, can you text in the group chat that everyone who’s coming needs to be wearing all black and no bright colors?” Rhamina requested as her phone was upstairs at the time.

“Yeah, should I tell them about the plan too?”

“Yes, tell them to ring money,” Seung-Hyun said, “And an extra set of clothes just in case we need to sneak our way out.”

“Seeing as this is pretty illegal I’m surprised you agreed to this,” Rhamina said looking down, “You’re supposed to be a responsible figure.”

“I’m supposed to be keeping you safe and I’m one hundred percent sure even if I didn’t come with you guys, you would have done it anyway,” he replied as he sat up.

“You right, you right,” Rhamina chuckled as she made her way to the kitchen and opened a can of coconut juice.

“Hoy, kuha mo isa sa akin din,” the male called from the couch.

“Ikaw na, ayaw ko,” the ravenette replied as she put in a straw, “Don’t be lazy.”

“You’re already in the kitchen.”

“No.”

“Wow, so ungrateful.”

“Hey, I’m paying for half of this house too, you buttface.”

The male clicked his tongue as he got up to get himself a drink.

As they passed each other Rhamina stuck her tongue out at the male before seating herself at the couch again.

“Hey, Mina, should I tell Sophie to bring her ouija board?” Kerstin asked looking at the texts in the group chat.

“I didn’t even know she owned one,” the ravenette chuckled before taking a sip of her drink, “But yeah tell her to bring it.”

“You’re bringing the Go-pro, right?”

“Yeah, it’s in my office, you should tell everyone else to bring them if they have one,” Rhamina suggested, “It’ll be interesting to see different POV’s.”

“Yeah!”

At about ten at night the girls went upstairs where they began to pack necessities into their bags.

They each had a change of clothes, some snacks, and water.

Rhamina brought a knife, like she does everywhere, and a first aid kit.

Kerstin had extra chargers, a lighter, a candle, some matches and other random items Rhamina didn’t bother to remember about.

“Fuck, I’m so excited!” Kerstin squealed as she zipped her backpack shut.

“Dude, me too!” Rhamina squealed back, “This is our first abandoned exploration!”

“I hope we don’t get arrested.”

“You don’t need to run the fastest, just as long as you aren’t the slowest.”

“...Mina, what the fuck?”

“Shhh-ut your face. It’s true.”

The girls kept up their talk and watching of really bad horror movies until about midnight when both decided to go to sleep.

                                          ~~~Fin. Chapter 1~~~

[peachybeancinema]

Week 1

Exercise

1 film that’s stayed with me and remembered. The Secret Garden, 1993, dir. Agnieszka Holland.

Cinematography wide shots and beautiful establishing shots, opening shot is a lone girl that can’t clothe herself, left in dead centre with lots of space around her, the closeups of hands feels very innocent and intricate- they feel like a soft, innocent female gaze.

Lighting contrast between the stale dark inside and the light garden

Editing not noticed so much

The script, partly cheesy cause it’s about children trying/forced to grow up too fast, and a period like flick

Production design, old timey and frilly, but oh boy their green set designer went OFF 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Tone, lonely and hollow to a slow burn hope

Theme….

theme? Did it speak to me? Yes, the absence of parents- chosen to or not, running around finding wonder, kindness and strength in a garden

How did I feel? Loved and seen- a lost and lonely child that internally begs for love but has an inability to regulate her emotions- Collin too!

What kind of film would I like to be a part of HORROR or like something that can incite hope and make all types of children feel seen

EXERCISE 2

Director that inspires me: Gia Coppola

Resource on their process: ‘everything was trying to reach out to as many people as I could.’ Many of them stayed at Coppola’s mother’s house during filming. “I would drive them home after work and we’d all have dinner,” Coppola says, “It was like camp. I loved it.”

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2014/05/09/gia-coppola-talks-directing-james-francos-palo-alto-and-the-pressures-of-her-last-name-qa/%3foutputType=amp

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.vogue.com/article/gia-coppola-palo-alto-personal-style-and-james-franco/amp

Notes on script:

Does the camera show that she’s dead?

When do we learn that she’s dead- same time as him or before?

Rewrite in program with proper formatting

Week 3…

I was able to get together with a crew member and get the new draft of the script done. I have a bit of trouble understanding sometimes how to properly structure a script after coming from a book writing background, so I was really thankful that she was able to help me understand even better. The feedback from previous classes has centred around its general ‘look’ as a script and whether the viewer is in on knowing that Alexis is dead, and from the strat I’ve wanted the audience to know to further their distaste towards Ross, otherwise the audience could say ‘well hey I missed it, I get why he did’. Her choking will take place on camera, close up, so we can watch her leave us.

Week 4…

Getting ready for the pitch has been a huge mental struggle for me, but I keep holding onto the idea of actually making this film and that definitely gets me into our team meetings on the days it feels impossible. I’m already so happy with the crew and their thoughts and contributions, but it doesn’t kill my anxiety of presenting. I feel like the script is at a good point based on feedback, so when we presented and the main concern was finding a production designer, I felt immediate relief… okay we can tackle that. There is a pressure I’ve found quite uncomfortable so far in my journey in this class, and it’s even after filling the crew roles, a certain student not even in this class has become quite intense in getting involved as camera operator despite that role being VERY explicitly filled. I plan on keeping polite but firm, but god why should I have to?

Week 5…

So… despite the previous week's tiny rant of someone trying to vulture a filled role, our original DOP is now the 1st AD and someone else within our crew has taken on DOP, a choice we were actually all really content with. A search for a production designer continues, but we have to focus on scouting our potential Ross and Alexis. Unfortunately none from the team- including myself, could make it to crewing night, however, another student pitched on our behalf. The main goal is to obviously fill the production designer role, so fingers are crossed in the meantime. There was no class this week so I definitely spent the week taking care of myself and finishing off my slides for the pitch for next week, and I’m pretty happy with my slides and that most in the crew have stuck to the same aesthetic through the slides (minus points for memes).

