#working on chapter three of three is a magic number

[weirdcatperson1]

Fellas, is it gay to tenderly dress one another’s wounds? Is it gay to explore each other’s bodies (in a mostly medical context)? Is it gay to long to take all his pain away?

[nubiawrites]

chapter 3

Pairing: Aaron Pierre x Black Original Character

Warnings: Slow burn. Kissing. Thigh riding. Dry humping. 18+

Summary: Upon finding that the development process of her script moving along, Iriye gets more than one greenlight when Aaron and her go over the script.

Notes: Remember how I said this was a slowburn? It still is but you get a little treat for being patient. If you want to be tagged to be notified, like, reblog or reply to this. Let me know what you think!

MASTERLIST

It had been a trying three weeks, waiting to hear what the studio would say about the latest draft. But Iriye was more worried about what the woman in front of her thought than a bunch of studio execs.

Iriye paced a little as she watched Tamara read the last few pages of the latest draft of the script. For as long as the two had known each other, her friend still reading anything of hers filled her with nerves, excitement, and wonder. Not out of fear but knowing that whatever she wrote was safe with her friend. 

“How do you do it?” Tamara asks, putting the pages down. Iriye smiled at her, shaking her head.

“You’re flattering me too much,” Iriye took a sip of her water, her friend moving to sit up.

“It’s never too much flattering when it comes to you. As someone who remembers the short film scripts you were begging your professor to accept when you had the chance to write anything, I have always known how talented you were and how you would keep growing in that,” Tamara spoke into Iriye. “You are magic. You’re that girl,”

Iriye giggled. “Okay, I believe you. But tell me again, one time for the one time,” She joked. Tamara shook her head. 

“You’re an alien superstar. Especially after all those notes those white people gave,” Tamara shook her head. “That’s two hours of my life I will never get back. Two hours I could have spent looking at self-tapes for actresses,”

“With great power comes great responsibility. RIP Uncle Ben,” Iriye chuckled.

Tamara chuckled just as Nelly came into the office, practically bubbling with excitement.

“We got it!” Nelly practically screamed. “Did you check your email?”

Iriye pulled up her phone and braced herself as she clicked, seeing an email from Davis.

“The execs are very impressed with this draft. We’re sending it over to talent,” Iriye read aloud, the biggest smile taking over her face.

“We going to Hollywood, y’all!” Nelly yelled out. “Let me get the bottle of champagne we’ve been saving,”

“Not so fast! We’re not greenlit yet,” Tamara pointed out before Nelly could run to their mini fridge.

“And you’re not allowed to pop any more bottles within a twelve-foot radius of us. I’m almost lost an eye,” Iriye reminded. “But did you lose one?” Nelly said. “If I can’t do that, what can I do?” 

“You want to send over the script through the studio system to Aaron,” Iriye asked. “I know you love any interaction you can have with him,” She teased.

“You say that like I’m not passing notes between you and him,” Nelly admitted.

“Passing notes?” Tamara chuckled. “I need to hear more,”

Iriye rolled her eyes before settling back on the sofa in Tamara’s office.

“You want the truth or what I'm reading between the lines,” Nelly sat beside Iriye, sending her a playful side-eye.

“Anything you have to say for yourself, Iriye?” Tamara asked. Nelly pretended to hold a mic toward Iriye before the latter swatted it out of her face.

“It’s nothing! He asked for my number when we had lunch,” Iriye mumbled.

“You guys had lunch together? Where the hell was I?” Tamara asked. 

“Having lunch with some film bro,” Nelly shot out. “What? I manage your calendar,”

“It was just the both of us discussing film stuff. He wants to work with us,” Iriye shrugged. “It was friendly but professional. Trust me,”

“Then why did he say in his email to call any time?” Nelly mentioned. “I think you two forgot I was cc’ed on that email,” 

Iriye shook her head. “I’ll go send that script,” she said, trying to leave, but Nelly pulled her back down to sit.

“Aaron is fine. You can admit that right,” Nelly asked.

“She can. She's just trying to be professional,” Tamara chuckled.

“Aaron is handsome. There, I said it,” Iriye huffed, seeing the twinkle in the two other women’s eyes. “And he smells good, too,” She said before she rushed out of the office. Hopefully, that would tire them over, even if she heard Nelly’s calling out the word bitch.

After calling it a short day at the office, Iriye had gone home and spent the rest of her afternoon vibing to music as she looked over other scripts she had put on hold when tackling the feature Lanoire Productions wanted to take on first with their deal. Paradise Lost. A black rom-com with influences of the nineties and two thousand films that bonded Tamra and herself into a sisterhood. It wasn’t a dream deferred any longer. 

Just as Iriye was laughing at a line she wrote in a pilot, her phone began ringing. She looked over to see an unknown number appeared on her screen. Lowering her music, she hit the talk button, preparing to tell them they had the wrong number.

“Hello?” Iriye asked, holding the phone to her ear.

“I’m guessing you didn’t save my number,” Aaron spoke through the phone, his voice running over Iriye like scotch.

“I swore I did,” Iriye lied. She had been distracted, her brain trying to come up with excuses. “Are you calling to give me shit about it?” A deep chuckle rolled through Aaron’s chest, sitting in the seat in his trailer. “I come in peace as I always have. I got the script, and I wanted to see if I could come over to the production office to talk to you about it,”

“Too bad I’m not in the office,” Iriye admitted. “I gave myself the rest of the day off,”

“Good for you,” Aaron stated. “Since I got the script, the execs are ready to go. You should be proud,”

“I am. Thank you,” She said. “But I can’t celebrate until they give us the green light, which means attaching some talent. And from what I’ve heard, you got some competition,”

“Competition? If you don’t want me, say that,” Aaron stated.

“Boy, stop,” Iriye let out. His chuckle rang through the phone. “Shouldn’t you be shooting something right now,”

“Lucky for you, I wrapped for the day,” Aaron said. “I’m about to pack up and head out,”

“Lucky for me?” Iriye rolled her eyes at this man. “How so?”

“Well, I wanted to talk more about the script. I read it during lunch, and I wanted to discuss it some more,” 

Iriye sat up, moving her laptop off of her lap. “You read it during lunch? You must have had a long lunch,”

“I’m a quick reader when something captivates me,” Aaron admitted. “I want to discuss this more because I have so many questions. Maybe I can pick your brain over dinner if you’re up for it,” He asked as he smoothed out his pants leg and waited for her to say something.

“I hate to admit it, but I’m already lounging around. I don’t think I can get myself together to go out,” 

“Then I’ll come to you,” Iriye chuckled at Aaron’s words. “Send your address. I’ll pick something up and bring it over,”

“Aaron,” Iriye breathed, looking at her place. 

“Have you eaten?”

“No,” Iriye admitted.

“Send me your address. And if you have any allergies,”

“I don’t,” Iriye bit her lip. “Check your phone. And honestly, please do not bring anything healthy. I earned it today,”

“Got it, Miss Edwards,” Aaron spoke, his deep voice making Iriye’s stomach nervous. She said goodbye and hung up, her head falling to the back of the couch. 

“What the hell,” Iriye spoke aloud. She moved to get up, figuring he would be here within the hour. Iriye wasn’t playing when she said she had been lounging around, wearing booty shorts, no bra, and a baggy shirt. 

Iriye went to her room and stripped her clothes to change into high-waisted jeans and a concert t-shirt, tucking it into her jeans to make A Victoria Monet concert t-shirt look more hip.

She went to her bathroom, pulling her goddess locs out of her ponytail. She shook her locs out and grabbed her makeup bag, looking in the mirror.  If her mother could see her now, trying to make herself up for some man she hardly knew… she would at least be proud.

Iriye put on some mascara, forgoing foundation because she wasn’t about to do all that for an hour with Aaron. They were going to eat—that was all—eat and talk. She found a lip gloss that was not too much and swiped it on her lips.

She looked at her reflection; her brown skin still looked good from the skincare routine she did earlier after she watched her face. She looked at her foundation; Fenty-four twenty would have to wait.

Iriye quickly swept her place to make sure it looked good, stacking books she had strewn around and fluffing the throw pillows. As she moved to put her shoes on the shoe rack, she nearly tripped over them.

After more nervous tidying up, she went to the little bar cart in her kitchen and decided she needed a shot of something strong to quell the nerves. She grabbed a glass and poured a shot. 

It was a matter of time before there was a knock at her door, and she headed to the door, shaking the nerves out, and opened it. 

“Hey,” Iriye breathed, seeing Aaron standing in her doorway, hoodie and glasses on. He had to lean down some to come into her doorway. 

“Hey,” Aaron put his backpack down, and Iriye took the two takeout bags from him. “I got Chinese. It felt like a safe bet,”

“You made a good choice, Mister Pierre. You might earn that conversation about Paradise Lost after all,”

Iriye placed the bags on her coffee table, trying not to watch as he turned to take his shoes off, his ass hugged nicely by his khaki pants.

I am no better than a man. Iriye headed to the kitchen to grab some forks and plates. When she returned, she saw Aaron pulling out all the take-out containers, so she moved to sit by him.

“Is this all for me?” Iriye joked.

“For us. I didn’t know what you wanted or liked,” Aaron stated. A genuine smile came over her face as she looked at him.

Once they finished their feast, Aaron pulled the script and a journal out as Iriye moved the take-out containers out of the way. 

“I hope you know you’re not getting any of that kung pao chicken leftovers to take home,” She muttered.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, love,” He stated, and Iriye had to ignore the nerves he was causing. Aaron opened his journal as Iriye returned and peeked to see what he had written.

“That’s a lot of notes,” Iriye chuckled. He let her see more of it, and she caught a whiff of cologne again, clearing her throat. He looked over at her, his greyish-green eyes bright and beautiful. “Okay, hit me with it,”

“Isaiah is probably the most raw character I have ever read in a script before,” Aaron started. “His passion. His being. Everything about him… I was hooked within the first few pages. But by the end of Act One, I was rooting for him,”

As he spoke, Iriye was caught in his words about how he could grasp the character entirely. It was hard enough to focus on his actual words when she noticed how sharp his jaw was or the veins on his hands. 

“But this character… he’s so lived in. So real. You really outdid yourself, Iriye,” Aaron praised.

“Thank you,” Iriye felt the wall she was desperately trying to keep up with him coming down a little. But she needed to put some space between them. “You want a drink?” Aaron relaxed back on the couch as she moved away from him.

“Yes, I’ll take whatever you’re drinking,” Aaron said.

Iriye headed to her bar cart and began making them a whiskey sour, feeling like she could kill even more nerves with liquid courage, especially if he were going to seduce her with how insightful he was in talking about Eric and the story of Paradise Lost.

Iriye brought back their drinks, and Aaron thanked her as he took his drink.

“Cheers to you and this getting greenlit,” Aaron held his glass up to hers. She tapped her glass to his and took a sip; the liquor burned, making it slip easily down her throat. 

“Like I told Nelly, we’re not greenlit until talent gets attached, and the execs are cool with it,” Iriye explained. 

“You’ve been saying that for weeks. It’s going to happen, Iriye. I always keep my word,”

Iriye just shook her head at Aaron’s words, watching him take another sip and lick the liquor off his lower lip.

“Can I admit something?” Iriye asked. He nodded. “I went down a rabbit hole of your previous roles,”

“Oh. I wasn’t expecting that,”

“Neither was I, but if anything, Nelly is to blame,” Iriye pointed out. Aaron chuckled. “She sent me a clip from Foe, and I have Prime, so I decided to watch it,” He nodded along, listening to her. “That’s the only one I watched. I didn’t want to get you even more stuck in my head,”

“Can I admit something?” Aaron responded. “Nelly sent me the short films you and Tamara have made. I wanted to know more. So she sent me a few,”

“Of course she did,”

“Nelly is always at the scene of the crime,” Aaron chuckled, Iriye joining in. “But I can tell why she is so passionate for Lanoire. For Tamara. For you. You’re an artist. You care about your work. It’s breathtaking to me. You’re breathtaking to me,”

“Breathtaking on paper. We gotta see it on film now,”

“You will. I already told my team I want to sign on for Paradise Lost,” Aaron stated. 

“Stop playing,” Iriye shook her head, taking another sip of her drink.

“I’m serious, Iriye,” He replied.

Iriye blinked twice at Aaron, looking at her with a slight smirk on his face. His smile grew as Iriye realized he wasn’t joking. She downed the rest of her drink and stood up, needing to pace and calm down.

“You good?” Aaron watched in concern.

Iriye just continued pacing as she heard his words. 

“No, not really,” Iriye stated. Aaron got up and moved to her, stopping her so she could face him. He saw her deep brown eyes, a sense of fear running through them as he moved to cup her cheek, her so aware of his rough hands on her cheeks. “What are you getting out of this?”

“A chance to bring something beautiful you created to life. The script is something I’ve never gotten to do before. To be a part of that would be an honor,” Aaron said, his thumbs stroking her cheeks softly, and she felt herself calming down.

“You’re nothing like I expected,” Iriye closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath and smelling his cologne invading her senses.

“Good,” Aaron tilted her head. Iriye opened her eyes, seeing him staring her down intensely. She was so drawn to him as he surrounded her senses.

Iriye saw the thought flicker across Aaron’s eyes as he looked down at her lips and felt him lean close to her. His head touched hers, her hands traveling up his arms to grasp him.

“Aaron,” Iriye breathed and he pulled her close. “We shouldn’t,”

“We shouldn’t what?” Aaron repeated, tempting her to say it. 

“This… We can’t do this,” Iriye trailed her hands to his on her cheeks. She was trying to find the urge to pull away, but it went all out of the window as he was warm and present with her.

“What’s stopping you?” Aaron brushed his nose against hers softly. “Give me three good reasons,”

“One, you’re tipsy,” Iriye pointed out.

“I only took one sip,” Aaron said, one of his thumbs slowly reaching her chin.

“Two, we don’t know each other well,” Iriye stated, not even caring if his thumb traced over her bottom lip.

“I want to get to know you. I’ve been showing it for the past couple of weeks,” Aaron reminded her. With every email and chance, he had to chat with her. 

Iriye had to keep a clear mind, but it was hard when he was so close to her. Her hands trailed down to his side, resting there to try and focus herself.

“Three, we’re going to be working together now. So, it would be completely unprofessional. A total conflict of interest,” Iriye was trying to stay firm in her decision, but it was going out the window as he pulled her closer. Her body was pressing against all the sinewy muscles that made Aaron.

“It would be wrong,” Aaron nodded. “Does this feel wrong?” He pulled back, his hands moving from her face to her waist, where they stayed politely, brushing against the little sliver of skin between her shirt and jeans.

Iriye was ready to say fuck it so badly. He hadn’t kissed her, frustrating her as much as it turned her on.

“No,” Iriye admitted.

“As much as I want you to kiss me first,” Aaron’s hands went to squeeze the softness of her sides. “I don’t want to compromise your resolve. So if this helps,” He leaned down, and those full bow-shaped lips pressed softly against hers.

Iriye was shocked. How could he be so tender, his lips pressing softly against hers? He was waiting for a reaction because he got one from her. She kissed him back.

The softness that was shared between them was beginning to become intoxicating. Aaron trailed his hands up her arms and placed them around his neck. The movement had her breast pressing against his hard chest, and though she wasn’t trying to make it sexual, a sensual whimper escaped her.

To her surprise, Aaron pulled away first. He took a deep breath as Iriye realized she was in a daze, her arms around his neck. She was about to unwrap herself from him when he stopped her.

“No,” Aaron breathed, the command light on his tongue. He pulled them back to the couch, moving to sit. He pulled his hands off of her body to take his glasses off, setting them on the coffee table. But Aaron again placed his hands on her hips, looking up at her. The hues of his eyes darkened with lust, and she liked it. Liked him having to look up at her from her seated position.

“What do you want right now, Iriye?” He asked her. Talking was too much for Iriye. She needed to show. She let her legs slip between his as he sat on the couch, straddling his thigh some before leaning down. She used one hand to hold onto the back of the couch while the other hand trailed over the nape of Aaron’s neck. She softly dragged her nails and heard a groan vibrate through his chest. “I’m going at your pace,”

“I want… if I do what I want right now, we’re going down a road we can’t come back from,” Iriye whispered. “But I want to. I really want-” Before she could even say another word, Aaron took control and pulled her down till her jean-covered core hit his thigh. “Aaron,” She gasped.

“We’re already here. Trust me, I don’t think I wanna go back now,” Aaron stated. Iriye raised an eyebrow at him. “Take what you want from me,”

Iriye swallowed as she settled onto his thigh. His thigh was muscular and pressing against the seam just right. She gave an experimental rock of her hips, a breathy gasp coming out as Aaron held her hips still in his hands. She felt a bit uncoordinated as she still had one leg pressing between his crotch while the other was on the couch. She paused for a moment, pulling back before she properly straddled him.

“Is this okay?” Iriye let her weight rest on Aaron, and he let out a groan as her center met his. God, it shook her to the core.

“Yeah, much better,” His British accent became more assertive in his voice with those words. Iriye watched him as she rolled her hips forward, seeing the breathy groan he let out. She discovered he was vocal quickly as she began a pace, moving her hips deliberately to see what sounds he made.

When Iriye knew she was doing something right as she ground on Aaron, his hands would flex or grasp her hips.

“Stay right there,” Aaron begged. Her face was pressed against his temple as she ground, the pressure delicious as it caught her clit, and she felt her core growing wet.

“Yes,” Iriye whimpered. His right hand trailed up to cup her ass cheek, and she looked at him shocked. He pushed his hips up against her as he pulled her down onto his throbbing bulge through his khakis.

Iriye had to suppress the cry that left her lips by kissing him, and the two of them began to move their hips in sync, their kisses matching just as close. Her hands moved to cup his neck and cheeks as she worked with him to dry hump him. But there was nothing remotely dry on her side.

Aaron licked the seam of her lips, and Iriye gave him entrance, his tongue licking the roof of her mouth. 

“Shit,” Iriye moaned into his mouth. That movement alone made her wonder what it would feel like to have him doing that to her lower set of lips. He pulled away with a grin.

“It feels good, doesn’t it,” Aaron trailed his lips down her chin and neck. She nodded, letting her nails dig slightly into the nape of his neck. She felt him retaliate with a nip to her neck and her breast pressed into his chest, nipples starting to strain her bra. “God, this isn’t even enough,”

“I know,” Iriye moaned, riding Aaron a little faster as she wanted to chase the feeling deep inside her. One that would quell her momentarily with a release. Aaron kept up with her pace, cupping her ass cheek harder as he moved her more.

“You’re right there, aren’t you?”Aaron grunted against her neck. Iriye nodded. “Take it. I know you want to. Use me,” He leaned back, studying her face. He wanted to take in every sign of her impending pleasure. Seeing he was serious, Iriye rolled her hips even faster. 

Aaron’s moans and groans just served to turn Iriye on even more, especially feeling his bulge against her core. She rode him harder, her clit catching on the inseam of her jeans, and she pressed her head into his neck as she felt the telltale signs. She was close and about to cum in her jeans from dry humping. As immature as it probably was, this was the hottest thing to happen with the opposite sex and her in a while.

“Just like that, Iriye,” Aaron groaned. 

“Aaron…” Aaron gripped Iriye’s ass harder and whined. It took him lifting and gripping her ass so close to her core, causing her to cry out, her body shaking as she came. She didn’t even have time to cry out fully as Aaron pressed his lips against hers and ate up every single whimper and moan. She was sensitive, but he helped her by keeping moving till the waves subsided and the tingle in her stomach subsided.

Iriye felt the kisses Aaron and her share become pecks and his length hard against his pants. 

“Fuck,” Iriye said as she realized he didn’t get off. “I didn’t mean to be selfish,”

“I wanted you too,” Aaron said, his voice deep and strained. She kissed him again before hiding her face on his shoulder.

As the haze of lust came down from her, Iriye had to ask her: What the hell did I just do?

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[creative-caramel-coffee]

The Spiders Sister - Chapter 2

Summary: Reader is still a little sick and staying hidden while Wanda and Natasha look after her.

TW: Sickness, asthma

Words: 2.8K

A/n: Part two!!!

It must have been a couple of hours sleep before you woke up again. Somebody was knocking on the door and for a second you panicked, still feeling awful and sleepy your mind was working though a dense fog to catch up.

When you finally managed to recall the events of earlier that morning, you felt a slight bit of relief.

“Come in.” You called, your throat scratchy and sounding like sandpaper on glass.

The door handle turned, and you prayed the girls had kept their promise to not tell the others yet.

Wanda’s face peered into the room, and she glanced around until her eyes fell on you, still holed up in bed under the sheets.

“How are you feeling?” Wanda asked as she came inside, holding a tray. She gently closed the door after her and came to sit on the bed beside you.

“A bit better than I was. But not great.” You mumbled.

“Well, if you don’t mind, Nat and I are happy to look after you until you get better. Peter’s been telling us stories about you, now he can.” She begun and you groaned. Drawing a smile from her. “All good don’t worry. He’s a good kid and it sounds like you’re a good sister. And spider-man at that.” She said with a wink, and you buried your flaming face in your hands.

Wanda carefully pried your fingers away from your blazing cheeks and smiled softly at you.

“Now, I made you some soup and Nat’s gone to steal some of Peter’s enhanced-super cold and flu medicine out of Bruce’s lab for you.” Wanda said as she set the tray down on your bedside table. “Put this under your tongue.” She said handing you a thermometer.

“I’m fine.” You said not taking from her. She raised an eyebrow in challenge. “Really. Im all good now.” You argued and she still wasn’t having it.

Using her magic wanda floated the thermometer up to hover in front of your lips. You gave her a look and opened your mouth.

She beamed at you and the thermometer positioned itself under your tongue.

“Now what?” You mumbled from behind the stick.

