#when I say I’ve watched it a lot…..uhhhhh…

[skinnyscottishbloke]

I’m such a soundtrack person - the whole time we were watching The Holiday all I did was hum along. Tbf, I’ve had that soundtrack since the movie came out in 2006 and listen to it a lot, but still. Luckily my mom wasn’t annoyed by me telling her what the individual track names were at various points in the movie 🤣

[star-sim]

show me how ☆ jake sim

☆ non-idol! jake x fem! reader ☆ summary: jake didn't think his casual crush on you, his hot coworker at the local ice cream parlor, would flourish into anything. but one day, after a power outage during a shift, the two of you are forced to huddle up together to keep warm, opening up many, many, many doors into your relationship. ice cream was sweet and soft. and despite your appearance, so were you. ☆ genre: coworkers to lovers, fluff, a lot of bickering, alternative! reader, jake is kind of a loser, rock references, nonchalant crushes, summer romance, baddie reader, JAKE IS JUST REALLY DOWN BAD ☆ warning(s)? slightly suggestive? just tbh its js jake being really attracted to you LOL ☆ word count: 12.3k ☆ joining @bywons 1k event for "show me how" by men i trust. i had a little bit of a different approach to crushes this time. this is extremely late im so sorry enjoy!

"Can I get uhhhhh…"

Jake deadpanned for the 15th time in the past hour.

He was trying to be kind, to be understanding, to be loving in all ways possible… He really was.

But was it that difficult to order a mint chocolate cone with rainbow sprinkles?!

Jake watched as the snotty child before him picked his nose, his eyes glazing over the menu. It’s been ten minutes and this kid was taking too long to order. For fuck’s sake, he was holding up the line!

For his summer job, Jake started working at the ice cream parlor near the pier. He thought it was a good idea, since the pay was above minimum wage and he liked ice cream.

Wrong!

It was horrible!

From rude customers to his asshole of a boss to his incompetent coworkers, Jake dreaded coming into work everyday.

It was another summer afternoon, where Jake slaved away for his corporate overlords. Summer was only kicking off, so the June gloom stuck like glue. This morning, there were already storm warnings, so imagine Jake's surprise when a whole bunch of people went to the beach today and the ice cream parlor next to it.

"Please take your time," Jake said with a tight-lipped smile. Translation: I’ve given you enough time, kid. Hurry up and order or I’ll actually snap.

The kid blinked at Jake, before picking his nose. "Can I get uhhhh…"

Jake winced, but forced a smile with a nod. "Would you like any recommendations?"

Translation: You better tip me, you little punk.

By now, he could see the angry mothers and kids at the back of the line, quietly complaining about the hold-up. All Jake could do was smile apologetically, hanging his head in embarrassment.

And to Jake's horror, as the snotty little kid was still deciding on what he wanted to order, Jake could hear the back door creaking open, followed by a "Bye, Jake!" before it slammed.

Did Jake ever say that he hated his coworkers?

Today wasn't even Jake's shift, but he had to cover three shifts, because his other coworkers couldn't give a damn. They loved to leave early because they knew that Jake would work his ass off either way. So here he was, now forced to run an entire ice cream parlor with already angry customers all by himself!

"Actually, I don't want anything," the snotty kid blinked at Jake. "Bye, mister."

With that, the kid left, oblivious to Jake's gawking face.

You've got to be kidding me.

If it weren't for the fact that his name tag had his name printed in big, thick letters and that there was already a line of impatient customers, Jake might have yelled.

As he put on his customer-service voice for the next customer in line, Jake could hear the back door creak open again if he listened past the generic pop music playing in the background.

And the moment that he heard a familiar voice, Jake nearly ascended into the sky.

"Jake, I'm here!"

There was only one part of working at this dinky little ice cream parlor that Jake liked.

And it was you.

His savior, you.

You were the only coworker that actually did your work. In fact, you went above and beyond. The only shifts that seemed to be productive on all ends were when it was you and Jake.

If he could recall correctly, today wasn't your scheduled shift either. You were probably covering someone's shift like him, too.

And plus, you were cute.

Really cute.

Jake never really thought he had a "type" when it came to girls. In fact, Jake couldn't even remember the last time he had a crush. But the moment he saw your smudged eyeliner, constant annoyed look, the multiple tassel and charm bracelets on your wrists, and your black nail polish, he knew that you were his type.

You looked like you could probably scare a baby with a single look. Honestly, you could make Jake piss himself with a single look, too. And for some reason, he liked it. A lot. Which was weird.

Within seconds of just arriving, you were already throwing on your apron, fixing up your work uniform before appearing at the counter, ready to do your fucking job.

Jake tried his best to focus on the group of middle schoolers who giggled over every word as they ordered their ice cream, but even from behind him, he could hear you cleaning one of the scoopers and getting the keys for the second cash register. Even though all you were doing was your job, Jake couldn't help but straighten up his posture and run a hand through his hair as you took the register beside him. Just in case you spared him a glance, he had to look his best.

"Hi, what can I get you?" you said chirpily, putting on your best customer-service voice, something that Jake could tell was not your forte. Although he didn't know you seriously, he's had conversations in passing with you, whether it be on slow days, during breaks, or as the two of you closed up the parlor together. You never sounded as enthusiastic as you did now, as you happily helped an old lady pick her order.

You were cool like that.

Actually, really cool.

Jake couldn't think of anyone cooler than you.

And you were pretty, and hardworking, and honest, and responsible, and cooperative, and a little bit scary, but that was hot. You were also very kind to customers, and even though Jake could see your lips— which were nice, by the way— twitch, he could tell that you were trying your best, which was good, and—

"Um, sir, can I order now?"

Jake snapped out of his daze, tearing his eyes away from you.

"R-Right!"

Completely missing the way you rolled your eyes at him, though without a little chuckle.

It wasn't always easy being the only competent worker at the parlor. While it meant you got paid more for covering so many shifts, you couldn't say it was fun working the late shifts.

The parlor closed at 11PM on weekdays, so here you were, working late into the night. 

You yawned as you rang up the last customer of the night, using all of your last bits of strength to muster a smile, before saying, "Have a good night!"

As the door slammed shut, the building winds outside providing more than enough force to ring through the entire parlor, you let out a sigh.

"They're gone, Jake," you called.

From inside the break room, you could hear Jake groan something muffled but definitely, "Finally."

Jake Sim was the only coworker you could rely on. He was the only person your age, both of you were freshly graduated highschoolers working to prepare for college experiences. Despite his party-boy look, he was surprisingly diligent. You definitely noticed how he ended up picking up another person's shift, just like you. Unlike everyone else, he actually gave a damn, which you could appreciate.

Tonight was no different from any other.

It was just Jake and you, working the closing shift together.

The moment you entered the break room, you let out an exasperated sigh, leaning on the door frame. Jake, too, was slumped over on the table, his face buried in his arms.

Your shitty coworkers always tried to convince you that you should be happy to work extra shifts: extra pay, more work experience, have a good rep with the boss.

But what they didn't mention was how absolutely draining it was to work 7 hours straight in a short-staffed busy ice cream parlor.

"Why were there so many people?" Jake groaned, shoving his face deeper into his arms. If you weren't exhausted out of your mind, you would've thought the scene before you was a funny sight. Jake, in his silly white uniform designed to look like that of a sailor's and crooked worker hat, practically melting on the break room table.

"And why were there only two of us?" you added, letting your eyelids fall shut as you leaned against the door frame.

Though, you would say, you did like working for one extra reason: Jake Sim himself.

He was as cute as a button, and pretty easy to talk to.

Jake lifted his head, quickly checking his phone.

"No seriously," he rested his face on his fist. "It was cold and dreary all day— and wasn't there a storm warning?— Why would anyone want to get ice cream on a day like this?"

You shrugged. "Beats me."

The two of you stayed in the break room in silence for a few more moments, catching your breaths after a long day. "Let's get outta here, Jake."

Here was your favorite part of the work day: closing up. Not just because it meant that you got to leave, but you could do whatever you wanted.

Jake locked up the front door and flipped the sign, while you locked up front displays and cash registers. The two of you tidied up the breakroom (which was empty because your slobs of coworkers weren't here), before pulling out the mops and cleaning up the floor.

This was the fun part.

"Hey!" Jake cried as you splashed water onto the floor, your wet mop sludging up the water as it moved against the checkered floor. Looks like some of the water got onto his pants. "What was that for?"

You shrugged, with a sly grin. "No reason in particular— Hey!"

Jake shook off the excess water on his mop, pointed directly at you, the water droplets spraying all over your shirt.

"See?" he pointed to the wet drops on your shirt. "We're even now."

You rolled your eyes, but you knew he was being playful.

It was fun now because this was the time that you could play whatever music you wanted. Your manager always insisted that you'd play generic pop music during store hours, but now that it was closed, you could play any music you wanted. And it was great, because you and Jake had the same music taste.

"Really?" you whipped your head over to Jake as he passed your phone, which controlled the sound system, back to you. "Bon Jovi?"

You winced as loud vocals, strong guitar riffs, and a drum louder than you could imagine blasted through the speakers.

"Bon Jovi is good!" Jake shouted all the way from the freezers.

Maybe your taste was just a little bit different.

Jake was a cool guy. He really was. Very personable and someone that you could have fun with, even if you weren't that close to him. But sometimes his music choices were too much.

"You have no reason to be blasting hard rock at 11PM," you murmured.

"I heard that!"

You stifled a chuckle.

As you cleaned the floors, you nodded your head to the music. You could hear humming along wherever he was. It was all quiet, only the sound of mops, the freezers' buzzing, and your queued music playing in the background. It was small moments like his that made you want to keep working (other than the pay).

And plus, the parlor was very close to the beach.

At times like this, you could hear seagulls squawking overhead, with waves crashing against the shoreline.

Which... now that you thought about it...

Why couldn't you hear any of that?

Usually, even if Jake was blasting the hardest rock, you could still hear the sounds of the sea.

But now, all you heard was wind.

You glanced out the window.

Palm trees blew against the night sky. Wind whirled, creating a howling sound.

And before you could think anything of it, you heard two things: the back door slamming, and the sound of electricity buzzing.

One moment you could see everything, and the next moment it was completely dark.

Your blood ran cold.

The music stopped. The buzzing of the freezers stopped, too. It was completely dark, so dark that you couldn't even see your own hands, save for the single stream of moonlight leaking through the front windows.

You would consider yourself a calm person, you really would.

But in that moment, you felt panic set in.

Because here you were, working a late shift in a tiny little ice cream parlor in the middle of the beach, with no one but your teenage coworker. And now all the power went out.

And because you were afraid of the dark.

The mop in your hand dropped, clunking! against the checkered flooring.

Your heart pounded, so loud that you could hear it in your ears. You could feel it jumping out of your chest.

"J-Jake?" you called out.

No response.

Your mind did wonders to scare you, and now it was working over time.

What happened to Jake? Did he disappear with the lights too? You dug your teeth into your bottom lip.

Were you all alone in the dark? Just you and this dark abyss, a dark abyss so suffocating yet so cold that you couldn't even tell if you were standing or curled up. By this time, your legs were feeling weak, so you wouldn't be surprised if you were on the floor, your knees to your chest.

You squeezed your eyes shut.

The howling of the wind sent chills down your spine. Realistically, nothing could get you. You were just at work, like always, but it was just dark. But you felt like something would jump out at you, something scary and from your worst nightmares. It would get you, maybe hurt you. Were you going to die? Why did you feel so alone? What happened to everyone? What happened to Jake—

"[Name]?"

At the sound of a familiar voice, your eyes shot open.

But instead of being met with a pure, unknown darkness, you were met with a tall figure before you, completely shrouded in darkness, save for the stream of yellow light coming to illuminate its face.

Terrifying.

You let out a shriek as you jumped back.

What the hell was that? Was that what got Jake?—

It took a step forward, and before you could scream again—

"[Name]!" it was Jake's voice. He reached out for you, his hand resting on your shoulder. "It's me, Jake!"

You heard a bit of clicking, and it was then that you realized that the scary figure that you saw was just Jake with a flashlight. You relaxed.

"You okay?" Jake crouched down to your curled up figure, the yellow light of the flashlight glimmering against the floor. Although your eyes had slightly adjusted to the darkness, you could see your hands now. "I think the power went out."

You nodded slowly, still with your knees against your chest. Your heart was still pounding in your chest. You felt Jake's hand reach out for yours, interlocking fingers before giving it a squeeze.

Boom!

You jumped away from Jake, a small "eep!" escaping your lips.

Jake flinched, pointing the flashlight at the front windows.

"Thunder," he muttered under his breath. Although all the streetlights and signs had shut down too, he could see the lightning as it struck in the night sky.

He glanced at your startled form.

"Damnit," he cursed under his breath. "There was a storm warning earlier."

You hid your face in your palms.

This was everything that you didn't want to happen.

It was completely dark, and here you were practically trapped inside. It was impossible to get home, because the roads were all dark, and there was probably an oncoming storm, too. It was cold, and it was just you and your coworker. You just wanted to go home!

Although he couldn't see your face, Jake could sense your uneasiness. 

"C'mon," he tugged at your hand. "Let's go to the back."

Although Jake bumped into a few tables and counters on the way to the break room, he didn't mind. After all, there was you, who was clearly startled. He'd rather get a bruise on his hip than you.

He could hear your breath hitching, small whimpers of fear tumbling out as he led you through the dark abyss. Jake had to admit, it was much scarier when it was completely dark than when it wasn't.

The breakroom wasn't much better than in the middle of the floor, but at least there were chairs. Not that it mattered.

You and Jake decided to sit under the break table, shoulder to shoulder with the flashlight between you.

It was silent. You couldn't see Jake, but the feeling of him next to you relieved only some of your anxiety.

The flashlight only illuminated enough for you to see a few feet around you. Otherwise, everything else was a dark, bottomless void.

You knew it was illogical and practically impossible for something else to be lurking. But as minutes passed in silence, the thought of something—or someone— prowling in the dark and ready to jump out at you gnawed at you more and more. Goosebumps rose along your arms, the hair on your neck standing.

"I'm scared, Jake," you whispered, your voice shaky. "I'm so scared."

Thunder boomed in the air, lightning crackled, while heavy rain began to shower down. You jumped at the sound, your hands immediately shooting to grab Jake's arm and leaning into his touch. You squeezed your eyes shut, a scared squeak escaping your lips.

"I'm scared!" you squealed.

Jake's brows furrowed, throwing his arm around your shoulder and pulling you closer to him.

"Hey," he said into your ear, watching as you curled up against him, clutching his arm tight. "Hey, I got you."

Your hold on him only tightened as another round of thunder boomed through the night. "Open your eyes, [Name]. It's okay."

You shook your head profusely, your face pressed into his shoulder.

"Nothing's gonna get ya," he whispered, slowly rubbing circles on your back. "You're okay."

You shook your head again.

"It's so dark," you peeped. "Too dark."

"It's okay," Jake's voice was soft, soft as a cloud as he comforted you. "I'm here. I got you."

You nodded into his shoulder, but you kept your face pressed against it, not letting up.

