#we just had water balloon fights and those ice pops on the last day of school

[bloomingonionbitch]

(my school is taking the 8th graders for pizza and to see "Guardians of the Galaxy 3" as an end-of-the-year treat. i read a review [on gd NPR of course] and it emphasized the amount of pretty brutal "live" animal experimentation, see below:

i think it's going to really fuck with some of my students and it seems like a not-so-stellar idea to have the entire 8th grade class WALK 32 minutes to the movie theater for a fun celebration, only to wind up sweaty and sobbing over baby Rocket Raccoon's insides being messed with).

[riorsonxaden]

19 for the prompts :)

A treat this time

Prompt: 19 “You want to go trick or treating?” "Seriously?”

Pairing: Nessian

a/n: Sorry it took a while! my writer’s block has been really bad lately. Enjoy!

Today was Halloween. Her favorite holiday. Not only for the fact she loved the costumes, dressing up, the weather and films, but because it was the night she had met Cassian. If it wasn't for a party six years ago she might not have met him.

However, this year, Nesta Bellator nee Archeron found she wasn't particularly in the spirit of spooky. Not when she looked like an overgrown pumpkin, with her bump jutting out of the shirt. From Braxton-hicks, aches in her lower back, not to mention the swelling in her feet, she was over this pregnancy. At this stage, Nesta's fairly certain her feet were to be permanently stuck that way.

This time around she and her husband of almost three years decided to stay in. Opting for appropriately themed films and eating take-out from her favorite Italian restaurant. The one that made the breadsticks so perfect, the bread seemed to melt in your mouth. A mere thought of them made her mouth dry. She would savor every bite while Cassian rubbed her pudgy toes. Tell her she's beautiful, though in this state, she felt far from it. Half of her clothes didn't fit. Even her maternity clothing seemed to be a struggle. Hell, everything was nowadays. Being ten long days past your due date would do the trick. 

Nesta heard the sound of jostling keys in the door. Prompting her to slide the bowl of half-eaten candy under the Cherrywood coffee table. Candy that was supposed to be for the neighborhood kids. She should feel guilty for eating most of it. In her state, Nesta found she could care less. They weren't miserable and exhausted beyond measure like her. Besides, the kids in their neighborhood didn't need all the sugar. Not like she did.

Hearing the creak from the front door and the click as it shut. A faint sound of heavy footfall from her husband's boots echoed from the hall. The sound becoming louder with each step inching towards her. Nesta stood with a groan from the grey sofa. Settling a hand on the swell of her back. Walking, no waddling, like a godsdamned penguin to greet her husband and the food she was dying to devour. Tonight her pain seemed to worsen.

Most likely from lazily hanging on the couch most of the day. She moved as quickly as her nesting body would carry her to the dining table. The square mahogany table adorned with orange, red, and brown on the runner, matching the leaves littering their yard outside. Nesta winced as she smiled at her hero, walking towards her. With bags of food from Nuala and Cerridwen's restaurant, La Bellezza di Cibo. He dropped the bags and rushed to her side. Nesta hitched a breath as the bags hit the floor with a thud. If her food were a mess, he'd deal with her, her... Nesta clutched the back of a ebony chair. 

"Nes?" he questioned with worry displayed on his ruggedly handsome features, a hand placed gingerly over her shoulder before resting on the swell of her belly, "Sweetheart, are you okay?"

Her knuckles bloomed white from her tightened grip on the rounded back of a dining chair, "fine." Nesta gritted out, glancing between concerned hazel eyes and her food abandoned on the floor.

 Once the tremor subsided, Nesta stood upright. Hands resting over Cassian's warm ones, "Fine," she replied again. Feeling the light kicks and punches from within. By the awe touched grin on her husband's lips, he felt it too, "Just Braxton hicks. As you can tell, he's content in there.

"Nes…" Cassian's thumbs rubbed along her belly, "I think you should call the doctor."

"I think," she huffed out, " you should pick up the food, feed your hungry, very pregnant wife, and rub her grapefruit-sized feet." Nesta realized a moment too late that the words were coming out harsher than intended.

By the way his posture tightened, and his jaw clenched, she knew he was fighting against what he truly wanted to say. That she wasn't in this alone, he should have a say too, and if he's concerned to humor him and call the damned doctor. They had called a few times, and tonight she wasn't doing it. She wasn't going into the hospital yet again only to hear they are Braxton-hicks and have those nurses look at her with slight annoyance—the kind she gave her customers daily. Cassian offered a tight smile, kissing her brow in a silent expression of okay. 

She watched his shoulders slump as he picked up the bags walking to the sofa. Her heart constricted as her gaze continued to follow him setting up dinner on the coffee table. He was trying in the only way he could. 

Cassian didn't know the inside of her body as she did. His only tells of possible labor were her movements and time. He sighed, pulling out her favorite drink, iced green tea, no sugar. Silently she moved towards the couch. Her husband now putting on Practical Magic, one of her favorites. He preferred the gory films. lately Nesta couldn't stomach watching those.

If she weren't pregnant and past due, Cassian being upset for a few minutes would be nothing. Nesta would have rolled her wines and left him be for thirty minutes, an hour, sometimes all night before talking. Now, she couldn't stand it. Bracing herself on the back of the charcoal sofa, Nesta shook away the dull pain in her spine. 

"Hang on," Cassian grabbed the couch pillows settling them against the back of her seat, "okay, now sit."

She did leaning into the pillows as best as she could. Laying a hand on her belly, the other on his thigh. "I'm sorry, Cas. I'm just.. I'm so tired all the time, I'm gigantic and in pain. Calling the doctor and going to the hospital just to be turned away, I can't do it. It's annoying and disheartening. If one of those nurses look at me like that again I will stab them in the eye with a syringe." Those last words she promised as a threat. A sigh escaped Nesta, laying her head against his shoulder, "and I just want to meet him."

 Cassian squeezed her hand, reaching for a breadstick with the opposite. Nesta took it, biting into the bread, still soft and warm. She could feel the sting of tears behind her eyes while she chewed. Cauldron this gods damned pregnancy has ruined her non-crying streak a hundred times over.

"I know. Trust me; I'm ready too. It seems like he has both of our stubbornness," he took her in his arms, running fingers through her hair. Nesta wiped her tears with the back of a hand, "You don't have to apologize, Nes. Yeah, I got annoyed for a minute. I don't know what's happening. I walked in, and you're bent over in pain. I had no idea if this had been going on all day or not. He pulled away, taking her feet in his lap. Gingerly rubbing the expanse from toes to ankles with the hardened padding of his thumbs. Nesta hummed her approval.

"I know."

"And you're not gigantic. I mean you-"

"Don't finish that sentence!" she snapped, cutting him a dry look.

He laughed, grinning like an idiot in the way it made her heart flutter, "You're carrying our child, and you look gorgeous doing it. Better?"

"Yes. But you're at morning foot rubs now and speaking of mornings. Tomorrow you're making me crepes."

"deal."

They fell into a blissful rhythm of silence watching the movie. At some point, Cassian handed her the tea. She didn't eat the chicken parm or touch the Tiramisu Nesta claimed to have been craving for weeks. However, he wasn't sure about that. Cassian, the dutiful husband he is, knew every craving and memorized everything she wants and needs. Learning the lesson from Rhys, who was kicked out for a night for getting the wrong the sauce. Feyre's wrath was nothing compared to Nesta's. Paying careful attention to all her tells he knew she's hurting tonight more than usual, which gave him an idea. It was stupid he knew, but if it worked...

"Nes, wanna go trick or treating?"

Turning, she looked at him incredulously. He chuckled at her mouth fully agape, a bit of breadstick tumbling down her black shirt.

"Cassian, you're thirty-one years old, and you want to go trick or treating?" a nod, "seriously?" a second nod, Nesta sat a little straighter, "Let me get this straight, you want to take your nine and then some months pregnant wife trick or treating?"

"Yes, sweetheart. That's exactly what I'm suggesting. We can paint your stomach like a pumpkin with body paint. The doctor said walking helps a chance of labor, free candy, and I'll throw in a rub as soon we get back. I'll even hold your breadsticks and tea."

Before she had a chance to consider, Nesta felt a rush of liquid flow from her. Like someone, some little one popped a balloon filled with water. Nesta stilled for a moment. Time slowed as her stormy grey eyes moved down to her belly. She could feel her cotton leggings thoroughly soaked. Her jaw fell, and her heart pounded loudly. To the point that Nesta knew Cassian was speaking, yet couldn't hear his words. There were only dull noises and a wet feeling underneath her. This was happening. There was no trickery tonight—no falsified contractions. 

Cassian knelt in front of her. Face twisted in worry, he quickly transferred to a half-smile, realizing Nesta was smiling from ear to ear.

"Sweetheart?" 

Meeting his gaze of amber and green flecked eyes, Nesta finally broke, "We can't trick or treat. Cassian, my water broke."

Tag list: @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @hizqueen4life @clockworkgraystairs @b00kworm @negativenesta @sjm-things @whataboutmyfries @justgiu12 @illyrian-bookworm @thesirenwashere @ireallyshouldsleeprn @forbiddencorvidae @vanessa172003 @thewickedkings @sleeping-and-books @thefolkofthefic @yafandomsdotnet @aknymph @alittledribbledrabble @iminsanenotobsessed @figuredihadanodustollensofalife @df3ndyr @awkward-avocado-s @maastrash @knifewifejude @st00pid231 @elide-lochan-salvaterre @gisellefigue08 @se-ono-waise-ilia @strangeenemy @The-girl-who-reads-to-much @piratejudedemdji @junipersuns @ladywitchling @superspiritfestival @kendarbahr @shadowhuntersshadow-world @pcarnatio @wanderingjpg @whimsyrhys @bookishwitchling @sayosdreams @theoceanfaewriter @acourtofbookworms

[anoramactir]

when you wish.

i wrote fic! can you believe it? because i can’t, i literally never finish anything. but it’s kana from @speakergame​‘s birthday today, and there was a small event in the official server.

i rewrote this like.... eighty times because i couldn’t figure out how to go about it, and eventually i settled on mini fills for each prompt that kind of go together. and then i combined prompts 2 & 3 because i couldn’t figure out 2 individually. the end result is something i’m not entirely pleased with, but whatever. love you, kana! <3

PROMPTS TWO & THREE: candles & music.

The day starts, rather inauspiciously, with the blaring of a fire alarm just after sunrise. Just last year, Kana had slept till noon, wandered into the nearest bakery, & purchased the fluffiest red velvet cupcake they’ve ever had. This year  -  spent leaning against the kitchen door as Finn swears at the alarm, Cricket barking furiously at her feet  -  is somehow better. They’ve gone soft, it seems, and Lily will never let them live it down. “Well,” they start, blowing lightly at the yet-smoking pancakes, “I guess I’ve heard worse birthday songs. And the candles are rather creative.”

It’s actually the (generous) truth, but Finn still pouts as she clambers off the counter. “Don’t be mean,” she says, “I was trying to do something nice.” And it was a sweet thought  -  red velvet pancakes, coffee from Greta’s, a tiny present badly hidden behind the fruit bowl. But the best of intentions can’t change facts, and the fact is Fiona Demir can barely be trusted to boil water. Kana’s not any better themself, admittedly, but at least they can admit their weaknesses.

“It would have been nicer to let me sleep.” Despite the chiding words, there’s only fond laughter in Kana’s voice, and Finn’s ire visibly eases.

“Next year,” she promises. Rising to her tiptoes, she tries to press a kiss to Kana’s cheek. Instead, Kana turns to meet her mouth with their own, and the both of them are smiling by the time they pull apart. “Happy birthday, by the way,” Finn says, slightly out of breath, “I meant to say it first thing, but... like I said, I’ll do better next year.”

It sends a thrill through Kana, the easy way she says it. Next year, as if it’s a given. As if Kana’s place is in Finn’s home, in her bed, in her life, and that will never change. Perhaps that should scare them, after so much uncertainty. Precious few things in their life have proven permanent. It is frightening, a little.��But today is their birthday, and they refuse to spend it worrying. “I'll hold you to that,” they tease. “Now- what exactly are we going to do about breakfast?”

Finn eyes the charred remains of her pancakes, apparently judging them inedible. (Thank the gods for that. Kana would have forced them down, but they weren’t looking forward to it.) “The drow next door wanted opinions on her 4th of July menu. How do you feel about taste-testing?”

“Lead the way, sweetheart.”

PROMPT ONE: balloons.

“That is a terrible idea.” It should be a protest, but Lily sounds almost eager, delighted at watching disaster unfold. But in all fairness, none of them have tried to stop Rory. Sebastian seems to think it’d be hopeless, Azalea is too shy, and Kana... Kana has a pretty girl in their lap, and that’s much more interesting than a helium tank and some balloons.

It had been a lovely party, but by now most of the guests have filtered out (their ribs still ache from Ana Leighton’s goodbye hug) and only the usual suspects remain. Kana can see their own contentment reflected on Finn’s face, an easy sort of joy from giving them a good day. They can’t help it. They kiss her. The taste of buttercream icing still lingers in Finn’s mouth, and Kana presses closer without concious thought. The chatter fades into the background, everything hazy and almost dreamlike, and-

POP!

Finn topples to the side, and nearly takes Kana down with her. They just barely catch themselves, blinking dazedly at the bits of plastic raining across the room. “Roderick Kane.”

“It’s not my fault!” But even he doesn’t seem to believe it. There’s no shame on his face, though, just a stifled grin. “Shit, that was the mermaid balloon. Do you think that’s bad luck for you?”

Maggie scoffs. “Don’t be so superstitious,” she says, which seems a tad hypocritical coming from the psychic. "It just means we need to keep you away from anything breakable. Also, you’re cleaning this up.”  

Deciding to leave them to it, Kana turns back to Finn. She’s already climbing off the floor, seemingly more amused than anything. Still, they reach out to check.  “Sweetheart, are you alright?”

“I’m in unspeakable pain and will need a gorgeous nurse,” she cheerfully replies, which roughly translates into I’m fine, just obnoxious. Kana rolls their eyes, but can’t quite hide a smile. Finn, sensing weakness, pounces. Her puppy dog eyes really are unfairly cute. Cricket can hardly compare.

“Isn’t that Lily’s job? I don’t want to put her out of work.”

Yet Finn is - unsurprisingly - undeterred. “But Bas will be jealous! Besides, the doctor specifically said it had to be a siren.”

It’s a hopeless fight. They give in. Wrapping their hands around Finn’s waist, Kana pulls her back into their lap.  “Well,” they muse, “then I guess I have to care for you.” They brush their fingers lightly against Finn’s temple, against the beginnings of a faint bruise.

Something must show in their expression- some dangerous affection, because Finn’s teasing fades into something soft. “You take care of me,” she says quietly,  “and I’ll take care of you.”

PROMPT FOUR: gifts.

It’s earlier than Kana usually sleeps, but they’re exhausted all the same. A good sort of exhaustion, though, the kind that only comes from a day spent well. They’re wrapping their hair up, humming idly to themselves, when Finn pads into the room. There’s a wrapped box in her hand, apprehension in her face, and Kana raises an eyebrow in surprise.  “You already gave me concert tickets, remember?”

