#what if they were soooo eighteen and cared so much but also don’t know anything about kids

[thebluestbluewords]

"Hey, Squeaks." 

Squeaky freezes. 

Mal sighs. She's not trying to scare the kid. She's only interested in being wicked and evil to the Auradon brats these days, and she's been actively trying to be friendly to the kids who are living in her house now. (Thanks, Evie, for that one). 

"At ease, tiny one," she commands. "I come in peace." 

Squeaky relaxes, one tiny, fractional inch at a time. His (their? The twins are basically tiny, silent shadows around the house so far, and Mal doesn't actually know what the kids go by, beyond allowing her crew to call them Squeaks and Squirms in an attempt to feel like they're friends) hand is hovering slightly in front of the fridge, which Mal, in her all-knowing wisdom of being eighteen and old enough to understand at least some things, assumes means he's hungry. 

"You here for food?" Mal guesses, and is rewarded with a tiny, fractional nod. "Cool, me too. You want to scavenge for leftovers again, or should we be brave and try cooking?" 

Squeaky shrugs, a tiny motion. 

Right. They've had the twins here at Evie's place for all of a week so far, and nobody except for Dizzy has been able to get them to talk. No reason to think they're going to start now, at least not with Mal. She's the big mean princess now, the one who's connected to the scary Auradon adults who keep wanting to do things like poking and prodding at them and taking blood and doing other awful things, like giving them school aptitude tests, which made Squirmy cry and Squeaky go very red and flustered and unsure what to do with his hands. Mal's the one who gets to drag them to fun things like that, so it's really not a surprise that they're not talking to her now. 

"Well, I'm going to make chicken nuggets," Mal decides, moving deliberately, so that it's very obvious where she's going. “And apple slices. Have you had apples yet?" 

This gets a nod. 

"D'you want me to make some for you too?" 

Another nod. 

Cool. Great. They've progressed to communication, which is wonderful. The sort of progress that should be celebrated. Preferably with cake, but chicken nuggets and apple slices will have to do, as Mal’s baking skills are not nearly as solid as her skills in other things, like magic and knives and being scary around the real princess-types, who mostly treat her like the monster she is to anyone not from the isle. 

The celebratory apples (and nuggets, for that matter) are in the fridge. Squeaky, inconveniently, is still standing frozen in front of the fridge. Mal, in order to do her duty as one of the oldest people in the house, needs access to the fridge, because it's pretty fucking hard to heat up food when you can't get to said food, and her magic is good, but it's not good enough to levitate a bag of frozen meat out of the freezer, through the door, and into her hand so she can put them in the microwave. 

Scratch that. She's putting these in the oven. They've had successful communication. Multiple nods. Basically a whole conversation. This is deserving of quality oven nuggets, and maybe even chocolate milk on the side.  

[spiked-tea-writing]

and they were roommates?!

SapnapxFem!Reader

Summary: Imagine being in love with your roommate, couldn't be you.

Pronouns: She/her

Warning: Swearing

Word Count: 2.3k

A/n: I don’t watch or know anything, I just like these people and I had a concept. Also, he and Dream aren’t roommates in this for the sake of I can’t figure that out. Also also, my timeline is probably fucked but who cares

The dynamic in the apartment was...interesting to say the least

In the two years of living together, it had shifted a lot

In the beginning, you and Sapnap had been... less than cordial to each other

Both eighteen, fresh out of high school, off to college thinking that you knew everything.

There was lots of fighting, to say the least.

All of the “No it’s your turn to vacuum”, and “I swear to god Sapnap I will punt you halfway across the world if you eat my pineapple again”

The only reason you didn’t slit each other’s throats was that if the other person was dead, who would pay rent?

It was the summer before college started at the time, and you were working long hours minimum wage so coming]’/ home to an annoying prick caused a crap ton of conflict

After a few months of being little bitches to each other, y’all got piss drunk in the apartment and it all just sorta fell apart

Got that good drunk therapy, spilling your deepest secrets

(y’all were underage but shhh)

So by the time college started, the two of you had become actual friends and started enjoying each others company

A few months into the friendship, you encouraged him to post the video of “Minecraft, but it’s Raining Cats and Dogs” on a whim

Lmao little did you know what you had created (we’ll get to that later)

You mocked his train of thought constantly, laughing at the timing of it all.

“Ahhh yes, I am Sapnap, the genius who thought it’d be great to become a YouTuber while in my first year of college.”

He’d always just laugh and roll his eyes, playfully shoving you while stealing your chips.

The next few months were a haze of studying, work, and him.

It was truly a friendship of convenience since you guys were so busy, him starting his youtube career, and you working restaurants, then school on top of that, it was just easy to find friendship in your roommate.

Of course, he had his close friends which he spoke to over the internet, and you had your friends from back home, but as for college, it really was only him.

You guys had a fun time just hanging around the apartment, and it became so easy to be friends with him

And it WAS truly platonic (we’ll get back to that as well)

The best thing he brought to the friendship was his animals

You got on fabulously with Cash and the cats

They were all so cuddly and honestly loved you more than him lmao

You guys were just trying to get degrees and not be too stupid, was that too much to ask???

Well to a certain 2020, it was

The beginning of that year was great.

He was sorta realizing that he liked putting himself on social media, but on top of that, it seemed like a great start to a year.

February brought him to twitch, which you loved

You found it hilarious how he would just sorta play games and have people watch him live.

But you were incredibly supportive, as a friend, of course

He really liked it so, you tried to ignore the shouting at three am, and the loud anthems at night

Sure you’d give him hell in the morning, but why kill his fun?

March started great, as it was his birthday.

You got him a glittery lighter as a gag, but it was the perfect gift for a broke-ass college student

Then a certain pandemic came a-knockin’ on y’all’s door

It was a hard hit on both of you.

An executive decision was made that you two would stay put, but being away from your families was incredibly tough.

That spring was the birth of The SMP.

It brought him so much joy, which in turn made you happier.

The rest of the school year was a blur of zooms and test

Nick nearly killed you on multiple occasions when you made fun of the fact that he was learning computer science over the computer or made him help you figure out what the fuck zoom was since it was tangentially related to his major

“SAP HELP ME YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS ITS YOUR FUCKING MAJOR!!!”

“NO, IT’S- AHHHHHHHHH”

Yall got more than a handful of noise complaints shhhh

That summer was fill was spent trying to fill the time in weird ways

Note to self, he can’t cook (which you learned the hard way)

Yall spent so much time trying to cook and bake, then sweating off the calories working out with The Fitness Marshall lmao

As sucky as the situation was, that summer was so incredibly fun for the both of you, and truthfully the only arguments were about what music to blast

“Y/n I swear if I listen to Cosmicandy one more time I will drown you.”

“Well if I hear American Idiot one more time someone’s knee caps are getting harvested.”

(that argument was settled with Elton John.)

When school started up again that fall, something shifted

After a year of actual friendship, you guys were no longer just friends, and the tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife

You had watched every single one of his streams since day one, but within 2 seconds of his Love or Host, you felt the need to hurl for some peculiar reason

It was bizarre because there was no way you could ever like him, of course not.

Within the apartment, you guys suddenly got a lot more touchy, but only because it was getting cold with winter and all that jazz.

It wasn’t because yall were secretly in love, what is this, a romcom?

The number of times you guys woke up on the couch, definitely not cuddling was too many to count

You started sitting in his room while he streamed, definitely not watching him with heart eyes because of how excited he got

He always had a pot of coffee full and a 6-pack of monster in the fridge since he knew you ran on spite and caffeine, and definitely not so that he could spend more time with you in the early hours of the morning.

The laundry started getting all mixed around, resulting in just sharing any sweats, hoodies, or socks.

The same thing went for food.

No longer was anything labeled with a name, if it was in the fridge, it was fair game (unless there was a post-it because come on, yall weren’t monsters)

But no, y’all were just roommates, not dating, lets make that clear.

Feelings? We don’t know her.

This entire time, his friends have had to hear about you rip.

But they got front row seats to your relationship development

“OMG my roommate is the worst she ate all of the frozen strawberries”

“Y/n kidnapped Storm all day while she studied and I thought I lost the fucking cat asjvdk”

“I had to run down and talk to the landlord because we dropped a pot of pasta sauce all over the carpet and couldn’t get the damn stain out.”

“She is so nice in preparation for a family dinner zoom, she ran out to the local Filipino food place and pick stuff up.”

“Sorry I’m late I overslept and didn’t want to wake up Y/n.”

They weren’t stupid, and could clearly see how whipped he was.

Dream and Geroge teased him about it constantly.

“Woah, calm down Sap, you should probably tell her you love her before you propose.”

“Yeah Dream’s right, it’s kinda weird that you’re living together before ever dating.”

He always flushed and denied it with a shake of his head.

He wasn’t into you, are they crazy?

Quackity and Karl messed with him in more unorthodox ways

There are a solid number of clips where they are fake crying over how he’s cheating on them, and even more tweets to match

It only got worse when you met them accidentally.

He was chatting post-stream on a video channel with George, Dream, Karl, and Quackity, and just his luck, you came into his room.

Like of all the times you could walk in, it was the time he was with his five closest friends but I digress

“Yo I got some extra tips yesterday so I picked up some extra Red Bull if you want to do one of your weird all-nighter streams.”

“Y/n I’m on channel.”

“Oh shit sorry my b. Catch.”

All the guys heard was a thud and a groan from Sapnap as the six-pack hit him in the chest.

Dream was the one to recognize your name.

“WAIT IS THAT Y/N I WANT TO MEET THEM!”

You could hear Dream’s voice through his headphones

“Sap… who is that?”

“No one. I’ll be out in a sec to help with dinner.”

You could hear a British voice come through.

“Oh so we are no one now, huh.”

Another voice piped through.

“Common... ¿Qué intentas ocultar?”

You cut in.

“Your headset it shit my guy. I can hear everything. I’m down to talk to them.”

He let out a groan.

“Fine. But you’re gonna have to do the dishes tonight.”

“Deal. Now move.”

“What? No.”

“Fine bitch.”

You collapsed onto his lap, plucking the headphones off of him.

“Hello, Sapnap’s friends. I am Y/n. A pleasure to meet y’all. Can you hear me?”

You heard a series of laughs through the headset, and a voice came through.

“Yes, we can see you too. I’m Karl, it’s so nice to finally meet his girlfriend.”

A blush rose on both of your faces, and another voice came through.

“Yeah, we’ve heard lots about you. Plus we can’t see your face in that picture Sap sent us. I’m Quackity”

That remark stopped your embarrassment in its tracks.

“What the fuck? How do you guys know me? I’m not even his girlfriend? And what picture?”

Sapnap grabbed your arm to calm you down as another voice cut in, but his one you recognized as his friend Dream.

“Hey, it’s okay. He just talks about you a bit, and the picture I believe was of you holding like three cats with like a red bull can on your head.”

“Jesus fucking christ why do they have that photo??”

He looked guilty but chuckled.

“Because that photo is a damn masterpiece.”

Karl’s voice came back in with a giggled.

“Soooo, Y/n we’d love to hear about you. Specifically anything funny or embarrassing that you have learned by living with him.”

Sapnap let out a groan from behind you as you went off.

“WELL lemme tell y’all, he has no cooking knowledge, well I mean, now he does, but one time, about a year ago, I had I been keeping a pot of water boiling for about an hour, soft boiling eggs, cooing noodles, blanching bok choy, etc. but this fucking genius is like ‘oH tHe HaNdLe Is StIcKiNg OuT. LeMmE mOvE iT wItH mY bArE hAnD.’ Needless to say, he burnt the crap outta his hand and kept the bag of frozen blueberries on it for the entire night. It took me like a solid five seconds to actually help him because I was laughing.”

By the time you had finished that story, you had seen Nick roll his eyes like 5 five times while the rest of the guys were wheezing.

“Yeah, well remember the time you were trying to imitate Rapunzel after we had watched it over Zoom with my sister, and you swung the edge of the frying pan into our head and got a nasty bump on it? At least I moved quick enough to put some ice on it.”

“Ice? It was the damn leftover Slushy that I had been freezing.”

“True, but you got to drink it after, so it was a win-win situation.”

“Sap, I had a bump the size of a golfball coming off of my temple. There was no winning.”

“Fine, you’re just making me sound like such a shit roommate.”

“No that’s not true, you do all of the talking to the landlord, and you at least tried to muffle the noise when you stream.”

“I guess that’s true, but you do like 80% of the cleaning.”

“Yeah but only because you’re working. Plus in the past 6 months, you’ve made coffee every morning, AND made sure I was taking my meds.”

“Those things aren’t that hard and I do it to make sure you don’t die because I lo- care about you.”

“What?”

“What?”

You heard Dream’s wheeze laugh and remembered that you guys were still on call.

“Smooth.”

You both went red, and Sap moved his arm around you to leave the channel.

The next few moments were complete torture, the two of you just sitting in silence.

You were wondering if he meant what he was about to say and he was scared that you had heard it.

He was the one to break the silence. (mind you you’re still sitting on his lap lmao)

“I’m sorry about that.”

You weren’t sure how to respond. Should you ask him if he meant it? Because that wouldn’t be that bad. Or just pretend it never happened. Nah that’d be hella awkward. Or-

“I love you too.”

“You what?”

Wow, okay your brain is being a little bitch rn, but fuck it. Balls to the walls baby.

“I love you, and I have for a while now. I just want you to know.”

You finally looked him in the eye, and he was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

“Thank god. I love you, and nearly fucking told you for the first time in front of my friends accidentally. Damn, I’m smooth.”

You laughed and he smiled wider.

“Can I kiss you?”

After a quick nod he swooped in and holy hell his lips felt great. His arm wound around your waist and your hands made their way to his jaw as he pulled you closer to him.

The only thing playing in your mind was “and they were roommates”

[kpopfanfictrash]

fu-

Author: kpopfanfictrash

Pairing: Jungkook

Word Count: 1,983

Rating: 18+ (sexual imagery)

Summary: An accompanying drabble to Five Dates. This drabble takes place after the events of Five Dates and is Jungkook + accidentally teaching Namjoon’s child a swear word.

[ PART OF MY JUNGKOOK BIRTHDAY DRABBLE GAME ]

Staring at the phone held in his palm, Jungkook contemplated one of the most difficult quandaries of his existence, including that time you asked if he liked your new haircut.

The answer was yes, by the way. The answer was always yes, unless you hinted at no and even then, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Jungkook’s current quandary involved you but was far more serious than any haircut-related inquiry. All you’d sent Jungkook was a singular text. Five words, eighteen letters in total.

Y/N: the line is super dark [8:34 PM]

Re-reading the text, Jungkook felt utter despair. To anyone else, it might seem nonsensical, but you’d been trying to conceive for nearly three months and a dark line meant you were ovulating. This would be their third attempt at getting you pregnant; a feat certainly not helped by your irregular cycle. Ovulation tests at least gave a window of when you were fertile.

You’d tested yourself this morning and the line had been fairly light but that had apparently changed over the course of the day. Jungkook chewed on his lower lip, staring at his phone and unsure what to do. Based on what you’d written in your baby planner, he needed to drive home right now and fuck you.

Except, of course, he was currently baby-sitting for Namjoon.

Dejectedly, Jungkook plopped down on the couch. Namjoon’s daughter was around eighteen months now and had been asleep for nearly thirty minutes, but Namjoon and his wife wouldn’t be home for hours.

Shoving a hand through his hair, Jungkook let the strands fall where they may to glumly text you back.

Jungkook: I’m babysitting for Namjoon tonight, remember? ☹️ [8:36 PM]

Y/N: shit [8:36 PM]

Y/N: what time will you be home? I need to get up early tomorrow for that book drive ☹️☹️ [8:37 PM]

Jungkook: Namjoon said around 11 :/ his mom gave them tickets to an opera or something and they promised to make an appearance [8:37 PM]

Y/N: 11?? That’s soooo late [8:38 PM]

Y/N: you could’ve cum inside me twice by then [8:38 PM]

Jungkook: fuck, Y/N…. [8:39 PM]

His heart raced, leaning back on the sofa. Nothing in the world made him so hard so fast as the image of your cunt, stuffed to the brim until his cum dripped down the sides. Jungkook had been treated to the image often over the past few months and didn’t think he’d ever get sick of it.

The whole ‘baby planner’ thing had thrown a kink in romance, but Jungkook tried hard to ensure you lived in the moment. You were a planner at heart and tended to get caught up in how long it was taking, why you hadn’t conceived yet – Jungkook assured you these things took time. You may as well enjoy all the sex before you had an actual child to take care of.

A slightly dreamy smile crossed Jungkook’s face at the thought. He couldn’t wait to be a dad. It was part of the reason he baby-sat for Namjoon as often as he did. Namjoon was the first of their friend group to have a kid and, as exhausted as he seemed, Jungkook had never seen his friend so happy.

It was clear from the way he looked at his daughter and wife that Namjoon was entirely smitten. Jungkook wanted that with you – he wanted a family, another player on their team.

Forcing himself to stand from the couch, Jungkook began to tidy Namjoon’s place. The more distracted he was, the less he’d think about you spread out on the bed, cum dripping from the sides of your used pussy.

Jungkook paused in his cleanup, emerald throw-pillow in hand to squeeze shut his eyes. Fuck. Shaking his head, he opened his eyes as his phone dinged again.

Y/N: couldn’t someone else come and finish babysitting? :) [8:41 PM]

Y/N: jimin, maybe? [8:41 PM]

Y/N: or Seokjin? [8:41 PM]

Jungkook hesitated, but already knew the answers to your questions. Jimin was out of town and Seokjin had posted a story on Instagram about date night. Picking up a blanket and stacking toy, Jungkook exited the room to enter Namjoon’s apartment.

Apartment was a loose term; Namjoon and his wife had the entire floor of the building. Jungkook paused outside the nursery, listening to hear if anything was amiss. The door was open partway, allowing for light to spill in from the hall. Jungkook poked his head in to see their daughter snuggled under her blankets.

Smiling softly, Jungkook stepped in and placed the blanket on top of the rocker. He set the stacking toy in the toy chest and saw you’d texted again. Pulling his phone from his pocket, Jungkook shielded the screen with one hand to open the message.

His heart lodged in his throat when he saw you’d sent a photo of you sprawled on the bed, black lingerie on. A low, frustrated whine left his throat.

“Fuck,” Jungkook said sadly.

“Fuck?” garbled a tiny voice in the darkness.

Jungkook froze.

Eyes wide, he turned to see Namjoon’s daughter standing, tiny hands clutching the bars of her crib. She had just been asleep – when had she managed to do that?! As Jungkook began to panic and hope she hadn’t really heard, she let out a bright laugh and bounced.

“Fuck,” she said, clear as day. “Fuck!”

Jungkook slowly closed his eyes. He was toast. Namjoon’s daughter could barely articulate what she wanted for dinner, but now had the capacity to absorb swear words with ease.

“No,” he groaned, opening his eyes. Rushing forward, he dropped to his knees at her crib. “No, baby, no. We don’t like that word, right? It’s a bad word. You’re not bad! You’re good! You’re a super-sweet angel, who –”

“Fuck!”

Jungkook slowly hung his head. “We’re doomed,” he muttered.

Down the hall to the front of the apartment, Jungkook heard the elevator ding. Double shit – like he’d told you, Namjoon and his wife weren’t supposed to be home for hours.

“Jungkook?” Namjoon’s voice called from far away. “Where are you?”

Starting to panic, Jungkook lifted his head. “Okay,” he whispered, giving the toddler a pleading stare. “This is just between you and me, right? Right?”

All he got in return was a round-eyed look and happy coo, so Jungkook had to hope that meant yes in baby-speak. Jungkook heard footsteps in the hall.

“Jungkook?” Namjoon poked his head into the nursery, squinting at the darkness to find Jungkook on the floor. “What’re you doing?”

Jungkook hastily pushed himself to his feet. “Nothing!” He beamed widely at Namjoon. “I just thought I heard her moving, so I came in to check and –”

“Fuck!”

Jungkook stopped in his tracks at the word happily chirped behind him. Namjoon’s eyes widened in horror, his gaze darting to his daughter who stood in her crib. Jungkook, also wide-eyed, stayed where he was.

Slowly, Namjoon returned to Jungkook. “Was that…” He sounded strangled. “What did my daughter just say?”

“Uh…” Jungkook gave him a weak smile. “Funk?”

“Fuck!”

Jungkook squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m so sorry,” he groaned.

