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dbnightingale24 · 4 months ago

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A Stepcest Love Story About Jim

Chapter 1

See? I'm actually updating in a non-annoying time frame.

Word Count: 4,958

Warning: Swearing, Family Drama, Stepdaughter/Step Father interest, Drinking, Drinking Relapse, Minors DNI, Emotional Cheating, Forbidden Love, Slow Burn, Flirting...I think that's it.

Summary: Things become more intimate between you and Jim.

I do not give permission/consent for my stories/works to get posted elsewhere. I do not condone this type of behavior/relationship, this is for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter 2

“Why don’t you want to go tonight?” your best friend, Ciara, asks you take a seat next to her on the sofa, and you both watch Nora play on the floor.

“Why do you want to go so bad? You hate her,” you laugh.

“Be that as it may, your Mum knows how to throw a party, and she seems to want you to go pretty damn bad.”

“Eh, she probably just wants to make up for embarrassing herself in front of her new husband,” you mutter with an eye roll.

“That’s the other thing! I wanna see your hot new step daddy,” she smirks mischievously, and you burst out laughing.

“I thought you and Darragh are trying to make a go of it?”

With a shrug, she simply responds with, “I didn’t say I’d touch, I just wanna look.”

“You’re a fuckin’ mess,” you laugh as your phone buzzes for the millionth time. “Fuckin’ hell,” you groan, checking another text from your Mother.

Life Giver: Jim and I would really like it if Ciara and you came tonight. We’re gonna have so many friends...it’ll be good for us.

Since the fiasco that was you coming home two weeks ago, your Mother has been doing her best to get on your good side, and has only blamed her “blowup” on you a handful of times.

For her, that’s growth.

In all honesty, you’re not even mad at her, you’re just not in the mood for any of her theatrics. You already know how the rest of the Summer will play out if you give in and forgive her but, at the same time, she does have Jim now. The last thing she wants to do is make a fool of herself again. He seems like the kind of man who’s finally giving her the life she wants, and she’ll kill herself before she fucks that up.

“C’mon, maybe it’ll be fun,” Ciara encourages, pulling you from your thoughts.

“You just want free booze.”

“Well, there’s also that,” she agrees with a laugh. “Darragh is picking up Nora, and he’ll have her for the week. So, if this party sucks, I’ll have the rest of the week to make it up to you,” she promises with pleading eyes.

“Do you really think it’ll be worth it?”

“Y/M/N is a lot of things, but a bad party thrower is not one of them.”

She had you there. For all of the faults your Mother has, she’s always been able to throw a party that people talk about for months. It’s one of the perks about having a young Mother. She had you when she was 16, and the second you were out of her, she went right back to partying. She may be turning 40, but you’re more than sure she still knows how to throw a party.

“We’ll go for an hour, and then we’ll go dancing,” you smirk as Ciara lets out a squeal of delight.

Picking up your phone, you’re quick to respond to your Mother and let her know that you Ciara will come by for a little bit before going out.

“Darragh will be here in about an hour, so I’m gonna get Nora’s bag together, and we’ll get outfits together after they leave.” “How’s that going by the way? Where do you two stand?”

“I don’t know. It was a nasty and we can both still be pretty nasty to one another, and we don’t wanna raise Nora around that. We were so young when we had her, no clue what we were doin’, and we blamed each other. However, the love is still strong and we’ve ended up in each other’s beds more times than either of us can count. I don’t know, it’s hard but we’re trying. My parents aren’t happy.”

“Your parents put you out, who gives a fuck what they think?”

“I don’t know, they’ve been asking to come around and see Nora more, we’ve had a few talks and they apologized...they were disappointed in me-”

“My grandparents were disappointed in my Mum, but they didn’t put her out, and they sure as shit didn’t leave me alone to fend for myself. I’m glad you’re working things out with them, but I still don’t forgive them.”

“Babe, could this be some leftover anger towards your parents?”

“Nah, I’m just tired of shit parents. We get stuck with the suffering, and then we’re just supposed to forgive ‘em like it’s nothin’, and it’s not fair. You got top marks, there’s not a single person who can find somethin’ negative to say about you, and you’ve always been honest with them. Even when it was hard. You do one thing they don’t like and they put you out. Now, after the damage has been done, they’re ready to talk. Even if you actually want nothing to do with them, you’re not going to deny Nora the chance to have a relationship with them. They mess everything up and you’re the one stuck with cleaning it up.”

“I didn’t say it was any easy talk,” she mutters, running a frustrated hand through her hair, “there was a lot of yelling and crying. You’re not wrong in what you’re saying.”

“Even with my Mum, the argument we’re having is my fault. It can’t be that she lied to Jim, it’s my fault because I ruined the lie she set up.”

“What exactly did she tell him?”

“She told him she doesn’t drink that much, that she and I have always had a really great relationship but I made her take a backseat for school, and she doesn’t blame me for it-” “You’re serious?”

“Yup, and she told him that I’m not good with young kids, that’s why she’s been anxious for me to meet his.”

“You’re great with kids!”

“But this is my fault. I’m just tired of shitty parents. Why is always our job to be the ones to clean up after them?”

“Well, lets get little miss ready for her Father, then we’ll get ready to go,” she smiles as she picks up Nora, who claps and laughs at her Mother. “Like you said, we’ll go for a bit then we’ll go out.”

Smiling as you take Nora from her, you nod in agreement, “sounds good to me.”

Being the paranoid Mother shes always been, Ciara takes her time packing, double and triple checking everything as you dance around with Nora. By the time Darragh arrives, she’s packing the bag for the fourth time.

Laughing as he takes Nora from you, he assures her, “I’m sure you packed everything.”

“We’re going out tonight and I don’t want you to have to come back because I left one of her comfort toys out. She’s been really fussy lately, and it really helps.”

“She has toys at my house too, love. It’ll be fine. What’s going on tonight?”

“My Mum’s birthday party.”

“You’re talking to her?”

“She won’t leave me alone about it, so I figured we’ll just go for a bit, then go to the Pub or something.”

“Don’t hit her.”

“She hit me!” you groan as he starts laughing. “Take good care of my goddaughter.”

He smiles as he starts to bounce her in his arms, promising, “only the very best.”

He’s quick to give Ciara a kiss before rushing out, and she bites her lip to fight off a smile.

“So uh, when’s the last time you two ended up in each other’s bed?”

“Last Saturday when I went to pick up Nora.”

“I hear chaotic wedding bells.”

“Lets get ready!” she laughs, pulling you up the steps along with her.

Getting ready proves to be harder than you can you imagine, because you truly have no idea what to wear. You haven’t been to one of your Mother’s parties in over a year, and you don’t want to overdress, and you also don’t want to under dress.

Plus, there’s Jim. Your stepfather.

You’re so anxious about seeing him again, and you can’t figure out why. You’ve only met him the one time, but he left a lasting impression. You honestly don’t know why it matters so much, because it’s not like he’s anything to you. Yes, by marriage he’s your stepfather, but what the hell do you need one of those for? As far as you’re concerned, you’ve only ever had one father figure and he was your grandfather. Once he died, you didn’t need anyone else. You didn’t trust anyone else.

You take about 20 minutes going back and forth between your favorite plaid mini-skirt, and your favorite black denim shorts, before Ciara finally took the reins and decided for you. She dresses you up in the plaid mini-skirt, your old ‘Siouxsie & The Banshees’ t-shirt that you stole from your Mother when you were 13, and black combat boots.

Looking yourself over in the mirror, you ask, “do you really think this is alright?”

“It’s the best of both worlds, babe. We’ll do your hair up in simple little space buns, and you’re all set.”

“Why do you always know how to dress me better than I dress myself?”

“Because you overthink every little thing,” she laughs as she sits you down and parts your hair. “I’m really happy we re-dyed your hair. The blue blends perfectly with the black. These buns are gonna look amazing!”

“Maybe leave a strand down on either side. That’ll look nice.”

“Now we’re talking!” she squeals.

As you start working on your makeup, your thoughts slowly start to calm down. You’re overthinking for no reason. You’d both had a long day, drinks were had, and you were both tired. No more no less. Once you see him again, and feel nothing towards him, you’ll see that all of your worrying is for nothing.

You hope.

“How is it that your Mum always has a house full of people, and never runs out of booze? What was point of bringin’ the whiskey?” Ciara gripes as you two make your way inside.

“Cause, it’s her birthday and you’re supposed to bring a gift.”

“And what, might I ask, did she get you for your birthday?”

“Peace and bloody quiet.”

Ciara laughs and nods in agreement, “the best gift she could ever give you, honestly.”

“GIRLS!” your Mother’s voice rings out as she stumbles out of the living area.

Ciara scowls as she covers her face, “Christ on a bike.”

“Shes had to been drinking since morning,” you mutter with a smile as your Mother finally reaches the both of you and sloppily hugs you both.

The party started an hour ago.

“Happy birthday!” you beam, hugging her back. “We brought whiskey.”

“Not as if she needs it,” Ciara mutters and you stomp on her foot.

You’ll be dammed if an argument breaks out just as soon as you’ve arrived.

“Jim’s in the kitchen talking with Rose. Come and say hi!” she slurs excitedly, grabbing your hand and dragging you along with her, and your quick to latch onto Ciara and pull her along.

Not surprisingly, Rose is standing a little too close to Jim, but you know she won’t actually act on anything. For as much as you’ve never liked Rose, she’s most loyal friend your Mother has. They’ve been friends since they were 8, and wherever there’s an adventure, you’ll find them together and ready to engage.

Rose gushes once her eyes land on you, “there’s our girl!”

“Hey Aunt Rose.”

“And you brought Ciara! It’s been so long since I’ve seen the both of you!” she practically screams, engulfing you both in a tight hug. Clearly just as drunk as your Mother.

Your Mother pulls the bottle of Ciara’s hands as she comments, “I’ll take this and make you two drinks! I’m so happy you’re both here!”

Well, at least she’s having a good birthday.

“So, any big news? Anything happenin’ back at school? Any boys? Any jobs lined up after?” Rose questions off at rapid fire once she finally lets go of you and Ciara.

“Oh, uh, well I’m just-” “Hold that thought! I see Amy!” she squeals before running off.

“Is everyone fuckin’ drunk already?!” Ciara exclaims, gaining a small laugh from Jim.

“Well, Y/M/N has been up since 10, so she started drinking at 10:01.”

“Ah, you’re learning fast,” you giggle.

“Yeah, she wasn’t like this last year for any of the parties she threw. She drank, but it was actually during the party.”

“Just you wait till I finish school.”

Ciara snickers and shakes her head, “God, that’s gonna be so much fun, and we won’t remember a thing.”

“Right you are,” you laugh in agreement. “Jim, this is Ciara, my best friend since grade school. Ciara, this is Jim, my Mother’s new husband.”

“So you’re the hot stepdad? I get it, I completely understand,” she nods, slowly taking him in, as you burst out laughing and Jim becomes visibly flustered. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hot stepdad, eh?” he nods towards you.

“Words were said,” you shrug with a smirk as your Mother finally makes her way back over with the drinks.

“Jim, I’ve made you one too! This is party!” she laughs, handing out all three cups. “AMY!” she yells before stumbling out.

“You may as well drink up, because it’s only going to get worse from here,” you promise, raising your cup. “Cheers.”

“Cheers,” Ciara and Jim cheered in unison.

As you take a large sip of your drink, you feel Jim’s eyes glued to you, and every feeling you thought felt wash away comes rushing back. You look him directly in the eyes while continuing to drink, and Ciara between the both of you with a smirk tugging on her lips.

Oh God, you know that look.

Once Jim puts his cup down, he clears his throat, “are you girls staying for the whole party?”

“Uh-”

“Yes,” Ciara interjects, and you shoot her a look, which she completely ignores. “Figured it would be best, since everything was left such a mess before. If there’s one thing that’ll make Y/M/N forget that she’s irrationally upset, it’s booze and a party.”

Oh my God.

“Jim! Come say hi!” your Mother calls, laughing along with Rose, Amy, and you’re guessing Amy’s boyfriend.

“I’ll circle back,” he promises with a nod and a soft smile, before walking off.

“What are you doing?!” you snap once Jim is out of ear shot.

“Investigating.”

“Investigating what?!”

“Just how long you should be staying at my place.”

“What?”

“You don’t fool me. I saw the look you two exchanged, plus, Daddy Dearest couldn’t keep his eyes off of you.” “Stop it, he’s just being nice. It’s an awkward situation to be in because my Mother is...my Mother, and I guarantee he doesn’t know a majority of the people here.”

“What does have to do with you?”

“He knows me!”

“He met you the one time.”

“Ci-”

“There’s no harm in staying, besides, we can get shit faced here and sleep it off at my place.”

“I really don’t want to be around Rose all night,” you scowl, taking another sip of your drink.

“I won’t leave you to these assholes. Lets just stay and see what happens,” she suggests with a shrug before downing her drink. “Refill!”

You should’ve gone to the pub. You should’ve gone anywhere but your Mother’s house.

4 Hours Later...

You and Ciara are absolutely shit faced, along with everyone else in the house. Between the calls for shots, not drinking as much water as you should have, and the drinks Ciara kept making for you, there was no other choice for you.

“Do you think your Mum locked the door to your room?” Ciara slurs, leaning against you.

“Hmm? What? Why?”

“I have to pee!”

You giggle and grab her hand, leading her through the crowd of people and make your way upstairs, “come on.”

“I love Nora, but I’m so happy I get to sleep this off.”

“Feel shit already?”

“No, but I know I will in the mornin’,” she groans and you giggle. “I’ll stand guard, go to the bathroom,” you encourage with a smile once you reach your room.

“You’re a saint, baby,” she praises as she stumbles into your bedroom, practically running to the connected bathroom.

Giggling to yourself, you lean against the wall and take a sip of your drink.

“What’re you doin’ up here?” a deep voice asks, causing you to jump.

You laugh when you see Jim stumbling out of your Mother’s bedroom, “Ciara needed to use the toilet, so she’s using the one in my room.”

“The ones downstairs are taken?”

“Guess so,” you smile up at him, taking another sip of your drink, “what’s your excuse?”

He sighs as he goes to take a sip of his drink, “I was hiding.”

“Ha! She finally wore you down?”

“How does she know so many people?!”

“She assumes everyone she parties with is her lifelong friend. They don’t judge her so, naturally, she wants to be around them all the time.”

“You don’t like them, then?”

You scoff, “not in the slightest.” “Not even Rose?”

“That bitch. I especially don’t like Rose.”

There’s a small silence before he comments, “you look nice tonight.”

“Yeah?”

“I think you know you do.”

“Wasn’t too sure, didn’t get many compliments tonight.”

“Then they weren’t payin attention.”

What the fuck are you doing?

“You should probably go and find my Mother.”

“She’s fine on her own.”

“It’s her birthday.”

“She threw the party. I’m having much more fun where I’m at.”

“And why’s that?”

“I’m going home,” Ciara states, suddenly coming out of your room, surprising both you and Jim.

“What? Why?”

“I need sleep.”

“You can sleep here.”

“Too fuckin’ loud and, knowing your Mother, she’ll want to keep this up for another few hours.”

“Well, how the hell are ya gettin’ home? You’re not walkin’.”

“I spent the last 5 minutes orderin’ a service. By the time I get downstairs, it should be here. I take you’re stayin?”

“You how she gets. Jim’s never dealt with her and Rose never stays to help.”

“You’re a better daughter than she deserves,” she smiles, wrapping you in a hug. “You’ll come round tomorrow?” “Yeah, let me know when you’re home safe, okay?”

She lets go of you and nods, “promise. Nice meeting you, Jim.”

“You too, get home safe,” he smiles as Ciara starts down the stairs.

And just like that, you and Jim are alone again.

“You can go back into hiding again, she’s useless at this point.” “I can handle her.”

“While I believe that,” you giggle, “I’m saving you.” “And who saves you?”

“Me,” you smirk before walking off.

It’s nothing. Nothing at all. You’re both drunk, irritated, and it’ll mean nothing in the morning. It can’t mean anything, because you’re not that awful of a person. It’s just a bit of innocent fun. Nothing that can’t be shrugged off.

For the rest of the night, you do your best to distance yourself from Jim, no matter how many times you catch him looking your way. When the party finally starts to wind down, as you predicted, Rose is the first one out the door, leaving your Mother half asleep on the couch.

“C’mon Mum, time to get you upstairs,” you groan, lifting her up.

“No-”

“Literally everyone has gone. It’s just you, Jim, and myself. It’s time for bed.”

“Great, your mad-”

“Not mad, just drunk and tired. Everyone needs to go to sleep. Now, up.”

With a huff of annoyance, she forces herself up and puts most of her weight on you, and you both slowly start on your way to the stairs.

“She alright?” Jim asks, coming to help, and wrapping your Mother’s other arm around his neck.

“She’s fine, just drunk.”

Your Mother scoffs in annoyance, “it’s not even that late.”

“It’s 2am,” you grunt, trying to keep everyone balanced.

Once you’re all finally at the top of the stairs, both you and Jim start to struggle, because your Mother has officially passed out and is now dragging her feet. Nonetheless, you both get her to bed and, while Jim undresses and dresses her, you set up water and ibuprofen on her bedside.

“Got it from here?” you ask softly.

“Yeah, you alright?”

“Mhm, I’ll see you in the morning,” you smile before quietly making your way out.

Against your better judgement, after you’ve changed into one of your old nightshirts, you go downstairs and start to clean. No, you don’t plan on cleaning everything tonight, but your Mother won’t be up until late afternoon and there’s no way in fuck you’re gonna wanna clean all of this when you get up.

“What are ya doin’? I’ll take care of this,” Jim states gently, causing you to jump.

“No, get some rest. I’ve got it.” “Y/N-”

“I’m used to it. I’ll do some now and the rest tomorrow.” “You don’t have to take care-”

“I’m just used to it.”

“You don’t have to be anymore.”

“Jim-”

“I’ll take this side, you take the other,” he half smiles and you giggle.

“Sounds good.”

Maybe you should’ve gone home with Ciara, because the fact that it’s just the both of you, and you’re walking around in a long t-shirt and panties, and you’re once again drunker than you ever meant to get. If there’s one thing your Mother can unite everyone in, it’s getting people entirely too drunk. However, you can’t lie and say the extra help isn’t nice. Ciara would help if she was able, but her parents always hated her staying over as well as the state she would come back in, so help didn’t happen often.

It’s only your second time with the older gentleman, but gentleman he is indeed.

“I think that’s a good bit for tonight,” you smile when you both meet up in the kitchen.

“There’s barely anything left for tomorrow.”

You scoff, “which makes my life easier.”

“You don’t have to take care of it, angel.”

Angel? That goes straight to foggy brain.

“It’s just what I’m used to-”

“You don’t have to be, not anymore. You’re not alone,” he promises softly, faintly slurring, as he softly caresses your right cheek with his right hand.

The hand without his wedding band.

You find yourself leaning into it for just a moment, before pulling away and looking up at him, “goodnight Jim.”

“Night angel.”

Stumbling up the steps, you’re quick to escape into your room, finally letting out a breath didn’t even know you’d been holding. You don’t even bother to turn on the light, you just plop down on your bed and grab your phone to send Ciara a quick text.

Y/N: Thanks for letting me know you’re back safe. Lots to talk about when I get back, and what the fuck? I should’ve left with you, lol. Anyway, I love you, night.

Too wired from your interaction with Jim, you decided to mindlessly scroll through your phone, trying to find literally anything to take your mind off of him. However, nothing seemed to do the trick. God, why couldn’t you just have decided to stay with Ciara from the very beginning? At this point, you would’ve much rather stayed oblivious to this whole damn thing. Your Mother clearly had no problem hiding it, so why now?

You’re just about to send Ciara another text when you hear your door open.

“Jim?”

Almost instantly, the light comes on and he looks mortified, “fuck! I’m sorry, I wasn’t...I didn’t...I’m-” Laughing and waving your hand to beckon him in, you shake your head, “it’s fine.”

“I wasn’t payin’ attention-”

“It’s really alright, Jim. You’re drunk and it’s late. I don’t take it as you creepin’ in on me.”

“Good...thanks,” he laughs awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah no, I’ll leave you to it-” “What’s bothering you?” you ask, placing your phone down and sitting up.

“It’s no big deal-”

“Then you should have no problem telling me.”

He motions towards the room and you nod, as he enters and closes the door softly behind him.

“I’m just wonderin’-” “Jim, you can sit on my bed, I won’t bite,” you laugh. “I promise to be a good girl, daddy,” you tease, not noticing how he swallows thickly as he makes his way over and sits on the edge of the bed. “What’s got you all worked up after such a rowdy party?”

“Well, that’s it,” he laughs nervously, “has it always been like this? How did I not see it?”

“In your defense, I triggered it. I trigger her.”

“How? You’re an...an angel, and I don’t see how-”

“No one wants to commit themselves to a teen Mother, she didn’t want the responsibility, and my grandparents didn’t hold their tongues on how disappointed they were in her. I represent failure and resentment. I didn’t get knocked up in the back of some loser’s car at a concert, I’m continuing my education, my grandparents always made sure to tell me how much they love me and how proud they were...she feels like they wished I would’ve been their daughter instead. Which, isn’t the case at all, they just wanted her to do better. Her argument was always that she was young, and they always told her that it didn’t stop her from opening her legs,” you shrug with an awkward laugh. “We’ve had our rows in the past, some of them bad, and she knows how I feel towards her. I guess, now, she wants me to see that she’s changed. Stable man, stable life...she’s finally grown up. However, when I first met you, I was rightfully angry with her, and now she feels all those things again and she just...she spirals,” you smile weakly, wiping your eyes. “So, it’s not that you’re not a good judge of character or anything, you just didn’t know everything.”

He’s looking at you with the softest eyes, and you force yourself to look away, because it’s entirely too much for you to handle in your current state.

“I just...I’m not giving up on her or anything, I just don’t know how to handle her when she’s like this,” he mutters, turning away from.

You clear your throat and reach out for his hand, “well, take into account that tonight was a good night. She was hanging all over you, she wanted you by her side, and she was laughing and dancing almost the entire time. Yeah, she still drank her face off, but she was bearable. On her off nights...”

“What?”

“You go for a walk, go see friends, maybe go to the cinema...just let her have her fit. There’s no reasoning, because she’ll just want to argue and won’t take any accountability. It’s never worth it. Especially if Rose is with her.”

“Yeah, what’s the story there?”

“Rose is the worst fucking person. She’s selfish and a deadbeat. Whenever my Mother wanted to actually make an actual attempt to be a parent, Rose was always there to say ‘your parents will take care of her! You’re young!’ and yeah, my Mother is her own person, but Rose didn’t help anything. The moment I was able to drink, they brought me everywhere so they’d have someone to bring them home, and Rose would talk her into going off with her to do God knows what and leave me on my own.”