Jake watched you, both with a soft heart and with wide eyes.

He wouldn't say he knew you too well. Even so, he'd spent a lot of time with you this summer so far, he had a few good memories with you. You were always so... cool.

Always on-task, always ready to fight a rude customer, always ready to speak up if you thought something was wrong.

It was weird. Seeing someone that Jake had always seen as a pillar of support one way or another completely drop that image of strength was… something that he never expected.

Here you were, so vulnerable in his arms.

Jake would have never expected you to be afraid of the dark, let alone some thunder, but he didn't mind. Even with your eyes closed, and even with his arms wrapped around you, you still jolted at each crackle in the sky.

If only he could do something to help you...

Jake let out an 'ah' sound.

He leaned into your ear, whispering right against the shell of your ear, "I'll be right back."

You let out another squeak as you felt Jake slipping away from you, yet he didn't take the flashlight with him.

"J-Jake—!"

"I'm still here," he said, yet you heard as he took a few steps. He was rummaging through his bag. He tried his best to feel for what he was looking for: a small, square case. "I'm with you, don't worry."

And as quick as he left your side he was back. Jake slithered his arm around your shoulders, pulling you into him. Your eyes widened a fraction as Jake fished for his phone from his back pocket.

"What were you—" you furrowed your brows— "Why’d you get up?"

You could feel Jake turn his head to look at you, and you could hear him grin.

"To get this." In his palm, Jake revealed a small, square case. His earbuds.

You blinked. "W-Why?"

"Don't worry about it." You watched confused as Jake took his earbuds out, jabbing it into the headphone port of his phone. Then, he handed you both of the ears.

"For you," he said simply.

As you were about to object, lightning striked again in the sky, yet another squeal coming from you.

You took his earbuds, jamming them into your ear.

Jake pressed the first song in his playlist.

And if you weren't scared out of your mind right now, you would have yelled at him.

Because really?

Bon Jovi?

At a time like this?

The music was loud enough that you could be distracted, but quiet enough that you could still hear Jake's voice. And when Jake noticed that you were relaxed enough, he opened his mouth.

"I'm surprised you didn't want to rip out my earbuds the moment you heard Bon Jovi," he said.

You elbowed him, yet you were still clinging onto him for dear life.

"Read the room, man," you muttered. "I'm scared shitless."

Jake laughed, and you rolled your eyes again. "This is the only time that I'll willingly listen to Bon Jovi."

"Hey!" Jake cried. "Bon Jovi is a good band."

You shot him a look. "Play some Pink Floyd, something."

You cursed Jake. Of course he'd let you listen to his music, because he got to control it!

"Nah," Jake said. "Bon Jovi is perfect for rainy nights."

You scoffed. "In what world?"

You could hear him grin again. "In my world."

What a loser.

You could see his phone screen light up, probably texts from his parents, but he ignored it. Jake’s phone was on the floor on the other side of him, the side that you were not on.

“Are you sure you won’t play Pink Floyd?” you asked slowly.

“Nope.”

Extreme times call for extreme measures.

Your arm reached across Jake’s lap, jerking to take his phone.

“Hey!” Jake yelped, squirming away from you in a way that blocked your hand from reaching his phone. “What the hell are you—“

“I’m changing the song!”

The two of you struggled like that for a few more moments, and then the next thing you knew you were on Jake’s lap, your arms pinned above your head.

“Let go of me!” you writhed, the earbuds in your eyes still blasting the hardest rock you’ve ever heard. Although you managed to take Jake’s phone, there wasn’t much you could do if he was pinning your hands above you.

“Then give me my phone back,” Jake ignored your struggling.

“Then change the song!”

“No!”

You huffed, continuing your attempt to wriggle out of Jake’s hold, but alas, he was stronger than you. “How are you so strong—“

Boom! Crackle! Thunder and lightning struck.

“Eep!” Immediately, you collapsed onto Jake’s chest, pressing your face into his shirt. You clung onto him, squeezing your eyes shut. When you could feel his chest rumble with a few chuckles, you punched his shoulder lightly. “Shut up.”

Jake chuckled again, but he only pulled you in closer by the waist, allowing you to cling to him more comfortably.

As the storm raged on, any hope that the power would be back up was lost. Jake's phone still had service, but you could tell he was being polite and not going on his phone to not make you feel alienated. Your phone was somewhere in the front, probably on a counter or something.

"We really shouldn't have agreed to cover shifts today," you murmured, your cheek pressed against Jake's chest.

Jake hummed.

He wanted to get past the way that anytime you spoke to Jake, it was either about music or work. He didn't mind talking about these things with you, but he wished he could say more. He wanted to know what you were thinking, and hear about what you liked and disliked, what silly stories or memories you had to tell him.

He wanted to get to know you.

“What’s your favorite color?”

???

"What?"

Jake blinked. "What's your favorite color?"

You stared at him. "Why?"

He shrugged under you. "I dunno. I just wanted to get to know you better."

"Oh." What a simple reason. It made sense for such a simple question. "I like black."

Jake scoffed. "That's not a color."

"Huh? Then what is it?"

"A shade."

"Says who?"

"Says science!"

And then it was quiet again (at least on Jake's part, you were still listening to his music)

But not quite awkward.

Despite the compromising position that you were in, there wasn't any feeling of embarrassment or discomfort.

That's how Jake would describe how he felt toward you. It was an easy thing. You were cool and pretty, and he liked you. Nothing more, nothing less. No games to play, no extra calculations or hours of planning. He liked you, and he was just going to do what felt right. It was as straightforward as that.

"What are you doing after this summer?" you asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

That's right. You and Jake had never discussed much about your personal lives, like where you went to high school, what your plans were post-high school, etc.

And now that the two of you were alone, in the dark, with virtually nothing to do, it was the perfect time to talk about it.

"I'm going up to Santa Barbara," Jake said coolly. "I'm studying biomed engineering."

"Oooh," you mused. "How exciting."

Jake let out a chuckle. "You don't sound excited."

"I am," you deadpanned, and Jake couldn't hold back a laugh.

"What about you?" Jake asked. "What are you doing?"

Even though it was dark, Jake could hear you frown.

"I'm going to Davis for International Business." You paused. "I don't know."

"Whaddaya mean?"

You shrugged. "I dunno if it's really my passion. I just chose it because—"

You're interrupted by a loud bang! followed by buzzing. You jolted, tensing up in Jake's hold, whose hand shot to the small of your back protectively.

"Eek!" you cried, and the next thing you knew, all the lights were back on.

You and Jake stayed where you were for a few moments, long enough for the freezers in the back to start buzzing again. As if someone just snapped their fingers, everything turned back on. The bright lights hitting your darkness-adjusted eyes made your eyes water.

"Oh," Jake said plainly. "The lights are back on."

"No shit, Sherlock," you muttered, earning a pinch to your side. It was now that you and Jake really realized your current positions: you were on top of him, with your head resting on his shoulders, with his arms wrapped around your waist. And it seemed like the two of you realized this at the same time.

"We should—" Jake averted his gaze from you, finding the floor next to him very interesting.

"Yeah, you're right, we should—" you slowly pulled away from him, grimacing at the feeling of Jake's arms slipping away from you.

"Yup, and—" Jake trailed off, not fully completing his thought.

Awkward.

The two of you were back on your feet in no time, both with slightly-disheveled work uniforms, but hey, it was to be expected.

Together, the two of you inspected the parlor. Just in case something slipped in while it was dark (even though that was virtually impossible).

Everything was exactly as you left it.

The mop that you dropped on the floor, your phone on the counter, the keys to the freezer that Jake threw by accident, even the messy chairs.

"Are you scared right now?" Jake asked with a chuckle as you stayed close behind him, your fingers clutching his broad shoulders. From time to time you'd peek around him, but for the most part, you stared straight at his back, unwilling to look ahead. Just in case a monster jumped out!

"I'm not." Lie.

Jake laughed, but before he could poke fun at you more—

Boom!

Oh right, the storm.

Like a cat, you jumped almost immediately, gripping Jake's shoulders for dear life.

Jake peeked out the windows. The streetlamps and signs were illuminated again.

"Looks like all the lights are back up," he said. He glanced over his shoulder to you, who clung to him. "I think we can go home now. The storm's dying down already."

You nodded, and the two of you finished closing up in silence, before preparing to leave.

"Do you have a ride?" Jake asked you as the two of you packed up your things.

Shit.

"My mom was going to pick me up because she didn't want me driving late at night," you groaned. "I'll call her right no—"

"No," Jake shook his head, reaching inside his pocket. You watched as he really shoved his hands in there, like he was searching for something. At last, after digging through his pockets for what felt like hours, he pulled out a bunch of keys, with a tiny lego keychain dangling off of it. "I'll drive you home."

After that day, you weren't called into work again for a few days. In those few days, for some weird reason, you couldn't get Jake off your mind. Which you thought was weird.

You never really thought about Jake aside from work. And it wasn't even the fact that you were thinking about him! It was the fact that you felt weird for feeling weird about thinking about him. If that even made sense.

He's always been cute. Gentlemanly, too.

When he drove you home the other day, he insisted that you didn't need to pay him back for driving you home. In fact, he said that he'd rather use more gas than have you wait alone at the parlor to be picked up. He opened and closed the door for you, showed you how to control the heaters so that you could be warm, and even let you play your music!

He was reliable too, someone that you knew you could count on. And he was very kind, because no matter how many rude customers there were, he understood that everyone was human and served them with a smile. Unlike you, who always exercised that "we reserve to deny you service" right.

These were all things that you knew. It was no surprise. You knew these things.

But after that day, you couldn't help but feel like it was... amplified.

Jake was cute, but now he was cuter. Way cuter.

He felt even more gentlemanly and reliable and kind now. Him going out of his way to comfort you, even if it meant that you had to listen to his god-awful music, warmed your heart.

And that was the weird part.

It was just so odd. You couldn't stop thinking about him. And you felt all weird and mushy for thinking about him, which made you feel even weirder!

You didn't really get it.

Surely, it wasn't a crush.

It wasn't like you were all over the place, distracted and spacy and blushing now that Jake was on your mind. You weren't rolling around and kicking your feet, nor were you giggling.

But you would be lying if you said that the simple thought of his name didn't make you excited.

Meanwhile, Jake knew exactly what was happening to him.

And it was that his crush on you definitely deepened tenfold.

In the moment, when he was with you, whether it be the other day or any other day at all, he was always nonchalant. It was a casual crush, he'd say. Everything was straightforward with no games to play.

But that was a lie.

Because here he was, lying on his bed and staring at his ceiling. He hugged his pillow, embarrassingly pretending that it was you. He felt like a weirdo, but he couldn't get the feeling of you clinging to him and in his arms out of his head!

Just the mere thought of that night made him have to roll around and giggle for a few moments.

Jake sucked in the scent of his pillows. Unfortunately, they didn't smell like you, just like laundry with a faint scent of his own cologne.

You were so pretty, and cool, and kind, and smart, and practical, and just everything good in the world. And then when you got scared and clung to him, it made his heart flutter, because who knew you could be so cute?

Jake let out a squeal into his pillow, his cheeks hurting from how much he was smiling.

For the first time ever, Jake actually wanted to go to work. Just to see you.

He couldn't wait for it.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," you said for the millionth time today. "We don't have that here—"

Another day at work. Just when the idea of going to work didn't sound too bad, you're reminded why you hate it.

Apparently some kids on TikTok spread a rumor that your parlor had a special, limited-edition, summer unicorn flavor. And even worse, your damn social media manager was hinting at it on Instagram, too.

So here you were now, trying to explain to a hoard of angry customers that this limited-edition unicorn flavor was absolutely false. To think that your own social media manager would betray you and your coworkers like this just to attract more customers... You shouldn't be unsurprised but you were.

Diabolical.

It must've been the 90th time in the past hour that you had to explain that you had no fucking clue what a unicorn flavor would be, and if you weren't a tired and overworked teenager, you would've felt bad when a little girl bursted into tears in the middle of the store.

Cry about it, you thought, and you couldn't tell if that sentiment was towards your angry customers, or if it was towards upper management that were about to get multiple complaints about you.

Breathe, you had to tell yourself. It's not worth it. Where was everyone else anyway? You couldn't believe that you were left completely alone to operate the establishment on your own. And most of your coworkers were older than you anyway. Those bums!

You sucked in another breath, putting on your best smile.

"You're telling me that you don't actually have the limited-edition unicorn flavor?!" an angry father crossed his arms, upset with his children cowering beside him.

"No, sir," you said as politely as you could. "That was just a rumor. My apologies for the inconven—"

"Unacceptable!"

You winced, feeling your ears warm up. If everyone in the parlor wasn't already watching you like a hawk, all eyes were now on you.

"I had to drive two hours here," the father slammed his hand on the counter, leaning in so close that you could smell him. "I drove two hours here for unicorn ice cream and you're telling me that it was all a lie?!"

All of this.... for ice cream?"

"I apologize, sir," you hung your head low to appear genuine, clasping your hands together. "That must have been a long ride and—"

"Shut up and give me my ice cream, you bi—" Your eyes widened a fraction as you saw a big palm swinging your way... Was he about to slap you? In the milliseconds that you could even react, you squeezed your eyes shut, preparing for the stinging feeling of a hand against your cheek.

But instead, you felt nothing, only the sound of a few gasps and light chuckling.

"Hey, there, sir," you heard Jake's voice as you peeled your eyes open.

Jake was beside you, his hand wrapped around the man's wrist that was mere inches away from your face.

"J-Jake?!"

The man struggled in Jake's grip, attempting (and failing horribly) to pull his wrist out of Jake's hand.

"Let go of me, boy!" he yelled. Everyone's eyes were on the scene now. How embarrassing.

Jake narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip.

"Here at Layla's Ice Cream Parlor, we reserve the right to deny any patron service," he said plainly.

The man scoffed. "And are you about to deny me service? What are you, the manager?"

Jake only shook his head calmly.

"You were about to assault my coworker here," he motioned toward you, then to the man's still-raised hand. "I don't need to be any manager to realize that someone of that sort has no business here."

Jake shot him a smile, before roughly letting go of his wrist, letting it fall to the counter.

"Please leave, sir."

He glanced around the room, noticing the way everyone stared at him. Another tight-lipped smile spread on his face.

"There are no limited-edition summer flavors, so if that is what you are here for, I apologize for the disappointment. " Jake glanced at you. "Please help yourself to the flavors that we actually have."

With that, Jake took you by the wrist, pulling you into the breakroom.

"W-Wait Jake—!" you tried to pull out of his grasp. "There's still customers out there."

He gently pushed you down onto a chair.

Jake crouched down at your sitting figure, putting his hands on your knees. He squeezed them playfully. "You've done enough today. I'll handle the rest."

"But— But there's a lot of people today," you reasoned, placing your hands on his. "You can't run the entire place on your own...!"

But before the last syllables could even leave your lips, Jake was already retying his apron, fixing his dumb uniform hat. Before he slinked away through the door, he glanced over his shoulder, gripping the door frame.

"I'll prove you wrong," he said with a grin. "Just watch."

