#will our boys ever talk to each other. all signs point to no
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bookshelfdreams · 1 year ago
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Once again, as it so often is with ofmd, it is about violence.
Ed is capable of violence and it makes him feel monstrous. Killing his father was a defining moment in his life, something that became a core memory: The darkest, scariest part of himself, but also one that has protected him and been immensely useful. No matter how much he hurts himself with it, how much it chips away at his soul, he's willing and able to do horrible things. This is the price we pay for violence: When you kill, you die as well.
When he met Stede, a man he thinks is fundamentally incapable of the kind of violence that's slowly destroying Ed, it gave him hope that he, too, could move beyond it. That a life full of comfortable and beautiful things was not only possible but attainable; if Stede can sail the seas with his ridiculous toy ship full of books and soft fabrics, have a positive culture of open communication and constructive feedback, then fuck it, why can't he?
To him, Stede's incapability for violence is a positive thing; it might be Stede's greatest strength. But what Ed doesn't realize is that Stede's life, too has been profoundly shaped by violence, how intimately he is acquainted with it - from the other side. Stede has only ever been a victim of violence. Where the moments that replay in Ed's head (the lovely little motage at the beginning of 02x06 for example) are moments where he enacts violence, the moments that define Stede are ones where violence is done to him. We see him splattered with blood, picking flowers: we know what follows is humiliation, verbal and physical abuse, that Stede was unable to protect himself from.
So of course, to Stede, his lack of talent for violence becomes a character flaw. Something that makes him weak, pathetic, cowardly. When he finally learns how to wield violence, how to use it to protect himself and others, it's empowering. He revels in it, the small moments (I did a punch!) and the bigger ones. For the first time in all his life, he's not a victim anymore.
Ed does not know this about Stede. To him, Stede is fragile, someone not yet tainted by violence the way he is. Ed feels protective of Stede, and it's that perceived innocence that I think is a big part of it. All he sees is Stede descending down a path of violence and piracy he has walked already and cannot go down again; the last time he did, it literally made him suicidal. He can't follow, and he can't watch Stede destroy himself the way Ed did, either.
So he leaves.
And Stede, who feels like he has finally grown into a better, more capable version of himself, someone who is able to see hurt and fight back against it for once, doesn't understand this at all.
Both these viewpoints are ones that ofmd wants to validate: Violence is a terrible beast that will eat you whole and spit out your bones AND Violence is sometimes necessary, and even good. It's a delicate balance to keep, and 02x07 doesn't quite manage to do so. But despite the awkwardness, the bones are still there; we end on Roach and Fang (two characters very capable of and good at violence!) having their cute little self-care spa day. This is the future ofmd wants us to believe in: a world where we can chose care and tenderness over battles.
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wingedjellyfishflight · 8 months ago
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Harem in Reverse
"You're soon to be 26, Your Royal Highness. You must put together your harem soon or risk being married off to whomever the regent chooses for you." You sigh, nodding in agreement. Choosing a direct husband would be against the rules, and frankly, you weren't interested in interviewing for the perfect man. Choosing many for their adherence to various qualities, though. That would be a good choice. "Shall I put forth a call for certain attributes? Strong arms? Large chest? Impressive intellect?"
"No, I want to review the troops this week. I will find my consorts among the best our nation has to offer." The advisor looks stunned.
"Your Royal Highness, those are rough men. They do not have the breeding or training to handle you gently as a consort should. They are-."
"Advisor Williams, I know what attributes I am looking for. Schedule me to review the best of the troops, then. If none catch my eye, then I will consider others." The advisor nods, frustrated at not being heeded, but knowing they must follow a direct order.
The following week, you are almost nervous while getting ready, the beginning of butterflies in your stomach. If you weren't so tired, you're sure it would be worse, but the night before was yet another attempt on your life. They are becoming more frequent and more violent now.
Sighing, you hurry to the courtyard where your mount, Rosebud, is waiting. A gift that you feel had been meant to be another threat on your life. The mount was no ordinary horse or pony. Instead, it was the largest draft mule you had ever seen. If you had treated him like a horse, you're sure the thing would have stomped within minutes. He was a vain creature who had to be sweet-talked and treated with utmost respect before he would agree to do much of anything. He was covered in whip and spur scars, telling anyone that he was difficult to force submission from, despite their best efforts. Not that you thought anyone could force an animal born of a mammoth jack donkey and a Shire horse to submit physically. You loved each and every scar, the signs of his stubborn nature on display for all to see.
"Hello, sweet boy." You greet him and let him snuffle you over, waving off the over eager stable hand. "May I ride you today? I am to inspect the troops." He blows a huff of air and turns his head away. You slide your hand along his proud neck and across his withers to the saddle. Checking it over, you deem it done well enough and climb on his back. Your legs spread wide across his broad barrel. Your advisors turn away, knowing that you will refuse their most strident pleas to ride sidesaddle.
"Let us inspect the troops." With that, the company is off at a quick walk to the parade grounds. Your group of advisors and the personal guard that you only marginally trust join the General and his entourage at the front of the formation. You strongly dislike the General. He is somehow the worst mix of ass kissing and condescending.
"The army is excited to be inspected this morning, Your Royal Highness." You barely manage to cover your snort. There is no way they are happy to be here standing in the sun to be inspected on your whim. You move from company to company, looking over the men and pointing out individuals to be inspected, but seeing none you would consider as consort. Reaching the special forces, the rabid dogs as your advisors refer to them, the General is incensed to see that the leader of one is missing.
"Where is the Captain? This is not an optional inspection!"
A man steps forward, "He was injured in a skirmish this week and is still confined to the hospital, General Argus." Looking over the group, you see several still sport bandages and healing abrasions. You nudge your mount closer, his ears perked forward in a match to your curiosity. The General apologizes to you for the disrespect of the men for not appearing but is cut off.
"Your Royal Highness. Escaping the hospital took longer than predicted. For that, I sincerely apologize." You turn, seeing a man limping toward the formation at a quick pace. This must be the Captain. As he falls in, you dismount your mule, resting your hand on his broad neck. Your personal guard hurriedly surrounds you, standing much too close. Rosebud takes exception to being crowded, ears flattening against his head. He strikes out like a snake. His teeth click just shy of the nearest man, who stumbles back yelling and unsheathes a sword. Without a thought, you draw your own ceremonial dagger.
"Touch one hair on Rosebud, and I will gut you." Everyone around you freezes before slowly backing away. "I will not be crowded by your incompetent forms when I am here to inspect the troops." They retreat from your anger, not wanting to risk you calling for their death. Rosebud drops his head, relaxing, and you absentmindedly rub his long ear the way he loves. His lip twitches and his eyes half close for a moment before he pulls away. You step forward, and Rosebud matches your pace, keeping his shoulder just behind yours. It took months to build up a relationship with him, and now he is putty in your hands most days.
An advisor tries to signal you to stay back, but you ignore them, your eyes on the men, looking for the best of them. You memorize the name of the Captain and another likely candidate, signaling Advisor Williams to your side. He groans but carefully walks to you, eyes locked on the increased alertness of Rosebud.
"I will have an audience with this Captain Price and Colonel König. As soon as the men are dismissed. In private." You walk forward and give a cursory inspection to the man who had spoken on the Captain's behalf. His uniform is impeccable, you are happy to see. You don't want them punished on your behalf. The smirk on his face beneath his mask sends a thrill through you. Another man who is not cowed by your station. That is important in advisors. Lieutenant Riley, his uniform says. You nod and mount Rosebud again, rejoining the pack of advisors to inspect the remaining troops. No others catch your eye.
Walking into your State room, you signal for everyone except the two soldiers to leave. While unusual, they are compelled to do so by your haughty glares and Advisor Williams guiding them away, barring the doors behind him and standing guard. Sitting in your throne, you drag your eyes over the men. Colonel König is wearing his customary face covering, and Captain Price has the cover he is well-known for in his hands.
"I have a proposal for you both that I want you to carefully consider. This proposal will not be spoken of again if you decline and it will not leave this room." The men perk up, and you see heat in their eyes as they consider one of the possibilities of your words. "I need advisors who are not advisors." That throws them off, and you see the Colonel shift uneasily. "These advisors would be the closest of any man or woman to me. They would teach and protect me with their very lives. My life is under threat and has been since the King and Queen died, my uncle taking over as Regent. I need advisors who will help me oust him and take my rightful place on the throne without contest and without raising his suspicions. Thus, I need men who will join my harem." You pause, savoring the way their faces change as they process this.
"Your Royal Highness, are you asking us to find you men to join your harem? That is most unusual, but we will do our best." You shake your head at Captain Price.
"Yes, but not in the way you are thinking. I am asking the two of you to join my harem and to advise me on the best men to round out such a harem. To be advisors and leaders in removing the despot from his fake throne. To be my lovers, spoiled in every way and to guard me from all attempts on my life. I want you both, and I trust you to choose others and to bring them to me for approval. If you decline this position, we shall never speak on it again."
"Yes, I would be honored to be chosen for your harem, Your Royal Highness." Colonel König does not hesitate to agree. He feels he has loved you from afar for years, and this is an opportunity he will not squander.
"I would be as well, Your Royal Highness." Captain Price is confident that declining now would be a mistake, and he is not a man prone to mistakes. "I have a few men in mind that would be good additions. They are a bit of a package deal." You nod, expecting as much.
"Their names?"
"John MacTavish, Simon Riley and Kyle Garrick, Your Royal Highness."
"I have two in mind that would be good choices as well. Hiro Watanabe and Kim Hong-jin. They are foreign, but good, loyal and strong men, Your Royal Highness."
The smile you bestow them with is almost a surprise to the men. "Then, I wish for you to gather your men and their belongings. You will join me tonight, my consorts."
"Yes, Your Royal Highness." The men bow and leave, stunned at the way this meeting has gone. You order Advisor Williams to prepare the harem quarters and pack your own belongings secretly. It would be folly to live apart from the men who will be your new private guard and you would be lying if you weren't excited to see under those perfectly done uniforms.
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thissying · 1 month ago
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"A wunderkind," said Niki Lauda when Limburger Max Verstappen (18) won his first Grand Prix in Spain on Sunday. Her wunderkind, thought Sophie Kumpen (41), at home in Maaseik in front of the television. Two hours later the phone rang: "Wow. Mom. Actually unbelievable, huh."
21 May, 2016
Sophie was at home on Sunday when it happened. All alone, on a chair, in front of the television. "I've been in the pit box at enough races to know: I actually prefer to watch in the living room. You can't see it better anywhere else than on television. I have a fixed ritual for it. A candle on the table. Smartphone in hand. And that chair." (points to one of the dining room chairs)
"Of course, if I had known in advance that Max would win his first Grand Prix, I would have gone along. During those last two corners I was sitting in my chair cheering. When Max crossed the finish line, I cried. I didn't even cry at his birth. They were tears of relief, I think. He was finally able to show what I always knew he could do."
What role does genetics play? So far unclear. But this much is certain: if Max drove the competition away on Sunday - and was also a bit lucky with two top drivers dropping out - it was mainly a matter of years of training. "Max has been working towards this for fourteen years. He was four when he started karting. Jos and I practically lived on the circuit at that time. People sometimes think that we pushed Max. That's not true. It came from him. Once that happened, there was no stopping him. And honestly? I understand that. It was the same for me. That kick. That adrenaline. That quickly becomes addictive."
Sophie once lived in the same world as Max does today. She was successful in karting, and Jos had made it in F1. The couple lived in Monaco and bathed in wealth. But the divorce, in 2006, turned that life upside down. Max was eight, his sister Victoria six. It was decided: Max would stay with Jos, Victoria with Sophie. And while Jos focused on his son's career, Sophie looked for a job in Maaseik.
"A very difficult time," says Sophie. "I didn't see Max a lot then. He quickly started to achieve international success and he was abroad a lot with his father. I found that incredibly difficult. But I also knew: if we really wanted to pursue Max's big dream, he would be better off with Jos. I had to flip a switch for that. There were many nights when I lay in bed crying. Out of sadness, for the child I missed so much. I really had to let go of Max. I was often very afraid that I would lose him. Now that he is eighteen, I have the feeling that all that is changing. He visits me more often, shows up unexpectedly at the door more often. 'Mum, let's go shopping in Hasselt.' Max recently had to get his driver's license. He had to drive for a few days with a supervisor. He said: 'I want to do that with you, mum.' I am increasingly getting my place as a mum back. That feels really good."
"The contact with Jos is finally better again, too. Everything has fallen into place: Jos has remarried and I am also doing well. When Max won on Sunday, Jos called me from Barcelona. However, we hardly ever call each other. But at a moment like that you know: this is our child. And then it is nice to be able to share that emotion with each other and to be able to cry together. I am glad we had that phone call. It felt good to be able to do that. For Max as well."
"After the divorce, I started working for the OCMW [social welfare centre]. I believe that things in life happen for a reason. I see a lot of poverty. I see the underclass of society. I think it's good that I can show Max that. We talk about it. I want him to know that there is another world than his. That's good to keep his feet on the ground. As a mother, I'm sometimes afraid that he'll start to float. I think it's my job to prevent that. I often say: 'Max, don't get too big for your boots, boy. Be nice to people, be nice to the fans. If there are twenty fans, don't sign five, but twenty autographs.' Max knows that, how important that is. And he does that with a smile. Deep down he is very down to earth. Max is a very down-to-earth guy, actually. He now has a Swedish girlfriend - someone who also races. When those two visit: it is really very relaxed. Something to eat, a game of cards, a chat. Max really likes 'normal'. He recently got a sponsorship contract with Puma. He said: 'Mum, then I'll get a new pair of shoes!' I thought that was nice of him. That he could be as happy as a child with a new pair of shoes."
It's been a madhouse since Sunday. Both in Monaco and in Maaseik. "Even I've been overwhelmed all week. I've received 1,500 Facebook requests. The phone didn't stop ringing. Journalists called from America. It really can stop now. Just because Max has won once, doesn't mean he'll keep winning. We all have to stay level-headed about that. Things have been going really well for Max for a year and a half now. There will be a dip at some point. We better prepare for that. I always impress that on Max. 'Think carefully and enjoy it, because it could all be over tomorrow.' He then says: 'Yes, mum, I know.'"
It can never end more suddenly than with a crash. Last year Max came close to that. It happened in Monaco. His car: straight into the tire barrier. Sophie was watching. "I remember thinking: please, get out of that car. And he did get out of that car - unharmed. Maybe that won't happen one day. Or he will be seriously injured. From the moment your child puts on a helmet, you know that it can go wrong. Look at Jules Bianchi, last year. That crash was so hard that he was brain dead. They had to pull the plug. We talk about that. What if something like that ever happens to Max? At least we'll know that it happened while he was doing what he loved to do."
"When I light candles, that is why. So that everything goes well. But you do take into account that it could be different every time. I find the start especially difficult. After two or three laps that improves. When they're all driving behind each other. Should I tell Max that he's not allowed to race? That wouldn't be fair. I've done circuits myself. So who am I to stop my son? Fortunately I know: Formula 1 has become increasingly safer in recent years. Less and less can go wrong."
Sophie - an interior designer by education - was 21 when she said goodbye to top-level sport. "Jos and I saw each other so little that I chose my marriage . Now I sometimes think: 'What if?' When I chose Jos, I said 'no' to a top offer from Formula Opel Lotus. What if I had said 'yes'? I was good at the time. Although I also know: then I wouldn't have had Max and Victoria. The dream that I had to put aside myself, Max is now realizing in my place. That feels good. The sacrifices were not in vain. Because sacrifices: we all made them. Victoria too. Our whole life has been about Max. Sometimes I feel bad for Victoria. I can feel quite guilty about that. It must not have always been easy for Victoria to stand in the shadow of her brother. My daughter works in haircare now. Two weeks ago she put highlights on me. She is one of the best in her class. I am incredibly proud of her - just as proud as I am of Max. But sometimes it gnaws at me: Victoria was very good at karting as a child. What if Jos had invested as much in her as in Max? She could have gone very far, because I think she is better than me. I would have thought it was fantastic. If a woman does well in motorsport, that is still more impressive than when a man does it. Only, it turned out differently. And now that she is sixteen, it doesn't have to be that way for her anymore. She is happy the way she is. People often ask her why she is not like her brother. But then I think: let her be herself."
"Especially now that Max is getting older, he realizes those things. He knows that his sister sacrificed everything for him. They get along very well. Max will always take care of Victoria - a mother senses those things. They once made an appointment, laughing. Victoria had wanted a Louis Vuitton handbag for a long time. 'But I won't get one from mom,' she had told Max. And so Max said: 'When I score my first points in F1, you'll get one.' The day Max scored those points, he took Victoria into Düsseldorf. They bought the bag together. Victoria has been lugging her Vuitton everywhere ever since. That makes Max happy, I can see that. The bag has emotional value for him too: it symbolizes those first points."
She: employee at the OCMW. Her son: 'rising star' in Monaco. "Does Max earn a lot of money? A lot, yes. But he has a manager, who helps him manage that. That's good. Max recently missed his plane. He immediately booked a new ticket. I, with my salary, wouldn't be able to do that. But I'm glad he can, and still manages to be careful with his money. On Mother's Day, he suddenly showed up at the door. He had a surprise. He knew I was looking for a new small car. He took me to the dealership that day and bought me a car. He said: 'Mum, for everything you've done for me.' I can see him doing that for his sister someday. She recently wanted to see him drive in Bahrain. Then he said: 'Your ticket is ready, sister.' It's nice that he does that. He doesn't have to. But it's his way of giving something back." On Thursday, Max was on Belgian soil for 24 hours: the moment when Sophie could finally hold him. "I asked: Max, you're coming, aren't you? He said: 'Of course, mom. Will you cook me something nice?' I made carpaccio, a salad and some pasta. And for dessert: his guilty pleasure. Top sports always means dieting, but what is one Kinder chocolate? There are always some in the cupboard for him."
Next week Max faces his next challenge: the Monaco Grand Prix. Sophie is going to watch and is bringing a few family members along - motorsport is in the Kumpens' blood, Sophie is the niece of racer Anthony Kumpen. "Max sets the bar high. He crashed in Monaco last year. There was criticism about that. 'Wasn't he too young?' He thinks he has something to prove now. And I know: he doesn't necessarily need his mother for that. But I do enjoy being there for him."
"And. Uh. It gives me the chance to also go and see his apartment. I decorated it at the time. Going to have a look. Whether that young man of eighteen hasn't made a mess of it." (laughs)
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hazzabeeforlou · 3 months ago
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i had a question and i hope that it doesn’t sound rude. do you feel ashamed being in the fandom and being a shipper at 32? i ask because i am 27, and have been in the fandom since 2012, off and on. i haven’t rly been in it actively for the last two years or so, but when i want to come back, i feel embarrassed. i also don’t think i could handle the stress of it tbh! lol. i hope you are well <3
I was going to answer this yesterday but then remembered I had a 7 hour drive today and didn’t want to stay up later than I already was. Because I’m an adult, with (now one) previous multiple jobs, a pet, rent, vehicle, three post high school diplomas, and student loans, and there are many things in my life I get ashamed of, like when I answer “you too” when a cashier tells me thanks for shopping or when I let a whole bag of celery go bad in my fridge without ever cleaning or eating it. Shame? At my tax dollars funding death weapons and family members voting for strong men? Sure. Latent homophobic internalized shame from my upbringing? Yeah, sometimes.
But life is too fucking short to be embarrassed or hold shame about a FANDOM. Listen, I “ship” Johnlock, or Merthur, but Larry wasn’t a ship for me it was a discovery of queer joy. Like I’m so sorry but baby Larry was real. 100%, actually, seriously legit, like how else do you fucking explain any or all of that. We watched two boys fall in love with each other and okay we don’t know the devil or the details but we have how many albums and interviews, jokes made by media personalities etc, plus the fact that now, this many years later, their solo stuff is still haunted by a nauseating back and forth, these odd lyrical choices that are echoed in the other?
Yeah it’s not a ship. It’s a thing that happened, that we witnessed, and by virtue of it happening and us witnessing it something about gay love became dreamable, reachable, attainable, soft and puppy and exciting and wild. Their secret sign language and mimed blow jobs and jealous looks and touches when they thought there were no cameras, all those things made queerness not just something you saw on Glee. Not just something your parents talked about while wrinkling their nose up about ‘those people.’ It’s a generational thing, the world has moved on, we don’t NEED Larry anymore. And that’s okay. But we don’t need it because it happened. Not to be a brat but you exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.
And yeah, we wrote fics about highly characterized and publicized versions of Larry, often inserting our own traumas or fantasies, creating a kind of gay mythos around this witnessed event from the periphery, from the lens of the consumer, the only lens we have. But I’m not ashamed of that. You think stories are only ever written about people that don’t exist? At some point you have to acknowledge that in our world, celebrities are the deities of our popular imagination. I could write a thesis, but before I get into the weeds, suffice to say Harry and Louis have created a world of what can be, unburdened by what has been.
Yk? Anyways. Hope this made you feel better. And hope you come back to visit from time to time. I’ll be here.
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causenessus · 4 months ago
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love notes
part 0.3. RINNIE POO
"they don't love you like i love you."
from maps by yeah yeah yeahs, left in aichi, japan
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drinking "a little" had turned into a lot, although that didn't come as a surprise to anyone. 
osamu had brought plenty of soju from onigiri miya but in case it hadn’t been enough for the nine of them–or more like since at least three of them planned to get blackout drunk–atsumu and oikawa had shown up with even more.
omi was satisfied with one cup he hadn't even finished, listening and talking to a slightly more tipsy akaashi who was ranting about the stupidity of some of his most recent assignments. kenma was nowhere to be seen; he had decided after a couple drinks that it was time for him to go back home, and she couldn’t blame him.
bokuto, oikawa, and the twins were the rowdiest bunch and by far the ones who had collectively already finished off six bottles, with no signs of stopping anytime soon. she had drunk slightly more than she intended to, but she wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the four boys who were practically falling onto each other. 
at some point, she had slipped out of her chair onto the concrete below and suna had ended up there too, both of them maintaining that they were only slightly tipsy.
only slightly tipsy, but tipsy enough to make bold moves, on both of their parts. she had stretched out her legs in front of her, close to the warm fire osamu and bokuto had taken nearly an hour to get started. but it had been worth it, she supposed. perhaps she also shouldn’t have worn shorts in the middle of fall, but it made the heat of the fire feel all the more better. she watched the flames flicker and leap out as if trying to escape the barriers confining it to a pit. she had been so mesmerized by it she almost didn’t notice the hand wrapping around her legs, just under the back of her knees.
she tore her gaze away from the blaze to watch his arm pull her legs up and over onto his own. “you’re too close to the fire,” he mumbled. his hand still rested on her legs after he had moved them, and she didn’t mind his touch. instead, she took her own opportunity to be gutsy, letting her head and upper body lean against him while he began to trace circles over her skin.
at some point she’d run a hand up into his hair, tracing her own patterns lightly onto the back of his head. he responded to her touch, letting his head fall back and eyes close while she continued to stare at the ground, vision blurred and unfocused.
slowly, she tuned into the slurred, noisy conversation of the boys beside her.
“ushiwaka wasn’t even that bad, y’know, ya just had to get used to his big left hand,” atsumu’s voice is the first she hears before it’s followed by a snarky laugh from oikawa.
“oh sure, maybe for your team and loud-ass band. but not everyone’s ego relies on a stupid hand motion to make them go silent. there's no one we hated more than shiratorizawa but it’s not like we ever told anyone to boo them.”