“Did you…” Namjoon inhaled. “My daughter can barely speak in full sentences and now one of those sentences is going to include that?”

Before Jungkook could respond, Namjoon’s wife appeared behind him in the hall. She wore a flowy, floor-length dress and crystalline earrings. When she saw Jungkook, she waved.

“Hi, JK!” Her smile widened. “Thanks so much for baby-sitting. Sorry we’re home early – the opera was such a bore. I convinced Namjoon to leave as soon as his mom saw us. I missed my angel,” she sighed, entering the room to cross to the crib.

Jungkook reached out to stop her, but before he could –

“Fuck!”

Namjoon’s wife halted, blinking in surprise at the crib. Then, against all reason, she started to laugh. Both shoulders shook, her right hand coming up to cover her mouth and hold in her mirth.

Both Jungkook and Namjoon stared.

“Oh my gosh,” his wife laughed, bending over the crib. “Is that what you learned tonight, hm, pretty girl?”

Jungkook watched in total astonishment as Namjoon’s wife tucked her daughter in, smoothing her hair to brush a kiss to her forehead. When she straightened and turned, she seemed mostly amused.

Finding Jungkook, she arched a brow. “Your handiwork, I presume?”

“I’m so sorry.” Jungkook kept his voice to a whisper, not wanting to wake their daughter again. “It was an accident, I swear.”

Again, Namjoon’s wife grinned. “It’s fine,” she said, waving them into the hall. “Let me guess – Joon freaked, huh?” Her husband adopted a guilty expression. “She’s a toddler, she’ll forget this by next week. And if she doesn’t, then she’ll have something for show and tell when she starts preschool, huh?”

She laughed at their shocked expressions, reminded Namjoon to pay Jungkook for baby-sitting and then left to wash up.

Namjoon stood alone in the hall with Jungkook, who frowned. “Were you supposed to be paying me this entire time?” he asked, turning to Namjoon.

“I’ll get you a pizza or something,” Namjoon said stiffly.

Despite his wife’s words, he still looked somewhat pained and Jungkook’s shoulders dropped.

“I really am sorry,” he said again. “I know your wife said everything was fine, but I am. It was an accident – I didn’t think she was awake!”

Namjoon shook his head slowly, starting to smile.

“Ah, it’s fine,” he said with a laugh. As he walked them towards the front door, he glanced curiously at Jungkook. “What happened, though? Stub your toe on one of her toys?”

“Does that happen often?”

“More times than I can count.”

Jungkook laughed. “Nothing like that. I was just texting Y/N.”

Namjoon’s brows shot upwards. “Is something wrong?”

“No, um…” Jungkook rubbed the back of his neck. “Actually, the opposite.”

They came to a stop at the elevator and Namjoon turned to face him. He had an amused look on his face as he pressed a button. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah. We’re, uh…” Jungkook glanced over his shoulder. “We’re trying.”

Namjoon’s expression became almost comical. “You are? Shit, JK, that’s amazing!” Reaching out, he pulled Jungkook into a tight hug. When he finally let go, Namjoon grinned. “Damn, I can’t wait for there to be another dad in the group.”

“I mean, we’re only trying,” Jungkook hastened. “Y/N isn’t pregnant yet. She’s actually ovulating right now, which is why I was swearing. She wanted me to come home and – you probably don’t want to know all this,” he said, cutting himself off at the look on Namjoon’s face.

A look Jungkook read completely wrong, as it turned out.

“What are you waiting for?” Namjoon blurted as the elevator arrived. He practically shoved Jungkook inside. “Ovulation is no joke, man! Get the fuck home and put a baby in Y/N!”

From somewhere in the apartment, Namjoon’s wife called, “Language, Joon!”

Namjoon turned in surprise. “Really?” he called back. “I thought we could say that word now. You know, since the cat’s out of the bag? Anyways,” he said, returning to Jungkook. “Get out of here!”

Shaking his head, Jungkook stepped onto the elevator. “Okay. Weird, but thanks! And sorry again!”

As he waited for the elevator doors to close, Jungkook heard Namjoon leave and pulled out his phone to text you back.

Jungkook: coming home now xx [8:55 PM]

Jungkook: Namjoon and his wife hated the opera, left early [8:55 PM]

Jungkook: think there’s still time for twice tonight? [8:55 PM]

You answered almost immediately.

Y/N: I’ve always liked a man with ambition ;) love you. Hurry home xx [8:56 PM]

kpopfanfictrash, 2020. Do not copy or repost without permission.

[teentitwns]

soooo, as you know i wrote some bbrae fanfictions and, this one, especifically, called “all you had to do was stay” (yes, taylor swift’s song) was published in 2017 but i deleted after sometime because im little lazy and the history always seems easily in my mind.

anyway! i decided to rewrite this fanfiction and the first chapter is already posted on the brazilian website that i use (spirit fanfics), so why not put in here too?

please, remember that im brazilian and my english is a little broken - sorry for the mistakes you’ll find on the text.

well, thats it. im really nervous right now and insecure. i hope you like it and, maybe, i can post the fanfiction on ao3 or another website.

_______________

The protective dome around Raven was totally useless and, like her friends, she knew it.

She was there, standing in the middle of the contraption built by Cyborg, with all her vital signs being recorded on the computers that occupied a large part of the room, beeping together with the devices that showed her brain waves.

Everything had been perfectly assembled and positioned so that she had the best protection that anyone could have in the face of what was about to happen, but all those technological tools made her feel like a laboratory rat, studied in vain to discover that in the end the experience had gone wrong again.

She sighed loudly and propped her elbows on her knees, resting her face in one hand; she no longer cared about floating.

She felt physically and mentally drained to use her powers in something as unnecessary as floating, and she didn't need to be inches from the ground at that moment.

In fact, it was better to have contact with the earth, with the concrete floor. At least she would be sure that she was still alive, that the world was fine and whole.

Raven let out a loud snort and huffed impatiently, her eyes roaming the room until they found the door, waiting, miraculously, for one of the other Titans to enter. She had been inside that dome for hours and she couldn't take it anymore - loneliness was good when chosen willingly, not out of obligation.

To her despair, in addition to the blatant private prison that was happening there, the kidnapping, or anything else of that level, the situation made terrible flashbacks go through her head, making her remember Slade, the brand of Scath , the end of the world and, consequently, Trigon.

Why did everything have to be so similar? It seemed that karma was acting exactly the same as it had on her sixteenth birthday, creating a tedious and scary looping. She never considered herself a fan of automatic repetitions anyway.

Unconsciously, she took her left hand into the pocket of her midnight blue cloak in hopes of finding a specific object inside it, but this time, she had no lucky coin to cling to and consider as an amulet. She was alone, forgotten, practically left to die, just as she should have been two years ago, on the fateful day when Trigon’s Prophecy almost came true.

The empath, a “witch” as many called her, allowed herself to laugh with mockery. She hated feeling sorry for her own tragic life, but she couldn't escape the pitiful thoughts she was having. She probably didn't think differently from what her friends had in mind - she was just a poor girl, victim of circumstances, who was not to blame for being the fruit of the forbidden, unhealthy relationship between a human and an interdimensional demon. She was not to blame for being “Daddy's darling”, the one chosen to bring him to Earth for the second time, since she was a poorly raised daughter and prevented him the first time.

Now, at eighteen, she wouldn't be as lucky as she was at sixteen.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos… Azarath Metrion Zinthos…”, she closed her eyes and started to meditate, with nothing else to do. “Azarath Metrion Zinthos…”

“Raven!"

She opened her eyes with a start, facing Beast Boy. Awkwardly, he spread his hands on the thick glass of the dome, breathing heavily.

“Great.", She thought. “Of all the people that Robin could send, he chose the most restless."

" What are you doing here?", she asked.

“Dude, isn't it obvious? We’re doing it wrong! ”, Beast Boy waved his hands compulsively. “I mean, it's your father! There is no one better to stop him than you!”

“If I leave here it will be easier to get to Earth."

“I really don't want to be pessimistic, but he's already here, mama."

“Beast Boy..."

“It worked last time, didn't it? What good will it do you to be stuck in that dome? The world will end anyway!”

“Weren't you the one who was upbeat until two seconds ago?"

“I still am!"

“Does Robin know you're here?"

“…yes."

“I don’t believe that."

“Of course I told him,", the shapeshifter scratched the back of his head, causing his newly acquired muscles to start filling his uniform to appear. “I just don't know if he paid attention.”, He gave a nervous smile.

“It doesn't count as a warning."

“Have you never been told that what counts is the intention?"

Raven rolled her eyes and uncrossed her legs, standing up. She walked over to where Beast Boy was, touching the dome with her fingertips. He smiled broadly, running to the nearest computer and typing in the code that would free her.

When the dome barriers disappeared, Raven adjusted the hood on her head, thinking about the possibilities that surrounded her. Beast Boy was right, after all. Trigon was already on Earth, like the first time, and she would not be of much help if she were trapped, safe and sound, while her friends killed themselves to save the world.

“I knew you'd be up for it!" He celebrated, approaching her.

“It wasn't your worst idea."

“I'm smart, you underestimate me too much."

“I must have my reasons for that, right?

“Taking into account my discussions about tofu being the best food in the world can’t be considered as a reason.”

“No?”

“We all have our childish moments.”

“And you have your adult moments.”, she said.

“Nothing for having released you, I’m at your service.

“Where are they?”

“Downtown.”

“Excellent.”

“Raven”, Beast Boy called her when she started to leave. “Are you ready to go?”

“You don’t?”

“It's just… You have nothing to bring you luck.”

“I don't believe in luck.”, she lied, ignoring the thought that she had been wishing for a lucky charm a few minutes ago.

“Why not?”

“I make my own luck.”

“But it's always good to have help, isn't it?”

“Come on, Beast Boy.”

He shook his head negatively and approached her, holding her arm firmly and preventing her from getting away. The difference in height between them remained almost nil, with Raven looking a little taller from a distance because of the hood.

She frowned and looked at him without understanding, trying to pull her arm out of his grip, uncomfortable with the position they were in.

“It's just…”, Beast Boy started to speak. “I shouldn't be here and I know it. You are always so focused and correct that you even embarrass me for acting that way, but, last time, you had the coin I gave you and we won.

“I don’t know where it is.”, Raven lied, lowering her head to hide the blush on her cheeks. Some of her emotions were manifested in Nevermore, reminding her of the small passion she held for him. Passion, that, that she was sure that she would never be reciprocated. He was not a philanderer, he had never dated anyone after Terra, but he was not unaware of love affairs like her. She had a little more experience, even though she was also small. “We can't keep others waiting.”

“I can't let you go without an amulet.”

“There is no such thing as luck, Beast Boy! How many times have I told you that we need to run after what we want?”

“Many.”

“And none of them fixed on your brain?”

“Apparently no.”

“I should have imagined.”

“Why can't you give me a credit?”

“You are acting like a child who believes in Santa Claus.”

“And you're being cruel to me.”, he complained. “I thought you stopped that a while ago.”

“I stopped. Are we going to battle or not?”, Raven asked impatiently. “The world is about to end!”

“I know!”

“Then let me go!”

“I can't let you leave here without an amulet!”

“So give me this shit!”

Raven's words echoed around the room, and Beast Boy smirked, as if he had been waiting for this ever since they started arguing.

Such nonsense fights and quick discussions were not new to them, who were used to being awkward a few times a day, always for stupid reasons. However, that time, the shapeshifter had a purpose and, knowing that Raven would play the game, he put his idea into practice, which ended up working very well, thank you.

Raven shook her head and shrugged, silently asking if he wouldn't give her anything. She was waiting for a frog charm or other coin, but all she received was a warm kiss on the mouth, which made her blow up the nearest computer monitor.

The touch of Beast Boy's lips on his made her close her eyes instantly, her body and mind embracing the fact that she wanted that kiss - she had even been waiting for him for a long time, having fantasized the moment several times in the stillness of his. room.

On the other hand, Beast Boy didn't explode at all, but he felt his whole body vibrating. Her cheeks were as flushed as Raven’s, and it had taken him a long time to have the courage to kiss her.

The kiss could not be considered "worthy of a movie" because the two were too tense to give themselves up completely. They did not know where to put their hands and neither should they do it; A light in their heads blinked incessantly, reminding them that the world was ending while they were kissing, and billions of people were at risk.

It could be considered an ordinary kiss, but for Raven and Beast Boy, it meant much more than that.

They separate after a few seconds, unable to exchange a direct look. Beast Boy cleared his throat and Raven clung more tightly to her cloak, almost disappearing inside it.

“Raven”, Beast Boy smiled, making her look him in the eye quickly. Without breaking eye contact, he simply stuck a five-cent coin in her hand. Like old times. “Good luck.”

—————————————-

ok, i had no idea that the text would lose the diagramming!!! i wrote this on my iphone notes, sorryyyy

[honeytea8]

Teenage Fever • Guido Mista/Reader

A/N: Shout out to this fic, man! I will probably never finish you for reasons unknown. But at least I’m posting you here instead of letting you collect dust in my Google Drive (it was supposed to be a 90′s theme, and yes, the title’s a Drake song, but this ain’t about that lmao)

Word Count: 850

Summary:  “You are beautiful in a way he thinks is too complex for his simple vocabulary; he struggles to qualify it.”

Warnings: Reader’s bra is mentioned...but that’s it, I promise.

The sky is dark and cloudless like a blanket of pitch black. The weather feels warm, so much so, that he forgoes his favorite striped hoodie in favor of a loose cropped tee and a pair of corduroy dungarees. The night is quiet for the most part, only the sounds of crickets, cicada and scurrying wildlife. With the car parked on a hill overlooking the city, even the sounds of passing vehicles are muted background noise. 

Mista watches you from the corner of his eye, as you’re both laid out in the back of his dad’s pickup truck, tucked safely underneath a quilted blanket that may or may not be giving him a rash. 

He isn’t speaking and you aren’t either, more focused on the tamagotchi you just bought from that convenience store near his house. 

You do that a lot—buy trinkets, that is. Lisa Frank notebooks, Pokémon key-chains, *NSYNC merch, and anime stickers. 

But that’s not really what matters right now. You’re free to indulge in your whimsies, and he’d gladly spend his savings on getting you those Doc Martens you’ve been begging for since last winter. He’ll buy you anything you want, as long as it grants him the opportunity to see your smile. 

That’s the greatest part. And every time he sees it, Mista is enraptured at how the slope and dip of your nose blends seamlessly into your cupid’s bow. 

You are beautiful in a way he thinks is too complex for his simple vocabulary; he struggles to qualify it. He wants to let you know that he likes you, and that he thinks you're so smart, and cool and funny and nice—but the words don’t ever come out. He fumbles too much, or gets excited too easily. His mouth moves faster than his brain can process sometimes and the words just don’t sound as good as they did when he originally thought them. 

Funnily enough, you don’t seem to mind his blunders. You usually just quirk a brow or shake your head with a confused laugh, before returning to whatever it was you were doing prior to him interrupting. Mista doesn’t think you would stop being his friend because of his utter lack of eloquence, but to be frank, he doesn’t know why you chose, and still choose, to be his friend in the first place. 

He’s eighteen and some months—a ridiculous at best, self conscious at worst—high school dropout who valets for a living and fixes cars at his uncle’s shop on the weekends. Meanwhile, you’re freshly graduated, were top of your class, now spending your days working tirelessly on merit scholarships. The chasm couldn’t be wider. 

You’re out of his league, at least that’s what he thinks. In fact, you should probably spend your time around better company. With like-minded people who are headed in the same direction. Not someone like him, who’s hitched a ride on a train going to Nowheresville. But Mista’s also far too selfish to be that honest with himself or you. 

He considers himself a simple dude. He doesn't have lofty goals about a future he can’t see. He’s content with just being here and in the moment, savoring the feel of your shoulder pressed up against his side, so close that he can count the subtle rise and fall accompanying every breath you take.

A warm breeze comes in from the east. Weezer plays in the background and Mista finds himself humming along if only to derail his self deprecating thoughts. [Oh yeah. Alright. Feels good. Inside]. He waits for you to join in because this is your favorite song and you can’t resist singing out the chorus. 

“Say it ain't soooo,” you murmur under your breath. “Your drug is a heart-breaker.” 

Mista smiles, loving the subtle rasp of your voice and leans over to grab a Zima from the cooler by his head. His voice is hoarse from disuse, so he doesn’t waste any time popping the cap off with his teeth and taking a mighty gulp.

“Want one?”

Finally tearing your gaze away from the toy in your grasp, you stretch out an open hand. “Yes, please!”

He says nothing as he hands you a cold bottle. You sit up quickly, and use your shirt to twist open the cap, unaware that you’ve given your friend a full view of the soft, fleshy skin of your stomach. The flower patterns on your bra flash behind his eyelids. 

It’s unlikely that you’ve done it on purpose. You’re just comfortable around him enough to not care as much. Mista’s glad you feel that way, but he wonders if that’s the only way you will ever see him, like a friend or worse a “brother” figure, he shudders at the thought. 

Mista prays he won’t spend the rest of his summer pining after his best friend who’s going away to college in the fall. He doesn’t want to spend the rest of his youth writing memoirs to you from the friend zone. 

What are the chances that you’ll ever read them? What are the chances that you’ll respond?

[elsanna-shenanigans]

August Contest Submission #8: The Body of the Monk

Words: ca. 2,000 Setting: mAU Lemon: No CW: angst, implied past abuse, Anna's 15yo but like nothing severe

Elsa, in all her pale, white-haired, blue-shirted, hand-shaking, sweating glory, stood outside a house. It wasn’t just any house, mind you. It was an expensive, sprawling sort of house. The sort of house with stucco covered brick, and big windows to let in a lot of light.

It was also the sort of house where the climbing plants up the side had gotten under the roofing tiles. It was the sort of house where the stucco was flaking off, where heavy curtains were shut against the afternoon sun.

It was also, in theory, Elsa’s house. That was why Elsa’s hands trembled and her legs felt weak. It was why she was sorely tempted to just turn around a leave and continue to never come back.

On the other hand, she’d just ‘graduated’ from the boarding school and what else was she supposed to do with no money? Move north and get a job? That sounded like a good idea. Maybe she could move to Canada or something. People were friendly there, right?

Elsa poked the doorbell before her brain could carry her away.

Clearly no one was home though. A second was more than enough time to wait for someone to open the door, surely. There was no need for her to stand there like an idiot waiting for someone to answer the door when the house was clearly empty.

On the other hand, it was technically, a little bit, her house so… did she even need to knock? Should she go and check under that pot for the spare key? Where had that pot been, anyway?

The door was opened by a girl, shorter than Elsa and vastly more red-haired than Elsa. She had bags under her eyes and freckles dotted her skin and she stared at Elsa. She stared very hard at Elsa.

‘Um… hi… Anna,’ Elsa said, giving a little wave like an absolute buffoon.

‘Elsa?’ Anna stared. ‘ELSA!’ Anna fairly leapt on Elsa, almost knocking unprepared Elsa over. Anna wrapped herself around Elsa and held tight. Elsa blushed, her body flushed with heat. She awkwardly patted Anna on the back.

Before she could say anything, Anna pulled back, sliding her hands down Elsa’s arms. ‘It’s soooo good to see you, Elsa,’ Anna said, taking Elsa’s hands.

Elsa blushed harder. Her arms tingled. Her body felt warm.

‘Come in,’ Anna said, pulling Elsa toward the door. ‘Come in, come in.’

Elsa let herself be pulled in the door. ‘It’s good to see you again, too, Anna,’ she said. ‘It’s um… I’m sorry I didn’t like… call ahead or anything.’

Anna shook her head a lot, letting go of one of Elsa’s hands to pull the door shut. ‘No, no, no,’ Anna said. ‘It’s fine, don’t worry about it.’

Elsa managed a little smile. ‘I’m um… sorry?’

Anna grinned and wrapped Elsa in a hug again. ‘No you’re not,’ she said. ‘I’m not sorry they’re dead. About fucking time.’ Anna’s hands rubbed up and down Elsa’s back.

That warmth was building in Elsa’s body, her hands were trembling. Anna’s hand ran up Elsa’s back and Elsa shivered. Her hand ran up to the back of Elsa’s neck and Anna leaned back just a little and went up on her toes.

Elsa’s breath hitched. She was sure she should do something. She needed to stop this, but she couldn’t quite make her body move. Anna leaned in and pressed her lips to Elsa’s.

