#yeah it was fun i went tubing and did karaoke and stuff!!

[patches-and-her-selfships]

hhhgghhh nnnkkhhhh oh GOD i barely made it out of that winter retreat alove. covered in blood someone spout unchristian things at me before my gayness gets ripped out of me

[lillywillow]

Skincare Party

Summary: A night in with your three best friends; one like they’ve never experienced before

 Word Count: 1495

 Square Filled: Playful Relationship

 Pairings: Bucky/F!Reader/Sam (platonic), Steve x F!Reader

 Warnings: Mild themes and lewdness, pimple popping, mild pain/ discomfort, drinking, maybe some minor swear words

Written for @star-spangled-bingo

 Ever since you first joined The Avengers, you had been inseparable from the three soldiers of the group. The others in the group had taken to calling you ‘The Four Musketeers’ and you even had an entire floor to yourselves in the tower. Once a week, assuming there wasn’t a mission any of you had to go on, you would take turns in picking an activity to do together. The four of you had completed everything from bar hoping, to karaoke, to movie marathons, to videogame night. Tonight was your turn to pick an activity and you knew it was something that none of the boys had ever done before.

Earlier in the day, you had informed Bucky, Sam and Steve, you would be spending the night in and told them the dress code was ‘comfy’. The trio arrived in the living room at the time you had specified, a little surprised to see all the bottles, jars, tubes and various other containers laid out on the coffee table.

 “Right on time, gentlemen,” you grinned.

 “Uh, Y/N... What exactly are we doing?” Bucky asked with a mild look of concern.

 “Tonight I thought we would do something a little different... with a skincare pamper party.”

 “Isn’t that kind of girly?” Sam quipped.

 “Now, now, now, my dear peregrine, the skin is the biggest organ of the human body and as such, it is just as important to take care of.”

 “Peregrine?”

 “Yeah, you know... ‘Cause you’re a falcon,” you grinned, making Sam roll his eyes. “Besides, we can drink beer and watch those Dwayne Van Schwartza-Willis shoot-em-up type films.”

 You swore you could you could practically hear Sam’s brain malfunctioning as a plethora of jokes swirling around, each one desperate to be the first one out his mouth.

 “I think you broke Sam... I like this idea already,” Bucky smirked.

 You also laughed and ushered the boys to the couch, explaining the purpose of the cleansers, toners, and other products and how to use them. Soon, the four of you settled down on the couch with a timer set for your respective face masks.

 You applied a pollution cleansing mask, Bucky had a coffee exfoliating mask, Steve had a simple hydrating tissue mask and Sam had bravely opted for the charcoal peel mask. All of you wore headbands to keep any hair from falling into the stuff you were using and Bucky had his hair pulled back in a ponytail. When the timer was up, you and Bucky went to rinse off your masks and Steve threw his out.

 “Um, Y/N... how do I get this thing off?” You went over to Sam and got the mask started by scratching a little and began pulling. Sam let out a strangled sound as the tar like substance moved off his face like a second skin. Steve and Bucky watched in morbid fascination. Finally, you managed to get the whole thing off.

 “There,” you said, handing him the stuff.

 “Ew! All that was in my face?” he grimaced, looking at the gunk which had been removed from his pores.

 “Yep... hang on a sec, you’ve still got some stuff,” you said, grabbing your special tool.

 “What is that?”

 “Relax... it won’t hurt a bit...”

 “No... I don’t like the look of it... get it away from me... Y/N! AGH!”

 Sam bolted and you gave chase. Steve and Bucky roared with laughter as you tackled him to the ground, using your knees to pin his arms. You used one hand to hold his head still while you attacked his blemishes with your pimple popper.

 “Oh, man, those are some good ones,” you muttered, moving off Sam and looking at the contents of your tool.

 “You’re sick, Y/N!”

 “Lighten up, Sam. You know what they say, pain is beauty, darling,” you said in a posh, European accent. You clean the end and picked up the tweezers before rounding on Bucky who had no chance to move.

 “Your turn...” You began on Bucky, getting all his ingrown hairs around his beard and other blemishes.

 “Alpine, help! Daddy’s being attacked!” You turned to look at the snowy white feline who had wandered into the room. She merely took one glance and the scene and promptly cleaned her paw.

 “What did you think she was going to do? Scratch me to death?”

 “Don’t knock her. She can do some serious damage when she wants to...”

 After Bucky, you went onto Steve, taking his face in your hands. Steve made no resistance as you straddled him, watching as you carefully examined his face. You had a big crush of Steve but were too afraid of saying anything to him about it in fear of losing him as your friend.

 “Actually, your face is pretty clear...” you stayed there for a moment, admiring him before shifting. “I think the next step, we’ll do pedicures...” You walked off to get buckets of water to soak your feet in. Steve sat there in a dreamy daze before getting walloped in the face by a cushion.

 “Hey!”

 “Dude, when are you gonna stop fawning over Y/N, man up and ask her out already?” Sam asked.

 “I...”

 “For once, Sam has a point, Steve...”

 “You hear that? The cyborg agrees!” Bucky glared at him. “Besides, if you don’t ask her out, I will...”

 “You wouldn’t dare...”

 “Why not? She’s cute, smart, funny and unattached...” Before Steve could respond, you came back with the buckets of water. You settled back down on the couch but were suddenly shocked as Sam pulled off his socks.

 “What the heck is up with your toes?!” Bucky remarked, referring to Sam’s long, almost dagger like nails.

 “Sam, question; is it true you are known to carry off prey in your talons?”

 “That’s how you’re playing, huh? Two falcon jokes in one night?”

 “What can I say? When you’re on a roll, you’re on a roll and I am rolling like a stone.” Sam groaned at your joke but Steve and Bucky grinned, proud for having understood the reference.

 As you soaked your feet and watched the good guy blast the crap out of the baddies, the boys asked you questions about how they should go about caring for their skin. You answered them the best you could, being completely honest, after all, they were your best friends.

 Eventually, it got to a point where the hero had a love scene and poor Steve didn’t know where to look.

 “Hey, Y/N? How do I know if a girl I’m with is really enjoying herself and not, you know, making me feel better about myself?” Sam asked.

 “Well...”

 Now poor Steve really did wish he could vanish into the sofa. Between the conversation happing beside him and the, in his opinion far too graphic action on the TV, his face was totally red. He desperately tried to tune out.

 “... Steve?”

 “Huh? What?”

 “I asked if you wanted another beer...”

 “Oh, uh... sure...”

 “Hey, can you grab me another one?” Bucky asked.

 “Me too... why don’t you go with her to help carry them back?” Sam prompted, the pair seeing a chance to get the two of you alone in the other room so Steve could confess his feelings.

 You thought it was a little strange, after all, you were more than capable of carrying four drinks back by yourself but shrugged it off as you dried off your feet, Steve following suit.

 You went to the kitchen and grabbed the beers but before you left, Steve placed his hand on your shoulder.

 “Uh, Y/N...”

 “Yes, Steve?”

 “I was wondering if... you’d like to get dinner tomorrow night...”

 “Sure. Do you want me to make reservations for the four of us, or...?”

 “No, I mean... just us two... like a date.” You couldn’t help but smile at his shyness and kissed his cheek.

 “I’d love to.”

 “R-really?”

 “Of course... I... I was actually hoping you would ask me,” you smiled, making Steve beam at you.

 By the time you came back with the drinks, Sam and Bucky were grinning impishly.

 “What?”

 “Nothing...”

 “Do you want me to get my special tool again? Because I will.”

 “No! Hell no!” They simultaneously objected.

 “It’s just, it’s good to see you both happy...” You looked at Steve who smiled shyly at you.

 “Well get used to it,” you smiled, taking your place back next to Steve on the couch. While watching the movie, Steve gently held your hand, making your heart flutter.

 As different as this was, all four of you had a lot of fun that night and more importantly, you were finally able to confess your feelings to your long time crush.

[c-c-cherry]

What's the most embarrassing thing each of the Bucci gang has done/has had happen to them?

Ok I took WAY too long on this but I loved this question so much and it was so fun coming up with these. Special thanks to my girl @jjadegreen for helping me!!

**This isn’t NSFW but I’d say its teen and up just because of some of the stuff talked about hehe**

______________________

Mista

-Pre-canon Mista was a bit sick one night so Bruno made him stay home while they all went on this one mission

-So naturally he’s like “HELL YEAH HOME ALONE”

-Bruno forgets his wallet and had to come back a little while later to get it and walks in on him wearing the following:

One of Abbacchio’s signature goth dress robe thing

Like 12 of Bruno’s barrettes all sticking to the top of his head

Fugo’s tie

Narancia’s bandana

All while BLASTING K-Pop at full volume in the living room. And our man is INTO IT. This isn’t just some radio coincidence shit, he was SCREAMING the lyrics. He owns the CDs.

-Bucciarati LOSES IT. Mista has never been so mortified in his life and Bruno has never laughed so hard in his life.

-He promises not to tell the rest of the gang but tells him it’s officially blackmail material

-They never speak of it again but at Christmas Mista opens Bruno’s gift and it's a brand new K-pop CD and everyone thinks its just a gag gift but like

-He definitely listens to it later alone in his room

Bucciarati

Bruno Bucciarati does not get drunk for two main reasons:

He blacks out every time

He’s an absolute lightweight

-The last time Bruno got absolutely piss drunk, he was with Abbacchio and it wasn’t even funny. It was just surreal because Bucciarati never lets himself go to such an extent

-For whatever reason Bruno is like “hey I never drink we should go to the bar or something” after a successful mission

-Even though the legal age of drinking is technically 16 in Italy they leave “the kids” home to watch mean girls or some shit

-Mista tags along too because he’s worried Bruno will get drunk and spill about the unfortunate “K-pop incident”

-My man Bruno drank like two beers and was immediately GONE like he got up and got lost in the bar after way too many drinks and ran into a drag Queen with Abbacchio’s hair

-Said drag queen became Bruno Bucciarati’s new drinking buddy

-He stumbles over to the karaoke contest and gets onstage and grabs the shitty bar mic and screams “THIS GOES OUT TO LEONE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH MWUA TWO YEARS HONEY~” and Mista is just like 👁👄👁

-Because uhhh they have literally been together for two years but everyone in the gang just thinks its a weird on/off thing because they never talk about it

-He sings dancing queen because its by ABBA and both Leone and Mista are fucking screaming with laughter and Abbacchio is filming the entire goddamn thing

-He buys the entire bar drinks they all love him so much

-Afterwards Leone tries to get them home so he leaves them outside while he takes a piss and when he walks back out THEY ARE GONE.