“Why does she keep her around?”

“That’s her best friend. When Ma got knocked up, Rose stayed by her side, she doesn’t make her feel bad about herself, she’s been there after every guy left, and they party together. Rose is a terrible influence, but she’s always been a good friend. Gotta give her that,” you mutter.

Jim looks as if he wants to say something, but he’s at a loss for words. So, you smile and take control of the conversation.

“I couldn’t help but notice you going through the record collection tonight.”

He laughs softly, finally taking your hand in his, “you noticed, eh?”

“This has always been a family of impeccable music taste.”

“I could tell by the shirt you wore tonight.”

“Yeah? Tell me more about what you love.”

It’s not like you mean to keep him in your room for so long, but you two get so caught up in conversation, and you lose track of time. At some point, you both end up laying down on your bed (your head on his chest and leg around his waist while his hand is wrapped around you and stroking your hair), and none of it feels wrong. You know it is, but you feel so at peace with him, that it just feels as if it’s meant to be.

‘None of this will matter in the morning,’ you tell yourself mentally.

You yawn as you slowly start to succumb to sleep, “Jim?”

“Yeah angel?”

“When I leave, she’ll go back to normal. It won’t always be like this,” you promise softly and he lets out a heavy sigh. “What?”

“You shouldn’t have to leave for her to go back to how she was.”

“It’s what’s best for everyone.” “Not me,” he mutters into your hair before pressing a soft kiss into it, and your heart breaks at his words. “Just sleep. We both need to sleep.”

As you drift off, you tell yourself that none of this matters. Nothing that’s been discussed, and not you two holding each other close while your Mother snores the night away in the next room. All of this is just temporary until you leave.

Too bad your heart won’t follow suit.

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the-100-days-of-junkan · 23 days ago

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Day 30

Alright this is a fuckin big one, for a variety of reasons. One of which being that this is the 30th Day, meaning we've hit another Milestone Piece!

First off, last time I’ll link this here, but if you like this comic and want to see it realized in a slightly more fullfilling way, go check out this fanfic which i posted across October.

Secondly, I’m about to Yap. A lot. So i’m gonna put this all underneath to read because it is a lot, which is to be expected since this is a pretty big piece for the project. And alongside that I wanna talk about the Vampire AU fic.

Okay so “where the fuck did this come from,” you might be wondering. Up till now every pic I had made was sketches with the most color being just the eyes. All of those colored pieces were given that color work long after this one, so what the hell possessed me to make a two page comic.

Well you see. I’m a bit of a fuckin weirdo who completely lacks a concept of self control. And I was starting to really, REALLY get into the idea of Vampire Junkan (No fucking surprise there.) And while I had drawn a few pics involving blood sucking up to that point, I hadn’t drawn their first time doing this, and I am very much into the intimacy that comes with Bloodsucking in the context of vampire yuri. And I can’t imagine their would be anything more intimate than the first time a vampire sucks your blood.

So it spiraled out of control from there, and boom, we have a fuckin two page comic.

Before I start talking about the actual Vampire Fic I should detail that this piece was the pivotal shift in the timeline for this project. Because it was with this one (if I remember right) that this BECAME a project. I had joked about drawing 100 Junkan pics a few times with Val, since by this point I was still drawing these at a crazy speed. As I said in a previous post, from Day 3 to Day 30 I did this all in under 2 fucking weeks, even if they weren’t colored that’s wild pace.

I’ve never asked her but I wonder what that was like from Val’s perspective, just some random chick on tumblr comes up to you and is like-

“Hello there I like your fanfic, do you want to have Junkan art thrown at you nearly every day for the next 2 weeks???”

That sounds like a fucking fever dream. And that’s not even considering everything else I would just, send to them for the remainder of the projects production. Some would say I’m built differently, I would say I was built concerningly.

Anyway, so by this point I made the official decision that when I hit 100 Pics, I would start posting them to the public. This eventually would be named The 100 Days of Junkan. So thankyou Vampire Junkan you are somehow vital to this whole thing.

Another thing this comic caused is that it was the trigger for me to just say “Fuck it” and just fully lock in on these pieces. I started doing full color on some of these pieces asI was making them initially rather than going back to color them retroactively, I started putting more effort into the pieces even when they were still just sketches, and as a spoiler, once we hit Day 45 i just drop the pretense that I’m not putting effort into this and every fucking pic is full color. There are literally only two of them I did not color and there was actual artistic intent behind it probably i can’t fucking remember.

Also once we hit Day 45 do we hit the point where I just no longer have pics where I feel like they were a dud. Cause I will admit, while I’m glad ya’ll have been enjoying these I can’t lie and say I don’t see some of the pics posted so far and feel like I’ve wasted some of ya’lls time. This is admittedly influenced by the fact that I know what’s coming up and as a result I know the massive jump in quality we’re gonna hit soon enough (in my opinion at least, i feel like I’m being a pretentious bitch about this).

Anyway so how’re you doin. I hope you were snacking on something while you read this because now I’m going to ramble for an unknown stretch of time about the Vampire Junkan Fic and this comic. I’m so fuckin sorry.

So anyway I’ve said briefly before I think but prior to actually writing the Fic I only had this fucking comic. I had vague ideas around it, but never a setup, an overall plot, nothing. I made this fic solely because I thought this scene would be significantly better written rather than drawn by my hands.

I would not consider myself much of a writer. I have plenty of experience writing action from years and years ago, however in terms of telling an actual story through just writing, i’m an amateur and only had one small fic to my name, however i’m going to retread ground and go over that in much more detail, much later. I am a funny drawing woman first and my biggest desire in life is to make a webcomic called Happy Trigger. That said, ever since getting into Junkan I have had multiple urges to write stories with them since i cannot justify doing full comics as often as would be required. And one such story is that of a vampire nurse who’s never sucked blood before falling in love with someone who desires to have their blood sucked.

I did start writing this fic a few months prior to the completion of the project. How many? Who fucking knows, it’s been a long time though.

The original first chapter actually went through a pretty big rewrite, mostly because the way I was interpreting vampires in this fic might have been racist?? Maybe???? I did have friends look it over and they said it could be interpreted as such (though they also said I would probably be fine), and I’m going to be real with you this was back when I was deeply paranoid about everything so hearing that there was even a small chance i might have fucked up like that, while also dealing with a ship which at the time I assumed would get me hated by the community, I just went ahead and rewrote. I couldn’t tell you what the original was like because it’s been a long time and i don’t even know if I have the original file. And I honestly don't think the original details would have really or added or changed much.

I had a relatively thin outline for this in my brain once I started. And said outline got pretty much entirely thrown out the window.

Fun fact, the original plan was for Mikan to just run away because people knew she was a vampire, and part of getting her to open up was Sayaka and Ibuki going public about being Vampires as well. Which would then lead into Junko coming in and then all the rest happening.

Scrapped most of that obviously.

So I just ended up taking the approach of “just write it and hope” which would eventually lead to the outline in my brain that became the whole of this fic. Chapter 3 is when things really solidified for me. It’s also where I decided to include a few more characters, Seiko and Ruruka.

I have wanted to draw art involving Ruruseiko and Junkan for so fucking long. Mikan and Seiko are already a dynamic with a lot of potential despite their lack of interactions in canon, meanwhile Junko and Ruruka I imagine would just fucking hate eachother. Tolerating each other only out of bitch girl solidarity and the fact that their girlfriends are besties.

Originally they were not going to take such an important role, once again I scrapped planned scenes involving Sayaka and Ibuki alongside Mukuro, this would eventually get redone a LOT and reused for the epilogue as the twist that the two are vampires. (Hi, slightly in the future Jem here, I scrapped the epilogue lol. Couldn't get it to feel right, maybe someday!)

However just couldn’t think of a way to make it work. And then, I considered the idea of Junko getting her wakeup call from a total bitch who she hates rather than her actual friends. And I fucked with it, and I had fun.

This was my first time writing Junko in a non-despair context, which was a pretty interesting (and difficult) experience. Equally so this is my first time properly trying to write Mikan, even if it was via the lens of her being a vampire which does switch things up a little. I think if I really thought about it Mikan was the harder one to write for though, I was constantly worried that I might be going a bit too overboard for the tragic aspects of her character whenever they came up.

Another thing cut from the story is that Chihiro was supposed to be genderfluid (which is genuinely just how I headcanon Chihiro) in the fic with Junko making specific note of it during her inner monologue. However as I was looking over the chapters again I got extremely paranoid that I did a horrible job depicting that and opted to keep things ambiguous. Was this the right move? Probably not, but this is just how bad my brain can get when I’m doing things other than drawing.

If you were at all curious "Hey Jem, what was the most stressful chapter to work on?" it was the fuckin Aquarium chapter. Not only was it the one I procrastinated on the most but my confidence in it was at at it's lowest for some reason. Fun fact about that one, Junko really was going to ask Mikan about sucking her blood at the end of the chapter, but I decided to keep things simple with a confession and kissing scene. It didn't really change much beyond a bit of inner monologue stuff.

The entire experience was a constant flip flop of me in two different headspaces. I was either-

“Oh hey this is pretty fun, it’s going well”

“Fuck, shit, fuck am I doing this right? Fuck this is gonna suck, shit dammit, I never wanna write again.”

This is what happens when I don’t say in the lane I’m most comfortable with (drawing), self confidence is liable to just completely plummet at some point. Quite frankly if I did not force myself onto a deadline of getting this fic done before day 30 it would not have been finished, at least not for a drainingly long time. I originally wanted to have the whole fic finished before the event started, but time got away from me and the fic itself ended up being way longer than intended. I think this was supposed to just be 6 chapters at first? And it kinda spiraled out of control from there.

I’m just glad I fucking finally got the idea of this comic onto text, it’s been haunting me for the past 9 months.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I have a very love-hate relationship with Writing, similar to how I feel with painting. I love having a way to get my ideas out there that isn’t super strenuous for me (imagine if I took this whole story and made it a comic, i’d explode), but where it lacks in physical strain, it makes up for in extreme mental strain due to my self confidence and paranoia issues.

That said I likely will write again, the results generally end up outweighing the hellish process, and people seem to like it despite my worries. And I just have far too many ideas and not all of them can be done justice with art alone.

I’ve got a few potential One-shots left that are set in the Vampire AU, one of which i’ll probably write soon. I’ve also got the Cybertron AU that’s been my head for a good bit now which will probably be my next big writing project. I’ve got a few storylines and ideas based on future pieces of this project, and even an idea kicking around from a recent pic I did which I likely won’t execute because I don’t think in a million years I could do the idea justice.

And I also wanna do fics for other ships, like Ruruseiko or Mikuzono (Mukuro x Ibuki x Sayaka). And even outside of Danganronpa I wanna do Flarelu, since I’m a huge Fairy Tail fan and that’s my favorite ship from the series. Imagine if Mikan’s hair was even more skrunkly, and instead of having an extremely high body count, Junko was just a very friendly girlfailure. There’s like, nothing for that ship, so I’d like to do something like what I’ve been doing for Junkan . . . Y’know just maybe a bit less excessive.

And I've posted them before, but if you'd like to read the fics that inspired the entire Vampire AU . . .

Chapter 10 of Soft (But Only for Her) by Kayleen756894

She Hits Like Ecstasy by VanadisValentine

Check out the rest of their stuff too!~

Anyway, sorry for killing your time with my incessant rambling! But I had thoughts from my brain which I wanted to get out since this is another milestone.

Your kind words are appreciated!~

#Junkan #Danganronpa #Junko Enoshima #Mikan Tsumiki #Vampire AU #Vampire #AU #Enomiki #Junkomikan #Junko x Mikan #Tsumiki Mikan #Enoshima Junko #Blood #Blood drinking

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razzmatome · 7 months ago

Text

First

Lifting on her toes, she pressed her lips to his. She saw his eyes narrow further, but they didn’t close. He was still waiting to see how far she was willing to go.

Which annoyed her. He annoyed her.

Pairing: Jude/fOC

Words: 2296

CW: Mild suggestive sexual behaviour

Prompt: First kiss

A/N: First fic in a long time but when the prompt was posted in the Discord, my brain went into hyper drive. OC isn't Kate but got caught up with Jude through other means. Headers and borders from @/natimiles

She was not cut out for physical activity.

Panting as she ran, Bea could only focus on making sure she didn’t trip over her own feet. The vice grip Jude had on her wrist told her he was unlikely to stop if she fell and being hauled through streets and back alleys was embarrassing enough as it was. She didn’t need to add insult to injury and have him drag her as well.

But, God, she needed him to stop running!

They’d been going to check one of his warehouses for a new shipment when he’d realised they were being followed. He hadn’t wasted any time hustling her into an alleyway to cut across town. But it hadn’t done any good as they’d run into even more people who’d ‘wanted to have a word with Mr Jazza’.

Now they were running. Because she was there. If he’d been alone, he probably would have dealt with them, but he’d made her come along because it was her shipment that had come in. She had tried to tell him that it was fine, that she could check them later, but no. He’d wanted her there, telling her it was pointless for him to check the quality of the fabric later when they could check it now. But now she was a liability to him instead of just an annoyance.

“J-Jude,” she gasped as he turned down another alley. “Stop!”

She heard the sharp noise he made but he didn’t slow. At this rate, she was going to pass out. A sharp ache was throbbing in her side and she couldn’t breathe. She needed him to stop. Surely, they’d gone far enough and didn’t need to keep up this pace.

It finally happened when he rounded a corner sharply. She overbalanced and stumbled. There was no time to react, and she resigned herself to the pain that was coming. Along with the tongue lashing that was sure to come immediately after.

But it didn’t. Jude pulled on her arm as he turned, keeping her from completely tipping over, and grunted as she fell into him. She felt him stiffen as he braced them both to keep them out of the dirt.

When he didn’t say anything, she gripped his shirt and fought to get her breathing back under control. Her everything felt like it was on fire and-

“We ain’t got time to stop, princess.”

-he was completely fine. Maybe a little winded but fine. Because this was a normal part of his life. She sucked in a deep breath and shook her head. “You go,” she panted.

“Ha? The fuck you sayin’? They saw ya with me,” he said shortly, pulling away from her and not letting go of her arm. “You think they’re just gonna let ya walk away?”

She knew that but she was going to slow him down. She could tuck away somewhere to hide and make her way back to safety after they’d passed. Maybe it was wrong to use him as bait to save her own skin, but this was his fault in the first place.

He took a step back toward her when she didn’t move, making her head tip back to meet his gaze. “Ya thinkin’ of doin’ somethin’ dumb, princess? Somethin’ noble?” he sneered.

Hiding was hardly noble. “I’m going to fucking pass out,” she snapped back. “I can’t run anymore!”

“Quit yer yappin’. If you can do that, you can run.”

She was going to kill him. Tugging on her arm, she hissed as he held on tighter. “Jude, just let-”

“We’re wastin’ time.”

“No!” she said, digging her heels in. She could not run anymore!

“We don’t have time to-”

“Spread out and find them!”

Her spine stiffened even as Jude swore sharply at the shout that was far too close for comfort. She reached for his hand, trying to pry his grip off her. “Jude, just go!” she said tightly.

“Not happenin’ and now yer gonna owe me for this shit.”

God, what was he going to do? Fight all of them? When he stepped in front of her, she realised he fully intended to do that. She gaped at his back, her thoughts whirling. How was this better than him leaving her behind? He thought she had had noble thoughts? What was this?! It certainly wasn’t going to end with him walking away unscathed and if he got hurt because she was here, she’d owe him even more. She was tired of owing him.

Looking around, she grabbed the back of his coat and pulled.

“What the f-”

“Shh!” Bea snapped, pulling him into a shadowed alcove between buildings. This was a long shot and probably dumb. She could have made it easier, but her sister would kill her if she ever found out she exposed her abilities to anyone. Even if this was a life or death situation, Cate would tell her she wasn’t allowed to do it unless she was prepared to kill everyone around her who saw.

“This ain’t gonna work,” he growled, crowding into her despite his words.

She backed into the wall, ignoring how close he was to her. It wasn’t a great idea but if it did come down to a fight, it would be harder for anyone to get past him to use her against him. But her heart was hammering in her chest because he was right. God, this wasn’t going to be enough. They wouldn’t be clearly seen if someone went running past but if they looked back? Maybe she should have tried to push her tired body and kept running. Maybe she should have tried harder to get him to leave her behind. Maybe-

“Calm down,” Jude muttered. “Yer breathin’ too loud.”

She was? She couldn’t hear it over the pounding of her heart. This wasn’t enough. They were going to be found unless she did something more. Maybe she could warp the shadows without him realising. It would be tricky without moving her hands and he was so close he was sure to feel her moving. Was there anything else she could do? Anything that didn’t involve using her magic?

“Princess, quit-” He grunted when she reached up to grab his face.

This was absolutely a dumb idea, but she was out of good ones. Bea expected him to resist her, he never did what she wanted, but he leaned in when she pulled on him. A curious light was in his eyes, almost like he was waiting to see if she was bold enough to follow through with where they both knew she was going.

She could feel his breath on her lips, could smell the tobacco on it. But she was focused on his eyes. They’d narrowed but she could still see that damned look in them, daring her to do it.

“Check that way!”

Lifting on her toes, she pressed her lips to his. She saw his eyes narrow further, but they didn’t close. He was still waiting to see how far she was willing to go.

Which annoyed her. He annoyed her.

She slipped her fingers into his hair, holding him to her. It had to be convincing if they were spotted. They needed to look like a couple stealing a moment in the shadows, not a pair on the run. But she couldn’t do it by herself and right now she was.

Pulling just away from him, she breathed, “You ass.”

Oh, she recognised that smug smirk. He wanted her to work for it. This was her idea so it was up to her to do it.

Ass, she repeated silently. But she leaned in again, slanting her mouth over his. He was watching her still, that smugness hanging in the air around him. Would he rather fight them instead of kissing her? Was this really so horrible that he’d rather risk getting hurt?

Her irritation got the better of her and she bit his lip.

His eyes widened a fraction before she felt something shift in him.

Gasping as he pressed fully into her, her fingers dug into his hair as he deepened the kiss. Her eyes squeezed shut as he didn’t let up. Damn it, she’d wanted him to respond but she hadn’t expected this from him! The kiss was rough and now she was struggling to breathe for an entirely new reason. All she could feel and taste was him and it was overwhelming.

Hands grasped her hips, holding her right where he wanted. She hissed as his fingers squeezed through her clothes and dug into soft flesh. There were going to be bruises. She already knew her wrist was going to be covered in them and now he was marking her further.

“Can’t keep up, princess?”

Damn him. Cracking her eyes open, she was surprised he was still so close. Pale eyes caught her gaze almost immediately but it was the hint of heat in them that truly caught her off-guard.

“Jude.” She didn’t get to say more as they both heard feet pounding down the alleyway and his mouth found hers again.

It was hard not to moan as he didn’t hesitate, biting her lip this time. She felt him shift a little before she jumped when he gripped her leg and hauled it up against his hip. Her cheeks heated as cool air hit her skin, her skirt rucking up to expose far more than she wanted, and one hand dropped to his shoulder to push at him. Surely that was too far!

But she stopped when she heard a low whistle come from behind him. “Well, damn!”

Jude’s fingers dug into her thigh and he crowded closer between her legs. His kiss was still rough, but it was clear he was paying attention to whoever had spotted them. It seemed they were in the shadows enough that they weren’t immediately recognised but would that last if they couldn’t make this look real.

Throwing caution to the wind, Bea hooked her leg around his hips and let herself moan. She hated that it wasn’t entirely fake. Her annoyance at him and all of this aside…he did feel far too good settled against her like this.

“Oi, what are you doin’?”

Her heart sank and Jude tensed. “No, wait,” she whispered as he leaned back from her.

“Had yer chance, princess,” he muttered. “Now-”

“Leave a man alone,” another voice yelled. “We ain’t got business with them!”

“But-”

“You really think a man like Jazza is gonna stop to get his dick wet? Get out of there! We’re gonna lose them!”

Bea held her breath as they listened to the goons leave. Had it…really worked? She sighed before yelping when he snapped the strap of her garter against her thigh. “Excuse me!” she snapped, trying to move away from him.

He didn’t budge, eyeing her for a long moment. “Didn’t know ya had that in ya.”

She huffed and pushed at him. “Let go,” she said tightly.

Her mouth flattened when he snapped the garter again, lifting it further this time. Great. A welt to add to the bruises because she was sure there were impressions of his fingertips on the back of her thigh from how hard he’d been holding it. “Yer the one clingin’ to me,” he pointed out.

Her fingers jerked open as she realised she was still clutching at the back of his head. But she couldn’t do anything about the leg he was holding. “Jude,” she said, trying to keep calm. “Let go.”

She felt him toying with the garter again and wanted to smack him when he tugged on it. But the snap wasn’t as hard this time and his hand dropped from her.

Her leg came down fast, a small hiss leaving her as the heel of her shoe jostled her ankle, and she quickly reached to smooth her skirt down as he stepped back. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he lit a cigarette and kept an eye on the alley. Once again, he seemed completely unbothered by anything that had transpired. Well, no, not entirely. She pressed her lips together, an amused little huff leaving her as she saw that his hair was messed from her hands.

“Somethin’ funny?”

She could not tell him…but someone would and he would know that she hadn’t. “Stand still,” she muttered, reaching out to smooth his hair back into place. She’d messed it up; it was only proper for her to fix it.

He was eyeing her again and slowly exhaled a long stream of smoke once she stepped back from him. “Make up yer mind, princess,” he muttered, turning away from her.

About what? She moved after him when he started to leave their little alcove before almost running into him when he stopped suddenly to look at her. “What?’ Bea asked warily.

Jude rolled his eyes at her. “Ya got us out of that mess so I owe ya for that and for the other thing.”

“What other thing?”

“Ya gonna look me in the eyes and tell me ya didn’t just waste your first kiss on someone like me?”

Her cheeks heated but she didn’t say anything as she looked away from him. “I don’t need anything for that,” she mumbled.

“Ha, liked it that much, did ya?”

“I like being alive, Jude.”

“Shouldn’t be around me then. But I clear my debts, princess, and this won’t be any different.”

It was just a kiss. If it had mattered to her that much, she wouldn’t have done it in the first place. But as she followed him back toward the main street, she couldn’t help wondering what he considered equivalent payment for a first kiss.

#ikemen villains #ikevil #jude jazza #ikevil jude #ikevil fanfic #jude/oc #oc: bea calloway

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hiddenwritingsintheworld · 7 months ago

Text

Cruel Summer Ch. 5

Donations | Thoughts & Feelings | Cruel Summer Series | Chapter 4

(Thank you all so much for being patient as I worked through personal issues!! I'm trying to write and get new chapters out for you guys. I'm still dealing with personal issues but for now, I'll push through, thank you all so much for always sending kind supportive messages. Love you guys! Enjoy!

