#what's stopping the rest of the tour from dying their hair pink huh?

[beadukes]

[fanfic-collection]

Loki x Pompeii!Reader

It's the Pompeii prompt, but really I wrote it as an excuse to have Loki be shirtless in a hot tub.

No regerts

-

The rush of blood filled your ears, drowning out the crowd around you. Your feet pounding on stone and your ragged breathing the only other noise you could make out as raced through the throngs of people.

Risking a glance over your shoulder, you saw the beast of a man was still after you.

Swallowing hard, your throat dry and burning, you forced your attention forward again.

Ducking around stalls and market vendors, past people and animals alike. On, he pursued you.

The wind was knocked out of you as you felt yourself collide with something solid. You had risked another glance back and did not see the sudden appearance of a man before you. To your surprise though, as the man knocked the wind out of you, catching you in his arms, he shifted his hold on you and spun you about. He had one hand on your upper back and another on your hip. Your hands instinctively moved to his chest, despite his strange clothes.

For just a moment though, as he held you in your arms, slowing your momentum, you spun around. But in that precious time, you gazed up into his face and met his eyes as he stared back at you. The two of you shared a stunned look.

The man had strange green eyes, sharp cheeks, black wavy hair and a tall forehead. He stared at you with an intensity like no other. His thin, pale lips parted slightly as he looked at you clearly confused.

Your face must have mirrored his.

The two of you stopped spinning.

He didn’t move his hands.

Nor did you. The strange material felt so odd under your hands and if you were being honest the broadness of his chest and the muscles… You felt your cheeks heat up and forced yourself to pull back.

A smirk crossed this strange man’s face as he gazed down at you, finally letting go of you.

“Loki! What are you doing? We’re not supposed to interact with the locals, you’re going to mess the timeline up even more.”

You looked over as a man with grey hair and similar clothes came running around the corner.

“Loki?” You asked.

“I am.” Loki smiled, seeming to like you saying his name. “And she ran into me, I merely prevented us from falling over.”

Abruptly you recalled why you were running.

Loki looked at you, seeming ready to ask you that same question.

Before you could speak, the beast of a man finally arrived, charging into the alleyway that the three of you were tucked away in. “Come here, you’re mine.” He reached for your wrist and you tugged away, kicking him as hard as you could. The brute snarled, holding up his hand to strike you with the back of it.

Loki stepped forward and caught it, “That’s enough.”

“Loki…” The grey haired man warned softly. “You know what’s going to happen, just let history progress as it should.”

“I won’t stand idly by and let thugs like this exist.” Loki responded coolly.

You looked between the men fearfully.

Loki held your gaze, “You’re safe, trust me.”

Slowly you nodded.

“Give me it, Mobius.”

“No.”

“Give me it or I’m taking it.”

“I’ll have to report you for defiance in the field.”

“Would you really do that?”

The man, Mobius, sighed, “Loki. Please.”

Still gripping the brute’s wrist, Loki held out his hand towards Mobius. Mobius sighed heavily and tossed a little box to Loki. Loki took the box and touched it to the brute’s arm. There was a soft whir and a flash of fire sparks and then… the brute was gone.

You squeaked, pulling away.

Loki lunged towards you, tossing the box in the same movement back to Mobius. “Hey, hey, easy now.” He said soothingly, “You’re fine, you’re safe, no one is going to hurt you.”

Held by both of Loki’s strong hands, you realized that despite what you had just seen, you did feel safe. Slowly you nodded.

Loki exhaled softly, a smile spreading on his face. “Now then.” He stepped back, removing his hands. Bowing low, he reached for your hand and pressed a soft kiss to it, his lips brushing across it feather light.

You found yourself giggling.

“I am Loki, at your assistance. God of Mischief, current employee of the Time Variance Association.”

You blinked at him.

“And who might you be?”

“Oh!” You scrambled to tell him your name as the man Mobius looked more and more uncomfortable.

“Loki, can we talk?” Mobius hissed. He grabbed Loki’s strange sleeve and dragged him a few feet away, lowering his voice to angrily yell. “What do you think you’re doing? The volcano is going to blow in three days. She’s going to be dead. Why are you making friendly with her? You’re jeopardizing the mission by getting buddy buddy with a local, and if we have to come back and do this again, we could throw even more timelines out of balance.”

The two men looked over at you.

“She heard everything I just said.”

“Oh most definitely.” Loki replied.

“Dammit.” Mobius cursed softly.

You waved at them.

“Look, just give me a little time with her and I’ll clear this whole thing up.”

“Yea? How?” Mobius retorted.

“I’m the god of mischief, I can be very convincing.”

Mobius rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine, whatever. I’m going back to basecamp, but just, don’t screw this anymore than you already have.”

“How is this my fault? She ran into me!”

“It’s always your fault, Loki.” Mobius sighed and shook his head, turning and walking off.

You watched him walk away. “He seems…” Pursing your lips, you searched for the word.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Bureaucratic.”

You smiled at Loki. “So, uh, what’s this about me dying?”

Looking down at you, Loki picked at his hand, his eyebrows furrowed. “Nothing, come on. Show me Pompeii.”

-

“And last of all, this is where I live.” You announced, having given Loki a tour of the entire city.

Night had fallen by now and you were glad to be home. Standing on your doorstep, you were now even with Loki in height. The night chill had settled in and you found yourself slightly envious of Loki’s strange clothes, a jacket, to keep him warm.

Loki looked at the building from the outside with interest, his eyes roving the structure but lingering on you.

“Would you… would you like to see inside?” You offered shyly.

You saw a tinge of pink on Loki’s cheeks as his eyes met yours, “I don’t want to be untoward.”

“It’s just a tour.” You offered your hand to Loki and he stepped in after you, looking around the extravagant building.

Loki tilted his head as he followed after you.

“I’m the daughter of a Senator. He makes sure I’m well looked after.” You shrugged.

As you led Loki through the various rooms and halls, showing him the paintings, mosaics, servants hard at work, and even the gardens, he commented mildly, “Even I’m impressed.”

“Oh, even?” You retorted, unable to stop yourself from playfully shoving him.

Loki chuckled, “You might not believe it, but I am a prince.”

You looked at him in surprise. “Really? Of where?”

“It is a far off place, you would not know.”

“Uh-huh…” You started skeptically, then looked at his clothes and thought of the strange box.

“You don’t believe me?” Loki replied, staring at you intently.

“Actually I think I do.”

“Good, I would not lie to you.”

You hesitated, uncertain about his sincerity. The memory of the man, Mobius, talking about your death came back to mind. “Do you have a place to sleep?”

“I can find my way back to our camp.” Loki shrugged.

“That will not do.” You shook your head.

Loki raised his eyebrow, amused. “Oh?”

Your cheeks heated up again. “And your clothing needs washing. You cannot wear that again tomorrow without having it cleaned.”

Loki smirked.

You reached for the shirt collar and rubbed your thumb along it, there was a grey blemish. “Surely my servants can clean whatever this is.”

Opening and closing his mouth for a moment, Loki stopped, “I won’t stop them from trying. What do you suggest I wear in the meantime?”

“We have more reasonable things to wear, and surely you would like to take a soak, no?”

“A soak?”

“Yes. It is the house bath so you wouldn’t be alone…”

Loki turned his head, uncertainly.

“I figured, I might join you?” Your voice rose in pitch.

The smirk on Loki’s face widened and he hummed softly, “I think that would be delightful.”

-

Modesty shift wrapped around your torso, the servant helped you step into the hot water. Thoughts flashed across your mind on living in a society where such modesty items weren’t the norm. Your cheeks heated up and you knew it wasn’t from the water.

You sank down onto the bench grateful that your servants had kept the pool steaming for your arrival, no matter how late you would get home. Your hair was tied back to keep it out of the water and kept up. Laying back, you rested your eyes, wondering when your guest would arrive.

Were you being too forward? He had just saved you from a terrible fate. And there was no denying how interested you were in him, and not just because he was from some strange existence. This man was breathtaking, you had never seen a man in these lands as gorgeous as him.

There was a soft knocking at the door. “Mistress. Your guest.”

You opened your eyes and looked over, swallowing hard.

Loki stood beside the servant, a simple cloth wrapped around his waist. Your eyes roved over his muscular torso, toned abdomen, broad shoulders, strong arms and…

Loki raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting for you to say something.

“Loki! Wonderful, come, come, please join me.” Your voice was hoarse as you slid over from the stairs to the bath.

Watching him walk, how like a predatory cat he moved, his muscles rippling with each step. No movement was unnecessary, each step deliberate, like a hunter on the prowl, and then he was sitting beside you in the bath.

Sighing, Loki leaned back in the bath and let out a small groan as his muscles loosened in the warm water.

Your heart pounded a mile a minute as you forced a smile looking at him. One of the servants stood waiting in the shadows. “Servant, fetch some wine.” You croaked.

“Wine? I haven’t had good wine in ages.” Loki mused.

“We should change that.” You murmured.

Loki reached for your hand beneath the water, gently lifting it to the surface with both his hands. He gazed at you seriously as his fingers trailed along the palm of your hand then down to the delicate wrist vein. “Your heartbeat is so fast, darling.” He smiled, tilting his head. His black locks shifted with the movement. Carefully he moved your hand over the left side of your chest, just above your breast. Lowering his voice to a whisper, he added, “And loud.”

You could feel your eyes shimmering as you stared up at him open mouthed. How you wished it was his hand and not yours in that place.

The door opened and Loki moved away, the spell broken.

A servant walked in, carrying a pitcher of wine and two goblets. He set down the pitcher and poured one goblet for each of you, before returning to his place in the shadows.

Loki moved opposite you, sipping his wine and stared, his gaze fixated on you. “This wine is incredible.” He purred. “Worthy of Asgard.”

“Asgard?”

“Where I was raised.”

“I have heard of no such place.”

“I am not surprised.”

“Is that where you are a prince?” You asked, reaching out and sliding your leg against his.

Loki smirked, “It is. It is where I am a god.”

“Careful, if the gods hear you challenging them, they tend to get angry.”

Loki shrugged, “So be it. Perhaps my presence is why Vesuvius must erupt.”

You furrowed your brow, “The mountain?” You pulled your leg back, “Is that the death that Mobius was talking about?”

Loki nodded.

“Oh.” You looked away sadly, “I am a distraction then… something to enjoy before, before you leave, yes?”

“No.” Loki shook his head. “I’m bringing you with us.”

You blinked, turning your head sharply to look back at him. “What?”

“The TVA cares too much about the sacred timeline. Their little lizard gods have too much power. If I’m going to burn their organization to the ground, well, I may as well throw it into as much chaos as possible first.”

“So, you’re just using me as a means to an end?”

“Some call me the god of chaos. But no.” Loki slid back around the bath to be next to you, setting down his goblet. “Sometimes there are people in your life that you meet, that you can feel play a part, sometimes a big part, sometimes a small part. I,” he hesitated, “I don’t know what role you’re destined to play yet.” Loki reached for your hand, his larger one engulfing yours, long fingers almost a full bend longer than yours.

The two of you looked at the way his hand consumed yours.

You nodded meekly, as he slid his hand to the side, clasping your hand together.

“I don’t know this feeling, but I don’t want to stop feeling it.” Loki confessed.

You rested your head on his chest. “I don’t want to either.” It was then that you could feel his heart racing and a small smile spread across your face.

-

Eventually you and Loki left the warm water that had begun to cool. You were each given robes and set off in the direction of the sleeping chambers.

“Wait, Loki.” You stopped, dismissing the servant who had indicated a guest room for Loki. “Stay with me?”

Loki looked at you uncertainly, glancing up and down the hallway at the guards standing at attention.

“Please, I’m always so cold after those baths.” You began earnestly.

The corner of Loki’s mouth twitched, “Very well.”

You reached for his hand, wrapping your pinky finger around his and led him along to the master chamber.

It was a grand room, decadent to the extreme. You dismissed the guards with a curt nod, though they stayed within calling distance. Beautiful art and pillars decorated the room with various sitting places should the need arise to entertain.

By the window, was your bed, one of the softest in the city.

Unable to stop yourself, and letting out a laugh at the scandal of it all, you dragged Loki over to the bed. Your legs hit the side and you fell back onto it, dragging him down on top of you.

Loki flushed, rolling over and laying beside you, gazing into your eyes. You gazed back at him, your chest heaving.

“I never noticed your eyes were so green.” You whispered.

“Oh?”

“I was trying to memorize all of you, I didn’t want to forget any details of you.”

Loki lay on his side, hooking his leg over yours so you rolled on your side to face him. Stroking his hand down the material of your nightgown, Loki smiled at you. “You won’t.” His hand came to rest on your waist.

Reaching up you tangled your fingers in his hair, stroking your thumb along his cheek.

Abruptly, Loki moved, gripping his other hand to your cheek, and the one from your waist moving up to guide you towards him and -

And then he was kissing you. His lips pressed to yours, soft gentle, lips brushing against yours, featherlight, mouths moving in sync, the faint tug as you feel him smiling. Your eyes already shut as you sink into the kiss as he rolls over pressing himself on top of you. He pauses the kiss and changes to soft staccato kisses, peppering them down your jaw and throat as you grip his strong shoulders and sigh arching your back into him.

Slowly he stops, the two of you opening your eyes and looking at each other again.

“I think I really like you.” You whispered.

Loki nodded mutely.

Words of confirmation would have been nice, but at least him nodding was something.

You smiled weakly, taking his hand and rolled over, your back to him, placing it on your stomach and closed your eyes.

Loki reached for the blanket, pressing his chin to the top of your head and covered the two of you with it. He laid there in silence, watching as you curled into him. Biting back his chuckle, he smiled as you gripped his arm fiercely, trying to wrap it around yourself as tight as you could in your sleep.