Anna’s lips were soft and warm, her body was soft and warm. Her hand was firm and felt like fire on the back of Elsa’s neck. Elsa’s whole body felt like fire. Her hands were shaking, her legs were shaking. Her heart was hammering in her chest.

But finally, Elsa made her body move. It felt like it had been an hour, felt like a week or a month. Elsa’s body felt glacial as she reached up to put her hands on Anna’s shoulders. Elsa pushed Anna away and her breath hitched. It felt like some great loss, it felt like some great betrayal. It felt like Elsa had failed.

‘When he sleeps naked under a thin blanket, does the monk’s body become less eroticised, I wonder?’ Anna smiled and pulled away. She winked, turned on her heel and wandered into the living room.

‘Spare bedroom’s made up,’ Anna called back. ‘It’s where your old room was.’

***

Even though their parents had left them quite a lot of money, along with the house, Elsa decided to get a job in a cafe. She also enrolled in a cooking class at the local community college because.

Anna came home from hanging out with friends or something, it was summer break, to find Elsa in the kitchen. On this particular day, Elsa was teaching herself how to make puff pastry from scratch for some reason.

Anna sat at the dining table. The kitchen, dining room and living room were conjoined, so Elsa could see Anna sitting there, watching her like a hawk. She tried to ignore it. She tried to ignore the way her mind flashed to the sensation of Anna’s soft, warm lips.

After all, Elsa was eighteen and Anna was fifteen. Also, they were sisters. Basically the whole thing was wrong. Even so, Elsa hadn’t dared to raise the issue with Anna. She hadn’t dared to talk about it lest she think about it for even a moment and get herself worked up or something.

And here she was, thinking around it as she felt herself flush. Here she was, trying not to think about it and getting worked up. After all: sleeping naked under that thin blanket had never worked for the monk.

Elsa folded up the pastry, wrapped it, and put it in the fridge. Anna was right behind her when she turned around. The only space between them was a bouquet of red roses.

‘Oh,’ Elsa said, blushing harder.

‘Yes.’ Anna pressed the flowers against Elsa’s chest. ‘As a thank you for... being here, I guess. Also for cooking so much. And for, you know...’ Anna wiggled her eyebrows.

Elsa took the flowers. ‘That’s um...’ Her mouth was dry, her heart was beating faster than she would have liked. ‘That’s really nice of you, Anna.’ She spotted a card in the bouquet.

The card said ‘Love you. How’s that thin blanket treating you?’

Anna leaned in to kiss Elsa on the cheek. Elsa flushed again, opened her mouth to say something and stuttered. ‘I... I... Anna... you shouldn’t...’

Anna smiled. ‘Sure thing, monk. Just a sisterly kiss.’

Anna retreated to the dining table as Elsa searched for a vase to put the roses in. She tried not to think of any of the bouquets of red roses she’d been given before. She tried not to think about what red roses meant. But her blush didn’t fade.

‘Were you allowed to get flowers in heaven?’ Anna asked, playing with her hair.

‘I...’ Elsa took a moment to pour some water into the vase and take deep breaths and fail to calm down. ‘Yes. The boys were allowed to give us flowers.’

Anna smiled. ‘No flowers from any girls, then?’

‘No, that wasn’t allowed.’

Anna nodded. ‘I’ll get you more flowers, in that case,’ she said.

‘Um...’

***

The dining table was starting to fill up with flowers. The kitchen counter already had too many. It was approaching the middle of the summer holidays, and had only been two weeks since Anna gave Elsa those red roses.

Almost every day, Anna went out with some friends that Elsa never met, and came back with another bouquet of flowers. It wasn’t always red roses, either. There had aslo been some white roses and some orange roses. But there had also been an orchid, some white and purple lilies, some carnations, some tulips, even some white and pink crocuses.

Almost all of the notes had read ‘From a girl to a girl. It’s allowed.’

Anna hadn’t kissed her on the cheek again since the bouquet of red roses. But she hadn’t had to kiss Elsa at all achieve the apparently desired effect of Elsa blushing furiously and starting to stutter.

***

Three days before Anna’s sixteenth birthday, Elsa started making the cake. Or she started on one of several cakes that she had decided to make so that Anna had options. And besides, Anna was too skinny, no one needed to be that skinny.

Anna sat down at the dining table. They spent a fair amount of time like this. Elsa spent a lot of time in the kitchen, teaching herself to make all kinds of pastries and sweets. Anna spent a lot of time at the dining table, playing on her phone or her laptop or talking to Elsa.

‘What do you want for your birthday, Anna?’ Elsa asked, turning on the stand mixer. They weren’t quite as loud as food processors.

‘You.’

‘No.’ Elsa blushed a little, but not nearly as much as she would have when she arrived a couple of months ago.

‘A kiss.’ Anna smiled. ‘From you.’

Elsa flushed a little harder as she thought about it. For whatever nonsense reason, it felt slightly less weird if Anna was sixteen. Anna was still her sister. Elsa also got wildly flustered any time Anna showed affection. Though that seemed fair, given the context.

At length, the stand mixer having gone far too long, Elsa nodded. ‘Sure.’

‘Sweet.’ Anna did a fist-pump and everything. ‘Thank you. Can I give you a hug?’

Elsa stared at Anna for a second before remembering to turn the mixer off. ‘Um, sure,’ she said. She tried to remember if Anna had actually asked before.

Anna got up and gave Elsa a careful hug. It was kind of nice and Elsa flushed as she felt Anna’s warmth against her, but that was to be expected. It wasn’t the kind of aggressive affection that Anna usually displayed.

Anna kissed her on the cheek and giggled. Elsa flushed harder and frowned at Anna. ‘Couldn’t resist,’ Anna said. She grinned. ‘I’m so excited for my birthday. I’m getting a kiss from a monk, that’s gotta be special or something.’ She slid back into her seat at the table. ‘Do you think I’ll turn into a monk if you kiss me?’

‘I… I don’t think it works like that,’ Elsa muttered, dumping the overworked batter into a cake pan anyway.

‘Is it like being a werewolf, only spread by bite?’

Elsa blushed hard enough that her vision fizzled at the edges.

‘Ooh.’

Elsa knew what Anna was about to excitedly proclaim before she said anything.

‘For chistmas I want you to bite me.’

Elsa took a deep breath and sighed, massively.

***

On the day of her sixteenth birthday, Anna proclaimed that she was going to see a film with her friends and left in the mid-morning, which suited Elsa anyway. She still had three cakes to finish and a birthday present to mentally prepare for.

Instead of mentally preparing herself, Elsa made three types of icing, then some meringue roses, then some candied rose petals. Then she wondered if that would come across as way too romantic, tried eating one of the petals and threw the rest out.

Elsa sat around fidgeting for a bit before an idea occurred to her. It certainly wasn’t a less romantic idea than giving someone candied rose petals.

Anna got home from the film at about three in the afternoon. She was slightly sweaty, what with the blistering heat outside, and she was so fucking excited that she hadn’t slept more than four hours in the last three days.

Anna took a deep breath, she needed to be chill. She was the chill one. She would be chill about this. ‘I’m just going to wash up,’ she called to Elsa, or at least to the noises in the kitchen. ‘Just be a minute.’

Anna rushed upstairs, rinsed her face, then wiped off the minimal, but wildly smudged, makeup. Should she apply more? Should she use that dark lipstick that stained everything? Did she even still have that?

‘Anna, the cakes are ready?’ Elsa called.

Cakes? Anna was pretty sure she remembered talk of cakes. She still hadn’t expected there to be multiple cakes somehow. She decided not to put on any makeup and just hope that Elsa would still find her flustering without it.

Anna rushed into the loungeroom and stopped dead. There was Elsa, standing between the lounge set and the dining table. Elsa was wearing a light-blue, fit and flare sort of summer dress with a white, frilly apron over it. She looked stunning as ever.

More important: Elsa was holding a bouquet of white and red roses.

‘Ah – Are those for me?’ Anna stuttered. Fuck. Wasn’t she supposed to be the chill one?

Elsa nodded, and blushed furiously, and it was cute as hell. Elsa took the couple of steps to reach her and handed over the bouquet. There was a note that said ‘happy birthday’ which was weirdly disappointing.

Until Elsa took a deep breath, blushed scarlet, leaned in and kissed Anna on the lips. Not quite a peck, not quite not a peck. If Anna had been a cartoon character, she would have melted into a puddle.

‘Alright,’ Elsa said, blushing so hard she might have caught fire. ‘Come and eat some cakes.’

[taetaespeaches]

favorite albums of twenty-twenty:

I’m indecisive, so disclaimer lol. But I wanted to be self-indulgent for a moment and share my very favorite albums of 2020. In a year where I felt both alone and lonely, music was massively important to me. I tried to limit this to my top ten but I’m too indecisive and a lot of amazing music came out this year so there’s eighteen albums lol. Why not. So yeah, enjoy or ignore, I just had the urge to do this. (This isn’t in order except BE, D-2, Maria, and Map of the Soul: 7 are all definitely in the top five.)

Also, if you see this and want to do your own, tag me! I’d love to see your top albums <3 

↬ BE — BTS

⟶ Top tracks: Telepathy, Blue & Grey, Fly To My Room, Disease, Life Goes On

I mean come on. This was the pandemic album we all needed and I will forever be grateful for this masterpiece. I think this is an album that will grow with me and will kind of act as a companion throughout my life. The musicality, the lyrics, the variety, all of it, it’s just perfection. It feels like a friend who gives you comfort but also makes you confront your emotions, and that was everything I needed this year. I will forever be obsessed with this one. BE is my friend. 

↬ D-2 — Agust D

⟶ Top Tracks: People, Moonlight, Daechwita, What do you think?, Dear my friend

Agust D came back and he fucking owned it. The amount of pure talent and passion in this mixtape is un-fucking-real. Yoongi is just unbelievably talented and this album perfectly displays that. Plus, these songs have been my ride or die since May, like, there isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t listen to this album in full at least once. Just incredible. 

↬ María — Hwasa

⟶ Top Tracks: LMM, Maria, Intro: Nobody Else, WHY, I’m bad too

This album is so connected to my fucking soul. I swear, Ahn Hyejin and I’s emotions are so similar and the way we process them is soooo similar, this album just honestly means the world to me. Plus, it’s amazing. Every song is a masterpiece. Obsessed. Much like D-2, I listen to this album at least once a week. And the number of times I have cried listening to it is unreal. Intro: Nobody Else is very much how I felt this year and LMM has made me cry more times than I care to admit. This album makes me feel what I’m feeling, gives me comfort, and helps me pick myself back up again. Another one that will grow with me. This year through the loneliness and in times that I felt I had no one, this was my companion.  

↬ MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 — BTS

⟶ Top tracks: Black Swan, Interlude : Shadow, My Time, ON, Friends, Moon, We are Bulletproof: the Eternal, Outro : Ego

Come onnnnnn. Perfection!!!! Quite literally the album that has been there with me through every step of this pandemic. I still cry watching the Ego mv. Why? No clue, just makes me sob tears of happiness. Black Swan? Possibly one of my very favorite songs EVER. OF ALL TIME. My Time? Relatable as fuck. Friends? The cutest thing I’ve ever heard. Moon? I’m sobbing again, that’s my emotional support Seokjinnie. Just, the album is a goddamn masterpiece, I don’t care who disagrees, my opinion is fact on this one.

↬ love is not dying — Jeremy Zucker

⟶ Top tracks: full stop, oh, mexico, hell or flying, lakehouse

Jeremy is another one that I just feel emotionally related too. Like I just get what he says and means and it hits me right in the heart and mind and gut. Another companion album. I think full stop is one of the most relatable songs I’ve ever heard- lyrically and the way it builds and becomes a bit chaotic… like whoah. I feel that in my chest. Also, oh, mexico is another song I related to so hard this year. This album has just made a massive impact on me and I love it.

↬ folklore — Taylor Swift

⟶ Top tracks: seven, peace, the lakes, the 1

So Taylor surprised everyone with an album. What the fuck, ma’am? This is my second favorite Taylor album to date, second to only her second surprise album of the year. Like what? I’ve cried listening to this album and absolutely sobbed listening to seven. She just really popped off with this one and I don’t think I need to explain to you all why this album is so good. If you’ve heard it, you know.

↬ evermore — Taylor Swift

⟶ Top tracks: ivy, cowboy like me, long story short, coney island, gold rush

Oh here we have another surprise album, and now my favorite album by Taylor. I think this album perfectly displays Taylor’s insane lyricism better than any of her works. This album just hit really different for me, every song was my favorite on first listen and I still have the hardest time picking favorite tracks. It’s just beautiful and it’s great and I love it a lot.

↬ SAWAYAMA — Rina Sawayama

⟶ Top tracks: Fuck This World (Interlude), Tokyo Love Hotel, Bad Friend, Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys)

Have you heard it? If so, you know why it’s on this list. Pop perfection. Rina is a goddess. That’s that. It’s just amazing. Rina is a visionary and this album displays that perfectly. Comme Des Garçons was the first song of hers I ever heard and I was immediately obsessed. Next level, this woman. A queen.

↬ Petals For Armor — Hayley Williams

⟶ Top tracks: Crystal Clear, Why We Ever, Over Yet

Wow. Just, bless Hayley for this. Crystal Clear has quickly become one of my very favorite songs ever and Why We Ever is a little too relatable. And I distinctly remember hearing Over Yet for the first time in May and feeling joy for the first time since the pandemic started. This album is one to listen to when you’re mad, sad, when you need comfort, or when you’re ready to heal. Honestly, another companion.

↬ Nectar — Joji

⟶ Top tracks: Like You Do, Your Man, Sanctuary, MODUS, Run, Mr. Hollywood

I could honestly list nearly every song on this as a top song. Holy shit. Joji is another visionary. He’s insane and I’m obsessed with this album. I swear, every time I listen a new song jumps out as a favorite. Like You Do is a song that just means so much to me. A masterpiece. This album is my go to when I’m looking to get into my feels. Also Daylight isn’t listed in the top tracks but what a fucking bop. I’m just in love with this album. For real, obsessed.

↬ Plastic Hearts — Miley Cyrus

⟶ Top tracks: Angels Like You, High, WTF Do I Know, Midnight Sky, Never Be Me, Plastic Hearts

I’ve never been like an avid listener of Miley, just a few tracks, but this year I got more into her. And this album, goddamn. Every song is a contender for top track. How does that happen? Midnight Sky? Huge for me this year. Like I cannot tell you how massive of an impact this song made on me. Angels Like You is such a perfect song. High is a little too relatable. Just seriously, wow. Kind of speechless, I just adore this album.

↬ Positions — Ariana Grande

⟶ Top tracks: pov, obvious, 34+35

The way I cried my first time hearing pov. Ari what are you doing to me? That song is just such a beautiful way to look at love and this whole album is just so healing. A happy spot on this whole year. 34+35 is a thot anthem and I’m obsessed. This album is just another example of Ariana’s talent and we were all blessed to be able to hear it.

↬ CALM — 5 Seconds of Summer

⟶ Top tracks: Wildflower, Lover of Mine, Best Years, Teeth, High

I don’t care if y’all think it’s cool to like 5sos or not, this album is so fucking good. It far exceeded my expectations. Some of these songs are some of my favorites for the year. Wildflower is a fucking happy pill and Best Years makes me fucking cry. High is too relatable, and Teeth may as well have been written about me. And Lover of Mine perfectly relates to the most important relationship of my entire life. I’m gonna say it, Luke Hemmings is such an underappreciated lyricist. The man is good. I love this album a lot. 

↬ Manic — Halsey

⟶ Top tracks: Finally // beautiful stranger, SUGA’s Interlude, Forever … (is a long time), 3am

I never really listen to Halsey so it took me a long time to give this album a try and wow I’m so glad I finally did. It became an instant fav. Honesty, anything Yoongi touches is a favorite for me so obviously that song would be in my tops, but Forever … (is a long time) is so relatable and just so fucking good. And Finally // beautiful stranger is honestly my favorite Halsey song ever. It’s stunning. This album is amazing. Period.

↬ Future Nostalgia — Dua Lipa

⟶ Top tracks: Pretty Please, Cool, Don’t Start Now

This album is just disco pop perfection and I’ve been obsessed all year. It’s the perfect album to listen to when you just wanna fucking dance and forget about all the shit that 2020 gave us. The perfect escape and it’s so so fun and the songs are just bops. I’ve probably listened to this album a hundred times because it’s just the perfect escape. If I wanna let go for a bit, this is my go to.

↬ Punisher — Phoebe Bridgers

⟶ Top tracks: I Know The End, Chinese Satellite, Garden Song

This album makes me feel some shit. Like holy hell we are in our feels. Phoebe’s songwriting is superb and these songs just hit. I honestly only listen to this album when I really need to get in touch with myself because it literally doesn’t allow me to avoid my feelings. But it’s pretty much perfection and I think it’s going to grow with me throughout the years. I just love it. I remember being blown away on my first listen, it’s just unbelievably good.

↬ Ungodly Hour — Chloe and Halle

⟶ Top tracks: Tipsy, Baby girl, Ungodly Hour

I don’t even know how to explain how good this album is. Like, have you heard it? You get it. These girls went the fuck off and all we can do is thank them for it. Thank you for your service ladies. This album is just a vibe from start to finish. And Ungodly Hour is one of the best title tracks of the year. That’s just that on that. Give them all the awards.

↬ IS ANYBODY OUT THERE? — DPR LIVE

⟶ Top tracks: OH GIRL, NO RESCUE NEEDED, KISS ME

This album isn’t just an album, it’s an experience. This man takes you on a musical journey. It’s a story. It’s flawless. I adore it. DPR LIVE is so underrated and I can’t wait for him to get the hype he deserves. This was the most surprising find this year and I’m so thankful I found it. Just so god. From start to finish, you just get sucked in and then it ends and you’re just left like, whoah. Amazing. 

[mistersshelby]

Finn having a twin sister who he gets into all sorts of trouble with and the two nearly drive Tommy and Arthur into an early grave

hey hi hello this took me soooo long but i hope you guys like it, please let me know what you think!!!

questions, comments, concerns

masterlist

It was a known fact that of the Shelbys, you and Finn were most likely to get everyone killed. It probably shouldn’t have been something to be proud of, but everyone was so bloody serious all the time, they had to admit that without you and Finn life would be peaceful, sure, but boring,

There was the time when you were eight and encouraged Finn to steal John and Arthur’s guns during a meeting. The meeting had been interrupted by Charlie running in, out of breath, yelling that two Shelby devils were running around his yard firing guns at each other.

When the two of you heard Tommy’s voice thundering across the yard, Finn had stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide with terror, but you? You kept giggling and fired the gun one last time, grazing Finn’s arm.

Tommy cussed out John and Arthur for leaving their guns out in the open and then told you and Finn that the next time you tried to kill each other he’d let you.

Finn didn’t talk to you for a whole week until you stole a knife for him he had been eyeing at the shop down the road.

There was the time when you were twelve and got both you and Finn kicked out of school. You had told Finn a boy had been pulling on your hair and to do something about it. The next day Finn had taken a knife to school, cornered the boy and pulled the knife on him.

“If you ever even think about touching my sister again, I’ll cut you. Understand?”

The boy had nodded profusely and Finn looked down with satisfaction to see that the boy had wet himself. He had immediately told an adult, who had then called Tommy to have him come get the both of you.

“Why me?” You had asked the teacher, “I didn’t pull a knife on him.” 

She shook her head at you, “We all know Finn doesn’t come up with these bright ideas on his own.”

Tommy didn’t speak to either of you as he drove you home. Once inside, he motioned for Finn to give him the knife.

“I wasn’t gonna hurt him,” Finn insisted as he handed it over, “Just wanted to scare him so he’d leave Y/N alone.”

“Which one of you wants to explain to me why I was forced to leave an important meeting to pick the two of you up from school?”

You frowned, “They didn’t tell you what happened?”

“They did,” Tommy stared you down and it took everything in you not to shrink away from him, “But I want to hear it from you.”

You looked down at the floor, “The boy who sits behind me in class kept pulling my hair. He wasn’t afraid of me because I’m a girl, the teacher wouldn’t listen to me no one cared, so I asked Finn to scare him, that’s all.” Tommy was quiet, “I’m a Shelby too, you know. I won’t let people walk all over me just because I’m a girl. You wouldn’t let people walk all over you.”

“You are not me.”