“Now we wait for that to beep and go from there.” Wanda said catching the drooping thermometer with her finger before it could fall from your mouth while you spoke.

After a few more seconds of Wanda fussing with the things on the tray and messaging who you assumed must be Nat on her phone, the stick beeped.

Before you had a chance to remove it yourself wanda had stolen from your lips and was closely observing the numbers on the small screen.

She hummed a low note and sent another text to Nat before placing it down on the bedside table.

“Well?” You asked trying not to pout about feeling left out.

“102.3 still a fever.” Wanda said before standing and heading to the door to open it.

Natasha stepped into the room with three bottles of medicine in her arms.

She came over and took a seat next to wanda who had sat back on the bed like before.

She handed the bottles to wanda who looked at the labels and began taking out pills from two of the bottles and measuring out a red liquid from the other.

“Oh, hell nah.” You said. “I am not drinking that.”

Nat raised an eyebrow. “You will be.” She said and you frowned, slouching down and glaring at her which only seemed to make her smirk grow larger.

Wanda finished measuring it all out and handed you the two pills and a glass of water.

“What is this?” You asked.

“Fever reducers and cold and flu meds that were made for peter.” Wanda said and you nodded and took them.

Then wanda held out the small medicine cup of red liquid.

“Nope.” You said pursing your lips. “Not happening.”

“If you don’t take this, I’ll force feed you it myself.” Wanda said and you glared at each other for a second before swiping it out of her hands.

“Fine.” You grumbled and wanda beamed at you.

“Good girl.” She said and you defiantly did not feel your stomach flip at those two words.

However, Natasha seemed to smirk to herself about something while wanda busied herself with the soup.

You took the medicine like a shot and scrunched up your nose after.

“Why is it sweet?” You asked smacking your lips together.

“Peter’s a baby when it comes to gross cough syrup, so he requested it taste like cotton candy.” Nat said and you rolled your eyes.

“Of course he did.” You mumbled.

Before you could find further reason to complain Nat plucked the cup from your hands and wanda set the tray on your lap, fussing over the pillows behind you that were keeping you propped up against the bedhead.

You eyed the tray closely. There was a bowl of thick orange soup with a blob of white sprinkle with small green herbs. Along with a soup spoon and napkin.

“Um? What kind of soup is it?” You asked.

“Pumpkin soup with sour cream and chives.” Wanda said. “It’s an old family recipe from my childhood.” She said seeming to lose her smile for a fraction of a second before it came back.

You nodded. “Thank you. You really didn’t have to go to all the effort wanda.”

She just shrugged. “Its kind of what we do around here.”

“Look after each other, she means.” Nat clarified and you nodded and brought a spoonful of soup to your lips.

It was warm and tasted amazing. You hummed in delight at the taste and Wanda beamed.

“This is really good.” You said taking another spoonful of it.

“I’m glad you like it.” Wanda said.

“So, where’s peter?” You asked, striking up conversation.

“May took him home. Nat managed to convince her that you were fine staying here with us. We are happy to have you and if you like that could be a more permanent offer depending on what the team has to say.” Wanda said and you choked on your soup.

Coughing, you felt Natasha’s strong hands pound your back to help you breathe.

Once the fit had subsided you blinked at wanda who was looking at you with concern in her eyes. You waved her off.

“I’m all good.” You begun but she handed you the glass of water anyways.

“Small sips.” She instructed and you nodded and drank some of it slowly.

“Sorry.” You apologised. “I just wasn’t expecting that.” You mumbled, cheeks warm.

“No need to apologise I probably should have waited until you weren’t eating.” Wanda said and you laughed.

“But in all seriousness… you guys want me here? Like … on the team?” You asked and Nat looked at Wanda before nodding.

“We would need to have Fury sign off. Steve and Tony will have to agree as well, but theres not denying you would be a valuable asset to the team.” Nat begun. “I’m planning on holding a meeting with the team when your up to it. But until then I want you to rest and get better. It’s important you put your best foot forward when starting off with the team.” Nat said and Wanda nodded.

“You’ll do great. The team will love you.” Wanda agreed, throwing in her own two cents to Nat’s speech.

“So, Nat how did you manage to sneak in and out of Bruce’s lab and find peters meds?” Wanda asked with the grin that Natasha returned.

As Nat launched into her story, which included a cabinet of medicine labelled spider-baby, a banner-stark debate over what atom is the best and lastly her spy skills.

By now everyone had gotten themselves comfortable on the bed. You were sat against the headboard with wanda on your left and Natasha on your right.

The king bed managed to squeeze all of you in and left ample room for more space.

As Nat continued her story you found yourself listing to one side. Your eyes drifting half shut as the exhaustion rolled over you.

Blinking harshly, you tried to stay awake until a soft hand guided your head to something soft that smelt like strawberries and vanilla.

You decided to forgo fighting sleep for any longer and left yourself drift off.

Natasha grinned at Wanda who was stroking your hair as you laid on her shoulder asleep.

It was an adorable sight and Nat may or may not have taken a photo of all three of you together with you asleep in the middle.

After the two listened to your slightly wheezy breathing and elected to let you sleep for now and to monitor your breathing, Wanda put on a sit-com on the Tv on a low volume as her and Nat settled in.

Over the course of the afternoon Wanda and Nat kept a close eye on you as you slept. Listening to the wheeze in your exhale and making sure it didn’t get worse or require your asthma inhaler.

Once or twice when Wanda checked your temperature with her hand against your forehead you nuzzled into her palm, still sleeping which warmed the witch's heart

You were adorable in her eyes and the glint in Natasha’s said she felt the same way.

At one point your powers began acting up as Wanda wanted to get up for some water and she found herself stuck to you.

She had looked lost and slightly bewildered while Nat giggled and helped her pry you off her.

“Tony says peter does the same thing when he’s sick. They can’t control it.” Nat had explained to Wanda in a hushed and slightly amused whisper so as not to wake you.

Finally at around five in the evening Wanda decided she needed to get up and cook dinner.

As she slid out of bed you began to wiggle a bit, seeking the warmth that had been there moments ago as you had been tucked into her side.

Wanda watched like a deer in headlights to see if you would wake up.

Instead, you simply rolled over and latched onto Natasha leg. Clinging to it like a baby sloth cuddling its mama.

Natasha had looked surprised almost shocked at the turn of events and Wanda hid a giggle behind her hand at Nat’s comical expression before she schooled her features.

It took a lot to surprise Natasha, but you had managed to do it within only knowing her for two days.

Wanda silently slipped out the door as Natasha looked down at you with a peaceful smile.

No longer paying attention to the Tv she was gazing down at you as she gently traced a pattern on your arm.

Despite having only known you for two days, Wanda and Natasha had found themselves almost entranced by you. From the way your nose scrunched up when you smiled to the way it twitched like a bunny before you sneezed.

Peter had kept telling them stories about you and your escapades as spider-man that had often landed him in trouble with Tony.

Wanda and Natasha had found all the walls they had spent years building over their scarred hearts to have melted in the presence of your sunny disposition, even if it was buried under a little sickness at the moment.

Wanda wanted to learn more about you, she always loved stories as a child, but you seemed like the best novel she may ever get the chance to read. And she wanted nothing more than to write the rest of your chapters together. She would be willing to bleed the ink from her own body to write your happily ever after together on the same page. To exist in a world of you and her. To add to the ecosystem that fed her soul. Because she always felt she had room for more un her heart. She had felt love like this before, once before, and it was double as she had laid in the bed with the both of you.

Natasha dreamed of finding someone that felt like home. After so long running from false families and a broken childhood, she wanted nothing more than to curl up and relax with someone that made her feel safe. Someone that made her feel the same way you do when you drink hot chocolate while watching the snow drift down on a winter wonderland. You were the home she was looking for. The way your heart touched hers, reached for her like a magnet was something she rarely felt. Something she had only ever felt once before. With another redhead who lived in the tower.

Wanda finished making dinner at around six. Before calling the team, she plated up three dishes of food and left the kitchen.

Only once she was safely clear and, in the lift, did she tell Jarvis to alert the team for dinner.

When Wanda stepped back into your room the first thing, she noticed was the concern on Natashas face.

Many may see the black widow as a cold heartless woman, yet that was just her persona in front of the cameras.

Sure, she was hard to crack open at first, but it seems she had taken a liking to you almost immediately.

Behind closed doors Natasha was quite a sweet and caring person for those she loved, showing her affection in indirect manners such as little gifts and cracking jokes at just the right time.

As wanda approached the bed she begun to realise why Nat was worried.

Your breathing which they had been monitoring had grown more wheezy.

Nat looked up from where she had been studying your face to look at wanda.

“I wasn’t sure if I should let her sleep or wake her to use her inhaler.” Nat said.

“No, you did the right thing. We have to wake her up for dinner now anyway, so we’ll have her use it now.” Wanda said with a small smile.

“We should also check her temperature and give her some more medicine.” Nat added and wanda agreed with a nod as she placed the dishes down on the desk.

Natasha gently began to rub your arm. “Y/n/n. Y/n/n wake up.” Nat said softly and after a second you batted her hand away drawing a chuckle from Wanda.

“Noooo let me sleep.” You said but Nat wasn’t having it.

You tried to pull the covers over your head but Nat held them down in place on the bed with her foot.

“Would you get up if I told you wanda made dinner?” Nat asked and wanda stifled a chuckle behind her hand as you cracked one eye open.

“Maybe.” You said and wriggled so you were sat against the headboard.

“Good. But before you get dinner its medicine time.” Nat said and you groaned in protest.

“There’s always a catch.” You grumbled and Wanda winked at you.

“For you? Always.” Wanda grinned and you gave her a half-hearted glare.

Natasha pressed your inhaler into your hand, and you simply blinked at her. “I don’t need it.” You said.

“I’m not asking again.” Nat smiled sweetly.

“Technically you didn’t ask the first time.” You said and looked at wanda for backup where she was leaning against the desk with an amused smile.

“Nope.” She said popping the p. “I can hear you wheezing from here bubs. Take it and breath like the rest of us.” She said smugly.

“Whatever.” You pouted and took the inhaler, ignoring them both and looking at a spot on the wall.

When you were done wanda patted your cheek.

“Good.” She said handing you a thermometer you took and dutifully placed under your tongue.

When it beeped Nat’s quick hands beat you to it and stole the device from your lips.

“99.8 it’s gone down.” Nat said with a smile.

“Yay.” You drawled sarcastically.

Before you could even get another word or remark in Wanda placed two tablets into your hand. “Swallow these.” She instructed and pressed a glass of water into your other hand.

You sighed and did as you were told, making both women smile at each other.

As the three of you ate you complemented Wanda’s cooking and savoured the food.

The two women chatted to you about the avengers asking any questions you had. When dinner was done, they could see you fighting to stay awake.

When do I get to meet the team?” You asked over a yawn you directed into your fist.

“Well, we’ll see how you feel in the morning and go from there.” Wanda smiled as she messed around with the pillows. “Get some sleep Y/n.” She smiled and you nodded, too tired to argue.

Settling down you were asleep before they two had left the room.

PART 3

[bueckersleftbraid]

Secret Smiles (Part 1)

paige bueckers x femme!oc

synopsis : In which, Mari and Paige find each other exactly when they need to most. With the odd coincidence of their schedules working together perfectly, Paige fits right into Mari's life. She loves Mari's daughter and can't help but gain feelings for Mari. But is Paige ready to hold such a huge responsibility?

word count : 2.5k (starting off shorter)

authors note : Hi!!! I know it's been over a week since I said I would post this but... here it is! This is my first time writing like this and also my first time posting on here, so I hope you like it. Pls pls pls leave live reacts I will love you forever and ever!!

Chapter 1 : Draft Night

April 2025 - Mari’s POV

The atmosphere of the Brooklyn Academy of Music was magical. It was only the second year in which fans were allowed to come to the draft, and wow, did that make a difference in the energy in the building. There was chatter left and right, everyone eagerly waiting for this year's stacked draft class. And I was right there beside them. I was ecstatic for this year's draft, after Dallas had such a successful off-season with free agency, we were just picking up more power at the draft. Paige Bueckers. Arguably the most beloved college basketball player in the country, who was coming to Dallas as the number 1 pick. The whole team was psyched. 

Paige was a powerhouse player at Uconn, transforming the game every time she stepped on the court. From jumpers, to insane assists, to blocks, to three-pointers, Paige had it all. During her freshman season at UConn, she won all the national player of the year awards she was eligible for—AP Player of the Year, Naismith College Player of the Year, USBWA Women's National Player of the Year and the John R. Wooden Award—becoming the first freshman to receive any of the awards. She was already a basketball legend and hadn’t even stepped foot on a professional court.

I sat three rows back, on the left side of the theater, alongside some stars. Dawn Stayler, head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks, was two seats to my right, and a few of the UConn players sat to my left, including Morgan Cheli, Sarah Strong, and KK Arnold. I think I saw Ice Brady and Caroline Ducharme sitting behind me, but I resisted being nosy and turning around to see if it was them. I had always been a huge college basketball fan, so my career working in the WNBA was a dream come true. Being one of the social media managers for the Dallas Wings had brought so many opportunities my way, but going to the draft was probably one of my favorites. I got to meet all of the top college players, and talk to them on a friendly level. 

My phone buzzed with a text from one of my closest friends, Rori Harmon. She had been with me through it all at Texas, my beloved alma-mater. Through all of the drama and through the worst break up of my life. Her, Madi, aka Madison Booker, and Mads, aka Madison Skinner, had been my closest friends at Texas, and we still kept in touch.

Ror just saw you on tv, you look gorg !!

Mar mar awww thx ror ily 

Ror good luck tonight, sending you my good juju (watkins lol)

Mar mar tysm i need it lol, call later

Ror liked a message

I slid my phone back into my purse and let my focus set back to the event. From my seat, I could clearly see the floor where they had tables set up for each player and their families. At one of the tables near the front, Paige sat with who I assumed were her parents and her brother, Drew. Her mom and dad looked proud, their eyes scanning the room with eager excitement, while Drew bounced his knee anxiously under the table. I had spotted her other siblings in the crowd, but the table only had room for 4. Unlike her family, who radiated excitement, Paige sat stiffly, her fingers moving rapidly across the screen of her phone. Her shoulders were tense, her brows drawn together in deep concentration as she texted someone—who, I could only guess. A friend? A teammate? Maybe even a coach? Whoever it was, they had her full attention, keeping her locked in a private moment while the rest of the room buzzed with electric energy. For some reason, I wanted to know. I was intrigued by her, and soon enough I would get to know her. I mean, she was coming to Dallas after all.

________

Later that night, at the afterparty…

I had been searching for Paige everywhere. I had made it my priority to introduce myself, as a social media manager for the Wings, but also as a friend. As someone who could be a familiar face once she lands in Dallas, so she didn't feel alone. Finally, I spotted her, in the corner, sipping on a red drink and scrolling mindlessly through her phone. She looked good, Really good. She wore a Louis Vuitton suit, it was a beautiful color, one I wasn't exactly able to pinpoint. It was between a navy and a dark ocean blue. It fit her perfectly, physically, but also her energy. The outfit screamed Paige. With the accessories of silver earrings stacked along both ears, silver rings, and a small silver cross chain hanging from her neck, to her hair, which was down in long waves and had a few small braids scattered throughout, down to the Nike dunks which perfectly matched the color of the suit. I approached her, my yellow silk dress flowing as I walked, but it was no match for her ensemble. I was giving a basic How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days look, while she was… well majestic.

“Paige?” I questioned, in a soft voice, not meaning to startle her. She looked up, meeting my eyes with a small, but definitely fake smile. “Hi, Im Mari, Mari Sanchez. I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm the social media manager at Dallas. Oh- and congrats.” I said with a friendly smile.

“Nice to meet you.” She said, her smile turning more genuine, before her eyes dropped to my purse. My phone was ringing so I pulled it out.

“Sorry, but I have to take this,” I said to Paige before answering, “Hi Nai is everything- oh baby what's wrong? Baby I can’t come home, Mommy’s in New York,” Paige looked at me with curiosity in her eyes as my face was laced with worry. “No baby, Mommy will be home tomorrow okay? Let Auntie NaiNai and Auntie Lyssie tuck you in sweetie. Mommy loves you, kisses, okay- okay- goodnight baby.” I exhaled, slipping my phone back into my purse.

“Everything okay?” Paige asked. She seemed interested in the situation that was happening over the phone. 

“Yeah, sorry about that. My daughter is.. Well she's a handful and Dijonai and Nalyssa are babysitting her tonight while I’m here. She apparently persuaded Dijonai into letting her call me.” I said, shaking my head with a soft laugh. 

“You… you have a daughter? You seem young?” Paige asked. I know she didn’t mean anything by it, but people had always underestimated how good of a mom I could be just because of my age. My daughter, Laila, was the light of my life, and even though having a daughter so young was a struggle at first, I’d grown into an amazing mother, at least in my opinion.

“Yeah, I had her when I was 19, she’s almost 4.” I said with a smile. I loved talking about Laila, it always brought a smile to my face. “You’ll be seeing a lot of her in Dallas, she loves watching practice.” I spoke with a soft laugh.

“Well that’s sweet, I can’t wait to meet her. What’s her name?” 

“Laila. And I’m sure she’ll love you.” I said with a smile, now beaming on my face.

“What about you?” Paige asked. What did she mean? What about me? I looked at her with a bit of confusion before she spoke again. “Will I see a lot of you too?” Oh. Did she want to see a lot of me? Why was she asking that? Real question is, why is Paige Bueckers making me nervous about a simple question?

“Well um.. Yeah. I usually hang around during practice and I’m always at games, team events and stuff like that. Why?” I wasn’t exactly sure the direction this conversation was going so I played the friendly, more professional route.

“No reason,” she paused for a second, her expression unreadable, “I just like your vibe. I think we'll be friends.” Her soft, genuine smile turned into something resembling more of a smirk. Was she really smirking at me? I almost laughed at myself for believing that because as soon as the smirk appeared, it was gone, and back to a soft smile as she took a sip of her drink. 

“What are you drinking?” I asked, looking at the red drink. I was assuming some extravagant cocktail but no, I was completely wrong. 

“A Shirley Temple.” She said nonchalantly.

“A Shirley Temple?” I questioned

“A Shirley Temple.” She confirmed with a soft chuckle before taking another sip of the red drink.

“Well your full of surprises aren't you Ms. Bueckers?” I said with a smile.

“And so are you, Ms. Sanchez.” She said, that smirk flashing across her face again.

Paige and I kept up the friendly chatter for the next hour or so, her asking lots of questions about me, and a few about Laila of course. We talked about Dallas, about how she’s excited for this new chapter. We even talked about so depper stuff, how she’s going to miss Uconn, her friends, her coaches, just her life in Storrs. I sympathized with her, telling her about how leaving Austin was difficult for Laila and I, but we love Dallas. I ended up ordering a few drinks, and the bartender gave me the bill. As I reached for it, I felt Paige’s hand on top of mine.

“I got it.” She said.

“What- no. It's your special night. I’m not letting you pay for my drinks.” I protested. I always felt bad to let people pay for me. Plus- Paige had just been drafted the number one pick in the WNBA, she didn't need to be paying for other peoples drinks.

“Please,” she insisted, “I owe you at least this. Without you, I probably would have been sitting in the corner scrolling through my phone all night.” I sighed, slipping my hand out from under hers.

“Thank you. I’ll buy you drinks sometime in Dallas. Promise.” I said, with a genuine smile. I did actually want to hang out with Paige. She was nice, and for some reason felt like someone I could open up to. Nothing like I expected.

“So you're saying there’s going to be a next time?” She said. And there it was. That smirk. She knew exactly what she was doing.

“It’s a possibility.” I shrugged. As I stood up, I wobbled a little on my feet, the few drinks plus heels were definitely not an ideal situation. But, suddenly I felt a warm hand on my side, balancing me.

“You good?” Paige spoke, her hand grounding me.

“Yeha, yeah I’ll be fine,” I said, waving her off, “I’ll just order an Uber or something.” She immediately shook her head, standing up beside me, her hand still holding onto my waist. 

“Nah, let me just take you back. It’s late, your in a city you don’t know, and Uber’s are sketchy anyway.” her hand slid to the small of my back.

“You really don't have to-”

“I know I don’t have to. I want to.” She interrupted, pressing her hand a little more into my back as she started to lead me towards the exit, “Where are you staying?”

“The Hilton, on 5th.” I spoke as we neared the exit. It had gotten pretty late and any stragglers were just randoms, no one giving a second thought to the way Paige was leading me out of the door.

“Perfect, same as me. See? It's not even out of my way.” She spoke as she led me out the back entrance and towards a large black SUV. She opened the back door and began speaking to the driver, “Hey Martin, we'll be taking this lovely lady back with us. She’s staying at the same hotel.”

“Of course, Ms. Bueckers.” The older man in the front seat spoke, not even turning his head.

“Please Martin, it's Paige.” She spoke with a soft chuckle as she shut the door behind us. It was freezing in the car, Martin must have been sitting in the car without any heat on. Even though it was April, it was somehow still cold in New York, well at least compared to Texas. Paige looked at me and noticed my arms wrapped around myself. “Here.” She slid off her suit jacket and handed it to me. I gave her a soft smile, draping her jacket over my shoulder and sliding my arms into it. It smelt really good. I had seen her video with GQ earlier this year where she said she wore this one Valentino cologne, but somehow she made it smell better. The cologne was spicy and woody, but layered with Paige’s neutral smell, it was warm and safe. Why was this affecting me so much? God Mari. 

My phone buzzed as Martin pulled out of the parking spot. 

“Hey Nai, how was she?” I answered the phone, a small smile tugging at my lips, “That's good. Okay… yeah, okay. Talk later Nai, love you.” I hung up the phone and gave Paige a small smile.

“So.. um.. I have a couple of questions.” Paige spoke up. She seemed almost nervous behind her confident persona. 