With his hand so occupied, and his other arm somewhat pressed beneath him, Loki focuses his mind on warding the room.

You wake abruptly in the early hours of the morning. Something warm is pressed to your back, a heavy weight across your body. You are entombed, unable to move.

There is a gentle snort, a soft grunt, and then a heavy sigh.

Swallowing hard, the memories of yesterday come flooding back. Craning your head around, and wiggling with all your might, you strain to see the person sharing your bed.

For a moment you are surprised. A part of you genuinely thought he would leave.

Loki’s body starts to react to your wiggling and you stop, face heating up. Biting your fist, you lay still.

Then, with apparent ease, Loki rolls over onto his back, dragging you with him and holding you in place much like a comfort object. He hugs you tight, and you lay on his chest, squeezed in place and unable to move. His physique suggested he was strong but this was beyond anything you could imagine.

Carefully, you shifted your arm free and reached up to stroke his face, “Loki, Loki…” You drew out the word, whispering in a sing song voice.

Loki’s eyes slowly opened, bleary with sleep. Letting go of you, though you stayed on his chest, he rubbed his eyes and yawned.

“Hey Loki.”

“Mmm, hello darling.” Loki hummed, blinking then slowly seemed to come to his senses. He sat up and you fell off of him. “What witchcraft?”

“What?”

Loki’s eyes darkened as he looked at you distrustfully. “I have not slept like that,” he trailed off.

You pulled back and sat next to him on the bed, tugging the blanket with you. The sting of tears welled in your eyes.

“My dear, I am so sorry.” Loki murmured, gripping your cheeks and pressing his forehead to yours. “I did not think I would ever sleep so well again.”

You smiled weakly, still feeling the prickle of tears, “I’m glad I could help.”

Loki pulled you close, hugging you into his arms and burying his face in your hair. “I will not let your fate be the same as this city.”

[il-papa-patata]

Deathless Things That Keep On Loving

Mary muses on his long-standing thing with Swiss at some diner. Swiss helps. 

Mary Goore x Swiss, death mentions, post-ritual, established/long-term relationships, Ghost is Ghosts AU, Mary is Special Ghoul AU, smoking, musings on love

Rated T 

Cut for space

Mary looks up at Swiss.

The man sips from one of those cheap plastic cups you can get in any diner or take-out place in this country. A country that is neither of theirs but- hidden here, among thousands of shadows, of empty spaces to hide, to pass through and never be seen in again-

It could be.

And even though all of them look as normal and human as they can here – Dew's flowering burn up his neck and Cumulus's pink-dyed cotton-candy hair and that lingering sense of time in Mountain's calloused workman's hands – and even though they are all crowded in with each other, known and knowing –

Swiss and him are the only ones here.

Mary watches Swiss's face break into a smile as Cumulus pops over the booth's divider, leaning over and asking him some question. Mary doesn't hear it, but hears Swiss's laughter rise over the din of everyone else, a sound that catches in his throat, sticks to his ribs like a good meal. Like his first meal after rising from his grave, that hot chocolate made with heavy cream, the one Swiss made for him and sat with him until his wailing stopped.

Rain jostles into Mary when Dew pushes against the thin man's shoulder, demanding attention and cuddles to Rain's laughing pleasure. Mary laughs too, mussing Rain's dark, bouncing curls, still watching Swiss.

Mary props his feet up on Swiss's seat, in between the man's legs. Without mentioning or making a big deal about it, Swiss makes room, reaches down and strokes Mary's ankle, still chatting with Cumulus and Aether.

Mary swallows.

A waitress comes by with another round of drinks, more appetizers – she chats with the lively group, full of chatty and friendly people from altogether more gregarious times. Swiss strokes his ankle, catches his eye and smiles when the conversation lulls enough for Swiss to go silent.

Mary takes a straw from the little holder at the end of the table for his new cup of cream soda, watching Swiss take down the basket of fresh-fried onion rings, miming keeping them away from everyone when Cumulus gets grabby hands.

I love him, Mary thinks, and there's nothing forced about it, nothing at all in the way Swiss laughs as Cumulus starts to tickle his ribs and peck little impatient kisses at his hairline, that deep hearty laugh that makes Mary want to cry sometimes.

Mary peels off a bit of the straw wrapper, putting the open end to his lips and-

The wrapper bounces off Swiss's freckled cheek, the whole rigmarole of them going silent for just a second, until they all break out into guffaws of laughter, a wide, dimpled smile blooming on Swiss's face.

-

“Hey,” Swiss greets, still smiling from inside, still warm-cheeked.

“Hey,” Mary greets, the smoke of his cigarette and the mist of his breath mingling in the brisk winter air.

Swiss says nothing more, opens up a pack of something from his shirt pocket – gum, though, not cigarettes.

Swiss leans against the parking barrier, shoving his hands into the pockets of his coat – not the standard issue Ghoul one, but his own, a deep blue, leather-armed jacket that hung loose on him.

“Yesterday's show was good, huh?” Swiss says, looking forward as Mary watches his profile.

Mary shifts closer, their hips and shoulders touching. “It was,” Mary laughs, “You were in peak form.”

“Cause we got to room together again!” Swiss says, grinning and ruffling the close-cropped hair at the back of Mary's head, “This tour's been so loooong. I'm excited to go back to our home.”

Mary laughs, resting his head on Swiss's shoulder. “Our home?”

“The- the apartment!” Swiss clarifies, hand still petting, “What, isn't it our home by this point?”

“Yeah,” Mary murmurs, snaking an arm around Swiss's waist. “Yeah.”

“I think I sleep better when you're there. Or at least it's nice to wake up to find someone else there.”

“Mmhm.”

“So yesterday was nice. And better than you sneaking into my bunk on the tour bus, that's for sure.”

“Yeah.”

Swiss bends down, cocking his head to the side. “Mary?”

The winter air irritates his already-scarred lungs. The cigarettes probably don't help. Swiss quit tobacco years ago, but he was a singer anyway, and Mary could indulge a few more rushes of nicotine for a few more grains of grit in his voice.

“Mary?”

It's just.

Mary doesn't know how to handle this thing. Even this long after. To handle this unwieldy affection, to fully accept it and lean into it – there was no way on this earth to love fully and be afraid of getting hurt, and Mary doesn't know how to handle the fact that he's ready to accept being hurt again by this, by loving so much it felt like he could be cut open and Swiss would be etched into his bones and his blood-

When Mary doesn't respond, Swiss calls a different name. Just as common, but different. A name for a boy long-dead.

It is a name that no one else on this planet knows anymore. The last person who knew that name died a century or more ago, except for Swiss, a deathless thing just like him.

That boy, that long-dead boy looks up.

“You okay?”

Mary stares up at him. Swallows, the concern notched into Swiss' brow constricting around his heart but oh- somehow it doesn't feel bad at all, not at all-

Mary leans forward. Nuzzles his face into the rib-knit of Swiss's collar.

“Yeah, I'm okay.”

But his voice is wrong, raw and soft, and Swiss takes the cigarette from his hand and snubs it out before pulling Mary fully into his arms, pulling him into the front of his coat and holding on tightly.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Mm,” Mary groans, “No.”

“That's fine.”

Mary aches. He aches and aches with the sudden, overwhelming emotion, like being burned, like burning, like a fever-

But Swiss's hands smooth gently along his back. The world still turns. Inside are their friends. Their friends who love them, who are loved by them. There is a family here, made of deathless things that keep on loving.

Mary swallows, turns his face into Swiss's neck, and murmurs anything he can think to say, anything that will mean something.

[embarrassingsmartphonegame]

The Night Out - Liam x MC

A/N: Happy Holidays, @keepcreativechoices !! I’m your Secret Santa and chose to write for King Liam and your MC, Parker! I hope you enjoy this fic and have a great holiday 💖 Special thanks to @andi-the-cat for hosting Choices Secret Santa this year; it’s been fun writing for a pairing I’ve never written for! This fic was inspired by the music video for the song The Night Out by Martin Solveig.

Word Count: 1,232

Warnings: just a bunch of fluff

Permanent tag list: @furiouscloddonutpeanut​ @inlovewithrebels​ @nighthunterkatherine​

“How does it sound if we spent the night out?”

Parker inhaled his subtle cologne as Liam spun her around and she landed with their faces inches from each other, a pretty slip of a laugh escaping from her lips. She appreciated how he snuck into her room, but she didn’t anticipate that this was the reason.  “Oh yeah? And who’s coming with us?”

“No one else. Just us.”

“...But how?” Parker looked up at her fiancé, noting the mischief glittering in his sea blue eyes. At that point she couldn’t remember what city they were in or where they were supposed to the next morning. She couldn’t deny that she had been feeling the stress of the engagement tour and putting out an image that she will be a good queen of Cordonia, and while she loved all of their friends, she wanted to spend some time with just them. “It will really be just us? Not even Bastien or Mara will be with us?”

“Think about it: no one knows who we are in this city, we can sneak out and back in with the help of our friends, and we get the night off to ourselves to do whatever we want.” Liam grinned and dipped her. “I have it all laid out for you, my love.”

Parker untangled herself from his arms and straightened up, a matching grin lighting up her tanned skin. “Let me change into something more comfy.”

Twenty minutes and a convoluted plan produced and executed by the legendary Maxwell Beaumont and his trusty sidekicks Hana Lee and Drake Walker to get the king and queen-to-be of Cordonia out of the guarded castle later, Liam and Parker zoomed between traffic on a moped. The two had dressed in clothes more casual than what they had become accustomed to due to court life, and Parker welcomed the change. Parker threw her head back as the cold wind blew through her auburn dyed hair that peeked out from under her helmet, and her grip on Liam tightened. “How long have you been planning this? I didn’t know you had a moped!”

“Being the king has its perks!” Liam replied over the noise of the city. Parker giggled at her fiancé; a usually egotistical statement just sounded adorable coming from him. Eventually Liam settled on parking their vehicle at the bottom of a stairwell near a park. The two got off and took off their helmets, each shaking their hair out without abandon.

“Is it just me, or do you also feel so...free?” Parker asked as the two walked hand in hand through a partly lit brickstone park. “Like I don’t think I’ve felt like this since the night we met.”

“You mean the night I met and fell in love with the most beautiful woman in the world? Right now I have to admit this comes to a close second, my queen.” Liam squeezed her hand, and his eyes twinkled among the street lamps like stars in the sky.

“Oh stop, you’re making me blush, my king.” Parker let go of his hand and jumped on his back, and he caught her effortlessly. “And now...I’m yours. You can take me anywhere.”

“Your wish is my command,” Liam chuckled, gripping her legs tighter as he began to walk them through the lively streets of a Saturday night on the town. Some party-goers around their age whooped as they passed by, and Parker and Liam laughed and pumped their fists in greeting, drunk on just being there. 

Eventually Liam settled on a small, nondescript nightclub. The bouncer rolled his eyes and gestured for him to put Parker down, but nonetheless the two were let in after their (fake to protect their identities) IDs were checked. Some bass-heavy song was blasting and strobe lights were everywhere, and there were people dancing without abandon everywhere. Parker immediately pulled her fiancé to the dance floor.

“No waltzing for us tonight!” She blew him a kiss and started to do the sprinkler. Parker busted out move after move, and Liam smiled and matched her until the two were moving in tandem to the music. Parker had, of course, seen Liam dance at a Beaumont Bash; however, she had never seen him dance so freely, as if he had never known the pressures of court life and being king. As the bass dropped, Liam pulled Parker in until their pelvises were flushed against each other and swaying side to side, their faces mere inches apart.

“But we can still be as close as when we waltz,” Liam’s voice ghosted in her ear only for her to hear, and it sent a shiver of longing up her spine. It suddenly felt as if they were the only two in the world. Parker unashamedly pulled him in for a fiery kiss, their tongues and their bodies continuing to move in sync. 

The two lovers danced well into the night and into the early morning hours. Parker couldn’t remember how, but eventually they ended up on a small trolley boat with espressos in their hands and a blanket draped over their legs.

“Is the fact that we’re on this boat alone also a perk of you being king?”

Liam took a small sip and looked around the empty boat, the sky that gradient of light blue to pink to orange characteristic before sunrise. His hair glowed in the soft light like the sun, contrasting the light brown to deep auburn gradient of hers. “Actually, no. This part of the night wasn’t planned.”

Parker rested her head on his shoulder. “Oh really? I’m surprised.”

“Things always seem to work out well for us, huh?”

“They definitely do.” Parker nuzzled her face into his neck and brushed her lips gently over his cheek. “Thank you for tonight. I have to admit I kind of missed being able to do normal people things like this, and it’s even better with you. You’ve given me so much. I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

“Anything for you, my love. And I’m the lucky one here. You just…” Liam paused and looked her in the eyes intensely, and Parker couldn’t look away. “You make me this way. You make me feel like I can be spontaneous and adventurous, like I can just be a person around you.”

Parker felt her heart burst with love and affection towards him, and she closed the space between them once more. She rested her forehead against his. “I love you, Liam. You’re the kindest, most selfless man I’ve ever met. After all this PR is done, I can’t wait to finally be your wife.”

“Darling, I couldn’t love you more, even if I tried.” Liam intertwined their fingers, smiling softly at the glint of her engagement ring, a symbol of their promises to be together no matter what happened in life. He kissed her hand carefully and softly.

As the sun began to rise and the small boat floated serenely to shore for the two royals to sneak back in for their duties, Parker remained cuddled up to Liam. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was; not because she suddenly went from a broke waitress to royalty, but because she had Liam, the true Liam and not the image that he put out for his duties. And that was more than enough for her.

[anangelicday-mrwolf]

Wolfsbane : Noblesse Fanfic (post-ending)

(previous chapter)

Chapter 5 – Frankenstein’s Shadow

‘He wouldn’t give me that murderous glare of his just because it took only 2 days for me to get back here, would he?’ Thought Lunark as she fingered her hair once again, which she had brushed with care.