P.S. you can find clues about future chapters if you read through the tags ;) )

-Chapter 5-

You stared at him before giggling, “Funny Chris, you know….. about us…now that we’re…ya know…gonna be public and all that.” you smiled as he chuckled. “Baby…you know we could never be public…I can't ditch the perfect, good girl next door, to go out with an old co star…besides, we’d never work out publicly, we're better this way. Private, just you and me, locked away in a bedroom somewhere.” he leaned in to kiss you again, but you pulled back feeling bile rise in your throat. “You never planned on leaving her for me…did you?” you asked, staring at the bed. “Babygirl,” he walked around the bed to sit by you on your side of the bed.

He pulled your chin up kissing your lips before you pulled back, he only had a moment to see your eyes before you slapped him as hard as you could. “Get out. Get the fuck out!” you glared at him before you moved quickly off the other side of the bed. “Sweethear-” “FUCK YOU!” you screamed. “GET OUT!!” you grabbed his clothes throwing them at him, he ducked as his shoes flew at his head.

The door busted open, your security guards and Megan stood there. “Oh Y/N…” She said softly as Chris stood up after sliding his jeans on. “Y/N! Baby come on! Knock it off, let's talk about this!” he snapped back at you. You raced off into the bathroom, locking the door as the tears fell. You started the shower, a sob leaving your lips as you slid down to the floor crying.

A few weeks later

“And in other news mega worldwide Popstar Y/N, has deleted all posts from her social media. Sources say, She’s “Blacking out any and all communication on tour, and while she loves sharing her life with her fans, touring has taken a toll on her, she’ll return eventually, but for now. She’s got to focus on herself.” wow, so no more thank you posts to all her concert goers? That’s gonna feel like a slap to the face.” the news reporter stated as her co-star started in on you and your reputation. You sat by the window staring out over the city, thankful that no one could see you all the way up here. “Turn it off.” you grumbled out, “You know it's interesting, one former Avenger star announces his wedding date with pictures of his fiance’ the same time another former Avenger star blacks out her social media? I smell drama!” he chuckled as she gasped.

“I don’t need to hear how Lacey and Simon think I’m some big fuck up for not wanting to be on social media right now.” you said getting up and grabbing your phone. “I’m going down to the gym, maybe running will clear my head.” you said matter of factly before grabbing your headphones. “Maybe you shouldn’t go alone?” Megan asked as she stood up. Your phone had been blowing up from friends and family checking in on you, wondering why you’d gone radio silent.

You felt your phone go off as you exited your room and felt the corners of your mouth turn up for the first time in what felt like forever.

Hemsworthy: ‘This place is super boring without you here.’

Y/N: ‘Tell me about it. I wish you were here. Life fucking sucks right now.’

Hemsworthy: ‘Heard you went black out on socials….you doin okay?

Y/N: ‘Yep…got a lot going on & I don’t want to see anything online…just, want to focus back on friends and myself for a while…’

You sighed as you sent the message, heading into the gym where you began to walk on the treadmill. You thought back over all your time with Chris lately, before he left for South America. The movie nights eating ice cream, playing new songs for him, talking him through his depression when it came to the divorce. You felt tears in your eyes, how could you have been so fucking stupid.

Were you this desperate to fall in love and be with someone? You’d mistook your friendship with Chris, the things that friends did, as romantic interest and felt yourself developing feelings for him. He was just recently divorced…why would he even think about dating anyone; you needed serious help.

Hemsworthy: ‘You know if you keep running on the treadmill, you’re gonna burn holes in those tennis shoes missy. :P’

You glanced at the message before you did a double take; you didn’t remember telling him you were going to work out to clear your head. “If I have to stand back here any longer I’m gonna go insane.” his thick Australian accent startled you, causing you to whip around as you pulled your headphones off. “Oh my god!” you dashed over to him jumping into his arms as he laughed and hugged you tight. “I missed you popstar,” he mumbled in your ear as you buried your face into his hoodie, breathing in his scent. “I missed you too,” you whispered against his shoulder.

You jumped down smiling up at him, “Let’s go order some room service and catch up,” he chuckled and cleared his throat, “Uh…I wanted to see if you wanted to go to dinner tonight, with me?” he smiled softly. “Somewhere nice?” he asked as you grinned and nodded, “yeah! That sounds fun!” you said as you both walked to the Elevators. “I have this super cute outfit I’ve been wanting to wear anyways!” you grinned as he chuckled. “I’m sure you’re going to look as beautiful as you always do,” Chris smiled at you, his eyes twinkled softly as you talked about your upcoming show, which was a couple of nights away and Chris was thrilled he was going to attend it.

When he was touring with you, he would stay back at the hotel, usually cooking a meal for the two of you and picking out a couple of movies for you guys to watch and relax after your shows. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go to your shows, it was just easier to avoid the press. After the divorce, anytime they had the opportunity to print something about him or his ex wife, they jumped on it.

Once you guys made it back up to the hotel suite, you got ready for the evening, excited to have a nice dinner with someone who didn’t give a shit how famous you were, or what was happening in your life. You looked in the mirror and smiled at the black sequinned dress, which looked like a night sky, with clouds and a half moon on it. You wore strappy black heels and a fur jacket; and paired it with a silver flashy purse with a diamond studded necklace.

Chris grinned as he saw you come from your bedroom, “Whoa…you look…..incredible,” he held his hand out spinning you around as you giggled softly, “Thank you. My friend Kayleigh had this made for me, and I hadn't found the right occasion to wear it yet, but thought tonight was perfect.” you smiled as he smiled tenderly at you. “Well it’s perfect, come, I’ve made reservations for us.” he chuckled as you giggled excitedly. “Yay! It’s going to be so nice just…going to dinner and relaxing,” you said as you both headed to the car.

Pulling up to your favorite restaurant you sighed softly, the paparazzi were covering the street and you looked at Chris. “I’m sorry…I know you want to avoid them, I can go first…maybe see if they have a back entrance you can come through?” you said as he reached over and grabbed your hand, smiling softly. “I think I can manage a few photos with a beautiful girl before we go to dinner.”

The way he smiled at you, something felt different, you were starting to convince yourself that it was all in your head, but a small part of you wanted him to be into you. You knew you were developing feelings for him. “Y/N! Over here! Over here!” several voices shouted at you as you climbed out of the SUV and made your way around to the sidewalk. You smiled, waved at them, clearly not showing annoyance that you held toward them sometimes and even asked a few of them how they were doing this evening.

You stopped and posed for a couple of photos, when the other door opened and Chris got out smiling and waving at them for a moment before he put his hand on the small of your back as he walked with you to the door. The camera clicks intensified as he placed his hand on your back and you could hear them shouting more questions as you walked in together.

Tag List:

@notebooks-of-nonsense @fdl305 @bval-1 @calimoi @syntheticavenger @mrsjenniferwinchester @chaneajoyyy @mommad @ellen-reincarnated1967 @adriellej @coffeebooksandfandom @patzammit @posiemax @auriel187 @ladybug05 @stoneyggirl2 @fallenoutofrose @mrspeacem1nusone @teamfreewill-imagine @inlovewith3 @auvisanspeur @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @leaveitbythewave @sleutherclaw @sandlee44 @aaqua-tofana @nohumanswereharmed @msgrandma49 @traceyaudette @cevansbaby-dove

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youvebeenlivingfictional · 2 years ago

Text

Don't Make it Weird

Part One | Masterlist

Pairing: Rhett Abbott x Best Friend!Reader

Rating: Explicit - 18+ Only. Minors, kindly get off of my lawn.

Notes: Not beta-read, cause when is it ever. Hellooooo erlcomr to the last part, thank you for readiiiiing

No physical descriptions, no use of y/n.

Warnings: Cursing, friends with benefits, angst, fluff, friends to lovers, Jealous Rhett, Possessive Rhett, explicit sexual content—unprotected sex, cumplay, creampie, finger sucking, quickies

Summary: You don’t know what’s come over the two of you. Ever since you started messing around, you haven’t been able to keep yours hands off of each other when you’re alone. You feel like the way Rhett looks at you has changed. It’s softer, sweeter—it’s closer to the looks that you’ve seen pointed at his girlfriends. The way he calls you sweetpea has changed, too. These days, it’s in a murmur, or hedged with a growl; he says it right up against your ear, against your cheek, against your lips.

You worry if you’re not careful, that you could fall in love with him.

You know that if you think too hard about it, you’ll realize that you already have.

“Fuck—”

“Quiet down, sweetpea,” Rhett chuckles, cramming his fingers past your parted lips. “You’re gonna get us caught. You don’t want everyone to know what we’re doin’ up here, do ya?”

You just groan, greedily sucking his fingers. Rhett’s hips pound roughly against yours, the sound muted by your jeans. You haven’t had a chance to undress properly—hell, you haven’t even had a chance to wash up for dinner like you were supposed to. You figured it would be quick enough, but Rhett had slipped into the bathroom behind you as you’d finished washing your hands. You’d thought you’d be out of there in a moment or two, that Rhett just wanted to steal a couple of kisses before dinner, but he’d crowded up behind you at the sink with a murmur of, “Been thinkin’ about this all day, sweetpea.”

Now, Rhett’s face is pressed against your neck, his hips pressed tightly to yours as he nails you with deep, slow, steady thrusts, his arms curled around you. One of his hands has made a home up the inside of your shirt, and is squeezing and teasing your breast with every thrust. You reach up, grasping the wrist of the hand still fingering your mouth. You hold his wrist prone, swirling your tongue around his fingers, one by one. Rhett groans, laying a sucking kiss on your neck. You whimper, pulling off of his fingers with a sloppy suck.

“Don’t,” You whine, “How am I supposed to explain a fresh hickey to your mom?”

Rhett leans away, pressing his face into your shirt and swiping his thumb over your nipple, his nail catching just a touch. Your cunt clutches around him at the feeling, the sharp, lingering sting. The two of you freeze as you hear a knock on the door. Your heart skips a beat, your traitorous pussy still throbbing around him.

“Rhett?” Perry calls through the door. “You seen your friend anywhere?”

Oh damn, you knew you were taking too long.

“Nope,” Rhett calls back without skipping a beat. “Think she forgot her phone in the stables. I thought I saw it there before.”

“Alright,” Perry calls back. “Can you go check when you’re done in there? Mom wants to get dinner started.”

“Sure thing.” The words are hardly out of Rhett’s mouth before he’s thrusting up into you again. You bite your lip, tipping forward and bracing yourself on the sink as he sets a punishing pace.

“Rhett,” You breathe.

“You heard ‘im,” He murmurs, hands settling on your hips to steady you. You tighten your fingers around the cool porcelain, and make the mistake of looking at Rhett in the mirror. His face is a mask of desirous concentration; his brow is furrowed, his tongue peeking out from between his lips as he looks down at where the two of you are joined. You know by the way his mouth drops open in a pant that he’s close. You dip your head, raising your hand and teasing your thumb across one of your nipples. You shiver at the feeling, pushing back against Rhett.

“You want me to move?” You mumble.

“For what?”

“Do you need to get to the—The sink or something?”

Rhett reaches down, hooking his arm around your shoulders and drawing you to lean back against him.

“You think I’m gonna pull out, pretty girl? Oh, no,” He chuckles. “You’re gonna be drippin’ with me all night.”

Your jaw drops with a stunned moan, and Rhett shoves his fingers back into your mouth. You gag on them, cunt throbbing as he spills into you. You sag back against him, wriggling just a little, and grinning as he brushes his lips against your jaw.

“You’re awful,” You giggle, turning your head to look at him.

“Got a problem with that?”

“Not for a second.”

Rhett grins, dipping close and slipping his tongue between your lips. You smile, raising your hand to slide into his hair, keeping him close. You sigh softly into the kiss, ignoring the slight cramping in your neck.

“Mmm…We gotta get back out there,” You mumble, tipping your head to rest against his. “Your family’s gonna get suspicious.”

“Guess so,” He grumbles. You bite your lips as Rhett draws out. You clench down against his spend, and gasp as he slips his slick, thick fingers between your legs, swiping where his spend is beginning to drip and dragging it up, swiping over your sensitive clit.

“Rhett,” You warn. He grunts, nipping your shoulder through your shirt before he withdraws his fingers. He tugs your pants up around your waist, and you reach down, pulling them up the rest of the way and fastening them.

“You better wash your hands,” You warn, walking over to the door. You peer out of the door, glancing back and forth furtively before stepping out, shutting the door behind yourself. You take a moment to compose yourself at the top of the stairs, drawing in a deep breath and tightening your hand on the banister.

You don’t know what’s come over the two of you. Ever since you started messing around, you haven’t been able to keep yours hands off of each other when you’re alone. You feel like the way Rhett looks at you has changed. It’s softer, sweeter—it’s closer to the looks that you’ve seen pointed at his girlfriends. The way he calls you sweetpea has changed, too. These days, it’s in a murmur, or hedged with a growl; he says it right up against your ear, against your cheek, against your lips.

You worry if you’re not careful, that you could fall in love with him.

You know that if you think too hard about it, you’ll realize that you already have.

“Where the heck have you been?” Cecilia asks as you step into the kitchen.

“Oh—Couldn’t find my phone. I dropped it on the way back from the east pasture. Took me forever to find it. I’m sorry,” You cast an apologetic smile around the table before settling in.

“Have you seen Uncle Rhett?” Amy asks, blinking at you from across the table.

“Uh….No?" You try not to wince with the lie. "No, not for a while.”

“I’m here, I’m here,” Rhett hurries into the kitchen, sitting down in the chair beside yours. “Sorry, I thought she’d gone to the stable. I went lookin’ for her.”

“Didn't mean to slow everyone down,” You add.

“That’s alright, dear,” Cecilia reassures before looking around at everyone else. “Shall we pray?”

You dip your head, keeping still and quiet as the family prays over the meal. As they finish, you lean back in your seat. You’re trying not to squirm too much, but you can already feel Rhett’s cum beginning to drip out of you.

“So!” Cecilia asks brightly. “We haven’t seen you around here in a while.”

“I know,” You smile apologetically. “It’s been pretty nuts at work, I’ve hardly had a moment to myself.”

“Rhett said you’ve been wound pretty tight lately,” Perry offers. You glance at Rhett, arching a brow.

“Has he.”

Rhett shrugs, passing you the potatoes.

“You have,” He mutters.

“You go and tell everyone in town, or just everyone around this table?”

“Just around this table—”

“Oh good—”

“For now.”

“I’ll thank you not to start spreadin’ my business around to anyone who’ll listen, Abbott.”

“Pass the potatoes?” Royal grumbles, cutting off your bickering. You hurriedly spoon some onto your plate before passing them to him with a small, apologetic smile.

“Here,” Rhett mutters. You glance over, spotting green beans. They’re not your favorite, and he knows it.

“C’mon, try ‘em,” He insists, reaching down and taking one up. You reach up to take it, but Rhett pulls it back. You narrow your eyes at him in irritation.

“Go on,” He nods. You lean in, taking it from him with your mouth—and catching the scent of yourself on his fingers. Oh, this dirty bastard—

“So?” he asks as you lean away, a sparkle in his eyes.

“Better than I thought they’d be. Maybe I don’t hate green beans,” You mutter, shoveling some onto your plate before passing the bowl of them to Royal.

“That’s just how good mom’s cooking is.”

You fight the urge to reach down and whack Rhett in the dick, instead taking the plate of chicken from Royal, and pointedly ignoring the curious looks passing between Cecilia and Perry.

“That was rotten of you, you know.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You could’ve at least washed your hands. That’s just unsanitary.”

Rhett rolls his eyes, raising his beer to his lips and taking a swig before leaning back against bar’s booth.

“Not like I fed anything to anyone else.”

“You shouldn’t have even fed it to me.”

“I done a lot worse with those fingers, sweetpea.”

You wrinkle your nose, shaking your head and looking around the bar, muttering, “Did not need to know that.”

“You already know it intimately.”

You scoff softly, fighting off your smile. You go still as you spot a man watching you from the bar. He looks familiar; you’re certain you’ve seen him through beer goggles before. He dips his head toward you, shooting you a wink. Your stomach flips, and you hurriedly duck your head, looking away.

“What is it?” Rhett asks, glancing around.

“No, nothing,” You shake your head. “Thought I saw someone I know.” You raise your beer, taking a swig and finishing it off. “You want another one?” You ask, nodding to his bottle.

“Ah…Yeah, sure,” Rhett nods, “I can—”

“I’ll get them. You got the last round,” You remind him as you scooch out of the booth. You reach out, giving his head a light, playful shove as you go. You feel Rhett turning to look at you, but you force yourself to not turn back to look at him. You lean against the bar, waiting patiently and smiling as the bartender catches your eye.

“Two more?” She asks.

“Please.”

“Put it on my tab,” Comes a low voice from behind you. You glance back, spotting the man that had winked at you just a few moments ago.

“Oh—No,” You turn back to the bartender, shaking your head. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“How about a shot?” The man asks as the bartender steps away to ring it up. “I seem to remember that you like those.”

Oh yeah—Not beer goggles. Tequila goggles.

“No thanks, I’m good.”

“Was I that bad last time?” He teases, leaning against the bar. He’s close enough that you can feel the heat rolling off of him; you can smell his cologne, and the beer on his breath. You hesitate before glancing up at him. He’s not unattractive—in fact, he’s quite a bit cuter up close. He’s got tanned skin, a strong, defined jaw, and warm brown eyes. His smile widens as you finally meet his gaze.

“I didn’t say that,” You argue.

“So?” He presses, taking a step closer, “One shot?”

It’s not such a bad idea; you’ve had worse, and you’ve clearly had it with him. You think about saying yes, but—

“Everythin’ alright over here, sweetpea?”

Oh—crap. You don’t have a chance to look at Rhett, to ask what he’s doing before he rests his hand on your lower back and crowds up against you. Irritation spikes up sharply in you, fingers tightening around your fresh beer.

“Fine,” You answer stiffly, glancing back at him and passing him his beer. “Here.”

“Thanks, babe.”

Babe? Oh, you could smack him one—

“How’s it going?” Rhett asks, nodding to the man.

“Fine. Y’all have a goodnight,” The man nods, smiling and knocking the bar lightly, nodding at you. Rhett steps around to take over the guy’s place, his hand still resting on your waist. You shake your head, taking up your beer and taking a pull.

“...What’s wrong?” Rhett murmurs. You manage to bite back an, Oh, please.

“Nothing.”

“...Lookit me.”

“I’m good.”

“Sweetpea.” Rhett slides his arm around your middle, turning you to face him. You sigh, setting your beer down and reaching into your back pocket, drawing out your wallet.

“Okay. I’m going home.”

“Sounds good—”

“Alone.” You slap at twenty onto the bar and take your beer up, draining it.

“Lemme drive you,” Rhett implores, grasping your wrist. It’s a tempting offer, but you know where that’ll lead.

“No thank you,” You answer sharply, setting your beer down.

“Sweetpea, c’mon—”

“Goodnight, Abbott.” You shake him off, striding out of the bar. You only just manage not to run out of the bar as your belly twinges with feelings of annoyance, anger and fear. It only gets worse as you get outside, as you get some clear air, and as your head clears up just a touch. Fuck, this is bad. Rhett’s always been protective of you, but this is different. Come to your rescue if a guy wouldn’t fuck off? Sure. But to have him coming up behind you in a bar, warding off some guy that's just hitting on you? He’s never have done that before.

Nothing’s changed, has it? The two of you just fuck, but nothing else has changed. He promised not to make it weird, you both promised not to make it weird. And if this isn’t fucking weird, you don’t know what is. You frown as you feel your phone buzzing in your pocket and tug it out, glancing down at the contact. You grimace at the sight of Rhett’s name and decline the call, shoving it back into your pocket. You just want to go home, crawl into bed, and not think about Rhett.

You can’t believe he’s there. You almost turned right around when you saw his truck parked in front of your house. Now, you muster all of your courage and charge up your stairs. You don’t meet Rhett’s eye as you push past him to reach your door. You unlock it as quickly as possible, shoving it shut behind you. To your chagrin, you hear Rhett’s grumbled curse, chased by the thud of his boots following you inside the apartment.

“I told you I wanted to be alone, Rhett.”

“You said you wanted to go home alone. I let you walk.”

“You let me?” You whirl around, enraged. He purses his lips, eyes dropping to the floor.

“That’s not what I meant,” He mumbles.

“You don’t let me do anything, Rhett Abbott. I do whatever I goddamn want to.”

“I know that.”

“So get that bullshit outta your mouth and keep it out of my face—and take of your damn hat, for christssakes.”

He reaches up, drawing off his baseball cap and sweeping his hand through his hair. Shit, you shouldn’t have told him to do that. His damn hangdog expression is much more pronounced in the yellowing kitchen light.

“Should I take my boots off, too?” He tries to tease.

“No need. You’re not staying long.”

“Sweetpea.”

“You’re making it weird!”

“...What?”

“You’re making it weird—this,” You wave between the two of you, “The whole fucking thing with us…fucking.”

“How’d I make it weird?”

“The hell do you call that shit you pulled at the bar?”

“He was botherin’ you.”

“Says who?”

“...Looked like he was.”

“Then we oughta get your fuckin’ eyes checked.” You fold your arms across your chest, lips pressed into a thin, irritated line. Rhett sighs heavily through his nose, fingers flexing in his hat.

“Look,” He grits out, “I’m…I shouldn’t’a come up like that, alright? I’m sorry. But, sweetpea, I—” He stops himself, crushing his hat in his hand. “I can’t pretend watchin’ that guy chattin’ you up didn’t eat me up inside.”

You watch Rhett closely, your irritation beginning to give way to disbelief. You swallow thickly, shifting from foot to foot.

“It’s got no reason to. It’s never bothered you before,” You argue.

“This is different.”

“Why?”

“Because I know what it’s like to have you now! All’a you!” Rhett snaps. Your mouth falls open in surprise, your eyes blinking slowly, as if you’ve just seen Rhett for the first time. He hisses a curse under his breath, turning away from you for a moment, his hands fisting on his hips. He shakes his head, turning a wary eye toward you.

“I know we said that we wouldn’t—make this weird, or whatever, but I can’t keep pretending that this hasn’t become more for me," He admits. "I think about you all the time. I miss you when you’re not with me, and the sight of someone else comin’ on to you—I wanted to light him up. I wanted to show him who you belonged to.”

Your breath pushes out in a short, stunned huff as you realize you’ve been holding it.

“Rhett,” You shake your head, scrubbing your hand across your face. “I can’t believe—Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t know how to tell ya.”

