#welp at least i can record them and watch them later

[a-ginger-from]

I have just realized that I will not be able to watch most of the spurs matches this month live because I will be at work for them 🙃

[imtrashraccoon]

Welp, this is officially the last post before the grand finale. We've come so far and it's been awesome.

CW: Implied sex and sexual content. No smut though.

First Day, Previous Day, & Next Day.

Day 28: Secret Surprise

You drummed your fingers on the edge of the table impatiently while waiting for the person on the other end of the phone to pick up. You had a very narrow window of opportunity right now before Papyrus realized his phone was missing and you wanted this to be a surprise.

After a few rings, the call was picked up, much to your relief.

"Hey Paps, what's shaking?" the distinct growly tone of Undyne's voice echoed from the speaker.

Keeping your voice low to minimize Papyrus overhearing, you answered quickly. "Hey, sorry it's Rihanna, not Paps."

Undyne's tone of voice immediately grew more serious. "Oh. Why are you calling? Did something happen?" she asked with a distinct calmness that spoke of years of experience with this kind of thing.

"No, no, everything is fine. I just... I need a favour if you don't mind me asking."

The fish lady fell silent for a solid five seconds. "What kind of favour?" she finally asked again.

"Well, you see, I want to plan a surprise for Papyrus and I was wondering if you'd be willing to let Frisk hang out with you for a few hours?" Your voice grew slightly more high pitched at the end of your question and you crossed your fingers.

"...Really? You trust me that much?" Undyne definitely seemed shocked you'd actually asked the question in the first place.

"Yeah, besides, Alphys' Lab probably isn't the best place for a mischievous six year old."

Undyne let out a quick bark of laughter. "Well, you got at least some common sense it seems. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on the kid for you."

You breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much! I'm sorry this is so short notice but I couldn't exactly contact you before now."

"Don't sweat it. I'll come pick them up after work, sound good?"

"Sounds perfect! I can't exactly pay you for your time though..."

Undyne chuckled quietly, "Eh, we can work something out later. Watching kids is a piece of cake anyways and I doubt Frisk will be any different."

You chuckled as well, deciding against mentioning that Frisk was probably much different than any other kid she'd met before. "Well, alright then. I'll see you soon."

"Totally, see ya, punk!"

The line went dead with a click and you quickly set Papyrus' phone back where he'd left it, as if nothing had happened at all. Now, you just had to convince Sans to either not come home immediately after work or to leave you and Papyrus alone for a little bit. That would probably be much easier, considering he generally preferred to spend time at Grillby's anyways.

< ~ - . - ~ >

True to her word, Undyne came to pick up Frisk and she was even a bit earlier than you expected. You thanked her profusely for going out of her way to help you but she merely waved you off. While Frisk seemed a bit confused at first, they ultimately seemed happy to go with Undyne, which you were relieved by.

You started on dinner as soon as they were gone. There weren't many recipes you knew how to make from scratch, but you remembered a couple that your mom used to make all the time when you were a kid. You decided to keep it simple though and decided on pasta with alfredo sauce. You dressed it up a bit with some grilled meat that you thought was similar to chicken and steamed some vegetables as a side dish.

You finished in record time and actually felt quite proud of yourself. It had been a while since you'd actually cooked a meal for anyone else and it seemed like you still had it.

You set everything in the oven to try and keep it warm. You'd already arranged a couple of candles on the kitchen table and set up two place settings. Now all there was to do was wait for Papyrus to return home.

You turned off the kitchen lights to hide what you'd set up and quickly hurried to the bathroom to change. Normally, you wore incredibly casual clothes around the house like a sweater and leggings, but recently, Papyrus had gifted you something a bit fancier, although you hadn't found a good time to wear it.

It was an off the shoulder black dress with a ruffle across the chest where the sleeves were and a few ruffles on the skirt part that went halfway down your calves. It wasn't that fancy but you actually preferred that, as you had never been comfortable enough to wear cocktail dresses and expose that much skin in the past. However, now that you were in a relationship, you didn't mind showing off your assets a little bit, at least in private anyways.

You brushed your hair and did it up in a quick side braid to keep it out of the way. While you wanted to do something with makeup, you hadn't been able to find many products similar to the ones you preferred on the surface yet. Still, you had managed to find some basics like foundation that was fairly close to your natural skin tone, some blush, and a rather nice red lipstick that you actually preferred over any you'd tried in the past.

You had just barely finished getting ready when you heard the front door open, signalling that Papyrus had returned home at last. Peeking out the bathroom door, you called out to get his attention. "Welcome home, Sweetie!"

He glanced up at you and smiled warmly, although you noticed he seemed curious about what was going on. He always had been pretty observant and even though he couldn't see that you were dressed up yet, he had immediately zeroed in on the fact that you were wearing makeup.

You almost never wore makeup anymore, let alone dress up unless there was a reason to. So this was already a step above the norm for you.

"I hope you don't mind, but I made dinner already. If you want to get into something more comfortable or maybe dress up, we can eat afterwards."

His smile seemed to grow slightly at the thought. "That Sounds Wonderful, Precious," he responded.

You waited until he entered his room before going downstairs to the kitchen again. After making sure that everything was still hot, you portioned out the food and lit the candles.

Papyrus entered the kitchen just then and you turned to smile at him. He had put on a black collared shirt, but had left the top two buttons undone and rolled up his sleeves to his elbows.

You felt your heart do summersaults in your chest and bit your lower lip. From the beginning, you'd kind of liked how he looked but now, well you definitely liked what you saw. Never in your wildest dreams had you imagined you'd be attracted to a skeleton and yet here you were.

He embraced you warmly before pulling you closer for a tender kiss. After separating again, he flashed you a genuinely happy smile. "Is This For A Special Occasion?" he inquired.

You shook your head and chuckled. "Not specifically, I just wanted to set up a surprise for you, especially because you usually do most of the cooking anyways."

"I Love It And I Cannot Wait To See What You Made Tonight."

You grinned and motioned to the table before taking a seat. Papyrus sat across from you and so you explained each part of the dinner, including the preparation you'd had to do to make it. He listened with rapt attention and to your delight, seemed to really enjoy eating it.

Afterwards, you spent a while just talking with each other. You couldn't help but notice how close Papyrus was and how he kept trying to move closer to you. Not only that, but he made a point of touching you, like holding your hands or practically playing footsie at points. Unsurprisingly, you liked this and responded in kind, which only escalated the situation further, not that either of you minded.

< ~ - . - ~ >

This had been fun.

You let out a soft sigh of contentment and pulled the covers a bit more over your bare shoulders. Papyrus hummed quietly and pulled you closer to his ribcage. A slight shiver ran down your spine as his claws pressed into your curves but you didn't mind in the slightest.

You definitely loved this skeleton.

If course this quiet moment was ruined when his phone vibrated from the bedside table. You only protested a little bit when he had to untangle himself from you to check the message.

He made a quiet "Huh" sound and glanced down at you. "I Had Wondered Where Frisk Was... Did You Seriously Ask Undyne To Look After Them?" he asked with a tinge of amusement in his tone.

You grinned, "Maybe... It was either her or Alphys and I think she's a better choice. Not that I have anything against Alphys, she just doesn't strike me as the type to enjoy entertaining kids, you know?"

Papyrus nodded in agreement. "You Have A Good Point There," he commented thoughtfully as he shifted and moved to get up.

When you shot him a questioning look, he smiled and stroked your cheek affectionately. "She Is Coming To Drop Frisk Off Before It Gets Too Much Later In The Evening. I Do Not Know About You, But I Would Rather Be Presentable When She Gets Here. She Will Never Let Me Hear The End Of It If She Finds Out What Happened..." he explained.

You blushed at the thought and moved to get up as well. "Yeah... It was bad enough that the stuck up robot tried to pry into our private life, but I can't imagine how much worse it will be if she finds out."

You could feel Papyrus watching you carefully as you got dressed again but thought nothing of it. Once you were back in your usual attire, you turned to find that he was still watching you and that he looked slightly concerned.

"Do You Feel Alright?" he finally asked.

You snickered and waved him off dismissively. "I'll be fine, okay? A little soreness never killed anyone and it's not so bad that I can't at least fake feeling fine."

Your attempts to reassure him weren't as effective as you'd hoped but he chose not to push the issue further. "Just Tell Me If You Need Anything, Alright?"

"Of course I will."

Not long after that, Undyne showed up with Frisk riding on her shoulders. They both seemed in high spirits which you were glad to see.

As soon as they saw you, Frisk wiggled to get down and as soon as Undyne did so, they charged at you full force and nearly tackled you, although you were nimble enough to step to the side and catch them. You scooped them up and gave them a great big hug, which they returned, before turning to Undyne again.

"Thanks again for your help."

Undyne flashed you a sharp grin and nodded. "No problem, we had an absolute blast, right kid?"

Frisk nodded vigorously and pulled away from you just enough so they could sign. "She showed me how to make spaghetti!"

You chuckled and wiped a small spatter of tomato sauce off their chin. "So I can see. I'm glad you had fun, kiddo."

"Hey, if you ever need help again, just let me know," Undyne called before she took her leave.

You smiled and waved goodbye. "I'll keep you in mind then!"

As soon as the door closed, Frisk patted your shoulder to get your attention again. "It's a good thing you showed me what to do if a fire starts while cooking..."

[daughter-of-fire-and-dreams]

I managed to throw this in together after sheer inpatience and RP build up. 

More rant under the cut.

My husband was supposed to help me with editing the video since I have no memory of how to use Adobe Premiere, so I was just gonna write the entire flavor text and record all the angles and he was going to slap them together. But I got inpatient and ended up editing it myself by slapping all the clips I recorded together with the song.... I can tell I reused a few since I did it without a structure, or rather, skipped the original structure and order I had planned. And being unable to do gpose and play fast really tilted me after coming from watching how insanely fast the original piece is supposed to be played. But welp... At least it was something! I might work on projects like this later in the future since I was very, very lazy with editing despite catching up on a lot of mishaps.

[jinx-jade]

A little bird and his Prey Chapter 4

Babs let out a tired groan, letting her head fall into her hands.

The bat kids had been combing these camera recordings for hours with no luck of finding any evidence or leads to who could have done it.

“Got anything?” Barbara questioned, exhaustion dripping from her voice.

“Nothing useful,” Damian said with an annoyed growl. Titus lets out a whine for attention to try and distract his human, earning him a lazy scratch behind his ear.

“Nothing,” Tim replied, setting down his laptop in favor of picking up his thermos of what they could only assume was a death brew mix of caffeine.

“Nope. Nothing suspicious here either.” Jason claimed with a groan, collapsing from his upright seated position, flopping onto his back.

“Here,” Cass claimed, rewatching the security footage once more to double-check her findings before hooking her laptop up to the tv.

“Watch,” Cass instructed, pointing to the screen.

The security feed began playing and they watched the explosion.

A few minutes later they saw themselves and the cops appear, heading straight to the scene.

Except for one of them.

Crow strayed from their path to push a civilian out of the way of falling debris.

“Nice save,” Jason called out to his younger brother before looking at his sister with a silent question.

Cass simply shook her head before pointing at the woman Damian had saved.

They watched as the civilian took what appeared to be a calming breath before beginning to move.

She ended up leaving the range of the camera, Cass switching feeds to follow her.

The bluenette casually walked into an alleyway, disappearing into the shadows.

That had the bat kids’ attention.

She didn’t just disappear from view.

She was gone.

No longer in the alleyway.

A dead-end alleyway no less.

There was no way out of the alley except for the way she entered and scaled the buildings to travel by rooftop.

None of which she did.

Cass pulled up the other feeds for all possible angles and views of the alleyway.

Nothing.

She was just gone.

“Well. Shit.” Jason claimed.

“She could just be a magic user?” Barbara tried, even though she didn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth.

“It could be Menagerie.” Tim guesses with a yawn, he really should take a nap since he has a back-to-back meeting later.

“Replacement, get some sleep. Your theories are getting a bit…” Jason stopped mid-sentence.

“Fuck. That makes sense.” Jason swore as he took out his wallet, handing Cass fifty dollars.

“You couldn’t have gone another week before making outlandish theories make sense,” Jason grumbled under his breath

The other bats looked at them in questioning.

“Win bet. Thanks, little brother.” Cass said, ruffling Tim’s hair.

“O… kay?” Tim questions, scrunching his brows in confusion.

“Back on topic please,” Babs said with an exasperated tone of voice.

“Oh. Right. Ugh... Menagerie was already in Gotham when the bombings had started. The bombings are connected to the stolen heirlooms. Menagerie is already a known thief that has a habit of stealing from the upper class and their businesses.” Tim explains. “Plus Menagerie is the only magic, meta, thing, person, that can turn into or disappear into, thin air.”

The bat kids weren't sure if they liked the fact that the theory made sense or hated the fact that the theory makes sense. 

If Tim was right, and there is a high chance that he is, then they now have more than a thief on their hands, they have a bombing terrorist.

Barbara ran the woman through facial recognition, and to her surprise, she got a match.

"Uhm… guys?" Barbara says, gather the other bats' attention.

"Did you figure out who she is?" Jason questioned.

"Uhm. Yeah. I got a match from facial recognition. Two matches actually." Barbara informs them.

"So she has fake identification papers?" Damian states more than asks.

"Yeah," Barbara answers a bit unsure.

"Well?" Damian asks, waiting semi impatiently, for the names.

"The first one is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, age 24," Barbara informed them.

The bats raise a brow at her hesitated to read her file.

"Her other ID?" Tim questioned.

"Marinette Constantine, age 24." Barbar read off her other identification papers.

The room fell silent.

"Constantine?" Cass questioned, receiving a nod from Barbara.

"Yup, with John Constantine listed as her father. Wait. What?" Barbara furrowed her brows in confusion as she started typing rapidly.

"Something wrong? Besides the drunk mage apparently having a kid and not telling anyone." Jason questioned.

"Uhm. Alfred is her godfather?" Barbara informs them.

There was a defining silence that fell over the room before it changes into loud shouting.

“What are you guys yelling about?” Dick questioned as he entered the room.

“We thought we found out who Menagerie cause someone with the same magic as she was caught on camera near the bombing. We ran facial recognition on her and it turns out that John Constantine has a kid, and that kid is Alfred’s godfather.” Barbara explained with a defeated sigh.

“Wait a minute! Constantine, has a kid, and Alfred is their godfather?” Dick questioned confused.

Cass gave him a thumbs up, causing Dick to let out a sigh.

“So in other news, your promising suspect is one of ours or the Justice League’s at least, which knocks her off of the suspect list. We should definitely question Alfred and Constantine later but besides that, we’re still at square one.” Dick summarized.

Each of the bats gave their annoyed agreement at Dick’s summary but agreed that it was correct nonetheless.

“Welp, It’s your call on what to do next, Little d’ since this is your case,” Dick said as he took a seat on an armrest.

“Tch. We should call a private meeting with Constantine, if we didn’t already know about his kid then it’s probably for a reason and he might not want that information to be found out by league members.” Damian told them what he thought they should do while petting Titus.

“Sounds good. What about Alfred?” Tim asked.

“We can ask about Constantine’s kid but Alfred is more likely to direct up to Constantine if we want any real answers.” Damian reasoned, receiving agreements from his siblings.

“Looks like we have our game plan. If all goes well maybe Miss….. Marinette Constantine will help us with our Menagerie problem.” Dick claimed, leaning over Barbara’s shoulder so he could read the, admittedly small, file on Constantine’s kid.

As today’s plans were rattled off, Damian realized that today was going to be a long day with far too many meetings, and he wasn’t looking forward to it.

 tag list: @henie04 @only-trust-fictional-characters @lolieg @Moon5608 @animegirlweeb @asrainterstellar @toodaloo-kangaroo @mystery-5-5 @dontbenddontbreak @jayjayspixiepop @ilovefluffbutsmutisalsogreat

[delu-jean]

𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧

Oikawa x (fem!/reader) -> Angst -> 3.8k 

“She told me that she loved me by the water fountain. She told me that she loved me and she didn’t love him. And that was really lovely cause it was innocent, but now she has a cup with something else in it…”

Notes: This was for my 100 follower event! I will be closing it soon, but until then, if you’d like to request for an HQ boy, or any from the fandoms I write for, please feel free to request! 

-> Also, this one was a sad one. I recommend listening to the song, that way, you get the references made! 

-> Enjoy the Oikawa angst! ^^ 

“The water fountain…” he whispered. His lips were slightly ajar, parched, yearning for your presence. He was also frail, frail from the lack of composure, along with the crackling of his heart. 

“She told me that she loved me...by...by the water fountain,” he stammered, still not able to face the reality he was met with. 

“And she told me that she loved me...and she didn’t love him,” where did it all go wrong, when did it all go wrong, and why did it all go wrong? You told him that you loved him by that water fountain, but the only thing that seemed to flow...were the tears from him. 