Although she came with a valid reason – Adne managed to unlock one of Ignes’s files less than 24 hours ago – she could not help getting worriedly conscious of the fact that the new file’s volume was so small compared to that of the first file she had delivered. So small she was not sure if this one even deserved to be labeled a file.

Fortunately for her, she was met with another reason not to chicken out and scram from Frankenstein’s island, upon picking up someone’s presence and tracking it down.

“You...?!”

Lunark exclaimed, identifying a very familiar man sitting by a tree perfumed with mosses.

“It’s been a while, 5th Elder. I mean, Lady Lunark.”

Lunark could feel her brain burning cold as soon as she assessed 3rd Elder’s face as he stood, for she had been dying to run into him.

“Sorry for not recognizing you for a sec. You’re missing a cloak.”

“...Well, on this island I’m not an elder of the Union.”

And no need for the clarification, thanks.

Lunark uttered an inner scorn as she scanned 3rd Elder’s outfit – black long-sleeved t-shirt and white pants. He looked so plain, so ordinary, so unlike a Union’s elder who at the same time used to be the right-hand man of the apex of the Union.

“Frankenstein told me everything. If I remember correctly, from now on you’ll be regularly stopping by in order to collect his old research data, to make use for treatment and rehab of werewolves that survived from... (The 3rd Elder winced ever-so-subtly before continuing.) From Maduke’s experiments... As well as invasion initiated by me and the 1st Elder.”

Lunark curtly nodded to show approval for the excuse she and Frankenstein devised for her visit, on the day she first arrived.

“Indeed. And thanks to a certain someone, Frankenstein and I have turned quite busy. I’m sure you’d know that neither of us has a lot of free time.”

No agreement or disagreement came from the 3rd Elder. He merely let his eyes escalate downwards to his feet.

“Anyways, what are you doing here? Seems to me you were moping or something.”

“Moping, huh...? Yes, maybe I was moping.”

“Really? The 3rd Elder? Moping? But too bad. The only interpretation I can make out of your confession is that you are bluffing in order to hide what you’ve been really up to. I know what you are like. And what you’ve done.”

The 3rd raised his eyes back to Lunark’s face in response to her sneer. However, he did not unzip his lips even a bit, perhaps because he knew he was in no position to prove her words wrong.

“While I’m at it, let me make one thing clear. Since Frankenstein chose to keep you close, I will not lay my hands on you. That I can promise. But in other words, that’s the only reason why I will ever leave you in one piece in the first place. Trust me – whenever I think about what you and the 1st Elder did to my people, I must fight my own urge to rip you into shreds this instant.”

Her audience stood frozen, taking in every syllable of her disdainful speech.

“If you ever plot something against Frankenstein, play hindrance in whatever he does, or take advantage of his hospitality, I WILL make you pay. And if he ever suffers a loss or damage because of you, I swear – I will make sure from then on, you won’t get to lift anything heavier than a spoon for the rest of your life.”

As she warned the 3rd Elder, Lunark’s face was surprisingly placid, her voice toned in its normal pitch. Still, the 3rd Elder could see she was as serious as she could be, for he felt as if he were up against a wrathful wolf about to lunge for its prey’s head.

Ironically, that was exactly what inclined him to point out what he just hypothesized.

“Funny.”

“What’s funny?”

“Please don’t get me wrong – I fully understand what you are saying. It’s just that... It sounded like you were giving a personal warning as ‘a woman caring for Frankenstein,’ not as ‘a werewolf warrior representing the entire wolfkind.’”

At once, Lunark’s pink eyes shuddered as if she were hit by a bullet.

“And it appears there is something more than comradeship or generosity at the basis of your words. Do you... Do you happen to harbor feelings for him?”

“Why would you care?!”

Lunark ended up stunning herself, her retort fashioned much sharper than she had intended.

“Does he know about this?”

And just like that, he completely turned the table on her.

“I’m not sure since when you have developed feelings for him, but I’m afraid your feelings will not be reciprocated. If I dare say, there’s a good chance your heart will wait endlessly for a single touch of light, only to wither into none, just like this nameless flower that has made poor haven under the shadow of this tree.”

“Did you take liking in reading poetry during free time? Moping is one thing, and now here you are, monologuing about flowers and shadow.”

“Yes, I did frame it a bit too fancy, but I was trying to be considerate. Apparently there’s a shadow in Frankenstein’s heart. Ever since we moved into this island, he has been leading an unusually reclusive life. I assume he tends to research and data categorization on this island and accommodates himself somewhere else.”

“...Why would you ‘assume’ that’s what he does?”

“Because he leaves every night and returns next morning, and I have no knowledge of what he does during his absence. I can only assume he fulfills his basic needs outside, since each time he returns in a new attire.”

The corner of Lunark’s eyes creased slightly upon unexpected discovery.

‘I did tell him to beware of the 3rd Elder, but... This is not exactly what I had in mind.’

It did not take long for Lunark to decide that her warning had nothing to do with Frankenstein’s behaviors. After all, Frankenstein and the 3rd Elder had been occupying this island before Muzaka made her his “secret agent.”

‘But why? There’s nothing strange in his caution against his enemy-turned-ally, but why would he choose the inconvenience of lodging himself away from a safehouse that comes with a perfect housing system?’ Lunark inwardly muttered to herself, reminiscing how awestruck she was during her tour of Frankenstein’s safehouse, impeccably furnished in terms of residential aspects that she even suspected he hired an expert designer for the job.

She was momentarily impelled to acquire more information on the matter, but she aborted the idea.

For the 3rd Elder learned something that could work against her in the future, there was no guarantee that continuing the conversation would be beneficial for her.

Therefore, she steeled her voice as she tried to conceal her fluster.

“So what? Like I said, it’s none of your business whether I have a crush on him or not. And what was that about my feelings and flowers? If you have time to come up with stupid metaphors and make yourself sound like 12th Elder before having dinner, just go back to your so-called moping session!”

Lunark turned herself away as coldly as possible. She had to refrain from telling him that if Frankenstein hears a word about this, she will murder him – that would only demonstrate how strong her feelings have grown.

As she kept her back straight and walked on, something caught her eyes. The next moment, her legs stopped altogether upon perceiving she was looking at a flower species she was highly familiar with.

‘This must be wolfsbane. Its color differs from the ones on our land, but the shape it blossomed into tells me it’s definitely a species of wolfsbane.’

As beautiful as it may be, wolfsbane possesses deadly poison, hidden behind aesthetic colors and contours that have won immense popularity among flower-lovers.

Ancient humans evidently were aware of wolfsbane’s toxicity, incorporating its poison in mythology as the beloved invention of Hecate, the Greek goddess of magic and witchcraft and the guardian deity of witches, and historically employing it as a kit to hunt wolves (a fact reflected in the flower’s etymology).

Thus in a way, wolfsbane is a botanical counterpart of a siren; let the creature cast its spell, and one may be irrevocably destroyed by its true nature.

‘And I guess for me, this flower is just like him...’

Lunark sighed heavily, emitting all the air supply she had been stocking, a proof that her life these days has become a total mess thanks to a certain blonde human.

‘I still can’t believe I was actually late to my lord’s recoronation because of him.’

The day Muzaka reclaimed the throne, Lunark was supposed to be in the very front of the werewolf attendants, as a warrior of wolfkind and one of Muzaka’s right-hand servants.  

Alas, she was late to the ceremony because of Frankenstein.

At the time, she planned to attend the ceremony as soon as she was done talking to Frankenstein for one last time. Or rather, to be precise, she called KSA so that she could ask the KSA staff to relay her thank-you message for all the hard work he had done.

To her shock and dismay, she was met with a news that Frankenstein was gone, and even KSA had lost communications with him.

Out of severe alarm, she instantaneously requested communication with Tao and asked him what happened to Frankenstein. Tao filled her in about the reason why Frankenstein was gone, but not even he provided her with his location and plan, which were what really mattered to her.

After wasting her time talking to more people than she had in mind, as well as trying to restitch her mind, she realized she was late.

And until next day, until Frankenstein showed himself on the communications monitor out of blue to hand over his communicative coordinates for emergency use, she was on the edge of her seat for every second, like a job seeker waiting for the result of the very last job interview of her life after failing to hear back from dozens of potential employers.

Lunark knew very well that anything concerning the werewolf lord comes in as the top priority for a werewolf warrior.

‘But back then, I couldn’t think of the coronation ceremony at all because of him. Seriously... What have you done to me, Frankenstein?’

Yet she knew what was happening to her. She knew since who-knows-when, Frankenstein had taken property of every seam and corner of her heart.

‘This flower happens to be purple like him. Or rather, purple like that cursed weapon he wields.’

Great, now I think of him even when I see the color purple, thought Lunark, as she once again confirmed she was exhibiting one of those symptoms of love.

“Hopeless... This is just hopeless.”

“What is hopeless?”

Lunark jumped like a cat that spotted a cucumber at its rear end as she turned around in a flash. Luckily, Frankenstein dodged her hair fast enough and avoided getting slapped in the face.

“W-what are you doing here?”

“Says a guest to the owner of an island.”

Frankenstein shrugged, as if he had just heard the funniest thing in the world. And a mere shrug, with the push of his smile, was more than enough to shatter Lunark’s heart once again. Which was why she suffered a delay in noticing that he was not empty-handed.

He was holding a plastic case safekeeping a pair of sanitary gloves and plastic bags for sampling, along with a dirty yet well-honed gardening utensil, which hinted her what he was here for.

“I’m sure you have no interest in pressing flowers or gardening. Are you using this flower for your experiment or something?”

“Not an experiment. It’s for a personal need,” replied Frankenstein, as he kneeled and started poking and shoving around a wolfsbane’s root in a very professional manner.

“Why would you take a wolfsbane plant for a personal need? I don’t count myself as one of those lab people, but I do know that most of flower species classified under the category of wolfsbane come with poison. Well, though I doubt that its poison will be lethal for modified humans or non-humans, even if it is ingested entirely as a raw plant.”

“Right. And some wolfsbane species are so venomous that even a minimum touch on skin can cause traumatizing and even life-threatening effect on human body. However, wolfsbane is also available for medical use. Even these days, wolfsbane is used as painkiller and, depending on the situation, cardiac stimulant in traditional Korean and Chinese medicine.”

Frankenstein answered with a tone only expected from most popular lecturers in doctorate chemistry lectures. Nevertheless, Lunark’s face darkened even before he could finish his words.

“So are you going for the former or the latter? Are you ill? So ill you must carry a painkiller or cardiac drug all the time?”

“If I were to choose, I would say it’s the latter. But not exactly. And don’t worry – I don’t have any pain or heart issue.”

Frankenstein glanced at Lunark and was left with bewilderment as a result. She was staring at him as if he were just sentenced to death.

“...No need to give me that look. Remember that I told you a wolfsbane can be used to create drugs that stimulate heart functions? I have modified and adjusted the use and processing of a cardiac stimulant to instead use this flower as a source of a nerve stimulant.”

“Meaning...?”

“It’s for keeping me awake as long as its effect lasts, without any need for sleep.”

Frankenstein was hoping to relieve her of concerns, but Lunark did not look happy at all. Her forehead furrowed deeply, now her face so dark that in other circumstances, Frankenstein would have concluded one of her kith and kin met demise.  

“Are you saying you haven’t slept at all ever since you moved into this island? Just how busy can you be? Do you have to stay awake for whatever you have at hand?”

“...I’m in no situation to indulge in sleep or dreams.”

Lunark bit her lips as the fact sank that she was wrong. When she talked to the 3rd Elder, she was glad Frankenstein was seemingly getting some sleep, at the very least. But he was not.

Lunark was about to amplify her voice to shriek what on Earth he would do outside this island, before she managed to hold her tongue.

Confronting Frankenstein about his activities outside would make him curious of the source of her intelligence, which would lead to a discussion on the discussion she had with the 3rd Elder. And Lunark was not sure if she could lie about her previous conversation, let alone her feelings for him.

In addition, knowing his personality, she could swear he would not listen even if she were to be a mom for him just this once. Given up on reasoning with him, she directed his attention to a speculation that just came up.

“I remember how you drank something from your flask when I first got here. Was that a drug you made with wolfsbane flowers?”

Frankenstein’s hands paused for a second in reaction.

Frankenstein remembered what he gave her as a reply when she inquired what he was drinking; he kept his answer as vague and not-worthy-of-attention as he could. And he surely did not mention to her in what form the tonic came in. Yet here he was, marveling once again that there was a reason why Lunark was made an elder of the Union.

“Yep. That was it.”

“I didn’t think this was what you meant when you said it’s like coffee to you. And I bet you were the one who came up with the recipe to cook up that drug.”

“Of course. The other uses for wolfsbane plant include fever reducer at the most, and apart from the use of wolfsbane, it’s been centuries since human medicine last had its effect on me. And speaking of which, I must go through a revision of my cookbook. The number of wolfsbane plant on this island is decreasing as we speak, so I won’t be able to make any more effective tonic unless I modify the amount of poison to be used.”

“So you’ve been basically feeding on this flower.”

“Yes, but it’s also partially because this island was never densely populated by this flower. Now I basically have to hunt for a needle in a haystack in order to find a wholesome plant.”

“...Want me to bring them to you?”

Frankenstein stopped his hands from pulling out a wolfsbane flower to gape at her.

“Well, there is this enormous colony of wolfsbane flowers near the boundaries of our territory. And no one has ever touched it as far as I know, since we’ve never imagined using this flower for medicinal purpose. And trust me – this colony is big enough to cover the entire Pacific. The thing is, the wolfsbane in our land is probably a different species from this one, because its flower is pink. I’m not sure if you can use it for your ‘recipe,’ but I can fetch one as a sample for my next visit. What do you say?”

