#also if you know deidra you know | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

stagefoureddiediaz · 16 days

Text

Costume Meta 7x05

Hello, Hey, how we all doing??

Ready for another super long meta post??

There is so much to talk about this week - admittedly mostly Buck and Eddie related, but there is also plenty going on for Hen and Karen as well.

No Bobby this week as we only see him in uniform, and only the one costume for Athena as well. I also want to say that I am not doing any of the costumes from the Madney wedding that we saw at the end of the epsiode - I want to give them the space they deserve and I will probably write a separate pre episode meta for those costumes specifically! All I will say is Maddie looks stunning, Buck in white - hello! and Eddie in a just a collar making him look like a pink priest - hilarious!

The rest is under the cut as always 😎

Let's start with some of the guest characters.

Alien Hand syndrome man continues to prove the check means bad things theme, which makes me happier than you can ever know!!

Then we have Deidra in her very bright pink coat. If you read my promo meta for this episode you will have read a fairly sizeable section at the end on my thinking about the use of pink in this season (going to make a separate post during this hiatus so its all in one place). All of the times we see it in this episode, play into (and I guess prove) my thinking. Deidra is acting with good intentions and while I don't think she's naive or innocent in the strictest sense of the word, she is perhaps continually being naive in thinking that not revealing Mara's past is the right way to go (don't come at me about child protection etc I am fully aware of what the real world laws state, but this story arc really highlights the fact that in trying to protect children who are at risk and in the system, they can also cause ongoing harm if things are not taken on a case by case basis - its a whole other essay that I am not getting into here).

Then we have Mara herself who is never without pink - namely her pink blanket. The pink plays into the theme of innocence especially with Mara and while she may not be innocent of the act of maiming Denny, her innocence goes much deeper. Its meant as a very clear signpost of the innocence of childhood - that pink blanket and her clinging onto it is a symbol of her clinging onto her childhood, despite the fact that she has gone through a terrible loss and trauma. she is still a child and the show is clearly going to play into the idea that as she settles into the Wilson home and is able to work through the trauma, her need to cling onto her childhood in this way will diminish and we'll see her slowly become less attached to the blanket. We already have signs of progress with the colour journey her tops have been on - lavender, pink and then the turquoise one at the end. Lavender is also a colour associated with childishness or lethargy, pink the colour of innocence, and childhood. While turquoise is a colour of calmness and clarity. its signalling HenRen's breakthrough with Mara and that she's growing and beginning to feel secure.

Hen and Karen

Hen and Karen go on a real colour journey this week - I'm doing them together (along with Denny) because they very much work in tandem clothing wise (and also because I was running out of pictures again - whats new there!)

So first up we have Karen in this beautiful dip dye ombre dress in purple, pink and mauve. it also has this drip staining pattern which has deliberately been created during the dying process. The lavender at the top of the dress is representative of hope and serenity, this is Karen in a great place - about to expand her family and fulfil a dream. The pink as I've said is all about innocence and naivety - more innocence in this case - both the new baby being innocent and Hen and Karens innocent hopes for their future. The dark mauve at the bottom of the skirt - eating into the pink is such a choice - gathering storm clouds, foreshadowing the turmoil about to come - taking away the innocent hope. mauve can be standoffish and withdrawn, and in this context those are great descriptors for Mara and her struggles that Hen and Karen will need to help her work through.

Hen's in cyan blue trousers - which is a colour associated with clarity and balance. whilst the cream, black and blue jacket with stars on is the beginning point for a theme that runs through the Wilsons arc this week - black is a power colour, associated with many things, but for Hen and Karen in this arc it is very much about protection and strength. Here for hen it is mostly about protection - protecting this new baby they are about to take in. The cream is warmth and tranquility.

Hen is wearing check - foreshadowing the upcoming struggles with Mara. Karens bronze and black Jacquard trousers are a symbol of strength - bronze as a colour means strength and support, it's also a symbol of faithfulness. It's telling us that Karen will take the lead on supporting Mara and being strong for her.

We see a lot of white on Karen in this episode, white, like pink is a colour of innocence, but it is more associated with purity and balance. It is also a colour of neutral refelction. By this I mean that it amplifies other colours by providing a neutral background - allowing other colours to shine. I find this a really interesting thing when connected with Karen - it amplifies her strength and supportive nature when the Wilsons meet Mara.

Hen adn Karen in bed are in dusty versions of blue and pink - Karen innocently tries to touch Mara and that is when the screaming starts. Putting Hen in blue is about relaying her trustworthiness and sets her up as a soothing and calming presence for Mara - hence the sleeping on the floor of her room!

At the hospital, We see Denny in red - he was wearing it when Mara woke the house up and its an indicator of what is about to befall them (in the same way Bobbys red in the cruise ship disaster adn Athenas red in relation to Harry, or Bucks back in s5 when Eddie broke down).

We again have Karen in white amplifying the other colour she is wearing, which in this instance is this buff/brown oversized sleeveless coat in teddy fleece. The brown is stability, dependability and responsibility - playing into the fact this episode really highlights Karen's position in the family as this stable rock which Hen and Denny lean on when they need support. Karen's unswerving and solid personality is once more being shown off. Its really a key thing for them to show as it feels like a set up for Mara and how she is going to bond and rely on Karen and that dependability as she unpacks her trauma.

The orange jumper is a really interesting choice. I do love the loose threads on the design of it - paying into the idea that Hen and Karen are at a loose end and unsure what to do going forward. But, the orange itself is generally an open minded colour, its energetic and its also a colour of transformation. These are all things we know are true of Hen and Karen and it hints at the fact that they will fin a way forward. Once again we have Karen in white amplifying Hen's orange and the energy and idea of transformation the colour brings.

Denim jacket and white tee. I love the distressed nature of this denim jacket and the way it plays into both scenes we see it in - playing into the distress Hen feels over finding out what Mara has gone through and how it explains why she has become non verbal and incredibly protective over her pink blanket.

Again the white of amplification and purity. Hen has pure intentions and the white amplifies Karens black when they are at dispatch listening to the 911 call.

We also have the Karen necklace back - once more showing this ism't about Hen - its about Karen and their family.

Black on Karen for this scene is such a choice. Black is a power colour, it means strength and protection. Here it is showing Karens determination, as she gains understanding, to protect Mara and support her through her trauma - it is representative of Karen choosing to use the power she has been given through gaining information. The gold highlights hint at success.

I love these lavender pyjamas on Karen - lavender is a soothing and sleep inducing colour (along with its scent which is possibly where the association came from for the colour) along with a Japanese print of mountains and trees, which plays into the idea of serenity and peacefulness.

Hen in contrast is wearing fairly bright and bold black and green. The green is all about that growth and learning once more, the growth of Hen and Karen, learning more about the issues Mara faces and seeking a solution, but also the growth of their family. The black is a reflection of power - much in the same way Karen wearing black when they heard the 911 call Mara made, here it is Hen, representing the protection that Hen and Karen are offering Mara.

Athena in green - again with the mesh open weave knit - this may be a theme for her this season - potentially something to do with feeling caged or caging someone/something - especially children as both scenes we've seen it so far have been to do with young people and the law in some respect - ending up in the system - Harry through is crime and Mara through her parents death.

Chim

This dark bottle green with a fawn brown (what I think is a polo) shirt underneath is Chimneys only non uniform costume this week . This kind of dark green, is as always a signal of growth, but its also a colour of harmony, and right now - everything in Chim's world is harmonious.

Maddie

I don't thinkI've said it yet, but I am so happy to have Alayna back dressing Jennifer - I feel like we're really back on track with Maddie's costuming after last season where they somehow managed to make Maddie look terrible. The costuming overall last year was fine - not as good as Alayna's work, but it was for the most part good - except for Maddie where it was all over the place!

Anyway - Maddie in black here is very much about focussing the attention on Hen and Karen - like with CHimney's muted green, in tandem they are making the viewers eye focus on Hen and Karen - especially Karen - who is the brightest in the room.

Maddie wearing this sage green colour when Buck comes out to her is sheer perfection from my perspective - we, once more have the green of growth and renewal, the green of learning - Maddie learning more about her brother - this new thing that he is realising about himself and choosing to share with her (even if inadvertently). But this green is also sage green - sage as in the play on sage advice - which we see Maddie give him. Buck needs that good advice - he needs to hear that its ok, that he can take the time to figure himself out and that its ok that he's only just uncovered this aspect of himself and that it doesn't invalidate him being an ally up to this point!

Ok not going to lie - I got a little carried away from here on out - so sorry in advance for the rambling mess you're about to read!

Marisol

I'm doing Marisol in a weird order - because I wanted to talk about her date night outfit in tandem with Eddies - because its relevant. So we start of with virgin Mary Marisol! Honestly this outfit is just perfection from the costume department - they saw the brief and went to town and I love it. Its so good to see what they can do when they get to play!

One of the things I really love about this costume is the blue that they chose. Because that blue - that is Bucks blue! the virgin Mary blue is usually a much brighter royal blue. It really helps to place Marisol in parallel to Buck and we get the play on t he fact that Eddie seeing Marisol in this way changes everything for him, whilst later on, whilst Buck is in the same blue, he reassures him that nothing will change between them.

Look, I'm not going to lie, when I saw Marisol in blue and yellow for this scene I laughed because Blue and yellow (as I've gone on a million times about) means queer coding so to blatantly put Marisol in it - in a washed out form, and very much connecting her to Catholicism - genius move. It marks her out as a roadblock, but also puts her into the role of beard (unknowingly on her part) because Eddie is still in the midst of his repression, even if it is beginning to unravel now.

The black top with spaghetti straps is clearly a theme they're going with on Marisol, as are the ditsy prints. The yellow high waisted trousers are interesting because of the specific shade of yellow. Yes the whole communication theme still applies here -and we see it in action, but this shade of yellow is sallow and sickly (one of the reasons its called sickly yellow is because its the colour of a lot of medications!!) - this relationship and its restart are ill and that automatically means its going to struggle to survive.

It plays into the more negative meanings around the colour - uncertainty and idleness and cowardice. For me the cowardice aspect is an interesting one in relation to Eddie - he has behaved cowardly up to this point - hiding out and not having the conversations that need to be had, and even in this scene it is Marisol who takes the lead.

It's really giving us an indication of things Eddie needs to work on in regards to himself - and once more it comes down to communication. Communication has always been Eddies major flaw - that he isn't good at it, unless really really pushed into it - essentially under duress. The other thing with communication is that it plays really well into the catholic guilt aspect - this idea that growing up catholic has taught him to repress part of who he is - to go along with what is expected of him, but that it also taught him not to ask for what he needs, to not communicate. We see it in this episode with his inability to say no to Marisol (the whole hiding out at Bucks so he doesn't have to have sex speaks volumes) even down to suggesting there's a third type of guy - who just needs a minute. Because, while that might be true to a certain extent, the fact that he says this off the back of her expressing her distress and upset about how all guys are one of two things, speaks volumes - its not him saying this because that's how he actually feels, its partly him saying it because he is pushed into a position where he doesn't want to be the bad guy. its really not a good place to be restarting a relationship from.

We also have the ditsy print of doom in play again - like I've said before, ditsy print on Eddies girlfriends - never a good sign - its really playing into this idea of Eddie jumping in headfirst with gay abandon (pun intended) and then regretting his life choices. Shannon wore ditsy print a fair amount - especially in the I think I'm pregnant' and 'we should get a divorce' scenes. Ana wore ditsy print A LOT - she was wearing it when Eddie had his panic attack in the shop and at other key moments that marked the death knell for their relationship. And so this appearance of ditsy print here marks the same - the relationship is not long for this world

OK date night Marisol. The way this outfit played out more or less as I expected, She was very much an 'innocent' bystander in this scene (whilst also creating one corner of a triangle with Buck and Eddie) , and the ditsy print very much played into this. Like I said in my promo meta, both Shannon and Ana were costumed in ditsy print as well as in lots of pink!!!

The other aspect of this outfit that is making me laugh is the fact that the skirt is giving me 1980's/early 1990's teen vibes (not to out myself as old but trust me I had some just like this back then and I wouldn't be caught dead in it now as a grown woman!!) and the baby pink handbag looks like something an 8 year old would have to play dress up with - its all very childish and immature - naive one could say, and while it didn't play out quite how I was expecting, her being a novice nun, sure explains a lot of why she comes over as pretty immature.

The other aspect of this childish style we're seeing on her plays into Eddies narrative of looking for magic and trying to recreate what he had with Shannon. He's attracted to Marisol because she is immature and childish - it reminds him of what he had with Shannon when he was young, and when you're trying to recapture that, its easy to fall into the trap of thinking someone behaving in a naive manner is you finding what you'd been looking for. Eddies journey, along side his catholic guilt, is about learning that he cannot recapture or recreate that magic he had when he was young - that the love of youth - in all its innocence is not something that is sustainable or actually what he wants in the present.

Then we have Eddie in white. I spoke in the promo meta about how the white set him and Marisol as opposites and that remains true - very true on more than one level. What I especially love about it and something I could not have predicted is how it plays into the novice nun aspect of their story this episode - truly this show is a comedy! Because nuns wear black and white this is an obvious play on that, but it is also a play on the fact that Marisol is still a practicing catholic, whilst Eddie is very much not. The other aspect of this white is that of Eddies two non uniform costumes, it is the first one and we get this black and white play on religion - the black and white of nuns and priests - the black and white of being religious or not. Eddie never questions if he wants to become a practicing catholic again - he is lapsed and that is how he intends to stay.

Eddie in uniform, with his green trainers, blue towel and water bottle. the blue towel and bottle play into the buck and Eddie blue green theming we see with them. But what is interesting is though is that Eddie is fulfilling all the colour theming on his own - he is both blue and green - to me this is about Eddies own struggles within himself as well as foreshadowing the Eddie Marisol break up down the line (green shoes suggest a road needs to be to walked before we get there) - it hints at Eddies internal struggles and implies that its will ultimately end in a break up a bit further down the line.

I also think it's only when in Uniform that Eddie can admit to his catholic guilt. Because we all know when Eddie is struggling with some form of emotional turmoil, he wears a black singlet - and he could've been wearing the same here, it would've been totally fitting with the situation - he is going through something emotionally and struggling with it.

But he's in his uniform. Part of it is to have him on a different level to Buck - they are both struggling with something in this scene. When we have previously had Buck and Eddie scenes like this one at work, the one dressed in uniform, tends to be the one offering advice to the one not in uniform. That isn't the case here. Part of it comes back to Buck not actually needing advice, but needing to reveal something about himself - to confess. Eddie is the one who needs advice.

This is a flipping of the traditional narrative for these scenes and is proof that even though Eddie might later tell Buck that nothing is going to change between them, that it has in fact already changed, it is just that neither of them are fully cognisant of that change at this moment in time. It is a key indicator to use the audience that this has happened before but that things are not going to play out the same way this time.

Put it this way - Eddie has form for doing something extreme with his relationships with women in the aftermath of Buck doing something dumb - its one of the manifestations of his repression. This time its asking Marisol to move in with him in the immediate aftermath of Buck going full green monster over Tommy.

Last time it was in the aftermath of Buck begins and then doubling down with Ana after the shooting when Buck had hooked up with Taylor and before that in the aftermath of Shannon's death and Buck suing the department he went and joined a fight club - but he has form. Its completely in character for him to pull this sort of a move. I know he says he's going with his gut but I argue he is in fact ignoring his gut - or at the very least confused about what his gut is telling him, because that would mean actually looking at why his gut reaction to Buck doing something dumb makes him do something dumb in turn connected to these women in his life.

Eddie in black - this is the same shirt as the white one - just the reverse colour - which is important. This shirt has several layered meanings to it. its about the reversal of what Eddie wants - from him being bubbly and excited about Marisol moving in, to the dread of her having moved in and wanting her to move out - his feelings go from white to black - light to dark - happy to unhappy and it all sums up the relaity of that relationship - while it was new and unserious, it was fun and light, when things got real - it becomes dark and oppressive.

I'll go into more detail about this shirt when I get to Bucks costume for this scene - because they are connected!

The other thing about this outfit is that the green trousers have been replaced with jeans. Now I see a couple of reasons for the wardrobe department doing this. Firstly is that it plays into the 'nothings is going to change between us' of it all. Its a visual indicator that in fact things have changed (along with Buck wearing a brighter shirt than we normally get in these buddie heart to hearts that take place in Bucks loft but more on that later) the Buck being bi and going on a date with Tommy of it all aside, this is the first time we've actively seen Eddie hiding out at Bucks to avoid his girlfriend - this was a barrier that had existed between them previously that has now been broken down. Then there is the fact that Eddie does go home to Marisol - and he couldn't be wearing green at that point because she was wearing blue and Eddie in green would've meant break up time - only the Marisol as a plot device arc isn't yet over (it will be soon I promise - all the costume signs are there!) so that couldn't happen.

Tommy

This dark olive green shirt that is almost brown. The brown undertones hint at the stability he represents while the green is hinting at his military past and once more paralleling him with Eddie. One of the things about green as a colour is that its not only a symbol of growth and renewal, but its also a colour of learning, and in an episode titled 'You don't know me' it feels like all the green is very much about education - learning about other people - and the growth that results from it. It feels especially important here for Tommy and Buck - that is after all what going on a date it all about - learning about one another and seeing if you're compatible.

The other fun thing about this green shirt is though that the green plays into the blue green colour theory when it comes to Buck and Eddie and their partners and the end of relationships. This one before its had chance to begin.

For Coffee we have a grey Henley and a blue zip front hoodie with a grey striped undertone to it (I am pretty sure this is actually a hoodie we've seen on Chimney but I can't remember when and I don't think it would be the very same one as pretty sure Lou would not be fitting into Kenneths clothes ever, but Chimney has definelty worn the same style!!). Again Henley's are an Eddie thing, so we once more have the parallel with Eddie being drawn.

The interesting thing here is that the grey blue is the same colour combo Buck wore on their first date attempt - the costume department played a lot with flipping colour in this episode, so to have it done here as well is really fun - the fact there is more grey than blue is also interesting. It's a neutral colour, it is seen as a colour of stability, but is also a colour of uncertainty. It really plays into that theme of uncertainty running through the Buck and Tommy arc. The blue hoodie is actually pretty important because we've had one of Buck and Tommy wearing something dark blue in every scene they've had together - usually the one on the back foot. Tommy in this scene is relatively neutral in terms of position for most of this scene - they are equals - but he is put onto the back foot by Buck asking him to be his date to Maddie and Chim's wedding.

Buck

Where to start with our beloved bi disaster!

I obviously spoke a fair amount about the date night shirt in my promo meta. The navy blue knit bowling shirt with these silver/grey close together pinstripes running down the front playing into the Buck wearing vertical stripes theme we've has running with him for at least the last 2 seasons.

What I said about false starts and this date absolutely played out - in the same way the sperm donation shirt represented a false start on that donation, this shirt also represents a false start on Bucks dating life as a bi man. The white trainers are also carrying on the theme of Bucks Journey towards happiness

What I find most interesting about this outfit though isn't colour theory related. its all about the fit of the clothes. Because these are ill fitting on Buck - not something we see from him very often - in fact I think the only time we see him in anything close to ill fitting to this extent is back in season 1 when he was figuring out who he was and if being a firefighter was the right for him and exploring relationships and what he was trying to find in that arena. The trousers are the most ill fitting of it all, but I'll come to the trousers later on as they are part o a wider Buck costume theme we have going on!