Finn shakes her head as she takes a seat, saying, “Those were from Maggie and me. This is... Maggie agreed to it, but it’s really from me.” At last she hands it over, and Kana tracks the way she fiddles with her bracelet, the way she can’t quite meet their eyes. They could ask, but it’ll be faster to just open the present.

Their breath catches. “...A key?”

“To the house,” she answers, almost before Kana has finished their question. “I know we never lock the door anyway, and you’re already here most of the time, but- it’s symbolic, I guess. I’m asking you to stay.”

Kana hadn’t needed the clarification (there’s only so many ways to interpret a key) but they almost ask Finn to repeat herself, anyway. They’d known they were wanted here, truly. A designated seat at the kitchen table, their name on the chore wheel, their favorite CDs stored in the car. Their welcome has never been in doubt. 

‘I’m asking you to stay.’ Somehow, it’s different hearing it out loud.

“I love you.”

It’s not an answer, not really. But from the way Finn beams, maybe it’s as good as. “Good,” she says, “because next year, I’ll probably get you a ring.”

[maaaddiexo]

Chapter Three | Peter Pevensie

[Red Series Book One: Roses]

Synopsis: With World War Two ravaging the world, no one is safe and no one is happy.

Despite their protests, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie are evacuated from London and sent to live in the English countryside with an old professor. Scared and unhappy, only the youngest Pevensie child remains optimistic and ends up sharing her hope with her siblings in the form of a wardrobe that takes them to Narnia, a different world where they are the only form of hope to bring an end to an evil witch's reign of terror.

Rosemary Bennett has no more hope left in her heart. Her brother and father are off fighting for their country, the former having gone missing months ago, and her mother ignores her, preferring the company of a bottle over her own daughter. Giving up seems the only logical plan of action. But when it finally comes to carrying it out, she's transported to a different world, with talking animals and a prophecy that doesn't involve her. Unsure as to why she is there, she must navigate a new world and ponder the possibility that maybe - just maybe - she doesn't actually want to die.

*Warning: this book deals with depression and suicide. Though mental illness isn't what this story revolves around, the act of suicide and depressive thoughts are intertwined with the plot and act as 'backseat drivers' to the novel.

*mentions of mental illness, depression and (attempted) suicide

[Chapter Four] [Series Masterlist] [Masterlist]

Red sky at night, sailor's delight.

Red sky at morn, sailors take warn.

It was a small rhyme that Rosemary could remember her father telling her when he first took her out fishing with him and Daniel. As she had watched the sun rise earlier that morning, she watched as red bled into the sky and knew what was coming.

After lacing up her tall boots, Rosemary slipped into her green peacoat and pulled out her braided hair from underneath the collar. Once she was sure she was set, she placed the folded letter on the kitchen counter next to an unopened bottle of scotch. She wanted her mother to find her letter but not until she was far enough away where she couldn't be found and stopped in time.

Quietly, slipping out the door, Rosemary walked away from her home and into the rain. The walk to the cliffside was no more than twenty minutes, and the storm had yet to hit. It was simply windy and rainy, neither of which bothered Rosemary - especially now. Her tears blended in with the rain and the wind quickly dried them up only to be replaced by more tears and raindrops.

When she finally arrived at the cliffside, she paused. If the weather were better, it would look like her dream. If the sky was clearer, would the water be as blue as the sea in her dreams? For a moment, Rosemary faltered, doubting herself.

Was she really about to do this?

But Rosemary knew the answer. She couldn't go back to an empty house where her mother purposely ignored her and she was faced every day with the possibility that her brother and father may not be returning. So yes, she was about to do this.

Walking forward until she was at the edge of the cliffside, Rosemary looked up to the heavens and let the sobs loose. She'd been holding them back for so long and now with the wind and rain and no one around, she was free to yell and cry and scream. No one would hear her. Thunder rumbled above her and the rain pelted harder against her skin. The storm was above her and she didn't have a care in the world.

She was ready.

Lost in the roar of the storm and the crashing waves below, Rosemary looked up to the sky one last time and whispered, "I love you". And then she stepped forward.

•

The water was ice cold, knocking the breath out of Rosemary immediately. Her coat and shoes weighed her down, pulling her to the bottom faster. It would've made things a lot more difficult for her had she been trying to get to the surface but she wasn't. And even if she wanted to, she couldn't swim. Which was why drowning seemed the best way to go - she couldn't turn back.

Rosemary let herself sink further and further and the little light that still reached her diminished slowly. Her ears and lungs felt like they could pop at any moment, but Rosemary knew that it would soon be peaceful, and she would be gone.

When Rosemary could no longer take the pressure and felt like a balloon about to pop, she closed her eyes and took a breath.

•

"Oh come on! Breathe!"

Rosemary sat up sputtering. Water dripped from her nose and mouth as she fought to get oxygen into her waterlogged lungs. A small hand alternated between patting and rubbing her back until she calmed down.

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought you were dead!" The voice was loving and high-pitched. It had that distinctive motherly note to it - one Rosemary's mother used to use on her.

"Wait, I'm not dead?" And why is it so bloody cold?

"Of course not. Although, you would have been had I pulled you out of the river any later. Silly girl," the voice patronized, though there was no harshness in her voice. "What were you thinking?"

Tears welled in Rosemary's eyes. She was thinking about dying. She wanted to die. She tried to die. And yet she had failed and someone had somehow pulled her out of the river. Wait - river? Rosemary had jumped into the English Channel which was attached to the sea. It surely wasn't a river.

For the first time, Rosemary looked up and gasped at the sight in front of her. She had no clue where she was, but it definitely wasn't England. Everywhere she looked was white. Every surface in sight was covered in an untouched blanket of snow.

"Where am I?" Her voice was quiet, and broke as she spoke.

"Why, you're in Narnia, my dear. Are you alright?" The body the voice belonged to came around to face to Rosemary and she screeched at what she saw. It was a beaver. "Deary? Are you alright?"

"You...you're a beaver."

"Well, obviously," the female beaver chuckled. "I don't really look like anything else, do I?"

In her shocked state, Rosemary managed to backtrack. "I mean - you're a beaver who is talking."

"We all do," the beaver said simply.

Rosemary shook her head for a moment, her frozen hair knocking against her cheeks. "I'm sorry - 'we'?"

The beaver smiled again and cocked her head to the side. "Tell you what. It's cold and you're soaking wet, so why don't we head back to the dam and you can warm up and I'll answer any and all questions you have as best as I can."

That sounded like a fair deal so Rosemary nodded and slowly stood up on wobbly legs. Standing straight, she was more exposed to the elements and could feel the wind and cold air on her skin and wet clothes. Her hair and clothes had already begub to freeze. The last thing that Rosemary wanted was to catch pneumonia with only a beaver to treat her. Did they even have doctors or nurses here? In...Narnia?

Rosemary's feet felt sluggish as she trudged behind the lady beaver. "I know we haven't been walking long but how much further? I can't really feel my body," she smiled sheepishly, though the lady beaver didn't turn around to see it.

"Just around the corner, dear. And then we'll get you all warmed up and fed."

Seeing the bend in the river not too far ahead, Rosemary was motivated to move a little faster and reach their warm destination sooner. Her lips were probably purple and her fingers could have fallen off twenty steps ago and she wouldn't have noticed. Both hands were clamped under her armpits, but seeing as her clothes were sopping wet, not much warmth was provided.

"Here we are!" Looking up, Rosemary stared a large dam built in the ice and light coming from within. Was anybody else home? "Beaver is out right now but he should be back for dinner. I hope you like fish and chips."

Rosemary actually hated fish but she didn't have the heart to tell the lady beaver that. She would force the disgusting meal down if she had to. She wouldn't turn anything away that was given to her by someone who had saved her life - even though she had tried to end it no more than thirty minutes ago.

Rosemary had to get on her hands and knees to crawl through the doorway, but once she was inside, she could stand to her full height of five-foot-five. Looking around the room while the lady beaver went down on all fours and shook herself dry, Rosemary saw a bed in the far right corner, a makeshift kitchen, a dining room table, and a sitting area.

"This is incredible," Rosemary whispers in awe. Who knew beavers lived so lavishly.

"Thank you. But the credit really goes to Beaver - my husband. He's the builder and the designer. I just feed the fat lump. You can call me Mrs. Beaver."

Rosemary looked down at the friendly creature who was smiling up at her with warm eyes and an outstretched hand - well, paw. Grabbing it as nonchalantly as she could (seeing as she's never actually shook hands with a beaver or any creature for that matter), Rosemary shook hands with Mrs. Beaver. "I'm Rosemary. It's lovely to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine, Rosemary," Mrs. Beaver replied. "Now take off some of those layers and lay them out by the fire to dry. Beaver and I have found some clothes over the years that we keep in a trunk by the bed. We use them mostly as blankets, but you're welcome to sort through and see if there's anything that fits you."

Rosemary didn't need to be told twice. She quickly laid out her peacoat by the fire before finding the trunk Mrs. Beaver was talking about. It was wooden, with beautiful and intricate designs carved into it. On the front at the center, the designs all focused on the carving of a lion mid-roar. Rosemary took a moment, tracing her fingers over the designs much like a blind person reading brail.

Inside was even more extraordinary. Both male and female clothing had been folded neatly and placed inside. Rosemary picked out a pair of stockings, a long-sleeved dress close enough to her size, and a belt.

"Is there someplace I can change?" Rosemary asked timidly.

"Not really. Beaver and I don't really wear clothes," Mrs. Beaver mused. "But I won't look and Beaver won't be back for at least another hour. Do you want some tea?"

"Oh, yes please."

In any other situation, Rosemary would be hesitant to change in front of someone else - especially someone she had just met. But she was freezing and didn't really care anymore. Part of her was convinced she was dead and this was her hallucinating before she fully drowned. Turning her back to Mrs. Beaver, Rosemary changed as quickly as she could. Though the dress and stockings were thin - definitely not ones made for winter - they were dry and already she felt a little bit warmer.

Letting Mrs. Beaver know that it was okay to turn back around, Rosemary moved to lay her wet clothes out by the fire. "So, you said you would answer some of my questions?"

[Chapter Four] [Series Masterlist] [Masterlist]

[lolabean1998]

This Better Work Part 2

Sweet Pea X OC

Summery; Hey guys, not sure how well this is going to go but I originally put it on Wattpad so its way long, but hopefully its not horrendous. Let me know what you think! So, it follows the story line kind of, it’s not exact but I have tried and it follows my OC Ali as she navigates through the hell that is Riverdale. Whilst struggling with financial, social and romantic difficulties, she has the added pressure of keeping up with school work and bonus of being thrown into the frightening world of the criminal underground.

Side Note; None of the gifs or pictures I use are mine, I’m not talented or smart enough to even begin an attempt at making my own. Thank you to those who have such abilities and if you don’t want me using them then please let me know so I can remove them for you. 

Word Count; 5,235 (Give or Take)

"Get in, we're picking up Izzy and dearest Mummy Masters before going on a girls afternoon at the spa!" Cheryl called from the driveway. Ali had spent her day filing paperwork, signing forms and reorganizing the stock room for the thousandth time. Alongside fixing the mistakes the apprentices made. It was fair to say she was stress and drained. She needed this spa evening.

"Cheryl Bombshell Blossom I Love you to the moon and back!" Ali cheered leaping from her desk and bolting through the door, waving good bye to the apprentice at the desk behind hers as she dived in besides Cheryl. 

"I know, I love you too." Cheryl replied, with a proud grin as she sped down the road towards Ali's house. 

It was nothing big or fancy, nor was it you typical northside house. Ali lived in an old stone cottage with large vines crawling up the side, the garden was flooded with life. Plants springing from every corner, it was small but cosy. Ali loved living there. Even though it was in desperate need of maintenance, it still felt like home and her uncle came around whenever he got the chance, to fix things and help around the house. Cheryl thought Ali's home was just what it should be, a home. There were photos of family and friends plastering the walls and it always smelt like cookies and home baking. Ali darted inside to jump in the shower ready to scrub wash away as much of the dirt and grime as she could. 

"Cheryl! So lovely to see you! We've just made red velvet cupcakes, want one?" Ali's mum greeted Cheryl embracing her in a big mum hug. Cheryl couldn't help but feel at home here. 

"Yes please, Mrs. Masters that would be lovely." She teased, taking a perfectly baked and decorated cupcake from the tray in front of her. 

"Oh, stop it. I've told you, call me Rosie please! Mrs. Masters makes me sound old." Rosie laughed giving her an amused scowl and placing a comforting hand on Cheryl’s arm before heading into the living room to tell Izzy it was time to go. 

The girls spent the evening relaxing drinking wine (lemonade for Izzy) and gossiping. Ali told them about the rumours she'd heard from different customers throughout the day, whilst Izzy told them all about the latest boy trouble in her year. It was the perfect end to a very stressful day. 

"Ali wake up. Ali wake up!" Izzy cheered excitedly, bouncing on the bottom of Ali's Bed. She lifted her head marginally from her pillow to glance over at the clock beside the vase filled with her favourite flowers. 8am. Ali flopped her head back onto her soft, blue pillow groaning as she pulled the pale blue duvet covers over her head. 

"Izzy it's 8am on a Sunday. This is my one day off!" Ali groaned sleepily into her pillow.

"Exactly Ali! It's your day off and you promised to help me and Sam with our science project! Please Ali! I made you tea and pancakes. Well mum made them, but I helped." Izzy beamed, her sweet innocence overwhelming Ali forcing her to get up like some twisted Jedi mind trick. She couldn't say no to her little sister. Slowly, she climbed out of bed throwing on a pair of scruffy, black, skinny jeans and a grey tank top over her black sports bra, grabbing a faded grey hoodie and the pair of fluffy neon orange socks Izzy had found for her before hopping down stairs. 

"You look like shit Ali!" Rosie stated handing her a large mug of tea and a plate of pancakes and blueberries.

"Thanks mum, good morning to you too." Ali replied sarcastically, laughing at her mothers no messing, straight to the point comment. Rosie handed Izzy a hair brush so she could start brushing her sisters insanely long and messy hair whilst Ali wolfed down her plateful of pancakes. Throwing her socks on and glugging down her tea in seconds.

"There you go Ali, mum showed me how to plait so I did your hair like Lara Croft! She's a Bad ass too!" Izzy grinned jumping down from her stool and running over to the front door to grab her helmet and Ali's combat boots. 

"Looks like you're off then Ali!" Rosie smiled gesturing to Izzy who was desperately trying to do the laces on her own combat boots. Ali thought it was cute that Izzy looked up to her so much. She even dressed like her. Izzy wore a pair of grey jeans and black t-shirt, paired with a black hoodie with a bright orange zip and tassels. That explains the socks. Ali thought as she wandered over to help Izzy tie her navy-blue combat boots.

"Oh, and I said I'd help Hog Eye balance the books for the Wyrm tonight. You should pop by and say hello." Rosie called as they threw on their helmets and fingerless leather gloves.