Frankenstein was silent. His ears did prick at her suggestion; he could actually hear Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 echoing in his head.

‘But if I say yes... I’ll end up running into her more often.’

Opposed to the obvious outcome, he briefly tried to come up with a way to very courteously turn down her offer, with a legitimate reason that will not hurt her feelings.

But of course, he knew he had no choice. He was aware of the ill effect he will bring upon himself if he were to say no.

“It’s fine. It’s all good as long as it comes under wolfsbane category.”

“So you mean...”

“From now on, bring me three separate wolfsbane flowers, if you please. And each flower must come with complete roots as well, undamaged, and hopefully in a sample bag like this one.”

“Okay. No biggie.”

Lunark had to control her voice so she would not sound too excited for having another defensible excuse to visit Frankenstein. Fighting against her glee, she forced the corner of her lips to stay uncrooked.

Partially due to her mind-numbing elation, and partially due to the fact that Frankenstein turned away as he invited her over to the safehouse, Lunark failed to notice that the shadow on his face thickened by a very slim shade.

*****

That night, Frankenstein walked through the corridor of another island he owned. He was at a stranded island dozens of kilometers away from his lab-slash-safehouse. Unlike the aforementioned island, this island housed not a single speck of green, an unparalleled embodiment of Lunark’s description of “a sandless desert with a gigantic cement appendage jutting out of the ground, prisoned by water at all sides.”

And this is where Frankenstein had been taking care of his basic human needs. And more importantly, this is where he had been secretly endeavoring to handle a dilemma that had lately cast a new shadow upon him.

Finally arriving at the special chamber at the heart of the building, he securely fastened the door in order to face the said dilemma once again.

“Answer to my call... Dark Spear.”

(next chapter)

Aaaaand here it is - the flower from which I came up with the title of this fanfic.

I didn’t plan on naming this fanfic Wolfsbane since the beginning. During the brainstorming stage, I landed upon some details about wolfsbane by pure accident, and as I read about this plant, I came to think this is exactly what represents the relationship of Frankie and Lunark and the progress they will make in this fic (and it’s related to wolf lol). The line in this chapter that says “let the creature cast its spell, and one may be irrevocably destroyed by its true nature” is what I had in mind as I sketched this fanfic.

By the way, there are two things about this chapter that isn’t canon in real life: (1) the fact that wolfsbane is used as a nerve stimulant and (2) the pink wolfsbane that can be found in nature. It is true that in traditional Korean and Chinese medicine, wolfsbane can be used as cardiac stimulant or painkiller. But in reality it is not used as a nerve stimulant; that part is my creation. In addition, pink wolfsbane does exist, but only as human-cultivated species; pink wolfsbane does not naturally occur. So for this fic, I created a wolfsbane species of my own (the purple wolfsbane that you would commonly see upon googling is Aconitum jaluense. The pink wolfsbane species that is introduced in this fic is Aconitum crescentonum). Hope that clarifies!

[incorrectdeceptionquotes]

It Takes Two

In collaboration with @s4karuna, she introduced this idea by striking up a conversation with me (so glad she did) and we’ve been building on it for a couple months and we finally decided to actually write it! XD

Hope you like it guys!

...And Happy New Year!

O'Leary's was the last stop on Team Deception’s bar hopping night, their usual homecoming tradition when they came back to New York after a national tour. Dina had somehow managed to wrangle Gunther into doing a duet with her while Cameron and Jordan were downing shots in a corner booth, occasionally heckling Gunther.

“Okay...” Jordan slurred. He was a bit of a lightweight and despite having matched shot for shot with him, Cameron didn’t seem as drunk, only slightly tipsy. “Cameron...”

“Yes Jordan?”

“I got a challenge for you.”

“Oh?” Cameron raised his eyebrows, “What are the stakes?”

“If… If you win...” Jordan garbled, “I… will dye my hair… hot pink again.”

Cameron was intrigued, “And if you win?”

“You… will do whatever I say.”

Cameron raised an eyebrow at that. “Uh Jordan, I don’t know where you’re going with this, but I just wanna be friends.”

“Ha!” Jordan slapped the table, “You wish you could land this… but no.” Jordan looked to be thinking, “If I win… I have something else in mind...”

“Are… are you going to tell me?”

“Nope! I'll… I’ll only tell you if I win.”

Cameron smirked, “So that’s how you want to play it?” He did another shot, “Fine. What is your challenge?”

“I... dare you... to take a shot.”

“Wait, that’s your challenge?” Cameron snorted, “We've been doing that all night.”

Jordan wagged his finger, “Oh-ho-ho-ho... no, my friend. Not just any... shot.” He downed another, “I’m talking about... the infamous Smoker’s Cough.”

“The Smoker’s Cough?”

“It’s a shot of Jagermeister... topped off with mayonnaise.”

Cameron scrunched his face at that, “Ew, mayonnaise?”

“It’s not… not too late to back out.”

Cameron took another one of the shots in front of him with a shake of his head. “No way.” He swiftly downed the drink, “Take that as an ‘I accept your challenge’.”

“There’s only one rule.” Jordan stated, “You’re not allowed to gag or spit it back after drinking it.” He got from his stool, “I’ll be right back.”

Cameron downed another shot. How bad could this drink be? He’d had worse things before so it couldn’t be as bad as Jordan had implied. A few minutes later, Jordan came back with a shot in hand and sure enough, it was topped with good old fashioned mayonnaise.

“Here… you go.” Jordan shakily placed the drink in front of his friend. He really was a lightweight.

Cameron picked up the shot and eyed it for a moment, “Okay… here goes.”

Jordan watched him as the blue-eyed man shrugged and downed it in one go. He seemed to be alright at first. Then his face scrunched up in disgust as he clapped a hand over his mouth to contain his coughing.

“G’ugh! It's vile!” He wheezed. “What the hell is in that?”

Jordan laughed as Cameron let out a couple of coughs, “I had the bartender…” Jordan slurred, “M-make the drink with Andong soju instead. Packs quite a punch, doesn’t it?”

“Oh yeah. Can’t help but think--” He coughed again, “That might have be cheating. Not even your hal-abeoji can drink it and he could give vodka guzzling Russian ex-soldiers a run for their money at his age.”

“You never said I couldn’t change anything.”

“Well played Kwon. Well played.” Cameron mumbled, “So what is it you want me to do?” Cameron would be lying if he said that the gleeful look on Jordan’s face didn’t make him feel a little nervous.

Three years later…

The Archive had been host to many Team Deception celebrations over the years, but this had to be a first. Helping the FBI break a major case by doing what the team did best had... sparked something in him for lack of a better word. Through the din of the party, Cameron spotted Kay in the corner, her phone to her ear as--was she smiling just now?

It wasn't like he hadn’t seen her smile before, but this one was different. It was one of pure joy, her eyes radiating every ounce of love in her heart.

It was beautiful. That smile was beautiful.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he only managed to catch Kay saying “--okay, I’ll see you in a minute, honey.”

Wait, what?

Honey? Suddenly, Cameron was very interested to know who she had been talking to. He just wasn’t expecting there to be anyone who would make someone as cool and professional as Kay call them “honey” of all things. He shook his head and escaped to the balcony.

Kay noticed him walk out as she hung up before her eye caught one of his show posters. The past couple of days had showed her that he wasn’t just some playboy illusionist. Magic really was his life. It really meant something to him… and his brother meant everything to him, she could tell. It reminded her so much of her and Caroline in the past, she mused as she joined him on the balcony.

“Hey.” She said as she walked up next to him.

He grinned, “Hey.”

“You did good Cameron.” Kay told him, “Thank you.”

His smile only widened, “Don’t mention it. Sorry we didn’t get off to the best start.”

“Water under the bridge.”

They were silent for a moment. Cameron opened his mouth, about to ask something like so who were you on the phone with if you don’t mind my asking, when he suddenly heard what sounded like little kids squealing in the other room.

“Uh Kay? Are you babysitting or something ‘cause whose kids am I hearing?”

Kay's lips twitched in amusement. “I’m not babysitting, it's a completely different thing.”

Well, if they were going to start working together, she might as well tell him now.

“You don't babysit your own kids.”

Cameron’s jaw dropped. “You have kids?!”

Kay nodded. “Twin girls.” She had been a little hesitant to tell him that part, worried that it might hit a little too close to home. “The sitter’s just bringing them here for me.”

Cameron was about to respond, say anything other than since when do you have kids and when you gonna let me meet them, when he heard shrieking giggles as a pair of tiny toddlers holding hands, dressed in pink and purple tumbled onto the balcony.

“Oh my God,” he gaped, shocked by the sight of two identical girls with round apple cheeks and adorable little dimples waddling over to Kay, “there's two of them.”

It was impossible not to see the resemblance to Kay when they had the same feathery dark curls and bronze skin. They were perfect little copies of their mother... except for the eyes. The girls’ eyes were opal blue and star-like and Cameron’s smile was fading fast because he never considered the possibility of her being married with kids. Even though he had secretly checked her hands several times for a ring only to find nothing.

Kay laughed as she picked up one of the giggling toddlers, who had purple overalls and a gold bunny shaped clip in her hair. “Well, I assume that as a twin yourself, you’d understand that twins generally come in twos.”

Still, he had to admit that even he and Johnny weren't this cute at that age. Kay's genes were truly magical.

“Soooo…” he drawled, “Who’s the lucky guy?” He wasn’t going to try to beat around the bush this time. If she was with someone then he didn’t want to step over any boundaries.

Kay was silent for a moment as she settled her daughter on her hip. “Donor #478.”

Cameron scrunched his nose in confusion.

“There’s not really a father in the picture,” Kay explained, straightforward as always. “I honestly couldn’t tell you who he is if I wanted to. Kind of the point.” That wasn’t the part that confused him. It was just… there was something about that number. Something familiar.

“You’re a single mom?”

Kay nodded, unashamed. She decided a long time ago that she wasn't going to have a partner and ended up with two when she went in for one. She suspected that identical twins ran in the donor's family. Kay's mother had helped take care of the girls until her strength had failed and she would've been completely alone if it weren't for Mike and Lara.

“That’s… kind of amazing,” he grinned in wonder.

Kay chuckled, “Well not everybody thinks so.”

“Eh, screw what other people think.”

He suddenly felt a tiny hand tug at his pant leg. He looked down and found a familiar pair of blue eyes staring up at him in wonder. The girls had obviously inherited Kay's impossibly long eyelashes and he was positive that they would destroy hearts someday just like their mother.

He crouched down, smiling at the little girl, still amazed at the power of genetics. “Hi there.”

The girls were nearly identical, but this one had hair that was a shade or two lighter than her sister and a pink penguin print headband that matched her overalls.

“That’s Liya.” Kay explained.

“Hi Liya.”

Liya eagerly raised her arms up and her tiny voice squeaked, “Up. Up.”

Cameron gave a quick look to Kay, “Do you mind?”

Kay looked a little surprised. Liya wasn’t usually so friendly with strangers. The agent shook her head before she thought much of it. “Uh, no. Go ahead.”

Cameron scooped up the little girl and she beamed up at him. He paused as he noticed Kay’s unreadable expression, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just… Liya usually isn’t so welcoming to new people.”

“Well, maybe she can tell I’m not so bad.” Liya rested her head on Cameron’s shoulder. He briefly caught the comforting scent of baby powder as she did so and it made him melt a little. “Who’s this other little lady?”

“This is my oldest, Ayana.” Cameron smiled at the toddler and Ayana gave him a tiny smile. “Ayana, you can say hi.”

Ayana waved and squeaked a little, “Hi.”

Cameron grinned at the little girl, “Hi Ayana.” The little girl buried her face in her mother’s shoulder and yeah, he was just about dying from the sheer cuteness of the Daniels girls.

“So Liya and Ayana, huh?”

“My mother's Ethiopian. Her grandmother came here from Addis Ababa all by herself to start a new life and I think she would've had some very strong words with me if I didn't follow the Assefa family tradition.”

Cameron chuckled as a thought popped into his head. “Does this mean that Kay's just a nickname?”

Kay rolled her eyes. “Cameron Black, you can't expect me to give away all my secrets.” She'd keep her birth name to herself for a while.

“Eh, between Mike the fanboy and Jordan’s hacking, I'll figure it out eventually. How old are the girls anyway?”

“They just turned two a couple of weeks ago.”

“Wow. Well, I should get them something then. How do they feel about stuffed animals?”

Kay chuckled, “Cameron, that’s sweet but--”

“No, no, I’m serious. Two is a big milestone.” He grinned. Somehow, for a moment, he wasn’t feeling hopeless.

“So what's next?” Kay asked, “You go after the mystery woman who framed Jonathan? I still have to prove she did it.” Cameron figured she was right, “What about your show, your team?”

“When we were kids,” Cameron started, “I was the performer, the onstage persona, but Johnny was ‘The Disappearing Boy’ hidden under the stage, behind the curtain, but he was always there for me...” He turned to face the agent he’s decided he’s befriended, “I have to get him out, Kay.” He could feel Liya’s little arms wrap around his neck in a pseudo hug, almost like she was trying to comfort him.            Kay nodded in understanding, “I did notice something. Jonathan's illusionist copied every detail from your disappearing-jet trick except one.”            Cameron raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You watched my special?” He turned his head to the toddler in his arms, “Did your mom watch my special?” Liya just giggled.

Kay laughed, “Okay. I saw it. It was fantastic.”            Cameron grinned in disbelief, “Fantastic? Wow.”            “After you made your jet disappear, you left something behind. Deck of playing cards.”            Cameron nodded in realization, “We should go back to the hangar and make sure she didn't--” He was cut off by Kay pulling out an evidence bag with a deck of cards in it. He chuckled, “You already went.”            She grinned. There was that smile again, “This is where I say ‘ta-da,’ right?” Ayana giggled at the way her mother was speaking. Despite being so young, Ayana and Liya never heard their mother sound so playful.

