#I'm sure I'm in for at least four more weeks of tweaking with him but hey hey hey

[tywrites]

every time i close my eyes (i see your face) | ryan erzahler

request:  hello! can i req a fic where reader and ryan are in a relationship but they get nightmares and reader goes to his cabin asking for comfort and stuff, i’m not really sure but something like that :))

a/n: okay so i tweaked this quite a lot since i got ~inspired~ but i hope you enjoy it! i decided to set it after everything happened at the quarry <3 feedback is always appreciated thank u mwah

pairing: ryan erzahler x gen!reader

summary: when you get intense nightmares, ryan is always there to comfort you

word count: 1,013

warnings: teeny bit of angst if u squint

-

You were running. Sprinting through the Hackett house, trying desperately to find an escape. You'd lost Laura and Ryan. All you could see around you was door after door, leading you further into the house. You didn't dare to look back. Panting, you turned a corner, sliding to a halt when you see a large, deformed figure in the centre of the room.

It growled, low and deep. Standing up on it's hind-legs, it approached you, stomping with force. You were rooted to the spot.

Chris Hackett towered over you in his werewolf form, it's razor canines glinting in the moonlight. Thick drool dripped from it's mouth as it stared you down, it's piercing yellow eyes looking through you. You felt frozen.

You couldn't move.

It prepared to attack.

You couldn't move.

A claw slashed at your neck. Teeth latched onto your shoulder. Flesh ripped from bone.

You couldn't move.

-

You jolted awake, forcing your eyes open. Panting, you desperately tried to breathe, your breathing jagged and disjointed. You laid there – cold sweat clinging to your skin, your pyjamas pasted to your body. It was suffocating. Trembling, you attempted to sit up in your soaking sheets, cautiously sliding out of them. You sat on the edge of your bed, squinting in the darkness. Your night light glowed next to your bed, lighting up your bedside table. You stared at it, eyes going out of focus.

Breathe. One, two, three, four. Breathe. Repeat.

After steadying your breath, you quickly turned on your bedside lamp.

Each time you closed your eyes, all you could see was that thing standing over you. You couldn't get those eyes out of your head. But at least you didn't wake up screaming this time.

You felt lucky that you didn't have a room mate in your college dorm. Though the "special circumstances" that convinced the school to allow it definitely didn't feel lucky. But it would just be too embarrassing to constantly wake your room mate up in the middle of the night with your nightmares. Well, you considered them to be more like flashbacks.

Your hand automatically reached for your phone before pausing. You sighed.

You really didn't want to bother Ryan again. Especially on finals week. You already felt like enough of a burden to your boyfriend, you didn't want to be the cause of a subpar grade on an exam.

In reality, you knew he wouldn't mind. He'd want you to call him rather than wallowing in it. But it was 4am and he had to get up at 8. You went back and forth in your head, but a suspicious noise outside quickly had you dialling his number.

It rang twice before he picked up.

"Hey, you okay?"

Just the sound of his voice made you feel significantly more at ease.

"I'm sorry if I woke you, I just... I had another," you said quietly.

"No, no, don't worry. You didn't wake me. I couldn't sleep..."

There was a short silence. You heard shuffling on the other end as Ryan got out of his bed.

"Do you want to come over?" He said. "And no, you're not bothering me. Honestly, I could use the company too,"

You smiled. "You sure?"

"Just get over here."

You giggled to yourself before throwing some new pyjamas on that weren't caked in sweat, pulling a coat on over them. The walk to Ryan's was short, his dorm room only being a few buildings away from yours. Very convenient honestly. Like you, the school had made an exception for him in regards to having a room mate. Not that it mattered since you ended up sleeping over enough for you to count as a room mate.

Once you'd gotten to his room, you entered, knowing it would be open already. Ryan was inside, sitting up on his bed. He immediately stood, walking over to wrap you in a hug. His hugs really were the best. He pressed gentle kisses to your neck as he held you, his hands making soothing motions up and down your sides. No words were needed.

Eventually, he guided you to the bed, pulling the covers back and helping you in. When you were both tucked under the soft covers, he pulled you to his chest, your head just under his chin. You closed your eyes, savouring the moment. There was no werewolf waiting for you on the inside of your eyelids. Just a comforting darkness. You fiddled with the fingers on his hand, occasionally pressing gentle kisses to each one.