Week 6…

Pitch week, so I’m ill with anxiety for it, but nonetheless, meds taken, train caught and standing before the panel. After the comments from the panel on how it very obviously pulls away from the serious nature of content, I was pretty bummed I didn’t just quickly delete people’s memes before the pitch. Overall I felt pretty good about how it went, but that’s only because that’s how my crew told me to feel about it. My anxiety was so bad while presenting, that I blacked out. In moments of intense anxiety I will disassociate entirely, I know I spoke, but I know nothing that I said or that was said to me. This is an incredibly frustrating process for me, especially because I have had to rely on my crews memories on the pitch, which definitely doesn’t feel fair. They assure me we are on the right path, and just that we should get a move on with casting. Still no production designer.

Week 7…

Mental health and substance abuse are taking a bad turn this week and it is affecting how easily it is for me to communicate effectively with my crew. I won’t be able to open messages or even show I’m online out of fear of disappointing and giving wrong/no answers. I feel entirely overwhelmed and I can feel myself falling behind. There’s still no production designer and at this point I’m willing to do it because I fear it’ll turn into a shit show anyway. I have been experiencing the worst internet from home and it’s been making getting anything done when I’m finally mentally available, impossible. I’m tired and as much as I love this script, I just want this trimester over.

Week 8…

This week for The Silent Treatment, we’ve been taking a look at Producer Sina’s Starnow casting calls for both roles, as well as looking at AirBnB’s for possible locations, which has lead to playful but extenuating bickering on the dop and producers part over ‘apartment or house’, which honestly, it’s quite easy reigning them in when they get a little too passionate. But I’ve actually found their bickering and passionate opinions on options for the film and helping restore my own fight for this film too. We have a few meetings coming up over our discord and we’ve been polishing up our previous presentation slowly.

Week 9…

We’re cutting down through our pickings for actors as well as getting excited over the possibility of taking James Lewis on as production designer. He actually appears to listen and understand quite well and he’s always writing notes in his book for props and decor. I’ve shared my ideas and I’m hoping he can fulfil my needs. This week was a really difficult one for me mentally (big shock and huge surprise) so I’ve actually been trying to make a plan to stay well and that’s by putting together a rehab stay, a huge and terrifying step I’m still not sure I’m going to actually take.

Week 10…

I’ve lost all of myself and my motivation this week. A rehab stay is officially scheduled and I’m afraid and trying so hard to reignite my passion for film and my own words and stories, but I don’t think it is worth it. I know I’ll look back in a week to a few weeks and struggle to understand why I hated my work so much, but I think when you hate you, everything you touch looks disgusting. I’ve been incredibly fortunate for my friends- some on my crew- and I’m INCREDIBLY fortunate for the crew members that don’t really know me from a bar of soap being exceptionally soft and kind with me during my low period. Knowing my team are such lovely people is actually a much better reason to get off my ass and do this- for them- not for me and my silly story…

Week 11…

We finally have short listed actors AND location and now we have those last auditions to wade through. Internally I definitely have decided on my location and actress, but for the male actor I’m not so sure yet. One guy auditioned and while he played it quite well, it was his in between chats that had me slightly off, as he kept feeling the need to drill in that he isn’t ‘this guy’, which of you arent, you don’t feel the need to tell everyone, which is why I’m keen to give another actor a whirl and see where to go from there. My fashion designer friend is still keen to make the scrubs and we’ve all worked out a decent pay for her services- I love bringing friends from other art disciplines into my films, eg placing crazy art from my painter friend, decorating the sets with my friends published books and even my nursing friend belinda wants to give me a bunch of medical supplies to set dress!

Week 12...

Big pitch next week and I’m terrified- how can I actually feel so prepared but terrified. The last male actor to audition BLEW me away and I felt a real chemistry when talking to him between the breaks which means I’m really looking forward to directions BOTH actors, as they’re super lovely and open and very relaxed to speak with! Location is LOCKED and I couldn’t be happier with the pick made! We just keep polishing away at the presentation, and yes, the memes are still coming out of the woodworks...

Week 13…

I'm not angry over the pitch, but I wouldn’t say I left happy… some of the ‘criticisms’ felt so empty and UTTERLY devoid of actual meaning. I mean, and I’m sorry, but this script was the same script written 1 year ago. No changes were made because I didn’t receive criticism through these weeks to do so- sure structure of the actual script itself changed but the scene where he imposes himself in her space was ALWAYS there, and I know the lecturers can have a lot to remember, but DO NOT ever say ‘this part wasn’t always here’ and ‘no I think we would’ve noticed’ had me boiling. It’s important to not talk with so much confidence in these kinds of times, as we all can forget things, but to stand and tell someone what they wrote and didn’t write in front of a crowd of people in higher positions than them, that’s insulting. I’m happy to take the criticisms about that ‘rape implication’ exert VERY easily, but it could have been addressed in week 1. I also do believe that younger lecturers NEED to be in these pitches, as it is a crowd of older people and senses of humour and film are changing and that should be fairly judged by a RANGE of ages.

APA REFERENCING

Gia Coppola talks directing James Franco’s “Palo Alto” and the pressures of her last name (Q&A). (n.d.). Washington Post. Retrieved June 25, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2014/05/09/gia-coppola-talks-directing-james-francos-palo-alto-and-the-pressures-of-her-last-name-qa/

Nast, C. (2014, April 4). Gia Coppola On Palo Alto, Personal Style, and James Franco. Vogue. https://www.vogue.com/article/gia-coppola-palo-alto-personal-style-and-james-franco--

[whipped-for-kpop-fics]

EXO finding out they’re going to have a child

Please read the authors note at the bottom regarding exo, bts and got7 requests, it is important, thanks! 

You had no idea how he'd react. You hadn't even seen him in months, he'd been away on tour and you'd missed him every single day, especially after the last night you spent with him.

