#Anyway i gotta go to sleep so goodnight everybody

[novaiya]

After Midnight - Arthur Morgan, Micah Bell.

Summary: Having spent the entire day traveling with Sean, Charles and Micah, Arthur wants nothing more than to let the sleep overtake him. His plans are sidetracked when Micah wouldn't leave his hotel room, and Arthur has to concentrate hard to ignore the man and his talk as he tries to fall asleep.

Words: 2,313

Warnings: none.

AO3 Link.

A/N: Long story short, I was able to trigger a “Companion” bug in which camp members can follow you on your adventures around the world. Google/Search it on YouTube to get a better sense for what I’m talking about. Anyway, I got Micah, Charles and Sean. I robbed and killed with them for a few hours before deciding to call it a night and went into a hotel. I got Arthur a bath, and as I’m laying in the bath, I see an icon moving toward Arthur’s room. When I left the bath and went into the hotel room, who did I see lol? Micah wouldn’t leave the room no matter what, so Arthur slept with Micah watching over him. Only when Arthur woke up the next morning did Micah finally leave the room. Weirdly enough, only Micah stayed with Arthur in the room, not Sean or Charles, though all of them were supposed to follow Arthur wherever he went.

~ ~ ~

It was nice to hang out with the guys for a change. More often than not, Arthur was alone; he would go hunting alone, collect bounties alone and help people around the country, alone. He enjoyed the solitude, of course, but something about riding with his fellow gang members down the dusty plain, all of them on their respective horses, had him treasure every minute of it. The conversations that they engaged in were a welcomed change to the usual silence that accompanied Arthur on his journeys, and the safety in numbers did not go by unnoticed. He could feel, as they passed by fellow gunslingers and bounty hunters on the road, eyes watching them warily. No one dared to look at them wrong, just the sight of all four of them, with iron on their hips and scars on their faces, made any attempt dissipate as fast as their horses did down the dirt path.

The night had fallen when they rolled into town. The shops were closing down, saloons becoming quieter and streets emptier as they rode through the Main Street. Arthur could feel a yawn make its way up his throat and did nothing to stop it. The day was long, with enough endeavors to last some people a lifetime, and he wanted nothing to do than to wash it away and go to sleep.

As they continued their way up the Main Street, Arthur saw a hotel; a small construction that by the looks of it barely stood together with the rotten boards and rusty nails, but with no other options, it would have to do.

Despite offering them, Sean and Charles declined spending the night in the crappy hotel and said they rather camp outside of town. Arthur didn’t have a chance to extend the same offer to Micah (not that he wanted to either) for the fact that he couldn’t find him (he went to the general store), so after bidding the guys goodnight, he went into the hotel, paid for a room and a bath and went to the latter first.

The first few minutes of being submerged in the water were always the best. Arthur could feel every ounce of stress leave his body along with the dirt. These few moments of peace always made him think of his dog, and despite the fact that the boy was long gone, he always smiled when he remembered him.

As okay as he was with bathing in rivers and lakes, he much preferred the steaming hot water of a hotel bath. He took the time to thoroughly wash himself, sliding the wet rag up and down his arms, legs and back. A satisfied groan would leave his lips now and then as he washed his hair, adding a slight pressure to massage his scalp.

After he finished cleaning himself, he took a deep breath and reclined against the rim of the bath. The smell of peppermint soap filled his senses and with the soap bubbles acting as a blanket, he felt himself drifting off to the dream world. A commotion outside made him let out an exhausted sight and open his eyes. He furrowed his brows as he heard someone enter the room next door, his room.

Perhaps it was Sean or Charles taking him up on his offer, deciding against bunking with coyotes and skunks.

He heaved a deep groan as he exited the bath. After drying himself off and putting on a fresh pair of clothes, he went to his room.

“What the hell are you doin’ here?” Arthur said as soon as he entered the room.

Micah’s back was turned to Arthur as he stood by the window of the room, looking outside. The town was quiet and all its citizens asleep. Micah enjoyed the nighttime, the quietness and calmness it provided. Like all the nighttime creatures, Micah felt the most comfortable when the sun was set and the moon loomed over.

“Well,” Micah said as he turned around, holding a cigarette between his fingers, “As you forgot to invite me, I decided to take matters into my own hands and welcome myself in.”

“Get out of here,” Arthur said as he moved across the room to a nightstand by the bed, removing his satchel and placing it there. He made a point of ignoring the man by the window as he took off his gun belt and placed it next to his satchel.

Micah didn’t move from his spot by the window, though he wasn’t looking through it anymore. As he held the cigarette between his fingers, puffing on it from time to time, he watched Arthur remove his belt, his jackets and his boots, all while his back was to him.

As Arthur turned around, ready to start pulling down his pants, he saw that Micah was still there, eyeing him in such a way that Arthur all of a sudden felt flustered.

“You still here?” he said.

Micah motioned with his hands and shrugged his shoulders without saying anything, implying that Yes, as you can see, I’m still standing here.

Micah moved from his position near the window to lean against a dresser in the center of the room.

Arthur wondered why he hadn't pushed Micah out of the room yet, and why he was now pulling his pants down, stripping down to just his Union suit in front of the man he’s known all 5 months. Not that the length of time they’ve known each other would have an effect on whether he would strip in front of him or not, but still. Perhaps he was too tired to pick a fight.

When down to his sleepwear, Arthur sat at the edge of the bed. The sleep had long passed him, and he was sharply aware that Micah wasn’t moving from his place by the dresser.

“Are you just gonna stand there?” Arthur said.

“Do you want me to stand somewhere else?” Micah replied.

Arthur rolled his eyes before saying, “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

Micah placed the cigarette back between his lips and inhaled the smoke. He kept his eyes on Arthur as he let the smoke escape in a cloud in front of him. After wetting his lips with his tongue, Micah replied as a matter of fact, “I don’t sleep.”

“You don’t-You don’t sleep?” Arthur said, a genuine surprise in his voice at what Micah said. Now that he thought about it though, he realized that he has actually never seen the man sleep before. He’s never seen him sleep, never seen him in his sleepwear and never even seen him lay down. In fact, he didn’t even think Micah had his own tent or a cot to begin with.

“Nope.”

“That’s a load of crap,” Arthur said and waved his hand at Micah, “Everybody's gotta sleep.”

“Not me.”

Despite how outlandish the statement sounded, Arthur found himself believing Micah; If the wrinkles and bags under the man’s eyes were anything to go by.

As if it only now dawned upon him, Arthur cocked his head at Micah and said, “So what did you come here for then? Watch me sleep?”

Micah chuckled, the same way he did when he wanted to undermine someone or simply be an ass.

“If that’s what you want, cowpoke,” he said.

Arthur was far too tired to engage in a pointless verbal quarrel with Micah.

Without replying anything else, he shook his head, got under the thin covers of the hotel bed and turned his back to him, determined to not let the presence of the blonde man ruin his rest.

The sleep didn’t come to him as easily as he hoped. He was hyper aware of Micah behind his back, and in the dead silence of the night, could hear the faint sound of him inhaling the cigarette smoke. He squirmed in the bed, tossing and turning as if the position was at fault for his restlessness and not Micah Bell the Third’s eyes which he could feel on his back.

“I had a brother once,” Micah said, breaking the silence, “Suppose I still do.”

Upon hearing Micah’s voice, Arthur stopped moving and laid still, listening.

“We ran together for a while; me, him and our pa. Did a lot of good stuff. Did a lot of bad stuff. You might’ve even read some of it in the papers,” Micah added with a snicker. “I trusted him. We was brothers, beyond the sense of the word.”

Micah was silent for a good while after, letting his words settle in the air and letting his own thoughts settle as well. The images of all the vile savagery they’ve done together; robbing, stealing, killing, assaulting; flooded his brain, and he couldn’t help but smile at the recollection. The smile fell however, as he remembered what followed after; his brother's hesitations, his wanting to go straight and to leave the life behind. The anger that always boiled inside of Micah came on raging as he remembered the last time he and his brother talked before the latter bailed on him and his father.

Any jest left his voice as he continued. “And then he found himself a whore, knocked her up and hightailed to the West. Last I heard he’s living a cushy rancher life in California.”

The cigarette between his fingers was long forgotten, the cinder from it falling to the ground.

Arthur was now laying on his back, his head slightly towards Micah. “What’s his name?”

“Amos. Amos Bell.”

Arthur let the newfound information settle in his head, before he finally asked, “Why are you telling me all of this?”

Micah shrugged his shoulders before saying, “Thought you might like a bedtime story, seeing as you couldn’t fall asleep.”

Arthur groaned before closing his eyes and said, “Remind me to never let you near Jack.”

Whether it was Micah’s “bedtime story” or the exhaustion finally getting the better of him, but within a few minutes Arthur was out, sprawled out on the hotel bed, light snores coming out of his open mouth.

Micah, just as he said, didn’t sleep all throughout the night. He smoked a couple more cigarettes, drank some whiskey, checked the cabinets and the dressers, and even read Arthur’s journal. The man was deep in slumber, judging by his snores, so Micah didn’t feel any hesitation to reach into his satchel and pull out the one item that Arthur was always protective over.

He casually flipped through the pages; a drawing of a horse, a drawing of a bunny, another drawing of a horse, a portrait of a random camp member, another drawing of a horse?! For a moment, he thought Arthur was carrying around Jack’s drawing journal, with all the doodles of horses and squirrels and birds that he saw there. That was until he started coming upon short chronicles and daily logs, some of them detailing mundane things such as the bounties Arthur caught or strangers that he helped, other, more grim, such as plans of bank robberies and the friends who had fallen.

As he flipped through the pages, a log caught his attention.

November 12, 1898

Got into a bar fight when Dutch tried to sell that gold we found few weeks back. The locals don’t seem to take too kindly to strangers in these parts. Can’t blame them. We was fighting to an inch of our life when a stranger joined in. I wasn’t sure if he was on our side or not, but when the opposition started dropping, I understood. Micah Bell's name is, I think. Dutch offered him to join the gang, and he accepted. Not sure what I think of him yet. He seems hot headed and reckless, but he’s good with his guns and that’s all that matters. We’ll see.

As he flipped to the next page, something that almost never happened with Micah did; he was caught by surprise.

The very next page after the previous log was fully dedicated to a portrait of him. His mouth hung ajar as he looked at himself on the paper. The carefully drawn eyes, the long, unkempt hair, the horseshoe mustache, and his classic white hat. Even the fire and the fury in his eyes was translated onto the paper, and in the top right corner, two letters in cursive, MB.

All of a sudden, Micah felt flustered, another emotion that rarely made an appearance. He shot close the journal, a little too suddenly, and his eyes flew to Arthur’s sleeping form on the bed. He was sprawled on the bed, sheets entangled in his legs and his arms above his head, still sleeping. Micah walked to the nightstand where Arthur satchel was and slid the journal back inside before going to his previous position by the window.

The night was as dark as ever, with the sky littered with innumerable stars. Micah lit yet another cigarette and brought it to his lips. He hesitated for a moment, sending a side glance to Arthur. Vulnerable and frail, asleep and practically naked, Micah could kill him right now. No one would hear a thing as he’d plunge the knife deep into Arthur’s chest, killing him so quickly Arthur would barely have a moment to open his eyes. It would take hours for them to realize something was wrong, and at that point, Micah would be long gone, his horse’s footprints the only thing left.

A small rasp from Arthur brought Micah back to reality. He shuffled a bit, turning to his side before pulling the covers tighter over his body. The night once again fell quiet, only the sound of coyotes crying in the distance. Micah stood motionless for a few seconds, his hands itching, before he turned his attention back to the window and put the cigarette back to his lips.

#arthur morgan #micah bell #rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #red dead redemption #rdr2 fanfic #rdr2 imagines #rdr2 one shot #arthur morgan one shot #arthur morgan headcanons #arthur morgan fanfic #arthur morgan imagines #arthur morgan imagine #rdr2 headcanon #rdr2 imagine #rdr2 fanfiction #micah bell imagine

[andorerso]

let the cat out of the bag

Modern AU. M-rated, no smut but lot of references to sex. Super silly!

It starts after the first time they sleep together.

They aren’t dating, they aren’t even friends – but he’s the hot classmate she always had a thing for, and when they’re paired up for a project that leads her to invite him up to her apartment to prepare, she can’t hold herself back anymore.

It’s clearly mutual; she hasn’t picked up on it before, but it’s hard to ignore it then. Cassian is giving her signals, flirting even, and she doesn’t think too much of it before she kisses him. His response is pretty enthusiastic, and it isn’t long before their clothes disappear.

Studying blissfully forgotten – for the time – Jyn has the pleasure of enjoying the best sex of her life. And that’s all it’s supposed to be. They both agree that neither of them has time for a relationship, but that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy the hot sex between them every once in a while, and hot sex, it is. A quick discussion in bed to make sure they’re on the same page, and they move right onto round two. Then three and four.

Truthfully, they don’t get any studying done that night.

Then between rounds three and four, Cassian gets up to get a quick snack for themselves from her fridge while she goes to use the bathroom. She finds him scratching her cat’s ears when she emerges, totally unaware of the incredulous stare she’s giving him.

“Hey, cute cat,” he says, his lips quirking up into a smile when Mimi arches her body towards him, butting his palm with her head. She’s purring, and Jyn feels like she’s in a different dimension. “What’s her name?”

“Uhm.” Shaking her head free of confusion, she says, “Mimi. She usually doesn’t take to strangers like this.”

That’s an understatement. Mimi looks like a harmless floof, and it usually lures unsuspecting victims into underestimating her, which is a big mistake to make. She has a vicious streak; many a guest and even friends have ended up with nasty scratch marks for daring to try and touch her. Bodhi is terrified of her to this day and jokingly calls her Jyn’s “doppelganger.”

“She’s you in cat form,” he told her affectionately. Jyn rolled her eyes but he wasn’t too far off.

Mimi doesn’t like strangers and she doesn’t trust them. She isn’t a particularly affectionate cat to begin with, not even with Jyn – who is undoubtedly the only person she seems to tolerate.

So it’s a shock, to say at least, to see Cassian rubbing Mimi behind her ears and his hand not being bitten off. In fact, Mimi’s eyes are closed in contentment, a low purring sound reverberating through her tiny body. Jyn almost feels a little jealous – but of who, she isn’t sure.

Cassian looks up at her with a quirk of his lips, eyes sparkling in amusement.

“Guess I’m special then.”

Then it goes on.

Jyn brings Cassian home one night, pushing him to the sofa and crawling into his lap without much preamble, attaching her mouth back to his. She grabs his cock, not in the mood for foreplay, and hears Cassian hiss in response. But just as she’s about to take off her shirt, Mimi jumps up on the couch and meows loudly.

Jyn breaks away in surprise. It isn’t like her cat to be so needy – but as she blinks at Mimi in confusion, she realizes she isn’t groveling for her attention.

Of course.

Cassian laughs in amusement, like this is all funny, and reaches out to give Mimi an affectionate pat on the head.

“Hey, Mimi. Missed me, did you?”

What the fuck is going on.

Jyn stares at them both incredulously. She’s just trying to get some good dick, goddammit, and here is her own cat, usually a grouch, being a cockblock because she decided she’s just as putty in Cassian Andor’s hands as any other girl.

He really has a certain effect on the female population but this is ridiculous.

Jyn clears her through loudly, drawing Cassian’s attention back to her.

“Sorry, do you wanna keep playing with that pussy or mine?”

“Jesus, Jyn.”

Surprise etched on his face, she feels a momentary thrill of satisfaction at having scandalized him.

“Too much?”

“No, that’s… that’s fine, just – not in front of your cat.”

“Come on, she can’t understand you.”

“It’s weird.”

As they’re talking, Mimi puts her little paw on Cassian’s shoulder as though she is begging for his attention, like the desperate little whore she is. Jyn gives her a glare. Traitor.

“You just like her because she likes you.”

“Yeah, so? I must be doing something right here.”

“I’ll show you something right,” she murmurs somewhat menacingly, then kisses him again, pushing his chest until he’s lying fully on his back. Perfect.

Maybe she’ll suck his dick now. She would bet he won’t be thinking about her cat then.

Satisfied with that plan, she reaches for his jeans and promptly undoes his zipper. He gives her a weird look and glances sideways at Mimi who’s now sitting on the armrest, watching them curiously. Jesus.

“Uhm, Jyn? Can we move this to your bedroom? I don’t want your cat to see my dick.”

She rolls her eyes but stands up, landing him a hand. “Why not? I walk around her naked all the time.”

“And I’m sure she’s very traumatized from that,” he jokes, earning himself a punch to the chest. As she turns around, his echoing laughter follows her all the way inside her bedroom.

Jyn complains about it to Bodhi a few weeks later, grumbling about how her own cat likes her fuck buddy more than she likes her. It’s some sort of karmic joke for sure.

“I swear he’s the cat whisperer or something,” she groans.

Bodhi hums noncommittally. His expression is too neutral which is… worrying.

“Maybe Mimi is onto something.”

She blinks at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that she literally hates everybody but you.”

“She doesn’t hate you,” Jyn protests feebly. “She’s just not a fan of people.”

“But somehow, she likes this guy,” Bodhi goes on, ignoring her intervention. “Think maybe she’s picking up on your feelings?”

“You’re reaching,” Jyn tells him firmly, ignoring the way her heartbeat speeds up for some reason. “I don’t even know him.”

“You know him plenty well from what I understand.”

Jyn rolls her eyes again.

“It’s not gonna happen, Bodhi.”

“Sure, okay,” he agrees like the good sport he is. She can tell he doesn’t agree but he isn’t the type to push. “But I’ll tell you this – your cat is smarter than you.”

And Jyn punches his shoulder.

She’s literally riding Cassian when there’s a distinct high-pitched meow from the other side of the door. Jyn stops bouncing on his dick, turning her incredulous stare to the closed door of her bedroom. Cassian laughs.

“Oh, you gotta be kidding with me.”

“Ignore it,” he tells her, grabbing her chin and tilting her face back to his.

“But –” she begins but can’t finish as Cassian gives her a searing kiss and rolls his hips up to hers. Fuck it. Ignore it, she will.

In the end, the noises they make are louder than Mimi’s anyway.

When Cassian is leaving that night, Mimi runs quickly to his feet, a ball of white fluff as she circles his legs, purring. And wailing. Wailing, it seems, to stop him from leaving.

Jyn buries her face in her hand, embarrassed beyond belief, but Cassian is, of course, incredibly amused by all this. She almost wonders if he actually likes Mimi more than her.

“Hey, what is it?” he asks as he crouches down and gives Mimi another good rub under her chin. Jyn’s heart gives a strange beat at the sight. “Wanna come with me? I don’t think Jyn would like that very much.”

“Take her,” she deadpans, dedicated to ignoring the weird fluttering in her stomach. “She clearly likes you more.”

He stands up, smirking at her. “We have a connection. Don’t be jealous.”

“Of who?” she retorts, her tone sarcastic… though, it could have been a serious question.

Cassian doesn’t answer but his smile widens. Almost like he sees right through her act. She can’t tell if it thrills or makes her uncomfortable.

“Goodnight, Jyn.”

He leans in to kiss her cheek, her eyes fluttering shut at the unexpected gesture. She keeps them firmly closed even as she hears him bend down to give Mimi one more affectionate rub before grabbing his coat.

At the sound of her closing door, Jyn’s eyes open, her breath leaving her chest in a whoosh. She stares at Mimi with unconcealed resentment as the cat blinks up at her in innocence.

“This is all your fault.”

So.

Maybe she’s catching feelings. Whatever. It’s fine.

It’s just her stupid cat’s fault – seeing them together, seeing him so in tune with her, it’s messing with her head. Mimi is a pain in the ass but she’s Jyn’s baby, and she’s never met anyone who actually liked her and wasn’t mildly scared of her.

That’s all. If she doesn’t see them together anymore, she’ll be fine.

The next time Cassian comes over, Jyn has locked Mimi in the kitchen with fresh water and plenty of food to last her the night. The little devil has nothing to complain about. But as soon as Cassian arrives and they start taking their clothes off, scattered along the hallway, Mimi begins to scratch at the door, wailing tragically. Jyn pretends she doesn’t hear but Cassian does not.

“Hey, isn’t that Mimi?” he gasps, out of breath as Jyn is kissing down his bare chest.

She glances up at him with a pointed look. “Are you here to see her or me?”

Then she swirls her tongue around his nipple which renders him speechless for a moment.

But he doesn’t give up. “Doesn’t she want to come out?”

Jyn pulls away now, straightening to look at him. “She’ll be fine. But if you don’t have your fingers in me in the next five minutes, I won’t be.”

With that, she pulls him towards her bathroom, and Cassian doesn’t resist any longer.

It doesn’t last though.

She manages to stop them from meeting a few times when Cassian comes over, always getting straight to business, then throwing him out the door the minute they’re done. She feels a little bad about it, honestly – but they agreed on no strings attached from the start so she doesn’t owe him anything. Besides, she makes sure to treat him really well while he’s still here so he has nothing to complain about. She’s a thorough lover.

Still, Mimi gives her the stink eye every time she lets her out of the kitchen, and Jyn realizes she can’t keep this up forever. Not if she wants to continue seeing Cassian – and well, why wouldn’t she? It’s been a few months since they started sleeping together but the sex hasn’t gotten boring yet. She’s prepared to hold out until it does, or until one of them finds an actual relationship. (Which is more likely to be him than her but alas. That’s fine too.)

Yet, the ever-rising threat of catching feelings for Cassian almost makes her reconsider. Maybe it’s better to cut her losses now. She can’t – wouldn’t – get rid of Mimi. If one of them has to go, it would have to be Cassian.

That’s what Jyn is thinking about when Cassian comes over that night and Mimi runs to the door to greet him. She had hidden under the couch the whole afternoon, refusing to move no matter how much Jyn tried. No treats, no food, no toy got her to come out. She waited until the knock on the door came and sprinted straight to Cassian’s legs.

His face lights up in a smile like he’s actually missed the stupid cat too. Jyn can only watch in horror as he crouches down to greet her like an old friend.

“Hey there, buddy. How are you today?”

It’s not like she’s gonna answer you, stupid, Jyn thinks, but she’s aware that she’s being a bit nasty. It usually tends to happen when feelings are involved.

“There you go,” he murmurs, rubbing Mimi’s chin. “Good girl.”

Jyn’s face flushes at that, remembering other times she’s heard him say those words.

“Don’t call her that,” she chokes out, voice a little strained. Cassian looks up at her, his gaze darkening with lust as their eyes meet, but he doesn’t answer. He stands abruptly, walking over to her without a word, and kisses her.

It’s a hard kiss, not something to ease them into it, just getting straight to business. Jyn doesn’t mind but her head reels from the sharp turn as he breaks away to bite her earlobe, his hands groping for her breasts. Her breath and legs are getting a little shaky. With a quick maneuver, he lifts her up, her legs locking around his waist as he carries her into the bedroom.

He goes down on her without even taking off all of her clothes, and right then, Mimi is the farthest thing from her mind.

For the first time since they started having sex, they fall asleep together.

Usually, Cassian takes a shower, gets dressed, goes on about his business. Jyn doesn’t mind, it’s the arrangement they have.

But something about tonight has been… intense and exhausting – in a good way. She could barely feel her limbs by the time they finished, and when Cassian collapsed next to her, breathing heavily, she didn’t say anything. Let him catch his breath, she figured. But the warmth radiating from him was so reassuring and comfortable that her eyes quickly fluttered closed, and she must have fallen asleep after that. When she wakes, it’s after midnight, and though she distinctly remembers resting her head against Cassian’s shoulder, he’s now gone.

Bitter disappointment unfurling in her stomach, she sits up slowly. It’s for the best. She doesn’t need any more confusing feelings. But god, her sheets still smell like him, and she admits to herself that maybe she has a little crush and it isn’t just because of her cat.

It’s a thought she regrets as soon as she walks out of her bedroom. Because there, in all his glory, stands Cassian – petting her cat.

And seeing him half-naked, hair a mess, smile soft and mellow, stroking a purring Mimi is an image that she knows she won’t be able to get rid of. She can’t take back her confession now. The longing she feels as she stares at them is undeniable.

“What are you doing?” she whispers to make her presence known, her voice still sleepy.

Cassian looks at her but his hands never leave Mimi’s head.

“I’m petting your cat.”

“I can tell. You’re supposed to be petting me,” she says, but it’s quiet and lacking the exasperation she usually feels in these moments.

“I already have,” he points out, matching her tone. The smile on his face is gentle rather than smug, in contrast with his words.

“Cassian,” she begins, taking a deep breath before biting the bullet. “You can’t do this.”

“What?” he asks, and he seems genuinely confused.

Jyn gestures around with her hands. “Be nice to my cat.”

His eyebrows rise high, looking more confused than before.

“I’m sorry?”

“It’s just – it’s not helping me a lot.”

“With what?”

“With my crush on you,” Jyn groans, giving up on fighting it. What the hell, she might as well see what he thinks. Maybe he feels the same.

And if not – well, she’s only losing the best sex of her life. She can deal with that, probably.

Stunned silence follows. Then he lets out a chuckle, his eyes sparkling in amusement.

“I’m sorry, am I so irresistible petting your cat that you’re literally asking me to stop being nice to her?”

Jyn grumbles. When he put it like that…

“I’m not asking you to kick her in the head. Just stop petting her, maybe?”

“Okay.” He nods a few times, stepping away from Mimi who meows once in outrage. Without taking his eyes off her, Cassian moves closer. “Then I have a better proposal for you. How about you let me take you out on a date and I keep being nice to your cat?”

“I…” Jyn pauses. Oh. She was hoping for this but she didn’t let herself believe in it. A slow smile unfurls on her lips. “I think Mimi would like that.”

Cassian, now close enough to touch, winds his arms around her neck, her hands going around his waist.

“And you? Would you like that?”

“Yeah.” She smiles up at him shyly. “I think I would like it too.”

And when she looks at Mimi, Jyn swears she looks a little smug

#rebelcaptain #dailyrebelcaptain #therebelcaptainnetwork #my fics #i wanted to put in the prompt but i can't link nor put in the picture #because it doesn't show up in the tags that way #sigh #ANYWAY super silly but i enjoyed this #mimi the cat

[xxisxxisxxis]

Special Preview: Gateway Drug | 1988

- Tag List: @unknownoblivion  @edwardtriggerhandzz  @haileynicoleseavey17  @cierrasixx19  @oskea93  @mgkobsessed  @sharon6713  @itsametaphorbriansblog  @miriampraez  @allie-mcginn @xpoisonousrosesx  @rebeccaphillips14  @nicholeh7 @lilmou5ie  @tamedhearts  @divaanya  @6ixx6ixx  @ratedrkohardychick91  @floregrohlssard  @oldschoolimagineblog  @thanks2pete  @abaldboi  @liith-ium  @jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels  @ytwahsog  @scarecrowmax  @random-internet-user-4471  @solohqrry  @sparxx27  @kaitieskidmore1  @cruecifymesixx    @meetthesixxter   @sublimeprincesswasteland  @arianareirg  @gingerspicetalks

@fancywasmyname1  @teller258316  @ggorehorror  @blowinmeupwithherlove  @xrosegoldwolfx  @mylifeisjustafeverdream  @redlipscrystalskies14 @str4nge-haze @reigns420 @sixxseconds2love @leatherandheels @dogmom2014 @allyouneedislove-mp3 @n0-self-c0ntro1 @viinceneil

.