The shirt is a little roomie, but not overly so, it just stands out more because we're so used to his shirts fighting for their life, here this one is baggy and really helps to sell the idea of defeat, but also that h was trying on this new part of himself for size and that it doesn't quite fit. It's the only time this episode we see his clothes not fit him in this way and its a really small but expressive part of costuming that I love to see.

Then we have this blue broadcloth jacket over a white tee and with these plum/brown coloured trousers - they're a bit blink and you'll miss them so its hard to be sure what type of trouser they are, but I think they are essentially smart joggers - jersey material but trousers!

We all know that Buck in white means trouble, I'm putting him outing himself to his sister as the bad thing - along with the fact that the date didn't work out.

I'm really fascinated by the fact that we really seem to be leaning into navy blue and Buck being bi. Navy has always been a colour we've seen a lot of on Buck in general, but there is something about the fact we've seen him (or Tommy) wearing it in every single scene that is about his bisexuality. I'm talking from the kiss scene onwards, not anything before that as Buck wasn't aware of his bisexuality before the kiss. I can't wait to see if it continues!

The green shirt jacket is an interesting one. it obviously helps to play into the buck and Eddie blue green theory, but it does in a smaller way play into the blue green theming we see around Buck and Eddie and their relationships - specifically around issues arising. Both Buck and Eddie wear green when they break up with their significant others and while there is no break up here, there is a break of sorts. This was Buck about to try and tell his Best friend that he was actually out on a date with Tommy and that he's bi

symbol of growth - Buck went in with a goal - to tell Eddie he was on a date with Tommy, but changed tack when he saw Eddie needed to go through something - this is Buck growing as a person - not making something about him.

The other thing about this outfit is that its basically the same as the one Eddie wore at the airfield (even down to the badding of the trousers) - just in reverse - Eddie black trousers, black jacket, green top, and here Buck is black trousers, black top and green jacket - I find this fascinating as a metaphor for where the two of them are on their respective journeys.

Buck is now bi and out (he's told his sister) and has been on a date with a guy (regardless how successful it was - he cannot put it back into the box) - his growth is externalised and therefore expressed through the wearing of a green jacket. We get a lot of storytelling through the various Jackets Buck wears (we've seen him in over 35 at this point!)

While Eddie - who we could say was being taken on a date by Tommy - even if he didn't know it (because who flies someone to Vegas to a sold out fight if its not a date??) wearing a much brighter green that we've seen on him before now (pretty much all of his greens are more army green with a couple of exceptions - much darker greens akin to Bucks jacket in the below picture) - still in the army green wheelhouse, but much bolder. Eddie's queer status is still very much internalised - hence it being underneath the black jacket.

Buck coming out to Eddie from a costume perspective was a glorious parallel that I have already mentioned in the promo meta (I've run out of pictures so you'll have to go watch the scene yourself if you want to see what I mean). Its actually a bit deeper that I appreciated in that promo meta, but that is in part because at the time of writing the meta I wasn't 100% sure it was a coming out scene and I didn't get to see the way it was shot and how that also played into the paralleling.

Costume wise - I already spoke above about Eddies black shirt and how it is reversing him in the episode. But what I didn't mention is that fact that it parallels in colour terms, what he was wearing when Buck informed the firefam that Connor and Kameron were pregnant. Eddie wore a black marl henley - black with flecks of dark grey running through it, and Buck here is wearing a slightly darker blue version of the same top he wore in that same scene. He is standing in the same place at the counter of his kitchen, or sitting very close to the same position and we get similar camera angles. As a whole the parallel is very loud - Buck was happy and proud of something he had done and wanted to share it with his friends - wanted their approval. He was feeling good about himself and confident in his decision.

The biggest thing about the blue - this shade specifically is the way it play into the blue theme we saw last season with Buck - the theme that started in the 5x18 finale at Hen and Karens vow renewal, when he was free of Taylor and moving forward and essentially restarting his search for happiness. We saw it weave a thread through the entirety of season 6, being worn at key moments that played into that theme - after Lev died, at various points in the sperm donation arc, and a key points in the aftermath of his death and rebirth.

The successfully helping create life aspect of this is so interesting. It on a low key level plays into the you don’t find it you make it manifesto that’s been at the heart of bucks arc since s2. the whole year if yes was supposed to be about this very thing - about Buck creating the life he wants for himself - the sperm donation isn’t about the baby it’s about Buck and about him figuring out what he’s missing (which comes back to not only Thomas and Mitchell, but also Lev).

The other thing that ties into this theme is that Eddie isn't really changing but Buck is. Whenever we have a scene at the loft between Buck and Eddie Bucks costume and colour varies, but Eddies stays more or less the same. Bucks colour Palette for these scenes goes - dark grey in the you want to go for the title scene, then we have the grey blue on the balcony and now this much lighter blue. This is highlighting Bucks progression while Eddie who remains in his black shirt and that progression - while Eddie essentially remains steadfast - is key - it’s showing us that while buck is still doing dumb things, he is learning - he is listening to whatever Eddie is telling him - that he’s accepting Eddie’s absolution of his sins more and more - growing and understanding.

It’s building on his long running arc - his fear of being left behind, of not being important enough for people to stick around for - and showing us he’s increasingly understanding that that fear is unfounded - that he’s found his personal- the one who will stay and who is steadfast in that. That’s why we see Eddie unchanging in his black shirt green cargos while buck gets lighter - more unburdened by that fear.

Before you think all is lost on the Eddie front though, we are seeing change - the army green trousers are gone and have been replaced with jeans - perhaps, in the same way Bucks growth into his bisexuality began with his beginning to wear jeans again, Eddies own growth into his own queer identity also begins with jeans - moving him away from Eddie the soldier - fighting for others - being a rock for others and now into a position where he can do his own growing.

In the sperm donation arc, Buck was finally able to donate and was wearing that super pale mint green polo. we don't see the same with the outcome here at this point in the story (although the beige/mint green jacket from the bachelor party is making me👀👀👀 at this moment in time!) - we get this cream open weave linen shirt with black and terracotta and golden brown vertical stripes.

I love that they went with a shirt that has such an open weave - playing into the whole concept of Buck being open and embracing this newly revealed part of him that he's discovered. But what I love most about this shirt is the way it ties back into the Buck learning to accept himself and find his happiness.

Because this shirt is so similar to the one from 6x01 - when he decides he doesn't need a new couch, what he needs is to be ok on his own and with himself.

lets talk Buck and his trousers because the trousers are a whole thing this season and I am truly in love with the long game the wardrobe department have been playing on this one. They know that we have all been out here raising eyebrows at Bucks trousers for the past few seasons as they've gotten shorter and shorter and ill fitting. I know I've made comments in previous costume metas about the fact they must be doing something intentional with them being so short in the leg - that them doing this is giving the appearance of a child who is still in short trousers and isn't fully grown - hasn't moved on to wearing full length trousers yet.

Well it would seem I was right and thats exactly what they were doing, putting him in short trousers to show that he wasn't his fully formed self - that he was growing and learning and figuring things out. because - I've gone back through my spreadsheet and checked his trousers out for all of his scenes and there are only a handful where he has trousers on that are well fitted and the correct length. One of them is at the start of season 6 - at the end of the episode where he moves his armchair instead of getting a new couch - the one time in season 6 we see him most at peace with himself

I remarked in the 7x04 meta that we only saw Buck in his too short trousers in the one scene at the airfield, and from then on, he was was in jeans. Now the jeans are a mimicking thing - Buck hasn't worn stone wash jeans since Eddie appeared on the scene back at the start of season 2, so for him to start wearing them again as soon as he becomes jealous of Eddie and Tommy - and Tommy is wearing jeans - was pretty telling in its own right. It's Buck trying to get Eddies attention (not Tommys - Eddies) because, we do not see Eddie in jeans in 7x04 - but we do see Tommy in them - and in Bucks head he is loosing Eddies attention to a guy wearing stone wash jeans - so if he wears stonewash jeans then maybe he'll get Eddies attention back.

That obviously didn't work out how Buck thought it would, but it did lead to him figuring a new part of himself out.

We can see how his trousers are all now sitting at the correct length, I grabbed this still of the black ones, and you can see in the full length still from the date those are as well (even if they're too big more generally) but the others are all sitting at the correct length as well.

We also see the jeans back for his scene with Tommy - I truly am fascinated by the choice to put him back in stonewash jeans aafter so long as a theming choice for his bisexuality, I really am enjoying this more relaxed looking Buck from a costuming perspective - the journey we've been on with his costumes is great - the increasingly formal style thats just a little too small and tight we've seen over the seasons now slowly relaxing once more into something much more comfortable and well fitted - showing just how far he has truly come.

And thats me out for another week! Sorry it turned into another epic - it would seem `i cant stop myself! Not sure if this has come out longer than last weeks, I think it might've, but I can't be bothered to check! Thank you as always for reading this monster and I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into the costumes for 7x05. I'm off now to hyperfixate on Bucks bathroom door and get myself though this mini hiatus!

Tagged people below

@theladyyavilee @gracieryder @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @bewilderedbuckley @spotsandsocks

@bewitchedbewilderedbisexual @rogerzsteven @wanderingwomanwondering @oneawkwardcookie @leothil @copyninjabuckley @shammers86 @crazyfangirlallert @missmagooglie @katyobsesses @radiation-run @gayandbifiremenofmine @bi-moonlight @crazyaboutotps @princesschez75 @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @sherlocking-out-loud @satashiiwrites @lover-of-mine @yramesoruniverse @extasiswings @favouritealias @pop-kam

#kym costume meta #costume meta #911 costume meta #911 colour theory #eddie diaz #evan buckley #911 abc #hen wilsom #karen wilson #maddie buckley #chimney han #Tommy Kinard #long post #kym writes things #deep dive

150 notes · View notes

aceopmari · 2 years

Note

Could you please do a headcanons on how the akatsuki would act toward someone with an Australian accent bc I’m Aussie and I just wanna know how they’d act if they met an Australian 😭

A/N: I had no idea I had Aussie queens reading my fics! How cool! And you’ve got it! I took the time to research the terms, the slang, and culture. Hope I got it accurate enough!

Akatsuki Masterlist

Taglist: @ppg-artss @lovelygeniegirl1012 @mercymccann @kakeisumire @aoi-ajisai @mechmoucha @barbellina @nightingaleflow @bonchin @awhore4uchiha @havrlie

The Akatsuki w/an Australian Teammate

A/N: Brought to you by, Lagoona Blue! Don’t you just love Aussie characters?

The Akatsuki would be getting a new member from The Village Hidden Down Under.

Thing is, they hardly knew anything about the mysterious village. Not even Itachi.

The Akatsuki watched as you walked in the room. The first thing they noticed was your village headband that had a upside down boomerang symbol on it. You wore it loosely on your hips.

You were attractive, clad in very light clothing (that looked more suited for a day on the beach) as well as a bright and sunny smile that could bring the dead back to life.

“G’day mates!” You greet.

Deidara:

💥If your partnered with him. He would have mixed feelings about you. That accent of yours was a bit off putting and he didn’t quite get your slang.

💥”Deidra, you doing okay, love?” You asked. An irritated tick mark appeared on his head as he blushed. “For the last time, it’s Deidara! And don’t call me your love, hm!” He growled. You looked at him in confusion. “That’s what I said, mate. Your name is Deidra.” Deidara nearly lost it. “Grrr! Stop calling me mate, hm!”

💥On the other hand, he enjoyed your company. You were friendly and warm. You also appreciated his art.

💥The two of you flew on his clay bird through the air that day. You laughed as you through your hands to the sky.

💥”Crikey! You Akatsuki blokes sure know how to keep things exciting!” You say happily. Deidara smirked. “It’s nice to know someone appreciates my art, hm.” You gave him a sweet smile. “Think you can make a koala, mate?”

💥Deidara spent the afternoon with you on the forest. He made clay sculptures of animals he never made before: a koala, a kangaroo, and a few others.

💥A tear fell from your eye at the sight. You didn’t realize it before but seeing the native animals from your village was making you feel homesick.

💥”Is there something wrong, Y/N?” Deidara asked. He was surprised when you pulled him into a hug. “It’s nothing mate…thank you Deidra. These are a beauty!” You say as more tears spill from your eyes. Deidara blushed. He smiled as he found himself hugging you back.

💥”You’re welcome, you shelia, hm.”

Hidan:

🩸Hidan was an odd bloke. He was clowning you from the start when he heard your accent and slang.

🩸”The fucks a Barbie?”

🩸”I ain’t your fucking mate, bitch!”

🩸”Quit stuffing your fat ass with that vegemite shit!”

🩸Your patience wore thin with his disrespect. You put your foot down. “I’ve had it putting up with a nasty drongo like you!”

🩸You slapped Hidan across the face, surprising you both. Hidan lips then curve into a grin. “Hot damn! Do it again, babe!”

🩸You stared at him incredulously. ‘Crikey! This Hidden Steamy bloke is off his knocker!’

🩸Hidan was…’friendly’ with you after that. Often hitting on you and calling you his ‘mate’ and ‘love’ for kicks.

🩸”What do ya say we get to know each other a bit further, Shelly?” He purrs as he wraps an arm around your waist. You elbow him hard in the gut, causing him to wheeze as he lets go. “The proper term is Shelia. And I’m not getting nuddy with a root rat like you!” You snapped.

🩸You eventually warmed up to him more. Hidan appreciated your open mindedness when he explained Jashinism to you. He gave you a physical demonstration of his ritual when he stabbed himself through the chest.

🩸”Ripper! That’s a gnarly jutsu you got going on, love!” You say with an excited smile. Hidan smirked at you as blood dripped down his lip. “You’re my kinda girl, you know that?”

🩸And you definitely were. With a shit eating smile, Hidan watched you wrestle a large crocodile in the water. You used a nearby snake to wrap it around its neck. “Hot damn! This bitch is wild!” He laughed.

🩸Hidan stopped everything when he saw you leave the base one day wearing a pair of daisy dukes, a crop top, and flip flops.

🩸”Well helloooo! Where you off to babe?” He grins as he scans your figure. You turned to him. “Oh, hello mate. I’m off to go buy some thongs. Want to come with?”

🩸Hidan’s pink eyes lit up. His cheeks flushed as a perverted grin spreads on his face. He imagined you in a sexy thong that hugged that perfect ass. He had to see you in one. “Fuck yes!”

🩸Hidan sat outside in front of your door at the fitting room. He could feel his little scythe twitching in his pants in excitement.

🩸”I still don’t see why I need to get in a fitting room to put on these thongs,” you say in confusion. Hidan snickered. “Trust me, babe it’ll be so worth it to see em on you.”

🩸You giggled. “You’re a strange little bloke aren’t you? I had no idea you were into this sort of thing.” Hidan chuckled. “I’m into a lot of things…”

🩸Hidan licked his lips in anticipation as he heard your door unlock. You opened the door and stepped out…fully clothed…

🩸Hidan stared at you in confusion as you walked towards him. “What the fuck? Where’s the th-?” You placed your foot on the seat next to him, presenting the designer flip flops you had on. You giggled. “Here you freak. Is this everything you wanted to see?”

🩸Hidan just stared at your foot incredulously. That was when he realized your culture and slangs. ‘Thongs’ in your village meant flip flops…not sexy underwear…

Kisame:

🦈 Kisame didn’t think much of you. What was some little girl doing in the Akatsuki anyway?

🦈He often picked on you and put you on the spot, but every time you stood your ground.

🦈”You sure you want to do this little girl? I wouldn’t want that pretty face to get hurt on a mission,” Kisame teased. You rolled your eyes. “Oh, don’t get your boardies in a twist, you dingo!”

🦈Kisame erupted with laughter. You were one interesting girl. Maybe being partners with you wouldn’t be so bad.

🦈 Kisame watched you train one day. He was impressed seeing you use water release to summon crocodiles.

🦈”That’s quite the jutsu!” He says to you. You give him a charming smile. “You like, mate? This here’s my Kekay Genkhi!” Kisame snickered. He had to resist the urge to tease you for your accent with how you said certain words.

🦈”What do you say to a little challenge?” Kisame smirked. You smirked back, catching onto his idea. “You’re on mate! My crocs against your sharks! May the best True Blue win!”

🦈Kisame fell for you the more he spent time with you. You were wild, fun, and free spirited.

🦈He was interested in learning more about your culture. You introduced him to shrimp on a barbie and vegemite.

🦈Samehada adored you. The sword let you pet it. Kisame liked how you treated his sword like a pet. You seemed great with animals.

🦈At night, you and Kisame went out for midnight swims. You both would playfully wrestle and splash each other in the water.

🦈Kisame would love for you to skinny dip with him. But first he had to find the courage to confess his feelings towards you.

Itachi:

🐦Itachi thought you were rather interesting if not a little eccentric than the average shinobi. Your accent was rather unique (not that he would admit it out loud).

🐦Your slang was rather strange too, but he was always able to interpret and translate your meanings on his own.

🐦Your words, mannerisms, and enthusiasm were amusing. Itachi was curious to learn more about your village and it’s cultures.

🐦He found it odd that you threw boomerangs in battle as opposed to shuriken. Surprisingly worked well as you were always able to knock out your opponent.

🐦You loved the wildlife, that was for sure. Itachi thought it was odd seeing a shinobi swinging on vines in the forest as opposed to simple tree jumping. Were all ninja from Aussiegakure like this?

🐦You were very interested in learning more about the Sharingan.

🐦”Oh, c’mon love. Just one peek?” You asked. “No…” Itachi said cooly as he turned his gaze away from you so that you wouldn’t look in his eyes. He couldn’t help but feel a warm shiver go down his spine when you called him ‘love’.

🐦You heard of Itachi and the things he’s done. You couldn’t help but be curious.

🐦”Itachay, why’d you kill off all your mates?” You asked him one day. Itachi stayed silent. He didn’t even question how the way you said his name sounded funny to him. You decided to let it go.

🐦”I‘ll respect and understand if you don’t want to talk. None of my bizzo,” you say. Itachi remained silent. He was at least very appreciative of you respecting his boundaries. You’d be a good partner for him in the Akatsuki.

Other Members:

🎭Sasori had mixed feelings about you. On one hand you were a competent partner. On the other hand you were annoying. He couldn’t understand some of the things you said. You actually made a bad first impression when you met him.

🎭”What’s an ankle biting bluey like yourself doing in the Akatsuki?” You say with a teasing smile. Sasori was able to interpret that ankle biter meant a child in which he quickly corrected you that he wasn’t. But what was a bluey? Why did you keep calling him that?

🎭You both eventually warm up and bond over your hatred for Orochimaru who you once met when he invaded your village with a bunch of snakes. You enlightened Sasori with the tale of how you fought him off. Snakes were native to your village so you easily drove Orochimaru away.

💵Kakuzu found your optimism and lively attitude to be infectiously disgusting.

💵You were put off by his greed. You always expressed how some of the money he earned should go towards protecting the wildlife such as koalas.

😆Tobi liked you and wanted you to teach him surfing.

📃Konan liked having a woman around but you were rather strange. Why did u keep calling her Shelia?

👋Pain also thought you were a rather strange woman. Especially considering how you were so intrigued by his gnarly looking piercings.

194 notes · View notes

teshamerkel · 1 year

Photo

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 43] (34 Pages)

<< First | < Previous | Next >

AO3 Link

Trouble crops up in Asra. Tobias and Nia find a new lead.

