#basically just the way the entertainments here is more cheerful and distracted while welcome to the internet is like staring straight at the

[serendipitouxs]

Rule Number One | Han Jisung

Type: Oneshot

Pairing: Han Jisung x Reader

Genre: Fluff with a lotta suspense

Summary: Landing her dream job as a producer at the country's top, multi million entertainment company straight out of college, fascination and excitement isn't all that Y/N found herself in that day. After her newly found companion makes her aware of the rules and regulations all employees and artists there ought to follow along with a rather absurd one highlighted for all, Y/N makes a strong comment, rather statement, she might find herself questioning about later that day when she reads out the last box on her schedule, marked as an introductory session for rather special artists she finds herself fond of.

Warnings: Nothing as such but please lmk if you find any necessary warnings!

Word count: 5.1k

A/N: My word count goal for this was 2k but oh wells here we are- anyways I really like this one because of the vibe so I hope this is a good read ! 💓

Recommendations: Listen to DNA by BTS if possible because I think that song resembles the vibe pretty well!

－－☁️－－－－☁️－－－－☁️－－－－☁️－－－－☁️－－－－☁️－－

The sweet dangling wind chimes outside the door were still not enough to distract you from what stood in front of you; a gigantic reception. Not just any reception, in fact, it's the reception of XYZ (unnamed) Entertainment's headquarters, or rather a place you could call your new workplace. The vast neutral toned space leading up to the reception counter quite caught your attention, the golden details added a dazzling effect onto the huge furniture, and the creamy vanilla freshener scents gave you an idea of the grandness this place held. You didn't have much time to admire the rest as a tall woman, given an experienced look with her tie, approached you with a file in her hand and cheerful smile on her face. "Miss Y/N,

would that be you?" You subtly nod. "Correct. Nice to meet you!" She nods back with some professional enthusiasm, stating "I'm Lina, pleasure to meet you too! We are thrilled to finally have you in our team after going through all of your work–and I must say, you've got great sonic talent." You blush a little, not knowing how to return to that sentence. As if she followed up on your expressions, she swiftly changed the topic with a little giggle. "So welcome to XYZ Entertainment, Miss Y/N, or should I say Producer Y/N! Let's go to your desk, and while we're on the way, let me show you around the place a little and guide you through some basic rules, sounds good?" To which you hum excitedly, proceeding to follow her lead towards what seemed like the big artist staff block's elevator.

Your mind still refused to believe what was happening with you. You were quite bright of a student at school, someone with remarkable musical talent too, but you don't know what got into you, the way time skipped from being an aspiring scientist to getting into the country's best musical and theater college with a scholarship, it was like skipping chapters of a book for someone who didn't know what went through your mind when you decided to take music up as more than just shower singing. What seemed more unbelievable to you was getting placed as a lead producer at one of the country's well known entertainment labels even before you completed college with your certification of being an actual producer and vocal manager. You didn't even get a chance to train as an intern producer like your other classmates, your first job itself landing you at the multi million selling label.

Every little detail of this place seems to fascinate you–the polite employees, the creative aura, the open spaces between schedule rooms, the plant decor in and around the halls. Even the lift you were then in seemed furnished appropriately, unlike the rusty lifts, barely justifying to their name you had been around at college. Lina seemed to take note of your intrigued state by your sparkling eyes, so she chose to remain silent until needed and let you have your time, occasionally giggling at your widened eyes and gasps while looking at around.

Your sight landed on the posters and art pieces embellishing the lift walls. A true creative space indeed. One of the biggest posters there you could point out were one of the boy group Stray Kids, a group of artists you've always enjoyed work of and admired with your whole heart, and even your family is well aware of this from the way you'd always ask for their merchandise as your gift on special occasions. Working as a producer at their label one day was certainly something you had only dreamt of, who knew that dream would ever come true, moreover this soon.

Lina saw this as a good opportunity to break a surprise waiting for you on your schedule, but before that she of course would have to run you through some basic rules, which could maybe annoy you like it did to some other employees upon hearing but whatever it is, it had to be done, right? She cleared her throat loudly, gaining your attention like she needed. "I'm sorry to interrupt your experience but there's your new, actual experience waiting for you, and we've almost reached it! So why not I run you through the basic rules before we reach your desk?" To which you enthusiastically nod. "Great! So here are the basic rules employees and staff are recommended to follow: Rule number one, and truthfully the only significant rule I find on here: you should not develop any romantic or intimate feelings for any of the artists of this label. This rule is applicable for all employees and staff, and so is the inverse for the artists. I know, it's hard to tell your emotions what to do and what not to, so to be more specific, even if you catch any romantic feelings, you ought not to act upon them in any way. No confessions, dates, none of it. There however is an exception, which is if the artist themselves are willing to pursue the same and make the move first, since they do hold great accountability and know what may come their way and must've prepared accordingly for it. And no, I don't mean firing or being put on hiatus by that, I mean they're just aware of the right procedures instructed to them and all the related consequences. So yeah, in short, that's rule number 1: can't fall in love with any artists, or at least, pursue this love interest. I find most people find this the hardest rule to keep up with, so the warnings are indeed important." Her eyes shoot straight up at yours, almost like a frightening glare. She held a seriousness in her voice you weren't priorly known to in this short time of meeting her. Yet, you remain calm, taking the short lasting silence as your cue to voice your response.

" Thank you for the clear explanation, Miss Lina! I appreciate your consideration. However, I am here only to pursue one thing, that is, my love for music. I think it would be very unlikely that I actually get romantically involved with anyone just yet, and even if I do, it would likely be someone fro moutside of work since I've noticed how awkward it could get being involved with a colleague in this way." You pause, slightly cringing internally reminiscing your classmate from Instrument class in second year college you had an undeniable thing for, and how that turnt out with the whole class finding out before you yourself knew. Yeah, quite extensive of a learning experience you had at college, memorable enough to hold onto it for the rest of your life. Shaking your head back into that moment, you continue, " So yeah, just wanted to clarify that it would be very unlikely I could break that rule, I have no idea how others could do that, too. But yeah, thank you for the heads up. What are the other rules I should be aware of?" You look at her who is now in a small fit of almost nonchalant chuckles. She holds the documents in her hands behind her, as if she knows the rest of it by heart. " Well, that's lovely to hear then! Especially for your manager. The other rules are you know, the usual. No usage of illegal substances at work, have to dress appropriately, have approved letters for leaves before taking a planned leave, non disclosure as a part of your agreement, all that. You can have a read through it too if you'd like." She hands you the paper from behind while passing a small smile, to which you returned. "And just so you know, the artists here are pretty nice. The male idols, 'husband material' as their fans like to call them. Speaking of fans, are you possibly a fan of Stray Kids? I saw you looking at their poster so, just curious" Her tone expressed some excitement towards the end, more than that of the question she asked needed.

"Oh yeah! I admire them and their music quite a lot, so I couldn't help but notice the poster." You giggle a little, partly in embarrassment, partly in excitement. "Great! Me too, we could definitely have chats on them over lunch sometime. You know, Stay to Stay." The way your eyes glimmered on making a new friend who happens to share same musical interests as you really seemed like your cherry on top for this great day. Or so you thought, until Lina proceeded to squeal a little, coming out of the professional shell for sometime and going right back in for now, as she finally let out the cause of her previous excitement while holding your schedule table in hand, reading one specific box once again to believe it a little more. "So this is your weekly schedule for this week, all the boxes are of details of what you got going for you at each period of time for this week. You'll be receiving these schedules every week from your manager. This week you mostly just have introductions, setups, sound and instrument checks, meetings, you know all the intro stuff. There's also a list of artists you've been assigned to work with for this week below, I'm sure you're gonna find that pretty exciting, especially the introduction you have scheduled for 3 pm today. And I've heard they too are really looking forward to meeting you after going through your work. I must say, I'm kind of jealous how one of your first projects itself is with them. Good luck and remember to fill me in with the fun experiences from inside the recording rooms!" Now her eyes were the ones outshining yours with the shine. You were quite confused, with a raised eyebrow you take the schedule paper from her, landing your sight on today's box for 3 pm at first. "It says 'introduction session with PD nim and...."

"And? Read it, I reckon you finally understand why I asked that!"

"......And Stray Kids"

To say you were shocked was beyond vague of a description of your state. Your eyes widened, hitting their maximum point one would suppose. After going blank for a minute or two staring at this piece of paper, you finally collect pieces of what you had just said and what it meant. In this process you instinctively took a few steps back, accidentally hitting a wall of the corridor you never even realised you had entered. A loud gasp escapes your mouth before Lina yet again steps out of her professionalism and throws herself in your arms, both of you excitedly jumping together between the hug. She could feel your lightly trembling hands and set out to fetch you a bottle of water quickly while you followed her still jumping in excitement.

"Stray Kids. I-I still can't believe it....I'm gonna work with them so soon !!" You tried your best not to scream out your words and startle the other employees around, failing here and there on that occasionally.

A few moments later, Lina hands you the bottle of water and you water down your excitement, both of you getting back to as normal as possible. "Alright, I need to take a leave now, I got a meeting in some time. Wishing you luck for the day Y/nie- I mean, Miss Y/N. See you around!" She exclaimed. After a second of thinking you asked her whether she was up for meeting at the snack bar down the street after work hours today, to which she enthusiastically nods before bowing and leaving back for the elevator, while you turn around and look out for the cabin named 'PD Y/N'.

Upon arriving, you were greeted by the blissful sight of a minimalist desk decorated with some ornaments for your welcoming. A cute 'welcome' sign on top of the monitor and some paper garlands sitting over the drawers below. It felt like a comfortable setup up even though you wouldn't be spending most of your time there. You unpack your bag, placing your belongings in the drawers, setting up the monitor with your Staff user ID and just generally having some other colleagues come and greet you, small talks and exchanging numbers here and there.

Your schedule eventually begins. A meeting here, an introductory call there, some greetings from around the place, some exploration around the building, some idea exchanges catching smooth starts. Many files received, many sent about, some sample recordings gripping a quick pace while some receive instant plannings. All this made your day so far pretty hectic, but not in an irritating way. Getting onto actual work, exploring the dynamics of what it really means to work as a producer and vocal manager had already been helping you understand your growing passion for music with more clarity, only reminding you of your love for this profession.

The teams you were part of too consisted of many kind and professional people. All of them possessed great musical talent, interest and experience, making you feel like your thoughts were being shared safely with these people already. Many had like thought processes to yours which made working together easier and more creative. And for those who didn't come off as like minded, they were understanding enough to step in your shoes before expressing their contrasting ideas, only adding to the ingenuity of the processes. You felt happy throughout schedules, and even satisfied at your work and choices.

All the artists and idols you had met so far were also amazing, treating other employees equally like they would treat other artists and idols. You did come across some of the 'most people' Lina talked about earlier while referring to rule number one, looking at them fangirling amongst each other made you chuckle at their behaviour. Oddly it reminded you of your upcoming meeting with Stray Kids too. Deep inside you kind of set a question on the legitimacy of your previous response to Lina stating the first rule to you, maybe because you subconsciously knew you could always end up having a small thing for this group, or some of its member. You were being honest to yourself about addressing this thought, almost reaching to a conclusive decision just when your phone lights up, indicating only ten minutes remaining to 3 pm. You quickly packed up your stuff and proceeded towards the allotted meeting room, which was surprisingly enough actually a studio, unlike the rooms in which you had other artist interactions with today. 'Maybe they were recording right now so they're continuing their schedules in the studio itself?' You thought, trying to form a reasoning for this coincidence.

Ever since you had watered down your excitement, you had remarkably gotten saner about the situation. You weren't trembling anymore, just thrilled to meet one of your favorite artists and get to work with them. After roaming through the halls a bit, you had finally located the studio room with the same number as the one on your schedule box. Taking a deep breath before knocking the door, your eyes fell on the notice board to the right of the studio. It said, 'Current occupants: Stray Kids, Prod. CB97, SPEARB, J. ONE, PD Nim, Y/N' You couldn't help but choke a little, on the ecstacy and actuality of this moment until confusion struck you too, wondering why a simple interaction meeting would require your name on the studio board. That was that until you hear a "Come in!" From inside the room, presumably in PD nim's voice.

Entering the room quietly, you enthusiastically bow down to the PD and to the eight boys standing in front of you as they gladly return the gesture. 'Wow, online Stays were right. They do look even more heavenly in real life.' You tried to hide this thought of yours behind your smile and proceed to introduce yourself. Bang Chan, their leader, then takes the initiative of clapping for you and the rest follow, including PD nim. After a quick discussion and exchange of ideas with the PD, the eight were asked to introduce themselves one after another. All had kindness and passion for their work decorating their individual auras, together tying into a professional one. Your chain of admiration was broken by Chan speaking to you. "We are all pleased to meet you, Miss Y/N! We've heard a lot of good things about you and really needed someone like you on our creative team, since your sonic preferences quite align with Stray Kids', and your thought process too with 3RACHA. Oh, speaking of it, we are 3RACHA, we're in charge of most of the production for the group so it's likely that you'd be in recording rooms with us often!" He cheerfully ends with a smile before pointing out on Changbin and Han, the rest of 3RACHA. You could tell the genuineness in his tone, making you feel comfortable working with them already. "The Pleasure is mine, Chan. I'm glad you looked forward to this as much as I did. And of course, I know about 3RACHA and can't wait to have experiences with the three of you as producers!" You exclaimed, to which PD nim just gives you a dramatic lonely look placing his hand on his heart as everyone chuckles over it. "What about me?" He mouths to you before laughing himself. "See, I told you guys. She's a Stay!" Which caused the eight to promptly diverted their gaze to you in eagerness. "Is that true, Miss Y/N?" Hyunjin decided to voice what was the thought shared by all of them. You press your lips together, adding to their anticipation before confirming the statement. "Yes I am! I've been a loyal Stay for a while now, and if you couldn't tell I have been screaming internally about this since this morning now. Wait, what this TMI?" You look back at them, expecting some judgy looks but receiving one excited ones and a cheerful little clap from Felix.

"No, that wasn't TMI! You are family to us then." Lee Know reassured you. You had already started feeling open around them, leaving your nervousness far behind, looking ahead at all the fun experiences you all could have. "And anyways, we did get a hint that you might be a Stay since someone here had seen you earlier today in the corridors with Miss Lina." Everyone averted their gaze to a specific someone sitting next to Chan and Changbin who hadn't spoken much since you met. It was Han, who was now glaring at Changbin who was playfully smirking. This whole setup told you there was something newly found among them you weren't known to, even though you had just met them.

PD nim seems to get an idea of the awkwardness, whispering 'it's okay' to Han oce before clapping his hands to get everyone's attention, including yours. "Okay everyone! I think we should get to work now... Miss Y/N, you'd just have to work on a short demo with the boys. I'll be here to supervise too, even though I don't think that would be needed looking at the comfort level here, either ways, I'll be sitting here. So let's begin!" He pulls a chair to the side of the door as you wait for Chan to say something, which he eventually does."Alright then! Welcome to the team, Miss Y/N. Have a seat there, I'll show you the guide and melody we'd be using today while Han explains to you the backstory of it. Hyunjin! Your voice is first in the recording, so you can get started with your practice." Hyunjin nods as the five of them start revising their lines and start practicing, and Han, Chan and Changbin take their respective seats beside you on the production side of the booth.

Chan quickly ran you through the work, he had great clarity with the concept which helped you understand it easily. They had already started treating you like family, as Lee Know suggested. Changbin occasionally called upon Han to speak his part, explaining to you the concept and it's background, but Han seemed to be focused on revising the concept himself, staring at the documents for a long time, the documents he was holding upside down. Whenever you tried to make conversation with Han, he'd just stare blankly before Changbin caught your attention, talking with you.

You had started to almost believe Han disliked you from his cold, odd behavior towards you. You'd occasionally catch him looking at you, looking away when you made eye contact. You tried observing his behaviour to gain clarity on your theory about him, only to end up admiring him everytime. His little pout when he focused on work, clumsy actions like the upside down papers, instructing the boys in the singing booth with confidence, his natural features softly blending with his adorable personality, and occasional happy giggles when the recording went smoothly, these did something to you. You would be majorly lying if he wasn't the member you had in mind when you doubted falling for a member, and Lina's previous warning along with your current speeded heartbeats did not help at the matter at all. For oce you considered the rule again, trying your level best to not even reach the proximity of it. But then again, controlling feelings is easier than erasing or rooting them itself, you thought. Trying your best to remember your previous statement, irony was unfortunately all you could see in it.

While aligning some tunes with Changbin, Chan questioned you about whether this would fit the concept, to which all you could do was shrug visibly, indicating Han was yet to do his assigned work. Chan sighed, calling Han aside for a minute while Changbin shot a final comment at you before Han left. "By the way Miss Y/N, the  hellevator remix you submitted as your collage solo project was really one of a kind. It really caught my attention, I think it's the best remix I have come across till now of the track. Right, Han?"  Han left a wide eyed expression for then giggling Changbin, pleading him with his eyes to not do what he just did. "Y-yeah, I really like it too, Miss Y/N. We should definitely work on stuff like that wh-whenever we're free, I see thus is a common interest we share." His confidence seemed to drop as he stuttered, avoiding locking eyes with you. It then came clear to you that he didn't hate you, but wasn't normal with you wither. What was it then?

Han was then dragged out by Chan, leaving the door behind shut as you and Changbin continued the recording and alignment work, with Felix and Hyunjin in the recording booth. After a while of neither Chan nor Han coming back and Changbin and you seemingly stuck on a part, he tells you to go out and look for them or PD nim for assistance, to which you follow. Outside the room, where PD nim was supposed to be waiting, you found a snoring state of him making you frown. 'Maybe he is overworking', you thought and set out to find the other two people Changbin had suggested in the corridor.

You fortunately didn't have to look for long as you found them around the corner nearby, talking in a low serious tone which you didn't want to intervene in. Your steps took a hault a few feet before coming to their sight as you heard what sounded like your name.

"Han, again, it's completely fine if you break it. You know the consequences and you know how to deal with them. You just need to be sure. About your own feelings, about hers, about the timing and about the situation, okay? Just be free around her, I'm here if you need me, trust me you've got this! And tell me whenever you reach to a conclusion, I'll be listening."

"But hyung, what if she finds me weird? The authorities aren't even the problem, I've learnt to deal with them, but I am afraid, what if she doesn't even like me?"

This left you in major confusion. You did end up convincing yourself that you were hearing things when you heard your name, but what Han said felt kind of unsettling to you, kind of upsetting. Like you were sad or maybe even a little jealous it wasn't you he was referring to. But why did you feel this way?

Your thoughts were suffocating you, giving the need to open up to someone about it. You did believe that all of the eight of them were trustable enough to talk about this to, but since you had talked the most to Chan and Changbin till now, you thought of talking to them about it once you get back in the booth. But for now, you needed to get these two in the booth.

"Here you both are! Changbin and I were looking for you, we're kinda stuck somewhere and it would be good if you both could help out on it you know..." You appeared to come out of nowhere, causing Han to flinch and stare at you through his state of shock before Chan spoke, "Right, Sorry! Let's go, Shall we?" He gestured Han you walk ahead with you as he followed at a distance, sort of giving you and Han some space together.

"By the way, Miss Y/N, I'm sorry for acting weird earlier. I tend to get nervous around new people but I feel more comfortable now." He passes a warm smile to you, making your hesrt automatically flutter. On your way back, you both had a good, genuine conversation you didn't want to get out of already. He seemed like a genuine person and talking to him felt.....homely.  Like you saw comfort in him.

At the end, the both of you had entered back the studio only to be greeted by Hyunjin and Jeongin having a sword fight with..... water bottles as swords. Something about it was hilarious as you and Han together broke out in laughter, gaining the others' attention. You saw through your wheezing state how qdorable Han looked even while laughing, it set butterflies in your stomach. That's it. You knew what you felt like and what that meant. You calm yourself down before taking your seat back and Han sitting next to you, getting back on his headphones. "Alright guys, we've already overtimed! I guess we'll just record the bridge and call it a day, We shouldn't keep Miss Y/N's afterwork plans waiting for long, right? What if her boyfriend gets upset" Changbin joked out as everyone laughed and agreed, except Han who rolled his eyes over the ending of the statement. "Nah we're good. I mean you guys must be tired too! And i'm too single to have any plans other than meeting Miss Lina after work and her shift ends late today so it's completely fine." You smile at them,but they could clearly see a wider smile on Han's face. You worked back on fixing the audio quality with Han while chatti a little while Chan worked on his laptop on the recording part, leaving Changbin in between, feeling like a thirdwheel to both the pairs. Changbin finally took a glance at you and you saw this as the right moment to voice your concerns to him, whispering to him you needed to tell him something.

"Yeah sure, what is it? Let me guess, you actually have a boyfriend and accidentally said that? Orrrr.... You like someone?"

"Changbin, I......I broke rule number 1."

Changbin stares at you for a moment before mouthing a 'who is it?' To you as you point slightly behind you towards Han who was too busy on his headphones to listen. This brought a wide smirk on Changbin's face, sort of mischievous.

"That's great, Miss Y/N! He's a nice guy, I think you should make a move"

"But I'm not allowed to. And can you please not tell anyone about this?" You pleaded to him. "Of course not, I'm trustworthy, you can see me as your close friend already. And if you think you're in a dilemma about this, I suggest you tell Chan Hyung. He's great at advice and he'll definitely help you looking at how close you both have already gotten." You nod and thank him, knowing telling Chan was already part of your mind.

The recording soon finishes. Everyone bows to you and cheers, exchanging number with you and making group meal plans including you. You saw Chan getting up from the corner of your eye and you take a deep breath and call out for him.

"Chan!" You heard in unison. Apparently you weren't the only one you called for him as you saw Han emerge from behind you. "Oh hi guys? What's up do you need me?" You gesture Han to speak first and he does the same. After a moment of silence, you decide to break it by saying, "Chan, I needed to tell you something. I......" You took one long breathe before speaking further, which Han misunderstood as you buffering, letting him speak.

"Chan, I broke rule number 1." Again, the voice comes in unison, both Han and you looking at each other in astonishment and your hearts racing at an audible speed. Chan too was confused and anticipatory of the situation, and potential confession unfolding in front of him.

"Oh, the both of you! Ermm, okay... who is it Miss Y/N and Han?" You both glance at each other before closing your eyes shut, preparing yourselves for the presumable embarrassment. You decide to point at him slowly while still having your eyes closed, enough for Chan to hopefully understand. After a minute or two, Chan giggles, catching the both of you's attention.

"Guys....open your eyes for once please?" You decide to trust Chan and prepare yourself for the disgrace of rejection, only to find Han doing the same. He looked at you, then your finger pointing at him, then you again like a lost puppy, clearly refusing to believe his fate. "This is one couple I'm definitely rooting for!" Chan congratulated you both. You remain shocked, slowly averting your gaze to his hand to understand what Chan meant. And all of a sudden, it was all clear to you. It felt like the angels were singing and fate themself dropped this blessing on your behalf as a gift, you widely smile still in astonishment.

He was pointing at you too.

#stray kids x reader #stray kids #skz imagines #skz x reader #skz #skz minho #skz bang chan #skz changbin #skz hyunjin #skz han #skz felix #skz seungmin #skz jeongin #han jisung #skz jisung #skz han jisung #han jisung x y/n #han jisung x you #han jisung x reader #skz fluff #skz fanfic #skz ff #stray kids fanfic #stray kids imagines #fanfiction #fluff #skz au #skz angst

[jadespeedster17]

Sander Sides - Coraline AU

So when scrolling through one of my favorite channels on here I saw someone mention Janus as Other Father, and this got my creativity going. I’ll hash out the characters and ideas, then give you a basic idea of what is cooking in my head. However, I’m not sure on how I want things to go in terms of plot. But I do have a general idea of the characters and their roles as well as background.

Other Mother: Logan Sanders

In this idea the Other Mother would have been Patton, but given there are so many sides, I thought he’d fit another role better. Then my sister suggested Logan as Other Mother, and it fits for the basic plot I have in mind. He goes by Logic by the others in the Other World, or as they call it the Alternate World or Pocket World. 

Logan says he’s the eldest one here along with Patton and Janus, and seems to be the head of the ‘family’. He’s a very stoic mother, pushing his kids, which in this case is Roman, Remus, and Virgil, to be smart. Not in a bad way, he’s a silently content mother, and you can tell when he’s proud of you. He cleans mostly and makes sure everything is in place, and enjoys gardening. Mostly he stays in the study or outside. 

In terms of power, Logan is the most powerful of them due to being the oldest person there. And no, he doesn’t turn into a spider being, he actually is a type of bird. Looking alot like harpy when you really tick him off. His buttons are dark blue with silver thread and his skin is warm but overly smooth. 

Other Fathers: Patton and Janus Sanders No one is really sure who is older, they’ve always been with each other. Janus enjoys making music and Patton enjoys cooking for the family. Both are very fatherly and enjoy doting on their kids. Going by the names of Morality and Deceit/Self. When mother dear isn’t around, it’s up to the one of the fathers to sort things out.  Janus is strange, as in he’s the one who gives the hints something isn’t quiet right. Though it’s unknown if these are his actions or not. He seems to like challenging kids that come to the Pocket World to think about what they are seeing and why. Yet does it a very coy way. Then there are days he’ll do a 180 and ask you not to question anything and actively lie about things. His buttons are dark gold with black thread, and he does have scales on his face still. Though, to a kid that’s nothing. Patton is cheerful and bubbly, his dinners are always the best as is his sweets. He’s the one that mostly sticks to Logan the most, and enjoys gardening also. He’s the first to make sure one doesn’t question, easily deflecting odd things, and is great at distracting people. He is Nostalgia after all, his areas when your near him make you feel so happy and get you lost in happy moments. His buttons are light blue with dark blue tread.  Both take on forms of a Frog and Snake when angry, which are terrifying. Their skin is also very rubbery feeling. Other Brother: Virgil Sanders  Virgil here is the youngest, looking like he’s only 15 or 16. He’s been here the shortest... and looks oddly like a kid that went missing back in the early 2000′s. The Family calls his Anxiety, and he’s rather withdrawn. But does enjoy playing video games or board games with Patton, Janus, and Logan.  Soft spoken, sarcastic, and a little emo spiderling, he’s adored by Patton mostly. Who calls him the ‘Dark Strange Son’ alot. Virgil seems rather happy in the Other World. Stating to little Thomas that this world is much better than anything he could dream of. He’s however hesitant to answer questions about things not inside the Other World. Telling Thomas to not think about that, and just be happy. He enjoys his room/the attic, and outside in the front yard. When angry, Virgil is the one with the spider form, taking on a more glass like look and his skin is cold to the touch. His buttons are dark purple with light purple thread. 

Other Twins: Roman and Remus Sanders The two Creativity Rascals, they are slightly older then Virgil, but much younger than Janus and Patton. They can warp reality around them when in their favorite spots, be it the Basement for Remus, or the Woods for Roman. Their rooms are actually in the basement in the door near the left side of the house. While Virgil's is in the attic. They serve as the entertainment, coming up with ideas on the fly to go on adventures, play dragons and knights, or kings and castles. The forest, quiet literally, is their playground. Having their own fort and castle there, and a while bunch of land to cover.  The twins play fight alot, but they get along very well and are rather close to one another. And are like the cool older brothers who have alot of fun, but are happy to let the youngers join them.  Both have tentacles in this one, though Remus is more slimy than his brother. And when they open their extra mouths on their body when angry, it’s very scary. Roman’s buttons are red with green thread, while Remus is green with red thread. And their skin is like plastic almost.  Coraline: Thomas Anderson  He’s about 12 in this one, just moved to the country side in a little blue house on the back dirt roads. This town is dreadfully boring, with dull, muted colors, always over cast and rainy. It’s like all the happiness has been sucked out of it and left to decay.  Thomas is not upset about the move, as he never had many friends, if any, from his old home. He’s mostly upset with the fact he’s just dull, he’s not allowed to be colorful. And to top it off, his parents aren’t always there emotionally for him. Leaving him completely isolated, even more so when he’s a closeted gay in a very religious family.  So when he finds a world where everything is colorful, with three dads, well two and a mom, a family who cares about him, he’s excited. Maybe this move won’t be so bad.

Plot: The idea in my head is that Thomas has moved with his parents to a rather nice when hie father got a promotion. But, like most typical rich families, he’s not really paid attention to. And Thomas feels mostly left out, having no friends to call his own, and just his imagination and books to keep him busy.  When exploring his new house, finding the attic and basement locked, and a small golden key, he finds a little door. It’s been walled off, which is a bummer. That is until the middle of the night, when Thomas follows a shadow to the door. Finding it leads to a world that is perfect. The world represents everything Thomas wants, brothers, Roman, Remus, and Virgil. Fathers, Patton and Janus, and a mother, Logan, who actually cares about him. He isn’t sure if this is some very real dream or not. But he’s not complaining, he feels welcomed instantly byt he family.  Taken on adventures with Roman and Remus, playing games with Virgil and learning knew things from Logan, helping Patton cook, and Janus teaches him music and among other things. But when after a week of this, Thomas starts to see strange cracks in their personalities. And when they one day ask if he wants to stay forever and be part of their family, it meets getting this pink buttons in his eyes. He’s terrified, and now wonders if he’ll ever escape... or even if he wants to. Notes:

So I’m not sure how I want it to be played out. If the Others are truly evil in just that they want to kidnap Thomas just because they are selfish and/or turn him into a doll.  OR if I want it to be well meaning sinister, where they think they are doing Thomas a favor by taking him away from his neglectful family. 

One thing to note is they do really like Thomas, regardless of intentions, they do like him. And either way, they want him to stay forever.

Now, I’m not sure if I want with the Other Father for Patton to be controlling Janus or Janus to be controlling Patton. One of them is well aware of what they are doing, but can’t go against the wishes of their controller or Logan. While they are happy, the idea of luring kids tends to hurt them inside.

The Other World is bigger than Thomas things, he’s just in a small area that belongs to Logan. There are MANY others out there. Who lure people away into their realm, for better or worse. It’s like it’s own reality, only everything is just perfect. It’s like a nostalgic trap, much like Patton’s room only worse.

Logan is the main guy, he’s been at this for a long time, and either Patton or Janus is their partner depending on who is controlling who. He mainly lures kids as he likes the taste of their humanity. It’s what he feeds off of, draining them of their everything, and making them like dolls, only with a semi soul. Any who does this too becomes his kid or helper. Logan is fine with this, he enjoys having a family. And he only has to feed every few decades or so. He’s been around for a long time. Most of his ‘kids’ have grown up, and become true Others who have their own areas. Virgil, Roman, and Remus though are still MUCH too young for such a thing.  Others are NOT human, nor are they ‘aliens’ either. Best thing I can think of are like Fae, only... less magical as we know it. They are creatures who feed off of emotions and the essences that make people human. Which is why they all feel like dolls. 

Others are near immortal should they feed properly, and Others areas tend to just attract people to them. Some go after teens, others kids, some adults, taste is everything. Adults tend to be more fulling, but can be bitter and sour tasting, Teens are half and half depending on situation, and are often spicy tasting. While kids are very sweet, and typically are fulling also depending on how well you’ve gained their trust. If you can get them to agree to being an other, even better.  It’s harder than it sounds though.

Each Other does have a specific power that they use. Which I am still hashing out in my head. 

They rarely get angry, but boy is it scary when they do. 

The key only is Thomas’s interpretation of the entrance way, it can be anything to get into the Other World. It’s all up to the person in how THEY think to get in. It could be walking through two trees making a hole in them, opening a door that is only unlocked on certain days, or even just crawling under your bed. It’s up to the seeker how they wish to get in, which is why the Other World can stay in one spot, no matter the house or thing built on it. 

There is no real moral code for Others, their world is very well hidden. But they are very protective of their charges when they find the right type of feed off of. Logan gets extremely possessive of Thomas when he shows up, not as in he punishes the others, but if Thomas ever thinks about leaving or tries too, Logan would lock him up until Thomas gives into despair. 

If they are being unruly or try to escape, one way to get them ot agree is by isolating them, and cutting them off from happiness. Which makes kids and teens want to stay once they leave their isolation. Logan dislikes doing this, but going without a food source is rather painful, and he’d rather not put himself or his partner through that. So if he must, he will make sure the target stays. Even if it won’t be as filling as if they agreed willingly. 

Also, their areas is often where their power is the strongest.

-0-0-0-0-0-

So Yeah, there it is, if you guys have any question just let me know. And this goes to @fangirltothefullest who when I mentioned this idea to her really wanted to see this.  I still need more for it, but I like the concept of it, it’s much different from the books, but that’s what makes it interesting. Could easily be Angst with Happy Ending. Could even get more sinister than this. We’ll see. Might post more about this later. And fanart is well loved, I can draw, but not well enough in my mind lol. 

#fangirltothefullest #sander sides au #sander sides coraline au #logan sanders #virgil anxiety #roman sanders #remus sanders #Janus Sanders #deceit sanders #patton sanders #patton morality sanders #logan logic sanders #roman creativity sanders #virgil sanders #thomas sanders #thomas sanders au #ts logan #ts roman #ts patton #ts remus #ts janus #ts deceit #ts virgil #long post #unsympathetic logan

[unabashegirl]

“Wear something noticeable”(II)

Author’s note: HELLO EVERYBODY! I hope you all have a wonderful day! I know this is long overdue! I read all your request asking for the second part.

If you have read the first part then STOP 🛑. Click on my masterlist, scroll all the way down and check out the first part! (or just click here)

I also remind you that the REQUESTS ARE OPEN for all of your HARRY concepts, imagines, fanfics! Just let me know!

Enjoy! 💛💕

———-

masterlist

WORD COUNT: 3.2K

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The task was easier said than done. She stayed up hours, rummaging through her closet looking for the perfect outfit. She tried on every single outfit and pretended to dance in front of the mirror just to get a notion of what she could potentially look like. At some point, she even managed to tear up, sitting on a pile of clothes that she classified as too basic. At some point, she considered calling Harry and canceling. She cursed at the day she stopped shopping in abundance and keeping tabs on the latest trends. Eventually, the closet ran out of choices for her. She had to make an executive decision with what she had laid out in the bed.

At seven o'clock, a black suburban showed up at the front of her apartment complex. She felt eager and very nervous. It was her first proper concert. She had gone to see the Jonas Brothers when she was younger, but she could hardly remember it. Plus, it's not the type of concert that you gloat to your friends. Y/N had also never attended a concert on her own. On top of everything, she didn't know anyone aside from Harry. Nonetheless, he was a sufficient reason for her to attend. She enjoyed every passing second by his side. Harry made her forget her fears and the hardships of life with a single look and simple conversations.

The arena was smaller than she foresaw. As soon as the car pulled outside the back entrance, she was able to hear the boisterous cheers from his fans.

”Welcome” A woman a bit older than her greeted her. Aside from the big smile, she wore a headpiece attached to the back of her ear. ”Y/N, right?”. She responded by giving her a small nod. She felt intimidated by the multitude of people around them. ”I am Alice. I am at your service. Whatever you need — just let me know”. By the time that Alice started leading the way into the arena, the car that had brought her had driven away.

They quietly walked down a wide, grey hallway with the black boxes of equipment piled on the sides. Every step they took made the volume of the cheers more intense. She was glad that she had opted to wear sneakers. Who could stand in a crowded room with heels on for almost three hours? — an actual masochist.

It took them a few seconds until they finally came across two double doors. It was behind the doors where most people hung around. Y/N kept her head down and ignored that evident gazes from others. Alice led the way into a smaller room with a more cozy atmosphere. The room was carpeted but had a smaller, printed one over it. A coffee table was placed on with several, crinkled bottles scattered over it. It reminded her of her nightstand at home and how she needed to clear it out before inviting someone in.

”Harry will come back in a few” Y/N smiled at Alice and once again she nodded. ”please help yourself to any drinks or snacks on the table,” She said pointing to a large table at the end of the room covered with them.

”Thank you, Alice. You are really kind” Y/N finally said before she was left on her own. She was relieved that she would get to see Harry before the show started. Seeing him had the potential to make her anxiety and nervousness come to an end. She just needed a few seconds with him, maybe a hug too, even a kiss if she was lucky.

