#you know you’re in a mood when you change the argument of your post halfway through

[drowsywithnochaperone]

Throwing my two cents into the Kurt Hummel hogwarts house debate...

I’ve always treated the house one is sorted into as the house whos characteristics the child values the most. Hence Harry asking for Gryffindor (thus proving he valued bravery more) and Draco (who isn’t particularly cunning or ambitious) who values Slytherin as that is what he has always been told is supreme. And the most obvious example being Hermione with her literal quote in book one about how knowledge is not as valuable as bravery in her eyes.

Slytherin, my own house, is what for a long time I believed Kurt was. But then I started writing this post. Kurt is very ambitions and cunning, however his value on those traits? Very little. In fact I would go as far to say his values would place him in Hufflepuff before Slytherin. Kurt sees how Rachel and Santana (both absolutely Slytherin no arguments) treat others around them and doesn’t always agree or like it. When Blaine tells the warblers that Kurt will be the duet partner without audition Kurt immediately asks about others having a chance. No Slytherin would do that. Kurt may love Rachel but when he is fighting her it’s usually over her ambition going too far. In Audition he and Mercedes are horrified by how Rachel scares off sunshine. He doesn’t value the deviousness of her plan even to object to the content of it. Kurt hated how Sebastian acted and treated others around him (very unslytherin of him because us Slytherins can appreciate our enemies plans even when we hate them so much) and even refuses to take action with Santana.

Kurt is so so brave. He faces that school and everyone who has hurt him every day with determination. And he doesn’t just value bravery in others, he expects it. During prom Queen he expects Dave to use the opportunity to come out because that’s what he would have done. He never really understands that his level of bravery is not common. Until Blaine showed up he had trouble finding someone who would be “just as brave as you are” (Burt Hummel Duets). He stands up to authority (Britney/Brittany, Bad Reputation, and others) and is somewhat disappointed when others around him don’t do the same. Not to mention the chivalry demonstrated by letting Sebatian off the hook. If you look at most of the series he seems like a cut and dry Gryffindor.

However I acknowledge that no one is a cut and dry anything. Kurt is ambitious, but he refuses to even put his ambitions above his family (Wheels). I think Kurt would be a particularly tough placement for the hat. I could go even as far as to say a hatstall. You can legitimately make an argument for any of the houses. But I do think that “Better be... GRYFFINDOR!”

[pedros-mustache]

mr. grinch

summary: javi was never going to be the all-out-for-the-holidays type, was he?

word count: 2.7k

warnings: borderline soft!javi (the heart wants what the heart wants), specifically related to the christmas holiday, a disgusting amount of fluff, x fem!reader

a/n: wrote a post about this concept and decided that wasn’t enough. my forte is angst and pining, not fluff, so forgive me if this is trash.

also: this will be repeated in the future, i’m sure, but if you have at all interacted with/commented on/reblogged/liked any of my previous fics thank! you! i would reply to each and every comment however that would require exposing my main (as this is a side-blog) and that’s not gonna happen. please know that i see and feel your love! xoxo! 

you long for the day after thanksgiving more than thanksgiving itself. 

sure, you enjoy the november holiday; it’s not like you hate it. especially since getting married, since having kids, you find thanksgiving means a little more to you now than it did prior to adulthood.

you enjoy packing the kids up and traveling across town to your mother’s house for thanksgiving breakfast and then packing the kids up again and going to javi’s father’s house for thanksgiving dinner. you enjoy sitting beside your husband, your hand on his thigh, as you watch your children play with their cousins or be passed around by distant aunts and uncles. you enjoy knowing that you’re safe, that javi’s safe, that the babies are safe. you enjoy knowing that you’re loved.

really, thanksgiving is nice, a good reminder of all that you have to be thankful for. but it’s just that: nice.

the day after thanksgiving, though... that’s when the real fun begins.

since childhood, your family has waited to decorate for christmas until the day after thanksgiving, and you’ve brought the tradition to your new household. javi tells you that your excitement for christmas overshadows thanksgiving, and maybe it does, but you really don’t care. not when christmas is ten times more cozy and festive than thanksgiving could ever dream of being. 

this year, you rise early on the appointed day and wake javi with a firm shake to the shoulder. he groans, rolls over to his stomach, and slips his head beneath a pillow.

“too early,” he mutters.

you exit the ensuite bathroom, rubbing your lotioned palms together as you prepare for a long day of unwrapping dusty boxes and fragile decorations. with a grin, you tap javi’s foot beneath the bedcovers. “get up before i sic the kids on you.”

he mumbles something under his breath, but the weight of the pillow muffles his words, so you leave him to his sulking. he’s never been a morning person, not in all the years you’ve known him. in a few minutes he’ll be up; you just have to give him time.

you find your son, tomás, awake and raring to go. six and a half years old and responsible as ever, it is his greatest joy in life to make his father proud. and though javier is a man of few emotional words, there’s a soft spot in his heart for both his children. today marks the first year tomás is old enough and capable enough to help his father with the outdoor decorations, and he’s already halfway dressed, his small feet shoved in tiny boots and his unruly hair snug beneath a baseball cap.

leaning against the doorframe, you watch as tomás struggles to get his arms through the sleeves of his sweatshirt. “you’re up bright and early,” you say, arching an eyebrow.

“wanna”—he bites his lip in concentration—“wanna help daddy today.” he drops his head with a heavy sigh. one elbow in particular remains stuck in the sleeve of his shirt, caught at a ninety degree angle.

you cross the bedroom to kneel in front of him and gently tug on his shirtsleeve. the arm once stuck at an uncomfortable angle flops to his side, and you smooth your hands over his narrow shoulders. “i’m sure you’ll be a big help, tommy. you just have to promise to do as daddy says.”

“yeah, i promise.”

with a squeeze to his arm, you cock your head to the open bedroom door. “go run downstairs and pour yourself some cereal while i get your sister up. daddy will be down soon.”

boots heavy around his ankles, tomás dutifully makes his way to the kitchen, his steps slow as he descends the steep stairs. his shoes clomp on the hardwood, and you hesitate, waiting to hear the cabinet doors open and shut, before moving to wake your daughter. you know by now that, though tomás thinks himself a fully grown boy, his legs often move faster than his brain, and you’ve had one too many tumbles down the staircase to show for it. the last thing you need today is a split forehead or bonked chin. 

like her brother, julieta is awake when you enter her dimly lit nursery. she gives you a gummy smile when you reach down to lift her from the small mattress, and she gurgles happily as you change her diaper and dress her for the day. her arms flap against her sides in joy as you enter your bedroom and place her on your bed. with practiced effort, julieta crawls her way up the bed and presses her tiny fists against javi’s shoulders. 

“come on, javier,” you say, pulling the covers away from your husband’s body. he groans in response, head still tucked beneath his pillow. “tommy’s already downstairs waiting for you.”

with a huff, javi turns to his back, drawing julieta with him, one broad hand splayed across her entire back. “getting up this early the day after thanksgiving is cruel and unusual punishment.”

“no—you’re just dramatic.”

“i think i ate too much pie yesterday.” he sits up with a frown. “i’m gonna have a beer gut like my uncle before you know it.”

“maybe, but i reckon you’ll still look cute.” you grab his wrist and tug him out of bed. he keeps julieta firm against his chest as he moves. “you know i don’t like to waste time, so please move that cute ass of yours downstairs. it’s past eight-thirty already.”

javi tosses a surprised look over his shoulder as you shove him out of the room, plaid pajama pants and all. “you think i have a cute ass?”

“shut up,” you grumble. 

tomás sits at the kitchen table, bowl of cereal on his plastic placemat. he grins when javi enters the room, and a line of milk dribbles down his chin, which you are quick to wipe away with a stray napkin.

“hi, daddy.” rising to his knees, tomás swivels in his seat and braces his hands on the back of the chair. he watches as javi deposits julieta in her high-chair then sets about making his morning pot of coffee. “we’re gonna put the lights up outside today?”

without turning away from the coffee maker, javi nods. “yeah, champ. but, you know, i was thinking.” his eyes slide to yours as he shuts the coffee maker’s lid and flips the on button. “what if we did something... different this year?”

you still. julieta makes grabby fingers for the half of the banana that still hasn’t been sliced for her, and she kicks her legs against the high-chair. “different?” you narrow your eyes. “different how?”

“oh, i dunno.” javi leans back against the stove and crosses his arms over his chest. he has all the air of nonchalance, but you know this is a calculated attack. if you know anything about your husband, it’s that once he gets an idea in his head, he’ll work his way forwards and backwards to bring it to fruition. “just different.”

“so no lights?”

javi shakes his head in reassurance for both you and your son. “no, tommy, we’ll still have lights. just different lights.” for the crescendo of his argument, javi crosses the kitchen and crouches beside your chair. he squeezes your thigh, his brown eyes soft and pleading. “come on, mi vida, let’s spice it up a little bit. i’ve got it all worked out, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”

you toss your head back on a laugh. “oh, i’m sure i won’t!”

“trust me, baby,” he whispers, brushing a lock of hair behind your ear, and, for a moment, focusing more on the patterns of your face than his end goal. 

you feel your resolve soften. how can it not? javi is decidedly undomestic, even with a wife and two kids. oh, he loves you; he adores his children. but it’s been a long time coming to get to this moment—him on his knees with his own holiday decoration plans. you’d be a fool to turn him down.

you shut your eyes and give him a nod. “okay, fine. i trust you.”

javi pops to his feet with a loud clap and equally as loud, “alright!” he points to tomás. “finish your cereal, kid, ‘cause we got work to do.” 

dropping a kiss to the top of your head, he makes for the stairs. his socked feet slide on the linoleum, which causes to tomás to laugh in amusement, but you’re too stunned by javi’s sudden change of mood that you can’t help but feel like you’ve been duped. 

spice up christmas decorations? you can only pray that whatever he has in store won’t get you a stern letter from the homeowner’s association. 

***

before beginning his mysterious outdoor decorating project, javi pulls all the boxes labeled christmas down from the attic. he helps you assemble the artificial tree in the corner of the living room, and he, though with a good measure of grumbling, adjusts and readjusts the garland draping the front door. 

but as soon as you give him the go ahead, he pushes you inside, makes you promise not to peek until he’s finished, and, like schoolboys up to no good, hurries away with tomás.

as the door slams in your face, effectively cutting you out of the fun, you glance at your daughter and roll your eyes. “men,” you say, and she coos in agreement.

it’s easy to get lost in your work for the remainder of the afternoon. there’s tens of ornaments to put on the tree and the little village to set up along the front windowsill. julieta follows as you move throughout the house. she crawls, or scoots on her bum, or rolls behind in her baby walker. she’s primarily a happy baby, and after tomás and his terrible twos, you’re thankful for a reprieve from the incessant crying and surly attitude. 

christmas tune after christmas tune drifts from the record player in the foyer, and you bump along to the music, finding the work of unpacking boxes and artfully arranging decorations is not so much work with a good playlist and a giggly baby on your hip.

after pausing for lunch, you resume with the finishing touches. the house looks cozy, you have to admit. the tree sparkles in its corner, and the quaint ceramic village display on the windowsill reminds you spending the holidays with your grandmother as a child. there’s miniature, stuffed snowmen in the kitchen that tomás made in school and papier-mâché carolers that javi’s aunt crafted in the hall. an advent calendar hangs from the back of the closet door, and a spring of faux mistletoe dangles over the dining room doorway.

you’re proud of your work, but more than that, you’re proud of the life you’ve made alongside your husband. when he’d proposed all those years ago (a dreadfully unromantic proposal of a ring simply slid across the table at a restaurant), he’d promised life with him wouldn’t be easy. he hadn’t been lying. still, you’ve made it this far, and you wouldn’t go back on your vows for the world.

it does surprise you that you haven’t heard a peep out of the boys for most of the day. tomás hasn’t so much as run inside to use the bathroom or grab a drink of water. either javi’s spicy christmas decorations were more labor-intensive than he’d originally planned, or he’d jaunted off to his father’s house to escape the responsibility, taking tomás with him. you can’t decide which possibility you’d prefer.

before you can pick up the phone to call your father-in-law, the garage door opens. javi sticks his head into the hallway, a wide grin on his face when he sees you.

“okay, we’re ready.”

you put a hand on your hip. “are you sure?”

“yeah, i’m sure.” he steps inside long enough to lift julieta from her place in the bouncy walker. he sets her on his shoulders, and she squeals as she grabs fistfuls of his hair. “i thought you trusted me?”

you place the phone on the receiver and grab your jacket. “don’t throw my words back at me, javier.”

he taps your ass when you brush past him into the garage. “you’ll love it,” he says. “but you have to close your eyes.”

“really? just how different are these decorations?”

“oh, it’s like nothin’ you’ve seen before, hermosa. now shut your eyes!” with an exaggerated sigh, you close your eyes. javi squeezes your shoulder, and you start to walk forward into the driveway. “tomás, keep a watch on your mother. make sure she doesn’t peek.”

javi maneuvers you until you feel the driveway beneath your feet give way to soft grass. he places julieta in your arms then squeezes both of your shoulders. you can feel the excitement in his fingers, feel it in the way he practically bounces with anticipation behind you. you have entirely no idea of what to expect, but if putting up christmas decorations has made javi this excited, no matter what the decor is, you’ll let him do it every year.

“ready, tommy?”

“ready!”

javi presses a kiss to the side of your neck, his arm winding around your stomach to pull you back against his chest. he is firm behind you, the solid foundation on which your family stands. “ready, mi vida?” his voice is low, and even after all this time, it still sends a shiver down your spine.

in lieu of answering aloud, you simply nod.

“okay. tomás, in three... two... one.” he squeezes your hip. “open your eyes.”

the air in your chest leaves in a giant whoosh as you take in his decorations.

“oh my god, javier,” is all you can say as you stare in dumb-founded shock.

javier laughs—a real, hearty laugh—as he watches your face. “isn’t it great?!”

it—it being a wooden cutout painted to look like dr. seuss’s the grinch.

it being that cutout pulling down a strand of illuminated colored lights from the gutter. 

it being the most half-hearted christmas decorations you’ve ever seen. 

“where on earth did you get that?”

“eddie from two streets away. i saw it in his yard and knew i had to have one, so he got another from his guy and gave it to me.” he shakes his head as he looks on in pride. “best forty bucks i ever spent. it’s been in the back of my truck for weeks!” 

“you are so lucky that i love you, javier.”

he laughs again, squeezing you tighter against his chest. “hey! i put lights on the bushes for you. that’s gotta count for something?”

dropping your head against his shoulder, you nod. “it does. and the more i look at the grinch, the funnier it is.” you hold up a finger. “but i’m not laughing yet.” 

you glance at your neighbor’s house, at the cookie-cuter lights lining the frame of their two-story, at the mechanical reindeer bobbing their heads up and down. you look back at your... grinch, at his twisted smile and tip-toed stance and the sad string of lights wound from his hand to the gutter. you snort in amusement.

“i’ve got to hand it to you—this is the most javier peña thing you’ve ever done. i’m almost proud.��

“i knew you’d love it.”

turning in his arms, you shake your head. “no, i just love you.” 

javi smiles and lowers his head to kiss you softly. it’s his way of returning the sentiment, and you preen under his affection.

but then you pull away with a frown. “wait a minute.” laying a finger against his chest, you tilt your head toward tomás. “where have you been all day? this set-up couldn’t have taken more than half an hour.”

javi cringes and glances at his son. he rubs a hand across the back of his beck. “yeah, about that...”

tomás appears from his place plugging in the outdoor extension chords. “daddy took me to the shooting range!”

gaping, you sputter to form a coherent sentence. “you what?!”

“tomás,” javi whispers, swiping his palm over his son’s hair. “you weren’t supposed to say anything.” he looks up through his lashes with a wry smile. “we did—yeah, we did go to the range for a bit.”

“oh, javier peña, you are so lucky i love you.”

javi grins, captures your chin between his fingers, and kisses you again. “yeah, i am.”

***

taglist: @insideafictionaluniverse​ @ladytrashbird​ @generaldamneron​

[imlostinsantacarla]

@beaming-ben:  hey! i just wanted to say i’m enjoying your lost boys posts :) was wondering if i was able to make a request with Y/N (so others can enjoy it) x Marko? it would be where the reader is new to santa carla and they are at the boardwalk looking at the stores and stuff. Marko notices them who turns out to be his mate and he starts talking to them. the reader would be quite shy in this but eventually opens up and Marko would be really sweet to them. Thanks for your time :) x

(a/n: heya love, sorry that this took so long for me to get around to! i hope you enjoy what i’ve come up with, i really tried my best! thanks for your request as well. - admin kat 🌙❣)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Title: You Don’t Talk Much Do You? (Marko x Reader)

Summary: Moving out to the Murder Capitol of the World and into the home of your eccentric grandfather after a divorce between your parents has you longing for a night of fun. When your two brothers accompany you onto the infamous Boardwalk for the night, their teasing ways get under your skin and you feel the need to break away and cool off. Doing this means that you run into a particular blonde-haired boy that isn’t just trying to chat you up to win you over for the night, but for eternity.

Word Count: 2,269 (lmaoo 69)

Warnings: mentions of parents divorcing, angsty teenager stuff?, nothing else really.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Being new to Santa Carla had an overwhelming pressure as nighttime rolled around and the Boardwalk was filled with the static buzz of teenagers having a blast of a time whilst the flashing lights of the fair rides busily illuminated the night air. There was a charge of excitement in the atmosphere which had you practically bouncing on your heels, a grin spread wide across your face. It seemed as though it had been an eternity since you had even stared fun straight in the face.

Currently you were situated between your two brothers, Michael and Sam, whom were bickering like school children over the topic of Sam needing and not needing babysitters to accompany him.

“I’m not a kid any more, Mikey! I can find my own way around here no problem.” Sam sassed with an exasperated tone, total offense clouding his countenance as he looked up at his older brother indignantly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Michael rolled his eyes, giving a hasty shake of his head, “tell that to mom after you get lost for the fifth time today.”

“Hey! The first time was my fault but the other four were your terrible sense of direction. Right, y/n?” Sam blabbered enthusiastically, though his face was heating up due to embarrassment.

“Huh?” You hummed, eyes averting from the roller coaster and landing on Sam who seemed even more offended that you hadn’t exactly been paying any mind to his side of the argument, never mind Michael’s point. “Sorry, what did you two losers say?” You inquired with a quick scratch to the back of your neck.

Michael grinned silly at you before staring down at Sam. “Jesus, and I thought mom was bad.” to which Sam laughed at, their brotherly bickering having become a thing of the past and your fleeting attention span now the main focus.

“You’ve seen plenty of rides before, I don’t see what the big deal is, y/n!” Sam stated matter-of-factly, his bright eyes illuminated with mischief.

“Yeah, I know. But when was the last time us three got to have fun instead of being stuck between mom and dad arguing?” You sassed, a tint spreading across your cheeks. Your statement was nothing more than sincere. Being in between two parents going through a divorce was messy and heartbreaking for everyone involved, but it seemed to have taken it’s toll on you the most. You’d assumed the role of keeping what was left of your family intact, like human glue, and it was the most exhausting job you’d slid into for awhile now.

“Jeez you make it sound like you’re the one going through the divorce yourself.” Michael scoffed mockingly, no doubt attempting to get under your skin as he usually did.

“YoU mAkE iT sOuNd LiKe YoU’rE tHe OnE GoInG ThRoUgH tHe DiVoRcE yOuRsElF.” you did a pretty bad imitation of his voice, throwing your hands up in the air as you did so. “You sound like you don’t give a shit.” you spat, pushing past your older brother.

“Great! Now she’s gonna go tell mom you were an ass to her and probably blame me too!” You heard Sam practically shriek behind you. You didn’t care, you just felt like you needed to get away from them, they were practically suffocating you.

___

Parting from your brothers had lead you to only dig yourself deeper into your own thoughts. You went from store to store that littered the Boardwalk and scanned the shelves of them absentmindedly with a lot weighing down the theme of your train of thought. Moving away from Phoenix had been challenging for you, especially parting from your friends, and your parents going through their divorce was hard, - even if your mother had managed to do it with little mess -. The change of moving to another state made you almost weak with nausea. When summer was over you’d be going to a new school with new people and the thought alone made you want to spew. Making friends back in Phoenix had been challenging enough as it was...

You missed your friends desperately, you knew you were gonna miss your old school even once summer was over here. Everything here was daunting and weird. I mean, your Gramps didn’t even own a TV! He had Taxidermy swarming around his whole house. The thought of that beaver he’d given Sam sent shivers down your spine as though The Angel of Death were tickling it. You were genuinely living with a crazy old man and your somewhat dysfunctional family. The odds of enjoying your time here didn’t look so hot. I mean, you were living in the Murder Capital of the World.

The exhaustion you felt seemed to morph into sore legs from having walked around the pier several times. You’d even walked past your brothers ten times, ignoring them whenever they’d called on you. They knew that when you were in a bad mood to just let you walk it off in order to cool down. Besides, they were the ones who’d agitated you in the first place. The least they could do was give you time.

The whole intention of coming to the Boardwalk was to have fun, engage in excitement: You’d wanted to go on every ride you saw, eat till you were so full you’d spew and watch the live bands play. You hadn’t bagged on miserably idling around a comic book store until the two kids behind the register eyed you all funny till you left.

Now you were at one set of stairs that lead down to the actual sand of Santa Carla’s beach. Your eyes scanning the scene before you with dull eyes of envy. The moon was strikingly pale against the velvety black night sky, tiny specs of stars dancing to the music of the local teenagers guffawing and fooling around on the sand beneath. The waves of the ocean were a velvety black, the moon casting an eerie silvery glow onto it, it’s reflection warbled as the salty water lapped onto the sand and retreated. There wasn’t just total darkness, on the sand, where there were teenagers, there were also oil drums glowing orange with dancing flames in the center of the group, providing warmth and light to their shenanigans. There were hundreds of oil drums littered all over the beach, like small beacons of light attempting to break through the darkness of night.

A sense of desperation to join them left your stomach jumping and twisting apprehensively, making you miss Phoenix all the more. You’d do almost anything to get out of the funk you’d sunk into, even if that meant doing something stupid and getting yourself grounded for all eternity by your mother. You weren’t astray to rebelling against her in the past. She knew that plain as day, which is probably why she had told your brothers to head out with you.

You climbed halfway down the stairs until you sunk down onto them, deciding you didn’t have enough courage to just throw yourself into any one of the orange circles that scattered the beach. Anyone of those groups could be filled with nutters and weirdos. You weren’t looking to get yourself into anything you couldn’t get yourself out of. But you observed the people your age, maybe even a little older than you, dancing and singing, - clearly both drunk and/or high on something -, with curiosity.

“You just gonna watch all the action go down from here?” You heard a voice clear as day in your ear, causing you to jump straight out of your skin, a yelp being pulled from your throat. You whipped around to find a boy your age with the dumbest grin plastered straight on his face, like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. “Whoa! Easy.” His voice came out husky as he placed his hands up by his head, partially gloved, palms facing you.

You were stunned for what felt like seconds but stretched on for well over a couple of minutes. The guy was stunning, blond and wore the most peculiar jacket of gold and red that possessed patterns, faces, pictures... You weren’t even aware that you’d been staring till he chuckled again. “You know, you might wanna close your mouth before you drool everywhere.” He teased, his nimble and icy fingertips coming under your chin and forcing your mouth closed with a soft tap. He had his head tilted to the side, blue orbs penetrating yours like he was staring straight through your soul.

“O-Oh, s-sorry.” You cleared your throat, tearing your face away from him and looking out over the beach once more. You were grateful that it was dark where you were, so the blush that consumed your face now was well hidden, - at least you thought it was -.

“Nah, it’s all good. I’m not complaining.” You heard the grin forming on his face as he spoke. Suddenly the space on the step beside you was occupied and you could feel his gaze on your face now. “You new here? I haven’t seen you around before.” He inquired, leaning closer to you in a non-intrusive way. There was curiosity in his eyes as you met them.

“Yeah.” You hummed, nipping your bottom lip between your teeth. This felt odd, no guy, - especially this attractive -, had ever really spoken to you. You always thought it was because you weren’t attractive, but you knew the biggest part of it was because your older brother Michael (by one year) wouldn’t let any guy get within twenty feet of you. So the fact that this guy was sat here chatting to you made you wonder where in the hell Michael was at.

“Cool. Where’re you from?”

“Ph-Phoenix.” You muttered softly, eyes dipping down as you spoke. The way that he was looking at you made you feel a little unsettled.

“Cool, cool.” He mumbled, pulling out a pack of cigarettes, plucking a smoke out and placing it between his lips before lighting it. The flame from his lighter made it possible for you to fully see his face, which almost made your jaw slack open once again. He was definitely attractive. He laughed again. “What? You want one?” He offered the opened carton to you, to which you declined and he chuckled once more. “Alright. You’re not much of a talker are you?” He quipped humorously to which you felt your ears redden and you shook your head.

“I’m Marko, by the way.” He mumbled around his cigarette, puffing smoke in your direction.

“y/n” you smiled softly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear as you watched him.

“Michael’s sister?” Marko inquired with a quirked brow.

“How’d you know that?” You were baffled and slightly terrified to say the least.

“Me and my buddies met your brother, we’re friends. He told us about you.” Marko clarified with a puff of smoke flowing from his lips as he spoke.

“That’s funny, he never mentioned you...” You hummed thoughtfully, “Oh God, what’d he tell you about me? That I’m a Monster Bitch from Hell?” You rolled your eyes indignantly.

“Somethin’ like that.” He simpered, eyes skimming up and down your body with interest as he spoke. “With the way he was describing you, I thought you’d look like a Demon of something.”

“I’m so gonna flatten him when I get home.” You muttered under your breath to which he laughed at. You turned to look at him once more with creased brows. “Then what do I look like to you?”

“Hot.” You laughed when he said that, shaking your head as you tipped it backwards. “I mean that in a non-demon kinda way.” He added.

“Well, that’s good I suppose.”

“You think so?” Boy he was a flirt, you could already tell. He was definitely funny also, which you liked. Funny guys were always more interesting to you. They were better than the hotheaded types, at least in your opinion they were.

“I dunno, would you prefer that I looked like one?”

“Nah, not really! I think you look great as you are.” He flashed his pearly whites at you with a confidence you’d never seen before and it spurred the pair of you into a conversation filled with flirtatious comments. You swore you’d never spoken to someone this much in your life - even with your very own family -.

Speaking with Marko seemed to flow naturally between the pair of you, which made your heart gallop a million miles per hour. However, even though he was nice to talk to, there was something about him that caused a spark of suspicion in you, like danger lurked around the corner if you continued to converse with him. But there was something else that was pulling you towards him, something you couldn’t quite put your finger on because you’d never felt this before. It was like a rope was tied across your midsection and Marko felt it too. The more either one of you resisted the tighter the pull felt, forcing you in his vicinity. 

And sure, you’d talked to cute guys in the past before your brother intervened, and there was always a sense of giddiness in your gut as you did so. Yet it didn’t compare to the warmth that seemed to spread through your muscles as he inched closer and closer to you with each question and answer that flowed from both of your mouths. Something about this seemed natural and destined, like nothing could get in the way of or break it apart.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

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[katyamorrigan]

Chapter 2 of ‘A Hotel on the Board is Worth Two on the Geldstraat’!

Here it comes: Kaz gets involved with Monopoly. And it goes exactly as you’d expect.

Chapter 2 of my fic for the GVBB is now out! Click here to read it in full on AO3, and there is an excerpt from the beginning of the chapter below the cut.

