#ya know i may prefer his longer hair style but his short hair from when he was a turk is just SO cute

[lecliss]

Since I had to go back to the main menu to reset the Azul situation I decided to do the tutorial cuz I forgot it doesn't happen automatically at the beginning of the game and it's the only place you can play as Turk Vincent. I'm always so amused by the fact that the uniform makes it easier to see how stupidly long his legs are cuz he's ridiculously tall. He's like a human stick bug it's fucking hilarious cidnxkdj

[justmaybee]

The Phantom’s New Clothes

(Alternatively: ‘I Like Ya Fit, G!’)

A/N: Yes, the spam is gonna end in a dumb fic. No, I’m not confident in posting it. But honestly? I don’t think I’ll ever be when it comes to Fling Posse. So I’m doing it anyways! Because Gen looks like a whole prince, and if I don’t start somewhere I’ll never be able to write them!

Summary: Fling Posse photo shoot time! ~ ☆ and Dice has taken a special interest in Gentaro’s outfit for the day….

Of the many things required by divisions during battle season, one ‘checkpoint’—so to speak—is the creation of promotional materials. A Chuohku-designated event, ‘asked’ of the representative teams from each district.

This is Fling Posse’s second time representing Shibuya, so Gentaro is more or less acquainted with the roadmap ahead of them. And as a group member—and friend—of one Ramuda Amemura, he’s quite used to the mild discomfort of modeling clothes far outside his comfort zone.

Though it had at first been a point of contention in the group—due to some very polarized creative decisions—Gentaro has grown into his role, just a bit. He may never go so far as to call himself a ‘model,’ but he’s done much stranger tasks for the sake of his posse.

Thankfully, this shoot leans decidedly into Gentaro’s style of choice. Unlike Ramuda’s last artistic venture, which had involved a bright yellow top in an aquarium of all settings, this outfit could be described as almost tame in comparison.

The blouse is a loose and flowing white number, tucked into a similar style of black pants. A little tighter to his waist than he’d prefer, but the fabric is soft and stretches down to his ankle—for the most part—so it’ll do. The addition of some colored cords to secure an ash grey cape around his shoulders finishes the look, and Gentaro hums an appreciative note when Ramuda shows him the full look in a mirror.

Ramuda seemed pleased, smoothing out Gentaro’s cape and tucking stubborn hairs back into place before flashing him a grin and bouncing off to help Dice finish dressing.

It’s comfortable, fashionable, and well-suited to his tastes. Gentaro must say, it’s one of his favorite designs from Ramuda so far.

That being said—there’s…one small thing he could recommend be changed.

It doesn’t occur to him until the picture taking is about to begin.

———

“Ya think Ramuda will let me keep it?” Dice asks, impish grin flashing his canine. He pops the collar, striking small poses as the dressing room around them clears out. Gentaro humors him.

He takes his time, stepping forward from behind Dice, peering over his shoulder at their shared reflection. His hand comes to rest on his chin, scrutinizing the tropical pattern with a deliberate trail of the eyes. He continues until Dice’s gaze lowers, until his hands start fidgeting in front of him.

Gentaro finally breaks with a smile, resting his chin on Dice’s shoulder. He can feel the way Dice sags with relief.

“It’s very likely that he will,” Gentaro muses. “This outfit was made specifically for you, and I’m not sure anyone else would wear it willingly.”

Dice nods in a small repetitive motion, absentmindedly checking his reflection in the mirror. The moment he comes to recognize Gentaro’s backhanded confirmation is both visible and audible. His body jolting upright with a pitchy ‘hey!’ tossed back over his shoulder. Gentaro hides a smile behind his hand.

“Oh, Dice. There’s no need to be insecure,” He coos. “From what I’ve heard, sustainable fashion is on the rise! This set may have been a curtain at some point, but your confidence in it is very admirable.”

Dice has that tight-lipped smile on, the one that pushes his cheeks up and makes his squinty faux-glare even more endearing. It says, ‘I know I’m being made fun of,’ but he continues to endure it anyways. Because it makes Gentaro smile.

Still, he’s come a long way since the early days of Fling Posse, and he won’t take things lying down if he can help it. So he sneaks his hand behind him, aiming a light pinch to Gentaro’s side; his comeback of choice since learning of Gentaro’s…sensitivity.

Unlike those recent times, Gentaro quickly back steps, pulling his head off Dice’s shoulder to smother a gasp behind a well-timed fist. Dice blinks, hand still hovering behind him in the empty air where Gentaro once stood.

Then he spins around; the biggest, toothy grin on his face.

Gentaro can feel the butterflies slowly flutter to life in his stomach. His free arm moves subconsciously, to wrap around his front and hide his torso. The longer they hold eye contact, the more his face begins to burn.

And then the photographer can be heard, calling Dice for photos.

They stay in place, gazes locked for a moment longer; then Dice shoots him a wink and jogs off.

Gentaro breathes a shaky sigh, rubbing away the phantom touch.

———

So yes, while it was obvious the outfit had less layers than Gentaro was accustomed to, he hadn’t realized just how much thinner the layers he wore were.

Photo shoots don’t have a lot of downtime, in his experience. There’s always group shots, touch ups, individual shots. While it’s undoubtedly ‘Posse Time’—as Ramuda would put it—he doesn’t get more than a passing word to either of his group mates at any one time.

Which make the times he runs into Dice all the more memorable.

Slipping past one another in the hallway when it’s Gentaro’s turn for solo shots. Gentaro feels a distinct skittering of nails over his flank. It has him stumbling, tripping on his own feet. He can hear Dice laugh as he straightens up and continues walking.

Getting his hair touched up, making sure his pesky bangs stay out of his face. Dice comes to watch for a while, leaving Gentaro with a quick pinch either side of his waist. He jolts so hard, the hair on his left side falls out of place. He mumbles an apology to the poor stylist, eyeing Dice’s retreating smile in the mirror.

In a moment to himself, Gentaro tries to retuck his blouse, smooth out the uneven bunching of ruffles. He doesn’t notice when Dice slips behind him, when he grips onto Gentaro’s hips—too easily accessible through these pants—and squeezes. Gentaro yelps, drops to a crouch to dislodge the ticklish pulses. When he turns with narrowed-eyes, he finds himself alone.

Although Dice has been able to startle a reaction out of him several times today, calling these occurrences ‘uncommon’ would be nothing short of a lie. In his extended stay at Gentaro’s apartment, Dice has been very — thorough in his exploits of Gentaro’s unending sensitivity. One could say that once he got a reaction, he couldn’t will himself to stop.

Also a lie. Well, a half-truth to be more precise.

While it had been Dice’s curiosity and willingness to take a chance that led to the discovery, he didn’t act on his newfound information much at all. While a very physically affectionate lover, he would never go so far as to touch Gentaro in a way that caused discomfort or distress.

No, absolutely not. And so despite many implicit hints and invitations, Gentaro found himself having to get very explicit.

He didn’t dislike Dice’s teasing touch.

No, quite the opposite actually.

It was flustering to a degree Gentaro couldn’t imagine, but…Dice got the message.

He got it loud and clear, and now here they are.

In a game of cat and mouse; Gentaro’s eyes darting toward every movement, hands enveloping his torso at the slightest noise. The fabric on his skin is light, breathable, and silky to the touch; impossible to ignore. His stomach swoops nervously, broiling with anticipation—borderline excitement.

Oh, the monster he’s created.

———

After two hours of lights, cameras, make up, hair, and such; things are finally starting to wrap up.

Gentaro can see the end’s approach easily due to experience. It always comes in the form of Ramuda’s name. Called out by a weary photographer and followed in turn by their leader’s sing-song reply, skipping happily out of the dressing room and into the limelight.

Ramuda’s solo shots are always saved for the end. One must save the best for last, of course.

That being so, it would be a good idea to begin making preparations to leave.

Gentaro can feel the pinpricks in his legs as he slides them off the dressing room couch, uncurling from his seated position. He kicks out, pointing his toes in a stretch, arching his back and spine. The relief pushes a quiet sigh from his lips, leaves him sagging back into the cushions for a moment, suddenly drained.

Time spent in the presence of others can already be tiring, but the looming eyes of Chuohku make things far more intense. Gentaro can find peace in having his posse with him, but the sooner he can get these clothes folded, the sooner he gets his regular attire back—the sooner he’ll be home and out from under the Party’s prying gaze.

It takes Gentaro a few attempts to rise to his feet. His center of balance equals out as Dice makes his way into the room. The timing is very lucky, Gentaro gets barely a greeting out before his arm is in Dice’s hold. Before he’s swung around, in a blur of cobalt blue and floral print.

His back hits the wall with a dull thud. Not hard enough to hurt—Dice would never—but enough to have his breath catch in his throat. The way Dice leans into Gentaro’s personal space—hand still firmly gripped around his wrist, pinning it to the wall beside his head—makes getting air back a bit difficult.

“Hey Gen,” Dice breathes, a soft smile on his lips that completely contradicts the situation, and makes Gentaro melt all the more for it.

“Hello, Dice.” Gentaro’s hesitation is hardly noticeable.

“Whatcha up to?”

It’s so casual — the way Dice speaks, despite their position which has Gentaro’s brain buzzing like radio static. Strangely, it’s somewhat placating, in a way.

“Well — I’d intended on tidying up while Ramuda’s away…” Gentaro musters up a teasing smile, a lighthearted jab. “If you’re attempting to have me fold your clothes for you, I’m afraid I’ll have to stop you right there—”

Dice laughs. The sound does strange things to Gentaro’s heartbeat. Difficult to miss while it thrums so vividly in his ears.

“No, not that.” Dice smiles. Gentaro can’t help but return it.

“But could I—uh—do one thing? Before you go?”

Gentaro can take a fairly good guess at what Dice is referring to.

He shuffles, wrist rotating the smallest bit in Dice’s hold. His grip is strong, warm, and noticeably firm. Dice hasn’t moved, not an inch from his close lean over Gentaro, but he’s suddenly all that Gentaro can see, smell, feel.

He’s trapped.

It’s invigorating.

Gentaro is somewhat proud of the light, careless hum he gets out. A flippant roll of the eyes before his gaze meets Dice’s.

“Oh fine, if you must.”

Dice laughs again. Gentaro feels that familiar swooping sensation.

“I’ve been dyin’ to do this all day.”

Despite the unaffected air Gentaro puts off, his body is already tensed up in wait. Free hand poised to the side, ready to fend off Dice’s experienced fingers. His waist, hips, stomach; they’re all compromised in this outfit, leaving him more vulnerable than even his home loungewear would allow. It’s anyone’s guess as to where Dice may strike.

Which makes it extra shocking when Dice suddenly drops Gentaro’s wrist. When he slips both hands, with a pre-planned speed, into the gaps of Gentaro’s billowing sleeves and under his outstretched arms.

Gentaro is able to clamp his lips together before Dice’s fingers make contact. It makes muffling his surprised shout marginally easier. The same can’t be said for his limbs.

Before he can even think about it, Dice has found his rhythm, spidering feather-light strokes beneath his arms. His fingertips are gentle, calloused, and so very effective in their unpredictable movements.

Gentaro’s shoulders lock up. He chokes back the bubbling wave of laughter, then clamps his arms down in attempted self-defense.

Immediately after, his spine snaps off the wall. Thrusting his torso flush against Dice, leaning in to cover him. He tosses his head back, a squeaky cry pathetically stifled as the feelings grow exponentially.

It takes all of Gentaro’s remaining brainpower to lessen the pressure of his arms against his sides, to bring his elbows a centimeter out from his waist. Because when he tries blocking Dice’s fingers—

Gentaro bites his lip against a particularly loud squeal; Dice using one finger on each hand to vibrate into the center of each hollow. Oh, please.

—when he tries to guard himself, he just pushes Dice’s fingers deeper.

“Mph! D-Dice!”

It’s debilitating. Dice rarely has access to his bare skin in most situations, but this may very well be a first for both of them. The skittering touch under his arms has Gentaro squirming, shaking. Every time his arms twitch down to stop it, he’s stuck muffling louder laughter at the added pressure he’s made for himself.

It’s all Gentaro can do to hold as still as possible; minimize the jerky, impulsive movements. But it’s so hard, and he’s quickly losing the battle with his volume as well.

What were once small, nondescript sounds are now squeaking—almost whining—noises. As Dice continues his careful track, sweeping soft fingers around and around and around each twitching hollow.

It takes Dice vocalizing aloud to get Gentaro to lift his head from the wall, blink one teary eye open and get a look at him.

Dice is smiling sweetly—no doubt a much nicer look than the hot flush and wobbly smile Gentaro’s trying to control—with his head tilted to the side. It leaves his neck and shoulder open, right at Gentaro’s head level.

He takes the invitation for what it is.

Gentaro quickly buries his face into the side of Dice’s neck. If he had the mind to think and the hindsight to see, he might have considered if this was well-meant aid or a well-sprung trap. It really depends how much credit Gentaro decides to give Dice. His scheming side is somewhat lacking.

Either way, it makes things much more manageable, and far less embarrassing when Dice’s fingertips turn to nails and Gentaro finally breaks, spilling surprised giggles into the other’s skin.

“Dihihice! What—whahat are you—ahahahaha! Wait! Th-that isn’t fahahahahahair!”

Dice had never kept his nails long before, not for so long as Gentaro has known him. He had no use for them, and it was much easier to keep clean with nails as short as can be. But he’s taken to growing them out, just a tad, for…special situations.

Situations where Gentaro is foolish, careless. Usually in the comfort of his own home, in clothes that make it too easy for Dice. To touch, caress. Warm hands over soft skin that finds another’s touch one part foreign to ten parts addictive.

Situations where the small scratch of a nail can amp the feeling of a tingle to a spark.

“Dihice, pl-plehease. I—aha! Oh no, oh pleheheHEHEHEASE!”

It’s so much easier to hide; in the warm, familiar grip of Dice’s embrace. Where he can smother his keening laughter and sudden gasps. No care in the world for his pink cheeks and ruffled hair, so embarrassingly genuine after the painstaking process of making him ‘modelesque.’

Where all he has to focus on is the rippling movement, scratching up and down the dips beneath his arms. A constant, offset graze on hypersensitive skin; gentle as can be but more than enough to drive Gentaro past the point of composure.

All too quickly, Gentaro feels his knees go weak. His back slips down the wall a fraction, hands gripping onto Dice reflexively.

Dice responds in kind, keeping him stable, then going the extra step forward. Literally.

He steps until there’s no space between them. Until Gentaro can be held up with no need for his own legs; just the cool, sturdy wall behind him and Dice’s chest against his own. He’s surrounded by Dice’s warmth, by his scent. It’s been only minutes, but Gentaro is panting for breath.

“Hey,” Dice mutters, softly, once Gentaro can focus on him. He tugs his hand free, chuckling along to the author’s stray giggle, before reaching up to cup his cheek. His thumb strokes habitually, eyes staring deep into Gentaro’s — searching. Always searching. Making sure he’s okay.

And he is. Better than okay. That’s not a lie, it can’t be, and the way Gentaro narrows his eyes, sends a challenging smirk Dice’s way — makes that abundantly clear. Dice drops his gaze, laughing to himself. Then he straightens up, thumbs the moisture from the side of Gentaro’s face.

“As I was saying…” Dice trails, locking eyes with Gentaro as he speaks. Watching the way they widen, lips pressing together, when his remaining hand flexes.

“I’m not done with you yet.”

[sweatersstyles]

onding

onding (n.)-a heavy fall of rain or snow (in this case snow!)

this was inspired by this request and I thought it would be perfect to include in the A Very Merry Styles Fic Challenge! I cannot take full credit for this one as @tbslenthusiast​ helped guide me as my wonderful creative director, @taintedwonder​ was my amazing editor, and @bfharry​ was my lovely beta reader! honestly owe the title to miss tanya @sunflowers-styles​ cause she was a huge help with that! I appreciate you all so much ❤

hope you all enjoy!!

word count: 1.6k

writing tag | masterlist

//

Snow falls rapidly from the sky as you and Harry drive to your destination, neither of you noticing just how fast at first. You were both too excited at the idea of getting away from your busy schedules to celebrate the holidays with Harry’s family for the week.

His hand rests on your leg as he drives, fingers tapping along to the Christmas music playing from the radio. Occasionally offering a gentle squeeze to your thigh and a sweet smile; relaxation already flowing through his body and wrapping around you like a warm embrace.

The snowflakes seem to get larger and fall faster as you get closer to your destination and, as much as you don’t want to burst through his bubble of contentment, you begin to worry about the quick escalation of them. Your mind starts running through all the many possibilities that could go wrong at the idea of the weather worsening the further you travel.

“Harry..are you sure we shouldn’t stop for the night? It’s getting a bit late and those snowflakes aren’t getting any smaller..”

He ducks his head down slightly to look out the windshield and a deep sigh falls from his lips as he returns to his upright position. You don’t miss the way his fingers grip the steering wheel a bit tighter when he says, “Hate to admit it but, maybe you’re right.”

He still hums along to the songs filling the space, but there’s a significant drop in his mood as he takes the next exit with the most promising hotel options. Your hand trails upwards to work over the knot you can already feel forming on the back of his neck from the stress of the situation as he decides which place would be better suited for the two of you to stay in.

You know his source of frustration only lies with the fact that you’re supposed to be at Anne’s house for Christmas dinner the following evening. You can only hope that the weather permits you to be able to still make an appearance on her doorstep at the time she requested you be there. You know she would be just as happy to see her baby boy a day later than he promised, but it would hurt Harry’s heart deeply not to live up to his word. 

The clerk flashes Harry a knowing look when he hands over his card and tells him he only needs one bed for one night. It has Harry’s own smirk returning to his face and a blush spreading across yours at the implication. You suppress a giggle as the rest of the transaction is processed, but it bubbles up out of you the second you’re in the elevator on the way to the 4th floor where your room waits for you. Your laughter rings through the tiny space and only stops when you let your head fall against his chest. He loops the arm that isn’t supporting his duffel bag around your body to pull you even closer, smacking a kiss to the top of your head.

“Someone’s sleepy,” He mumbles into your hair, “Y’only get this deliriously happy when you’re tired.”

You pull your face away from his chest to look up at him, “Or when I’m spending the weekend snowed in with my rockstar boyfriend.”

“Y’really think we’ll get snowed in?”

You shrug, “Maybe. Would it be so bad to be stuck here together for a few days?”

He scrunches his nose at you, “Nah..we’d miss dinner and presents at Mum’s though.”

“Anne’ll forgive us.”

He nods in agreement, “Yeah, know she would. Can’t control the weather, can we?”

You try to restrain the yawn that creeps up but you fail miserably and cover your mouth as it stretches across your face. It had been a long day; an early morning flight and the new international time zone making your eyes drop closed just until the ding indicates you’ve reached your intended floor.

You keep yourself pressed close to Harry’s side as you make your way down the hallway to your room. He fiddles with the key for only a moment before you almost tumble through the open door and his hand catches your waist quickly to steady you. Luckily the bed is close by and you plop down across the bottom of it, your own duffel tossed aside on the floor, arms extended wide across the cream colored duvet.

He tugs on your wrist and you quietly whine before you peek one eye open to look up at him. Before he can say anything, your stomach growls, outraged at the idea of not being fed since the quick lunch you’d been able to grab much earlier in the day.

“M’hungry, Harry, think we could find some dinner before we crash for a few hours?”

“Doubt anything’s open this time’a night. Let’s do a shower first and then we’ll raid the vending machine, yeah?”

You’re both too tired to do anything much more than actually get clean under the spray of the hot water. It feels like a blessing on your skin and you let it rinse away any worry you might still have about the weather outside. His long fingers work over your scalp to ensure all the suds from your shampoo have disappeared and your eyes droop closed without your consent. You have to splay one hand firmly on his chest to keep from falling into him and knocking you both down in your exhausted state.

He steps out first, careful to keep his eyes on you as he works a towel over his body to dry off, grabbing another one off the small shelf mounted on the wall to wrap you in before he lifts you lightly up and over the edge of the tub. 

“Arms up.” He’s already dressed himself quickly in a loose pair of sweatpants and a long sleeved t-shirt and you silently curse yourself for being too tired to enjoy the view. He gently assists you in completing your own nighttime ensemble by slipping your oversized night shirt over your head and guiding your arms through. You sink into the soft piece of clothing as your fingers dance across the hem of the shirt.

“Hey. Y’forgot something,” He chuckles when you look down at your outfit, confused by what he means. “Up here, love. Kiss?” He requests and bends down so you don’t have far to reach up and indulge his offer. It’s a quick peck, mainly to the side of his mouth, but he doesn’t complain; fingers gently guiding your chin to center his lips over yours, a satisfied hum vibrating through his chest just before he pulls away.

You’re more alert now as you make your way to the small vending area that the two of you had passed earlier on your way to the room. He digs some change from his pocket with the hand that isn’t laced with yours, transferring some of it over to your free hand, before jingling his portion around while he surveys the options in the machine. You’re already loading your coins in, poking the numbers on the keypad, and you eagerly await your snack as it makes its way out of the coils to drop down into the slot.

“Knew you’d go for those.” There’s a lazy smile working its way over one side of his mouth as he watches you bend to retrieve the bag of pretzels.

“They’re my favorites,” You mumble and you tear the bag open, unable to wait until you get back to the room. You rest your head on his shoulder while you wait for him to decide on his own snack, “What’re you gonna get?”

“Well seein’ as you snagged the last bag of those, ya g’nna hafta share.” 

“Gladly.” You pluck one from the now partly empty bag and bring it to his lips. He bends to accept it, crunching as he finally adds his coins in the machine.

“I’ll get somethin’ sweet for us to split, how’s that sound?” 

You hum in agreement, exhaustion working its way through your body again, your brain too tired to form words at the moment. The coils around his selection unwind, dropping it with a clatter, and you move with him when he bends to collect it.

You’re again thankful for the short distance back to the room and a whispered “oof” falls from his lips when you trip over nothing but your socked feet. His hand loosely clutches a handful of the fabric of your shirt to help steady you until you’re falling back on the bed and scooting up to the top. You tuck yourself under the heavy layers of the sheets and duvet and don’t bother waiting for him as you burrow as deep as you can to get warm.

You don’t make it to dessert, passing off the now half eaten bag of pretzels to him, preferring the comfort of the pillow against your cheek over the bite of chocolate he offers you.

“Reckon y’were right about us stopping when we did,” He mutters as he stares down at his phone, the weather app casting a glow onto his face in the now dimly lit room, “Pretty big snow storm blowin’ through. We might be here a lil’ longer than one night.”

“Hmm.” 

He knows you’re mostly gone, sleep overtaking any conscious response you may have been able to provide, and he shakes his head at the sleepy smile on your face. Just as your soft snores fill the space between you, his heart swells at the sight of you resting peacefully; knowing there’s no one else he’d rather be snowed in with than his sweet, sleepy girl.

[crazyyanderefangirlfan]

Bring on the Mania Pt 7

"I can't believe you're a designer."

"I can't believe you've been living under a rock."

After their encounter with Vil and Rook, the pair made their way back to Ramshackle. But not without Amane playfully scolding the girl.

The girl flushed at his response. "W-Well, I don't really watch fashion shows or anything related to it. But after coming here, I do now." She confessed.

He quirked a brow. "Only now?"

"Well, yeah." She said, re-adjusting the crate on her arms.

"I don't really pay attention or follow the trends, too much of a hassle. But, I am beginning to watch them after meeting Vil. Just want to support him, even if I can't understand everything."

Amane blinked at her answer, felt the corners of his mouth twitch to a smile. Despite admitting her lack of knowledge of the subject, she still made an effort to understand it for his sake. She's so sweet.

Though; that begs the question...

"So, you don't have a preferred style?" He asked.

"Not really. I just wear what makes me feel comfortable. My mom doesn't care as long as I'm happy, and my grandparents just remind me to wear shorts under my skirts."

Wow.

What felt like an hour, they finally spotted the gates of Ramshackle. Beyond the gate, Valerie could vaguely make out Gerald's ghostly form watering the flowers he planted last month.

"Hey, Gerald."

Her loud voice made the ghost pause and lookup. Upon recognizing her, Gerald placed the watering can down and flew over to open the gate. When his eyes landed on their items, he smirked.

"Ya, feeding an army, kid." He joked.

"Nah, just a chubby and over-indulgent trash cat." She retorted. The ghost chuckled.

Gerald flew overhead and opened the front door. He even offered to carry the two other bags for Amane, but the demon declined, saying it was good exercise. The ghost went back to watering.

When they entered Ramshackle, they found Grim on the couch. Taking a nap with an empty tuna can next to him. When they entered the kitchen, they found Lisha picking on some stray beetles on the counter. When the little strix noticed them, she grabbed a piece of paper next to her and flew over to Valerie. Dangling it for her to read. What it said made her bit her bottom lip.

Crowley may be the closest thing she had for a father, but sometimes she wants to shove a transformation down his throat. Turning him into a real crow, and breaking a wing, so Grim can hunt better,

She shook her head from those morbid thoughts, not the time.

"Sorry, Amane, but I have to do something. I'll come back as soon as I can to help you." She said, putting the crate down.

"Oh? What happened?" He inquired, placing the bags on the counter. She sighed.

"Crowley asked me to clean his office; while he has something to attend to."

"The fuck? Why would he do that?" Above all things crow shit makes her do...

"It's okay. In fact, I was first a handywoman and cleaning lady, along with Grim. But after a certain incident, we became students." She explained, running her fingers through her ponytail.

"Okay, let's go." He announced. The girl sputtered.

"I-I'm sorry, w-what?"

"Let's go to Crow shit's office. I wanted to see more of this school again. It's been ages." He answered, taking her hand and leading her to the door.

"W-Wait! Amane, I have frozens!"

"Don't worry, we'll handle it." As if on cue, Bennett and Wilbur floated down and began arranging.

"Well, you heard your ghostly guardians. Let's go!"

"Alright, I'll be quick, don't cause any trouble." The opal-eyed girl begged. Standing in front of the office.

"No promises, Sugar tits." The hetero-eyed male winked playfully. The brunette rolled her eyes and went inside.

With the two monsters back in Ramshackle, the demon was alone. Free to flirt with any one of these gorgeous boys without Lisha clawing his eyes out; or having her turned into her original form and trying to eat him.

He smirked.

"Get ready boys, this demon is on a hunt."

For the past hour, Amane happily flirted with several students; some even try to give him their numbers or ask for his. But he turned them down, he may love good-looking guys, but he ain't touching that.

"Oh baby, maybe if you and your dick grow a few inches, then I'll see." The incubi playfully boop a pouting student's nose before happily running away.

He turned to the corner to catch his breath, but the grin never left his face. This was too much fun!

In the corner of his eye, he found something glinting under the sun. Curious, he walked over. It was a blue tablet; it looked like it was charging. Intrigued, he pressed the power button. What he didn't expect was a voice on the other end.

"W-What a-are y-you d-doing?"

Idia felt the world finally turned against him. First, he forgot to charge his tablet last night, making him replenish it in solar mode. Next, he missed a rare event that won't come back in six months. To top it all off. A normie found his tablet.

Joy.

"Oh fuck, it talks." The person on the other side of the screen said in surprise.

'Ugh, go away. Talking to people like you drains all my health.'

"Hon, if you don't reply. I'm just gonna grab this thing and drop it somewhere-"

"No!"

Idia could feel their smirk from the screen. He wants a restart.