-Mista thought it would be a perfect time for them to get tattoos because his fucking capo is drunk off his ass and there is no better time

-Mista gets these two giant smoking guns on his back and his ass is in SO MUCH PAIN afterward that he leaves Bruno alone while he’s picking out his tattoo to get ice cream

-When he comes back Bruno has a tattoo ON HIS LEFT FOOT THAT SAYS “Never don’t give up.” The tattoo people tried to correct him but he insisted

-Abba finds them and is just like “jesus god” and takes them all to a hotel because there is no way in hell he’s taking them back home like this

-The next morning Bruno remembers absolutely NOTHING and as the gang admires Mista’s giant tattoo they ask if Bruno got one too and he’s like “god no I’m not that irresponsible”

-As soon as they’re alone Abba’s like “you got one on the bottom of your foot” and you can just see the moment Bucciarati’s soul leaves his body

Fugo

-Ok so if y’all didn’t know Fugo literally canonically wears a thong

-This isn’t sexualizing him (also I am indeed a minor don’t harass me) it's just a fact of life. You do you Fugo.

-So he sneaks out of the house once in a while and goes shopping for them cause our man’s gotta live, you know?

-He pops in the underwear store one day and you wanna know who he fucking passes by in the lingerie section?

-Bruno fucking Bucciarati.

-Which isn’t exactly a surprise considering he’s wearing visible lingerie in his tiddy window outfit but like

-That’s like running into your dad at femboy hooters

-Much to his dismay, the man spots him immediately and there’s just this...awkward silence as Fugo is holding this shopping basket of underwear and Bruno is holding the raunchiest piece of clothing he’s ever seen in his life

-They never talk about it again. Fugo finds a different store.

Abbacchio

-The most mortifying moment Abbacchio can live to remember is the first time he told Bucciarati that he loved him

-Pre-canon, our man is NOT having a vibing time

-He gets absolutely wasted with while Bruno’s at his apartment

-He’s the most miserable drunk, so he’s just fucking sobbing and Bucci is sitting there trying to console him and Abbacchio just looks up at him with tears streaking down his face and says “I’m in love with you” and the look on Bruno’s face just makes him feel even more miserable

-The entire night he keeps blubbering about how much he loves him and how much he means to him and how beautiful he is and the entire time Bruno is doing that thing where he tries to cover his face with his hand because our man is mega FLUSTERED up in here

-When he wakes up he remembers EVERYTHING and he wished he didn’t because then maybe he would be able to say that he didn’t mean it

-Bruno is surprisingly just like “Did you really mean it?” and he can’t lie so he just tells the truth and he’s just nonchalantly like “me too”

-Bruno thinks it’ll be a nice wedding story and Abbacchio no longer wants to live on this planet

Narancia

-Mista and Narancia are vibing in the living room one night and Nara tells Mista to grab his gameboy from upstairs

-He says its under his pillow (or else Bruno will take it away every night hehe)

-But you wanna know what else is under Narancia’s pillow? His Diary. No, it’s not a journal or just a blank book, Mista finds a book titled DIARY.

-And the shit in there is priceless.

“Bucciarati is sooo cool. I tried cutting my hair like his, but it didn’t really work. I think I gotta wear this hat for the next couple weeks. Shit. Fuck. If someone takes it off, I’m so fucked.”

“I clogged up the toilet yesterday and was too scared to tell Abba, so I just flushed it again but then the water wouldn’t stop flooding everywhere so I used Aerosmith to explode the toilet and told Abba that it was a stand attack. He believed me. If ANYONE ever finds out, I’m dead.”

“HOLY SHIT. I swallowed a tide pod yesterday and freaked out so I made Giorno turn it into a grape in my stomach with his stand. I almost DIED. But I didn’t so I’m over it. If Giorno ever tells anyone, I’ll kill him.”

-Narancia realizes about ten minutes after Mista left that HOLY SHIT HIS DIARY

-he finds Mista three quarters way through it and gives him $50 not to tell anyone about it.

-The shame never leaves, though

Trish

-Jade gave me a cute headcanon that Trish’s mom was still only teaching her how to properly put on makeup before she died (it's not like there was youtube or anything to teach her either) so our girl Trish only knows the basics

-She puts on lip gloss and blush and mascara and stuff but she’s never even TOUCHED eyeliner and rarely puts on eyeshadow. She doesn’t even wear concealer most of the time (she honestly doesn’t even need to, her skin is baby soft smooth)

-So long story short she kind of misses her mom and remembers how her mom was going to teach her a smokey eye before she died and is determined to teach it to herself now

-So she pulls a little heist and snatches some of Abbacchio’s makeup while they’re all out doing stuff

-She was not prepared for how heavy this shit was. She was used to the lighter, more natural stuff but Abba’s makeup is EXTREME.

-All of his stuff is waterproof so it doesn’t wash off while he’s crying at 3am and it’s just this—dark, heavy stuff.

-She actually hasn’t used a thick, real tube of lipstick before, only those little gloss tubes with the stick because she has smaller lips so when she crouches over with a small makeup mirror in fear of anyone somehow walking in on her and smears Abbacchio’s thick, dark purple lipstick on her lips, she knew she was absolutely fucked. She has no idea how to do this shit, especially not with dark, heavy goth makeup

-The smokey eye does not work. It’s just smeared eyeshadow EVERYWHERE, it looks like she has two giant, awful, black eyes and her first attempt at eyeliner was just—unspeakably horrible

-She has no idea where to start so she just puts on way too much of absolutely everything and immediately regrets it the moment she looks at herself in the bathroom mirror

-Abba comes home early and immediately realizes that some of his makeup is gone and he knows it has to be Trish

-He walks upstairs to confront her but just hears loud, ugly sobbing coming from her room and bursts in only to find her desperately trying to wipe off layers of caked-on water-proof makeup and absolutely failing

-The two of them spend all night taking it off all while Trish is still crying teary apologies to him

-To add in some wholesome Dadbacchio, he teaches her how to properly put everything on the next day <3

Giorno

-Some people forget that as a 15 year old, Giorno sometimes has absolutely no impulse control

-So when Polnareff tells him that he’s the spitting image of his evil, murderous, vampire dad he’s immediately like “haha well I’m gonna go dye my hair now”

-Everyone had something to do that day/night so Giorno waltzes over to the nearest drug store and grabs one of those at-home dying kits (he got dark green cause he thought it would look cool with his new outfit)

-He gets home and has absolutely no idea what he’s doing so he just thinks it’ll work out somehow

-Soooo yeah he does NOT put it in properly at all, he just kind of takes the shit and slathers it all over his hair and doesn’t do his roots and doesn’t put it up and leaves it dripping down his back and stuff and his stupid ass FALLS ASLEEP with the hair dye in

-He wakes up and the sheets are this really awful light green colour but he doesn’t pay any mind to it

-He looks in the mirror and from the front it actually looks good and he gets all excited and decides to wash it out

-When he gets out of the shower it’s this awful disgusting light light ugly green and he almost cries. Almost.

-It looks like someone dunked him in that Nickelodeon slime and he looks at the package and it says the dye will stay in for at least 3 weeks and there aRE TEARY EYES

-He spends the next hour in the shower trying to wash it out. It does not wash out.

-Utterly defeated with his hair matted and donuts practically falling apart, he stumbles over to his room and tries to wash the sheets covered in slime-coloured hair dye which *surprise!!!* doesn’t wash out either!

-He must dispose of the evidence, but of COURSE they’re out of garbage bags so he shoves all the dye kit stuff and the sheets into a mafia body bag and chucks it by the garbage can outside without a single thought

-Which he SHOULD have had a single thought about it, because when they get home and Narancia spots the body bag he’s like “holy shit guys I think Giorno killed someone while we were out”

-So they all panically pop into the house and cautiously try to find Giorno. Fugo finally finds him pacing around his room in the dark and when he flicks on the lights HO-LY SHIT.

-Fugo obviously bursts out into laughter and Bruno books it up the stairs and also starts cackling and Narancia is like “OH MY GOD YOU KILLED SOMEONE LOOKING LIKE THAT?!” and Giorno has to explain to them that the body bag is filled with stained bedsheets (much to his embarrassment)

-Abbacchio takes so many pictures and Giorno is having a nervous breakdown because he cannot live with his hair looking like this

-Bruno makes Abba fix it the next morning and he loves every second of Giorno’s mortification

-The pictures Abbacchio took of that night are framed next to the pictures of Bruno’s wasted karaoke night in his room

______________________

Thank you for the ask, anon!! I’m absolutely exhausted now haha so I’ll scroll through the rest of the asks when I wake up!!

[emotionalsupportbun-chan]

guess who got preoccupied with a different fandom 

anyway here’s part two 

Joon-Gi did not sing. This wasn’t a surprise; Joon-Gi never sang when they all got together for karaoke at Survive. Zhao sometimes wondered why, but typically chalked it up to self-consciousness. The man never did anything unless he could ensure absolute perfection in execution - a difficult feat after a whiskey or two. 

Finally tired out, Kasuga had settled into the usual routine of shuffling through the stack of old records he’d picked up throughout their escapades. Koi no Disco Queen played loud enough that anyone trying to have a conversation had to speak at an uncomfortable volume. Fine enough for Zhao. Their mind was elsewhere anyway. Who was that woman? And what sorcery did she command? Most of the major aches and pains that they’d started the night with were gone. And maybe it had been the exhaustion, but they didn’t typically make a habit of letting their guard down so easily. Sure, she was pretty. Sure, she had a certain spark about her that was instantly disarming, that planted something small and fluttery at the bottom of their chest, that made them want to let go for just a little while. But none of that should matter. They had enemies. Everyone in this bar had at least one asshole dedicated to their downfall. They can’t just let themselves get swept away in the arms and hands and eyes and tongues - and everything - of strange women. 

So Zhao closed their eyes. Took a breath. And tried to crush the small, fluttery thing at the bottom of their chest. And failed. And tried and failed again. Perhaps their only choice was to succumb to steel butterflies. 