.

.

I lean down and pick Monroe up off of my bed, grinning at him as he looks at me with wide eyes and a mouth full of pacifier. 

I already miss him. 

"You ready?" Dad asks when I get to the kitchen, grabbing Monroe's bottle and checking the temperature of it. 

"Viv, you don't have time to feed him right now. He'll be here any second." Dad tells me and I ignore him, popping the cap off and Monroe spits out his pacy and eagerly accepts his food. 

A car pulls into the driveway and my stomach churns as my father goes to check who it is. 

"Viv, your boyfriend's here!" Slash calls from my guest bedroom before coming out with Steven. 

I grab my purse and head to the door, the two of them following after me to go out, too, opening it to see Nikki standing there with flowers…

"H-Hi…" he starts, nervously, and I look him over for a moment, really appreciating his time in the gym.

"Hi." I reply, smiling. 

"These are for you." He tells me, and I take the flowers. 

"Thanks." I tell him, feeling everybody's presence behind me. 

I slowly turn to see my dad and the boys looking at us, knowingly. 

"I want her back at midnight." Dad says, plucking the flowers from my hand, and Nikki awkwardly laughs it off…"I'm being serious." Dad states, raising a brow. "I know you had issues with getting her home at a reasonable hour back when you two started dating, but this time I don't have to make myself overlook it to avoid her mother finding out about her seeing you...so I'm telling you, 12:00am your car better be in this driveway and she better be at the door. Or I'm coming after you, understood?" 

Nikki glances at me, waiting for me to protest it, but I honestly don't see a problem with it. I wanna be in early, anyway. 

"Got it." Nikki nods.

"And anything you do to her, I'm gonna do to you." Dad adds. 

"Dad." I mumble, glaring at him. 

Nikki looks slightly disturbed. 

"Have fun." He grins sarcastically, adding, "I love you." 

"Shit, gimme a second, man, I forgot my keys." Slash tells Steven in the background. 

"Love you, too." I say to my dad before shutting the door. 

"I didn't realize your dad was such a hard ass." Nikki comments as we walk to his car and I'm slightly shocked when he follows me and opens the door for me. 

"Thanks." I tell him, rubbing my lips together and sliding in.

"So," Nikki clears his throat uncomfortably…"Where to?" 

"Oh, it doesn't matter to--"

We're interrupted by knocking on Nikki's window, seeing Slash and Steven leaning down to see us. 

Nikki rolls the window down. 

"Hey, man." Slash says to him, chuckling lightly with a wide smile.

"Hey," Nikki says in the same tone. 

"You two be careful." He orders, half joking. 

"Oh, yeah, we will." Nikki assures him. 

"Yeah, and don't do anything we would do." Steven adds suggestively, and my face burns red. 

"And if you do, use these," Slash pulls a couple condoms from his pocket and hands them to Nikki. 

"Oh, my god." I whisper to myself, embarrassed. 

Nikki just smiles, tight lipped, avoiding making it worse. 

"Thanks." He replies. 

"We gotta head out." Slash pats the door. "See ya later, though, okay?" 

"Oh, for sure." Nikki nods. 

"Goodnight, love birds." Steven teases as the two of them go to Slash's car. 

Nikki rolls the window back up and tosses the condoms in the glove box, sighing. 

"I'm not having sex with you tonight." I inform him out of nowhere and he looks at me. 

"I already said in therapy I think it'd be a good idea to take things slow this time since we didn't the first time." He reminds me, almost as if he's offended I suggested he'd want to sleep with me on our first date back together (kind of).

"Well, I'm just saying."

"And I'm just saying." He states as we pull out of the driveway. 

We end up at a diner, and it's painfully quiet for a little bit before I decide to ask him…

"How's the, um, album going?" 

He sips his coke and thinks for a second before replying, "it's going good."

No elaboration, no conversation. My ice breaker failed me. 

"Oh." I nod. "Good."

"Yep." He adds. 

More silence. 

"So, is Monroe getting used to going between you and Duff yet?"

"Yeah, he's gotten used to his schedule so...it's gonna be a little hard having to miss a few visits here and there when they're across the world but other than that he's been doing good, so…" 

"Good." 

……...More silence. 

"Here's your eggs and sausage," the waitress hands me my plate, "And pancakes, and here's your steak and eggs." She hands Nikki his. "Can I get you any ketchup, hotsauce, steak sauce?" She offers. 

"Steak sauce is fine, thanks." Nikki tells her, nicely. 

Very nicely. 

Too nicely. 

I cut my eyes at him. 

"Coming right up." She steps away, glancing back over her shoulder at him for a just a millisecond and I scoff as he starts cutting his food. 

"That hasn't changed." I mumble. 

"What?" 

"'Steak sauce is fine thanks'," I mock him. "'And you can suck it off my balls if you want to, too'." I add. 

"Vivian, I'm being nice. Would you rather me call her a cunt and pour my drink on her for not bringing the sauce without me having to ask? Because Nikki one year ago would have done that."

"He would've had her bent over a sink all in the same hour, too..."

He drops his silverware onto the table and looks at me, unamused. 

"Do you just want me to take you back home?" He asks me, a hurt expression on his face. 

I think about it for a moment. 

"Because I'm trying to make this work and I'm trying not to mess this up with you this time but you need to meet me halfway, Vivian." He tells me. 

"Here's that sauce for you." She comes back and puts it in front of him. "Enjoy your meal." She adds, glancing at him and he rolls his eyes, picking up his silverware once more to finish cutting his steak up. 

"I'm sorry." I admit, feeling bad for trying to start an argument. "It's just weird being together and not fighting about something. We haven't just sat down and had a good time without it turning into a fight in years." I remind him. 

"Well, that's my fault." He admits. "And like I said I want to start over so let's just not do that shit this time. Deal?" He asks. 

"Deal." I agree, taking a sip of my water. 

We eat our food in silence, awkwardly waiting for the other to say something…

Nikki just finishes his food and looks at me, looking like he's thinking about something. 

"Whats up?" I ask him, cautiously. 

"Ya wanna go somewhere with me?" 

"Okay, the amount of times I've heard that and it's turned out to be in a bathroom, or the back of a car, or--"

"--No, not this time. I promise." He innocently insists and I rub my lips together, extending my pinky out to him. 

He grins and wraps his pinky with mine. 

We end up on the sunset strip, and when we pull onto the side of the street in front of the boys' old apartment, I furrow my brows.

"What are we doing here?" I ask him as he opens the door. 

"You comin'?" He asks me, and I take a breath and get out, following him. 

"Can we be out here?" I whisper, glancing around.

"Probably not." He replies as we walk up the fire escape to the window.

"Is anybody living here, Nikki?" I ask. 

"Yes, Viv, people are living here and we're just gonna break in on them." He says smartly and I roll my eyes. 

I guess the jank window lock never got fixed because he's lifting it up with a mere shake. 

"Get in." He nods, smiling at me. 

"Nikki, this is trespassing." I inform him, hesitant to climb through the window. 

"Viv, get in the apartment." He nudges me and I laugh. 

"Nikki…" 

"You gotta quit being that scared little church girl at some point, Viv, now c'mon." He chuckles, but I know he's being serious. 

I just look at him and shake my head a little before sliding into the apartment. 

He follows after me, pulling the window back down as we're in the pitch black apartment, the only light is from the neon shining in the street from the strip. 

"I wonder how many roaches would scram if we turned the lights on." He says without a thought and my skin crawls. 

"The lights probably aren't even on anymore since nobody's lived here in a while." I point out, keeping my voice down. 

"You think?" He chuckles, stepping through the living room, going to the kitchen. 

His hand goes to the top of the fridge, fumbling around where I used to keep candles in case the power went out. 

He's finding one that's covered in dust, but he just blows it off and digs in his pocket, pulling out a lighter.

He lights it and it only helps a little to help us see better, but enough to know where bugs are and aren't. 

I don't see any as of now, checking the stained carpet for rat crap before sitting down as he steps to me and does the same…

"I think it's important for you to know that this exact spot is where Vince and I came in to see Tommy screwing this chick just so he could drive her car." He informs me.

"What?" 

"Tommy had this girl and she said if he fucked her she'd let him drive her car, it was like a corvette I think or something but she was cute, she was a bigger girl, though." He explains. "So if you can imagine, me and Vince walking in and there's Tommy, on top of her, his legs barely able to touch the ground because of how big she was and he was a fucking shrimp so of course it didn't go too hot." He adds. 

"What did you do? Did you just leave or--"

"--We sat down and watched them finish." He admits and I widen my eyes. 

"Nikki, ew!" I wrinkle my nose. 

"What, it was funny watching him struggle to handle that much ass." He chuckles and I shake my head.

"You're disgusting."

"They didn't care." 

"You're a pervert." I declare. 

"Don't act like you haven't known that." He cuts his eyes at me. "That's probably one of the things that made you all hot and heavy for me in the first place." 

"Oh, please." I scoff. 

He chuckles a little more, getting quiet for a second. 

"What did make you interested in me?" He asks me and I look at him and shyly grin, making him raise his brows.

"I can't tell you that." I shake my head. 

"No, now you have to tell me." He licks his lips. 

"I can't." I laugh, feeling my face heat up. 

"Vivian Sixx, come on." He nudges me. 

"You're gonna think I'm shallow." I tell him. "And selfish." 

"Bullshit." He states, looking at me. "Try me."

"Well, you were very attractive and opinionated...and good in bed." I confess. 

"What?!" He sounds surprised and I roll my eyes. "Oh, no, no, all this about how much you loved me only for me to find out that the only reason you were even with me to begin with was because I could make your eyes roll to the back of your head." He teases, mimicking a hurt voice. "I was a piece of meat used for your pleasure. Wow." He adds. 

"Oh, like I wasn't that to you, then?" I ask, trying not to laugh.

"That was the plan at first." He admits. 

"At first?" 

"Yeah...then, ya know…I liked doing that stuff with you and then I liked just being around you." He tells me. 

"So it's safe to say the only reason we even got together was because we were inconsolably horny?" I ask. 

"Without a doubt." He rubs his eyes. "But see that's why I wanna take things slow this time. I've never taken anything slow and I feel like we didn't have time to really know each other before we got married because we were in a cloud of puppy love and lust and shit and jumped into it." He points out. 

"You're telling me." I smile.

"I didn't even think you'd want to do this." He tells me out of nowhere and I furrow my brows and look at him. 

"Do what?" 

"Hangout with me." He rubs his forehead.

"Nikki, c'mon." I scoff, elbowing him gently. 

"I just didn't see it happening this soon." He laughs it off.

"Why not?" 

"I thought you hated me." He says. 

"What?" 

"I mean, during therapy and stuff you were dealing with everything going on, I guess, and just got really hostile and I thought you'd end up wanting the divorce after I told you everything that happened and--"

"--I got knocked up with a man's baby whose career you helped and someone you thought of as a friend at one point." I point out. "I know we weren't technically together anymore but you still stayed when you could've left and I know that was hard. So if you could do that, there was no question about staying with you. I knew when we agreed to work things out that we'd have to hurt each other some more with the shit neither of us knew about over the years, but we have it behind us now so it's okay." I tell him. 

"I guess we just weren't ready to be together." He suggests. 

"No, we weren't." I shake my head. "But we're good right now." 

He smiles, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Yeah, we are." 

We sit silently for a moment, just looking at each other...his pretty eyes framed by black hair that isn't in its once mandatory teased state, his jaw is a little more pronounced since he's been working out, a few new tattoos on his arms. 

I blink slowly, the two of us getting closer without realizing it, and it's when he's glancing between my eyes and lips that my skin heats up and I have to get some space between us. 

"Um," I sit up, leaning back on my palms, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and he clears his throat, "I like your tattoos." I say to him, and he glances at his right arm and raises his brows. 

"Thanks, I'm getting them filled in, soon, and then I kinda want a whole sleeve by the time the album's done." He explains. 

I notice the "V" on his arm is now a "IV" and the small script "SIXX" is over it, as if adding an emphasis. 

"You fixed that." I comment, running my thumb over the ink. 

"Yeah, I had it done, like, the second week of January." He mumbles with an awkward look on his face. 

"Oh, I haven't noticed." I reply. 

"Well, I noticed you got that," he points to the small space between my ear and my hairline. "What's up with '17'?" He asks. 

"Something Izzy told me once when I was feeling crappy about myself. He told me I was a seventeen out of ten and it's something I've been kinda repeating to myself when I feel like I'm failing the whole independent thing." I admit. 

"Independent thing?" He asks, slightly confused. 

"You know, living by myself, doing things on my own?"

"Your dad's not staying with you?" 

"No, Nikki, he comes to babysit Monroe but he's not living with me full-time or anything. And Duff and Mandy are just down the road if I need them and Sharise and Heather and Emi come to visit and stay with me sometimes but other than that it's me and Monroe." 

"You used to couldn't even sleep by yourself, let alone live by yourself." He states.

"Well, you used to couldn't go a night without going to clubs and coming home at 4:00am high but look at you, now." I point out. 

"Point taken." He nods. 

"We're slowly turning into grown-ups." I add. 

"I guess we are." He agrees.

"Yeah." 

Again, he hones in on my lips, his hand coming up to grab my jaw gently, pulling me in to kiss him. 

"Nikki," I say quietly just as our lips brush together, "if you kiss me, I'm gonna end up face down, ass up, and I don't want to mess this up." I continue and he smirks, pressing a quick, chaste kiss to my lips, before leaning away from me, standing up. 

"I think it's nearly your curfew." He tells me, extending his hand to help me up. 

I nod, trying to hide my smile, before taking his hand and letting him help me up. 

When we pull into my driveway, I unbuckle and look at him, grinning. 

"I had fun." I tell him, about to open the door. "Why did we go there tonight?" I ask him before I leave, and he shrugs. 

"I figured since we're starting over we might as well have gone where we started together, you know." He tells me and I feel something pull in my heart. 

"Thank you, for tonight, Nikki." I say, genuinely, and he grabs my hand and kisses my knuckles. 

"Later, Sixx." He says and I grin.

"Later." I get out and shut the door, giving a small wave before stepping into the house, seeing my dad's already got the flowers on display in a vase on the table. 

I slowly start smiling, bigger and bigger until my cheeks hurt and a girlish squeal is echoing through the foyer while I kick my heels off and jump up and down, butterflies in my stomach.

#gateway drug #nikki sixx #nikki sixx x oc #nikki sixx fanfiction

[edweenie]

"If you want something done, you gotta do it yourself" -Me, while writing RiDe fluff until 3am

Richtofen gazed upon the castle that he grew to enjoy over the past few months. At first he was a little hesitant about being here, but as time went by, he actually had ended up enjoying it- well, as much as he could, anyway. Other than the typical zombie hoards and the constant gnawing of hunger in his stomach, the trip to Austria hadn’t been so bad overall. Though, the cold nights were also a pain in the-

“Hey, Doc?”

Richtofen spun around to the sound of the familiar voice of his American friend.

“What is it, Dempsey?”

“Did I interrupt you muttering to yourself?”

Richtofen crossed his arms.

“I may have a couple loose screws, but I definitely don’t talk to myself!”

Tank rolled his eyes, a slight smile on his face.

“I don’t!”

The Marine ignored him. “Anyways, Doc. You told me we could talk later, so…” Tank raised his eyebrows. “...Now’s a good time?”

Damn it. That’s right. 

Dempsey’s been asking to talk to the German for close to a week now, and every effort has been in vain. Richtofen was terrified of the Marine, however, it never used to be like this. Ever since, back in Germany,  he’d catch himself starring for a second too long, or his stomach turning when he walked past and was able to get a subtle whiff of the American man’s unique scent. And he hoped to God he didn’t remember when Tank had kissed him on the cheek that one time they all got a tad intoxicated… 

He didn’t want Dempsey to notice how he has been acting, though he probably already did. This ‘talk’ is probably Dempsey telling Richtofen to back off. To not be so creepy. He didn’t know what suddenly had gotten a hold of him. It was not like the German to grow feelings for someone, especially so soon. After all, this isn’t highschool. There’s no time or place for puny little crushes.

“Nein, Dempsey. I’m an extremely busy man. Please, go bother Takeo.”

Richtofen made a shooing motion with his hand and proceeded to walk in the opposite direction. 

“Oh, come the hell on, Richtofen!”

Tank picked up a wad of snow before packing it into a ball and throwing it towards the Germans back. Without even a flinch after hitting him spot on, Richtofen’s figure slowly faded into the distance, while Tank stood there with his arms crossed, kicking the snow on the ground. 

“He can be such a little bastard. Who does he think he is, acting all high and mighty when…” Tank cupped his hands around his mouth. “EVERYBODY HERE HATES HIM!” he yelled. 

*Later That Night*

The fire felt so warm against the pale skin of the doctor…

This was always the most peaceful time, when they’d all gather around the fire and eat together, clean their guns, and sometimes talk over the events of the day. Nikolai and Dempsey would always have something to say, whether it was them complaining about the meal or arguing about who killed more zombies. Once you looked past the annoyance of the two, Richtofen and Takeo found themselves, more often than not, chuckling at their behavior. 

“...and then there came out big Russian bear-  at least nine feet tall, with razor sharp claws.”

“What’d you do, Nik? Climb up his back and slit his throat?” Dempsey questioned, sarcasm in his voice as if he didn’t believe the story to begin with.

“Not even close! I kept him as pet.” Nikolai said, matter-of-factly. 

The three chuckled.

“I don’t know why you laugh, this is true story. I had him for three years.”

“Okay, Nik. Whatever you say.”

They continued eating among the warmth of the fire, sprouting comments here and there.

Dempsey sat up and stretched, overexaggerating his groan. 

“Well, friends, I think I’m gonna turn in for the night.” He said, walking away from the group. “If you need me, don’t.”

After some more time by the fire, the other three men decided to rest as well. Richtofen cleaned all of the cans up while Nikolai and Takeo put out the fire and made sure everything was back in place. 

“I’ll talk to you two tomorrow,” Richtofen said, waving goodnight.

“Goodnight, doctor.” Takeo waved.

*

Richtofen stood by his door, hands on his hips. 

“Do you think it’s funny, American? Do you think it’s funny to annoy me?”

Tank sat there, at the doctors own desk, leaning back in his chair and looking up at him with raised eyebrows and his right leg casually crossed over his left. 

“Do you think it’s funny to constantly blow me off?”

Richtofen let out a single and exaggerated ‘ha’.

“Blow you off? Americans can be so daft! I told you I was busy. Why don’t you run off to bed like you said you were going to, hm? Or does the big bad Marine need to be tucked in?”

“I ain’t going anywhere until you talk to me.”

“Get out before you really piss me off!”

Tank sat up and began to raise his voice. “Talk to me before you piss me off!”

Richtofen kicked the desk. 

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” he practically screamed, his voice echoing throughout the stone walls. 

Tank sat there, looking up at the German’s bulging veins and red face. 

“Why are you so angry?” Tank questioned, almost in a whisper. “I just wanted to talk to you.” the American stood up, moving so fast the chair behind him fell backwards. “No wonder nobody here trusts you.” and with that, Tank walks past the German while purposely shoving him with the side of his body. 

**

Richtofen sighed. He’d been tossing and turning for hours. Though struggling with insomnia is a normal occurrence for the doctor, this time was different. He genuinely felt bad for the American. He slowly sat up and began putting on his boots. He knew where Tank normally slept, so he decided to take a walk and ‘accidentally’ run into his sleeping quarters, (with the subtle hopes of him being asleep so he didn’t have to face the man.)

But sure enough, as he walked by the small cell that Dempsey made his cozy living space, he was wide awake, leaned back against the wall with a freshly lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Richtofen laughed awkwardly. “Couldn’t sleep either?”

Dempsey slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke. “I slept fine. Just woke up outta nowhere.”

Richtofen started walking closer, eventually stopping about five feet away from his comrade and taking a seat. He sighed, “Look, Demps-”

“I get it, Doc.”

Richtofen looked up at him, puzzled.

“Excuse me?”

“I get it. You’re stressed, you’re confused. You’re under a lot of pressure, and I get it.” Tank took another slow inhale of the cigarette, then proceeded to blow out the smoke. Richtofen’s eyes lit up. “De-”

“But don’t you dare take that frustration out on me for wanting to talk to you.”

Richtofen sighed and looked down at his legs. He was truly ashamed for the way he’d been acting, but he could never in a million years tell Tank why.

Dempsey gestured at the cigarette. “Need a puff?”

“No, thank you.” Richtofen said, twiddling with his thumbs. “I am… truly sorry.” He looked up at the American and met eyes with him. “Truly, truly sorry, Dempsey.”

 

The Marine smirked and stuck the cigarette into the concrete, tossing the butt to the side. 

“I’m free now, if you’d like to talk,” he said, chuckling awkwardly again.

Tank exhaled.

“I just wanted to tell you…”

Richtofen clenched. Here we go. The American’s bright blue eyes met Richtofen's soft green ones, as he met him with a delicate smile.

“I’ve seen how hard you’re working to keep us all on the right track. We’ve all noticed. Whether we trust you or not, that’s another thing. But don’t think we don’t see how much you try…” Tank crossed his arms. “But don’t think I’ve gone soft on ya. I just dont want me to be the one you murder when you turn your back on us.” He winked, and Richtofen chuckled.

“If I were to murder anyone, it’d be that damned Nikolai.”

“Is that a promise, Doc?”

“Oh, it’s a swear.”

They both chuckled, and Richtofen began to feel uneasy, remembering the whole reason he was scared to communicate with Dempsey in the beginning. The feelings were inappropriate… and they were beginning to creep up on the German again. Richtofen hastily got up and began to dust himself off, “Well, nice talk, thank you for your words, but I should really get to bed.”

Tank got up too. “I don’t think you’ll have much time to sleep.” he yawned.

“Ah, it’s always like this.”

Tank slowly stepped in and wrapped his arms around the tired German’s neck, squeezing him almost too hard and practically forcing Richtofen forward. The German, at that moment, was flooded with more emotions than he ever had felt before. What is going on with Dempsey?

Now that Richtofen thought about it, ever since he’d taken the other Dempsey’s soul, he had started acting strange. After the initial cold shoulder towards the German, he almost began acting as if he cares less about what happens to him… like he’d already accepted this was his fate. No- this was not their fate. They would live to see a better tomorrow. Richtofen finally hugged Tank back, even tighter. He ignored the voices in his head telling him he was making a mistake. He needed this, and Dempsey needed this too. He practically felt tears forming in the corner of his eyes. “We will make it out of here, Dempsey. You just have to…” Richtofen choked back the tears that needed so desperately to flow. “...trust me.”

Tank squeezed tighter. 

“I’ll trust you.”

#edward richtofen #tank dempsey #richtofen x dempsey #call of duty #cod #cod zombies #call of duty zombies #my art #ive never posted a fic before #but my arts been trash so i was like FRICK this lets just write

[violetwolfraven]

Lean on Me

45 for javid—requested by @livininmyhead

I’ve been lowkey parenting all my friends/siblings alone for a while and now you’re helping me and idk what to do with this???

((I know this is a bit different from my usual style, but I’m trying something out so I hope you like it, anyway.))

...

“Hey, what’s wrong, Elmer?”

“It’s nothin’. It’s fine.”

“It clearly ain’t, so what is it?”

“I didn’t make enough to keep my bed tonight. I’m gonna have to sleep at home. I prefer it here, most of the time, but for one night, it’s no big deal. Like I said, it’s nothin’.”

“Don’t you have like... 10 big brothers and sisters, all livin’ in a normal-sized apartment?”

“I have 8. Why?”

“Nah. You’re not goin’ back there. Sharin’ space is bad enough in a Lodging House, but at least there’s enough for all of us. You can sleep with me and Crutchie on the fire escape for the night.”

“Jack, I—“

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, Elmer. And I ain’t lettin’ ya say no, so can the ‘you don’t have to’ bullshit.”

“I... thanks, Jack.”

“Like I said. Don’t worry ‘bout it, kiddo.”

...

“Hey, Jack, ya got a minute?”

“Sure. Need to talk?”

“I was wonderin’... you’re good with things, right? Like... charmin’ people?”

“You’re askin’ me?”

“No, I know how to do it with just anybody to sell papes or whatever. But... but what if it was someone ya actually wanted to... ya know...”

“Ooh! Lookin’ to woo a girl, Romeo?”

“Um... maybe... kind of.”

“...oh. Oh, Ro... It ain’t a girl, is it?”

“No... is that wrong?”

“No. No, Romeo, there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that, or you. Never let no one tell you different. Just... be careful. I don’t have to tell ya what could—“

“You don’t.”

“If ya don’t mind me askin’... who is it?”

“It’s Specs.”

“Oh. Oh my... I should have seen that coming a long time ago. Okay, so, for flirting with Specs specifically, here’s what you’re gonna do, kid...”

...

“Albert?”

“J-Jack! I’ll—“

“Hey, kid, where ya goin’? What’s wrong? Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay. Ain’t no shame in cryin’, Albie. It’s okay. Talk to me, kiddo. What’s up?”

“Go away!”

“No. Like I said, cryin’ ain’t anythin’ to be ashamed of. So why are ya cryin’? What’s wrong, Albert?”

“My... my mom. She’s been sick for a while, but now she’s... she’s...”

“Oh, damn. I’m so sorry, kid.”

“Get off me!”

“Albert, there is no shame in needin’ a shoulder to cry on every now and then, no matter what anyone says. And you just lost your mom, so if anyone’s got an excuse, it’s you. I won’t tell nobody. Just let it all out. It’s gonna be okay.”

...

“Jack?”

“What is—Oh my God!”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know where else to—“

“Sniper, did your father do this? I know you’ve mentioned him bein’ bad before, but I never thought it was this bad.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Snipes... I won’t ask if ya don’t want me to. But the Lodging House has gotta be safer than—“

“My mom needs the money. I can’t.”

“Fine. If ya need to keep goin’ back for her... Remember that you’s always got a place here if it ever gets too much... but for now, I’ll patch ya up so you can go back to your ma.”

“Thanks, Jack.”

...

“Hey, Jack?”

“Yeah, what’s up, Mush?”

“You gave Romeo advice on... makin’ moves on people, right?”

“Yes, I did, and if he told ya to come to me... damn. I mean, I suspected, but 4 of my boys? I gots nothin’ against it, but I don’t like that it ain’t safe.

“Yeah... wait, 4?”

“My advice is good, kid. Ro’s got himself a boyfriend. And for you... it’s Blink, ain’t it?”