---

You both were fairly young when getting together. Middle school, eventually led to highschool, and highschool...well...led to college. Oikawa and you were optimistic. Though he would be practicing (lots and lots), you wouldn’t be too far from him. Just a few dorms away. Not only that, but you both would see each other...every now and then You both were ecstatic. A new scenery, a new year, and a new chance for the both of you to experience the life of freshmen. Nothless, together. You both would be doing it together, closer than ever. 

Tooru was more than happy that you would get to cheer him on in college. It was always his dream to have a pretty girl praise him from the crowd, especially at the college of his dreams. The prime of his time, the best of his years, or...so he thought. 

When he brought you to his first practice, he didn’t like the sight as much as he thought he would. One of the middle blockers, Haru Tamagashi, was too...too friendly. He winked at you maybe three times during the practice. Making small flirtatious gestures, such as: smiling, waving, and indicating that all he wanted was your number. Of course, Oikawa was pissed, beyond that actually. But he decided to focus instead of fusing on his first day. 

That is...he tried to focus. At first, his attention was directed towards Tamagashi, and him alone. He had trusted you enough to know that you wouldn’t have responded...right? Even so, mid way...he couldn’t have helped but think of the thought: “what if?” What if you actually hadn’t deflected him, but were instead...enjoying his attention? He felt horrible for looking back, knowing that if he was wrong...he’d be the asshole for thinking twice. But unfortunately for him, he wasn’t...he was right during the time he wished he hadn’t been. 

The setter watched as your eyes followed the gentlemen. No hesitation whatsoever. It seemed as if you were interested in the game set before you. Not the match of course, but instead, the show Tamagashi had entertained you with. You yourself had waved back to him, smiling while also grabbing your phone. You were taking a video of the game, but Oikawa knew that it wasn’t of the court. No. It was of...him. The way your fingers pinched the screen, to the way your phone had moved to match his directions. It was obvious to say the least. Occasionally, you would’ve pointed the camera to Oikawa, smiling as he’d give you a frown. Only for you to return to recording the star of the show...dragging his morale as he’d eventually get hit in the face. Something that would never happen...especially if Iwaizumi was off court. 

“Oikawa, get your head out of the gutter!” 

“...” 

“Oikawa, did you hear me!?-” 

“Hey, pops, let him off the hook would ya?” Tamagashi said, while placing a hand on Oikawa’s shoulder. 

“I, how dare you-” 

“It’s the first day back, we could all use less of the hollering.” 

“Tch, five laps for you.” 

“Damn, alright. Welp, at least I got you off the hook,” the boy smirked, as Oikawa’s expression...wouldn’t change.  

“Well, see you soon. Also, I hope I can see you too!” he shouted while looking at you. Only for you to nod shyly. Oikawa could’ve sworn he saw a tint in your cheeks, but regardless, he was too upset to confront it. Even then, maybe he was over analyzing it. The dude didn’t know that you were his girlfriend, and after all, maybe he was just being self conscious. 

He was upset that he hadn’t trusted you at all during the game, and felt bad that he instead made you seem...villainy. Even though it might’ve just been his head all along. You see, Oikawa was the type of person who enjoyed praise. It fueled his ego alright, but in all truth, he had never felt like he embodied those expectations. 

Constantly pushing himself to be better, believing that he never was really that good. In this situation, he had thought that maybe those feelings...had come into play. Maybe the reason why he was thinking so much...was because Tamagashi seemed like everything he wasn’t. An outgoing, down to earth, charismatic person. He also might've been an even better player than he himself was. Not only that, but did he mention his hair? It looked amazing on him, along with the uniform. The creases folded on his body, each making his figure look...well, great. You could see his toned structure from a mile away, along with his sharp smile. One which struck confidence, and intimidation. 

And you...you looked like you could get with a guy like that. He seemed like a genuine person, and you were a genuine lady. One of which deserved a catch like him. He wouldn’t have denied that he pictured the image in his head. It felt sickening that he even brung up the vision, but even so...Oikawa tried pushing the thought away, thinking: 

‘Tch..whatever. He’s not that good looking anyways, Plus, he doesn’t know we’re dating...so I should tell him afterwards. But...that was nice of him to do. Yeah, you know what...maybe we could all be friends? Me, Y/n, and him?’ 

Maybe you all could’ve been, if only things had flowed a little different. If only the stream hadn’t gone off course, but instead, moved along to the water fountain. One with a secure, and sturdy future. One which wouldn’t have rusted, and collapsed in the moments to follow. 

“I’m back!” 

“Oh...you seemed tired,” he’d say, watching as Haru nodded. 

“Yeah, the old geezer isn’t fun sometimes...but he’s a nice person, I can guarantee that-” 

“Hey~” you’d smile, looking in Tooru's direction. He then lifted his hand, a soft, but saddened grin engraved onto his face. Only for it to turn into a sudden frown, as he then watched Tamagashi wave instead. 

“Well hello, doll~” you then chuckled, moving a strand to the back of your ear. Oikawa had only seen that on days where he’d made your heart sway, and yet there he was, watching as another man had done so instead. 

“Hey babe,” he’d say casually, catching your attention as you approached him. 

“Hi...Oikawa.” 

‘Oikawa?...not sweetie, or?-’ 

“Ahh, do you two know each other?” 

‘Now’s my chance.’ 

“Yeah, she’s my girlf-” 

“Haru, am I correct!? Thanks for doing that, I thought it was really nice for you to stand up for him like that.”

“Honestly, don’t please. It’s just something that I would do for anyone. Besides, I bet that you would’ve done the same for me, right Oikawa?” 

“Hm?...ah, I guess,” Tooru was now staring at you. He gave a stern look. One fueled with anger, and confusion. Yet it also had hints of remorse, and grief. Why had you cut him off, why hadn’t you called him by the name you usually did, and why were you putting the effort to talk with him?...Tamagashi? Just what exactly was running through that head of yours. One of which he thought he knew both in...and out. 

“Well...we have to go. So let’s leave Y/n,” he then grabbed your wrist, practically dragging you out of the arena. 

“Ah, see you two later then...I guess?” 

“B-bye Haru!” 

“Byee~” 

---

“What was that!?”

“What was what-”

“Why didn’t you call him kawa-kun, or baby like you usually do?”

“Tooru...you’re thinking a little much, don’t you think?-”

“Why did you cut me off when I was going to tell him that you’re my girlfriend?” 

“Love, I didn’t mean to-”

“But why did you!?” 

“Look, I was just trying to thank him. Plus, we needed to get going. So I thought to make it quick so that we could,” he’d then frown even more, not able to tell if you had told the truth, or, if you had made up excuses to get yourself out of this. He thought he knew what went on in that pretty head of yours, but at that moment, he wasn’t sure of what roamed around in that foreign land. The land, or rather...place he had called his home. 

He thought that your mind would’ve at least had a crevasse. One especially built, and reserved for him. One of which would’ve considered how he felt, or how the situation might’ve been interpreted. After all, not only did his thoughts roam endlessly for you, but so did the space in his heart. Regardless, it seemed as if it didn’t as you proceeded to tell him reason, after reason. 

“He was being friendly, and so was I.” 

“He’s your teammate, and I think it’s nice for me to get to know them.” 

“I love you regardless, so don’t worry.” 

“Regardless?...” What was that supposed to mean? Even though he would’ve wanted to question, his mouth just...wouldn’t allow it. So because of that, he dismissed the matter. Something he wished he didn’t do. 

---

Time passed and though he hated to admit it, he didn’t see both you, and haru, interacting as much as he did the first time. Though, it should’ve relieved him, it most definitely did not. Two things had him tied behind his back. One of them made him feel like a complete jerk for over-thinking, and the second was...that his thoughts had still made him over-think. For some reason, he still suspected the both of you. You both had minimal contact, making it seem like you never talked...but that was the thing, why would you have both stopped your talks? Just what exactly would have sparked such a thing? Still, maybe he was just over thinking. 

Regardless, he wanted to get the thought out of his head. He despised that it still lingered there, and that it wouldn’t be on it’s way. He hated the thought of confronting you. After all of that time, that trust should have been established. And even so, he still wanted to assure himself that it was there. So, he sat you down one day. Sometime during the winter where the snowflakes had fallen, along with his heart attached to many strings. Ones which you had placed, and ones which you would remove. 

“Hey babe-...Y/n.” 

“Hey Kawa...it’s been a while since we last met up…”

“Hm?...really?” the both of you hadn’t talked during the time period. Yes, you attended his matches, practices, etc...but then once he had finished you both made your separate ways. On the days where you both had expected to meet, one was busy, and the other was left on their own. Not making your situation any better. 

“Yeah...a month or two I think?” 

“Oh..I’m sorry about that,” he said, with a gruffed tone in his voice. He didn’t sound like he was doing too well, whereas you seemed just fine. “Why was that?” he wondered, well...it wouldn’t take him too long to find out “why” soon. 

“Hey baby…” a name which he hadn’t called you in so long, felt foreign to his mouth. Even though it should’ve felt...natural...along with your response. 

“Mhm?” you responded, reluctantly. That reaction was one he had never seen, not only that, but it was also one he wished he’d never witnessed. 

“I’ve had this thought lingering in my mind. I know it’s a little messed up...and I might be overreacting…” 

“Yes, what is it?” you immediately said, seeming anxious at the moment. 

“Well...it’s just that...there’s nothing between you and Tamagashi, is there? Aww see, I knew it would be dumb to ask,” he chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. Only your reaction...had made it plummet. 

Your eyes had widened at the statement. A cough escaped your mouth, along with a scare. One of which, also gave him a fright. There was no way he was right...especially about that out of all things. Why?...Why would you give him such a stare? Maybe it was out of surprise?...maybe even distraught that he would ever bring up such a question. One about your loyalty nonetheless. He wished he could’ve kept on making excuses, but couldn’t any longer as he then heard you say:

“N-no...where would you have heard such a thing? Did he say anything?...oh, he was probably joking. Joking is all, haha. No, I only love you silly, and you alone,” you said, to then grab his hand. 

For some reason, it felt off. The way your thumb caressed his skin, it was as if he could feel the guilt which had stroked against him. Why...why was that? He could obviously tell that you were guilty of something, but he wouldn’t confront it. Why...why was that? He obviously wasn’t up in his head, but still convinced himself he was. Why...why was that?...well...even if he didn’t have the answer, he would soon enough. In the way that he would’ve, yet wouldn’t have wanted it to be relayed. 

---

“YOU BASTARD! SO YOU HAVE BEEN GOING OUT WITH HER!?” 

“It was just a couple of kisses, besides, you have so many girls on your plate. I just took one off your hands, no biggie-” Oikawa then struck him across the cheek, furious about what he said. You weren’t just a snack anyone could take a bite out of. And heck, if you were a piece of food, you’d be a piece he’d preserve for as long as he could. One he would never touch because of the beautiful, intricate designs that were placed. 

“YOU SHIT HEAD! SHE’S MY GIRLFRIEND FOR FUCKS SAKE! EVEN IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW-” 

“Who said I didn’t?” he cocked a brow, making Oikawa widen his eyes. 

“What?...”

“The girl told me herself before coming in to kiss me.” 

“You’re lying, take it back. She would never-”

“Oh but she did. But don’t worry, she did feel bad at some point...but we were in too deep for her to back out-” 

“SHUT UP!” Oikawa then tried to punch his gut, but Haru stopped him midway. He grabbed his wrist, and held onto it firmly. 

“If anything, you should be thanking me.” 

“Thanking you!? Are you out of your mind!-” 

“Well, I am telling you the truth about your cheater of a girlfriend. Plus, I took her off your hands, so you're free to go to find someone new. I’ll let her go soon, so we both won’t have to deal with her-” 

“Shut it...shut it…” Oikawa repeated, unable to comprehend the news he had heard. 

“Please...be quiet.” 

---

“Tooru, I can explain!” 

“EXPLAIN WHAT Y/N!? THAT YOU MADE OUT WITH HIM MORE THAN ONCE!? THAT YOU DENIED MY THOUGHTS, MAKING ME FEEL AS IF I WAS WRONG!? OR THAT YOU ACTUALLY CHEATED ON ME!? I DON’T THINK YOU CAN EXPLAIN ANYTHING Y/N!” 

“You know what, MAYBE I CAN’T! AND I WAS SORRY FOR THAT!” 

“IF YOU WERE SO SORRY, THEN WHY...why did you do it?...” you then leaned against the door, not sure how to convey your thoughts. You hated the sight of Oikawa being so hurt, but you had your reasons for what you did. Though you yourself knew that conflict could’ve been avoided, you decided to plumit yourself right in it. Maybe it was because you wanted to catch his attention, or that Yamagashi had really attracted you. Regardless, what was done, was done. And you wouldn’t be one to deny such accusations aymore. 

“Look...you weren’t giving me the attention I needed...besides...Tamagashi had caught my eye.” 

“Caught your eye?...” 

“Yeah...even so...it felt wrong the first time I kissed him.” 

‘She kissed him?...so he wasn’t lying...she started things…’ 

“I told him that we were dating, and you know...I did stop myself before going any further. I truly felt lonely during the days that you were gone...and him being there, gave me comfort. In all truth, I had met him even before you introduced us. We were in the same English class...and things built up from there. 

He was just...so enticing, something I hadn’t seen for a while. But Oikawa, I still had strings attached to you, and didn’t want to throw them away recklessly. I’m sorry, I loved you, I truly did. But...that connection just...disappeared, along with the spark we used to have. I hesitated out of my affection for you, but I proceeded out of the tiredness that built up from this, us...again, I’m sorry Oikawa. I hope that,” a tear had struck down your cheek. He wanted to reach out and wipe it. Just why...why were you crying. Wasn’t he supposed to be the one tearing up? So...why were you?.... Even though that question should’ve been asked out of rage, it was instead asked out of remorse. Oikawa didn’t know how to feel at that point. He didn’t even know who he was, or...who he had been during that time given. 

All that he knew was that if you were willing to fix things, so would he. That if you ever came back to the water fountain, the one you tried so hard to build, even if the handle had rusted, he would do his best to fix it. You know, he thought to himself how he should’ve built a home for the both of you, but alas, your naive natures would’ve never sustained. He questioned if he truly was at fault, not sure as to what was what, and why exactly that was. 

“I hope that...you’ll be happy. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but yeah,” you then wiped your own tears yourself. Not wanting to add anymore emphasis to the drama at hand. You lied though. Of course you wanted him to forgive you. He was your first love after all. The only one you had grown up with. The only one you stood by. And the only one, you would truly be grateful for. But then again, you knew you didn’t deserve it (it being his forgiveness). 

Although you didn’t regret your choices, you most definitely did regret hurting him. If only talking had been an option, would you have taken it? Well...you would’ve assumed no. Being that it was one of the few options given. Still, watching him stand limply, tore your heart ever so slightly. Reminding you that he was both the sweet, and innocent boy you had hopelessly fell in love with. Not only that, but he was also the distant, and maturing man you had fallen out of love with. 

“You...have you forgotten what you told me by that water fountain?” 

“What do you mean-” 

“The one we built together...have you forgotten?...” In all truth, you didn’t have any recollection because all that you had remembered...was the empty home the both of you shared. One with no running water, nonetheless a water fountain. One built out of your young, and blinded dreams. One which was full of loneliness, and miscommunication. One which was full of “love,” and loads of wishful dreaming. One which you would always remember. 

“No Tooru...all I remember...is that empty place we called a home. One made when we were both naive, and one I had left when I matured. I hope you can do the same, and that...you have a great day,” you then started to walk away as he stood there, stunned. 

Instead of asking him to fix things, you instead deflected things. Running away as he spoke. Even so, even if it was only a wish, one of which he’d pray for, he would do his best to make it come true. He tried one last time. He jolted your direction, grabbed your wrist, and started pulling you in. Whispering in your ear: 

“I know that it’s only a wish, and that we’re not standing by the water fountain...but you told me that you loved me by that water fountain. It’s a shame that your cup...now has something else in it,” you then pushed him off you, but he wouldn’t let you go as he held your for the last time. 

Had Tamagashi held you the same way he did? He wouldn’t know, and in all honesty, wouldn’t have cared. He was too lost in his head to even think of the guy, and only thought of you. If only things had been different, would you have come back to him? To the place you both called a home? Sure, it might’ve started when you both were young, but it would’ve stood stronger with the years to come. 

Well...he would’ve never got to know, because things...would’ve never been different. He should’ve built a home with a fountain for you both, but he was too young to think such a thought. Just like how you were so young, too young to feel as lonely as you did. The moment that you told him you were in love, he was…: 

“Too young...I was too young,” eventually, he did let go. Not just of you, but the thought that you both could return to what you both had. There was no returning. If the handle was broken, what could he have done? Fixing one would need all parts, and if you were one of the essential keys, well...even with the right bolts, and screws, ones that could have replaced you, still wouldn’t have mattered. You missing, would never fix a thing. It could never make that fountain whole, regardless of the patches which tried to stitch up the flood. One of which would eternally flow...never ending...just like his love for you. 