"All over it! Love you Mum!" The sisters called back in chorus before disappearing out the door and racing to the old Harley Davidson tucked away in its own little shed. That was the first thing to go up when they moved in. Before unpacking or doing any of the other usual moving house things people do. The Masters family spent the day choosing the perfect spot to build a shed for the Harley. 

"Hold on tight Izzy!" Ali called once Izzy tapped her shoulder giving her the ok. The girls sped off down the road heading towards the Sunday morning market in Greendale so they could grab some water balloons and the ingredients for s’mores. Though it was far too cold for a water fight, the girls agreed it would be a good distraction and make warming up by the fire all the more fun. 

Ali quickly parked the bike next to a bunch of others. Safety in numbers and what have you. Before swinging Izzy onto her back and sprinting off into the crowd to grab the supplies. They were quick and efficient with Ali grabbing the stuff they needed whilst Izzy counted out the cash and paid. The girls were finished and back at the bike in less than an hour. Packing the stuff in the bags either side of the seats laughing about a grouchy raven-haired boy they had bumped into on their way round.

"Maybe he was having a bad day!" Izzy thought as she sat on the back of the bike sipping her hot chocolate and looking over at the various array of bikes.

"You think maybe we should've bought him a hot chocolate to cheer him up?" Ali asked her sister. She loved spending time with her. Listening to the innocent, unfiltered comments that she came out with.

"With extra whipped cream and marshmallows!" Izzy agreed thinking back to the scowl hidden beneath a few strands of raven black hair. "He was crazy tall as well. So its not like he’s grumpy 'cos he couldn't reach the cookie jar!"

"Yeah he's like goliaths angry love child." Ali chuckled before her eyes shot wide open as it suddenly dawned on her. She quickly began scanning through the array of bikes until her gaze settled on the bike she had spent the previous night fixing up. 

"No freaking way! Izzy get over her with your printy camera thingy ma jig." She instructed, ushering towards the Harley she had fixed up.

"You mean my polaroid, but I'll let it slide. Why? What's up buttercup?" Izzy skipped over to the bike, puzzled by what was going on. 

"Jump on and strike a pose we are leaving this kid some crazy selfies to cheer him up." Ali replied, the determination in her voice was overpowering. 

Izzy climbed up on the bike and the girls began taking selfie after selfie, making a little sign with a piece of scrap paper in Ali's pocket and a permanent marker, that read 'Don't worry, you'll find your smile!'. They left the pile of selfies on the seat wrapped in a pretty, floral paper bag with a pack of water balloons on top before setting off towards Sunnyside Trailer park. 

"Morning Momma Fogarty!" The girls called as they pulled up outside the Fogarty family trailer.

"Ah girls come in, come in. I must pop out for a bit but Sam's inside doing her homework and Fangs is asleep. Feel free to wake him up and get him doing some homework. He was out all-night last night with his boy scouts group doing god knows what!" She rambled, welcoming the girls in and making them a cup of tea each before scurrying out the door, waving a final goodbye. Her orange floral dress hugging her chubby curves.

"Well that was intense. You guys get started on your science project. I'm going to go and wake up sleeping beauty." Ali grinned wickedly, heading down to the small room at the end of the trailer, pausing before she knocked on the door. 

"He doesn't have a person in there with him, does he?" Ali asked giving the girls a concerned glance. The tanned girl shook her head giggling as Ali nodded taking a deep breath before swinging the door to Fangs room open and leaning casually against the door frame.

"MAA its Sunday!" Fangs groaned into his pillow, the light stretching through the doorway was the only source of light in his small, trailer house bedroom. The stench of whiskey and beer hung thickly in the stale air.

"What's up Buttercup, the sunlight hurt?" Ali sympathised sarcastically before sauntering over to the curtains and flinging them open. 

"Come on tequila worm, coffees on and we're making a science project. Oh, and Mama Fogarty wants your homework done. I'll help if you get up before Izzy's finished filling the bucket. You have ice, right?" Ali asked rather seriously before disappearing out the door and moving to hold the door to the bathroom open. 

Turning to her sister and mouthing "Glass of water" to her. Izzy jumped up excited to be helping and grabbed a large pint glass of water for Ali. 

The second Fangs heard the tap running he bolted out of bed in a blind panic. His eyes shooting wide with fear as he realized his big mistake when the sudden urge to vomit took control of his limbs and insides. He bolted out his bedroom to the bathroom. Ali stood by the door until Izzy handed her a glass of water. Laughing when Ali winked at her before moving to crouch beside Fangs rubbing his back and handing him the glass. 

"Ali should we get the Hangover cure ready?" Izzy asked poking her head round the door frame.

"Better had and whilst you're at it, grab Fangs some comfy clothes. He appears to have forgotten he’s in his underwear." Ali spoke quietly trying not to make Fangs feel worse than he already did. 

"You and flower had a drinking contest didn't you. You know the giant is the undefeated champion right." Ali chatted, rubbing his back until he had nothing left to bring up. Fangs sat back, resting his head against the wall behind him as he sipped the water.

"I swear to god I'm never falling for that trick again! That bastard nearly killed me, he better be just as bad as me right now." Fangs mumbled, his eyes closed to shield himself from the killer headache consuming him. 

"He crazy tall, with dark hair and a neck tattoo? Scowls a lot?" Ali asked although she already knew the answer. 

"Yeah, why?" Fangs asked curiously.

"We bumped into him this morning at the market. Besides holding a very angry scowl he seemed perfectly fine. What were your drinking last night anyway?" Ali asked handing him a damp cloth to wipe his face and a pair of sweat pants and white vest.

"Vodka and Silver tequila. Why?" Fangs replied slowly getting to his feet with the help of Ali.

"That’s why he's fine dummy." Ali rolled her eyes at the boys gullible attitude. 

"You were doing vodka and tequila shots. He was doing water shots. They look very similar and he probably paid the bartender off. Honestly Fogarty I thought you gangsters were supposed to be hip to these tricks." Ali tutted helping Fangs stand steady as he threw on the sweat pants. Heading into the kitchen, being greeted by Izzy and Sam who were holding a glass off peculiar, green juice.

"Here you go Fangs, we made it to make you feel better. Painkillers are on the side." Sam chirped happy to be included in the sobering up of her older brother. Scowling a little when he ruffled her short, dark chocolate hair in thanks.

"Down it in one Fangs, tastes like horse piss but it's good stuff trust me." Ali insisted, handing him the glass and painkillers.

"Had much experience with that have you Ali cat?" Fangs teased downing the drink and painkillers in one. Ali was right it tasted awful but after about half an hour Fangs was feel much better. 

They had just finished the last of Fangs' English homework and half of the paper mache moulds when there was a loud knock at the door. 

"It's open but we demand feeding upon entry!" Ali called, standing up and making her way to the door as it opened. Revealing a girl only a little bit taller than Ali, with incredible pink and brown hair.

"Hey Topaz, no Jug?" Ali asked letting her inside. The girl smiled dumping her bag on the kitchen side next to Fangs and pulling out her homework. 

"Heard there was a study group and since Bughead are studying together I figure I'd come and join you guys, hope that's ok." Toni asked turning to look at Ali who was smiling as always.

"Absolutely, Fangs was just about to start his trig homework." Ali chirped handing over a notebook full of scribbles. 

"These are my notes, they should help explain it. I'm going to help the girls design the motor for their moving solar system ok?" Toni and Fangs rolled their eyes nodding with an amused smirk.

"So, I saw Sweat Pea this morning. Looks like he got you again huh Fangs?" Toni teased reading through the notes Ali had given her.

"Sounds like he got had by the old water, Vodka trick." Ali chuckled.

"Can we mock me later please?" Fangs groaned resting his head on his book and closing his eyes.

"It's ok Fangs. At some point I'll challenge the grouch to a drinking contest. You can mock him then instead." Ali grinned winking at Izzy when her head flew up in excitement. Ali knew every trick in the book, her father had practically written it and taught her everything he knew. 

The group spent the rest of the morning chatting and working hard. Toni and Fangs finished their homework rather quickly and moved to help with the paper mache whilst Ali showed Izzy and Sam how to build the water powered motor. 

"Well guys I'd say its a good job done. Just leave it to dry and we can paint it tomorrow!" Ali declared cheerfully, standing back to admire their hard work. Her hands resting on her hips. 

"Ali, I'm hungry can we go to Pops now?" Izzy whined, her stomach growling as she spoke. 

"Ok Kiddo, grab your helmet. You guys coming? Foods on me." Ali offered looking at everyone's hungry faces as she snatched her helmet and keys.

"I've got my uncles truck for the day so I can give Fangs and Sam a lift. I don't think you should be driving just yet." Toni grinned dragging Fangs through the door with the assistance of Sam, who was pushing and shoving him from behind. 

"Race you there?" Ali called lifting Izzy onto the back ok her bike. Toni snorted at the offer shaking her head.

"Do I look stupid to you? There's no way I'd win against you on that beast!" She called jumping into her truck and waiting for Fangs to climb in after Sam. 

"Fair point. See you there!" Ali called before speeding away. Izzy clinging tightly to her sisters waist laughing as they hit a straight stretch of road perfect for reaching top speed. 

After enjoying a big lunch at Pops, Toni and Fangs took Sam back to the trailer before heading to the Wyrm to pick up Jughead and Sweet Pea. Whilst Ali and Izzy made their way to the quarry to start setting up. Izzy lit a fire in the large metal drum at the centre of several old sofas and huge log, whilst Ali filled up the water balloons, placing piles of them in strategic places around the fire pit. Her music played cheerfully in the background as the girls danced as they worked. 

They had just finished filling up the last of the balloons and were making sure the towels were safely tucked away by the bike, where they wouldn't get wet. When they heard the familiar grumble of Toni's truck. Ali and Izzy grabbed a water balloon each before standing side by side on one of the logs surrounding the fire. Water balloons safely hidden behind their backs.

Toni and Fangs made their way over to the girls, closely followed by an overly serious Jughead and Scowling Sweet Pea. Ali grinned at Fangs as he stopped on the log opposite her. Toni made her way over to stand by Ali and Izzy. Secretly accepting the water balloon Izzy handed her from behind, being careful not to let Fangs see. They then waited for the other 2 to join Fangs before Ali spoke.

"Hey Jug, Fangs, Flower." She acknowledged with a mischievous grin, putting Jughead on edge.

"I don't like that look. Fangs why is she looking at us like that!" He said nervously sceptical, flinching when Ali's eyebrow twitched daringly.

"In my defence Jones, I tried. I really did." Fangs defended, looking at his friend apologetically.

"Who is this Northsider and why is she here?" Sweet Pea questioned giving Ali a disgusted scowl making Toni chuckle a bit. His scowl was different from his usual northside hatred glare.

"I, my dear flower," Ali replied sweetly, stepping forward and tilting her head to the side innocently. Making Fangs and Jughead gulp. They didn't like where this was going. 

"I’m the girl that’s going to get You wet." She grinned sweetly, before launching a large water balloon at Sweet Pea's face and diving behind the log she had jumped off. His face fell in horror as the ice-cold water collided with his chiselled cheek bones.

"IT'S GIRLS V BOYS! THIS MEANS WAR!" Izzy and Toni screamed launching their water balloons at the guys before running to grab more ammunition and take cover.

"Winner is the team that stays driest. Game finishes when we run out of balloons!" Ali yelled throwing another balloon at Sweet Pea who was pissed and determined to get revenge on the Northsider that had the audacity to attack him like that. 

The game went on for a while, each team using different tactics. Whilst the boys went for the panicked maniac approach. The girls decided to trap them. Tricking the boys into a false sense of security with a few poorly aimed throws. Making the guys think they had the upper hand. Moving in to strike a tree they thought the girls had huddled behind only to find nothing but a large X on the ground.

"X MARKS THE SPOT DUMMIES" Ali called from above them. She had scurried up the tree carrying a bag full of water balloons with Izzy and Toni placed strategically behind the trees surrounding the mark waiting for the signal. The girls immediately opened fire on the guys as they stood defence less, hopelessly trying to fight back. But resistance was futile. Especially after Ali tipped the large bag of balloons over them from above. Soaking them from head to toe. 

"Told you I'd get you wet!" Ali teased, grinning smugly from the branch she was perched on.

"OK Ali. You win!" Jughead called trying to stifle a laugh. Ringing out his hat and shaking out the water from his hair. Ali grinned victoriously as she climbed back down the now very slippery tree trunk, her foot slipping at the last step sending her flying backwards. She had just enough time to throw her legs back, pushing her way through the damp air in a recovery back flip. Her feet landing solidly between Fangs and Jughead. After several seconds of laughing at Ali's near miss with the ground, the group made their way back over to the fire throwing a few more logs on to build up the flames. Laughing and joking about the battle they had just fought.

"It goes without saying, girls are definitely better than boys!" Toni stated handing out towels, making Izzy giggle. 

"Ali pulled a Lara Croft on them!" Izzy squeaked happily, holding her tummy as a giggle fit took a hold of her. Pushing her on her side almost making her fall off the log she was sat on. But just as she was about to roll off, a large hand grabbed her, pulling her back up to safety. Sweet Pea chuckled as he looked down at the little girl still curled up in a raging fit of gut busting laughter. Wrapping a large muscular arm around her to hold her steady.

After a few minutes of everyone laughing at Izzy's uncontrollable giggles, the group managed to calm down, as did Izzy's giggles. Though she still had the occasional chuckle slip through. Ali chuckled at her little sisters innocence as she went to grab the food she had bought earlier. Placing a box of goodies in front of the group.

"Told you she'd help you find your smile!" Izzy murmured looking up at Sweet Pea who had been watching Ali as the group laughed and chatted. A small grin tweaking at the corners of his chapped lips. 

"Shush you and grab me a s’more." He replied warmly. Sending Izzy over to grab them both a s’more and a sandwich each. Ali looked at the handfuls of food in Izzy's arms, moving her gaze to Sweet Pea who was sat beside Fangs. An Izzy sized gap between them.

"You slave driver! Did you just send poor, frozen little Izzy over to grab Your food?" Ali accused playfully, chuckling at Izzy when she nodded her head happily before shuffling back over to her cosy spot between the two gangsters.

"I'm helping, Ali!" Izzy defended with a proud grin as Fangs wrapped her back up in a large purple towel.

The group sat there until it was too dark and cold to stay any longer. They silently packed everything away before heading to the Whyte Wyrm. Izzy rode in the truck with Toni and Fangs so she wouldn't freeze to death on the back of Ali's bike. Forcing Sweet Pea to ride with Ali on her bike and Jughead, who refused to ride with Ali ever again, managed to squeeze inside Toni's truck after being dragged in by Izzy.

"Not too bad for Northsider's are they?" Jughead teased Sweet Pea as they followed her inside the dimly lit bar.

"They're ok I guess," He shrugged, not letting Jughead know he was right. 

"Izzy's funny, annoying but tolerable." He grumbled waving to the bar tender and ordering a round of beers for the guys.

"You're just upset 'cos the kids more perceptive than you are." Fangs interjected grabbing his beer and leaning against the bar. Smirking at his friend.

"Hey Hog-Eye, can you tell mum we're here and can we get 2 ginger beers please. Its a school night and Izzy's here." Ali greeted cheerfully, her smile brighter than ever as she accepted the drinks handed to her.