"The name's Amane Mania, you?"

The flame-haired male wanted to deny but decided he should if he tried anything.

"I-Idia S-S-Shroud."

"Idia, huh? What dorm are you from?" Amane questioned.

"I-Ignihyde." Idia could feel a severe drain of his energy.

"Ah, Ignihyde. A bunch of shut-ins, but high in sex drive." Amane sighed blissfully.

"What!?" The man barked in laughter.

"When I was still here, I had an occasional fuck with guys. What they lack in skill, they make up for enthusiasm."

There was silence from Amane's end; before purring his following sentence.

"Let's test that with you~" Idia's hair flared up. But, he didn't stop.

"Would you like me to call you daddy or master?"

Great seven's he cannot handle this. Please, Lord of the underworld, save him.

Fortunately, his prayer was answered.

"Excuse me!"

Startled by the loud voice, the incubus turned around and faced a...Kid?

Huh?

"That's my brother's tablet. May I have it back, please?" Innocent amber eyes stared at him.

"Umm, sure. Give me a moment." Though still confused on why a child was here, he was not going without the last word.

He whispered to the tablet, making sure the kid didn't hear him.

"Until next time, Dom switch."

Amane could have sworn something exploded on the other end, but he paid no mind. Instead, he gave the tablet to the young cyborg.

"Here ya go, Kid."

The child beamed. "Thank you!" Then zoomed off.

_______________________________________________

"Anything interesting happened when I was gone?" Valerie asked.

Just as she said, the girl didn't take too long and now walking back to Ramshackle.

"Well." He began his retelling his meeting Idia and a short cyborg.

"Oh, that's Ortho. He and Idia are considered one student. Like, me and Grim."

"Except, the little guy had a better personality than the gremlin." Amane retorted, earning a playful slap on the shoulder.

"Hey! Cut Grim some slack. Yes, he can be too much sometimes, but he has his moments." She defended. Amane just pulled her hood to her face.

"My~ Is this the infamous Amane I've been hearing so much about?"

"Fucking crack whore hell!"

The suddenness of the interruption causes the incubus to cling to the girl like a frightened cat.

Hanging upside down in mid-air was Diasomnia's playful vice-dorm leader, Lilia Vanrouge. The vampire had an amused smile on his face when he perceived Amane's shocked expression.

"Fufufufu, forgive my sudden appearance. I was merely interested to know the demon who cooked that delectable food Sebek brought."

The shock quickly wore off his body, replacing it with a familiar smugness Valerie knew.

"So, my cooking became legendary already? I'm flattered." The incubus fluffed up his hair and shot Lillia a sensual look. The ex-soldier chuckled.

"I believe we haven't been properly acquainted." Lilia landed in front of them, took Amane's hand, and kissed his knuckles. Flustering the demon and surprising the girl.

"My name is Lilia Vanrouge, a pleasure to meet you." His eyes were half-lidded, his smile fanged and filled with flirtatious mischief. For the first time Valerie has met him, Amane was blushing.

"Amane?" She called out hesitantly.

That seemed to snap him out of it; the poor man tried to laugh it off.

"Well, aren't you a gentleman? But I welcome change of pace." Amane smirked.

"Lilia!"

Recognizing the voice. The young brunette peered behind the senior. Jogging his way over was Silver.

"Finally found you, old man." The young knight huffed, relieved that his search is over.

"Good morning, Silver!" The girl beamed up at him.

The aurora-eyed male smiled softly in her direction; he took her hand and placed a lingering kiss.

"Good morning to you too, Valerie."

Lilia let out a small gasp as if realizing something.

"Oh, Dove. I forgot to greet you as well. Let me fix that."

Coming near her face, he gave her cheek a sweet kiss. The girl smiled, especially feeling the strands of his hair on her face.

"Lilia, your hair is on my face." She giggled.

Standing on the side, Amane could only freeze and stare with wide eyes and raised brows. A man was kissing her cheek, which lasted longer than necessary, and not even the slightest bit affected.

Just how dense is she?

"Okay, old man. That's enough."

Silver forcefully removed the shorter male off the girl. Jealousy bubbled in the pit of his stomach. But he tried his best to ignore it.

Lilia pouted. "Your no fun, Silver."

"Remember why we needed to find Valerie, and it's not just to thank Amane for the food." The silver-haired male sternly reminded.

"Yes, yes, I know." Lilia waved him off. Reaching to his coat pocket, he drew a small velvet pouch with a yellow rope. The sound of coins jingling can be heard within it.

Valerie groaned.

"You two know how I feel about this." She complained, rubbing her temples.

"I know, Valerie. But please, accept it just this once." Silver coaxed the girl, giving her a reassuring smile. However, she shook her head.

"Tell him, I appreciate that he's trying to help me. But like all the other times, my answer will still be no." The vampiric fae sighed at her declaration.

"You are absolutely stubborn, Dove." He said, pocketing the pouch.

"But then again. It is one of your charming points." The raspberry-eyed male flashed her a fanged smile.

"We'll be going now. We at least completed one thing needed. Though once we inform him that you refused again..."

"I'll deal with him once he comes to Ramshackle." She can already picture his pouting face in her mind.

Lilia nodded and gestured Silver to follow, giving the girl one last kiss on the cheek (Lilia) and hand (Silver). They walked away.

"Hold on." Amane broke in. "Someone wanted to be your sugar daddy?"

"My, what?"

A hoard of bats attacked the poor demon.

_______________________________________________

"H-Hey! Be gentle." Amane hissed as the cotton swab touched his face.

It took a while to get the bats off him. Thankfully, they left on their own accord, and an injured Amane too. Bite marks littered across his body, more so on his body; the skin on his arms was punctured and bleeding. Some even left small scars on his legs and stomach.

The midnight-haired male never felt so relieved for the girl's abnormal strength, carrying him bridal style and dashing all the way to Ramshackle. Without breaking a sweat or looking remotely tired.

Currently, the man was having his face nursed by Wilbur. His arms, legs, and stomach were neatly wrapped in bandages. Meanwhile, the girl was in the kitchen preparing lunch.

"I am being gentle. You keep fidgeting." The ghost remarked, dabbing Amane's face.

"What did you even do?" Grim chimed in.

On the coffee table, Grim and Lisha were waiting for his answer. Concern shone in the little Strix's eyes while Grim looked bored.

"I...Might have said something wrong." He confessed.

"Not surprising." The feline snorted.

"Hey-Ouch!"

"I told you to stay still." Wilbur chided.

"I dearly hope you won't influence Valerie too much."

Speaking of which.

"Hey, Grim. I need to ask ya something." Amane gritted his teeth, feeling another sting of pain on his face.

"Oh? So you require my wisdom? The great Grim will happily provide, what is it?" A smirk formed on the monster's face. Lisha rolled her eyes at his cockiness, and Wilbur chuckled under his breath.

"Where does Valerie get her money? I know Crow shit gives her allowance, but I'm not convinced."

"Mmm? that's it?" Amane nodded. "Alright, I'll tell ya."

"Yeah, bird brain gives her money. But we do random jobs to earn extra; she even works part-time in the Monstro Lounge sometimes." Grim explained.

Amane carefully regarded this new information and came to one conclusion.

"So, in other words. Valerie is deadass close to being broke."

"Pretty much."

Amane grimaced. This girl seriously needs help.

Loud knocking brought their conversation to a halt. Amane tilted his head, brows furrowed. Please don't tell him it's crow shit.

"I'll get it!" Bennet's voice rang through the air. There was a thick wave of silence; before a sound of footsteps and Bennet's uneasy voice were coming to the lounge.

"H-Hey, now wait for a second"

"Where is the child of man?" A deep voice interrupted the ghost.

Entering the lounge was a tall male with black hair, lime green eyes, and horns on his head. Behind him was Bennet, who shifted his eyes to Amane.

Lime green eyes fell to the demon, raising a brow.

"And who might you be?"

Amane had to seal his mouth shut to keep himself from drooling. This male before him is positively gorgeous! Tall, dark, and cool air of mystery, piercing green eyes stared into his very being, made him chew his inner cheek. Damn, he wanted to see those in the bedroom, and judging by his size, he has to be packing under his pants.

"The name's Amane Mania. I'm pretty famous here for my notorious good looks."

The demon flashed him a flirtatious smirk but cringed when he felt something stick to his face. Weakly glaring at Wilbur, who held a pack of band-aids. The ghost gave him a warning glare, but Amane stuck his tongue out at him.

"Ah." Realization dawned on the tall male.

"The demon currently living with the child of man and the one who cooked that exquisite meal."

"Damn straight. Now, I would like to know your name, handsome."

Everyone, save for Lisha, stared at Amane like he actually said, something prude.

"A-Amane." Wilbur stammered.

"You...Don't know who he is?" Bennet questioned, just as stunned. Amane shook his head.

"Even you, Lisha!?" Grim shouted in surprise. The little strix shrugged her wings, just as confused as the incubus.

"Interesting." Mused the ebony-haired male.

"Oh! Malleus, you're here."

The lime-eyed male, Malleus, straightened his posture when he heard her voice. Valerie peeked through the door with messed-up hair.

"Child of man, may I have a word with you?" He inquired.

The tone of his voice made the girl fidget in place. His stare prompted her to clutch her apron.

Looks like he's upset with her rejection.

"Fine, but let talk outside." She answered. She took off her apron and gave it to Bennett. She followed the tall male out, leaving the rest of the inhabitants to process what they witness.

The pair walked a safe distance away from the dorm; and sat on a bench underneath a tree large enough to shade them.

"Why did you reject my gifts? You need the money, correct? So, why?"

As soon as they sat down, the fae prince wasted no time questioning her. Confusion and hurt shone in his eyes, completed with a pout.

Valerie sighed.

"Malleus." She began. "I know you want to help me, and I'm grateful for it. But please understand, you giving me money so freely? It makes me...Um, well." She paused to find the right words.

"I feel like I'm leeching off you-"

"You're not." He firmly objected. Taking hold of her hands. Eyeing down at her in all seriousness.

"Even so, accepting money; I didn't earn leaves a bitter taste in my mouth."

Silence befell the two students. Malleus seemed to contemplate on her words, rubbing the back of her hand in small circles. After a few tense seconds, he sighed in defeat.

"Very well." He conceded, reluctantly pulling her hands away.

"However. If I ever find you struggling even more as it is, please don't refuse what I give you."

His tone made it clear that he was not giving her a choice, but there was a tinge of desperation.

"Okay, fine." The fae smiled in relief.

"Although. If you want to properly earn the money I give you, you can always come and cook for Diasomnia. I cannot count how many times Sebek has eaten Lilia's cooking for my sake."

The smile faded from his face to a tired frown upon remembering the times Lilia made those horrendous concoctions and insisting for the entire dorm to try. Out of everyone, Sebek suffered the most.

That earned a sympathetic smile from her. "I'll think about it."

She stood up, re-arranged her hair into a neat ponytail again, and faced him.

"Would you like to join me for lunch, Tsunotaro?" Her smile radiated warmth like a fireplace.

Ah, that nickname such fond memories. Enough to muster a small smile and a response.

"I would be delighted."

_______________________________________________

"So...He's a prince."

"Yes."

"And one of the top five powerful wizards."

"Yes. I'm surprised you didn't know about this."

"Eh, not into that sort of stuff."

Meanwhile, the residents of Ramshackle were busily explaining who Malleus was to the two ignorant demons.

"You could at least know he was royalty. Doesn't your family branch over Twisted Wonderland?" Gerald asked. He got back from the kitchen, and here he was.

"I honestly have no fucking interest that shit." Amane's heated reply stunned the ghosts. This is the first time they saw him this angry.

Those who had witnessed it reacted in their own way. Lisha had an understanding look in her eyes. Grim, however, yelped in fear and accidentally shot a fireball at him. Who immediately dodged.

"Gah!"

"Grim!"

"What the fuck, you little shit!"

"Screee!"

"You were about to go on demon mode!" Grim argued, swatting the flames with his tail.

"No, I wasn't!" Amane protested. He grabbed the bowl of water Wilbur used to clean his face and splashed it on the burning couch. It worked, but now they were left with a charred piece of furniture.

"Oh, boy." Gerald muttered under his breath; as he scanned the mess.

Valerie won't be happy with this.

"I'm back!" Speak of the devil.

"I hope you won't mind that Malleus will join-" Valerie blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Yeah, this is real.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply; before letting it all out.

"Alright." She finally said. Opening her eyes, she surveyed their tenses expressions.

"Grim, what did you do?"

"Why me!?" The monster complained.

"You're the only one who does fire magic." She deadpanned.

"I thought he was going on demon mode, that's why." The cat explained, pointing an accusatory paw at the incubus.

"No, I wasn't, ya little shit!" The midnight-haired male furiously retorted.

"You were!"

"Why I oughta-"

"Okay! That's enough." Valerie interrupted, stepping between the demon and monster. Both looked more than eager to fight.

"Since this is clearly an accident, and Grim just went on instinct. So Grim, please apologize to Amane." She calmly instructed the monster, who looked offended.

"What? Why should I-"

"Do it, or I'll make you go on an all broccoli and spinach diet for two weeks." Her smiling face did not match the threatening tone in her voice.

If Grim was human, he would have paled at the thought only to eat those for two weeks straight.

"Sorry, Amane." The monster mumbled, but it was audible enough to hear. Valerie smiled at her accomplishment.

She turned to face everyone and clapped her hands.

"So...Ready to eat?"

Lunch had been thankfully more tamed. Even Grim didn't give his (loud) compliments on her cooking. Looks like her threat left him silent. She did well on lunch.

Kung pao shrimp, roasted salmon with green beans, and tomatoes. A chicken and radish salad, followed by pink lemonade.

"You're an excellent cook, Valerie." Malleus complimented. Taking another bite of his salmon.

"Thank you." Valerie smiled.

"Yeah, not bad. You're almost better than me. Almost." Amane emphasized the last part with a teasing grin. To which the girl rolled her eyes.

After lunch Amane's phone went off, taking it to the lounge with Lisha on top of his head. Leaving Grim and Valerie to do the dishes, Malleus decided to stay and talk to his favorite human more.

Once that was done, she scooped Grim onto her arms, walking out the kitchen with the fae prince in tow. Making their way to the lounge, they paused when they heard Amane's voice. There was slight aggravation in his voice.

"I see. In that case, please forward it to my assistant."

Valerie peered from the entrance. The man sat on the couch, running his fingers through his hair. He finally turned his head, nearly jumping out of his skin when he saw her head.

"Lover of cow tiddies!- Don't do that!" He cursed. Amane slumped on the burned couch, mentally drained from the call.

"Is something troubling you, Mania?" The fae prince questioned. Taking a seat on a nearby chair, and the girl sat next to the demon.

"Nothing to sweat about. But it looks like I have to cut my time short." The incubus confessed, tiredly rubbing his face. Lisha rub his cheek in comfort.

"Huh, why?" Valerie's face wrinkled in concern. But the demon chose to ignore what she said.

Amane got up and dragged his feet out of the room. Disregarding the concern or curious gazes of the others.

The girl wordlessly watched the man walked out. As much as she wanted to help him, she knew it wasn't her business and might anger him.

"You care for him quite a lot." A deep voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Malleus has been observing her reactions ever since they came back to the dorm. Safe to say, he was a bit jealous of the demon. The fae prince had been vying for her attention since the VDC. Even more when she saved him from his overblot.

The girl rubbed her arms. "Y-Yeah, he opened his heart towards me the last time he stayed here. So I have to be worried for him."

The lime-eyed male stayed silent.

"You didn't forget anything, right?"

"Nope, and don't worry about cleaning the room. I already did that."

The pair stood in front of the entrance door. Amane carried a small bag filled with the items be brought and bought. In the background was Malleus, who was holding Grim at the moment. Lisha was on top of the incubus' head.

"Really? How sweet." Valerie gave him a small smile. Appreciating the gesture.

"You suffered enough bullshit from this school. It the least I could do." The hetero-eyed male playfully pinched her cheek, earning a whine from her. Making him snicker.

"See ya next time, Sugar tits, and you too ya, fat gremlin."

"Quit calling me that!" The monster fumed. Long and slender fingers scratched under his chin, causing him to purr in content. Malleus let out a mirthful chuckle at the action.

Retrieving his hand, Amane gave the girl a mock salute and stepped.

_______________________________________________

Valerie hummed as she fixed her hair into her signature style, albeit replacing her pink ribbon with a black one.

It was getting dark, which meant it was time for her shift in the Monstro Lounge. Malleus left hours ago after watching some historical movie, knowing fully well Sebek and Silver would go out and bring him back to the dorm. Meanwhile, her little monster was sleeping peacefully on her bed.

Valerie checked herself on the mirror for the final time. She was currently wearing a female version of octavinelle's dorm uniform. Except, she replaced it with a black mini pencil skirt, lavender stockings with garters, and black kitten heels.

Once she deemed herself presentable, she grabbed her phone from the bed to check the time. However, when she opened it, there was a text. Her eye twitched when she noticed it was from the headmaster.

"Please don't let this be another errand." The poor girl prayed before reading it.

'Ms. Kemonohito, I'm happy to inform you that all your student debts have been by none other than Mr. Mania. He will also pay for your schooling and accommodations from now on. Ahh, it brings my heart such joy that Night Raven alumni can be as kind as their headmaster.'

Valerie had to re-read the text five times to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks. She stood there, frozen in shock.

Just why?

A loud knocking brought her out of her dilemma.

"Come in."

Opening the door was Gerald, who held a folded piece of paper.

"I accidentally phased in Amane's room and found this on the bed. It had your name on it." The ghost informed before heading out.

Valerie eyed the piece of paper in her hands; it felt hard. Carefully unfolding it, she let out a small gasp.

Credit cards. Amane's credit cards, there were about five of them in her hands. Quickly, she read the note, desperate for an explanation.

'Hey, Sugar tits.

I hope ya like the gift I left ya. I know what you're thinking, 'I can't accept this!' But I really want you to have it, you deserved it. You've been thrown into an unknown world; and placed in the care of an arguably competent man. Which I know by experience can be utterly useless in some situations.

I also took the liberty of paying for your academics and housing of that dorm of yours too. Don't worry about paying back; it's alright, really. You worked your ass since you got here. You are tired, I can see it. Lorelei is good at hiding it too.

Also; If you are worried about earning money, I think I can arrange something, but it's a surprise.'

-Love your new reliable (and gorgeous) guardian, Amane.

A smile threatened to form her face when she finished reading it. This man, whom she known for a short while, was going above and beyond to help her. This feels like those found family tropes in media.

As thoughtful as it was, Valerie recalled a certain fae making a similar promise, and it made her stomach churned. She wasn't sure how to break the news to him. She already made him upset with her rejection, and she raised his hopes up with her promise.

The opal-eyed girl just hopes he'll take it well.

Taking a deep breath, she texted Azul that she's unable to work tonight due to feeling unwell and needed time to rest. Once she has his confirmation, Valerie flopped on her bed.

"Oi! Henchwoman! What the heck and aren't you supposed to go to work!?"

Grim growled, obviously not happy from being woken up.

The girl simply just pulled her little monster close; and buried her face on Grim's fur.

"Not tonight. Actually, I'm going to tell Azul I won't be working in the Monstro Lounge anymore unless he needs a favor." Her reply was kinda muffled. But audible. This confused them.

"Eh? Really? Then where will you get the money?" The cat monster implored. The girl merely raised her head and smiled at him.

"Let's just say; we got a certain weirdo taking care of us now."

Bonus:

"..."

"..."

"U-Uhhh, Malleus?"

"..."

"Listen, I really value your generosity and concern for me. Trust me, I was just surprised. Please believe me-"

"I do."

"Really!? Your not mad?"

"I am disappointed that I won't be able to help you, but I am thankful to him and his ability to provide for you."

"I'm not."

"No need to be jealous, Azul."

"Be quiet, Jade."

A/N: Finally done with this chapter! Sorry for the long wait, I know this long over due but I hope you like it.

[pekorosu]

just a lil “if ash lived” headcanon that i need to unload somewhere bc i've been holding it in for a long time

- set within the manga ‘verse

- takes place when ash and eiji are in their early 30s... so around the mid 1990s?

- i don’t get the weird animanga trope where older = longer hair, so they’re gonna look the same... maybe with slightly shorter hair bc they get regular haircuts now 

- (note: i've always interpreted long-haired eiji as symbolic of the fact that he couldn't move on from ash’s death)

- ash and eiji will continue living in the states, idk if still in NYC or somewhere else. they’ll move around a lot though.

- ash will mostly remain underground as he had to fake his death after lao’s stab, but he does it in a "hiding in plain sight" kind of way. only a handful of people know he’s still alive.  

- ash spends most of his time on the computer, mostly coding, hacking, being a nerd, among other fun stuff.

- he also takes on “jobs” anonymously, and occasionally from max (who’s still into investigative journalism) when he needs info that can only be obtained through Dubious Means.

- i also like to think that ash's a bit of a hacker robin hood lol. but he isn’t doing it purely out of the goodness of his heart, as part of it is a subconscious need to atone for his “sins” and cleanse the gnawing and persistent feeling of shame that gets amplified when he’s around eiji.

- also whatever he’s up to these days would ofc still be Highly Dangerous and Illegal, but it keeps him busy and would sate the part of him that’s still hungry for adrenaline without him having to engage in stuff like active bloodshed or substance abuse. basically that’s how i imagine he’d try to cope with life the only way he knows.

- eiji continues to do photography and other part time gigs bc he does not like the idea of mooching off ash forever, and he slowly makes a name for himself.

- ash and eiji live together but they are NOT together in a romantic sense... not yet >:)

- therefore eiji will probably date other people in the meantime, which gets a little troublesome bc it's not like he can bring them home to where his secret Very Important Friend is secretly hiding.

- ash will maybe have one-night stands every now and then. or not. idk. this isn’t a very important detail.

- anyway there will be lots of clueless but mutual pining :)

- ash especially, is of the opinion that they should start living separately bc someone will eventually track him down, maybe someone who has a past or present grudge on him. combined with his current activities, it’s only a matter of time before eiji would unwittingly get dragged into his problems again.

- eiji is v adamantly against that plan bc he's sorta developed a debilitating sense of paranoia that ash might just get killed somewhere while he’s not looking. not that ash isn’t paranoid either, but his insecurities often tip the scale over to “eiji is safer away from me” than “with me”.

- basically they’re doing their whole “stay. no, leave. no, stay” dance all over again, but like, dragged out over MANY YEARS.

- you thought eiji’s letter would’ve cleared up any crossed wires? 

- HELL NO

- like yea, there was probably a beautiful honeymoon period of about a year or two after they reunited, before their respective trauma and issues started creeping in and fucking things up again.

- esp on ash’s end, i think he’d engage in a lot of self-sabotage. and eiji is only human, he has his own limits and baggage too.

- there will be a government conspiracy plotline but on a smaller scale compared to canon that i am unfortunately not knowledgeable enough to worldbuild on, but it will probably have something to do with cybercrime/cyberterrorism/stuff like that bc it needs to tie in with ash's hacking shenanigans.

- i've heard that sing ends up becoming some sorta political big shot in yasha? idk, i haven't read it myself, but since china’s rising status was mentioned in GoL i imagine the plot should relate to that somehow.

- therefore sing would also get to be in this story! 

- i guess this means yut-lung would come into the picture at some point as well, and it would be a good opportunity for a redemption arc but i haven’t given it much of a thought bc i’m indifferent to his character orz SORRY.

- look i can’t do plot, but i am basically envisioning a political thriller with a side of slow burn romance (wait, you mean like a rehash of canon?)

- i’m thinking max is the one who kicks off the story by bringing something fishy to ash, and they just end up uncovering more and more and MORE stuff as they keep going.

- so for like 80% of the story, ash and eiji will be separated bc ash will be busy spying or infiltrating something... and being at the center of Plot Things, while max and eiji will be more on the outside dealing with the journalist side of things. i’m fond of max-ash interactions but i’m also REALLY CURIOUS about max-eiji’s dynamic :D

- meanwhile sing will be like, half in and half out i imagine. he's versatile like that lol

- ...i did NOT mean that in a dirty way

- anyway, this will provide ash and eiji ample space to work out their issues separately, as i think living in close quarters for so many years has actually been aggravating them. ofc those issues don’t get 100% resolved by the end, but some time apart from each other to cool off and spend with other people should provide a bit of perspective.

- i want ash to make some NEW FRIENDS (!!!) that are on the same wavelength as him bc there’s only so much that he can tell eiji and i’m sure he gets rather lonely, so there will be OCs that he will meet in the middle of Plot Things.

- ash will get trapped at some point. preferably with sing so they can have a much needed heart-to-heart talk. they’ll have a lot to hash out, ranging from the events in BF, shorter’s and lao’s death, all the way to ash’s love life. 

- btw i like the idea of eiji and sing being close drinking buddies who confide in one another but ash is kinda, justalittle, not very happy about that LOL 

- i mean, it's not like eiji can confide in ash when ash is the topic at hand, ya get me? as for sing, he’s similar to ash in the sense that they live dangerous lives, so i imagine he just finds it nice to be able to hang out with someone mundane like eiji every now and then.

- not to say that ash and sing aren’t talking to each other at all, but i think they’d have a bit of a rift between them. sing probably does feel some resentment, both at ash for killing lao AND at himself bc he knows deep down that given a choice, he would’ve saved ash over his own brother. ash can sense that tortured vibe, so eiji’s like their middle man. AND THAT’S WHY THEY NEED A HEART-TO-HEART TALK

- (SIDE NOTE: i want akira to have a role in this too. i actually have a separate headcanon that happens prior to this story... kinda like an alternate GoL? 

akira goes to the states to visit eiji, but ash is also there, yeah? akira and ash start out sorta prickly with each other bc ash is all weird and standoffish and always cooped up in his room. she probably mistook him as a jobless model mooching off eiji at first since 1) eiji and ibe have never spoken about him back in japan (cuz he’s supposed to be dead), 2) why would eiji be living with some random hot guy? unless they met during one of his photography gigs? right??? 

and then she ends up witnessing them in the middle of a tiff, which makes her not like ash even more bc HOW DARE HE YELL AT POOR OKUMURA-SAN??? UNGRATEFUL JERK!!!

but over the course of her visit, she snoops around learns a bit about their history and gathers hints as to why their r’ship is kinda strained. also ash and akira somehow end up bonding (reluctantly) over their emotional insecurities and part on a friendly rivalry to win over eiji’s affections (which eiji is completely oblivious to. also akira may have been 100% serious but ash was just jokingly playing along with her (OR WAS HE???)). anyway long story short, ash teaches akira some cool tech/IT stuff along the way so that leads to her gaining an interest in the field. 

she won’t be able to do much in this story, but a minor role would be cool :)

 ^ a lighthearted gyoza-making scene amid all the angst)

- (SIDE NOTE #2: i ALSO want cain to feature in this, but bc canon provided very little bg info on him it’s hard for me to figure out where he’d fit. but i suppose that’s precisely why it would be great to include him, since i can just make up my own backstory! lol. for now, i think he should be connected to one of the new OCs to make him more central to the plot. or heck, he can be involved himself! ...yeah, i’m just salty about how cain was treated more like a convenient plot device compared to the other major side characters. we barely know anything about him even though he was one of ash’s most trusted allies. #caindeservedbetter2k20)

- anyway, back to the main story. ash (and his new "friends") barely escape where they’re held hostage. ash would be rusty with combat now as he’s spent the past few years doing only stealth work and being rather sedentary. 

