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#he then sang ‘it’s beginning to look a lot like pride month’ to the tune of its beginning to look a lot like christmas
janetm74fics · 1 year
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Dancing
With thanks to @mariashades for the read through. Songfic.
~
Dinner had been its usual riotous affair. John had volunteered to feed Gordon, but the 8-month-old hadn’t wanted any food. Or rather, he enjoyed throwing the mess at his brothers rather than putting it in his mouth.
Poor John, as the ‘designated airplane’ got the worst of it, so was currently (if she knew her second-born son well enough) luxuriating in a bath. Virgil had taken one look at the mountain of dishes and promptly disappeared, citing piano practice as his excuse. The almost five-year-old hating chores of any description.
Scott had rolled his eyes at the pair of them, given Gordon one of his brightly coloured fish toys which the baby was currently banging on the tray of his highchair and immediately began to clear the table. He didn’t mind spending time doing chores with his Mom, sometimes it felt like it was the only time they got together without younger brothers. Gordon didn’t count.
Lucy smiled fondly at her eldest. At eight years old Scott was beginning to branch out from his brothers, most evenings that summer being devoted to cycling with a couple of friends from school, but still he helped out around home where he could and often without prompting. He was such a good-natured boy.
While she wiped Gordon and the highchair down so he could continue his percussion session without making more mess Scott tuned the radio to Kansas FM. It was approaching their vintage hour and Lucy rather liked the tunes that her grandparents had grown up to.
They hummed together as the music softly played while the hot water filled the ancient butler sink, and they fell into an easy rhythm of Lucy washing and Scott drying.
And then the song started.
It was an instrumental introduction they both knew well. At the first three notes Scott turned up the sound and before the words had even started both were shaking their hips along to the beat.
Na na nana na na na
Gordon stopped banging and giggled at them. Scott bumped hips with his Mom and Lucy laughed.
I got my mind set on you I got my mind set on you I got my mind set on you I got my mind set on you
Scott grabbed the washing up brush and leaning forwards as if he was singing into a mic sang the verse at the top of his voice while shimmying around the kitchen.
But it's gonna take money A whole lotta spending money It's gonna take plenty of money To do it right, child
As he sang Lucy, arms raised above her head, began to dance around the kitchen table, stopping to give Gordon’s locks a little ruffle. Gordon squealed. She made it back to Scott as he finished singing and took the ‘mic’ from him.
It's gonna take time A whole lot of precious time It's gonna take patience and time, mmm To do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it To do it right, child
As the instrumental part began again with the chorus Scott grabbed his Mom’s hand and pulled her into a loose waltz. The beat wasn’t quite right, however, and Lucy took the lead, letting go and twisting on the spot. They twisted and jived around each other until they were back with Gordon, and Lucy held the ‘mic’ out for him.
Gordon, delighted that they were involving him, made a grab for the brush but Lucy was holding it beyond his reach. In turn he banged his fish down and screamed at the top of his lungs. The piercing sound went right through them but Scott laughed and once more twirled his Mom around.
Lucy came up under her son’s arm and straight into the arms of her husband. Jeff, who had been watching with increasing amusement and pride in his eldest, stepped in to a little bebop around the table. Scott, grinning his head off, picked Gordon up and held his hand as if they were going to waltz, jigging him up and down to increasing laughter.
Eventually the song stopped. Everyone was slightly breathless and laughing. Lucy plucked Gordon out of Scott’s arms and the three of them collapsed on chairs around the table.
Jeff looked his family over. Lucy’s eyes were sparkling and Scott’s were too. Gordon now had hiccups. Getting up, he stood behind them and pulled them into a hug.
What a great thing to come home to.
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nanamismoonchild · 3 years
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 pairing: CEO! Namjoon x black Assistant! Y/N
genre: fluff, angst, boss/employee relationship, f2l
warnings: mention of racism/discrimination in workplace, very indirect mention of domestic abuse
Summary:   Losing your job was one of the worst things that could possibly happen to you. Bills started piling up, and soon enough you were in complete debt.  By a miracle, you were offered the position of assistant to the CEO of Persona who turns out to be a real sweetheart.
WC: 5.6k--i think this is the most i’ve written. i could’ve written some more but ya girl was losing that thing called inspiration. 
A/N: This fic is the definition of what a Hallmark movie is. First it takes you on a straight-forward path then BAM! But you gotta love them for that.  Remember was originally supposed to be called Deceiving the Moon, but I changed the plot entirely into this one and I can’t but love this version more so now it is Remember. And I hope you’ll remember to enjoy it!
beta-reader(s)-- @birbdae​ thank you for the praise and the tiny criticisms bby. they made me smile! 
The pink paper slip seemed to burn your hand as you held it.  The tears in your eyes did nothing to persuade your boss of three years to keep you on the project that you held dear to your heart. The new girl he had hired to replace you couldn’t meet your eyes as she handed you the box filled with your personal belongings from your office space. 
“Oh, ____. Before you leave, can you email the final preparations for the toy drive? We would like to get started as soon as possible.”
The bastard smiled up at you as he practically ripped your heart to pieces. The toy drive had been your idea from the start to beginning. You were the program manager as well the assistant to the CEO who had wanted nothing to do with the project until he learned of the tax cut he was able to receive.  
Then he replaced and fired you. Now he was asking for your hard work that you manifested.  
You had dealt with a lot of shit regarding this company. Racist comments while being the only black woman on the team, being told you hair being in braids was not professional, and being paid the least out of everyone including the new assistant. Yet you had stayed. Your dreams of finally managing to pull off a huge event in your name had made you persevere and smile in the face of the evil work environment. 
The dream slowly crumbled as you stared at the assistant, the boss, and the pink slip. There was no way you would give him anything you had created.  
“No. Start the entire project yourself. I’m sure your new assistant knows how to program manage. I’ll be taking my toy drive elsewhere. I will not be letting the kids down because of your incompetence and willingness to fire me two months before the charity was supposed to begin. Fuck you.”
The CEO’s smile dropped quickly hearing those words. Perhaps this was a bad idea. But before he could retract his statement of firing the one person he knew he could count on, you left the office, head held high, middle finger in the air. 
 Three weeks later, the many jobs you had applied for had not replied to you, and your last paycheck from the previous job was slowly dwindling. If nothing came up soon, you wouldn’t be able to afford the rent for the next month. 
Your friends Seokjin and Jungkook offered to help; however, your pride was getting in the way and you would only use them as a last resort if you couldn’t find a job in time. 
For the time being, you tried to relax and avoid thoughts of the impending bills that threatened to pile up. 
Putting on a bonnet and pouring a glass of wine, you prepared to pamper yourself with a little Netflix binge. Seokjin had brought the wine as soon as he had heard about what happened. He worked at  Persona and couldn’t believe the unjust condition that had been forced on you. Persona was the best company to work at according to your older friend. He had once tried to convince you to apply there. Yet you hadn’t listened. There might not have been a chance to grow there seeing as many interns went there after graduating like Seokjin, and you prefer not to work with friends. As much as you loved Seokjin, you knew how childish he could be despite the mature attitude he tended to exude. You were the same way. Putting you two together in the same building was a catastrophe waiting to happen. 
The day he brought the wine, he told you the CEO--Kim Namjoon- was looking for a new assistant and would more than listen to your project proposal. 
Not to mention, he would pay you more than what you received at your old company. 
The idea tickled in the back of your mind as you sipped your wine. As much as you would have liked to work somewhere differently, the bills were waving at you in the distance and the employers you had contacted seemed to be uninterested. At least Seokjin could put in a good word for you. 
Picking up your phone, you dialed the number you knew well. 
“___! “ “Jinnie!” You could hear Jungkook in the background, yelling something that was unclear to you. 
“To what do I owe the pleasure? Do you need food? I just made those dumplings that you like so much. I could run them up to you.”
“Please. I haven’t eaten anything all day. But that’s not why I called. I want to know how to apply for the position of the assistant.”
Seokjin audibly gasped and made a sound keen to a squeal.  
“You apply by showing up tomorrow in your best business apparel at eight am sharp tomorrow at my doorstep so I can take you for open interview sessions. And bring your portfolio--no resume needed.”
“No resume?”
“Nope.”
“Oh...Alright. Eight am sharp. Best business clothes. Portfolio. Got it. Thank you Jinnie.” “No problem, __. Anything for Jungkook and I’s best friend who tends to steal our hoodies,” he said, a smile practically being heard through his voice.
“Those aren’t your hoodies anymore first of all. Second of all, I don’t steal. I borrow without the possibility of giving it back.  Third of all, bring me my food. I’m starving.”
“I’m already at your door. Open up. And Jungkook came here too. He brought that silly game of his.” Hanging up, you stand up to adjust your bonnet and the pajamas you had lounged in. You walked over to the door and opened it to see your friends’ arms full of snacks and games to play for the night. 
“We’ll be done with our mini get together for you to get enough sleep and prepare for your interview. Right now, we’re going to help you mope around,” Jungkook told you as both he and his older roommate stepped into your apartment.  
“Somehow I doubt it, but I’ll give you the time of day since you brought dumplings.”
All three of you laughed. 
 The next morning, the alarm blared at six o’ clock. Sitting up and stretching your limbs, you pushed yourself off the bed and into the bathroom. You needed to look your best for the interview and show you were the best candidate. And that started with a nice, hot shower. The lavender soap washed the stress off of your body and the water carried it into the drain. 
Jungkook had helped pick out your outfit while Seokjin had helped prepare your portfolio.Your hair was braided, and it was too heavy for you to set it into a bun of some sort, so you let it stay down and applied a little coconut oil.  
 Everything was ready and set. You were ready. 
At exactly eight o’ clock, you stood outside of Jungkook’s and Seokjin’s shared apartment. You could hear shuffling coming from right behind the door, alerting you that Jin was going to open the door. As he swung the door open, you leaned over to see a slightly disheveled Jungkook throwing on his backpack. 
“Late for class again?”
He grunted and moved past you. 
Jin laughed and locked the door before pushing you towards the exit of the apartment. 
“You ready for the open interviews?”
“I think so. Scratch that. I know so.” Your momma always told you confidence was the answer to everything.  
“You’ll wow Namjoon. You’re more than qualified and Namjoon could use your ideas. That’s why I said bring your portfolio.” “Thanks.”
 The drive to Persona was quick and easy. And loud as Jin played his favorite tunes and sang along to them. It uplifted your spirits and calmed some of the butterflies that blossomed in your stomach. You knew a lot about Namjoon from what Jin told you whenever he came home from work and bothered you. 
He was sweet and caring. His employees came first to him and took their opinions seriously.  Any criticisms anyone had was dealt with right away as a group or one on one. 
On one occasion, an employee’s car was destroyed because of her ex and she couldn’t find a way to work other than Ubers. It began to get too expensive, and she told Namjoon her dilemma. After a brief meeting, he was convinced to begin a carpool service for his employees at no cost to them. 
Your old boss was neither of those and only cared for the profits that came. If someone didn’t have a ride to work, it wasn’t his problem.
Namjoon’s handsome according to Jin. Tall, tan, and handsome had been the exact words Seokjin had said. Namjoon’s smile brightened everyone’s day when he smiled and nodded good morning to everyone. He always wore tailored suits--clothes fitting him to a T.   
You didn’t necessarily need these details for the interview, but knowing exactly what type of boss Namjoon would be would set your mind to achieve your goal of getting the job through any means. 
Seokjin walked you to the door of his boss’s office and knocked twice. A deep voice told you to come in.
The butterflies in your belly  picked up full speed. As you tried to calm yourself down, Jin opened the door. 
“Namjoon! ____ is here!” Jin announced.  
The man in particular was seated at a mahogany desk in a  leather chair that seemed much too small for him. As big as he was though, he exuded a calming aura, and not one of arrogance.  
He stood up, a huge smile spreading on his face. His dimples were pronounced and it made your heart skip a beat or two. Jin had not mentioned dimples. They were your weakness. 
“Thank you Seokjin. You can go get started on your work,” he dismissed the older man and turned to you. “ Hello,  Ms ___. A pleasure to speak to you today.” “Um, it’s my pleasure to speak with you as well.”
He circled around back to his chair, and motioned for you to take the chair across from. As you made your way over, you took in the decor of the office. It was bigger than your previous boss’s.   There were many statues that you knew were from the KAWS collection. You had a few yourself, but not as many as this man had. The statues were placed in display cases that were scattered around the room. The room was not stark white, and had small bouts of brown and orange around the room. It was unusually calming--helping those butterflies in your belly. 
Sitting down, you smiled at the man in front of you, not knowing how to start the interview. 
“So I presume Seokjin told you about the position and what I’m expecting, correct?”
“Yes, and I believe that I can do more than what you’re expecting of me.”
Namjoon nodded, “That’s good. An assistant who wants to do more is exactly what I’m looking for. My last assistant was an intern, and though she was great, I wanted a little more. I see you brought a portfolio. Tell me a little about what is in it.”
This was the moment you had prepared for. Even though you had anticipated it to be later in the interview, you knew exactly what to say.
“This portfolio actually contains some of the projects and the work I developed at my previous job. One of them includes a toy drive. I was fortunately able to keep the project for myself, and I planned on getting funding from a local bank in order to kickstart it again. The toy drive would consist of donations and toys I buy myself and giving it to domestic abuse shelters for the mothers and children-”
“When was this supposed to take place?” Namjoon interrupted, curiosity clear in his voice. 
“Oh, it was supposed to take place next month. December. It’s a time crunch but I believe I could do it. The other projects were for my boss who couldn’t be bothered to do anything for himself--Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”
“Completely fine.” He drummed his long fingers on the table, encasing them in silence for a while. 
You hadn’t meant to ramble on about the toy drive, but the passion you felt for the charity event was incredible. Your mother had owned a domestic abuse home, and the amount of women and children who had to spend Christmas hiding away was consistently on your mind. You wanted to do something for them. 
“___?” 
“Yes?” You steeled yourself for another question. 
“On the basis that you continue this toy drive, and it is successful--I have a feeling it will  be--the job is yours.”
You practically jumped out of your seat, grabbing Namjoon’s hand and shaking it in excitement.  
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! You will not be disappointed. I will be the best assistant to you and this toy drive means too much to me for it to fail.” 
Namjoon grinned, his dimples showing out again. “You can talk to Jung Hoseok in the HR department. He’ll get you ready to be an employee of Persona. I want you to work tomorrow morning.”