Perhaps it was easier to drown them. 

Zhao ordered another whiskey. Neat, this time. They needed a less dangerous burn in their gut. The bartender deposited it without comment and returned to his quiet conversation with Iroha. The drink went down in a single gulp - a trail of fire felt down to the toes, its warmth blunting the edges of sharp thoughts. They raised a hand. Another round, double this time. Down the hatch. Before they could order another, a white sleeved arm wound its way around theirs and Saeko slid onto the barstool beside them. 

“Heyyy, Zhao-chan!” Like Scary Boss Zhao, Silly Drunk Saeko was a mask, often used to pry valuable gossip from the unsuspecting. Most of the time, the party was content to play along. It was nice to unload their problems onto someone they could pretend wouldn’t remember in the morning. 

“Hey, Sa-chan.” They tried to inject some enthusiasm in the reply. No luck. Thoughts elsewhere. 

“You’re even quieter than usual. Whatcha thinking about?” She leaned against them, loose-bodied, sharp eyes her only tell. 

“Nothing much.” Wait. “Sa-chan, were you friendly with any of the girls at Otohime Land?” It was a long shot, but maybe they’d met a time or two. 

“No, not really.” She gave them a sly smile and a swat on the arm. “Why, you see a picture you like?” 

“No! No, that’s not it. I was just..curious.” Keep it cool. Heat began to creep into their cheeks. 

“Sure, Zhao-chan.” She slipped away as quickly as she came, prancing back to her seat at a table with Adachi and Joon-Gi. They huddled immediately, abandoning all subtlety. 

Her sudden absence allowed the deep throb of a bruise to resurface, reminding Zhao of the nasty hit they’d taken to the shoulder. They reached into a pocket and pulled out the little tube of cream the strange woman had left behind. Arni-Heal: Ultra Strong Bruise Cream. Zhao turned the tube to read the ingredients and found a mobile number scrawled in the blank space above the usage directions. A particularly resilient butterfly shot up into their throat. 

They started at the tube for long enough for the bartender to silently refill their drink. A little more than a double this time. Downing it, they pulled the phone from their pocket. 

-

Laying in the darkened room upstairs, it was hard not to think about how the night could have ended. The symphony of quiet snoring was enough to remind them that they weren’t alone; for the first time since they’d left the Liumang, they missed the privacy of the small back room at the restaurant they used to crash in after a hard night out. 

It took every ounce of self control to wait until the woman replied. Zhao wasn’t normally one to double text; patience as a virtue was instilled in them from a young age. But the phone, silenced out of consideration, weighed heavy in their hand. Not a single notification since they’d sent the initial message. She’s probably sleeping. It was late, after all. Almost more morning than night. Yet, they weren’t quite ready to accept that. They got the feeling that this woman kept to her own idea of a schedule. 

Sleeplessness was an old friend for Zhao. They had a variety of methods that typically did the trick. Mediation, deep breathing, counting backwards - they ran the gamut trying to distract themselves from the disappointingly inactive phone. Just as they felt their mind begin to go quiet, a dull buzz rattled in their hand. They checked it immediately. 

hey hot stuff 

nice sleuthin’ took ya long enough 

whatcha doin’ 

i’m bored wanna go out  

Four messages, rapid fire. The sudden appearance of her reply sent their pulse through the roof and left them a little dizzy, a little hazy with the whiskey still coursing through their system. Out? Now? They checked the time. 2:17. 

what ya sleepin’ 

The next message was a selfie - her face in the foreground, hair mussed and lipstick faded. The background however, distinctly showcased the two planters outside the bar. Zhao sat up, abandoning any attempt at being quiet. Did she know about the hideout? 

Where are you? 

It took a few moments for her to respond this time. 

idk outside some old bar 

i wanna go to this party 

come with me 

pleeease ;) 

Suspicion faded, for better or worse. It was just a coincidence. It had to be. Looking around the room, they weighed the options. It was already so late; they were already so tired. The others slept soundly around them, futons tucked into whatever corner would accommodate. The party would be worried if Zhao wasn’t there in the morning. But this mystery woman had implanted herself firmly in their mind. Thoughts of the almost-but-not-quite hookup resurfaced - the strength in her hands, the gentle attention paid to Zhao’s wounds, her purring whisper. Who’s to say they couldn’t pick up where they’d left off? 

You don’t even know this woman. She could be anyone. None of this even makes any sense. Maybe none of that mattered. Maybe they could have a little fun. Maybe they could be someone else tonight.  

come be stupid with me 

;P <3 

Zhao grabbed their coat and slipped out of the room. 

-

They had approximately 30 seconds to construct Party Zhao. Party Zhao did shots off a strange girl’s tits. Party Zhao knew how to dance. Party Zhao was a little slutty. Party Zhao didn’t care where the exits and entrances of a building were. The tenets of Party Zhao took shape over the trip down the stairs and across the main room of Survive. Before opening the door, they took a moment to fix their hair and straighten their clothes. They’d even swiped a travel spray vial of cologne out of Joon-Gi’s coat pocket. Gucci Guilty. It was a little woody-er, a little spicier than they’d prefer, but it smelled expensive. Zhao wondered if the woman would like it. 

She was standing right outside the door, leaning against the brick of the building. Under normal circumstances, Zhao might have noticed her lack of surprise at their sudden appearance. But they were a little distracted. The athletic outfit that she’d worn earlier had been traded for a red plaid miniskirt, black crop, and an oversized bomber jacket. Paired with union-jack adorned boots and heart-shaped glasses, she looked like she’d stepped out of an old punk rock magazine. It was a little tacky, but the height of fashion. It also showed off the great pair of thighs that accompanied her previously acknowledged great ass.  

A woman after your own heart. “So, you said something about a party?” Zhao tried to sound casual, as if they hadn’t waited hours to hear from her. As if they hadn’t spent the evening daydreaming absolutely filthy revisions to their previous encounter. 

“Ah, Zhao-chan!” She threw her arms around their neck and planted a little kiss on their cheek. “I didn’t think ya’d come.” Her eyes were glazed, slightly unfocused. Lips parted slightly as she drew back from the greeting. Staring up at them all dreamy and come-hither, she sealed her body against theirs for a moment, a knee slipped between theirs so that they were touching from toe to torso. “You smell nice.”  

She smelled like candy and black pepper. And a little like liquor. Zhao tightened the hug, if only so that she’d continue pressing her body to theirs. They wondered if she could feel their heart hammering away. The thought of leaning in for a real kiss came and was discarded. Be Cool. Party Zhao. They let a smirk tug at the corner of their mouth, and returned the kiss in similar fashion- a little farther back, almost on the neck. “Hey, pretty.” They tried on the tone some of their former compatriots used with cabaret girls. It was borderline sleazy, but might distract from their racing pulse and creeping blush. “Didn’t think I’d see you again tonight.” 

“Yeah, aren’t ya lucky.” If she noticed anything was amiss, she didn’t let on. “Come on, it’s not far,” she said. Pulling away and slipping her hand into theirs, she led them deeper into the Bar District. Zhao sighed, caught up in the heat of the embrace (and the whiskey). They didn’t even pretend they weren’t staring at her ass for the entirety of the short trip.  

A few blocks away, she stopped at a disused elevator tucked away down an alley and began pushing bags of trash away from a corner with the tip of her boot. After a few minutes, she exclaimed and retrieved a key from where it had been hidden under a half-shattered flower pot. She fit it into the keyhole above the elevator’s single button and turned. A full thirty seconds later, the carriage arrived and opened with more of an electrical spark than a ding. “You sure this thing is up to code?” Zhao inspected the seams of the derelict elevator, trying to peer through them and get a look at the wires and cords beyond. 

“It absolutely ain’t.” She pushed them in with her palm flat against their back and followed, pressing a button labeled only by a sticky note proclaiming “No Boys Allowed”. 

[ohnonono18]

Surprise!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“So what’s the plan?” Sam asked. “Is there even a plan?”

“Surprise party.” Sungjae answered. “At Andrew’s house.”

Sam nodded.

“Why does it have to be Andrew’s house?” She asked.

“Because. . .” Sungjae trailed off but realized he doesn’t have an answer. “I honestly have no idea.”

Sam giggled and Sungjae turned to Hyunsik for an answer.

“Why did we choose Andrew’s house again?” He asked.

“Because he volunteered.” Hyunsik shrugged as they ate lunch in Nicky’s dining room.

“Do you even have gifts?” Eunkwang asked.

“I. . . don’t.” Sam trailed off. “That’s for sure. I kinda don’t have one. Yet.”

“I was thinking of buying [Y/N] a phone case.” Changsub said with a mischievous smirk and everyone stared at him for a moment in silence when it finally dawned on them.

“Yah! That’s mean!” Ann laughed and playfully hit him as everyone laughed along.

“Man, he almost got away with that.” Hyunsik laughed.

Everyone knew that [Y/N] kinda broke her phone that means she doesn’t have a phone at the moment.

“Although, I am honest. I’m going to buy her a phone first though.” Changsub said.

“The perks of being rich.” Sungjae smirked.

“You’re rich too, you know.” Minhyuk rolled his eyes playfully. “I mean, all of us are.”

“Not all.” Nicky pointed out.

“I quite agree.” Sam said as she went to wash the dishes they used.

“Where’s [Y/N] by the way?” Peniel asked.

“She’s with Shannon.” Minhyuk said. “Though some of us are going to join her and help distract [Y/N] so that she doesn’t get the hint of the surprise.”

“Also, there will be people that will decorate for the party at my house.” Andrew said. “Who’s the group so that we can get started?”

“I’m going to cook some food so I’m going to have to go to the grocery store first.” Nicky said.

“I’m going to help with cooking so I guess I’ll be coming along.” Hyunsik decided.

“I’m in charge of the banner.” Ann said. “I’m going to take Sam with me.”

Sam was surprised as she just came back in the room after washing the dishes.

“Don’t you want Iris to be with you?” Sam suggested.

“You don’t want to?” Ann asked, looking a bit worried.

“No, it’s not like that.” Sam defended herself. “It’s just that I’m not good at stuff like that.”

“I’m in the distraction team.” Iris said. “So either way, you’re gonna end up going with her.”

“Okay, okay. I’m game!” Sam smiled.

“I’m gonna facilitate my house.” Andrew said and with a smirk he added, “So you all should behave yourselves!”