- so there’ll be lotsa old man!ash jokes like them poking fun at him whenever he complains about his back hehe

- when they finally emerge outside they find themselves in the middle of nowhere! they then hijack a passing pickup truck and do a roadtrip back to civilisation. ROAD TRIP FTW

- at this point, quite some time has already passed and ash even has a fuzzy beard and mane and all. he’s standing at the back of the truck with a small smile on his face and the wind blowing in his hair, thinking GONNA GO BACK AND SEE EIJI, MISS HIM LOADS, HELL YEA 

- (bonus: this song and this scene is the catalyst for this entire headcanon btw)

(drew this about a year ago. i was trying to imitate the manga’s art style... and the ash i had in my mind was a little different. i’m too lazy to redraw, but he’s fuzzier now okay! MORE FUZZ! like an actual freakin LION!)

- meanwhile, eiji and max will get into some deep shit around this point? 

- eiji in the pic above was me imagining that the Bad Guys had tossed some damning evidence (eg. severed body part?) on the ground like “ash’s dead/ash’s in a lot of danger now so hand over all the info u have”

- and eiji and max are like. SHOOKETH

- this would be the 3rd time ash has “died” after all, and as they say... 3rd time's the charm...

- eiji almost gives in, but then max spits in their face like fuck no and then... yeah. they get beat up and taken away or something lol

- EDIT: hmm... what if the Bad Guy is someone IN the government, and he uses his power to get eiji and max arrested for aiding and abetting a wanted fugitive (ash). and then ash has to rescue them... JAILBREAK STYLE

- also it might be cool to introduce ash's mom somewhere in this story... maybe SHE'S the villain! mwahaha *drama intensifies*

- anyways they will get saved by ash and gang bc that’s just the way things go, BUT! only on the condition they already made it out at least 80% of the way bc GODDAMN IT👏LET👏EIJI👏BE👏BADASS👏FOR👏ONCE👏 

- (that is, after he overcomes the initial shock of ash possibly being dead again... again...... again............)

- there will ofc be moments of “oh my god, you’re okay” "i thought i lost you...!"

- something like this, because one can never have enough cheesy reunion scenes

- this will eventually lead to REVELATIONS (of the romantic kind, yes) 

- buuuut they will never say "i love you" directly to each other bc ash is too emotionally constipated and eiji is too japanese. it's okay, they will communicate it through heated stares 👀

- i would love for there to be a scene where they have to be separated again for Plot Reasons and ash sorta hesitantly goes all "...will you wait for me?" as a direct parallel to canon!eiji's "i'll be waiting" and it’s like,

- FINALLY! 

- FINALLY!!!!!!!!!! ash has finally allowed himself to ask for this, to let himself want it! 

- and eiji would be like OF COURSE I WILL YOU BIG DUMMY, ALWAYS AND FOREVER

- but i think it'd be hilarious if eiji pops up while ash's in the middle of the final showdown and ash's like WTF I TOLD YOU TO WAIT FOR ME and eiji's like I WAS WORRIED OKAY YOU WERE TAKING SO LONG

- idk how this is supposed to end...

- oh wait! since the plot is government-related, maybe Someone will be able to pull strings to wipe out ash’s criminal record (past and present) and give him a brand new 100% legal identity, as thanks for his efforts? or maybe ash (or sing) just does it himself somewhere along the way LOL. anyway, he’ll be able to start over with a fresh clean slate and finally work on recovery FOR REAL NOW. yes this is a happy ending AND it didn’t require him to go to japan /flips off canon

- ...i realise it’s never going to be that simple but W H A T E V E R

- (also they probably will visit japan in the future with that shiny new passport... gotta meet the in-laws and all y’know)

- who do i gotta pay to write this cheesy self-indulgent fic for me

[craniumhurricane]

call me, baby, if you need a friend

Cleaning up some old WIPs. This has been in my drafts since end of season 2/around season 3.

Basically 4 times Clarke calls Bellamy and 1 time that Bellamy calls Clarke.

Thank you @casleyislove and @sushigirlali for always reading things before I post them!

[ On AO3! ]

___

(i)

It's a quiet night in at the Blake apartment. Or, at least, for Bellamy it is. He's having a nice Friday night by himself after surviving a truly grueling week of finals. Octavia tried to convince him to go out and celebrate the end of the semester the "right way," but he turned her down… he's still not quite sure how he managed to do that.

His feet are currently propped up on the coffee table with a large bowl of store brand cocoa puffs in his lap. Bellamy may be an adult but damn if he isn’t going to celebrate the end of the term with sugary cereal… nevermind that he didn’t actually make time to grocery shop this week. The TV was queued and ready for the marathon of Ancient Aliens episodes he’d missed due to studying, and he was just about to press play when he hears a short but insistent buzzing sound.  

Glancing around, his eyes land on Octavia’s phone sitting on the corner of the coffee table. She must have left it in her hurry to leave since she was running late to meet up with her boyfriend.

Bellamy keeps his eyes on it for a second before deciding to ignore it, and once again his finger hovers over the play button on the remote. Then the phone lights up again, this time with a phone call; a picture of Octavia and a curly haired blonde that he recognizes, the name CLARKE THE GRIFFIN flashing across the screen. He considers ignoring it for a second time but... if she’s resorting to actually calling instead of texting again then something could be seriously wrong.

Bellamy swipes his thumb across the screen to answer and brings the phone to his ear but before he can even say anything a voice on the other side interjects immediately.

“Men are dicks,” the woman says without preamble. “No! Worse than that. They're weird tumors that grow on dicks," she pauses, seems to think about it, and then adds, "Preferably life threatening.”

Bellamy blinks a few times before he answers, “I'm sure you're right, but don't you think that's a bit harsh?”

The line is quiet. He can hear her shifting the phone, no doubt checking the screen to make sure she called the right person.

“Octavia?”

“Bellamy.”

Clarke huffs. “Where's Octavia?” she snaps. He can hear the annoyance seeping into her tone, which in turn just makes him feel his own frustrations start to rise.

He tamps it down though. “On a date,” he answers.

She deflates at that, “Oh right. One month anniversary with Lincoln.”

He hums a confirmation and then they’re silent for a few minutes. So long that it’s Bellamy’s turn to look at the phone and make sure she’s still there. “Did you need something?” he asks once he sees that the call is still, in fact, in progress.

She takes a deep breath before answering, “I ended things with Finn tonight.”

Bellamy had only met Finn Collins a handful of times; the guy was fine except for a little cocky… and he always seemed to want to show off in front of pretty girls. His hair was too long and always styled like he was some kind of frat boy that came from big money even though Bellamy's 100% sure he never so much as pledged.

And then there was that one time he flirted with Octavia.

Ok, so Bellamy didn’t like the guy. But a break up is still a shitty thing to go through which is why he says, “I’m sorry,” and finds that he means it.

“Not your fault,” Clarke says immediately, “But I was kind of looking for someone to watch me binge drink and listen to me vent.”

He understands that, having gone through the same thing when he broke up with Roma at the start of the term. If you could really call them “hooking up occasionally” the same thing as dating, but still, getting drunk with Miller had been essential in the whole moving on process.

“You want to come over here anyway?” he offers carefully, casually. He doesn’t mind Clarke. She’s younger than him, around Octavia’s age. They aren’t exactly friends, but he would consider them a little more than acquaintances. Enough that it shouldn’t be too weird for him to invite her over even without his sister present. Plus, her getting drunk here is a better alternative than her getting drunk by herself in some bar.

“You don’t mind?” she asks and he thinks he hears relief in her voice, “I was kind of already on my way over to your guy’s place... I don’t really feel like going out and I really don't feel like being depressed and alone in my dorm right now.”

“Nah,” he says and then tries a joke to brighten her spirits, “Sounds like something fun to watch. I’ll order food.”

“Chinese would be great,” and he swears he can hear a smile in her voice so he’ll count his dumb joke as a victory. “Thanks, Bellamy, see you soon.”

He's not even a little bit mad about dumping out his now soggy cereal.

*

(ii)

“So, you’ve been in school for basically forever. Is it normal for a person to experience this amount of stress?”

Bellamy’s lips twitch as he holds his phone to his ear. After Clarke crashed his Friday night in, and spilled on the whole cheating Finn debacle while they did shots, Bellamy figured he should give her his own cell phone number. As much as he hated to admit it, and honestly he never will, his sister and her boyfriend were getting serious, so who knows how much Octavia would be available for late night bitchfests about significant others, fellow students, and the human population in general. Which were just a few of the topics they discussed that night. Hanging out with Clarke ended up being kind of fun, a better night than he originally planned. She even let him watch a little of his marathon and offered her own commentary. Bellamy would do it again… which is something else he would never admit.

It's not like they suddenly talk every day, but it’s a near thing. They would send each other the occasional text when one of them sees something that the other absolutely has to know about. Mostly, he gets pictures of old dogs she sees at the park, asking if this will be him in 20 years. Bellamy responds in kind with memes about college life and rubbing it in her face that they no longer apply to him since he graduated last semester.

But sometimes she reaches out to him if there is something particularly bothering her. Such as dealing with egotistical dickwads that consider themselves professors and shutting down female students in a male dominated class.

Clarke’s probably the only person that ever calls him and can never start the conversation with a simple ‘Hello’. Actually, she’s probably the only person that actually still calls him.

“I just got a job teaching so that insult isn't going to work anymore since I literally will be in a school as part of my job,” is his first response before he turns to one of concern, “Midterms got ya down?”

“It’s just,” she gives an exasperated sigh before continuing, “I want to do something that helps people, I know I want to help people… But maybe I don't want to help people the way my mom wants me to help people...ya know?”

“You’re going to have to give me more to go on here, Princess-”

“I’m thinking about switching my major,” she says abruptly, like she’s ripping off a band aid.

He’s silent, waiting to see if she’s going to say anything else. When it becomes clear she’s waiting for him to say something he responds honestly, “If being a doctor isn’t something you want to do, then you shouldn’t do it.”

“But-”

“What your mom wants you to do shouldn’t overrule what you want to do, Clarke,” he interrupts her. Due to the increasing amount of time he’s been spending with Clarke, he’s learned that the Griffins have always had a capital “P” Plan and he knows that Clarke has a hard time knowing when she can push the boundaries of said Plan.

She’s silent again and Bellamy’s starting to think he’s going to have to prod her a second time. He’s got the beginnings of his big speech all prepared when finally she speaks up. “I’m thinking about going into Art Therapy,” She says thoughtfully, “Or maybe teaching? Helping out underprivileged kids...or hell, even underprivileged adults. Or maybe something for the community?”

His lips twitch on another smile at hearing the beginnings of a hint of passion in her voice. “Teaching can be very rewarding,” he says magnanimously.

She snorts and it turns into a full laugh, “You haven't even started yet! It could be the worst thing you’ve ever done and a total waste of your degree.”

“Your confidence in me really is touching,” he deadpans and then adds simply, “You’re an amazing artist, Clarke. I think doing something with that could be something you'd enjoy and be really really good at.”

She’s quiet when she asks, “You think I’m amazing? You’ve never told me that.” And Bellamy swears he can hear that smile in her voice again. The one he always looks forward to. The one he tries to coax out of her without realizing he’s doing it.

He feels his cheeks start to heat up and even though she can't see him, he feels the need to brush it off. “Yeah, well, I generally try to be as dickish as possible so…”

She snorts again and damn if he didn’t feel a slight flutter in his chest.

“For the record, I think you’re going to be an amazing teacher,” she says it so matter-of-factly but he’ll have to dwell on it later because she sobers and then asks softly, “So, you think I should do it?”

It’s not hard for him to build her up. She spends so much time being there for the rest of their slowly merging friend groups that she rarely takes time to see the greatness in herself. He doesn’t mind helping.

“I think you should do whatever the hell you want.”

*

(iii)

“Women are worse than men.”

Bellamy rubs the sleep from his eyes and glances at the clock; it was almost 3 in the morning. “I thought men were tumors?” he asks around a yawn.

“Yeah, well, women can be tumors too,” Clarke huffs, but she just sounds tired, “Comparing people to tumors is equal opportunity. Strides in feminism are being made, didn’t you know?”

Bellamy pushes himself into a sitting position, suddenly more alert as he picks up the trace of tears in her voice. “You ok?” he asks.

Clarke is silent at first, but he waits her out, he knows that she’ll tell him. “Lexa broke up with me,” she says quietly and then adds in confusion, “Or we broke up with each other? I’m a little unsure. We spent the whole night arguing and then suddenly she was packing up her stuff.” She pauses before taking a shaky breath, “It’s over. We’re over.”

“I’m so sorry, Clarke.”

“She was leaving anyway,” she continues, bitterly, “Some new job. She was leaving in a few weeks and didn’t even bother to tell me. I told her we could make it work long distance, I was willing to try and make it work. That’s when the arguing started. Not just about that but about-,” Clarke abruptly cuts herself off and hesitates, “about... other things. Things I didn’t even know were an issue.” She’s quiet again before she adds, “She didn’t say it but I think she was disappointed that I never suggested going with her...”

The thought makes a quick flash of irritation run through him. “She wanted you to uproot your entire life and go with her,” he summarizes as he tries to adjust the pillows on his bed by beating them, maybe a little too roughly at the thought of her doing just that, before leaning back against them.

“Which is completely crazy, I know,” she hurries to say, “but I wish we could have talked about it.”

“I am sorry, Clarke,” he says again, “I know Lexa seemed like she was it for you.”

“But maybe she wasn’t?” Clarke counters as if trying to reason with herself. “I don’t know. We were both committed to each other, but maybe this was a sign that we weren’t going to be able to make it work long term?” She pauses and Bellamy can hear the gears in her head turning as she processes a way for her to handle this, too explain it to herself. “When we were together,” she hesitates before continuing, and he can imagine her biting her lip, “I was happy... but I felt like a separate version of myself, ya know? Still me, but not completely me?”

Bellamy chews on the words he wants to say and goes with, “Sometimes the person you're with can change you; it's not always a bad thing.” He gets quiet as he adds thoughtfully, “I like to think Gina made me a better person...and she probably did,” he pauses, this time unsure if he should keep going, but Clarke hasn't said anything, so she must be waiting for him to continue, “We tried, tried really hard, to make it work, but eventually you just realize that maybe the relationship isn't going anywhere and what’s best for everyone is just to call it.”

“Wait, you and Gina broke up?” Clarke asks in surprise, “When did that happen!?”

“That's what you got from that?” He rubs a hand over his face as he thinks about it, “About two weeks ago?”

“Shit,” she says and is quiet before asking in a small voice, “Why didn't you tell me?”

“Honestly, I haven't seen a whole lot of you these last few months,” he hears what he said and corrects himself, “We haven’t seen a whole lot of you.” He’s surprised at his ability to keep the bite out of his voice; because the truth was this last year has sucked since Clarke started dating Lexa.

They met at one of Clarke's art gigs. Lexa was cool; fun when she wanted to be, but also a little hard to be around. Most of the time, she seemed to prefer doing things without any of Clarke’s friends.

“I’m sorry,” Clarke says.

“It’s fine,” he answers her and means it. “Gina and I are still good friends.”

“I wasn’t talking about you and Gina,” she says, voice soft.

He realizes what she’s actually apologizing for and he doesn’t know what to say. Because of course he forgives her, he will always forgive her.

The silence lasts too long so he clears his throat and prompts, “Want to come over and get drunk?”

Her laugh through the phone breaks the tension, “It’s like 3 o'clock in the morning.”

“My bar is always open.”

She chuckles. “I really want to hit something,” she says with a determined edge to her voice, “Then maybe get drunk.”

“How about this, we get a few more hours of sleep, wake up at a normal time, and go hit something,” he offers and then adds as if it's an afterthought, “And then get drunk, of course.”

She laughs again, “Oh, of course.” There’s that smile. “I forgot what being single with you was like.”

Bellamy sobers at the thought. It has been awhile since the two of them were single at the same time. “Always here to help, Princess.”

*

(iv)

“Why did I agree to this trip again?”

He’s packing up the essays that are scattered across his desk when she calls, 4 o’clock on the dot. Bellamy tries to suppress a laugh but he’s pretty sure she can at least hear the teasing smile in his voice.

“Just getting back to the hotel?” he asks in lieu of his own greeting.

“Yes!” she exclaims in exasperation. “And if it were up to Josephine, we probably would have walked all of damn Paris tonight,” her voice gets muffled at the end and he can only assume she’s thrown herself face first onto the nearest bed. “I cannot wait for a shower- No! A bath, definitely taking a long, hot bath.”

And now the image of Clarke Griffin in the bath, with just enough bubbles to cover up to her chest, has entered his mind. He shoves it away before anymore thoughts can accompany it.

This used to never be a problem. Sure, he’s always known that Clarke is attractive, but he has never been attracted to her. But ever since he broke up with Gina and she broke up with Lexa, Bellamy has been exceedingly aware of the fact that they have both remained single.

The last time this happened was right after Finn.

Bellamy shakes his head for good measure before responding. “You’re going to fall asleep in the tub and your roommate will find your prune-y, wrinkled body in the morning.” He cringes.  Apparently he wasn’t able to get the image of her completely out of his head.

Clarke scoffs, but he can tell that it’s in an exasperated but fond kind of way. “How is it that you manage to be a buzzkill from over 4,000 miles away?” she asks drily and then pauses before adding, “Actually, Josie would probably just leave me in there for the entire trip and never let on that something was up.”

He turns the key to lock his office behind him and heads for the staff lot. “Don’t worry, if you don’t call to check in, I’ll call the National Guard,” he teases.

“I know you would,” she says simply, like it’s a known fact.

Things have been a little weird after he became aware that they were both single. Mostly because, he’s pretty sure that Clarke has also come to realize it. When he turns to look at her, he often finds her already looking. Their innocent touches are now more frequent and linger just a bit longer.

Bellamy has come to realize that he doesn’t want to be single and the reason he doesn’t want to be single is because he wants his best friend to not be single with him.

There’s just never a right time to tell her.

“So, what did you do today?” he asks.

Despite the exhaustion and jetlag that’s surly setting in, Clarke jumps into an animated retelling of the flight and arriving at their hotel room just in time to change clothes and head back out to walk the streets of Paris to get their bearings before their tours officially start tomorrow.

“I’m a little disappointed that we’re doing the Louvre first thing tomorrow. I was hoping to be a little more alert for that.”

“Your coffee addiction hasn’t stopped just because you’re in another country,” he points out as he gets in his car.

She laughs, “Jeez, you are such an ass.”

He starts the car but doesn’t leave just yet; afraid the long distance call will drop out.

“What are you doing now?” he asks into the comfortable silence.

“Admiring the view,” she admits softly. “It really is gorgeous all lit up. Makes me want to dig out my sketchbook.”

“You have a week, Princess,” he chuckles. “Don’t screw up your jetlag even more by losing track of time in your drawings on the first night.”

She’s quiet again before confessing softer somehow, “It also makes me wish you were here.”

His heart clenches in his chest and he wills himself to sound normal. “Maybe next time,” he tries for teasing but it comes out almost wistful.

“Next time, hmmm?” Clarke hums. “You’d come to Paris with me?” And he’s sure she’s flirting with him.

“Well, maybe not for our first date,” he says, “But maybe, like, our fifth or something.”

Clarke’s quiet for a long time and he’s afraid he’s overstepped, misread the room. He’s about to take it back, play it off as a joke when she finally speaks.

“And what would a first date look like?” she asks with what he thinks is hope in her voice.

He swallows a couple of times. “Well,” he starts, “Since you’re already getting some of the best museum experiences, I’d probably settle for dinner and a movie. Something cheesy that’s playing at the dollar theater; where we’re the only ones there and can yell at the screen.”

She chuckles and his heart flutters, “We already do that, Bell. Quite frequently, actually.”

“Yeah, but if it’s a date then I’d get to kiss you at the end of it.”

“What? No making out during the movie?” she asks and he can picture how cute her face gets when she pouts.

A grin spreads across his face and he’s grateful no one can see how goofy he must look.

“We’ll have to make sure it’s a really bad movie.”

*

(+i)

Clarke rubs some moisturizer on her face before capping the tube and tossing it into her bag on the bed. After ensuring that everything she’s going to need for tomorrow is packed, she zips it up and grabs one of Bellamy’s hoodies to slip on over her clothes.

Ever since he picked her up from the airport when she got back from her trip to Paris, and she ran directly into his arms, giving the other people waiting quite a show, there always seems to be one laying around, waiting for her to find it. She assumes that he gets as much of a thrill out of her wearing them as she does.

She heads down the stairs of their townhouse, passing various pictures and artwork, and shoots Raven one more text not to forget to bring her dress to the venue tomorrow. She’s supposed to help her get ready in the morning along with her mother. In the meantime, Abby has sent a car to pick her up and take her to the hotel. Easier to get ready if she’s already there for the stylist… something else her mother insisted on paying for. No matter how many times Clarke told her she didn’t care what her hair looked like because she was marrying the love of her life.

Clarke locks up the house and greets the driver, slipping into the backseat. She intends to spend the ride lost in thought, going through the checklists that were running through her head.

Their engagement had been on the short side but she didn’t mind. They were both ready to get on with this next chapter in their lives.

Her phone is resting loosely in her hand, face down on her knee, when it starts to vibrate with an incoming call. She holds her breath for a second, praying it isn’t the florist or the caterers. But when she sees the photo of her and Bellamy from New Year’s flash on the screen, she can’t help but smile.

She taps the button and greets him with a sultry, “Hi, handsome.”

“Hey,” he says and she can tell he has a soft smile on his face, the one just for her. “You just leave the house?”

“Yep. On my way to the hotel now, so hopefully you haven’t forgotten anything because it’s too late now.”

“The most important thing is already on its way,” he responds with a teasing lilt.

Clarke can’t help the sharp laugh that escapes her lips, “Oh my god! You are such a sap!”

“I was referring to the ring, obviously, Princess.”

“Oh, obviously,” she says, mock serious.

They chuckle to themselves for a few minutes and she honestly can’t tell if the driver is rolling his eyes or thinks they’re being cute from hearing one side of the conversation.

Bellamy sobers up first only to let out a groan. “I hate whose ever idea this is,” he whines.

“Aren’t you the history professor? Shouldn’t you know where common traditions and such come from?”

He scoffs, “No, I mean I hate whichever of our friends is making us do this.”

The two of them haven’t seen each other since yesterday morning, him having been spirited off by his groomsmen while she was left to spend last night alone in their bed. And now they’re meant to go one more night without seeing each other.

To Bellamy’s point, Clarke isn’t altogether sure why this is a tradition anymore, nor why they are choosing to follow this particular one. She and Bellamy aren’t even that superstitious! And yet somehow they were talked into spending the days leading up to their wedding apart.

“Ah,” she answers him now, “That would be Raven and Miller. Although, I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with marriage traditions and has everything to do with getting back at us for making out in front of them so much.”

Bellamy scoffs again, “Well, jokes on them, because after tomorrow, I don’t ever have to stop kissing you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she says, “We’ll have to come up to eat at some point.”

The driver pulls up under the awning of the hotel and Clarke gets out and grabs her bag before he’s able to get out and grab it for her. She gives him a wave and a simple thank you before heading through the sliding doors.

“How’s your room?” she asks into the phone as she bypasses the check in desk, her mother having already checked her in and given her the key card to her room this morning when they were getting their nails done.

He heaves a deep sigh. “Lonely,” he answers as she steps into the elevator. From what Clarke knows from his texts, Miller dropped him off here last night and left him to his own devices. Apparently, the best man gets to sleep next to his husband but Bellamy wasn’t allowed to sleep next to his soon-to-be wife.

She makes a split second decision and presses a different button, jolting the elevator to stop sooner than intended. When she steps off she casually offers, “I could help with that.”

“Oh yeah?” He chuckles. “You going to describe for me what you’re wearing?”

“Hmm,” she hums as if she’s considering it. “I could do that… but I was more thinking that I could show you.”

Clarke stops in front of a door and gives it a nice rhythmic knock.

She doesn’t have to wait long before it’s opening and Bellamy is standing in front of her with his phone against his ear and a huge grin on his face.

She lowers her own phone from her ear, pressing the end button without looking.

“Hi, handsome,” she manages before he’s pulling her into his room.

[nachohypno]

Nate and Dave Ch. 2

Needless to say, I kept the jock with me for the night.

We had dinner at my place (Mom was very surprised to see me hanging out with a guy from the football team. We had to make up something about being together for a project and befriending each other) and I tried to examine Dave’s behavior as much as I could.

How many persons can say that they had dinner with a werewolf? 

He seemed to eat like a bodybuilder in a bulk while training for a tournament (I’m sort of interested in those topics, so I know what I’m talking about).

We just did some casual chat with my mom, until we finished and went back to my room. I closed the door and looked at the jock on the center of the room. “Hey” He said with a smile.

“Got a few more questions about the… werewolf thing” I went straight ahead to the interesting topic.

“You sure it’s safe to talk about it here?” He said, looking over my shoulder, probably checking if the door was closed.

“Yeah, the walls are good” I said. Mom wouldn’t hear anything unless the door was opened, which wasn’t. “So tell me, are your parents werewolves too?”

He nodded. I walked over to the bed and sat down again as he explained “Yeah. I’m a purebred, both dad and mom are werewolves” He said, quite proudly.

“But don’t you guys have to find your soulmate?” It didn’t really make sense.

“Well, yes and no. It’s kinda a random thing? Like, some of us don’t really have a soulmate to give themselves to, so they chose to be together on their own” Ouch, that sounded like he didn’t really want to be with me. He noticed and quickly retracted though. “Meanwhile, I want to give myself in mind and body to you, for some reason. And I’m loving it, bro!”

It wasn’t as complicated as I thought it was. But I still had some questions.

“What about full moon? Do you have to… chain yourself or something?”

He laughed “Movies don’t really do me justice, huh?” I raised an eyebrow and waited for more explanation. “I just change to my werewolf form, nothing painful or anything. Just a pain in the ass if you want to fuck your girl at that night but they can’t know about your nature”

I opened my eyes, a bit surprised “Can I see your werewolf form?”

He nodded, happily “Yeah, bro! But you may want to lock your door, just in case”

I went and locked it from the inside. This was going to be really epic and mom couldn’t know about this.

Dave looked over at me and took a deep breath “Wait, bro. May I take off my clothes first? I really like this shirt”

“Uh… Sure?” Were his clothes going to be ripped apart if he changed to his werewolf form while dressed?

He took off his letterman jacket and his shirt, revealing his sculpted body. He was hairy, but that wasn’t a surprise. His torso had a small amount of hair. He probably tried to keep himself smooth, but couldn’t? God, I had so many questions.

He kept undressing, until he dropped his underwear. I noticed he was hard. I remember he said he enjoyed obeying me, and that it made him happy. Never thought it would make him this happy.

I whistled a bit at his looks. He blushed and gave me a sincere smile. “Like what you see, bro?”

“Can’t lie, I really do” I said, returning the smile.

He chuckled, but his expression turned a bit sad “Please, don’t be afraid of me, bro. I won’t be able to handle seeing my love afraid of me”

“I’ve asked you to transform, so don’t worry” I wanted to sound brave, but it was actually unnerving.

Dave remained still for a few seconds, when I noticed his corporal hair started to grow. His head also changed, the lower part resembling more and more to a wolf snout rather than a normal human head. With where his human nose used to be morphing into a dark brown spot.