Nodding, you moved to stand up and leave before remembering to bow in respect. 
“Thank you so much.”
“No, thank you. Not only will I have some of this paperwork done, but I’ll be getting very good advertisement for the company. It’s a win-win.”
“Right. How much paperwork do you have exactly?”
“It’s been about two months since my intern left, so…” He trailed off, running a hand through his hair. 
“I’ll be here bright and early then,” you said giggling. “See you tomorrow.”
Closing the door behind you, you glanced around for your best friend. You found him near the coffee machine in the far corner. As you sidled next to him, you poked him, making him jump.
“___! That didn’t take too long. How did it go?”
“We should probably wake up early enough to eat breakfast before we both have to be at work.”
 The news took a minute to  register in his brain. He took your hands and brought you in for a hug. 
“I told you you’d get it! And no, we’re not waking up that early. We can breakfast here--there’s an all-day buffet set up in the kitchen. Speaking of, you might not even know where that is, so I’ll have to give you a tour of the place. But there’s a few hours til I have a lunch break.”
“It’s fine. I have to go to HR anyway and fill out some paperwork.” 
“Min Yoongi was just about to go there. Weren’t you?” Seokjin turned towards the stranger in question. Min Yoongi had been completely hidden from you because of Jin’s broad shoulders.  
“Uh, yeah. I can take her.” 
Yoongi held two cups of coffee in his hands and a manila folder tucked into his armpit. He was only missing a bluetooth speaker in his ear and you can say he looked like all of the clients your previous company dealt with.  He was handsome with pale skin and droopy brown eyes. 
You gave him a small smile, and let him lead the way to HR. It was a few floors down so you had to take the elevator. It was a slow ride down. 
“What’s your name by the way?”
“I’m ____. Just got hired.”
“Min Yoongi. You already know that though. I’m a financial analyst.”
“Sounds cool.  How long have you been working here?”
“I was hired last year. I’m assuming you know Seokjin?”
“Yeah, I’m his best friend.”
The conversation came to an awkward pause. Thankfully, the elevator arrived on your floor and Yoongi led you to the office of Jung Hoseok before heading off in the other direction. 
Jung Hoseok was seated behind a desk; his eyes were focused on the computer screen in front of him. He glanced away from his computer to focus on you and smiled.. Everyone here at Persona seemed to have easygoing smiles and it helped settle any uneasiness you had about accepting the job and getting to know your new co-workers. You had rarely interacted with any of your former coworkers outside of meetings.  You hoped to change that. 
“I’m assuming you’re ___? I have the paperwork on that table over there. Salary information, bank information, the usual. Please fill it  out and I will have you as an employee in no time. Take as much time as you need--I won’t be going anywhere soon.”
The paperwork was easy to fill out, taking only a few minutes of your time. You would be paid more than what you were being paid at your former job. You had thirteen vacation days and thirteen sick days, totaling twenty-six days in all for you to take care of yourself. You couldn’t remember the last time you had actually been able to stay home from work for even having a rough day. There was an employee handbook at the end of the stack that you would take home and read. 
“I’m done.”
Hoseok startled, having forgotten you were in the room from how silent you were. You handed him the papers and promptly sat back down, avoiding all conversation with him.  He reminded you of everything you didn’t want in coworkers. 
It took him at least twenty minutes to get you into the system. He turned to you with the prettiest smile on his face. 
“Congratulations! You’re now an employee of Persona. I’ll have an ID ready for you tomorrow when you come in. I’ll meet you in Namjoon’s office.”
Working with Namjoon was poles apart from working with your old boss. He didn’t give you an ungodly amount of work to do just because he could. He let you catch up on the work that had yet to be completed by his intern and gave you enough time to plan the toy drive. 
You’d get so into your work, you’d lose track of time and he would have to guide you out of the office to eat lunch. He treated you to many lunches on several occasions always saying it was in his best interest to keep his assistant fed. You felt it was for more than that. 
Namjoon was very attractive and was definitely your type. Boss-employee relationships only worked out in fanfictions and movies unfortunately. And there was the small detail of the employee handbook strictly advocating for non-relations in the office. 
You’d discern a hint of flirtiness whenever he complimented your outfit for the day. Of course, you thanked him. But you refused to flirt back. There was no point in indulging in the flirting game. He was your boss and that’s all he would be for as long as you had this job. 
Biting into a sandwich that you brought for lunch, you go over the email once more. It was an email for the employees of the company to donate any toy they could. The deadline was the 24th considering everyone had Christmas off. A week and then the children could have a special Christmas filled with toys and cheer.  You only needed Namjoon to approve it and send it off. You had asked Park Jimin, who was part of the marketing team, to create little animations for you. They were the cutest things ever and made the email a lot more friendlier. A snowman waved, there was snowfall, and even Santa bringing a toy to a child. Jimin had completely outdone himself for you. 
Namjoon would be back from lunch in a couple of minutes, so you decided to sit in his office and wait for him.  It was only next door to your office so you didn’t mind and you could straighten up his filing while you were in there. 
Soon you were lost in the work of rearranging his file system. It was weird to see that man was usually always well-kept, but his organization skills were a little lackluster. No wonder he hired you on the spot. A picture was at the bottom of the file cabinet--Namjoon didn’t want everything to be on the computer for emergencies. Picking it up, you see a dimpled child with his arms around what you assumed was his mother. His face was covered in chocolate but you knew that it was a young Namjoon. They were sitting at a table filled with different foods and you could make out a Christmas tree in the background. A familiar tree. 
You had spent many hours and years in front of that tree. It belonged to your mother’s shelter. Your favorite ornament to hang on it was a Strawberry Shortcake ornament that your father had given you before the three of you moved to South Korea. That's how you recognized the tree. The ornament hung low from the Christmas tree exactly where you always put it. Namjoon had been there. You couldn’t remember ever meeting him considering you always spent your Christmases in the shelter with the families. 
You would have recalled seeing dimples as deep as his. 
A tiny gasp alerted you that you were being nosey. 
“Namjoon! I’m sorry. I was just re-organizing the cabinet. I didn’t mean to pry..but I found out something you might want to hear.”
“And what would that be?” His tone wasn’t angry but it still had a little attitude. 
“You used to stay at my mom’s shelter. Small world,” you started to giggle before realizing what exactly his and his mother’s staying truly meant. “Maybe you don’t want to hear that.”
To your astonishment, Namjoon smiled at you. A small one but your heart still fluttered. He wasn’t entirely mad at you. 
“Yeah. When Seokjin mentioned you for the position, I instantly recognized your name. I wanted to hire you right then. You had been so nice to me and my mother that it stuck with me for all these years. Obviously you don’t remember me as much as I remember you though.” 
“It’s probably because I’ve been so focused on the toy drive. I really want to surprise them this year. It’s the most I can do to show them that they’re not completely alone in the world. That people are thinking of them and want to help them.” “And I think this gesture would make everyone happy. I know I would have loved something like this.”
“And I would have gladly given it to you. But I was only ten years old at the time. But for right now, I need you to approve this mass email that advertises the donations of toys.”
Namjoon let out a guttural laugh and sat in his chair to review the email. 
 It was the 24th--the final day of the donation drive. Your co-workers had been dropping off toys since the email went out. The storage room on your floor was filled to the brim and you were beyond ecstatic.  There were doll-houses, kitchenettes, monster trucks, board games, painting sets, bicycles (with the training wheels), and even things for the older kids staying at the shelter. Namjoon had thought some of the toys could even go to another shelter in the city. You decided to pick a homeless shelter knowing there were a few kids there as well.  
Namjoon had helped you rent a truck for the day that would aid in loading and transporting the toys across the city to the shelters. Jin, Jungkook, Jimin, Hoseok, Yoongi, and the new intern, Taehyung, had offered to help as well.  You were grateful for the help and thanked each of them for giving up a portion of their Christmas to help you deliver the toys.  
Loading the truck took hours as there were many toys. You treated everyone to a few drinks and dinner for all the help they were giving you. 
“Here’s to seeing the smiling faces on the children tomorrow when we deliver the toys!”
Throwing back the shot glass of soju, you whooped and whistled along with the men around you. The plan wasn’t to drink too much as you had to be up bright and early in order to deliver the toys to both shelters in time before the children woke up.  
The shelter leaders had already promised to try and keep them from going near the tree before nine that morning. 
After eating, you all made your way to your cars--of course you had back with Seokjin and Jungkook. You reminded everyone to meet at the office. You and Namjoon would be driving the truck, while everyone else trailed after you in their cars.
The morning could not come soon enough for you. 
 Waking up wasn’t hard for you at all. The exhilaration coursing through your body was enough to get you to hop off the bed and into the showers without so much as a grown. The bonnet you had placed on your head the night before had kept your hair in tip top shape as usual. You could always trust a bonnet. 
Finger combing out the curls that had flattened a little through the night, your afro soon came to its puffy and natural state of bouncy curls.  
You rushed to put on the ugly sweater outfit you had bought for this occasion before rushing out of the door, colliding into Jungkook and Jin. They, like you, were excited for the day ahead of you. 
The three of you packed yourself into Jin’s car and blasted Mariah Carey’s Christmas album for the short ride to Persona. 
The rest of your group was already waiting for you. Jimin had made hot chocolate for the lot of you, and after a brief moment of making sure the toys were all packed into the truck, Namjoon and you climbed into the front seats, and took off. 
Namjoon was singing off-key to ‘What Do the Lonely Do on Christmas’--a classic love of yours--creating a symphony of giggles from you. The Christmas cheer was big in all of you, especially the tall giant that is Namjoon.   He was showing a much goofier side of him that you would have loved to see more of in the office. The man was carefree most of the time,but he always held this air of seriousness. You couldn’t help but wonder if his childhood had created some of that. 
The shelter was slowly moving into your vision as you got closer and closer. You heartbeat picked up, realizing just how much you missed being here with your mom and dad. They were some of the best memories you could ever have. However, your mom began to think that the shelter wasn’t the best place for you to grow up in and made you stay with your father at home or in his office. You had always come back, but it was always too crowded and the children never wanted to play with you since you were in high school. You thought it was because they couldn’t relate to you since you hadn’t been in their position. 
Namjoon pulled into the drive of your mother’s shelter, parking the car to where the trunk faced the door for easy access. 
Your mother was waiting for you at the front door and gave you a tight hug. 
“Hey baby girl! I’ve been waiting for you. The kids are going to love waking up to these.”
“I know Mama,’ you turned to introduce the boys. A bashful Namjoon was already behind you.
“I’m not sure if you remember but this is Kim Namjoon.  He used to stay here.”
It took your mother a minute to recognize him. He had grown up so much from the scrawny little one he used to be. Always hiding under his mother unless he was playing with you. 
“Well, I’ll be damned. Kim Namjoon. Son of Kim Eunha. Boy, look at you! Come here and give me a hug,” your mother said, her southern drawl prominent in her voice.  She pulled Namjoon into a hug, making the huge man blush a deep red. 
Holding back a giggle, you stuttered, “Mama! Mama! Let him go. We gotta get the toys out the truck or the kids are going to see nine Santas putting  toys under the tree. And it’ll just ruin everything.”
“You’re right. But I won’t be helping,” she laughed.  “Y’all have fun with that. Imma go make some cookies.”
You shook your head, laughing. Namjoon was laughing as well, indicating he remember just how boisterous your mother could be.
“It’s a black mother thing,” you told him. 
Unloading the toys didn’t take as long as loading them did to all of your surprise. The toys that were to be taken to the other shelter stayed in. Namjoon and you were staying here while the rest of the boys took those. 
The living room of the shelter was filled with toys for the little girls and boys, and you couldn’t be happier. For years, it had only been a few toys under there. Most of them had been from your family but you couldn’t afford too many.  
Your ornament on the tree was in the same place it always was. It was slowly losing a few of its colours, but Strawberry Shortcake could still be made out. 
“The famous Strawberry Shortcake. You know, I asked you if I could put it on the year I stayed here. You let me.”
The memory popped up as soon as he said it. 
You were both tired from running around in the snow for hours until Jack Frost started nipping at your noses. You only had enough energy to fix up the tree. Namjoo had asked to put it on, and you almost threw a fit before recalling why he was here. You obliged, and saw how happy it made him.  
“I did. You looked so happy. I think I wanted to kiss you.”
“We did. Right under that mistletoe.”
Blushing, you turned towards where Namjoon pointed and saw the old mistletoe your father put out to trick your mother into kissing him. He put it in the same place knowing she would stop right under it: the entrance to the kitchen. 
“Oh wow. Why am I just now remembering that. We had no idea what we were doing and you even bit me!”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yeah, you totally bit me,” the shriek of laughter you let out was enough to wake the entire shelter, but the memory was too amusing.  How had you forgotten it?
Before he could think of apologizing for the mishap and offer to re-do it, the laughter and shrieks of children waking up and bounding down the stairs interrupted the both of you. 
“Santa came! Santa came! Wow! Look a bike!”
Various gasps and squeals exploded through the living room. The mothers all had cups of hot chocolate, holding back tears of appreciation. Some of the older kids noticed the tablets that had been laid out on the “big kid” table and were soon immersed in figuring out who would get what. 
Your heart squeezed seeing all the happiness unfold around you. This was what you wanted. Just a day for the children and mothers to have a little hope.  
You picked up a gift that you had bought personally the day after seeing that Namjoon had stayed at the shelter. You had lied and said that you hadn’t remembered everything. But you remembered this one.
“Namjoon!” You held out the present for you. It was wrapped in spiderman paper wrapping but it was all you had left.  
He tore it open with vigor and let out a tiny gasp seeing what it was. 
“You remembered?”
“Yep. It was my pinky promise before I left. I always keep my promises.”
It was a leather notebook with a fountain pen. It was something that he could easily buy himself but you recollected the exact conversation you had years ago before leaving the shelter. 
 “Oh, you’re leaving ___?”
“Yeah,” you kicked at a frozen rock, “Mama thinks it’s not safe for me to be here right now. So I’ll be spending time with my Dad in his office from now on. I’ll still come here though. This place means a lot to me. “
“Cool. I won’t be after next week though. My mom finally found a place for the two of us.”
“Aw, I’ll miss you. You owe me another kiss.”
“”And I’ll miss you. I promise you another kiss if you promise me a leather book with a fountain pen.”
The surprised look on your face made him laugh.  