He glanced at you one time. Just one last time would he stare at his sweet Y/n. The girl who had stuck through with him, through thick and thin. The only person who knew, and loved him for him. And the only woman, who had truly broken his heart. Not caring for him one bit while she tore it all apart. 

“You’re right...we were too young,” he said, glancing at the floor beneath him. 

“Yes we were, and I was right indeed.” 

---

“She couldn’t be at home at the night time because, it made her feel alone-” he choked on his sentence. Though he should’ve been fine, he wasn’t really. He had tried to shield himself with his pride, but it wasn’t working the way he had intended. Regardless, Oikawa realized how the distance between your hearts...was more distant than the distance between your dorms. He thought that moving colleges would’ve made you drift, but in reality, it was the blameless nature, and the naive mindsets you both had. Those innocent gestures...had turned into a guilty, and corrupted bondage. The bond you had both shared was one he would always remember. The only one which had reminded him: 

“That we’re not standing by the water fountain.” 

@glorii-chan @iworshipyelena @tsukkisaurousrex​

[storysofmyown]

can u do a hc on how the brothers n u would b in quarantine? ik there would b no quarantine in devildom but yk dhsjsjjs-

Of course! And as someone who has been in quarantine since almost February, this was a little too real XD

Lucifer:

Oh? There's a quarantine? Time to be productive!

He goes full mother mode and starts cleaning the whole house while also making the brothers clean their rooms and help him up.

He doesn't use the "does this spark joy?" Methods, nah, he uses the "if it's on the ground it's getting thrown out"

That's how Levi almost lost one of figurines. Poor boy dove on the floor to save it a still has the scrap

Besides cleaning, Lucifer also spent most of his time doing the paperwork he would usually do at night.

This man went in strong and finished all the paperwork in 2 weeks and so...he was forced to spend time with his brothers.

Worst/best months of his life. He has never been so close with his brothers...and he absolutely hates it-

On the bright side, he has discovered new ways to punish his brothers in different, inventive ways. (RIP Mammon)

Mammon:

While some may think he would be from the ones that have the hardest time, he actually suffered from it the first few weeks and then he just...grew uses to it?

Tho, Lucifer did give him a hard time with his room. Was his floor always this color? Or did it change when you mopped it?

Also, how the hell was there loose change in his room?! How the hell did he not know about it!?

After that he offered to help clean the others room just so he could snatch any loose change they had.

Tho, the part that most bothered him of being quarantined was not being able to go out and go to casinos or get to his usual schemes

But then, he found a couple of online games that fueled his addiction to gamble

"I mean! It's a gambling game, with all the real life stuff...but get this! You don't actually have to spend or lose any money! Isn't that great?!"

"You do realize that also means you don't make any money...right?"

"...what-"

Leviathan:

This boy didn't even know there was a quarantine the whole time.

He thought it was weird how everyone was always home all of a sudden but he had many events, games, animes and mangas to care for to ask his brothers why they were at the house all the time. 

This whole thing did make him grow closer to his brothers tho. Since, he is basically the king of isolation (Elsa who? Nah, Levi) all the others kept constantly bugging him and asking him for recommendations of games and even shows to watch.

He has like 70 new records on his games and didn't even bat an eye when Lucifer told him they would be taking online classes. His response was just “Nice, less people!”

Which got a whine out of Asmo who is so touch starved

The day Lucifer announced the quarantine was over everyone was happy except for Levi who just ???

“There was a quarantine going on?”

“You are a useless otaku, you know that-”

“SHUT UP MAMMON”

Satan:

This man went into quarantine with a whole ass library worth of unread books and he came out being able to recite them like old poetry, learned 6 languages (without including morse code), is basically a chef at this point, has a whole ass youtube channel to debunking stupid theories he saw on the internet and knows how to play violin, piano, and the flute.

He wasted zero seconds being stuck in that house. He used them all to gain knowledge.

He even started to read some mangas from levi just because he had read ALL of his books at least twice and he wouldnt be getting any new because he couldn't leave to go to the library.

Tho, his and Lucifer’s relationship got better...and worse at the same time.

The two spent so much time stranded with one another they are physically sick of seeing the others face. Satan literally put a spell on Lucifer so that he wouldn't be able to see him for a whole day. He was grounded an entire month.

Being grounded from the stuff he liked to do ended up making him have to play along with his brothers ideas. Which only gave Lucifer more headache. Satan 1 - Lucifer 0.

Asmo:

“DEAR LORD THIS TORTURE!”

“It hasn't even been 3 days-”

“AND YET I HAVE LOST SUBS, BEEL! This is all because the lightning in this house is LESS than ideal for my beautiful skin!”

This poor demon has never been as touch starved as he is during the whole process.

He is constantly whining about how he just wants to be hugged and held. It makes all the brothers sick of hi by the third day. Tho, he does manage to get some hugs a day from them! Even from Levi the reclusive.

Also, you KNOW this man made himself an only fans account.

He got so fucking popular on it even Diavolo heard of it...which obviously meant Lucifer found out and close the account.

“Eeeeeh?! But what about my fans?! They cant possibly survive this quarantine without my precious face!”

“I’m sure they will manage.”

“You are so mean! Where am i going to get from the attention and compliments I deserve?”

“You literally compliment yourself every 2 seconds in front of the mirror.”

“It’s not the same, Belphegor!”

Also, this boy did so many g=face masks and shit he basically came out shinning-

Beel:

This poor boy gets in trouble so much. But he cant help himself! he gets hungry and being able to just...get up and go into the kitchen is a possibility he is not about to throw away!

Like! How is he supposed to resist?!

Besides! It was Lucifer’s fault for buying a month worth of groceries knowing Beel would be around. They didn't last an hour.

On the other hand, has actually been working out quite a lot.

And! Boy even managed to convince Levi to work out with him as well!

Granted, Leviathan didn't make it 10 minutes in, but it was fun for Beel to instruct his brother! : D

Beel actually would be one of the less that suffered during the whole time. Yes he missed going out and tasting new restaurants. But he loves his family and enjoys spending time with them quite a bit!

Belphegor:

He literally slept trough the whole thing.

The day it started he looked at Lucifer and went “Welp, i’m going to hibernate. Wake me up when its over.”

Lucifer only rolled his eyes...but almost a week later he realized that Belphegor was being serious about not waking up at all-

So, Beel was instructed to wake him up.

He was in a bad mood for being woken up, and groggy the rest of the day. But after that, he started to spend a lot of time with both Asmodeus and Leviathan playing games.

He even managed to win against Levi once!

Also, Belphegor spent the whole time procrastinating on doing any chores Lucifer gave him. Clean his room? Good luck waking him up. Do the laundry? Awe, too bad Beel ate the detergent. Help Satan on the kitchen? He almost burned Mammon in the process because he feel asleep watching over boiling water. 

Bonus on one of my Mc’s just because I can

During this whole thing I can see my Mc, Amaria,driving Satan crazy! She wouldn't leave his side at all XD. She would also be constantly helping Mammon, Belphie, and Satan on their pranks on Lucifer

Hope y’all enjoyed those little headcanons! I dont know if this is exactly what you wanted but I had fun with it! Stay safe people!

[hockeylvr59]

Collide Part 1 || Sidney Crosby

Summary: Life as a single foster mom and a pediatrician didn’t leave much time for dating. But when Dr. Erin Lancaster becomes the pediatrician for Pittsburgh Penguins Defenseman Brian Dumoulin's baby boy, her association and quick friendship with his wife Kayla turns her crazy but quiet life upside down. 

Requested: [ ] yes [x] no

Authors Note: Welp...I could have had a baby of my own in the time it took me to write this update...I know quite a few of you have been clamoring for it so I hope it was everything you could have imagined. I’m still not sure I have Sid’s personality down...you’d think I’d be able to write my captain better considering he was the first hockey player I ever wrote about but...at least he’s present in this part. 

