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yourfavewriteress · 4 years

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right under our noses (part 1) | colton parayko

intro |

Teaser: “Are you guys seriously not going to tell either of us who the other person is?”

“Trust me on this,” Jayne said. “Trust us.”

You looked over at Alex who was seated next to her. “For some reason I trust your word right now more than hers. Do you approve of this person?”

“You know I wouldn’t support setting you up with anyone I didn’t think could put up with you,” He replied.

“Alexander,” You warned him. Jayne groaned, slightly nudging his leg under the table.

“She’s being serious,” She added.

“I trust the guy, yes,” He said finally with a roll of his eyes. “We both wouldn’t set you up to get hurt, you know that already.”

“What if this doesn’t work?” You trusted Alex, and especially Jayne. If they were vouching for this guy, you really had no reason to question it. But, your dating life had not been the best. You were consistently getting caught up with the wrong guys, ones that would play with your feelings just to boost their own egos. You were a strong woman, and always kept your composure. But, you were tired of always being in the background. And maybe this could work. It doesn’t hurt to try, at least, not yet.

“Then we figure something else out,” Jayne shrugged.

You sighed, looking down at your drink.

“What are you worried about?” Jayne asked. You looked at her and shrugged. Jayne didn’t understand why you didn’t see yourself the way she did. To her, you were beautiful, smart, successful (albeit in a terrible job), strong, witty and loving. You were a catch, and she hated that the men in your past made you believe anything different.

Alex loved you like a sister. Ever since Jayne introduced you at one of his team parties, he was extremely impressed at your competitiveness in the ongoing drinking competition and became one of your biggest cheerleaders, even against his own teammates. He also hated hearing about the guys you dated, because although you weren’t actually siblings, he would have loved to knock out some of the guys you had let into your life. And if he could get the chance to size someone up before they got the chance to hurt you, he definitely wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity.

Alex cleared his throat, reading you like a book. “You’re not desperate.”

“Alex!” Jayne said, slapping his shoulder.

“Tell me that’s not what you’re thinking,” He raised his eyebrows at you. Seeing you as his sister, he sometimes knew you better than Jayne did. “I know you, Y/N. Don’t lie.”

“You have to admit, it’s a little desperate,” You mumbled.

“We all know that Jayne isn’t really giving you an option,” He laughed.

“You know what, why don’t you go upstairs or something?” Jayne suggested. Alex laughed, kissing her before turning back to you.

“Ever since we met, I’ve never lied to you,” He started. “I seriously think you have nothing to worry about. We’ve all been through a lot of shit together, and whether this works or not, we’re always family.”

“And, you’re never ‘lonely,’ no matter who you are, or are not, dating,” Jayne added.

“But, it might be fun to explore some other options that maybe you missed in the past,” He gently nudged your shoulder. “And, with our help, hopefully you won’t have to worry about the guy being an idiot.”

“Fine,” You breathed, sighing. “But, when will I find out who it is for sure?”

“I guess not until you have the balls to bring it up to them,” Jayne smirked.

“Are you serious?”

“No,” Alex said, shaking his head at Jayne. He knew that you might change your mind, “We just want you to get to know each other before we say anything about who’s who. Obviously, if you’re closing in on the wrong person, we’ll warn you.”

“I’m still not understanding how this is going to work,” You crossed your arms over your chest. “How are you guys so certain that we’ll both know who you’re talking about? I’m assuming you’re telling him the same thing.”

“That’s the point,” Jayne said. “It was kind of an epiphany for us, so we hope it’ll be for you guys, too.”

“I told her how much it sounded like a movie,” Alex said. “But, the similarities between you are obvious to us knowing both of you, but clearly not to you guys.”

“Can we just try it for two months and see how we feel?” Jayne added when she noticed your hesitance.

“In two months, you tell me who it is,” You ordered, pointing at both of them clearly.

“Sure,” Alex shrugged, but he smiled as he continued, “That is, if you don’t already figure it out yourself.”

****

“I don’t know, guys,” Colton mumbled to Alex and his wife Jayne. They had just finished their game against the New Jersey Devils and were on their way to their respective cars when the couple decided to update Colton on their plan.

“She already agreed,” Jayne said. “Just waiting on you.”

“Are you guys seriously not going to tell either of us who the other person is?” He asked, keeping his voice down so no one could hear them as they walked through the crowded hallway.

“Nope,” Jayne responded. “It’ll be fun and exciting, trust me.”

“What happens if I meet someone else before we figure it out?” He asked.

“Well, we’re going to hope that you don’t,” Alex responded, giving him a look. “But, we’d probably just call it off.”

“You guys already know each other, all we’re asking is that you just get to know the people around you. And, we’ll do our best to make sure that’s her without you knowing.”

“I find it really hard to believe that this is going to work,” He said once they reached the couple’s car. “But, if you guys are both vouching for this plan and her, I guess it doesn’t hurt to try. It’s not like I’m seeing anyone.”

“Yes!” Jayne exclaimed, hugging Colton. He laughed, hugging her back. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

“You won’t,” Alex said. “If it works.”

“Okay, I’m going to get the car started,” Jayne said, pulling away from Colton to give the guys some time. “Good luck, Parry.”

“Don’t disappoint me.” She shook her head, walking towards the door and leaving the two guys alone.

“What do you know about the girl?” Colton asked. “You have to give me something to go on, man.”

“Let’s just say that you guys have a little history,” He shrugged, smirking at his teammate. “Not enough that would stop something from happening now, but enough that you might remember.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Colton called when he realized Alex was done giving hints.

“I guess you’ll have to wait to find out.”

****

After agreeing to take part in the plan and allow your best friend and her husband to set you up with someone, you tried your best to continue your normal routine. If they were so certain that this guy was perfect for you and you would be able to see it, you planned on talking to everyone as normal and then paying attention to what happens. To be fair, that was all that you could do.

“Y/N?” You stopped in your tracks, turning on your heels.

“Aaron?” You furrowed your eyebrows. “What are you doing in St. Louis?”

“I’m visiting,” He laughed. “How are you?”

He walked towards you, immediately pulling you into his chest. “I’m great, how are you? Weren’t you just in Minnesota or something?”

“Yeah, for some business meetings,” He pulled away.

“Wow, I guess you’re a big shot now,” You joked.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m such a big shot that I still drive the same old car. I was actually hoping I would bump into you somewhere. Do you maybe want to grab a drink sometime? Catch up?”

“Uh, sure, yeah,” You nodded, slowly. “Just text me and we can set something up.”

“Same number?”

“Yeah, same one,” You replied.

“Okay, then. I guess I’ll see you soon,” He smiled, waving.

You smiled back, returning to your cart. Throwing your bag over into the top part, you pulled out your phone, clicking Jayne’s number almost immediately.

“Hello?”

“Please tell me the person you’re thinking of is not Aaron Nichols who I met at that freaking parade when the guys won. If it is, abort the mission, now. Over my dead body.”

Jayne laughed, “What? No, it’s not Aaron Nichols. Who the hell is that?”

“Thank god,” You breathed. “Because he just asked me out in the grocery store.”

“Well, our guy isn’t going to be asking you out anytime soon. We promised you a slow burner,” She said.

“Oh please,” You rolled your eyes. “So, have I come across him yet and not realized it?”

“I don’t know, have you?” She threw back.

“How is that helpful at all?”

“We also told you that it’ll be much better if you guys figure this out on your own. No hints, no telling you if or where you’ve seen them.”

“You guys suck,” You responded. “I bet you Alex has given this guy lots of hints.”

“To be fair, I did tell you that it wasn’t Aaron, which I won’t do anymore. You can’t ask us every time you have an encounter with a guy.”

“Well, why not?” You whined. “Am I really just supposed to talk to everyone with the possibility of dating?”

“Exactly.”

“You guys suck,” You repeated. “I have to go, I’m checking out.”

“I’ll call you later.”

****

Colton wasn’t doing much better, either. Agreeing to this plan meant that he had to pay attention to all of his encounters with the women that he knew. And, he knew a lot. Although a gentleman, Colton had had his fair share of partners. But, the plan limited the amount of options to women that Alex and Jayne knew as well, especially Jayne, since Colton picked up on how close Jayne felt to this woman. She was obviously close with Alex, too, who seemed to trust this girl enough.

“Hair color?” Colton breathed, running on the treadmill.

Alex laughed, shaking his head beside him. “Stop.”

“Where do I know her from?” He asked.

“I’m not telling you anything about her,” Alex said.

“Fuck, man,” Colton sighed. “I feel like I shouldn’t have agreed to this.”

“Why?”