"Drinks on the house kid. You and your mum do enough for us and don't think I haven't noticed the discounts you've been giving the Serpents." Hog Eye insisted, waving away the money Ali had pulled out.

"Hey what about me?!" Izzy asked looking a little upset peering over the edge of the bar on her tiptoes.

"Sorry kiddo almost forgot about your handy work with a paint brush." Hog eye apologized leaning over to ruffle her hair a little.

"Come on Izzy, lets see if the guys are brave enough to play us at pool. Thanks Hog-Eye!" Ali smiled guiding her little sister towards the pool table on the other side of the room.

"Hey Fangs, make sure she stays out of trouble. You know what she's like." Hog-Eye ordered nodding his head towards Ali and Izzy who were setting up the pool table.

"Come on Sweet Pea. Lets show these Northsiders how to play properly." He nudged, before making his way over. "Fancy a game? Girls V Boys rematch?" He asked jumping on a nearby stool. 

"That's hardly fair Fangs." Ali answered grabbing a stick from the corner and handing it to Izzy.

"Worried you're going to lose? Don't worry we'll go easy on you Northsiders." Sweet Pea mocked folding his arms, a smug grin plastered on his face. Izzy and Fangs rolled their eyes at his arrogance as Ali stepped forwards, almost squaring up to the 6'3 giant in front of her.

"On the contrary my darling," Ali's voice sickeningly sweet as was the innocent expression that washed over her face. "It's hardly fair because Izzy has more talent in her little finger than you do in your entire body." Ali teased wiggling her little finger at him.

"Bring it Northsider. 50 bucks says me, and Fangs win." Sweet Pea challenged stepping closer and looking down at Ali who was considerably shorter than him.

"This is getting intense. You could cut the sexual tension in here with a knife." Izzy whispered to Fangs, kneeling up on her stool and leaning forwards to rest her elbows on the table as they watched.

"I know." Fangs agreed before whipping round in shock at Izzy's comment, 

"Isabelle Masters watch your language! You shouldn't know about things like that at your age!" He scolded, making Izzy scowl at him.

"Dude I'm 8 not 2!" Izzy scoffed sticking her tongue out at him making him laugh. 

"Oh god they're shaking hands, you two are in for it now she's got that look again." She warned sitting up as her sister approached.

"Boy scout over here put 50 bucks on them winning. Fancy earning 50 bucks Izzy?" Ali questioned sarcastically. Izzy grinned nodding her head, her blonde plait falling over her shoulder as she jumped down from stool dragging it into position to start the game. 

"Said Izzy could break. Give them a fair chance." Sweet Pea told Fangs as the little girl took her position. Fangs looked at his friend in horror.

"You suggested it or were coerced?" Fangs demanded under his breath making his friend look at him dumb founded.

"What’s the difference?" He shrugged just as Izzy took her shot sending the balls flying across the table potting a red ball and a yellow ball. "Actually, don't answer that." 

"Looks like you're stripes. Fitting really considering you're about to get whipped." Ali mocked watching as Izzy took her second shot moving a striped ball away from its original spot, making it difficult for the Boy's to pot anything.

"Games only just begun Ali Cat. Plenty of time to kick your ass." Fangs sneered back before taking his shot, hitting his target but missing the shot. Ali shook her head, pouting sarcastically at him as he hung his head down in annoyance, avoiding the smug twinkle growing in the oppositions eyes. 

"Maybe next time sugar plum." Ali teased moving round the table to stand next to Sweet Pea in the far corner. Bending over the table to line up her shot sticking her ass out a little more than necessary. Grazing the side of his thigh as she raised the end of her stick to take her shot. Making him suck in a sharp breath of air. Ali smirked taking her shot and potting another ball. Standing straight, she turned to look at Sweet Pea who was gripping the stick in his hands so tight, his knuckles were turning white. The muscles in his jaw showing through as he clenched his jaw even more. She fluttered her big blue eyes at him, placing a friendly hand on his biceps and smiling brightly.

"Sorry did I get you then?" She asked winking at him before moving round to take her second shot.

"Looks like the kids are playing nicely together." Jughead observed as he and Toni watched from the bar.

"Which kids are you watching?" Toni snorted giving him a concerned side eye glance. 

"From what I can see, this game is big ball of passive aggression. Looks like Pea's met his match too. If he grips that stick anymore, hes going to be replacing it." Toni commented looking over at Jughead.

"You think there's something there don't you." Jughead proposed looking at the glint in Toni's eyes.

"All I'm saying is that Northsider has managed to get away with a lot more than most." Toni responded taking a swig of her beer. "And they've only just met."

"Yeah because Izzy's here. Sweet Pea may be a hot head but he's not a monster. He wouldn't scare an innocent kid like Izzy." Jughead debated, pointing to Izzy and Sweet Pea who had just shared a high ten when she won the game potting the final ball. "See, I rest my case." 

"Ok Jughead 20 bucks says I'm right. If there isn't some obvious flirting between them, you win. If there is, you owe me 20 bucks and be my slave for a day of my choosing. Deal?" Toni offered turning to Jughead and holding out her hand for him to shake to seal the deal.

"Fine. But if I win, I want my 20 bucks and you're my slave for a day of MY choosing." Jughead bargained shaking Toni's hand in agreement.

"30 bucks says they remain completely oblivious to their feelings." Hog-Eye interjected, leaning beside Jughead cleaning a glass as he watched the group set up another match. This time Fangs and Ali versus Izzy and Sweet Pea.

"That's an obvious bet Hog-Eye. The question is for how long. My money says maximum 2 months. They're bound to notice eventually." Toni judges, looking over at Hog-Eye for his opinion.

"No way. Ali is the most oblivious person ever. I say Sweet Pea notices before she does, but it takes him at least 3 months before he does." Hog Eye predicts looking to Toni and holding his hand out to seal the deal. "What do you say?" 

"Alright Hog-Eye, you're on!" She agrees shaking hands with the older Serpent.

[twistednuns]

May 2018

The scent of lilac blossoms, especially in the late evening on a walk through the neighbourhood. Still some light over the horizon, moon and stars visible.                                                                                               

Going hiking along the Isar with Lena. Seeing some kind of leopard snail, stealing lilac from behind a fence, riding my pastel-coloured bicycles. A jazz band playing in the beergarden. Eating a crêpe with Nutella. Talking. Walking. Even though my hip hurt.

That dude, Sebastian, who made a mock birthday invitation for me based on my favourites. I ended up with a Six Feet Under party - “Die 20er zu Grabe tragen”. With an all-you-can-eat ramen buffet and Bilderbuch as the live act.

Barcelona. It was so nice with our small group of students. The weather was ok-ish and all in all it felt pretty much like a normal vacation - thanks to Nicole’s good organisation and preparation. The best thing is that I’m going to get all the money back I advanced. Definitely gonna try and organise trips for next year, too!

Meeting José, a very handsome and funny guide at the Picasso museum. I transformed into a creepy stalker back at home and found him on FB, just to send him a message. You know, about the students thinking he was very nice and all. Ha. Alas, he has a girlfriend. But boy was he cute.

Meeting Carina from Montreal at the Barceloneta beach. I took care of her bag while she went in for a swim and afterwards we started talking. Before we said goodbye she made me draw an Angel Card out of a little cotton bag. It said Gratitude - apparently something I need to work on.

Watching the soap bubbles pop in the air. Lying at the beach instead of attending parent-teacher-conference.

Seeing the inside of Sagrada Familia for the first time. Those stained-glass windows are amazing. They create a very special mood of the light. Also, I found a small round window with my name on it.

That woman passionately kissing a man in a wheelchair in the middle of a Spanish airport. They were paying attention to nobody else, only seeing each other.

Discovering the natura store at the airport.

My new black suede handbag with pearls, sequins and embroidery. It looks like an abstract painting.

Charlotte Roche: Verlasst die Städte

Making tiny rainbows in the air with the garden hose.

How Do We Break the Stereotypes We’ve Created for Ourselves?

Drawing two protest signs for the Anti-PAG demonstration. Unfortuntately I had to explain the terms 1984 and Gilead to a whole lot of guys… geez, people should read more.

Manchego and Green Olive tortilla chips.

The last days with Effi Biest.

Grading English tests outside on the balcony.

My 30th birthday! Somehow I didn’t manage to throw a party and the Isar picnic is probably not gonna happen either but I still had a very special day. Nicole put balloons on my desk at school and gave me a lot of small presents which showed how much she listens to me (roasted corn, dark chocolate, a lemon - even the ‘art teacher necklace’ we saw at the Picasso gift shop in Barcelona; she made a student buy it without me noticing). Also, she made some students organise a scavenger hunt for me!! I got some chocolates from the kids, wore bright red lipstick and a new embroidered shirt dress. In the afternoon I sold my car. Finally. I didn’t get much but it’s gonna pay for my flight tickets in summer. Then I spent the evening with Manu - we had pizza and later shots at his place. Kind of a blind date but it was a good decision.

Being alone in a subway train.

Discovering the Beirut Beirut restaurant near Implerstraße. Sitting outside in the sunshine on a Friday afternoon, reading a book, enjoying Lebanese food and the beautiful surroundings.

Reading Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan. I loved the technical knowledge it gave me about diving and the castaways. Lately I’m super interested in old war stories and everything connected to the ocean or faraway places.

Arriving at BluLagoon after spending a whole day on planes. Our villa was amazing. Don’t let me get started on the view and the fact that there were hardly any guests at the time.

Listening to music on our terrace, dancing in a weird way (more like 80’s aerobic class).

Diving. I found my passion. I liked David, the diving instructor, very much (always hot for teacher) and apparently I’ve got a “talent” for diving, too (I mean, at least I don’t panic and have no problem with breathing under water). It was so interesting to learn about the tide, the animals, everything, you know? My first dive in the ocean was magical. It’s like a whole other planet down there. I even saw a dolphin on my very first day. Turtles, puffer fish (my favourite), an octopus.

Pookie the (racist) dog! (He doesn’t bark at Westerners, only Indonesians)

A small hike to White Sand Beach.

Finding out that I actually do like tempeh.

Going to Nusa Lembongan/Ceningan was an excellent idea. Diving there was amazing and I felt very happy around Anang, Simone and Pascal. The islands are beautiful - the waves and the cliffs, breathtaking. I also learned to ride a scooter! Driving over Yellow Bridge between the two islands was priceless. Going on the swings during low tide, Paradise Beach, discovering a popular warung by accident. Having Australians open our Bintang Radlers for us. Collecting corals at Mushroom Beach. Taking the speed boat back to Bali. What an adventure.

Swimming in an infinity pool under the full moon in front of a jungle scenery. That’s Ubud. Watching the little squirrels jumping from tree to tree while having breakfast on the balcony. Being lucky enough to be there during Galungan, a very important Balinese holiday. There were pejors lining the streets and people in traditional clothes on their way to their families and village temples. We met a driver while we were looking for the waterfalls. He took us to the Tegalalang Rice Terrace and answered all of our questions about Balinese culture like official languages, rooster fights or the school system. At the organic farm we saw Luwaks and tried different kinds of coffee. After we had said goodbye we took the Ridge Walk back into Ubud. On our way we ate some vegan coconut ice-cream, met a kitty and of course we found a swing, too. Swings are everywhere in Bali. I loved the one between Nusa Ceningan and Lembongan. And the one at the rice terrace even though you had to pay for it. In the evening we walked through Monkey Forest right before closing time - the animals were pretty relaxed because they had just gotten their dinner - and witnessed a gorgeous red sunset on our way home.

Our scooter trip to the Elephant Cave temple (I got such a calm, spiritual feeling in that cave - it must be such an awe-struck experience to sit in there alone in complete darkness for prayer or meditation) and Bali Bird Park. Eating at a Muslim restaurant because all the others were closed for Galungan. Weird chocolate and green tea shaved ice. And all those birds. I fell in love with the Kakadus. Such lovely little fellas. It was crazy expensive (for Balinese standards) but definitely worth it.

Starting our first night in Canggu at Moana with a plate of delicious fish appetizers. A friendly hosts and a very helpful Australian neighbour who supplied me with band-aids and skin antibiotic. Hipster-watching at Crate (we went there twice because their breakfast is in fact spectacular). Surfer-watching at the beach. Bintangs at sunset. Marvelling at the waves. Swimming all the way back to the shore after drifting far out with the tide without noticing (all the practice in the pool paid off). Discovering Gelato Secrets on our scooter trip to Tanah Lot. Daring to use the infamous Canggu shortcut - it was way more scary on foot than with the scooter. Our Vinyasa Flow yoga class and the Balinese full body massage at The Chillhouse. Cheap warungs with delicious food. I could be sad now but in fact I’ve already got tickets to Australia and Indonesia for August so there’s something to look forward to!

[helplesslyinlovewithcharacters]

Water Fight - Derek Hale x Reader

Summary: (Y/n) has been Derek’s best friend for as long as he can remember and he can’t help being hopelessly in love with her. But then he loses his family to the fire and has to leave before he can tell her and now he doesn’t know if he’ll ever see her again.

Pairing: Derek Hale x Female Reader

Derek Hale Masterlist

Wait in Line Masterlist

(Y/n) had thought she could handle babysitting her cousin and his best friend but she couldn’t have been more wrong. Stiles was even more hyperactive than she remembered and Scott only seemed to urge him on.

The eleven-year-olds were running in circles around the garden as they shouted at the top of their voices. (Y/n) cursed under her breath when they found the water guns she’d poorly hidden behind the barbeque and turned to each other with eager smiles. Pulling out her phone, she knew she would need help.

Derek was sat at his desk, trying and failing to write a paper for English when his phone screen flashed with an incoming message.

(Y/n): I’m under attack. Send reinforcements.

He jumped out of his desk chair as his heart thundered in his ears. The paper on his desk forgotten as he rushed down the stairs while ignoring his family’s confused questions.

Derek ran all the way across Beacon Hills, making it to (y/n)’s in record time. He focused his hearing as he crept towards the house. There were three heartbeats somewhere inside, all beating at alarmingly high rates. He tried to ignore the images of what could be happening that were flashing behind his eyes as he cautiously pulled the front door open.

Derek was sweeping the house when he heard a yelp outside. His claws protracted as he pushed open the door that led to (y/n)’s garden. He spotted her straight away, she was crouched behind the half wall that separated the patio from the rest of the garden. A smile spread across her face when she spotted him but it quickly turned into a panicked frown when she saw his claws.

“What the hell have you got those out for?” Derek stared at her in disbelief as he moved closer to her.

“You said you were under attack” He whisper yelled. (Y/n) moved to pull him down next to her when a water balloon hit him on the head, soaking his hair and making his t-shirt cling to his chest. She bit her lip as she tried to hold back her laughter.

“When I said I was under attack I meant that I was babysitting my cousin and he decided we should have a water fight” Her words trailed off into a fit of giggles as she braced herself against the wall.

Derek ran his hand through his wet hair before turning to her with a scowl. “You didn’t think to include any of that in your text?”