Warnings: discussion of opiate-addicted infants

Word Count: 2,416

~~~~~~~~~~~

Though my initial meeting with the Dumoulin’s had gone well in my mind, I was still somewhat surprised to step into the office a week later to find Alex practically bouncing off the walls. Taking a sip out of my coffee mug I merely raised an eyebrow at her, an inquisitive look spreading across my face. 

“Don’t get me wrong...I know you’re an incredible doctor but this...this is huge and I don’t know how you did it!” She exclaimed, handing me a stack of papers. Glancing down at them revealed a completed new patient packet, sans baby’s first name, for the Dumoulin’s pending arrival and though mentally my jaw dropped, I outwardly brushed it off, pretending that it wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as it actually was. 

“It’s just another patient Alex.” I reminded her. “He’ll receive the same care as every other patient.” Shaking her head, Alex rolled her eyes at me knowing exactly what I was doing. As I turned on my heel to retreat to my office for twenty minutes of paperwork before our first patient I couldn’t help but smile. “Let the rest of the nurses know they can wear penguins shirts for the home opener.” Her laugh followed me down the hallway and once inside my office I took a moment to bask in scoring my first VIP patient. This could do wonders for my practice moving forward. 

___

That was the last time I’d really thought about having a Pittsburgh Penguin baby as a patient. At the office, I had too many other patients to worry about. At home, I had a five-year-old who had started school for the first time and a seven-year-old who was struggling with math. I was balancing work, helping them with school, and making sure that they had time to do kid things like attending karate and swim lessons, not to mention play dates with other kids. Time was moving faster than I could keep up with but at the same time, I prayed for it to slow down. Life as a foster mom meant that I needed to cherish every moment with these crazy boys because I knew that sooner or later they would likely be leaving my care. And that was a whole bundle of emotions that I would never fully be able to handle no matter how many times it happened. 

Before I knew it, it was already November. Today was supposed to be my afternoon off, yet I found myself headed downtown to Magee Women’s Hospital. 

After checking in at the front desk, I clipped my visitor’s pass onto my blouse and followed the familiar path up to the NICU. Once there I was greeted by one of the nurses I’d gotten to know from the various times I’d been here before. After gowning up, I stepped inside and she led me over to a bassinet containing a tiny baby boy. He was still hooked up to a variety of wires and tubes, his skin was mottled, and his body tremored. Looking down at him, the maternal side of me teared up. No child deserved to enter the world in this kind of pain. Reaching down, I brushed a finger over his head before trailing it down his arm to his hand. Immediately he wrapped his fist around my finger and held on tight. 

“He’s a fighter.” The nurse murmured over my shoulder. “We honestly weren’t sure he was going to pull through but I’d say for the most part he’s out of the woods now.” Nodding I just watched him for a few more minutes before switching back to a more professional mode. 

“Tell me about his history. Everything I need to know.” I expressed. As his nurse told me about the methadone injections he was receiving but would likely need even after he left the hospital and how his condition had been steadily improving, I listened carefully, figuring out the best plan for once he was released into my care. Brushing my fingers over the baby’s head once more, I eventually made my way out of the NICU, tossing the scrubs. It would likely be another week or so before he was ready to be released but once he was, he would be coming home with me for the foreseeable future so that he could continue to have expert care while residing in a home setting. 

Checking my watch revealed that I had another hour and a half or so before I needed to pick my boys up from their various activities. As I debated what to do with that time, I fixed my hair into a fresh ponytail before moving to pull my phone from the pocket of my jeans. 

“Dr. Lancaster?!” Glancing up, I saw that it was one of the nurses in the maternity ward that had called my name. Moving over to the nurses’ station I smiled at her, leaning against the counter. 

“Yes?” I inquired. 

“Oh good, that is you.” The young nurse murmured softly. “Melinda said you were down in the NICU…” She explained. “I was looking through the paperwork for one of our newborns and I noticed you were the pediatrician of record. Just thought I’d give you a heads up.” She expanded. “They’re down in room 314 if you wanted to pop in and say hello.” Before she had even finished speaking she was dashing off down the hall in the opposite direction as a scream sounded from one of the delivery rooms. 

For a moment I stood frozen, honestly racking my brain trying to figure out what patient she was talking about. Then I started off in the direction of 314, deciding that I would just have to wait and see. It wasn’t until I noticed that this wing of the maternity ward was nearly empty that the most likely possibility clicked. Clearly keeping track of due dates was not my strongest skill...generally because I usually didn’t need to. 

Approaching the room I heard soft voices speaking and I gently knocked before popping my head in. Immediately my eyes met the sight of Brian perched on the bed over his wife, newborn in her arms. 

“Are you up for visitors?” I whispered. “I won’t stay long, I was just in the building and a little birdie told me you were here so I thought I’d stop by.” 

Kayla’s voice was soft and tired but she quickly nodded. “Of course. Come in, come in.” She insisted. Stepping into the room I shut the door behind me and moved quietly across the room. 

“How are you feeling?” I asked her. “Everything go fairly smoothly?” 

“Sore. Tired.” She declared. “But he’s here and we’re both healthy so I’d say it went okay.” 

“Good.” I murmured. Before I could say anything else, another knock sounded at the door and another head popped in. This time, Brian moved to stand up and as a body came through the door, I watched as the two of them hugged each other, arms moving around the flowers in the new visitor’s hand. It wasn’t until they pulled away that I realized who this visitor was and immediately my throat went dry. 

“Hey, Sid.” Kayla breathed, shifting the baby a bit in her arms. 

“These are for you. The team sends their love and congratulations.” He responded, moving over to give her a quick half-hug as well. It was only then that he noticed he wasn’t the only visitor in the room and paused. 

“Sid, this is our pediatrician Dr. Lancaster. Dr. Lancaster, this is Sid.” Brian introduced. Suddenly a warm hand was reaching out to me in greeting and I took it, frantically trying to pull myself back together. Meeting Brian was one thing, meeting Sidney Crosby...that was another entirely. 

“Nice to meet you,” Sid said, his voice familiar but yet different at the same time. 

“The pleasure is all mine. But it’s just Erin.” I replied, taking a deep breath before turning back to Kayla and the baby. “Do you mind if I look at his chart?” I questioned, professional curiosity filling me. Of course, it was only a matter of time before these records were sent to me anyway, but with a nod from Kayla, I reached for his chart beside the bassinet, looking over his APGAR scores and the nurse’s notes. Nodding to myself for a moment, I set it back down and smiled. 

“Sounds like you’ve got a strong, healthy little boy there.” I declared. Parental pride filled both Kayla and Brian’s faces at the compliment. 

“Do you want to hold him?” Kayla asked, and never one to turn down having a baby in my arms I quickly agreed, gently shifting him to cradle against my chest. Looking between him and both Kayla and Brian I tried to determine who he looked the most like right now and when I expressed that he had Brian’s nose they both laughed. 

“Have you guys picked a name?” Sid inquired from his spot leaning against the foot of the bed. Brian quickly nodded, glancing down at his wife before sharing. 

“Brayden Joseph.” Glancing down at the baby in my arms I immediately decided that the name suited him and murmured softly to him in greeting, introducing myself as his doctor and expressing that I didn’t expect him to like me at first because of the required shots to keep him healthy. This time, when I looked up from talking softly to the baby Kayla and Brian were sharing a soft look as he whispered in her ear and I could feel Sid’s gaze on me. Meeting his eyes I saw warmth but also a lingering sadness and I quickly drew my bottom lip between my teeth as I broke the gaze suddenly feeling like I had a stomach full of molasses. 

“So Dr. Lancaster…” Sid addressed. “Do you make hospital visits to all of your new patients?” I couldn’t tell by the tone of his voice what he was thinking or why he had asked. It wasn’t quite accusatory but at the same time, there was a tenseness to it. Deciding that I just didn’t know him and therefore shouldn’t read into it, I shrugged softly. 

“Only when I happen to already be in the building.” 

“Yeah, you mentioned that….everything okay?” Brian jumped in. 

“Of course. I was here in a semi-professional manner.” I explained. “I needed to stop down at the NICU to meet a baby that I’ll be fostering when he’s released so that I could figure out what I need and discuss the best care plan.” 

“Dr. Lancaster...Erin…” Kayla quickly corrected, nodding at me for my approval. “In addition to being an incredible doctor, is also a foster parent, Sid.” There was an underlying current of unspoken communication going on between the three of them, one that I wasn’t going to pry into. 

“So you’ll have a newborn at home in addition to the other two?” Kayla asked as Brayden started fussing causing me to hand him back to his mom. 

“Lord help me but yes.” I breathed, chuckling softly. “I’ll have three boys. Two rambunctious ones that keep me on my toes and then this new baby which might be the hardest to deal with of all three. I love when I get babies into my care but hate when it’s because they were born with opiate addiction and need specialized care just to stand a chance.” Both Kayla and Brian’s eyes went wide and I shoved my right hand into the front pocket of my jeans. “I’m not gonna lie, he's still in rough shape but the nurses think he’s out of the woods now. It always breaks my heart seeing them that way though. Knowing I’m going to have to give him daily injections for at least a few more weeks to help his body slowly withdraw from the drugs he’s been exposed to.” 

“Wow.” This time the voice came from Sid and I nodded glancing over at him. 

“It breaks my heart but I’ll do it again and again because I know that my experience and ability to provide elevated care and monitoring gives him the best chance moving forward.” 

The mood in the room had taken a turn for the serious and I let out a deep breath before pasting a smile back on my face. 

“It makes me even more grateful though for all of my patients that have fantastic momma’s and who are healthy and strong.” I tease, my words thankfully bringing a smile back to Kayla’s face and then Brian’s along with his wife’s. 

Feeling my phone buzz in my pocket, I glance at my watch again and mumble a curse. 

“And this was already longer than the short visit I promised, but I have to get going, I’ve got a seven-year-old to pick up from karate and then I have to make dinner for him and the five-year-old being dropped off from a play date.” 

“Thank you for stopping by.” Brian declared, moving over to shake my hand. 

“Of course. I’ll see you guys soon.” I promised. Still, there was something about the look on Kayla’s face that made me pause though I did need to leave. “Hey, Brian...grab your phone.” Once he had, I rattled off my cell phone number. “If you guys have any questions, concerns, etc. Things that you think it would be too silly to call the office over, text or call me. I know first-time parenthood isn’t easy but you’re gonna be great.”  

As I headed for the door, I turned for just a moment. 

“And it was nice to meet you, Sid.” 

It wasn’t until both boys were tucked into bed and I was settled into my own trying to get my mind to shut down so I could sleep that the encounter with Sid entered my mind once more. It wasn’t something I could wrap my mind around, his behavior struck me for reasons I couldn’t explain but at the same time, I couldn’t get the feeling of his hand in my own or the swirling shades of his eyes out of my head. It was a level of confusion I just didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with so I brushed it aside, refocusing my brain on all of the things I needed to get done tomorrow. 

Outfit Inspiration:

[kshep106]

Working Title: Bonds of Blood

How far are you willing to go for family?

There’s a metallic taste in my mouth as something drips from my head. A ringing screams in my ears as I crawl to my knees before stumbling upright. I face my opponent, fists clenched and chest heaving. A punch flies to my face. A feint. Another to my stomach. I block it with my knee and grab the other, twisting my momentum and rip the boy off his feet. Drenched in mud, he rises. We circle around. He’s left an opening and I tackle him into the mud. Knees pressed into his chest, a hand around his throat and a fist pointing between the eyes, he surrenders. I win. My vision is darkens and the world tips on its side.

               ‘They’re raising it by two hundred,’ Mum says.

               ‘What the hell are we supposed to do then,’ Skylar shouts.

               ‘Well, we’ll be out on our ear then,’ Mum shouts back. I stand there watching, sipping a juice.

               ‘So, we’re fucked then, aren’t we?’

               ‘Maybe, if we sell some things…,’

               ‘Enough with the selling stuff crap. It’s not going to do anything,’ I knew they were just going to go back and forth eternally unless I mediated.

               ‘We need jobs,’ I said. Skylar scoffed.

               ‘How exactly do we pull that out of our arse?’ she said, grabbing a juice, ‘I can’t fucking stand up for long periods of time. How hard is it for you to understand Lela?’

               ‘And I can’t exactly do much with this,’ Mum said, holding up her stuck stiff hand, ‘not to mention that everything has taken a hit with this pandemic. The benefits just aren’t enough to afford things, but I don’t have the experience required for childcare.

               ‘Then I’ll join the army. I have good health, fitness, my records from school and it pays over sixty grand a year while I’m training. Seventy after,’ I say. Mum looks unconvinced.

               ‘Do you have a better idea?’ She didn’t have an answer for that.

               ‘Do you even know what you’re signing up for?’ Skylar asks.

               ‘Employment.’

 The sun casts streaks through the blinds and my eyes snap open. I fling my feet to the floor and rise. The nurse rushes over. She grips my shoulder while making a noise of disapproval.

               ‘Recruit Warrick, I must ask you to remain on the bed,’ She says. I protest.

               ‘Nurse Errapel, it’s beyond late in the morning. I have to get to training.’

               ‘You’ve been unconscious for twelve hours. You’re staying here for monitoring.’ Her tone leaves no room for argument. She eases me back onto laying on the bed. A door opens and in comes my favourite platoon sergeant. He scans the room, spotting me and walking over. He looks me over. I straighten up in bed and salute. He waves it away.

               ‘Warrick, what the hell have you done to yourself?’ he asks.

               ‘It’s nothing. I’m fine.’ I say. He shakes his head and turns to Errapel. Sensing his question, she starts to explain.

               ‘We’re just going to be monitoring her for a day to see if its anything serious, Conall.’ He nods in acknowledgment then turns back to me.

               ‘If you’re fine tomorrow then I will see you at training. Early of course.’ He smirks afterwards.

               ‘Yes sergeant.’ I salute. He leaves.

               ‘Get some rest recruit,’ the nurse says, reminding me of her existence.

               I flop backwards, groaning. The day had just begun, and I was already bored. The footsteps of nurses and patients sound around me with a constant quiet chatter. I ignore it, choosing to stare out the window and watch the hours pass by. As a blessing night comes, and I fall asleep ready for tomorrow.

 I awake to the dark and catch the nurse’s attention. She looks me over before giving me approval to thankfully join today’s training. I race to my room and the barracks, dress and make my bed. I think I set a record in that moment. I stand for daily inspection with the rest of my room mates. Gaining approval, we set out for the breakfast hall. They’re serving bacon and eggs. I sit at the bench seats, listening to mindless chatter before it finishes and it’s training time. We make our way to the field and there stands Sergeant Conall. We all salute and so does he.

               ‘Morning recruits today is the time for an obstacle course,’ he says, dropping the salute. Around me there was a lack of enthusiasm, though I was ready after the boredom of yesterday.

               ‘First though, we’re going for a warmup run. Two kilometres. Starting…now,’ he clicked a stopwatch and we all set off. The running track is mostly flat field but there are a few holes to trip in. I finished in six minutes and thirty-four seconds. Which is nothing compared to the two fastest in the platoon, both with five minutes, which is insane. As everyone was catching their breath Conall came over.

               ‘Right. Now onto the course. It’s a treat.’ He smiled after saying this. Slave driver.

               We all stared as he explained what went into it and the safety.

               ‘Right, we’ve got a mud pit covered with wire to crawl through—’

               ‘Oi, what’s all this we business. Unless we get to see you covered in mud Sergeant.’ A voice calls from behind. It’s Fox. The cheeky bugger. Conall calls him on it.

               ‘Sorry recruit, however, you get to experience the wonder twice.’ We all laugh although Fox takes it well. Nothing phases that guy.

               ‘Anyway, you,’ he says, emphasising the ‘you,’ ‘also have a rope swing, the wall, ladders and at the end a flying fox to victory. This will be timed but don’t worry it’s a starting point, you’ll have this again later.’

I hear the quiet mutter of ‘wasn’t worried’ behind me from Fox. I hid a laugh. We got started.

I fling myself into the mud and start crawling. Just about climbing up my backside are five of my platoon mates but we all look like weird golems who just came from mud town. I had mud down my shirt which may be the next worst thing to wet socks. Finally dragging myself from the hellish bog, I run for the rope swing and sail across. A splosh sounds behind me, but I’m too focussed on victory. Next up is the wall. I’m just behind the girl whose bed is next to mine. We both jump for the wall and as I pull myself up a boot collides with my cheek. Gravity makes its appearance as I pitch backward into the dirt. At least it’s not mud. My lungs seem to decide that now is the time to take a vacation. They’re currently being strangled in a vice as I gasp for breath like a drowning person. I can’t breathe. My arms aren’t responding to my commands. Move, dammit. My head is throbbing. I hear voices but they sound far away.

               ‘Sergeant, come quick,’ a voice screams. This time it’s a lot closer. Thuddering footsteps sound. Ah, they’re beside me.

               ‘Recruit, why is Warrick on the ground?’ Conall asks.

               ‘I kicked her off the wall accidently, sir. She hasn’t gotten up.’ It was that girl. She sounded upset. The Sergeant crouched beside me.

               ‘Anything feel broken, kid?’ He eyed me in concern.

               I wheezed out a no.

               ‘Can you stand?’ I nodded and the two of them help me to stand. Unsteady and with a forming bruise. Air was still limited in my lungs.  I knew Conall was going to send me back to the nurses.

               ‘Welp, back to observation for you.’ He sounded amused. Bastard. I just looked at him miserable. He turned to the girl fretting beside me. ‘Can you take her Morrigan?’ She nods. Conall then leaves to watch the rest of the obstacle course. Morrigan turns to me.

               ‘I’m sorry for kicking you.’ She looks contrite. I smile at her.

               ‘It was just an accident. No worries.’ She forms a small smile at this. I grin at it.

               ‘I’m Lela,’ I say, holding out my hand.

               ‘Winifred,’ she replies, taking it. She then wraps her arm around my shoulders.

Winifred supports me under the arms as I slump against her, enter the main building and we hobble along to the Nurse’s station. She strikes up a conversation.