“Because, it’s like you guys playing matchmaker for me and this person that I supposedly have a history with. If I have a history with them, maybe there’s a reason why it didn’t work out,” He said.

“People mature,” Alex pointed.

“Me or her?”

“Both.”

“Well, what’s our history? Did we date?”

“No, you definitely didn’t date.” Alex almost laughed, thinking back to his warning that he was 100% sure Colton respected.

“This feels a little desperate,” Colton admitted. “Like I can’t find someone myself.”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Alex paused his run briefly to lean on the machine, facing Colton. Colton did the same, catching his breath as Alex continued. “She said the exact same thing when we told her. Look, this isn’t some game show trying to pair you up with some stranger that you don’t know. This is, and as much as it literally pains me to say, one of your closest friends helping you find someone that I can genuinely see you having something with. I know what you like, I know what you need, and I guess I care about you being with someone that is going to be good for you.”

“Do you actually know her?”

“Yes, man,” Alex huffed. “She’s a really good friend of ours. She has a job, a life, her own place that she pays for with her own money. Independent, funny, but depending on your humor. Jayne and I both agree that you have the same annoying humor so there’s that. You said something earlier about not wanting someone soft? Trust me, she’s not. But, she has a soft side. You’re not soft, per se, but you have a soft side, too. She likes that. And, I can assure you, even though this is subjective, you’ll definitely be attracted to her. Now, that is the last piece of information you are ever getting out of me about her until time is up. Seriously.”

He let out a breath as he starting the treadmill back up. “Are you done now? Can I finish my workout?”

“That’s all I really needed to know,” Colton said, even though he really wanted to know more. “You just convinced me, not gonna lie.”

“Sounds like your dream girl, huh?”

Colton let out a laugh, “A little, yeah.”

“We thought so, too.”

263 notes · View notes

cryoculus · 5 years

Note

How about a soulmate au, maybe the first words one. With ushijima and maybe the words were really weird like "wow I like your balls".

Part Two →

» Word Count: 3,703 words

Note: This was re-written on 07-15-2019 but no major changes were made in the overall plot (⌒ω⌒) This work is also cross-posted on AO3 and it’d mean a lot if you left your feedback on this post or in the link!

***

Naturally, Tendou laughed in his face the first time Ushijima showed him.

“Wakatoshi-kun,” he breathed, wiping a tear from his eye, “you better find your soulmate soon so I can tape record the whole thing!”

Ushijima frowned, eyes drifting back to the words marked on the underside of his left index finger. Contrary to popular belief, Shiratorizawa’s ace did have a sense of humor, albeit minimal. He wasn’t so oblivious that he wouldn’t notice if some phrases connoted an underlying meaning to them.

But was, ‘Man. I really like your balls,’ something anyone would say in a regular conversation?

The words written in elegant handwriting on Tendou’s wrist were simple and didn’t leave a lot to ponder on. ‘Hi, I’m the normal guy.’ Couldn’t he have been bestowed with less suggestive first words from his soulmate, as well?

“Maybe you’re going to a brothel in the future,” Tendou offered when he noticed his captain’s obvious distress. “The miracle boy Ushijima Wakatoshi, the unmovable ace, actually seeking pleasurable release. Hmm, but that’s still a ways away if you ask me.”

The ace knitted his brows together at the middle blocker’s assumption. Ushijima had more tact than that. One would never catch him dead anywhere near a red light district. But he supposed Tendou only meant it as a jest.

“When you get ideas dropping by Kabukicho or somethin’, tell me, okay~”

…Or not.

***

“Niiyama Girls’ High?” Ushijima echoed.

Coach Washijou merely huffed. “I’ll be away this Sunday when they arrive for the joint practice. Try to learn what you can from their play style. I trust your judgement in seeing what is fit to take note of and apply with our own strategy.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Are a girls’ volleyball club’s tactics truly applicable for us, coach?”

“Don’t underestimate them women, Wakatoshi,” the old man chided. “They’re more graceful than you meaty idiots. More elegant with their plays, too. Have I made myself clear?”

Ushijima could only nod reluctantly.

***

“I heard the girls from Niiyama are called Queens,” Tendou drawled as he tossed a volleyball into Shirabu’s direction. The young setter caught it swiftly, wedging it under his arm.

“Tendou-san, we’re not finished inflating them yet,” Shirabu sighed.

The middle blocker stuck his tongue out. “How many do we even need? There’s tons piled up in the ball cart already.”

“Tendou, refrain from jeopardizing Shirabu’s responsibilities,” Ushijima spoke flatly as he finished the rest of his warm-up, throwing a cautionary gaze in his direction which the redhead pointedly ignored.

“Wakatoshi-kun is so uptight,” Tendou sneered. “Eh? Is it because a bunch of girls are coming over? Is Wakatoshi-kun flustered all of a sudden?”

“I am simply carrying on Coach Washijou’s request of keeping things orderly in his absence.”

“Hmph,” he simpered. “I just wanna have fun with some cuties, Wakatoshi-kun.”

Ushijima dismissed Tendou’s reasoning to crack his fingers. The crunch of the cartilage beneath his skin was a satisfying pop in his ears, and it eases the cricks that have formed in his joints, eliciting a soft sigh of satisfaction from him.

“Everyone, listen up please,” Coach Saitou emerged from the gym’s entrance, clapping his hands loudly to garner everyone’s attention. “Niiyama’s already here. Compose yourselves and finish up with your respective warm-ups. We’re going to have a practice match.”

Semi wrinkled his nose. “Coach, isn’t there a bit of an imbalance?”

Coach Saitou smiled. “You’ll know in a minute, Semi-kun.”

As most of his teammates discussed trivial matters among themselves, Ushijima leaned against a wall to bask in his own silence. He was not one to question direct orders from Washijou himself, but this particular joint practice left him with some questions that he’d like to be enlightened with.

If he was feeling it, Washijou would go as far as to invite Mujinazaka so Ushijima could go toe to toe against Kiryu. Why he suddenly took interest in the powerhouse all-female volleyball club of Niiyama was beyond his comprehension. Men and women’s volleyball were separated for a good reason, after all.

His train of thought was derailed when Goshiki let out an unhindered gasp and Hayato chided the young ace for ‘being so obvious’. The captain shifted his field of view, expression poised as usual, while their guests filed inside the gymnasium one by one.

The girls of Niiyama High’s volleyball club all had one thing in common: short hair. It made sense. Sure, many professional players he’s seen wore their hair in taut ponytails and bangs bound by headbands. But it’s known to be much easier to play when their hair didn’t grow longer than the napes of their necks. When they managed to settle inside, the rest of Shiratorizawa’s players fell silent, scrutinizing the visitors clad in red and white uniforms.

“We’re the Niiyama girls’ volleyball club,” a light-haired player wearing the jersey marked with the number one proclaimed; a bow swiftly followed her introduction. “Thank you for inviting us.”

“Thank you for inviting us!” the rest of them resounded.

Noticing that his teammates were stunned into silence by the mere presence of the other team in their gym, Ushijima cleared his throat, walking over to them.

“Greetings should be returned with the same vigor,” he reminded.

His words seemingly impelled boys to compose themselves the next second, each one lining up properly in front of their guests.

“Let’s have a good game!”

Ushijima could hear Coach Saitou snickering from where he stood, and even he could see why the coach was finding this quite humorous. It seemed Tendou and Reon were the only ones apart from himself that remained unfazed by the arrival of such unlikely guests.

As the girls began their own respective warm-ups, Ushijima rounded up his own teammates to minimize the chances of someone making a fool out of himself. Though Shiratorizawa has a reputation that suggested that it housed the most sophisticated students, that didn’t seem like the case when taking the volleyball team into consideration. Outside of a game, most of them tend to be swayed by the strangest things, and Ushijima was certain that being in the same space as a group of girls in the same age group was one of those things.

“Coach Washijou really is the devil,” Reon chortled as he walked over to Ushijima’s side. “Did he really want a one-sided match for us that badly?”

Upon hearing the wing spiker’s words, Ushijima’s mouth downturned into a grimace. He could very much remember the warning in Washijou’s voice when he told him not to underestimate these girls. They were a constant participant at nationals after all. But, still, it didn’t make sense why they would even agree to a practice match against Shiratorizawa, knowing the circumstances.

“Can I have everyone’s attention?” a woman, presumably Niiyama’s coach, called out from the side of the court. All the people in the room halted their ministrations at once. “Since the manpower of each team is obviously disproportionate,” she began, “we’ll be handing out draw-lots to determine who goes on white and black teams respectively.”