This had become a part of your nightly routine. Honestly, Ryan was the only thing keeping you sane at college. You weren't even planning on going before finding out that Ryan was. He said he wanted to get as far away from Hackett's Quarry as possible, which you could definitely understand. Leaving his sister with his grandparents was a difficult decision for him to make, but he knew it would be for the best. He needed to figure out his own life.

You'd gotten into the same college, different majors but you were still close by if the other needed you. It wasn't co-dependence but after living through the same experience, you just understood each other. Way more than the school counsellor did – she was a nice lady but she was way out of her league when it came to your trauma.

You pressed yourself closer to his chest, nuzzling into the warmth he radiated. The haunting experience was always in the back of your mind, it would never go away. But it considerably lessened when you were with Ryan.

"Try to get some sleep, okay? We can talk about it in the morning if you want," he said quietly, his hand gently stroking your hair. You could feel yourself drifting off already.

"Thank you," you mumbled. "I don't know what I'd do without you,"

"You probably wouldn't get much sleep," he chuckled.

You smiled to yourself, leaning up to kiss him softly. "I love you. So much,"

"I love you too, angel. Now sleep."

#the quarry imagine #the quarry x reader

[that-house]

Hey so how did you get started in making tabletop games? I really wanna start but I don't really know where I can look to even get basics. I haven't been able to find anything applicable to it.

Especially since I didn't really have much experience with any games that weren't video games til like a few years ago. And I can for sure see it as a case of a big part of learning is doing both playing games then tweaking those games to be somewhat different in ways that suit you but I just don't have anyone with the time to play.

i mean part of it is just. this has been a huge part of my life literally since elementary school

i loved pretending to be fantasy heroes and whatnot with my friends, and at some point long before i'd heard of D&D i was like "wow i sure am tired of forgetting what my character can do, i should write it down" and made my first ever character sheet which (a) was totally incomprehensible like a week later and (b) got lost super fast

after that i think i encountered the official warrior cats rpg, Warriors Adventure Game, and that inspired me to start making my own games using Word on the family computer. they were not good, as you might expect from a 4th grader

this post is turning out to be Long so

i got more serious about it in middle school. my school had a LARP program, and that was my first ever brush with actual organized RPG stuff. i loved it so much that i wanted to keep doing it over the summer, but didn't have access to the official rules, so i made my own for my friends and I.

one of those LARP friends got me into D&D, and i almost instantly ruined the campaign i ran for him and our other LARP friends with broken homebrew items because ough game design

i got serious about indie ttrpg design in high school. my big project was Reclaim, a sci fi RPG focused on supersoldiers reconquering the planet for humanity after an apocalypse (which gradually morphed into a critique of the military-industrial complex and american imperialism as my brain pathways connected properly in the later half of high school). it was the focus of my college application essay, but the game itself was not great in retrospect

nowadays i've further refined my approach to game design for my high power sci fi/fantasy anime bullshit project, Field of White Flowers, which is definitely the game i'm proudest of to date (it will probably have a basic version of the rules available for free some day, but the full game is enough of an undertaking that I will be charging some money for it)

the issue with advising people on how to make RPG systems is that there isn't necessarily a "right answer." RPGs can be anything. I can say "making a fun game is the most important part" but different people are going to have different definitions of fun.

like some people want crunchy systems with an answer to everything and rules for how many moles of oxygen you can hold in your lungs, while other people want stuff that's more rules light and lets them get right to the narrative and the roleplay. so i think the main thing when designing a game is pick an audience and stick to it: my games' primary audience is usually myself (i like systems with a lot of room for customization and optimization)

the other big tip i have is to play and read as many RPG systems as you can. almost everything has at least one good idea in it somewhere, and even stuff that's just Bad might give you a moment of inspiration while you're laughing at it.

as a suuuper bare-bones outline of what a game might consist of:

Resolution Mechanic: how does your game solve questions like "can i jump over this gap" or "can I cut this mountain in half?" for example, D&D does the whole thing with a d20 + modifiers compared to a number. other systems handle this in different ways. as a baseline it's nice for players' choices to matter, so i like to keep it somewhere between "flip a coin" and "consult thirteen tables based on your Class and Sense of Style, and then add four if you're a Gemini"

Combat: not every RPG needs combat, but the hobby has its roots in wargaming and so a lot of RPGs end up having some element of combat. your combat can be as simple as a more narrative game saying "make a skill check to kill this guy" (and thus overlapping entirely with your Resolution Mechanic) or it can be a multiple-hour tactical engagement like in Lancer

Stakes: what happens if players fail? can they fail? this is stuff like hit points in combat games, or the king finding out about your plans for the revolution in an intrigue game.