‘So, what brings you to the Armed Forces, Lela?’ She asks, seeming to test out my name.

‘Existing,’ I say. She looks at me with a raised brow.

‘Well with the world gone to shit—’

               ‘Implying the world wasn’t already in a terrible state.’ She frowns at my expletive.

               ‘You’re right. Gone to even more shit, I needed a way to put food on the table,’ I look at a wall frowning, ‘I think this is the fastest it’s globally been fucked.’

               ‘A record truly.’ We both laugh. It’s not funny but its needed. We arrive at the Nurse’s station where Errapel greet us, arms crossed and frowning. I grin.

               ‘Hi, Errapel. Good to see you,’ I say, waving. The poor nurse sighs.

 After getting me set up Errapel leaves, citing other patients to attend. I notice Winnifred still with me, hovering by the foot of my bed, unsure. I turn my head to her and wave her to a chair at my bedside.

‘Hey, thanks for helping me,’ I say. She blinks, inclining her head.

‘It was my responsibility as a result of injuring you.’ I laugh.

‘I’m still grateful,’ I say, smiling before a thought enters my head, ‘did you have to get back?’ She frowns.

‘Do you wish for me to leave?’

‘No, I want to keep talking to you, but I also know that Conall will rain hell for missing training.’ She looks surprised before melting into a mask of disapproval at my language again.

‘I want to stay,’ Winnifred says, quiet as a back road at midnight, looking at the wall. ‘Besides, she says, turning to look at me, ‘I believe the Sergeant would be far harsher about just leaving you like this.’ She gestures to my bruised and battered body. I scoff.

‘Please, I’m fine.’

‘Indeed.’ She stares at me amused. I poke my tongue out like a mature person. She giggles. It sounds like bells. Why the hell do I think that? I put it out of my mind and decide to return the favour from earlier.

‘So, what’re you in for?’ I ask. Her giggling cuts off and she goes back to a neutral expression.

‘It was expected of me.’ I look at her and tilt my head. Catching my confusion, she continues.

‘The Morrigan family have a proud history of service and as such I was required to join when I came of age.’ She says it like giving a report in front of class. I nodded in acknowledgement.

               ‘So, you joined for your family, huh, looks like we have something in common,’ I say, nudging her with my elbow and smiling at her.

               ‘It would appear so, however, I believe they differ. Selflessness and expectation.’

               ‘Aww, Winnie.’ I have no idea where that comes from. She glares at me.

               ‘Do not call me that.’ Okay, whatever, I’m rolling with this. Besides I have to after she says this.

               ‘But it’s cute just like you.’ She goes bright red, unable to meet my eyes and tries to hide by looking at the wall. I grab her pale hand. She jumps and whips her head back to me.

               ‘No, don’t hide,’ I say, between giggles. She proceeds to rise from the chair as if to leave.

               ‘If you’re just going to tease me, I’ll take my leave.’ She hovers out of the chair, blinks and glances down, realising I’m still holding her hand. She goes even redder, somehow. I shake my head, rubbing my thumb across the back of her hand.

‘Stay, please,’ I look her in the eyes. I’ve never seen anything that blue.

She stays.

[ryqoshay]

Tri-Arame: Betting For Play

Primary Pairing Trio: YuuAyuSetsu Words: ~3.1k Rating: T Time Frame: First year of college? Maybe second? Dunno yet Story Arc: Stand Alone

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Author’s Note: Welp, this ended up a heck of a lot longer than originally intended. Not complaining mind, but there were only two original bits I wanted to include and it just kept growing from there.

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Ayumu startled as an anguished cry sounded from within as she opened the door to her dormroom.

“Y-Yuu-chan?” She inquired, quickly trying to assess the situation. “Are you alr…” Oh.

“Ayumu!” Yuu tossed the controller she was holding into the air as she bounced up to her feet.

“Ayumu-san!” Setsuna greeted as well, deftly deflecting the discarded device to land softly on the bed as she also jumped up.

The two raced across the room toward Ayumu who couldn’t hold back a smile at their antics even if she had wanted to. In the short few weeks the trio had been dating, Yuu and Setsuna had begun a friendly, though no less serious competition to be the first to greet her when she was the last to arrive home. It was one of many ways the two challenged each other but it was probably the one that amused Ayumu the most.

And even if she did feel a little strange being the subject of such a contest, she’d be lying if she said she disliked it. After all, just the way the two lit up merely upon seeing her was enough to warm her heart and drive away any dreariness of the day. As such, she almost preferred coming home last because of this new routine.

“Welcome home!” Setsuna launched herself the last meter or so into a tackling hug.

“I’m back.” Ayumu giggled, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend, and tilting her head down for a kiss.

A sigh sounded from her other girlfriend. “You’re too fast, Setsuna-chan…” Yuu lamented.

Both Ayumu and Setsuna laughed as they parted.

“Well, I do maintain a regular exercise routine, which includes running outside or spending some time on the elliptical.” Setsuna explained as Yuu took her turn to greet Ayumu. “And you know you’re always welcome to join me for my morning routine, Yuu-san.”

“But I do, though… sometimes…” Yuu reminded as she stepped away to allow Ayumu to remove her shoes. “And don’t you also do a bunch of more stuff at the studio?”

“Well, yes,” Setsuna conceded, “but that is more focused on dancing and singing. What I do on my own here is more general fitness.”

“Hrm…” Yuu seemed to consider the idea for a moment before her expression changed. “Anyway, you’re only one win up.” She jutted her chin back toward where they had been playing a moment ago. “You gotta win by two.”

“Right.” Setsuna nodded before turning.

“Eh?” Ayumu uttered as Yuu suddenly slid in close to peck a kiss on her cheek.

Setsuna either caught the movement with her peripheral vision or responded to Ayumu’s voice, or both, as she spun around and strode back. With a sly glance toward Yuu, she mimicked the gesture from Ayumu’s other side. Yuu responded by sticking out her tongue, at which they both giggled.

For her part, Ayumu couldn’t help joining in with the laughter. “Are you two going to carry over your little contest through making dinner tonight as well?” Though the concept was amusing, part of her feared how such a competition might affect Setsuna’s already adventurous attitude in the kitchen.

“Don’t need to.” Yuu said with a grin as she pulled something out of her pocket before presenting it proudly. “I won this at the store on the way home today.”

“Yuu-san and I already picked out what we want and have a pending order up on your laptop.” Setsuna explained.

“Alright, I’ll add my order in a moment.” Ayumu said with a smile.

Though neither girl said as such aloud, Ayumu couldn’t help wondering if the two had made their own side contest with the convenience store promotion. The fact that Yuu had emphasized that she had been the one to win the gift certificate felt like a strong indicator, along with a notable increase in competitiveness between them recently. At least they were having fun.

“Ne, Setsuna-chan,” Yuu spoke up as the two made their way back to the kotatsu “wanna add a little extra incentive to the game tonight?”

“What do you have in mind?” Setsuna tilted her head with curiosity as they retrieved their controllers and took their places.

“Something like the winner gets to make a request of the loser?”

“What kind of request?”

Yuu shrugged. “I dunno, maybe like drawing on their face like when we play Hanetsuki during the New Year celebration?”

“I don’t believe we have any ink…”

“Then maybe make them do pushups, get the winner a snack, clean their ears or something? I’m sure we can figure out something.”

Setsuna considered the suggestion for a moment before smiling strangely. “Alright.”

Ayumu wondered what kind of request Setsuna had chosen that would cause such an expression. Unlike their friend Kasumi, Setsuna was not typically the scheming type, and was not particularly good at it when she did. Rather, she was usually far too earnest and straightforward, to the point that Ayumu occasionally wondered how she had managed to hide her anime obsession from her parents and her dual identity from her fellow high school students.

“Hehe, now I’m getting fired up!” Yuu proclaimed. “I’m so going to win the next three rounds.”

“You seem pretty confident.” Setsuna observed.

“Well yeah, now that I get to make a request of Setsuna-chan, there’s no way I’m passing that up.”

“Hrm, we’ll see about that.”

With her meal chosen and their order submitted, Ayumu moved to sit on her bed. This gave her a good vantage point to observe her girlfriends’ match.

“Ha! Ring out!” Yuu pumped a fist in the air a moment later. “That’s one! Two more to go.”

“Two for me as well.” Setsuna reminded.

“Yeah, but that’s up from one.”

“…” Setsuna pursed her lips into an adorable pout, earning a cheeky grin from Yuu. “Alright, next round.”

The next two rounds were intense. Ayumu watched with bated breath while the two girls participating leaned forward and gripped their controllers harder.

“Victory!” Yuu cried, tossing her controller in the air.

Ayumu reached out to catch the falling device so it didn’t land on either girl in front of her.

Setsuna’s shoulder slumped in defeat.

“Alright, go braid your hair.” Yuu pointed to her rival. “You’re gonna be Nana tonight.”

“Eh?” Setsuna tilted her head with curiosity. “You want me as your prize?”

“Why not?” Yuu grinned. “It’s either you or Ayumu and I didn’t make a wager with her. Besides, I think this prize is one she will enjoy as well.”

Ayumu couldn’t deny that last point.

“While I’m happy to oblige, you really just want me to change my hairstyle to one you see all the time?”

“But we don’t see it all the time.” Yuu insisted. “At least not since we started college. You only wear it to class, and we don’t have any together.”

“You’re…” Setsuna blinked in realization. “You’re right. I hadn’t realized that you two might miss seeing me like that…” She hung her head apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize, Setsuna-chan!” Yuu laughed, placing a reassuring hand on the other girl’s shoulder. “If you go too long again, I’ll just be sure to win against you again at something.”

“Or try to win.” Setsuna smirked.

“Well, yeah, of course.” Yuu chuckled. “It wouldn’t be as much fun if you just let me win. Anyway, for the record, when I said you’ll be Nana tonight, I meant all night.” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“All night?”

“I suppose you can take out your braids before you fall asleep, but for sure during certain activities.” Yuu emphasized the last two words.

“Yeah, I got that part.” Setsuna rolled her eyes at the less-than-subtle hinting. “But I don’t usually like sleeping with them, so you can’t go overboard and exhaust me again.”

Yuu held her hands up in mock defense. “Hey, I can’t help it if Ayumu gives in too much to her lust.”

“Yuu-chan…” Ayumu interjected, feeling heat rise in her cheeks. She wasn’t wrong, per se, but as was far too often the case, Yuu knew exactly how to embarrass her. Sure, she was looking forward to seeing Setsuna in braids but… wait… What if…? “Ne, Yuu-chan…”

“Mmm?”

“Would you mind if I played a round?”

“Challenger Ayumu wishes to enter the ring?” Yuu dropped her tone to mimic an announcer. “I thought you preferred more RPG or collection style games?”

“There’s some fighting in them.”

“Turn-based, sure, but…” Yuu shrugged and held out her controller.

“Uhm, I was hoping to challenge you, Yuu-chan.” Ayumu clarified.

“I know. I just wanted to be Player 1.” She reached over for the controller in Setsuna’s hand. “Alright, let’s pick our fighters.” She began scrolling through the selection on the screen.

“You can probably see better from here, Ayumu-san.” Setsuna spoke up as she scooted over a bit before patting the area between her and Yuu.

“Mm.” Ayumu nodded and slipped down off the bed before moving the joystick a couple times to search the roster.

“Oh ho, interesting choice.” Yuu commented as final selections were made and the countdown to start the match began. “But no matter, victory will be mine.”

Yuu proved her skill immediately by landing a devastating first blow before Ayumu could react.

“Nice.” Setsuna complimented. “But remember, Yuu-san, first blood isn’t nearly as important as last.”

“Mmh… huh? Wha?” Yuu reacted as her character was tossed into the air. “Wait…”

Ayumu tapped more buttons on her controller, scoring additional hits.

“Ayumu… when…” Yuu sputtered.

Setsuna snickered as the round ended. “That’s one for Ayumu-san.”

“Eh, uhm, beginner’s luck?” Yuu questioned. “Anyway, Round 2.”

The second round went almost exactly the same as the first. Yuu struck the first blow, but eventually succumbed to a flurry of hits from Ayumu.

“Ayumu!” Yuu cried as she was defeated for a second time. “That was amazing! Where did you learn to play like that?” Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Do I get the play the winner now?” Setsuna added her energy to the mix.

“Yeah, we should totally get round robin tournament going.” Yuu agreed, handing her controller over to Setsuna. “But really, Ayumu, when did you get so good at fighting games?”

“I, uhm… asked Ai-chan and Rina-chan for a suggestion on which character to try…” Ayumu admitted.

“Oh?”

“You two have been having a lot of fun with this game for the last few nights, so I thought I could maybe join you…”

“You’re always welcome to play with us, Ayumu-san.” Setsuna pointed out.

“I know, I just, thought I might have a fighting chance if I did a little research first, you know, for combos and such.”

“Yeah, that sounds like something you would do.” Yuu laughed. “Well, now that I know you’re secret, I’ll be better prepared for our next match.”

“Speaking of, you get to make a request of Yuu-san, since you won.” Setsuna reminded.

That’s right, that was also part of why Ayumu had wanted to play against Yuu, to maybe get an unexpected victory and get back at her a little for the teasing.

“Right.” Ayumu cleared her throat and turned to the green-tipped girl beside her. “Well, since Yuu-chan likes braids so much, I think she would look quite cute wearing a matching style to Nana-chan.”

“Eh?” Yuu blinked.

Now there was a reaction Ayumu hadn’t anticipated. Yuu wasn’t the type to fluster easily, but there was no hiding the pink blossoming across her cheeks. And it was adorable.

From the other side of her, Ayumu could hear Setsuna’s sharp intake of breath. “I’ve… I don’t think I’ve ever seen Yuu-san with braids before…”

“A… are you sure that’s what you want as your prize?” Yuu seemed at a loss for words.

How had she put it earlier? “Why not?” Ayumu returned. “It’s either you or Setsuna-chan, and you already made the request of her, and I think she’ll like it as well.”

“A-alright…”

“So, if I win against Ayumu-san,” Setsuna pondered “does that mean I can make her wear twin braids as well?”

Still riding the wave of confidence from her victory as well as successful teasing of Yuu, Ayumu couldn’t help smirking a little. “Maybe, if you win.” She winked at the raven-haired girl. “But if I win, I get to be the one to braid your hair.”

“That was what I was about to request when I won our rematch…” Yuu admitted.

“Hmm…” Ayumu thought for a moment. “How about as a consolation prize for both of you, I do both of your braids.”

Yuu chuckled. “Is that really a consolation prize or just an excuse to play with our hair?” Was she trying to turn back the teasing tables?

“Can’t it be both?” Ayumu asked. “I mean both of the other prizes requested so far were ones that will be enjoyed by the others and not just the winner, right?”

“Fair point.” Yuu nodded. “Alright, it’s a deal for me. Setsuna-chan?”

“Deal.” Setsuna agreed as well. “But, who’s going to do Ayumu’s braids when I win?”

Yuu and Ayumu laughed for a moment before the next round of the tournament began.

----------

“Nana-chan?”

“…”

“Setsuna-chan?”

“…”

“I think we wore her out…” Yuu observed the girl between them.

“Again…” Ayumu added before sighing.

Yuu giggled quietly.

“Mm?”

“I won…” Yuu murmured.

“Won what?”

“I outlasted her.”

Oh, for heaven’s sake, they competed over that as well? Although, Ayumu had to admit the idea was a bit amusing. However…

“Is it really fair when you had me to help?”

Yuu seemed to ponder the question for a moment before grinning. “We really do team up on her a lot, don’t we?”

“Yeah… but it’s hard not to…”

“I know, right? She’s so cute when she makes that expression.” Yuu did a decidedly poor, though likely purposefully so, impression.

“Well, perhaps to keep things fair, maybe next time she and I can team up against you.”

“Now that I’d like to see.”

“You don’t think we can?”

“I didn’t say that. I think Ayumu is certainly up to the task, but…”

Though left unspoken, Yuu’s implication was clear. And if Ayumu was being honest, she had to agree. Setsuna was definitely a passionate participant, but, perhaps as a reflection of other aspects of her personality, she seemed reluctant to, for lack of better words, take the lead. Part of Ayumu wondered if things were fine that way of if it was something they should address and work on at some point.

The sound of Yuu’s yawn pulled Ayumu’s thoughts back to reality.

“Ne, Yuu-chan, do you know if Setsuna-chan took out her contacts?”

“Yeah, before she put on her glasses.”

Oh, right. That made sense. “Also, you promised you’d let her take out her braids before she fell asleep.”

“I think I can take care of that.”

“How?”

“Scoot up a little.”

“Huh?”

“And slide your arm under her.”

“Like this?”

“Perfect.” Yuu lifted Setsuna’s shoulder gently.

Setsuna murmured something before turning with Yuu’s guidance. Once on her side, she wrapped her arms around Ayumu’s waist and buried her face in her chest.

“There we go.” Yuu hummed her approval and started undoing the braids that were now much easier for her to reach.

“Where did you lear…?” Ayumu realized the answer before she finished the question.

“From you of course.” Yuu responded anyway.

Which meant… “You’ve been awake?”

“Not every time.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I couldn’t help being caught up in the cuteness of the gesture.” Yuu admitted. “Ayumu’s thoughtfulness is one of her most adorable traits, and one of my favorites.”

Ayumu felt her cheeks puff in a pout as she reached across Setsuna to gently punch Yuu’s arm who only grinned more in response.

“Anyway, perhaps I’ll challenge you two again and get Setsuna-chan to team up with me that way.” Ayumu pondered.

“Challenger Ayumu wants to enter the ring again?” Yuu did a quieter version of her announcer voice from before. “Winning against us felt pretty good, huh?”

“A little…”

“Though to be honest, I’d’ve brought you in on our little contests earlier, but I’ve just never really seen you as the competitive type.”

“I went up against my rival school idols a lot back in high school.” Ayumu pointed out.

“True,” Yuu conceded “but even then, you weren’t really all that competitive. You worked hard, that’s for sure, and you were incredibly supportive of your fellow school idols, but… hrm…”

“What is it?”

“Oh, hey, idea.” Yuu grinned. “You should totally surprise Setsuna-chan in the morning. Something like seeing who can get the most steps in on the elliptical or whatever.”

“Setsuna-chan would probably win something like that.”

“Possibly. But it really isn’t really about winning or losing, you know.”

“Hmm?”

“I mean yeah, sure, it’s feels good to win, but it’s also fun to see Setsuna-chan’s smile when she wins.”

“Ah.”

“But you already know that, don’t you?”

“Huh?”

“That was why you were so supportive of your rival school idols, or at least part of it, right? Because watching them do well was also fun.”

Ah, so that’s what it was all about. It all made sense now. Ayumu had fun surprising her girlfriends with a couple early wins, but even as they adjusted and started winning matches again, it hadn’t diminished Ayumu’s enjoyment at all.

And the silly little requests had really just been a fun bonus. She hadn’t minded at all that the request made of her after her first loss was that she would join in on the twin braids brigade, in fact, she had expected it.

Sure, Ayumu wasn’t nearly as competitive as either Yuu or Setsuna. And sure, she was quite content watching her girlfriends compete over the most random things. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t join in on the fun every so often, right?

“Ayumu?”

“Mm, sorry, I was just thinking.”

“About?”

“What hairstyles I’ll have you try next time I win against you.”

“Tha… I… if I let you win…”

For the second time that night, Ayumu got to witness Yuu’s flustered expression and she couldn’t help smiling.

“Good night, Yuu-chan.” She said quietly before closing her eyes.