“Sure, what’s up?” I asked, turning my body a little to face her.

“First, you said you had Laila when you were 19 and she's 4… so that would make you 23?” Paige questioned.

“Yeah, good math Bueckers.” I said, giving her a small playful smirk.

“Ok. And are you single?” She asked the question like it was normal. Like it didn’t make me wonder why the hell she was asking it in the first place.

“Um.. yeah. Yeah I am.” I said, trying to hide the effect the question had on me.

“Okay.” She stated nonchalantly, turning back to face forward. I stared at her in shock.

“Okay? You can’t just ask that and then just act like… like that.” I stated, my voice laced with confusion and a bit of frustration. Paige let out a small chuckle before turning back to face me.

“Well I guess I just wondered if you taking me out for drinks was going to be as friends. But I’ve gotten my answer.” She spoke, the smirk that had now become almost a given when she spoke, spread across her face.

“And what is that?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Well. You���ve been sort of eyeing me all night. You talked to me for over an hour. And you invited me to go out for drinks with you. So, I have concluded that you want it to be a date. And that’s fine by me.” She spoke with the utmost confidence, like there was absolutely no way she could be wrong. 

“No- I- I have a daughter, And I don’t date.” I protested, turning to face the window. Paige just chuckled.

“Whatever you say Mar.” Mar? Did she seriously just call me Mar? No one called me that. But why did I sort of like it? Why did it make me feel something in the pit of my stomach? Why was a small smile creeping onto my face as I stared out the window of the car?

God. What are you doing to me Paige Bueckers?

[minh907]

Lost Spirit.

Sung Jinwoo x Ghost Reader

« Chapter 6 ✭Chapter 7

________________________

"Where are we going?"

"To the bank. I need to check the amount of money I have, then we'll go shopping a little."

The first place Jinwoo and his friend went after leaving the house was the bank. He was curious about the money he got from the mana stones.

'I don't have the time to check it.'

Jinwoo left the management of the magic cores to Jinho. The boy said that the magic stones after each raid were sold out, and the money earned was transferred to Jinwoo's account. But he didn't discuss the specific numbers.

'Jinho, this kid. Always reports everything clearly. It seems like he doesn't care much about money.'

Perhaps it was also due to his life circumstances, but Jinho rarely cared about financial matters. The topics of conversation only revolved around raids, celebrities, music, or movies. It was the kid who started the conversation, but Jinwoo just nodded silently.

'Hmm, that's strange...'

Recalling the times he heard the 'storyteller' Jinho confide, the kid had never talked about his family.

Before he could think more, Jinwoo was already standing in front of the bank.

'Such a day...'

Today, all the ATMs were under maintenance.

Jinwoo and you couldn't do anything else. He picked a number and sat there waiting. Meanwhile, you kept complaining about how he had interrupted your revenge.

"Really, if you had let me play a little longer, I could have earned some more money for me."

Jinwoo's face was blank. "Really? It looks like you're constantly losing. Besides, where would shadow soldiers get money from?"

You laughed innocently, "Aren't they your soldiers? The money came from your wallet. As a good master, shouldn't you pay for them?"

Jinwoo: >:0????

"Not that easy!"

Finally, after a 'not too long' time, he was able to go to the counter. "Hello!"

A clerk with short hair and a bright smile. She bowed to him and asked back. "How can I help you?"

"Could you please take a look for me?"

"Of course!"

The clerk took the notebook from Jinwoo's hand with a smile. He looked around the bank while waiting. Even though it was a weekend afternoon, there were still quite a few people coming to do transactions. Meanwhile, the bank clerk was extremely surprised when he looked through Jinwoo's notebook.

'Oh my god!'

[Account Balance: 1,482,920,000]

She carefully read it again, counting each zero, yes, it was definitely more than a billion. And this book was not a savings book. According to the transaction history, all the money was earned in the past week.

'He's so young, how could it be?'

Jinwoo was also surprised that he could earn so much money.

Meanwhile, you looked at the amount of money Jinwoo had, your smile gradually losing its humanity. 'Hehehehehehehe, he's rich! I heard the food in the mall is quite good.'  You rubbed your hands together briskly, clasped your hands and made it look like you were formulating some kind of plan or scheme.

Suddenly, Jinwoo feels an icy chill run down his spine, an unease that settles in his mind and grips him with an icy chill. He had a bad feeling about something, related to his money.

Jinwoo turned to you, seeing your eyes looking at the passbook as if it were a piece of premium Wagyu beef sprinkled with gold and a 'free' flag.

"Y/N," he leaned in, his voice wary, "what are you thinking?"

You smiled, sweet as honey. "Nooooooo~ thinking nothing~ I'm just admiring your hard work!"

Jinwoo narrowed his eyes. "The kind of admiration where you rub your hands together like you're about to buy a three-floor mansion?"

"You're wronging me!" You clasped your hands together, then muttered, "But, a mansion doesn't sound too bad..."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing!"

Jinwoo sighed, taking the passbook back from the clerk who was still reeling from the numbers. "Thank you."

"Ah, yes, yes...have a nice day!" The clerk bowed quickly, thinking to herself 'He must be a hunter! Only hunters can make much money like that!'

Leaving the bank, you walked beside Jinwoo, your heart still as light as the sky.

"Jinwoo," you began in a coaxing tone. "I want a bank account too.."

Jinwoo looked at you, doubtful. "For what?"

"So I can be independent! Financially independent! Have a place to...to...send my monthly salary!"

"You don't work?"

"You can pay me!" you said. "I can support you when you fight, I'll clean your house, and I'll be your roommate and emotional manager for the shadow soldiers. Doing three jobs at once, no pay is against the labor law!"

Jinwoo: "..."

You: ":)))"

"What kind of labor law is that?"

"Law....Shadow Associate! Makes sense right?"

"..."

"No."

"Come on-"

"No."

"You're really... stifling the dreams of youth!" you said sadly.

"You're an adult!"

"Oh no, I'm the one who died but half alive again... but I still don't have my ID card, so you have to raise me!"

Jinwoo: "............"

Why don't I leave you in the tree?

____________________________

After failing to seduce Jinwoo, you gave up on your 'dream'.

"Can I at least buy something to eat at the mall?"

"...Just a little."

You saluted. "Yes sir."

After withdrawing the money, Jinwoo took you to a nearby shopping mall. At first, he only intended to buy a formal suit to meet Jinah's teacher. But things took a different turn from the moment you entered the first store.

He didn't expect that after he got a haircut and bought a new suit, your eyes would suddenly light up dangerously, forgeting your purpose of eating.

"You look so handsome!"

"...Thanks?" Jinwoo was a bit doubtful, instinctively taking a step back.

"Come with me!" - you pulled Jinwoo's hand and rushed into the fashion store chain as if you had a speed buff.

"Wait a minute, we're just going to buy one outfit and then go to Jinah's parent-teacher meeting-"

"No, since we're here, we have to try everything on!"

And so...

30 minutes later, Jinwoo sat absent-mindedly on the bench, next to six different bags of stuff. Jinwoo looked at the pile of bags beside him and then looked up at you – who was busy choosing another long coat, your eyes shining like LED lights from inside. He sighed.

"We have to go to Jinah's school," Jinwoo muttered, but you didn't seem to hear him.

You turned around, holding the coat and trying it on Jinwoo, tilting your head in thought. "Hmm, it's kind of outdated. Right? For a parent-teacher conference, you've got to dress a bit more formal."

"But we don't have to try on, like, eight coats."

"Don't be so stingy," you nudged Jinwoo. "We're living in the age of images. If the teachers see you dressed sloppily, they'll think Jinah isn't well-groomed."

Jinwoo was silent. It made sense. But that reason made him wait for another twenty minutes, with a total of twelve bags.

Finally, when you decided you had enough clothes, the two of you decided to leave the mall. Jinwoo lazily threw all the bags into his storage.

You walked beside him, singing and whistling like a free spirit, occasionally turning to look at Jinwoo with sparkling eyes.

"Are we going somewhere tomorrow?"

"No."

"We can call it bonding time! Like teammates!"

"No."

"Come on~"

"...I think I should buy some noise-canceling headphones."

You laughed loudly, then nudged Jinwoo's arm. "Nevertheless, you will listen to my words."

Jinwoo shook his head but the smile in his eyes was not hidden.

"Alright, I'm going to see how long I can last."

____________________________

Jinwoo stopped in front of a store when he saw his new reflection in the mirror. It looked pretty good. 'At the least, it assures no negative impression would be made or left behind.'

He glanced at his wristwatch, saw that the hands were at 4:20.

'Jinah told me to be there at 5...'

There was still plenty of time.

There was no need to rush, Jinwoo and his friend hailed a taxi and leisurely headed to school. Jinah was waiting for him in front of the gate.

"Hey Jinah!"

The girl didn't notice Jinwoo approaching.

"Oppa?"

Jinah stared at him with a bewildered expression.

"Excuse me, where's my oppa Sung Jinwoo?"

"Don't tell me you don't recognize your oppa?"

Jinah looked him up and down again and exclaimed with undisguised surprise.

"You look completely different!"

"So you think I'm wearing a T-shirt and slippers to meet the homeroom teacher?"

"Wow..."

Jinah was surprised by her usual simple brother. Then she noticed you standing next to him.

"Who is this? Oppa, do you have a girlfriend?"

Jinwoo hit Jinah on the head. "This is Y/n, and she's not my girlfriend."

You happily went over and held Jinah's hand. "I'm Y/n, nice to meet you! I'm Jinwoo's associate, and for whatever reason, I'm crashing at your place for a little while. Hope that's cool with you!"

Jinah smiled happily. "It's okay, I'm happy to have another sister. Living with my brother is not fun at all."

Jinwoo rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm going in first."

The two of you ran after Jinwoo. He had studied here 5 years ago, so everything was already familiar. Jinwoo knew that the meeting would take place in the conference room, not the homeroom teacher's office. He walked in that direction. His pace increased as he walked.

"Oppa, wait for me!!!"

Jinah also hurriedly ran after her brother.

"Hello, teacher!"

"Oh, hello!"

On the way, Jinwoo and you bowed to each teacher. But everyone was quite surprised when they greeted him back.

'Who is that?'

'Is that a former student? I don't remember there being such a student in the school.'

'Is he a new teacher?'

And it wasn't just the teachers who turned their heads.

"Whoa...so handsome!!!"

"Who is he?"

"Why is Jinah walking next to him?"

"Who is the woman that walks beside him?"

'...'

The whispers rang out. Jinah felt extremely excited. She listened to everything with a proud expression, then nudged Jinwoo's side with her elbow.

"Oppa, look at how everyone admires you!!!"

"Jinwoo is so famous" you teased him.

But Jinwoo didn't seem to mind.

"But don't betray Y/n unnie, or I'll hit you!"

Jinwoo didn't let the little girl off this time, he pinched her cheek. "I told you, Y/n isn't my girlfriend."

"Ah, I'm sorry..."

Jinwoo let her go. Jinah rubbed her red cheeks. You giggled.

While walking and arguing, they arrived. Jinah turned around before pointing at the room.

"It's here, oppa, unnie..."

As she was about to enter, Jinwoo suddenly turned to her sister.

"What about you?"

"Only the guardians and teachers are talking to each other! My mission is over here, goodbye oppa and unnie."

You wondered, "I can come in too?"

Jinwoo nodded, "It's fine, I can't leave you outside anyway."

"I heard that Jinah's brother is a hunter, right?"

Her eyes became serious.

"Yes, teacher!"

"If Jinah goes through the awakening stage, do you want her to become a hunter?"

"Definitely not"

Never.

Jinwoo answered decisively, and definitely without thinking. As if he had known the question and had prepared the answer. Her face fell slightly.

"As I expected..."

The teacher was hesitating, and Jinwoo gave her a skeptical look.

"Do you mind if I ask you for a favor?"

________________________

To be continue.

_________________________

Chapter 8 »

________________________

tag: @weaponxgames @sky2lar @snowy-violet @joannthebish @fackeraccount @tanspostsblog @perkypeony @ssolarsystm @winter-soldier-101 @delusionillusion3322 @o-qi-shisme @soft-dots @snowlycanroc

(let me know if I forget to tag anyone)

Everything I write is fiction and for entertainment purposes, please don't take anything seriously

[open-sketchbook]

Team Butterfly Forever! (WIP Web Novel)

Okay, now that I'm three chapters into writing it and I've got momentum behind me, I want to properly pitch my WIP writing project to people.

Team Butterfly Forever is a post-magical girl story. In 2004, a young girl named Eve got a magical necklace from a talking cat, transformed into the magnificent Butterfly Ward, met friends like her, fought evil, and defended San Francisco from the sinister Dark Queen. Evil defeated, city saved, happily ever after.

Now it's 2014, and Eve needs to get the Butterfly Knights back together. The only problem is, they're in absolutely no state; it turns out that having to fight evil when you're 14 makes for messed up 24 year olds. Eve will need every scrap of the power of love and (adult) friendship the save the world, and more importantly, save her friends. So cards on the table? This isn't actually Sailor Moon fanfiction, but it's not not Sailor Moon fanfiction. It is very much wearing its inspiration on its sleeve, and the serial numbers have been filed off primarily because I'm looking to do crimes with it.

I'll be up front; it starts in a pretty dark place. This is very much a story about growing up with trauma and what that does to you. But it's also a comedy, a story about healing, and in the finest tradition of magical girls, a story about pressing on anyway because your friends need you.

Also... every single character is queer. So there's that.

I'm currently writing it as fast as I can; there's no set update schedule, but I posted the first segment a month ago and I'm about 1/4th of the way through my projected length. The story has been fully planned ahead of time, so it won't get hung up on where to go next; I'm hoping to have it done around April, but if you start following now you'll be able to see it take shape and speculate along with other readers.

It is being posted on the Sufficient Velocity, an old-school, moderated forum for lovers of sci-fi, fanfic, and interactive fiction. It's a very queer friendly space, and I highly encourage you to check it out. It'll be exclusive there until I have a final print version; I want to add to this community I love instead of spreading this story out across many isolated spaces, and see discussion about it as it happens. You can also follow the story there to be alerted to updates, and there's tons of other fiction being written on the forum all the time!

If you want to see my other work, my forum signature has interactive and traditional fiction I've posted on the site going back to 2017, including first drafts of my previous novels Whispers from the Deep and Lieutenant Fusilier in the Farthest Reaches.

I hope you enjoy!

[buriedpentacles]

How to Discern Sign from Coincidence

I've noticed that in both on and offline witchy and pagan communities a lot of people's first question relating to deity work and communication is "how do I tell if something is a sign" so I wanted to share my perspective and how I vet something as being a sign or message from my deity or not. This is a pretty simplified 'checklist', but it's important to note that signs are not my main form of communication with my deity which is why I'm quite 'conservative' in identification of them!

How many times? Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence but three times may be a sign. This is a general rule I use for signs like angel numbers, specific animals or imagery or something similiar. Though it doesn't always apply - for example, if I see five crows on a nearby roof I don't see it as a sign because that is a very common sight where I live. But if I see three deer near my house in one day, that IS pretty mystical.

How unusual is it? If something 'makes sense' or can be easily explained by mundane reasons it is less likely to be a sign, and this can work in "levels". E.g. if I see a spider in the corner of my room, that's pretty unlikely to be a sign because that's just what spiders do. A spider running across a specific chapter in my book or tarot guide is still explainable but I'd probably check if it was meant to be a sign. And a sparrowhawk landing on my windowsill would almost definitely be a sign because they rarely come into the area where I live.

How does it make me feel? Sometimes I get a gut feeling that something is a sign or a message, even if it isn't unusual or has only happened once. This can easily be mistaken for 'wanting' something to be a sign so still vet and double check but the differentation does with time, experience and a growing relationship with a deity. Often, signs are clear that they are signs, because you're deity wants you to see them and so your intuition often drags your attention to the, and tells you that they're special somehow.

How do I confirm? I almost always vet signs and messages, typically it's just a quick tarot reading to confirm that something was a sign and what it might mean or represent. Often I'll also meditate or consider the sign to see what feelings or knowledge it inspires in me as well. Sometimes I don't need confirmation, I just know. But that has come with time and I would always check early in my relationship to my Mother Nature.

Important notes If something is just coincidence, that's okay, and it's still cool! So what if that crow wasn't a sign from a deity, you still got to see a crow! And so what if that fortune cookie message wasn't actually a message from your spirit guides, it can still be an inspiring and needed message! There is magic in the mundane and that's wonderful.

If you're new to paganism or witchcraft and want to work with a deity I will warn you to be wary and do a lot of research. Don't just assume: "I saw crows the other day, Odin must be reaching out to me." or "I found a bunch of rose petals on the floor so it must be aphrodite." Signs can mean a great number of things and if you truly believe it is a deity, vet and research source materials for that deity and pantheon. Ask for confirmation and take things slowly, it is very easy to trick yourself into seeing something you want to see.

Signs vary between practitioners and it's important to understand and respect that. What might mean one thing to you, means something entirely different to someone else - even if you're devoted to the same deity. While I always recommend checking original religious sources (if possible) for traditional omens and meanings, they will probably be quite unique to you!!

Tell me about some signs you've recieved from your deity or spirit guides (or whoever)! Mine tend to be animals or plants, which is definitely on brand!

[madwomansapologist]

YOU LOVE BLOOD TOO MUCH (BUT NOT LIKE I DO)

★彡 synopsis: awakened in a new era, sukuna found endless opportunities to hurt and maim others. he also found you, a sorcerer with an ever-expading soul bonded to oaths of pacifism and self-control. allured by the strength you decided to hide, sukuna realized this era could be far more fascinating.

chapter four: three is a magic number or the one with unsupervised kids with knifes.

warnings: insane sorcerers + assistants, kento nanami is exhausted, offensive driving.

kill count: [-1]

Dirt and rocks gave place to concrete underneath the car. Muscle memory made you lower the window with your eyes still closed, a warm breeze almost lulling you back into an accidental nap. A peaceful moment after a dreadful mission.

Your eyes fluttered open as hair whipped your face. Taking in your surroundings, you saw blue and smelled red. A cloudless sky engulfed you, your lungs doing the same to the scent of iron. It all feels the same. Tired assistant’s faces and black cars started to blend into hazy memories after years of being carried around the country. They all stink of blood; they all drive you back home.

Except for him, of course. His black car was dented, passenger’s door creating angles within itself. The blood is there, how could it not be, but losing shamefully a battle with his cologne. He smells like sage, apple and… something silken. Delicate yet impossible to ignore. Maybe nutmeg.

“Don’t put your face out of the car like that”, Haibara chuckled, words as empty as his growling stomach. Definitely nutmeg. “I won’t be responsible for an accident.”

You rolled your eyes, ignoring his advice. Admiring the ashen buildings getting closer and closer, you only moved when something hot brushed against your thigh. Taking the plastic cup from his hands, you beamed.

“Another accident”, Kento took a sip of his coffee.

Holding the cup closer, you breathed in the chamomile tea. You looked at Haibara through the inside rear-view mirror. He was already staring at you. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. When did you get those?”

“Some minutes ago”, Haibara chuckled again. It made you frown. “You really want me to drop you at Harajuku? You’re very tired, senpai. Didn’t even flinch when I almost crashed the car.”

Kento not sighing was what convinced you that they were acting weird. Narrowing your eyes, Haibara’s stiff arms suddenly became so obvious. Kento was still wearing those sunglasses you begged him not to buy. And they both weren’t looking into your eyes.

Nothing was wrong, but something was wrong.

“I want to welcome the new student”, you answered slowly. Have you done something? You don’t think you did. Or maybe you don’t remember. Is that the problem? “It won’t take long.”

“You need to stop doing Satoru’s work”, Kento murmured. Another sip, and finally he sighed. “Don’t let him grow used to it.”

You took a deep breath, doing your best not to play devil’s advocate and ruin Kento’s mood even more. There was a touch of resentment in his words. There always is when he talks about Satoru. The best you can do is ignore.

“Don’t complain about him”, Haibara yelled. You closed your eyes, once more surprised about how bad Haibara is at reading others. “Satoru works hard too.”

“What is happening?” It was best to address the elephant in the room than to let the conversation go on as it is now. Kento holds so much tension on his shoulders you fear one day he will simply explode. “Something is happening. Why don’t you two just tell me already?”

The car braked so abruptly you almost hit your face on the driver’s seat.

The silence that came after it was so loud your mind wandered to the worst possibilities you could imagine. Dead friends, schools exploding, unsupervised kids with knives. Although there is no way you’re responsible for the last one.

(Sitting on the floor in front of a cursed building, Satoru sneezed. Megumi said nothing, still sulking for doing nothing while the other two fought curses. As if sending Itadori with a knife was a good idea, Megumi thought. We never even worked with Kugisaki. I could do more.)

Haibara hit his head on the car as he tried to sit between you two. His legs on top of yours, back supported by Kento’s arm. “You weren’t wearing a seat belt, were you?”, Kento fixed his sunglasses.

Looking into your eyes, Haibara hesitated. “Are you scared?”

“Haibara, don’t you…”

“You also want to know, Kenchan”, Haibara interrupted. His wide eyes kept staring at you, but all you could see was the ghost of a smile on Kento’s face. “Are you scared of him?”

Oh. That makes more sense than your hypothesis. “I am.”

“Was he as strong as the tales?”

“It was a forgettable fight”, you lied. You will never forget how it feels to be truly hollow. “What scares me is that it won’t be the last.”

Kento took off his sunglasses. His eyes were so small. You wonder if he slept lately. “You think the boy might lose control of the body?”

 “I don’t know why, but Yuji is… a perfect vessel. I don’t think he even can lose control. But what I know is that we would be lucky if nothing bad happens”, you smiled. “And there is only one thing more surprising than dealing with Ryomen Sukuna.”

Haibara tilted his head. “What?”