“okay well…maybe that was the difference between your team and ours,” osamu argues
“despite my ‘stupid hand motion’ we still beat his team,” atsumu follows up, “and we had sunarin to match their crazy red-head blocker. and kita.” the mention of their old captain makes both the twins sigh, “man, he really saved our asses, didn’t he? we had a good team.”
she turns her head up slightly to look at suna, not even bothering to hide the fact that she's admiring him, “y’know, i never realized you volleyball players paid so much attention to each other. it’s cute.”
he’s still leaning back into her touch, her hand still in his hair, but he opens his eyes, looking at her from the corner of them with a smile on his face, somewhere between amused and curious, “what’s that supposed to mean?”
“do you have anyone you hate?” she asks, giving him an innocent smile back.
he looks forward again, thinking for a moment before answering, “hm, probably that one kid with the swim goggles. you were there, right? our second year, during the spring high tournament? he was all lanky and annoying, wore an orange uniform…i hated tendou too, just too much energy for me.”
she sees atsumu lean forward in his chair from her peripheral. “tendou! that’s what his name was. you just hated him because he could keep up with you~”
when suna scoffs, she feels the way her skin pricks up at the sound. she can’t stop staring at him; it's been that way since the first day she saw him, and the thought sends blood rushing into her cheeks. “no he couldn’t,” suna retorts and her face only gets warmer when his eyes slide back to her once more. “you were there for our games, always had your little camera on me. could he keep up with me?”
the words get stuck in her throat and her heart skips a beat when he mentions her camera. she’s embarrassed he noticed how often she took pictures of him, and it makes her want to cover her face with her hands, being under his gaze. but before she can think of a response, she’s saved by a hand ruffling the top of her hair and she looks up to see someone standing above her, “omi?”
“it’s time to go home, it’s getting late,” he says, stepping back so that she has room to stand up.
“where’s akaashi?” she asks, slowly getting up and stretching her arms, suna following her shortly after.
“went home,” omi answers, “he didn't drink that much, so he’ll be fine, but i’m more worried about you two.”
“what about the alcoholics?” she giggles when atsumu’s head immediately perks up.
“who ya calling an alcoholic?? we’re not drunk,” he professes, but his slurred words betray him.
omi rolls his eyes at the blond’s response, “i’ll come back for them. i wanted you guys to get home first since i can’t manage all of you at once. and if one of them goes missing while i’m gone…good riddance.”
“we can’t do that!” she laughs, “bokuto’s too good for the world…and i need osamu, he’s my boss. but I guess you're right. if the other two disappeared...well, it would be okay.”
she sees the way atsumu’s brow twitches. “hey! we’re important too,” he yells, waving a hand that’s intertwined with one of oikawa's, whose nodding in agreement profusely.
“okay fine. then all of you get up,” omi orders, watching the group of boys freeze, sharing a look of concern.
it takes several seconds for all of them to successfully get out of their chairs without falling back again, and bokuto and oikawa stay holding onto each other to remain upright. she ends up linking arms with suna while omi leads the way, and he doesn’t seem to mind.
their dorm is closer than hers and they walk there first, all four of the drunkards stumbling through the doorway and collapsing onto their couch or floor as soon as they open the door.
omi gives atsumu–one of the boy’s whose opted for the floor–a pointed look and kicks him lightly, “at least get to your room. get off the floor. you’re disgusting.”
“then you’ll have to help me,” atsumu whines, turning his head to look up at his captain.
omi clicks his tongue, practically glaring at the blond before looking back toward her and suna, the both of them waiting patiently by the door for omi's instructions. he frowns at them like he’s thinking something through before he speaks, “maybe i should’ve dropped you off first, y/n. i don’t think it's a good idea to leave all five of these dumbasses alone when they’re so wasted. right now or overnight.”
“i can walk her home. i’ll keep her safe,” suna’s quick to respond and his words make her heart beat faster, but she tries to blame it on the alcohol. maybe it’s making her more sensitive to everything he says.
omi seems to ponder it for a second before he sighs, “you sure you guys can get there safely?” she nods vigorously along with suna, the both of them looking like toddlers being trusted to go play outside. “take out your phones,” he orders, and they’re quick to follow his command.
“i'll make a group chat between us three and kenma. text it if you guys need help, and one of you let me know when you get home, got it?”
“got it!” she chirps, suddenly feeling energetic. “thank you for letting us go, omi!”
he only nods with another sigh, running a hand through his hair as he turns back to look at the mess of knocked-out bodies in front of him while they close the door behind them.
the walk to her home is short and peacefully quiet, but as they cross a street, she feels him link fingers with her, keeping her from walking off too far. only their pinkies are wrapped together, but she looks at him with a surprised smile that he returns before they walk down the sidewalk, swinging their connected arms back and forth dramatically.
kenma opens the door for them when they arrive, his switch in one hand and a raised brow as suna follows her inside. “i’m going back to my room, text me if you need something,” kenma tells her before quietly disappearing around the corner.
both her and suna collapse into chairs at the kitchen island, a pulsing ache slowly starting to take over the initial buzz of alcohol in her head.
“i should head back,” suna speaks up after a brief break.
her heart drops at the sentence. for some reason, him leaving right now feels like the end of the world, “it’s late, you can stay here–in my room or on the couch. it’ll probably be easier so that omi has less to handle, anyway.”
he weighs his options for a beat before looking at her, “if you don’t mind, that’d be nice.”
“of course,” she smiles, holding his gaze, “you’re always welcome here.”
“thanks,” he returns the smile, “i can sleep on the couch.”
she tries not to let the disappointment she feels show on her face. it’s not that she wanted to sleep with him, but just sharing a room and having him there with her during the night would’ve been enough. but she doesn’t dwell on the thought. she was getting her own hopes up, taking his good nature for something it wasn’t. just because he walked her home didn’t mean he returned her feelings; any good friend would do that. she stands up from her chair, his eyes following her, “sounds good, i’ll get you a pillow and blanket and let omi know.”
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extras <3
kenma and y/n have a very close sibling dynamic in which they fight with each other all the time but are also always secretly there if the other needs help <3
osamu and y/n were hanging out at a park putting together a plan for everyone to meet up before texting the gc to see if everyone could make it
when they were in highschool (this will also appear later lmaoo), atsumu also asked y/n to pretend to be his girlfriend because he was having problems with his girlfriend at the time and although he could've asked someone else, he did it to try and get y/n to fall for him
everyone minus atsumu and osamu pitched in to buy a quick cake and gift for the twins <3 y/n and omi both also already had aditional gifts for them because they knew the twins' birthday was coming up
while osamu and bokuto were trying to get the fire started, they accidentally set fire to a spot of grass on the ground and oikawa screamed before omi stomped it out
when y/n went to get suna a pillow she barged into kenma's room and was like "he doesn't want to sleep in my room 😭😭😭" and kenma's was just "😐😐"
I THINK EVERY DRUNK PERSON IS DIFFERENT and i just didn't feel like trying to make intentional typos or anything in yn's tipsy texts bc it felt like it'd be too much so i'm sorry 🙏
me taking every chance i get to call tsukki's sport glasses swim goggles <3
thank u to @eggyrocks once again for influencing my music taste
taglist: @0moonii @iluvmang @bluebeanbee @wyrcan @oyasumeii @froyaoya @gyuijns @nbcvs @milkteade @guitarstringed-scars @makkir0ll @mylahrins @cherrypieyourface @vivian-555 @sharkerino @r0seandth0rns @staileykout @lunavixia @thvvluvr @elliott0o0 @wolffmaiden @rockleeisbaeeee @toges-cough-syrup @cnnmairoll @ryeyeyer @hibernatinghamster @localgaytrainwreck @lemonocity @bows4life @sereniteav @madiexuberant @eclecticeggknightpsychic @phoenix-eclipses @sonicsolos @httpakkeiji @brkfclub @snail-squasher @starry-magicshop @cr4yolaas @kitnootkat @zzzlevislothzzz @iluv-ace @iluvaquaphor @stayyyyyyyyyyyy21 @applepi25 @twiishaa @girlkissersco @sleepystrwbrryy @encrypta
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wordsarelife · 11 months ago
Text
DAY 21: A NONSENSE CHRISTMAS
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pairing: theo nott x fem!reader
summary: you and theo are only friends.. right?
warnings: making out, suggestive
note: better late than never ;)
“this is for you” theo said, taking out a small package and holding it in your direction.
your friends had just finished unpacking their presents and the room had quieted down.
you looked at theo in confusion. “what do you mean?” you frowned. “i already got my present”
this year all of you had decided to just draw a name and exchange a present each. it was easier this way, so you hadn’t been expecting a present from theo.
theo smiled friendly and you almost lost your balance at the way he was looking at you. he handed you the neatly wrapped present. "go on" he said "open it"
your friends watched you both expectingly. you gently unwrapped the small box, opening it to reveal a delicate silver chain, which held a small star pendant
"my star-sign" you smiled up at him "it's so beautiful theo. how do you always know just the right thing to get me?"
"i just know you well" he smiled "i'm glad you like it"
"can you help me put it on?" you asked, turning around. you held up your hair. his hands were cold on your neck.
"thank you" you said sincerely and hugged him, feeling a new warmth spreading between you and your best friend.
"it's nothing" he shrugged
"don't talk it down like that" you shook your head "i love it!" it was like his eyes had captured you, you just couldn't look away from them.
"would you look at that" mattheo said, making both you and theo snap out of it. he was pointing at the mistletoe right above theo and you.
a mistletoe that definitely hadn't been there before. you send a suspicious look in mattheo's direction who just held up his hands, feigning innocence
"oh" theo scratched his neck "we don't have to"
"and let everyone think that we're scared?"
theo shrugged.
"definelty not" you answered your own question. you raised your eyebrows at theo, asking for his okay.
"alright" he nodded and you noticed the nervousness clearly displayed on his face
"we can do this" you assured him "it'll be just like hugging"
"yeah but with our mouths" theo whispered back
"nothing different, huh?" you smiled uncomfortably
"we're waiting" draco called from the couch. you turned your head to look at your friends, who were all wearing similiar expressions, like they didn't believe you would go through with it
"okay" you breathed, before your hand reached for theo's neck and you dragged him down to meet your mouth. of course you had kissed boys before, but this was different. this was theo. he was more important than a single kiss or any other boy.
there was no time for you to worry, because just when your thoughts started running, theo reciprocrated the kiss, emptying your head entirely.
he tilted his head to the side, coming impossibly closer to you.
you let your hands wander through his hair while his hands were everywhere on your body. this defineitly wasn't platonic anymore, if it had ever been. and it was far from a hug, because he had never touched your body in such a lustful way. and definitely never your ass.
theo's tongue had just entered your mouth, making your head tilt back, when there was a cough. you broke the kiss, looking at your friends.
you had almost felt victory bubble in your chest, when you noticed their uncomfortable expressions, but then you had to think back to the kiss and your cheeks quickly reddened
"woah" enzo had clasped a hand over his mouth
"yeah" pansy nodded "my knees almost gave in just looking at the both of you. i don't know how you didn't collapse, y/n"
"be honest" blaise crossed his arms "have you guys done this before?"
before either theo or you could answer, draco rolled his eyes "of course they have! no first kiss looks like that" he pointed an accusing finger in your direction
"we only thought it would be funny because the first kiss is always uncomfortable" mattheo explained
"this was far from uncomfortable" pansy exclaimed "no, actually, yes it was, but for us, not them"
you looked at theo and knew that he wanted to change the topic as bad as you did. "that's what you get for trying to embarass us"
you took theo's hand in yours. "come on"
the rest of the group hollored at your depature to the boys sleeping quarters. you were almost glad that the seriousness had been gone as soon as it had come.
"do you want me as bad as i want you?" you asked after you had closed the door behind theo
he nodded eagerly and connected your mouths. "it's so easy with you" you mumbled between kisses
"why is it so easy?" theo mumbled. you couldn't even keep your hands to yourselves.
"maybe because i wanted this for a long time"
"me too" he nodded
the rest of the night was spend in each others arms. you stayed in bed until the early morning, legs tangled and clothes lazily laying on the floor.
of course, you friends teased the both of you at breakfast, drilling for details, but neither theo or you said anything about your night together, just exchanging looks and holding hands under the table. you didn't plan on ever letting go.
taglist: @twistedhistory @bakingintheshire @mqstermindswift @taygrls @athenalikethegoddess @helpimhopelesslyinlove @prettyb1tchsblog @anonnreader777 @ahead-fullofdreams
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annymation · 10 months ago
Text
The Kingdom of Wishes- A “Wish” Rewrite
Chapter 14- I Will Protect You
Chapter 13
"I WHAT?!" Aster exclaims, almost falling backwards from the log he was sitting on. His animation becomes more sketchy and unfinished looking.
"Umm "In love", come on, don't tell me this is one of the things you don't know yet" Hal says with a smile and one eyebrow raised.
"I- I know what it means but- Where did THAT come from? hah ha" The star asks nervously, genuinely not understanding what she's talking about.
"I mean... It's pretty obvious" Dahlia comes in and starts listing all the evidence "From the way you two talk to each other, to how you blush whenever she holds your hand, and how she laughs about pretty much everything you say, I could go on all day, point is that the signs are all there." She explains casually.
Aster's eyes widen "THAT'S what being in love is??? No- no way! I can't be in love, that's... A HUMAN THING. Wishing stars don't fall in love... Do we?"Aster asks now looking up to the sky... No answer, the stars are dead silent, but not because they didn't listen, they just don't want to get involved for now.
Hal smiles with confusion in her eyes, seeing the boy just stare to the sky all of the sudden sure feels quite weird, but she just continues saying "We may not know anything about wishing stars, buuut we know our girl Asha, and it's pretty obvious at least she loves you." She says booping Aster's nose cheerfully.
Aster's turn to look at her slowly "... You think Asha loves me?" The star is stunned, as his mind starts racing, realizing what this means "... Oh... Oh this is-"
Bazeema has both hands on her cheeks as she says in a dreamy sigh "The most romantic thing in the wor-"
Aster has both hands on his head as he says in a panicked voice "Terrible!"
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(This image doesn’t really have anything to do with this scene other than it taking place in a forest, but I had to include it in this rewrite cause OH MY GOSH DO YOU SEE HOW PRETTY THIS CONCEPT ART IS?!? AAAAAAH)
"Huh?? How's that terrible?!" Hal asks, now almost looking angry at the star.
Aster starts floating in the air, "Walking" back and forth "If Asha is in love with me an-and I'm in love with her then... She's gonna be heartbroken!" The star looks absolutely horrified with this discovery.
Gabo throws his head back and laughs at that before saying "WOOOW look at you, cape! Already dreading the eventual break up before even asking her out?" Gabo sounds almost proud "Maybe my pessimism is finally rubbing off on him" He whispers to Dario.
"NO nonono! The problem is... I can't STAY here!" They explain, sounding more and more distressed "Once we defeat Magnifico and save Rosas, Asha's wish will come true! And then I'll HAVE to go!"
"Well, here's a thought then: Fight the system." Gabo says with a mischievous look, like he's trying to influence the pure star to go to the "dark side" "Rules are made to be broken. What's the worse that could happen if you don't go back to the sky, hum?"
"I would cease to exist." Aster mutters quietly, still pacing around while flying.
"... Oh..." Gabo says in a deadpan manner "So we have a Romeo and Juliet scenario on our hands" The teen says with a hand on his chin.
"Indeed, it's a tale of forbidden love." Bazeema chimes in, both hands in her heart as she sighs like a hopeless romantic.
Gabo looks at her with a bored expression and says "I meant how they both die in the en-"
Dahlia interrupts him "Okay okay let me see if I understand" She pulls Aster down by his cape for him to sit next to her "After her wish is granted you'll have to leave, and you can't come back? Ever?"
"Yup!" The star blurts out, as he begins to speak quickly "So it's best to just deny these feelings and never let Asha find out, so her heart isn't crushed into a million pieces later, right?" He asks them with a forced smile, hoping they all agree.
"... Wrong" Hal says with her arms crossed "Aster, I get where you're coming from, but do you realize that if you don't tell her, and just leave... You two might spend your whole lives regretting not saying anything?" She asks the star with sadness in her eyes, but then she shakes off the feeling and add one last comment with a sassy smile "And I'm guessing the lifetime of a star is preeetty long, ain't it?"
"... You have no idea." Aster says while looking at nothing with a distant expression... For the first time realizing he's gonna outlive Asha by billions of years. The star looks at all the teens worriedly and asks "But if I tell her, then... Won't she feel even more hurt when I have to leave?"
"Most likely, yes." Bazeema confirms quietly, looking at Aster with a kind smile "But I think, if you two won't see each other ever again, then you should enjoy every moment together like it's your last." The star's eyes widen, not because the quiet girl is speaking more than usual but because those words hit him deeply with a realization, Bazeema continues with her quiet voice full of passion "Then maybe, it won't hurt as much when you go back to the sky and she stays down here, because at least you'll both know you had love... And that love will continue, even at a distance..."
Gabo moves slightly away from Bazeema like he's scared of her "Aight' who are you and where's Bazeema? She never spoken more than two lines in her life."
Bazeema realizes for how long she has been talking and that everyone is staring at her, she blushes and covers her cheeks in embarrassment "O-oh goodness, I didn't realize I was rambling, I'm so sorry."
"No, you're right." Aster says while getting up from the log he was sitting on "I'm gonna tell her." The star is back to his cheerful and confident self, as he starts making his way to where Asha went "I may not be able to spend my life with her, but I'll love her in our last few hours together just as much as I'd love her in a life time!"
Most of the teens cheer him on as he leaves, except for Simon who has just been staring this all play out while eating his soup, with a face of someone who regrets all his life choices... Oh and also Gabo stops cheering to give one last comment:
"Sure thing lover boy, but umm remember we can't have you two kissing and saving the kingdom at the same time, and we're gonna start the plan in a few minutes so-"
Aster is already marching through the forest as he shouts back to Gabo with an ever so slightly irritated tone "I'll love her in these next few MINUTES just as much as I'd love her in a life time!"
Gabo looks pleased because he has been trying to mess with the star's seemingly infinite patience the whole day, just for fun.
All the teens now are staring at each other in awkward silence, Dahlia notices and closes her eyes with a sigh
"... *sigh*... Do you guys wanna go and wa-" She hear the sound of footsteps and when she opens her eyes again, all of her friends are gone "Watch?... Heh heh Asha, you really can't get a moment of peace, can you?" She says while getting up with her crutch, to follow them, and watch how this will play out.
We cut to Asha sitting by the river, trying to draw herself while looking at her reflection. By her side there's a black and white, hand drawn candle lantern that actually emits light. There's also some fireflies flying around the proximity of the river.
Aster comes from behind a tree and takes a deep breath (even though he doesn't breathe) and starts flying to where she is.
Asha has her back turned to him, but she can see Aster's light approaching her, so she turns to look over her shoulder with a smile.
"Hey Aster! Great timing, I was just gonna ask you to come here" Asha taps on the floor next to her to signal that she wants Aster to sit with her
"Really? Well uh... Here I am hehe" Aster does so, they float down and sit next to Asha with his legs crossed "Do you need help with anything?"
"I could use some extra light. This lantern I made is great but your hair is waaay better" She says while placing her sketchbook on Aster's leg, so she can better see her drawings thanks to the light coming from his hair. She was gonna start drawing more but instead she gets distracted and talks with Aster excitedly "Also, I gotta say, it's amazing that my pencil can actually create FIRE! This is gonna be so useful when we're breaking in the castle. If any door is locked I can just burn them, or maybe I could create a giant hammer, or or... You know?! Anything!" She smiles widely at the star, not able to contain her joy, thinking about all the possibilities.
Aster looks at her with that same dreamy look he had at the campfire, admiring how she's just so full of life and hope.
"Yeah, I know, I'm glad you liked it" He says with a smile, Aster is now looking at the water, trying to think on what to say... Should he just say "I love you" out of the blue?... That doesn't feel right. So instead he just expresses how he wishes he could be there to... Protect her "I really wish I could go in there with you all, make sure you're safe"
Asha gives him a bittersweet smile as she explains "I know, but we've talked about this: you gotta distract Magnifico here in the forest and break his staff, while we'll get in the castle, fight the queen, and free all the wishes, so you can un-curse them and give them back to everyone."
(That's it, that's their plan! Will it work? whOoOoOOo KoOoWsSs? Oh wait, I know, hehehehe)
Aster looks at her worriedly "Are you suuuure you guys can handle Amaya on your own though?"
Asha chuckles with the question "It'll be eight teens vs one lady with no powers, if anything you should feel sorry for her haha" She laughs a bit, but then her face turns just as worried as Aster's was, as she thinks for a moment and says "But, you'll be on your own... Are you SURE you can fight Magnifico this time?" She asks him looking at him in the eyes.
Now Aster is the one who holds his laughter "Pfft you mean on my own + all the plants and wild life as my army? I'll manage." Aster says confidently, but then he notices the concern in Asha's expression, so he tells her more reassuringly "Hey, I'll be careful. He won't catch me this time, I promise."
Asha smiles as she holds his hand tightly "I know, I trust you."
Aster's freckles start sparkling and his hair shines brighter with that, they hold her hand back.
Asha also seems to be blushing as she holds his hand
The 7 teens are in the background watching everything with an expecting look, just waiting for Aster to make his move.
Aster notices them staring from the corner of his eye, Asha doesn't though.
The two of them break eye contact as Asha looks back to her sketchbook, while Aster looks at the impatient teens with an angry expression that screams "IM GETTING TO IT! LEAVE ME ALONE!"
The two teens take a deep breath and... They speak the same thing at the same time:
"... I wanted to tell you something-"
The two look surprised. Asha giggles a little as she says:
"Heh heh- okay you first-"
"No! no no no please, you go first!" Aster says, because he's honestly not ready to say it yet.
Asha takes a deep breath as she flips the pages of her sketchbook "Okay... This is gonna sound really out of nowhere but umm..." She stops in a page and takes out of the book... A sword "Wanna practice sword fighting with me?" She asks with an awkward smile.
... That's not what Aster nor the teens watching this behind the bushes expected at all...
Aster looks at the hand drawn sword and then back to Asha with a confused smile "... Eh?"
Asha lowers the sword "I know, I know, kinda last minute. But I just had the best idea!" She get's up and starts to explain while walking around with the sword in her hand "Your magic can't hurt me, and my magic can't hurt you, soooo we are perfect dueling partners to practice, don't you think?"
Aster understands now, she wants to be ready to fight the guards in case they are spotted by any... or even the royals.
"I don't remember sword fighting being part of the plan." Aster notes with a cheeky smile.
"It's not, it's just my own idea, call it a plan C" She says while looking at the sword she drew proudly.
"Sooo are you "planning" to make extra plans from A to Z? heheh" Aster jokes, still sitting down next to the river, looking up to her.
"You know, I actually might. Better be safe than sorry." She says, her smile falters a little, with her eyes revealing that she still has some doubts "I just... I gotta be ready for anything they might throw at us. I want to make sure I can protect my friends... Protect you." She tells Aster like she's letting out something that has eating her up inside.
Aster eyes sparkle with those last two words, since that's the same thing he wanted to say.
"... Well then..." Aster begins to talk with his eyes closed, reaching for something behind his back- "En garde!" He quickly creates a sword made of star dust while she wasn't looking.
The sword hits Asha, and just like how it went when Aster tried to use this trick against Magnifico during their fight in the storm, Asha starts laughing, feeling a sense of joy overtake her.
"Hhahahaahha" She laughs, hugging her sides as Aster get's up, standing in a fighting position holding his own sword "Hey! I wasn't ready!"