Character Creation: you need a Guy to be. how do you make the Guy? can the Guy be a dragon. an offshoot of this is progression: can my Guy get stronger? how?

this is very much an abstraction. games don't necessarily need all of these things. you can have a game without combat, and if you get silly enough with it you might be able to avoid character creation of any sort. it's harder to make a game without a resolution mechanic or stakes and have it be fun, but it's possible someone out there has done it

but that list of four things, in addition to more literary things like tone and setting, are sort of the basic framework my brain operates off of while making games.

at the end of the day, if you want to get good at something, the first step is to get out there and try it! good luck and happy game development!

[not-kayvalencourt]

Alright, I'll bite. What's the "Mirror Realm" you talked about in the tags to your last post?

Also I'm pretty sure you have the ability to go Anon is off

Oh, shit, really? I'll have to fix that when I get the chance, could have sworn it was on.

ANYWAY mr is relatively new compared to fr, since I just started developing it a couple weeks ago or so. I had seen a post a while ago talking about the way Rise changes up the age order (if I ever find it again, I'll link it!) and how it might influence future generations of tmnt. A couple questions were posed: "What if Donnie was the oldest?" And "What if Mikey was the oldest?"

(Long post ahead, it's segmented into four parts with the juice in the middle >:))

And So, It Begins...

Biting off far more than I can chew.

I wanted to tackle Donnie first (my initial plan was to come up with a few ideas, do some for Mikey as well, and then move on with my life buuuut, ADHD says "haha, funny au go brr" and I've hyperfixated on Donnie's part ever since), so I started with the basics.

-Mutant turtles

-Rat man ninja

Simple. I just have to spice it up a little. I've already started on the first part in making Donnie the oldest, but I wants to add a couple more little tweaks. At the moment, the age order goes (oldest-youngest): Donnie, Raph, Mikey, Venus, Leo.

"Why is Leo the youngest?", you may be asking. Because I thought it was funny. I had also brought up the AU to a friend when I first started development and he- jokingly- suggested adding a fifth turtle. I remembered Venus and Jennika, immediately working them into the universe, as one does.

Angsty-ass Backstory

Beating up fictional characters as a love language.

I knew I really wanted to go ham with the backstory. There was the standard "pet turtles turned mutants in freak accident", but I wanted to take this idea on my own joyride.

Hamato Yoshi and his wife, Hamato Miwa, ship themselves far away from their home of [unspecified location], Okinawa, Japan, to the wonderous city of New York. Okay, maybe not as wonderous as the brochures had put it, but Miwa was happy; and, if Miwa was happy? So was Yoshi.

Sure, he had some regrets moving across the Pacific Ocean and North America- his sister Karai was left alone, still busy grieving over their late father. Yoshi had been hoping to talk to her, or at least get a sign that she didn't truly resent him. The passing of Hamato Shō wasn't pretty, but it was no one's fault, surely she wasn't mad about that? It had already been so long. There was no need.

Whatever. Yoshi had Miwa, and together they had one son. Yoshi had always loved the work of the Renaissance Era, a few artists and works he was particularly infatuated with- it was difficult to pick just one! Eventually, though, he settled on Donatello, after Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi. He found the long name amusing, and while it's shortened on the boy's birth certificate, Yoshi would still call for him with it whenever he was in trouble- the amusing name working in the kid's favor, as Yoshi could never take himself seriously.

Donnie was quite tall for his age, growing up, but he still fit in perfectly with his classmates. Great grades (the kid was hardly five, it's not as though the work was difficult), a huge imagination, and most importantly- a cheery, light-up-your-world smile that won every battle.

His most endearing trait, Yoshi found, was the child's ability to get dirty, no matter what. He would come home with bandaged and bruised knees covered in grass, despite New York's general lack of grass for his knees to get covered in, but it was always there. His elbows matched, caked in dirt and debris and band-aids featuring whatever little character was popular at the time. Miwa often joked about how he would likely knock out all of his baby teeth before the others had a chance to grow in.