“Good night, Ayumu.” Yuu replied, shifting just enough to plant a kiss on Ayumu’s forehead without waking the sleeping girl between them. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“…ve… y… wo…” Setsuna murmured into Ayumu’s chest before nuzzling in more.

Did Yuu-chan actually wake her up or is she just sleep talking, again? Ayumu wondered. Either way, she tilted her chin down just enough to press her lips atop the other girl’s head before whispering a similar sentiment to her. Finally, Yuu’s affirmations to Setsuna were the last sounds Ayumu heard before sleep took over.

----------

Author’s Note Coninued in Followup Post

[the-roanoke-society]

i was working in the lab late one night...

when my eyes beheld an eerie sight...

welcome to the final post of horror aus for halloween 2020! i hope you all enjoyed the ride. i apologize for not having everything ready on halloween like i originally planned. remember that the inbox and dms are always open for questions, comments and concerns. if you missed them, here are parts one, two and three. all warnings still apply, so be forewarned.

i know things are scary right now. but to quote the infamous n. gaiman: fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

take it from me when i say that we outnumber the monsters of this world--and more importantly, take heart.

click below the cut if you, too, like doing the monster mash (no offense but it is kind of a graveyard smash...)

there’s bloodstains beneath the carpet - a ∆ au inspired by the super, co-starring technical officer drake and @agents-of-virtue​'s agent annabelle

it was a new start. for both drew and matthew. a new city, shining with opportunities and adventure. they had no shortage of hope--but maybe did have a little shortage of cash.

all the same, the knox-edwards boarding house wasn’t that bad. grimy and with a level of grunge akin to a garage band circa 1995, sure, but nothing unbearable.

but as drew was stuck in the hallway holding up their couch, matthew trying to figure out who needed to pivot and in what direction in order to not have furniture stuck in the doorway, he overheard it:

“what? another one? are you serious?”

two people were walking down the hallway, and they didn’t look to be much older than himself, or matthew. a man and woman, close together, as if they were conspiring.

“wait, drew, i think i got it, turn left a little bit--”

“as a heart attack. that makes it four people in three months. i’m telling you bekah, something fuckin’ weird in goin’ on here. people don’t just up and vanish from their own homes, and--oh!”

“drew! are you listening to me? turn it left!”

oh shit. oh shit. don’t act like you were obviously eavesdropping, maybe they didn’t notice...

“drew!”

“hi!”

welp. all right. be cool.

“uh--hello!” but he yelped when matthew unexpectedly let go of the couch, and it landed on the ground with a hard thud.

but drew was still processing what he heard. four people in three months? what did that mean?

mini soundtrack sampler includes: rockwell, ‘somebody’s watching me’ + absofacto, ‘dissolve’ + barns courtney, ‘99′

won’t you cut me down? - a second chances au inspired by seven in heaven

joan, normally, wasn’t so forward. at least, not a society-thrown event where multiple agencies were represented, and especially not when he knew lilith was around and not above reprimanding an agent in front of god and everyone else in the room.

but he’d had quite a bit to drink.

the evening was winding down.

and josie... josie was breathtaking.

he couldn’t help it.

“joan--joan!” she laughed as he turned her, taking her elbow and leading her down a hallway close to one of the larger coat closets. “what are you d--”

her voice cut off abruptly to the tune of joan’s mouth on hers, and the closing of a closet door.

joan didn’t stop to think about how this particular door wasn’t room he distinctly remembered. he was tipsy and enamored and his wife consumed his senses. he didn’t care.

but he did care a while later, after they’d made themselves presentable again and opened the door to a manor that was much, much quieter than he was expecting.

and josie felt it too.

it was an odd sensation, to feel that he’d stepped out of one place and into another entirely.

josie asked quietly, “where... where did everyone go?”

mini soundtrack sampler includes: jack white, ‘i’m shakin’‘ + konrad old money & sleep steady, ‘rage’ + k. flay, ‘blood in the cut’

my hands are growing colder - an inverse functions au inspired by eli

ginny knew erik wasn’t broken. she would rather have faced down a demon or some unholy thing sprung out of the gate than ever describe him like that.

but he was--unique.

beyond the understanding of most medical doctors, at least. even aly and caroline were struggling to treat his symptoms. it was like he’d become allergic to everything around him over the course of just a few days. his symptoms were sudden, severe, and left her nervous.

it wasn’t just allergies. she knew that. and if she had to seek help outside of the society, then so be it. all that mattered to her was seeing him brought back to health.

and late one night, during a despair-fueled search through some files in the archives that looked like they hadn’t been touched in years, she found a name: dr. isabella horn.

the fact that lacey, who’d been overseeing the roanoe medical wards for ages, hadn’t heard of her, should have been a warning.

but desperate times call for desperate measures.

the next day, they were on their way to a facility in the middle of the midwest--though ‘facility’ wasn’t quite the right word. it looked more like a mansion, with nothing but wheat fields all around as far as they eye could see. the horizon was only broken by the occasional oil derrick.

and they were surprised when they had to be buzzed through pressurized, completely sterile chambers to even get inside.

but there, right at the front of the welcoming committee, was a woman with dark eyes, and an easy smile.

“good afternoon! you must be ginny and erik, welcome. i’m dr. horn.”

but ginny didn’t trust her grin.

and that should have been the second warning.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: stevie wonder, ‘superstitious’ + the killers, ‘when you were young’ + the revivalists, ‘wish i knew you’

i saw your bones on the road - a pastel goth au inspired by the silence

meli would look back on it and realize with no small sense of irony how loud it was when it began.

the screaming, the terror. how she blasted her spotify on her furious drive to guiliana’s house in the blessedly quiet suburbs, eyes constantly searching the sky. she knew that the responsible thing to do would be to listen to the coverage on the radio, but honestly? she’d heard enough. she had more than half a brain, and she knew exactly what to do.

get her girlfriend and head--okay, maybe she didn’t know exactly what to do.

but giuliana was smart. they’d figure it out together.

the government didn’t know what they were, exactly. nobody did. meli only knew that they were calling them vesps.

it was a word that she mulled over frantically. linguistics was always a welcome distraction. she thought she’d heard it before, but all she could think of was the latin vespere. it roughly translated to ‘from the evening,’ or ‘from the night.’

from the dark.

perhaps that was an apt name.

the sunset had painted the sky in shades that were obnoxiously beautiful given the circumstances, and her jeep lurched in protest as she abruptly slammed the gear shift into park in the glow of guiliana’s porch lights.

in the distance, she could hear shrieking--but not that of human beings.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: mourning ritual, ‘bad moon rising’ + twenty one pilots, ‘ride’ + royal blood, ‘trouble’s coming’

waiting for the vultures - a time traveler’s husband au inspired by the houses october built

it had been dara’s idea.

“oh it’ll be fun! think about it, italy and the states celebrate halloween with way, way different aesthetics. think of this as getting a sampler of how america does it,” she said, sitting in silvano’s lap, charm volume as far up as it would go.

and he agreed. “all right--okay. a grand adventure across the country hitting as many haunted houses as we can.”

“geez, try not to sound too excited.”

he murmured into her shoulder, “i’m mostly excited to spend time with you. but if a road trip through october is what you want, then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”

he was rewarded with kisses peppered all over his face and a very excited dara dragging him excitedly to best buy to pick up a camcorder. “what? of course we need a camera! if we record everything then it’s like--i don’t know. like it’s ours. we can go back to it whenever want, and we can show all our friends the cool places we saw when we get home!”

dara hadn’t known then.

she didn’t know it would start with one lone figure in a clown costume standing in front of the rv like he was going to charge at it. she didn’t know that they would end up surrounded, followed. abducted.

it had been dara’s idea.

and she would never forgive herself.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: van halen, ‘runnin’ with the devil’ + the 1975, ‘if you’re too shy (let me know)’ + afi, ‘miss murder’

[beelziebabie]

The First (Human) Deviltuber - Obey Me Brothers x Reader

Interactive?: At some parts, yes (Later on)

Gender: Female MC

Edited?: nope

Notes: sorry for this being so late aaaa i got really sick yesterday and im still sick now. really sorry!! i made this one a bit longer than i normally would. i hope you enjoy <3💗💕💕

CHAPTER FOUR

“MC,” You heard a voice mumble, then a short but harsh shake to your shoulder. You grumbled and resisted the urge to flip them off, turning onto your side and bringing the blanket over your head. “Momo please. Go away. Let me sleep.”

“It’s 11 am.”

“Whatever. I wanna sleep.” He sighed.

“Cmon, I wanna do your makeup todayy,” Asmodeus pulled the covers off of your head and you sent a glare at him. He ignored it and patted your messy hair.

“Go take a shower and brush your teeth, then come back in here and sit at your dresser so I can do my work,” He beamed as you sat up, stretching your arms over your head.

“See, I even got dresser all ready!” He pointed to your dresser where everything needed to get your face totally ready was laid out. You blinked and ran your hand across your face.

“Where did you even find that?- Nevermind, where’s Mammon?” You asked, getting off the bed but tripping over something immediately after.

You heard a long groan right after your own. Asmodeus peeked over the side of the bed and held back a giggle, seeing you sprawled on top of Mammon and him struggling to process the situation.

“Theres your answer,” Asmodeus grinned and this time you flipped him off for real.

You got off of Mammon and apologized, leaving an innocent kiss on his cheek and pulling the blanket off your bed and draping it across Mammon. He was only in a tank top and sweatpants so he had to be pretty cold especially since your room had gotten chilly. He fell right back asleep after.

Asmodeus followed you out of your room and into the hallway to get to the bathroom. “Is everyone else up?”

“Nope, only Lucifer, Beel and Leviathan are awake. Including myself of course.” You hummed and turned on the bathroom lights.

You went to pull your shirt over your head when you realized Asmodeus was still in the bathroom with you, standing there with his hands behind his back and a closed eyes smile. You looked at him through the mirror.

“Uhh.. why are you still here? I need to shower.”

“Mhm!”

“That means I need to get naked.”

“I know.”

You sighed and pushed him out and he made no effort to stop you. “Asmo, I dont think you know what boundaries are.”

“Theres nothing on you I haven’t seen yet,” He shot you a wink and your cheeks flushed slightly as you suppressed a vein popping.

“What the hell does that mea- Nevermind. I’ll see you when I get out.”

. . .

After you got out the bathroom with a towel wrapped around your chest you felt much more awake than before. Just as Asmodeus said, he was waiting for you in your room near your dresser. He even went as far as picking out your outfit for you.

“Wow, I dont even remember buying these,” You picked up a light blue cropped hoodie and black, high waisted ripped jeans along with a bunch of jewelry. Normally you’d only wear an oversized hoodie and leggings.

“Your closet is completely untouched. How much stuff do you buy and never use?” He lightly forced you to sit down in your seat so he could start. You held your hair back in a low ponytail to make it easier for him.

“Uhh, a lot I think? Theres a lot of styles of Instagram and Pinterest that I like and want to try out on myself so I go on shopping sprees.. but I never actually wear the clothes out.” You paused. “Or ever, for that matter.”

He shook his head and laughed a bit. “I don’t even do that. What type of look do you want?”

“Really simple and natural, I’m planning on filming a video today so please make it quick Momo.”

He clicked his tongue and nodded. “You got it.”

. . .

He was quick. Extremely quick. It only took him, maybe, 45 minutes, which is less than half than what you thought it would take. You got dressed and headed downstairs where the other brothers were lounging, watching tv or cooking or eating.

You sat on the couch next to Beelzebub and sat indian style. “Goodmorning everyone.”

“It’s not even morning anymore,” Leviathan said, turning his head to look at you. “It’s almost noon.”

“It’s not my fault that you all are so tiring.”

You felt Lucifer’s eyes bore into the back of your head the moment you said that. “Okay..only five of you.”

“Welp, Levi, wanna go get started?” You tapped him on the shoulder and he nodded.

You stood up and waited for him to follow you to your gaming room. You pulled up another spinning chair for him to sit in and set everything up before looking to him again.

“You ready?” You smiled and he smiled weakly. “Yeah. As ready as I’ll ever be!”

“Aaand we’re live!” You said to the camera, waving with a giant smile as Levi sat timidly next to you. You elbowed him lightly in the arm and nodded to the camera. “Say hi Levi!”

The chat was swarmed with different usernames and messages. You did your best to read them all but the chat was going too fast. Moments like these you wished that you only had a couple thousand of followers, so that everyone could be noticed easier.

Levi put on a small smile and waved before looking down into his lap again. Out of your peripheral vision you could tell his face was on fire. You rubbed his back to spare him the embarrassment.

“Today’s live will be a Q&A while we play minecraft! How does that sound, Levi?” You glanced from the camera to Levi and watched him nod. You sighed. You could only hope that he would open up more as time went on.

You turned on slowmode for the chat so that the messages would go by slower. You handed a controller to Levi and turned on the TV that was just above your computer screen.

You looked back at the chat and smiled warmly at all the ‘Welcome Back’ messages. “Hi everyone, how are you? I missed you all so much.”

Most of the stream went by smoothly. Only most of it.

The boys would constantly enter and leave your gaming room, even after you told them to stop. Except Lucifer, who only entered once and left you alone for the rest of the time. You thanked him immediately after the stream ended.

Mammon seemed especially clingy today. You couldn’t pin why, maybe its because he woke up without seeing you immediately? Whatever it was, he would continuously try to get your attention during the stream.

To avoid making him upset or sad you would always give him at least a little bit of attention then go back to the stream. But he would come back minutes later with something else to show to you or say to you. You were very tempted to just throw him your debit card and leave it at that.

At some point you completely gave up. It was an endless cycle. Sometimes you cursed your motherly demeanor.

The door creaked open right when you placed down the last block of the mansion you and Levi built. He got the hand of the game pretty quickly, he even said that there was a game similar to Minecraft in the Devildom (not audibly, of course. You’re still being recorded.)

You turned your head towards the door and saw that it was Mammon again, but this time with Beelzebub as well.

“We came with snacks,” Bub said simply, pulling up a stool and sitting in it behind you and Leviathan. You thanked him and took a couple cookies from the pile in his arms.

Mammon stood next to you, idly. You looked up at him with a confused expression. “What’s wrong Mammon?”

He said nothing, and instead walked around the other side of the chair and situated himself in your lap.

“Mammon what are you doin- no- stop-“

His legs hung off the arm of the chair and his head rested on your shoulder. You did your best not to push him off your lap and start scolding him. You understood that he didn’t see you for most of the day (except tiny interactions) and he was so used to being around you 24/7 in the Devildom.

“You’re so heavy,” You sighed and went back to gaming.

“Shut up. You should be happy that I’m even speaking to someone as lowly as you.”

“I have more money than you even if its translated to Grimm.” You heard Beelzebub chuckle and Levi hold back a snicker.

“She probably isn’t wrong,” Bub said, opening another pack of chips to scarf down. Mammon clicked his tongue and shut his eyes, embarrassed that this all happened on camera.

You directed your attention back to the chat. You forgot to check it for a while. “Oops, sorry chat. ‘ricegoat’ says.. ‘you werent kidding when you said you have anime boys in your house’.” You laughed at the camera and smiled. “I thought you guys would believe me when I said that.”

The rest of the chat said some rather..peculiar things that aren’t entirely SFW. You had to stop those comments from coming since they were getting quite excessive and uncomfortable for you to read.

7 hours passed since you started the stream and you were starting to feel tired. Levi yawned as well, and Mammon was fast asleep in your lap.

You saved your minecraft world with Leviathan. “Thats all for today guys,” You stretched your arms over your head. “I think this is the end of the stream. I’ll be posting a video today and the highlights tomorrow. Say bye Levi!”

Leviathan smiled and waved at the camera. “Bye, chat. I’ll see you next time.”

[shigaraxi]

Suns Out | Shigabaku | T 

Chapter 2 of Tuesday Rates! The obligatory Beach Episode ft. Bad Lifeguards and Bad Drown Victim etiquette. Read it Here or under readmore

Tomura really didn’t want to be here.

“Don’t be a party pooper,” Toga says, rubbing sunscreen along her upper arm. “It’ll be fun.”

Dabi agrees between inflating puffs of the large beach ball. “What kind of friends-” puff “-would we be-” puff “-if we just let you rot-” puff, Tomura’s eyebrow twitches “-in your room again all summer?” Happy with the size, Dabi caps the beach ball. 

“You guys aren’t my—hey!” Dabi snickers, catching the ball after bouncing it off Tomura’s head.

“Sure man, whatever you say.”

They are at the beach and Tomura really really doesn’t want to be here. Or outside, in general. Especially not with people. Oh how he ached to be back in his air conditioned room with his blacked out curtains and computer. No, instead here he is with sweat prickling and sand sticking to his skin, sitting on a hot beach towel under this oppressing sun. Tomura glares at the wide-brimmed sun hat at his feet that Toga had given him like it personally dishonored him. Those heathens didn’t even let him have his console either.

A sunscreen bottle is tossed to him which he responds with tossing it right back harder. 

Toga catches it and shrugs, bagging the bottle in Dabi’s tote. “It’s not our fault if you get burnt!”

“Hm!”

At least they had a beach umbrella. Tomura plans on not moving from this spot.

.

Huh. It’s hard to think but there’s someone...talking? He can’t hear what they’re saying, sounding too distant and muffled to make out the words from the garble. The voice begins getting desperate, pitch heightening as it continues babbling. Tomura feels really tired. Maybe he’ll try to understand later...when the pull of his lids don’t feel so heavy—

“—LIVE GODDAMN IT!”

Tomura shoots up because what the fuck, was he just slapped?! His cheeks are stinging, he's doubling over, mouth full of salt water and seaweed. Through his hacking, he vaguely hears a Kacchan… from a very dismayed voice, followed by a hysterical laugh from whoever this Kacchan is. 

“There’s no such thing as going overboard, Deku, he’s alive, ain’t he?”

“Yeah, but—”

“But, what? I just saved his life, I’m a goddamn hero.” What the fuck. Tomura wipes his mouth. The two look at him. The blonde, Kacchan, is the one to say, “I’m your goddamn hero.”

The green haired, Deku, one jabs Kacchan in the ribs. “Please ignore him! How are you feeling? Any chest pains, tingly sensations?” He doesn’t wait for Tomura to respond, instead turning to Kacchan to say, “Go get him a towel! He must be freezing.”