Please do check out the incredible art that was made alongside this fic if you haven’t already - I was absolutely stunned by the beauty of every single piece, and it’s an honour to have it exist as part of this story that I have written. Check the tags for the name of this fic - all art and updates relating to it will under that tag.

I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter 2 - “Can someone please explain human decency to Kaz?”    

“We’re just… off duty, boss.” 

For someone usually as quick with his words as his gunwork, Jesper was jarringly quiet. None of them liked Kaz in a bad mood, but fortunately his displeasure was typically aimed at someone other than his crew. Which made it all the more painful when they were on the receiving end. 

“Off duty, in my office, after I told you to wait for a shipment at the Exchange?” Kaz barked.

“Well, you said to wait until it came in, and I saw it come in. Saw the captain fill out the import documents in their office, saw them unload the shipment. Made off with something that looked promising, you know.”

Kaz braced his cane in front of him, both hands resting on the head and pressing down with force. He inhaled slowly. It felt like everyone else was holding their breath, afraid to take more than their fair share of the air supply in the stiflingly small attic room.

"I send you down to watch the incoming shipments," Kaz said, his voice carefully controlled but increasing in volume as he spoke, "and you pick up the shiniest case of contraband you can see before abandoning your post to play board games?"

Jesper shifted nervously in his chair; Inej put a hand on his knee. "With all due respect, you didn't tell me to stay there. You sort of implied it, perhaps, but—"

"If I thought I had to word my orders that specifically, Jesper, I would buy a trained monkey to lift shipments for me instead. Maybe that's not a bad idea."

Jesper's mouth twitched, and Inej could almost see him resisting the urge to do an ape-like impression just to watch Kaz lose his temper. Thankfully, the impulse passed, and there was no shouting. Wylan had been silent the entire time, slowly spinning his token on the board with a focused gaze that reminded Inej of a child trying to stay out of a familial fight. Nina was smirking, prompting Matthias to give her a warning eyebrow raise. To Inej’s surprise, Kaz was now looking directly at her.

“I expect better of all of you..." he said, trailing off. She glared at him, and he held her gaze. "You're no better than them, Inej."

"Woah, woah, woah," Jesper interjected, putting his hands up between her and Kaz. "Don't take this out on anyone else. My fault, I'll accept responsibility for the all-round shirking going on."

"You will." Kaz's stare was always hard, but it was especially flinty on this occasion. 

“This can be fixed,” Inej said, getting up to stand with Kaz. “It’s easy enough to go back down to the Exchange and pick up the rest of the cargo.”

He turned his dark eyes on her, and Inej waited for them to soften slowly as they always did. The aggression that Kaz was quick to utilise usually faded equally fast nowadays; she reached out and laid her hand on his sleeve, watching the anger leach out of his expression. 

Kaz sighed. “Jesper, this was important, and you messed up badly.”

“I can promise you that I’m sorry and it was a genuine misunderstanding,” came his reply, “but there’s no need to be a dick about this.” 

With a sharp shake of his head, Kaz prepared to extend the argument further. “How else can I expect you to…” Fortunately, he lost steam, and Inej fixed him with a severe look. “Okay. I’ll accept your apology with some changed behaviour. We’re going to the Exchange right now, both of us.”

“Does he have to?” Wylan asked, a slight whine creeping into his question. “We’ve just gotten stuck into our game. What even is it that came in with the boat?”

“That shipment contained cargo smuggled in under the names of half of the Merchant Council. Whatever it is they had brought in, they wanted it done quietly. I made it my business to find out exactly what they want kept secret so badly.”

Jesper gave a low whistle, and Matthias nodded stoically. This wasn’t just some small job that Kaz had wanted Jesper on - he had trusted him with something incredibly valuable for a change. Inej wondered how much of Kaz’s disappointment had been related to the shipment, and how much of it was towards his perceived betrayal. 

“How much is there to collect?” She asked. 

“Four crates and a trunk.”

“Well, we have the contents of the trunk up here,” Nina said, gesturing to the board set up on the desk. 

“So kind of you to lay it all out neatly in my office.” Kaz’s tone was sardonic but no longer cruel. “I take it there was nothing of use to me in there?”

“Just some scarves, books, a coat, two guns and this game,” Wylan relayed. “Jesper has the guns, but everything else is still here.”

“And you’ve examined everything thoroughly?” Kaz inquired, his gaze now school-masterly. 

Inej gave a sheepish smile. “We were a little more focused on figuring out how to play this game than checking everything for valuable knowledge.”

“I’ll take a look later myself with Inej’s help. For now, we need to get the crates back to the Slat without causing a disturbance at the Exchange. Jesper, you can make it up to me by not complaining about the walk. Come on.”

“We’re still in the middle of the game, Kaz!” Wylan protested. Already halfway towards the door, Kaz rolled his eyes as he turned back to face them.

“A game that you shouldn’t be playing right now, as it stands. Jesper, don’t be an ass about this. Get up.”

Read more here!

[icedteaandoldlace]

So there’s this “101 Reasons to Ship Snowbarry” video that keeps coming up on my YouTube suggestions. Idgaf about Snowbarry, and I’ve already hit the “not interested” button on similar videos before, but since I can’t seem to get away from video suggestions like this, I’m just gonna watch it and liveblog it, and bet that for every entry on the list, I can come up with a corresponding rebuttal for why Barrisco would make an even better couple. (I’m not gonna comment this ON the video ofc, this is just for my own amusement.)

Click the link above if you want to see the stuff I’ll be responding to, but be forewarned, that video is like, way long, so naturally it follows that this post is gonna be, too.

Additional note: If you are a Snowbarry shipper who has stumbled across this post somehow, now would be the time to stop reading, and also to add the “anti Snowbarry” tag to your filters if you wish to avoid running into posts like this in the future, ‘cause I ain’t interested in engaging in shipping wars.

Anyways, let’s go:

1. "How they met." Cisco woke Barry out of a coma by playing/singing a song about bisexuality, 'nuff said. (Also, part of the purpose of that scene was to introduce Caitlin as the serious, “down to business” one, and Cisco as the warmer, more easygoing one who’s trying to make Barry feel more comfortable.)

2. "They're both scientists." What is Cisco, an Instagram influencer?

3. If Caitlin being Barry’s personal doctor gets her romantic points, then the same should go for Cisco being his personal tailor. Actually, he should get more points, because there’s no moratorium on romantic relationships between tailors and their clients.

4. The way Barry and Cisco gaze into each other's eyes for non-medical purposes. This is too easy.

5. Uh. Cisco being the voice in Barry's ear while he's running, and often the first person he calls out to for help solving a problem.

6. They frequently take hold of each other's hands and shoulders.

7. Cisco comforts Barry while Caitlin tends to his wounds.

8 through 12 is literally just stuff about Caitlin being a doctor, and I don't find this stuff relevant enough to rebut because there's nothing inherently romantic about any of it.

13. "They both have fun together." Yes, Cisco also, the fun having, it happens, lots. Even more, actually.

14. Not really sure what to say for this one. Barry and Cisco noticing when each other is sad and then checking on each other (at Cecile’s baby shower and Barry’s bachelor party, respectively, and also on other occasions), comes to mind. That doesn’t have to do with noticing each other’s lips, per se, but I’ve never thought of either of these SB scenes as moments where Barry was staring at Caitlin’s lips, just as moments where he’s noticing her expression/overall mood, which is something he does with Cisco (and vice versa), too.

15. They all have nerdy hobbies, dude, they're nerds.

16. This one for SB is "she makes Barry drunk on purpose", which, y'know, she did because he wanted to be able to get buzzed, which Cisco has succeeded in helping him do, too (and the drink he made was more effective and longer lasting), but the way this is phrased is kind of suggestive, like Caitlin was doing it to lower his inhibitions (which she totally wasn’t), and uuuuhhhh, don't romanticize that maybe???

17. Cisco put all that tech into Barry's suit, including delivery menus from his favorite restaurants + wrote him an instruction manual, and sped up all his favorite shows so he could catch up on what he missed while he was in the speed force.

18. Barry makes Cisco's (and everyone's) hair fly everywhere when he speeds out of a room, too. Like, this is just basic physics, fam, wyd?

19. Barry also uses his powers to help Cisco. And...literally everyone who needs his help, this is basic superhero stuff, wyd?

20. He is impressed with Cisco, frequently.

21. Just having nicknames? He calls him "bud", "dude", etc., and one time he called him "Cis". (Bonus: Iris and Cisco have called Caitlin "Cait", too, so it’s not just a Ronnie and Barry thing.)

22. Cisco can make anything to help Barry. They're literally top-notch genius scientists, I don't even

23. Obviously they think each other makes great company, they're best friends. All of them.

24. They comfort each other. Again, best friends + Team Flash pep talks are a major staple of the show.

25. He needs Cisco, too.

26. They...they care about...my god, it's like you people have never heard of FRIENDS.

27. Honestly, how many times have we heard Barry tell Cisco he believes in him, or heard Cisco gush about what a great hero Barry is?

28. Helping each other conquer their fears. Yep, that's another one that applies to like, everyone on this show.

29. "They both have experienced loss" IT'S A SUPERHERO SHOW! Also, that's just life. Name one main character on this show who hasn't experienced loss. Nash and Wally have both experienced loss, and I have yet to see anyone ship them.

30. "They both can sing really well." Okay now. This one is true for Barry and Cisco, but uh...Caitlin is literally tone deaf. I'm not being mean, Danielle Panabaker knows good and well that she can't sing, and she has talked about Carlos side-eyeing her when she gets going because she's not good at it. THAT'S OKAY! There's nothing wrong with not being able to sing, but--WHY would you claim that she's good at something that she clearly is not? She wasn't on pitch for a single line of Summer Nights, and she straight up changes keys mid-line in the mockingbird song in that other clip, and just...what even is this entry?!

31. Watching over each other, yeah, another basic staple of being friends and superheroes.

32. "He is always standing behind Caitlin" AND LOOK WHO'S STANDING BESIDE HIM!

33. Remember that time fake Jay "died" and Cisco stayed with Caitlin until she fell asleep? Remember when Dante died and Caitlin slept on Cisco's couch to keep him company? Remember all those times Barry or Cisco were rendered unconscious, and the other stayed by their bedside until they woke up?

34. Basically just a continuation of 33. See above.

35. "Maybe 'okay' will be our 'always'." Hmm, what WOULD Barry and Cisco's "always/okay" be? Probably just calling out each other's names tbh, they do that a lot. Or perhaps, "For real?"

36. Is2g. Being only one call or text away is, again, a staple of the show, considering everyone in it is a close-knit found family and knows there's a very good chance that that call or text might be saying, "I'm in mortal danger, please come save my life at once."

37. Funny, I already pointed out once before (in a different post) the fun parallel of how Caitlin will sometimes go running to whoever her love interest is at the moment, or she'll call out his name, while Cisco is at the same moment running to Barry/calling out for Barry.

Side note: did they really think including Barry's proposal song to Iris would give more weight to their why-to-ship-Snowbarry argument?

38. I mean...Barry kind of carries everyone everywhere. You don't really get to see it, but how the heck else do you explain all the times he whooshes people in and out of places? He can't just drag them, otherwise the soles of their shoes would either wear down fast or catch on fire.

39. Okay, no shade to Barry and Caitlin's friendship, and some of these moments are really great, but generally speaking, their hugs do not compare to the ones that either of them has with Cisco. Also, note the group hug scene, conveniently cut off before Cisco joins in, because unlike the Romione + Harry hug in the Prisoner of Azkaban movie, there's no way to interpret it as a third wheel/cockblocking moment, because the moment Cisco declares it a group hug moment, Barry and Caitlin both agree, and you can see it on their faces that they are delighted, and think that Cisco joining in their hug has just made it even BETTER.

40. Henry gladly accepts a hug from Caitlin, immediately after laughing at Cisco's awkward moment and giving him a fatherly reassuring pat on the shoulder. I think it's safe to say he approves of all of Team Flash.

41. Oh look, another thing Barry and Cisco and multiple other characters do.

Good god, I'm not even halfway through this yet. This is like that time I tried to climb Diamond Head.

42. Ah, superhero poses, yes. That thing that...superheroes...do. Like, all of the ones on this show. And in general.

43.  "They begin to resemble each other." They're just white, fam. OH MY GOD, I SOMETIMES TAKE MY SUNGLASSES OFF WITH ONE HAND, TOO! OT3 MUCH????? 😱 Lol what even??

44. How many times throughout this video am I gonna have to repeat that everyone on this show has these moments? Also, speaking in unison with someone because you had prior knowledge of what they were going to say due to yourself or someone else time traveling, is not the same as being in sync with them because you’re close. (He said “Weather Wizard” at the same time as Cisco, too.)

45. Idk what to even say to this one. Like, Iris is obviously the love of Barry's life, and Cisco is obviously his favorite best friend and the person he would be with if he didn’t have Iris.

46. *John Mulaney voice* AND THEN THEY DIDN'T! Seriously, though, both of the people they were trying to get over were perfect for them. I don't have a Barrisco specific rebuttal for this one though.

47. So by this video's logic, that one scene from 4x03 means that Barry, Harry, and Cisco should be a threesome, huh?

48. "I did it because it gave me an excuse to bring him back."

49. .................is this even an argument?

50. They're both good looking people, darling.

51. Wrong, sir. They fight like siblings. Trust me on this one, I have six of them.

52. Trauma response. I'm moving away from Barrisco arguments and just saying the first thing that pops into my head now. But seriously, this is a normal reaction to trauma/loss.

53. *Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* I'm not even gonna say it this time, you already know.

54. Again, have you people ever had anyone in your life that you cared about, ever? I'm starting to get concerned, honestly. But for the sake of bringing Barrisco back into this, hey, remember that time Barry and Caitlin both got kidnapped on the same night and Cisco was completely beside himself?

55. This is getting out of hand.

56. Pretty sure dating Caitlin didn't even make the list for Barry's reasons to dislike Jay and Julian (also, he liked Ronnie, the guy she loved the most, so...)

57. Judging Barry for being a dumbass + helping an exposed girl out =/= jealousy. Granted, there was some jealousy in that last clip, but not because Iris got the man; it was because Barry was all set to live happily ever after while Caitlin was, y'know, struggling with powers she didn't want and another person living in her head that kept fighting her for control of her body.

58. Refer to season 1 episode 2, wherein Cisco is the person helping Barry from the beginning, and Caitlin asserts that she is on Joe's side when he tells Barry what a stupid and reckless idea trying to be a superhero is.

59 + 60. "Let's bring our boy home." / "Let's go get our girl." Do I need to cite either quote?

61. Again I ask, did a human make this list?

62. Don't make me tap the sign.

63. One word: Elseworlds.

64. If you'll scroll waaaaaaaaaaay up there, I already covered that Barry and Cisco hold hands A LOT.

65. Oooh, I made a meme about this one! Not after watching this video, I just see SBers say this all the time, and it drives me crazy.

I used this in my Snowbarry fandom drama presentation for my squad’s presentation party a while back.

Side note: ~INTERESTING~ how Caitlin being a doctor is ““romantic”” when she’s treating Barry but ““motherly”” when she’s treating Cisco. I can’t even.

66. ......I’m sorry, I’m just not seeing how the dramatic irony of them stating that Killer Frost will never be a problem on Earth-1 is pertinent to shipping them as a couple.

67. Hannibal Bates and Caitlin are perfect for each other? Weird take, but okay. Oh, and there Caitlin is trying to freeze Barry to death. Wasn’t there a point somewhere up there about her never wanting him to get hurt?

Side note: Hey, what’s the name of that guy who saved Barry in this scene?

68. Bruh, that’s just her dynamic with everyone that season.

69. Barry and Iris, Barry and Cisco, Cisco and Caitlin, Cisco and Harry, Caitlin and Killer Frost, Cisco and Killer Frost--just naming some duos that are more iconic than Barry and Caitlin. Again, no shade to their friendship--I really like them as friends!--but the shippers stay making it out to be more than it really is.

I also just have to point out that although Killer Frost was the one who willingly teamed up with Savitar/whom Savitar sought out first, when she comments on their team up and says it’s “Barry and Caitlin together again”, his response is to point out that she’s not Caitlin and he’s not Barry. In contrast, when he takes Cisco against his will and forces him to modify the speed force bazooka, he still refers to Cisco as his best friend.

70. Make up your mind, does Savitar count as Barry in this or not? Because he totally grabbed Caitlin by the throat once.

71. I don’t know how to break this to you, but not enjoying it when someone is in pain is just being normal. (Do I even need to point out Cisco’s empathetic cringing compared to Barry’s looks of mild discomfort, or...?)

At some point this went from being about Barrisco to being about Cisco being the favorite friend to both of them, idk.

72. He. Is. Literally. A. Superhero.

73. Man, what did I JUST say? Also, can we just acknowledge the build up to Crisis on Infinite Earths for a second, wherein Frost very quickly accepts that Barry is supposed to die in order to save everyone else, while Cisco has infinite crises of his own at the idea of having to accept Barry’s death--which, I might add, he never actually does? Neither does Iris, for that matter. They tried to accept it, and they thought they did, but they didn’t really.

74. Oh fuck it, just read 73 again.

75. Okay, what even is this one? Two scenes where they are not present for each other’s “deaths” and thus don’t react to them, meanwhile Cisco is devastated in both of them?

76. Same thing I’ve already said several times before.

77. How many times do I gotta point out that this is a superhero show?

78. Just really trying hard to find enough reasons to make this list 101, huh? (What is Firestorm, chopped liver?)

79. Because violence = chemistry apparently. Wasn’t there another entry about how they can never hurt each other or something?

80. I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the vibrating hand that shredded Cisco’s heart before either of those scenes happened.

81. It’s like SBers think they’re the only two characters on the entire show.

82. I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over all the other vibrating hands triggering Cisco at least once per season. But sure, Barry and Caitlin are the only two who know suffering.

83. Two words: Flashpoint. Dante. Also, not seeing how this one is romantic.

84. That’s just a Caitlin/Frost thing, fam, it only happened to Barry because he got whammied by Prism, who caused the same effect in everyone else he whammied. (Cisco’s eyes turned purple once when he got hypnotized.)

85. Please. I beg of you. Get friends. Interact with a human person.

Side note: “I trust you” was almost what I put for Barrisco’s “always/okay”.

86. “Don’t call me that. I don’t know you, string bean.” / “I don’t know who you think you are, but around here, people call me Mr. Ramon.” / “The name is Vibe.” (Again, romance where?)

87. Kinda like how Mirror Iris and Mirror Kamilla have slightly dressier tastes than Real Iris and Real Kamilla.

88. ....Anyways, Vibe........

89. The first time because Cisco saved him, the second time because she froze him just enough to fool Grodd, not enough to actually kill him. (Again I say, what is Firestorm?)

90. So romance. Very love. Much relationship.

91. ANYWAYS, CISCO. (And uh, hello, IRIS???? Joe? Harry?)

92. See 88.

93. This one might be a fun ship parallel if Caitlin had actually been involved in Barry’s brain zapping, but instead it’s just like, “here’s two random scenes that are kinda similar in completely insignificant ways”, like the evil clothes thing a few entries back.

94. Another entry that just demonstrates that their one-on-one moments together, while good, just don’t compare to either of their one-on-one moments with Cisco. I can’t be the only person who sees this.

95 + 96 + 97. I can’t muster up enough interest in any of these shows to watch them all the way through. Is this supposed to impress me?

98 + 99 + 100. The only point this proves is that they have multiple ship names. (I thought their evil ship name was Savifrost?)

101. Mm, sorry, sweetheart, Westallen, Barrisco, and Snowstorm all have them beat in this category.

This post really got away from me, at this point idk what I’m even doing, but I went on too long to stop now.

Oh, shit, there’s a bonus round.

Honestly, I fail to see how a lot of these supposedly “match”? But as for the ones that do, that’s just your basic TV aesthetics, I forget the official name for it. They’re matchy-matchy with Cisco in some of those shots, too, because TV matchy color psychology whatever. It’s a whole thing, every TV show and movie does it.

If anyone actually followed along this far, congratulations on your attention span, my brain could never. Idk how to end this post because it strayed so far from my original intent and basically just turned into a Snowbarry Fandom Doesn’t Make Sense Presentation 2.0

You know, I like to try not to generalize and stuff, and I’d like to think that maybe not all SBers are racist and that some people genuinely just like the ship because they think that makes sense or something, but then I look at their reasons for shipping it, and it’s just the dang blandest thing I ever did see, and they have to reach so far when they try to explain why they think they’re the best “couple” on the show and just??? I am the queen of shipping friends who never get together romantically, but Barry and Caitlin just don’t got it, son. Tbh part of the show’s appeal to me is the fact that there’s no threat of Caitlin ever getting with either of her male bffs in that way, because Cisco is like her brother, and getting with Barry just wouldn’t make sense. It just befuddles me to no end that they are such a wildly popular ship and not a rare pair, because the way their relationship is in canon is just exactly the way it should be.

That’s it, I guess. I’ve already invested this much time in this, so I might as well post it.

Also, please don’t anybody try to start anything in the comments section of this video, this fandom has enough drama as it is.

[alovevigilante]

Life is really amazing if you stop to think about it. We have a myriad of energies and experiences to choose from. I’ve spent most of my life, in one to three energies at best: Meh, eh, and feh with variations of intensity. Now, I want to choose more, and better.

Love enables all kinds of experiences: people, who are all innately love, don’t always choose the love experience in their lives due to the 3D reality they perceive, making it their reality in most cases.

This is subject to a case by case basis. But most of us, even in the most dire of circumstances, can escape them with our thoughts. History has shown that time and time again with the heroes that have changed the course of the collective social consciousness’s momentum.

For example, mlk jr., Harriet Tubman, and others. They were so resolute in their thoughts and loving beliefs that their experience changed the course of history for the better just by their mere focus and fearless dedication to it. I want to be just like them. But I do it the way I know how, and can. And I contribute my love and sensibility through laughter, and writing my truth. That is my love, so that’s how I share it. We all have different ways of sharing our love. I admire the people who do share it from that place within themselves. And spread it all around to affect the planet. You can feel it, even if you’re not directly involved in real time. I still feel MLK jr. and Harriet Tubman’s love. Love is a never ending energy that we can tap into anytime we’d like. Just by the thinking about it, we can experience it. So I’m deciding right now, and right now and right now, to experience love.

I have to disagree with Julius Robert Mayer’s first law of thermodynamics, also known as Law of Conservation of Energy, that states that “energy can neither be created nor destroyed; energy can only be transferred or changed from one form to another.” *(1) I believe that we can and do create energy in a 5D sense, with our thoughts. (5th dimension being our thoughts within our mind that create the perceived world we see.) in the 5th dimensional realm we create thoughts and scenarios constantly that formulate feelings that turn into energy that can be measured (in waves), thereby making it its own legitimate dimension. When we act upon said thoughts that have been created by our minds, we are sharing that very created energy for a mutually shared experience. But not everyone experiences in the same way due to their individual filters and past experiences. So individual results will vary.

We can also dispel or eradicate energy, with our focus on the specific energy we choose to experience. Energy can be dispelled within our own perceptions in the 5D, and eradicated once it’s realized in the 3D. You can refocus on a better, more positive thought within your mood reach. Like right now, for example. One could be reading this, and calling me a lunatic for my theories. But in my chosen energy, mostly positive, I have decided to eliminate any negative backlash and pushback to one’s thoughts about my beliefs, therefore having it not affect my behavior in the slightest, unless I choose to allow it. It can happen if I’m not completely conscious of my thoughts.

But I do believe Julius Robert Mayer is correct when he states his law in a 3D sense (3D meaning the 3 dimensional world of form we have mutually created and share in the physical realm), that energy can neither be created or destroyed, because it has to go somewhere. So when someone creates the energy in their 5D thoughts, and gives it to another with their 3D actions (words or physical actions), and it’s not accepted by another, it has to remain with the creator until they can get rid of it themselves with their personal focus on a more positive thought, or pass the energy they created, either positive or negative, to someone else. That’s why it’s important to create only good energy with your thoughts, so that if another person doesn’t accept the energy you are offering, regardless of the emotional charge, you aren’t left with a negative feeling.

The fifth dimensional theory is palpable to all thinking humans, because the whole of us shares that very same thinking capability, therefore that dimension must exist and be shared. If we are capable of communicating thoughts, the thoughts must come from somewhere, and we all think in a similar biological fashion (in a literal sense, not figurative) therefore we are all experiencing that dimensional plane in the same way; perceiving life through our individual filters, and with our focus to specific things, and acting accordingly. We do not necessarily share the same thoughts, but we do share the same process of biologically creating the thoughts. The process of thought itself, is its own energetic entity, therefore contains an energy source, which is created by us. Thoughts formulate the potential energy to create the things into 3 dimensional form which is the kinetic energy, in action. That is how things are realized into the 3D. It goes from consciousness, measured in waves, to us being the catalysts for creation. But first the thoughts need to be created within consciousness to bring the concepts into being. I read a wonderful bbc article about consciousness and quantum physics. Feel free to check it out. It touches base on the study and the proposed link of the two: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170215-the-strange-link-between-the-human-mind-and-quantum-physics

I only mention this because if we can create thoughts that create the life and interactions that we perceive, we have the ability to do better with our creations. The 5th dimension is shared, so it’s a common bond of humanity as a whole. There is no I, there is only we. We are all connected, and our thoughts affect and effect the whole, and do indeed matter to the betterment of all people. Cleaning up our thoughts, is what will change everyone and everything. It will effect how we interact with the world, and how we feel about ourselves and one another. Love does that. It’s the most powerful energy there is. Nothing can compare, or override it if coming from a genuine thought.

So, all that said, I want to focus solely on people who choose to experience love, and what they create: ie. music, dance, art, design, writing, sports, theater, movies, and building stuff, and all kinds of things that people who are inspired by love, do. It feels better.

And there’s more! There’s love in other ways too. For example, in service to humanity by helping, investing time, money and effort in kids, the elderly, animals, and in the environment we all share, even if it’s halfway around the world. It’s also investing in those in need, and those who have things to share too. Love affects, and effects all of us, and the lack of it does as well. Investment, if done properly, makes for a completely fulfilling life.

So, from now on I’m going to deliberately try to choose loving energies. Here are a few I’m trying out: kindness, caring, laughter, social involvement, and celebration of people. Cause I want to feel good, so that I can share it with others, and they can feel good too. It’s a way of life I hope catches on, and everyone becomes addicted to.

Everyone has their own definition of love. Choose yours, and test it out. Life is about experimentation. You are your own constant, even though as you evolve, your variables may change. And not everyone shares the same definition of love that you do. So seek and find your like-minded energies through the love that you are attracted to. See how it suits you. You can always switch it up.

People may judge you as crazy, or a joke. That is an indication that those people do not share your definition of love, or are not willing to share the same energy that you are choosing. That’s ok too. Depending on what you want to experience, you have a choice whether to accept their rejection, or move forward toward where there is love for you.

(Please note: this is not a personal rejection of you, because all people are love, so there’s nothing to reject. It is only a rejection of their perceived energy, and that only they can control, so it’s different.) So you do not have to take it personally if they don’t treat you with the respect you deserve, although it may feel badly at first. Sometimes people aren’t in a place to recognize or accept love. And that’s ok as well. You will learn eventually, that the love is where it feels good. So move toward that, and allow them to experience the energy that they have created, without issue.

It is essentially their choice, to accept or reject themselves, by entertaining the loveless energy that they themselves have created. Also important to note, that loveless energy is both perceived and felt, so it’s good if you care about the relationships you foster to continue frequent communication and definition without defensiveness. Intention, is important to people as well. All of these things, are best done in person, because the added element of technology creates a barrier to humanity that makes it difficult in deciphering true intention. So put down the phones and computers, and talk. You can tell by looking in one another’s eyes. Cause the eyes don’t lie.