You both knew he was going away for a while so you had your own pre-tour tradition. A few days before every tour, he'd spend a few nights at your place to try and cram in as much quality time together as possible and the last tour was no different. The thing that was different was how it wound up. You two had been quite happily watching movies and making up your own inside jokes all evening when somehow, and you still can't remember, his lips were on yours. For as long as you could recall, you had been interested in him so of course, you didn't push him away. You deepened the kiss. One thing led to another and you woke up naked in your bed with an empty space next to you, the ghost of his touch still lingering on your skin.

Every single member of EXO treated you like a childhood friend despite only knowing them all for a few years which meant, they gave you a key to their house so you were welcome whenever you felt like giving them company. You never usually let yourself in when no-one was there but it was special circumstances in your mind so you did. You kicked your shoes off in their usual spot then made your way up to his room to wait. You knew they would all return home any minute and despite part of you saying you should wait a few days until he was settled back home but there was a much bigger and louder part screaming to not wait, it'd only get harder. So, you sat on the edge of his bed and waited nervously for the moment he'd walk through that door.

The second he stepped into the house and saw your shoes next to where his usually laid, his heart thumped against his ribs and he perked up. It was a long flight home and he had planned to just sleep but seeing evidence of your presence in the house, he rushed inside suddenly full of energy. While the rest of the boys collapsed in the living room, he searched for you. As soon as he walked into his room, you bolted to your feet, your face full of fear but he didn't notice. He was too happy to see you that he walked straight over and pulled your body to his in a warm embrace. You relaxed into his arms but only slightly. Slowly, he let you go and you stepped back reluctantly, it was only then that he saw your expression and his fell.

"Y/N, what's wrong?" You couldn't find the words so instead, you handed him the envelope you had been gripping. He looked at you confused but opened it to pull out the small photos. "What's this?" He mumbled. "Baby scans?" He looked up at you and you nodded. "W-what is this?"

"Well-I-we..." You swallowed hard and licked your lips. "I'm pregnant." He stared for a moment before bursting out into laughter.

"Ah! Good one Y/N!" His laughter slowly died when he realised you weren't laughing with him. "You're not laughing. This isn't a prank?" You shook your head. "You're really pregnant?" He whispered, his eyes falling to stare at your stomach. "How?" It was your turn to laugh then and he looked up, his cheeks pink. "I know how but I mean, how." He licked his lips and straightened up. "Why are you showing me?"

"Why do you think?" His gaze returned to the photos, wide and slightly afraid of the thought of becoming a father.

"Is-is it mine?" You nodded but he didn't lift his head like you thought he would.

"Yeah." He stumbled back until his legs hit the bed and he fell onto it with a thump, sitting slumped as he took in the situation.

"You want to keep it?"

"Yeah." He took in a deep breath before straightening up and looking at you.

"Okay, we can do it, we'll be great parents." Your eyes widened at his statement. "What? Did you think I wouldn't want to be a part of its life, Y/N?"

"I-I didn't know what you'd want." You confessed. "Are you sure? I'm not here to guilt trip you or anything, I just want you to know."

"I'm sure." He smiled and got up to take your hands. "I want to do this with you, jagi." Your eyes widened at the pet name and he chuckled. "Don't act like you don't know how I feel about it." Your face relaxed and you smiled cheekily.

"I wouldn't be opposed to hearing it from your own lips though."

"How about I do something else with my lips?" You giggled as he suddenly pulled your body to his. Despite acting cocky, he didn't want to do anything you didn't want so he hesitated but you didn't pull away so he was confident you wanted it too. He pressed his lips to yours in a short but oh so loving kiss. "I really like you, Y/N and I want our baby to grow up seeing us together and happy."

"I want that too."

Baekhyun - Shocked and a little worried at first but quickly comes to terms with it and swears to be the best father a child could want. Picks out all the toys despite you telling him they're way too advanced for a newborn but he doesn't listen and buys them all anyway. Probably plays with them in secret to "make sure they're safe for baby".

Chanyeol - It doesn't quite hit him fully until the first scan he attends. As soon as he hears that little heartbeat, he looks at you with wide, glossy eyes. He doesn't even try to hide how emotional it makes him seeing his baby on the monitor and lets a few tears roll down his cheeks as he stares in awe.

Chen - He'd probably be in denial, thinking it's a strange, very vivid dream until the baby is in his arms and then he breaks down and sings through tears the baby's first lullaby and refuses to put it down even though his arms are dead and the baby has been asleep for ages.

Kai - Actual sweetheart, more concerned about you than anything. He would ask you if you were uncomfortable throughout the pregnancy and waits on you hand and foot. It doesn't stop once you've given birth either. He looks after you and baby without a complaint.

Kyungsoo (D.O) - The most concerned about it. He doesn't feel ready to be a parent but refuses to allow to you go through it alone. At the end of the day, he put it there and was determined to see it through. Almost as sweet as Kai during the pregnancy and afterward to you but the second the baby is in the world, he falls in love and is actually the world's greatest father.

Sehun - Totally not ready for a child and freaks out internally the whole pregnancy. He was still a child in his mind and didn't want to grow up but once you handed him the baby at your then shared apartment, he had refused to hold it at the hospital in case he dropped it, his whole world view changed and he did to accommodate the most precious thing in his life.

Suho - Takes a little while to truly come around to the idea of being a dad and when he does, he starts to buy everything and I mean everything the baby could ever want or need. You had to remind him that your apartment wasn't big enough to situate it all so, he bought a little house for you two and called in professionals to decorate it, except the nursery, he wanted to do that with you so the room would be as full of love as possible.

Xiumin - Accepts it almost instantly. He hadn't really thought of being a dad so soon but quickly fell in love with the thought of having his own little one to love and shower with affection. He immediately started to look for a bigger apartment for the two of you to live and get ready for when the third member of your little family would come along.