She walked around the room and came to halt when she came across a rack of clothes. She wasn't oblivious to Harry’s notorious good sense of fashion. It was actually the reason why she was so nervous when she chose her outfit. He made his daily life a runway show. He served looks.

Y/N reached out to run her fingers over the fabrics but stopped herself before she could. Her hands suddenly felt dirty and not worthy of touching the expensive material. She stared at them for a few minutes before taking a water bottle and settling down on the edge of the couch. A few minutes passed by and her social media wasn’t enough to keep her entertained for so long. Every time someone walked passed or heard a loud voice, she would sit up straight and block her phone. She only stopped looking at the door when her social media scrolling came to an abrupt halt by an incoming phone call.

”Hello” His rough, heavy voice was enough to put a smile on her face instantly. ”I hope they are treating you right” Harry stared out of the window of the car, on his way to the arena. His previous commitment had taken longer than expected. He was late for the show.

”They are. Alice is wonderful” Y/N kept smiling. She was infatuated with him. It all seemed so silly to her, but it felt right. Harry also kept smiling, hiding his happiness from the rest of the crew in the car.

None of them said a word; they just listened to each other's breathing.

”It's all a bit intimidating — isn't it?” Harry addressed the elephant in the room. He knew she probably had a million questions about his life under the spotlight and his work.

”It’s just hectic,” She answered truthfully. Y/N had observed multiple people running pass the dressing room a million times in the last half an hour.

”I’ll answer all your questions after the show, ” He wanted transparency before everything. He was tired of keeping his significant others in the dark with the fear that they wouldn't be able to handle the baggage that came with dating him.

”After the show? I am not going to get to see you before?” Harry could sense her small frown from miles away.

”My radio appearance took longer than expected. I had every intention of seeing you, ” Harry revealed. Last night’s kiss hadn't been enough for him. Most of the night, he rolled around in bed, replaying the events in his mind. He couldn't get over the way her lips tasted or the tingling that she left on his. He craved her. ”what are you wearing?”

”That is highly inappropriate, Styles, ” Her cheeks turned crimson red as she bit down the inside of her cheek attempting to prevent a smirk from forming.

”Just for me to know what to look out for” Harry felt nervous. He had a respectable experience with performing for millions of people. It was Y/N presence that made everything much different.

”I am not giving anything away, ” She wanted him to look for her.

”that’s unfair, ” He states. Harry’s initial intention was to keep an eye on her all night. He wanted to see her unravel and let go.”I guess I'll just have to look hard enough, ” However, he enjoyed the chase. It made the concert even more entertaining.

”I guess so, ” Just as she said that Alice marched her way into the room; interrupting the intimate conversation between the couple. ”Alice is in here,” She tells him.

”That’s my queue to hang up” Alice was there to take Y/N to the front of the stage. ”Tell her that I’ll be there in 3,” He was just pulling up to the front of the arena. ”I'll see you out there, ”

” Okay” She smiled as she rose to her feet and slowly walked to his assistant. They said quick goodbyes and hung up. It was showtime.

---

Noisy was an understatement of what the cheers for him were when he walked out with all his pride. Y/N strategically placed herself slightly left to where his mic stood. She was within the ten first rows in between a group of girls, younger than her. They even had a small heart attack when he first stepped out.

Y/N was delighted that she had declined Alice's offer to stay within the VIP area. She would have missed the incredible euphoria that the crowd provided. Everyone danced and sang with the stranger beside them. His music and presence were enough to break the distrust that one stranger felt toward the other. They all felt like a big family for three whole hours.

Y/N was more than mesmerized by the energy that the beautiful man on stage brought to every single song. He was confident, fearless, and funny on stage. The tone of his voice was enough to make a shiver run down her spine and for her skin to cover with goosebumps in a matter of seconds. She was captivated by him.

“How are you?” He smiles as he reaches over for a guitar. The crowd roared for him as he strapped it over his shoulders and refreshed himself with a water bottle. “I hope yeh like the next song” It's the last thing that he said before To Be So Lonely started to get played.

While everyone in the area was captivated by his voice, he was too distracted by searching for her. His eyes first scanned the front of the stage. There were a few times he had to do double-takes before he moved on to the left side.

A soft light shined over the crowd, illuminating the faces of the first few rows; and that's when he spotted her. It didn't take him much time to find her. Her beauty singled her out of the bunch. Their eyes connected as a smile grew on his face. He felt instant relief knowing that she was safe and wasn't getting trampled by the other fans. Alice had let him know about the change of plans. She was kinda embarrassed and disappointed that she hadn't been able to convince her. Her stubbornness made him like her even more. She was the cause behind the big smile that he wore at the beginning of the concert. As he watched her from the stage, he didn't regret changing the setlist at the last minute. Playing a relatively slow song had allowed him to find her quicker.

There wasn't much any of them could say with words to the other, but their eyes and smiles spoke millions. Harry couldn't stop smiling and chuckling as she gave him thumbs up from the crowd. Mitch — who stood close by couldn't ignore their intimate interaction among the chaos. It was cute.

After finding her, he was able to fully enjoy the concert to its maximum capacity. That is not to say that he didn't try to impress her with her voice or terrible jokes. Watermelon Sugar was the closing track for the night. Harry tried his best to join the fun, but it was difficult to pay attention to something else than her.

Y/N danced around with her arms in the air, raised above her, and her hair flying everywhere. She had even danced with the other young woman beside her. It was always refreshing to see someone enjoying the music rather than trying to get a picture or a video of him. He even caught her at one point singing along. He was rather surprised that she had taken the time to learn one of his songs.

Before Harry sang the last verse of the song, someone gripped Y/N’s forearm. It was Alice— escorting her back to backstage. In order to prevent her from getting lost with the large crowd. Y/N gave Harry a small smile before following Alice back.

She was back in the dressing room when he strode in with all his glory. He was slightly sweaty and the buttons of his shirt popped open, giving her a clear view of his chest tattoos. Harry held a hand towel and a brand new water bottle. She immediately stood up when she saw him.

He basically had to shut the door on everyone’s faces for privacy. He even locked the door before walking towards her. Harry took the time to observe her and take in her appearance without any disruption before he said anything. She wore a suit like his except she had omitted a shirt. It was sage with a low cut jacket, singed at the waist, showing a modest cleavage.

”a suit, huh?” He finally said as he stood before her. His hands ached to touch her. ”very clever” He adds. There was something oddly attractive about a woman wearing a suit and dressing just like him.

” I thought if I wore something similar to what you wear then you would find me quicker” Harry nodded as he leaned down and finally eased his craving.

”You look beautiful” he whispered against her lips as he settled on the couch. He spread out his legs, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

”You looked amazing out there” She sat down close enough to have their thighs touching. ”You were born to do this. The energy out there was insane and your voice is just— wow” Harry’s heart warmed up at her kind words. He reached out and touched the side of her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

”I’ve got to talk to a few people and then we can go,” he usually hung around the arena until everyone left. Mostly because he had nothing to go home to only an empty house. Now with Y/N around, he just wanted to be in the privacy of his own home with her — alone. ” I hope you don't mind”.

”That’s okay. I understand," Y/N leaned towards his touch and placed a soft peck on his hand for reassurance. She wasn't as nervous as before. His kiss and gentle touch had been enough to ease her mind. Harry kissed her delicately and took his time tending her lips. His ringed fingers gripped her hips, pulling her over his lap. Y/N's finger tangled on the hair of the back of his head. Just as she settled comfortably on him, a knock disrupted their makeout session.

"Yeah?" Harry yelled loudly with his eyes closed, he kept his forehead against hers, as they tried to catch their breaths.

"Harry— there are some people that would like to meet you" It was Alice behind the door. She had been making sure that Harry's car was ready for him and that security was holding up when they came looking for her. People were looking for Harry and for the first time, his dressing room door was shut and locked.

"I am coming!" He leaned back, smiling at her red, swollen lips. He cupped her face and pecked her lips. "Where have you been all this time?" Y/N shrugged while smiling, proceeding to get off his lap.

Harry sighed before opening the door. Alice nervously walked into the room, her gaze instant fell on Y/N. She was still awkwardly sitting on the couch, running her fingers through her hair with swollen, fresh kissed lips. Alice quickly connected the dots and felt embarrassed to have interrupted her boss's rendezvous. Alice shyly waved at Y/N from afar before leading the small caravan of people that wanted to see the great Harry Styles.

"Since when do you lock yourself in here? What's goi—" Mitch hits the breaks as soon as he sees Y/N, shyly standing beside the couch. She had quickly fixed her outfit and had made sure that nothing was popping out of her cleavage. "Hi" He smiled walking past Harry with his hand stretched out for her to take.

"Hello" She gently shakes his hand.

"This is Y/N" Harry introduces her to Mitch as he walks around the coffee table towards the drinks.

"Mitch. It's so nice to finally meet you" Harry had told him about her. In Harry's defense, he had to force it out of him after he persisted in changing the setlist.

"You too" Mitch could see that she was more of an introvert than the other girls that Harry had dated. She defiantly was unique, truthful to what Harry had said about her.

Before Harry could say anything else and spark conversation between the girl that he liked so much and basically his best friend, he was pulled by Alice to meet a few celebrities and their children. He kept an eye on Y/N, even though she sat across the room with Mitch and the rest of the band.

He was talking a few pictures when he heard her soft laugh. She was surely having a great time. He felt jealous that he wasn't part of the conversation. He felt jealous that he had to work and couldn't enjoy her company like any other couple would.

Thankfully, he went through the group of people quickly. Eventually only leaving him, Alice, Y/N, and the band in the room.

"Your car is ready whenever you need it, Harry" Alice said before leaving. Her job for the night was over. She could finally leave and get off her feet.

Harry grabbed his blazer that hung on the back of the couch before approaching the small group.

"Pasta is so much better" He heard from Y/N as he walked up.”There are no buts”.

"Ready to go?" Harry interrupted their conversation.

"Pasta or Pizza, Harry?" Mitch asked, trying to put an end to a quick debate that they had tumbled in.

"Pasta without a doubt" Harry didn't think it twice. He could eat it every day and wouldn't have a problem with it. Whenever he visited Italy, that's what composed most of his diet.

"Told you" Y/N stuck her tongue out at Mitch as she stood up.

"He is only saying that because he likes you," Y/N blushed while Harry's hands found their way around her hips. "I hope he brings you back and doesn't keep you only to himself,".

"No promises" Harry rested his chin on top of her head as a smile grew. He was happy that his friends and the people closest to him liked her.

"It was really nice hanging out with all of you tonight. Also, the show was amazing. You did a tremendous great job" Mitch smiled at Harry as he gave her a kiss at the top of her head in response to her sweet comment.

"You are germ, Y/N," Mitch said before turning to Harry. "I'll see you tomorrow?". Harry nodded before he intertwined their fingers and pulled Y/N out of the room.

"Where are we going?" Y/N asked as she buckled herself.

"I am starving. I thought we could get some take out and stay at mine? So, we could talk and watch movies. Would you like that?"

"I would love to" She smiled as Harry leaned in and pecked her lips.

Harry picked up an order from their favorite restaurant, the same where they had first met. They sat on his carpeted, living room floor for hours. They stayed up until the sun came back up — talking about everything including his music. Y/N asked about SHE and what had contributed to the end of their relationship. He answered with all his sincerity and revealed his biggest secrets to her. She had something that made him feel comfortable and safe. He felt like he could be his authentic self. He could be as goofy or as silly as he wanted and he knew that she wouldn't leave or turn his back on him. Harry just knew that this relationship was going to last long. So it did. He never let go.

——

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[3laxx]

Babysitting a Human: 101 - Chapter 2

A welcome break, some training, a meal, and a big jump scare later, Amity and Luz settle in for a comfortable night, which is interrupted early by a sudden growth spurt~

Part 2! I hope you guys like this part as well! Let's just get right into it and not waste any time on notes xD

Ao3 / FF.net

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They remained silent like this, and it was about ten minutes until Hooty announced some visitors. Sighing, Amity unzipped the sleeping bag and sat up, careful not to jostle the baby in her arms too much, but Luz didn’t even care. Apparently, as soon as she was being held, nothing could wake her up anymore. Shrugging, Amity cradled her safely before getting up and opening the door for her siblings, reassuring Hooty that they were okay to let in.

Edric waved while they approached and Emira interlaced her fingers to tilt her head against them, whining at the sight. Amity glared at her.

“Don’t. Say. Anything.”, she growled, but of course, her siblings wouldn’t be stopped by that. Just barely after stepping aside to let them in and closing the door again, she – or rather, baby Luz – was already under the attack of whisper shouting teens.

“She is absolutely adorable!”, Edric started.

“How did that happen?”, Emira had always been a bit more factual than her twin.

“How is she so tiny and adorable?!”, Edric would not shut up about this.

“Why are you alone with her?”

“Her little hands are so tiny!”

Stopping them with a gesture, Amity walked back to the couch in front of which the unzipped sleeping bag was still spread and sat down to keep Luz safe, then she began.

“Well, I just wanted to drop by to give Luz her book back and the Owl Lady basically just, threw me into the situation and dashed. When I came in, I didn’t find Luz, but instead this baby here. It’s-… It must be Luz. She reacts to her name and I wouldn’t know of siblings. But I don’t know more.”, she sighed, softly brushing over the baby’s head, and her sleeping face made her smile, “No, I do know it’s Luz. She acts so much like her.”

Emira softly sat down next to her and reached out with a softness she wouldn’t have thought possible for her sister.

“And-… You’re just alone with her now? The Owl Lady just up and left?”, she asked while softly cupping Luz’s head, brushing her thumb over her temple. The baby shuffled closer to Amity’s neck and she couldn’t help but feel a little pride swelling in her chest, and a smile beginning to form on her lips.

“Yeah. Just ran, basically. I think she would’ve left the baby in the care of this bird tube thing. So, I’m kinda glad I came here to watch her.”, she sighed as Edric sat down as well, then she hummed.

“Feels super weird, though, that I’m the babysitter out of the three of us.”

Her brother chuckled at that and shrugged.

“I mean, I’d absolutely take her, but she’d actually clinging to you. So I wouldn’t dare.”, he explained and Emira nodded, before asking.

“What do you think happened to her?”, she asked and Amity shrugged.

“I noticed she doesn’t seem to have kept her age but rather aged down with her body. So I suspect a potion, that’s the only thing strong enough to alter age like that.”

She tried prying Luz’s arms off of her neck but the baby complained and whined in her sleep, so she let go again, going back to cradling her while leaning back a little more, so she wouldn’t have to exhaust her arms.

“Looks like you got this, though.”, Edric remarked and Amity grumbled at him.

“Well, I already fed and bathed her, I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do until the morning. She’s easily entertained but also easily distracted. And I have no idea how to handle human babies.”

Rolling her eyes, Emira shook her head.

“I remember when you were a little baby like that. Our nanny didn’t do much more than that with you, honestly.”

Amity deadpanned but decided not to comment on that. She knew babies didn’t do that much more, but she didn’t exactly know where to with all that responsibility. And she certainly didn’t want to be alone here, with Luz and nothing but her instincts.

She was just a teen, she wasn’t supposed to improvise like this with a baby that was also her crush when grown up. But she couldn’t deny the warm feeling. Somehow, it felt good, caring for a tiny life like that. Call her crazy, but she actually liked the baby snuggling up to her. It was almost like a puppy. Only that Luz was a lot more fragile.

They remained seated like this for a little while, Edric and Emira cooing about Luz being so small and adorable until the baby stirred.

“Great, you woke her up.”, Amity almost wanted to sigh, but she found herself getting excited to spend more time with tiny Luz. She’d had a lot of fun with the tiny human already, and she honestly wanted to see what the evening would still bring.

“That’s not a bad thing!”, Emira protested when the baby yawned and buried her face on Amity’s collar, then she lifted her up and put her feet on the couch to lean Luz back against her thighs, softly brushing her cheeks while she gave the baby a little time to wake up.

“Heya, sleepyhead.”, she chuckled and Luz clumsily rubbed her eyes, “We have visitors!”

When Luz spotted the two grinning faces to either side of Amity, she immediately began squealing as if she had never slept. Fondly, the witchling rolled her eyes, then she bopped her nose.

“You’re a sweet one. Who wants her?”

Immediately, Edric dived for the baby and scooped her off on Amity’s lap, and cradled her in his arms, smiling widely.

“Hello, little cutie! I’m the coolest brother of the Blights!”

“You’re our only brother.”, Amity deadpanned but he paid her no mind. Giggling and already playing with the still a little groggy baby, he ignored her protest. Sighing, Amity got up, then she stretched and rubbed her back.

“I’ll see what I can find for dinner. You two don’t, uhm-… Don’t kill her.”

Emira slipped on her seat now that she was gone and both twins began entertaining the baby, with a lot of giggles and grins, so Amity supposed it’d be fine. She had never seen them as gentle with anything before that, and for a brief moment, she wondered if she had been treated the same when they had still been little.

With a huff and another sigh, she rubbed the warm spot where Luz had slept and trudged to the kitchen, where she began searching for food. Well, she could make herself a sandwich, she wouldn’t have much more time for anything else, anyway. And for Luz, she still had enough of the fruit stuff she had made earlier. She supposed that’d have to keep her alive until the next morning because she did not want to try mashing up more things than necessary.

The twins were getting louder from the living room, but she supposed it was okay. As long as she could hear the baby laughing, they couldn’t be doing much wrong.

“Oh man, what have I gotten myself into…?”, she summoned up her scroll phone and went through her penstagram for a little while, then she replied to Willow’s question if everything was alright with a short update, before opening her gallery. A few new pictures that she had taken with baby Luz. One where the baby was sitting in her lap, another where she was splashing around in the sink, a hairstyle of bubbles sitting on her head, another one where she tried shuffling away, and the last ones, of Luz sleeping on Amity’s chest while she pressed a kiss to her head.

Honestly, if she squinted her eyes and imagined herself being about ten years older, and baby Luz to have slightly pointier ears, she could totally imagine that being her with hers and Luz’s daughter in the future.

She decided to keep this picture saved in a special place in her heart. Maybe she could recreate it someday if she had children at some point in her life. Smiling, Amity put all the baby pictures into a folder and returned to the living room, leaning against the door frame and watching the twins – who had migrated to the sleeping bag by now – cheering on Luz to shuffle around and get her plushie.

Amity giggled when Luz caught it like she was some sort of predator, curling around the little plush and laughing hard when Edric joined her on the ground and Emira reached out to tickle the toy out of her hold again. Thus, the game began again. Emira placed the toy a little distance away and cheered on her to crawl, but Luz would just shuffle and pull her way to the plush where she would catch it again and kick her little legs in excitement.

She supposed she could have a little time to herself before her siblings would leave again.

Sneaking into the room, she settled down on the couch and took a few pictures of the twins goofing off with Luz, before she realized how fast the time had passed. They only had ten minutes left to make her curfew.

“Uhm, guys, it’s getting late. You should go now.”, she announced and Edric looked up with a pout that almost made her think he was about to cry.

“Already?”, Emira whined and she stood up, putting her hands on her hips. If she had to pretend that she was the older sibling she would absolutely do that.

“Yeah, or our parents will be super mad and figure out that you have an illusion with you.”, she glared at the twins and the baby on the sleeping bag, all three had grown quiet, but while the twins pouted, Luz was happily chewing on her plush.

“Okay, she’s right.”, Emira finally said and got up, brushing some dust off her clothes. Shortly after her, Edric moved to blow a raspberry on Luz’s tummy – Hey, that was her thing! – and got up as well.

“How do we do this illusion?”, Edric asked and Amity chimed up while getting down on her knees next to the baby.

“Maybe make me sleep? That way mother and father won’t ask for my homework or a demonstration.”, she proposed and in the flick of a wrist, Edric was carrying an illusion of a fast asleep Amity on his back, snoring and drooling on his shoulder. Deadpanning, the real Amity sighed, then she furrowed her eyebrows at Emira.

“I don’t look like that when I sleep.”, she grumbled and her sister shrugged with a grin.

“That’s what you think, mittens!”, she cheerfully replied and went to open the door for Edric, who looked back at the baby on the sleeping bag longingly.

“… How are the chances that she’ll stay that way for a little while at least?”, he gingerly asked and promptly received a slap on the back of his head from his twin.

“Edric, just get lost.”, Amity replied laughing and watched as Emira shot her the last wave before opening the door and leaving after Edric, “Thank you for covering me!”

The twins called back something but Hooty had already closed the door and Amity was alone again with Luz. Smiling, she turned back to her and brushed over the bridge of her nose, leaning to the side so she was propped up above the baby.

“And what will us two do now, that we’re alone again, hm? What do you wanna do?”

The tiny baby squealed and once again tried to reach for Amity’s gem, making her laugh and lean down so Luz could grab the necklace, inspecting it like she hadn’t explored this about five times already.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. You have fun with that. I mean it, though, we could play a game! Or I could teach you crawling, how’s that sound?”

At that, Luz listened up and looked back up to her. She hadn’t understood a word, but Amity’s voice going up at the end of her question had intrigued her. Giggling, Amity bopped her nose again.

“C’mon, let’s be productive!”, she cheered and decided to use the same trick as her siblings. She tickled the little plush out of Luz’s hands and put it about a step away from her, before nudging her to turn over and get it.

Luz was puzzled at first, after all that wasn’t Amity’s game but Emira’s, but after a second she spotted the toy and excitedly tried making her way to it. Amity laughed.

“Noo, get up! Get your bum up, come on!”, she got on all fours and exaggeratedly began crawling so the baby would see how it worked.

“It’s easy, Luz, promise! Look!”, she chuckled and the baby squealed before shuffling her way over to Amity, completely ignoring the toy, to pap her little hand at her arm and laugh. Amity had to laugh as well when tiny Luz shuffled again to sit down, laughing and stretching out her little hands to be scooped up. Instead, Amity nuzzled her nose against the baby’s and began crawling again, showing her how it was done.

“C’mon! See? It’s easy, you just gotta try!”, she crawled a little ways ahead and the small baby laughed before getting down on her tummy again and shuffling over to her, her face pulled into laughter the entire time she chased after Amity. The teen had to laugh at that and shake her head, letting Luz reach her to flick her super soft human ear. She then reached down to the baby’s hips and pulled them up, so Luz would get the feeling of being on her knees. Instantly, the baby stopped laughing and stared at her in enlightenment and Amity cheered.

“Yeah, like that! Now follow me!”

Once again, she crawled ahead and the human giggled and laughed loudly, dropping back on her tummy and pulling herself to Amity to softly jab at her hand. Laughing, Amity dropped to her back and put the back of her hand to her forehead.

“Oh no! I’ve been slain!”, she exclaimed and the baby laughed louder, starting to pull herself up and crawl on top of Amity’s chest, at least with her arms, to drum on her chest, making Amity laugh even more.

“Okay, let’s try crawling again, though! Come on, I’ll show you.”

The girl got back up on all fours and set the baby up the same, crawling ahead and sitting down to spread her arms for Luz to crawl towards her, gesturing.

“Come on! You can do it, I believe in you!”

The tiny baby seemed to consider dropping back down to her tummy to shuffle again, but after letting the gears turn in her head in concentration, she just dropped back to her bum, now half-kneeling. Amity giggled, then she spread her arms again and gestured for Luz to move towards her.

“Come here, Luz! You can crawl, I know you can!”

The baby huffed as she watched her with wide eyes, before pushing her hips back up again and wobbly balancing herself on all fours. Then she crawled.

She only managed a few paces before losing the rhythm and dropping her bum back down on her feet, but she had crawled!

Unable to contain her excitement, Amity squealed and got up, scooping up the baby and swirling around with her, giggling and laughing loudly while she cradled the baby close and swirled through the room.

“You did it! You did it, I knew you could! I’m so proud of you!”, she exclaimed and stopped spinning, placing a big kiss on the baby’s cheek, “You did really well, Luz!”

The baby had squealed and flailed all the way, and patted Amity’s cheeks when she had kissed her, then she seemed distracted by something else, though, and tried leaning down so Amity put her back down on the sleeping bag and chuckled, sitting down next to her. At the thought of what she had done mere seconds ago, she had to giggle while watching the baby shuffle again to investigate some seam on the sleeping bag. Her, the composed, rule-following Blight offspring, elite student of Hexside and Emperor’s Coven protégé, was crawling around on the floor to teach a baby to crawl. Chuckling to herself, Amity shook her head, then she softly brushed over Luz’s head while the baby was just barely propped up on her elbows, inspecting a loose thread.

She wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Luz shuffled a little further, just out of reach for Amity, before pushing herself up into a sitting position. Amity watched her, back turned towards the teen, before the baby suddenly lost her balance and fell backward. Surging, Amity dived to catch her in time and cradled her back and neck, while propping herself up on her elbows. The adrenaline was rushing through her head but the baby hadn’t noticed how much that could’ve gone wrong. Instead, she caught her gaze and grinned and giggled at her upside down. Amity sighed exasperatedly, before pushing Luz over to the side, rolling her to her tummy.

“I swear, you scare me like that again and you’ll be the death of me.”, to that, the baby just laughed and shuffled back towards her, to prop herself up on her shin and pull herself up to sit while leaning on her knee, smiling sweetly.

“Oh, I can’t stay mad at you.”

Amity tried crawling with her a few more times until she had to change Luz’s diaper – which went less awkward than she would’ve thought – and then she moved on to dinner. Luckily, Eda had some food she didn’t have to cook, and some fruits were also left. So she decided to eat something first.

Which was a bad idea.

Luz immediately noticed Amity had a plate of sandwiches when she returned from the kitchen. She had tried not to leave the baby alone for more than five minutes, and when she came back, Luz immediately looked up and rolled to her tummy to make her way towards her as fast as she could. Amused, Amity watched the baby shuffling across the floor, then she giggled.

“You’re in a hurry, huh?”

Finally, the baby reached her and sat down by her leg, reaching up with her little hands to be lifted up. Amity put the plate she held on the next available surface, a windowsill, and scooped Luz up, then she grabbed her sandwich again and took a bite, to which the baby gave her a quizzical look.

After chewing her bite down, because she was raised not to talk with a full mouth, Amity raised her eyebrow at her.

“… What?”

Luz reached out to grab the sandwich but Amity put it back on the plate which was out of Luz’s reach. The reaction of disappointment was immediate. Her chin began quivering and suddenly, tears shone in her eyes. Rolling her eyes, Amity bopped her a little.

“Luz, that’s grown-up food. You can’t eat that yet. Besides, that’s my dinner. You’ll get dinner in a bit.”, still, the small human wouldn’t let the teen console her. Humming, Amity finally broke off a part in the middle of the bread where she had cut the halves apart and let Luz lean back a little, so she could feed it to her.

“Okay, I know you like peanut butter and jam sandwiches, so open up.”, as soon as the baby had realized that she would get a bite, she opened her mouth as wide as she could and Amity almost laughed, “Here we go.”

She put the crumb in Luz’s mouth and the baby closed her mouth before trying to chew on the new sustenance. The bread was very soft, so Amity didn’t worry about her that much, but she was very eager to see the reaction of the baby.

After swallowing the bite, Luz opened her mouth again and Amity had to laugh.

“I don’t have anything else for dinner, Luz!”

She stayed relentless, with her mouth wide open. The witchling sighed, then she gave her another crumb, before taking a big bite for herself. While the baby was concentrating on swallowing, she stuffed more of the sandwich in her mouth, so she would have a chance of finishing as much of it as possible. Yet, Luz wanted more.

“Oh, come on. That’s my food, you can’t possibly want more of that.”, the baby ignored her. So, since she didn’t exactly have another solution, Amity fed her another little crumb before trying to stuff the rest of the sandwich in her mouth, coughing and choking but finally managing while the baby was still distracted by the new taste. By the time Amity had finished chewing and swallowing her part, Luz had already opened her mouth again. So she held up the plate with her other hand and held it between them, shrugging.

“Empty. No more sandwich.”, she smugly smirked at the baby closing her mouth again and papping her hand on the empty porcelain, then she looked back up to her. Her brown eyes filled with tears.

Great, whatever she did, she got tears back.

“Time for your dinner, then!”, Amity cheered, in the hopes of distracting the baby from the sandwich, and sure enough, Luz’s ADHD didn’t disappoint her. At her cheering, the baby reacted like a puppy and squealed with her, the sandwich already in the past.

Relief flooded the teen and she smiled at that, putting the plate away before fetching the fruit goo again and sitting down with Luz to feed her.

Yet, as expected, dinner went just as messy as lunch. Luz had a whole lot of fun with smearing the goo everywhere she could, and Amity was just glad she had learned from the last time and taken off Luz’s hoodie and instead draped a towel across her chest, since she had to place the baby in her lap again, as a substitute for a baby chair. Unfortunately, the baby had also figured out how to throw the goo now, if she moved her tiny hands fast enough. In the end, the teen found herself sprayed with much more sticky baby food than she would’ve felt comfortable with, and had trouble keeping her temper in control.

At least she had managed to feed Luz most of it.

Deciding against a bath, Amity just changed Luz’s onesie again – she was glad she had found another clean one in the crib – and put her back on the sleeping bag to play some more while she would clean up. Some smudges around her collar were still dried in from lunch. But she didn’t mind them for now. Instead, she wanted to rinse her face and hair, before getting back to Luz. She didn’t really mind being sticky and dirty, because she knew she had to care for the baby. It wasn’t like she enjoyed being covered in food, but there was humor to it, a sort of necessity not to care in favor of all the sweet moments she’s had with Luz until now.

After cleaning her arms, she took off her ponytail and let her hair down, then she began with her collar, neck, and face. Luz had managed to get the food absolutely everywhere. She would not be surprised at all if she found some in her top beneath the shirt she wore.

While scrubbing her cheeks, Amity made a plan for the next few hours. She should probably keep Luz occupied for a little longer, still, before letting her sleep. Maybe that’d allow her some rest this night. She didn’t expect to sleep through the night, not with Luz being so small, but maybe she could hope to get as much sleep as possible.

She never thought looking after a baby could be so straining. At that moment, she had the most respect for her nanny. That witch had made it her job to look after babies and little witchlings, not only if they were from rich families but also if they were a handful and their parents couldn’t master raising them alone anymore.

And at just fourteen years old, Amity was sure she did not have to necessary endurance yet to look after a child, still being a child herself. But it was fun for an evening, that much she could say. And even if Luz was a lot smaller than Boscha’s little sister, she enjoyed spending time with the baby.

Just as she was finished with her face, she looked up again to see her shadow dancing in front of her. Furrowing her eyebrows, Amity watched the strange phenomenon.

The outlines of her shadow seemed to blur and move erratically as if there was a different light source-…

Turning around, with the towel in her hands with which she had just rubbed over her face, she spotted a small ball of light floating in the air in front of her. It was dancing around, just about the size of a palm, and innocently floated towards the far end of the room. Amity furrowed her eyebrows further, squinting her eyes.

She hadn’t cast a light spell. She wasn’t using magic at all, right now. Was Eda back? But why would she cast a light spell?

Huffing, Amity approached the ball of light, feeling it shying away from her touch when she reached out, then she heard the baby giggling from the living room.

In an instant, the switch inside her head clicked.

Breaking into a sprint, Amity made it out of the kitchen and skidded around the corner, to see Luz sitting on the floor next to her school bag that she must’ve thrown next to the front door when she had come home from classes yesterday. She innocently giggled and sucked on her hand, while the other flailed before going pap on another glyph.

She had found her notepad. On which she had already scribbled out a few glyphs. A few balls of light already floated around the room and Amity felt her breath hitching in her throat. She had never, ever, heard of a baby that young casting magic. Usually, their magical abilities started developing once their bile sac was fully functional at the age of three, and when they learned to cast their spell circles most witchlings were around the age of four to six. Luz was just about four to five months old, with her aged down body. Amity hadn’t even thought this to be possible, but then again, Luz was using glyphs to summon magic.

Her gaze wandered down to the baby again. Only now, after the first shock had faded, she saw that baby Luz had already cast a few spells. Besides the balls of light floating around, she also spotted a few flowers and small ice pillars around her. Only now she also recognized the thing Luz was sucking on not to be her hand but a small ice rod that was slowly melting but thankfully big enough for the baby not to swallow it.

Again, Amity looked around. This was a lot of magic for a child, and even more so for a baby. Did Luz not use her concentration to alter the glyphs and shape them into what she wished? Apparently, the glyphs already gave her a baseline to work with and Luz only needed to activate them. The rest came with her own imagination. Since a baby couldn’t think abstract yet, she supposed all she created was the glyphs magic, which was a lot less than Amity had imagined, after seeing Luz do quite a few impressive things with her glyphs.

Lightly chuckling, the witchling turned back to the small human, and an unbelieving smile spread on her lips. She was about to say something when she saw the next glyph her friend had prepared on her notepad.

She wasn’t entirely sure how the glyphs looked in absolute detail, but after hanging out with Luz and playing grudgby with her, she sure could recognize the general shape of the four glyphs had discovered so far. And if she wasn’t wrong, the next glyph was a fire glyph.

The smile slipped from her face as Luz lifted her hand, still looking at the teen. Then the baby squealed and let her hand rush towards the glyph on the floor next to her.

“Luz, no!”

Amity leaped.

She felt her legs catapulting her forward while her hands already stretched out to grab the baby. But it was already too late. Luz had touched the fire glyph and it began glowing, as Amity felt time slowing down. Her hands managed to grab the baby’s middle and pull her away from the glyph and towards Amity when she turned and kicked the notepad with the glyph away. As soon as she had the baby in a firm cradle, she cast a spell circle and an abomination’s hand surged from the ground, trying to cover the activated fire glyph, but it was already too late.

A flame erupted from the glyph, a good foot tall, and singed Amity’s sock that was still too close to the glyph. The abomination’s hand slapped down on the paper and the flame was quickly distinguished while the teen pulled her leg back, rubbing at her foot to put out the gleaming fabric on her sole.

And then it was over. As quickly as it had happened, the situation was diffused already, and Amity found herself shivering, sitting on the floor and cradling a very quiet baby to her chest, while her sock was still somewhat smoking, and the abomination goo on the ground slowly sunk back into the circle where she had summoned it from.

But as quickly as the scare had happened, and as quickly as it had gone quiet after that, just then the baby in her arms began screaming.

Right. Scary, fast movements and she could imagine she had not exactly grabbed her gently. The baby headbutted her collarbone and began wailing into her shirt, desperately clinging to the fabric while the shock still had both of them shivering.

After another little moment of hesitation, Amity hugged Luz close, grateful that they both weren’t injured, and moved from side to side, softly swinging around so Luz would calm down again.

“Shhh, shh, it’s okay. That was scary, but I’m here. I’m here, Luz, nothing bad happened. It’s okay…”, she turned her face to the baby’s head and snuggled her in, sighing while calming her racing heart and pressing a little kiss to Luz’s small, round ear, “It’s okay, Luz, it’s okay… I was there in time, it’s okay.”

The baby was still shivering, as was the teen, and she slowly got back up to her feet, testing the burned sock. It had just turned a little brown but the heat hadn’t even reached the inside of the cotton. Suddenly she was super glad that her mother had insisted she wore these socks to accommodate the colder temperatures in the evening outside.

When she was sure her foot was okay and no fire was left from the glyph, she began pacing and talking to the still wailing baby who was inconsolably clinging to her and soaking her shirt in tears. If Luz kept that up she’d have to see how to keep her hydrated, because she wasn’t too sure if the human already knew how to drink from a glass.

Slowly, very slowly, Luz’s screams died down and she settled against Amity who had entered the kitchen again, still cradling her close and talking to her in the most reassuring voice she could muster, while trying to calm herself down.

If the flame had already singed her sock like that, she didn’t want to imagine what it could’ve done to Luz if she hadn’t been in time. She sighed and shook her head, then she searched for a substitute for a bottle. She had to get some water into Luz at some point, she knew that. And she didn’t care if she was doing something wrong here, she was left to care for the baby and she would care for the baby whatever that meant.

Finally, she found a sort of rubber glove in Luz’s things. She didn’t know why exactly Luz was carrying this around with her, or really what it was for, but it was there and just what she needed.