The snout was brown while his body got light brown hair all over it. It didn’t seem painful at all, like he just concentrated and zoned out while his body morphed. Maybe it was magic?

His ears got pointy, like that of a Hylian, from Zelda. His brows grew thicker, and his eyes grew a bit too, they also remained blue. His short hair got a bit longer too, and messier.

Shoulders grew wider. His body was now completely covered in fur, ranging from lighter brown tones at the front to darker tones at the side and back of the wolf-jock.

His hands got those paw pads, and his nails turned into claws.

Needless to say, his cock also grew a few inches, and surprisingly that zone had shorter to no hair.

That’s a good wolfie.

A tail appeared at the start of his butt cheeks, which made me chuckle a bit. He didn’t even notice; he was like in a trance during his whole morphing process. He didn’t look THAT menacing either. It was like some kind of… humanoid wolf. Or a furry, if you prefer that way.

He looked cute.

When it was over, he smiled. Or what seemed like a smile. Four fangs where visible on his mouth, and just like I said before, I found it cute.

“Well?” He asked “How do I look?” His voice sounded a bit deeper and rougher than before.

I walked up to him and hugged him. He was like a human (really tall human) sized plushy bear and I loved it.

He hugged me back, I could feel the nervousness fading from him as he pressed me tighter. “You’re really cute” I told him after breaking the hug.

“That wasn’t… what I expected, but thanks bro. I’m so happy you don’t mind me being…” He pointed at his body “…Like this”

I admired his body frame a bit more before returning to my senses. “D-did… Did it hurt? It seemed like you zoned out while you transformed”

He shook his head, like it was the most usual topic in the world “Uh, no. It only hurts for those who have killed off another person. It’s a kind of punishment, you break the rules and you pay for your entire life”

I nodded. A bit dark, not exactly what I was expecting but still, it made sense.

I looked at the discarded clothes on the floor “Did you get naked to avoid ripping your clothes?”

He looked at the clothing at the ground and proceeded to grab it all “Uh… Kinda. I can wear clothes, but I’m afraid to rip them off when my body grows to the werewolf form” He put on his letterman jacket, but left it unbuttoned.

You could still see his ripped abs and pecs. I passed a hand over them and noticed him smiling.

“You’re cute too, bro” Then he snorted “Thought it would be weird. Saying that to another guy, but it feels right when I’m with you”

I gave him a kiss on the cheek. I don’t think we could make out if he had a wolf snout. May try someday, but not today.

Just then, I noticed his cock was still hard. The foreskin was the same color than the light brown hair at the front of the guy, meanwhile the actual cock contrasted with a strong red-pink.

“Hey, touch me if you want. I belong to you, remember? In mind and body”

Seeing Dave, the star quarterback from high school, telling me that he wanted to be played with was amazing.

I’m a virgin, and I don’t think I’m ready to be with another guy yet. I would like to wait some time, but… a hand job doesn’t count, right?

I gave his cock a few strokes, and noticed he started panting. Tongue lolling out again and eyes unfocused.

“You like that, don’t you big boy?” Would he like being talked to like a dog? I mean, he acted like one already.

“Yeah bro… keep going…” he panted, in pleasure.

“You want to be a good puppy boy, isn’t that right?”

“Yeah… a good puppy boy…”

I let go of his cock. I had an idea.

I went over to my closet as he returned to his senses, snapping out of what seemed to be a relaxed state. “Did I say something wrong, bro?” He asked, with a sad tone.

“No! You were perfect! But…” Got it!

Inside a box in my closet, I had stuff from when I was little. One of those things was my old dog’s collar. His name was Donut (Rest in peace).

A red collar with a little tag. I removed the tag and showed the collar to Dave. It didn’t fit his style at all… We’ll go buy some puppy stuff tomorrow.

He was a bit confused, but stood still as I put the collar around his neck and buckled it in a way that would be comfortable to him and would also stay in place.

“And… done” I mumbled. I looked up at him. “Comfortable?”

He moved his neck for a few seconds before nodding “Yeah, pretty cool. Is it a gift? From the love of my life?” He asked, excitedly.

“Unfortunately, no. It’s from my old dog, but I’ll buy you one tomorrow if you want a gift.”

He immediately gave me a hug “I want to kiss you but I can’t”

I laughed “Easy puppy, sit down”

He let go of the hug and sat down on the floor, looking up at me.

I petted him “Good boy, now human time!” He nodded and stood still as the morphing started again, but this time in reverse.

His snout went back in as his head returned to the normal Dave. His fur… vanished? It started to grow shorter until it was just like before. Dave’s shoulders got reduced too.

The pads at his hands disappeared, and the claws turned back into normal human nails.

He was again the human, naked jock, with an open letterman jacket showing off his pecs and abs and a dog collar around his neck.

As soon as his morph finished, he got up and leaned towards me, grabbing my face and pulling me into a warm make out session.

His hard cock was still leaking pre. Again, he noticed me looking and said “I’m okay if you want to have sex. Done it a lotta times and I would focus on making ya feel good, bro”

I shook my head “Not ready yet” Grabbed his underwear and passed it to him. He took the message and wore it back on. I assumed he was a bit disappointed because of the lack of sex.

“Did you tell your parents you’re staying the night? I’m worried that they’ll think someone caught you or anything” I was mostly scared about a possible couple of werewolves tracking me down because of their son.

“Did back at the dinner, also thought about breaking up with Leslie but…” he shrugged “I would be a real asshole if I broke with her via message”

I nodded, turned off the light and got on the bed.

He just stood there, then laid down on the floor. His dog manners were a mix of cute and weird, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.

“What are you doing? Get on the bed, Dave” I told him.

He got up immediately with a big smile and climbed the bed, laying down next to me. (He was actually bigger than me and pressed me against the wall. It was warm, though).

“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, I’ll make up for it, bro” He pulled me closer to him and I laid my head in the space between his shoulder and his pec. “I love you”

I still didn’t know how I felt about the jock. I mean, yeah. He is hot, and we’re supposed to be soulmates but… “Sleep” I said.

Just like if I pressed some kind of shut down button, he gave me a last smile before falling asleep, complete with an almost silent snoring and everything.

I didn’t know how I felt about this whole situation.

To summarize, and see if I got everything correctly. One of my classmates, and one of the hottest guys around school, is a werewolf. Not only that, but he has to do everything I say, without any limits at all. He’ll also do it in complete bliss because he’s my soulmate…

Does that mean he’s the only love I’ll be able to have, or something like that?

I remember him being really asshole-ish to everyone, a guy who wouldn’t hesitate about beating up a nerd who didn’t comply to what he said, or a gay dude just for being gay.

He never got to me, luckily, I just heard rumors.

But he wasn’t lying, and this seemed real enough. I even saw him transforming in front of me, twice.

A lot to process, I guess. Maybe this is all a dream? It couldn’t be, as I said I just watched him transform in front of me.

I hope things get clearer tomorrow, for now I just want to sleep.

I closed my eyes and cuddled with the jock, quickly drifting off.

---

Next morning, I noticed Dave was hugging me as we cuddled together.

Good thing that it’s Saturday, I still haven’t figured out how things are going to be at school. Having some time to think was really nice.

I opened my eyes and found the guy staring at the ceiling. I bopped his cheek and he turned his face to me.

“Oh, you’re awake bro” He smiled “Morning”

I yawned “Good… morning. How long have you been awake?” I said, as I tried to stretch, but the werewolf apparently wasn’t going to get his arms off me. “And could you give me a bit of space?”

He nodded, and he got up from the bed. That wasn’t what I meant but it was still appreciated. “Uh... I don’t know, bro. A while?” He scratched his head. I noticed he still had the dog collar on and it made me smile.

Just like yesterday, his cock seemed to be hard again. Was this going to be a normal thing? I heard jocks are horny all the time, so maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with him being a werewolf?

“Can you turn your morning wood off? It’s sort of making me nervous” I said.

Surprisingly, his cock got soft almost immediately. I looked up at him his eyes were a bit unfocused again, with his trademarked idiot smile on his face.

Great, I can also control his hard-ons. “There’s really no limit to my control over you, right?”

Dave snapped out of his… whatever that was, and looked down at me. “You’ve seen it yourself, bro” He started, as I sat on the bed. “You have complete control over me, as my lovely soulmate”

I rubbed my eyes for a bit. This was really happening; it wasn’t just a weird dream.

The almost naked werewolf jock was really standing in front of me, talking normally about me being his soulmate and controlling his mind and body. “Am I making you uncomfortable, bro?” He asked again, with the same sad tone from last night.

“Why do you think that?”

“You don’t seem happy to have me around” He got on his knees in front of me, giving me puppy eyes. He looked so cute. “I’m serious, bro. I love you, but if you want me to stop bothering you…” He looked at the door for a second before looking back at me with his sad gaze.

I sighed and scratched behind his ear again. It was the sweet spot, his eyes unfocused again and his tongue lolled out. I don’t know if he was voluntarily acting like a dog, but I liked it.

After I stopped scratching, he returned to his senses and I told him “Don’t worry about that. Just… forget about it, alright?”

His eyes got glassy for a few seconds, then he answered “What were we talking about?”

Wow. That was actually scary and amazing. I think I should really think my words before speaking to him.

“Breakfast” I lied “We should go down and get some” I looked at the watch on my wrist and noticed it was quite early, 9 am. We had a lot of time for the shenanigans I could try with my new werewolf pet.

He nodded and headed for the door, but I stopped him. “Wait!” I said, reaching out to him. I unbuckled the red dog necklace around his neck. “There, and put on some clothes before going downstairs”

I knew mom would go to work in a few hours, but in the meantime, I had to follow the rules of not going downstairs almost naked.

He stared at the necklace until I placed it back on the box where I grabbed it from, like he grew to like it the few hours he had it on.

Or maybe he just liked being treated like a dog by his soulmate?

He put his pants back on, and his tee, before we both walked downstairs and to the kitchen.

He offered to cook something for me, but I refused. I could use having him around more often to do my tasks, but I still wanted to process everything I learned so far.

Besides, he’s not my… servant, of sorts. He’s my classmate, and he has feelings. Even if he gives me full control of his whole self, I still choose to respect him.

I wondered if he needed to eat like a beast, but since I didn’t want him to cook for me, he settled for cereal as breakfast.

“So, I don’t want to head home yet” He said, before taking a spoonful of cereal with milk. “What would you like to do, bro? Just say it and we’ll do it”

I thought about it, and I think I should buy him a real gift after not giving him Donut’s collar last night.

--- 

We walked through the shopping street. Dave drove us here after finishing with breakfast.

I liked this place, it was crowded yeah, but it had a lot of interesting stuff to do. The arcade was my favorite place. Pizza and videogames, I felt like a little child in there.

But it’s not what I’ve came here for.

Dave put his arm around my shoulder, causing me to shiver a bit and almost fall to the floor because of the weight. 

Still not used to his werewolf strength, and he mumbled a "Sorry, I'm too excited, bro" after controlling himself.

We went to the local pet shop and were greeted by a nice guy, who seemed my age. I hoped he didn’t attend my school, this was a big town, after all. What are the chances?

I told him we just wanted to look around, because I wanted to buy some stuff for my new dog at home.

Dave smiled and caressed my shoulder a bit when I said that, but remained calm.

We went through the store’s shelves, looking for cool stuff for my new friend. 

I noticed a bowser collar (A black, leather collar with little spikes around it) and decided to grab one, after checking the measures. 

Mostly because the guy just shown to be pretty big heavy and almost crushed me by putting his arm around my shoulders? Yeah.

I also got a leash. I don’t think I would be able to use it, since a high school student taking one of his classmates out for a walk wouldn’t be well seen around the neighborhood. But we could probably make up something on my room, after I opened up a bit more.

Dave offered to pay for the stuff, but I decided to not be a jerk and pay for it myself. We walked outside with a bag, and Dave couldn’t hold himself back.

He grabbed me and gave me a tight hug, leaving me almost breathless.

“Thank you so much, bro! You’re the best soulmate I could’ve ever imagined to have!” He said after releasing me from the hug.

I tried to breathe a bit, before answering “But I just bought dog stuff to you, don’t you care that I’m treating you like some kind of dog?”

He shook his head, still smiling “Of course not! I live to serve my soulmate! If you want me to wear dog stuff, I’m alright with that, bro!”

He lifted his hand for a high five, but my reflexes made me take a step back. He noticed this, and said “Bro?”

I got back to my senses and high fived with him, making him smile again.

“I love you, bro” He said, giving a little kiss to my head as we walked back to his car.

----

Chapter 3 is already available in my Patreon!  And by pledging you also get access to other stories before they go public!

[amys-snapshots]

All of them for Cail 👀 fight me.

Yo 💀 This took ages, lol. But, I suppose I should thank ya because my mans has been somewhat of a mystery unintentionally.

1. Who do they look up to?

Cailean’s always aspired to be like his father: a good, honest, hard-working family man. So the obvious answer is his father.

2. Who do they look to for guidance?

Because his father has passed away, his mother. He also occasionally seeks counsel from his friends like Gus or Chad, and more recently, Aislyn. But if he still could, he’d go to his dad.

3. What would it take for them to betray the person they love?

Absolutely nothing. It’s not in Cailean’s nature to betray. Ironically, he himself has been betrayed by someone he loved, and had quite a tough time. It’s why he feels very strongly about secrets and lies.

4. Who is someone they’ve hurt?

My mans is a boy scout. He cherishes his relationships, romantic or otherwise, and is quick to apologize if he feels he’s done something wrong. He does, however, have a bad habit of cutting people out of his life if they’ve crossed him. And though those people deserve it, the action may have hurt them.

5. What is a secret that they have?

This would be considered a spoiler if I didn’t already mention it on here, but on the night Cailean’s father passed away they got into a fight. Cailean said something he regrets to him, and no one, not even his mother, knows about that whole situation. It’s something he’s ashamed of.

6. Would they trust anyone with their secret?

Yes; since it’s something that eats away at Cailean in the back of his mind, he wants to get it off of his chest eventually. And if/when he does, it will most likely be to the woman he loves - once that wall currently between them comes down.

7. Any family scandals? Does your character know about them?

Sort of. As his mother, Daphne, is the current police commissioner, there was an incident in which a newscaster did a piece accusing Mrs. DeCarlo of corruption. Cailean, and the rest of the town, were well aware of it, though it was ultimately unfounded.

8. Is there anyone that they currently aren’t speaking to? Why?

Yes. His ex-girlfriend, because of the aforementioned betrayal. What exactly it is that she did shall come up at a later time.

9. What is something that would break them emotionally?

If he were to tragically lose his mother as he had his dad. Cailean’s an only child, and as most of his relatives live out of the country, he’d feel quite lonely. Because his mother’s line of work is so dangerous, the thought is something that sadly crosses his mind from time to time.

10. Sacrifice the one to save many, or save the one no matter the cost?

Because a lot of the people in Cailean’s life are extremely selfless, he’d probably feel compelled to do whatever it takes for them because he knows they wouldn’t do so for themselves. So he’d save the one, no matter the cost.  

11. Do they have any illnesses?

Nope.

12. What is the fastest way to upset them?

Lie. So ironic considering who he’s dating, I know.

13. What is something that makes them uncomfortable?

Cailean’s pretty comfortable discussing everything; he doesn’t shy away from discussing aspirations and fears. The only thing that causes him to tense up are a handful of specific incidents involving his parents; his father’s accident and mother’s scandal being some of them. He won’t flat out refuse to discuss them, but he will be initially uncomfortable at the conversation before relaxing the longer he talks.

14. What is something that never fails to make them excited?

Whether it be a new piece of equipment, or a new scenic location he can take photos in, anything related to photography will put Cailean in very high spirits.  

15. Have they ever had their hair washed by another person?

As his buddy Chad is a hair stylist, he’s had his hair washed, cut, and styled for him before. He doesn’t experiment much with his look though.

16. What is the most romantic thing someone has done for them?

Recently, Aislyn took it upon herself to surprise him for his birthday and Valentine’s Day. She made him a home cooked meal, they watched a movie, and he received several gifts. Cailean doesn’t care much for overly grandiose, expensive, gestures, and finds meaning in the littlest of things so suffice to say, he was very touched.  

17. Who is their favorite person(s) to spend time with?

Aislyn. Despite her rather frustrating tendencies, they have a lot of common interests which makes their conversations often lengthy and always enjoyable.

18. Neck kisses or shoulder kisses?

Neck kisses.

19. How do they feel about public displays of affection?

Cailean doesn’t mind or shy away from them. He won’t hesitate to reach for a hand, or go in for a kiss towards whomever he’s dating, regardless of who’s around or where they are.

20. Would they be the one to propose, the one hoping for a proposal, or no interest in marriage/the equivalent thereof?

Cailean’s very into the prospect of getting married and having a family. Once he feels he, and his partner, are at a place where they’re ready for it, he won’t hesitate to propose.

21. Do they prefer giving or receiving gifts?

Giving. Aside from birthday presents, Cailean’s quite bashful about receiving things, especially if he feels he hasn’t done anything to deserve it. On the other hand, he’s quick to buy things for others. He often thinks of his friends and family, and tends to buy things he knows they’d like, or things that just remind him of them.

22. How indecisive are they?

Not at all; he knows what he wants and what he likes.

23. What do they want most in life?

A family, and to be a father. He’d love to have a lot of kids - if his future wife is capable and on board, of course.

24. What do they think they’re good at, but aren’t?

Cailean’s very self-aware. He knows his strengths and weaknesses, and doesn’t pretend to be confident in something he knows he’s no good at.

25. What is something they think they’re bad at, but are actually pretty competent at?

Painting. Because Cailean takes so many pictures of real life settings, he thinks his paintings pale in comparison to nature’s beauty, but in reality, he’s not that bad.

26. What is something they’re legitimately bad at?

Anything music-related, whether it be remembering lyrics, playing an instrument or singing, he’s very aware that he’s not a musician by any means. Except for dancing, that he’s alright at.

27. Do they have any cool scar stories?

Nah, his body is bare, lol.

28. When left to their own devices, how would they spend a free day?

On a free day, Cailean would tinker with his camera, pack a picnic basket, invite out his girlfriend, and go out to a remote location with a pretty view or landscape. He’d spend the day photographing her, the scenery, and the changing sky.

29. What do they do to relax?

To unwind he’ll read a novel, or eat sweets.

30. What is their ideal sleeping situation?

On his side, preferably being big spoon, hehe.

31. Do they have a comfort food?

Cailean has a sweet tooth, so he enjoys anything warm and rich. He’d particularly enjoy chocolate pecan pie with vanilla bean ice cream.

32. What is their favorite thing to drink?

As he is Italiano, the obvious answer is coffee in various forms.

33. Do they have a signature accessory?

As of now, no.

34. How do they generally wear their hair?

On the longer side, but short of being considered medium length. At home he lets it hang loose, and at work or on a day out, he styles it back with some pomade.

35. What color would they paint their nails?

As he is a guy, he doesn’t - not to reinforce gender norms - but if he did, he’d probably put something blue like the sky and ocean he enjoys looking at so much.

36. Are there any holidays or celebrations they dislike?

Nope, the DeCarlos are all about family time and celebrations.

37. Are there any holidays or celebrations that they go all in for?

Thanksgiving. Cailean’s father has passed his culinary skills onto him, so you can expect him to prepare quite a colorful, flavorful, plentiful feast.

38. How would you describe their decorating sense?

Very rustic. Lots of wood and warm tones like orange, gold, brown and cream. Expect lots of lights, plants and paintings, as well as photographs taken by Cailean himself.

39. Would they rather have a picnic in the woods or a picnic on the beach

Cailean loves his trees and his oceans equally, so the winner will be the woods by a very slim margin because of the less populated setting; he enjoys some peace and quiet.

40. Blanket fort or tree house?

Tree house.

[the-precious-peter-parker]

Day 6: Swimming/Hurt/Comfort

Harley couldn’t wait for summer break to come so he and Peter could stay at the lake house and spend more time together. It had already been decided that Peter would meet Harley, Pepper, Tony, and Morgan at the cabin as soon as the second week of summer began. Harley wanted him to come the first week but he understood that Peter wanted to spend some time relaxing and hanging out with his Aunt May.

Harley practically goes stir crazy while waiting for Peter to arrive at the cabin. He spends most of his time playing games with Morgan to keep himself distracted from how much he misses his boyfriend.

-

By the time that the second week of summer rolls everyone in the lake house is sick of hearing Harley complain about being bored and missing Peter. Everyone is pleased to hear the sound of a car pulling up outside because it means that Harley will stop moping around and complaining to anyone who will listen.

Harley bolts out the front door to go greet Peter while everyone else waits inside to let the boys have a moment alone together. Happy trudges inside with Peter’s suitcase and gives Tony an exasperated look.

“I might lose my mind if I hear one more story of how the kid misses Harley’s accent or Harley’s cuddles or Harley’s anything!” He grumbles. “I even rolled up the divider between us and he just kept knocking and asking when we’d be here because he didn’t know how much longer he could go without a hug from Harley!”

Tony just shakes his head fondly and peaks outside to see the boys clutching onto each other as if they hadn’t seen each other in years. “Trust me, Harley wasn’t any better. He kept flopping over on the couch melodramatically and acting as if he were dying from lack of seeing Peter.”

Morgan nods in affirmation and explains how Harley would complain that Peter wasn’t at Morgan’s tea party with him or that Peter wasn’t playing hide and go seek with them or swimming in the lake with them.

-

Harley pulls Peter into a tight embrace as soon as he makes it outside. Peter just laughs happily and scoops Harley up into a bear hug.

“I missed you...” Peter whines and then pouts childishly. Harley just rolls his eyes and kisses Peter softly before pulling away. Peter follows Harley as he pulls away and steals one more sweet kiss before allowing his boyfriend to truly pull back.

“Come on! Hurry up! Lets get your things put away so that we can catch up on cuddles, kisses, and hugs.” Harley says as he drags Peter into the house. He lets out an exasperated groan when Tony stops him from dragging Peter to his room.

“Harley I get that you’re happy to see Peter but at least give us the chance to say hi to him before you drag him off to do god knows what.” Tony rolls his eyes and gives Peter a little side hug but Peter pulls him back in for a real hug.

Peter drops down to one knee to hug Morgan as she comes running over to him. She giggles happily as Peter scoops her up and then sounds her around. “I missed you.” She grumbles and wraps her arms around his neck.

“I missed you too but don’t worry, I’ll be spending the next month here with you and Harley and Tony and Pepper.” He assures her and holds her close for another moment before setting her down and moving on to greet Pepper.

“Okay, you’ve had your chance to say hi. I’ll now be taking my boyfriend to get settled and then later on we’re gonna take a dip in the lake.” Harley huffs and resumes dragging Peter to his room.

-

Peter is nudged awake by Harley a few hours later. The pair had fallen asleep, cuddled close together on Peter’s bed. The smaller boy whines softly and tries to hide his face again Harley’s chest and go back to sleep but Harley has other plans for them. Harley nudges Peter again which results in the other rolling over to face away from Harley and try to curl up and go back to sleep again.

“Peter please, I just want to go swimming with you for a little bit. We can cuddle and nap again after but it is going to get dark in like two hours and you know Tony won’t let us swim out there unsupervised while it’s dark and I really don’t want him interrupting our time together.” Harley whines and nudges Peter over and over again until the other finally lets out a whiny grumble of agreement.

“Okay fine! Stop pushing me. I’m awake already.” Peter whines and slowly sits up against his headboard. He blearily rubs the sleep from his eyes and yawns, his adorableness has Harley’s heart clenching and he feels slightly guilty for making Peter get up. His guilt vanishes when Peter pulls off his t-shirt and Harley catches a glimpse of his abs. “Well, are you just gonna sit here after you made me get up or are you going to go get changed into your swim trunks?” Peter asks and throws his shirt at Harley’s face. He just laughs as Harley mutters something unintelligible before heading to his own room to get changed.

-

The teens meet each other out by the lake less than ten minutes later and Peter takes his turn staring at his boyfriend’s abs. “You’re looking good Keener. I can tell that you’ve kept up with the training schedule that Nat gave you.” Peter smiles and stands on his tip toes to give Harley a quick kiss before beginning to wade into the lake. He recoils at first but pushes himself to continue on a little further into the water.

“Is it honestly that cold?” Harley asks as he makes his way to the dock, preferring the just jump in method to the gradually getting used to the water method that Peter is using. He doesn’t wait for Peter’s reply, instead he jumps off the edge of the dock and swims over to meet his doe-eyed boyfriend. “Sweetheart come on in already, it’s not even that cold.” Harley laughs and gently takes Peter’s hands to lead him further out into the water.

Peter lets Harley lead him out into the deeper water toward the center of the lake and after a few more minutes of getting used to the water Peter finds the temperature bearable. He grins at Harley and takes off toward the far side of the lake, “Race ya there!” He yells over his shoulder and just laughs when he hears Harley’s complaints about cheating, head starts, and super strength making him have super speed while swimming.

Peter is making his way back across the lake before Harley can even make it to far end. He decides to try and catch Peter instead of making it to the end of the lake and turns back to swim after his boyfriend. Once he’s close enough to tackles Peter under the water with a playful shout.

-

Peter isn’t sure what happened, one moment he was racing Harley across the lake and the next he’s being plunged under the water. His mind hurls him into a memory and all he can think about his the parachute that is encasing him. His limbs are stuck and he can’t swim to the surface. He’s drowning, he’s going to drown all because the vulture dropped him into a lake and his parachute got stuck around him.

He struggles to free himself from the weight that is dragging him down and in a moment f panic he tries to scream and call out for help but ends up sucking in a lungful of water instead. It feels as though his lungs are burning, he desperately needs air but still can’t seem to free himself and kick to the surface. Finally someone has come to his rescue and he gets pulled up out of the water and he barely manages to register that it’s Harley carrying him out of the lake and not Tony this time.

-

Harley feels Peter struggle in his arms and he holds his boyfriend close to keep him from swimming to the other side of the lake and officially beating him in the race. It only takes him a moment longer that Peter isn’t kidding around and something is seriously wrong.

Peter is sinking down further into the lake and his movements are short as though he’s truly trapped by Harley’s arms which he knows is not really the case. Harley lets go for a moment hoping that Peter would swim up to the surface when he realized he was free. When Peter just continues to struggle under the water and even gulps down a lungful of water in his panic Harley knows that he needs to get his boyfriend out of the water.

He grabs Peter around the waist and kicks as hard as he can toward the more shallow area of the lake. Once he’s reached a place where he can stand up he scoops Peter up in his arms bridal style and races out of the water and toward the house. He screams for help before laying Peter down in the grass. He rolls his shivering boyfriend onto his side and is relieved when Peter easily coughs up the water he’d accidentally breathed in.

“I’m so sorry Peter. I promise you’re gonna be okay. You’re safe. You’re alright and you’re not wherever your mind took you. You’re at the lake house with me and Tony and Morgan and Pepper. You’re okay just please breathe for me baby.” Harley rambles and rubs his hand up and down Peter’s back.

Tony comes sprinting out of the house and Pepper follows shortly behind him, carrying two fluffy towels in her arms. Tony drops to his knees besides Peter and immediately cards his hands through his hair.