They arrive back at the saloon right as it starts to rain in earnest.

Tobias ducks inside and flips down his hood. Nia is right on his heels, and she shakes the rain out of her fur in a full-body wiggle. He wrinkles his nose and steps away to avoid the splatter.

There are still a decent amount of townsfolk scattered around the large open room, thought not as many as last night. Still, the mood is light and the air is warm with the scent of food. Tobias and Nia make their way up to the bar, climbing onto the smaller stools on one end.

Deidra glances their way with a smile. “Hello, little Seekers. How’s your mission going?”

“Great,” Tobias drawls, putting every ounce of exasperation he’s feeling into his voice.

The lopunny fills up a glass with some water from an icy pitcher. She slides that over to Nia, who takes it with a quiet word of thanks and chugs it.

Deidra also rolls a hydration berry to Tobias, and he gratefully accepts it with a nod of thanks, biting into its plump skin. While Tobias savors the cool juice filling his mouth, he looks at the rows of glasses lining the shelves behind Deidra. They reflect the warm colors and lights of the place.

After a minute or two of silence, Deidra finally asks, “Rough start to the investigation, then?”

“You could say that,” Nia mumbles, head pillowed on an arm as she plays with her empty water glass.

“You’re looking for someone who could be causing the quakes, right?” Deidra says.

“N-No, we’re not trying to blame anyone!” Nia scrambles. “We just wanted to know if anyone saw anything weird—“

Deidra gives her a knowing, amused smile.

Nia gives up, dropping her head back to her arm.

“How did you know? That we suspect they’re intentional,” Tobias asks, cautious.

Deidra laughs. “You said Granite called you in, right? He’s a sweet old fella, but he has loose lips when he’s upset. And I’ve never seen him angrier than when Takeo was injured, goin’ on about finding out who hurt him.”

“So everyone knew we were looking for suspects anyways,” Nia mumbles dejectedly.

Tobias sighs, planting his chin inn his hand. “We aren’t so great at this investigation business.“

“I don’t know if I would trust Granite’s hunch so much,” Deidra says, putting a glass away with a clink. Her voice is good-natured, but confident. “What would someone even get out of causing these earthquakes?”

“That’s what we were trying to figure out,” Nia whines, dropping her head to the counter with a thump. “We need some kind of lead! A motive at the very least, but…”

“The injuries and deaths don’t seem targeted,” Tobias sighs. “So I don’t think it’s an attack on anyone specific. But I can’t think of what else it could be.”

Deidra hums. “And what if it is just nature doing its thing? What will you do then?”

Tobias shifts uncomfortably in his seat, unnerved by the thought. They certainly aren’t getting Rosalind’s “payment” if that’s the case. And he’s desperate for that info.

They’re cut off from answering by a shout from outside. Angry. Another voice quickly follows the second, excited.

Deidra stills, looking to the shuttered windows with a small frown. Nia and Tobias exchange a glance, and this time he’s ready to follow her as she slides off her stool and hurries back out to the street.

Through the light rain, there are two small groups of Pokemon. A scuffed up smoliv is struggling to sit up in the mud. A stunky crouches defensively in front of them, glaring up at the other Pokemon with bristling fur

A heliolisk leads the other group, looking down at the two Pokemon with his collar extended and static crackling across his scales. A swaying maractus and a sneering mudbray flank him. A girafarig hovers near the back of the group, simply watching.

“Hey!” Tobias shouts, flipping up his hood and following Nia to plant himself in front of the cowering Pokemon. The rain stings the exposed skin on his tail and hands like little pinpricks. “What’s going on here?”

“This has nothing to do with you, brats,” the heliolisk hisses.

The mudbray and maractus shout in agreement. The girafarig, strangely enough, looks caught off-guard by their appearance, blinking and taking a step back.

“Four against two is a bit of an unfair fight, isn’t it?” Tobias growls.

“What’s unfair is that little green freak walking around like he has nothing to do with all this!” The heliolisk snarls, gesturing first at the smoliv behind Tobias and then swinging his arm in the direction of the nearest building under construction.

Nia falters, blinking rain out of her eyes. “What?”

Tobias glances back at the little grass type, shivering and crying in the mud. The stunky has curled around him protectively.

“He’s a human!” The mudbray jeers, stomping a hoof in the mud and seeming unphased by the rain. “Didn’t get out with the others when he had the chance.”

Oh, so that’s what this is about. Nia stiffens beside him, and when he glances at her he catches a flash of bright blue in her eyes, a rare sort of anger furrowing her muzzle. Her stance widens.

Good. Tobias thinks these idiots need a lesson, too.

“How about you stop blaming people who never asked to be brought here in the first place?!” Nia snarls. “W-They have nothing to do with the earthquakes!”

The heliolisk doesn’t even try to retort. He simply hisses again and leaps forward to attack, crackling with electricity. Tobias and Nia tense to counter him, and—

A jet of water shoots between Nia and Tobias. It hits the heliolisk, knocking him out of the air. A second and third burst of water hit the mudbray and maractus and sends them sprawling back into the mud.

Someone steps up beside Tobias. Surprised, he looks up, only to see Calder’s tall figure, lidded eyes cold.

“Kern, I told you you were not to go picking fights. Especially with the humans.”

“The humans?” The heliolisk spits mud out of his mouth, tail lashing. “When’re you gonna stop protecting them, Calder? It’s only been a month since Pan was killed. Pyre’s little girl was hurt in the last quake. How many have to die before you realize they’re a problem?”

Calder’s hand, right at Tobias’ eye level, curls into a fist. Something angry in Tobias’ chest delights in it.

“Kern,” Calder says, voice hard. “Go home. Now. This isn’t a fight you’re going to win.”

The heliolisk glares, and for a moment Tobias thinks he’s going to lunge again. Nia is still just as tense and battle-ready as Tobias. The rain continues to fall, dripping from Tobias’ hood.

Finally, Kern scoffs and turns to leave, slapping muddy water their way with his tail. Tobias steps back, baring his teeth. The mudbray glares at Calder before following, and the maractus nervously hops after them. The girafarig is nowhere to be seen, somehow having slipped away during the argument.

Calder turns to crouch in front of the stunky and smoliv, helping the grass type to his feet. “Are you two all right?”

The smoliv, still sniffling, offers a weak smile and a nod. Stunky gives the tall water type a word of thanks.

“You both should head home,” Calder says. “I’ll talk to Kern.”

Smoliv and Stunky lean on one another, and give Nia and Tobias a grateful look before hurrying off into the rain.

For a moment, all is quiet. Then, in the distance, the splashes of someone running towards them. Tobias tenses, but relaxes again once Samir comes into sight, breathing hard. The skiddo glances at Nia and Tobias before settling on Calder.

“Already scared off the troublemakers,” Calder says. “Guessing you heard word of another squabble breaking out?”

Samir nods.

“‘Nother fight directed at one of the humans.”

“It’s not the humans’ fault,” Nia says quietly, voice wobbly. “They didn’t even ask to be brought here.”

Calder nods, turning in the direction Kern and his cronies left. “‘M well aware, Riolu. Kern is just scared out of his wits. Lookin’ for someone to blame.”

“Still stupid,” Tobias says bitterly. He can’t believe he used to believe that nonsense himself. Or at least didn’t care enough to find out the truth.

Samir flattens their mouth, thoughtful as they follow the inteleon’s gaze. Then, they gouge something into the mud with their hoof and splash twice to catch everyone’s attention.

Nia turns her head to read it before it can be washed away. “Stranger?”

Calder hums. “You’re right. I don’t know the girafarig. Seen ‘em come into town yesterday with their son. Seems like they might be stirring’ up trouble we don’t need. I’ll find ‘em and give him a talking to.”

The inteleon glances over Nia and Tobias once more, as if to check for injuries, then sets off in the direction Kern fled.

Tobias is kind of surprised that Samir doesn’t follow him. Instead, the skiddo looks to Nia, brow furrowed with quiet concern. They tilt their head.

Nia gives the grass type a weak smile. “I’m fine. Thanks. Just…I know some humans. They’re wonderful.”

Tobias is too distracted to fully appreciate Nia’s decent cover story. The stinging rain is really starting to hurt.

He nudges Nia and heads for the nearest unoccupied building with a front porch. He sighs in relief once he sits on the wood underneath, the rain beating on the canopy overhead. Still damp and uncomfortable, but nothing like the feeling of sharp claws poking at his scales.

After a moment, Nia follows, Samir on her tail. Tobias isn’t even surprised—he’s noticed that she tends to collect lonely Pokemon, like they get trapped in her orbit.

She picks a far corner of the porch to shake off, then returns to his side and plops down, a little too close. He can see she’s upset about what just happened, though, so he doesn’t say anything.

Samir settles hesitantly on Nia’s other side, glancing at them as if to gauge if this is all right.

“I don’t know why they keep blaming humans for everything,” Nia sniffs after a long silence. She wraps her arms around her knees. “They didn’t ask to be brought here.”

Something about that sentiment jabs at Tobias—is it really so bad here, aside from jerks like that?—but he swallows it down. “Pokemon like that are just a few ‘mon short of a falinks.”

Nia snorts, giving him a weak flash of a smile. “Guessing that means they’re not too bright?”

“Yup.”

Samir shifts, looking like they want to say something. After a few moments, they sit up and use the wet mud on their hoof to write a short, messy message.

Tobias and Nia both turn their heads, trying to read it.

TOWN GOOD

“Town…good?” Nia echoes, clearly just as lost as Tobias is.

The skiddo nods, then jerks their chin in the direction the stunky and smoliv ran off. Then down the road, to the saloon, where warmly lit windows and a rabble of voices can be seen and heard even from a few buildings down.

“Oh,” Nia murmurs. “You’re trying to tell us that they’re good people, despite…well, everything.”

Samir nods, just once. Resolute.

“Sure. Except those four from earlier,” Tobias mumbles.

Samir raises their brows and tilts their head at Tobias, as if to say, Okay, except them.

Tobias snorts.

Nia sighs. “I know. There are jerks everywhere. And I know there are good people here, too.”

“Like Pyre?” Tobias drawls.

Nia’s expression fades into a thoughtful frown. “Did you hear what that lizard said? He said Pyre’s daughter got hurt in the last quake.”

Oh, right. Tobias had already forgotten about that.

Samir nods, catching their attention.

“Bad?” Nia asks, looking worried.

Samir makes a so-so gesture.

“Well no wonder he didn’t like us asking about the quakes,” Nia murmurs, looking remorseful as her ears pin back. “He probably doesn’t even want to think about them.”

“Still didn’t have to get so aggressive,” Tobias mutters, even as most of his ill will towards the camerupt bleeds away.

The three of them sit in silence for a few minutes, listening to the patter of the rain as it falls, slowly making puddles and tiny trenches out of the wheel tracks and footprints in the road. It’s only late afternoon, but it feels later, the sky dim and clouded over. The rain seemed to come on so quickly, for such a nice morning. Almost feels like the town has as much a rain problem as an earthquake problem, considering this is supposed to be a desert.

“Should we try talking to more townsfolk at Deidra’s place?” Nia finally asks.

Samir lifts their head from where they’d laid it on their hooves, giving the riolu an incredibly exasperated look.

“We haven’t found any hard proof yet, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there!” Nia protests the silent jab, throwing her arms up. Huffing, she pushes herself to her paws and hops down the steps to the muddy ground.

Tobias groans and pushes himself up too, reluctantly pulling his hood over his head and following her, cringing at the water and mud against his feet. It doesn’t necessarily hurt on his tougher soles, but it doesn’t feel great either.

“How long do we stick to the foul play theory without any evidence?” Tobias asks as he catches up to her. “I feel like we’re getting nowhere fast. What if they really are just regular earthquakes and Asra has terrible luck?”

They’re approaching the garganacl who had been yelling about angry gods earlier. He’s just standing out in the rain like a weirdo. Tobias steers Nia around him in a wide arc, not wanting to deal with that again.

Nia glances back at the towering Pokemon. “It couldn’t actually be the legendaries causing these quakes, could it..?”

“Unless they’re suddenly back from wherever they went for their decades-long nap and decided to spite Asra specifically? Doubt it.”

They finally make it back to the saloon, stepping inside to light and chatter. Nia wipes her paws at the door, and Tobias follows her lead before moving closer to the bar. He can hear the quiet tap of Samir’s hoofsteps following them.

They pass the construction crew on the way, all of them crowded around two tables shoved together. Looks like they’re playing cards and betting stacks of poké.

The dewott boss they met earlier, Eddy, reaches into a pouch and slaps more coins on the table. The other ‘mon all jeer and shout excitedly, one obnoxious ursaring guffawing about him being an awful big spender for such a little Pokemon.

Tobias rolls his eyes. Must be nice to have bags of cash to throw away. He would actually be able to afford that little guitar in Granite’s shop if he were so lucky.

They finally make it to the bar, pulling themselves up onto the stools. Samir hops onto their own with impressive grace.

“Hey, Deidra,” Nia greets tiredly. “We’re back.”

The lopunny, strangely enough, doesn’t respond. Tobias glances up from where he’d been looking at the scabbed-over wound on his leg.

Deidra is standing stock still, her long ears twitching. A long-forgotten pitcher is held in one of her paws. She’s staring at the nearest dirty glass on the counter. A little leftover juice is still present.

It’s…rippling, ever so slightly.

Tobias straightens up, a bad feeling growing in his gut.

“Deidra?” Nia asks, hesitant.

The lopunny’s pink eyes widen with alarm. Then she shouts, loud enough to be heard over the din of the crowd, “Quake incoming!”

The noise dies away as Pokemon stop eating and drinking and gambling, all of them looking to her with startled expressions. For a moment, there’s a terrible silence.

Tobias hears it before he feels it. First a low hum, like a distant hive of beedrill. Then the rattling starts. The glasses behind Deidra start to clink against one another like chimes.

Tobias hears some Pokemon behind him shout—a few thumps, the frantic scrape of chairs scooting away from tables.

And then the earthquake hits. Tobias can feel it shifting under him like the one time he’d ridden on a boat at sea. Rough, choppy waves, tugging the earth beneath him one way and then another, making everything in his vision blur.

He grips the edge of the counter, terror blooming in his gut as he grits his teeth. Deidra has disappeared from view. A few glasses shake free from the shelf and shatter to the floor. The paintings and pictures on the walls bounce and clatter.

And Tobias realizes he doesn’t know what to do in an earthquake. In hindsight, maybe that was the first thing they should’ve asked upon arriving to Asra.

But then Nia is grabbing his arm and dragging him off the stool to scoot under the counter, pressing close to his side. Samir quickly joins them, even the steady skiddo wobbling as the shaking intensifies.

The wooden foundations of the building itself seem to creak and crack. Tobias hears a loud snap like a tree broken in half, followed by a deafening crash. More frantic shouts and noise.

The shaking continues.

It feels like forever. It feels like an instant.

And then, slowly, too slow to realize until it’s nearly finished, it all stops. Silence rings in Tobias’ ears. It’s broken only by the occasional clatter of an item dropping to the ground, and the roaring of his heart.

He blinks and realizes he’s clutching Nia’s arm in a death grip. He slowly, numbly convinces his fingers to let go. Nia, eyes huge with fright, glances at him.

“I-Is it over?” She whispers.

“Dunno,” he mumbles, blinking hard and trying to determine if the shaking he thinks he feels is just an echo of the experience bouncing around his skull. He thinks so. He’s starting to hear the faint traces of voices piping up from the rest of the room.

Slowly, he crawls out from under the counter, eyes immediately drawn past the nearest toppled chairs and tables and crouching Pokemon to where rain is pattering inside one half of the building.

A support beam fell. Crashed through the far wall. Luckily didn’t take the whole building down with it, but a good chunk of it. The floorboards around that area are a good half-meter deeper than the rest of the building, as if a slab of earth right below was ripped out from under it.

The only bright side is that Tobias doesn’t see any Pokemon trapped under the worst of the wreckage. There are a few getting to their feet who are clutching at their heads or leaning into each other, but Tobias doesn’t see any immediate, fatal injuries.

“I-Is everyone all right?” Deidra’s voice calls, shaky but clear.

Tobias glances back to find the lopunny leaning on the bar, looking out over the patrons. Blood is trickling from a gash on her head down into her cream fur. Her gaze flicks to Tobias, Nia, and Samir as they emerge, and something in her expression lightens with relief.

There’s a smattering of halfhearted calls and some thumbs-up, the Pokemon around them helping their neighbors back to their feet.

“Thank goodness. Hope the rest of the town is all right, too,” Deidra mutters, hobbling out from behind the bar with a fluffy paw to her head. She eyes the decimated half of her saloon with something between grief and exhaustion.

Samir stiffens at the lopunny’s words, ears dropping and eyes widening.

“What—“

They take off through the gap in the wall and to the left, bounding through mud and puddles towards the other end of town.

“Samir!” Nia calls, reaching after them. She looks to Tobias with worried eyes. “What was that about?”

Tobias shrugs.

“Do you think they’re all right? They looked really freaked out.”

“Probably just checkin’ on miss Leila and her little one,” A deep voice says behind them, making Nia jump.

It’s Cody. The aggron was with Eddy’s crew, but he’s now helping Deidra sit, peering at her head wound. He nods a distracted greeting to them.

“Leila?”

“The lilligant down the road. She’s the one they’ve been boarding with the past few weeks.”

“Oh,” Nia murmurs, relaxing a bit. “I hope she’s all right.”

“Me too,” Cody rumbles, gaze flicking to the severe damage to the building. “That was a nasty one. All this rain’s making the soil too soft; the building’s foundations must be slipping.”

“What can we do to help?” Nia asks, paws wringing and eyes round with worry.

“Worry about yourselves first, hun. I’m sure Calder’s checking on everyone already,” Deidra says.

“We are Seekers, it’s kind of our job to help,” Tobias points out, watching Deidra carefully, checking her balance. “I used to be an herbalist, so I know a little bit about medical stuff.”

Cody looks surprised by that. Deidra waves Tobias off at the unspoken inquiry he must be radiating.

“A glass fell and cut me—I didn’t hit my head. Go check on the rest of the town then if you don’t mind, sweetheart. Just be careful.”

Tobias hesitates, but Cody nods to him. “I’ll watch her. Go see if Calder needs any help. And watch out for aftershocks.”

Nia weaves her way to the front door instead of the giant hole in the building, stopping along the way to quietly ask if everyone is all right. Tobias follows in her wake, flipping up his hood as they cross into the rain.

“Should we just go around and make sure no one needs help?” Nia asks. “Or look for Calder?”

“Don’t see why we can’t do both,” Tobias answers, looking one way and then the other. He can see townsfolk crowding the streets either way, their nervous voices a rabble of sound.

Nia’s ears twitch. “Should we…split up?”

Tobias’ mouth flattens unhappily. They rarely split up in a potentially dangerous situation, but… “Probably. We can cover more ground that way.” The town is small, but still too big for something like this.

Nia says she’ll take the east side of town, probably hoping to follow Samir and check on that lilligant. Tobias doesn’t protest, simply telling her to watch out for aftershocks before turning to start on his half.

Right away, one thing becomes clear: the town is a mess.

Either this quake was notably worse than the ones before, or the town has gotten proficient at making repairs, because Tobias doesn’t know how they could have missed this level of damage before.