Yixing (Lay) - Falls in love without even meeting the baby. Would talk and sing to it throughout the pregnancy, a hand placed gently on the bump, a look of pure love in his eyes. Reads all the books he can to prepare and brings up his new found knowledge to the guys so they would know how to treat his baby when it arrives. Cancels pretty much everything around your due date, refuses to leave the country in case you go into labor. The perfect birthing partner doesn't complain once and still manages to find you beautiful even as you're screaming at everyone for pain relief, your hair matted, sweat dripping down your forehead, and tells you so too. The most doting father spoils his child and carries photos of it in various stages of development in his wallet to look at whenever he's away.

Yet again, another new format there but I feel like it works best for my idea

Thank you for the request anon!

I may start to do requests more individual like for only a single member at a time or maybe three so please with your EXO, BTS and GOT7 requests, specify the member(s) you want but only up to three to make my life easier, I’ll get through more requests then too

~Admin Chee

[moved-to--mysticandskepticmuses]

BASICS

NAME: Penny

PRONOUNS: She/Her 

SEXUALITY: Bisexual

TAKEN OR SINGLE:  Taken/ boyfriend & girlfriend

THREE FACTS:

I have 13 cats and four dogs. I have always been an animal person; in my life I’ve owned rabbits, cows, horses, goats, chickens, squirrels, iguanas, frogs and of course, cats & dogs.

I have seven kids in total.  The oldest is my girlfriend’s oldest at 19, my boyfriend’s oldest at 16, my oldest boy at 15, my youngest boy at 14, my girlfriend’s daughter at 14, her youngest at 12 and my youngest girl at 10.

I do handicraft stuff too - I make jewelry, a lot of die cut crafts (paper dolls and pictures and seasonal decorations and boxes and bags and all kinds of crazy things), I do scrapbooking, needlepoint, knitting, crocheting and I do a lot of coloring / painting / inking though it’s all on pre-printed images because I can’t draw to save my life.

RP EXPERIENCE/HOW LONG (MONTHS / YEARS?): I started writing roleplay with some friends in junior high at the age of 13; I have done online rp in pretty much every format ever, live action role playing, table top roleplaying of pretty much ever game ever made at least once and am helping a friend write / create their own system which is tons of fun.  I’ve been on tumblr for about .... I want to say like eight years.

PLATFORMS YOU’VE USED:  Tumblr, invisionfree, livejournal, proboards, email lists, aol etc chatrooms, pen and paper, book & dice games, larp.  Probably more but I can’t remember.

BEST EXPERIENCE:  The last couple years on tumblr have really been the best ones for me in terms of roleplay I think.  Going independent and having control over when and where and how and why I reply is a HUGE relief given the insane nature of my life and how I can’t ever really promise to be a fast partner, like at all.  But between my multi and here with Harley and the few sub-blogs I’ve made specifically to write 1x1, it’s been a lot of fun and a very creative experience.

MUSE PREFERENCES

FEMALE OR MALE: Honestly, it’s not about the gender for me, it’s about the personality and whether or not I can see some small part of myself in them that I can use as a base to develop them through their canon material and my own intuitions and input.

PLOTS OR MEMES: I definitely like to plot, but honestly, I’ve had so many amazing rps develop from memes it’s crazy so; really, whatever floats your boat is fine with me.

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: I used to be insistent on long threads and only long threads -- when I first came to tumblr and saw all these one, two line replies I was shocked / horrified like omg how can they can this rp, tbh.  But now, I totally get that sometimes we might not have the time or brain or energy for something long but still have muse that we want to do something with so -- I love, love my long things but I have fun with short stuff too!

BEST TIME TO WRITE: Depends on the day tbh.  If it’s a school day, I have a couple hours in the morning to do house work / maybe some stuff on tumblr before my youngest gets up and we start the homeschooling process ( during which I work on my college stuff in between ).  From there, it’s a matter of how quickly she gets through her work and whether I have any time to do stuff before the other two that live with us get home from school.  And then there’s homework and then it’s dinner and baths and cleaning the room and getting ready for bed and actually going to bed.  If I’m not utterly exhausted from the day, I can usually manage an hour or two if I have the muse / interest.  I’ve learned over the years that if I push myself to write when I don’t really want to, it just burns me out, which is how sometimes it can be weeks (or on really bad occasions) months before I can promise regular activity.  But, I try, and it really helps too, if I have a good report / can chat with / randomly plot with / throw questions or ideas to the mun behind the character as well.  

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S): Well, it really depends on the muse.  Harley, not so much, except for the fact that I had my hair dyed pinkblue and now I am doing red with black chunks.  And, okay, I might be a little crazy (anxiety, ptsd, pmdd, add, etc. etc.) but I don’t actually hear voices so there’s that.  I have a lot in common with Clara Oswald, same height / hair / eyes and her personality is similar to mine in a lot of ways.  Usually, I can’t really write for a character unless I have something in common with them; something that I can connect to and build on.  If there isn’t that connection, be it something in their history, a personality quirk, the way they move and act, etc. etc. 

Tagging: Anybody!!

[madelynknightoftheselection]

((Okay so I had to write this completely on mobile so please don’t judge too hard on my formatting and how everything I want be italicized isn’t. Anyways, enjoy))

•The Ball•

Everything was fine before the ball. If I hadn’t been stupid, if I hadn’t messed up, I wouldn’t be upset. I wouldn’t be worried about going home tomorrow, and I wouldn’t be worried about leaving my friends here. But, I was dumb.

Perhaps, I should back it up.

—- I woke up to my maids gently shaking me. They were so sweet. Each of them had already been prepping for my bath, getting hair styling tools ready. They are really the best.

Today is the day of the ball, and boy am I excited.

My maids had me hop into the bath and put me in a simple dress so I could go down to breakfast. I sat with Emma, of course, she is my best friend here, and the girls in the hall over from ours. We all introduced ourselves, and ate to our heart’s content before we hurried back to our rooms to get ready for the ball.

When I walked into my room, my maids were holding up my dress excitedly. I squealed in excitement.

They held this beautiful gown. It was black on the bottom with a tool material. The tool was scattered with rhinestones that made it look like the night sky. The top was a shining, gold intricate design that connected to a sheer fabric. I was obsessed.