They all laughed along.

“The main point here is that Sungjae isn’t supposed to be here.” Nicky said. “You’re the surprise.”

“Yeah, cause she thinks I’m innnn USA.” Sungjae smiled.

“With Peniel.” Ilhoon reminded.

“That’s why the two of you shouldn’t be seen.” Eunkwang said.

“Better keep up the act until the big surprise.” Sam said.

“So,” Ilhoon started. “Who’s in charge of the cake?”

“Eve and Eunkwang.” Ann said. “You’re gonna be in charge of that.”

“Okay, okay. Yes, Madame.” Eve giggled.

“So, Iris and Minhyuk are going to help with distracting her.” Hyunsik said. “So we’ll text you to tell you that everything is ready?”

“Yep!” Iris smiled.

“So that leaves me and Ilhoon for the decorations.” Changsub said. “Any specific requests?”

“Roses?” Sam suggested.

“Balloons!” Eve laughed.

“Streamers!” Andrew smiled.

“What?” Nicky had a confused expression. “What did you say? Strippers?”

Ilhoon faced palmed and laughed with the others.

“Streamers, Nicky.” Iris repeated a little loudly and a little slowly. “Streamers. Why are you even talking about strippers? We’re not opening a club.”

Everyone laughed and Nicky apologized but she was also laughing at her mistake.

“Okay, okay!” Ilhoon gathered everyone’s attention. “Let’s do this!”

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Okay,” Sungjae started and stared at the green lawn of Andrew’s house. “If me and Peniel aren’t supposed to be seen, where can we go that we can help?”

“Kitchen?” Andrew suggested.

“Yeah, we could use some help here.” Nicky said. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

“Ok, ok!” Sungjae smiled and went over to Nicky and helped her carry some grocery bags while Peniel help gather up the kitchen utensils that was needed in the process of making the dishes they were going to make.

“So, we’re going to decorate this garden.” Ilhoon said as he looked around.

“We could put fairy lights.” Changsub suggested.

“Yeah,” Ilhoon agreed. “And we could put the banner over there.”

He pointed over at a black wall.

“The hardest part in this is if the girls will come and see our work and they wouldn’t like it.” Changsub laughed.

“Nah, I’m sure they’ll love it.” Ilhoon smiled as they both got to work.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“How about this picture?” Sam pointed to a picture of [Y/N] in the gallery filled with her various photos.

“Yeah, that can work.” Ann said. “And we can put it in this background.”

She showed a cool ombre style background.

“Yeah! That’s awesome!” Sam exclaimed.

“And maybe this font?” Ann selected a font style to use for the birthday greeting.

“Woah, looks great!” Sam smiled.

“Let’s send it to the others.” Ann smiled as she captured a photo of it and sent it to the others.

“Hey, what if we print out a picture of Sungjae too?” Sam suggested. “Then we’ll make him sign it.”

“Yeah, we could do that.” Ann was excited as they got to work again and browsed pictures of Yook Sungjae.

When the finished, they gave each other a high five and told the others about it too.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Hey, [Y/N].” Shannon said. “We have to go to the studio. Your manager says that he has something to tell you.”

“What?” [Y/N] was surprised. “Please don’t let it be work. I’m so tired. I’ve been working for days. I’ve been working on choreographies for days. Come on, let me rest.”

“Come on, it won’t be so bad.” Iris said reassuringly, and she also knew what their manager had in mind but acted like she doesn’t know anything. “Come on, let’s go see him.”

They went over to the studio with Minhyuk driving them and when they opened the door of the building, [Y/N] was met with bits of colorful papers falling from the ceiling as a chorus of “Happy Birthday!” greeted her.

[Y/N] smiled brightly as everyone came to give her their best wishes and some gifts.

“Happy birthday to my favorite dancer!” Her manager, Sir Hodgson, said as he gave her a small present.

“Oh! Wow!” [Y/N] laughed. “Wow, you even bothered to give me a present!”

“Yeah, but, you know.” He leaned in closer to her ear. “Next time, when your you get paid with your salary, at least treat me a little mango shake, huh?”

“Sir!” [Y/N] playfully pushed him away and they both laughed.

“You know, you should be treating me with a mango shake because you get a higher salary than me, hm?” She said and they laughed more.

“Anyway, happy birthday! Keep up the good work!” Sir Hodgson said with a smile before everyone decided to get on with their lives.

“And give me a mango shake!” He said before he went inside his office.

“So? What’s up?” Minhyuk asked Iris.

“They’re ready!” Iris said in a hushed whisper before they took [Y/N] to the surprise they prepared.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Okay, wow.” Sam said in awe as she looked at the garden. There were fairy lights hanging around and under them were round tables and chairs, each with a little lantern in the middle to give off more light.

“They outdid themselves, right?” Eve said as she approached Sam and stood beside her for a while.

“Yeah, they did.” Sam said. “It’s so beautiful.”

Eve nodded.

“Now, excuse me.” She said and Sam turned to look at her in curiosity. “I should go and give my boyfriend a kiss for making such a beautiful thing.”

Sam laughed as Eve walked away to find Ilhoon.

Sam took one last look at the garden arrangement before she set off to find Sungjae and have that photo of him that she and Ann printed out be signed by him.

“Hey, Sungjae!” She said as she went in the kitchen to see Nicky and the others busily working.

“What?” Sungjae looked up and wiped his forehead.

“I need you to sign something.” Sam said and they both went to find a flat surface for him to properly write on.

“Hey, have you seen Ilhoon?” Andrew went in the kitchen and asked everyone.

“I haven’t seen him.” Eunkwang said as he carefully moved the cake into a porcelain plate.

“Have you seen Ilhoon?” Ann went in.

“No, we haven’t.” Hyunsik said as he sliced some cheese.

“Where would he be?” Eunkwang asked as he placed the cake in the fridge. “Have you asked Sam? I saw them talking a while ago.”

“Where’s Sam?” Andrew asked.

“She and Sungjae went out to find a table and a marker.” Hyunsik said.

“Thanks, I’ll go check.” Andrew said.

“And I’ll go find Changsub.” Ann said and they both went separate ways.

“Sam,” Andrew said when he found her at the dining room with Sungjae signing a photo.

“Yes?” Sam asked.

“Have you seen Ilhoon?” Andrew asked.

“Oh, yeah.” Sam said. “I think. Eve said something about kissing him.”

Andrew gave off an annoyed expression.

“Try the closet.” Sam suggested jokingly but he did just that and sure enough, they were there.

“Guys, come on! Not in my house!” Andrew whined as Eve and Ilhoon went out of the closet, giggling.

“Geez, they’re not even drunk yet.” Andrew rolled his eyes and told Ilhoon to go to Ann and Andrew followed him while he told Eve to go and check the karaoke machine.

Ilhoon and Changsub hung up the banner with Ann’s directions. In the corner, Sam and Eunkwang were cutting the thorns out of the roses. And one by one, the others helped in putting out silverware and plates before they displayed the food.

For a few minutes, they rested and freshened up before the celebrant arrives.

They were lounging around the living room, talking lightly when they heard a car stop in their block.

Ilhoon looked out the window to check and saw that it was Minhyuk’s car.

“Guys! They’re here!” He informed everyone.

“Quick! Hide!” Hyunsik told Sungjae and Peniel and the two went to find hiding places.

Everyone else scrambled into a formation that made no sense before the door opened.

“Sam, pass the streamers!” Ilhoon whispered and she tossed him a tube before she shoved one to Hyunsik who was right beside her.

When the door opened, there came a huge bang! and then streamers fell down slowly from above as they greeted [Y/N].

“Happy birthday!” They all chorused around her and they proceeded to go and give her a hug.

“Happy birthday, my twin!” Eve said to her in a joking way because they were often told that they looked alike.

“Happy birthday!” Sam went on and hugged her. “I love you.”

“Happy birthday!” Hyunsik smiled at her.

“Awww!” [Y/N] gushed. “Thank you guys!”

“Oh, by the way.” Andrew gave her a photograph of Sungjae with his signature on it.

[Y/N] took it from him and she was ecstatic to see the picture.

“You guys just didn’t.” She peered at everyone. “Did you really go all the trouble?” To USA? Just to let him sign this?”

“Eh, worth it.” Hyunsik shrugged.

“Also, here.” Changsub gave [Y/N] a small box.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Open it.” He smiled and she did.

Waiting inside the box was a brand new phone.

“You didn’t!” [Y/N] exclaimed in shock.

“I did!” Changsub said, spreading out his arms for a hug. “Happy birthday!”

“Thank you!” [Y/N] hugged him and some of them cooed.

Ring! Ring!

“Oh, look!” Hyunsik spoke up. “Someone’s calling you.”

[Y/N] and Changsub broke the hug and she looked at the caller ID, it was an unknown number.

“Hello?” She asked.

“Hey, jagi.” Came Sungjae’s voice.

“Jagi!” [Y/N] said excitedly. “How are you?”

“We’re good.” Sungjae said. “Here, Peniel has something to say.”

“Hey, [Y/N]!” Peniel said happily. “Happy birthday!”

“Thanks, Peniel.” [Y/N] smiled.

“Don’t be sad on your birthday, okay?” He said. “Then again, we’re not as far as you think you are.”

“Yeah,” [Y/N] agreed. “Cause you’re always in my heart.”

“That’s right, jagi.” Sungjae said because Peniel passed back the phone to him.

“When are you coming back?” [Y/N] asked.

“Soon.” Sungjae smiled and Peniel snuck up behind her. “You won’t even notice that I’m already by your side.”

Peniel placed his hands on [Y/N]’s eyes, engulfing her sight in darkness.

“Who is this?” She asked after a little squeak of surprise.

“Guess whoo?” Peniel whispered in her ear with a big smile.

“Sungjae?” [Y/N] guessed.

“Nope.”

“Nicky?” She asked.

“Wow, I grew tall.” Nicky mused and they all laughed.

“Okay, this is your last try.” Peniel said.

“What?!” [Y/N] exclaimed. “I didn’t know there were only three tries!”

“Well, you do now!” He laughed.

“Ummm. Eunkwang?” She asked.

“Sorry, I’m right beside my own girl.” Eunkwang said as he held Sam’s hand.

Peniel took away his hands from [Y/N]’s eyes and he spread his arms.