So that was how they were going to address the issue that’s been plaguing Ushijima for days. He affixed a thoughtful gaze on the plastic cup in the woman’s hands. It seemed fair, but the idea didn’t completely sit well with him.

“But only those in the starting lineup will be participating in the practice match,” Saitou supplied with a hint of remorse.

“It’s alright, coach,” Semi assured. “It’s quite fun to see something different every once in a while.”

The players on each team’s starting roster came forward when called to draw their colored sticks. Ushijima eyed Niiyama’s members with calculative curiosity. Each of them wore a calm and collected demeanor that rivalled his own, as if the idea of going up against one of Miyagi’s powerhouse schools didn’t even faze them at the slightest. But his gaze was particularly drawn to one of the girls that wore the number three jersey. There was a confident spark in your eye that Ushijima only saw in opponents who were certain of their victory.

When it was his turn to draw his lot, Ushijima got a white stick.

“Aww, I’m gonna have to play against Wakatoshi-kun?” Tendou groaned, holding up a black stick in disdain. “I can totally beat him, but his spikes can induce fractures, coach!”

Ushijima managed to overhear you complain to your captain, who seemed to draw a white lot as well. “Mei-chan, going up against two captains is hardly fair!”

“I’m sure you all can manage,” Saitou insisted. “We made sure the number of boys and girls on the team is equal. Liberos will also be playing full-time to even out the numbers. But do another rotation when they’re in the setting and serving positions. Now then, please go to your respective sides on-court and introduce yourselves!”

***

If Ushijima were to describe the practice match with one word, it would be…interesting.

The first set had extended up to the thirties, and the ace was already sweating profusely despite it still being early in the game. A noticeable crease was embedded in Ushijima’s brow as he caught his breath, wiping away a sheen from his sweat-stricken skin. He’s conditioned himself to have stamina like no other, but the power he’s forced to use just to get past the opposing blockers was draining him far more quickly than he anticipated.

“Shiratorizawa’s got a monster blocker, yeah?” Niiyama’s captain and one of his team’s middle blockers, Haruno Mei inquired.

He stared at her, considering her words. “Are you perhaps talking about Tendou?”

“Yeah. The red-haired guy,” she affirmed, keeping her gaze straight. “Well, let’s say that we’ve got our own monster blocker, too.”

He could have interpreted that as Haruno talking about herself, but he knew what his temporary teammate meant by her words. Just on the opposite side of the net, you were discussing something with Tendou with interest sparking your eyes. When you caught the ace staring, a smirk stretched across your lips.

Ushijima narrowed his gaze. Tendou was already a troublesome middle blocker on his own. He was one of the few that could actually stop Ushijima when he’s already set a momentum for himself. But that’s only because Tendou knew of his habits on-court. You, though? You’ve shut him down in one set more times than any of his rivals have in his entire career despite not having prior knowledge about his style.

“(Name) is a little timid when blocking alone,” Haruno supplied further. “But when she’s paired up with another seasoned middle blocker, they’d be a double threat. I’m sure you’ve heard about Niiyama’s Gemini blocker, right?”

No, he really hadn’t heard of the title, but it suggested exactly what Ushijima had been observing since the match started. Whenever you and Tendou rotated together in the front, the ace felt as if he wasn’t just being stuffed by one Guess Monster, but two.

When the game resumed at the referee’s signal, Ushijima unknowingly set a goal for himself.

He was going to crush you.

***

“We gave you quite the run for your money, didn’t we, Wakatoshi-kun?” Tendou slung an arm over Ushijima’s shoulder. “You looked plenty mad back there~”

As usual, Ushijima ignored Tendou’s taunts while he picked up a lone volleyball on the floor. After the practice match—with his team as its victors—everyone was provided ample time for free practice.

“Ah, that one chick on my team was a real demon, too,” the middle blocker continued, despite his captain’s obvious indifference. “You’d love to have her on your team, Wakatoshi-kun. She’s just like a second me!”

Ushijima spared him an unreadable look, but he found himself frowning at the redhead’s proclamation. It seemed that he wasn’t the only one who noticed how similar your blocking style was to Tendou’s. But Ushijima didn’t particularly feel the need to articulate his concern.

“I do not believe anyone could be as…lively as you are, Tendou,” is what he told him instead.

Tendou barked out an amused laugh. “Of course not! Even Eita-kun told me I’m like a monster on steroids. I meant the way she played. Her guesses were as good as mine. It’s like we’re meant to be~”

Once the words left his teammate’s lips, an uncomfortable sensation seized the ace in the preceding moment. Brows knitting together, Ushijima placed a palm over his chest, trying to check for any irregularities in his heartbeat, but everything seemed to be fine.

He recalled the brief conversation he had with Haruno. Niiyama’s captain implied that you had a peculiar talent for drawing out the best of your fellow blockers’ abilities. It made Ushijima wonder if you truly were a second Guess Monster or simply a genius who could conform with your teammates’ play styles at an exorbitant rate.

In the middle of his careful contemplation, Tendou offered to play catch with him, and Ushijima was about to accept until—

“Man, I really like your balls.”

Hearing those words aloud made every muscle in Ushijima’s body go frigid. His fingers felt cold, and goosebumps erupted on the flesh of his arms. He could see Tendou freezing up from where he stood in his peripheral vision, too. It was no fluke that he heard the words he was destined to hear right now, in the middle of a joint practice. That only meant…

He turned around. You met his olive-eyed stare with playful amusement.

“I’ve been meaning to convince Mei-chan to change up our volleyballs to Mikasa ones,” you sighed, twirling one of the balls in your hand. “Molten is just out of trend, you know?”

For once, the captain didn’t know how to act accordingly. His mouth felt dry, like his tongue turned into sand, rendering him unable to make a sound. His fists clenched tightly at his sides, blunt nails digging into his skin in an attempt to calm himself. Thankfully, Ushijima had a talent for retaining his composed demeanor under duress, which made you entirely oblivious to the shift in his countenance.

“Thank you,” he imparted, voice schooled into neutrality. “Our second years made sure to inflate them with the recommended air pressure.”

“They’re in good hands, huh?” You grinned.

“Oh, Wakatoshi-kun is also in good hands, (Name)-chan,” Tendou snickered, earning him a glare from his usually stoic captain. But the middle blocker didn’t even bat an eyelash at his captain’s reaction.

“By the way, sorry about earlier. It was just a practice match but I poured everything into it. It probably doesn’t matter since you guys won, right?” You scratched the back of your head, cheeks tinged with a warm color that Ushijima, though he loath to admit, almost found endearing.

“It is only proper to give everything you have in whatever task given. Any effort given at one’s best will never be pointless.” He chose his words carefully, not wanting to let any semblance of discomposure slip from his mouth.

You nodded, mouth hung in awe. “Such a straightforward guy you are, huh?”

“Not always,” Tendou coughed and at that point, Ushijima was already contemplating on spiking him in the face to make his chatty teammate shut up for once.

When the idea popped into his head, Ushijima gulped the next second. It wasn’t like him to think violence upon others, regardless of how much they grated on his nerves. With that, he could almost hear the words his father had told him about soulmates just before he had to leave for another country.

“There’ll come a day when you’ll meet the person who’s going to utter these words to you,” his father had said, tracing his fingers over the strange words on his son’s much tinier ones. “When that day comes, your heart will go into overdrive. You’ll act in ways you never have before. It’ll be like a hurricane tore through your whole being—your soul.”

Those words had been theatrical at best, and dreadful at worst. Ushijima was a bright boy for his age when he was imparted with them, and the first reaction that was excited from him was cold skepticism.

If that’s true then why are you leaving me and mother behind?

He’d wanted to ask Takashi that one question, but he knew that his father would only leave him with some vague answer and a pat on the head. He never was a straightforward man when it came to things that didn’t include volleyball—always opting to talk in riddles and insisting that Ushijima would ‘know when the time is right’.

Ever since his father left Japan, Ushijima had always despised the concept of soulmates; it didn’t guarantee happiness or satisfaction. The deity responsible for such a thing simply lumped in random people together even if there was no compatibility whatsoever.

His parents were a clear example of that and the last thing he’d want to do is to engage himself in something that would do more harm than good to him and his emotional well-being.

But once today’s joint practice came to an end, he simply couldn’t help it. The way his heart fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings when you stopped to wave your hand at him in farewell was accompanied by an unfamiliar sensation that spread across his entire being. It felt…it felt soothing.

“Wakatoshi.”

The sound of Reon’s voice yanked him back to his senses. Ushijima blinked, realizing that he’d been standing by the gym’s entrance ever since Niiyama’s players departed, quite lost in thought.