“Why? Because I’m a girl? I’m sick of you lads thinking because you have a cock–”

“No, Christ, not because you’re a girl because you’re twelve, you’re just a kid, Y/N.” Tommy sighed and looked at Finn, “Finn, you can go. Stop bringing your knife to school.” Finn looked hesitant to leave Y/N, but after an impatient look from Tommy he left. “What are you trying to prove?” He asked, curling a finger under your chin and tilting it up so you looked at him.

You jerk your chin from his fingers and he sighs, letting his hand fall back to his side where he reaches into his pocket to grab his cigarettes. “I see the way you all treat Ada.” You start as he lights one. You wonder what he’d say if he knew the reason he was always running short was because you had been pick pocketing him, stealing a couple, and then running to Charlie’s yard to smoke them with Finn. “I’m not like her. I don’t want to sit on the sidelines while the rest of you fight. I don’t want to be stuck in the gambling den while you all sneak off to get into trouble. I want to be like you.”

Tommy took a long drag and then sat down on a chair, craning his neck just a bit to meet your eyes, “You’re a fuckin’ Shelby, you know?” He pointed at you with two fingers, his cigarette between them, “Just as much as me, as Arthur, as John, as Finn. Just because you’re a girl doesn’t make it any different–”

“Spare me the excuses Tommy, the girls in this family have very different roles than the men in this family, let’s not pretend any different.”

“Let me finish.” He said, though his eyebrows rose at your interruption, his only indication that you were toeing the line of outright disobedience, “If Ada had ever come to me and expressed that she wanted to learn how to shoot and do the things we did, I would have let her. As I will let you.” You tried not to show your elation and Tommy could tell so he smiled at you, “You have nothing to prove to me, you know. You can stop trying to act tough around me. I know you’re tough. Tougher than the rest of us, I think.” He cupped a hand around the back of your neck and pulled you to him, crushing you to his chest in an act of affection you rarely got from him. “Just stop getting in trouble in school, okay? I can’t keep picking you up in the middle of the day.”

You froze for a moment, face pressed against him, but you finally reached around and held him tight, grateful to let go of the weight you’d been carrying. 

***

Now you’re eighteen and Tommy held to his word. You and Finn were regularly sent out on missions together. When Tommy sent the two of you out for the first time, the rest of the brothers had protested, even Finn wanted to coddle you, but Tommy put his foot down, gifted you with your first gun, and sent you on your way. 

“Tommy, Arthur,” You said as you opened the door to the private room in the Garrison, Finn on your heels, “Can you give us something fun to do? We’re bored.”

“You want us to send you out on a dangerous task because you’re bored?”

You and Finn exchanged a look and nodded, “Yeah, exactly.” Finn said.

Tommy and Arthur also exchanged a look and Tommy raised his eyebrows, “Yeah, fine,” He said sighing, “Send them.”

“The bar down the road,” Arthur started and the two of you nodded eagerly, “Go sack it. But don’t be starting any other trouble, ya hear? They give you trouble, you leave.”

You stood, taking the glass of whiskey from Tommy’s hand and knocking it back before handing the empty glass back to Tommy, “Thanks brothers,” You say, smiling sweetly, “Let’s go, Finn.”

“If I get word back that the two of you did anything other than what you were asked, I’m confiscating your guns and no more peaky blinders work for a few months.” Tommy said as you both began to leave the room.

“We’re adults now, Tommy, you can’t keep punishing us like kids.” You said.

“Start acting like adults and I’ll stop treating you like kids.”

You rolled your eyes and headed out of the Garrison. Finn caught up and threw an arm around your shoulders, “If we don’t fuck this one up, maybe they’ll stop putting us in time out.”

You smiled at your twin and let him pull you closer, “Or we do it our way and they finally see we were right all along.”

Finn chuckled and ruffled your hair which prompted you to shove him away and lecture him again about touching your hair.

You and Finn were reckless, it was true, but sacking a bar was something the two of you had done for Tommy so many times you had to switch it up. If that meant causing trouble for your brothers, so be it.

The two of you waltzed into the bar and it immediately quieted. This had to be your favorite part of being a Shelby, the way fear spread through a room like the plague at the sight of any of you. Those who had seen you grow up had the sense to be afraid of you, as well, despite your gender. 

But sometimes people slipped up. Sometimes they scoffed at your pants and high heeled boots paired with your long hair and makeup. And sometimes you slipped up too. The difference was, when you slipped up, people died.

The first time you and Finn had walked into the Shelby house declaring that you had killed a man who dared cross you, Tommy had simply nodded and said, “Next time you ask me first.”

But you never asked. If people had the dim wit to cross you, a Shelby, they would pay the price and you would deal with the consequences from Tommy later. And eventually people stopped crossing you, for the most part, they showed you the same fear and respect they showed your brothers. 

“Two whiskeys, neat.” Finn ordered and surveyed the bar.

“Should I be worried that the two of you are here?” The bartender asked as he slid over your drinks. You quite liked him, he had never given you that up and down look of distaste that most people did. Had never asked stupid questions about your clothes or how Tommy felt about you putting your nose in men’s business. He was different, and it wasn’t all due to fear.

“Yes,” You answered honestly, “But no one will be hurt.”

He nodded, “You’re gonna sack the bar.”

“We’ll give you a cut of the money if you cooperate.” Finn said.

“Okay,” The bartender said calmly, “But you should know those men in the corner,” He nodded towards a booth near the door, full of men who were eyeing the two of you carefully, “They won’t let the bar go without a fight.”

You couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face, “If it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they’ll get.”

But Finn was frowning, “Y/N, maybe we should go back to the Garrison and tell Tommy, we’re clearly outnumbered—“

“If you want to back out of a fight Finn, by all means, I’ll handle this myself, but I’m not going back to cry to Tommy.”

“We could die.” Finn said lowly, “They’re bigger than us and there’s more of them.”

You only smiled at him, “Where’s the fun if there’s not a little risk?” Before he could respond, you held your gun up and fired at the ceiling and spoke over the few screams, “This bar is now ours, by order of The Peaky Blinders. I suggest you all leave.”

“Fuck.” You heard Finn curse before he took out his gun and cocked it.

Patrons dutifully filed out, but the four men in the corner stood, “Big words from such a tiny girl. What if we don’t want to leave?”

He was playing with you, you knew, “Then I hope you like the smell of burning flesh.” You smiled sweetly and pulled out matches.

Bless his heart, your partner in crime, Finn walked behind the bar and started dousing the floor with alcohol. You made a mental note to apologize to him for this later. Because the two of you could do this, you would best these stupid men.

There was a bit of fear on their faces, knowing they couldn’t stop you from lighting this place up unless they shot you. Something you had learned about men was that they would always hesitate to shoot you.

But what you didn’t take the time to consider was that they wouldn’t hesitate to shoot Finn. And while Finn was pouring alcohol all over the bar, depending on you to watch his back, one of the men lifted his pistol, “You idiots talk too much,” and he fired.

You heard Finn scream and before you could let the panic choke you, you shot back. Being a girl, you always had to be ten times better than any man who came along in order to be taken seriously. As such, you could shoot a man through his head every time even if he was moving up to thirty feet away. You hadn’t really wanted to kill anyone tonight, but shooting at your twin was a line that could not be uncrossed. You shot the man who shot Finn and the man who called you a “tiny girl” and waited to see what the other two would do. Predictably, it was enough to get them to run away.

“Fuck, Finn, I’m sorry.” You said, running to him when they were gone, the door still swinging behind them. Assessing the damage, you saw he was hit in his shoulder, an easy fix and not the first bullet he’d taken. It made you feel like passing out with relief.

“You were supposed to be watching for me.” He ground out through the pain.

Knowing he was alive didn’t make you feel any less guilty, “I know, I’m sorry, it happened so fast, I didn’t expect them to–” Police were driving down the road, heading here. Someone had snitched. “Fuck.” You swore at the same time Finn saw them. He scrambled off the floor as you ran to grab all the cash from the drawer.

“Just fuckin’ leave it, Tommy’ll kill us if we get caught!” Finn was yelling, getting ready to toss a match on the bar once they were safe.

“I’m coming.” You insisted, you didn’t go through all of this and get your twin shot with nothing to show for it. The police were getting out of their cars.

“Y/N!” Finn was more insistent now and you slammed the drawer shut, running over to him.

“Go out the back,” You shoved him out, “I’ll shoot it up we don’t have time, go.” You said when he tried to pull out the matches. Once you saw he was gone, you shot through the front windows to delay the cops just a few more seconds before shooting at the floors where Finn had dumped the alcohol and watching it go in flames before sneaking out the back. You snuck around the back of some more buildings, following the river to Charlie’s yard and then to the Garrison where you assumed your brothers still were and could help with Finn’s wound.

When the two of you burst into the bar, Tommy saw you first and for the first time in a while, the anger on his face when he spotted Finn genuinely scared you. “Everyone out.” He said loudly. There were groans from the patrons, but they didn’t need a second command, no one wanted to cross Tommy.

“What happened?” He said deathly quiet, his gaze pinned on you.

Arthur guided Finn away so they could take out the bullet, “Why do you always assume it’s my fault?”

“I asked you a question.” He said, ignoring you. He was running out of patience with you, you knew. 

You sighed, “There were four men at the bar who I assume were from the gang whose territory the bar was in, they weren’t going to let us take the bar. Finn wanted to come back to get more men, I told him we could handle it ourselves.”

“You thought you could take on four grown men yourselves and you didn’t listen to your brother. When the fuck are you going to learn? When you get Finn killed? When you get one of us killed?”

Tears were burning the back of your eyes and you couldn’t meet his stare, “I’m sorry.”

But Tommy just kept going, “Did you get Finn shot because you were running your big fucking mouth again? Knowing they wouldn’t shoot you? But you forgot about your fuckin’ brother, didn’t you? The one who always looks out for you, but you never return the fuckin’ favor?” Tears poured down your cheeks in earnest now, but Tommy didn’t care, you needed to learn, “You only ever think about your goddamn self, you constantly think you have to prove yourself when no one here doubts your abilities except you—“

“That’s not true—“

“Like fuck it isn’t! Everyone in this family, in this shit hole of a town knows what you’re capable of, but you still think you need to raise the stakes, why? Because deep down you know you’re the only fuckin’ person holding yourself back.”

“Tommy, come on, that’s enough.” John said softly behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. You still stood tall, chin lifted, though your body trembled with silent sobs.

Tommy shrugged John off, “You’re done being a blinder. Maybe I’ll reconsider once you learn to stop being so fuckin’ selfish.”

“Tommy, please—“ You were ready to beg, he couldn’t kick you off.

“No, I’ve given you chance after chance, you won’t learn until you get one of us killed and I’m not willing to risk that any longer. Be grateful that I’m sparing you the guilt of being responsible for one of our deaths.”

Then Tommy stalked away from you to go check on Finn. John gave you a sympathetic look and a squeeze of your shoulder before doing the same. You wanted to see Finn, but doubted he wanted to see you either so you left. You wandered around Small Heath aimlessly by yourself all night, trying to figure out what you were going to do. Eventually you wandered over to Aunt Pol’s.

When she answered the door and took in your red face and puffy eyes she only pulled you close to her chest and let you sob.

A while after, when you had finally calmed down, she sets a cup of tea in front of you, “Tommy can be harsh sometimes, but he only does it because he loves you, you know?”

“I know he’s right,” You take a sip of the tea, your insides warming, “I just don’t know if I can fix it. What if all this time, my whole life, all I’ve wanted is to be like Tommy. What if I’m nothing like him and I never will be?”

“Sweetheart, you are nothing like him and you never will be, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of your story. You toughen up and you get back out there and you listen to your brothers. They know what you are capable of, they will never think less of you because you’re a girl, so you need to get that out of your head.” You stared at your teacup while she spoke, feeling numb, “Have you ever thought that maybe Tommy is trying to save you from becoming like him?”

Your eyes snap up at that and you frown, “Why would he do that?”

Polly shakes her head, “Tommy hates himself, Y/N, hates how selfish he is, how he can never let anyone in, that anyone who gets close to him always gets hurt. That is the last thing he wants for you, but it’s clear you’re following in his footsteps. And that’s why he kicked you out. To save you.”

You sat back and pondered this for a while and eventually Polly left you alone, kissing your hair as she went to bed. Maybe you were too much like Tommy, maybe Pol was right. Leaving a note for Polly so she knew not to look for you, you headed to Tommy’s office, knowing he was still probably awake this late at night.

“How’s Finn?” You asked as Tommy bent over his desk, writing something that seemed very important.

He looked up at you, “He’s fine, sleeping.”

You sat in the seat across from him, “Aunt Pol says the real reason you kicked me off the Blinders was because you think I’m too much like you and you want to spare me from a life of self loathing.”

He began writing again, “Well, Polly has always seemed to know my ulterior motives even when they weren’t clear to me.”

“So she’s right, then?”

“It doesn’t matter, doesn’t change anything.”

You sat back and listened to him write for a few more moments, “I love you, Tommy. I don’t think I say it enough, but it’s true. I think of you more like a father than a brother most of the time. I just– I want you to know that even when you think no one needs you that I need you.”

He stops writing and looks you over, “Polly was wrong.” He starts, and you raise your eyebrows, “I don’t want you to be less like me, I want you to be better than me. I’m so hard on you because I think you could run the company one day and I want you to be ready. Do you understand?” You nodded and he picked up his pen, “Good. Now go get some rest, you have a lot of self improvement to do.” You stood and headed out of Tommy’s office door, but he called out to you while you were in the doorway and you turned, “I love you too,” He said, “More than you know.”

You smiled at him and nodded before closing the door behind you and heading off to bed.

[orlha]

Kakashi/Sakura - Romantic ♡ 3. Where character B is their soulmate Please♡♡♡

Notes: SOOOO This is supposed to be a drabble. But heeeey SURPRISE it’s not? Hope you like it anyway, I might add that it’s not terribly fluffy either.

—

Civiliansconsidered themselves adults when they received their soulmarks at eighteen.Shinobis didn’t care too much about their soulmarks or tried not to at least.Not all soulmates meet, and if they do, not all of them meet on friendlyterms.  

Kakashiknew that the chance of having an out-village soulmate was rare, yet he hadseen how Rin had reacted when Obito died, seen how his father had chosen deathover him, seen Sensei picked death over living without Kushina. His soulmarkappears, “No, you stupid man. You are not dying under my watch!” curvingdown his palm. Cursive and almost unreadable words. 

Inanother world without shinobis, without pain and the ever-hanging death,Kakashi thinks he might have been loved and loved back. But he’s not in anotherworld. He’s here, where the people closest to him have chosen to die, wherethey had died leaving him alone. 

Gaiassures him that soulmates always meet each other. It’s fate and no matter howfar he runs, he’ll always come back to the same fork. It leaves a bitter tastein Kakashi’s mouth. He doesn’t someone, doesn’t want someone else to die onhim. Gai… Gai is the only one he trusts not to die on him. Too much energy andoptimism, too much youth. 

So hedistances himself. 

FromTenzo who pursued his friendship, from Asuma who tried to rekindle their‘broship’ after his long absence, from Team seven who was a mockery of what hisown team had been. 

Hebarely trains his genin, barely cares when Naruto was apprenticed to Jiraiya orwhen Sakura is apprenticed to Tsunade. They were barely his students. 

Yethere they are again. Tsunade refusing to let him fade into anbu, forcing him toreform his team. 

Hehates it, hates how people push him, with supposedly comforting words that hissoulmate was out there somewhere.  

Hedoesn’t care. He tells himself that every time. His soulmate is probably dead,or out-village and he doesn’t care. 

Theyare all lies. 

Becausehe does. 

He’sjust abandoned. 

—  

Inspite of people’s popular beliefs, Sakura worked hard to get top kunoichi. Sheknew it wouldn’t matter in the long run. Academy scores didn’t matter in thereal world, but that was all she had to prove to her next superiors that shewas competent. Never mind that she didn’t have a senior shinobi to train herlike all the clan kinds, never mind that some days her parents ‘forgot’ to feedher.  

Sakurais good. 

She hasto be. 

She’snot like Ino who had parents to fall back on after graduating. Sakura had neverhad that kind of affection. She imagines that when she gets her soulmark, meetsher soulmate that they would fall passionately in love. She’d be tucked intohis arms, she would be loved. 

It’sthese thoughts that keep Sakura going even when her jounin sensei turns out tobe a distant and barely teaching them anything beyond referencing books to readon.  

Sakurareads these books voraciously. No one is going to help her if she doesn’t helpherself. She summons her own courage to request for an apprenticeship with Tsunadeand spends her next few years proving herself that she is competent, that sheis worth teaching. 

Becauseno one else cares if she doesn’t.  

—  

Shishousends her on a mission with her former Team Seven just near her birthday. Anddespite it being a fairly low ranked mission for shinobis of their status,Sakura thinks that Shishou hadn’t counted for the Team Seven luck. 

Whatshould have been an almost idyllic mission turns into a shitfest. Turns out theperson they were escorting was some long-lost prince who now inherited thekingdom and by mandate was returning to ascend the throne and the councillorwho had looked after the kingdom for twenty years was disgruntled enough tosend Iwa-nins to kill him.

That’s not important. 

Sakurawas busy fighting off Iwa-nins and their stupid explosive jutsu when Kakashitakes an almost fatal hit for Yamato. Quickly, with Sai’s help, she disengagesand flickers to Kakashi, hauling him to the side where Naruto’s clonessurrounded them in a protective circle. 

“No,just leave me,” Kakashi says even as she fights to manually pump his blood andheal that hole in his torso.  

“No,you stupid man. You are not dying under my watch!” she snarls. She presses on,leaving Naruto to deal with anyone attempting to interrupt her and divesin.  

It’smaybe minutes or hours later when she wakes from her healing trance,disoriented by the lack of veins and cells in her vision. A hand helps her up. 

“Kaka-senseiwill be fine.” Hands press food into her hands as soon as she’s seated by thefire. 

She blinks.  

Thestars above have bloomed across the dark twilight sky, the Iaw-nin bodies hadbeen burnt or sealed away, a small smokeless campfire had already been startedand Kakashi was tucked under a blanket next to Yamato, his half-lidded eyewatching her. 

Shedoesn’t care if she saved Kakashi against his will. Only stupid man does stupidthings like that. He can hate her for all she cares. He wouldn’t be the firstor the last to do so. Sakura forces herself to eat the stew Sai had given her.Tomorrow she’ll need to check on him and considering how he chose to dieinstead of being healed, she already knows it’d be a fight. 

To hersurprise, Kakashi doesn’t put up a fight the next day. He lets her press hermedical chakra in, check his torso and even his eyes.  

Andwhen everything checks out, Naruto heaves their long-lost prince onto his backand starts the trip to the Kingdom of Stars. Now that they’re aware of actualthreats, they’re more cautious about leaving traces behind.  

Sakuratries not to recall the way Kakashi refused to let her heal him. So it seemsthat her choice of people to have crushes on always are people who areemotionally unavailable. She’s been down that way once, abandoned at thevillage gates. It wouldn’t surprise her if her soulmate would be equallyuninterested in her.  

Themission ends successfully, and they’re invited to stay in the palace for a fewdays. The Kingdom of Stars is gorgeous. Unlike the Kingdom of Moon, the mostpicturesque thing about the Kingdom of Stars is their sky. The trail ofnorthern lights dancing across the sky, beset with shimmering stars.  

Sakurastares out into the sky, the light wisp of smoke escaping her mouth as shebreathes. It’s a place she wouldn’t mind retiring to. The placid lifestyle ofthe people here, their earnest laughter.  She thinks she could be happyhere. 

Probablynot.  

She hadfinally gotten her soulmark during the mission. It’s across her hip and shedoesn’t care what it says anymore. It’s stupid yearning for something she’llnever get or even brooding over it. When this mission is over, she’ll go backto the hospital where no one cares, back to her one room apartment.  

Sakuraisn’t meant for happiness or love. 

“Sakura?” 

She’sso lost in her thoughts that his voice almost startles her off the roof.Kakashi grabs her, his hand lingers on her arm before he sticks it back intohis pockets. His shoulders are slumped, radiating the feeling of exhaustion. 

“Areyou okay?” The weapons that the Iwa-nin weren’t likely to be poisoned. She wouldhave noticed if it were, but there’s always the chance for human error. Sheputs a hand on his, double checking his system for any infection or poison. 

That’sweird, his hands are bare. Kakashi always wears his gloves. 

Sheturns his hand and gasps. There are thick calluses across his palm, especiallyon the fingertips and across the palm, almost down to his wrist is undeniablyher handwriting.  