(You were right, he was wrong. Not even the most exemplary worker like Jake could handle an entire exuberant ice cream parlor by himself. The moment you saw his tired eyes you were already throwing on your apron. Though, you got a good laugh out of it afterwards.)

You deadpanned.

This was not what you signed up for.

It was Saturday, the day that you swore was your break day from work. And then all of a sudden you got an urgent call from your manager and you rushed to work immediately.

You thought that the parlor got robbed, or maybe something broke down.

Nope.

"You want me..." you blinked, "To wear that?!"

Lo and behold, before you was a comically large ice cream costume, with a brown waffled body for the cone and the most obnoxious white swirl reaching high in the ceiling, with only a circular cut-out to see your face.

Apparently, sales were dwindling, so your managers decided to try out some new advertising.

You were going to wear that godforsaken ice cream costume and hang outside the parlor to attract customers.

"Kid-friendly language only," your manager instructed you matter-of-factly. "No swearing, no saying mean words."

You tuned him out.

And if the walk of shame out of the bathroom in your ice cream costume wasn't bad enough, you were hit with the last thing you wanted to see: Jake Sim.

You were about to jump and shriek and let the ground open up and devour you whole... when you realized that he was wearing an ice cream costume too...!

"You too?!" you cried. Behold, in front of you stood your favorite coworker Jake Sim with an equally deadpan expression, clad in the ridiculous ice cream costume.

"Yup," Jake muttered, popping the p. "I guess we'll never be free."

And he was indeed correct.

There was truly nothing more mortifying than standing outside the damn ice cream parlor, holding an even more obnoxiously bright sign and trying to attract customers... all in your humiliating ice cream costume.

Kids laughed at you from across the street. Cars that passed by you probably did the same. Absolutely demoralizing.

"Come to Layla's Ice Cream Parlor," you said in a monotone voice, trying your very best to not burst into tears of sheer embarrassment. "We have ice cream... and... uh—"

You glanced at Jake, whispering to him, "What else do we have?"

"Ice cream." He said, absolutely no expression in his voice or face. Oh god, we must have lost him too! "Nothing but ice cream."

Poor guy, he looked like he wanted to disappear.

This must have been a punishment, or something. Maybe a humiliation ritual. But after a good ten minutes, you and Jake just decided to commit to the bit. After all, you were getting paid extra for this.

"Ice cream, ice cream!" you and Jake chanted as you paraded around the vicinity of the parlor. After all, there was nothing you could do but make the best of it. You went out of your way to speak to oncoming customers, advertising with the most energy you could. "Come to Layla's Ice Cream!"

But it wasn't always easy.

Like always, customers and children were rude.

"Hello, miss, are you interested in trying some of Layla's yummy yummy ice cre—" and then you got laughed at. Like actually. They just started pointing and laughing at you. Like you were some freak.

And then Jake tried to square up some little kids a few times, it was a mess.

And finally, after what felt like years out there trying to advertise to people, your manager finally called you guys back in. Apparently, you and Jake did such a wonderful job that you guys were needed back at the front. Your coworkers couldn't seem to keep up. Lazy asses.

You and Jake went back inside to change back into your work uniforms— those stupid blue and white sailor uniforms. Except, one of your coworkers was having an "emergency" in the staff bathroom (you were certain it was just Beomgyu sitting on the toilet with his phone and refusing to do his job), so both you and Jake had to change in the staff break room.

At the same time.

"Okay, you will change, and I will cover you—"

"Shut up!" you exclaimed. "Why can't we just change at the same time?"

Jake was being terribly awkward about it.

"B-Because!" he reasoned, unable to hide the way he couldn't look you in the eye. "Because.... you're a girl, and I'm a guy!"

"Aaaaand?" you drew out your syllables, crossing your arms over your chest.

"We can't possibly change in the same room?" Jake cried. "What if— What if I accidentally see your—"

Your cheeks warmed up. What was he on about? "You're not going to!"

Your boss was really annoying about punctuality, so you and Jake should probably change quickly anyway. You ignored Jake's fussing, raising your arms as you began to pull your shirt over your head.

"What are you—"

"Just change!"

In the end, you guys just did the easiest option: turning around so that you faced opposite directions while the other changed... which should have been intuitive for Jake (but he's a little slow).

When you two were both done changing, you turned back around to face Jake, about to let out your grievances about working.

Except, when you saw him, you couldn't help but let out a giggle.

Because your work uniform was supposed to resemble that of a sailor, there were a few complex pieces, such as the sailor scarf draped over your shoulders and neck. Usually, you need a mirror to tie it properly. There was also the damn paper sailor hat that you had to wear.

Since you weren't changing in the bathroom, there was no mirror, so poor Jake's hat and tie were sloppily done, crooked on his person.

"Jake," you smiled, motioning for him to come toward you. And when he was close enough, you yanked him even closer to you by his shoulders, causing him to let out a yelp.

"W-What are you doing?" he asked, unable to hide the panic in his voice.

You giggled again. Your hands began to work on his tie, undoing his sloppy tie and neatly folding it. "Relax, you big baby."

When you were done with his tie, you fixed Jake's hat, oblivious to the way Jake's ears and neck turned a noticeable shade of red.

"There you go," you said with a grin. "All good!"

Jake looked at you with shaky eyes. You were close to him now. Close enough that he could feel your breath fanning his cheeks. Close enough that if he just leaned in a bit more, he could kiss you— Jake jerked himself away from you abruptly. His heart was pounding in his chest at an abnormal rate.

Don't think about kissing her when she's right in front of you! he scolded himself. You gave him a questioning look, before you just grinned again and left the break room.

Ah, Jake was going crazy.

Man, fuck you Beomgyu! you mentally cursed your other coworker. You were absolutely correct; earlier he was indeed hogging the staff bathroom so that he could shirk his responsibilities. According to Jake, Beomgyu did this really often, to the point that the staff bathroom ran out of soap too fast because Beomgyu was busy playing with soap and making dumb ass bubbles in there.

Of all times, it had to be now that the staff bathroom just decided to run out of soap?

It was getting late, so your manager told you to start cleaning. And just as you began, some little unsupervised middle schooler skateboarded right into you, spilling his three scoops of chocolate ice cream with layers of caramel and peanut butter sauce all over your white uniform.

And all you were given were a few measly napkins to wipe but the sticky sweet mess, only after you cleaned up the mess on the floor. Now as you desperately tried to clean the mess off your uniform in the staff bathroom, you were certain that your manager was going to yell at you later.

As you reached for another hand towel from the dispenser, you let out a groan as you realized that there were no more. Seriously, what was Beomgyu doing in here that he just used up all the soap and paper towels?

"[Name]," you heard a knock on the door. It was Jake. "You good in there?"

You groaned again.

"No!" you cried from the other side of the door. You were frustrated, how bothersome! Even if there were more paper towels, there still was a giant brown stain on your shirt. And you'd probably have to get another uniform. "It looks like a shit stain!"

You heard Jake chuckle from the other side of the door, before his footsteps retreated. After a few minutes, Jake came back.

"Can I come in?" he asked, knocking again on the bathroom door.

"Door's unlocked."

Except, instead of seeing Jake in his usual work uniform, he had a big black hoodie thrown over him, probably one that he was wearing before he changed into his uniform earlier. In his hands was a white shirt.

"Wear this," he said as he shoved the white shirt into your hands.

It was his own uniform shirt.

"But—" you tried to reason with him, but he put his hand up, silencing you.

"Can't have you walking around with a shit stain on your shirt," he said with a cheeky grin, earning him a slap on the arm.

"But you'll get in trouble," you breathed. Your manager was really particular about workers wearing uniforms, and for some reason not about workers actually doing their job.

Jake shrugged. "It's about time I did." And flashed you another smile. "And plus, I was going to get in trouble anyway. Apparently, defending my coworker from a rude customer is punishable."

Ah, the unicorn ice cream incident from a few weeks ago.

Was he really that willing to get in trouble for you?

As you closed the door to the bathroom, you could already hear your manager and another coworker making their comments about Jake. Although you couldn't exactly hear what they were saying, it must have been the usual remarks about inefficiency. And probably about how he wasn't wearing work-appropriate clothes.

You sunk your teeth into your bottom lip as you listened to their muffled voices.

Jake was really getting in trouble all for your sake.

As you buttoned up his white shirt, you noted that it carried the scent of his cologne. It smelled good, and you instinctively brought the sleeve up to your nose to catch a better whiff. But then you felt weird and stopped immediately.

It wasn't fair. Everything about your job.

You and Jake had to do all the work, but even so, the managers were disproportionately harsher with Jake than they were with you. Probably because of some sexist bullshit.

And then there were rude and entitled customers.

Jake was taking the fall for you too much.

And you couldn't keep letting it happen.

As you made your way out of the staff bathroom, you could hear your manager berating Jake, with another coworker joining in.

"And why are you not in our employee dress code?" your manager chided. "This is unacceptable! A hoodie? What do you think will happen to our store's brand?"

Jake just hung his head low, but you could tell he was annoyed more than anything. "It was because [Name]'s shirt got ruined, and she was uncomfortable."

"And what business do you have with [Name]?" your coworker joined in lambasting the poor Jake.

"Look, man," Jake looked up at them. "I was just helpin' her out." Jake paused for a moment. "And plus it's closing hours anyway. It's not like anyone sees me out of uniform."

Your manager and coworker thought for a few moments, before your coworker said, "Well, you're still causing a hindrance for our parlor. I think we will cut you weekly pay—"

His weekly pay? Ridiculous. Your body moved on its own, and before you knew it, you had bursted through the door.

"I-It was my fault!" you blurted, your lips moving faster than you could think. "Jake was just helping me."

You ignored the way Jake looked at you with eyes big as saucers, surprised. You swiped your tongue over your lip. "I-It's really my fault. If there's anyone that should get their weekly pay cut, it should be me."

Jake's face visibly contorted, his brows crashing together. "[Name]—"

"That's enough," your manager finally spoke up. The older man sighed, before checking his wrist watch. "Jake, [Name], just forget about it. Don't make this mistake again. Just close up for the night."

And with that, you and Jake were left alone once more.

"What was that all about?" Jake asked you as the two of you closed up.

"What was what?"

Jake huffed, leaning on the mop. "You know, what happened earlier about uniforms?"

"Oh." You shrugged, not really paying him any mind. "What about it?"

Jake huffed again. "Y'know... Why did you step in?"

You finally looked at him, before blinking a few times. "Isn’t it obvious?"

Jake smiled. "No, that’s why I’m asking you."

You scoffed playfully. "Okay, smartass."

You paused for a few moments. "You’re my friend, Jake. You’ve protected me in the past, so I'm just returning the favor."

"Thank you," Jake replied, unable to hide the smile growing on his face. "That's very kind of you.

You just hummed in response, going back to cleaning up.

Jake teetered on his feet, back and forth, as he played with his fingers. His heart pounding in his chest, Jake chewed on his bottom lip.

He was nervous.

Just this morning, you texted him if he wanted to hang out with you, because as you said, you were bored.

Hanging out? With you? The hottest girl that he's ever seen? There was no way in hell that he'd say no to such a golden opportunity.

You'd told Jake to meet you at the pier, because there was a nice mall area around there. As you relayed in your texts, you were going on vacation in a few weeks, and needed to go shopping for it.

You'd be lying if you said you didn't have any ulterior motives. You weren't really sure how you felt about Jake. He was cute, and sweet, and you definitely wanted to get to know him better. And there was a part of you that desperately wanted to impress him.

Maybe today could be an opportunity for you.

You checked your reflection in the car window before you got out of your mom's car. Muttering a "bye," you made your way toward where you told Jake to meet you.

It was a sunny day. You chose to wear something breathable, a pretty pink sundress with a cardigan. You didn't dress like this on most days. You liked to opt for dark colors, but today you wanted to be... cute.

Pretty for Jake.

You spotted Jake pretty easily. Not because he had anything that made him physically easy to identify, not at all. It was more like... you simply could just spot him. It was like you had a newfound Jake-radar.

"Hi," you said with a smile. And for some reason, it seemed like Jake was startled, with his eyes widening as he caught sight of you. "Are you okay?"

Jake stared at you for a few moments, and you swore you saw the way his eyes looked you up and down. His lips parted, and he sucked in a sharp breath as he swiped his tongue over his lips.

You felt a twinge of embarrassment. You didn't wear light colors normally, was it obvious that this dress was not something that you usually wear? Did you look strange? Maybe you should've worn your typical black clothing, and—

"N-No," Jake stammered, his eyes still looking you up and down. Truth be told, he had to bite back a "damn." Because yes, damn, you looked hot. "You look— You look nice today."

Your cheeks prickled with warmth. "Oh. Thank you."

"You don't..." Jake continued, as if he was on autopilot. You were beginning to feel really shy when you realized that he was really staring at your chest area. "You don't wear pink often, do you?"

You averted your gaze. "You're right, I don't." How embarrassing! So he notices the things you wear... and he probably 100% knows that you don't wear pink at all. "Does it look weird, or—"

"No!" Jake blurted, before catching himself. He cleared his throat, his ears a warm shade of pink. "Not at all. I really, uh, meant it when I said— When I said you looked nice."

You nodded slowly. Was it normal to feel so warm? Maybe you should check the weather again?

"Really nice," Jake echoed himself. If you weren't busy feeling shy yourself, you would have noticed Jake checking you out for the 50th time already.

You murmured a brief "thanks," before you quickly changed the subject.

"Shall we go?"

It was unusual to feel awkward or shy around Jake, and vice versa. You knew for sure that Jake was a special person, but it never affected you. For Jake, he was determined to be calm and nonchalant when it came to you. And plus, your friendship was always casual anyway.

Which was why all of your shyness dissipated pretty quickly.

You took Jake along to all the spots at the pier's mall area.

"What are you looking for?" Jake asked as he trailed after you. Jake will never understand women. You've been to 4 stores already, and all you've done is touch things and say, 'Oh this is cute.' And then you'd leave.

You shrugged. "Cute things for vacation."

Jake looked around, through the store mirrors as you two traversed the mall area. "Any preferences?"

You shrugged again. "I like dark colors, but I don't mind brighter colors for vacation, yaknow?"

Jake hummed.

The two of you walked around for a little longer until you stopped in front of a store.

"What's this?" Jake asked.

You grinned. "A swimsuit store."

Listen, Jake wouldn't consider himself an easily-excitable guy. He wasn't pervy, either. Especially toward you! He was nonchalant!

But as he entered the girly swimsuit store, he couldn't help but redden at the thought of you in some of these swimsuits. Some of them were provocative and cheeky, making Jake's stomach do flips as his mind crept into places that made it hard for him to make eye contact with you. Other ones were cute and frilly, arguably making Jake's heart pound even faster as he imagined you in them.

"Hey, what do you think about this one?" you asked Jake as you took one of the suits off the rack.

On the inside, Jake was already drooling at the thought. But on the outside he simply nodded, giving a playful smile and a thumbs up. And really, he thought that if he could maintain that attitude for the rest of the time in this swimsuit store, he'd be fine.

But he was wrong.

"Okay, I'm gonna try these on, and I'll have you give me feedback."