Cutting off one of the rubber fingers, she thoroughly rinsed it and put it on a small glass that she had filled with water, and poked a small hole into the tip of the rubber. Then, Amity used her hairband to keep the rubber firmly in place and tentatively turned the glass upside down above the sink. Sure enough, the rubber held in the water, and a little stream of water exited the tip of the rubber finger on top.

She was a genius.

As soon as Luz had calmed down enough from the shock to stop hiding her face in Amity’s chest – which took a whole lot of convincing and snuggling to get her to peek at least – the teen managed to lie her down in her arms and give her the makeshift bottle. Luz’s lips closed around the rubber and Amity held her breath, but it kept the water from spilling.

Well, it worked less than she would’ve wished, but the baby seemed to get enough liquid to be happy with it.

Feeding her with a bottle was an entirely different feeling, Amity realized. She held the baby close and smiled when Luz reached up to hold the glass herself, her tiny fingers wrapping around Amity’s. She hummed when Luz fixated her and continued breathing heavily while drinking, making the witchling chuckle.

“You don’t have to drink as fast, it’s okay. I have more water where that came from, though I doubt your tiny body needs more than this.”

Luz got half the glass down before her thirst was quenched, so Amity put the glass away and hugged Luz close to her chest to burp her. That’s what she had heard about caring for babies at least. She wasn’t entirely sure what it was about burping them, she just knew they had to be helped.

It wasn’t long until she grew tired, then. Her eyelids seemed to grow heavier and heavier with each deep breath she drew, and Amity had to smile fondly. Sleepy Luz was just so adorable.

The baby cuddled close to her again, as she had before after the scare with the fire glyph, and seemed to settle down. Finding herself tired as well, Amity just got a blanket from the backrest of the couch and stuffed some pillows around them.

She knew Luz would fuss if she tried putting her in the crib Eda must’ve summoned just before leaving, and she didn’t want to fall asleep on the floor in the sleeping bag.

But she did want to put on her hoodie again after this ordeal, so she risked putting Luz down just for the moment and pull over the hoodie, for both their comfort.

After that, she just put Luz in her arm with her shoulder safely nestled into the crook of her elbow and her head leaned against her biceps, propping her against a pillow Amity secured next to her, then she draped the big blanket around them and cuddled them both in, smiling once she was comfortably lying against one of the armrests.

Luz barely kept her eyes open and huffed from time to time, so Amity softly let her finger wander over her tiny face and brush from her cheek up to her forehead and down the bridge of her nose between her eyes, before passing her tiny lips and turning on her chin to wander up the other cheek and pass over her nose to get back to where she started. She continued to Luz’s ear and softly brushed the super soft skin of her round ear shell, then she brushed back to Luz’s forehead and wandered down to her cheek, smiling all the while.

The baby quickly fell asleep to her ministrations and Amity breathed through deeply.

The fire glyph had been scarier than she had thought. Not only was the adrenaline only now dying down, but also her fear of something happening to Luz. Well, at least nothing did happen.

But the anxiety of something that could’ve happened still made her shiver from time to time. She had been awfully close to that glyph. If Amity hadn’t reacted, maybe hadn’t even known, her entire side would’ve been burned, badly. Breathing through, Amity shook her head, then she leaned back on the pillow she had pushed behind her and sighed.

Nothing had happened. A sock at the expense of no injuries, she could absolutely live with that.

Baby Luz breathed deeply and cuddled a little closer to her. Amity felt another smile growing on her lips, then her hand found back to Luz’s head and softly brushed over her cheek. The baby suckled sleepily but didn’t react otherwise.

What a day, today…

Amity breathed through once again, then she felt all the exhaustion, responsibility, and anxiety melt from her shoulders as she relaxed and felt sleep slowly taking her.

One last time, she opened her eyes.

Luz was safely cradled in her arms. She couldn’t fall, no matter how much she may flail or move in her sleep, and Amity couldn’t hurt her either. Humming, she closed her eyes again and gave into a sleep that embraced her warmly and softly.

 ---

A whimper woke Amity up rather fast. Normally she was a heavy sleeper, but with a baby in her arms, she’d found she was awake instantly once she heard Luz fussing.

Their position on the couch hadn’t changed, which she was thankful for because relief immediately flooded her veins, and even if Luz had tried to kick a little, she hadn’t managed to move out of Amity’s safe arms.

Humming, she let herself wake up properly but still remained a good bit sleepy, before sitting up a little and yawning while softly beginning to rock Luz in her arms.

The baby had most likely woken up from a nightmare because she seemed distressed and not quite there yet. Amity merely waited until she had fully woken up and smiled at her, summoning a little ball of light like Luz always did with glyphs, creating a soft pink light to shine on them. The baby just needed to orientate, but she still whined and protested against being woken up by her dream.

Chuckling, Amity held her closer and softly kissed her forehead, too sleepy to register that she had started kissing Luz casually now, then she smiled.

“It’s okay, I’m here… It’s okay. You’re safe, Luz.”

She hummed a little tune while the baby slowly settled down again and lied back down in the former position after shaking out her arm, to settle back down for the night. She was lucky she had found out Luz could sleep rather deeply in her arms, otherwise, she wouldn’t have had as much a calm night as she was having now.

The small baby whimpered some more before huffing and letting herself be snuggled in again, letting a grateful smile grow on Amity’s lips.

“I’m here, Luz, I won’t go…”, she mumbled, her eyes already closing when she hummed and let herself relax again.

This was actually very nice. Holding Luz like that, warmth surrounding them and a faint owl hooting in the forest outside. In the manor, Amity didn’t hear many sounds from outside, due to the windows being magically enhanced to create silence, but here, she actually enjoyed the noises from the woods just outside the door. The faint owl was momentarily interrupted by a gust of wind blowing past the house, but then she heard it again.

Her eyes fluttering close, Amity breathed deeper, then she settled back down to sleep, the baby had fallen asleep before her already. She liked to think that Luz was sleeping through the night because she was actually already fourteen years old, but thinking about it exhausted her too much. Instead, she just settled for gratefulness that she wasn’t screaming.

 ---

It was in the early morning hours when the sun already peeked through the treetops.

Eda was dead on her feet. She had used the whole night to search high and low for all the ingredients that she needed for a reverse spell after Luz had drunk the last little gulp of her aging down potion.

Her apprentice hadn’t known how potent this potion was, Eda just used it in the direst situations – like when a wrinkle appeared – and had gulped down the entire thing.

Presumably, she had thought a small rest like this would only age her down by minutes, maybe days, but little had she known that the smallest drop already drew drastic changes with its power. It was no surprise that this potion had been outlawed long ago.

One reason had probably been that children pushed their snoopy noses into adult business and that too many had been aged down too much.

With an annoyed huff, Eda touched down in front of the Owl House and stretched her back, before pushing away Hooty and entering her house.

For a second, the sight of the sleeping Blight on her couch startled her, but then she remembered she had put that Titan-sent child on babysitting duty when she had rushed for the ingredients. And to get away from that baby, honestly. Having Luz around was fun because she was a teenager, but Eda had never really clicked with small children or even worse, babies.

Besides, Luz would’ve been fine for a night. Probably. Most likely.

Maybe Hooty would’ve fed her some chewed-up bugs or something. A light grimace of disgust washed over her face, then she groaned again.

Eda was too tired to care. She trudged over to the sleeping pair and admittedly, it did look kind of cute how they were passed out like this. Without further ado, Eda took off the straps of the baby carrier around her middle and took King out of the straps, before placing him on Minty Green’s feet. He just kept on sleeping as if nothing had ever happened.

The teen and the baby were still sleeping. Honestly, the Blight kid did look a little exhausted. Maybe she had put her up for too much when she had left a baby in her care. On the other hand, at least she didn’t have to look after that baby. So she didn’t exactly care.

Humming, Eda closed the kitchen door to let them sleep a little more while she would make the potion. Titan, she was tired. Here was to hoping she’d get the potion right.

But she had the utmost faith in her brewing abilities. After all, she hadn’t been on the potions track for nothing. Yet still, she would much rather sleep now. But on the other hand, Luz would be thankful to have her normal age and body back.

Rolling her eyes, Eda got to work to prepare the potion. How much she wished for her nest right now. Oh man, she would just curl up in her trash and sleep like a baby…

Shaking her head, she began preparing the various ingredients needed for a reverse potion. Luz needed her body back.

Checking in with the recipe again, Eda furrowed her eyebrows.

Weird, why did she remember to bring the teeth of a four-legged clover? She definitely did, they were right here on the table. Oh well. If she didn’t need them, she could always use them for something else later. Though, she did make a note to bring them. She had checked the recipe before leaving and everything.

Shrugging, Eda pushed them aside. If she didn’t need them it was all the better.

Within an hour, the reverse potion was done. On the counter, she found the makeshift bottle the Blight kid had crafted, with a little water left inside. Smirking, Eda inspected the bottle and nodded. She was smart, that much was given.

Exchanging the water for just a bit of the potion inside, Eda opened the door to the living room and saw that the baby had already woken up and was squealing softly while Little Miss Perfect was still fast asleep. She looked pretty knocked out. Apparently, Luz had done quite a number on her.

Not minding her, Eda just unceremoniously gave the bottle to the baby and held the glass while she was drinking eagerly. It didn’t even take a minute and the whole gulp was gone. Satisfied, Eda leaned back and crossed her arms. In just a second, her fully grown Luz should be back to her normal, cheerful, optimistic, fourteen-year-old self.

 ---

A sudden weight on her chest pressed all air out of Amity’s lungs. She had just been dreaming about Hexside when suddenly, she was ripped out of her sleep to a much larger person sitting on her, rather than the tiny adorable baby she had fallen asleep holding.

Wheezing, Amity tried catching her breath and waking up properly when the one on top of her already screamed.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”, she heard and furrowing her eyebrows, she looked up to the woman on her chest. Luz didn’t talk… Like… That…

On top of her, in her arms, where she had cuddled in and held the tiny baby Luz for the entire night, sat a grown woman, roughly twenty-four, and screamed insults. She looked a lot like Luz, actually.

Except that she was, well, way older.

Amity wheezed again, then she felt the woman getting up and taking the blanket with her, the sweet, sweet warmth she had just felt a second ago. Wait.

Where was her baby?!

Now that oxygen reached her brain again, Amity looked around, before her gaze finally fell on the woman standing in front of Eda.

She had the blanket wrapped around her, covering everything but her very bare shoulders, toned arms, and calves from what Amity could see, but a tiny piece of cloth on her back attracted Amity’s attention. It was the same fabric Luz’s onesie had-…

Panicking, she sat up.

If it was ripped, then where was-…

Suddenly, the stranger turned to her, with her eyes blown wide.

“… Amity?!”, she asked and her heart sank when she looked at those eyes. Those were Luz’s eyes. That was Luz. Just. Way older.

Choking, Amity coughed a few times and doubled over, clasping her hand over her mouth. This wasn’t teenager Luz, no, this was young woman Luz.

In an instant, the woman screamed again and Eda finally stopped being completely apathetic to the situation.

“Listen, Luz, if you hadn’t drunk the age potion-”

“HOW THE FUCK SHOULD I HAVE KNOWN, EDA?!”, she yelled and Eda shrugged.

“Though it does seem weird you’re so much older. Let me check something.”, without even batting an eye, Eda left the room and went back into the kitchen, leaving the older Luz with a still wheezing Amity who had discovered that her nose was bleeding by now. It did not help that Luz went back to her and kneeled down by her, the blanket still wrapped around her body.

“Oh my gosh, I am so fucking sorry, Amity. I didn’t mean for this to happen, I thought that potion was just-… Nevermind. Are you okay?”

Huffing, Amity nodded, then she reached for a tissue on the table before leaning back.

“… Wh-Why are you old now?”

“Older.”, Luz corrected with a huff, grumbling, “Not that old. But that’s a good question. I don’t remember anything after drinking the potion from Eda. Why are you suddenly here?”

Amity stopped the blood coming from her nose, then she looked at Luz quizzically.

“It’s been half a day since that happened, I think. Yesterday in school everything was normal, and when I wanted to come by in the afternoon to give you back your Good Witch Azura book, I was suddenly thrown in here to babysit you by Eda.”, she explained, which only left more questions on Luz’s super handsome mid-twenties face.

“Babysit me?”, she asked and Amity nodded, trying not to look at her too much. Her hair was still short but she had grown out two long strands in front of her ears. And oh Mama, she was still super naked, even if she kept the blanket pulled around her.

“Yeah, you were-… You were a small baby. Just. Moments ago.”, Amity explained, fixating her left foot. She could not look at Luz or else she may explode.

Unfortunately for her, despite taking on the appearance and habits of a woman in her mid-twenties, Luz was still the touchy fourteen-year-old. A hand appeared on her knee and Amity couldn’t help but let her gaze follow these toned arms up to her shoulders and back to her unfairly handsome face, resulting in a small ‘eep’ from the teen.

“I’m sorry you had to babysit me. I suppose that was hard. Mami always told me I was quite the active baby.”, she grimaced and Amity thought she had to die. Her crush was back with full force and boy did she have it bad.

“Hah, haha, yeah! Kinda, uh, kinda active, yes! You figured out how to use glyphs so I had quite a handful with you, I-I mean-”, her face blazing, Amity shut herself up, then she looked down again, “… It was okay.”

Luz slanted her lips, then she sat down next to Amity. She couldn’t help to notice how much taller she was than her and tried her best not to look at the very adult version of her friend, gulping.

“So-…”, Luz began while Eda was clattering around in the kitchen, “Sorry for causing you all this trouble. I didn’t know what the potion would do.”

Huffing, Amity nodded, then she turned to look at Luz which she realized was a mistake. From next to her, she could see Luz’s profile, which flustered her even more. She hadn’t realized she was staring until Luz turned to look at her.

“Ah! Right! Don’t worry, that potion is long outlawed and we don’t learn about this anymore. You couldn’t have known.”, she quickly rambled, then she rubbed over her face and sighed, “S-Sorry, I’m just-… Tired?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. Sorry for the rude awakening, by the way. Eda just had to give me the potion right on top of you, huh?”, she chuckled and Amity nodded mutely. In fact, sleep was the farthest thing from her mind right now and she felt very awake after this disaster. She was just glad they didn’t have school today.

“D-Don’t worry about that, you took my breath away before.”, she dazedly replied, and only at the questioning expression of the older human, she realized what she had said, “I-I mean! Yesterday I was left out of breath! Be-Because watching babies is hard! Haha!”

Luz merely grinned at that, then she softly bumped Amity’s shoulder.

“Are you nervous around me because I’m older than you now?”, she smugly grinned, and just when Amity had thought older Luz couldn’t get any hotter, she proved her wrong.

“N-No! This is just-… Very confusing!”, she quickly defended herself and the young woman laughed.

“Yeah, right! You’re nervous about something! Did it have to do with baby me?”, she inquired and Amity only felt her face burning more, her ears starting to flutter. Not because Luz was right, but more because her being smug broke the poor witchling’s mind.

“N-No!”

Gasping, Luz laughed, then she poked her cheek. Amity.exe stopped working.

“It does! You cuddled with me! That’s why I woke up on top of you! We cuddled aaaaall night long, isn’t that right?”, the human cackled, then she fixated the blanket on her chest and leaned over to take Amity in a playful chokehold, ruffling her hair, “Bet you even kissed my chubby cheeks!”

At Luz’s cheers, Amity just felt herself blacking out. Especially when she guessed everything because Amity had in fact kissed Luz a lot and cuddled with her.

“N-Not true! I-… I had to keep you quiet somehow and-”

“So true!”, Luz sang and finally let her go, while Amity was trying so badly to keep her composure, “So, how’s it feel to be younger than the baby you watched last night?”

At that, Amity rolled her eyes and hid her face in her hands, huffing, before Luz squealed again.

“Hey wait, did you take any pictures?”, she asked and at that, Amity felt her face blazing even more.

“Y-Yes?”, the teen stuttered and Luz slid closer to her, grinning eagerly.

“While we wait you can show them! Pretty please?” she pouted so adorably, it almost matched the baby’s face when she had done that last night. Amity felt her heart speeding up so fast she thought it might break out of her ribcage and throw a dance party.

“Y-Yeah, sure.”, she summoned her scroll phone and tapped the folder with the baby pictures she had taken. It wasn’t that much more than a dozen, but Luz was enamored immediately. Squealing, she laughed at the silly pictures Amity had taken and cooed at herself sleeping in the sleeping bag. Wait, that meant-

“I was right!”, Luz suddenly exploded, and Amity nearly fell off the couch with how hard she flinched, “You did kiss me!”

At that moment, Amity wished desperately the ground would open up and swallow her whole, but it was about to come worse. Luz swiped again and a selfie appeared. Amity with a grumpy face, holding a very cheerful Luz in her arms, while the food was smeared all over both of them. The tiny baby was holding out her arms to grab Amity’s food-encrusted hair but was unable to, due to the teen leaning away. Oh, right. She didn’t remember taking this one.

“Oh my gosh, did I do that to you?!”, Luz cackled and nearly threw herself off the couch, then she bumped Amity’s shoulder again, “I’m literally so fucking sorry, but this picture is gold, Amity.”

The teen just hid her face in Luz’s hoodie by pulling up the hood, not realizing that the older Luz only now noticed that she was wearing her hoodie. She had grown so used to wearing it yesterday, she hadn’t realized Luz would find that adorable.

“Hey, wait!”, she exclaimed, a shit-eating grin on her face that could have matched Edric’s and Emira’s yesterday, “That’s my hoodie you’re wearing!”

There went her composure, all the way out the window and into the woods, never to be seen again.

“I-I-… It was the only way to get you dressed!”, she tried reasoning as she had tried to with Willow as well, but Luz only smirked more.

“You undressed me?!”, she asked and Amity found this point in time right here absolutely suitable for her disappearance, never to be seen again.

“I-I had to bathe you! You saw how much you enjoyed playing with your food!”, she tried again and Luz just nodded, with the silliest smug grin she had ever seen anyone do. It looked kinda dorky.

“So your first solution to get me back into clothes was to put on my clothes.”, she factually stated and Amity just wanted to faint now. She was absolutely ready to begin a new life under a new name in Glandus High.

“I-It was what I could think of, back off.”

Still cackling, Luz checked out the rest of the pictures, stopping at the last one which showed her sleeping in Amity’s arms, only illuminated by a soft, pink light, then she gave her back her scroll phone and still grinned. Amity was very sure she would not live this down, ever.

“Aww, Amity, don’t be cranky! I think it’s very sweet you cared for me yesterday and you look good in my stuff.”, grinning more, Luz leaned closer, “Though, you do look like it’s very warm in here. Want me to open a window?”

The human was obviously referring to her very obvious blush and for Amity, that was the last straw. Stiffly, she stood up and bowed (?) at Luz, before giving her a strained grin and talking way too loudly.

“No, thank you! I will go to the bathroom now! Bye!”, she exclaimed, then she walked to the upstairs bathroom mechanically before shutting the door with a forced calmness before collapsing on the floor and hiding her face in the hoodie. She needed a moment.

 ---

Laughing to herself, Luz got up and pulled the blanket tighter around her again, before making her way to the kitchen. She was almost as tall as Eda when she stood next to her, she noticed.

“So, what was wrong with the potion?”, she inquired and Eda looked at her with a grumble.

“I stayed up all night searching for the ingredients to reverse the potion you had no business drinking.”, then she turned sheepish, “But in my sleepiness, I accidentally just made a potion to age you up. It should be fine after I add the teeth of the four-legged clover, though, that should reverse all effects by aging potions.”

With that being said, she added the ground teeth to the potion that was still bubbling on her counter, before casting a spell and taking a very, very old-looking wooden spoon – that Luz recognized as the brand new one they had just bought last week – to stir it.

Just a moment later, when Eda removed the spoon, it looked brand new again, making the older witch smirk.

“There we go. Now it just has to cook a little bit more before you can drink it and you’ll be back to your mischievous fourteen-year-old form.”

Luz crossed her arms.

“I’m not mischievous!”, she exclaimed and Eda grinned.

“After drinking that potion and calling your action ‘shenanigans’ just before turning into a little baby right in front of me, you definitely are.”, she clarified and Luz huffed at that accusation.

“Okay, fine, so maybe I was a little short-sighted and rash, but, that’s no reason to call me mischievous.”

“Imma call you what you want. And now scram, search some clothes, you’re naked in front of your guest.”, Eda chuckled, making Luz smirk before playing along.

Indignantly, the young woman grabbed a corner of the blanket and threw it over her shoulder like a toga, huffing.

“Excuse you, I’m wearing the latest.”, she playfully snobbishly answered and sauntered towards the living room.

“Ripped onesie and blanket?” Eda questioned with a snort, getting back finger guns from her apprentice. It seems Luz would not lose a single bit of dorkiness with age. Somehow, that made her feel happy.

“If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with my designer.”, Luz replied, “Or you can simply go fuck yourself.”

“Just get lost already!”, she shouted after the young woman with a chuckle and earned laughter from Luz. Boy, she was glad she had adopted a kid with some humor at least. And she could not wait for Luz to turn old enough to swear.

 ---

When Amity dared to leave the bathroom again, she was as composed as she could ever be in this kind of situation. Walking down the stairs, the still aged up Luz greeted her from her blanket and Amity nodded at her.

“How’s the potion coming along?”, she asked and sat down next to her on the couch, gratefully grabbing some snacks Eda had brought in while waiting for the potion to boil a little longer.

“Eda says it’ll be done in a moment.”, Luz said with a smile, then she looked up and down on Amity. She was still wearing her hoodie and Luz found that very adorable. She wouldn’t comment on that, she decided, not to fluster Amity again. They fell into a comfortable silence before Luz leaned back and smiled.

“Hey, seriously though. Thank you. You could’ve just turned away yesterday but you didn’t. Instead, you sacrificed your day to watch me as a baby. Not everybody would’ve done that.”, she sincerely said and Amity blushed a little, but recognized the honest tone of her voice.

“… Not a problem. I couldn’t just leave you alone with Hooty. I wouldn’t have felt right with that.”

Luz nodded, then she smiled.

“Thanks for not giving me that trauma, even if I wouldn’t have remembered.”, she chuckled and Amity couldn’t help but laugh a little as well.

“You’re welcome.”, she mumbled, even feeling comfortable around Luz, before Eda entered the room and brought a small cup of the potion with her.

“Time to turn back to normal, kid. Even if I’m gonna miss the swearing.”, she grinned and Luz furrowed her eyebrows.

“I’ve been swearing?”, she asked and Eda chuckled.

“Just drink the potion.”, she lifted a hand, “It’s for real this time. No more aging up or down. It’s a simple reverse potion to lift spells. You’ll be an awkward teenie again.”

Luz nodded at that and smiled, before looking back at Amity. Then she gripped the blanket around her tighter and took the cup from Eda, downing it in one gulp.

It took a second, before a glow emitted from her and the normal, fourteen-year-old Luz sat in her place. Amity slowly breathed out in relief. Finally, she had her Luz back. Even if she was still naked. But Luz had already put on some underwear before Amity had even had the time to remark that, and before she knew better, a cheery Luz in her normal leggings and shorts and a sports bra sat beside her while Eda had gone to wash up, grinning as she gestured for her hoodie.

“I’d like that back now if you don’t mind?”, she grinned and Amity chuckled with a faint blush on her cheeks. At least she could properly talk to this version of Luz.

“Yes, right. Sorry.”, she pulled off the hoodie and handed the still warm fabric back to Luz who put it on, then they grinned at each other.

“So…”, Luz began, stretching as she enjoyed having her normal body back, “I still don’t remember baby me. But older me seems kinda nice! Even if it bothers me that she swears. Maybe I’ll keep an ear out for that, and instead not start swearing.”

At that, Amity had to laugh.

“Yeah, maybe that’d make you nicer. You were kinda pushing my buttons as older you.”, she admitted and Luz blushed. Amity almost rubbed her eyes when the pink shade dusted across Luz’s cheeks.

“Sorry. I remember I enjoyed that, though it seems like last week, not a few minutes ago.”, she giggled awkwardly, then she hummed, “What’re you still planning today? It’s a free day, so, we could maybe hang out?”

Was that a date?

Amity felt giddy at the thought.

“I’d like to spend a day with normal you now.”

---

Let me know if you liked it!

#toh #the owl house #amity blight #luz noceda #edric blight #emira blight #eda clawthorne #baby luz #fanfic #some more tooth rotting fluff

[chiaki-translation]

Luminous Circus: Event Translation Ch9-10

I deliver~ Made it in time before the JP announcement too, I figured I need to do this before I got distracted by Glitter Kazu (because I totally will). The Epilogue will be out in an hour or so too because I need to stare at some of the Kanji that I had a hard time with...

But last 2 chapters of course will be another freakishly long play~ Well, this one actually not as long as Stray Devil Blues and Magician so I’m quite fine with it. Translation under the cut, without further ado, enjoy~

Ch3-4 / / Ch5-6 / / Ch7-8 / / Ch9-10 / / Epilogue

Disclaimer:

A3! is owned by Liber Entertainment

Translator’s Note: I don’t think they mentioned the role before the play, but Homare is playing George the Troupe Leader, Kazunari is playing Tim the Clown, Muku is playing Nick the Animal Tamer, Sakuya is playing Will the Trapeze Artist.

Takao:

My lady—You have received an invitation letter.

Homare’s Grandmother:

An invitation?

“Amore~ Continue your memory to make it eternal…”

…Such an awkward child.

Same as that person though.

We’re going out tonight.

Please prepare to take out the car.

Takao:

Understood.

<Shifts to Backstage>

Homare:

--Ah, the unforeseen heat shook the air.

It’s now or never, it’s time to light the core of this theatre--!

Director:

!? What happened, Homare-san!?

Homare:

What is it?

I’m just reciting my poem as per usual.

Director:

No matter how I look at it, that’s not the usual thing.

Sakuya:

It’s my first time that I actually understand the meaning of Homare’s poem!

Muku:

Me too!

It clearly conveys the atmosphere of the stage right before the performance and it’s wonderful!

Kazunari:

Ooh! Is it Aririn’s new style!?

Homare:

Hmm, it seems that the costume’s button is misplaced.

Director:

… Homare-san, are you maybe feeling nervous?

Homare:

I don’t know such thing like nervousness. My heart just beat slightly faster and it’s affecting my behaviour, that’s all.

Director:

Isn’t that basically being nervous…

Kazunari:

It’s unusual for Aririn to be nervous.

Sakuya:

Is there anything happening today?

Homare:

It’s nothing, it’s just the usual, a general performance day that’s unchanging.

Director:

(The longer this conversation goes, the weirder it gets…)

…Ah, by the way, the invitation ticket that we gave Homare’s grandmother is for the first day right.

Muku:

Is it because your grandmother will be coming?

Homare:

What did you say. There’re grandmothers around on every performance of ours aren’t they.

See, over there too, here too, that side too, on top of your head too--

Sakuya:

There’s no such place!

Homare:

(He’s really nervous…)

Kazunari:

Aririn, relax!

Come, let’s gather around!

Homare:

Ye, yeah!

Kazunari:

Since it’s circus, let’s all raise our hands to form a circus tent--

Homare:

It’s really nice and artistic!

Kazunari:

Right!

Muku:

The cheers from the troupe leader please!

Homare:

Hmm! Then, for the sake of the audience’s smile—

Luminous Circus Troupe, let’s go!

Kazunari:

Oh!

Sakuya:

Oh!

Muku:

Let’s go!

Director:

Do your best!

Homare:

Yes. I’ll be going first, Director-kun.

Director:

(He’s completely back to his usual self and he looks calm now.

I’m so glad!)

<Shifts to Audience’s Seat>

Homare’s Grandmother:

…

<Shifts to Circus’ Backstage>

George:

Hey hey, you! Have you perfected the preparation for tonight’s show!?

Will:

That’s impossible, Leader! Look at this, this swing! The handles are gone and it’s impossible to hang it now.

George:

There’s no problem. Just hang it with a rope and it should be fine! Oh yeah, I’ve decided that the program name will be “The Jungle’s Tarzan Show”!

Will:

I’m a trapeze artist! Not a Tarzan!

Nick:

Anyway, we don’t even have one animal around.

How do you expect us to hold a show?

George:

I’ve thought of a solution for that. Use this!

Nick:

Animal mascot…?

George:

Tim, you’ll become the elephant. Will will become the lion.

Nick:

Such a childish trick, will this kind of thing be able to convince the audiences!?

Tim:

George, the big ball has cracks too, I won’t be able to ride on it.

George:

Then, Will, you’ll play as the big ball!

Will:

Stop with your bullshit already!

Director:

(Everyone looks calm.

You can tell that they’re having fun, I can’t help but to have fun over here too.)

<Shifts to Circus’ Stage>

Tim:

“Paoooon”

(TLN: That’s the elephant sound in Japan.)

Will:

“Garurururu!”

Audience A:

What kind of trick is that!

Audience B:

Return us our money!

Audience A:

You’re just making fool of the audiences!

Audience B:

I’ll never come back here again!

George:

Please wait a minute.

There will be a big guest after this--

Audience:

I’m going home!

Nick:

Ha…

Will:

I wonder if I should have roared louder…

Tim:

I don’t think that’s the problem.

George:

Rejoice everyone!

After the arrival of our big guest, we will have a lot of audiences pouring in!

Then that way, we can fix the swing, even getting an animal for the show!

Nick:

That big guest of yours, when will he be coming?

Will:

It’s been a long time since the performance negotiation.

George:

He’ll come soon!

I’ve already paid the performance fee too!

Nick:

From the beginning, why would a famous person who has been appearing in multiple TV shows agreed to perform in such a small circus troupe like ours.

Will:

Wait… Did you just get scammed!?

George:

That, cannot be!

Nick:

You just used all the money we worked hard for just to get scammed, what are we going to do from now on!?

Will:

We can’t do show anymore, we don’t have any money, isn’t this the end of our troupe!

George:

Ah, calm down! If it’s the guest, he will arrive tomorrow!

It’s already late today. Let’s have dinner, rest, and prepare for tomorrow!

Tim:

George, we don’t even have money for food.

Homare:

What are you saying. There should be enough from today’s ticket sale--

Tim:

I’ve been flooded with request for refund. So everything’s gone.

Will:

Eh!

Nick:

No way~!

George:

Everyone, not to worry! If that’s the case, I have an idea!

Homare’s Grandmother:

…

Director:

(Homare’s grandmother doesn’t change her expression much, I can’t tell what she’s thinking…

But she looks like she’s actually enjoying the show.)

<Shifts to Monastery>

Sister:

Next person please.

May God bless you all.

Nick:

Leader’s idea is, to get the food ration from the monastery…?

Will:

So today’s dinner will be a bowl of potato soup…

Tim:

Most probably tomorrow too.

Nick:

Ha~…

George:

We should be able to get good food tomorrow due to the arrival of the guest.

Let’s just rest our stomach today with this.

Will:

Leader, I wonder where does your positive attitude come from.

Nick:

I’m so jealous.

<Shifts to Circus Outdoor>

George:

Oh?

Baby:

Gyaa, gyaa.

Will:

A baby!? Why is he in this kind of place--

Tim:

It seems to be an abandoned child.

George:

He’ll get cold if he stays in this place. Let’s bring him inside!

<Shifts to Circus’ Backstage>

Baby:

Gyaa, gyaa.

Nick:

Is he feeling hungry? Or is he feeling unwell?

George:

There there.

Will:

Isn’t it better for us to start looking for his mother?

Tim:

It’s no use. A mother who left him in such a place, she’ll just leave him behind in another place afterwards.

Nick:

Then, what should we do?

Tim:

I guess we have no choice but to leave him with the orphanage.

It seems that the monastery over there also functions as an orphanage…

Baby:

Bwee…

George:

Look at him, he’s smiling!

Will:

So he was just cold.

George:

Let’s use this child for tightrope walk!

His face looks like a face of a good tightrope walker!

Nick:

What kind of face is that.

Tim:

From the beginning, we can’t afford to feed him.

We don’t have money to buy milk.

Will:

You’re right, we can’t even feed ourselves.

George:

Not to worry, after the guest arrive tomorrow, you want one or two babies, even 50 babies will not be a problem.

Tim:

George, we don’t know yet whether the guest will actually come tomorrow.

Are you planning to starve the baby to death?

George:

But…

Baby:

Fuee, fuee.

Nick:

There there, you’re so cute.

This child reminds me of Leo’s kid.

Will:

Don’t make it sounds like he’s a lion’s child.

George:

Hey, it’s not a good idea to bring him out again at this timing, why don’t we keep him here for today.

Tim:

How about the money to buy milk?

George:

That, that… I know!

We just need to pawn this stick!

Tim:

George, isn’t that an important stuff that you received when you become the troupe leader.

George:

What about it. I’ll get it back soon, no worries.

<Time Skip>

Baby:

Zzz, zzz…

George:

There there.

Nick:

Leader!

George:

What happened? Has the guest arriv--

Nick:

The lion, Leo, has returned!

George:

What?

Tim:

No, rather than return, it’s more correct to say that the animal mascot has become a real lion.

Nick:

There’re elephants also!

Will:

The swing handles and the big ball too, it seems everything’s fixed! It’s a miracle!

George:

What!?

Tim:

By the way, there’s still no sign of the guest coming at all.

George:

That’s weird, he should be arriving soon…

Will:

Well, it doesn’t matter anymore!

Nick:

You’re right, we can do the show with these!

Let’s start the preparation for the show now!

<Shifts to Circus’ Stage>

George:

Then, the first appearance will be of a brilliant dancer in the sky, let’s welcome our trapeze artist, Will!

Will:

Ha!

Audience A:

Woah!

Audience B:

Amazing! He can make a full turn from such a high place!

Audience C:

It’s like he’s actually born with a wing on his back!

Director:

(Since Sakuya-kun said he wanted to do circus, it seems that he has been learning a lot from Misumi-kun. He really practiced hard and the result is showing properly.)

George:

Our next performance, the clown, Tim!

Kazunari:

Hyoitto.

Audience A:

That clown is juggling while riding the ball!

Audience B:

It’s like the ball is his feet itself.

Audience C:

If you say that, the thrown ball looks like it’s being sucked back straight to his hands.

Director:

(Kazunari-kun, as expected, is really dexterous with his hand.

He fits the role of the easygoing Tim perfectly, the way he casually supports the lead, George, also fits him.)

George:

The next one will be our animal tamer, Nick and Leo the lion!

Lion:

Roar!

Nick:

Let’s go, Leo!

Audience A:

Woah! It jumped through the ring!

Audience B:

He really tamed the lion well.

Director:

(Muku-kun looks so alive.

He really fits well with a fantasy like world like this.)

George:

Thank you for coming!

We look forward to your next visit!

Audience A:

That was fun~!

Audience B:

I want to watch again!

Nick:

Yes, it was a great success!

Will:

With this we will be able to afford dinner today!

George:

That’s amazing, Will.

Even though you haven’t been practicing so much.

Will:

I feel that my body was so light today as if a magic was casted on me!

Tim:

Nick too, to be able to put such performance on a short notice.

Nick:

Well, me too actually, I feel like the animal suddenly understand my words and they did the tricks so smoothly.

Tim:

I also feel like that, it’s like I don’t even need to balance myself on the big ball, the juggling balls too, they came back to my hands wherever I threw them to.

George:

As if a magic spell has been casted huh.

Baby:

Fuee, fuee.

Nick:

Ah, is it going to be time for milk soon?

George:

I see! Surely, this child is a messenger of good luck!

This child has brought good luck for us!

Tim:

Cannot be…

Will:

But, it’s true that it’s only after this child arrives…

Nick:

That means, it’s actually true…?

George:

There’s no mistake!

Baby:

Fugyaa, fugyaa.

Tim:

Anyway, let’s just give him his milk first, George.

Director:

(More than anything else, Homare-san’s George is… A bit direct and straightforward, but you can’t hate him. It fits Homare-san perfectly.

I feel that their warm feelings, of wanting to entertain the audiences, of wanting to entertain Homare’s grandmother too, are being conveyed properly.)