“Kid listen to me, you’re alright. You’re not back in that lake that the Vulture dropped you in. He’s still locked up kid. You’re safe. I promise you’re safe.” He coos and glances over to Harley. “You’re safe here with me and Harley who feels really guilty about whatever happened and I’m sure you’re gonna be mad at him for blaming himself.” Tony rambles.

Peter splutters and coughs but he is slowly coming back to reality. His eyes focus once again and he pushes himself up into a sitting position with a little help from Tony. He coughs a few more times and gratefully accepts the fluffy towel that Pepper wraps around his shoulders.

Harley opens his mouth to begin apologizing but Peter cuts him off with a sharp look. “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry. I should have warned you that I still haven’t recovered completely from what happened with the vulture. So uh, for future reference, getting submerged in water without warning really freaks me out and so do small enclosed spaces.” Peter rambles, his voice is a little rough from all the coughing he’s done in the past few minutes.

Harley just pulls Peter into a tight hug and is quickly joined by Tony and Pepper. “I’m still sorry for that. I was dumb for doing that. I assumed I couldn’t possibly hurt you because of your powers but I was wrong. Now lets get back inside I think promises you more cuddles and another nap.” Harley says and helps his boyfriend to his feet once their group hug ends.

-

I fell further behind then I meant to and I’m sorry for that. I intended on posting this story and Day 7 yesterday but my puppy fractured her nose yesterday and I spent the rest of the day and most of today watching her and making sure she was okay. She’s gonna be perfectly fine I just have to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble while she heals and make sure she doesn’t run into anymore glass doors. Anyways I’m gonna try and get caught up tomorrow! Thanks for reading!

[bloodyfangedtiger]

Goodbye Jack, I'm Sorry

So yeah, another mpreg prompt but if you don't like it then shove off.

Rhys bit his lip as he looked at the results, his closest friends sitting right across from him in the privacy of his own home. "I-but how? I was on suppressants! I have an implant! How could this-?!" He bit off on a choked sob and his friend the accountant rushed over to his side to help him hide. "Hey, it's going to be okay Rhys. We'll figure something out."

Their other friend bit his lip and looked over at the PA with a look that screamed I'm sorry. "Judging by the growth, it seems that during the time of the attack on Helios is when it was conceived and that was during your heat correct?"

Rhys nodded.

"During the attack, Zarpedon set off an EMP that wiped out most electronics on the station. Which includes your implant and unlocked your womb. Rhys, you are currently four months pregnant."

The omega wailed and hugged his friend tighter while their doctor friend joined them in a group hug. "You should call him, if there's one thing Jack hates the most it's surprises."

Rhys held the man's hand "Thank you, Tim, for everything." He leaned into the doctor's embrace who looks almost exactly the same as the man he has been sleeping with for the past year and a half.

----

Brr brr brr

Click

"Really not the best time, cupcake! These assholes have got a murder on!" Handsome Jack's voice rang from the echo while Rhys leaned against the doorframe of his bedroom with a hand around his stomach.

"Jack- I mean sir. I have something to tell you." The PA choked as the gravity of the situation hit him hard.

"It can wait till I get back, come get me you sons of bitches!"

The call cut off and Rhys dropped to his knees, he couldn't do this. It just-he and him-no they can't. Jack has a kid of his own, he's running his own company and he's also engaged so...there's no room for the two of them.

He knows what he has to do but it is going to be hell of a lot hard for him to do it.

----

He wipes the sweat off his brow after he finishes the manual he's created for his replacement, he picked a law student grad who knows how a company runs and has some daddy issues but is a Beta. The other choices were old men or women that couldn't tell their asses from their elbows.

He glances around the massive office once last time before he hands the receptionist his key card and pass codes and bids the place farewell. Tim and Vaughn pick him up from the office and bring him to the clinic for one last checkup. "Vitals are stable, hormone levels are adequate and...heh you've got three beautiful pups in ya. Looks like they're identical."

Vaughn snorted "Three mini Jacks running around the house, oh your life is going to be hell!" He chortled which earned him a slap on the back by Rhys robotic hand.

Tim gave him a years supply of prenatal vitamins and some other supplements to help with fetal growth before they all bid each other goodbye.

††††

The doors to Jack's office burst open as the king himself walked in with the air of an egotistic hero. "Ahhhh it feels great to be home!"

All that happiness left in an instant when he heard his little girl sniffling and immediately runs to his daughter's side. "Angel! Angel baby are you okay? What's wrong?"

The fourteen year old looked up at him while she held a letter in her hands "Dad, Rhys left."

Jack bit his lip then threw on a smile "Maybe he's gone down to Pandora to get some ice cream? You know how much ice cream he eats." He tried to soothe his little girl.

The siren growled "He left for good!" She yelled, her arms glowing as her powers activated. "He said that he is sorry and that he hopes you're happy!" She shoved the letter into his chest and ran off to her room. Leaving the king like president dumb founded.

He looked down at the letter she had thrusted into his chest and could smell the distressed scent of his PA wafting off of it like he was standing right by him.

Jack. Mr. Lawrence. Mr. Handsome Jack sir, I apologize for the inconvenience my sudden.

(The whole top part of the letter had been scratched out.)

Jack, I'm sorry that this is sudden but I can't stay here under your employment anymore. I'm sorry but I can no longer be your quick fling nor your personal assistant.

I've made a manual for my replacement and have chosen a grad student Beta to take my place. Just give them the book and they'll know what to do.

Tell Angel that I'm sorry for not saying goodbye but I wish you both the happiness you both deserve.

Congratulations on your future wedding, may you have happy days.

Rhys Gallagher.

He should feel angry, furious, disappointed but none of that comes to mind. He should tear up the letter but he can't move. "Rhysie. Dammit, why? Why are you doing this?" He brought the letter close to his face and inhaled deeply the scent of his Omega. The quirky, lanky programmer of a PA who he hired on a whim and now doesn't regret a single thing. Until now.

He shoves the letter into his drawer and storms out of his office, past his receptionist and straight to security. He kicks the doors in and barks "I WANT EVERY JACKASS IN THIS ROOM TO TRACK DOWN WHERE MY P.A WENT!" he howled.

Yvette freezes in her chair and subtlety calls Rhys so that he can hear what is going on up on Helios.

"I want him found and I want him home yesterday!"

Rhys, on Pandora, bit his lip as he listened to the call. He didn't think Jack would care, he didn't think he meant much to the fucking King of Helios. He thought that he was just some code monkey fuck buddy to him. He shook his head and ended the call before looking over at his arm and then at the replacement Atlas had designed for him. "I'm sorry, Jack."

From then on, his days as an Atlas employee began and he disappeared from Jack's radar.

→→→→

Fifteen years later*

A fifteen year old boy with auburn brown hair and green eyes grinned as he faced a bunch of psycho bandits. "C'mon, sweethearts, you really think you can take me on? Only in your sick dreams." His sharp chin and square jaw makes him look like the oppressive ruler of Hyperion but if you asked this kid he would say "That guy? No way are we related. 'Sides, I'm cooler than him by far."

He's wearing a navy blue sleeveless tunic and a pair of baggy trousers with some black swamper like boots that make him look like a pirate rather than a desert dweller of the dirt planet called Pandora.

A girl with brown eyes of similar age and dark brown hair rolled her eyes while she sat on top of a shanty house and watched the boy. "Mom is going to kill you."

The boy only grinned and began to slaughter all the psychos with the gauntlets around his hands which fire small rocket like bullets upon impact that decimate its target. Creating a bloody mess and no hopes of identification.

The girl rolled her eyes and adjusted the blades on the back of her arms as well as front. She recalibrated her weapons and flexed her arms till she was satisfied with the results and puts her tools away into the belt around her waist.

"Jackson, quit screwing around. We have to get ready for mom's party." She announced, her long hair pulled back into a ponytail with one long bang covering her left eye. She is wearing what looks like a tube top with two belt straps that connect her shirt to her shorts. Two more straps wind around her legs and snake down to her slip on shoes that have small decorative wings on the heels. On her back is a strange backpack that actually holds mechanical wings she can control with her back muscles and by moving her core.

"Harley, do you really have to be a buzz kill?" The boy known as Jackson with slicked back hair griped before wiping his face and body off with a towel to remove the blood. "This party is just going to be a drag, a bunch of fat ass aristocrats who either A.) Want to get into mom's pants or B.) In his pockets. Why the fuck should we go?" He rolled his eyes.

Harley took a deep breath before slowly exhaling "For support, it would mean a lot to him if we were there. We don't have to talk to anyone, just stay still and look pretty."

Her brother narrowed his eyes in what can only be described as disgust. "If I get groped again, there will be blood." He promised green orbs that promise murder.

Harley only smirked "Don't worry, we'll have your back. Les and I will make sure those gross aristocrats don't pinch your ass again."

»»»»

Rhys stood in the ballroom wearing his usual black jacket and trousers with his platinum plated cybernetic arm outstretched to greet the on coming guests. Even though fifteen years have passed, Rhys doesn't look like he's aged a day probably because of his healthy diet of fruits and veggies.

Even if he did have gray hair and wrinkles, Jack would still see him as the most beautiful creature in the world. "Rhys." The name slips past his lips as he watches his Omega, his former PA and the man he is going to beat the shit out of soon.

"You look awesome mom!" A teenage girl with one green eye and one brown eye squealed as she hugged Rhys, wearing a gold colored sundress that gleams brightly like the sun itself. Her brunette and auburn colored hair tied back into a luxurious bun that sits atop her head like a crown.

Rhys petted her head and gave her a tight squeeze "Thank you, Les. You look adorable in that dress." He smiled before letting her go and then darting his eyes around the room looking for someone. He persed his lips and sighed. "Where are Jackson and Harley?"

Les or Lesley if you would, rocked back on her heels while scratching the back of her neck. "Jack is still getting ready and Harley is at the punch bowl."

The Omega pinched the bridge of his nose "What's the problem this time?"

Lord knows it takes forever to get his son ready, Jackson prefers a certain style for his attire and won't wear anything except that. This style is pirate theme or at least water themed and it can't be flashy or else he'll walk around shirtless.

"He says that he doesn't want to dress up and rather wear his own clothes." Les replied carefully.

Jack watched them interact from close by and there is no mistaking it, that is his daughter. 'Is that why he left? Because he was pregnant?' Jack thought anxiously, feeling his pride take a beating because his Omega couldn't tell him and had to hide the news.

He felt the ring box weigh heavily in his pocket, he picked it out specifically for him. It must have been what Rhys meant by "future wedding". He must have seen the receipt for it or maybe it was the chapel he booked that gave him the wrong idea.

His eyes narrowed and all he saw was red, there his beloved stands not two feet away and damn him will he let him go again. He hurriedly made his way through the crowds of people and grabbed Rhys by his flesh arm before pulling him flush to his chest. He buried his nose into those brown locks and inhaled his sweet scent. "Dammit, Rhys. You really like to make me work for you huh? I've been looking for you everyday for the past fifteen years." He felt a sob bubble in his throat from all the longing he felt for his former PA.

Rhys stood stock still as the Alpha he once loved held him so close with such a tight embrace he was afraid he might break. "Break it up before I barf." Jackson oh so eloquently requested.

Wearing a brown tunic and trousers plus his swampers, Harley stood next to him wearing a black dress with a sweetheart neck line and a slit up one side.

Rhys's jaw dropped "Harley Angela Gallagher what are you wearing?!"

The girl shrugged "Something to catch me a date, there's this hottie I've been wanting to wrap around my finger. She's got a sister too."

Rhys face palmed while Jackson rolled his eyes "Jack, these are your kids." He said with a groan and gestured to the triplets.

"Harley, the eldest, Jackson, the second eldest and Leslie the youngest."

Jack let go of Rhys but kept an arm around his waist, putting on his best smile. "I'm Handsome Jack Lawrence. Your dad and president of Hyperion."

Jackson didn't look amused and said nothing while Harley said hello and Leslie full on tackled him. "Daddy!" She cried out with joy which earned her a hug and being picked by the Hyperion pres himself. She nuzzled her head into his neck, breathing in his scent.

Jack held her tight and looked over at his kids, his beautiful wonderful children that he missed out watching them grow up. He let Les go and heaved Rhys over his shoulder "Sorry, kiddos. Mommy and Daddy need to have a little quality time and a long talk."

Jack took them to his hotel room with a protesting Omega wriggling around on his shoulder and smacking his back. "Jack! I have to give a speech soon!"

He was unceremoniously thrown onto the wide queen sized bed. "Oh you're going to give a speech alright." Jack chuckled in that 'I'm going to kill you and enjoy it' tone before caging Rhys in on the bed with his hands on either side of the Omega's hips. "Mind telling me what happened fifteen years ago?"

His former PA looked away "You hung up on me when I needed you. I was so scared that I didn't know what else to do. Then I remembered that letter I found, saying the date had been set for your wedding and a dress had been picked out for your bride."

Jack chuckled and gently took Rhys chin "Baby, if you talked to me we would have figured things out."

Rhys glared and took his head away "I can't be a good fuck for you while you're married, Jack. Pregnant with triplets and having to tiptoe around your wife and not being able to tell who the father is. I couldn't do it."

Jack leaned in and breathed in Rhys scent before whispering in his ear "That dress." He pressed a kiss to the Omega's bonding site, sending shivers down the other's spine. "That date." He moved till he was able to engulf the site fully into his mouth "It was all for you. I was going to propose after I got back." He began to suck on the sensitive skin, causing Rhys to grab the sheets and spread his legs to accommodate the Alpha between his legs. He bit his lip to stifle a moan when Jack pinched the skin between his teeth and pulled slightly.

"I wanted to make you mine, I picked out the most perfect dress, a perfect planet and top notch security to have our wedding." Jack murmured against his skin "But that is going to have to wait, because I need to punish my Omega." He purred into Rhys ear.

★★★

Rhys panted and whined as Jack held him in his lap and shallowly thrusted his fingers in his ass. Only rubbing just the edges of his prostate and not getting anywhere close to his womb. "Jack, please." He gripped onto the Alpha's lapels and tried to fuck himself on those rough padded digits only to have them ripped away. "Uhuh uh, kitten. This is a punishment after all. I'm going to keep this pace up till you're begging me for my cock." The Hyperion CEO smirked before he rubbed Rhys's entrance with the tip of his calloused finger.

The Omega male whined and whimpered as slick oozed from his teased hole. "Jaaaack!"

The Alpha growled and rubbed his erection against the Omega's oozing hole. "You want this, kitten? You want my cock in your tight hole?" The Hyperion CEO growled into the Atlas man's ear.

[gouteruneboulangerie]

Antheia

Hello DW universe! I’m a long time fan who hasn’t written anything since high school (trust me, that’s been quite a long time). But a mix of inspiration, creativity and COVID quarantine has put me back on the saddle, full gallop!!! I’ve been working on an OG character x Dh!Master story. I’m super nervous though, since it has been a long time since I’ve done this, and I’m not actually the best at accurate writing. (That’s code for I do I what I want and follow no rules when it comes to professional writing...) I’m actually a professional baking and pastry cook (if you look at my account you’d be able to deduce that...I lost my other tumblr account years ago.) So, if anyone has a random pastry/baking question, I’d be more than happy to answer those. And I’ll take (constructive!!!!) criticism, please don’t be rude, no one needs that in their life, and it just comes back as Karma to you, so think twice. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this, please let me know you’r opinion on it, cause I have more chapters.... 

I wanted to go with a sort of collection of domestic scenes within the TARDIS between my og character and the Master, but it starts with how they meet. And I’m thinking of having little adventure blurbs as well. The chapters are relatively short. And yes, I did make the og character a baking and pastry chef....I’VE HAD NO INGREDIENTS OR KITCHEN SPACE TO BAKE FOR THE PAST TWO MONTHS I NEEDED AN OUTLET!!!! So, yeah... HEEE, the nerves!!! 

Chapter one is the official first meet between the two. 

Enjoy!

-k-dubs113

Uhh...for this chapter, the only warnings are a few curse words?? I don’t know how warnings go for these kinds of things (please someone let me know, cause future chapters get a little....dark. They’re two insane time travelers what do you expect!?!) 

Chapter One: Antheia

The Master looked out the castle window and saw a young lady walking the edge of the river. Dressed in an eclectic style, considering the era, she had a multitude of braids in her hair each adorned with an abundance of different coloured flowers. The basket hanging from the crook of her left elbow was filled with green plants while her left arm held a wooden pipe which she kept bringing up to her mouth, breathing out the smoke like second nature. An almost cheshire cat smile was plastered on her face, a smile which told of her giddiness towards her actions while hiding a secret agenda of her own accords. One might even think her a little insane due to the random bout of laughter she gave off when she found a patch of mushrooms. 

“You.” the anger flowed through his tone like wind through an open window. “Who is she?” he asked when the trembling guard came to the window.

“Th-that’s the Chef, Master. You can find her in her quarters, next to the kitchen.” he told the ground. How the Master hated when people didn’t talk to him directly. He took out his TCE and immediately shrunk the man. 

Two weeks ago the Master had come to this kingdom in Surrey, England, killing his way to the top, which only took a couple minutes, and became the new ruler of this obnoxious empire. Though he was aware that the village continued its daily routine, albeit with much more caution and fear, everyone within the castle grounds were either dead, well miniaturized, or scared shit-less doing whatever he told them to do. Except this, so called, chef. He looked back to her and saw her smelling a bouquet of green grass before taking a large bite out of it. ‘Yeah, she’s insane.’ the Master thought to himself, only allowing the left corner of his mouth to twitch up. But still, she wasn’t living in fear of him and that needed to change. Now. 

The Master found his way to the ‘chef’s’ quarters and sat himself at the two-top table. There he waited for the return of this insane child.

_______________________________________________________________

“Well, ‘ello!” I said, rather loud but without a care in the world. “How are ya? Living the life I presume? You know, some creatures get all the luck, you just live your own little life, without any worry except to get busy and then you die!” I watched the sky, lying next to the spot where a bunny had just been. “What I would give to have a simple life. Don’t get me wrong,” I looked over, finally noticing the bunny had fled; sighing, I continued my monologue “I like where I’ve gotten too. But there used to be so much more in my life. Now all I can do is get high and drunk and dream about the places I used to visit.” I stared at the shapeless clouds for a moment before getting myself back to my feet. 

“Well, this poison isn’t going to make itself.” I said to the wind, “Better get myself back to the kitchen.” I skipped, hummed and danced my way back to the castle, taking my time with no worry about the new king occupying Shene Palace.

I entered my kitchen humming the half forgotten tune of Moonlight Serenade. Unpacking my findings of the day, I turned around and saw a man sitting at my dining table.

“Zetus lapetus!” I exclaimed, quoting my favorite childhood movie. Hand on my heart, I took a few breaths, calming myself before looking at the man. “May I assist you?” When he didn’t say anything I continued putting away my herbs and fungus, keeping an eye on him. 

He was short, perfectly filled in while potentially hiding some well worked arms, and nicely coloured compared to the pasty men running around this castle and village. His scruff was just a tad longer then what should be described as scruff, almost as if he skipped a few days of grooming out of laziness. His eyes bore into my back and every time I glanced over I could see they were filled with anger and intrigue; he was curious about me but definitely not pleased at the situation, for his own reasons unknown to me. 

“You don’t seem that frightened of me.” he commented.

“Should I be? I pose no threat to you, why should you be a threat to me?” I turned to look at him directly and noticed his feet on the table. “Oi!” I exclaimed, grabbing the bad-tasting alcohol I used for sanitizing and a rag, “Feet off the table! What does this look like to you, a barn stable? I run a clean kitchen here.” I shooed his feet off and looked him directly in the eyes, “Cross-contamination here is deadly.” I held my gaze a few seconds longer than necessary to make sure he understood the seriousness I was implying. It was intimidating to say the least. 

After I finished cleaning the table top I started prepping for a tea service. I put some water on to boil and went over to my dried herb and flower collection. I didn’t know the man's taste in tea, so I elected to find out by allowing him to make his own choice. I took out four cheesecloth pouches, and in each one filled with different dried ingredients, putting the labels in front of each. They read: Mild: Dandelion - slightly bitter, Pignut - mild hazelnut and radish, Borage - cucumber, Rosebay Willow - pleasant. Sweet/Earthy: Lime Tree - succulent and sweet, Pignut - mild hazelnut and radish, Columbine - sweet and ‘green’, Pink Purslane - succulent and earthy. Hot/Spice: Sweet Cicely - aniseed, Nettle, Wood Avens - cloves, Lady Smock - cress with sweet and hot hints. Fruity: Hawthorn - slightly over ripe apples, Pineapple Weed - strong pineapple, Watermint - sweet and minty, Pink Sorrel - apple peel and lemon. 

I brought over the selections. “I’m not sure what your preference is, so help yourself to one of these, or let me know if there’s something else you would prefer.” I went to walk away to check on the time for the bread but was halted by the man's hand grasping my wrist.

“You are aware of who I am, are you not?” his voice went through me like a robust wine, smoothly flowing through my veins. I could bet my life that his voice alone could make me do things I never thought possible. I turned towards him looking into his eyes; those eyes could also make me do things I never morally thought I would do. I quirked my left eyebrow, allowing my fake confidence to overcome my anxieties.

“You’re the new ruler, yes? The one everyone's making a fuss about.” I freed my wrist easily and continued towards the burner. Through my peripherals I saw him eyeing the tea, taking the one on the far right, the mild mix. Just then the timer for the water went off. I grabbed the pot of water and brought it towards the table. He was eyeing the timer and myself.

“Such an interesting invention.” He motioned towards my badly put together contraption. A funnel over the left side of a double beam scale with a jar on it. Depending on the amount of rice I put into the funnel, when it reached the desired time I calculated, the beam would hit a bell. Old time, timer.

“Thank you. It helps me multitask without ruining any of my products.” Without going further into details about the contraption, I poured the water through his chosen tea. “A wonderful selection, sire. The dandelion is good for detoxifying the blood while the borage and rosebay help with the respiratory system. And it’s said that pignut promotes lust.” I eyed him promiscuously momentarily, then quickly infused my own water with my comfrey and dandelion coffee substitute before returning the pot and sitting down. I took a deep breath of the aromatic steam before sitting the cup down.

I looked him straight in the eyes, building all the confidence I could possess while keeping a hint of aggression in the way I held my body and the tone of my voice; trying my best to mimic the presence he held in the room. I started my well practiced speech: “Here’s the deal. I understand you are a man of action. You have killed quite a lot of people on your own, with no help from others, to get to the top. But I have also worked hard to get to where I am. You might be wondering who exactly I am? I’m sure even with the terror you inflict in the people, no one has let slip who I am around here.” I took a pause from my short rambling, taking a sip of my fake-coffee. I immediately calmed down, the familiar taste grounding me and I continued with more grace and less apprehension. “I’m the official royal poisoner. You needn't worry about yourself, my loyalty lies in whoever rules the kingdom. I am free for your use, but only free to you. 

“I allow men and women from all stages of society to come to me for help in poisoning someone. I carry no judgement. However, the rules apply as such: the second in command comes to me, asking to poison anyone in the whole kingdom, I oblige except for the interest of you. The lowest of men comes in here, asking for poison, if he can pay, I oblige, except for the interest of you. I hold no politics. I believe, as you have shown yourself, that if a man wishes to become king, he does so by his own means. He shouldn’t need to rely on the skill of a poisoner to obtain the throne. I also give much thought to who is asking and to whom they plan to poison. If they lie to me, I punish them. And I always discuss my business dealings with you first.” his face was neutral, but his eyes shined with curiosity. I continued:  

“What is the payment for poison? For you, sire, nothing. I work for you freely in the exchange for this room and freedom to roam the castle and castle grounds. For everyone else, it depends. Most think gold and jewels will pay the best, but I prefer a good trade. My preferred trade: ingredients. I may have a surplus supply of mushrooms, herbs and other wild vegetation but I do not have an endless supply of meat, or dairy, or even other items of immediate necessity. Therefore, when a villager comes to trade, I prefer what he has to offer other than money. Next, I enjoy information. I may not be political, but in my business, it’s good to know who wants whom killed. You’d be surprised by the things I know, and I openly offer the knowledge to you. I can tell you every man who wished for the late King Edward to be killed. Lastly, money will pay for the least expensive poison, with a fifty percent chance of success. Always bring the customers back wanting more, that’s how you run a good business.” I said smiling. Just then my other timer for the bread went off. “Excuse me for a second, if you will.” I got up, took the bread out, checked it, and with satisfaction, placed it on the cooling rack. “Ahh, nothing better then freshly baked bread.” 

“How long have you been stuck here?” 

A weird question in my opinion, but I looked around the room walking back over. “I wouldn’t consider myself stuck. I did ask to live here about 4 years ago, having been in the area 5 years. That spiel that I just gave you, I gave to the late King, albeit not word for word.”

“No. How long have you been stuck in this time period?” That stopped me in my tracks.

“I- I don’t understand what you’re asking.”

“You’re obviously not from this era, so how long have you been stuck here.” he was growing irritated at my attempt to feign ignorance. I was shocked, but I looked down bitterly, remembering the day all too well.

“Five years. How did you know?”

“I’m not from this time period either. Takes one to spot one. Though, you didn’t.” I narrowed my eyes at his obvious comment of my incapabilities of observation. I was defensive now.  

“And why is someone who can time travel just wasting time becoming king of a stupid little village like this?” I spat, he didn’t answer. As the silence grew thicker, I made a retreat into the heart of the private kitchen. He stared off into his own world, appearing upset. Must be about the reason he was here. I busied myself with the next loaf of bread I needed to get done for dinner, thinking over the fact that he was a time traveler. What were the odds of that happening? Midway through the first kneading of the dough he broke the silence.

“My ship has been compromised. I need to fix the issue but unfortunately I'm stuck here to do so. Figured, might as well have some fun while I’m here. Now what's your story?”

“I don’t have one. I’m simply stuck here and there’s nothing I can do about it.” I glimpsed at him while I continued kneading, seeing if he would contemplate taking me. He just stared at me, not really giving off any vibe except boredom and grumpiness. I had the impression that he was not happy with my answer and that it would probably come up in conversation again. I switched the subject off of my past and back onto my future..

“So?” I asked. It was his turn to look around slightly confused. I continued after it was apparent he wasn’t following my train of thought, “Are you going to keep me or am I going to have to figure something new to do with my life?”

“Well, you said it yourself, I’m a man of action, I don’t really need an official poisoner.” Having been prepared for the chance that the new king wouldn’t be convinced of the use of my services, I took one of the handful of disputes that I had, personalizing it a tad with the new knowledge I had received from our little chat.

“True, but sometimes you have better things to do, like fixing your ship. Then you could simply tell me that you wanted someone poisoned and it would be done. Also, it’s kind of fun when you know someone in the room is about to die from poisoning.” I stopped kneading the dough and turned my full attention to him. “I’m more than just a poisoner too. I know that you’ve been eating the treats that I prepare for you.” I paused, thinking out loud, “Unless one of the servants is eating them, in which case, I’ll have to fix that problem.” I continued, my attention back to him “Without me, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy bread, or the desserts that are offered to you every night, or the future multitude of random treats that I make out of pure boredom. It’s not a bad deal.” 

“What’s your name?”

“Antheia.” the man got up and exited the room without another word. “Right, well, not sure what that means, but I’ll be around if you need me.” I said to the room, just loud enough that if he had good hearing, he’d probably hear it. I went back to my bread, thinking over all my new possible futures. Hopefully the one that played out was one of the better ones.

Ch. 1 - Fin.

