#THOUGH HONESTLY COULD BE NELL TOO | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

legxllyblxndc · 8 months

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homecoming ( @foreverwednesday )

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Honestly, thank the fucking Lord they won, because the moods those assholes have been in this week -- I would've gone straight home if they'd lost. I'm not dealing with any more of that tonight." Lana laughed, rolling her eyes as she picked up her drink and took a swig. "Cheers to being one of the few that can legally drink." She grinned, holding up her glass to cheers with Thea's. It had been the first big game of the season and they had all known how tense the boys had been about it; they'd heard about nothing but, so she was thrilled that they'd ended on a win. She laughed as a burst of noise came from the entrance, raising an eyebrow. "That'll be our superstars."

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Hi, beauty." Nell smiled happily as she reached Nora, giving her a one armed hug. People had expected the two of them to fall apart when Zach had gone missing, they'd asked Nell repeatedly whether or not she was angry at Nora for moving on... And whilst she hadn't liked to see it at first, it wasn't as though she could blame the other girl. They'd always been so close, her brother not being around anymore didn't change that - and she was pretty sure they'd both made choices that Zach wouldn't be too happy about. She took a sip of her drink; she'd already managed to spike it with vodka in the bathroom and looked back at Nora with a content smile. "They fucking smashed that, right? The other team didn't stand a chance. I can't wait to see them." She laughed. It was obvious how excited the boys were going to be and that always meant they were in for a good night.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "I've said it before and I'll say it again... Being twenty fucking sucks." Maddie laughed, pulling a bottle of vodka out of her bag and pouring a decent measure into her own cup, as well as Addison's. "Still clear?" The other girl was keeping watch on the bathroom door, making sure nobody came in and busted them just for trying to have a good night. "Okay, we're good!" She grinned, bringing both cups out of the cubicle and handing one to her friend. "Let's go see the boys - and listen to them brag about how amazing they are for the rest of the night." She laughed loudly. "I've given Jonah a one hour limit, after that I'm allowed to tell him to shut up anytime I want." She shrugged her shoulders, clearly joking as they made their way back into the dance.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Here we fucking go, boys!" Sebastian laughed loudly as they approached the entrance of the dance, taking a last swig out of the bottle of beer he'd been drinking from and throwing it into the trashcan closest to him; they'd been whisked off after the game for interviews and so on, but he'd managed to sink quite a few drinks in the meantime and he was definitely a little buzzed as he made his way up the stairs. "Ready?" He grinned, before he shoved open the door. The atmosphere was always amazing after they'd won a game and sure enough, the cheer that went up when the doors opened brought a huge smile to his face. He didn't think there was any better feeling than being on top, than people shouting and whooping for them. "Alright, first round's on me!"

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: Max chuckled along with the others as they followed after Sebastian, running a hand through his hair; he always felt so rushed after a game, all he really wanted to do was see his family and Nora, catch up with everybody - but it was like everybody wanted a piece of them. It was why he was so excited for tonight, to get a chance to chill and celebrate. As the cheer went up, Max couldn't help smiling; he didn't think he'd ever get used to that. He'd always been one of the lesser known members of the team, one that faded into the background, until he and Nora went public - now it felt like everybody treated him like a big star, even though he couldn't really pinpoint where it had all changed. He grinned as they walked in, his eyes immediately seeking his girlfriend - and a relaxed smile spread across his face as soon as he found her, giving her a little wave.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Thea laughed along with Lana before she nodded her head, "I'd have been right there with you. It would've been a fucking nightmare." Homecoming was one of the biggest games of the year. If they boys hadn't won, she knew it would've set everyone on the wrong foot. Which would've made the cheer squads work even harder. "Thank god for that." Thea laughed before she raised her cup to Lanas. "We're not going to be alone, though. Maddie asked for a bottle this morning. Wasn't gonna ruin her fun." She shrugged. Thea had always thought that the drinking age was a little too strict. And she didn't see why Maddie or the others should have to sneak it when there were people there who were drinking. "Oh here they fucking are! Not a moments quiet now!"

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "Hey gorgeous!" Nora beamed as Nell came over. She happily hugged her friend. When Zach had first gone missing, Nora had been so worried that Nell and her family would toss her aside. She had been even more worried about what they would do when she went public with Max. Nell had been the first person she had told. She couldn't believe how gracious Nell had been and how the two girls had only grown closer together. She still missed Zach and often wondered about the life that the two of them would've had but she was happy with Max. He was good to her and more than she ever would've expected. Sometimes, she wondered if it was even better than how things had been with Zach but she never let her thoughts run with that one. The guilt of even the fleeting thought almost ate her alive ."They were amazing!" Nora laughed, nodding her head. "Max did really well, right? He was so good." She smiled and her smile only widened as she saw him come inside with his teammates. "Sully wasn't bad either." She laughed, nudging Nell. Even though she knew that Zach would hate it, she thought that the two of them made a really good pair. And she was happy that Nell was happy.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "It's literally just another year. What's in a year? They could stop being dicks and let us have a drink!" Addy giggled. She loved homecoming. There was something in the air when everyone got together to watch the boys. And that atmosphere was even better when they won. "Yeah, yeah. We're all good." She nodded. She couldn't wait until they didn't have to do this kind of stuff anymore. "Oh thank god." Addison sighed as she took her drink from the other girl. She took a quick sip before she started for the door. "An hour? I think I might have to limit Max to half an hour. He's got Nora who'll stroke his ego." She rolled her eyes, though there was a fond smile on her face.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: As Blake pushed into the auditorium, he was beaming from ear to ear. Nothing energised him more than winning a game. And, if he was completely honest, it was the first time that he wasn't thinking about the kiss that he and Sebastian had shared. He was just excited to share the night with his friends and to celebrate their win. "Lets fucking go!" He cried as he looked around the room. It didn't go unnoticed that no-one was really there for him ... but he wasn't going to dwell on it. "Excellent." Blake laughed as he heard Sebastian and marched over to the bar. "Two sambuca shots! And a whisky and coke." He nodded before he looked to Seb again, "What about you?"

TM NS ND JW BD AH: There was no better buzz to Nico than after a game that they'd managed to win. Equally, there was no lower low than after a game which they'd lost. Winning the homecoming game was the perfect start to their final year, he thought. In the back of his mind, though, he was aware of his friends absence. When Zach had first gone missing, there wasn't much that Sully could do without thinking about him. They used to spend so much time together that it was an adjustment without him. Now, he only really noticed it when it was something for the team. After he had grabbed himself a drink, Sully made his way quickly over to where Nora and Nell were standing and wrapped his arms around the waist of his girlfriend. He picked her up and spun her around before putting her back down and placing a kiss on her cheek. "Did you fucking see how good we were out there?" He laughed.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Jonah was excited, like the other boys, but he couldn't help but think that he wasn't quite as enthusiastic as them and he hated that. He wanted to be as passionate about the game as his friends were but it was difficult. This wasn't his main love. He was doing it because it was expected of him. He wished that he could forge his own path but understood that legacy meant something and that he needed to use all the connections that he could. He couldn't help but laugh a little, though, as they stepped into the auditorium and he saw everyone standing in front of them, cheering. That was something which he didn't think he'd ever get used too.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "They're moody enough on a day to day basis, never mind after a loss." Lana laughed, shrugging her shoulders. With the cheer house and the football house being right next to one another, the two teams had seen each other in pretty much every way possible - their best and their worst. She chuckled as Thea spoke about the younger girls, nodding her head. "Even if you'd said no, it wouldn't have stopped her - that girl is ruthless when it comes to having a good time." She laughed, rolling her eyes. She'd bought alcohol for some of the younger girls on the squad before - as long as she wasn't the one who had to look after them when they were throwing up, she didn't care. "Say goodbye to peace - and hello to stroking their egos." She grinned teasingly, joining in with the cheering as the boys entered the room.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: It was obvious that the rest of the Harrington's weren't happy with Nora; at first, she'd been their golden girl - they'd shared in her grief, made her the poster girl of why their precious boy should be brought back home to them... But when she'd started moving on, thinking about herself again, they'd tossed her to one side. Nell knew they still weren't over what they called Nora's 'betrayal' - but she got it. She'd always gotten it. Even if sometimes she felt guilty for getting it, because she knew exactly how Zach would feel. She missed her brother, more than she could say - but sometimes she felt sick with guilt when she thought about the fact that her life had probably been a little easier with him gone. "He was good." She laughed quietly, nodding her head - but her smile grew as Sully was mentioned. "I mean, I'm not going to disagree with you --" She chuckled, but she was quickly cut off as her boyfriend lifted her into the air and she let out a squealing laugh, shaking her head as he put her down. "I'd be a pretty terrible cheerleader if I wasn't watching, babe." She laughed. "Of course I saw - you were fucking incredible. That last score? Did you not hear us screaming?" She shook her head, looking up at him proudly.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Get a few more drinks in us and I'm sure we'll ask them outright before the night is through." Maddie grinned, shrugging her shoulders as she followed Addy's lead and took a swig. "Oh yeah, Max definitely only gets half an hour - my boy Jonah doesn't have a Nora to tell him how amazing he is, I'm all he's got." She laughed. Really, she knew Jonah wouldn't even care to talk about the game - he'd be happier partying, having fun the way they normally did. "Speaking of." She laughed, waving over enthusiastically as she saw the boys walk in. "OI, Walker!" She shouted over, a humorous grin on her face as she got closer to him. "I counted on you being here earlier, I've just had to mix a toilet drink thanks to your absence. Asshole."

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: If Sebastian was honest, there hadn't been a night that had gone by without him thinking about the kiss between he and Blake... It wasn't something he wanted to think about, but it just kept resurfacing every single time he let his guard down. He didn't like the way it made him feel. He didn't like the things it made him think about. Tonight, he just wanted to forget about it all and enjoy himself - but he knew it was going to be hard, with the other boy in such close proximity. He wasn't even sure Blake was talking to him at first, but once he realised he forced out a laugh and raised an eyebrow, shrugging his shoulders. "I'll have the same." He smirked. "We deserve it, yeah?" They'd played well tonight, they all knew they had and he just wanted to get drunk enough that it was all he could think about

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "You're telling me." Thea scoffed. "Yesterday, I walked in on Blake throwing a full blown temper tantrum because he'd burnt his toast. Babies, the lot of them." She was mostly joking, though. She loved the guys on the team and her cheer friends. They were like a family to her. And being so far away from her family, it meant that they were all she really had most of the time. "Oh yeah, she'd have found a way. Sometimes, I think that's why she's friends with Joe. Least he's old enough to buy her stuff." Thea laughed. It was a right of passage, she thought, to give the younger girls alcohol or basically anything that they were told they were too young for. The older girl had done it for her when she was a first year. "Who do you think will be the first to do something stupid?" Thea smirked as she finished off her drink.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Nora had known that moving on with her life would hurt the people that had always treated her like family. It had been the last thing that she had wanted to do but after talking to some of the other girls - and her own parents - she knew that she couldn't just wait around for forever. It was very likely that Zach was dead and while that broke Noras heart every time that she thought about it, she knew that it was probably the truth. She just wished that Nells family could see that too. She didn't think that it was helping either of the others parents to heal. Nora laughed as Sully grabbed Nell, "Good to see you too, Sul." She chuckled before she turned to look up at Max. "Thank you. And you don't look like you've been running up and down a pitch for an hour so I'd say you're looking pretty good too." Nora reached up to kiss his cheek quickly. "Me? What about you? You were some kind of superstar out there!"

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Sully laughed even harder at his girlfriends squeal. Sometimes, when he was with Nell, he felt so guilty that he was sure he was going to be sick. It was like his whole body was betraying him. But he had also never been as happy as he was when he was with her. He knew that his best friend wouldn't approve and a part of him was so sure that, one day, he'd come back and everything would be over. But he was trying to enjoy the time that the two of them did have together. "That's true. And you're definitely not terrible at that." He smiled - and his smile only widened as Nell complimented him. "Yeah? It was fucking good, right? Gotta make sure i'm scoring one like that every week. Don't know when the scout'll show up." While Sully had never really considered his future too much, he knew that he would love to be able to play the game that he loved for forever.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "I'm almost certain we'd be able to flirt our way into a couple drinks too." Addison shrugged. She had spent a long time being the girl who was overlooked. She could be a lot, she wasn't as pretty as the other girls. But recently, she had been finding more and more boys were giving her attention ... and she really liked it. She was absolutely going to use it to her advantage, too. "And that she'll do." Addy rolled her eyes. She still didn't really know how she felt about Nora. If Addison really thought about it, she knew that it was because she was jealous. She had been with the guy that she had, had a crush on for forever and, now that he was gone, she had moved to her best friend. She didn't understand what this girl had that she didn't. "And it's as gross as it sounds." Addy laughed before she took another gulp. The point of these things, she thought, was to get as drunk as possible as quickly as possible and that was exactly what she intended to do.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: While football wasn't really his favourite thing in the world, Jonah did love a party. And one where he and his closest friends were the centre? He was never going to turn that down. As he heard Maddie, though, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. She was definitely a bonus of the whole football college thing. "Oh god, well excuse me." Joe laughed, "Didn't realise that you wouldn't be able to survive without me for half an hour." He nudged his best friend before he grabbed her glass to take a sip. "Jeez, Mads, what've you put in there? Bleach?" He hissed before he handed it back to her. "What do you want ? I'll go get us a proper drink." He shrugged. He figured that, that was easier than to try and pour their own.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Blake had no idea what the kiss meant and, if he was honest, he didn't want to figure it out. Things were difficult enough, he thought, without adding another layer to it all. "Excellent." He nodded before he turned back to the bar and ordered another one of the same for his friend. That was all he was, right? Just a friend? Blake didn't want to think too much into it. It hurt his brain to dwell for too long. "Yeah we do! We kicked ass out there!" He beamed. "Here." He handed over a shot glass to the other, holding it out, "To us, kicking ass!"

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "That doesn't surprise me whatsoever. I've seen tears over stubbed toes in that house - and they think we're the emotional ones." Lana laughed, rolling her eyes playfully. She was close to her family and she always had been, so she hadn't really expected to find a second family, away from home, when she'd moved to college - but here she was regardless. She saw each and every one of those boys as her brothers, and the girls were her sisters. She'd do anything for any of them. "I think her and Joe are probably friends because they're the only two that can put up with one another for extended periods of time - but either works." She laughed, shaking her head. "God, any one of the boys - it always is, right? I'll put my money on Blake or Seb - I've just seen them ordering shots at the bar and Lord knows neither of them have the best tolerance." She laughed, raising an eyebrow as she looked over at them.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: For as long as she could remember, Nell had had a crush on Sully - he was her big brothers best friend, he was cool and kind and good at football and she'd always been the epitome of heart eyes around him, but as she'd gotten older it had turned into something more serious. Actual feelings that she thought she saw reciprocated; but her brother had seen it too and had stood firmly in their way, letting them know exactly how things would go if they even thought about acting on them. She felt guilty about it, of course; but she had also never felt as happy as she did when she was with Nico. It was an impossible choice. "That's what I like to hear." She giggled, shrugging her shoulders. "So fucking good. I swear, I saw some of the guys from the other team crying when you went in for it." She laughed, shaking her head. "It doesn't matter when the scouts come, Nic. They're going to want you." She smiled, reaching up to touch his face gently. She hated the idea that he would be leaving this year, that she still had years to go at college without him; they hadn't really talked about what would happen after, but Nell couldn't help hoping.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: When Zach had first gone missing, they had all just assumed it was a momentary thing; scary, sure... But he would be back before they knew it. Years on, it was as though everybody you spoke to just assumed he was dead - all except the Harringtons. They would accept it, even now. And they had made it clear what they thought of Max and Nora - something that Max knew his girlfriend struggled with. "You can thank the changing room showers for that, I had to fight Sebastian for the only one that actually works. Paid off, then?" He grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "I felt pretty good, I can't lie - it was like we all just knew we had it. We didn't even need to speak about it, you know?"

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "With this lot? Absolutely. They'd flirt with a shovel if we put a wig and some lipstick on it." Maddie laughed, shaking her head. She'd loved seeing Addy's confidence growing recently; it was like a whole new person, except she still had the qualities that Maddie had always loved. "That's how the whole relationship thing works, right? Thank god we don't have to deal with that." She laughed, raising an eyebrow. Maddie's grin widened as Jonah spoke and she laughed, nodding her head. "Well, now you know - don't ever leave me again, you got close to losing me there." She said dramatically, pretending to faint. "God I know, it's fucking gross, isn't it? See what you made us do? I'll have an actual vodka and coke, please. Not this shit." She put the glass on the side with a grimace.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: Even when he'd been younger, Sebastian had never been one of those people who was teased about his sexuality - he was popular and sporty and he had a lot of friends, nobody had ever assumed anything... But he'd be lying if he said he hadn't questioned things, if he hadn't thought about his friends the way he was probably supposed to think about girls - but that was done, now. He was over it. And what had happened with Blake was just down to being far too wasted. Right? "Yeah, we fucking did." He laughed, taking the shot glass with a nod and knocking it back without so much as a grimace. Almost as though he had to prove himself, he picked up the next one and shotted it before he spoke. "Wonder which of the girls are down for celebrating tonight. Got your eye on anyone?" He smirked. He wasn't usually so brazen, so disrespectful to the girls - but he almost felt like he needed to prove something to Blake.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "Oh that's just a blatant lie. And they only say it to piss us off. They're 100% the most emotional out of us all." Thea mused, though she knew that Lana knew that. The two girls were pretty similar on that front. When Thea had Princeton picked she hadn't even thought about how far away from home it would be - or that she'd be in a different time zone to her family. It made it difficult to talk to them sometimes - especially on days like today. But now that she was here, she wouldn't change it for the world. She loved that she got to cheer with her friends and have the time of her life. "That's gotta be the truth. There's no other way to look at it." She laughed, nodding her head slightly. She quickly looked over to the boys before she nodded her head, "You're probably right. They're gonna be messy tonight."

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Having a crush on his best friends little sister was never a part of the plan. Sully knew how bad it looked. A sister was off limits. That was just how it was. And sometimes, he felt guilty about going there with Nell after Zach had gone missing. He didn't know if that feeling would ever actually go away, though. He just wanted to be happy with someone who he really loved. Sully had never had the best reputation with girls but he really did think that there could be some sort of future between the two of them. He really wanted there to be. "Oh shut up." Nico laughed, shaking his head. He didn't think that he was ever happier than when he was around her. She was like a breath of fresh air and he would always long for that. "I fucking hope so." He sighed, shaking his head. He was pretty confident but this was real. It would make or break his whole career. He needed things to go his way. "You'd have to come cheer at my games- if I do get on a team. I'd miss seeing you, otherwise."

TM NS ND JW BD AH: If Nora thought that there was anything that she could do to make the Harringtons not hate her, then she would do it. But she knew that the damage would done. They would never look at her the same way. And if the pain of losing Zach wasn't bad enough, she had to have the pain of losing them, too. Of knowing that she had caused pain to two people who had always been dear to her. "It absolutely did." She smiled as she reached up to push a little bit of his hair back into place for him. "I'm so proud of you." Before Zach had gone missing, she was pretty much like the others - she had never really given Max a second look. Now, she couldn't believe that she hadn't. He was so kind and funny and exactly the kind of person she enjoyed being around. "Oh, it's the best when that happens! When you all just know that you're in it together!"

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "Exactly. So we have nothing to worry about." Addison laughed. She was never about to forget the person that she was before she became pretty but she was definitely enjoying the new found attention - and the confidence that came along with it. "Yeah, thank god." She spoke in agreement, though she didn't know if she agreed with it. She wanted nothing more than to find a boyfriend ... not that there was anyone that she had her eye on right now. She had a lot of new attention but no-one that she really wanted to give it too. She couldn't help but laugh a little as she listened to Maddie. She wanted to go over to see Max but, as she realised he was with Nora, figured that it probably wasn't a good idea. "Can I have the same please, Jonah. Pretty please." She fluttered her eyelashes at him before she laughed.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "I can't help the fact that everyone wants my attention right now. Think you've gotta get used to sharing me." Jonah shrugged before he laughed. In all honesty, he would've rather been at the party with Maddie in the first place. And he was sure that she knew that. He enjoyed the attention that he got from the game but sometimes, the fan fare was a little too much for him. "I didn't make you do anything! You would've died of thirst if you waited an extra fucking minute?" He chuckled before he rolled his eyes. "Fine. But you owe me. Both of you." He muttered before he moved over to the bar to get the girls, and himself, another drink.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Blake had never really stopped to think about his sexuality. Ever since he was old enough, he had, had girlfriend after girlfriend. And he could never really work out why he didn't feel the way that the other guys did when they were talking about girls. He enjoyed being with them, sure. But he had never really had someone that he thought that he was in love with. Until he kissed Sebastian, he had thought it was just because he was still young. Until he kissed Sebastian, he hadn't questioned that he also might be into men. And a part of him wanted to get into the same state that he had been in the night that the two of them kissed ... so that they could do it again. He followed suit, downing one shot after the other. He couldn't help but do a double take as he heard the others question. He had been thinking about Sebastian and Sebastian was only thinking about the girls. He should've known. He looked around the room for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm gonna finally crack Lana. Surely she can't keep pretending she doesn't like me?"

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "I think even they know that." Lana laughed, shrugging her shoulders. She didn't think having emotions made you weak, but she definitely struggled to be around people that were super emotional all the time; Lana didn't like to feel weak, she didn't want to give other people an opportunity to see her vulnerable. She wished other people were like that; she saw a lot of her girls being taken advantage of and she always stepped in, whether they wanted her to or not. It was part of being their leader, she thought. "They're always messy. The amount of times I've had to call Sully because one of them is passed out on the doorstep is a fucking joke." Her words were harsh, but the smile on her face was fond - she'd look after the boys just like she'd look after her girls. "But if we're talking our lot - I'm going to go with Addy. She's on some kind of new streak these days."