<End of Chapter 9>

Passerby A:

If I had to choose, of course it has to be the Luminous Circus Troupe!

Passerby B:

You’re right, they really perform like magic!

It’s definitely worth watching at least once!

Mogiri:

Today’s same day performance ticket is sold out~!

Passerby C:

Eh~! Even thought I want to watch it!

Suspicious Man:

…Luminous Circus Troupe?

That shabby and worn-out circus troupe?

<Shifts to Circus’ Backstage>

George:

Behold, there are requests for performance coming from everywhere!

As I thought, it’s thanks to this child!

Will:

With this, we don’t need to be worried that we’ll have nothing to eat tomorrow.

Nick:

The Luminous Circus Troupe is now safe!

Tim:

It will be great if things stay this way.

George, have you secured the big guest?

George:

We don’t need him anymore!

As long as this child is here, everything will go well!

Tim:

Are you sure it’s fine?

George:

Of course, Tim.

You would also oppose the idea of relying on a guest right.

Tim:

That’s true, but there won’t be any change like this--

George:

Hmm? Did you say something.

Tim:

…Nothing.

Baby:

*Smile--

George:

There there. Up high!

Suspicious Man:

…

<Shifts to Circus’ Stage>

Nick:

Huh? The baby’s not here?

Will:

That’s weird. He was sleeping over here not so long ago.

Lion:

Growl.

Nick:

Hmm? What is it, Leo.

Will:

I wonder if Leader took him somewhere.

Lion:

Growl.

Nick:

Leo seems to be a bit unsettled. Something might had happened.

Will:

Isn’t he just a bit hungry.

Nick:

But, he’s growling towards that direction over there.

Will:

Over there?

Nick:

Ah! The window over there!

Suspicious Man:

…

Will:

Who is it, he--

Nick:

He had the baby with him!

Will:

Eh!?

Nick:

Is it a kidnapper!?

What to do, we have to hurry up and chase him!

Will:

It will be faster if I use the swing to go there!

<Shifts to Circus Outdoor>

Will:

Hey, wait!

Suspicious Man:

!?

Will:

Return the baby!

Nick:

Get him, Will!

Leo, block the exit!

Lion:

Roar!

Suspicious Man:

Ugh…!

George:

What is happening over here?

Tim:

What kind of commotion is this?

Nick:

Ah, Leader!

That man over there is trying to kidnap the baby!

George:

What!?

Tim:

Let’s catch him!

Will:

Just stay still!

Suspicious Man:

Damn it!

George:

Uhh, he ran away.

Nick:

But, I’m glad the baby is safe.

Will:

Regardless, why would he even try to kidnap the baby in the first place?

Nick:

Maybe, he’s the baby’s father?

Tim:

No, that face, I feel that I’ve seen him in a different circus troupe before.

Most probably, he heard about our recent successes and realized that this child is the secret behind it.

George:

The secret, you’re referring to this child being the messenger of good luck?

Tim:

Yeah.

Will:

That means, he’s going to be targeted again?

Tim:

That, if people know that he can bring in a lot of money, there bound to be some people out there who will want to get hold of him.

Nick:

Isn’t that bad! We have to be even more careful from now on!

George:

…

Will:

We have to keep an eye on the baby, Leader!

George:

…

Nick:

Leader?

George:

Eh!? Ah, uh, yeah, that’s right, let’s do that.

Tim:

…

<Shifts to Circus’ Backstage>

Baby:

Zzz…

Nick:

Leader, it’s time to change. Please get some sleep.

Will:

We will take over from here.

George:

Ah, yeah.

Will, Nick, what do you think of the recent Luminous Circus Troupe.

Nick:

What I think…

Will:

Isn’t it great.

Everyday’s full with everyone’s appreciation and the audiences seem to enjoy themselves.

Nick:

Yep yep.

George:

Nick, about Leo, I’m sorry.

Nick:

No… I was shocked when I heard about Leo, but there’s nothing we can do about it.

At that point, we also had a lot of trouble with Leo’s food.

Will:

What happened, Leader. Why do you make such face.

Luminous Circus Troupe finally return to its previous state, aren’t you supposed to be more excited?

Nick:

Right. You said it yourself, we were going to call the big guest in and make a comeback right.

We were scammed by the big guest, but the result is still the same.

George:

Yeah, you’re right…

Will:

You don’t need to worry anymore. Even when we don’t practice, the show will still go well, the audiences are pretty happy too.

Nick:

Yep yep. As long as this child is here, the Luminous Circus Troupe is safe!

George:

…

The two of you, I will look after this child tonight.

Please sleep so you can prepare for tomorrow’s show.

Nick:

Eh, are you sure?

Will:

Please be really careful.

Call us if anything happened!

<Shifts to Monastery>

Sister:

…I understand the situation.  I’ll take over from here.

George:

Thank you so much.

Sister:

May God bless you and this child.

Baby:

Zzz…

George:

…

<Shifts to Circus Outdoor>

Tim:

George.

George:

!! Tim, why are you here…

Tim:

I just have a feeling you’ll be here.

George:

It’s as you said.

It was wrong from the beginning to rely on something else.

…Tim, do you remember the time when you entered this circus troupe?

Tim:

Yeah. We were both the clown’s apprentice, I couldn’t even perform one thing right at that time.

George:

At that time, I couldn’t help but to think that the practices and shows were fun. Everyday was like a festival on its own.

I love the circus troupe that puts a smiling face on everyone, including the troupe members and the audiences.

But, I wonder when.

I started to become so fixated on money…

I want that child to return to his normal life and live happily. I even involved him in such a dangerous situation. This should be the best for him.

Tim:

If that’s what Leader decides, I have nothing against it.

George:

…Thank you, Tim. I wonder if Will and Nick will be angry.

Tim:

Everyone knows that George is only thinking for the best of the Luminous Circus Troupe.

George:

Yeah…

<Shifts to Circus’ Backstage>

Nick:

Woah! Leader, bad news! The animals have turned into mascots--!

Will:

The swing is in shambles!

Nick:

Eh!? Where’s the baby!?

George:

I’m sorry, by the time I realized, he’s gone.

Nick:

Eh!? By gone you mean…

Will:

I thought we told you to watch over him yesterday night!

George:

I’m sorry.

Will:

We have to hurry and find him!

Tim:

It’s impossible now isn’t it.

Nick:

No way--!

<Shifts to Circus’ Stage>

Director:

(For the Luminous Circus Troupe who had lost its magic, they have no choice but to showcase a poor looking performance, similar to what they had before…)

Audience A:

Get lost!

Audience B:

Return our money!

Audience C:

I’m not going to come again!

Will:

…

Nick:

…

George:

Everyone, it’s too bad today!

There’s still tomorrow, if we just change our mindset--

Nick:

Stop it.

George:

Eh!?

Nick:

There’s no animal here, I can’t perform.

Will:

Me too, without the swings, I can’t fly.

I can’t follow you anymore, Leader.

Nick:

Excuse me.

George:

The two of you—

Uh…

Naturally, this is the result…

To think that I’ll be the last leader of the Luminous Circus troupe…

Past Troupe Leader:

Everyone, behold! The next one will be a beautiful show in the sky!

George:

!?

Th, that is…?

It can’t be, that senior shouldn’t be here anymore--

Past Troupe Leader:

Next will be the best tamer!

Lion:

Roar!

Audience A:

Woah!

Audience B:

Amazing!

Past Troupe Leader:

George, Tim! Hurry and bring in the props!

Past George:

Yes!

George:

--

Right, I couldn’t do anything back then.

Nothing at all… It doesn’t change now.

I guess, it’s a good time to start over from the beginning.

Director:

(In the end, George is filled with such humanity, his regrets and longing, the feelings are properly conveyed.

Homare-san said that he cannot understand people’s feelings properly, but that’s not the case at all. Otherwise, he won’t able to play George with such emotion, it’s so fascinating and we’re all pulled towards his performance.)

Tim:

George? So you’re here?

George:

Tim! Look, the seniors from the past are over there--!

Tim:

Seniors from the past? What are you talking about?

George:

--

Just now, the Luminous Circus Troupe from the past was just there—

Nevermind, it’s nothing.

Tim:

?

George:

Can you help me call Nick and Will over.

I want to try talking to them again.

Director:

(George called Will and Nick over to talk and settle the situation, he has decided to start over from the beginning.)

<Shifts to Monastery>

Director:

(And then, time passed--)

Grown Baby:

Hey hey, there’s a circus troupe coming to this town!

Sister:

Oh, it’s been a while. It’s been around 10 years I guess.

Grown Baby:

I haven’t been born at that time.

Sister:

You’re right, maybe it’s when you were just a little baby.

Grown Baby:

I’m looking forward to it. I heard it’s a circus troupe that shows a magic like illusion.

Children:

Hey, the circus car is here!

Grown Baby:

Really!? I want to see!

Director:

(In the midst of the children’s laughter, the Luminous Circus Troupe once again set up their circus tent…)

<Shifts to Mankai Stage>

Homare’s Grandmother:

…

Director:

(Homare-san’s feelings, I’m pretty sure it’s conveyed properly to his grandmother.)

Kazunari:

Thank you!

Sakuya:

Thank you so much!

Muku:

Thank you so much!

Homare’s Grandmother:

…Thank you.

Homare:

--

Thank you so much.

<Shifts to Lobby>

Homare’s Grandmother:

…

Director:

Arisugawa-san!

Homare’s Grandmother:

--

Director:

Do you want to meet Homare-san?

I’m sure he wants to hear your impression.

Homare’s Grandmother:

…I’ll tell him when he comes home.

Otherwise, he won’t come home at all.

My daughter is always lonely.

Even though he used to come home often.

That’s all, I had fun here.

Director:

I’ll tell Homare-san just that.

Homare’s Grandmother:

Please do so.

Then, I’ll take my leave--

Homare:

Grandmother!

Homare’s Grandmother:

--If you want my impression, I’ll tell you at home.

Homare:

Please wait a minute.

This--

Homare’s Grandmother:

A watch?

Homare:

I haven’t thanked you for the pocket watch yet.

Homare’s Grandmother:

…

Homare:

Thank you for giving me your memorable item from grandfather.

Since then, it won’t move no matter how much I tried to fix it.

Homare’s Grandmother:

I see.

Are you going to dispose it?

Homare:

No. Even thought it has stopped moving, this watch is full of a lot of important memories.

Grandfather’s feelings, grandmother’s feelings, and after that, the feelings of my comrades from this theatre troupe…

Even if it’s just a junk who can’t fulfill its role as a watch, it’s not something that I don’t need anymore.

That’s what I learned from this theatre troupe.

In the end what I received is a place that I love, just like this watch.

Homare’s Grandmother:

…Treasure it properly.

Homare:

Yes.

Thank you so much for today.

Homare’s Grandmother:

…

Homare:

Eh…

Grandmother just now… you smiled!

It’s an important moment, one that I haven’t seen in ten years!

Director:

That’s more important than any impression right.

Homare:

Yes!

<End of Chapter 10>

#a3! #a3! act! addict! actors! #a3! event #a3! translation #kazunari miyoshi #arisugawa homare #sakisaka muku #sakuya sakuma #a3! mixed play

[lovingpartydeputyeagle]

Notes: Hi lyric and I guess Naomi, so for this story I basically tried to make it like tutor sessions but I wanted to put my own twist on it to make it like some of the other stories that I have been reading here’s a little disclaimer basically Lyric is the main character and Naomi is her best friends or her side character or whatever and there is a brief mention of hawks but the love interest or whatever is Dabi yeah. I wrote it on here cause like no one knows that I have tumbler I didn’t want to do it on wattpad. Hopefully you like this 😐

It was the first day back to school and over the summer you had gone through a horrible break up which wasn't the best way to spend summer but your entire focus was gonna be on school this year no more relationships. You thought to yourself.

As you entered you first period, you see your friend Naomi... she called you over "hey Lyric! come sit by me" you then walked over to your seat and set everything down while the rest of the kids came into the classroom.

As the class began your teacher projects "welcome back to school students my name is Mr.Jean and this year you will be taking AP history or in other words advanced history". "This year we have two students who are sophomores but were allowed to take this upper class because of their high GPA."

"Their names are Lyric and Naomi if you turn and look back they are sitting in the corner" Everyone turned to look back at you guys for about 5 seconds and for the most part you thought nothing of it, but this one guys with black hair and burn marks who was quite cute in your eyes stared a little longer. The guy sitting next to him with blonde hair grabbed him and said "dude turn around don't be a creep".

The teacher sighs, "Hawks and Dabi please don't forget that you guys are retaking this class because you goofed off last year, you're seniors get it together."

They both looked embarrassed and you kinda felt bad for them, you look over to see Naomi not even paying attention to them though, that made you a little upset since her and the blonde would definitely look good together.

As class ended you went to your other 5 courses, and thank god that you didn't have to see your ex since you guys didn't have any periods together. That made you super relieved, it was about 6:00 and you were done with cheer practice. You headed back to your dorm where Naomi already had been since she didn't do much after school. You were able to stay on campus in high school because of dual enrolment.

You dropped your things and plopped on your bed, you weren't planning on going to sleep because you wanted to shower but Naomi forgot to wake you up even though you told her 10 times to wake you up!. It was the next day 8:00 Am to be specific and class started at 7:45 you were late...or at least you were gonna be REALLY late ! You jumped up and quickly yelled "Naomi ! Wake up ! ....we are so late you didn't wake me up last night or set an alarm ! UHHH!"

"Lyric calm down, I fell asleep and couldn't wake you it's just class." "You are only mad cause you might see Your ex Todoroki in the halls because he's usually late to class too. You reply "uhh okay yeah maybe, anyways wait for me until I get out the shower we might as well be really late cause I don't wanna go to class smelly" You both got ready and headed to your first period where you saw Dabi and Hawks, something about Dabi had you so intrigued but uu didn’t know what it was. The entire class period you couldn’t stop thinking about him.

When class ended you quickly snapped out of it and thought about the promise you made to yourself after what you went through with Todoroki, boys would not be something that distracted you. At lunch you sat with Naomi and told her that she should definitely get with Hawks cause they would look so good together. She responded “don’t think that I didn’t notice the way you were looking at Dabi the whole class, let’s talk about that.

You looked confused and responded “no he’s not my type”.... “Who’s not your type?” said a deep voice coming from behind you, “oh um hi ! You responded “you’re in my first period right” “yeah my name is Dabi and this is Hawks, can we sit here?” Naomi nodded “yeah definitely, we weren’t talking about anything serious.”

He smirks “oh okay...that’s good to hear ladies”

Hawks turns and starts to have a conversation with Naomi while Dabi turns and faces towards you. He laughs “so I mean I can hear pretty good, who is this guy that’s not really your type”.....you blush “oh um that was just a little inside joke I promise , it’s nothing to dwell on. He says “hmm okay whatever you say, so how are you liking Mr jeans class Lyric, it must be so easy because you were able to get in because of your high GPA.”

You respond “to be honest the work seems kind of hard, harder than I expected” Dabi says “oh so “smartie” can’t even get that mans work done he’s such a pain in the ass.” You think to yourself wow this guy is pretty funny...maybe I shouldn’t push him away.

He says in his monotone voice “well since we both seem to be struggling...maybe we could have a study sesh, ya know for the upcoming quiz next week”. You respond “uhm yeah this Saturday right after the football game I can come to your dorm” his face lights up “yeah that’s perfect since I’m playing in the game, and your a cheerleader right”? “yeah, uh yeah I am”you responded.

Fast forward to Saturday you and Naomi head to the field and she wishes you good luck. You start to get in formation while you see Dabi warming up, he smiles at you. You turn around quickly because the game is starting. You and your squad are about to go on, you see Dabi from the corner of your eye looking your way...omg why does he have to be so hot it’s making me nervous you think to yourself. Uh I’m gonna forget the routine.

Luckily you didn’t forget and everything went just as planned. When the game ended it was around 8:00 Pm, You and Naomi headed away from the bleachers when you heard that same deep voice of Dabi yell “Hey! Lyric and Naomi” you both turn around to see him and Hawks running . Hawks says “hey Naomi we are still on for hanging out ?” She reply’s “uh yeah totally”, Dabi says “yeah Lyric we are still on too right?” You responded yes and then He hugged you goodbye that gave you butterflies.

You and Naomi make it back to the dorms, she smirks “I didn’t know you and Dabi had a little thing going onnnn...” you rolled your eyes “we are just studying, plus I’m pretty sure you and Hawks will be doing way more stuff than us tonight .She replied “yeah okay whatever you say I knew I was right, don’t let Todoroki hold you back, not everyone is like him” you ignored her and you guys proceeded to each get in the shower and then get ready.

When you both were finished you realized that it worked perfectly because while Hawks went to you and Naomi’s dorm you would be gone, and while you were at Dabi’s dorm Hawks would be gone. You saw the blonde approaching you...he asked “so Lyric is Naomi ready?, Dabi is ready for you and our dorm is 5b2 just in case you forgot. You reply “uh yeah Naomi is ready, okay bye”

You knocked on Dabi’s dorm and he hugged you again, everything was surprisingly neat and it smelled really, really good. He says “uhm you can sit at the desk I’ll be there in a minute I have to get my books” he came running back and sat right next you. “Okay so we are just taking notes for the study guide” you said he responded “yeah”.

He then wrote his name on the paper [dabi ackerman] your eyes quickly opened wide you thought... no, no way AKERMAN!? the same last name as Todoroki ? You asked “um akerman..that’s your last name don’t tell me you have a brother named Todoroki?”

He responded “uh yeah I do actually he’s in the same grade as you right..how do you know him?” You sigh “we dated last year and ended things over the summer” he looks shocked “ohhh you were the girl he was talking about, yeah my brother is a total piece of shit when it comes to relationships” he puts his hand on your thighs and reassures you “but i promise I’m nothing like him”

He slowly moves his fingers up your thigh “hey Lyric, tell me did you really come here to just study” you responded “well...that was my intention bu-

He cuts of your sentence and kisses you, “I know you didn’t, you can’t be as innocent as you look”. He grabs your hips and lays you down on the bed as he starts to unbuckle his belt, You could see how hard he was through his pants. You gave in, even though he was Todoroki’s brother you wanted to have some fun so you entertained the situation.

You pulled off his black tank top and put your hands in his pants, you then pulled him on the bed and got on top of him. You could see that he was very turned on and the mood was set because of course he already had music playing. You started to kiss his stomach all the way down to his dick.

You put your lips on the tip and his head titled back in pleasure “uh yeah fuck just like that” he then stood up over you and put his hands around your neck “be a good girl like you claim to be, and put the whole thing in your mouth” you did as he said, he still had his head tilted back as tears were running down your face and black eyeliner was dripping, you pulled yourself back and only focused on tip knowing that was his most sensitive place.

He said “oh so your being a bad girl, looks like I’ll have to punish you”. He pulled you up by your hair and pushed you on the bed, he groaned “panties off NOW” you looked away and thought “damn I didn’t wear any” he smirked “oh so you must wanna get torn up” he proceeded to start licking his way down your stomach then he pulled your sweats off with his mouth.

“Oh so no panties, your such a slut baby girl” he pulled your sweats off and kept eye contact with you. As he spit on your cunt, he stuck out his tongue and licked up and down your clit, the metal from his tongue piercing felt so good...you moaned..“uh- yea- !” He whispered “shhh other people will hear you”.

You moaned “uhhh I’- im cumming Dabi, you came in his mouth he smirked “does that turn you on..the thought that other people could hear you being a whore?” ..without warning he put 2 fingers in you moving in and out fast. “Dabi please! I- I can’t anymore... he laughed “yeah you can and you will, this tight little pussy needs stretching Lyric. He put his hand on your thighs and pulled your legs over his neck while he destroyed your cunt. You put your hand around his hands for support as you felt yourself coming close to your edge.

Dabi notices you tighten around his fingers and says “we can’t have my bad little slut cumming 2 times in a row” he gets up off his knees and turns you around so your ass is up. He takes your shirt off and fondles your titties, you move back pressing yourself on his dick “you’re so needy, you just can’t wait to have my cock inside you darling..huh?”

He teases your pussy by rubbing up against you, you sigh “please Dabi put it in I can’t take it anymore I want you inside of me !” He waste no time and starts ramming into your cunt. Dabi groans “your so fucking tight I’m gonna give you my baby” you cry “it feels so good DEEPER! please” not knowing what you got yourself into he puts his full length in you.

It was so big and thick that you couldn’t feel your legs, Dabi notices and pulls you up by putting one arm around your waist and the other on your neck. He turns your head around and presses his lips against yours...while saliva is dripping from both of your mouths.

You feel his cock twitching inside you, he knows your legs are giving out but he turns on his back and says “ride” you did as he said and started to bounce on his dick, he moans “f- fuck yeah baby girl cum on my dick” you kept riding until you couldn’t do it anymore you felt yourself coming close to an orgasm again but you fell on his chest.

He grabbed your ass and started to thrust hard into your cunt, you could feel it so deep in your stomach. You moaned “d- Dabi I’m cumming please give me your baby” you felt his dick twitching inside you and he released his load while his blue eyes were staring into yours.

You both exhale and lay on your backs he laughs “damn we just did that” you laugh “yeah...give me your number, I kinda like you. He says “yeah I like you too Lyric”. You guys exchange numbers and then you guys put back on your clothes..he notices that your legs are still shaking.

He giggles “I’m gonna carry you back to your dorm” you said okay... you got onto his back and you guys made it to the dorm where Naomi and Hawks were together. Dabi knocked and said “hey open up” !nobody answered so yall figured that they must’ve went to sleep together.

Dabi then carried you back to his dorm and said “well I guess you can sleep here tonight” you got into his bed and he cuddled you . Not knowing that you were awake, he whispered “I hope we can do this again soon, I know you’re the one.” You smiled and fell asleep with him.

[let-it-show]

All The Love I Found In You 6/?

Heeeey so part 5 is right over here! So I actually thought I’d be near wrapped up by now but various parts come creeping in and well there’s more to go. Lol. This is another sickeningly sweet part lol sorry, but it’s nice cause the next part will definitely be heavier.... And not out til next week since I am going on a little trip in the next few days. SORRY. Anyway, Elsa does something for Anna...and makes a big decision. You’ll find part 7 HERE! Enjoy, and tag for @hellodemoiselle !

Pulling themselves out of the embrace to fix up and then leaving the room altogether was near impossible. Elsa decided she was going to stick with Anna the rest of the day. If she had to step away from her anytime soon she felt like she could spiral. That was certainly overdramatic and she knew it, especially since she was starting to grasp some understanding of her feelings.

No matter what she couldn't process being apart from her, which made her think even more  about leaving Ahtohallan.

If Kristoff was going then she definitely wasn't going to abandon Anna again.

Elsa found herself on Anna's arm as they walked into town once again, their heads close together. She felt strange, that with Anna she was also in a protective bubble and all the outside was muffled from her mind. Had she not known otherwise, she would have wondered if she were sleepily drunk.

Some heads turned toward them as they walked and Elsa could swear they were seeing a glow about them. Perhaps some individuals could sense it the way Menander could. Or maybe they were happy to see the sisters as excitement and celebrations were about the town. The party was for the castle and council, staff and such - bu citizens knew they were having a gathering with a kingdom they were peaceful with and that was always to be enjoyed.

The joy in the air only added to how Elsa felt.

She belonged there, in her home that was so warm and beautiful. The Northuldra were welcoming and treated her kindly. But Arendelle had something the forest was unable to imitate.

Either one of them, Elsa had the freedom to choose. She could be free anywhere she wanted and it felt like that thought just then clicked into place even as she had thought of it before.

They stopped outside a clothing shop, and Elsa was briefly able to pull herself away from Anna. That was because, for whatever reason, she felt compelled to get Anna a gift. Anna could have anything she wanted really. Everyone adored her. Still, Elsa felt like she had to do something, get that energy out.

Separating herself from Anna was difficult but once she was inside the shop she was distracted looking for something perfect, something that would really speak to her. Maybe something that spoke to them both was even better.

Initially nothing looked terribly promising, which wasn't a problem with the brightly lit little shop. The clothing was well made by a young woman named Svana. Elsa had met her many times as she had been to the castle to make various items for them. Her work was wonderful but Elsa had to be picky when it came to Anna.

She also made some accessories, and so Elsa drifted off to look at those. The few others shopping looked at her and she tried to meet their gazes with a smile, but she was preoccupied. A necklace with a sunflower? No...too basic. A special ribbon for her hair? That wasn't what she was looking for either. Bracelets, they were nice, but somehow none of them landed for her either.

Then something caught her eye.

Displayed on a little stand was a wooden pendant attached to two black cords braided together and into a necklace. Burnt into the wood was a symbol - two lines crossed with one line featuring two more perpendicular lines sprouting from it and turning the opposite direction of each other. It made what was almost a fully formed square at the center but with half of two sides missing.

Elsa knew what that was and she carefully removed the necklace to buy immediately.

She hurried to Svana with it, not even looking at others inside. It wasn't Anna-like but she didn't care. Svana was a petite white woman with long light brown hair that almost reached her hips. She kept it in a loose ponytail that Elsa imagined would drive her crazy. Svana had a pair of the kindest eyes Elsa had ever seen with a small button nose above a lopsided smile. That smile was offered to Elsa right away.

"Ah, Queen Anna!" Svana greeted her happily. "What a delight seeing you in here! It has been a little while since you stopped in."

"Oh...sorry," Elsa said as she took on a guilty smile. She wasn't sure how often Anna stopped in town to shop. They rarely went in when Elsa visited, preferring to do their own thing together.

Svana shook her head as she took the necklace. "No, no, you are often busy! We know you save free time for your lover or Elsa," she said. "Ah, you've made a wonderful choice here."

"Aha.." Elsa didn't know what to say. Anna's 'lover' who was no longer, how would people take that? "Yes, I certainly have."

"The bind rune for eternal love." Svana sighed. "Such a wonderful feeling. Is this for Kristoff? I almost feel as though he should be purchasing it for you!"

Awkward. "Ah, no, it is-it...it's for me." She nearly said it was for her sister. Normally she probably would have, but what was happening with Kristoff made her hold back for the time being. Elsa was strangely afraid if she said the wrong thing she would end up somehow divulging more than she should, and that information was Anna's to give.

Svana blinked. "Oh." Clearly she hadn't expected that. "How unusual for one to buy a token of love for themselves..."

"Yes well..." She laughed nervously and awkwardly which was at least accurate for Anna. "I like it for thinking about my...love. It reminds me of my love." That much was true even if she was improvising like crazy.

At that, Svana blinked again but her smile grew. "Ah, I see! Oh how interesting that is, I must admit I like it. Sometimes I forget we need our own chosen tokens to reflect our feelings."

"Yes." Elsa reached for money to pay but Svana waved it away.

"No charge for this, my Queen!"

"Oh! No, but I must, you know I don't like to-"

"Please consider it a gift! Today is such a beautiful spring day and there are good feelings all around. I can think of no other conditions under which to gift you with this. It will carry the happiness through to your heart, and make this pendant all the more joyous."

Elsa had been winding up to protest once again, but she stopped, mouth open, regarding what Svana had said. She didn't like to just take things from people and had been given many gifts as a Queen even as she had asked for it not to happen. It felt like too much. Elsa didn't want anyone giving her anything at their own expense; it was even almost embarrassing.

However...what Svana said struck her. It was a special day, and a special gesture. Anna deserved something with so much thought and festivity behind it as well as being from her heart. With that in mind, she decided to accept. "Alright Svana, you've convinced me," she said with a light laugh. She held out her hand as Svana gently slipped the necklace into a little wooden box. "Thank you very very much...I won't forget that you've done this for me," she told her and she meant it. They would have to do something special for the woman.

"Oh Queen Anna, it's an honor," Svana replied as a light brush settled on her cheeks. She placed the box gently in Elsa's hand. "Please enjoy the rest of the day, and I hope you will find a perfect place for this pendant so that you may gaze upon it often."

Elsa knew just the place. She thanked Svana and exited with the little box, seeing Anna was not immediately there. She wasn't far however - just across at a little stand Anna was entertaining a couple of little girls. Her hand spun in the air as she made a little snow duckling dance and do silly things as the kids laughed and tried to imitate it. They fell over each other in their attempts, but that only made them laugh harder.

Anna looked up as Elsa approached. There was an uncharacteristic big grin on her face but Elsa wouldn't be mentioning it. Her heart felt too full and too good to speak a word of criticism to Anna. She just watched her and the little snow duckling. Anna did so well with her powers, and entertaining those kids fit her so well.

"Well, looks like its time for me to keep going," Anna told them, and they gave super sad faces. "Nooo, don't do that..."

"Send them home with a snow duckling," Elsa suggested. Best idea ever? Probably not, but Elsa had indeed created over a hundred tiny snowmen she didn't have control of, so a snow duckling didn't seem like a big deal.

"Ah." Anna laughed. "Okay," she said, and gave the duckling's butt a little scooch with her hand. It peeped as a permafrost spread over it to keep it whole, and scuttled toward the kids who cheered.

And so, they were once again able to move on. "So uh, what did you get?" Anna asked after straightening up and taking Elsa's arm with her own again. Her eyes darted to the box several times. Elsa could feel the excitement radiating through her.

"Let's get to our clearing," she suggested, and Anna tugged her along immediately.

They were able to get there without too much interference. On the way a few more people stopped them, saying how happy they were for the festivities and inviting the Queen and her sister to their various gatherings should they want to leave the castle party. It wasn't totally outlandish - one time they had snuck out of a deathly boring 'ball' and had a better time joining Baggi and some of his friends for dinner. No one had even noticed they had left which was a sign of how terrible the royal gathering had been.

That one time was all it took though for the regular requests to come in.

So they were expected and Elsa thanked each and every individual. Maybe someday they would take up the offer again but too much was on their minds that day and surely that evening. They needed to discuss how to treat questions about Kristoff before the party too.

Elsa had to shrug it off for the time being.

Once they stepped into the clearing, the sunflower could be seen glittering once again. It was a welcome sight. "So, you'll show me now?" Anna asked with a giggle, stepping away from Elsa but holding her hand.

The breeze came and Elsa shivered. "Make us a little shelter," she suggested. "A little igloo?"

"Not a mini ice castle?" Anna teased.

"No." Elsa shook her head as she laughed. "No, I may still be cold in an ice castle. An igloo too, maybe but..." She remembered traveling with Anna over a year ago, and how their tent was destroyed. The result was cuddling each other in an igloo for the night and that warm memory pushed her.

"Igloos are cute." Anna turned away from her and spread her arms, palms out. The snow flowed from them in quick bursts, forming brick by brick. It took but a few moments for the bricks to build and form into a snug igloo, the entry watched over by the sunflower.

Then Anna turned back, took Elsa's hand, and dragged her inside excitedly. Elsa nearly tripped over her own feet in the rush.

Inside the igloo was actually very cozy. With no breeze, it was warmer after all. There wasn't much for light though. Anna seemed to notice immediately and she flicked one hand. Across from them and near the ceiling, a thin sheet of ice formed to give them a window and sparkling light.

Perfect.

"Well then..." Elsa turned the box over in her hand, suddenly feeling a little shy. Was it too much?

"Go on. I'll love it," Anna said gently and touched her arm.

Elsa knew that she was right, but still took a deep breath. Then she held up the box and gently opened it to reveal what was inside. "I-I want you to know-ah, always know how I feel for you. I want you to have a symbol of how we will always be. Always." She was getting tongue tied.

The box was open and Anna's gaze was drawn to it. She stared, and stared, and said nothing for a few seconds. Elsa got nervous...

And then Anna squealed. It was the first time Elsa had ever actually heard herself squeal and it was really weird...but in Anna language, it was a good thing! Her nerves began to disperse as solid thoughts, and a solid decision, came to be in her mind.

"This is-this is the bind rune for-"

"-for eternal love," Elsa finished for her, smiling gently. "This bond, this love between us, it's forever, Anna," she said in a soft voice. "It took a long time for me to actually realize that, and I'm sorry for that. All those years you spent on the other side of my closed door, your heart was so open and ready to understand, while mine wasn't. I've hurt you because I coudn't grasp all that was between us. Anna, I could spend this lifetime regretting it or I could spend it with you, being the soulmate you deserve."

"Elsa..." Anna barely whispered her name, such a difference from her squealing. "Oh Elsa! I...you...I would never want you to regret and I...probably didn't really understand just..."

"Do you like it?" Elsa interrupted.

"I love it!" Anna rocked on her feet for a moment before reaching for the necklace. "I love it...I love you, Elsa. And spending-wait. Do you mean you're going to stay...?"

Elsa nodded, and a split second later she was tackled into the side of the igloo by a tight hug around her torso, arms still out as she tried not to drop the box. It was thrilling and she let out a loud laugh of surprise as Anna embraced her repeating her name over and over and practically vibrating.

"Anna, cold! Side of igloo, cold!" Elsa managed between laughs. Even through her jubilation, she could feel that snowy chill and it was harsh.

"Oops!" Anna made quick work of spinning them around and dragging Elsa closer against her while they hugged against the wall. She nuzzled into the crook of Elsa's shoulder and Elsa rested her head against her sister's.

All was well, until she heard a sniffle. Instantly Elsa took a step back and raised Anna's chin with her finger. "Anna?"

Elsa was met with her face full of tears, but a wide happy smile. "T-tears of happiness Elsa, tears of happiness...here.." She took the little box from Elsa to tuck into a pocket on her dress - Elsa missed being able to create pockets on her clothing - before touching Elsa's arm to turn her.

"What are you...?" Elsa asked as she felt Anna pulling her down.

"Just go with it," Anna told her and down she sat, settling against the igloo and holding Elsa's back to her chest as she sat her between her legs. Anna buried her face against her neck with a happy sigh and squeezed her in her firm grip. She continued to sniffle and Elsa could feel the little tremors through her body.

Despite being fully aware it was happy crying, Elsa still had to fight down anxiety. Hearing and seeing Anna cry always put her on high alert. She was always ready to protect her. With Anna holding her she was able to relax within a couple of minutes.

Once she did, she could really feel the warmth from Anna, and the slight cold on her butt from being on the ground. At least the cape bunching beneath her helped out there. "You're really okay?" she asked quietly.

"Very," came Anna's answer, a little broken from her crying. "You're going to stay. I won't lose you again...will-will I?"

"No, no." Elsa knew she shouldn't speak for the future. She just couldn't see anything that would pull her apart from Anna again. If she had to do something alone, she didn't want to do it, or she would return quickly. She was unwilling to be without her. "I still want to watch some memories at Ahtohallan, I still want to visit the forest but I'll take you with me. I'll show you everything, instead of leaving you alone in the dark." The words flowed out of her mouth without her even thinking about it.

"Show me everything," Anna echoed and hugged her tighter. "Take me with you."

For a while they sat in silence. Anna's sniffling tapered off as she gained some control of herself and Elsa allowed herself to simply take in the moment, her hands resting on Anna's. The icy window drew her attention and she looked up at it in thought. It had always been hard to know when she made the right decision but throughout the recent years she had moments of clarity.

From Anna's sacrifice to save her, telling her she belonged in Arendelle and was not a monster, to chasing the voice of the north wind to Ahtohallan to accept her importance in the world and why she existed, there were those moments where she felt secure. Those moments when she felt the surge of hope and confidence in what she was going to do were so big there could be no question. Sunlight danced on the ice and broke up as it passed through to light on her face. Assurance was what she felt.

"Anna," she finally said and breaking the silence felt criminal. "Anna, you should put on the necklace," she urged.

For a few seconds there was no response. Had she fallen asleep!? And then... "Oh." Anna shifted against her. "But I don't want to move. I'm so happy."

"Me too." She couldn't argue with that, so she decided not to.

Luckily Anna said more. "We do have to go back soon, for supper before the party..it will be fun I guess. I hope you can mostly dance with me."

That's right. She, as queen, would likely end up dancing with Menander and a couple of others just to be friendly and show kindness with the other kingdom, even if everyone was under the impression she was engaged to Kristoff. Ah, Kristoff...she would have to dance with him for appearances and that was going to be awkward. Elsa wasn't feeling too good about that so she didn't bring it up. "I hope so too," she responded.