This post isn’t meant to incite anger or hostility. And however you choose to define yourself, love and your life is your personal choice. You will get no argument from me in that regard anymore. I have learned my lesson trying to argue my theory of love with a person that didn’t agree with my stance. And arguing, isn’t love, or a loving energy, therefore making it a mute point on both ends. I didn’t like how that experience left me feeling, so I won’t do it again... I’m just pointing out an alternate way to happiness if you’d like to try it out. That’s it. No judgement of your personal life choices or definitions unless they are affecting people directly, which they do. They affect you.

I believe that life should be easy, and fun. Define it your way, and design it to your liking! Here’s to the love. ❤️😎💪

*(1.) My affiliation is being an observing and active member (simultaneously) of the human race for 46 plus years. My accreditation is the fact that I’m a thinking human being with thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. I’m a work in progress, still in the graduate school of life. I use myself as an energy experiment, majoring in my personal love to suit the whole of us, with a minor in ways to achieve our collective happiness, and I usually document my experiences according to my filter. I use my energetic experiences to support my theories. (No snark intended.)

I just found this great article on this very subject: https://www.authenticityassociates.com/the-quantum-mechanics-of-changing-thoughts/

[seokmattchuus]

Fuck Away The Pain - Hyungwon

A/n: I don’t even know what this is, ngl. It kinda sucks, but ya girl’s sad from an ex and I’m deep in my Hyungwon feels so this happened. Let it flop, idc, tbh. I just wanted to write it. Also, issa long one, sorry.

“Y/n..” - 10:47 pm

“I know this is uncalled for, but” - 10:47 pm

“I really miss you.” - 10:48 pm

“I really wanna see you. Can I come by later?” - 10:49 pm

“Can we try again?” - 10:50 pm

You stood there, staring at your phone, tears welling in your eyes as you shoved you phone into your pocket and quickly wiped at your eyes. Of course, your ex, Min, would pick the best timing to try to ‘fix’ things.

It was movie night at the Monsta X dorm. You’d never been, but your best friend, Hyungwon had invited you this time, knowing that you’d needed some kind of comfort while you went through your breakup. He figured inviting you over for a movie would be best since you weren’t the clubbing type.

And of course, Min had to ruin that too.

You were in the middle of scooping ice cream into bowls with Hyungwon to put in the freezer for later when your phone went off. 

You ignored it of course, thinking it was some spam calls since everyone knew you were busy tonight. But it wasn’t until when Hoseok, Jooheon, and Hyunwoo came back from the store with all the snacks that you checked it, not wanting the constant sound to bother anyone.

You excused yourself to the restroom so you could check your phone in private, but rolled your eyes when you saw that it was Min that called.

A good amount of times. 

When you hadn’t answered, he resorted to text messages, which led you to your current situation.

Crying against the sink in your best friend’s shared dorm.

It wasn’t really an “I missed you” kind of crying, but more of a “what fucking nerve do you have to message me this kind of shit” kind of crying.

Min had ended things just shy of a month ago. It wasn’t like you didn’t see it coming, you just refused to think about him wanting to break off your three year relationship. You just couldn’t, well, more like you didn’t, want to see it. 

Until you’re birthday came around and he hadn’t planed anything. 

It wasn’t that you wanted him to do anything big or extravagant, a simple acknowledgement would’ve sufficed. But no. He hadn’t texted or called at all throughout the day.

It wasn’t until later that night when you and your friends posed for a picture to post on your Instagram that he finally texted you.

“So you’re out with that guy again?”

Had it not been for your male friends, including Hyungwon, he probably wouldn’t have contacted you at all.

It was that moment that you realized everything was falling apart. He didn’t care anymore. He didn’t love you. Not to mention that he spent that whole day with some girl from his workplace. Your friend being the one to tell you the day after your birthday, not wanting to kill your mood.

It was a week after that when he finally ended things. Claiming that you just weren’t good enough for him anymore. That he needed something new, more exciting. To be put simply, that he was just bored of you after being with you for so long.

You had no objections, nor arguments. There was no point. There was nothing in your relationship worth saving. You just went home and packed all the things he left at your house while he packed yours, traded off the next day, and that was that. He hadn’t contacted you since, and for him to finally text you after this whole time, what was he expecting? For you to jump at the opportunity? Welcome him back with open arms?

When you finally managed to get your feelings under control, you turned to look at yourself in the mirror, cringing at how puffy your eyes were. How were you supposed to go back out there? You’d already been in the restroom for a good while, if you stayed any longer-

“Y/n, you okay?” Your train of thought was cut off as Hyungwon knocked on the door.

You sniffled and cleared your throat. “Yeah! Be out in a minute.” You called out before rinsing off your face and drying it on the towel. “You can do this.” You whispered to yourself.

When you walked out, Hyungwon was standing in front of the door, his hand out to stop you from walking past him.

“You’re not okay.” He stated. “You sniffled and your voice sounds like you were crying.”

“I’m fine, Hyungwon.” You sighed. “Min’s just being an asshole, that’s all.”

“What’d he say?” His tone changed.

“Basically that he misses me, and wants to come by later and try to work things out.” You shook your head. “I don’t want to ruin your movie night, but I don’t want to go home either. What am I supposed to do if he comes by?”

“You can stay here tonight. I’ll lend you some clothes.” He said nonchalantly.

“I could-” You started, but were cut off.

“Y/n. We’ve been friends since middle school.” He started. “This is nothing. I’ll sleep on the floor, or on the couch if you want me to. But I don’t want you going back to your place if he’s gonna show up. He doesn’t deserve a chance to even think about you after everything he’s done.”

“B-”

“No ‘but’s.” He shook his head. “You’re staying here, and that’s final. Now hurry up before they start the movie without us.” He smiled, pulling you into a big hug, his scent engulfing you.

You weren’t gonna lie, hugging him was more than comforting at this point, and you wanted nothing more than to stay like this, but sadly, you had to pull away.

“C’mon, let’s go.” He smiled, dropping his arms so you could both make your way back to the living room where Kihyun was setting a movie order while Minhyuk and Changkyun were setting up the living room to make it more comfy.

“And they didn’t go off to fuck, you owe me $15.” Hoseok laughed at Hyunwoo.

“Cut it out.” Hyungwon glared. “Even if we did, I sure as hell wouldn’t do it around you dumbasses.”

You felt the heat rise to cheeks. Sure, Hyungwon was attractive, but you’d never thought of him like that.

Or at least that you wanted to acknowledge.

“Okay!” Kihyun clapped from his spot. “I finally have an order.” He said happily. “Now let’s move everything to the coffee table so we can start.”

-

After everything was situated, you, Hyungwon and Minhyuk sat on the couch with you in the middle. Hyunwoo and Jooheon took the recliners, and the rest made themselves comfortable on the floor.

You were halfway into the movie when Minhyuk moved from his spot beside you to go to the restroom, causing you to lean a little too close into Hyungwon’s side in an effort to get comfortable. Which also caused him to shift a little, you brushing it off as him trying to adjust.

-

After the first movie, Changkyun had asked Jooheon and Hyunwoo to help him get the ice cream.

“Do you feel any better?” Hyungwon leaned down to whisper.

“Kinda?” You whispered back. “I just can’t get him out of my mind.” You shrugged. 

“Give me your phone.” He said, pulling away from you and holding his hand out. 

“Why?” 

“Just give it to me.” He smiled.

You were hesitant, but reached into your pocket, and gave it to him nonetheless.

“I’ll take care of it later, I promise.” He smiled down at you as the guys came back with bowls of ice cream.

-

“Kihyun…” Hoseok whispered, poking the boy with his foot lightly, laughing as he tipped over. “Are you seriously asleep right now?”

“Bro, we did just watch like, four movies in a row.” Changkyun yawned. “Hyunwoo and Minhyuk fell asleep too. Let’s just call it a night.”

“But we still have one more to watch.” Hoseok pouted.

“Well you can watch it yourself.” Hyungwon stated, stretching as he got off the couch, helping you up. “Y/n’s spending the night by the way.”

“Hmmm.” Hoseok wiggled his brows, earning a pillow thrown at him.

“Like I said before, cut it out.” He said flatly. “Next time it won’t be a pillow.” Hyungwon threatened before walking to his room.

“Night guys.” You whispered before following Hyungwon to his room, where he pulled out some boxers and a long flannel, holding them out to you.

“You can go change in the restroom if you want.” He smiled softly.

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay here?” You shied away from his offer.

“Yes. I’m sure.” He said while shoving you towards the bathroom. “Now go change.” He said, dropping the clothes into your hands.

With a huff, you did as you were told, and changed into the long flannel that smelled like Hyungwon’s favorite cologne, and slipped into the boxers. After changing, and folding your clothes, you looked in the mirror, feeling slightly unsure of yourself.

It wasn’t like this was new. You and Hyungwon weren’t strangers. You had plenty of movie nights throughout high school where he let you wear his hoodies for comfort.

You’d always been close so this was nothing out of the ordinary for you. But something just felt different, and you couldn’t figure it out.

Maybe it was the way his members seemed to keep pushing the thought of you two. Or maybe since you were still upset over Min, staying with Hyungwon seemed different. 

Maybe because you weren’t in high school anymore.

Maybe because it wasn’t just his hoodie this time.

“You’re just a mess right now, y/n. It’s nothing.” You whispered to yourself, shaking your head while you ran a stressed hand through your hair before walking out of the restroom and back to Hyungwon’s room, deciding to lighten the mood, you struck a pose at his doorway.

“How do I look?” You quirked a brow, and Hyungwon’s eyes raked over your frame, and lingered a little too long on your exposed legs before meeting your eyes with a smile.

“Like a model.” He laughed, and pulled out your phone. “Should we do a photo shoot to make it real?”

“Wow, Mr. Model wants to give me a photo shoot?” You wiped a fake tear. “I feel honored.” You smiled. “But I can’t pose for shit.”

“Just do what you were just doing.” He said, holding your phone dramatically, while positioning himself on the floor, waiting for you to pose, snapping the picture once you did. “Not so bad, Miss. Newbie.” He smiled, getting up and showing you the picture. “How about you smile, though?” He suggested.

“I was smiling though.” You pouted.

“You need to smile bigger. Like you’re laughing.” He mocked your pout as he positioned the camera again. “Hurry up, my arm’s getting tired.” He laughed.

-

You took a total of ten pictures, all directed by Hyungwon and in all honesty, as you both sat on the floor looking through them, they weren’t that bad.

“I like this one the most.” You pointed to the one that had you pouting at the lens.

“Well, I like this one the most.” He pointed to the one with you smiling while your head rested on your arm.

“Well,” You started. “Thank you for the photo shoot, Mr. Chae.” You laughed. “It made me feel better.”

“That’s what friends are for.” He smiled back at you. “It’s getting late, you should probably sleep.” He said, getting up. “I still haven’t changed, so let me grab my clothes and I’ll be out of your way.” He smiled, going to his drawers and pulling out a pair of pajama pants and making his way out to change.

“Hyungwon,” You called out before he left the room fully. “You don’t have to sleep on the couch, or the floor. I can instead.” You offered, getting up.

“You know I won’t let you.” He said softly.

“But I feel bad. It’s your bed, after all.” You shrugged.

“Then we can just share it?” He questioned, looking over at you.

“I guess we could.” You avoided his gaze, looking down at the bed, and back at him.

“Guess I need a shirt then.” He said, walking towards his closet and grabbing a shirt.

“You don’t sleep with a shirt on?” You quirked a brow at him.

“Not really. It’s uncomfortable.” He shrugged, walking out to go change.

You sighed and sat on the bed, moving the covers to the side so you could make a spot for yourself and tracing random nothing’s onto his comforter.

Maybe things were different this time. Here you were, after a breakup, laying in your best friend’s bed, wearing his clothes, while you were about to sleep in his bed.

“Comfortable?” His voice pulled you out of your thoughts.

“Huh? Yeah.” You looked up at him. “Your blanket’s really soft.” You mumbled softly.

“That’s why I bought it.” He laughed at your statement before pulling the cover up and sliding under, too. 

“I know you need music to sleep, so is there anything you wanna hear?” He said, pulling your phone out, looking through your playlist.

“Why don’t you sing for me?” You asked. “It’s been a while since I’ve heard your voice.”

A hint of red tinted his cheeks at the statement and you smiled.

“You know your voice is my favorite.” You moved so your head laid on the back of your hands and you looked at him.

“Don’t look at me.” He smirked. “It makes me shy.”

“Mr. Model gets shy?” You quirked a brow. “Interesting.” You smiled before closing your eyes. “I’m still gonna face this way, though.”

“Stubborn little thing.” He chuckled before clearing his throat. “Any recommendations?” He whispered. 

“Surprise me.” You smiled.

“Why can’t you just make things easy for me for once?” He laughed lightly. “Hmm. What kind of genre?”

“Surprise~” You whined.

“Do you know how many songs there are?” He looked at you, though you couldn’t see him. “You just love making things hard for me.” He grumbled before clearing his throat again before singing Dreamer. 

-

“Did you really fall asleep?” He whispered after singing the song. “You were probably tired.” He sighed, grabbing your phone and connecting it to his charger, an idea popping into his head.

He scooted closer to you and held your camera above the both of you so it looked like you were cuddling into him, took the picture, then scooted back to his initial spot and looked at you again before confirming his plan.

He opened your messages and found Min’s, typing a quick message and attaching the picture of you sleeping, not even hesitating to hit send before leaving your phone on his bedside counter to charge, not bothering to check the vibrate signaling Min’s response.

-

You woke up feeling warm. Too warm. When you tried to move, you realized your arm was wrapped around something and you opened your eyes in realization of your current position. Looking up at Hyungwon’s still sleeping form, your arms wrapped around his waist, and your head on his chest.

You mentally cursed yourself as you slowly let him go and face palmed. Of all the damn nights for you to want to cuddle.

“It’s too early.” Hyungwon grumbled, his voice raspy. “Stay in bed.”

“Were you awake this whole time?” You looked at him with eyes wide.

“No. I woke up when you moved your head.” He mumbled. “The warmth was nice.”

“What time is it?” You said, ignoring his statement.

He grabbed your phone. “5:58 AM.” He whined. “Let’s just go back to sleep.” He rolled towards you, arms open.

“You’re such a baby when you’re tired.” You tsked. “We’re not cuddling again. We weren’t supposed to anyways.”

“You’re the one that woke me up. Take responsibility.” He yawned out, with grabby hands. “If you don’t come willingly, I’m gonna pull you in.”

“You wouldn-” You were cut off by Hyungwon grabbing your wrist and pulling you back into him, his arms wrapping around your waist. 

“Shut up and sleep.” He grumbled. “Hyunwoo’s alarm doesn’t go off for another two hours and if you wake up before then, we’re gonna fight.”

You didn’t bother fighting him and relaxed into his hold. It wasn’t all that bad. The way his body covered yours and the way he held you made you feel safe and warm.

Made you feel comfortable.

-

You don’t know when you fell back asleep, but you woke up to Hyungwon shaking you lightly.

“C’mon.” He whispered. “Now, it’s time to get up.” He chuckled.

You sat up and stretched. “Do I really have to get up?”

“I was gonna take you home so you could get some clean clothes, then maybe come back.” He started. “But if you’re down to stay dressed like that the whole day.” He shrugged.

“No, going to get clothes sounds nice.” You piped up. “Why would we come back here though?”

“Is it such a shame to want you to make friends with my group mates?”

“Good point.” You stated, getting up and picking up your clothes from yesterday.

“I’ll leave, you can change in here.” He stopped you, making his way past you. “It’s windy out.” He smiled. “So keep the flannel on.” He said as he walked out.

-

The ride back to your place was a comfortable silence and that’s when you noticed your phone’s bluetooth didn’t connect to his car.

“Won, where’s my phone?”

“I charged it for you, so if you didn’t get it, it’s probably still on my counter.” He said calmly.

“We’re going back anyways.” You said as he pulled up to your place.

“You go freshen up. I’ll just chill in the kitchen and steal snacks.” He smiled as he put the car in a park and got out.

“Sounds like a plan.” You laughed as you made your way to the door, unlocking it.

“Just don’t take a long ass shower.” He tsked. “Or I might end up eating all your snacks out of boredom like last time.” 

“Don’t remind me.” You glared at the memory. “God forbid I leave you alone for more than thirty minutes.” You kept your glare as you placed your keys on the kitchen counter. 

“Just some food for thought.” He chuckled as he opened your cabinet, looking for something.

"Just don’t eat everything.” You groaned and made your way to your room. “I really don’t feel like going shopping just because you can’t control yourself.” Your voice faded the longer you walked and you barely heard Hyungwon’s noise of agreement.

You didn’t really pay much attention to the clothes you picked out, thinking of just grabbing some leggings and keeping Hyungwon’s flannel as your top. Given that it wasn’t too baggy, but not too tight, you figured it had that ‘at home’ look, which was perfect because you didn’t wanna look like you were trying too hard to come up with an outfit.

You reached for your speaker on instinct, but put it down once you remembered you didn’t have your phone and grumbled to yourself, grabbing your towel and heading towards your restroom.

-

“Well that was fast.” Hyungwon spoke with a mouth full of Pringles.

“Let’s just say I miss my phone.” You smiled, rolling his shirt sleeves up, along with your hair.

“You still wearing my shirt.” He smirked.

“It’s comfy.” You shrugged, sitting across from him. “And it smells nice.” You added, reaching for a chip. 

“You always did like my cologne.” He smirked to himself. “I guess I make good choices.”

“You picked one good cologne, don’t get cocky.” You glared, pointing your chip at him, him sticking his tongue back at you in return.

“Are you sure you really wanna meet the guys?” He cocked a brow at you while he chewed his chip. “They might be too much to handle.”

“You’re too much to handle and I do just fine.” You stated matter-of-factly.

“Okay but now like, there’s six more of me.”

“You started it by inviting me over for movies. Plus it was your idea.” You smiled.

“Good point, but you didn’t have to agree.” He pointed his chip at you before eating it. “But let’s go after we eat.”

-

Hyungwon’s definition of ‘after we eat’ ended up being ‘after we eat and watch a movie or two.’ So by the time you were getting ready to leave, it was about to be 2 pm.

“What happened to ‘after we eat.’” You laughed as you both made your way to the door.

“You can’t just eat and not watch something.” He looked at you like you were clueless.

“You couldn’t just pick a show?”

“Movies are better.” He held his chin high as he opened the door for you, locking it from the inside. “You’re just mad ‘cause I’m keeping you from going back to the dorms.”

“I am not!” You yelled. 

“You totally are.” He glared. “Why? Do you like any of them?” He quirked a brow at you, his tone changing as he closed the door.

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.” You shrugged, opening the door to the drivers side.

“It’s Hoseok, isn’t it? Or Hyunwoo?” He tsked. “It’s always one of them.” He mumbled, opening the car door and getting in.

“And if I said I did?” You teased, stepping into the passenger. 

“I’d ban you from going back.” He glared. “They can’t just steal my friend from me.”

“Why can’t I be everyone’s friend?” You quirked your own brow at him.

“The world doesn’t work that way, my clueless little y/n.” He ruffled your hair as he started the car.

“You’re just paranoid that they’ll steal me away.” You glared. 

“And if I am?” He didn’t hesitate to answer.

“It’ll take a lot more than a pretty face to ruin our friendship.” You smiled, ruffling his hair now. “Why do you think Min hated you so much?” You chuckled, only to have it die down soon after. “I guess your ‘idol’ title made you different from the rest of my friends.” You shrugged, shoving the memories of past arguments to the back of your head.

“Look. I know I caused a lot of problems for you tw-”

“Don’t.” You cut him off. “He left because I wasn’t good enough. Let’s just go now.” You spoke quickly, watching as he put the car in ‘drive’.

“He really made you believe that?” He spoke up, his voice soft.

You didn’t answer.

“It’s bullshit, you know.” He spoke louder this time. “Anyone would be lucky enough to have you. Just because he left doesn’t mean you weren’t good enough.”

And that was all he said.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence, both of you not feeling the need to say anything else, at least not until you were heading up to the dorms again.

“If you flirt with any of them, I might just kick you out.” He threatened as you reached his hall.

“You could never.” You smiled as you poked his side. “You love me too much.” 

You only got a glare in response as he punched in the code to the door, nearly shutting it in your face as payback for your little statement, but you couldn’t complain now that you were back at the dorms.

“She’s back!” Minhyuk yelled from the couch, running over to you.

“We thought he wouldn’t bring you back.” Kihyun chuckled, watching as Hyungwon glared at Minhyuk, who’s hug was lasting a little longer than it should.

“Dude, let her go. She didn’t come to get squished.” Hyungwon grumbled.

“And now he’ll probably never let her come back.” Changkyun laughed while nudging Kihyun.

“Ha. Ha. Ha.” Hyungwon fake laughed. “She wouldn’t even be back here if she didn’t forget her phone.

“So that’s what was going off all day.” Hyunwoo chimed in. “I wasn’t trying to snoop, but it seemed important with how much they kept texting. I think it was a Min?”

“Oh, that’s not important.” You trailed off. “Probably ju-”

“Did you guys order the pizza, yet?” Hyungwon cut you off, trying to change the subject. “And did you get the side of wings?” 

“Yeah, Hoseok and Jooheon went to go get it.” Hyunwoo said. “But you’ve never wanted wings before. What changed?”

“They aren’t for me, they’re for y/n.” Hyungwon said casually, the rest of the guys raising their eyebrows at each other.

“Since when are you so considerate?” Minhyuk spoke out.

“I’m considerate to people.” He stated calmly, before forcing a smile. “Just not you.”

“Rude.” The older pouted, before his phone chimed. “Oh, food’s here!”

-

The day had gone smoother than you thought. You had eaten, watched some shows, played dumb games on the living room floor, and now you were cleaning up.

“It’s late, we should get you home.” Hyungwon spoke up after finishing the dishes.

“Shit, what time is it?” You looked up at him.

“Your phone’s still in my room isn’t it?” He raised a brow.

“Well we were busy, I didn’t really need it.” You shrugged.

He did nothing but sigh and ruffle your hair before leaving to his room to retrieve the device.

By the time he reached the phone, it had just stopped vibrating, and he checked it to see if it was important.

“Min? Again?” He groaned, pressing the home button so he could see how many times he called. “Thirty times?” He scoffed, letting the screen timeout on it’s own. “Does he have nothing better to do?”

“I suggest you hurry up before Minhyuk hides her away.” Changkyun warned, leaving Hyungwon to shove your phone in his pocket, and head back out.

“But make sure you come back. Even if you have to hide it.” Minhyuk whispered the last part.

“The point of whispering is to not be heard.” Hyungwon mimicked Minhyuk, causing you to giggle.

“Let’s go, you grumpy log.” You laughed. “It’s getting late, I don’t want you coming back late.”

-

The drive home was spent with you talking about how much you enjoyed your time guys being even more great - and stupid - than you thought they’d be in person.

“Well, at least you enjoyed your day.” Hyungwon smiled towards you. “You deserve to have better days now that he’s gone.”

“Speaking of,” You piped up. “What do you think he wanted?” 

“Who knows.” He shrugged. “You didn’t check?” He asked, pulling into your driveway, and looking over to you.

“I’m kinda scared to know.” You admitted, unbuckling your seat belt. “I mean, I cried at the ‘let’s try again’ texts, so who’s to say I won’t cry over whatever he’s saying now?”

“Do you want me to read them instead?” He offered, unbuckling his own seat belt.

“As long as you don’t say anything dumb.” You glared, handing him your phone.

“No promises.” He smiled, snatching the phone from you, and unlocking it. “Messagesssss.” He dragged out as he pushed the little emoticon. “Miiinnn.” He repeated as he looked for the man’s contact, tapping on it once it came in sight. “Last message was sometime around…” He trailed off as he scrolled up, turning the phone slightly as the picture he took came into view.

“Why? Is it bad?” You whined at the action.

“No, I just don’t want you to read anything and get upset.” He mumbled. “How about you go in and get ready? I’ll be in when I’m done.” He smiled softly at your frowning face. “You can even order food? And use my card?” He offered, to which you smiled and nodded. “All it takes is food. You’re so easy.” He fake tsked, reaching into his pocket for his wallet. “Just make sure you order something for me, too.” He laughed, waiting for you to walk inside before turning his attention back to your phone.

“So that’s how it’s gonna be?” - 2:07 am

“Why aren’t you answering?” - 2:08 am

“I know you’re getting my messages.” - 2:10 am

“Is it because he’s with you? You’re just gonna replace me like that? With a fucking pretty boy?” - 2:12 am

“And now you’re not gonna respond? You obviously sent that picture for a reason.” - 2:13 am

“Fine. Have it your way. I’m stopping by tomorrow night.” - 2:16 am

Hyungwon scoffed at the messages before deleting them, along with the picture, and throwing the phone in his lap.

What the hell was his problem? Was he really that jealous over you staying at the dorm when he wasn’t even your boyfriend anymore?

The nerve.

Sighing again, he turned the car off and got out, angrily shoving your phone in his pocket before going inside.

“The delivery guy said twenty minutes tops, so it shouldn’t be too long.” You smiled at him.

“All you care about is food, huh?” He joked.

“Well maybe if you didn’t eat all my food all the time, I wouldn’t care so much.” You glared.

-

After eating - and cleaning up - you had suggested watching something scary, more for background noise than entertainment.

“So..” You trailed off. “Was it bad?” You bit your lip.

“Now you ask?” He chuckled, taking a sip of his Monster. “But no, it wasn’t bad. Just obsessive?” He questioned, trying to think of the right word. “Just stuff like ‘oh, you’re not gonna respond?’, and ‘you’re just gonna replace me like that’.” He mocked in a dumb voice.

“Why are guys like that?” You sighed, throwing yourself back onto the couch.

“Like what?” He furrowed his brows. 

“All ‘I don’t want you, but don’t date anyone else.’“ You mocked in a deep voice.

“Who are you dating?” He coughed as he choked on his sip.

“No one, but you know what I mean.” You glared. 

“Well obviously I didn’t.” He coughed some more. “Word yourself better next time and we wouldn’t have a problem.” He grumbled.

“I’ve literally been crying to you about how guys suck. Why would I date another one right now?” You deadpanned. 

“I don’t know. Maybe the whole ‘get over someone by using someone else’ thing.” He mumbled. 

“On another note.” You sighed, ignoring his statement. “You’re a guy, do you know why guys do this shit?”

“I’m not a shitty guy, or at least I don’t think, so I have no idea.” He paused, putting the can to his lips and throwing his head back, finishing it. “But I can fight him for you if you want.” He smirked.

“I appreciate the offer, but the last thing you need is to catch a case.” You laughed lightly. 

“Who said I’d get caught?” He raised a brow.

“Okay feisty one, I’m gonna go throw away the trash which you said you would do.” You giggled, as you got up.

“I was gonna do it after I finished my drink.” He defended himself as you walked away to pick up the trash bag. “Which I just did.”

“Well I already got up, so you’re too late.” You smiled, walking back and taking his empty can, throwing it in the bag before tying it closed. “I’ll be back.” You said, slipping on some sandals before going out, mentally cursing as you realized you left the trashcans on the curb from yesterday.

“If I wasn’t kidnapped, I’d totally not have to walk all the way to the curb.” You grumbled to yourself, as you reached them. “I should’ve just let Hyungwon do it.” You continued to grumble as you lifted the lid.

“So you’re with him now?” You heard a familiar voice speak out from the side, and you froze, the lid falling with a loud thud. “Are you not gonna answer?” He spoke louder this time, slightly slurred.