But he was having fun. He had many friends he'd rough-house with, but all in good spirit- not once did he run to his parents after school without a grin on his face.

Of course, all good things must come to an end.

Angsty-ass Backstory: The Sequel

Taking every previous turtles's greatest fear and turning it into these ones' reality.

Donnie had recently learned about turtles in class one day, suddenly deciding that he needed one right now, or else his life wouldn't be complete.

Their apartment's "No Pets" rule just so happened to not include said reptiles; and besides! Miwa and Yoshi both had their fair share of pets as kids, what was the harm in one? Sure, turtles lived quite a while, but they both had uncanny faith in this option. Something short-lived, like a rat, would be preferred; but Donnie certainly had a way with words- as well as their contract- despite hardly living a full decade.

The turtle would be going with Donnie wherever it could, anyway. It was more or less his problem, and the responsibility could help teach him something, Yoshi reasoned. Miwa seemed weary, but allowed it nevertheless.

Maybe Miwa should have listened when her gut told her it shouldn't happen.

One moment, it's a domestic, relatively chill moment at the pet store- the next, it's cold, metallic hands holding the Hamatos's wrists like it would cure cancer.

I wrote a short fic about this (tw for needles, discussions of human experimentation, and drawing blood), just barely 1k words, and it's not exactly up-to-date at the moment, but fairly accurate to canon. I loved the Kraang being this big, scary villain in Rise and wanted to channel that, but using 2k12 Kraang's numbers. I had also, in my research about previous tmnt generations, discovered a scientist called Harold Lilja and thought he'd be a fun addition, alongside Null Laboratories.

What exactly is up with the Kraang, Lilja and Null Labs is something I don't wanna spoil just yet >:) I also still sorta need to work on it lmao. But, after stuff happens, a 7 y/o mutant turtle suddenly has four siblings and is down a parent. Whoopsies.

After the destruction of Null, they find themselves in the sewers, with no more home to return to. Donnie and Miwa are both extremely aware of the dangers of being on the surface, knowing that they, too, would be terrified at the sight of human/animal hybrids roaming the streets of NYC.

Well, maybe that actually was pretty tame compared to the other stuff, but God knows what would happen if other scientists got ahold of them, and neither certainly didn't want to relive that.

Now what?

Purposefully leaving unanswered questions so they can find their way into my inbox.

I still have so much more to talk about, but it's two past midnight and I have school and a concert today, so I'll attempt to get my five remaining possible hours of sleep while I can. In the meantime, I'll make quick work of switching anon back on and would love to see if anyone takes interest in this AU. I'll quick make a tag as well, and just about anything related to it (asks, posts, fanworks?..) will be put under that tag.

Buenos noches, buenas tardes o buenas días,

Kay

#Mirror Realm AU #hoping everything makes sense and there's no big issues as I am too tired to beta read it #tw discussion of needles and human experimentation #it's not really a discussion tho. more or less just mentioned but definitely not hidden so I'm tagging it anyway. #rottmnt #unpause rottmnt #tmnt 2012 #tagging since they're honestly the biggest inspirtations #tho there's a lot of influence from what I've read about the comics and a little from the og 1987 show too #lmk if I need to tag anything else btw!! thanks

[glassartpeasants]

I'm not sure of your rules, but after seeing you want some villian requests. I'm happy to oblige. A senario where Shiragakis s/o starts her diabolical plan to tease him (maybe sitting on his lap and grinding on him), feed him all her attention, plenty of kisses and then she rises and runs out saying "catch me if you can!" A big game of catch and mouse that ends in full adrenaline infused smut scene.😏 What do you think?😁

You have been answered. Seriously though, after i posted that i wanted villain request 3 people asked me, like a the same time, not even 5 minutes after i posted it. But im not complaining. u_u

~~~

Title: Catch Me if You Can

Shigaraki x Reader

Warnings: Teasing, wall sex, sending rat boi nudes

~~~

Your boyfriend sat on his chair staring at the computer screen as he talked to his online friends. You grunt in disapproval as you pouted wanting his attention. You laid on the bed before a light bulb flickered in your head and a devious smile made its way across your face. 

Why not tease him?

You stand up as you go over to Shigaraki, hovering over him from behind his chair. Your hands snake their way to his shoulders. You could feel his whole body tense at your sudden touch before relaxing as you rubbed his shoulders, giving him a little massage.