She felt Anna shifting behind her as she let go of Elsa. She didn't get up though and Elsa didn't move. Unless Anna prompted her to, she was happy to stay down. It mattered little that her rear was getting quite numb. Anna shuffled a little more and then her hands went around Elsa's shoulders with the necklace.

"Anna, I should be putting this on you!" she said as she angled her head to look at her briefly.

"It is going on 'me', silly! When we're back to normal I'll be wearing it. And I like putting it on you while your soul is in there. This bind rune is about both of us."

"I got it for you."

"I know that." Anna fastened the necklace and then touched the pendant where it rested just below her neck. "And I'm putting it on you and I at the same time. Both of us. ...It works okay!?" she finally said with a huff.

"Okay okay!" Elsa laughed. She followed Anna's train of thought and it was very sweet. "Ah, I adore you Anna," she said with a shake of her head and fond smile.

"Lucky me!" Anna replied. "Hey. Um..." Her voice had suddenly changed and Elsa could practically hear the blush. "Will you turn your head again and...I want to kiss you."

Elsa obliged, no urge to comment. Oh, how she loved kissing Anna! Elsa had never thought of herself kissing anyone at all, with her disinterest in any romance. It hadn't bothered her to think she'd never experience it. With Anna the idea of never kissing her again made her heart drop. It was their way to feel and show their love and it was addictive.

Anna's lips met hers right away and Elsa reached up to cradle her head in her arm as her eyes closed. She had much to do, but perhaps they would just stay in the igloo forever instead.

Unfortunately, they couldn't do that. Once more they had to force themselves to release one another, to stand up and exit the igloo. Outside they were met with the snowy outlines of snowmen dancing with each other just above the ground. They twirled together with little stick hands out, then drew close and embraced as they slid in little loops. They continued their fun as the girls walked away.

Elsa couldn't believe the feeling that had so quickly taken her over! She knew it was love, everything that compelled her had been born from love, but she wondered if that was also what falling in love felt like. She'd loved Anna for a long time but as they were sisters much of that was natural. Love grew more as she opened her heart to Anna, then even more as they bled into soulmates.

Where did romance fit in there? Was it romance?

Was it even something she should seek to define?

Perhaps not, she thought as she clutched Anna's hand on the way back to the castle. Her mind seemed to always search, always want to form things into answers she could grasp and make sense of. It'd been that way for so long. Being isolated to her room made her want to learn why she was the way she was and sometimes that came back around to hit her hard. She just had to wave it away and focus on Anna.

Soon enough she couldn't even dwell on that. The castle was already bursting with merriment when they entered. Elsa knew they were incredibly late for  opening the doors to the civilians and entertaining issues but luckily no one seemed to care.

The reason why was easy to see - nearly everyone in the courtyard on the way in right on to the Great Hall, was holding a glass or two of wine. People who had come in seeking the queen, who weren't any kind of royal or kitchen staff? They had wine too.

"Oh dear he started early," Elsa said with a nervous chuckle. Menander usually waited until after supper. Supper! What was he thinking, no one had even eaten!

Anna had a look of horror on her face. "No no no what is he doing! This isn't a party open to everyone who happens to wander in! There's-oh my god what if someone spills drink all over one of the ambassadors and everyone thinks a drunken free for all happened here in Arendelle?"

Elsa nodded, biting her lower lip in worry. The place was festive, nicely decorated with green, gold and purple streamers across the ceiling and hanging decorations featuring the crocus.  Flowers that had been grown in the palace were perched by the windows that were letting light flood in. The chatter was loud but there was a lot of laughter too...

If the afternoon stayed like that as it bled into the evening, then there was hope it would not get too out of control. Menander was good at commanding a party. If he could just steer it in a direction that wasn't utterly chaotic then it would be alright. Elsa wasn't ready to put all her trust in him for that but maybe she had to.

That was when Anna tugged on her sleeve and motioned toward a very long table holding several bowls of some kind of drink. Was it wine? Was it liquors? Elsa had absolutely no idea yet and she wasn't going to drink it all to find out. "Oh Anna," she hissed.

"I know," Anna replied. They exchanged glances and both were nervous.

Regardless, they wandered into the crowd. They were in for an interesting evening indeed.

#frozen 2 #fanfic #elsanna #elsa #anna #body swap

[artificialqueens]

Girls Interrupted, Chapter 1: The Institution: 1, Katya: 0 (Vatya) 2/2 - Maeve

A/N: It’s Maeve again! I’m so freaking surprised and overjoyed at the positive reception Girls Interrupted has received. All of you who have such kind things have truly inspired me to keep going on this. I can now say I'm rewatching seasons in the name of research! As always, feedback is welcome. I write because I enjoy it but also so other people can enjoy it, too. So, really, I’d love to hear any feedback or suggestions.

P.S. I’m having so much fun writing the interactions between Katya and the other queens, but I think my favorite part of this chapter is either an especially cheeky Sharon Needles line or the gym teacher/coach that is very loosely based on a straight Santino Rice

This chapter picks up right where the last chapter left off: Violet and Katya’s ice breaker activity…

Fortunately, Violet realized that she would—at the very least—have to cooperate with the menial activity. “Violet,” she supplied cooly.

Katya tried and failed to stifle her laugh. The raven-haired girl looked at her challengingly.

“Tha-that’s a good choice. Very good. I love every color!” Katya stammered as she wrote down Violet’s response. She couldn’t be sure if her partner was filling out her own worksheet, but Katya couldn’t bring herself to care that much. She just wanted this over and done with. Each moment she spent next to the cheerleader made her feel more and more inadequate. Violet was judging her; she felt small enough on her own.

“If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?” Katya continued.

This one Violet was quick to answer, “Literally anywhere but here.”

Her passive face told Katya she wasn’t going to get a better answer. I’ll just put down ‘Everywhere. She loves to travel.’, she resolved. “I think it would be really cool to go to Russia,” Katya offered.

Violet’s eyes left her phone screen. They searched the face of the blonde across the table, traveled down to Katya’s communism-inspired name card, and finally met her partner’s ocean blue eyes. “No?” Her face contorted in mock shock. “Let me guess,” she pandered, “If you could have lunch with any famous person dead or alive, you’d choose Putin.”

“Good guess,” Katya shook her head with amusement, “But it’s actually Maria Bamford.” It was obvious that Violet had no idea who Maria Bamford was. However, a quick glance at the clock told her there wasn’t enough time left in the class for her to go off on another tangent. “What about you, Violet?”

“Dita Von Teese. Next,” she urged.

“What are your favorite TV shows?” Katya continued eagerly, excited that Violet was finally being an active participant.

Violet’s response was almost instant, “Forensic Files and Sex and the City.” Everything about the brunette screamed confidence and certainty—something that came through in everything that she did. Katya wished it were that easy for her.

“I really like Game of Thrones, The Heart She Holler, and Storage Wars: Northern Treasures…..It’s the Canadian version,” Katya trailed off. There was an unspoken ‘and?’ in Violet’s expression, but she couldn’t produce a single reason for why that mattered. But it had mattered. “Anyway…What’s next?” Katya pushed through her embarrassment. “Something I’m good at? Sleeping, I’m good at sleeping. I guess I’m very bendy. Flexible. I can do theater, too…”

“Just put down cheer for me,” Violet ordered without looking up from her own worksheet. The blonde hesitated at the instruction, and Violet let out an impatient huff. “What?”

Katya was quick to apologize, “Sorry, it’s just that I thought you might say something about fashion.” She swallowed thickly. “I’m-I’ve seen you in the halls before, and you look good. Great. Your clothes. You clearly put a lot of effort into your appearance, and I thou—”

“Well, you thought wrong,” Violet spat. “You don’t know anything about me, so don’t pretend like you do.”

The blonde hurriedly scribbled down the word cheer under question five on her page and grabbed both of their papers. “Right. I’ll just go turn these in,” Katya fled the table without a thought. She had clearly angered Violet. Didn’t the popular kids like it when you stroked their egos? Katya wondered. She hadn’t meant to come off as judgemental. It was obvious that they weren’t on the same level, and hopefully Violet would understand that she hadn’t been trying to judge her. She only wanted to get to know the girl better, but she knew know how stupid she’d been to think that possible. No one like Violet would ever waste time on her. Sighing, she placed the two worksheets in a plastic turn-in bin labeled ‘4th’, and made her way back to her desk.

Katya had been disappointed that she had double A Lunch, but the forty minutes were the perfect break before pre-calculus. While it meant she could eat earlier, it also meant that she had no friends to eat with. Ginger and Bianca both had B Lunch. So Katya found herself on the steps of the stairs in the courtyard by the fine arts wing, eating a peanut butter and banana sandwich. There was beauty in the simple things, though, and Katya could appreciate the warmth of the sun and the slight breeze that late morning.

Mrs. Hugh’s room was stuffy. Katya’s funfetti extravaganza was clinging to her yet again, but she couldn’t adjust the fabric too much without disrupting those around her. She wasn’t willing to risk it. Unlike in all her other classes, the blonde always sat front and center in math class. All of the numbers made a mess in her head, and it was easier if she had fewer distractions. No one else felt the same way, though. So when Alaska tumbled in just before the tardy bell, Katya was forced into yet another less than ideal situation.The sunny cheerleader didn’t share that sentiment. Alaska flashed Katya a hundred watt smile and whispered a hello.

Katya didn’t get Alaska. Alaska wasn’t your stereotypical dumb blonde. She struggled in some areas but always kept up with the pack. So she was smarter than she looked? Big deal. What Katya failed to understand was why such a kind, sincere, and smart person would allow herself to be bullied by her peers. The cheer squad clearly didn’t think she had brain cells; Alaska was practically their punching bag from what she’d observed. So why hang around?

Miss Honard, you are an enigma, Katya assessed.

Katya’s continued curiosity over the duration of  Mrs. Hugh’s introductory speech gained her a very important piece of information: if she couldn’t get the lanky blonde out of her head, she was going to have to let her in. And Katya would not be friends with a cheerleader.

Katya praised Marx for the district employee who put Bianca Del Rio in her history class. She and Bianca were unlikely friends—a high school mascot and a theater kid didn’t really run in the same circles—but made an unstoppable duo. Coach A., their teacher seemed to get a kick out of them too.

Bianca was an unexpected constant in Katya’s life. The self-proclaimed bitch was Spartacus, the high school mascot, and the two would never have overlapped if not for their shared love/hate relationship with theater. She was a year younger than Katya but that didn’t stop her from providing Katya with the tough love she needed to keep her head screwed on. Keeping her head on straight was out of the question; Bianca did what she could.

The two girls schlepped over to the far side of the school where the gym was located. Katya, who had made the dumb decision to postpone getting her PE credit for as long, was not looking forward to an entire year of physical activity. Bianca, on the other hand, basically earned herself a double off campus by taking on the role of mascot. And yes, she definitely took pleasure in rubbing the fact in Katya’s face. Sucks to suck.

The other shit thing about a 7th period gym class was that Katya would be in uncomfortably close proximity to the cheerleaders. It felt wrong—almost like she was breaking a nonexistent restraining order. What sick bastard decided the plebs in “team sports” should be forced to observe the pretty girls in peak physical capacity while they drowned in their own sweat? Katya didn’t know the answer, and you certainly couldn’t hold her accountable if they were suddenly beheaded.

One locker and a stack of unisex uniforms later, Katya found herself entertaining the musings of Sharon Needles, resident goth girl.

“‘I look spooky, but I’m really nice,’” Sharon had said when they were assigned lockers next to each other. The witchy teen had a thing for reading people—not that an anxious Katya was hard to see through—and took one look at her and saw a kindred spirit. The funfetti dress and clown shoes didn’t scream normal, either. Katya had been uncharacteristically optimistic about befriending Sharon for all of ten minutes before everything went to shit. Phi Phi O’Hara, Sharon’s mortal enemy, also happened to be in the class.

“I’m surprised you took gym, Party City. Wouldn’t want you to melt in your own sweat.” Phi Phi snarked. The playground bully reclined herself against the row of lockers across from them and examined her nails.

Katya groaned inwardly. Sharon groaned outwardly.

“Fuck off, Phi Phi,” Sharon begged. “Don’t you ever get tired of the sound of your own voice? My ears are bleeding and not in a pleasant way.”

“Eat shit and die, Shar Bear,” Phi Phi called over her shoulder as she skipped off to bother some other poor shmucks.

Phi Phi the schoolyard bully reminded Katya of the villain poodle in one of those Open Season movies. Ironically, that poodle was also named Fifi, which was funny because the poodle was also a boy. Fifi the poodle was groomed like a pretty purse dog and had a little blue bow in his hair. Katya was inclined to take Phi Phi O’Hara—who was not incredibly dissimilar to a trophy pet—just as seriously.

“What crawled up her ass and died?” Katya scrunched up her face.

“If you find out, let me know,” Sharon deadpanned. “I need a smoke.” Katya watched in amusement as the locker room’s resident goth chick removed a pack of Marlboro’s and a lighter from her leather jacket. Sharon caught the blonde’s expression and raised her fist in response. “Fight the system,” she stoically decreed. Katya shrugged as if to say “what can you do?” and gestured for Sharon to walk back to the gym with her.

Their gym class had been banished to the wooden bleachers so the cheerleaders could practice for that Friday’s Back-To-School Pep Rally. The two girls tucked themselves into a far corner on the top row, and Sharon finally lit up.

Coach Rice, who had taken attendance at the beginning of class, had stepped in to assist Coach Calhoun with cheer practice.

Katya and Sharon were fortunate enough to have an unobstructed view of the girls shamelessly throwing themselves at the older man. The majority of the bimbettes were faces she expected: Detox, Roxy, Willam, Courtney, Adore, and Laganja. What she wasn’t expecting, however, was for one Violet Chachki to be the leader of the pack. Stratford’s mean queen never sought out attention, let alone fought for it. Miss Chachki was a one of a kind collectible, and the entire student body knew it. You either wanted her or wanted to be her.

Today, it seemed her flavor of choice was Santino Rice.

Katya udged Sharon with her elbow. “What do you make of that?” She consulted the other girl.

Sharon took a moment to complete her assessment. “I bet a girl that tightly wound is a real screamer in bed,” she answered smoothly. Katya had not been expecting any response of the sort and physically toppled over as she was seized by laughter. Katya’s wheezing drew the attention of those nearby, and Sharon had to hold her cigarette in her mouth so she could flip them off with both hands. They could mind their own fucking business.

Katya was still clinging onto Sharon’s thigh when her fit died down. “You bitch!” She shrieked.

“I’m not wrong,” Sharon defended, taking another long drag from her cigarette. “Ten bucks says she’s hitting on him right now.” In her best Valley Girl impression she crooned, “Oh, Coach Rice, can you help me with my form?”

Katya wasted no time in contributing to the impression. “Can we go to Red Lobster?” The blonde begged in her best Violet-esque bedroom voice.

The absurdity of the request and the thought of Violet, herself, saying those words caused Sharon to half cackle and half choke on her own smoke. Her throaty laugh bounced off of the walls, and this time, it wasn’t just a few pairs of eyes that turned to them.

Uh oh, Katya cringed, busted.

“Sharon Needles, put that shit out and march your ass on over to Assistant Principal Visage’s office!” Coach Rice demanded.

Katya facepalmed hard. What is wrong with you, you stupid whore? She groaned. It’s your fault she’s in deep shit, and she’s never going to speak to you again. The blonde was about to lose herself in an abyss of despair when Sharon’s voice filled the room again.

“Oh no!” Sharon drawled, “Whatever shall I do?” Katya had brought her head up to witness the spectacle and was met with Sharon’s shit-eating grin.

Katya raised her fist in solidarity, referencing Sharon’s anti-establishment words in the locker room. Her spooky new friend shot her a cheeky wink before saluting her corporate whistleblower and unhurriedly leaving the building.

Katya’s eyes left Sharon’s retreating form just in time to catch Violet glaring at her.

The blonde did her best not to worry. It wasn’t like Violet could have known they were talking about her, right?

The bell rang at 3:00, and Katya still hadn’t managed to put the captain of the cheer squad out of her mind. She spent her entire 8th period dodging Bianca’s questions and pleading for some all-knowing entity to tell her just where in life she had gone wrong. Definitely new year, same bullshit. Katya had attempted to begin her junior year with a more optimistic attitude, but after a first day for the history books, she was ready to call it quits.

You win, Stratford, you win. I am but a shell of a man. Woe is the poor soul who dare enter thee, Katya scowled.

The rest of Katya’s will to live vanished when she finally reached her trusty blue Beetle in the junior lot.

“Mother, I am want to commit death,” she muttered.

The cherry red convertible parked next to Katya’s car belonged to none other than Violet Chachki. The bright red exterior was blinding under the afternoon sun, and Katya had to squint to make out faces. A swarm of girls in uniform short skirts and halter tops formed a green and white sea around her only means of escape. Not wanting to engage with Violet for a third time that day, the blonde chose to turn on her heels and pop a squat on the curb.

It was going to be a long year.

#rpdr fanfiction #katya zamolodchikova #violet chachki #alaska thunderfuck #vatya #high school au #lesbian au #slow burn #fluff #angst #enemies to friends #enemies to lovers #drama #maeve #girls interrupted #concrit welcome #tw anxiety and depression

[justlookfrightened]

From anonymous: I’m not sure if you’re still doing prompts, but i’ve loved every one so far. on the off chance that you are, maybe 40 for zimbits?

No. 40: “I wasn’t lying when I said that I loved you.”

From this prompt list

This is the second response I wrote to this prompt. The first, a stand-alone one-shot, can be found here. This is a continuation of Jack and Bitty in Houston, which starts here and continues here (scroll down to second response).

************************

Jack got out of his ride-share and looked up at Bitty’s building.

Frankly, it wasn’t much to look at. Low-rise, probably five stories. It looked like there was parking underneath and around the back.

He texted Bitty from the front door.

Downstairs

The door buzzed at the same time as his phone, and he opened it and headed for the elevator as he read the text.

I’ll buzz you in. Fourth floor

When the elevator opened, Jack saw Bitty’s head sticking out from an open door and waving.

“Come in!” Bitty said. “Dinner’s almost ready. And my neighbors were just leaving.”

Two women, one blonde and one brunette, were getting off the couch. Both had wine glasses, and both gave Jack frank, assessing looks.

“This is Mandy,” Bitty said, nodding at the blonde, “and this is Jeni. Y’all, this is Jack. Now skedaddle. I’ll call you later.”

“Be good, Eric,” Jeni said.

“But not too good,” Mandy said, giving Jack a long look.

“Yeah, yeah, see you later,” Eric said, closing the door behind them as they left.

Then he turned to Jack.

“Um, welcome,” he said. “You can see most of it from here. This is the living room area -- ” Bitty gestured to the couch, with a coffee table in front of it and a chair at an angle. A small television was mounted on the wall opposite, over a low bookcase “-- and this is the dining area.”

The small table with four chairs was essentially in the same room as the couch and TV. It was already set for dinner with plates, cloth napkins, and cutlery. A pitcher of ice water sat between the plates, with a glass at each setting.

“The kitchen is through there,” Bitty said, indicating a wide archway that opened on a small galley-style kitchen, “and the bathroom and bedroom are through there.”

Everything Jack could see was bright and cheerful, from the art on the walls (that was definitely one of Lardo’s paintings over the couch) to the pillows and rugs, and it looked like Bitty had probably spent some time tidying, since Jack didn’t see any of the detritus Bitty used to leave all over the condo in Providence: no shoes under the table, or charger cords trailing over the arm of the couch, or empty mugs on the coffee table.

It felt completely different from Jack’s old condo, with its floor-to-ceiling windows, sleek furniture and blue and gray color scheme.

All together, Bitty’s apartment was probably smaller than the hotel room the Aeros were putting Jack up in for the end of the season. He wouldn’t have time to look for a more permanent place until the summer, assuming the Aeros wanted to keep him.

“It’s nice,” Jack said. “I like what you’ve done with it.”

“I know it’s not much,” Bitty said. “But it’s what I could afford.”

Jack nodded. He’d assumed as much. And it was nice, even if it was smaller than any place Jack had ever lived, not counting his freshman year dorm room. Even so, he could hear the air conditioning laboring to keep up with the humidity outside.

“You want something to drink?” Bitty said. “There’s water on the table, or there’s lemonade or iced tea. Beer if you want it. I just have to plate the salad. The salmon is resting, and I can warm the apples while we eat that.”

“Apples?”

“Baked apples for dessert,” Bitty said.

“No pie?”

“No pie.”

Jack poured himself a glass of water and said, “Wow. Wasn’t expecting that.”

“I didn’t think you’d want any,” Bitty said. “You had some pie the other day at the bakery, and I know how strictly you keep to your nutrition plan. You always used to get mad at me when I offered you pie more than once a week.”

“I don’t think I was that bad,” Jack said. “It was just, you lived there, so there was always pie. Every day, it felt like. And that mini pie I had the other day was the first pie I had in five years. I think I could handle another piece.”

“Sorry,” Bitty said. “Maybe next time? Or come by the bakery this week and have a piece of whatever you want. On me.”

Bitty was laying slices of fruit and avocado on plates, sprinkling them with nuts and drizzling them with dressing.

“You don’t have to,” Jack said.

“Jack, I wouldn’t have let Quinn take your money last time if I knew it was you,” Bitty said.

“I can afford pie and coffee,” Jack said.

“That’s not what this is about,” Bitty said. “Sit, eat.”

The salad -- sliced blood oranges, avocados and some other kind of fruit, with nuts for crunch and a light dressing -- popped with flavor. Jack liked to think he had gotten better at cooking for himself over the last few years, but nothing he made tasted this good.

“So,” Bitty said, “tell me what you think of the Aeros chances.”

Jack shared his opinions -- the Aeros were good, got better with Jack’s arrival (although he didn’t say so in so many words), were a lock for the playoffs, but would need some luck to go all the way. “It’s definitely possible,” Jack said.

Bitty listened attentively, and the questions he asked showed that he’d been an Aeros fan since before the trade.

“You make it to a lot of games?” Jack said. “I saw you at the one, but that was because you were behind the goal.”

Bitty shrugged. “David -- my co-owner -- has season tickets, but he doesn’t really like hockey that much. Sometimes he uses the tickets to entertain people, but I get to go a lot of the time. I won’t if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Why would it make me uncomfortable?” Jack asked.

“Because you’re uncomfortable now,” Bitty said. “I don’t want to distract you while you’re playing.”

“You wouldn’t do that to the Aeros?” Jack chirped.

“Something like that,” Bitty agreed, but he was smiling.

The hockey talk had carried them through the salads and main course, and Bitty went to the kitchen to pull the apples from the oven.

“I almost wish I did make a pie,” Bitty said. “I was so nervous, and nothing calms me down like rolling out a crust. But these are good; I think you’ll like them.”

“Why are you nervous?” Jack asked.

“Why are you uncomfortable?” Bitty countered.

“I guess I never thought I’d be a guest in your home,” Jack said. “Before, it was always … our home. Then I never thought I’d see you again.”

“You didn’t have to come if you didn’t want to,” Bitty said.

“I wanted to,” Jack said. “It’s just weird.”

“Why didn’t you ever want to see me?” Bitty said. “Were you that angry at me?”

“I didn’t think you wanted to see me,” Jack said. “At least at first. Then I didn’t know for sure where you were.”

“But you knew Shitty and Lardo, at least, knew where I was,” Bitty said.

“Not for sure,” Jack said.

“Because you never asked.”

“No,” Jack said. “I didn’t want to put them in the middle or make them feel like they had to choose a side.”

The truth was, he didn’t want to find out they’d choose Bitty if they were pushed.

“I don’t see how you could just watch me leave and never even try to find out what happened to me,” Bitty said. “I guess I thought I meant more to you.”

“Bitty, I loved you,” Jack said. “You’re the one who left.”

“After you basically laughed at me told me I should be happy with what I got when I tried to tell you how I felt,” Bitty said. “Lord, Jack, can we just stop? I don’t want to fight.”

“I don’t want to fight either,” Jack said. “I miss you.”

“But you’re still angry with me for leaving.”

Jack knew that was true. How true, he hadn’t realized until tonight.

“I don’t want to be,” he said. “But I thought things were good, and then you were gone, and I didn’t really get why, and everything was bad. Tater was mad at me. Marty and Thirdy -- they felt bad for me, but I think they were really disappointed. Everyone thought it was my fault.”

“Everyone but you,” Bitty said. “Which goes to show how little anyone else knows about other people’s relationships. Neither one of us broke what we had on our own.”

“When you left so easily, it felt like you never loved me,” Jack said. “Like our whole relationship was a lie.”

“Oh, sweetpea, it wasn’t easy to leave,” Bitty said. “And I wasn’t lying when I said that I loved you. Ever. But by the end, it felt like I’d lose my whole self if I stayed.”

“Was it so bad?” Jack said. “Living with me? I mean, I don’t mean any disrespect, but my place was nicer than this. And I’m guessing your place in Philly was even smaller.”

“My place in Philly was a room at the YMCA for the first six months,” Bitty said. “Until I could save money for first and last months’ rent and a deposit. And I don’t know that your place was nicer. Bigger, sure. But all I was when I lived there was part of you. I needed room to be myself, and your condo wasn’t big enough for that.”

“It was our condo,” Jack insisted.

“No, it never was that,” Bitty said. “Jack, honey, I loved you and I thought it was enough. Turns out I had to love me, too.”

***********************

Read the next installment

**********************

Recipes Bitty makes:

Citrus and avocado salad with orange water

Slow-roasted salmon with fennel, citrus and chiles

Baked apples with prunes, almonds and amaretto

@cyn2k @wrathofthestag

#omgcheckplease #omg check please #zimbits #my fic #prompt fill #omg houston chronicles

[dvp95]

can’t breathe when you touch my sleeve - chapter 3

pairing: dan howell/phil lester

rating: e (eventually)

warnings: none

tags: alternate universe, slow burn, fluff & humour, tiny bit of inner turmoil wrt sexuality but trust me it’s not that deep, eventual smut, idiots in love

word count: 3,385 for this chapter (12,653 total)

summary: Dan keeps making a fool of himself in interviews, to the point where it’s basically a meme. Now he’s got to sit down for the better part of an hour and sell his show to the YouTuber he’d had a massive crush on when he was a teenager.

read from the beginning on ao3 or on tumblr!

read this chapter on ao3 or here!

Dan has been dreading the seemingly-inevitable call from his family, now that filmed interviews are being uploaded and live interviews are starting in the next few days, so he’s almost disappointed when it never comes.

Surely his parents know he’s in London. There’s promotion for his show on a couple different channels they watch, and his dad has always been fairly good at keeping up with entertainment news. Adrian follows him on Instagram, but - and Dan isn’t proud of this - he can’t remember if Adrian still lives in Wokingham or not. He can’t even remember how old Adrian is without doing the math.

So maybe they haven’t been keeping up with Netflix shit, maybe Adrian isn’t home to tell their parents that he’s in town, but surely, surely some well-meaning friend of the family will say something? That’s always been the case when he comes to town.

After almost a whole week, though, Dan cracks. He calls his mum. It goes to voicemail.

That makes him panic a little, but she texts him an, at work … call you when I’m home x. So, questionable ellipses usage aside, Dan is comfortably reassured that his entire family isn’t dead.

Dan busies himself with catching up on the Heatwave cast interviews he hasn’t watched yet. Patrick doesn’t like to watch them and Jaime couldn’t give a shit one way or the other, but Dan is unable to allow a video of him to exist without knowing exactly what it contains. That’s a control thing, mostly, but he also doesn’t want to be blindsided by a new Daniel Interview Meme that he doesn’t understand.

He types his own name into the YouTube search bar and feels his heartrate pick up when he sees a thumbnail from BBC Radio One.

Thinking about Phil makes his heart race like he’s a teenager with a crush, and he presses play just so he can listen to Phil talk. He can barely remember what he said in the interview, so completely caught up in Phil’s eyes and grin as he’d been.

The interview itself is good. Nothing special, in terms of the actual things they talk about, but Dan can feel the difference in the way he speaks to Phil versus the way he’s spoken to anyone else - comfort. He had been so immediately comfortable with their back-and-forth, only awkward because he’d been trying so hard not to think about what Phil looked like under his nice clothes.

Dan wonders if anyone else can see the difference or if he only notices because he’s so attuned to his own body language, has the advantage of knowing the whole context.

He scrolls idly through the comments and feels heat rise to his face.

Yeah. People noticed.

Lots of comments are just about Dan or the show or the lack of Patrick or Jaime, but there’s more than a few that are about Dan and Phil’s apparent chemistry. Phil, being an out gay man with no partner and a fanbase, probably has to deal with these types of comments all the time, but it’s new for Dan.

Dan shakes his head to try and clear it. He doesn’t want to get stuck in YouTube comments and feel impotent irritation every time someone replies, ‘uh, Daniel Howell is straight’, like they know him. Like he’s ever said that.

He’s been photographed with women, because he’s casually dated them over the past decade, but he’s never said he’s straight. And it never works out with them anyway.

Dating girls is fine - they’re all softness and little sighs and hands that look so extremely small wrapped in his own - but he doesn’t think he can ever be with one for a significant amount of time. That thought is one he usually keeps locked in his mental box, but. He doesn’t shy away from it this time.

Even if he could admit it to himself proper, it’s easier for Dan to just not talk about it publicly. He hasn’t dated anyone seriously enough for it to be an issue in ten years. Nobody needs to know that every time he’s inside a woman he remembers why it never progresses past that.

It’s fine. It’s always fine. It’s just, if he’s completely honest with himself, 'fine’ isn’t what he wants to settle for.

“Moot point anyway,” Dan mumbles to himself, clicking over to Phil’s channel for a distraction. “Not like you’re gonna do anything about it, you big fucking coward.”

Phil has uploaded the video he told Dan about when Dan was busy trying not to stare at his mouth. It’s such a welcome distraction that Dan almost doesn’t clock the title and thumbnail for the buffoonery they are.

IS MY DOG PSYCHIC?

The title doesn’t change when Dan blinks. Neither does the image of Thor, edited to be wearing round glasses in front of a crystal ball.

“What,” Dan says, clicking on the video before any of it really sinks in.

“Hi guys,” says Phil. He already looks like he’s trying not to laugh. “I know you read the title and you’re like, what, but I promise it is not clickbait! As I’m sure many of you know, my grandma had 'the gift’, and sometimes I think she passed it on to me. The question is, did I pass it on to my son?”

Phil pulls an over-exaggerated thoughtful expression and then breaks, giggling and shaking his head at himself.

“I know it’s stupid, but, I also figured it might be funny? I dunno, you tell me.”

It’s exactly as silly as Dan expects it to be. Phil sits on his floor with Thor while the dog 'reads’ his tarot cards. Dan can see why this video gave Phil a hard time in editing. There are a lot of close ups of Thor and the cards, filmed more like a comedy skit than a vlog.

He finds himself laughing along and getting way too invested in what the tarot cards mean, and he knows first hand how much work Phil put into this, so Dan clicks the share button before he can overthink it.

tbh watching amazingthorgi do anything could make a believer out of me, he tweets alongside the link.

Most of America is asleep still, but that doesn’t stop hundreds of people replying. Dan’s really got nothing better to do while he waits for his mum to call, so he settles in to respond to some of them. He makes a couple bad jokes, commiserates with some of them over not being able to have a dog yet, and ignores any mention of Phil.

Maybe that’s childish of him. He is sharing Phil’s work, after all. He sighs and replies to an innocuous question about how he knows Phil. met during this and then he let me meet his dog so now he’s not getting rid of me, Dan says with a link to the BBC Radio One interview.

His phone chirps with a Twitter notification and he taps it warily, still scrolling through replies on his laptop.

@AmazingPhil @danielhowell You saw his face now you’re a believer? He’ll tell your fortune anytime! It’s accompanied with dog and sparkle and crystal ball and, inexplicably, sock emojis.

Dan laughs, the sound of it almost surprising him. It’s impossible not to feel some kind of way when Phil is the way he is, so cheerful and dorky and fun.

He likes the tweet, but responds by messaging Phil - do you have me on notif or are you just always online - because he doesn’t want to add any more fuel to the fire that is Twitter stans. He can already imagine the argument threads about his sexuality that he usually tries so hard to avoid.

The thought of strangers picking apart something he’s not even comfortable with himself is abhorrent, makes him itch, and he puts on some older AmazingPhil videos to calm himself back down.

That depends

on?

Which one is lamer lmao

Phil’s voice filling the lonely hotel room and his words taking up space on Dan’s screen where something anxiety-inducing might have otherwise been is almost enough to make Dan as comfortable as Phil’s physical presence does.

Almost. It’s unreal how much Dan wants to reach through both of his screens to pull Phil closer.

Dan hides his smile in his hand, even though nobody is around to see it, and replies, tbh those are equally lame so you might as well go with the truth

I was on Twitter anyway. I really shouldn’t be, I’m supposed to be responding to emails. Phil keeps typing, then stops, then repeats that process a few times before he finally adds, I should go do that, but you can call or facetime me if you want to keep talking or whatever? It’s easier not to type/text while I’m doing emails lol

And, in a third message, a string of numbers. Phil’s phone number.

Well, that sounds better than using Phil’s videos as background noise. Dan shuts his laptop and gets out of bed to fuss with his hair.

“You’re such an idiot,” he tells his judgemental reflection. It, thankfully, does not respond.

Once he’s gotten his hair into some semblance of order - it’s mostly still straight from yesterday, but it got all sleep-mussed and a bit wavy in the front overnight - Dan tosses on a shirt and video calls the number Phil gave him.

Phil picks up with a big grin and sleepy eyes, and Dan almost hangs up on him to stop the heart palpitations in their tracks. “Hi!”

“Hey, you just wake up?” Dan asks, getting comfortable in the hotel room armchair. It feels weird to lie back down in bed while they’re chatting. Phil is at his desk, phone propped up so he can use both hands to type. His glasses are a little crooked and his shirt is too big on him, exposing his collarbones whenever he leans forward. Unfortunately, he looks like serious wank material right now.

“Yeah, had my first coffee already, though,” says Phil. “You would not like me before my coffee.”

“Barely like you now, mate,” Dan says to try and hide his blush at the idea of seeing Phil first thing in the morning. Phil just laughs. It’s tinny through Dan’s phone speaker, but it still makes Dan feel warm.

“You’re awfully chatty for someone who doesn’t like me,” says Phil.

“I’m only bored, don’t flatter yourself,” says Dan. “My mum’s supposed to call me in a few hours, so I’m just kind of waiting around til then.”

“Oh, yeah, you haven’t had the chance to go home yet, have you?” Phil’s tongue pokes out between his teeth as he concentrates on whatever he’s reading. “My mum would be going out of her gourd. When was the last time you went home?”

Dan doesn’t really like the way that Phil keeps calling it 'home.’ Wokingham hasn’t been home in a very long time.

He doesn’t want to get into that, though, so he just shrugs. “Uh, Christmas?”

“Dan,” Phil says, looking appalled. “It’s August.”

“I don’t live here,” says Dan. “And I’m busy. My family gets it.”

Phil hums, a little disapproving still. Dan has to bite his tongue so he doesn’t say anything scathing, reminding himself that some people actually like their parents.

It’s not that Dan doesn’t love them, because he does, it’s just. Complicated.

“Do you get to see your family often?” Dan asks, desperate to get the attention off of how shit a son he is.

“Not as often as I’d like,” says Phil. He sounds so genuinely sad about it, like he really would like nothing more than to go visit his parents every weekend. “My brother lives in town, so I see him a lot.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“Yeah, he’s -” Phil cuts himself off, then, and gives Dan an apologetic sort of look through his screen. “You don’t want to hear about my family.”

“I do,” Dan says, and he’s surprised by how much he means it. He shifts in the armchair. It isn’t that comfortable. “Dude, I already know every song on your iTunes, what’s so weird about telling me stuff about your family? They clearly mean a lot to you.”

He has no idea how to interpret the expression on Phil’s face, but whatever it is shifts into a smile as he turns back to his computer. “Okay, his name’s Martyn, he’s older than me, we work together -”

This time, Dan cuts him off. “You do? I haven’t seen him on your channel.”