Most buildings weren’t hit quite as hard as Deidra’s saloon, but there are still broken shutters hanging from their corners and lopsided steps sinking into the mud. A few signs have fallen from shop fronts to spear wooden porches. One of the nearest carts is tipped over, a few crates and goods spilled out into the mud. Shallow fissures divide the dirt into a giant jigsaw puzzle.

At least the rain has finally stopped.

And of course, the townsfolk are in a tizzy. Neighbors are bustling around the muddy streets, chatting anxiously with one another. A graveler and trapinch nearby say something about going to check on some old ‘mon named Roger.

Tobias takes a breath and tries to channel Nia’s obnoxious sense of helpfulness. He approaches the first of the Pokemon who seem like they might need help righting their property or dealing with injuries. One turns to two, then three, and he moves from Pokemon to Pokemon, checking in on each little cluster of townsfolk to see who needs him next.

“Thank you so much, little flame,” a red oricorio with an injured wing says as Tobias splints it up with a small rod of broken wood. Her friend, a watery-eyed wooper, nods gratefully.

“‘S not a permanent fix,” Tobias says, tightening the scrap of handkerchief they had on hand for him to use. “Go to the town doctor as soon as you can so it doesn’t set wrong.”

“Still,” the oricorio says, waiting until Tobias reluctantly meets her eyes to smile. “We’ve been on our own for a while, other than Samir. And Calder can only do so much on his own. It’s been scary, dealing with all of this—even this bit of help means a lot for our peace of mind.”

Once again, the teary wooper nods his head so hard Tobias is afraid he’ll give himself a concussion.

Tobias frowns down at the wing held delicately in his claws, something about that sentiment settling cold and hard in his gut. He came to Fort Asra to get info about Team Zenith, but…these Pokemon really do need their help.

A new fire lights in Tobias’ chest. He huffs, straightening up and nodding to the pair. “Well…we’ll do our best to help however we can.”

Tobias moves into helping the other Pokemon with a bit more vigor, checking bumps and bruises and crying Pokemon for serious injuries. Others request that he help them straighten out damaged carts and wooden stalls, worried about their livelihood breaking apart if left overnight.

“Push!” The lycanroc in charge of their current operation barks. He leans into the side of the downed cart with his full body.

Tobias and the other Pokemon recruited to help grunt and follow the order, using their full weight to push back against the cart. Slowly, it starts to tip upright again, the mud sucking at its creaking wood. Tobias growls, muscles straining, and turns with the other Pokemon once it’s halfway upright to use his arms.

Finally, the cart settles loudly back on its wheels. Covered in mud—much like Tobias himself—but in one piece. The Pokemon around Tobias cheer, a few high-fiving or letting off harmless attacks in celebration. A grapploct uses two of its tentacles to give Tobias a hearty slap on the back that makes him wince.

But their cheer is infectious, and Tobias quietly returns their smiles with a small grin of his own.

Then it’s back to moving from building to building and ‘mon to ‘mon, checking for injuries and anything else Tobias can help with. Find a crying child’s mother. Try (unsuccessfully) to calm down an anxious old primeape until her friend finally arrives to take her to the town doctor. Help clear a downed beam from a porch so the Pokemon living there can actually open their front door.

At one point, Tobias sees Samir pass him by, loaded down with medical supplies. The skiddo looks determined but calm, so Tobias assumes their boarder and her kid are fine.

He stops the skiddo and takes some of their stock of berries and gauze with him so he can better help patch up injuries.

By time Tobias has made it through his half of the town, night is falling. He’s covered in mud and absolutely exhausted. Still, he hadn’t ran across any Pokemon with life-threatening injuries and counts himself lucky for that. He hopes Nia had similar good fortune.

Tobias just…needs to take a breather. He groans and sits on the corner of someone’s porch, rubbing at his eyes. No wonder Samir has looked absolutely exhausted since Nia and Tobias met them. If they and Calder were the only ‘mons running around to help everyone after incidents like this, Tobias can’t imagine how they managed it.

Tobias looks up as he hears quiet footsteps approach, surprised but relieved to see a familiar blue and black Pokemon.

“Hey,” he says. “How’d things go on your end?”

Nia gives him a weak smile, clearly just as exhausted as he feels. She hops up on the porch to sit beside him.

“Lots of small injuries. One or two Pokemon probably have broken bones, but Calder sent the doctor to help them so I think they’ll be okay. Plenty of damage, though. You?”

Tobias nods. “Pretty much the same.”

There’s a moment of quiet. Tobias watches as lamps start lighting in the windows of some of the nearby buildings, glowing against the dark of dusk. The silhouettes of Pokemon are still out and about, moving from one building to another, busy but no longer panicked.

“We need to figure out the cause of these quakes,” Nia murmurs, following his gaze.

Tobias grunts his agreement.

“I hope Granite and Takeo are okay. I got called away before I could check on them so Calder said he’d stop in.”

“They seem tough,” Tobias replies, pointedly ignoring the fact that Takeo almost died from one of the previous quakes. “I’m sure they’re fine.”

Nia looks unconvinced, nervously drumming her fingers against the wood of the porch.

“C’mon,” Tobias sighs, slipping off the porch and to the mud. “Let’s head back for the night.”

Nia gives him a surprised look, so he shrugs. “We can’t do much for repairs at night anyways. Or investigating.”

Nia hesitantly nods, following him down to the ground as he picks his way back across town. “Right. We…we can pick the search back up tomorrow, when everyone is less rattled. We need a new approach, anyways.”

Tobias wholeheartedly agrees.

They make it back to the shop as the chill of night starts setting in. Tobias creaks open the front door, the jingle of its bell absent. He spots the dented metal bell on the floor, surrounded by all the other items that were shaken right off the shelves during the quake.

For a brief moment Tobias fears that the quake did hit this building hard, that something happened despite the soothing glow of a lamp dimly lighting the room.

Then he sees two somewhat familiar forms half-hidden behind a shelf, casting heavy shadows. Granite and Takeo look up from where they’re gathering the broken shards of what used to be some kind of jar, simply giving them a welcoming nod.

“Glad to see you two’re in one piece,” Granite says. “How’s the rest of town?”

“Some injuries,” Nia reports, carefully stepping around the mess to reach them. “But nothing too serious.”

“Lots of damage, though,” Tobias mumbles, eyeing the items scattered across the floor. “Cody thinks the mud is making the buildings more unstable.”

“Any deaths?” Takeo rasps.

Nia shakes her head. “No, I don’t think so. None that we heard of, at least.”

“Good, good.”

“If you’ve already checked on the town, help us clear this mess before someone steps on something and hurts themselves.”

Tobias reluctantly joins the two older Pokemon, taking the brush and dustpan that Takeo hands him. Granite gives Nia a burlap sack to collect any broken bits of their stock.

By time it’s all cleaned up—or at least out of the way so Granite doesn’t accidentally smash any of it underfoot—Tobias feels ready to sleep for a week. He’s been drenched in rain and shaken around by an earthquake, and as a fire type he thinks he deserves a little rest.

Nia managed to cut her hand on the little mirror they’d seen before, now in shards in Granite and Takeo’s trash can, and that was apparently the final straw because she looks just as done with the day.

But Granite insists they eat, and makes them sit down at the kitchen table.

“We’ve still got some beans ‘n bread left over from lunch. At least eat some of that before bed.”

Tobias is too tired to argue, and rests his head on his arms. Nia slumps against the table to his right.

“So,” Granite says, using a piece of flint to light some fire and warm up the food. “I know you’re both tuckered out, but that was the nastiest quake yet. Did you find anything out before it hit?”

For once, Nia doesn’t look eager to talk. She does after a beat of hesitation, sharing what little they know with much less energy than usual. That’s how you know she’s really tired.

When they’re done reporting on their disastrous attempt at gathering intel, Granite snorts a laugh.

“Sounds like a lot of useless drabble to me.”

Nia’s ears pin back. Before Tobias can snap at the donphan, he brings the heated food back over along with two unbroken plates.

“But you never know,” Granite says, looking pleased when Nia and Tobias immediately reach for the leftovers. “Could help you pull it all together down the road.”

Nia hums happily, some life visibly pouring back into her as she munches on the bread, dipping it into beans and gravy. Tobias relates—he’s so hungry that this tastes like the best food he’s ever eaten.

They clean the plate of leftovers in no time. Granite happily takes back their plates, chatting something about them needing full bellies to find the scoundrel responsible for this whole mess.

Nia and Tobias exchange a doubtful look. Granite, unfortunately, catches it, frowning as he dries a plate with a towel held in his trunk.

“What?”

Nia fiddles with the tablecloth. “W-Well, it’s just…we don’t mean to doubt you, but we still haven’t found any proof that the earthquakes are actually being caused by someone. Intentionally.”

Granite huffs, long ears twitching. “I told you how localized they are—how else would you explain them only hitting Asra this often?”

“An angry god?” Tobias suggests sarcastically, chin propped up on a fist.

“I see you met Roger.”

“Nice guy.”

Granite huffs a laugh. “He is. Just a bit superstitious. No, can’t imagine the legendaries would have somethin’ out for quaint little Asra. ‘Sides, this town has been here since before they up ‘n vanished—we woulda known if any of them made their home underneath our feet.”

“Could it be some other kind of Pokemon underground?” Tobias asks with a frown. “I know you said you didn’t sense any move energy, but if they’re big enough…”

Although he’s not sure which Pokemon would even be strong enough to burrow through desert rock and soil like that without using moves.

“Asra’s been here over a hundred years. At this point. Any burrowin’ mon would have to know they’d be putting the town in danger if they tried diggin’ underneath it.”

“But if that was the case, what would even be the motive?” Nia huffs, putting her face on her fists and squishing her cheeks. Tobias can tell it’s killing her to not be able to figure this out. “They aren’t targeting anyone in particular, nothing good is coming of it. The only thing the quakes are accomplishing is destroying every other building in town!”

“And we don’t think being set in a canyon would make the town more susceptible to natural quakes, right?” Tobias asks.

“‘S far as I’m aware?” Granite asks. “No.”

Great.

Tobias stares blankly in Nia’s direction, about to call it for tonight and find somewhere on the floor to pass out. His partner is picking at the small bandage wrapped around her paw, frowning hard in thought. He can’t believe she cut herself on that mirror. There’s gotta be some stupid metaphor in there about—

Wait.

Tobias sits up, the slow gears of his mind picking up pace. Nia must see it, because she echoes his posture, looking at him intently.

Mirror. Mirrorstone.

Of course.

“The mines,” Tobias says, looking sharply to Granite. “You said this used to be a big mining town, right?“

Nia’s mouth drops open to a little “o” as she catches on.

“I see where you’re going with this,” Takeo’s voice pipes up, pulling everyone’s attention to the doorframe to the back, where the bug type is leaning against the wall. “But the mines never ran under the town.”

Granite snorts. “We wouldn’t be dense enough to do something like that. That’s just asking for the town to eventually level itself a mile deep. Nah, all the mining was done on the outskirts of town, in the walls of the canyon.”

Tobias groans, flopping back down. He really thought he’d had something there.

“No, wait, this could still be important,” Nia says, a tad too desperate.

Takeo shakes his head. “Calder and Pan already checked out the mines a month ago.” His face darkens. “That’s how Pan was killed. Cave-in while they were investigating. Calder almost got caught in it too.”

Nia looks between the two older Pokemon. “But…did they actually finish the investigation? Or did that cut it short?”

For the first time, Takeo falters. “I...don’t know that. Although I’m pretty sure if Calder suspected anything to do with the mines, he’d have went back himself.”

“Plus, even if the mines are collapsin’, that shouldn’t be enough to cause big quakes like we’ve been gettin’,” Granite points out, glancing at Takeo for confirmation. “We’d hear it first, for one. Darn near everything echoes in this canyon if it’s loud enough. And that would make the canyon walls crumble, not the ground under our feet.”

Tobias thinks all of that seems like pretty sound logic. Still, whether it’s because it’s the only new lead they’ve thought of or because something about mines and tunnels seems too relevant to earthquakes, Tobias wants to look into it further.

“Say we want to check out the mines anyways,” he starts.

“No.”

Nia and Tobias both blink at Granite’s serious cut-off.

“Um…no?” Nia echoes weakly.

“Mines are off-limits ever since the cave in,” Takeo says.

“And I don’t need you squirts’ deaths on my conscience,” Granite huffs.

“But—“

Granite’s face hardens. “Don’t go lookin’ in those mines, you hear? I’m serious. It’s dangerous.”

Nia frowns. “What if we ask Calder first?”

Takeo chuckles. “Calder will kick you out of the canyon altogether before willingly letting you kids into those mines. He’s been extra cautious about them ever since Pan.”

“Fine,” Nia sighs, slumping forward.

Tobias looks at Nia, surprised by his headstrong partner giving up so quickly. But then he sees the thoughts still going a mile a minute behind her ruby eyes.

She’s going to drag them straight into those mines tomorrow, isn’t she?

Tobias bites back a laugh. And everyone back at the guild thinks he’s the troublemaker in this partnership. Nia is just as bad. She’s just sneakier about it. And nicer.

“Well. We’ll figure out our next plan tomorrow,” Tobias says, stretching.

Nia looks at him now, surprised. He just raises his brows in response. Does she want him to play along or not?

“O-Oh! Right. Um, we’re really tired. Is it all right if we go to bed?”

Takeo looks at them for just a beat too long, and Tobias wonders if the spidops suspects what Tobias knows they’ll end up doing tomorrow. Still, the bug type eventually sighs and waves over his shoulder for them to follow.

They do, and Tobias is happy to see the spidops lead them to a tiny side room that looks to be the two’s office, with a desk and some old cabinets bursting with files. A few spare cushions are thrown into one corner.

“This work for lodgings?” Takeo asks.

Nia gratefully flops face-first into the heap of cushions.

Tobias snorts. “Yeah, this is fine.”

“Thank you!” Nia says, voice muffled.

Takeo almost smiles, shaking his head before heading out of the room, cracking it closed behind him.

Night is falling in earnest now, but within the small room it’s cozy and free from the desert chill. Tobias’ tail flame gives them a warm light to see by. He walks over to Nia and nudges her with his foot until she whines, rolling over to make room for him.

He yawns and plops down beside her, shifting to make himself comfortable. He can feel Nia’s eyes on him.

“So…tomorrow,” she starts, subtle as a copperajah.

“We’re going to the mines?”

Nia startles, lifting her head to stare at him like he’d read her mind. He gives her an unimpressed look in return.

She laughs, sheepish. “Okay, okay. Are you all right with that?”

“Whatever we need to do to solve this stupid mystery, save the town, and get Rosalind’s info,” Tobias yawns. He thinks of all those Pokemon he saw after the quake today, injured and scared. “…either way, these Pokemon need our help.”

Nia smiles at him before stretching out and getting comfortable. “Awesome. We’ll do that then.“

Tobias hums in response, eyes slipping closed. They’ve got a big day of investigation ahead of them, and he’ll need to be ready for it.

—————————————————————

Tobias wakes Nia at dawn and quietly leads the way outside, hoping to bypass any interrogation that Takeo or Granite might try to spring at breakfast. Nia isn’t thrilled by the early hour or by skipping food, but her tired glare shifts to a pout of acceptance when he promises they’ll get food after checking out the mines.

The town is already waking up despite the early hour, Pokemon getting back to their jobs and town repairs right away.

“Early risers,” Nia notes.

“Who we should try to avoid the attention of,” Tobias whispers, dragging the riolu off the main road and down a side street.

Nia blinks at him. “What? Why?”

“Remember how Granite and Takeo freaked out when we mentioned the mines? We don’t want anyone else to know we’re heading to check them out.”

“Oh! Good point.”

Nia follows Tobias’ steps through the shade of the buildings and weaves around toppled barrels and cracks in the mud.

In a matter of minutes, they reach the edge of town, stopping to stare out at the expanse of sand and scraggly plants. The walls of the canyon tower ahead of them, maybe a mile out. They’re tall enough to block out the sky, save for the ragged circle of pale blue directly overhead. The rock is lined with layers of sediment, dusky red and pockmarked with rocky outcroppings and indents. Not exactly a smooth surface that makes spotting a mine very easy.

“Any idea where the nearest entrance would be?” Nia asks, squinting into the distance.

Tobias shakes his head, trying to scan the canyon walls with his sharper eyes. “We might just have to walk the perimeter until we find one.”

“That could take a while,” Nia says, frowning. “Especially if we’re trying to avoid anyone seeing us or—“

A quiet tap tap on the wooden wall behind them makes Nia shriek and Tobias jump, whirling around.

His heart sinks as he sees Samir. The skiddo is staring at the two of them, one eyebrow raised and mouth askew in an unimpressed look.

“S-Samir!” Nia laughs nervously. “Hey! Good to see you. We were just, uh…admiring the view!”

Samir gives her a glare, as if angry at how bad of a lie that was.

Tobias sighs, crossing his arms. “Fine. We want to check out the mines. Granite and Takeo said we shouldn’t, but we need to look into any possible leads.”

Samir gives them both a disappointed look.

“I know you don’t think it’s foul play,” Nia whines. “But we just…we need to make sure, okay, Samir?” She clasps her paws together pleadingly. “Pleeeaaase don’t tell anyone!”

Tobias doesn’t think Nia’s baby-doll eyes are going to work on Samir when they seem to take their job so seriously, especially under Calder’s command.

“We just want to stop the quakes and help the town,” Tobias adds. “And right now, this is the best lead we’ve got.”

Samir’s strong stance softens, their shoulders dropping. They sigh, glancing over their shoulder. Then they nod, slowly.

Nia steps forward, looking hopeful. “Does that mean you won’t tell Calder?”

Samir rolls their eyes, then scrapes some words into the still-damp dirt.

COMING ALONG

“You’re coming with us?” Tobias asks, surprised.

“Oh, that’s great!” Nia says, beaming at the grass type. “The more hands—uh, hooves? The better! Thank you.”

“Don’t suppose you know which direction to take?” Tobias prompts.

Samir nods and strides past them, confident and brisk as they leave the shade of the town. Nia and Tobias exchange a bewildered look, but quickly follow.

At first, Tobias doesn’t see any markers that dictate where they’re going, and he wonders if Samir just picked a random direction to walk. But the skiddo frequently glances down at the dirt, eyes skimming over the brown-gray rocks scattered among the dirt and scraggly patches of grass. It takes a few instances of this, but eventually Tobias realizes they’re following the very faint traces of a once well-trod path. Maybe the very one the townsfolk used to follow to go to the mines each day.

“Huh,” Tobias breathes, impressed.

It probably takes half an hour to reach the border of the canyon, where downed boulders and slabs of rock create an incline up to the canyon wall. Samir nimbly hops up rocks that are bigger than all three of them combined.

Tobias follows with admittedly less grace, digging his claws into the rough surface of the stone to scrabble his way up.

“W-Wait for me!” Nia yelps.

She’s trying to climb up the rubble, but failing to gain purchase with her dull claws. As he watches, she starts to slide back down, face panicked.

Tobias is hit with a powerful wave of deja vu. He snorts and leans over to grab her wrists, grunting as he pulls her up.

“Th-Thanks,” she pants.

“Still working on those climbing skills, I see.”

She gives him a playful glare. “Sorry, I haven’t had a lot of time to practice between all of our near-death experiences!”