“No.” You spoke softly, not trying to cause a scene. “But it’s not like it matters to you.” You said coldly, watching as Min laugh sarcastically.

“I just wanna know how long it’s been going on.” He hiccuped. “Since we broke up? Since your birthday? Before then?” He got louder the more he spoke, walking closer.

“You’re drunk.” You swallowed thickly while backing away, slightly scared since you knew this side of him.

“And? Answer my question.” He said, stopping slightly as he realized you were pressed against the trashcan.

“I told you we weren’t together.” You repeated louder this time, hoping Hyungwon would hear.

“Don’t bullshit me, y/n.” He chuckled, raising his voice even more. “We both know you had feelings for him.”

“Whether I did or not doesn’t-”

“Yes it fucking does.” He scoffed, taking a step forward, causing you to push against the trashcan, your face instinctively turning to the side in an attempt to block yourself. 

“If your problem’s with me, then leave her alone.” Hyungwon spoke out, grabbing your wrist and pulling you behind him. “Go inside.” He said sternly, to which you shook your head, and before he could respond, Min spoke up again.

“Oh, so you got him protecting you now? That’s fucking rich.” He laughed again, stepping towards Hyungwon, who only pushed you back. His position staying. “We all knew you’d end up with him anyways.” He spoke bitterly, looking up at the man.

“Like I said.” Hyungwon’s voice threatening as he stepped forward. “If your problem’s with me, leave her out of it.” He glared. 

“How do you know my problem’s with you?” Min laughed.

“My name was in almost every message you sent.” Hyungwon scoffed. “If anyone else read them, they’d think you’re jealous of her, not me.” He took another step. “And you came to her house to ask if me and her were together. It sounds like my presence pisses you off.” He smirked.

Min scoffed before balling his fist.

“I suggest you leave.” Hyungwon spoke up again, his tone holding something you hadn’t heard from him before as he took more steps to back Min into the sidewalk. “If you wanna fight, I suggest you be sober first. Wouldn’t want you making up excuses for losing to a ‘pretty boy’ like me.” He said, pressing a finger to Min’s shoulder and pushing him into the street before turning around and pushing you back towards the door.

“I told you to go inside.” He nearly yelled as he shut the door. “What if something happened? What if he had something? What if I wasn’t here?” He scolded, too lost in his concern to realize you were tearing up.

“What would you would’ve done if-” He stopped talking the second he saw a tear fall and immediately pulled you into his chest. 

It was quiet for a while, neither of you saying anything, or more like him not knowing what to say.

Of course he’d fuck up by yelling at you after everything that’s happened.

Of course he’d snap at you even though none of this was your fault.

Of course he’d let his feelings get the best of him.

“I’m sorry for yelling. I shouldn’t have.” He sighed picking his hand up to run it down your hair. “I’m just worried about you.”

“I’ve never seen you so mad before..” You sniffled, remembering how he sounded, how he got in Min’s face. It wasn’t like him.

“I never planned for you to see me that mad.” He chuckled. “I let my feelings get the best of me. I shouldn’t have acted out like that.”

“What feelings?” You questioned, and he looked down at you in disbelief. His whole face basically saying ‘do you really not know?’

“Are you serious?” He laughed.

“I may have a hint..” You paused. “But I just want you to hear you say it.”

“You really strung me along, huh?” He laughed lightly, looking back up. “Do you know how hard it was to not act on it?”

You looked up at him and chewed your lip in contemplation of whether or not to say what you wanted to. But he already said it, so why couldn’t you?

“No one said you couldn’t act on it.” You bit your lip as he looked down at you. 

“Say that again.” His response was immediate but his tone was different. 

“I said,” You paused, your eyes staring into his. “No one said you couldn-” You were cut off from him pressing his lips to yours, the force strong enough to push your head back, but his hold on you strong enough to keep you in place.

Knowing where to move, he backed you into the couch, turning you both around so he could sit and bring you down on top of him.

His hands never left your hips and when they finally did, they moved up to wrap around the back of your neck, trying to bring you impossibly closer into him while the other hand ran up and down your thigh, squeezing every now and then.

Never did either of you think this would happen. That one of you would finally take that step and remove whatever block was in the way.

But that block only stayed gone for a minute as Hyungwon pulled away, panting and searching your eyes for anything and you could tell he was stopping himself.

“Please, Hyungwon..” You panted, your hands coming up to cup his face. “Don’t stop here.” You whispered, hoping he’d see the sincerity in your eyes.

And though he did, it wasn’t enough for him.

“No, y/n. As much as I’ve wanted to do this, you’re only doing this out of vulnerability. Not because you want me.” He shook his head, trying to get your hands off of him, causing you to tighten your grip.

“But I do want you.” You spoke softly. “I’ve always wanted you…” You trailed off. “I just never thought you’d want me, and Min came along and fucked up my whole mentality on everything.” You took a deep breath. “I wouldn’t tell you to act on your feelings if I didn’t want to act on mine.”

He was quiet, his eyes never leaving yours as you spoke, his hand on the back of your neck rubbing softly while the one that was on your thigh squeezing hard at the mention of him. 

So contradicting.

“This wasn’t how I pictured this happening.” He chuckled bitterly. “But I guess timing doesn’t care for trivial things.”

“Please,” You looked at him, your voice breaking. “I want you for you. Not because I’m sad, but because it’s always been you.” 

He didn’t reply verbally this time, opting to press his lips back against yours, but softer this time, and you pulled back.

“You’re holding back, Hyungwon.” You whispered. “You don’t have to.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” He whispered back. “I came on way too rough the first time.” He laughed.

“Be rough with me, please.” You started. “I want to get lost in you. I only want you on my mind.”

“Of all the things I imagined you saying, that was never one of them.” He chuckled. “Are you sure?” He said, scanning your eyes for any hint of denial.

Instead of speaking up, you nodded your head, but it wasn’t enough for him. 

“Words. I need to hear you say it.”  

“Yes.” You spoke up. “Help me forget him.“

As if a switch flipped, the Hyungwon you had before was back and he was on you as if you’d disappear at any given moment. 

You thought about what he said earlier, the whole ‘using someone to forget someone else’ and now weren’t sure if ‘forget’ was the right word to use, but if wasn’t, you were pretty sure he’d have stopped. 

Maybe he said it because he wanted to be the one to help you forget someone.

Either way, you were reveling in the way his lips moved from yours to trail down your neck, randomly biting while his hands moved down to your thighs, occasionally moving up to play with the hem of your leggings.

“Fuck, Hyungwon.” Your hips rolled against his as he bit a specific spot and he smirked before biting down again, harder this time. 

“Do you know how bad I wanted to do this last night and all damn day?” He rasped out between kisses, sucking a hickey above your collarbone. “Seeing you walk around in my shirt like that.” He whispered before going to the other side of your neck. “God, you look so good.” He growled, roughly sucking hickies onto your skin.

“I wanted nothing more than to fuck you senseless while you wore that damn shirt,” He whispered, his hands rubbing closer to where you wanted him. “Have you screaming my name and letting everyone know who’s really meant for you.” He growled as his fingers rubbed you over your leggings. “I bet you would’ve loved it, huh, babygirl.” He whispered in your ear before nibbling on your lobe.

“Yes, fuck.” You threw your head to the side, bucking your hips into his hand, while his other came around to grab your throat, squeezing harder every time he spoke.

“Have you beg for me to touch you.” He whispered, his hand slipping under your leggings to rub you over your panties. smirking at the wet spot he felt. ”Beg for me to fuck you.” He whispered before rubbing harder. “Beg for me to let you cum.” 

“Fuck, Hyungwon, yes.“ You whined out, your hips trying to press against his fingers for something. Anything. 

But he pulled away with a smug smirk instead. 

“Then get up.”

“Wha-” 

“I said,” He tilted his head. “Get. Up.”

“Hyungw-”

“Get up now, or I’m not touching you again.” He deadpanned, and out of fear he meant it, you got up and stood in front of him. “Sit here instead.” He smiled, moving you over his thigh and you stared at him confused.

“What, baby? Never ridden a thigh before?” He smirked as you blushed. “I’ll help you then.” He smiled, leading you over his leg and letting you get used to the feeling, smirking as your eyes closed from the pressure.

“Doesn’t it feel good?” He spoke up, his voice lower as he flexed his thigh, smirking as you moaned out, your hips moving against him on their own accord. 

“I want more, please.” You whined, rutting against him. 

“Where would the fun in that be?” He cocked a brow, flexing his thigh again.

“Please, I’ll let you do whatever you want to me next time, I just really really really need you right now.” Your voice came out pathetic, but you really couldn’t find it in you to care.

“Be careful what you say, baby.” He teased, getting up abruptly and turning you around so you fell into the couch, leaving you to look up at him with pleading eyes. “Because next time, I might be more than you can handle.”

You didn’t have time to respond before he knelt in front you, his hands grabbing at the hem of your leggings before pulling them off, you lifting your hips to help him.

“Hyungwon please-” You choked out. “I can’t-” You were cut off with a smack to your thigh.

“You can.” He started, staring up at you while he kissed your thigh, making a trail up. “And you will.”

You didn’t respond, instead starting to squirm from anticipation, your hand grabbing at his hair in hopes of getting him to get up, but your plan was ruined as he pulled away.

“Hands.” He said simply holding out his hand.

You shook your head and he reached for your both of your hands, putting your wrists in one hand before continuing his teasing.

“Hyungw-” You were cut off as he bit your thigh, the surprise sting making you jolt.

“Let me have my fun.” Was all he said before kissing higher, switching between the top of your thigh to the inside. 

“Don’t you want me right here?” He asked softly, looking up at you with puppy eyes. “You said you wanted more, and that’s what I’m giving you.”

You had no words, knowing full well you wouldn’t be getting out of this, and you relaxed against the cough in frustration.

“Be a good girl and just enjoy yourself.” He whispered before licking a strip up your clothed slit.

“Oh-Oh my god.” You whimpered, your hips bucking into his face. “Why do you tease so much.” You whined, your arms trying to fight against his grip, only to have it tightened.

“You said you wanted to get lost in me.” He mumbled before licking over you again. “That you wanted me to be the only thing on your mind.” He mumbled, pressing his mouth harder against you. “I think I’m doing a pretty good job at that.” 

At this point, you felt like crying. Of all the times he chose to listen to you, it was the time when all you wanted was for him to finally touch you. 

“I’ll beg, just please. I can’t anymore.” You whined, your hips wiggling as you squirmed. 

“Then let me hear it.” He suggested. “Beg for it.” He teased before going back to licking at your clothed slit.

“Fuck~” You whined. “Please fuck me, touch me, anything. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll call you whatever you want, I promise I’ll be a good girl for you, just please, for fucks sake, do something.” You whined out, your hands fighting in vain against his hold.

“You sound so pretty when you beg, baby.” He groaned, getting off his knees and helping you up so you were standing in front of him, his hands coming up to the buttons of his flannel, pausing when you tensed up. “It’s okay.” He looked at you. “I’m right here.” He leaned down, pressing his lips to yours again, softer this time while he worked on the buttons, letting the garment fall to the floor before pulling away. 

“So beautiful.” He whispered to himself, bending his head down to take your nipple into his mouth while his hand gave the other attention. “I can’t wait to cover you in my marks one day.” He smiled, dropping to his knees while he kissed down your torso, his hands following by running down your sides, stopping at the hem of your panties before slowly pulling them down and letting them fall so you could step out of them.

“I’m gonna take care of you.” Was all he said before shoving his head into you, his tongue lapping at you like you’d be his last meal.

“Hyungwon-” Your knees buckled, but his hands came up to grasp your thighs, keeping you up while your hands attached themselves to his hair.

You let him have his way until you felt yourself about to cum, the teasing finally catching up to you.

“Hyungwon- I- fuck-” You whimpered as your thighs shook. 

He got the point and got up, only to bend you over the armrest of the couch, your new angle giving him the perfect view of your ass.

“Fuck, I’ve always thought about this.” He groaned, working at his pants. “Making you feel so good, you can’t help but scream.” He said, dropping his pants and boxers, kicking them to the side before grabbing himself and running it up and down your slit. “I wonder how many times you’ve thought about it.” He smirked to himself.

“Please~” You whined, pushing yourself back onto him.

“So needy for me.” He licked his lips as he slid his tip in, reveling in the small moans you let out as he slowly slid in, not giving you time to adjust before pulling out and slamming back into you. “I wonder just how needy you’ve been.”

“So much.” You whined, clenching around him, smiling softly when he hissed.

“Such a naughty girl you’ve been, y/n.” He tsked, his hands moving to hold your hips, stroking slowly. “Keeping your thoughts all to yourself.” He groaned, trying his hardest not to ruin you completely.

“Hyungwon, faster.” You panted, your hands balling into fists by your head.

“What’s the rush, baby?” He teased, leaning over to press a kiss against your shoulder, his strokes speeding up just a bit. “Don’t you wanna enjoy yourself?”

“I want you to ruin me.” You let out in a broken whimper. “Fuck me so hard I’m crying. So hard I don’t know what to do with myself. So hard I have no choice but to take it. So hard I’m forced to just lay here and moan.” You nearly cried. “So hard that your name is the only word I know.”

Your plea seemed to do the trick as you heard him laugh lightly before biting down on your shoulder and speeding up on his thrusts, the pace nearly brutal compared to what he was giving you before.

You had no words, the only thing running through your mind was Hyungwon and how good he was making you feel.

You guess he seemed to notice this as he spoke up again.

“Like this, baby?” He questioned with a pant. “You’re so quiet now.” He smirked to himself. “Let me hear you.”

Your response consisted of a mix of gasps and whimpers, not being able to think straight.

He seemed satisfied given that he didn’t ask again and he gripped your hips harder, holding you in place while he used his full force to fuck into you.

So forceful you’d almost assume he hated you or that he was trying to prove a point.

And maybe he was.

Trying to prove that it should’ve been him this whole time. Him kissing you. Him loving you. Him fucking you.

And the closer he brought you to your orgasm, the more you thought it should’ve been him, too. Especially when his hand came around to rub harsh circles on your clit, your thighs shaking from how close you were.

“Don’t even try holding it.” He growled. “None of that cumming together bullshit.” He panted. “Cum for me. Cum all over me.” He coaxed you, his voice sweet compared to his current actions.

“Hyungwon, I-I- Fuck!” You were cut off by him rubbing harsher circles against you, giving you no choice but to accept it, your thighs giving out as you came.

“That’s it, baby.” He smiled down at your fucked out form, slowing down so you could ride it out before speeding up again, chasing his own orgasm, smirking when you whimpered. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“Can’t take a bit of over stimulation?” 

[shera-dnd]

A Day at a Time - Flirtation

I have a feeling y’all are gonna appreciate this one just from the title

Have some quality glitra content as we start making our way to angst glitradora end game

Also with a link to AO3 for those who prefer to read it over there

Catra had accepted the fact that Melog was trying to kill her at this point, because once more the little bastard dragged her through the building and straight to one of the prettiest girls she had ever seen, just so she could die of embarrassment.

“I’m fine.” Catra answered, trying to keep her cool considering everything that's happening right now. “My cat just decided to be a little bastard today.”

“You sure you don’t want any help?” The woman insisted. “I could hold your groceries for you, or your cat!” And as if he had somehow understood what had been said, Melog ran for the other woman and tried to climb her. She calmly picked him up, smiling at him as she did so. “Looks like they made the choice for you!”

Catra sighed, not wanting to bother yet another neighbour. “Thanks.” 

“So I’ve seen you around a lot,” She commented as she followed Catra back to her apartment. “Don’t think we ever talked though.”

“Yeah I didn’t want to bother you.” Catra shrugged. “You look pretty exhausted most of the time.”

“A shitty office job does that to you.” She commented, “And just a ‘hello’ every once in a while wouldn’t hurt.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” That would certainly make their random meetings in the hallway a lot less awkward. “I’m Catra by the way.”

“Glimmer,” She answered with a smile. “ Pleasure to meet you!”

Catra questioned what goes through a person’s mind to name their kid ‘Glimmer’, but the girl’s trans pride flower tattoo on her arm made it clear her parents probably had nothing to do with that name. That was not the only tattoo adorning her, as Glimmer’s body was almost entirely covered in them.

“And what is this little cutie’s name?” Glimmer asked as she petted the little creature, earning a pleased purr from Melog.

“Don’t encourage him,” Catra complained. “And his name is Melog.”

“I’m sure Melog just wanted to stretch his legs.” She commented, “Maybe he thought you needed to meet new people!”

“He could do that without making me run around like an idiot and annoy the neighbors.” Catra shot a death glare at her pet, who seemed completely unbothered.

“Well, I’m not annoyed.” Glimmer replied, defending the little cat. “He did give me an excuse to talk to a pretty girl.”

“What?” Catra did not expect that. Nor did she expect Melog to jump off of Glimmer’s arms and run back to his napping spot. She had been so distracted she hadn’t even noticed they arrived. “Thanks for the help.”

“No worries.” Glimmer waved off. Both of them stood in the corridor for a moment, waiting to see if the other would say anything. “I think I should get going.”

“Yeah… Wait!” Catra ran into her apartment, grabbed a little post it note and wrote on it quickly. She turned back to hand it to Glimmer, but she stopped herself and added a little smiling cat face to the note before doing so. “Here! It’s my phone number.”

“Oh just like that?” It was Glimmer’s turn to be surprised. “Not gonna keep your distance from the ‘weird pink bitch’?” 

“You seem nice and Melog likes you, so you can’t be a bad person.” Catra shrugged.

“‘Can’t be a bad person?’” Glimmer repeated and Catra worried it didn’t exactly come off as a compliment, but the ‘weird pink bitch’ smiled and answered “Thanks, Catra. Talk to you later.”

And with a smile and a wave, she was gone.

~~~

Unlike Catra, Glimmer hadn’t wasted a single second and started her just a few minutes later. Thankfully, baking required a lot of waiting, so she had plenty of time to just talk to her. ‘Hey, Glimmer’ she wrote, but hesitated before sending. Thinking back to the girl’s tattoos, she decided to change that text a bit. “Hey, Sparkles” much better.

“Is this about the star tattoos? Because if it is I’ll fight you.” Catra chuckled when she read that message. She would make fun of how feisty Glimmer was being, but she remembered she had said something similar to Adora the other day.

“You know where I live, Sparkles.” Catra sent, challenging Glimmer. The response took a while as the three dots kept showing up, disappearing and then showing up again.

“I won’t fight you, but only because I don’t want Melog to think I’m mean.” That earned a laugh from Catra.

“I’ll let him know that the weird pink bitch is a nice person.” She joked, but then got a little curious. “Where did that come from by the way?”

“You can thank my coworkers for that one.” Catra suspected something like that, but did raise another question.

“How the hell are you keeping an office job with multicolored hair and tattoos?” This was all relevant information in case Catra ever had to take an office job.

“They wanted to get rid of me, but there were no real rules about colorful hair and I dared their asses to fire the only queer woman working there because they didn’t like her look. Would love to see them trying to recover from that HR disaster.” Apparently Glimmer had a very ‘Fuck you. Fight me’ attitude about everything. “Also they don’t know about the tattoos, so I trust you to keep that secret.” She added, with a little winky face at the end.

She was halfway through writing a witty remark when her line of thought was interrupted by the smell of burning bread. She dropped her phone on the kitchen counter and scrambled to save what was left of her attempt at baking.

~~~

Friday night at the bar was going unusually slow. Catra wasn’t exactly worried about it, she was smart enough to save up some extra money in case she got too many slow shifts. Still, it wasn’t like anything could really bring her mood down right now.

These past two weeks talking to Glimmer and Adora every day had done wonders to improve her disposition, to the point even her boss noticed. Hordak found it all extremely suspicious as he had never been Catra this genuinely happy when she wasn’t up to something. Catra couldn’t exactly blame him for assuming shit, but it was still very rude.

It’s not like Catra was ever planning to introduce the two of them to her boss just to prove him wrong, but it looked like the universe had other plans, because she could see a familiar face approaching the counter.

“Hey, Sparkles.” Catra greeted. “Didn’t expect to see you here. You stalking me or something?” She joked.

“I guess it was a lucky accident.” Glimmer answered, with a strained smile, before taking a seat. “First lucky thing to happen to me today.”

“Shitty day at work?” She guessed.

“Worse,” She answered, pulling up the sleeves of her work clothes, revealing the myriad of tattoos that covered her arm. “My boss found the bar I like to relax at and I’m so not getting drunk in the same room as the asshole that’s been trying to fire me.”

“And this is what? The least shady bar you’ve found all night?” Glimmer nodded “Well, you’re in good hands now and I promise not to use any of your drunk ramblings against you in the future.”

“Why do I find that hard to believe?” She asked, earning Catra’s most innocent look. It wasn’t very convincing.

“I wonder,” She started, playfully “Do you get even more fighty when you’re drunk or are you one of those, ‘You know I’ve always thought of you as a friend’ kind of drunks?”

“Sorry, but I’m only planning on getting a little tipsy.” She explained, “And I’m a flirty drunk, thank you very much.”

“Damn it.” Catra faked annoyance. “Looks like I’m not finding out what that looks like.”

“Maybe some other time.” Glimmer offered.

“But now that you’re not flirting and you’re not gonna start an argument with someone, what are you going to do to pass the time?”

“Very funny.” Glimmer rolled her eyes. “I think I’m gonna relax with a friend and enjoy some good music. Mind making me a Bright Moon?”

“Ugh looks like you share my boss’s awful taste in music.” Catra complained as she started making her drink.

“What is wrong with Fright Zone? Their music is great!”

“Yeah. If you like listening to a sad emo boy groaning about losing his girlfriend.” Catra countered, having heard most their songs more times than she’d like.

“Okay fine, the lyrics aren’t all that great” She admitted “I could try to find something you and your boss would like. Maybe something by Sadie Killer or The Scream Queens.”

“I have no fucking clue what any of those bands sound like, but I like the names a lot more than ‘Fright Zone’.” She commented, placing the finished Bright Moon on the counter. “Here is your drink, Sparkles.”

“A pretty drink from a pretty girl. What else could I ask for?” Glimmer said with a smile.

“You sure you aren’t drunk already?”

“Maybe I’m always a little drunk.” Glimmer joked.

“That sure would explain things.” Catra teased, earning a playful death glare that she happily matched. They kept the stares going until they couldn’t hold it anymore and burst out laughing.

“You’re the worst.” Glimmer said when she finally stopped laughing.

“Hate you too, Sparkles.” She answered, with the biggest smile on her face.

And for the first time in a long time, she was genuinely happy.

[sabineelectricheart]

Overcast Day

Summary: Dante had not spoken to Nicola in months, but when he receives a damning call, he rushes to his aid.

Rating: T - Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with some violence, minor coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes.

Words: 2000

Notes: I’m back on Piofiore. I still have some stuff backlogged, I hope I can post those during the coming months.

He is surprised when the telephone he keeps on his desk, that is usually kept silent, rings sharply, disturbing his concentration on his reviewing of the dry balance sheets in front of him. A grey cloud chooses exactly that moment to pass through the sun, making the noise that much more mysterious.

He is even more taken aback when a familiar voice comes out of the contraption, echoing with a pleading voice.

"Dante…You've…You've got to help me. It's Lili… Something happened… It was an accident, a terrible… We're at the hospital in Bari, on the fourth floor. Please, please, help me."

The line goes silent before he can manage to respond to anything it was said, and Dante stares at the telephone in shock, demanding it to ring again.

That was his cousin. That was Nicola. That was the one person he had not spoken to in months, all because of a stupid argument, and now, his cousin's fiancée was in trouble. Hurt, it seemed.

Dante does not know what to do for a second, just sits in his chair, staring at the dust floating on the claustrophobic air of his office. Suddenly, he jolts to his feet and then he feels himself grab his hat and coat, jumping into the automobile and ordering the driver to speed his way to Bari.

When he gets there to the first floor, he walks straight ahead to the receptionist desk, coming out of his daze.

"Excuse me, my…" Dante pauses for a millisecond.

He does not know how to word it, because she is not exactly family. A girl he knows from church? His God-inducted duty? The person he is in love with? The girl he thought he would marry ever since he was six?

"My… Sister-in-law is here, fourth floor I'm told, but I don't know what room. Could you help me?" He asks the wavy-haired woman with glasses falling off her long nose.

"What's her name?" She asks, popping her tongue.

"Liliana Adornato."

The receptionist looks at the constantly-changing patient log for the fourth floor. "Ah, Adornato. Fourth floor, room twelve."

Dante takes off, thanking the receptionist, and heads to the fourth floor. Once there, he looks up and down the halls, before finding room number twelve. A young man, with dirty blond hair, sits in a chair outside, hunched over, pressing a hand to his head.

Dante approaches with caution, before recognizing the face. "Nicola?"

"Dante! Oh, thank God!” The usually undevout man seemed to be falling back into old religious habits.

“Nicola.” Dante acknowledge, not quite sure how to proceed. “What happened? Why is Lili in there?”

“She was going out for the market, she wanted to bake some stupid pastry.” He spats the word. “A driver didn’t see her when she was crossing the street and ran over. She’s hurt, and in so much pain! They say… T-they say it's l-life-threatening."

Dante does not know what to say as a thought to mention their argument leaves him with shame burning on his face and disgust in his mind.

Don't talk about that here, it's not right.

He murmurs out, then, a timid 'sorry'.

"I'm terrified, Dante. I…I don't even know why I told you about this…hell, how am I going to tell Elena? Sister Sofia? The damn Church?"

Dante does not even know why he came. Maybe it is just for Lili. Maybe he is evil, and wants the assurance that this would not have happened if she had stayed with him. Maybe he is just human, and is saddened and scared for two people he loved more than life itself.

"This is of no concern now.” The younger man said, even-voiced. “It's best to wait for the final results before you panic."

"Right… Yes, you’re right. I knew that." Nicola sighs deeply, in a frantic mood his cousin did not remember he ever having. "They won't let me in… I don't know how long…"

The door opens as if on cue, and a man with shadowy stubble and square glasses steps out, wiping his brow.

"Mr. Francesca?" He asks for Nicola as Dante watches.

Nicola perks his head up and stands to his feet quickly. "Yes? How is she?"

"She's awake and talking a bit. She wants to see you." The medical doctor says.

Nicola nearly barrels him over and enters the room, leaving his cousin and the medic alone. Dante wanders over to the medic, peering into the room to see his underling kneeling down by Lili's bedside.

"How bad is it?" Dante asks him in a hushed tone, looking at the medic in full concern and seriousness.

"Wherever she got hit, it did some major damage to her internal organs.” The man explains with cold detachment. “If you want my honest opinion, I'm surprised she's even lasted this long. Many don't."

"So…” He stutters. “So how long do you give her?"

"Not long. Even less if the surgery was unsuccessful."

She is on borrowed time. Lili is going to die soon. Soon, Nicola's heart will be dead, too. Dread stirs in his body.

"Thank you." The medic leaves and Dante stands, hovering at the frame of the door. Should I tell him? It'll just hurt him more, right?

The argument comes back, nagging at his brain. He's right, you know he was right. You just didn't want to believe it.

"H-hi Dante."

The high, weak voice brings him out his thoughts and he found himself staring at the bed-ridden blonde girl with a smile. She looks absolutely dreadful and Dante feels positively awful, but seeing her still alive brightens his heart.

"Hi, Lili. How do you feel?" Dante tries to manage a soothing expression.

"As if… As if I am dying.” Her breath was wheezing. “I…I could be better."

"You're going get better though, right, Lili? You're going get better and then you'll get out of here and then you'll marry Nicola, and we'll finally have another member in the family." Dante tells her, trying to reassure not only her, but himself also. She'll overcome this, right?