“He’s not really interested in being on camera. We actually run IRL Merch together, although honestly it’s mostly Martyn.”

Phil explains the business to Dan, who feels himself getting more and more awed by the amount of stuff Phil does on any given day. It isn’t just sitting in front of his camera and then in front of his computer for a handful of hours.

Granted, Dan never thought that being a YouTuber was easy, or everyone would do it, but Phil seems to add things onto his plate that he doesn’t really need to do.

Dan listens for a little while, changing positions in the armchair a few times before he gives up and flops back onto the bed.

“Phil,” he says, holding his phone high above his head and making a face at the angle. It’s fine, really, Phil has barely been glancing at him this whole time. Now that Dan has some kind of idea about the number of people Phil works with, he gets the hours of emails thing. “Do you ever take a break? Hang out with your friends?”

“What friends?” Phil jokes, but Dan senses there’s some truth behind it.

“Okay, first of all,” says Dan, “big mood.”

Phil’s laugh seems like it’s surprised out of him, and his eyes flick to his phone again. They linger on Dan for a long moment before turning away again. Although, to be fair, that may be lag from shitty hotel wifi. “Is it?”

“Yeah, man, like I’ve got any fucking friends. Second of all, you need to take some breaks or you’re going to burn the fuck out.”

“Trust me, I know,” says Phil.

“I know Thor already reminds you to take breaks,” says Dan. “But he can’t force you to. I can.”

“You’re gonna force me to take breaks?” Phil hums, his eyebrows raising. “How exactly are you going to manage that when you’re back in Atlanta?”

“I can be very annoying with nothing but an internet connection,” Dan promises. “You wanna see?”

“No, no, I believe you, and I need to get this done, please don’t.”

They both laugh, quiet, and Dan curls up on his side to just watch Phil work for a little while. Phil runs his fingers through his hair every so often and mouths along to whatever he types. Dan has no idea how one person can simultaneously be the hottest and the most adorable thing ever.

“I have a brother too,” Dan offers.

“Do you?” Phil asks, more surprised than Dan expects him to be. “That’s not on your Wikipedia.”

“He doesn’t like the attention,” says Dan. It’s a half-truth. Most of what he says about his family are half-truths. “But you’re not, like, a stan account or the media or whatever.”

“Technically, I am both,” Phil jokes. “I’ll keep it to myself, though, don’t worry.”

Dan isn’t worried. He trusts Phil not to go blabbing about him on the radio, even with something as small as Adrian’s existence.

It feels a little strange to trust someone so immediately, and part of Dan wants to pull back, put some distance between them, because the combination of trust and a deepening crush can only spell disaster. He’s not going to do that. He’s only got Phil nearby for another two weeks.

After they’ve finished their media circus in London, then Edinburgh, then Dublin, Dan is off to France with Patrick and Jaime. They’re only hitting a handful of international media press, but that’s more than they were asked to do last year. It’s exciting to be expanding this way, to have something to point to and say, 'I did that before I was 30’.

And when they’re done with the press tour, Dan… goes home. Back to Atlanta, where his apartment is being sublet during his summer travelling.

They don’t even know yet if Heatwave will get a fourth season. It’s a bit of an industry joke that Netflix shows rarely make it past the third. Dan doesn’t even want to consider how Atlanta will feel without a steady filming job down the street.

Probably not much like home. Nowhere feels all that much like home, if Dan’s honest.

“Hey, you still with me?”

Dan blinks away the doom and gloom of his uncertain future and refocuses on the conversation he’s supposed to be a part of. Phil is looking at him now, the sort of undivided attention that makes Dan’s cheeks burn.

“Yeah, sorry,” says Dan. “I’m still here. Have you made a dent in those emails?”

Not the most graceful change of subject, but Phil allows it with a small snort. “No, for I am Sisyphus, doomed to answer a dozen emails only for another dozen to arrive.”

“Maybe if you didn’t have, like, three jobs, this wouldn’t be a problem,” Dan points out. “I get maybe two important emails a day. It’s great.”

“Maybe,” says Phil. He’s still just looking at Dan, his chin resting on an open palm.

“What?” Dan asks, feeling a smile tug at his lips.

Phil smiles back, brighter. “Nothing.”

There’s a warmth in his face, visible even through the mediocre FaceTime quality, that makes Dan’s stomach twist all up in knots. He doesn’t know how to handle that at all. “My mum’s calling I gotta go bye,” he says in one breath, hanging up before Phil can even react.

While he waits for his heart to stop pounding, Dan stares at the hotel ceiling and wonders what the fuck is wrong with him.

–

Dan’s mum does call, eventually. He’s been fucking around on Guild Wars and cursing the wifi for god only knows how long, refusing to check his phone so he doesn’t have to be faced with another message - or the lack of one - from Phil. Dan finishes the raid and then calls his mum back.

“Daniel, hi,” she says, sounding frazzled in the way she always seems to.

“Hey, mum.” It feels weird, now that he’s got her on the phone, but he pushes past that discomfort. “I was just calling to let you know that I’m in London.”

The sound of a door slamming comes through before his mum says, “Well, yes, dear. I know that.”

She doesn’t sound upset with him. More than anything, she sounds confused. Like she doesn’t know why he’s even telling her this. Like it hasn’t even occurred to her to nag her son for a visit. Dan has to swallow past a lump in his throat, not sure why he wishes she was angry.

“Oh,” he says. Allows a long moment of quiet to pass, just in case she wants to explain herself. She doesn’t. “Well. Okay. Do you - are you busy weekend after next? I could come see you before we leave for the continent.”

“That’s quite short notice, dear,” his mum says, and Dan experiences a dizzying rush of relief and distress before she continues. “But I’m sure I can make some time for dinner.”

Dan exhales. Dinner. He can do dinner.

“That sounds good,” he says. Another half-truth. “I’ll text you?”

“Yes, yes,” his mum says, already sounding distracted. “Text me and we’ll make a proper plan. Work hard til then, okay? I love you.”

“I love you too. Bye.”

The call ends almost as abruptly as his call with Phil, but Dan is okay with that.

im going to see my fam before i leave england jsyk, Dan texts to Phil. Phil sends him celebratory emojis in response. And maybe dinner with his family will be horrible, maybe it will be great, most likely it will be slightly uncomfortable, but at least he isn’t disappointing Phil on top of everyone else he’s let down.

#phanfiction #phanfic #phan #dnp fic #can't breathe when you touch my sleeve #words words words

[puckinghell]

Stars and Supernovae | April

Summary: As soon as you meet Tyler Seguin, you know you’re destined to be best friends. Sometimes you wonder if you’re destined to be more, but life keeps getting in the way. Perhaps it’s just not written in the stars? Note: This is Part 2. Part 1

“Hello my loves!” you chirped as you opened the door with your key. Cash and Marshall came running to you, Cash jumping up and down excitedly and Marshall licking your hand. They knew, by now, what it meant when you came into their house.

Ever since that party at Jamie’s house, you’d developed a quick and easy friendship with Tyler. With Katie being constantly busy with her new boyfriend, a new friendship was more than welcome in your life, and you guessed Tyler was in the same boat, since his best friend was Katie’s boyfriend. 

At first, you’d bonded over your shared love of murder documentaries, and then you found out Tyler barely ate anything but take out food, so you’d started cooking for him before your documentary nights, and then Tyler had learned you loved hiking, so he’d started to ask you out on hikes with the dogs. Soon, you saw him nearly every day. 

But when he was busy, you entertained yourself with your favorite Seguins; the dogs. Tyler had given you a key and whenever you had some free time between or after classes, you picked them up from his house, loaded them in your small car, and took them to a dog park or out for a walk.

Normally, when you entered Tyler’s house, the house was silent and dark, and although it was still quiet this time, there was a light coming from the kitchen and it smelled suspiciously like burnt toast.

Just when you started to make your way over there, assuming Tyler forgot to turn out the lights when he left, he appeared in the hallway.

“Y/N!” he exclaimed. “Hey! What are you doing here?”

“I came to take out the dogs.” You frowned. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have morning skate?” You knew he had a game tonight, which was why you’d simply assumed he wouldn’t be home. Morning skate wasn’t mandatory, but Tyler never missed one, as if was a very important part of his pre-game routine. He’d told you that himself.

Tyler’s face fell and you knew you’d said the wrong thing, but you didn’t really know why. “What’s the point?” he said gruffly, and his hand curled around Cash’s ear, who was pushing his nose against Tyler’s leg. “We’re already out of the playoffs, there’s no real reason to even win this game.”

You sighed. “Oh, Ty…”

“And to make matters worse,” Tyler continued, as if you hadn’t spoken, “I burnt my toast.” At this, you giggled. You didn’t think you’d ever met someone as incompetent in the kitchen as Tyler. Katie had told you that Jamie was actually a pretty good cook, and you knew Tyler used to eat at Jamie’s most evenings, but now that Katie was there all the time, he’d been relying on take out.

You dropped your bag at the door, deciding that the dogs could wait for a bit, and made your way over to the kitchen, pushing past your mopey friend.

“Sit down,” you told him, “I’ll do it. I simply can’t watch you abuse this poor toaster any longer.” You looked around the kitchen, then opened the fridge. It was scarily empty, and you scoffed. “You need to get some food into this house, Segs.” 

You turned around to find him sitting on a stool at the counter, his face resting in his hands. You knew it was normal for hockey players to lose a fair bit of weight towards the end of the season, and gain it back over the summer, but you still didn’t like the way Tyler’s cheeks were hollowing out, nor did you like the lines of worry edged into his forehead or the bags under his eyes.

“I know,” Tyler mumbled, and his eyes followed you around the kitchen as you started gathering the few ingredients you could manage to make something out of. “What are you making?”

“Well, you’ve got milk, bread, eggs and sugar.” You grinned at him. “That’s all that’s needed for french toast. I’ll have you know I make the best french toast, my mom said so herself.”

Tyler laughed at that, and you felt proud of yourself for cheering him up at least momentarily.

“How’s school?” he asked. “And work?”

You knew he was trying to distract you, and maybe himself too, from how miserable he was, and you decided to let him, at least for now. So you rambled on about school; astronomy was pretty difficult, but you loved it so much, that you felt you could talk about it forever. You were a lot shorter about your job.

“If I have to listen to one more guy talk to my boobs, instead of me, I might spontaneously combust,” you growled, putting a plate of french toast in front of Tyler. “I swear they don’t even bother trying to seem decent. No wonder I’m single.” You stuck out your pointy finger at him, jabbing him in the chest. “You better not behave like that when you’re trying to pick someone up.”

Tyler held up his hands defensively. “I definitely don’t. And I don’t pick up girls that often anymore.” He’d told you about his past, and so had Jamie and a few other guys on the team when you’d met up with them a few weeks ago. 

It turned out Tyler was quite the ladies man, and nobody was expecting him to settle down anytime soon, maybe ever. It was not a side of Tyler you’d seen so far, but then again, he usually kept you away from his teammates, never took you out celebrating after a win, instead asking you to come over to watch Netflix and eat pizza. 

And to be fair, you didn’t mind it at all. You liked this Tyler, a lot, and you didn’t know you would like that other Tyler so much.

Tyler hummed appreciatively as he took a bite of his breakfast. “You weren’t lying. You really do make some great french toast.”

“If you get groceries more often, I’ll cook for you more often,” you offered him, and he raised his eyebrow.

“Are you trying to fatten me up?”

Your eyes glazed over his tired face, and you shrugged. “Is it working?”

“Absolutely,” he grinned, taking another bite. He basically inhaled his breakfast after that, while you continued to talk about things that didn’t really matter, mostly to keep his mind off the upcoming game. The tension in his shoulders seemed to flow away little by little, as you told your stories, but then you stood up and it reappeared instantly.

“The boys are getting restless,” you explained, pointing at Cash, who was curling around your legs, wagging his tail. “I’m going to take them out to the D-O-G-P-A-R-K before I go.” You had to spell out their favorite destination, because otherwise they’d go insane and would be completely impossible to get them into the car.

“I wish I could go with you,” Tyler mumbled, and the sadness was back in his eyes and it was killing you.

“Hey, don’t you dare go all mopey on me again,” you told sternly. “You’re not allowed to feel sorry for yourself until this season is officially over. You said there’s no reason to win this game, but there is. You owe it to yourself, the fans, and to me, specifically.” You glared at him. “I’ve not been watching every single one of your games for the past two months for you to just give up on me. I want to see you win.” Tyler raised his eyebrows.

“You’ve been watching my games?” he asked, a hint of smugness in his voice.

“Obviously.” You hadn’t wanted to admit it to him, not wanting his head to get any bigger and also not wanting to let him know how much he had turned into a part of your life in the past two months, even when he wasn’t around; but he was upset and you hated seeing him upset. Maybe a little ego boost would pull him out of it. “You’re one of my closest friends, Ty, I want you to succeed and I want to be there to see it, to be a part of it.”

“You have no idea how much I want that, too,” Tyler said softly, and it was one of those rare moments where he showed his vulnerable side, the side you’d only seen once or twice before. He reached out, his hand wrapping around your wrist and pulling you towards him, until you fell against his chest and both his arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you into a close hug. His breathing was steady, his chest rising and falling against your body, and you closed your eyes and allowed yourself to just be, for a while.

Something in you wanted to reach out and curl your hands into his hair, but that seemed to intimate for people who were just friends, so you kept your hands firmly pressed into his back. You didn’t think Tyler had any female friends, all the people who would be there for him were guys, and he was always acting tough around them. Having a female friend, someone he could be himself with completely, must mean a lot to him, you realized, and it made you shove those feelings that were welling up deep in your stomach back in the box you’d put them that very first night you met him. 

You were going to be Tyler’s friend, and you were going to be good at it, too. Damn, you’d be the best friend he’d ever have.

“If I get you a ticket for tonight, will you come to the game?” Tyler said then, softly in your ear, and your heartbeat sped up. You’d never been to a hockey game before. “Katie will probably be there too,” he continued, as if he felt your hesitation. “Please?”

You sighed. You didn’t think there was anything he could ask of you that you would say no to. “Of course I’ll come, Ty,” you told him, then pulled away from him. “But I don’t have any Stars merch. That shit is expensive and I’m a struggling college student.”

Tyler held up his hand, signaling you to wait, as he barreled out of the kitchen and you heard his footsteps thumping up the stairs. Marshall gave you a single wag of his tail, as if he was trying to say that he understood, that he would wait a bit longer. When Tyler came back, he was holding a Stars jersey, a triumphant smile on his face.

“I’ll get you some more stuff that’s actually new,” he said, handing you the #91 jersey. “But you need to wear something tonight, so you can have one of mine.”

The jersey smelled like Tyler, like laundry detergent and woody cologne and hockey tape, and you pressed it to your chest with a smile. “Thanks, Ty. If you get me a new jersey, can you get me a Jason Spezza one?”

He let out a growl as he reached for you and you jumped back with a squeal, giggling as you ran towards the door, the dogs on your heels.

“I’ll see you tonight, Ty,” you grinned, leashing the dogs, and he shook his head as he watched you leave.

“See you tonight, Shiny.”

#tyler seguin imagine #tyler seguin one shot #dallas stars imagine #dallas stars one shot #nhl imagine #nhl one shot #nhl writing #nhl fic #tyler seguin fic #hockey one shot #hockey imagine #hockey fic

[skeletonscribbles]

Wishes

here’s chapter one of this Losers WDW employee AU! let me know what you think <3

Rating: M, eventually. G right now, except for cursing.

Pairings: Reddie, Stan/Bill/Mike, Benverly WC: 4,465

Summary: 

It's one thing to vacation at the Happiest Place on Earth with all your friends.

Working there with them is another thing entirely.

(or: the Disney World Employee/Cast Member AU written by a former Disney World Cast Member that some people asked for but most did not)

Other: Scroll down for explanation of starred phrases. There’s lots of Disney lingo in here.

Also, chapters will alternate perspectives like I Burn I Pine I Perish (Mike’s up next!)

Read on Ao3

Tag List: @roobarrtrashmouth @jem-carstairs-is-perfection @tozier-club @aizeninlefox @stanheartsbill

BILL DENBROUGH - GUEST RELATIONS, MAGIC KINGDOM THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8TH 7:48 A.M.

There was absolutely no fucking reason for the Magic Kingdom to ever open earlier than 9 a.m.. That was indisputable truth among MK workers; the tunnels were too nasty for any human to have to wander through between the hours of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. (Third shift cast members were brave and foolish souls.)

Bill Denbrough really couldn’t be blamed, then, for rolling in with just a few minutes to spare on an early-open Monday (well, actually a Thursday, but his Monday. He’d applied to have a regular weekend, but didn’t get it because he hadn’t been working for the company for a million years, so his days off were Tuesday and Wednesday, and it was a huge bummer). As soon as he got off the West Clock bus*, he made a beeline for the mouth of the tunnels to clock in on the computer next to the Mouseketeeria (the cafeteria for cast members - “The Mouse” for short). He wasn’t the only one, either - everyone was walking fast, trying to make sure they were in on time lest they get a point on their records**. That was what MK got, Bill reasoned, for opening a whole hour before what was strictly necessary.

Once he was clocked in (with two minutes to spare, no less), Bill slowed down, taking a more leisurely pace as he made his way through the tunnels towards Town Hall. The rest of his Guest Relations cast members would be pissed with him, but he didn’t care. They’d left him out to dry with angry guests more times than he could count.

Almost immediately, he was just about bowled over by somebody plowing their way towards the Mouse. He glared over, hoping that it was a bitchy entertainment cast member he could tell off, but to his dismay and concern, it was his acquaintance Eddie, a Character Attendant who he spoke to quite often on tours. He seemed to be on the run from someone...and given that he worked pretty exclusively with Princesses, that was probably true.

“Eddie?” Bill asked, and Eddie stopped in his tracks. “Are you all right?”

Eddie turned around, shaken up by the fact that he’d been recognized (there were SO many cast members that worked at the Magic Kingdom), and blinked woozily back at Bill. “Oh. Yeah. Hi, Bill. You taking people my way today?”

“I dunno if I have a tour,” Bill said, “but I will if I do. Which way is your way?”

“Fantasyland,” Eddie replied, “Princess Fairytale Hall. Not Adventureland anymore, thank God.”

“What’s so bad about Adventureland?” Before he’d taken the Guest Relations gig, Bill had been an attractions cast member in Adventureland and Liberty Square. Granted, his allegiance was much more to the Liberty side, as he’d been a butler at the Haunted Mansion (and a damn great one, too, even if he did still have his stutter then), but Adventureland was still a big source of pride for him.

“Hecklers,” Eddie said cryptically, “and everyone in Adventureland always asks if I’m friends********** with Pan, because he used to meet there. I hate that. Anyways, it’ll be a pretty slow day at PFT, so if you’re doing tours, put any kids in Tiana’s line. It’ll be short, and she’s a sweetheart.”

“Roger roger,” Bill said, saluting him. “You’re a good man, Eddie….shit, I have no idea what your last name is. I’ve only ever read your name off of your nametag.”

“Kaspbrak,” Eddie offered, smiling thinly. “Not that you’ll remember.”

“Probably not,” Bill admitted. “I’ll see you later, though.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Eddie promised, disappearing through the doors of the Mouse.

Running into Eddie had made Bill even later than he was originally planning to be. His coworkers were going to be livid. Hopefully there wasn’t a tour waiting on him.

Sure enough, when he walked into Town Hall, his coordinator flew at him. “What is the matter with you?? You have a tour waiting!”

“Cool,” Bill rolled his eyes and smoothed out his vest. “What’s the situation?”

“A couple of C-list VIPs. Kids from a recent horror film, I think. Seven of them.”

“Girls?” Bill asked, quietly hoping for an affirmative answer.

“Just one,” his coordinator said, glancing over. “Six boys.”

“Fuck.” Bill sighed and slid on his sunglasses. “No Tiana this time, I guess. I’ll start ‘em with Richie instead.”

“I dunno if Richie still works mornings,” said the coordinator, frowning, “he likes that late night CP shift*** garbage. But if he’s here, he’ll probably tip the boat and drown ‘em, so...godspeed, I guess.”

Bill stepped out neatly from behind the customer service booth. He spotted his group right away. They were all about 13 years old, and extremely loud.

“Hey there, kiddos!” he called. “Ready to make some magic?”

The children cheered, and Bill swept them out and towards Adventureland.

----

Miraculously, they made it to the Jungle Cruise in about ten minutes. The group only got distracted by the swords in the Agrabah Bazaar once (and incredibly, it was the girl that was most excited about them), and were less interested in the spitting camels at the Aladdin ride than Bill thought they would be.

He approached the cast member at the head of the Jungle Fastpass line while the kids took a picture with the ride sign for Instagram. “I’ve got a group of fourteen - seven kids and seven moms - and we want to ride Richie’s bote****.”

The cast member rolled his eyes. “Of course, Richie’s bote. It’s a miracle you caught him - usually he doesn’t get scheduled until noon or later, but he’s here today, whining about having to spiel at 'the asscrack of dawn' or whatever. He's basically a bat: blind and nocturnal.”

“Grumpy Richie is good luck for us,” Bill said, smiling. “I was kind of hoping he’d leave the kids in the Cambodian ruins show scene.”

“He just might.” The cast member waved Bill along, and Bill called back to the boys. They snaked their way through the line until they got to the dock, where another cast member in khaki held them back.

“You want Richie, right?” she said, adjusting her wide-brimmed hat. “Good timing. He’ll be rolling in in a sec.”

“Who is Richie?” one of the boys asked, looking at Bill curiously.

Bill shook his head and smiled. The kid really had no idea.

“Aaaaaaaand we’re back,” called a loud voice, saving Bill from actually answering the boy’s question. Bill turned to see Richie steering a boat to the unload dock. His glasses were steamed up from the Florida humidity, and his hat was hanging around his neck by a cord because his hair was too unruly for the hat to stay on his head. In short, he was a SIGHT. The kids gawked at him as he pulled up to the pier and stopped the boat, yammering all the while:

“I hope you’ve had as much fun as I have over these past four weeks...which is to say, none at all, I hope you had no fun, you’ve been terrible. Parting is such sweet sorrow, yadda yadda yadda, get out of my bote. Watch your head. Just kidding, you can’t actually watch your own head. Watch somebody else’s head, I guess.”

Richie’s rambling was sweet music to Bill’s ears. The two of them had been friends since they’d done Ad-Lib orientation together some two years prior. They’d been separated to different attractions - Richie to Pirates of the Caribbean, initially, and Bill to Mansion - but they still managed to make time for each other every now and again, and Bill loved to take his tours down to the Jungle Cruise so he could spend time with his friend.

Bill was justified in bringing his tours down Richie’s way, though. Richie was by far the funniest Skipper in the Jungle. Everyone had been kind of surprised when he’d been sent to Pirates right off the bat - the boy was basically put on Earth to narrate shitty Disney journeys through plastic wilderness, so as soon as he could put in to cross-train*****, he had jumped to Jungle and not looked back.

“Hey Rich,” Bill called, “heard you were giving out free two-week vacations. Got room for fifteen more?”

Richie’s face lit up when he spotted Bill on the dock. “Big Bill, on MY bote? Dreams really do come true! Magic is real, folks, you heard it here first and not from anyone else on this wack vacation property--”

“Beep beep, Richie,” Bill said mildly, unable to hide his giant smile as he moved to hug his friend.

“I can’t believe ‘beep beep’ has lasted the test of time,” Richie grumbled. “I hate the Tomorrowland Speedway.” He turned to the kids. “Okay, single file, sit all the way around, both sides of the crates please or we’ll flip and the gators will eat you. Don’t climb over the crates, you’ll fall and I’ll laugh and then probably get fired. All aboard!”

The kids clambered eagerly on to Richie’s bote, chattering excitedly to themselves. Their mothers followed them with great hesitation and an obvious sense of dread. Bill got in last, and secured a seat next to Richie.

“We all here? Great! If not, oh well.” Richie got the ‘all clear’ from a fellow cast member, and put the boat into gear. “Welcome to the Richie Tozier express, I think you’ll find it river-ting. I know you’re all thrilled to spend the next two weeks with me as your tour guide, but please, hold your applause until we’re past this tribe of hand-eating cannibals….”

Richie’s bote was always an exciting experience, and Bill found himself laughing more than the kids at certain spots. He knew that he shouldn’t be encouraging some of the jokes - Richie was supposed to stick to a script, and he’d almost gotten fired a few times because he couldn’t rein in his giant mouth - but he couldn’t help it. Richie was a comedian, through and through.

After the tour was over, the kids all insisted on getting a picture with Richie, so he graciously climbed out of the boat with them and handed things over to another khaki-clad cast member. (It was his turn to rotate******, anyway.) They took photos on everyone’s iPhone, and then the kids scrambled away to edit and compare, so Bill had a few minutes alone with Richie.

“How goes it, Big Bill?” Richie asked, wiping sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand. “Plaid looks good on you, as always.”

“Butler uniform looked better,” Bill said wistfully, tugging at his vest. “I miss Mansion, except for the heavy coat.”

“Anything’s better than khaki shorts,” Richie said sagely. “I’d kill to cross-train at Mansion. They won’t let me, though. They know I’d just sit around and scare kids all day.”

Bill shrugged. “I mean, I used to just let people fall down on the moving belt. I can’t imagine you’d be any worse.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty fucking awful, Billiam.” Richie shoved his hands in his shorts pockets. “Anyways. Um. I have a query.”

“Shoot,” said Bill, eyeing the kids. They were just about ready to go.

“Where’s Cute Character Attendant today?” Richie’s ears had gone scarlet, and not from the sun.

Bill shot him a withering look. “I don’t know every single person that works in MK, Rich.”

“You know this guy. I’ve seen you talking to him.” There was desperation in Richie’s eyes, which was new and disconcerting. “Small, pretty smile, shrill voice. I made an Aladdin joke about the loaf of bread in my pants and he told me that if he had a genie, he would wish me away.”

Bill squinted incredulously. “Eddie?!”

A huge, goofy smile slid across Richie’s face. “Eddie…”

Realization hit Bill like a freight train, and he let out a barking laugh. “You’re the heckler! Eddie said he had a heckler, and it's you!”

“Where is he?” Richie begged. “Bill, please.”

“Goodbye, Richie,” Bill sang, re-joining his group. Behind him, he could all but hear Richie attempting to keep from cursing.

It seemed that he was going to have to pay Eddie a visit after all.

----

As it turned out, the kids were pretty hyped about Tiana even with the fact that she was a girl. Bill was pretty impressed by that - they were a mature bunch of twelve year olds, which was rare and lovely.

Eddie was standing in front of the door to her station in Princess Fairytale Hall with his arms crossed. He looked almost elf-like in the Fantasyland attendant costume, and Bill couldn’t help but wonder at Richie’s taste. Eddie was a good person and quite attractive in his civilian clothes, but he looked ridiculous in his Attendant get-up, and Bill was pretty sure Richie had never seen Eddie in civvies. It made Bill wonder if Richie lusted after the Peter Pans in Entertainment, too.

“How many?” Eddie asked as they drew nearer.

Bill smiled meekly. “Don’t kill me.”

Eddie’s shoulders slumped. “Over ten?”

“Fourteen,” Bill said apologetically. “Plus me.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you knew Richie?” Bill asked, low enough that the kids and moms in his group couldn’t hear him.

Eddie’s breath caught in his throat, and his face immediately went pink. “You’re talking about Jungle Cruise guy, aren’t you.”

“Yeah. We’re old friends.” Bill looked at Eddie seriously. “Is he yanking your chain?”

“He’s so embarrassing,” Eddie complained. “Every time I’m with Aladdin and Jasmine, he stares at me from across Adventureland and shouts dumb jungle pick-up lines. And that’s not even the worst part.”

Bill blinked back at him. “What’s the worst part?”

“The worst part is that I’m into it,” Eddie hissed, crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t know what to do. It’s ridiculous. I have to go check on Tiana.” He disappeared into the next room, and then reappeared. “Yeah, she’s good. She’ll see you now.”

“Do you want me to talk to Richie?” Bill asked, gesturing the rest of his group forward.

“If you do, I’ll kill you,” Eddie threatened, pushing Bill through the door. “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye,” Bill repeated, wondering what he could do to help his two idiot friends.

----

The tour pretty quickly went back to occupying the majority of Bill’s thoughts, and so he was able to bring the kids and moms through Fantasyland pretty efficiently. The kids were obviously losing steam heading into Tomorrowland, so he talked to the moms and decided that Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear would be their two final stops of the day. Monsters Inc would have to wait for another time.

Bill wasn’t a huge roller-coaster guy, and Space Mountain was particularly iffy for him, especially after he’d gotten the opportunity to ride it with the lights on, so he elected to stay outside with some of the moms while the kids and the braver mothers went through the line. One of the mothers was clearly relieved to have gotten him alone, and immediately started flirting with him, which he hated. It happened all the time, and while it was definitely worse when wives flirted with him in front of their husbands, it sucked pretty much across the board. He had no real defense mechanisms: he couldn’t be rude to the guest, or he’d get fired, and he couldn’t tell them he was gay, because then they’d probably tell his supervisor and he’d get fired for sharing too much information. It was a lose-lose situation.

Fortunately, someone else had noticed his plight. A blonde, bearded man in a dress shirt and, bewilderingly, a Disney name tag, came walking towards him from the direction of Astro Orbiter. “Hey, um.” The man read Bill’s nametag, and then straightened up. “Bill. Can we chat for a sec?”

“Sure,” Bill said, pointing to him and mouthing ‘supervisor’ to the moms as he was led away.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Bill shoved his hands in his pockets. “Am I in trouble?”

“What?” The man seemed confused. “No, I was just trying to help you out. That mom was really laying it on thick.”

“Oh.” Bill couldn’t find the words to express his gratitude, so he settled for patting the man on the arms. “Thanks, man, I really appreciate it. I thought you were the manager for one of the attractions around here, that’s why I asked…”

The other man laughed. “Oh, no. Well, actually, kind of. In a sense, I manage these rides.”

Bill knitted his eyebrows. “I don’t follow.”

“My name’s Ben Hanscom,” the man introduced himself. “I’m an Imagineer.”

“Oh!” Bill beamed, delighted. “That’s the raddest job on property, I think. What brings you to MK? New developments in Tomorrowland?”

“Just observing,” Ben said, smiling. “I have a lot of Star Wars stuff on my plate, so I wanted to see how guests were reacting to the space-y theming we already have.”

“Smart,” Bill nodded. “What Star Wars stuff?”

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” Ben dropped his voice to a low whisper. Bill almost believed him for a hot second, but Ben ruined the joke by bursting out laughing.

“Dude. That wasn’t even that funny.”

“I know,” Ben wheezed. “I just can’t contain myself.”

“The rest of my group is coming back,” Bill said, pointing at the exit, where the kids were skipping out towards their mothers, “so as much as I’d like to listen to your crazy, I’ve gotta fly. See you around?”

“Definitely,” Ben said, smiling a huge, genuine smile. “Anytime you need to be rescued from crazy moms, you let me know.”

“I sure will,” Bill joked, walking back towards the kids.

“Hey,” Ben called after him, a little hesitantly.

Bill turned around. “Yes?”

“Could you, uh, say hello to the redheaded costumer next time you’re picking up costumes?” Ben asked sheepishly. “Tell her that Tomorrowland Pants Guy says hi.”

Bill had a feeling he knew exactly the person Ben was talking about, but there was no way Ben would know her name, so he decided to skip that particular discussion and just say “Okay”.

It was shaping up to be a weird day for relationships, all in all.

----

The costumer in question happened to be none other than Bill’s best friend and roommate, Beverly.

Bill met Bev just a little while after he’d started working at Disney. She’d worked more on entertainment costumes then, and they’d bonded over their love of the Haunted Mansion attire. They’d dated in those first, more immediate weeks, but quickly realized that their relationship worked better on a platonic level (especially considering that Bill wasn’t super into women in the first place)...which, ultimately, led them all the way up to becoming roommates.

She still worked in costuming, but now, she was in charge of frontline cast******* costumes in the Magic Kingdom. She ran clothing maintenance and tracked down all checked-out costume pieces, and also had the well-deserved reputation of being the nicest girl in all of costuming. After Bill sent the kids off to their hotel, clocked out, and hopped the West Clock bus back to the station, he stopped in to see her, knowing that her shift would be finished soon.

“Please, please, please come to the Boardwalk with me for a while!” Bill found Bev almost immediately upon entering the Costuming building, and wasted no time in launching into a whiny beg.

Bev huffed. “Is this about that guy you saw feeding the birds there literally one time? With the pretty curls and the sneer?”

“Obviously.” Bill unbuttoned his vest, took it off, and stuffed it in his bag. “I’ve gotta find him.”

This was true. Bill had spent his last couple of weeks in pursuit of a man he’d seen on Disney’s Boardwalk some time ago. The man had been angelically beautiful, and despite seeming a little on the stiff side, had been sweet and wonderful to watch when he’d pulled out birdseed and started tossing it to the ibises. Bill had been entranced, and now he was obsessed with finding him again.

“He’s probably not even from around here,” Bev pointed out, disgustedly watching Bill strip to just his undershirt and a pair of running shorts.

“He is. I know he is.” Bill zipped up his backpack full of wrinkled clothing. “And there’s another guy I have my eye on, too, if we can swing into Epcot and stop by some KidCot******** stations.”

“KidCot?” Bev raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t ask,” Bill said, sliding his bag back on to his shoulders. He’d seen Boardwalk guy about two weeks ago, looking at birds on the lake, and KidCot guy about four days ago, charming kids and mothers alike in Epcot’s Mexico pavilion. They were the two most evocative men Bill had ever seen in his life, and he was determined to track them down.

“Eh, I don’t have other plans.” Bev shrugged. “I guess I’ll come.”

“Fuck yeah,” Bill grinned. “My wingwoman.”

“Never say that again,” Bev said threateningly, and disappeared into the back to clock out.

----

They drove over to the Boardwalk and parked in cast parking, despite the fact that they weren’t Boardwalk cast. Neither of them wanted to pay to park in a guest lot (it was stupid that that was even a thing, now), and Bev figured they’d get away with it, so they decided to make it work.

Curly-haired boy was not on the Yacht and Beach********* side of things, and Bill couldn’t see him across the way. That was discouraging, but he didn’t want to make Bev feel they’d come for nothing, so Bill suggested that they walk the loop for a minute.

“Oh, by the way,” he remembered somewhere over by the Abracadabar, “some guy told me to say hey to you. Something about Tomorrowland pants.”

Bev frowned. “I’m not friends with any Tomorrowland cast.”

“He wasn’t Tomorrowland cast,” Bill clarified, “he was an imagineer. Something about Star Wars….but then, I mean, I guess they’re all kinda doing Star Wars at this point.”

Bev thought for a moment, and then her eyes widened. “Oh, shoot, what was his name. He was so sweet. Uh. Bert? Starts with a ‘B’.”

“Ben,” Bill remembered, smiling at the memory of the bearded guy who laughed at himself. “Imagineer Ben.”

“Ben!” Bev’s face was alight with excitement. “SO cute. He came in to see what the Tomorrowland folks were wearing, and then he stuck around and talked to me about sewing and Disney’s Hercules. What a cool cat.”

“He’s got a little crush on you, I think,” Bill teased.

“I’ve got a little crush back,” Bev responded without missing a beat. “Shit, I’ll ask him out myself if I ever see him again. He was so much fun.”

“That’s a pretty big ‘if’,” Bill reminded her gently.

“Yeah.” Bev kicked at a rock as they passed ESPNZone. “For you, too, though. I notice we haven’t found your bird boy yet.”

Bill sighed, gazing sadly across the little man-made lake. The sun was setting on the far end, and it would have been almost perfectly picturesque if the giant statues from the Swan and Dolphin resorts hadn’t been silhouetted against the sky. “I just can’t shake the feeling that he’s still here somewhere, Bev. Like, the universe keeps bringing me back here to find him, and one of these days, he’s going to be sitting on the steps outside the Yacht Club with a little plastic bag of birdseed again.”