“It’s so beautiful! Thank you so much!” I exclaimed while feeling the fabric.

“You’re welcome. Delia made the design and me and Bailee made it,” Ginny explained.

“It’s seriously incredible. I can’t believe you guys made this! You are all so talented!”

I was truly shocked. The fact that they were able to made such an incredible dress was amazing to me.

“We’ll put it on after hair and makeup,” Bailee said.

Then they got to work. They pulled my hair into a formal up-do, which turned out to be beautiful. Next they did my make up. I let them take it a little more extravagant since it was the ball, after all.

It sounds crazy, but after the hair, makeup, nails, shoes, and finally putting my dress on, it had been three hours. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that was partly because my maids and I were jamming to music the whole time.

When we finished dancing around my room and I thanked my maids about twelve times I headed out of my room. I knocked on Emma’s door, but one of her maids answered and told me she had already gone down stairs.

I went down to the women’s room to find her with the girls we had sat with at breakfast. We all complimented each other on everyone’s outfits and chatted about our plans for the ball.

“Hey, Isabella,” I said some ways into the conversation. “Didn’t Dom say he enjoyed your conversation?”

“He said something like that, yes! But we kind of had a difficult talk,” Isabella replied.

Calista furrowed her eyebrows and said, “About your mother? I’ve heard how she is.”

“Oh gosh, you heard about her as well,” Isabella said.

My heart dropped as soon as she said it. Mothers were a sore topic for me ever since I lost my mom. I knew how hard it was and I was worried that Isabella was going through the same thing. I didn’t want that for her. I didn’t want that for anyone.

“Oh no, what’s the matter with your mother?” I asked as my face started to uncontrollably lose color.

Isabella looked at me suspiciously and said, “She doesn’t like the royals and organizes demonstrations against them and all that. I hope I convinced Dom that I don’t share her opinion!”

I sighed a breath of relief, thankful that Isabella didn’t have to lose her mother, “Oh, I see.”

However, it seemed as if everyone was now looking at me concerned, which I didn’t mean to happened. I just… hate having to see people go through losing a mother.

“Madelyn, are you alright? Would you like something to drink?” Isabella asked worriedly.

Although I appreciated the offer, I shook my head and insisted,“Oh, no, no. I’m fine! I was just worried for you, that’s all”

“Don’t worry, I am fine!” Isabella smiled reassuringly.

“I heard she reacted badly to you being selected, Izzy. I’m surprised it wasn’t on the news.” Calista said, and then looked back and forth between me and Isabella.

“Mads, you don’t seem fine, what’s- oh your mother…”

I frowned. I didn’t want to make a big deal about it and I was kinda of shocked she knew. She must’ve really done her research.

“Yeah…” I trailed off trying to change the conversation.

Debbie looked worried. “What is it, Mads?” she asked

“I’m so sorry Mads. Debs, her mom is no longer around,” Cal said.

“Yeah, she passed away when I was 9” I nodded and explained.

Suddenly, they were all hugging me, which I accepted but I ended it quickly. I didn’t want to this night to be just about me. But, it felt good to have people care about how I feel and really be there for me. It was nice and I appreciated my growing friendship with these girls.

Awhile later, after taking a group photo, we all went our separate ways and entered the ballroom. I was in awe. The decorations were beautifully strung up along the walls and ceilings. I had never seen anything like it. The floor was glittered and tons of guards and friends of the royal family were already enjoying the atmosphere.

The royals themselves had already made their entrance. I scanned the area and very quickly found Prince Dominic. He wasn’t dancing with anybody but he was in a group of people talking. I decided it was probably easiest to find him later.

The first royal I talked to was actually Princess Alina. I really wanted to introduce myself to her. She’d been the Illean favorite my whole life. I had looked up to her my whole life.

She was over by herself to the side of the room.

“Hi Princess Alina!” I said as I approached her.

“Lady Madelyn, hi!”

I was shocked that she knew my name. But I guess if 35 girls were intruding in my home I’d want to know who is who.

“How are you? I wanted to finally introduce myself,” I spoke with a smile.

We went on to talk about how we felt about the ball it was a very simple conversation that was mostly small talk. She was really nice and I’m excited to become better friends with her in the future.

After that I mostly hung out with Emma and the girls from our squad and our breakfast group. We danced to a couple of fast paced songs and talk about who we had talked to so far.

Emma suddenly decided to take her chance to talk to Prince Dominic, so she left and I went to get some punch.

A guard with blonde hair came up to me and politely asked me to dance which I courteously agreed to.

He was very nice, but it was mostly small talk. I think his name was Kyle. Afterwards I danced with a few more guards, all of them very handsome and very nice. I was having a wonderful time to say the least.

After awhile I met back up with Emma.

“How was your dance with Dom?”

“It was a little awkward but it could’ve been worse,” She raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you thinking about asking him?”

“Yes….” I spoke cautiously. “And no. I can’t do it.”

Emma scoffed in reply.

“Please, Maddie. You completely can. It will be fun!”

“Noooo. It’ll be so awkward!” I remembered the last time I spoke to him. Oh gosh. That was so embarrassing.

“Only if you make it awkward. Just act natural, and you’ll be fine. Pretend he’s just another guy at a dance back home,” She said calmly.

Oh, sure, that’s easy.

“But Emma….last time I talked to him I was weird. What if we have nothing to talk about?” I asked.

“Well this time just refrain from talking about being able to sleep with your eyes open,” She laughed. “And just talk to him about anything. Likes, dislikes, you are getting to know him after all,”

Okay, okay. I can do that.

“Okay…give me a go to question,” I said. I didn’t want to risk freezing up.

“If all else fails… ask him ‘If you could travel anywhere in the world, right now, where would you go?’”

“Okay okay good plan.”

I began to walk towards him, but I got scared and turn around and came back to Emma. “Oh no I can’t.”

Emma just laughed and turned me towards him and gave me a little push.