"That's the plan." Nicola responds as Lili nods a bit.

"Great. I just wanted to see you, I'll be outside. See you around, Lili." Dante leaves the room, leaving the two alone.

"Nicola." Lili addresses, with a hint of seriousness. "I…I have to tell you… Something… That I heard."

"Yes?"

"T-they said… I only have… I am not going to make it, Nicola." Lili is on the cusp of bursting into tears.

"You’re not going to? To…to live?" He asks tentatively.

Lili nods her head.

Nicola is speechless, tears brushing the corner of his eyes. "You'll prove them wrong. I know you can!"

"Yes." Lili suddenly coughs and blanches, the small freckles on the bridge of her nose standing out in stark comparison.

"Lili?" Nicola asks, panicking inside. "What's wrong?"

"I-I don't feel good…"

"Do you want me to get someone?"

"No. I'll be…" She coughs. "F-fine. Believe me."

The blond man stands up. "I'll believe you when you get out of here. I'm going to go get someone."

"If it's time, it's time, Nicola. God waits for no one.” The blonde pointed out, as she was used to hear such things on the services held for the departed during the time she lived at church. “I've…I've thought about it all my life, especially with the way my parents were taken away from me, how we have lived our lives, so… S-so there's no way changing it! You can't have life without d-death, just like you can't have day without… N-night."

The colour in her lips suddenly leaves just as quickly as the colour in her face did. Death is just steps away.

If this was going to happen, if this was really near, reality seeping in, then Nicola decides he is going to tell her exactly how he feels.

"A day without sunshine is like, you know, night." Nicola says quickly and perfectly before losing it. "And… A-and you're the… The… S-sunshine to my… Day… To my life. Please, please, Liliana Adornato, don't leave me. I love you."

"I-I… Love you… Too." She smiles, the colour in her lips still fading fast, with a sad look in her eyes.

Her hand reaches out slowly to him and she takes his hand in hers, raising it to her shaking lips. She presses her lips to the back of his pale hand and she smiles again.

"I…I heard that… That your dreams came true… Did they r-really?" She asks, weakly.

"Yes, of course, love. They…"

Nicola stops and looks at her, realizes it is too late. He searches her face with his eyes and finds no life there.

"No, no, no, no, no! This… It… Can't… Come back! Come back!"

His throat is tightening and it's making it harder to breathe. He gulps for air, tears pooling in his eyes and spilling over, squeezing the hand holding his and he screams.

Outside in the hallway, Dante hears it. His heart pounds in his chest and he almost panics. To anyone else, it could sound like his cousin is being murdered, but Dante knows what it is.

It is the sound of a heart shattering into a million pieces.

He races into the room, and stops halfway when he realizes completely what has happened. His eyes look between his cousin's sobbing face to his was-to-be fiancée's, her pale face still with the etch of a smile on it. Dante thinks she looks just as pretty in death as in life.

"Nicola, I…"

"Just go away, will you?"

"Let me…"

"I said go away!" Anger is taking him over, before it was sorrow, grief, worry. His cousin's different emotions are now like an invisible animal farm, multiple feelings penned up in a corral deep in his mind.

"No." Dante takes a deep breath and blurts, "You were right. I spent too much time on work, and I screwed up every relationship I ever had. I'm sorry."

Dante knows this is the most inappropriate time he could ever say this, but now he cannot take it back.

He breathed out, trying to recompose himself into an indoor voice. "And sorry about your loss. Our loss. The family's loss."

There is a silence between them, with only Nicola's sobs echoing in the air and then there are rushed footsteps. The nurses arrive to take away the body, as Giulia, Leo and some other members of the Family come into the room, having rushed from Burlone, too. The matron wails stridently, and the medical professionals try to contain her.

As the nurses are preoccupied with their other duties, Nicola is still in his kneeled position, and Dante knows he will not let them take him away under no pretence whatsoever.

He walks over cautiously and says in a quiet, soothing voice. "Hey… It's time to go."

His cousin does not say anything, as Dante lays a hand on his shoulder gently, bending down slightly and gripping his arm, pulling him up from the ground. Nicola lets Dante guide him up, clinging onto his cousin's shirt, as Dante is half supporting Nicola's grief-stricken body.

"I-I… I told you… I was right." Nicola says quietly.

"Shh…" Dante replies, drawing his family member closer to him. "Not here. We'll talk about this later, okay?"

Nicola falls silent again, snuffling a few times, sobbing freshly. "My… S-sunshine's gone…"

Dante feels tears well up in his own eyes, as he and his twin step into the hallway filled with sobbing Family members. She is gone for all of us, he thinks. It is like the sun is covered with clouds and cannot break from the darkness. It leaves everyone down and heartbroken.

He is smart, and he knows his place. He knows what he has to do, and he will perform it famously. No one will ever know that it shatters his own heart to millions of pieces.

No one will know that his sunshine is gone, too.

*_*_*_*_*

Piofiore Masterlist

[consumedkings-archive]

ancient names, pt. v

A John Seed/Original Female Character Fanfic

Ancient Names, pt v: acta non verba

Masterlink Post

Word Count: 4.8k

Rating: M for now, rating will change in later chapters as things develop.

Warnings: Language, some “light” religious blasphemy (it’s Far Cry 5), the Seeds being themselves. This is an enemies to lovers (enemies to enemies and lovers?), strong canon deviance from here on out. Mentions of blood/carnage, the frantic energy of people who both hate and are attracted to each other. It goes on!

Notes: So the gang is finally getting somewhere in this chapter! Sometimes, a family is two murderers and their dog, that also wants to kill one of them, and that's okay.I was pretty nervous about writing this chapter, because I feel like I slog so hard through combat sequences just to have them feel like they drag, so I hope it reads okay!! Big thank you to @starcrier, who consistently lets me babble to her about these two dumbasses and also beta-reads all of my garbage all the time (and says she likes doing it???? Okay???). She is a pure angel and incredible writer and deserves all of the love and attention, so please go check out her stuff!

Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who leaves feedback, and I hope you enjoy!

Joey Hudson is her best friend.

Joey Hudson is her best friend, because she teaches Elliot how to tell if a lipstick color isn’t going to work for her (anything orange-hued), and how hard to close her eyes when Joey pours hydrogen peroxide on her scraped knee from sneaking back in her through her window, and how to laugh until her stomach aches, tucked into her tiny twin bed with a movie playing on her laptop.

They do just about everything together. Joey doesn’t mind that sometimes Elliot’s mama drinks a little too much, and she doesn’t mind that Elliot doesn’t talk about where her daddy’s gone (or if she even knows where he is; they both come to understand, very quickly, that it doesn’t matter). Joey doesn’t mind these things, and instead she makes them her own, solidifying Elliot as her very own honorary sister.

It’s nice. It’s nice, because Joey’s mama doesn’t drink too much, and cooks often, and doesn’t mind how frequently Elliot stays the night.

Joey Hudson is her best friend, and when Elliot is a little drunk in a bar and thinks about letting someone like John Duncan take her home and have his way with her, Joey swoops in and takes her out of the line of fire just in time.

“What is wrong with you?” Joey is laughing, erasing any thought that she might be serious, as they stand outside the bar in the gravel parking lot. Elliot’s face is hot from the alcohol and Joey smushes her cheeks together. “Letting a rich boy like John Duncan try and whisk you away? Who are you and what have you done with my Elli?”

“It’s still me!” Elliot protests. She’s laughing, too, and then she groans, resting her forehead on Joey’s shoulder. “Joey, he’s so attractive. How can someone be so attractive? I’ve never had a type, but—”

“Attractive, and no good.” Joey pats her head affectionately. “A man like that is no good.” She pulls back and smoothes the hair out of Elliot’s face. “C’mon then, darlin’. Let’s go home and watch one of those horrible Hallmark movies to get your mind off of our awfully attractive, awfully no-good friend in there.”

Elliot pouts. She is two drinks in and already in no shape to drive. “I can pick?”

Joey nods, quite sagely. “Yes. If you say to me that John Duncan is no good.”

“Fine.” Elliot sighs. “John Duncan is no good.”

They start walking towards Joey’s car, gravel crunching underfoot, and Elliot rests her head against the brunette’s shoulder. Joey says, “And now is the part where you say, thank you, Joey, for always looking out for me and—”

Elliot stops in front of the car, exhaling. “Thank you, Jo,” she says. “Really. You’re my favorite person.” 

Joey squeezes her shoulders. “And you’re mine, El,” she promises, her eyes full and warm  as she grins. “Even if I don't know what you'd do without me.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

John Duncan is no good, Elliot thought.

He was no good, certainly; especially now, especially as John Seed, but—

“Hey, dog,” John said to Boomer, sitting as far away as he can, the cuffs pulled taut between them. He couldn’t have sounded less enchanted if he wanted to; Elliot could tell his exact feelings about the Heeler having found them. And, of course, she knew Boomer’s feelings about John , in particular.

John shifted where he sat, and Boomer growled. The brunette shot her a murderous look.

“How do you propose we rescue your Deputy Hudson if your beast won’t let me move?” he asked her tartly. Elliot rubbed the top of Boomer’s head thoughtfully; immediately, the growling stopped, and he relaxed again, though she knew her boy was just waiting for the signal to rip John’s throat out.

She felt lighter than she had in days. Safer. Happier. Warmer.

“Weren’t you listening?” Elliot’s voice was only dry for the comedy of her words. “He’d only bite you if I told him to. He’s not a wild animal.”

“Oh, yes, because my lack of faith in your good feelings about me is completely misplaced,” John replied. His voice was terse. He came to a stand, keeping a wary eye on Boomer, and brushed his jeans off before stretching his arms out in front of him. 

In a situation where he had been stripped of all of his power, of all of the people chanting yes to whatever it was he was doing, John felt—looked—sounded —

Normal.

She didn’t want to think about that. Any time John did something that felt human, it erased the very recent actions he’d taken as a crazy cult leader. Kidnapping her. Considering drowning her (though as time went on, she thought he wouldn’t have followed through; it wasn’t his style).

My parents are the one who taught me the Power of Yes, his voice had crackled through the radio at her, once, in what felt like a different life—a life that felt coppery and slick with blood, but where she’d felt at home in the violence, where she’d been comfortable. Now I’m going to give that power to you.

Elliot whistled, and Boomer took off into the brush, the movement causing John to hesitate just for a moment before he relaxed. She fought back a smile and said, “Let’s see if our friends are still around, shall we?”

“Yes,” John acquiesced after a moment, not that he had much of a choice; she was already picking her way through the underbrush, tugging him along with her. There were just a few moments of blissful silence before he said, “You know, deputy, this wasn’t the way I had originally pictured having you in handcuffs,” and Elliot thought, oh, yes, there’s the John I know. She yanked a little on the cuffs linking them together, nearly causing John to trip over himself.

“Funny,” Elliot replied sweetly, “I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

“You are such a child.” John’s voice was low, and threatening. She flashed her most charming smile at him.

“You’re much funnier when you’re not acting like a psycho. I think I’m even beginning to enjoy my time with you.”

She climbed up the ravine’s slope, leaning into the tilt of it, feeling a bit fresher than before but still bogged down by the urge to cough. Her throat itched and her eyes watered, by the time she got to the top and crouched in the treeline, John lingering close behind.

There was only one gray van parked there, now. Elliot could see maybe one man guarding the entrance, but who knew how many people were inside? Even when they’d had their first run-in down on the highway, she’d thought she’d had a solid head count until they came crawling out of the woodwork, like termites.

Which only made her more paranoid about creeping around in the woods, too.

“I don’t think we’re going to have any better odds than this,” Elliot murmured. “If we wait any longer they might have more people here. There’s a radio in there, right? We can get in touch with…”

Her voice trailed off. It was an argument she didn’t want to have right then, with John —who they were going to talk to first, whether they’d be radioing the resistance or if they’d be reaching out to Joseph to let him know what was going on, if he didn’t know already; surely, someone like Joseph Seed would be practically omnipotent to what was going on his domain, though Elliot would never presume to know what the fuck was going on in his head.

“Joseph,” John said, infuriatingly erasing Elliot’s hope to let sleeping dogs lie, even for a moment.

“We can argue about the logistics of contacting sane people with resources versus your psycho brother once we have access to the radio,” Elliot snipped. She crept forward in the brush; Boomer was crouched a few feet to her left, waiting patiently for her signal, but every muscle in the heeler’s body was tensed and ready.

Elliot held out her hand for him, a silent, noiseless signal, stay , and he laid down on the ground obediently, obscured by the sunlight dappling through his bush of hiding choice. There was no way she was letting someone put a round of bullets in him.

“Keep your arm relaxed,” Elliot muttered, beginning to ease out into the field.

“This one?” John whispered back, rolling the shoulder of the arm farthest from her.

“No, dumbass, the one I’m—”

“I know, deputy, I was trying to lighten the mood.”

“Consider retiring from your comedy career . ”

It was nice, at least; dare she even say refreshing , to find John annoying after having spooned willingly with him all night.

Every instinct in Elliot’s body—the ones she had before, and the ones that she came to develop with the insurgence of Eden’s Gate both—was screaming. This big, open field, its grass only barely tall enough to obscure them from the sight of the guard, felt exactly like the field that Bambi had to cross, worried about being caught in the crosshairs of a hunter on the prowl.

Halfway across the field, Elliot caught herself mid-stumble over a lump in the ground; as she regained her balance and glanced down and identified the source of the fresh, wet earth now sticking to her knees and hands, she felt her stomach churn violently.

It was a row of shallow graves, freshly-dug. The bodies that were buried were completely obscured except for their faces. Like Waylon’s, their eyes had been scooped out and replaced with short-stem blooms—vibrant, clean, new. Done recently, just like the graves, which means they were probably killed recently, too. They were clearly Eden’s Gate. Their scruffy hair and tanned complexions, even in death, gave that away; but each grave was lined with a fresh butterfly weed, vibrant and gorgeous orange against the dark earth.

“Sick,” Elliot managed out, her voice wobbling, feeling the nausea welling up inside of her. John’s face was tight and hard, and there was something about it—like maybe he didn’t care if they died for him , but he didn’t like that someone else had brought this death to them, that it didn’t serve the purpose of Eden’s Gate at all to have it happen like this.

Stuffing down the urge to puke, Elliot pressed on with John close at her back. They crept their way up the hill to the side of the ranch house, though it was more like a mansion than anything else now that she could see it up close without being too busy looking everywhere else. In the distance, not too far away, she heard the sound of the guard in front of the door saying something to himself, or maybe into a radio, walking absently into view with his back still to them.

He wore the same dark boots that Elliot recognized from the men who had been hunting them down in the woods, but he otherwise looked to be in civilian clothes. Well—except for the machine gun slung around his neck. The sight of that made Elliot’s fingers itch.

She held up a finger to her mouth to John, creeping forward. The cultist ahead of them hummed something under his breath and tapped his fingers against the barrel of the gun to his imaginary beat.

Her heart thrummed in her chest, but for all of the sickness in her body and the poor sleep and the ragged feeling of being trapped in close quarters with John Seed for what had to be over twenty-four hours by now, in this little heartbeat of a moment she felt clear.

Elliot stood and threw her hand forward, up and over to one side of the man’s head. She felt the drag of John’s weight against her own, like he hadn’t been keeping his arm slack like she’d told him to, and by the time she got the loop of the handcuff chain over his face he saw her out of the corner of his eye and started to turn, his expression warping into something more vicious than relaxed.

She yanked her arm hard to the right, criss-crossing over John’s own, which hovered with uncertainty in the air, until the chain pulled tight across the cultist’s throat; immediately his eyes went wide, and instead of scrabbling for his gun he reached to try and give himself any breath of air.

Noise started to eek out of his mouth, his tongue moving like he wanted to say something as his hands fought desperately to get between the metal chain and his neck. He was going to scream, if he got the chance, or call for help or sound some alarm that she didn’t need to have happen, and Elliot thought, not on my fucking watch just before she stomped her foot into the back of his knee, watching as he crumpled until his kneecaps hit the dirt; almost like an instinct, John’s foot came up to the back of his head and slammed his face into the side of the ranch building.

The body went slack, and then slumped against the ground, blood smearing the side of the building wall. She didn’t think he was dead, but he was quiet—for now—and that was what was important. It wasn’t like they were going to stay very long.

“I told you to keep your fucking arm relaxed,” Elliot hissed, as she and John untangled themselves from the man’s neck. His nose was almost certainly broken, which was a nice little treat of a detail. Something for her to be happy about in these trying times. 

“Maybe you could be a bit more clear about your plans next time,” John snapped back, still keeping his voice low and quiet. It didn’t seem like there were any other guards outside, but that was something that Elliot wasn’t going to trust. “I guess we’re just lucky that I’ve got good instincts when it comes to—”

Elliot slapped a hand over his mouth. “Shut the fuck up , John. Do you not understand the concept of sneaking? ”

John made a low, muffled noise of protest, pushing her hand off of his face before they moved past the guard to the front door. It was unlocked, when John pushed the handle down and eased it open; they didn’t see anyone immediately, but she could hear low chatter coming from a different room.

She glanced back at John and then gestured him forward. He made a face at her, rolling his eyes with enough exaggeration that she almost scoffed—as though he were saying, oh, sure, now that there’s more than one guy, I’ll go first. Elliot feigned innocence at what he could possibly be scowling at her for, but in reality, it made the most sense—he knew where the radio was, and he knew the layout of the ranch better than she did.

John straightened up, moving down the first hallway until they got came around the staircase; a shovel was leaned up the wall, still wet with dirt, and the brunette ahead of her steadied it on the wall so that they couldn’t risk knocking it over and alerting their houseguests. Their armed, presumably crazy, houseguests.

The two men inside the living room said something to each other, one of them pacing to the back of the living room for the window, and this time John made eye contact with her before she nodded, silently; choke one out, get the last one out of the way. 

As soon as he stepped forward, the floorboard creaked violently under the shift of his weight, and both heads snapped to look at them.

Their eyes on the two of them—first on John and then on her, narrowing and pin-pointing her like a predator—made Elliot’s adrenaline kick into high gear. There was one brief moment, a heart-beat long, where nobody moved, before Elliot saw the closest cultist to them begin to ease his hand down to the radio on his hip.

No time, she thought, reaching blindly until her hands found the wooden handle of the shovel. No time, no time.

Elliot snapped out, “Down!” to John just in time for him to obey the command— so he did learn the first time after all —and she swung the head of the shovel like a baseball bat before it connected directly with the cultist’s face, slamming into him with the full force of all that adrenaline pumping through her body.

As soon as she felt the satisfying connection, she heard the sound of more rustling and suddenly remembered the second cultist, in the back of the living room. He had a furious look on his face, his gun already in his hand, and he lifted it to train it right at her.

It was not the first time she’d had a gun pointed at her face, and it would certainly not be the last; but still, there was something that settled deep in her stomach, something she recognized as fear , bitter and cold, the second the cultist smiled at her and said in his thickly-accented, “Put your shovel down, pretty bird. If you do, I will be nice to you and your boyfriend.”

He took a step forward, gun still leveled at her, and then at John, and then back at her. Her fingers tightened their grip on the handle of the shovel, hesitant, panicked—why wasn’t he shooting? Why wasn’t he killing them right now? Why was he looking at them (and it was them , not just her ) like that?

Elliot didn’t have much time to think about it. As soon as the cultist took another step, John leveraged his free hand behind the nearby curio cabinet and shoved it, shouting, “ Now , Elliot—” and rocked it with such immediate force that the whole thing groaned with the ache of gravity. The cultist darted forward as the cabinet began to crash down, attempting to crush him, snarling something in foreign at them viciously just as Elliot swung the shovel straight into his face.

She felt, this time, the impact of his bones against the metal, vibrating deep into her hands and all the way up her arms as the shovel. Blood from the slap of the shovel against his mouth sprayed the wall, a tooth or two scattering across the floor, and his body collapsed back atop the now-deposed cabinet, gun clattering to the floor.

For a second, they were both quiet, listening and waiting to hear the sound of furious feet stomping up the stairs, angry voices coming to assist their fallen comrades; but there was nothing. The house was empty. The sound of soft classical music playing from the radio filtered through the haze of her brain, a sound she hadn’t recognized because of the roaring in her ears when she’d seen their hunters in person.

“Let’s move, deputy,” John said, reaching and grabbing the gun off of the floor. “We’ll see what all they left us.” She nodded, feeling a little winded, and dropped the shovel on the ground with a collection of noise; the knowledge that it had been used to bury those men and women made her skin crawl, and she was sure the disgust showed on her face. John eyed her for a moment and said, “You don’t feel like keeping that?”

Elliot shot him a look. “We can pick it up on our way out if we really want it.”

They picked their way up the stairs to the room that had been John’s—or, rather, that Elliot presumed was his, because he moved toward it with such purpose she thought it could only be that. But it felt barely lived-in, the bed still pristinely made and no sign of someone actually existing in it anywhere, save for a small table with a chair pushed up against with an empty walkie-talkie holder sitting in it.

“Gone,” John said, his jaw working absently in what Elliot knew now to be a tick he had. “Well—”

“It’s better,” Elliot said, “that we don’t have radios. They have the radios. I saw one on that guy’s belt, which means they’re probably in the same channel we’d use anyway.” She frowned. “They don’t need to hear where we’re going.”

“We heard where you were going,” John pointed out, reminding Elliot of the many times that he had interfered with her own radio to threaten her. 

“I didn’t care,” Elliot replied, “because I had an idea of what you’re capable of. I don’t have that with these…”

John nodded. “Yeah.”

A heartbeat of a moment stretched between them, long enough for the unsaid words to go: I don’t know what they’ll do with Faith, I don’t know what they’ll do to Joey. Too much to risk.

“Well,” she murmured, coughing into her elbow and taking a laborious breath, “we can lift the van out of here and hopefully go unnoticed, and get to Fall’s End—”

“Where everyone wants me dead,” John deadpanned. “If someone is going to be capable of rescuing Faith, it’s going to be Joseph, and Jacob.”

“If someone is going to be capable of rescuing Joey, ” Elliot snapped back, “it’s going to be the resistance. I don’t want to argue about this, John—”

“So don’t.” John’s voice was hard and smooth, the way he spoke when he was trying to get some stupid confession out of her. “Agree to go to Joseph first.” And then, in that infuriating preaching voice he used and that wicked glimmer in his eyes, he added, “Just say yes.”

She let out a long, sharp breath, exhaling it until her lungs ached with the effort of it, her head pounding. There was almost no likelihood of them being able to get out of these cuffs until they got to Fall’s End or to Joseph, and so that meant they were stuck together one way or another.

“If we go to Fall’s End,” John ventured, closing some distance between them, “we’re going to put a big, fat target on the Resistance.”

Elliot tilted her chin defiantly, having to in order to make straight eye contact with him now. “And you’re willing to do that to your brothers?”

John shrugged. “There’s always been a target on them, deputy. This will be no different.”

Somehow, Elliot didn’t believe that was true; but if John wanted to put his family in danger again, then so be it.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Close your eyes, Jonathan.”

John grimaced. “That isn’t my name, deputy.”

“The sentiment remains the same,” Elliot insisted, and he heaved a sigh before he closed his eyes. He heard fabric rustling, the sound of Elliot kicking off the boots she’d been wearing and then sliding out of the sweats she’d been in for the entirety of their tied-together time. She’d already raided the bathroom to pack a backpack with water and Tylenol, in addition to a few loose granola bars from the kitchen; now, it was just getting out of those sweats, which he could only assume she was probably relieved about.

He’d gone ahead and changed out of his clothes and into cleaner ones; as well as he could, anyway, being hand-cuffed as they were. He hadn’t needed to tell Elliot not to look; she’d been more than happy to oblige without being told.

“I am facing away from you,” John reiterated, his eyes dutifully closed even when there was a part of him that wanted to make her squirm. “I don’t see the point in closing my eyes .”

“It’s not about you , you egomaniac,” Elliot sighed. “It’s about my comfort. Eyes shut.”

“Scout’s honor.”

She scoffed. With his eyes closed, his back turned to her, he could hear the sound of her shimmying into what he could only presume where her jeans, stuffing her feet back into her jeans, and then—the small, quiet clicking of her gathering the pills off of the count and taking a large swallow of water.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ve drugged you?” John asked dryly, turning to look at her now. She watched him with a flat expression.

“Then you’d have to haul my body around,” Elliot replied. “I didn’t say you could look.”

John’s gaze lingered on her, just for a moment; maybe a little longer than he would have liked her to know, but it was easier to steal looks at her when she was focused elsewhere. “You’re perfectly suitable for society, Deputy Honeysett.”

“That’s Junior Deputy to you, asshole.” She swallowed back the last of the water and shook her head, grimacing. “I hate pills.”

“What are you, nine?”

“Fuck off.” She was still in the over-sized undershirt of his, tied like a little summer blouse at her belly-button, exposing skin there that looked—now that he was staring—to be the home of a few gossamer scars. The question of where they came from itched on his tongue, and he only barely kept it to himself.

“So,” she said.

“So,” John parroted, eyes flickering up from her exposed abdomen to her face. He knew what she was going to say; that she agreed with him, that they were going to go find Joseph first and then get Faith and Joey back, because Elliot may have been a capable killer but if she didn’t need to put the people of Hope County in danger, she wasn’t going to. 

“Fall’s End needs to know what’s going on,” Elliot began. “But I don’t want them to see us driving there—”

John nodded somberly. “Uh-huh.”

She glared at him. “—so we can put your stupid fucking brother in the crosshairs,” she continued, biting the words out, “but the second we get there I use a radio and get ahold of Jerome. Also, I drive.”

John’s lip curled involuntarily at the mention of Pastor Jeffries. One of his least favorite Resistance members, if he was going to be asked to rank them. Pious, holier-than-thou, and oh-so-patronizing when it came to their beliefs.

“Fine,” John said. “But only if you promise not to go off-roading.”

“No promises,” Elliot snipped. He flashed her a smile, which apparently did not win her over, because she followed it up with, “And if this deal gets broken in any single way, whether it’s on the way there or when we get there, I’ll fucking kill you.”

She headed for the door while he barked out a laugh, looking more put-together now, jogging up the steps and pulling him along with her. They made one stop in the living room—to grab the other gun, and then the van key, which she managed to find in one of the pockets. They left both radios; they felt like traps, beacons for someone to find them. His eyes were trained on her, watching each assured movement as she pulled useful things off of the dead body; a clip of ammo, a throwing knife.

“You’re telling me that you’re going to lug my dead body around if you don’t get to call your little friends?” John asked. 

A wolfish grin had made its home on his face, and as she straightened up into a standing position again, Elliot shot him a look. There was something in her expression that was almost playful, but the words that came out of her mouth were, “Oh, John, I’d find a way to cut your arm off before I let you slow me down.”

It shouldn’t have been as endearing as it was, a part of John reasoned; it certainly made his jaw set in defiance, but his heart stuttered a little at the words, and that’s what he hated about it, that he thought, we’re not so unlike each other, Rook.

He didn’t trust himself to speak just yet, so he walked outside with Elliot and said, “You don’t want that gun?” and pointed at the (now surely dead) guard they had assaulted earlier. She shook her head.

“Too heavy,” she replied briskly. “And I don’t trust you with it.” She brought her fingers to her lips and whistled sharply, once; John watched the treeline, but he didn’t see Boomer until the dog was sprinting up the hill, not once having spotted his form in the field. No wonder that dog’s caused so many problems, he thought dryly.

Elliot ruffled Boomer’s ears, saying something sweet to him that he didn’t quite catch because he was too busy watching the beast warily. Boomer seemed only interested in doing the same thing to him; occasionally, his tail would wag when Elliot patted him, but it would immediately drop for him to cock his head inquisitively at John.