Bev gave him a pitying look. “Maybe, honey. Maybe. We’re by the side entrance to Epcot; do you wanna try and find Kidcot guy instead?”

Bill did also really want to try and find Kidcot guy, but he couldn’t give up on curly-haired bird boy so easily. “One more lap, okay?”

“Okay, sweetheart.” Bev was, as always, inhumanly patient, and took his hand as they started on their second loop.

There were more people out on the Boardwalk now than there were when Bev and Bill had first arrived. It appeared to be prime time for people to be leaving the parks and coming back to their hotels to swim or change for dinner.

“They seem nice,” Bev giggled, gesturing to a set of parents that were obviously minutes away from snapping and screaming at their children.

Bill groaned. “Bev, thank your lucky stars that you don’t have to deal with guests, ever.”

“I do,” she replied easily, “every day.”

A loud, officious voice cut through the crowd as they passed the Yacht and Beach pool and approached the entrance to the Yacht Club. Bill felt his face contort into a scowl as he looked for the perpetrator.

“Too loud, asshole, too loud,” he muttered, feeling like a crotchety Mansion cast member again.

“It’s not my fault I couldn’t change my shift, dickhead,” the voice snapped. “I’m sorry you had to work in the morning, but honestly--no, your normal shift is batshit crazy, who the fuck goes in to work at 2pm? And I don’t care that you didn’t get to see….whoever this kid is. Mine didn’t come today either. Bad day all around. ...what? Oh, go fuck yourself.”

As abruptly as it had began, the voice stopped. Bill assumed that he’d hung up on whoever he was talking to. Curious, he looked around, trying to find someone who both looked angry and was shoving their phone back in their pocket.

In the whole post-pool area, there was only one person who matched both of those descriptors.

He also happened to have amber, springy hair.

Bill stopped short.

“Are you okay?” Bev asked, having almost walked into him. “Is something…?” She followed Bill’s line of vision, and then gasped. “Oh my God. That’s him, isn’t it? Something’s telling me that that’s him.”

Bill nodded weakly, and before he knew it, Bev was dragging him towards the beautiful stranger.

“What the fuck, Bev?” Bill yanked back on his hand, but she was holding firm. “I’m not ready to talk to him! Let me g---”

The curly-haired boy looked up. He was a lot prettier up close - almost statuesque - and holding a bag full of clothes, this time, instead of a Ziploc full of birdseed.

He also, jarringly, did not look surprised to see Bill.

“Oh,” he said, looking Bill up and down. “It’s you.”

In later re-tellings of the story, Bill blamed his lack of sleep and his dizzying tour group for what happened next, but the truth of it was that the sheer shock of it all was far too much.

He passed out, right onto the Yacht Club steps.

------

NOTES

irl Richie would have been fired from Jungle by now but we can sit here and pretend

*West Clock Bus - to preserve the integrity/secrecy of the tunnels, there is a bus that takes Cast Members from Magic Kingdom cast parking to the mouth of the tunnels. It is impossible to drive and stumble upon the tunnels.

**Getting a point - you clock in on a computer, so it knows you're late. lateness & other offenses of the like earn you points on your employee permanent record. 3 points earn you a talking to from a supervisor, more than that is Bad News

***CP Shift - CP = college program. College kids do internships at WDW that are basically just slave labor (that's how I worked there!) & they give them all the late-night graveyard shifts.

****Bote - that's just what they call boats at the World Famous Jungle Cruise. I genuinely don't know why.

*****Cross-train - as an attractions cast member, you can be trained at any attraction in your "zone" (so: Fantasyland, Adventureland/Liberty Square, in Epcot there's Future World East/West, etc.) but you have to apply to be trained, so...cross-training

******Rotate - every 45 minutes, attractions cast members rotate positions. this is mostly to give CMs some time in the air conditioning

*******Frontline cast - the CMs you interact with when you go into the park. There are lots of others (coordinators, managers, costumers, etc.) that you don't see.

********KidCot - stations for kids around Epcot Center's World Showcase

*********Yacht & Beach Club - two resorts in the Boardwalk area of WDW. you can walk to Epcot and boat to Studios from there.

**********"Friends" with a character - WDW lingo for acting as that character. EX: if I'm hanging out with my friend Elsa in Epcot's Norway pavilion today, then I'm gonna be the Elsa in Norway. Done to maintain the illusion with small children.

thanks for coming to my WDW ted talk, now enjoy some crazy gays

#reddie #bill/mike/stan #mike hanlon/bill denbrough/stanley uris #benverly #bill denbrough #eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #ben hanscom #beverly marsh #stanley uris #mike hanlon #losers club #it 2017 #stephen king's it #disney world AU #forgive me father for i have sinned #it has been 3 years since i have exposed details of my former workplace #reddie fanfic

[allthestripes]

Thank You For Existing - 2/4 Speaking Through Music series

It was senior year for Tweek and Craig, and Tweek’s fame was still growing. After his first tour, his life had been a whirlwind, but Craig’s steady, calming presence had kept him grounded enough to function. The Tweak’s had decided firmly that their son would graduate from South Park high and not tour during school. As such, his agent called frequently to see if Tweek had new songs to put out. It got to the point that Craig began answering the phone for his boyfriend, as Tweek would just scream into the receiver.

His studies took up most of his time, along with having to work at his parent’s coffee shop. They didn’t care that he was a famous musician making millions already; they needed an extra worker, and he was the best for the job. As such, the shop was always busy, people from all over the country flooding the small town to meet Tweek and have him make them coffee.

It was getting close to prom season, and Tweek was beginning to panic. He hadn’t been able to write any songs in almost a month, and his agent was breathing down his neck for something, anything.

“Craig, he wants something for people to play at proms across the country. That’s so much pressure!” he wailed one evening, curling up in his desk chair, legs tucked under his chin. His bandaged fingers pulled at his hair with one hand while the other was chewed on, Tweek glaring tiredly down at the page in front of him, covered in writing and crossed out words. His floor was littered with discarded ideas, his trashcan overflowing.

Craig sat behind him on his bed, watching him. When Tweek began to rip at his head, he got up and crossed the room, gently pulling his hands away wrapping his arms around him, locking Tweek’s arms at his sides. “Don’t hurt yourself,” he said. “I know you’re worried, but babe, people love you so much, they’ll understand that you need time off to think and live your own life.” He pressed a kiss to the top of his head and smiled when he was rewarded with a soft laugh.

“You’re right, I’m allowed to look after myself. I’m not here just to pump out song after song. I have things I want to do,” he agreed, sounding more cheerful than he had in weeks. He tilted his head back, planting a kiss of his own under Craig’s chin. “Thanks, Craig.”

Blushing, Craig stepped back. “Anyway,” he said after clearing his throat. “I came over today because I wanted to ask you to go to prom with me.”

Tweek turned his chair to look at his boyfriend, grinning at him. “I don’t know if I should say yes to such a lackluster offer,” he teased. “Aren’t these usually big deals with all kinds of stuff going into it?”

Craig shrugged, returning the look. “Not my style. I figured you’d prefer a simple offer than something extravagant, but I’m always willing to make a big deal over you.”

The other quickly shook his head. “Nah, you’re right, I do prefer this,” he said quickly. “Of course I’ll go with you, thanks for asking me.”

“Thanks for accepting my boring offer.”

Tweek snorted, then stood up. He walked to Craig and pressed his face into his chest, sighing. “Anytime.” Craig hugged him readily, enjoying the peaceful moment. This, of course, meant it was ruined quickly. Tweek’s phone began to blare a warning siren, the ringtone he had assigned his agent. Tweek groaned, falling away from the other and pulling on his hair harshly.

Craig frowned, snatching the phone up and swiping to answer. “What do you want?” he snapped in annoyance.

“Oh, it’s you. Put my client on,” the haughty voice issued, immediately grating on Craig’s nerves.

“Like fuck I will. Tell me what you want, and I’ll tell him in a way that isn’t manipulative and stress inducing,” he growled.

“Craig, it’s okay,” Tweek cut in. He looked tired, taking the phone and putting it to his ear before speaking. “What do you want now? I told you I don’t have anything.” Craig stood close by, unable to hear what was being said between the pair, but wanting to stay close in case he was needed.

“I don’t have time to do a concert,” he hissed out suddenly. “Craig is taking me to prom. God, it’s like you forget I’m a person with things I want to do myself!” His eyes were lit with fire, his exhaustion disappearing. Craig felt his heart warm as he watched, though he kept himself from smiling, knowing now was not the time.

He watched his boyfriend argue for a solid half hour, unable to tell if Tweek was winning or not. The heavy sigh he released didn’t fill him with confidence, and he touched his shoulder lightly.

“What is it, babe?” he asked.

“… He booked a concert for the night of prom,” Tweek murmured.

“What!? That’s total bullshit, he can’t do that!”

“Well, he did.” Tweek’s voice was hard, his mouth narrowing into a sliver. “And just to fuck me over, he let the school book me. So, I guess I can’t go with you, I’m going to be the fucking entertainment.”

Craig could hear the disappointment under the anger, and he allowed it to roll off him, knowing Tweek didn’t meant to snap at him. He grabbed his boyfriend’s hands, bringing them up to his lips. He kissed his fingertips and the band-aids decorating them tenderly. “Like Hell you aren’t going with me,” he said as Tweek’s face flushed red. “You’re going to enjoy your senior prom. Your agent can go suck a massive dick.”

Tweek’s face twitched as he held down a laugh, and he let out a breath, dropping his gaze to his feet. “If you say so, Craig.”

———-

The month leading up to prom was nothing less than chaos for the young couple. A flurry of crazed planning took up most of Tweek’s mind, keeping him distracted. Two weeks before prom, Craig pulled him into his car and drove them to South Park mall.

“What are we doing here, Craig?” Tweek asked, gripping his hand as they entered the building, Craig clearly having a destination in mind.

“We need to get suits for prom,” he answered easily. “I know you like to be more casual when you perform, but it’s a formal event, so to be let in I have to wear something nicer than black jeans and a clean shirt.” He paused long enough to shoot him a smile. “You don’t have to get one if you don’t want too, but you can help me pick one.”

With a tired sigh, Tweek followed him. He was exhausted lately, his paranoia keeping him awake. The only sleep he was getting was the hour-long lunch period he had, escaping to the nurse’s office and crashing there.

Entering the store, the pair where greeted brightly, the employees rushing to be attentive to their famous customer. He smiled weakly, collapsing into a chair beside the dressing room. He only half registered Craig pulling a few suits from the racks around him, pressing a kiss into his hair, and going into a changing room. When Craig stepped out, it was an entirely different story.

Tweek sat bolt upright in his seat, his eyes wide and locked onto his boyfriend. It occurred to him he had never seen Craig dress up for anything before, but goddamn if he didn’t highly approve.

Craig turned in a circle, his arms held out at his sides. “What do you think, babe?” he asked. “Too much? Need more? I’m not much of a fashion person.”

Cursing his mouth for failing him, Tweek gestured at him dumbly and nodded in approval. Craig had chosen a dark blue suit that seemed to have silver sparkles pressed into the threads. It was barely notable until Craig moved, then the light reflected from them, making him shine. A white undershirt covered his chest, and a tie matching the suit was clipped around his neck.

“Tweek? Are you alright?” he asked in concern, hugging him gently.

“Get this,” Tweek managed to command. His mind was filling with music, and he needed to get home right away. He shuffled from foot to foot impatiently as Craig changed back and went to the counter to rent the suit.

The musician all but yanked Craig out of the mall and shoved him into the car. Craig’s worry had waned, and he instead watched the other with deep fondness, recognizing the signs of a creative mood.

He hadn’t seen Tweek have one in so long, it was an extremely welcome site. Putting the car into gear, he pulled out of the parking lot and drove them back. Arriving at the Tweak house, Tweek pecked his cheek, then leapt out, sprinting into the house and up to his room.

Bursting into the room, he threw himself at his desk, snatching a pen and clicking it open, scribbling frantically. He used pen to write his song ideas, finding pencil smeared to easily when he rushed, and he broke a much smaller number of pens compared to pencils.

His parents, used to their son’s constant alertness, went to bed and slept soundly though his screeching and rushing around, banging around on the various instruments in his room as he brought the song in his head out to the world, stopping only to jot down the notes onto the music sheets.

In the early hours of the morning, Tweek collapsed on his bed, dead asleep. His newest song was stacked neatly in the one open spot on his messy desk, unreadable to just about everyone else in the world. His mother checked on him around seven, and seeing him resting, called him off from school for the day as well as sending Craig a text to let him know where the teen would be.

Craig smiled at the message that popped up on his phone, already in the school’s parking lot. He’d known that Tweek was going to work until he finished whatever was on his mind, then collapse. It wasn’t the first time he’d done this, and it wouldn’t be the last either.

———-

The remaining days to prom felt like someone had smashed the fast-forward button on Tweek’s life, propelling him through the days as though they didn’t exist. Lucky for him, Craig made sure to be around constantly, basically living in the Tweak house to help him prepare. The only thing Tweek had refused to be convinced to do was play the new song he had written for prom to Craig just yet.

“You’ll understand why when we’re there,” he promised, yanking his fingers through his hair in a vain attempt to fix it. “Just be patient for a little while, I promise it will be worth it.” Craig, who had asked for a sneak peek of the new song for the hundredth time, huffed and went into the bathroom to put on his suit.

Tweek felt incredibly guilty that Craig couldn’t go out to dinner with his friends beforehand, since he had to go to the community center to set up and Craig insisted on going with him. Craig did everything he could think of to assure him that there was nothing to feel bad about, he wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. Surprising him by showing up with takeout and his suit in a bag had helped. After eating, they showered and set about getting ready.

“Do I still look alright?” Craig asked, stepping out of the bathroom. Tweek’s breath caught in his throat as the sight of Dressed Up Craig entered his vision. He nodded mutely in response, watching Craig use his fingers to comb through his hair and style it slightly. Gulping, he turned away and shook himself, knowing he needed to stay focused.

They left shortly after, Tweek feeling extremely under-dressed, which he was. He had donned the same outfit he had worn for his first tour appearance, being sure to even have the same earrings in. Tweek was a deep believer in good luck, and seeing as his concert had done so well, it made sense (at least to him), to think that wearing the same outfit would cause a similar reaction. He had made one important addition, however: a warm, blue, slightly-too-big jacket was draped around him, the sleeves going down to his fingertips.

Craig thought it was the absolute cutest thing he had ever seen in his life.

Getting to the center, parents were already crowding around the entrance, though most of the teens wouldn’t arrive for another hour. This was fine by Tweek. The pair got their cheesy couple photo, Craig pulling him against him and smiling widely, managing to coax a nervous grin from his boyfriend.

Going into the building was like stepping into another world. The town had gone all out and donated massively to the high school that year; fairy lights were strung through the rafters and wrapped into designs that traveled up the walls. One side of the room had tables set up covered in white cloths, surrounded by fancy looking chairs. Center pieces sat on top of the pristine fabric, and Tweek couldn’t for the life of him figure out what the twisty gold-looking thing was supposed to be, but it was pretty all the same.

Moveable tiles had been set in place over the wooden floor boards on the half of the room not covered in seatery. Strobe lights were set up around the dance floor, and an area for the band, and Tweek, had been created between the giant speakers. Behind one of the speakers was a small table that had an AUX cord and someone’s phone for when Tweek and the helping band needed a break so the music wouldn’t have to stop for long.

The far wall had a long table set up, covered in snacks and drinks for the teens when they needed to rest and recharge.

Tweek let out a sigh and walked towards the performing area. Settling himself on the provided stool as adults rushed around to put the finishing touches on everything, he watched Craig, who had taken the table closest to him. He smiled slightly, appreciating the gesture, and Craig waved at him. They spent the time making faces at each other and giggling. Occasionally, Tweek would have to turn away to check his microphone for the sound technician, but the pair was left undisturbed for the most part.

When students began to arrive outside, someone pressed play on the phone behind the speaker and a pop song started up. Tweek’s performance would start after most of the students had arrived. Until then, he was allowed to get up and go to Craig. He did so gladly, running over to him.

Token, Clyde, Jimmy, Timmy, and Jason arrived first. Token and Clyde had come together, Token in a purple suit and red shirt, while Clyde was the opposite. Though neither Craig or Tweek were big on fashion, seeing Clyde’s outfit physically hurt them, Craig covering his eyes as Tweek pulled the hood of the jacket up to hide his face.

Clyde just laughed, enjoying their torment. Jimmy was in a yellow suit, something none of them had thought he would be able to pull off, but he did extremely well. Timmy had chosen light blue, and Jason had gone traditional with black. The three hadn’t asked anyone to go, knowing they would find someone to dance with who had come in a group like they had. If all else failed, they had no qualms just getting groovy with each other.

As students began to pour in, Tweek was called for. Craig kissed his forehead lightly, promising to hang out close to him while he performed. “This is technically the first time I’ve seen you play live,” he teased. “I’ll be watching you the whole time, so don’t worry too much.”

Tweek smiled, bid his friends goodbye, then returned to the band. The music turned off, and the band started to play, exciting the students. Many were big fans of Tweek’s music and were excited to hear him singing live.

Putting on his performing face, he smiled brightly, welcoming them all to prom before launching into a popular dance song. While he performed, Tweek kept an eye on the time. He wanted to end the dance with his new song for two reasons: one, it was a pretty easy song as far as the strain it put on his vocal cords, relaxing in a way, and a good wind up to end a long show, and two, he fully intended to embarrass Craig but didn’t want to make it impossible for him to escape. He wasn’t going to be that mean.

The dance was two hours long, and Tweek only took two breaks, and this only so the band could have a moment to rest. He himself was buzzing with energy, looking forward to Craig’s reaction.

Finally, it was nearing the end, and Tweek took the microphone from its hold and stood up, getting everyone’s attention.

“Thank you all for coming to this year’s prom, guys,” he started, pausing a moment while he was applauded. “Now, I know I haven’t released any new songs in a while, but I have something special for you tonight. I would like to perform the new song I wrote, if you’d all be willing to hear it.”

The room filled with excited chatter and the students agreed eagerly. Tweek smiled, then glanced towards Craig. “Craig, could you come up here, please?”

Craig looked around in confusion as everyone went silent, but he stood and walked to his boyfriend’s side, allowing Tweek to lead him back to the stool he had been sitting on all night. Tweek had pulled it out from its spot to the side and put in the center of the dance floor. Once Craig was seated, he grinned and kissed his cheek, eliciting squeals from some of the girls.

“I’ve had a hard time being inspired lately,” he said, “but Craig helped me out, like he always does. So, Craig, this song is for you. I’ve decided to call it, ‘Thank You For Existing’.” Craig’s cheeks turned red, but he smiled and nodded. Taking a step back, Tweek took a breath, then began.

“I got these fresh eyes, never seen you before like this…” He looked Craig up and down quickly, his eyes softening with affection. “My God, you’re beautiful.”

Craig’s eyes widened as his blush darkened. Tweek showed his love through actions more than he did words, and it was always a welcome surprise to be told something sweet.

“It’s like the first time, when we opened the door before we, got used to usual…”

Was… was Tweek talking about when they first got together? It had been an awkward shift in their dynamic from friends to lovers, but it had been a good awkward, if that even existed. The excitement of seeing one another for the first time every day hadn’t gone away, it had only grown into a routine. Craig’s mind raced as it pushed pieces into place, finding the deeper meaning in his boyfriend’s songs as he tended to do.

“It might seem superficial, mhmm… Stereotypical man… You dress up just a little and I’m like, 'Oh, damn’.” Tweek winked at him, derailing Craig’s attempts to reason through the words. It was almost ridiculous how easily Tweek was able to turn him into putty.

“So, suddenly, I’m in love with a stranger… I can’t believe he’s mine… Now all I see, is you, with fresh eyes, fresh eyes…”

As he repeated the line, the attendees began to clap in time to the beat, getting into the music.

“Appreciation… Well, it comes and it goes,” Tweek continued, giving a small shrug before moving behind his boyfriend and putting his arm around him. “But I, I’ll ride that wave with you. It’s human nature, to miss what’s under your nose 'til you, 'til you remind a fool…” He pressed a quick kiss to Craig’s jaw, then spun away as the drum picked up.

“Maybe all of this is simple… mhmm, my heart’s unconditional, yeah…” He turned back to face Craig, pointing him. “You dress up just a little and I’m like, 'Oh, damn’.”

His face felt like it was on fire, and Craig put his hands over his cheeks in a vain attempt to hide his embarrassment. If it had been anyone else, he could have flipped them off and stormed out, but… he couldn’t do that to Tweek. For sure he would need to get him back for this later though.

“If I could bottle this up, bottle, bottle this up, I would… I would bottle this up, bottle, bottle this up, I would…” Making his way back to him, Tweek leaned close to Craig’s face. “'Cause you’re gorgeous, in this moment�� If I could bottle this up, I would…”

Craig threw out an arm, wrapping it around Tweek’s waste to keep him from leaving and holding him close. Even sitting, abet on a high stool, Craig was a good head taller than Tweek, not that it was stopping the singer from flustering the fuck out of him.

“So, suddenly, I’m in love with a stranger… I can’t believe he’s mine, yeah… And now all I see, is you, with fresh eyes, fresh eyes… Oooh… Oooh… Oooh…” Tweek let the microphone drop to the ground, throwing his arms around Craig’s neck as he stood on his tiptoes, smashing their lips together.

The crowd, already cheering from the song, lost their minds, screaming and whistling in approval.

Craig stood up, scooping Tweek into his arms, carrying him like a princess towards the doors of the community center. “If you were anyone else, I would be so mad,” he murmured softly. “But I seem to be unable to get mad at you, babe.”

Tweek grinned and snuggled closer to him. “I’m pretty lucky then, huh?”

“The luckiest.”

———-

The next day, Tweek called his agent, a first for him. He had never been the one to initiate contact before. The man on the other end of the line was surprised to get the call.

“I wrote a song and showed it at prom,” Tweek informed him. “It’s entirely possible someone recorded it and put it online. If they did, I don’t care, so don’t you dare try to get it taken down or anything. I’m emailing you the file, give it to whoever it is you give it to for this stuff. If you were going to ask, I did have fun, and the post prom was the best part. Bye now.” He hung up without waiting for him to say a word. He was still a bit salty over having to work on prom night, but it hadn’t been as bad as he had thought it would be. Though to be fair, that was entirely thanks to Craig.

After leaving the dance, they had returned to Tweek’s home and both had changed into sweatpants and t-shirts, though Tweek kept Craig’s jacket. They had then joined their friends at the mall, where post prom was being held. It had been a lot of fun, and Tweek received many compliments on what everyone was sure was going to be the new top of the charts hit.

“It’s a fuckin’ bop,” Clyde told him as the group lounged in the food court. They had chosen to sit by the wall rather than at a table. Craig was leaned against it with Tweek resting on his chest, his arms around him loosely. Token was beside him, Clyde laying with his head on his lap. Jimmy was sitting against the wheel of Timmy’s chair, and Jason was stretched out on his stomach in front of them.

“Thanks, Clyde,” Tweek said, smiling slightly. “I worked hard on that song.”

“It shows,” Token put in as Clyde nodded.

“Y-Yeah, Tweek,” Jimmy said, stealing a fry from Jason’s plate. “You r-r-rea-really kick s-s-ser-se-serious ass.” Jason swatted weakly at his hand, but gave a thumbs up in agreement, too tired to say anything.

“Timmy!”

Tweek felt his heart warm, grateful to have the support of his friends. Craig’s arms tightened around him and lips pressed into his soft hair.

“You did great, honey,” Craig cooed lowly to him. “I’m so proud of you.”

Soon after, they had gone home, tired and ready for bed. Craig stayed the night, leaving once they were both awake the next day.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit bad. Tweek put so much effort into his music, had even written two songs about him of all people to show his love, and Craig felt, dare he say, inadequate?

Did Tweek understand how much he loved him? How much he cared about, respected, and flat out adored him? He knew he wasn’t the best at expressing himself, but lately he had begun to feel like he wasn’t doing enough. Maybe it was due to Tweek declaring his feelings towards him on a world stage. The entire planet had literally heard Tweek singing about his love for Craig, and Craig had no way to match that…

Or did he?

The idea took shape in his mind, and he’s eyes grew wider as he thought of a solution. Running the rest of the way home, he jumped onto his computer, opening up Discord to message his friends in their group chat. Tweek wasn’t part of it only because he didn’t trust that it wasn’t being monitored at all points.

Typing quickly, he sent out: Do u guys want 2 start a band?

#tweek tweak #craig tucker #creek #musician au #fanfiction #south park #my writing #the song used is fresh eyes #by andy grammer #part two

[turtleparadise]

[ ~ One ~ Two ~ Three ~ Four ~ Five ~ Six ~ Seven ~ ]

5. Heroes

"Think you can handle one of these after so long?"

Vincent glared at Reno, telling him to be quiet without words. They had followed the signal into the ancient demon's nest itself, Shinra Headquarters. Most of the building had been demolished, but there were plenty of places for an enemy to lie in wait, ready to catch them off-guard.

The question was unnecessary. He hadn't held a gun for at least two years now, but the old habits were all still there. And wearing his old cape felt strange after all this time, but he still remembered how to use it as a distraction, as a tool to block attacks, or anything else he might need of it. He would do just fine.

The three of them crept through the darkness together, following the signal on Rude's phone. They had snuck in through a hole in the wall on the second floor, and were steadily ascending, when Vincent held his arm out, signaling them to wait. He turned to the wall and traced a numeral 3, but his comrades couldn't see it in the dark.

"What?" Reno asked, much too loudly. Vincent glared at him again, and grabbed his empty right hand, tracing the numeral one more time. "Oh! There are three of them! Hey, thanks, Vincent!"

"Get down," he growled, pushing the two to the floor as gunshots fired from across the chamber. Not wasting any time, he waved his hand over one of the Materia set into his weapon, sending magic missiles flying their way. The three assailants all ran for it, and he gave chase. After a brief moment of the three dodging through improvised tunnels throughout the floor, he corralled them back toward Reno and Rude, who stopped them dead in their tracks. A few quick stun blows later, they had the three knocked out and tied up.

"Well, one step closer," Reno said, dusting off his hands.

"Take them to the plane. Tranq them and come back as soon as you can," Vincent said. "Rude and I will keep climbing."

"You want me to carry all three of them?" Reno glanced between the two. Vincent turned to give him an amused stare.

"I thought you were a Turk." Reno scoffed at this, but hoisted the three captives up anyway.

"As you wish, senpai."

"I'm not gonna call you 'senpai'," Rude said, just as a point of information.

"Good. Let's move!"

\\\\\

"How many stairs do we have to walk up?" Rude panted.

"They should be close," Vincent said, not for the first time. "The signal seems to be coming from the eleventh floor."

"Guys!"

"Reno?" Vincent looked down the stairwell to see the redhead running to catch up to them.

"I just got news that they've attacked the city. Looks like the second guess was correct - they tried to set the town on fire while everyone was at the event center. Luckily, the Guardians saw them all coming a mile away, so they're subduing them as we speak. No damage, no casualties."

"Which means the rest is up to us," Vincent said. "Meet us at the eleventh floor."

"Will do! Hoo... Too many stairs..."

"Do you need help?"

"What do you mean? I'm not beat yet. I'm a Turk, after all!"

"A Guardian Turk," Rude nodded. Vincent shook his head, letting out a short laugh.

"Morons."

"I think he likes us."

Upon their rendezvous at the designated level, they found no opposition, only a computer monitor which flashed on, showing the face of an elderly man, who smiled at all of them.

"Palmer?" Reno gaped at the image of the old man, who was much the worse for wear these days.

"That's right! Welcome to my castle! To tell the truth, I wasn't expecting company on this special night. But you've given my son a miraculous opportunity. You see, he truly loves to fight, but there hasn't been anyone to match him in a long, long time."

"Son...?" Rude asked. A door slid open, and out walked a creature - it definitely had the basic shape of a man - that towered over them, and let out a high-pitched shriek.

"Not a problem," Reno said with a smirk. "Let's show 'em how it's done, Rude." His partner nodded, and the two dashed forward.

Vincent cast Haste and Wall on them all, before moving in to strike the giant with Bolt3. It let out another shriek before clawing at him. He jumped backward, but not fast enough to avoid its claws. Three gashes were left in his chest, his shirt shredded. He leaped up and around, jumping from one wall or obstacle to another, acting as a distraction for Reno and Rude to wail on it.

The monster kept clawing at him, but Vincent had shaken off the rust at this point. He dangled his cape from the rafters, tempting another swipe, then dodged out of the way, jumping in to cast Ice3 at point blank range. The giant fell to the floor, crushing desks and cubicles on its way down.

"Well, then..." Rude said.

"Took care of that pretty well," Reno chuckled. "You sure do come in handy, Vincent." He and Rude walked toward the door the beast had entered from, but something Vincent smelled made him lunge forward.

"No...!" He pushed the two away from a grey grid on the floor. Almost as soon as he had set his foot down, pillars of flame erupted all around him. Maniacal laughter full of coughing erupted from the computer monitor.

"Oh my oh my, well, one out of three isn't bad. It looks like the long-haired man is the winner of our special prize...!"

Suddenly, the floor gave way under Vincent, and he felt himself falling.

"Vincent!" Reno and Rude called after him, but found themselves busy with the giant, who had gotten back up to its feet. Vincent reached out with his claw to stop himself from falling, but it wouldn't catch or dig into the metal of the chute. He kept falling, and falling, until his neck got caught in a rope, and he came to a crashing halt on a marble floor in a dark room. He had tried to right himself, but didn't make it in time. The momentum of the noose now around his neck tugged at some unseen mechanism, and he felt walls pressing in around him.

"I wouldn't move, if I were you," Palmer's voice sounded from yet another machine, somewhere in the room. "Those are rows of razor-sharp spikes surrounding you, and each is coated with deadly venom. The former president had all sorts of hilarious contraptions, didn't he? One must marvel at the advancements of technology, and how they're used by those destructive beings called humans... For you see, all human beings crave destruction."

"I'm not here to listen to your dogmatic drivel," Vincent said, working his neck out of the noose right before the floor opened up beneath him once more. He held onto the rope with both hands for dear life.

"I suppose you could call it pointless, considering no one would survive an old-fashioned hanging from the neck like that... But you know, you just can't take too many chances. If you try to struggle out of there, the venom will kill you. And if you fall, the Mako will kill you. It really is a fitting metaphor for life, isn't it?"

"How pitiful."

"Oh? Ohoho, you're still alive! Well, this is entertaining! Keep hanging in there, as they say!"

\\\\\

"I'd like to make a toast."

BANG!

Screams were heard throughout the event center, and all eyes were on the stage, where two young men stood, one with his hands on a microphone, and the other holding a hand gun.

"Yuffie, I'm scared," little Cid cried out. She held on to each of the children, two of their hands in each of hers.

"I'm right here. I won't let you go. Don't worry, Cloud and the gang have this under control."

"Really?"

"My toast is... to this city," the speaker said. "What a splendid place, you know, I've been around... And I've never seen a place so shiny, y'know?" He downed a glass of wine before throwing the glass behind him, letting it shatter. "Yknow, this town must have cost a fortune... multiple fortunes! To build, right? What a waste. What a waste. Then again, money, in itself, is a waste. It's just got no use, you know? Nothing in this world's got any real... use... that matters. The only thing that matters, is destruction."

"Yuffie." The voice came from her phone. She read the text from Reno, and almost dropped it.

"No... No..."

"What's wrong, Yuffie?" Luneth asked. She didn't know how to answer.

[ We took out their leader. It was Palmer. But we lost sight of Vincent. We think he's in the basement somewhere. I don't know if we'll be able to find him in time. ]

"Vincent..." She choked back her tears. She had to show the children that everything was going to be alright. She hadn't even been paying attention to the cultist's speech - something about Meteorfall being a sign that the whole universe wanted to die.

"I was there, I saw those things hit each other. And then the whole Lifestream comes out, and starts demolishing the place. And I knew, right then and there. This was some kinda divine intervention. So when I met the father, I asked him, 'What do you think it's telling us?' And he said, 'Let's just burn it all to the ground'." He laughed, a loud, careless laugh. The sort of laugh you hear from miserable people who want to make everyone else miserable. The sort of laugh you hear from people who think that hurting others is a joke.

"Then what?" Everyone in the building glanced around. It was a teenager with long, blue hair, who spoke out. They couldn't have been any older than seventeen. "Then what do you do? Once everything is burned, you have no shelter from storms. No food to eat. You can't live. Destruction can't sustain itself. Your ideology only works in a vacuum. And you're a fool for coming this far without realizing it." Cheers rang out through the audience - the entire town seemed to support the young adult's viewpoint. "We're tired of violence, and pollution, and corruption. We're tired of hurting each other. We want to live clean, peaceful, fulfilling lives. We want to be one with the Planet. No one here is willing to listen to you. You might as well be talking to a wall. You're just the last stragglers from an era we're leaving behind."

"Timothy, do me a favor," said the young man with the mic, "and shoot that kid for me, will ya?"

"With pleasure."

Yuffie bolted across the atrium, unseen by anyone, to stand in front of the teen, shielding them from harm. But there was no need; the boy never had a chance to aim his gun. Tseng and Elena had crept up from behind and delivered one barehanded blow to each of them, knocking them out. More cheers erupted from the crowd, as the former Turks tied the kids up. Families breathed sighs of relief, strangers hugged each other, and Yuffie turned around to look at the outspoken youth.

"That was very brave. And very dumb."

"Empress Yuffie," the teen swallowed. "That was you...? You... You stood in front of me. Me! To take a bullet..." They threw their arms around her, overcome with emotion, and let tears flow. The adrenaline had released.

"Can they do that?" Luneth asked, pointing to the young adult who had hugged the Empress of Wutai. His three friends, along with Yamato, all shrugged.

\\\\\

"Yuffie..."

He wanted to see her one more time. He didn't know how much longer he could hold on to the rope. If he could just climb up and use the noose as a foothold, he would be fine. But the venom-tipped spikes threatening to impale him, made it impossible. A Mako pool was waiting down below. He knew he wouldn't survive.

His muscles ached, more than he could ever remember. He considered it miraculous that he had been able to hold on this long. But his strength was fading fast. It was only a matter of time... Well, it wasn't the first time he had stared death in the face. But perhaps now, this would be the last.

'It's okay,' he lied to himself. 'If I gave it all I had, it'll be okay. Maybe this is as far as I go. I just wish...'

"VINNIE?!"

"That sweet sound," he sighed, as his grip on the rope faltered. He had heard it - or maybe he had only imagined. That beautiful music. The river running through the mountains.

"VINNIE!"

He also thought he heard the sounds of rolling, crashing, the world around him being demolished. He thought he felt light against his eyelids as he fell... fell... fell... into someone's arms. He opened his blurry eyes and saw her, his one wish, his savior, crying into his neck. He wanted so badly to put his arms around her, but there was simply no more strength left in them.

"Yuffie."

"Vinnie, you're okay, you're okay, you're okay," she assured herself as well as him, rocking back and forth. They both let themselves let go, wailing into each other. The thought that this was not the safest place didn't occur to him, nor did he pay any mind to the feeling of their friends lifting them both up. All that existed was Yuffie Kisaragi. She was all that was, or had ever been, until he passed out of consciousness.

\\\\\

"And you say I only hear what I want to. I don't listen hard, I don't pay attention to the distance that you're running or to anyone, anywhere. I don't understand if you really care. I'm only hearing negative, no, no, no bad..."

'Yuffie...?' Was that her voice, or was he simply hoping? Was he alive? He wasn't sure. He tried to open his eyes, but they were as heavy as concrete.

"So I... I turned the radio on, I turned the radio up, and this woman was singing my song. Lovers in love and the other's run away. Lover is crying 'cause the other won't stay. And some of us hover when we weep for the other who was dying since the day they were born, well. Well, this is not that. I think that I'm throwing, but I'm thrown."

Vincent somehow managed to open his eyes, to see her sitting next to him. He hadn't imagined her hand holding on to his. He hadn't imagined her gorgeous voice singing sad songs to him.

"Yuffie..."