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: Nell knew herself well enough to know that the guilt was never going to go away; but sometimes that made her angry. Why should her brother get so much say over her life, over who was in it, over who she loved - especially when he wasn't even around? She couldn't let herself think like that, though. It would eat her up. "I'm being serious. Actual tears." She grinned teasingly, shaking her head. "I know so. You're the quarterback, the best of the best. They're going to be fighting over you." She smiled proudly, raising an eyebrow. That had been her brother, once upon a time; destined for great things, the golden boy. She wondered what things would be like now, if he were here. A surprised smile spread across Nell's face as Nico spoke again and she nodded, reaching out to take his hand. "I'll be at every single one. I'll be the weird girl shouting too loudly in the stands - I can't be stepping on your new cheerleaders toes." She laughed.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "I'm so proud of you, too - you make it look so easy out there. Almost had me believing I could be doing a big ol' split jump if I tried hard enough." Max laughed jokingly, shrugging his shoulders. He'd never been great at taking compliments, he was pretty shy at heart and he never knew what to say, even though he was grateful - but he would always love complimenting Nora. He didn't think he'd ever run out of nice things to say about her. "That's exactly how it was. Just this... energy. And that last touchdown from Sully? Genius." He smiled, his eyes widening in excitement. "Anyway - I'm a terrible boyfriend, I haven't even gotten you a drink yet. What do you want?"

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Nothing at all." Maddie laughed, shrugging her shoulders. If she was honest, she never thought a lot about whether or not she was flirting with the guys - she liked a laugh and to joke around, so people often automatically assumed she was flirting, but she didn't mean to. She knew she wasn't as glossy as some of the other girls, as girly - but she also didn't really care. And it had never really gone against her. "Um, never - don't even joke about that again. I'm not having people stealing my number one bestie spot." She laughed, nudging him with a scowling expression. "I would, actually. So thanks for being so considerate." She grinned, raising an eyebrow. "We owe you! We're your slaves, Master Walker!" She called after him with a loud laugh.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: Sebastian's whole family were into football; his dad and his brothers were all Princeton men, they were all macho and hard and so he'd never really had a choice but to be exactly like them. And for the most part, he was - but he knew and he'd always known that there was no space for him to question who he was when it came to his sexuality. It wouldn't be accepted at home. Or even on the team, he thought. There was no point thinking, because it wouldn't amount to anything; that night with Blake had been the only time in his life he'd ever truly let his guard down, the only time he'd let himself think. He couldn't afford for it to happen again. "Oh yeah? Good luck with that. You'd have a better shot with the fucking Dean." He laughed jokingly, raising an eyebrow.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "They probably do." Thea nodded her head. She had always been someone who would mask how she felt with some kind of joke ...or by blowing up at someone for no real reason. "It must happen at least once a week." She nodded. She didn't hate it that much and she definitely wasn't about to stop anyone from having fun, though. "Oh yeah, i've seen that too. She's having fun, huh?" Thea would never stop the younger girl from doing something that she wanted to do but she would keep an eye on it. She had never been the girl who was the 'motherly' type but she felt a sense on responsibility for the younger girls on the cheer squad. She wanted to look out for them.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: If Nico thought that what he felt for Nell would just go away .. then he probably never would've gone there in the first place. Even with Zach being gone, he wanted to do what he knew his friend would want. That was why he was trying his hardest at the quarterback position now. But with Nell, he couldn't deny it. He had such strong feelings for her and he knew that they weren't just going to go away. "Well, it's an honour." He laughed, shaking his head. He loved his teammates like they were his own brothers. That was why it was so difficult being their leader, sometimes. He wanted to make sure that he was good enough for them. "As they should." He chuckled, trying to put on the air of cockiness that he had with almost everyone else. Nell had a way of getting under his skin, in the best kind of way. "You'll be the prettiest one there by a mile." He chuckled before he reached down to kiss her.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "I mean, i'm sure we can get your legs to work that way if you really want? All it takes is a little bit of practice!" Nora beamed before she laughed. She loved cheer. She had been well on her way to being head cheerleader ... before Zach went missing. It was like he had taken a little bit of her spirit with him and, while she still loved it, it wasn't the same anymore. Even cheering for Max didn't bring that old spark back. It was like that part of her had died with him. "You guys are really gonna miss him next year, huh?" She commented, raising an eyebrow. She couldn't believe that they were coming up on their final year. She didn't know how she would cope without getting to see her girls every single morning. "Oh, so bad." Nora laughed, shaking her head. "Can I have a glass of white wine, please?"

TM NS ND JW BD AH: While Addison was probably a little more serious than Maddie, she wasn't really all that serious with her flirting. It was a bit of fun, she thought. She never let herself get too deep. If she was honest, she had seen love hurt people too much to really let her guard down with someone. She wanted that fairytale romance but she just didn't think anyone around her was capable of something like that. She glanced down at her phone and quickly sent a text to Max, 'You were great today! Congrats on the win. If you come see me soon, i'll convince someone to buy us shots xx'. She put her phone back away and tuned back into Maddie, "Oh yeah, we're eternally in your debt!"

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "Number one bestie spot? I'm honoured. Thought that Addy would've taken that spot already." Jonah smiled. He loved Maddie. He had never really had a friend like her before but they always ended up having the most fun together. "Besides, thought you'd be proud that I was fitting in with the other lads." He smirked. "Master Walker? I like that. Sounds like a Jedi." Jonah commented before he turned from his friend to order them all their drinks. he was just glad that he wasn't questioned about who the drinks were for. He didn't have an answer and he knew that he was a terrible liar.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: If Blake thought about it for too long, he thought that it would probably hurt his head a little too much. Not thinking about the kiss, about how it made him feel was easier. Going along with what everyone expected of him was so much easier. And it wasn't like Sebastian seemed in a hurry to talk about what had happened between them. If he didn't want to think about it then Blake thought it could stay in the past. He didn't think that it needed to be brought up any time soon. "I mean, she's hot too. For an older lady." Blake laughed, shrugging his shoulders. "What about you? Whose the poor victim?"

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: People had always assumed that Lana was an emotional person, because she spoke her mind - but actually, she thought it was probably the opposite. She didn't like people seeing her riled, seeing her sweat - she could stay calm even as she said the most cutting thing possible and yet people still wanted to pin her with the badge of being a typical, emotional woman. It made her angry. "She's definitely having fun." She smirked, nodding her head. She was happy for the younger girl, she could see how things had changed for her recently - but that didn't mean she wasn't going to be keeping an eye on her. "Things have really fuckin' changed around here, huh? I remember when she was glued to Max's side."

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: Growing up, Zach had been Nell's literal hero - she'd done everything he said, wanted nothing more than to be by his side constantly and part of that had stuck once she'd grown up. Going against what Zach said just wasn't in her nature, but when that had started to really affect her life... part of her had almost resented him for it. He'd been overprotective about any guys around her, but especially Sully. She loved Nico, she wanted to be with him and he wanted to be with her - what was so bad about that? "You kind of have to say that, but I'll take it anyway." She laughed, leaning up so that she could kiss him back, a smile on her face. It was nice to know that she wasn't the only one thinking about life after college, about what would happen when they lived in different cities, when he was off living his life.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "I think a lot of practise is probably the better term to use there - but if I could trust anybody to make it happen, it would be you." Max grinned, shaking his head with a chuckle. As much as he loved football - and he did, it had been his first taste of brotherhood when he was a kid and that had carried him through a lot in his life - he had never loved it the way Zach had seemed to. He'd never lived and breathed it, like the other. Sometimes, he wondered if Nora had liked that more. "Of course - he's a great captain. I dunno who the hell is gonna take over." He raised an eyebrow. He had never wanted that for himself; he didn't have it in him to lead all of those boys, he'd much rather follow along. "Of course, my love." He smiled, leaning down to press a quick kiss to her forehead before he walked over to the bar and ordered both of their drinks.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: *continued* As his phone beeped, he looked down quickly and chuckled, beckoning his friend over. "Let's cut out the middle man - I'll get the shots." He laughed.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Hey, I said I was in your number one bestie spot - I didn't say you were in mine." Maddie laughed loudly, shrugging her shoulders. The girls smile made it obvious she was joking; she loved every single member of the squad, but she'd always been more at home with boys and Jonah was absolutely her best friend in the world. He had been since they'd met at a party in her freshman year; he'd never managed to get rid of her since. "I am proud, you've been taking tips from me, right?" She grinned, nudging him gently. She often joked that they'd fit in better if they were in each others spots. "I was thinking more like slave driver, but whatever - you can be a Jedi, if you want." She laughed, taking the drink gratefully as it was passed to her.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "The Dean? Fucking hell, mate - raise those standards." Sebastian laughed, shaking his head. He raised an eyebrow at the others question, scanning the room quickly - he didn't have an automatic answer. It was obvious that the girls on the squad were gorgeous, each in their own way... But he just didn't think about them like that. As much as he wanted to. "Maybe Addy. She's looking better and better every day." He smirked, shrugging his shoulders. It was rare that Sebastian would go home alone after a party, because he didn't want anybody to think anything - he'd much rather them think he was a fuckboy, somebody who couldn't hold down a relationship.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: As Zach approached the Princeton events room, he took in a sharp breath - it had been almost two years since he'd been here, since he'd seen these people... And until around twenty four hours ago, he hadn't thought he'd ever see it again. His life had turned upside down, he barely remembered who he was, but although his parents had begged him to go home and recover, to wait for people to visit him - he'd refused. His fiance was in there. His baby sister. His best friend. He wanted to see them; and if he was honest, he'd always had a flair for the dramatics. He'd walked out of his parents house, jumped in an Uber and gone straight to the football house - only to realise what night it was. The big game. Homecoming. He'd come straight here and now he was pushing open the big doors, a confident smirk on his face as he looked around, raising an eyebrow. Everything and nothing had changed all at once and Zach said nothing, just stood and waited for somebody to notice that he was there.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Although she was one of the older girls now, Thea had never really felt too much of a protective nature around the younger girls. She thought that it was natural to mess up, to make mistakes. And she thought that it was important that she made them. She was there for the fun stuff though- the parties and the drama. Definitely the gossip. She just didn't tend to stick around too much when they needed advice. "Yeah, well, times change, huh?" She raised an eyebrow. If Thea had, had to put money on how things were going to go, she'd never have guessed any of this. She was distracted, then, the doors opening. "Fucking hell. Lana, look." Thea hissed, nodding to where Zach stood. She half thought that she was seeing things, that someone had put something in her drink and she was hallucinating. But as she realised that more and more people were turning to look at him, she knew that it was really happening.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "Doesn't mean I don't mean it." Sully commented as he shrugged his shoulders. He had waited a long time for something to happen between he and Nell. He loved Zach. He was his best friend and he understood why the other might be a little hesitant about him dating his little sister. But he didn't think it was completely fair. Nico wanted to do everything that he could to prove him wrong. He barely even registered the beginnings of the rumble in the hall as people started to register Zach. He was too focused on Nell. But once he tuned into it and turned to see what everyone else was looking at, he automatically took a step back from his girlfriend. "Nell..." He sighed, nodding to where her brother now stood. He searched her face to see if she had any idea that this was happening, that he was back.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Nora didn't pay too much attention to the voices around her, to the commotion that was starting up ... until she realised that people were also turning to look at her and her heart dropped. That probably meant one thing - that they had found Zachs body. She had been so convinced that he had died that she it took her another few moments to register that the man stood in the doors - the thin and frail looking man was the man that she had once loved. "Oh my god. [I]Zach?![/I]" Nora whispered, tears already starting to well. How could he be stood there? How could he be alive and no-one tell her? She couldn't believe it. And without really thinking about it - not thinking about where she was, about how much things had changed, about Max - she ran across the room to her once fiancee - her current fiancee? She wrapped her arms around him, tears in full flow. "Oh my god." She cried as she hugged him tightly. She had dreamed about this moment time and time again but never had she thought that it was actually going to happen.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Addison had pretty much tuned out of the conversation between Maddie and Jonah. She liked the two of them a lot but sometimes, when they were together, she found it hard to follow along. It was like the two of them existed in their own sphere and no-one else existed. She wondered what it was like to have a person like that in your life. She was quickly pulled out of her thoughts, though, when she heard Maxs voice. "Oh, amazing." She laughed as she moved over to him. "It has to be tequila though, right?" She raised an eyebrow. Like everyone, she was quickly distracted by the whispering and pointing and turned to see what the fuss was all about. Just in time to see Nora embrace Zach. She looked at the couple reuniting and then back up at Max. She slipped her hand into his, squeezing gently, not really knowing what to say.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "Oh ouch. Who said you're my number one again? Or is that just how you enjoy it in Maddie world?" Jonah joked along with her. He had always loved spending time with Maddie. She got him out of his own head. She got him to joke around and not overthink about everything. And he felt like he needed someone like that in his life. "Maybe we won't have to swap teams soon." He laughing, nudging Maddie. Jonah knew that he didn't seem like the perfect fit for football but his parents had thought that it was the only way to go and he was good - so why wouldn't he love it? He was about to respond to Maddie when he spotted Zach out of the corner of his eye. "Shit - am I seeing a ghost?"

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "You're the one who put the idea in my head." Blake laughed, shrugging his shoulders. He couldn't help but wonder who it was that Sebastian would think about - and he wondered if the thought would make him feel a little jealous. He wasn't the jealous type. If his girlfriends wanted to be with someone other than him, than he thought that it was their loss. Something about how he felt for Sebastian - whatever it was - made him feel strange to hear him talk about others people. "Addy?" He asked, glancing over to the younger girl before he shrugged his shoulders, "She'd be up for it. Desperate enough." He chuckled, nudging his friend. His laugh stopped though, as he caught a glimpse of a familiar face. His breath caught in the back of his throat as he took in the sight of Zach.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Tell me about it." Lana chuckled, nodding her head. She wasn't a particularly sentimental person, but the fact that this was her last year at Princeton was really starting to dawn on her recently; she was going to have to say goodbye to all of these girls, the people that had become her family over the last three years. How did anybody do that? "What?" She laughed at the dramatic note in Thea's voice, distracted by fixing herself another drink - but as she turned around, she saw exactly what the other was referring to. Her mouth fell open, eyes wide as she looked at the other people in the room, trying to make sure this was happening. "What the fuck..." She whispered, her head shaking slowly. They had all come to think that Zach was dead, that they were never going to see him again - so how was he standing here, in the entrance of their homecoming dance?

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "I believe you." Nell laughed softly, nodding her head - and she did. It was totally new to her, being able to trust a boy so much that she believed every word he was saying, because with past boyfriends... they'd been typical teenage boys, she'd never known if they were coming or going, but it wasn't like that with Nico. He let her know how much he loved her every day. "Hm?" She smiled as he spoke her name, not understanding at first that he was trying to draw her attention to something - but as she turned to look, it felt like the bottom of her world had been pulled out from underneath her. Her legs buckled and the glass she was holding slipped from her fingers, smashing noisily on the floor. Wide eyed and pale as snow, Nell looked at her brother as though a ghost had just entered the room, hands coming up shakily to cover her mouth. Although her parents never had, Nell had almost forced herself to believe that Zach was dead - it was easier than waiting for him every single day. But here he was. "How?" She whispered, shaking her head.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: Zach had no idea what everybody thought had happened to him; his past twenty four hours had been a blur of plane journeys, microphones and cameras being shoved in his face, his parents asking him endless questions... But he'd only been sure of one thing. He needed to see the three people most important to him. Now. Everything else could come later - and he was sure it would. He hadn't even let himself think about anything that had happened to him, not yet. As people began to notice him, Zach's eyes sought only one person in the crowd - and soon enough she was running towards him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, his lips brushing her hair as he basked in her familiar scent. "Hi, baby." He whispered to his fiance, not letting his grip weaken whatsoever. It hadn't occurred to him for a second that Nora hadn't waited, that any part of her life had moved on.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: There was a happy smile on Max's face as Addison made her way over and he nodded as she spoke, laughing quietly. "Naturally. I don't trust you on Sambuca anymore." He teased, nudging her gently. He hadn't even out a "please can we have --" before the room went completely silent and he turned to see what was happening, just in time to see Nora racing across the room tearfully and throwing herself into the arms of... Oh. Zachary Harrington. Max had always feared this might happen; he'd always known that if he and Zach had been a choice for Nora to make, it would've been Zach every time. And now he was back. He gulped thickly, squeezing Addy's hand gratefully. He wasn't sure what else he was supposed to do.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Uh-huh, that's the first rule of Maddie world. Everything is as I want it. I thought you knew that already? Or do I have to take away your seasonal pass?" Maddie laughed, pretending (and failing) to be annoyed with him for just a second. "Why's everybody going so fucking quiet?" She laughed, her voice cutting out across the silence as the whole room seemed to turn towards the entrance - and as Maddie followed them, she understood why. "Holy fucking shit..." She whispered, looking from Zach and back up to Jonah. "Holy shit."

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Yeah well, I hope you and the Dean have a very fucking nice night together. Just be careful she doesn't break a hip." Sebastian laughed, shaking his head. He didn't think he and Blake had had a conversation like this since the kiss, one that wasn't completely uncomfortable and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying it. He snorted as the other spoke about Addy, nodding his head. "My thoughts exactly." He shrugged. They'd all noticed how Addison had changed recently - and how much more interested she seemed in getting the boys attention. The thought was quickly wiped from his head as he Zach walk through the door, though and he felt his jaw slacken, his eyes widen slightly. "What the fuck?" He whispered, seeing his old friend standing there like he'd never been away.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Thea couldn't believe that this was happening. A part of her thought that it might be some kind of mass hallucination, that Zach wasn't actually there. It was easier to believe that, then the actual truth. That Zach Harrington had actually come back from the dead. As the glass broke, it was like she had been snapped out of a trance. Thea moved and quickly grabbed a hold of Nell, gripping her elbows in an attempt to steady the other girl. She could only imagine what a shock this would be and she couldn't believe that no-one had warned her. "You're okay." She whispered. Though that was all that she could really say. She had no idea how this was happening, how Zach was stood there. This felt like some kind of crazy dream.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Sully could barely take in the girl beside him. His eyes were locked on Zach. And there were a million different thoughts running through his head all at once - how was this happening? How was Zach still alive? How was he back? What did this mean for he and Nell? He couldn't get a single one straight enough to think about them properly, logically. So, instead, he turned to the bar and ordered himself another drink. He downed it almost as soon as it was placed into his hand and ordered another. He needed something to clear his mind.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: His voice sent a shiver down Noras spine. She had never forgotten it but it was different to hear it again. To hear the pet name that he had always used for her. "Is this really happening?" She asked, pulling back only slightly so that she could look up at him. Her hand moved from around him to place gently on his cheek. "Are you really here?" Her heart was thumping in her chest and she was sure that he could hear it. The man that she was going to marry was here. He was alive after two years of being missing. She had half a mind to pinch herself. But she could smell his all all too familiar scent, she could feel him beneath her fingertips. She could look at him and see him. He had been alive this entire time. And that thought only made her cry harder. "You're alive." Her voice cracked as she buried her head in his chest. She couldn't think about anything else. All she could think about was the fact that he was here. Her wish had come true.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Addison hated the look that was on Maxs face. It looked like he was already giving up. And she didn't think that he should. Sure, Zach had been there first but Max had been the person who was there for some of the hardest times of Noras life. She didn't think that he needed to give up so easily. "We definitely need some shots please. Tequila." She spoke to the barman, hoping he wouldn't put up a fuss. She looked back up at Max, still not really sure what to say. "It's just the shock." She shrugged. "It doesn't mean anything." She said, quietly. She didn't want anyone else to hear her. "It doesn't mean anything, okay?" She repeated. Though she didn't know if she believed that.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "Hey, you'd have to take that season pass out of my cold, dead fingers." Jonah chuckled. It didn't last long. Not as the whole atmosphere in the place changed. Zach always did like an entrance but this was crazy, even for him, Jonah thought. He looked around the room for a moment, taking in everyone elses face and he saw the same kind of shock that he was feeling, echoed in each of them. "So i'm not seeing a ghost then." He sighed. He was relieved, of course he was, that his friend was home and he was safe but he didn't think that any of them would've ever thought that this would happen.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Since the night that they had kissed, Blake had flip flopped about wanting to talk to Sebastian about it and not. On one hand, he thought that it would do them good to get it all out in the open. To be able to laugh it off as some kind of stupid thing that they had done whilst they were drinking. But on the other hand, he was worried that it wouldn't be that at all. He worried that his friend might admit that he had some kind of feelings for him and then Blake would be forced to admit the same. He definitely wasn't close to being ready for that. This was better. Trying to push past it and ignore that it had ever happened was better. "And we thought tonight couldn't get better, huh?"