Unlike Tendou, Reon was better at reading people, even Ushijima—placid and stoic Ushijima—himself. When the wing spiker cast him a knowing look with those thoughtful eyes of his, the captain felt like Reon was picking him apart with a single gaze.

“Is there anything you want off your chest?” was his icebreaker.

Ushijima considered his words, contemplating whether or not the thoughts plaguing his mind were worthy of a discussion. It was but a trivial little thing. He’s faced dozens of discrepancies before that were much more troublesome in nature. Eliciting a sound that sounded like a sigh, but not quite, Ushijima went back inside the gym with the intent of assisting with tonight’s clean-up.

“Nothing at all.”

***

“Wakatoshi-kun, you’re no fun,” Tendou huffed as he shut the door to their shared room, immediately climbing up the ladder to the top bunk.

Ushijima eyed him from where he stood, shrugging off his jacket to hang on the hook behind the door. His expression morphed into subtle curiosity because this was the first time he’s talked to Ushijima since practice ended. Tendou had been giving him the cold shoulder throughout dinner, and he wasn’t being discreet about it either.

Deciding to see where this will go, he took a more neutral approach. “You’ve told me such numerous times already, Tendou.”

“You know what I mean.” He merely frowned.

For the past three years, Tendou had these sporadic mood swings from time to time and Ushijima had gotten used to them. However, no matter how long they’ve been sharing this room together, the ace never seemed to understand the pattern in his temper. But for some reason, Ushijima subconsciously knew that, this time, Tendou’s irritation wasn’t entirely baseless.

When the captain said nothing in response, Tendou clicked his tongue, hopping across the bedrail to land gracefully on the carpeted floor.

The middle blocker grunted, placing his hands on his hips in an accusatory gesture. “Why didn’t you tell her she’s your soulmate? You a pussy or something?”

Looking over the fact that his heart lurched in his ribcage at the reminder, Ushijima managed to say, “(Surname) did not seem to react strongly to me when I spoke to her. The possibility of her not being my ‘soulmate’, as you put it, is still there, Tendou.”

He clicked his tongue again with more vigor. “That’s ‘cause the first words you told her were, ‘thank you’. How many times does a person hear that from strangers? A whole fuckin’ lot, Wakatoshi-kun.” He graced his dialogue with exaggerated movements from his hands that seemed oddly fitting. “Meanwhile, you’re here with the same exact words she hit you up with tattooed on your fuckin’ hand, and you’re turning a blind eye? Is Wakatoshi-kun a dumbass?”

The snark in Tendou’s seething rage complemented his words in a strange way. They were enough to catch Ushijima off guard, since Tendou was someone that never lost his twisted glee unless an opponent on-court was besting him. But they were not playing volleyball, and no one was besting him at all.

Or was there?

Tendou fisted Ushijima’s shirt and brought his face closer to his. Carmine eyes bore into his own with an emotion he isn’t familiar with.

“I’ve been dying to meet who mine is, did you know that?” Tendou whispered airily. “I’m always searching for ‘the normal guy’. But who the fuck is just gonna tell that to my face? You met your own match today, but chose to ignore it? It—it fuckin’ pisses me off, Wakatoshi-kun.”

Ushijima exhaled, refusing to let Tendou’s rash words faze him in any way. He acknowledged his teammate’s strong feelings about the whole soulmate matter, but telling you still wasn’t his decision to make. Not when Ushijima still had his thoughts all over the place.

“Go to sleep, Tendou.” Ushijima pried his grip off his shirt. “Spring Interhigh Playoffs begin tomorrow. You best forget about this and get some rest.”

Tendou’s glare never let up as he scoffed, making his way to the door. “I’m going to hit some serves in the gym. Don’t follow me.”

“It was not my intention to.”

His roommate responded by slamming the door behind him with more force than what was necessary. Almost immediately after, Ushijima could hear Semi barking about the noise in the hall, to which Tendou replied with a muffled, “Fuck off, Semisemi.”

The captain sighed, sitting on his bottom bunk bed to quell the apprehension rooting itself under his skin. To an extent, Tendou had been right about him being ‘a pussy’. But it’s not as if it mattered. There was no need for him to rush things, nor did Ushijima wish to.

He would tell you in his own time.

***

Part Two →

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu!! headcanons #haikyuu hc #haikyuu x reader #ushijima wakatoshi #ushijima wakatoshi x reader #request #anon #im too lazy to continue it #i thought i'd leave it on that note #but if someone requested a second part #i might write it #slowly #hqscenario

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burning-up-ao3 · 5 years

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20 Penguins Thoughts: Improvement involves more than a potential trade January 29, 2019 8:00 AMBy Jason Mackey / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Look at what Jim Rutherford did on Monday, trading Jamie Oleksiak back to Dallas for a 2019 fourth-round draft pick, and it’s fairly easy to conclude that the Penguins general manager has his sights set on doing something.

Fine. Trade away, Jim. Shoot your shot.

But is a swap for a third-line center, or even an impact winger, going to fix this? Highly doubtful.

Not that the Penguins are a dysfunctional group, either. They aren’t. They’re still a very good team. But no matter what move Rutherford makes, if the Penguins play like they did Monday, they’re simply not a trade away from another Stanley Cup run.

“If we’re going to be successful,” Matt Cullen was saying after the Penguins’ 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils at PPG Paints Arena on Monday night, “we’re going to have to be a lot harder to play against.”

The 42-year-old has never been more right.

Kevin Hayes, Radek Faksa, Charlie Coyle, Micheal Ferland — all dream acquisitions by Penguins fans, for perfectly understandable reasons — aren’t going to solve the problem by themselves. Neither is shipping out Jack Johnson or calling up Teddy Blueger or whatever other Band-Aid has been applied.

Heck, the Penguins got creamed by the Devils, and Derick Brassard was actually half-decent. What the Penguins will need to fix this — and snap out of a stretch that has included five losses in eight games — is much larger than one or two players.

So, what realistically must happen?

2. Work ethic, urgency and competitive spirit were the terms being thrown around the Penguins dressing room late Monday, and it’s hard to argue with any of them.

The power play also has to be better; those five players need to be a factor, and they can’t keep allowing short-handed goals at this rate. They need to get Evgeni Malkin right, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Penguins coach Mike Sullivan’s move is to pull him off the top unit, as crazy as that might sound. No more bad turnovers. Let him focus on other areas.

The Penguins also must defend better than they did against New Jersey, and there’s simply a lack of urgency that shouldn’t exist at this point in the season, especially not for a team that fancies itself as a Stanley Cup contender.

I do have five questions for the home stretch, but I’ll get to those shortly. First, a couple loose ends.

3. I thought Sidney Crosby had some really strong stuff to say after Monday’s loss. He’s usually fairly positive, never too down, but the captain seemed fairly mad after this one.

What lacked against the Devils: “Everything. Execution. Urgency. Those are probably the biggest two. Pretty important ones.”

The NHL-worst 11 short-handed goals the Penguins have allowed: “I mean, it’s 11. I think it could probably be a couple different things depending on the play. It’s not a stat we’re proud of, that’s for sure.”

On needing to correct things with Tampa coming in: “We can say everything we want to say. We can say all the right things. We have to go out there and do it.”

Good for him. No one has a stronger voice than Crosby. And every word is he said is true.

4. Here’s why I think Rutherford could do something, and soon: Why else let Jamie Oleksiak go for a fourth-round pick?

Perhaps because Rutherford knows he’s going to need the space soon, and this was what he figured was his best available opinion.

That’s what I think, anyway.

“It just puts us in a position when something comes along — which, it will — over the next few weeks here,” Rutherford said when I asked what this means moving forward in our phone conversation early Monday evening. “It’ll put us in a position for other options because of the cap space.”

Which it will. Rutherford knows his phone will be ringing, and you know he’ll answer.

Yes, it was about having too many defensemen and Justin Schultz coming back soon, but that’s not a reason to make the trade now, for that return.

Doing it now, and not when Schultz returns in early February — remember, he has yet to skate with the team — sends a signal that Rutherford is open for business and able to potentially absorb some salary.

5. Switching gears a little bit … why hasn’t Teddy Blueger been gotten a shot? You guys/girls ask this a lot.

With 21 goals and 39 points in 45 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, it’s a totally reasonable question, especially considering Blueger plays in all situations and isn’t defensively deficient.

When I talked to Rutherford before Monday’s game, I asked him exactly that: Why hasn’t Blueger been given a chance?

“It’s a positional thing,” Rutherford said. “He’s played well enough to be here. When it’s been time to recall a player, the players that we’ve recalled can play the wing.