“I did tell you I was babysitting today” He threw his hands up in exasperation just as another balloon accompanied by the spray of a water gun hit him in the chest. (Y/n) reached for his hand and pulled him down next to her while trying to ignore how clearly she could see the outline of his muscles through the dripping material of his top. Derek continued to glare at her as she poorly concealed her laughter with a cough. “Oh c’mon, it’s funny”

“Are you the one who’s soaking wet?”

“No, but I am the one who’s been stuck behind this wall for twenty minutes”

“I feel so bad for you” His words were clipped as he continued to sulk.

“Derek-“

“You have no idea how worried I was, I ran the whole way here” Her gaze softened as she brushed the wet hair off his forehead before pressing a kiss to his cheek. Derek practically melted under her touch but he forced a frown to stay on his face.

“Thank you for coming to save me” Just as she peeked her head over the wall, a water balloon flew through the air and popped by their feet. “Now, will you help me catch two eleven-year-olds?”

“There’s two of them?”

(Y/n) squealed as Stiles continued to shoot at her while he laughed uncontrollably. For a brief period, she’d managed to get hold of his gun while Derek chased after Scott but Stiles was sneaky and had snatched it from her before gradually backing her into a corner. She took another step back, just missing Scott as he ran behind her legs. Derek, however, was moving far too quickly to change course, running straight into (y/n).

He caught her as they fell, bracing her head in his hands as he landed on top of her. An apology was on his lips but (y/n) started to laugh as she caught a droplet of water running down Derek’s cheek with her thumb.

“I can’t believe we’re losing to two eleven-year-olds” She whispered playfully as she tried to avoid looking at his lips.

“We can still turn this around” They both snickered at his serious tone. Derek shook his head while a stupidly happy smile played on his cheeks. He braced himself on one arm, looking around the garden. “Where did they go?”

(Y/n) sat up slightly, her eyes scanning the garden. “I have no idea”

When Derek turned back to face her, they were so close to one another, all he would have to do is tilt his head forward and they would be kissing. The idea was all too appealing as he found his body moving on its own. (Y/n)’s eyes shifted from his to his lips as he inched closer.

She was about to meet him in the middle when a bucket of water was dumped over their heads. They both gasped in shock before scrambling after the boys.

It took about an hour of getting repeatedly hit with water balloons and attacked with water guns before Derek and (y/n) finally managed to get Stiles and Scott inside, both of them ignoring what almost happened earlier. Running around had made the kids somewhat tired and they happily changed into dry clothes as (y/n) made their tea on the promise they got to have ice cream for dessert.

As (y/n) stirred the pasta sauce, Derek walked into the kitchen, self-consciously pulling at the t-shirt she’d given him to wear. It used to be his and once upon a time it had fitted him perfectly, but that was last year before he’d had another growth spurt and had started to fill out. The t-shirt clung to his chest and every time he so much as moved his arms it exposed half of his torso.

(Y/n) turned to talk to him but stopped when a surprised laugh escaped her mouth. “You look adorable”

Derek didn’t respond, crossing his arms across his chest before hastily pulling the top back down. (Y/n)’s eyes went wide as she caught a glimpse of his toned stomach, her cheeks flushing red as she turned her attention back to their dinner. Derek didn’t know what to say, still shocked from how close they’d been to kissing.

“I’m going to tell Dad you have a boyfriend” (Y/n) rolled her eyes as she pulled the curtains shut. Scott had gone home an hour ago which meant that Stiles had some time to play by himself before it was time to go to bed.

“For the last time, Derek is not my boyfriend” (Y/n) loved her cousin, she really did, but she couldn’t wait for him to fall asleep so she could have a break.

“Then why did he come to save you?” Stiles’ tone was smug as he climbed into bed.

She turned to him with her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowing when he tried to hide his toys under the covers. “If you were in danger, don’t you think Scott would come to save you?”

Stiles paused for a moment, chewing his lip before he reluctantly handed over his toys. “Yeah, but I don’t think he would try to kiss me afterwards”

(Y/n)’s cheeks flamed red as she struggled to find a response. Giving up, she trudged to the door after wishing him goodnight.

She could barely lift her feet off the floor as she all but shuffled into her bedroom. Derek was waiting, his eyes focused on the book he’d picked up off her desk as he pretended he hadn’t heard everything Stiles had said. (Y/n) climbed into bed next to him, snuggling into his shoulder as she pressed a lazy kiss there.

“Do I look like a pillow?” His tone was light as he smiled done at her, thankful that her eyes were shut so she couldn’t see the blush that was warming his cheeks.

“No, you look like a teddy bear” Derek snickered, too tired to argue as his fingers played with the ends of her hair. They fell into a comfortable silence as they relaxed for the first time that day.

“Thank you for coming, I don’t know what I would have done without you”

“No problem” (Y/n) snuggled further into his chest before falling asleep wrapped in Derek’s arms.

[astrofireworks]

astro + summer camp counsellor au?

Starts with Myungjin, of course

When Jinjin found out his coursemate MJ was working as a camp counsellor over the summer, he practically tripped over himself to sign up

And then whined at Rocky and Bin to not leave him alone 

And so Bin and Rocko have to suffer tiny brats 

Anything under the age of 6 is fine, Bin thinks, but anything over? 

Obnoxious, loud and judgemental 

The worse combination, in Bin's honest opinion

The fact that Bin ends up loving all his kids is irrelevant

But for some reason the brats love Moonrockjin so much it's incredible 

MJ's still their star counsellor, with kids hanging off his every limb and climbing all over him 

His group is basically a bunch of giggles it's so cute !!!

They always wrap around him and clamber into his lap and ask him to give goodnight stories or songs 

And MJ will duly deliver 

Brightest & Earliest 

Always gets breakfast for his kids before his own 

The purest bean 

But when Jinjin talks to his kids in his soft, warm tone, he has them hanging onto his every word 

And all his kids are so Loyal™ to him it's so cute 

He could ask them all to run around a tree ten times and they'd do it, no question 

Adorable 

Rocky doesn't even try to impress his kids ?? 

They just kind of look at him in awe 

And somehow he makes them all crave his approval 

@ his kids: "hey, what do you guys think of tonight's water balloon fight?" 

Kids, screaming: "WE GON WIN IT" 

Rocky: 

Rocky: 

Rocky: "uh ok sure" 

But when they do win it makes him smile so much and he's just so proud of his kids he beams ????? 

And listen they live for the beam all his kids in his group are highkey in love with his beam 

Me too kids me too 

Bin that one bored counsellor with really chill kids 

Who just kind of sit around and talk a lot

I mean sure they could run around but 

Why would you run 

When you could eat 

Jinjin forever wondering in disbelief how Bin's kids always finish their food stock so fast 

But listen they look chill but their competitive streak is a mile long 

One time Rocky's kids beat them in a Capture the Flag game round 

Wrecked Rocky's kids in the next four rounds so badly Rocky had to tell Bin to ask his kids to Chill 

Has kids highkey in love with him because he did a dance off with Rocky the very first day of summer camp 

And w o w those moves 

All the girls in the room swooning for the both of them

Incredibly cute 

There are other counsellors too, of course, who manage other groups of kids and some who double up to teach classes and some who are just extra helpers 

Jinjin being one of those who teach classes 

Jinjin bringing the whole batch of summer camp kids out to the field to stargaze at night 

Tells them about constellations and the stories behind them 

Tells them also about aliens and gets whacked by Rocky 

Rocky & Bin who conduct dance classes 

Teaching them simple dance routines to popular songs

Highkey unaware that the kids enjoy the class just because they like seeing Moonrock move too 

It's mostly Rocky teaching and Bin snickering until Rocky hits him and makes him go over to help some poor stumbling kid 

Why is Rocko the only one with sense in all of my AUs

MJ & Heejun conducting music classes 

Read: make-a-lot-of-noise classes

Cue MJ surrounded by screaming kids banging pots and pans 

Heejun shouting over the din to encourage more noise 

MJ screaming at the top of his own lungs and banging his pans even louder 

Bin wants to cry whenever he has to deposit his kids with MJ & HJ and shuffle MJ's kids off to some other class for some other activity

Because his kids come back banging things and screaming and Bin will never have peace 

Also because MJ's kids are so touchy and loving and like to crawl all over Bin 

When really the only one he wants that near him is

Goddammit 

The head counsellor 

Beautiful, independent, kind, intelligent, slightly-awkward-dancer Eunwoo 

Wow truly 

The moment he went in for counsellor training Bin was a goner 

Eunwoo standing at the front of the room, directing people to seats

Smiling and just looking incredibly capable 

Checking their name tags and making sure he pronounced all their names right

Standing in front of all the counsellors and giving a speech about his own experience as a counsellor and what they were expected to do 

Bin wept a little inside when Eunwoo made eye contact with him 

And smiled 

Eunwoo breaking up the counsellors into groups to get to know each other better 

And shuffling himself into Bin's group for ice breakers 

Bin wanted to cry 

The whole group did to be honest 

Because one of the ice breakers was doing a dance move that represented you 

Seongwoo dabbed & everyone groaned 

Bin did some popping & everyone was impressed

Eunwoo just kind of flapped around & everyone cried laughing 

Eunwoo smiling in sheepish embarrassment 

You know the one ie the second to last gif in this set that still makes me cry when I think about it

Bin just kind of smiling because wow his heart is doing flippity flops 

And when he sees Eunwoo with his kids it's even worse 

Because Eunwoo is so soft and gentle with them 

Smiling and holding their hands as they go around in some weird human chain 

Eunwoo's kids being the most well behaved 

They'd be just as noisy as the rest but the moment Eunwoo holds up his hands and smiles 

They all fall silent and sit there waiting for him to speak 

Eunwoo's classroom also being the quietest 

Bin loving when he brings his kids to Eunwoo because they come out quietly and in slight awe 

Also Bin loving when he brings his kids to Eunwoo for a slightly different, more personal reason

Snotty seven year olds sitting at attention and staring at Eunwoo's hands work around a small metal hoop and juggling multiple thread spools

Eunwoo gently encouraging their weaving!!! 

many thank 2 @binsmoon​ for this!!

Has so many kids in love with him it's incredible 

Sometimes takes stuff out of their hands to fix 

Stays up late settling schedules and unforeseen holdups in camp 

Stays up even later sometimes fixing botched weaving so that the kids feel proud of their work regardless 

Highkey wanted to write Sanha into this as a seven year old but

Sanha, son of the guy who owns the whole camp set-up 

Sanha not handling kids yet even though he's spent every summer ever running around his dad's compound 

Sanha just going around and being extra help like Heejun 

So when a group is missing a counsellor or if a class needs an extra instructor they can go immediately 

Highkey a fave with the kids because he's also one 

Screams and flaps around just as much as the kids do 

Seven year olds being convinced he is One of Them, just by some freak of nature taller and ganglier 

"Who's your counselor!! Mine's Rocky!!!!" 

"Uh I'm a counselor, sweetie" 

Rocky snorting and herding his kids away from a slightly squawking Sanha 

Jinjin bringing his squad aka 5stro out when the kids go to sleep to go look at the stars 

You know

As a cover for wanting to go look at the stars with MJ

As a cover for wanting to look at the stars in MJ's eyes

Moonrock: "u gotta ask him out before the end of the summer, hyung, u foRCED US INTO COMING TO THIS SUMMER CAMP YOU BETTER" 

Jinjin: "ok but listen,," but

Moonrock shoving Jinjin towards MJ 

MJ: ????

Jinjin: "hiwe'regoingtostargazetonightdoyouwannacome" 

MJ: 

MJ: "YEAH OKAY :D” 

MJ beaming because wow he thought Jinjin would never get his act together he's so obviously crushing hard on MJ but hasn't spoken more than 2 sentences to MJ the whole camp and at this point MJ’s getting impatient 

5stro finding Eunwoo lying in the grass already staring up at the sky 

Contemplating life ??

Rocko, being Rocko, pushing Bin towards him 

Bin scratching his neck and settling down beside Eunwoo in silence 

Eunwoo turning to smile tiredly at whoever it is 

Eunwoo realising it's 

It's Bin 

The new counselor with the most graceful moves and a great dance bod

The new counselor that grins at him every time he comes with his kids and has uneven eyes and the cutest smile 

The new counselor Eunwoo spotted at the training session and selfishly sorted into Eunwoo's group so he could stare at him a little more 

The new counselor who's now wearing a loose tank top and board shorts and scuffed sneakers and is looking up at the stars 

Eunwoo hoping the dark is enough to cover his blushing 

Bin running a hand through his hair before adjusting himself and lying down next to Eunwoo 

Eunwoo beaming slightly to the sky and Bin watching him from the corner of his eye 

Rocko, looking left at where Jinjin's pointing out constellations to MJ and right where Bin and Eunwoo are contemplating the sky in silence 

Rocko huffing and settling himself a distance away from them all to look at his own patch of sky 

Baby Sanha trailing him and yawning sleepily 

current mood: that one weirdly sensual "sf niiiine" whisper at the start of Fanfare aljshf i’m so sleepy same Sanha

Rocko glancing at the smol giraffe and deciding to call it a night and deliver the smol sleepy boy back to his dorm 

MJ laughing at Jinjin's (very bad) puns and delivering better jokes 

Before long all you can hear from Jinjin's corner of the field are ugly snorts and cute giggles and one of them trying to say something before dissolving into more ugly snorting 

Bin glancing over to where MJ and Jinjin seem like they're having a good time and glancing over to Eunwoo to see what he thinks 

Only to catch Eunwoo staring at him 

Eunwoo flushing and making up a rubbish excuse and mumbling: "I think you've got a leaf on your face" 

Wow

Thanks Eunwoo

Good job 

Eunwoo's about to cry 

Bin: leaf ???? In an open field with no trees ?????

Before feeling Eunwoo's hand press on his cheek and tensing up slightly and promptly forgetting 

Eunwoo, murmuring: "yeah it's gone now" 

Bin: well it wasn't there in the first place but wow his heart is pounding so hard and so fast 

Bin: "Thanks?" 

Kind of? He guesses ???????  

Eunwoo's fingers still on his cheek 

Bin flushing wow he really hopes Eunwoo doesn't feel his cheeks heat up 

Particularly loud laughter from Myungjin 

Eunwoo quickly removing his hand and coughing slightly and they go back to staring at the sky until Eunwoo dozes off 

Bin looking at the peaceful angel and smiling to himself

Because wow truly he's so beautiful when he's sleeping but this can't be good for his back 

Bin waking him up and seeing Eunwoo's slightly drowsy smile and hearing Eunwoo's voice thick with sleep 

Bin walking a sleepy head counsellor back to his dorm before walking back to his own 

Eunwoo's heart: !!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Bin hatching his own plan because !!!!! Dammit he needs to take his own advice @ jinjin 

Because he's highkey wondering what it's like to wake up next to that beautiful man and seeing his sleepy smile and hearing his sleep-rough voice every morning 

Cue Bin climbing a tree on the way back to his dorm 

Slips a bit and gets a small abrasion on his knee but whatever 

An idiot 

But it's worth it for Eunwoo Bin can't stop grinning the whole night 

Bin seeing Eunwoo the next day when he brings his kids to weaving class 

Eunwoo blushing because wow he's such an idiot lmao what the hell was that last night 

Bin, smirking slightly: "I think you've got a leaf on your face" 

Pulls a leaf from behind Eunwoo's ear 

Bin's kids, eyes wide at their counsellor 

Eunwoo, eyes wide at Bin and stammering a thanks 

Bin, pressing the leaf into Eunwoo's hands and waving bye to his kids 

Eunwoo, standing in front of the whole bunch, face on fire before slipping the leaf in his pocket 

One girl slightly weeping because wow it means not one counsellor is Taken but two 

Two!!!! 