“So you did it like this?”

You turn your head from him, drawing in a deep breath. You hear him taking slow steps closer, and feel the heat of him just before he rests his hands on the counter behind you.

“If you don’t feel the same, I’ll respect it,” He murmurs, breath brushing his cheek. “I won’t take it back, but…I’ll never say another word about it.”

“What if this ruins things between us? You’ve always been my safe place, Rhett, I can’t—I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you anymore.”

“You’re always gonna have me, sweetpea. Always. No matter what your answer is, I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

You turn your head, nudging your forehead against his, drawing in a deep breath to steady yourself as Rhett’s hand raises to rest on your lower back. He nudges the tip of his nose against your.

“Tell me to fuck off, to get out,” He murmurs. “I’ll go.”

“God damn you, Rhett Abbott.”

You reach up, grasping his cheeks and drawing him in for a kiss. Rhett groans in relief against your lips, wrapping his other arm around your middle and tugging you into his chest. You whimper as he grasps the back of your thighs, easing you up onto the counter. You curl your arms around his shoulders, squeezing his sides with your knees as he catches your lips in another kiss. You can feel him smiling into your kiss before he leans away from you.

“I didn’t make it too weird, did I?”

#Rhett Abbott x Reader #Rhett Abbott x You #Rhett Abbott/Reader #Rhett Abbott/You #Rhett Abbott fic #Rhett Abbott imagine #Don't Make it Weird

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i-eat-worlds · 10 months ago

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30 Percent

A follow up to my wonderful Season’s Beatings piece

Inspired by a conversation with @wounds-seen-and-unseen. Go check them out!

Thanks to @snaillamp for letting me bug them with medical questions!

cw: blood (a lot), delirious whumpee, medical whump, needles, tension and theatric elements. major character injury

Blood was always a bad sign.

That seemed like an obvious one, but there was enough of it, big drops on the hallway's tile every couple of feet, that Joseph had gone from normal worried to extra worried.

How long had she walked like this?

Alex had gotten separated from the team, which was bad enough, but the red flecking the floor was even worse. He kept walking, following the trail further down the darkened hallway. Eventually, it turned into a room labeled “staff only.”

The door wasn’t locked.

He pushed it open, ignoring the blood stain on the handle.

Alex was sitting on the floor, leaning against the toilet, shirt torn up and partially stuffed into the long, gaping gash across her abdomen. Her skin was plastered with blood, both dried and fresh, and the crude bandages had been completely soaked through. It was smeared on the floor around her from when she’d sat down.

Fuck.

As he dropped to his knees, he called for help, giving Eric his approximate location, a brief description of what he saw, and a desperate request to hurry up please.

“Alex, you with me?” He slid his pack off his shoulders.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. “-oseph…why’re you ‘ere?”

“You’re hurt, Alex.” He ripped open a package, pulled out a pad and pressed it to the wound. “How’re you feeling?”

She flinched away from his touch. “Head hurts. And belly. And ‘m dizzy.”

“Did you hit your head?” His hands worked fast as he wrapped a bandage around her abdomen.

“Uhhh…yeah. In the hallway. He…he stabbed me,” she mumbled, lifting her hand to reach for the wound. “I needa…needa…”

“Woah, hey, I gotcha now.” He gently moved her hand out of the way, setting it down on the ground. “I’m takin’ care of you, yeah.”

Her eyes followed his movements as he clipped the oximeter to her finger and velcroed the bp cuff around her upper arm. “What’re you doin’?”

“I’m checking your-” Joseph snapped his mouth shut at the sound of voices coming from the far end of the hallway.

Fuck.

He held a finger to his lips, hoping that Alex got the message to shut up.

She didn’t.

“Wha-” His hand sealed over her mouth, muing whatever she was trying to say. “Quiet,” he whispered sharply.

The voices grew louder, footsteps thumbing on the tiles. Thank the lord he had closed the door behind him. Their feet came to a halt outside the door, and his eyes flickered down to the knife on her waist.

Please no.

A horribly long moment passed, and Joseph held his breath. Alex’s eyes were fixed on him, her body frozen in fear.

Please no.

Another beat of silence passed, and then someone jiggled the door knob. Keeping his hand over her mouth, he slowly reached down and unsheathed the knife. He could feel the puff of air against his palm as Alex whimpered quietly.

Please no.

There was the painful, ear-splitting noise of the door handle turning, and he gripped the knife harder. It felt far too light.

Please no.

The door cracked open, and Joseph prepared for the worst. He wouldn’t lose another one. Not like this.

There was a loud, splintering crash from outside the room, and the sounds of a fight erupted in the hallway. The cavalry had arrived. “I’m in the room on the right, number #065,” he reminded them, removing his hand from Alex’s mouth and returning the knife to its sheath. Thank fucking god.

She sniffles, sucking in a desperate breath. “Wha’s goin’ on?”

“Turquoise is here. We’re gonna get you out, yeah?” He tore the cuff of her arm, shoving it into the top of his bag.

Avis shoved the door open with her hip, practically knocking it off his hinges. The fight was still raging behind her, Teri beating the teeth out of some poor henchman. “Sil’s at the loading dock, same way we came in,” she yelled, then left to join the fray.

Before he could stop it, Alex was pushing herself up to standing. Her legs were unsteady, but she walked forward anyway. “I wanna go.”

“Let me help, aight?” He slung his pack over his shoulder, then ran over to help her. There would almost certainly be more henchmen on the way, and he needed to take the opportunity while he had it. Arm over her shoulders, he held her tight as she limped down the hallway, chaos roaring behind them.

***

Compared to the hallway, the garage was eerily quiet. The truck they’d come in on was parked at the dock, waiting for their arrival. He helped her up the ramp and set her down towards the back, next to his larger, proper medical bag.

She rolled her head to the side, stretching a hand towards his knee. “ ‘s cold, Joseph.”

“I'll get a blanket on you soon, yeah?” As he spoke, he replaced the oximeter and secured the automatic bp cuff back around her arm. “Have you thought about what you want to do for your birthday?”

She hummed as he flicked her elbow. “I wanna go back to Blue Oysters.”

“That was a nice place, wasn’t it?” The vein finally surfaced. “Sharp scratch.”

“Ow.” Her arm twitched away as he sunk the needle in.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” He looked up to see the rest of the team piling in behind him. Teri and Eric had swapped places. She’d taken shotgun so he could check in on Alex.

“Hello…” Alex mumbled wearily, moving her hand in a vague waving motion.

“Hey Alex.” Eric squatted down across from Joseph. “What do you need me to do?”

“Blanket’s in the back left pocket.” Nodding to Eric, he dug what he’d need to start fluids out of his bag. “There's a nasty cut across her abdomen, and she’s probably got a concussion.”

Her eyes flicked between them, growing wide. “Wha’ are you doing?”

“You’re hurt, Alex. We’re taking care of you.” Joseph said as Eric spread the blanket over her. The truck lurched forward, pulling away from the building.

“ ‘m fine.” She grumbled quietly, slowly blinking her eyes.

Eric eyed the slightly pink stained bandages on her belly. “You’re hurt pretty badly. Let us help, yeah?”

She groaned at that, but didn’t try to move.

“Can you hold this?” Joseph asked, handing a bag of saline to him. “And Eric?”

He paused for a moment, looking at her too-low pressures and too-fast breathing.

“Tell Sil to step on it.”

Taglist: @pigeonwhumps @rainydaywhump @painful-pooch @rainbowsandwhumperflies

#worlds babbles #whump #medical whump #blood #needles #delirious whumpee #needles tw #medic caretaker #joseph oc #alexoc #whump writing #sorry if this is bad I’ve been wacked in the face by brain fog this week

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minefield-of-a-ninja · 1 year ago

Text

BLACK TIE OPTIONAL: PART ONE

Summary: The last time we saw Vanessa, she was swooning over Dean’s lasting impression. Now, we fast-forward a year to see what she’s up to.

Pairing: Dean Winchester x OFC Vanessa Martinelli, (eventual) Sam Winchester x OFC Emma Olsen

Warnings: 18+ ONLY, HBO RomCom bullshit

Author's notes: Follow-up to Plus One.

Joe's Barber Shop is a 55-year-old ship in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood.

Thanks, as always, to @stunudo and @brrose-apothecary for pre-reading and being my friends.

Black Tie Optional master list

PART ONE

As planned, Dean and Sam leave bright and early on Thursday morning. They make a stop in Lincoln to hit up a priest who was rumored to have intel on Amara. That priest sends them to a rabbi in Omaha, who sends them to a Lutheran pastor in Des Moines. Their last lead is a psychic in Davenport; she tries to stab Sam because she’s still mad about the demon blood thing, and they walk away no better than they were at 5 AM.

Around midnight, Dean pulls into the Naperville Motel 6. He cuts the engine and unfolds from the driver’s seat.

“Grab those burritos, would ya? I’ll get our suits.” He ducks into the back seat to retrieve his duffle and their hanging clothes for the weekend. When he looks up, Sam is giving him a look.

Dean rolls his eyes. “What?” He secures the bags and knees Baby’s backdoor shut.

Sam arches both brows as he shuts his own door. “You like this girl.”

“No, Sam, I’m blowing off my soul-sucking ‘soul mate,’” he pauses, juggling bags and keys to air-quote his point, “and hauled ass halfway across the country for bupkis.”

Dean rounds the trunk, and Sam stifles a snort. “I just can’t believe we’re dressing like this, and it isn’t for a job.”

Dean mutters something as he slots the key into the room lock. “Sam, we just got these suits cleaned-”

“Dude, you don’t need to make excuses.” Sam follows his brother inside the room.

“Plus,” Dean continues as he strides toward the small clothes rack, “we got an all-expenses paid weekend with two beautiful women waitin’ for us at a swank hotel.”

“I’m not complaining-”

“Good.” Dean hangs the garment bags on the bar and separates them before unzipping his bag. As he assesses the colors and reconsiders his shoes, he thinks of another reason. “Besides, we own this shit, might as well get our money’s worth off the clock.”

He swipes a hand down the front of his (brand-new) black button-up before turning to face his brother again, who doesn’t appear impressed.

“What?!”

Sam doesn’t stifle anything this time; he laughs out loud. “How are you the same brother of mine who thinks turning boxers inside out is the same as washing them?”

Dean cocks his jaw and glares at Sam. “First of all, that was a joke I made one time. Second...” His eyes start to glaze over with memories. “Vanessa is one of the Top 5 best nights of my life — like I still have a pair of her panties in my nightstand drawer-”

“OK,” Sam interrupts his brother with one word and a large open palm facing out. “I don’t need the details. I’m taking a shower.” He crosses the room to set his bag on one of the beds before zipping it open to retrieve his Dopp kit.

“I’m gonna text Vanessa.” Dean drops his duffle on the other bed and pulls out his phone.

“Fine, just get your sexting done before I’m out.” Sam firmly closes the bathroom door behind him.

“Pssh,” Dean brushes Sam off as he taps out a message to his wedding date.

How ya doin, kitten?

Looking forward to seeing you.

Me too... crashing in Naperville tonight, got a couple errands to run, probably get in around 3 tomorrow

Perfect. Em and I are in a double queen lakefront suite. We’ll get the adjoining king room tomorrow for you and me.

Lakefront suite, sounds fancy

It’s not The Peninsula, but it’s a cool old hotel.

We’re at Motel 6 right now and that’s nice compared to what we’re used to

Well, then, I’ll make sure you get the royal treatment

Nessa, honey, you could make a tent in the woods royal

Jesus, I can’t wait to get my hands on you

Same, kitten, fucking same

Sam peeks around the open bathroom door, letting wet heat spill out around him and foaming at the mouth with Crest. “You done?” he mumbles.

Dean winces at his brother’s indelicacy. “Like I’m gonna start something I only have three minutes to finish, please.”

...can’t wait to get other things on you as well

Believe me when I say that I would love to continue this conversation straight up until and including when I finally lay eyes on you, but Sammy’s outta the shower and being a little bitch, so I better go

😆😆😆

(Sorry about the little bitch comment)

Don’t apologize, he’s your brother, I’m sure you’ve called him worse

Dean doesn’t give that assumption any real recognition, but she’s right.

Goodnight, pretty girl. See you tomorrow afternoon.

Night, Dean 💋

Despite Sam’s grumpiness and the utter lack of even a whiff of Amara, Dean sleeps well. He wakes up Friday morning in plenty of time to shower and find a barber.

“A barber. Dean, when was the last time you went to a barber?”

“About two months ago, Sam. Look at yourself in the mirror and then look at me. Outta the two of us, I’m the one Most Likely To Visit A Barber.”

Sam smirks like he’s got something to smirk about. “You go to a barber for that haircut?”

“Keep it to yourself, Fabio. I’m goin’ for a shave and a haircut. You should consider the same. If they shave faces at the place you go for haircuts, I dunno.”

Sam rolls his eyes so hard Dean thinks he can hear it.

One hour later, Dean’s flipping through a magazine at Joe’s Barber Shop on Fullerton Avenue in Chicago. They don’t take appointments, but he’s heard enough about Joe’s that he doesn’t mind waiting.

Dean doesn’t usually like unfamiliar environments, but the vintage interiors, and family business, blue-collar vibe make him feel right at home. When his number’s called, he tosses the magazine to the table and walks right up to the barber.

“Welcome in, I’m Joe.”

The man’s neat beard, meticulous high and tight haircut, and detailed tattoo work give Dean a sense of confidence already.

“No way — thee Joe?”

The man chuckles as he spins the freshly cleaned chair in invitation.

“I’m Junior, my pops is Thee Joe. Take a seat.”

Dean settles into the old-fashioned barber chair in awe.

“What’re you in for today?”

“Well, I got a hot date this weekend. I could go for a real old school shave and one of those high and tights like you got goin’ on there.”

Joe Jr. nods and sets about gathering his tools. “You got it, my friend.”

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Dean raps three times on the hotel door before stepping back, squaring his hips and shoulders, and letting the smirk he knows she loves settle onto his lips. The door swings open to reveal Vanessa, barefoot in a bathrobe, face made up, and hair in massive pink hair rollers.

“Dean...” she breathes. Her wide, bright eyes rake over him. “God, you look- I look... ugh, sorry.”

Dean grins, reaching for her and closing the gap between them. “What’re you sorry about?”

He slips his free arm around her waist and dips in to kiss her where they stand in the doorway. Vanessa melts against him, one hand on his chest and the other sliding up to brush her fingertips over the freshly shaved sides of his head. Her hand dances around the warm velvet of his skull and down his nape, making Dean groan into her mouth.

He wants to drag her to a broom closet or bed. Instead, he breaks the kiss without pulling away.

“We need to do a lot more of that this weekend.” He grins down at her, attempting to kiss her again when a pretty blonde woman appears in their periphery.

“Hey.” She smiles and raises a hand in a half-wave, but the smile doesn’t quite reach her jade eyes.

“Oh, hey.” Vanessa wiggles out of Dean’s embrace, patting her rollers and sliding a hand into one of his. “Em, this Dean, and-” She pauses and peeks around Dean at the man standing in the hall. “Sam, I assume?”

Sam grins and mirrors Emma’s small wave. “That’s me. Thank you both for the invitation. Should be a really nice weekend.”

Emma’s smile floats up to her eyes this time. Dean remembers what Vanessa said about Emma’s ex-boyfriend and thinks the guy must be a real idiot. He doesn’t say that out loud, though.

“It’s gonna be a great weekend.” He winks at Emma before glancing back down at Vanessa. “You look beautiful.”

Vanessa blushes and bites her lip as she rises on her tiptoes to press a quick kiss to his lips. “So do you,” she whispers.

“Well, come on in, you guys.” Emma motions to the living area. “We’ll show you around.”

Vanessa pulls Dean inside, not that he resists, and Sam follows.

“There’s a kitchen and a little dining table, and we got the adjoining King room today, which Van’s already called dibs on.” She rounds the kitchen island and opens the small fridge. “Anybody want a beer?”

Vanessa and the brothers accept Emma’s offer, so she retrieves four bottles, quickly popping the caps off each as Dean and Sam drape their bags over the back of the couch. She joins them in the living area and hands a beer to each of them before raising her bottle in a toast.

“Thank you, Sam and Dean, for coming this weekend. I know Van told you about my ex-boyfriend,” she pauses and rolls her eyes, “so I appreciate you being such good sports about it as well.”

Vanessa, Dean, and Sam raise their bottles so the four of them can toast. After a long first sip, Dean speaks up. “Well, we needed a break, the pleasure’s all ours.”

Emma seems to appreciate that sentiment. She turns to Sam with a mischievous smile. “I know we don’t know each other at all, but you are very good-looking, and I already dig your vibe, so... whatever happens, happens. Cool?”

Sam laughs out loud and nods, toasting with Emma again as he turns toward her, practically shutting Dean and Vanessa out. But they don't even notice; .

Behind closed doors, Dean makes quick work of hanging his garment bag and dropping his duffle on the luggage rack.

“Any special requests for the weekend?”

When he turns from the closet, he finds Vanessa in the middle of the room — her hair is still in rollers, but the robe is long gone. She’s slipped into a pair of strappy black heels and nothing else.

“Requests?” she asks as she saunters toward him, bronzed and glowing.

Dean licks his bottom lip in between his teeth and bites down as he slides his hands into the pockets of his oxblood dress pants.

“Last time you wanted me to make a scene,” he says, recalling her succinct proposition.

“I’ll get you drunk and fed... and suck your cock. On one condition.” “And what’s that?” “Give ‘em something to remember me by, and maybe I’ll never be asked back again.”

Vanessa thoughtfully halts when the toes of her Steve Maddens are touching Dean’s shiny, black dress shoes.

“Ohh, right!” She plays like she forgot. “How could I forget?”

Dean pokes his tongue inside his cheek and nods, narrowing his eyes. “And I seem to remember somethin’ about wantin’ to feel me for days afterward.”

“How many days?” “Oh, I dunno... Six or seven?”

Vanessa reaches out to brush a hand across one shoulder of his black button-up and then down to hook her fingers in his waistband. “And you didn’t disappoint.”

Dean groans, reaching out to gently grip her hips. “C’mon, kitten, tell me what you want.”

She closes her eyes and lets him press his lips to her throat and collarbone. He slides his hands from her hips up the curve of her waist and grips her ribcage, teasing the soft underside of her breasts with his thumbs.

“Anything you want,” he whispers in her ear before scraping its shell between his teeth.

Vanessa releases a shaking exhale, and her throat convulses as she swallows the saliva pooling in her mouth.

“We’re supposed to be downstairs in 15 minutes...”

He hums and brushes his lips along her jaw and thumbs up and across her tight nipples.

“But... I only need five to finish my hair.”

“Mhmm.” Dean dips in to capture one nipple between his lips, then the other.

Vanessa cradles the back of his neck and hangs her head back. “What can you do in 10 minutes without getting all wrinkly?”

Dean chuckles. “Honey, I can do a lot in 10 minutes. But, uhh,” he pauses and glances around the room. Then he grins. “C’mere.”

He leads her across the room, walking backward as his eyes roam every inch of bare, silky skin. When he reaches their destination, he pats her hip. “Hop up.”

She giggles, and he helps her to sit on the desk.

“Now, stay right there.” He leans in and kisses her mouth as he sinks into the desk chair. He cups her calves in his hands to tuck her knees and heeled feet at his sides.

Once he’s in position, he peeks at his watch. “Eight minutes,” he mutters, then kisses and nips his way down her body. He sighs at the apex of her thighs and barely suppresses a little groan before pressing a kiss to her glistening pussy lips.

Vanessa gasps at the sight and grips the top tuft of his hair. “I’m such a mess... all I could think about the last two days was this.” Her breath hitches.

“Me too,” Dean murmurs, wrapping an arm around her hips and bringing his other hand in to spread her lips open. He gently sucks her clit, blows it a kiss, and lightly massages it in a light circular motion.

“Nessa, honey, you taste so good.” He dips his tongue inside her and sucks her smooth lips. “So sweet and tangy.”

He slips his long middle finger inside her, then purposefully anchors it with her g-spot. He presses against it and rotates the position of the wide pad of his finger right there — no slide, just manipulation and gentle pressure.

“You look so hot, Dean…” She peers down at him, his mouth and hand shining with her slick juices and his spit.

Dean grins and licks her. He sucks the fleshiest parts of her between his lips as his thumb swipes across and back, hovering, barely kissing her clit, and she bucks against his face, twisting his hair in her hand.

“This fucking haircut… and your hands and mouth on me… I’m gonna come right now.”

Dean moans against her, thumbing the side of her clit as she starts to throb around his finger. As she catches her breath, he kisses the insides of her thighs until she tugs him up to stand.

“Inside, Dean, please.” She yanks at his belt and pants, and Dean wipes his mouth, letting her have her way.

“God, your dick is beautiful.” Vanessa wraps her hand around him as Dean tilts her head back to kiss her neck and breasts. He swears and plants a fist on the desk beside her hip when she gets him notched inside.

“Oh, fucking…” Vanessa braces her hands behind her and lifts her feet to position her heels on the edge of the desk. “Fuck me.”

Dean braces one hand on the mirror behind her and wraps a arm around her waist, grits his teeth, and does exactly as she requested.

xoxoxoxoxox

“Part of me’s disappointed you’re not in jeans and a henley,” Vanessa speculates as she puts the finishing touches on her hair.

Dean arches a brow at her in the mirror as he dries his face with a hand towel. “If I’d known that”-

“But,” she pauses, pointedly reapplying her lipstick. “This is even better. You and your brother are gonna be the hottest guys there.”

Dean smirks back at her. “Wait’ll you see me in a suit.”

Vanessa turns to face him, capping her lipstick. “Thank you again for coming.”

There’s something in her eyes that Dean can’t quite define, and it makes his heart skip. He holds her gaze as he offers her his elbow.

“Wouldn’t miss it for anything, kitten.”

Vanessa accepts his offer, and they exit the bedroom to join Emma and Sam before heading down to the rehearsal.

Part Two

Tell me what you liked the best about this or ask me a question!