What.

What?

And so Jake sat in the couches in front of the changing rooms, simply awaiting his death.

He's not weird, he swears. He doesn't want to be creepy or gross toward you.

But how could he not sweat and basically hyperventilate in these changing rooms when the hottest girl that he's ever seen (you) is about to ask him for his opinion on swimsuits?

Jake was certain that no matter what, you would look hot.

And he was proven correct when you slipped out of the changing rooms.

"Okay, first one," you said, in a voice that was a little too relaxed. You went on your tiptoes, doing a few turns here and there so that Jake could see the full extent of the suit on you. "What do you think?"

And oh.

Good lord.

Jake was really trying his best not to make you uncomfortable.

But there was absolutely no way that he could just sit there and not react. His jaw quite literally dropped the moment he saw you.

The way the suit hugged your body, the way the colors illuminated your skin, the way you were 100% feeling yourself in it— All of it was making Jake 2 seconds away from crashing out.

You must have been a goddess. Or maybe Jake saved a country in his past life.

"It looks— You look— I— You—" he stumbled over his words. There were no words to describe how you looked. You looked downright beautiful. Like, if Jake died now he wouldn't mind. And when you giggled at his reaction, he took a deep breath. Don't be a weirdo! he told himself.

"You look beautiful," he breathed, finally catching himself. His eyes flickered back up to your pretty, pretty face. "You look really beautiful in this one."

"Thank you," you smiled at him. You did another twirl, something that you definitely knew drove him crazy. And if you hadn't noticed him checking you out, Jake was certain that you definitely knew now.

And maybe Jake didn't know enough about women. Because he really believed that that one swimsuit was the only one that you were trying on.

And he was so wrong.

Because there were at least 3 more that you wanted to show him!

Oh, he wasn't going to survive this.

Well, Jake did survive.

After insisting on carrying your shopping bag full of your new swimsuits (Jake didn't dare peek inside because he thought he'd combust), you decided to do some more exploring.

You got some food to munch on, and went to all types of stores. And you took many pictures, too! Pictures together, of you trying on hats and sunglasses. Candid pictures of each other, many of which where you look pretty without even trying and Jake's mind is blown.

More exploring, walking, sitting down, walking, and then sitting for 30 minutes because both of your feet hurt. A lot of laughing, a lot of dumb conversations, and even more laughing.

And before you knew it, it was getting dark out. Suddenly, the sound of the waves crashing filled the air, the cool beach wind blowing against your cheeks. 

"Let's go walk along the shore!"

And so you did.

The orange sky was fading into a dark blue, and yet, the sun still shone so brightly as it submerged into the horizon. The water gently rocked against the shoreline, while the scent of sea salt and seaweed filled your senses.

It was a cool evening, and you tugged on the sleeves of your cardigan to warm your cold hands.

By now, the beach was quiet. Many people had already left, as it was slowly becoming nighttime.

In quiet moments like this, you couldn't help but fully conceptualize Jake as a person.

He was a handsome boy your age. He was kind, sweet, responsible, silly, everything great in a person. And he had a similar music taste to you, too. And here he was, walking alongside you as the sun set.

Your eyes fluttered over to him. His eyes were trained on the sand below his feet, appreciating the way the wet granules covered his skin.

He was a straightforward person. Things went from A to B with him easily. No games, nothing to hide. And yet, you felt like there was so much to discover about him. There was an entire world undiscovered in his head. And you wanted to be a part of it.

"What are you thinking about?" you asked suddenly, interrupting the calm silence.

"You."

.

.

.

You?

You could feel your heart picking up speed, but you kept your composure. Meanwhile, you swore your skin was prickling with an uncharacteristic warmth.

"I-I mean—" Jake seemed to snap out of his daze. "I— I was just thinking about you, and work, and summer, and—"

You blinked, but your lips spread into a tight smile. You didn't know why you felt disappointed.

You sucked in a breath. "The water's really nice tonight."

"Mhm," Jake agreed. He wasn't blind. He could see the way your face fell ever so slightly. He could see when you felt flustered or shy because of him.

But what if he was misinterpreting things? What if his eyes were playing tricks on him?

But then you'd look up at him with those shiny eyes, almost like you were begging him to give you his heart.

Just go for it.

His eyes dropped to your hands, which were still tugging on your sleeves to keep warm.

Jake clicked his tongue. Boldly, he grabbed your hands, clasping them in yours.

"Hey!" you cried.

"Geez, your hands are so cold," he murmured, before locking his fingers with one of your hands. As if nothing happened, Jake just continued walking along the shore, this time with your hand in his.

You stared at your interlocked fingers for a few moments, before you swallowed all of your shyness and continued trailing with him.

The two of you returned to walking in silence, nothing but the sound of the water and your breaths filling the air.

Jake wasn't lying when he said he was thinking of you, because he really. He always was. And just as he was about to fall back into thought, your hand pulled away from his.

With curious eyes, Jake watched as you silently pulled out a tiny plastic case from your purse.

Your earbuds.

You plugged them into your phone, before jamming one of the buds into your own ear. You looked at Jake expectantly, and he took the second earbud graciously.

You bit back a laugh as you turned on your music.

The second you pressed 'play,' a hardy bass and an unforgettable drumline played into your ears.

"Are you serious?" Jake immediately snapped his head at you. "Fleetwood Mac?!"

You laughed, throwing your head back. "I wasn't about to let you ruin the beach vibe and play Bon Jovi."

"I don't only listen to Bon Jovi—!"

And just as you and Jake were enjoying music, the beach, and most importantly, each other, Jake's phone rang. And of course, his ringtone was a Bon Jovi song.

You gave him a look as his lips spread into a goofy smile.

Not daring to tear out the earbud, he picked up his phone and listened with his other ear.

And even though it was nearly nighttime by now, you could still see how Jake's face morphed.

When he hung up, his face dropped.

"They need me to take someone's shift."

Oh.

This was really, very, genuinely, seriously annoying.

Because unfortunately, the truth was that if they needed Jake to work, then they probably needed you to work too.

Because they always needed you and Jake to work.

And so, here your (not-so official) date was ending.

Apparently, it was extremely urgent, and they insisted on paying Jake extra if he came. Not to worry, because he texted your manager to make sure that you'd get extra pay if you came along, too.

The moment that you stepped into the parlor, you could feel all the joy leaving your body. You swore that Layla’s Ice Cream Parlor had evil spirits in there, designed specifically to simply fill your body with dread.

You put on one of the spare work uniforms that the parlor had in the back. It was a little big, and a little itchy, but whatever.

When Jake got the phone call and explained to you the situation, you were fully expecting a packed parlor, with a line that went out the door and your incompetent coworkers couldn't handle it, or something. But now that you were in the parlor, you realized that that was just a load of bullshit.

"Empty," Jake muttered behind you. "There is absolutely no one here."

You hummed in agreement, equally deadpan.

Those lazy bums.

They just didn't want to work the closing shift. They just didn't want to do the cleaning or locking up. They just wanted you to take their shifts so that they could go home and relax.

And so here you two were, just lazing around in the breakroom, just trying to pass the time. You let your phone play some random playlist.

"I'm sorry," Jake said, with his cheek pressed against the breakroom table. "We were hanging out and I decided to take us to work."

"Nah, you're justified," you said lazily. "They're promising us extra pay, so it's fine."

The room went silent again, but you could tell Jake was thinking something. And indeed, he was.

Jake felt horrible! Although you did agree to come to work with him, he still felt back. Did he just fumble your first (unofficial) date? God, he's so stupid! Now you two were stuck in the worst place on earth.

He stared at your bored expression.

He couldn't let you stay bored.

Without a word, he got up from his seat in the breakroom and disappeared out to the front. You could hear some cluttering and buzzing.

"Close your eyes!" he yelled before he came back to where you were in the breakroom. And you complied.

"What are you doing, Jake?" you asked, but you couldn't help but smile. He was definitely up to some antics.

"Just close your eyes," he instructed you, before sitting down with you at the breakroom table again.

Jake clasped his hands together. "I have three cups of ice cream here. You will close your eyes and guess which one is which."

You let out an exasperated sigh. "Are you serious?"

"Yes!" Jake laughed. "We can't get bored in here."

You chuckled. "Okay, fine."

Jake watched you intently as he spoon-fed you the first spoonful of ice cream.

The first flavor was strawberry, your personal favorite.

Maybe it was getting late, or maybe Jake was just too obsessed with you, but he couldn't take his eyes off of the way your pretty lips opened up for the ice cream. He was simply so mesmerized by the way you licked your lips, relishing in the way the sweet strawberry ice cream melted on your tastebuds.

"This is so obvious," you nudged him, kicking him from under the table. "At least make it hard for me!"

Jake rolled his eyes playfully. "Just guess!"

You huffed, mumbling something about him being stupid under your breath. "Strawberry. Duh."

"Woo hoo!" Jake cheered for you. "It was strawberry!"

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."

The second flavor was ube. Which you guessed almost immediately.

"Next flavor, please," you giggled. "This game is too easy,"

But Jake wasn't listening to you in the slightest.

Just why did you have to start licking the spoon clean? The way your glossy lips wrapped around the spoon, your tongue wrapping around the smooth plastic, and now he was feeling all types of things, and—

"Seriously, make it harder for me!"

Jake gulped.

The last flavor he had was salted caramel. His own personal favorite.

He'd already taken a few bites out of it.

He glanced at your lips, then down at the salted caramel ice cream.

Even under the corporate light of the break room, you still glowed so prettily. And you must have been doing it on purpose, the way you were keeping the spoon in your mouth, with your lips wrapped around it so prettily.

Jake's eyes flickered back to your lips once more, then to the salted caramel ice cream.

His heart was already pounding in his chest. All the blood was rushing to his head and Jake thought that he'd faint.

Your lips were just so damn pretty.

It seemed like something was possessing Jake's body. While his mind was frozen on your lips, his body was moving on its own.

He reached out for you first, his large hand taking solace on your shoulder.

And in one, fluid motion, Jake leaned in, and closed the gap between his lips and yours.

Your lips were soft and sweet, like clouds. Jake's eyes had unconsciously fallen shut, and the moment that he realized that he was kissing you, they shot open. However, just as he was about to pull away, because oh my god he was kissing you, and he didn't even ask!, Jake felt your hand slither up around his neck.

You pulled him in even closer, deepening the kiss.

Jake felt dizzy. It was the way your tongue dipped into his mouth when he let out a little gasp. Or maybe it was the way your fingers ran through his hair, almost as if you were desperate to keep his lips on yours. Your everything— your hands, your lips, your scent— they were all driving him insane.

Jake didn't want it to end, and if it weren't for his need for air, he wouldn't have pulled away. Ever.

The two of you sat there, breathless, staring into each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity. Jake's cheeks were red, his pupils blown out with desire. His eyes fell down to your lips.

"Salted caramel," you breathed, your hands sliding down to his shoulders. You squeezed his shoulders. "You taste like salted caramel— kiss me if that's the answer—"

And you didn't need to ask him twice, because Jake was already crashing his lips against yours.

There was something so addictive about your lips. The way you moaned against his lips, the way you clung onto him like you needed him, it was all driving him crazy.

Jake needed more, he needed you.

In his head, it was all just you, you, you.

"I want you so bad," Jake mumbled against your lips. "Please."

He could feel you giggle, but he simply just slides his hand around your waist to pull you closer.

Your lips moved against his in ways that were too perfect to be real. Jake felt like he was in heaven. You were heaven. You were angelic, you were godly, you were—

"Um, excuse me, are you guys still open?"

!!!

You and Jake jumped away from each other.

Shit.

It was still store hours.

"Are we going to get fired?"

Now it was actually closing hours.

You and Jake started cleaning after you were so rudely interrupted, and now it was time to close up.

And it was awkward.

Your heart was practically leaping out of your chest. It felt like forever since you shared your kisses with Jake. And now, you craved his lips once more.

But what if it was just on the whim? What if Jake just did it to do it?

You just wanted him so bad. You wanted to kiss him again, you wanted to feel him again.

"For what?"

You shifted uncomfortably, your eyes refusing to meet Jake's.

"Kissing coworkers."

"No!" Jake's cheeks flared up. "Of course not!"

"Then..." your brows furrowed. Your face felt hot to the touch. You felt like you were going to get a heart attack. Seriously, you felt like you were burning up, all the while you felt frozen in time and space. You slowly looked up at Jake. "Then can we... you know... keep doing it?"

.

.

.

"I— I mean, if you don't mind— and if it's not something that we could get fired for—" you stammered— "Then can we... you know— can we keep kissing?"

Jake was already on it.

“Eek, Jake, lock the doors first!”

After a few more weeks of hiding in the storage closet to makeout, and honestly straight up shirking your responsibilities to kiss in the breakroom, you and Jake did the unthinkable.

"We resign!"

Your manager looked at you incredulously. "W-What?"

You and Jake smiled. "We quit."

You've never felt more free. With your boyfriend at your side, it seemed like the summer was endless.

BONUS

"Did I ever tell you that I liked you?" you asked Jake, in his car just moments after you quit your job.

"I don't think you did, babe," Jake laughed.

"Oh."

You should probably put that on your to-do list.

You glanced at your boyfriend. How his lips looked so kissable.

Sigh. You'll tell him what you like later. It's time to kiss!

note: please reblog n comment if you enjoyed! xoxo vanya >_<

[nalyra-dreaming]

COMMENTS on 2x07 - SPOILERS

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *FIRST OFF: GOD HAVE I CRIED *No breath, no relief, all the pain This… contains a lot of swearing. . . . . . . .

The fucking rat box - there is a significant time gap between Claudia being shoved in there and her on stage. I BET that will become "that" time frame later, when Armand.... finally gets to it.

Btw, the iron boxes... an iron entrapment. I'm not sure if deliberate, but there is a piece of lore from Blood Communion that could come into play here IF they should pick it up again, later on

I’m glad they made the mental influence clear right away. Like… it’s not even subtle. And Lestat acting weird AF isn’t subtle either. It’s clear. It’s scripted. It’s the “last play”. It’s been “designed, and rehearsed.”

The Achilles’ heel slashed is so… vicious

Louis sensing and smelling Lestat… oh honey

Like that they referred to “the old place” for the other theater

Them making him swear on her diary is sooooo…💀

Santiago is so PLEASED when Lestat returns to script lol… we don’t see it but I wonder how many of the jury it took

A story of love... 💀

They are using the music box music … the fuckers

Awwww Armand being “punished” to watch… nawwwwww glad Daniel is not buying it either... and by Sam, the playwright... with a scythe... nawww. Okay, everybody buying that after that little restaurant display raise their hands, lmao.

That Lestat sleeping in the dirt is just... wrong. We already KNOW he returned to Paris twice. Another hint!!!

The repeated hint at the “ancient blood”… very on the nose

Their eye contact

Them trying to make it seem as if Louis “hunted” Lestat… lmao. As if Louis could have if Lestat would not have wanted him to????

Santiago prompting Lestat…. they seem to have pushed the narrative into his mind

on a random note: the blue contacts look so much better this season???