"Expect the unexpected, now come on! And don't you dare go easy on me!" He says spinning his sword with a confident look.
"Funny, I was gonna say the same thing!" Asha exclaims with a daring smile.
The two of them duel together around the clearing near the river, snickering the whole way through. Asha lands some hits on Aster, slicing his body made of star dust, but he immediately gets back together with every attack.
When Aster's sword hits Asha, all it does is make her chuckle a little, but she's landing a lot more hits than the star.
The 7 teens are watching all of this in the background, both surprised and endeared by the sight, that's definitely not where none of them expected this would go... But it is kinda romantic in a weird way.
"You're actually pretty good at this!" Aster comments as they're now both looking at each other in the eyes, with their swords pressed against one another
"Thanks! you too... But could be better tho." Asha says with a confident smirk "Good thing I'll be the one actually sword fighting hehe" She teases him
The star makes mocking shocked face "*Gaaaasp* Ooooh you did not! Alright, you asked for it!"
Aster summons a bunch of swords around Asha and makes all of them hit her at the same time, creating a huge cloud of star dust around them
Asha can only laugh as she falls on the grass
"Hhahaaahahah hey no fair!" Asha exclaims while laying on the grass
Aster is now floating with his face close to her's "Thought you said I shouldn't go easy on youuu" They smile playfully
Asha pulls him down by the cape and the two roll around the grass like two kids playing fighting, not even realizing that they're hugging. They both laugh the whole way through.
After calming down, they both lay next to each other and look up at the stars.
"So... Feeling more prepared?" Aster asks while still looking up
"Yeah, I think I can take 'em." She says, feeling reassured "*sigh* I just can't wait for all of this to be over." Her voice is full of hope.
Aster's smile slowly dissolves into a frown as he remembers he'll have to leave once it IS all over.
"... Um-hum, me too... Can't wait." They say, trying to hide their inner turmoil
Asha turns to the star with a curious smile "Ok, now's your turn."
Aster looks at her confused "Huh?"
"You said you had something to tell me, didn't you?" Asha asks, laying down on the grass next to the star
"O-Oh right! heh hehe... Umm" Aster quickly realizes he has no idea how to tell her. The star just begins blabbering nonsense without even realizing " Sooo uh I wanted to tell you- I mean- I actually didn't wanna tell you at first- Bu-but I have to t-tell you while we still have time that I... UUUH... I... I think I am- Ya know?"
Aster.exe stops working while Asha just stares at him in amusement, she never seen him acting like this before.
From the bushes where the seven teens are hiding comes Hal's voice shouting:
"Oh come on! JUST KISS THE GIRL ALREADY!"
(Shout out to @wings-of-sapphire who asked for a Kiss The Girl reference)
Aster discretely uses his magic to make several trees instantly grow in front of where the teens are hiding, creating a wall of trees, Asha doesn't notice as she sits up from the ground and looks back.
"What was that?" She looks around confused, but all she sees behind her are trees
"T-the wind, probably! heheh" Aster stammers out nervously.
Asha get's up and starts walking away from Aster "The other's may be calling us, I think we sho-"
"Asha wait!" Aster quickly gets up and grabs her hand, she looks back at him confused, but wanting to listen. Aster can only sigh as he explains frustrated " I just... I just have SO MUCH to tell you, and I don't know how to put it into words"
Asha holds his hand closely as she says "That's... Pretty unlike you. You've always been good at explaining what's on your mind" It sounds like that's something she admires about him.
"Yeah, but this is coming from somewhere else though." Aster tells her while placing his hand on his chest...
Asha's eyes light up in surprise, like she finally starts to realize what Aster is trying to tell her.
Aster ponders looking at her hand, how can he tell her all these new feelings that she showed him? Feelings that he can't even understand himself? How can he tell her what she's to him... Maybe the same way that he explained to her who she was... When they first met.
"Maybe... I can try beginning to explain this to you... In the best way I know how" Aster repeats the words that he said before they started singing "I'm a Star" on the night that Asha wished upon him.
And so... FINALLY... We get the song:
At All Cost
(Aster holds both of Asha's hands as the music begins, and we see fireflies flying around them. Asha looks at Aster expectantly, already suspecting what he'll say but still not quite believing this is really happening... That he actually feels the same way as her... And Aster confirms her suspicions as he begins to sing)
If happiness was a tangible thing It would be you If you'd have told me the feeling you'd bring I'd think it untrue
(Asha's eyes widen as she hears him, as he tries his best to put everything he has been feeling for so long into words. The star is gazing at her with a shy smile, his cheeks sparkling with golden star dust)
And people search for a wonder like you All of their lives You still amaze me after all this time
(Aster caresses her face gently as they say the line "You still amaze me after all this time", referring to how after growing up and watching her all these years, she still found new ways to impress him. Asha is now smiling at the star with eyes full of passion, confirming to him that she feels the same way, and with that, Aster begins to sing with more energy)
You pull me in like some kind of wind Mesmerized by the hold I'm in Leave you here, I don't wanna I wanna
(Aster pulls her in and starts spinning with her around the clearing, more fireflies start flying around them. Asha holds him closely as he sings the second line. Aster is hugging her as he sings the third line with his eyes showing more sadness, for he knows that eventually he'll have to leave her... And on the last line he looks at her, preparing to actually say what he has been meaning to say all this time... And only then he begins flying with her)
Love you as one does I, I will protect you at all costs
Keep you safe here in my arms I, I will protect you at all costs At all costs
(He holds her in the way one would when dancing a waltz, and starts guiding her to dance while they fly together, Asha is at first caught off guard by the fact they suddenly started floating, but as she looks at Aster in the eyes she knows there's nothing to fear, and she follows his lead. They're now flying above the trees, and all Asha can say while looking at the star is:)
Wow What's pain? When I look at you? No way I could explain you, even if tried to I'll never dream like used to do
(Asha caresses Aster's cheek with one hand as she now begins to put into words what she has been feeling, how when he's around she feels no pain, only happiness, how he changed her whole world and now she'll never see things or dream the same way) If someone tried to hurt you, I don't See how that could happen I'd fight for you in ways you can't imagine
(As she sings while still dancing with Aster and the two keep going higher and higher up in the sky. We see in the background behind her two constellations resembling Magnifico and Amable, and as she sings "See how that could happen" Asha moves her hands in a way like she's waving away some flies and the constellations behind her disappear as if the thought of them also is dismissed. And as she says the last line she boops Aster nose playfully to say how she's confident she'll keep him safe no matter what (You may hear in the distance the writer crying because she hates herself)) Felt this, no, I haven't, I hope It would be all right to stay right here beside you
(She smiles at the star brightly as she expresses she never felt like this before, and hugs him tightly as she sings the second line.) And love you as one does I, I will protect you at all costs
(Aster throws Asha to the sky, making her fly even higher than him, they're approaching the clouds above them. Aster flies to her and they hold each other to once again dance their waltz) Keep you safe here in my arms I, I will protect you at all costs At all costs
(As they dance flying upwards, they pass through the clouds when they sing the line "At all costs") If you're ever feeling like you're lost I'll come find you
(Asha is now above the clouds, she looks around noticing Aster disappeared, but as they sing "I'll come find you" Aster shows up behind her and gives her a hug from her back) Man all fronts, there's no ocean I won't swim across To be right by you
(Aster flies to be in front of her and holds Asha up, twirling with her in his arms, like this)
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And not just once, here and now I swear on my response I'll remind you
(Aster let's her down and they gaze each other lovingly for a moment while singing those two lines with bright smiles on their faces) And love you as one does I, I will protect you at all costs Keep you safe here in my arms I, I will protect you at all costs
(They slow dance on the clouds, with the moon light and the stars shinning upon them. We get a shot like this from sleeping beauty)
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(And as the song slowly comes to an end, Asha starts closing the distance between them) At all costs
(Asha's face is getting closer and closer to Aster's, as she's going for a kiss, Aster is surprised at first but he slowly goes for it too... Until.)
He stops.
As the instrumentals from "At All Cost" are replaced by different instrumentals
Instrumentals we haven't heard since the end of chapter 7.
The sound of some very angry orchestra instruments starts playing on Aster's ears, only the star can hear them, and that's shown in his face as he looks very bothered with his eyebrows scrunching.
Asha is waiting for the kiss but it never came, when she's about to open her eyes Aster just pulls her for a hug instead.
They hug, both not quite sure where to go from here, but Asha smiles brightly, feeling Aster's warmth.
Asha breaks the silence as she says "This is better than all my dreams...You actually love me back." She says almost in disbelief, but in a good way, like it's hard to believe this is real.
"Your friends said it was pretty obvious heh heh" Aster says chuckling a bit, trying to tune out the stars yelling at him.
"It kinda was ha hah" She says while laughing, because looking back Aster was very much not subtle about it "But I assumed that was just how you acted with everyone..." She admits, showing a bit of how her own insecurities were actually stopping her from seeing the very obvious truth.
Aster let's go of the hug and holds her face gently to say "Nah... Only with you." They smile, looking at her lovingly.
Asha's eyes almost sparkle as she looks to the star. She takes a deep breath and says "Aster... We'll be separated for most of the plan... I won't be there to protect you, so I need you to promise me that when you find-"
"Magnifico." Aster says in a whisper, his eyes not focusing on Asha as he's looking at something behind her
"Yeah, him, I need you to promise me tha-"
"No! Look!" Aster turns her face to look what's going on bellow the clouds.
Asha looks down and sees it... There's an army of guards approaching the forest, and leading them is someone carrying a green light.
Asha gets her sketchbook and draws a spyglass, pulling it off the page, she lays down on the cloud and uses the spyglass to confirm if it is him
Like this scene in the live action Peter Pan movie
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And sure enough, it is. But she notices something else:
"Yeeesh! That lightning messed him up more than I thought... He got a huge scar on his face now." Asha comments.
"HA! Nice. I'm gonna drive him nuts when I make fun about that" The star says mischievously, already planning on how he's gonna break that staff.
"Hey, this is exactly what I was gonna talk about! I need you to be careful out there, don't get cocky, and don't fall for his tricks." Asha says sounding more serious, but with worry clear in her face.
"I'll be careful, I promise." Aster reassures her confidently. He pulls her up and holds her in his arms bridal style "Now let's go tell the others we can skip the "get his attention" part of the plan- WOOHUL!" Aster jumps off the clouds.
We cut a montage that consists of Asha and Aster narrating their parts of the plan while those steps happen in real time, we see Asha drawing something while her voice says in the background
"To get from here to the castle we could use Aster's magic, but that’s too risky since his star dust is shiny. I think it's safer if I create flying objects to get us there, it'll be dark, so hopefully if we're quick the guards won't see us."
We see Asha draw a carpet, and once she takes it out from her sketchbook it becomes a flying carpet like the one from Alladin.
Then, we cut to some guards, with one of them yawning in the forefront, guarding the castle’s entrance, while above them in the background we see some dark tiny silhouettes passing by.
We cut to Asha and Dahlia already getting off the magic carpet, now they're at the center of the royal garden.
We also see Safi and Simon flying down on a witches broom, Hal wearing shoes with wings like Hermes, Dario flying on a donkey with wings, as a reference to the short "The Flying Gauchito" from The Three Caballeros (HA! I DID IT! I REFERENCED THE THREE CABALLEROS! THIS IS SUCH A WIN FOR ME AS A BRAZILIAN!!!)
"You sure got pretty creative with these "flying objects" huh Asha?" Dahlia mentions as the others start gathering around
"Heheh thanks, I decided to just let my imagination run wild" Asha says enthusiastically.
"I could tell" Gabo mentions as he lands down on the garden, and we see him riding a happy baby elephant with big ears... So yeah we straight up have a Dumbo cameo "Couldn't you just give all of us flying brooms?"
"And where's the fun in that? Brooms are way too simple to draw." Asha shrugs "Also come on, don't tell me you don't think this one turned out pretty cute" She says cheerfully while petting the hand drawn Dumbo.
"I must say, he is quite adorable hihi" Bazeema comments quietly as she's landing on the garden with an umbrella... Like Mary Poppins.
Gabo just gets off the baby elephant as he tells Asha with a smile, as in, a genuine one this time "Hehe I really don't understand how your mind works, ya know?"
"Neither do I” Asha admits casually, while magically bringing all the living drawings back inside her sketchbook “Alright, Bazeema, where's the secret entrance you told us about?" Asha asks her bashful friend.
We see Bazeema guiding them to the middle of a rose garden. They prickle themselves through the thorny flowers, with Safi sneezing a few times, until they reach a hatchway made of metal with the symbol of Rosas engraved on it.
"Such wondrous things an introvert can find hihihi" Bazeema says quietly and proudly while pointing at the entrance.
We then cut to King Magnifico riding on his horse, leading his soldiers to the forest with an wicked smile, and we hear Aster's narration of his part of the plan:
"Meanwhile, I'll deal with king Magnifico. I just have to annoy him enough to the point where he'll let his guard down and I can take that staff off his hands, and once I do, it's over."
Magnifico prepares to throw a fire spell over the woods while saying "Let's see how long they'll keep cowering in there after THI-"
Something small and round hits behind his head. Distracting him from performing the spell. The king turns and looks angrily at his guards.
"Who threw that?!"
The guards all look at him confused, not even knowing what he's talking about.
"I did!" the voice of Alan Tudyk comes from the ground
(Yeah he doesn't get to voice Valentino, but he get's to voice most of the talking animals, since he's the lucky charm of Disney and all that)
The king looks down and sees a red squirrel (That is native of the Iberian Peninsula, look it up) holding a nut, ready to throw another one at him.
Magnifico stares at the little critter for a second before he starts laughing, turning to look at the forest as he shouts "HA! What's the matter boy?! Too scared to face me yourself?! Come on out, I know you're hiding in there!"
Then they hear Aster's voice echo from the forest, it's a voice full of glee and mischief:
"Hehehe I ain't scared of you, Alan was just eager to get started! I'm just getting warmed up!"
Some of the guards look scared by the echoing voice, while the king still smiles confidently "Oh but you should be scared, or have you forgotten what I taught you last time? That you are NO MATCH for me!"
"Hmmm It's a blur, all I remember is that now you look just as ugly on the outside as you are on the inside! HAH HAHA!" The star lets out an impish laugh, it echos through the woods.
(Aster's Peter Pan side is showing)
Magnifico's scarred face goes from a confident smile to a furious scowl. He rides his horse to go deeper inside the forest, with the guards following along "WHEN I FIND YOU I SWEAR I WILL WIPE THAT SMILE CLEAN OFF YOUR FACE!" He shouts, enraged by the star daring to insult his looks.
"Good luck with that! Cause' ya know, back at that storm I didn't really have anything to work with...But now..."
Magnifico hears screams from the soldiers behind him. He turns around and sees some of them are tangled up in vines, while others are running away from wild critters, and others are trapped inside giant flowers, it's a vision of pure chaos as now the king is on his own.
Magnifico looks at all of that in shock, unaware that Aster is now floating right behind him with a relaxed and confident smile. The star let's his presence be known as he whispers:
"Now I'm in my element." The star says that like a threat.
Magnifico get's startled but doesn't let it show, as he tries to turn around but-
He's stopped by something holding his staff.
As he looks down and sees vines trying to pull it off his hands. Magnifico tries to pull it away from them with all his strength, while making his horse walk backwards, and with that Aster starts talking casually to the horse
"Hey pal, did you know the guy sitting on you tried to kill me yesterday?" The white horse gives him a surprised glance as Aster continues "Yeah, he’s NUTS, I think you're better off without him" Aster tells him warningly.
The horse glares at Magnifico, and stands up on his back legs, making Magnifico lose his balance and fall on the ground.
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The horse runs away, but the king is still holding tightly to his staff, the vines are still pulling it. He let's out a furious scream:
"UUUUGHA! You really think it's gonna be THAT easy?!" Magnifico uses a fire spell and burns the vines, once he's free he turns to where Aster was... But the star is no where to be seen.
"Yoooohooo!" Aster's voice sounds distant.
Magnifico turns to where it came from, he sees a trail, and by the end of it up a small hill, there he is, Aster is waving at him, basically inviting the king to follow the trail "Well?! What you waiting for?! Thought you wanted a proper hunt! HAHAH" And Aster flies off so fast it's almost he's just a shinny blur.
The king is catching his breath seemingly already exhausted even though the fight just begun.
His expression at first shows frustration... But it slowly changes to a wicked smirk as he talks to himself sinisterly "Indeed, I was looking forward for a hunt... And your little friends just so happen to be inside our trap."
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(Pretend there’s a lightning looking scar on his left eye please, not like Harry Potter, I mean like actual lightning, thanks.)
Magnifico runs to where Aster went.
So we cut back to Asha and the others, as they make their way through a tunnel that leads to the dungeons.
"You're sureee these tunnels will lead us to the dungeons, Bazeema?" Asha asks, she's leading the group while holding a hand drawn torch
"That's what my father told me" Bazeema says quietly.
(Also I guess I should mention her dad also tends to the royal garden.)
Asha nods as she looks ahead attentively "Well I hope he's right, cause' I really don't want any surpri-"
"Maaa"
They hear the familiar bleating coming from behind them, everyone turns around and it came from... Dario, as he tries hiding something inside his shirt.
"... ooooh no no no NO NO NO" Asha says, very distressed while running to Dario, already knowing exactly who's inside his shirt "Dario! We were supposed to leave Valentino with Aster's animal friends! Why would you bring him with you???"
Dario has a face full of guilt and regret as he pulls the happy baby goat out of his large loose green shirt, he lets go of Valentino and begins to explain in sign language "He gave me big sad puppy eyes! I couldn't resist it! Plus, what's the issue? The little guy might be able to help us" Dario signs that last part with a hopeful smile that his friend will agree
Asha doesn't agree at all though, as she takes Valentino in her arms
Asha scolds her tall friend while holding Velentino close to her "I promised myself I would never let him in this castle again, last time he almost got eaten by a lynx and- and what if he gets lost??"
"Asha, calm down." Simon comes in from behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder "We just gotta stick to the plan and stay together, we'll be safe."
Asha notices that he sounds... Very certain about that, which is odd coming from him. But Asha thinks it's a nice change for Simon.
"*Sigh*... Yeah you're right, we just have to stay together" She turns around and smiles at Simon "I'm glad you're not so scared anymore, you seemed pretty insecure about the plan earlier today" She says calmly as she makes he way back to the front of the line.
Dario follows Asha, now walking in front of Simon. The light coming from Asha's torch is distant so Simon is more in the darkness as he says
"I just needed some time to put my thoughts in order" His voice is emotionless.
And we see his eyes glow green for a second.
But immediately after that, he winces quietly in pain, placing a hand in his forehead as if he's feeling a strong headache. None of the other's notice though, as his eyes are back to normal when he opens them again.
We cut to them now inside the dungeons, it's a dark, large and humid corridor with walls made of dark bricks, with jail cells all along the way. Safi keeps sneezing because of the humidity.
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(I got this image from a deleted scene from Wish, I swear I had this plot point of them getting in the dungeons for MONTHS and I just watched the deleted scene a week ago, it’s insane how much stuff I came up with seems to be in sink with the movie’s original ideas)
"I hate this place- ACHOOOO!" The boy looks scared as he holds on to his scarf "Are we close to the exit yet, Gabo?"
"We sure are buddy, just a few jail cells ahead and we reach the exit" Gabo says confidently, he knows his way through the dungeon since, as he told his friends earlier, when he was a kid he went to explore it.
(I forgot to mention in the previous chapter but his dad is a guard, that's why he had keys to the dungeons that Gabo stole from him)
"Good, this place gives me the creeps" Dahlia says, while looking around scared
"Look on the bright side, guys" Hal chimes in trying to bring some optimism "At least there aren't any creepy inmates, it's just us and our friendly faces" the girl smiles brightly, hugging Safi and Dahlia by the shoulders.
"And also this poor fella" Gabo says, pointing at a skeleton laying down out of a jail cell, trying to reach for an empty jar of water
Like this one from Snow White.
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"... HMMM oooookayy let's pick up the pace, shall we?" Hal says with a clearly forced smile this time, her eyes wide as she starts to walk faster, still hugging Safi and Dahlia so they go with her.
Dario, Bazeema and Simon also start walking faster after the others, while Asha stays still for a moment
She looks down at the skeleton and ponders out loud "... I wonder what kind of people Magnus and Amaya would keep down here... Maybe people who found out about the secret like I did." Her voice is heavy and full of concern.
"I don't like how that implies this could happen to you." Gabo says for once not sounding condescending nor sarcastic, but genuinely worried, he's also the only one that didn't walk away from the skeleton and stayed to talk to Asha "Let's, just this once, assume anything in Rosas is normal and this guy just robbed the crown's jewels or something, now come on" He says, rushing Asha to keep going.
This is probably the closest Gabo ever got to being "Optimistic"... In his own way. Asha smiles at that as she starts walking after him. Then they hear Dahlia's voice coming a few meters in front of them:
"GABO! Is this the way out?!"
Asha and Gabo run to where they are, and all six of them are standing in front of a big wooden door
"YUP! This is it" Gabo says with a huge smile
"Great! Hold this" She hands her hand drawn torch to Safi, as she gets her sketchbook and pencil to draw a key, she then pulls it out of her sketchbook
"How do you know it's gonna fit though?" Safi asks her curious
"I drew it thinking of it as the key to this door, and so-" She fits the key inside the keyhole and the door makes the clicking sound of it being opened "It is" Asha smiles victoriously
All the teens look excited, the plan is going smoothly so far.
Asha gives them one last ted talk before she opens the door
"Alright guys, after we're in the castle we'll have to be VERY careful, yes, it's just queen Amaya in there, and a crazy lynx, but still, she's unpredictable." Her voice is of a true leader.
"Oh nooo! Is she gonna throw hot tea at us or something? Hahah" Gabo laughs at his own joke
Asha begins to open the door while looking down at Gabo. "You have no idea what she's capable of. So when we're in, we just run through the-"
"KITCHEN?!" Dahlia exclaims looking shocked at what's behind the door, all the other teens except Asha are also looking at it, just as shocked as her.
Asha looks at her friend confused "What? No, we're not going even close to the kitchen, we-" Asha turns to look where the door leads to and sure enough...
She sees the royal kitchen.
"... Huh?!"
All of them go through the door. Now they're inside the dark kitchen.
A place Dahlia is really familiar with... So she knows very well this is all wrong.
"Okay... This is freaky" Dahlia says looking around the place "That door was supposed to lead to the pantry, NOT the dungeon" she says scared, pointing at the door they came through.
Asha looks around the dark room, her face becomes more and more worried "This makes no sense..."
"Maybe your magic key messed with the door?" Gabo asks Asha
"No it didn't, this isn't my magic's doing, it's-" Asha looks at the door and realizes... There's something written on it. She gets a closer look, and sees symbols written all over the door, with some words in latin too... "This is the king's sorcery... He made a trap for us..." Asha sounds terrified.
"T-that's impossible, how could he know we were coming?" Hal asks, sounding just as distressed as her friend
"H-he couldn't, I-" Asha takes a deep breath and closes the door they came through "Check the other door!"
Dario runs to the door that leads to outside of the kitchen. It also has symbols written on it, but he tries opening it anyway...
It leads to the dungeons they just got out off too.
Dario looks back at them scared.
"... There's no way out" Asha whispers, sounding more and more distressed by the second. She takes Valentino from the floor and holds him in her arms.
"What about that door?" Simon asks, pointing at another door, but this one has no symbols written on it... And he sounds surprisingly calm for the situation.
"That's just the closet we keep the pans, pots and utensils. That's not an exit…" Dahlia explains, trying her best not to panic.