Highkey me

MJ bounding up to Jinjin when he brings his kids in for music and slipping an arm around his shoulders 

Jinjin squeaking slightly because wow from not talking to talking until sunrise to sudden skinship he's not prepared 

Jinjin's kids now squealing and shipping them 

MJ beaming all around and Heejun shepherding Jinjin out before he distracts the class further 

Heejun keeping it PG y'all 

Eunwoo touching the leaf throughout the lesson and only realised he's nearly rubbed off the number scribbled on it 

Eunwoo, now permanently stained red from blushing so much: !!!!!!!!! 

Bin, staring at his phone in anticipation: 

Phone beeps and he falls off his chair into Rocko 

Rocko, screaming injustice 

Never did anything to deserve this treatment all I’ve been doing is being a supportive best friend and you cRASH INTO ME stOP LAUGHING BIN YOU WERE THE ONE THAT CRASHED INTO ME 

Jinjin getting snaps of kids screaming the whole day from MJ 

More snaps of MJ screaming tbh 

Replies with photos of his own kids and occasionally a selfie 

MJ smiling to himself and his kids leaping on him and squealing because wow it's the other cute counsellor!

!!!!!!!! 

Sanha, popping up: "I never sent any photos of myself to MJ though" 

MJ, smacking him: "ur not even close to cute shut up"

Talk shit get hit

Seungjun unfolding himself from a corner to pat his poor smol tol on the head 

Wow I'm not even close to done with this AU I'm yelling I’ll update this soon 

[yuki-chicken]

FORGIVE ME!!!!!!

This is for my best friend @sasukamasenpai​ who.....should know what I want to say but probably wont say it cause shy . Enjoy your part 3

Note: Will be posted on A03 and FFN.net either later on today (Wednesday) or sometime tomorrow. 

Yuuri was beyond frustrated

He could land the quad toe flip perfectly in the GPF, but for some strange reason he could never land the flip in practice after that. He tried practicing with his fiance, but he simply couldn’t land the flip. He was further frustrated at the fact that today was Valentine’s Day. He needed to go out to find presents for both Viktor and Chris.

Chis for his birthday, which was yesterday in Switzerland, and one for Viktor. He was so focused on wanting to execute the jump that the day completely slipped his mind. Viktor called for a break when Yuuri once again flubbed the jump. Yuuri pouted and skated to the side. He got off of the ice and made his way to his fiance.

Viktor saw the sad, pouty look on his fiance’s face and opened his arms to him. Yuuri shuffled across the space and into Viktor’s arms. Yuuri buried his face into Viktor’s chest and inhaled his fiance’s scent. Viktor reached up and placed both of his hands on either side of his cheeks and placed a gently kiss on Yuuri’s lips.

“How about we call it a day and you can go home and play with Makkachin and I’ll see you later on for a Valentine’s dinner. We can choose what to make and shop for the ingredients and cook it together. How does that sound?”

Yuuri stiffened in Viktor’s hold and quickly regained his composure and nodded.

“That sounds like a perfect idea”

Before Viktor could confront Yuuri, he was already walking away to the bleachers to remove his skates. Yakov and Lilia walked in at that moment and started to lecture the hell out of Viktor for not being in his skates and warming up already. Viktor took one last glance at Yuuri before he bounced off in their direction.

Yuuri watched Viktor as he annoyed the elder Russians and waved to Viktor and blew a kiss to him. He heard gagging noises and blew a kiss to Yurio before running out of the building.

Yuuri took his time walking back to the apartment. He was feeling guilty that even Viktor ‘forgetful’ Nikiforov remembered about the occasion. He decided to take a quick trip to the mall and browse around and to hopefully gain some ideas.

~20 minutes later~

Yuuri knew that he was being ridiculous. He knew that every single person that walked by was giving him odd looks. He looked at the sign and gulped nervously before going into the store. He wandered around a bit before a preppy worker popped out of nowhere.

“Hello and welcome. Is there anything that I can help you with sir?”

Yuuri’s eyes darted around for a while and felt the blush creep onto his face before he nodded to the girl.

“I-I wanted...to do something special for my husband. He’s always been so patient and caring with me and I just wanted to make it up to him. Since today was Valentine’s Day, I wanted it to be something that he liked.”

Yuuri’s blush deepened at the word ‘husband’ and stared down at the floor. He heard a tremendous squeal from the girl. The next thing that he knew he was being dragged around the entire store. By the time he exited the store, he was pretty sure that his ancestors were looking at him in disappointment. He made a couple of more stops and bought a bouquet of blue roses and a box of milk chocolate candies in the shape of a heart.

He bought the necessary things and quickly walked back to the apartment. He had less than 2 hours to plan this out perfectly. As soon as he entered the apartment, he pet Makkachin on the head and went to the kitchen to put the flowers and chocolate into the freezer. He quickly made a beeline for the bedroom. He dumped the contents of his package onto the bed and got to work.

‘If I don’t do this now, then I’ll never do it cause I’m so embarrassed’

*Time Skip*

Yuuri’s face was completely red as he placed his regular clothes over the skimpy looking lingerie. He patted his butt and prayed to whatever god was listening to him to keep his butt safe. Yuuri heard a set of keys jingle and made his way out of the bedroom and jumped onto the couch and looked cutely at the door. The door opened and Viktor called out to Yuuri and walked to the living room.

Viktor paused and looked at his fiance, who was seriously really tempting with the position that he’s currently in. He walked over to Yuuri and plopped onto the couch and stared directly into Yuuri’s eyes. He leaned over and pressed his mouth to Yuuri’s own lips. Yuuri responded and thus began their little make out session. By the end of it, both skaters were out of breath and very flustered. Yuuri reached up and pecked Viktor’s nose.

“Happy Valentine’s Day Vitya~”

“Happy Valentine’s Day Yura~”

Viktor got off of Yuuri and reached into a package and presented a bouquet of red roses and a box of chocolate to Yuuri. The Japanese sparkled in delight before standing from the couch and making his way to the kitchen. He returned with the flowers and chocolates and gave them to his loving fiance. Viktor smiled his oh-so-lovely heart-shaped smile and took the gifts while placing another kiss on Yuuri’s lips.

“Now then my love~ is there anything specific that you want for dinner~???”

Yuuri hummed in thought before picking Katsudon. Viktor asked him if he was sure and Yuuri nodded in confidence.

“I want to eat my favorite food with my favorite person on this special day~”

Viktor stared at Yuuri before a stream of blood came from his nose and he tackled Yuuri onto the couch.

“YUURI I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!”

“VIKTOR!!!!! YOUR NOSE IS BLEEDING”

After they cleaned the blood from Viktor’s nose, the couple made their way to the market to gather the ingredients for the meal. They managed to find everything and made their way back to the apartment. They brought out the groceries and began to cook. After 5 mini flour fights, the meal was finally finished. They even fed a piece of the meat to Makkachin (dont know if dogs can eat the breaded meat~). After they ate, they settled into onto the couch and waited for a while. Yuuri stood up and started walking to the bedroom. Before he shut the door, he turned to Viktor and smiled.

“The final part of your present needs to be prepared so wait a while for me my darling~”

Viktor felt the blood run down south and could only nod his head in response. A few minutes later, he heard Yuuri call his name and Viktor all but ran to the room. He flew the door opened and froze at the sight of the bedroom The room had rose petals scattered around with vanilla scented candles lighting up the room. There were heart shaped balloons floating around the room as well. He tilted his head to the bed and Viktor swore on his very soul that his heart and breathing stopped. There on the bed, with his legs spread wide open and in the sexiest lingerie known to man.

Yuuri had his eros look on and signaled Viktor to come with his finger. Viktor obliged and jumped onto the bed and landed in between Yuuri’s legs. He let out a groan and pushed his lips onto Yuuri’s lips. Yuuri let out a wanting moan and laid back onto the bed and wrapped his arms around Viktor’s neck and his legs around his waist.

“Yuuri~ you look so sexy~ you have no idea what you’re doing to me~ What even made you do this? Normally I’d have to be the one to get you to have sex with me”

Yuuri blushed and looked away while poking that one spot on Viktor’s hair.

“I-I just...I just wanted to show some way of how much I really appreciate you and really don’t deserve you. You’re always so patient with me and so understanding. I just wanted someway something to show you how much I really love and appreciate everything that you do for me”

Happy tears were streaming down Yuuri’s face by the time that he had finished his little speech. He felt a drop of water fall onto his face and looked up to see Viktor crying. Yuuri panicked slightly and reached his hand up to Viktor’s face. Viktor grabbed his hand and brought it to his lips before leaning down and placing a loving kiss on Yuuri.

“Of course I care for you. In fact, I should be the one thanking you Yuuri. You were the one who showed me about life and love. I knew nothing about either of those because of skating. You and your loving personality taught me that. Even your performance at the banquet, it taught me the first real meaning of life and love. I do everything for you to show YOU how much in love I am with you. I can’t wait until the day where we meet at the alter and say our vows and you become my lovely little wife. I even look forward to the day where everyone calls us the poodle family because of the amount of poodles we adopt. Seriously Yuuri, you are so very precious to me and you mean everything to me now. I promise to cherish you from now until our dying breath”

Yuuri felt the tears falling faster and faster. He reached up and wrapped his arms around Viktor’s neck and bringing him down for a chaste kiss. Viktor leaned up after breaking the kiss and looked at Yuuri straight in the eye.

“Now~ it’s time I show you just how much I love you~”

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

Viktor and Yuuri lay side by side after their activities nestled in each other’s warmth. Yuuri had his face buried in Viktor’s chest while Viktor had his face in Yuuri’s hair. They on the verge of sleep when Yuuri suddenly shot up from the bed and turned his body to the dresser.

“Yuuri, is something wrong?”

Yuuri smiled and held a red envelope in his hand. He held it out to Viktor and smiled. Viktor took the envelope and saw a picture inside. He took it out and examined it. He only sees a black and white blob. He looked at Yuuri in confusion. Yuuri chuckled then moved closer and brought Viktor’s hand to his stomach. Realization dawned on Viktor as he switched between looking at the picture, Yuuri’s stomach, and Yuuri. Viktor burst into a new set of tears and leaned down to place a kiss on Yuuri’s stomach.

“Baby~~ Mommy and Daddy can’t wait to meet you”

for a reference: this is the thing that Yuuri is wearing (click on Yuuri’s name)

also...i am so ashamed of myself right now and sorry if it seems rushed I have a psych exam today....see wrote this and rp’d and ignored studying just for you

I FINALLY FINISHED!!!!!!!! ALMOST 5 HOURS LATER

[theliterateape]

Hope Idiotic | Part 12

By David Himmel

Hope Idiotic is a serialized novel. Catch each new part every week on Monday and Thursday.

WHAT KIND OF A BOYFRIEND WAS HE? What kind of a man lets his girlfriend of two years — a close friend for eight years before that — foot the bill for her big thirtieth birthday trip?

Cabo San Lucas: A Mexican haven for sun, SCUBA and drink. Though he offered to put the entire trip on his credit card, she (thankfully, he thought) didn’t call his bluff and refused to let him do that. So they made another deal. She would pay for the thirtieth birthdays for them, he would pay for forty, she would get fifty, he would take sixty and so on. They were making plans for the future. And that plan included sharing finances in plenty of time for their fortieth birthdays. Finally they had a deal Lou felt was fair. It seemed to him that after two years together, Michelle understood their financial conditions.

They stayed at the only hotel Michelle would stay at when she traveled there. The same place as the first time Lou joined the Kaminskis on their annual Cabo trip a year before, the all-inclusive resort and spa Fiesta Playa. She booked the best suite on the property. The spacious room had a large balcony that overlooked the ocean. While Michelle financed the accommodations, Lou did what he could.

Since they arrived on her birthday, he arranged with the hotel staff to prepare the room with thirty balloons, rose petals leading from the door to the bed, where even more petals were spread upon the bed, and champagne sat on ice on the nightstand. The hotel only charged him for the liquor.

Michelle was floored. When she entered the room, that strange thing happened again—she cried. Lou was behind her with the luggage, and she turned and kissed him. He could taste her tears.

“This is what I always dreamed of,” she said. “This is perfect.”

It was their tradition to have sex in any hotel room they ever shared before doing anything else on vacation, and after that kiss, Michelle couldn’t get either of them out of their clothes fast enough. Then they showered and dressed for her birthday dinner.

“Do you mind if I go to the bar downstairs and have a drink by myself?” she asked him as he pulled his blazer over his shoulders.

“Is everything okay?”

“It is. I just want to take a moment with myself to consider being thirty. Come down in like half an hour.”

Pop’s clock was ticking… The cure looked to be killing him.

He kissed her, and she left. Lou took his jacket off and poured himself a drink from the in-room bar. Johnnie Walker Black Label neat. Because even at Fiesta Playa one shouldn’t trust the Mexican ice. He straightened the sex sheets, sat back on the bed and flipped through the television channels, stopping on the only American show playing, King of Queens.

He’d seen this episode a hundred times. As he watched, his mind wandered.

For the moment, things were perfect with Michelle. She was happy. They hadn’t fought about money or his career since he ruined tree-decorating night. And not a word had been spoken about marriage, outside of her strange jealousy toward Chuck a few days before, something Lou chalked up to her just being a little more drunk than she let on. Yes, it had been a good couple of weeks. And he wondered how long it would last.

Maybe Michelle was downstairs considering what a penniless putz her boyfriend was. Maybe she was devising a plan complete with an ultimatum for him to propose to her, because after all, she was now thirty years old. So many times she said to him that she wanted to begin having kids by thirty-two and that she wanted at least two years of marriage before that. The clock was ticking.

Pop’s clock was ticking, too. The chemo had slowed the cancer but robbed his appetite. It took all of his energy to choke down a single bottle of Ensure each day. He was losing weight and becoming weaker. The cure looked to be killing him.

Lou made another drink and turned off the TV. He hated those characters. They were awful to each other and he no longer found nastiness funny. He could write better television. He considered moving to L.A. and trying his hand at making it there. What was so great about Chicago? Michelle wanted to move anyhow. She wanted to live closer to her parents; she wanted to live in a warm climate. But she wouldn’t move with him unless they were married, he knew that. Maybe he could leave her.

But he couldn’t leave his family. He didn’t want to abandon Pop in his final days. Or Grams for that matter. Or his father. Benjamin was living in a broken home with his bum son right next door to his dying parents. One day, if Aaron ever moved out, Benjamin would be alone. Sarah already felt abandoned and had convinced herself that her eldest son didn’t love her. Moving to L.A. would only solidify that idea in her head.

And what if he moved and couldn’t find a job? At least in Chicago he had Michelle and a nice place to live. What if L.A. was worse than Chicago?