“How did you—“

“Mush, buddy, ya ain’t as subtle as ya think you are. And trust me; Blink ain’t soft with anyone, but he is with you. He likes you, too. Gettin’ him ain’t gonna be hard. All ya gotta do is be yourself and ask him out. Just pick somewhere that ain’t too obvious as a date spot so nobody suspects. Unfortunately, lovin’ other boys is dangerous, and I don’t wanna lose any of mine because the wrong people found out.”

“You won’t. I’ll be real careful. Thanks, Jack!”

“No problem, kiddo. Good luck!”

...

“Hey, Jojo, ya got a minute?”

“Yeah, why?”

“A couple of the fellas came to me, a bit worried about ya. I was just wonderin’ if you were okay.”

“Oh, no, I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong.”

“Jojo, I’s heard a lot of lies in my day from a lot of liars. And you’s honestly got to be the worst liar I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s fine, Jack. I can handle it.”

“Mike said you freaked out and went to a bad place just cause he startled you. What’s that about?”

“He saw me writin’ with my left hand, okay? It’s fine. I just forgot what I was doin’ and didn’t mean to use it, but—“

“What’s wrong with usin’ your left hand?”

“It’s wrong. I’ll go to hell because of it.”

“Who told ya that?”

“The nuns.”

“Jo... can you control it? Usin’ your left?”

“No. Why does that—“

“If you can’t control it, ain’t doin’ it on purpose and ain’t hurtin’ anyone by doin’ it, why is it wrong?”

“‘Cause...”

“Look, nuns say a lot of things, and most of ‘em mean well. But they’re learnin’ from a book written a long time ago. Times change. And look—Mush writes with his left. Do ya think he’s goin’ to hell?”

“...no.”

“There ya go. You’re fine just the way you are. Okay? Don’t let no one tell ya different. Need a hug?”

“A hug sounds nice.”

“Come here, kid.”

...

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, please don’t—“

“Finch, calm down. You’re in the Manhattan Lodging House. You’re okay. You’re safe. Shh. Nobody’s gonna hurt ya here.”

“Are-are ya sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Your folks ain’t gonna find ya here, and if they do, I won’t let ‘em get to you.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. Shh. It’s okay. I’m not goin’ anywhere. I’ll protect you, okay? You believe me?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Good. Hush, now. Get some sleep.”

...

“Hey, Jack. You awake?”

“Well, I am now.”

“Sorry... do ya really think we can win this? I mean... that Plumber woman is right. We really are just a gang of kids.”

“Hey. We’re a gang of kids with the wit and will to pull this off. We got a reporter willin’ to listen to us. And sure, she’s a girl, but...”

“That’s more than we’ve ever had before.”

“Exactly. We’ll be fine, Crutchie. Don’t you worry ‘bout it.”

“We’ve never had someone like Davey Jacobs, either.”

“We sure haven’t! He’s somethin’ else, ain’t he?”

“Yeah, but... what if Finch is right and the cops come bust our heads?”

“Then I’ll be there takin’ the first hit.”

“Jack—“

“What I mean is, I ain’t gonna let him get to you or any of the rest of the fellas. Don’t worry.”

“I didn’t say anything about him, Jack.”

“Who said anything about him? There’s no ‘him.’”

“Jack, we both know more likely than not, he shows up. Are you gonna be okay?”

“It’ll be fine, Crutchie. I’ll be fine and so will everyone else.”

“That seems like a promise ya shouldn’t—“

“Goodnight, Crutchie. Go to sleep.”

...

“Whoa, Race are you—“

“I’m fine, Jack.”

“Pretty nasty shiner you’ve got, there, so I’d argue that you’re not, but that ain’t why I’m askin’. I know you, Race. I can tell when your smile is faked, and honestly, it is a lot more than it should be, but—“

“Spot didn’t come.”

“What?”

“I thought he’d come for us! I thought he’d show up at the last minute to save us but then he didn’t and he just—“

“Whoa, whoa, slow down, Race. Slow down and tell me what’s wrong.”

“Spot Conlon and me... ya know we’re close, right?”

“Yeah, of course I know you’re—oh. Oh. Okay.”

“What? What’s oh?”

“Ya could’ve told me. I mean, I gots a bunch of queer pairs I’ve been helpin’ sneak around.”

“Spot and me ain’t—“

“Save it, Racer. I think we both know that ain’t true.”

“I... you’re really fine with it?”

“Sure. I don’t care who ya fool around with, long as nobody finds out ‘bout ya foolin’ around with boys.”

“No, Jack, ya don’t get it!”

“What don’t I get? What’s this about, Racer?”

“It’s not just foolin’ around! I... Jack, I think I...”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize... I didn’t think Spot Conlon had feelings.”

“That’s the problem, Jack. I don’t know if he does. The problem is that I think... I think I love him. And he didn’t come for me.”

“Oh shit... the L word. Are you... are you sure?”

“I don’t know! I just know that he’s... I care about him like I care about you, but different! He makes me feel like... like I don’t even know what! Like I’m ramblin’ and he understands it all! Like he gets every part of me! And it is so stupid, but I think I get him, too! Or at least I did! Cause I was sure he was coming, and then he didn’t.”

“I’m guessin’ Davey didn’t tell ya yet.”

“Tell me what?”

“Spot sent over a kid to say he’s comin’ next time, so... I guess your boy is comin’ for ya.”

“...yeah. I guess he is.”

“I guess you’ll get a chance to see if he feels the same, but... Hey, listen. I gotta go, okay? I got a man to see. Do ya need me to stay for a bit?”

“Nah, it’s... it’s fine. Thanks, Jack.”

...

“Hey, Jack, ya got a minute?”

“Oh, sure, Mike. Davey, mind if I step away for a second?”

“Is this something that needs to be a secret?”

“No. No, it ain’t a secret. It’s just... Ike didn’t come in tonight, and I knows he ain’t in the Refuge, cause the Refuge is gone, but what if he’s hurtin’ somewhere? He didn’t tell me he was gonna—“

“Mike, buddy, it’s okay. Calm down. We know where he is.”

“Ya do?”

“He came by and said he was gonna spend some time in Brooklyn.”

“Yeah, it’s late enough that he’s probably spending the night. I don’t know Spot Conlon that well, but he doesn’t seem like the type to let a kid walk all the way back here after dark.”

“He ain’t—you’re right. Look, if he don’t come to the circulation gate tomorrow, then we’ll worry. For now, Ike’s almost certainly fine.”

“You’d think he’d remember to tell his brother when he goes places. That shithead.”

“Language!”

“Davey, everybody curses ‘round here. Includin’ you, come to think of it.”

“I know, but... damn. I’m becoming my mother.”

...

“Jack... can we talk? Alone?”

“Sure, Kath. What’s up?”

“There’s no good way to say this... we need to end this. You and me.”

“...what?”

“Jack, I’m sorry, but... I don’t love you. Not like that. You’re a wonderful friend—don’t get me wrong—but I don’t love you. I never did. I just didn’t realize it because besides Bill and Darcy, I’ve never really had any friends. You were the first friend I’ve made in a long time, and... and now that I’ve gotten some time to be better friends with the others, I’m realizing that what we had was never real.”

“It wasn’t?”

“No. I... I guess I was attracted to you, at first, but that faded without me realizing it a long time ago. And I know saying this is hurting you, but... Jack, it wouldn’t be fair to either of us for me to pretend I still want to be with you when I don’t. The fact is, neither of us is what the other really needs. And honestly, I don’t think you ever really loved me, either, and... and if you’re with me, you won’t find that person out there who you will love. I have no doubt that you’ll find someone to love who loves you the way you deserve, Jack.”

“Don’t worry about it, Kath.”

“I really am so sorry. I hope we can still be friends.”

“We can be. Don’t worry about it.”

...

“Hey, Jack? Wait, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Buttons. What is it?”

“It’s nothin’. I can go ask Davey.”

“Ask Davey what?”

“Jack, it’s nothin’ you need to worry ‘bout. You’re clearly not doin’ so well due to the breakup, and—“

“I’m fine, Buttons! Seriously! What is it?”

“It’s just... I didn’t earn enough today to buy my papes tomorrow. Ya know—winter is rough on everyone. I was gonna ask ya to ask around if anyone can spare anythin’, but I can go ask—“

“Ya don’t have to ask Davey. I’ll do it.”

...

“Shh, shh, kid, it’s okay. You’re safe. Everything’s gonna be okay, okay? You’re okay. You’re safe, here.”

“Jack, what’s going on?”

“Oh, crap. I’m sorry, Dave. This is a crappy night for this to happen, bein’ your first night sleepin’ over at the Lodging House, but I can handle this. It’s okay. Go back to sleep.”

“Blink? Blink, are you okay?”

“He’s still... not really here. It’ll take some time for him to get back, but you don’t have to stay up. I can handle it by myself. Really, Davey.”

“That doesn’t mean you should have to. Blink, do you want me to leave?”

“...no.”

“Okay. Okay, I won’t. It’s okay, Blink. You’re safe. You’re in the Manhattan Lodging House. Me and Jack are right here, okay?”

“We’re both right here for you.”

...

“Specs, what the hell happened to you? Davey! Davey, get in here, and bring some bandages!”

“What’s wro—oh my God!”

“It ain’t the worst that’s happened, Jack, and you know it.”

“Yeah, that don’t mean I gotta like it. Was it..?”

“Some shitheads who didn’t like me bein’ darker-skinned than them? Yeah. I’ll survive, though.”

“You know how wrong that is, right Specs?”

“Well, obviously, Davey. I’m the one who got soaked.”

“Where are they?”

“Davey—“

“Where are they? I get enough shit for being Jewish that I know a bit of what he’s goin’ through, Jack. And people like that—“

“Gettin’ soaked by a bunch of guys bigger than you won’t solve nothin’, Davey. And believe me, that is all that’ll happen if you go after them.”

“Fine. At least stay in bed tomorrow and rest up. I’ll sell extra to make up you missing.”

“I’ll help. Romeo probably will, too.”

“Thanks, Jack. Thanks, Davey.”

“Thank us after we patch you up.”

...

“If ya tell anyone about this, Jackie Boy, you won’t live long enough to see me deny it.”

“Relax, Spot. I ain’t tellin’ anyone. How’d ya wind up with a dislocated shoulder, anyway?”

“That’s my business. Are ya gonna fix it or not?”

“Oh, I’m gonna. It’ll hurt less if it’s a surprise, though, so’s we gotta talk about somethin’ else. Um... so, you and Racer?”

“...yeah, I guess.”

“That is so weird to think about. I never would have seen that one coming. I don’t need to tell you that if ya hurt him, Manhattan’ll go to war, right?”

“I ain’t gonna hurt him.”

“You’d better not.”

“I’m serious. I ain’t gonna—ah!”

“There. Your shoulder’s fixed. You’re welcome. And... you’s got real feelins’ for Race, don’t ya?”

“...maybe.”

“Good. Cause I‘s known Race a long time, and he fakes half his smiles. But the ones he gets when he talks to me ‘bout you are always real. He’s got it bad for ya, Conlon. You’d better not break him.”

“I won’t. Ever. Cause... cause maybe I’ve got it bad for him, too. But if ya ever tell him or anyone else I told you that—“

“I know, I know. I’ll be dead by midnight. My lips are sealed.”

“They’d better be. So... you and Walkin’ Mouth?”

“What?!”

...

“Where did you learn to braid, Jack?”

“Well, it was a long time ago, but I did have a mother once upon a time, Sarah.”

“Oh my God, I’m so—“

“It’s fine. I don’t talk about her much, but she’s been gone long enough that it don’t hurt so much. And ya know, when Smalls first got here, she had this super long hair that she needed to keep out of the way, ‘fore she asked Crutchie to cut it. Somebody had to help her.”

“Oh. That’s nice of you.”

“So, Sarah...”

“Jack?”

“I was wonderin’... I ran into Spot Conlon a while back, and he mentioned some things about... do Davey and me act like we’s together?”

“You’re kidding me.”

“No..?”

“I thought you were together! I just assumed Davey wasn’t telling me about it because... well, you know.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to be together? With Davey?”

“...I don’t know.”

“Well, I’d suggest figuring that out, cause David’s always had a stick up his ass, and I’ve never seen him relax the way he does with you. You make him feel free to be... Davey.”

“You’re sayin’ he wants to be with me?!”

“God, Kelly. You really are oblivious. Yes, you stupid cowboy. So finish this braid and go get him.”

...

“Jackie, can you sit down? Please?”

“I can’t, Davey. I gotta—“

“Everyone’s accounted for. Well, except Race, but Jojo said he saw him headed towards Brooklyn earlier. He’s probably spending the night and forgot to tell us.”

“The dishes—“

“It was Romeo’s turn and I made sure he did ‘em hours ago.”

“Specs—“

“I checked his ribs again this afternoon and he’s healing fine. Everyone’s fine, Jackie. Sit down.”

“...thanks, Davey.”

“You’re welcome. I think you forget sometimes that everybody needs somebody to lean on occasionally, even you.”

“I ain’t been leanin’ on anyone since I was... since I started leadin’ Manhattan.”

“And everyone leans on you. I know. You like knowin’ they’re all safe and happy, but who makes sure you’re safe and happy? Nobody—that’s the answer, so don’t try to argue it. So I guess it’s gotta be me. If no one else, I guess I’m the one you can lean on.”

#newsies #javid #javey #david jacobs #jack kelly #dad friend jack kelly #big brother jack kelly #background spromeo #background sprace #background blush #violet’s writing

[klaymoggs-armikrog-blog]

It’s 3am and that means it’s time to talk about Vognaut’s love life. Sorry I don’t make the rules.

So like, I hope we can all agree that he’s not a virgin. And he’s also like, not the best at relationships. He’d mostly have dated the boobed sort, methinks, and mostly it’s physical. For a week or two it’d be fine, but date night would quickly become ��sorry gotta go to work” night, or “sorry just came back from work and I’m too tired to talk about whatever you wanted to talk about” night, which would quite quickly grate on his girlfriends’ nerves and eventually lead to a breakup.

And then there’s Tommy (obviously, because it was only a matter of time before he came up in this sort of conversation). In my story/headcanon at least, since Vog’s dense as a ton of bricks when it comes to the emotional and considerate side of relationships, Tommy’s seen all this play out in real time and knows to expect some fuddling as Vognaut attempts to be a good boi(friend) once his redemption arc begins and they’ve confessed and decided to pursue boyfriendship. And Vog knows he can’t quite flirt with Tommy the way he’s used to- that being your standard jock/cheerleader-type situation- and sometimes even feels a bit outdone by him because Tommy’s had more experience dating guys than he has (even though in all honesty those relationships also didn’t turn out too well). But there’s no particular trick to it, as he gets very generously told, and it’s more simple than Vognaut expected. It’s like... What? Really? I can just... Give you this cool space poster? Not those *waves hand vaguely* flowers, or that expensive (but still functional) brand-name bag? Vognaut knew a lot of Tommynaut’s interests, having grown up as childhood friends, but somehow it was ~different~ when gift-giving for a romantic purpose, and since gift-giving was something he didn’t quite like doing in general before anyways, whenever he gets Tommy something he prefers to stick to birthdays or holidays or, very rarely, spontaneous bursts of generosity (i.e. “Made me think of you, so here you go. Do whatever with it but heh you’re smiling now so that feels good too I guess.”). And then there’s act-doing together, since Vognaut is nothing if not a man of action. Stupid romantic stuff that Vognaut never bat an eye at before gradually getting less stupid when doing it with Tommy (and because I’m corny as heck and must sneak fluffiness in everywhere). Roasting marshmallows at midnight, stargazing and listening as Tommynaut slips into rambling about every single constellation, waking up early and waking up Tommy (natural non-morning person that he was) with a cuppa tea (he didn’t drink coffee and neither does Vognaut), working out together and helping the other do stretches and almost breaking their concentration with a joke he managed to make land, and then literally just chilling playing video games together or something... But then, every so often, there’s the expected amount of slippery where Vognaut backsteps onto Tommy’s toes and it occasionally falls to Numnaut to help him make up for it. Even though it can be frustrating, he tries his best and only hopes it’s enough since Tommy was good for him. Sometimes, late at night, when everybody else is asleep and he was alone with his thoughts and his memories and his regrets, he thinks to himself how Tommy was too good for him. But then the dawn comes and he looks at Tommy’s face, remembers all the things Tommynaut tells him; that he believed in him, that he loved him, that he deserved to be redeemed, and then he knows things will be okay.

Something like that. I could go on for several 3am’s about these dorks, but for the sake of sleep I should say goodnight now. Have a good.

#text post #my post #armikrog #vognaut #tommynaut #VogTom #AU #headcanons #they're both such dorks #somebody help them #now I wanna talk about Tommy's love life... #next time

[shinyrockalaska]

December birthday party

I planned to post it on December 22 but i forgot... Either way, here's a fanfic in honour of Charlie and Rowan's birthdays that are in December.

Summery: Mc and the friends are throwing a birthday party for both Rowan and charlie

Word count: 1.8k

~~

"Listen up, everybody! Charlie's birthday was last week and- I always forget the exact date, but- Rowan's birthday will be soon since it's close to Christmas! We've gotta get going!"

"With what exactly?" Asked Jae. He was always suspicious with whatever plans MC came up with.

"With the surprise party, of course!" They said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We need to decide on a theme, place, time, the people we'll invite, who's in charge of the decorations and cake and snacks.. so pretty much, everything."

"We've still got like, almost a week to prepare everything.." Tonks complained. MC gathered all of them right before bed time and she wanted to go to sleep already.

"Anyone have any ideas for a theme?" MC continued.

"Toads!" Tulip yelled.

"Bowtruckles!" Barnaby chimed in.

"Fashion. It should definitely be about fashion." Andre added.

"Hmm.. cowboys..?" Talbott suggested.

MC did a face-palm and groaned, "no, no, no, you just proposed things you like. We need to think what Charlie and Rowan like!"

"Dragons and books, then," said Penny hesitantly.

"See, that's much better," MC agreed, "maybe dragons and trees? Or just.. fire?"

"It'll be lit!" Tonks snickered.

"Great! So who wants to be in charge of the decorations? It has to be fire themed!" MC continued

"I guess.. me? I'm already experienced, after the celestial ball.."

"I can help," Chiara and Liz said in unison.

"Perfect! Now let's decide on a time and place.. I think we can do it on the 22 of December.. any ideas for a place?"

"The Gryffindor common room," said Jae.

"The duelling club!" Diego added.

"The artefact room.." Ben tried to suggest.

"Seriously, guys! Don't propose places you like! How about the three broomsticks? Then Bill can come too, and we'll have butterbeers."

"Yes! And I can get more sweets from honeydukes," Tulip volunteered.

"Jae, I put you in charge of the cake," MC told him, and he tried to oppose, "why me? Can't Penny do it? Or literally anyone else?"

"After years of detention in the kitchen, I think you'll do great," they winked, remembering their adventure together, when they tried new recipes for Hagrid and Jae turned to be really good at cooking and baking, but made them promise not to tell.

"Fine," he murmured in respond.

"Can we go to sleep now?" Ben asked the question everyone wanted to ask.

"Not yet, we just have to decide on the most important thing.. how and who will keep Charlie and Rowan busy while we prepare everything, and then bring them to the three broomsticks?"

"You? You're the best at stalling, no offense," said Andre.

"I'll take that as a compliment.. alright, everyone knows what they're responsible for?"

"Yes.." they all groaned, wishing to go to sleep already.

"So don't forget.. we're meeting up in the three broomsticks in three days! I won't be there because I'll be with Rowan and Charlie so, Penny, I'm putting you in charge of making sure everything goes as planned, goodnight!"

There was a sound of tired whispers as they all walked back to their dormitories, aside from MC, who went straight to the owlery, to write and send a letter to Bill, asking if he could pass by for Rowan and Charlie's surprise party.

The next three days passed fast and strangely enough, uneventfully, except for that one time Ben almost exposed the plan.

Finally, the 22th of December has arrived, and at 4pm, when the rest of the group got together at the three broomsticks to prepare everything, MC walked with Rowan to meet Charlie at the library.

"You sure I'm the right study partner?" Charlie asked with honesty, "I'm not really good at studying.."

"Nonsense! You're my best friend, of course I'd rather study with you no matter what!"

"I thought I was your best friend?"

"You're THE best friend, Rowan. Everyone else is just my best friends, without THE.."

"Yeah, I'm not sure about that.."

"Anyway.. let's study!" MC shouted, causing Madam Pince to threaten to kick them out. Charlie still didn't felt like studying, he and Rowan exchanged looks, before Rowan spoke up, "But, we don't have any exams? Why would you want to study all of a sudden?"

"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."

"Quoting Rowena Ravenclaw won't help you get away without an answer!"

MC stood up, with their hands still on the table, and said, "you know, I just realized I never saw the both of you at the quidditch field... isn't that weird?" MC smiled nervously.

"I watch all of yours and Charlie's and Andre's matchs, what are you talking about?" Rowan tilted their head, the way they always do when they're confused. Which happens frequently around MC.

"But I never saw you together! You have so much to talk about, I mean, Charlie's an expert in quidditch and you're an expert of trees.. don't you want to talk about it?"

"That's a strange topic to discuss.." Charlie mumbled, "and the quidditch field is taken for one of the teams practice right now.."

"But if you insist," Rowan continued, "we can go around and look for broomes.."

"Wha- no! We can't! Because.. I umm.. promised Ben I'll help with that thing uh-"

"We saw him leaving the castle on our way to the library," said Rowan, "he said he's going to buy a new quill."

"Uh, right. I forgot. Do you want to help me pack my bags then?"

"I thought you're staying in Hogwarts for Christmas like always?" Rowan smiled, and MC panicked, what if they somehow know about the party?

"It still shouldn't be messy, and you know how my side of the dorm looks like, hehe.."

"I'm sorry, what's happening?" Charlie had zoned out half of the conversation and was now confused.

"Just MC acting mysterious all over again.." Rowan stared at mc with a suspected look.

"Aren't they always, though?" He shrugged.

"You know me.. the mystery of Hogwarts," MC laughed nervously.

Rowan and Charlie again looked at each other and then at MC, who still giggled.

"Anyway, do you need help packing, Charlie?"

"No, It's fine, I already did! I'm really excited to go back home and see my parents and Ron and Ginny again, and of course Bill! And the best part is I'll get so many presents! Christmas presents and birthday present, what can be better than that?"

"Yeah it's so nice your birthdays are close to Christmas, isn't it?" MC said, finally stopping Rowan's suspicions. "It is!" Rowan cheered, "I get to celebrate both Christmas and my birthday at home in the tree farm with my family! I miss mum and dad and my brother of course! He suppose to go to Hogwarts next year, isn't it exciting??"

"You have a brother? How come you never mentioned it?" Charlie wondered if he somehow missed this piece of information about his friend.

"Yes, and you'll meet him next year, I hope!"

"With your brother, Penny's sister and my brothers we'll have so many younger siblings here next year!"

"It's going to be a challenge," MC snickered, "I mean, we can barley keep them out of trouble now.." They all laughed, because it was true.

"So what time is it?" MC asked when the laughs faded.

"4 and a half.. why? Are we in a hurry?" Rowan asked.

"No no, I just remembered I told Ben- I mean, Penny, I'll meet her at the three broomsticks at 5 so.. hehe.." they chuckled.

"Why don't we just go and wait for her there, huh?" Rowan smiled mischievously, and MC gulped nervously.

"Rowan, you're too smart for this world," they patted them on the back, "let's kill time with a game of gobstons instead, okay?"

"Fine," Rowan finally gave up on trying to discover what MC is hiding from them.

They all walked to the courtyard and played gobstons for a while, just laughing and smiling until their stomach ache.

"Is it 5 already?" MC asked after a while, right before Charlie's turn.

"5 and a half actually," said Rowan, and before they could say anything else MC shouted, "what?! It's been a hour already?!"

"Time does fly when you're having fun.." Charlie mumbled, while thinking what can be the right move.

"We have to go! Now!"

"At least let me finish my turn!" Charlie whined as MC dragged with him and Rowan.

"Why do we even have to come with you to your meeting with Penny?" Rowan asked when they were near honeydukes.

"Well you know.. because.. it's just.. you see-" MC stalled, trying to earn some time while they're getting closer to the pub, "just get inside, alright?"

Rowan glared at them with one last suspection look as Charlie entered the pub without a doubt.

"Surprise!!!"

The friend's usual spot at the three broomsticks was filled with people. Friends, to be accurate. There were two dozens glass of butterbeer on the table, with a diverse selection of coulorful candies. The celling was decorated with paper dragons, flying around, roaring quietly, surrounded by trees, and you could notice some tiny paper books flying around above with brooms on their side, as well.

Rowan looked as if they were about to faint and Charlie was too ecstatic to talk.

"Wha- it's so- I-" Rowan eyes were filled with tears of joy, they never thought they'd have so many caring friends who would want to throw a birthday party just for them.

"This is so cool!" Charlie shouted, "are those dragons?!" He looked at the celling with an excited look.

"Just wait until we get home for Christmas.. mum's going to cry and hug you so much," Bill laughed, "seventeen is the most important age!"

"You can do magic!"

"You can apparate!"

"You're practically an adult!"

Everyone laughed and cheered. Rowan and Charlie were so far from being like all the adults they knew. They didn't changed much from that sweet anxious behavior they had in their first years at Hogwarts.

Bill raised his glass of butterbeer, "to Charlie, the best brother and the greatest quidditch player and the most dragon-excited person we know!" He laughed.

"And to Rowan!" MC snatched the glass of butterbeer out of Bill's hand, and raised it as well, "the best friend anyone could ever have. The loyal, ambitious, kind and smartest person I know!"

"Whooooohoooo!" Tonks applaused and they all drank their butterbeers and started to chat with each other.

Maybe it was the butterbeer, or the heat inside the pub, or maybe it was the fact that all their friends were together with them in one place, just laughing and smiling, happy for their friend's birthdays.

Whatever it was, it made both Charlie and Rowan feel warm inside.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #rowan khanna #charlie weasly #jacob's sibling #hogwarts mystery fanfic #hogwarts mystery fanfiction #birthday #penny haywood #bill weasley #hphm fanfic #hphm fanfiction #hphm fic

[aravenwriter]

My Chemical Romance Lyrics Prompt List Part 2

We are so far from you

Here's what I've got to say

Tomorrow we'll do it again 

Where were you when all of the embers fell?

Well if you wanted honesty, that's all you had to say. 

Killjoys, make some noise!

Would I lie to you? 

You don't know a thing about my sins

I lost my fear of falling 

Let me be the one to save you

Oh baby, let me in

Do you wanna hold my hand?

Well, there's no way I'm kissing that guy

Can I speak?

It's not your fault that no one ever does

Girl, you've got to be what tomorrow needs

I'm drunk, I suppose 

Gimme more, gimme more, gimme more

Do you remember that day when we met?