Your fingers slide up his neck as your hands rubbed his scalp in slow, delicate circles, making your boyfriend silently purr in approval. You lean down over his chair to move a part of his headset. He growled at you before stopping as you sent his praises through his ear.

“You know..your such a great villain Shiggy, one of the best i say.” Your words felt like music to his ears as the thoughts of him being the number one villain with you by his side made his pants feel tight. He grabbed his water that you had given him a took a sip to ignore the ache in his pants.

“And what’s a better way to celebrate being the number one villain then fucking your girlfriend raw?” Shigaraki spit out his water and got it all over the computer screen. His face red as he replayed the dirty words that just came out of your mouth.

He turned around to look at you, trying not to show how flustered you made him by hiding it with an angry look. But when he turned around you were gone.

“Fuck...” He looked down at his water soaked pants seeing the outline of his hard cock outlining his pants.

Just say goodbye to your pillow.

~~~

You sat on the dusty old couch in the bar as you stared at your phone. A sly smirk made it’s way across your face as you see your boyfriend siting at the bar drinking.

The others were across the room, Twice and Toga playing the knife game as Spinner sang the song, while Dabi, Mr. Compress and Magne stared in disapproval.

You look at your phone once more as you open the messaging app and open Shigaraki’s contact. You then send him very revealing pictures aka nudes as the pictures only showed you in a very tight school uniform, black lace lingerie, at one pic of just your breasts in general. 

You look at Shigaraki while hitting the send button. A light ding come from Shigaraki’s back pocket. He grabbed it with four fingers, turning on the phone and going to the message app only to see explicit pictures of you on the screen. 

You could see him shiver then move around in his seat. You snicker to yourself before you walk up behind him and blew wind at his ear. He snapped his neck at you, his neck and ears tainted a slight pink as his eyes behind father wide with disbelief. Your hands traveling downwards before grouping his crotch giving him a firm squeeze, making him low growl.

You started you rub him harshly through his pants under the bar counter, while causally talking to Shigaraki as if nothing is going on. You look at Shiggy once more, seeing him grip his glass tightly, trying not to show any signs of whats going on. If you listen close enough you could hear panting coming from him, but the noise was drowned out by the music in the bar.

You take your hand off his crotch, satisfied leaving Shigaraki all hot and bothered. You smirk at him seeing his cock twitch in his pants begging to be released.

~~~

Shigaraki sat on his gaming chair once again playing with his friends. Your eyes raked his body, thinking of what else you could do to finally get his attention instead of him playing hard to get. You quickly sat up and walked over to Shigaraki before plopping on his lap, making him let out a small breath.

HE grumbled underneath his breath but made no attempt to remove you, which only led to your next step of your plan.

You slowly begun to move your hips against his, grinding on his crotch. You grabbed his face and peppered him in kisses. No place was safe from your lips. 

Your kissing and grinding on his lap caused Shigaraki to grind against you as well. His cock growing by the second. Your hands found their way up his shirt as you begun to tweak at his nipples causing him to let out a gasp. You took this to your advantage and shoved your tongue down his throat, making Shiggy’s eyes blow open.

All the attention he was getting from you was distracting to say the least, you had been doing this all week, but why? Surely you would continue after this right? After a week of you teasing him he would be able to finally fuck you.

Just as his hand begun to grope your ass you shot up from off his lap and walked behind him once more. Leaning down whispering in his ear,

“Catch me if you can Shiggy.” You say before running out of your guys shared room in a hurry, hearing a thud coming from the room.

The once silent halls were filled with sounds of footsteps chasing on another. Your giggles echoed off the halls as you saw Shiggy try to grab you carefully. 

Your breathing became ragged as you started to slow down from lack of air. Before you could process a second thought a hand grabbed you and dragged you into a shoe closet, effectively making you yelp.

Shigaraki pulled you into the shoe closet, closing the door before shoving you into the wall. Slamming his lips into yours as he put your legs around his waist.

“Fucking bitch. You think you can get away from teasing me like that without getting punished?” He growled as his hips bucked into yours, causing small bits of frictions against your clit. Your hands slithered their way into his hair as you tugged on the blue locks making his hips grind faster against yours.

His hands made way to cup your breasts roughly causing you to yelp out at the aggressive attack. All five fingers made their way onto your shirt and bra as the fabric slowly turned to ash underneath you. His lips hooking onto one nipple as the other one was being pinched and pulled by his hands.