“Yeah.” Cameron smiled as he reached for the deck, “May I?” She handed him the bag. He pulled out the deck. It made a few beeping noises before it started to ring. He answered.

“Hello Cameron.” A woman’s voice came from the other line.            Cameron could feel his frustration flare up. “Who are you?”

She shook her head. “Always asking the wrong questions.”            “Why are you doing this?”

She raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. “You don't remember? Don't worry. I don't blame you for that. But I've thought about you and Jonathan for years.The show's about to begin my show. Are you ready?”

Cameron heard the sound of Beethoven’s Fur Elise being played in the background. “You're in the Frankfurt International terminal. Spent the last twelve months flying around the world, and airport acoustics are pretty distinctive. Plus, Frankfurt pumps muzak Beethoven like they're afraid someone might forget he's German.” Cameron could have sworn he heard this mystery woman’s breath stop for a split second. “Tell me, did you look over your shoulder?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Goodbye Cameron.”            “Get used to looking. We're coming for you.” It was all Cameron could say before the call disconnected.

“Hey.” Kay said as she adjusted Ayana in her arms, “You alright?”

Cameron pursed his mouth and nodded as he put the deck in his pocket and adjusted Liya just to make sure he wouldn’t drop her. “I’m fine… just can’t believe that after all this time, there’s a lead.” Kay gave him a sympathetic smile, “Believe it or not, this is the first time I can confidently say that Johnny’s going to come home.”

“You know, it’s really admirable that you’ve kept hope for all this.”

Cameron gave a small smile, “I’ve always believed that hope can be a powerful thing.”

They gave each other a smile and spent a moment in silence, watching the city lights before Ayana tried to wiggle out of her mother’s hold to join her sister in Cameron’s arms. Kay tried to get her to calm down.

“Ayana honey, be careful.”

Cameron chuckled, “If Ayana wants a hug too, I don’t mind.” He opened his other arm as a sign to the little girl that she could join her sister.

“You sure?”

Cameron nodded, “Positive. It’s a good thing I have enough arms because if you had triplets then things might be a little difficult,” he joked.

Kay helped him adjust both girls in a way that would be easy for him to hold them both at once. What really surprised her was just how fast her girls warmed up to him. She knew that Cameron was a good man, but it was still a little odd that Ayana and Liya could see that so quickly too.

“Hey there Ayana. You didn’t want to miss out on the fun either, did you?”

The older twin giggled as her tiny hand gripped his shirt. Kay smiled. It wasn’t often she felt comfortable letting her daughters be held by someone else, but she trusted Cameron.

“Hey Kay?”

Kay raised her eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“We have some chocolate chip cookies.” He didn’t notice the way the girls perked up at the word ‘cookie’. “Do you mind if I give them one?”

“Cookie?” Ayana squeaked.

Kay smiled. “Well, they already heard the word ‘cookie’ so you kind of have to give them one now.” Cameron laughed at that. “Why do you have chocolate chip cookies in the first place?”

“Agent Daniels,” he gasped in mock offense, “I might be a man of fine tastes, but I can enjoy a good chocolate chip cookie once in a while.” Kay rolled her eyes at his childishness.

“Cookie!” Liya babbled.

Kay’s chuckle turned to laughter. She knew the girls’ sweet tooth would distract them. “Well, we should probably get them their cookies.”

She reached to take one of the girls when Cameron just cuddled them closer to him. “You know I don’t mind holding them for a little while.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded, “Oh yeah. You’ve had a long day too, let me help you by carrying around these adorable little ladies.” Kay couldn’t help but smile as they made their way back inside.

Three years ago…

Cameron and Jordan pulled up to the building they asked the cab driver to take them. “Why are we here?” Cameron narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“Why do you think?” His friend responded, “This is your punishment.”

“Oh my God, Jordan, you don’t mean...”

“Oh… but I do.” Cameron rolled his eyes, “Hey! You lost our wager.” Jordan retaliated, “If you had won, you so would have watched me dye my hair pink!”

Cameron paused. “...You’re not going to come inside to watch me do this are you?” Jordan gave him a look. “I’m sorry Jordan, but the way you say things all sound very suggestive!”

“Just go do it!”

“Fine.” he huffed. They both got out of the cab and went inside the building. It was a bank and all Jordan had dared him to do was make a donation. He stayed at the front desk until the deed was done. There was nothing to be ashamed of. It wasn't as if Cameron was the first person to make a donation like this.

In fact… he was the 478th person to make a donation for that particular bank.

[spookyspaghettisundae]

Lost Number

Even at sunset, the yellow fireball in the sky was scorching hot, and there was not a single waking soul around for miles. A dusty old tour bus softly swayed in the unforgiving desert winds. Beached in the sand like a steel whale, the bus stood several steps away from the road, a thin strip of cracked asphalt that cut through the landscape of red sand, sparse vegetation, and rocky hills.

The door on the side of the bus burst open, and a lean figure stumbled outside. If anybody but a vulture perched on a rock had been looking, they would have had to have taken a moment to discern the gender of the person who had emerged from the large vehicle.

It was Kevin. His androgynous attire was typical of a grungy stage persona, perhaps a rock musician of sorts. Black boots and fingerless gloves, nylon stockings, a weird blend of half-cut and half-ripped shirts and vests as well as shorts. His fingernails were, in an alternating pattern, painted black and white each, his face smudged with stark white paint and smeared mascara that had dried after running from his eyes, and his bright red hair was a mess of strands of hair jutting in all directions. In a way that looked like a deliberately stylized mess. Well, mostly.

As he leaned forward, he staggered as if he was losing balance but then braced himself against his knees with both hands. Accompanied by squelching sounds and a disgusting stream of orange-beige something ejecting from his mouth in a stream, he vomited onto a patch of sand in front of him. And then some more. A few minutes passed there. After spitting a few more times, he wiped over his mouth with the back of his hand and convulsed, visibly fighting the urge to vomit yet again.

Kevin stood back up straight and looked wobbly on his feet. He looked around, unclear as to where he was. As if the desolate sight of his surroundings made him dizzier than he must have already been, he stumbled back towards the bus door he had exploded from. He paused when he heard a coyote howl in the distance.

The blue sky was melting into a painting of red and pink tones, dabbed with strokes of clouds pulling up. The sun was setting quickly. With one more glance towards the dying light, Kevin winced and pulled himself into the bus with the aid of the railing inside.

He looked around. The inside of the bus looked like it had been hit by a hurricane. Part of that was to be expected, as it belonged to the usual scenery. Half-empty beer cans, a crumpled stack of pizza boxes, an ashtray that had been overturned, leaving a chaos of ashes and cigarette butts strewn all over the place, a used condom hanging from a drawer handle, lines of cocaine that had been haphazardly sniffed off of a bass guitar now resting on a cushioned bench, a bag of chips that crunched under one of Kevin’s boots as he took a cautious step inside, and so forth. In fact, it was impossible to stand anywhere without stepping on trash of some sort.

What was not to be expected was the absolute absence of anybody else.

Kevin shoved the toilet door open. Nobody. He gripped the handle to a back room and felt something wet. He looked at his hand and it was covered in red. He raised the hand to his face and sniffed. Then timidly licked it. Ketchup, but really sour. Disgusting. He swung the door open. Nobody. With more sounds of cracking and crackling and crunching under his boots as he traversed the bus, he returned to the driver’s seat. Nobody there, either. No keys in the ignition.

At this point, he was trying to reconstruct what had happened to everybody. The events of the night before were a jumble. He blamed the brownies and seven cans of beer. Their band was called The Lost Number. He was Kevin Fuller, the bassist. After last night’s gig at a roadhouse, and an encore of their fan favorite Sexy Vampire in the Basement, they had wound up in the bus in the company of some groupies with a lot of food, booze, a modest amount of drugs. And they had partied. Hard.

Some of it was coming back to him. Him and Brent had dunked Rick’s head in the toilet after he had passed out from snorting coke with a nosebleed and they could barely stop laughing at how he flailed around with a sopping wet head while waking up like that. One of the girls had dared Kevin to make out with her guy friend and he did it nonchalantly as he was bi-curious anyway and had been way too stoned to care. Brent pulled a gun and shot through the roof of the bus, yelling something about nobody calling the cops—and right now, Kevin looked up in the middle of the bus and saw the bullet hole. Then blinked. His hands were shaking.

He pushed his cocaine-covered bass aside and finally sat down in the messy booth with an exhausted groan. Leaning over and struggling with his head spinning from the motion, he fished a half-smoked joint off the floor. He blindly grabbed a stainless steel lighter off the table, flicked it up and lit the roach all in one fluid motion that spoke volumes of pointless drug excesses.

Where the hell was everybody?

Instead of calming him down, the hits he took brought back the most important memory. It was more like a flash of bright light, and he pressed his palm against his forehead, as if it would help against a surge of searing pain that shot through his brain.

“I can show you real magick,” Michael had said. “That’s magick with a ‘k’, the real deal.”

Michael was the guy he had made out with on the dare. Their strange conversations from later on that night were surfacing.

“The general rule of magick is that you always get what you give. Kinda like baking a cake but without the oven. With magick, you exchange the oven for something else, like getting the raw energy from something else. Like what? Y'know, like, human sacrifices.” He had followed that up with a magnetic chuckle.

Michael’s smile had been most enchanting. Kevin remembered feeling entranced by him as the night had dragged on. Kevin recalled having thought to himself that he thought that Michael had been magic—or magick with a ‘k’.

“Of course not. You’re only a monster if you look into the mirror and see one. See, the exchange rates on magick are way better than currencies. Depending on your breed of crazy, you will always get something for something else. Like, you never get a bum deal unless you try to game the system. You ever try that logic out in the stock market, you’re gonna get reamed. It’s an accountant’s wet dream, everything adds up. Pass that bong already?”

Kevin wracked his brain and looked around, pushing some junk off the table. Then rummaged through some drawers, though it was aimless and mindlessly done. They—as in all twenty-one people—had driven out here in the bus in the middle of the night. There had been no other cars. There were no clues. He had no idea what he was even looking for.

He took another drag from the joint, then coughed and dropped the thing and stamped it out on the stained velvet carpet.

“Lemme show you a, like, a trick,” Michael had said. He had led him to the back room and looked around. Then spotting the half-open safe, he had looked inside, pulled some drugs and other items out of it, and dumped them on the floor. Michael had looked around suspiciously, and put something into the safe. What it was, Kevin had not seen. He had been too trashed at that point to tell. Michael had toyed around with the safe and turned around to Kevin again. “You wanna find out what’s in there? Then you’re gonna have to figure out the combination, and I won’t tell you, but you can figure it out. If you’re willing to work some magick. With a 'k’. Yeah, I knew it. Your mind is fully open right now. You’re open to the whole universe up there.”

Kevin remembered seeing the clear, starry night sky over the desert. He also remembered digging in the sand with his bare hands. His gaze jolted down and his hands shot up, and he inspected his fingernails. The paint was chipped and flawed now, and there was dirt underneath his nails. A lot of it.

“So here’s how it’s gonna work. You dig a hole and read these words out loud. Then you bury this with one of the most prized possessions you have with you here, in the sands of Nowhere, US of A. Because a sacrifice is only a sacrifice if it means something to you.”

The familiar sting of cactus needles flared up from his left calf. Kevin remembered how he had drunkenly stumbled into one of those things out there, last night. On the way out to digging or on the way back? It was all too blurry. But what was in the safe, that did return to him. He had found his lighter in the safe. Though he reckoned that Michael could have picked it from his pocket like a stage magician, he only remembered it not making any sense how he had instinctively known the combination to get it back by just looking at Michael. Or how he had thought he was starting to hear people’s thoughts while looking at them last night.

“Neat, huh? Okay, look. I can show you—I can give you the real deal. Not just a minor bit of reality re-mixing, but the whole nine yards. The price is—it’s gonna cost you more, though. Way more. Y'know? The real question is, what do you want? What do you really want?”

Kevin made his way to the back room and looked at the safe. It was locked. He punched in a five-digit code. The device beeped, and nothing. He tried another. Still nothing.

“That kind of trade, that's—that’s woof. You’re messed in the head. Maybe it’s just the drugs talking. Look, it’s up to you. I just teach you how to fish, okay? The rest is your responsibility. But I mean, man, by paying a price that steep on this, you’re gonna be rocking some serious mojo. But there’s no telling what kinda bad juju will be following you around.”

Kevin did want to be number one. The main attraction of the Lost Number. Another star among the musical gods in the celestial halls of rock 'n roll legends. He had had a plan: he was going to have his breakthrough by the year 2020. But with his poor musicianship talents, too many drugs and too much alcohol, and misguided ambitions, that would have been difficult. Until now.

“And after this, we go separate ways. If we meet again one day, there’s no telling how that’ll end. You’ll start seeing the world in different ways soon. You won’t be going back. You sure you really, really want this?”

He punched the code one-one-three-three-three into the safe’s number pad. It beeped in a lighter tone and a green light flashed on the display. The small safe door clicked open. He looked inside.

Inside the safe was a mirror and Brent’s empty revolver. Kevin saw his own reflection.

—Submitted by Wratts

[theimaginesyouneveraskedfor]

Watch Out Below (28)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27

You were finally back on your feet but could barely manage without the walking stick provided for you. Balin forced his brother to take you on your first tour of the semi-restored Mountain. It was little changed from before other than the lack of ash and newly-opened corridors which had previously been left unventured. You didn’t much care, it was simply a relief to be free of the bed and chamber you had spent weeks in.