"Who knows? Maybe it'll lead somewhere, only one way to find out." Simon walks towards it.
He opens it, they look inside, it's so dark in there they can't even see the kitchen stuff that Dahlia mentioned.
Asha starts walking to the door, not sure if there'll be anything at all that can help them escape, but it's worth a shot, after all they apparently have nowhere else to go.
(I just realized there's probably a window in this kitchen and these kids are just being really dramatic)
Asha turns to her friends as she walks to the door "It's gonna be okay, Aster will come here after breaking Magnifico's staff any moment now... I know he will... All we gotta do is wait and stay toge-THEEEEEERRR"
And she falls in a dark pit inside the room.
"ASHA!" All 7 teens scream in unison, and I mean all 7, Simon included, as he genuinely didn't expect this.
(Actually, Dario wouldn't scream but uuh you get the idea)
However, he is the only one that stays outside the room, while all the other six run in, but unlike Asha, they don't fall anywhere, they're simply inside a normal room with pans and pots.
"Where did she go?!" "WAS THAT A TRAP?!" "What is going on???"
All of them speak at the same time, desperate for answers, but in the sea of shouts and questions they hear one quiet question
"Simon?" Bazeema's quiet high pitched voice makes the others go silent as they all turn around and see Simon standing in the entrance.
He looks at them with genuine sadness for what he's about to do.
"I'm sorry." He closes the door with a BLAM and locks it.
...
"... W H A T " Gabo's voice comes out filled with rage. "DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
"I'm keeping you guys safe, like I've been trying to do this whole time but none of you EVER listen to me!" The oldest of the group says from the other side of the door.
"Si-simon, what's going on, why are you doing this?" Dahlia asks desperately.
Simon takes a deep breath and tries to explain "... Look, I'm going to be straight with you all, I talked with king Magnifico-"
(Hahah that’s a direct quote from Wreck It Ralph, when he betrays Vaneloppe)
"MAGNIFICO?!" Gabo shouts with indignation "YOU DIRTY TRAITOR! YOU SOLD US OUT!"
"No! No it's not like that!... At least, it wasn't supposed to happen, I-I didn't mean to do it-" Simon knows they won't forgive him but he tries to at least explain he did it for their own good "I just wanted to make a deal with him, to give him the star's location in exchange of all of us not getting hurt-"
"OH SO YOU WANTED SELL ASTER OUT!?" Gabo for the first time calls the star by his name
"LISTEN! I was desperate, okay?! I knew that if we just went with this plan things could go horribly wrong, and I knew none of you would listen to me if I tried to stop you, so... I contacted him through a mirror he gave to my dad" Simon is sitting with his back on the door as he explains, sounding more and more scared "And- I- I even realized I was making a mistake... I really did! I tried to break the mirror or throw it away but- I couldn't do it- he just kept talking and talking and- UGH" Simon winces in pain and holds his forehead as his eyes once again glow green, he takes some deep breaths as he ever so slightly calms down "The point is... We made a deal. He promised that if I keep you all in here then you'll be safe. It's the only way I can protect you." Simon's face looks tired as he says those words monotonously, like he's just repeating what he has heard before.
"Then WHERE is Asha?! Or was she not included in the deal?!" Now it's Dahlia's turn to yell at him through the door.
Simon's face instantly turns worried once more as if he's snapping out trance "I- I don't know... He never said this would happen" Simon thinks for a moment "Though... I don't remember much of what he said at all..."
"Ooooooh GREAT! Magnus gave you amnesia, such a trust worthy guy HUMM SIMON?!" Gabo says sarcastically, but his voice is not trying to be funny, he is furious.
"I- I'm sure wherever she is she'll be fine!" Simon tells them... More so trying to tell this to himself.
...
We cut to Asha falling from a dark portal that opened in the ceiling of a room.
She screams while hugging Valentino tightly.
"THEEEER- OOOF" She hits the floor "Ouch... Uuugh... you ok Valentino?" She asks her goat while groaning in pain.
"MaAAaaA" Valentino doesn't sound his best, but overall he's alright.
Asha get's up and looks around to see where she is... The king's study... Right next to the wishes room...
This is actually exactly where she and her friend's planned to go, they wanted to free all the wishes by opening the tower's ceiling, so Aster could use his magic and un-curse them all, then give them back to the people of Rosas...
But her friends aren't here... She's alone.
"How did things go so wrong?" Asha asks to herself while looking around the room, she notices some broken mirrors on the walls, as she sees he own reflection "... Come on Val, I'll send the signal to Aster. Regardless if he broke Magnifico's staff or not, he gotta come here and help me." Asha walks to the wishes room, while flipping through the pages of her sketchbook, until she finds the drawing she was looking for, a firework.
She's about to reach for the firework to take it out off the page... But then she sees the light of the wishes floating above her.
She stops and looks up to them, some of them are still blue, but the majority are green.
She looks up with a bittersweet smile, and says quietly with her voice full of hope "Hang in there just a little bit longer, okay? I promise I'll save all of you."
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"It's unwise to make promises you cannot keep, mi rosa."
Asha feels a chill run down her spine. As she turns around quickly with an expression of horror already painted on her face.
Queen Amable is standing a few feet away from her, she's in the study while Asha is in the middle of the wishes room.
The queen smiles at Asha sadistically, with her pet lynx right by her side.
Chapter 15
Final Thoughts
OOOOOOOOH BOY so much happened huh?!
I am going crazy, wacky even, I waited so long for us to get to this part of the story! Not just the "At All Cost" stuff, I mean like THE CLIMAX THAT IS APPROACHING AND IM JUST BUILDING UP TO IT NOW AAAAAAH.
But YEAH let's talk about the At All Cost stuff, cause like... WOOOOAH BOY I love that song, and not just because it's pretty, but because while listening to it I felt like the song perfectly encapsulates teenage love, what do I mean? Because it's all so pure and like the two voices are saying the first things that come to their minds, it feels like a passionate train of thought forming in real time, and that's what I wanted to be like for Aster and Asha, as Aster is trying to figure out these feelings he didn't even know they could have, and Asha is caught off guard but so happy to finally show what she has been feeling too. It's beautiful.
I feel like most Disney couples don't feel like... Teenage love, mostly because the guys are ALWAYS older than the girl, and like, not that there's anything wrong with that... Except in some cases *glares at Snow White and Florian's age gap* but I think it's quite refreshing to see young love being depicted like this, with the two acting awkward and even oblivious because they don't know what love really feels like... And also they're raising a rebellion so that kinda keeps them distracted.
But speaking of the rebellion... It really takes just ONE person not believing in the cause for everything to go down the drain, huh? Yeah, Simon has his own ways of protecting his friends, while Asha chooses to fight, Simon chooses to comply. And really, I feel sorry for him, you guys maybe don't, like, everyone now might be a Simon hater, and I get it, but like, Magnifico played him like a fiddle.
Simon just hoped that if the king got Aster he'd leave Asha alone, but as they were talking Simon realized that Magnifico really wanted BOTH of them, so he realized he made a mistake and even tried to break the mirror... But before he could, welp, Magnifico pulled a Kaa move, and hypnosis happens to be way more effective on people who are feeling sleepy, so really Simon had no chance.
And can I just toot my own horn here and say that I'm so proud that even when Magnifico and Amaya aren't in the scene they'tr still threatening? Because that scene at the kitchen when they realize they're trapped, meaning that Magnifico knows their plan, GIVES ME CHILLS, probably because I hate the idea of being confined in a room with nowhere to leave.
And like... Magnifico is doing this just for the lols really, the guy could've just made Simon tell him where they were and captured them in the forest, but he was like "Ooooh they wanna get in the castle to harm my wife? Well, we can't have that now can we? Here's what I want you to do-" And then proceeds to make Simon betray his friends in such a way they'll never forgive him, oh, and if Simon doesn't do it then the king implies they WILL get hurt, how fuuuun.
It's funny how Aster is just having fun in the forest, messing with Magnifico, going through his Peter Pan arc, completely unaware Asha and the others are going through a living nightmare. Oh but don't worry, he'll join the nightmare too :)
You guys might start to think I'm on the villains side or something because they always get the upper hand, but this is all part of the metaphor of them representing the struggles Asha faces in her life, and let me tell ya folks, life is hard, sometimes just as hard as defeating two villains, but no matter what they do, Asha will keep fighting, and that's what makes a hero, the lower a hero get's, the more satisfying it is when they rise... And the higher a villain rises, the harder they fall :)
See ya'll next time!
Thank You For Reading!
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shmaptainwrites · 8 months ago
Text
ahhh guys it’s a part 2 to love you three! it ended up being a little more hurt comfort than i expected but still more content of our cute little family 🥹
Pairings: James Wilson x fem!Reader
Warnings: some family insecurities
Three, Four, Five
“Benny!” you spun around and shoved your hands in your pockets, seeing no sign of your son anywhere. “Hey, sweetheart, have you seen Ben anywhere?”
James shrugged his shoulders, but his eyes pointed behind the kitchen island, discreetly giving his son’s position away.
“Oh, that’s just too bad I was going to ask him what he wanted for dessert tonight,” you said in a clear loud voice, and just like you predicted, little Benjamin came running out from the kitchen almost so fast you couldn’t scoop him up in your arms when he arrived at your feet.
“Can we have ice cream?” he asked eagerly and you laughed, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“After dinner and after we finish this project you have to do for school.”
“Dad, do I have to?” Ben whined and James gave him a look saying,
“What do you think, squirt?”
“Why don’t you want to do it?” you asked, putting him down on the couch and sitting next to him, James closing the fridge and joining you in the living room, the faint sound of your other two children playing in the room filling the rest of the quiet house.
“No reason,” he shrugged and you and James both looked at him skeptically.
“What’s the project?” James asked.
“A family tree,” Ben sighed and you looked up at James with a hint of sadness past your eyes.
Not knowing what to say initially, you let your husband take the lead of the situation as he hummed in thought, standing up from where he sat on an armchair to come join you both on the couch, sandwiching Ben between you.
“So there’s no reason you don’t want to do the project so then why don’t you do it?” he attempted to point out the fallacies in the young boy’s logic, seeing if that might speak to him.
“Cause it’s boring,” Ben said, looking up at his dad.
“So that’s a reason then, right?” James continued. “Are you sure that’s the only reason?”
“You know you can talk to us about anything, right Benny? That’s what dad and I are here for.”
Ben was contemplating his options before leaning back in the couch and softly saying,
“Derek says you guys aren’t my real parents.”
You frowned when you heard what he shared, knowing this conversation might come up eventually, but you didn’t expect kids to be so cruel so young.
“What do you think?” James asked.
Ben pursed his lips and moved them around in thought.
“I know I’m adopted,” he reflected. “But does that mean I can’t put you on my family tree? Because we’re not related?”
“Benny, we’re not related like Derek is to his parents, but we’re still related,” you wrapped an arm around him and gave him a squeeze.
“How?” Ben asked curiously.
“Well cause we’re a family,” you smiled. “That’s our connection to each other and it doesn’t matter that it doesn’t look the same way as it does in other people’s families.”
“And we have some cool stories to go with it too,” James added. “Have your mom and I ever told you about how we met you?”
“How you met me?” Ben chuckled. “No, I don’t think you have.”
“Well we’d have to go back about seven years ago,” you started.
“Yeah a time where dad’s back didn’t have issues and mom didn’t need glasses to read everything,” James added, making Ben laugh and you roll your eyes. “It was a pretty cold night, wasn’t it?”
“Snowing outside,” you nodded. “I got a call from your auntie Lisa telling me there was a small baby in the emergency room and they needed my help to make sure he was okay.”
“Was that me?” Ben asked.
“You bet,” you nodded. “So I ran downstairs from my office and when I got there I saw you all bundled up in one of the nurse's arms while they checked you up. I went over and offered to take you and when they put you in my arms I could have sworn it was magic.”
“How was it magic?”
“You know how sometimes moms and dads talk about how they feel when they hold their baby for the first time?” you asked and Ben nodded. “I felt that with you, because I think deep down I knew that you were going to be my baby.”
“It was love at first sight,” James said. “Just ask your grandparents how they felt when me or your uncle Danny were born. We felt the exact same way when we saw you.”
“So you felt the same with me as you did with Amy and Nate?”
“The absolute same,” James nodded. “We love them just as much as we love you.”
“Which is a lot,” you added with a nudge.
Ben seemed to be feeling better about the whole situation, but with a bit more thought he found himself with one more question.
“What do I do if someone says you aren’t my real family?”
“That’s a good question,” you pursed your lips. “Any ideas, Jamie?”
“You could tell them it’s too bad they think we aren’t your real family because no matter what they think it’s not true,” James said simply. “You’re our son and you’re Amy and Nathan’s big brother, nothing someone says is going to change that.”
“Change what?” Amy asked, walking into the living room from the hallway, Nathan trailing behind her.
“That I’m your brother,” Ben said.
“Yeah, no duh,” Amy rolled her eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the whole world, making you all laugh. “Who said you’re not our brother? They’re really stupid.”
“Amy, language,” you chastised.
‘She’s right’ James mouthed in your direction and you tried to stifle another laugh to not encourage her.
“Come here you two,” James motioned for the kids to join you on the couch, picking Amy up and placing her on his lap while you helped Nathan sit next to you.
“What are we doing?” Nathan asked after a moment of silence, looking to his twin sister for answers.
“We’re trying to have a nice family moment, Nate, you gonna cooperate?” James teased and reached over to tickle his youngest son who squirmed and squealed with laughter while Ben and Amy tried to come to his aid, eventually overpowering him and tickling him right back.
“Alright, alright kids, give your dad a break, we still need him in one piece,” you put your hand on Ben’s shoulder, pulling him back a little and then moving Amy's hands away from James’ neck where she was still earnestly trying tot tickle to avenge her twin brother.
“Thanks honey,” James leaned over and you shared a quick kiss. “Love you.”
“Love you too,” you smiled before looking at your three kids and they all knew what was coming. You and James each pressed a kiss to either side of Ben’s face saying,
“Love you three,” before moving onto Amy with “Love you four,” and finishing with Nathan and “Love you five.”
You looked over at James with a grateful look in your eyes and you both thought maybe Ben’s project could wait until after dinner and a nice big bowl of ice cream.
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genevievefangirl · 15 days ago
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Gen's Top 100 DBDA Fics - PART 10
For all caveats/rules/backstory, please read the Master Post
Thoroughfare By: expertonhaircuts worm_pirate_ on twitter Rating: T Tags: AU - Zombie Apocalypse, AU - Last of Us, Slow Burn, Hurt Edwin Payne, Protective Charles Rowland, Unfinished Summary: “I’m Charles,” He says, determined to keep eye contact with the boy’s wide, green eyes, “Are you okay?” The boy doesn’t say anything. He just looks down and rolls up the right sleeve of his shirt, and Charles’ mouth goes dry. Logically, he knew it was there, he knew, he saw the Infected bite into the boy when Charles was under him. But somehow, as they ran, he’d convinced himself he’d saved them both. “Promise me, Charles,” The name comes as an afterthought, the boy’s voice shaking, “Promise me you’ll kill me when I turn.” // OR: A zombie apocalypse AU inspired by The Last of Us in which Edwin is immune, Charles has sworn to protect him, and together they’ve been running from their pasts whilst trying to do some good along the way. My Notes: This is the only truly 'unfinished' fic on this list in that it hasn't been updated for months at this point, but I promise you it is worth reading in it's current state. I love zombie AUs and this one is one of the best I have ever read. The first meeting between the boys is iconic and the instant connection they form is *chef's kiss*. I promise you will love it.
Touched by you By: Lemurafraidofthunder @lemurafraidofthunder Rating: T Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Caretaking, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, Fluff, Protective Charles Rowland, Protective Edwin Payne Summary: After a run in with an iron-happy witch, our favourite ghost detectives take care of each other and perhaps have some realisations. Featuring gentle touches, a slightly panicking Edwin and Charles who’s always gonna be ready with a soft smile for Edwin. My Notes: The boys taking care of each other after getting injured will always be one of my fav genres.
Wait, I'm Coming Too By: flowerbritts @flowerbritts Rating: T Tags: Feelings Realization, Misunderstandings, Protective Charles Rowland, Hurt/Comfort, Case Fic, FIrst Kiss Summary: Edwin was changing. Charles couldn't help but see this as strange as 'Edwin' and 'change' were usually never in the same sentence. But Charles noticed. Charles would always notice. or Charles has to use his investigative skills to solve The Case of The Different Demeanor. My Notes: Edwin's different. Charles is struggling with that. The boys talking about their feelings after the season is over is such an underrated genre of fic and this is one of the best of those.
what is Hell to a broken heart? By: imnotcryingipromise Rating: G Tags: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Self-Sacrifice, First Kiss, Soul Bond, Protective Charles Rowland Summary: "You'd trade your soul?" the demon asks, evidently mystified but intrigued. "For his?" Charles breathes out a humourless laugh. "His is worth more than ten of mine," he submits. "But I doubt you value souls of quality. You demons want anger, yeah? And pain? You feed off it... Well I'm full of it." *** Hell returns to reclaim Edwin. Desperate to protect his friend, Charles offers up his soul instead. My Notes: Charles trying to save Edwin from going back to Hell by sacrificing himself? SIGN ME UP!
what some circumstance stole By: Chrome @catalists Rating: T Tags: Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Torture, Kidnapping, Hurt Edwin Payne, Protective Charles Rowland Summary: For a magic-user intent on siphoning pain for power, both Hob Gadling and Edwin Payne represent unique opportunities. United in dire circumstances, a man incapable of dying and a boy long dead forge an unusual friendship--and try to survive the experience. --- “When you died,” Hob said. “How old were you?” “Sixteen.” “That,” Hob said, “Is awful.” Edwin shrugged. “Life is, I’m afraid,” he said. “Can be wonderful, too,” Hob said. “I promise.” My Notes: I have never seen Sandman, but this story hit me hard. It has everything! Hurt Edwin with Charles being protective and an interesting case too! And Hob is a great POV character that I grew from not knowing at all to LOVING by the end.
what was there to complain of, but that he had been loved? By: imnotcryingipromise Rating: T Tags: Fix-it, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Love Triangles, Angst with a Happy Ending, Protective Charles Rowland, PTSD Summary: "Edwin!" Charles' anxious plea brings him back to the present. They are just inches from one another, the younger boy’s hands pressed to either side of his inconsolable companion's face. "Stay with me, yeah?" Charles whispers. *** Following Niko’s death, Edwin begins having panic attacks. Charles is torn between his desperate desire to console his oldest friend and his duty to the girl he cares for. My Notes: Charles insisting on giving Edwin comfort when Edwin insists he doesn't need any is such a good trope. And I love Charles running after Edwin when he runs away.
Who Would You Kill For? By: Asoftdaniel ourbluehours on twitter Rating: T Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Troture, Protective Charles Rowland, Violent Thoughts, Cuddling & Snuggling, Hurt Edwin Payne, Angst Summary: Edwins' screams mulled Charles' soul into pieces. He was unable to reach him, the iron collar a burning reminder carving his skin with the guilt. No matter how much he struggled against the choker, no matter how many threats were shouted, he couldn't stop Edwin’s tortured wails. He would make that witch pay. He would make everything alright. or the events from the last episode written slightly different– more violent and sentimental– and the aftermath while comforting away some deep scars. My Notes: Charles going ferral on Esther after she tortures Edwin is catnip to me.
Who? You mean your teammate in the Codependency World Cup? - Series By: RoseGanymede95 @oxbellows Rating: G-M Tags: Case Fic, Whump, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Edwin Payne, Protective Charles Rowland, Angst Summary: The pre-canon adventures of Edwin and Charles. In which they love each other a whole lot and neither one has any idea how to be normal about it. My Notes: Yes I did put all of Codependency together because otherwise it would have taken 5 slots lol This is highly rated for a reason, if you haven't read it yet, what are you doing??? Go read it! The characterization of Edwin and Charles is spot on and the writing itself is delightful. Everytime it updates the entire DBDA Haunt server screams about it. If that doesn't tell you all you need to know then nothing will!
Will it shine forever? By: Asoftdaniel ourbluehours on twitter Rating: G Tags: AU - Canon Divergence, AU - Soulmates, Angst, Protective Charles Rowland, Soul Bond Summary: “He is gone,” Charles choked out, wet and desperate, “I can’t feel him Crystal, he is gone.” It rang true, sucking all the oxygen in the space around them until it was painfully obvious that, even if soulmates could be separated by Death, Hell would have to try a lot harder. Even if the soul mark was gone and Charles grieved the loss of half his soul, he would wreak havoc until there was nothing left of him. Or: the soulmate au where when Edwin gets taken to Hell the soul mark and ‘soul bond’ disappears, leaving Charles uncertain if Edwin is still even ‘alive’ yet he goes down to Hell anyways. My Notes: Soulmate AUs are some of my favorites and I love this one partially because Charles not being able to feel Edwin anymore when he is dragged to Hell hit me right in the gut.
Your flickering light By: tragedy_machine @tragedy-machine Rating: T Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Protective Charles Rowland, Feelings Realization, PTSD Summary: Charles sees it happen in real time. He sees how Edwin goes from distressed to so deeply panicked it’s evident that his mind goes to a completely different place. He also sees the moment Edwin flickers and simply sinks through the floor. Edwin phasing through one floor to get to the one below wouldn’t be anything to write home about, except for the fact that they already are on the utmost ground floor. There was nothing underneath the house but a few meters of concrete, followed by rock and dirt. OR: Edwin gets triggered during an attack which causes him to disappear and a panicked Charles has to figure out how to find him before it's too late My Notes: The idea of Edwin falling through the floor due to panic has stuck in my brain from the first time I read this fic months ago. I love the moment when Charles finds him half buried in the ground. It is just so good.
And that's the full 100!
But we aren't done yet! Tune in tomorrow for:
Part 11- Bonus WIPs day!
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itstimetojellyfish · 4 months ago
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Yo hey I just finished your Misha angst now I'm addicted have you thought about writing for Yanqing platonically because I've got some good angst for that silly lil guy but anyway what about platonic angst for Jing Yuan like say he has a biological kid and they feel like they disappoint him because they aren't fully a long life species but they have a lot of achievements they just don't have like a lot of confidence and they feel that he prefers Yanqing over them bonus points if they are already an adult because they've been carrying that thought all throughout their childhood oh oh don't forget the dead nom
Great! I actually have considered it , but I’ve been on a writers block so this is a great opportunity! Thanks for the plot!
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Always in your shadow ( Platonic Yanqing x reader)
Time for some more angst no comfort!
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Here we go again..
“General! When will we have our next session?” The blond haired boy sprinted beside your father as he excitedly told him about everything he’s done .
You feel… jealous…
You press your lips together as you watch them talk excitedly, telling each other about battle techniques and chess….
You suppress a sob in your throat as you suddenly grasp your chest , your heart throbbing and clenching painfully.
Wasn’t the General supposed to be your father?..
You had nothing against Yanqing , in fact , you love him as if he was actually your blood brother, you took care of him ever since Jing Yuan brought him in .
However , he’s a teen , and you’re an adult now , and Jing Yuan still hasn’t smiled at you the way he smiled at Yanqing .
You’ve done so many things… fighting Mara-struck , leading his army , doing his desk work unfortunately.
And yet..
Here you are , trailing behind them like a guard while they laugh with each other as if they’re the blood relatives, not you .
You hiccups quietly, suppressing the tears that threaten to fall upon your face , you feel neglected.
You’re no longer that social anymore , because you thought that if you made more connections…
You would finally be useful.