“We haven’t been in a position where we’ve had to call up a center. Teddy doesn’t play the wing. He only plays center. It’s a more-than-fair question. He has done what he’s needed to do to put himself in position to play at this level.”

6. I see Rutherford’s point. Blueger isn’t a wing, and the Penguins would theoretically be doing a disservice to him by playing him out of position, even if I know many of you are going to say, “Well, just shift someone else there.”

I don’t think the Penguins would want a fourth line with two guys playing out of position — probably Riley Sheahan and Matt Cullen — to accommodate a rookie playing his first NHL game.

7. Which led to this follow-up question that I posed to Rutherford: Is there a scenario you see unfolding where Blueger could get a chance this season.

His answer: “I don’t see it with the guys that we have here now.”

I found that answer interesting: “With the guys that we have here now.”

On one hand, that means no; Blueger’s staying in the minors. On the other, I suppose that could change if Rutherford trades Brassard or even Riley Sheahan, although I don’t think using Blueger as a regular is something the Penguins want to force.

8-12. To me, there’s five key questions for the Penguins coming out of the All-Star break. Addressing those will occupy this and the following four spots.

The first involves Malkin. Can he rediscover the form he found during the second half of last season, when he led the NHL in points (62) from Jan. 1 through the end of the regular season?

Taking him off the top power play might be one option. Maybe trying some other people on his left wing. Shoot, maybe even sit Malkin down for a game, just to change something up, although I admittedly don’t love that option.

But I think Malkin is pressing and his confidence is lacking, which is a bad combination.

“Obviously we’d like him to have more of a positive impact on the game,” Sullivan said after Monday’s game. “He’s such a talented player. He’s such an accomplished player. I know how much he cares about this team, this organization and trying to help us win. Part of my responsibility as his coach and our staff is we’re trying to help Geno through this process and try and help him capture his very best game. We’ll continue to work with him.”

9. What happens when Schultz returns?

You know he’s going to slot into the top-four. But more than that, with whom does Schultz play? Olli Maatta? Is he effective? Does he get top power-play reps? The latter part is interesting given that unit’s current situation.

I also look at Schultz like a trade-deadline acquisition. His presence alone could give this group a nice little jolt of life.

10. Where’s Matt Murray at?

It’s hard to criticize Murray after Monday’s game. No, he wasn’t great, but neither was the team in front of him. And this is a guy who was 10-1 since returning from a lower-body injury, with a 1.81 goals-against average and .944 save percentage before the Devils game.

Expecting those numbers might be a bit much, but the Penguins will want and need something close here to make a push over the final 40 percent of the season.

11. What’s the final verdict on Brassard?

Brassard was actually decent Monday, although hardly enough to quash any of the ongoing trade talk.

Given acquisition cost, don’t rule out the Penguins sticking with Brassard, although I would imagine that, if they do, Rutherford would probably like to add another piece to get more from that line.

12. How does this Metro mess sort itself out?

The Metropolitan Division is an interesting place right now.

The Islanders are in first place, have allowed a league-low 118 goals, and Barry Trotz is looking like the Jack Adams Award winner. The Capitals, meanwhile, have lost seven in a row and look lost.

The Blue Jackets are hanging around, and the Penguins are in fourth place, with the Hurricanes just four points behind.

That’s a long-winded way of saying that plenty can still happen, and the margin for error is rather small.

13. Moving on … I loved what Kendall Coyne Schofield, Brianna Decker and others did at the NHL All-Star Game, but I still wish it would have been executed differently.

For one, they should have been paid, especially Decker after winning the premier passer event.

You can treat this like a statement-making sort of event all you want, which I think the NHL did. But when you pay the event winners, pay the winning team of the All-Star Game $1 million and award a car to the MVP … and you don’t see a need to earmark anything for these women — who make nothing close to NHL players — until there’s negative reaction over it, I question how much of a statement you were really trying to make.

14. Also, why not show all of them demonstrating the drills? And why not talk, while Coyne Schofield was flying, about her own career, Northeastern, Team USA women’s hockey, whatever. Anything aside from her husband who plays for the Chargers.

Or, here’s a final thought: Why not promote the upcoming series between Team USA and Hockey Canada in Detroit and London, Ontario?

If you have a platform, use it.

15. One more about Coyne Schofield and Decker …

Being in the building, the buzz created was amazing. It also made me think about something that I’d love to see: a National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) team in Pittsburgh.

I think it would work, too. There are so many fervent and intelligent female hockey fans here, plus there’s great infrastructure in place for it with UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex and how naturally intertwined it would be with the Penguins.

Have no clue on logistics or anything like that, or whether it’s even remotely possible, but if the team won, I think it could do really well.

16. I find NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s stance on current labor negotiations … interesting.

He keeps repeating the phrase, “We’re not looking for a fight.”

Great, but your fans don’t care. They just want the product.

And it positions the players, if they ask for anything that’s even remotely reasonable, as the bad guys.

17. Media day must be handled better next year.

You’ll notice that neither Crosby nor Kris Letang was there. They were among the seven of 44 players who did not make it. That’s too many.

But I don’t blame Crosby or Letang. Why should they give up a day of their bye week when the All-Stars who are on theirs from Jan. 27-31 will get five full days?

It’s also not fair to the fans who bought tickets to the event — held inside San Jose’s City National Civic theater — expecting to hear those two or others. I also understand why those who played Wednesday night weren’t there.

My solution: Put a dark day in the schedule, to ensure 100 percent participation. There’s no sense wasting fans’ or media members’ money and ticking off your players … for what?

18. While we’re at it, I also think the Skills Competition needs tweaked.

I think the fastest skater, hardest shot and accuracy shooting events are fine the way they are. Leave those alone. Let’s concentrate on the other ones.

The puck control event was OK, but I don’t see how casual fans might keep the event on their TVs to watch a dude stickhandle around cones. Too boring. Need to spice it up a little.

Secondly, the whole event slowed to a crawl during the save streak-intermission-premier passer part of the evening. Has to be tighter to keep viewers’ attention.

Have goalies stop as many breakaways as they can until they’re done. If it’s two, so be it. They’re done.

Then simplify the passing thing. I don’t need to see poor Mikko Rantanen suffering through 2:17.379, then having to watch seven more heats.

The Skills Competition has some interesting elements. I think it can be watchable, as opposed to the game itself, which is a little too gimmicky for my taste.

But it needs to be tighter, falling somewhere in the 90-minute range start to finish.

19. I was not at all surprised to hear deputy NHL commissioner Bill Daly’s answer when I asked whether the Penguins are being considered for international events.

“Yes,” was what Daly said, with a wide smile.

As they should be.

How does one of the NHL’s marquee U.S. teams, with the league’s most recognizable player and some seriously high-end talent, not get included in this stuff?

The Penguins haven’t played internationally since going to Stockholm, Sweden in 2008. Whether it’s China, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland or the Czech Republic — all destinations on the horizon — the Penguins should get asked to go.

And soon, if you ask me.

20. I liked seeing Toronto’s Auston Matthews rip off his own Maple Leafs sweater to show support for teammate Patrick Marleau, who’s nothing short of a legend out here.

I think it’s part of what should be a push by players, especially the younger ones, to showcase more personality whenever possible.

I know the NHL is a different animal, and it’s never going to rival the NBA or NFL in terms of pure entertainment for casual fans.

But if the league can do something, anything, to become even a little less bland — including players speaking their minds instead of offering milquetoast quotes they fear might upset someone — I think it would be a good thing.

Jason Mackey: [email protected] and Twitter @JMackeyPG.

#20 Penguins Thoughts #Pittsburgh Post-Gazette #Jason Mackey #not mine #pittsburgh penguins

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mangokiwitropicalswirl · 7 years

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Paging Dr. Scully, chp 3

Paging Dr. Scully, chp 1: Squeeze

Paging Dr Scully, chp 2: Jersey Devil

Paging Dr. Scully, chp 3: Shadows

Why had she let Gina convince her to wear the lace bodysuit?

“I look like a preteen in a Love’s Baby Soft ad,” she mutters to herself in the bathroom mirror at the restaurant as she touches up her lipstick and pushes carefully-curled tendrils behind her ear.

Normally, she’d have called up Melissa to come help her get ready. Melissa keeps up with fashion trends – she wears chokers and Doc Martens with bohemian dresses, not a predictable rotation of petite-sized scrubs underneath bleachy-white doctor coats. Scully rarely has a reason to put on anything other than jeans and a sweatshirt in the all-too-short hours between shifts.