Dean Winchester Masterlist | SPN Masterlist | All Fic Masterlist

#dean winchester smut #dean winchester x ofc

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hangmanbrainrot · 2 years ago

Note

I have a request if you're still taking them! Going to a Christmas party with your aviator, your choice! 👀

I kept the party general, called it a holiday party instead. Hope that's okay, anon. <3

warnings: holiday mention (as noted above, I tried to avoid mentioning christmas directly but I'll tag that as a warning just in case), a lil fluff, anxiety mention/implied, social anxiety mentioned/implied, non-sexual overstimulation, this is my first time writing for javy. he's the first who came to mind when i read this request!

notes: this was a bit self-serving as i'm generally an anxiety ridden individual and these are things that would comfort me when i'm anxious but i get that not everyone would relate!

word count: 785

pairing: javy machado x gn!reader

let it snow

The truth was you weren’t really the greatest at parties. But Javy? Well, he knew how to light up any place he’d dare to grace with his presence. Even in a place where he knew no one and you knew everyone. Gotta love the office holiday party. He had managed to work the room full of strangers with a level of charm that would’ve been disarming, if you didn’t already know him. He was all beaming smiles, and careful, polite retorts in that velvety smooth voice of his. You were sure, in fact, that the only thing that stopped anyone from throwing themselves at him was the gold band adorning his left hand, the one that matched yours. Meanwhile, you were trying and failing to resist every instinct to sink into yourself and retreat, maybe to hide in the bathroom or in your car, when the very man on your mind appeared.

“Baby,” he said softly, sliding onto the bar stool beside yours, where you’d perched yourself for the evening. You weren’t even drinking — couldn’t risk the way the alcohol would spike your anxiety, just nursing a now slightly watered down ginger ale. “How we doin’?”

“Okay,” you replied, but your voice sounded tinny, even to your own ears, and sucking in breaths felt like a chore. You knew this feeling well. Knew why the bar sounded too loud, why your sweater was too itchy, shoes felt too tight.

And, judging by the look on his face, your husband knew, too.

“Can you come with me?” he held his hand in the air between you for a moment, before it came to rest on your lower back. He could see what no one else in the room could: you were working up to an anxiety attack, and trying to be brave so you didn't ‘ruin’ another night out.

“Okay,” you repeated. This time when your husband's hand came out, it reached for your own. He was already standing, and the hand on your lower back hadn't moved. Instead, his thumb was rubbing in small half moons against your skin through your sweater, to a steady count of three.

“I'm going to take you out onto the dance floor,” Javy squeezed your hand when he felt you tense at his side, ready to bolt. “And I promise you won’t feel overwhelmed.”

True to his word, he swirled you to the center of the room, and you had a vice grip on his hand, but if he was uncomfortable he didn’t voice his concern. Instead, he briefly lifted the hand that was flat against your lower back, and it disappeared into his pocket.

“Proposing again, Lieutenant?” you quipped, even as your voice shook — just desperate for the distraction.

“Caught me, Red.”

The nickname was one he hadn’t trotted out in awhile, instead used in the early days of your relationship because you were always blushing around him. But the familiarity in the face of all your panic, in the middle of a crowded room, felt like a life raft.

“Here,” he said quietly, gently pressing a singular AirPod into your ear. “Close as we’re gonna get to snow in winter in SoCal,” he muttered miserably, giving the white plastic a gentle tap to resume the song he’d likely queued up before he’d found you at the bar. It was then that you noticed the other earbud in his own ear. As a bluesy cover of Frank Sinatra flooded one of your ears, anyway, your husband pulled you in tight, so your other ear was pressed against his chest. From here, you didn’t have to worry about the crowd, the coworkers all wanting to thank your partner for his service, the volume in the room.

Just the gentle, consistent thud of his heart, and:

The feel of his arms around you grounded you; he was holding you just tight enough that it should’ve made you uncomfortable. But instead of being overwhelmed by your surroundings, you just felt him: enveloping and soothing you in the way that only the love of your life could. You could hear enough of the rest of the room to know that the rest of your coworkers were mixing and mingling in jingling feet, but your husband was content to move in slow, tight circles, to a tune only the two of you heard.

When we finally kiss good night,

how I'll hate going out in a storm.

But if you'll really hold me tight,

all the way home I'll be warm.

Instead of sinking into yourself, you thought you’d give in to this moment with your person, instead.

Long as you love me so

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

#sierra answers 💌#anonymous #javy machado x reader #javy machado fluff #javy machado #javy coyote machado

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mrfelixfischoeder · 9 months ago

Note

I wish you would write a fic where Cal & Pickles babysit Seth's son for a day

this got.... so long....... but i love it. thank you!!!

Australia. Fucking, Australia. They had to gig there again at some point, and Pickles knows any time would be too soon, so might as well rip the band-aid off. The “We Will Get Better” tour is being accepted on a broader scale than imagined. The world is ablaze, or mostly is now, but everyone still wants to preach to the choir. Sing the hymns that Nathan gives them and raise their hands in praise.

“Fuck, Australia got hit bad.” Pickles remarks, staring out of their hotel room window at what is left of Sydney – the place is awful. Calypso clears her throat.

“Uh, actually, because of its location, only the West got hit by the Doomstar… Australia’s one of the few places that didn’t get, like, wrecked completely…”

“Oh… Well… Shit.”

She laughs, until there’s a knock on the door. She barely has it open before the person on the other side barges in, Seth grinning in his sickening way as he sees Pickles first thing. Pickles glares, watching Cal flex her fist before thinking better of it. He saunters in, a small figure behind him.

“Hey brother, you didn’t come by and see me when you landed.” He muses, the fake accent grating on Pickles. Not that he has any pride in where he comes from – but somehow when Seth gets involved, he can be mad about anything. “Gutted but uh – I’ll get over it. Hey, listen, your ain’t playing tonight, huh?”

“No, Cal and I are- we’re tomorrow.” Pickles is thankful for the swapping aspect of the band, if only because he can fiddle with the roster and get some alone time with her.

“Cool, cool, cool, cool, uh hey, this is my son.” Seth steps aside, looking out at the city – his city, as far as he’s concerned. The mayor can go stick a rusty nail up his ass. Anyone who helps run Dethklok, runs the world. Seth knows that now; he knows how to play the game. “Look, I’m kinda busy today. Amber wants to uh, I dunno, go shoppin’. I dunno. But we need to, y’know, bond. Get close again. Can’t do that with this little guy around, right? You get where I’m goin’ with this, brother.” Pickles’ face crumples, “Look, you got a whole, a whole day to yourself. I don’t get any time. With Amber or myself, haha. So do me a favour, huh?”

“Do you a favour,” Pickles is interrupted by Seth shoving a paper bag in his arms, “Seth, look, Cal and I gotta relax before the gig tomorrow, and we probably gotta help ‘em set up,”

“Sounds fun,” Seth is not listening, walking back towards the door – he stops by his son, patting him on the head, and the boy leans back out of his reach, “Alright, you can send him home at uh, 9.”

“Nine?!” Cal snaps, but Seth barely looks at her, walking out backwards and giving Pickles some very lazy finger guns.

“Thanks, brother.”

The door slams shut. Cal and Pickles look at each other, and then down at the red headed boy who is playing with the fringes of the blanket on the bed. He finally looks up at them. Immediately Cal can’t be mad – cause she isn’t gonna be mad at a kid. But Pickles is still tense, and he slams the paper bag down on the desk. “This ain’t fair! He can’t keep doin’ this to me, man! I told you every time I’m near him, he just drives me fucking insane!”

“I know- Pickles,” Cal walks over, trying to quell him before he says something he might regret. Pickles shakes her away.

“No, I can’t keep doin’ this, he sucks! I don’t wanna fuckin’ babysit a kid, I wanna go out for a fuckin’ drink with my girlfriend, and see my friends play their fuckin’ music!”

“PICKLES!” Cal raises her voice over him, angling her head at the nephew. He’s staring at them, still, but with a more resigned expression than she expected. Pickles freezes, staring down at the boy. Red headed, in clothes that don’t quite fit. He’s trying to stay angry, trying to keep it all contained so that he can release it on Seth later. But he’s angry now, and Seth isn’t here now, so what good is that? No doubt he won’t even be around at 9 either.

“Oh.” He deflates, “Uh – sorry. Kid.”

“Ok.”

Pickles feels even worse. He wonders what Seth is like as a parent – how often Amber is on her phone, or if she tries at least… A little. He’s never been interested in being a dad, mostly because he’s older now and it isn’t in the cards for him anymore. He doesn’t know how to interact with this kid. But he doesn’t have to be the kid’s dad – he just has to be… Present. “You wanna watch tv?”

The boy sits on the bed, legs crossed, and eats his little grapes. Cal watches, and peers into the bag for the rest of his lunch; a sandwich, pathetic and squished, with a bite out of it already. That’s it? “This is pathetic.” Cal whispers to Pickles, who glances at the back.

“Seems like a pretty normal lunch to me.”

Cal rolls her eyes, patting Pickles on the arm, “Oh, sug’.” She ignores Pickles’ questioning look, knowing they’ll get into it later. “I’m gonna go get some real food – you’d like that, right? Both of ya?”

“Yeah!”

“O-Okay.” Pickles suddenly follows her to the door, “Wait, can I go too,”

“Hon, no.” she pushes him back into the room, “I won’t be long, alright?”

“You can’t leave me alone wit’ him! What do we talk about?”

“He’s watching tv, he won’t even want to talk.” She leans in and kisses his cheek – and though he looks worried, he leans his head to kiss her cheek back before she retreats. “I won’t be long. Promise.”

And then she closes the door. He turns, and well, true enough: the boy is just staring at the tv, perhaps willing Pickles to disappear into another dimension.

Pickles stares at the tv. A kid’s show – or a babies show, really – with Anthro dogs. The only reason he even recognises it is, he knows the episode: Toki has some of the stuffed animals in his room. “Aren’t you too old for this?”

“Aren’t you too bald for that hair cut?” he snaps back, and Pickles clenches his fist. But he’s a kid. He’s a kid. He’s a kid. And it was so quick, he almost admires it. Suddenly a Lhasa Apso came on screen, with exaggerated snout whiskers. Toki’s voice comes out of it, and then a red Komondor appears on the other side of the titular character. Pickles barely remembers recording those lines.

“You know dat’s me, right?” he points. His nephew looks sceptical, but does seem familiar enough.

He hesitates before replying, as if he might get into trouble, but surely if his dad said it then there must be some truth to it: “My dad says you don’t do anything.”

“Your dad doesn’t know shit.” He doesn’t hold back, tired of sticking up for Seth or saving his ass when it is undeserved. And his nephew doesn’t seem phased by the language or the disparaging comments. “I saved the world, kid.”

“That’s kinda cool.” He mutters, and Pickles almost straightens up. They both sit quiet, and when the episode ends, Pickles offers to show him some real entertainment, changing it to a rock music channel. The boy’s eyes widen as he stares at the guitars and the drums and the music fills the room. He’s enamoured; neither of them speak.

Then Cal comes back with proper food – burgers and fries and chicken nuggets and juice. Both boys’ faces light up and they grin, and Cal looks between them both. It’s like staring at the past and the present. The moment she puts the stuff down on the bed, they rip apart the bags, creating a free for all.

“What happened to your eye?” the boy peers at her, and Cal hesitates. Pickles doesn’t give any helpful indication of what to do. She shrugs, crossing her legs.

“Uhm, I got into a fight. They took it out.”

“Sick.” The boy stares at her, but it isn’t in disgust. She looks back at him, smirking a little.

“You ever get into any fights?”

“Ugh, yeah.” He jabs a fry into the sauce, “Peter keeps shoving me into lockers ‘cause of dad. He sucks.”

“Fuck yeah!” Pickles can’t hold back, and he doesn’t even care about the look Cal gives him. “I’ll drink t’that!”

He holds out his beer, crouching to get to face height. He raises an eyebrow, and Pickles picks up the boy’s wrist and clinks his beer with his juice box, “Why aren’t you fightin’ back?”

“I dunno how.” He mumbles, sipping his apple juice, watching the way Pickles downs his beer. Cal makes a face, shaking her head and finishing the nugget in her hand.

“Nuh-uh, that won’t fly with me.” She stands, gesturing for him to stand too – “I’ll show you some defensive stuff, ‘kay? And then I’ll show you an uppercut. And some other stuff if we have time.”

Pickles watches her, leaning back on the headboard of the bed. He smirks a little, and his nephew seems absolutely ready to learn. She shows him a block, and how to tip someone over his shoulder (he laughs so loudly, so jovially, as Cal picks him up and throws him back onto the bed. Pickles can’t help but laugh too). And then she shows him how to trap someone’s arm, “And if you do it this way, you’ll break it. But uh, y’know. You’ll only use that in self-defence, right?” she stares at him, and he nods slowly, “Ya promise?” she holds out her pinky. She notices he hesitates, before finally interlocking his pinky with hers, and they shake on it. Unable to stay out of the conversation, Pickles offers to show some more backhanded stuff; less flashy, but it got him out of plenty of situations on the streets.

Before they know it, a Klokateer knocks on their door.

“We have been contacted by your brother, my lord. He wants his child back.”

“Oh – uh,” Pickles looks over at his nephew, who is drawing something with Cal, “Really? So soon?”

“It is midnight, my lord.” He pauses, “And a school night.”

“Oh.” Pickles assumes that’s a bad thing. The boy looks up, and Cal notices the way his face changes. He knows it’s time to go home. “Okay, well uh – let’s go, kid.” He waves him over. The boy reluctantly makes his way to the door, and Pickles hesitates. They stare at each other, and Pickles can’t handle the vulnerable, truthful face of a child up close. He kneels down. “Look, uh, come see me play tamarrow, okay? I’ll send Seth tickets, right? VIP. You can watch me and Cal do our thing. And we’re the best.”

They smile at each other. His nephew hands him the paper he was doodling on, before saying bye to them both. At least he was leaving the room with a smile. When he feels Cal stand next to him, he looks down at the paper: a fairly well put together drawing of Pickles playing the drums and his nephew playing a guitar. Or a bass. There’s seven strings, so it’s hard to tell.

“Aw, well.” He takes in a deep breath, “That uh, you know. That was fun. He’s cool, y’know?”

“Wonder where he got that from.” Cal wraps her arms around Pickles waist, chin on his shoulder. He tries to humble himself with a laugh. But he sees it too. She pauses, thinking. “Do you remember his name?”

“. . . Ah shit.”

#mtl oc #pickles x oc #pickles x calypso #calypso #writing prompt #oc x pickles #mtl seth

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deke-rivers-1957 · 10 months ago

Text

Toby's First Day

Ah wake up an' Ah feel like Ah'm gonna throw up. But Ah feel a lil better 'cause Ah'm layin' down on ma bed an it's a whole lot less scary. Ah can't see anything. Ah try an lift mah head up an' Ah fall right back down.

"Ow."

Ah try an get mah head up so Ah can look at Trevor when he ribbits an' see how he doin', but Ah can't. Ah feel like Ah jus wanna curl up in a ball. Ah remember the things Ah said ta Jacklin an Ah wish Ah didn't. Mah head still feels a lil woozy so Ah think Ah'll just lie here an... uh... an...

Time Skip

Ah finally stop snorin' an' wake up a little. Ah sit up real slow an' Ah look at Trevor. He's jus' lyin' there in his tank an' it looks like he ain't moved at all since Ah last saw him. Ah'm a lil confused bout how mah stuff an Ah got here. Somebody musta brought 'em while Ah was sleepin.

"Ya doin good lil buddy?"

He ribbits so Ah get up real quick an Ah hobble on over ta Trevor's tank. Ah open tha door an' Ah feed 'em. Ah take tha blood worm outta tha fridge an' Ah put tha cold, bloody wormy thing inta Trevor's tank an Ah see em suck it up. It makes a real mess a his face. Trevor looks at me real concerned wit tha wormy mess on his face an Ah know Trevor's worried 'bout mah well bein' so Ah smile a lil for 'em.

"Didja see who brought ya an mah stuff up here lil buddy? Cause Ah sure dunno who did."

Ah pet Trevor’s head.

"Yer a good froggie, Trevor. Even if ya got a bloody wormy all over yer face. Ah'mma wipe ya clean."

Ah go ta get a paper towel but when Ah look at Trevor Ah see him cleanin’ tha worm offa himself. Ah giggle an get closer ta see what he looks like witout tha worm.

"Ya be a good boy, Trevor. Ah'm gonna be goin downstairs fer mah first day a wizardin' school. Be nice ta the other froggies."

Ah finish puttin' on ma uniform, pick up mah backpack an' head off ta tha Great Hall.

"Toby? Are you alright?"

Ah notice Jacklin an' tha cauldron. It doesn't look like Jacklin's had much sleep either, but Ah don't wanna say anythin' yet. Ah've gotta start tha day nice.

"Ah'm real confused bout wha happened last night. How'd Ah end up in mah new bed?"

"Our prefect carried you upstairs after I brought it to his attention that you fainted."

Ah nod then look at tha cauldron an' don't know what else ta say, so Ah ask a question.

"What ya do'n with tha cauldron?"

"I’m bringing it to our Potions class today. I don’t want Professor Snape to take points away because we’re not prepared."

Tha name "Snape" sounds like someone's mispronouncin' "snake." Like "Snakin' around" or somethin'. But Ah don't wanna say that to Jacklin jus' yet, since we jus' got up an' Ah wanna be nice ta Jacklin till m' day goes sour. Ah look "prepared" ta take tha class wit m' friend Jacklin.

"Ya sure do seem prepared."

"I also took the time to look through our schedule and put everything that you need in your strange human device."

Ah raise mah eyebrow cause Ah got no idea what she's sayin.

"Mah what?"

"Oh. That big thing there."

Ah look at where she's pointin an Ah realize wha' she means now.

"Tha's mah backpack. It ain't that strange. Jus bout every kid uses 'em."

"How do you use this?"

"Ah jus' put it on like this."

Ah pick up mah backpack an put it on carefully.

"Tha's how Ah do it."

"Marvelous."

Ah'm glad Ah somehow managed ta impress 'er. Ah ain't realized that showin 'er somethin simple like a backpack'd do tha.

"How'd ya usually carry thangs if ya ain't got a backpack?"

"I put everything in my cauldron. We're not allowed to use magic in the corridors here, so on Potions days I just use that. My wand and quill are in the pockets of my robe."

"So ya really gotta know what ya need fer what day."

She nods at me.

"Yes that’s why I carefully planned how to carry everything last night."

"Well... yer real smart."

Ah look at tha books an' cauldron an' think maybe it's a good idea.

"Ya know, Ah never woulda thought of tha."

"So where did you get this backpack? I noticed that it had a lot of little zippers on it and wasn't sure if it's common."

Ah look at mah backpack.

"This one's giv'n ta me by Pop. It's real tough. Ah could drop it out tha window an' it jus' wouldn't break."

"Do you think you can put your cauldron in there? I wasn't exactly sure how to get it to fit. Your books were easy enough to put inside since they're rectangular."

Ah shrug since Ah jus know she's tryna help me.

"Sure, Ah'll try it."

Ah open up m' backpack an' try ta make room for tha cauldron. There's a buncha' magic stuff in tha way but Ah move it around an' eventually manage ta fit tha cauldron in. When Ah finish Jacklin's lookin up at me wit these big eyes all lil girls get when they're 'mazed by thangs.

"That’s amazing. Humans are so crafty without magic."

Ah don't fully understand wha tha means, but Ah like tha sound of it.

"Yeah. We get crafty, tha's fo sure."

Ah close m' backpack an' get ready ta head on downstairs.

"I hope I don’t lose my balance going down these stairs, Toby."

"Why'd ya think ya'd lose ya balance?"

"I need to use both hands to carry this cauldron. It’s too heavy if I tried to use one hand."

Ah look at tha cauldron an' then look at Jacklin.

"Ah think Ah should carry tha cauldron for ya. Ya can jus' put yer hands in tha pockets of yer robe."

It ain't tha big a deal, but Ah don't want Jacklin fallin' down tha stairs. Ah hold out m' hands ta take pick 'er up an tha cauldron.

"Toby are you sure you can handle both me and your backpack?"

Ah manage ta carry tha cauldron, Jacklin an' m' backpack down tha stairs.

"Ah can handle it. Ah got big muscles in tha farm boy arms."

"Very well then."

Ah walk down tha stairs an' toward tha Great Hall as tha breakfast crowd parts ways for me an' Jacklin.

"Ah'm okay."

Ah like carryin' Jacklin an' tha cauldron an' don't think anythin' about it till suddenly Ah hear some'un callin' out my name loud.

"We're at the bottom of the stairs Toby."

Ah see tha Great Hall in front of m' an' hear Jacklin callin' me. Ah know Ah can't carry Jacklin an' tha cauldron much longer. Ah stop walkin' for a second an' set Jacklin on tha floor.

"Jacklin?"

Jacklin turns to me.

"Yes?"

Ah try ta catch m' breath an' lean against tha wall of tha Great Hall. Ah feel a little tired.

"Thanks."

Ah look at tha empty cauldrons in Jacklin's hands an' feel real foolish.

"Can Ah ask you a question?"

Ah'm wonderin' if Jacklin noticed somethin' while Ah was carry'n her.

"Ah know Ah'm a little slow, but Ah can't help feelin' like Ah done wrong while Ah was carry'n ya."

Ah look at Jacklin's face real close an' look for a sign tha somethin' bad happened.

"You didn't do anything wrong Toby. I just was worried about you getting hurt. I thought my Veela magic was making you want to impress me."

Ah feel relieved.

"Oh. Well, Ah was jus tryin' ta do the right thing."

Ah sit down an look tha table. There's a lot a kids here an' for a second Ah wonder if Ah'm even gonna find m' seat. Ah get a feelin tha Ah'm gonna say someth'in wrong or do somethin' weird an' it's gonna ruin tha day. Ah feel real worried about tha day an' want it ta go slow. Ah start lookin' real worried ta Jacklin 'cause Ah don't wanna make her mad an' Ah don't wanna make the day go bad. Ah can't stand tha not be'in in tha right seat feel.'

"I think those are our tables there, Toby."

Ah look in tha direction Jacklin's pointin' an' see tha tables. Ah feel good 'cause Ah'm findin' m' way an' Ah don't wanna get lost here.

"Let's sit down here. This spot's open for us."

"Okay."

Breakfast foods start to appear on the table. Ah look for tha pancakes an' eggs so Ah can start eat'n them.

"Do you have any special interests Toby?"

"Well, Ah like pancakes a lot, but Ah think tha's jus' normal."

Ah shove as much pancake as Ah can fit in m' mouth.

"Does that mean you like cooking? I was thinking that if you had any special interests you might be able to find classes here that relate to them."

"No, Ah'm not good with cook'n."

Ah shove tha rest a' tha pancake a' in m' mouth an' look around tha hall real worried tha Ah ain't been able ta ask about somethin' Ah need ta know about. Ah finally decide m' need ta ask m' question is so important tha it's like tha whole day depends on it.

"Jacklin."

Jacklin looks over at m' when Ah call her name an' Ah get a real good feelin' tha things are gonna go right.

"Yes Toby?"

"Well, how do Ah fit in here? Ah dunno how we even make it onta the platform ta get ta the train if we ain't spose ta be seen by humans. Ah think Ah jus ain't meant ta be here."

Ah feel like m' whole day's gonna jus' crash an' all tha bad feelin' jus' keep buildin' an' buildin'.