“A lucky sorcerer.”

After one last look at you, Haibara moved back to the front seat. As he speeds up, the look you and Kento shared was so easy to understand. Where is Ijichi-kun when we need him?

The moment the car was finally parked, you thanked every god you knew and swore to never let Haibara drive you anywhere again—a promise you made countless times since you convinced him to stop being a sorcerer. You tried opening the door, but it was locked.

“Haibara?”

“Do you think Satoru would win?”, Haibara asked. His hands were still glued to the steering wheel. “Do you think you would?”

You hesitated. Holding his shoulder, you smirked. “I think I can survive him.”

“That’s enough”, Kento nodded, ignoring your mockery tone. “It’ll be.”

“I’ll be.” Opening the door, you turned to face Kento and grinned. “Bye, Kenchan.”

all rights reserved to © madwomansapologist

TAGLIST: @snowsilver2000

[hellfirenacht]

Wing Man 11

Fic Summary: Steve ‘the Hair’ Harrington is your best friend, and is constantly striking out. Sick of this, you two make a deal; you’ll wing man for each other. Hooking Steve up with dates is easy, but he finds himself struggling to find you a date. At least, until Dustin starts talking about his new cool friend Eddie.

Chapter Summary: Steve talks shit. Paige and Eddie talk business.

5.2k words

Series Master List

Working for Family Video came with many upsides, especially when you worked with people who you also enjoyed seeing outside of the store. Rentals were already dirt cheap with your employee discount, and near expired candy and popcorn never quite made it into the dumpster out back and somehow magically appeared in your bag instead at the end of your shift. 

You always liked to think that Family Video was sponsoring your bi-monthly movie nights with Steve and Robin. The Harrington household was always the meeting spot, as he was the only one who had a tv and VCR in his room. Well, you did as well now after Keith had tossed out an old player, saying it was broken. You’d brought it home to tinker with and found that some kid had stuck gum in the tape slot. It had taken you a week to clean and another month to figure out how to hook everything back up, but it was yours. Steve still had the nicer home and tv though, and more importantly his parents bought brand name snacks. 

The three of you were in Steve’s living room, the movie playing on the screen long forgotten as the three of you caught up with each other. Robin was usually the barometer for if a movie was worth watching, she and Steve might have had very different tastes, but Steve would usually get sucked up into whatever movie she chose. 

“So is his band any good?” Robin asked, dumping a bag of m&ms into her bowl of popcorn. 

“I think so.” you shrugged, cracking open a drink. “If anything, they’re good enough to be scouted twice.”

“By the same person.” Steve pointed out. “You know, his ex.” 

You had brought the news of Eddie’s meet up with Paige to your friends with mixed results. Robin seemed indifferent, but that’s because most of the time she didn’t have the same interest in talking about boys. Steve, however, seemed less than thrilled about this idea. 

“Yes, Steve, his ex. As in, not together anymore.” you sighed, wishing you felt as confident as you sounded. “Whatever happened between them sounded like it blew up for both of them.”

“But she still wants to have lunch with him!” Steve said. 

“Yes, to talk about the band!” you shot back. “And it’s lunch. Didn’t you tell me that dinner is a date and lunch is just two people hanging out?” 

“Since when does my advice apply to you or Eddie?”

“Since Paige isn’t me or Eddie, so your dating advice might actually apply here.” you snapped and took a breath. “Sorry. This is all new to me. I’m really not sure how I’m supposed to feel right now. It’s like every time things start to go well with me and Eddie, something happens. Paige, Chris, you-”

“Hey-”

“I like him a lot.” You leaned back against the couch, grabbing the popcorn bowl from Robin. “When I’m with him, I get that same feeling that I do when I’m hanging out with you two or when I’m at the show every month. I don’t feel like I’m hiding myself when he’s around.”

“There are other weirdos and freaks around.” Steve pointed out. “If I had known there were that many of you around, I would have agreed to go to the show earlier to help you get phone numbers.” 

“Yeah, but have you seen the way she looks when she’s talking about Eddie?” Robin hopped into the conversation. “I don’t think anyone even existed to her that night.”

It was true, no one other than your friends and (unfortunately) Chris had truly registered to you at the show. Yeah, you’d noticed the few cast members but they weren’t the metal head with the long hair and crop top that had held your hand all night.

“Oh shit, did I tell you guys that we ran into Chris?!” You asked suddenly, changing the subject. 

“Wait, that guy you and Eddie kept talking shit about?” Steve turned to look at you, grabbing a handful of popcorn and getting crumbs on the couch.

“Yeah!” you said. “He actually works for the show now, I guess? He said he’s been there for a while and he’s seen me at the show before. It was so fucking weird.”

“Is that the guy who said you were too normal to play with Hellfire?” Robin asked. 

You nodded. “Yeah, and he ran Hellfire into the ground until Eddie took over. And now he’s doing tech for the show. Also, he was Rocky in the shadow cast.”

“The guy in the metallic shorts?!” Steve gawked. 

“Columbia did say that the cast changed for the night.” Robin said, and you gave her a quizzical look, remembering the lipstick mark you’d seen on her jaw that night. “She came by and talked to us before the show!” 

“She couldn’t resist my charm.” Steve gave you a smile that you were sure worked with someone like Nancy Wheeler, or Tammy Thompson. You just shook your head and laughed. 

“Right, anyway. Chris came and talked to us after the show and he told me auditions are gonna be open for the cast. He gave me his card, and told me that it was invite only.” you explained.

“You’ve been talking about wanting to be part of that since we started working together.” Steve said. 

“Yeah, I guess I get a shot to do something, too.” 

“Chris turned you down for Hellfire, and now is letting you audition?” Robin asked. 

“We aren’t in school anymore.” you pointed out. “I know how it sounds, but none of us are the same people we were back then. I’m not the same person I was two years ago, none of us are.”

“I hate it when you’re right, you know.” 

“I’m just saying that if I can give you the benefit of the doubt and make friends with you then maybe Chris isn’t as big of a prick as he was back then. I might not have even given Eddie a chance, either.” You picked out a few m&ms from the popcorn bucket, getting your fingers covered with butter and colored candy coating. “I mean, at the end of the day, isn't that what this whole deal was about? Shaking off old habits and trying to step outside of contentment?”

“I thought your deal was so that you can stop having Steve check you out every time you wanted to rent porn.” Robin snickered. 

“I thought we were just trying to get dates.” Steve looked confused and you gave him a pat on the head. It always amused you how his hair could spring back into place like that.

“That too.” you said. 

“So, you’re really okay with Eddie going to see his ex?” Steve said, forcing you back into that topic. 

”I’m not thrilled about it.” You finally admitted. “But we only went on one date and this might help his band. Besides, if we start... Whatever this is without some sort of trust then is it even worth starting?”

“So you trust him?” 

“I trust you and Dustin, who vouched for him. He was honest enough to tell me that it’s his ex who wants to talk about his band. What happens next is up to him.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Steve relented and his eyes wandered back to the tv. 

You didn’t, but you were tired of letting other people tell you what you should or shouldn’t do. 

Ever since Benny’s shut down, there wasn’t really any good place to meet up with someone for lunch in town. Every time he had seen Paige before, it had either been at the Hideout, or his van. Neither of which was really a good place to talk about Corroded Coffin. 

It was Paige’s idea to meet at the small hole-in-the-wall pub that was just out of Eddie’s comfort zone in terms of price. Eddie arrived on Saturday afternoon, earlier than he meant to with his nerves. He leaned against the wall outside of the pub, watched the cars go by as he waited for her. 

She didn’t leave him waiting for long, and ten minutes before their agreed upon time, Paige was standing in front of him for the first time in over two years. She hadn’t grown an inch, but her wavy dark hair had, and now barely brushed her shoulders. In the daylight, Eddie could see a faint tint of red that he never noticed before. Other than two or three times, he realized that he and Paige had never spent a lot of time together when the sun was out. Paige’s freckles were as prominent as ever. 

To Eddie’s surprise, she looked happy to see him. 

“Hi, Eddie.” she said, and to his relief she didn’t go in for a hug. 

“Hi, Paige.” He responded and reached over to open the door to the pub for her. 

The two didn’t say anything until they were sitting at a dimly lit booth in the corner, where Paige broke the ice. 

“Before we get into any business talk, I need you to be honest with me.” She started, sitting up straight and looking him in the eyes. “If you care about your future in music, and your band, you need to tell me what happened. Tell me how you ended up in jail two days before the most important moment in either of our careers.” 

Eddie had expected this, and the past week had been spent trying to find a way to spin the story so that he didn’t look like the biggest asshole on the planet. In the end, he decided that he should be honest with her. Paige wanted real, and he would give that to her, tarnish and all.

Someone came by and took their drink orders, giving Eddie a moment to collect his thoughts. 

“I did something stupid.” He started. 

“Obviously.” She gave him a wry smile. 

“Moving to California isn’t cheap.” He watched the tone of his voice, searching for that piece of him that made Hellfire and Corroded Coffin listen to him. Being a dungeon master for so long had given him a way of speaking that could draw someone in when he tried, and right now he knew he needed to try and convince Paige that Corroded Coffin deserved a second chance. “I needed a way to pay for everything that came with moving across country. My dad... he-” Eddie’s voice wavered for a brief moment. “He had an idea to make some quick cash for the two of us. It wasn’t smart, and it really wasn’t legal.”

“Jesus,” Paige sighed, looking at him with a deep frown. “I would have helped you, Eddie. I was already willing to let you live with me for free until we got you set up. I told you that you didn’t have to be alone in this.” 

Asking for and accepting help wasn’t something that Eddie was ever good at. He’d been hyper-independent since he was a child, when his dad would disappear for long stretches of time, even after his mom died. Asking for help after (or especially because) Paige had put in so much money and effort for him already, wasn’t something that he could bring himself to do. 

“I know.” Eddie said. “I had this stupid idea that if I didn’t make the effort on my own, then I didn’t deserve the change. So I did something stupid, really fucking stupid, and it cost me everything.”

“Mark told me that you shot a cop.” Paige said, and before Eddie could speak up, she continued. “I didn’t believe him. When I wired the money, I was able to get an idea of what happened. You saved that guys life.” 

“I couldn’t let him just bleed out on my yard.” Eddie said. “I couldn’t- it wouldn’t be right to run away like that.” 

“You really caused a lot of trouble, you know that?” 

“I know.” Eddie took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry. I fucked up. I did a lot of stupid shit I shouldn’t have, and I paid the price. It cost me more than just the audition.”

There was a time between getting the news about his audition with WR Records and the heist that Eddie flew. He had everything he had ever wanted; he got the girl, had his dad back, he had a future, which was something he never thought he’d have. For a few beautiful weeks, he had spiraled up, up, and up. 

In the end though, what goes up must come down. Eddie had reached for something that would never be meant for someone with the last name ‘Munson’. He had crashed back down to earth, to the reality of who he was and it had cost him everything. His dad, his childhood house, his audition, Paige, and even Ronnie for a short time. 

For the next two years, Eddie swore to never even think about reaching for the sun again. 

“Thank you for being honest with me.” Paige said. “I still think you’re an asshole.”

“I was an asshole.” He didn’t even try to fight it. “The biggest one in Hawkins.”

Even with her declaration, Paige still had a look on her face that was the ghost of an expression she had in the passenger side of his van on the night that she had given him the news that WR Records had liked him. 

“Things went downhill for me when you bailed on the audition.” Paige said, and Eddie swallowed, his mouth feeling dry. He had never known what had happened with her after their fight over the phone. “I got in a lot of trouble because of you. Davey doesn’t like anyone, but he liked you. When I couldn’t get you out there, it really screwed up any trust I had with my job.”

She stopped talking for a moment as a waiter came by and dropped off their food. Eddie couldn’t bring himself to touch the overpriced sandwich in front of him yet. His mouth felt dry and he reached for his water instead. 

“I was stuck in a dead end job, where any talent I tried to bring to the label was shot down without being given a chance. I was being paid to do nothing, except babysit the studio and paperwork.  I got demoted, and I was already at the bottom of the totem pole.” Paige never looked away from Eddie, her gaze unflinching and sharp. “I stopped liking music.”

Guilt washed over Eddie, and there was something in him that screamed at him to run away to avoid this. Being the reason someone stopped liking music? He knew he’d fucked up but that... that was something deeper than just missing an audition. 

“They didn’t have the means to really fire me, I hadn’t done anything wrong.” she continued. “They moved me to a smaller label under the WR name. That label was where acts they had given up on went to die.”

“Which label?” Eddie managed to ask, despite how dry his mouth felt. Even the water wasn’t helping. 

“Left Turn Media.” Paige said. 

During those weeks when things had been good between the two of them, Paige had mentioned the label once or twice. It was considered a death sentence to be put on that label, and working for them was WR’s way to get people to quit without firing them. The two had listened to a few cassettes from the label. The bands weren’t bad, and that was what stuck out to Eddie. The music wasn’t bad, but it was clear that the production was lacking and half-assed. Paige said that the music would be sent out to small radio stations to be played in the middle of the night. 

“Shit.” Eddie said. 

“Yeah, shit.” Paige let out a laugh. “But if there’s one thing I am, it’s stubborn. I threw myself into my work. I’ve been spending the last two years breaking down and completely reassembling Left Turn, and now I’m in charge of it.”

“You.” His eyes went wide as he stared at her. “You’re in charge of Left Turn Media.”

“It’s amazing what you can do when you’re pissed and have something to prove.” Paige shrugged. “I had a lot of time to think about my relationship with music in the last few years. I realized if I wanted to bring something real to the music scene of L.A. I was going to have to do it myself.”

Her dark lips curled up into a smile. “I should almost thank you for fucking up. Because you bailed, I was put in charge of a sinking ship. I patched it up with my own time and money and now Left Turn has become the label for all misfit bands who don’t fit any shiny polished label. I proved to myself and everyone around me that I belong in this industry.”

“I-” Eddie wasn’t sure how he was supposed to respond to that. “You’re welcome...?”

“We’re expanding the label outside of California.” She continued. “I’m in charge so I’m trying to bring good music to my hometown. It’s still not the biggest label, and we can’t offer half of what the bigger labels would, but it’s something.”

“And what are you offering?” Eddie felt dizzy, the more she talked. His words were careful, as if asking the wrong question could end in another blow up between the two of them. 

“What I’m offering is another chance for Corroded Coffin to be signed.” Paige’s arms crossed over her chest. “Left Turn is still finding its footing outside of L.A., so we’re flexible. I’m here to work with local radio and college stations around Indiana to get them to play the few bands we’ve signed so far. Who we have are okay, but they aren’t...”

“Real?” 

“Eddie you have something, as much as I never wanted to admit it again after what happened between us. There’s something about the way that you play that I haven’t been able to find since. I could do this without you, but I think that this is the real sink or swim moment. WR Records goes on with or without you, but I think what you have is what could turn Left Turn around.” Page took a deep breath. “If Corroded Coffin wants another shot, this would be it. If you still have that do-or-die energy when you play, I could offer you a real deal to put together an album. I could get you on the radio.”

Eddie listened to her words, taking in what she was offering. Yes, it wouldn’t be the easy street that WR would have been able to offer, but it would be something. And this time, it wouldn’t just be him auditioning, but Corroded Coffin was wanted this time. 

“You’re serious.” Eddie said, his heart rate picking up. 

“As serious as shooting a cop.” 

“Jesus.” Eddie couldn’t stop himself from letting out a laugh. He ran his fingers through his hair, messing up his fringe as he replayed everything that Paige had just told him in his mind. She wanted him to audition again. This was a chance that he wasn’t sure could be passed up. 

“Some of the band is still in high school.” He said, feeling reality settle like a stone in his stomach. He didn’t mention that his name was on that roster. 

“Like I said, we’re flexible.” Paige said. “I still need you all to audition again, and even then it’s going to take me a few months to set anything up here for the band. I want you all to audition with me and a few others from the label before the end of the year. If everything goes according to plan, Left Turn might have the recording studio ready by next June.” 

“You’re setting up your own recording studio?” Eddie perked up, the anxiety and guilt that he had originally felt was now shifting into something new. He found himself relaxing enough to eat his overpriced sandwich. 

“Yes. We need something that’s a step above Live Mike Studios in Lafayette. We have the building picked out and are already gutting it for Left Turn.” 

“You’ve really thought of everything, haven’t you?” Eddie smiled at her. 

“I have.” Paige agreed. “But I learned not to put all my eggs into one basket. This industry has taught me to have a plan A, B C, and D.” She let out a long sigh. “I made it to plan L before and I would prefer not to do that again.” 

“What was plan L?” 

“If I go into the whole story, I’ll need a strong drink. It involved a guitar player with his head up his ass thinking he was going to be the next Gene Simmons.” Paige groaned. 

“Gene Simmons doesn’t play guitar.” Eddie pointed out. Paige gave him a thousand yard stare, which said everything he needed to know. “Ok. Gotcha.” 

“I’m hoping to get everything set up with minimal surprises.” She concluded. “Get with your band. I’m going to be in town for the rest of the year setting things up.”

Eddie nodded. “So... why Indiana?” he asked. “You were in California. Why come back here to set this up?”

“Like I said, I want to bring good music to my hometown. Once everything’s done, I’ll be able to move back and forth from California to here.”

“And Corroded Coffin?”

“Will stay in Indiana.” She said firmly. “I can’t turn you into the Rock Hero you could have been two years ago, but I can try and make you a Hometown Hero.”

Another story. Paige had always been good at spinning stories. Once upon a time, Eddie had been a barback turned frontman turned Rock Hero. Now he’d be barback turned frontman turned Hometown Hero. That part felt less believable than before. 

That’s how Paige saw him, but how did he see himself? Barback turned front man turned drug thief turned drug dealer turned uber senior? None of that was a story worth selling. And what about the rest of his band? Would Gareth, Jeff, or Zack want to be part of this? Ronnie hadn’t, she just wanted to play just to play. Jeff had been excited about this when the opportunity was first presented, but would he still want the chance? Gareth was the youngest and still had over a year of school left. 

One thing at a time. 

“I’ll talk to the guys next practice.” Eddie said. 

“Good. Are you still playing at the Hideout?” Paige asked. 

Eddie froze for a second, as he imagined Paige and you in the same space to watch him play. He imagined your excited face, and the way you would cheer for them after every song, the excitement that radiated off of you after every set. Even earlier this week, when you’d dropped by to watch them, knowing that Eddie was going to see Paige, you’d still shown the same enthusiasm as before. 

He’d thrown you another pick. You’d handed it back to him at the end of the night, telling him that he could toss it at you again next week. 

“You look like someone who loses your picks the second they are out of your sight.”

You’d been right. The only one he could consistently find was the one he’d turned into a necklace. His dad’s picks had been packed away, shoved under his bed where he wouldn’t see them. Eddie didn’t use those picks anymore. 

A few weeks ago, he couldn’t stop comparing you to Paige, but now he couldn’t stop thinking about how different you two were. 

“Yeah, we play on Tuesdays now.” Eddie said. “People stopped complaining enough that Bev decided to give us a steady slot.”

“Good to know.” Paige said. She wasn’t confirming or denying if she’d show up, but that look in her eyes said that he could expect to see her again soon. 

After all, The Hideout was the only place in twenty miles of Hawkins that offered any live music. 

For the rest of the meal, the two caught up with each other. It didn’t feel as weird as Eddie would have expected, but it was nice. He let Paige do most of the talking, letting her tell him about her work in the industry, he didn’t need her knowing more than she needed to if he wanted to have this shot. Would she want to sign a bunch of high schoolers? He hadn’t even told Paige the first time that he had dropped out when Higgins blackmailed him. 

That was alright for now though. Paige talking meant that he didn’t have to and he added to the conversation by asking plenty of questions about her work. Hearing about the music industry from her end was something that he had a genuine interest in, anyway. 

Paige told him about how she had been given a copy of Iron’s Maiden’s Live After Death by Davey. She was even willing to make Eddie a copy of it. It wasn’t the video, but he wasn’t about to turn down audio of one of his favorite bands that wasn’t even released in the US. 

When the check came, Paige didn’t even blink as she paid the tab and the two of them made their way outside again. It was still pretty early in the afternoon, and the chill of the late autumn air contrasted the bright blue sky.

Trying to still be somewhat of a gentleman, Eddie walked Paige to her car as she recounted the tale of how she had been on the flight from Indianapolis to Los Angeles where Izzy Stradlin had been arrested for pissing in front of everyone.

Paige stopped with her hand on the door to her car before turning around to face Eddie before getting in. 

“I don’t hate you, you know.” she said. “I was mad for a really long time at what you did. But I don’t think you’re a bad guy, Eddie.”

Eddie didn’t feel like he deserved the forgiveness she was offering him. Being told that he was anything other than some satanic cult leader or freak wasn’t something he’d ever get used to.  

“Paige I...” He wasn’t sure what to say. 

She had that look in her eyes, the same look she’d had after she’d given him the news about his original audition. What are you waiting for? Paige was moving closer, freckles like constellations on her skin and the moon in her eyes eclipsed by her eyelids. 

Eddie's hand fell on Paige’s shoulder before her lips could get any closer to his. “I can’t.” he said. 

Her face went through a few emotions. Surprise, disappointment, and settling on embarrassment. 

“Shit. Sorry.” Paige said, shaking her head. 

“No it’s.. It’s fine.” Eddie said, and he could have sworn that Paige looked just as confused as he did. “I don’t think it’s a great idea to do.... That.” 

Eddie hadn’t once entertained the idea of Paige and him together again. It didn’t feel right. He wouldn’t lie and say that he didn’t find her attractive, but it wasn’t the same feeling he got that first night in the Hideout. As a teen, he’d been thrilled that a pretty girl was paying any attention to him at all, and was willing to do anything and be anything she wanted. 