“Uhm, why a leather book with a fountain pen?”
“I want to be a business owner one  day. A leather book and fountain pen are fancy and I’ve seen your dad use one.” “It keeps him organized according to Mama. But I doubt it. Dad would lose his head if it wasn’t attached to his body.”
You both laughed and pinky promised. 
 As much as you didn’t like boss-relationships, you had known Namjoon since your childhood technically. And you would like to get to know him more. Obviously your relationship was going to bloom had you two not been separated.  
Not to mention, he had let you finish the toy drive. Had it not been for him remembering who you were and loving your idea, you wouldn’t have been able to do it. Working for him was a Christmas miracle if you said so yourself. 
It was meant to be.  
“I think you owe me something now.”
Namjoon placed both of his hands on your hips, bringing you in closer to him. His smile showed you the dimples you had come to love to see.  
“I promise this time with no biting.”
Namjoon’s index and thumb lifted your chin up and his soft lips pressed against yours. 
Around you, the kids were tumbling around with their new toys and the teenagers were still fussing over the electronics. 
But the kiss is all that mattered. 
Merry Christmas to you. 
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web-of-fics · 4 years
Text
Worlds Away
Requested by @spaghetittiesbcimgay : hey! could i get something with our boy peter with a really smart reader?? who’s an intern at nasa or smth? and is obsessed with her instruments (guitar, bass, etc) and also space? (can you tell i’m projecting?) idk if this would be wayy to specific (if it is, totally leave out the last bit!! :) ) and i have no idea where to go from there but ive been dying for some peter x smart!reader sooo.. thank u so much in advance xx
Summary: You and Peter Parker are two of the smartest kids at Midtown High. So why are you both completely clueless at the fact you both have massive crushes on each other? 
Words: 1391
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Obviously Midtown was full of students with extraordinary smarts and subsequent extraordinary internships because of it. Naturally, Peter had gotten a lot of attention when word spread that he’d swung (no pun intended) an internship with Tony STARK. The superhero hype around the school was real even months later. And after news broke about aliens visiting earth and all that a couple years ago, every hyper intelligent teenager’s hopes were directed on working with space tech: protection or exploration, it didn’t matter. But that was mainly Tony’s domain now and the world knew it, so Midtown’s students scrambled to find prestigious positions in other areas. 
When you got accepted to intern as a research assistant for NASA, you immediately shared the news with a few close friends. And they were, of course, absolutely stoked for you. They were also huge blabbermouths so by the time everyone returned to school that Monday, the entire grade knew. Jealousy emitted from them like the energy of an exploding star. But unlike a star, the only visible evidence were the side-eye glares and slight shaking of the heads in disbelief. If you could read minds, they would be a mix of chatter saying: ‘why does SHE get to work for NASA?’ ‘I’m twice as smart as her—that should be my job’ ‘I bet she paid her way in—they’re not even accepting interns in the middle of the school year’ ‘she’s two years younger than me! I need that internship more than she does!’ Etcetera.
But not everyone was so green. Peter Parker, for example, was over the moon (still no pun intended) when you told him. He was also your number one suspect for blabbing. At least with him and his big mouth, you knew it was from a place of pride rather than an attempt to spread gossip. As if anyone went to Peter Parker for gossip. Maybe that was part of the reason you found him so appealing. 
“If they send you to space will you let me know?” He said earnestly. You just laughed.
“I’m doing research, not training to be an astronaut. I don’t have the physical endurance!”
“But you’re smart enough to engineer a spaceship.”
You rolled your eyes. “Not on my own.”
“Still!”
“They’re not sending me to space and I’m not engineering a spaceship for other people to go to space,” you laughed.
“Well what are they not paying you for then?” he pressed.
“I’m joining the student research team that assesses alien remnants from the battle of New York to help find ways to improve our own space technology. NASA’s actually working closely with Mr. Stark on a lot of it--I’m sure he’d tell you more...”
You stopped talking at the awestruck expression on Peter’s face. He leaned forward.
“No way,” he gushed. “Mr. Stark didn’t tell me any of that. Wow, you sounded really smart just then.” He paused, thinking. “This is gonna be awesome for you, y/n!” he beamed, sounding just as enthused as you felt. 
“I know!”
“When do you start?”
“Not for a few weeks.”
“Good,” Peter said. 
You raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, I--I’m going to miss being able to hang out with you and stuff when you’re off doing space stuff.”
“Well, I won’t actually be in space at any point, so we should be good,” you smiled. 
“Well, you’re definitely smart enough to go to space, so when you do eventually end up on a spaceship--” Peter held up a finger to cut off your objections before you could open your mouth. “--You could entertain your fellow astronauts with some tunes.” Peter mimed an air guitar. 
“Shut up,” you laughed, swatting at his arm. “I think a theremin would be a better soundtrack for outer space anyway. Acoustic guitars have college-student-on-the-quad vibes.” 
“Not when you play.”
“Okay Peter,” you rolled your eyes, flattered but embarrassed by his persistence. “I’ll show up on the first day of my internship with a guitar slung on my back and ask if they’d prefer the sounds of Brian May or John Mayer.” 
“Perfect,” Peter said without a hint of sarcasm behind his smile. You blushed.
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After school that day, Peter came by your house as usual so you could work on homework together. You asked him once why he preferred to work at your place—not that you minded whatsoever, but you became curious after picking up on the pattern—and he said because your place was more “stimulating” than his. Stimulating! You had laughed so hard that his confusion had circled around until he worried he’d said something offensive.
“Stimulating? Really?” you had said after composing yourself.
“Well, yeah,” he’d replied. “You have all these cool instruments and your whole room looks like space.”
As you both entered it now, you bypassed the light switch and plugged in the strand of white Christmas lights that encircled the ceiling. Instantly the room was bathed in a soothing glow. You weren’t allowed to paint your walls black ("But it would look so much more like space, mom!”) so you’d ordered four giant tapestries with different galaxies on them and hung one on each wall. A sun-shaped lamp rested on your nightstand. It was one of those sunrise lamps that woke you up by gradually getting brighter in the morning to mimic the elusive wintertime sunrise. Your precious string instruments—an acoustic guitar (Gary) and electric bass (Lily)—stood opposite your bed. You couldn’t think of a better definition of a safe space. 
And now school felt like worlds away. Minus the fact Peter was here with you  to do homework.
Peter assumed his usual position in the bean bag chair furthest from the door. You collapsed into yours, closest to your instruments. A long ottoman served as a makeshift desk for you both to dump your school materials.
But today you both melted into the cushions without moving to open your backpacks, abandoned at your sides.
Peter--usually a ball of energy that would lead you to believe he was a puppy in a former life--closed his eyes and laid his head back. It had been an especially long week. 
Without giving it a second thought, you leaned sideways and removed Gary from its stand. Humming a little, your fingers grazed the guitar strings until the notes strung into the beginning of one of your favorite songs. 
After you finished you looked up and spotted Peter watching you. Of course you’d known he was there, but you’d half expected him to drift off before the first chorus. Your face burned.
His forehead creased. “Was that ‘Here Comes The Sun’?”
You lit up. “Yeah! You listen to The Beatles?”
Peter nodded, feeling confident. “John Legend is the best.”
You stifled a giggle. “Yep,” you said. You had an unreasonably strong urge to hug him. 
You hesitated, not sure if you wanted to stop playing or continue. 
“Can I hear another?” Peter said after a moment, making the decision for you. 
“Sure,” you said, suddenly feeling shy. “What do you want to hear?”
“Anything.”
“Okay,” you steadied your breathing. Deciding to stick with the space theme, you strummed the beginning chords to Muse’s ‘Starlight’ and sang along quietly, losing yourself to your music and completely missing the infatuated grin that found its way onto Peter’s face as he got lost in thought: 
Not only was he hanging out in the coolest bedroom he’d ever seen, he got to spend it with the coolest and smartest person he knew. He wanted to spend as many hours with you as he could, even though you would probably have a lot less free time once you started the internship. But until then, he would enjoy every moment he could. Like this one. 
And who knows, maybe one day space travel would be a regular thing and then you could both hang out on the moon together for real and get away from it all. Peter could listen to you play guitar and sing random songs all day. He might even tell you how he really felt about you once he built up enough courage.
But Peter realized those possibilities were still worlds away. And right now, his world was sitting across from him, humming like a windchime that told him he was home.
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Just one more before bed? Click here for a masterlist of my fics!
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bl4cklabyrinth · 4 years
Text
Live Report: MY FIRST STORY TOUR 2019 Semi-Final at Kobe World Memorial Hall
Disclaimer: Take note that all of these reports were translated by ear, so there is no assurance of accuracy. Because of this, please do not retranslate my work. I am no Japanese or English native.
I am only reposting the relevant MCs from my Twitter thread for archive purposes. Please check my tweets to read more about my thoughts on the show.
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Photo by Takashi Konuma | Taken from MFS’ official Twitter
Setlist
SE
不可逆リプレイス
Black Rail
ブラック・スワン
花-0714-(Re:arrange)
monologue
虚言NEUROSE
KING & ASHLEY
mine
君のいない夜を越えて
終焉レクイエム (Acoustic ver.)
Love Letter (Acoustic ver.)
LET IT DIE (Acoustic ver.)
Band session
無告
Missing You
Weight of my pride (Pay money To my Pain cover)
MONSTER
絶体絶命
ACCIDENT
モノクロエフェクター
REVIVER
With You
Encore
THE OVER (UVERworld cover)
LET IT DIE
ALONE
Story about Weight Loss
Hiro: Anyway, this has no relation (to the acoustic session) whatsoever, but didn’t I get super thin?
Kid’z: You did! Tell us more! You really did lose weight! Nob too!
Hiro: We declared during Hall Tour that we’d lose weight within one month, but we couldn’t do it. We made a promise though, didn’t we? I did my very best, you know?? I seriously gave it all I got!!
Kid’z: I’ve been avoiding carbs for a long time, and even tried diligently apportioning my meals and stuff like that. But before I knew it, I was already eating curry!
Crowd: *laughs*
Fan: How much weight did you lose?
Hiro: I dropped 6 kg.
Crowd: Ohhh! *claps*
Kid’z: That’s a lot!
Hiro: Amazing, right? On the contrary, I’ve always been fat.
Kid’z: No, seriously.
Hiro: I lost weight so that I can get fat again. I want to get fat so I lose weight. When I’ve lost weight, I’ll gain weight again. It’s a never ending cycle.
Kid’z: Don’t leave it as it is!
Hiro: I get told that all the time. I mean, I’m gonna gain weight before METROCK again anyway.
Kid’z: Isn’t METROCK great though?
Hiro: Can I say this? Why do they hold festivals at such a season?
Kid’z: Because (the weather) is cool? I once thought Doraemon was the one singing.
Hiro: Who you calling 123 cm tall?
Kid’z: Nobita-kun.
Hiro: I’m not the blue geezer.
Kid’z: He isn’t a geezer!
Hiro: He’s a geezer, isn’t he?
Crowd: *laughs*
Hiro: Generally, we release a CD around spring or summer. Then we start tour around autumn, right? From the beginning of fall, Hiroki starts losing weight. Little by little. Then, year end starts rolling in. By the end of the year, tour ends, it becomes production season, and eating Hiroki comes out. Hiroki enters hibernation, just like any other large mammal.
Kid’z: You need to stock up, right?
Hiro: Yep, so I can get through winter. Then it becomes spring again. METROCK is waiting for me, but I don’t want stocked-weight-from-hibernation-at-its-max Hiroki to be exposed there! Why do I keep getting told I got fatter or thinner every time?! Leave me alone!!!
Kid’z: But you did your best, right?
Hiro: ...Yep.
Kid’z: Good job.
Crowd: *claps*
Kid’z: How about Nob? How are you doing?
Nob: I lost 5 kg.
Hiro: You lost weight only because you were sick, right?
Kid’z: Because his tonsils were taken out.
Nob: I haven’t gotten my sense of taste back up until now.
Hiro: Don’t let yourself lose one of your most important senses!
Nob: Some time ago I had pickles and it was the best.
Hiro: What an old man.
Story about Poor Kid’z (figuratively and literally)
Kid’z: This story has no relation to anything we’ve talked about so far, but you (Hiro) started an IG account, right? During Hall Tour. Since then, you did a lot of things to me, like that game with the paper cups and the 10,000 yen you put inside one of them, which I played along with having good intentions in mind. I chose the right cup and you gave me the bill, but you revealed that there was 100,000 yen in the other cups.
Hiro: Yep.
Kid’z: ...I tried that with a friend. I was caught. 100,000 yen.
Hiro: Eh?? They made a winning move, huh.
Kid’z: I was like, “Oh no, what should I do?? Should I take it back?” I wanted to be able to fool someone, to get a taste of how it feels! So I started turning the cups around thinking I could do it like you did. When it was time for them to pick, my friend chose a different cup, and in my head I was all, “No no no, not that!!!” and eventually they got it...
Hiro: That person probably saw my IG post and thought you were an idiot.
Thoughts on Marriage
After Love Letter, Hiro and Kid'z talked about being excited yet nervous to play the next song, since it's been a while since they last played it.
Kid’z: Speaking of which, the person beside me seems to be nervous!!
Nob: *rubbing his palms on his pants*
Kid’z: Can I do a hand check? *touches Nob's palm* It's all sticky!
Hiro: Eh? You're scared of making a miss again? Like in Yokoari? Higedan. Ah! Speaking of which, Satoshi-kun got married! Congratulations!
H&K: *congratulate Nob*
Hiro: Eh? Official?
Kid’z: This is Unofficial.
Hiro: Ah, sorry. Unofficial. He got married, huh... There's been a crazy marriage rush recently... 
Kid’z: Yeah, it's been all over LINE NEWS lately.
Hiro: Right. back number, Higedan, Maple Chogokin.
Kid’z: You're mean for putting Maple Chogokin as last!
Hiro: No no no. *laughs* The marriage rush is insane, right... Right... Insane right... 
Fan: Do you want to get married?
Hiro: ...I don't wanna get married. 
Crowd: Eh???
Hiro: Do you? Someday, I assume. As for me, I don't wanna get married at all. 
Kid’z: *in a teasing tone* Is it because you don't have a partner?
Hiro: *taunting tone* Ha? Ha? Ha? What the hell are you saying, you.
Kid’z: Ah, sorry we had a little quarrel.
Hiro: Let's get a divorce first!