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: Like Thea, as soon as the glass shattered, Lana was awoken from the trance of Zach being back and she was in captain mode - because there was going to be some serious damage control here and she wasn't sure who was going to need it the most. Nora was already halfway across the room and she wasn't going to get involved in that reunion, so she followed her friend over to Nell and took the other side, swiping the broken glass under a table with her heel. Watching Sully walk over to the bar, she left Nell in Thea's capable hands and made her way over, placing a hand gently on his back. "You have to go over there, Sul. You have to." She told him quietly, a soft sigh escaping her mouth. She knew what this meant for him, of course - but as a captain and a best friend, she thought it was entirely his business to get over there as quickly as he could.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: Nell wasn't sure if she was about to scream, burst into tears or throw up, but she just wished she could react in some way - she felt stuck, frozen, as though a spell had been cast on her, cursing her to watch everything unfold and do nothing about it. Her brother was here. Her big brother, her hero, the man who'd looked after her for her whole life was alive, he was here in the room. He'd come back. Zach was alive. Zach was in the room. Sully had stepped away from her as soon as he'd seen him. These were the thoughts running through her head and she was so grateful for Thea holding her up, because she was sure she would've fallen if she wasn't. She took in a shaky breath, standing up a little straighter and squeezing the girls arm gratefully as she took a few shaky steps forward. She needed to see her brother. Regardless of anything else. She needed him.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "I'm here, Nora. I'm here." Zach whispered softly, a tiny chuckle falling from his mouth in spite of everything that was happening. "You look so beautiful." He told her, shaking his head. In his head, nothing had changed in the near two years he'd been gone; everything was the same. He was going to walk back into his old life. Nora standing here, looking as beautiful as ever, falling into his arms... It was proof of that. "I was always going to come back to you, Nora. I told myself that every day." He told her - and he meant it. He stroked her hair softly as she cried into him, looking around the room for the next person he needed to see - his little sister. "Nelly." He called out to her, a smile breaking across his face as he caught sight of her.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: It wasn't so much that Max was giving up, as he was acknowledging that he was stuck between a rock and a hard place - he was in limbo right now, only able to watch his girlfriend greet the self confessed love of her life and not react. Because there was no appropriate reaction for this situation. There was no handbook for what to do when the presumed dead fiance of your girlfriend turned up. "Yeah, I know..." He whispered back to Addison numbly, although he really didn't. Of course, he was glad Zach wasn't dead - he wasn't a terrible person, he wouldn't wish death upon anybody. But selfishly, he couldn't help thinking about what this meant for him and his relationship.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Nope. No ghosts." Maddie whispered, wide eyes still fixed on Zach, who now had his arms wrapped around Nora. "Unless we're both seeing the same one?" She whispered, an attempt to crack a joke - but even Maddie wasn't smiling this time. It was a good thing that Zach was alive, there was no doubt about that... But she couldn't help thinking about how much had changed since Zach had gone missing. How almost everybody here was a different person now. How Nora had stopped wearing her engagement ring about six months ago. "What the everloving fuck is going on here?" She muttered, shaking her head. How was this the first they were hearing about him even being alive, never mind being in their very presence?

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Yeah... Silly fucking us..." Sebastian muttered, although he couldn't tear his eyes away from Zach stood in the entrance. Zach had been one of his best friends, before the plane crash; Zach, Sully and some of the other boys that were now seniors... Now it felt as though he was looking at a stranger and Sebastian couldn't help feeling guilty for that. "Fucking hell... We should wait, right? We don't storm him right now?" Because that was what he wanted to do; but he knew there were people who took priority over them. Over the team, even. The three most important people in Zach's life, as he'd always said loudly and proudly.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Thea nodded her head slightly as Nell squeezed her arm. She quickly let go of her, knowing that she needed to do the rest of it on her own. She could only imagine how the other girl was feeling. She was an only child so she didn't know the true love of a sibling but she could imagine. Thea had always gotten along with Zach but they had never really been super close she felt like she had the wind knocked out of her. She could imagine that it was that plus some what the likes of Nora, Nell and Sully were feeling. She looked over her shoulder, to Lana and Nico, just checking that the two of them were good too. She had no idea what Sully was going to do but she hoped that it was what the situation needed. They shouldn't think about themselves. This was about Zach and giving him what he needed. Surely the other understood that too.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Sully shook his head a little as Lana spoke. He knew that she was right, though. His best friend was back. And while this was an overwhelmingly happy moment, it was tinges with a hint of sadness, too. Because he was going to lose the woman that he loved. He was trying to not let that feeling encroach too much. He sighed, "Fuck." He hissed before he started to walk over to his friend. He kept back a little, though. He didn't want to interrupt whilst he greeted his sister, while he and Nora had their moment. He figured that Zach would find him when Zach wanted him.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "This is -- how?" Nora whispered. She had often thought about what might had happened to Zach out there. After the plane crash. She had thought about him surviving - like in one of those survival films. She had pictured him with the long beard and the sun kissed skin. But as time had gone on, she had lost the hope that they'd ever find him, that he had ever survived the plane crash. Nora shook her head slightly as the compliment. She thought that, that was the last thing they needed to think about in that moment. If she had been thinking straight, she would've known to think about Max and she would've felt so guilty - for both men. But she couldn't even bring herself to think about anything else. It was like the shock of the whole situation made her think one thought. And that one thought was Zach. She didn't let go of him as he looked to his sister. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his waist and moved to his side, so that she could look at the other girl too. A smile on her face.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Addison had no idea how she would react if she was in Max's place and she certainly didn't envy him. She didn't think that there was a way for him to react without looking bad in some way or another and she hated that. She hated that there were people who were just openly staring at him. Others were glancing out of the corner of their eye, trying not to make it obvious. "Do you want to get out of here? We don't need to stay." She sighed. She wished that she could do more to help. Addy had always looked up to Nora. She thought that the other girl was simply amazing. She always seemed to have her shit together. But in this moment, Addy struggled to think about how this situation was for her. She just couldn't believe that she would do Max as dirty as she was.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "Hey, maybe we are." Jonah shrugged, half attempting to go along with the joke. But he knew that it wasn't the time and his heart wasn't really in it. There had been a while - a good six months at least - where they had all really thought that they would be able to find Zach again. They had thought that he was alive and that they'd find him again soon. That hope had quickly dwindled though, until it was only the Harringtons who had thought that he was still alive. He couldn't believe that they had been right. And just what Zach had walked in on. How much things had changed in the last two years. "Do you have your phone? The boys made me leave mine in the locker room. Wanted to just celebrate tonight." He shrugged. It wasn't uncommon for them to do that. He wished that someone had, had it though, so that they could at least have had a heads up.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Blake shook his head a little. The team were a family and when they had lost Zach, it had shook them completely. He'd always been like the big brother. The most stable one there and the person that everyone had looked up too - he certainly had. The man in front of them now looked like half the man that he had been but he was certainly the same person. He chuckled a little as Sebastian spoke and nodded his head, "Yeah, we should wait." He nodded. He didn't even think about everyone else - about how different things were now. He was just so excited about the fact his friend was here. He was hopping from foot to foot as they waited, "Fuck, how long is enough though?"

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: Later, Nell knew she'd seek Thea out and thank her for not letting her tumble to the ground in front of everybody she knew - but right now, she was squarely focused on her big brother and each step felt as though she was crossing oceans. Her expression hadn't changed at all from the one of shock that had taken over when she'd first caught sight of him, but as she heard her brothers oh-so-familar voice calling out her name and fell into his arms, she couldn't help bursting into tears. "How are you here?" She whispered tearfully into his chest, her own chest wracking with sobs. "I thought you -- I thought I was never going to see you again."

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Fuck." Lana agreed softly, nodding her head. "I know." She knew exactly what was going on in Sully's head, because she knew it would be exactly what she was thinking too - this was the happiest moment most of them would ever experience. Their friend was alive, the impossible had happened, somebody they all loved a lot was back from the dead. But this also meant the death of other things. Other important things, that had kept them going through the hardest times. And now, the people closest to Zach were going to have to smile through it and bear the pain, or risk pushing him away at the most vulnerable of times. Lana didn't have a clue what she would do - and if she was honest, she was glad it wasn't her decision to make. She folded her arms as Sully walked forward, curiously watching the exchanges without being able to help herself. This, she thought, was beyond all of their wildest dreams.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Later." Zach promised quietly, shaking his head. "I promise I will tell you everything later. Let me just focus on the fact that I can finally fucking see your face again." He told her softly, shaking his head. He didn't let go of Nora, keeping one arm firmly around her as the other wrapped around his little sister, drawing her to his chest and resting his chin on top of her head protectively. "Never, Nelly. I'll always come back for you. Both of you." He whispered. He knew that at some point, he was going to have to explain where he'd been - he was going to have to explain everything, every horrible detail. But even now, he was dying to just be the person he'd missed - Zach Harrington, quarterback, fiance, big brother, best friend, teammate. He didn't want to be Zach Harrington, missing man. Not right now.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Maybe..." Maddie muttered softly, although it was more just to have something to say than anything else. The cheer squad and the football team were one big family, they all knew that, but right now Maddie still felt as though they shouldn't be here. As though Zach should have a private reunion... but then again, he'd come here. So maybe this was what he wanted. She shook her head as she heard Jonah, sighing ruefully. "Nope, Lana got us to leave ours in the house - same reason." It wasn't rare for them to have phone-less nights and usually they were all glad of them, but tonight she wished they did.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: Sebastian nodded, glad that he and Blake were on the same page; it was the team mentality to rush straight over to their brother and show him the love, demand every last detail, but this was different. Nora, Nell and Nico were his family - they deserved to get their reunion before he and the rest of the boys did. "I guess until the big three are done?" He shrugged, raising an eyebrow. "He looks skinny, right? He looks fucking skinny." He sighed. He was so happy to see him, but so worried about where he'd been.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: While Thea was the first person who like to gossip, she wished that this reunion had been in private. She didn't think that this was for any of them to see. But she also couldn't look away. She should've known that Zach would've done something like this, though. He would've known that none of them had their phones. It wasn't uncommon on a night like tonight for them to leave their phones behind and enjoy being together. They took all of their photos at the house before they left. He wanted it all to be like this and she almost respected him more for it. It showed that he hadn't changed too much in the last couple years - at least that was one thing, anyway. She couldn't help but wonder how Nora would break the news to him about Max or how Sully and Nell would tell him that they were together but she was pretty sure that, that wasn't something which they would get to see.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Nico watched as the siblings reunited and he resisted every urge not to reach for Nell, to comfort her as she cried. He really wanted too. He was in love with her. He wanted to make sure that she was okay, that she knew that he was there. But he couldn't. He didn't want to ruin the moment that they were all having with Zach. Because he knew that he and his friend would end up in some sort of stupid argument if the other knew. It was better just to pretend like nothing had happened - at least for right now. After a little while of it just being the three of them, Nico closed the gap between he and his friend and clapped him on the back gently. "You're a sight for sore eyes, man." Nico muttered. He laughed a little before he wrapped his arms around the girls, enveloping all four of them into a hug. Everyone had felt the loss of Zach but - besides the Harrington parents - it had his the three of them the most. They needed this moment , with Zach.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: "Later." Nora nodded. She didn't have any intention of leaving Zach's side any time soon. There was a fleeting thought of what the Harringtons would think about her once they saw her, what they might say. And that made her snap back to reality. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for Max. That guilty feeling that she had felt when she had started to move on was back but worse this time. Because she felt the guilt for moving on, for finding someone new but she also felt the guilt the Max had to see that reunion, that she hadn't even thought about him. As her eyes found him, Nora didn't know what to do. She didn't want to leave Zach. She wanted to stay with him for a little while and to figure out everything that had happened. She wanted to be with him because she was sure that he was going to need that familiarity. But she knew that she needed to talk to Max too. "Talk later?" She mouthed to him as she shrugged. She had no idea when later would be - probably after she had explained everything to Zach - but she knew that she needed to talk to him. She needed to explain. Though Nora had no idea what she was going to do. She tried to push that thought away for now and quickly turned her attention back to Zach. This was all that was important right now.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Jonah could feel the anticipation in the room. Everyone wanted to go and see Zach but they all knew that they needed to wait. At least until he had seen the people closest to him first. "What a night for it." Jonah sighed, shaking his head. He felt like he had been knocked for six so he couldn't imagine how the three people closest to Zach would be feeling right now - especially with how much things changed for them now. He didn't know if he'd be able to process something like that in this kind of setting. "This is amazing though, right?" He asked - though it wasn't really a question. "I mean, he - He's back. He's alive. After so long. He's okay. What are the odds of that happening?"

TM NS ND JW BD AH: It was unusual for the team to hold back, to think about things before they did them. They were built on impulsivity. But Blake thought that they all knew that they couldn't rush this - even if they wanted too. He thought that it might be a little overwhelming. Though, if that was something Zach was worried about then he wouldn't be here. "I guess so. They better hurry up." He laughed. He knew not to rush it but he also wanted to see his friend, to show him that they had all missed him too. "Are you fucking surprised?" Blake questioned, "God knows where he's been but it's not gonna be somewhere good, is it?"

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: When something like this happened, Lana's first thought was to try and help - especially when it came down to the squad, to her girls. But right now, she just felt helpless; there was nothing she could do to make this any easier, to take away the hurt and the shock and whatever else. She just had to stand and watch. She sighed and stood for a couple more seconds, before she made her way back over to Thea - somebody she knew was usually on the same page as her. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She whispered, raising an eyebrow. Because she too couldn't stop thinking about Max, about Nell and Sully being together, about all of these things that Zach was yet to find out about... and that if Zach was the same as he'd always been, then they had one hell of a storm coming.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: It went against every instinct Nell had not to reach out to Nico for comfort, as she had done every time she'd needed to in the past year; just as it was against every instinct she had not to comfort him, when she knew how much this would've shaken up his whole world. But now wasn't the time; and a part of her, a selfish part, wondered if it would ever be? If he would ever risk upsetting his best friend, because of this? She stayed in her brothers arms, still crying quietly, although she felt a wave of comfort washing over her as Sully joined the hug and she felt his arm brushing against her skin, feeling herself breathe easier even now. "I can't believe you're here." She whispered softly.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: Holding the two girls most important to him, Zach knew exactly why he'd come here tonight; why he hadn't wanted to give them any pre-warning, to sit at home while they partied without him and thought about what they were going to say. He'd wanted to see them as though nothing had changed, he'd needed the affirmation, after being away for so, so long. He chuckled as he saw Sully coming over, beckoning for his friend to join the hug. "I could say the same, man. Fucking missed you." He muttered, nodding his head. These three had been his family for so very long; the Harrington's gave he and Nell a lot in the way of money, they cared in their own way... But they had never been very loving. It was beyond their capabilities. These three were his true family.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: "Tell me about it." Maddie nodded her head, resting against Jonah almost subconsciously. She really couldn't imagine how Nora or Nell felt, Sully too - because even to her, this felt as though something that was just never going to happen. After the initial few months, she, like everybody else, had given up hope. Had just pretty much thought that Zach was gone and it was a terrible, tragic accident. But here he was. "Of course it is! It's a fucking miracle." She smiled, nodding her head. "Like, zero. It's insane. But it's good. It's so good." She smiled. She just couldn't even imagine how things were going to be from now on.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: Max couldn't take his eyes off Nora, even though it was like a stab to the heart every time he saw the way she looked up at Zach - even now, the look of love between them was obvious and it would be impossible for him not to see it. That was how he caught her looking over at him, though and with her words came a tiny little sprout of hope. He nodded his head, giving her a reassuring smile. "Of course." He mouthed back. He was never going to make her feel bad for this... But he also couldn't help feeling as though he was being cut in two by watching it.

ZH LK SW MK NH MG: Sebastian chuckled, nodding his head. "Yeah, they better." Although he thought they both knew they weren't going to interrupt a reunion of this magnitude, regardless of how much they wanted to. "Good point." He muttered. He'd already fallen into the trap of being overly optimistic, of assuming that because Zach was alive, he was okay - he'd been fine all this time. But he realised now that if it had taken him this long to come back to them, it was for a reason. "Poor fucking Zach..." He sighed, shaking his head.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Thea had no idea how things were going to go now that Zach was back but she knew that it was going to rock both teams to the core. She raised an eyebrow as she heard Lanas voice. "About what a shit show this is gonna be? Yeah. I am." Thea nodded. They all knew Zach well enough to know that as soon as he found out everything that had happened whilst he was away, it wasn't going to go down well. She didn't know what he expected, though. It had been years since Zach had gone missing. Did he expect them all to live in mourning for forever? A part of her, knowing him like she did, thought that he probably would. Having someone like Lana around, who understood what she was thinking without even saying it, was always a bonus. She liked knowing that there was always someone who was going to be on the same page.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Being this close to Nell and not being able to be with her felt like Sullys own personal sense of hell. His heart yearned for her. She was the girl of his dreams, the person who he wanted to spend his life with. They would talk about what their future together would look like ... And now it felt like all of that had gone up in smoke. Because even if he and Nell did decide to stay together now that Zach was back, he knew his best friend. He knew that he was never going to be happy about something like this. But he also knew that they couldn't and shouldn't think about it right now. Their focus needed to be Zach. "Yeah, yeah. Same. I missed you too." He nodded. Before he had gone missing, there wasn't a day that the two boys wouldn't see each other. "Fuck, this is insane." He laughed, shaking his head as he pulled back from the hug. There was a smile on his face as he was looking at his friend, "You look good, man. Y'know, for someone who has been dead for the last two years." He was trying to joke, to break the strange sort of tension.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: When she had seen Zach standing there, Nora had been completely over taken with the happiness. He was back and he was alive and she was holding him so close to her. She didn't really ever want to let him go again. Nora had been in love with Zach for most of her life. He had been her entire world and when he had disappeared, she had felt completely lost for a long time. If it wasn't for the cheer girls - and her own family - she was sure that she would've drifted away with him. She would've given anything to be with him again. But after a little while - and some tough talks from some of the girls - she knew that she needed to at least try and move on with her life. She had never expected to fall in love with Max. She didn't think that anyone who hadn't gone through loss would understand how she might be feeling. Because she was still so in love with Zach but a part of her heart was owned by Max, too. She had grown used to the idea that her heart would always be torn in two - with the man that she lost having the other halve. She had no idea what to do now that he was back. "I'm so sorry." She mouthed. Because she already felt so guilty. She hadn't even thought about Max for so long. She had just been so overwhelmed with the feeling of pure elation. She couldn't help but imagine how watching the couple reunite would feel for Max.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: As Maddie rested against him, Jonah wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her a little closer to him. This felt completely crazy - even for him. Zach was like family to him. He'd been like a brother. But he knew that it wasn't the same for Nell, Nora or Sully. He didn't know what he would've done if he was in their shoes. "It is." He nodded. "It's crazy. The best kind." Jonah had always been someone who liked to have things in his control. His parents always joked about him being a little bit of a control freak. And this situation was not something that any of them could control. It was going to be a crazy few months while they all adjusted to having Zach back in their lives and he was feeling pretty anxious about it. "Should we get him a drink? Do you think there's anything we can do?"

TM NS ND JW BD AH: Addison wished there was something more that she could do for Max. She knew that it wasn't fair to get mad at Nora or Zach for the situation. This was a miracle and she was so, so happy that he was okay. She just couldn't help but feel terrible for her best friend. She thought that he deserved more than to find himself in this kind of situation. "You don't have to stay here, Max." She whispered up to him. She was pretty sure that he would, though. If she was in his position, she would probably stay too. She wouldn't want to miss anything that was going to happen between the two of them.

TM NS ND JW BD AH: While Blake and Sebastian were joking around, he knew that it was important for the three of them to get this proper reunion with Zach. He thought that this was so typical of Zach, though. He was going to be the centre of attention, no matter what. And this was all that so many of them had wanted for such a long time. Their friend was home and, other than looking a bit thin, he thought that he looked pretty good. "Fucking hell, yeah." Blake nodded. His imagination was running wild, thinking about all of the things that might have happened to their friend. "Shit - Max too." He huffed as he glanced over to his other friend and then back to the reunion, "This is fucking chaos."

#chatzy

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xoteajays · 1 year

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for the ocs game: since i am currently obsessed w developing theo i would looovee to know how you would see the dynamic between flora (since they probably wouldn't get along at all) and her, especially since they both end up clashing w nancy (even though theo is. very similar to nancy).

theo is veryy much the snobby rich girl type. she's callous and honestly unlikable. also moved to hawkins before freshman year and was quickly taken in by the steve-carol-tommy friend group. but by s1 she's thrown out of the friend group bc she cheated on steve (but her brother stays friends w them and it gets very complicated) . it's through her family dynamics that you realize oh. there's a reason she's like this.

so. she's brenner's daughter, but was raised pretty much like any other normal kid. she has very complicated relationships with both her parents. w her father you have this immense pressure to be excepcional (bc if she has no powers she at the very least has to be academically talented) and to set an example to her younger brother. she's her mother's (and siblings) emotional support. from a very young age she was basically treated as a mini adult and a pseudo-parent. out of her siblings she's definitely the toughest and becomes her mother's and brother's biggest defender once they end up involved with will's disappearence.

flora’s only child who is also a daughter syndrome vs theo’s eldest daughter pseudo-parent syndrome, fight!

really, i think flora would probably get along better with theo’s twin, nell. flora and theo definitely wouldn’t get along, at least at the start. flora hates the ‘popular’ group since she was kinda of bullied for being the ‘weird quiet new girl’; so even though theo got kicked out, flora would assume the vibes are still there, the attitude. hell, flora only ever even went to one high school party. they definitely clash in a lot of aspects.

i could maybe see them getting along later on, a kind of ‘oh, your dad sucks? my dad sucks!’, recognition-of-one’s-self-in-another situation. also the complicated relationships with their mothers? aAAAaAaAAaaaa. girls who feel older than their actual ages, who feel responsible for their respective ‘siblings’ (theo’s actual siblings vs flora’s pseudo-siblings), tough girls who shouldn’t have to be tough but don’t have a choice anymore.

also caroline and flora’s mom, alice, should hang out actually. hawkins’ resident hot repressed mothers with sh*tty ex-husbands (joyce come join too).

#morallygraygf #tj answers #oc: flora dean

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polarisbibliotheque · 3 years

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Dante, Vergil & Nero training their s/o (feat. Kyrie) - Dante Chapter

Pairings: Dante x Reader

Summary: For different reasons each, they realize they need to help training their s/o and making them battle ready - in Dante's case, you acquired a new sword and needs aid from the Legendary Devil Hunter himself to master it

Word Count: Dante - 2.7k (I lost track while writing, that's why I cut it into individual chapters for each, do apologize T-T)

Author's Notes: Blame Vergil on this one. I'm trying to get through the Bloody Palace with him on DMC4 SE and the thought "Imagine how much he would've trained to pull this off - probably as much as I am right now to master going through all those demons". So now we have them training their respective s/os :)

Also: someday I'm gonna indulge in a full lazy bathtime fanfic with Dante, he seems like the kind of guy who'd love it

Age Restrictions: There's a lot of sparring, nothing we haven't seen on DMC, honestly. The only restriction is: there are too many words because I have a compulsive writing problem apparently :D

Vergil and Nero (with Kyrie) chapters are up with the same name + "Vergil Chapter" and "Nero Chapter", respectively.