I can't control myself because I don't know how

Your life will never be the same

I gotta shout this out so everybody knows

Please understand it has to be this way

This planet's ours to defend

You said you read me like a book, but the pages all are torn and frayed 

This ain't about all the friends you made

You left my heart an open wound

Now will it matter after I'm gone?

I miss you more than I did yesterday

We ain't gonna be the ones left standing

Do you care at all? 

Stop asking me questions, I'd hate to see you cry

I'd like to learn your name

I hope you're ready for a firefight

I'm just the way that the doctor made me 

Don't walk away

If life ain't just a joke then why are we laughing?

You won't like where we'll go

Don't let them see your back

I'm who I've got to be

Can you hear me cry out to you?

I am not afraid to walk this world alone

I'm not o-fucking-kay 

Can't find my way home

We could be in the park and dancing by a tree 

They got methods of keeping you clean

We're not working out

We are all a bunch of liars

I sleep in empty pools and vacant alleyways 

I don't love you like I did yesterday

I'm taking back the life you stole 

Shut up and sing it with me

I think they never liked you anyway 

I think I better go now

If you marry me, would you bury me?

It's death or victory

Late dawns and early sunsets, just like my favorite scenes 

I hear you've been bleeding

Things are better if I stay 

Do or die, you'll never make me

You are never coming home 

Everybody hide

Ah, nobody knows all the trouble I've seen!

This never meant nothing to ya

You like D&D, Audrey Hepburn, Fangoria, Harry Houdini and croquet.

Will you pray for me?

Someone get me to the doctor

We got innocence for days!

So, I can't hurt you anymore. 

Now I'm gonna show you how much I love you

Is this what you always want me for? 

You're so cool, you're so cool, so cool!

Well, don't I look pretty walking down the street in the best damn dress I own?

Hey you look like somebody I used to know

Can we settle up the score? 

It's really quite pleasant except for the smell

When I grow up I want to be nothing at all! 

I’ll turn it into some facts

Give me a reason to believe 

The lights are out and the party's over

Take my fucking hand

You're never gonna fit in much, kid

I fought them all off just to hold you close and tight 

It was the worst thing that I'd ever done

Could I? Should I? 

Tell me I'm a bad, bad, bad, bad man

I'd end my days with you in a hail of bullets 

I’m so fucking alone

We'll fly home, you and I

We'll show 'em what we all mean

It's just the hardest part of living

Well I sure like the way you're looking at me

I'll make you understand and you can trade me for an apparition 

I'm just a man, I'm not a hero

Tell me where we go from here

We'll shoot back holy water like cheap whiskey

How could you cry for me?

Let me break this awkward silence

You'll never take me alive

So long and goodnight

#my chemical romance #mcr #punk #emo #gerard way #ray toro #frank iero #mikey way #writing #writing prompt #writers on tumblr #writer #prompt #writing idea #writing inspiration #inspiration #dialogue #dialogue prompt #rock #Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge #I Brought You My Bullets You Brought Me Your Love #The Black Parade #Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys #Danger Days #trigger warning #swearing #swearing tw #death tw #death mention tw

[s-trawberryv-eins]

Lonely Hearts Club

NOT MY GIF

Summary: In retrospect, she should’ve figured it would end badly. It was fun at first, the flirting. Fruitless and innocent. Never taken too seriously, a line carefully toed. A sort of 'take each day as it comes’ arrangement. But eventually, as anyone could've predicted, she crossed the line and fell. Hard.

Warnings: Angst, alcohol, implications of smut

Please read here before reading

Stark! OC x Bucky Barnes

Word count: 1573

 AVENGERS COMPOUND

UPSTATE NEW YORK

In retrospect, she should’ve figured it would end badly. It was fun at first, the flirting. Fruitless and innocent. Never taken too seriously, a line carefully toed. A sort of 'take each day as it comes’ arrangement. But eventually, as anyone could've predicted, she crossed the line and fell. Hard. For Bucky Barnes, of all people.

Thor arrived home with tales of outer space, his travels with the Guardians of the Galaxy coming to a brief stop to visit his Midgardian friends. “Revels!” His booming voice all but shook the compound as he announced his need for a party. "We shall engage in revels this coming Friday!” Turning to face her with a happy grin on his face, Caroline took that as her cue to begin the planning.

“I see no reason to deny Thor of a party, so I'll be in my lab spending my inheritance if anybody needs me."

-

And engage in revels they did. It was obvious to anybody who entered the room that this party was that of a Stark. Lavish, few expenses spared. Caroline found it to be a welcome distraction from her current predicament; should she tell Barnes how she felt, or not? She was fairly certain that her feelings were reciprocated, but it wasn't impossible that she had misread him.

Dressed to the nines in a nude top and midi skirt, she raked her fingers through her newly straightened hair and greeted her guests. Thor, Steve, and Bucky stood on the balcony, watching the large crowd forming in the vast open space. Decorated with black and gold balloons, music pumping through the air, and a seemingly never-ending supply of alcohol.

“Hello, gentlemen. Impressed?” Red lips curling up into a smile, she graciously accepted a glass of champagne from one of the waiters making rounds of the event. Coming to stand between Thor and Mr America himself, she offered her glass up to cheers. The four glasses met with a ‘clink’, and Caroline’s smile grew. Any effort to keep herself from making direct eye contact with the super soldier went out of the window when he spoke up.

“You've out done yourself. It looks wonderful. As do you, Caroline." The light pink dusting that appeared on her cheeks pulled a smirk from Barnes, but it disappeared as Thor placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles, also commenting on her work.

“Your father would be proud. And you do look ravishing, Miss Stark.” Pursing her lips slightly to hold back a giggle, she thanked the three avengers and made her way down the stairs.

“You need to make your move, pal. A girl like that's gotta have ‘em all after her.” Steve jabbed his friend with his elbow, as the three pairs of eyes followed the Stark girl down the stairs.

"It’s all a mess in my head. Can’t do it, Steve.” Bucky sighed, pushing himself away from the balcony and heading down to the bar. Neither Barnes nor Stark tried to mask their feelings for one another, and their flirtatious nature was obvious to everybody they lived with. It was hard for them to watch. Steve had noticed days ago the way Caroline’s face dropped when Barnes left her hanging, the way her gazed lingered. The evidence that this ran deeper than flirty banter right in front of him.

-

As the party drew to a close, Caroline took in the sight before her. Balloons and streamers littered the floor, glasses and bottles on every available surface. Having abandoned her heels long ago, the drunk doctor ran off in search of the object of her affection. But he was nowhere to be found.

“He’s left already, Care.” Steve’s voice was soft, sympathy drowning his blue eyes. Disappointment graced her features for a second before deciding she'd go to his room. “Care, don’t. He’s not alone.”

She was a strong girl, being an avenger required physical strength, but no training could have prepared her for the sudden weight that was her heart. It plummeted to her feet, cracking as it hit the concrete beneath her toes.

“Oh,” she tried and failed catastrophically to cover up how she felt. "Can you please tell Natasha and Wanda that I've gone to bed? And inform the staff that they're to expect a tip first thing tomorrow. Goodnight, Steve.” Turning on her heel, she tried towards the door but stumbled as a hand closed around her wrist.

“He’s a fool, Caroline. I’m sorry.“ With teary eyes and half a smile, she excused herself.

-

Tinkering away at her latest creation, Caroline was in a world of her own. Not noticing the presence of a visitor, she kept at it.

“What’s that?" The question startled her, and she jumped away from her project as if caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“It’s, uh,” composing herself, she gestured to the tech in front of her “it’s from Shuri. She’s been working on a new model for your arm and wanted suggestions.” The blush in her cheeks was evident, and he couldn’t help but stare. The spell was broken, however, when she cleared her throat slightly.

“Do you need something, Sergeant?” Taken aback by the sudden formalities, his brow drew together in confusion.

“I just came for a chat. You know, like usual?" His voice was soft, and his movements became shy and timid.

“I’m tired of usual, Bucky. I know you have feelings for me. I know that I’m not crazy. I can feel it, Buck." The scientist felt brave in the moment, but his reaction hit her right in the gut. He merely rolled his eyes and chuckled drily.

“Come off it, Caroline. You know we’re just messin’ about. I thought you knew that, anyway. Don’t, uh" tearing her eyes away from him, she felt the tears form as he spoke. "Don't read into it.”

“Is that a joke? Am I a joke to you? Why are you pretending that you don't know what I'm talking about, Bucky?"

“Listen, Care, I’m kinda seeing someone. I don't know if I gave you the wrong impression or what, but there's nothing between us. There never will be.”

He didn’t stick around for a response.

-

Having spent all night working from her laptop on a new comms system for the team, Caroline had nodded off on the sofa in the common room, laptop still placed firmly by her feet. Hearing quiet whispers and the shutting of a door, she was pulled from her dreamless sleep, and was listening nosily, trying to figure out who disturbed her.

“Sam, cut it. I’m not doing this again."

“Oh, shut up, dude. It’s obvious you have serious feelings for the girl. What is the issue?” Recognising the voices as Bucky and Sam, she froze. Not daring to move from the couch, she closed her eyes and prayed they didn't come any closer. This conversation was not meant for her, despite how much she wanted to hear the rest. The doctor had been hoping to avoid Barnes since their horrible confrontation in the lab.

“Shut up, you’ll wake her up.” Bucky’s voice was tired and irritated, obviously not in the mood for his friends’ antics. “So what if she has feelings for me? I don’t care.” Biting down hard on her bottom lip, Caroline wished to be anywhere else. "And I don’t actually feel anything for the girl. It's never gonna happen." Heavy footsteps indicated his departure, but Sam managed to have the last word.

“Bull. Shit. You’re scared, and you feel guilty because she’s Tony’s kid. Get outta here, man. Deserves better than your lousy ass anyway.” Earning a grunt and a half-slammed door in response, Sam only sighed. Confident that Bucky had left, Caroline made her presence known to Sam. Shock painted his features for a brief second, before sympathy settled on his face.

“I guess that’s that then.”

-

A month had passed since the Stark girl overheard the two boys in the kitchen. Contact had been brief between the scientist and the sergeant, a series off stiff hellos and tight-lipped smiles. Truthfully, she wasn’t entirely sure what’d happened. If Sam mentioned to Bucky that she was awake through their conversation, she didn’t know. Despite making her feelings towards him blatantly obvious, it seemed he’d never care whilst he held onto the guilt of his relationship with her father.

As if hearing his name in her thoughts, the super soldier waltzed into the common room, a smile on his face. "Everyone, there’s someone I want you to meet.” Caroline assumed it was a lie. She thought he was trying to save face, trying to knock her down when he said he’d been seeing somebody. But as the pretty blonde stepped out from behind him, she felt her heart fall once more.

“This is Izzie. My girlfriend.” Proud beaming smiles on both of their faces, whilst Caroline felt as though the air had been sucked out of the room entirely. The Avengers all jumped up, polite introductions and pleasantries were exchanged. Snapping back into the moment, Caroline forced herself up and out of her seat.

Her voice was sweet. Light and feminine. A brilliant actress, really. The crack in her voice almost impossible to detect. Unless you’re Natasha Romanoff, of course, who was waiting by the door for her friends impending departure.

“I’m Caroline. It’s really wonderful to meet you.”

#angst #bucky barnes #caroline stark #natasha romanoff #steve rogers #thor odinson #thor #sam wilson #bucky barnes x caroline #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x ofc #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes smut #smut #fluff #writing #the caroline stark series #avengers #marvel #mcu

[gayforheadphonesgirl]

Falling Back Into You (Chapter 3)

(A/N): I’m back with Chapter 3 of this SingleMom! Alex imagine. I’ve been having writer’s block so it took a bit longer than expected. This is a pretty long ass chapter. Not proofread in any way. Hope you guys like it!

Being the best friend that she is, Kelley quickly made her way to Alex's house after their phone conversation about (Y/N).

Kelley had always seen the pair act differently around each other, even during their younger days in the USWNT.

So she wasn't entirely surprised that Alex was currently pacing around in her own living room while the former Utah Royal looked on amused.

"Maybe you're just really excited to see her after all these years?" Kelley offered, but not exactly believing herself.

She had always thought Alex and (Y/N) would've made a good couple in another life.

They were like, each other's 'one that got away' as far as Kelley was concerned.

"Maybe... but I'm worried about how warm and fuzzy I feel inside when I'm with her. Especially when she's interacting with Mia" Alex exclaimed, running her hands through her hair.

"She's nice, she always makes people feel warm and fuzzy" Kelley said, shrugging her shoulders.

But Alex still looked frantic. Kelley wondered if a person could be too old for gay panic, because it seems like Alex is having it right now.

"Besides, Al. So what if you have a crush on (Y/N)? I'm pretty sure she feels the same way" Kelley said.

Alex blushed furiously at the thought that her feelings might be reciprocated.

"Wh-what makes you say that?" Alex said, sitting down on her couch next to Kelley.

"She picked up your kid from school, she bought you food... twice! That's like the greatest love language of all: FOOD!" Kelley said. Alex manages a laugh at her friend's logic.

"She's like that for everybody" Alex said, not wanting to get any hopes of something more than friendship with (Y/N).

"No, Al. She's got a real soft spot for you and it seemed to trickle down to Mia, too" Kelley said, smiling knowingly at Alex.

"Did you know she played soccer with Mia today? She pretended she was a goal keeper... She was wearing oven mitts for goodness sake! Why did I find that adorable?" Alex said, once again exasperated at her newly surfaced feelings.

Kelley chuckled and placed her arm around Alex's shoulder and pulled her for a side hug.

"You, my friend, are having gay panic. Bi panic, specifically" Kelley said. Alex groaned.

"Really? In my 40s?" Alex said.

"Better late than never, I suppose" Kelley said before bursting into laughter.

"Shhh! Don't wake Mia up!" Alex said, moving to shush Kelley with her hand.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry" Kelley said, stifling her laughter.

"So, are you nervous for Friday?" Kelley asked, leaning back on the couch.

"Very. Plus... I may have invited her over for dinner next week" Alex said, almost whispering the last part.

"You what? Oop. Already planning date night, are we?" Kelley teased. Alex once again blushed madly.

"I-it's not a date. It's just a thank you to her for picking up Mia today" Alex said, covering her reddening face.

"Alright, Al. If you say so" Kelley said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Alex groaned.

"I'm too old for this" Alex said. Kelley laughs and straightens up.

"Well, Al... It's pretty late. I gotta get back to Cassie or I'm sleeping on the couch tonight" Kelley said, moving to stand up. Alex looks at her friend and nods.

"Thanks for coming over. I just... I'm not really used to this feelings thing anymore" Alex admitted. Kelley smiled and gives her a slight push to the head.

"I'm glad for you Al. This will turn out better than you expect, I promise" Kelley said reassuringly. Alex doesn't exactly believe her but hums in agreement anyway.

"Thanks Kell. See you Friday. Bring the whole gang, will you?" Alex said.

"Sure you won't want (Y/N) all to yourself?" Kelley teased as she walked towards the door. Alex throws a pillow in her direction but the former Utah Royal quickly dodged it and stuck her tongue out.

"Goodnight, Kell. Drive safe" Alex said, smiling. Kelley waves before heading out the door.

For the first time today, Alex is left alone with her thoughts and feelings.

She lets herself fall into the couch and sigh.

She was pretty fucked.

---

Friday came too soon for Alex's comfort. She had mixed feelings about today, she was beyond excited, don't get her wrong.

It's just that she was also incredibly nervous about seeing (Y/N) with her realization that she may have feelings for her former teammate.

Her phone dinged with a text from (Y/N).

Hey, what time does Mia get out of school? I promised I'd hang out with her before we all go out for drinks tonight.

Alex couldn't help the smile that graces her features.

We'll be at home at 4pm. Alex typed out her reply.

(Y/N)'s answer was almost immediate.

Great. I'll drop by then. See you later, Al.

The sound of her university soccer players entering the pitch pulled her from her thoughts.

Right, she had work to do. She pushes the thoughts of tonight at the back of her head and started on her day.

---

Meanwhile, (Y/N) was mulling over what to wear in her loft. She wanted to make a good impression, not just on Alex but on all her other friends.

Her watch read 2:30pm. She had about an hour before she needed to leave.

She stared at the pile of clothes she had laid down on her bed. A button up and a jacket would be too formal, but a shirt would be too casual.

She settled for a navy blue mandarin collar button up and black slacks. Just sleek enough to pass off as someone who had their shit together.

Being the basic lesbian that she is, she didn't take long in getting ready and had about 15 minutes to spare.

But a light bulb lit up in her head. Grabbing her wallet and keys, (Y/N) dashed down to her car and pulled out of her driveway.

In record time, (Y/N) found herself in front of her favorite flower store: Freda's floral emporium.

Stepping out of her car, (Y/N) entered the store. She was greeted by the store's owner.

"Why, it's good to see you (Y/N)!" Freda greeted. (Y/N) smiled and headed on over to her.

"Good to see you too, Freda" (Y/N) said, pulling the elderly woman for a hug.

"It's too early for mother's day, isn't it? And it isn't Gloria or Ariel's birthday" Freda said, commenting that (Y/N) only usually came on those occasions.

"Well, it's not for family this time, Freda" (Y/N) said shyly, scratching the back of her neck.

Freda's eyes light up and she almost jumps for joy.

"Oooh! Is it for a special girl?" Freda said, already leaving her post in the counter to help (Y/N) look for the perfect bouquet.

"Sorta, yeah... Damn, Freda. This seems like I'm back in high school again" (Y/N) said, chuckling at how young and aloof she feels at buying a girl she likes flowers.

"Never too late to find love, I tell ya!" Freda said, already picking out her best flowers for her favorite customer.

"She's just a friend though, I doubt she feels the same way" (Y/N) said. Freda abruptly stops what she's doing and stares at (Y/N).

"Oh I think she'll change her mind with these flowers I'm making. Besides, who wouldn't want a piece of you!" Freda retorts. (Y/N) blushes and playfully nudges the older woman.

"What? It's true! Oh if I only had a daughter, I would've set her up with you a long time ago" Freda said, arranging her newly picked flowers for (Y/N).

"You flatter me, Freda" (Y/N) said, laughing at the woman's antics.

"There! Perfect. Any woman would fawn over this!" Freda said, handing (Y/N) a beautiful bouquet with roses and a single sunflower in the middle.

"Wow, this is amazing Freda" (Y/N) said, inspecting the flowers. She gives it a sniff and almost sneezes.

Bad idea, she thought.

"All in a day's work" Freda said smugly. But (Y/N) had one more request.

"Oh Freda, can I get a bouquet of daisies? For her kid?" (Y/N) said, wanting to surprise Mia as well.

If Freda was a bit taken aback at (Y/N)'s love interest having a kid, she did a good job of showing it.

"Ah, don't worry. Freda has got you covered!" She said, scurrying again to pick out daisies.

"Thanks, Freda. You're the best" (Y/N) calls after her, still looking at the bouquet in her hand.

She hoped Alex would like it.

In no time, Freda walks back to the counter with a small daisy bouquet in hand.

"I know I'm the best" Freda said, smiling proudly at (Y/N).

"How much for the two bouquets, Freda?" (Y/N) asked, setting Alex's flowers down to pull out her wallet.

Thumbing through her bills, she pulls out a 50 bill.

"Just 30, the daisies are on the house" Freda said. (Y/N) looks scandalized at the thought of not paying everything she owed.

"I refuse to let you go bankrupt, Freda!" (Y/N) said, pushing the 50 bill.

"I won't. Just promise me you'll get me as the flower supplier for your wedding!" Freda said, handing (Y/N) back a 20.

(Y/N) flushes but takes the change.

"I'll let you know, Freda" (Y/N) said, chuckling. She picks up both bouquets and walks out of the store.

"Thank you, Freda!" (Y/N) calls out.

"You're welcome, kiddo! Get her!" Freda said. (Y/N) smiles and heads on over to her car.

It's already a little bit past four when (Y/N) finds herself at the Morgans' doorstep.

She takes a deep breathe, and knocks on the door with both bouquets in hand.

"Just a minute" Alex called from the other side. (Y/N) shifts in her place, a bit nervous.

Alex opens the door with a smile so bright (Y/N) thought she was going to pass out.

"Hey" Alex said.

"Hey yourself" (Y/N) replied. They momentarily just stare into each other before (Y/N) gets back to her senses.

"I-uh, these are for you!" (Y/N) said, putting the bouquet forward. She doesn't miss the bright red blush that graces Alex's features.

"Wow... this looks amazing (Y/N)" Alex said, taking the bouquet.

"And these, are for Mia" (Y/N) said, showing the simple daisy bouquet. Alex smiles even wider at (Y/N).

Why does she have to be so thoughtful? Is this romantic? Is she trying to be romantic? A flurry of thoughts racing in Alex's head.

"You're so sweet" Alex said. She turns a bit to call for her daughter who was in the living room.

"Mia! Auntie (Y/N) has something for you!" Alex said. Mia quickly jumped up and ran over to the front door.

"For you, m'lady" (Y/N) said, crouching down to Mia's height. The girl takes one look at the flowers and squeals.

Mia takes the flowers and envelopes (Y/N) in a hug.

"Thank you Auntie! They're amazing!" Mia said, running inside to put it in a vase.

"Please be careful with the vases, baby girl. Do not hurt yourself" Alex called after her. She looked back at (Y/N) and invited her in.

"If you keep on giving her stuff, she's gonna be expecting it every time" Alex said, smiling at (Y/N).

"Then I'll do it every time" (Y/N) said grinning back at Alex. Alex felt the blood rush to her face and she hides behind the bouquet.

"I'm... gonna go put this in water. You can join Mia in the living room!" Alex said, before hurrying away from (Y/N).

(Y/N) looked weirdly in the direction where Alex had bolted but shrugged her shoulders.

Alex rushed into the kitchen and got one of the vases kept in the cupboards. She takes a moment to control her heart before putting the bouquet in water.

She places the vase next to Mia's and shoots Kelley a text.

She brought me and Mia flowers, FREAKING FLOWERS KELLEY!

Kelley, who was already on standby next to her phone since Alex had said (Y/N) was already on her way to them was able to see it immediately.

The former Utah Royal lets out an honest to God 'Awwww' while on her way to the bar they'll be meeting at.

She quickly types out her reply.

Ohhhh girl, she's definitely into you!

Kelley's reply does nothing to quell the blush on Alex's face. She groaned and rubbed her hands on her face.

"Okay, Alex. You can handle this. It's just a crush" Alex said to herself quietly.

She was three-time world cup champion, she can definitely survive having feelings for her friend.

Right? Right.

When she walks back in the living room, (Y/N) and Mia are deeply immersed in first-grade math homework, sitting on the carpeted floor.

Mia was chewing on her bottom lip and looking intently at her textbook.

"How about this Auntie, what do I gotta do?" Mia said, (Y/N) looks over to where she's pointing and proceeds to try and teach the girl what she needed to do.

Alex looks affectionately at the pair and silently walks to take a seat in the couch.

(Y/N) looks up at Alex and grins.

"Gays can't do math" (Y/N) mouths. Alex couldn't help but laugh and shake her head.

She pulls out her phone and snapped a photo of the scene before her. She contemplated putting it on social media, but thought better to ask (Y/N) first later.

(Y/N) continued to help Mia with her homework with Alex simply watching them.

She was mesmerized at how natural it looked to see (Y/N) with Mia. Maybe it was her crush talking, she didn't know.

"Mom look! I finished my homework so quick!" Mia said, lifting her textbook for Alex to see.

"That's great, baby. I'm proud of you" Alex said, walking over to sit on Mia's other side.

Anybody could've taken a look at the three of them all huddled up and think that they were a happy family.

"Can we watch soccer now?" Mia said, looking up pleadingly at her mother. Alex smiled and reached for the remote.

She flipped the television to ESPN just in time for an NWSL game. With Mia engrossed in the action, Alex took the opportunity to talk to (Y/N) quietly.

"Look at you and Mia" Alex said, showing (Y/N) the photo she took. (Y/N) turned and beamed at the photo.

"Wow that looks really nice. I love it" (Y/N) said, she takes Alex's hand to pull the phone closer to her.

They both ignore the electricity that they felt when their hands touched.

"Will it be alright if I post it on Instagram?" Alex said. (Y/N) lets go of her hand and she misses the contact immediately.

"Sure, why not" (Y/N) said, smiling. Alex draws back her phone and opens up social media.

"What's your handle? Do you even have Instagram still?" Alex said, already typing out the post.

"Yeah. I'm not a grandma. I just don't use it a lot" (Y/N) said with a laugh.

"Is your handle the same?" Alex said. (Y/N) nods.

Not long after Alex posted the photo, (Y/N)'s phone started ringing with notifications.

"Her new favorite Auntie" Alex's post read.

"I love my new title" (Y/N) said, chuckling. She spotted a comment from Kelley and Allie.

K: Hey no. She cannot dethrone me that fast! A: Well, I'm pretty useless when it comes to homework so she can have that part of the job.

"Oh I forgot to ask, who among the girls are going to make it tonight?" (Y/N) said, scrolling through the comments.

She noticed a few fans commenting about their 'ship' coming alive after all these years.

There isn't a ship when it's unrequited, she thought.

"Kelley, Allie, Krashlyn and Preath all said they would come!" Alex said.

"Nice" (Y/N) said, her excitement of seeing her old teammates bubbling inside of her.

"Some of the younger ones are still busy with the NWSL season so they couldn't make it" Alex said.

"I totally get that" (Y/N) said. The pair was a little bit startled when someone knocked on the door.

Alex looked over her shoulder and stood up.

"Must be the babysitter" Alex said. (Y/N) nods and puts her arm around Mia who was starting to doze off after the game finished.

Alex walked to the front door and opened it.

"Hey, Greta. Thanks for coming " Alex greeted her usual baby sitter. The teen smiled and walked inside.

"Hey, Alex. No problem. Anything for sweet little Mia" Greta said. The pair walked into (Y/N) carrying Mia who was already fast asleep to lie on the couch.

(Y/N) looked at them and put a finger to her mouth to signal them to be quiet.

Alex swore she had never seen anything more adorable. She quietly made her way to Alex and Greta.

"Out like a light. Must've been the math" (Y/N) said, chuckling.

"(Y/N), this is Greta. The best baby sitter in town" Alex said, motioning to the teenage girl next to her.

"Hey Greta. I'm (Y/N)" (Y/N) said, offering her hand to Greta. But the teen just gaped.

"... (Y/N)? As in (Y/N) (L/N), USWNT legend?" Greta said. Alex laughed and linked their arms.

"The one and only" Alex said proudly.

Greta couldn't believe her luck. The number of football players she had met because of her babysitting job with Alex Morgan.

She almost thought it was a scam when a craigslist ad for a babysitter was listed under the soccer star.

(Y/N) laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. Alex looked knowingly at Greta.

"Why don't you take a photo with her?" Alex said, nudging (Y/N).

"Would that be okay?" Greta said hopefully. (Y/N) nodded and smiled.

"Sure. It's kinda funny how you know me" (Y/N) said, moving to her side. Greta gave Alex her phone and squealed.