Your arms wrapped around his shoulders as your nails raked on his clothed back, ripping the shirt. You let out pants of desire which were music to Shigaraki’s ears. His hips thrusting more roughly against you, growling remembering that there are clothes in his way from letting him be inside you.

His left hand decayed your pants before pushing you to face the wall. Your exposed chest getting pushed up against it. Your body shivered at the cold feeling of the wall before the sound of a zipper rang through your ears.

“Revenge time.” Shigaraki snickered before you let out a scream at the sudden intrusion of his dick entering your cunt. His hands snaked around your waist as his hips snapped against your ass.

“S-slow down!” You whimpered as Shigaraki showed no mercy to your gummy insides. His cock pounding against your cervix made you dig your nails into the wall leaving behind scratch marks. His panting right next to your ear made you turn around to look at him before a sly smile made it’s way to your face again. There before your eyes was every Shigaraki fans dream,

The shiggy ahegao face.

His tongue hanging out of his mouth as drool run from the corners of his mouth, beads of sweat rolling down his face as his eyes were in the back of his head. His face pink as his moaning could wake up the dead.

Your head flipped back laying your head against his shoulder, giving shigaraki the time to latch on to your neck, wasting no time covering your neck up in hickeys and teeth marks. Making his claim on you.

Shigaraki raked two fingers down your stomach before reaching your clit. HE spent no time rubbing it in harsh circles, no listening to your cries of over-stimulation.

The string in your belly snapped as a wave of euphoria crashed over you, leaving you pretty much lifeless as Shigaraki did a few more thrust before coming in your cunt. Leaving you both gasping for air.

The adrenaline finally wearing off as Shigaraki let you go, making you fall to your knees.

“Thanks for rearranging my insides.” You said as your feet felt like jelly. You try standing up only to come crashing down again.

“No problem now come on. I ain’t done with you yet.”

#mha shigaraki #shigaraki x y/n #tomura shigaraki #shigaraki tomura #shigaraki x reader #tomura shigaraki smut #tomura shigaraki x reader #mha tomura #mha #bnha smut #bnha #mha smut

[50-shades-of-beige]

Other side of the wall.

Summary: Jim, your next door neighbour, blares his guitar while you play delicate tunes on your piano. The two of you couldn't be more different until the magic of making music connects you both.

Warnings: little bit of arguing, swearing, tiny bit suggestive at the end

A/N: Just a another Hopper x reader fic for you all to indulge in. This one is a little different! It's set in New York and has a muscican au vibe to it. Let me know what you think! Enjoy! 😁❤️

Gif source [x]

When you moved to New York city you enjoyed the prospect of having neighbours. Neighbours above you, under you, either side of you- it was one of the main reasons why you had your heart set on an apartment almost smack bang in the middle of the city.

It was a beautiful neighbourhood. Tall brownstone buildings on either side, cherry blossom and oak trees lining the pavements- it was picturesque. The only problem was the stairs. When you moved in, getting your stuff- including your baby grand piano- was horrendously strenuous and time consuming but with the help from the removal company, you were relaxing in your apartment later that evening.

The complex you lived in was fairly quiet, there was six apartments in the one building. You lived on the top level- the apartment across from you was empty and up for sale. Below you in the other four apartments there was a widow who had beautiful window boxes which she tended to everyday, a middle aged man who often came home late and left early the next morning for work, a young couple who had just gotten engaged and another house that was rented out by a landlord so had always had new people in it when it wasn't empty. They were all lovely and got along with you well. You asked them when you moved in if playing the piano would be a problem, they all insisted that it wasn't and said they rather enjoyed the live music drifting down the stairs and in through their windows when theirs and yours were open.

You had to practice a lot. You had gotten a job in swanky hotel to play it and as well as that you also played for a regional orchestra.

Playing the piano was your life.

It was a typical sunny Tuesday. Your windows were wide open late in the afternoon and a gentle breeze was making the curtains dance. You were composing a new piece, one hand holding a pencil and jotting down notes while the other effortlessly drifted over the keys.

You were making good process when-

Screech!

Your hand slammed down on the keys with fright as a loud noise filled your apartment, almost making your ornaments on top of your fireplace wobble.

"What the hell was that?!" You asked yourself and stood up from your piano stool and looked out the window. The noise had gone and you couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. You sighed and shook it off returning to your piano and playing your tune again. It was soft, delicate until it reached a grand crescendo and your whole apartment erupted with music.