Any relationship with Paige was business, plain and simple. She wanted a Rock Hero to help her get up the ladder, Eddie wanted to make it with his band. Sex had just been a bonus in their past relationship. Paige knew her stuff with music and the industry, but she didn’t rant about Ozzy and his bats, or have a real interest in D&D or put herself out there the same way that you- 

“I’m seeing someone.” He blurted out before Paige could say anything else. 

Paige looked surprised for a moment and shook her head and laughed. “Right. That... I’m sorry. I don’t even know why I did that.” she admitted. “I guess I got swept up in this stupid fantasy about being a power couple. We’re a bad idea.” 

“I’m sorry.” Eddie said, not sure what else could be said in this situation. 

“Don’t be. You’re right, ‘us’ is a bad idea.” she ran her fingers through her hair. “It’s a good thing my offer isn’t dependent on if we’re sleeping together or not.”

“I know you bought me lunch, are giving my band a second chance, and forgave me for one of the biggest fuck ups of my life, but I don’t put out that easy.” Eddie smiled at her, trying to lighten the mood.

Paige offered her hand and Eddie took it. “Business only then.” she said. “Talk to your band and call me to set up the audition.” 

Eddie watched Paige’s car drive off, and suddenly felt a lot lighter. He blasted his music and drove home, nearly laughing like a maniac. Today had been a wild roller coaster of emotions, and he couldn’t wait until the next band practice to bring the news to his band. 

At home, he grabbed his guitar and immediately began sorting through Corroded Coffin’s small pile of original songs, and the covers that they were able to perform the best. Eddie was off, lost in his own world as he wrote, re-wrote, and re-worked the set list. 

What would you think? Would you be excited for him? If this worked, he was going to make sure to get you concert tickets. Okay, he was getting ahead of himself. Maybe you could at least come for the audition as moral support. His band liked you, so maybe they wouldn’t mind. 

Eddie didn’t come back down to Earth until the phone rang that evening after Wayne went to work. He almost missed the call because of how deep he was into perfecting the riff that had eluded him for the past few months, determined now more than ever to get it down. 

He reached the phone on the last possible ring. “Hello?”

“Hey... Eddie?” Your voice cracked over the phone, and that feeling of excitement came crashing down. “Sorry I... Can you come pick me up? I’m at home.” 

You were crying. He could hear it in the way your voice strained and cracked. He was already reaching for his keys. 

“I’ll be right there.”  

a/n: As I stated before, I do like to try and keep everything as time accurate as possible. However things happen, and sometimes things are too good not to use. The Izzy Stradlin incident did not happen until 1989, but the fact that it was on a flight from Indianapolis to LA was too good to pass up. I also would like to notate that I did make a mistake when it came to the Ozzy Bat Incident. It was not a 17 year old girl, it was a 17 year old boy and the bat was already dead. Chalk that inaccuracy up to the tabloids of the time, and the lack of Google. No, this will not be addressed in the future of the fic unless it’s funny. 

Dividers By: @strangergraphics

Tag List @k8loo @terrormonster55 @sp1dyb0y1008 @crocwork-clockodile @ali-r3n @mxcheese @josephquinnschesthair @gagasbee @peaches-roses-sins @witchwolflea @vintagehellfire @royale1803 @cumslutforaemond @prestinalove @browneyedgirly93 @perpetualmess @thebook-hobbit @cultish-corner @grishaversecaptivated @sortagaysortahigh @halialex1119 @siriuslysmoking @huffledor-able541 @pookiesnatcher @eddiesguitarskills @browneyes-8288 @sheneedsrocknroll92

[whiskeythefishski]

Tag Game & Updated Fic Recs

Not going to answer all of these questions cause I don't have a huge back catalog of stuff, but this looks fun :) Also a while ago I did a list of some of my favorite fics and I'm taking the chance to shout out a few more!!!

Tag Game!

I was tagged by @lilac-hecox and @lorelilly (love you both!!!)

total number of ao3 works: 7! I've only been back in the fic game since last July and my posting schedule is NOT regular

total ao3 word count: 57,164

fandoms i’ve written for: Nowadays it's pretty much just Smosh, but in my sordid past I wrote for Minecraft YouTube, Homestuck, and Supernatural (please forgive me)

top five fics by kudos: Only doing top three since I don't have many:

And I Can Survive It (For Only So Long): An Ianthony exes-to-lovers. They're theater professors forced to work together on the spring musical, 'Nerdy Prudes Must Die.' (additional pairings: amangela, trevrasha, spommy, shourtney, dackie)

(make for me) A Soft Universe: Spommy sickfic oneshot in the universe of 'And I Can Survive It'

Kiss Me Like You Mean It: Trevrasha oneshot in the universe of 'And I Can Survive It'

do i respond to comments?: I try to! I'm not the best at responding, but I DO read them all and smile :)

what has the happiest ending?: A HARD DECISION. I think I have to go with hold on to the memories (I will hold onto you), the Shourtney soulmates oneshot I wrote for @lilac-hecox's Holiday Gift Exchange :) really proud of that one!

have i received hate?: thankfully no

do i write smut? if so, what kind?: Not yet. I'm gearing up to it, but it will likely be rarer.

do i write crossovers?: The closest thing to a crossover I have is 'And I Can Survive It,' where the Smosh cast is putting on StarKid's Nerdy Prudes Must Die. the StarKids do make occasional cameo appearances!

a WIP i’ll never finish?: The Minecraft fanfic I started writing when I was 12. Spilled a Snapple peach tea all over the notebook I wrote outlines in and totally ruined it. Gone but never forgotten.

writing strengths: I've been told that my character voices are well done, and I think I'm pretty good at scene-setting!

writing weaknesses: Fuck, what isn't? Writing regularly, for one. but also, TITLES. I cannot come up with titles for shit. That's why all my fics have shitty song lyric titles lol.

first fandom i wrote for: Minecraft YouTube :/ Or Narnia, if you want to get REAL technical (I think I was five lol)

favorite fic i’ve written: Fuuuuuuuuuuck. I think I'm the PROUDEST of 'hold on to the memories,' since it was really out of my comfort zone and also far longer than I expected, and I got to gift it to someone, which made me really happy. But 'And I Can Survive It' is probably my favorite.

tagging: Some of the lovelies from the Smosh discord!! I know some of y'all have been tagged already but I just love your stuff :) @sheisaquarius-blog @soupy-girl @toomuchsmoshbrainrot @spennininomenon @june-rassicpark

FIC REC TIME!!!

Going to try not to plug every fic I've ever read lol. There's SO MANY GOOD ONES this is only a quick handful.

Rated General Audiences:

"Poppies (Or 5 Times Shayne Gave Courtney A Poppy + 1 Time He Didn't" by lilacfoxes (@lilac-hecox) - Pretty much what it says on the tin. SO fucking sweet. Complete, 1 Chapter, 6k words.

Rated Teen and Up:

"always escalating (every touch)" by miss_soupy (@soupy-girl) - Trevrasha spy AU. Trevor and Arasha need to come up with better cover stories than kissing each other. Complete, 1 Chapter, 11.5k words.

"Love on the Ice" by lilacfoxes (@lilac-hecox) - Ianthony high school hockey player AU. Ian is forced to join the hockey team at his high school alongside his ex-best friend, Anthony. Complete, 1 Chapter, 45.5k words.

"Love Like Magic" by KALLIOPH (@sheisaquarius-blog) - Modern Magic AU. The Smosh cast run a bunch of adorable little shops, and also have unique magical abilities. Complete, 1 Chapter, 34k words.

Rated Mature:

"habits" by unknownteapot (@unknownteapot) - Amangela fake dating AU. Amanda needs someone to pretend to be her fiancée to help her inherit her grandmother's cottage. Complete, 16 Chapters, 30k words.

"The Palomino Room" by lilacfoxes (@lilac-hecox) - Ian and Anthony are snowed in at bed and breakfast. Complete, 1 Chapter, 11.5k words.

"All This Potential (Plus Gravity)" by Lorelilly (@lorelilly) - Spommy high school AU. Tommy offers to help Spencer bleach his hair. Incomplete, 1 Chapter, 7k words.

"Can't Catch Me Now" by Isaac_Potato - Hunger Games AU. Ian, Anthony, and several other victors are thrust back into the Games for the Quarter Quell. Incomplete, 10 Chapters, 67k words.

"nothing in the sky above us" by KALLIOPH (@sheisaquarius-blog) - A prequel to Kalli's amazing crime/mafia AU "i'm coming for you again." Future kingpin Ian and serial killer Anthony carry out their first crimes as teenagers. Incomplete, 1 Chapter, 4.5k words.

Rated Explicit:

"No Rocks, Only Chaser" by Lorelilly (@lorelilly) - Spommy bartender AU. Tommy isn't looking for love, but it finds him anyway. Complete, 5 Chapters, 60k words.

"collide the spaces that divide us" by undeadtwink (@doubleboyfriend) - Spommy ghost AU. Tommy meets and falls in love with Spencer, who is a ghost. Complete, 4 Chapters, 34k words.

"Missing Pages" by Lorelilly (@lorelilly) - Spemanda friends to strangers to lovers, sequel to Lilly's incredible fic "Chapters." Amanda and Spencer reconnect after five years apart. Complete, 1 Chapter, 14k words.

I KNOW I'm for sure forgetting some good ones, especially since I last made a list like this in July, but these are at least a few I'm fucking obsessed with :)

Anyways, enjoy y'all!

[a-very-sneaky-mimic]

Successfully finished my map of the airship from my fic!

"If I Too Am Forgotten, Will You Look For Me In The Stars?"

(Was originally gonna be three decks but the last one is just empty cargo space so its not worth the effort lol)

(As I've said before, quite a few sprites are just edited/taken from the game, but any stuff that you don't recognize from the game is made by me.)

I've also annotated some neat details/notes! ^^

Annotations and non annotated version below the keep reading thingy.

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

2. Star windows! ✨The light from them is faintly visible on the floor of the dandelion room!

1. The control console for the airship! It has a comically oversized compass, and reasonably sized barometer and a wind-speed-cup-spinny-thingy- you know what i mean.

Anyways it also has two little magic-crystal-wishcraft-orb-thingys that the pilot somehow uses to control the ship- idk ill figure that out later, they've got little stars in em though cause i think it looks neat!

3. Dandelion room! I think in my fic I may have described patterns all over the room- but imma retcon that to just the circle thingy depicted here, it only glows when the ship is actively being flown- so technically its impossible for the dandelion to be visible while the symbols are glowing but idk it looks cooler this way.

4. Hey! See those constellations?! Those are the irl zodiac constellations! all of them are as accurate as I could make them, with correct number of bright pixels for stars and lines in as close to true lines as i could make them

5. So all the stuff in the house is sorta low detail cause its frozen in time, so I got to be pretty creative coming up with details for the door!, it's got stars everywhere and even the writing along the top!

6. Odile has blocked her window on purpose, she doesn't need any more reminders how high in the sky they are :P

7. Mira has her ~bonding papers~ she needs distractions with the new emergency haha

8. Bonbon and Nils rooms! They're pretty barren, as they're both a bit mentally lost atm :(

But Bon has some of the food & spice supplies stored in theirs and Nils has Bon's sleeping bag in her room due to nightmares that may or may not occur in the futureee.

9. Loop aint gonna make their bed.

B. The stairway to the cargo bay! As I said before, i didn't map it as its basically just alot of empty space and crates & barrels etc.

Why is it "A" now instead of "10"??? Because the annotation circles I made didn't have room for two digits in this font! And I wasn't about to start over with bigger circles :D

A. Sif and Isa's room is arranged for optimal cuddle configuration.

C. Somebody's keeping an eye on the fam! (/◕ヮ◕)/

D. How does a stove work on a wooden airship???? IDK magic probably

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

Now at long last I can start writing the next chapter 🙃

[bamthefox]

So I have this idea for a tile rpg rougelike deltarune game idea

It’s would work like this with that tile battle style where you have to plan where you characters are.

Everyone would be on a grid where you can move them,

Tp would still work the same where you have to be very close to an attack.

(It’s would kinda be a mix of Mario and luigi and Mario and rabbids for the best way to put it)

There would be like three classes fighter, support(also works as just the magic class), defense. With a rock paper scissor type thing (fighter -> support -> defense-> fighter)

Every chapter would just have three characters representing their chapters

Ch 1: king defender rouxls support and jevil attacker

Ch2 queen defender tasque manger attack and spamton support

The bosses would be fucked up and evil versions of kris,Susie,Noelle and berdly maybe more when more lighters go into the darkworld

Ralsei and lancer run a shop where you buy stuff to help you

Also

Spamton support

The number one rated salesmen 1997 and

Jevil attacker

A crazed man who can do anything

[shygirl4991]

Chapter 4 Do you care?

All art belongs to @b-r-i-n-g-x do not repost! Fic prompt from @itsajanea Tags: Angst, Romance, Action Adventure, jealously, love confessions, SMG4 discovers he is bi, fluff, abuse, PTSD Last Chapter Next Chapter

Three lies in his bed frowning, his mind was driving him insane, it’s been several weeks already with Aster.Surely the magic of a new relationship has vanished, due to these thoughts Three found himself getting nervous when he saw his partner. Over time Three has been letting down his walls showing his softer side, while Aster seemed to be unchanged. It was driving him insane, some moments he wondered if that's just how they are. Then a memory comes to him from a few days back, the soft blush they had during their breakfast together was something that Three never stopped thinking about. Not to mention Aster said they had work to do, only to end up dressing up like a maid to  help his cafe. Aster never brought up that they did this also, he wondered if they knew pictures of them in a maid outfit were taken.

He sighs annoyed by the mixed feelings until Eggdog jumps on the bed, he turns and smiles softly as the pup cuddles up to him “I know…i should trust them but something tells me there is more to them, I can't put my finger on it.” a ding is heard from his phone, holding Eggdog close he reaches for the phone seeing the name duck girl on the screen. Curious, he unlocks his phone to see what Tari wanted from him. He smiles seeing how the crew wanted to invite him and Aster to a gaming competition at the castle, he goes to his contacts and finds Aster’s name. He pauses looking at the number feeling nervous, shaking off his nerves he presses the number and calls Aster. After a few rings he hears the line pick up “Hello Darling, didn't expect a late night call. Did you miss me that badly?” SMG3 couldn't stop himself from letting out a bright smile, just hearing their voice was enough to put Three in a good mood. Then his mood dropped when he started to think about their relationship, how often did Aster even call him by his name. He was always darling which wasn't something Three minded, yet the thought of hearing Aster call him by his name made his heart race. He smacks himself, annoyed by the school girl's thoughts “Yeah my bad i wasn't paying attention to the time, i just called cause Tari invited us to the castle to hang out. Wanted to know if you're up for hanging with those losers?” Aster lets out a chuckle “Sure,you know I don't mind hanging out with the crew. Though I do find it interesting how you always tell me they're not your friends, yet we just made plans to hang out with them in the morning.” 

SMG3 blushes at the comment as he glares at the phone “OI! I don't care about them, I only hang around them because it's better than having those guys be annoying near my cafe!” Aster lets out a hum hearing their boyfriend complain, the line goes silent for a moment. Three frowns unsure what to say, Aster sighs before speaking up hoping to end the silence  “I will be there at noon, I should let you go, it's late and now we have plans.”  SMG3 frowns at Aster’s words while on the other line Aster stares at their phone conflicted, they look around making sure Ztar wasn't around before speaking “Sweet dreams, cant wait to see you tomorrow.” Three smiles as they hung up, staring at his phone he decided that he was overthinking, he texted Tari and tossed his phone to get ready for bed.

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

Aster stares at their phone for a moment before looking around the house, seeing Ztar isn't around they out a loud groan “UGH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?”  Their heart was racing over what they told Three, the emotion was so sudden it startled them. They sit on their bed and stare at the photo the pair took together, they blush thinking about the phone call “He…is the villain we must kill, Ztar is already annoyed it's taken this long to get rid of him. I need to act faster and ignore whatever is happening, more than likely heartburn from that toad.” This hang out could be the perfect time to score the words needed to start the trap, the more they thought about it the more certain they became about the next plan. Aster glares at the photo before moving the photo out of sight, they make a note to attempt a love confession this month. They couldn't keep playing the slow game, something needs to happen to change their relationship. They lay down thinking over what they could do before sleep takes over, Ztar arrives home hearing snores. He floats over to see Aster sleeping. “You're getting soft, I'm going to have to remind you what happens when you get soft.” Suddenly an electrical energy zaps Aster causing them to jump up awake screaming in pain, Ztar stares as he zaps Aster again “Child, while I’m annoyed by not having our target in our hands. I’m more annoyed by what you have shown me about yourself!”

Aster hugs themself as their body felt as if it was on fire from the shock, they breath heavily as Ztar gets close and gives them a magical pat on their head. The dark star let out a sigh “You know how much it hurts me to do this to you, you're my best creation and seeing you screaming in pain hurts me more than you think.” Aster nods as the pain subsides, they get up showing Ztar a serious expression “Don't worry, I'm not being soft with the crew I know they can't be trusted. I will make my big move there and play my role.” They open a drawer and show a piece of paper with different confessions on it, Ztar looks at it and chuckles “You're going to tell him you love him to inspire his own confession, perhaps I had nothing to worry about.” 

Ztar uses his power to give Aster a gentle back pat, Aster smiles at the affection their father was showing them “Child i know i can be rough on you, but remember the pain i give you is nothing to what will  happen if i lost you. You're too important to lose.” Aster nods shoving their past thoughts aside, they can't let weird emotions get to them after all parents know what's best. They knew about what SMG3 did and they shouldnt let themself forget it, Ztar looks over them. Aster gives a stern nod before Ztar floats to the door “Aster, those people don't care about you so it's best you watch out for their lies. Plus those people will never accept you for what you are, a shooting star like you can't be trusted in their eyes.” Aster frowns from their fathers words looking down for a moment. “I understand, I promise father I don't care about those people.”

Ztar opens the door then floats out leaving Aster alone thinking over his words, they throw themself on the bed as they get lost in their thoughts.                             -------------------------

Four tosses and turns in his bed, since learning about his crush on Three things felt like a nightmare. How his stomach twists whenever he sees Three and Aster together, how the pair didn't care who was looking as they kissed. Not wanting to get angry from the memory he takes out his phone and goes to youtube, there he looks up his favorite girlfriend asmr video. Hitting play, he lays his phone on his bedside table as he closes his eyes. “Had a rough day baby? Come over and we can cuddle your stress away~” the woman's voice was calm filled with affection. Yet it wasn't helping him, annoyed he grabs the phone and looks over the list of girlfriend asmr videos. Each one that he played made him more annoyed, as he scrolls looking for the perfect one he pauses seeing the title on one of the videos. He taps on the video ‘Tsundere Girlfriend wants cuddles asmr’ he then gets comfy in bed listening to the video, “I just…I want cuddles there happy baka!” as the video goes on the attitude brought comfort yet wasn't enough for him.  His eyes go wide seeing his recommended videos, there in the list was SMG3 youtube channel.

He taps the account name and sees all the twitch stream highlights, he smiles softly seeing the man smirking in the thumbnails. He hits the playlist tab and sees a playlist of SMG3 asmr, he blushes staring at the playlist. He wasn't that down bad for the man that he would listen to the playlist, he chuckles thinking the idea was ridiculous as he taps on the playlist without thinking. Realizing what he has done he panics and attempts to exit out only to hit play on the video “Hello chat, this is SMG3 I will be doing a little asmr tonight to help you all go to sleep.” Four’s face goes red from the whisper, he never noticed just how deep and soothing Three’s voice was. He stares at his phone as if he was in a trance, he had spent so many years with this how could he have been so blind. Feeling sleepy, he hugs his phone with a soft smile listening to Three’s voice, as he dreams of finally being able to date SMG3 a loud scream jolts him awake. He sits up in a panic, he looks to his phone for the time only to see it died. Slowly he gets up from his bed and leaves his room, that's when he notices the game room doors being open. His eyes go wide seeing the one behind the screaming “OH FUCK OFF I SO WON THAT! Three shouted as he glared at a smug Tari. Four panics as he runs to the bathroom and fixes himself, once he looks presentable he steps out of the bathroom and peeks in the room. He smiles brightly “Hey everyone! Didn't know we were having a gaming day.” He watches as Three hands over the controller to Luigi, his grumpy expression making Four giggles and smile at him “Sore loser much?” Three rolls his eyes “Shut it scrub!”

His good mood then sours when Aster walks in the room with a bag of snacks “Listen just because I'm soft for my boyfriend doesn't mean you can keep sending me out to get snacks.” Aster smiles brightly making Three blush, any trace of the man being upset over losing is now gone as he walks over to his partner. Three grabs the bag digging around for his treat, Aster’s eyes then lock on to Four “Ah sleeping beauty has awakened i see.” Four felt his jealousy wanting to come out, swallowing the emotion down he gave Aster an eye roll “Yeah well Three is a pretty good alarm clock.” Three finally gets his treat and tosses the bag to the crew, hearing Four’s comment Aster turns to Three “Lost the battle Darling?” Three scoffs looking away from everyone “That's only because she cheated!” Aster gently grabs Three turning him to face them, Three stares wide eyed at Aster as they lean down to kiss him. Three closes his eyes ready to kiss his partner, the sight was making Four feel sick. Not wanting to see the pair kiss, Four pulls the gaming controller out of Tari’s hand. He charges up to the couple, the distance causing the cord of the controller to unplug from the console as Four points at Aster “ASTER I CHALLENGE YOU TO A MATCH!” The couple turn, staring at Four, Aster smirks seeing the anger in Four’s eyes “Oh? Now why would I do that hm?” Three steps back staring at Aster confused seeing the mischievous expression they had, Four chuckles as he fixes his hat “We can make things interesting, If I win you stop all that gross pda you do with Three. Not all of us want to see you making out!” Aster crosses their arms amused “Alright, then if i win you have to do one thing i ask of you. No matter what, we got a deal cupcake?” 