“Excuses, excuses,” Tobias jokes, turning and spotting Samir’s leafy green back and a flash of their orange hooves a bit farther up the rubble. He follows, hearing Nia scrabbling behind him.

At first, Tobias thinks Samir possibly lost the trail somewhere along the way. It certainly doesn’t look like the mine is here. But then Tobias rounds one last boulder and stops, surprised by an opening in the cliff face. It’s a jagged square of black against the lighter stone, hemmed in by a rickety frame of wood. Half of it has been caved in, stones cutting into the perfect silhouette. Tobias can only see a few feet into the tunnel.

“Oh, that…doesn’t look safe,” Nia says, taking a step back.

Samir gives her a look, as if to say, No, really?

“This is our best lead, right?” Tobias asks, taking a bracing breath. “We don’t need to go in too deep. Just…take a look around and see if anything seems suspicious.”

“R-Right.”

Tobias swings his tail around to use as a torch. Then he steps forward into the darkness.

#pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #pokemon #charmander #skiddo #riolu #pmd seekers of soul #tesha draws #tesha writes

103 notes · View notes

ringa-starr · 30 days

Text

Bill and Ted: Rock-A-Bye-Bivalve

Hi everyone! I am so excited to share my new fic with you guys! Well, old-new I guess. This has been sitting on my computer for the longest time now and I finally got around to finishing the first part! I've decided this is going to be two-parter and the second part will be even more exciting!

Not only am I trying to get back into the Bill and Ted fandom, I'm also trying to get back into writing and I think I'm getting there, slowly but surely.

Anyways I'll quit rambling. I really hope you guys enjoy this first part and please feel absolutely free to like, reblog, follow and comment.

Be Excellent to Each other and Party on Dudes!

-Deidra

Words: 3.3K

“No more pencils, no more books!” Bill S. Preston Esquire cried out happily as he and his best friend Ted “Theodore” Logan ran out the front doors of San Dimas High before jumping down the small flight of stairs in front of the school.

Ted jumped to the ground after Bill, his long, dark hair flying up as he did so, a wide, excited smile that matched his best friends on his face. “No more teacher’s dirty looks!” Ted finished the rhyme before he and Bill did their signature guitar move.

It was the last day of school and Bill and Ted were more than ready for three months of nothing but rest and relaxation. They deserved it after all…the boys had to work their butts off in order to earn the ‘C’ averages they made in all their classes.

“Just think, Dude!” Bill exclaimed as he and Ted walked side-by-side on the sidewalk in the direction of Bill’s house.

“Three whole months of nothing but sleep, tv, video games and-“Ted smirked at his best friend, knowing good and well where he was going with this.

“-ROCK N ROLL!” the boys cried in unison before jumping up and playing air guitar again.

By this time, the two were just a couple feet away from Bill’s house, Bill taking his house key out of his pants pocket, not wanting to waste a single second of vacation time.

As Bill slid in the key to unlock the front door, the excitement he felt was almost overwhelming, Ted feeling the exact same way as he practically bounced on the soles of his shoes.

“What should we do first?” Ted wanted to know, as if taking the question straight from his best friend’s mind.

The two walked inside, smiles on their faces as they collapsed on the living room couch.

“Watch MTV? Go relax by the pool? Go out to the garage and have a most excellent jam session?”

Before Bill could answer, however, his tv suddenly switched on by itself, their mentor and friend from the future Rufus on the screen in front of them.

“Hello, my most excellent friends”, Rufus greeted his two teenage companions.

Bill and Ted snapped their heads in the direction of Rufus’s voice.

“Rufus?” the boys questioned in unison; voices full of confusion.

“What are you doing in Bill’s TV?” Ted asked, a goofy grin forming. “Are you auditioning for one of those singing contests shows?”

Rufus chuckled and slightly shook his head. “Not this time, Ted”, he replied, the smile on his face slowly fading.

In unison, he held up a piece of paper in either hand, the look on his face stern.

“I’ve been looking over your final report cards”, Rufus explained, “and it seems as if you two only passed your classes by a hair.”

“Not a problem, Rufus”, Bill assured his friend with a confident look that matched the tone in his voice as he leaned back against the couch.

He put his feet up on the coffee table before continuing.

“My pal Ted and I just need a bit of a vacation from our everyday learning environment. By the time school starts again, we’ll be ready for some learning!”

The goofy smile returning to his face, Ted happily nodded in agreement only for Rufus to softly chuckle and shake his head in disbelief.

“I wish I could say I believe you, William '', Rufus told the curly blonde, a small filing cabinet now beside him. He opened it up and skimmed through a few file holders until he came across what he was looking for, pulling out a small stack of papers from one of the files.

“But it looks as if your report cards of the past say otherwise.” Bill and Ted glanced at each other, looks on their faces matching that of two kids who were being scolded by their parents.

“It’s because of this”, Rufus went on, “that I have decided that you two don’t really need a summer vacation this year- “

“No way!” Bill and Ted interrupted in unison, absolute horror in their voices.

“Yes way”, Rufus mocked their exclamation calmly, a smirk slowly forming on his face. “Instead, I think this would be a great opportunity for the two of you to learn a lesson in responsibility that will make the concern of your schoolwork seem as simple as tying your shoes.”

Bill and Ted gave each other a nervous look. There was no telling the kind of thing Rufus would have them do!

“F-For the whole summer?” Ted stammered, fear taking over his whole body.

Rufus nodded. “For the whole summer”, he confirmed.

“What about our parents?” Bill wanted to know. “How are we going to do what you want us to do without them finding out?”

“I’ve already taken that into consideration”, Rufus told the boys. “I have arranged for your parents-“he looked at Ted “-and your brother, Ted, a three month trip to Hawaii.”

At this bit of news, Bill and Ted slowly exchanged looks of shock, the eyes wide and jaws agape.

“Bogus!” Bill exclaimed.

“Most heinous!” Ted agreed.

“I’m sorry, gentlemen”, Rufus told them sincerely, “but I feel as if this is the only way you two are going to learn.” “Not only that”, the older man was quick to add, “but this will also teach you two about the true meaning of teamwork.”

Now came the dreaded question. “Well, what do we have to do, Rufus?” Bill asked.

At the question, Rufus smiled. “I’m glad you asked, Bill”, he replied as he looked down at his watch. “You should find out right about…”

As if on cue, Bill and Ted’s heads snapped up in attention at the sound of a knock at Bill’s front door.

“…now”, Rufus finished his sentence.

Nervously, Bill stood up and answered it, Ted on his heels.

“Hello?” Bill asked, sticking his head out the door and looking from left to right, only to see that no one was standing on his front steps.

“Bill!” Ted cried after a couple moments; his eyes wide with surprise as something sitting on the front porch caught his attention. “Look!” He pointed to the object sitting at Bill’s feet.

Looking down, the blonde saw something small wiggling around underneath a small, light blue blanket which fit perfectly inside a small basket. Eyes wide with a mixture of surprise, wonder, and confusion, Bill slowly and carefully bent down, picking up the basket.

The blonde then slowly and carefully took a bit of the tiny blanket in his fingertips before slowly pulling it back only slightly, a bundle of blonde curls that matched his own coming into view, the face of a tiny human following close behind with chocolate brown eyes staring back into his green ones.

The tiny creature’s mouth was formed in a small ‘o’ of the same confusion, wonder, and surprise that filled the teen who was holding him. “Dude!” Ted gasped. “That’s a baby!”

In that instant, a wave of panic rushed over Bill and he nearly jumped clear out of his skin when Rufus’ voice could be heard again. “You are correct, Ted”, the older man said from his spot inside Bill’s television with a knowing smile. “Gentlemen, say hello to little Keanu Alexander. You two are going to be his parents for the summer.”

“What?!” Bill and Ted exclaimed in unison, their eyes almost bugging out of their heads. Rufus nodded, holding his ground.

“Thanks to the technology of the future”, he explained. “I took half of your DNA’s and put them together to create the baby you see before you.”

At this piece of information, Bill and Ted gave each other awkward looks before looking back at Rufus who immediately smiled and shook his head. “Now I know what you two are thinking”, he told them, “but this is just a project for you guys to learn that there are some responsibilities harder than doing well in school and maybe by the end of the summer, you guys will have learned a thing or two from this experience.”

He clasped his hands together, his smile getting slightly larger. “Now that that is settled, I’ll leave the two of you to decide what your next step is going to be. Best of luck, my most excellent friends.”

And with that, Bill’s tv switched off and the house went silent.

Bill and Ted each looked at the baby Bill was holding in complete silence before Ted nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “So, what do we do now?” he asked.

Bill shrugged. “I don’t know, Dude”, he replied before an idea hit him moments later. “Hey! I think there is some of my old baby stuff in the attic! Let’s go see if we can find it!

“Excellent!” Ted agreed.

Bill carefully put baby Keanu back in the basket and picked it up by the handle before following Ted up to the very top floor of his house.

Pulling on the pull chain, the dark attic was suddenly filled with light, boxes upon boxes among other antiques and items of all kinds from all parts of the attic greeted the two teens.

“Whoa!” Ted gasped as he and Bill walked further inside. “This looks like my uncle’s storage room!”

Bill said nothing as he walked to the very back of the attic where he saw several boxes stacked on top of each other, some labeled BILL’S BABY CLOTHES and BILL’S BABY TOYS among other things.

Bill smiled widely. “Ted!” he called. “Over here, dude!” Ted hurried over to Bill’s side and smiled just as wide as his friend. “Alright!” he cried. “Let’s get moving!” He took a couple of the smaller boxes in his arms and started to walk towards the ladder which led to the second floor.

It was only then that a new realization hit Bill when he heard Keanu sneeze from the basket. Frowning, Bill gently set the basket down and picked up the tiny infant who, he now saw, was wearing only a diaper. Ted looked over his shoulder when he did not hear Bill’s footsteps behind him. “What’s wrong, Bill?” he asked.

“How are we going to watch the baby and get these boxes down at the same time?” Bill thought out loud. Setting down the boxes, Ted began to think until suddenly…”I got it!” Ted cried. “Why don’t I bring the boxes down while you stay downstairs with the baby?” “Ted! Great thinking, Dude!” Bill praised his friend, causing Ted to smile happily.

Bill then spotted the few pieces of his crib sitting against the side of the attic. “I’ll put the baby in my room”, he said, “and then I’ll come back for my old crib. Then I can have it set up when you have the rest of the stuff ready!” “Excellent!” the boys exclaimed in unison, playing air guitar. Well, Bill played air guitar as best he could. This caused Keanu to start laughing, Bill and Ted giving him a smile.

“Well, that’s the last of it, Bill”, Ted announced as he put down the final box among the few others in his best friend’s room before wiping the sweat off his forehead. “Phew!” Ted sighed as he slumped down on Bill’s bed, lying on his back. It was only then that he noticed something was slightly different. Smiling wide, Ted sat up and saw that Bill’s old crib was set up against the wall in front of him.

“Hey!” he cried. “You finished it!”

“Yep!” came Bill’s voice as he walked down the hallway, “and this little dude is ready for anything!” Bill entered the room with a now fully dressed baby Keanu in his arms.

The baby was dressed in one of Bill’s old baby outfits: a white onesie with a black bow-tie below the collar, the words Ladies, I have arrived below it with the word arrived in black cursive font. Tiny black socks covered the baby’s equally tiny feet as well.

“You look most excellent, Little Dude!” Ted told Keanu before ruffling his curls, causing the baby to babble happily and reach his little arms out to Ted. Smiling, Ted gently took the baby from Bill and began playing with him as he talked to him in baby talk.

It was only five minutes into playtime that Keanu suddenly started crying loudly. “Ted!” Bill cried. “What did you do, Dude?”

“What?” Ted cried. “I-I didn’t do anything Bill! I was just playing with him and he started crying! I swear!” Bill knew he was wrong to accuse his best friend like that, but the baby’s cries caught him completely off guard.

Keanu’s cries were now getting louder. “What do we do?!” Ted asked in a panic as he began to gently rock the baby. “Uhhhh ….ummm”, Bill stammered, trying to come up with an idea and quick. Doing the very first thing that came to mind, Bill started making funny noises with faces to match.

“Blah-blah-blah! Look at the funny face!” the teen said as he rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue. “Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo! Look at the funny face!” His face beginning to get a little sore after a few minutes and with the baby’s cries not letting up, Bill decided to admit defeat. However, Ted was not giving up so easily.

“Maybe he’s hungry”, the teen spoke his thoughts out loud. “Oh, bogus!” Bill cried, suddenly remembering something. So that’s what his dad wanted him to do this afternoon! “We don’t have any milk!”

He began digging through his pants’ pockets for the tiniest bit of money, even checking his socks and shoes a couple times, but he had nothing. “You got any money, Ted?” Bill asked, a slightly desperate tone in his voice. Ted began checking his own pockets after handing the baby to Bill. “Sorry, dude”, he said. “I’m broke.”

“What can we feed him then?” Bill wanted to know. At the question, Ted’s face brightened, his wide, goofy grin on his face. “I know just the thing!” he cried with confidence, running down to the kitchen before Bill could ask anything else.

Hearing Ted fishing around in the kitchen cabinets moments later, Bill gently began to rock little Keanu to help soothe him at least a little. “Shh shh shh shh” Bill softly whispered in the baby’s ear, beginning to pace his bedroom floor. “It’s all gonna be ok. Ted will be back any minute with something for you to eat.”

As soon as he had finished that sentence, Bill’s eyes went a little wide at the sound of…the microwave running? ‘Oh’, he thought with a smile, relieved that his best friend had found something for the little dude. ‘Ted probably found some canned milk Missy keeps in the kitchen sometimes for her ‘beauty treatments.’

Bill was about to finish his seventh lap around the room when he heard Ted’s footsteps rushing down the hall and into his bedroom. Slightly out of breath with the smile still on his face, Ted showed Bill what he had come up with.

“Veggie burger!” he cried happily. Bill glanced down at the paper plate in his best friend’s hand and sure enough there sat a leftover veggie burger from the Preston’s dinner last night.

“Dude!” Bill proclaimed. “Babies don’t eat veggie burgers! They can’t even chew them!”

“You’re right Bill!” Ted replied before facepalming himself with his free hand. “I don’t even know what I was thinking!”

With that, Ted took the veggie burger from the plate and took a big bite out of it, chewing it slowly for several moments.

“I’ll just chew it for him!” he cried happily though a mouthful of burger before giving a couple more good chews and opening his mouth, aiming the chewed-up veggie burger at little Keanu’s mouth.

“Ted!” Bill cried in a disgusted voice. “Dude, that's so disgusting!” Ted swallowed the chewed-up burger in his mouth. “Birds do it!” he informed Bill. “Does he look like a bird to you?” Bill snapped before shaking off the frustration he was feeling.

“Okay”, Bill said after clearing his head for a moment. “Let’s think of something else…”

As Bill was coming up with a new solution, a strong, foul smell met Ted’s nostrils.

“How about chili?” Bill finally suggested.

Ted gently took the baby from his best friend again as if he wanted to inspect something. Carefully looking in the baby’s diaper, all of Ted’s suspicions were now confirmed.

“Oh, most heinous!” he cried. “Looks like he already had chili, Dude!”

“Ugh!” Bill groaned in disgust as he pinched his nose closed with the tip of his thumb and pointer finger. “Did you see any diapers in those boxes, Ted?”

Ted nodded, walking over to Bill’s six-shelves dresser, and opening the third one from the top where a couple neatly folded stacks of Pampers diapers greeted him.

"Hold on just one second", Ted told his best friend with a smile as he carefully laid the baby on Bill's bed. Not even three minutes later, little Keanu's crying had stopped and Ted hugged the giggling baby close.

"Here he is!" he exclaimed. "Good as new!"

"Ted!" Bill's voice had a touch of bewilderment to it as he took the baby in his own arms. He had known Ted pretty much all his life but Bill had never known that his best friend knew how to change a baby's diaper! "How did you know how to do that?"

Ted grinned and swatted his hand to the side in modesty, slipping his other hand in his shorts pocket as he smiled at the ground before looking back up at Bill.

“Aw, my dad had me help out with Deacon when he was a baby”, he explained. “You know, I can’t believe I remember how to do that.”

Silence followed as little Keanu slowly fell asleep in Bill’s arms.

***

A few minutes later Bill and Ted were walking out of Bill’s kitchen, a can of Coke in each of their hands. Bill sighed as Ted opened his soda, taking a drink.

“What’s wrong, Bill?” Ted asked.

“Nothing”, Bill replied as the two teens sat on the couch. “I just think it sucks that we won’t be able to have any fun this summer.”

“What are you talking about?” Ted asked with a positive smile. “Taking care of a baby could be fun.”

“How?” Bill wondered out loud.

“Hmmm…” Ted tapped his chin as he looked up at the ceiling, trying to think. “It could be like playing house!” he said after a moment. “One of us can be the mom and the other can be the dad.”

At his best friend’s response Bill laughed out loud.

“No way!” the curly blonde cried out. “No way am I putting on any of Missy’s clothes!”

At this Ted laughed too. “That’s not what I mean”, he said.

Bill opened his own Coke and sipped thoughtfully in silence for a few minutes. The images of him and Ted playing with little baby Keanu, and taking turns feeding him, changing him, and rocking him to sleep slowly entered his mind.

“Yeah”, Bill finally said with a small smile. “I guess it could be fun and besides, the little dude is totally cute.”

Ted nodded in agreement. “I know. Believe me Bill, this summer will go by in no time.”

“Or”, Bill quickly added, a better idea coming to mind. “We do so well at taking care of the baby that Rufus lets us off the hook early!”

“Hey yeah!” Now Ted was even more excited, his smiling having grown bigger.

“Then let’s do it!” Bill exclaimed, lifting his soda can. “To being the best parents a kid ever had!”

Ted lifted his own can. “And to the most rockin summer ever!” he added.

And with the sound of the two cans hitting together, it was official.

#bill and ted #bill and ted's excellent adventure #my writing #my post #bill s preston esquire #ted theodore logan #bill and ted imagine #bill and ted's bogus journey

4 notes · View notes

be-with-me-so-happily · 2 years

Text

Summary: Y/N applies to be a styling intern for the One Direction crew during the Where We Are tour. As she gets better at her job and closer to the band and crew (especially Harry Styles), some of her dreams seem to be coming true, but so are some of her fears.

~~~~~

CHAPTER 26 -

THERE'S A FUTURE IN MY LIFE I CAN'T FORESEE

A/N: This one was pretty fun to write, because I've been very intentional with including the other guys, so this is just a bit more of them. Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Some language, pranks, laughs (oh!)

~~~~~

Past Few Weeks

You loved being able to spend time with Natalie and Levi again, especially when also with Ryan. It was so comfortable with the four of you back together again, hanging out together like old times.

The friendship with Harry is slow and casual. There have been a few funny text messages here and there. He's called a couple of times while out shopping, asking for some styling expertise. He also brought coffee to you at work one morning. You don't like keeping this from Ryan, but you aren't even sure if this friendship 'experiment' is even going to work, so you don't want to make a big thing of it yet.

Most of your time has been taken up by work anyway, and you are having a fun time working with Deidra again. Natalie came by and was impressed by the operation you've been a part of, even if she does still do her best to persuade you that your place is still on tour.