"Everyone in this part of the Great Hall are part of the Gryffindor House. That’s how you fit in. Not everyone here has to be a pureblood like me. I don't think the average wizard in general knows that Platform 9 and 3/4s is charmed so that only those with magic blood can even get near it."

Ah start ta calm down a lil bit. Ah'm a Gryffindor. Ain't so bad. Ah look around tha Great Hall an' most people are wearin' tha Gryffindor colors an' Ah think tha's cool.

"Thank yuh! Nice ta know."

But tha silence jus' feels so loud. Ah feel like tha food is gettin' cold an' tha food smells an' tastes diff'r'nt. Ah know tha's how Ah am an' it's tha way Ah am but it's jus' so quiet right now.

"Have you ever thought about what you want to be when you grow up?"

"Not really."

Ah feel bad 'cause Ah dunno whut Ah wanna do an' there's so much time an' so many things Ah don't know. Ah've been so worried this tha day was fallin' apart tha Ah jus' haven't had any thoughts 'bout tha future.

"That makes sense. It’s hard to figure out how to use your magic if you haven’t learned anything about it yet."

Ah clean m' face an' hands real good so Jacklin won't think Ah'm sloppy. Tha pancake was real good though.

"Do you want to read our Potions book together?"

Ah look at Jacklin an' she's got a book open an' she's sittin' right next to me.

"Okay. Ah don't know if Ah'm gonna understand it though."

"I think this first chapter is about our supplies and why we need them."

"Oh, that's good. Ah could use some supply learnin'."

Ah start lookin' at the book an' it looks like it's letter based. Ah know how to read, but tha letters are real small an' Ah gotta look real hard to know which letter's next. Ah also gotta think real hard 'bout how tha letter sounds.

"Did your Pop ever get your vision checked?"

"No. Do Ah need ta have m' eyes checked?"

Ah keep read'n m' letter very slowly an' Ah'm startin' ta feel a little better 'bout tha day. This isn't so bad.

"I'm not sure since I have no idea why reading this book is difficult for you."

Ah don't wanna give Jacklin tha wrong idea, so Ah try ta explain m'self. The more Ah talk, the more Ah realize tha Ah do have m' problems, but they're jus' part a me.

"Well, when Ah see tha letters Ah can see 'em fine, but Ah dunno. Ah get through 'em real slow an' sometimes Ah... sometimes Ah don't remember what tha letter sounds like an' Ah gotta go back an' re-read it. An' it jus' takes a long time ta... ya know finish."

"Oh. So it’s a reading problem and not a vision problem."

Ah look down an' Ah get a little nervous 'cause Ah notice tha everybody at tha table's watchin' m'. So Ah finish m' lett'der fast an' look up real quick.

"I never thought that a cauldron’s metal would make a difference in how fast a potion’s brewed."

"Well, tha cauldron sure looks real important."

Ah look at tha pictures again an' it looks like tha cauldrons are the place where all tha magic happens in 'potion making.' Ah feel interested an' tha books is startin' ta make sense. M' nerves seem ta be leavin' an' Ah relax jus' a little bit more.

"There's jus' so much tha m' brain's gotta know all at once. So how long d'ya think it's gonna be before Ah figure out tha right way ta use m' magic?"

"As long as we take notes and do all of our assignments through all seven years, our professors will give us passing marks. Magic can be easy as long as you try."

"But how do ya know when you're doin' it right?"

It feels like there's gonna be a lotta mess ups in 'potion makin' an' other magic usin'. It's jus' too much to figure out an' some of it doesn't make any sense so far.

"If you try to say an incantation and you’re saying it wrong, then nothing will happen. With potion making you have to read everything carefully. Each potion is different so a lot can go wrong. From what my father told me about potion making, smoke is normal but nothing should explode or boil over."

"Oh, yeah."

Ah picture m'self at 'potion class. Ah see smoke an' m' mind starts to wonder. M'self an' tha others jus' watchin' 'potion boilin' up an' down an' tha smoke's makin' things seem jus' a little bit different. An' m' body's startin' ta sweat jus' a little bit. Ah imagine the fumes from tha cauldrons makin' m' head spin jus' a little bit. Ah try ta hold it together bu' Ah'm jus' a little nervous about tha whole thing.

"That was the bell. I think we should leave for the dungeons now. Are you feeling better, Toby?"

"Yeah Ah'm ok."

Ah start walkin' but Ah see Jacklin watchin' me an' somehow tha makes me feel a lotta bettah. Ah don't know why really. It jus' does. Maybe 'er Veela magic's hittin me after all. Ain't so bad then.

"Let’s see. I have my wand, our cauldrons, my potion book, and I think everything else is in your backpack. Is that right?"

"Yeah."

It looks like Ah got the basics. Ah don't really know what all Ah'm gonna need yet, but Ah think Ah'm all set for the first potions class. It's scary but... it's ok.

"In that case, I think we can go right to the dungeons for Potions with Professor Snape."

"Why'd Mr. Snape wanna have Potions class down in tha dungeons?"

Ah try ta picture it an' Ah can't see it. All Ah can imagine is some creepy dark place down tha stairs with spiders an' bats an'... who knows what. Ah start gettin' a little nervous agin.

"You have to call him Professor Snape. The dungeons are a great place to teach potions. They’re well ventilated and also act as a storage space for ingredients that are sensitive to sunlight.

"Oh. Well, tha's okay then."

Ah try ta imagine those places better but Ah still mostly see spiders an' bats. Ah shake m' head an' try ta get rid of tha picture.

Time Skip

Ah'm lookin' round tha dungeons. It's dim an' Ah can't see far. Ah notice it's jus' stone an' dirt under tha ground. Looks cold, but it's quiet. Ah think Ah like it.

"It looks like we made it to class a little early today."

"How much time d'ya think we have?"

Ah look over tha classroom door an' Ah start wonderin' what's in the potions room. Ah guess it's the place where the potions class is gonna take place. Maybe it's nice like da classroom. Ah hope so, but tha whole potions class' too much ta figure out.

"I believe we have just enough time to organize everything we could possibly need for today’s class."

Ah look back at tha potions table. Tha potions teacher probably starts teachin' right on tha bell. Ah don't want stuff in a mess when tha potions teacher walks in. Ah get busy try'n ta get tha stuff organized.

"Welp tha's all mah stuff."

Ah sit back straight in mah chair an' watch Professor Snape walk in. He looks real grouchy as Ah watch tha class sit down. Ah don't do anythin but jus' sit there lookin'. Ah figure tha's the smart choice right now. He starts lookin' over m' backpack an' Ah start feelin' kinda nervous again.

"We do not leave objects in the aisle. Move it to the other side of your chair."

Mah head starts ta spin as Professor Snape moves on. This potions class seems like it's gonna be harder than Ah thought. But Ah ain't gonna give up. Ah look around tha classroom an' notice tha other students all look like they knew to move tha object before tha potions teacher started teachin'. That's okay. Ah'm not like m' head's filled with a lotta magic like some of the others. M' job's jus' to get through tha potions class an' learn something.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes bewitching the minds, and ensnaring the senses. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death."

Ah watch Professor Snape talk an' Ah feel a lotta magic words jus' fly into mah head. Ah wanna have m' own bottled magic.

"I can see some of you have brought all of the required ingredients and equipment as if you expected to produce a potion on your first day. Well done. For those of you who brought everything you will be given a point for Gryffindor."

Ah take a deep breath an' Ah get ready for Snape ta start teachin' me stuff. Ah think he's gonna like me.

"Now you all should have read the introductory chapter of the Book of Potions in preparation of todays class. So if I were to ask what the difference is between a brass, copper, and pewter cauldron I would assume you would all know the answer."

Ah know tha a copper cauldron is good as it'll melt tha metal at tha right temp. Ah know that tha pewter doesn't get hot enough. But that's all Ah remember about tha cauldrons right now.

"The difference is the brewing speed. First years normally use a pewter cauldron because it brews at the slowest speed."

Ah look over at Jacklin. Ah guess she knows all tha answers an' Ah can't remember what Ah already know. M' shoulders start ta relax an' Ah listen in. Ah think it'll be safe enough ta just sit back an' let Jacklin tell tha right answers.

"Correct."

Ah see that he looks like he's a little pleased wit tha right answer. Ah hope that Jacklin knows most a tha answers. Ah like her an’ Ah don’t wanna see her get yelled at.

"Turn to page 394. Our first lesson will be about making the Cure for Boils Potion."

Ah find tha page and Ah look up real quick when Ah see it.

"This is your first test to see if you have any skill in potion making. A beginner worth teaching will successfully make such a basic potion before the end of class. You will be working in pairs to complete this potion. I will not tolerate students who backpack off of others."

Am Ah skilled enough ta make tha potion? Ah don't wanna fail this first test. Ah get paired up wit m' friend Jacklin.

"How do you want to divide the work Toby?"

"Well, Ah can read everythang ta make sure we ain't doin nothin wrong."

"So you can read each step and get all of the ingredients together?"

"Uh huh."

Ah point ta m' potion book sittin' on m' table an start readin the first step.

"In that case, I can start the fire. What does the first step say?"

"Well, it says ta take out a pewter cauldron."

Ah see 'er get it.

"What do we need to do next?"

Ah know what tha next step is!

"We gotta add 6 snake fangs an crush 'em in the mortar."

Ah start countin cause Ah can obviously count ta 6 then start crushin 'em.

"How's this look?"

"I think you crushed them enough, Toby. They needed to be a fine powder and it looks a lot like dust."

Ah read the next step.

"All righ', four measures a' tha snake fangs."

Ah see Jacklin count out tha snake fangs an' get all four measures in tha cauldron.

"Alright then. We just finished measuring the crushed snake fangs and added them to the cauldron."

"Ok so now we gotta take the cauldron up ta 250 fer 10 seconds."

Ah see Jacklin turn tha fire up.

"1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Awright turn it down."

She turns down the heat an uses the potion makin spell wit 'er wand.

"Curious Boilus!"

Ah get a little nervous when Ah see the potion boilin'.

Time Skip

"I see the pink smoke. We did it Toby!"

Ah see tha pink smoke come outta tha cauldron an' Ah feel better an' better about mah first potions test.

"Pour the potion into the vials and clean up."

Ah listen ta Snape an' pick up the vials, fillin' em wit tha cure for boils potion. Ah'm a lil nervous bout what he'll say ta us.

"This is a textbook perfect potion. You and Mr. Kwimper will each receive 5 points for Gryffindor."

Thas it! Ah feel real proud when Snape takes tha vials. Ah notice that Jacklin's pretty happy too. She's lookin' over at me and she's givin' me a real nice smile.

"Class is dismissed."

Ah hear tha bell. We're done wit potions! Ah notice a couple a' kids givin' me funny looks when we walk out of tha potion room. Ah don' think Ah've ever got so much attention jus' from doin' potion work. Ah feel good walkin' out wit Jacklin.

"Let me see now. Defense Against The Dark Arts is our next class. We just need to go to the Transfiguration courtyard. The temporary classroom should be located on the ground floor level."

Ah'm so glad Ah'm with Jacklin. She's the only one who seems to understand where all tha stuff is. She looks at me an' then Ah feel like Ah understand too. Ah don't know how she does it, but Ah follow her.

"I hope the other boys weren't too distracted by my Veela magic."

When Ah hear her say "Veela" Ah remember one a' tha things she told me about what they can do. Ah try to think of her as jus’ normal Jacklin, even though Ah can tell tha boys were distracted an even a little scared by her.

"What did you learn today during our first Potions class, Toby?"

Well, Ah dunno much bout why we gotta use wha' we used. But Ah got a lotta experience in pickin' out non-venomous snakes. Like if ya wanna find a snake who ain't venomous ya don't wanna find no copperheads cause they got venom. Does tha count for somethin'?"

"Why of course that is an important skill to have. Especially when working across the world. I'm not familiar with a copperhead. What type of snake is that?"

Ah repeat everythang Ah know from mah book on snakes.

"It's a type a water moccasin tha looks a little different. They live mainly round the eastern coast a North America an round the Mississippi drainage. They're real common here an' compared ta others they're more likely ta bite if they're all scared. They're medium-sized an venomous, but they don't really kill people that much."

"What other snakes do you have there? We don't have a lot of snakes here in the UK or in Bulgaria where my mother's from."

Ah realize she ain't gonna know a lotta thangs Ah do.

"Oh, Ah'm from Florida, Jacklin. Full a snakes. We got big black ones. We got orange an' yellow ones. Ah even had a python in Pop's yard once, but it was only a lil one. They're not the real bad snakes, but they're not the good ones, either."

"So you know what a Common European Adder is?"

"Common European Adder? Yeah, Ah know ‘em. They’re mean little critters, but they ain't as dangerous as rattlesnakes."

"Just how dangerous are they? Adders are the most dangerous snake native to the UK."

Ah jus know this'll get ugly real quick cause she jus ain't used ta dealin wit nature.

"Yep, but they use tha poison in their bites. It don’t hurt as much as tha venom a dangerous kinda snake's got. Now tha rattlesnake'll kill ya deader-than-thou, but Adders ain’t as deadly. ‘Course, Ah ain’t sayin’ Ah'd wanna get bit."

"I understand why you know so much about snakes now, Toby."

Ah get a real nice feelin’ inside when Ah hear this from Jacklin.

"So how exactly do you know what an Adder looks like?"

"Oh Adders're dark. They got like a kind a "x" on their necks. They look mean, even if they really ain't. That's good, cuz Ah think snakes are real beautiful lookin’. They just don’t want no people hangin’ round when they’re sunnin’ themselves like Ah saw a few do in Florida. Snakes don’t like company."

"I don’t know what I would do if I ever saw a snake in real life."

Ah know if Jacklin's like a lotta girls she'd be screamin but Ah don't wanna tell 'er cause she'd probly get all mad.

"Well, if tha snake jus sees ya an' don't do nothin' ta you, then jus' leave it be. They get angry 'cause they're real scared of being stepped on. Jus back away from it or stand real still. Snakes wanna go where they're goin', but they don't bite less they get scared by somethin’. Ah don’t think Ah’ve ever been scared of a snake before, jus' annoyed by ‘em."

"That’s probably because you were raised in an area full of them."

After a little while, Ah notice that Jacklin has a kinda worried look on her face. Ah wonder what she's thinking so Ah ask her, 'cause that's what Pop always says Ah should do when Ah wonder.

"You okay, Jacklin?"

"They don’t have snakes that are as big as pythons native do they Toby?"

"Yeah Ah think there's a whole lotta big snakes in Florida, like the Burmese pythons. They can get as long as twenty feet. But that's jus a big snake in the wild. There’s also boa constrictors. They get pretty long, too. They got a lot more snakes than just pythons in Florida."

"Those are invasive species why are they in Florida?"

"Ah reckon some people wanna keep 'em as pets, an' then tha pets get out or let go. When they breed wit other snakes it can start a lotta trouble. Like, it could be real bad for tha other kinda snakes if they got mixed wit big python snakes. Ah guess someone shoulda thought a' tha before they tried to have tha big snakes for pets."

Ah see 'er try not ta shudder outta fear cause Ah know this' really freakin 'er out.

"What would you do if you saw something that big?"

Ah think real hard an' Ah can see that Jacklin is expectin' a real good answer from me.

"Ah probably wouldn't do much if Ah saw one in the wild... jus' walk real quiet an keep movin', or Ah'd stand still. Ah don't think Ah'd ever do anythin' tha's real dumb like touchin' it."

"So you can’t just run away from snakes?"

"Well, Ah guess Ah could try to run away. But Ah don't think Ah could get very far if a snake like tha was after me. They can move real fast when they want to. An’ they'll chase ya an’ swallow ya a lot of times. It's best ta leave ‘em alone or stand as still as Ah can an' hope they'll jus' move along."

"They can eat people?!"

Ah think Ah'm startin' ta make Jacklin worried wit all the snake talk.

"Yeah, tha big snakes can eat people. That's why they're always on the news when tha snake hunters catch ‘em. It's real rare for tha snakes ta eat people, though. Ah bet news stations go lookin' for big snakes so they can put ‘em on TV an get big ratin's. When they do, it ain’t real good for the snakes. A lot a' people get scared and they’ll want tha snakes killed."

"I hope you won’t take this wrong when I say I do not plan on visiting the States during our winter holidays."

Ah dunno if Jacklin just made a joke, so Ah try ta sound like Ah have a good sense a humor, even though Ah don't have much a one.

"Ah don’t blame ya. Snakes an alligators don’t make fer very fun winter holidays."

Sayin stuff bout gators jus seems ta scare 'er more.

"Alligators?"

"Yeah. We got gators in Florida, too. Ah think it's jus' cause Florida's a real warm place, so it's a real nice place for snakes an' gators. But they ain’t gonna bother you if you leave ‘em alone."

"How is that not scary to you? You have so many dangerous animals that we don’t even have here in the UK."

'Er eyes're gettin all big an Ah know she's freakin out.

"Well, they ain't dangerous if they ain't mad. They only want food an' a place ta rest. Ah gotta say, they're pretty fun ta see if they ain't botherin' ya. Ah do like ‘em better than snakes. You can see ‘em comin', ‘cause a gator don't slither round like a snake."

"Are there any animals you are afraid of then?"

Ah try to think of somethin', but Ah can't think a' nothin'. If Ah say snakes it'll seem like Ah'm afraid a' them, so Ah can't do tha. Ah gotta think of somethin'.

"Oh, yeah. Ah'm a little afraid of raccoons. They can be real mean if they get mad at ya. Most of ‘em are friendly an’ they leave people alone, but sometimes Ah gotta scare off a mad raccoon when it gets ta thievin' stuff or botherin' our chickens."

"What’s a raccoon?"

Ah oughta make a list a thangs we got in Florida an she's only got here.

"Oh. A raccoon's kinda like a cat, like Ah told ya, except it looks a little like a bear kinda, just real small an' wit a long tail. Ah see a lotta raccoons livin' in the woods. They get in places they ain't supposed ta be, so Ah get mad at ‘em for thievin' stuff an' then tha raccoons’ll get mad at Ah an' then we'll have a little war of words. That's why Ah'm a little afraid a' raccoons."

"At least it can’t eat you like a python can."

"That's right. You can probably out-run a raccoon, too. Just try ta stay away from tha young'uns, an' tha raccoons probably won't bother ya. Don't call ‘em "trash pandas" though. Ah mean, you'll be right ta call ‘em that, but they don’t like it at all. They get real mad."

Somethin bout wha' Ah said caused Jacklin ta raise mah eyebrow an Ah dunno why.

"How would you know that as if you can talk to them like a person?"

"Ah know ‘cause when Ah’m chasin' ‘em away from our chickens, Ah yell “you trash pandas,” an’ they act real mean after Ah say tha. Like Ah said, they're a lot like people. If Ah call 'em, “sweet little trash pandas” they don't get nearly as upset wit me."

"So you can talk to animals?"

"Well, Ah talk to the animals Ah like. Ah talk ta tha froggies an’ tha turtles an’ tha toadies, fer sure. Ain't nothin' really special 'bout talkin' ta animals. Ah think they like hearin' kind words, though. Ah know gators never say much, but they seem ta listen when Ah'm talkin' ta ‘em."

Ah dunno why Jacklin's lookin at me like Ah'm a dummy.

"Nothing special? Talking to animals is a rare skill for wizards to have. It can’t be taught."

"Really? Ah wasn't aware of tha'. How come tha's rare?"

"Wizards have to be born with that type of ability."

"Oh… well, then Ah reckon Ah'm special."

Time Skip

"Did you hear that Toby?"

Ah hear this weird hissin noise.

"Yeah Ah heard sumthin'. It sounded like a snake."

Ah listen real hard an' look around. Ah don’t see anythin’, but Ah hear the snakes hiss again.

"It sounds like it's comin' from 'em bushes over there."

Ah think tha snake is goin' ta try ta scare us by hiss'n again.

"Do you think you can try talking to it as we walk by Toby?"

"Ah can try. Ah can try talkin' real nice an' explainin' tha we ain't interested in startin' nothin' with tha snake. We just wanna get on by."

Ah see this big snake coiled up in tha bushes an' Ah start talkin' to it soft. Ah keep walkin' while Ah’m talkin', an’ Ah try ta sound as non-threatening as Ah can. Ah also try ta keep movin’.

"Here, Mr. Snake. Hey, here, here. We jus' wanna go on through tha door, tha one behind ya. We wanna keep movin' an' we don't wanna fight ya. Can we jus' move on, Mr. Snake?"

Ah don’t see any signs tha the snake's movin'. Ah keep talkin’.

"Mr. Snake, we don’t wanna be late fer class. We gotta be in class in ten minutes. Please move fer us."

Ah see tha the snake is moving away from us. Ah keep up tha friendly talk as Ah keep movin’.

"Thank ya, Mr. Snake. Ah ain’t tryin’ to upset ya. You've been a real nice snake, an’ Ah think it's great tha ya got a nice cozy place ta relax an' keep warm, an' Ah hope ya have a good day, Mr. Snake. We gotta go now."

Ah hear the snake hissin an look back. Ah guess tha’s a kind a snake wave. Ah turn back ta the door an’ keep movin’ toward tha door. Ah notice tha tha snake ain’t in tha bushes no more, Ah think it moved off somewhere else. Ah smile 'cause Ah’m proud that Ah handled tha snake situation so good.

"Toby you spoke Parseltongue just now."

"What're ya talkin' bout? Me speakin' ta tha snakes?"

"Yes. You thought you were speaking English, but it just sounded like hissing sounds to me."

Ah stop dead in mah tracks. Ah stare at Jacklin like she's lost her mind.

"Ya mean tha’s really what Ah sound like?"

"That’s what it sounded like to me."

Ah'm stunned an' Ah can't think a anythang ta say.

"Tha's just... tha's... tha's... tha's... Ah don't know what ta say, actually. Ah got nothin' ta say ta that."

"We can talk about it later then. Right now we need to get to class on time."

Ah realize tha Jacklin’s right. Ah can't discuss this now no matter how much Ah wanna know tha answer. Ah pick back up on the walkin' as Jacklin an Ah make our way down tha path ta the DADA class.

Time Skip

"There's Professor Quirrell the new professor for this class."

We're right on time an Ah'm happy bout it.

"Than-thank you for be-being on time. Th-that's a p-p-point for ea-each of you."

Ah smile as we go an sit down.

"Than-thank you all for ma-making it. My na-name is Prof-professor Quir-Quirrell."

Ah try ta focus on tha professor but Ah can’t stop thinkin' 'bout tha snake talk. Ah look at Jacklin real quick ta see if she’s actin’ any diff'rent. Ah try ta read her face but Ah dunno if it's good Ah can’t read 'er face like Ah can a "regular person’s."