“No,you stupid man. You are not dying under my watch!” it says.  

Sheslowly looks up at him. His mismatched eyes look back at her nervously.  

“Ibelieve these are your words,” he says carefully.  

Sakuracan hear her blood pounding in her ears, the colour in her face bleeding out asshe processed the situation. She pulls her shirt up, wrenching part of herpants down. Splayed across her hip, the narrow but neat writing are the words “no,just leave me.” 

“Those…are definitely my words and handwriting.” His hand curls up to grip hers.  

Shebarks a mirthless laugh and shakes his hand off, stepping back several steps.“So…” she starts in a quivering voice and hates herself for the weakness. “…I’m marked with your suicidal words.” 

Sheturns away and the frustration of the entire situation, the helplessness feltso overwhelming that she couldn’t stop tears from gathering in her eyes. 

She wasright.  

Thepeople always had crushes on were emotionally unavailable and that apparentlyincluded her soulmate, the man she had a crush on for the last two years. Also,the man who is suicidal and had such a blatant disregard that shishou forcedthem to have a medic at all times. 

Underall her doubts and sarcasm, Sakura had hoped that her soulmate would be someonewho loved her, where she could finally be love and be loved in return. 

“I’mnot…” he murmurs behind her. “…suicidal…” 

Hereaches out to clasp her shoulder.  “Sakura…” 

“Don’tworry, I’ll be fine even if you leave,” she tells him. She had seen shinobislike Kakashi. She knows what would happen. She won’t cry over this, or so shetells herself as she ignores the tight clenching in her chest.  

Becauseno one would care if she isn’t alright and her parents would be smug in theknowledge that they were right; that even her soulmate didn’t want her. 

“Let metry, please.” His fingers tightened and she looks up at him. Hissharingan still spinning slowly, his hair almost fey in the dimmoonlight.  

Shepulls a shuddering breath from her lungs, schooling the trembling in herhands.  

“Youdidn’t care to teach any of us anything. Didn’t care who I went to or if I hadto go to genin corps. Why? Why should I?” 

“I’mnot suicidal. I just… There’s a point where you don’t care because you’ve beenabandoned by everyone that loved you and I know I fucked up, but please.”His eyes are desperate. 

“Atleast you’ve been loved,” she says, scrubbing the tears furiously away with hersleeve. “I’ve never even once!” 

“Thenlet us try. We’re soulmates right? There has to be a reason for it…” he says.His tone full of self-deprecation. “Gai said that its fate and that no matterhow far we try to run from it, if it’s fate, we’ll come back to the same fork.So since we’re at the fork now. It’s better to try. I… I am still terrified ofmaking have new people join my ring of important people…” 

Herlips twist and Sakura laughs a wet laugh.  

“Andprove them wrong?” she asks. “All the people who said that no one would loveyou.” 

“I’ll standback and watch you crush them?” He thumbs her tears away. 

“Okay.”She presses her face into his palm, his eyes softening. 

—  

Andperhaps no one believed it would last. Some soulmates die young together, somesoulmates never quite work out. 

Betweentheir multitude of issues and age gap, no one believed Kakashi and Sakurawould.  

Butthey did. 

Curledup in each other’s arms, under the tall Sakura tree, watching the petals fallaround them, they finally found the happiness, peace and love they had longedfor.  

Untilthey were old and wrinkled, grey and aged.  

Kakashipresses a kiss into her greying hair and thinks of the northern lightsreflected in her pink hair then and he would have it no other way.

—

Prompts are still open all the way until New Year’s Eve if you want to send any in :)

Tumblr prompts list: here

[hadesglance]

All hail the new queen... - 26 (Hades Original Story)

You fought your way through the maze of the underworld to make a deal with the King…intrigued the lonely king listens…

Part One  Part Two  Part Three  Part Four  Part Five  Part Six Part Seven  Part Eight   Part Nine  Part Ten  Part Eleven Part Twelve  Part Thirteen  Part Fourteen  Part Fifteen  Part Sixteen Part Seventeen  Part Eighteen  Part Nineteen   Part Twenty  Part Twenty-One   Part Twenty-Two  Part Twenty-Three  Part Twenty-Four  Part Twenty-Five

I got really inspired, soooo yay double update!

Your eyes snapped open for the hundredth time that night. You couldn’t find any rest since Hades told you of the prophecy. Your mind raced over how many instances you could have triggered all of this…how if you had never been here maybe nothing would have happened.

You sighed throwing the covers off yourself frustrated. Stepping onto the cold floor you weighed your options feeling like you’d been here before. You walked the halls down to Hades room not bothering to knock as you walked in.

You crept in slowly to his bed wrapping your arms around him making him wake up slowly, “Y/N?”

“Hm…go back to sleep.” You whispered to him as he rolled over securing you into his arms.

“Everything okay?” He blinked a few times squaring himself off to you to better see your face.

You leaned into his hand as he brushed your hair out of your face, “Restless…”

“Still?” He frowned a little caressing your face with his thumb, “No one is blaming anyone at this point…there’s no meaning to it, and we’re going to find Media soon.”

“…yeah…” You sighed staring into his blue eyes. How did you end up here? The story was simple, but out of all the believers in the world desperate for something…how was it you that ended up here in the arms of Hades?”

“What is it?”  He stared at you obviously trying to figure out what was on your mind.

You simply smiled at him tightening your arm around him pressing your body against his, “I love you.”

“Yeah?” He quirked an eyebrow at you, “Why?”

“Why?” Yours shot up in surprise, “I…I believe it’s because you’re handsome…and loyal…and smart…and care so much about your family and…do I need to keep going?”

“Mm…no…” He leaned forward planting a kiss on your lips, “You sure know how to make god blush.”

You laughed a little, “I doubt it anything I say could really make you blush.”

“On the contrary…a beautiful woman climbs into my bed in the middle of the night and tells me she loves me.” He rested his forehead against yours, “I’d say that’s surprising and blush worthy.”

You sighed contently shutting your eyes, feeling completely secure in his embrace. You listened to him take breaths in and out in a soothing rhythm. You wished you could just stop time and stay right here.

“You know you can start in here.” Hades murmured as he began to drift off.

“Start?” You breathed against his neck.

He chuckled a little, “Yes…if it helps you get some sleep, you can always come to bed with me to begin with.”

“If we weren’t already living together, that would sound an awful like you asking me to move in.” You hunkered down next to him.

“Maybe you should…” You looked up to him cracking his eyes open, “move into my room…”

“You serious?” You stared at him amazed that you could be having such an easy ordinary conversation with him. With everything going on, it was almost surreal.

“Why not?” He smiled at you his eyes lighting up as he did, “We are technically married…”

You felt your face get red instantly. You’d just gotten to the boyfriend stage, but everyone kept saying wife. You had thought about it…you were okay with it…you thought.  

“Hey…if you don’t want to, it’s not a big deal.” He spoke softly when you fell silent on him.

“No…I mean…” You shut your eyes sighing, “I would not mind…in fact…I like the idea.”

“You do?” You nodded slowly before he went on, “But…”

“No but…” You shook your head as he stared at you, “What?”

“I’ve been around you long enough now to know that something is bothering you.” He propped himself up on his elbow letting his other hand caress your arm, “I also know you keep a lot to yourself because you don’t want to stress me out and I’ve told you numerous times that nothing you say will change anything.”

You pouted a little, “There isn’t anything and if there is I will let you know…but you need rest, especially with you having to go out and help search everyday…we should just go back to sleep.”

“Y/N…please talk to me.” God the look he was giving you would made you crazy. So much concern and love for you just oozing out of his eyes. It was wonderful.

“I promise I will if there is anything.” You smiled at him, “You know what I want right now though?”

“What?” He smiled as you inched closer to him.

“I think you already know the answer.” He chuckled as wrapped you up pulling you into a kiss.

Later you sat alone in the house absentmindedly throwing the ball for Cerberus out of the living room as you surfed the internet. Not going to school had left you free to figure out what to do…which meant nothing…

You surfed social networks, looked at videos, browsed stores…nothing really kept your interest long. You often found yourself looking out the large back window to the river. Hades had told you it was the Styx and what you were seeing was just an illusion.

“It’s important to see it. Any signs of trouble for the Underworld usually starts there.” He told you as he looked down at a book on his desk.

“Does trouble happen?” You looked back at him sitting at his desk. The window lined the entire back of the house so he could see it no matter what.

“Occasionally.” He wrote something down in the book before setting it aside and picking up a folder, “When a tragedy happens…the banks overflow and well its how shades are created. They need a new purpose, since their life ended before it was supposed to…so it’s a lot of work afterwards.”

“…has it happened recently?” He glanced up at you when you stepped up next to him.

“Um…yes.” He nodded glancing at the stack of folders on the corner of the desk, “Unfortunately.”

“Well, maybe I can help?” You tilted your head a little, “I could hand out assignments…”

He smiled at you turning his chair toward you, “I would like that, but it’s a little more complicated then just handing out details. You’d need to be able to traverse from realm to realm freely…”

“Ah…right…mortal means of travel only for this one…” You hung your head as he took your hands, “I just want to help. I hate that everyone is able to do something and I’m just…stuck here.”

“Hey, I will let you know as soon as you can do something.” He kissed your fingertips, “Until then, relax, you’ve been through a lot this last year. Maybe go visit your mom and your brother.”

Relax…sure thing. When people you cared about were out there looking for a psychotic goddess who was in league with your loved ones even more psychotic father…

You were brought back to what was in front of you when Cerberus dropped a slobbery ball on top of your hand. You made a face, “Cerby…really!”

He pawed at you giving you a goofy look making you laugh. You tossed the ball as your computer pinged letting you know that you had a new email. You watched Cerberus prance off after the ball before opening it up.

“Huh…” You read it over a few times. It was a letter from Professor Talbot reaching out about being a guest in class.

Hades looked at you over dinner when you told him about, “Do you think you’ll go?”

“I don’t know.” You held your wine glass in the air thinking, “Maybe…I did like his course, what little I went to. He seemed really open to talk about different perspectives and didn’t think I was off my rocker when I told him I believed in you all.”

“You should do it.” He told you after a while.

“I don’t know…I mean with everything going on…” You shook your head setting the glass down.

“Y/N, just because you’re part of my family now doesn’t mean you stop your life.” Hades reached over taking your hand, “I’m actually really worried that you’re shutting yourself off from the world because of us.”

“I’m not…I call my mom all the time.” You told him squeezing his hand, “And I text my brother…”

“You know what I mean.” He smirked at you a little, “You had friends and you liked riding your bike…go be a guest for the class…I’ll be here when you get home.”

You couldn’t imagine anyone being more supportive. That’s not true you could think of one, but he was likely in Elysium now with Papa. You really did need to go see your mom and Gigi more often.

A week later you were back in the classroom discussing your belief in Hellenism. The class asked a lot of question about rituals, sacrifices, and whether or not you danced around a fire naked. Of course, you answered them to the best of your ability, putting to rest a lot of the misconceptions. You told them that most of your family had converted to Christian Orthodox but retained a strong belief in the Hellenistic gods.

“How does that work? How can you believe in one thing and then something that completely opposes it?” A young freshman girl asked squinting at you.

“Uh…good question. I mean…my grandparents were very Hellenistic. They would pump it into every bedtime story and they were so superstitious. Since my father was raised that way it translated over, it was my mom who was more the Christian Orthodox.” You smiled at her, “We went to church, had communion…but uh…my parents never made me choose.”

“So…which is it?” Another student asked.

“Well, you know about a year ago I would have said Christian Orthodox, but I have had a bit of journey this year.” You told them leaning against the front desk, “At the end of the day I guess I believe in it all now, but I put my faith in only a certain few.”

“What ones?” You flushed a little as everyone stared at you expectantly.

“And that is all the time we have for today. Everyone join me in thanking Ms. Petrakis for being willing to share her beliefs.” Professor Talbot stepped next to you clapping his hands getting the rest of the class to join him. He assigned them all some work as they filed out.

You collected your jacket and helmet turning to him, “Professor Talbot, thank you for inviting me here today.”

“No, thank you for coming. I missed having you in class.” He smiled at you as he button up his suit coat, “I heard about what happened with your father…I’m sorry.”

You took a deep breath in nodded as pain hit your heart, “Thank you…”

“You seem to be fairing well.” You looked at him as he started collecting papers off his desk.

“I have a good support system around me. Not sure I’d make it without them.” You told him setting your helmet on a desk and zipped up your coat.

“I bet, having the whole of Olympus does make one feel comfortable I imagine.” You froze momentarily as he continued to pack up.

He turned around big smirk planted on his face. You felt your mouth go dry as his eyes pierced yours making you shiver, “Well…Hellenism has it’s perks that way…”

“Hm…you’re very bright.” He stepped toward you as you picked up your helmet, “I can see the appeal I suppose.”

Your heart thumped against your chest wildly as a tingling sensation filled your nose, “E-excuse me?”

“You’re a very hard person to kill, Ms. Petrakis.” He ran a hand through his hair, his handsome features disappearing turning into a dangerous look as you began taking steps away from him, “Then again I was relying on an incompetent youngling…”

You swallowed down the knot in your throat, “What did you do with Media?”

“I put her away.” He shrugged a little as if it was an everyday occurrence, “Along with a few others, not to worry…”

“W-what do you want from me?” You felt a tear fall down your face as you bumped into a desk.

He stepped right up to you, taking your chin in between his finger and thumb gently with care, “Media, already told you what I wanted. I want you to break Hades’ heart. Shatter it…send him spiraling down the rabbit hole back where he belongs…”

“He’s your son…how can you-ah!” His grip tightened quickly silencing you.

“He…is a tool…one I intend to reforge to use for my purpose and believe me…” He leaned in right next to your face, “if you don’t do exactly as I say…you will watch him destroy everything you love and hold dear once I have ahold of him.”

He let go of you standing up straight giving you a smile, “Have a good day, Ms. Petrakis. Thank you again for your wonderful presentation.”

When he finally left, everything seemed to catch up with you. You grabbed your helmet running for the bathroom into a stall getting sick several times before collapsing into a sobbing mess. You could feel your arm burning and soon your phone was ringing.

You pulled it out seeing Hades’ number. You answered it letting out another sob, “Ha-hades…don’t come here…you can’t come here…”

“Y/N, what’s wrong.” Hades looked at Poseidon as his hand went to his chest feeling distress, “Calm down and tell me what’s happening.”

“Cronus…he’s here…I don’t know how but he’s here.” You shuddered pulling your knees closer to yourself as tears soaked into your jeans, “H-he did something to Media…and I think someone else…”

“I’m coming to get you.” He turned from Poseidon who had already summoned his trident. Your immediate protest made him pause, “Y/N, you’re not safe there…”

“I-I’ll go…I just…” You took in a deep breath, “I just need a minute. I’m okay.”

“You’re not…” You could hear his fear through the phone, “You’re not okay…let me come to you.”

“No…that’s what he wants…” You sniffed putting your hand to your chest, “He wants you.”

Hades felt his world drop from under him. After all this time locked away in the darkest depths of this world, his hatred for Hades still existed.

Hades cleared his throat, “Go straight home. I will meet you there.”

[infiredsunflower]

LACUNA- Prologue

Lacuna- (noun) a missing part or unfilled gap

Genre: tooth-rotting fluff, maybe just a little angst.

Pairing: PLATONIC! BTS x reader, some feelings might develop idk yet?

A/N: I had an idea in the shower soooo, of course, I’m going to write it so this is a great opportunity for me to make my first series!! yay? Also, I made Y/N multilingual for reasons that will be important later so if it is in italics it is probably another language.

~

“heck!” I shouted as I tore into the women’s changing room, and my partner Emilia trailed after me with an amused look on her face, she began to speak in heavily accented English, “ Jesus y/n, why don’t you just curse? you know like 25 languages why not use them?”. I rolled my eyes at her and then switched to her native language of German to make it easier to understand “first of all I only know 10 languages and secondly my mamma would beat me if she knew that I even thought about cursing”. I was desperately trying to multitask while I spoke, shedding my PT gear and shimmying into my tactical pants and standard NASA T-shirt that I was required to wear all day as part of the space program. I had been running late today and in my haste, I had forgotten to pack a change of street clothes. 

By the time Emilia and I walked out of the changing room door our other teammate Park Kyong was waiting for us with his lovely smile. He greeted us in Korean, the only common language between the three of us which was probably a good thing because we did live in Korea. I had lived in Seoul since I had turned 18 and was approved for the ISS mission two years ago and even though there was a noticeable age gap between me and my teammates they became some of my best friends. “Kyong- Oppa do you think you could let me off early today?” you said desperately to him because he was the eldest and the highest-ranking he was the designated leader of your little group. “Why Y/n-ah? It's literally the last week of training.” Emilia interjected before you even got the chance to open your mouth, “ that band that she likes so much is having a fan meet, Oppa.you really should let her go, if you don’t she’ll be moping for weeks and do you really want a mopey y/n as your co-pilot?”

 Even though they knew I was a responsible and fully functioning adult the crew had a tendency to treat me like a baby. Sometimes it was sweet but other times it was just annoying, you had gotten a doctorate degree at age 17 and started working for NASA at age 15 for god's sake. You used it to your advantage now though and pouted up at Kyong.

 “Oppa pleeeease. I've been trying to go to a fan meet for almost three years now! They aren’t like a global sensation or anything yet but they’re really talented and I think that they are going to go places, really!” Kyong looked at you skeptically with a raised brow “ Are you sure it’s not just because you think they are hot y/n-ah?” my emotions must have been all over my face because he laughed and said “ get lost jagiya! Go enjoy your pretty boys' ' and made a shooing motion with his hand. You got so excited that you slipped into English and yelled “ REALLY! OPPA THANK YOU SO-” before you got Emilia’s hand over your mouth, not because she wasn’t enjoying you're little outburst but because she knew you hated any kind of attention from strangers, it made you anxious and flustered and you were most definitely drawing attention to yourself right now. Honestly, though you were way too excited to care. You shrugged out of her grasp and said “Tschüss Emilia, annyeong Kyong-Oppa, see y'all tomorrow!!” and hurried out of the building.

Kyong looked at Emilia once you had left with a stupid dopey grin on your face. He ran a hand over his face and sighed while he shook his head, “ How on earth is she even going to talk to them?” Emilia sighed and looked after you ‘she probably won’t even be able to, let's just hope that these BTS guys are nice because I think that I’ll beat them up if they hurt y/n’s feelings.” he chuckled at that as they walked out of the building together. 

~

“Gosh darn it” you muttered as you almost sprinted through the streets of Seoul. You blushed because of the people giving you weird looks but you really couldn’t find it in yourself to care that much, this was your last chance to meet the people that changed your life before you went to space. You came across their song No more dream three years ago just a few weeks after their debut when you were still learning Korean.You translated the lyrics to the best of your ability and then sat in shock. You knew what your dream was and you always had. Since you were twelve...Go to space that's all there was to it, but when you joined the program at age fifteen after graduating high school early they asked you to stay in the control center instead of training you for space exploration. 

BTS’s words shook you so much that that very day at the ripe old age of seventeen you stormed into Lori Garver’s office and demanded that you WOULD be put on an expedition and that age didn’t matter. She was shocked that you were even there, she had no idea that you were even employed at NASA much less that you had dreams of going to space. After she explained this to you, you calmed down a bit. Later that week the two of you struck up a deal. When you turned eighteen you would move to South Korea, get a team, and then train for two years so that you would be twenty when you went up. You agreed eagerly, as long as you were getting what you wanted in the long run you could take some time to do it. You stopped a couple of feet from the entrance of the venue and caught your breath. Oh gosh, this was it you were really going to meet BTS!

[samwise-writes]

19. “I made a mistake.”

So this ended up much longer than I had anticipated. And I am unsure if I actually like it. But I figured I needed to explain at some point why Reah was acting like such a weirdo. Anyway, this take place directly after Names

annnnd I am really feeling this Reah and Rylen pairing, soooo I probably will be posting more of them very soon. 

History

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

Reah had come stomping into her younger sister’s chambers both out-raged and out-of-sorts. It was uncommon for Reah to lose her temper these days, and it took a great deal to shake the woman, so Eloise was instantly concerned by the sudden appearance and obvious foul mood her sister was in.

           “Good morning, Reah…” Eloise said cautiously. Her sister seemed lost in thought. Once Reah registered her sister’s words, she looked up and around herself as though she was seeing her surroundings for the first time. She hadn’t meant to come to Eloise’s room, she knew she was likely busy with Inquisition business, but it seemed her feet led her there anyway. She met her sister’s concerned face with an apologetic and slightly sheepish smile.