Oh…. Lestat SNAPPING at “fags” - loved it - so fantastically intense and creepy

“where lies their disgust now”?

Lestat making that man feel what he feels - WHY didn’t you just show this to Louis?????

THE HAIR CHANGED!!! There is that strand again! And the perfect hair in other scenes!!! INFLUENCED!! Manipulated!! I’ve been fucking saying.

OOOOHHHHH MY GOD Claudia’s turning … Louis knowing about the laws, did Louis really promise to stay???? I mean that’s just bargaining, and Louis just… begging… oh god, AND THEN THE FUCKING CUT TO ARMAND’s LOOK OH YOU FUCKER

“you were manipulated into it”… yeah. Say it, Santiago

God. Lestat there. And Louis the way he sees him.

Lestat confirming that Louis did not share affection with him anymore, as said, for years

Yeah, no, Lestat’s pose there for the Antoinette reveal is totally… natural 💀

God, Claudia cackling at Lestat saying “she’s the best of my vampiric self”… 😭

Ep5 revisit. Uhhhhh boy did they expand on what we already knew. And I KNEW something happened in the coffin room that made Lestat snap!! I KNEW IT! Okay, they kept the weird logistics of the fall (for now at least), but… yeah. This makes at least… more sense than before, I guess. Also, Lestat fully breaking script and admitting it. KNOWING he had hurt Louis there. Knowing. (I still stand by the Amel theory for the outside part and the comment in 1x06. Since they are taking from Prince Lestat….)

“A wolf congratulated for not killing her pup”!!!!!!!!

Louis is wearing something other than black again!!!!

“and then - something real” - and Armand chiming in… how… inconspicuous 💅🏼

A Stoning. Indeed.

I’m not sure how much I believe of them waking Lestat tbh… like... with the supposed trial rehearsals... and the crossing over... nawwwww

That eating blood with a spoon is so… inefficient. Like, they drink so much more???? What kind of blood is that to savor it like that? Must be special??? Or it's just show.

Oh god. Madeleine choosing Claudia. She is my coven. God.

Ugh. Lestat breaking script for Claudia. AND BY GOD I HOPE CLAUDIA FULFILLS THAT PROMISE

Oohhhhwwwwwww and Armand working SO HARD ON SAVING LOUIS!!!!! YOU LITTLE…. GNAAAHHHHH I don’t even have a word. "bites something"

God the pebbles/rocks. The entombment. And the SAME stones at the Dubai tree…

Lestat, swaying on his feet

So. Armand tells us of Claudia facing her death bravely. And defiantly. And the stare of shock and pain on Lestat’s face. Armand… the last to know the truth… for now. -.-

PREVIEW

And Armand getting Louis out.. afterwards. When… the coven did not care anymore, right??????? Mh hmmm.

Louis getting their asses

Louis going to kill Lestat??? MHHHH

EPISODE INSIDER

"it’s a fake setup - props in a play". Yeah. THAT.

Claudia doesn’t give an inch - "she knows she’s right"

“She has Lestat’s blood - if they do anything, it’s come back with a vengeance”!!!!!!!!!!! YES PLEASE 😭

Claudia’s death represents Louis’ last connection to this world

“[Claudia] was a brilliant vampire.

IN - fucking - DEED

God, what an episode.

I am... somewhat irritated that the reshot the turning and did not really revisit murder night, because the discrepancies there still stand. Except they have always intended to return to it in s3, which might make sense. Still. A bit weird, all of it. And Lestat breaking out of the control and script to admit to hurting Louis. 😭

God.

[cultofdixon]

Good Ol’ Dixon Advice

Daryl Dixon [PLATONIC] | Carl Grimes [ROMANTIC] • He/Him Pronouns • Crushes are weird and Daryl may not have the golden standard advice. But he’ll do his best • ANGST/SFW • TW: PTSD / Nightmares / Scars / Messy Confessions / Self Harm Mentioned

Requested by: Anon

“Hey uh…dad? You’ve got a minute?”

Daryl looked up from the bike frame noticing his son standing at the garage door extremely anxious. He stopped what he was doing to give Y/N his attention.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing! Or I don’t know. I just. Uh….” Y/N tried his best to be blunt about it, but he doesn’t know how Daryl would react to such. So might as well just… “I’m gay”

The archer blankly stared at his kid watching his tense shoulders relax when he shrugged before turning back to the bike frame.

“So? Love who yea want”

“Oh. Okay cool, so how do I do it”

“Huh?” His full attention returned in a split second as Y/N brought himself more into the garage to avoid anyone listening in. Both being paranoid individuals about eavesdroppers even if most aren’t around. “What do you mean ‘how do I do it?’ There’s no handbook to being gay”

“No! I know…like that much. I’m talking—-talking to your crush. Shit like that”

“Language, bud” Daryl scowled, asking for a certain tool for Y/N to grab as he did. If he’s going to be there, he’s going to learn and help with building the bike. “I don’t know how to deal with that that well”

“Seriously? You and Carol aren’t something alre—-“

“Y/N!”

“What! She’s not here! Aaron and Eric aren’t here! NO ONES LISTENING”

“WHOLE TOWN MIGHT AS WELL IF YEA YELLING” Daryl snaps, ultimately regretting it when Y/N retracted as he takes a deep breath. “Sorry. Shouldn’t have yelled. But again, I ain’t the best with crushes either. Hell, I only talk to yea most”

“Clearly. But you do grunt for every other sentence” Y/N states listening to him grunt in response, only proving his point.

Daryl handed off the tool for Y/N to put back as it dawned on him. “Who do yea like?”

“Uhhhhh. Not important”

“Y/N, bud…if yea want advice. I might wanna know”

“Or you don’t gotta and still give me advice that you won’t take for yourself and your own crushes”

This kid’s obvious statements is gonna piss Daryl off soon.

“Imma start guessin’ if yea—-“

“Carl!” He snaps hoping to then drop it as he was starting to stress himself out thinking about it. “But it’s like…fuck I don’t know” he got up about to leave the garage but stopped at the exit/entrance.

“Seriously I may cuss a lot. Don’t mean you gotta” Daryl gets up from his seated position, tossing the rag that he wiped his hands with on the work bench watching Y/N tense at the thoughts he was getting. “What’s stopping yea from just saying how yea feel?”

“Don’t you like…gotta know first if they like or don’t like the same gender…”

“Mm. From what I learned growing up, people just take their chances and if they ain’t? You move on”

“There’s nothing to move onto”

“That…sounded bad. But if you have a crush on the kid, then why not take the risk?”

“Cuz there’s also the chance of this Enid girl”

“Have you heard of bisexuals?” Daryl questioning only to receive a glare from Y/N as he held his hands up defensively. “I’ve never seen this Enid girl anyway. Heard of her but not seen her”

“Yeah well she’s on Rick’s good side for the most part. The dude doesn’t know she climbs the walls…and that Carl follows her and I just. Stay in here”

His kid was jealous, he could sense that instantly. But again, he doesn’t know until he just says something.

“Either take the risk or be disappointed, bud” Daryl pats him on the back as Y/N gave him a saddened look.

“I’m scared though”

“It’ll be alright. Whatever happens. It’ll be alright, son”

The next day, Daryl went to talk about such with Rick without his kid knowing that he was doing so. Since to Y/N’s surprise, everyone knew about his crush on the Grimes kid…except the kid himself.

Rick stopped watching a certain someone from the window when he heard the front door open. “Who is it?”

“Were yea expecting someone other than me?” Daryl scoffs shutting the door behind him watching his friend move away from the window. “No seriously. Who were yea expecting?”

“Just doing my job. Keepin’ an eye on people” Rick brought himself into the kitchen to get a bottle ready for Judith as it was almost time for her to wake from her nap. “What’s up, Daryl?”

“It’s about our boys” He says in a calm manner when joining him in the kitchen, but even with the calmness it still lead to worry coming on Rick’s face.

“What happened to our sons? Did Carl fight that Ron kid? Or did Y/N try leavin’ again”

“No to both of those. But it’s mainly about Y/N’s feelings”

Rick froze a moment as he screwed on the bottle cap before letting the confusion continue on his expression.

“Gonna have to explain more”

“Everybody knows Y/N likes your son”

“Okay, who doesn’t like Carl? He’s a great kid”

I’m about to lose my shit Daryl squints trying to read the oblivious expression on his friend’s face. “Rick. Seriously?”

“Seriously what?”

Guess the Grimes have that in common, being fucking clueless to things like love. Daryl wasn’t going to have it and would have to bring this type of conversation up again.

But in the mean time, Y/N was slowly building up the courage to talk to Carl. He climbed over the wall to follow after him wherever he was going and it didn’t take long to find the young Grimes…and what he was doing.

The archer flinched from his spot by the window which was a habit of his, Rick did it for different intentions earlier. He mainly reacted to the front door shutting harshly, immediately noticing Y/N running into the house.

“Hey! What’s wrong?!”

“Nothing! The world is a terrible fucking shithole that I don’t want to be apart of” Y/N yells back only for Daryl to get annoyed and ignore the boundary his son has where if he was upset, then Daryl can’t just barge in on the matter he has to approach it gently. But given he almost broke the front door, he wasn’t having it.

“What happened? Seriously. You can’t just shut out and curse”

“Why can’t I just fucking internalize my feelings for a fucking night! I don’t want to talk about it” Y/N snaps about to shut the door to the basement apartment the two stayed in under the Grimes’s residence. But Daryl caught his foot in it.

“Nah. We’re either talking about it or I’m stickin’ with yea until you calm down”

“I’m not going to fucking hurt myself!”

“STOP CURSING” Daryl snaps. “And how do I know you won’t when that’s what yea used to do back in the prison after we found yea”

He didn’t know he knew. But honest? How can you hide something that serious in the apocalypse? Even the old world there would be an anxious aura whenever something as serious as that happened. Or at least Daryl isn’t blind to stuff like that.

“I’m…I’m not gonna do anything…I just wanna stop thinkin’ about it” Y/N frowns pressing his back against the wall and slumping to the floor. “I wish I didn’t see it”

Daryl frowns bringing himself to kneel to his level and not asking, but gave his kid a look to tell him at his own speed.

“Can we just…talk about it in the morning”

“As long as I know you’re not gonna do anythin’, bud.” Daryl sighs. “And that if anythin’ during the night yea come and get me”

“…Okay”

It didn’t take long for the anxiety to consume Daryl during the night. He already has issues sleeping and now this? He didn’t want anything to happen to his kid and given their conversation from the other day…it could only be revolved around that. Or something REALLY bad happened that has nothing to do with it.

But the next morning, without the usual having breakfast with the rest of their group. Y/N leaned up against the wall as Daryl stood in the kitchenette.

“Did yea sleep?”

“No…I should’ve just known” Y/N frowns bringing his attention to his feet. “Like. Why did I even bother trying to build up the courage to tell him if I was just gonna see what I saw”

“You told Carl?”

“No, but I saw him and Enid kiss”

“Oh…oh, I’m sorry kid” Daryl didn’t know what else to say as Y/N didn’t know what he wanted to hear frankly. “Somebody will come”

“Oh like that’s possible”

It is. Given Daryl and Aaron are recruiters and there are other fishes…in this apocalyptic sea. But this was recent and he wanted to feel his feelings in private.

Even if he doesn’t know the other side of the story.

________

The two hide within a tree trunk to avoid walkers and whoever else was outside the walls. Enid brought herself close as Carl tensed slightly when looking her in the eye to try and read what she was instigating.

Then when her lips pressed against his and the sound of shuffling happening, Carl pulled away giving her a confused look.

“Uh”

“Oh. Shit I overstepped”

“No—Well. Yes. Sorry I just…don’t like yea in that way”

“Oh okay…” Enid wasn’t entirely surprised, her being in a similar situation as another where you have to take the risk and either be disappointed never knowing or at least knowing feeling either way. “So…this is a bit awkward”

“Yeah. But like. I care about you and I don’t want this to like. Ruin the chance of being friends”

“It’ll be awkward yea. But no I agree.” Enid reassured him with a smile. “Just friends”

As they exited the tree once the coast was clear, the two started to head back toward the wall they scaled and Enid had to know.

“Who…do you like?”

“Do I have to like someone?”

“No”

“Well I do. I just had to make sure”

Enid rolls her eyes followed by a laugh as Carl drops down beside her. “Imma guess if you don’t say anything”

“I’m not gonna be surprised if you get it on the first guess”

“Oh, so it is Y/N? Cuz that’s who I was thinking of. Ron doesn’t seem like your type…whatever that is”

“Clearly Y/N”

“Right”

________

“Daryl, we need to talk”

The archer is always disturbed when working on his bike and there’s only two people he doesn’t care for the disruption, Rick ain’t one of them.

“I’m busy”

“It’s about our sons”

Daryl sets his tools down giving Rick his undivided attention, noticing the tense expression on his face which lead to his worry but he was better at masking it.

“What happened?”

“Carl just told me he likes your son”

Holy shit Daryl instantly stood to his feet when he heard such and thought how did Rick find this out or what more could’ve happened that didn’t involve either of them. “Okay?”

“Like. Fuck how do I go about this?!”

Oh. Great. “Rick, are you like. Upset by it or—-“

“NO! NO NO NO.” Rick scrambled a bit before taking a deep breath. “No. Just surprised is all. I don’t know what to do about the information I was given”

“Be happy for our kids? But…Uh. Wait. What did Carl tell yea exactly?”

“That he likes both males and femal—“

“About Y/N”

“That he likes Y/N a lot and that he’s been avoiding him. Asking me what he should do but I don’t know!”

Part of Daryl wanted to smack Rick given he has more parenting experience than the archer but he’s this clueless. But another part worried about his kid.

“You’ve seen Y/N today?”

“No, neither has Carl or frankly anybody”

Not like Y/N would go very far since when they first brought him in he was a bit skittish, sure. But as Daryl took him in and the group made him feel like he was a part of something…he never wanted to leave that. He simply has his moments he would rather be alone but he’ll always come back.

And he does.

Daryl waited by the gate for most of the day thinking about the route he’ll take to go find Y/N if he doesn’t come back soon. But when the gates were pushed open, letting said individual in as he was instantly met with a glare.

“Uh. I brought game?” Y/N tried to soften the tension looming as he held up a rabbit that he caught.

“You gotta go talk to Carl”

“Why?” Y/N scoffs carrying his rabbit toward their home as Daryl grabbed his shoulder carefully pulling them back. “What! Why do I have to?! His answer was loud and clear”

“His answer wasn’t loud and clear. You gotta trust me and go talk to Carl.”

“Okay…and what do I get if I do it?”

A boyfriend what fucking else do yea want?! Daryl thought as he knew where Y/N was about to go which made him a tad annoyed.

“You tell Carol.”

“Do I have to go fucking first?”

“No, and language” Y/N grins deviously before tossing the rabbit at him and making his way to the Grimes’ residence but up to where Carl’s room was.

The time from the gate to the door of Carl’s room, made him anxious. He didn’t want to talk about it with him. Didn’t want to be rejected face to face…but right before Y/N knocked on the door, he heard his name being called from the stairs…noticing Carl had gotten home right after he did.