Kid’z: What the hell is this breakup!
Poor Nob
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Photo by Takashi Konuma | Taken from Hiro’s IG post
Hiro: Anyway, are we good? You (Nob) still seem nervous. How are his fingers?
Kid’z: They're tender. 
Hiro: If I had to play it in a room like this, I'd be pissed.
Nob: *strums a tune*
Kid’z: It's that song!! It's definitely that song, right? Can you do it, Nob bear? Are you alright? You practiced last night without sleeping.
Kid’z: Give him your support.
Crowd: Cute!! You can do it!!!
Kid’z: The pressure on you is rising, huh.
Hiro: *in an old man voice* You can do it! You can do it! You can do it!
Kid’z: Eh? What was that voice? Father?
Hiro: *taunting tone* Ha? What the hell are you saying. Who you calling father, come home and I'll kill you.
Kid’z: Ah, sorry. Father, I apologize.
Hiro: to Nob You okay? Dududadududa~ (T/N: the intro of LET IT DIE) The last song for the acoustic session. Please listen, LET IT DIE.
Then, Hiro crouched down from his seat and kneeled, looked at Nob closely, and so did Kid’z. Nob stared back, aced the dududadududa intro and everybody clapped for him! However, Nob made a mistake towards the very end, playing the last string of notes twice. When they were walking back to the main stage, Hiro put his arm around Nob and teased in a mocking tone, "Hey, in LET IT DIE, in LET IT DIE, hey, during the acoustic set, hey, I was satisfied with the beginning, but in the middle of the song, hey, you made a mistake, right? Even if you were doing so well." When they got back to the main stage, Nob bowed down in apology.
Weight of my pride MC
Hiro: Your voice has been heard! There were a lot of requests for PTP, and in my heart, PTP is my eternal hero. It shouldn't be just us; so that he can also hear your voices, shout as loud as you can Kobe!!! Next song is called Weight of my pride!
Check out their version of the performance at Saitama Super Arena here:
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モノクロエフェクター MC
Hiro: How are we doing Kobe? I thought everyone in Kobe could handle it, you know? Aren't y'all drinking too much milk tea? Your nipples are gonna become tapioca if you drink too much milk tea, you know? Well, if you're sure you're not drinking too much then you should be able to handle it, so let's all dance together!!
Reviver MC
Hiro: Thank you so much for today! It's been a great day, I'm really grateful. I've always been alone. I've lost so many people I didn't want to lose, and I've let go of things I didn't want to part with many times. I might not be able to change the world with music, but because of music, I met the members, I met all of you, and it made me think that my life was pretty impressive. I want to believe it was my destiny to meet all of you here tonight, so let's keep walking together Kobe!!!
With You MC
Hiro: Thank you so much for today, Kobe!!! After this, the tour will be ending soon. Thinking about it makes me sad, but knowing that you will all be supporting us next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, and even after 10 years makes me feel very grateful. But there's one thing I want to say before today ends: Kobe, I love you!!!
THE OVER MC
Hiro: How was it? MFS' UVERworld. Did I become Hiroki∞? This song was really difficult. The way the lyrics jump, especially during the part before the last chorus.
Kid’z: I didn't learn that note.
Hiro: *emphasizes the difficult enunciation of a line from the song* Unbelievable, I had a hard time remembering it.
Kid’z: The instruments were tough, too. Even Nob was complaining, there were notes he had never seen before.
Hiro: I couldn't match the timing of the lyrics either. I had to enter at an exact time, 3 characters in one second!! If MFS were to do it, we'd go with a lower key.
Kid’z: You say MFS but it's your key, right? Your voice is hella loud you know.
Hiro: It's because if I'm alone, then it's not MFS.
Kid’z: Nah, we were able to match the key, but only you can sing it that high, right? (T/N: They seemed to have raised the key by 2 octaves)
Hiro: You guys thought the cover song was only Weight of my pride, didn't you? You're wrong! We did UVERworld but we received many other requests. There were a lot of PTP songs in the tags. Who else was it... Sheena Ringo, Oral, and King Gnu too.
Kid’z: Weirdly enough, B'z was highly requested too. 
Hiro: It'd be weird if I sang their songs.
Crowd: Sing! Sing! Sing!
Hiro: 萎えぇぇ!萎えぇぇ!萎えぇぇぇぇー (T/N: Nae is Japanese slang that roughly translates to “no” or “ugh” in this context) Wait a minute. Change the song.
Kid’z: *offended tone* Huh?
Hiro: Well then, sing a line that starts with A!
Hiro: You're an Ultra Soul Idiot. Do you know any other song apart from Ultra Soul?
Kid’z: Of course I do! Don't you? All of you? I love them more than anyone else, I'm even in the fanclub! こいよ!!
Kid’z: *sings a B'z line that starts with A*
Hiro: Gi!
Kid’z: Gi? *sings a line that starts with Gi* I told you, I can do anything.
Teru: Yu!
Kid’z: Yu? YUME JANAI ARE MO KORE MO SONO TE DE DOA MO AKEMASHOU, SHUKUFUKU GA HOSHII NARA KANASHIMI O SHIRI HITORI DE NAKIMASHOU, SOSHITE KAGAYAKU ULTRA SOUL!
Crowd: HEY!!!
Hiro: Oi, Teruki!! Why did you say "yu"?! You should've let him build up first before making him sing "yu"!! It was too early to make him sing that as the third song!
Kid’z: It felt really good!!
Hiro: Why did you say "yu" so quickly?!
Teru: I just made a mistake.
Hiro: Don't be an airhead!!
Kid’z: I'm really grateful!
Nob’s Redemption Arc
After their UVERworld cover, Hiro asked the audience what they should do next. The crowd started screaming different songs, to which Hiro said "I'm seriously fine with anything." Nob suddenly played the first three notes of LET IT DIE, to which Hiro said, "Ah, from earlier?" Kid'z said, "He made a mistake a while ago, so let's give him another chance." Then Nob started practicing. The crowd screamed, "You can do it!!!" then Nob walked towards the center stage and did a moonwalk. Hiro was all, "You can't do it, you're not Michael Jackson!" then sang a MJ line and howled his signature "Woo!"
Final MC
Hiro: Today was truly an amazing day, thank you all so much. We had such an intense gathering here at Kobe World Memorial Hall. The first Coming Kobe was also held here. We have so, so, so many memories here in this place. Right now, we're still on our way to reaching our dream. From hereon, we don't know if we could make such a big dream come true. We still have a long way there, but we're doing our best every year, making music for everyone and visiting various places as well. Next year, and the year after that, and even after 10 years, it would be nice if we could all make amazing memories together. Thank you so much! We're definitely coming back, Kobe!!
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Photo by Takashi Konuma | Taken from Hiro’s IG post
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thenovelartist · 5 years
Text
His Heart Song
Hot dang, this was supposed to be short!!! But my muses wouldn’t fricking shut up. This is based off @edendaphne‘s  Lukanette commission for @bbwoulfc.
Even if you don’t like the pairing, it’s a beautiful picture and I LOVE IT!!!!
~AO3~   ~Fanfiction~
...
The first time he met her was because his sister brought her over to hang out. Just like Juleka, she was thirteen, two years younger than him. She was adorable and easily flustered and all over the place like a bee over a flower field.
He enjoyed teasing her when she stuttered. Surprisingly, it got her to relax, which got her to calm down just enough for him to hear her heart song.
He played it for her, and that was the beginning of their friendship.
Within weeks, he was able to read her inside and out, and she didn’t hang out here with his sister that often. Yet, reading her was second nature. Which was surprising considering he had to dig under her wave of notes to get to her heart song. And even if it did take extra time, he found out…
It was worth it.
“Why is your heart like this?” he asked, playing her heart song, something sharp and stuttering.
She smiled bitterly. “I’m just a little nervous.”
“Why? For the date?”
She nodded. “I mean, I’m excited to go and he’s a nice guy. I’ve just never been on a date before.”
He hummed. “Would you feel more comfortable if I took you there and took you home?”
She mulled it over, her lips in a line. She didn’t want to bother him.
He smiled. “That’s a yes?” Luka said.
“How do you do that?”
“Magic,” he always said.
It always got her to smile. “Only if you’re willing.”
“Of course. Anything for a friend.”
“Then yes, I’d appreciate that, Luka.”
She was fifteen when Luka lead her to a first date for the last time. He would always be there for her, because she was his sister’s friend, because she was her friend, because she meant more to him than just a friend would.
And because he loved her that way, he encouraged her to go chase the guy she really liked.
He regretted it from the selfish standpoint. But he remembered true love wasn’t selfish. She didn’t owe him anything. And she didn’t belong to him. He couldn’t hold onto her nor old her back. So he let her go.
He played his heart song that night, and it sounded an awful lot like the breaking of a guitar string.
“Stay still,” she said, holding a sharpie to his arm.
“Why?” he asked with a chuckle.
The sixteen-year-old beauty flipped her hair away as she leveled him with a blue-eyed gaze. She was growing into a stunning woman, and her heart song was beautiful, too.
“You always know how to play people’s feelings,” she said. “While it took me a while, I finally figured out your pattern.”
“My pattern?” he asked, though he surrendered his arm to her as she tugged at it.
She nodded. “Yup. You know how some people walk down the street in a color or a pattern or a symbol that just screams ‘them’?” her face fell when she realized that she was the designer and he was the musician. “Oh, no, that’s not your thing. Anyways, it’s totally a thing, and you have a pattern that I only just figured out.”
He chuckled. She’d dove head first into fashion, and just when Luka was beginning to think she had reached the bottom, she dove deeper. But she was so passionate. Her heart song when she was like this was wild and wonderful and free. He could rock out to it for hours, easily.
Instead of rocking, though, he was listening. Listening to her hum everything from his original tunes to Jagged Stone songs as she doodled on his arm with the sharpie.
Two sharpies, actually. The black was shadows, but everything else was his favorite teal blue. “It suits you,” she had said.
For half an hour, he stayed and relaxed, feeling the sharpie color his arm and watching her expression change with every portion of it.
She grinned when she was done. “Your pattern, sir.”
He looked over the artwork that covered his arm from his shoulder to his wrist. The detail and time she put into it… it just fit. He could hear her heart song sing proudly over the work she’d done. It was such a beautiful sound. He played those chords over and over in his head until he memorized them. “I love it.”
She grinned in pride, and that song took off.
“What’s your symbol, pattern, color?”
She shrugged. “Symbol.”
“What is it?”
“A flower.”
“What kind?”
She shrugged. “A flower.”
“I want to see it,” he said. He looked up and down his arm before pointing to a free patch. “Here. I want to see it.”
She looked at him with a slowly growing smile of amusement. “If you insist.”
“I do.”
Which he rarely ever did.
She pulled out a pink sharpie, one that suited her to a tee, and doodled her flower in that open spot on his arm, right in the crook of his elbow that he could keep protected.
“It suits you,” he said, looking at the flower and feeling a warm beat fill his heart.
She just shrugged.
When she left, his mind raced back to her song. He wrote it down as quick as he could, then began playing it over and over again.
As he looked in the mirror that night and took in the artwork on his arm, the artwork the girl his heart sang for had done just for him, he realized that he couldn’t bear to part with it.
The next morning found him in a tattoo shop. It wasn’t cheap, but walking out at the end of the day, he knew it was worth it.
She was worth any cost.
“Luka, you did not get that tattooed on you.”
“I did.”
“I can’t believe you.”
“I like it,” he said with a smile. “Do you have a problem that I’m forever wearing your artwork?”
She shook her head, her grin unable to be hidden. “No,” she eventually said. “Not at all.”
He was so excited to share the news with her. Nineteen, and his dreams were coming true in the best way. His favorite artist had heard his stuff, loved it, and was ready to beg and grovel to buy a couple songs.
Luka had laughed at that.
But for the Jagged Stone to come to him and admit he loved Luka’s music was incredible, and Luka was willing to sell a couple on one condition.
“I want to play with you.”
Their impromptu jam session had been amazing. Jagged was a true artist, and Luka counted himself lucky his idol hadn’t let him down. He was a great guy who warned Luka to never stop honing his talent.
“Luka,” his mother called out, “Marinette’s here.”
He was buzzing with energy. And that all came to a halt when he caught sight of her, her heart song playing in his ears. Something slow that tugged on the heart strings and overflowed your tear ducts.
“What happened?”
She sniffed, wiping away a tear. “He just… ended it.”
So they sat on his bed, her head against his shoulder while he played anything that would ease the tears.
“You know,” he said once she had calmed down and was paying attention to his music. “Your heart it beautiful. It beats like this,” and he played for her.
“And I don’t like hearing it sound like this.” He played a few more notes, and he saw a smile pick up on the corners of her lips.
“And for that guy,” he continued. “To just end it like that?” He plucked a few disharmonious chords.
He felt like a winner when she huffed a laugh.
“Thank you, Luka.”
He smiled and continued playing a song for her. “Anything for you, Marinette.”
“So you’re really leaving?”
As excited as he was, he hated that the answer to her question was yes.
“Don’t get me wrong,” the eighteen-year-old girl said. “I’m really happy for you. Like, really happy. It’s amazing that you’ll be touring with Jagged Stone and playing your music and I’m really really happy for you to be living your dream.”
He could feel a ‘but’ coming.
She tackled him in a hug. “I’m going to miss you.”
He held her as tightly as he dared. Heaven help him, this was going to rip his heart out. “I’ll be back before you know it,” he lied.
“I know,” she said. “And I know you have to go. This… this is your dream. And people will love you and your songs and it will be amazing. I’m really happy for you.”
But she wasn’t happy. And he wasn’t happy she wasn’t happy.
“Keep in touch,” she begged.
“I promise.” Because his heart couldn’t take it if he didn’t.
He was loved by the crowds. People were buying up his music and his gear and talking about how much they loved Jagged Stone’s opening act.
But none of that love came from a girl with a beautiful heart song. They came from screaming fans who all wanted a piece of him. He couldn’t hear their music. He couldn’t play it back to them. But honestly, he didn’t quite care. There was only one song he wanted to hear.
And he hadn’t heard it in months.
Sometimes, he’d play her songs that he’d written down. It reminded him of her. Reminded him of home. Mostly, it grounded him. But there was always a part of him that realized that the songs were just a little emptier than he would like it to be.
“That’s some good stuff, mate,” Jagged commented.
“Thanks, but that’s not something I wrote.”