           “Oh, Eloise. Good morning. I apologize. I was… lost in thought and automatically came here...” She trailed off and took a few steps toward Eloise’s balcony.

“Do you mind if I stay here for a while?”

Eloise raised an eyebrow at her sister’s odd behaviour.

“Are you hiding from someone?” she asked, getting up from behind her desk, and moving over to stand beside her sister.

Reah winced at Eloise’s question. She looked guilty, as though she had been caught doing something wrong.

“Who are you hiding from?” Eloise asked gently, genuinely concerned.

Reah shook her head silently closing her eyes for a minute, taking a deep breath.

“It wouldn’t happen to be our very striking Knight-Captain Rylen, would it?”

Reah jumped. She hadn’t realized there was someone else in the room – she never would have asked to stay if she had realized, nor would she have even opened her mouth. She spun around to glare at the Tevinter mage.

Dorian was lounging on her sister’s chaise, smirking under his ridiculous mustache, the book he had been reading, tossed to the side. He met Reah’s gaze unflinchingly.

“Why would you be hiding from Rylen?” Eloise asked. Her curiosity was peaked now. She had observed her sister, and Cullen’s second-in-command circling each other for months now but she hadn’t realized anything had come of it.

Reah was still staring down Dorian, but his smirk only grew into a grin. Reah made a rude gesture at the mage before turning back to meet her sister’s eyes.

“I made a mistake,” Reah breathed out quietly, “I did something I promised myself I wasn’t going to do… but now that it has happened, I am not sure I can keep it from happening again.”

Eloise blinked at her sister a few times. Eloise was trying to process what exactly her sister meant, but only fully understood once Dorian piped in again with a coy: “Why would you? He is a positively delectable treat.”

“Oh!” Eloise cried out.

“Oh. Yes.” Reah said, her irritation at Dorian’s remark obvious in her voice.

Eloise hesitated. She knew her sister, and she understood now why Reah was not acting like herself.

“This doesn’t have to be a bad thing.” Elosie said softly, placing a hand on her sister’s shoulder, trying to catch Reah’s eye.

Reah shook her head vehemently.

“I said I wouldn’t let this happen. Not again. I can’t.”

Eloise sighed. “Rylen isn’t James, Reah.”

Reah visibly reacted to the mention of her past lover’s name. She shrunk away from Eloise’s touch, wrapping her arms around herself. She cursed the mage in her head, fully aware of how vulnerable she was.

Dorian was fully aware of the fact too, and he suddenly felt sorry for making his earlier comments. Clearly there was more going on than he understood.

“Who is James?” He asked quietly.

Reah’s head snapped up to look at him. This time, her eyes were not full of vitriol, but rather, tears.

“He was my fiancé” Reah breathed out, surprised at how willingly the words came to her lips in answer to the mage’s question.

“What happened to him?”

Reah walked slowly over to the chaise and collapsed down beside Dorian. She mulled over the words in her head for a few moments, before deciding to just tell it in the simplest way she could.

“As you already know,” Reah began, and Eloise moved over to sit on the edge of her bed, facing Dorian and her sister, “Eloise and I are half-sisters. We don’t talk much about our family for a reason.” She met her sister’s eye, and Eloise gave her an encouraging nod to continue. “We share the same father, Argonne Trevelyan. He had an illicit relationship when he was quite young, with an ‘unsuitable woman’” Reah paused to make a face and take a breath before continuing.

“His parents basically banished my mother, she had worked in the Trevelyan household as a stable hand for five years. That was before anyone, including my mother, realized that she was with child. Well, once she did realized, she wrote letters to our father to let him know. Of course, her letters were intercepted by our grandparents and my father didn’t learn about my existence until I was about seven years old. By that time he had married a suitable woman, who was pregnant with Eloise. He had grown hard, and cold; quite a lot had happened within the family to make him that way.” Reah sighed, looking incredibly tired.

“Anyway, once he found out he had another child, he felt it was his right to raise me as a Trevelyan, despite my status as a bastard. So, he found out where my mother and I were living, and he took me. There was nothing my mother could do to stop him. He was a Lord, and he had a great deal of power in the area that we had been living. She never really gave up on him. I think she had hoped one day he would get out of his parents’ control and come back to her.”

Reah shook her head, staring at her boots.

“Instead, he came back for me, and left her there with nothing.” She looked up to look Dorian in the eye. “I’m told after he left with me, she lost the will to live. She became ill and died within the year. I could never forgive Argonne for that.”

Reah expelled a long breath, trying to gather her thoughts to get back on track.

“For the remainder of my life, I lived at the Trevelyan estate. However, I was never quite accepted there. I found some friends in the staff, but Eloise’s mother never did like having me around. I can understand that, I was a threat to Eloise’s claim to the Trevelyan fortune and estate.”

“Not that I wanted it” snorted Eloise.

Reah ignored her sister.

“She was a good woman in spite of her concerns about titles and who deserved to be Argonne’s rightful heir. She tried to include me in most events, and she protected me as well as she could from our father’s wrath. And she loved Eloise dearly, who had become the most important person in my life, so for that I could respect her, and in a way, love her. She is the reason that I met James. He was a younger son of a decently wealthy merchant family, that was sometimes invited to the soirees that she put on. He was the only reason that I would agree to attend the parties. I wasn’t accepted, and frankly, I didn’t want to be. These were not my people. But, the first time I met James, I must’ve been sixteen, he walked right over to me, and insisted that I dance with him. I refused multiple times, and tried to slip away from the party, so that he would stop pestering me.”

Reah smiled at the memory.

“Unfortunately for me, I hadn’t quite gained all the sneaking skills of a decent rouge, and he followed me out to the stables. He found me there, grooming one of the horses. I was annoyed that he found me so quickly, but he stayed with me the rest of the night; he stayed quiet, just observing me. After the next two parties, it became an unspoken agreement that we would meet in the stables when he would come, I taught him how to care for horses, and sometimes we would go out for a ride. Eventually, I grew to like him, and somehow… that became love. He allowed me to just be me, and that was not something that I had experienced before, in a household where I was constantly observed by everyone, other than Eloise, with suspicion.  He asked me to marry him a few years later. I was only eighteen at the time, and a part of me knew that it was too soon. But I was suffocating. Our father had become… crueller… So, I agreed to the proposal, not realizing that there was a Blight just around the corner. James’ family had travelled to Ferelden on business about two weeks before King Cailan’s army was decimated by the horde. He was killed about a week after that. He tried to help what he thought was a small group of refugees, but they turned out to be bandits. They killed him.”

Reah gave herself a few seconds before continuing.

“So. I left home shortly after that, unable to stand our father’s treatment any longer. By that time I was nineteen, and I vowed that I would never allow someone to get close to me in that way again. It just hurt too much. I learned that the only person I could rely on was myself. And that was good enough for me. I didn’t need anyone other than myself, and Eloise.”

Silence fell over the three of them for a long few minutes.

Dorian finally broke the silence.

“So, what you are concerned about is…?” He held up a hand to Reah when she opened her mouth to speak. “Rylen is not James. He can defend himself. I also saw the way he was looking at you last night. And every night before that since we arrived at Skyhold. And for some time in Haven as well.”

Reah blinked in surprise at how forcefully Dorian was speaking to her.

“Just because you have been hurt in the past, doesn’t mean that you can just close yourself off from other people.”

Eloise and Dorain shared a momentarily meaningful look. Eloise recognized the words she had spoken to Dorian after they had met with his father. 

Reah shook her head.

“I have to protect myself.”

Eloise stared at her sister.

“Why?”

Reah met Eloise’s gaze but remained silent.

“Why must you insist on being an idiot? You have to let people in! It is the only way to survive, especially in a situation like this!” Eloise swung her arms out gesturing around the room.

“This is the way that I survive!” Reah sprung up and began pacing erratically around the room, her voice bouncing off the stone walls with urgency. “Why can’t you understand that? I am weak, and the only way I can protect myself is to prevent myself from becoming weaker by relying on, and needing others!” Reah stopped her pacing with a wild look in her eyes. Eloise had shrunk back looking visibly hurt by her sister’s words.

Dorian understood why Eloise looked hurt, but he also knew that Reah hadn’t meant Eloise to be a weakness.

“You are not your mother.”

Eloise and Reah both stared at Dorian. He met Reah’s gaze calmly.

“You are not your mother, and you will not crumble if someone else leaves you.”

Reah visibly deflated, coming back over to Eloise and Dorian. This time she perched beside her sister. Throwing an arm around Eloise’s shoulders she pulled the younger woman a bit closer.

“I’m sorry. You know I don’t mean that you are a weakness.”

Eloise sighed. “I know.”

Dorian was not ready to let the matter go.

“You need to talk to him.”

Reah’s eyes bugged out and she sat up a bit straighter.

“No. No way. It was a mistake.”

“You two are possibly the most hard-headed women I have ever met in my entire life!” Dorian exclaimed dramatically.

“Why do you care so much?”

“Because,” Dorian smiled, “as I said, I’ve seen the way that man looks at you. He could never leave you because he is so utterly devoted to you that he would follow you across Thedas if he could.”

Reah swiped a pillow from Eloise’s bed and tossed it at Dorian. He carelessly threw up a hand and the pillow burst into flames; Eloise stared at the smouldering pieces of fabric that remained on the floor for a moment.

“Hey, that was my pillow you brute!”

“I’ll buy you a new one,” Dorian said, while still staring down Reah.

“Talk. To. Him.” Dorian drew out the words, and Reah narrowed her eyes at him.

“Who are we talking to, now?”

They all jumped, no one had heard someone else enter the room.

There, standing at the top of Eloise’s steps was no other than the Knight-Captain himself.

Eloise and Dorian both stared at Rylen, Dorian’s face rearranging itself into possibly the smuggest face Reah had ever seen. Rylen found himself unable to keep his eyes from Reah, but she was set on continuing to glare at the mage.

After what felt like hours to Reah, Rylen spoke again, holding up a small stack of vellum in one hand.

“The commander needed these brought to you, Inquisitor, but was held up by some other matters. I told him I would ensure you got them.”

Eloise blinked a few times, trying to catch up with what Rylen was saying.

“Ah, yes.” She stood, smoothing out her clothes, “Right. The reports I asked for. Thank you, Knight-Captain.” She moved over to take the stack, just as Reah jumped up. Everyone paused to look at her.

“I…” Reah looked at a loss for words, “I need to go. I have another engagement I forgot about.”

“And what, pray tell, could that be?” Dorian asked slyly, needling Reah.

She glared at the mage as she made to leave, “I have to go beat up your boyfriend.”

Dorian’s laugh followed her down the stairs and out the door of her sister’s chamber.

[imdoingthismspaintadventure]

Worm 1.6 - In which we meet futuristic techno Dredd

II heard the cape arrive on his souped up motorcycle.  I didn’t want to be seen fleeing the scene of a fight, and risk being labeled one of the bad guys by yet another person, but I wasn’t about to get closer to the street either, in case Lung was feeling better.  Since there was nowhere to go, I just stayed put.  Just resting felt good.

Yeah it’s better you stay and try to explain what went down. Fleeing after all this..wouldn’t be a good look. And let’s try to stay far away from  the knocked-out fire demon while we’re at it.

If you’d asked me just a few hours ago about how I thought I would feel meeting a big name superhero, I would have used words like excited and giddy.  The reality was that I was almost too exhausted to care.

You have experienced a loooot of things just today girl. It’s not everyday you get into a life or death fight and then meet some people of dubious character, all in the span of like 20 minutes. Shame your first encounter with a bona-fide superhero is in a situation like this.

It looked as though he flew up onto the roof, but the six-foot long weapon the man held kind of jerked as he landed.  I was pretty sure I saw the tines of a grappling hook retreating back into the end of the weapon.  So this was what Armsmaster looked like in person, I thought.

Armsmaster! So...master of weapons? He seems to have a pretty badass one in one arm, which seems to have multiple uses. Good old Grappling Hooks! The way for grounded super heroes to keep up with flight-types!

The largest superhero organization in the world was the Protectorate, spanning Canada and the States, with ongoing talks about including Mexico in the deal.  It was a government sponsored league of superheroes with a base in each ‘cape city’.  That is, they had a team set up in each city with a sizable population of heroes and villains.  Brockton Bay’s team was officially ‘The Protectorate East-North-East’, and were headquartered in the floating, forcefield-shrouded island that you could see from the Boardwalk.  This guy, Armsmaster, was the guy in charge of the local team.  When the core group of the top Protectorate members from around Canada and the States assembled in that classic ‘v’ formation for the photo shoots, Armsmaster was one of the guys in the wings.  This was a guy who had his own action figures.  Poseable Armsmaster with interchangeable Halberd parts.

Wooaaah. So he’s a really big shot! Leader of the local Protectorate which seems to be this universe’s version of the Avengers/Justice League/big main hero organization. He lives in that badass flying fortess! And seems to be pretty marketable as well. Meeting him in the flesh like this in your first day, woah .

He really did look like a superhero, not like some guy in a costume.  It was an important distinction.  He wore body armor, dark blue with silver highlights, had a sharply angled v-shaped visor covering his eyes and nose.  With only the lower half of his face exposed, I could see a beard trimmed to trace the edges of his jaw.  If I had to judge, with only the lower half of his face to go by, I’d guess he was in his late twenties or early thirties.

High-tech superhero armor and professional gear! Sweet!

He’s giving me a mix of iron man and judge dredd vibes with that costume. Either way he seems to exude “veteran and skilled super” a lot.

His trademark and weapon was his Halberd, which was basically a spear with an axe head on the end, souped up with gadgets and the kind of technology you generally only saw in science fiction.  He was the kind of guy who appeared on magazine covers and did interviews on TV, so you could find almost anything about Armsmaster through various media, short of his secret identity.  I knew his weapon could cut through steel as though it was butter, that it had plasma injectors for stuff that the blade alone couldn’t cut and that he could fire off directed electromagnetic pulses to shut down forcefields and mechanical devices.

HE HAS A MASTER WEAPON WHICH CAN ACT AS ALL OF THE WEAPONS AT THE SAME TIME. THAT’S SO AWESOME

I knew he was gonna be technologically-focused, with that badass floating island and all!

A spear-axe hybrid strong enough to cut through steel, with plasma injectors and EMP blasts?? Fucking sweet.

“You gonna fight me?” He called out.

“I’m a good guy,” I said.

Stepping closer to me, he tilted his head, “You don’t look like one.”

Oof. That’s true. Miss looking-like-a-living-bug with dark colors and yellow lenses doesn’t seem very heroic at... all

Also I really like how that line was delivered for some reason. You don’t look like one

That stung, especially coming from him.  It was like Michael Jordan saying you sucked at basketball.  “That’s… not intentional,” I responded, not a little defensively, “I was more than halfway done putting the costume together when I realized it was already looking more edgy than I’d intended, and I couldn’t do anything about it by then.”

Your power is very hard to use in a kid-friendly way! You command a swarm of biting, stinging, maybe-venomous, maybe-flesh eating bugs! That grimdark look is actually apropiate

I wonder if this work will explore heroes who want to do good things but have characteristically “evil powers”. Taylor could easily be one!

There was a long pause.  Nervously, I turned my eyes from that opaque visor.  I glanced at his chest emblem, a silhouette of his visor in blue against a silver background, and was struck with the ridiculous thought that I had once owned a pair of underpants with his emblem on the front.

Pfft! Taylor your young fangirl self is adorable

Also gave me Deku flashbacks, as with the hero journals

“You’re telling the truth,” he said.  It was a definitive statement, which startled me.  I wanted to ask how he knew, but I wasn’t about to do or say anything that might change his mind. 

Lie-detector?? God his suit just has everything

I love technology based powers by the way. When a hero stacks himself up to the teeth in sweet tech it’s a sight to behold

He approached closer, looking me over as I sat there with my arms around my knees, he asked, “You need a hospital?”

“No,” I said. “Don’t think so.  I’m as surprised as you are.”

“You’re a new face,” he said.

“I haven’t even come up with a name yet.  You know how hard it is to come up with a bug-themed name that doesn’t make me sound like a supervillain or a complete dork?”

Hmm that’s true! Swarm sounds villanous, same with Plague, Sting, Hivemind, Pestilence...

Bug is probably too simple. (Insect) Queen maybe? Eh Queen is so general that it’s probably taken already. Control? Probably taken  and sounds villanous.

He chuckled, and it sounded warm, very normal, “I wouldn’t know.  I got into the game early enough that I didn’t have to worry about missing out on all of the good names.”

There was a pause in the conversation.  I suddenly felt awkward.  I don’t know why, but I admitted to him, “I almost died.”

“That’s why we have the Ward program,” he said.  There was no judgement in his tone, no pressure.  Just a statement.

Hmm, what is that? Some sort of superhero training?

I nodded, more to give a response than out of any agreement with the answer.  The Wards were the under-eighteen subdivision of the Protectorate, and Brockton Bay did have its own team of Wards, with the same naming convention as the Protectorate; The Wards East-North-East.  I had considered applying to join, but the notion of escaping the stresses of high school by flinging myself into a mess of teenage drama, adult oversight and schedules seemed self-defeating.

Oooh so it’s like the Teen Titans, and other young superhero groups! Young teenage superheroes! Nice!

Also yeah, that would probably be similar to school, and you wanted escapism with this. I don’t think you would get bullied though, but I understand your reticence.

“You get Lung?” I asked, to change the subject from the Wards.  I was pretty sure that he was obligated to try and induct new heroes into either the Protectorate or the Wards, depending on their age, to promote the whole agenda of organized heroes who are accountable for their actions, and I really didn’t want him to get on my case about joining.

He probably is obligated to ask, yeah. I suppose they don’t condone vigilantism. So changing the subject to the dragon man is probably a good idea!

“Lung was unconscious, beaten and battered when I arrived.  I pumped him full of tranquilizers to be safe and temporarily restrained him under a steel cage I welded to the sidewalk.  I’ll pick him up on my way back.”

“Good,” I said, “With him in jail, I’ll feel like I accomplished something today.  Only reason I started the fight was because I overheard him telling his men to shoot some kids.  Only realized later that he was talking about some other villains.”

Armsmaster turned to look at me.  So I told him, walking him through the fight in general, the arrival of the teenage bad guys, and their general descriptions.  Before I finished, he was pacing back and forth on the roof.

“These guys.  They knew I was coming?”

Yeeah that was a pretty epic misunderstanding there.

Also they probably knew you were coming thanks to the kinda-omniscient know-it-all in their team soooo yeah.

I nodded, once.  As much respect as I had for Armsmaster, I wasn’t in much of a mood to repeat myself.

“That explains a lot,” he said, staring off into the distance.  After a few moments, he went on to explain, “They’re slippery.  On those few occasions we do manage to get in a toe to toe fight with them, they either win, or they get away more or less unscathed, or both.  We know so little about them.  Grue and Hellhound were working on their own before they joined the group, so there’s some information there, but the other two?  They’re nonentities.  If the girl Tattletale has some way of detecting or tracking us, it would go a long way towards explaining why they’re doing as well as they are.”

Insteresting! So Regent and Tattletale are very well hidden! I imagine it must be easy for Tattletale to do so, but I still don’t know what Regent does... He’s definitely the most misterious of them all at the moment.

Heh, and he uses Hellhound for Bitch, he’s a hero so of course

It kind of surprised me to hear one of the top level heroes admitting to being anything less than perfectly on top of things.

“It’s funny,” I said, after a few moment’s thought, “They didn’t seem that hardcore.  Grue said they were kind of panicking when they heard Lung was coming after them, and they were casually joking around while the fight was going on.  Grue was making fun of Regent.”

“They said all this in front of you?” he asked.

I shrugged, “I think they thought I was helping them out.  The way Tattletale talked, I think she thought I was a bad guy too or something.”  With a touch of bitterness, I said, “Dunno, I guess it was the costume that led them to that assumption.”

“Could you have taken them in a fight?” Armsmaster asked me.

I started to shrug, and winced a little.  I was feeling a little sore in the shoulder, where I’d tumbled on the roof after being blasted by Lung’s flames.  I said, “Like you said, we don’t know a lot about them, but I think that girl with the dogs-”

“Hellhound,” Armsmaster said.

“I think she could have kicked my ass on her own, so no.  I probably couldn’t have fought them.”

Yeah they didn’t really seem evil per se, they were pretty nice to us! Maybe because they confused us for a villain...