“Madelyn Knight, you can. Look, he just finished dancing with someone now’s your chance!”

Now’s your chance Maddie. Be bold, make Karina proud. I took a deep breath.

“Alright, here I go.”

I nervously walked up to him, but when I got up to him I shook off my fear. I wanted to appear confident, even though there were butterflies flying around in my stomach.

“Hey! I know you’ve probably been asked this a million times tonight, but can you save the next dance for me?” I chirped.

“Of course.” He replied smoothly.

I smiled at him and said, “Great! So, how’s the ball going for you so far?”

“Pretty well. Plenty of beauty to please the eye.”

“Oh really?” I smiled. “That’s definitely good I guess!”

“It is very good,” He said with a smirk.

I was already getting stuck. What to say what to say.

“So, you getting dizzy from all the dancing with everyone yet?” I said followed by a laugh.

“Not at all.”

He wasn’t very talkative tonight, I could already tell. Which definitely isn’t good because I’m horrible at keeping a conversation going.

We talked about the decorations and how they were gorgeously designed by the queen. But then the conversation was getting boring and awkward, so I tried flirt a little bit.

“Though you being in it makes it even more lovely,” I smiled at him and blushed a little at my attempt to flirt.

“Clearly.”

Clearly? Okay?

“You handled that attempt at flirting pretty well, are you so used to women swooning over you that you have no humility?” I said teasingly with a wink.

“I am very used to women swooning, yes.”

The response itself was fine, but he just wasn’t getting into the conversation. It was a fine conversation, but a little awkward.

I raised an eyebrow at him and said, “Do you just..not feel like talking much? I thought you might be more talkative with the atmosphere of the Ball and everything.”

He shrugged. “What do you want to know about?”

I shrugged in reply. “I don’t know, anything. I want to get to know you better.”

We kind of went into a quickfire setting, with me asking questions and him answering.

“If you weren’t in the royal family…what would you be doing?” I asked.

“Either pro motorcycle rider or music producer.” He responded.

We started talking about music for a little before it got weird once again because we didn’t enjoy the same music. That was fine with me, I love discovering new music, but for him…He seemed a little on edge about it.

He learned that I’m the youngest in my family and that I two brothers that like the type of music he likes.

That’s when things got bad. And I mean, bad.

“So what else?” Dom asked.

I thought for a second and my mind blanked. I didn’t know what to say, so i remembered Emma’s go to question and said that.

“If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?”

It really was an interesting question. The world is such a big place, and him being the prince means he’s done some traveling. Would he pick somewhere he’s been or somewhere he’s always wanted to go?

“My bedroom. Preferably with one of the Selected as company,” He said cheekily.

Oh.

I knew he was joking in a way. But, I couldn’t help but to be a little disappointed.

Before I go on, you have to understand where I’m coming from. My entire life I’ve been thinking about the selection. It was this crazy opportunity far far away in my future. The possibility of me meeting the prince was a big deal, let alone, trying to get to know him. I had read the magazines, seen interviews, watched shows, heard rumors, of the cheeky prince at the castle. It had to be just this wall that he puts up for the public, right? Being like that all the time is just exhausting. I thought I was lucky. Lucky, because I have the chance to get to know him for who he really is.

“Really? I was kinda hoping you were a bit more real than you are in interviews,” I probably looked a little more disappointed than I should have.

And oh gosh. Why did I say that?!

“Excuse you?” He spoke looking offended.

Crap crap crap.

“Sorry that came off a little ruder than I intended.” I tried to apologize, but I couldn’t help, but be curious. Was that all there really is to him? “But… I’m only being honest… is that what you really truly want?”

He shrugged, still annoyed. “I wouldn’t be opposed.”

“I just thought it was all an… an act I guess.” I stuttered out.

“You thought wrong.” He stated firmly.

“Well I’m sorry then. But, did I really think wrong? Be honest. If it helps, we could even play a game.”

I should’ve stopped pressing him. I’m so stupid. It only got worse and more awkward from here.

“What kind of game? A game where you mock my lifestyle some more?”

I cringed a little at his tone. He was really angry.

“No, a truth game. I’ll tell you something about me and then you can tell me something about you.”

I wanted to just clear the air. I wanted to try to get him to open up a little bit.

“I don’t know that I want to if you’re just going to groan about everything I say about myself.”

“Just trust me.” I said confidently.

“I’m not sure I do trust you.” He responded.

Ouch.

“Then let me earn it.” I said, not giving up.

“Fine. What’s your game?” He said giving in.

“Okay I’ll say something that’s true about me and then you’ll go, deal?” I asked.

“I guess.” Still looking annoyed and upset.

Alright, if I wanted him to open up, I had to open up first. Besides, what I am about to say I really do need advice on. It had been eating at me since I had been selected.

“Okay,” I began. “So, part of me is afraid I won’t be able to find something I love as a three. I feel my life could be ruined and made better at the same time just by coming here.” I couldn’t believe I had just said that to him so blatantly. I took a deep breath and then said “Now your turn.”

He looked at me blankly and said, “I have a motorcycle that I like to ride.”

Seriously?

I gave him a flat look, “Dom.”

“What? It’s a true thing about me. That’s the rule of your "game” isn’t it?” He was sort of mocking me. I could see that he thought this game was pointless.

I raised my eyebrows and then responded with, “Fine. Fair enough. Here’s another truth about me: I have a camera that I like to take pictures with.”

Two could play at that game.

“I have a twin sister.” He said.

“I wish I had a twin sister.”

“I own a surfboard that I sometimes use to surf with my cousin.”

“I write a lot of poetry.”

“I hate poetry.”

Hold the phone. Back it up, what did he just say?

“Pause game. Tell me why.” I said shocked. “I don’t know, I just don’t. It’s pretty boring.” He responded.

I sighed. I didn’t know what do. This wasn’t working and he wasn’t budging anytime soon. I knew I had royally messed up. Big time.

“We’re not going to get anywhere if you won’t let us. It’s a simple conversation, not an interrogation,” I spoke softly.