He had to do something. That much was certain. Forty was only ten years away, and he would be responsible for the big birthdays then. He and Michelle would have a couple of kids by then, too. She’d most likely be done working as an attorney like she planned, so the financial responsibility would be all on him.

He stood on the balcony and breathed in the ocean air. The sun was just about to sink into the blackening water. He counted the seconds until it was gone. 1, 2, 3… 30… It’s incredible how quickly it can go from lightness to the dark. And so routinely, so easily without fanfare or violence. The light just sinks down and it’s gone. Another day behind us with another long night to face. But the light would always be back in the morning. At least outside, anyway.

As he stood there with the drink in his hand considering his position, Lou realized there was no guarantee that light would ever return to him. The poverty and unemployment and self-doubt and accountability imposed on him and the evading ideal future and the dying loved ones and the loneliness all made Lou certain that the only sure thing in his life was that darkness was coming.

“Christ,” he said to himself. “How am I going to get out of this?”

✶

MICHELLE WAS SITTING AT A TABLE IN THE LOBBY BAR BY HERSELF NURSING A GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE. She was wearing the strappy, short purple cotton dress she bought in Vegas for that very evening. Her highlighted blonde hair rested on her shoulders. Her bright green eyes were wide. She was staring off toward the ocean — The Darkness. He walked up behind her, ran his hands along her shoulders and kissed her head. “Ready?”

Slightly startled by being pulled from her reverie, she looked up, slugged the rest of her champagne and said, “Yes.”

They had dinner at her favorite restaurant in town. Mexican-Italian fare. She had met the owner when she worked summers down there during college as a youth advisor for high-schoolers on a summer-break vacation program. Essentially, her job was to prevent teenagers from dying of alcohol poisoning or drowning in the ocean. She greeted the owner, a middle-aged man named Pablo, with warmth. It was clear to Lou, however, that he didn’t remember her. It was the same thing when they came down the time before. But Pablo was a people person and played it off well.

“Oh, please, you must come to the best table of the night,” he said. “I save it just for you. So beautiful, and a handsome man on your arm, eh?”

Yep, same bullshit as last time. And Michelle ate it up.

“How was your drink? Everything okay?” Lou asked.

“Everything’s fine.” She reached across the table and took his hands in hers.

“Well, happy birthday, sweetheart.”

“I just… I just didn’t see myself here at thirty.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought I’d be married. Or at least that we’d be engaged. I thought I’d be well on my way to having kids and not having to work so hard because I had a strong, supportive, confidant husband who could take care of his family. I didn’t think I’d be paying for me and my boyfriend for my thirtieth birthday vacation. At the very least, I thought I’d be in a relationship with someone who had it more together, like I do. At least someone who was at the same stage in their life as I am.”

Lou looked at their hands. “I am at the same stage in life as you are.”

“Lou, honey, you don’t have a job.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m not trying to get one. You know it’s not easy for anyone out there now.”

“You’re the only person in my life who is unemployed. Sure, you pick up a freelance job every now and again, but that’s not paying anything, really. All of my other friends have boyfriends or husbands with real jobs. They themselves have jobs. And they’re all doctors and lawyers and marketing directors.”

“I’m not a doctor or lawyer. You knew that.”

“You’re a great writer, but you also know marketing. Why don’t you try doing that?”

“I have tried. No one is hiring. Even your marketing-director friends, who, by the way, haven’t done much in the way of pushing my résumé through, have said they’re worried about their jobs.”

“That’s probably why they haven’t done anything with your résumé.”

“Exactly.”

“Exactly.”

“Look, Michelle, I don’t know why were fighting here.”

“We’re not fighting, we’re just talking.”

“You’re dumping a lot of shit on me right now.”

“This isn’t about you, Lou. It’s about me. It’s about me turning thirty.”

“But everything you just said was about how—”

“How I’m not where I wanted to be or who I wanted to be with.”

“You don’t want to be with me?” He pulled his hands away. The waiter came by and delivered their drinks. Lou drank his scotch immediately.

“Of course I do. I just want you to get your life together so we can build our life already. I want to have kids in two years.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it a million times. I get it.”

“Don’t get snippy with me.”

“I’m not getting snippy. I’m going to the bathroom.”

Things stayed tense through the rest of the night and into their whale-watching excursion the following day, New Year’s Eve. After a midday nap, they woke, had sex and were back to good because sex between Lou and Michelle was always an emotional reboot. No matter how good or bad things were between them, a little sex always made everything better. It was never acrobatic or what anyone else might consider exciting, but it was good, real good.

When they first started dating, Lou was thrilled he’d found a girl who waxed and was quick to come. And she gave him the most incredible blowjobs. So incredible that his appendages would tingle and numb while she seemingly unhinged her jaw and delicately made out with his cock the way a bar slut would fellate a lollipop for attention. And when Michelle revealed that she loved a bit of a finger in her ass, Lou was happy to oblige, even if it left his finger stinking of shit. Because to Lou, that was the stench of love.

The plan that night was to join the party at the resort. Michelle wore her best little black dress that showed off just enough cleavage to make things interesting; Lou donned his tuxedo, which was a sexual trigger for Michelle. But the party was a bust. Everyone left the resort to celebrate in town. Michelle was mortified. She never made planning errors. She was sure the resort party would be the best option. The resort’s club was always a happening scene.

“Maybe it’ll pick up after midnight, when people start coming back,” Lou suggested.

“We’ll be in bed, drinking champagne in our clothes like every year,” she said pouting. “This is fucking bullshit!”

Unable to find a restaurant that would take them for dinner, they bought two cans of Pringles and a bag of Twizzlers from the gift shop, and retired to the room, where they ordered two bottles of champagne from room service. They ate and drank on the balcony.

“God! I swear, you are such a baby sometimes. Just man up!”

They both drank fast. Michelle polished the first bottle of bubbly off in an hour. This was fine by Lou because she became less cranky with each glass, and she always liked him more when soused. When he popped the cork on the second bottle, it was clear to him that she would likely kill that bottle even quicker. It was barely past ten o’clock, and Lou needed his buzz to catch up. He moved to the Black Label in the room’s bar.

They searched the TV for a channel playing any kind of music so they could dance. Nothing was on. And the alarm-clock/radio on the nightstand picked up no reception. So they just sang and danced drunkenly to their own voices.

“Hey, Darling Michelle.”

“Yes, Darling Lou.”

“You think Pop considers that he may never go dancing with Grams again?”

She stopped dancing. “Why are you talking about that now?”

“I’ve been thinking about it.”

“But we’re having fun. Why do you always have to ruin a good time?” She plopped herself down on the bed, finished what was in her glass, pulled the champagne bottle out of the ice bucket and brought it to her lips.

“I’m not ruining a good time. It was just a question. They have to worry about those sorts of things, don’t they? I do.”

“Why don’t you ask them then?”

“How?”

“I don’t know. Just fucking ask them. God! I swear, you are such a baby sometimes. Just man up!”

“Don’t say that to me! Don’t tell me to man up! You know how insulting that is? I’m not sorry that I’m thinking about my grandfather right now. It’s New Year’s Eve, and he might die this year. Do you understand that? My fucking grandfather is probably going to be fucking dead in a few months! And then what? Then Grams, then Dad and Mom. And they’ll all be dead before I can get a job and get on with my life and show them I’m not a complete piece of shit!” He pulled at his bowtie and yanked it from his shirt collar then threw it past Michelle’s head. He kicked his shoes off with such force that they flew across the room to the door. “I mean, what the fuck am I going to do? No one’s helping me and I am afraid to even help myself because no matter what I do, you give me shit for it!”

He ripped his tuxedo jacket off and threw it onto the balcony where it draped itself over the railing. They both stared at it. Michelle turned back to the lunatic standing before her. Her eyes were wide, her mouth agape.

“What. The. Fuck.”

A breeze blew across the balcony lifting the jacket off of the railing and onto the pool deck seven stories below.

“And then there’s that,” Lou said as he threw his half-full glass of scotch out after the jacket. He grabbed another glass from the bar, made another drink and walked to the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Michelle asked.

“I have a tuxedo jacket to find.” He stumbled through the door and tried to slam it, but hotel doors are on pressured hinges so it slowly closed comfortably. He took his socks off and tied them together then tied them around the door handle. “Do not disturb!” he shouted at his handiwork.

He found his jacket on the edge of the pool with one arm submerged. He picked it up, wrung it out and looked up toward his balcony. He could see Michelle looking down on him. “Got it!” he said. She turned away and went back into the room.

“Well, fine with me if she’s not going to kiss me at midnight,” he said as he stumbled around the stacked-up lounge chairs and out onto the beach, where he waded in the water. Fireworks began shooting off a few miles down the shoreline. The colors rippled on the dark ocean canvas. Lou raised his glass. “Here’s to the goddamn New Year. Maybe I’ll die first.”

✶

SHE FINALLY SPOKE TO HIM ONCE THEY MADE IT ONTO THE PLANE THE NEXT MORNING. “Where did you sleep?”

“Woke up on the beach. Lost my watch somewhere.”

“Too bad.”

Nothing was said again until they were in the air headed back to Chicago. “Please don’t leave me,” he said as she pulled her head away from his attempt at kissing her forehead—her favorite place to be kissed. “You’re all I’ve got.”

“You need help, Lou. You should have seen yourself last night. I know things are hard for you and all, but you have got to pull it together. Because I’m done. I can’t keep letting you ruin everything and hold me back.”

“Are you breaking up with me?”

“Let’s just get home without me killing you and we’ll see.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t even think killing you would help. You need therapy. Like, some serious therapy. Shock treatment. Maybe a lobotomy. Something.”

“But we’re not breaking up?”

“We’ll have to see. Because I can’t do this anymore.”

The seatbelt sign dinged off, and Lou bolted to the bathroom where he threw up. When he finished, he snaked two mini bottles of Dewar’s scotch from the unattended bar cart just outside of the bathroom. He slugged back one and put the other in his pocket, then returned to his seat where Michelle was stoically, coldly, reading an issue of Us Weekly.

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI Part VII Part VIII Part IX Part X Part 11

[elasianstar]

The world on a turtle’s back Chapter 1

“Ok Mikey, now you have to ride Agro up to the Colossus's flank as its wing flaps drag in the sand, then you have to jump for it and climb up to the top.”

“Almost, almost….dangit i missed.”

“That's ok, just get agro and chase him down again before he gets away!”

“GO AGRO!”

“He's taking off hurry Mikey!”

“BOOYAKASHA! GOT IT!”

“Are you two still playing that old game? It's the fourth day in a row.”

Leo was standing behind us one hand on each back cushion of the couch as his icy eyes scanned the screen where Mikey was taking down the flying snake falanx. The bright sword piercing the rune on the furry back of the beast before it fell, diving into the sand.

“Its not a bad game bro.”

“Yeah leo don't smash the classics, the original shadow of the colossus pushed the boundaries of what a platforming game was in its time. Back then game designers had to figure out how to code everything in a game from scratch, the industry was full of miraculous advancements in that time and it blew the minds of the gaming audiences around the world. A lot of what we know about data storage and computing came from the early game developers of the 80’s and 90’s.”

“She’s right, I use the same basic coding in the Tphones that was developed to create pokemon red. On a bigger scale of course, that program literally refused to crash.”

“I have an idea actually, go get Raph, we’ll play an awesome game i'm sure you'll all love.”

Mikey ran off to the weight room to get Raphael while i pulled an ancient gaming console out of my backpack.

“Is that an original Playstation?”

“Yeah Don its my little brother’s old console, how do you guys feel about a Crash Team Racing Tournament? My brothers and I play this all the time.”

“I could use a break from training”

“Yeah sure,i would love to play a game on such a nostalgic console, the tech back then was archaic but it was impressively durable.”

Laughing i plugged the old wires into the back of the tv.

‘You're telling me, Gabriel once shoved a PB&J in here when Charles had pissed him off. It still works like a charm.”

Donnie was turning the squat square console in his hands admiring the worn casing before pressing the button to lift the top disk hatch.

“You weren't lying, there’s a little dried jelly stuck under the scanner, its amazing this thing still works.”

Setting it down i popped the disk inside, pressing the power button only for it to freeze on the logo screen.

“It's done this from time to time ever since it went through a house fire, all it needs is a little…”

I slapped the machine and the disk continued playing like normal.

“Percussive maintenance.”

When Mikey and Raph got back i tossed each of them a controller as they sat on either side of me on the floor between the couch and the tv.

...

“I CALL CRASH!”

“This N-GIN fellow seems interesting, is that a guided missile.”

“Yep he’s good in the battle maps Don, I’ve got dibs on COCO.”

“I’ll play as this Polar bear guy.”

“I’ve got... Tiny Tiger?”

I started us on an easy map that each of their characters would have an even footing on and within a few races it had turned into an all out war, missiles and bombs flew across the track and the boys were jostling to block each other's views of the screen. Tension was definitely building.

“TAKE THAT DONNIE! MY POLAR BEAR KICKS YOUR CYBORG’S BUTT ON AN ICE MAP!”

“MIKEY HOP QUICK YOU HAVE A TNT ON YOUR HEAD!”

“FUCK I WAS WATCHING THE WRONG SCREEN!”

“AHHH SEAL!”

“WHAT THE FUCK LEO, I JUST GOT IN FIRST FUCKING PLACE AND YOU SHOOT ME WITH A DAMN ELECTRIC BALL!”

Raph jumped up onto his feet, getting in his older brother’s face with his lips pulled back in a snarl and his hands balled into fists.

“All’s fair in love and war Raphael, now stop making such a big deal out of a game.”

“I'M THE ONE MAKING A BIG DEAL OF THE GAME? YOU'VE STOLEN THE TROPHY FROM ME THREE DAMN TIMES NOW!”

The two stared each other down for several moments, Raph's anger seeming to visibly build itself off of Leo’s, before Raphael’s huge fist made contact with Leonardo’s face. The two rolled off behind the couch where they started beating the shit out of each other, curses flying while Mikey attempted to shield me and the console from the fury of the two behemoths. Within a few minutes the fight burned out to both boys staring at each other tensely, Leo rose to his feet and postured dominantly while Raph slunk back in defeat, leaving for the tunnel to the surface.

Pulling away from Mikey i gently waved off his concerned glance and moved toward Leonardo, He wasn't the only one who could pull the dominant shtick. Pulling my wings up to make myself look bigger though the blue turtle had nearly a foot on me i stalked up to Leo on my toes. Moving like a predator  my eyes flashed away from their usual green-blue hue to burn bright gold. We stared at each other in much the same way the brothers had moments before, although neither of us showed any sign of breaking into violence neither of us was willing to submit to the other’s will either.

“A good leader takes all of their followers’ thoughts and emotions into count before any action. I’m not saying Raphael was right in throwing such a fit but you could have handled that much more tactfully. I suggest you learn to understand your team better. They are warriors yes but they're also your family, and they're all you’ve got. You might consider not driving them away.”

Splinter’s voice interrupted us from where he was reading his romance novels on the overstuffed recliner.

“The young lady is wise Leonardo. You may benefit from heeding her advice.”