And yeah I don’t think you could have beaten them. Of the two powers I sorta know of them, hellbeasts and kinda-omniscience beat bugs, I’m pretty sure. So yeah.

“Then count it as a good thing that they got the wrong impression,” Armsmaster said.

“I’ll try to look at it that way,” I said, struck by how he easily he was able to employ the whole ‘take a negative and turn it into a positive’ mindset I’d been trying to maintain.  I envied that.

Heroes tends to be more optimistic than most.

“That a girl,” he said, “And while we’re looking forward, we need to decide where we go from here.”

My heart sank.  I knew he was going to bring up the Wards again.

Yeaah and he’ll put you in an awkward spot again...

What do you want to do Taylor? Start as a standalone hero and then work your way up through your acts and deeds? Could you even do that and still be well-regarded by the Protectorate?

“Who gets the credit for Lung?”

Caught off guard, I looked up at him.  I started to speak, but he held up his hand.

“Hear me out.  What you’ve done tonight is spectacular.  You played a part in getting a major villain into custody.  You just need to consider the consequences.”

“Consequences,” I muttered, even as the word spectacular rang in my ears.

Oh, so he wants to talk about who gets the credit? Huh, didn’t expect that. It could be a good first step for her hero career, but it could also be dangerous to let villains know about her existence, especially if she’s going solo

“Lung has an extensive gang throughout Brockton Bay and neighboring cities.  More than that, he has two superpowered flunkies.  Oni Lee and Bakuda.”

I shook my head, “I know about Oni Lee, and Grue mentioned fighting him.  I’ve never heard of Bakuda.”

So he has two liutenants with powers! Oni Lee was mentioned before and now... Bakuda. Baku- makes me think explosions from Bakuha, so it could be explosions-based?

Seems to be a new member, anyways.

Armsmaster nodded, “Not surprising.  She’s new.  What we know about her is limited.  She made her first appearance and demonstration of her powers by way of a drawn out terrorism campaign against Cornell University.  Lung apparently recruited her and brought her to Brockton Bay after her plans were foiled by the New York Protectorate.  This is… something of a concern.”

Damn, terrorism against a University and a conforntation with the New York Protectorate? She seems to have some infamy even before joining

“What are her powers?”

“Are you aware of the Tinker classification?”

I started to shrug, but remembered my sore shoulder and nodded instead.  It was probably more polite, too.  I said, “Covers anyone with powers that give them an advanced grasp of science.  Lets them make technology years ahead of its time.  Ray guns, ice blasters, mechanized suits of armor, advanced computers.”

Oh sweet

So tinkers are the inventors, the tech-based superheroes who use futuristic technology and all kinds of high-specs gear, and that is their superpower?

Oh I love technology-based powers so much.

“Close enough,” Armsmaster said.  It struck me he would be a Tinker, if his Halberd and armor were any indication.  That, or he got his stuff from someone else.  He elaborated,  “Well, most Tinkers have a specialty or a special trick.  Something they’re particualrly good at or something that they can do, which other Tinkers can’t.  Bakuda’s specialty is bombs.”

I stared at him.  A woman with a power that let her make bombs that were technologically decades ahead of their time.  No wonder he saw it as a concern.

So Armsmaster is a tinker! Makes sense with his impossibly-amazing plasma spear-axe, lie detector and super armor. I suppose a tinker’s threat can vary a lot depending on prep time and current gear. I like them!

Super-advanced explosives? Oh boy, that sounds like potencially a fucking nightmare

“Now I want you to consider the danger involved in taking the credit for Lung’s capture.  Without a doubt, Oni Lee and Bakuda will be looking to accomplish two goals.  Freeing their boss and getting vengeance on the one responsible.  I suspect you’re now aware… these are scary people.  Scarier in some ways than their boss.”

“You’re saying I shouldn’t take the credit,” I said.

“I’m saying you have two options.  Option one is to join the Wards, where you’ll have support and protection in the event of an altercation.  Option two is to keep your head down.  Don’t take the credit.  Fly under the radar.”

Yeah I could see how Taylor could become the target of these two underlings, which would probably be more than she can handle.

So Armsmaster is offering her the possibilities of

a) Joining the teenage super-squad and take the credit for Lung or

b)Keep going solo but maintain your involvment in this a secret

I wasn’t prepared to make a decision like that.  Usually, I went to sleep at eleven or so, waking up at six thirty to get ready for my morning run.  At my best guess, it was somewhere between one and two in the morning.  I was emotionally exhausted from the highs and lows of the evening, and I could barely wrap my head around the complications and headaches that would come from joining the Wards, let alone having two insanely dangerous sociopaths coming after me. 

Aand one of those options is already giving Taylor a headache

On top of that, I wasn’t so ignorant as to miss Armsmaster’s motives. If I opted to not take the credit for Lung’s capture, Armsmaster would, I was sure.  I didn’t want to get on the bad side of a major player.

....True, politics could be at play here

Athough I don’t know if Taylor has just a bad view of power structures in general, considering she thought that autobiographical book she read was probably all propaganda

...Which could be true, and the whole system could be corrupt at least a little, and Armsmaster is offering her two options where he hopes he gets the credit and the glory

“Please keep my involvement in Lung’s capture secret,” I told him, painfully disappointed to have to say it, even as I knew it made the most sense.

He smiled, which I hadn’t expected.  He had a nice smile.  It made me think that he could win the hearts of a lot of women, whatever the top two-thirds of his face looked like.  “I think you’ll look back and see this was a smart decision,” Armsmaster said, turning to walk to the other end of the roof, “Call me at the PHQ if you’re ever in a pinch.” He stepped off the edge of the roof and dropped out of sight.

He seems very pleased at her decision, which reinforces my belief that he did want to get the credit after all. Or he’s happy she doesn’t get in trouble. Or both.

Armsmaster seems like an ok guy, probably a little vain, or glory-seeking, but in a way, all superheroes are a bit like that. I have defintely seen much worse examples.

You get a thumbs-up, cool plasma-spear man

Call me if you’re ever in a pinch.  He’d been saying, without openly admitting, that he owed me one.  He would take the lion’s share of the credit for Lung’s capture, but he owed me one.

Before I was all the way down the fire escape, I heard the thrum of his motorcycle, presumably carrying Lung towards a life of confinement. I could hope.

Oh true! Nice, you can call in a favour of a team leader of the superhero mega-alliance! Good start to your superhero career, Taylor!

And he just took away Lung so it seems she was indeed the push the situation needed to get him into custody! Yes!

It would take me a half hour to get home.  On the way, I would stop and pull on the sweatshirt and jeans I had hidden.  I knew my dad went to sleep even earlier than I did, and he slept like a log, so I had nothing to worry about as far as wrapping up the night.

It could have gone worse.  Strange as it sounds, those words were a security blanket I wrapped around myself to keep myself from dwelling on the fact that tomorrow was a school day.

It could have gone worse is a good mentality to have!

Let’s hope the three bitches aren’t too insufferable tomorrow.

[misskoleslaw]

Rapunzel of Old Corona

(Fan fiction)

Ok I fixed it, it’s not screenshots anymore that was stupid. Anyway, this is chapters one and two.

The king and queen had just announced that they had a baby on the way. (A/N Terrible starting sentence)This was especially good news. For the queen had been told she was sterile and couldn't bear children. This fact was known throughout the kingdom, and the announcement caused some to feel troubled. Let me explain.

The kingdom of Corona was not superstitious, per-say, but they had strong beliefs for stories or myths they were told. There had been stories about special children being born, whether it was a demonic kind of special or something miraculous. Mostly these were fairy-tales, stories, as I said, but they were believed.

Most everyone thought the unborn prince or princess would obtain some kind of magical ability, and it made most worship the queen more. But, there's always a bad side. Some -very few- believed that the queen was something evil, like a witch or demon, and they attempted to kill the queen thinking killing something so evil would rid the kingdom of all its grievances. Spoiler; they were wrong.

One night a woman entered the palace telling the guards she was a well-wisher coming with gifts for their majesties. This woman, known as Gothel, was a friend to the king and Queen and was for many years prier to this moment. She lured Queen Arianna away so that they were alone in a room together, and when she looked away, slit her throat. She disappeared and they couldn't find her for many days.

This is where it gets weird, The child was born many hours after Queen Arianna's Death. Yeah, that's right the same child who, at this point in time, would've only been a four-week-old fetus in her mother's womb. She was born with beautiful Golden hair, much longer than an average newborns, and the exact same eyes as her mother. This child was Rapunzel, and once the kingdom knew of her they made sure to do everything they could to get rid of her, obviously this was highly irregular. The night the king agreed to get rid of the young Rapunzel was the night Gothel returned. She offered to take the child and the king, who at this point was desperate to get rid of her, agreed.

Gothel brought the young Rapunzel to her home in Old Corona, where she would spend the next eighteen years of her life being raised as a commoner.

Chapter 2

:)

Characters are definitely going to be a little-or very- out of character, but I have an excuse: Alternate Universe.  

     "Rapunzel, stop running around please." Gothel had just returned home from an errand that she hoped would help her figure out the mystery that is Rapunzel, and needed some rest. Rapunzel wasn't helping.

"Mother, can i go see Quirin?" Rapunzel was a pretty intelligent four-year-old and had grown quite close with Old Corona's leader. She spent most of her time with Quirin and his wife, Liliana, and they became like surrogate parents to her when Gothel was away. And Gothel was usually away.

"Go ahead, mother needs some rest." Gothel had finally found something.

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

One Day Ago

       Gothel had finally reached the place Quirin had told her to meet him, it was an odd place, so odd that it was in the middle of a forest. That's it, it was just a forest, no buildings, castles, nothing. Well, except trees.

"Gothel, I'm glad you're here." Quirin had been especially cryptic when telling her to meet him there. "I hope this is important, I have much to do today."

"Another day of searching for something you're not going to find, Gothel?"

"I have other things to do." Gothel turned to start walking away, and out of this odd forest. Quirin wasn't a particularly kind person, but he was especially horrible to Gothel.

"Wait, You're not going to find it because I have it. But I'll need something in return." Quirin took a scroll out of his pocket and held it out to her. Gothel grabbed the scroll from him and unrolled it to see a strange, seemingly outdated language, with an image of a sun, a moon, an image of a man, and what looked like some kind of ritual thing.(A/N IDK) From the sun there were drops leading down to a flower, and in a similar matter there were drops from the moon leading down to an odd tower.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"It-it's something Adira and I have been studying for some time now," he points to the sun and the flower " We think there is a flower capable of healing people of mostly anything, this is it."

" And how do you know this flower is real?"

"We don't, but we think the flower is the reason the princess was born."

This made sense to Gothel, she thought about it and a flower capable of healing anything could have been able to make the queen able to have children, heal her sterility. But, she didn't know how it would've affected Rapunzel.

Quirin must've known her doubts because he started to explain," The flower could've been used on the queen, but the magic might have needed a growing organism to root in; Rapunzel."

"And what do you want from me?"

"My wife is pregnant and we're worried for the child."

"How so?"

"We think that this-" he points to the odd stone container thing in the corner of the scroll. "has similar capabilities to the sundrop, but a reflection of that."

"And you think this will kill the child."

"That doesn't-"

"Unfortunately-"

"No-"

"I can't help you." Gothel turned around and started to walk away.

"Gothel!"

Gothel didn't turn around, she got what she needed, she didn't care what happened to the child.

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

       Rapunzel arrived at Quirin's home, her long hair flowing behind her. She knocked at the door, Liliana opened it. "Oh, hello, Rapunzel." Her pregnant belly had gotten quite big and she had told Rapunzel a few days ago that the baby should be expected soon.

"Hi, Lily." Rapunzel had usually been quite shy around Liliana, but once Liliana announced she was pregnant, Rapunzel had been excited and gotten closer with Liliana than she was with anyone.

"Come in, sweetie."

Liliana was one of the kindest people in their small village, which wasn't saying much altogether, the villagers weren't very nice. But, believe  me, Lily was very kind. "Oh, I forgot to give you a gift for your birthday last week."

She put a small flower in Rapunzel's hair, it was small, beautiful blue flower.

"Wow, thanks!"

Lily laughed, "No problem, it's just a flower. also, Quirin won't be here today, he has an... errand to run."

"That's okay, I wanted to see you anyway," Rapunzel lied "and mother is sleeping."

When Lily didn't respond Rapunzel turned around to look at her. Lily was leaned over a table, grasping her stomach.

"Are you okay?"

"I think--I-I think the baby's coming, sweetie. Why don't you go get the doctor?"

Rapunzel ran as fast as she could to find Doctor Mirori, she explained it to him, more or less. It was mostly just three words spilled out in a panic.

"LILY-BABY-NOW." Rapunzel did some 'come-here' motions and Mirori apparently understood.

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

Nine Hours Later (A/N Random number IDK)

Quirin still wasn't home yet, and Gothel had come to get Rapunzel hours ago. Rapunzel had refused to go until the baby was born. Which, admittedly, was a lot longer than she thought it would be.

Doctor Mirori had just come out of the room where the baby was being born, carrying a little bundle. Gothel was surprised that A) Lily had allowed the baby to be taken out of the room an B) this odd child wasn't crying, it was giggling. It was a very cute sound, but odd nonetheless.

Doctor Mirori looked to Gothel before telling her some very important news. "Unfortunately, Liliana did not make it. This is her child, Varian, I'm sorry for your loss."

Rapunzel was heartbroken, she immediately started crying. But, Gothel, who didn't know Lily nor care whether or not she was living only said "Oh, it's not my loss."

"Oh, well I'm going to have to ask that you take care of the child until the father returns." Mirori replied.

"Rapunzel, Flower, will you take the baby from the doctor please."

Rapunzel immediately did as she was told, but, as a four-year-old, didn't know what she was doing. She held Varian close to her body, but much like you would hold a puppy, not a baby.

" Hold his head, Flower."

Once Rapunzel did this, Gothel saw something. The baby had a full head of hair, not as much as Rapunzel had when she was an infant, but more than the average child. But that's not what she noticed, what she noticed, was the streak of blue.

A/N

At least I tried

I think I might've brushed over Liliana's death too much but I don't really know how to handle that type of thing soooo yeah.

[darlingpetao3]

For Asgard (Chapter 29/?)

Summary: What if Odin had banished Loki to Earth instead of Thor? The story of how you, the Reader, meet and help Loki on his quest to return to Asgard.

One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen Twenty Twenty-One Twenty-Two Twenty-Three Twenty-Four Twenty-Five Twenty-Six Twenty-Seven Twenty-Eight

A/N: I am soooo sorry it’s taken me this long! Here we have a transitional chapter into the Ragnarok chapters :D

“Hey, Thor.”

“(Y/N),” the god greets you in the grand corridor as you approach the throne room. “How are you faring with... everything?”

It has only been a couple days since you had returned to Asgard with Lorelei and Thor had saved the world from Malekith, but this is your first time seeing Thor since you had parted.

“What? With the love of my life dying before my eyes? Yeah, I’ve been better...”

You feel like a horrible person having to lie to Thor. But it’s for Loki’s well being! you tell yourself.

“I understand,” he says, placing a hand on your shoulder. “Just know I will be here for you.”

“Thank you, Thor, you don’t know how much that-”

“-Although, not in the literal sense, as I will not be here.”

“Oh!” You arch an eyebrow. “Where are you going, then?”

“As I have just explained to my father, I will be journeying throughout the Nine Realms to bring peace upon them. However, what I did not tell him is that while I am away, I will also conduct my own sort of scavenger hunt, if you will.”

“That sounds… fun?” you offer, not entirely sure what he means by that. “How long will you be gone for?”

“Hard to say. Could be many months. Years, even.”

“Then, I guess this is goodbye?”

“I suppose it is.” Thor goes in for a handshake, but you pull him in for a hug instead.

“Come here, you big lug!” He chuckles wholeheartedly at that. “Good luck, Thor.”

“Thank you, (Y/N). But what will you do? Would you like me to accompany you home to Midgard?”

“No! I mean, no thank you,” you say hurriedly. “Asgard feels more like my home now.” Thor appears proud at your statement.

“Well, please keep our home safe while I’m away.”

“Will do.”

Your future brother-in-law (though he has no idea of this fact) nods to you before walking off in the other direction. You turn and head to the throne room doors, smiling at the guards who open them at your advancement. After all, the “All-Father” has granted you the highest ranking in the palace. Next to him, that is…

The moment the doors close, you scurry excitedly up to the All-Father’s throne, where a man who bears the appearance of Odin relaxes all too comfortably in his golden seat, lying horizontally with his legs over one of the armrests. An Asgardian woman feeds the King by dangling a bunch of grapes above his mouth. The old man has a goofy satisfied grin on his face.

He’s going to ruin everything he’s worked for if he keeps up like this.

“Beat it,” you tell the woman, practically snatching the grapes from her hand. The face of Odin blinks up at you, now with a Cheshire Cat smile. Once you hear the woman has audibly exited the room, the man you stare down at transforms himself back into your love.

“Why, hello my darling. Have you come to feed me, instead?”

“You wish,” you scoff, trying to hold back a smile of your own.

“I do, in fact.” Loki sucks a grape from the bunch you hold in your hand.

“You need to be more careful, you know,” you warn him, “Everyone is going to think something’s up.” Your mischievous husband-to-be sits up and gazes at you with a twinkle in his eye.

“Yes, you do have a point, my dear,” he agrees, “But oh, this is so much fun.”

“I know it is, Loki. Just don’t do anything completely insane and questionable, please?”

“Like what, might I ask?”

“I don’t know… Like have minstrels write songs about you or order a giant statue made of gold in your likeness or write a play about yourself-”

“-I like the sound of that one…”

“Hello? Are you not hearing me?”

“I hear you and your voice is like music to my ears.” Charming bastard. You can’t help but full-on smile now. “I am a lucky man to have you looking out for my best interests.” Loki pulls you into his lap and your arms cling around his neck.

“And don’t you forget it.”

You kiss his lips. Then again. And again. Then with some tongue… You pull away for a moment and press your hand to his chest.

“So, um, where are you keeping him?” you ask. Truthfully, the question had been pestering you for a while now.

“You cannot seriously be thinking about my adoptive father while kissing me?” You shake your head and laugh a little. “Are you certain you want to know?” he asks. “You can still plead plausible deniability if anything unfortunate were to occur.”

“No, Loki. You’re my fiancé and we are in this together one hundred percent. Come what may.”

“Then come with your King,” he says, “I will show you.”

Donning the All-Father’s illusion once more, you walk side by side with Loki through the palace until you both come upon the end of the corridor, where stands a door that looks as if it hasn’t been open for thousands of years. Loki checks around shiftily to make sure no peering eyes happen to be watching you both before unlocking the door with a wave of his hand. It gives off an eerie creak as it opens, revealing a very delirious, elderly figure sitting up against a wall in the dim light.

“What’s he saying?” you wonder, noticing Odin’s incomprehensible mutters.

“I have given up trying to decipher it, myself. Nonsense, surely,” he waves it off.

“What will we do with him?”

“For one thing, he cannot stay in Asgard much longer for fear of someone stumbling upon him. But I have not yet found a suitable relocation…”

“I might know a place,” you suggest.

“Really?” He sounds surprised at your quick thinking. “Where?”

“It’s an old folks’ home in New York. ‘Fit for a King’ is their slogan, though their name says otherwise.”

Loki turns to you, intrigued to hear more.

“Shady Acres Care Home.”

“Ehehehe, oh my dear, you are wonderfully bad.” Loki twirls you in place which makes you giggle. He then closes the door, leaving Odin alone to his bewitched daze in the dark. Loki tilts your chin up and kisses your lips sweetly, then says, “What do you say to a little-”

But his thought is interrupted by the sound of womanly snickers heading your way. Loki is quick to transform himself at the disturbance, his eagle form now flapping its wings to sit on the corridor’s open-window ledge.

“You’re still here?” Lorelei says to you, rounding the corner. “I would have assumed you’d gone back to wherever it is you came from.”

Lady, I gave up my safety to free you from that damn Elf. You better watch yourself.

“Uh, yeah? I’m not going anywhere, believe me,” you say rebelliously. The sisters draw nearer to you, which makes you nervous at how close they’re getting to potentially finding Odin behind this door.

Amora sneers. “You don’t belong here. Even more so now that Loki’s dead. He only kept you around as a plaything, didn’t you know?”

The eagle caws angrily from the ledge.

“I’d watch how you speak to me right now.”