Dante

“Getting tired already, babe? I figured you’d last longer!”

You usually loved Dante’s convinced smile and cocky demeanor. That day, you wanted to tear it off his face, though. With your sword.

The best thing about living with the Legendary Devil Hunter was being able to get some one-on-one training with the absolute best. You were one hell of a human devil hunter – as Dante defined it himself – but you figured you could always get better.

It was a lazy day at the shop when you came up with the idea. You had been training some new moves with a brand-new sword: a beautiful devil arm, crafted by the gunsmith artisan herself, Nico Goldstein, for you to slash demons in two during your jobs. It came from the weapons of a Hell sentinel you happened to fight one day – and Dante himself had to point out how impressed he was to see you tearing down that thing.

Hell sentinels weren’t easy to destroy, and you did it masterfully.

But that new sword meant getting used to it: the balance, the weight, the moves, how fast it could go, how slow it should be, how heavy attacks could damage enemies, how faster attacks could help you… It was a whole new world of moves and weapon mastery – which made you look at the devil arms master himself.

Dante was sitting by his desk, his feet on it as per usual, while reading a random magazine. It featured Nico as a gunsmith – her work with devil arms only known by those in the field, though – and Dante seemed to be enjoying the read.

Actually, he looked quite proud of the Goldstein girl: she was definitely making Nell proud as well.

You leaned back on the couch, resting your Hell Sentinel on your lap. Dante was incredible to your eyes: he could master a devil arm almost immediately after touching it. Of the two brothers, Vergil had a lot of occult knowledge – you had to admit that, after all your studies, he could even surpass you in that department – but Dante had knowledge in weapon mastery. You had no idea how many weapons he could use, but he seemed to be beyond good with all of them.

Hell, he could even easily use a motorcycle as a deadly devil arm, for crying out loud.

You could master the Hell Sentinel on your own, yes. But asking for some help wouldn’t hurt.

“Dante… May I ask you something?” You made your way to his desk, sitting on the edge of it while holding the Hell Sentinel; its tip barely touching the ground.

“Anytime, hot stuff. I am but your humble servant.” He lowered the magazine almost immediately, always with his goofy tone. “Shoot, pretty eyes. What do you need from me?”

“I need you to be my master.” As the words fell from your lips, Dante let a mischievous smile play on his. You immediately laughed, rolling your eyes and slapping his hand on the table. “Not like that, you dirty ass!”

“Well, it’s not my fault you chose those set of words, babe!” He laughed back, taking his feet from the table and resting his elbows on it, leaning towards you. “What kind of master, then?”

“My devil arms master.” You explained, raising the Hell Sentinel from the floor and resting it on your shoulders. “You see, I got this brand-new big-ass sword to learn its moves and I am learning it, but I thought it’d be a lot more effective if I had someone to train with. Someone who can perfectly master devil arms with a single touch.”

You glanced at Dante with high esteem in your eyes. You could see his playful smile, always chatting as if it was some kind of banter between you two, but his sky-blue gaze held so much care and it even looked somewhat bashful.

Dante was always so fast on dismissing compliments: he knew how to take criticism and harsh words, but he didn’t know how to take praises.

“Well…” And you could clearly see he didn’t even know how to respond to that: you had the power to make Dante speechless with just a few simple words. “I’m just glad you think that of me, y/n.” His answer was on a lower tone, something more intimate between you both. Dante rarely used that tone, but his eyes had sincere admiration and that kind of humbleness only he could have. “So… When do we start?”

You smiled back, so pleased he had agreed to that. You both found some time and decided upon a place: an old, abandoned building, that some guy Dante worked for once told him he could train there whenever he needed – as a way of thanking the devil hunter for saving his family. Knowing Dante, he probably settled with that as payment instead of money.

As for the training itself… He never seemed to stop, even to take a single breath.

“Well, I’m sorry I don’t have your hellish stamina to keep me going, give me a three second break, will ya?” You quipped back at his ‘I figured you could last longer’ remark. Resting the Hell Sentinel on the ground, you kept one of your arms entangled on it, leaning your weight while you took a breath.

“Oh, you never seemed to have any problems with my stamina before!” That smile. Oh, you wanted to punch that beautiful smile out of there. And kiss that stupid mouth later. “You asked me to train you, babe! That’s what I’m doin’!”

“Yeah, and you’re holding back.” You took a deep breath, getting back at your posture again. Dante raised his eyebrows, as if surprised by your comment.

“Oh, am I now?”

“Yeah, you are.” You glanced at him with fire in your eyes. Dante had to admit he loved that look in you. It suited the strength in your soul. “I know how you fight, and I’ve seen you training. You are holding back. Doesn’t matter how human I am, I gotta train to kill demons, right? You can train me better.”

“Hey, y/n, you’re already tired. Don’t push yourself too much.” He was a little worried, yes. It was times like these you knew Dante cared: all his playful demeanor vanished, giving space to a serious, responsible one. He wasn’t as carefree and inconsequent as everyone thought. You knew Dante was much more attuned to his responsibilities than people gave him credit for – even more when it meant putting someone he loved in harm’s way.

You’d go through Hell and back defending Dante was even more responsible than Vergil in many ways. But that subject always welcomed chaos at the Devil May Cry.

“Tired my ass. I just needed to breathe a little – didn’t your mother ever told you humans need to do that from time to time?” You were angry and playful at the same time, making him smile a bit. Dante didn’t want to accept your demand to keep on training so easily, but that was the kind of comeback he couldn’t take in a serious tone. “What are you afraid of? Breaking me? I must warn you, red devil, despite trying, life didn’t do that to me yet. It’s gonna take more than a whacky pizza eating devil hunter to break me.”

“Whacky pizza eating devil hunter? Oh, that way you might hurt my feelings, lil’ human made of crystal.” Dante would never resist a banter war with you. Never. It was one of his weaknesses, and you both loved it. “Who knows? I might touch you and you’ll break in a thousand lil’ pieces. Try explaining that to Trish later.”

“I’d be a little more worried trying to explain why you’ll be back with your clothes in rags again this time.”

When you had enough of talking – something Dante prolonged so you could catch your breath properly – both of you attacked in synchrony. Dante was still holding back, but this time he attacked with more of his strength, making you use a lot more of yours when defending his attack with the Hell Sentinel.

“You sure you don’t want me to hold back, babe?”

“I asked you to train me, not to babysit me, Dante. I can’t have you around every fight, can I?” You looked back at his sky-blue eyes. Dante was having fun, as much as you. “I always stood up for myself and I’ve always fought on my own. Don’t worry about me.”

If you didn’t put all your strength to throw an unaware Dante away and make him stumble on his own feet trying to get his balance back, he’d have responded with an “I’m so freaking proud of you, you hell of a human” or something along those lines. It would probably ruin the rest of the training, so it was good for you to do that.

One of the hardest things for Dante to resist was the sheer strength and survival spirit you had inside. That was what he called humanity – what made you so different from demons. It was that kind of passion, fueled by love and anger, that helped you and your kind survive in the most adverse situations. He adored it.

Regaining his focus, you kept on sparring, something Dante did a lot with Vergil. You loved watching him spar with his brother: they were both on the same level of power and ability, it was like spectating a deadly dance. More than once, Nico appeared with a bucket of popcorn and – despite initial complaining from his part – you, her and Nero kept on watching Dante and Vergil dueling in order to learn something new.

On your and Nero’s end, it was about the moves. On Nico’s, it was about the use of devil arms. She was always so hyped to see Dante using five to six devil arms in just one fight while Vergil kept on faithful to Yamato. Such different styles, but so effective against each other.

“Nice! Well put defense right there!” Dante smiled proudly after you blocked one of his heavy attacks. “You’re gettin’ pretty good at this, babe!”

“Are you sure? Hold on a minute…” You didn’t even have to finish your sentence: Dante had already lowered his sword and took his time to take a few deep breaths – more like a habit than a necessity. “It didn’t seem right. I think I did something wrong…”

“You blocked it. Even if the movement was wrong, you did what you had to do, and it worked. That’s what matters.” He rested one of his hands on his hips. “No need to go full Verge with ‘all movements must be the peak of perfection in order to achieve true power’.”

You had to laugh at the way he threw his hair back and mimicked his brother’s speech. It was stupid sibling rivalry at its finest.

“No, no, no, it’s not like that…” You shook your head, still laughing a bit. “Well. It is a little. But hear me out: it didn’t feel right. You showed me the movement, but… Like, do I have to turn my torso? Like this? I mean, my feet are one on front, one on the back, far apart and something felt wrong.”

“Hmmm, lemme see… Here, I’ll stand by your side, we can see it better.” Dante did exactly what he said: by your side, same position as you, he had his torso turned to your back – close enough to guide you, but not enough to accidentally hit you. “Show me what you did.”

You did the same movement as before and he was careful enough to copy it and avoid hitting you with his sword. Dante held that thing as if it was made of feathers, and it never ceased to amaze you. He managed the weight masterfully, using it to make the sword slash faster or controlling his strength to make it go as slow as possible.

Of course, the fact he was built like a brick wall helped. But you couldn’t help yourself from always admiring how good he was at it.

“Yeah, you gotta turn your torso, but make sure your back foot turns around with your body as well. See?” He looked back, making you glance at his foot. You copied his movement and suddenly everything made sense. You didn’t feel like you were spinning uncomfortably around yourself anymore. “There ya go. That way your body can balance the weight of the sword better and you’ll avoid contusions.”

“See? Without you I’d be all bruised and sore already.” You did the movement a few more times to test it, as Dante just smiled back, observing if he needed to correct something else. Again, not knowing how to deal with compliments. “Heavier weapons are a little more difficult for me. I’m used to lighter ones.”

“Lucky for you, I’ve got a lot of knowledge on that!” Dante laughed proudly, putting his own sword aside. While watching you, he could point out a few things that might help. “Here, let me show you how to do it better. Can I touch you, babe?”

“Yeah, go ahead.” Those were words you’d never say to anyone else. Dante was one of the very few people that could enter your personal space so freely.

“When holding a heavy sword like this one, you have to adjust your grip and stance. You’re holdin’ it like your lightweight scythe.” Dante stood right behind you, covering your hands with his. He made you change your grip: separating your hands a little, making you apply more pressure on your fingers and transfer a lot of strength to your grip. After adjusting it, he lightly kicked your feet for you to adjust your stance – now, more balanced on both legs, feeling a lot more natural. “See? Your strength comes not only from your arms, but from your core as well. That’s what will help you control the sword better.”

You both held the Hell Sentinel with just one hand, and you experienced Dante’s mastery of sword weight: he helped you wave the sword from side to side, at first faster, and then slowly, depending on both of your arms’ strength to keep it on that rhythm. His grip seemed to be a lot lighter after a while, trusting on your hand to keep at it.

“You know, I always admire when you do that.” You spoke from your heart, making his beat a little faster. Dante always felt like his face would catch on fire when you said that kind of thing – luckily, it never did. “Hopefully I’ll be able to do that someday.”

“Well, you’re already doin’ it, babe. I’m just here to keep you company.”

As Dante answered, you furrowed your brows. His hand was still holding yours, so what did he mean by that?

Until you noticed it: Dante was just helping guide the movements, he wasn’t applying strength anymore. Like a maestro conducting a deadly orchestra, he was only guiding you – but your strength was doing all the work. All the talking made you start training in autopilot, just like he did.

You stopped on your tracks and had to look back at him with an expression that could only be defined as that of a person who just discovered flamingos bend their knees backwards.

“You are a genius.”

And Dante had to laugh. More than he thought he would. It was safe to say he never thought he’d be called that – during his lifetime, Dante had been called a lot of things, but you always seemed to have only the kindest of words for him. He might not know how to react to it, but you’d never stop saying them: Dante only had to get used to it, as he did with demon hunting.

You’d keep on training for hours, losing track of time when having fun together. It was indeed much better learning from the Legendary Devil Hunter than trying to do it all by yourself – what you’d take weeks to master on your own, Dante taught you in an intensive lesson sprinkled with laughs, pauses to correct movements and topped with some evening pizza.

He thought it couldn’t get even more perfect – until you both ended the night in the bathtub, soaking and massaging each other’s sore muscles so you wouldn’t get any serious bruises or contusions. As Dante leaned by the tub with your tired self almost sleeping with your head against his chest, he smiled to himself, unconsciously playing with a strand of your hair, messily tied in a bun.

He could train you any time.

#dante x reader #dante x you #dante imagine #devil may cry imagines #devil may cry fanfiction #dmc imagines #dmc fanfic #devil may cry #dante sparda #dmc dante #I lost control on word county #and I am sorry #but this was too much fun

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contemplativepancakes · 3 years

Text

enough to drive a man mad

~7k geraskier fake dating, because that is what this fandom needs. read on ao3 here!

Jaskier smells anxious. He reeked of apprehension all of yesterday, not to mention the fact that he hasn’t been able to sit still or stop tapping his foot on the wooden floorboards this morning.

It’s grating on Geralt’s last nerve.

“What, Jaskier?” he finally growls.

Jaskier jumps, almost falling out of his chair from where he sits tapping his quill idly in his notebook.

“What?”

“What has you so worked up?”

Jaskier looks Geralt in the eyes before glancing away again. He clears his throat. “Nothing.”

Geralt grunts.

“Oh, don’t sound so unconvinced,” Jaskier complains.

Geralt rolls his eyes, turning his back to Jaskier to finish settling all of his things into his pack. He wraps the glass jars carefully and tucks them between Jaskier’s shirts, so they don’t break. “If nothing is wrong, you’re ready to go then, right?”

Jaskier grumbles, but he tucks his notebook away and gets to his feet.

They make it about three hours before Jaskier finally broaches the subject.

“So, Geralt,” he starts. “Dear friend of mine.”

Geralt doesn’t even bother to look back at him. Nothing good can come with this as a conversation starter.

“Have I ever told you about my parents?”

“No.”

Jaskier sighs. “I suppose not. Well, they’ve written to me. They want me to visit.”

Geralt thinks back to the letter an innkeeper had handed to Jaskier a few weeks ago, the one that made him eerily quiet the rest of the night and that he had clammed up about when Geralt questioned him. Jaskier was perky and practically completely back to normal the next morning, so Geralt had almost forgotten about it. Apparently, Jaskier had not done the same.

“Hmm.”

“Yes, yes, I know. Dreadfully inconvenient for you. What will you do without your loyal companion?”

Geralt frowns. He hadn’t even thought about that, just registered the smell of unhappiness coming off of Jaskier at the thought of his parents. Jaskier is rather helpful, though. He’s never afraid to step in the middle of pay negotiations, inevitably getting Geralt more coin, and he’s certain Jaskier has stopped them from getting kicked out of at least three towns after Geralt had stumbled back to the inn covered in viscera.

“Do you want to visit them?”

Jaskier trips over his feet, and Geralt dutifully looks away, pretending not to have noticed. “Not particularly. But I have to.”

Geralt won’t pretend to understand how a typical human family works, so he just accepts Jaskier’s words at face value. He’s never felt obliged to return to Kaer Morhen every winter; it’s something he looks forward to—to seeing his patchwork family. But Jaskier deliberately never speaks of his family, and gets twitchy every time anyone brings them up, so Geralt had accepted it as one of Jaskier’s many quirks and moved on.

“Hmm. Well, I can travel with you there, at least. I’m sure there will be contracts in the area somewhere.”

Jaskier flushes red. “I was...I was actually hoping you would come with me.”

“What? I’m sure that’s not what your parents had in mind when they wanted you to visit. They wouldn’t want to meet me .”

“Well, they said it’s unbecoming for someone of my age to be a bachelor. And, so I. I, um.” Jaskier scratches the back of his neck. “I told them I wasn’t. And I maybe sort of perhaps insinuated we were together.”

Geralt can feel a stress headache brewing.

Marilla looks down at the letter in shock.

Dear Mother,

I fear I am not quite as much of a bachelor as you suppose. Have you heard any of my songs? I have gone and fallen head first into my muse. Typical, foolish me, but I’ve never been happier. We’ll visit soon.

Julian

She doesn’t like to think about Julian’s songs, about how he couldn’t even keep the name she had given him. She thrusts the letter to her husband. “He’s coming to visit,” she says in disbelief. “When’s the last time we saw him?”

Ethbert considers this as he reads the letter. “At least five years.”

“And I can’t believe he hasn’t spoken of this ‘muse’ any sooner. I’m not sure I believe him.”

Ethbert gave Marilla a placating smile. “He’s probably just ashamed he hasn’t found himself a wife yet. We’ll find out when he comes, doubtless with an excuse about where his beloved is.”

Marilla sniffs. “You’re right.”

Nell looks down at the scene in the kitchen with wide eyes from her spot crouched down between the banisters at the top of the stairs. Her brother? With a wife? She could scarcely imagine it. She thinks back to the last time Julian was here, the way he had boasted to her about his conquests for hours, away from the prying ears of their parents.

Well, surely if he had someone, he’d have talked about her in his songs. She resolves to get her hands on some of his music. She’ll solve this mystery before Julian even gets here.

“The first thing to know is that they’re awful,” Jaskier says, ticking down one of his fingers as he walks along beside Roach, seemingly uncaring of the dust that’s drifting up from her hooves and onto his doublet. “Well, except for my sister. Be nice to my sister, please, Geralt.”

“I’m nice to everyone.”

Jaskier stifles a laugh. “Mm. Be extra nice to her, then.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“You need to loosen up, too. They’re never going to think we’re together when you look all...constipated like that.”

Geralt huffs.

“You’re lucky opposites attract,” Jaskier says, before dragging a hand down his face. “This is never going to work, is it?”

Nell squints at the lyrics spread out before her. This doesn’t sound very romantic to her at all. Maybe a breakup song? She’ll destroy with her sweet kiss , Nell hums. She can’t help but notice there’s three different people the song is talking about, though. Odd. She shakes her head and moves onto the next song.

This one is just a ditty, so Nell turns the page to see a song about the witcher Jaskier travels with. And then another, and another. Is he all Julian writes about? She expected to see love songs, not this nonsense. She goes through more of his catalogue, briefly regretting spending her allowance on the songbook, but she supposes it supports her brother, after all.

She’ll just have to see what she can wheedle out of him while he’s here.

Finally, after flipping through no less than four more songs about the witcher, she lands on one titled “The Eternal Flame.”

Interesting.

Around your house, now white from frost

Sparkles ice on pond and marsh

Your longing eyes grieve what is lost

But naught can change this parting harsh

Spring will return, on the road the rain will fall

Hearts will be warmed by the heat of the sun

It must be thus, for fire still smolders in us all

An eternal fire, hope for each one

There, Nell can read some romance in. She rubs the ends of her hair together in thought. This one song certainly isn’t enough proof that Julian has actually found a wife. More like he’s still pining over some old flame. It doesn’t seem like he’s written very many good love songs at all.

Nell rolls her eyes, thinking back to all the raunchy songs in his catalogue. Typical.

There’s the squeak of the door opening downstairs, and Nell hastily slams the book shut and hides it under her mattress. She doesn’t want Julian seeing and getting a bigger head, after all.

She straightens her dress and runs down the steps, eager to see if Julian’s by himself, which is her guess. She comes to a skidding halt when she sees who is with him.

Oh.

She supposes he does write love songs, after all.

Geralt shifts uncomfortably from the scrutiny Jaskier’s family is giving him. He wraps an arm around Jaskier’s shoulder, hoping he doesn’t look as awkward as he feels. He looks over to Jaskier for help, and Jaskier shrugs off his arm and takes Geralt by the hand, leading him forward to meet them.

“Mother, Father, this is Geralt. Nell, this is a very large, scary witcher who will eat you up if you don’t behave.”

Geralt frowns. He thought Jaskier told him to be extra nice to his sister?

Nell laughs, a delightful, tinkling thing that reminds him of Jaskier’s. “He’s going to like me better than you by the time he leaves.”

Geralt looks back to Jaskier, only to see him sticking his tongue out at her. Right. Their relationship is definitely more antagonistic than Jaskier had prepared him for, so Geralt is glad he had Lambert to prepare him for these things.

He’s not sure his interactions with Lambert would be appropriate to apply to Jaskier’s sister, though, so Geralt will let Jaskier handle the ribbing.

“Nice to meet you,” Geralt finally says. “Jaskier’s told me a lot about you.”

Which, of course, is a lie, but Geralt knows that’s the polite thing to say.

“He’s never even mentioned me, has he?”

When Geralt waffles, Nell sniffs dramatically and casts Jaskier a betrayed look.

Jaskier shoots that look right back to Geralt, and Geralt is so impossibly out of his depth right now. “Hmm.”

“Now look what you’ve done, you’ve made him regret agreeing to meet you in the first place!” Jaskier cries.

“That’s quite enough, Julian,” Jaskier’s mother cuts in, and—Julian?

He shoots Jaskier a puzzled look. Obviously, there was a little more he should have told Geralt before they came here.

“Well, I’m afraid we are absolutely knackered; we’ve been riding all day. I’m going to head upstairs…”

Geralt shoots him a look.

“I mean, we are going to head out to the stables and make sure that Geralt’s very polite mare is taken care of.”

“We have someone—”

“No, no, Geralt is very picky about who cares for his horse.”

With that, Jaskier drags Geralt out of the house and to the barn. “I thought the goal was for them to like me?” Geralt asks.

Jaskier snorts. “Gods, no. The goal is to have them believe that we’re in a relationship, and they would never believe I would choose anyone they actually liked .”

“Hmm.”

Jaskier rolls his eyes. “Honestly, Geralt. It’ll be fine. Just stop acting like you’re terrified of me every time I touch you. Maybe we should practice.”

Jaskier gets a gleam in his eye as he darts a glance back to the house, and then his very warm mouth is on Geralt’s. Geralt’s surprised for a second before he relaxes and kisses Jaskier back. He’ll show Jaskier he’s not terrified of him. Geralt would scoff if his mouth wasn’t otherwise occupied.