However , you now know what the truth is.
He loves Yanqing.
Your head short circuits when it comes to that conclusion , making you stop suddenly behind them , eyes wide with disbelief.
No… that can’t be true, your father wouldn’t do that! He loves you both equally! He always did , he definitely didn’t host all of Yanqing’s celebrations!
He definitely doesn’t spend more time with Yanqing when he asks ,when you have to literally wait for months to get an appointment!
He definitely doesn’t dote over Yanqing whenever he gets seriously injured while never visiting you !
Oh who are you kidding?
You take a step backwards before running away towards your destination , a lush green field you cultivated yourself .
You now see the signs, ever since Yanqing came into the picture , you’ve been neglected because apparently…
You’re old enough to not depend on another .
You collapse underneath a willow tree and your long sliver hair comes undone , you wish you could tear out your hair .
You wish it was mother’s color , you wish mother was still here , then she would’ve took care of you when your father didn’t .
You wish that your eye color was the same as your mothers , then you’d have something to cling onto .
You wish you had at least one person to cling onto because you’ve been alone since you were 8 .
You…. Wish …. You just wish you had someone that would love you.
As you cry silently beneath the tree , a soft rustling came from your left side , you turn your head and then see a blue sleeve push the leaves aside and a blond head pops through the canopy.
Your eyes immediately dull and cloud up.
He looks at you and then says “ It’s my fault that you look so defeated and worn everyday isn’t it?” His expression has guilt written all over it .
You sigh,” Yanqing , it’s fine . No need to worry , my prime has already passed, just focus on you okay?” You give him a strained smile .
He just stares at you , the tension between you two thick .
In midst of your staring contest, a soft creak can be heard from behind the willow tree , making your head turn , Yanqing steps closer to inspect it , looks at the stem , however , the stem wasn’t the problem.
A Mara-struck had crept up and chopped the tree, making it fall towards you two . Your first reaction was to leave , but Yanqing didn’t realize until it was too late .
Wouldn’t it be easier if he just died?
(No)
Wouldn’t it mean more attention from father?
(More like hatred)
He favors Yanqing , and others don’t like you , so it would be better for everyone , if he survived , so you did what you thought was the most logical reaction.
Push Yanqing away , and get buried underneath the tree , letting the Mara-struck slash at you until Yanqing recovers from the shock.
As soon as you felt the tree bury you underneath it , a loud crack was heard , and your rib cage felt more and more in pain as the Mara-struck stalled towards you.
While you expected Yanqing to at least help you up , he just ran after he pierced the monster .
Was a little bit of help too much to ask for?..
So, you just lay there , sobbing quietly as the pain in your rib age became more and more unbearable, silently wishing for someone to comfort you .
It didn’t take long for you to slowly loose consciousness, the last thing you heard was ,
“ I’m sorry for everything “
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denwritesandcries · 11 months ago
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Like a Movie Scene – V.P
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Pairing: van palmer x fem!reader
Summary: Van Palmer should come with a warning sign. She invades your life with her crooked smiles and stupid jokes and draws you into her orbit without even asking for permission, as if it were something destined to happen. Which, you assume, it probably is.
Word count: 7,1k.
Content: No crash!AU, cursing, mentions of homophobia (it’s the 90’s), friends to lovers, slow burn, fluff, a little angst, shitty families, LOTS of movie references, the yjs being normal teenagers.
Note: Van is a flirty little shit but also a complete loser and we love her for that.
English is not my first language.
Van Palmer should come with a warning sign or at least a 'no returns' marked on the tag of her football jerseys.
You don't think it would have done any good, though. Van draws you into her orbit from the first moment you met, like a bright and warm sun; allowing you to exist steadily in her life even though, technically, she has invaded yours.
You suppose then, that you wouldn't have it any other way.
It's likely you guys would never have really spoken to each other if it weren't for a mix-up between your practice schedules and a stupid argument between your coaches.
You see, the track team – which you were part of – always had practice right after the football team, because Wiskayok High School barely had the structure to keep both a girls and boys football team running properly, let alone a decent space for the few other sports the small-town school offered. Your practices took place on the same days of the week and one after the other, always at the same time. It was the implicit rule: from 4:30 pm the field is yours.
Coach Martínez didn't seem to care, however, because there he was arguing with your coach. Since apparently football practice had run late and the girls just needed to train for an hour and a half.
Your coach wasn't having any of it – your time was already too short without these changes –, and now both men were in the middle of the field screaming in each other's faces while poor coach Scott tried to calm them down.
“Dude.” you recognize Natalie Scatorccio’s tired and rasp voice beside you: “They could just cancel and let us go.”
You and apparently most people there, if the expressions of annoyance and crossed arms were any indication, couldn't agree more.
"Right?" You said. “Look at them, you think they’re gonna fight?”
Nat let out an amused snort, “They’re going to eat Coach Ben alive, that’s what they’re gonna do.”
You would have said something else if it weren't for a third voice coming from right behind you:
“They're gonna kiss, look how close their faces are.” It was Van Palmer, the goalie, with red hair swinging in a ponytail and a smirk on her lips. She shook her head in mock disappointment and crossed her arms, pointing with her chin at the scene, “In front of us, kids? What a lack of professionalism.”
You choke on a laugh and her gaze snaps to you, her smile widening with something like satisfaction in her eyes. The attention made you nervous. You weren't used to interacting with Yellowjackets members other than Nat, who was easy to talk to and was your lab partner as well as sharing cigarettes at parties, meaning that talking to Van Palmer was a completely new territory.
You joke back insecurely: “At least you have real coaches. Ours is the art teacher.”
That made her let out an incredulous laugh and you'd be lying if you said you didn't feel pleased about it. Like almost the entire school, you also had a crush on the Yellowjackets.
Your laughter died down just as Coach Scott ran across the field to the two mixed teams with the most genuine expression of exhaustion you've ever seen. “We decided to share the space," he says. And that's all. Your first interaction with Van: a conversation that lasted less than three minutes mocking your teachers. You would never expect it to evolve into anything beyond that.
It's strange trying to do your usual routine of running through the poorly painted banners around the pitch – which looked like it had never seen better days – with a game taking place just a few meters away from you and your teammates. The fear of getting hit in the face by a ball was embarrassing.
Yet, as you wait for the relay, your gaze tracks the girls in action. You don't know the names of most of them, but recognize Taissa and Shauna fighting over the ball at one end of the field, the confrontation seems a little too intense, which makes you a bit nervous and your eyes go straight to the nearest goal, coincidentally, is the one Van is defending.
You notice how beautiful she looks with her expression completely concentrated and hands resting on the knees, waiting to act. Shauna overtakes Taissa and kicks hard the ball towards the goal; Van grabs it as soon as she crosses the white line on the lawn.
A giggle escapes you as Shauna turns around in frustration and the ball bounces back into the field and Van and Tai share a wry smile. The goalie turns her attention away from the game for a moment to look around and you swear she's looking for something – or someone.
Your teacher calls signaling your turn and you leave your thoughts while you line up with some other teammates.
You can do your relay routine for exactly fifteen minutes before something goes wrong.
You run on autopilot, so used to it that it's practically a second nature, letting your gaze return to scanning the field with interest when one of the players tries to score again and Van throws herself against the ground to catch the ball with a stronger and clearly exaggerated movement compared to last time. You thought this would be a one-time thing, seeing as the way Jackie and Nat rolled their eyes at her from where they were off to the side blocking other girls, but it kept happening the entire time you spent running until it was time for your break.
You choke on the water you drink when you realize that Van is the one staring at you this time, hands resting on her thighs, face sweaty and red, as if she doesn't have a game to focus on.
Shit, you think. How are you going to keep your head in training now? You wonder what you would have done to get a Yellowjacket's attention so suddenly as you return to your line.
You resume your run at a pretty good pace despite the sudden nervousness, feeling a little more confident when you hear a loud “Come on guys, no one has beaten L/N’s time yet!” coming from your teacher.
And then you're approaching the curve flush with the football field, the curve that gives you the perfect view of the goal.
Van is there, of course, just throwing the ball downfield again. Van, who rests her hands on her hips and catches her breath when Coach Scott blows the whistle and tells that her team won the game. Van, who turns around just in time and sees you approaching. Van, who removes a strand of red hair from her face that has escaped the ponytail and gives you a malicious toothy smile. Van, who winks at you. Van, who makes you fall. Literally.
It's all so out of nowhere, so suddenly that your heart misses a beat and you miss a step, tripping over your own feet as if your legs forgot how to work properly, falling in the middle of the curve and getting in the way of your colleagues further back in the lanes next to your side
Shit. Holyshit. Fuck. You just fell in front of the entire football team.
One of your friends bends down next to you to help and asks what happened, you blame the laces of your sneakers that untied when you fell because any reason is less embarrassing than what actually happened.
Your knee is bleeding and one of your arms is scraped, so the coach decides to have pity and leave you on the bench until it's time to leave. You make your way there with your ears burning and your head down.
If Van had any kind of interest in you, it definitely disappeared after that.
You remain alone on the bench, avoiding looking anywhere for a long time until Misty Quigley appears at your side with things to bandage your wound and you happily let her fill the silence with whatever she wants to say for the next few minutes.
Your night is spent tossing and turning in bed over the shame you've experienced and the next day as you walk through the hallways, the possibility of the goalie talking to you again doesn't even cross your mind as the first classes go by like a blur.
And then you're at your lunch table waiting for Nat to show up to talk like she usually does when she doesn't disappear around school, but after a few minutes a head of red hair takes over your vision instead of the usual dyed blonde.
“What’s up?” Van is sitting next to you, with the same crooked smile and her cheek propped up in a fist.
“Uh, nothing much really.” You have no idea what is going on; she is sitting with you, smiling at you and talking to you. Why is she doing this? You can feel a few other people's eyes on you through the interaction.
She introduces herself, even though you already know who she is, holding out a hand for you to shake – they’re rough, you notice, with calluses adorning the fingers –, probably just so you can introduce yourself too. “I’m Van,” she says. And that’s it.
She’s been Van since the beginning. Not Vanessa Palmer or the Yellowjackets goalkeeper, just Van. She says it so matter-of-factly that it would simply sound wrong to call her anything else.
You engage in a conversation about anything and everything after you introduce yourself – just your nickname too. You assume Nat already told her your name at some point yesterday – speaking as if you already knew each other, and somehow it doesn't feel weird.
Your eyes end up focusing on a black-haired girl crying at a table on the other side of the cafeteria with another girl a little smaller than her. You don't know either of them, but you know that they are both on the main team too.
“Hey,” you point with your chin: “What’s up with her?”
Van finds the source of your attention and raises her eyebrows, “Oh, you mean Mari?”
You answer with a simple nod of your head and that's enough for Van to invade your personal space with a devilish expression and a mischievous smile.
“She had a bad break up.” Van says and you tilt your head at her.
“But was it that bad?” You arch an eyebrow, “People don’t cry in such full places over nothing.”
Van moves a little closer to you and lowers her voice conspiratorially, as if she’s telling you a very important secret: “She were dumped," and then a dramatic pause, “For the guy’s half-sister.”
"What?" Your jaw drops completely and Van nods her head.
“Lottie told me, she knows about these things.” Ahe rests her face in her hand again, “She said she caught them kissing at her last party, Mari must have known.”
“‘The fuck?” The shocked look you give her only seems to amuse her.
“Oh, she's crying right now but boy, she was mad as hell in our math class today.” Van blows an exaggerated raspberry, “I bet she'll end up coming up with an absurd plan to get revenge and burn down his house just like in She Devil if the story spread.”
It will definitely spread, you thought.
An unexpected giggle escaped your chest – you might have felt a little bad for talking shit about a girl you didn't even know later, but not now – and your gaze found Van's face again.
“Yeah.” You start, “Except she was replaced by the guy’s own sister– half-sister, whatever, instead of a famous writer.”
Her face lights up completely as she speaks, bright green eyes like those of an excited puppy.
“You like that movie?” She asks.
“I love that movie,” you correct, “It’s iconic and Meryl Streep looks good.”
"She does.”
This seems to completely cement Van's interest in you, because she continues to sit with you at lunch for the rest of the week. When Nat finally shows up, she arches an eyebrow, but doesn't question it.
You and Van get closer in a surprisingly short period of time, but the way she seems to settle into your life is gradual and your silly little crush on the goalie seems to get stronger without even realizing it. Waiting for your lunches in the cafeteria, conversations in the hallways, glances exchanged during physics class – since you sat too far away to really talk – and the exchange of silly words about movies you like.
You have the habit of going out for a run every weekend in the morning – it's not easy to keep the best time in the routines, after all – and one day you decide to change your route by pure coincidence to a longer one that ends up near one of the trailer parks in the city; the fact that Nat mentioned one day that she’s neighbors with a certain teammate has nothing to do with it.
It surprises you that Van is awake at 8 am on a Saturday, but you find her – by pure coincidence, nothing more than that – outside a sad trailer watering an even sadder small garden. When she sees you, your hair is a mess and breathing is a little out of step, and you give her an awkward wave as you catch your breath. It's the first time you've seen each other outside of school.
“You’re stalking me now, weirdo?” Her crooked smile tells you that there's no real bite behind it.
"No," You place your hands on your hips, kicking some loose pebbles on the floor with your sneakers. Yes, you liar, “I always run around here, how come we’ve never seen each other before?”
Fuck it, you think. If Van can just show up for you because she wants to, then you can do the same.
She seems happy to abandon her garden chores when you ask her to go for a walk and she agrees to make you company once there’s no running involved; a walk, because no one deserves to be running around like Rocky Balboa at this time of the morning.
You walk together side by side through the neighborhood with your shoulders brushing against each other as if you've done this many times before, Van whistling a random tune carelessly.
Talking to her when the initial nervousness passes is one of the easiest things you've ever done and you find yourself enjoying and listening to everything Van tells you. This potential friendship – maybe more. Maybe, just maybe – it's the most fun thing that's happened in your year so far.
Your walks together also become a habit after that. You just come back the next day and Van is there with a smile on her face, so you keep coming back and she keeps smiling.
You also start walking home after school. Neither of you have a car, so why not?
You crave her company and she craves yours, you stay for Van's training and she stays for yours – no one else on the teams has the energy to complain about exaggerated movements or stumbles on tracks – and then when you're ready, you head off to your ways together and it makes your heart warm every time.
Everything about Van just makes you want to know her even more; the way she gestures with her arms and declares with the utmost disgust how she keeps distance from any musical that isn’t animated – “But you only watched Cats!” “And that was enough!” –, they way she tells you about how she and Taissa are watching Sabrina the Teenage Witch every Friday, or how she makes fun of any weird thing Misty said during practice that week.
You listen and absorb everything with an stupid drunk smile on your face, letting her entwine your arms and chatter to her heart's content.
Keep talking, you want to say. I love your voice, seeing you happy makes me happy. Keep talking, keep talking, keep talking.
You invite her to your house for the first time under the pretext of studying, after she throws herself on the chair next to you with a tearful expression during physics class.
“I’m gonna fail,” she whines, banging her head dramatically against the open notebook on the table, “The teacher hates me.”
You start teasingly: “Maybe he would hate you a little less if you actually paid attention in his class.”
"I do!" Van protests. “It’s personal, he must think I’m strange or somethin’ and lower my grades for it.” She crosses her arms with a pout and a roll of eyes.
“Of course." You agree with an exaggerated nod, “And you, yourself, are strange and unusual.”
“Yes!” She exclaims, ignoring the looks she attracts, “But that’s not the point, don’t quote Beetlejuice to me now, woman, this is serious.”
“Oh, wow, okay then.” You shrug.
Van looks at you before resting her head on the table again. She seems so hopeless that you give in.
“Hey, c’mon,” you say, letting your hand rest on her hair and stroke it gently: “You can come to my house today. I’ll help you study for the next test.”
Van's shoulders tense suddenly and her head snaps up so fast it makes you jump back.
"Really?" Her eyes are wide, face as red as her hair: “I wouldn’t want to bother you.”
That's strange. Van is usually the one who makes you nervous, not the other way around.
“You won’t bother me at all,” you reply without giving it much thought, “There won’t be anyone at home anyway.”
And then there's silence, Van's face turns impossibly redder and after a second of confusion, you understand.
You just invited Van to your house. Alone. There is an innuendo there. Several possibilities that neither of you will mention, but that you both know are there.
Your face starts to heat up, so you clear your throat and stutter a confused “Are you coming then?”, because you can't let her realize what you just thought about.
Van responds with a squeaky “Okay, sure." and hurries back to her usual seat when class finally begins.
When you adjust yourself in the chair and think about finally releasing the breath you didn't realize you were holding, your gaze finds Lottie Matthews staring at you three seats away with her eyebrows raised. Shit.
Lottie says nothing, just wrinkles her nose contemplatively and faces forward, but she knows. She always knows. You feel your hands sweat and shake with nervousness at the prospect of becoming the new school gossip like Mari last month. The queer who fell too hard for a Yellowjacket only to get it wrong and ruin everything.
You shake your head. No, Lottie wouldn't do that. You weren't exactly friends, but she’s not mean, there was no reason for her to mess with you, your thoughts were just talking too loud. Plus, it's not like she actually saw anything. You didn't do anything forbidden. Friends go to each other's houses all the time. Your crush is not obvious.
That's stupid, you think, it doesn't matter. But you don't really believe it. Yes, it matters, at least in this little town at the end of the world.
You just hope you don't end up crying in the cafeteria too.
There is no training that day, so as soon as classes are over, you leave school together and make your way home. For the first time, the silence is awkward and makes you feel bad for making the invitation the wrong way. Maybe Van just doesn't swing that way and you made her uncomfortable somehow. It's a possibility; you're not exactly in the closet to the rest of the school.
Still, the way her hand brushes against yours gives you hope that this isn't the case.
When Van enters your house, the first thing she does is look around.
“Wow,” she begins. “Its really…”
“Small?” You complete, feeling somewhat conscious. Your house wasn't a trailer, but it wasn't anything compared to the houses of Van's cool friends. Definitely nothing like Lottie or Jackie.
“Empty.” She corrects.
Huh. It's true, your house was praticly always empty, not only because your parents spent as much time as they could out of it, pretending they didn't have a kid to still take care of, but also because of the lack of furniture and personality. It didn't seem like a cozy place to a family live. As a whole, it could be really lonely most of the time. Van seems to have noticed this with a single glance.
You choose to ignore the comment, suddenly thinking that this might end up becoming too intimate. In a vulnerable way.
When Van enters your bedroom for the first time, she gives the place the same curious look as the rest of the house, but her jaw quickly drops.
“You got a TV in your room?” She sounds completely shocked.
“Yeah.” You snort in amusement, “My uncle runs an appliance store, he fixed one that no one picked up last summer, so now it’s mine.”
Van still looks very impressed as her eyes roam the rest of the room. Your bedroom was, perhaps, the only place in the house where someone actually seemed to live. Posters and photos adorned the colorful walls and it seemed like every little thing in the room was directly a part of you, from an old stuffed animal on one of the shelves to the small pile of messy clothes on the chair next to the study table because you weren't planning on receiving no one to remember to put it away.
The tension from before seems to be dissipating and you can see from the expression on her face the exact moment Van notices your small VHS collection up ahead.
“Okay. That's it. We're only hanging out here from now.”
And that awkward moment passes completely.
In a matter of minutes you both are comfortable in your bed with books and notebooks spread around, after convincing Van to start studying with the promise that she could choose whatever movie she wanted for you to watch when you were finished.
Van seems to dedicate herself twice as much, eager to fulfill the agreement and the hours pass quickly as she understands the concepts you explain about the subject and then all you have to do is say that it's time for a break for her to jump out of bed with a smile from ear to ear and choose a movie.
She puffs out her chest holding the tape in her hands and proudly declares that you're watching Jurassic Park and you don't even think to question it when you return the smile and takes on the task of making popcorn.
Van ends up leaning against you throughout the movie, reciting all the lines from memory along with the characters close to your ear – she knows all of them – and your heart remains racing with blood rushing in your ears until she leaves.
The two of you keep hanging out at your house again and again, just like she said it would be. Sometimes you study or watch something together, but most of the time Van simply keeps you company while you do your chores around the house, following you around like a puppy while you cook or do the laundry. Your home has never been so fulled or welcoming.
You go home after classes and practice – occasionally with Nat in tow – and stay together until it's late and dark, every now and then you say that she could just sleep over as a joke, but she never accepts it. You gulps the pang of sadness and rejection each time it happens.
And you guys talk a lot. You've never been so delighted to hear someone blab about anything.
Van spends days talking about how excited she is for summer while helping you chop the things for dinner. She and Natalie always get jobs together and she’s dying to buy a car – “You’re the runner here, lady, not me.” –, an old dark green pickup truck. She shows you the leaflet with a smile so proud that you don't have the courage to admit that you thought the thing was horrible; she tells you about how she wears the clothes of her older brother who apparently left town as soon as he finished school while helping you fold the freshly washed clothes, some of her own included.
It's so domestic that you wonder why this didn't happen sooner, depriving either of you of a routine together like this for so long seemed mean.
One night you’re sleeping soundly when you are startled awake by a loud knock on your window and you turn to find a face pressed against the glass. You almost have a heart attack.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Van!”
She's standing there with a pout and big eyes, pointing at the lock and you consider leaving her outside for the fright she got you. One look at the alarm clock on the table next to the bed tells you that it's already past 2:00 am.
“What are you doing here?” You ask, your voice rasp and tired from sleep, letting her come in, but only because you don't want her to get a cold outside.
Van sneaks into the room, suddenly shy, playing with the hem of the oversized t-shirt she's wearing and avoiding your eyes. She gives you an awkward smile.
“I was just wondering if we could have that sleepover today?”
She looks upset. Something happend. Something that upset her enough that she decided to run to your home in the middle of the night.
“Van,” your expression softened, worry flooding your voice, “Are you okay?”
“Yep.” She clicked her tongue, still not looking at you in the eye.
Okay, you won't get anything out of it then. Van likes to talk, but not when it comes to problems like this. Problems at home.
The thing is that you and Van have a lot in common, like your dubious sense of humor and your love for movies, but are opposites in many others; the main one: where your house is always empty, hers is always full. Full of people who take away the smile that you always try hard to keep on her face.
“Okay." You sigh, taking her hand and making your way to the messed bed, “Let’s get some sleep then.”
“Oh.” She looks even more embarrassed, her sweaty hand in yours, “I can take the couch or the floor. I didn’t mean to wake you, I’m sorry.”
You let out an outraged huff. “You run to my house, climb in through my window, ask me to have a sleepover and now you want to sleep on the floor?”
She drags her feet on the floor, “...Yeah?”
You choose to ignore her answer, practically dragging her over to the bed and making her lie down. When she does, Van moves to the other side of the mattress, clearly trying her best not to disturb you, but in a fit of courage and exhaustion, you wrap an arm around her and press her against your chest. She lets out a squeak of surprise at the action.
“Go to sleep, Van.” You mumble against the back of her neck, burying your face in her thick hair.
Her body is still tense against yours, but Van allows one hand to rest on the arm you keep around her waist.
You lose count of how long you spend lying awake in silence cohabiting in each other's space, but when you wake up in the morning, Van is still asleep, her hand never leaving your arm.
You guys don't talk about it and you never find out what really happened to make her feel so bad that day, but Van shows up more often to stay the night. She never tells you when she's coming and you get scared every time when you hear the knocking on the window – you swear she does it on purpose, that little smartass.