“Oh uh. This is awkward”

“But good. I gotta talk to you”

Huh? Y/N brought himself close but enough for distance even if Carl did take a step forward to break it and some part of Y/N kept him cemented.

“You’ve been avoiding me…and it’s got me thinking about what happened recently with uh. Me and Enid”

“Oh I—“

“I knew someone had ran off in the distance. Too fast to be a Walker or at least we don’t know any variants that can run uh…Just. I knew you saw what you saw”

“Oh…and I’m guessing you’re confirming—-“

“No!…No. it’s not like that at all…I do like Enid. But it was never in that way” Carl started to become a bit bashful as the rise of a pink hue came to his cheeks. “Really never was”

Now Y/N was feeling a bit of the heat rise to his cheeks as he thought this was his window. It is! Just say—-

“I like you”

“I like you”

That left the two to laugh at the unison as Carl instantly brought Y/N into his embrace, feeling him tighten his grasp on the Grimes. The two held onto each other for a while…until the time felt right to take that next step. Even if for the time being it was a kiss on the cheek from Y/N to Carl because they might not know, but the two knew the dads looming on the first floor.

“You think he confessed”

“Yeah they are definitely sucking face right about now if they ain’t talkin’”

“WHAT”

“Calm your tits, Rick. They’re young love let them enjoy themselves…” Daryl starts as it started to get a bit too quiet. “BUT NOT TOO MUCH”

“FUCK OFF DAD” Y/N yells downstairs as that was their cue to leave the two alone for a bit.

Enjoy their happiness for themselves

[bandydear]

I’ve been reading your tlgbf tlgbl fic, and am absolutely obsessed!! Where did you get the inspirations for dyke Jackie? I love how you’ve written her and her queerness

So, I prescribe to the theory that Jackie had some inclinations about her homosexuality out there in the wild and that's why she's parading around in sweater vests and limp wrists. That the high femme presentation we see in the pilot is more of a gender and social performance than who she is. And, I explored the people pleaser elements that lingered behind in that.

She compliments Nat in the Pilot that she admires how true to herself Natalie is which means that Jackie is not true to herself. She feels the pressure of expectation and lives within that expectation instead of her truth. We are never given a "truth that could crash an airplane" from Jackie. What she says is that she used to sneak downstairs and watch The Color of Night so she could pause it at Bruce Willis's wang.

For research for the fic, I watched Color of Night (the shit I do for art...). Bruce Willis's flaccid dong is there for like, five frames. And, it's not impressive like she claims it to be. You know what that movie actually has a lot of? Naked women and lesbian sex. Jackie's gay.

I know a lot of butch/futch/even high femme dykes who began their journeys presenting heterofemme realness and rejected it when they made their way down the rainbow brick road. Jackie very much gives me those vibes. Like, she has gay energy, but also a very "useless gay man" energy.

I think that finding out "x amount" of her teammates are some kind of queer and that the Very Hetero Sport she's been shielding herself with is uhhhhh Not That is part of what leads her down the path of self-discovery.

She's also shredded. Jackie canonically has an 8-pack and that's interesting because in the 90's, muscle tone was seen as something undesirable for women. (Now, I know that the show is made Now, where the aesthetic ideals are different, but if it's in the text it counts.)

Anyway, this has all been said before in other tumblr posts about Jackie being gay. I'm sure you're asking about why I wrote her as a futch service top instead of say, a femme pillow princess?

It has to do with her character arc. In S1 of Yellowjackets, Jackie's arc is one of nihilism and regression. The only thing that is keeping her alive in this survival situation is her love for Shauna, and when she learns of Shauna's resentment, she loses the will to live. Literally. Dies of a broken heart.

Jackie cannot survive in an environment without love. And, she struggles with survival instincts in general. Which is what makes her a great foil to Nat, who cannot help but survive, and, ironically, dies in S2 of too much love. The moment Nat stopped being cynical and nihilistic she doomed herself.

Two characters in direct opposition cannot exist so therefore they must either kill one or the other other--or change each other to live in harmony. I chose the latter. Jackie softens Nat and Nat hardens Jackie. They meet in the middle. If Jackie becomes hard, and becomes someone who can survive, what does that look like? What's the funniest possible way to get to this point?

Make Jackie the one who builds the shelter. Take this ineffectual, limp wristed twink and show her the way towards self-sufficiency through trades. Her home was broken beyond repair, so she learns how to fix it on her own. The literal is metaphorical and the metaphorical is literal.

So, now that I've explained:

Why Jackie is gay

Why Jackie fixes houses

Now, "why a service top"?

I touch on it in the text, but I don't think she's solely that. I do think that even after coming out, if she was experimenting with people who weren't Shauna she wouldn't allow herself to be physically vulnerable with them. It would cause a panic attack. She has a very Protestant energy and receiving pleasure as a part of sex would probably give her like 5 different mental breaks.

Jackie doesn't enjoy sex with Jeff (oral and hand stuff count as sex) not just because she's gay, but because she's too self-aware of how she's being perceived to enjoy her body.

On the other hand, she is a chronic people pleaser--though Lazy, so I knew she couldn't jump into this with both feet. If Jackie had slept with the girl in chapter 1 it wouldn't have gone well, and it would have been super awkward and unsatisfying for both parties. It's the envy at seeing Nat enjoying herself, and finally being in a safe space to relax a little that allows her to explore sensuality. Still, I don't think she'd let herself be touched in the same way.

If she had, as planned, shared a room with Shauna at Rutgers, I could see her being in a much more comfortable sexual role. Because Shauna was her safe space. But, I could also see her bringing a lot of her own baggage into that situation, and it quickly becoming toxic. I don't think they'd work romantically out of their "platonic" relationship in school, because it had already broken and festered by the Pilot.

Anyway! That's the impetus for Jackie's dykery. I hope that clarified some things. There are other folks out there who have come away with other, valid, and cool conclusions, but these are the ones I came to with my own research and experience. Thanks again for asking!

[sasseebeee]

i just posted a fic! it's not the first thing i've written, but it is the first one i published somewhere! there's also a version under the cut for anyone who wants to read it here!

Rana felt as if she was in a fairytale.

Here she was, in the prettiest ball gown she had ever seen in her life, dancing in the arms of the man she held dearest.

“This has to be a dream,” she murmured.

Her partner gazed into her eyes, looking at Rana with a lovestruck expression. “Rana…” Oh, how her name sounded so divine when it passed his lips! Suddenly, he leaned in, his lips ever so close to her ear. She could feel his breath hot on her neck as he whispered…

“Of course it's a dream.”

And then Rana woke up.

She was in her bed, in her room in Revenant’s Toll, and definitely not dancing with G’raha Tia. Of course. Rana buried her head in her hands and groaned. Gods, she was beyond saving.

Rana looked out of her window and slumped as she saw how early it was. The sun hadn't even risen yet! She cursed her hyperactive mind and nestled back into her covers, preparing to drift back into slumber…

…But each time she closed her eyes, Rana found herself plagued by reminders of her dream. Especially the way G’raha had looked at her…with such fervent love in his eyes…and the way her heart had pounded when he’d leaned in…

Nope. Nope. Nope. Absolutely not. Rana was not thinking about that. She threw the covers off of herself and hopped out of her bed. She would just have to start the day early. 

-

Rana stood in front of the stove, watching her food like a hawk. She was acutely aware of the phrase about the watched pot, but whoever came up with that had *clearly* never burned food before. Luckily, Rana's food was not (too) burnt today, a fact that manifested a proud grin on her face as she plated her food. As she moved to one of the tables, she heard the familiar sound of boots approaching.

“Ah, good morning, my fellow early riser.” 

Rana immediately felt heat rise to her face as she heard the voice of the man who had starred in her dreams. Stop. Thinking. About. It. She turned around and prayed that her friend did not notice her reddening cheeks.

“Morning! What’s got you up so early?”

“Ah. Well…I haven't had the best time sleeping after the tower. I imagine all that time sleeping might have impacted my circadian rhythm quite a bit…” G’raha gave a solemn smile. “But what of you, my friend? I know you are often up early, but never before the sun.”

“Oh! Well. Um. I…” 

What was she supposed to say? Oh, I just had a dream that you were madly in love with me, and it's giving me a lot of feelings right now! Gods above, that would be mortifying. Rana would have to throw herself into a bottomless pit.

What if she twisted it a bit and said she had a nightmare? That seemed a little cruel though. It wasn't as if she didn't like it… Her tail was swaying even now as she thought of the scene. 

“I…guess I just woke up. And couldn't go back to sleep. Yeah.”

“...I see.” 

Oh Gods he definitely knew she was lying. Thankfully, G’raha refrained from pushing further and merely gave her a sympathetic smile. “Well, nevertheless, I am glad I get to spend this morning with you.”

“Yeah. Likewise!” Rana tried her best to give the most natural smile she could, but if the flash of worry on her friend’s face gave any indication, she knew she was only raising concern. “Uhhhhh anyways…how are you adjusting to life back on the source?”

“‘Tis…strange. To say the least.” G’raha moved to one of the tables, as Rana trailed behind, carrying her plate of food. “Not unpleasant, mind you. But…I’ve been so used to the conveniences of the tower for so long, that it might take some time for me to…readjust. But…” He slipped a sausage link from Rana’s plate. “I’m certainly looking forward to all the joys that come with it.”

“You could've just asked.” Rana rolled her eyes as G’raha popped the sausage into his mouth. “But it's good to hear you have such a positive outlook on things.” She took a bite of one of her own sausages. “Oh yeah, have you got any plans yet?”

“For where I’ll go once things are settled with the tower?” Rana nodded. “Mmm…I’m not quite sure yet. I could return to Sharlayan, as I was planning to do after our original expedition into the tower, but…”

“You don't want to?”

“Not exactly…well, that's not far off…”

“So join the Scions!”

“I…” G’raha let out a sharp exhale. “...It's complicated.”

“How so?”

G’raha’s ears flattened against his head. “Well, I…I don't exactly feel up to par with the rest of you.”

What. “I’m sorry?”

“I mean, you all have done such amazing things for the sake of the star–Hells, Rana you had a book written about your adventures in Ishgard!--’Tis difficult to not feel inferior to the rest of you.”

He cannot be serious. Rana stood up from the table and looked her friend dead in the eyes. “G’raha Tia, in my opinion, you are the most impressive out of all of us.” G'raha's ears perked up and he looked at Rana with great intrigue. “You created a method of shard travel, you built an entire community during your time in the First, you did and were prepared to make any sacrifice in order to see the Source and the First saved, hells, you can fill more roles in battle than I can! And honestly, I think of you as equal to me in combat. So personally? I think you absolutely deserve to be a Scion.”

G’raha was silent for a moment, and then began to ponder Rana’s words. “I…see. I shall take your words into consideration, my friend. Thank you.” Rana swore she could see his cheeks redden slightly. She suddenly remembered her dream and abruptly rose from the table, swiftly moving to the door.”

“Well, with that being said, I’d better be off! You know, monsters to slay, people to save, stuff like that!”

“You’re leaving already?! Ah, but your breakfast…!” 

“You can have it! I gotta run!” Rana dashed out of the building and stood by the aetheryte a moment, catching her breath. Her breathing had slowed, but her heart still pounded. Could her mind be playing tricks on her? Had he really looked at her like that? Rana buried her head in her hands and silently screamed. 

Because, for a moment, she could’ve sworn she’d seen G’raha Tia wore the exact same expression he’d had in her dream.

[suckitsurveys]

Is your closet disorganized? Not super disorganized, no.

Have you ever been to Times Square? I have.

What TV shows do you watch on a regular basis? Right now SNL.

Have you ever accidentally left something valuable at a shop before? Yes.

What makes your life remarkable? Hah.

Are you putting off doing anything that you really need to get done? Uh huh.

What is the last thing you scribbled down on a Post-It note? Just work notes.

What are you currently listening to? Nothing.

How would you react in discovering your best friend was seriously obsessed with you? Uhhhhh I think I’d notice that by now.

Do you care if your produce is organic or not? No.

Do you have any children? If so, how old were you when you had them? If not, do you think you ever will? Nope and nope.

Do you eat meat? Yes.

Do you get enough calcium? Probably not.

Do you think before you act or speak? Yes, almost to a fault. As in, I almost never speak up for myself because I overthink how people will react.

Do you have a SwagBucks account? I have no idea what that is.

Are you nosy? I can be.

Do you always try on clothes before purchasing them? Not always

Is there anything in your closet with the tags still on? Nope. There was until somewhat recently.

Are you happy with the size of your bedroom? It’s fine.

Do you add people you don’t actually know on Facebook? No. Everyone on FB I know to one extent or another.

What’s your favorite condiment? Depends on the food.

Would you even want to know how much of your life has been spent online? Good god.

Do you shop at American Eagle? No.

List 5 things you’re afraid of: No.

Have you forgotten anything important recently? Blah.

Would you say you’re an honest person? Yeah.

The last Facebook message you received from the opposite sex, what did it say? It was from Mark. He was telling me he was going to start preparing the homemade french fried onions for our homemade green bean casserole for tomorrow.

What does the nicest message in your Facebook inbox say? I'm sure it’s from Mark; he’s the only person I talk to on there.

Is your best friend single? Two are.

What color was the ink of the last pen you wrote with? Black.

What does your pencil-case look like? I don’t have one.

Where was the last place you went that was totally new to you, as in, it was the first time you’d been there? The most recent places I can recall is a cafe and a couple of stores in Salt Lake City when I visited Ellen earlier this month. Also, it was my first time seeing her new condo!

When was the last time you used someone else’s computer? It’s been a while.

Who do you dislike the most? Explain what you dislike about that person. My sister’s husband because he’s a fucking piece of fucking shit and the worst father I’ve ever seen and pretends to be all high and mighty and above everyone else and I just fucking hate him.

What’s the longest you’ve liked someone without doing anything about it? I don’t know.

Do you use straightening irons on your hair? What brand? No.

What’s the relationship status of the last person you talked to? He’s married to meeeeee.

Is there anything you would like to complain about? A lot of stuff.

What’s the first line of the last song you listened to? “She would never say where she came from.”

Think of the person from your past that hurt you the most. Is there anything you would like to say to that person? No.

Does your mom like the last person you kissed? She did when she was alive.

Now your cell phone, what color is it? It’s silver.

What was so special about today? Eh.

If somebody tried to steal your best friend’s boyfriend/girlfriend, what would you do? I don’t know, I’m not in high school.

What was the last thing you said to your mother? That was over 11 years ago at this point.

When was the last time you cried? Yesterday.

Has anyone made you upset lately? Yes.

What are you looking forward to? The two weeks I have off for Christmas/New Years.

Does anyone completely understand you? Sure.

Ever stayed up all night on the phone? Yeah.

Do you miss your past? Some aspects of it.

Do you have a reason to smile right now? I do.

Are you a forgiving person? Eh.

Do you say sorry first? Yes, if I have to.

Do you like cats? I LOVE cats.

Has someone promised you something and broke it? Yeah.

Did you kiss or hug anyone today? Yes to both.

Does your phone ring in the middle of the night? Not usually.