“Surprise! Happy birthday!” He said happily.

[Y/N] was surprised and she laughed.

“What are you doing here? I thought you’re in USA with Sungjae!” She said. “Did you leave him there with foreigners?”

“Yeah, I’m that evil.” Peniel said with a mischievous smirk before he acted out an evil laugh.

Everyone laughed along.

Then suddenly, someone hugged [Y/N] from behind and lifted her before she was swung around.

She screamed for a while, demanding that she was to be set down while the others laughed.

When she felt that she was back on the ground, she turned behind her to yell at whoever did that to her and she was face to face with no other than Sungjae.

Her eyes held surprise but she wasn’t fazed by him.

“Why’d you do that?” She playfully hit him and laughed.

“Surprise!” Sungjae stooped down and smiled at her. “Happy birthday, jagi.”

“So the whole USA thing was a lie?” [Y/N] asked.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry about that.” Sungjae rubbed the back of his neck.

“Next time you travel, you better bring me along.” She playfully suggested.

Sungjae smiled.

“No problem, jagi.”

And with that, the celebration started. There were a lot of food to eat, a lot of stories to tell and a lot of songs to sing.

All of these people gathering around for the sake of one person: [Y/N].

Happy birthday, [Y/N]!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The End

[fucking-hell-skarsgard]

Paradise - Chapter Two

September 23rd, 2016 - Westminster, London

Eva P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~

It only took us an hour to get home. For once the motorway wasn’t at a standstill and central London wasn’t that busy. We pulled into my street and I could see Katie standing outside the lobby. The tiny Irish lady was wearing her typical jeans and cardigan. Her auburn hair tied back in a plat. She was the same age as my mother, to me she was an aunt or fairy godmother. When we pulled up the chauffeur opened my door for me then went to the boot to take out our luggage.

Katie helped me out of the car and we wrapped our arms around each other. She stepped back and held me at arm’s length.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just tired. Oh, Katie, this is Bill.”

Bill came round the car Ragnar’s lead in his hand, he held it out for me to take.

Katie who was 5 foot 2 was dwarfed by Bill’s tall frame.

She held out her hand, “Are we a hugger?”

Bill bent down and wrapped his arms around her. Katie worked at the cafe by University College London, which she hated terrible. My dad had visited often and become friends. Dad hired her to clean and look after the flat, she couldn’t believe it when dad offered her three times her current wage.

I reached into my purse and handed the chauffeur £50 he shook my hand and got back into the car, driving away. Between Katie, Bill and Frank the Doorman we managed to get the luggage inside and in the lift. Once up there I showed Bill to his room.

“You know when you said apartment I was thinking two-bed tiny Manhattan apartment, not the fucking Taj Mahal.”

I looked at the bill, “How could my parents and 15 kids fit in a two bed?”

“Point taken.”

“Okay, so extra towels are in the wardrobe if you want any washing done before we head to Sweden just put it in the basket and Katie will do it. If you want a smoke just go through the door opposite that will take you into my Office, there’s a little balcony out there. My rooms next door.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“I’ll let you grab a shower, I’m going to go workout. Once you’re done feel free to do whatever; watch tv or come upstairs. Katie can point you in the right direction.”

I quickly changed in my room before heading upstairs. After sitting on a plane for seven hours I felt like the Tinman. I got one of the extra thick yoga mats and played Jess Glynne’s new album on shuffle through the speakers. I stretched out on the matt and lost myself in the music. Take Me Home was one of my favourite singles on the album. I had to fit in some practice before tomorrow so I sang while doing my yoga. I had the music that loud that I didn’t hear Bill come upstairs or open the door. The first time I saw him was when he I bent into the downward facing dog position. I quickly got myself up and turned down the music.

“Sorry. I didn’t hear you.”

He just stood there with two mugs in his “Yeah I gathered. That was… quite something. I’ve only heard you sing at karaoke and for fun on set, Not like that. I didn’t know you were that amazing.”

I smiled, “Thanks, grab a seat. How long were you stood there?”

He handed me a mug and sat on the end of the weight bench. “Long enough to know that you can still bend yourself in half.”

I mentally cursed myself. Fuck! Why did he have to walk in when I was in the standing forward bend pose. Like being folded in half with your arse in the air doesn’t scream look at my backside.

“And you’re still a perv.”

Bill snorted, “So are you. Katie said that dinner will be done in about half an hour.”

I took a sip of my coffee it didn’t taste right. It wasn’t how Katie made it.

“That’s cool. Did you make this?”

“Yeah, why? Is it that bad?”

“No. I didn’t realize you knew how I liked my coffee.”

Bill laughed. “After how many early mornings and late nights we spent on Sets. We’re the only two people who like black coffee without sugar as well.”

I smiled. “Yeah, that’s true. I did get you hooked on that Colombian coffee.”

“Oh god, that stuff was the nectar of the Gods. I still can’t find anything even close to it.”

“Well, you will be pleased to know that you can get it in London.”

Bill perked up. “Really! Can we get some?”

“Yeah. How about we do that this after lunch as there’s a ten-minute walk from the tube. We can do Harrods and stuff tomorrow.”

“Yeah sounds good. Anything else nearby?”

“It’s by Leicester Square, the big cinema used in premiers. There’s a few shops and places to eat too. Covent Garden is near there, they have this huge marketplace full of weird stalls.”

“Awesome. I was planning on getting mum a present.”

“Bill, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah…”

“Is everything alright between you and Alida. It’s just you haven’t spoken about her this whole time. Normal you can’t stop talking about her.”

Bill didn’t say anything, he just took a long sip of his coffee. He fiddled with the mug in his hands. “We’re… fighting at the moment. It’s not a big surprise, we hardly see each other anymore. I guess we’ve started to realize we want different things. I want kids, she doesn’t. She wants me at home more but with all the work I can’t. Then she doesn’t want to travel with me longer than a few weeks. I’m finding it harder to make time for her.”

I said nothing knowing that this was not a good thing at all. Bill always tended to bottle things up. I normal ended up being the person he would rant to.

He sighed. “I suppose you could call it a break. She just shouted down the phone at me and said she’d had enough and we should have some time apart.”

“I’m sorry to hear that Bill, I truly am. Datings hard when the both of you are far apart and only see each on rare occasions.”

“Anyway enough about me. How about you, are you seeing anyone?”

“Bill my life is shit enough as it is without having to deal with someone else’s shit. Men my age are either still going out and pulling one night stands or want to settle and get married. I love my job, I love travelling, I don’t want to give it up. I think… that if the right person came along, I’d give it up for them.”

Bill snorted, “Your age. You’re only three years older than me.”

“2 years and 11 months thank you.” I picked at a loose thread on my leggings. “Nearly all the men I’ve dated want something that I can’t give. A stay at home wife, someone who’s girly and prissy. Or even children.”

I drained the rest of my coffee and stood. “I’m going for a shower.”

I walked out of the room and nearly ran up the stairs. Thankfully Katie had taken Ragnar for a walk. For what I was about to do I knew he’d sit there and judge me. I headed to my room stopping at my office. Okay, I didn’t lie, I was going to have a shower, just after I chained smoked a couple cigarettes. I got the packet out of my top draw, thankful that I always keep a stack somewhere. I had only just lit up when Bill appeared beside me.

“I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t”

I looked at him. He was stooped over slightly making himself seem shorter and as always he had his hands in his front pockets. I offered him the packet, he hesitated before taking one. We stood in silence on my terrace.

Bill turned to me, “Can I ask you something?”

I shrugged. “Yeah go ahead.”

“What did you mean about children?”

I took a drag from the cigarette, “In the accident, I had internal bleeding. My left ovary had been crushed and the top of my uterus damaged. They had to remove it. So I’m left with one ovary and a scarred womb. After I woke up they told me I’d struggle to conceive and if I did get pregnant there’s a strong chance I’d miscarry or I’d struggle to carry a baby to full term.”

Bill ran his hand through his hair. “Shit Eva I didn’t know.”

I smiled at him. “Well to be fair I never told you. It’s not really something you discuss with a guy friend over beers.”

Bill snorted, “That’s true.”

“Well, tomorrow night you can let your hair down and have some fun. If you find yourself a girl, I have no objections on you can bringing her back here. The walls are soundproofed.”

Bill smiled. “Thanks.”

I stubbed my cigarette out into the ashtray and stretched. “Okay, I am going for a shower. We’ll have lunch, then will head out.”