“We don’t have to get anywhere if I don’t want to. And this conversation kind of seems to be going nowhere, so… maybe I should just go.” He responded harshly.

I just looked down. There wasn’t anything I could do.

“I can’t stop you. If that’s what you really want, who am I to oppose?”

“Okay, bye.” And with that, he turned around and walked away.

I was upset. Upset at myself, upset at Dominic, upset at siblings for putting so much hope in my heart for this stupid boy. I was left in the middle of the ballroom. Everyone around me was so happy and I felt like I was breaking inside.

Emma. I needed to find Emma.

Tears were swimming in my eyes but I was refusing to let them spillover, however, it was coming increasingly harder. Emma was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, I saw Alec. I had seen Alec a couple of times throughout the night. I was waiting to see if he was going to ask Emma to dance, but he never did.

I wasn’t worried about that at the moment. I was embarrassed that someone was going to see me upset, almost about to cry, I hated crying in public.

He walks over smiling, but as soon as he sees my expression it turns into a worried look.

“Lady Madelyn, are you alright?” He asked looking genuinely concerned. In fact, I was shocked with how concerned he looked.

Just then my eyes decided to betray me and my tears spilled over and fell onto my cheeks. I feverishly wiped them away, trying to be discrete, but to no avail.

“Oh, Alec! Yes yes, I’m fine. I’m just…upset,” I responded.

He furrowed his eyebrows, continuing his look of concern.

“You don’t seem fine. What happened?”

I looked at his expression. Most people just shake it off as soon as I say I’m fine. But, Alec wasn’t having it, and I could tell.

I sighed, giving up. “It’s the prince.”

He crossed his arms suddenly looking angry. I cringed a little bit, I didn’t want anyone to be angry with me after what just happened.

“Did he hurt you?” He asked.

I was shocked once again by his concern. It was in that moment that I realized I could trust Alec. Like really trust him, and I wanted to be friends with him.

“No, no. But we kind of argued. He’s not exactly as charming as I originally thought.”

He calmed down after that and gave a sigh of relief.

“Ah, I see.” He said.

I smiled a little bit at his over protectiveness for me, even though we had only spoken a couple times before.

“It’s disappointing. I think I was just over - expecting. If that makes any sense.” It felt good to talk about it, even just a little bit.

He nodded and said, “I understand. From what I’ve observed, this will definitely be an…interesting Selection. I’m sorry he wasn’t what you thought he was.” He sounded genuine, which I appreciated.

I already felt better, which was nice. I wanted to change the subject though, I was done being upset for now. I was still emotionally exhausted, but for now I wanted to enjoy the night.

“Thanks, but it’s not your fault. Speaking of interesting…” I smirked at him knowingly. “Anyone you got your eye on?”

It was pretty easy to tell that there was a connection between him and Emma. And I loved it.

He looked sharply over at me and tried to hide his nerves. “No… Why?”

I smiled, of course he could say all he wanted, but I knew he liked her.

“Oh, no reason. just if there was someone….you should probably consider talking and or dancing with her instead of watching her from across the room the whole night,” I spoke slyly.

I looked over across the room where I finally spotted emma standing near the punch table. He followed my gazed and raised an eyebrow.

“Who says I even want to talk and dance with whoever you’re referring to?”

I looked at him teasingly so he knew I was joking, “Well, as your designated favorite person…and the person I’m referring to’s favorite person… I can tell pretty well that there’s something there.”

I kinda had a habit of forcing people to say that I was their favorite person. I did it with Emma too. It just meant that I liked them and wanted to be friends with them.

He laughed at what I said, “Whatever that something is, it’s definitely not allowed.” I laughed back and said, “oh come on, you aren’t going to let a silly rule like treason stop you, are you?”

“Treason, silly. I don’t think those two words go well together.” He smiled. But, finally he sighed and said, “At least come with me.”

I squealed in delight. I smiled and put my hands together. “Yay! Okay yes, let’s go.”

I lead the way there, practically pulling Alec behind me. I approached Emma and gave her a smirk.

“Emma! Look who I found!”

She looked over confused and startled.

“Maddie… what-”

“Alec was just about to ask you to dance, weren’t you Alec?” I looked at him and he looked at me and then at emma and stuttered out an “Uhhh-uh”

“Okay gotta go now, bye! Have fun you two!” I gave them both a knowing smile and then retreated quickly.

They’ll thank me someday.

— I was alone for only about five minutes while they were dancing. I sneaked looks over to the various royal family members. I saw Princess Callie dancing in the middle, Evan was off to the side, ignoring everyone. I even saw the King and Queen sharing a dance on the ballroom floor. I looked around to see if I could see Prince Percy, but he was nowhere to be found. But, I couldn’t bring myself to introduce myself to any of them. I was too scared and embarrassed after talking to Prince Dominic. I knew I screwed up. There was no reason for meeting them, if I could be going home soon.

Emma made her way back over to me after her dance with Alec. We talked about her dance, and my conversation with Dominic. Afterwards we just decided to stick together and have a good time.

As the ball began to die down, me and Emma got bored. We decided to just hangout since we weren’t tired yet.

We started walking out of the ballroom when I stopped. “Wait! We should invite Alec!”

Emma looked at me with a flat look and said, “Haven’t we tortured him enough?”

Not only was this a great chance for Alec and Emma to get to know each other, I thought it might just be fun in general. Me and Alec were friends now, and it’d might be fun to hang out with both of them.

“Oh come on Ems, he’s fun! Besides… didn’t you have a good time dancing with him?” I smirked at her.

She sighed with a small smile and said, “Sure, but not the way you’re thinking of. And if I brought a boy back to my room, my maids would probably have an aneurysm,”

She eventually gave in to inviting him, but we decided to go to the gardens to avoid complications with her maids. We went and found Alec in the ginormous ballroom, and he instantly agreed when we asked him. —————————

“I’m amazed at how easy it was to get out here.” I said when we got outside.

“me too, maddie,” Emma said.