“Huh. Who wrote it?”
He paused. “People have songs. I just listen for them.”
“I hear where this is going,” Jagged said, smile in his tone. “Your girl?”
“I wish she was my girl,” Luka said. “But she’s just the girl I love.”
Jagged hummed. “You’ve told me about her, I think.”
“Probably,” Luka said with a mirthless smile.
“You see her lately?”
“With time differences and all, I rarely get a call. Mostly its e-mails and texts.”
Jagged hummed his understanding. “You should invite her to a show.”
“She’s busy studying her passion,” Luka said. “I won’t take that away from her.”
“Well, you can’t always go off living your dream while she’s living hers. You two gotta be a part of each other’s dream, too. Penny taught me that.”
Luka smiled in fondness. Jagged may be a rock star with a bunch of women screaming at him for his attention, but he understood the power of one woman vs a thousand. “Yeah, well, I won’t make her sacrifice too much. I’ll wait for her school to go on break.”
Jagged smirked. “Whatever you say. Just be careful that in letting her be, you aren’t pushing her away.”
Luka didn’t like how those words settled in his heart. So he put his guitar away for the night. And didn’t pick it up again until the show.
Two weeks later, and he was trying to figure out Marinette’s schedule so he could send her tickets.
“Luka,” Penny called form outside his door at the hotel. “Someone is here to see you.”
His brow furrowed in confusion, but he walked out into the hallway—
And his jaw dropped.
There, in a red tank top and jeans with her hair cascading around her shoulders was the one who made his heart sing.
She smiled. He couldn’t help it, he scooped her up as she flew into his arms, and he spun her in a couple circles before slowly setting her down on the ground.
“I missed you,” he murmured, one arm holding her against him while the other wove into her hair.
“I missed you, too,” she responded.
“How did you know I was here?”
She pulled away, and her expression turned confused. “You weren’t the one to send me tickets?”
“No,” he answered honestly. “I was waiting until you were out of school because I wouldn’t want you to miss it.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh,” she breathed out. “And… and here I thought it was because you didn’t want to see me.”
His eyes widened as something akin to a screeching violin sounded in his head. “Of course I wanted to see you,” he quickly assured. “But I couldn’t ask you to put your dream on hold for me.”
She smiled, a myriad of emotions pouring off her in one wonderful symphony. “It’s one week. That’s not ‘putting my dream on hold’.”
“I still didn’t want to interrupt your school work,” he said. “Design is your passion. Your dream.”
“And you don’t think you’re important enough to interrupt it?”
The tune changed right then and there. Everything changed to suddenly become harmonious and wonderful to his ears, and he could just stand there and listen to it forever.
“Are best friends important enough for that?” he asked quietly.
Her eyes fell away from his, her cheeks suddenly turning pink. However, her eyes fell to his tattoo. More specifically, her symbol in his pattern. Gingerly, she touched it, and he was certain his face turned pink, too.
“Luka,” she began, looking up to meet his gaze. Her breathing quickened, and his heart begged her to say the words he could hear in the wonderful melody rolling off her. “You… you need to know… after you left, things… they weren’t the same.”
“They haven’t been the same for me, either,” he encouraged.
“And…” her voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m sorry for taking you for granted.”
“When have you ever?” he asked.
She touched his arm, the one with the tattooed sleeve on it, then looked back up to him. “Friends just don’t spontaneously decide to tattoo a doodle on their arm.”
“It’s my pattern,” he argued.
“Not this part,” she said, rubbing circles with her thumb over her symbol.
He smiled.
The music changed once again as understanding passed between them.
“Luka,” she whispered, her blush deepening. “I’m sorry for only just figuring it out.”
“It’s okay,” he assured.
“I love you.”
He beamed. He couldn’t help it. His fingers buried deep in her hair, wrapping around to cradle the back of her head as he pulled her closer to him. “I have always loved you, Marinette.”  
She smiled, leaning into his embrace as he smiled so widely his cheeks hurt.
“And,” he continued as he pulled her against his chest and pressed his nose into her hair. “I always will.”
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Can I Be Him?
A sequel to Empty Space.
A/N: School has been kicking my butt lately, so this took longer than I had hoped. Hopefully, I can get my homework done so I can actually write. As for the anon who requested a Loki x Reader songfic with Photograph by Ed Sheeran, it’s coming, I promise. 
Pairing: Loki x Reader
MASTERLIST IS IN MY BIO
THIS IS A SEQUEL, PART 1 CAN BE FOUND IN MY MASTERLIST, IT’S CALLED EMPTY SPACE
LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED!
Sorry for the Caps Lock, I wanted it to be read. :)
LOKI POV
  It had been two months since we had broken up, but I still missed her with every fiber of my being. I think it might hurt worse than the beginning. This would have been our two-year anniversary today. But all I have now is soaked tissues and puffy eyes. Not that anyone would ever know.
  A knock resounded through my room, accompanied by a voice, “Hey Reindeer Games! We’re going out and you’re coming with us.”  
  “Not today Tony, I don’t feel good.” I tried my best to steady my voice as I called back to him.
  “Yeah, that’s why we’re going out?” Tony called out exasperated sarcasm.
  Seeing as how Stark was as likely to leave it as a bilgesnipe was to be a pet, I decided to simply ignore him as I got ready to leave. Not that it took much, all it took was a simple illusion. I mean, who would ever think the God of Mischief would go out in his pajamas. Y/N, that’s who. She always could see through my illusions. Must have been another one of her superpowers.
  “Alright Stark, lead the way,” I said as I opened the door.
  The place we went to was none other than a bar, not that I was really expecting anything else from Tony. At least this one was a little more upscale than the one we went to last month. They announced that they were holding a karaoke contest in an hour, and anyone who wished to compete should sign up. I paid this no mind though, as singing in front of pathetic mortals wasn’t exactly my cup of tea.
  The next hour and a half passed by with terrible off-key singing and alcohol. My eardrums were practically bleeding, and I was about to just up and leave. This was as far from fun as “Get Help.” But right as I thought that, an announcement was made that Pheonix would be performing soon. Curiosity got the best of me and I began to pay attention.
  The lights dimmed so that only shadows could be seen on stage, making it nearly impossible to see what was going on. But I could tell that someone walked on stage in an outfit that resembled Y/N’s tactical suit. A slow thumping beat began to play, with a harmonic melody joining it soon after.
  “I used to think,
I hated you.
But maybe love’s
A better word.
For all the time,
You and I,
Spend side by side.
For all the heartbeats,
Synced by time.
The love we share,
You and I.
  A rose-tinted spotlight shone upon her, lighting up the fact that it was indeed Y/N. She was dressed in her Pheonix tactical suit, modeled after Natasha’s but with accents of fire. But the accents weren’t the only bit of fire on her, though. Her hands began to light up as she sang.
“I was the fire to your ice
And together,
we were nature’s worst enemy.
We ruled the world and realms beyond
We fought side by side until tonight.
Now I’m just a lonely fire,
Burning in the night.
Burnin in the night.”
  As the song came to a close she ignited her entire body, and then dimmed down until there was a single spark left on her finger. She gave a smile and left the stage, heading to the bar for a drink.
Y/N POV
  “Great job up there Y/N! You turned quite a few eyes.” Wanda’s accented voice said as she gave me a drink.
  I smiled with the compliment, my heart happy to hear it. “Thanks, I worked hard on that one.”
  “That one? So we might get an encore?” Tony asked as he slid his way into the seat next to me.
  “TONY!!!” I screamed as I jumped up to hug him.
  “Hey, kiddo. That was a good job, and lucky for you, I’m not the only one who heard it.” He said.
  “Really? Who else is here?” I asked as I took a drink.
  “Just Sam, Steve, Bucky, Loki, Thor, and Clint,” Tony said dismissively.
  I spit out my drink at hearing that my ex was here, “LOKI?!”
  “Yeah, loverboy seemed to really enjoy the show. You might want to talk to him.” With that, Tony took his drink and went back to where the guys were.
  “Hey Y/N, what’s wrong?” Wanda asked as she came back from the restroom.
  “I want to go home,” I said with an expression like glass, put together yet could break at any moment.
  “What? Why? You killed it.” She asked, confusion written all over her face.
  “It’s not that, he’s here,” I answered her, staring at my drink, afraid I would fall apart.
  “Who’s here? There’s a lot of people here you’re going to have to be more descriptive.”
  “You know, him.” She still looked confused so I elaborated with a sigh, “Loki.”
  “Loki’s here? Where?” I pointed in his direction and continued to stare seldom at my drink.
  Wanda left to go look in the direction I had pointed. I turned back to my drink and tried to tune out every backstabbing thought that plagued my mind. Every possible thing he could say, made worse by the tender look on his stupidly handsome face.
 “I think you pointed in the wrong direction beautiful.” A voice I would know anywhere called from my other side.
  “Just go away, I don’t exactly feel like fighting again.” My voice cracked as the walls I built began to crumble.
  “Why would I fight with you?” He asked, his voice cracking as well.
  “Because you and I don’t see eye to eye. We’re like fire and ice.” I finally looked up at him and saw the breakup had taken its toll on both of us. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy, they lacked there usual mischevious glimmer. His smirk was forced, looking almost painful.
  “Well, I guess opposites really do attract. What was that song you were singing?” He asked with the glimmer of a smile on his face.
  “It’s called Fire and Ice. I wrote it.” I answered with pride.
  “It was beautiful. Like you.” With that he walked away, leaving an emptiness in his place.
  It was so like him, to say something so kind, and then walk away like nothing ever happened. With pain in every crack of my heart, I called a car and went back to the compound. As I laid in bed and thought about the events of the night, I realized what I had to do.
  “Director Fury, its Y/N. I’ll take the mission.” With a click of the call ending, I finally felt a peace in my soul.
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fallen029 · 5 years
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Dragon’s Roar: Different, Not Sad
There had been a sense of tension hanging over the tiny guild hall for a good number of months, proceeding even, perhaps, the conception. A fear, resentment, and pride had begun to intermingle with one another to encapsulate its two primary inhabitants in a rather toxic, seemingly infinite bubble. The arrival of their firstborn did, however, do a bit to alleviate the pressure.
He was born in the heat of summer, when the old guildhall his father had painstakingly rebuilt was at it’s least viable. In the harsh winters, the fireplace and heaters could help warm the place up, but when  the heat flared in the long, bright days of summer time, the members mostly suffered through. There wasn’t much to be had, anyhow, in the hall. No nice game room or bath house. No pool or much of a menu, honestly, at the bar. The Master’s wife could make you a strong drink and fry you some fish, but other than that, it was pretty bare bones and in its infancy, the hall was.
It wasn’t the appearance of the hall that drove in membership, but rather what it could do to the appearance of the members.
When Laxus Dreyar first opened his own guildhall separate from his lineage, some sneered. However, the former S-Class wizard had his share of high caliber friends that were interested in the culture he was hoping to eventually offer. He had a high standard for members and, through his own notoriety, had a nice level of job pull, albeit not many. There was a certain feeling that came along with joining up with Raijin that many were unable to provide. Stick with him through the rough years and he promised a big reward in the ones to come.
The way his eyes were alight when speaking and dreaming of those days were enough to influence many to his ideals.
But that didn’t mean that the place was at all as profitable as it seemed. Hardship was the plight of a guild master, Makarov sighed to Laxus frequently when they spoke. Perseverance was concept he could offer his grandson and, with his only true dream really at stake, Laxus buckled in early on for the long haul.
When his first and only son was born in the haze of boiling sunny whether, he frequently left the bar area down below, however, and climbed up the stairs to the attic where he and his wife had lived since he purchased the old building. The intention was, of course, to eventually move, but the timing (and the jewels) had never rightly aligned. He felt better, anyhow, with his son so close. And his wife.
His wife.
Heh.
Mirajane and he weren’t on the best of terms leading up to the birth of his son. Or before that, really. His grandfather only cautioned him of perseverance with that as well and Laxus would grumble back at this, whenever it was mentioned, because what other option was there?
Well, there were many.
But none that he wanted her to take.
All the windows were open in the guild, anyways, to catch as many drafts as were available, but up in the attic, where there was less of a chance for one, Laxus bought a little fan for his son, which gave off hardly any sound to the others, but he could hear it. With his dragon sense. The little whirling motion it made. All the way downstairs even, if he stood close to the staircase, he could hear it. He could hear most things up there. When the baby mewled or cried. When Mirajane sang to him.
Mira came down frequently, to continue help with the bar, but given that she frequently had to rush right back up the stairs to check on the child, Freed hung around more than he took jobs, to help around the bar. And with the child, too. He seemed to enjoy that portion much more than the dealing with rowdy drunks and disgruntled guild members.
Lisanna stayed with them for awhile as well, to be with the baby. It put Laxus even more on edge, in those early months, as he was almost certain that Mirajane and Lisanna would try and leave with his child, back to Magnolia. He didn’t voice this to anyone, but he really felt as if it were a possibility. He didn’t know what he’d do then, other than chase after them. Run after them. Beg after them.
The hopelessness of the idea really put him in a panic whenever he thought about it and more than once Mira had noticed how tense he’d begin to look when Lisanna was holding the baby. She’d only laugh at him though before remarking that he could calm down; her sister wouldn’t drop the baby.
Which only gave him a new fear to have.
But this didn’t happen. Lisanna left eventually as she needed to get back to Fairy Tail and take some more jobs. S-Class trials were coming up and, though it was a long shot, she was no different than all the others; a chance to prove yourself was not one to take lightly.
With a promise on her tongue of returning and Mira making a similar one to bring the child for his first visit of Magnolia soon enough, her sister departed once more.
Then it was just Mira, it seemed, who was frequently up in the attic, tending to the child.
Things were much the same one day as, while she was up there, Freed was diligently tending to the bar and Laxus was sitting close to the staircase, at his usual table, listening to the complaints and gripes of one of his guild members. It was hard to feign interest, as he was much more prone to feigning dis, yet it was one of the many duties of a diligent Master. It was while he was doing this, however, that he became aware of the noise upstairs. Rather, the lack of it.
The little whirl of the fan had stopped. For a moment, Laxus thought Mira had turned it off and was going to come down the stairs carrying the boy, but this wasn’t the case. Interested, Laxus quickly ended the worthless conversation he was momentarily trapped in and pushed up form his seat.
At the top of the stairs he found her standing over by the tiny window that overlooked the town, her soft humming just barely beating out the subdued wines of their child.