You realize that you really love her, not just as a silly high school crush, in the middle of a hot May. When Van makes you stand in the line at the cinema ticket office for two and a half hours and miss the day of school to get tickets to watch Jurassic Park - The Lost World. Because if you saw the first one together then you should see the second one too, obviously.
You're sure you wouldn't put yourself through this for anyone else – but don't let Natalie know that.
The whole situation feels a lot like a date and you try to ignore the anxiety that washes over you as you rummage through your closet for an outfit that you think is good enough for the night. The way Van's jaw drops when she looks at you when she meets you at the front door makes the effort completely worth it.
She spends the entire movie almost bouncing in her seat with excitement and swearing at the parts that don't make sense. Because apparently the movie is also really bad, even though she's so happy watching it, and you manage to be bold enough to hide your face on her shoulder during the “scary” parts and leave your head resting there until the end.
You're not proud at all to say you spent seven bucks on a squeezy dinosaur for her on the way back, but it's your senior year, damn it, let the girl have fun with her silly toy before college.
You go back home – ‘home’ you think now, not ‘your house’. Your home. Your home with Van. – with her ranting about special effects and scenes you don't remember because you spent more time looking at her than the screen and you end up on the balcony before you know it.
“That was so good.” Van is just inches away from you, looking at you with bright eyes full of happiness; your hands are sweaty, so you put them in your pockets so she doesn't notice.
“Yeah, it really was.” You return with a playful smile, “Even though you convinced me to spend hours under the sun for it.”
“Hey!” She protests, moving impossibly closer, “What would the experience be worth without a little effort, huh?”
“Sure.” You giggle.
She's so pretty, you think. Hair down and a black jacket draped over her shoulders, looking at you as if she actually saw you. Knows you. I want to kiss her.
“You had fun today?” Van asks, unable to avoid the small tone of doubt that escapes her voice.
I want you to kiss me, you think.
“Yes,” you answer instead, “Yes, I did.”
One night Van simply comes in through your window and you don't even react anymore, leaning into her body under the covers.
“You gotta stop coming in through my window,” you grumble.
“Then stop leaving it open,” she huffs, “Someone might break in, you know that?”
You can feel her smile against your neck and you're about to fall asleep again when you hear her voice whispering:
“You’re gonna go to my games, now that we actually have a chance to go to the nationals, right?”
“Of course,” you mumble with a comforting pat of her hand on your stomach, “I’ll be the first one in the stands cheering you on. You’ll be embarrassed of me.”
Van buries her face in your shoulder, “Good.”
You get sick the exact same week that her last game until the nationals happens, lamenting the stupid flu that left you feverish and stuck at home for days.
You can't go to school and Van can't come to see you because Coach Martinez has increased the training routine as the team advances in the championship. You assume it must be really tiring because Van doesn't show up at night either. It's embarrassing the way you can't sleep properly without her.
The worst of all: you lose Van's game.
You resign yourself to spending the afternoon on the couch brooding in remorse until you hear a knock on the door.
Coming across Van's sad face with her clearly trying not to cry was not what you expected when you opened the door, knowing for sure that you would only be greeted later – probably after a victory party – with excited screams and bright little dog eyes asking for help to pack her bags.
"We lost." She says, eyes glued on the carpet.
“Oh." You say stupidly, “Oh, dear.”
Your voice seems to turn a switch inside her, because Van lifts her head to you with her lips trembling and the next moment you two are on the couch with her practically sprawled on your lap and crying. Crying hard. You've never seen her like this before.
You hear something about Jackie hitting the post at the last moment as she sobs, but what seems to make her really upset are the balls she couldn't save during the game. Like it would’ve make difference.
Comforting was never really your strong suit, you can't say you're really upset that the Yellowjackets lost, the idea of having Van so far away from you even for a few days didn't please you at all. A bad feeling in your chest told you that something could go wrong.
“Well,” you run your fingers up and down her back, “You know one good thing about this? We can go to Homecoming now.”
Her breathing hitches, but if Van notices how you say 'we' instead of 'you' she doesn't say anything.
She's on your lap, nose close to yours, eyes swollen with tears but with the same look from that night at the movies, the one that makes your hands sweat and leaves your heart weak.
Unlike the movies, however, she kisses you. Like, she actually moves forward and kisses you.
Her lips are wet and soft against yours and you tilt your head to pursue them only for her to pull away with a panicked expression.
"I'm sorry!" Van exclaims, scooting toward the door as if her skin had burned: “I’m sorry! I– I shouldn’t– I’ll see you at school.”
And then she leaves. You don't even have time to react, she runs out the door and gets into that horrible pickup truck – which she had parked in the driveway for the first time less than two weeks ago, wanting to take you for a ride to celebrate the purchase – and you're left standing in the doorway like an idiot after the car disappears from your vision, as if you were waiting for her to come back – you were.
You don't see her at school for the rest of the week. She doesn't show up in class or practice and she certainly doesn't show up at your house, Van is avoiding you and it's so obvious that you feel like crying the entire time you're there, trying to catch a glimpse of her through the halls.
Fuck. You knew this would happen, that you would screw up and make the person you care about the most hate you.
You huff in frustration, letting your head fall against the table feeling someone's gaze on you, someone who isn't Van.
Lottie Matthews isn't skipping physics class, she has no reason to be, so you shouldn't have freaked out as much as you did when you looked up and saw her towering over you next to your desk.
“Shit–” You gasp, jumping back in your seat and almost hitting her chin.
Lottie tilts her head, completely unfazed, with a look of false innocence and curiosity on her face. The look of someone in search of an information.
The vision of Mari crying at the beginning of the year comes back to your mind and a shiver with a line of sweat runs down your spine. Oh no.
“Did you guys break up?” She asks and it's the last thing you expected.
“What?”
Lottie sits next to you, smoothing her skirt over her legs, completely at ease.
“Look, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” she starts with an anxious air, “But please do 'cause I really want to know.”
"Know what?" God, your head is already hurting from this conversation.
Lottie seems to realize that your confusion is genuine, because she stops and frowns at you.
“Didn’t you and Van break up? I thought you were together.”
What the fuck?
"...No? We’re not?”
“Are you asking me?” Lottie arches an eyebrow, also confused.
"No." You clear your throat and roll your tense shoulders, “We’re not.”
“Oh,” she doesn’t seem to know what to say after that, strangely disappointed – just like you.
The period passes with the two of you in an awkward, resigned silence and as you're leaving, Lottie follows you down the halls, attracting glances as you pass by, which was the last thing you wanted at the moment.
“What now?” You sigh.
“I think you should talk to her and sort things out.” Lottie says, “She seems so sad lately, without her usual sparkle.”
You could understand where Lottie was coming from, seeing Van upset was truly heartbreaking, but you couldn't help the bitter pang in your chest. She ran away after the kiss, not you. The kiss she gave you.
“She’s hiding from me." You admit begrudgingly, “Where else could I talk to her, anyway?”
“In the Homecoming, of course!” Lottie nods at you sagely, as if couldn't be more obvious.
“Of course.” You agree, because, the hell, why not?
The Homecoming is on the weekend, the same weekend the team was supposed to be away for the nationals, which must be why the girls are there, to try and lift their spirits.
You recognize Jackie talking excited to Taissa about something near the tables at the back of the gym, next to a grumpy Shauna with a glass of punch in a hand and the other placed on her waist – in a definitely more then friendly way –, but no sign of of Van in sight.
You end up outside with Natalie, smoking against a wall, as always happen at every party you're at together. She's telling you about how she saw Jeff and Randy with a bottle of liquor before coming in and that they would probably baptize the punch, you both talked about ratting them out to one of the teachers in charge after sneaking a few cups and you probably would’ve done that if Lottie hadn't joined you – coming from who knows where – to ask for a cigarette too.
Nat joked about how it probably wasn't like the expensive brands she seemed to prefer at her parties, but she handed one over without a hitch and the three of you sat there, looking up at the dark and starry sky for a moment.
“You haven’t seen her yet?” Lottie breaks the silence, casually breathing in the smoke.
Nat looks at you sideways and all you do is shrug, not wanting to admit the defeat.
“You should try it near the stands.” She declares.
“What are you, a psychic or something?” You scoff, but go anyway because like Van said, Lottie knows about these things.
She is there. Of course she is. Sitting in the stands staring out at the empty field, wearing a light blue suit with a white shirt and a matching shiny tie that you have no idea where she could have gotten, because there's no way her mom would have let her buy it.
Van notices you approaching by the sound of your footsteps on the ground, her head turning to watch you and for a moment you're afraid she'll run away again.
She doesn't, so you approach, trying your best not to run towards her.
“I gotta quit smoking soon,” you say, stepping on the cigarette your hand was holding and making an overly dramatic effort to sit next to her with heavy breaths, “Or I’ll end up being kicked of track ‘till year is finished.”
Van snorts, “Right, Ponyboy Curtis.”
For a moment it's like anything hasn’t changed between you both, you bet that if you tried with conviction you could almost pretend that nothing had happened. Almost.
“You ran away from me." You say.
“I did.” Van lowers her head, quietly. Embarrassed. You’re not sure of what exacly.
"Why?" You ask, because that's the question that's been running through your mind for days.
“I–” Van looks away from you, “I thought you wouldn't want that.”
“And I thought you knew how much I wanted it." You say and Van lifts her head to stare at you with wide, hopefully eyes, “What do you want, Van?”
Her jaw drops and she looks like she was expecting everything but that, her hands twitch on her thighs, as if she wants to reach you.
“You look so beautiful right now." She sighs softly before steadying her voice, “You look so beautiful that I want to kiss you again.”
"Do it."
And she does, hard and desperate, crushing her nose against yours, as if she's hungry and can't get enough; you wrap your arms around her, hands touching her with the same need.
The lack of air is too much, so Van pulls away from you to immediately start distributing quick kisses down your neck, as if it could all disappear in a second, becoming confident when you tilt your head to grant her more access and only stopping after the hiss that you let go because she bites.
“So…” she laughs nervously, “What now?”
"Now?" You’re out of breath, “Well, can we go back inside and help Nat steal liquour to screw with Jeff and Randy or…”
"Or?" Van arches an eyebrow in amusement.
“We can go home and I can show you how much I missed you.” You shrug, casually tightening your hands on her waist.
“Hm,” she pretends to think about it, “I guess I like the first option better.”
Van laughs at the sound of your offended squeal and avoids the slap you try to give her shoulder.
“Careful, baby,” she intertwines your hand with hers, “I’m gonna start to think that you love me.”
“Oh, you better know that.”
You pull her by her stupid shiny tie and kiss her when she laughs again and let Van guide you to that hideous truck staggering laughing through the crowd of students.
Yeah, you think. I wouldn't have it any other way.
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medusapelagia · 3 months ago
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25 The soulmates program
written for @steddieangstyaugust (prompt: Soulmates ) and @augustwritingchallenge (Prompt: Scientists ) @aug-kissed (prompt: First Kiss) Rating: Teen and Up Relationship: Steve/Eddie TW: no one Words: 901
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“So, in this experiment, we’re trying to determine if it’s possible to find the perfect soulmate without even knowing them. We interviewed all our volunteers and found a perfect couple. This experiment is the hardest we have ever made. Not only do the two candidates come from two very different social classes, but this is a homosexual couple.”
The audience gasps loudly.
“I must specify that one of the volunteers declared to be gay and the other was open to a homosexual relationship.” The scientists show a PowerPoint presentation pointing at some statistics, “As you can see they don’t have the same interests or hobbies, they live very different lives, but looking at the diagram you can see that they have the same opinions about relationship, friendship, and commitment. You can see that our first subject, Steve, gives very high importance to family and relationship and commitment, and our second subject, Eddie, is just a little bit under on the commitment but they have the same level of importance given to family and relationship. So they are here, after a few dates, to tell us how it worked out for them. Please welcome them.”
The two boys who get into the conference room couldn’t have been more different: one wears a shirt and a pullover over a pair of dark blue jeans, a pair of squared turtle glasses, and a very soft smile, the other is dressed all in black, with a leather jacket, a pair of high boots and some black jeans ripped at the knee revealing a huge skull tattooed on the right knee and black nail polish.
“So, Eddie and Steve, right?” The scientist asks, looking at his file.
“I’m Eddie. He’s Steve.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. So. How did our experiment go?” the man inquires with curiosity, pushing his glasses with one finger.
They both start talking at the same time, before laughing and begin a little dance of “You go first.” “No, you go first.”
In the end, it’s Steve who grabs the microphone, “Hi everyone. I’m Steve Harrington. I signed up for this experiment because I was tired of dating the wrong person and I thought that maybe someone who didn’t actually know me could help me understand what I was looking for.” he turns toward Eddie with a soft smile, “If it wasn’t for this experiment I don’t think I would have ever go out on a date with someone like Eddie. Nothing wrong with him, but as anyone can see we’re not exactly similar.” he chuckles before giving the microphone to Eddie.
“Yeah. That’s right. I would have never looked at someone like Steve to have a stable relationship. I mean, he doesn’t know Metallica and doesn’t play DnD which is like the first thing I ask everyone I date. But yeah. I signed up for this experiment to prove to my buddies that there’s no way you could find a soulmate thanks to some calculation and look at me! I’ll have to buy a lot of beers this year.” He smirks.
“So we must assume the experiment went well.”
Eddie and Steve share a look, “What do you say? Should we tell them?” Eddie asks, playing with a lock of hair.
“Tell us what?”
Steve beams when he grabs the microphone, “We’re engaged. We’re still working on the specifics, I live in Chicago he lives in Los Angeles, but yeah. We are going to get married.” 
“That was unexpected, especially from you, Eddie. Weren’t you against marriage?”
“Have you seen him? Since the first time we kissed after our first formal date, I knew I couldn’t let him go.”
“Remind us of your first date. We sent you each other's description and asked you to meet at the local mall, isn’t that right?”
Steve brushes some hair away from his face, “When I saw the description I was really in doubt. I didn’t think Eddie could have been the right person for me, but I decided to give him a chance. We met at Starbucks. Drink a coffee or two and by the time we leave the coffee shop I was already in love.”
“I was lovestruck as well. Surprised that someone so hot was still single and looking for flaws I didn’t find, so we just chatted and as soon as we left the coffee shop we kissed. I think we both tasted like burned coffee but it was the best kiss I have ever had. And so here we are. Proving that the program can help you find your soulmate.”
The audience applauds, and then Steve and Eddie leave the conference room, hand in hand, until they are far enough from the conference room they look at each other, “What do you think?”
“They totally eat up all that shit. Great work Stevie.” Eddie replies, giving him a high-five.
“You weren’t half bad either, Munson.” Steve replies with a wink, “Now let's make sure they transfer the money to our bank accounts.”
“Can believe your parents agreed to our little plan.”
“It’s their program. They want people to believe they can actually find their soulmate thanks to this program so… it’s a win-win, right?”
“Still convinced about the wedding?”
“I always wanted a big ceremony. I can give you a couple of months of my life before asking for a divorce.” Steve winks, “Now let’s go. This place stinks of stupidity.”
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rafeysbafey · 2 years ago
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⭒𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐲⭒
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⭒𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐣𝐣 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭.
⭒𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬(𝐥𝐨𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭?), 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭, 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 :|, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭
⭒𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭. 𝟗𝟖𝟔
𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 tiktok
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you approached the maybank household with a sigh, pushing back your hair as you made your way to the entrance. 
I would say I'm sorry
If I thought that it would change your mind
But I know that this time
I have said too much
Been too unkind
jj had gone MIA for a few days now, which wasn’t really a surprise but it was coming close to a week. he was ignoring calls and texts, and wasn’t at his house most times—so you were holding your breath hoping he had come back.
“jayj?” you called, knocking on the paint chipped door that creaked open upon on impact.
it’s not locked, why isn’t it locked?
I tried to laugh about it
Cover it all up with lies
I tried to laugh about it
Hiding the tears in my eyes
'Cause boys don't cry
Boys don't cry
you took it as a sign to let yourself in, eyes immediately wandering around the messy living room that was littered with beer bottles and trash.
“jj?” you called again, your voice slicing through the silence as a loud thud was heard around the corner.
seconds later, the missing blonde you and the pogues had been so worried about came stumbling into view.
“y/n?” he sounded surprised, eyebrows knitted together before his expression quickly morphed into anger. 
I would break down at your feet
And beg forgiveness, plead with you
But I know that it's too late
And now there's nothing I can do
“what the fuck are you doing here?” he yelled, voice bouncing off the rickety walls and attacking your ears.
you noticed a bruise on his chin, a bloody cut on his top lip with a matching one above his eyebrow.
his hair was messy with strands sticking to his forehead, dark circles under his eyes.
“i was- w-we were, the pogues, w-were worried about you,” you stuttered out, watching as he shook his head angrily, “you haven’t been answering our calls, a-and, and you just disappeared!”
“and why do you think that?” he spat, eyebrows raising in a sarcastic manor as he waved his hands around.
So I try to laugh about it
Cover it all up with lies
I try to laugh about it
Hiding the tears in my eyes
'Cause boys don't cry
Boys don't cry
“i didn’t want anyone to see me- i didn’t want you to see me!”
his words felt like a knife to the gut, scratch that, to the heart.
never in your entire friendship has jj yelled at you like that, yelled at you period. he treated you differently from everyone else, treated you differently from the pogues.
everyone knew, everyone saw. it made them want to snap and yell out, “just shut up and kiss each other!”
I would tell you that I loved you
If I thought that you would stay
But I know that it's no use
And you've already gone away
“what did i do?” you whispered, only causing jj to get more frustrated by the second. he was practically gnawing on his bottom lip, a bad habit he had picked up along with many others.
“just forget it,” he mumbled, running a hand through his tangled hair before pointing at the door.
“leave.”
“no.”
his blue eyes narrowed towards your figure, mouth opening to say something but nothing came out.
never have you ever talked to him like that, but you could say the same about him.
“what did you just say?”
his voice was thick, tongue like venom as he took a step towards you.
“you need help jj,” you said, frown etching it’s way on your face, “luke is hurting you-”
“stop it!” he practically screamed, hitting the wall next to him, causing you to flinch and step back.
Misjudged your limits
Pushed you too far
Took you for granted
Thought that you needed me more, more, more
you had never been scared of jj until now. he never gave you a reason to be.
he noticed this, eyes softly dropping and mouth slightly agape, “j-just stop it.”
his voice dropped to a whisper, his once beautiful blue eyes filled with light—gone.
there were tears, threatening to spill and flood his broken face.
“please don’t be afraid of me,” he begged, taking another step towards your small figure as you shook your head.
“i could never be afraid of you, j,” you whispered, which was mostly true. he would never hurt you, his emotions just caught you off guard in the moment.
“i’m not like him.”
“you’re not like him,” you assured, a single tear falling down his face as more prepared to follow.
he shook his head, each shake getting more aggressive as he squeezed his eyes shut, hands coming up to tug at his hair.
“i’m not him.”
“j-” your hand reached out to stop his hand from pulling at his locks, jj catching you off guard as he grabbed your wrist and pulled you into him.
you body collided with his softly, his arms wrapping around your waist as he squeezed you tightly. you stood on your tip toes to loop your arms around his shoulders, letting them find home in your neck as his tears decorated your skin.
“i’m sorry,” he sobbed quietly, breath hot against your neck as you shushed him.
Now I would do most anything
To get you back by my side
But I just keep on laughing
Hiding the tears in my eyes
'Cause boys don't cry
Boys don't cry
“don’t apologize, jayj,” you whispered, “i’m here—and i’m not leaving.”
he tried to subside his cries, whimpers leaving his lips as a result.
“you’re not leaving?”
you shook your head, fingers running through his hair as your nails scratched the back of his head, a small action you’ve learned calmed him down over the past months.
“i’m not leaving.”
Boys don't cry
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lainiespicewrites · 9 months ago
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Electric Summer Ch 3.
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AHHH I'm loving this story so much!!! Here's chapter 3! I couldn't stop writing this lol
Summary: Sy and Lainie get ready for the campers to arrive. Everyone gets to know each other. It's a perfect summer day until...the weather takes a turn.
warnings: light cursing.
Reblogs and comments ALWAYS welcome! Please let me know what you think!!
Link for Ch2
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That night I barely slept. Buzzing with all of the energy from the day. The adrenaline and excitement and the butterflies. All of it ran through me like a high I didn’t want to come off of. But still I was skeptical. Was this the universe at play or was it just a coincidence? No, it couldn’t be. Not when all of my emotions seemed to be even stronger in his presence. And as much as I’d like to deny it, I still thought about him often. I had tried to let all of this go. But it’s like he had this grip on me. Everytime I tried to go out with someone new or go on a date. Or let someone touch me. It felt like I was betraying him. I knew that wasn’t true. I know Sy. He never really wanted me to wait forever, I don’t think either of us ever thought we’d see each other again. And if I had seen someone or been with someone he’d never hold that against me. But I just couldn’t do it. 
At some point I must’ve drifted off to a restless sleep. My alarm woke me at 6:30AM. After our dip in the lake yesterday I definitely needed a shower. After a quick morning shower and getting ready for the day. In just some simple workout shorts and a t-shirt. It was supposed to get hot today. I decided to start working on decorations for the cabin before breakfast. I remember one year our counselor made signs with  our names on them to hang over whatever bunk we’d chosen. I loved that idea. 
I went through the roster becca had given me when I’d checked in yesterday and got to work carefully drawing each name and fun summer designs on each one. I wasn’t much of an artist but I was genuinely pretty impressed with myself. 
Then I started to hang the garland letters sign I made for our door. Each year camp has a theme. And our counselors would come up with a name for our group or our cabin before we got there. It was always fun guessing and anticipating what cabin we would get. This year’s theme was classic movies. I smiled proudly to myself as I taped the string to the door after checking one last time to make sure it was straight. We were the “Pink Ladies” I may have a serious obsession with the film Grease. 
I’d decided that if we were paired with one of the boys cabins we would be the pink ladies and I’d convince the boys counselor to be the T-birds. Luckily, Sy didn’t take much convincing. We talked about it yesterday before we started going over the icebreaker games. Although he did briefly try to change my mind and talked about the boys doing a “Top Gun” theme but he conceeded when I pouted. I made both our signs last night. After about an hour of trying to fall asleep I gave up and sat on the floor cutting the letters out of cardstock. I planned on taking the sign over to him  after I figured out how to hang the fairy lights over the rafters. I climbed up onto the top bunk and started there making my way around the perimeter of the cabin. But there was still one long beam across the middle I started on the top bunk in one corner of the room but that only got me so far. I Pulled the little table in the center of the room over and climbed up standing on top of it. It was just tall enough for me to be able to toss the lights around and catch it on the other side of the beam. Just as I’d moved the table and climbed back up to start another section I heard the screen door open. 
“What are you doin?” He asked an edge of panic in his voice. Sy was leaning against the door frame watching me. 
“Hanging lights.” I shrugged, turning back to the task at hand. 
“You’re gonna get hurt,” He said. Walking over to the table staring up at me to meet my eyes. I looked down shaking my head. 
“I am not! I’m almost done once I finish this part I’m gonna climb onto the other bunk.” I explained wrapping the lights around one more time before starting to get down. I felt Logan’s hands on my waist steadying me and helping me off the table. “Thanks” I blushed turning away from him quickly it was to early for this. 
“Anytime darlin, you want some help?” He asked. I shook my head as I climbed the ladder to the top bunk diagonal from mine. 
“Nope this is the last part!” I said as I finished wrapping the lights around the beam. “Did you need something?” I asked. Looking down at him.
“Yeah you not to give me a heart attack!” He joked. I chuckled. 
“I was fine Logan!” I argued. He shook his head. 