"You're like one of the greatest of all time" Greta said happily. (Y/N) blushed and swung her arm over the teen's shoulder.

"Thank you, but I'm not" (Y/N) said, chuckling. Alex snapped the photo and handed Greta back her phone.

"She's humble like that" Alex said, grinning at (Y/N).

Greta thanked (Y/N) for the photo and proceeded to look after the sleeping Mia.

"I'll go get ready" Alex said, motioning she'll be going upstairs for a bit. (Y/N) nods and lounges around in the kitchen.

She's busy scrolling through her phone when Alex emerges from the top of the stairs. As if by instinct, (Y/N) looks up and her breath is caught in her throat.

Alex looked stunning in a striped dress that hugged her curves just right (A/N: Just imagine her wearing the dress she has on in her vogue shoot on Instagram. I don't know how to describe it lmao).

"I feel like I should've dressed up more" (Y/N) said, still gawking at the former Orlando forward as she went down the stairs.

"Please. You don't look so bad yourself" Alex said, and with a surge of courage threw a wink at (Y/N)'s direction.

(Y/N) blushed at the comment and followed Alex like a lost puppy as she gave Greta a few more reminders before they went on their way.

"Dinner's in the fridge. Her vitamins are in the usual cupboard and bedtime is at 9:30pm please" Alex said. Greta nodded her head. Mia was still out like a light on the couch.

(Y/N)'s heart warmed as Alex bent down to kiss her daughter goodbye.

"I got us a Lyft so nobody has to be the designated driver" (Y/N) said, grinning at Alex as they made their way outside.

"Smart. What about your car though?" Alex said. (Y/N) shrugged.

"I'll bring it home once I've sobered up enough. Would you mind if I leave it here?" (Y/N) said. Alex's mind raced at the possibilities of (Y/N) having to come by her house after drinks.

"Not at all" Alex said. (Y/N) beamed and offered her arm, Alex smiled and accepted, linking them together.

It didn't take long for the Lyft to arrive and they were off to the bar.

Both women were buzzing with excitement at the thought of reuniting with their friends.

"I wonder if Kelley can still hold her alcohol like she did when we won the World Cup back in 2019" (Y/N) thought aloud. Alex snorted.

"Oh she definitely still can. She's a 21-year-old frat boy stuck in a 40-something's body" Alex said. (Y/N) laughed.

"God I can't wait to see them. I feel bad for not really staying in touch with you guys all these years" (Y/N) said sadly, looking down at her hands.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Life happens. You're here now right?" Alex said, taking (Y/N)'s hand and squeezing it.

(Y/N) offered her a smile and felt infinitely better. They spent the rest of the ride still holding hands.

Neither of them acknowledged the other's disinterest to let go.

The only time (Y/N) finally lets go of Alex's hand is when she has to pay the driver once they arrived.

They thanked the Lyft and went inside the bar. Kelley had immediately spotted them and began waving wildly from her seat.

"Alex! (Y/N)!" Kelley said loudly. The pair whipped their heads in her direction and laughed at the woman.

Still the same Kelley after all these years, (Y/N) thought. They approached Kelley with wide smiles.

Once they were close enough, Kelley attacked (Y/N) with a bear hug.

"How long has it been (Y/N)!!!!" Kelley said, squeezing the living life out of (Y/N).

Alex couldn't help but laugh at the sight of her two friends.

"Nice to see you too, Kell. Now let me go before I pass out" (Y/N) said, chuckling.

"Oop, sorry" Kelley said with a cheesy grin. They take their seats while waiting for the rest of the gang to show up.

They had talked about (Y/N) being intrigued with Mia during her camp that eventually led to her reconnecting with Alex and the rest of the team.

Kelley nodded along like Alex hadn't already gushed about it to her.

It took about 15 minutes before the rest of the gang showed up, Allie had arrived with Preath while Krashlyn came as a couple.

"Still the third wheel, I see?" (Y/N) said to Allie with a smirk. Allie rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, (Y/L/N)" Allie replied. (Y/N) laughed.

The group of friends easily fell into conversation once they were settled down with drinks.

As per usual, Ashlyn was the one documenting the whole thing and posting it on her Instagram stories.

"When I heard about the social work you were doing, I checked it out on the internet. It seems amazing" Christen told (Y/N) with the whole gang nodding their heads in a approval.

"Thank you. That means a lot, from a CEO like you" (Y/N) said with a smile, talking about their successful re-inc company.

"We really missed you, man" Tobin said. She was one of (Y/N)'s closest friends on the team, if not the closest.

"I know. I'm sorry I haven't been able to keep in touch" (Y/N) said shyly. She really felt bad.

Alex reached out for her hand under the table and squeezed again. (Y/N) glanced at her and smiled for the comfort.

"It's fine. We barely realized you weren't there" Ali said jokingly.

"Yeah... who is she? I don't know her" Ashlyn said. The mood lightened with Krashlyn's antics.

"Alright, enough with that emotional shit. It's time for Never Have I Ever!" Kelley said, raising her shot glass filled with tequila.

"Still the college frat boy, are we Kelley?" (Y/N) said, laughing.

"Of course. That's like my brand" Kelley said.

The game started out pretty simple, with most relating to soccer practice when they were still in the USWNT.

Everyone on the table was surprised when Christen took a shot after the Never Have I Ever faked being sick to skip practice.

"What? I'm human too" Christen said defensively. Kelley, Ashlyn and Allie gave her approving looks.

"Let's make this interesting and because I want Preath and Krashlyn to take more shots" Allie said. Clearing her throat.

"Never Have I Ever fallen in love with a teammate" Allie said. She narrowed her eyes at the two couples as they groaned and took shots.

Alex wondered if she should take a shot. Was she in love? It was just a crush right?

But what was surprising to everyone was when (Y/N) slowly took her shot glass and downed it in one go.

"Oh my God?" Allie said, looking at (Y/N) at disbelief. Alex felt a feeling of giddyness and jealousy bubble up inside of her at the same time.

Who did (Y/N) have feelings for? But at the back of her mind, she was really hoping it was her.

"What?" (Y/N) said, a blush creeping up on her face. Alex was also looking at her. She couldn't tell what the other woman was thinking.

Could she see right through me? (Y/N) thought.

"Spill" Ashlyn said. Allie and Ali (lol) nodded in approval.

Tobin and Christen glanced at (Y/N) worriedly, obviously knowing who it was.

"Nope" (Y/N) said, taking another shot.

"No fun!" Allie said, pouting at the other woman.

"Maybe next time" (Y/N) said, risking a glance at Alex's direction. She was playing with her shot glass, seemingly deep in thought.

The game continued on for about 15 minutes more before they grew tired and simply settled on sharing stories.

(Y/N) felt happy that her friends were still all so successful. She missed them so much and really meant it when she said there would be a 'next time'.

Before long, it was deep into the night. With kids waiting on them at home, Krashlyn and Preath excused themselves.

"See ya. Everybody just get a Lyft or an Uber please. Stay safe" Allie told the two couples.

They nodded before saying their goodbyes and heading out.

"Hey. Until what time can Greta watch Mia?" (Y/N) asked the more than tipsy Alex next to her.

The forward was feeling a bit woozy, already leaning her head on (Y/N)'s shoulder.

"She can watch her until 10pm I think" Alex said. (Y/N) looked at her watch and it was already past nine.

"It's past nine. Do you want to head back already?" (Y/N) said. Alex checks her phone and nods lazily.

"Alright. I'll get us a Lyft. I still gotta get my car at your place" (Y/N) said. Alex hummed in approval.

She sends a weak glare at Kelley and Allie's way when they wiggle their eyebrows at her while (Y/N) was busy with her phone.

After a few minutes, their Lyft driver had arrived and (Y/N) helped Alex get up.

"It was really nice getting to catch up guys. Let's do this again soon" (Y/N) said, looking at Allie and Kelley.

"Definitely" Allie said. (Y/N) smiled before assisting Alex out.

Alex spared a look at Allie and Kelley before they headed out the door. Her two friends winked at her and gave her a thumbs up.

She laughed and flipped them off. The Lyft ride home was filled with comfortable silence, both of them buzzed enough to just enjoy each other's company.

When they finally arrived, (Y/N) walked with Alex inside. They find Greta waiting in the living room.

"Hey. Mia's already asleep upstairs" Greta said, standing up and gathering her things.

"Thanks, Greta. Sorry we were out a bit late" Alex said, looking apologetically at the teen.

She shrugged and smiled.

"Mia's an angel, it's no problem" Greta said. Alex handed her the payment and she headed out.

"Are you sure you're sober enough to drive?" Alex said, turning her attention to (Y/N).

"I guess so" (Y/N) said. She wasn't drunk, but she definitely wasn't completely sober. Alex scrunched up her brows.

"That's not good enough. Why don't you stay the night?" Alex offered without thinking. They both blushed at the prospect.

"I-i mean, if you want" Alex said. (Y/N) smiled.

"I'd love to" (Y/N) answered. Alex grinned.

"Great. I'll just check on Mia. You can freshen up in the bathroom in my room" Alex said. (Y/N) nodded.

(Y/N) headed to her car to get a spare set of clothes she always kept there for emergencies.

She mentally thanked herself for doing that because she would definitely not look good in Alex's clothes.

Maybe the other way around would work, she thought. The image of Alex wearing her clothes entered her mind and she blushed.

"Great now that's stuck in my head" (Y/N) grumbled to herself.

She went back inside and stopped in her tracks when she realized she didn't know where Alex's room was.

She sighed and pulled out her phone. She really couldn't call out for Alex if Mia was already asleep.

Ok I just realized I don't know which one is your room. (Y/N) typed. She pressed send and waited for a bit before Alex's reply came.

Oh shit yeah, sorry. Second door to the left upstairs. Alex's text read.

(Y/N) made her way up and walked to Alex's room. But the sight of Alex and Mia caught her eye in the room before Alex's.

Mia was fast asleep, hugging a soccer ball plushie with Alex stroking her hair.

(Y/N) smiled to herself and proceeded to enter Alex's room. She helped herself to the bathroom and freshened up.

She was just about finishing up when she heard the door open and close, meaning that Alex was probably already in the room.

(Y/N) walked out with her worn out Portland Thorns jersey and shorts. Alex chuckled at her wardrobe choice.

"What? It was the only thing I had in the car" (Y/N) said defensively. Alex laughed and approached her.

"I think it's cute. It still suits you" Alex said, looking up at (Y/N). The latter swore she could get lost in those blue eyes forever.

"Why thank you" (Y/N) managed with a smile. Alex smiles back and proceeds to side step her way into the bathroom.

"My turn" Alex said, closing the door on (Y/N).

Having nothing to do while waiting for Alex, (Y/N) looked around the room. She noticed Alex's soccer trophies on full display on a shelf next to her study table.

She also took a peek at the framed photos on the wall. Their World Cup victories, including the 2023 one that (Y/N) wasn't a part of, club pictures from Orlando, a few photos of her and Mia.

(Y/N) smiled, looking at Alex's face on the photographs. She swore that smile could light up a whole room.

(Y/N) is brought out of her thoughts when Alex walks out of the bath. (Y/N) looks up at almost passes out then and there.

The former Orlando star is wearing nothing but a tank top and short shorts and she really doesn't want to stare so she avoids looking at Alex in general.

"I-uh, I'm going to head down Al. Good night!" (Y/N) stuttered out, making a beeline for the door.

But Alex grabbed her wrist, forcing her to stop.

"Why?" Alex said, her eyes a bit glassy still because of the alcohol.

"So I could sleep in the couch?" (Y/N) said, almost as a question.

"You could sleep here with me. I mean, the bed's big enough for the both of us" Alex said. (Y/N) was putty in her hands, especially with the tinge of hope she could hear in Alex's request.

"Are you sure, Al? I wouldn't want to intrude on your personal space" (Y/N) said. But Alex is already dragging her to the bed.

"You won't. I promise" Alex said. (Y/N) can feel her heart pounding when they get settled.

She tries to focus on her breathing, it was just Alex. Friends do this all the time right? Right.

"Will you cuddle me?" Alex said. Even in the darkness of the room (Y/N) could see the sparkle in Alex's eyes.

She couldn't really say no to that.

"Okay" (Y/N) said, wrapping her arms around Alex. The latter buries herself in the other woman's arm. Feeling warm at the contact.

"Goodnight, (Y/N)" Alex said, smiling contentedly. If it was the alcohol or (Y/N)'s embrace, she didn't know but she felt the most calm she's ever been in years.

"Goodnight, Al" (Y/N) said, still trying to keep her pounding heart at bay.

To be continued.

#uswnt #uswnt imagines #alex morgan #alex morgan imagines #singlemom!alex #falling back into you

[dakohtah]

i’d never hurt no one, and no one would ever hurt me

Oops! All Magnus fic, set post balance arc bc I felt like the boy was in need of some Hurtin. also available on my ao3

..

After the Day of Story and Song (TM TM TM), Magnus stayed pretty busy. He had to: even with the Hunger defeated, the devastation left in the wake of John’s appearance had left the entire planar system reeling with the weight of what it had nearly lost.

It wasn’t for his own sake, honestly. He was made to help. To protect. It’s what he’d wanted to do in Raven’s Roost. It’s what he’d apparently fought to do for—well. For a good while. So, when he started cleaning up the city of Neverwinter, it was just another facet of his duty. Real natural. A different way to save the world.

It was what he was supposed to do.

So, Magnus set out. 

His work in Neverwinter spread slowly, inexorably down into Rockport. He just figured folks could use a friendly face and a couple of helping hands as they got back on their feet, that’s all. These people—their weary faces lighting up in the face of a multi-universal semi-celebrity—they were almost always grateful, offering him a hot meal and a place to sleep as he passed through. Kids would beg him to stay a little longer, to play just one more game, or at least to show them his sword again before he moseyed onto the next town. Magnus had never pegged himself as the nomadic type—by choice, at any rate, but he wasn’t going to think about—well. So much to say, life on the road very nearly suited him. He really, really liked it.

The labor was nice, too. Folks always needed something done, big or small. He might find himself rebuilding houses. Spooking bandits away from some older pathways. Maybe helping to shape up old furniture. More and more, he found himself chopping firewood in preparation for the incoming Faerun winter. It all kept him just busy enough that he didn’t. Well. There wasn’t much time to overthink, was all.

He never admitted, out loud or in the privacy of his mind, that he wasn’t ready to unpack it all. Not the hundred years he wasn’t supposed to have or the way that he’d lost them—like they’d never happened to begin with.

And then, to have remembered it all anyway.

To have heard it, experienced it being broadcast across the planar system—left gasping at pieces of his own story that hadn’t quite settled in the amalgamated mess the voidfish (Fisher and Junior, their names are Fisher and—) had left of his mind. To have accomplished in one day what one hundred years of effort fell short of.  

And then what?

Was it time to celebrate? Or mourn? Magnus had lived nearly eighty percent of his life on borrowed time, and now the clock was ticking. He didn’t—?

It’s just. He couldn’t unpack it yet because he wasn’t sure what was supposed to come after. Somehow, he never in one hundred years thought there could be an after. Not for him.

Not after the Hunger and not after Julia.

So, Magnus set out and he fixed things because it was what he was supposed to do. He stayed on the move and helped where he could because he always had, and he was good at it. He almost always liked the people, and the work, and the children, and the way that almost no one ever asked him to talk about it more than once.

Sure, they’d always ask at least one time if he’d tell them about it. And he’d always answer, with an aborted little ‘eh’ hand gesture, “Maybe later?”

And then they’d let it go. And if they didn’t then he left as soon as the work ran dry. Maybe sooner, depending on their persistence. He’d heard that the city of Goldcliff was real warm, even in the winter. He let the thought settle in his mind. A little warmth felt like something he was well overdue.

“It sounds like you’re doing good work, Magnus,” and if Lucretia’s voice was halting as it traveled through the Stone of Farspeech, Magnus would chalk it up to a faulty fantasy connection. He didn’t look into it. If he thought too hard, he’d find himself buried in particulars that had been tucked away with Junior for nearly a decade. (Lucretia sounds like this at the beginning of every new year—this is the sound of her processing regrets. Don’t ask her if she thinks we could have saved them, she does. She’ll tell you how and you don’t want to hear it and she doesn’t want to say it. Remind her to eat. Remind her to sleep. Remind her you love her. Remind h—) “I. Well, I’ve told you about the work we’ve been doing at the Bureau of Benevolence. It’s—a start. If you ever decide that. Um. Well, you’d be welcome, of course, if you ever wanted to come and—well, if you’d like to—”

Stay. She wanted him to come and to stay and Magnus wanted—something. Not that. Not yet. Maybe never? Magnus wanted, but what?

“Thanks, Luce,” and maybe Magnus’ voice was a little soft. Faulty fantasy connection. Hard to tell. “Might take you up on that here soon,” but not yet. “Glad to hear things are still coming along with the rebrand. I gotta hit the hay, but I’ll catch up with you later, okay? Send my love to Carrie and Killian and Avi and Fish—uh, y’know. Everybody.”

Lucretia gave a halfhearted chuckle, “I will, Magnus.” The pause was as long as it was palpable, steaming in the chill of the air alongside Magnus’ puffs of breath, “I love you, you know.”

“I—” and it wasn’t easy to find words, but he managed eventually, “I, uh. Yeah. Yeah, I love you, too, Lucy. G’night.”

“Goodnight.”

The barn—too small for livestock, but just large enough to shelter a little feed, a load of firewood, and one Magnus Burnsides—seemed to hold an echo as the line cut out. It hadn’t felt too quiet when he’d settled in for the evening, but Magnus found himself wanting—something, anything. Early on in his pilgrimage, there had been crickets. Summer cicadas. The rustle of nocturnal animals who hadn’t yet tucked themselves away for the season. The sound of children laughing, sneaking out for moonlit mischief.

Magnus couldn’t quite pinpoint when his evenings had become silent.

He couldn’t quite pinpoint when the stillness had begun to bother him.

Not to say he was bothered. He wasn’t. He traveled alone for years, long before he’d even seen Craig’s List or heard any names even vaguely resembling Merle or Taak—oh, and there he went. Thinking about it.

Magnus took a moment to count the pieces of wood stacked in the corner. Seventy-eight. He would chop a little more before he left in the morning. It was shaping up to be a bitter season.

He just. Well.

He could stand to invest in a fantasy noisemaker, that’s all. For the first time, Magnus found himself wishing that Fantasy Costco hadn’t fucked clean off his plane of existence. Garfield may have been unsettling in a way that scraped at his bones, but he had a great selection.

Magnus took one deep breath, and then another. Tried not to remember the way Merle’s snoring would echo in tight quarters, tried not to remember the way that it was a menace this year but a comfort for about eighty before.

Seventy-eight pieces of wood in the corner. The dual sounds of pens on papers, now visceral in their absence, and Magnus would chop more before he left in the morning.

The lack of gentle footsteps pacing at one, two, three in the morning, and the lack of a rustle at four when Davenport would crawl back into his bunk. It was shaping up to be a bitter season, and Magnus could almost hear Barry and Lup whispering in the early morning. Heart-wrenching and gentle. In the silence of the Starblaster, Magnus would sometimes catch the tail-end of an “I love you,” and he took one deep breath. And then another.

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, seventy-eight pieces of wood, and Taako leaning down over the top bunk at the Bureau of Balance. “Couldn’t sleep either, big fella?” The joke was stupid, elves never fucking sleep, but somehow, he always, always knew when Magnus was lying awake. Merle would say something about old habits, and fuck. Fuck chopping wood in the morning.

So, Magnus set out, just as the sun was teasing a light blush along the horizon. His feet crunched merrily as they hit the frosted ground. A bird chirped once, and then again.

It was shaping up to be a bitter season.

#taz fanfic #taz fanfiction #taz balance #the adventure zone #magnus burnsides #lucretia #listen linda the boy is HURT #its literally just self-indulgent pain im sorry fellas

[miafic]

next up at p&p is a boy named morgan!

morgan is a runaway. he was semi-forced into coming out to his parents, and it went really badly. he quickly packed a bag and ran. the police found him and didn’t feel right taking him home, so he wound up in a foster home and then at p&p. 

morgan is very sweet and “normal” (according to lucas’ standards). the first night that morgan is in the house, he’s under the blankets, propped up against his pillow, and reading a book when zakk comes in.

“hey, man. you getting settled in?” 

morgan slides a scrap of paper in between the pages and closes the book halfway. “yeah. thanks.” 

“lucas gave you a toothbrush?” 

“i have one,” morgan says, “but the guys showed me the toothpaste.” 

“good. okay, cool. do you have any questions? need anything?”

“yeah, what time do we get up?”

“well, tomorrow’s saturday, so sometime between 8 and 8:30. i think lucas is gonna let everybody sleep in tomorrow, though.” 

“i hope so,” morgan comments wistfully.

“i’ll pass that on,” zakk smiles. “okay. well, goodnight, morgs.” 

“no,” morgan says, his tone a little urgent but not sharp. 

“oh - sorry,” zakk fumbles. “no nicknames.” he nods. “i’ve really gotta stop.”

“no, nicknames are fine, just - that’s what my dad called me, and...”

zakk nods. “i won’t do it again. i’m sorry. um, goodnight.” he starts to leave, but morgan stops him.

“i...” he clears his throat. “sometimes my friends call me momo.” 

zakk can’t help but smile. “momo?” he repeats in surprise.

morgan’s cheeks have reddened, but he nods. 

“that’s cute. i like it.”

“momo!” jordan cheers as he walks into the room. he starts dancing around a little, pulling the back of his collar up onto his head and chanting, “mo-mo! mo-mo! mo-mo!”

it’s so out of character that zakk has to laugh. “jordan, you are exhausted, dude.” 

“yes, i am,” jordan affirms proudly just before he flops facedown onto his mattress. 

morgan shakes his head at zakk and acknowledges jordan by saying, “thanks for the enthusiasm.” 

“no problem, momo,” comes the muffled reply. 

“okay, jojo.” 

jordan’s head comes up, and he scowls at morgan, who laughs. zakk is amused but watches carefully to make sure there’s not going to be a problem; jordan goes from 0 to 60 pretty quick sometimes. 

but jordan relaxes, dropping his head back down. “i might regret this,” he says, “but alright, you can call me jojo.” 

“you can always change your mind,” zakk tells him warmly. then - “morgan, put the book away, please. you can read more tomorrow.” 

“can i finish my page?” he asks, and he doesn’t sound desperate, but zakk says yes anyway. 

“as soon as that’s done, light goes out, and i want you both to go straight to sleep. it’s been a long day.” 

“every day is a long day, man,” jordan complains, but morgan nods. 

“goodnight,” morgan says to zakk. “thanks for taking care of me.” 

jordan snorts, but zakk smiles gently. “you’re very welcome. goodnight, momo.” 

morgan smiles and opens his book again. 

#morgan #p&p #zakk #jordan #hcs #didnt even look over this im sorry

[aweirdkindofyellow]

Here I Am, There You Are Pt. 15

Jack Barakat x OC ‘Rachel has been best friends with Alex, Jack, Rian, and Zack since high school. What happens when one of them gets married?’

Part 15

Jack and I had Alex and Lisa over for a week. Since they didn’t have a house out in LA anymore, they always needed to find places to stay when they did need to be on the West Coast. Since Alex and Jack were working on some band stuff and Lisa was organising the last bits of a wedding at the same time, we had offered to help them out by giving them a place to stay. Afterall, after months of not seeing each other, it was nice to actually have friends around again.

While making dinner for everybody, the fact that I was 36 weeks pregnant hit me pretty hard. I was standing there on my painful feet, cutting up some vegetables when my body decided to warn me that I shouldn’t push myself and take enough time to rest. It was nearing the end of their trip, and I wanted to give them one last impressive meal, but my back said no. Luckily, Alex was more than happy to give me a hand. He let me direct him around, doing most of the work while Lisa and Jack were gulping down some rosé.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t really enjoy the food we had cooked together. My back was in pain and I was feeling quite nauseous. It wasn’t alarming, though. It happened more often; my lower back would decide it had been carrying around the extra weight for more than long enough, then everything would just feel very uncomfortable, and then I’d also start feeling a little sick. Usually, it didn’t end up in my throwing up, but it definitely wasn’t the most pleasant of feelings.

I got a few bites in, but in the end I was mainly just picking at my food. The baby usually loved a combination of vegetable and tomato sauce, but it wasn’t happening that day. Luckily, I wasn’t really hungry anyway. Lisa and I had gotten a pretty big lunch earlier, so I had had more than enough to eat already. Since everybody already knew I wasn’t feeling great, and because I had made the food myself, nobody was particularly worried. It happened, pregnancy wasn’t just happiness and people telling you you looked like you were glowing.

But my back really was hurting, and I could just feel myself going into an unsafe territory. The territory in which I’d no longer be fun to be around. Before I got too annoyed at jokes and laughter, and any other sound made, I knew I had to distance myself.

“I think I’m going to go to bed,” I announced after putting my fork down. I knew it was early, it was only past dinner time. But it sounded like the only bearable thing right now.

“Everything alright?” Jack checked up on me, taking in just how uncomfortable I looked.

I nodded and pushed my chair back. “Yeah. I just need to lie down and I’m pretty tired. Why not combine both?”

“Call if you need anything, okay?”

I got up and pressed a kiss to the top of his head to show that I definitely wouldn’t think twice to call him if I needed him. He really was the best husband right now, he had been the entire time really. He’d help to tie my shoes when I was really struggling, he’d bring me snacks when I was hungry, and he’d help me get as comfortable as possible, even if that meant rubbing my back. Of course, we had our arguments, but he was the most supportive person, always there to help me out.

I said goodnight to everybody and retreated upstairs to our bedroom. Olive decided to join me, watching me as I got ready and climbing onto the bed when I got under the blankets. It was a bit strange since she’d usually stay down where the food was being shared, but she probably sensed that I wasn’t feeling great. She kept a watchful eye on me as she curled up right next to me.

The two of us just laid there together. Petting her long fur was quite comforting, but it wasn’t enough for my body to decide that it was time to relax and no longer be in pain. If anything, the queasy feeling in my stomach was getting worse. I just figured our cheese puff had shifted a little and was squishing all my insides since I had to get up to pee quite a few times as well.

When Jack finally joined me hours later, I was still awake, scrolling through my phone. The entire time I was switching between social media platforms and even tried watching some Netflix, although the shows didn’t exactly keep my attention.

“You’re still awake?” Jack seemed surprised as he closed our bedroom door and pulled off his shirt.

“No, I’m just sleepwalking,” I joked back and reached around to put my phone on my nightstand.

He kicked off his jeans as well and started towards the bathroom. “Are you feeling a bit better, though?”

I hummed back and shrugged.

“No?” He looked back as he turned on the bathroom light.

I pouted at him. “My tummy hurts.”

He gave me a worried look. “Is cheese puff okay?”

I nodded and scratched Olive’s head, snuggling further into my pillow. “He’s good, still kicking. I just feel like I might shit myself at any moment.”