Kacchan huffs and stands, leaving to presumably get a towel (Tomura could hear mild curses from under his breath as he stalks away) while Deku turns back to him. “Don’t mind him, he’s just a bit crabby, is all. He means well. I’m Midoriya and that was Bakugou, by the way, we’re the lifeguards on duty,” he says with a mild laugh. “You almost drowned on us!”

Midoriya had an arm around him, Tomura belately realizes as he rambles on some more, probably to keep him sitting steady. When he tries to lean away, Midoriya removes his arm, apologizing, “Sorry, sorry, shock can be unpredictable. Are you feeling any better?”

Now that he mentions it, Tomura thinks, wetting his lips, his throat feels like absolute sandpaper and he still feels somewhat faint. Not that he would admit it, but it's the thought that counts. Plus, even if he wanted to respond Well, yeah, I feel like shit, a towel is thrown over his head. “Oi, he probably drank half the ocean. Let the guy rest,” says Bakugou. Tomura snorts quietly, pulling the towel around his shoulders. “I couldn’t find any extra towels so I gave you mine, you better give it back.”

“I nearly drowned,” Tomura replies, voice croaky and just barely audible, as he takes the water bottle Bakugou offers him. He twists it open, dripping as much sarcasm as he can into his words, “and you care about this? Some lifeguard you are.”  He takes a sip from the bottle. God does his throat hurt.

The way Bakugou’s face scrunches in irritation almost made Tomura laugh but instead, he hides his smile behind another sip. “Listen asshole, I can put you back in the ocean and laugh as your pasty ass tries to save itself. You should be fucking thankful.” 

Before Tomura would retort, a couple voices call out for him. Dabi and Toga. They must’ve been playing one rigorous game of volleyball because they’re covered in sand and sweat.

“We were wondering where you went,” Toga says, putting the volleyball under her arm. “We thought you ran away!” 

Tomura scoffs but Toga quickly ignores him, opting to look at the other two with him, particularly at Midoriya. She steps over Tomura’s legs, looking gleeful, to get closer. “Oh, hello! Are you guys lifeguards? What happens to our poor little Tomura-chan?”

“Toga,” the ‘poor little’ Tomura warns. Dabi laughs and helps him to his feet.

Toga continues to ignore him. Midoriya gives a nervous smile as he makes a pointed effort to look at anywhere but at Toga as she skitters closer and closer. “Uh, we-er, he saw your friend struggling to swim and pulled him to shore.” At the he, Midoriya had made a half effort wave to Bakugou’s general direction, who huffs, not paying them a dime of attention. “If it weren’t for Kacchan, he could’ve been a goner!” 

Toga nods, not listening one bit. It’s Dabi who snorts at the story and upends Tomura’s head. “Nice going, idiot. Have you thanked him yet?”

Tomura scowls and huffs. While that he was a little thankful, he wouldn’t admit it to that asshole of all people. Dabi seems to get that and instead chooses to ruffle his hair with a chuckle. 

Bakugou announces his leave with annoyance.

“I should get going too,” Midoriya said not far after, probably thankful for this out from Toga’s insistent chatter, as he follows after his partner in ocean surveillance. 

Dabi throws his arms over Tomura’s and Toga’s shoulders, saying as simple as possible, as Tomura watches them go, “Welp, at least you didn’t scare them away.”

Tomura eyes the arm around him. “I hate you both.”

Dabi laughs as Toga sighs. “Don’t worry, you’ll see your new boytoy again.” Tomura wasn’t sure who he was referring to, Toga who was looking dreamily after Midoriya or to him. 

Actually, he doesn’t want to know.

After that, Tomura sticks to their designated area for the rest of the day. Lucky for him, Dabi was lenient enough to give him back his PS Vita console because the almost drowning victim deserved at least some slack. The towel was over his head now, covering himself from the setting sun that refused to shine over the beach umbrella (and he wouldn’t be caught dead with that sun hat). He’s tapping the keys harshly, the fighting sounds rolled on the highest setting, and he’s so incredibly close to winning, and—

“Oi.”

His thumb slips on the toggle stick, breaking his ultimate combo, and watches in disbelief as Game Over title sequences flash across his screen. He stares at the syncopated message until the device just falls out of his hands as the little loser jingle rings out on loop. He puts his face in them instead.

“Uh...hey dude.” Oh yes, the reason for his failure. The words chip out from Tomura’s mouth, each stop full of as much barely controlled anger as he can possibly fit.

“What. Do. You. Want.”

Whoever it was standing behind him shifts on their feet, the sand softly crunching beneath. At some point, his console powered itself off and it’s then the person finally states, voice awfully familiar, “I said I wanted my towel back.”

Oh, it’s him. The crappy lifeguard. “Just take it,” Tomura laments into his hands. The towel resting over his head and back is swiped, but instead of the sun heat hitting his pale back, Bakugou’s shadow saves him. “While you’re at it, throw me back into the ocean too. I can’t handle this loss..." 

Bakugou snorts. “Jesus, dude, it’s just a game. Just do it again.” 

“It’s not just a game,” he quickly retorts, raising his face from his hands to shoot a glare over his shoulder. Bakugou has a hand on his hip, towel thrown over his shoulder, as he stands looking unimpressed as Tomura speaks. “It was a speedrun. I was so close to beating my records and then you had to come here and…” scare me is something Tomura would never admit, even if his life depended on it. Except Bakugou is laughing because fuck Tomura. “...ruin it,” he finished, instead, turning back around.

However, Bakugou doesn’t take the hint and doesn’t leave. Tomura thinks he’s never hated a person as much as he does right now. To add salt to the wound, when he tries to further his point of wanting to be left alone by picking up his console, the fucking thing had the audacity to blink the red battery light and power off once again, completely dead. Tomura groans as he drops the thing again.

“There. Now you have my attention because the world is awful and hates me. What do you want?” 

Bakugou laughs at his pain. Jeez. “Deku told me to go see how you’re doing—”

“Fine,” Tomura interrupts.

“—cause he’s scared of your freaky friends.” 

“They’re not my friends,” he replies out of habit, but the corner of his mouth quirks up. Good to know normal people are scared of them, maybe they’d be left alone more. “Don’t you have an ocean to watch?” 

“Shifts over,” Bakugou answers. “I needed my towel back before I left.”

Tomura makes a half hearted wave to the towel in Bakugou’s possession with a ‘now leave me alone’ implied, but just for extra zing, because he feels festive, he says, “There, you have it. Now leave me alone.” and turns back around to slump over his knees to be left alone to his utter and complete misery. 

Except, the cool shadow covering his back doesn’t retreat. Why isn’t it retreating—wait is he still there, he can’t be that stupid— “Actually…” the shadow that will not be named because Tomura no longer cares, “there a bonfire later. You should come.”

His ears are working right, right? Like, he heard what this guy said, right? Not having any post-almost-drowning-delusions right now, right? 

Tomura turns around yet again just so he can witness his own sanity possibly failing him. Bakugou looks at him expectfully, where Tomura can only think Wow, we have the same eye color. “So?” Bakugou asks with a raised brow.

He puts it rather eloquently actually, answering, “Uh.” 

A beat passes.

“Did I break you? Did I just break this nerd?”

If anyone asks, this redness in Tomura’s face is from sunburn and sunburn only. Oh he can already hear Dabi’s snickering and Toga’s gushing as he clears his throat, wetting his lips, looking somewhere decidingly not at this rude lifeguard who he begrudgingly admits saved his life. “Uh,” Tomura says, “are you—? Are you being serious right now?”

“Yes, you loser.” Tomura can already hear the amusement in his voice. He has to be fucking with him.

But…

Well...

“Yes?” He said tersely. Then quickly adds, “if it's not lame or anything, I can… I can go.”

Bakugou snorts but, when Tomura looks at him again, he’s smiling. 

Okay, maybe beach day wasn’t that awful of an idea, afterall. 

--

OMAKE: 

“See,” Dabi said as he pats Tomura’s sweet little sunhat covered head as he pulls the brims down to hide his very ‘sunburnt’ red face. “I know my friends better than they know themselves. You totally had a thing for him.”

“Shut up,” he mutters dejectedly into the straw. 

Dabi only laughs because he knows under that hat, theres a dumb smile plastered on there.

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power S01E02 - The Sword Part 2

I assume this is going to directly continue last episode so there's not a lot to speculate about. I want answers and lore and that's it! Let's do this!

...I completely forgot OP songs were a thing and this just hit in me in the face.

Glimmer is such a happy marshmallow. Maybe I was wrong and she isn't going to resent Adora?

The song just won me over

Hello, the crab woman is new.

That's a _lot_ of characters. Also, I feel like I should have waited until next episode to watch the opening but oh well.

So the monsters have to obey or at least respect She-Ra. Maybe the monsters are somehow linked to the "First Ones"?

She's still Adora! Where does the name She-Ra come from, then?

I definitely paused in the wrong place for the previous screenshot. This one conveys "yup, this is Adora" much, much better.

I wish I could record a video with sound because the way she said "contagious" is amazing. Also, would that make princess-hood an STD? Sword-transmitted disease? * gunfingers *

The VAs are absolutely amazing and I love them all.

"Never mind what I just said, please do it again"

There you go. I can't believe I misjudged Bow so much, he's the smartest one in the group.

And all thoughts of keeping Adora as a prisoner just went * poof *

Glimmer is just "yup, that's Bow alright"

Can Adora read it because it's Horde-language or is it related somehow to the sword?

Okay then, it's because of the sword.

So, why is Adora instantly jumping to the conclusion that she's a Princess now? Are Princesses the only ones with powers so "weird power = princess"?

The voice acting is so good and on another level compared to the animation.

I can't believe how much charm this show oozes. It's funny, has heart, the characters are great. How did I miss it until now?

Aw.

Can't wait until they come back to kill them all as spacefaring species tend to do when they return to the places where they seeded life.

In any other show I'd start suspecting that the Horde are somehow the direct descendants of the First Ones. In this one I'm not sure, mostly because it's been so direct so far.

Worldbuilding~

So, Princesses have to recharge their powers. Is Adora's sword different? She-Ra having a time limit could work as as a tension builder in the future.

It has to be very weird to see your enemy in a thousand-year old mural.

Apparently Bow is scared of strong women.

I'm really curious if this is a real language or not. It's so alien that I want it to be real.

Welp, they are all going to die.

It speaks a lot of Glimmer's character that even though she really distrusts Adora (to the point she refused to give her sword even though it could have helped,) she saved her anyway.

How do these hawkeye types even know which arrow they have to pick anyway? "Oh no, that was one of the ones I use to send mess– * splat *

They are setting up limits really early, which makes me think they are going to be important later on.

She's just a very earnest prisoner okay?

Oof. She was so so close to empathizing. I'm glad Adora's reasoning is out, it makes a lot of sense that she'd want to know, especially when there are weird things happening to her.

I don't like this. Nope. Not at all.

The animation may be simple but the facial expressions are on point.

"what... is... a party?"

OH MY GOD, I WAS KIDDING

I keep saying it but I really didn't expect the show to be so funny.

Love for food is universal, it even melted Glimmer's heart a little.

Do Horde soldiers subsist on soylent and water?

Such a giant dork

Look at her, she's so proud!

I'm running out of ways to write about how funny this show is. It almost feels like it's _too_ funny so something bad is going to happen soon. Maybe a Horde attack to really show Adora what is going on? With Catra, just to make it worse.

oh no

Oh no. Wow. That's like the worst possible thing Catra would say. Not because it's wrong, but because it's going to make Adora's "betrayal" so much worse.

I've been trying to figure out why would Catra be so prominently "the enemy" when they seem to be such good friends. She was afraid of Shadow Weaver but I'm not sure that'd be enough to make her fight Catra. But this? Adora choosing not only to protect other people but to do it knowing it'll screw up everything Catra seems to have been working towards? That would definitely do it.

"You're going to throw _me_ away for them?"

You may be right but this is like the worst possible moment to give up. Have a freakout later, survive now.

"WHAT ARE YOU?"

"A STRONG SANDWICH!"

This is so good. Glimmer's change of mind was all through facial expressions earlier on, seeing how earnest Adora was while enjoying the party. There's no need to explain her reasoning because we already saw it.

I can't tell if she's sincere or sarcastic.

Why is this deep emotional moment so funny

The face says anger but the voice says concern. I love the inner conflict here.

Oh. So She-Ra is a known legend, or at least Glimmer knows about it.

Leaps of faith are my one weakness.

IT HAS A MAGICAL GIRL TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE

AAAAAA

oh no what's wrong with your eye, go back go back

Now I'm back to not being sure if She-Ra is the same person as Adora. How did she know she could do this? Although, if she's a magical girl maybe that just comes with the costume? Wait, if she _is_ a magical girl, where's the talking pet?

Maybe it's like the avatar state so it is Adora but _more_

And there's the panic attack I was waiting for.

Imagine getting back to your town after hiding from the horde in the forest for days. Your house is destroyed, one of your sons still hasn't returned. And, to make it even worse, someone stole your horse.

---

I'm very, very surprised at how much I love this show already. It's funny, has a lot of heart, the characters have so much potential. It may be because I spent a lot of time crying due to Gravity Falls recently, but I feel healed.

Other than general gushing, I don't have a lot to write that I didn't do already while I was watching the episode. It was the payoff for most of the set up of last episode so there wasn't anything too surprising or new, other than Adora somehow knowing the "First Ones" language.

I think I was completely off base thinking Glimmer would resent Adora. It may still happen, there was a bit of a hint when she was trying to use the sword, but the leap of faith she took this episode to trust Adora? So, so good.

My main question for next episode is... is everyone in Bright Moon going to be so open about receiving a former Horde member and apparently superhero? I can't wait to watch next episode so, until next time!

discord

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Side Effects ch.3 (baon)

Summary: All Stretch wanted to do was drop off some pants to get altered for Edge’s cast. He’s obviously asking for too much out of life.

Tags:  Spicyhoney, Domestic Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Past Injury, Coffee Shop

CH1 | CH2

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

~~*~~

Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

Barista, Tailor...

Stretch shifted in his bus seat, garment bag over his knees and his eye lights carefully focused on his phone screen.

He’d only taken the bus once since the whole incident in California, but the one that ran the Embassy route usually didn’t have as many Humans as this one to downtown Ebott.

Today he could feel the looks from other people, Humans, crawling up his spine and it was a little hard to ignore. No one approached him at least, ready to spit some extra-strength vitriol into his lap, so they were probably just curious. That did happen sometimes, either because he was a little bit Twitter famous or because he was just a Monster in general. People frequently took discreet pictures of him or videos, and he tried not to take it personally. Heck, Keanu Reeves got the same treatment when he took the subway.

Stretch sometimes found those pictures on instagram or twitter. Depending on the caption, he’d even comment, hey, being amicable about the amateur paparazzi was probably good public relations.

But it was one of the reasons he usually wore headphones on the bus, even if, like today, he didn’t have them turned on. Friendly was good and well, but sometimes there weren’t enough spoons in the drawer, and headphones acted as a decent barrier of sorts to that shit.

Not that a lack of spoons was a problem today. He still felt weirdly energized after pouring his all into healing Red. What he honestly felt was hungry, hell, starving, his magic pleading for a quick snack or maybe a ten-course meal. Coffee he’d remembered to bring along, but with Edge out of commision, the level of baked goods in their house was hitting critically low levels.

Hm. The stop for the Beanery was coming up and it wouldn’t take up too much time for a side quest into pastry retrieval. Getting Edge's trousers to the tailor could wait a couple mo'.

When the bus rolled to a halt, Stretch hopped eagerly down the steps to the sidewalk. He could already taste those sweet, sweet lemon bars, might even pick up a cinnamon roll for Edge while he was in. He took a moment to dump out the dregs of his morning coffee, might as well get a refill while he was here, and headed in.

The bell jangling cheerily overhead was the same as always, but there was nothing normal about the way the entire shop froze in their tracks when they saw him. Baristas and patrons alike stopped and stared, and Stretch froze right along with them, resisting the urge to glance behind him, cause he was pretty sure he was what they were looking at and not some other skeleton Monster that crept in on his heels.

“um, hi?” he tried, lifting a hand in an awkward wave.

That seemed to get the record playing again. Before he could even lower his hand, Debbie was around the counter, Jennie and Daniel at her heels, paying no mind to the line of people waiting at the counter. Then again, none of them looked put out by the barista parade, they only stood and watched as Debbie dashed up to him and flung both her arms around his ribcage, almost making him drop the garment bag. Jennie joined her, and Daniel, and Stretch only stood there bewildered, caged in Human arms and patting whatever heads and shoulders he could reach.

“um, hey, guys? sorry i haven’t been in, things have been a little weird.”

“We know, dear,” Debbie said finally ,and to Stretch’s horror, when she pulled away, she drew up her apron to wipe at her eyes. “We’ve been watching everything on the news. Oh, sweetie, how is Edge doing?”

Oh.

Oh, shit.

Well, fuck, he knew a few internet sleuths had figured out that Edge was one of the Monsters hurt even if he was such a stickler for privacy that his name wasn’t in any of the reports. Stretch hadn’t even considered that the people who knew Edge would be worried out of their skulls, fuck, he’d been home for almost a week, had no one bothered to let the Beanery in on it? What about Thomas at the book shop, he knew Edge, too...but no, he’d probably texted Andy.

Stretch abruptly realized the entire shop was waiting for an answer. Humans that he didn’t know by name, but whose faces he recognized, shop regulars who probably followed him on Twitter, nodding a greeting every time Stretch stopped in. Asgore hadn’t wanted him to post on Twitter about what happened because he was afraid it would open a can of worms and get people asking him questions that he probably shouldn’t answer.

(Which honestly, it wasn’t fair. Wasn’t his fault his fingers worked faster than his brain.)

But obviously radio silence on Twitter wasn’t the answer either, not from all the worried faces around him. He needed to have a chat with Asgore on that front, but first it was time for some damage control.

“He’s fine,” Stretch said, loud enough for everyone in the shop to hear, “seriously, he’s doing okay. he’s a little bang up, he’d got a temporary cast on one leg, but he’ll be up again with a coffee craving in no time.”

To his dismay, instead of being reassured, Debbie burst into full-fledged tears and hugged him again. He leaned down to wrap both arms around her, squeezing tight, until her sobs trailed away.

“I’m sorry, dear,” Debbie pulled away and grabbed a napkin from one of the tables, wiping at her eyes. “It’s only...i was so worried.”