You're in a comfortable routine and everything is going good.

~~~~~

May 8th, 2015

Deidra has called you into her little office, and you are expecting another little speech about how you helped them a lot and how she will thank Amelia again.

"Hey Y/N, can we chat?" She motions towards her little armchairs and you take a seat.

"Of course!"

"Well, obviously I'm super grateful, again, for your help… your work, rather. I love ya, you're amazing, and I just wanted to see if you'd like to stay?"

"Stay?" You ask.

"Yeah, girl. Do you want to work here, full time?" She offers.

"Really? Wow!" You respond, but surprise yourself by not immediately agreeing. You've loved working with Deidra, and you've loved the experience. There's no reason to not say yes right away, yet you find yourself expressing some uncertainty. "I know this is stupid, but… could I take the day to think about it?"

"Of course! That's not stupid. Take the weekend!"

She replies with a smile.

"Thanks, Deidra." You smile back. "Either way, I have seriously enjoyed working here and am grateful for the opportunity."

"Oh please, I'm the grateful one. Might need to send Amelia another gift basket… unless she is trying to win you back!" She jokes.

"Umm… well, she did take me to that Fleetwood Mac concert."

"No gift basket for her then. That little bribe ninja." She smirks.

~~~~~

As your round of drinks comes to your table at the restaurant, Ryan proposes a toast.

"To Y/N! She's earned this full time job!" He raises his glass.

"Woah! She didn't say she's taking it…" Natalie interjects.

Ryan frowns. "Why wouldn't she? She loves it, it's in L.A…"

"She could still come back on tour, she loved that too!"

"She's not gonna go back on tour with her ex-boyfriend, that's stupid." Ryan replies.

You clear your throat. "Umm, hi, yes it's me." They both snap their attention to you and you hear Levi let out a little giggle. "Nat's right, I haven't decided yet."

Ryan sits back a bit, looking shocked. "Huh?"

"I just… I don't know. I just want to think about things." You admit.

"I just didn't think there was even a question." Ryan states, looking at you with an expression that could either read as concern or disappointment.

"I didn't either." You shrug.

"But let's just celebrate… Y/N! Because, why not?" Levi shouts, trying to break the tension.

You giggle. "I won't reject that idea!"

The four of your clink glasses, and you take a big gulp of your margarita.

Natalie leans in closer. "You've gotta do what you really want to do, honey. Okay? I want that to be on tour, obviously, but if this other job would make you happier then, babe, you gotta do it!"

"I'll think about it." You nudge up against her. "It was nice being away from you."

"Liar, I'm the love of your life!" You both laugh.

"But seriously Y/N/N, only do what will make you happy."

[Yeah, the problem is, you're getting confused as to what that is]

~~~~~

May 9th, 2015

:louis: hey love, can you help me and payno?

:louis: we're in town and wanna prank nialler

:you: yes! whatever it is, yes!

:louis: <address>

:louis: bring toilet paper

~~~~~

"Okay, what's this about?" You ask, getting out and handing him the supplies he had asked you to bring.

"We're going to… decorate Niall's car." He replies, with a mischievous look.

You let out a loud laugh. "Are you twelve?"

"Shut it! We're bored. Are you joining or not?"

You think for a split second. "Yes." And you all get to work.

"I think it looks spectacular!" Liam states, as the three of you step back to look at your handiwork.

There is toilet paper thrown all over Niall's car. There's a teddy bear, an umbrella, some pillows, and you aren't sure how or when, but a paint can made an appearance on top.

"I think it looks chaotic… and I love it!" Louis adds.

"I think it's pure art!" You laugh. "But I also think I should be repaid for the amount of toilet paper you used! I'm not making megastar money!"

Louis laughs. "Okay love. You'll get your reimbursement."

"Are we getting Niall to come out here, or just let him see it when he's done in the writing session?"

"Let him be surprised." Replies Liam. "It's a gift."

"Let's commemorate the moment though." You reach your hand out for Louis' phone.

"I'm not providing proof that I was here!" Liam exclaims.

"Except I'm a witness and I will take you down with me, Payno." You shrug, giving Liam a mischievous smile.

"Darling, I'd do the same. Out of love." He smiles back, wrapping one arm around your shoulders for a side hug. "The experience, and hanging out with you, was worth it."

"I've missed you both." You state, raising Louis' phone to take the picture.

"Say 'cheese' Tommo!"

"Fuck no!" He shoots, giving you a thumbs up.

"And send it to me, I want to keep this memory." You mention.

"We could have loads more, ya know…" he replies.

"Want to know a secret?" You ask, waving them closer to you.

"Always." Liam replies.

"I kind of want to, too. I miss it all so much."

"And us?" Louis asks, displaying an exaggerated pout.

"Most of all you." You grab their hands and squeeze them. "Well, most of all Niall. But you're both a close second." You laugh.

"That's fair. He is adorable." Liam responds.

Your phone suddenly pings with a notification and you look to see that Niall sent you a text.

"Shit, we may have been caught!" You state, showing them both your phone. You all look around the surrounding area but see no sign of Niall, so you open the messages.

:niall: hey superstar, me and the boys are in town

:you: no way! you are?

:niall: just writing some songs right now

:niall: want to hang out in the studio later?

You look up at Louis and Liam.

"We're safe." You all sigh in relief. "And he's inviting me to the studio tonight…"

"Yes! Come! Please?" Liam begs.

"You make a good argument. I'll go." You agree, watching the guys give each other a high five.

:you: oooh, that's some special privilege!

:niall: well, you're special to us!

:you: i'll be there

:niall: sweet, can't wait to see ya!

:you: same bud, same.

Your heart feels fluttery. These boys mean so much to you, no matter what. Despite the outcome with Harry, you feel so lucky to have gotten close to them on tour and made (what feels like) lifelong friends.

"Alright crazies. Time to retreat. I'll see you guys later tonight then." You give hugs and dramatically run back to your car, leaving them to take the blame if someone finds them there.

Before you pull away, you wind down the car window. "Hey guys, don't mention anything about what I said. It's… just a thought."

They both give you a thumbs up, although you aren't convinced they won't turn around and tell Niall. You'll probably find out tonight.

~~~~~

When you arrive at the studio, you are both excited and nervous, but you aren't sure why. It was one thing to watch them in concert, but watching them at the studio is much more intimate to the process.

You walk just inside the room, standing right against the door so you don't interrupt anyone.

In front of you is the producer, you think his name is Julian, sitting at the very impressive sound production board.

There is a large glass panel that looks into the live recording room, and that's where you see the guys standing and chatting, each with their own recording mic and headphones.

[You haven't been privy to this side of their music career before, it feels special, and you are so proud]

Niall notices you leaning against the door. "I was writing this when you helped TP my car, Superstar!" He laughs, as he points in your direction. Your palm meets your face, as the rest of the guys look over to you as well.

"Oi Oi!" Louis yells, throwing his hands up!

Liam and Harry join the others in their laughs and their gazes, and you can only manage to shake your head with a chuckle.

Julian turns around from the soundboard. "I'm sorry, I had no idea you were right there! I'm Julian."

"Oh, it's okay. I didn't want to interrupt anything." You apologize, stretching your hand towards him. "I'm Y/N."

He extends his own to shake yours. "Oh, yes! I hear your name a lot."

"Oh god." You blurt out.

"Pull up a chair if you want." He motions, and you grab the closest rolling chair to you before sitting down and scooting up towards the board. "Alright guys. Ready?"

They each give a thumbs up and you see multiple lights flicker on the board as the music starts, as some grunts come through with the music.

(Never Enough)

Wanna pull an all nighter

and get into something we'll never forget

Wanna stay up and party

the weekend away and not know when to quit

You can already tell it's going to be a bop, and you can't help but bounce around while Niall sings his part.

Lips so good I forget my name

I swear I could give you everything

When the chorus starts, you throw up your hands and dance. It has such a good beat, and you know the fans are going to go absolutely crazy over it.

"Good one, isn't it?" Julian asks, smiling as you continue to dance around in your chair.

"So good!" You agree.

Once it's over, you watch Julian do some soundboard magic and the guys come back into the room.

"Hey beautiful, so glad you could join us… my car is fine by the way." Niall chuckles, as he stretches out his arms for a big hug.

"I have no idea what you're talking about…"

"Yeah, yeah… S'good to see ya, I guess."

"I've missed you too, bud." You squeeze Niall one more time before letting go.

"Hi, love! It's been too long!" Louis jokes, giving you a quick hug.

"I know! We really should catch up!" You joke back.

"Hello, darling. How've you been?" Liam asks, with a smirk on his face.

"Haven't been up to much lately, so good." You turn to Niall, who is shaking his head. "Do you believe any of this?"

"Not even a little bit." He responds. "They ratted you out." He says as he points to your partners in crime.

Your mouth drops open dramatically. "Traitors!"

Harry finally speaks up. "What the hell did I miss?"

The rest of you laugh.

"Just some friendly hijinks." You shrug, making your way closer to him. "Hi, by the way."

"Hi, love." He reaches out for a hug, and for a split second, you get lost in his scent. It's so warm, welcoming, and familiar. It's sweet, yet somehow also smoky and deep. It completely represents his personality.

You realize you are lingering and break away from the hug.

"This is really cool you guys!" You state. "I feel so privileged! I don't deserve to be here!"

"Yes you do!" Niall exclaims. "And we don't get to see you anymore, so this is also a chance to do that."

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Harry's head drop, and instinctively yours does too. You quickly regroup and clear your throat.

"Well I'm glad I got to hear that last one. Niall, that song was insanely good."

"I know." He laughs. "But, seriously, thank you."

"If the fans dance around like you were, then it is definitely a success!" Harry states, giving you a wink when you meet his gaze. You just respond by shaking your head, hoping you aren't blushing as you feel your face get a little heated.

There's a knock at the door and it slowly opens.

"Hi everyone." Candice says softly. Harry walks over and gives her a quick kiss as he shuts the door behind her.

"I thought you were coming by later…" he states.

"I got done early. I wanted to come by and see the magic happen! Is that okay?" She asks, grabbing Harry's hand and making her way further into to room.

"F'course." He replies. He quickly glances towards you and you smile.

[He doesn't need to feel awkward for having her around you. You're friends. It's fine... unless he feels awkward having you around, period]

The others give her a quick wave and turn to Julian to talk about the song.

Candice let's go of Harry's hand and walks over to you. "Hey! Nice to see you again!"

"Yeah, you too! How've you been?" You ask.

"Good!" She looks back at Harry and he gives her a quick smile. "I have a bit of a break from shows and stuff, so we've just been going out and having a good time."

"That's great!" You reply, not really having much else to add, considering she loves such an interesting life as a gorgeous model.

[You can definitely see why Harry is with her now]

"Alright boys, we have another one we can start working on." Julian states.

The boys reenter their room, as you and Candice make your way over to the couches that are by the door, against the wall. You both sit down and each still has a clear view of all the guys.

Their next song starts with Louis singing the first verse.

(Perfect)

I might never be you're night in shining armor

I might never be the one you take him to mother

[This is an interesting song]

As the songs continues, you start to understand that concept is about a relationship that is based off fun, and a lot of behind-the-scenes adventures. You don't know who wrote it, but you can't help wondering if your relationship with Harry had any influence on it. You shake those thoughts, knowing it's cocky to think that way.

The music mellows and you see Harry set up for the next part. He rotates his body into a position where he is now facing the direction of the couch. His eyes lock on yours as the next words fall out tenderly, and yet sorrowfully, from his lips.

And if you like cameras flashing

everytime we go out

Your heart stops as you match his gaze, but only for a moment before it starts racing. He shifts his eyes quickly to Candice and then back to his mic.

You don't even hear the rest of the bridge, just the intense thudding of your heartbeat, that you are confident Julian and Candice can hear as well.

[Why did he look at you at the part about paparazzi? Maybe he's making a point. Candice is the one who is used to it]

You snap out of your thoughts when the chorus starts back up and Candice starts clapping to the beat. You join her, hoping no one could tell how in your head you just were.

[It's nothing. It's absolutely nothing]

Then, baby, you're perfect

Baby you're perfect

So let's start right now

Harry looks back over to the couch and you look at Candice as she starts to giggle.

"It's kind of fun being serenaded." She says.

"Yeah." You agree, then realize she doesn't know anything about you and your relationship with the band, and Harry. "I bet it is."

She turns her body towards you. "So, how do you know the boys?"

[Keep it casual, don't blurt shit out]

"Oh, I was a styling intern on their last tour." You reply.

[Good, simple answer]

"Oh that's fun! Guess that makes sense why you're all friends." She states, looking between you and the guys, keeping a lingered gaze on her boyfriend.

"They're awesome. I miss them."

"You're not on tour anymore?" She asks.

"No. I…" you realize you need a vague explanation. You really don't want to make it weird. "I got a job with a small, local designer."

"Oh that's awesome! I bet that's more fun for you, more opportunity for styling and stuff?"

You think for a few seconds. Your job with Deidra is definitely what you had originally wanted to do when you were in school. You loved seeing all the different clothes, and being a part of the process of a new clothing line.

But touring with One Direction… going with your best friend, working with Amelia and the other girls, meeting and becoming friends with the guys, going to and exploring new places and cultures… even with what happened with Harry, it was all better than you ever expected it would be.

You feel a stirring in your stomach and a lump in your throat, as you realize you are starting to choke back some tears.

[You want to go back]

"It's been different, but I actually miss touring with them." You finally respond.

"So, are you going to go back?" She asks. She smiles at you, and it seems genuine, but you notice that she once again looks between you and Harry.

[She's not worried is she?… you two are just friends, and she's a fucking model!]

"I… I don't know. Maybe." You shrug. You look over at the guys, who are chatting with Julian, and you feel the fluttering again.

[Yes, you want to go back]

You excuse yourself and walk out.

Your mind and heart are swirling, as you stand in the hallway of the studio. You open the contacts on your phone and press the call button.

"Hey, girlie! This is a nice surprise!"

"Hey, A. I just wanted to ask something.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"If… and I mean if… I wanted to come back… Could I?"

There is silence for a few seconds and confusion enters your brain.

"Amelia?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm here. Sorry. I just didn't think I'd actually be having this conversation." She chuckles.

"Trust me, I didn't either." You admit.

"So you might want to come back?" She asks, with an eager tone.

Now you are silent for a few seconds.

"I want to come back. I definitely want to come back."

"Fleetwood Mac worked!"

"I guess so." You giggle.

"Okay. Yay! Okay. I'll set everything up and I'll see you in June, girlie! Yay!"

"See you later, A."

You walk back into the studio smiling, feeling so happy to be going back to do the thing you really love, with the friends you really love.

"What's up Superstar?" Niall asks, as soon as you walk through the door.

"I think I know…" Louis grins, elbowing your side, causing you to shake your head and chuckle.

"I'm back boys!" You exclaim.

"Oi Oi!" Louis shoots, dancing around a little. "I knew it! I bloody knew it!"

"No way! Don't tease Y/N…" Niall states, staring into your eyes to gauge your sincerity.

You look up to Harry, who is grinning so widely that his dimples could be canyons. Your heart skips a beat for a moment before you catch yourself staring, and move your gaze towards Candice. She is staring at Harry, and once she sees that he isn't looking back, she glances over to you. You give her a smile and she does the same back, before looking back at her boyfriend.

"I'm not teasing. I'm coming back on tour!"

Niall jumps on you to wrap you in a hug. Louis and Liam quickly join in and Harry slowly wraps his arms around the group.

"Okay. I can't go on tour if I can't breathe!" You shout, getting them to finally release you.

"I'm so happy. The gang's together again!" Niall shouts. "Just like old times."

Candice stands and walks up next to Harry, grabbing his hand. He looks down and smiles at her, and you quickly look away when you feel the tiniest twinge in your heart.

"Yep, just like old times."

~~~~~

Series Masterlist || Chapter 25 || Chapter 27

Taglist: @watermelonsugacry @tw1nflamebruis3 @slut4lilyrose @pinktakeaway @hopefulwastelandcreation @tenaciousperfectionunknown @his-only-angel-1989 @queenmadi2 @runway-to-my-aid @theekyliepage @be-yourss @harryistheonlyoneforme @b-reads-things @behindmygreyeyes @michellekstyles @a-strange-familiar @yousunshineyoutempter @buckybarnessimpp @little-freak-satellite @msolbesg @sleutherclaw

107 notes · View notes

saintchrollo · 2 years

Note

I can see this ending in three ways. One, reader gets over the emotional crisis and accepts him as he is (optimistic happy ending). Two, Chrollo kills reader with tears in his eyes and accepts that a domestic romance with a normal person has no place in his criminal lifestyle (bad ending). Or three, he takes the yandere route and kidnaps her/threatens her or tries to manipulate her using nen.

i’m using this ask to just. talk tmj. bc i always want to talk tmj.

honestly in the first draft i had, the reader willingly takes him up on his offer to go to kakin and be a stay at home girlfriend turned wife. but that was far too easy. and i really wanted to play around with the idea of what would the reaction be to finding the truth out and having your whole world come crashing down. it also seemed fun to experiment with what chrollo would willing tell her (not telling her point blank he was responsible for the kurta massacre). i think in chrollo’s eyes, he believes (believed) that the reader loved him so much, was so infatuated with him that she’d overlook it.

that assassin that was able to get through really threw a wrench in his plans. i didn’t say it out right, but the reader definitely fooled around with him. so she has the information of foolin around with someone she thought was her boyfriend-soon-to-be-fiancé and he ended up being a complete stranger. and then she gets hit with the news about who chrollo really is and it’s just. way too much information.

& the thing is, that chrollo knows they fooled around but he’s mad in a territorial way, and isn’t mad with the reader. but she’s like. disgusted with herself and disgusted with chrollo because in her eyes, him being gone is what lead to her having to spend time with the stranger. (which honestly could easily be spun into his favor)

at the end of the day, no matter how you look at it, i think chrollo as a character himself is yandere, but in the creepy, slow manipulative way. however, i also think that he got carried away with the reader to the point where he was believing his own lies.

also, i’ve tried to write the reader as someone who pretends to not care about things but really does. in my concerto piece, where they went to see the symphony on a date, she talks about how she always shows up for her students’ recitals and final performances because she’s worried that she might be the only person to show up. she distracts herself later when asking chrollo if he wants to come up. she’s passive because she’s me and i’m terrified to fall in love again. she got over the hurdle and fell in love to the point marriage was on the table, and now look at her.

either way, machi’s right. chrollo’s put himself in a position where if the reader was to go missing, all fingers would point to him. i mean, he knew exactly who deidra was and was able to confidently agree that she has shit taste in men.

i have some outtakes from theirs past few conversations that i might throw in later because i rly think they’re probably essential to understanding where she’s coming from.

because it was chrollo who wanted to put a name on their relationship, and it was chrollo who asked her to move in. i think for him it’s a huge game of ‘look what i can take’

and the reader, to an extent, knows that they are both backed into corners. you’ll probably see this again but reworded, but:

“And what makes you different from everyone else?” Chrollo asks.

And you’d been thinking about this. Not for long, you haven’t known about this dark aspect of Chrollo for very long at all. But you had been thinking about it.

You have a wealth of knowledge tumbling around in your head. You have years of explaining why men like Mr. Rochester and Heathcliff are attractive to young, skeptical minds. Years of explaining how yes, they’re horrible, but that’s what makes them attractive. They’re a fantasy.

And yet, here you are.

“We’ve been together for a long time,” You start. You pick your words carefully. Every minute the reality of your situation sinks in further and further. “And I don’t know why you would ruin what we have unless you had to. And if what I’ve heard about you is true, I don’t think you get backed into corners very often.”