He frowned and finally went to our sink. “Gross.”

I watched as he grabbed his toothbrush and squeezed some toothpaste on it. “Well, I’m not going to. I would have done it long ago if that were the case.”

“If it happens, I’m not cleaning it up,” he mumbled through the foaming toothpaste in his mouth.

“You better get used to cleaning shit soon.”

He scrunched up his nose in disgust and faced the sink again. After scrubbing his teeth for a few more seconds, he turned on the tap, spit out the toothpaste and washed out his mouth. Once his toothbrush was back in its place, he turned off the bathroom light and made his way over to the bed in just his boxers.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked, looking down at me as I cuddled underneath the blankets. My stomach was starting to hurt a little more. “You’re not in labour, are you?”

I gave him the look. The one you give when you can’t believe what the other person is saying; the one where what they’re saying sounds incredibly absurd. It required a slow blink and a hint of being fed up.

“Of course not,” I urged as he joined me in bed. “It’s way too early for that. I’m not due for another four weeks. It’s just some cramps, maybe he’s getting in position for later.”

He eyed me suspiciously. “Are you sure? It might be premature labour.”

“Jack.”

“Okay, okay,” he dropped it and leaned in to give me a kiss to wish me goodnight.

However, before his lips could even touch mine, Olive started freaking out. At first, it was just a low growl, but as soon as Jack leaned over her to get closer to me, she started barking loudly. And it wasn’t a bark that asked for attention. It was a threatening protective bark, warning him to stay away from me.

“Excuse me!” Jack gasped loudly and directed his gaze down to Olive who was still tightly against my side.

“Olive!” I scolded and pointed at the end of our bed. “Down, now.”

She looked at me with guilt written all across her face, but moved down anyway. Her movements were slowly and sneaky, showing just how much she knew she was being told off. Once she reached my feet, she laid down and kept staring at me lowly and carefully.

Jack reached out to touch me, only for her to growl again. All I could do was frown as he retracted his hand. And she stopped. Jack and I both watched her as he slowly went to graze my shoulder. The closer he inched, the louder the growl became. The further he moved away, the quieter she got.

“What’s up with her?” Jack cocked his head in intrigue and confusion.

“I have no idea…” I shook my head in bewilderment. “I guess she can sense I’m not feeling great.”

“Huh…”

I quickly stretched out to plant a kiss on his lips instead, getting no reaction out of Olive at all.

“One-sided much?” Jack gave her a little glare before reaching back to turn off the lights.

We shuffled around to get more comfortable in the dark. It meant I had to maneuver around Olive a little, since she kept trying to be as close to me as possible, but eventually Jack and I managed to get into a position comfortable for us. He was on his back while I stayed on my side and had my head on his shoulder. We laid there in silence until Jack suddenly turned around to face me.

He put his hands on my belly and looked down at it. “You better stop hurting mommy, okay? She’s been growing you, you’ve gotta be kind.”

I guess he could somehow tell that my stomach ache was only getting worse as time slowly passed us by. I could only smile softly in response. As if nothing had happened, he flipped back onto his back and let me snuggle into him again, practically using him as a body pillow. I kissed his cheek and nuzzled my nose against the side of his face, hoping for sleep to finally consume me hours after I had originally gone to bed.

Things didn’t go too great during the night. I was up a lot. It was still relatively okay at the beginning, but I kept waking up randomly. The pain in my stomach was definitely still there. It also wasn’t getting any better. If it was getting worse, though, I didn’t know. I was constantly in a state of being half asleep. It was difficult to even notice all my senses at that point.

I finally fell into a nice sleep at around six am, when the sun had already risen. Unfortunately, I was woken up just a few hours later by Jack, who was trying to slowly bring me out of my sleep by peppering butterfly kissed all over my face. I groaned, feeling anything but rested, wishing he wouldn’t have even tried to wake me up.

“It’s nine am,” he told me in a whisper.

I breathed out heavily. “That means I’ve had three hours of sleep.”

“What?! Why!”

“Because I didn’t feel great,” I grumbled, the pillow against my cheek preventing me from talking properly.

“Shit, do you still feel bad?” He sat up and ran his fingers through my hair. “Should we maybe call the doctor?”

“I surprisingly feel okay right now…” I suddenly realised. Yes, I still felt a little nauseous and uncomfortable, but the pain was mainly gone.

“Thank god,” he sighed in relief and started getting out of bed. “You get some more sleep and I’ll make sure Lisa and Alex get their breakfast and coffee.”

“Okay.” My eyes felt heavy, but I still grabbed his hand before he could walk away. “I love you.”

“I love you,” he responded and gently kissed my hand before dropping it and disappearing to take a shower.

I fell asleep again right after. It was a proper deep sleep. Finally. I didn’t wake up for another few hours, but when I did it was very abruptly. Let’s say I didn’t wake up ‘naturally’, or better to say I didn’t wake up because I was fully rested. Instead it was pain that woke me up. It started in the middle of my stomach and grew out. If there hadn’t been a bump in the way, I would have curled up and cradled my stomach.

Slowly, it dissipated and I was left to feel a bit better. I quickly got out of bed with my heart thumping like crazy. Whatever was happening wasn’t good. My doctor had told me all about braxton hicks contractions, and I did have them before. Only it hurt more this time. Maybe I just felt them a bit more this time?

But while I was taking a shower and brushing my teeth, the pain kept coming back in random intervals. There was no real pattern to it yet, but I just knew. I didn’t wait any longer to go downstairs. Alex, Lisa, and Jack were all in our formal living room having even more coffee than they had with breakfast. They were just chatting while Lisa was also busy doing something on her iPad.

“Rachel!” Alex was the first to notice me, giving me a big smile. “You feeling any better?”

“About that…” I breathed out and supported my back with my hands, making eye contact with Jack. “You were right.”

“What?” He shook his head in confusion.

“I am definitely in labour right now.”

I could just see everybody’s face turn into surprised and worried expressions. They were all staring at me. Alex and Lisa were mainly shocked, unsure how to react (although there was also a hint of excitement is Lisa’s body language). And Jack? Well he just looked pale. I got it, though. I felt the way he looked. We thought we had a bit longer to properly prepare, especially mentally.

Jack only managed to say one thing. “Shit, really?”

“No, I was just…” Another contraction hit me, making me breath in sharply and I tried to get the rest of my sentence out, “messing… with… you.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, that helps, thanks.” I gave him a sarcastic thumbs up as the pain already started fading away.

He got up quickly and raked his fingers through his hair harshly. “I mean– I just– shit.”

“Would you like to sit down?” Alex offered me, also starting to stand up to be of my assistance.

I nodded my head yes, but also didn’t really accept his proposal. He was ready to help me to the couch, yet I just lowered myself onto the floor and sat there instead. It seemed like the more comfortable position, even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back up later. Olive immediately walked over from her spot on the carpet to come sit by my side again, ready to protect me from any harm.

“Alright,” Jack was finally ready to take action, “should I call somebody? Do I need to do something specific?”

“Call the doctor,” I instructed, trying to stretch out a little to see if my back would feel any better, “because I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to be in labour yet.”

“Okay…” he jumped away from the couches and ran upstairs even though he had his phone on him.

I just let him do whatever, figuring rational thinking wasn’t exactly his top priority right now. While he was off doing that, I gave my full attention to Olive. There wasn’t much else I could do. I was in too much pain to go and clean up the house a little, as much as I wanted to come back to a clean house after giving birth. And I also didn’t really have the power to entertain Lisa and Alex right now. All I could do was sit and wait for this baby to come out of me.

“Are you okay?” Lisa asked with concern.

“Yeah,” I replied, continuing to rub Olive’s ears. “I knew this was coming, but I didn’t think it would be so soon.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?”

I shook my head, already dreading the next time a contraction hit. “Not really, no. Unless you’d like to switch bodies and do this for me?”

“I think I’ll let you take that one by yourself,” she chuckled.

I huffed, trying to focus all my attention on Olive to distract me from the pain that started up again. I could tell that my contractions were starting to become more regular and longer, but they definitely didn’t feel like one minute long yet. My doctor had said that there was no point going in until my contractions were five minutes apart and sixty seconds long. But I was unsure about that now. It was too early.

A few minutes later, Jack came tumbling down the stairs again, wanting to go faster than his feet could handle. He was carrying a duffle bag sloppily on his shoulder and his phone was clutched in his hand. Somehow, his hair was now a complete mess and he looked like he had seen something traumatising.

“I have spare clothes, baby clothes, toiletries and important documents,” he stated as he dropped the bag on the floor. “Is there anything else we need?”

I just stared back at him. Where was this sudden need to panic and rush coming from?

“Fuck! Car seat!” he suddenly exclaimed and ran to the stairs again. “I haven’t even finished building the crib yet! Shit!”

I raised my eyebrows and looked at Alex and Lisa while Jack was dashing upstairs. “Is he in labour, or am I?”

“I’ll go check up on him,” Alex chuckled and took the same path Jack had, only much more calm and collected.

Which left just me and Lisa downstairs.

“We’ll take care of Olive while you’re at the hospital,” she told me, looking at the dog who was still stuck to my side like she was the only thing keeping me alive right now.

“Thanks.” I smiled back. I had completely forgotten about Olive even though she was the one thing I was trying to pay attention to right now. “My parents were supposed to come over at the end of next week to help us out, but it’s a little late now.”

It didn’t take long until Jack and Alex came back downstairs. Jack seemed much calmer now as he carried down the car seat we had bought a while ago, full of extra blankets for our baby. He wasn’t one-hundred-percent normal, of course. There was still a lot of worry and stress behind his eyes. Afterall, he was becoming a first time dad and I was in premature labour, but he was no longer pacing around and swearing.

“Alright,” he announced as he picked up the duffle bag again, “we should go, the doctors wanted us to come as soon as possible to keep an eye on everything.”

I nodded and let go off Olive, putting my hands behind me to try and push myself up.

“Here,” Alex quickly jogged up to me and held out his hands.

I took hold of them and let him pull me up, which was relatively difficult. But it worked, he was somehow strong enough. I walked up to where Jack was already at the front door and grabbed a pair of shoes, not even bothering to put them on now. It would be dreadful to get down and tie them right now. Luckily it was warm enough for me not to need a coat.

“You guys know where everything is,” Jack told Alex and Lisa while he opened the front door. “Just eat whatever you want.”

“Good luck!” Lisa shouted as we left.

Jack practically threw everything onto the back seat before helping me into the car. Although I insisted that I could do it myself, having his hand on me supportingly did actually help, especially when a contraction hit me again just as I was about to sit. Once he shut my door, he quickly ran to the driver’s side and got in as well.

“Okay, let’s do this!” He sighed with a cheer, turning on the car. “Well, actually, you can do this!”

I chuckled and rolled my head to the left to look at him.

“In just a matter of time, we’re going to be parents.” He smiled at me and picked up my hand, bringing it to his lips to press a kiss to it.

Although the pain was excruciating and long, it really did feel like just a matter of time in the end. It took hours before I was finally giving birth. I was lucky enough to be in labour now and not just a few weeks earlier. Jack was allowed to stay with me the entire time. If it had been earlier, he would have been forced to stay away until the actual birth. All because of safety precautions against the virus.

I really couldn’t have done it without Jack. Our baby wasn’t born until the late evening, meaning I had technically been in labour for more than 24 hours, but only really felt anything for ten. It was one horrid excruciating experience. I was ready to completely swear off sex for the rest of my life. But as soon as I got to hold him in my arms, I would have done it all over again.

Our baby Archie Jack Barakat.

He weighed six pounds and had the cutest little fingers and toes. His eyes were brown and he only had the tiniest bit of brown fuzz on his head. Honestly, I didn’t know if he looked more like me or Jack, he just looked like a baby, but he was absolutely beautiful.

We were lucky enough to already be able to go home the next day. Although he was born prematurely and was pretty small, there was nothing seriously wrong with him. I was absolutely exhausted, and was glad that we were already allowed to take him home.

As soon as we walked over the threshold to our house, Alex and Lisa were waiting for us. They had cleaned the entire house, gone out to stock us up on groceries, and even built the crib for us. It was the best thing to come home to after a hectic day and restless night. They really didn’t have to, but they still did. Even after all that, they offered to stay until my parents came over, who had rescheduled their trip to arrive in two days.

It was amazing.

Little Archie.

–––––

Archie was three months old, and it was pretty exhausting… as much as I loved him. Every two to three hours, he’d wake up and start screaming. It made complete sense, of course, he was a newborn and needed constant feeding, but that didn’t mean that the sleep deprivation was getting to me. Jack was still there the entire time the first two months, but during the third, he was gone most of the time. Although the world wasn’t fully back to normal again, All Time Low was doing things again. Small things, but it still required him to travel. Which meant I was the only one there to constantly wake up.

Luckily, Jack came back again after three weeks. He took over his half of the ‘shifts’ again, which was great for my wellbeing. The first day he came back, he actually let me catch up on sleep during the day while he spent time with Archie. It was like our roles were flipped. Usually, when Jack came home, he was the one that would need hours of sleep. Now I was the one that needed that well deserved nap.

Like we always did, Jack and I switched who would wake up every time Archie would call us. It was around four am, when I had finally fallen into a deep sleep, that we could hear clear cries coming from the nursery and the baby monitor.

“Your turn,” I mumbled while lying on my stomach, my face squished into the pillow.

“I know,” Jack responded and yawned before forcing himself out of bed.

While he was out tending to Archie, I started drifting off to sleep again. There was just one issue. It was difficult to actually fall asleep with the crying still going on. I was on the edge of the deep plunge that would bring me to a nice deep slumber until it was my turn to wake up at six. But hearing my baby cry made me stay alert. Maternal instinct, if you will.

When it felt like it had been way too long, it was impossible to actually fall asleep. I woke up fully and just had to check up to see what was going on. I was sure that Jack would come to me if something was wrong, but I still had this need to check.

So, out of bed I got. I stretched out as I left the bedroom and walked down to the room we had turned into the nursery. The hallway was completely dark, but there was a little light coming from Archie’s room, enough light to guide me to the right place.

I knocked on the doorpost and rubbed my eyes a little. “Jack? Every good?”

“Everything fine,” he responded quickly while rocking Archie back and forth in his arms to try and sooth him, facing away from me.

It did seem like Jack was telling the truth. But then he turned around and I could see that it was a lie. Jack’s eyes were bloodshot and tearing up, his lip trembling just a little as he was trying to hold back his own tears. Archie was screaming in his arms, flailing around his own limbs.

“What’s wrong?” I gasped in concern, rushing up to him. I wiped away a tear that started rolling down his cheek.

“I can’t get him to quiet down,” he inhaled a ragged breath, “he won’t take his bottle and won’t stop crying!”

“Hey, it’s okay,” I tried to calm him down and took Archie from him. “Come here.”

I bounced Archie a few times and he slowly stopped his crying. It turned into fussing and hiccuping until he completely quieted down. He stared up at me expectantly, waiting to get fed. I wasn’t sure if he could recognise me, but he knew the routine by now.

I looked up at Jack, smiling to show him that everything was okay. But I just found Jack already watching us with tears streaming down his face. Immediately, my own face fell.

“Jack…” I breathed out, not knowing what was going on.

He took a step away and tugged on his hair as he shook his head. “He doesn’t like me.”

“That’s not true.” I frowned.

“He only screamed louder when I picked him up,” he argued back, the tears not showing signs of stopping anytime soon. “He’s in your arms and he’s happy.”

“That’s just because I’m his main food source,” I comforted, still rocking Archie back and forth to keep him content for now. “When he’s older, you’ll be his favourite. You can teach him to speak, you’ll bring him back cool toys from all around the world, you can teach him how to ride a bike, you’ll be there to give him all the tasty unhealthy snacks. You’ll be his hero.”

Jack tried to wipe his tears away, but it wasn’t really any use. He continued to be on the verge of crying himself. I would have blamed it on the exhaustion, but he had gotten more sleep the past three weeks than he had gotten the entire two months before that. I got it, though. I was lucky that I immediately had a close connection with Archie, but I had been so afraid that that wouldn’t have come, especially with how Jack did most of the work in the first week.

“Just–” I guided Jack to the chair we always fed Archie in and made him sit down. When he seemed to be comfortable, I took a seat right on top of him in his lap and nudged his arms. “Hold Archie for me, will ya?”

He did as I asked, and wrapped his arms around me to support the small fragile body. With my own hands now free, I rolled my shirt up and exposed my left breast, which was the one Archie tended to like the most. I directed Jack with slight movements and touches to make Archie line up. Once he got a good hold, I relaxed into Jack and nuzzled my head into the crook of his neck. He looked down at Archie with something that almost seemed like fascination. Maybe it was admiration.

There was still some sniffing, but the tears were starting to dry up.

“You see, he just wanted me for food, he’s perfectly happy in your arms,” I whispered.

Jack just hummed in response, not taking his eyes off Archie for even a second. After a few seconds of silent love and adoration, he finally spoke up and said. “He’s so small.”

I nodded. It was true, he was still pretty small, but he was also already so much bigger than when he was born. For now, he was still a newborn, but it was starting to go so fast. Before I knew it, he would be walking around and babbling, he’d have his first day at school, he’d be graduating and moving out. I didn’t want it to go by so fast. All I could do was savour every moment and hold onto it forever.

“Do you really think I’ll be his hero?” Jack questioned, shifting Archie in his arms a little so they wouldn’t start tingling.

“Of course!” I responded and pressed a kiss to his jawline. “He’ll always love you.”

“He’ll probably hate our music,” he chuckled. “I’ll be the uncool dad who plays uncool music.”

“Or he’ll love it and want to be a guitarist just like you.”

He broke away his gaze for the first time and glanced at me with shock and fear. “I hope not! He shouldn’t drink as much and party as much as I have.”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little. “I love you.”

“I love you,” he kissed the top of my head and then looked back down at Archie, who was still drinking away peacefully, “and I love you too, Archie!”

–––––

When Archie was nine months old, Jack’s schedule had practically returned back to normal. He was touring again. The venues were small as not many people were allowed to go to the shows, but they still happened. Jack was just excited to go out and play live music again, even though he hated leaving me and Archie behind. But it was what we had signed up for. I never married Jack thinking he’d drop everything and stay with me.

I had always made it a point to visit Jack at least once on tour. With a newborn, that promise had kind of been broken, but now that Archie was getting older, I dared to take him on a plane with me to flight out. It was strange to think that he was now older than I had ever been pregnant with him. Nine months. It had flown by.

I had Archie in his pram, a bag with all the stuff I needed for him, and a suitcase of my own as I walked through the airport. Before having a baby, I managed to visit Jack with just hand luggage. Now I had to check in a large suitcase, have a bag full of diapers and bottles, and have an easy handbag for our passports and my phone and wallet. It was like I was going on a four week vacation, not a quick one week trip.

Although I knew to plan in extra time in case I got slowed down with Archie, I also made the decision not to go to the airport too early. Hanging around and waiting to board the airplane with a baby constantly wanting attention while feeling uncomfortable wasn’t a good plan. Somehow, I had managed to time it all perfectly. We made it through security with 20 minutes left to spare before boarding started. It was enough time for me to change Archie’s diaper and for me to go to the bathroom myself.

I was mainly afraid of the flight. It was four hours long, which was actually relatively short, but I had no idea how Archie was going to react. I didn’t want to be that one parent who couldn’t get control of their kid as they kept screaming their little lungs out. I didn’t want to annoy everybody on the plane. Fortunately it wasn’t an overnight flight, that would have been a nightmare for me.

Once we started boarding, I was forced to leave the stroller behind for them to put it in along with the check-in baggage. Then, the trek to my seat started. It was somewhere in the middle of the plane, but luckily I did have an aisle seat. Since Archie was going to have to sit on my lap the entire time, I welcomed the slight extra space and ability to get up and walk around.

When I finally found my seat, I was glad to find that the person next to me was already seated. That meant less standing up with Archie clumsily in my hands as a whole row of people waited behind me. I somehow managed to get my bag up in the overhead lockers, getting a bit of help from the guy behind me. When I finally sat down and put Archie on my lap, he started pounding his hands on my legs and cooing.

“Are you excited to see dada?” I asked him. Whenever I spoke to him, I tried to throw around the word dada as much as possible. He hadn’t said his first word yet, but I practically always begged him to say it whenever Jack and I were facetiming. It would make his entire year.

“Isn’t he a cute one?” The old lady next to me said, leaning forward and giving him a little wave.

I chuckled softly as Archie reacted positively to the extra attention he was getting. “I hope he stays cute during the flight. He’s never been on a plane before, so I have no idea how he’ll react.”

“He hasn’t? He seems to enjoy it so far.” She held out a finger, which Archie immediately grabbed and started playing with.

“No.” I shook my head and kissed the top of his head, taking in his baby scent. “We were planning on getting him used to travelling early on, but that wasn’t exactly an option anymore.”

“Things have changed, haven’t they?” She agreed and looked up at me while Archie kept hold of her finger. “Did you travel a lot before?”

“Sort of, yeah. Well, actually it’s my husband who travels a lot for work and is gone for long periods of time. I occasionally go out to see him. Now it’s the first time Archie gets to come along!”

She beamed at the name. “Ooh, Archie! My father’s name was Archibald.”

“It’s a nice name.” I didn’t really have the heart to tell her that Archie’s official name was just Archie. Both Jack and I knew it was actually a nickname for Archibald, but we just didn’t want to give our child a name that sounded so… fancy… old?

“I think it suits him very well!”

I never did catch her name, but she was like a saint the entire journey. She kept me distracted, making sure I didn’t worry about Archie getting unruly, meaning that he also couldn’t react to my non existing stress. Sometimes the stress I felt when he was crying only made him cry more.

We spoke a bit about ourselves. She told me about how she was flying out to see her daughter, who she hadn’t seen in months now. I told her a little bit more about Jack and our relationship. She helped me keep Archie busy and even took him from my lap so I could get up and go to the bathroom. I really was lucky to have been seated next to her. It made the trip so much more bearable.

Archie had practically been awake the entire flight, meaning he was out like a light when we touched down. He continued to sleep deeply against my shoulder as I got off the plane, walked through the airport, got the checked-in luggage and stroller, and even during the entire ride in the taxi. Luckily, I had fed him right before he fell asleep, so I wasn’t very worried about him suddenly screaming as I got us to the venue Jack was at. He only woke up when we got out of the taxi and I was suddenly busy trying to figure out how to carry everything and text somebody that I was outside. It was actually perfect timing.

Archie would be so happy to see Jack again.

As I started trying to find out where to go to get in, I realised that I was on the complete wrong side of the building. But there was only one way to get to the other side. Well, one way other than a sketchy back alley that I was definitely not going to find myself walking down ever. Not even with a personal armed bodyguard. My only route to take was past the front entrance and all the fans waiting to get inside. That was a clear winner.

I pushed the stroller and pulled along the suitcase, trying my best to avoid the queue. Usually, there was bound to be at least one person to recognise me. Although I didn’t mind talking to Jack’s fans, I also didn’t want to overwhelm Archie. He’d already had a busy and adventure packed day. I preferred him leaving some energy to actually see Jack over him crying in exhaustion as soon as I entered the venue.

When I was about halfway past the line, I heard my name being called out. I had no idea where it was coming from, but out of politeness, I slowed down. Suddenly, a small group of three girls were surrounding me.

“Hi!” One of them blurted out with wide eyes.

“Hey,” I returned with a big smile, “how are you guys?”

“Good!” She squeaked back. “Are you here to visit Jack?”

“I am indeed.”

Archie started to get impatient. He wanted to get out and move around after being forced to sit the majority of the day. Ever since he started crawling, he couldn’t really sit still for long anymore. The definition of Jack’s child. He started to kick around his legs in annoyance and made blubbering noises, which he usually did when he wanted to be let out of his car seat or high chair.

“He’s so cute!” Another girl, who was standing at the end of the stroller gushed.

“Thanks,” I acknowledged. Although I often got comments like that, it always made me feel a little proud. Afterall, Jack and I literally made him.

“Can I get a picture?” The first girl asked me as she held out her phone.

“Of course!” I accepted.

She turned on her selfie camera and got in closer. I put on a smile and posed with her as she took a few pictures. Everything was still going fine until she was satisfied with the outcome of the pictures. She put her phone back in her pocket and I realised that the person who had made the comment about Archie being cute was taking her own photos of him. It wasn’t even subtle. She was crouched down, acting like she was playing with him with one hand, but the other one quickly taking snaps with her phone.

“I’m sorry,” I interrupted as she just kept taking more and more, “do you mind not taking any photos of him?”

“Oh, no, it’s okay,” she shook her head and took another one, “I won’t post them anywhere.”

I frowned and glared a little at her. Yes, Jack and I had decided not to post any pictures of him with his face clearly in it except for his birth announcement. We didn’t want to plaster his face all over the internet when he had no say in it. That was for him to decide later in life when he had his own opinions. But the way this girl just dismissed my request was making my blood boil. Her reasoning was not comforting at all.

I would have kept my cool and asked again nicely, but she was just being rude to me. “You do realise that’s even creepier right? You’re taking countless pictures of my son to keep for yourself. How would you like it if some stranger came up to you and took photos just for them to keep?”

She gave me a judgemental look but did stop taking even more pictures. “I’m not going to do anything weird with them.”

“I’m not saying you will, it’s just disrespectful. There’s a reason we don’t share pictures of him.”

“He’s just a baby.”

“Exactly. Would you please mind deleting the photos?”

She gave me the death stare and her two friends just stood around uncomfortably. They were defending her, but I wasn’t sure if it was because they agreed with me or because they were too afraid to say anything. Either way, they didn’t want this confrontation.

“Please,” I repeated, still staring at her to show that I wasn’t going to break.

She huffed in annoyance as if her mom had just told her no dessert until the vegetables on her plate were finished. Still, she reluctantly unlocked her phone and selected all the photos she took. There was some hesitation before she hit the delete button, as if waiting for me to change my mind. But I wasn’t going to. This was my baby we were talking about.

“Thank you.” I smiled while she gave me an unamused scowl. I then looked at the other two girls, “It was nice meeting you guys!”

“You too…” the girl who took selfies with me mumbled.

I then took my opportunity to leave. As soon as they thought I was out of range, the rude girl grumbled ‘what a bitch’, but I really wasn’t bothered. Nobody messes with my child. I didn’t care if that meant she now hated me. I full-heartedly believed that I was right. Actually, no, I knew that I was right. It was not cool to take pictures of a baby without permission, especially a stranger’s baby. They might have felt like they knew me because they were Jack’s fans, but they really didn’t.

Luckily, I wasn’t stopped again and managed to make it into the venue without any further hassle. A member of the crew let me in and brought me to where all the fun was happening before leaving to get on with setting up. I turned the corner to enter the green room and saw a few guys standing around, including Jack slouching on the couch, manspreading like he had all the space in the world.