"Now to-today we're go-going to be ta-talking about Imps."

Ah know tha Ah should be payin' attention to tha lesson but Ah just can’t stop thinkin' about this thing with tha snakes. Ah just sit there lookin' at his weird scarf hat.

"M-make sure to-to copy th-this in your n-notes."

Ah start ta take some notes as Professor Quirrell stutters through tha assignment. By now Ah been so used ta it that Ah can understand him perfectly fine, even when he stutters.

"For ho-homework, please wr-write a short essay about the-the Knock-knockback Jinx. You ha-have until next we-week to fi-finish it.."

Ah’m not happy ‘bout the homework assignment. Ah know tha Professor Quirrell thinks it’s easy, but Ah can be a little slow sometimes. Ah can get stuck on one thing fer like... forever.

"Toby I was just about to ask if you wanted to start working on our essay during our free period after we get back to Gryffindor Tower."

Ah look up an see Jacklin in front a me.

"Well, Ah’d be happy ta meetcha in tha common room 'cause Ah don’t wanna waste no time. Besides, it'd be good to get the homework over an’ done wit."

"That sounds great Toby."

Ah smile 'cause Ah feel tha Jacklin's bein' real nice an' patient with me today. Ah ain't used ta people bein' all that nice ta me.

"Thanks Jacklin."

Ah keep walkin' an' Ah feel the stairs underneath me movin'.

"Be careful, Toby."

"Ah ain’t afraid o' tha stairs. It don’t even feel like Ah’m movin' much when tha stairs move anyway."

Ah feel tha sudden movement under mah feet when one a tha steps disappears. Ah almost lose mah balance, but Ah manage ta get back ta stable footin an' Ah ain’t at all bothered by tha missin step.

"See? It ain't no big deal, Ah tol ya Ah don’t mind the stairs movin’."

"Now if only we can say that going down the stairs."

Ah smile at Jacklin an' think it was a little joke Ah can laugh at. But Ah'm ready ta get tha homework done so Ah keep followin' Jacklin.

"Do you remember the password Toby?"

Ah think it's "Alohomora."

Ah smile real big when it opens an' go through tha door. Ah look fer Jacklin an’ see tha she's comin' in too. Ah just hope tha tha homework ain't too hard.

"Are you alright, Toby? You look out of breath."

Ah start ta take deep breaths cause Ah ain't used ta all 'em stairs yet.

"Yeah... Ah'm fine..."

Ah catch mah breath an start ta have a weird vision bout a floatin feather. It jus came an went real quick so Ah don't mind it.

Time Skip

Ah'm lookin at tha page with tha Knockback Jinx but Ah'm still stuck on it. Ah look over at Jacklin who's readin' tha DADA assignment like it's jus' normal speakin', but Ah know Ah'm not understandin' tha stuff even a bit.

"Do ya, do ya understand that Knockback Jinx stuff, Jacklin?"

"Yes. When you say the word "flipendo" and do the right wand movement, you can force your opponent to fly backwards away from you."

Ah'm thinkin' all this stuff Ah'm readin' looks like a bunch o' gobbledygook.

"Oh... Ah see. So, it's jus' one word an' then you gotta wave tha wand like this."

Ah make a wild, flickin' motion with mah wand.

"No Toby. It looks more like this."

Ah follow Jacklin's instructions with mah wand movin' down... up... then makin' tha U at tha end of tha movement.

"So, jus' say tha word an' do tha wand movement. Then they'll go flyin' away?"

"Yes it's an important spell to use when you're in a duel."

Ah feel like a total coward. A dark wizard might wanna duel an Ah might not even be able ta say tha word "flipendo" an Ah might be a total sittin duck.

"So, uh... if Ah was in tha middle of a duel wit a dark wizard an' Ah froze up, would that be a real problem?"

"Yes. You could end up getting killed."

Ah feel completely lost like Ah could puke. But Ah keep lookin at Jacklin tryin' ta hide how scared Ah am. Ah don't wanna be a total chicken in front of 'er, so Ah try ta keep myself together.

"So, uh... Jacklin, what's next with tha homework?"

"Now that we know what the Knockback Jinx does, we just need to explain why it can be used against Imps."

Ah think fer a second then say somethin tha sounds smart even if Ah'm guessin' a few words.

"Well, if ya think bout it, an imp's really small an' light like a rat. If Ah ever seen an Imp an Ah hit it wit a Flipendo... Ah mean tha Knockback spell Ah mean... well, it's like a real giant kickin' a real small creature. So, that'll knock tha Imp back an outta tha fight."

"That's right, Toby. Imps can't fly so we can use that to get them to fall into a hole or a cage."

Ah look at Jacklin an’ Ah'm amazed tha Ah'm sayin' tha things Ah'm sayin' an' knowin' bout stuff and even impressin' her. But Ah try ta keep tha positive feelings goin'.

"Oh yeah, tha'll work. Thanks fer lettin' me learn longside ya."

Ah look at Jacklin an' notice we both got it finished wit all tha homework done on it.

"Well, how're we gonna show tha professor that we learned it?"

"Next week we would turn in our scrolls and see if he asks us to do the spell."

Ah look over at 'er an Ah feel tha heat on mah face an hear tha poundin' in mah chest.

"Well it's almost time for lunch. I'm going upstairs to feed Tiger. How often do you need to feed Trevor?"

"Oh... 'bout once a day. But Trevor does like ta stay fed an Ah've been feedin' Trevor a couple times a day now, jus' so he's always full."

"Well, I'm sure your frog would love to see you for a few minutes before lunch."

Ah jump up outta tha chair up ta tha dorm an visit Trevor. Ah got some food an' Ah wanna check tha temperature an' make sure everythang's alright fer him.

"Hey there, Trevor. Ya doin' awright in here? Ain't too hot in here?"

Ah see Trevor startin' ta move round the corner ta me an Ah feel really happy tha Trevor responded.

"So, ya wantin' lunch? Is tha it?"

Ah smile when Ah see his tongue an' Ah realize tha's the best answer. Ah scoop up a few pieces a mealworm an Ah put it in the little area where Trevor is. Trevor jumps outta tha water ta grab the worm an Ah get tha feeling he's enjoyin' tha food.

"There ya go, Trevor. Tha oughta hold ya for a little bit."

Ah smile when Ah see his froggie eyes an' Ah feel like Ah did tha right thang by talkin' ta him. Ah notice tha it's time ta leave, so Ah turn tha light off an' Ah close tha lid of tha tank.

"Bye buddy. Ah'll be seein ya later."

Time Skip

Jacklin an Ah're walkin down the stairs wit our arms looped. Ah dunno why but it sure does help feel like we're friends.

"So uh... how ya likin Hogwarts so far?"

"Oh I love it. My father told me so many stories about his time at Hogwarts, and it's still so incredible to be here as a first year. The only thing I'm concerned about is my Veela magic. You haven't noticed any of the boys being affected by it, have you Toby?"

Ah don't want her ta feel awkward so Ah try findin a different answer.

"Uh… not really, no. It's like they're just happy ta see you. Sure don't wanna do anythin dangerous ta impress ya."

"That sounds good. My mother told me that it's common for the boys to feel the need to look at me."

Ah see tha boys round us as we walk. They're lookin at our linked arms an Ah know they're jus' wonderin' if a romance is startin'. But Ah know tha it ain't, cause Ah understand wha's goin' on. Ah'm too smart ta be fallin fer some girl Ah jus met.

"But that's just a... tha "charm" thang yer people got goin' on. It's jus' some kinda spell tha makes it so tha boys like you, tha's all."

Ah give Jacklin a lil smile as we approach tha door ta tha Great Hall.

"I wouldn't call it a spell. A spell would mean that it can be taught and Veela magic can't be taught like regular magic."

Ah stop an' look up at her before we go through tha doorway.

"So it ain't a spell then. But, uh... it's still somethin' tha ya do a lil naturally an', uh... Ah don't really know how ta put it. Ya gotta have some kinda magic goin fer ya if ya look like one a 'em chubby naked angel babies.

She looks real confused by wha Ah said an ta me it's better than feelin like Ah said somethin mean.

"A what?"

"Ya know in 'em paintin's. Ah think they're cherubs but Ah call 'em chubby naked angel babies cause they look like 'em."

"And how on earth do you think I look like one?"

Ah dunno if she's mad or jus confused so Ah think Ah gotta be honest bout it.

"Ya got one a 'em soft chubby faces. Specially in yer cheeks. Ain't like it can't be pretty but it ain't like yer so perfect like ya say Veela can be."

She starts ta laugh an Ah feel better now cause Ah woulda thought a girl'd be sayin Ah'm a dummy fer callin her chubby.

"Now I know for sure I can trust everything you say Toby."

"Why's that cause Ah'm jus tryna be honest?"

"I can trust you because I know no other boy would ever be able to say something like that. They would only talk about how pretty I look because of my magic."

Ah'm startin' ta understand a little better how all tha Veela magic works.

"Well whatever works fer ya."

Ah still feel awkward talkin' bout it, so Ah switch the subject.

"So what'd we get assigned next after lunch?"

We go over ta tha lunch table where Ah see tha other Gryffindors sittin' down. Ah give tha Gryffindors a little wave ta let them know Ah'm comin' ta sit by 'em.

"After lunch we only have Magical Theory today. Once we finish that class, we have a free period all the way until dinner. I can go over our full schedule later today if you want me to, Toby."

"Ok. Tha sounds nice. Ah don't know what tha Magical Theory's gonna be like tho. Ah hope it ain't as hard as DADA homework."

"I think a lot of it is reading and note taking. As long as you pay attention and read the book, you should get an O in that class."

Ah start to feel a little bit better now. Ah feel like tha day is turnin' out right after all. Ah smile an' Ah listen ta Jacklin.

"Tha sounds like an easy class ta get tha O."

Ah'm tryna figure out wha' ta eat fer lunch an look round the table.

"Could ya do me a favor, Jacklin?"

"What is it, Toby?"

"Ah was wonderin' if ya could grab me a bowl a tha chicken noodle soup. It's all the way down by ya an Ah can't reach it."

Ah know it sounds a lil foolish since Ah ain't sick or nothin', but it looks good ta me.

"Oh. Of course I can."

She gives it ta me an Ah notice 'er eatin a weird lookin sandwich.

"Whacha eatin?"

"Oh this is a cucumber sandwich."

Ah raise mah eyebrow at 'er.

"I... gather you don't eat these in the States do you. No matter. This is meant to be a light snack usually eaten during the afternoon. I'm so used to eating them for afternoon tea that I suppose it was out of habit."

"Oh Ah weren't judgin ya Jacklin. Ah jus ain't seen a cucumber sandwich. How's it suppose ta fill ya?"

Ah see she's lookin a lil better an Ah think it's cause she knows Ah ain't thinkin she's weird.

"It doesn't. Since it's meant to be a tea sandwich, it's only a snack meant to hold you over until supper. I'm sure not everyone does this anymore since we're no longer in the 1800s."

"Well if yer one a 'em wizard princesses Ah guess it makes sense ya still do thangs old people do."

She smiles a lil an Ah'm happy Ah ain't made 'er mad.

"Well this really turned out ta be tha perfect lunch fer me. Ya wanna know why?"

"Why is that, Toby?"

"Cause a tha chicken noodle soup ya got me."

Ah raise tha spoon and take another sip of tha soup. Ah let tha spoon down an' look at Jacklin.

"Why, Ah woulda been too stubborn ta try an' eat it until tha end a the day if ya hadn't give it ta me. But a got a little soup in me, an' now it's actually startin' ta taste good. Plus Ah ain't melted yet so maybe tha's how yer Veela magic's treatin me so thank ya."

Ah see 'er smilin an Ah realize tha first day a school ain't turnin' out half bad after all. So Ah try ta say somethin' ta make a joke.

"Guess what, Jacklin?"

"What, Toby?"

"Chicken butt!"

"What?"

Ah hear the confusion in 'er voice an' Ah look up at 'er again. Ah give her a lil laugh.

"Ya know... chicken... chicken butt. Nothin'.

Ah go back to eatin' tha soup. Ah realize tha Jacklin keeps lookin' at me like Ah'm a lil crazy from tha joke.

"Ain't it a joke 'round here?"

"I don't believe it is."

Ah feel bad 'bout tha joke now. So Ah think bout the next thing tha Ah want ta ask Jacklin.

"Well... Ah was wonderin'... could ya do me another favor, Jacklin?"

"What is it?"

"How do ya send people letters here? Ah wanna write mah Pop an tell 'em Ah'm doin good."

Ah see 'er eyes light up.

"Oh! We can go to the Owlery. There's plenty of owls that can send your letter."

"So ya can show me how ta get there?"

"Of course, Toby. We can write our letters after Magical Theory."

Ah'm glad Jacklin's game fer tha idea a writin' letters together. Ah smile at 'er again an' Ah get back ta eatin' soup.

"Thank ya, Jacklin."

Ah take a lil sip a soup while watchin' Jacklin eat as tha two of us sit together at tha Gryffdor lunch table.

Time Skip

"Lunch is over. We need to find Class 67 for Magical Theory."

"Ok. Ah got mah backpack an Ah'm ready."

Ah finish up tha last of tha soup an stand up.

"Do ya wanna go first, Jacklin? Ah dunno where tha Magical Theory room is an' Ah don't wanna get us both lost."

"I think my father said it was on the 4th floor in the Astronomy Tower."

Ah give Jacklin another nod before Ah start followin' her up tha stairs ta tha Astronomy Tower for tha Magical Theory class.

"The stairs are moving again Toby."

Ah look up tha stairs, but Ah still keep walkin' wit Jacklin up them. Ah kinda try ta ignore tha fact tha stairs are movin' in tha way they are, but Ah wonder why they have tha stairs movin' like that.

"Well, Ah don't like tha stairs, but Ah like tha walkin' wit ya."

"All we have to do now is go up the stairs to the 4th floor."

Ah follow Jacklin up tha stairs to tha 4th floor an' Ah notice tha doors to tha Magical Theory class. Ah see a sign on tha door tha says: "Magical Theory" an Ah follow Jacklin through 'em into tha class.

"I wonder if our first lesson will be on Adalbert Waffling."

Ah look at her curious. Ah don't know nothin' bout Adalbert Wafflin. So Ah ask tha question tha way Ah always ask 'em.

"Who's Adalbert Wafflin?"

"Adalbert Waffling was a famous wizard who created the idea of magical theory. It’s because of him that we even have this class."

"Oh. Is tha why it's called "Magical Theory" Jacklin?"

"Yes. This class talks about how magic is created and who can use it."

Ah nod my head, but Ah don't really understand all tha much about it.

"Ah guess Ah'll find out bout all this magical stuff, huh?"

"Of course. It’s important to understand this topic if you want to learn how to use spells and make potions."

"Well, hopefully Ah can learn ta take care of mah self with tha spells an' potions, but Ah gotta tell ya tha Ah don't really plan on usin' tha spells too often. Ah mean no harm ta anybody, Jacklin, so Ah really don't want ta be usin' any spells tha do 'em harm. Does tha make any sense?"

"Yes Toby."

Ah take up a seat just as tha teacher steps up in front of tha class and Ah can feel Jacklin sittin' right beside me. Jacklin startin ta write. Ah see her writin' an' Ah can see she's writin' pretty fast. Ah try ta write mah own notes tha' best Ah can.

Time Skip

The bell goes off an we start ta leave.

"Can you believe it, Toby? We just finished our first day of classes and can do whatever we want until dinner."

Ah nod mah head an' Ah close mah books.

"You know, Jacklin, Ah'm really startin' ta like tha idea a writin' that letter ta Pop, but Ah'm not so sure what Ah'm gonna say."

"We can write our letters in the common room and go to the Owlery in the West Tower together. I can show you how to give your letter to the owl."

Ah get this big ol' smile on mah face. Ah didn’t know Jacklin was tha kinda gal tha liked ta do somethin' like tha.

"That’d be great."

Ah look at Jacklin then see tha Slytherins comin' up behind her. Ah realize she may not see 'em. So Ah tap her on tha shoulder an warn her bout tha Slytherins.

"Hey Jacklin, be careful. There're some Slytherins comin' up behind ya."

"Oh. I see. That's Draco Malfoy, Toby."

Ah can see Malfoy look like he'd like ta punch me, but Ah ignore tha look an' Ah try ta be friendly wit tha other Gryffindors and tha Slytherins alike.

"Oh, uh, howdy there Malfoy."

Ah extend mah hand ta shake his.

"Well what do you know? He actually has manners."

Ah'm glad tha Malfoy accepted ma hand an' Ah shake it, while lookin' over at Jacklin. Ah try ta speak in a way tha won’t be too dumb.

"Yeah, Ah figured Ah'd come over and say howdy ta all, uh, tha folks in tha other houses too, 'cause Ah mean no harm ta none a 'em."

"I see the Veela's sullying the Gryffindor name and all pure-bloods everywhere as usual. Can't even go five minutes without hypnotizing some poor boy that comes your way."

Ah notice he jus ignored me like he was talkin ta jus Jacklin.

"Godric Gryffindor wanted children of all magical backgrounds to study magic. I’m carrying on the traditions and values of the Gryffindor family just fine. Just because you developed a tolerance after all these years doesn’t mean others are completely helpless Draco."

They go inta this back an forth while Ah'm jus standin there.

"Well, uh, that's exactly what Ah was just thinkin' about. Ya know... how everybody should have an equal shot ta get ahead round here, 'cause Ah think all the kids at Hogwarts should do good, regardless of what house tha belong to. Ah mean... Ah can understand how a person can get inta a house jus' by bein strong or the brains they got, but what really matters' how good a person is. Ah mean... Ah really hope all the folks in tha Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin families could all be good friends."

Malfoy turns ta leave. His friends are still starina at me. He yells fer them.

"Crabbe! Goyle! Let’s go!"

"Ah was jus' tryin' ta say "howdy" is all. It's really hard not ta get nervous around some of tha Slytherins, but Ah really wanna make friends wit 'em. Jacklin, Ah gotta know... Do ya think it's possible ta get tha people at Hogwarts ta like ya more, despite ya bein' a, uh, a Veela?"

She looks a lil sad after talkin ta Malfoy.

"I can never know for sure Toby. Draco is able to resist it because we practically grew up together."

"Well, uh, thanks fer tha explanation. Anyway, Ah'd like ta spend more time wit folks like ya, who ain't gonna look at me funny or treat me like a loser. Ah mean, Ah know ya said tha Slytherins got all these ideas bout how we oughta be, but Ah wanna try ta get ta know some people, even if it means tha Slytherins'll hate me forever."

Ah just laugh at tha idea tha Slytherins would hate me. Ah wonder ta mahself if tha's really true.

"A lot of Slytherins are half blooded or human born just like the other Houses. It’s just that except for the Gryffindor family all of the powerful pure-blooded wizards went to Slytherin and believe children like you shouldn’t be allowed to learn magic. Even if you were pure-blooded like me, you were raised as a human."

"Really? Ah didn’t know tha, Jacklin."

Maybe Ah don’t know as much ‘bout Hogwarts as Jacklin do, but Ah’m pretty glad she’s takin' tha time ta explain tha history of tha Houses ta me while we walk together. Ah think that’s mighty kind a 'er.

"I’m not sure if I can go to the Owlery right away, Toby."

"Oh, okay. Ya mean, we won't be goin' ta tha Owlery today at all?"

"No no. We can still go today. Just not as soon as I originally planned."

"Oh? Why's tha?"

"I have a longer letter to write than I thought."

Ah nod Ah see. Ah feel it'd be best not to ask too many questions, so Ah just follow Jacklin along da path, takin' advantage of the time Ah'm with her to ask a couple things here 'n there bout 'er personal life.

"So, you gonna write a longer letter ta ya folks?"

"That’s right. I’m sure you have a lot to write to your father too."

"Oh, yeah, Ah figure Ah got a lot ta say ta Pop. They been waitin' a long, long time to hear what Ah got ta say. So Ah guess Ah'll be writein' a pretty long letter too."

Ah smile at Jacklin an Ah can't help but wonder what it is she has ta say ta her father in tha letter she's writin'.

"I’m going to my room to write it. How long do you think it will take to finish your letter, Toby?"

Ah think for a quick second 'fore Ah answer.

"Well, it usually takes me most of tha day ta write a letter tha long, but Ah could probably get it done sooner if Ah work real hard. So Ah figure it'll probably take me most of tha day. Why'd ya ask, Jacklin?"

"I want to make sure we can go to the Owlery together without having to wait for the other to finish. We should be able to finish our letters at the same time."

Ah nod at Jacklin an' Ah give her a big ol' smile.

"That's a good idea, Jacklin. Ah can work hard at writin' mah letter faster if tha's whatcha wanna do. Ah'm sure Ah could get mah letter done pretty soon if Ah just work hard at it."

"In that case I’ll meet you down here when we’re finished."

Ah turn ta walk off ta start writin' the letter but Ah stop just fer a quick moment cause Ah know Ah shoulda asked what she was sayin' on tha letter she was writin'. Ah turn back around.

"Hey, uh, Jacklin, jus' wanna ask... whatcha writin' yer folks 'bout anyway? Is it important?"

"Yes there’s a lot of important information I need to tell them."

Ah think bout it for a moment, but Ah know it don't do no good ta pry. Plus, Ah'm jus' too grateful ta be spendin' some time wit Jacklin. So Ah figure Ah'll jus' let it be.

"Ok see ya when we're done."

Ah go up ta mah room an sit on mah bed. Trevor ribbits when he sees me.

"Hi buddy. Ah'm gonna write Pop a letter."

He ribbits in a way tha' tells me he's ok wit it.

"Ok. How do Ah start mah letter?"

Ah try writin thangs tha'll make sense ta Pop.

"Dear Pop, Ah hope this letter finds y'all doin’ okay. Ah’m doin’ real good mahself. Ah jus got ta school las night, an Ah ain’t bein’ picked on yet, which Ah’m real glad about. Ah been takin’ tha subjects they teach here, 'cause all Ah want's ta learn as much as Ah can 'bout tha world an how it works, an so far people say Ah'm doin’ okay with tha spellin' an' stuff. Trevor's doin good too an ain't gotten in trouble wit the other froggies an toadies here."

Ah think Ah'm doin real good by mahself.

"As far as school goes, Ah gotta tell ya that it's like gettin' two schools in one wit how the four families got split up. Ah got sorted inta Griphindor, along wit some of tha really cool people who awready took me under their wings. Ah thought tha teacher who sorted us wanted us ta get ta know each other, 'cause tha more ya know more yer prepared fer tha surprise thangs life throws at ya. Oh, an Ah met this one girl."

Ah realize Ah dunno how ta spell 'er name.