But Melissa is away “on walkabout,” as she had put it. Scully had teased her repeatedly for calling an aimless American road trip by the Australian term for an adolescent spiritual rite of passage. “But it IS meaningful, Dana,” Melissa had insisted, her voice deep with conviction. “I want to see what the world holds for me, to open myself up to possibilities.”

Scully had nodded, only the slightest raise of her eyebrow betraying her scepticism that the trip is anything other than an excuse to hook up with random strangers and experiment with mind altering substances of one kind or another. She could have been jealous of Melissa’s unencumbered ways, but that had never been what she wanted from life.

She had thrived on the challenges of school and the thrill of the ER’s energy. She likes knowing she has control, giving commands to nurses and technicians, swooping in to bring order out of the chaos. That’s what she does. And it’s what she wants – to make sense of things, to categorize and pin things down. Life should be conquerable, ordered, stable. She needs a partner who wants the same things, right?

Which is why she finds herself sitting across from Rob, the tax accountant, easily eight or ten years her senior. A divorcee. Talking about taking kids to the park, or the museum, or is it the circus? Her mind is wandering.

He is nice enough, pleasant, average-looking, but clean. Uncomplicated. The first date she’s had in far too long. Unless you counted that hospital-basement coffee that the cute FBI agent bought her the night before.

Fox. Why is she thinking about Fox right now? Rob is explaining some intricate new estate tax law that Congress is considering, which will wreck havoc on his clients’ attempts to exploit the gift tax loophole.

She keeps the polite smile plastered on her face, ignoring the back part of her brain that begins comparing this conversation to the bizarre repartee she’d had with Mulder – she remembers he had said to call him Mulder – his skulking around the morgue, the story about Jersey Devils. She wonders if he’d called up Dr. Diamond, and if he had, what they’d found out.

Rob is still rambling and she hopes her face isn’t betraying anything but eager, engaged first-date interest.

Would he call her? She’d basically asked him to. She never does that. Why had she done that?

“Dana,” Rob says her name suddenly. “Do you need to get that?”

“Hmm?” She gives her head a startled shake. “What?”

“Your pager went off, do you need to call in?” Rob looks dutiful and concerned.

“Oh, sorry!” She looks sheepishly down at her pager. It’s the hospital. “I’ll just be a minute.”

Walking toward the restaurant desk phone, she can’t put her finger on why she feels disappointed. It’s not like she’d given Mulder her pager number. And for goodness sake, she’s on a date with another guy! Get it together, Dana. Her internal monologue is confusing but mercifully cut short when the call in to the hospital switchboard jolts her back into a role she’s more comfortable with.

“Multiple victims from a ten car pile-up headed in, we need you here tonight, Dr. Scully.”

“I’m on my way.” She doesn’t pause to measure the sense of relief that floods her, which is not a typical reaction to news of a long night of triage and trauma. She’ll make her apologies to Rob, but she won’t say anything about rainchecks or next times.

She dodges Rob’s phone calls for the next week, although work is genuinely busy enough that she doesn’t have to actually lie about why she’s not calling him back. Her mom is not so easily dissuaded. Maggie can’t seem to understand why her highly eligible daughter has made it to the ripe old age of 29 without at least a steady boyfriend.

“We just didn’t click, Mom,” she explains as Maggie questions why she’s not going out with Rob again.

“Well honey, sometimes you have to give a guy a second chance to make an impression,” Maggie sighs.

Scully sighs as well. Sometimes she placates her with promises to be more open, but other times, the best approach is to deflect attention to Melissa, who is several years older and also equally unattached.

“Mom, how’s Melissa? Have you heard from her?”

Maggie knows this is a diversionary tactic, but lets her off the hook anyway. Their conversation wanders away from the topic of Dana’s love life and onto speculations about Melissa’s.

It’s not until a week later Scully remembers that Mulder neglected to call her. And then it’s a quiet Friday another week after that when her phone rings.

“I don’t suppose you’re in Philadelphia right now?” He doesn’t even bother with hello, so it takes her a minute to place the confident, teasing voice on the other end of the line.

“Alas, no,” she smiles, settling down into the soft corner of her couch, propping her feet up on the coffee table. “Why? Should I be?”

“It’s just that I have the strangest hankering to go and see the Liberty Bell. I’ve been here a hundred times and I’ve never seen it.”

“You’re not missing much. It’s a big bell with a big crack, and you have to wait in a long line.”

“Still,” Mulder pauses, “I’d really like to go. You want to come meet me?”

“At the Liberty Bell?” She incredulous, sitting forward on her elbows now.

“Yeah, it’s only, what, three hours drive?”

“Three hours and a dozen tolls,” she laughs. “Plus, I think they’d be closed by the time I get there.”

“Hmmm,” he hums looking at his watch, “true. They probably close after 11.”

“So you’re assuming I’m just going to hop in my car at 8 p.m on a Friday night and meet you in a city three hours away?” Scully is almost impressed by his audacity. “If I remember correctly, we’ve only met twice, and the second time you never called me back.”

“I’m calling you now, aren’t I?” She can hear the smile in his voice.

“Okay, fine. Let’s imagine I hop in my car and meet you in Philadephia. What are you doing up there anyway?”

“On a case. I think I’ve got real proof of psychokinetic activity this time.” He’s breathless, eager.

“Psychokinesis?” Scully laughs. This is an entirely different galaxy – nay, universe – from conversations about tax accounting. “You mean how Carrie got even at the prom?”

“Basically, yes.” He laughs too, and then there’s an awkward pause between them, a low hum over the telephone line that’s neither physical nor entirely imagined.

Scully takes a deep breath before she can change her mind.

“Okay.”

“Okay, what?”

“Okay, let’s go to the Liberty Bell.”

“Really?” His voice raises half an octave.

“Don’t make me second-guess myself, G-man,” she retorts, getting up from the couch and hurrying to change into something resembling an outfit. “And you better be buying the cheesesteaks because a girl gets hungry after a long drive.”

“You got it, doc.”

Three hours is a lot of time to second guess oneself, so she finds herself pushing the speed limit more than her usual nine-and-a-half miles over. If she drives faster, she won’t have a chance to analyze the logic of driving three hours to meet a man she’s only met twice – both times in a hospital, and both times he has talked about monsters. Well, monsters or aliens.

What the heck is she doing? She doesn’t know, but she can’t suppress the giggle that bubbles in her belly when she imagines his face when she told him she’d come. Somehow she can picture his wide-eyed surprise, and the way his lower lip must have turned up in a smile.

Why is she thinking about his lip? She barely knows him. Shut up brain. She drives faster.

To his credit, Mulder is waiting at the entrance to the deserted Liberty Bell pavilion parking lot with two oblong foil-wrapped cheesesteaks.

“I had to guess how you’d like yours.” He raises hers up in the air as a greeting as she steps out of the car. “Sorry.”

“I’m sure you did fine,” she smiles, reaching for the sandwich. Now it’s awkward. Should she hug him? Give him a kiss on the cheek? Shake hands?

He’s not helping, staring at her with a quizzical look, his eyes darting between the sandwich in his hands and still-lit pavilion behind her. Scully raises her eyebrows in a question, and shrugs.

“Well?” She says.

“C’mon,” he gestures with his head toward the lighted building. “I bribed the guards to keep it open.”

“You bribed the guards?”

“Bribed, threatened, cajoled, whatever.” He smiles. “The badge comes in handy sometimes.”

“So you’re saying you misused your credentials to convince some poor, beleaguered Liberty Bell attendants to stay open three hours past closing just so we can see this big cracked hunk of tin?” Her words are sarcastic, but her tone rings with delight.

“You make it sound so nefarious,” he says innocently. “Like I said, I just wanted to see it this time.”

“What about the sandwiches?”

“We can eat them inside.”

Scully shakes her head, smiling. This is, hands down, the strangest date she has ever been a part of. And now she’s not even sure it’s a date. He hasn’t attempted to touch her. Not a hug, not a hand on her shoulder. She’s suddenly worried she has misread this entirely, that this is just some strange overture of nerdy friendship. An uncomfortable sinking feeling lodges in her stomach as she searches for a way to ward off her embarrassment if it turns out she made too many assumptions.

But as they walk up to the building, he reaches ahead of her and opens the door, making an arch with his arm for her to walk under. She looks up at him with a smirk as he follows behind her, his hand pressing the lightest touch in the hollow curve of her back.

#paging dr scully #xf fic #x files fanfic #msr fanfic #xf alternate universe #xf au #mywriting

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andrewuttaro · 5 years

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New Look Sabres: GM 2 - NJD - Goals for Everyone!