The look in Chrollo’s eyes is a familiar one. The glint he gets when you’re playing a game with him— chess, poker, gin rummy— and you’ve figured out your next moves. Gotten and inkling to his next moves.

“I don’t, that’s true,” Chrollo says.

“But now you’ve been backed into a corner. And I believe you when you say that had last night never happened, I’d never have found out. And… I don’t know. I’m still trying to process everything. But I feel very weird.”

Chrollo gives you a little nod to show that he’s listening.

“I’m angry that you were backed into a corner. I’m angry that now I know you. But I don’t think you’ve lied about much. Just work. But it still hurts, because I never would have gotten involved with you if I had known.”

“Would it make you feel better if meeting you was an accident?” Chrollo asks, then clarifies. “An accident on my part. Divine intervention is another matter entirely.”

#nonnie #mailbox.tmj #tmj posting #also there is such a FUN aspect into writing her now #like she knows how horrible chrollo is #and she's understanding that shes probably NOT going to make it out alive #so whats the worst he can do? kill her?#whats that lana line #if he's a serial killer then whats the worst that can happen to a girl that's already hurt?#anyways im just having fun by this point <3 #chrollo FASCINATES me in this situation #bc he truly cares for the lie he's created with the reader and believes his lie

6 notes · View notes

riftdancer · 2 years

Text

↳BASICS

(PEN)NAME: Deidra/Blondie PRONOUNS: She/Her ZODIAC(S): Monkey/Libra TAKEN OR SINGLE: Complicated TIME ZONE: Central US / UTC -5

↳THREE FACTS

I’m South East Asian descent! My parents are both from Cambodia and I have some Chinese mixed within from my mom’s side. I do not know Khmer, unfortunately, however English is my second language.

I can hyper fixate on things to the point of neglecting my sleep, but never enough to not take care of myself properly. My current fixations are “Our Life” and “Tiger & Bunny,” Kotetsu T. Kaburagi to be more exact.

I like to draw for fun. If you’ve been around for a bit, I’m sure you’ve seen it. I don’t draw often enough, however. It’s usually if I’m really motivated to get something done.

↳EXPERIENCE(S)

I’ve been roleplaying since I was 12 or 13? I can’t recall too well anymore and it started back on Neopets. The past is a bit dark, murky, and immature, so I wouldn’t want to touch on it too much. As for Tumblr, I’ve been here since...maybe 2012? I don’t remember too well either. I took a break from tumblr RP for a while, though, and came back because I wanted to write again. So if you want to write with me, please feel free to reach out and we can think of something!

↳MUSE PREFERENCE(S)

Ah, to be honest I don’t know my preference. Maybe characters that like to bury their sadness deep within the crevice of their heart? I mean, now that I think about it, that’s how most of my muses are. The most mature one are Shu, Kotetsu, Leia, and my OCs Chrys and Deidra -- oh yeah, Deidra’s not a self insert. I just liked the name and it’s what my XIV friends call me by so I rolled with it. But I think I tend to pick characters I feel the strongest towards.

↳FLUFF/ANGST/SMUT

In general: To be honest, I don’t get to write these as much anymore, I feel like.

FLUFF: I love fluff. It gives me serotonin and I love to see my muses happy. I want to ship as much as the next writer, but I really want some good chemistry between muses in either romantic or platonic relationships.

ANGST: I also enjoy angst, but only if it’s done right. My favorite kind of angst is when character and/or relationship development follows after with comfort.

SMUT: I think I’m bad at writing smut and I don’t touch it often, which probably doesn’t help. But I’m not against it. I will keep it to Discord, however because I don’t want people to witness how bad I am at writing it LMAO!

PLOT / MEMES: Please! I love these! I’d love to write with you if we’re mutuals! If you need my discord, please add me (Deidra#6479) and maybe we can work something out? Though, at times I’ll get really into an idea or inspiration will strike me, I’d like to bounce ideas back and forth for your input! After all, I won’t know your character like you do!

TAGGED BY: @lucktalented (thank you very much!!!)

TAGGING: @madamhatter, @ervaurem, @tricksheart, @zhonde, @kriticull, @starulus, @deusamasomni, and anyone else if they’d like to introduce themselves!

#『writer #『meme: games

6 notes · View notes

theitalianmafia · 6 months

Note

what if I just hit you with a #5 for uncommon OC asks for all of who you listed >:3c I wanna know

alrighty here we go!

How easy is it to earn their mistrust?

Fiona: She's extremely forgiving and understanding, but if you show blatant disregard for the well being of others she aint gonna trust you. Or if you're Naoise.

She generally believes that trust needs to be given in order for it to be reciprocated, and will give people the benefit of the doubt most of the time unless they have proven otherwise.

Archibald: My man is smart enough to be a Problem and doesn't exactly trust anyone. He's deeply curious about people and things though, making him the kind of person to be cordial to get close, but is always ready to fucking burn that bridge at the most opportune moment if he gets some bad vibes.

He also kinda has an innate sense of when things are just kinda Wrong in terms of nature. Like he laid eyes on a corrupted sidhe once, never having seen one before and was like "lol time to kill" much to Naoise's displeasure. Deeply curious about things that are supposed to be there, very much "learn what you can and kill asap" with things that shouldn't be. Is that good? sometimes, but your brain has some natural protections from your immune system for a reason.

Long story short? He can seem to be fine with someone, then turn on what seems to be a dime. Constantly in a state of evaluating the world. Many thoughts head full, will never let you know.

Deidra: if u fuck up once she will not trust u with the same task again. Uncomplicated. Elegant. She's in charge.

Xolia (star wars version): She's 200 years old, has a lot of perspective. Relaxed but generally on-guard, like how u are at the walmart. Has learned a lot of hard lessons about trust, being the object of mistrust herself (rightfully so). She tries to be forgiving, since she was offered forgiveness and a second chance. Friends are more valuable than enemies.

Oliarth: golden retriever. puppy dog man. He's the one that took in Xolia, a whole sith lord, when she came to the Jedi for help. He will be your friend. Wants to trust so so bad.

#oc things

1 note · View note

communityinclusion · 1 year

Text

Tomodachi Story Jam Participants Showcase Disability Advocacy Story Videos at Final Event

Congratulations to the 10 participants of the TOMODACHI Story Jam for Youth with Disabilities for successfully completing the program!

TOMODACHI Story Jam for Youth with Disabilities is a nine-week (September–November) digital storytelling and youth leadership program that brought together 10 Japanese and American college students and young professionals with disabilities to collectively explore their experiences of breaking down barriers.

The program is part of the TOMODACHI Initiative, a public-private partnership between the US-Japan Council and the US Embassy Tokyo. TOMODACHI Story Jam for Youth with Disabilities is supported by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC) and the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), Sacramento Chapter, and implemented by the ICI in partnership with StoryCenter.

We selected youth for the program based on their leadership experience and engaging story proposals. Youth “storytellers” participated in weekly Story Jam sessions and discussed moments when they felt deeply challenged by access barriers, how they navigated these challenges, what they learned about themselves, and how their insights and experiences can translate into positive change for themselves and their community.

Story Jam sessions also featured guest speakers — disability advocates, including representatives from The Voice, NGC’s Disability Employee Resource Group, and the JACL’s Alaska Chapter; disabled journalists, storytellers, and social media influencers; and disability and media scholars and practitioners. Guest speakers discussed access barriers and the role of advocacy in their countries, and they encouraged and emboldened youth to tell their stories and bring about change.

The program culminated in the screening of the youth’s five-minute advocacy story videos at a final event on November 11. At the event, youth also reflected on their program experience and shared their thoughts on how they will use their new leadership, storytelling, and advocacy skills in the future.

Screenshot of a Zoom window featuring the TOMODACHI Story Jam storytellers wearing TOMODACHI logo T-shirts at the final event on November 11, 2022.

When asked about their favorite part of Story Jam, Taylor Carley said: “My experience was awesome! I made friends, and I learned about all your stories! My advocacy was the topic of my story, but how do I tell it? I wanted to tell it in third person, but then I saw other Story Jam participants and thought, ‘I get it!’ I used first person to talk about how I used my voice [to advocate] for the first time, and I think it’s great. I am thankful for TOMODACHI — I love everything about Story Jam!”

Kiina Wakiyama, another storyteller, said: “The reason why I applied for Story Jam was because I don’t want to give up on relationships with people because of my disability. The relationships are not just mine, but ‘ours.’ The most important realization I’ve gained through this program is that in order to accomplish self-advocacy, I need a good advocate. I can’t make it only by myself. Thank you very much.”

Reflecting on the program experience, Dan Ito said: “I am grateful to know this program. I learned a lot about advocacy. I was expecting to learn how to speak more efficiently in my storytelling, but this program changed my mind about what advocacy should sound or look like. Really, advocacy is being yourself and telling your story. It’s a huge part of advocacy. That’s a big thing I learned. I am so grateful for everyone in this program, and I am happy that I met a lot of wonderful people.”

Deidra Denson, another Story Jam storyteller, shared: “I have told my story before, but never in a compiled theme. I learned a lot from here to have the courage. I think everyone’s videos has motivated me to speak more in the future. I have applied for Story Jam because I felt the format was different. I am used to being in an academic setting, but this program was built on individuals! It was thrilling. Thank you, all of you!”

Junko Tsuda, executive director of the US-Japan Council (Japan), congratulated the storytellers on their powerful videos and disability advocacy messages, as did Steven Rose, director for business strategy for NGC Japan. Mr. Rose remarked: “Today has been very educational and inspirational. The stories were so vibrant and real. We are proud to sponsor this program and events like these. We want to support young people like you. All of you have overcome society’s obstacles. I have a sincere wish that you will change your communities. For both Japan and America, we have talent and courage amongst us, and we can build something together.”

In her final remarks, Miyoko Sawamura noted: “Since its founding in 1929, the Sacramento Japanese American Citizens League chapter continues to support civil rights and cultural heritage of Japanese Americans and of all citizens as well. We serve the social and political needs of the Nikkei, the Japanese diaspora, in our area. With this mission, we are proud to co-sponsor TOMODACHI Story Jam that supports brilliant young leaders like you all. Your storytelling today was so powerful and touching. Watching your videos and listening to your stories — I feel inspired and motivated to continue to realize our chapter’s mission, and to make sure that persons with disabilities are included in all that we do. Thank you, and best wishes to everyone.”

In concluding the event, Heike Boeltzig-Brown, TOMODACHI Story Jam program director, said, “Clearly, storytelling has an important place in all of our lives, and we are proud of our storytellers for taking this journey with us.”

#TOMODACHI #ICIStorytelling #Storytelling #Institute for Comunity Inclusion

0 notes

thebraixenaugur · 2 years

Note

Deidra was hesitant at first before finally having the courage to approach the duo and asking, "why are you to go into the darkness?", with a shaky voice. She was afraid of darkness, not because she was a psychic type, but because there was always a mystery beyond the blackness. Is that what makes them so brave, so curious? She couldn't understand.

Almaren can sense in Deidra that she was afraid, not something new she had sensed from someone. Fryzzen was left watching the entire conversation unfold as he felt like he wouldn't give the best input in this entire ordeal.

"It was both a choice and a burden for me to dwell here admittedly, I had some reasons for it."

Almaren cautiously approached her, feeling her own voice shaking a bit.

“We patrol the outside of our city just so those who live inside can be safe. I know the darkness is something no one would willingly go to but I chose this because I also would want answers."

She knew she had to extend some help towards her, just this once.

"I know you're afraid, I can sense it too … perhaps it is best if you take refuge in the city. That way, you won't need to dwell here out in the open."

@house-of-hemingway / @asking-shadows

#answered ask #sorry this took so long ^^

0 notes

lovecanyon · 2 years

Note

Can you maybe write a love on tour fanfiction where the reader is Harry’s wife but also a band member? And they are really cute on stage and stuff? <3

harry x band!reader headcanons

(more of my work here)

Harry needed one last guitarist for his first tour but he couldn’t find anyone he liked. Until Stevie Nicks recommend him her lead guitarist Y/N. “Don’t break her Harry I need her.”

When he met her he immediately formed a crush on her and she became his muse.

Harry and Y/N started to date after tour was finished. Both of them just couldn’t hide their feelings anymore. “Well what now.” Y/N says rocking back and forth on her feet making Harry laugh.

They have a playful and cute relationship. “I can’t walk anymore.” Y/N groans at the painful sensation in her feet which makes Harry swiftly pick her up bridal style.

Y/N inspires Harry’s 70’s style and music. After finding her on spotify he even made a playlist for her. She thought it was the cutest thing ever.

He was so in love with her that on their second year of dating he proposed. Many of his friends and family supported him because they had never seen him feel this passionate about a woman ever. And plus they really liked her.

Their wedding was in Italy. Only about ten people were invited, most being family. Mitch was Harry’s best man and Sarah was Y/N’s maid of honor. “I love you Mrs. Styles. Can’t believe your my wife.”Harry sighs staring at Y/N as he traces his ringed finger over her lips.

When Sarah got pregnant Y/N got pregnant a month later which resulted in two pregnant woman preforming at the Grammy’s. “Well now they know.” Y/N shrugs before shoving a strawberry in her mouth which makes Harry smile in content.

Harry’s instagram is only posts of his wife and baby. He rarely goes on social media but when he does it’s to like his wife’s posts.

Most fans love and support them but there are sometimes bitter fans which Y/N doesn’t really care about. On the other hand Harry cares a lot and goes to defended her.

All of Fine Line is written about her along with a few songs on Harry’s self titled album. She really didn’t know about it until he told her. “Your obsessed.” Y/N says playfully making Harry grin like a little kid.

Harry didn’t want to go on tour with a baby but his wife had somehow convinced him. Glenne was put in charge of watching Y/N and Sarah’s kid’s when they went on stage. “Glenne is down. I repeat Glenne is down.” Harry says watching Y/N clean baby spit on Glenne’s arm.

Their interactions are very adorable. “Your not the only one.” Harry chuckles reading a sign that said ‘I’m only here for Y/N.’

taglist: @harrysmatcha @harryspinkpillow @helen-with-an-a @florencepughily @needyghosts @peterparkerbae @deadass1011 @toji-dabi-wife @fallonx @pilgrimharry13 @cherriesrae @alienorknight @valluvsu @quinnjackluke @drphilssoulmate @ivegotparticulartaste @ayeshathestyles @hazgoldenstyles @eiffelmezarry @tsukishimawhore @renatavieira @michellekstyles @ke-deidra @eleanordaisy

#harry styles x reader #boyfriend!harry #dad!harry #ceo!harry #harry styles #harry styles au #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles writing #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x you #husband!harry #harry styles fake ig #harry styles fake instagram #harry styles fake social media #harry styles headcannon

1K notes · View notes

chanfictions · 2 years

Note

The idea of Thor and his hammer inspired an idea in me: So what if reader has the same ability except instead of a hammer, the reader summons a scythe? I don’t know… I have a fixation for scythes these days lol. Could I have headcanons regarding how yanderes Deidra, Pein, Konan and Itachi (Separate) would react? Thank you :)

I'm only doing three characters per yandere scenario now, so I chose to drop Konan. I also live under a rock and know nothing of the mechanisms surrounding the whole Thor/hammer thing (assuming you're talking about some comic flavor of Thor). This kinda went in an interesting direction.

Please note that yandere requests are still closed - this has just been on the backlog for a while.

Little Reaper

Characters featured: Itachi, Pein, Deidara

Warnings: Slight yandere themes, implied abduction

.6k

Itachi

From the cover of a shadowed tree, cold, crimson eyes narrowed upon a surge of chakra that lit up the surrounding forest with a chilly, cobalt flash.

Curious, he thought to himself, focusing on the source in the palm of your outstretched hand. Itachi had allowed you a slightly longer leash this week due to your increasing degree of cooperation with him as of late. Exhibiting an unusual level of calm compared to your previous brash displays of discontent regarding your captivity, you had evidently misled him to gain that bit of slack to practice an old magic trick under the quiet protection of the silent night. Itachi's brows knotted together with annoyance, having no doubt that you planned to use this little talent of yours against him at some point to orchestrate an escape.

Silently emerging from his concealment, Itachi approached where you rehearsed calculated motions with the conjured weapon, watching you twirl it about and slash invisible enemies as you moved through a series of practiced stances.

"That's quite an interesting little toy."

You froze mid-swing, only shifting your eyes to the source of the sound. Itachi. Tightening your knuckles around the staff portion of your scythe, your chakra slowly trickled through the carved wood, setting the runes etched into the gleaming metal ablaze with a whisper leaving your sneering lips.

"Hello, darling."

Pein

You had grown more secretive as of late, often vanishing for hours into your locked room to meditate, as you so coldly explained to him. Pein entertained your unspoken wish for occasional privacy, allowing you to engage in the folly of your choosing so long as it didn't interfere with the rest of his work. It wasn't until his chakra rods were affected and one was subsequently cracked by a great burst of chaotic energy emanating from your little cave that he felt the need to intrude on your precious alone time.

Wrenching the doors to your nook of solitude open, Pein's hypnotic eyes fell upon quite a sight. There, at the center of the room, you stood. Looking like the personification of Death with a large, mystical scythe in hand, you pulsed with radiations of energy so powerful that the crackling ripples cycloning around your body rustled papers and sent your curtains aflutter. Faint, blue light shimmered in a flowing ring around your feet like dancing flames. Runes carefully etched into the blade smoldered to life, charging and sharpening the weapon with every ounce of chakra they drank from your body.

"Magnificent," he murmured. In that moment, under his cold, calculating gaze, you were no longer his sweet darling, but a newly minted tool -- a weapon. A reaper.

Your eyes narrowed, fixating on the disturbance in your doorway. A soft, maleficent smile curled upon your face as a curse -- a promise of death -- left your lips on a gentle breath. You were, in fact, something of a reaper, poised with a vicious killing intent masked by an icy stare.

His reaper.

Deidara

Weapon summoning wasn't a particularly unusual skill in the ninja world, though most typically performed such a feat with the aid of a storage scroll. The first time he saw you conjure your ornate, bladed staff from thin air with neither roll of parchment nor flash of blood in sight, Deidara was surprisingly impressed. Questions of where it came from and what it could do fell from his lips as a bright, cerulean eye studied the work of art grasped in your hand.

With a soft flick of your wrist and a calculated twirl of the length of delicately carved wood, you smiled eerily, offering to show him exactly what it could do.

#akatsuki x reader #itachi x reader #pein x reader #deidara x reader #the akatsuki #naruto x reader #naruto imagines #yandere pein #yandere akatsuki #yandere itachi #yandere deidara #yandere imagines #chanfictions #chanswers

170 notes · View notes

be-with-me-so-happily · 2 years

Text

A/N: This one is a bit longer. Kinda crazy. Let me know what you think. Be aware that a lot of it has to do with Zayn leaving the band.