Screech!

That noise again. It made you jump and made you mess up your piece completely. "What the hell?!" This time you could pinpoint where it was coming from. The living room that was next to yours and separated by a wall. You went back to your window and leaned outside, reaching across slightly to knock on the window next door.

The woman with the window boxes had told you about a new neighbour who had bought the apartment across the landing from yours. The window opened and your breath hitched when you saw your new (surprisingly attractive) neighbour. He had the fluffiest hair, the colour of it very similar to his beard and eyes that could compete with the blueness of the sea and easily win.

"Can I help you?"

Then you remembered that you were pissed with him.

"Yeah, what the hell was that noise?" You asked.

He shrugged "My electric guitar, trying to tweak my amp to get the right volume to drown out your fancy ass classical shit."

You raised an unimpressed brow "'Fancy ass classical shit'? You mean my piano?" He let out a snort of laughter "At least I can actually play! Sounds like you were killing an animal or something!"

His eyes narrowed "What I was playing was actual music, fancy ass. If you take requests, my request is for you to shut up."

You were seeing red, your fingers twitched furiously and you went back to your piano, inhaling a deep breath and slamming your fingers down on the keys creating the loudest note you could. You were going to show him what actual music sounded like.

Mainly out of spite.

You quickly and flawlessly played the most intense and dramatic piece you could. But on the other side of the wall, your neighbour knew two could play at that game and blared out a note on his electric guitar, sliding his fingers up and down the strings to create wails and hums that were trying to drown out your piano. When you finished the piece you slumped across the keys and caught your breath, too caught up in competing with who could play the best and the loudest. You wiped the trickle of sweat away from your hairline and let a growl under your breath as your neighbour continued playing.

•••

The competing carried on for weeks and then eventually a month and then two months. The entire duration your neighbour had been living across from you.

You tried your best to ignore the cackling of amplifier and screech of the guitar and your neighbour in general. The amplifier and guitar were harder to ignore than your neighbour, the only time you had saw him was when the two of you had your heads sticking out the window eight weeks ago.

You had just returned home from work and you wanted to do nothing more than sit back, relax and the play piano for an hour before bed. Before you went upstairs, you collected your mail from your box in the communal hallway. General mail, you flicked through them one by one and then stopped when you noticed that one wasn't addressed to you.

"James Hopper?" Realisation hit you "Oh god..." you groaned. You let out an irritated huff when you noticed that you couldn't get into his box to put the letter in- the mail person had a master key. You decided to just take it up to him and slide it under the door. When you reached the top you kneeled down and had slid the envelope halfway under the door when it opened. You froze and slowly looked up to see him standing over you.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Uh," you quickly stood up and extending the letter out to him "This was in my mailbox but it's addressed to you."

He took the letter "Thanks," he uttered as if it was a chore talking to you.

"You're welcome, James." You notice his face scrunch up when you called him that.

"Just...call me Jim...or asshole, because I know you're thinkin' it half the time," he let out a breathy chuckle and the corner of your lip tugged upwards.

You finally introduced yourself properly "Y/N...or fancy ass." Jim genuinely smiled and shook your hand before you bid him goodnight and went into your apartment.

After you had changed into your pyjamas and before you went to bed, you played your composed piece. You had written lyrics in your notebook on the way home from work and were trying to find perfect places for them between the music notes.

You played a few notes and sang what you had: "I don't know about you, but I hope you feel it too..." you scribbled out a note and replaced it with another "Am I the only one who can see what we've become...?"

You scribbled down more notes and words for at least an hour before calling it a night. Unbeknownst to you, your neighbour was listening.

And he was impressed.

•••

"Ah Chopin...more like Cho-pain..." you couldn't help but snort with amusement at your own joke as you practiced. You flicked through your song book while you recited each and every song until you were done. It took half the day but at least you would be prepared for your concert at the weekend.

You pulled out your own composed piece and began to play it and hum along with the words. You thought you were hearing things when you heard someone play along with you.

You played an A and another A followed. You placed a C and seconds later another C was playing. It was like an echo. You decided to experiment and play a few chords, again, they were repeated seconds later. You played more and listened closely until a sharp was played instead of a flat.

You held your breath for a second before speaking out to nothing but the four walls of your living room "It's a C flat not a C sharp..."