Undefeated. Let’s just say that as many times as possible before we inevitably can’t anymore. If this team plays well these first couple weeks not only could it be good for the long run to get a good start but, there are some very telling challenges coming up. We’ll get to last night’s opponent, a very well upgraded Devils team in spite of what the score says, but tomorrow we take a jaunt down to Columbus to face a Blue Jackets squad that isn’t what it was last year. Next week proper we got the two divisional rivals Buffalo maybe fighting for wildcard spots with later this season: Montreal and Florida. The Sabres hammered the Habs last season but I’m not certain that will happen again. Florida absolutely had our number and the addition of Coach Q and more competent goaltending is a little frightening. Then Dallas visits before the annual October California road trip. There is a lot of off time in early November because of the Global Series in Sweden so if October looks good we’ll have a lot of time to sit on it. If we’re all being honest, we need some time to just feel good about this team. The Devils are an interesting club to consider this season. Some folks have them winning the Met while others have them missing the playoffs by dozens of points. It’s weird in a league that stresses parody so much that such a wide chasm can exist between predictions but here we are. I’m going to err on the higher side after the first couple games they’ve put up. A 2-0 drubbing of Columbus followed by a shootout loss to Winnipeg that looked like a rout the other way for most of the game. Those examples are here to say what we just saw last night was a little explicable. It’s a bit of tale of two games in that this would’ve been a night to remember no matter the outcome.

Fifteen of the Sabres Twenty plus former Captains participated in a pregame ceremony that was touched off by Rick Jeanneret coming out to get a standing ovation. There was emotion before the puck even dropped. The crowd went crazy for the 50th Anniversary jerseys when they appeared on the jumbotron and booed when the Devils came out. It was bordering on a religious experience already and then… *breathes out nostalgically* …then this current Buffalo Sabres teams put together the fourth, fifth and sixth straight periods of complete, full-effort team hockey. Before we get to the four-course meal that was this game, I think it’s important to say the reason we have to get legitimately excited about this club right now is that we’re seeing levels of effort and consistency through two games that were few and far between in past seasons. A lot of people were talking about how bad a Coach Phil Housley must have been to not get this level of play out of mostly the same the roster last season. I see the reasoning there but all that blame you’re sending that way, turn it into credit and send it Ralph Krueger’s way. We joked about how this new coach talked a big, group buy-in rhetoric in the preseason that was supposed to pay dividends beyond the mere culture this culture that we’ve gotten so used to with the Buffalo Bills. But the tight, fast, everyone playing-together jargon we kept hearing is now unfolding right in front of us. If this guy gets Marco Scandella, Vladimir Sobotka and dare I say it… Rasmus Ristolainen to not be statistical black holes then he’s the miracle worker we’ve been waiting for. Only time will tell after all, we’re two games into an 82-game season. Wow though. Just wow, what a game I got to be at.

This game was incredible from almost the very start. Will Butcher got called for holding on Jack Eichel and to that I say: Will, you could’ve been Sabre and gotten to hold Jack legally, but there you are going to the Sin Bin for it! On the ensuing powerplay the puck found it’s way to Eichel beside the net and instead of shooting point blank the current Captain threw it out to Victor Olofsson who winds up for maybe a half second and then shoots it through the woods into the net. That goal was special. I don’t know if Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood even saw it. That will become a theme tonight by the way. The Sabres goalie, Carter Hutton, has now had two great games and I want to give him huge props for holding the fort again last night, but he only needed to make 18 saves to win this after facing a total of 20 shots. He’s seen far busier nights. The whole game I’m trying to figure out if the Sabres defense is good now or is the Devils offense just so bad? I mean the Devils have Hall, Hischier, Simmons, Zajac and Hughes so they should be a threat, but Marco Scandella had the best 5 on 5 corsi of every person wearing skates in this game. Like… what is going on? If I wasn’t at the game with people yelling all around me I would have thought I ate something strange and was on some kind of groovy hallucinogenic trip. Well the good kept coming and after another holding call against the Devils Jack Eichel cleaned up a Jeff Skinner rebound on the powerplay. Blackwood couldn’t control it deep in his own crease and there it was 2-0 Sabres at 17:26 of the first. For what a fun start it was, you go to the intermission with the most dangerous lead in hockey thinking this game is still very much a game. By the end of the next period it would become a rout.

Before most of the enthusiastic crowd was back to their seats Kyle Palmieri scored a one timer off a Taylor Hall assist to cut the lead in half. Now I don’t know why but this game featured bone-rattling hits. The kind of thunder dome stuff that gets a crowd going. Jake McCabe was landing them left and right. This is generous for me to say because the shots were lopsided in favor of the home team throughout this game, but this was the only time the Devils could’ve taken control of this game. A goal to tie it early in the second and this would’ve been an entirely different game. Even at the 2-1 score line the crowd was a factor in this game. There were sporadic Bills cheers and totally spontaneous Let’s Go Buffalo chants. This little tyke rarely-sitting next to me was losing his mind and he was something of a barometer of the fans overall. Every time the puck got knocked out of the defensive zone there was deafening cheers. It felt like a playoff game and I’ve only been to Amerks playoff games and those have all turned to shite lately. This game did not. It was electric in there. Want to know how good the Sabres were doing? Kyle Okposo and the retread third line that we decried at the end of Training Camp were hemming the Devils in their zone! What!? Kyle Okposo redirected a shot originating from Rasmus Dahlin at the blueline and we’re up 3-1. Unreal. It only got better. Jeff Skinner, streaming into the zone with Marcus Johansson and *checks notes* Vladimir Sobotka, gets a cross-ice pass and shoots in short side. 4-1 Buffalo.

We all feared the guy we just signed for eight years to big money wouldn’t score until November with that Vladdy anchor on his line; but no, on only his tenth shot of the young season he sinks one and we get to see that beautiful smile again. The second period was a total shooting gallery, but one non-scoring play this period made a girl sitting a few seats down from me screech in a way you normally only hear in comedy clubs. Jack Eichel skates through red-jersey defenders moving the puck all around and dekes the ever-living daylights out of Nico Hischier. The poor kid fell on his ass like they were playing street basketball or something. The crowd went wild for the rest of the shift. In this environment, the Devils gave us another powerplay opportunity! You’ll need to watch the replay on this one. A clinic in Captaining unfolded as Eichel dribbles the puck in the right circle looking for someone and makes the kind of meaningful eye contact with Victor Olofsson on the other side that can only mean one thing: go to the goal. Eichel passes it through not one, not two, not even three but four Devils defenders to Victor who bounces it off of either Reinhart’s skate in front or Blackwood’s pads and recollects his own rebound. Not a second later Olofsson takes another shot and buries it. Correction, Reinhart passed it back to him. It’s as if this goal was going to happen one way or another. That made it… *pauses for dramatic effect* FIVE to ONE Sabres. Gee, I felt greedy.

I could talk for hours about how completely new the Sabres powerplay looks through two games this season, but the score was now 5-1 and I still have more goals to get to. In most games I’d call that box score a rout, but this game gets chippy. Remember I told you Jake McCabe was leveling hits left and right? He landed one in the middle of the game here on Taylor Hall that immediately unleashed pandemonium. I need to use every meaning of that word here because the crowd went wild and rose to their feet while some “extracurricular activities” if you will unfolded on the ice. It took a couple minutes to sort out the penalties, but McCabe knew what he did and went down the tunnel bopping fist bumps like he just won a WWE title. What resulted was three minors and two majors and a 23-year-old building struggling to keep the noise in. The Devils didn’t get the lift they needed from that fight. Not from that fight, not from running McCabe, not from running Hutton. The third period begins, and we get Travis Zajac goal to make 5-2 but… here’s the reason this article is so long again: the Sabres still had more goals to score. Sam Reinhart gets the puck way out by himself in the left circle and shot it bar down. I know Blackwood was trying to catch it with his glove over his head, but it was already in and it just looked like the poor kid was begging for mercy. “Please oh please don’t keep shooting at me!” 6-2! I’m feeling greedy now! The crowd is now doing that chant where they count the goals and ask for another. I am not swearing in disbelief now for no other reason than the child sitting next to me. I just didn’t know what to do with myself. My teams don’t score this many goals. We’ve seen probably a dozen breakaways in these first two games and no goals off of any of them. That changed when Sam Reinhart challenges PK Subban in his own defensive zone and poke checks the puck free. Subban can’t get to Reinhart and falls down briefly. Reino just takes off and goes five-hole on Blackwood. He puts his hands in the air like, yeah, just pay me now. Can we just pay him now? At this rate he’s going to score 5.2 million goals and Terry is going to have to drill a new well just to pay for it. 7-2 Sabres is the final outcome of this home opener.