So yup, that’s that. Hope it wasn’t a waste of your time. Stay beautiful my DW fellow fans!

“Have you ever thought what it’s like to be wanders in the 4th dimension?” -The Doctor

[distractedhistotech]

Before MSA + 1: Halloween

Arthur had managed to put together something that acted like a diaper but which fitted into his pocket instead of around the hamster.  “It takes a little bit to put them together though…”

Cadence seemed happy with the pocket diaper considering how much time she was spending in Arthur’s shirt and coat pockets.

“I wonder if you could incorporate it into your Halloween costume,” mused Vivi.

“Uh…What’s Halloween?” asked Arthur.

Sydney and Lewis gave Arthur startled looks.  “You don’t know what Halloween is?!”

Arthur panicked a bit as he realized this was something everyone was supposed to know about. “My parents were super religious,” he said quickly.  Sydney and Lewis seemed to accept it.

“Halloween evolved from the Celtic celebration of Samhain,” explained Vivi.  “It was the ending of the year at sun down, but the new year didn’t start until the sun rose.  Being outside of time as it were meant that ghosts and the like had an easier time manifesting. It probably makes magic easier and stronger too.  At some point, people started wearing scary outfits to try and blend in or scare away the spirits.  That ritual eventually became putting on costumes for fun and, in the case of kids, going around to houses and asking for treats.”

The other kids were staring at her in surprise at the info dump, while Arthur was wondering if this meant Halloween was technically a pagan holiday.

“Actually, the Catholic church took a lot of pagan holidays and incorporated them into their religion.  Christmas takes place in December because that’s when a big festival called Saturnalia took place in the Roman empire.  Evidence suggests that Jesus was actually born in Spring,” continued Vivi as if she’d predicted Arthur’s thoughts.

The more Arthur learned the more he wondered if the adults in his early life knew what they were doing.

“Anyway…My dad makes cosplay as a side job so if you want he can make you guys costumes too,” said Sydney.

Lewis nodded. “He always makes costumes for us.”

Vivi perked up.  “Really?”

Sydney nodded. “But nothing super complicated, okay? He’s gotta budget.”

“What’s cosplay?” asked Arthur.

“Costume play,” explained Lewis.  “People dress up like characters from anime or videogames that they love.  Some of the outfits are really complicated or accurate.”

“We usually do a theme for Halloween,” continued Sydney.

“We did Sailor Moon for a couple of years,” said Lewis.

“Another time we were Ed and Al Elric,” said Sydney.  “I’m not sure what we could do with four people.”

“Power Rangers?” suggested Vivi.

“There’s usually five of ‘em though,” said Sydney.

“Is that a big deal?” asked Arthur.

“Not really,” said Lewis.  “It would just seem a little weird to be short a ranger.”

“So, we need a group of four people,” muttered Sydney.  “All I can think of are Transformers, but that might be too complicated.”

“All I can think of is the Scooby Doo gang,” said Vivi.

Silence.  The kids turned to stare at Ben.  “Would Ben let us dye his fur?” asked Lewis.

“I have no idea,” admitted Vivi.  “Would the dye be safe?”

“I have no idea,” repeated Sydney.  “Dad knows a bit about hair dye…”

“I think you could get away with leaving him white and black,” said Arthur.

“So, who would be who?” asked Lewis.

Vivi and Sydney promptly pointed at Lewis.  “Fred.” Then they pointed towards Arthur. “Shaggy.”

“You do have the muscle tone going on,” agreed Arthur.

And Lewis blushed because he was somehow the biggest one there despite (probably) being the youngest.  “W-well, who’s gonna be Velma and Daphne?”

Sydney and Vivi exchanged looks.  That was…less obvious.  Both wore glasses, had relatively short statures, and were fairly tomboyish.

“You’re shorter,” said Vivi.

Sydney pouted. “Yeah, I am.  Guess that makes me Velma…What kind of name is Velma?”

“I dunno.”

“Will we need a van?”

“None of us can drive,” pointed out Arthur.

“Maybe a toy or something,” suggested Lewis.

“Oh, yeah, that makes more sense,” admitted Arthur.

The four kids (and dog and hamster) just lay there for several minutes.  It hadn’t been a particularly odd conversation, but something in the air seemed heavy, as if something life changing had just happened.

Then Ben started licking Arthur’s face, ending the moment.  Arthur let out a laugh.  “H-hey! Stop!  Stop!”

Vivi grinned. “You’re saying ‘stop’, but you’re laughing.”  Ben decided to switch targets and started licking Vivi instead.  She giggled.  “Ben!”

“We should teach him how to talk!”  Ben turned his attention to Sydney.  “Hey! Ew!  Your breath smells like fish!  Why does it smell like fish?  You’re not a cat!”

“Ben’ll eat anything if you give him the chance,” said Vivi.

Lewis pulled a bag of chips out from somewhere and grinned.  “Like this?”  He popped the bag open.  He was immediately tackled by the dog.  “Ack!” Ben quickly stuck his head in the bag and quickly snapped up the contents before transferring his ministrations to Lewis.  “Oh yuck! Your breath really does smell like fish!”

“Hold him for me,” said Vivi.  “I’ll brush his teeth!”

The whole thing devolved into a wrestling match.  No teeth were cleaned.  Everyone needed a bath afterwards.

 Sydney had been right about the Scooby Doo costumes being fairly simple to make.  She hadn’t stopped to think about make-up and hairstyling though.

“Are you almost done?” asked Sydney Jr.

“Almost…Just one more pin…and done!”  Sydney Sr stepped back to admire how Sydney looked with the brown bob wig in addition to the rest of her costume.  “The shape of the glasses aren’t the same, but I don’t think anyone will care.”

Sydney Jr. twirled and did a hop-skip over to Vivi, who was messing with her noticeably longer orange wig.  “How ‘bout you?”

“I prefer shorter hair.  Hair this long just…gets in the way,” said Vivi as she glared distastefully at a lock of orange hair.

Sydney nodded. “I hear ya.  I just want it long enough to ponytail it.”  She glanced at the boys.  “How ‘bout you two?”

Unlike the girls, the boys weren’t wearing wigs.  They’d just had their hair styled into a close approximation of their chosen characters. Sydney Sr claimed this was because the wigs would look too bulky unless the boys were willing to shave their hair. They weren’t.

Arthur fingered his hair.  “This doesn’t feel too different from usual besides the colors.”  He was wearing green and red.  He was coming to prefer bright colors like orange and yellow.

Lewis was happily studying his reflection.  “I kind of like this hairstyle.”  He turned to Sydney Sr.  “Will you teach me how to do this?”

Sydney Sr gave him a grin.  “Sure! I’ll get you some decent hair mousse. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m gonna go change into my costume.”  On his way out, he ran into Hiro.  “So, how’d Ben like the vegetable dye?”

“He tolerated it.” That was a lie.  Ben had taken one look at the dye, snorted, and changed his fur color to the proper brown color.

“I’m leaving you alone with Noelle and the kids for a bit.  Behave now.”  And Sydney Sr hurried down the hallway.

Hiro raised an eyebrow.  The Sydneys were pretty darn odd.  Still, they got along with the rest of the family and friends, and Hiro did like them…in reasonable amounts.

He walked Ben over to the kids, who all started petting him.  “Wow, this dye is really realistic,” said Lewis.

Sydney nodded. “My dad knows what he’s doing.”

“How you holding up boy?” asked Vivi.  Ben licked her in response.  “Good to know.”

“Oh, you kids look so cute like that,” said Noelle.  “Let me get my camera!”

Hiro let the kids pose for the camera for several moments before clearing his throat. “Now, I don’t know how much you know about the holiday, but it is easier to come into contact with the supernatural starting tonight and lasting until November 2.  It’s most intense on Halloween though.  So, Mr. Scoville and I will be escorting you tonight.  I have tools prepared to chase off anything that may take an untoward interest in your group, and you will all be spending the night here.  Mr. Scoville also has some sort of repelling ability, so I’d imagine this is one of the safest places in the county.”

Arthur let out a sigh of relief.  “That’s a relief.”

“Had some bad experiences?” asked Vivi.

Arthur nodded. “I just knew they were at the end of October.  I didn’t know about the Halloween thing.  Why does it get so much worse anyway?”

“That’s not something with a simple answer,” said Hiro.  “Something makes…magic for lack of a better word more potent during these days, which makes it easier for people to see ghosts and for ghosts, along with other normally invisible entities, to become visible to people.  It’s a good time for them to be heard if there’s something they want to get across to the mundane, living population.”  Hiro glowered.  “Although I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a tradition among the supernatural to have fun and try to scare humans.  It’s what people are expecting to happen after all.”

Ben gave a barely noticeable shrug.  Hiro wasn’t wrong, but it was more of a ‘teenagers messing around and doing things their parents won’t necessarily approve of’ sort of thing.

Arthur crossed his arms.  “Well, I don’t like it, whatever it is…”

Vivi turned to Sydney and Lewis.  “Have you guys ever noticed anything weird around this time of year?”

“I haven’t ever noticed anything,” said Sydney.  “Lewis says there are ghosts all over the place though.”

Lewis nodded. “Yeah, some are pretty scary. It’s a lot more active in the cemetery and house.  Sydney always spends the night since some of them look pretty scary.”  Lewis made a face as something suddenly occurred to him. “Uh, this is the first Halloween we haven’t slept over at my house.  Do you think Mom and Dad and Belle will be okay?”

“I put some ofudas up at your house that should keep away most dangerous entities,” reassured Hiro. “Honestly, you probably attract half of the activity so just spending time away from them will put a stop to a portion of the paranormal activity.”

“Huh, really?  I had no idea,” said Lewis.

“Oh, yes, once ghosts figure out someone can see them word spreads very quickly.”

“Wait.  I can’t see ghosts, so why do they keep following me around?” asked Arthur.

Hiro shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure why, but you…leak energy.  Being around you is like it being Halloween all the time,” said Hiro.  “You also have an aura that the supernatural find pleasing, like how kids will gravitate to a kitchen where cookies have just been cooked.”

“I could go for some cookies,” said Vivi.

“You’re going to be getting plenty of candy tonight,” said Noelle.  “You can see about having cookies after you finish off the candy.”

Vivi grinned. “Challenge accepted.”

“No,” said Hiro.

“Aw…but-”

“No, you remember what happened last time,” said Hiro.

“Ooh, what happened last time?” asked Sydney.

“When she was five she ate all of her Halloween candy at once and didn’t sleep for three days,” explained Hiro.  “She tried to feed Ben chocolate.  Dogs can’t eat chocolate.”

Ben huffed because he could eat chocolate, thank you very much.  Stupid need to hold up the illusion all the time.  He couldn’t wait until Vivi was mature enough to know what he really was so he could relax at home.  Not to mention it would be easier to snatch some of whatever that was Noelle was cooking.

Lewis must have noticed how Ben was staring longingly towards the kitchen because he grabbed a treat out of his pocket.  “Would you like a Scooby Snack?”

Eh, it’ll do. Ben snapped it up and gave Lewis a lick of thanks.

“What’s taking your dad so long?” asked Vivi.  “He said he was going to be a zombie.  It can’t take that long to put on some torn clothing and fake blood.”

Sydney grinned. “Dad put in way more effort than that. There’s latex and make-up and contact lenses…”

“Mr. Scoville’s costumes are really complicated,” agreed Lewis.

Any further conversation was interrupted by a groaning sound.  Everyone turned to see…a zombie.  It was covered in bite marks, half rotten, had clouded over eyes, and dirty, torn clothing.  It was completely unrecognizable as Sydney Sr.

“…Okay, that is a convincing zombie costume,” admitted Vivi.

“Thank you,” said Sydney Sr, briefly breaking character before going back to groaning.

“You look like a dead body!” said Arthur.  “Which I guess is the point, but it’s creepy.”

Sydney Scoville groaned again.  He sure was taking the zombie thing seriously.

“So…”  Sydney Jr held up her treat bag.  “Can we go trick-or-treating now?”

“Unnngh!”

“Taking that as a yes!”

Thankfully, the other adults decided to agree with the translation so the kids were able to head out. “There are a lot of costumes,” commented Arthur.

Vivi nodded. “Yep, it’s a popular holiday.”

“What a cute baby!” cooed Lewis at a young couple and their baby, all of them dressed like dinosaurs.

“Thank you!”

“But most of them seem to be younger than us,” continued Arthur.

“That guy’s older than us,” pointing at a guy dressed like a robot.

“People just prefer to go to parties once they get older.  I don’t know why.  They’re sooo boring,” complained Vivi.  “Where’s the darkness?  Where’s the creepy shadows?  Where’s the questioning of if there’s a ghost around the corner or if that’s a really good werewolf costume or some werewolf decided to go to the store to pick up milk?”

“There are some ghosts following us,” commented Lewis.

Arthur tensed up. “Why?”

Lewis glanced towards the ghosts.  “Are you sure he’s not a zombie?  He looks pretty dead.”

“It’s Halloween. It’s obviously a very good costume.”

“He smells like a zombie though.”

“We’re ghosts! We can’t smell!”

“Oh yeah.”

“Besides, wasn’t there a Scooby-Doo movie with zombies?”

“Since when are there Scooby-Doo movies?”

“Mr. Scoville’s costume is really convincing,” said Lewis.

“Unngh!”

“Are zombies real?” asked Sydney.

“Yes,” said Hiro. “Under very specific circumstances. It takes one of a few specific rituals. It’s very dangerous and is not something that should ever be done unless you have prior permission from the subject of interest.  Even then, it’s not recommended because of the possible side effects.”  He paused.  “Actually, this is a very complicated subject.  Let’s talk about it when we have more time.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it at all,” muttered Arthur as they walked up to a house.

They took a moment to ring the doorbell, ask for treats, and thank the woman handing out the treats. Ben tried to beg for treats.  This wasn’t allowed, and the group went on their way.

“Do ghost hunters have a lot of work on Halloween?” asked Sydney.

“Paranormal investigators,” corrected Hiro.  “While we do look for ghosts, calling us ‘hunters’ suggests we intend to hurt ghosts in some way.  That’s a last resort in cases where the ghosts in question seek to harm the living and cannot be convinced otherwise.  And whether an investigator works on Halloween or not varies.  Most will take the time off because they might get false positives.  Some like working on Halloween though since they might get results they wouldn’t usually come by.”

“That doesn’t sound very professional,” muttered Arthur.

“I agree,” said Hiro. “Personally, I feel that circumstances that modify magical strengths can be dangerous, even if it’s something to your advantage.”

“Wouldn’t that make things easier?” asked Sydney.

“Yes, which might be good in an emergency, but it can make you under or overestimate a situation.”

“How is overestimating bad?” questioned Arthur.

Hiro took a minute to think about how to describe what he was thinking.  “It’s like using a hand grenade to make a hole when a drill will suffice.”

Vivi, Lewis, both Sydneys, and even Arthur laughed.  Hiro had to admit it wasn’t the best analogy, but it’s what he came up with on short notice.

“It’s like you thought the corn was sweet so you put in the wrong amount of salt,” said Lewis.

“That’s a better analogy,” admitted Hiro.  “Anyway, once you outgrow trick-or-treating, you should find some way to spend Halloween that doesn’t involve the supernatural.  Maybe go to a party or stay home and watch movies.”

“Watching movies would be nice,” said Arthur.

“Ooh!  We could watch the Nightmare Before Christmas again!” said Vivi.

“You will not. It’s a school night,” said Hiro.  “As it is the only reason you’re spending the night together is for safety’s sake.”  He looked to Sydney Sr.  “I’m trusting you and Mrs. Scoville to get the children to sleep and awake on time.”

“Nggggh!”

“That means yes,” said Sydney Jr.

“I still wish we could spend the night at Lewis’ house,” said Vivi.  “There’s a lot more space, and it seems more fitting to spend Halloween in a haunted house.”

“Belle sometimes cries at night.  She might wake you up,” said Lewis.

“Or we might wake her up,” countered Arthur.

“I don’t wanna wake Baby Belle up!” agreed Sydney Jr.  “She’s cute when she’s sleeping.”

The subject of conversation rapidly changed to siblings and sleepovers.  Hiro watched them absentmindedly before feeling something brush against his side.

It was just Ben, who gave him a smile unseen by anyone else.  Hiro found himself smiling back.  It was nice…seeing the children all so happy like this.

It would be nice if it would last forever.

[choiceslife]

When Worlds Collide: Part One (Limited Series)

Disclaimer: Based upon characters in Choices - Endless Summer, It Lives in the Woods, The Royal Romance, #LoveHacks, Home for the Holidays and ?? series. All characters presented are the property of Pixelberry Studios. I claim no ownership. This story is purely the work of the poster as fanfiction.

Overall Series Rating: 18+ (NSFW)

Warnings: Adult Language, Adult Content, Sexual Discussions. Future chapters may contain SMUT and Gratuitous Sexual Descriptions

Overall Series Summary: The sisters are together again and Ava Cunningham believes only they can help her.

Author’s Note: This Limited Series is a companion/sequel to Divided By Circumstance. I suggest you at least read that series in order to understand this one. As with most of my stories, this is a crossover and is part of my interconnected Chromatic AU. My MC’s are as follows: Carrissa Monroe (TRR), Abby Bennett (#LH), Scarlett Joy (HFTH), and Taylor Reed (ES). There will be an End Note following this chapter.

Tag List: @brightpinkpeppercorn @mysteli @cinnamonroll-duffy @darley1101 @debramcg1106 @katurrade @ladynonsense @luxurylives @regrettingnathan @akrenich @teamtomsato @riseandshinelittleblossom @kinkykingliam @jlouise88 @kenjikatsoros @eileendannie @marshmallow-ortega @littlecrookedheart @i-choose-liam @boneandfur @bobasheebaby @tmarie82 @walkerismychoice @europeanguy @pixieferry @sstee1 @3pawandme

This is very much sensitive content and NSFW. You have been warned.

***

Louisiana - Somewhere

Barely 8am and the rural Louisiana heat was quite high for this late in the fall. But Jake McKenzie didn’t mind. He preferred warm weather over anything remotely cold. There was just something about being able to go outside and let the sun’s rays soak into your skin that Jake enjoyed. Sure, he’d been to places with colder climates and had a good time, but he found the process of bundling up to be rather annoying.

Plus, he wouldn’t be able to go for his routine run outdoors if he lived some place with colder weather. He’d be trapped inside on a treadmill at one of those cookie cutter, corporate gyms that he despised. World Fitness. Jake tried it out once during a free trial weekend. It sucked. He much preferred the makeshift gym in his garage and the ability to jog without worrying about a time limit because the place was stuffed to the rafters with people. Too many people. This eventually led to several other patrons always waiting to use the machines.

But running outdoors on his own time, without anyone else around, was much more in his comfort zone. Just him and nature. And running outside meant that Jake didn’t need headphones to tune out unwanted distractions. He was able to run freely with his own thoughts and nothing else.

The repeated ‘thwap thwap’ sound of Jake’s worn sneakers ricocheting off the pavement always brought a soothing calm to his mind. He could usually tell from the repetitious noise just how close he was to meeting the Navy required time for a mile and a half run - 16 minutes 10 seconds - the new maximum time allowed. In his prime, Jake could easily best that time with a 6 minute mile pace, but nowadays he’d be lucky to run a mile in under ten minutes.

Gotta ease up on all the beers, Hotness Jake imagined Taylor saying to him playfully as he wiped his brow with the back of his hand. The sweat had matted his shaggy brown hair to his head and periodically a rogue drop would try to course its way towards Jake’s eye. Burning eyes while running wouldn’t feel good at all. The sweat running down his bare chest and what was left of his abs, however, felt great. Particularly because of the heat. Whenever a brief breeze did blow, his body would get a momentary reprieve from the humid feeling with a slight cooling effect.

As Jake crested a slight hill in the road, he noticed a car parked along the side of the pavement well off in the distance. It was a pretty unusual sight as his chosen running route was a very desolate, practically abandoned, stretch of highway. Jake couldn’t remember the last time he saw a vehicle that wasn’t his truck or Old Man Crabbypant’s rust-covered Cadillac.

___

“I think I see him. Shaggy brown hair. Average height. Crooked smile.”

“That’s him. That’s Jake McKenzie,” Ava said as she slammed the trunk of the car. “Quick, hide the binoculars and take off your shirt.”

“What? Why?”

“Dan Pierce!” Ava snapped. “Don’t question me! Just do it!”

“This is ridiculous,” Dan replied as he tossed the binoculars into the back seat of the rental car and slipped his tight blue t-shirt off. He kept muttering to himself as he moved to the front of the car and set the hood open to rest on the prop rod.

“He’s a lonely man, yet he ignored every person that approached him at the bar when I was observing last night. I just need something to entice him to stop and chat. Now stop complaining and work what your momma gave ya Dan. And pretend I’m not here.” Ava quickly made her way down the slight embankment off the side of the road and crouched down out of site.

“How do you know he’s lonely?”

“Hush. Pretend to be inspecting the engine. Pull out one of those hose thingys.”

“But...”

Ava shushed her friend again and flicked her hands in agitation towards the front of the car. A small trail of white smoke began to creep up from the engine bay startling Dan.

___

Jake slowed his pace as he approached the stopped car, taking in the beautifully sculpted masculine sight before him. The shirtless, mop topped brunette’s hands were firmly planted on the front of the car, supporting him as he peered over the engine. His well defined back muscles flexed slightly with each shifting movement as he inspected the disabled vehicle. Jake couldn’t help, but to admire the man’s broad shoulders that tapered to a trim waist with lower back dimples. Taylor had those as well and Jake was such a sucker for a man with them. He continued to drink in the gorgeous backside before him. Tight dark blue jeans situated low on the hips accentuating a cute, bubbled behind elicited a mild gasp as Jake’s jog shifted to a walk. He’s still not Taylor. As he approached, Jake placed both hands onto his hips as he took deep gulps of air in an effort to regulate and normalize his breathing. “Everything okay?”

From the side of the road, Ava watched as Jake strolled his slim, taut frame beside Dan. Now she just needed her friend to lull the fit recluse into a friendly conversation so that he’d let his guard down and she could have a much needed chat with him. Ava had hoped to talk to Jake the night before, but he was clearly giving off a vibe that said ‘Fuck Off’ to everyone. So Ava decided to go with Plan B: Shirtless Dan Pierce beside a ‘broken down’ car. And it seemed to be working.

___

Although Dan had seen Jake through the binoculars earlier, he hadn’t expected him to be as attractive as he was up close and personal. Dan couldn’t help his eyes wandering all over the jogger’s body. From his tantalizing and inviting blue eyes to the way his lopsided grin showcased his kissable lips; Jake was more man than Dan expected. “Not sure. It started to smoke and then just quit.” Dan’s eyes continued to wander down Jake’s body following his white lie, admiring the way the sun glinted off of his sweat laced chest and how his matted blue shorts hugged high and tight to his muscular thighs leaving almost nothing to the imagination.

“Mind if I take a look?”

“Not at all.” Dan stepped to the side allowing Jake to inspect the car’s motor to see what the problem might be. He glanced towards where Ava had been hiding, but she waved him off to pay attention to Jake. Dan returned his eyes to the man beside him, noticing the strength and definition in his body. “You’re hot,” he reflexively said; his eyes going wide the moment he realized that his comment was out loud and not in his head. “I mean, you look hot...like... hot like you need a drink. Do you want a water?”

Jake flashed a wry smile at the man’s moment of fluster. Still got it Jake. “Sure. A water would be nice.”

“K. I think we got some in the trunk.”

“We?”

Shit! Dan’s face immediately flushed with worry. He caught me. He knows. He fucking knows. “I. I’ve got some in the trunk. I have no idea why I said ‘we.’” Dan’s voice cracked as he nervously laughed. He made his way to the back of the car, hoping that Jake wouldn’t challenge his lie. Dan reached into the soft Coleman cooler and yanked a bottle of ice cold water from its depths. He closed the trunk and jumped back in surprise. The former pilot was standing near the driver’s side rear door with his arms folded across his chest. “Jesus Jake. You scared me. I didn’t hear you walk over.”

“How’d you know my name is Jake?”

___

Damn it Dan. Ava watched as her friend got flustered after Jake caught him in his faux pas. She couldn’t hide any longer. As much as Ava had hoped to get Jake to let his guard down before she broached the difficult subject of his lost love, she couldn’t let her friend Dan suffer Jake’s questioning on his own. “Wait Jake. I can explain everything,” Ava confessed as she made her way up the embankment towards the two shirtless gentlemen.

Jake took in the towering woman approaching him and the attractive stranger. She wore her hair in a beautifully braided style with several streaks of pink throughout. Her clothes looked like the latest in goth fashion from Hot Topic and no doubt many people lumped her into the goth chick category. But Jake knew better. He knew a witch when he saw one. “Who are you? Who is this guy? And what do you want?”

“My name is Ava Cunningham. That’s my friend Dan Pierce. And we both just want to help you, Jake.”

“You want to help me? You don’t even know me, Hermione. You think having some Handsome Guy chat me up means I’ll let you use your witchcraft to get into my head and poke around?” Jake saw the confusion on Ava’s face as she processed his words. “Yeah, I know you’re some kinda witch. Not the first one I’ve come upon in my life. You and Sexy Mop Top here can go back to Hogwarts and leave me alone.” Jake turned to leave the two young strangers, hoping he wouldn’t have to resort to other unpleasant means to get them to leave.

“How’d you know I was a witch?” Ava asked before Jake could even take two steps. She watched him pause in his tracks for a moment as if he was contemplating his thoughts.

Jake smiled to himself, his back facing Ava and Dan. So I was right. He loved when he read people correctly. Jake turned around, gesturing towards the front of the car as he did. “The engine. Nothing was loose or cracked. No obvious signs of damage, yet there was smoke coming from the bay. Growing up in Louisiana, you come to learn those parlor tricks. Also, there’s still a faint amount of smoke emanating from the palm of your right hand.” The instant Jake pointed out her tell, Ava looked down and clenched her fist extinguishing the last of the embers. “Next time Hermoine, just lead with the magic tricks. People love them.”

“But you’re not most people, Jake! I know what you’ve been through and...”

“You don’t know anything!” Jake whirled around to leave again; his face red with rage.

“Stuck in a time loop on a tropical island. Battling sea monsters and giant crabs. Fending off your old boss from Arachnid. But it wasn’t all bad. You helped protect a bunch of scared college kids. Reunited with your friend you thought was dead. Married the love of your life.” Ava watched Jake’s shoulders slowly rock up and down. She couldn’t tell if he was getting more agitated by her words or if she was getting through his gruff exterior and he was finally listening. “I know what Taylor means to you Jake. And I think I know a way to get him back.”

Jake took a few paces towards the front of the car. He dropped the prop rod and slammed the hood. “Screw the magic tricks. Next time lead with that.” Jake pointed to a smiling Ava and a confused Dan, “Get in the car. I’m driving.”

Rarely one to show genuine excitement, Ava giddily ran over to get into the front passenger seat beside Jake, while Dan remained glued in place behind the car. “So, can I put my shirt back on now?”

___

“So you’re telling me the Queen of Corona, some life-style blogger, and an editor are the most powerful witches in the world? And they don’t know it?” Jake plopped down onto the old couch in his living room, running a hand through his sweat dampened hair, before twisting open the water bottle Dan hand been intending to give him earlier. He gulped down about half of the refreshing liquid, letting out an exaggerated sigh of satisfaction when he was done.