“What happened to the fan?” was the first thing Laxus asked when he came into the room, going right over to where it sat. Mira made a bit of a face over her shoulder at him, watching him bend down to examine it.
“I dunno,” was all she replied with a shrug. “Just stopped working.”
“Piece of shit,” he grumbled some, as he only gently kicked at it, causing the fan to topple over. “Well, I’ll go out and buy you another.”
“We’re okay, Laxus.”
“Okay? It’s fucking hot as-”
“I said we’re okay.”
Still, he continued to glare down at the box fan. “Wonder why it stopped working. I hate that. When stuff just stops working.”
“Would you like a warning? Before it suddenly decides to stop?”
“Would I- Shuddup, demon.” He glared at her back, Laxus did, before coming closer. “And it’s cooler downstairs. If you don’t want me to go get you another fan, come bring him down there.”
The him that Laxus was speaking of only stared up at his father, discomfort distorting his face, as he continued to wiggle in his mother’s arms. Laxus only looked down at him, as he came to stand at his wife’s side, watching the child whine.
Mira’s pregnancy had been hard. For a lot of reasons. Then during the middle of it, they had a subdued wedding that was nothing like Mira had always dreamed and Laxus felt so embarrassed that after promising her so many things that he just had no chance to deliver on.
Their wedding both made them feel like failures, in certain ways. Her being six months pregnant did little to help the matter.
The whole thing was a mess.
But it didn’t matter then, as they stood there in the tiny attic they shared, and Laxus only shook any thoughts he had away.
“Is it busy? Right now?”
He shook his head at his wife. “Pretty dead.”
“I guess I could help Freed tidy up the bar-”
“Or you could just not do anything at all, other than watch the baby, like I asked you to.”
No. She couldn’t.
He seemed to like it much better, anyhow, the baby did, when they went downstairs. He stopped whining, at least, and instead only stayed cradled in his mother’s arms, even mewling happily when Freed waved a finger in his face. As Laxus took his seat once more, he tried to focus on the paperwork in front of him, but his eyes only followed his wife around the hall.
He jumped a bit, however, when someone slammed down into the seat before him. It was only Evergreen though, in her normal flamboyancy, sighing loudly and waving obnoxiously over at Freed, as if to signal she needed a drink. And she did, no doubt. She always did.
She started talking to Laxus, Evergreen did, as she waited for her glass of wine. He didn’t listen much (she didn’t really have much interesting topics to offer up), but was pleased to hear that her job had gone well. All the other stuff was the kinds of things that he used to be able to easily tune out, when he wasn’t a guild master. When he was allowed to blast music in his headphones at full volume to block out anyone who dared to approach him.
It wasn’t a good look, shockingly enough, for a Master near his thirties to behave like a moody teenager. Who could have guessed it?
Mirajane brought over the glass for Evergreen, the baby still wiggling around in one arm. When Laxus complained, mostly about her tending bar at the moment, she took his complaints of being unable to do two things at once as an offer to watch the baby. It wasn’t, but Laxus still got stuck with his son in his lap.
“Fan, huh?” Evergreen sighed at Laxus’ explanation of why the child had been brought downstairs. Much like Laxus was with the majority of her needless talk of how important she was, Ever also only listened to the highlights of what the slayer said. Still, as she lifted the glass to her lips, she produced with her free hand one of the folded fans that she always kept closes. “Let me see him.”
It made the baby giggle, anyways, as he sat in Evergreen’s lap, enjoying the gentle breeze it provided as she mostly ignored him, but continued the motion. Laxus’ son was important to what once was the Thunder Legion because, well, it was Laxus’ son, but typically Evergreen found the idea of a young baby to be more a nuisance than anything more. Now, when he aged a few years, well, that could be entertaining, perhaps. Until then, the best she could provide was a wave of her fan now and again.
He did little to complain.
The place did cool down some, as did the whole town, when a short rainstorm began outside. Rather than the thick humidity of a thunderstorm, they were treated with the patter of rain drops as most bellowed on the room though some, unfortunately, found their ways through pesky leaks.
As always, it was a mad dash to get pots out in those plays.
Laxus grumbled some, as he always did, because he and Bickslow had attempted to patch up any leaks and he planed, completely, the seith for his lack of skill in said department, but somehow managed to completely negate the fact that he too offered little to no knowledge.
Unfortunately for the seith, he happened upon the guild, returning victorious from a job, at the exact moment Laxus was fuming about this. Instead of the hero’s welcome he was expecting (though never going to get anyhow), he was instead berated by an annoyed slayer. This power move by the slayer was undercut, however, by the fact he was had a snuggly baby under one arm, who was settle down for sleep once more.
His mother took him back up, feeding him when he whined before laying him back down once more in his crib. Then she stood for a moment, staring down at him, watching as he easily found sleep. It was home to him, the little attic. It was overly cramped, hot, and miserable for his parents, but to him, there was no better place.
When Mira envisioned having children, especially once she began to envision it in her current relationship, it was never going to be how it turned out. Like most people, she expected a bit more financial stability and safety than they currently had. Considering Laxus was once a well renown S-Class mage in one of the most prominent guilds, it made perfect sense to feel that way. Even on her own, the tips she made up at the bar, while didn’t provide anything lavish, supported her lifestyle and then some.
Now Laxus was a struggling guild master and she kept bar (as well as the guild itself, really) in hopes of eventually capturing the same success he would have gotten when Makarov, no doubt, relinquished  Fairy Tail to his grandson. It felt as close as it did far and some months Mira really hated that she’d ever…
But it didn’t matter now, she reminded herself as she stared down at her son. She’d long learned not to do that, anyways. Dream too high. Her dreams had all been used up, when she captured her status at Fairy Tail. To give her more would be a spoil. And it was her own fault anyways, Mira was always quick to remind herself. Yes, Laxus had made promises, but they’d always been far too extravagant to accomplish. She knew that when she agreed to come with him. To leave home and try and build a new life together.
To pretend to be shocked that it was essentially proving just as hard as everyone warned would be the epitome of moronic. Though she played it well, Mira was far from unintelligent. She knew it would be hard work. Determination. Drive.
She just…never thought that she’d be giving up so much. While Laxus was getting to have so much.
“It’ll be better,” he assured her the night after their quick marriage ceremony that was nothing like she’d always dreamed. Nowhere close to lavish. Subdued, honestly, felt like the best description for it. “On a special anniversary, yeah? Renew our vows and have a big wedding. Like you always wanted. I just need-
“Don’t,” she cut him off with a long sigh, “talk anymore about time.”
So he didn’t.
Things weren’t as bleak as they felt at times, she was reminded as, after watching her son’s chest rise and fall a few times, she turned to walk away. She felt such strong love towards her siblings, Mirajane did, that at times it felt paternal, but no. No. When she first held her son, when he was screaming and so purple and so red and so...gross, but hers, from that second forth, she’d felt…
No. She loved Elfman and Lisanna immensely, but it had never been anything close to the love that she held in her heart for her newborn son. She knew that Laxus felt the same. The closest she’d ever, felt to her husband was watching him tear up as he stared down at his son. His firstborn. He told her that he’d never felt so emotional, even in an emotion filled life like he had, and she believed him.
The town always looked different, from the attic window, when it rained. Maybe it was the way that there was less light as the clouds overtook the sun, but still enough to show off the sleepy village that surrounded the old guildhall building, but it always made Mira feel something, deep in her chest, when she took notice of it.
“It’s so sad here. Laxus.”
She spoke to him without even turning around, having heard his soft footsteps as he came up to the attic space.
“Sad’s relative,” he replied back simply. “Demon.”
When she turned, he had a plate for her and Mira grinned at him slightly, but Laxus had on his coat and was clearly headed out.
“For me?”
“For you,” he agreed as she came to take the plate from him as well as leaning up to press a kiss against the slayer’s cheek. “You didn’t eat while you were downstairs.”
“I was working.”
“Well, now you’re not.”
“Mmmm,” she hummed as she glanced down at the plate. “The fish smells great. Can you thank Freed for me?”
“How do you know I didn’t cook it?”
“Somehow, I just know.”
He grunted in reply and Mira only smiled gratefully as she went to sit on the edge of their bed. There was a tiny desk, before, where the baby’s crib now sat, but it had been moved to make room. It was no matter, after all. It was a guildhall. Plenty of other places to sit down and write something out. Just no longer in their bedroom.
“Where are you going, Master?” Mira asked as he went to stare over the edge of the crib down at the baby for a moment.
“Out,” was his only reply and she accepted it because, honestly, she cared little. “I’ll be gone awhile. Freed’s leaving for that job at five. Will you be able to close up on your own?”
“I’ve closed a much larger guild than yours in the past, dragon.”
To his grunt, she added, “And you should wear something other than your fuzzy coat. It’s wet out.”
“Already drying up,” he remarked simply and, sure enough, she noted then that the patter of rain had stopped on the roof above.
It would be late, as he warned, before Laxus arrived back at the guildhall. The only things he felt as he walked through the doors was the presence of his wife’s magical energy and nothing more. Finally truly alone.
His son was still snoozing much the same, though now in his jammies and hopefully down for the count that night, as Laxus inspect him. He only smiled, the slayer did, in the darkness of his bedroom and gently pressed a hand against his son’s fuzzy head, the little tuff of yellow much softer than his own.
Mira was passed out as well, atop the covers as the heat had returned over the course of the afternoon. Still, Laxus smiled as he set the box in his arms down before stripping down and joining her.
She shocked him though, when she shifted closer and pressed another, longer kiss against his cheek this time, nuzzling against it when her lips separated from his stubble.
“Where’d you go?”
He only sighed softly this time and replied, “To the market, first. To get you a fan.”
“I told you that-”
“Then I had to meet with someone. Guild stuff. In the morning we can talk about it. Right now-”
“You’re tired too?”
“Very,” he whispered, as they always did now. The baby slept through most things in those days, honestly, but neither ever wanted to test this too harshly. “Hardly even did shit today, but I feel-”
“You did plenty.”
He grunted that time and, for a few minutes, they were both silent. Mira was nearly asleep once more when, softly, he asked, “You’re not sad here, are you, Mira?”
She thought too, about it, before just as softly replying, “No. That’s not what I meant, anyways.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“It’s just a small town, Lax. It’s different than home. Magnolia, I mean. It was always so busy there. Here, it’s just… You know. Different.”
“Mmmm,” he hummed that time. “Different.”
“But not bad,” she insisted as one of her hands came to pat at his chest gently. “It reminds me sort of how Elfman, Lisanna, and I grew up.”
“I hope it’s a bit better though.”
“A big bit, actually, yeah.”
He smiled at her softly in the darkness. “I think it’ll be nice for him. To grow up here. Away from a place like Magnolia.”
It was Mira’s turn to hum. “Different, anyways. Cities are nice, having so many people around, but there is something nice about tiny little towns. Away from that sort of thing. Safer, maybe, but-”
“Cities corrupt kids,” was all Laxus told her as her hand slipped slowly off his chest when the slayer turned onto his side, giving the woman his back. “Magnolia isn’t as nice as it seems. Not to kids.”
Leaning forwards, she pressed a kiss to his back before whispering against the muscles there, “He’ll have a nice life here, in our guild.”
“Yeah,” he agreed to the shadows that the moonlight cast into their bedroom through that tiny, single window. “We all will.”
Would ya look at that, we got a new Miraxus baby to name. I’ve thought a lot about it and can’t really decide on one. Stuck between a few, but none feel right. I’m a big more excited to develop this one though as he’s a bit separated from Mira’s family, which the kids are normally more influenced by. This one’ll be the first wholly Thunder Legion sided kid. Hopefully I’ll get back to him for you guys soon. I know I’m not around posting much these days, but I just have a lot going on is all. I’m still around, just distant is all.
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amyscascadingtabs · 6 years
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this night is sparkling, don’t you let it go
She doesn’t fully comprehend how he gathers the energy for his signature boyish, goofy grin at one in the morning, but he does anyway and waves his phone at her. “I was going to play you my list of Taylor Swift favorites.”
“Ugh.”
“You said I could”, he reminds her with an accusatory expression that works all too well on her. “‘Sure, whatever.’ Those were your exact words.”
“Just keep it at a low volume. ”
Three times - all under wildly different circumstances - Jake plays Amy the same Taylor Swift song.
read on ao3
The first time Amy Santiago hears it is at the precinct.
She’s landed Jake Peralta as her partner for the money laundering case she’s currently working, and while he’s been peculiarly nice to her since he won their bet - even came to admit he enjoys working with her when she came close to taking a job at Major Crimes - he’s not the most efficient when it comes to going through pages and pages of income and transaction records. The fact that it’s currently one o’clock at night and Boyle broke the coffee machine trying to make chai latte in it aren’t helping their focus much either. She’s sticking with water as coffee-replacement, trying to attentively work through the records with her highlighter while Jake’s drinking something blue that can’t possibly be good for his heart, humming away on some upbeat melody and tapping his pen to the table in a drumming, repetitive manner. It would be a lie to say it doesn’t bother her, but she’s learnt from experience it’s a habit too ingrained in him for it to matter if she told him to stop.
He’s actually pretty charming like this, Amy notes. When he’s hard at work on a case without the pathological need to deliver a humorous line every other second, he suddenly becomes a lot more tolerable. She can even admit the messy, sleep-deprived look of his wrinkled flannel and tousled curls has a certain attractivity to it, especially in combination with the peering brown eyes flicking around the room whenever he gets distracted.
(It’s just the sleep-deprivation talking, though.)
(She doesn’t find Jake cute.)
(Really, she doesn’t.)
“Santia- gooo”, she hears just as she’s finished highlighting another dubious transaction in hot pink, the sudden noise causing her to flinch and her hand to slip, making an unintentional pink dot at the side of the paper.
“What do you want, Peralta?” She holds up the document in demonstration. “You’re ruining my notes.”
“Oh, come on, see it as a piece of art. Now your notes are just more unique.” She snorts at his creative attempt at avoiding an apology. “Anyway - you mind if I play some tunes? Helps me focus better.”
“Sure. Whatever.” She shrugs. “But no High School Musical soundtrack. Not again.”
“Pfft, you loved it when Boyle and I sang along to I Don’t Dance.”
“Absolutely didn’t.”
“And no, I won’t play High School Musical, even though it’s arguably the best Disney movie and musical of all time.“
“Absolutely isn’t.”