Thorin and Fili had continued to visit after their revelation but neither were to do so without the other as Balin had insisted upon it. You could tell the white-haired advisor was trying to mediate between rising tensions and you would rather be spared the drama of the dwarves asking after each other or feeding the jealousy which was already so blatant. It was thus, as you came upon your door, that you sighed and hesitated when Dwalin opened it.

“Do I really have to go back so soon?” You whined; the bald dwarf had offered little conversation but he was preferable to the monotony of bed rest.

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” He huffed grumpily, “My brother said not to keep you too long. Your wounds might look better but we can’t be too careful.”

“Ugh, you sound just like him,” You grumbled and Dwalin sneered, “Fine, I’ll go.” You gave him a sickly-sweet smile and he winced, waving you inward as he shook his head grumpily.

You left Dwalin in the corridor and he continued past your chamber with mumbles which you couldn’t determine to be annoyed or amused. Balin was waiting for you on the same stool he had used to watch over you and he rose with an achy grunt. He neared with a smile more genuine than your own and reached out to steady you, though you did not waver.

“Y/N,” He greeted warmly and turned back to the room, keeping a hand on your arm, “I’ve brought you fresh garments. I am sure the bloodstains and grime are growing quite wearisome on you.”

“I really don’t mind,” You protested humbly, “Besides, it gives me character.”

“I insist,” He guided you forward slowly motioning to a stack of folded fabric, “They should fit you well enough. I imagine a dwarrowdam is roughly akin to…you.”

“Huh, thanks,” You pulled away and hobbled over to lean against the bed post, setting aside your walking stick, “Lovely.”

You took the first piece of clothing and it unfolded into a full woolen gown dyed a deep red and decorated with pale yellow embroidery. You grimaced over at the white-haired dwarf and lowered the dress. “You want me to wear this?” You questioned darkly, “What’s wrong with a new tunic?”

“Well, I’d say very much,” He placed his hands on his hips as your mother would have, “Thorin dropped in to say he’d be in tonight for your first outing and seeing as you are recovering quite well, I agreed to it.”

“Oh no,” You tossed the dress back on the pile and gripped your forehead in distress, “Already? Oh, I can’t, Balin.”

“But, dear, you accepted their invitation,” He neared and gently moved your hand away from your face, “If you did not desire the king’s courtship, you had merely to say no.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” You sighed and frowned desperately, “It was only…I’m not ready. And he’s a king. Like, really a king now and I’m…not even from here.”

“It’ll be just fine, dear, kings have coupled with commoners before,” You flinched resentfully at the title though you knew he meant no harm, “Though I’ve never seen two dwarves courting the same dam as such. Surely, a dam would have many suitors but she would not accept more than one at a time, and…Oh dear, I’ve not meant to get you worked up.”

You had slumped onto the mattress with a pained expression and Balin took your hand kindly as he looked you over.

“No, no, you’re right, I’ll be fine and…oh my god, this is a date!” You were so frazzled you took back your walking stick, waving away Balin so that you could stand up awkwardly, “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been on a date?” You began to pace, rather slowly since you weren’t too agile at the moment, “Especially with someone who tied me up and—Hey shouldn’t I be mad at him for that?”

“You can be,” Balin shrugged with an amused look in his eye, “I am sure the king will have an ear to hear your grievances when he arrives. Which should be soon, so let’s get you ready.”

“Ugh, no, urg a blurgh,” You were just making noises as Balin sorted through the pile of clothing.

“Here,” He handed you half the stack, “Get your undergarments and shift on and I can help you with the dress. I learned from my wife and she was never disappointed. Though she may say otherwise when you meet her.”

“You have a wife? Is she here already?”

“Not as yet, but soon enough,” He smiled and guided you to the bath chamber, “Go on then. I’ll be out here.”

You looked in the mirror and groaned. The red looked absolutely awful on you, especially with how sallow your skin had grown from your recovery. And it was awkward as hell. You didn’t mind wearing a dress once in a while but a full-length gown? That was too much. Balin had done well enough helping you with your hair, unknotting the hair tie from it and brushing it out, but you were still a mess.

“Stop it, you look wonderful,” Balin pulled you away from the mirror as a knock came at the door, “And I’m sure Thorin will agree.”

“Thorin?” You sounded as if you had been huffing helium and Balin left you to answer the door, revealing the king waiting with another bouquet of flowers.

It would have been an awe-inspiring sight were it not for your nerves. His hair was neater than your own, his blue eyes as vibrant as ever, a clean overcoat of brocade across his chest, and silver accessories which made him even more regal. You were just a commoner.

“Y/N,” His gaze fell to you as he entered and he smiled, “You look…beautiful,” He neared and handed you the flowers, “Very. I’ve never even…you’re wearing a dress?”

“It’s terrible, isn’t it?” You pouted as you tried to hide behind the flowers, “I look ridiculous.”

“You look amazing,” He asserted and offered his hand, “Please, I’ve planned a night just for us.”

“Um, okay,” You tried to smile but probably resembled like a frightened mouse, “Just let me set these aside.”

“I’ll get a vase,” Balin took the flowers and ushered you to the door, giving you time to balance yourself between your cane and Thorin, “You go on.”

The king led you out into the corridor as the elder dwarf held open the stone door and Thorin led you silently through the halls. You peeked over at him as he kept a tight grip on your hand and you were sure you were hallucinating at the nervous twitch in his eye. After a few turns, he offered his armfor better support and you found your steps easier.

Finally, you were nearing your destination and he led you out onto a natural rocky dais in the mountain’s face. A table was set with a meal for two and the sky was just beginning to darken; the sun setting in a spectrum of blues, purples, and pinks. Thorin helped you to your seat before sitting across from you and offering you a glass of wine.

“Um, thank you,” You took the goblet and sipped from it daintily, “I, uh…this is very nice.”

“I hope so,” He rubbed his neck as he looked away, clearing his throat before shifting in his chair and glancing to you once more, “Look, this is…awkward. Just don’t think about it like…that. Y/N, we’ve been through so much.”

“Right, we shouldn’t sit here like a pair of shy teenagers,” You laughed and it cracked in the tension of the evening, “Why don’t you tell me about…uh, the Mountain? I don’t really know much about it before Smaug and I like history.”

“Really?” He tilted his head curiously and slowly his face softened, “You are a rare breed.”

“One you’d tie to a tree?” You challenged, once more recalling your early days, “Hmm?”

“Yes, I am sorry for that, you know?” He averted his eyes guiltily and you laughed again, the air no longer so still.

“I know, Thorin,” You assured him and sat back with a breath of relief, “Just tell me about the last king. Your father, right?”

“Yes, my father,” He took a gulp of wine and set his glass down heavily, “His name was Thrain, son of Thror…”

Thorin began his recounting and you listened, forgetting the unusual nature of your date for the sound of his voice. His face brightened as he shared the details of his paternal history and you couldn’t help but watch him with fascination. In all your time knowing Thorin, you had rarely seen him so at ease. This was a side of him he did not reveal to just anyone.

“Well, this was wonderful,” You set down your fork and pushed back the hair hanging in your face; you cursed Balin for not allowing you tie it back, “Really, Thorin, much better than the food I’ve been eating.”

“Good, good,” He rubbed his hands as he stood and you blew away another stray lock as you used your cane to rise, “I’ll walk you back to your chambers, I guess.”

“Thank you,” You let him help you all the way to your feet and swore under your breath, “My damn hair!”

“Here,” He released you and motioned for you to spin around, “I can braid it for you, if you like.”

“Oh, yes please,” You smiled and slowly pivoted, “Thank you, again.”

You felt him separate your hair as he began his work and you did not know many men back home who could braid. It was quite impressive. And soothing as his fingers brushed your scalp and wound the top of your hair into a braid which kept it away from your forehead. You turned back around as he finished and smiled up at him.

“Do I look better?” You asked cheerily.

“You look as beautiful as ever,” He offered his arm again and you saw a keen spark in his eyes, “Here, let me tell you the story of how my father met my mother.”

Thorin dived into his next tale as you walked along and you felt better than you had since before the battle. You hoped it was a long story and you would not be left once more to languish in the desolation of your chamber.

[carpophobiakid]

Life of The Party

@alltimefanfiction contest entry, check out their page! Summary; Jack meets a girl who won’t tell him her name. Her legacy follows All Time Low throughout their career. 

Jack remembers meeting her vividly. Alex was throwing his first house party, seeing as his parents had finally gone away for the weekend. They were buzzing. 

August 28th 2008 - 7pm

Armed with bags of the cheapest lager Jack could find, he kicked open Alex’s front door with a converse clad foot. “Aleeee-“ His call was cut short by the sight of three girls dancing passionately in their underwear in front of the television. The lagers slipped from his arms and rolled across the floor at their feet. They all laughed loudly, feminine cheeks lighting up in pink blushes as Jack stared, his mouth hung open in shock. Lisa chucked both girls a blanket from the back of the sofa to cover up with and ran off upstairs, “Alex is up here!”. “Send his dumb ass down here.” Jack shouted back, his voice breaking to his utter embarrassment. Averting his eyes, he dropped to the floor to collect up the alcohol. The girl with the long dark hair and a full fringe wrapped a pink dressing gown round her waist and rushed to help him, goose pimples collecting on the bare skin of her arms as she piled the icy cans against her chest. Her carefree smile shocked him for a moment and Jack found himself looking at her for a moment too long. To this day, he is sure she was just pretending not to notice. “Stella Artois.” She smirked as she put them back in the carrier bag, “My favourite.”. Jack grinned at her, “If I’m honest, it’s just the cheapest I could find. I’m Jack, nice to meet you.”. She jumped to her feet, her brown eyes sparkling, “You can call me Stella. I’m gonna go find Lisa, see you in a bit.”. Then she was gone, pulling her blonde haired friend after her. Jack planted himself firmly on the cream carpet and sighed heavily, finding himself a little breathless. Alex came into the lounge, dressed in a loose button up shirt and tight jeans. “You alright buddy?” He muttered, reaching out his hand to help his friend to his feet. Jack ran a heavy hand through the blonde streak in his hair and nodded, “Yeah, who are Lisa’s friends?”. “Oh, just Kayleigh and her mate, I don’t know her name.”. “Right.”. Heaving, he grabbed his best friend’s hand and pulled himself up. “Stella.”.

10.45pm It was reaching eleven pm and Zack and Rian were clapping either side of Jack as he chugged yet another Stella Artois. Laughing, he crushed the empty can in his fist and threw it to his feet. “My turn!” a voice sang, causing all three boys to look round. “Christ.” Rian breathed at the sight of her, collecting himself as Jack dug him sharply in the ribs. The mystery girl was stood before them in a black slim fit dress, fishnets and velvet heels. She could have been a piece of art in any of their eyes, but especially Jack’s. (And boy, did he wanna pin her against the wall like the art she was.) “Stella!” he cheered casually, chucking her a lager. She caught it in one hand and snickered devilishly, “Ahhh, so that’s what I have you calling me, I forgot.”. Making sure all three of them were watching, she opened her lips seductively and cracked open the drink. Within a minute her dark lipstick was smudged down her chin and she was throwing the can at Jack, a triumphant look on her face as they all gawped. “Easy.”. Zack nearly fainted at the sight of her bending down in front of the lanky guitarist and picking up his crushed can. Gently, she pulled his hand towards hers and placed the trash in his hand, “Alex is a nice guy, don’t go making a mess of his house.”. “I’m over here more than I’m at my own house.” Jack hissed, a smile on his face, “Now, don’t go throwing up that alcohol on my best friend’s carpet Sweetheart.”. Rian and Zack chuckled. “I could outdrink you any day you skinny fuck!” Stella gasped, pushing his shoulder jokingly. Jack lit up in amusement, “Oh, you’re on.”. 2am “See, I want to move out of the city so I can see the stars properly.” Stella, as Jack had decided he would probably have to call her till at least the next morning, explained with a drunken slur, “Light pollution ruins the view.”. They were laid out on the damp grass while the wild party continued indoors, staring up at the sky. To his absolute horror, Jack had lost the drinking contest and they had come outdoors so he wouldn’t puke on any of Alex’s parent’s stuff. After he’d thrown up into the bin twice, she’d pulled him down onto the ground and tried her best to point out the constellations among the cloudy night sky. It was not their lucky night. “I’m a writer.” She murmured, “Because I could never be an astrologer. You’d get bored if you looked at the stars every day, and I don’t want them to stop being beautiful, yanno?”. Jack nodded, “Definitely. But, I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of playing music.”. He turned to look at her and suddenly she was kissing him. With the stars as their only witnesses, they kissed. His apprehension fell away and he wrapped an arm lazily around her neck, pulling them closer to each other. She tasted like Stella Artois. 11am Jack woke up in the bath tub with a loud groan. His t-shirt was missing and he was sticky with alcohol and god knows what else. He stood up very slowly, his head pounding and vision blurring as he realised his whereabouts. As he got to his feet, a scrap of paper fell into the bath tub. With a groan, he read it to himself through squinting eyes. Jack, You’d get bored if you looked at the stars every day. Perhaps you’d get bored of me too. Become the star you’re dreaming of being, I’ll be watching out for you. Sorry, I had to leave. Stella xxx

 Alex leaned round the door, looking worse for wear in his torn dress shirt and boxer shorts. “She left this morning.” He spoke knowingly, “Lisa said she didn’t want you to know her name. Weird shit, huh?”. Jack forced a smile, his heart aching, “Yeah, weird shit.”. July 7th 2009 – All Time Low released ‘Nothing Personal’. The song Stella was a hit. Alex told everyone it was written about partying. Jack loved playing that song live. Zack and Rian don’t know why to this day.

Feels like I'm falling in love When I'm falling to the bathroom floor I remember how you tasted I've had you so many times, let’s face it, Feels like I'm falling in love alone Stella, would you take me home?