“Cordonia,” Ava corrected, leaning against the door jamb that separated the kitchen from the living room. “And I know it sounds ridiculous...”

“It sounded like a joke when she told me. Which is crazy cuz I believed her when she told me about our friends battling moss creatures during the Homecoming dance senior year,” Dan interrupted. He pulled up a seat on the overstuffed leather chair across from Jake. The chair had seen better days, but damn was it comfortable. “An editor, a blogger, and a queen walk into a bar...” Dan chuckled softly, quite pleased with his humorous quip.

Ava rolled her eyes at her friend. “Weren’t you wanting to put your shirt back on Dan? I’m sure it’s still in the car if you wanna go get it and I’ll speak with Jake.”

“I’m good. It’s hotter in his house than it is outside.”

Jake flashed his award winning grin - Pearl River High School’s Mr. Bayou three years in a row. He swept the swimsuit and athletic events each time he won. Jake didn’t mind if Dan remained shirtless. He could appreciate the man’s appeal, but Jake’s heart belonged to Taylor and he was intrigued to know how Ava intended to bring him back. “He’s fine Hermoine. And I don’t think it sounds ridiculous at all. The things I’ve experienced on La Huerta; whatever Sexy Mop Top was talking about... I believe you.”

“Thanks Jake.”

“Hell, you could tell me that vampires roam New York and a robot is dating President Thompson and I’d believe you.” Jake finished the rest of his water and got up from the couch. He looked back and forth between Ava and Dan. “What I don’t believe is how you’ll be able to convince those sisters of who they really are, let alone get close enough to them to even try.”

Ava just stood silent. She didn’t have an answer for him as to how they would accomplish that feat. A few of her friends were in New York with her girlfriend, Stacy, working on a plan, but she hadn’t received an update on their progress. Ava watched as Jake excused himself from the room to finally go wash off the grime from his run. “Have you heard from Stacy, Lucas, or Cade yet?” Dan shook his head, giving Ava a brief moment of stress before she collected herself again. “Guess we’ll have to go New York and figure it out together.”

___

From within a living room mirror, Donovan Bailey observed Ava take a seat across from Dan. “The sisters are in New York,” he said turning to his friend, Shreya.

“I’ll tell the others and see if they can get a lock on their location.” Shreya quickly vanished leaving Donovan alone to continue keeping an eye on Ava Cunningham. While she wasn’t naturally attuned like Donovan and his friends, the magic world had become aware of her developing powers. After all, it wasn’t every day that a mortal human learned to harness powerful magic on her own.

***

End Note: Donovan Bailey is the name of my MC in The Elementalists. In regards to Endless Summer, I went with the third ending so this story takes place roughly a year after MC disappeared to save the others and free them from La Huerta.

[herohawks]

Five times Connor is forced to call Hank “dad”. They both suffer.

A/N: short little snippets im writing while my wrist is out of commission. dont know if im going to post them to ao3 since  kinda crack-ish lmao. feel free to send me prompts.

---

PART 1

“Remind me again why we agreed to this shit?”

Connor hefts a box onto his shoulder and balances another on his hip. Hank is struggling to carry one. The bottom of the cardboard is not taped adequately to withstand the current weight. Hank had been the one to tape this particular box, but Connor thinks it best not to point this out.

“We agreed to take the case because we are one of the few within the DPD who specialize in android-human crime. And, as Captain Fowler pointed out, our particular skill sets will allow us to infiltrate this group much easier than our other coworkers,” Connor says as he leads the way to the front door of their new home.

Hank snorts, uneven steps following not far behind. “Skill sets. Yeah. That what they’re calling it these days?”

“That’s what the captain called it, yes.” Connor deftly switches the box on his hip to his knee, balancing it between his leg and the wall so he can fish out the house key the captain had entrusted to him.

The key latches in easily and Connor swings the door open with little fanfare. He allows Hank to go first under the guise of trying to get a better grip on the box he’s currently holding over his knee. The structural integrity of Hank’s box is nearly at its limit.

“Well,” Hank huffs, dropping the box onto the living room floor with a muffled thump. Connor sets his down much more gently. “Jeffrey has always been too nice for his own good, so I’m gonna set it to you straight. You look like a goddamned twink and Jeffrey thinks your scrawny ass will fit in real well with these other skinny, starving college kids. I’m here to make sure you don’t screw it up.”

Connor looks to the ceiling and sighs. It’s a mannerism he’s picked up from Detective Reed that he quite likes. It accurately and efficiently sums up what he wishes to convey with little effort on his part.

“I am not ‘scrawny’,” Connor says, a tad defensive. “Second, the term ‘twink’ is widely outdated and carries negative conn—“

“Connor. Do me a favor and shut the fuck up.” Hank stretches his back, then groans loudly when it pops. “Jesus, I’m too old for this shit.”

“You only carried one box,” Connor points out helpfully, twirling the key ring on his finger for lack of anything better to do with his hands. He itches to go bring in the other nine boxes stacked in Hank’s car.

Hank rolls his eyes so hard Connor is briefly worried that they’ll fall out their sockets. “Jesus Christ. Just – go get the other boxes, would ya?”

Connor does, and makes good time. Hank grumbles while unpacking the boxes, throwing things in a haphazard manner that must have some sort of logic to it, though it’s not one that Connor can decipher at a glance.

With Hank’s back turned to him, Connor takes the chance to run a quick scan. The lieutenant’s blood sugar is low, and Connor detects a minor muscle strain in his lower back from poor posture and lack of adequate hydration.

They still need to go grocery shopping, but Connor had packed a few granola bars and water bottles just in case. He digs them out of one of the boxes and kneels down beside Hank to hand them over. “You need to eat, Lieutenant.”

“Thanks,” he says gruffly, snatching the water and energy bar from Connor. He sets it aside so Connor leaves him be and goes to unpack the other boxes.

They settle into an easy rhythm. An hour later, Connor hears the telltale crinkle of the protein bar being unwrapped and wisely says nothing when Hank’s mood significantly improves from that point after.

What probably felt like an eternity for Hank but was in actuality three hours and thirty-two minutes, they’re finally finished settling in. Connor is pleased to note everything is where it needs to be when he does a cursory scan of the rooms. Despite Hank’s grumbling, they make a great team.

“Great work, Lieutenant,” Connor says as he comes back into the living room where Hank is currently lounging on the couch. “It seems like everything is in order.”

Hank scoffs. “Don’t act so surprised.” A pause. “And it’s not ‘Lieutenant’ right now. Don’t blow our cover.”

“You’re right. Sorry, Dad.” The moment the sentence leaves his vocal unit, a heavy silence stretches between them. Connor has a peculiar urge to exit the room and not return for maybe forever.

“Okay. That was fucking weird,” Hank says finally, breaking the tense hush that had fallen over the room. He runs a hand over his beard, eyes flicking around but never settling on one thing for long.

Connor feels some of the tenseness in his shoulders melt away at the implication that Hank, too, may be feeling some measure of awkwardness. “I agree.”

“Shit. We need to get our shit together before we’re seen in public.”

“It’ll take some getting used to,” Connor admits, and runs a finger along the outer seam of his jeans. They’re not as comfortable nor as flexible as the pants CyberLife had issued him, but it’s currently the style preference of many young adults, and Connor has to blend in. He still misses his own pants, though.

“Want to go grab a bite and forget this ever happened?” Hank asks as he pulls himself up from the couch with a grunt.

Connor does. “Yes. I would like that.”

Hank makes a valiant effort to throw his crumpled wrapper into the small waste bin set along the floor separating the kitchen and living room. He misses. Connor quietly goes over and places the wrapper in the bin.

“Thanks. Hey, don’t forget your glasses,” Hank says and Connor can’t help but wrinkle his nose. Hank laughs. “What, not a fan?”

“You know I’m not,” Connor says, a little cross. Nevertheless, he unhooks it from his shirt and puts them on. They constantly slip down the bridge of his nose. “It’s impractical.”

Hank does not care about his suffering. “It’s your disguise so quit complaining. You’re not the only one who had to make some changes.”

The lieutenant scruffs a self-conscious hand over his freshly cut hair. It’s shorn short with the top a little longer – it looks good, Connor thinks. Makes him appear younger and highlighting the blues of his eyes.

Connor’s glasses, on the other hand, do not look good. They’re clunky and annoying, and Connor thinks they sit awkwardly on his face. The urge to snap them in half is strong.

“They look fine,” Hank says with the tone of someone who’s said this many, many times, which he has. Connor does not believe him any of those times. “Hurry up. I’m starving.”

“Fine.” Connor is getting better at expressing his displeasure through his tone, but Hank tends to ignore this new development as he does with anything he finds inconvenient.

They decide to walk. More accurately, Connor decides that if they’re going to order something unhealthy, they can, at the very least, walk there. Hank is not pleased. Connor doesn’t care.

  A mile and a half later, a small lot with a few food trucks parked in a messy half-circle comes into view. Hank makes a beeline for the hotdog truck so Connor trails behind him. Hank orders a hotdog with only one topping at Connor’s insistence, and Connor buys a small vanilla milkshake to maintain appearances.

  The lot is very crowded, but they manage to snag a table near the sidewalk and away from most of the congested foot-traffic. There’s a light drizzle so Connor pops open the umbrella attached to the table. The atmosphere reminds him of their meeting at the Chicken Feed all those months ago, when Hank had been skeptical and Connor had been apologetic and insistent.

  That had been one of their first, positive conversations. It’s a fond memory, one that Connor keeps tucked away in his memory files for safekeeping.

  “So,” Hank says, snapping Connor out of his musings. “Excited about your first day of school tomorrow?” Hank is grinning so Connor levels him with an unimpressed look. “What? A father can’t have a healthy interest in his son’s education?”

  Connor sets his plastic cup down firmly. “No.”

  “Don’t be like that,” Hank laughs and Connor shakes his head, rubbing his fingers along his temple in a gesture he’s seen Hank do many times.

  His fingers stutter over the place where his LED used to be, the synthetic skin smooth to the touch. He feels oddly naked without it. Vulnerable. He wouldn’t mind the glasses half as much if he could just have his LED back.

  Something must show on his face because Hank’s smile fades a few seconds later, replaced with a worried expression. “Hey, kid. You alright?”

  “Fine,” Connor says a touch too quickly. Hank’s eyebrows shoot up, clearly unconvinced. He runs a finger one more time over his temple before placing it back on the table. “Nervous, maybe.”

  “Hmm. About school?” The way he says it implies he is talking about something else. Connor believes he is inquiring about their current undercover case, so he nods. “Don’t sweat it. You’ll be fine. You’re smart, and a fast learner. You’ll fit right in.”

  Connor has his doubts. While he’s done extensive research into the university as well as updating his human integration program to include the most recent pop culture and dialect, Connor can’t help the uneasiness that settles in the pit of his stomach. Maybe Hank is right. Perhaps this is beyond their capabilities.

  Connor keeps silent and pretends to sip his milkshake.

College is…an experience.

Connor takes the automated bus despite Hank’s insistence he drive him there. The walkways are constantly flooded with harried students and Connor finds himself having to fight the crowd more often than not.

He observes that many of his peers carry some type of overly-caffeinated beverage on them at all times (there had been a memorable moment when Connor’s sensors had picked up vodka disguised as water in someone’s water bottle, but he’d kept the information to himself). After this observation, Connor stopped by the local coffee shop on campus to purchase a small, black coffee. It reminds him of Hank.

His classes had been fairly boring, but Connor supposes that is to be expected. Hank had told him university was probably going to be uninteresting to an android that could calculate over a thousand possible scenarios in two seconds. Connor had promptly told him it actually takes him an average of 0.53 seconds to compute those scenarios, which had resulted in Hank scuffing him across the head.

Connor, despite his reservations, slots into college life seamlessly. Finding the group responsible for the android hate crimes disguised as hazing is almost too simple. They arrest the group three months later once he’s obtained the proper amount of evidence, plus some. Connor wishes they’d at least make it a challenge.

Overall, a success.

“Good job on your first undercover op,” Hank says over dinner.

Here, Connor doesn’t have to pretend to eat. He hadn’t realized how exhausting it is to pretend to be human. His LED is firmly reinstalled, and Connor brings his fingers up to brush it periodically, the familiar ridges soothing.

Sumo lies by their feet, tail thumping happily every time Connor or Hank looks his way. The Saint Bernard had missed them dearly in their four months apart.

“Thank you.” Connor is pleased with the results. His whole body feels warm, but jittery at the same time, like he has excess energy that can’t be contained. He bounces his leg, he twiddles his fingers, and shifts his posture every few seconds. “I’m glad we were able to bring them to justice.”

“Nah,” Hank says after swallowing a bite of his vegetarian stir-fry (Connor’s making, of course). “You’re just happy you don’t have to wear those dorky glasses anymore.”

“So you agree, then. That they looked bad.” Connor feels betrayed. Hank had told him they’d looked fine. Hank is a filthy liar.

Hank snorts and shovels more food into his mouth before replying. “What’d you do with them anyway?” Avoiding Connor’s sort-of question.

Connor rolls his shoulders in a self-satisfied way, and shoots Hank a sly grin. “On the record, I disposed of them in the appropriate recycling bin. Off the record, they may have ended up in a bonfire at the last party I attended as a college student.”

Hank barks a laugh and slaps the table. Connor smiles, too. “Shit,” Hank says, wiping his eyes. “You make me proud, kid.”

“Thank you.”

“Tell ya what, though. Having you call me ‘dad’ for four months was probably the most awkward four months of my life. As long as we don’t gotta do that shit again, I can die happy,” Hank says, taking a sip of his water.

Connor nods. “Agreed.”

[frogoboggins]

Transform for the Glory of Voltron part 1

The red knight anxiously scanned the busy street of downtown Seattle. Things seemed normal other than a couple of his comrades he could occasionally spot. Lance, the blue knight, spirit of devotion, sat on a bench reading a paper. Pidge, the green knight and spirit of wisdom on the other hand, had completely disappeared into the sea of people rushing through their daily lives. Despite his centuries of training, Keith still jumped when he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

    “Pidge!” Keith whispered in surprise. He turned to look at her for a moment but quickly returned his eyes to darting around the plaza to his left.

    Pidge pulled out a cell phone and spoke casually but in a hushed tone nobody nearby would overhear. “You see the man in the blue pinstripes by the newsstand?”

    Keith leaned against the brick wall behind him and nodded.

    “55 dash B”, she said sticking headphones in one ear and beginning a slow jog down the street.

    A 55-B? The knights hadn’t see one in almost 50 years. Keith didn’t know what one of them was doing in Seattle but the man seemed surprisingly calm for someone who was likely already aware of the guild’s presence. Keith moved with the flow toward the nearest crosswalk and did his best to blend with the crowd. The 55-B may know they’re there but he might be able to avoid scaring him off. When Keith crossed he was about 20 yards from the target. 15 yards. 10 yards. He was only 7 yards from the newsstand when he found himself held against a wall in an alley by a young woman with black hair and alarming bluebell eyes.

    The woman was strong but deceivingly small and glared at the red knight with the intensity of a tiger. “Now I sure hope for your sake you weren’t about to take out my favorite mark, were you sir knight?” she had a hint of a French accent as she spoke. She was intense but also calm and that terrified Keith to his core.

    “How did you..” Keith managed only a few words before she cut in.

    “Know you are from the Voltron guild?” she smiled and as she did Keith noticed something odd about that grin. “You people really are to obvious.” she loosened her grip and stared at Keith but this time more intrigued than before. Her smile faded for a moment but snapped back as she released her hold on him. She stepped back and straightened the red collar of her knee length, black coat.

    “Who are you?” he knew it was a cliché thing to ask but it was the only question that mattered at the moment.

    The woman smirked and almost began to answer when they received an unexpected member to their party. The man in the pinstriped suit stood at the entrance to the alley. “Ahh yes. If it isn’t the ladybug herself.” he walked slowly and confidently toward the pair. “And who is this? Merlin’s knights cannot help you.” he tilted his head with a disarmingly gentle smile.

    Keith froze. The last time he fought one of these it took him almost 2 years to regenerate fully. Regardless the danger there were civilians in the area and he pulled his sword a few inches from his trench coat. The red stone set in the hilt shone in the dark alley. The red knight glared at the creature standing before him.

    “No need for that sir knight.” he stopped a few feet in front of them. “I'm not going to kill anyone. I have everything i need and i don’t believe in wasting my resources.” his smile twisted slightly and his gaze turned to ladybug. “I would be more worried about the lovely figure to your left, packing her own lethal weapon.”

    Keith glanced at ladybugs hands. He didn’t see any weapon but we noticed her finger tap something concealed by her sleeve.

    “Ignore him.” ladybug’s eyes narrowed on the man. “He’s just still bitter about losing a little scuffle a few centuries ago”

    “I think you’re leaving out that nasty trick you pulled in the lovely establishment I had in Chicago! Hand her over sir knight. She’s the monster here, not me.” the man took a step closer and smiled charmingly. Something about that smile mad Keith want to do exactly as the man asked. He was drawn in by those eyes.

    “I don’t think so,” Keith glared into the eyes attempting to ensnare him. “The knights of Voltron are not so easily swayed by your kind.”

    The man’s charm faded along with his smile. “That's too bad. I guess we will have to do this the hard way.” in an instant the man’s shining charisma transformed into rage. His eyes changed from a soft violet to deep red and he bared his teeth. His fangs were like needles. He charged on them but before he reached the pair Keith found himself in mid air being held around his waist.

    “Tikki!” ladybug yelled over the sound of the aircraft above them. “We’ll get in just fine! Focus on Gabriel!” we can’t lose him this time!”

    Keith quickly took in his surroundings. He was currently being held up by a petite woman, dangling by what seemed to be a thin cord attached to a helicopter, flying over Seattle, with an angered monster down below. That’s when it started raining.

*************************************

    Lance was just beginning to move in when Keith vanished. He froze in his tracks. The whole plan depended on Keith being in position. Where was he? Lance turned and pretended to be admiring something through a store window. In the reflection on the glass, lance noticed the man move toward a nearby alley. He turned from the window and started walking in the same direction.

    He saw the man turn down the alley but then he was stopped by some kind of street salesman. “Hey kid. You look like the kind of man who likes watches”

    A sketchy guy selling watches? What was this some kind of old fashioned cop show? “No thank you. I'm not interested.” lance tried to slide past the man but he was stopped by a subtle punch to the gut.

    “I wouldn’t if i were you kid,” the salesman whispered in his ear. “Goin after one of them’ll get ya sent home in a fresh casserole. Besides,” he pulled lance closer, “my employer would like to speak with one o’ yous knights.” he pushed lance back and brushed off his jacket for him. He held out his hand which the blue knight hesitantly shook. “The name’s Enrique. My esteemed colleagues and i was just havin a little meetin right in there when we noticed your cute little operation out here.” he gestured to a building a few doors down.

    Lance gave the short man a suspicious glare. “You just happened to notice us?”

    The stranger scratched his ear, “ya sure kid. We can smell your types a mile away.” they came to the door Enrique had pointed out and the man pulled out a key. Opening the door he held out his arm. “After you kid.”

    Lance fingered the outline of his gun through the pocket of his coat and stepped through the door.

    Enrique ushered him down a hallway and into the room at the end. In the smoky room three people sat around a table. The man closest to the door was tall and wore a patch over one eye. He stood, looming over lance, glaring with his one eye, and left without a word. Lance had recognized him. He was a 46-L the knights had met at lake Tahoe only two years ago. Lance’s gut turned as he remembered slashing the knife at the charging creature who refused to cooperate with their simple demands.

    Lance didn’t know any other faces at the table but if they were anything like their friend, which is more than likely considering their tendency to live in groups, then he very well could have met them before. The man on the far side of the table wore a grey suit and a forest green necktie. His silver hair was slicked back and he held his hands together on the table. A black haired woman sat to his right in a long, purple, cheongsam style dress. She tapped her nails on the table impatiently and looked lance up and down.

    Enrique sat lance down at the table and took his own seat to the left. Lance found himself awkwardly staring around the room in silence. The man in the corner took a moment to examine the blue knight before he spoke. “Gabriel Aggrest arrived in Seattle three weeks ago.” he spoke with an English accent and acted more like a professor than a crime boss. His demeanor made a sudden shift from welcoming to irritated. “What took the guild so long to do something about it? Relations between our peoples are fragile as it is without a rogue with such high standing in the community.

    “High standing?” the knights had a pretty simple understanding of the social systems since the people they watch over preferred more privacy. They had some agreements with major leaders but part of that was keeping out of any business that doesn’t effect the general public.

    The man leaned across the table and smiled like it was funny how little the knights knew. “The creature you and your little friends have been following around the city has joined their ranks during the French revolution and has been climbing the political ladder of their society ever since.” he sat back and laughed a bit. “Can you believe hat Miss Nomura. Of all people, they’ve never met the great and pretentious Mr. Aggrest.”

    Miss Nomura snickered. “The pompous fool probably thinks he could overthrow the Monarchs single handed.”

    Nomura received a subtle glare from her colleague and her grin faded.

    “Look Mr.-” lance realized he hadn’t caught the mans name.

    “Strickler,” he interjected, “Waltolemew Strickler. 46-L by kin. That is how you refer to us yes?”

    “Well ya but-”

    “Speaking of your system, there was a reason we asked you to come in today.” Strickler pulled a folder and slid it across the table. “We have someone you may want to track down.”

    Lance opened the folder and began flipping through. In the front were a few pictures of a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties. She was tall, slender, and had long curly hair that fell to her lower back. She was gorgeous. Lance caught himself staring at the photos for just a bit longer than he should have. “Why are you showing me this? Excuse me for asking but the community doesn’t exactly have a history of total cooperation with the guild. Why her?”

    “I understand your concern,” Strickler replied, “let's just say this particular child has lost her way and her pack is anxious for her safe return. Her transition has been less than ideal.” he sighed and folded his hands. “I hate to say it, but we need your help.”

    Lance nodded. His was definitely the kind of thing the guild existed for. They were supposed to help the  two worlds coexist side by side, but something about the man made him uneasy. “I’ll have to talk to the captain but i see no reason why the knights of merlin couldn’t help you out once we’re done with our current situation”

    “Of course, of course. Although, I don’t think you'll have to worry about that much longer with the ladybug around.”

    “The ladybug?” lance had heard the name before but didn’t know much else about her. “She’s here,  in Seattle?”

    “Well it is her job to deal with rogue activity. The monarchs hired her centuries ago to take care of their little problems. I would assume that by now she’s already moved in on the subject.”

    Nomura snickered again. “She’s taken care of that old bat what? Like 50 times now?”

    Strickler rolled his eyes. “Yes over the years Gabriel's ambition has gotten him on her list  57 times to be precise.”

    If this ladybug was in Seattle, how hadn’t the guild caught on to her presence? She sounded pretty dangerous and they were even tracking the same mark. That's when it clicked. “Keith!” he shouted, “that must be where he disappeared to!”

    “I sure hopes not.” Enrique chuckled. “If your buddy’s stuck in an alley with a couple of them i doubt he’s coming out.”

    Lance jumped to his feet. “I'm sorry i've got to go. I can come back another time but i really gotta be getting back!” he turned to run out the door but Enrique caught his wrist.

    “But we ain’t done talkin to ya!”

    “Let him go my friend. He knows where to find us.”

    Enrique released his grip and lance was off.

**************************************************

    Allura Altea woke that morning, as always, to the sweet voice of Billy Joel. she rolled to the side of her motel bed and grabbed her phone from the night stand. She cut it off before Billy reached the first chorus of uptown girl and checked her messages before sitting up. “Hey Coran,” she said into the phone, “where is the nearest gas station.”

    A male voice with an Australian accent came from the speaker. “Good morning princess! The nearest gas station is 2.5 miles away. Would you like me to pull up directions?”

    Allura smiled. She had told the a.i. to call her princess a few months ago as a joke but she had learned to love it. “Yes please.”

    She threw off the blanket and quickly pulled her faded jeans on and up over her hips. She heard the shower turn off as she slipped into her pastel pink sweater.

    A few moments later, a blonde with bright green eyes came into the room, wrapped in a towel. Allura tried not to notice him getting dressed in the corner. He wore a black leather jacket and old dark jeans with a green t-shirt. He pushed his hair back and picked up a large duffle bag before heading for the door. “You coming Ally?” he asked raising an eyebrow. It wasn’t in a judgmental way. The boy was ridiculously kind.

    Allura was still a little in shock but she managed to snap back to reality. “Yeah, “she said, “just let me get my stuff.” she shoved a denim jacket in her bag and swung it over her shoulder.

    It was drizzling when they stepped outside but not enough to worry about. They were about ten miles outside Portland after last yesterday’s drive. Apparently Adrien had a friend in LA who could help them out so they were headed south to California. They just had to make a stop in Portland for some equipment he needed.

    Allura climbed into the passenger seat of Adrien’s small black pickup and opened the map on her phone.

    The short drive to the gas station was mostly quiet due to the early hour. “Hey ally, why don’t you head inside and get some snacks while i take care of this.” Adrien smiled sweetly and tossed her his wallet.

    Once inside, Allura went directly for a strawberry pop tart. She had them all the time as a kid when her father had business trips and she was left with her nanny. Rose was crazy about them and it was their little secret. Allura smiled at the memory. She grabbed two and moved on. Eventually her arms were full of chips, soda, jerky, and sweets. She made her way to the counter and unloaded her bounty.

    “Alright miss sunshine, that’ll be ten ninety seven,” the cashier said in a monotone voice.

    Allura paid, thanked the cashier and turned to leave, but that's when she say him again. His figure shifted and flickered. His mouth appeared to be forming words but nothing came out. Allura dropped her bags and with shaking hands she pressed the button on the small device Adrien had given her.

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

so I finally finished this. it took way longer than I thought it would. sorry about that. I'll get on part 2 as soon as possible! if you wanna be tagged just ask and id love to put you on the list!

@bowser14456 @invisiblycat @glove23 @fandomsandanythingelse

[showingthroughtome]

somewhere in between - one

September 2011

“What? Haven’t heard of chill?” She yelled over the loud music directly into his ear. “No need to act like a high-strung Chihuahua on stage.”

“No one else complained.” Harry defended himself with a smirk and a kinked brow.

“I don’t know why they wouldn’t. I’ll place the first one now.” She patted him on the shoulder, then his face fell and she couldn’t keep it up - Lenny never didn't have a hard time keeping up a joke. “I’m just kidding, Harry. It was actually -”

read below - story page - character page - thanks! 

September 2011

Thinking of one thing and one thing only, Louis busted through the swinging doors that led to the record store’s break room, with arms outstretched and a cheeky smile on his lips.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I've got news!” He shouted through the room, coming to a quick disappointment when he found only three out of his six coworkers. “Wait, where is everyone else?” He looked between Lenny, Jen, and Niall, who looked at him for one moment, shrugged, and then went back to what they were doing.

“Guys! Serious news here!” He flopped himself down on one of the three couches in the room - he preferred the red velvet one over the tacky cheetah print loveseat or the worn leather sectional. He propped his feet up on the coffee table stood between him and his friends and rested his hands behind his neck.

Not one of them paid him any attention, even after all that noise. Lenny, as usual, was hard at work making flash cards for her French 101 class with Jen sat right next to her, flipping through them and butchering the pronunciation as she attempted to learn secondhand. Niall sat with his phone in his hand, doing nothing remotely important, causing Louis to get fucking pissed.