Three frowns as he watches the two shake hands sealing the deal, Aster gives Three a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting down on the couch. Four plugs in his controller before pushing Luigi aside to sit next to Aster, they exchange a look before going to the character select screen. Aster picks their character and lays back on the couch “Ready?” SMG4 takes a deep breath as he selects his character “I hope you're ready to lose pretty boy!” Aster chuckles as they lean forward, Four focuses in as he attempts to counter Aster’s moves. Tari gasps, jumping up from the intense match “I never seen someone able to pull off that combo!” Aster smirks hearing her comment about their play style as Four starts to sweat seeing his health dropping low. “Looks like round one will be mine~” they smirk as they land the final hit. Three bites his lip seeing the bright colored victory icon on the screen, as the second round starts he couldn't help himself as he whispers “Please lose Aster…please.”

Aster chuckles seeing SMG4 struggle with avoiding their attacks, Aster smirks seeing his health bar drop low “Hope you're not a sore loser cupcake, cause I’m about to win this bet.” Four rolls his eyes at the comment as he manages to block Aster’s attack “Not giving up to some pretty boy that wears so much eye shadow he looks like a raccoon!” Tari giggles at the comment as he pictures a racoon version of Aster “Aw I think Aster would be a cute racoon.” Annoyed by the comment they glare at Four, Luigi smiles along with Tari on the idea of Aster being a racoon.  Aster grip on their control tightens “Would you guys kindly not make comments about my taste while im playing?” Tari and Luigi apologize as the pair keep playing, Four’s health has dropped to a low percent causing both Four and Three to panic. In one quick move Aster does the final blow, they drop the controller smirking at Four “I win, be ready to do your end of the deal.” Four frowns as he stares at the winner screen, he didn't think they would be so good at fighting games. It was almost as if Three’s partner was perfect at everything, while Four was pouty over the loss Three clenched his fist he felt sick at the fact Aster won. “I can't believe you Aster…” hearing their name they turn confused at Three. Even the others in the room were surprised by the hostile tone in Three’s voice “You told me you wanted me, yet you make this sick bet with Four. Well go on do your stupid request, i know what you want to ask him.”  Aster looks at Four then at Three, they weren't prepared for a situation like this as they think over what to say. “Darling, I have no idea where you're going with this.” 

SMG3 lets out a sarcastic laugh causing Aster to walk up to him “You're being strange, are you okay?” as Aster reaches out only to have their hand slapped away.  Aster looks at Three surprised, the shorter man glares at them “I know you made that stupid bet to get a date with SMG4.” Now it was Four’s turn to get up from the couch and stare at Three in shock, there was no way Three honestly thought Aster had feelings for him.  Aster shakes their head “Darling what would give you that idea? We were just having friendly competition, isn't that why you invited me to join everyone so we could have fun?” They were starting to feel strange, they didn't understand why their chest was feeling tight. The thought that Three would think they were interested in someone else was ridiculous, they needed to show the only one they wanted was him.

Four gets up in a panic “Whoa no! SMG3 why on earth would I want your partner?!” Four couldn't let this misunderstanding happen, sure he is all kinds of jealous over what Aster and him have. But to get in the middle of that without a good reason was cruel, he hated to see Three hurt after everything they have been through. He cared too much about his ex rival, Three glares at Four “You have taken plenty, every relationship I have had you manage to get in the middle.” Four’s eyes go wide at the comment before Aster reaches out one more time to Three, seeing Aster reach out the man swats their hand again walking out of the room “GO ON ASTER MAKE THAT REQUEST! WHO DOESN'T WANT THE FANCY YOUTUBER OVER SOME CAFE LOSER!” Four takes a step back feeling his heart break hearing the man's words, Aster follows after Three “Darling I don't want Four, where is this coming from it was just a silly bet nothing serious.” Three growls as he turns around “IT'S OVER ASTER!” They pause as Three’s words echoed in their head, their legs suddenly felt heavy. He snaps his fingers opening a portal next thing the crew knew Three was gone. Aster stood still in shock, their mission is at risk if SMG3 doesn't want to date them. They had to chase after Three, except they couldn't make any attempt to move,they just stood there frozen.  Mario pats Four’s back before whispering with a smirk “Hey good-a job now you can get your gay lover.” Four frowns hearing Mario’s words, this was not how he wanted things to go. It didn't feel right to go after Three with the thought of making a move when his crush must be in pain, he sighs throwing himself on the couch making Mario worry.

Tari runs up to Aster “Are you okay?” taking a deep breath they force their heavy body to move giving Tari a small smile “I will be fine blue jay, I just…need to think on things.” They walk out of the castle with Tari slowly following them. “Three has a rough past…please don't hold it against him.”  Aster nods as they leave the castle, they walk down the forest path lost in thought. Tari watches in concern before returning to the gaming room “Guys what are we going to do? We have to help our friends!” Four bites his lips, his feelings were mixed on the whole situation. Getting up he turns to his friends “We need some kind of event, something that can bring those two to have some kind of talk.” The group goes silent thinking on what to do, then a loud slam of the front door catches their attention. They go to the main lobby to see an excited Meggy “GUYS! Guess who is going to be the host for the new and improved splatfest!” her smile drops seeing Four and Tari frowning. “Hey everything okay?” she hugs Tari then Four as she waits for them to explain everything, Four gives her a small smile “Three and Aster got into their first fight, Three told Aster it's over but…knowing Three if it was really over Aster wouldn't have walked out of here in one piece.” Meggy nods then hands a ticket to splatfest “Then how about we get these two talking,” Four takes the ticket remembering all their bonding during the first runs of splatfest. How professor E gadd helped make a gadget for everyone to now be able to join the event, thanks to Meggy being turned into a human. He takes the ticket and nods “I will go to Three and try to talk to him, you guys find Aster.” As Four was about to leave Mario grabs him “Are you sure? If we fix this fight…you-a lose your chance.” 

SMG4 looks behind Mario making sure the others can't hear “I know…but I love SMG3 too much to see him suffer, I can't do that to him again.” Four leaves the castle and snaps his fingers, nervously he tosses a rock making sure the portal is stable. Seeing that the portal wasn't going to blow up, he runs in hoping to all the memes he wont end up blowing up or ending up in the wrong place. Four looks around the woods hearing the clicking of the local memes was enough to confirm he made it, walking he looks around in surprise from all the new buildings. “Wow..Three really is an amazing ruler,” he stops walking when his eyes meet with the iconic starbucks building. He walks in and smiles softly, it's been so long since he last saw this place. He frowns as he hears crying, Four gently knocks on the door “GO AWAY I'M ON A BREAK!” Three shouted attempting to sound angry. Four pushes the door open only to get a pillow to the face “AH! Dude it's me Four!”

Three blinks as he wipes his tears “Four? The hell are you doing here, didn't you do enough back at the castle?” Four sits on the bed ignoring the glare the other man is giving him. “Offering a bet with Aster was dumb of me, I guess I hated…” Four closes his eyes thinking on what to say, the last thing he wanted was to let his feelings for the man be known. He turns to Three “I’m sorry, I was upset that you got to find someone that understood you. While me…I try so hard to get a relationship but heh no one gets my passion for memes. Maybe it's the curse of being a guardian.” Three stares at Four silently, he hugs his pillow shaking his head. Four watches as Three's eyes move from him to the floor. “This is my fault.” feeling his eyes water, he looks away. “Aster acted so perfect, or maybe it was all in my head. Every relationship has been a pain in the ass yet here comes some random guy from the dark web, they just changed a lot of things for me.” Three throws himself on the bed getting Four to stand up to give him space “I fucked things up cause i couldnt trust them, Aster side of the bet just screamed i was an idiot for trusting them.” Four nods as he listens to the man, he peeks out the door asking a few Eggdogs to grab coffee. After a few moments the coffee arrived, he thanked them with a quick pat before offering the cup to Three. Three sits up taking the cup and sipping as Four begins to speak “I don't know Aster as much as you all do, but I do see how they look at you these days. I’m pretty sure the rizzler has charmed this dark web guy pretty bad, no way could Aster look at anyone else.” He hated having this talk with Three, just thinking of the soft looks Aster gives Three when they think no one is looking always made him feel sick. Four stares at his coffee thinking back on that look, he wondered if that's how he also looks at Three.

Four looks at Three seeing how the man was avoiding eye contact, how he stares at the floor hoping it will give him the answer he needed. Four was about to reach out to the man before Three let out a shaky breath, his voice cracking “Aster will never forgive me,” clearing his throat SMG3 finishes his coffee “Even if you're right about them…I told them it's over.” Four gets up putting his coffee on a nearby table, he then digs into his hat pulling out a ticket “We both screwed up, so how about we fix it?” Three stares at the ticket confused, Four rolls his eyes and takes Three’s hand placing the ticket on it. Three places his coffee down as he begins to read it “splatfest hosted by Meggy?! The squid is bringing that back, wait how the hell is this going to fix anything?” Four smirks at Three giving him a wink “We are going to get you and Aster a moment alone, we fight all the time and make up after talking. I’m sure Aster will hear you out, just be honest with them.” Three lets out a soft chuckle getting up “I doubt this will work, but I don't have anything going on that day,” Four nods as he walks to the door “This lets hope the others found Aster.”

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Tari looks around frowning “How will we find Aster? We  don't even know where they hang out, oh why did none of us ask for their number.”  Mario smirks as he walks in front of Tari “Aster has the looks of a god, to find someone like that you must find the simps!” He takes out binoculars looking through the crowd, that's when he notices a small group of people giggling. He sprints to the group of people leaving Tari to run after him “Mario wait!” Mario slides up to the group getting strange looks, he takes out a photo. The group looks at it before one of the women takes it with a huge smile “omigosh! That's the hot guy we saw at the cafe, you know he is out of this world hot when he makes your boyfriend question himself!” The girl giggles along with the others over the photo, Mario takes out a spray bottle and starts spraying the group of girls. Tari catches up and watches the whole thing in shock, she grabs his hand stopping him “Uh sorry about that guys thank you for the help!” Tari pulls Mario away “We can't spray people, how are we going to find Aster that way?” she frowns as Mario rolls his eyes “Fine fine!” He walks up to the girls again, seeing him the girls huddle together glaring at him. Mario lifts up his hands, he turns to see Tari giving him a thumbs up. He smiles at her before turning to the group of girls “Listen here, if you don't want to get the spray again you will tell me where that person is.”  Mario points to the bottle making one of the girls hiss at him “We found him at cafe meow.” Mario takes the photo back as he walks over to Tari giving her a thumbs up, she cheers as she follows after him. 

Aster sighs as they lay on the floor, a small black cat walks up to them slowly staring at them.Aster smiles as they reach out to the cat “Hey little buddy, want to join me in thinking how to fix my fathers plan?” They couldn't wrap around how they manage to screw up the mission so bad, they thought they were being the perfect partner. The cat meows as it cuddles up to them making Aster melt and smile, only for the moment to be ruined when Mario kicks the door open “ASTER COME GET YOUR MAN!” They sit up as the cat runs away in fear, Tari lets out an awkward giggle “Hey Aster..we were looking for you for Meggy.” They look at the pair suspiciously, they stand up focusing on their heart. There they heard Mario’s wish for pasta making Aster shake their head, then they turn to Tari. Their expression softens when  they hear Tari’s wish for her friends to make up, relaxing more knowing there was no danger they smile at the pair “Meggy? Did something happen?” Tari smiles, handing them a ticket “She is hosting the new splatfest, it's an inkling event, it's a lot of fun. Oh but it can also be really scary…I used to be in a team with her back in the day.” Aster takes the ticket and stares at it curiously, they hum trying to picture Tari firing ink at anyone making them giggle “How did you guys even manage that? Don't inklings swim in ink?” Tari smiles while taking out her cell phone showing them pictures of her time in the competition, Tari starts telling them about their adventure with Axol and how they saved anime. As she tells them the story Aster’s eyes sparkle as they smile brightly, Tari frowns as she fondly looks at the group picture they took together “We lost a lot of people…Axol and Desti aren't with us anymore. But they won't ever be forgotten.” Aster frowns as they look at the photo then at the ticket, the crew have gone through so much together. It was different from what their father told them, they think over the story before looking at Tari and Mario seeing them frowning. Aster then smiles wrapping their arms around them both “Hey, I can't really relate to what it's like to lose someone but im sure they both are happy you carry on their memory!” Tari looks at Aster and smiles “Yeah!” Mario steps away from Aster feeling awkward being too close to them “Mario takes it you will join us?” Aster nods “Sure, maybe at the same time I can figure out what to do with Three..” Tari and Mario exchange a surprise look before Mario smirks at Aster, Tari gently pats their back “Don't worry together i'm sure we can figure things out!”

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The next day the crew met up in the inkopolis plaza, Aster looks around in amazement while Meggy giggles at them “It's funny seeing the calm and collected Aster looking like a child in an amusement park.”’ Aster blushes then pouts trying to regain their mask “Ahem, I was just surprised by all the colors.” What was wrong with them, they needed to stay focused on the task. They only showed up because they had to fix things with Three, not to be on some field trip. Aster shutters at the thought of what their father would do if he learned that they weren't with SMG3, they needed to get this mission done and get payback. As more of the crew showed up Aster was beginning to get nervous, the meme guardians weren't around. They bite their lip wondering why they were showing up late, then a thought came to their mind. The pair had a history together, could they have gotten together after their fight with Three? Aster places their hand on their chest feeling it get tight at the thought, it was strange for them. Why would something like that bother them, they think it over and sigh coming to the conclusion they were nervous about disappointing their father. That's when in the corner of their eye they notice the pair showing up together, something in them snapping at the sight.

As the pair arrived Three felt himself getting nervous, Four smacked Three’s back earning him a glare “Don't be nervous I'm sure Aster will be all for hearing you out!” With a nod the pair join the group, Meggy claps excitedly and starts to lead the group to her new office. As the group walk Three awkwardly moves himself next to Aster “uh hey..” Three looks up hoping that Aster would talk to him, Aster looks down at Three. This was their chance to make things up and fix everything, they had to keep the plan moving forward. Aster opened their mouth to talk only to shut it, they mentally scolded themself for struggling to talk. They needed to fix things for the plan they just had to say what they needed to “ Brave of you to say hey to me after showing up with him, after the things you told me.” Aster wanted to scream at how aggressive they sounded. Before Aster could take back their words, Three scoffs at them “Unlike you I'm friends with the scrub and i didnt make any stupid fucking bet with him.” Aster wanted to slam their head against the nearest wall, why did they say that now all chances to fix things are ruined. Three walks ahead with Four following after “Dude what happened?” Three facepalms as he walks not wanting to talk. 

Aster stops walking letting out a sigh, Meggy turns, catching what happened “Hey guys uh there is an arcade over there, how about we play some games and we can meet up at the office later?” A few members of the crew cheered running to the arcade while Tari, Four and Mario stayed outside with Three. Meggy then walks up to Aster “Hey Aster join me? I'll be pretty lonely seeing my office alone, plus I need to see who I will be up against in the future!” Aster nods following Meggy as they attempt to figure out what's going on with them, it was a simple greeting yet they couldn't return it. All that came out of them was annoyance, why did it annoy them to see Four so close with Three? Once they were away from the group Meggy turns and tosses a splat gun “THINK FAST!” Aster panics as they catch the gun, they look at the gun in their hand confused “Uh why are we throwing weapons?” She smiles as she points to an arena “When i need to think or get over negative emotions i go target practice!” Aster looks at the arena then the splat gun, with a shrug they go with Meggy. She does a quick explanation on how the gun works then points at the target “Okay focus on the target, think on something you would love to hit. That's what I do and it helped with my aiming when I first started, you got this Aster!” She cheers as Aster stares at the target, their mind starts to picture Four making them growl as they aim and fire hitting the target. They gasp, surprised they really hit it while Meggy gives them a thumbs up “Heh thanks coach, did help a little though i rather not spend too much time firing at a target. I doubt it will give me any answers,” Meggy deflates as she watches Aster frown walking away, she quickly walks after them to point them the right way.

“Well then what's the problem?” Meggy wasn't one for romantic advice given her failed past with it, even so it wouldn't stop her from trying her best to help her friends. Aster shakes their head “It’s fine, we are here to celebrate you being the new host for splatfest.” They smile at her as they arrive at her office, Meggy opens the door excited to see the office “Just remember you're not alone Aster, if you don't want to talk about it that's okay. Now let's see this ro-” Meggy freezes seeing the office, Aster looks around unimpressed “Pretty dusty, this inkling must have been gone for a long time. Hm one shot wren?”  Meggys breathing quickens hearing the name as she reaches for her hat, flashes of her meeting with wren. ‘DRAW’ Meggy screams making Aster turn quickly, she shakes her head crying holding on to her beanie as if her life depended on it. 

Aster stares at her, focusing hard seeing the negative energy “Shit..even if i attempted anything there i would be worse off.” They slowly approach her, unsure what to do. As they look around the room they notice multiple wren photos giving them an idea, their purple eyes glow as they erase anything with Wren on it “Uh Meggy I got rid Wren, are you okay?!” She hugs herself breathing heavily, Aster curses to themself, they sit near Meggy thinking on how to help. “You know it's pretty fun seeing your home, hitting something with ink was really fun!” They begin to talk hoping that their rambles could help the women next to them. As they keep talking, Meggy slowly relaxes as she stops hugging herself, she watches Aster as they ramble about their thoughts on her home.  Seeing her feel better they get up and get her fresh water “Need some air?” she drinks the water before slowly getting up “That…sounds good.” The pair walk outside the building, they stand there in silence before Meggy speaks up  “Sorry about that, I’m normally able to handle things better than that..” She lets out a shaky breath as she removes her beanie, Aster stares at the road watching inklings walking around “It’s fine, sorry i wasn't the best company to have for this.” Meggy smiles softly “It was nice not to be alone for once, this feeling reminds me of when I first became human…” Aster turns towards Meggy “Ah yeah Tari told me, you guys had a whole anime arc.” She nods as she puts her beanie back on “I lost someone close to me, a rival, an old crush. When the others told me about you and Three, well all i could have thought of was how i never got a chance to get closer to Desti. I didn't want you two to fight and leave each other's life without seeing how deeply you care about each other.” Aster blushes at Meggy’s words, how could she think that they care deeply about SMG3. 

They must be that good of an actor to make the crew think they care about what happens with the man. Aster could laugh at how hilarious the idea is, yet their chest was feeling strange again thinking over her words.  Before the two of them could chat more they notice a group of inklings running, Meggy runs up grabbing one of them “What's going on?” the pink inkling pointed towards the arcade “Killer Ink is having a battle with a bunch of humans over at the arcade!” Aster and Meggy nod at each other as they run towards the arcade. A loud explosion of ink could be seen as they approach, Meggy starts to speed up sliding in seeing the crew hiding behind a pile of crates. There she sees Killer Ink laughing as they keep shooting “That all you guys got? This is why humans should stay away from splatfest!” Meggy growls taking out her splat gun “HEY! Leave my friends alone!” Aster arrives looking around, seeing the buildings covered in ink, then their eyes land on Three. They both blush looking away from each other, the leader of killer ink rolls her eyes “Oh look who it is again, just cause you got lucky and won splatfest years ago doesn't mean you can take this one from us.” 

Three swears under his breath “Ugh these fuck heads ruining our planning!” Four yelps as he hides behind the crate dodging the shot. Wearing white overalls at this time is a choice Four is hating at the moment “How did they even know we were here, god these guys sucked so much when we first met them!” Three peaks and gasps seeing a shot almost hit Aster, he hits the floor as he thinks about what to do. Four felt a chill making him turn to Three “Three…what are you planning?” Seeing Three get up taking a bomb out of his hat makes Four eyes go wide, he grabs Three “No! My meme sense is saying this is a bad idea, Three if you go out there with a live bomb you could hurt Meggy and Aster!” Three looks over at Aster and Meggy who are now hiding by the arcade, he then turns looking at the inklings chuckling. He growls pulling his arm away from Four “I will be fine, after all i felt the same with you and look your still standing! I’m just going to put them in their place, I'm not some wuss that hides!” Three goes over the crates and tosses one of his bombs, one of the inklings scream running as it explodes. SMG3 lets out an evil laugh making Aster smile, Meggy steps out and aims, hitting a few of the other team members. The team looks to their leader in a panic, she growls frustrated at the situation “I won't let humans scare us off!” She fires her gun, the ink hitting Three’s bomb, Four gasps as the ink makes the lit bomb fall next to Three. Aster eyes go wide seeing the bomb get hit, their eyes glow the moment the explosion goes off. 

“YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT!” Aster yells as they hold Three close to them. Slowly Three pulls away staring at Aster in awe, Aster places their hand on his face checking on him “YOU COULD HAVE DIED THREE WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?” Three grabs on to their arm “I..wanted to teach them a lesson,” he mumbled at them. Aster’s eyes water shaking their head “That was worth risking your life? What if you died? What if…” They let go of Three slowly touching their face, their voice crack “What if…I never got to see you again?”

The leader glares at the pair and readies her gun only to hear footsteps behind her, she turns to see Meggy smirking at her “Game over, thanks to your stunt as host of this year's splatfest you're banned.” She swears as she gets up walking away “You won't get away with this!” Meggy smirks, putting her splatgun away and  joining the crew. Seeing their concerned faces she turns to see what they were staring at. Aster starts to wipe their tears confused as Three gently caresses Aster’s face “I…I’m sorry, for everything…What I did was stupid but not as stupid as what started most of this mess. I got scared that you were using me, I let it get the best of me and I snapped at you when I should have trusted you. Do you forgive me?” Aster slowly pulls away from Three, their heart racing seeing the soft look the man was giving them. Aster then runs away, Three watches them run off as he clench his fist “FUCK!” Four slowly walks up to Three and gently rubs his back. Aster falls to their knees after running for a long while, it felt like hours having Three’s face haunt them as they ran. They could have ended their mission there, that bomb would have killed Three yet they stopped it “Whats…wrong with me, why cant i stop crying?” Aster looks around to see they ended up at a beach, they get up and walk toward the sea staring at the sunset. They stare at the sea thinking over everything that has happened the past days, was their father right?