Bill nodded. Before I could escape he caught my arm, pulling me back. I was about to say something but he pressed his lips to mine. It was sweet and chaste. It wasn’t until that moment that I realised how much I had missed his touch. We pulled back and both looked at each other unsure what to say. I left him on the terrace to finish his cigarette.

~~~~~~~~~~

Bill P.O.V.

I really was a fucking idiot. I feel conflicted; part of me thinks that kissing Eva was a stupid idea, the other half was pining for her to touch me again. It had been so long since we were last together. We were lying in bed after having a fuck fest all afternoon. I should have kept my mouth shut until the morning. I told her I had met someone. She just stared at me for a minute, then without a word she got dressed and left. I did not know what to do, I just sat there and watched her leave without saying a single thing. I didn’t see her until I was back at work. I tried to apologize, said to me was that I should have told her before we had sex.

After that moment we had stuck strictly to just being friends. I tried to repair our friendship in the following weeks. Thankfully Eva forgave me after I had brought her favourite expensive whiskey.

Eva and I had started having sex when I was filming season one of hemlock grove. It was after a hard day of shooting, Eva invited me back to her place. We had a few drinks and one thing led to another. It was such a stress reliever. After filming the horrific scene with Emily all day, I had driven myself to Eva’s and cried in her lap. Halfway through filming, I was rummaging in Eva’s wardrobe after a shower, for my spare clothes I kept there. They were folded on top of a black chest. It was wrong I shouldn’t have snooped but I nearly had a heart attack when I saw what was inside. The chest was full of sex toys. Handcuffs, rope, blindfold and a riding crop. I had asked Eva about them and she very kindly demonstrated how to use them. It was a good thing, that scene still haunted me and Eva could tell; using the rope and blindfold gave me back my confidence.

I subbed out the cigarette and went back indoors. Katie was back in the kitchen preparing lunch, but Ragnar was nowhere to be found.

“He’s with Eva.”

I looked at Katie. “Oh okay. I thought he’d be lost somewhere in this house.”

Katie laughed. “It always feels too big when there are only a few people staying. But when Eva’s whole family’s here it feels like a normal sized house. If you think this is big then you need to see the house in Kiruna.”

She pointed to a picture on the kitchen wall. The only way I could describe the house was a mansion. It was four stories tall and nearly as big as a manor house that a lord and lady lived in.

“It was originally built as a hotel in the 80s.”

I jumped a little and turned. Eva was standing there in jeans and a top with damp hair. Ragnar was sat beside her.

“The construction firm built the structure before going bankrupt. Mama and grandpa bought it and finished the work.”

Katie placed the plates on the kitchen island. The was a selection of open sandwiches and salad. Katie with her plate walked out the kitchen.

“Don’t worry I don’t make her eat in some sort of cellar, she watches tv at lunch. Her daughter and three grandsons live with her so she rarely gets to watch what she wants.”

I nodded sitting down and helping myself to two sandwiches.

“So how many rooms does your place have?”

“It changes a lot. Some rooms are used for storage, some are guest rooms so they’re empty most of the time. I suppose there’s roughly about 30 odd.”

“Shit.”

“When I was younger before the accident it was actually a hotel. You can go hiking, canoeing in summer and they came for the dog sledging and northern lights in winter. There’s so much else to do; you can look after the reindeer for the day, go skiing, there’s the ice hotel which is totally awesome, I’ll have to take you one day. My favourite thing is to go out in my grandfather’s giant red sleigh being pulled by reindeer. You have to wait for the first big snowfall before you can go out, in October I‘d wake up every day hoping the enough snow would have fallen. We had a lot of hippies, outdoorsy people, there are some scientists that stayed. Newlyweds, we have a little apartment downstairs for them, give them some privacy. After the accident mum didn’t think it was fair on me to have people there. Mum couldn’t look after me, my siblings and guests. But those fun filled 17 years helped pay off the mortgage.”

“I suppose the good thing is that when you have guests no one has to sleep on the sofa.”

Eva snorted, “Yeah that’s true. For me, home is just heaven on earth. I’ll show you one day.”

I smiled at her. “I’d like that.”

We talked about the movie we just finished during lunch. Eva didn’t find my character scary at all.

After lunch, Eva grabbed her jacket from her room and hooked Ragnar up into his harness, then to a lead which was wrapped around her waist. He was happy to be going out with us. Eva said goodbye to Katie and we made our way to the tube station. Ragnar always walked on Eva’s right side to protect her bad hip. Eva gave me a funny blue card and told me to slap it on the yellow circle. The gates opened and I slid through. Eva had to go through the big gate with Ragnar but she soon joined me.

“We have two stops then we have to change.”

The train wasn’t too busy when we got on. Eva and I both sat down, she made Rangar sit between our legs.

“After we’ve done some shopping I want to show you my favourite Bakery.”

“Yeah sounds good. Is the good nice?”

Eva nodded, “And the cakes are to die for.”

It wasn’t long before we changed trains. This one was much busier. We only had another two stops then we’d be getting off. Eva stood in the corner and tucked Ragnar behind her legs so he wouldn’t get stood on. I stood beside her so no one got too close. When we reached our stop it seemed like all the people on the train got off. Eva waited till most of the people had gone up the stairs before heading up. On the surface, I don’t think that I’ve seen so many people in one place. It was so busy, there were people going in and out of shops, wandering around and taking pictures.

Eva took hold of my hand and pulled me away from the station, she didn’t let go of my hand until we were out of the crowd a bit. We stopped in a gap between two shops. Eva closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.

I rested a hand on her shoulder. “You alright?”

“Yeah, I just hate when you get pushed around. I panic because I think Rangar’s going to get hurt.”

Upon hearing his name Ragnar nudged Eva’s had with his nose. She stroked his head.

“That won’t happen to trust me.”

I took hold of Eva’s right hand so Ragnar would be in between us.

Eva looked down at our hands. “What if we get spotted?”

I honestly didn’t care anymore. “It’s not like we’re making out. I’m just helping a friend.”

Eva smiled and me and squeezed my hand. “Thanks. We need to head left okay.”

We walked along the street. With the three of us together people gave us a wide berth. No matter what I wouldn’t let go of Eva’s hand. If we got spotted or if Alida went crazy at me, I had a perfectly good reason. If she didn’t, believe me, that’s her problem.

Eva led me down several roads and an alleyway. I could smell the coffee before I saw the shop. We went in and the place wasn’t that busy so I let go of Eva’s hand. She went straight to the counter while I looked around. There were some many different types of tea, coffee, and treats. I joined Eva at the counter. There were already many boxes on the side.

“Ah Bill, how do you want your coffee ground?”

“Uh… How you have yours is fine.”

Eva turned to the assistant, “Another two bags of the Colombian cafetiere ground please.”

The assistant put another two through the till and Eva paid for the lot. Before Eva could get the shopper bag, I took it from the counter. Once outside the door I slid the bag onto my shoulder and took Eva’s hand again.

“You didn’t have to buy me the coffee. But thank you.”

“I know, but I wanted to.”

“So where to next?”

“Either a coffee stop or more shopping.”

I hadn’t had a coffee since late this morning and I was dying for one. “Coffee please.”

Eva led again, I was lost in the maze of streets. We went down another small alleyway and stopped in front of a tiny cafe. It wasn’t till we were standing at the counter looking at the cakes I realised this was a Swedish cafe. They had all the traditional Swedish biscuits, cakes, bread and sweet treats. Eva ordered us a selection of cakes and the three of us sat in a quiet corner away from the window.

“How did you find this place?”

Eva tucked Ragnar under the table. “I’d been in London a few months and was feeling homesick. One of my friends told me about this place and I fell in love. I ate cinnamon buns all week.”

The waitress brought over our coffees and cakes. We dug in. Eva was right they were just like the ones at home.

“So what other things did you get in the coffee shop?”

“My three bags of coffee, two boxes of Ginger tea and two of peppermint. A box of earl grey for dad, and your coffee.”

“Shit are you hoarding for winter?”

“Yeah pretty much. I don’t have any jobs lined up at the moment so my plans are to stay in Sweden till after Christmas. What about you?”

“Uh, I have a film in February in New Orleans. I have a couple of days stopover in new york.”

“You going to Mardi Gras?”

God, I loved cinnamon buns, they always go so well with black coffee. “Yeah, I have a few friends flying in for it. Why?”

Eva laughed. “The girls and I are going.”

I frowned. “What girls?”

“The girls I went to Uni with. And Leo’s coming too, he’s classed as one of the girls.”

“Well, we can always meet up.”

“Yeah maybe.”

“Whats up.”

“Well if you and Alida patch things up I don’t think I should be around.”

“Why not we’re friends.”

She put her hand on mine, “Look it’s a girl thing. We’ll just wait and see okay.”

“Okay.” I started picking at my bun.

“Bill. I didn’t mean to upset you by mentioning her. But I didn’t want to say yes and get your hopes up.”

Damn her. She always could read my mind.

“I don’t know if I’ll go back to her.”

“Do you know what my doctor told me. The future holds a lot of uncertainty. Just live in the now and we can deal with the other stuff when the time comes.”

I smiled at her. “Okay.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Eva P.O.V.

After our coffee, we looked around Covent Garden and did a bit of shopping. Eve#n if I thought I upset him Bill didn’t show it. He held my hand like before, this time I let him lead me around the market. I didn’t want to think that we could have something because I knew he’d walk away and break my heart. Our conversation still played in the back of my mind. I loved Bill but I didn’t want to make promises I might not be able to keep. Yes he might get back with Alida, he might have met someone new or he might be single. I couldn’t think about those things or I’d drive myself crazy.

The tube was packed and I tucked Ragnar into the corner to protect him. Bill stood in front of me with his back to the rest of the carriage. He had carried nearly all the bags except for the tiny one I was allowed to carry. The train pulled out from the station. Bill nearly fell over, he managed to steady himself on the wall next to my head. Our faces were millimetres apart. Not wanted to start anything I turned my head away. Bill stepped back and held onto the bar above his head.

We didn’t really speak much on the way home. The apartment was in darkness, Katie had left at 2 as she started early. I let Ragnar out of his harness and flipped the lights on. It wasn’t till we were taking our jackets off that I spoke.

“Do you want to order in tonight? I can’t be bothered to cook.”

“How about Pizza.”

“Yeah Pizza’s good. There are menu’s on the cork board.”

We both went into the kitchen, Bill looked at the different menus. I saw a note from Katie pinned on the fridge.

Washing is done, it’s folded in the laundry room.

If there is any more I shall do it tomorrow.

The gift you asked for is under the sink

K.xx