He scoffed under his breath.  The dog was cute, in its own master-killer way. He guessed.

Elliot opened the back of the van first, shooing Boomer in and closing the doors before making her way to the passenger door and unlocking it. She slid into the driver’s seat from there, John obediently following suit, and quickly clipping his seat belt into place.

“I’m getting flashbacks from the last time I was in a car with you driving,” he said dryly when she shot him a curious look. 

“Poor baby.” Elliot dropped his sunglasses from the top of her head down onto her nose, sticking the key in the ignition and turning it. The van purred to life. It was a nicer one than the ones Eden’s Gate used, and she reached past him to rifle around in the glove box before she found what she was looking for: a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

“Really, deputy?” John asked dryly, as she lit the cigarette in the van and rolled the window down. He saw, behind the blue tint of his sunglasses, her eyes roll dramatically. “I didn’t know you smoked.” And then, with a little incredulous laugh, “You’re sick.”

“You’re fucking right I’m sick, and stressed out. I’ve got Tylenol in the bag and I’m a big girl.” She eyed him through the sunglasses, and quipped, “What’re you going to do, tattle on me to God?” before she was laughing at her own joke and cranking the wheel of the van so she could throw it in reverse. “I’m going to need this whole pack if I’m going to survive a mini road trip with the likes of you, John Seed.”

“You shouldn’t mock the faith, deputy.”

“You shouldn’t mock the faith,” Elliot repeated, shifting into drive. “You sound stupid when you say that shit. I know you don’t believe it.”

He chose not to entertain her ridiculous accusation, glancing out the window. “If you think this is stressful,” John rumbled, settling back against his seat as she wound the van down the drive of the ranch, “consider that your road trip is taking you to your in-laws. I’m your boyfriend, remember?”

“Fuck off.” She took a drag of the cigarette, tapping it out of the window. “I’ll throw this van over a cliff if you call yourself my boyfriend again.”

Her venom really was a comfort, he thought; if he didn’t know better, he would have thought he liked it.

He did. The dramatics of her vitriol pushed a grin on to his face.

“Oh, I certainly was right about you, deputy,” he drawled, rolling his window down as they hit the highway. “Your sin is wrath.”

[iconicstyles]

Moving In

A little background. I based this story in the Chicago PD universe so I used some of their characters, I don’t own them. This first part is short but please let me know ❤️

All Melissa ever wanted was to move to a big city, get her dream job, fall in love and live happily ever after. Well two years after med school she was halfway there. She moved to Chicago on a whim, one of her good friends from college was from the windy city and after listening to her stories Melissa was intrigued. It didn’t take long for her to find a job, even if she worked well over her normal hours. When she first moved to the city she desperately needed an apartment, she didn’t have time to really search and ended up moving in with someone she knew from Facebook much to her mother’s dismay. Since she worked so much the arrangement was amazing. Melissa thought about moving out and getting an apartment of her own but she quite liked having a roommate, she hated coming home to an empty home and her roommate was kind enough to always have leftovers in the evening and a fresh cup of coffee in the morning for her. It all was going great until she found a post-it note hanging on the fridge one morning. ‘The rent is going up and I want to move in with my boyfriend. We have one month. Sorry.’ One hot pink note changed Melissa’s life.

Thankfully everything seemed to be in her favor with one fateful encounter during her shift. Harry Styles was a detective with the Chicago police department. During her time at Chicago Med she came in contact with Harry quite a lot. Whether he was interviewing a suspect or bringing someone in for treatment she always seemed to run into him and his partner, Max. They were the direct opposite, Harry was incredibly charming while Max seemed shy and reserved. For as long as Melissa has known him she was sure she only heard him speak maybe once or twice. All Melissa knew he was in a relationship with a girl that Harry didn’t like. “She calls every time we’re on our way to something. And she always stresses him out even more than he already is. With this job we can’t afford to get distracted.”

After Melissa found out she was basically gonna be homeless she had tuned out during her shift. As terrible as it sounded but she couldn’t focus on anything except the fact she needed to find another place to live. During her break she tried to look up apartments but was called in to help with a little boy with an intense nosebleed. After that her day just continued to grow busier until she noticed Harry and Max walk in. “Let me guess you need to speak to a patient that was just brought in with the gunshot wound?” Melissa asked.

“Actually it was a stab wound.” Harry countered, tilting his head to tease her.

“My apologies, he’s in exam room four but I already know he’s not gonna talk.” Melissa almost had to strap the young man up just to look at his wound.

“Let me at him first.” Max said, stepping away from them to head towards the suspect.

Once he was gone Harry mumbled. “He’s been in a mood all day.”

“What’s going on?” She asked, going over patient charts so she appeared to be busy.

“He and his girlfriend broke up, he’s better off if you ask me but I can tell he’s a bit upset over it. They lived together too is the worst part.”

“So what’s he gonna do?”

“It turns out I just moved into a house and needed a roommate, well I need multiple roommates to be able to afford the house if I’m being honest.”

A light bulb appeared over Melissa’s head. “Have you found anyone else?”

“Not really, no, not anyone I trust to open my home to.”

Taking a quick look around to make sure no one was eavesdropping Melissa said. “Ok, I wouldn’t admit this but I’m a bit desperate at the moment. My roommate just let me know the rent is going up in our building and I’m gonna be out on the street if I don’t find a place to live.”

She noticed Harry’s eyebrows furrow a bit but he was smiling nonetheless. “You think you want to live with me?”

“Well you’re a cop, there are worse options for roommates.”

“It’s gonna be me and Max, you know that right? You know anyone else that needs an apartment?”

“I’ll ask around but I’m being serious. I really need a place to stay.”

Her heart began pounding against her chest when he placed his hand on her shoulder. “No, no, I get it. I wouldn’t mind having you as a roommate.” He started. “I just worry we all might not get along.”

“At this point it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Chicago winters are cold and I don’t want to live in my car.”

“Tell you what, how about you come by whenever you’re free and see the house for yourself and make sure it’s for you.”

Melissa nodded, picking up her pen from her scrubs pocket and writing down her phone number on a post it note. “Just text me the address.”

“I will.” He agreed.

Before they could say anything else Max rejoined them. “He’s not talking but turns out he’s got warrants so he won’t be going anywhere. When he heals and is released he’ll be coming straight to the precinct.”

“Great in that case we’re out of here.” Harry nodded. “I’ll see you later Melissa.”

“Bye, Harry.” She smiled.

Even before she saw the house Melissa knew she wanted to move in. Harry giving her a tour was just a formality. The house was normal for Chicago, a brownstone with several stairs leading up to a small porch. The front door was a nice blue color which Melissa enjoyed picturing Harry picking out. He was the type to grab several shades of the same color before finally deciding on one. When she hurried up the stairs, eager to get away from the winter chill she was surprised to see the door open before she even had a chance to ring the bell. “‘Ello.” Harry grinned.

She had seen him in jeans and a T-shirt, it was his standard outfit when he was working but this was the first time she ever saw him in anything this casual. He wore black baggy sweatpants and a grey long sleeve hoodie that just appeared so soft. “Hi, I hope you have the heat on.” She shivered.

Stepping aside Harry allowed her to walk in. The first thing she saw was the white walls, completely bare. A coat rack was beside the front door with this normal leather jacket hanging up along with his badge on a long chain. “It’s so I don’t forget it when I’m walking out the door.” He explained when he noticed her look over his Chicago PD badge.

“Smart.” She nodded. “Surprised your gun is there too.”

“That stays in the bedroom in a safe location where no one can find it.” He promised as if this was an interview.

Melissa nodded once, as she continued her walk through the house. The kitchen was clean with only two bowls, plates, cups. Harry seemed to notice her peeking through the cabinets. “Sorry, uh, I sort of eat out a lot.”

“Oh, I get it, my kitchen would look the same if my roommate didn’t have a Target gift-card to stock our entire kitchen.”

She heard Harry laugh but then went to the stairs to lead her up to the bedrooms. “So there’s two down here, I took one but the other is open. I’m letting you and Max choose your rooms and then whoever the last roommate is can have whatever’s left.”

“Sounds like a good system.”

After taking a look around the entire house, looking at each bedroom and the closet space she decided to take the bedroom downstairs closest to the kitchen. In her mind she decided it would be easier if she ever got called into work to just grab her coffee or whatever she had time to fix and head out. “So you like the house?”

“I do.” Melissa smiled. “When would be a good time for me to move in?”

“Whenever you want.”

“I’m off this weekend will that be ok?”

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to get extra keys made. Do you have any idea of anyone else who needs a new place?”

Melissa was about to say no when she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. Pulling it out she noticed one of her good friends calling. “Hang on a sec.” She told him before answering. “Abby?”

“So guess what? I’m moving to Chicago.”

The timing was just too perfect. Melissa had known Abby since they were in high school. She was two years older and moved away right after graduation. They always kept in touch but when their schedules got busier they weren’t surprised when they didn’t talk as much. From what Melissa saw Abby graduated culinary school and began working at a bakery in South Carolina. “What? Since when?” Melissa asked.

“It’s a long story, I’m coming into town this weekend to visit some apartment buildings. I was wondering if you knew any affordable places.”

Melissa glanced towards Harry. “Actually I was about to move into a new house with a friend and turns out we need another roommate.”

They hung up but quickly called back to FaceTime so Abby could see the house. She instantly fell in love with it. Instead of coming to Chicago to check out other options Abby decided she would move in at the same time as Melissa. According to Harry Max still didn’t have a timetable as to when he would be moving in. He was still going through the motions with his girlfriend. Whenever he would try to move on and pack up his stuff she would suddenly change her mind and say they could work it out. When he would feel comfortable enough she would start the same arguments all over again. Max didn’t know what to do. Harry, however, had enough. “Just leave her already!” Harry exclaimed. “She’s fuckng with your head at this point.”

Melissa arrived early Saturday morning with a rented Uhaul full of her stuff. With Harry’s help, along with his friend and fellow cop Liam, they were able to get all of her furniture in her room by mid-afternoon. Later on that day Abby arrived with her car full to the brim with everything she could fit from her South Carolina apartment. She could barely see out of her rear view mirror but she just wanted to leave and start fresh. She could find furniture when she arrived.

Before she moved Melissa had told Abby about their upcoming situation. “So his name is Harry and his partner Max.”

“Partner? They’re gay?”

“No! They work for the same police department. They’re detectives.”

“Oh ok, that’s fine. How do you know them?”

“They come to the hospital a lot. I’ve known him for almost a year now.”

“And he just asked you to move in with him?”

She heard Melissa chuckle. “In all honesty I sort of jumped at the chance to move in with him. I was desperate and he said he had three extra bedrooms.”

“I mean, as long as you trust him.”

“They’re cops, I think we could do a lot worse.”

When Abby met Harry she knew why Melissa was so adamant about moving in with him. He was one of the most attractive men she had ever seen. His brown hair was cut short, pushed off of his forehead in a quiff. His piercing green eyes met hers with his mouth breaking out in a genuine smile. He opened his arms to hug her, to welcome her to her new home. “Nice to meet you!” He greeted.

“Nice to meet you too.” Abby wished he was the cop she met during her road trip to Illinois.

Later on that night Harry volunteered to go get pizza while the girls began unpacking. Melissa had gone through a few boxes before she grew sick of it. As she ran upstairs she found Abby just sorting what she should hang up or just keep where it's at. She needed a dresser, a lot of unpacking would have to wait. At the moment she didn’t even have a bed, she would have to sleep on the couch until she found something. She had been good about saving her money, she had enough for a new bed and some furniture, it was just going out and finding something she liked. “Hey, you busy?” Melissa asked, dropping down to the floor beside Abby.

“Just sorting, you done unpacking already?”

“God no, I just hate it so I’m putting it off for as long as possible.” Melissa sighed. “I have a question and it’s alright if you don’t want to answer it.”

“What’s up?”

“This move seemed like a real...rash decision...like you had to get out of South Carolina as fast as possible.” Melissa gestured to the clothes littering around the room. “I mean...you don’t even have a dresser.”

Abby released a breathy laugh but Melissa could tell there was no humor in it. “I knew I couldn’t avoid it but maybe I’ll feel better if I tell someone.”

Melissa saw a flash of pain in Abby’s eyes but didn’t push it until she began talking. “You know I worked in a bakery, right? The owner was this lady named Julie Burrow, her husband bought the bakery for her. They were well known in the town, well connected so even though she was a horrible baker the place wouldn’t get shut down. They even knew someone in the health department who wouldn’t fail her in fear of losing his job. Anyway since I was new to town I didn’t know the history of these people, I didn’t know how powerful they were.” Abby took a deep breath. “I got a job and basically saved the food. I began making everything and for the first time there were happy customers without the threat of food poisoning.”

“Yeah, I saw those cakes you decorated on Facebook.”

“It was great,” It was the first time Melissa saw joy in Abby’s eyes but it was quick and faded away with the new admission. “Well I thought everything was going good but turns out Julie grew jealous I was the one to turn business around. Soon she started rumors about me, how I would steal from her, how I flirted with her husband, anything you could imagine to make me look awful. Since she was so well known in the community, it didn’t take long for everyone to believe them. Then she announced she would be closing the bakery because she ‘couldn’t handle working with someone who was trying to tear down her business.’”

“You were run out of town.”

“Pretty much. It was probably for the best though, after a while I hated going to work. I hated being the one doing all the work while she reaped the benefits. I was lead baker and decorator and she refused to give me a raise. She was never even there.”

“At least you’re out of there now.”

“Yeah, I guess.” She sighed sadly. “I just hated everywhere I went it felt like people were watching me and judging. They thought I was a thief, a homewrecker, pretty much the devil. I decided to come here because I figured it was a big enough city where no one will know me. Plus I knew you were here, I hoped having a friend in my corner would feel better after feeling so alone for the past year.”

“Well now you got me and Harry and maybe his partner if he ever decides to leave his girlfriend.”

“Yeah, what’s up with that?”

“She’s awful, that’s what’s up with it.” Harry announced. “Sorry, I wasn’t eavesdropping. I just wanted to see if you two were allergic to anything. I was gonna go grocery shopping for the house.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. We can go shopping later.” Melissa told him but Harry waved her off.

“I’m just getting some basic stuff and I wanted to cook dinner this weekend. Like a welcome home meal, I hope you ladies like enchiladas.”

“I like any food.” Abby promised.

“I’m with her.” Melissa agreed.

“All right, I’ll be back later. Max should be here soon.”

“Is he officially moving in?” Melissa asked.

“Looks like it. He’s just bringing some clothes so he may be sleeping on the couch for a little while.”

“So don’t walk around naked, got it.” Melissa noticed the way Harry’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. “It was a joke!”

Harry chuckled. “Well I wouldn’t stop you. It’s your house now too.”

The room fell into an awkward silence while Harry took the time to fully realize what he said. “Gotcha, let me go to the store before I cause you to move out.”

Abby waited until the front door closed before saying. “God you two are so into each other.”

“We’re roommates, Abby.”

“Roommates that are gonna hook up within the first week of us living together.” Abby sang, earning a thrown shirt at her face.

An hour later Max arrived at the house with a few boxes full of clothes and pairs of shoes. Like Abby he was moving in with no furniture and no real plan. “Harry?” He called through the house.

“Hey mate, I’m here.” Harry hollered, he was half hidden by the fridge door.

Dropping the box by the front door Max joined his partner in the kitchen. “What are you doing?”

“I went grocery shopping. Probably my first proper shop since I moved in.” Harry sounded truly proud of himself.

“You already trying to impress Melissa?”

“Melissa and Abby.”

At the mention of a new girl Max appeared confused. “There’s another girl?”

“Yeah she just moved in today. She and Melissa were friends in college and she needed to start fresh.”

“You’re a cop and you just let a complete stranger move into your house?”

“You’ve been my partner for over a year and I’m letting you move in.” Harry snapped, earning a glare from Max. “I trust Melissa. If she knows the girl and trusts her that’s all I need to know.”

“If you say so.”

The sound of their phones ringing caught their attention. With a grim look they grabbed their phones and read the message. “Gotta go.” Max sighed.

“Let me tell Melissa real quick. Warm the car up.”

Max agreed and headed outside to start the car. Upstairs Harry found the girls in Melissa’s room. “Hey, we got a call. I don’t know when we’ll be back. Lock the doors, got it?”

“Yeah, is everything all right?” Melissa asked.

“Don’t know yet but don’t wait up.” Harry told her. “Lock the door.”

Melissa nodded and just watched as Harry went back downstairs grabbing his gun on the way out. Even though she knew this was his job, she’s been around him questioning suspects before but now she was living with him. She would be seeing more every day, seeing the effects of his job first hand. She just hoped this wasn’t a mistake.

Late night calls were never a good thing. For as long as they had been a part of Intelligence they could always expect the worst when they were called out after sunset. They could see blue lights as soon as they turned on the street. Max parked the car a few blocks away avoiding news vans trying their best to catch a peak of the body under the sheet. “What do we got?” Harry asked as they approached the scene.

“Small town dealer.” Liam explained. “Neighbors heard gunshots and loud squealing but no witnesses saw the shooter.”

“Or they saw him and they don’t want to talk.” Mike said.

“Any security cameras?” Max questioned.

“Only one down the street in that pawn shop. The owner has shut down for the night so we won’t be able to check them out until the morning.”

“Then let’s check his identity and find out if he has any gang affiliations.” Harry said.

It was around three in the morning when Max and Harry got back home. The house was dark from the outside. “I just remembered I don’t have a bed.” Max frowned.

“Yeah, we got some furniture here soon. In the meantime I just need some sleep.”

Melissa had the house locked up tight just like Harry told her. When they stepped into the living room a single light above the stove was on letting them see enough. Max was ready to fall onto the couch but stopped when he saw it was already occupied. “Shit, I forgot to tell you Abby didn’t have a bed either.”

The sound of the door closing stirred her awake. She appeared nervous until she recognized Harry in the dim light. “You’re back.” She mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

“Yeah, we just got home. Go back to sleep.” Harry told her, clapping Max on the shoulder. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Normally Harry would stick around to help Max feel more comfortable in the situation. Max didn’t know this girl and now she was taking where he was supposed to be sleeping. However Harry would barely keep his eyes open. He’ll apologize for the awkwardness in the morning but it could wait until he got a few hours of sleep.

Sitting up on the couch Abby stared at Max. “Uh...you going to bed?”

“You’re kind of on it.” Max coughed.

The realization hit her. “Oh...you didn’t have a bed either did you? I’m sorry, here you take it. I have enough clothes to sleep on upstairs.”

Max held up a hand to stop her. “No, you stay there. I’ll sleep in the recliner.”

Slowly Abby laid back down, watching as Max took off his leather jacket and his boots. Without a word he sat down in the black leather recliner, pulling the lever so the footrest came up. “You cold?” Abby asked, noticing him stuff his hands in his hoodie pockets.

“No, I’ll be fine.” He mumbled, closing his eyes and willing himself off to sleep.

He was almost out when he heard movement on the couch. Keeping his eyes closed he felt a soft weight being placed over him. Peaking his eyes open, he noticed a blanket she had been using on the couch. It was still warm from her body heat. He was too tired to fight her besides he could smell her perfume on the fabric comforting him as he fell asleep.

[axelsagewrites]

Alec Lightwood*Soulmate

Ship(s): Alec x reader

Request?: @schneetannchen 

Hi, I love your Imagine Story's so much. Can I get an Imagine Story with Alec Lightwood where he is the reader's soulmate, please?

Warnings?: Swearing

Type: Angst, fluff 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- = POV change

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"Soulmates are not a thing!" I almost screamed at Isabelle.

"Yes, they are!" She said, though with more laughter.

I sighed, looking at her with a blank stare, "Isabelle, listen closet, soulmates are. Not. A. thing. Okay?"

She gave me the biggest smile possible, "No," I groaned, flinging myself back to slump in my chair. "Back me up here Clary,"

Breakfasts were never calm, all of us being sleep deprived except Jace who always seemed to get enough sleep, but I was going through my cereal. Last night Izzy and I were having a winddown night and doing these things called 'BuzzFeed quizzes' when the argument began.

"I mean it's a cool idea," She shrugged, "Knowing there is one perfect person out there for you. It's sweet," Jace grinned, stretching an arm over her shoulder, "Even if he is the most annoying person on earth," Jace frowned.

Isabelle chuckled, "Has Jace ever told you about soulmates?"

"No," she said, face contorted in confusion.

"Shadowhunters have a different idea of soulmates," She said, and I huffed, "Hush. It's said that Johnathan Shadowhunter saved a mundane girl when he first became a shadowhunter. A few years later there was a demon outbreak and she got stung. There was nothing Johnathan could do so he just held her and gave her what he thought would be there last kiss. Raziel, as a reward for there work, said that if two people truly loved each other, and the angels had made them for each other, then their final kiss can save them. And that's how soulmates were formed,"

"Aw, that's sweet," Clary said.

"Ew, that's dumb," I snorted, "Why wouldn't every shadowhunter kiss their partner on their deathbed? Oh, wait they do, it just doesn't do anything,"

"Just because you love someone doesn't mean they're your soulmate," Isabelle groaned.

"Will you two just shut up?!" Alec snapped, dropping his spoon in his cereal, making a splash, "Damnit," I passed him a napkin, "Thanks. Izzy, you know mum just told you that story to get you to sleep."

"No. it's true. Back me up, Jace?"

"I didn't exactly have someone ready me bedtime stories," he said.

"Ha," I grinned.

Before we could go back to arguing Maryse walked in, "Why are you all lounging about? Their's work to do,"

Ugh, work. Today was dreaded paperwork day. Luckily, we were able to get desks near each other. Isabelle sat at the desk next to me, Alec across from me, Jace next to Alec, and clary had to go practise runes after a mishap on our last mission.

These days were so slow. It sounds bad but I was waiting for someone to run in and yell something about an outbreak or crazy action. Anything to get up from this hellish chair. Isabelle was determined to finish all her paperwork for an early lunch, so she was being boring.

Alec had always been the fastest at paperwork so I could annoy him. I pinged a tiny crushed up piece of paper. He looked up startled, but I went back to my screen. A few moments later another. Then another. Then another. Then "Whose doing that?" Alec said.

I took my headphones out "What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he mumbled, going back to his work. I looked at Isabelle who rolled her eyes then Jace who winked at me. Jace started doing it too.

Jace was too ambitious and shot a full crumpled up post-it notes. "Jace!" Alec turned in his chair, quickly lowering his voice.

As his head was turned, I fired one that went right in his ear, "Score," I couldn't help but laugh, raising my hands in the air in triumph. Jace began to cackle as well and I swear I saw Izzy hide a snigger. I took my headphones off, waiting for the onslaught.

Alec glared at me, "Shouldn't you be doing paperwork?" He snapped. I pressed my lips together, trying not to laugh, "You think your funny? Grow up. You're 19, get your act together,"

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," I mumbled.

"Someone wants to actually do their job and take responsibilities for there actions," he raised his voice, "Otherwise it's just going to be dumped on someone else's desk. It's a good thing soulmate aren't real because who wants to be with a child. Grow up," Alec went back to work with a glare etched on his face.

My face fell and I put my headphones back on. Jace rolled his eyes, probably trying to help, but I looked at my screen. Harsh. Isabelle, finally taking a little broke, slid a post-it notes to me. "Don't let it get to you," It read, "he's in a bad mood,"

Alec's bad moods didn't usually bother me. I don't know why I let it bother me. But I did go back to work.

I finished around the same time as Isabelle did for lunch. We sat in the lunch hall, Isabelle across from me, and I was picking at my lunch. "You okay?" she asked, "Alec's in a mood,"

"Yeah but never mind," I sighed. Isabelle gave me a look and I sighed, "Maybe I don't want soulmates to be real because I don't think I have one,"

"Don't say that- "

"But what if it's true? Then what?"

Isabelle sighed, "I don't know. Hell, I don't know if I have one, or if it's a shadowhunter or what it means if they aren't one. Don't let Alec get to you. You'll have at least one lightwood on your side," I smiled a little at her words. Her smile fell, "Speaking of..."

I looked up to see clary, Alec, and Jace walking in. "Look who we found in the library," Jace said, arm over Clary's shoulder. Clary and Jace sat next to Isabelle and Alec plopped down next to me. As he sat down, I stood up, taking my plate to the bins.

After clearing my plate, I walked down past Isabelle, "I'm going to get a head start," she sighed but let me go.

"What's up with (Y/N)?" I heard Alec asked as I walked away. I walked faster.

Paperwork sucks. Isabelle joined me shortly after followed by the other two and clary. "Hey, I was wanting to help clary studying so I was wondering..." he said.

"Send them to me," I said, not looking up from my screen.

"Then they'll never get done," Alec said with a chuckle. He looked at me expectantly, probably expecting a comeback.

I ignored him, "I'm on my last one,"

"Since when did you get fast?" Isabelle said, looking at my screen, not believing me.

Looking straight at Alec, "I grew up," he looked down and I rolled my eyes, "Jace just send them over."

"I owe you,"

"I know,"

I have halfway finished Jace's workload, mindlessly typing and filling in codes, when a red light popped up on my screen. I glanced at Isabelle who was doing the same. "Alec what does it mean when- "Isabelle began to ask.

"We've got a mission," Alec said, getting out his seat.

Isabelle and I followed, quickly gearing up. Jace was there a couple moments later, "Mission?" he said. We all had personal devices that lit up when we had a mission, but they showed on the computer when we were logged on.

The mission was only a few blocks away, so we were there in minutes. "I'll lead," Jace said.

"Shocking," I muttered, and he grinned.

We followed after Jace into a small alleyway. It was down the alley and over a fence in the middle of an industrial estate. Jace led, Isabelle behind him, and Alec at the rear. Jace hopped the fence, then Izzy, as I was halfway up, I heard a gurgling noise than a whooshing noise.

I looked down at Alec to see he had shot an arrow through the chair fence, hitting a green blob looking thing. It hissed and slinked away as more demons began to pour out. Quickly I swung my legs over the fence, dropping down.

Alec was over the fence quickly, but I already had run in. he was long range and stood near the fence, Isabelle had her whip and sword which was kind of a combination, but Jace and I were short range.

We had to the run-up to the demons. There seemed to be a mix of different breeds of them. As I slit the supposed throat of a blue thing, it seemingly mantling away with a hiss, another snakelike thing began to wrap around my leg.

Before I could react, Isabelle's whip wrapped around its head, pulling it back and sending it through the air where it met Alec's arrow. my heart was beating. Hard. My grip on my seraph blade was weakened by sweat so I gripped it tighter, feeling the design of the hilt pressing into my skin.

One latched onto Jace's back. I ran over, pulling it off and raising my seraph blade to slice it. As I did Jace lurched back as another launched at him. He knocked me and I grunted as my back slammed into the concrete.

It's always better to fight on your feet. Once your down though you still have to fight. One slid onto my leg and I sat up, thrusting my blade into it, watching it disappear with a satisfying sizzle. I grinned then I felt something slither around my neck.

It yanked my head back, hitting off the concrete. I was able to look up for a moment to see a demon's tentacle wrapped around my neck, pulling me closer. Dropping my blade, I tried to pull it off.

A sharp pain went through my neck then another sizzle. I scrambled up, seeing an arrow a foot from where my head had been. There was no time to pause.

I felt myself breathing a sigh of realising as Izzy drove her seraph blade into the last demon with a sigh. We were all panting, "Some sicko was keeping them, prisoner," Jace said. "No wonder they were pissed,"

"So," Alec said but I felt my neck getting hot. I was panting more than they were and I raised my hand to my neck where the pain had been, it felt like ice. "Whose doing the paperwork for this one?" The other three laughed but it was muffled as if I was underwater. I blinked more as the colours seemed to blur together for a moment then go back then blur. "(Y/N)?"