“Oh my god, Santiago, just let me finish.” She doesn’t fully comprehend how he gathers the energy for his signature boyish, goofy grin at one in the morning, but he does anyway and waves his phone at her. “I was going to play you my list of Taylor Swift favorites.”
“Ugh.”
“You said I could”, he reminds her with an accusatory expression that works all too well on her. “‘Sure, whatever.’ Those were your exact words.”
“Just keep it at a low volume.” She stifles a smile at the way his face lights up, jubilant over having convinced her.
Seconds later a slow ballad is playing in the bullpen. It’s softer, more tranquil than the music he usually plays until it picks up pace in the first chorus. Even then it doesn’t bother her much. She honestly truly enjoys the song, and because it’s late and she knows it’ll make him happy, she tells him so.
“It’s Enchanted”, he informs her, beaming with excitement. “It’s called that, I mean. It’s one of my favorites. I’ve always pictured this song playing at my wedding.” She raises a questioning eyebrow.
“You already have a song for that?”
“You don’t?”
“No?” This is brand new information to her, and she’s frankly finding it shocking. He never seemed the type who has a song picked out for their wedding even though they’re single to her - and she quite doubts he’ll ever be mature enough to want to get married. “I want something nice, instrumental. Live music.”
“Never said I didn’t want live music”, he retorts, pouting.
“I know for a fact you’re not allowed within five hundred feet of Taylor Swift, Peralta.”
“That was a misunderstanding!”
“Whatever you say”, she mumbles, returning to her documents and highlighter. Jake continues passionately singing along to the chorus, about a sparkling night and being enchanted to meet someone, and even though she’d deny it should anyone ask, she’s instantaneously grateful it’s him she’s working this late night with.
(He makes her laugh.)
She loses track of how many more times she hears the song after her and Jake become a couple. Truth be told, she loses track of how many times she hears any Taylor Swift song, because he plays them so often there's no use in keeping count. Amy's fully willing to admit some of the tunes are pretty catchy, and after a while she even begins to associate them with cherished memories from their relationship. Jake played Shake It Off on repeat to calm his nerves during their road trip to his first official Santiago Family Gathering, they've danced around the living room like fools to the soundtrack of both Blank Space and Style more than once and she beat him in memorizing all the lyrics to All Too Well when he bet her she couldn’t.
Enchanted still remains her favorite. It's the one song she can’t hear without remembering the time they were merely two competitive detectives, deadbeat on proving their skilfulness in whatever way possible, and how even when it feels like the universe has turned itself inside out since then and they’re oceans away from the people they used to be, they’re also in some ways entirely the same.
She whispers this, albeit in a much less coherent way than the thought appeared in her head, to Jake when they’re perched on Shaw’s bar stools after their unconventional precinct-curbside wedding, going through their shared Spotify library. They’re still giddy from the champagne and the exuberant joy of finally being married, and she has her doubts about whether they will be able to survive their first dance without unintentionally maiming each other, but Terry insisted on it being a crucial part of any wedding reception and so here they are.
“I think we’ve find our song”, Jake tells the bartender, handing him the phone so it can be plugged into the speaker system. “Ready, Mrs. Santiago-Peralta?” He says his own name after hers with unrelenting pride, and although they’ve agreed many times she is in no way his property for having married him, it's flattering.
“Ready.”
They make their way to what will serve as their dancefloor under close observation from their friends and the sound of Charles sobbing with happiness, hand in hand still trying to grasp the fact that they got here, they did it, they’re married.
The soft guitar of the melody she’d recognize anywhere starts playing, and she shifts focus from Rosa’s wolf-whistling and Holt’s modest smile to her husband.
“You know how terrible I am at dancing. It’s not going to be easier in this dress. You’ve been warned”, she advises him quietly.
“It doesn’t bother me”, he promises, and Amy knows it’s true.
This night is sparkling, don’t you let it go
I’m wonderstruck, blushing all the way home
I’ll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you
They’re mostly swaying back and forth, too enervated from their day of bomb threats and jealous exes and too aware of their limited skills in ballroom dancing to dare try something more advanced, but she likes it. It’s sweet and effortless, an harmonious oasis in the midst of Shaw’s buzzing atmosphere. He meets her eyes with an adoring smile as the tempo of the song slows down again, nearing the end.
Please don’t be in love with someone else, please don’t have somebody waiting on you, the lyrics repeat.
With what just having promised him the rest of their lives, matching silver rings on their left fourth fingers to demonstrate so, she knows there is no further need for her to prove she’s not in love with someone else. She kisses him anyway, the cheers and standing ovations from their friends fading to white noise with his lips under hers and his hands on her waist.
“I would marry you again any time, any place”, he says when they part. “I love you.”
She takes the chance to press another quick peck to his lips, grinning at the way she hears Charles squeal with euphoria from the couple’s uncharacteristic amount of PDA this evening. “I love you too.”
“Thank you for saying yes”, he whispers. “When I asked you to marry me.”
“Thank you for asking.”
Although several of the books on parenting Amy made sure to consume during the almost nine month eternity her pregnancy felt like said the same thing - that babies can recognize music played to them in utero after they’re born - it's still a partial shock to her when their daughter shows a certain affinity for Taylor Swift ballads early on. With the singer’s albums definitely playing throughout their apartment more often than Amy would like and Jake literally holding the phone to her bump while it plays his favorite Taylor hits at more than one instance, it really shouldn't have surprised her; but it does.
As with so many other lessons the couple learn on parenting, they discover it entirely by chance and in the middle of the night.
They’ve been parents for a long, exhilarating and exhausting week when they learn. In this week-long trial of parenthood, neither of them has had more than three consecutive hours of sleep or the opportunity to take a shower longer than five minutes, and it’s somehow all still been worth it. It’s only a little less worth it, possibly, when their daughter’s face is deep red and crumpled from exertion and she’s crying without stop, unflagging and indefatigable even though Amy has nursed her, burped her, checked her diaper a dozen times and walked at least forty laps around the living room in the middle of the night trying to bounce a screaming newborn to sleep.
“No success?” Jake stumbles into the living room just as she’s finishing lap forty-one. He looks disorientated either from the few minutes of sleep she told him to get or from lack of it; with the noise their progeny is making, she suspects the latter. She shakes her head in response, continuing the bouncing. “Did you try the pacifier?”
“Spits it out.”
“Want me to take over?”
“Please.” The smile she tries her best to give him comes out more an exhausted grimace, plagued by the soul-crushing sound of a panicked infant. Their daughter does go silent for a millisecond as Amy transfers her to Jake’s arms, a glimmer of hope burning before her parents eyes, but then the crying simply picks up where it left off.
“Man, you’re persistent”, he tells the infant before giving Amy a meaning look. “Much like someone else I know.”
“You’re not funny”, she mumbles and takes a swig from her water bottle on the dining room table otherwise covered in flowers and cards sent from family and friends.
“No, I guess that’s fair. She doesn’t seem to think so either. What’s bothering you, little Holly?” The sight of him talking to their baby in a soft voice and equally tender expression on his face is disarmingly sweet, and she wishes it wasn’t disrupted by the shrill soundtrack.
“I’ve vetoed Holly”, Amy reminds him warningly, laying down on the couch for at least a moment of physical rest. “And I don’t know what’s bothering her. I’ve tried everything. I think she’s just overtired and can’t figure out how to go to sleep.”
“Maybe we’re just trying too hard? Because she sure slept fine before she was born - she could be missing the environment. Must’ve been nice and comfortable in there.”
“Yeah, but I’ve held her so she can hear my heartbeat, and the bouncing should remind her of me moving around. I don’t get what else I can do.”
“Noise”, he states confidently. “I think she’s a little calmer when we’re speaking. Marginally, but still. And there must’ve been constant noise inside you, right? So this is way too silent for Johanna McClane.”
“I vetoed all Die Hard names, Jake. You give birth if you want to name a kid after those movies.” She hands him a lime green pacifier left on the couch table, but their daughter promptly spits it out again. “What are you suggesting in terms of noise then, baby-genius?”
Jake shines up at the nickname. “Ooh, nice title! And we haven’t tried music before, have we? Could be worth a shot.”
“Anything is worth a shot right now”, she agrees, stifling a yawn. “Hand me your phone. What should I play?”
“Just put on whatever I was listening to before.”
“I’m not playing her The Lonely Island.”
“Taylor Swift, then”, he says matter-of-factly. She scrolls down to the ‘t-swift favez’ playlist on Spotify and presses shuffle.
The first tones to Enchanted begin to play, and as if by magic, the crying lessens moderately. Amy hands Jake the phone so it’s closer to the baby, and by the time the first refrain ends their daughter is silent save the sound of her breathing.
They’re staring at each other in pure unadulterated shock as the newborn simply yawns her adorable yawn and closes her eyes against her father’s t-shirt.
“Put it on repeat”, Amy wheezes - a sentence she’s never said regarding any Taylor Swift song before. “Quick.”
Three plays later has a baby still fast asleep and two parents looking from her to each other to the phone in utter disbelief.
“So clearly my daughter.” Jake’s glowing from pride watching the sleeping copy of him continue her sleep, and Amy’s fighting both hormones and sleep-deprivation in order not to shed a tear of relief.
(She loses.)
She grows just a little bit tired of the song when their daughter is nearing one and still refuses to fall asleep through any other method than by being carried around the apartment as someone rocks her and plays the very same Taylor Swift ballad.
She also loves it more than ever, because now she’s learnt to associate it with the heartwarming sensation of a growing baby nestling her face into the crook of Amy’s neck, falling asleep before the end of the six minute track.
“I was really enchanted to meet you, Miss Leah”, she whispers a few nights later when the (non-Die Hard) name is finally settled on. “Always will be.”
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rue-me-nations · 6 years
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People are like windows, they show me landscapes and terrains that I could never have conjured up with my own imagination. When windows are shut, I just want to paint a picture of what I saw through them that moved me.
I will miss
Oliver who would go into a mood at times when he couldn’t play the way he’d hoped, when I could see that he was frustrated after having put in effort. When he was happy with his own progress you couldn’t stop him from playing. We shared so many hours with laughter, friendly bickering, working through music, learning together, and even tears, when he was disappointed and plagued with lack of motivation to continue. It was an obstacle I was happy to plough through with him each week.
Ophelia his sister, who was so excited to start learning piano like her brother had been doing. She was always eager to learn and had that enthusiastic energy when talking to me about the things she liked, which included playing the piano. She was the only one who touched me by saying that she wanted to be a piano teacher like me when she grows up. I will never forget the lessons when we had where we would sing Que Sera Sera together while she did her theory work.
Ethan who’s relatively new and was quiet but focused when he first started. He started to open up to me in such a way that he couldn’t stop asking me questions both relating to music and personal and in fact became rather distracted that I had to stop him and point him back to work. He’s such an intelligent boy and seemed to enjoy music.
Lecia who fell in love with playing instruments during her trial lesson. She faced difficulty when things got tougher and lacks motivation in practising. Even so, we found a pace that matched her comfortably and we found enjoyment in learning again.
Hsuen Kai who inspired me by writing that little song about pentominoes, only a few months into our sessions together, getting all the notations entirely wrong in the most adorable way. To him, playing the piano is another one of his many interests, like the books and toys he brings to lessons which I have to keep him from being distracted by.
Caroline who was always excited and happy to come for piano, and insisted on wearing pretty dresses when she did because the people in the videos she saw who played the piano were always dressed nicely. She was only with me for such a short time because her family moved to Vienna, where I’m sure she’ll find really good piano teachers. Her parents were so kind and genuinely cared about her education. I will hold closely to my heart the memory of her trying to invite me to her house to play with her one day.
Gwyneth and Zoe who both found it difficult to find interest in playing the piano, but who humbled me and reminded me how important it is to keep trying and changing pace to perhaps change their perspectives about learning.
Sarah and Trevor, my two teen students who also found no motivation in practising. The thought will always haunt me that perhaps I did not possess the right skills to make them more interested despite having the intention and I was mortified when they both gave up trying.
Benji, whose parents also put a lot of heart into making sure he learned well. He was I think the only four-year-old I know who managed to complete book one of Poco, and so quickly at that. He also left after a short time to go back to the US, and his father sent me such a sweet video of him performing at his first recital, and being the youngest performer too.
Leia who was so inquisitive about everything including how the piano was invented and why it was designed the way it was, who was more interested in having conversations with me than actually playing and practising that I had to constantly try to bring her focus back even though I enjoyed every minute of her sharing her life with me and telling me her intelligent thoughts.
River who lacked confidence and focus at the beginning but began to gain momentum when we tried different ways of communicating and found activities that worked for us. Her personality matched her name in that her consciousness flowed so easily and firmly the way she liked, which was beautiful but I had to steer her in the right path to be productive during lessons. She was always fun even though it meant I had to work on trying to get her focused. Her mother was also very much involved in her learning and saw value in having fun during lessons.
Natalie who was always mischievous and fun during lessons and loved playing tunes by ear. She clearly loves music although she threatened to stop learning because she wasn’t motivated to be disciplined in terms of practice. Despite that I know that she enjoyed our lessons together, the times we sang together and I tried to teach her to play the melody for her favourite pop songs, and when she would write “I love you teacher Ruth” almost weekly on every page of her piano book.
Joey who did not seem to be motivated when I first took over from her previous teacher, but eventually sort of gained momentum finding pieces that she truly enjoyed playing once she mastered them, and began learning at a much faster pace which gave me joy. She was always such a shy girl and seemed reserved in expressing her thoughts, a characteristic common to so many students I encountered at Tampines, perhaps because of their age and also the less privileged backgrounds from which they come, as compared to the ones at Tiong Bahru.
Zhao Kai who was always playful and rebellious by nature so sessions with him were interesting but sometimes also tiring. When he did focus he learned so quickly so it made up for the time he spent being distracted. The shock I felt when he peed in class was memorable, along with the thought of how funny it was because he only realised he needed to go to the toilet when it was too late, too busy having fun trying to distract me from our lesson.
Thea who sometimes frustrated me with her complacent attitude in learning. I constantly felt the need to stir her curiosity and inspire more independent thinking despite the fact that she did enjoy playing the piano – but only the things she was already good at playing. It was hard to make her pay attention to certain technical parts of the syllabus and I had to get creative.
Matthias the teenager who likes playing the piano but has trouble being musical – he would do alright with the notes but found it hard to be emotive or expressive in his playing. He was also extremely quiet and shy and said very little about his life.