"Vincent? Vincent!" She brought her hands to his face. Then his arms, his chest, his face again. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do. She wasn't sure about anything, other than that he was okay, and awake, and speaking to her. She buried her face in his neck, sighing.

"Good morning," he said, "I love you." All in one breath.

"I love you..." She raised her head to look into his eyes. "Vincent, I love you!"

"Where am I?"

"Hospital in Hana. You're fine. Vinnie, you're okay, you're okay. You're gonna be... just fine..." She opened her phone upon hearing a beeping noise, and closed it with an aggravated sigh as she began to rise to her feet. "Okay, I've gotta..."

"No," he pleaded, weakly grasping her arm. "Please... stay."

"I have to do my duty that you care about so much," she smiled, leaning down to kiss him. Once, twice, thrice... four times. "I'm not going far."

"Come back in ten seconds," he smiled, mirroring her words from so long ago and so far away, when they were safe in a house in North Corel with no troubles and nothing to think of but each other.

"I'll try," she nodded. He let go, slowly, still barely clinging to the last moment.

"That's acceptable."

\\\\\

"Next is Elena! Elena, won't you come over here?"

The blond woman walked across the stage, her cheeks light pink, to accept a medal from the President, as her fellow Guardians had. She bowed low, fiddling with the trinket once it was hanging from her neck.

"Thank you, President."

"Thank you for your bravery," the older woman smiled as Elena made her way off of the stage. "Now, we do have... Oh, look, here she is! Empress Kisaragi, everyone!" She applauded along with the assembled crowd as the Empress climbed the steps to the stage and approached, slowly. The President stepped away from the mic, and Yuffie bowed to her.

"Anybody want a drink?" The crowd cheered as Yuffie downed a glass of water. "I'm tired, are you tired? I'm tired. Geez... You know what? Since those kids had to come firing a gun and ruining the whole mood... Why don't we have another party?" More cheers to this. "Lets... Yeah, let's have another party, one week from now. I'll feel a lot better after that, and I'm sure you guys will, too. I did have fun, though! The first party was amazing, it was so well-put-together by these amazing young people over here." She gestured to the four children, standing up front with Yamato and a certain blue-haired youth. "But this time, I'll help with the designing too. Won't have that other yucky work to do, so..." The town went wild with cheers and applause. She couldn't help but laugh, a cheery, grateful laugh, before turning back to the President. "So, did I miss all the medal-giving?"

"There is one more, if you'd like to hand it out," the President said, handing her the last medal and the slip of paper she had been holding on to. Yuffie read the last unmarked name on the sheet.

"Hikari?" Everyone glanced around. "Hikari Sakaguchi? Sakaguchi HIkari?" No one stepped up. She noticed the outspoken teen from the previous night was seeming rather shy at the moment, staring at the ground, covering their face with their hand. She smiled, and dove into the crowd, taking the mic, the medal, and the sheet with her. "Hikari Sakaguchi?" She asked again. They nodded, eyes blurred with tears. "This is for you." They bowed low, accepting the medal from the Empress, and feeling seven inches tall.

"I don't deserve this," they finally said when they stood up straight. Their voice was picked up by the microphone, and a hush fell over the crowd. They all slowly pressed in against the child, trying to give them comforting pats on the shoulder or back. A few of them succeeded. "Empress... You're the one worthy of a medal. You jumped in front of me. You were going to shield me from a bullet..." They trailed off, sobbing, and dropped backward to sit on the ground, their knees weak, covering their face with their hands.

Yuffie knelt down to be on the same level as them, moving the mic away.

"I will protect all of you, if I have the chance," she assured them.

"You protected me... The Empress protected me... I'm... Just me."

"And what an amazing thing to be," she smiled, wiping at their tears.

"I'm not... anyone. I'm not special. I'm not strong, I'm not very smart, I don't have any skills..."

"You do," she shook her head. "Can I tell you a secret?" They nodded. "When I was your age, I didn't pay attention to anyone. I was very self-absorbed. And there's nothing wrong with that. But as I hung out with a certain group of people who will remain nameless..."

"AVALANCHE..." She pressed her index finger against her lips, but continued her story.

"As I grew around them, I started to be able to see people. Really see them. I can tell who you are, Hikari. You're a hero. A warrior of light. You wanted to protect these people, last night, when you raised your voice. Just as I wanted to protect you. You wanted to shout the truth, you wanted to make sure no one lost heart. You wanted to make sure everyone remembered why we all came here, built this city, and started living the way we do." She offered her hand, and they took it, allowing her to lift them back up to their feet. "That's why I want you to have this."

She reached into her bag and retrieved a green Materia, then placed it in their open hands.

"For me...?"

"Do you know what this is, Hikari?"

"Barrier Materia," they said, wrapping the fingers of one hand around the orb and using the other to swipe at more tears.

"Now if you ever need to protect anyone again, you can."

"Thank you, Empress..."

"Yuffie," she corrected with a smile. "Yuffie, to her friends."

"Yuffie..."

"But I want you to keep using your voice. It's a powerful tool. A voice can build bridges or set people against each other. A voice can hurt someone. But it can also heal. What you do with yours is your responsibility. It's a heavy weight, but I know you can carry it."

"Yes, Empr..." They shook their head, smiling. "Yes, Yuffie."

"And I'll leave you all with that," Yuffie said into the microphone, turning and walking back up the steps. "Come to the party. Have a good time. Be good to each other." The crowd picked up again with more cheering.

"We love you, Empress!"

"Don't go yet!"

"Please stay here!"

"Hey guys," Yuffie said, throwing an arm around President Dawn's shoulder, whispering an apology for leaning on her. "I need you to listen to me real quick. I know I've done a lot... That sounds conceited..." She shook her head. "Well, I have. But..." She waved them down when they let out more cheers. "But... I'm not gonna be here all the time. I've got a whole empire to run and stuff, y'know? Of course, I love to visit, but... This woman right here..." She squeezed the President tighter. "She's your 'Empress'. She's your superstar. Not me." Another hush fell over the crowd. "She loves you. She loves you all so much. And she loves this city. And she does everything she can to give you the best of everything. That's why I voted for her." The crowd picked up again. "She's got you well taken care of. I want you to be kind to her. I want you to adore her, as I do." She leaned in and gave the President a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you, Empress," Dawn sighed. "Thank you so much."

"Any time. Now... Entertain your people. I'm goin' back to bed." And with that, she handed the mic over to the President, and walked back into the hospital, to the sound of an entire city's applause.

\\\\\

"That was a lot longer than ten seconds," Vincent said, not yet opening his eyes, when he felt his girlfriend's gentle touch on his shoulders. "Please hold me? I can't move my arms much without hurting."

"I'd love to," she nodded, pulling the thin blanket off of him.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm exhausted," she sighed, crawling into the hospital bed with him, maneuvering both arms around him, pulling his back against her chest. "But I feel good. Everything is gonna be alright. Better than alright. Better... Just better."

"Of course it will. You're amazing."

"Tell me more, tell me more."

"You're so strong. So incredibly genius. You can do anything." She grazed her fingers against his cheek, softly. He kissed her knuckles when they drew close enough. "You saved me. You saved my life." It hadn't been the first time, but Yuffie wasn't going to bring that up at the moment. "'I love you' just doesn't cut it."

"Tell me anyway."

"I love you... Like snow on New Year's Eve. I love you like a desert loves monsoon season. I love you like moths on Autumn leaves. I love you like the tide... Leaving and coming back, over and over... I can't think of anything else right now. I'm so very tired."

"Rest," she said, kissing his shoulder.

"Thank you."

"Vinnie?"

"Yes?"

"...Stay."

"Always."

\\\\\

[ ~ One ~ Two ~ Three ~ Four ~ Five ~ Six ~ Seven ~ ]

[ This chapter was originally titled Stay, after the song, but I decided to go with Heroes after proofreading it. Hikari is a hero to the city, and so are the Guardians. Yuffie is a hero to Vincent. And... I wouldn't say Vincent is a hero to Reno and Rude but he sure is helpful. I'm sure those two are each other's heroes, though... :3

This is pretty much the only chapter with fighting/real danger in it. Sorry to disappoint anyone who came here for more of that, but I'm sure there are plenty other fics with more action scenes. I know the victory was rather anticlimactic, even to the point of Palmer dying of natural causes, but that's kind of the point. I wanted them to be nothing big. I wanted their threat to be a minor, passing thing. A faint breeze, not a tornado. Because as Hikari said, this is a new era, they're leaving behind the harmful ways of the past. That's why I wanted Hikari's speech in there. Because everyone has slowly realized that greed and hate has done them no favors.

Playing through the original FFVII, every time you turn around you see someone else or some other part of the planet that has suffered in some way because of Shin-Ra. Towns destroyed, lives taken, lives ruined. It's brutal. Some of the stuff goes over your head when you're a kid, but it's... so brutal. I like to believe pretty much everyone would come to the conclusion of "Okay, let's never do that $#!% again". I like to write fiction worlds that I want the real world to be. So...

Thanks for listening to me blather again. Seeya next time~ ]

#FFVII #Final Fantasy #Yuffie Kisaragi #I straight-up borrowed that rope scene from The Well of Shades by Juliet Marillier tbh #not exactly the same but it's what inspired me #use things you love. It's fanfic

[pinknerdpanda]

The Wrong Side of History

Word Count: 3700

Characters: Reader, Sam, Laura Belle (OFC), Dean (mentioned)

Warnings: Canon violence, a smidge bit of angst, perhaps. Is lack of bad language a warning?

A/N: This was written for @trexrambling’s Hunter Celebration. Prompt can be found here. Congrats on your milestone, sweet friend! I hope that this tickles your fancy. Love you Jess!

A/N 2: Beta’d by the always wonderful, vibrant and punctual @wheresthekillswitch and @hannahindie - I would be lost without you both! Xoxo

Tags are at the bottom. If you would like to be added or removed, please send me an ASK

As always feedback is so appreciated! :)

Gif Credit x

The Wrong Side of History

“Dammit!”

“Oh cheer up, I saw that Amish guy giving you the eye. He’s pretty cute, Laura Belle. It wouldn’t be so bad...ya’ll can get married, get you a wagon and some horses, have a bunch of babies, learn how to sew all your own clothes by hand and churn butter and...”

“Ok, just shut up and announce the tour. Please?”

Laura rolls her eyes before stomping off toward the front of the museum. For some strange reason, she can never seem to best you at Rock, Paper, Scissors no matter how hard she tries. Suppressing a giggle, you pick up the microphone that is connected to the speaker overhead and flip the switch to turn it on.

“Attention, Ladies and Gentlemen. Our next tour through the historic home is starting. Please make your way to the exit and follow Miss Laura to the video room for a short introduction.”

You click the button to turn off the mic before sitting down behind the counter. It’s been a long and slow day at work. While your job can be described as many things, exciting, challenging, and dangerous are not words you would use. However the pay is decent and you have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, so it’s not so bad. It doesn’t hurt that the original owner of the home happens to be a bit of a personal hero of yours.

Mary O’Grady-Crouse was by all accounts a fascinating woman. She was strong and independant, having overcome many forms of challenges and adversity in her lifetime. As the oldest of five children born to an Irish immigrant family, Mary experienced life in a way few people today could even dream of.

When Mary was an adult, she’d decided to try her hand at writing down a memoir of her childhood. Her goal being that the stories of her family and the adventures they experienced would bring a thread of hope to a world in dire need of it.

In just a few short years, she’d become one of the best-selling authors of that time - a rare thing for a woman in the 1930’s. Even after her death in 1962, her books remained popular and her home was eventually turned into a museum. Still, 55 years later, people from all over the world make the trip to see where Mary lived and wrote.

You glance at the clock on the wall. The last tour for the day would be leaving in just 30 minutes and as of yet, there is not a soul on site who hasn’t been through. Maybe today is my lucky day?

The door to the museum swings open just then and a tall man with long hair and stunning green eyes comes strolling up to the desk. Green...no, wait; Blue? No...maybe...It’s hard to tell, really. It looks like his eyes are every color at the same time. He smiles and for a brief moment you forget how to breathe.

“Hi there, welcome!” You finally manage to choke out. You aren’t even completely sure you have ever seen a more handsome man in real life before; definitely not your average tourist.

You stare at him expectantly only to realize he’s returning the gesture. It takes a few quick moments for you to register that you have been gaping at him, wide eyed and slack jawed, without having said more than your initial greeting.

You shake your head, trying to clear the cobwebs from your mind. “Sorry about that sir, what can I do for you?”

“Hi, I’d like to buy a ticket, please.” The man smiles broadly, brushing brown strands of hair from his eyes.

Thank goodness for mental autopilot, or you would have likely just sat there grinning at him like an idiot. Instead, years of repetition take over and you are able to successfully complete the transaction without further embarrassment on your behalf. You are explaining what his ticket includes and when he can expect his tour to begin, when you practically feel the color drain from your face; of course this perfect specimen of a man would end up on your last tour of the day.

The man nods appreciatively before making his way to the first exhibit. A quick peek at the clock reveals that you have a good twenty minutes to get yourself together before you have to face him again. The minutes seem to fly by and soon, the large door to the museum opens wide before Laura enters, shaking her head irritably.

“Seriously, what is the appeal of Amish-dom, anyway? How can they all stand to be in one room together all the time?” Laura’s face crinkles up as she makes a fake gagging sound. “What’s the harm in more than one bath a week? Or deodorant. What the hell did deodorant ever do to them to make them hate it so much?”

Normally, you would have been happy to entertain Laura’s little pity party, but today, you are just not in the right place for it.

“Laura Belle, with all due respect, please shut up.” Laura’s eyes nearly pop out of her head as she stares at you incredulously.

“Well, who peed in your cheerios while I was gone?” She crosses her arms across her chest.

“No...sorry…” you fumble around for words. “I didn’t mean...It’s just that…”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” the sound of The Tall Guy’s voice startles both of you. Laura whips her head in the direction of his voice, likely on the verge of a sarcastic remark, when she stops short and her jaw drops.

“No, not a problem. How can I help you, sir?” Laura replies, her voice like honey as she smiles seductively at him. Either he is oblivious to the major vibes Laura is shooting his way or he isn’t and he is simply ignoring it, but he remains unaffected.

“Did I read somewhere that there is a new exhibit?” He glances between the two of you.

“Actually, yes. Or at least there will be,” you say quickly before your friend can lay on another layer of her minx schtick. “Next week we will be debuting Mary’s collection of souvenirs she brought back from her last trip to Ireland.”

“Damn. I was really hoping to get to see it. I am a huge Hibernophile and I’m from out of state and…”

“A what now?” Laura interrupts him, her face screwing up.

“A Hibernophile, someone who likes Ireland and Irish culture,” you interject. You wouldn’t know the answer if you hadn’t caught the end of Jeopardy last week.

“Yes! Exactly. So, what do you say? Any chance I could get a sneak peek?” Tall Guy flashes a deeply dimpled grin in your direction and for a second you would give him the sun and the moon if he would just smile at you like that again.

-----

A chorus of locusts and tree frogs serenade Sam as he scales the hill toward the large house. A sliver of pale moonlight filters through the leaves of the trees lining the long gravel driveway. He’s far enough from the main roads that likely no one would see the him if he drove up to the house, but he’s decided to play it safe and just walk. He doesn’t need much in the way of supplies and the warm night air carries the scent of honeysuckle as it ruffles his hair, so he welcomes the jaunt; anything to get him out of the bunker for a few days and not thinking about Dean.

Dean has been gone for two weeks already and Sam is nowhere closer to finding him now than he was when he’d first found the note where his brother’s lifeless body had been. “Sammy, let me go” was all it’d said, but Sam was determined to track him down.  That’s hard to do, however, when you have no leads.

A few days ago he got wind of a suspicious death nearby, and he’d decided it seemed worth checking out, if for no other reason than to have something to focus on.

It had seemed simple enough; the victim, Holly James, was found in her apartment, her head had been smashed into the wall with enough force that her skull was shattered and the wall was splintered into a dusty, bloody mess. What the local PD were having trouble understanding, however, is how it could have happened when all the doors and windows had been securely shut and locked at the time of her death.

Once Sam learned that Holly was employed at a museum that had just recently been promoting an upcoming exhibit of Irish treasures, everything fell into place; banshee. So he’d made the trip, hoping to be in and out by the next morning. Unfortunately, things were never that easy.

His visit earlier in the day had yielded few results. He’d hoped that waiting until the end of the day, he could maybe have a chance at a personal tour through Mary O’Grady-Crause’s home. Soon after arriving, Sam realized that the exhibit had been delayed and wouldn’t be unveiled for another four days. He’d nearly gotten the cute tour guide to give him a sneak peek when her boss had interrupted him. The woman had been all cakey makeup and bright red lipstick drawn larger than her mouth. Sam winced at the thought of her; she resembled a clown more closely than Sam cares to remember.

To make matters worse, just when it was looking like he’d scored a private tour, a family of, what Sam guessed were, German tourists popped up. The whole time they were asking questions and chatting the tour guide’s ear off and Sam could hardly get a word in edgewise.

So, he’s working blindly, with only a basic knowledge of the house provided by his brief and mostly distracted trip through earlier this evening. What could go wrong?

As Sam approaches the front door, he scans the yard quickly before making short work of the lock and slipping inside. One useful tidbit he’d gleaned was there’s no alarm system protecting the home; it seems odd to him, but who is he to disagree?

The ancient wooden floorboards groan in protest as he makes his way up the narrow staircase to the second floor. The docent had mentioned the upstairs being off limits to the public because the museum used the space to store their archives. Sam decided it was the best place to start.

She appears out of thin air, and for a second, Sam worries he has come face to face with the banshee right off the bat and reaches for his golden blade. The wide, clear eyes looking back at him are full of terror and very much alive, not to mention familiar; it's the tour guide from earlier. So, not the banshee?

Sam barely has time to comprehend the long metallic object in the girl’s hand before she swings her arm wide, brandishing the thing it wildly as though to fend him off.

-----

When you hear the floorboards creaking from the first floor, your blood runs cold. You are all alone in a large empty house, in the dark, completely defenseless...basically the first fifteen minutes of every slasher flick you’d ever seen. You quickly assess your surroundings as the footsteps draw closer to the staircase. If your uninvited guest decides to take the stairs, which very much seems likely, you have one of two options. Option one: run, full speed at the plate glass window overlooking the east lawn,and hope the glass would burst open like it does in the movies as you plummet to the sun-baked dry ground to almost certain or at-the-very-least-probable death. Option two: you could stand your ground and take on whoever is currently ascending the stairs. Fight or flight - gotta love it.

You know deep down that they are both terrible ideas, but at the moment you can’t seem to come up with a better solution. With a sudden and unexpected burst of adrenaline, you grope at the open steamer trunk you’ve been cataloging when your fingers brush against cool metal. You clench it tightly in your fist and stand, your confidence beginning to wane.

The last person you expect to see coming straight at you is the long haired Tall Guy from earlier. Your heart feels like it’s beating so hard, it could explode from your chest. Frustration, confusion, terror and rage all compete for attention in the recesses of your mind. Sure, you’re only armed with a curling iron from the mid fifties, but it’s better than nothing, right?

-----

“What are you doing here?!” Her words run together in a frantic, high-pitched string of syllables.

“Is that…” Sam scrunches up his nose, his eyes fixed on thing in her hand. “Is that a curling iron?”

Her eyes dart erratically between Sam’s eyes and her hand and back again.

“Uh, yes. Yes it is,” she blinks rapidly before slowly lowering her hand. Her breaths are coming in short hard puffs and Sam notices her free hand is shaking slightly.

“Hey, look I’m sorry I startled you,” Sam tries to make his tone easy and even as he raises his hands, palms out.

“Sir, the museum is closed. How did you even get in here?” Her face screws up a split second before she narrows her eyes at him. “I’m calling the police.”

“No, no. Wait, please,” Sam reaches for her hand as she pulls her phone from the back pocket of her jeans.  “I know who killed Holly James!” The girl goes stock still and Sam holds up his hands again, trying to make his 6’4” frame look unimposing.

“Look, just give me a chance to explain, and after I’m done, if you want to call the police, I will dial the number for you.” Sam watches as she wrestles with her decision, sighing in relief when she nods and seems to relax slightly. “Ok, well first of all, my name is Sam Winchester. You know all those stories people tell kids to try to scare them? Well, most of them aren’t just stories.” A look that is equal parts confusion, disgust and awe contorts her features. Well, this is going to be fun.

-----

“Ok, so you’re telling me that monsters are real?” You can’t keep the sound of incredulity out of your voice as you gaze at the hazel eyed man; Sam, you think he said. Honestly, at this point you aren’t sure; it’s really hard to absorb any of what he’s just said. You feel like you should have been taking notes.

“Yes, and I am afraid that there is one responsible for Holly’s death.” Sam sighs, pursing his lips together briefly before continuing. “The good news is, I know how to get rid of it.”

“What is it? How do you get rid of it? Why is it here?” You know the questions are spilling out of your mouth faster than he can keep up, but it just seems the more he says, the less you know.

“Well, I am inclined to believe it’s a banshee, which is a type of ghost, or death omen, really. They have been known to watch over certain Irish families; passing from generation to generation.”  He runs a hand through his long hair.

“But why would an Irish ghost want to kill Holly?” you ask, tilting your head to one side.

“My guess is that the banshee is tied to a specific object. I imagine that when the artifacts were uncovered and prepared for the exhibit, the banshee was released. Since Mary didn’t have any children, there was no one left to protect and so she became malevolent. The only thing I can’t work out is why Holly.”

You freeze, feeling all the color drain from your face, and unable to speak.

“What is it?” Sam’s voice breaks the trance. “What’s wrong?”

“Um, Holly and I,” you begin, your voice cracking. You clear your throat and suck in a deep breath before trying again. “Holly and I were responsible for cataloging and recording all of the items in the Ireland exhibit. We uh, we broke one of the pieces.”

Sam’s eyes grow wide, flickering with excitement before his face falls and he looks to the ground.

“It’s ok, y/n. That’s why I’m here.” He places a reassuring hand on your arm. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

-----

Sam glances over his shoulder to make sure she is still behind him; and there she is. Her eyes are wide in fright, her hand still clamped tightly around the curling iron, and every creak and pop of the floor underfoot makes her jump.

They’d decided that since there was really no way of knowing when the banshee would strike - and since it’s hard to kill something if it doesn’t bother to show up - that maybe they could coax it out. Sam isn’t exactly pleased with this idea, but he really has no other choice. This is not like any other banshee case he’s worked before, and he promised her he would keep her safe. He really hopes he can keep his promise this time.

Sam opens the door to the room dedicated for storage and flips on the light.

“Ok, you ready?” Sam swallows before smiling reassuringly. She nods before taking a shaking step toward the shelves on the far wall.

“The piece we broke is over here. It’s a goblet, probably from the 18th century. It had been in Mary’s family for generations.” Just as y/n’s fingers curve around the fractured shard of the cup, her lips part and a painful, shrill scream reverberates around the small room.

Sam looks frantically around the room, hoping for some sign of the banshee as y/n’s cries grow louder and more desperate. She releases the useless curling iron and clamps her hands over her ears.

“Sam! Please make it stop!” She sinks to the floor in a writhing, screaming heap. Sam spins around, searching for the so far invisible creature, horrified as y/n begins slamming her head into the floor.

There’s no more time. Sam fumbles for the golden knife and lurches forward stabbing out blindly, desperate to make contact.

“She’s right there!” y/n shrieks. “Behind you Sam!”

Sam stabs wildly behind him, his blade slicing through empty air. Finally, a satisfying squelching thud sounds, and y/n goes deathly silent. The white tinged figure of a woman pulses briefly, before fading and disappearing.

Collapsing on the floor, Sam scrambles toward y/n and places two fingers on the artery in her neck. He sighs and closes his eyes, relieved to find a pulse. Just as he is pulling out his phone to call the 911, the distant sound of sirens fill the all too silent air.

-----

Pain. Everything is pain.

You blink once, wincing slightly as the bright, white overhead lights sear your corneas. Disoriented, you struggle to sit up before a wave of nausea changes your mind and you lay back again.

There’s a rhythmic beeping noise that won’t stop and for a second you think it is possibly the most annoying sound you’ve ever heard.

A sudden rush of memories floods your mind and the beeping noise begins to grow faster as your gaze flicks hysterically around the room. Sam; the banshee. Am I dead?

“Oh, well hello there, Miss y/l/n,” a woman with a warm, friendly voice enters the room. “I’m glad to see you awake. Just try to relax, now. You are going to be just fine. You have a visitor.” She winks at you before turning to leave again. Either there are nurses in heaven, or I am not dead.

A large man with long, dark hair and beautiful, sad eyes appears just inside the door. Ok, not dead.

“Sam,” you manage to croak, not missing his subtle flinch at the sound of his name.

“Hey, y/n,” he tries smiling, but the curve of his mouth is anything but convincing. He takes a step toward you. His voice is barely above a whisper. “I’m so sorry.”

You shake your head, instantly regretting the decision. You freeze for a moment, before slowly raising up and settling back on the thin hospital pillows.

“You have nothing to apologize for Sam,” your voice is stronger now and the wave of nausea isn’t as bad this time.

“I promised to keep you safe,” he barks a self deprecating laugh and rolls his eyes. “I promised nothing would happen to you. I feel like all I do is get people hurt.”

“Hey, I’m alive because you saved me. If you hadn’t been there…” you trail off, unsure you want to consider the alternative. “Listen, I will take crappy hospital food and lumpy pillows over, I don’t know, death?”

“Well, you look like crap, y/n!” Laura Belle’s voice startles you and Sam. You look up to see your friend standing in the doorway, an enormous pink teddy bear in one hand and a vase of cheery carnations in the other.

“Well, I better get going,” Sam clears his throat before giving a curt nod to Laura Belle. “Take care, y/n.”

Sam turns to leave, but you grab his hand. The light overhead is blinding and you are beginning to feel dizzy, but you feel like you owe him this.

“Thank you, Sam.” You pour every last ounce of energy into your words as you look into his eyes. He smiles, and this time he seems to mean it. He gives your hand a gentle squeeze before releasing it and stepping out of the room.

Laura Belle tips her head to one side as she watches Sam leave the room. After the door is closed, she lets out a soft whistle. “Isn’t that the guy from the museum?” You nod.  “Are you going to tell me what happened, or what?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I tried.”

Like what you see? Want more? My Masterlist is here. Thanks for reading! :)

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[ihidemycrazy]

Soulmates are BS

Read on AO3!

Clarke was honestly annoyed when her soulmate mark showed up on her eighteenth birthday.

Most people got them by the time they turned sixteen, so when Clarke’s didn’t, she thought she would be one of the lucky ones who never got their soulmark.

Clarke didn’t mean to be ungrateful or whatever, she just liked having options, okay? Having a soulmark means you get one person and that’s it. While that’s nice in theory, there’s the potential that your soulmate is a total asshole or, like, dead, so Clarke always thought it’d be better to have her pick of the non-marked people. That way, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if the relationship didn’t work out. Other fish in the sea and all that.

But if she had a soulmate, she was suddenly limited to one freaking fish. It was too much pressure.

She leaned her head on Raven’s shoulder. “Soulmates are bullshit,” she groaned. “You sure you don’t have a mark? If I have to have a soulmate, it would’ve been ideal if it was someone cool who I already knew.”

“Sorry babe, no such luck,” she patted Clarke’s head. “You know other people would be happy with this?”

“Other people aren’t pessimistic.”

“Well, that’s blatantly false, but whatever. At least your soulmark is pretty.”

Clarke watched the vines wind down her inner forearm, colorful buds blooming occasionally.

“True,” she smiled. “Monty’s pacman on his neck that runs in circles whenever he eats is pretty entertaining though.”

Raven laughed and said, “Already shitting on other peoples’ soulmarks, huh? Then you’re definitely ready to go to your party.”

Clarke groaned, “Oh no, Raven, what have you done?”

Raven grinned devilishly, “Invited all of our friends to my basement and got a fuckton of alcohol.”

Clarke pursed her lips, then nodded, “That actually sounds like exactly what I need.”

“Ha! I really am the best friend in the world,” she grinned.

Raven drove a little like a maniac back to her house because apparently Clarke’s small meltdown was not accounted for in the plan.

Once they descended into the basement, everyone popped out and yelled “Surprise!” emphasized by the crash of Jasper tripping over himself and slamming into the foosball table.

Luckily, Clarke’s laugh at Jasper covered her need to pretend to be surprised.

She made her way toward the drinks, careful to keep her long sleeves covering her new soulmark. That was a conversation she didn’t feel like having tonight.

Bellamy was pouring himself a drink when Clarke made it to the table and said, “Welcome to adulthood, princess.”

Clarke winced, “Oh, don’t remind me. The only exciting thing about eighteen is that now I can buy lotto scratchers.”

Bellamy laughed, “True, but I think you’re ready for the big bad world.”

“Thanks, Bellamy,” Clarke smiled, “That was actually nice of you.”

“Don’t expect me to keep it up,” he grinned back. “Special birthday behavior, you know.”

He tapped his cup against hers in farewell and made his way back into the bulk of the party.

Clarke caught herself watching his back a little too long, the way his shoulders swayed with his steps, the way the veins in his arms stood out, and his ass in his jeans, but she shook herself out of it. They were somewhat antagonistic friends, but she really liked Bellamy. He was a little course and never let her get away with anything, but she needed someone like that in her life. She idly wondered if he had a soulmark.

Octavia walked up then and said, “Look at you, unashamedly objectifying my brother.”

Clarke’s jaw dropped as a blush spread across her cheeks and before she could formulate any words besides a stutter, Octavia grinned and said, “It’s okay, I’ll give you a pass for your birthday. Especially if you distract him while I make a move on Lincoln.”

Clarke sighed, “Octavia, you and Lincoln have matching soulmarks. Bellamy understands. Also, I don’t think it counts as making a move when you’re already together.”

Octavia huffed, “Fine, but just know, this is your fault.”

Before Clarke got the chance to ask what was her fault, Octavia turned to the crowd and yelled, “Who wants to play spin the bottle?”

Everyone whooped, besides Murphy who mumbled, “I definitely thought we weren’t twelve anymore,” but begrudgingly sat in the circle.

Clarke drunk a lot while they played, partially because the bottle wasn’t landing on her much, and partially because when it did, most people were too drunk to be kissing properly, like Roan, who basically just licked her face.

Finally, Clarke spun and the bottle pointed to Bellamy. Her stomach dropped when she caught his eyes from across the room. She took a deep breath and crawled to meet him in the middle of the circle.

In his eyes, there was a question, asking if it was okay without saying anything. Clarke nodded subtly and Bellamy’s mouth turned up in a small smile.

The kiss was softer than Clarke expected and she could immediately tell that Bellamy wasn’t drunk as his tongue deftly swiped at the seam of her lips. She opened her mouth for him and moved her hand up to cradle his face, getting lost in the pleasure of kissing him.

A tingle ran down her body and she pulled away with a gasp to the raucous cheers of the group. Still, she couldn’t take her eyes off Bellamy’s blown pupils, noting that he looked just as wrecked from the kiss as she was.

They both crawled back to their spots and she watched Bellamy absently scratch the back of his neck. Her forearm felt like it was buzzing, so she pulled back her sleeve and saw that all the flowers were blooming and the vines kept twirling new patterns around her arm.

She glanced back up to Bellamy and caught him watching her, but he just winked and turned his attention to Raven and Wells making out in the middle of the circle.

Soon, people began to get bored with spin the bottle and Jasper began complaining how hot it was in the basement.

“Jasper, you know you can just ask to go swimming. You don’t have to wait for me to invite you,” Raven said.

Jasper grinned with glee and immediately ran up the stairs and out of the basement, everyone following behind him at a reasonable pace.

Clarke lagged behind to grab another drink, trying to shake away the weird tingling she’d felt since she kissed Bellamy. Just because her soulmark reacted didn’t mean anything; it was new and Clarke wasn’t really sure what anything meant. Maybe it just did that because it was a good kiss and her forearm was encouraging her to get laid.

Clarke quickly finished her drink and made her way up the stairs and out to the pool, carefully stepping between discarded clothing and shoes.

She saw Octavia on Lincoln’s shoulders first, playing chicken against Raven and Luna. Clarke was mildly concerned they were too drunk for that, but then she saw that Bellamy was wading nearby, on alert if anything should happen.

She got distracted again and was appreciating the way the water dripping down his chest, when he suddenly turned and Clarke got a glimpse of his back.

Vines tangled down from the back of his neck over his shoulder blades, displaying a wide array of beautiful flowers that made Clarke’s own soulamrk tingle.

“Holy shit,” she breathed, then immediately started removing her clothes. She thanked her past self for choosing to wear cute underwear, then jumped in the pool, and headed straight for Bellamy.

As she got closer to him, she watched the vines on his back swirl to take up more space and the flower expand as if they were reaching out to her. He must have felt the tingling, because when she was about a foot away from him, he turned to face her.

“Hey, princess, having a good birthday?”

“Yeah, actually, I have to admit, it’s going way better than expected.”

Bellamy’s eyebrows drew together, “Do you just expect shitty birthdays or…?”

Clarke pulled her arm from where she had it trapped against her side and showed him the flowers and vines dancing along her forearm.

Bellamy sucked in a breath and reached out to trace the pattern with his finger.

He looked up at her and smiled, “Well, I’ll be damned.”

“So you’re okay with this?” Clarke asked, searching his face for any sign of hesitation.

Bellamy laughed, “Of course I’m okay with it. I’ve been hoping it’d be you since I got this mark two years ago.”

Clarke grinned, “Okay. Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t pressuring you or anything.”

Bellamy smiled and pressed his forehead against hers, “Having the same soulmark is just an excuse for me to admit how I’ve felt about you for a long time.”

Clarke tilted her head to kiss him and let herself fall into the joy that came with. Suddenly everything people always said about soulmates made sense. Everyone else disappeared and there was only him. She felt safe and loved like she had never felt before, and as his hands skated around her hips and waist, she felt a heat she’d never expected to feel.

Bellamy pulled away to ask, “So, speaking of not pressuring, do you want to get out of here?”

Clarke bit her lip and nodded enthusiastically, causing a grin to break out across Bellamy’s face. She intertwined their fingers and they did their best to rush out of the pool, but honestly you can only walk so fast in water and Clarke was sure that they looked pretty stupid to anyone who noticed them.

They quickly grabbed their clothes off the ground and hurried to Bellamy’s truck that was parked on the street.

Bellamy got all the way to starting his car before he said, “Dammit. I’m drunk. I can’t drive. Is it bad I forgot about that?”

Clarke laughed and said, “No worries, I forgot too. We can just hang out here. Privacy and whatever.”

Bellamy grinned and said, “So, bed of the truck?”

Clarke grabbed Bellamy’s giant blanket from the backseat and hopped into the bed of the truck she laid out the blanket. Bellamy lay down and wrapped his arm around Clarke, so she snuggled into his side.

The stars were beautiful and Clarke couldn’t help thinking that it really did turn out to be her best birthday yet. If only her soulmark could’ve gotten its shit together and shown up earlier, she could have been this happy years ago. She knows that’s not how it works and she may not have been ready then, but the thought of missing out on all that time with Bellamy was a little disappointing.

“So did you just get your mark today?” Bellamy asked.

“Yeah. I was actually pretty upset about it at first.”

Bellamy’s hand that was stroking her arm paused, but all he said was, “Oh?”

“I didn’t like the idea that this mark meant you were basically trapped with someone forever, no matter what. It’s like getting married without your consent. But honestly a lot of my problem with it was because I didn’t think you had a soulmark. I thought getting my soulmark meant I would never get the chance to be with you,” Clarke said, a little sheepishly, but he’s her soulmate so she wasn’t too embarrassed.

“I’m glad your main problem was missing out on me, but just know that you aren’t stuck with me or whatever. If you’d rather be with someone else or be alone, I’d let you go. I’d be kind of crushed, but I’d let you go.”

Clarke smiled and placed a light kiss on Bellamy’s chest. “You’re the best soulmate I’ve ever had.”

Bellamy grinned down at her, “You bet your fine ass I am.”

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