Geralt brings one hand up to rest on Jaskier’s jaw and one to wind through his soft hair. Geralt strokes his thumb over Jaskier’s cheekbone, and Jaskier melts against him, wrapping his arms around Geralt’s waist and tugging him closer.

“What was that for?” Geralt says, trying to keep his breathing even after they pull away.

Jaskier peers around him and looks back up at the house. “Well, they were watching through the window. Figured we’d give them a show. Alas.”

Jaskier turns and heads to the stables. Geralt trails behind him, surreptitiously bringing a hand up to his medallion to make sure it’s not vibrating.

He is in way over his head.

Nell stares at them with wide eyes from her bedroom window. She had...not exactly doubted them when Julian showed up with his witcher in tow, but she hadn’t exactly believed them, either. Who could let Julian trail around after them for years and not get sick of him?

If she hadn’t witnessed them kissing with her own two eyes, she never would have believed it. She pulls the book out from under the mattress and looks at the songs again, this time with a more critical eye. She can’t believe she didn’t see it before. Especially “Her Sweet Kiss.” She’d never admit it to Julian, but she’s glad he won over whoever this her is. He looks happy, in a way that he never did while he was here.

Her mother calls for her, so Nell sighs and puts away the book. She runs down the stairs. “Yes?”

“I need help with supper.”

Nell sets the table, noting they’re using the fancy silverware, which is a surprise, because her mother has never taken a particular interest of what Julian thinks of her before this, so this is an interesting time to start. She’s sure their meal is going to be a very uncomfortable affair. Well, not for her, unless it starts to become painful to hold her laughter in.

She can’t wait.

She’s just finishing arranging the cutlery when her mother turns back to her. “Can you believe Julian? I knew witchers were for hire, but I didn’t think their services extended to...this.”

Nell barely holds back a snort.

Jaskier looks over to Geralt and suppresses a sigh. He had just planted a hand on Geralt’s thigh, and he’s sure his parents think that he just stabbed Geralt, from his reaction. He scoots his chair closer over to Geralt and drapes an arm over his shoulders. “Relax,” he whispers into Geralt’s ear.

Geralt does, marginally, but Jaskier can still see the doubt on his parent’s faces.

Jaskier’s father clears his throat. “So, Geralt, um. I suppose we know what you do, but, um. Um.”

“Honestly, haven’t you heard any of my songs? They are all the very true accounts of what Geralt gets up to,” Jaskier butts in.

Geralt takes a gulp of wine from his goblet to avoid commenting.

Jaskier notices, and elbows him in the ribs. “Geralt loves my songs, right?”

Jaskier’s parents are staring right at him, and it’s more than a little unnerving. “Right. They’re...very romantic.”

Jaskier’s grip around Geralt’s shoulders tightens. “Thank you, darling.”

Geralt is sure Vesemir once told him witchers can’t blush, but his face feels hot all of a sudden, and everyone is looking at him expectantly.

Geralt takes another drink.

Jaskier shakes his head. “Geralt’s been so nervous about meeting all of you. The poor dear is overwhelmed.”

Geralt shoots him a glare, before softening the look into something more akin to convincing Jaskier’s parents that they’re very happily together. Jaskier hastily bolts down the rest of his dinner before he drags Geralt up the stairs and to his room.

He shuts the door behind them, leaning against and tugging at his hair. “There’s no way they’re buying this,” he moans.

“I thought I was being rather convincing.”

The corner of Geralt’s lips twitch, so Jaskier hits him with a pillow. “You did not, you brute! Geralt if you’re doing this on purpose—”

“Hey, hey,” Geralt soothes. “I’m not. It’s just. Acting is not exactly on my list of talents.”

Jaskier crosses his arms and huffs. Geralt tugs him over to the bed and makes him sit down, plopping beside him. “What can I do?”

Jaskier throws his arm over his eyes and lays back, rather over dramatically, if you ask Geralt. “Nothi—Well, actually.”

Geralt does not like the sound of that. He was offering more to be nice than anything.

“We have to have sex.”

Geralt’s mouth goes dry. “What?”

Jaskier scoffs. “This is no time to act the blushing virgin, Geralt,” he says, before his hands are on Geralt’s clothes, tugging them and unbuttoning.

Geralt jerks back, but Jaskier is already done. “There. Nice and dishevelled.”

Geralt gapes at him for a moment, giving Jaskier the opportunity to muss his hair. Geralt growls.

“I know, I know. That took you hours to accomplish.”

Geralt catches his wrist. “Just, hold on a second. What are we doing?”

“We have to consummate my childhood bed, Geralt,” Jaskier says, completely seriously. “Or at least make my parents think we did.”

Jaskier starts moving his hips on the bed, making the headboard brush up against the wall with every gyration. “Mmm, fuck, Geralt, right there!” he cries.

“ Jaskier!” Geralt hisses, but Jaskier pays him no mind.

“You feel so good, darling!” He throws Geralt a wink, and Geralt tries not to combust.

Jaskier undoes three of the buttons of his doublet, revealing a thicket of chest hair. Geralt casts his eyes to the ceiling. Gods help him. “You know, you don’t have to be so stoic all the time, dear heart. You can let me hear you,” Jaskier says, pointedly prodding at Geralt.

Geralt shakes his head furiously. This is not what he agreed to.

Jaskier gives Geralt a put on sigh before clearing his throat quietly. “Oh, Jaskier,” he says in a deep voice.

“That doesn’t even sound like me,” Geralt whispers furiously.

Jaskier just arches an eyebrow, and Geralt knows that’s a challenge. He swings his leg over Jaskier, straddling him and trying to ignore both of their pounding hearts. It’s the heat of carrying out their plan, Geralt is sure, and not at all Jaskier’s proximity.

Geralt rocks the bed back and forth, making the headboard slam against the wall now.

Gearlt gives a half hearted moan, and Jaskier gives him a glare. “You’re making me sound like a terrible lover who’s left you horribly unfulfilled!” he hisses.

Geralt rolls his eyes and gives a more enthusiastic moan this time. Geralt begrudgingly keeps this up for a few more minutes before he grunts and clambers off of Jaskier. “A little quick to the finish line?” Jaskier asks, and Geralt shoots him a rude hand gesture.

Jaskier gasps in mock offense. “Why don’t you go get me a wash rag?” he suggests.

Geralt glares at him; this is taking the charade much too far, if you ask Geralt, but he follows Jaskier’s direction to the bathroom—where Jaskier’s mother is standing. Geralt suddenly becomes conscious of what a mess he must look like right now, thanks to Jaskier. “Hello again,” Marilla says.

Geralt grunts and nods to her, before remembering he should probably say something, anything. “Hi.”

Geralt grabs a washcloth and flees.

When he gets back to Jaskier, Jaskier is sitting on the bed with his knees drawn up to his chest, scribbling away in his notebook, the inkwell balancing precariously on the mattress. He still has his buttons undone, and Geralt curses himself for even noticing.

“Did you run into anyone?” Jaskier asks.

Geralt’s disgruntled expression must be answer enough, because Jaskier rubs his hands together in delight. “Excellent.”

Marilla scurries back to her room, completely scandalized. She can’t believe they would...defile her home like this. It’s bad enough that Julian couldn’t choose anyone they suggested for himself, and now he brings home a witcher ? He’s trying to make her gray even faster.

She shuts the bedroom door behind her and looks to Ethbert. Her expression must linger on her face, because he asks her, “What?”

“They—” She makes a floppy hand gesture.

“Are you sure? What would a witcher want with Julian? There’s something not right about this.”

Marilla fans herself. “I know. They’re not even wed. It’s impropriety, is what it is.”

Ethbert squints doubtfully.

Geralt is not a morning person. When Jaskier first discovered this, he was puzzled. Geralt is the only person who dictates his schedule, so no one would yell at him if he chose to sleep until midday.

The more Jaskier thinks about it, though, the more it makes sense. Of course Geralt would wake up at the asscrack of dawn; he probably thinks of it as a punishment or some other such self loathing nonsense.

It’s certainly more of a punishment for Jaskier, because he’s the one that has to put up with Geralt’s bearish attitude every morning.

Geralt blinks awake and squints at the rising sun like it’s personally offended him, and Jaskier closes his eyes, not wanting to be caught staring.

“Morning,” Geralt grates out.

Jaskier’s lips twist into a wry smile. “Good morning.”

“I know you weren’t asleep,” Geralt says, sounding annoyed. “You could have woken me up.”

“Mm. And deal with a grumpy witcher first thing in the morning? I don’t think so.”

Geralt scoffs. “I’m not grumpy.”

“Right.”

Geralt swings his legs out of the bed and begins getting dressed. Jaskier stretches into the warmth Geralt left behind, tugging the blankets up over him.

What? He never said he was a morning person, either. “Where are you going?”

“Into town.”

“For what? Do you need things for potions? I’ll go with you.”

“No, no, I’m just going to see if there’s any contracts; you stay here.”

Jaskier gives a sly grin. “Does my family make you nervous?”

“ No .”

“Hmm,” Jaskier says.

“Shut up.”

“Well, don’t go gallivanting off without telling me where. You know I worry.”

Geralt rolls his eyes. “No need.”

Jaskier adopts a high pitched voice. “Why, thank you, Jaskier, my dearest friend. I’m so touched to know someone is looking out for me.”

“It’s pretty sad if you have to imagine someone to be your friend.”

Jaskier splutters as Geralt walks out of the room, a smile tugging at his lips.

Jaskier sighs as the door shuts behind him, wanting to bundle himself back in the blankets and Geralt’s scent, but he resists the urge and stumbles out of bed to pull on his clothes.

He makes it down the stairs and to the kitchen, picking up a bowl of eggs and whisking them, the need to be helpful overriding his desire to collapse in a chair and go back to sleep.

“Good morning, Julian,” his mother says stiffly. “Where’s your beau?”

Jaskier lets himself smile at the image of Geralt’s reaction to being heard of himself referred to as Jaskier’s beau .

“He’s out looking for a contract. He’ll be back for lunch, I’m sure.”

He gives his mother a bright grin. He thinks he should have made Geralt suck a hickey on his neck, but, to be honest, he’s not sure if he could have beared that. Geralt had already been so unbearably close to Jaskier when he straddled him. Jaskier’s not sure what had possessed Geralt to do that, all the while expecting Jaskier to keep his hands to himself.

He’s not sure Geralt’s looked in a mirror anytime in the past fifty years because of the whole monster-staring-back-at-him thing (complete horse shit, in Jaskier’s humble opinion, not that Geralt cares to listen to it), but Jaskier is forced to look at him every day, and he suffers.

He suffers every time he trails behind Geralt atop Roach, watching the subtle shift of his back muscles as he rides, and he’s devastated when Geralt deems Roach too tired to carry him and leads her in his tight leather pants. If Geralt hadn’t been wearing just such a thing when Jaskier met him, Jaskier would be convinced Geralt does it just to personally spite Jaskier.

To doom him to look but not touch for the rest of his life. As such, he had never expected Geralt to actually agree to this whole charade. But, he did, and now here they are. Here they are, with Jaskier knowing exactly what Geralt tastes like (less onion than one would expect), but still having to not just kiss the blank looks Geralt likes to give him right off his face.

It’s enough to drive a man mad.

Geralt looks at the pitiful notice board and sighs. He tugs down the one prospect to examine it more closely. Something is stealing a farmer’s sheep. There’s a few possibilities for what it could be, ranging from minor nuisances to things that he shouldn’t even mention to Jaskier because he’ll nag at Geralt until he lets him tag along, and those are always the kind of jobs that Jaskier should be nowhere near.

Geralt’s not sure how someone with the survival instinct of a fly larva is still alive, especially when he insists on following Geralt around, but Geralt’s not going to let Jaskier get hurt on his watch.

Geralt pockets the notice and goes to talk to the farmer who set the contract, but he has very little useful information to tell Geralt. All he offers is that the sheep have been disappearing without a trace. Geralt walks the edges of the property and a bit into the woods, doing a cursory inspection for the carcasses, but he doesn’t find them, either.

Hmm.

Geralt turns and heads back to Jaskier.

Geralt’s acting out of sorts when he returns from town, so Jaskier tugs him aside. “What’s wrong?”

Geralt just grunts and shakes his head.

Jaskier sighs. Typical. “Weren’t there any contracts?”

“There were, just—I don’t know what it is. But I’m sure it will be fine.”

Geralt even tries to give him a bracing smile, and even though it looks more like a grimace, Jaskier knows it’s not good if Geralt has stooped to trying to comfort him.

Jaskier hums at him and leads him to the table where his family are waiting on them for lunch. Jaskier keeps a hand on Geralt’s knee, because he’s allowed to, at the moment.

He delights in watching Geralt make awkward conversation with Nell, but it seems like they’re quickly warming up to each other. Jaskier’s mouth goes dry at the thought of them teaming up on him. They would truly be a menace.

Jaskier’s mood is quickly soured when they finish eating and Geralt insists on heading back out.

“Shouldn’t you wait until the morning? You know, be well rested?”

Geralt shrugs. “It’s been taking the animals at night. Better chance of finding it if I go now.”

“Geralt, we’re not exactly short on coin right now. Why even go?”

“If I don’t take care of this, who will?” Geralt huffs. “This farmer’s livelihood is at risk.”

Jaskier grins. “Geralt, you unbearable softie. You make me look callous.”

Jaskier darts a glance over to his family, who are pretending not to watch them. He takes that as license to tug Geralt in for a chaste kiss. Geralt stiffens against him, and Jaskier is just about ready to pull away, before Geralt starts kissing him back. He makes it decidedly less chaste, and Jaskier puts a hand on his chest. He lets himself savor it for one, two, three seconds before he takes a step back.

“Geralt, there are children present!” he says in a scandalized tone, grinning at Nell.

She glares, and he shoots her a wink.

Geralt clears his throat, and Jaskier jerks his attention back to him. “Right. Well, if I’m not going to talk you out of it, be safe.”

“I always am.”

Ethbert watches as Julian paces back and forth as he waits for the witcher to return. “Sit down,” he says gruffly.

Julian looks at the clock, then out the window, completely ignoring him. Ethbert snorts. Good to know nothing’s changed, then.

“Surely it can’t take this long to murder one measly little thing,” Julian mutters.

“He’s fine,” Ethbert says. “It’d take a lot to overpower a witcher, right?”

Jaskier sits down in a huff, and Ethbert starts to wonder if maybe their relationship is less of a farce than he thought. It’s certainly an odd one, and he’s still clueless as to what they could possibly have in common, but Julian is painting a convincing picture right now, especially as he tugs his cloak off the hook and settles it around his shoulders.

“Where are you going?”

“To find him!”

Ethbert jerks out of his seat with a splutter. “You can’t be serious. You think you’re going to be able to handle whatever a witcher couldn’t?”

Julian pauses. “Well, no. He’s probably lying in a ditch somewhere, slowly bleeding to death. Oh gods, what if he’s out there bleeding to death?”

Julian becomes even more frantic and rushes out the door and to the stables.

Ethbert resigns himself to a long night.

Jaskier clambers onto one of the smaller mares. He doesn’t have the patience to go through the whole process of putting all the tack on, so he clings to the horse’s neck and prays he doesn’t fall off. He digs into her with his knees, and away they go.

Jaskier has no idea which way Geralt went, but there’s some fairly fresh hoof tracks in the wet dirt of the road, so he follows them and hopes they’re Roach’s. Eventually, they go off the road, and Jaskier is left to squint at trampled grass. He wonders if Geralt would be proud of his tracking abilities, and he smiles thinking about the inevitable jab. Jaskier would respond with something about how Geralt was no better than a dog sniffing the air, and all would be well.

But first, he has to find him. Jaskier slows the horse to a walk as the trail becomes fainter, squinting as he looks at the ground. He comes to an outcrop of rocks with an opening just big enough to go inside, and he dismounts his horse cautiously. He certainly doesn’t want to deal with whatever calls this place its home.

Jaskier notices blood, and his heart kicks up a notch. It’s a rust red color, so it’s not very recent. Jaskier follows the splatters, and as he goes, they get brighter and brighter, until Jaskier’s heart threatens to burst out of his chest with the panicked tap dance it’s doing.

It certainly doesn’t help matters when he finds Roach wandering through the woods by herself. “Where’s Geralt?” he asks, and she snorts at him helpfully.

Jaskier casts a look at the blood glistening under the leaves underfoot and knows Geralt has to be close. Roach gives an agitated whinny before she turns and trots off, and Jaskier rushes after her.

In the end, Geralt’s not all that far away. Jaskier sees his hair before he sees anything else, and then he’s sprinting over to him with little thought for anything else. Jaskier drops to his knees beside Geralt. He looks paler than normal, even though Jaskier hadn’t known that was possible

There’s so much blood, and he’s not moving. Jaskier sucks in a breath. “Geralt? Geralt?” he asks, his voice getting louder and more panicked. “Geralt?”

Jaskier resists the urge to shake him and jostle whatever injuries he has, but there’s bile rising in his throat, and he doesn’t know what he’s going to do—

His eyes latch on to the infinitesimal rise of Geralt’s chest, and the pressure on his own suddenly lifts. He shuts his eyes for a moment. Geralt isn’t dead, and he can work with that.

Jaskier takes a closer look at Geralt and finds there’s a chunk missing from his side. It’s still bleeding freely, and Jaskier tries to resist the urge to be sick. He works Geralt free of his armor with shaky hands, so he can take a closer look.

Geralt moans and starts to stir, and Jaskier plants his hands on Geralt’s chest. “Just stay still; you’re going to be fine.”

“Jask?” Geralt slurs.

“Yes, yes, it’s me, and you know I’m far too stubborn to let you die.”

“My pack—”

Jaskier could slap himself for not thinking of that. “Right. Um, your potions.”

He whistles for Roach, and she approaches skittishly. Jaskier glances back down at Geralt, and his eyes are slipping shut. Jaskier tightens his grip on Geralt’s shoulder. “Geralt! You have to stay awake. Do you hear me?”

Geralt murmurs something Jaskier doesn’t quite catch, but his eyes open wider. Geralt’s pupils are so dilated, there’s barely a ring of yellow left around the outsides. Jaskier clambers up to look through Roach’s saddlebags, and his heart clenches when Geralt’s hand comes up to clutch at him as he moves away. “I’m not going anywhere,” he soothes.

He rustles through the saddlebag. “Fuck, Geralt, do you really need so many tiny bottles?”

Geralt gives him a weak chuckle before he hisses in pain.

“Which one do you need?” Jaskier asks, hoping Geralt is coherent enough that he’s not about to poison himself.

Jaskier pulls the pouch out of the saddle bag to show him the options. Geralt points to a few, and Jaskier eyes them doubtfully. He uncorks them anyway, sitting back down and settling Geralt’s head into his lap, helping him get the elixirs down, even when Geralt tries to bat his hands away.

“Save your energy for something useful, would you?” Jaskier tuts.

Jaskier prods at the wound in Geralt’s side, jerking his hand back when Geralt winces. “I forgot just how delicate you were, my apologies.”

Geralt barely manages a huff at that, and Jaskier furrows his brows in worry. He pulls Geralt’s shirt away from the wound, biting his lip as it pulls skin away. The wound looks a sickly green underneath all the blood, and Jaskier gasps a little. This is much worse than he thought.

“Geralt, it’s—Geralt?”

Geralt’s eyes have slipped shut, and Jaskier scrabbles at him, trying to make him wake up again, but he stays stubbornly still. The only thing giving Jaskier even a tiny glimmer of peace is that his chest is still rising and falling.

Tears are threatening to burst to Jaskier’s eyes, but he pushes them down and takes a deep breath. Somehow, he manages to heave Geralt across Roach. Roach snorts, disgruntled, and Jaskier runs a hand over her flank, trying to soothe her.

He looks around, but he has no idea where the mare he rode out here went. Oops. Hopefully it will wander back to his parent’s estate, but if not, well, will they even miss it?

Jaskier gathers Roach’s reins in his hand and leads her back towards town at a steady trot.

When Geralt comes to, he’s sweltering. He seems to be in a tomb of blankets, and the fire is roaring in the corner of the room. The room? He’s not quite sure how he got here; he would have expected to be lying on the cold ground instead of a soft and yielding bed. There’s even less lumps than he’s accustomed to.

He groans when he tries to move, and there’s a rustling from beside him. Geralt looks over to see Jaskier jerking from his chair to fuss over him. Jaskier’s eyes are red when he finally looks up.

“You promised me you were going to be safe, you terror,” Jaskier sniffs.

Geralt doesn’t have his wits about him enough yet to be dealing with crying bards. “Hmm.”

“Geralt, you—What was it?”

“A cockatrice. It got me with its tail; spit a little poison at me just for fun.”

Jaskier shakes his head. “You wouldn’t know fun if it bit you in the ass.”

This makes Geralt look even grumpier, if possible. Jaskier’s glad; he much prefers that to the slack expression Geralt had had while he was sleeping, and Jaskier was terrified he wouldn’t wake up.

Jaskier looks back at him, and Geralt can’t help himself when he reaches out to swipe away Jaskier’s tears with his thumb. “I’m fine,” he murmurs.

Geralt tosses the covers off himself so he can see his wound. It’s wrapped rather nicely, and when Geralt pokes at it, it feels like there’s some kind of poultice under the bandages. He raises his eyebrows at Jaskier, waiting for an explanation.

“A healer.”

Geralt’s surprised Jaskier found someone who would treat him; most people aren’t too keen on helping witchers.

“I yelled at him until he helped you,” Jaskier admits.

Geralt huffs a laugh. “I’m sure he was terrified.”

Jaskier finally cracks a grin. “Hey, you’re not the only scary one around here.”

Jaskier’s eyes drop to his hand, the one that was just on his face, and fuck, what was Geralt even thinking, but Jaskier reaches out and puts his hand over Geralt’s.