“I was actually coming to see if you were ready to head over to breakfast?” He asked I looked down at my watch and looked back up. 
“Is it 8:30 already?” I asked. He nodded. 
“Sure is!” He smiled. I hopped down from the bunk laughing when his eyes went wide again. 
“Jesus woman,” He laughed. “Would you stop trying to get hurt!” He chided. 
“Oh so you can go of overseas and fight in a war, but I can’t do a little home decor without you threatening to put me in a bubble?” I raised an eyebrow. 
“I don’t mean you aren’t capable of doing it yourself darlin, it’s just if I remember right you tend to be accident prone.” He chuckled. 
“That was 7 years ago! I was 17, I was a little clumsy. That’s all.” I defended. 
“Sure,” He smiled. “You ready to go eat?” He asked. I nodded. 
“Just let me grab some shoes!” I slipped on a pair of vans and we headed out the door. 
I was so glad we took the time to sit down and enjoy breakfast because the rest of our morning and early afternoon went by so fast. 
We had another staff meeting about greeting campers. And meeting parents. Dealing with home sickness. A crash course on first aid. The first day’s schedule. Luckily Sy and I were with the older kids. High school age. So our day’s weren’t quite as structured. But somehow that made me more nervous. What if they just brushed us off and none of our effort was even worth it. 
I didn’t have time to think about it. At 1 pm right after lunch and after we finished. Some staff bonding games of our own it was time for check in. It was kind of a long process if I remember so I still had maybe 20 minutes before any of my campers would be there but I was still so nervous. I went and sat out on the picnic table writing down the schedule and some of the games Logan and I had talked about trying one last time to get all my thoughts organized. At one point when I looked up I saw him across the lawn standing on the porch of his cabin finally taping the sign I’d made to his door. 
Better late than never I suppose. I giggled to myself. To be fair it’s a miracle the boys cabins ever participated in those sorts of things anyway. They never were ones to decorate. And their cabins always had a certain…smell to them. I shook my head and looked up again just in time to catch his eye across the lawn. I smiled sending him a little wave. I saw him grin and he waived back. Just as I thought about walking over to chat, a young girl and what i’m guessing is her mom stopped in front of the cabin. 
“Cabin E?” The mom asked smiling. I nodded. Standing up to greet them. 
“That’s me!” I smiled. “Welcome to camp!”
“Thank you!” She said. “This is Emma,” she gestured to her daughter. 
“I can introduce myself mom,” she chided her mother. “I’ve been doing this for 4 years now.” Ah so she was a seasoned camper. She should be fun. 
“It’s nice to meet you Emma, I’m Lainie, do you need help bringing anything inside? I asked gesutring to her bags. 
“Oh I can help her!” Her mom jumped in. Emma rolled her eyes. 
“Mom I love you, but you’re hovering. I got it from here.” She assured her. The womans face fell but she nodded. 
“Alright I get it, it’s time for me to go.” she said. I gave her a sympathetic look. 
“Hey Emma no one else is here yet why don’t you go choose your bunk and get settled in, I always liked to get here early too so I could get the bed I wanted.” I told her. 
The girls eyes lit up and she nodded. She quickly hugged her mom and grabbed her bags walking toward the door. 
“It’s just two weeks mom! I love you!” she said before she walked inside. Her mother smiled sadly and looked back to me. 
“She’s so independent, I don’t know when that happened. She grew so fast. I’ll only get to do this with her one more year.” Her mother explained. 
“She’s just excited, I remember these days. I was a camper myself not to long ago. But trust me, about half way through the first week. I would start to get a little home sick. We alway miss our mommas.” I told her. 
“Thank you,” She smiled. “Sounds like she’s in good hands with you Lainie. I’d better go check on my son My husband is dropping off her twin brother Ethan. And they can both be a handful.” I laughed. 
“I know the type,” I chuckled. She smiled before heading off in the direction of Sy’s cabin. When I looked over there was a boy, and an older man standing outside talking with him. Emma’s mother joined them. The boy had blonde hair just like the girls. Must be her brother I thought.   I didn’t have much time to watch as two more campers and their family’s arrived. One whos name was Nicole she was also a camp alumn been coming just as long as Emma. It didn’t look like they knew each other very well though. Must not have been in the same cabin before. Nicole was a spitfire. Right out the gate. She walked right in claiming her bunk signing her name on the wall next to it, another camp tradition. She dismissed her parents right away as well. They stopped and talked for a bit but they’d done this before they didn’t have many concerns. The other girl  was much more timid and shy. She reminded me of myself my first year of camp. She was about a year or 2 younger than the other girls. Her name was Ryleigh. She was quiet when she introduced herself. Her mother talked to me about concerns of her being social and making friends. She was worried about her. I understood that. But I also understood the way that this place had a tendency to open people up and make them feel safe. What I told her was. I’d keep an eye on her. She’s gonna have a fun summer. I promised that. Another hour had gone by and all of my campers had arrived. I had 8 girls in my Cabin. I welcomed them all and gave them each their sign to put up by their bunks. 
“These are so cool!” Nicole said excitedly quickly climbing up to her bunk and taping it up immediately. 
“I like these!” Emma said, “Is it okay if we add more drawings or sketches to them?” She asked. I nodded 
“Absolutely they’re yours to do whatever you want with!” I smiled. “But if everyone is all settled in I think the boys are ready to meet up with us. Are you ready to meet everyone?” They were pretty excited to get things kicked off by this point most of the girls had been to camp at least once. They were ready to get the summer started. 
Sy and I had decided that we would meet up on the lawn and just sit out on the grass as a group to start things off. When we walked over Nicole immediately ran over hugging one of the boys, must be old friends. They immediately sat next to each other in the grass as Sy and I told everyone to form a circle. 
“Alright,” Sy spoke loudly getting everyones attention. “First we’d like to introduce ourselves. The boys have met me but ladies, I’m Logan, a lot of people call me Sy. I’ll answer to either one.” He smiled. I looked over and a couple of the girls were whispering to each other. I knew that face. I’d been the one making it years ago. Probably even still now. They thought he was cute. It’s so innocent those camp counselor crushes. I’d been there too. Once when I was 13 we had this counselor his name was Tanner. He was really nice and he played guitar and he sang. I was a sucker guys that were into music. I just smiled to myself, and realised it was my turn to talk. 
“We’re so excited to have you all here, I’m excited to meet all of your boys as well Sy! I’m Alayna but for most of my life and especially around here, everyone has always called me Lainie. Sy and I are so happy to be back here, we were campers ourselves but it’s been 7 years since we’ve been to camp.” I said. I stifled a laughed watching a few of them try to do the math in their head to calculate how old we were. 
“My family and I have been coming to camp since my dad was a kid,” Sy added. “I’m sure there are things that have changed since we’ve been here but there are some traditions that never wil!” He smiled. “You guys ready to kick off this summer?” They all cheered excitedly. 
“Okay,” I spoke. “Some people love this and some people don’t but there are 16 of you, there’s no faster way for us to learn all of your names and you who you are than some icebreakers.” a few of them groaned. “I know, I know we’re gonna make this as painless as possible, we were campers too remember? We went back and tried to find the games we had the most fun doing. 
“Everyone know how to play 2 truths and a lie?” Logan asked. Most of them nodded but we still explained the rules as a refresher. “But after we all guess.” He added. “We want you to talk a little bit more about one of your truths to us. Or explain why you chose that lie.” That seemed to really pique their interest. Beckett one of the boys in Logans cabin started the game. 
“Alright,” he started. “I’m a lifeguard, One time when my friends and I were on a college campus tour we played a pick up game of football with some of the college players. Or as a senior prank we stole our math teachers car.” Everyone started laughing. This kid had charisma. I could already see some of the girls eyes getting all dreamy. He was funny too. Sy was going to enjoy having him as a camper. 
“Did you still graduate?” Emma laughed. “No way you did that and didn’t get caught!” she said. 
“I graduated,” He nodded smirking proudly. 
“What position did you play?” Sy asked, talking about football. 
“In school I was wide receiver.” He answered. A few of the others went around asking questions. And then we all made our guesses. We all for sure thought he was lying about the car. 
“We got to sit in the stadium and watch them practice.” he said about the football. “But we didn’t get to play. I’d love to play in college though!” He added. The boys started laughing and the some of the girls shook their heads. 
“No freaking way,” Nicole said “How’d you pull that off, How’d you steal the car?” He smiled proudly, this guy was going to be our camp clown for sure. 
“One of my buddies TA’d for him and he would ask him to get stuff for him out of his car sometimes. So we came up with the idea that when he asked we would meet down there and move it to the student parking lot. He was a super chill guy. He thought it was funny! After he found his car anyway!” We all laughed. The game continued on. They all had a lot of fun with it. Some of them coming up with really strategic lies. Or just basic stuff they wanted us to know about them. It turned out great. It was Ryleigh’s turn last. I could see she was nervous she’d been avoiding going the whole time. 
“Uh, I’m Ryleigh,” She spoke softly. “I’m in band, uh I-I really like to read, and one time in middle school I won a rollerskating contest at our roller rink,” She was playing with her fingers looking at the ground. 
“What’s your favoirte book?” I asked her. She looked up for a second giving me a nervous smile. 
“Uhm Thousand Words by Jennefer Brown,” She said. I smiled 
“I’ve read that Its really good!” one of the girls said. I watched her face light up a little bit. 
“What instrument do you play?” Sy asked. 
“I play guitar.” She said. He nodded giving her a soft smile. One of the boys asked about the roller skating thing and a few other questions and we all guessed. 
“I don’t think you roller skate,” Ethan, Emma’s twin brother said. 
“I do!,” she smiled surprised she had fooled most of us. “I’m actually not in band. I do play guitar though! My dad taught me.” she said. 
“That’s so cool!” Beckett said. “Did you bring your guitar with you? You could totally play at campfire!” He said. She blushed and nodded slightly. 
“I did.” she said. 
“Sweet!” He smiled at her.  
Our afternoon was going really well. We talked to the kids about what things they wanted to make sure we did as a group this summer. What traditions were important to them. The boys were so excited to help Logan start planning for the prank war. At somepoint we were going to play flashlight hide and seek. That was always fun. We always set that up right after it started to get dark. They wanted to do a camp fire breakfast. We made them promise they were going to get up early to help us with it. But they were mainly just excited to hang out with their friends and do whatever we had planned. They were such a great bunch of kids. It always seemed like no matter the generation. We always reverted back to a state of innocence when we were at camp. Leaving technology behind and just being present. 
It was turning out to be a perfect first day. We had the kids make their name tags and  were playing a few more group games before dinner. But just as we were finishing up our last game it started to sprinkle. We gathered everyone up to head over to the dining hall and the sky let loose. It started to rain steadily. We all ran over from the Cabin’s making it inside just before it started to down pour. 
“Well,” Logan said from behind me making me jump, He chuckled. “Didn’t mean to scare ya darlin, but I bet they cancel the welcome campfire tonight, it’ll be way to wet now.” He said. I nodded. 
“That sucks. Some of the girls were looking forward to it. They had friends in other cabins they wanted to see. I had no idea it was supposed to rain.” I said. 
“Yeah, I was checking the weather on my way in yesterday. Could Possibly turn into a pretty rough thunderstorm.” He added. 
“Oh,” I said softly, biting my lip. I hated storms. Especially at camp. The cabins always felt so small and so thin. Like they wouldn’t hold. It was the one time I didn’t feel safe. But I played it off. “Guess we’ll be inside the rest of the evening then!”
During dinner they did infact announce that they were canceling the big welcome camp fire. It was for all the age groups at camp to welcome everyone all at once. And then each night each of the age groups had their own campfire. But we’d be doing neither of those things tonight. So much for the perfect first day. After dinner we decided to run over to the rec room. There was a pool table, and darts. Foosball, card games, board games, all of the inside entertainment we would could ever hope for. A few of the other cabin groups decided to head there too. So the campers had a lot of fun. Most of them reunited with old camp friends and made some new ones. Some of them sat down to play some pretty intense card games or board games. Some just chose to sit and talk. I was feeling really good about our first day. But then I saw Ryleigh sitting by herself. My heart broke for her. I understood how having anxiety could make these situations so difficult. I was just about to go talk with her when Sy approached. 
“She’s a real sweet girl,” He said. 
“You noticed too, huh?” I asked. He nodded. 
“Yeah, hate to mention it but, kinda reminds me of you, in our days here.” He said. 
“I was just thinking the same thing. I was gonna go talk to her, see if there’s anything I can do to help.” I sighed. 
“Not yet, give it a minute.” He spoke. I raised an eyebrow. 
“What do you mean?” I questioned. 
“Just trust me, give it a minute.” He smirked crossing his arms. I stared at him confused for a moment. What did he know that I didn’t. But it very quickly made sense. 
“No you guys go ahead and start the next round I’ll be back,” I heard one of the boys say from the table where the campers had a big Uno game going. It was Beckett I watched as he stood from the table and nervously ran his hand through his messy hair. But then his demenor switched as he put on a charming smile and a confident mask. He walked over to where Ryleigh was sitting on a beanbag in the corner doodling on a piece of paper. He plopped down next to her. 
“Whatcha doin?” He asked her. She jumped startled not expecting anyone to be there. 
“Just, sketching…” she answered.
“You draw?” He asked. She shook her head. 
“Not really but…” I stopped listening. Letting them have their own conversation. I wouldn’t want someone to eavesdrop on a moment like this if I were her. 
“How did you…?” I trailed off. Sy chuckled. His shoulders shaking with laughter. 
“He noticed her a while ago. I’ve been watching him try to work up the nerve to go over there for the last 10 minutes.” he laughed. I smiled. 
“Wait, so you think he likes her?” I asked.
“Oh, he definitely likes her. If the military taught me one thing. It’s how to be observant. He’s had his eye on her since we all met up this afternoon.” he smirked. 
“That’s so cute,” I smiled
“I was the same way with you!” He admitted. I almost choked on air.
“I never noticed that,” I said. He shook his head smiling.
“Yeah, cause you were so quiet and stuck in your own head to realize what was going on. You didn’t even realized you liked me back until the second year we were at camp together.”  He laughed. 
“You did NOT like me first!” I argued. 
“Did too, Just because you didn’t notice doesn’t mean it wasn’t true.” He smirked. I opened my mouth to argue but there was a loud crack of thunder making me jump. I swallowed hard and looked down at the floor trying to hide the panic in my eyes. 
“Still don’t like storms huh?” He questioned. I bit my lip looking up at him and shook my head. 
“Hate them,” I said. Another roll of thunder and I felt myself tense. Sy put his hands on my shoulders making me look up at him. 
“It’s arlight we’re safe inside.” he assured me. I nodded. He and I walked over and sat with a few of the other counselors talking for a bit and keeping an eye on our campers. About 20 minutes later the weather alert went off on the radio in the rec room. We were under a severe thunderstorm warning. We could hear the rain pounding against the roof. My heart pounded in my chest. And the thunder was getting closer. Louder. 5 minutes later. The power went out. 
Sy immediately jumped up to take control of the room. 
“Everybody stay calm,” He spoke softly. I heard a zipper and some rustling. He’d pulled out a large flashlight from his bag. One of the counselors walkie talkies went off. Sy lifted his to his ear to listen. 
“Okay guys, just relax we’re gonna stay here until the storm lets up. Hopefully the power comes back on. Until then weve got some lantern flashlights to set up around the room. Just keep hanging out we’re alright.” He assured them. Sy and one of the other boys counselrs went into a supply closet finding the LED lantern lights they had 5 of them and set them out throughout the room illuminating it just enough for the kids to see and still be able to play cards or board games or talk. Some of the girls were a little nervous so I put on my best brave face to go over and talk to them. 
“Are you sure we’re safe in here?” Emma asked. I nodded. 
“We’re shielded from the storm and there aren’t many windows in here. We’re perfectly safe.” 
“I hate this.” another girl said. 
“I know, it’s not fun but it’ll,” another loud crack of thunder and I jumped. My breathing shaky, “It’ll.. It will uhm…” I started but I couldn’t get the sentence out the panic starting to take over. 
The girls both had nervous looks on their face. I was worrying them. Shit. I suck at this. 
“It’ll pass soon and we’ll head back to the cabins for the night.” I heard Sy say behind me. His hand softly pressed to my lower back. “Don’t worry we’ll get out of here and right back to all the fun stuff tomorrow.” he gave them a reassuring smile. 
They nodded. And I felt Logan gently leading me away. There was a small hallway that was out of the way and he pulled me to the side. “You alright?” He asked. I shook my head starting to feel myself shaking. 
“I-I can’t I can’t do this. I, how am I supposed to help them when I’m too scared myself and, I just I hate this.I feel like I can’t breathe!” I sniffed. He pulled me into him wrapping his arms around me gently shushing me. 
“Shhh it’s alright. You’re gonna be okay.” He said, holding me to him. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.” He soothed. 
“I’m sorry.” I breathed. 
“Don’t, it’s alright.” he whispered. “Just keep breathing for me,” He talked me through it. And when I calmed down we walked back out sitting on one of the couches again. I stayed quiet a moment watching the room. 
“Sy,” I spoke finally. Just as I went to thank him his radio was going off again. We were cleared to head back to the cabins. The heavy part of the storm had passed but it was still raining. We ran back and Sy and I parted on the lawn getting our campers settled. He got the boys back to his cabin and they settled in. He made sure they all made it back 
“Alright boys I’ll be right back I’m gonna go check on the girls make sure they all made it!” he told them. He ran over across the lawn and knocked on our door. I answered quickly and let out a deep breath when I saw it was him. 
“You girls alright?” he asked. 
“Yeah!” some of them answered. I smiled 
“We’re okay.” I said softly. He smiled and nodded for me to join him out on the porch. I turned back to the girls “I’ll be right back ladies, go ahead and get ready for bed, lights out is in 30 minutes!” I told them. I closed the door behind me. And let the sceen door slam shut. 
“Are you okay?” He asked after a beat of silence. 
“Yeah, I am,...Thank you for helping me back there,” I said. 
“This isn’t our first storm together honey,” He smiled. “I’ll always be there to help ya.” I blushed. 
“You’ve always been such a gentleman. You’re mama raised you right.” I smiled. 
“Nah, just with you, comes naturally,” He said. I felt my cheeks heat up even more and I looked away trying to compose myself. 
“So, was that…all?” I asked. He stepped closer to me until I was leaning against the picnic table. 
“No,” He smiled. “There’s one other thing.” He brushed his thumb over my cheek his eyes staring down into mine. I couldn’t take it anymore. We’d drawn this out for too long. 7 years too long. I wrapped one arm around his neck the other hand gently resting on the back of his head pulling him down to me. He responded immediately pressing his lips to mine. His other hand found my waist pulling me close holding me against him. All of the air left my lungs as I kissed him back with everything I had. I whimpered softly when he pulled away. 
“Shit, “ He smiled breathless. “Only took me 7 years but I uh..” He breathed “just wanted to kiss you goodnight.”  I nodded still cathing my breath smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. 
“One more for good measure?” I asked blushing. He smirked. And pulled me in again kissing me softer this time. It was slow and sensual. He leaned his forehead against mine when he pulled away. 
“A man could get addicted to that,” he said. I smiled slowly trailing my hand from his should and down his chest. 
“I wouldn’t mind.” I laughed. He chuckled and pecked my lips one more time. 
“Goodnight Darlin’” 
“Goodnight, Sy” I watched him run through the rain back to his cabin and I stood their for a moment regaining my composure before I went back inside. Just as I was about to open  the door. I heard the one of the girls say
“No, I’m serious you guys I think they’re married!” it sounded like Nicole
“Nikki, Neither one of them is wearing a ring!” Emma said. 
“Okay well dating at least, They’re like super in love! You should’ve seen them in the rec room! I had to pee and they were in the hall by the bathrooms. He was like holding her it was so cute!” 
“Aww that’s so sweet, she was definitely scared! I felt so bad!” One of the other girls, Chloe added. 
“I know, OH MY GOD! Do you think they’ll let us call them Mom and Dad? Remember last year when we had Carrie and Andrew and they were married? That was so cute they literally treated us like their kids!” nicole squealed. 
“I hope so!” Emma said “I really like them! They’re both so nice, and I really hope they’re dating if they’re not they need to be, because they’d be so cute together!” I chuckled to myself before opening the door and they’re attention turned to me but they went quiet. 
“Okay girls gossip time is over! Time for lights out!” I said. They groaned. 
“Okay but wait, are you and Logan Married?” Nicole asked. 
“Nicole do you see a ring? What did I just say? But you two are dating right?!” Emma added. I chuckled to myself and shook my head. 
“Goodnight girls.” 
“Ugh fine be like that girl,” Nicole pouted. 
“Goodnight Lainie!” Emma called. 
“Goodnight,” Ryleigh said softly. The rest of the girls settled in and I turned out the lights and climbed into my bunk. I bit my lip and smiled to myself holding in an excited. Squeal. Maybe this was still the perfect first day after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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kylianswifey · 2 years ago
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Who's Most Likely? - Kylian Mbappe x Reader
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Summary: PSG's Youtube channel decides to test Y/N's, Kylian's and Neymar's friendship with a quiz that will lead to some cute moments. Their video also reveals something that will change Y/N's and Kylian's life forever. Warning: fluff and light emotional moment. Word Count: 4.3k
Y/N sat in between her two dorky best friends, ready to film a video for the team's Youtube channel. She felt kind of nervous because that was her first time on camera with the guys since they became close friends. When Y/N started her job at PSG as the assistant coach after moving to Paris, she didn't have any friends. She grew close with the guys during training days, lunch breaks or when traveling with the team. 
As their relationship progressed, they started hanging out outside of work to the point where it's normal for them to drive to one another's house and just hang out all day or sleepover. However, Y/N always felt a stronger connection with Kylian but she never acted on it, afraid she would ruin the friendship. Besides, she was the person Kylian would talk to about a girl he would date or hook up with, this confirmed to Y/N that he only sees her as a sister. He was physically affectionate towards her, hugging her when laughing, kissing her forehead when saying good morning or goodbye at training, but she never took it as a sign considering Neymar's has the same attitude towards her. That's just their friendship behavior.
People seemed to notice their friendship since the beginning, especially after the paparazzi photos of them entering clubs at night, chasing each other in the training field. They all posted each other on their stories regularly when they would scare each other or catch someone sleeping in unusual places. Birthday posts for each other also contained a lot of detailed wishes, indicating they know each other on personal notes.
"Okay, we will start shooting in a second once the lighting is fixed, get ready everyone." The man behind the camera shout out, Y/N shifted in her seat a little bit out of nervousness. 
"Don't be nervous, we'll have fun." Kylian noticed her and placed a hand on her thigh, making her shiver from the skin contact because she was wearing a dress.
"I know, but, I'm just a little nervous. It's the first time we talk about each other on camera, Ky."
"Let's make a bet, guys. Whoever loses this game is going to do whatever the winner will tell them to do for 24 hours." Neymar said, catching Kylian's and Y/N's attention. 
"Yeah, that sounds fun, I'm in." 
"Yeah, me too, because I just KNOW I'm going to win. I know you boys like the back of my hand."
They all shook hands on it, laughing at their dumb bet. The man behind the camera caught their attention again, starting the count down for record.
The video started with them trying to keep a serious face but failing and laughing at each other when they would each introduce themselves. These bloopers cuts were funny so they made it in the final video as the intro.
"Okay, for the third time. Hi, I'm Neymar." He smiled and looked at Y/N for her to continue.
"Hi guys, I'm Y/N Y/L/N."
"Hello, I'm Kylian Mbappe and we are about to do a friendship quiz game to test how well we know each other." Kylian smiled and the video slid to Y/N's words.