Leo’s eyes fell in submission to his sensei as I turned on my heel to follow Raph.

I found him a few blocks away sitting on top of an old apartment complex, his eyes on the horizon as the sky lightened for the coming dawn. At the sound of my landing he pulled in on himself a little tighter. I had seen the two eldest fight several times in the last week but I had never followed either before. Seeing this side of Raphael was something I never even considered as I sat quietly on the rooftop near him. My very presence seemed to make him relax, as if he were responding to my emotions. The first pop of sunlight struck us as the bright sphere edged over the horizon, golden rays sparking in his eyes and making them dance like embers floating over a campfire.

“What are ya starin at.”

I dropped my gaze to my hands, gently twisting the agate ring around my finger.

“nothing, sorry.”

After a while he stood up, holding out a hand to help me to my feet.

“Thanks, for sitting with me. I don't know why but it helped.”

“you're welcome.”

we were both a bit fidgety, but i’d had some time to think and had come up with a theory i had to test.

“Hey Raph, have you ever heard of empaths?”

“why.”

“It's just you seem to be very in tune with others emotions though you may not realize it.There was little reason for you to get so worked up down there but your energy was buzzing with all sorts of competition and spite and anger. You were mirroring and amplifying your brothers’ emotions to the point that you just lost control of it all. I think it may be the root of your more extreme anger issues, you absorb others’ turbulent emotions and compound them on your own without realizing until you get explosive….”

the look he gave me set my nerves off again and i hid behind my hair,  “Sorry was that too creepy and analytical?”

He nodded a bit looking at me skeptically, indecisive on whether he believed what I was saying or if he thought it was unsettling how easily I could read him.

“here,”

I placed my hand over his and thought of my favorite memory with my brothers.

“What do you feel?”

His eyes fell on our hands, a small hint of a smile tugging at his mouth.

“How are you doing that?”

“I'm not doing anything more than reliving a pleasant memory. I can help you with this though. Empathy is a common skill even amongst humans, you simply have to learn to realize which emotions don't originate from you and develop ways to deal with them without letting them cloud your own mind.”

“And that will keep me from being such a dumbass?”

I smiled wickedly, slapping him gently on the arm with the back of my fingers.

“Sorry I can't cure dumbass, but I can help you reign this in. All you have to do is give it an effort, Deal?”

His large hand grabbed mine like he was afraid to break it.

“Deal.”

…

The next friday I texted Raph and asked him to meet me on the roof of my apartment just after their twilight patrol. I set out a large blanket and packed some snacks and drinks, i stretched my wings out in the warm light of the setting sun to wait.

About an hour after sundown i heard the low thud of Raphael’s landing on the roof behind me. Looking over my shoulder i quickly sat up, laying my wings comfortably behind me i motioned for him to sit across from me on the blanket.

“So how are we doin this?”

“Well first you're going to have to actually make eye contact.”

He looked up at me and I could tell he was worried, but I didn't bring it up. He would get more comfortable with practice.

“ Close your eyes, were going to start by simply getting you to differentiate between your own emotions and those transferred to you by another. Breath deep and tell me what you feel, I will block my own aura from transferring so you won't get any crossover from me.”

After a few moments of breathing he spoke.

“Well I'm still pissed at Leo for his usual high and mighty bullshit, and at Mikey for waking me up with a water balloon.”

“all right, anything else?”

“well the ache in my muscles from a few quick laps around the city, it's relaxing. And sitting here, that's…. Why do I have to do this?”

“because if you can't decipher your own emotions how will you tell the difference between them and another's?”

I began projecting a heavy sadness, watching as his shoulders slumped and his breath shuddered.

“stop,... please.”

I pulled back behind my wards, leaving a slight soothing behind to apologize.

“if you can't tell an enemy from a friend how could you ever guard yourself in battle? It is the same for your psyche. Now seeing as your anger is the hardest for you to control I want you to focus on a memory that makes you angry without causing a meltdown, a mild irritation.”

When I noticed his face twitching into anger I pushed a little, adding my own similar memories and emotions as I watched his face screw in on itself as he bordered on rage. His fists balled and his thick arms bulged as he fought to restrain himself.

“focus Raphael, don't let yourself get lost in the fog.”

His eyes snapped open, burning into my own before cooling as I withdrew the emotion.

“What did you feel? Explain your way through what you just experienced.”

“It started with me remembering a time when Mikey bent one of my Sai trying to use it to poke a hole in the wall to run a can phone between his and Leo’s rooms. Then it just kept getting worse, like fire ants biting but inside my mind, it kept pushing me, stinging and getting more intense for no reason…”

“anything specific about that sensation you think you could recognize if you tried again?”

“maybe?”

After about ten tries and an hour's work he was starting to notice the same “fire ants” sensation within a few seconds of intrusive emotion.

We tried a few times with some other emotions but with a change in emotion came a change in sensation so it was back at square one. We did manage to lock down the sensations for the big three emotions before I had him emotionally exhausted.

Anger= burning stinging “fire ants”

Sadness= heavy clammy “mud"

Happiness= soft and warm “fur”

The whole time I watched his aura, monitoring the color change from red to blue to yellow. With the addition of intrusive emotion each one changed, becoming streaked with a slightly different shade of the target color.

Now he lay flat on his plastron, eyes still closed as I helped him clear his mind of all of the tumultuous emotions of our session. I had put on some gentle music that used natural sounds and radiated calm peaceful energy that he soaked up like a man lost in the desert guzzles water.

“I know you're doing that.”

I spoke around a mouth full of the cookies we were munching on.

“What?”

He took a swig from his water bottle.

“Making me feel all calm and peaceful on purpose. It feels like a warm sunlamp.”

“you made some good progress today, but you frazzled yourself. sue me for wanting to help.”

He did that laugh/smirk thing before burying his face in his crossed arms, a muffled thanks nearly silenced.

“It won't be that easy with others, I was pumping some pretty deliberate emotions your way using my abilities as a soul reader. Unintentional exchanges will be harder to notice before they've influenced your core emotional state. We’ll keep working with weaker and weaker signals and more varied emotions until you're completely familiar with each new sensation.”

He just hummed, and soon snores started to rumble through him as he fell asleep. He must have been more exhausted than I thought.

Careful to not wake him I drug the blanket he was laid upon under one of the rooftop awnings, throwing the other blanket over his splayed out body. I sent a quick text to the brothers explaining that Raph had been doing some training at my place and i had offered for him to crash here over the daylight hours. Nestling myself amongst my own wings I took up residence at the mouth of the awning and fell asleep to the rising sun.

RAPH POV

I woke up with a major kink in my neck, the late may heat feeling nice on my skin with the cool breeze.

Peeking my eyes open I noticed that I was under some sort of plastic dome thing that was open on one end like an igloo or something. Near the door a small black lump lay guarding the entrance, stray feathers and wisps of dark hair being blown by the breeze. I couldn't help but smile at the thought of her literally making me a blanket nest and guarding me while I slept.

“Morning Raph.”

She spoke without even a change in her breath to tell me she had woke up. It startled me, how long had I been watching her?

“hm. Mornin.”

Her wings rose first, fluttering a few times to fix the messy feathers before she sat up. She stretched her spine and rolled her shoulders, light cracks and pops betraying  her poor sleeping position before looking at me with those big eyes. They were emerald green ringed with blue and soft in the scattered light.

“you think you could sneak downstairs to my apartment or do you wanna just sit tight up here while I make breakfast.”

My stomach growled at the mention of food.

“as long as there aren't any helicopters around I think I'll manage.”

She poked her head out the front of the shelter and looked around before waving me on to follow her. Staying low we slid through the roof access door and down the flight of stairs to her apartment door.

The place was studio style with most of the space being one big room, a kitchenette sat off to the right and the living space was to the left. Above the bathroom was a small loft blocked from view by a tapestry of the night sky. The hardwood floor was scattered with black shed feathers and the windowsill was filled with long planters each holding several large plants. All of the shelves were covered in rocks and sculptures and little things, and there was a freaky looking stuffed raven sitting above her computer that creeped me out. the thing was watching me i swear.

She motioned for me to take a spot on the worn love seat facing the kitchen while she got to work cooking.

“Is sausage and eggs Ok?”

She was already pulling a large black iron skillet out of the cabinet and placing it loudly on the stove.

“You don't have to…”

She whirled around on me holding the spatula threateningly.

“Not another word, how many times have you guys had me over for dinner at the lair in the last two weeks, between feeding me after a medical visit or me just crashing dinner while hanging out I'm eating your food most nights. Now is sausage and eggs alright?”

her spunk always surprised me, so much spark in such a little bird.

“Throw in toast with some of that kiwi jelly you brought splinter last Tuesday and I'll shut up.”

She smiled, taking a jar out of the fridge with a tub of butter before digging out her toaster, The smell of cooking food making my mouth water.

Between flips she fumbled with her phone and the light guitar intro of Bon Jovi’s Dead or Alive started playing as she moved around the space.

“I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride. I'm wanted, Waannteeed, dead or alive…”

She tossed her head a bit while the guitar solo echoed in the small space

“And I walk These streets, worn out six string on my back. I play for keeps, because I might not make it back. I've been everywhere, still standin tall, I've seen a billion faces, and I've rocked them all!”

She knew every word, singing along with the music as she took something out of the skillet.

“And I'm a cowboy, I've got the night on my side, and I'm wanted, Dead or alive. And I ride, dead or alive!”

“So you're a classic rock fan.”

She reacted like she hadn't realized I had actually been watching as Panama from van Halen blared. She turned it down a bit as she cracked eggs into the skillet.

“Oh uh yeah, my youngest brother is really into it and it kinda re-lit my flame for the genera. Not as good as seeing it performed live…”

“you've seen Bon Jovi live?”

She ducked and waved it off.

“Yeah, well another me did. Should have seen her back then. I think my brother Felix still has my favorite leather biker jacket somewhere, he borrowed it last Halloween and hasn't returned it. I was a total rock chick back in the 70’s.”

The image of her in a heavy leather jacket while she sat on a wide and low red Harley flashed through my thoughts.

“Anyway food’s ready, ummm…”

She was looking between the dining table and the couch.

“You might be a bit too heavy for the dining chairs that came with this place. I'll let you eat on the couch this once but if this is going to become a regular thing I'll see about getting something sturdier for you.”

She handed me a plate loaded with food and placed a couple of glasses of milk on the coffee table before going back for her own. There were strange dark brown disks like hamburger patties on the plate, I picked one up and sniffed it, unsure of what it could be.

“have you never had country sausage before?”

My expression must have given me away, this thing was a sausage? What happened to the long linked ones Mikey would sometimes have April get from the Italian market?

“Try it, it's the same thing just without the casing, I personally like to dip them in my egg yolk.”

She tore the disk in half, dipping it in the runny egg before popping it in her mouth with a satisfied hum and an expectant look.

ELASIA POV

He seemed unsure of the new food but with a bit of coaxing he tried it, tossing the piece of sausage in his mouth like it was a shot that needed to be downed quickly before the taste hit his tongue. When it did however his eyes went wide for a second and settled as he slowly chewed, savoring the smoky flavor.

“farm raised pork from back home, there isn't much better.”

Shoveling another whole patty in his mouth he mumbled something that sounded like, “we need to make you cook at the lair more often.”

I couldn't help but feel proud at that, puffing up a bit before speaking.

“I figured you'd want me all to yourself!”

The way his expression changed and how he choked on his food made me realize how that sounded.

“my...my cooking that is.”

RAPH POV

She got really quiet after that, staring down at her plate while she picked at her food.

I reached across the table and stole one of her sausages, her face flushed with shock as I popped it in my mouth.

“maybe I should keep quiet, wouldn't want Mikey to HOG all of this deliciousness.”

The snorting laugh she made when she realized my pun had me reaching over to teasingly attempt another sausage theft but she smacked my hand away. We both smiled as she nibbled on a piece of toast, awkwardness forgotten.

...

“Uggggghhh, no more woman, are you trying to make me explode?”

“It's not my fault you loved my cooking so much that you decided to steal half of my meal as well as the double helping I had made for you.”

She moved to take my plate and cup but I blocked her hand before she could.

“No you cooked let me help.”

Rolling up off the couch I grabbed my dishes and followed her to the sink.

“I'll wash and you can dry.”

She tossed me a ratty grey towel and started filling the sink with water and soap.

CRASH!!

“Shit I'm sorry, let me...fuck.”

I had dropped a wet plate on the floor and in my rush I stepped on a relatively large shard, embedding it in my foot.

ELASIA'S POV

Moving quickly I took the brunt of Raph’s weight on my shoulders as I helped him hop over to the couch and sit down. Kneeling in front of him I gently took his large 2 toed foot in my hands inspecting the damage before grabbing the biggest piece of the shard.

Raph had been quiet through the pain so far but hissed and jerked away as I tried to pull out the glass. I looked up at him with a calming gaze, immediately feeling him settle.

“this is going to hurt like a sonofabitch but I have to get all of the glass out before I can seal to wound.”

His gold-green eyes looked back into mine, searching for something before he nodded.

“I trust ya.”

When I pulled out the shard his heavy hand came down to grip my shoulder. Grabbing a pair of tweezers and a large sewing needle I set to work removing the smaller slivers, extending my wing up to comfortingly brush against his side and the arm that was gripping me. After a few minutes I had gotten out all of the shards and allowed my magic to work on the wound, sealing it shut and leaving a small scar in the arch of his foot.

I don't know why but I pressed a small kiss to the scar before turning away to clean up the glass and finish the dishes, leaving Raphael to watch dumbfounded from the couch.

…

A little while later the sun set and I heard a tapping on the glass door to the balcony. Pulling back the curtains I was met by the three figures of Leo, Donnie, and Mikey.

“Come on in guys, Raph is just watching fast N loud in the main room.”

Mikey and Donnie rushed past while Leo stayed back with me.

“I’m afraid we can't stay long, we have to get on patrol before the purple dragons start getting too active.”

“I understand.”

He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

“Actually I have a couple things I need to say first. I'm sorry about the other night, you're right, I need to start trying to understand the unique ways my brothers think. It would not only help my role as a leader but it would connect us together better as a family. Especially Raph. And uh, speaking of Raph would you mind explaining this special training you mentioned last night?”

I had promised Raph that we would keep the details of our sessions private.

“It was nothing much, simply honing some innate abilities I believe he may possess. It's strictly confidential at this moment.”

“Yes, well then we really ought to be moving. Have a pleasant night Ms.Elasia. Mikey, Don, Raph let's move.”

Mikey gave me a quick hug and invited me down Sunday for game night and Donnie patted my hair claiming he left some files on my laptop that he’d like for me to look over before the two jumped off the balcony after Leo.

“Hey, um today was...nice.”

Raph lingered at the railing of the balcony, one hand gripping it ready to fling himself over.

“Yeah it was, next friday?  maybe?”

He smiled a little.

“Yeah sure, and ill...I'll practice a bit this week.”

Two beats of silence passed between us before I hopped up and wrapped my arms around his neck in a hug, my wings snaking around his shell. He froze for a second before I felt his strong arms around my waist and his chin sat firmly against my hair.

When I let go he was gone.