Is there anybody you’re really disappointed in right now? Eh.

Have you ever lost someone you wish you didn’t? Yeah.

Are you anything like you were a year ago? Sure.

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? Sure.

Would you rather spend a day outside with friends or inside alone? Depends entirely on my mood.

Think back to this time last year, were you happy? Blah.

Has anyone upset you in the last week? Yes.

What should you be doing? I am doing this at work but I am also doing training videos so I’m not completely ignoring my job lol.

Describe how you feel right now in one word. Tired.

What would you do if you found out one of your friends was going for the person you liked? I'm married, they wouldn’t.

Do you prefer drinking water from a bottle or a sink? A bottle or at least filtered. I’m not above drinking it from a sink but if the options are available I’ll take it filtered.

Will you ever run away and get married in Las Vegas with no notifications to either of your families? Already married.

Have you ever thrown your iPod in anger? Oh yes.

Who did you last have a heart-to-heart conversation with? Mark.

Do you believe that there’s good in everybody? Eh.

Has anything happened to you within the past month that has made you mad? Yes.

Would you ever get a tattoo? I have several already.

[loppiopio]

tagged by @whamss i’m currently not doing anything so i will do this.

last song: i was thinking about heathers musical last night and put it on to loop while on a mad surugaya shopping spree. i was imagining it again earlier today and put on the end of our love is god just to listen to that part where kurt gets shot. i don’t even like the whole song that much but i kept looping some of the fun motifs from it in the other songs with my mind radio.

favourite colour: uhhhhh pfffff kinda suuuck at choosing one favourite colour but i vibe with this soft  green #cccc66 that’s the colour of this little water bottle i got, and also the awesome yellow #e4bd18 on the cute crossbody itabag i also got.

last movie/show: when i watch shows or movies it’s usually with note who’s been busy with granblue relink as of late so i’ve just been catching up on connor vods (last one i watched) (what i'm watching right now) an actual movie or show I last watched…… i swear it must’ve been episode 5 of scott pilgrim from november last year with note? this was before i strapped in committed to making that video, and then travelled afterwards.

sweet/spicy/savoury: idk i like treats of both the sweet and savoury variety (separately) i think this is a weird question for me to answer. actually buying nice treats is costly so most of the time i’m just eating savoury for sustenance? preparing something sweet myself is a hassle.

relationship status: single and fine with it.

last thing i googled: this sucks the last thing i looked up was “sustenance” to make sure I got the word right, my last few searches have also been “episode 6 scott pilgrim” “episode 4 scott pilgrim” “granblue relink” i’m literally going through my history right now and everything in the last 24 hours is just me checking what i might be saying or checking what i was buying from last night.

current obsession: i’m not deeply obsessed with it right now but my active interest is still durarara at the moment, still thinking of and not finishing a bunch of things i want to do for it and last night was a deep shopping spree for mostly durarara merch. i do get like, pretty invested in some of the games connor plays in the moment though, like super mario rpg went hard (such a charming game) and still thinking about detective grimoire which he played for like 10 minutes i wish he’d play for more. i do just watch that guy a lot. i’ve also got genshin back in the schedule again (sorry) and am pretty into the card game, which oddly enough is making me feel like reading some fic.

i am afraid to tag mutuals that apparently follow me because i barely post anything on here like you said but we should harass @euclidpaws more into posting too because i haven’t seen them say a word. @rosa-maltz @stray-tori i talk to you guys enough and we are registered mutuals you can do this if you want.

[blade-that-was-broken]

How do you know about Soldiers stuff that well? (Sorry, I’m not good with questions, how to figure out what to say-)

I do love solder on AU, I’m just am surprised.

Uhhhhh idk. I’m not sure if I’d say I know things well. I watched a lot of movies and shows that sometimes had a military element once upon a time, mostly when I was younger.

There has been a bit of research. For this and for my own characters. I’ve been creating original characters for a super long time and so yeah some of them are/were military. So I guess there is that.

I’m kind of embarassed to admit I just kind of winged a lot of it? Like some of it just seems kind of apparent to my brain? I’m not sure how to explain it.

My cousin went into the military a couple years ago but we aren’t close so idk what she even does. And some of this stuff is made up. There is a few things I don't think I've talked about that I'm like pretty certain isn't a thing but well, it's fanfic soooooo whateverrrrrr.

[bramblemantle]

question meme thing, tagged by @nosongunsung11 ( o/ !!)

tagging: uhhhhhh let’s say @lupathemoth and @a-little-monotonous ! as well as anyone else who’d like to use this format

share your wallpaper: it used to be ace attorney for a really long time, now it’s blaseball. i don’t tend to change visuals often

lock screen is this artwork of Parker by @ HORSEIZONTAL on twitter

home screen is this Jaylen artwork by @ 0re

my laptop lock screen is that title screen artwork of Revachol from Disco Elysium, home screen is this, don’t know what the original source is but it’s on a lot of wallpaper sites. miiiight be wallpaperstock dot net ?

last song you listened to?: i’m listening to music all of the time but as i’m writing this i’m listening to Hail To Whatever You Found In The Sunlight That Surrounds You by Rilo Kiley. in general i’ve been listening to a lot of the Garages and Paramore. so i’m also linking Ignorance bc i keep getting it stuck in my head

currently reading?: i’m rereading the Animorphs series for the first time in years! this is actually the first time i’ve read the series in its entirety, as my personal collection grows sparse after book 30 so there’s some i’ve never read. i’m currently on book 36 out of 54! (plus the extras in there whenever they fit chronologically)

last movie you watched?: uhh i don’t watch a lot of movies. technically Sing i think? i was playing totk and sitting with my 7 y/o brother. he wanted to watch Sing but he got distracted before the end of the movie and turned it off. if we’re talking about movies i watched for me then there’s a good chance it was the new Puss in Boots movie or Into the Spider-Verse but it’s been like a couple months

craving: toasted bagel. butter on it. the good stuff. the creamy kind of butter. tim hortons does it right. also i could go for some dark chocolate

what are you wearing right now?: uhhhh some kinda kapris (?) with grey flower and triangle patterns, and a muscle shirt (?) i was just gifted with pride flags on it. it’s hot as balls. if it weren’t hot as balls i’d have on one of my fave tees, and my Houston Spies bomber jacket or one of my beloved long coats

how tall are you?: 5’2” and a half, which i only found out last year when i finally asked at a visit with doctors

piercings?: nah i’m too much of a baby abt the pain and don’t want to deal with maintenance, but they look cool as hell on anyone

tattoos?: same as above but i’m more likely to be tempted into getting something small someday

glasses? contacts?: i’ve been wearing glasses since elementary school, they’re an all day necessity for me. i gotta get new ones, i’ve had these lenses for years and the frames for even longer whoops. the prescription definitely doesn’t line up anymore

last drink?: iced capp from tim hortons hehe. i don’t consume a lot of caffeine but that shit slaps and cold drinks are a must in this weather

last show?: i also don’t watch a lot of tv! uhhhhh i’m drawing a blank. there’s a chance it was Centaurworld but that was a WHILE ago (and i’ve been thinking of rewatching it soon)

favourite colour?: purples and teals. also browns when there’s a saturated accent colour with it

current obsession?: split between Blaseball (the brainrots been going strong since october) and several different groups of ocs. and also Animorphs i missed Animorphs so much i love Animorphs. fundamental to my childhood. i’m getting back to my roots

unrelated obsession?: not quite sure what this is asking! but Tears of the Kingdom is Up There as well, i’m trying not to rush through the game but i’m finding it very hard to put down ^-^’

or actually if that question is asking about obsessions not tied to any fandom. it’s prehistoric animals and/or bats :]

any pets?: there’s a lot of animals i know and interact with throughout the week. i live with a dog (old chihuahua named Prince) and 3 cats (Charming, Bella, and Mr. Kitty). of those, Mr. Kitty is My Cat part time. he loves my granny a lot too, he’s always either in my room or hers, snuggled up near one of us. he’s one of my best friends he’s so important to me :] my silly little guy

do you have a crush on anyone?: i still am not sure what that’s supposed to feel like and if i have ever felt it before but no i don’t right now. just love and admiration for my pals 🫶

favourite fictional characters: there’s so many my guy. i have a tag for blorbos that live in my brain. the ones on my mind a lot recently are a bunch of Blaseball players, the kids from Animorphs (in particular Rachel, Tobias, and Cassie. the latter two were always tied for favourite when i was a kid but i’ve also found a new appreciation for Rachel as well. man. these kids), the iterators from Rain World, the satellites from 17776/20020, Emmet & Ingo from Pokemon, the list can go on and on and on

last place you travelled?: uhhhh i don’t get out much! i haven’t left the valley i live in for years. i don’t know how far away ‘travel’ has to be to count as travel, the last trip i’ve been on might have been a family vacation into the states? in any case i didn’t go anywhere noteworthy in the past year or more

[which-hospital]

Burning Bridges (1/07/23)

I just want to say that I am so jealous and amazed by people who are excited to see drama in their continuing medical drama, even when it affects their favourite characters. I am too naturally anxious for that, I just want to see my favourites sit and be happy together, watching the drama unfold while it only affects my liked but not-favourite characters…

What an episode! Part of me does feel like, a while back, that episode would’ve been spread across two episodes or at least that the explosion would have happened earlier on but they still found time for it to have a lot of impact so I’m not too bothered. I have a lot of thoughts on it all - mostly on the Max and Jodie stuff and the Sah, Paige and Teddy stuff - but I feel like I’ll be going on about it all quite a lot so it’s all below the cut.

Jodie and Max have been incredibly interesting to me and I’ve really enjoyed how this storyline has gone so far. I hoped that they would do the the reveal in association with Max getting hurt to have a bit of a twist on how Jodie always seems to be in constant life threatening danger and also for Jodie to have a chance to realise how much Max cares about her and how much she cares about him too. And Dylan being the first person other than Rida to find out was good. Actually, I just wanna appreciate Dylan and Rida in this episode! Feels like a weird pair to appreciate together but I feel like they were both really looking out for Jodie in their own ways. Also Stevie, even though she’s annoyed at Jodie, she still defends her when she finds out about her resigning. I hope that Jodie and Max can start to have a better relationship now but I’d also be surprised if Casualty allows for that level of peace.

I feel bad for Cam but also when he started yelling at Jodie for getting with Ryan my immediate response was uhhhhh maybe not the best approach there, Cam. I’m glad to see him stand up to Ryan though. Ryan is interesting because we’ll get a scene of him looking all sad and vulnerable and stuff and then immediately be reminded of how much of a prick he is able to be. In that scene where Cam tells him they’ve never been friends, I don’t have it in me to feel bad for Ryan because Cam’s right and also he shows up all oh Jodie didn’t sleep with Max as if he isn’t the person who spread those rumours in the first place. I do think that we probably won’t get Cam/Jodie any time soon considering what he said to her but who knows.

I expected that Iain would break up with Faith in this episode but the writers are somehow going to keep her and the relationship going. I will admit that I found the idea of Sah, Paige and Faith going for drinks together pretty funny - I guess I just think of Paige and Faith as being connected to Sah through Teddy and Iain so it’s just like time for unenthusiastic shots with my friends’ girlfriends.

A relatively smaller aspect of the episode but it’s my big issue of the week: I could write like a thousand words about Sah, Paige and Teddy. First of all, it felt kind of like they resolved the stuff between Sah and Paige very quickly, especially considering it’s only been a day in canon but I guess it kinda makes sense that Paige would want to apologise like the day after and Sah isn’t really the type to stretch out conflict if it can be dealt with. The kiss between them was always going to feel a little out of nowhere and I think that was probably intentional but also I feel like I expected that it would be Sah to initiate the kiss? I had initially interpreted their interest and overinvolvment in Teddy and Paige’s relationship (we’ve almost definitely got more scenes of them asking Teddy about the relationship than the relationship actually being a relationship) through my Sah/Teddy Shipper lens but after the spoilers for yesterday’s episode came out I kind of reinterpreted it as Sah sort of vicariously living out a romance storyline through Teddy and then it was Paige that went for the first kiss instead. I don’t know, I’m just struggling to think of anything Paige has done before this point that like, is explained if Paige has some kind of feelings for Sah but maybe I’m forgetting stuff. I mean, seems like Paige has got a thing for paramedics - what she was saying before kissing them was essentially just woah you’re a paramedic, you do this all the time, now let’s kiss.

I feel so bad for Teddy! All the characters seemed worried about the explosion but he really seemed worried, like my heart was broken for him when he showed up crying and that way he hugs the both of them while they’re looking at each other realising what they’ve done to this person who cares about them both so much. I mean, people have certainly done worse things with their friends’ partners in this show but it just feels like such a specific kind of betrayal between Sah and Teddy. I have my personal, ridiculous dream resolution to this storyline but that seems unlikely. I see a lot of people suggesting polyamory and I’m starting to back that too, I’m not big into Paige like I am with Sah and Teddy (which is like a high bar to meet anyway) - but if she makes them happy then I’ll support them all together. I also have some potential terrible outcomes that I hope we don’t see but that also feel very Casualty-esque. For the next few episodes, I’ve seen a lot of people say that they think Sah will want to tell Teddy and that Paige will try to ignore that it happened and I do think that makes sense considering the circumstances and what I think of Sah’s characterisation. I also hope that’s how it goes, I just don’t want to see them hiding it from him because then it’ll be even worse when he finds out.

NO CASUALTY NEXT WEEK!! Tragic, sobbing, screaming. I can’t even do a spoilers review because there’s no spoilers, I don’t know what to do with myself :(

[hughiecampbelle]

you writing is so delicious so it thought I’d throw my hat in the ship ring. My name is Anna, my pronouns are she/her, I’ve been a card carrying bisexual for the longest time but I’ve also been giving serious thought to whether or not I’m also asexual so that’s a whole fucking mess. I really don’t have a gender preference when it comes to my dating life, as it’s pretty nonexistent. I’ve got pretty curly hair that’s hard to manage, and I’m slightly taller than average at 5’8”. I’m a film major (ashamed to say it but I’m more of a film bro than I want to be), my favorite genre is horror, and one of my favorite actors is Harvey Keitel. My love language is basically forcing people to watch movies with me. I love 70s music, especially George Harrison, and I play a couple instruments. When I travel I like to visit cities, and I always try to root out the best indie theatres. I like baking, and I’m pretty good a cooking, especially spaghetti bolognese. My sense of humor ranges from pretty dry to stupidly silly, idk my dad thinks I’m funny. I really don’t have a dream future, the most I want is the freedom to do what I love, whatever that looks like. I’m a yearner, big yearner and craver. What I really want is someone who understands my certain flavor of mess. Uhhhhh I have a scar on my knee from the last time I tried to walk in heels, and my hobbies are writing and crocheting. As you can tell from this whole autobiography I’ve sent you I’m quite wordy and I like to hear myself talk.

I’m also literally in love with you and your blog, peace and love

Hi my love! I ship you with: Greg Hirsch!!!