The gift was for Bill, something that I knew he’d love. I checked to see if Bill was occupied, he was looking at two menus. I opened the sink under the cupboard and saw that Katie had put Bill’s present in a green bag. I added his coffee I got today, put the tissue paper back over the top and left it on the side. I started to sort through my shopping and pretend the bag wasn’t there.

“How about this one.” Bill held up a menu for the local Italian pizza place.

“Yeah, that’s cool. You order and I’ll sort the beers.”

Bill got his phone out and wandered out the kitchen. I took my shopping into my room with Ragnar at my heels. I opened the suitcase that was full of things for my family. I added today’s haul playing Tetris to get all the things to fit in. once I’d finished there was a tiny bit of room left for the things I’d get tomorrow. I zipped it back up and headed back to the kitchen.

“Ah, there you are. The pizza will be about 40 minutes.” Bill had pinned the menu back up on the board. “What’s the bag for?”

I knew if I left alone Bill would try and snoop. He was always terrible with presents and surprises.

“It’s for you, open it.”

He took the tissue off the top. He pulled out his two bags of coffee. Then came the travel mug with a built-in cafetiere.

“What’s this?” he tilted his head to look at the mug.

I took off the lid and showed him the inside. “It’s a cafetiere. I couldn’t get you a glass one because of travelling. It’s a travel mug and a cafetiere. You can take your coffee anywhere in the world.”

He placed it on the side and wrapped his arms around me. “You always buy the perfect things. Thank you.”

I pulled back. “Okay that’s enough or you’ll start crying.”

I got two beers out the fridge and popped the caps off. I handed one to Bill.

“Here’s to you for being an amazing friend. I missed you, I really did.”

I smiled. “I missed you two Bill.”

[p-artsypants]

320 State Street- (9) July 17, 2016

A03 | FF.net | Previous

Short chapter

—

“Thanks and have a nice day!”

The customer smiled as Hiccup handed him his change and receipt. He was a shy man, quiet and reserved. “Um, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, shoot.”

“Well, the thing is…I’m sorry, this is a really weird…I shouldn’t really…” He stammered, his face turning red.

Hiccup smiled patiently.

“The manure that you guys sell here…”

“Yeah?”

“Is it safe for human consumption?”

Hiccup was always quick on the draw, and laughed at the joke. In response, the man only looked back in confusion, and seemed a bit offended.

“Uh, I don’t know.” He replied quickly, “but I wouldn’t recommend testing it out.”

The man nodded once and ducked out of the store, just as Astrid came in.

“Hey,” she greeted.

“Heeeyyyooooo what happened to your eye?!” His greeting turned into an exclamation.

“I got into a fight.” She answered simply, trying to hide the bruise behind her bangs.

“With who?”

There was an awkward silence as Astrid headed towards the back room.

“Was it Scott?”

She didn’t turn to look at him, but answered simply. “Yeah.”

By time she came back into the room, he was no longer behind the counter. Instead, she heard him throwing stuff around in the chaos of the store. She waited at the register, pensive.

A customer came, made a purchase, and then left. Then more silence…

Finally, he stormed up to the counter. “This—This is not okay!”

“Please calm down.”

“I can’t! My best friend is—you were—he—!!“

She smiled a soft smile. “Hiccup, it’s really okay. Everything is fine.”

“Obviously not if you have a black eye!” He gripped his hair frantically. “This is not okay! You need to leave him!”

She sighed harshly, and Hiccup shut up. “Hiccup, I know you don’t like Scott. But please…just leave it alone.”

“Okay, yeah I know, but still, like…can you not see how dangerous this is?”

“He’s not going to hit me again.”

“But how do you know?”

“Trust me. I know.”

“That really instills me with confidence…”

“Hiccup. Drop it.”

He looked away like he was the one who had been hit. “Sorry for being concerned.”

“I…I didn’t ask you to worry about me.”

“That’s the thing. It would be easier not to worry about you, but I can’t help it. I care a lot about you. And I hate what he does to you��but I’ll shut up about it now. Like you asked. Just…if you need anything…” He stuck his hands in his pockets. “The spare key to my house is in the garage. Middle cabinet behind my bike, it’s hidden behind a roll of duct tape on the wall.”

She shook her head, “Thanks, but I’m not going to need that…do you tell a lot of people where that key is?”

“My friends know. My dad is the chief of police and I have an attack panther. The only incident we had was Tuff breaking in and stealing some of my dad’s beer. Only because Meijer was out of Founder’s. Anyway, you never know what could happen. So…just in case.”

“Just in case.” She repeated.

It wasn’t much longer until the twins returned from their deliveries. “I’m telling you, in a fight, the King Kong would totally win!”

“The Hulk is smarter than King Kong! He would be able to strategize.” Tuff argued.

“Yeah, okay, but also King Kong is 50 bajillion times bigger. He could squish Hulk under his thumb.”

“Tell that to Ant Man.”

“What?”

“Exactly!” The twins both looked at Astrid and grimaced. “Dude, what happened to your face?”

“It looks like you tried to hammer in a fence post, but didn’t have a hammer.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She supplied.

Ruff picked up on it immediately, but unfortunately, Tuff did not. “It’s like two summers ago when Ruff and I were tubing on the lake, and we hit a rough patch and I accidentally kicked her in the face…my ankle hasn’t been the same since.”

“You have any plans for tonight?” Asked Ruff.

“Not really…” Shrugged Astrid.

“Want to go clubbing?”

“You mean to Czars?”

“Yeah! It’ll be fun! We can have a couple drinks, do some karaoke, have some drinks, flirt with guys and give them the wrong number…come on, it’ll be fun!”

“Ah man, I love Czars,” said Tuff, a nostalgic grin on his face. “You meet the best people there.”

“Like who?”

“Like Thor.”

Everyone, including Hiccup who was trying to work, stared at Tuff like he had grown a second head.

“There was a live action Marvel show over at the college last year…” He began. “I went because I got free tickets, and it was awesome. But the harnesses for the flying scenes were broken, so every time a character was supposed to fly off screen, he’d just stare into the lights, and then sprint backstage.” He cleared his throat, “anyway, after the show was over, I decided to go to Czars just to chill. And when I got there, low and behold, the actor who played Thor was there, in costume. I don’t think he was supposed to be wearing it out and about, but all I know was that we got slammed, and we walked down to the pier singing the Captain America theme song.” He looked to the ceiling, woefully. “Sometimes, I can still hear his angelic voice. I’ll wait for you forever Thor.”

“How much of that is true?” Astrid asked Ruff.

“I dunno.” She shrugged.

Astrid contemplated the idea, and looked over to Hiccup.

He was not having a part in this conversation, it seemed.

“Yeah, you know what? That sounds fun. I’ll go.”

“Great! And Hiccup will be our designated driver!”

“Oh no you don’t!” Hiccup stormed back over to the group. “I will not tote around a bunch of drunks at one in the morning! Call an Uber!”

—

It was one in the morning, and Hiccup was wide awake. Maybe he shouldn’t have turned them down. What if they hadn’t gotten an Uber? What if Tuff thought he was sober enough to drive? What if they got in an accident and died? What if, what if, what if…

He turned over in his bed and covered his head with his pillow in an attempt to stifle the negative thoughts.

His phone buzzed.

Hiccup nearly launched himself off the mattress to grab it. There was a single text from Tuff.

vry drink. come get.

Hiccup was scooting into his shoe before he could even tap out, “I’ll be right there, don’t go any where!”

Since it was one in the morning, traffic was nearly non-existent and Hiccup hurried downtown. Rain beat down on the road and created an unearthly haze around the streetlights.

Czars was still open and thriving with music and flashing lights. Outside, three blondes leaned against each other, waiting by the curb. Drenched. He should have brought towels.

“Someone call for a ride?” He asked as he drove up in his Dodge Camaro.

“Hiccup~!” Tuff sing-songed. “You’re an Uber now?”

“Did you not know you texted me?”

Tuff looked at his phone and then burst out laughing. “I have you in my phone as Uber! Cause you always come and get me when I’m drunk!”

Hiccup rolled his eyes.

“Thanks for coming, Hiccup.” Astrid said sincerely, sliding into the front seat.

“Glad to see not everyone is totally schlonkered.”

Ruff chuckled. “Don’t be fooled. Astrid is amazing at pretending to be sober. She’s the schlonkeredest of us all.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Ruff.” Astrid rolled her eyes. “I had one drink.”

“You had Stella’s Punch. 8 shots of tequila.”

“I’m fine!”

Ruff leaned over the console in an attempt to make eye contact with Hiccup. “She’s super drunk.”

“Not I’m not!”

“She’s super drunk.”

“Alright, alright!” Hiccup called. “What are we doing?”

“Me and Tuff are going to my apartment.” Explained Ruff.

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could I just stay at your house?” Asked Astrid. “I really don’t want to go back to my apartment and face Elenor while I’m tipsy.”

“That’s fair.”

As Hiccup pulled away from the curb, he turned the radio up.

She grabs the yellow bottle

She likes the way it hits her lips

She gets to the bottom

It sends her on a trip so right

She might be goin' home with me tonight

“JAY T! MY BOI!!!” Tuff nearly screamed. The twins continued to scream along with the lyrics, although, unintelligibly.

She looks like a model

Except she's got a little more ass

Don't even bother

Unless you've got that thing she likes

I hope she's goin' home with me tonight

“Hiccup, I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this, but you have a nice car.” Spoke Astrid, crisply.

“Uh, I think you told me that. That night I picked you up after your car broke down. You screamed it actually.”

She laughed. “Well, it’s a way nicer car than I have.”

“I like it. And you’re fortunate to even have a car. Can you imagine walking to work?”

“I wouldn’t have a car if we just had a bus system around here.”

He shivered. “No, trust me. Buses are the worst. Your jeep is fine.”  

Those flashing lights come from everywhere

The way they hit her I just stop and stare

She's got me love stoned

Man I swear she's bad and she knows

I think that she knows

By time they got to Ruff’s apartment, the twins had both passed out in the back seat. It took some serious shaking and yelling to get them up, but they eventually got out of the car and hobbled into the house.

Doubtless, they passed out again on the floor.

She shuts the room down

The way she walks and causes a fuss

The baddest in town

She's flawless like some uncut ice

I hope she's goin' home with me tonight

The rest of the drive was fine and mostly uneventful. Astrid sat relaxed, a small smile on her face.

“You seem to be doing better.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Hiccup had turned the radio off after the twins were dropped off. He was too tired for this stuff now. It was almost two in the morning.

“Is your dad going to be okay with me staying over?”

“Yeah, but he’s also not home. He’s pulling a late shift tonight.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Hiccup pulled into the garage and rolled his shoulders. Now that the anxiety of potentially dead friends because of his own laziness had worn off, he was exhausted. He yawned. “Do you need to take a shower or anything before going to bed?”

“No, I’m fine.” She mumbled. It seemed that she was tired too. She followed him into the house and quietly down the hall. The house was silent and dark and she had to feel her way by the walls.

They arrived at his room. “I’ll find you some comfy clothes to sleep in.”

“Thanks…” she slurred.

He turned to look at her, only to find her leaning against the doorframe with her eyes closed.  

“You should at least towel your hair dry.”

“Hmmm…” She replied. Standing straight, she headed to the bathroom.

Hiccup found an oversized t-shirt and some basketball shorts in the depths of his dresser.