Alec nodded and said, “Probably cause most of the selected are dancing with the guards right now.”

We all agreed that was probably it and found a place to sit in the grass.

Alec tucked his hands in his pockets. “So what did you ladies have in mind?”

“I don’t know man, this was Emma’s idea.” I responded to him.

Emma shrugged. “We both brought our cameras, so we could also take pictures. Although it was Maddie’s idea to invite you.”

Alec placed a hand over his heart mockingly. “I’m wounded, Emma. Only Maddie wants me here?”

“Just figured I would hang out with my fans since I’m both of your guys’ favorite person,” I piped up jokingly.

Both Emma and Alec laughed.

“I guess you’re okay, Maddie.” Emma smiled. After that I suggested that we play a game. Naturally, the game was truth or dare.

“Okay…uhhh…Emma truth or dare?” I began. “I’ll start off with a truth.”

“Hmmm….who was your favorite person that you danced with tonight?”

Obviously trying to back her into a corner, because I’m her best friend of course.

She narrowed her eyes slightly and then smiled at me mischievously.

“You of course.”

“Ughhh I meant slow dance. But fine fine. I know I’m awesome.” I responded sarcastically.

Emma then asked Alec who chose dare. He had to run a lap around the part of the gardens we were in with his shoes on the wrong feet. It was very entertaining.

“That was remarkably uncomfortable,” He said when he came back.

Alec asked me next, and I chose truth remembering what happened the last time I chose dare and ended up saying something really weird to Prince Percy. “Who was your best kiss?”

Well, crap.

Emma snickered at him. “What?” He asked her.

“Odd question is all,” She responded to him. Those two.

Meanwhile, my face growing redder and redder as time went on.

“Um..well,” I started. “I haven’t exactly had my first kiss.”

It was really embarrassing for me, but they didn’t make a big deal which was cool.

“I mean I’ve had a couples boyfriends, but like they never got serious enough I guess.” I added and then rolled my eyes at them jokingly. “Okay anyways Alec back to you truth or dare?”

“I’ll do truth this time.”

“Okay…who was your favorite person that you slow danced with tonight?” I smirked at him knowingly.

Emma gave me a flat look while Alec smiled. “I would have to go with Emmalyn.”

Emma’s reaction was funny, she looked startled and then started blushing. Alec smiled at her. Awwwww they are cute.

“Ha! Knew it!” I said under my breath.

Alec just shook his head with a smile.

For the next one, Alec dared Emma and had me choose the dare. I told her to pretend like she’s the sound person who is being dubbed for a noisy kissing scene. I cracked myself because for some reason I thought that was the funniest thing in the world.

Something tells me we were all getting slap happy.

Alec thought it was equally funny and we both laughed even harder when she did it. It was a bit of a fail, but completely worth it. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a long time.

“All right Madelyn, truth or dare?” Emma asked.

“Hm what to do what to do? Let’s go with….dare.”

“ Hmm… I dare you to tell us your biggest fear,” She said. “And not spiders or anything.”

Okay so she wanted me to be deep? I thought about it for a second and my mind instantly went back to my conversation with Dominic. I wasn’t sure if I could say that again after embarrassing myself so badly with him. What if it was just stupid. I finally decided to just say it, if they thought it was dumb, I’d never mention it again.

“Alright I’ll tell you what I told Dominic,” I cringed slightly. “I guess I’m afraid that I’m not going to find something that makes me happy as a three. But I think it’s just a fear that my life could be ruined or bettered from coming here, you know?”

Alec really thought about what I said and nodded understandingly.

“I think no matter what happens, you will still have people around you who will support you no matter your life as a Three. You’ll be able to find your happiness some day knowing you’ll always people who care about you.”

Wow, dang Alec. Emma looked surprised by what he said as well.

She then turned to me and spoke kindly, “He’s right. You’ll definitely always have me cheering you on making sure that we both make the best of whatever happens after this.”

It felt so wonderful to have that sort of reaction. It was refreshing. I wasn’t expecting so much support from them, especially after what happened with Dominic. I suddenly became super grateful to have them as my friends.

I smiled at them, “Yeah you guys are totally right. As long as I have the people I love around me I’ll be okay.

“Good. After all, I’m going to need my photography buddy to stick around,” Emma smiled.

“Awwww we are goals!” I dragged it out funnily. “Alec are you jealous?”

He grinned and said, “Naturally.”

For the last round I asked Alec. He went with dare.

So I decided to bring it all home.

“I dare you to kiss emma,” I said with a smirk. Emma turned her head sharply and looked at me. Hahahaha oops.

“W-what,” She stammered.

“Okay,” Alec said calmly.

Both me and Emma were shocked. Of course I wanted him to, I just didn’t think he would.

I watched as Alec leaned in slowly and Emma sat there in shock. He got close to her face and then kissed her on the cheek, then leaned back smiling.

Emma sat in silence not knowing what do.

I broke the silence by saying, “Awwwww cute!!!” and clapping.

I was smiling knowingly at the both of them and both Alec and Emma looked embarrassed which was great for me. Suddenly Alec cleared his throat and said, “Well, I think that’s a good place to call it a night.” We all agreed to call it a night. Alec stood up and held out a hand to Emma and helped her up and then me.

“Alright well, I’m going to go to bed. I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” I said.

I looked at Alec and then pointed at emma making my fingers walk across my hand trying to indicate that he should walk her to her room. Emma didn’t even notice and Alec smiled and nodded his head.

They both said their goodbyes and then I practically ran to the room. For one, I didn’t want to awkwardly be right in front of them the whole time since Emma’s room was right next to mine and two, I wasn’t in the mood to bump into anyone.

When I got to my room, I told my maids I was fine to get ready for bed myself. I wanted to be alone. Tonight had been a whirlwind of a night. I was happy I got to spend time with Emma and Alec and I enjoyed seeing their friendship grow, but what happened with Dominic really bugged me. I was upset. And the only thing I could do was hope that he gives me a second chance.