The more they thought about the crew the more things felt confusing, their father told them all these stories about the crew. Yet none of it was adding up, they shouldn't question their father. They frown feeling panic grow “Was he right? Am I getting soft with the crew…with him?” The very thought of seeing Three hurt made them feel sick, it never did before which frustrated them more. They sigh, drawing in the sand thinking everything over, their phone starts to ring. Taking out their cell phone they see Three’s name, they feel their heart skip a beat as they silence their phone. Perhaps they needed to accept what was happening, the very thought put fear in them. They stop drawing and stare at their phone “Have I…already failed my mission? Am I falling for you?” Once the words escaped their mouth they felt a strange pull, their head hurting. They close their eyes, suddenly an old man's voice is heard “Oh man you really know how to keep an old star waiting~” Aster’s eyes shoot open as they look around “who..who said that? 

[blackberrysummerblog]

Hi all! I’m just out here being three weeks late with my 2024 Writing Round-Up, and thank you so much to @monbons, @forabeatofadrum, @confused-bi-queer, @rimeswithpurple, @nausikaaa, @prettygoododds, @ileadacharmedlife, @artsyunderstudy, @best--dress, @j-nipper-95, @roomwithanopenfire, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @imagineacoolusername, @mooncello, and @thewholelemon for tagging me! I hope I didn’t miss anyone, and thank you as well to everyone who’s been tagging me for Six Sentence Sunday and WIP Wednesday this month. Without getting too much into it, I am BURNT. OUT, and it’s making me retreat from even the things I enjoy the most, like writing and catching up on everyone’s beautiful fandom works.

But, I’m determined to make this round-up post, even if it takes me a couple of days to put together. There’s a lot here! Almost all of it was from COC, which I was hellbent on finishing this year, and did! Here’s the list, in chronological order, of all published writing for 2024:

The Field Trap, 1/2 (5272, M) This has been sitting unfinished for a bit, but I do anticipate it being completed. I discovered a real love for Watford-era fics toward the end of the past year, but it probably all began for me two years ago when I wrote Field Trip of Dreams, the prequel to Field Trap. At any rate, I haven’t forgotten the fic, and Field Trap may end up with an E rating in the second chapter.

Time Will Lie Down and Be Still (26,201, M) This is the fic I’m most proud of this year. It’s the result of my COBB collab with @rimeswithpurple, and it’s been such an inspiration to work with Arianna! I highly recommend the experience :D This fic has 3/5 chapters published so far, and I’m getting there with the 4th. I’ll share that Arianna finished the art for Chapter 4 the other day and it is STUNNING, so I need to get my part done! For anyone who doesn’t know, the fic is a retelling of the movie Practical Magic (I’ve never been able to get very far in the book, for whatever reason, so I wouldn’t count on the fic lining up with it). This one is close to my heart for many reasons, but I’ve especially enjoyed building Dev’s character and his relationship with Baz.

Absolutely everything else I published was for COC, and I’ll put it below a cut due to length. Thanks to everyone who read my work this year! As always, the output of this fandom is just incredible, and I’ve enjoyed being able to take it in as well as contribute a little myself. Happy New Year, everyone!

Something Old (1146, T) Simon finds something unexpected while clearing out space in the wardrobe.

Chosen (880, G) Agatha and Simon have just begun dating and Philippa attempts to engage her in a little friendly roommate squee. Agatha isn’t quite so sure.

I Hate You, Never Leave Me (2339, M) Simon and Baz have found a new and better way to settle their differences, by getting each other off all over campus. Will it evolve into anything more, however? (I love this one, honestly. Might have to someday write a more extensive version)

Greek (1565, T) Simon has to keep a very close eye on Baz in Greek class, for reasons.

Let Me See You (1205, T) Simon is the one to find Baz draining a deer in the forest instead of Agatha. His reaction is not what either of them was expecting.

Truth or Dare (2608, T) Does what it says on the tin—the gang play a game of Truth or Dare, and the dares reveal a little more truth than anyone expected. (Definitely not a groundbreaking take on the prompt, but I never really tire of reading truth or dare fics, and hoped readers would feel the same :P)

Gently, Gently (668, M) Simon and Baz spend the morning in bed, skiving off class and not regretting it at all. (I came to realize that an embarrassing number of fics I write either start out with the boys waking up in bed or that is the entire premise of the fic. “Waking up” is a weird fetish to have, but OK me, I guess)

Looking for Knives, Looking for You (1181, T) Baz reflects on all the wounds he and Simon have given each other over the years. (Despite the vicious sounding title and depressing summary, this one was meant to be sort of cute and sweet)

Hold You Safe (1015, G) At the start of Eighth Year, Dev and Niall’s relationship is still very new as they get some bad news from home.

Dinner (Guess Who’s Coming) (3525, T) It’s half term, and Baz’s parents want to take him to dinner. They invite him to bring a friend, but unfortunately for Malcolm, he pisses Baz off first, and Baz decides his guest will be Simon—the Mage’s heir, his family’s mortal enemy, and Baz’s undying secret crush. (As with nearly all my COC offerings this year, this fic was knocked out during my lunch break the day of, and it shows. It really could have stood to be longer and more developed, so maybe I’ll revisit it one day, since I did like the premise)

Stay with Me (878, T) It’s Eighth Year and Simon gets home late and injured from a mission. Baz arrives at a resolution. (I was a little baffled to get a comment about the Mage already being dead, since this fic takes place during the school year and makes mention of a very much alive Mage in multiple places. It was more of a statement than a criticism though, I think.)

A Charmed Life (1449, E) Baz and Simon have an utterly normal morning getting frisky in bed. (Again. Huh.)

A Horse Named Jane (736, T) Simon has that song stuck in his head again. The one Baz can’t stand. They work out a (sort of) compromise.

Sour and Sweet (3060, G) It’s Baz’s birthday and Agatha has just given Simon his walking papers. Oh no :P However, the breakup does little to lift Baz’s spirits. (This one has two chapters and filled two prompts, sour and sweet, natch. Chapter two’s summary is: Simon decides he needs to make something sweet for Baz’s birthday, even though he’s two days late and doesn’t know how to bake. Well, he’s got magic at his disposal, so things are sure to turn out just fine. :P)

Punk (828, T) Baz is making Simon join him for lunch with Fiona again, but Simon figures he’ll debut a new look & attitude. Will they actually make it to the restaurant? (I really enjoyed writing this one. Simon being frustrated with Fiona’s behavior and still being silly with Baz about it was just a happy place for me)

Surprise (733, M) Simon and Baz are engaging in one of their classic Mummers’ House tiffs. What will happen? :P (I did write a little surprise into this one, but it was very much in keeping with some of my favorite themes)

Cast in Fire (791, G) Simon comes to Watford and learns about how his roommate will be chosen.

Fluff and Nonsense (1627, T) The prompt is ‘fluff’ and did I once again take the opportunity to write a light-on-plot secret relationship fic about Watford-era Simon and Baz being cozy and silly in bed? Yeah, I might have. Simon is going home with Baz over the Christmas break. Not a lot going on here, they’re just really comfy and in love.

Pieces of Me (1557, M) Baz has been having nightmares. Simon comforts him and encourages him to open up.

The World Was Open (956, T) Agatha and Niamh attend Simon and Baz’s wedding, and Agatha overhears another guest making a snide remark.

Find Me (2374, M) Eighth year at Watford was unremarkable, and Simon and Baz last saw each other when they graduated. Seven months later, Dev and Niall drag a pining and protesting Baz out to a club for a night of drinking and dancing, but there’s a familiar face behind the bar. Simon Snow is serving drinks, and worse, he’s flirting with a Baz lookalike. What will happen :P (This was yet another fic that could have been developed a little more, but I was still happy with the result overall)

Warm Spell (1795, M) Goatherd Simon has been almost-encountering a beautiful stranger for several weeks now, but one hot summer day, they finally meet.

Lost and Found (575, G) The boys go shopping together and Baz temporarily loses Simon, but it’s all pretty plot-free :P

Truce (1101, M) Simon pesters Baz while he’s trying to study, and needs to learn a lesson. Will they be able to call a truce? (This one was where the trouble began—I changed my settings to allow comments from unregistered users, because I like to fuck around and find out, I suppose. And find out I did! Luckily, the rude comment I received took aim at some writing element that didn’t even make sense for this particular fic, and I quickly realized it was a bot. Not long after, I started getting comments on other fics as well, all very nonspecific to the fandom, characters, and genre. I’m so sorry because I know it upset a few readers who were very kind to clap back and reassure me, and I changed my settings back so that it wouldn’t happen again.)

Savour (1189, T) Simon has been away on one of his missions for the Mage, and Baz has been awaiting his return by leaving out plates of food in their room every night. (Bot’s review: “the worst fic in the fandom”. It’s not even the worst fic in my own oeuvre, so joke’s on you, guy XD)

We Were Always Together (2239, T) During cotillion class, Simon is forced to dance with Baz. The horror! (I flipping loved writing this. Full on had a blast and Would Write Again)

Let It Snow (925, M) It’s almost time for Christmas break at Watford, and it may not turn out as the boys planned. However, thanks to a spell gone wrong (or very right) it may yet work out for the best :P

Always (551, G) It’s Christmas Eve and Baz has just finished putting the kids to bed. Simon is putting the finishing touches on the Christmas tree.

Something New (990, T) Simon and Baz have a little tiff near the end of eighth year, but it’s not fated to last long. I’ve written a lot of secret!relationship Watford era fics for COC this year, some that could go together and some that were in separate universes. It’s been so much fun to write about the boys sneaking around, but this is…something new. :P (In which I was very pleased with myself for how I wrapped things up in accordance with the prompt. I really, really enjoyed COC this year :D)

Thanks for reading! I’m sure most everyone has already made their own round-up posts, but consider these no-pressure tags and hellos: @valeffelees @stardustasincocaine @bookish-bogwitch @facewithoutheart @c0nsumemy5oul @jasonfunderberkerthefrogexists @tender-ministrations @basiltonbutliketheherb @ghostpepperworld @larkral @letraspal @cows4247 @fiend-for-culture @palimpsessed @hushed-chorus @shrekgogurt @raenestee @cutestkilla @drowninginships @youarenevertooold @iamamythologicalcreature @beastmonstertitan @ic3-que3n @supercutedinosaurs @stitchy-queerista @alexalexinii @asocialpessimist @shutup-andletme-go @prettygoododds @ivelovedhimthroughworse @j-nipper-95 @wellbelesbian @bookishbroadwayandblind @orange-peony @papierhaikuphoto @martsonmars

[stusbunker]

Spotless: Stornello

Chapter Thirty Three

Featuring: Dean Winchester/Reader

Other characters: Pamela, Annie, Kevin, Cesar, Donna, Jody, Patience, Nancy, Bobby, Charlie, Pamela, Bela, and Ellen at the end

Word Count: 4367

Warnings, etc: Mutual pining, still unbeta'd, Spa day with the girls (gn), Bela apologizes and tells Trouble her and Dean are over, Trouble makes her own phone calls, Dean makes a promise

Series Masterlist

Special shoutout to @lastactiontricia for helping me with the Bela phone call.

You sighed and sank further into the massage bed. The room was filled with the soft buzz of instrumental music and aromatherapy. Your masseuse focused on the tightened muscles from your neck into your shoulders, which were so stiff you had to hold back a groan as she released the tension. On the bed beside you, Annie hummed blissfully with her own massage.

It was the morning after the band dinner that Sam organized and almost half of that same group had signed up for a spa day. Jody, Donna, Patience and Bobby were getting pedicures, while you, Annie, Pamela and Cesar were in the massage room. Nancy, Kevin, and Charlie were getting their manicures, but were ready in robes for their turn with the absolute magic that the masseuses held in their hands.

You heard Cesar muttering in Spanish under his breath as his masseuse attacked his lower back, who just chuckled and continued with his ministrations. Cesar and the rest of the crew did a lot of hauling of equipment, besides regular security stints, it made sense his back needed attention. You closed your eyes and sank back into the haze of relief, a small bubble of time to ignore those around you and just breathe. 

You were pressed into putty, pliable and soft. It was all so decadent, you almost fell asleep. 

The events of the past week hung like sleeping bats in the cave of your mind, twitching and threatening to open up and remind you of each moment of chaos and emotional discord. You tried to remain creeping along the floor, so as not to touch on any one moment for too long and force yourself to face it all at once. It wasn’t all bad, but it was certainly a lot.

Dean caught fleeing Bela’s place.

The tour started on such a high note.

The girls in the pit who stared you and Bela down.

Dean disappearing.

Bela and Crowley trying to out-British one another.

Another amazing show.

Always the paps.

People saw Bela chewing you out, even if it was the smallest blip on the band’s socials. And at this point you couldn’t say her annoyance was entirely unfounded, though she really did go over the top.

The video conference and all the talk about numbers, when you just wanted everyone to survive this unscathed. 

Missing the zoo and all the fun outings because you had busy work to do, things to coordinate.

Dean and Gibson during dinner last night, two peas in a pod.

You exhaled and reminded yourself you had another two days before you had anywhere to be. You could just be.

A faint beeping sound brought you back to the present, the session was over. You blinked your eyes and saw Annie slipping back into her robe as the masseuse held up a towel to give her privacy. You stretched and rolled out your wrists before you slowly got vertical. You smiled shyly at your masseuse as you got your robe back on and thanked her. You bent down and grabbed your bag, waiting until you were the last of the guests in the room, you handed her an envelope. 

“This is for all the massages for this group today. Thank you all so much.”

She graciously accepted it, promising to take care of her staff. You nodded and shrugged your bag over your shoulder and headed off to the pedicure station. Charlie and Kevin raced into the room, fighting for your masseuse, if you were guessing. But they were stopped at the door, having to wait for everything to be sanitized first. 

You laughed to yourself as you headed out, tossing a blithe,

“have fun” over your shoulder.

An hour later, you were tossing back the last of your mimosa as your nail artist was placing the strip of foam between each of your toes. Bela would have loved this place, you thought, aching over the tension that had somehow settled between you two. You put the thought away and reached down for another envelope to be dispersed to the nail techs.

Strategically shuffling into the next room, you found yourself at the back of the line as everyone found chairs for the facial treatments. Cesar had convinced Bobby to stick around and have his beard done, while Kevin joined the girls with the full face package. He’d even brought a headband to keep his shaggy hair out of the way. Then you remembered he was the virtuoso only child of a dedicated single mother and guessed this wasn’t his first rodeo with good skin care.

You carefully maneuvered into one of the remaining empty chairs and set your bag down, while still being cautious with your fresh gel nails.

“I love that color on you, Trouble!” Donna exclaimed, dragging you into a show and tell with everyone within reach.

She had chosen blood red with points, while Jody had a simple French manicure and Kevin had gone with his natural nails trimmed short, but in a deep teal. The technicians moved around the room, ensuring each station was stocked before one started explaining the process to the room as a whole. They began with warm towels and you actually dozed off after that, letting them do what they needed to clean up your face the best they could.

The buzz of conversation around you came in and out as you let yourself be pampered.

“Sam seems to be quite the draw for the fans,” Jody teased.

“Can’t keep a shirt on that boy to save his life,” Annie agreed, but it sounded like something you’ve heard out of Bobby’s mouth in the past, which made you smile.

“Well, I ain’t complaining,” Jody tacked on, making everyone laugh.

Your tech smoothed a cool cream over your cheeks and slowly moved outward in circles. It was soothing after all the other processes your skin had gone through. 

“Alright, we’re going to adjust your seats slightly so we can get the redlights in place. Please remember to keep your glasses on until after your light has been turned off at the end of the allotted time,” the woman who explained everything at the beginning of treatment said somewhere off towards your right.

You once again opened your eyes and glanced around. Pamela smirked at you before she slid her protective lenses over her eyes. 

“She’s so going home with those,” you said to no one in particular.

“We always end the day a few pairs short, it’s no problem,” your tech reassured you in a low tone. 

“Well, that’s something at least,” you replied as you took the pair she offered you, and slid them on.

The red light treatment wasn’t hot, exactly. You had anticipated something like the flashbacks of tanning beds in high school and college, but it wasn’t anything that intense. Your skin did feel different afterwards, though, and you gratefully took the moisturizer offered to you. Everyone slowly went back to the changing rooms and got back into their street clothes. Before you left, you made sure to leave an envelope for the workers again and took the all of the complimentary gift bags to hand out to everyone at lunch. 

“Lookin’ good, kiddo,” Bobby said to you once you made your way back into the hotel lobby, armful of skin products in tow.

You blushed. “Thanks, you clean up pretty well yourself.”

He just rolled his eyes and rubbed his knuckles over his freshly trimmed and conditioned beard. “We good for lunch?”

You checked your watch as everyone started to huddle closer. “We’ve got twelve minutes until our reservation.”

“Nice timing there,” Annie pointed out.

“It’s a gift,” you said, actually taking the compliment. Because you were surprised they had gotten everyone through the spa in time.

“You think they have more of those mimosas with lunch?” Kevin asked.

“I bet we could convince them to bring us a pitcher or two,” you teased.

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Nancy giggled.

You and Patience shared a look, and she nodded telling you her drummer was already tipsy. It was sweet. And it was early enough she could crash with a nap and still be good to go out later. You handed out all of the goodie bags while you waited to approach the hostess at the hotel restaurant where you’d made the reservation. 

Everyone was excited, but Donna was ecstatic with all of her new creams and serums. While Cesar stealthily took Bobby’s bag to bring back to Jesse. You felt like Santa Claus, giving all the good girls and boys a bright start to the tour. Obviously, there’d be time to spoil Dean, Sam, Lee, Victor, Benny and Jesse, too. Vegas was right around the corner afterall.

It was definitely one of the perks of the job, even if it wasn’t your money covering it all, it was theirs. Just coordinating it all and seeing it all go off without a hitch made you feel like what you did was important, that you were more than a social media secretary, or a mother hen.

At two minutes til, you bowed out of the conversation over nighttime routines on the road and smiled at the hostess. “Reservation for twelve under Fromnian?”

“Of course, right this way,”

Using one of Dean’s usual aliases made you feel like you were doing some secret sneaky thing. It also made you feel powerful. You waved the group over and headed into the most delicious meal you’d had in weeks.

Well, that wasn’t ominous or anything.

Plus, you were still pretty annoyed with Bela. Even after listening to her voicemail twice, the idea of talking to her set you on edge. The look you knew she’d be giving you, even over the phone gave you that panicked, cornered feeling. It was as if you were about to get into trouble, like a kid caught sneaking in late for curfew. Within ten minutes your phone rang. So on a deep inhale you put  your best counterargument face on.

“Hey, what’s up?” You plopped down onto the desk chair in your hotel room.

“She speaks!”

“Belaaaaa, look. I know I have been avoiding you. But I am still kinda pissed at you, so whatever is going on with Dean and you or whatever—- just tell me so I can work on putting out whatever fire he started this time.”

“Y/N, it’s not Dean’s fault, well— at least not totally, but first I need to tell you something.”

You sighed, but what you really wanted to do was growl. She was already on thin fucking ice. “What now?”

“I’ve maybe, sort of, been sleeping with him?”

Your eyes threatened to roll entirely back into your skull. “Yeah, kinda picked up on that.”

“Really?! You haven’t said anything, so— I guess I thought you either didn’t know or didn’t care and, well, I feel like I should be apologizing. But you don’t sound upset— exactly.”

You huffed and geared yourself up to unleash but nothing you wanted to say was coming out in full sentences. Nothing made any fucking sense. “Look— I just— it really wasn’t my business. Plus it kind of added to the whole story—- but wait. Why are you apologizing now? To me?”

“Well, technically I haven’t yet. But I’m going to start with that one. Then go on from there. I’m sorry I slept with Dean. One, I don’t think it was worth it if it hurt you. And two, I have a growing suspicion he only did it because he couldn’t do it with somebody else. So, yay for being the understudy.”

You dropped your forehead into the palm of your hand and stared blankly at your unlit laptop screen. What the hell was she talking about?!

“Why— why would you sleeping with Dean hurt me? I set you up—- I set this whole thing up!” You almost laughed, it was so ridiculous. If you weren’t okay with it, you wouldn’t have survived the last few weeks. If it were any of your business at all, that is.

“Y/N, seriously? You can tell me. I know I get a little caught up in the chaos of life, that I prioritize things other people don’t, but you are my dearest friend. If I hurt you or maybe invaded your territory, I am sorry. I really had no idea. Because, frankly, you’ve never said anything of the sort.”

Oh no.

“Bela— it’s not like that. There’s nothing— Dean is a friend. I’m not like that with him. Like, at all.”

Bela breathed over the line with the sound of music coming in and out of focus, maybe from a passing car. “Did our— was it upsetting to you? I’m not saying you’re jealous or that you’re pining over him or anything. But did it piss you off? Because that is what I’m apologizing for. I’m not telling you what you feel or how to react; I’m just sorry if you were hurt or upset at all.”

“You’re really breaking this down— I guess I was a little— annoyed? Kind of surprised you gave him the time of day, honestly.”

“Okay! Good. I mean, not good, but — progress, yeah?”

You sat back and kicked up your ankle over your good knee, pulling it towards you for something to hold on to. “Okay, now that that’s out of the way—- why are you calling? I don’t think Dean would have said that that was so important that I answer your call.”

Bela chuckled and murmured. “Probably not.”