“Alright, I found some pajamas.” He announced, coming into the bathroom.

Empty.

He peeked in the guest room.

Empty.

He peeked in his father’s room.

Empty.

Every bedroom was vacant. Every room was vacant.

In the living room, Hiccup consulted his pet. “Toothless, did you see Astrid?”

The panther lazily opened his eyes and leapt from his perch on the support beam. He stretched.

“I guess not…I wonder where she could have gone.”

He took another lap around the house, “Astrid! Astrid, where did you go?” He chuckled. “I know you’re here!”

Then he noticed that Toothless was sitting by the garage door. “What? Did she go outside?”

The cat stood and motioned with his head.

“She’s probably cleaning up the seats. She’d do that.”

But upon further inspection, the garage was empty as well. At least, at first glance. Toothless trotted over to a piece of cloth on the floor. Astrid’s shirt to be precise. Then he noticed the service door was open.

“Cmon, bud. She couldn’t have wandered too far.” Hiccup beckoned the panther with him out into the rain.

“Astrid!” He cried, but to no avail. It was raining harder now, and he could hear thunder in the distance. He hurried into a run, his eyes frantically searching the darkness. “Astrid! Where are you!? It’s not safe out here!” He called again.

Toothless had darted off into the storm too, hopefully catching her scent.

The dirt road was slick with mud, and he almost slipped more than once.

He heard Toothless roar to his left, and finally, in the glow of a neighbor’s landscape light, he spotted a girlish figure. “Astrid!”

She stopped, and turned to him slowly. Normally, he would have been embarrassed to see Astrid, of all people, in booty shorts in a bra, but he was so worried about her and the zombie look over her face.

“Astrid! Are you crazy? It’s the middle of the night in a thunderstorm! You’re only in your bra—and you’ve got no shoes! Cmon, let’s go back inside!” He took her hand.

Instantly, she started sobbing. “I’m sorry!”

“Oh hey…no…I was just worried.” He reached his arms out for her and she rushed to him, screaming and wailing all the while. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Astrid, it’s okay!” He soothed. “Man, Ruff wasn’t kidding, you are drunk.”

“I’m so stupid!” She screamed, clawing at his shirt.

“You’re not stupid. A little crazy, but who can blame you?”

“This whole thing is a mistake!”

“I mean, going to a club is always kind of a mistake. The music is loud, people grind up next to you, it costs 8 dollars for a drink…”

“I should have never called him that night!”

Suddenly, Hiccup realized she was talking about something entirely different, and shut up.

“I hate what he’s done to me!” She buried her face in his shoulder, smearing her ruined eyeliner even more. “…my life is falling apart…”

“You still have people who care about you, Astrid.” He promised, rubbing her back. “Even if it gets hard, we’re here to help.”

“My life is falling apart!” She screamed it, her eyes screwing shut. “He hit me! Scott hit me! I can’t get away!”

“Yes you can!” He pleaded.

“If he goes it all goes! He’s the only thing that’s constant…”

Hiccup pulled away slightly and grabbed her shoulders. “Astrid, listen to me. You need to leave him. Screw this debt thing you’ve got going on. You can pay him back with out dating him. He’s destroying you. Get out of it!”

She only heaved a broken sob. “Don’t yell at me!”

“I’m not…I’m sorry.” He ran his hands down her arms in reassurance. “I don’t want to hurt you. I’d never do that.” Almost painfully, he reached out and cupped her cheek. “I will do whatever it takes to make you happy. So just tell me.”

Her shoulders heaved as she fought to breathe. “I don’t know! I can’t think! I can’t—“

Without any warning, Astrid flung her arms around him in a vise grip and planted a firm kiss on his lips.

Instinctually, he pulled away. “Astrid, you’re drunk!”

She shook her head, and kissed him again.

The thing about kissing Astrid was this: he knew it was wrong, and in this circumstance, is was really wrong. But it felt right. It felt like the only thing he could do to help. Her hungry lips clamored over his, drinking him in. Her soul cried out for solace within him, and he wanted to give it to her.

Hiccup was vaguely aware of lights next to him before he heard a police siren. He jumped away from Astrid, still holding her arms. He looked frantically over to his dad. Lipstick smeared all over his mouth.

“This isn’t what it looks like!”

From the intercom, Stoick’s voiced boomed, “this isn’t the Notebook, boy-o!”  

[maafbox]

A CHAT WITH THE CUNNINGHAMS: PART IV

by Emery Columna

EC: So how long did it take to get over that feeling of luckiness, a week or

Eric: I feel lucky everyday. Sometimes you forget about it and you act like a spoiled brat, but you just have to constantly remind yourself, and each other.

Scott: I hope I never wake up and don't feel lucky. I mean you have to, to maintain what you're doing.

Eric: Yeah, if you take this for granted, if you can take this for granted, you're never going to make it anyway.

Eliot: You'd just be so ungrateful about life.

Eric: When we showed up to make our video and we rolled up there, and there were cameras all over and we had our own trailer, I mean those are the moments where you realize, Oh my God, not everybody's doing this. If everybody could do this, everybody would be doing it.

One percent of one percent.

Eric: We're so fucking incredibly lucky, when you pull up somewhere and there's somebody standing there asking what you want made for breakfast and there's people doing your makeup and your hair in your trailer and you're kinda like sitting there going, wow, last week you wouldn't even talk to me.

Seven: It's just something that's really easy, singing, probably the laziest profession of the whole band. (Laughter) & I'm pretty lazy. (More Laughter) I mean, it's easy, anybody can sing, there's karaoke bars all across the world. It's not anything special. I probably wanted to be a drummer when I was little too, but I was so lazy, I wouldn't want to carry around a bunch of equipment.

You just show up with your clean, sterile mic and you spray the band with Lysol.

(Laughter)

What kind of day gigs did you do before you did music full time?

Scott: I pretty much, early on started to do construction, building houses, because I figured out that I could be kind of a loser and not show up to work, or leave whenever I needed to, and at the same time, make enough money so I could survive, buy my guitars and support my musical habit, it's almost what it is. It's like having a drug habit, because everything you own, everything you have, everything you possess goes into it, in order to succeed. So I pounded nails.

Ever hit your thumb?

Scott: Many times. I almost cut both these fingers off with a table saw [shows two fretting fingers] once, and the scars on there prove it. I was always real conscious of it, it was a bad job for me to have.

Eric: I don't think any of mine were all that interesting. (Laughter) I was an Assistant Manager at a Pizza Hut for about three years, before we got signed I worked at a children's amusement place, doing a number of jobs there, but the last thing I did was work at the food stand and gave out popcorn and hot dogs to kids all day. So that was, before we got signed, I was selling hot dogs to kids.

Were they Hebrew National, or generic?

Eric: They were--

Eliot: Oscar Mayer! We need an endorsement!

(Laughter)

Eric: They were good, you know, all beef. I came with a quality hot dog!

Scott: The corn dogs, I'm telling you, were to die for.

Eric: It was a cool little place, they had like miniature golf and video games and I worked there for about a year & 1/2 and at the time I was like 25, 26 and I was working there going man, if we don't get a record deal...(Big, Knowing Laughs all around). Cause I was hardly making any money, you don't make very much money selling hot dogs, so that's where I was at. The reason why I quit Pizza Hut was because I was assistant manager there and it required so much of my time and so much of my mental energy that it was hard for me to be as involved in my band as I wanted to be.

Eliot: I worked, I worked, I worked...I had a lot of jobs. (Laughter) I worked at a pet store for a while, and needless to say, that sucked.

Scott: Eliot, what was your job at the pet store?

Stable Boy. (Laughter)

Eliot: I had to clean out the mess every morning. And then I went to work for a car wash and then I cooked for a while, did some carpet laying. I was a Kelly Girl for a while. (More Laughter) Worse comes to worse, you can always do the Temp Service thing for some cash. I jumped around wishing I could do something cooler. (Laughs)

Seven: Any job that I had I didn't have very long, because they wouldn't put up with me being gone because I had a show out of town. I worked at an amusement park, did landscaping, just anything where I could just be a lazy fuck. The amusement park bosses were supportive and really bent my schedule around all of that, they were like really supportive.

What was the name of that amusement park?

Seven: Seattle Center Fun Forest, it's right by the space needle. It's kind of cool to have a boss like that when you have other people around you like your mom & dad that are thinking, you're just a fucking loser.

Those kind of bosses are so rare, you know.

Seven: They were really cool.

So how long have you four been together as a unit?

Scott: About a year and a half.

Eliot: It's coming up on two years now, but we've known each other for longer, we just weren't The Cunninghams.

Who are the founders?

Eliot: These three. [Pointing to Scott, Eric and Seven]

Who met who first, and how did this dynamic happen?

Scott: It's been years, all of us playing in different bands together. Seven and I had been in a band, that broke up, we came back to Seattle, Eric and Seven got a band together,

Seven: He met me through a drummer that we (Seven and Scott) had played with. He was playing with Eric, and I didn't want to sing anymore. But we did that, and those bands were just lame, Eric brought members of his other band and we needed another guitar player, so since I knew Scott,

Scott: I was playing in a band with Eliot.

Seven: That band kind of fell apart and then it was just us three again, and Scott knew Eliot, so we did that and it was just a succession bass players, you get a bunch of guys that think they can play bass , which is probably the second laziest instrument. (Laughter)

Eliot: Bass players across the country now hate you!

Seven: I've got to tell it like it is.

Scott: Eliot was a tough guy to get in the band, we tried about a year to talk him into joining our band.

Eric: He was so stuck up, he wouldn't have us!

Seven: The thing was he was very loyal. He already was in a band and he was loyal. That meant a lot to us that we'd sit there and offer and he'd do demo work with us, but he'd stick with his band. Then when his band finally did start going down the tubes,

Eric: Then he jumped ship. Stuff starts getting rough with his band, so then he jumped ship.

Scott: I had to get his guitar player to quit, so there was no hope!

Eric: We convinced him there was no hope.

Eliot: I just realized that my relationship with my old band was becoming less and less friendly, and I knew that these guys were good guys and I already knew them, and I liked the music that they were playing, they had awesome management, so I was jumping into a great band. Nice guys, with great management.

Eric: We always used to tell Eliot he should quit his band because we're going to get a record deal.

Scott: Join the band, we're going to get signed.

Eliot: Then I joined the band and I realized you guys suck, we're not going to get signed! (Laughter)

Seven: He's calling back his old band and whining.

Eliot: But we stuck to it and we actually did get signed.

Eric: So his old band told him like, we can go on without you. They told him he was replaceable,

Eliot: They told me I was replaceable ,

Eric: And then he joined this band and I don't even know if they're a band anymore.

Scott: It's easy to feel good about that.

Eliot: Well I don't feel good about that.

Scott: You should, obviously, you're not replaceable.

Oooh, his head's blowing up now.