When he coincidentally looked in my direction, a smile spread across his face. He got up and immediately came towards me. Once he was close enough, he kissed me as a greeting. More than a peck, but still PG-13 with all these people around us. As soon as he broke away from me, he went straight to Archie, undoing the clips of the seat. Archie knew exactly who was coming. He started letting out excited noises and screams, kicking his legs and throwing up his arms. He was so happy when Jack picked him up.

“How has my little man been?” He asked in his voice reserved for Archie, ticking his tummy and bouncing him a little, getting an ecstatic squeal out of him. “Have you been good today?”

While Jack was giving Archie countless kisses all over his little face, I decided to answer the question. “He was so good on the plane. Didn’t even cry during the descent! I was lucky, though, the woman next to us loved him and helped me keep him occupied the entire time.”

“You’ve been so good!” Jack gasped in his baby voice. “Did you like the plane?”

I chuckled softly and left Jack have his moment with Archie. Although Jack had been so afraid they would never bond when Archie was still very young, they were now inseparable. Facetiming ‘dada’ was always one of his favourite parts of the day when Jack was gone. Otherwise, playtime with dada or a nap with him was the best.

“I got you something!” Jack remembered excitedly and walked over to his backpack. Out he pulled a stuffed gray elephant and he started showing it off to Archie. He went to sit down again and started talking through the elephant while Archie grabbed a handful of the toy.

I walked further inside and moved the stroller and suitcase to the side of the room, so I wouldn’t be blocking the doorway. It wasn’t really the best place to put them, they were still a little in the way with how much space they took up, but anything was better than leaving them in a walkway.

“Rachel!” Alex approached, coming from somewhere else in the venue and seeing me from the hallway.

“Hey!” I replied as we shared a hug.

“How was your flight?”

“Pretty good, actually.”

“So Archie behaved?” He raised his eyebrows in surprise. As if on cue, Archie started giggling loudly at something Jack was doing. “Archie! I haven’t seen you since you were born!”

He really was getting all the attention today. Alex even went to sit next to Jack and join in with the playing. It did look fun, and Archie was as cute as ever. But I had just spent four hours with him on my lap. Having other people take over was a nice little break.

“We set up the back lounge to be a big bed for you guys,” Alex informed me, looking up from how he was leaning over to be eye height with Archie.

“You didn’t have to do that!” I told him

“No, no we definitely did,” Jack quickly interrupted before I could change anybody’s mind. “I’m not sleeping in a bunk with all three of us.”

“I was just expecting it would be me and Archie on the couch,” I admitted. A bunk with Archie wouldn’t work.

With all the stuff I brought along I also had a travel crib. It wasn’t really a crib, more like a fold out basket that was made of soft fabric and had a little mattress built in on the bottom. Although I didn’t mind taking naps with Archie, I didn’t want him actually in bed with me at night. I was too afraid I’d smother him with our blankets if we did. But if he was in the crib-like thing, I could put him next to me and he’d be safe.

Alex shook his head. “No, we figured this would work out better. You’d be in the back lounge anyway.”

“Well, thanks, then, I appreciate it.”

A few minutes later, Alex was pulled away to go do something else, meaning I could take his spot next to Jack on the couch. I was leaning against his side, my head against his shoulder, and my legs resting on top of his knees. Archie was still taking up most of the space on his lap. The exhaustion was starting to hit me now, but I couldn’t help but enjoy this moment with my little family.

Jack was still playing with the elephant. Archie seemed to absolutely love that thing already. Usually, it took him a while to warm up to new toys, but this was like his new favourite one. I didn’t know how Jack knew he’d fall in love with it. It was just so cute to see. Both Archie and Jack were delighted, sharing a very similar smile.

“Can you say elephant?” Jack said slowly, holding out the toy for Archie.

All he got in return was something that sounded like ‘eeeee’. Maybe he was trying to copy the sounds Jack was making, maybe it was just a coincidence. But it was definitely exciting to get something that was relatively close out of him.

“What about dada, can you say dada?” I asked, stroking his cheek.

He stared at me with his big beautiful brown eyes, inspecting my face. And then it suddenly happened.

“Da. Da.” He blurted out.

Jack looked at me with wide eyes as he gasped. To be honest, I was a little shocked as well. Ecstatic, but shocked that he just suddenly copied me.

“Dada!” Archie repeated, slamming his fists against Jack’s chest.

That’s all that we needed to know he was copying me and knew at least what it sort of meant. Jack cheered and picked him up. Archie wouldn’t stop laughing and screeching with joy as he was peppered with kisses coming from Jack.

Those two were inseparable.

.

.

.

.

So, this is the last part of this story. I thought this was a nice place to round it off. However, I have been thinking about writing a few more parts. Only, they'd be much much shorter. Maybe around 700-1500 words. Like little moments in time. If it's something any of you would be interested in, do let me know, otherwise I'll put that time into my other stories.

#all time low #all time low fanfiction #jack barakat #Jack Barakat fanfiction #all time low imagines #Jack Barakat imagines #fanfiction #here I am there you are

[etherealblasphemy]

You Never Seemed So Tense, Love

(what’s this? some actual content? on my blog? it’s more likely than you think)

hello again, y’all! it’s been a while since i’ve posted any writing, but at last, i’ve finished another fic! i hope y’all enjoy this one, i found it really fun to write. (title from “gives you hell” by the all-american rejects)

Trigger Warnings For: mild language and mentions of alcohol

Summary: Logan Guiscard loves his simple, mundane life. He most certainly does not love his next-door neighbor, Virgil Savage.

Length: 7,476 words

Kudos are appreciated, reblogs are adored, comments are loved!!

Logan Guiscard loved his life. Honestly. He loved his little suburban house that looked like almost every other home in his neighborhood. He loved his shiny car that he had to wash every weekend because if it wasn’t shining then obviously someone would think something was wrong and wouldn’t take him seriously. He loved his job as an astronomy professor at the local university where nobody cared about what the constellations were named because the Greeks were all dead, and it’s not they couldn’t just Google the names, anyways. He loved waking in the morning to see a lawn full of native plants and a little garden, because he might live in the affluent suburbs, but that didn’t mean he’d give into lawn culture, the horrid thing.

The only thing he didn’t love was his unfortunately next-door neighbor, Virgil Savage. Everything about him was simply illogical. The first thing the imbecile had done after moving in was paint the house bright purple, a stark contrast from the pastel grey every other home sported. He had a rather irritating habit of playing music a decibel too loud for Logan’s taste. He had absolutely no sense of self-care; Virgil seemed to throw on whatever clothes were clean— they were mismatched and rumbled, as if he had just taken them from his floor—and his skin was dull and most likely caked with makeup, which could easily be fixed if the man would just wash his face in the morning. Virgil Savage also had the miserable mannerism of being at least partially nocturnal.

Logan first found out about this “lifestyle” within a week of Virgil moving in. At first, he thought his neighbor was simply having trouble adjusting to his new house. And then the music started. Had it been any other time of day, perhaps Logan would have learned to let it by, to continue with his daily life. But because it was nine-thirty on a Wednesday night and Logan happened to teach Introduction to Astronomy on Thursdays at seven a.m., he marched over to the Savage house with a glare that burned hot enough to set Pluto alight, and knocked three times on the heavy door, tapping his foot incessantly as he waited for a response.

Virgil had opened the door with tired, bleak eyes the color of the Milky Way, full of enigmatic monachopsis that seemed to scream for human contact like an abandoned astronaut, and all arguments fled from the tip of Logan’s tongue. The music was even louder with the door open; the most prominent instrument was a piano that sounded like someone was slamming their fingers down on the keys in a desperate rage. Someone was screaming about friends and not wanting to leave, their voice raspy and broken.

“Do you… need something?” his neighbor had asked with a gruff voice, clutching at his elbows as if the sooner Logan left, the better. Logan had snapped out of his daze, pushing his glasses back up as he looked up at the man standing in the doorway. He couldn’t see much from where he stood on the porch.

“Yes, actually, I would like for you to turn your music down. It is impeding my ability to sleep, and I have to teach a class in the morning,” Logan explained crisply. Virgil looked him up and down, sizing up his new competitor with a smug smirk.

“Well, I dunno, teach.” Logan’s heart stopped for a full second at the nickname before his face morphed into a mask of contempt. “There’s a party going on right now, and what party is complete without music?”

Logan’s eyes narrowed as he glanced inside. He couldn’t see much besides a very much empty living room. “Apparently, a pity party,” he replied, his tone harsher than he intended. For a quarter of a second, a single frame in the movie of life, Virgil’s face had contorted, full of hurt, before quickly losing its emotion, replaced with cool nonchalance. Logan had had half the mind to apologize for his unsympathetic behavior before the song grew louder and Logan was reminded that it was late at night and he was too exhausted to deal with this sort of tomfuckery.

He was about to launch into a full debate to convince this heathen to turn his music down to a respectable volume when another figure came careening through the living room by way of an unseen doorway, crashing into Virgil with raucous, drunken giggles.

“Broooooo…” the newcomer slurred, his arms wrapped around Virgil’s neck for support. “You gotta finish that assignment of yours. You wanna pass the class, donya? Come ooooon,” he wheedled. Virgil’s face flushed as the stranger whined.

“Roman, how much have you drunk?”

“…a bottle.”

“A bottle?! Dee let you drink a whole bottle?!” Virgil’s eyes were the size of dinner plates, his mouth hanging open in disbelief as he turned, facing the living room that still held no-one despite the “party” raging on inside. “Dee! I’m gonna kick your ass!” he yelled as he unwrapped Roman’s arms from his neck. Virgil’s eyes glanced back at Logan. “Sorry about my friend.”

With that, Virgil pushed Roman further into the house, muttering in exasperation as he shut the door without another word to Logan. The teacher blinked before he regained his senses. He scoffed at the sudden cut-off from his neighbor, rolling his eyes. There was nothing else he could do now besides head back home and shove a pillow over his ears to muffle the music.

It was only when he finally slipped into bed that he realized he could only hear the sound of crickets and someone’s air conditioner whirring in the late August night heat.

The music had been turned off.

He hated himself for believing that it would end that night with a simple confrontation. The next week, the music was up again. Logan was too busy grading incomplete and frustratingly incorrect constellation maps to tell off Virgil, and let it be. But then it happened again the next week. And the next. It seemed to Logan that Virgil was just trying to get a rise out of him at this point. When he called his brother he ask for advice, the only promising words he got was “talk to him.”

“Patton, you don’t understand. I have talked to him, he just won’t listen,” he sighed as his brother listened intently over the video call, constantly adjusting his round glasses.

“Now, Logan, you know that everybody communicates in different ways. Maybe he is listening, but he just can’t communicate in a way you understand.” Patton adjusted his glasses again as he tilted his head, a thought striking him. “Maybe he’s trying to get your attention?”

Logan sighed, thinking about Virgil. Would he really be the type of person to annoy him just to get his attention? Virgil didn’t need to play music at an irritating volume for Logan’s consideration of him—those sonderous eyes plagued him almost as much as the music did.

Hold on. What did he just think?

“Are you alright, Logan? You’re making face you always do whenever I correct on your grammar. You know—like someone just ate all the second cookies,” Patton giggled. Logan heard someone talking in the background as Patton turned away from the camera, listening to the person off-screen. “Yep! Do you wanna come say hi to him?” Logan heard a sound of acquiescence and the pounding of footsteps as someone ran down the hallway of his brother’s apartment.

“Hiya there, Logan!” He flinched as Patton’s partner, Emile, popped up in front of the camera. “I heard you were in a jam!” The psychiatrist held up a jar of jam as Logan groaned at the pun, massaging the bridge of his nose.

“I don't know which is worse—your puns or Virgil’s music,” he grumbled goodnaturedly as the partners collapsed into laughter that sounded choppy in the low quality audio of his laptop. He ran a hand through his hair as he checked the time, cringing at the late hour. “I’m sorry, Patton, but I’ll have to sign off now. It’s getting late and I have the wonderful blessing of teaching a morning class tomorrow. I’ll see you next weekend, correct?” His brother nodded as he and Emile wished Logan goodnight.

As he turned off his computer, his mind wandered back to the original topic of his and Patton’s conversation—Virgil. He couldn’t possibly be engaging in this childish feud because he was, what, interested in him? Logan snorted aloud, shaking his head. Virgil was obviously only toying with him.

“Well, then,” he whispered aloud as he slipped into bed, ready to fall asleep. “Two can play that game.”

He wasn’t able to put his plan into motion until the following weekend, just before he had to pick up Patton from the airport. It was quite simple, in Logan’s opinion, but then again, he reminded himself, he had to be on the road by at least nine so he could pick up Patton from his eleven-o-clock arrival, so complex schemes were out of the question until he had the time and reason to do such. Thus, he found himself setting a heavy speaker down on the edge of his front porch, his phone already connected to it. He had deliberated for a while on what song to use before settling on the timeless classic of “Hooked on a Feeling”.

He was about to turn on the speaker when he felt his phone vibrating in his hand. He turned it on to see a text from Patton: “So… I might have told you the wrong arrival time…” Immediately, he called his brother.

“What do you mean, ‘wrong arrival time’?” he questioned as soon as Patton picked up.

“Well, I’m here now. At the airport. It turns out the flight isn’t as long as I thought it was…” He could hear incessant chatter in the background and could clearly picture the dismal little airport that never seemed to stop renovating one wing or another, resulting in utter chaos when it came to an orderly flight schedule. “If you’re busy, don’t worry. I can wait a few hours—”

“Don’t be silly, Patton,” Logan interrupted. “I’m leaving now. I’ll be there in forty-five minutes if the traffic’s alright.” He was already grabbing his keys from inside, throwing on a jacket, and unlocking his car doors. “Have you eaten yet?” The silence was answer enough for him. “There’s plenty of options around. Just be sure to eat something healthy, alright? And remember to get your bags,” he sighed as he started the car, the engine a gentle thrum beneath him.

“Alright, Logan, I will. See you in a bit. Thanks for picking me up.” The call disconnected, leaving Logan in the silence of his car before he decided surprisingly that he couldn’t stand the quietude and turned on the car radio as he backed out of the driveway, unaware of the jet black eyes that watched him go sadly.

Logan made to the airport in forty minutes, actually. He found Patton sitting at the counter of a small shop selling dumplings and baobaos, giddily eating the delicious food. He watched with a soft smile for a moment as Patton snuck a bite of a dumpling to the golden retriever laying on the floor beneath him, her vest proudly displaying her role as a service dog. As Patton straightened, he finally noticed his brother standing several feet away.

“Logan!” he called excitedly, waving him over. Logan’s feet moved on their own, small steps turning into bounds as he ran to his brother and hugged him tightly. “I’ve missed you, too, Logan. It doesn’t seem that university can end soon enough.” Logan’s grip tightened before he released his brother. He felt something nose at his leg and looked down to see Lola nudging at his leg, staring up at him with puppy eyes, despite knowing full well she was not a puppy, by size nor age standards.

He crouched down and ran a hand through her fur as Lola’s tail began beating excitedly. “Hello to you, too,” he said as Lola barked softly in greeting. “You’ve got your bags?” he asked as he stood up. Patton nodded, finishing the last dumpling, and clambered off his stool, thanking the shop owners as he grabbed the handles of his two suitcases in both hands. “I’ll hold on to Lola.” He grabbed the golden retriever’s lease, untying it from the chair’s leg, and began guiding the dog and his brother through the dim airport to the parking lot.

It was nine forty a.m. when they got home. The sun was glimmering, bearing down with no qualms onto the earth with a fierce intensity that seemed to rake across their backs with a near unbearable heat. Patton took one look at the speakers still set up on Logan’s porch and turned around, stopping in his tracks.

“Logan, what are you planning?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to listen to some music while I washed my car,” he explained, even though he knew his car was clean and it was pointless to try and wash it when it was supposed to rain that night, anyways. Patton’s eyes narrowed with a ghost of a smile crossing his lips.

“You’re going to play music, aren’t you?” he proclaimed, twirling around and pointing at Logan with one finger and a sly smile as though he was a detective who had just solved the most difficult case ever presented to him. “Oh, I knew that look meant something! You looked so starry-eyed when we were talking about Virgil!” Logan blanched as he gasped in indignation.

“I did not look starry-eyed! He’s not even my friend, he’s just my neighbor!”

“A neighbor who you call on every Wednesday night,” Patton teased as Logan brushed past him with a groan of frustration, unlocking the door and shoving it open.

“It’s his fault, Patton, he’s the one who plays punk rock from the 2000s and 70s and 80s pop songs played on what I think might be an organ louder than a plague of cicadas at ten-thirty at night.” Patton could only laugh at Logan’s description as he made his way into the kitchen and opened the fridge, already making himself at home.

“Sure, Logan.” Patton’s brow furrowed as he surveyed the fridge and its contents. “How many jars did Mom give you last time?”

“I counted twenty—wait, don’t change the subject, Patton!” Logan chastised. Lola spoke—or, rather, barked—up, woofing at the brothers as if to say, “stop talking about your neighbor and feed me.”

When at last Lola was fed and Patton had dropped his suitcases down in the guest room, it was nearing ten a.m.; he was finally able to step outside and stretch in the sun. Out of habit, he glanced at Virgil’s house, half expecting to see strobe lights flashing wildly behind the curtains, and saw nothing. He paused, his thoughts turning to the speaker still sitting abandoned on his porch. Was Virgil still asleep? An evil grin split across his face as he pulled out his phone, finding the song easily.

“I hope you like the taste of your own medicine,” he mumbled as he pressed played. Immediately, sound poured out of the speaker, the lowest notes tapping a familiar rhythm on his heart. He could just barely hear the sounds of confusion in the other house, following by the door slamming open as Virgil stumbled out in his pyjamas.

Well, he couldn’t really call them pyjamas. Virgil was covered—thankfully, of all the bad habits Virgil partook in, sleeping in the nude was not one of them—but just barely. He wore grey boxers beneath a violet tank top at least two sizes too big for him, and not much else. And perhaps Logan blushed furiously at the sight of sunshine on Virgil’s lanky arms and pale legs, but it was just from the heat. Just the heat.

Not that any of that mattered. Logan was too busy watching Virgil nearly trip over his feet as he shambled about in his lawn, momentarily blinded by the sun, to think any more about Virgil’s limbs. As his eyesight adjusted, Virgil noticed Logan standing in his own yard, then saw the speaker blasting music, and put two-and-two together.

“Do you know what time it is?” Virgil groaned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Logan snickered.

“It’s nine-fifty-two a.m., which is a more reasonable time than ten-forty-five at night,” he shot back. Virgil snorted before covering it with a cough. “Even if you wake up late, you should at least go to bed at a reasonable time. A good bedtime is crucial to a healthy life,” he lectured as Virgil raised his eyebrows with a smirk.

“Oh, getting worried about me, now? Careful, teach, or someone will think you’ve caught feelings for me,” Virgil chaffed, his eyes bright now in the daylight, intelligent and unrelenting in their mirth. Logan spluttered, unable to form a proper response. “Beware, Logan Guiscard. You’ve opened up a Pandora’s Box now.” Virgil’s voice was deep and full of laughter—like Logan was missing out on the funniest joke ever told. “I hope you like punk rock.”

He couldn’t stop himself from saying, “It’s you’ve been playing, how could it ever get old?” This time, Virgil snorted for real, chuckling uncontrollably as he backed away towards his house. Logan knew he wouldn’t get that sound out of his head for weeks. Virgil paused as he reached the doorstep of his home, glancing back over his shoulder.

“…I was finishing a report for my theoretical astrobiology class, by the way. I finished a little past midnight. Sorry for wanting to sleep in. I’ll make sure to let my professor know next time that I wasn’t able to finish my paper because my neighbor cared about me.” Logan physically stepped back, stunned. Virgil was taking university classes? And astronomy-related classes at that? Sweet heavens. Somehow, Logan’s face grew even more heated in the August sun.

Too bad Virgil had already left before Logan could find out more.

It wasn’t like Virgil hadn’t warned him. Logan could clearly recall him referencing Greek mythology (which another one of his passions that just so luckily gave him an advantage in astronomy) as he swore to wreak havoc on Logan’s life. Now, perhaps he hadn’t used those exact words, but it was exactly what was happening at nine p.m. on a Tuesday night in the middle of his late-night astronomy class. The class was too far gone now to be reigned back in, the music was still pouring in through hidden speakers, and all Logan could do was stare at Virgil like his whole world had been shattered as his neighbor laughed with his whole body, the sound loud and full of life and shaking Logan’s very core.

He had been in the middle of explaining which constellations appeared during which seasons—it was the beginning of the semester and he had learned the hard way to always begin with the basics—when the music first started. He had been so envirgorated in his explanation of the importance of the North Star that he hadn’t heard it until one of his students asked if whoever was listening to Fall Out Boy would please turn the volume down. Logan had stopped in his tracks, eyes snapping back to reality with a sinking feeling of déjà vu, and listened.

Unfortunately, his dread was well-met. The sounds of Fall Out Boy’s “Thnks fr th Mmrs” were pouring in from all sides of his classroom; Logan scowled, already searching for the familiar pair of inky eyes that bedeviled his dreams and late-night musings. “Virgil Savage!” he yelled, praying that the incident was actually Virgil’s fault and not some poor student who just happened to have the exact same music interests as his neighbor. “You better show yourself before I make you!”

The laughter was more of a giveaway than anything else. Virgil slumped in the doorway, his smirk so infuriating yet charming all the same. He gave a two-fingered salute to the professor as he held up his phone, waving in his trademark teasing manner. Virgil paid no mind to the students staring at the occurrence with rabid curiosity; his focus was on Logan as he bit his bottom lip and held out the phone towards the professor as though inviting him closer.

“You want the music off?” he asked, his deep voice gliding out of his mouth and wrapping itself around Logan’s body like venti of the ancient age. Logan nodded silently and unceremoniously, unable to think of a good retort. “Come and turn it off yourself.”

That was what had sent his class into chaos. One of them had yelled “Dance party!” immediately after, jumping up from his seat and flailing his arms around in what Logan could only assume to be dancing—an attempt at dancing, at the very least. Logan glared at Virgil as he stalked slowly towards the interloper, the sounds of students nothing but background noise at this point. He leaned closer to Virgil, his eyes full of wrath.

“Turn that music off right now,” he hissed.

“You’re staying up too late. If I can’t sleep in, you can’t stay out,” was Virgil’s only response. Logan stuttered.

“You—I—I am teaching a class!”

“And I’m not turning the music off,” Virgil continued. “I told you, if you want it off—” Virgil other hand grabbed Logan’s waist, pulling him into a dip as the professor yelped in surprise and the students cheered Virgil on. “—you’re going to have to do it yourself.”

It took a full five seconds to pass before Logan’s brain rebooted, shutting down the moment Virgil’s warm touch had met his starved skin. Once his reason returned, he wrangled himself out of his neighbor’s arms with several muttered swears and all but ripped Virgil’s phone out of his hands, turning the music off quickly and shoving the device back towards his neighbor. He glared daggers at the interloper for good measure as he retreated back into the comforts of his classroom with a scowl on his face.

“You’re not getting enough sleep either, teach. What was it you said? Yeah, I remember now: ‘a good bedtime is crucial to a healthy lifestyle.’” Virgil smirked as he watched Logan try to reign in his class, to no avail, those dark irises of his eyes holding something mysterious Logan would love to unravel if it weren’t for the classroom of fifty students in the process of losing their minds. “Of course, not letting loose every once in a while and refusing to humor your everloving neighbor really takes a hit on you, doesn’t it?” Logan glanced at Virgil as he paused from removing a recording phone from particularly stubborn student, focusing on the annoyance swirling through him instead of the rapid, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it wave of warmth that overcame him at the sight of Virgil’s eyes, half hooded by his black-painted eyelids and full of curiosity—curiosity for Logan. That particular feeling he shoved back into the recesses of his mind.

“Virgil Savage, escort yourself out of this room or I will have security do so. We will continue this at a later date.” Virgil only grinned wickedly as he saluted once more and slinked behind the door frame, disappearing in the myriad of hallways.

“How about we continue it tomorrow at Bourbon Coffee? I hear they make great croissants!” Virgil shouted back. Logan stopped dead in his tracks, his head whipping towards the door in shock. But in true Virgil fashion, he was gone before Logan could find out more.

His only hope to gain another piece of the puzzle that was Virgil Savage was to meet him at Bourbon Coffee tomorrow morning.

He prayed he would survive their encounter.

Logan woke up to the mouth-watering smell of french toast the next morning, a smile already on his face. He found his brother in the kitchen, slipping Lola little bites of bacon as he cooked.

“What is all this for, Patton? Don’t you trust me to make my own breakfast?” he asked as he patted Lola, who showed off her canines with a beam.

“One of Emile’s former patients is one of your students. They told a little story on Twitter, and Emile found out and told me!” Patton swiveled around, almost whacking Logan in the face with his spatula. “How come you didn’t tell me you were going on a date?” Logan huffed, swiping a slice of bacon from the plate where they were cooling.

“It’s not a date,” he argued. “This might be my only chance to actually deal with Virgil besides throwing a pillow over my ears.” Patton chuckled, leaving the conversation as he finished cooking and slid two slices of french toast onto a nearby plate and handing it to Logan, throwing a smaller slice on the floor for Lola to wolf down. He continued his points as he ate. “Besides, I wouldn’t even call our relationship a friendship—”

“Alright, first off, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Patton interrupted as he maneuvered them both to sit at the dining room table. “Second of all.” Patton waited until Logan looked up at his brother, holding his gaze. “Do you want it to be a friendship?” he asked gently, knowing the look that was growing in Logan’s eyes.

“…Truth be told, Patton… I do. Virgil…” Logan sighed, unsure how he could ever explain his interest in Virgil if he couldn’t explain the greatest mysteries of the universe, which were far more comprehensible than the mind and soul of his neighbor. “…Virgil is unexplainable. I try to understand him. But I can’t… Am I wrong to want to understand him?”

A ghost of a smile crossed Patton’s lips as he regarded his brother. “No. Not at all.” Patton’s grin turned mischievous. “But date or not, I still get to be excited! You never go out, it’s nice to see you having fun for once.” For once, Logan did not respond to Patton, allowing himself to genuinely grin.

Fun…

It wasn’t a foreign word in his dictionary, but its page wasn’t dog-eared the way other words were. It didn’t have the significance of ebullience (bubbly enthusiasm—it reminded him of his brother), it didn’t have the importance of syzygy (the alignment of celestial bodies—he always found some way to weave it into his lectures), it didn’t roll across his tongue with the same effortlessness of hiraeth (homesickness for a place that never was or cannot be returned to—plus, it tied into his efforts to learn the Welsh language). Fun was not an unknown word, but it was not one mulled over like wine as he pondered his place in the universe.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t reintroduce it to his vocabulary, relearn the way it sounded, the way it felt running along his vocal cords.

Patton could tell what was going through his brother’s mind. He sat back lazily as he ate his breakfast, his smile just barely concealing his pride. “It’s almost nine, by the way,” he added. “You should get ready soon.” Logan nodded, only a little disappointed that they had to end their moment of peace so quickly.