“I was worried,” he says softly. And then, sharper, “Don’t you dare say hmm .”

“Hmm.”

Geralt laughs, and there’s a warmth that settles in his chest when Jaskier does the same.

“You’re incorrigible,” Jaskier finally says.

There’s a lengthy silence, and when Geralt looks up, Jaskier is staring back at him.

“You got the trophy, right?”

“Geralt, my ears must be deceiving me. You cannot possibly be worried about that right now.”

“How else am I going to get paid? Last time I checked, you liked to eat. It needs done before something else drags the carcass away.”

Jaskier sighs and huffs and does everything short of stomping his feet before he gathers his cloak from the back of his chair. He glares at Geralt before he slams the door shut behind him.

Geralt rubs a shaky hand down his face.

He’s an idiot.

Jaskier grumbles to himself as he makes his way back out into the chilly night. His advances are obviously unwelcome, if this is the kind of punishment Geralt is doling out to him. Well, that’s fine. Jaskier will just let him bleed out next time.

Okay, he won’t, but that doesn’t mean he won’t consider it for a few seconds.

Stupid emotionally repressed witchers. He can’t say he wasn’t hoping something would happen with Geralt while they were here, but he should have known better.

Jaskier trudges all the way back to near where he found Geralt, pointedly not looking at the blood stain on the grass. He’s fine , he reminds himself. Jaskier pokes around for a little bit until he remembers the cave he had seen earlier and some vague knowledge that cockatrices prefer them.

He’s half expecting another to show up as he plucks some feathers and cuts off the head, for good measure. He almost gags as his knife goes roughly through the bone and sinew, but he manages to keep his supper. He looks around for any last creatures that are just waiting to murder him, but none appear.

He sighs and makes the trek back.

When he arrives, Geralt is sitting at the table, talking to his family, and Jaskier wonders for a moment if he should be concerned about a doppler. Nell is eating up every word Geralt says, and Jaskier hopes she has pried some good stories out of him that Jaskier can repurpose as songs later.

For now, he swings the cockatrice head up onto the table, and silence falls. “There you go, love,” he says cheerfully.

Geralt is looking back at him with a peculiar expression, and he rises from his chair stiffly. Jaskier rushes over to him to help, and Geralt reluctantly drapes an arm over his shoulder. Geralt leads him to the bathroom, and Jaskier makes sure to say loudly enough for the rest of his family to hear, “Well, if you needed help holding it you only had to ask.”

Geralt huffs in exasperation and shuts the door behind him. Jaskier raises his eyebrows in question. “Did you actually need help, or…” Jaskier trails off, and then Geralt’s lips are on his, warm and hungry, and anymore of Jaskier’s thoughts fly out of his brain.

His arms automatically come up to wrap around Geralt’s waist, until he registers that this is Geralt , and he puts a hand on his chest. “Um. Do you need your head checked out, as well? I thought it was your side, but I can go get the healer again.”

“I’m fine,” Geralt growls.

Jaskier’s not convinced Geralt hasn’t sustained a lasting brain injury, but then Geralt is saying, “I should have done this a long time ago,” and kissing him again.

What is Jaskier to do but kiss him back? It’d be terribly impolite not to, after all. When Geralt finally pulls away, Jaskier asks breathlessly, “What was that for?”

Geralt shrugs, considering. “You looked kind of hot carrying that cockatrice head. The trachea hanging down really got me going.”

Jaskier stares at him in disbelief for a beat before they both dissolve into laughter.

“You’re an idiot,” Jaskier says. “You’re my idiot.”

Ethbert looks across the table, where what his son is doing can only be called terrorizing his witcher, and harrumphs to himself. This is not exactly who he pictured Julian ending up with, to say the least.

He wonders the etiquette for having a son in law older than he is. He supposes he’s going to have to find out.

#the witcher #geralt of rivia #jaskier #geraskier #fanfiction #contemplative writing

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matthewgiggles · 2 years

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Silent Night (2021)

This isn’t a typical review (cast, plot, narrative, final score…), but more of an essay on finding reasons why the film has left me so distraught by the end of it. And even feeling more so, days later.

If this isn’t your kind of thing, I totally understand 😉 Especially if the film didn’t upset you as much (I am probably a minority anyway!), then this is certainly going to read like a : “WTF is she on about? Get over IT!” So if this you and you simply came for the Silent Night giggles: exit HERE. 😄

*SPOILERS* Warning!

The last couple of days I have made quite a few gif sets of several scenes. So I posted : the funniest scenes, all of the dancing and Goodey just being his adorable funny quirky self. Now out of all of those, there was just this 1 set with Simon & Nell dancing, that hinted at the drama in Silent Night.

If you happen to have stumbled on my gif sets and you haven’t seen the film yet or read any spoilers - you may well think that Matthew and Keira are starring in a very funny and smart festive comedy! Maybe wondering, well where’s the drama then? Or the horror element?

As for the ones who have already seen the film, I hope all the giggles in the gifs helped in some way to process the drama?

The fact is that I’ve been procrastinating writing a review for the last 3 days. During that time I also had no wish no make any gifs or screencaps of the 10+ deeply upsetting scenes. Thinking about writing a proper review, I tried to rewatch the entire film - but I honestly couldn’t handle it and thus failed miserably with flooded tears, after 30 minutes.

So in my case, not only does the ending of the film leave you an emotional wreck - it becomes even more painful the second time round as you know what will happen.

Even though I am fully aware and usually very good at following rule no 1: Never ever confuse the actors with their characters! It’s all just acting after all… Matthew’s superbe but heartbreaking performance - makes it really bloody hard not to in this one. So yes, Simon does make me cry…a lot..in this film.

I have a feeling it’s actually because of the comedy aspect of the film. We see so much of Matthew being his goofball self as Goodey in all those funny scenes - acting as Simon. That when the story flip-flops back into the drama & horror, it’s emotionally challenging to watch Simon’s utter hopelessness, despair and grief. Not that the casual viewer may not be affected too… but let’s face it this is a Goode blog, so you hopefully know what I mean?

Roman Griffin Davis (Art) - where to begin? Your brilliant acting performance broke me young man! Funny, charming, witty and of course Art was the heart and voice of reason in the film. I don’t know what hurts more: to watch Art’s death (the poisoning by the gas) followed by his parents’ grief, or the fact that Art came back to life in that final shot? The punchline of the entire film: “you could have survived the apocalypse if you hadn’t taken the exit pill’’ More poignantly: if Simon and Nell had listened to their son, the entire family would still be alive. Art wouldn’t have to wake up next to his dead parents and siblings - and possibly grow up without any family or friends. I guess that’s why it’s so upsetting: you continue to process all these different scenarios long after the credits.

I get that this film is a dig at the British middle-class and we’re most likely not meant to care so much about Simon and Nell. We are only in their company for 90 minutes, but I would lie if I said that I wouldn’t mind to see that family in a weekly 30 mins comedy TV show. Obviously the parents have their character faults and quite a lot to answer for! Leaving the actual plot of the film (climate change,end of the world, the exit pill) to one side for just one second - I absolutely loved the family dynamics and the interactions with their three sons.

We just saw a glimpse of their relationship, but Nell and Simon are a couple I would be rooting for. After Nell’s mother passes away, they try to find comfort and courage in each other, knowing full well that they have to kill their children and themselves in a few more hours. And… a few beats later we see them dancing to Fame!

See this is one of those perfect examples of what happens with the editing in Silent Night. A heartbreaking moment or a poignant scene is followed by comedy. A true rollercoaster 🎢 of emotions the whole way through. I am really trying my best to get into the mindset of Camille Griffin (director and writer) : “that the comedy is there to deliver and facilitate the drama.“ However if the point of the comedy aspect was to help the viewer digest the drama and storyline of the apocalypse better - and maybe even laugh at the end instead of feeling upset for the characters - then that way of storytelling didn’t work out for me at all! Again I know full well that I am in the minority here, and most audiences will indeed either laugh or simply shrug and don’t care at all. Moving on the next film / tv on the watchlist.

So after all that, do I like the film? YES!! For all the brilliant performances by the ensemble cast and for their perfect comedic timing. Those scenes are a pure delight to watch and re-watch again and again. I would have been very happy spending 2 hours with this funny lot, without the doomsday scenario looming over them. Also that I’m apparently writing a novel… means that the production team must have done something right, or I wouldn’t have been affected this much.

Will I re-watch the entire film again soon? NO! Hopefully will get there after some more time has passed.I do applaud Camille for tackling the subject of climate change, social injustice and the unfairness of life - even in death. I just wished like some other reviewers that she had picked one genre and committed to it fully.

If you’re still here after all these ramblings, you deserve a 🍪 and 🥂🍾

📷 Silent Night (Marv Studios) - all edits / gifs by me.

#keira knightley #silent night (2021)#silent night review #an essay/ novel by me apparently I do apologise #lots of ramblings #not sure if I even make sense?#matthew goode

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wizkiddx · 3 years

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unusable faces

i have exams hence why i needed to write something exceptionally cringe :)

PSA: this is completely inspired from one of my fave writers own blurb @blissfulparker --> completely recommend u go read hers its much better than anything i could ever write!!!! (and just her whole account) = link

Summary: pure exhaustion and mutual pining, Tom Holland x actress!reader

^(just thought this was cute, doesn't really fit aha but full credit to op!!)

A scheduling nightmare would be putting it lightly. Perhaps almost unavoidable but that didn’t make it any less of a hellish form a torture. Harry had very helpfully said it actually was a form of torture, that is sleep deprivation. Y/n loved her job - it was all she’d ever really wanted - yet that thought was quickly becoming not enough to get her through the day. Not when it felt like an interrogation tactic used by the CIA.

To give a quick timeline of the past few days may give a little context:

Thursday - filming the fight scene all day plus an evening-turned-half-the-night-shoot due to some technically difficulties delaying the process.

Friday - flying to New York while doing read throughs of scenes for the next few days; followed immediately by getting glammed and filming the tonight show with Fallon; then a dash across town to the late late show with James Corden; then straight back on a flight to Atlanta that landed at stupid o’clock in the morning

Saturday - a full day of shooting in a mock grand central station set

The press trip to NY had been unplanned… to say the least. But the star of their studios other new release had taken ill - meaning they had slots booked on some of the biggest talk shows in America that would just be abandoned (angering the shows bookers too). It was a waste of perfectly good promo time and since the studio had their two other stars together doing a block of reshoots - it wasn’t a conversation. Much more a call demanding the two of them to be on the plane.

Normally this wouldn’t be such an unmanageable ask either, except the reshoot block was really rather time pressured. You see, the promo tour wasn’t far from beginning meaning they really needed the final film in the can. So really it was a bit of a mess. Just to free up that single day the two were in New York the whole schedule had had to be rejigged - in doing so they’d lost a rare day off too. It was just typical.

The joys of success hey?

Well, that’s at least what Y/n was making herself think whilst her incredibly talented SFX artist was in the process of crafting a deep wound onto her upper arm. The reason why she would be ‘dripping with blood’ whilst at a train station was beyond Y/n to be honest - she hadn’t been allowed to read a lot of the script so even now as filming was drawing to a close, the story arc of the movie she was headlining was still a little ‘fuzzy’.

“So I watched your ‘spill your guts’ thing on YouTube” Ellie giggled whilst reaching over for more prosthetic putty- a technical term apparently

“I’m glad one of us enjoyed the experience” Y/n replied with a sigh, rolling her eyes at the mischievous smirk on her face - no doubt Ellie took great joy out of seeing her suffer through eating a thousand year old egg. Which Y/n swore the taste of was still in her mouth… and it seemed as though it’d never leave.

“Oh don’t worry darling I did too” Nelli called over from the next chair along, where she was doing Tom’s makeup for the day of shoots. “Between that and the animals on Fallon, you made a hell of a lot of people laugh last night” Tom’s artist was referencing the fact one of Jimmys other guests was a zookeeper, so at the end of the interview he had you and Tom join in trying not to scream at the snakes and spiders.

“You mean laugh at us?”

“Well of course darling!” Nelli exclaimed back in an overdramatic bronx accent making all three of the women burst out laughing, Ellie’s unceremonious snorts echoing through the trailer only egged them all on more.

Tom in response, who had otherwise been absent from conversation for the majority of the morning, exclaimed a curse and jumped up in his chair. While you and Ellie collected yourself, Nelli apologised to him.

“Oh sorry love, I’m interrupting your snooze with my uncontrollable comedic gift” She spoke sweetly, even if still taking the moment to flaunt to the other women, as she squeezed his shoulder compassionately.

“No no” Tom waved off her apology, attempting to rub his eye before Nelli swatted his arm away - a stern look for the risk of ruining all her hard work she’d put into making his face look half presentable.

“I’m impressed you can sleep while they poke you with all these er instruments” Y/n added in, having only just realised Tom had been in a light sleep for god knows how long they’d been in that chair. It did seem a bit unlikely, being able to fall asleep as you were dabbed, prodded and brushed.

“Maybe you should try though Y/n… your purple eye bags are proving a struggle even for me” Ellie quipped back, now it was Y/n’s turn to give the stern look. Tom took the explain though, shutting her off from whatever kindly meant insult she was about to throw back at her friend.

“No normally never, I just….” He was cut off by an ear splitting yawn, appearing almost powerful enough to crack his jaw - which would be a disaster, for no one should ruin such a beautiful and sharp jaw line. “…uh-sorry. I just think I ended up taking my NyQuil and DayQuil the wrong way round in the madness of yesterday.” Only Tom, the poor kid often seemed to lacking in any form of common sense - even if those closest to him knew just how intellectual and passionate he could be about the right topic. Affectionately, Nelli scalded his idiocy by jokingly swatting his head with a little tut.

“I can’t believe your still standing then! I’m barely alive and I don’t have any sedatives in my system.” It was true, Y/n was at that stage where every part of her body felt ridiculously heavy… eyes included … eyes especially.

“But I did sleep on the jet back while your stupid self was studying the script!” Tom replied with a pretty inarguable point - at the time he knew her actions were stupid; when their flight took off at 11 PM he was certain that the most valuable asset to his ability to act in the reshoots today would be sleep - rather than character development. And he’d tried to convince Y/n that briefly, but gave up. She was bloody stubborn when she wanted to be.

“Stop competing about who has it worse cos I think it’s me and Nell”Ellie announced - making Nelli agree empathically with her coworker, nodding her head as she looked first to Y/n in her chair then back at Tom.

“Yeh because we have to deal with your unusable faces!!”

After much sarcasm thrown back and fourth, the trailer slowly ebbed it’s way back into serenity and peace as both artists focused on their work. Once Nelli was done she excused herself, Tom staying in the chair in favour of studying (more like staring blankly) at the dialogue for this mornings scenes. His pretence didn’t last long though and while Ellie was busy adding the final touches of fake blood to the now almost completely believable gash that she’d crafted on Y/n’s arm - Y/n had her attention focused the opposite way.

At poor little Tom. He looked so childlike, his slightly puffy eyes looked as if they had weights tied to them - they way he was having fight against gravity to flutter his eyes open, before loosing the next second only for the process to repeat as they dragged downwards. The broad muscles of his neck occasionally seemed to occasionally let up a little, letting his head tilt slowly at first until it gathered enough momentum to throw him off balance. The then sudden movement of his head unconsciously pulling itself back in line caused his eyes to bolt open prior to the whole cycle repeating again. All Y/n wanted to do was let him lay down someone, her heart feeling a tug in her chest just seeing him like that.

Ellie proclaimed her completion of the wound, leaning back to admire her work before looking to get an affirming nod from Y/n. Yet instead, she was too preoccupied gazing at the boy slouched across from them. “Someone seems a little distracted.” Ellie smirked, finally garnering Y/n’s attention, only feeling more and more smug watching a light tint appear on the actors cheeks.

“I-well-no… we need to go.” Y/n ignored her words as though nothing had happened, instead rushing off the chair to get Tom out the chair and onto the awaiting set. They had places to be.

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||| (bcos im lazy)

Honestly when the director, Ed, called for lunch break, it was pretty apparent to be purely as a compassionate gesture to Y/n and Tom. Both of them had tried so hard this morning to fully commit, even so they’d both been almost completely useless. Y/n kept missing cues whilst all Tom’s actions and lines where slow, dragged out and at times completely prompted from someone behind the cameras.

So when the lunch break was called there was only one thing on Y/n’s mind and what sandwich was available in the mess tent was not it. Still standing on the set next to her fake holdall bag she looked toward Tom, who was pulling himself up to standing from the train station bench - the pace of his movement making him look more like an old man.

“You good?” His answer was predictable.

“I’m so fucking shattered”

Tom swore he’d never heard anything sweeter come out of Y/n’s pink lips than her next statement.

“C’mon I know somewhere we can lie down.”

Without any sort of thought Tom blindly agreed, nodding as he took her outstretched hand in his. The gesture in itself brought a fresh wave of comfort to his aching limbs and as his feet stumbled to catchup with her slight head start he leant the majority of his weight into their connected hands.

Neither would admit it but they were ‘a thing’… whatever the hell that meant. It was clear as day to everyone and anyone that worked closely to the two but neither of them had ever broached the topic with each other. They’d worked on a few films together over the years; each time they got closer and closer to the point any job without the other simply wasn’t as good. It was scary though, especially for two actors in the prime of their careers. If they weren’t working the same film they’d likely be the opposite side of the world to each other most of the time - quality time together would be few and far between, Really their jobs didn’t suit dating at all, yet it would be perhaps easier if one half of it worked a ‘normal’ job. Something with consistency, a regular structure. A level of dependability that neither Y/n nor Tom could offer to the other.

So it was terrifying, acknowledging the growth in their magnetic attraction to each other. Both were acutely aware that doing that, confronting their feelings, would most likely signal the beginning of the end.

Although none of this stoped Y/n from returning the gesture, tilting her shoulder into Tom’s left side as they took slow steps through and then out the set building. She steered the two past the hair and makeup trailer and round into a store and extra equipment trailer. Tom tilted his head as she climbed the stairs whilst beckoning for him to follow - it didn’t seem like the most obvious choice. Rolling her eyes, Y/n explained.

“It’s where all the blankets and coats and kept for the raining scenes plusssss no one will disturb us in here.” Again Tom was not in a position to disagree, eyes drooping as his shoulders sagged to the floor. Right now he’d take anything.

So he climbed up the stairs and shut the door behind him, just as Y/n flipped the light on. She was right, it was well equipped and with an almost mountainous supply of red blankets that normally the crew and extra would all be wrapped up in after the freezing rain scenes with all the ‘waterfall machines’ as Y/n called them. However it was also um…. It was cosy. “Oh I don’t think I realised how small it was” She chuckled lightly, since now the door was closed her back was pressed up against the far wall of cabinets and still her front was mere millimetres from Tom.

“I…I don’t mind… if-if you don’t?”

“I’m too tired to care” She giggled in response, and Tom , now with her seal of approval, immediately started ransacking the piled shelves for all their worth creating a floor carpeted in the pale red of the blankets, in an attempt to make it more cosy. Joining in, it was almost remarkable how quickly their bodies suddenly agreed to move, with the new promise of rest mere moments away.

Once the trailer was fully drowned, Tom kicked off his costume shoes and threw his jacket off - it haphazardly landing by the doorway. Y/n copied him, leaving her stood up whilst he had the advantaged of already settling down on the floor, her standing and looking down at him.

The space between the two opposing shelving units was not close spacious enough for two people to lie down whilst keeping a respectable level of personal space. Suddenly feeling a wave of awkwardness, Y/n stayed standing, wringing her hands slightly - whilst fairly certain Tom could hear her heart running at 100 mph.

“You er… gonna stay there or?” Tom, contrary to popular belief, wasn’t a complete idiot - he could see she was suddenly self conscious. He got it too - they’d never crossed this boundary of choosing to cuddle into each other. It had happened once of twice accidentally over there 2 years of knowing each other. Both of those times it was completely accidental, falling asleep watching a movie with a safe distance of space b between the two, only to find hours later their bodies almost completely intwined. Tom would be lying if he said that his heart didnt skip a beat when he had awoken to Y/n’s soft and gently breath fanning into his neck. He’d loved it, but understood that was unconsciously breaking down part of the wall they’d both been the constructors of.

For fear of getting hurt.

So now, as Y/n awkwardly bent down and lay on her side, he thought it was imperative to make her feel comfortable. Naturally then, his arm slid round her shoulders and pulled her down toward his chest, releasing a little breath as he felt her relax, her legs slowly wrapping round one of his.

“This okay?” He murmured, now into the crown of her head as she lay half on her side half on his chest. In reply she nodded into him and Tom couldn’t help but grin- unbeknownst to him but Y/n was doing the exact same thing.

The peace lasted all of 3 seconds until she groaned again.

“What?” Tom enquired as she wriggled out his hold and stood up. Instead of replying though she just leant over and flicked the one harsh light bulb off making Tom chuckle as she fumbled her way back onto the padded floor in the darkness, earning a few grunts from both as she accidentally kicked Tom’s thighs or banged her head on one of the now empty shelves. Fumbling her way back into a comfortable position, occasionally cursing when she stubbed her toe- or Tom did when she accidentally elbowed him in the ribs.

“Comfy?” Tom asked a little sarkily as he squeezed her a little more into his side.

“Mhmmmm… I’m gonna sleep for 100 years”

“Yeh me… me too”

And with that they both almost instantly and in complete unison sagged into each other and the blankets - the pent up stress and tension of the past few days ebbing away.

What the pair had neglected to remember was that sleeping for 100 years wasn’t really an option. The whole crew of 50 people, who wanted to restart filming after 45 minutes, had not been told about Y/n’s little hiding place. The pair were so completely safe in their own little cocoon of comfort they were completely oblivious to their teams calling there names more and more frantically. Completely oblivious to the game of hide and seek the situation had descended into, completely oblivious to Harrys natural annoyance as the director asked him for the whereabouts of the two stars - as though Harry was childminder to the pair of them.