“We were all worried,” Jennie put in. Debbie’s niece was like a younger, taller version of her, complete with her own tears. Behind her, Daniel was nodding along. “When we saw that awful video. But when we called the Embassy, they couldn’t tell us anything.”

Ah, shit, of course they wouldn't, especially not about Edge since he wasn’t supposed to be a public figure. And they probably hit Andy with a gag order, too, so he wouldn’t even be able to say much.

Welp. Stretch didn’t work for the Embassy, thanks, and Asgore only mentioned Twitter. If they didn’t want him talking to people’s faces, they should’ve sewn up any loopholes before they let him out on the street.

“he’s fine, i promise,” Stretch said firmly, then he reconsidered. “deb, do you have a cell phone?”

Debbie blinked, but pulled an iphone out of her pocket. It was older and the screen was cracked, and Stretch made a mental note to deal with that somehow, but that would be later. For now, he opened up her contact list and added his number, labeling it ‘Skeletor’s Second Cousin.’

As he typed, he said, “next time, call me, okay? not that i want a next time but, you get me. call, text, whatever. i’ll tell you what i can.”

Debbie nodded, still a little teary, and backed away enough to let Julia and Daniel get in another quick hug before they headed back behind the counter.

“Come on, let me get you a drink,” Debbie said briskly. She took hold of Stretch’s elbow, leading him up to the counter like a lost lamb, “You look like you’re on your way somewhere.” Stretch followed meekly along after her like a good little sheep. Not like letting her get in a little mom-ing was gonna hurt.

He allowed Debbie to steal his travel mug, watching as she worked her magic to fill it. “yeah, edge needs some of his pants altered if he’s gonna be able to wear them with a cast, so i’m headed down to the tailor.”

Debbie actually paused, lips pursed, “I see. Let me throw in an extra shot of espresso, I have a feeling you may need it.”

~~*~~

Not much time later, Stretch had a chance to really appreciate Debbie’s foresight.

He knew the Monster tailor, Bruno, as a casual sort of acquaintance but not so much professionally, not since he’d been fitted for his wedding tux. Stretch’s style tended towards either off the rack or out of Edge’s side of the closet, and that was about as far as he liked to think about clothes.

His husband, on the other hand, probably had his t-shirts professionally tailored. Not that Stretch was about to complain, heck no, not when he got to reap the benefits of that view.

But it did kinda leave him in the position to be standing awkwardly, listening to Bruno moan about the travesty he was about to commit on some perfectly good trousers.

“It won’t work!” Bruno declared, for about the fifth time if someone was counting, and Stretch really, really was. “There is barely enough material in his trousers for his legs, he expects me to maybe coax the silk worms into adding more for a cast?”

Stretch shrugged and took a sip of his coffee, munching on his last lemon bar as he watched the tailor pace. Everything on the overflowing tables rattled with every stomping step he took, the pictures on the walls hanging ever more crooked. Stretch couldn’t say he minded, it was kinda like getting a free show.

The sigh Bruno heaved was loud enough to shift all the pictures another inch, “The only way it might work is if I cut the seam all the way up the side and find a way for him to fasten them. The trousers won’t go over the cast, but he will at least be covered.”

“think velcro’s been proven to work,” Stretch offered idly. Even he shrank away from the look of pure distaste Bruno gave him, the void flickering in his vision as he almost shortcutted out to the sidewalk and to heck with the pants. Bruno was one of the rare Monsters who towered over him, with a pair of gleaming ivory fangs peeking out from his lips, the curling horns towering over his head well-polished. From the look of his shop, business was flourishing, which just proved that Human problems with Monsters wasn’t the way they looked.

“Is he planning on tearing them away in the middle of a meeting with heads of state?” Bruno sniffed. “Perhaps do a little dance for them?”

“uh...i hope not?” Stretch offered meekly. “i mean, probably should order a g-string too if that’s on the table.”

Bruno went on as if Stretch hadn’t said a word. “No, he is not. Hook and eye would work, buttons would be more secure, but.” He shook his head with grave misery, “No. he won't like it. No matter what I do, he won’t like any of it. No.” Bruno heaved a sigh worthy of any swooning Victorian heroine, sagging into a huge, squashy chair that creaked ominously. “I’ll do it, but I’m afraid he’s not going to like any adjustment I come up with. I certainly hope he doesn’t tell anyone he’s wearing one of my creations!”

“i’ll let him know to keep the business cards to himself for now.” Stretch leaned against the counter, plucking up a business card of his own to weave through his fingers. Oh, he was gonna regret asking, he knew it, but he was reluctantly curious. That might kill a cat, but hopefully skeletons got off for free. “okay, so, if what edge is asking for won’t work, what would you recommend?”

Bruno brightened instantly, illuminating like a newborn sun and clapped his huge hands with such exuberance that Stretch took a step back. “Ah, well! When it comes to something like a cast, there are a few options, oh, let me think!” He stroked a finger down one long fang, considering, “you both have such slender legs, but very shapely. Ah!” Stretch waited with morbid curiosity, almost expecting to see a bubble with the word ‘eureka’ come spilling out of the tailor’s ear. “I have it! I think he would be dashing in a business kilt!”

A what? “a kilt,” Stretch said, flatly. “that’s what you’re saying. that’s the big idea. not exactly original, is it.”

“Yes, yes, a kilt,” Bruno flapped an impatient hand at him, “and original isn't the question or suitcoats would have died out a hundred years ago! A sedate pattern, of course, nothing too flashy, not for Embassy work.” Yeah, as if that was Stretch’s big concern, that Edge might get stuck with something more appropriate for disco inferno than a business meeting. Then again, bell bottoms might work... “With a kilt cut jacket and tie, oh, yes, something in a dark wool, I think.” Bruno stood and marched over, Stretch bouncing along with every step, until he could lean in to whispered conspiratorially, “He’d look scrumptious and I don’t think I need to tell you that should be his natural state of being.”

“scrumptious.” Stretch repeated slowly, tasting the word. Yeah, okay, he kind of liked that one in the same sentence as Edge, he could warm up to this idea. “how long would it take to make something like that?”

Bruno’s expression turned into one from the sly family, his little smile widening to a toothy grin. “It’s entirely possible I have something in the works right now that might be suitable. If you’ll excuse the pun.”

Uh huh. He sure knew his clientele, didn’t he. “sold. let me know when i can pick it up.”

“I’ll have it done by the end of the week, along with the...trousers.” His distaste from the last word faded into a certain disturbing gleam that began to shine in Bruno’s eye and before Stretch could flee, he took hold of Stretch’s elbow, gripping firmly, “Now. Why don’t we see what I can do for you?”

“what? wait, no, i’m just here for edge!” Stretch tried, digging in his heels as Bruno began to pull. His sneakers squeaked on the tile as he slid along in the direction of the dressing rooms. “no, don’t! help! i don’t need new clothes!”

“Nonsense!” Bruno scoffed, “Everyone can use an addition to their wardrobe. Particularly when you come to me dressed like that,” He paused, his face twisting into a moue of pure disgust as he tutted over a perfectly decent sweatshirt and pair of track pants. “I couldn’t possibly let anyone see you leaving my shop this way. No, no,” He shook his head, tugging Stretch determinedly along. “My reputation won’t have it. Come now, let’s see what I have for you.”

Stretch gulped and cast a longing look at the door as he was hauled inexorably towards the dressing rooms.

Where was a damn explosion when you needed one?

-tbc-

[ladylillianrose]

You’ve Got SPRQS a Max Richman/Zoey Clarke Fanfiction

A/N: I'm so glad everyone is enjoying this idea! Thanks everyone for reading and for your comments!

Shoutout to my favorite beta/cheerleader aubreyrichman

These guys are all Austin Winsberg's property, I'll give them back when I'm done playing....maybe

Summary: CodeRedLeader and PianoMan chat some more

Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Zoey kept catching herself glancing at her SPRQ Watch, hoping for another message from PianoMan. She'd received messages from other users, but those were less than appealing. 

Work had been slow all morning, so she decided that it was her turn to initiate the conversation.

"What is it about anonymity that makes people behave like idiots?"  

 She worried her lip while pretending to focus on her monitor.

"I'm almost afraid to ask what happened…. but now you have me wondering."

Zoey couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face.

"You are apparently the only man with a brain and decorum on SPRQS."

"Not that I won't take the compliment, how have you come to this conclusion?"

"Oh, the usual route, collect relevant data, compare and analyze, compile findings."

He sent an emoji of a scientist and clipboard. " For science!"

Zoey giggled, "Exactly. After your message I received a few others and they left a lot to be desired."

"You mean they didn't immediately try and point out how Star Trek is far superior to Star Wars right from the start? Well then what's the point?"

She snorted, shaking her head. "Other than you being completely wrong about that, no they did not. They chose to go the more cliché route…. pick-up lines."

"People still use pick-up lines these days?"

"These guys did, and they were pretty terrible."

"Well come on let's hear them. You can’t not tell me!"

"The first one was: 'Well, here I am. So, what are your other 2 wishes?' " Zoey cringed as she typed it out.

"Yowch. 1990 called they want their line back."

"Oh, that was nothing, the next one was even worse: 'If you were a booger, I'd pick you first.' "

"Gross! What is he a 5-year-old?"

Zoey couldn't help but laugh, she felt better about the sleazy messages sharing them with someone.

Tobin and Max glanced over at her questioningly.

"Just thought of something funny from the podcast I was listening to earlier," she fibbed.

"Would that be the serial killer one? Cause, those are always a laugh riot." Max deadpanned.

Zoey stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to the task at hand.

"If you were a president, you'd be Babe-Raham Lincoln."

She heard Max start coughing as he inhaled his coffee wrong.

"Everything okay, Max?" She asked, mildly concerned.

Max waved his hand and drank some water. "Just down the wrong tube," he rasped.

Zoey arched her eyebrow at him.

"See, all good now," he said, taking another drink of water. "Just forgot how sippy lids work for a moment."

Zoey smiled and nodded at him.

"Okay, now I'm literally in tears from that one. Wow, that wins for most hilarious yet still terrible!"

"Right? It doesn't even make sense because they have no idea what I look like! I could have green skin for all they know!"

"Hey, Elphaba made green skin look good in Wicked."

"I wouldn't know, not a big musical or really for that matter much of a music person. Though, I've been learning more about music, unintentionally, as of late."

"Well, I'll have to record you some piano covers for you to help build on that budding music knowledge."

Zoey felt her face flush, he was going to send her songs. Sure, she could hear people's heart songs, but this was different. He was knowingly willing to share songs with her.

She sent back a grinning emoji and a music note, "I would like that."

"Don't get too excited, they'll probably be pretty rough."

"I don't mind, I look forward to listening to them."

He responded with a blushing emoji. "Careful Red, those kinds of comments are liable to have me spouting terrible pick-up lines."

"You wouldn't dare. There's no way to top the Babe-Rham Lincoln."

" I'm almost intimidated to try."

"Well, if I get anymore, I'll be sure to share them. At least this way I have someone to laugh about them with."

"What, you can't share these gems with your friends?"

"Only the one who signed me up even knows I'm on the app. And my best friend scoffed at the whole idea of a dating app. So nope, you're the only one I can share these delights with."

"Well, then I feel honored to be the chosen one. Only one person knows I'm on here too, and only because he wouldn't stop pressuring me about it. I joined to shut him up...but I have to say that I'm enjoying this far more than I expected."

Zoey flushed with pleasure, grinning.

"So am I."

"Zoey? Zoey?" She heard Leif trying to get her attention.

"What is it?"

"Did you finish checking the code I sent you? We're waiting for your go ahead to input it," he explained raising his eyebrows. 

Shit....She had gotten so caught up in her chat that she hadn't realized that Leif had completed the code and sent it to her an hour ago.

"I'm just finishing my run through now," she lied.

"Welp,duty calls! But talk soon yes?"  

"Of course. I'll send you a song later tonight, if you were actually interested in them, and not just trying to spare my feelings."

"Absolutely, I'm interested! I'll be eagerly awaiting your recording!"

Zoey closed the app, forcing herself to focus on work for the rest of the day.

After hunching over her desk for 5 hours straight, she leaned back and stretched letting out a loud groan.

 Max was standing next to her desk, backpack slung over his shoulder.

 "And, that's our cue to get out of here," he said. 

"Just one more section…" Zoey went to move her chair closer when Max stepped in front of her.

"Nope. It'll be here tomorrow, and it isn't anything that can't wait," he insisted. 

Zoey grumbled, knowing he was right. "Fine. I guess I can finish it tomorrow."

Max grinned, moving out of the way so she could grab her stuff.

"Any big plans for tonight?" He asked as they walked to the elevators. 

Zoey shrugged, "Just a quiet evening in. What about you?"

 "Just got to do some work on a personal project," Max responded. 

"Personal project? This is the first I'm hearing of it," Zoey glanced at him stepping into the elevator.

"Just something I came up with today. I'm pretty excited to start," he grinned.

"So, what is it?"

"I don't want to say yet, I'm not even sure if it will go anywhere. But if it does, I'll let you know," Max assured her.

Zoey frowned, Max usually told her everything, this was a new secretive side to him that she hadn't seen before. But he seemed very eager to begin, and besides he wasn't the only one with a secret.

"Well, good luck with your project," Zoey said, smiling. "I'm glad you're excited for something." 

Max grinned, his dimples showing. "It’s a great feeling!"

"See you tomorrow," Zoey said as they parted at the door.

"Meet you at the coffee shop?" Max asked.

 "If I'm not there, you should probably report me as missing, " she joked back. 

Max chuckled, "Night, Zo."

"Night, Max."

[httphopewrld]

netflix and chill | (f)

Surprisingly, some people don’t understand some modern code words. Sadly, you were one of them. 

 Pairing: boyfriend!namjoon x reader

Rating: no rating! welp, if you don’t like swearing, then skip over them, or skip over the fic

Genre: Fluff, no smut

Warnings: a couple of swears?

Word count:1k+

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Ever since Namjoon got into BTS, you both have changed- for the better? 

 To be honest, you were happy for him- of course, you were. Your long-term boyfriend had been training for God knows how long, and he finally achieved his goal. The members became his brothers, and he loved his fans with all his heart- possibly the only thing he hasn't broken.

 There was always this pit in your stomach, though. His practices were frequent, recordings for their album became a priority; and soon, your apartment for two became an apartment for one. 

 Both of you kept in contact. His personality could cheer you up on any day, and vice versa. You still called him your boyfriend, and he still called you his girlfriend. You see each other every week, at least once, and you were okay with that- because you knew he was trying his best.

 Then one week was skipped, after another. Not only was success becoming more frequent in Namjoon's life, but you had been accepted into your dream University. 

 Soon you both only exchanged texts and short calls.

   You heard Namjoon choke on water through the phone, "Pardon me?" And the sound of glass breaking in the background.

 People found it impossible, but somehow you had missed the meaning behind, 'Netflix and Chill'. It was practically everywhere in modern society: shirts, texts, phone calls, and the internet. To you, this saying was taken literally, and not as a sexual code.

 "I said: 'Netflix and Chill'. How many times do I have to say it?" You huffed annoyingly. "I haven't seen you in so long. Just come over as soon as possible, okay?" 

 "Y-Yeah. Sure." He replied with a slight crack to his tone. 

 You rolled your eyes and yawned. "Anyways-- I'll see you later." 

 "See you~" Namjoon chimed before hanging up.

 You stared at your phone for a few minutes. 

 What the hell is the matter with Joonie?

 You shook your head and placed a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

 . 

.

 You could feel the bursts of glances burn into your neck. Namjoon was clearly worried about something. He wasn't touching the popcorn on the coffee table, or the lychee drink you poured for the two of you. He was too busy biting his lip, twiddling his thumbs, or nervously glancing at the side of your face. 

 Before the silent war of anxious body language started, both of you decided on the movie “Kiki’s Delivery Service” from Ghibli Studios. You both liked the cute plot, and how aesthetically pleasing the scenery was. 

 Namjoon was chatty at first, answering all the question you asked about his band and whatnot. He even asked how your life was going, and how your studies were coming along. His deep tone made you feel like Jello- with comfort.

 Now, that you guys were halfway through the movie, he seemed stiff. His arms were tightly placed on his thighs, and his chest stuck out- like he was overdoing his posture. He ran distressed hands through his brown hair. 

 He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. His eyes followed your every movement: the way you ate the popcorn, or how you giggled or commentated on the movie. 

 "Y/N--" 

 "Yes?" You turned your head expecting to hear the reason behind him calling your name. But all you felt were lips on yours. 

 Shock froze your body in place. Namjoon seemed to be too into the moment, from his lip moving against yours, and the hands grazing your thighs. 

 Is this what he wanted this whole time? Is this why he was so nervous? B-Because he wanted to--

 "N-No." You placed your hands on his chest. 

 His lips hovered over yours. You could feel his eyelashes on your cheekbones. He slowly backed away without any words. 

 "Sorry." He mumbled with embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck. 

 "I- I don't think we're ready for this yet." You replied, looking at your lap.

 You threw your hands over your face. Your cheeks burned as the silence stretched on.

 "Do you know what, 'Netflix and Chill' mean?" Namjoon tried to look between your fingers, scanning your face. 

 "To hang out and watch Netflix?" His jaw was practically on the ground by the end of your sentence. He cleared his throat and closed his mouth. 

 "Ah, fuck." Namjoon rubbed his temples, "What am I going to do with you?" 

 "What does it mean?" You looked worriedly into his eyes, fear growing inside you. 

 This wasn't the first time you have used this phrase. You've asked your friends and family this question at least once, before. Why didn't you catch it? Their awkward chuckles, and hesitant replies. What made this saying so unique, that it made people feel uncomfortable?

 "To put it out bluntly--" Namjoon pressed his index fingers onto his lips, "It's a code to make out, or have sex." 

 You leaped away from him, "WHAT!" 

 "You know... Have the tv on... Block the noises of--" 

 "I get it!" You covered his mouth before he could continue any further. 

 You replayed all the encounters, using this phrase. You shook your head in disbelief.

 "It's not that bad." He gave you an unreliable grin, shrugging. 

 "I'm fucked! You don't know how many people I have said that too!" You rested a hand on your forehead. "That's why Yoongi ignored me for two months." 

 Namjoon laughed. 

 Yes, it was funny. Ha, it was hilarious.

 "What about we forget this ever happened. We can finish this amazing movie," He put his arm around your shoulders, pulling you into his chest, "and then we can transfer you into a different school." 

 "Joonie!" 

 "I'm just saying..." Namjoon pouted, leaning his head onto yours.