Far too soon, he found himself ready to go, with the exception of a stomach that wouldn’t stop churning. Logan had no idea why he was so nervous—at best, he and Virgil would get coffee and talk without tearing each other’s head apart, and at worst they would just continue their feud like normal. It wasn’t like things going wrong would ruin his life irreversibly—so why did Logan feel the need to impress Virgil, to make things go perfectly?

He pushed those musings to the back of mind for later analysis. He headed outside to be met with the uncomfortable heat he was so used to yet hated all the same. Wearing a black cotton button down did nothing to relieve the suffocating heat against his body. Silently, he cursed the sun as he glanced about, wondering where Virgil was. It hit him that they had never agreed to a specific time. For all Logan knew, Virgil could already by at the coffee shop waiting for him.

Swallowing thickly—he didn’t know why, he had no reason to be nervous—Logan walked over to his neighbor’s house and rapped his knuckles against the door, tapping his foot incessantly as he waited.

The door opened to reveal… not-Virgil. Logan vaguely recalled him as the drunken man who had popped up behind Virgil the first time he had given his neighbors a visit, though he could not remember the man’s name for the life of him. The man yawned, staring at Logan.

“You’re that teacher Virgil’s obsessed with, right?” he asked.

“…Yes?” Logan wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to that, even if his heart did flutter a little bit at it. “Is he inside? We’re supposed to meet at Bourbon Coffee, but he failed to give a time. I thought it would be logical to go with him so we arrive at the same time.”

The man at the door chuckled. “Virgil’s got a date, eh?”

Logan flushed against his will. “Alright—first of all, it is not a date, and second of all, would you please just tell me where he is?” he pleaded. The man nodded with a lopsided grin, glancing behind him.

“He’s still asleep. Probably thought the date would be a late one,” he drawled, laughing at the way Logan grumbled at the continued use of the word “date.” The man stuck out his hand, at last (re)introducing himself. “I’m Roman. Nice to properly meet you.” Logan took his hand politely, shaking it as he tried to be as inconspicuous as possible as he looked inside the house to hopefully see Virgil.

“I’m Logan Guiscard. Pleasure to meet you as well,” he said, biting back his frown when he couldn’t see his enigmatic neighbor. He drew his hand back with an awkward sigh. “Well, please let me know when Virgil wakes. I would rather go with him to the coffee shop than wait for him.” Roman nodded, saying he would, and closed the door to leave Logan standing on the porch with a heavy heart, though he decided it was better not to analyze why he felt disappointed that he wasn’t able to see Virgil.

Logan felt his phone vibrate and saw a text from his brother. Are you there yet? it read. He texted back a quick response, smirking devilishly when a notification from his music service popped up, giving him a positively evil idea. He tapped on the notification, opening the app, and scrolled until he found a song Virgil would adore waking up to.

“Would you mind if I listened to some music while I waited?” Logan asked Roman as innocently as possible. The neighbor shrugged. He bit back his sly grin as he subtly turned his volume all the way, connecting to his speaker, which remained on the porch from their last morning encounter. He pressed play, and let himself smile at last as chaos erupted to the sound of My Chemical Romance’s “Planetary (GO!)”.

The first thing to happen was Roman bursting into laughter as he realized what was happening. The second thing to happen was a series of shouts from inside Virgil’s house. Two people emerged from the shadows—someone Logan had yet to meet, and Virgil. He felt himself smile without thinking at the sight of his neighbor. Virgil’s eyes were hooded and full of exhaustion, bent on the murder of whoever woke him up so early. They cleared upon seeing Logan, lighting up like fireworks, but quickly narrowed as he put two and two together and realized Logan was behind his early wake-up.

“Y’know, if it weren’t for the fact that I love this song, I would be throttling you, you damn player,” Virgil mumbled with a tired laugh. He was murmuring along to the lyrics, holding out a hand to the teacher. “Come on, aren’t you going to dance with me?” For a moment, Logan felt like he had landed on an alien planet, because in no galaxy would this ever happen, but the moment passed as soon Logan realized, foreign planet or not, there was no way he would ever refuse.

He took Virgil’s hand with a sheepish smile, a silent apology for his lack of skill when it came to the aesthetic movement of his awkward limbs. Virgil didn’t seem to mind as they danced—well, to call it dancing would be pushing it. It was more like what Patton had once described as “moshing”, a frantic but energizing thrashing of arms and legs with no regards of what others thought. It was fun. Logan found that he actually liked it—or perhaps it was only because Virgil was dancing with him, and in a few minutes they would be grabbing coffee together like a real couple… of friends.

When at last the song ended, both of them were gasping for air as they laughed like the idiots they were. Logan was grinning so hard it hurt, but he found he didn’t care. I like him. I really like him a lot.

For once, the thought didn’t scare him.

“I’m guessing you want to head to Bourbon Coffee?” Virgil was asking him. Logan nodded wordlessly, unable to speak as he regained his breath. Virgil smiled softly. “I’ll go change, then. I’ve shown up wearing pyjamas too many times, they’ll probably kick me out this time.” Virgil hurried inside to change out of his night clothes, leaving Logan alone with Roman and the new person.

“We haven’t met before, I’m Logan Guiscard,” he introduced, holding out a hand to them. Their eyes flickered over Logan for a moment.

“Desmond Inoni. Call me Dee. You’re the teacher Virgil’s obsessed with,” the man stated cooly, amused as Logan blushed furiously, spluttering incessantly. The teacher was unable to voice his objections further, as Virgil came running out, hopping on one foot as he shoved a black sneaker on. “You two have fun,” Dee called as they set off. Virgil flipped him off playfully over his shoulder as Logan motioned for him to get in the teacher’s car.

In ten minutes, they were sitting down in the cafe with their hot coffee. Logan had gotten a simple black coffee, with about a bucket of added sugar, and Virgil had ordered some complex drink the bartender seemed to have had memorized. They sat in a corner booth by the window, enjoying the company of some calming, though probably fake, spider plants. Logan tried his best to be inconspicuous as he studied Virgil Savage, the mystery himself. He studied the way Virgil bobbed slightly to the cliché electro swing, the way the sunlight lit up the dusk in his eyes, the way his lips curved when he smiled as he spoke about his short-lived endeavor to become a musician to pay his way through college.

“What about you?” Virgil inquired. “How did you pay for college?”

“I won a scholarship by writing about astronomy. Being a teaching assistant helped to pay for the rest,” he explained. “I had to work quite hard to keep my scholarship, so I never had as many chances to make relationships—platonic or otherwise.” He caught Virgil’s gaze as he mumbled, “This is actually the first time I’ve been out with someone besides my brother and his partner…” Virgil’s eyes visibly widened in disbelief.

“Never?!” Logan shook his head, less melancholic than the last time he had mused over the young adulthood he never had. Somehow, sharing his woes with his neighbor lessened their meaning. Virgil took a sip of his drink before continuing, looking out beneath his thick eyelashes. “…I’m glad you thought my company was worthy enough for you, Logan.”

Logan knew he would treasure the way Virgil said his name for eons, forever and ever until the final star burned out and left the universe dark. He would always remember the way his heart skipped a beat, something slotting into place. Even if nothing came of this experience, even if by some reason he never saw Virgil again, even if the world ended right that moment and he was the last being alive, he would know that he had fallen in love with Virgil Savage.

But his neighbor was not meant to be his soulmate. Virgil didn’t love him.

“Logan? You okay?” Virgil was waving his hand in front of his face, worry swimming in his eyes. “You kinda disassociated for a moment. Don’t worry, I do it all the time.” Logan almost chuckled at Virgil’s small blush. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he promised. “Just… glad you think my company is worth an early rise.” Virgil cracked a smile with a huff, shaking his head.

“Don’t think this changes things,” he warned. “I have a whole playlist you’re going to fall asleep to.”

“That would sound adorable and affectionate if I didn’t know what a scoundrel you truly are,” Logan fired back with a smirk of his own. “I promise I’ll have my own songs to share with you in the early morning hours.” Virgil laughed loud enough to draw the attention of other patrons, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes.

They sat and talked for what must have been hours, trading anecdotes, questions, and life advice. He learned that Virgil had grown up half an hour away in the backwoods of suburbia, that his favorite color was violet, his favorite animal was a bird of paradise because their dances were beautiful and stupid at the same time, that his parents were divorced but were still friends, that his biggest wish as a young, dumb kid was to be an astronaut and die among the stars. In return, he told Virgil about himself, how his mother had died when he was nine but he loved his stepmother just as much, how his adoration of space began when an astronaut came to his school, how his favorite article of clothing was an old baggy sweatshirt from his first year teaching.

Yet all good things must come to an end, and eventually Virgil had to ruefully apologize that he had an appointment he needed to go to, and had to leave.

He watched Virgil leave wistfully, stirring what remained of his coffee with a cheap plastic stick as he let his thoughts wander over mountains and meadows. Somehow, by some chance, he was in love with Virgil Savage.

Even if Virgil never loved him back, he would make sure to cherish him. He would love and he would lose, yes, but he knew it would be better than to love and to imagine what could have been.

The climax to it all came about a week later, after many continued meetups. Virgil had been hinting at some big finale to it all for the past few days, and Logan was both incredibly excited and incredibly terrified of what his neighbor was planning.

It happened on a clear October night, just as Logan was winding down from a particularly tiring day. Patton was packed and ready to leave tomorrow morning, already sleep despite the early evening hour, and as much as his puns and jokes exasperated Logan to no end, he was going to miss his brother.

The teacher was sitting at the dining room table, finishing up reading a student’s paper. He rubbed at his fluttering eyelids, trying to keep himself from falling asleep as he took another sip from his water, determined to have all his papers graded before he went to sleep. He glanced at his watch every few minutes, chastising himself for checking so often as though he were waiting for something, quickly righting his course of focus back to his yet-to-be-graded papers.

He was about to call it a night and resign himself to an early morning finishing yesterday’s work when it happened. Through the window, which he had left open so he could enjoy the sounds of the night, came the telltale beginnings of trouble, a faint rumble Logan had come to recognize as a bassline emanating from his neighbor’s house.

As he began to hear the lyrics, he tipped back his head with a groan that couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be exasperated or amused. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me…” he muttered as he pushed away from the table to stumble to the window and stand bewildered at the apparent absence of life in the Savage household. Not even a bedroom light was on inside, and it seemed either Virgil had fallen asleep to The All-American Rejects, or this was Virgil’s finale. He knew it was the latter.

Sighing, he pushed away from the table with a clatter of his chair. Running a hand through unkempt tangles of hair, Logan all but shoved the door open and walked out into the brisk night, letting the overwhelming intensity of the song wash over him and take all worries of the papers on his kitchen table away from his mind. Then he noticed movement from one of the windows, and Logan knew to prepare himself for an overly dramatic performance that would have cemented his love for his neighbor if the secret space enthusiasm and the wistful eyes hadn’t already done so.

Logan’s hypothesis proved correct when the bridge of the song began, and people poured out of the house, just like in the music video—which he had watched dozens of times, in a long playlist titled “virgil’s favorites -- memorize!!”, because if he was going to be in love with the man, he might as well know more about what he liked.

And, just like in the music video, they began chanting the ever-plaguing verse as Virgil, playing the role of Tyson Ritter, strutted slowly and calmly down the steps to the teacher’s driveway, where Logan was waiting for him, an exasperated smirk greeting his neighbor.

As soon as Virgil was within an earshot, Logan called to him. “Is this your finale, then?” Virgil’s eyes lit up with playfulness as he stood toe to toe with the teacher, his grin bigger than a full moon.

“Was it too predictable for you?” Virgil retorted with a glimmer of affection in his voice.

“Perhaps,” Logan replied in the same dramatic air as Virgil. “Though I’m beginning to think maybe it’s because I’m rubbing off on you.”

“And maybe it’s because I’m letting you rub off on me. Maybe I like it,” Virgil laughed as he stepped but an inch closer. Logan could see the little discolored speckles in Virgil’s eyes now, from how close they were. Almost close enough to kiss, his brain supplied (un)helpfully.

At once, Logan’s entire demeanor changed. They were close enough to kiss, weren’t they? He’d been fantasizing about it on more than one occasion, though Logan always classified them as nothing but. Nothing but fantasies to tuck away for reminiscing. But here, under starlight, with Virgil looking like a Lunar Queen, with those mesmerizing eyes trapping his, those fantasies seemed more like memories.

“Logan,” Virgil whispered. And like that, the spell was broken. Logan broke from his dreaming to hear a silent night once more, the song having ended without his notice. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Virgil beat him to it. “Look up.”

And, oh, wasn’t that a sight.

“I was wondering why you weren’t outside watching the meteor shower, and when I texted Patton, he said you were grading papers. Can you believe it? Missing the coolest thing in the world for a couple of dead trees?” Virgil was saying, his voice soft and gentle as a blanket.

Logan, of course, was too busy looking to hear him.

Not looking at the meteor shower—oh, no, no. As gorgeous as the black-blue-purple swashes of paint across the heavens was, as breath-taking as the falling stars were, as inspiring as the night sky captured in pure happiness was, none of it compared to the beauty he was so enraptured by—the beauty, of course, being the look of pure awe in Virgil’s eyes as he watched the meteors shoot across the sky.

Without thinking, Logan leaned over, and kissed him.

It was brief, but as soon as he pulled away, he said, “I think I love you.” Just to cement it, of course. To make sure Virgil knew.

The man in question stared at Logan, his eyes wide with surprise, and lips parted in an unspoken gasp. Virgil said nothing. He only grabbed the back of Logan’s neck and pulled him for a second, better kiss.

Two shooting stars crossed the sky together above them, as if in love.

#sanders sides #sanders sides au #human au #analogical #logan sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #deceit sanders #emile picani #teacher!logan #patton is diabetic y'all and lola is his service dog #first kiss #slowburn #also slow writing #this has been sitting in my drafts for a good month by now #to further date this #remus was not introduced when i first starting writing this #oh shit this also has a lot of songs mentioned in it #in no particular order #friend please #hooked on a feeling #thnks fr th mmrs #planetary (go!) #gives you hell #and also the song that's played in the cafe #the villain i appear to be #music video is an aesthetic so go check it out #fanfic #my fic

[swhurtcomfort]

Can I request a fic where Anakin is doped up on painkillers after being injured on a mission and he’s really drowsy and just out of it & he wants cuddles from everyone who comes to see him in the medbay (especially Ahsoka and Obi-Wan) & he keeps talking about absolute nonsense. Bonus points if during all of his incoherent babbling he accidentally tells Obi-Wan about his marriage. And double bonus points if Anakin falls asleep on Obi-Wan at the end :)

Obi-Wan forced himself to walk very calmly down to medbay, observing sadly that far too many beds were occupied. The Negotiator and several of her squadrons had sustained heavy casualties, and most of the injured men here would’ve lost their lives if it hadn’t been for Anakin’s finesse.

That finesse, however, had come with a price.

“He’s going to make a full recovery, General,” said Coric as soon as he spotted Obi-Wan out of the corner of his eye. Coric put away the instruments he was cleaning and directed Obi-Wan to the partitioned area where Anakin sat, half propped up with pillows.

Obi-Wan tutted as he entered the space. “Let me see what you’ve done now,” he said, taking Anakin’s flesh hand in his. It was splinted from elbow to wrist, and two fingers and his thumb were bound up with bone-knitters. His hand had been crushed when his fighter was shot down.

Obi-Wan brushed his thumb along the swollen knuckles, ever-so-gently.

“Are you in a lot of pain?” he asked quietly.

“Nah,” said Anakin, his head bobbing in a slightly exaggerated motion. “It’s a good thing it wasn’t this one,” he held up his prosthetic, “Because I just bought a new power cell and got the electrostatic pads to function right, that was a lot of work.”

“I’d sooner see you have to replace the right hand than lose the left,” snorted Obi-Wan.

Anakin’s eyes grew wide. “Is that what they’re going to do? Just chop it?”

“Force, no, Anakin I was completely kidding. Only you would prioritize your mechanical project over your mortal body,” said Obi-Wan as he set Anakin’s injured hand back down on its pillow and took a seat on the very edge of the medical cot.

Anakin’s mech hand flew up to cover his mouth as his face scrunched up as if about to cry.

“Anakin? It was just a joke,” said Obi-Wan quickly.

“No, I just…” Anakin mumbled. He moved his hand away from his face and Obi-Wan saw he was smiling through the tears. “I’m so glad you’re here, Master.”

“You’re on some serious medication, I see.”

“Everybody’s being so nice. Coric keeps asking me how I’m feeling.”

“That’s his job, Anakin.”

“Still.”

Obi-Wan sighed, a tiny smile ghosting across his face. Anakin was likely going to be out of commission for a while, and likely going to be furious when the Temple Healers handed him his sentence, but he was not permanently hurt. At this point, Obi-Wan considered that a successful mission.

“Anakin, I asked Ahsoka to wait outside because I wasn’t sure if you’d be feeling up to company. Do you want me to invite her in?”

“Snips is here?” Anakin leaned forward into Obi-Wan, squeezing his torso with the crushing grip of his mech arm. “She’s such a good padawan.”

“She is. Do you want me to comm her?”

Anakin nodded without letting go.

“Anakin?” said Obi-Wan.

“Fine.” Anakin pouted. He let go and leaned back into the pillow propped against the wall. Two more pillows were stacked at his side for him to rest his arm on. “Master, come sit back here.”

“Why?” asked Obi-Wan as he did so, typing out a message to Ahsoka.

Anakin made a satisfied little noise and leaned over into Obi-Wan, resting his head on his former master’s shoulder. Obi-Wan refrained from rolling his eyes.

“We never snuggle anymore,” said Anakin.

Obi-Wan mused internally that they actually hadn’t ‘snuggled’ that much previously—only when Anakin was very upset as a very young padawan—and Obi-Wan would hesitate to use the word ‘snuggle’ anyway. But there was no denying that Anakin was a very tactile person, and in those first few years it had been the most efficient way to calm him.

“You’re a bit grown-up for that, I think,” Obi-Wan suggested.

“Maybe you are,” Anakin retorted. “My very grown-up Master.” He laughed.

“Alright.” Obi-Wan resigned himself to this version of Anakin, who would likely be with them until his meds started to wear off.

Ahsoka knocked on the pole of the curtained partition. “Hey, Master,” she smiled a little. “Master Obi-Wan.”

“Hello, Ahsoka,”

“Snips,” said Anakin, suddenly tearful again. “You really came.”

“Yeah, of course Master. Are you okay?”

“He’s on some heavy narcotics, but the medic says he’s going to be fine.”

“I am on drugs,” Anakin affirmed, bobbing his head. He let go of Obi-Wan long enough to pull Ahsoka into a one-armed squeeze. Ahsoka sat down and Anakin sighed.

“I was just telling Obi-Wan how grown-up he is. He’s so proper all the time. Everybody’s got to be proper and pretend and…it is so hard to-to think of words.”

Ahsoka and Obi-Wan made eye contact and nodded.

“It is so exhausting,” Anakin continued, snuggling closer to Obi-Wan. “Padmé, you know, she doesn’t have to live her life like that. She’s got a family. Cousins, nieces, former handmaidens. And she just loves them. Like, out loud.”

“Like, out loud,” Obi-Wan repeated. “Listen Anakin, you’re not yourself. We don’t need to discuss—”

“And she doesn’t have to hide it, you know? Except the part about me. She can’t tell anybody I’m in love with her because nobody knows.”

Obi-Wan wasn’t surprised by this information, but he was surprised when Ahsoka rolled her eyes and responded, “Yeah, everybody knows that, Skyguy.”

“Nuh-uh. We got married. I’m married to Padmé. I know because I was there. And we love each other, just ask Artoo.”

The smile dropped off Obi-Wan’s face. “Do you really want to have this conversation in front of your padawan?” he asked.

Anakin yawned. “It’s okay, you can tell her.” He turned his face into Obi-Wan’s shoulder and mumbled, “Everybody always wants to look so proper. Master Windu’s gotta pretend he doesn’t love Depa, and Plo’s gotta pretend he doesn’t love Wolffe, and you’ve gotta pretend you don’t love me and Ahsoka and possibly Satine I think?” He gets distracted trying to remember. “Yeah I think so.”

“Maybe you should get some sleep,” said Obi-Wan praying for this conversation to end.

“Ugh,” Anakin closed his eyes.

A few minutes later, Coric peered around the partition. “He asleep?” the medic whispered to Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.

“No,” said Anakin accusatorily, eyes still shut. “We’re telling each other things we care about.”

“That sounds exciting,” said Coric flatly as he entered. He got to work replacing the ice in the machine connected to Anakin’s left arm. The device pumped cold water through tiny tubes in the splint to keep the swelling down.

Anakin sat up and gave Coric a hug too, then snuggled up to Obi-Wan again.

“Pretending is hard. I just want to stand in the rooftop garden at the Temple and shout, I’m in love with Padmé! But then the Jedi Council would be all like—” Anakin pulled a truly grotesque face that made Ahsoka hide a giggle behind her hand.

Neither of them knew what to say. Anakin put his head back on Obi-Wan’s shoulder and heaved a deep sigh. “We’re in love. Just ask Artoo, he knows.” he said before falling asleep.

“So why does he think he’s married to Senator Amidala?” Ahsoka whispered.

“Ahsoka, I think he may actually be married to her.” Ahsoka gaped at him, then at Anakin. Obi-Wan continued, “We’ll have to find out when he’s feeling better. I’m sure he won’t remember anything he’s said in the past hour.”

Ahsoka nodded.

Obi-Wan was effectively being pinned to the wall by the weight of Anakin’s torso, but shifted a little and patted Anakin’s thigh. “Goodnight, my very young Padawan,” he said with a smile.

#anakin #obi-wan #ahsoka #mentions of anidala #should i tag this as crack? #nah #hurt anakin #pain meds #anakin out of his karking mind #poor obi-wan was not ready for this convo #ahsoka's honestly never going to let him live it down #anon #mpost

[canaryatlaw]

alright. today was kinda hectic and stressful so not really the best. woke up at 6, made it to work and all that. It’s my clinic day, and we have an “immersion” project this week where students from a law school that’s on spring break will come and volunteer for the whole week. and obviously like, there isn’t time for them to observe so they just get thrown into it, and so today was had 8 volunteers which is a lot, especially when none of them have any actual experience with this so you gotta guide them through all of it. initially there was a lot of stress assigning people to cases and making sure we had enough volunteers to cover, at one point we definitely had one too many but I ended up having to reject one anyway so it worked out alright. from there it was just a lot of people running back and forth all day and having to give specific instructions, and of course my computer’s usb ports decided to crap out on me and no longer work which is like, a very crucial function for us because the volunteers fill out the paperwork on their laptops and then transfer it to us on usb drives, so that was a whole deal too. and then there was just like, the worst luck with getting judges, by some miracle all of the orders got granted, but they definitely did some weird stuff marking up the paperwork and just like making decisions that are not actually based in the law. and then I had a phone call with an opposing counsel about an argument for a motion that’s coming up and admittedly I was probably somewhat too candid in my reaction (it’s just that he has a really stupid ass argument that contradicts how the law has been interpreted in every other case in this courthouse, but sure try to argue that) and then he just like totally flipped out and started yelling at me about how rude and disrespectful I was being and was just like “well if you want to be rude then I guess that’s how we’ll play this” and hung up and I was just like.....what the fuck just happened?? and of course because I have no control over my emotions my body promptly decided that I needed to start crying which god I hate so much that I’m twenty fucking seven and can’t control my body’s need to start crying in situations where I very much would not like to be crying anymore than I could when I was fucking four years old and feeling the way. I just, UGH. it wasn’t too bad though, my supervisor (who I share an office with) came in and I told her and she was comforting and that helped me feel a bit better, and then the volunteers came back down and I had to pretend like I wasn’t just crying and I may have been like “oh it’s allergies” once or twice because I just didn’t want to get into it. what I really hate though is like, this was objectively not really a big deal, but I can’t get my mind off of it for the rest of the day and it’s driving me up the wall, and I’m just so peeved at myself for doing that and peeved about how it played out and just concerned about what’s going to happen from here. And I know it’s all probably gonna be fine and not be a huge deal, but like, my desire to have everybody like me is going into overdrive and just flipping out at the possibility that someone’s thinking badly of me, and that’s really what this all comes down to and god I just hate it all so much!! ugh. sigh. anyway. A few more work things before we move on, one of the awful judges (albeit the less awful of the two) is apparently going to be on the bench in one of the courtrooms for the rest of the week because that judge is out, which I was initially like WELL FUCK about because I’m supposed to have a hearing in front of that judge tomorrow, and he’s such a hardass and can be a giant pain on the bench and I just don’t know how that would go. but when I told my supervisor she said he probably won’t actually have the hearing and just reschedule it, because that’s what he usually does apparently. and like, I would be glad to not have to do it in front of him, but at the same time I’m annoyed at the prospect of the case getting stretched out any further because we’ve already had several hearing dates set where it hadn’t gone and like, I was determined to get it done tomorrow but these are just circumstances beyond my control, so there’s not much I can do there. I guess we’ll see what happens. My coworker sent out an email asking if someone could switch clinic days with her for theirs next week because on Thursday which is her clinic day she has this continuous terrible case that has been an ongoing hearing for literally months now. and like, obviously Thursday all the volunteers are still going to be here so it’s still going to be chaotic, but like, looking at the options, it was either going to have to be me or my work buddy to take it, and he has clinic tomorrow so if he did take it he’d have it two days in a row which is a lot (which I know because I’ve done it a lot) and he can sometimes get frazzled when there’s too much stuff going on and I just don’t think that would be a good idea for him. so as draining as today was, I volunteered to take the Thursday clinic day as well because it was really the right thing to do. Hopefully at least the volunteers will have somewhat of a better idea of what they’re doing by then so it’ll be a bit less stressful. I hope, at least. sigh. anyway. I was able to leave work at like 5:20, so not bad for a clinic day. headed home, got some food and my laptop and turned on the tv. Caught tonight’s episode of The Resident, then watched last week’s Black Lightning, then finished up the child abuse doc I was watching on netflix, and finally ended it with an episode of Gotham before showering and starting to get ready for bed, and now I’m here. well, this was a long one, clearly I had a lot ot get off my chest. hopefully tomorrow will be a better day, I’m still kind of unsure about what’s going to happen with the hearing so we’re going to prepare as if we definitely are going to hearing, so I guess we’ll see how that works out, it shouldn’t be too bad since we’ve actually prepped for other hearing dates in the past so it’s nothing too new. I’m just concerned that if the hearing does go the judge might make a very callous decision and end up further traumatizing my client, who’s already been going through a lot, so I really hope that doesn’t happen, either with it not going forward or just the judge being good. alright, that’s all I got. It’s like 12:15 am, I can sleep till 6:30 am tomorrow because I don’t have any morning court, but I should still definitely be getting to sleep, so that’s what I will be doing now. Goodnight babes. Love you lots.

#daily journal #March 2020