He loves your height. Greg is quite tall and finds that having a shorter partner just doesn't work out. He especially loves when you wear heels, making you even taller. It's the perfect height for forehead and top of the head kisses, his favorite. He also loves your cooking skills. Greg is still trying to figure out how to be an adult. He finally has an adult apartment and a corporate job, but he's pretty bad when it comes to cooking and food shopping in general. Watching you is like watching magic. The first and last time he tried to cook for you, the pasta was totally overcooked and congealed into one mass lump. You tried to make him feel better about it, but he could tell by the look on your face it was not as good as you said it was.

You love how flustered he is. Of course he can't help it, but you really do adore it. it gets worse when you're around. Not only is he tripping over his words, but his own feet, too. He becomes this gangly, clumsy mess of a person when he sees you, walking into glass doors and spilling his coffee all over himself. At first you think you're bad luck, even going so far as to avoid him, but he seeks you out. Whatever disaster that occurs in your presence is totally worth it if he gets to spend a few minutes with you around the office between meetings.

Your relationship is clumsy. You know what you want, what you yearn for, and Greg is more than happy to come along for the ride. There's always a hiccup, a bump in the road, there is something that always goes wrong, but the two of you can typically shrug it off and laugh. Nothing gets taken too seriously. He learns from you that not everything is the end of the world and that there's more to life than the stress of dealing with his family and all their drama.

Your first date is to a horror movie. Greg is pretty jumpy and can't stand when the music gets higher and faster, but nothing has jumped out yet. But, he knows that you love them, so it's worth it. Every time you look over at him he's hugging the popcorn and covering his eyes, jumping at the slightest sound. You hold his hand, both because you want to and because you think it'll help. The grin that spreads across his face is so sweet. For the rest of the movie he's a lot more relaxed, even making jokes to get you to laugh.

Relationship Headcanon: Greg finds you hilarious. You're the only one who can make him laugh til he cries. Hyperventilating, struggling to breath, thinking you're gonna die laughing. That makes you laugh harder at your own jokes and there the two of you are, struggling to catch your breath, unable to look at each other or else you'll laugh harder. He has a good laugh, the kind that makes a joke even funnier.

Thank you my love!!! Hope you like it! 💜💜💜

[babyghoul6669]

I got tagged by @the-hole-in-terzos-shoe this took so long for me to do I'm sorry!! I'm slowly getting through my tag games 😂

About Me :3c 🐺🜏🌙

NICKNAME: Savvy, or Fang since my main art tag is FangFero

SIGN: Cancer. ♋️ 🦀 I don’t really know how to find the like sun and moon and all that ones lol

HEIGHT: 168cm or a little over 5′5″ in freedom units

LAST GOOGLE SEARCH: “candid” sometimes I’m unsure if I really remember the meaning to a word, so I gotta look it up to make sure I’m actually right and not just being dumb.

SONG STUCK IN YOUR HEAD: Funny, normally my brain is a jumbling jukebox of songs and yet when you ask me what's stuck in my head it suddenly goes silent. 😂

FOLLOWERS: The app says 89 but who tf knows anymore...

LUCKY NUMBER: 8, 13, 69 I swear that’s not a sexual joke it has to do with my phone number!!

SLEEP: It doesn’t matter how early I go to bed I just never get a lot of sleep. I do this weird thing where I can’t just roll over in my sleep. I have to wake up completely, roll over, then try to get back to sleep. It’s annoying.

DREAM JOB: I try not to think about this too much anymore... but I used to dream about making a job from my art. Or getting into the medical field, maybe as lab tech. Now I think it would be cool if I got into sound engineering and became a sound tech for venues and got to meet all kinds of cool artists and bands but..... idk it’s a little late for that I guess.

WEARING: A cold shoulder black dress with a meshy neck line, all because I was too lazy to put on pants

FAVORITE SONGS: Nope. No this question is actually impossible to answer. My brain is a jukebox and there is no one answer to this and even if there was it is constantly changing.

FAVORITE INSTRUMENT: I’ve always been fascinated by string instruments like violins and cellos, I could never play them myself but I love them.

AESTHETIC: Casual goth/punk but I have a weakness for yami kawaii and Menhera

FAVORITE AUTHOR: uhhhhh I guess I’ll just say Margaret Atwood because Handmaid’s Tale was the only book I was forced to read in highschool that I actually couldn’t put down.

FAVORITE COLOR: #d70be4 <-- This specific shade of magenta!!

FAVORITE ANIMAL SOUNDS: The quiet little boofs dogs make in their sleep when they’re dreaming

LAST SONG: Stand by Him - Ghost

LAST SERIES: Well... my bf has been watching Chuck when I’m in the same room as him so I guess that? If you ask me the last series I was actually paying attention too, it’s Trigun Stampede

RANDOM: ily 💜

I tag @angellayercake @rabidghoul @atennix and @sxnnelysister If you've done it already or don't want to do it, ignore me. And if I didn't tag you and you want to do it then I tag you too! 😝

[bigender-cowboy]

oh boy I think I saw this once but didn’t know what the fuck snogging was so let’s go!!!!!

1: Uhm. With my father. DEFINITELY NOT THE OTHER THOUGH!!!!!

2: My friend

3: not really actually. I’ve fully accepted everything I’ve ever done that I could actually regret.

4: nah. like the last thing I’ve embraced it all.

5: I have a partner and he’s VERY silly

6: for a good cause. preferably quick, but it doesn’t have to be.

7: uhhhh pasta with ketchup and sugar on it

8: hockey and ig if you count it archery. some people don’t though so. nothing professional.

9: Yes but not out of anxiety. ITS BECAUSE I ALWAYS BREAK THEM AND THEY GET UNEVEN

10: uhhhh idk some time this summer. last few months.

11: guys I might like my partner im not sure though

12: yeah and I’ve stayed up later than that. its not the hardest.

13: oh. yes. many people. its actually hard to get on that list but im autistic and people no no my things when i say them

14: yeah

15: three fish two cats

16: incredibly bored although I am getting amused by silly things

17: no why the fuck would I go in the bathroom to make out that is a stupid fucking spot

18: AAAAAAAAAA

19: NO!!!!!!!!!

20: bed (also it wasn’t sexual we were confused what the hype was about. we’re still confused what the hype is about)

21: me and my partner are in Maine rn with his family so probably rest because I get back to his place Saturday and im probably going home Sunday

22: no. IM ALREADY FATHER/SIBLING FIGURE TO LIKE 5 DIFFERENT PEOPLE IM DONE WITH THAT

23: no I used to have 3 on both ears and they all got ripped out/horribly damaged in different ways that all led to hospital trips

24: History. My teacher said I knew more than he did once. So.

25: not really. If it’s IN the past my mom but not her present form.

26: hot chocolate and powdered donuts

27: bi girls love me or something (yes)

28: nope

29: uhm. no? yeah? idk.

30: my partners rats keep attacking each other.

31: yaya

32: Maroon or burgundy. Wine color.

33: ehh. yeah. kind of.

34: uhhhhh I think I watched my partner fall off a building before turning into a bird. idk.

35: my partner but not in a actually serious way. the last person I did that in-front of was my father (in relief/joy)

36: no. im very stubborn. grudge holder.

37: neither??? ig forgive???

38: I thought not and then I thought about it and honestly maybe. not counting being a little kid, JUST maybe.

39: fuck. when I got with my partner so like…1 1/2 years ago? age isn’t being dropped though.

40: once but I really needed to check something and I had NO time for clothes

51: lemons or fettuccine with shrimp and breadsticks or garlic bread

52: not really because idgaf about it its just whatever happens happens it doesn’t matter who you are because it’ll just happen

53: threw the leech bottle and had to find out where the leech went because the bottle opened

54: no.

55: I mean im pretty nice but im also pretty snappy and defensive so at times im definitely mean but not always

56: uhm. i don’t know. dude i used to live in a trailer park where knives were pulled on you so a lot of fucking people???? i don’t know???

57: no

58: light drizzle or heavy snow

59: yes, I don’t think you’ve completed life until you’ve tied a sled to the back of a truck and gotten dragged across snow covered roads.

60: no, I hate marriage. Although I did promise my friend I would marry him for taxes if needed.

61: SHDBDBBSBS NO I HATE THE WORD BABY SO MUCH SHDND

62: a lot of things? my partner? friends? fandoms? idk

63: uhh. I already did just not to anyone but my friends and social media. legally? sure

64: nope. it was my partner.

65: tell them that I don’t like them because I have a partner and keep hanging out with them after

66: uhhh I don’t know how close I am with any cis guys. only trans guys. actually ONE guy. yes.

67: my partner’s mom’s boyfriend I think

68: my friend

69: not really

70: yeah

Open tags

70 horrible questions ... Fuck it

01: Do you have a good relationship with your parents? 02: Who did you last say “I love you” to? 03: Do you regret anything? 04: Are you insecure? 05: What is your relationship status? 06: How do you want to die? 07: What did you last eat? 08: Played any sports? 09: Do you bite your nails? 10: When was your last physical fight? 11: Do you like someone? 12: Have you ever stayed up 48 hours? 13: Do you hate anyone at the moment? 14: Do you miss someone? 15: Have any pets? 16: How exactly are you feeling at the moment? 17: Ever made out in the bathroom? 18: Are you scared of spiders? 19: Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? 20: Where was the last place you snogged someone? 21: What are your plans for this weekend? 22: Do you want to have kids? How many? 23: Do you have piercings? How many? 24: What is/are/were your best subject(s)? 25: Do you miss anyone from your past? 26: What are you craving right now? 27: Have you ever broken someone’s heart? 28: Have you ever been cheated on? 29: Have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry? 30: What’s irritating you right now? 31: Does somebody love you? 32: What is your favourite color? 33: Do you have trust issues? 34: Who/what was your last dream about? 35: Who was the last person you cried in front of? 36: Do you give out second chances too easily? 37: Is it easier to forgive or forget? 38: Is this year the best year of your life? 39: How old were you when you had your first kiss? 40: Have you ever walked outside completely naked? 51: Favourite food? 52: Do you believe everything happens for a reason? 53: What is the last thing you did before you went to bed last night? 54: Is cheating ever okay? 55: Are you mean? 56: How many people have you fist fought? 57: Do you believe in true love? 58: Favourite weather? 59: Do you like the snow? 60: Do you wanna get married? 61: Is it cute when a boy/girl calls you baby? 62: What makes you happy? 63: Would you change your name? 64: Would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed? 65: Your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? 66: Do you have a friend of the opposite sex who you can act your complete self around? 67: Who was the last person of the opposite sex you talked to? 68: Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? 69: Do you believe in soulmates? 70: Is there anyone you would die for?

[foxgloveinspace]

@thoseeyeslikefire thank you for tagging me!!!

15 questions game:

1). Are you named after anyone?

Uhhhhh, weird answer. I chose my name, and technically Foxglove is from an oc that never went anywhere, and Dakota is what my parents woulda named me if I was born male. So. I am named after myself and an oc technically. 

2). When was the last time you cried?

Wednesday. It was a helluva day. Before that? I have no clue tbh.

3). Do you have kids?

No, and I don’t want them personally. I know what other parents with adhd go through, and I know I can not handle that at all. I used to babysit 24/7 (and I mean that literally) and when the job was over, I took a look at myself and I didn’t know who i was anymore. It was not a great time. I applaud parents, and I think they are amazing, but personally I can’t.

4). Do you use sarcasm?

Ye. Usually irl, and not online all that much, cause as someone who is nerodivergent, it’s hard to understand it when its typed sometimes.

5). What is the first thing you notice about people?

Uhhhhhhh. Hair or style usually? I don’t really. Notice things very much. Not in a ‘I don’t care’ way, but more like…. I don’t uhh…… notice…. (adhd brain lmao). Like i notice what people look like, it just doesn’t stick in my brain oof.

6).What is your eye color?

Blue, but like… blue jean blue, lol.

7).Scary Movie or Happy Ending?

Both! I like thrillers with happy endings, lol. I don’t watch a lot of them tho. I prefer happy endings usually tho.

8). Any special talents?

Uhh. nothing that comes to mind? my mom would say baking, lol.

9). Where were you born?

Overland Park, Kansas.

10). What are your hobbies?

Video games, baking, listening to music, reading (mostly fanfic), writing (mostly fanfic), knitting & crochet, I want to draw but I don’t often, sudoku, journaling, watching anime, reading manga (yeah its a different hobby then just reading!).

11).Do you have any pets?

I have outdoor cats, and while I would love to bring them inside, I can not. I have four adults right now, and there's a lot of wild cats. My four adults are Moose, Marmalade, Jam and Notch.

12). What sport do you play/have played?

I haven’t ever really played a sport. I used to play around with a basketball, and try to make shots and stuff cause my cousins had a hoop. I’ve never been really good, and I never wanted to play on a team as a kid.

13). How tall are you?

5’2 ish on a good day (about 157 cm)

14).favorite subject in school?

Math, lmao. I used to be really good at math.

15). Dream Job?

Stay at home husband, lmao, I have chronic pain and so working is hard. Uhhhh, working in a bookstore tbh. But a chill one where I can sit and knit too.

I'm not gonna tag anyone, but the usual drill, if you wanna play this and you see my post feel free to say I tagged you! (cause this is me. Saying I am tagging you! lol.)

[spacemancharisma]

tagged by my delightful friend @leatherleaves…

are you named after anyone?

yes, actually! my given first name is a feminine version of my grandfathers middle name, and my middle name is his last name (my mothers maiden name)

when was the last time you cried?

uhhhhh I don’t know, I don’t cry super often. it’s been a couple months at least lol

do you have kids?

Certainly Not lmao but my husband and I plan on fostering when we’re older

do you use sarcasm a lot?

honestly not really, my humor goes in different directions than sarcasm these days. I mostly use it when I’m upset about something, saying shit like “oh loving this” when I am certainly not loving it

what’s the first thing you notice about people?

hair probs. I have very noticeable hair so I think I started noticing it about others too

what’s your eye color?

brown :)

scary movies or happy endings?

both! I love a horror movie with a satisfying ending. but if I have to choose- I definitely watch more horror than anything else

any special talents?

I have at least a little bit of experience with almost any art form, so I can bust out really specific knowledge at unusual times

where were you born?

Deep South and haven’t left since (GA, USA)

what are your hobbies?

aforementioned different art activities, writing fanfic and poetry, getting way too into my specific playlists, hanging out with my lizard

do you have any pets?

5 lizards and a rabbit! (2 bearded dragons, 2 leopard geckos, and 1 crested gecko, in case you were wondering)

what sports do you play/have played?

as a kid I did softball, swimming, and basketball, but the only one that stuck was volleyball. I played for 8 years then developed a degenerative disability and can’t play anymore even if I wanted to :(

how tall are you?

6’2”

favorite school subject?

if I can’t say art class, english was always my favorite. I love reading and writing and being way too up my ass about interpreting literature

dream job?

what I’m doing right now actually!!! I have a part time job, so I don’t overwork my mental or physical health, but I just got a job working as an art instructor for kids!! i’ve only been working there for about a week now but it’s so fun and I love getting to share with these kids the stuff I loved when I was their age

i won’t tag anyone in particular, but if youre always looking for a reason to talk about yourself like me, you can say I tagged you ;)