"I-I-I think I'm gonna," I landed with a thud. All I could hear was a muffled sound. I could see everything, but I could barely move my fingers.

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

"What happened?" Jace said, dropping to his knees beside his friend.

Isabelle began searching (Y/N) for an injury, "I-I don't know. I didn't see them get poisoned or-or-or,"

"Izzy calm down," Jace said.

"My best friend is dying!" She yelled, tears falling from her yes, "Fucking panic Jace!"

"This is getting us nowhere," Alec said, quickly moving beside Izzy, "Jace start checking their legs for something, Izzy their torso," They all snapped to attention, quickly putting (Y/N) onto their back checking for something, anything.

A wound, a bite, a scratch. Whatever did this.

Alec looked over and studied every bit of (Y/N)'s face. He put his fingers through their hair, looking for a gash or something. He glanced down seeing (Y/N)'s eyes following him. He took a breath going back to his search. (Y/N) had to be okay.

"I can't find anything," Jace said.

"Me neither," Isabelle sighed. "What are we going to do?"

"Call Magnus," Alec said, standing up. He tossed Jace his quiver and bow, bending down to pick (Y/N) up.

"Should we move them?" Isabelle asked.

"Can't get much worse," Jace said, phone to his ear, "Magnus we're coming over,"

Alec had never had a bigger reason to run. As he ran, he cradled (Y/N) in his arms. Magnus had come down to let them in and they all rushed upstairs.

"Wouldn't the silent brothers be better?" Isabelle panted.

"I know demons better," Magnus said, leading Alec to lay (Y/N) on the couch, "Besides I can teleport you. Jace pass me that book,"

The biggest problem was knowing the poison. They didn't even know the spot. Alec paced the living room, glancing over. (Y/N)'s eyes were still following him. He froze, looking back at them. His eyes dropped when he saw something.

Alec rushed over, kneeling beside Magnus, "There," He pointed to (Y/N)'s neck.

"A hickey?" Magnus asked, "This isn't the time for jealousy,"

"No, it wasn't there earlier," Alec snapped.

"He's right," Isabelle said, "(Y/N) is single. What do you mean jealous?"

Magnus, Alec, and, Jace all shared a look, "Nothing," Magnus said before going back to work.

"Alec you idiot!" Isabelle stood up flicking her brother's forehead, "(Y/N) likes you! Couldn't you have done this before they were paralysed!?"

"I didn't know this would happen!"

"I found it!" Magus interrupted them. The shadowhunters all tried to look over Magnus' shoulder but Jace felt his stomach churn as Magnus' smile fell. "I-I can't do anything,"

"Then we need to go to the silent city," Isabelle said.

"No." He cut her off, "The poison, the demon. Did you see a purple demon with tentacles?"

"Yeah. One grabbed (Y/N) around the neck," As Izzy spoke, she seemed to realise, "Oh no,"

"It's poison paralysis's the body. Activity speeds it up. Soon every muscle in (Y/N) body will stop. The heart normally is the last but after they stop moving it's normally the breathing system then the eyes,"

"What does that mean?" Isabelle asked, ignoring the mascara down her checks.

"(Y/N) will suffocate to death and we can't do anything about it,"

"No, no, no, no"

Everyone took their moment with (Y/N). Isabelle was a mess. Alec held her as Jace knelt beside (Y/N), then Magnus. Jace walked over and essentially took Isabelle out of Alec's arms. He stood up, shaking legs, and walked over.

Alec knelt beside (Y/N), holding their hand. "I'm so so sorry," he said, "For everything. Magnus says you can't hear us but I'm so so sorry. I-I shouldn't have snapped. Anyone would want to be your soulmate. If only I had had the balls," Alec sniffled, "I love you," Alec began to stand, pressing a kiss to (Y/N)'s forehead. His tears fell onto (Y/N) and he quickly wiped them off. (Y/N)'s eyes were still following him.

Alec cringed as he stood up, "What now?"

"We wait," Magnus said, looking at the floor.

"And what? Let them suffocate to death?" Jace snapped.

Isabelle looked up, taking a deep breath "(Y/N) deserved a better death than that. They don't deserve to feel that,"

Alec nodded, "Magnus? Is there anything?"

"You're asking me to-?" He shook his head with a sigh, "I've lost too many to do it myself,"

"Please. they shouldn't have to suffer,"

Magnus pointed to a door, "That's my storage cupboard. Help yourself,"

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

The sound in my ears was like waves at first but then a beating sound joined it. It was a struggle to move my eyes, but I was trying to figure out what was happening. The sound in my ears began to fade and their voices were becoming clearer.

I looked up as Isabelle stood over me. She made eye contact before turning away and passing something to Alec. Alec held it then held it out for Jace, "I can't," I managed to make out despite it being dull.

Jace took it then slowly moved to kneel beside me. He sighed and I heard him. I felt my toes begin to move

"The throat muscles will stop working any moment," Magnus said, and I heard it clearly.

A tear fell down Jace's face and his hand moved up to pull open my mouth. I saw him raise something up. "I'm sorry," he said. This time it was clear, and I could feel my fingers begin to move. Out of instinct, I tried to close my mouth.

He paused, "Did you see that?" he asked.

"Your imagining things," Magnus said.

I had to try to talk. I had to. All I managed was a low grunt. Jace jumped back, probably dropping something as I heard glass smash then a sizzle.

A sizzle.

Those sizzles.

My eyes darted to the side. I was just able to turn my head slightly, "How are they...?" Magnus said.

Isabelle's eyes went from mine to Alec to mine, "Soulmates," she said, "It's the soulmate thing!"

"That isn't a thing Izzy!" Alec yelled, "Can't you drop that!?"

"Yeah," I managed to breath out before spluttering. Slowly a warm feeling began to travel through my body.

Magnus said it could take a while for me to be able to fully move let alone stand. So far, I could talk, breath, thankfully, and move my arms.

They filled me in on everything, everything. Not knowing if we'd be too weak, Magnus offered to let me crash so he could monitor me. Eventually, they had to go, probably after Clary's 100th call. Isabelle and Jace said their goodbyes then it was just Alec, Magnus and I.

Magnus looked between us "I'm going to put the kettle on. Want tea (Y/N)?" I nodded and waited for him to walk out.

Alec sat down on the coffee table across from me, "So um,"

"Isabelle's crazy, isn't she?" I said, not able to look at him.

"Yeah totally," When I looked up, he looked away. I held in a sigh, "Is it crazy I kind of hope she isn't...?"

"You mean...?"

"I don't care if your childish-not that you are but if you were- "

"You like me,"

"You heard that?" he asked, his head dropping.

"Heard what?"

"When you where-never mind," Alec looked up, gathering some kind of courage, "I'm sorry. For everything,"

"It's okay," I said then we were plunged in silence, "You know if I could stand, I'd kiss you,"

"What- I mean do you- um do I- "

"Kiss me," I cut him off. Alec lurched forward, kissing me. it took a moment for me to be able to move my hand to the back of his neck. After a few moments, he pulled back, "I promise I can kiss better than that normally,"

"I'll be the judge of that,"

"Not in my house you won't!" Magnus yelled, walking in. Alec shot back in shock, forgetting he was on a coffee table and falling off, "Such grace," Magnus muttered, "I brought tea,"

[alj4890]

Flirty Prompt

(Thomas x Amanda) with the following conversation as a prompt given by @prompt-nonny

Amanda: "You're so full of it." Thomas: "I prefer 'confident'." Amanda: "You would, you crazy man." Thomas: "You are so sweet." Amanda: "I hate you sometimes." Thomas: "I love you too." Have fun 😘 -Prompt Nonny ❤

A/N Thank you for the prompt! LOL! I had to include some other characters from Red Carpet Diaries in this to gauge their reactions. Hope you enjoy it and look forward for more prompts for my pairs. 

@lxaah11 @alleksa16 @penguininapinktuxedo @blackcoffee85 @stopforamoment   @krsnlove   @annekebbphotography  @cora-nova @bella-ca  @hopelessromantic1352 . @sunflowergirl05 @desiree-0816 @greywitchyshots @lilyofchoices @emceesynonymroll @dr-nancy-house @aworldoffandoms @pixieferry @lolablackwrites @flyawayboo @i-bloody-love-drake-walker

Taken from Another Night/Another Dream series.

And Scene!

Thomas stood on the stage he normally had his students act out the different scenes they composed in their small groups. His signature frown was firmly in place while he studied the placement of the furniture for tomorrow's lesson.

His day had been wretched. It started with his coffeemaker breaking this morning, then the flat tire on the interstate, followed by ruining one of his favorite shirts to change said tire. Can't forget about the ridiculous answers on a set of exams his students turned in. Then the faculty meeting was beyond tedious. To top it all off, Amanda's visit was postponed.

The lady he had been dating and was currently engaged to was supposed to be here Monday. Then Tuesday. Wednesday, still no fiancee. Now it was Thursday. They were supposed to meet with the wedding planner tomorrow evening and he did not want to go without her. It had been nearly a month since they had been together and he was sick of being apart.

He ran a hand over his face while studying a scene that one of his students had turned in. The young man had a great deal of talent and Thomas believed he could go far if given the right opportunities. But this scene...

Perhaps it was because he was in such a foul mood that he could not appreciate the meet-cute nor the flirtation to follow. The accidental on purpose kiss was cliché at best, yet it seemed to fit the tone of the rest of the scene.

"I always love seeing handsome men on stage."

Thomas whirled around in surprise. Amanda stood in the doorway of his auditorium and smiled. His own smile, the first one in quite a while, came up as he hopped down and met her halfway. He pulled her into a passionate embrace and held her close.

"Does the theater always do this to you or is it that you missed me?" Amanda teased.

"You know very well what caused this." He muttered against her lips. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming this evening?"

"I wasn't certain what time I would be landing, so I thought I would surprise you." She kissed him once more before sitting down. "Holly told me you were staying late at the university, so I decided to stop here first." She glanced at the stage and the papers in his hand. "I didn't mean to interrupt your work."

He urged her out of the chair and over to the stage. "You are never an interruption. Besides, I could use another perspective."

Amanda smiled at him and laughed nervously. "I'm not exactly known for my theater talents. I can talk all day about film history, but this..." She waved her hand at the theater room. "This is completely out of my wheelhouse."

"You give yourself too little credit." He told her, his frown fierce once more. "Your intelligence and ability to critique something logically and without insult is vastly superior to most people's."

"Careful." Amanda wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him close to her. "Compliments like that will have me acting in a way that I'm certain is discouraged in the student handbook." She stood on her tiptoes and captured his lips in a heated kiss.

"This simply makes me grateful that you are not a student." He muttered against her neck. His hands moved down to cup her backside, pressing her closer. "Therefore the rules do not apply."

"And what would you have done, Professor Hunt, if I had walked through that door as your student?" Her teasing smile brought his own to form.

"I suppose this would not be happening." He sat down on the antique chaise lounge and pulled her into his lap.

"Professor Hunt! I am surprised at you." Amanda nipped his ear gently before pressing another tender kiss to his lips. "What was it you wanted my opinion on?"

He exaggerated a groan at her ability to remain clear headed. He should have continued with his seduction before telling her he needed her help.

"Will you read this and tell me what you think?" He handed her the scene.

She got comfortable in his arms and smiled at the occasional brush of his lips against her neck as he read over her shoulder. His fingers slowly moved up and down her arm.

"You are being quite distracting." She whispered. He held her tighter to him and paused his movements.

"I didn't say stop." She kissed his cheek when he chuckled and continued to read while he resumed his own activities on her skin.

She set the paper down. "Hmm."

He cocked an eyebrow and waited.

"It has a great deal of potential." Amanda picked it up again. "Though this conversation," she pointed at the lines, "it seems so out of character for the two."

He reread it and nodded. "I agree. I think it throws their romance off for the audience."

"Exactly! They have both been so sweet to one another and then to transition to something like this...would it be believable or would people act surprised?" Her eyes lit up with mischief. "We should try it out!"

"What? Now?" He watched as excitment flooded over her.

"Yes! Let's see if we can't get a few friends to meet us for a late dinner or drinks?"

"You just arrived." He argued pulling her closer. "We can test this another--"

"Aren't you grading this tomorrow?" She asked.

Thomas could see it was a losing battle. He had discovered that when her mind was made up, it was nearly impossible to change it. "Very well." He stood up and held his hand out to her. With a sudden tug he had her in his arms. "Once this experiment is conducted, you are mine."

___________

A couple of hours later...

"I need wedding details please!" Addison exclaimed. "What is being decided tomorrow?"

"We are touring the final two optional places for the ceremony and reception. I believe we will most likely have the rehersal dinner there as well." Amanda pulled a small notebook out and flipped through the pages. "Flowers and decorations too. Then Saturday is cake tasting and deciding on food."

Thomas watched her face light up while she discussed the upcoming wedding with Addison and Matt. He reached across the table and took her hand. Her smile glowed when her gaze met his and she gently squeezed his hand.

"We come bearing drinks." Ryan announced as he expertly flourished a tray.

"Impressive." Matt chuckled when Holly rolled her eyes.

"Don't encourage him. His ego is big enough." She sat back down and winked at Ryan when he placed her drink in front of her.

"Did you ever wait tables?" Amanda asked.

"No, but my first acting job was as a handsome waiter." He waggled his eyebrows at the group, causing snorts and laughter. "I'm simply quoting the script."

"Perfect timing." Addison pointed toward the pool table that was available. "Who's ready to play first?"

"I say Hunt and future Hunt against me and Holly." Ryan suggested. "Winners take on the ridiculously dynamic duo."

"I can't help that not only am I incredibly talented at pool, but that I am with a natural born hustler." Matt wrapped his arm around Addison. She pressed a kiss to his lips, giggling at the playful boos and wadded napkins thrown at them.

Amanda hung back a few paces with Thomas while the others walked over to the pool table. "Ready for your scene Mr. Hunt?"

He nodded. "Let's get this over with." He leaned down close to her ear and whispered what he had planned for the rest of the evening.

"Hurry up!" Holly yelled out. "Some of us would like to kick your butts at pool!"

Thomas picked up a pool cue and handed it to Amanda. She shook her head with a laugh and pushed it back. "Let me see what you've got."

A wicked grin appeared on his face. "At the beginning of my career--"

"Are we talking pre-underwear or post-underwear model era?" Ryan asked.

Amanda nearly choked on her drink at Thomas's glare.

"During." He answered. "As I was saying, one of the photographers would try and loosen everyone up by having us shoot a few games of pool."

"So you and the other models were in your underwear holding your pool sticks?" Holly teased. Ryan spit his drink out and stared at her in surprise.

"Yes." Thomas ignored the innuendo. "Much like my talent at modeling," he winked surreptitiously to Amanda, "I developed quite a bit of talent at billiards."

Amanda rolled her eyes. "You're so full of it."

The other two couples stared at her in shock. They had never heard her speak in such a way. Her teasing was usually sweet and directed toward herself.

Thomas leaned down and struck the cue ball with enough force to scatter the balls. A striped ball went into one of the pockets. He glanced over his shoulder at her as he lined up for another shot. "I prefer 'confident'."

He knocked another striped ball in a corner pocket and moved around the table.

Amanda shook her head in mock frustration. "You would, you crazy man."

Thomas purposely took his time to line up the next shot. "You are so sweet." His tone was nothing but sarcasm.

Addison stared wide eyed at the couple. She met Holly's concerned gaze and bit her lip wondering how to stop what had to be an argument occurring.

When another striped ball dropped in a pocket. Amanda groaned and dropped her head forward. "I hate you sometimes."

Holly gasped. Ryan placed his hand on hers to stop her from interfering. What happened to the two people that were nearly gushing with happiness while talking about their wedding? Matt had a comforting arm around Addison as her lip trembled waiting to hear Thomas's response.

He looked up at Amanda. "I love you too." His shot glanced off the side and he handed the cue to Ryan. "You're up."

Ryan took it silently as they all watched him walk back over to where Amanda sat. The two couples were shocked to see the pair share a tender kiss and a few words that none could hear.

Ryan messed up his shot for constantly looking up to see if they were truly okay. He handed the pool cue to Amanda who smiled happily and studied the table.

"There is no way I am near as good as you." She said over her shoulder to Thomas. "If I were you, I would demand to pick partners next time."

"I would still pick you." Thomas told her, smiling softly when she beamed at him.

She knocked another striped in and missed her second shot. "Here you go Holly."

Holly stared in disbelief at Thomas pulling Amanda between his legs when she decided to stand next to his stool. She leaned back against him and kissed his cheek. They were talking too softly to be overheard again.

Holly threw the pool stick down on the table in frustration. She shook her finger at the two. "That's it! What is going on?"

Thomas and Amanda stared at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

"THIS!" She motioned at them. "Am I crazy or were you two not acting like someone had taken over your bodies earlier?"

"I don't know what you mean." Amanda managed to say with a straight face.

Holly strangled on a frustrated sound and turned to the others to back her up.

"You were so sarcastic and mean." Addison explained. "You actually said you hated Thomas!"

"Now you act like nothing happened!" Holly finally managed to get out.

Amanda bit her lip and looked at Thomas. "We have to tell them or else they are going to hate me."

"I think we must. I can't have them thinking anything like that." He turned his attention to the group that was now even more confused. "We were acting out a scene."

"What?" Matt asked. "A scene? Why?"

Amanda pulled it out of her purse and handed it over to them to read. "The couple seemed like us in some aspects, yet that conversation seems out of place for the two. We thought we would try it out and see if it was us comparing their relationship to ours."

The four read it and gave their opinions. "I think it fits this pair in the scene." Matt said. "You two on the other hand, no."

"I'm with Matt." Holly added.

"Me too." Ryan replied. "And don't ever scare us like that again. I think you took ten years off my life, which means I will start being cast in father of the bride roles." He dramatically shuddered.

Addison shook her head. "I agree with Thomas and Amanda. This couple is too sweet in this story."

"Three against three." Thomas sighed as he took the paper back. "I suppose I will have to wait until they act it out and see the tone of the scene they intend to have before grading it."

"And I promise I won't say I hate Thomas." Amanda added. Her smile grew in mischief. "Except when we play cards. Then all bets are off."

Thomas shook his head and placed some money down. "Since we made you are test subjects in this little experiment, enjoy another round on us. I have an early class tomorrow, so we are leaving."

"All is forgiven." Ryan reassured them. "Or it will be after the next round."

Amanda chuckled and said her goodbyes as she slipped her hand in Thomas's.

Once back at his home, he kept the lights off as he pulled her into a passionate kiss. Her surprised laughter caused him to pause.

"I told you this would happen." He pressed his lips to hers again.

"You're so full of it." Amanda teased while unbuttoning his shirt.

His smile briefly appeared before he groaned at her caress. "I prefer 'confident'." Their lips met again in a heated exchange.

"In this context, it works." Her words were muffled under his lips.

"Yes, it does." Thomas pulled her upstairs. "Forget about that script. Right now, the only thing I want you focusing on is the infamous love scene."

"Yes, Professor Hunt." She mumbled before being kissed.

[rorynne]

Time Lost (Rewrite) Ch 3

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Reader

Summary: An accident during a mission sends you back in time to the second world war. There you enlist the help of Peggy Carter, Steve Rogers, and Bucky Barnes to find the object that can send her back.

Warnings: Boys being Dumb, otherwise nothing big that i can think of

Word count: 2.6k

A/N: This is a rewrite of an OC fic that I have been writing and been wanting to turn into a reader Fic. I'm unsure if I will be continuing the OC fic currently, I may just transfer it completely to my reader Fic. Currently 6 chapters are up of the OC fic, and I shall be posting a rewritten chapter every few days on here.

Masterlist

Prologue Ch 1 Ch 2

You flipped through the dossiers for the hundredth time that morning alone. The team, actually, wasn't all that bad. You had seen Falsworth in action just last year, no doubt he already had the majority of this training. There was a Harvard graduate, fluent in three languages, you wondered if he would be willing to learn a fourth. Next, a member of the resistance with an expertise in explosives. After that, an army ranger able to speak Japanese, and a man that, quite frankly, looked like he was trying to impersonate Teddy Roosevelt. All in all, they weren't nearly as bad as you had been expecting, and from first encounters, they all seemed enjoyable as well.

You paused when you flipped to Bucky’s dossier. The black and white photo really didn't do him justice. Not that the photo was bad, just that it really couldn't quite capture his eyes or his smile for that matter. Reading his dossier was like reading his exhibit in the Smithsonian, all cold facts and information that failed to perfectly reflect the man you had met just two days ago. It felt so surreal, knowing someone who was so full of life and knowing that they were going to die. You thought back to the exhibit, clearly, he wasn't supposed to die in Azzano, you thought that had sounded wrong. But for the life of you, you couldn't quite recall how he was supposed to die, just vaguely something about a train. You wondered if there was a way to prevent it.

If you even could.  Any time you tried to prevent anything, it never worked. Either way, you needed to stop worrying about him. As charming as he was, you had a job to do, a home to get back to.  And you weren't about to let some pretty eyes distract you. Especially, when those eyes belonged to someone from the god damned ‘40s.

A tug on your hair pulled you from your thoughts, making you jump. You looked back to see Bucky in the back of the Jeep you were waiting in, a boyish grin plastered on his face, and Steve rolling his eyes next to him. “Really Barnes? Pulling on girls' hair? What are you, ten?”

“Can’t argue with methods that work Doll.” He beamed, “We’ve been tryin’ to get your attention a few minutes now. And I thought I was Sergeant Barnes.”

“Last I checked, ten-year-olds don't get to be sergeants.” You said with a teasing look.

“Shoulda told him that when he enlisted,” Steve said with a smile, elbowing Bucky in the side.

You furrowed your brow, “Enlisted?” Bucky frowned, giving a nearly imperceptible shake of his head. “I’m not used to working with men who willingly enlisted.” You quickly lied. Clearly, Steve had no idea Bucky was drafted, and that was not something you were about to reveal yourself. “Are you and your men ready to go?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Steve nodded, glancing behind his shoulder and then at Bucky, “We’re all present and accounted for.”

You smiled and nodded to the driver, “You heard the man. Shouldn't need me to tell you to get this show on the road.” The soldier grunted, and the Jeep moved forward with a jolt. “The camp is about half an hour out, but a warm meal should be waiting for everyone when we get there.”

“Sounds great,” Steve said, “Any idea on what this training will entail?”

“Nope,” You popped the ‘p’ for emphasis. “Haven't been planning it out all weekend of anything.” You looked back to see Steve slightly flushed. Smiling, you shifted in your seat to talk to them easier, “I’ve got what Phillips wants you to know, I’ve got what I know you guys need to know to survive alone in Germany, and then I’ve got whatever the hell it is Stark has cooked up for your ace team. I figure if you boys learn one or two things each during the next few weeks, were golden.”

“One or two things each?” Steve questioned, “Don't you think you're setting the bar low?”

You shook your head, “Absolutely not. This training facility is for training spies and saboteurs, people that need to be able to survive in a warzone completely and totally alone. Most of the recruits won't even make it the first two weeks. If I held your team to the same standard, over half of them would fail. It’s nothing wrong with them, the training is just that strict and we don’t have time to mess around. Hell, I would have failed it if I didn’t cheat a little.”

Bucky laughed, “You sure you should be telling us that Doll?”

“What are they going to do?” You asked, “Fire me? As much as Phillips hates me, he knows he can’t afford to fire me. It's a very interesting sense of job security.”

“I’m sure Col. Phillips doesn’t hate you,” Steve said, sounding entirely unsure himself. Peggy, no doubt, told him about the countless little squabbles you had gotten into with Col. Phillips.

“The entire reason I was assigned to train you is because Phillips thinks it will keep me out of his hair.” You said, looking out the jeep to the frostbitten countryside. You had no doubt Phillips didn't mind the idea of you freezing your ass off in the middle of winter either, just as long as he didn't have to deal with you.

“Speaking of trains,” Bucky spoke up, “I thought you said you were going to meet us on the trains, not picking us up from it.”

You looked at him with an eyebrow raised, “I was. Then I got tired of waiting and took the last train out on Friday. I don't like staying in one place long.”

“We were barely in London for a few days Doll.” His flirtatious smile made you bite back a smile of your own.

“What exactly is this ‘Doll’ nonsense?” You asked, locking eyes with Bucky. “Last I checked I wasn’t a doll.”

“You’re as pretty as one though,” He winked and your heart skipped. How someone could possibly be so damn charming, you had no idea.

“Wow.” You said, your lips finally curling upwards. “Bet you break a lot of hearts with that one.”

His face went stony as if you had accused him of something serious. “Never intentionally. I would never break a dame’s heart if I could help it.”

“You better be careful then,” You said softly, “Flirting like that is liable to break more than a few.” Something about how he said it, how earnest his voice sounded, made you want to believe him. However, you had no doubt in your mind that he had unintentionally broken many hearts.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He said, seriousness fading only barely. He was a good man, you decided, better than most. Which only made his fate rest even more uneasily in your mind. He didn’t deserve to die. You barely knew him and still felt with all your heart that you wanted to save him.

The rest of the ride to the camp was peacefully quiet, save for a few quips back and forth between Steve and Bucky. And, as promised, dinner awaited all of them when they arrived. The length of the trip took the majority of the day, leaving the men the evening to settle in. Tomorrow would be the start of their training, and the start of a very long two months.

The next few days proved to be interesting. The commandoes quickly fell into a daily routine, in the mornings would be general physical training and combat training, mainly trying the group trying to learn how the hell to fight with a shield. The afternoons after lunch would be far more varying, the subject would change daily, covering a wide variety of topics, from picking locks to explosives and demolition. Bucky found the routine to be strangely comforting as if he were back in basic and not training to be some elite force for Captain America. Of course, his basic training never had a pretty woman supervising over it.

It was easy for Bucky to grow fond of you in the week that he had known you thus far. Fiery and sassy, You were quick to argue with just about everyone if you felt so inclined. Frankly, you reminded him of Steve in a lot of ways. Just being around you had the ability to put Bucky in a good mood. Which was exactly why he was grinning like an idiot as he and Steve trekked down to the explosives range after lunch.

You were carrying crates from a truck with Dernier as the two men approached, early for training by at least fifteen minutes. As you lifted a particularly large crate Bucky stepped in to take it from you. “I can carry it, Sergeant.” You said, refusing to give over the crate.

He gave you a cocky smile, “Sorry doll, but if my Ma found out I didn’t help a woman carry something so heavy, she’d have my hide.” You looked at him for a moment, considering his argument, before smiling and handing over the crate.

“Take it to the pile by the tables, you too Steve,” You ordered, nodding at steve who was grabbing a crate of his own. “Once you’re there, help Jacques unpack them onto the tables.” The men nodded and followed your direction, carrying the crates to the tables. They were hardly halfway there when you passed them with an even larger crate, a devilish smirk on your face. “Come on boys, at least try to keep up!”

The men stopped in their tracks, bewildered. Steve was the first to crack, laughing so hard he nearly dropped his crate. “Careful punk,” Bucky warned. “Don’t need Captain America blowing up on us.”

“I was wondering why she gave in so easy,” Steve said, regaining his composure and continuing toward the tables where you and Dernier were now unpacking various explosive chemicals.

Bucky chuckled, “Yeah, shoulda really expected something like that, huh?” He said, setting his crate next to Steve’s. Bucky looked up at you as he opened up the box, barely paying attention to what he was doing. You really was something, just about everything you did somehow managed to play on Bucky’s mind on repeat even hours after it had happened. After all the things Bucky had seen and experienced, your presence was almost ethereal, too good to be true. “She’s funny like that, ain't she. Most gals would have loved to have someone helping them.”