 Summer 2014 – There was a girl who looked like her in fishnets and velvet heels at a club. Of course, she wasn’t nearly as pretty and couldn’t drink nearly as much. Jack slept with her and left early the next morning, leaving a handwritten note on the bedside table as an apology. In a few months’ time, Don’t You Go was added to the Future Hearts track list. Jack hated playing that song live. Zack and Rian don’t know why to this day.

20th March 2015 – One Night in London with All Time Low. SSE Wembley Arena. 11.45pm The boys rocked the show, of course. Alex and Rian invited a load of people to the afterparty, including a few stragglers who stayed behind after the show. Alex was pretty sure he recognised one of the girls. She stuttered and blurted that she was a writer and he might have read one of her books. Alex, considering himself a writer of sorts, be it song writing, invited her along with excitement. She was beaming. 12.30am Jack bought fishbowl cocktails, lining them up down the kitchen of the tour bus and challenging people to a drinking contest. Wiping his hair from his face, Alex stepped up alongside Zack. A daring voice spoke up from among a small group of people at the back of the bus, “I’ll do it.”. A girl walked confidently down the length of the bus and leaned against the counter next to Lisa. Jack turned to look at her and his face fell in shock. Her once dark hair was bright pink and pulled up in a messy bun and she was dressed in comfy mom jeans and a printed tee-shirt, but he’d recognise those bright eyes anywhere. Jack grinned. “What should I call you this time, Stella?” He asked as he pointed her over to a fishbowl of colourful cocktail. She shrugged nonchalantly, “The Life of the Party.”. Rian counted down from three and they started drinking. Within minutes, Alex had slipped and poured the entirety of the bowl’s content down his front, disqualifying him immediately. Bursting into laughter at Alex’s futile attempt, Jack choked and sprayed cocktail all over Zack and soon they turned to just chucking it over each other instead of finishing. Zack was about to tip the rest of his bowl over Jack’s head when she called out “Finished!”. All three boys glared enviously at her empty bowl as Rian announced ‘Life of the Party’ as the winner. She lived up to her nicknames, every time. Jack’s heart swelled as she smiled over at him.

2am “What are you doing in London of all places?” he asked, “Light pollution must be terrible.”. “I’m a writer Jack.” She whispered dreamily, “I’m here for inspiration only. And anyway, I told you I’d watch out for you didn’t I?”. She stood up from the ground in front of the tour bus and pointed at the sky, “Look, tonight’s our lucky night. There’s Ursa Major.”. “Beautiful.” He murmured, standing next to her and staring at the group of bright stars. “Boring.” She corrected him, “Just same old Ursa Major.”. He shook his head at her and leaned down. With the constellations looking down on them, he kissed her goodbye. “I’ll see you again.” He promised, “Stella, my life of the party.”. She tasted like a mixture of alcohol, it made him feel alive. February 13th 2016 – Jack dyed his hair red. “Blonde was getting boring” he said, “Same old Jack.”. That night Alex and Jack stayed up all night writing a song. Alex knew they’d finally got it right when Jack cried singing it.  

2nd June 2017 – Last Young Renegade was released by All Time Low. Life of the Party was a hit. Alex told everyone it was written about partying. Jack loves playing that song live. Zack and Rian are pretty damn sure they know why.

[one-shot-wonderland-blog]