There is so much to take away from this game that I’ll probably be referencing it for a couple weeks. Our New Look Sabres reply guy tweet of the game is actually a tweet not a reply. It comes from The Charging Buffalo’s Joe Marino who points out “the Sabres haven’t won the first three games of the season since the 08-09 season”, exclaiming Monday is huge. This recap is getting a little long and I’ve got a Bills game to go watch so I will agree wholeheartedly and invite you to look forward to Monday night’s away game in Columbus. I for one cannot wait. This team has got me in hook, line and sinker. Like, share and comment on this blog; at this rate we may have some fun this season and fun is best when it’s shared. I hope we can share in the fun together here. Who knows what these guys can accomplish if this is the level of play we see out of them in even half of the remaining eighty games ahead. Let’s Go Buffalo!

Thanks for Reading.

P.S. Rasmus Ristolainen: actually good! I’m looking at you Winnipeg, that blueline ain’t looking so hot!

#buffalo sabres #hockey #nhl #blog

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britalksshit-blog · 7 years

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Riverdale Review!!!

S1;E1: Chapter One: The River’s Edge

!!!!!!THIS IS NOT SPOILER FREE!!!!!!!

Overall Pro: COLE SPROUSE!!!

Overall Con: The cheerleader tryouts kiss -_-

Loving the Archie Comics references!

The scene with the Blossom twins in their car with their hair flowing, it was a good set up for the show...if only that particular scene and the rest of the show lined up.

Scenic route through Forks, Washington!

LOL Harry Potter/Simpsons crossover!

WHOA! Archie didn’t look like that in the comics ;)))

“I came up with poems, but they’re not poems.” Archie Andrews logic.

Choppy Betty/Archie convo at the diner.

Veronica’s entrance at the diner reminded me of the scene where Edward Cullen walked into the cafeteria mixed in with Red Riding Hood...only the hood is black...not all of these opinions are going to be winners guys xD.

Oh I bet that joke between Veronica and Archie would be funnier if I understood what the hell they were joking about...seriously someone explain it.

If you think people with red hair are the devil, you just might be a Cooper.

Josie and the Pussycats! OMG!

Oh, Josie got some claws on her...

Every flavor of boy but orange...Flavor of boy...

I’ve never understood why shows make the most popular girl in charge of the school, like if Cheryl and Jason weren’t popular would they still let her do that eulogy thing? Or give her say over the dance happening or not?

Ah yes, because starring directly at the student you hooked up with isn’t obvious at all. Neither is shouting the teacher’s first name. Seriously the teacher/student thing better play out later and not just some sad excuse to continue the story!

WHO SAYS CHEER LEADING IS RETRO!? Seriously who has ever said that in the history of man kind!?

Oooo, bitchy captain cheerleader, is that still a thing?

Oh I cringe when tv shows use popular modern words. Twitter, I know that’s site and not just a word, calm down, but bae...I hope bae is used as much as it is in like fifteen years from now so people will know what it means, because I’m pretty sure that word is going to die out.

THE POINTLESS KISS SCENE! Why! There are better ways to grab an audiences attention! Just, I can’t put into words how lazy that is, this kiss better come into play later on and not used just to stretch out a couple of seconds...

Cheryl making Betty reveal to Veronica about Polly and Jason was a little forced and just made Cheryl that much worse of a human being, which they could’ve done without trying to push Betty. However when we see that Betty was squeezing her fists so tight she cut through skin, it was interesting to show us how much Betty is truly holding back.

Veronica backing up Betty makes up for the past two minutes.

“Betty and I come a matching set!” It’s funny because it’s true!

Archie seeing he has Jason’s old jersey, yeah that close up was random and could’ve been different.

Considering how this is based off of the Archie Comics I did expect it to focus on Archie more...I didn’t expect them to follow the comics and sort of go their own way, plus it is the first episode so maybe I’m just nit picking, but still, it almost feels like he’s just there so the story can continue, like he’s not pushing the story, he’s just there...But again, first episode, so we’ll see.

Archie hiding his passion, I know it’s hard for a lot of people to tell others their passion. It took me a few years to be comfortable telling others I’m a writer. I myself felt insecure about it and almost ashamed but, this is a huge plus for Archie, his situation is pretty relatable! Speaking of, go Papa Andrews! “Whatever you decide, be confident in it to where you don’t have to lie.” Understanding fathers know whats up! Oh god, she said trolls...why writers why!?

I like Veronica, her character is fleshed out pretty well and the actress is delivering the lines perfectly...At least I think so. Same goes for Betty, she’s not as peppy as I remember her to be in the comics, but tv Betty is pretty easy to relate to. The girls, right next to Jughead, are probably my favorite part of this episode. Minus the kiss scene...seriously it better have a bigger reason for happening then being “heat and sizzle” or whatever Cheryl said.

Ah, classic Betty/Archie/Veronica triangle. To anyone who hasn’t read the comics, this was before Edward/Bella/Jacob or Petta/Katniss/Gale, not only is their love triangle one of the original triangles it was never old, the girls at Archie’s sides pays homage to the comics.

Josie and the Pussycats!

LOL Cheryl why are you so weird! That’s a honest question, I know in the comics she was Betty and Veronica’s rival, but why is she so psycho?

Betty giving a vague explanation that she wants to be more then friends with her childhood best friend and is triggered when all he says is “Betty?” At least give him time to process what you just said. Putting your BEST FRIEND on the spot when you’re declaring your love...the hell do you want from him? Especially when you know he’s going through a lot internally! Why are you pressuring him?!

Seven Minutes in Heaven...Is this show for real?

Okay I think we can all agree Veronica’s eyebrows are the best thing ever.

Because deep probing questions have never lead to kissing. Which leads me to wonder, Archie did catch feelings for the teacher...but no longer has them? He’s inching towards Veronica so I mean?...

Did anyone else want to run their hands through Archie’s hair? No? Just me?

LOL Cheryl’s pout was weird.

Uber?...Did she just say Uber?!

I’m glad Veronica is actually trying to be a good person without any hidden agendas. I’m sure her kissing Archie could’ve been prevented more but you have to remember she did mention she was worse then Cheryl and is trying to make up for it, and hey old habits do die hard. The fact that Veronica knew what she did was wrong means she is truly trying to change and like with anyone else it’s not something that happens over night. Again they did really well with this character!

Cole Sprouse!

Anyone else wish they had a diner in their town that was open 24/7 as the local chill zone? No? You liar.

Oh Cole, you do not disappoint.

At one point I had thought Jughead was writing a story about Riverdale, like everyone we met wasn’t real, just characters from his novel, but then he and Archie talked and I realized that if I payed more attention the first time I watched this I would’ve seen him in the background (but hey that’s not a bad theory!). Honestly I love how opposite Jughead is, they made him blend into the background instead of having a goofball chow down on burgers. Don’t get me wrong, I love goofball Jughead just as much, the concept is really interesting for this show, which as much as it makes me cringe I’m going to keep watching until the very end because I do believe in this show.

How did Betty know Archie was standing outside her house? Did she wait by the door looking through the peep hole all night? Plus you think with her strict parents you’d think she wouldn’t just walk out with such perfect timing.

So not only did Archie call her perfect, but he believes he isn’t good enough for her, meaning he cares, he just wants someone deserving of her to be with her and she just walks away. I get she’s a gentle soul but isn’t she supposed to be smart too? What Archie said and did is probably the most selfless rejection I’ve ever seen. I mean yeah it sucks because she got rejected but like...come on! Her leaving him like that makes me believe their friendship isn’t that deep. I’m sure it is, but this scene kind of shows that it isn’t. Betty literally ran away crying because she didn’t get what she wanted, like screw how Archie feels!

When Jason’s body is found the next morning, can we just acknowledge how everyone is still in their party clothes? No one bothered to change into pj’s or at least put their hair up? I get it was most likely for the scene to look ominous or wherever, but come one...come on...

Cole Sprouse!

If I had to grade this episode I’d have to give it a C+, it has some very weak points, it’s full of cliche’s which cliches are good, but only if you use them wisely and not because you can’t come up with anything better...but the plus is there because the characters are well written...a good portion of them anyway and I am interested to see where this show leads! Plus, come on, Archie’s abs though!

#riverdale #archie comics #cw show #tv show review #archie andrews #betty cooper #veronica lodge #kevin keller #jughead #Cheryl blossom #kj apa #lili reinhart #camila mendes #cole sprouse #casey cott

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