“Her and Peggy are cut from the same cloth,” Steve said, setting a box of TNT onto the table.

Bucky pulled wires and fuses from his crate, tearing his attention away from you. “You think so?” Bucky really didn't know Peggy well, besides when she completely rejected him at the bar, but Steve seemed head over heels for you. Bucky was pretty sure that he’d heard more about Peggy in the last few days than he had about anyone else coming from Steve.

“I don’t think she would be friends with anyone who wasn’t,” Steve said, leaning against the table. “You seem to like her though.” Bucky rolled his eyes; as if that wasn’t the most obvious statement in the world. He had been openly flirting with you since you met. Unfortunately, despite your flirting back, you seemed perfectly content keeping Bucky at a distance.

“Steve!” you called from a different table. “Toss me a bundle of TNT please.” Steve obliged, tossing the bundle with an underhand throw directly into your arms. “Thanks!” You said with a smile and a nod before turning back to Dernier.

“Why is it you get to be Steve and I’m still ‘Sergeant Barnes’?” Bucky complained. “I’m the only one she calls by rank and last name.”

Steve shrugged, “She calls Col. Phillips by rank and last name.” he said, looking over one of the TNT bundles.

“Steve,” Bucky crossed his arms, “She hates Col. Phillips.”

Steve chuckled, “I’m pretty sure she’s doing it to fuck with you, Buck. If its really bothering you, ask her to stop.” He tossed the bundle in his hand into the air, catching it again with ease. “How big do you think the explosion would be if we blew up a whole box of these?”

Bucky stared at his friend, knowing exactly what was going through his head. A boyish smile grew on Bucky’s face “You think it’ll be anything like that Fourth of July when we were teenagers?” He asked, taking the last box of TNT from the crate.

“I was thinking more along the lines of Loony Toons.” Steve said, “Big crater in the grounds, burn marks everywhere.”

Bucky laughed, he could only imagine it. Bucky took the bundle from Steve’s hands. “Only one way to find out right? I bet you a dollar it’s like the fireworks. These things are basically giant firecrackers right?” He said, taking the box and bundle out away from the tables until he was sure it was safe. After setting the box down, he lit the bundle with his lighter and threw it into the box, before backing away to what he thought was a safe distance.

Bucky glanced back at Steve as the TNT went off. He didn't have a chance to react as the force of the blast sent him flying backward. His ears rang as he blinked away the shock. He didn't feel hurt, so that was a good sign, but damn, if he didn't expect that.

“Bucky?! Holy shit are you okay?” A frantic voice asked. Still dazed, he turned his head to see you and Steve next to him. “You could have died!” You fretted over him, checking for injuries. “I thought you would have been the responsible one after Steve tried to walk to Austria. Jesus Christ. But no, here you are, almost blowing yourself up.”

“I am the responsible one.” He argued. Steve scoffed and shook his head, but didn’t try to deny it, knowing he would be proven wrong. Bucky blinked a few more times while brushing dust out of his hair until the realization struck him. “Since when do you call me Bucky?”

You scowled, “You almost got yourself killed and you're seriously focusing on what name I call you?”

Bucky smirked, “What can I say Doll, I was expecting the blast.”

You groaned, “Next time Barnes, run twice the distance you think you need to.” You rubbed your face and sighed. “What the hell were you even thinking?”

“That that punk was gonna do it if I didn’t,” He said, gesturing to Steve. You stared at Steve, who returned your inspection with a sheepish smile as if to say that Bucky was completely right. “That had a hell of a lot more kick than the fireworks. That’s for sure.”

You rolled your eyes, “We were already going to blow it up!” You tried to continue to scold, but Bucky could see the corners of your lips twitching upwards. “Seriously, I actually will get fired if I let Captain America die on my watch.”

Bucky stood up and pulled a dollar bill from his pocket, handing it to Steve. “Trust me Doll, as long as I’m alive, I’m gonna make sure Steve is too.”

Your face clouded over, “I don’t want you to die either.” You said with a level of earnestness that threw Bucky off.

“I ain’t gonna die on ya either.” He reassured, but you didn't seem to be convinced.

You took a deep breath, “Come on, the others are almost here.” You said, pointing at the three men coming down the hill. “We’ve gotta teach you all how to blow shit up without blowing yourself up in the process.”

Taglist (If you want to be added, ask. if you don’t see your name here and you did ask, I probably tagged you in the OC version, or think you have already read up to this point in the OC story. You will still be tagged when theres a true new part) :

@henderwhore4life  

[fiive-second-cookies]

A Logince bullet fic thing based off dodie’s “Arms Unfolding” song

I wrote this like a month ago and said I’d post it and then never did, but here it finally is!

Hope I’m not tired of rebuilding ‘Cause this might take a little more •night before The Meeting •a few months after they broke up •Roman is crying because something reminded him of Logan, his ex boyfriend, and it’s just one of those days •Ro calls Patton over and Patton is lovely and helps Roman feel better with supportive back rubs and Disney movies I think I’d like to try look at you And feel the way I did before •*fast forward to the next morning* •To say Roman was having a bad morning was a major understatement •he woke up late, missed an audition, his manager called to tell him he didn’t get the part in one of the plays he auditioned for, he was completely out of his favorite jam, and he had forgotten to do laundry the day before so his outfit plans were ruined •could his day possibly get any worse?! •he goes to his favorite coffee shop for some coffee •if Roman had been less frazzled, he would have seen Remy’s subtle panicked glance to the corner of the the shop by the window where a certain bespectacled nerd was sitting and reading a book •but Remy recovers quickly and Ro remains oblivious •Remy the barista is a snarky but lovable sass queen •”wow, Ro, bad morning?” snickering •”shut it, Rem. I’m not in the mood” •Roman turns around to leave, coffee cup in hand, and instantly locks eyes with Logan across the coffee shop •*sharp intake of breath* •yes. apparently his day could get worse.

(the rest is under the cut because this is pretty long)

Oh, our fire died last winter All of the shouting blew it out •flashback to fights and arguments towards the end of when they were still together •they both kept getting mad over stupid, unimportant things •Logan was staying up all night to work •Roman was coming home late from rehearsals •Roman was leaving a mess on the kitchen table from a craft (“there is glitter all over the table, Roman!”) •Logan wouldn’t stop studying to eat or sleep or focus on Ro •Logan forgot their two year anniversary •neither of them could remember how the last argument had started, but it was the worst one by far, and it ended with untruthful things (“maybe it’d just be easier if we weren’t together!”) being said and they were both crying and Logan stormed out of Roman’s apartment •needless to say, they had broken up •(all because of about a month of like two or three trivial arguments a week) •Ro collapsed to the floor as soon as the door slammed shut, chest heaving as he sobbed You know I could live without or with you But I might like having you about •Roman took the breakup… really hard, to say the least •he refused to answer calls or texts from anyone for nearly a week •and in that week he barely slept or ate food •finally, Patton had Enough™️ and got extremely worried •with the help of Virgil, they figured out a way to get into Ro’s apartment (aka calling Roman’s moms cuz they have a spare key to his apartment for emergencies) •the place was a mess, to put it kindly •and Roman was even worse •Virgil wasn’t sure how to help, so Patton took control and went full Dad Mode with Ro. Feeding him, making sure he took a shower and changed clothes, tidying up his apartment, and letting Roman cry his heart out •Patton is literally the sweetest person and the bestest friend ever •after about two weeks, Roman is finally feeling better •(he’s not actually better (his heart is still shattered and sometimes he still cries himself to sleep) but at least now he’s able to get back to work and talk to his friends and family) •Roman seems mostly fine to the outside world (except Patton and occasionally Virgil) and life returns to “normal” •Roman will still cry to Pat about missing Logan occasionally tho, usually during their weekly sleepover Yes, these new walls are pretty hard to crack And it might take a while until I trust you won’t attack •*back to the present in the coffee shop* •Logan is Shook for a moment and his eyes go wide •then Logan takes a deep breath and relaxes somewhat, putting on a neutral facade •Roman knows he can’t just leave now, so he walks over to Logan’s table •both of them are definitely feeling a bit awkward •”uh, hey, Logan” •”salutations, Roman” •a few beats of awkward silence •Lo: “so… how’ve you been?” •”uh, I’ve been… fine” (lie) “how about you?” •”I… I’ve been busy with work and my studies, but things have been going… great” (now they’re both lying) “I suppose you’ve been busy, too, with your successful attempts at professional make-believe?” •”oh, uh, y-yeah of course. I’ve been super busy with lots of auditions and rehearsals and… and performances” •that’s only half true •Roman has been busy with lots of auditions •but he’s been a little… lackluster since the breakup, and hasn’t gotten any big roles •Logan lifts an eyebrow slightly, obviously picking up on Roman’s hesitance and lie •”are you quite sure?” •Roman’s eyes narrow “of course I’m sure!” •Logan is closely inspecting Roman, and can clearly see the walls the boisterous man has put up against him •”well, it has been enjoyable to catch up with you. but you probably have places to be, and I have must leave for work soon” •Roman is grateful for the obvious attempt at providing an escape •”yes, of course. Great, uh—great talking to you, Lo” •Roman misses the slip-up in his haste, but Logan’s breath hitches at the use of his nickname •Roman is already halfway out the door by the time Lo recovers enough to lift a shaky hand in goodbye •a few hours later, Ro calls Patton in a lowkey panicked state •the two go out for dinner and Ro tells Patton everything Oh, I apologize, but it was only self-defense Running away just made sense •*flash forward about a week maybe* •Roman is in a rush because his manager is going to kill him he can’t be late for another audition •and Roman quite literally runs into Logan •Roman spills his coffee and drops the sandwich he was trying to stuff in his mouth between whispered curses as he was walking •Logan drops a few papers he had been reading through, only narrowly keeping hold on the laptop bag slung on his shoulder •”oh my goodness I’m so sor—Logan! I— uh, sorry, I wasn’t paying attention!” •���no, Roman, it’s alright. I apologize about your drink and food. Perhaps… you’d let me repay you?” •Roman does a double take •”um… sure” •his manager was so going to kill him •Logan leads the way to a nearby park and buys them each a pretzel ((don’t ask me why, I couldn’t thing of anything else)) •they walk in a mostly awkward silence •Logan stops at a park bench right underneath a big tree •and of course it just has to be one of their favorite spots from when they were dating •they sit down and now it’s really awkward •after a few minutes, Roman speaks up •”I… I’m sorry for… running away last week, y’know, at the coffee shop” •”you don’t need to apologize, I understand” •more awkward silence •”actually… I’d like to apologize as well” •Roman finally turns towards Lo with a questioning look •”the way things… ended between us… was not… was not, um…” •Roman is shocked to hear Logan at a loss for words •”I just— I am very sorry, Roman. That was not a good way to end our relationship. And… honestly… I— I wish our relationship hadn’t ended at all” •Roman’s breath hitches and he goes to say something •”no! Sorry, but, please, just listen to me” •Roman, reluctantly, stays quiet •”Roman, I miss being with you. Right before we broke up, I was extremely stressed and my temper was unbelievably short. I should not have taken out my… emotions… on you. Looking back, most of our arguments were… pointless and petty.” •Roman goes to interrupt, but Logan keeps going •”of course, I do not take full responsibility for our disagreements. We both know that the fault lies with both of us. But we should have communicated better to solve our issues, rather than yelling over silly problems and allowing the other to stay angry.” •Logan has been staring forward the whole time, but now, he glances at Roman •”while we were dating, Roman, I was the happiest I’ve ever been. And since we’ve broken up, I’ve felt… incomplete. Almost… hollow. You helped me learn how to accept my emotions, but without you around, I’ve locked away my feelings, once again, into a metaphorical box and completely ignored them” •tears form in Logan’s eyes •”all this to say… I hope that, one day, we can… try again. Not dating! Not necessarily, of course. I would never, ever force you to do something you don’t want to do. But, at the very least, I’d like to try being friends again, Ro” But here I am with arms unfolding I guess it isn’t quite the end •Roman has tears running down his cheeks now •”Lo“—his voice cracks with emotion—“Logan, I’m sorry, too. I’m sorry we fought like that, and I’m sorry we broke up. You’re absolutely right, we should have handled our emotions better and not let them take over. I’m just— I’m so so sorry, Lo” •Roman is fully crying now •Logan grabs Ro’s hand, and Roman holds on almost painfully tight, but Logan doesn’t mind at all •”it’s been so hard the past few months without you. There hasn’t been a moment where I haven’t missed you. God, I’ve missed you so much, Lo” •The tears fall silently from Logan’s eyes now too •”you are absolutely right. We should have communicated better instead of getting into arguments. We shouldn’t have let a few petty disagreements ruin our whole relationship. I deeply regret not fixing that problem and just letting it get out of hand. I’m sorry” •Logan holds out his arms and Roman doesn’t even hesitate to collapse against the other man’s chest •Logan wraps his arms around Roman and the two sit there, Roman holding back sobs and Logan silently letting his tears fall Old partner in crime, I’m going to try To fall in love with you again •After a few minutes, both of them have calmed down a bit •Roman leans back, but makes sure Logan’s arms stay wrapped around him •”about your offer—” •Logan’s eyes widen ever so slightly and he tightens his arms around the other •”I’d love to be friends again, Logan.” •Logan lets out a relieved breath •”in fact, I’d love to try dating you again. Only if you want to though! And we’d take things slow, of course! But I just feel like we’ve both learned from our mistakes and grown in the last few months. We know now that communication is extremely important, especially when our emotions are at extremes.” •Logan smiles •”I would also love to rekindle our relationship, Roman.” •Roman smiles back •”would you like to accompany me on a date to… say, dinner at your favorite restaurant?” •Roman’s smile gets impossibly wider •”that sounds wonderful, Lo. Meet tomorrow at seven?” •”that’s perfect, Ro” •these two nerds in love just stare at each other, smiling and happier than they’ve been in months •until Roman’s phone rings, his manager’s name showing up on the screen •”oh, shit”

[arofili]

Aro Kel Masterpost

ETA: I wrote a fic about aro!Kel/Dom, read that if you want ;)

After Tamora Pierce revealed that Kel is aro, I was elated. To finally have representation of any kind, especially from an author and a character I really love, felt so good. Now, it’s not really good representation - I would have preferred to have it explicit and there from the beginning, but this is still incredible for me. So, naturally, this new information spurred me to reread the Protector of the Small series with Kel’s aromanticism in mind, and I unearthed a whole lot of interesting things.

A lot of this was fairly obvious, but much of it was subtext, and there’s still a lot of parts of Kel’s love life that required a bit of effort to see as part of her arospec experience, but I would say that she reads as pretty darn aromantic to me now. In this post, I’ve compiled a bunch of quotes/scenes (mostly paraphrased, sorry) and thoughts about Kel’s aromanticism and how it was portrayed in the books.

This post has been more than a year in the making, mostly because I’m lazy as fuck, but I finally managed to finish it up for @aggressivelyarospec​ week 2018! Also, the wonderful podcast @tortallrecall is coming up on Kel’s arc soon, and I hope they’ll discuss Kel’s aromanticism, so I wanted to provide an aro person’s opinion on Kel being aro for them to have as a resource if they want to use it :)

Overall: I don't think Tamora Pierce wrote the series meaning for Kel to be aro, because I doubt she would have included the “romance” with Neal, Cleon, or Dom, though that is still justifiable with her being aro [see my explanations below], but I think that she did write it with her being less interested in romance than her peers and Pierce’s other heroines and I think she very intentionally gave Kel a happy ending without romance. And so looking back, the aro label fits. She is definitely arospec, and I am delighted to read about an aromantic character.

First Test

There’s a part where Neal is being all dramatic and talking about the glory of knighthood, but Kel says something along the lines of “Well, sure, but being sung about will take a lot of hard work”. Neal responds, “You aren’t a bit romantic, are you?” and I know that it’s a different kind of “romantic” in this context but also PUNS!

“she'd had experiences with crushes—none her own, of course”

I know Kel is 10 at this point, but also, that is exactly what I was thinking at age 10.

Whenever Cleon fake flirts with her, she's so exasperated and amused. At one part he says he'll pine for her until she returns and she thinks “He'll pine and I'm a holly bush”.

And she's always so sympathetic about Roald's arranged marriage. And sure, anyone could be because they’re not ~in love~ but Kel just seems really sympathetic about marriage in general.

Neal has a crush on Daine in this book, which I had forgotten about, and Kel is so exasperated every time he talks about it. She consoles him, but she's so confused and amused by his feelings.

Page

So here we get to the part where 11-year-old Kel thinks she likes Neal. It’s funny, because it happens at the same time when Neal has a crush on Uline of Hannalof, so I think there’s definitely an argument for her reacting of jealousy. She definitely has some feelings for him, but I don’t think they’re quite romantic, and she doesn’t understand them. At least, that’s how I’m choosing to read it.

And she keeps making fun of him about his feelings, and the part where she and her friends all get together to sing him a sappy love song is really funny.

Also, she keeps complaining to Lalasa that he won’t actually do anything about his feelings. Even when she thinks she has a crush on him, she’s annoyed by romance.

@buffintruda and I were talking about this, and I wondered how we hadn’t thought of Kel being aro before the announcement, and they said something I think is very true:

Too be fair, for me at least, the last time I read her books was before I knew I was aro, and her relationships and crushes deterred me from considering it, even though now that you point them out, they're pretty weak and aro-y

At some point in the story, Cleon’s fake flirting becomes real, but Kel doesn’t realize it. She still thinks he’s joking up until halfway through Squire. Even when he’s being really obvious and blushing and commenting on her appearance, she’s just confused as to why he keeps doing this and doesn’t even consider the idea that he could be sincere.

Honestly this is such a GEM of a quote. Like, same:

“I can flirt just as well as my gelding can dance” 

When Kel is talking to Joren about how he’s “changed”, and he tells her that she should get married and her immediate response is “I don’t want to be married”. She does think of Neal, but it’s an afterthought. When I used to force myself to pretend to like someone, before I knew I was aro, I would do the same sort of thing - “I don’t want to marry anyone, ew! Wait, no, I would totally marry [insert fake crush here]...” It’s something she feels like she’s supposed to think, not something she actually feels.

Honestly, Kel’s whole crush on Neal is not really a big deal, even to her. She’ll pine over him when a situation comes up that makes her think about romance, and she’ll occasionally have that “heart flutter” thing, but it’s mostly them being great friends and she seems to forget she’s supposed to have a crush on him while she’s hanging out with him. This seems a lot more like a squish than a crush, at least to me.

So this isn’t technically related to Kel’s aromanticism, but I couldn’t leave it out. Before their third examinations, Kel and Neal talk about their friends and Neal says something like “I wouldn’t trade your friendship for anything”. Ahhh I was so emotional when I read that!! Their friendship is so good and heartwarming and beautiful that I wanted to cry!

Kel made a joke out of it, but it was really sweet and that moment was truly beautiful and relateable. It’s great to see strong friendships shown in books, even if one of the people thinks that they’re in love with the other one.

And in this scene, Kel didn’t think about her “crush” even once, even though it was a pretty intense moment for both of them.

Squire

When Kel finds out that Alanna wants Neal for her squire, she has this silly line about “I can’t not be his friend even if I can’t be his love” and Kel, please. That is far too melodramatic for you! This is so out of character it feels forced, which, if we view it through an aromantic lens, it probably is.

Aw yeah, Raoul is back! I love him. Another aro icon! @buffintruda​ and I couldn’t believe that we could imagine him as arospec, but totally overlook Kel!

When Kel joins the Own, she meets Dom! She’s wondering why Dom makes her feel all weird and “romantic” moreso than she ever felt for Neal, and I’m like... It’s because you’re making this all up! It’s amatonormativity and heteronormativity! Once you’re not around Neal, you forget you’re supposed to like him, so you find someone else to project your confusion and insecurity onto! You’re not “fickle”, you’re just a confused aromantic.

Kel wonders why “Lalasa never mentioned this”, and that’s pretty obvious. Lalasa is canonically in a relationship with her friend Tian...this girl is a lesbian.

“Who falls in and out of love in a summer?”

Probably someone who was never in love in the first place, Kel. This quote comes the next time that Kel sees Neal, and she realizes her romantic feelings are gone like they never were there in the first place.

“Were her feelings even real?”

Ding ding! Now you’re starting to get it!

Cleon is ridiculously awkward around Kel, and she is just as ridiculously oblivious of his feelings and exasperated by his flirting. (Relatable.) When he kisses her for the first time, she’s so shocked that she doesn’t know how to react which is a mood.

“They won’t be able to talk sense for weeks!”

When Yuki comes to Tortall, Kel makes fun of all the pages and squires for “falling in love” with her. She thinks “her messmates were romantic” in a way that totally excludes herself from that line of thought, because obviously she’s not romantic! That would be ridiculous!

“She hadn’t seen Cleon privately since that astonishing kiss. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to see him or never to see him again. She didn’t know which would be worse, finding that he’d done it on a dare or that he’d done it because he wanted to. Either meant a rat’s nest of problems.”

She liked the kiss, so we know she likes kissing, but that does not mean she isn’t aro. She doesn’t really want to like Cleon romantically. Unlike with Neal and Dom, she isn’t tricking herself into feeling something for Cleon; his feelings surprised her. “A rat’s nest of problems” is true not only politically, but also very much personally.

Tamora Pierce has also called Kel asexual at different times; this post is about her being aro, but there was one little ace thing I wanted to mention. When Kel meets George Cooper, she cannot figure out why Alanna is attracted to him; she only finds his eyes attractive. Kel is struggling to find anything attractive about him, and when has she ever before focused on the physical side of things when she’s forcing herself into liking someone? It isn’t something she even considers.

“Nice eyes hardly seemed to Kel like grounds for marriage.”

Yeah, well, for you it would be hard to find anything that would be grounds for marriage!

When Kel and Cleon (finally) talk about their first kiss, Cleon is trying to convince her that they should be in a relationship and Kel says something along the lines of “If people knew, they might not know it was friendly” and that’s literally the most aromantic thing I’ve ever heard. She is literally incapable of forming a reason why she would kiss someone outside of being friends. She likes kissing but doesn’t have romantic feelings.

In the same scene, she wants so badly to be interrupted by someone so she doesn’t have to deal with Cleon’s romantic advances. In the end they do get together, and some of this conversation was in jest, but Kel is truly terrified of romance and uncomfortable with her situation no matter how much she is genuinely fond of Cleon.

During the Progress, she talks to her mom about sex and Cleon. Her mom says, “you can choose if you want to have sex”, and Kel’s immediate response is “I don’t want to choose that!” Her reasoning is “I don’t want to be distracted”, “I just want my shield”, “I certainly don’t want babies” and if that ain’t the most aroace thing then I don’t know what is.

Shortly after this scene, Kel talks to Cleon, which goes something like this...

Cleon: Come down and let me hold you! Kel: No, you come up, and no holding.

Kel is terrified of sex but simultaneously struggling with her self-worth and wanting to be fuckable.

Once Kel and Cleon are officially together, their relationship is pretty romantic, which explains why I didn’t consider she could be aro at first. But even then, I see it as more that she enjoys Cleon’s company and the physical side of their relationship even though they never actually have sex. And the whole time, Cleon is so much more scared than Kel of the inevitable end of their relationship. Kel is much more practical and sees their relationship as doomed from the beginning.

Not related, but I love how Raoul and Buri’s relationship develops. They’re basically mutual beards and best friends. Buri’s such a lesbian, and Raoul is so aro!

When Kel first suggests that Raoul should ask Buri to go to his party with his aunt, she says that Buri “won’t get any romantic notions” which 1) shows how gay Buri is and 2) shows how Kel’s thought process about romance works.

This speaks for itself:

“She had decided years before that she was no prize on the romance market.”

There’s this lovely conversation while the Own is helping some town...

Kel: Why don’t people talk about hard work when it comes to war? All I hear about is glory. Dom: Pretty girls want to hear about glory, not work.

Kel wasn’t thinking about romance as a factor; she didn’t even consider it. While the Own is at Giantkiller, Kel completely forgets about her crush on Dom and it’s pretty much never brought up again.

Another gem of a quote:

“Kel thought asking her for wedding ideas was like asking a cat how to raise a horse, but she did her best.”

Kel and Cleon’s forbidden words are “love” and “marriage” and oh my god that is the most aro thing ever.

Lady Knight

There is so much less romance in this book! That’s great it in general, but it also really establishes Kel as aromantic because this is the book in which she becomes more sure of herself. She thinks about romance much less, which means there’s less things to specify how her reaction to romance proves her aro. I think it was at this point that Tamora Pierce decided that Kel wasn’t going to end up with a romantic partner at the end of her series.

On the way to the Scanran border, Neal and Roald are complaining about being separated from their fiancees, and Kel is so exasperated with them. She feels sorrier for Roald, but she approaches the whole subject with way too critical an eye to be alloromantic.

“She wanted love and children, too—someday.”

She thinks about Cleon, but it’s so distant. She’s imagining that she’ll feel different in the future, because that’s what’s supposed to happen to people, right? But she doesn’t really want love and children.

Kel’s thought of “romance was more pleasant than reality” proves that she doesn’t believe that finding romance is realistic. And as we know, Kel is practical above all.

“Friendship was there, but passion was gone.”

When Kel sees Cleon again after a few years of separation, everything she thought she had felt for him has disappeared.  And multiple times she feels bad about not loving him anymore; that’s textbook aro guilt. She emphasizes that “she could still be his friend even if she couldn’t be his lover.” She isn’t at all surprised that she doesn’t love Cleon anymore. She expected this, and she’s relieved that she was right.

“She wanted no lovers until she had settled the Nothing Man’s account.”

Kel will look for any excuse to not have to deal with romance, and everything that justifies her lack of love will do.

“Beyond kisses, Cleon was her friend.”

This proves that she always saw Cleon mostly as a friend, just a friend she also liked to kiss. To aro people things like that aren’t always cut and dry; she likes to kiss but to her kissing is not a romantic action.

She’s relieved that Cleon isn’t trying to keep things going, because it would hurt too much for both of them and because she didn’t want to have to keep faking romantic love. She’s upset about the end of their relationship because change is hard, not because she wants Cleon. She understands that now and talks to Tobe about it. I’m so proud of her!! She’s coming to terms with herself.

At Haven, Kel sees Dom again and remembers that she had a crush on him, but it’s a minor afterthought after a paragraph of her considering their friendship. When he leaves, she misses his friendship and support and doesn’t even think about romance.

And finally, the second to last paragraph in the whole series all but makes aro Kel explicit representation:

“Lovers, Kel thought, rolling her eyes. At least there was one headache she didn’t have. She was about to tell her friend [Neal] he could wait when she remembered that she’d get to see Dom at Steadfast. It would be nice to able to sit and chat for a while without kidnapping, flight, and war to distract them.”

Sure, that could (and has been) interpreted as Kel’s crush on Dom continuing to manifest, but to me it shows her value of friendship, especially as it immediately follows her declaration that lovers are a headache.

In conclusion, my point at the beginning still stands: this is not necessarily good representation. Kel’s story was written without authorial consideration of her aromanticism. But it is representation. And to me, a queer who grew up reading Kel and identifying more with her than with any of Tamora Pierce’s other heroines, even post-canonical, Word of God revelations of Kel being aro matters a lot. This is especially relevant because of the void that is aro rep—I can only name one or two canon aromantic characters from popular media, and Kel is one of them.

An aromantic lens is required to see Kel’s aromanticism, but it is there. It means something. And even though this post has been like two years in the making, Kel still means a lot to me.