"The first round consists of a couple of questions about each of us and we'll have to write down the answer in our white boards. Who ever gets the question right, gets a point."
They all looked at the screen behind the camera that showed them the first question, Y/N read it out loud for the video.
"What is Neymar's first tattoo?"
They all wrote down their answers. Y/N smiled while writing it because she was confident in her answer, Kylian seemed sceptical with his answer. They all turned around their boards and Y/N raised her hands in the air, laughing, after seeing she wrote down the same answer Neymar did for himself.
"YES, I knew it. It was your mom's and sister's name."
Kylian on the other hand wrote down something random, hoping he would randomly guess it right. The next question was read by Neymar.
"Which club did Kylian Mbappe play for first?" 
Both Y/N and Neymar were confident in their answer because it was pretty obvious. Once the boards were turned around, they all revealed the right answer. Kylian read the next question.
"What was Y/N's first job?"
Y/N smiled at the flashbacks of her first job. She used to be a bartender while she was in college. She was sure Kylian would get this question right because a memory from their first months of their friendship popped into her mind. That night, she sat with Kylian in the balcony of his apartment, talking about her life while sitting on a couch under the same blanket with him while Neymar was fast asleep in the living room. That was the exact moment she realized her feelings towards Kylian, especially after she fell asleep with her head on his chest.
They all turned their boards around once again and Kylian did his significant laugh after getting the questions right. 
"I got it right. Btw, you suck, Ney." Neymar reached over to Kylian to lightly smack his head with the board and Kylian hid his head behind Y/N's shoulder, making her laugh along.
"Okay, that's enough, you two." Y/N placed her arms on both of their shoulders, pretending to separate a fight.
There were a few more other questions and Kylian got most of them right, putting him in the lead. The last question caused Y/N to momentarily zone out and blush. Neymar read the question.
"Where does Y/N see herself in five years?"
This was such a specific question she, herself, didn't even know the right answer to. A lot of things went through her mind, trying to write down the closest right answer. She considered her career, her family goals and that's where she stopped. A family. She always wanted to create a family and have her first kid in her mid twenties. Being a mom was always one of her aspirations. She hesitantly wrote down 'being a mom' and held the board close to her chest, waiting her the guys to reveal theirs.
Both of them wrote down something different. Neymar wrote 'traveling the world', earning a 'uuu, interesting' from Y/N and Kylian wrote 'being successful'. Seeing that the guys went in a completely different direction, she regretted what she wrote but slowly revealed the right answer.
She looked at Kylian who smiled warmly at her, making her more comfortable. Neymar awed and wrapped his arm around Y/N' shoulder.
"That's a good one. Being a parent is the best feelings ever." Neymar said with a passion.
Kylian was still quiet, staring at Y/N with admiration. He looked like he was daydreaming about something.
"I'm sure, you'll be an amazing mom" Kylian's words came out in a whisper and Y/N smiled at him. Y/N's feelings of wanting to be a mom grew more in that second. A quick family picture of her, Kylian and a small little baby flashed in front of her eyes.
"Alright, the last round is the 'Who's most likely' game. This round doesn't really determine a winner, so we'll just have fun with it." Neymar's words brought Y/N and Kylian back to reality, making them break the loving eye contact and look at him.
"And since Kylian got the most right answers on the previous round, we'll consider him the winner." Y/N said and Kylian proudly smiled, raising his hands in the air.
A man came from behind the camera and handed each of them three cardboards with their names, so they can reveal their answer by showing a card.
"Alright, who's most likely to be late for work?" Y/N read the question at loud and all of them showed the card with Neymar's name. He had to admit this himself because of all the scolding he receives from his friends. 
"Who's most likely to have a crush on someone from work?"
Y/N froze, feeling like the question was directed towards her. No matter how much she tried to play it cool, she failed because of how Neymar looked at her and Kylian, smirking like an idiot.
Kylian and Y/N blushed, looking away from each other. "Come on, guys, we all know the answer to that one," Neymar said, laughing.
"Can I raise two cards?" He proudly said and raised the cards with Y/N's and Kylian's name.
Kylian slightly coughed and looked at him, giving him a death glare. Y/N was unable to give an answer because the tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"Come on, man. Just because you have a girlfriend, doesn't mean we have crushes from work." After Kylian said those words, he realized how ridiculous and stupid that answer was.
"Yeah... Yeah," Y/N said, chuckling. " I don't really have an answer for this one, but I'll just say Ky."
"I'll say Y/N too, even though you haven't told us about any crushes." They all laughed, but Y/N and Kylian were a little too loud.
Another question showed up on the screen behind them and Y/N wasted no time to read it so they could move on from the uncomfortable situation. Kylian thought the same thing because he read the question with Y/N simultaneously. He stopped mid sentence and smiled at her, motioning for her to continue.
“Who’s most likely to get jealous easily?” “NEYMAR!” Y/N and Kylian said in an unbothered tone. They all laughed at their response, remembering all the times when Neymar would vent to them about a jealous situation with his girlfriend. “Alright, alright. Guilty as charged!” Neymar playfully raised his hands in the air. ”Next question, who’s most likely to say “I’m sorry” more often?” 
The guys looked at Y/N direction and then gave each other an agreeing look. They both showed the card with Y/N’s name. Y/N knows that she over-apologizes a lot because she is more self aware than most people are, and she addresses situations honestly regardless of her own pride.
“Yeah, that’s true. I’m a people pleaser and I tend to apologize about everything, even the things I don’t have power over, honestly.” Kylian looked at her, admiring her. He knew this was one of her personality traits and he tries to ask as little favors from her as possible because she always goes out of her way to make people happy. Anytime he asks her to do a small thing for her, he feels like he’s taking advantage of her precious soul.
“Yeah, you do that a lot. You need to stop doing it with me… I mean us, though.” Kylian stuttered while talking, making Neymar chuckle.
“Who’s most likely to fall in love at first sight?” Neymar read the question and waited for them to react first.
Y/N could swear she felt Kylian brush his shoulder against her, but didn’t dare to look at her. He smiled and raised the card with his name and didn’t say anything. The whole situation felt like a dream to her because she was sure Kylian only saw her as a friend.  Neymar raised the card with Kylian’s name too. Y/N thought of doing the same so it would seem like she’s only repeating their answers but she didn’t. She took a chance to give Kylian an indirect signal that, in fact, she is the one who fell in love at first sight. She slowly raised the card with her name and smiled, trying to hide the fact that her hands were shaking.
“Hmm, is there anything you guys would like to SHARE with your other FRIEND?” Neymar pretended to be mad and unaware of the meaning behind their answers. He actually knew exactly what they were saying. He felt a connection between them since they first started hanging out together. He kept his thoughts a secret, not wanting to intervene in their love story, because he found it very pure and innocent. 
Kylian and Y/N both laughed, unsure of what to do next after their ‘confessions’. As if on cue, the director gave them the signal to give their outros, letting them know the video is over. Y/N took over the outro.
“So, this is everything we have for you today. I hope you enjoyed the video and we proudly announce that Kylian is the most true friend because he guessed most of the questions right.” They all chuckled and Kylian put a hand around her shoulder.”Thank you to everyone for watching, we’ll see you next time. Have a nice day.” 
Neymar also wrapped his arm around Y/N and they waved at the camera in a group hug, yelling ‘bye’.
“That was FUN!” Neymar said and looked at his two best friends, winking at them. “Let’s go grab lunch.”
Y/N and Kylian followed behind Neymar, staring at each other from time to time and smiling. Kylian placed a quick kiss on Y/N’s forehead and walked with his hand around her shoulder. This would normally cause the people to turn their heads and take a look, but this was already a typical behavior between the all three of them, even though Kylian and Y/N felt a spark anytime they had a physical touch moment. Sometimes, Kylian would get jealous if Y/N would fall asleep on Neymar’s shoulder on the plane because he always wants to have her close to him.
 _____________________
After the video was uploaded to YouTube, the fans immediately noticed the flirty moments between Kylian and Y/N. They commented on the video, asking if the two were secretly dating or if there was something more between them. Kylian and Y/N avoided the conversation about the video as much as possible. It wasn’t unusual for them to see fan edits about them being a couple before they did the Youtube video. People speculated about their relationship by referring to their Instagram stories featuring each other or paparazzi photos that caught them hugging during practice. There was even a trending Twitter hashtag that said ‘#KyY/N’.Twitter was filled with posts that stated different conspiracy theories about how they’ve been together for years now or they are already married. 
Y/N was laying on the couch at Neymar’s place while Neymar sat next to her head with his feet on the table, playing Fifa. They were waiting for Kylian to arrive at the movie night they planned yesterday. 
“Y/N” Neymar spoke while staring at the TV. “Hmm?” Y/N hummed, not paying full attention to Neymar and still scrolled on her phone. “Why don’t you admit to Kylian that you’re in love with him?” Even though Neymar said is to casually, his words caused Y/N to shoot right up and look at him. “What? What.. What do you mean?” The first thing that went through her mind was change. She felt scared of how her feelings could cause things to change between them, especially if Kylian decides to stay away from her once he finds out.
“Y/N, honey. It’s pretty clear to everyone. You always feel shy around him and anytime you stare at him you get distracted and look like a creepy person in love.”
She chuckled at his words, still unable to process the fact that Neymar made it clear to her how bad she hid her feelings this whole time.” And, uh, by everyone, do you also mean Kylian?” “I don’t know if he knows, sweetheart. But, you have to talk to him anytime soon, you can’t hide it from him anymore.”
“Ney, It's easy to say that. But, what if he doesn’t feel the same way and things get weird between us and we lose our friendship because of this?”  Y/N sighed and plopped her head back on the pillow and Neymar placed a on her head, stroking her hair.
"That's just a risk you'll have to take, honey. Do you love him?"
"That's not the issue, my feelings are not the issue here.”
"Yeah, but It's also hard to move on knowing it could've worked out if you confessed to him, do you ever think that? It's not just the lost relationships that hurt, also the missed chances hurt the same."
A knock on the door stopped their conversation, Kylian was here. Y/N went to open the door and let Kylian inside.
“Hi, sweetheart.”He hugged her and kissed her forehead.
“Hey, Ky. What took you so long?”
“Ugh, I had to stop by an-” Kylian was stopped mid sentence by Neymar who came to the door before Y/N could shut it close. “Hey, guys. I have an important thing to finish right now, but don’t worry I’ll be back in an hour.” He said and grabbed the keys from the bowl on the counter.
“Alright, man. Don’t be late.” Kylian yelled as he made his way to the living room and Y/N stood there holding the half-open door, already knowing what was going on.
“Don’t worry, man.” Neymar yelled back and winked at Y/N giving her a quick peck on her cheek. “Good luck. Don’t be scared.” “NO, Ney, don’t l-” Before Y/N could finish her sentence, Neymar walked out. She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning against the door. The realization that this moment will determine everything about their relationship made her feel scared. She wasn’t going to back out now, especially after the whole act Neymar put up to leave them alone.
Each step she took towards the living room increased her heart rate. Kylian sat on the couch where Neymar sat previously, looking more handsome than ever. She always found Kylian most attractive when he wore gray sweatpants and white shirt. She admired his smooth skin and dark almost black eyes and his soft thin lips. She dreamed about kissing those lips almost every night.
“Um, are you going to stand there the whole time, hun?” He turned around to look at her, sensing her presence behind him the whole time.
“Haha, you pick the movie, I will get the snacks from the kitchen.” Y/N said and made her way to the kitchen to buy herself some time and think of how she is going to confess her feelings to him.
Y/N made her way to the couch and sat next to him. The only source of light was the TV and the city lights illuminating the living room. Kylian seemed too focused on the movie, unaware of what was about to come next. He noticed Y/N had been quiet for quite a while. She always comments on the movie and says stuff like ‘I hate that outfit’ or ‘It’s so obvious,COME ON’. He reached for the TV remote and paused the movie, turning his body around so he could face her. She looked very beautiful and fragile to him in the almost dark room, but he could tell that she was zoned out completely.
"What's wrong, Y/N?" Kylian asked, his voice laced with concern.
This moment felt like a dangerous chess move that could determine everything. Kylian stared at her frowned face and her hands cracking her knuckles, not daring to look at him. He knew when anxiety threatened to consume her, her delicate fingers would twist and turn until they were tied in knots. In those moments of despair, he would gently unravel her trembling hands and interlace his fingers with hers, offering the comfort of his warm touch to ease her worries.
As Kylian's strong hands held hers, Y/N felt her heart skip a beat. His gaze was so intense, so loving, that she felt completely exposed. She knew she had to tell him the truth, but the words caught in her throat.
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as she struggled to find the right words. She couldn't bear the thought of losing him and the realization hit her.
"Kylian, I-" she began, her voice barely a whisper.
He leaned in closer, his eyes searching hers for any sign of what she was about to say. She took a deep breath, gathering her courage. 
"I have to tell you something," she began, her voice trembling with emotion. "I've been thinking about it for so long, since that video of the three of us was posted. I knew then that it was time."
As she spoke, Y/N's heart raced with anticipation. She knew that the man standing before her was the one she had been searching for her whole life, and she couldn't bear the thought of losing him.
With each word she spoke, she took in every detail of his face, from the soft curve of his lips to the gentle tiny curls of his hair. She wanted to remember every moment of this, in case it was the last time he would hold her hands.
For a moment, there was only silence between them, as they both stood there, lost in their own thoughts. Then, slowly, Kylian reached out and took her hand in his.
"Whatever it is you have to say, Y/N, I'm listening," he said, his voice low and gentle.
With a deep breath, Y/N looked into his eyes once more, then spoke the words that would change their lives forever. "I love you," she whispered, her voice barely above a whisper. "I've loved you from the moment I met you, and I know that nothing will ever change that. I know that by saying this I could lose you forever, but I can’t change my feelings towards you. No matter how much I tried."
As Y/N gazed at Kylian, time seemed to slow down and her heart raced with anticipation. She knew that she had to say it, to reveal the truth that had been weighing on her heart for so long. And so, with trembling lips and a quivering voice, she confessed her love to him.
But Kylian's reaction was not what she expected. He stood there, frozen, as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. His eyes searched hers, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
For a few moments, there was only silence, broken only by the sound of Y/N's heartbeat pounding in her chest. She felt guilty and regretful, thinking that she had made a mistake by revealing her feelings to him.
But then, Kylian spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. "Wow, Y/N, I..." he trailed off, still in shock.
Y/N couldn't bear the tension any longer, and tears began to stream down her face as she stood up and turned away from him. "Please, Ky," she said, her voice breaking. "You don't have to say anything. Just forget that I ever said anything."
Kylian stood up too, his eyes never leaving her. He took a step towards her, his hands outstretched, but Y/N backed away, unable to meet his gaze.
In that moment, Kylian felt a rush of happiness and excitement. He had secretly loved Y/N for so long, and now she had finally confessed her feelings to him. He knew that he had to find the right words to say to her, to let her know that he felt the same way.
As he took another step towards her, his heart beating wildly in his chest, he spoke softly. "Y/N, don't walk away from me. I want to hold you,please."
Kylian reached out to cup her cheeks, his touch tentative at first but growing bolder as she leaned into him.
"Come here," he murmured, and she obeyed, allowing him to lead her to the couch where they sat a moment ago.
Kylian held her face gently in his hands, his forehead pressed against hers as they shared a moment of deep intimacy. They breathed together, their bodies and souls intertwining in a way that left them both trembling with emotion.
And then Y/N spoke, her voice trembling with emotion. "Kylian-"
But he silenced her with a gentle shush, his eyes still closed as he focused on the sensation of her skin against his.
"Let's breathe first, sweetheart," he whispered, and she nodded, trusting him completely.
"I'm sorry, Y/N," he continued, his voice low and hoarse with emotion. "I'm sorry for not being the one to say these words to you first.” As Y/N opened her eyes, she felt a glimmer of hope. It was as if the world around her had suddenly been painted in the brightest of colors, like in those vintage cartoon movies she used to watch as a child. Her heart fluttered as she gazed into his deep, mesmerizing eyes. With a small smile, she lifted her forehead from his and took a deep breath, feeling a sense of relief wash over her.
As she exhaled, he leaned in, his own smile growing wider and wider until he finally attached his lips to hers. It was a moment that felt like it had been a lifetime in the making, and as their lips moved in perfect harmony, they both knew that this was where they belonged.
Kylian's heart was racing as he pulled away from the kiss, his eyes searching for hers. With a gentle touch, he brushed his lips against her forehead, his fingers lightly caressing her skin. He felt a surge of emotions, an overwhelming feeling that he had kept buried for too long.
He took a deep breath, summoning all his courage. "I can't believe I'm finally saying these words out loud," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. "I love you, Y/N."
Y/N let out a small laugh. ”I love you too, Kylian. I love you with every single cell in my body.”
You can comment your thoughts on the writing. Thank you!
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steddieunderdogfics · 4 months ago
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This week’s writer spotlight feature is:  steddieasitgoes! @steddieasitgoes has 27 works posted to AO3 in the Stranger Things fandom and 23 of them are in the Steddie tag!
Our anonymous nominator recommends the following works by @steddieasitgoes:
Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)
for a fortnight there, we were forever
honey i'm still free (take a chance on me)
You Were All Yellow
Eat Your Heart Out, Big Boy
"Her fics are SO FUN. I have enjoyed every single one that I've read IMMENSELY and am always talking about them to my friends after I've read them <3" -- anonymous
Below the cut, @steddieasitgoes answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!
Why do you write Steddie?
Was I supposed to watch Eddie throw Steve his vest – the quintessential 80s romcom moment – and be totally normal about it? But in all honesty, there’s just something about them that compels me. When you dig deep into their personalities and arcs, they’re really two sides of the same coin and there’s so many ways for that to manifest in fic.hen
What’s your favorite trope to READ?
I had to consult my ao3 bookmarks for this one and “getting together” tops my list, which really isn’t a traditional trope but I absolutely adore that mutual pining, idiots in love sort of thing that happens in those fics. Bonus points for slow burns!
What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?
Idiots in love for sure. Again, not a typical trope but I’m pretty sure it’s tagged on just about every fic I’ve written. It’s just so easy to slot them into those roles and banter their way into a love confession. The show is so life and death all the time, that I like letting them be goofy boys.
What’s your favorite Steddie fic?
This is like asking me to choose if I’m more of a Steve girl or an Eddie girl – impossible! But if I had to narrow it down to a top few, I’d say: the most remarkable thing by greatunironic, rounding third, sliding home by througheden, better by you, better than me by palmviolet, and is your light on? By Adure
Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?
Outside of fic I’m a huge fan of enemies/rivals to lovers so I think that would be fun to explore between Steddie. There’s a hint of it in Signed, Sealed, Delivered but I think their hatred fizzles out really quickly and I definitely want to play with something where that takes longer to happen.
What is your writing process like?
It sort of depends on the project, but typically I get a kernel of an idea. Somethings that’s a setting, sometime it’s a bit of dialogue, sometimes it’s just ✨ vibes ✨ Then I’ll add it to my jumbled mess of a notes app on my phone and keep adding to it as I get ideas. When I wrote my first fic (Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore) I had no outline whatsoever. I just knew I had this one scene in mind and kept writing and building the world until I felt the moment made sense to happen. Nowadays, I’m a bit more organized when it comes to longer fics. I’ll usually do a bare bones outline with the major beats I want to hit outlined. This gives me enough structure to not feel lost, but also lets the characters breath one the page and make their own choices. Every fic, but the one I’m working on now for the steddie big bang, I’ve written chronologically which helps me because I can see the progression of the relationship dynamics in real time.  For one shots, it’s somewhat similar. I start with a kernel of an idea and a general plot in my head and just write and hope for the best lol
Do you have any writing quirks?
I think I use the same sentence structure a lot which drives me nuts, but I can’t always help it. Motif-wise I don’t think I have a unifying theme amongst all my fics, but I can almost guarantee that there will be some kind of third act break up. Happily ever afters are always going to be in my fics, but I like to make them work for it. Also they do a lot of gazing at each other and things in my fics. So much gazing!
Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?
Generally, I like posting when something is completely finished. But I get antsy and have been known to start posting when the fic is 85% done and then procrastinate on writing the end until my deadline is looming.
Which fic are you most proud of?
I’m proud of all of them for different reasons, but I was really blown away with Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore. I hadn’t written fic in years and had never written a third-person mlm story before. At the time it was also the longest thing I had ever written. It definitely made me fall back in love with fictional prose writing and the steddie community as a whole.
How did you get the idea for Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)?
It was actually inspired by a ficlet I had written earlier that year and decided to use as inspiration for the full length fic. I was driving around and I kept seeing mail trucks everywhere and I remember getting an image of Steve in those short khaki shorts, carrying a satchel full of mail. And then I remember thinking “I wonder what Eddie would think” and the worms took over. I will say, expanding it into a full fic did take some time though because the ficlet was just vibes
When writing Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours), what was something you didn’t expect?
How long it ended up being lol I think it came in double what I had predicted it to be. I also didn’t expect to write it in the way I did. All my other fics are very traditional in that each chapter is a day or a couple days and it follows a clear timeline. With Signed I really went for a vignette, slice of life sort of storytelling which was a bit difficult initially but I think it paid off in the end.
What inspired honey i'm still free (take a chance on me)?
That one was written for a valentine’s discord server so it was based on the prompt steddiealltheway on Tumblr had submitted. It took me a minute to work out the plot, but I liked the idea of Robin getting to be the wingwoman for Steve.
What was your favorite part to write from for a fortnight there, we were forever?
There was a metaness to that one that was so fun to write. You have Eddie falling in love with Supernatural, a show that was known for making questionable decisions in the end and talking about how fanfic saves the day and that’s exactly what I’ve spent the last two years doing for him lol I love the idea of Eddie being a fandom kid like all of us, and dragging and unknowing Steve into it with him.
How do/did you feel writing Eat Your Heart Out, Big Boy?
At the time I think I just wanted to write something fun and silly because I was deep into Signed, Sealed, Delivered at the time and was feeling bad about not sharing anything. It was like a palette cleanser.
What was the most difficult part of writing You Were All Yellow?
Definitely deciding which yellow objects I was going to use and figuring out how to string them together in a clear narrative arc. It was a puzzle of sorts that took a lot of patience to figure out. It was also a bit reverse-engineered where the objects dictated what the story would be. I think it would have been easier if I had the story first and then found things that fit that narrative.
Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?
I struggle with writing poetically, so I was really proud of this line from Duck, Dodge, Don’t Fall In Love: “He feels like an astronomer falling in love with stars for the first time in the untouchable night sky. Because that’s what Steve is, right? A dazzling force that Eddie can steal glances at but never touch, never reach.” But also any and all smut scenes I’ve written. That was an incredible challenge at first and I literally wrote the first make out scene ever under the covers of my bed lol
Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?
I’m planning to participate in this year’s Steddie Week with some (hopefully) short one shots. And then I have my big bang fic When The Buzzer Sounds that will come out later this year. Other than that we’ll see. My notes are overflowing with ideas it’s all about finding the time and the right one.
Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?
As I write this I’m not sure who nominated me, but I want to say thank you to them! It’s so wild to me that people resonate with the silly stories my brain comes up with and I’ll never take that for granted. There’s so many creative steddie fic writers out there and I’m so happy to be one of them. We really blew up overnight and it’s been so fun watching everyone grow together. And I want to thank all the mods behind this blog for helping share writers hardwork!
Thank you to our author, @steddieasitgoes, and our anonymous nominator! See more of steddieasitgoes's works featured on our page throughout the day!
Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!
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