"Her name is... J-A-C-K-L-I-N. An she tol me she's a... uh, V-E-L-A. So some folks keep sayin' she's gonna control me with her womanly ways. Ah ain't too worried 'bout it really, 'cause Ah think she's gonna be more' like a big sister ta me, 'cause when Ah think about it, she sorta reminds me a little bit of tha older sister Ah never had. It ain't like she's awready a woman cause she's only 11 like me an' got one a 'em chubby baby faces some girls got. Ah figure it's jus gonna be good ol' fashioned friendship."

Ah smile an' Ah write tha question down. Ah realize tha's pretty important if Ah wanna know wha the folks think about havin' a Veela at Hogwarts.

"How do ya think folks’ll feel if Ah tell 'em Ah met a Vela girl? Think tha teacher might've known what she was doin' when she sorted us in tha same house? Hope Ah ain't lettin' tha family down cause it turns out we're suppose ta be enemies."

Ah sit fer a moment tryin' ta figure out what else Ah wanna say 'bout Hogwarts. Ah get an idea an' Ah know this is gonna be a little embarrassin ta write, but it's important 'bout how tha folks think of me.

"Okay... so there's one thing more Ah should write 'bout tha girl Ah meet at Hogwarts. Ah ain't exactly bein' treated like tha boy Ah used to be back in Florda. Jacklin well she keeps touchin' me. Ah ain't mad bout it, but Ah dunno if it's somethin only Vela girls do or people're right bout 'er. She ain't been mean ta me none but she jus thinks we gotta be holdin arms when we're goin down the floatin stairs. Kinda weird ta me, Pop."

Ah read tha letter over to mahself an Ah’m pretty satisfied it says everythang Ah wanna say.

"So that's pretty much it fer this letter anyways. Ah'll write ya somethin' later, an' Ah love ya an Ah hope tha folks are takin' care of 'emselves. Say hi ta everyone back home."

Ah sign tha letter, and Ah fold an' seal it up and Ah get ready ta take it down ta tha Owlery as soon as Jacklin finishes her letter. An' Ah hope that'll be very soon.

"Hey, Trevor. Is it okay wit ya if Ah take tha letter an’ head down ta tha Owlery now? If I don't hurry up, Ah might get in trouble for comin' back too late.

Trevor jus' blinks at me a few times. Ah figure tha's as close ta a "Yes" as Ah'm gonna see from mah froggie. Ah take tha letter an' Ah head out ta tha hallway.

"Oh, hey, Jacklin. How's it goin'? Ah figured Ah'd take a trip ta tha Owlery so Ah could mail tha letter off ta Pop like Ah said Ah would. Ya ready fer tha trip yet?"

"Oh yes. I finished my letter."

"That's great! All that writin' must be wearin' ya out. Ya sure ya don't wanna take a rest first?"

"I sat long enough writing the letter so I’m fine, Toby."

Ah nod at Jacklin.

"Fair nough. Well, Ah guess Ah'll just head on down then, so ya won't have ta rush. Ah'm gonna run it down ta the Owlery right quick so Ah don't get in any sorta trouble."

"It’s only 3:00 pm. We have a few more hours before dinner."

"Oh, yeah. So Ah member ya was talkin bout tha West Tower. Do ya really have tha Owlery up there? Ah mean... ain't tha too high up fer tha owls? Ain't they bein' bothered by tha wind or anythin' like that?"

"The owls need the wind and height so they can be able to fly. They can just glide on it and save energy."

We start walkin ta the West Tower an Ah didn't realize it's gonna be real far.

"Ah ain't thought a it that way. So, there ain't no problems wit tha owls not bein' able ta read what people write?"

They’re trained to understand directions so long as you tell them where to go. My family has their own owl so I can simply say “Gryffindor Manor” and Arthur would be on his way.

We get ta the door an Ah'm a lil outta breath.

"I know that this is different than what humans do so be careful trying to find an owl."

Ah nod as Ah start ta worry a lil bit cause Ah got no experience tryin' ta find an owl.

"So Ah jus' gotta look round for tha right one? How'll Ah know tha right one?"

"It depends on where you live. The Gryffindor Manor is in Godric's Hollow, which is in Cornwall, England. Since we're all the way north in the Highlands of Scotland, Arthur was bought because he's Eagle Owl."

"How's Ah gonna know if tha right one's a Eagle Owl or some other kinda owl?"

"You can use one of the school's Eagle Owls, Toby. As long as you tell them your address, it should be able to make it to your house."

Ah look at Jacklin wit real excitement 'cause Ah had no idea Ah could do tha. Ah had no idea there's an easy way ta get this done.

"Well, Ah guess Ah better be startin' already. Hope one a these owls can make tha trip."

Ah start lookin around tha Owlery fer a owl ta talk ta. Ah figure it’s gotta be one tha's awake. Ah find a owl an' Ah walk over ta it. Ah notice it's jus' sittin' on tha perch. It looks real cute and Ah feel like it's the right one. Ah approach tha owl slowly an Ah kneel down in front a it. Then Ah member tha instructions Jacklin gave me an Ah decide to give it a try.

"Heeeey, buddy."

Ah give tha owl tha ol' head rub while Ah speak ta it.

"Wha's yer name, fella?"

Ah wait in eager anticipation, but tha owl don’t respond. Ah try ta give tha owl a pat, so Ah’ll know for sure tha he’s gettin' attention.

"Tha's okay. Ah’m sure yer a good owl in any case."

Ah smile as Ah finally hear from tha owl. Ah decide ta try one more time as Ah speak ta it again.

"That's a pretty neat name, Buckbeak. Ah reckon Ah could call ya Buck for short. Ya think Ah could be use your help?"

Ah watch as Buckbeak looks at me an’ Ah'm not sure tha he's gonna say anything.

"Hooo-oot."

Ah get excited once Ah get tha impression tha Buckbeak's agreed ta carry tha letter. Ah find tha letter Ah wrote an Ah hold it out fer Buckbeak ta pick up wit his beak.

"Buck? Ya wanna take this letter for me?"

Buckbeak looks at me all confused.

"Right. Sorry. So Ah'd like tha letter ta go 59A, S. Road, Croom, County Limerick, Ireland.

Ah look over at Buckbeak to see if he's startin' ta get it or not.

"Hooo-ooot."

Ah look down an smile at Buckbeak. Ah hold tha letter up fer him ta pick up wit his beak. As Buckbeak picks up tha letter, Ah feel a real sense a relief, but tha next concern Ah have is whether Ah’ll ever see Buckbeak again. Ah mean… Ah kinda like tha fella now.

"So that’s all Ah needed ta do?"

Ah coulda swore he nodded at me as he gets up. Ah decide ta wait an watch Buckbeak make his way out tha window. Ah watch Buckbeak slowly get smaller in tha distance an’ then Ah see him disappear.

"Take this to Gryffindor Manor please, Arthur."

Ah nod an' Ah smile again at Jacklin as Arthur starts flyin away.

"Thanks fer tha help, Jacklin. Do ya know when Ah'd be gettin a letter back."

"I think you should be able to get a reply by Friday since you live in the Southern Mid-West of Ireland."

"Ah can’t wait ta hear from Pop. Ah'm gonna tell ‘em bout Buckbeak when they write back."

We leave the Owlery an go back ta our Tower.

"Do you need a break to catch your breath Toby?"

Ah nod my head an’ Ah try ta catch my breath. Ah feel like Ah’ve been runnin all day just ta get tha letter delivered.

"One times one is one… two times one is two…"

Ah look up at Jacklin.

"Ah… Ah feel a little nervous… Ah need ta go lay down… Ah think it’s gonna help."

"I understand, Toby. It’s only our first day of school and we have about two hours before we need to go for dinner."

Ah head fer tha dorm room.

"Ah jus' need ta spend a little time by mahself... jus' quiet time... Ah can start feelin a little normal again."

"Croak."

Ah look over at Trevor as he ribbits. Ah try to calm myself down by lookin' at him. Ah smile at him.

"Ah appreciate it, Trevor. It was a nice ribbit.

Ah lay back down an look back at tha ceilin. Ah close mah eyes ta try ta force mah muscles ta relax.

"Zzzz."

Ah find mahself wanderin' in a field. Ah got tha feeling that Ah know tha way back to tha homestead, but as Ah look around, Ah notice tha field don't look the same. It seems tha grass has been overgrown and tha sky is much darker than normal. Then Ah hear a rustle from tha trees behind me and Ah look behind, Ah notice a dark shadow stalkin me.

"Who's there?"

Ah quickly back away from tha shape. Ah know Ah shouldn't be here an Ah don't understand how Ah got here, but Ah still need ta get out of here quick. Ah make tha shape out a little more and see tha figure standin' there in tha darkness wit its arms behind its back… lookin' like it's watchin’ me.

"Nyakoĭ ni nablyudava."

Ah feel kinda funny. Ah can't understand anythang an Ah realize Ah don't got many choices. Ah step forward ta tha shape, not sure if Ah’m makin’ a mistake or not.

"Zdraveĭte."

Ah'm caught a little of guard by how beautiful tha figure is. Ah step backward, but tha Veela keeps comin' forward. Ah notice tha Veela is still talkin' to me even though Ah still can't understand tha words.

"Do not be scared of me little boy."

Ah smile when tha Veela speaks ta me in English. Ah'm a lil scared, but Ah feel comfortable round tha Veela now tha Ah can understand tha words she's sayin'.

"I am friend with Jacklin's mother."

Ah listen well, cuz Ah'm really feelin' lost here in tha dream. Ah notice one thing Ah feel comfortable wit tha Veela. Ah think maybe she kinda likes me too. Maybe Ah'm just lonely, but it seems like tha Veela cares about me. Ah smile ah bit at her. She smiles back.

"What you normally dream of?"

"Usually Ah dream of livin' wit Pop. Ah don't dream much, but Ah guess if Ah do dream, it's usually just a lil more comfortable place than everywhere else."

"Why dream of open grass?"

Ah think about tha question for a little bit. Ah see that tha Veela look like she wants me ta answer, an' Ah don't wanna let her down.

"So Ah wouldn't have to worry bout anythin' in tha field. It's jus comfortable, ya know."

Ah get a feeling there's somethin else Ah could say, but Ah figure tha's fine for now.

"I have no need for dream. No energy to fuel powers here."

Is it okay if Ah ask a question before ya go?

She nods.

"What's yer name?"

Ah ask tha question even though Ah feel kinda funny askin'. Ah think she's been so nice ta me Ah wanna know her name.

"Sonia. You tell Jacklin I visit you."

Ah smile back.

"Sonia... tha name suits ya. Ah’ll be sure ta tell Jacklin. Will Ah ever see ya again?"

"Visit Bulgaria. I live in Veela village."

"Bulgaria? Tha's a long way away but Ah'll visit ya if Ah can."

Ah see tha Veela is startin to fade away. Ah don't want her ta leave, but Ah also don't want ta hold her up.

"Well, Sonia, it was real nice meetin' ya."

"Ding dong."

Ah slowly raise mah head and look around ta see if anyone else's up. Ah check tha time and notice the bell just tolled. Ah know dinner's gonna be soon. Ah get up an stretch out. Ah can't wait ta eat somethin.

"Awright, Ah'm gonna go, Trevor. Ah'll be back later when Ah get a chance. Go on an eat yer worm like a good froggie."

Ah walk out the door an Ah notice tha castle's real quiet. Ah walk down tha hall and Ah'm in tha mood for somethin to eat, so Ah make mah way towards tha Great Hall.

"How was your nap, Toby?"

"It was good. Ah jus' needed a chance ta rest. Ah'm feelin' better an' tha dream was real nice. Ah can still see tha Veela in my mind. She's pretty. She was nice ta me. Ah even asked her her name. It's Sonia. She said ta tell ya hi."

"Sonia is my mother’s friend from Bulgaria. She has the powers of a succubus."

Ah pause for a second when Ah hear tha word succubus.

"What’s a succubus?"

"They’re magical women who feed off of men’s dreams. You're 11 years old and wouldn’t have the right dreams to feed her."

Ah feel confused when tha word “feed” is thrown in there. Ah don't really understand how dat works.

"So... they feed off men's dreams?"

"Well they feed on what comes from those dreams."

She turns a lil pink an Ah dunno wha' she means.

"What comes from those dreams?"

Ah start ta blush an' Ah look away when she tells me in mah ear. Now Ah know why Veela get called dangerous. They can really give ya ticklin feelins in yer tummy.

"Ah, ok. Ah gotcha."

Ah can feel tha blood runnin’ through mah ears.

Time Skip

"Do you eat roast beef in the States, Toby?"

Ah nod now tha' we're at tha table.

"Yeah a lotta people use it fer sandwiches."

"I can slice a piece for you if you want to try it tonight."

"Uh, sure. Sure, Ah'd like that."

Ah try ta make mah smile a lil bigger.

"Just tell me how big you want your slice to be, Toby."

Ah look at tha roast beef an Ah try ta guess how big Ah should ask fer. Ah notice Jacklin is lookin' at me, so Ah just ask fer whatever Ah think Ah can handle.

"Ah, uh... could ya give me a small piece? A lil piece?"

"Of course I can. Now hold your plate out so I don’t drip gravy onto the table."

Ah hold mah plate out ta tha side an Ah notice Jacklin's cuttin' tha meat real close an' Ah get a little nervous. Then Ah see gravy dripin' from da roast beef but Ah don't wanna look stupid, so Ah don't move mah plate. Instead, Ah take mah fork and catch tha drops of gravy and lick dem off. Ah hope Jacklin doesn't notice, but she does an she laughs a little bit. Tha laugh makes mah stomach do a flip, but Ah still don't wanna move tha plate so Ah can catch all tha gravy.

"There you go, Toby. If you want another piece, I can pass the tray over to you."

"Ah, no, no. This is a lot."

Ah start ta eat tha meat and Ah notice it’s really good. Suddenly, Ah want more, but Ah still dunno if Ah should ask fer any or not. Ah start ta fidget a little bit an Ah look over at Jacklin, as if she might be able ta help.

"Do you like the roast beef or the gravy that’s on it, Toby?"

"Ah like the gravy Ah think. Maybe ya can gimme some more."

"Oh yes, I can pass you the sauce boat."

Ah look back at tha roast beef an Ah notice tha gravy drippin' on the plate. Ah can tell that this gravy's the best thin' Ah've ever tasted an Ah wanna drown every piece a meat Ah get in it.

"That’s a mushroom gravy and goes well with roast beef since it has beef stock in it."

Ah nod an’ Ah start ta eat.

"Mmmmmm. This stuff�� is reaaal good. Mmmmmm. Ah like this. Mmm. Mmmmmm. This gravy is… mmmm. Ah gotta have some more."

Ah keep shovelin' tha gravy an' tha roast beef inta mah face and Ah notice Jacklin's lookin' at me in that way Ah can't quite describe. Ah look up and realize Ah’ve eaten tha roast beef in a couple bites. Ah feel real stupid, but Ah gotta have some more of that gravy.

"Do they have mushroom gravy like this in Florida, Toby?"

Ah pause fer a second. Ah swallow tha gravy down.

"Naw, this ain't nowhere near tha food in Florida. They jus eat grits an' shrimp an' catfish an’ Ah gotta have more gravy. Ah’ll finish all tha roast beef so Ah can have more gravy."

Ah start tha process again pourin' gravy over tha meat Ah jus ate. Jacklin still looks real interested. Ah start ta wonder what she's seein' that's so interestin.

"What are grits?"

Ah pause a second, as Ah try ta explain what grits are.

"Well uh... they're a kinda porridge. Like oatmeal, only it don't got any sugar. An' uh, usually they put a lotta butter wit tha grits. We eat 'em fer breakfast a lot. They make 'em outta cornmeal."

"That would explain why I never heard of it. We don’t really use cornmeal in any food here in the UK."

Ah nod an' Ah keep eatin' tha gravy an' tha roast beef. Ah notice Jacklin is back to eatin' chicken an Ah feel a bit better. Ah look down at tha roast beef an' tha gravy. Ah make a huge mess, but Ah finish tha meat an now Ah got all tha gravy tha Ah want. Ah hope Jacklin notices a big boy like me can eat a lot. Then, Ah see tha desserts comin'.

"What do you want to try tonight, Toby?"

Ah look up at Jacklin an Ah clear mah throat.

"Ah always thought chocolate cake was tha best kinda cake, but Ah dunno much 'bout cakes. So could ya tell me what yer favorite cake is?

Ah take tha risk an Ah look at Jacklin. She looks up from tha dessert table an Ah notice when she looks at me Ah feel real good, but Ah also feel real scared. Did Ah say the right thing or the wrong thing?

"I suppose if I had to pick one that was originally made here in the UK it would be a Victorian Sponge Cake."

Ah nod a couple times, even though Ah don't know anythin' bout tha cake she's takin' about. Then Ah take a bite of a chocolate cake.

"Mmmm. This is pretty good. Mmmmm. What kinda cake's this?"

"Oh that’s technically not a cake. It’s a bombe glacée. That top layer you’re eating keeps the ice cream on the inside from melting."

Ah notice the cold ice cream under tha chocolate. Ah swallow tha chocolate an then Ah look at Jacklin an' Ah feel like a big dummy.

"This is a fancy dessert that I wouldn’t expect the average person to know. I wouldn’t expect you to have something like this in the States since it's very famous in France."

"Could ya tell me bout tha cakes from France? Ah thought tha ice cream was cake.

Ah look at Jacklin an’ Ah hope she don't think Ah'm too stupid ta listen to her. Then Ah take another bite of tha chocolate and then Ah wait for Jacklin to tell me all she knows about tha French cakes.

"Yes well this cake right here is exactly what I want. It’s an Opera cake which is an almond sponge cake."

Ah nod an’ Ah look at Jacklin an’ Ah wonder what she means about an opera cake.

"Why's it called an opera cake?"

"Look at the layers, Toby. The cake is so tall because of the number of thin layers. The cake was called an Opera Cake because the layers look like an opera house."

Ah look at tha cake an Ah understand why the layers remind Jacklin of an opera house.

"Is that a... is tha cake somethin' ya would make on... on Valentine's day?"

"I suppose you could since it’s a complicated cake to make and it would be considered something special."

Ah nod an’ Ah look at Jacklin. Ah feel good that Ah asked that.

"So what kinda cake would ya make on Valentine's Day?"

"I suppose I would make a tarte Tatin. Then again warm apples is more of an autumn treat so that might not be in season in February. I have to think about it."

Ah nod a couple times an' Ah feel a little bit better. There didn't seem ta be any problem wit tha tarte Tatin. Of course, Ah dunno what a "tarte Tatin" is.

"Do you know what Crêpes Suzette are, Toby?"

Ah shake mah head an make that dumb look Ah’m so good ta make.

"Nope. What're those?"

"A crêpe is a very thin pancake. Crêpes Suzette use citrus fruits as the sauce. Citrus fruits like oranges are in season during February so it would perfect for Valentine’s Day if someone doesn’t like chocolate."

Ah keep makin’ tha dumb look and Ah try ta think of a question ta ask.

"Hey, Jacklin... how do ya make tha tarte Tatin apple cake wit warm apples?"

"The apples are warm because you cook them in a pan of caramel before baking it."

Ah nod a little bit like that makes sense.

"So what kinda cake would ya make if ya don't use tha tarte Tatin or tha Crêpes Suzette?

"If those don’t work out I guess I can always make some petit fours."

"What's tha difference between a petty four an a cake?"

Ah look at Jacklin an' Ah don't wanna get Jacklin angry by askin' too many questions.

"A petit four doesn’t necessarily have to be a small cake. It can be sweet or savory."

Ah hear Jacklin say somethin' about them bein' small an' Ah realize she might be talkin' bout small cakes.

"If ya don't mind explainin', what other kinda cakes might ya make?"

"A nonnette. Around Christmas. It’s basically a gingerbread cake."

Ah look at Jacklin an' Ah wonder bout this cake. Ah don't know what tha word means, so Ah'll get to tha bottom of dis once and for all.

"What makes that cake unique from any other cake?"

"It’s filled with orange marmalade or honey. You would also pour a glaze over it that’s made of egg whites, sugar and lemon juice."

Ah nod a couple times, just to let Jacklin know Ah'm listenin' good.

"Sounds nice."

Ah look at Jacklin andAh feel like a dummy 'cause she's startin' ta eat again. But Ah don't wanna ruin it fer Jacklin an Ah'll just be satisfied tha Ah gotta learn a bit more bout cakes.

"This' a real nice dessert. Ah really like tha way it gets all creamy."

Ah notice Jacklin's cake is almost gone. Ah think that's what tha girls do when they wanna end a conversation or a date.

"So... so do ya like talkin' 'bout cake?"

"I like to share a lot about what I learned from my family’s travels. When your father is an ambassador for the British magic world, you have to travel a lot."

Ah nod an’ Ah feel a little relieved tha Jacklin is sharein' so much about herself.

"Sounds like ya travel a lot an get ta do a lotta fancy eatin' an learn a lot bout other countries."

Ah think that was a pretty good compliment.

Time Skip

"Jacklin wha's our classes gonna be tomorrow?"

"Oh. Have a look at this. It's our weekly schedule for the year."

Ah look at tha' paper she hands ta me. She's real organized cause Ah can understand all this real well.

"Thank ya. Ah think Ah know how ta divide everythang. Ah'll get mah books fer tomorrow."

"Great. I already have everything organized so I can help you make sure you have everything in the right day."

We go through everythang an now Ah'm in a chair readin mah Charms book wit Jacklin. Ah'm real happy she ain't ever said Ah was bein a dummy.

"Now Charms is similar to Defense Against the Dark Arts in that it relies a lot on spells. You have to be able to know how to pronounce the incantations and memorize wand movements."

"Ok. Ah think Ah can do that."

We keep readin through the book 'till Ah start yawnin.

"Gettin tired Jacklin."

"Yes it is close to lights out. I think we better start getting ready for bed."

Ah yawn agin an close mah book.

"Ok. Ah'll see ya tomorrow then."

"Alright then. Good night Toby."

"Night Jacklin."

We go ta our dorm rooms an Ah look at Trevor one last time.

"Night Trevor. Yer a good froggie. Ah'll feed ya breakfast in the mornin."

He ribbits an Ah turn his light off. Ah get changed an go ta bed. Ah fall asleep an start dreamin bout seein Jacklin flyin round on a broom. She's real good at it an Ah'm happy she ain't gonna fall any time soon. It's a real good dream.

AN: Thanks for sticking with this story. This is a really long chapter lol.

Tag list: @arrolyn1114, @aliengoth3, @vintagepresley, @comebackep, @thetaoofzoe, @presleysgirl6, and @bigdaddyelvislover.

#toby and the veela #ecu fanfiction #toby kwimper

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