It was Nelli who found them first. She’d and Ellie and Tom’s manager had all been recruited by Harry as part of the man hunt. Both girls, having seen first hand the state of the two this morning, were fairly certain they’d both crashed out somewhere. So Nelli, already with a sneaking suspicion, opened the door gently, her figure blocking the majority of the light from seeping through to the dimly lit inside. The sight she was met with had her actually pouting at the cuteness - and yes its a cringey word but also the only one appropriate.

Between bedding down and barely an hour later the two had managed to become impossibly tighter pressed to each other. Y/n’s face was pressed into the crook of Tom’s neck and his arms seemed to have pulled her on-top of him almost completely. Her left leg was hooked under his right, which was then sandwiched by his left too. They both looked so pure and innocent and god did Nelli know they both needed any extra time they could get.

Nelli cared a lot about Tom, she’d been working with him from the beginning, from the child star days to now. She cared about him like her very annoying surrogate son and she wanted to see him looked after. She also so completely wanted the two stars to stop pining after each other. Because frankly it was getting a little frustrating for everyone else.

So she chose to tactically forget about her discovery, sneaking a photo on the sly before silently pulling the door closed and leaving them to their sleep.

#tom holland #tom holland fluff #tom holland x reader #tom holland x famous!reader #tom holland x actress!reader #fluff

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onlyang3ll · 3 years

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Dreams About You

a/n: hello! so this is something I have been wanting to write. I love sport romance novels. and I totally do not think I did them justice but I gave it a shot. I proof read some but I honestly just want to get it up for you guys. let me know how you like it! I was possibly going to turn it into a series but not sure yet. and I decided to create a OC for this fic. so meet Mary! OKAY! hope you enjoy.

warnings: 18+. fingering. handjob. kissing. underage drinking. smoking cigs. swearing. anxiety. sorta self image issues. I think that is all sorry if I miss anything.

summary: Dylan is a hot shot hockey senior captain at a big university. Mary is a very unsociable sophomore just trying to get through college. but they end up meeting and things happen between them. But Mary is finding it hard to believe mister hotshot would want anything serious.

word count: 4.9K

Numb. Numb is the only word I could describe my ass cheeks right now. I have been sitting on a cold metal bench, in a cold ice arena for only 20 minutes; definitely too long. Not by choice. My friend Nelly thought we should spend our Thursday night watching a bunch of bruty, egotistical men skate around and bump into each other. I don’t know anything about hockey and do NOT plan on learning. I decided to be a good friend though and power through the pain.

“Omg look there he is!’ Nelly squealed out, pointing to number twenty-seven, as he skated swiftly over to a group of four other guys. ‘O’brien’ In bold black lettering plastered on the top of the backside of the jersey. Dylan O’brien, is the captain of the hockey team. Also the biggest dbag on the entire campus. I gave a fake smile, towards my pretty blonde friend to my right as she continued to gawk over the player and his friends. I only know one other player in his friend group's name. Think it’s Tyler. But I really don’t care if that's his name or not.

These hockey games get beyond packed, because the girls at this university think these men are just so mind blowing or something. Never got the hype. Our team was winning. The other team is nothing compared to ours. The guys may be jackasses, but they are total bosses at the game they play, I’ve heard.

“Are you listening Mary?” I am brought back from my zoning out by my best friend's voice. Wait, I was just paying attention to hockey. Gross. “Uh.. no sorry I zoned out for a sec. What's up?” She smiled and grabbed onto my hand, placing a big smile on her face. Great, she wants something And she knows I would not be interested in it. “So lily over there,” she points before continuing. “Well she said the team is throwing a party after the game.. And,” she paused once more, taking in a deep breath, “we should totally go!” Instantaneously I groan in annoyance. “C’mon, pretty please. It's our sophomore year of college. We agreed to be more social this year!”

She was right, we went to a total of two and a half parties last year. Yes, ‘a half’. I got so anxious through one, I had to leave. And Nell being the best friend she is, decided to head back to our dorm with me. I owe her this I suppose. I just nod, if I try to verbally agree, nothing may come out. Nell clapps and leans in kissing my cheek, before turning to tell the girl she got the info from we would ‘absolutely be there girl!’

The game ended, and we headed out into the main lobby of the ice arena. It was packed. And this was not good for me. I was already fully overwhelmed with having to attend this party. Now this makes me think about how almost all of these people will be attending as well. Great. Nelly lets me know she is gonna run to the little girls room to wee. I gave her a quick nod before resting in a hallway close to the bathrooms. Just for some peace and quiet. Pulling my phone out so I can scroll through my socials, also to shine some light into the dimly lit hallway.

After a few moments I heard some laughter coming from further down the hall, and noticed some doors. That is my cue, walking back out the crowd seemed a little less vicious. Can’t even imagine the line for the girls bathroom, knowing Nell she is talking it up with someone. I laugh to myself a bit at the thought, because it's so Nell to do that. I laid my back up against the wall right around the corner from the dark hallway, reaching into my purse to grab out some chapstick. My hand got caught on the strap of the bag and caused me to drop the chapstick tube onto the ground. “Shit” I fumble down to reach for it just as the chapstick and my hand meet a pretty large sized shoe. I glance up. Why me?

I hear a low husky chuckle, his brown eyes looking down at you. You could get lost in them. Never seen this man up close. But the rumors about how godly looking he is totally are true. Just then he clears his throat. “Oh sorry,” grabbing the chapstick, quickly pulling myself up to stand on my feet. But it seems as if I now resemble a baby deer, because I stumble over my OWN two feet. I'm steadied by his large hands, gripping onto my upper arm. “Woah someone is clumsy.” He spoke in such a cheerful, teasing tone.

Your cheeks are beat red. You know it. He can tell, he just pulls his hands away slowly, smirking at you. “Yeah I guess my balance is off today.” That was a stupid response. I mentally slap myself. He uses one hand to hold onto the annoyingly large duffle bag slung over his shoulder. “I’m Mary,” holding my hand out. My hands are so clammy. Stupid move. Once again. “Dylan,” he smiled, shaking your hand with his free one. After the exchange you shove your hands into the pockets of your black winter coat. “Hey uh, the teams having a party at Posey’s frat. You should come. It's gonna be a wild one.” Dylan says, still holding that bright smile. Even though you know the invite was probably to just be kind and to kill some awkwardness I caused. Moving a hand to push back the flowy dark brown curtain styled bangs behind your ear, “Sounds cool, I think my friend and I will stop by.” You have an issue with looking people in their eyes when you speak. You get too nervous and will start to trip over your own words. But after you stopped you could make contact again, so meeting his eyes you noticed they were plaster on your very obvious cleavage.

He is totally looking at my tits. Smooth dude. His eyes flicker back up, I want to be grossed out, but part of me is patting my own back for wearing the tight little white low cut shirt under my coat. Wait, why would I want him checking me out? I need air or something to many people here. Maybe my brain isn't getting enough oxygen. “And where is this friend you speak of, because right now I only see a pretty girl by herself.” He glances around as if he is looking for my friend like I made her up. I laugh at that a bit. “Sure hope it is not a guy friend, we're talking about either. Because that would really damper the night.” He chuckled, peering down at me. I was a good 5’2 and he had to be over 5’9. So a significant amount to bend the neck. “Why is that?” I let my eyes wander down to my dark green converse on my feet. I feel his presence move a bit closer to me, looking up to him. “Because I wouldn't have you to myself” He fake pouted.

Just then I hear Nelly gasps. But she quickly recovers. “Mary,” She smiles at Dylan and then to me. “Dylan, this is my friend. Who is totally a girl. And her name is Nelly.” He choked back a small laugh, nodding his head towards my friend. “Hey Nelly. Mary-” Just as he was talking, a loud shout of his name caught our attention. “O’brien! There you are! You fucking rock dude.” The one I think is named Tyler, clapped his hands against Dylan's back, smiling. Dylan just let out a loud laugh at his friend's behavior. “T Pose. Meet Mary and Nelly.” Dylan gestures his hand towards us.

Nelly seems to be in shock, two senior guys are talking to us. I am quite shocked too. But I will roll with it. Tyler smiles, he is not too bad on the eyes either. Gods. This whole team it seems. “Sup ladies.” He then gives Dylan his attention again. “We better get going man, people are already showing up at my place. Be out in my car, leaving in five. So wrap it up if you want a ride.” Tyler gives his back one more pat, before heading off. “Hope to see you ladies there” He shot Nelly a wink. She definitely squealed. Dylan and I both laugh at that. I am anxious in general so nothing really heightens around certain people. But Nelly does not keep her cool when it's needed. “That's my cue,” He points to his friend exiting the building. “But forreal Mary, you should come.” You nod at his words, giving a slight smile. He starts to walk off backwards to still keep his eyes on my friend and I. He gives a wave, and you return the gesture.

The moment we got into Nelly’s car she yelped out loud. “Holy shit! Mary! How did you get to talk to DYLAN FRICKING O’BRIEN'' I laughed, she was crazy. In a good way. “We just had a little run in and he mentioned the party and that was it.” I shrugged. She kept babbling her mouth the whole way to the frat house. She said she was going to put some moves on Tyler, because the wink was a signal for her to make her move. I was not going to burst her bubble. But these hockey players are known man whores. They sleep with women daily. So she obviously has a chance but Nell will think more of it, rather than it just being a hookup.

We pull up and the whole front yard is filled with people and red solo cups tossed along the lawn. I am so not prepared for this. I ditch my winter coat, and just head in wearing my same white shirt along with my plain black leggings. Not normal wear for a party according to some girls, but I liked to be comfortable. And the tight clothing I chose to wear was showing off my rocking curves. Comfy and hot all in one. Then we have my dear friend who is wearing a cropped shirt with a mini skirt. Thankfully I got her to put some black tights on under the skirt before we left the dorm room many hours ago. Winters were brutal here. Right as we pushed our way inside the big front door, we were met with the girls Nell talked to at the game. I just stood there as they all giggled and spoke about how many guys were here.

Not even listening one bit to what they got so into detail about, I glanced around the room. I wasn't looking for anyone in particular.. Okay. Maybe I am looking for Dylan. But only because I already assume he has some random puck bunny shoving her tongue down his throat. I didn't take his flirting to heart. He must know i’m not a senior at the uni so therefore he most likely won't want anything to do with a younger girl. Just as I was moving to put my attention back on Nell’s rambling. I heard my name. My head whips in the direction it was coming from. Dylan fucking O’brien is walking my way with a huge smile plastered on his cute face. “Mary glad you came” He spoke so nonchalantly. Like he knew I would come. The girls to my right all shut their mouths when he reached our group.

“Actually me and these girls were just about to go meet some other friends, uh over that way” Nelly interjected before I could even open my mouth, waving her finger in a random direction. She has no other friends here. “Do you mind keeping Mary some company for a second?” She gave Dylan a smile, he just chuckled a bit, nodding. With that Nelly and the girls were gone.

Way to throw me to wolves Nell.

“Nice party,” You said in a low tone, while rocking back onto the heels of your feet. “Yeah it’s pretty full, have you ever been to one of our team's parties before?” He asked while taking a sip from his beer bottle. I shook my head. “Nope,” You popped the ‘p’ and glanced back up to meet his eyes with my own. “Shit, then I have to give you the full experience.” He got an excited grin on his face. “So first off, let's get you a drink” He held his hand out for you to grab on. I don't budge. “Uh I shouldn't, I would feel bad drinking since my friend isn't.” He kept his hand out, waiting for yours. “C’mon, if she isn't drinking then you can. DD’s are so the other friends can drink. I am sure she would want you to enjoy yourself if she chose to not drink tonight” He is right. Damn him and his facts. I place your hand onto his and immediately he laces our fingers together.

Last time I held hands with a guy was months ago when I went on a horrible date with someone from one of my study groups. Dylan’s hand is much bigger, more callused and I totally enjoy it more this time. He drags me to the kitchen. Which is surprisingly less packed than every other room in this whole house. “Beer girl?” I laughed at him as he looked over you with much concentration on his face. “What makes you say that?” I look around the other options. “Too chill and you seem to be a simple girl to please. And well, beer is chill and simple” He chuckled out. You shrugged and reached to grab a bud light bottle. “I drink plenty of different types of drinks. But bud light will always be a go to” He popped the cap off for you, and you quickly took a sip. Maybe the alcohol will relax you a bit.

Oh did the alcohol relax you.You have now been introduced to every one Dylan could possibly introduce you too. Without one moment of feeling as if you needed to run away and hide. And right now you're playing beer pong with another one of the hockey players. I think his name was Jake. It was you and him against Tyler and Dylan. You were surprisingly good. Nelly, who made her way back to you about forty minutes after she left you with Dylan, was cheering you on, and seemed to be flirting with Tyler a bit more than I thought she would.

Jake and I won the round of beer bong, and I am absolutely drunk. Dylan came over and gave me a high five, laughing. “Shit, Mary didn't know you were such a boss at pong” He wrapped one arm around my shoulder tugging me into his side a bit. Okay he is being extra touchy. Relax.

“First time playing actually” I shrug my shoulders. He gasps, “bud light lover and natural born beer pong player” he turns to face me holding onto the shoulders gently. “Where have you been my whole life mar” the nickname was unexpected, so I just let out a giggle. “Well what's next, mister party guide” I teased, looking up to see his face clearer. He looks around and spots Tyler making out with a fully sober Nelly, I laugh a little. She will never stop talking about that. Dylan let out a low chuckle, before wrapping his arm back around my shoulder and leading us out of the living room.

“Let's go outside and get some air?” He nods towards the back door, making our way out. We take a much needed seat on a bench. Twinkle lights hung from trees. The cold winter air hits my face causing my nose to turn red quickly. “You are a cool dude” I speak before I can realize what i'm saying. “Did you think I wouldn't be a cool dude” He laughed, while pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Captain of the hockey team smokes. Noted. “I just thought you may have been a douchebag” Okay. Think before you speak Mary. Another laugh falls from his lips, he sparks up the cig and takes a quick hit before he responds. “I can be a douchebag sometimes. But I didn't feel the need to be a douchebag with you.”

Leaning into his side more, he tightens his arm around you for more warmth. “You’re a cool girl mary” He playfully mocks me. I smile and nod, “Oh trust me I know I am.” We sit in silence as he finishes up his cigarette, tossing the butt to the ground.

Something between us shifted, our bodies huddled together. The cold air seems to not even be a bother because my body seems to be boiling. I study his face, the perfect nose, cute little scattered moles that cover his cheeks. He is hot. His hand is running up and down my arm in a slow pattern. He drops his hand to rest on my waist, squeezing a bit. “You're staring baby” His husky voice makes me move my eyes to focus on my feet. Using his other hand to hold onto my chin bringing my face back into his view. “I have been staring at you all night.” He says in a hushed tone. Gosh his lips are so soft looking. I want to kiss him. Fuck I want to do more that kiss him. I want those lips all over my body. I guess all the beers made me not really pay attention to see if he was staring at me.

He is so close to my face I feel his breathing on my lips, “Can I kiss you?” No words. No head nods. I smash my lips against his own. They are soft. Suddenly I felt his tongue slip past my lips and we began to move closer, his left hand cupping my face holding me to him as if he couldn't get enough from the kiss. And his right hand is still tightly placed on my waist.

Low groans come from his mouth, and it makes me moan out into the kiss. He seemed to like my reaction, because in one swift movement I was placed onto his lap and his lips traveled along my neck leaving sloppy kisses. “I need more,” Is all I could manage to get out of my mouth, Dylan nods. “Let's go upstairs.” Before I could respond, we were making our way inside. Hand in hand,pushing through the crowd of people. As we started up the stairs, Dylan abruptly stopped causing me to run into his back, “what the hell” I groan. “Sorry babe, but if we go up there we won't make it into a room.” I glanced around him confused and noticed a bunch of his friends messing around. He turns around quickly and points to a door next to the kitchen.

“Laundry room?” I laugh softly, as he closes the door behind me. “Next time will be more classy,” he lifts you up as if you weigh nothing, when you're actually a pretty curvy girl, placing you on top of the dryer. A sudden burst of anxiety rushes inside of your head. Stomach begins to clench. What if he thinks I'm fat? No way he has ever been with a girl over 130 before. And I am way over that. “Hey.. you alright?” His voice is soft and brings me out of my own head. I nod. “I am okay, sorry I was just thinking about if someone walked in. We should lock the door” He takes a moment and doesn't fully believe that is what she was thinking about, but nods locking the door.

Locking your legs around his waist as he stands in front of you, tilting your head back to have his face in view. “You are stunning” He talks in a low voice and moves his hands to cup your cheeks. I never normally put myself into this position with guys. I am no virgin but drunk; Well partially drunk hookups are not my thing. Dylan seems to be pretty sober. Maybe his tolerance is higher. Me on the other hand, still feeling a buzz. But the cold sobered me up a bit.

“Kiss me” I had to say that so I didt let my mind take over again, with that being said he did kiss me. With just as much need and hunger as he did outside. He has his hands cupping my face, holding me against his lips. I move my hands to run down his chest and stomach, feeling the soft abs that are hidden by the fabric of his shirt. I rest my hands right above his button to his jeans. He pushes his hips forward and I take that as my cue to move further. Undoing the button and shoving my hand inside of his jeans and his briefs, I'm met with a very prominent erection.

He moans when my small hand wraps around the middle of his length. “Fuck your hand is so soft..” He mumbles against my mouth, just then I feel him firmly cup his hand around my crotch through my thin leggings. “You're so wet, I can feel it already” He rushes his words out, as I pump my hand around his hard cock. Dylan pulls away from my body swiftly, tugging my legging down along with my bright yellow lace panties. But not once did I stop from jerking him off.

I can feel the pre cum in my hand a little more every time I reach the tip again in my stroke pattern. I feel a finger run up my glistening slit. Dylan rests his forehead against mine, just as he pushes a slender finger inside my cunt. Both of us panting from the pleasure. No kissing just eye contact. The vibe between is feeling very intense. It's like something is igniting in both of us. I let out a whine as the pressure of another finger being added is stretching me out some more. I remove my hand from his throbbing length, tugging his jeans and boxers down a bit to free his cock. And my eyes dilate. SO BIG.

Quickly he nudges his hard-on at my hand and I bring my hand up to spit in it and bring it back down to wrap around his shaft, moving my hand in a slow pace, with a firm grip. He fastens up the fingers as he fucks me with them, bucking his hips forward, fucking my hand. “So fucking hot, baby” He groans out and nips at your jaw gently. His thumb is pressed against your clit moving it in a nice rhythm. It feels like a balloon full of butterflies is inflating inside your lower abdomen. I am close. The moans coming from his mouth from my hand giving him pleasure is enough to make me cum. “I am close,” I whine out into his ear and he quickens the movements of his fingers. “Me too, cum for me” He places a soft kiss on my neck, curling his fingers up inside of me massaging the spot inside of me, making me yell out quite loudly. Thankful for the loud music right now.

He grips my chin making eye contact with me, bucking his hips faster, his eyes look heavy. He was close too, I want to cum together. I feel his cock twitch in my hand and I nearly explode. “Dylan I’m cumming” I mumble out, and just then as I buck my hips into his fingers from the orgasm washing over my body. Warm liquid shoots into my hand as I pump my hand while he cums.

Panting is all that fills the room now.

We stay close to one another, until his fingers slowly come out from inside of my hole. I remove my hand from his cock and look around and notice a rag, he seems to catch on and grabs a clean folded rag. He cleans my hand, and legs up and moves onto cleaning up himself. “That was the hottest sexual experience I've ever had.” He says while pulling my legging back up for me. I blush at his comment and gesture. “Thanks.” Stupid response Mary,

Dylan laughs a bit pulling up his briefs and jeans. “Next time it will be even better” He leans in and places a soft kiss onto my lips. And again with the ‘Next time’ I began to wonder if he meant it. “Let's get back out there, people are probably starting to wonder where the life of the party went.” He helped me down from the washer, running his hands down my arms resting them on my waist, smiling at me. “And when i say life of the party i'm talking about you” He winks playfully. Placing a kiss on my forehead he bends his knees a bit to be eye level with me. “You okay mar?” His voice is so kind. I nod, “Yeah sorry, I am perfectly okay,” I give him a bright smile. “Good, let’s go” He tugs me out. No one notices us leaving the room.

Within minutes of him grabbing himself another beer, chatting it up with a friend of his. Nelly comes running up to me, her eyes wide and a smile painted on her face. She mouths, “he is so into you!!” before making it known she was there. “Hey Mary!” Dylan moves his attention to my loud friend. “What's up nell?” I speak, and Dylan just gives her a smile. I guess I didn't realize he had his arm around me the whole time he was talking with his friend. But Nelly made me notice by her eyes staring at the position we were standing in. “I am going to headout, just wanted to see if you were ready?” I nod at her, “Yeah one second, I will meet you out in the car..” She nods, her and Dylan saying their goodbyes, he turns away from his friend to give his full attention to me. “You sure you don’t want to stay? I could get you a ride home when I bounce” He suggested, I shake my head. He pouts, “don't be sad, I am sure you will enjoy your party just fine without me” I laugh a bit. “No promises.” He moves to pull his cell out, “Number?” gently taking his phone and entering my number, I smile. “I had a great time tonight,” I glanced at my feet, feeling him pull me into his chest and placing a soft kiss on my cheek. “Me too, baby. Best orgasm ever” He teases and I gasp a bit, he just said that out loud. He laughs, “okay, I don't want to get on your friend's bad side by keeping you too long.”

Giving a small wave after saying your goodbyes, I walk out of the front door, pushing through the remaining people at the party. Dylan's eyes never left my body. His gaze was so strong. Felt good to have his attention that way.

The car ride was full of questions. “No freaking way, I got made out with and my bestie got finger banged in a laundry room by one of the hottest guys at the whole university.” We both laugh, and I just listen to her gossip the rest of the drive.

I sit down in my bed after tonight's events and I feel like I'm floating on cloud nine. I grab my hairbrush and brush through my freshly clean hair, just as my phone vibrates. Who would be texting me at almost 1:30 am?