“Why? You’re out of your element, sweet pea. Even the All-Father hates you!” Amora continues to taunt you. “My sister and I are going to run this place, so you best know yours.”

“Oh really?” You shift into a defiant stance and meet eyes with the bird. “Because I have this funny feeling that if Odin were to hear about this, he would have you banished from Asgard in a second.”

Amora and Lorelei laugh airily at that while the eagle flies away.

“You should have gone back to that wretched Midgard while you had the chance. Or do they not want you there either?”

You feel so incredibly powerful when you finally see the palace guards show up from behind these dastardly ladies. One of the men clears his throat.

“The All-Father demands the presence of the Enchantress sisters.” The women share an unsure glance.

“Have fun with that,” you say.

It feels good to be on top.

~

Part 30

Tag List: @gerardwayisapotato @theloneavenger1995 @magellan-88 @saraholdtheh972 @ha-tep @white-chocolate-mocha-fan @jemjem-chan @sagekoooon @1800-fight-me @nightcrawler0213 @shaunamart @the-real-kellymonster @hippie-taco-lady @bethbabybaby

[bittysvalentines]

About a bo(ner)y

For @polaroidpidge

From @fanaste

Pairing: Kent Parson/Jeff Troy

 __________________

Kent flops down on the bed and it collapses beneath his weight.

 Literally.

 Kent flops down on the bed and it collapses beneath his weight.

 Literally.

 There’s a sharp snap half a second after Kent’s back hits the mattress and then the top right corner drops sending him rolling towards the side table at the head.

Both men freeze…well Kent has to stop rolling first but when he does he stares, stiff bodied, up at Jeff who stares back, wide eyed, and red faced.  Both men blink shocked into silence until Jeff burst into peels of laughter.  It bubbles up from his chest like champagne and Kent would enjoy the sound if he wasn’t so busy worrying about not only what they’re going to tell the hotel but what the other guys are gonna say when they find out.

 Of course, in typical Kent fashion he’s not worrying about the right thing.  The right thing being what Jeff’s going to say.

 “Dude.” Jeff gasps bent double now to emphasise that it’s so hilarious it’s physically killing him, “No stop, stop.” He pants as if Kent is doing anything other than lying on the bed, one hand bracing himself so he doesn’t roll and hit his head on the headboard, and the other gripping the rucked-up comforter.  “I can’t breathe.  Stop.” Jeff wheezes.

 Kent tries to roll the other way but the bed creaks dangerously.  He tries it slower this time, but the creak persists.

 “Dude.” He flaps, “Help me up.”

Jeff shakes his head wildly miming that he can’t.

 “Fuck Swoops just help me up already.  Suffocate on your own time.” Kent snaps though he knows it’ll only make Jeff laugh harder.

 “Oh man.” Making a show of how much effort it is Jeff straightens up and wipes honest to god tears from his eyes, “I can just see the headlines now- “

 “Don’t- “Kent moves but there’s an ominous creak from the left side.

 “Kent Parson, glutes so ginormous standard hotel beds just won’t cut it.”

 Kent dares to flip him off.  “Your ass is bigger than mine man.  The bed was obviously broken before we got here.”

 “No one will believe that.” Jeff threatens.

 “It was!” He squeaks.  “Help me up man, before the Aces have to pay for a new bed.”

 “Pretty sure it’s not gonna break the budget.”

 “Dyson will think we were goofing around and won’t let us share again.”

 Jeff hesitates, and for an awful second Kent thinks he’s gonna shrug like it doesn’t matter, like Kent can share with anyone else.  He knows it wouldn’t be Jeff’s fault if he didn’t know how stressful that would be for Kent but at the same time he finds Jeff’s ignorance (entirely assumed and wholly unsubstantiated) irritating.

 Instead of giving him more shit about being a fuss pot Jeff lopes around to the top of the bed and hoists up the right side so Kent can carefully (soooo careful) but quickly roll off.  When his feet make contact with the carpet he feels like a sailor finally finding land after choppy seas.

 No longer horizontal Kent can survey the scene in it’s ridiculous entirety.

 “Shit.”

 “Maybe if you sleep on the end, like across the bottom?” Jeff puts his hand on the base of the bed and the right bottom leg gives out.  They exchange a look.  “Or not.”

 “The fuck were the people before us doing?

 Jeff shoots him a ‘seriously?’ look.  “Fucking probably.”

 Kent makes a sound in the back of his throat.  “It’s always fucking with you.”

 “You don’t break a bed just by sleeping on it.”

 “They could have been jumping on it…” Kent doesn’t know why he’s fighting with Jeff.  It doesn’t change anything.  “I can’t sleep on that.”

 “Then I guess you better get right with the floor.” Jeff sniggers.

 Kent looks at him brows drawn up in an incredulous arch, “I better what?”

 Jeff doesn’t catch the vibe, “You better,” he throws his bag on his bed which mockingly stays sturdy beneath the weight, “start making a palette on the floor.”

 The statement computes about as well as the first time he heard it.  “Oh no.  No, no, no.” Kent whistles, “I am your captain.”

 Miss the hint once, shame on Kent, miss it twice and shame on Jeff.  Jeff doesn’t miss the implication a second time.  “What?” he does a double take, “No way.  I am not sleeping on the floor!”

 “I am your captain.” Kent repeats.

 “You are also younger than me.  Your back is better! Mine can’t take a hard floor.” He almost sounds smug about it like he’s so sure Kent gives a shit about his old man bones.

 “Captain.” Kent points to himself.

 “Older than you.” Jeff points to himself.

 “Captain.” Kent repeats again.

 “Fuck.  Off.”

 “Suicides or you give me the bed.”

 Jeff’s outrage gives way to genuine uncertainty.  “How about you knock it off man you’re starting to sound like a dick.”

 Reluctantly Kent stops.  He looks at the other bed and then at ‘his’ broken one.  His back aches from rolling across the mattress and his butt and shoulder hurt from sitting on the plane for six hours.  He sleeps like shit on planes he always has and a lifetime of being sent across state and country lines to various family members every holiday hockey would permit his mom hasn’t changed that.  Kent sleeps in total silence, in complete blackness and on a bed that doesn’t make him feel like he’s on a tilt-a-whirl.  He looks at the floor and his muscles groan just imagining the hardness of the ground beneath.

 “I’m gonna have to get another room.”

 Jeff’s unzipped his bag and started to shed his clothes in the time Kent’s taken to reflect on his woes.  “All the rooms are booked up.” Jeff says from inside the collar of his shirt.  Kent’s gaze gets caught on Jeff’s abs.  His eyes briefly follow the trail that his navel hair marks all the way to his waistband and down.  When Jeff frees himself from his clothing Kent’s expression betrays nothing.

 “Seriously?”

 “Yeah.  Dyson picked the smallest hotel he could.  He’s filled it with Aces personnel only.  After the Hudson debacle he isn’t taking any chances.”

 Kent stares, “Debacle?”

 Jeff pulls his pyjama top down, “It’s my word of the day.” He says defensively.

 “Word of the day?” Kent repeats.

 “Jas got me an app on my phone.  It gives me a word to use every- don’t look at me like that you’re just jealous.”

 Like Kent Jeff chose the NHL over college.  It’s not a difficult decision.  When scouts come calling, blowing smoke up your eighteen-year-old ass about money and fame, offering a life of eternal hockey everything else loses its appeal.  Kent doesn’t regret it.  College was never going to be for him, but Jeff does.  Get him drunk enough and he’ll confess that against some of their higher educated rookies he feels like a dolt and with every year that passes he fears his lack of education is going to haunt him.  Kent can imagine Jas passing the app off as a joke so that Jeff could easily accept it without having to admit that using these words makes him feel smart.  Jeff would admit it’s silly really.  The kind of education he missed out on can’t be encapsulated in a random word generating app, but Jas knew it would make him smile.  Kent’s mad he didn’t think of it first.  Not that he’s trying to out romance her or anything…

 Of course, Kent doesn’t let on that he knows any of this and instead replies, “Of sounding like a giant nerd? Hardly.”

 Jeff flips him off, “Whatever man.  What if you took the mattress off?”

 “There’s not enough room on the floor.”

 “You could make a bed out of the blanket and duvet I guess…” Jeff says considering.

 Kent scoffs, “Like a dog?”

 Jeff gives him a smart grin “Exactly like a dog.”

 Kent flips him off.  “I’m not sleeping on the floor, so you better not fidget in the night.”

 “You’ll never know.” Jeff replies decisively.

 Just for that Kent gets into the good bed.  He expects Jeff to run out of the bathroom as if he senses what Kent’s done but instead he hears the thunk of the toilet seat raise and then the familiar sound of Jeff peeing (it brings a certain clarity to your life when you realise the sound of your friends urinating is familiar).

 Face pink from a fresh scrub Jeff emerges from the bathroom.  “You’re not seriously suggesting we share?” He gapes.

 Kent’s more than a little offended that Jeff sounds so horrified.  It makes shrugging unapologetically and simply snapping, “Captain,” in answer, easier.

 “This is an abuse of power!” Jeff declares.

 “There’s no official rule book.  How I captain is my prerogative.” He adds with a sniff.

 The other man makes a protesting noise.

 “Get over yourself Troy it’s one night.”

 Jeff glances at the broken bed, then at the floor, then back at ‘their’ bed.  “Move over Parson.”

Twenty minutes later one six feet and one five feet eleven, both two hundred pounds plus, hockey players are still trying to occupy a small double together.

 “Scooch over!”

 “Ugh you’re such a bed hog.  I’m at the edge!”

 “You are not! I’m hanging off the god damn mattress here.”

 “This bed is too small for the both of us.” Jeff snaps.

 “As your captain I demand you.  Move.  The.  Fuck.  Over.”

 “As a tired man I demand you stop.  Fucking.  Trying to boss me.  Around!”

 “Jeff!”

 “Kent!”

 “You’re impossible.”

 “Turn on your side and you’ll have more room.”

 “I sleep best on my back.” Kent argues.

 “I’ve shared a room with you enough times to know you always end up rolling onto your side.  Just skip a few moves and do it now.”

 “Why don’t you?” Kent snaps brattishly.

 “I will but to fit we’re both gonna need to roll over.”

 There’s a pause and then Kent feels compelled to say, “I’m not spooning you.”

Jeff makes a sound in the back of his throat, “Spare me the no homo bullshit Parson everyone knows you’re a cuddler.”

 “The only thing I cuddle is Kit.”

 “Not according to Watty.”

 “He was cuddling me!” Kent squeaks indignant.

 “Now how he tells it.” Jeff sniggers.

 Kent puts his foot on Jeff’s leg.  “Yow! What the hell? Get your ice toes away from me!”

 “Both of us roll over so we’re back to back.”

 The bed groans as both men turn.  Kent has more of his body on the bed now, but he doesn’t have any less of Jeff’s.  He feels Jeff’s not inconsiderable ass against his and it’s weird.  Too familiar and yet…he doesn’t want to call Jeff out in case he moves.  Besides if he moved they’d be back to their original problem and they can’t face each other because then their dicks would be touching.  Not that Kent is averse to that, he reluctantly admits…okay not reluctant in the sense that he doesn’t want to fancy Jeff but in the sense that acknowledging it makes it harder to deny and, eventually, get over.

 “Don’t hog the sheets.” Jeff says tugging the duvet over his side.

 Kent tugs back, “Don’t fidget.”

 - - - - -

 Kent wakes up with a hard on.  This in itself isn’t unusual.  He’s young, he’s fit, he’s healthy and his libido is incorrigible.

 But this hard on isn’t his.  It’s Jeff’s and its pressed into his ass and Kent doesn’t find it unpleasant.  In fact in that brief liquid moment between sleep and wakefulness he almost pushes himself back into it.  He almost revels in the sensation of the hardness between his cheeks.  Kent almost forgets that he and Jeff don’t share a bed.  They don’t cuddle, or kiss, or rub up against each other in the night.

 As the room solidifies around him he freezes with the reminder that he may be nursing a pretty stupid crush but that’s all it is.  That’s all it’ll ever be.

 Kent spends a few moments taking shallow breaths desperately trying not to move.  He wonders if it’ll go away quickly but it feels like times determined to drag this moment out.  He debates his options.  To physical move will land him one of two places, on the floor or further into Jeff’s embrace.  He knows which one he’d prefer but it isn’t going to happen.

 It can’t.

 The only thing left is to try and wake Jeff, so he takes a deep breath and sighs it out making sure to make it long and loud.  He expands his ribs until they hurt and exhales until his belly touches his back.

 Jeff doesn’t stir so Kent tries again.  Except it doesn’t work, again.  He moves his leg a fraction and it takes barely any distance before it slips out from under the covers to be kissed by the icy lips of the air.  He brings his foot back with a gasp.

 “Dude stop.” A voice croaks behind him.

 Kent jumps and his foot jerks back out into the tundra.  “shit.”

 His exclamation is met with silence and then a mumbled “Crap.” From behind him.  “So that’s happened.” Jeff tries to turn but Kent grips the covers.  “I need to turn over.”

 And I need to avoid frostbite, Kent thinks.  “It’s fine.” He says rushing to reassure him even though a minute ago he was begging to have Jeff’s hard on far from him.  “It happens.” He shrugs striving to sound unbothered.

 “Yeah but- “

 “But what?” Kent prompts only he’s met with more silence.  “But what?” He thinks, “But it’s weird to have a boner in bed with your gay best friend? But it’s weird because you know I’ve got a thing for you, that sometimes I’m terrified I might be in love with you? But it’s weird because you don’t think I can control myself?”.  Kent starts to spiral so he forces himself to close his eyes and imagines shutting the poisonous voice behind a steel door.  “But what?” He asks again his belly clenching in anticipation.

 “It’s not exactly cool to wake up pressing your stiffy into your best friends back.” Jeff says, and he sounds like he’s laughing.  “There’s hardly any room in here as it is.” He snickers.

 Kent’s whole body immediately relaxes.  “It’s not that big.”

 “Oh, you’ve had bigger?” Jeff snorts.

 “Fuck off.” He presses his toe into Jeff’s calf.

 “Ow.” He jerks and knees Kent in the ass.  “Asshole.”

 Kent laughs.

 “I am sorry though.” Jeff says after a beat.

 “Don’t be.  It’s a testament to your youth.”

 Jeff makes a doubtful little noise, “Or a sign of my desperation.”

 Kent doesn’t say anything.

 “Shit I didn’t mean – I didn’t mean that how it sounded.”

 Kent scoffs like a part of him isn’t insulted, “You’d be lucky to attract me Troy.”

 “Whatever,” Jeff says after a moment, “you’re still hung up on Zimmermann anyway.”

 Kent feels the air around them start to shift.  Maybe it’s the hour and the orange glow of the street lamps through net curtains that softens not only the edges of their room but also the edges of their walls, or maybe Kent really does hear the faint sound of mournfulness in Jeff’s voice.  Whatever it is it makes him say, “Not really.”

 “Not really?” Jeff sounds sceptical.  “He seemed pretty important at New Year’s.”

 True.  “I was pretty fucked up at New Year’s.”

 “So now you’re over him?”

 Kent considers this before replying.  Zimmermann was Kent’s first everything.  First friend, first crush, first kiss then love.  First everything.  Jack and Kent used to mean something to each other.  They were always together that even when people spoke about them they spoke about them as a pair.  When Jack went to rehab and cut Kent off completely it felt like his heart had been blown up and his arm torn off.  He alternated between frantic worry and numb disbelief that the boy he loved had abandoned him without a word.

 But then he met Jeff and things changed.

 He can’t even put his finger on how it changed but eventually his zombie days stopped and the frantic worry in his mind only ever came out after too many drinks.  Of course, then he watched Jack Kiss Eric on the big screen in front of his whole team and that knocked him for six, but Jeff was there to help him pick up the pieces (read feed him bread in a bath tub until he sobered up).

That night between retches in the toilet Kent promised to really try and live life ‘after’ Jack Zimmermann.

 The only problem was without Jack to moon over Kent had more time to realise that his feelings for Jeff were changing.

 “Kent? You still awake?” Jeff whispers.

 “Yeah.  And…yeah, I think I’m closer to it now.  Getting over him I mean.”

 “Oh.  Cool…I mean…that’s great.”

 “Yeah.”

 He hears Jeff take a big breath behind him.  “So hypothetically.”

 “Hypothetically? Is that another of your words of the day?” Kent teases.

 Jeff pinches him.  “Hypothetically if this boner was…personal what would that mean?”

 Kent blinks, “What?”

 “Do you really need me to repeat it?” Jeff huffs and Kent can imagine his ears growing red.  He can hear the embarrassment he feels.  But he doesn’t care, well he does but Jeff’s just said something that could potentially change everything.  He needs to be sure of what he’s heard.

 “Yeah I do.”

 “It can be personal if you want.  If you’re, like…into it.”

 “Into it?”

 “Fucking Christ Kent do you need me to spell it out?”

 “Jeff all I know right now is that I woke up with your boner trying to poke a hole in my back and now you’re telling me that it might be personal but only if I want.”

 “That about sums it up yeah.”

 Kent considers this a moment.  “If I don’t? Want it to be personal.”

 “Then you’ll hang onto those covers and when I turn over I’ll try not to fall off the bed.  Then in the morning we’ll pretend this never happened.”

 Kent imagines that being about as possible as him going a whole shift without getting checked by the behemoth that the Kings have collared as defence.  “And if I want it to be personal.”

 “Do you?”

 “Do I what?”

 “Fuck Kent.” Jeff sighs.  “Do you want it to be personal?”

 When Kent pauses this time it’s not because he isn’t sure but because he never let himself dwell on it because Jeff’s straight, and Jeff has a girlfriend right now, a girlfriend that Kent loves and would never want to disrespect.  “What about Jas?” He asks.

 “We’ve talked about it.”

 “You have?”

 “All the time.”

 “Wh- why?” Kent stutters.

 “Because she knows what you mean to me.  She knows that I- “he takes a deep breath, “That I want you.  That I have for a while now.”

 Kent wonders if Jeff’s ‘a while’ is the same as Kent’s a while.

 “Same.” Kent whispers.

 Jeff shifts behind him and the mattress rocks as he props himself up on an elbow, “Really?”

 Kent fights not to turn his head, too afraid of rejection to look Jeff in the eye right now.  “Yeah.”

 “Kent?”

 “Yeah?”

 He feels Jeff’s hand on his shoulder and the next thing he knows he’s on his back and Jeff’s leaning over him and they’re kissing.  It only takes Kent half a second to get with the programme but when he does Kent’s whole body feels it.  Their tongues slide sensually together and Kent’s heart thunders beneath the palm Jeff’s laid on it for balance.

 They break apart slowly, in increments, inch by inch until Kent can see the smile on Jeff’s face.  

 “I’ve wanted to do that for a while.” He confesses.

 Kent blushes.  “Yeah?”

 “Yeah.” Jeff laughs softly.

 Kent breathes into the space between them then says, “What about Jas?”

 “She wants me to be happy.  She wants you to be happy.”

 “And she thinks us together will make that happen?”

 “Yeah.  I think so.  Don’t you?”

 Kent wants to say yes.  Honestly, it’s his first instinct to just agree but he knows himself.  Kent knows what he does to the things that make him happy.  He has a predisposition to ruin.  “Is it okay if I say I don’t know yet?” he asks carefully.

 “I’d be surprised if you didn’t.  I know you Kent.  You don’t believe in happiness.”

 Kent pouts childishly, “I do.”

 “Not for yourself.”

 That’s a truth Kent can’t deny.  “So, about this boner.” Kent says instead.

 “Oh, it’s gone now.”

 “That was short lived.”

 Jeff laughs.  “Well it’s game day tomorrow so it’s probably a good thing.”

 “Oh.  Okay.”

 “Relax we’ve got ages.  Tomorrow we’ll get up and hash it out yeah? Right now, I just wanna sleep with you in my arms.  Sound good?”

 Tomorrow the sun will rise, and the first thing Kent will do is worry that this moment never happened, that the spell of the dark will have worn off and Jeff will pretend this never happened.  In the morning Jeff will reassure him with a kiss, with a lot of kisses and after the game he’ll invite Kent home for dinner where they’ll talk the whole thing to death and when it’s all finalised they’ll kiss and fall into bed together and Kent will eventually know what it’s like to be in a healthy relationship.  But the dawn is four hours away and so right now Kent closes his eyes and cherishes the feel of Jeff’s skin beneath him, of his arm around his shoulder and his lips pressed to his forehead.