You could hear the hum of an engine and the sounds of  passing traffic. “I thought of you, earlier, the other band and some of our team went to the attached spa at the hotel today. The mimosas were amazing and I am, well— I was as relaxed as pulled taffy.”

“Sounds divine.”

You squeezed your calf and squinted your eyes closed, as if you were hiding. “And I realized I kind of blew you off on the show on Saturday. It was a stupidly stressful day and up until the end of SPSs set, I didn’t know if Dean was going to show! Then, he was fine and finally on stage and Crowley was being Crowley—- All I could do was to shut down and go through the motions.”

“Where did he even go? I thought something was off, not only you, everyone, mind you.”

“Home, apparently. I think he was working out?”

“Oh, christ,” Bela groaned. “Please don’t let him become one of those gym hounds, I beg of you!”

“Don’t worry, that falls to Sam. He is in charge of Dean’s workout routine. And he’s oddly good at it, but I think it’s one of those things he can control that he got out of rehab.”

“That’s oddly sweet.”

“They’re ridiculous, but they really do help each other be better—- Anyway, I am sorry too. I shouldn’t have left you to the wolves in VIP while I just watched the show or set up autographs.”

Bela tutted. “I really need to work on my timing, don’t I?”

“Bela?” You warned.

“Well, you’re gonna hate me, if you didn’t already after that fiasco of a suggestion Saturday night. But, Dean and I are ending it. He wants to see other people, or person, really. And I don’t want to keep him locked up.”

“And there’s no way Bobby or I could change your minds?” The words were out of your mouth before you realized what she said. Dean wanted somebody else, a specific someone. Your stomach dropped as she batted away your attempt at negotiation.

“Not really. I think the poor man deserves to have a proper go of it. See if he’s up to snuff for real.”

“You know who it is.”

“Yes, you’d know too, if you weren’t playing masochist roulette.”

You groaned and looked up at the ceiling, the light from the tops of the curtains was dancing in the late afternoon sun. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Fine. Be dense. Are you already emailing their manager tattling on me?”

You did not pout, but you did glare at your laptop again. “Nooooo, but I probably should be. But it’s a weekend off. We have Vegas next and who knows when we’ll have this much down time after that.”

“I’m not in any rush for the announcement. Take all the time you need and I’ll post whatever you think sounds best, for everyone, obviously. Amicable split and all.”

“So generous of you,” you muttered, because she always took your snark as a compliment.

“I try.”

“Look, about Saturday, well there was a lot going on and you really caught me off guard.”

The wind changed and Bela suddenly felt closer, she must have put her top up on her car. “I know, that’s why I’ve been messaging you. I didn’t mean to be a bitch about Jo, I just wanted you to lighten up—- to stop worrying so much and doing all the grunt work.”

“It’s a group effort— it’s a family business thing. We’re a pretty small support staff.”

“Y/N, I’ve met everybody and I believe you. I still know you worry too much.”

“Part of the job, images are fragile things.”

“So are you.”

“I’m really not.”

“No, I know, I’m not—- you’re one of the strongest people I know. Truly. You also need to take care of yourself. Not just Dean and the boys in the band.”

You hummed. “I had a spa day, didn’t I?”

“How many pictures did you take of everybody else to post later? Who covered the treatments? The tips? Who made the reservations?”

You bit your bottom lip because you had nothing to say to that.

“Y/N, you need to let yourself be happy. To want things. FOR YOU. If you want to keep running yourself ragged at a job that requires half the effort you put forth, so be it, follow your calling. But life is too short, you know that better than anybody. And if you want something, or someone, you need to start by admitting it to yourself.”

You blinked against the heat of shame-filled tears. 

“I can’t— he’s not something I can want— let alone have.”

“Oh, darling, please! You can have the fucking world. You just have to believe it first.”

You exhaled and tried to keep from outright crying. “You know I’m still pissed, right?”

Your bottom lip was not solid matter.

“I should hope so! I just topped off your rage tank for a good month. The doghouse seems like the place for a spring getaway anyway.”

You actually laughed at her blithe acknowledgement.

“Good, at least we’re on the same page.”

“Almost. You still need to own up to a few things, but I’m going to give you some space— I think you might need to forget I exist for a few more days.”

“You can’t hide from me, Talbot, I know where you live.” You teased, knowing she was still apologizing. 

“Likewise, but I also know that I’ll be hearing from you when you’re ready. Now, go enjoy the rest of your Friday night off. Wash down that snag in your afternoon with a good meal and even better cocktails, yeah?”

You blew out a breath, still a little ragged, but agreed, “sounds good to me! Talk to you later.”

“Ta!”

You stopped yourself from calling Dean about four times as you paced around your hotel room, strategizing how to break the news, first to the band, then to corporate and finally to the fans and the world at large.

You needed a drink.

Or ten.

You thought about why Dean had convinced Bela to end it. And who it could be. He had always seemed very comfortable around Donna. It made sense, she was smokin’ and the tour was just starting up. It gave him time to make it stick. You had to make sure he waited to make anything public until you got your statements out and the fans had time to grieve.

Which meant that you needed to call him anyway.

You sighed, you really didn’t want to have this conversation, but that was the story of your life today, apparently.

He picked up on the second ring. “Hey.”

“Hey,” you snipped, flopping onto your hotel bed and kicking your flats off.

“On a scale of one to ten, how pissed are you?”

“Twelve.”

“Oof! Well, that’s all on me— what’s the plan?”

“I don’t know yet. But whoever it is that is worth all this, please don’t start anything right away? Or at least not anything where you could get caught, okay? I need some time to get the statements right and out, maybe a few weeks. Depending on what the label says.”

“If you say so— but I really want to just say screw it already. They’re never satisfied anyway.”

“We have a follow up call in a month. As long as the preorder sales stay strong and the tour continues to have good numbers, I doubt they’d bat an eye. Bottom line is where they care the most.”

“Okay, well, that’s doable.”

“You’re sure?”

“Trouble, I swear, I won’t do anything stupid before you give me the green light. This was your baby and I kind of dive-bombed it. I’ll do whatever you need me to.”

“Okay, well, keep it in your pants for now.”

Dean chuckled. “Aye, aye sir.”

You rolled onto your stomach and propped yourself on your elbow. “If we hit up some lounges in Vegas are you gonna be able to resist?”

“Aren’t you going to be out with us?”

“Most likely, I owe you boys a nice night out since we had spa day here.”

“Well, then, no problem.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’ll behave, promise.”

You stared across your hotel room and thought about the last time you saw Dean at a strip joint. He was like a king on a throne, but something dark was lurking underneath whenever you had caught his eye.

You exhaled and decided to (foolishly) trust him. “Okay, well, I’ll let you know when Bobby and I have something solid written out. Bela’s giving me full reign for her statement too. So, that way it will be easier to spin it as a mutual split.”

“Yeah, she’s good like that.”

“Yeah, I know. I knew her first, remember?”

Dean huffed. “How could I forget?”

You let him stew a little bit, however petty it was.

“You get to tell the band, though. Gotta keep it airtight, but they should know first.”

“Yeah— doubt anybody really bought it anyway.”

You thought back to the conversation you had with Benny and way back when you had lunch with Cas. “I thought you guys did a good job. Never even saw any outright disbelief online and fans are speculative as hell usually.”

“A picture's worth a thousand words—- and we gave them plenty of ‘em.”

“True.”

“You disappointed in me? That I couldn’t make it longer?”

His question caught you completely off guard. “Considering you never wanted to do it in the first place— I’d say you did a pretty stellar job faking the relationship part while still fucking around with her.”

Dean hissed. “Touche.”

“I’m not disappointed, Dean. It wasn’t like either of you had any other options.”

“Yeah, but she's your best friend.” He sounded so small.

“She is. That’s why I trusted her with it at all. I trusted you both. And it did its job. Now I just gotta do the PR bullshit and let you live your best life.”

“I don’t— none of us deserve you. I’m dead serious, Trouble. You’re too good for us.”

You heaved yourself up and sat back up, straightening your rumpled clothes. “Look, it’s my job. Just don’t do anything to make it worse in the meantime, okay?”

“Don’t worry, I heard you the first time. And I’m sorry I am putting this all on you after everything you’ve already done to cover my ass.”

You were over the seriousness and just went with the first thing that popped into your mind. “Well, it’s a pretty small ass, doesn’t take much.”

Dean chuckled, but his voice definitely dropped, “so you’ve been lookin’.”

And suddenly you wanted to take back the joke, because Bela’s knowing voice is echoing around your head. ‘Oh, darling, please! You can have the fucking world. You just have to believe it first.’

“Well, you weren’t being too subtle with all your post-run stretching the other day. Sam either!” you tried to keep it light, playful, not outright flirtatious.

“Yeah, alright, I’ll give you that one.”

“You going out tonight?”

“Yeah, but just for dinner, I’m taking Gibby so Lee and Pam can have a night off. Though he’s only with us for a few more days—- gonna miss the little man.”

“Yeah, and you are his favorite person, so it won’t be too hard to convince him to ditch his folks for the night.”

“He’s a pretty cool kid himself, can’t complain.”

“Alright, well, I’ll see you later.”

“Sounds good. Thanks again.”

“Yeah, yeah, just don’t forget you promised.”

“On it.”

“Bye.”

“Yeah, later.”

You hung up. And dropped back onto your bed as a puddle of mush across the sheets. God fucking damnit, you were so screwed. Dean wanted somebody for real and you were going to have to watch it happen in real time. You weren’t sure if it was better or worse than the past six months with Bela, but what it was was real. And that in itself was more frightening.

You just had to get through the fallout the announcement would eventually bring. 

Suddenly you knew who you had to talk to be able to tackle this whole thing head on. Determined, you sat back up and tucked your legs underneath each other, criss cross applesauce, and scrolled through your contacts.

“Harvelle’s Roadhouse, serving food until ten p.m. How can I help you?”

“Hey, Ellen— got a minute?”

“Trouble? For you darlin’, I’ve got five.”

You smiled and let yourself come clean.

Tagging:

@deans-spinster-witch

@mrswhozeewhatsis

@cosicas-cuquis

@fics-pics-andotherthings-i-like

@suckitands33

@ladysparkles78

@deans-baby-momma

@stoneyggirl2

@sassy-pelican

@leigh70

@globetrotter28

@winharry

@lastactiontricia

@rockhoochie

@brightlilith

@coldhearted93

@djs8891

@beautiful-places-blog

@n-o-p-e-never

@spxideyver

Chapter 34: Animato

[therealcocoshady]

Recovery - Chapter 3

Eminem x Reader (Y/N) fanfiction

Summary : Marshall and Y/N decide to celebrate a sobriety milestone but bad news get in the way.

Tag : -

A few weeks went by and you slowly started to adapt to what you could call your new normal. You were getting used to living with your friends and started working on your doctoral dissertation again, while going to meetings and making it to therapy. Every so often, you’d be invited to hang out in the studio with Talia and the boys and spend a couple of hours with them. However, most of your time was devoted to uni work so you didn’t hang out with them too much. In fact, today would be the first day you’d see them in a couple of weeks. If you were honest, you were particularly excited to see Marshall. The two of you had crossed path a number of times since you went on that drive and you always had a good time when you were with him. At that point, it was safe to say you had developed a harmless crush on him. Nothing major, but you did particularly enjoy looking at him and you were always happy to hug him hello and goodbye. You knew he would never be interested in you, so you simply decided to enjoy the sensation of feeling good in his presence.

The night after the two of you went on a drive, Talia had been grilling you with questions, but there was not much to say. The two of you had not talked about it but you were pretty sure she knew about your crush. She knew you too well anyway. Whatever, it was harmless, although she did make sure to always have you sit next to Marshall whenever she had the chance.

That day, you were happy for three reasons : first, it was Friday, which meant you would enjoy the weekend and some much needed rest from uni. Secondly, you were celebrating two months being sober. It hadn’t been without its trials, but you had made it so far and were extremely proud. Finally, you got to see Marshall. You were all smiles when you pushed the door to the studio and greeted everyone.

- Y/N, we have been waiting for you like you have no idea ! Jamal said.

- Oh really ? You asked in disbelief. Is that because you produce your best work whenever I’m around ? You asked with a smirk.

- Kind of, he answered jokingly. But it’s mostly because Marshall has been in a bad mood all day, which usually doesn’t happen when you’re around. So whatever it is, please work your magic and make our life bearable again, I beg of you, he added as he fell to his knees for good measure, in a very dramatic and theatrical way.

- Speaking of the devil, where is he ?

No one had time to answer your question, as Marshall came in the room, looking unnerved and slamming the door behind him. You looked at Talia, whose look confirmed that he was indeed in a bad mood. Everyone was silent.

- Now can we please give it a couple more tries and get that right ? Marshall asked exasperated.

- We’ve been working on that song for hours and nothing good came out, someone pointed out. How about we circle back to that later ?

- No, Marshall said coldly. We can get that thing to sound right and we will.

- Stubborn much ? Jamal asked jokingly before Marshall shot him a death glare.

You didn’t know if Marshall had seen you there or not but you weren’t sure as to whether or not greeting him was a good idea. You just sat next to Talia and stared at your phone as you were trying to finish reading a paper. You didn’t pay much attention to your surroundings before you heard Marshall slamming his head against the mixing desk.

- Fuck. He said. We’re already behind on schedule. This album is going to be my last, I swear. If it ever even gets done.

- You already said that for the last one, Paul pointed out jokingly.

- Yeah well you know what ? I’m soon to turn fifty-two. I’m too old for that shit anyways, Marshall replied.

- Come on, dude. We have our good luck charm here today, Jamal said pointing at you.

You smiled shyly at Marshall, who seemed to ease a little.

- Hey there, he said before getting up to properly greet you. Sorry I didn’t say hi before. That was rude.

- It’s ok, you said as you hugged him. So… last album before you become an accountant ? You know, you could ask my dad for pointers, you said jokingly.

Marshall laughed and kissed your cheek.

- Ok, maybe I was being a bit dramatic and maybe it won’t be the last one, he said with a laugh.

Jamal looked at the two of you in disbelief, yet smiling.

- So he’s been an ass all day, and now that Y/N has been here for ten minutes, he’s laughing ?

Everyone laughed and Marshall raised his middle finger.

- Now that you’re in a better mood, can we PLEASE take a cigarette break ? Someone asked.

- Fine, Marshall said rolling his eyes, as most people left the room and he went back to his seat, scribbling in this notebook.

After a moment of silence, you decided to talk.

- I have News, you said.

- Good or bad ? He asked without looking up.

- Well, you tell me, you said with a smile, proudly showing your newly-earned sobriety chip.

He greeted you with a smile and pulled you in for a hug.

- I’m proud of you, he said before kissing you on the forehead, making you blush. We should celebrate.

- Really ? How so ?

- Dinner ? He offered.

- That sounds good, you said. How about you come tomorrow night ? I’ll cook !

- I’m intrigued, he said. So you’re beautiful, smart AND you can cook ?

- I would also showcase my dancing abilities, but you’d be too jealous, you joked, trying to distract yourself from the fact that he called you beautiful.

The two of you shared a laugh but were interrupted by people coming back from their break. They resumed the work and, thankfully for everyone, Marshall ended up being pleased by one of the versions they recorded.

The next day, you decided to go shopping for your celebration dinner. You decided to cook some French recipe. « Whatever you want, unless it’s frogs or snails » Talia had told you. A while ago, you may or may not have tried to get your friends to taste snails, which ended up in a complete disaster. You were excited to cook and were in a good mood when you arrived to the store. You quickly grabbed the items you needed but the joy left your body when you reached the register and saw Simon - your Simon - kissing a beautiful woman as they were grabbing a few items. He seemed happy as ever. You could not help but stare at them and wonder for how long they’d been together. Something about their demeanour made it feel like they’d been a couple for ages. As you lowered your gaze, in hope they wouldn’t notice you, Simon called your name.

- Y/N ?

- Simon. Hi, you said.

- You look… well, he pointed out.

- I am, thank you, you replied. How are you ?

- Good. Kind of busy.

- I figured, you couldn’t help but say, quickly staring at the beautiful lady he was with.

- I meant with work.

- Oh. Right. Well I’d love to chat but I have to go. Have a good one.

You paid and quickly left the store. For some reason, you felt humiliated, even though Simon had every right to date whoever he liked. After all, you hadn’t been together for nearly three months. Plus, Simon was the very définition of perfection : handsome, polite, successful. Looking back, it was kind of obvious he wouldn’t have trouble finding someone else. And it wasn’t exactly like he made a promise to wait for you either.

Even though you tried your best not to cry on the way home, you sniffled as you walked through the door.

- Baby, are you alright ? Talia asked.

- I saw Simon, today. Kissing someone.

As soon as the words left your lips, tears started to stream down your cheeks.

- Oh, Y/N, I’m so sorry ! She said before giving you a much needed hug.

- I know it’s silly but some part of me thought that… I’d get better and we’d get back together and… and…

- I know. I thought you guys were endgame too, she said sheepishly.

She held you for a while as you sobbed.

- Let’s focus on the positive, honey ! Let’s celebrate those two months of you getting better. I’ll help you cook, she offered.

- Do you mind if we reschedule ? You asked. I don’t feel like celebrating. Or cooking. Or eating, for that matter.

- Are you sure, baby ? Marshall should be here soon. I promise we’ll have a good night, just the four of us, she tried.

- Yeah… can you call him and tell him I’m sorry ? I think I should go to my room and rest for a bit.

You apologised once again and left the items on the kitchen counter before going to your room. You changed into some sweatpants and a tank top and laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling. It dawned on you that Simon and you were truly over. Even though you tried thinking of something else, you couldn’t help but seeing him with that girl. She was truly beautiful. Probably more deserving of him, too. The tears wouldn’t stop flowing from your eyes. It felt like a fountain. Deep down, you knew it was your fault. You were the one who screwed up. He was the perfect match for you, you screwed up and now, you’d probably end up alone.

You heard a knock on the door.

- I’m fine, Talia, you said while wiping away your tears.

- It’s not Talia, you heard Marshall’s voice say. Can I come in ?

Marshall ? What was he doing here ? You quickly got up and opened the door.

- Hey, you said. I’m sorry, I told Talia to cancel for tonight. I’m feeling a bit under the weather…

- She told me about your ex, he said. But she thought we should do something to get your mind off things. Come here.

He pulled you in for a hug. He grabbed your face in his hands and wiped your tears with his thumbs.

- I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone’s face so swollen after crying, he said with a smile.

- I know, I’m an ugly cryer, you replied.

- Everyone’s ugly when they cry, he pointed out.

- No, that’s not true. Some people manage to stay hot even when they cry.

- Well I’ve never seen that, he said as he shook his head.

- I’m sure Ms. Perfection over there is still beautiful when she cries, you mumbled.

- Who ? Marshall asked, looking confused.

- The girl Simon was kissing. You should have seen her, Marshall. So beautiful. Tall. And blonde. And skinny. And perfect for him in every way. The opposite of me.

You rolled your eyes at the thought of her.

- As beautiful as she may be, I’m sure she can’t compete with you, Marshall said.

- You haven’t seen her, you pointed out.

- I don’t need to, he shrugged.

He was just being nice and you knew it full well. Still, the compliments made you feel a bit better.

- Why don’t you join Talia and Jamal ? Let me just put on something other than sweats and I’ll start cooking.

- I thought you wanted to cancel dinner ? He asked, looking confused.

- Yeah, but Talia still made you come all this way, so I might as well feed you.

- That’s awfully nice of you, he said with a grin.

- Nice of you to come, you said with a shy smile.

- Anything for you, Y/N, he replied with a serious tone. You can call me and I’ll be there.

- Good thing I don’t have your number, you said with a smile. You’d never live in peace otherwise.

- Let’s correct that, shall we ?

He grabbed your phone and entered his number in it.

- Now you can call me, he said. Anytime.

- Thanks, Marshall.

You gave him a shy smile and immediately rang him so he’d have your number too.

- I can help you cooking if you want, he offered. But I should warn you : I’m not too good at it.

- You’re a grown man and you can’t cook ? You asked in disbelief.

- Well I guess I can prepare food. I even worked as a short-order cook, a long time ago. I wouldn’t call that cooking though. Neither would my kids, he said with a grin.

- I’ll teach you a thing or two, then. Let me just get dressed.

- Why ? He asked. We’re staying in. You don’t have to make an effort for me.

You shrugged and headed to the kitchen with him. Truth was, you didn’t want Marshall to think of you as sloppy. Even though he did not really seem to care.

When you entered the kitchen, you found Jamal and Talia hugging and kissing like teenagers.

- You guys are too cute. I can’t handle that right now, you said.

- Yeah, please don’t rub your happiness in our single faces, Marshall pleaded.

- Sorry guys, I’m too in love with this gorgeous lady, Jamal said.

Both you and Marshall pretended to puke. The four of you laughed and started cooking together while listening to music. You tried teaching them how to prepare some traditional French chicken dish. It was a simple one but you hadn’t exactly been given the most attentive students. Marshall was desperately trying to cut the vegetables correctly (nearly destroying them in the process), while Talia and Jamal kept on making out like teenagers. You ended up preparing the dish by yourself. It wasn’t perfect but the group deemed it to be good enough.

- Don’t worry Y/N. If you keep cooking like that, we’ll find you a husband soon enough, Jamal complimented.

- JAMAL ! Talia shouted.

- Sorry. Wrong timing, he apologised. You know what I mean.

You couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Jamal was really sweet and you knew he meant well.

- it’s good to hear you laugh, Talia said as she grabbed your hand.

- Thanks for being here, guys, you replied. My day sucked but you make it better.

- Anytime, Marshall said.

The four of you kept the conversation going but were soon disturbed by the door buzzing. Talia went to answer.

- Hey Talia. Is Y/N here ? I’d like to speak to her, you heard an all too familiar voice say.

- Simon ? You asked as your heart started racing. What are you doing here ?