“Yo, fuckface, you'll wanna hear this.” Louis threw a pillow, successfully knocking Niall right where he wanted - smack dab in between both of his eyes.

Niall readjusted himself with a slightly aggravated look of his own. “Oi! What’s so damn special, Lou?”

Both girls managed to pull their attention to Louis after the dramatics, exactly like he was hoping.

“That fucker Rico finally quit.”

“You're shitting me?” Jen automatically perked up. She probably hated the shitty teenager most of all. Rico would always hit on her even though he was only sixteen and knew she'd never come close to touching him.

“Nope. At last night's shift he just up and left. Gave me his name badge and everything.” Louis pulled out the token of Rico’s final moment from his pocket in victory, holding it up for the others to see.

The sight had the three gasping in wonder and clapping in a roaring applause.

“So no more missing Metallica CD’s?” Niall air quoted the final three words in Louis’s direction.

“Nope.”

“No more missed shifts because of violent vomiting?” Lenny copied Niall’s actions.

“Nope.”

Next it was Jen’s turn. “No more creepy flirting because you may be older but we have the same maturity level so what does it matter, baby?”

“Oh, come on, Jen. You kind of liked it.”

Jen snapped her head in Niall’s direction so fast Louis could feel the wind from it all the way across the room. “Bite your tongue, little Irish boy.”

“That's so sick, Niall.” Lenny backed up her closest friend - the one who would always study with her and entertain her during a particularly dry shift - and threw her pencil straight for Niall's chest. Luckily for him, she had terrible aim.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Niall picked the pencil off the couch next to him and tossed it back.

“I'm just so fucking glad he's gone.” Louis exhaled a sigh of relief, brushing his short bangs away from his eyes. “I’ve been trying to get Tiff to fire him for months.”

“He’s her nephew, she'd never do that.” It was something everyone knew way before Lenny pointed it out.

Tiff, the owner of the record store, was one of the most kindhearted people on the planet. She’d hire any sixteen-year-old that walked in her shop without assumptions that they weren't mature enough for the job. That's how it was for a sixteen-year-old Louis, then two years later, a sixteen-year-old Niall, and then a year later, a sixteen-year-old Lenny. Jen was technically seventeen when she was hired but close enough.

The bottom line - Tiff was too loving and giving, so when her brother’s bratty son needed a job, there was no hesitation.

When he turned out to be complete shit and everyone suggested she fire his ass ASAP, she claimed they couldn't afford the loss of a worker, though, they all knew the truth.

“Well, I guess she's going to have to hire someone else now.” Jen smiled hugely as she picked up Lenny's flash cards.

“I'm sure we will be able to fill the hole Rico left.” Louis remarked sarcastically as Jen held up a card to Lenny that read ça va? Lenny knew the meaning and read the words well enough to convince her three strictly English speaking coworkers that she made no error. Louis, who had worked the night shift before, closed his eyes and drifted off to a light sleep at the sound of it.

That is, until Parker came into the room, pushed his feet off the table with a swift kick of her boots and said, “Wakey wakey. You said you'd help me.”

Louis blinked around the room, finding the girls in the same position but Niall gone to take over the register once Parker's shift had ended. He listened to her boots clack as they slapped against the hard black and white checkered linoleum on the way to her work locker, pulling out a pair of electric clippers.

“What ya doin’?” Lenny tilted her head in the direction of Parker, asking sweetly.

“Don't worry about it, babe.” She opened the door to the bathroom, waited for Louis, and once he entered behind her, slammed it shut a little too harshly.

Through the thin door, Jen could be heard saying, “Yeah, Len. Chill out or you'll kill her mysteriousness.”

Louis chuckled at that but Parker rolled her eyes and plugged in the clippers. It took longer than planned, but soon enough, Parker exited the bathroom, no longer sporting shoulder length curls but a Sinead style buzzcut.

---

Niall was absolutely buzzing from the idea he got during his five-hour shift, getting nearly as excited as he was when Louis came in with his grand news. To be fair, though, Niall could excite himself over almost anything. Of course, when Niall got to the break room, no one was there. Louis had to take over the register for the final two hours of the night, and Lenny had probably gone to bed since she had an 8am the following day. Jen was probably having dinner with Toby at his second job - the pizza shop across the street. And Parker, after shaving her head, strutted through the storefront and out the door, off to go buy bleach to experiment with dying the little black stubble she had left.

Who the fuck knew where Brando could be? Probably smoking pot and playing guitar somewhere.

Niall just waited as he took a nap on the leather sectional. Tiff would eventually walk out of her office to have a meeting with the night manager for a short debrief of the day, and since Niall slept so lightly, he'd wake up right away.

Which he totally did do, but the ceremonial noise of Tiff leaving her office - a slap of window blinds against her door - didn't come for two whole hours. Not until Louis walked into the break room with the register drawers in his hand.

“Good night for sales!” Louis boomed as loud as could be, most likely just to spite Niall, nothing else really called for that decibel level. “Making Mama Tiff proud one day at a time, we are, Nialler.”

“Sure are.” Tiff confirmed in a baby voice, pinching Louis's cheeks going off the sound of disgust he emitted.

“Tiff, we talked about this.”

“You'll always be sixteen to me.” Two light slaps to his cheeks emphasized her hold over him.

Niall had enough of not seeing all this torment - it was always best to witness the way Tiff could do anything she wanted to Ol’ Mischievous Louis because no matter how much it bothered him, he respected her too much to truly rebel. Niall flipped over and sat up, blonde hair surely askew.

“Hey.” He remembered the exciting thought he had earlier. “I know who you should hire as a replacement for Rico.”

“Oh yeah?” Tiff turned to Niall, placing a hand on her hip. “Who?”

“This mate of mine. He's a second year uni student with a heart of gold. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say a bad word about him.”

“Boring.” Louis pretended to yawn.

“No, mate. You'd like him too. He loves a good pint.”

Even though that got a nod from Louis, Tiff shook her head and sighed, “Great. Exactly what I need.”

“Just interview him,” Niall suggested. “We were talking the other day and he was sayin’ he really needed a job.”

“Well, looks like you just got the job for him.” Louis teased Tiff’s weakness with a gentle elbowing.

Even though they could both tell she wanted to argue, she just scratched her head with a manicured nail and took a seat. “Tell him to come in anytime tomorrow for an interview. I'll be here all day.”

---

The interview was a short one - shorter than Tiffs interview with Louis and Niall, even shorter than Lenny's, who she was certain of after two questions. Tiff met this kid and by the time the first horribly bad pun left his mouth, she could tell he'd fit in with the crowd she had created.

Rico was the sore thumb on her perfect staff of oddballs but this kid wouldn't be. She told him to come in on the following Monday and she'd give him a short three-hour shift with her other uni student, feeling relieved knowing she wouldn't have to search for another employee for at least another year.

---

The new hire came in 15 minutes early and somehow, by the time Lenny came into work - 10 minutes early - he had her coworkers fawning all over him. Niall had already known him so his heart eyes were already on display. Louis, Jen, and Toby, on the other hand, were meeting him for the first time as well.

“Lennox!” Jen jumped up from the couch and shuffled over to Lenny. “The new guy is here and kind of amazing and so beautiful.”

“He's right there. He can hear you.” Lenny laughed and pointed over to where the tall, curly headed boy was looking right at them. “Hi, I'm Lenny.” She smiled and stepped around her eager friend to offer a handshake.

He gladly accepted her hand and offered his name in return. “Nice to meet you. My name’s Harry.”

“Solid, standard name.” She didn't know why she said it, yet, she often did that - said things that were kind of weird but kind of made sense. It was like stating a fact that seemed obvious though no one thought about it until someone pointed it out. Moving on, “So we have your first shift together! You're lucky you've got me because I’m an excellent person to shadow.”

“It's true.” Jen threw an arm around her best friend's shoulders. “Sometimes I just stand behind Lenny to get some of her awesomeness.”

Louis quirked his head to the side. “Really? I do it because she smells nice.”

“Of lavender and honey.” Niall agreed.

“You guys are creeping me out for her.” Toby giggled with dazed out eyes and a bite of his pepperoni slice (the one he had at 10:00 in the morning every morning).

While Lenny giggled along with Toby - because he was the kind of guy who got people to laugh just by laughing himself - Harry put on this charming as hell smile and, without any hesitation, declared, “I feel lucky.”

“You should.” Lenny turned to him and waved a hand for him to come closer. “Now, follow me.”

In the short time they had before their shift, Lenny showed Harry the ropes. She first brought him to the tiny, old fashioned punch in clock and the card he was to use every day before his shift began - his name already printed on the one he was designated for the next two weeks.

Next, she took him to the register - an even older one where you had to manually type in the price of each item, sum them up, then print off a receipt with the total. Even with it being not as simple as the scanning system every other place had adapted to, Harry caught on after one demonstration. Lenny was thankful for that; she didn't want another Rico on her hands.

They still had a couple minutes left before Jen unlocked the doors for the official opening time of 10:30am, so Lenny sat at her favorite register - the right one - on the vinyl stool Niall put there after too many shifts of standing in unsupportive shoes (he always complained of a bad back). Often, the two people on shift together would fight over it but since Harry was new he had no clue to go for it.

He had many other questions though. All about the people who worked there who he hadn't met yet. Lenny told him about Brando who would come in around three every day with a black electric guitar strapped to his back. And about Parker, Louis’s almost girlfriend and Brando’s twin sister, who acted like she hated everyone but had her moments. Harry’s jaw dropped when hearing the story of how Parker shaved her head in the bathroom after Louis bet her that she would never. Then nodded when Lenny told him how much she pulled it off.

Jen walked past the two, rolling her eyes at the sound of Parker's name, unlocking the one latch that kept the general public out. At nearly that exact moment, The Cranberries started playing on the loud speakers and Dream Records was open.

“So that's that.” Lenny stood up at the sound of the song that she had already explained away to Harry as the daily song Tiff requested be played when the doors are opened - by the band the store was named after and inspired it to be started in the first place. She smiled as Harry bounced his head along to the steady bass and laughed at how disenchanted he'll be by it in a few weeks. Though, she had heard it maybe a million times and still, she swayed her hips to the rhythm.

“Sick.” Harry said as the song faded out, watching the doors for any customers to come in. The usuals wouldn't show up for another twenty minutes at least but maybe a straggler would come in and shock Lenny.

Instead of just watching the door too, she picked up her book - Through the Language Glass - right as Harry went to talk. “I can't believe I actually got this job.”

“Why? Are you not worthy?” She threw a playful hand over her heart. “Should I inform Tiff? Get her to rip Niall a new one for your lack of competency?”

“No.” He snorted. “Just because… I really needed a job and when I really need one, I can't seem to get one.”

“Ah, I get that.” Lenny pulled on her high ponytail, splitting it down the middle to tighten it. “Well, not really. I got this job when I was sixteen and saw the help wanted sign on the way home from school.”

“Wow. That's lucky.”

“Yeah, it's probably one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me.”

“Except for getting a shift with me of course.��� Harry looked away from Lenny's blue eyes and out to the sea of vinyl’s filling the room.

“Oh yeah, totally. Completely. How did you know?”

“You just have a certain glow about you.” He noted, turning back to her and looking her up and down. It was almost flirty, but Lenny assumed that what could be taken that way was normally just friendly when directed towards her.

“You'll come to learn that I always have this glow.” She placed a hand on her hip where her black high waisted jeans met her peach blouse. Harry chuckled and shook his head, which in turn made Lenny’s shoulder slump dramatically. He didn’t budge though, holding his ground and the idea that he had some kind of effect on her. She had to change the subject, so she perked back up and questioned in a chipper tone, “So you're in uni too?”

“Yeah. I'm in my second year at UCL.”

“No way! I'm in my first one there. What's your major?”

“Film Studies.” It came out of Harry's mouth as a mumble for some odd reason.

But it had Lenny’s eyes blowing wider with envy at the cool field of study. “Now that's amazing! Much more interesting compared to my Linguistics one.”

“No way!” He repeated her words in the exact way she had done earlier - with too much excitement for something that probably didn't deserve it. “I'm not really sure what that is or what you'll do with it, but I’m intrigued.”

“It's the study of language.” Lenny didn't say it with much pride even though she loved the major with her whole heart. It's just, well, she always felt like such a stick in the mud talking about language. One time she was talking about it to Louis and she swore he fell asleep even though he denied it every time she threw it in his face. Harry was still awake thus far so she continued, “It's kind of really intense and way more scientific than I ever expected but I'm going to use it to teach English as a second language.”

“Yeah, see, that is cool!”

“Whatever you say.” She rolled her eyes. He had to be lying about his enthusiasm. But when she looked back at him, he still had his eyebrows raised and lips upturned. “I do get to take a ton of second language courses though. Right now I'm in French and then I'll go into Italian for a term and then I'll get to do the Asian languages.”

“Even cooler.”

She wrapped a piece of her long, copper hair hanging from her ponytail around one finger. “Thanks! I thought so too.”

Harry smiled so wide at Lenny that wrinkles crinkled at the side of his eyes. Eyes that she noticed were the most interesting shade of green - reminiscent of the leaves on the trees right before they start to turn for autumn. They perfectly balanced the dark shade of his hair and popped against his skin.

He broke her examination with a shrug of his shoulders. “I just try to write not so horrible scripts and get okay marks for them. But, like, at the moment I’m taking a photography class and I get so many points taken away for wrongful composition.”

“What? Isn't it up to you what the right composition is?”

“You would think but the more I learn the more I realize how false that is.”

“I am so sorry to hear that.” Lenny sympathized a little more than necessary, smiling, understanding what it's like to get to school and realize that what you thought you knew about something was completely wrong. It happened frequently with her, especially since she was studying something as vague as language.

“Nah, no worries.” He tucked a curl behind his ear and followed the sound of the bell that rang when the store’s front door opened. A couple walked in, donning matching jean jackets and cups of Starbucks coffee.

Lenny recognized them as Lacey and Peter and gave them a wave. She felt Harry's gaze shift to her, but where she thought she'd find his eyes on her face, they were directed to her hand falling on the counter top. Once he realized he had been caught, he coughed and pointed to her hands. “Right now actually, the focus in my photography class are hands so the grading isn't too rough. Turns out that hands look good in any way.”

“Really?” She looked down at her own and stretched out her fingers multiple times, admiring the tiny gold rings she slipped on that morning.

“Yeah! Like, I got a shot a couple weeks ago of my friend holding a pint at a pub and got top marks for it.”

“Nice!” Her jealousy of his major grew again. “I wish I could do pub related things for uni.”

Harry, with a squint, questioned speculatively, “You go to pubs?”

“What? I don't seem like the type?” And maybe she didn't. She did always keep her hair perfectly neat, not one lock straying out of place. She wore a lot of pastels because it made her pale skin look slightly tanner. And she was currently in a bare faced make up phase - mostly prompted by laziness but ultimately because she just liked that look. Perhaps she did seem kind of boring and plain, like someone who didn't explore a nightlife at all. Though, looks often were deceiving.

“Not necessarily.” Harry answered her question with one head shake and then slowly, a sly smirk was gracing his lips. “I mean, you look like you enjoy a good time but like that good time centers around a cup of tea and a book.”

“Ya know? I do like that. But I'm of age, Harry, so me and my friends have seen our fair share of nights out.”

“That lot here then?” He nodded his head in the direction of the break room where most of her friends were usually found. Lenny would try to deny it if it weren't so obvious. Instead, she pressed her lips together tightly and blinked at him. He bit his lip and moved on. “Alright. What's your favorite bar?”

“It's called The Third Shoe.” She said without considering any other option. “I know, the name is weird but they make the best Bloody Mary's.”

“With bacon?”

“No. But three sticks of celery if you're kind to the bartender… which I always am.” She bragged as proudly as she felt at that achievement.

“I'll have to check it out.” With a grin from ear to ear, Harry straightened in front of his register and eyed Peter as he approached them.

“Please do.” She said right before greeting a beloved regular. “Hey, Pete. You find anything good today?”

At the same time Peter held up a copy of a Mudhoney album his girlfriend appeared behind him with an 8-Track version of Nevermind - the truest classic of them all.

“Hello, Len!” Lacey cheered, putting her Starbucks down on the counter and pulling out her wallet. “It's on me today.” She smiled at her surprised boyfriend who handed over his vinyl without a second thought.

“New guy?” Peter turned to Harry.

“Yeah. ‘S my first day. Harry Styles.” Harry offered up a handshake that wasn’t returned - not that Peter was rude, he just didn't touch people, everyone knew that after their first meeting with him.

“I'm Lacey.” His girlfriend swooped in and took Harry's hand. “That's my beau, Peter.”

“Nice to meet you both.”

Lenny rang up their purchases in less than a minute and then placed the plastic bag on the counter. Peter picked it up and waved. Before they got too far, Lacey turned around and informed Harry, “You'll be seeing us a lot around here.”

“Every day around eleven to be exact.” Lenny specified to Harry once the bell rang again with their exit. “Like clockwork.” She pulled the stool closer to the register and sat. Harry seemed to be taking note of it and in silence, Lenny wondered, “So film studies? What's that like?”

“Stress. Anxiety. Fear you'll always do shit on a project.” Harry made a list as he ticked his fingers with each point.

“Sounds about right for linguistics too.”

Plus, never being quite sure if you were saying the right things or if the word was being used in the particular context it was meant to be, Lenny didn't say because she didn't feel like constant comparisons of majors were necessary. It was just what was on her plate as the biggest stressor at that moment.

“You'll have to let me see some of your work one day.” Lenny suggested, genuinely interested in what a charming guy like Harry would create in his film classes.

“I don't know about that.” He sounded less interested - way less. It was one of the few times that day that he broke eye contact and looked down sheepishly at his Chelsea boots.

Lenny assumed it was insecurity of unimpressive work but for some reason she couldn't see Harry creating something bad. She hardly knew him but she couldn't see it. She could imagine it being goofy and exciting, light and fun - not unimpressive. So, she swung her leg out from the stool and into his line of vision. It got her what she wanted - his attention - and Harry looked at her face.

“Please.” She puckered out her bottom lip and held it like that.

At first, he didn't seem fazed, then seconds ticked by and his shoulders loosened up. “Okay, maybe one day. If you really are lucky.”

Clapping her hands, she exclaimed, “Yay! If I'm lucky!”

“Don't get too happy, Lennox. None of it’s good.”

“I'm overwhelmed with excitement.” She clapped even louder with a grin wider than it was before Harry called her by the name Jen often would. And as endearing as it was, she figured she should tell him the truth. “But, umm, my name is just Lenny. They all like to give me dumb nicknames that involve Len, but it's just Lenny.”

“Yeah right if you think I'm not going to get in on that, Leonard.” Harry rolled his eyes with a goofy smile fighting its way across his lips.

The new name was a good effort, but it didn't fit the schema so it got a giggle out of her. “That's L-E-O, Harry. Not L-E-N.”

“Close enough, Lendora.” He shrugged.

“Wow, I'm feeling that regret about you already.” She shuddered and flipped open her book, listening to Harry roar with laughter at her reaction.

---

Harry hadn’t even worked at Dream Records for an entire week before he considered everyone in there a friend - Parker and Brando included. It turned out that they really did have a soft inside if you talked to them for long enough. Which Harry never had a hard time doing with anyone.

Especially not with Lenny.

Out of everyone - excluding Niall - she was the one he got on with the best. The cause was likely the first shift they shared, yet Harry liked to claim it was something more. If you asked him, Lenny lit up when she saw him because of how much they had in common and how much they laughed when they were together and not just because he would keep her entertained for their five hour shifts.

Harry was lounging on the leopard print couch, spread out over the expanse of it since it’s the one he felt most comfortable on. Niall and Jen were sharing headphones on the leather sectional and listening to the new St. Vincent album. And Lenny was sprawled across the floor, three textbooks surrounding her, vigorously taking notes on lined pieces of paper.

She had a paper due at the end of the month and two exams in three weeks, but even with all that time left, she couldn’t actually relax and put her coursework aside. Harry worried for her sanity sometimes. Sure, he had only known her for five days, though, most of that time, she was studying, talking about studying, or most likely thinking of studying.

Sometimes Harry was jealous of her. Jealous of her drive and ambition to do well. But not always.

He sat up slightly, just enough so his head was resting on the arm of the couch and he could see her better.

“What ya doin’, Lenny?” He asked so she’d have to flash those blue eyes at him.

“Copying down the words of these riveting textbooks for the fun of it.” She glanced over at him with a smirk. A sweet smirk. Because even when Lenny was attempting to be sassy, it came out as incredibly adorable. “What are you doing?”

They had both finished their shift half an hour ago where they spent the whole time talking about nothing in particular. They discussed how they would go back to the break room and relax - Harry meaning a nap with the usage of relax and Lenny meaning a study session. Why they were asking each other what they were doing now, Harry didn’t know. He figured it was because it already felt weird to be around her and not talking to her.

“I’ll probably take a little nap if my phone could stop buzzing.” Harry pulled it out of the pocket of his always too tight skinny jeans. Messages were lighting up one after another so quick that he couldn't even read them.

“Oh, Harry Styles, just so cool and popular he is.” She deepened her voice to sound like a proper lad, dropping her pencil to beat a fist against her chest twice and then stick up a peace sign. It was so ridiculous. Harry wished he had his camera to snap a shot of it.

“Shut up.” Harry laughed incredulously then unlocked his phone, opening the group chat that wouldn’t stop going off. “It’s about the gig tonight not my cool quotient.”

“The gig?”

“My band's gig.” He typed out a quick reply of okay to all the reminders of what time to be at the club and then locked his phone once again, only after putting it on do not disturb.

Harry wasn’t looking at Lenny in that moment, yet the blur of red hair could still be seen from the corner of his eyes the moment she shot up from the ground.

“Whoa whoa whoa, you're in a band?”

“Yes. I haven’t mentioned that?” He was sure he had - he had to have. They practiced every night for hours. It was like one of the only things he did other than school and work that week. Lenny just shook her head and kept on grinning with bewilderment. “We're not very good. Quite shitty actually. But it's fun and the lads are cool and I get to sing in front of people and act like a fool.”

“Oh my god, you sing?” Her eyes grew wider at every revelation.

Harry couldn’t tell if she was getting ready to make fun of him or not so he went into defense mode right away. “I'm the best part of the group, okay?”

“No way! I have to see this! Niall!” She reached up and shook the blonde's knee.

Taking one headphone out, Niall surveyed the room. “Yeah?”

“Harry is in a band in which he sings.” She said it like it was some amazing news that everyone should hear. Harry was still unsure of how she was going to use this information, but either way, he liked how she was acting like a child on Christmas morning.

Niall wasn’t nearly as enthused at what he considered old news. “Yeah, they strictly do old school rock and roll covers.”

Harry could hear Lenny’s jaw as it dropped. “You’re kidding me.”

Quietly, Harry admitted, “He isn’t lying.”

She squealed and clapped and then squealed again. “I’m dying. Dead. Please let my ghost come to this gig?”

A million excuses ran through his mind so she wouldn’t show up. All of them good enough to keep her away. But then he thought about seeing her outside of work, seeing what bar-Lenny looked like, acted like. He couldn’t help the words that came out of his mouth. “Yeah, sure.”

“Can we all come?” Jen sat up a little bit too, echoing her best friend’s joy.

“If she is going to laugh at me, you all might as well too.” Harry thought what the hell? It wasn’t as if his band was that bad. They were kind of good. He just could admit that to himself.

“I am going to cry.” Lenny reiterated before laying back down with her books, flipping open to a fresh page of notebook paper.

“I’m going to sleep.” Harry tossed his phone to the ground beside the couch and turned away from his three giggling coworkers.

“I’m going to try to study but my mind is going a mile a minute now.”

Harry groaned and burrowed deeper into the couch, covering his head with his arms, hiding a secret smile.

---

Everyone from work got there just in time for them to see Harry and his band play. They were there to see them take the stage and perform five songs - all by The Doors. They got to witness Harry dancing around like he actually was a rockstar and not a film studies major.

Lenny found it to be surprisingly impressive even though she wanted it to be embarrassing and hilarious. The more she had gotten to know Harry, the more she was learning that he was pretty damn good at everything - he picked up the job at the record store like a pro by the end of his first shift and she had gotten a glimpse of one of his beautiful photos when he was reviewing them on his camera.

But, she knew when he came to them after he got done doing whatever performers do at the end of gigs, she would have to make fun of him. So, that’s just what she did.

“What? Haven’t heard of chill?” She yelled over the loud music directly into his ear. “No need to act like a high-strung Chihuahua on stage.”

“No one else complained.” Harry defended himself with a smirk and a kinked brow.

“I don’t know why they wouldn’t. I’ll place the first one now.” She patted him on the shoulder, then his face fell and she couldn’t keep it up - Lenny never didn't have a hard time keeping up a joke. “I’m just kidding, Harry. It was actually -”

Her compliment was interrupted by two arms wrapping around her shoulders from behind and then a familiar voice whispering against her cheek. “Hey, babe!” Soft lips brushed where the breath fanned her skin.

Without a doubt, she knew who it was.

“You showed! Oh, my god!” She turned around to find one of her favorite people, popping a kiss to his lips with a stretch to her tiptoes. He gave her a tight hug right around the middle that had her lifted a few inches off the ground. As she came back down, she remembered that she hadn’t introduced him to her new coworker/friend. She spun quickly and said, “Harry, this is my boyfriend, Chris. Chris, Harry, the new guy I was telling you about.”

“Hey, man. Lenny tells me you have a wicked way with puns.” Chris gave Harry a head nod and one of those genuine smiles that made Lenny’s stomach tie in knots.

And Harry was about to say something back, but then Jen got a sight of Chris and bounded towards him, already drunk enough to drape herself over people. “Chrissy! You made it out of that lab.”

“Finally.” Chris threw his head back and his hands up, relieved as much as Lenny that he could make it out with her friends and away from the Chemistry lab that consumed him most days of the week.

“Have you gotten a drink yet?” Jen nearly threw hers at him.

Chris shook his head of black hair. “Nope.”  

“Next round is on me.” Harry spoke up, grabbing Niall by the crook of the elbow and pulling him away from the girl he was chatting up.

Lenny wanted to say that Harry didn’t have to but he was gone before she could. So instead, she wrapped her arms around Chris’s neck and felt the vodka trickle further into her system.

authors note:

hiii!!! here it is!! im excited, are you? i am also kind of nervous!! 

thank you for reading though!

i had a nice authors note written but then i accidentally deleted and my heart sunk so here we go again!

please please please let me know what you think! it makes me so happy and makes me want to write and post for you guys! it can be anon man, if thats what youre comfortable with! i would just love a little feedback! tell me what you think about lenny?? and harry?? and the ending!! who is your favorite side character?? they will be featured a lot so i am interested to hear.

i actually have another fic ive been working on... also friends to lovers... but different. i like it and i hope to start posting that too... ya know, if i know people want to read it... *wink wink*

in all seriousness, i love all you guys! thank you so much for reading! thank you so much to eriza for not only being such an impressive banner maker but also, an amazing friend! thank you to ashumi for swooping in and beta-ing my stuff. with my writing, its not easily done but you make it look it. youre awesome! and finally, thanks to all my friends who encouraged me to write this fic! 

check out the character page at the top (or on the story page) to put faces to all these characters im trying to create.

love you, and i promise my authors notes wont be this long again until the epilogue,

lauren xxx