Warnings: Some language, intercourse, Zayn leaving

~~~~~

CHAPTER 23 -

NOW IT'S JUST TOO LATE TO TURN AROUND

March 19th, 2015

"Hey honey, got a minute?"

"Yep!"

"Are… you alone?"

"Nat, what's up?"

"Zayn went back to the UK..."

"Okay…"

"He said it's just stress… but… everyone is starting to think that he might be done."

"Done with what?"

"With the band."

"What? No."

You feel uneasy, but have a hard time believing it.

"It's just rumors from the crew, but… we haven't pulled any outfits for him for this show, so I don't know."

"Maybe he just… needs, like, a short break? He does get stressed pretty easily… and he's taken small breaks before…"

"Yeah, maybe. Feels a bit different this time.

"I'm sure it's gonna be okay. Some people just… run their mouths a bit too much."

You know she's worried. Even though their personalities were total opposites, she was closer to Zayn than any of the other guys.

"Yeah. You're probably right. I miss you, honey."

"I miss you too. Wish I was there."

"Me too. Damn it, I need to go. Love ya."

She quickly hangs up and you are left standing in the kitchen, your stomach twisting a little. You open your messages.

:you: hey z!

:you: you doing alright?

:you: i'm always here to talk

~~~~~

March 20th, 2015

It is your last day at your temp job. You have really liked the opportunity to work with the designer and experience a different environment to working with One Direction. It is definitely more of what you pictured you would be doing, while you were studying at school.

You do, however, miss the family environment that was created on tour. You also got to call the shots, for the most part, with a lot of their outfits.

But, nonetheless, this was an awesome experience and you are glad you had it. Now you have a more versatile resume as well, and that's definitely an upside.

"Hey Y/N?" Your boss, Deidra, says to get your attention as you pack up for the day. "I am beyond grateful for your help, girlie. We needed the extra hands, and I'm going to thank Amelia for recommending you."

"It was my pleasure! Thank you for the opportunity!" You reply.

"We may actually need some help again next month, if you're interested?" She offers.

"Absolutely! I'd love to!" You instantly reply.

"Great! I'll give you a call when the time comes!" She gives you a hug. "Seriously, girl, thank you."

~~~~~

"Wow! You really killed it then!" Ryan exclaims, sitting on the kitchen stool as he finishes his dinner.

You laugh, then shrug. "I guess so."

"Not surprising. You've always been a hard worker. Even in school." He winks.

"I guess." You smile, grateful for his support. He's such a nice guy.

"Just take the compliment, punk!" He grabs your face and you give him your best 'squished-face' smile. Then he kisses your lips.

"I'm glad I brought some treats over. You like cookies a lot, right?"

"Yes. I do."

After a little bit of reminiscing, and finishing your cookies, Ryan stands up and swivels you around to face him.

"It's Friday night, can I stay over?" He asks.

"Sure!" You reply.

He leans in to kiss you. Hyped up from the confidence boost, you grab the back of his head and pull him in closer for a deeper kiss.

It doesn't take him long to stand you up and lead you to the couch. He seems to want to get right to the point.

Clothing is quickly removed from the both of you and you drop down backwards, as he plops himself down to hover over you.

You push him off you to straddle and lower yourself onto him. You're going to take some control this time.

[Okay, brain, no more ex-boyfriend bullshit]

"Fuck." You mutter, not keeping the quiet volume that he seems to use himself.

He stops your movements and you whine. "Are you okay?" He asks.

"Yes, Ry, it's good!" You reply, looking down at him to show your sincerity.

He thrusts up into you, getting deep, and you resume grinding on him.

With labored breath, you look down at him, "can you… kiss my neck?" He leans in and pushes your hair back.

[This. This is closer to what you wanted]

"I'm getting close, Y/N." He admits.

"Can… can you thrust in me." You request. As he does, you can feel your body trying to take over.

"Oh my god." You pant.

He picks up the pace, which gets you closer, and you grab his hair tightly with both hands. You put all your thought into orgasming, you just need to help push yourself over the edge. You moan.

"Fuck!... Oh my god, Har-"

[What? No!! No!!]

"Harder." You request, trying to cover up the huge mistake you just made, hoping he didn't notice.

"I'm so close." He responds.

You close your eyes tightly, trying to focus on everything else except what just happened. You bury your face in his neck.

"Go deeper." You whisper, and he abides, sending you over the edge. "Oh… my god!" You exclaim, sitting up again and throwing your head back. Your legs shake as you try to steady your breathing. He pumps up, and in, a couple more times before he groans and pulls out.

After sitting there for a few minutes, both breathing heavily as you come down, you swing your leg back over him and stand up.

[Did he hear you? Does he know what you were going to say?]

He sits there silent for a minute then looks up at you and smiles. "Even better than last time."

[Good, he didn't hear you]

You chuckle, and lean down to kiss him. "Mhmm." You give him a wink. "I'm gonna take a shower. Are you staying?"

"Yeah, if I can?" He wiggles his eyebrows, in a sarcastically sexual way.

"Oh my god." You roll your eyes. "I take the offer back," you say, joking.

"Awww…" he pouts.

"I'll see you in the room." You chuckle as you make your way to the guest bathroom.

You use the shower once again to clean your body as well as your mind.

[Why the hell were you about to say Harry's name? What the hell is wrong with you?]

You weren't actively thinking about Harry while you were straddling Ryan's lap, with his dick inside you.

[It was really good sex… better than the first time]

"Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you, Y/N?" You whisper, as you run your hands over to get the shampoo out of your hair. "This is so fucking stupid." You whisper again to yourself.

[Why the hell is this happening?]

~~~~~

March 24th, 2015

Frazzled is the only word to describe the past few days. The fact that you were enjoying sex with Ryan but started to say your ex-boyfriend's name left you… frazzled.

You aren't make any moves, any flirty gestures, or make any comments that would insinuate you wanted sex. You need to sort yourself out, because you don't want to say it again, and you definitely don't want Ryan to hear it. You like him, and you like the sex, and you need to sort this out so he doesn't get hurt.

You're going to call Natalie. You know she will freak out, maybe cuss you out a bit too, but she's your best friend and you don't know what to do.

But you'll wait til tomorrow. It's the next day for them and you're pretty sure they have a show, so tomorrow will be better.

~~~~~

March 25th, 2015

"After five incredible years Zayn Malik has decided to leave One Direction. Niall, Harry, Liam and Louis will continue as a four-piece and look forward to the forthcoming concerts of their world tour and recording their fifth album, due to be released later this year."

[Oh. My. God]

You're staring at your phone in disbelief. You know Natalie had mentioned this, but to see it officially announced was a whole other thing.

"What's wrong?" Ryan asks, breaking your wild thought processing.

"Umm… Zayn left the band." You state, still staring at your phone.

"Oh. Crazy." He casually replies.

Your eyes shoot up at him and you frown.

"What?" He asks, seemingly shocked at your upset expression.

"This is a big deal." You explain.

"Oh, sorry. I just didn't think you'd care as much, since you're not with them anymore."

You scoff. "They're still my friends. They're my family!" Tears start to well up and you can't catch them before they leave your eyes. "Shit. I don't know why I'm crying. It's just… I can't believe it."

"I'm sorry, Y/N, I didn't realize. I'm so sorry." He wraps his arms around you and leans in to give you a kiss on your temple.

"I've gotta call… someone. I've gotta call Nat!" You stand up from the couch and walk to the bedroom.

The phone only rings once before she answers.

"Y/N." You can hear the sadness in her voice.

"Oh my god Nat. What… umm… how are you doing?"

"Not doing the best today."

"I'm so sorry. Damn it, I wish I was there."

"Maybe…" She stops herself.

"What?"

"Maybe you could come?"

"What? There?"

"Yeah. I miss you. This whole thing is crazy. And… the boys, like, knew already but I know it still rattled them, ya know?"

"Oh man, I-"

"I was with Niall a little bit ago. He's sad, Y/N. They all are."

"I don't know…"

"It might be a nice distraction for them, or a pick-me-up…"

[She has always pushed you to do things for adventure, but rarely for something 'emotional'. Not like this. It means she needs it too]

"Okay… I'll, uh, look up flights. When and where is the next show?"

"Johannesburg, March 28th."

"Okay, I'll try to make it there. I love you Nat."

"I love you too, honey. Can't wait to see you."

"I just wish it wasn't for this. But I'm coming."

You hang up the phone and feel a presence at the doorway. You quickly turn around to see Ryan standing there and you quietly gasp.

"You're going over there?"

"Yeah. I need to." You respond.

"Need to? Why?" He crosses his arms, defensively.

You frown again at him. "This is a rough time for them."

"Them?"

You're starting to get agitated. "Yes, them. Natalie, Levi, and the guys. They're all my friends."

"And Harry?" He questions.

"Well… no… but he's part of the band. It's rough on all of them."

He sighs and drops his head. You can tell he's nervous about that. You want to reassure him, and maybe yourself, that nothing will happen with Harry.

"Are you worried?" You ask.

"Well, yeah. He's your ex… and, uh… yeah." He answers.

"Hey…" you walk over to him and put your hands on his shoulders. "You have nothing to worry about. I'll go for a few days, then I'll come back. I just want to be there for them. Like, collectively."

"I know." He nods, and you give him a kiss on the cheek. "You're a good person, you care about everyone."

"A few days." You remind him. He looks up at you, hesitation still in his eyes, but a small smile on his face.

"I'll help you look for flights."

You suddenly hear your phone vibrate.

:niall: tomorrow morning 7am

:niall: private jet for you

:you: niall… no…

:niall: please let me do this

:niall: we want you here

:you: okay, bud… thank you

:niall: yw superstar :)

You look up at Ryan and shrug. "Well, I don't need a flight, Niall just covered that. I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

His eyes open wider. "Oh, wow. Okay." His hand reaches behind and he runs his neck. You grab his face to look him in the eyes. "A few days Ryan. That's all."

He drops his hand and grabs your face to squish your cheeks again. "I know. I'm just sad. My pillow doesn't cuddle back like you do." He chuckles.

You can tell he's still nervous, but it's sweet that he's trying to be calm for you. You give him a gentle kiss before pulling away to start packing.

~~~~~

March 27th, 2015

It was a very long flight, especially by yourself, and especially since you still don't like to fly. To say you were nervous felt like an understatement. Thankfully, the one flight attendant that came along ended up sitting and chatting with you, since you weren't giving her much to do anyway. You actually ended up taking a good, long nap, so you weren't too exhausted as you arrived in South Africa.

The car pulls up to the hotel and your stomach is in knots. It's surreal that you are here at all, let alone to be with the band for a bit, and not being a part of the crew anymore.

You basically bolt out of the elevator to Natalie's room. You can't wait to be with your girls.

You knock on the hotel room door and it quickly swings open. Natalie squeals as she jumps on you for a hug.

"Let… me… in…" you mutter as her grip gets tighter around your neck. She lets go and you giggle.

"My girl!" Exclaims Jade, coming over for a big hug herself. She pulls back. "It seriously isn't the same without you here." She gives you another hug.

"Tell me about it." You reply.

You hear the bathroom door open and turn around to see Dana standing in the doorway, with a big smile on her face.

"Dana! What-..." You stutter, looking around at the others, jaw dropping.

"Well, hey there!" She giggles.

"What's going on? You're hanging with these crazies now?"

"Hey!" Jade laughs.

"No. Actually, Amelia recruited me once Sarah was fired and… you quit…" She explains. "So I get to bunk with these beauties!"

You smile. "That's awesome, D!"

"I know right? I'm moving on up!" She giggles again.

"I didn't even know you wanted to do this." You state.

"I didn't either, but Amelia was… kinda desperate… and she asked Jacob if any of us merch interns wanted to give it a go."

"Of course this happens when I leave…" You sigh.

She shakes her head. "Just think of it as doing me a favor." She smiles, probably trying to make you feel better about missing out on all this.

"Well, then you're welcome." You chuckle.

Natalie grabs your bags and puts them by the rest of theirs. "We get to share beds here." She says with some sarcasm.

"Slumber party!!" Jade yells.

"This will be an interesting trip." You joke. "Speaking of… are… we all going to see the boys right now?"

"It's just me and you, honey." Natalie replies.

"We know they really wanna see you, so we will hang back here." Jade says, gesturing grandly at the small hotel room.

"Okay, we will catch up later then, okay?" You give them both hugs, quickly freshen up in the bathroom, and make your way out the door.

You enter the elevator and your nerves peak. You know the boys love you, but you wonder if you're overstepping.

"Why are you fidgeting?" Natalie asks, grabbing your hands to calm you down.

"I honestly have no idea." You shrug.

"First time meeting a boy band?" She jokes.

"Yeah. Think I'll get their autographs?" You chuckle.

"Probably not. They're kinda mean, got big egos."

You reach the floor and are met by two security guards. Natalie explains that you are with her, and once it all checks out, they let you both through.

One knock is all it takes for the door to open, and Niall gives you one of the biggest smiles you've seen on his face. It's good to see, considering the mood you were expecting.

"Superstar is here!" He yells as he turns his head back to everyone that's in the room.

You're pulled inside, seeing Louis and Liam sitting on the couches, just munching on snacks and playing video games.

"Well, well, well…" Louis states and he drops down his controller and walks over to hug you.

"Surprised the hotel hasn't kicked you out yet Tommo!" You joke.

"There's still time, love." He winks.

Liam is next to walk over. "Hello darling, we've missed you." He pulls you back then gives you a kiss on the cheek.

"Me too bud, me too."

Niall comes up behind you after shutting the door.

"Welcome home!" He exclaims.

"I'm only here for a few days…" you respond.

"Okay, sure, sure."

~~~~~

After chatting with everyone, keeping it light-hearted, Louis has convinced you to play a video game with him.

"You're going down, Y/L/N!"

"I don't know Louis… I feel some 'whoop-his-ass' powers coursing through my veins!" Everyone laughs. You know you won't be good, but you can't resist a little trash talk with him, and it could help the mood.

He starts explaining a little bit about how to play, and you are ready to start.

The room door opens, and you can hear some chatter, but you are trying to stay focused before the game starts.

"Shush!" You blurt out, in a joking manner. "Focus… Whoop his ass… focus…" you chant, pretending you're trying to be quiet but making sure everyone close by can hear you.

"Y/N?" You hear that deep, familiar voice call out. "Wha-... What are… You're here?"

You almost drop the controller as your head snaps towards the doorway, seeing Harry's tall, slightly disheveled figure standing a few feet inside the room. His eyes are wide, as if he is looking at a ghost.

[He didn't know you were coming?]

"Hey..." You clear your throat and stand up. You're not entirely sure what to do, but you want to try and put everything aside, just for this moment.

As you walk closer, you can see his eyes darting all around you, as if he can't believe what he is seeing.

You stand right in front of him and open your arms and wrap them around for a hug. He immediately wraps his around your shoulders and you hear his breathing is shallow.

"What are you doing here, Y/N?" He whispers, not yet releasing his arms from around you.

"With what's going on… I couldn't not come…" You reply.

He pulls back and keeps his hands on your shoulders, studying your face and giving you the tiniest smile.

"I wanted to be here for all my friends." You add.

His gaze drops down, but he keeps that hint of a smile as he nods.

"That's good. Good. Thanks. It's been…" He furrows his brow, not continuing his statement.

One of your hands rubs up and down his upper arm. "I know. I'm sorry, H."

He flicks his eyes up at the sound of his old nickname, but you don't correct yourself. You don't want to make this moment awkward, because it's bigger than the both of you.

As you look into his eyes, you don't find the comfort you were once so very used to. You see a suppressed sadness. You're not sure if it's because of Zayn leaving, or you being here, or both, but there are the tiniest tears starting to form. He's cried before, of course, but this not the Harry you knew before.

"Harry…" you whisper.

He clears his throat. "It's… it's good to see you." His smile widens. He gives you a quick side hug, clears his throat again, and walks over to the couches.

As Harry grabs the game controller, Louis puts his hands up. "Oh, mate, Y/N was about to play."

Harry turns his head to you and raises an eyebrow, knowing that playing video games is not really something you do.

"No, that's okay." You shake your head.

"She's just too scared to lose." Louis jokes.

You growl. "I'm just saving you some embarrassment."

Harry chuckles. "I kind of want to see this…" and he lifts up the controller for you to grab, and you sit in the middle of the couch.

"Time to make you cry, Tommo." Everyone laughs and gathers round the couch as you start to play.

With Louis on one side of you and Harry on the other, you play the game and throw out your best insults. You are right on the cusp of winning and Harry sits forward on the couch.

"Come on… you can win this… go! Go!"

At the very last second, Louis beats you, and the room fills with disappointed groans.

"Aw, cheers mates. Thanks for the support." He rolls his eyes.

"My fans are loyal too, Tommo." You grin, causing him to stick out his tongue at you.

Some food arrives and everyone sits around on the couches and on the floor. It reminds you of the time everyone was hanging out in Ronnie Wood's hotel suite after the X-Factor performance. It feels so nice to just be around all of your friends again, joking and laughing, listening to the stories that they already have from this new tour.

You do feel a slight sadness that you aren't experiencing it all with them. But you shake it off, wanting to soak up these good moments you're having with them. You're happy that they are at least enjoying today.

You look up from your plate, and catch Harry glancing at you. He clears his throat and then looks down at his own plate. You know him well, and can spot the tiniest little frown on his face. Then you feel a small frown forming across your own face.

[He's the reason you aren't experiencing it all with them. Well, you could be, but you probably wouldn't be enjoying this moment right now…]

~~~~~

"Hey Y/N, I've gotta head back. The girls and I need to get to the venue to set up." Natalie announces, looking at her watch.

"Okay, yeah, I think I need a nap anyway." You reply.

You both get up and give hugs to the boys, and the few crew members there that you know. Harry is last, and you both struggle for a few seconds trying to figure out how to hug one another.

You end up just letting him pull you in gently, and slightly wrap your arms under his. You don't let it last more than a second or two, then head to the door. He follows behind you, and as Natalie walks out into the hallway, puts his hand on your shoulder.

"It's… it's really good to see you." Harry says, holding the door frame with one hand, as he runs the other one through his curls.

"Right. Well, I wanted to be here for all my friends." You shrug. "Seems like a crazy, weird thing that's happening so… just wanted to… bring some support."

"It means a lot to me, to us." He replies, showing a big dimpled smile on his face, which makes you giggle.

[There. There he is. The Harry you know]

"It'll be a short trip, but I hope I can help."

"It's helped me already." He says, flashing another big, dimpled smile.

"Good. But…" You clear your throat. "This doesn't change anything, Harry. I'm here for everyone in the band. For my friends on the crew. For Natalie. Not… not, like, for you."

You feel a lump forming in your throat saying that. You don't want to be harsh, especially not right now, but you definitely need to be clear with him.

His eyes drop for a second, before he looks back up, smiling and nodding. "I know. I do. I still appreciate that you're here."

[He took that well. He's moving on. Good for him]

"Well, have a good soundcheck and stuff."

"Are… are you coming to the show tomorrow?" He asks.

"Yeah."

"Okay. Good. I'll, uh… I'll see you there then, maybe." He replies, letting out a quick cough and then shoving his hands in his jean pockets.

"See you there." You state, nodding at him as you walk out of the hotel suite and back to yours.

[That went fine. You feel fine. So that stuff during sex with Ryan must mean nothing…]

~~~~~

<< HARRY'S POV >>

He walks back to his suite, feeling so happy to see you again, but so sad that it'll end so quickly, that you'll leave again, and that he'll have to return to the heartbreak of knowing he let you go.

[Why did you have to look so pretty, with your hair laying naturally the way he likes it, even after such a long flight? Why did you have to joke around and laugh so big, the way he loves so much? And… why… why did you have to… to look so happy without him?]

~~~~~

Series Masterlist || Chapter 22 || Chapter 24

145 notes · View notes