Unknown: sup mar, just wanted to say goodnight.

Another buzz goes through my phone.

Unknown: also just in case you didn't know already, that was the best orgasm ever.

I laugh quietly, and put in the contact. What do I even respond to that?

Mary: goodnight dylan. and yanno you keep saying that, i may just let it get to my head.

I finish brushing my hair, and a minute goes by and then my phone is buzzing again.

Dylan: it's the truth baby. but i could make a tweet or something, just to let everyone know you made me have a bomb ass orgasm from a handy.

What a dork.

Mary: don't even think about it. go to bed mister.

I toss the phone onto my bed and walk over to the bathroom to finish up my skin care routine, while Dylan consumes my brain. That boy is a real ego boost for a girl. Never did I ever expect to give a handjob to Dylan, let alone anyone tonight. But it seems to have played in my favor. And I definitely want more of him. I start thinking about how his tongue would feel on my- HOLY HELL NAUGHTY MARY

NOPE. Mary stop. He probably does this with a bunch of girls. Nothing special. Don't be that girl.

I head back to my bed and pick up my phone, as I get under my blanket.. 2 unread messages.

Dylan: yes ma’am.

Dylan: you'll be in my dreams. see you soon, beautiful.

I groan and toss my phone across my bed. Trust me you’ll be in my dreams too.

#dylan o'brien #dylan o'brien fluff #dylan o’brien #dylan o’brien smut #dylan o'brien x oc #Dylan O'brien x reader #teen wolf #teen wolf imagine #stiles stilinksi imagine #stiles stilinski smut #hockeyplayer!dylan #hockey imagine #dylan o'brien imagine #maze runner #dave hodgeman imagines #dylan o'brien blurb #Dylan O'brien fic

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doodleimprovement · 4 years

Text

CSAU :: Moonie Jericho and the Mysterious Case of the Moon-Jumper Mask

At long last, It is finished! Happy Halloween!

Below the line is a lighthearted fic taking place in the “Coffee Shop” AU (( @doodledrawsthings ))with Magic! Family fun! Low stakes! And a gratuitous cameo by my OC because of course Nell is here

Seriously though this fic is about as lighthearted as it gets. At the end of the fic are a few sketches I drew but didn’t end up coloring.

((There’s going to be an alternate ending posted separately at a later date, but its not relevant to the fic))

Enjoy!

Fall in Subcon Forest came in gently as always, and by the time Halloween rolled around, everyone was firmly in their sweaters and beanies and thick leggings and hiking boots that were only occasionally used for hiking. The leaves of the trees and the shining sun framed the town in such lovely muted colors that it looked like a picture right out of a magazine.

Not that anyone in the Horizon was looking out the window to see it - the curtains were closed in an attempt to not blind the employees and clientele.

It was that time between the end of school but before trick or treating, which meant that all of the teachers and parents were coming into the Horizon with their kids to get the new specialty drinks - well decorated and tasty, and more importantly, not hilariously overpriced. The kids in particular seemed to love the “Ghoulishly White Hot Chocolate”, and the teens flocked to the “Jack-O-Spices Frozen Pumpkin Latte”

Luka was almost certain that the pumpkin spice smell would burn itself so deep into his nose he’d never be able to un-smell it. A small price to pay for the rise in business, he supposed.

“Luka, Two Snatcher-ccinos!” Clover called from the cash register.

“I still hate that!” He responded with a light tone

“Too bad, make ‘em!” She teased back with a light laugh.

“Don’t get all testy, you two! We’re only open for another hour!” MJ called, grinning before turning back to the coffee machine, where they were effortlessly making yet another latte.

“Too long!” Clover argued, grabbing a muffin for a customer from the bakery display

“You’re telling me, and I still have to take Bow and Hattie trick or treating” Luka huffed, finishing up one of the “Snatcher-ccinos” and moving onto the next one.

“WE are!” MJ corrected. Luka just playfully rolled his eyes.

The conversation ended up dying rather quickly as the business went through its last rush, and, at long last, 4 o’clock came, and the store shut down. The three employees did a rather quickly clean up this night around - they were all eager to be anywhere but work that spooky night.

Once in the back of the store, Luka seemed to almost melt in relief, leaning further and further into the wall.

“Ugh, my limbs feel like Jelly” he commented as his voice gained its echo

“For all we know, they are,” Clover teased. “We’re meeting at MJs in an hour, right?” She stretched.

“Yeah.” Luka nodded “Have they already run off?”

“Yup. They’re excited” She chuckled “You gonna get home alright?”

“Yeah, thanks. See you later”

“Later!”

0o0o0o0o0

That stupid, cursed thing of a mask had not moved in weeks since he’d found it, and its stupid grin had started haunting the corner of his vision when ever he was in his studio.

It seems like it's decided that sitting on the desk in his art studio was its happy place. At least it was out of the way, and in a place he didn’t frequent often.

Though its eyes definitely still moved, which gave MJ hives like you would not believe. Why he kept it in his studio he wasn’t sure.

Tim had told him that the thing was mostly harmless, that it just seemed a bit… off, which wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Timmy even said that he got “good vibes” off of it, which was a strange phrase to use on something that felt at the very least mildly cursed.

Finishing with the caplet for his costume, gently clasping it, he looked in the mirror and gave himself a smile.

It was obscure, sure, but he’d put a lot of work into it! The legend of the “Lonely Man” was well known in these parts, maybe someone would get it. Someone had to.

Whether or not anyone got it, he was still happy with the tattered thing. That faux old age took forever to get right.

As he straightened out his clothes, his eyes caught the mask once more.

His hand picked it up off his desk, and his thumb rubbed on the odd surface. He couldn’t really tell what it was made of, but it was… oddly smooth, he thought. His brow furrowed as he looked at its eyes, a single pupil in its left eye, and a cascade of diamonds in the other. It was certainly an interesting and eye-catching design. He also liked the blue and reds, and that weirdly off-putting grin.

Such an odd thing.

He held it up with one hand over his face - not putting it on, but getting a look in the mirror at how it would look with the outfit.

He found it utterly bizarre that he could see clearly through the eyes despite what seemed like thick paint over it.

The mask itself wasn’t actually that scary when taken all at once. Oddly enough, it seemed to match with his outfit - at least, color wise. It didn’t even seem evil or anything. It seemed… kind.

That was an odd word to use. MJ tended to flip flop on how he feels about the damned thing

Before he could think any more about it, his doorbell rang, and the mask was left on his desk, forgotten the moment company arrived.

“Who is it?” He asked as he approached the door

“The Dread Pirate Roberts!” A little voice announced as the oak opened up.

To his absolute delight, Harriet was dressed indeed the Dread Pirate Roberts, missing nothing but the mask (The town doesn’t allow masks on minors, for some reason. A weird little policy). Next to her stood an excited Bow, grinning from ear to ear. He knew exactly who she was, but still asked-

“And who are you?”

“My name is Inigo Montoya” She said with all the faux-seriousness she could muster, holding up a foam sword “You killed my father, prepare to die!”

“Oh, goodness, the finest swordsperson in the world and The Dread Pirate Roberts have come to my home, I don’t stand a chance!” He moved out of his way as the kids ran into the apartment, and their father walked up behind him.

When his eyes went to Luka, he let out a snort. The man was dressed in a slightly silly looking prince outfit dyed almost completely purple, and his form was mostly purple as well - an energy-saving tactic if ever there was one.

“And you are?”

“He’s the ghost of prince Humperdink” Bow grinned. “This was the best costume we could find for it”

“I honestly think he shoulda died at the end of the movie so I'm cool with it.” Harriet commented as MJ moved to the side and let the group in “Is Clover here yet?”

“Not yet, I’m sure she’ll be here any minute and we can get right along with trick or treating!” MJ announced

“Yay!” the girls responded in unison, taking their place on MJs couch and turning on his old television for a brief moment of entertainment

Mj looked at Luka and grinned “Well, you’re lookin’ spooky, Luka”

“You kind of do too… what do you look like?”

MJ snorted “I’m the ‘Lonely Man of Subcon forest’. Heard of it?”

“Nope, don’t think I’ve been here long enough” Luka shrugged “Does look nice though. Very zombie-ish.”

The two chatted for a bit before there was another ring barely 10 minutes later.

“That must be Clo” MJ pushed himself off of the wall. “Can you get that? I want to grab my wallet so we can get the kids some ice cream before they go running around”

Luka nodded, giving him a grateful smile before turning to the door to greet the final member of the trio

MJ popped back into his studio, grabbing his wallet… and looking again at the mask.

He pocketed his wallet, and picked the mask up again. His thumbs rubbing against the strange texture of the mask’s sides.

He couldn’t help but admit that he was tempted. Maybe, he could just see what it’d look like, just for a moment. Who knows? Maybe this has all been anxiety for nothing and the mask is just… weird.

He looked back into the mirror, and placed the mask on his face.

There was a moment where he stared amusedly at his reflection - it added a certain air to his outfit. Maybe wearing it out wouldn't be so b-

And then his body seized

He couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe. He trembled and a pain started from his head and traveled down his spine. It was like the worst shiver from the cold he’d ever experienced. Like ice was pressed directly against his skin. It dispersed like a fog, freezing freezing, and, suddenly-

It stopped.

Panting heavily, MJ pulled themselves back up to a standing position - when had they bent over like that? - and lifted their head, making eye contact with themselves in the mirror.

“GAH?!”

They were - blue! And - and the mask was very much not a mask!!!

When they blinked, it blinked. When they moved, it moved. When they grimaced, the mouth moved along to create the expression. their eyes scanned over the crescent shape, past their neck and then landed on their-

“H-hands!” They stared - they were missing a finger and - had claws?? They clenched their fists in disbelief, eyes catching on a glinting just under their sleeve.

.. Where had the chains come from?

“MJ? MJ are you okay?”

Clover

“D-don’t come in, its fine!!” They panicked, “I’m uh, just, finishing up and stuff with my costume!”

“It looked finished to me” Luka commented “Did something rip?”

“Y-yes?? yes! Something totally ripped“

“They’re lying!” Hattie pointed out

“Sounds like their lying voice” Bow added.

Curse these adorable, smart little girls!

“I-I’m fine!” They yelled out “Totally fine, just fine”

“... MJ I’m opening the door, be decent”

“No, Clover, I - “

But the door opened anyway

And Clover - dressed up as “Generic princess” - looked in, and … stared.

“.... MJ?”

“.... H-hi, Clover.”

“Clover, what are-” Luka cut himself off “Uh….”

“It’s me! Its MJ, I uh - “ They tried to come up with a succinct explanation for the situation, despite not having any real idea.

“The mask” Luka quickly concluded, recognizing the face after MJs unfortunately previous run-ins.

“I … yes” MJ’s shoulders slumped a bit.

“Hey, at least you still have feet” Luka commented, causing MJ to look down and see that he did in fact still have his shoes on. Thank heaven for small mercies.

“What happened, what is it?!” Harriet pushed her way through, her eyes wide as saucers once they landed on the recently transformed adult “... Whoa”

“I … I put on the mask. I was curious and - and it..” They looked back down at the pale, blue hands, nervously moving the fingers and claws. “I felt like I was freezing, my whole body and then…” They trailed off.

“Whoa..” Harriet approached him slowly “It's like, Majora’s Mask!”

Lukas put his hand on her shoulder to stop her from jumping - now really was not the time “... I suppose that's one way to describe it.” He gave a deliberate, thoughtful face towards his transformed friend.

Bow was very firmly behind the adults, staring rather intently and slightly bewildered. Sure, she had been getting used to Mr. Princeton as a parent but.. This was somehow very different.

“... We need to talk to Tim.” Clover concluded

“Tim’s out of town” Luka reminded the group with a grimace “He and Timmy had some kind of meeting thing with other magical people. We don’t…” Luka huffed, his hair fluffing up a bit “We don’t know anyone else whose adept at magic like they are”

Harriet furrowed her brow a bit, looking at the discomfort that MJ was experiencing, rubbing their hands together. Could they be stuck like that? She wanted to think that maybe this really was like the Zelda game, but who could tell? It's not like they knew anyone….

“Yes we do!” She snapped her fingers“I kinda hate that Mu was right, but there is a witch in town!”

“What?” Lukas’ brow furrowed “Who?”

0o0o0o0o0

Getting to the edge of town was… novel, to put it simply. The group was rather lucky that Luka was used to doing this sort of thing. And he was about 4 times larger than the group, so that helped in flying them around.

With the sun kissing the earth, red rays crawling into the darker sky, they didn’t have too much time, but followed Harriet and Bow as they got past the town center, and led them down to-

“Wait, why are we at Nell’s place?” Clover stared ahead at the Mint-green home, succulents hanging from pots and a radio sitting on the edge of the porch.

“Because Nurse Nell is a witch!” Harriet announced walking up the two steps of the porch.

“What- Harriet!” Luka startled.

“Its true!” Bow defended as Hattie knocked on the door.

“Kids, we’ve known Nell for a long time, she’s not-”

“She is!” Hattie argued “We saw it!”

“She made us promise to keep it a secret!” Bow added.

Said nurse opened the door as MJ tried to speak up

“I wasn’t expecting trick-or treaters,” She greeted before looking out the door, “But I do-” She paused as her eyes landed on the strange group at her front porch.

There was a rather awkward, extended silence as her eyes scanned MJ through her thick lenses with a gaze that conveyed a strange kind of surprise.

“.... Inside, now” She pulled the door open further, leaving no room for argument.

The adults shared a glance, but did as she said, entering her small living room. She greeted them with a nod as they entered, and shut the door behind them, motioning for MJ to approach her.

She didn’t say a word as they did so, and very slowly lifted her hands to their face, holding it steady as she scrutinized. “What happened? Less than 3 sentences” She half asked/half demanded. Her tone wasn’t harsh, but it was serious.

“Uh, I put on a cursed mask and it uh… did this” They tried to sum up.

“Where did you get the mask?”

“I found it in the forest. I thought it was abandoned from the spirit festival”

“And why did you pick up an abandoned mask in the forest?”

They awkwardly didn’t respond. She sighed

“I get it, hun” She responded, resigned. “Stay still”

“I am”

“Stiller”

Clover and Luka watched her with some skepticism, seeing the woman take a deep breath, and as she exhaled, her hands suddenly glowed dimly, tapping at the side of MJs head.

“Hah! See! Told you!” Hattie pointed, jumping slightly

“Shhhhhhhh!” Bow shook her “She’s doin’ magic stuff!”

“Hm…” She masterfully ignored the yelling children “Well, good news is that the magic isn’t very strong, Just… aggressive.” Nell announced. “And it's not malevolent” She let go of their face.

“... I… How can you tell?” MJ asked, their own hand tapping their blue cheek.

“.. Let's say it's a feeling” She summed up. “You can sit down. I need to grab something from my library”

And she left the room

“.... I don’t think I’ve ever seen Nell that serious” Clover spoke out “Also the uh, glowing hands? Didn’t know she could do that”

“How did you not know she had magic?” Luka asked with a rather incredulous tone

“It never came up!” Clover retorted

“How did it never come up?”

“Its cool!” Harriet jumped into the conversation

“It think its cool too” Bow agreed “I always wondered how my paper cuts at school always healed so fast…”

MJ had sat themselves down, hand staying on their head, feeling the strange curve of their forehead with a certain fascination. Nell’s words - said with so much affirmation- did make them feel better about the situation.

The nurse returned, her expression still relatively serious, but calmer as she carried an old, thick book with a rather overly ornate cover in a faded blue.

“You’re lucky I collect these old things” She commented for a moment, sitting down next to MJ. She flipped through the pages, finding a two-page spread with a plain mask listed on it, and text printed so small that MJ just could not read it. “Here we are.”

Harriet climbed up next to her “What's it say? That’s a lot of words!”

Nell chuckled a bit at her eagerness “It is, but... “ she hand rested on the book for a moment, and then she lifted it, and the text glowed, lifting and circling around her hand like a ring.

“Whoa…. It's like the unknown from the Pokémon movie!” Bow jumped, causing Nell to laugh more.

“A little, I suppose” Nell responded, and she looked over at the other two adults, mostly at Clover, whose bewildered stare caused her to laugh again “You okay there?”

“... How did I not know this about you?”

“Never came up, dear. Don’t think too hard about it. You too, “Snatcher”” The woman gave a smirk. Luka cleared his throat. “Now…”

A simple flick of her hand, and the letters were floating around MJ’s head, and some of them glowed just a little bit brighter “Hm….. Alrightie, that's a good sign” She snapped, and the letters, very suddenly disappeared as if popping a bubble. “Well, Give until dawn, and then you should be able to take off the mask. If you can’t, come to me. I don’t work tomorrow”

“Oh… Well, that uh, wasn’t so bad. I’ll be okay?”

“Of course” Nell nodded, shutting the book “I’d’ve called the Kagai’s the moment I let go of your face if I thought otherwise”

“The who?” Hat questioned.

“Another time, Hattie, another time” Nell placated. “Now….” she exhaled, putting the book on her coffee table and clasping her hands together “I just realized I haven’t even said hello to any of you”

Something about that sentence finally broke the tension, getting a laugh out of Clover and Luka, and a snicker out of MJ.

The next ten minutes consisted of Nell reassuring the group that MJ would be fine, and reiterating that they needed to come to her if the mask did not come off by sunrise.

“There’s a lot of magic in this that I can sense. So uh, just be careful.” She warned. “I don’t know a lot about that, so you’ll have to ask Tim”

MJ nodded “Uh, thank you, Nell”

She gave them a kind smile “Don’t mention it. Next time you need me though, have Clover send me a message or just call me, alright?” She looked passed them to Harriet, who gave her a sheepish smile.

“Got it” The transformed barista nodded.

“Oh and, don’t be too worried about people seeing you. Just say it's a costume” She recommended as they walked out with their family waiting just beyond the porch. “Happy Halloween!” She called before abruptly shutting the door

“So……” Bow started

“Can we go trick or treating now??” Hattie finished.

Luka looked up to MJ, who seemed much calmer than before, despite continuing to lift their hand to their weirdly shaped head.

“.. Yeah, yeah i think we can” they gave Luka a grin “And thanks for getting us the help, Hattie” MJ reached down and picked her up “Who knew the Dread Pirate Roberts could be such a help!”

The girl giggled before being put back down “Then let’s go!!”

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

MJ was initially a bit tittered when they entered the town, but the moment anyone noticed them, the compliments rolled in.

“Wow! You look like a spooky zombie!”

“What game is that cosplay from?”

“How did you get the prosthetic to look like that, damn!”

“Wow, that is a really cool idea for the Lonely Man!”

MJ was beaming at the semi-undeserved praised as they took the kids from neighborhood to neighborhood, filling their pillow cases close to brimming with so much candy that Luka kept making a face and seemed to be mentally preparing to hide all of it, whispering to Clover and MJ about taking some of the candy so that it wasn’t all in his apartment.

“Seriously, all that candy?? They’re going to get cavities and I cannot pay for dental work like that.” The father aggressed. MJ just laughed a bit, looking ahead at the two girls who were trying to run ahead to the next house.

And then Bow’s foot caught a crack.

“Ah, Bow!” MJ startled, hand reaching out - but there was no way they’d reach her before she fell-

And then, she just stopped falling, stuck in midair as if floating.. But she wasn’t.

Upon closer examination, she was held up by a variety of red strings, connected to MJ’s clawed fingers

“... Uh”

“Whoaaaa” Hattie gaped “Magic! Cool!”

Bow pulled himself up to a standing position, and MJ put their hand down, the strings disappeared

“.. Thanks” Bow cleared her throat “That was really cool”

“It kind of was... “ They commented, looking down at their hands “I’m gonna be having a heck of a long talk with Tim when he gets back from wherever he is”

“Yeah, definitely” Luka nodded in agreement.

Lucky for the group the rest of the night went without incident, with MJ joining Luka at home and the two of them staying up until the sun started showing through the windows.

“Ready?” Luka asked him, the being no longer human shaped, as he’d finally reached his limit

“Yeah.. I think so” MJ took in a breath “She said it can just… come off like how I put it on…”

“Alright….” Luka’s voice trailed off as MJ reached their hands up to their face, thumbs by their cheeks, but then - wait! The edge, the mask! They felt it.

Barely bothering to breath, they mentally counted… 1… 2… 3!

they pulled it off and gasped as that icy feeling went through them even faster than last time, trembling and nearly falling over as Luka kept them up with their tail.

“Hey, hey! You okay MJ?”

MJ looked up, nodding “Yeah, uh, how do I..?”

“You’re back to a nerd, if that's what you’re asking” Luka lightly teased

Their hands went back up to their face, and gasped when they felt their regular skin, and their glasses (Where had they gone? Didn’t matter)

“Oh, thank god” The tired barista flopped onto their partner, “That was exhausting. Thank goodness the Horizon is closed today…”

“Hah, ready to sleep?”

“Oh, definitely” MJ commented, looking down at the mask still in their hand, its smile seeming not nearly as spooky than before.. “Hm..”

“What?”

“.. Why’d it choose me, I wonder” They muttered, sitting up and placing the mask by the window sill “But… we’ll see about finding out more, hm?”

“.. Yeah, we will” Luka confirmed.

MJ gave him a smile, hugging his partner with a slight nuzzle “Come on, we need to sleep. Hattie and Bow-”

“Oh, don’t remind me. We’re in for a hell of an afternoon” Luka groaned, but he was still smiling.

Saying that things were “back to normal” was never correct with this group, but things were still pretty okay. Maybe better, even.

Moonie figured they’d just have to wait and see.

BONUS::

Costumes! I wasn’t able to finish these in time, but I hope they suffice!

#doodledrawsthings #coffee shop au #ahit coffee shop au #ahit #a hat in time #ahit moonjumper #moonjumper #ahit snatcher #snatcher #ahit hat kid #hat kid #ahit bow kid #bow kid #ahit florist #florist #ahit oc #ahit nell #csau nell #nell

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