Devil's Choir Chapter 2

Spider was meowing below the bed, causing me to wake up. His black and white fur mixing in with the monochrome colors of my comforter. I sighed, not wanting to get up, but knew better than to go back to bed. Groaning as I sat up in bed, I rubbed the sleep out from my eyes. I reached down the side of the bed and grabbed Spider by the mid drift, lifting him up off the ground and placed him on my lap. He´s old and doesn’t do much any more, but I still keep him. Mostly because I've had him since my freshman year. If I lost him, I´d probably cry for days. I slowly got up from my bed and it was barely the crack of dawn. I bent my body and rested my head on Spider´s, forcefully rubbing it back and forth. ¨Oh, Spidy, Spidy, Spidy. You're such a menace. What am I gonna do with you?¨ He looked up at me with his big green beady eyes, almost regretting the fact he woke me up. I sighed, ¨I'm just kidding, I'm not gonna do anything to you.¨ Still looking at me like I had done him wrong, he stood up on my knees and meowed like he used to do when he was just a kitten. He sounded like a squeaker dog toy that was on the verge of dying. I laughed at him and he rubbed his cheeks against my chest. “Awe, are you being a kitten? Huh? Are you so cute? Yes, yes you are.” He jumped down from the bed and walked his way to his empty food bowl in the kitchen. “Mreow?” he asked. “Fine,” I told him. “I’ll get you more food.” I walked over to his cabinet under the stove, where I keep all his treats and foods, and pulled out his Purina dry food. He hopped on his hind legs and put his front paws on his stomach, making him look like a lucky cat from china. “You’re getting tubby, aren’t ya? Time to cut down on your food again.” He gave me a look of desperation. “Don’t look at me like that. You need to exercise and you know it.” I filled his food bowl halfway and put the bag back in the cabinet. Not even bothering to eat breakfast, I went back to my room to grab my clothes that I was going to wear to work today and my shower stuff and headed to the bathroom. In the shower, I grabbed my razor from the top of the tiling, bringing it down to my thighs. I slowly pressed it on my thick elephant skin and pulled it across to the other side. The sting from the hot water coming from the head of the shower felt like pure hell across my fresh cuts. I sighed in the beautiful pain. The sting of pain turned into a kiss of an angel. I went in for another, and another, and another, until my entire right thigh was covered in open flesh wounds. I began to wash my hair and shave my body, and soon got out the shower. I put on an old merch shirt that Andy got me for my birthday. Rancid was the first punk rock band I was introduced to, and it was all thanks to him. I put on my shirt and my black skinny jeans with the red and black diamonds. I pulled my towel over my shoulders and then proceed to blow dry my hair. My nice and worn out purple and pink hair. It was all worn and fading from the time I was in the hospital, and couldn’t redye my hair a new color. 'I need to fix this before I do another video today,’ I thought. ‘I can get more hair dye when I finish work today. I don’t know what color I want though. I haven’t had green in a while.’ I decided to add my red flannel jacket when I go out. I didn’t have to go in for work until one, so I just stayed inside. 'I should probably pack, if I’m going on tour.’ I sighed to myself and I was off to my closet to get my suitcase, then realized I still haven’t unpack the cases from when I was over at our summer house the day before. I grabbed the suitcases from the outside of my bedroom, in the hallway. I unpacked the stuff from the summer house and started packing for my two month long tour. Then I packed two weeks worth of clothes, my art supplies, and writing materials, saving thetime to pack all my makeup and electronics and chargers for Monday, when they kick off the tour. 'It’s going to be two months for Spider to be all alone,’ I thought. ‘I’m going to need Tessa to look after him. Oh, yay.’ I spoke to myself aloud, “That’s going to be another thing to look forward to today, Anna’s going to be super affectionate to me, when I show up in for work. Mike is going to kill me too, leaving work for a whole two weeks, I’m probably going to get fired. Yay!” I added sarcastically. I sat on my bed and turned to face the analog clock on the wall, watching the clock ticking every second. It says it’s almost eleven, it’s got to be wrong. I got up and walked over to the opposite side of the room to get my iphone. It’s eleven twenty, on the nose. 'How long did I shower for,’ I joked to myself. I started getting ready for work, setting out my skateboard and my flannel jacket on the counter. I grabbed my name tag from the junk bowl. 'I should clean that out at some point,’ I thought. I messed around on my iPad for about another hour, editing my video, before I started making my way to work. ‘I need to ask if Chase can take me to the gates for tour Monday. He said that he and mom were staying in town for another week, so hopefully he’ll say yes. I got a water bottle from the cabinet and filled it with Grape Crush. I pulled my flannel on top of my shirt, while grabbing skateboard and running out the door, locking it behind me. I got down from the third story, where my room is, and onto the pavement. Jumping on my skateboard and riding down the street to the mall, where I work at. Hot Topic is the best place to work, ‘cause not only do you get a discount on selling goods, as we have to call them, you also get to hang out with band members after they do signings at your store, and plus you get pre-released stuff. Like, the things that go on the shelf before they’re on the shelf. I love working at Hot Topic, it’s quite literally is my life at this point. I was about halfway through the parking lot, when I spotted that the Black Veil Brides’ tour bus was behind the spot where Hot Topic was. I cringed as I thought, ‘I really hope that they’re not at HT. I will seriously punch Andy in the face if he is.’ I dragged my feet the rest of the way to work, really hoping that they were just resting at Starbucks or something. ‘Please,’ I thought, as I walked through the sea of people. ‘If there is a God out there, please, for the love of all things that are holy, please, don’t let Andy be here.’ Of course, the universe just loves proving me wrong, that’s just freaking lovely; Andy was talking to Anna, who, just so happens to be my best friend and his cousin. As always, I walk in after a long time away from work, and Anna screams from the top of her lungs. “Annie!” she yelled from the opposite side of the room. “You’re back!” She ran across the room, which was all of about ten feet. "Shine a light,” I exclaimed, as she jumped on me, causing us to fall to the ground. “Can’t breathe, lights fading, growing dimmer, oxygen running out, dying. . . ,” I said in my most dramatic voice. “Oh, please,” Anna said. “You can never die. You’re immo- immortal,” she mimicked Fall Out Boy’s Immortal song, very badly, might I add. I shoved my hand in her face, making hercringe and stop singing at the same time, thank god. She moved my hand out of the way to say, “You mock me, I am a true genius.” “Yeah,” I pretended to agree. “A true genius of stupidity.” She gasped, “How dare you?” "I didn’t dare,” I joked. “It was wide open.” I grinned when I saw her jaw drop so low. “Ouch,” Andy’s husky voice interrupted. “Ann, are you gonna stand there and take that.” His joking tone, just making me more mad at him than when he left Cincinnati without me. “I don’t know if I am,” Anna sounded as if she actually agree with him, though I hope that she was only just kidding. “Are you sorry?” she asked me. I stood up from the dirty ground leaving Anna to fall on her butt. “What the hell do I have to sorry for? I did nothing wrong. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to talk to Mike.” “Sorry,” Ann tried to say but I started walking away before she could say anything else. I walked my way towards the back of the store and caught Ashley pranking Jake with a joy buzzer, then laughing hysterically at each other. I knocked on the Door that was newly labeled “Manager Mike Muller”. I heard a come in from the opposite side of the door. I popped my head in to let him know I’m back to work. He then motioned for me to take a seat. “Listen,” I started, but was rudely interrupted. “I don’t care,” his stern voice overpowered the room. 'Here it comes,’ I thought. ‘I’m fired.’ “You can try to kill yourself all you want,” he said, gaining some empathy. “But, you should always know, that everyone here has been through their share of hard times. So, if you need someone to talk to, we are all here for you. My door is always open, unless there is someone important in here then it’s not, but you get the point. Alright, you’re a good kid, I know your are. So, get back out there and try your damn hardest.” I started crying, from the motivational speech, that I’ll most likely not going to be able to keep my promise to. “Go to the bathroom and get yourself cleaned up,” he added. I got up and left the room, proceeding to go to Anna and tell her sorry. I saw her out of the corner of my teary eye and walked over to her. Andy saw me first, but I didn’t care. I walked straight into Ann and hugged her from behind. "What the heck?” she exclaimed. “Annie? Are you okay?” I didn’t want any more sympathy than I already needed, so I just shook my head no. "What’s wrong?” Andy asked. I shook my head again, not wanting to actually hurt Andy’s feelings. “I don’t think she wants to talk right now,” Ann said. Andy walked over behind Anna and unlatched me from her back. I automatically relatched myself onto Andy, making him doubletake. “She’s not a fan, is she?” Andy asked Anna. “Bella de la etape,” I told him our little code, from when we were in high school. We had french and theatre, so we got bell de la etape, which means beauty of the stage. "Anniebella?” Andy asked. I nodded into his chest awkwardly and hugged him tighter. “God,” he said shockingly. “It’s been forever.” I saw Ann knit her eyebrows together in the corner of my eye, then opened her mouth to say, “You mean, all this time, I’ve been the only one who knew Andy and you? You two haven’t heard from each other in. . . god, knows how long?” “Guess so,” Andy chuckled. Anna rolled her eyes and said, “I have to get this customer. Don’t you dare run off again,” she added pointing her finger at me. I smiled into Andy’s shirt and closed my eyes. “I missed you petit ouers,” I giggled, being able to say his nickname again, without people thinking I was crazy. “Please,” he begged. “ The guys are here.” I managed to pull myself away from him and put my hands on my thick waist, saying, "Oh, so you care what the guys think? Hmn, I think I just saw Ashley around the corner, I wonder what he’ll think?” “Don’t you dare,” Andy warned. I slowly started walking backwards. “And, what if I do dare?” I joked. Andy stepped forward, making it clear that he knew what I was up to. He told me matter of factly, “I’ll make you regret it.” I swiveled around with ease and ran to the rest of the guys. As planned, I was in the middle of the guy’s little circle and Andy caught me. "Come here, you little shit,” his tone of voice not matching his anger. "Come on petit ouers,” I joked. "You mother-” he started. “Petit Ouers,” Ashley repeated. "Awe,” Jake said. “Are you a little bear?” The guys laughed at Jake’s joke as Andy went red in the face. “Hah!” I yelled. “ Your plan has failed.” “That’s it,” he said. “Time for revenge.” He threw me on the signing table and started tickling me furiously. “Please, Andy,” I laughed. “Please stop, it hurts. My sides, haha.” Tears formed in my eyes from the laughter. My sides began to hurt. “What did I say?!” I heard Anna yell. “I said you don’t run away, and what do you do? You run away.” I couldn’t respond from the laughing fit Andy was currently giving me, but soon Anna got in and helped. Luckily, I knew of a way to stop laughing. ‘Thank you, YouTube,’ I thought. To stop my laughing, I rubbed the roof of my mouth with my tongue and made my foot go numb. My laughing immediately ceased to be in the world. “Awe,” Ashley solemnly said. “Her laugh was cute, why’d you stop?” “We didn’t,” Andy told him. "Thank you, YouTube,” I yelled to the world. “Goddamn, Annie,” Anna said agitated. “You and your freaking YouTube.” “If you like it so much, why don’t you marry it?” Jake joked, though no one laughed but him. “Come on, guys, that’s comedy gold, right there.” “More like: Comedy Silver,” I stated coldly. Everyone went, “Oooooh,” except Jake, who stood at the opposite end of the signing table with eyes of disbelief. “I did not just get roasted by a fourteen year old,” he said. “I am not fourteen,” I said, vaguely offended. “I’m eighteen.” "Bless,” CC, their drummer, said. “Girl, you need to eat something.” "Boy,” I told CC. “I eat poptarts and coffee on a daily basis, calm yourself down.” "I could feel your ribcage,” Andy retaliated. “Because I exercise and take good care of my body?” I asked "Just eat something,” Andy pleaded.“Please?” I sighed and went to the break room, grabbing a banana and walking back out. I peeled it and took a huge bit out of it. “Wee I ath a bahnahnah,” I said with my mouth full. “Okay, we did not need to see the innards of the bahnahnah,” Jake regained his humor. "Whatever,” I said, swallowing the rest of the banana. Mike came in from his office and told us to “get the hell back to work.” Me and Anna sat behind the counter, where surprisingly no customers were in. We goofed around, playing with the small toys at the front counter. “Where were you?” asked Anna. “Sick,” I replied. “You’re always getting sick,” she said. "Yeah, because having pneumonia is always fun,” I said sarcastically. "Oh my god,” her jaw dropped. “You could have died.” “It felt like it,” saying it wasn’t a complete lie. “I had to share this room with an angsty teenager, and he would not shut up.” "Ugh, I hate it when people are always complaining about how they’re in so much pain, and they can’t stand it,” Ann mocked. “It’s just so nerve wracking, you’re not actually dying, get over it.” “I was so tempted to say that, but he was actually kind of cute.” “Oh, please,” she rolled her eyes. “Even if he was cute, you would still kick him out.” “Nah,” I said. “You have not seen this guy, and this guy always had his shirt off.” “Girls love girls, and boys,” she sang. “Do you want to play that?” I asked. We were allowed to put on our own music if it’s what our target audience is. I walked towards the back where the storage is and plugged my mp3 player in that I keep at the store. I scrolled through my playlist and pushed play when I came across girls/girls/boys by Panic! at the disco. I came back from the storage space and got a surprise attack from Andy. “Shine a light,” I censored, as we’re not allowed to swear in the workplace. “Got ya,” Andy yelled in victory. “Revenge is so sweet.” “Yeah,” I agree sarcastically. “Thanks for the heart attack.” My heart, still beating a million miles an hour, started doing flips and tricks. I began to feel sick, so, I excused myself to go back to work. I got back to work. I got back to Anna and told her I needed the bathroom, which wasn’t a lie, like I told Andy. In the bathroom, I sat on the floor of the big stall, away from the door, and gripped my head. I tried to calm down, breathing in and out in a long wave of patterns. My heartbeat began to slow down, I slowly stood up in a hunched position and bent over the toilet, throwing up the banana I just ate. I flushed it down, proceeding to wash my hands and go back to work. I got back behind the counter with Anna and she asked, “What happened?” "Andy scared the crap out of me,” I said. “I didn’t feel well after. I think I ate a bad banana.” Anna laughed. “Bad, banana, bad,” she said, slightly laughing and pointing at my stomach. I pushed her arm a bit and leaned back, laughing at what she said. “Oh, sweet, precious child,” I told her, placing my hands on her head to bring it down to kiss her forehead. She laughed at me, and I started laughing at her laughing hysterically from giggling all of about five minutes, none stop, we tried to stop but ended up giggling even more. A customer walked in and we stopping giggling almost immediately. I looked at her seriously, causing her to laugh again, but was put to the side, when the lady who walked in a second ago screamed. 'Oh, yeah,’ I thought. ‘Andy’s band is still here.’ “Hey, Ann,” I called out. “Yeah,” she replied. "When’s their signing?” I asked. She knitted her eyebrows together, also forgetting Andy was here with the band. "Oh, yeah, I think they’re just here to hang out. Andy only lives about five minutes away from my house.” “Wait, what?” “Oh, yeah, that means that you two live really close, don’t you?” she jumped on the counter. "Well, I guess so,” I said sarcastically. “It’s not like I just found out, my old childhood friend lives two blocks away from me.” Ann looked at me like she wasn’t expecting me to not freak out, with eyes wide open. “ . . . I can’t believe that I’ve been passing his house, every single day for the past year, without realizing it. I want to punch myself.” Anna giggled and said, “You know you should ask him for his phone number, so you don’t lose touch again.” “Why? I’m going to be touring with him for two months,” I told her nonchalantly. “What?!” she yelled as Andy started walking towards us. “You leave me for three weeks, now you’re leaving me for almost three months?!” "Three weeks? Three months?” Andy asked, very confused. “What is going on?” “I know,” Ann agreed with him. “What is going on?” "I was was sick with pneumonia for three weeks was in the hospital,” I lied for the third time. "What?” Andy said, shocked, with raised eyebrows. "Now, I’m going on Warped Tour as a YouTuber,” I finished. “What?!” Anna and Andy said in unision. "What?” I asked them. “Oh, and Anna, I got your texts, you can stay in my apartment, besides I kind of need you there to take care of Spider.” She nodded but Andy now had his eyebrows knitted together. “Wait,” he said. “You still have that old fluffy cat, your brother got you before he went to jail?” "Yeah,” I answered. “Your brother went to jail?” Ann asked, as though this was new information to her, when it’s not. "Yes,” I told her. “I’ve told you this before.” "Oh,” she said sympathetically. “Sorry, I forgot.” “It’s fine,” I said. “If you need, I can help you get packed for your first tour,” Andy said, trying to get closer behind the counter as he could. “One,” I said to Andy. “I’ve been on Warped Tour last year. Second, I’ve already packed, you should always pack at least a week ahead if you’re going on tour.” “Oh,” he said, disappointed. “I can still come over and help you with stuff, I’m not completely useless.” "We never said you were useless,” Tessa said for me. “Either way,” he continued. “It would be nice to catch up. Juliet won’t be home for another five hours.” I looked at the clock on my phone and saw that it was already two thirty. “Seriously? Getting home at seven thirty? I’d die if I didn’t have coffee.” “Still high strung on coffee, I see?” Andy said. “Still the same old Bella.” “Bella?” Anna asked. “Yes, that was the name I went by in highschool,” I told her. “How did you get Annie from Bella?” she inquired. “So confused,” Andy said. “Oh, shut up,” I told Andy, then turned around to Anna and answered, “My full name is Anniebella.” “Was your mom high when she gave you the name?” She asked, dead serious. "Probably,” I said. “Well, I have to get out of here at three, so you two losers have to fend for yourselves,” Anna said as she walked toward the punch machine and clocked out. “See yahs,” she yelled as she walked out the door fifteen minutes early. “Dork,”I yelled back at her. "So,” Andy started. “When do you get off?” “Five,” I said solemnly. “Eew,” he read my mind. “Yeah,but that just means I can goof off in the back if this customer decides to buy something.” He gave a small chuckle, “I still remember the day when you called me an idiot in french, on stage.” I groaned. “In the middle of a performance, in front of all the school,” he laughed. "Why’d you bring up such a cringey memory,” I compained. “You know,” he said. “I think I still have that dvd.” "Why do you still have it?” I asked surprised. “It’s such a piece of crap.” “No,” he defended. “It’s not, it’s probably the best performance you’ve done.” "No,” I whined, bring my knees to my chest, hiding my face. “I hated it, it’s so bad.” “Do you remember the way you styled your hair?” "Yes, now please, don’t bring up any more cringey high school memories.” “You were so tiny and cute!” He said in his high pitched, annoying voice. “You’re pushing it, Biersack,” I warned. "What?” he defended. “All I was saying, was that you were cute.” “What? Am I not cute anymore?” I joked. "No,” he hesitated. “I wasn’t saying that at all.” “Then why’d you hesitate?” I procured. "I,” he started, but then took a pause. “I’m just saying, you’re a bit unhealthy.” "So, now you’re calling me fat?” I asked. “No, of course not. If anything you’re very underweight. Like I said earlier, I could feel your ribcage.” “And like I said, I eat right, and exercise right. So, what about me is so unhealthy?” I asked, now getting angry. “Nothing,” he said, obviously not wanting tensions to rise. “Forget I said anything. I just don’t want our reconnection to go up in flames.” "Alright,” I consented. “So, how is Juliet?” “She’s fine,” he said. “Well, probably not right now, her manager’s being a huge dick.”“Eew,” I said. “I sadly know that feeling though. My old boss, back at Delhi wasn’t the kindest of people.” “Where was that?” he asked. "There was a new store called Vegas Pizza’s that opened up and I was one of the unlucky people who got in,” I sighed. “Unlucky?” he said. "Yeah,” assured him. “Turned out he was a massive pervert, thank god it didn’t happen to me.” "Damn,” he said. “So, besides working with a molester, what else have you been up to? You said you were, sorry, are a Youtuber?” "Yeah, it’s mostly a vlog, nothing special.” “Really? Sounds cool, do you mind if I be in a video?” he asked. “Nah, you’re cool. It’s not a sponsor deal, alright. Just two old friends,” I told him. “Right, yeah,” he agreed. “So, what about you? Are you still doing the modeling job?” I wanted to know. “Yeah, but with the band it’s more of a summer side job, though, it’s getting really boring. They make me wear the clothes just different colors and patterns. I might switch companies soon,” he complained. “Sounds boring,” I said. “ I mean if I were in your shoes, and I know that this is being devious, but I’d expose them. Again, just me.” “That sounds like overkill,” he stated. "That’s just me, though.” There was a long silence before the customer came over and put a lot of things on the counter, then asked, “Excuse me, but my daughter wants this shirt for her birthday, I can’t quite pronounce his name, is it Frank eero?” “Yes,” I said politely. “Frank Iero’s new shirt is in, follow me, ma’am. . . . Here it is.” "That’s perfect, thank you,” the lady said. "It’s not a problem ma’am,” I responded like a robot. “I suppose it’s your daughter’s birthday?” "Yes, it’s her sixteenth, I want her sweet to be perfect for her and her friends,” she replied. "She has good, taste in music,” I said as I scanned the items in. “I honestly,” the lady began. “I don’t know how she can listen to it. It’s just a bunch of screaming and noise.” I turned around and grabbed the new Black Veil Brides CD off the shelf, taking the album lyrics out of the front cover, and handed it to the lady. “If you read the lyrics, they’re actually quite meaningful.” I quoted Never Give In from their first album, earning an eyebrow raise from Andy. "Wow, I’d never thought I’d see the day, when screaming actually had meaning to it. Thank you,” she said. “Can I get a copy of this CD?” "Of course,” I said and walked over to the CD shelves, grabbing one and coming back to my station. “Alright, your total is sixty-two, fifty-three,” "Thank you,” the lady said. "No, thank you, have a nice day, ma’am,” I replied. There was another long wave of silence as the lady left, before Andy said, “You sweet talker,” he complemented. "What?” I laughed at him. “I never would have thought that you of all people would memorize the lyrics to my band’s songs,” he smiled in delight. “Come here,” he said as he held out his arms in a hugging motion. "No,” I declined. “I gave you a good long hug just a couple of hours ago, that’s enough affection out of me for a good month.” "Please,”he said. “I don’t wanna," I told him "But, I want a hug,” Andy whinned. "No,” I argued. "Yes,” he said. We went back and forth saying yes and no to each other for a good five minutes until Ashley came over and to tell us, “Just freaking hug, already, we’re tired of hearing you two whine. Any ways, me and the rest of the guys are going out to find a bar, are you coming?” "Nah,” Andy said. “I’m going to catch up Bella, here.” “Aww,” I said. “That’s so sweet.” I went in for the hug, and wrapped my arms around his waist. “I have never understood you,” Andy said. "Nor will I ever understand you.” “Don’t worry,” I assured him. “Neither will I.” We started laughing as Ashley stood there facepalming. “Alright, I’ll text you when we’re hungover.” Andy laughed at him, saying, “Alright, man, don’t drive, then.” "Yes, mom,” Ashley added. “Bye, love birds.” I rolled my eyes as Andy said, “I’m engaged, dumbass.” "Yeah, and we all know what happens when you say that,” Ashley laughed. “What?” I asked, knitting my eyebrows. "It’s an inside joke,” Andy said. Still hugging, Andy waved the guys goodbye, and whispered to me, “CC told me you’re hot.” I craned my neck upward to look at his face, and he was dead serious and I cringed. Then I looked at the clock, five o’ five. "Oooo,” I gleamed. “Quitting time.” "YouTube?” Andy said. "Fine,” I sighed. "Yes,” he beamed. I walked over to the storage area and unplugged my old mp3 player. ‘I am definitely sick of Panic! at the disco now,�� I thought as I made my way back with my skate board. I clocked out and told Mike it’s closing time. Shocked, but still thankful, he said goodbye. "Alright,” I said to Andy. “Let’s go.” I saw Andy do a short little happy dance in the corner of my eye. Smirking as I grabbed my phone from under the counter, along with my purse and keys. Me and Andy made our way to my apartment, as we made very little small talk. "Hey,” Andy called for me suddenly. “We just passed my house.” "Really?” I said. “I never knew I was walking past your house every day.” "Me neither."