There was a moment of silence "Sorry! I'll get it right next time."

You let out a short giggle and played again, when you finished the song, you had an idea. You bit down on your lip and left your apartment barefooted, walked across the landing and knocked on Jim's door. "Do you...do you want to see what I've got written down?"

Jim smiled "Sure, hold on," he turned around and went to where his living room would be while you kept glancing back as you walked into your apartment. You sat down at the piano and played a few keys before Jim walked in with an acoustic guitar.

You smirked "And here I thought you only played electric..."

"I'm full of surprises," he winked and sat down next to you on your stool "Did you write it yourself?" He motioned at the sheet of paper "I've heard you play it a few times."

"Yeah, I did write it..."

"The lyrics too?" He asked and tuned his guitar.

You nodded "Yeah..." you nervously cleared your throat "Sorry if you heard me, I'm like nails being dragged down a chalkboard!"

"No!" Jim protested with a wide smile "You're actually quite good. You okay with me playing along?" You nodded and began playing, Jim perfectly harmonising with you. His guitar was a great addition. The night crept in and you walked him to your door, saying a final goodnight before you both shut your doors over. You climbed into bed and let out a loud sigh with a smile on your face. Perhaps Jim wasn't as bad as you initially thought.

You knew his bedroom was on the other side of the wall from yours so, you decided to put a little more effort in with him "Hey Jim?"

It took him a few seconds to reply "These walls are super thin..." he joked and you giggled, he soon joined in. "For a second there I thought you where a ghost or something."

"Yeah, these apartments try to have so much space that the walls are compromised. Also, the drains are connected, I can hear you singing Elvis in your bathroom in the morning through my sink when I'm in the shower," you chuckled "But I didn't want to have a conversation with you through the wall about how thin they are, I wanted to asked if you maybe wanted to come to my orchestra recital this weekend?" A beat passed and you quickly added "You don't have to if you don't want to of course! I'm not trying to force you into going or anything and I-"

Jim cut off your ramblings "-I'd love to."

•••

"A bit cliché but you were amazing!" Jim handed you over a bunch of roses by the stage door "Almost makes listening to your practicing bearable!" He joked and you lightly nudged his shoulder.

"Thank you, and thank you for coming and for the roses. They are beautiful." You admired them with a shy smile.

Jim looked at you adoringly as he watched you trace your finger over the petals. The same fingers he watched a mere half an hour ago whizz over keys faster than the speed of light during some pieces.

When you arrived back at the building, Jim invited you into his apartment to let you listen to something he had been practicing.

You sat down on the couch while he sat across from you on a stool. His living room had at five full sized guitars scattered around it- two acoustic and three electric. There was also a bright blue ukulele on the arm of the couch and plectrums everywhere. You could see that he was nervous and it made your brow furrow.

"Okay, so," he cleared his throat, scratched the back of his neck and tuned his already tuned guitar. He couldn't help it, his trembling fingers needed something to do. "I've been working on this, it's not finished yet but...I hope you enjoy it." You watched him get comfortable before strumming a few notes and starting to sing: "When I first saw you I couldn't believe my eyes...you've got so much beauty, babe that ain't no lie. But we were both kinda stupid and were both far to proud, so the both of us couldn't help but be obnoxiously loud. Now honey I know the walls are paper thin and the drains are interconnected, but when I am around you I feel my heart is affected with nothing but the sweet sound of love...mhmm...the sweet sound of...love..." he cleared his throat and placed down his guitar "That's uh...that's all I've got..."

You stood up from the couch without saying a word. You walked over to him and he stood up "I loved it," you whispered with a smile growing on your face.

"R-really?" Jim went wide eyed before he cupped your face and kissed you "Sorry I called you a fancy ass."

You burst out laughing "Sorry I mentally called you an asshole..."

"We'll just call that getting even," you smirked at his words and kissed him again.

"You wanna come next door and make some music?" You asked.

"We gotta be be careful how loud we're making music..." Jim raised his eyebrows suggestively.

You looked down to the ground and blushed with a coy smile "The walls are shockingly thin..."

Jim captured your lips with his "Can you can cope with me singing Elvis in the morning?"

You smirked "Only if I can be your backing singer."

"Well then," Jim wrapped an arm around you and pulled you towards your apartment "We better get our vocal chords warmed up..."

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