Crystabelle who is such a darling. Her mother sent me a voice recording just recently of her saying hi and asking me to come back and teach her which broke my heart.
Kevin who is the most obedient and patient little boy ever, who practices weekly and makes such good progress although we only had half an hour per week. He never complained even when things got difficult, though he was also awfully quiet and difficult to get out of his shell.
WeiBo who is playful and has difficulty focusing. He finds it difficult to understand rhythms and I had to get creative with helping him to understand and drilling him note by note during lessons to make sure he makes real progress.
Nicholas who was the perfect student – he is lively and talkative and loves singing but stays focused and was genuinely interested in learning. He definitely loves music judging by the way he would continue to sing even while doing worksheets.
Avril who was such a ball of energy that it was hard to control her at the start. She demonstrated the ability to listen later on and slowly took pride in being obedient and accomplishing more each week. Her questions and the things she says were always completely adorable and I would gladly allow her to have all the fun she wanted if not for the fact that we had learning to do.
Giselle who was so intelligent but also rebellious at times, who cared so much about how nicely she drew her notes and would ask me which note I liked better, who took so much care in her colouring and tried to make everything colourful and pretty. She tended to be lazy with learning new songs but would relent with a bit of pushing.
Rachael for whom I was so worried when I took over from her previous teacher to prepare for her exam within a few months when she was so unprepared. The relief and joy I felt when she received a Merit was memorable although I disagreed strongly with her competitive and results-oriented values and her parents’ as well.
Aahil who showed great interest in music and was always excited when I told him about composers, something which no other student has demonstrated to me. I loved showing him music to inspire him. His parents also taught him the importance of practising every week, which he did diligently, sometimes upset and frustrated when he encountered difficulties. We always found joy in what he achieved despite that.
Also Anshika, GuoZhe, Vedant, Elyse and Evelle, Xavier, Hsiao Chen, Deborah, Tristan, Shima, Natalie and Noah Mah, Seerat and Ranbeir, Esther.
Last but not least Charis, bless her, who showed me vulnerability when she asked me about my leaving to study abroad. She was the only one who was eloquent and willing to show me she was sad that I was leaving, and asked me why I had to go. “Will I forget you?” she asked, contemplative and looking straight ahead. Notice she worries about her own memory of me fading instead of mine. I saw in her a reflection of myself – the way we all struggle to come to terms with parting and the idea that we will never see a person again, the contemplation of what memory is and what it means to us. It exists in childhood and I don’t believe we ever grow out of feeling that way, we just learn to allow it to happen to us. That moment of connection that we had was truly special and thinking about it now still makes me want to cry. Aside from that, Charis also has a great attitude for learning. She was always saying intelligent things and willing to put in effort. She also has a great way of making learning fun for herself – making words out of the note names and forming sentences with them. This made learning humorous and enjoyable, and I don’t want those memories to fade, either.
This picture is what she drew for me, just one of the little niceties I have been blessed with in the last two years being a teacher. I can’t say I did well as a teacher because there is so much that I could have done better, but it was a real privilege to have been able to witness growth in these people and to have been a part of it.
I am writing this as a final farewell for myself, this part of me that I am leaving behind to step into the future. Teaching wasn’t the only thing that made these two years good, but it sure gave me a real sense of purpose. There were also connections I made with people that I never imagined would happen. Unlike the last time when I left Singapore for Melbourne, I am not leaving with frustration or bitterness. I have memories here that are meaningful and beautiful which I can hold onto like an emblem for all the things I believe in. Amidst the melancholia that I tend towards being submerged in, I have this light that I can keep handy in my pocket.
And now, I can step forward with curiosity and an appetite for adventure.
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hornsbeforehalos · 7 years
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Anytime, Sweetheart: Part 8
Pairing: JDM x OFC (RPF)
Features: Ackles & Padalecki Families, R2, Misha Collins & Vicky Vantoch, Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln, Kim Rhodes, Briana Buckmaster, Ruth Connell, Corey Taylor and other cast members & OFCs* *THIS IS AN RPF FIC**
Series Masterlist Summary: (I’m horrible at summaries, but let me try): Kylin Ackles runs to her brother’s house after leaving her abusive boyfriend of 3 years, where she meets Jeffrey. Events unfold that bring them together, as well as push them apart.  Warnings: Emotional abuse, Physical Violence, mentions of rape, cursing, drinking, recreational drug use (weed), Strip Club, RPF, NSFW**, GIFs, implied smut, Age Difference, Slow burn, Emotional rollercoaster, poorly written smutt, etc… 18+ please
(A/N: This is strictly a work of fiction that I came up with off the top of my head. For fictional purposes his S/O & Son are not mentioned. I love him and his little family, though, so no hate intended. This is the first time posting anything on Tumblr, but I couldn’t get it out of my head since my ao3 fic is currently on hiatus because writers block. Feedback is appreciated. unbetaed, all mistakes are mine.)
TAGS: @jml509 @jesbakescookies @daddy-kink-confirmed @wayward-mirage @aquivercactus
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   We could have ended up having sex that night, but we didn’t.  Instead, Jeffrey had to drive my drunk ass home (I basically polished off the whole bottle before the lights came on) and tuck me into bed before curling up beside me himself. I woke up the next morning from him throwing his heavy fucking arm over my stomach, causing me to jerk up and rush to my bathroom to hurl. ​
​   “You alright, hun? Need anything?” He called from the other side of the door, sleep heavy in his voice. I responded by heaving again, to which he replied, “Take that as some Tylenol,” with a chuckle.    Once my guts were out of my stomach and my teeth were brushed, I stumbled, still half drunk, out of the bathroom and fell back into bed with him. He held out a glass of water and handed me four little pills. I downed them all, followed by the water, before setting myself up against the pillows next to him. “Sooo….” I started, finger picking at an invisible spec on the side of the glass.    "Yup.“ He sighed, turning onto his side to face me, “You’re back to dealing with me again.”
   A grin spread to my face as I sat the glass down and swatted him on the shoulder, “Ass.”    "Go ahead, get it out of your system, pretty girl.“ He stuck his tongue out at me and I lunged forward to bite it.    Jeffrey groaned in pleasure at the pain and gripped my hips to roll me over on top of him, deepening the kiss while doing so. His tongue pushed past my teeth and danced with mine, sucking on it in a teasing manner, coaxing a whimper from me as he tightened his grip on my waist. We kissed for what seemed like forever, making out like teenagers while rolling around in my sheets, both of us fighting for dominance over the other. He had just moved his lips down to my jaw and neck when we were interrupted by a loud knock coming from my front door.    "You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kidding me.” I grunted, retching myself out of his grasp with a loud huff and pulling myself from the bed to head to the source of the interruption.    "I swear Jensen if that’s you I’m gonna-“ I pulled the door open to reveal Misha, bright smile on his face like it wasn’t 10:30 in the morning.
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   "Your smile is hurting my head. Stop it.” I grumbled as I walked away from the door, leaving it open for him to enter and close it behind him.    "Goooood Morning, Sleepy head,“ He sang, bouncing around me like a woodland creature, "How was yourrrr evening?”    "She drank an entire bottle of Crown” came Jeffrey’s rasp from the doorway of the bedroom, scaring the shit out of Misha.    Holding his hand to his chest in surprise before recovering, he said, “Ha! Well, sounds like her. I wondered if I’d find you here, Jeff. Jensen’s been trying to call you both.”    "Phone’s dead.“ We both said in unison, earning us a suspicious grin from Misha.    "Sure. Okay. Anyways, he sent me over to check. Now that I’ve checked, who wants to go to breakfast?” Misha was bouncing around my kitchen at this point, opening and closing my refrigerator repeatedly.    I showered and changed into a pair of yoga pants and a slouchy crop top, threw my hair into a messy bun and avoided looking in the mirror as I wiped the remaining mascara from under my eyes. Misha commented on how shitty I looked as I pushed on a pair of flip flops and grabbed my keys. “Just for that, you’re paying, dick bag” I said as I locked my door.    "I’ll pay for whatever you want, baby" Misha teased before he smacked my ass playfully, earning him raised eye brows from Jeffrey and a glare from me as we exited the building.    Surprisingly Misha allowed Jeffrey the passenger seat as we crawled into my car.    "So, Ky, me and Vicky had a question for you,“ Misha started, learning forward between the two seats from the back.    I sighed, “yes, Misha, I will show you how to eat your wife’s pussy again,” teasingly patting his head without looking away from the road.    He smirked while raising an eyebrow, nudging Jeffrey’s shoulder “you think you can handle this one, old man?”    Jeffrey quirked a dom eye brow of his own before bringing a hand down on my thigh with a smack, “I think I’ll be alright, Collins”    I glared at him through the corner of my eye before shifting my gaze expectedly to Misha through the mirror.    "Its looking like this is gonna be the last year for Gish, girl.“ he sighed, finally getting to the point. "What?!” I exclaimed, turning slightly in my seat towards him.    "I knowww, but I just don’t have time for it anymore. Neither does Vick. So, we were hoping, since you were there at the start, you’d be apart of the finish” Misha let his gummy grin show while he tilted his head lovingly.    Jeffrey squeezed my thigh for encouragement. I huffed a fallen piece of hair out my eyes. “Fine” I said with a roll of my eyes as I pulled into the restaurant.    "Yippee!“ Misha rejoiced, leaping forward to kiss my cheek dramatically, rewarding him with another look from Jeff.
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   Breakfast consisted of me downing 4 Bloody Mary’s before the food ever even got ordered, earning me looks from the server as well as Jeff and Misha. Once the food came, in between stuffing his face with pancake and eggs, Misha and I discussed the plan for the final Gish season and what he wanted to achieve with it. Naturally, we both wanted it to be the biggest and best since the beginning, with the best winners trip and prizes. We set up a conference call with Darius and the rest of the Gish team for the following week and were discussing new item ideas when I felt Jeffrey’s hand on my thigh under the table, earning him my attention away from the conversation.    "Look at you, I told you you could get back in it.” he chuckled, beaming at me with pride. I gave him a small nod and adverted my eyes to the plate in front of me and picked at a piece of strawberry.    "She actually thought she didn’t do any good in the world, Mish. Can you believe that?“ Jeffrey continued before taking a sip of his coffee. “Said her work was ‘no big deal’”    "The greatest scavenger hunt the world has ever seen is no big deal, eh squirt?“Misha feigned offence as he clutched his hand to his chest. I rolled my eyes. "I’m not that big of a part of it, guys. I just help”    "Not this time, girl. I’m going to be so busy with conventions and filming that you and Darius are gonna be doing a lot of the grunt work. Which brings me our next question.“ He took a sip of his own coffee as his eyes flicked to Jeff for a second while I squinted my own lids at him with my straw in my mouth, "I’m going to be needing an assistant.”    "That’s not a question, Dmitri” I popped my eyebrow up in suspicion, already guessing at his ‘question’    "Yes or no? You know you want to. Plus, I hear Jeff is doing some conventions with us this year.“ He tilted his head towards Jeffrey who nodded in confirmation, hopeful look in his eye.    I glanced between the both of them as I sucked the rest of the liquid through my straw, “You two are teaming up on me, aren’t you?”    "What? Me? No” Misha said over dramatically while Jeff took to whistling a tune while adverting his eyes around the room. I sighed. “Let me think about it. Get me another drink.” I ordered.
   Of course I said yes, and by the end of the month I had quit the club, packed all my stuff, and Misha moved me out to L.A as soon as Gen had Odette. Misha had paid for me a little one bedroom studio apartment near his house and even let me pick out my own furniture. I spent my first two weeks there helping him and Darius sort through submissions and setting up the registry, helping Vicky with the children so she could fulfill her own responsibilities with everything, and generally getting used to the complete and sudden change in my life.    Everyone at the club was upset that I was leaving, and Andy himself promised that anytime I wanted to come back that my promotion was still guaranteed. Leaving Dallas was bittersweet but there was something about being so far away from everything that had happened was calming and peaceful. Working for Misha was easy, especially since he had always been one of my really close friends since the day that I had met him. Rob of course was in the same city as well and the first week there he helped me unpack everything and took me out to show me around all his favorite places in the city. Jensen was proud that I had taken the job, as him and Jared and the girls always encouraged me to continue on with Gishwhes, it had always been Anthony that didn’t allow it. He had hated the idea of me doing anything but worshiping him.     Jeffrey and I talked every day again, mostly through texts but he did manage to call me almost every night. He was on a convention tour for all of April and May, May being when  I would be on tour with Misha. We had to miss his birthday but he was scheduled for appearances at 3 cons that Misha would be attending, plus one that would be in Los Angeles the only weekend Misha and I  had before heading to Vancouver for filming to start there and Jeff would be heading back to Georgia for The Walking Dead. We hadn’t seen each other since he left 2 days after Jensen’s birthday, and I couldn’t help but notice how frustrated my heart was making me feel.  
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   "I can’t wait to see you tomorrow, Gorgeous.“ He rasped into the phone the night before Misha and I’s flight to the first convention they had together, “Feels like it’s been forever,”    "2 months tomorrow, Mr. J” I confirmed as I lay sprawled over my couch, TV playing idly in the background.    "Never again, I’m not going this long ever again,“ He grumbled, squirming around in his hotel bed. He was scheduled for an early call for V.I.P preview Thursday where as Misha was just Friday through Sunday.    "I’m sure your over exaggerating, hun. Go find a fan-girl.” I teased, ignoring the ache in my chest that was my feelings for him.    "Pffft" he spat with a chuckle “You know you’re my girl, right?” My heart pinged at his words and I was speechless momentarily. I quickly recovered and cloaked my anxiety, “I bet you say that to everyone.” “Just you wait and see, little girl. Just wait” he chuckled with an asphalt tone. “Wait and see what, Mr. J?” I grinned, my own voice altering slightly.    "Don’t do that to me, now, woman. Not the time,“ he scolded, but I could hear the smile in his tone. “You’re in bed, aren’t you?” I giggled, seductiveness still light on my tongue.    "I’m not in bed with you, though, tease,“ He groaned, rutting himself against his mattress.
   I was still half asleep as I guided an equally exhausted Misha through the maze of hotel hallways towards the greenroom by the hand. Our flight had landed at 5:30 in the morning in Phoenix and we had to wait for an our before our driver was able to locate the correct terminal to pick us up in. By the time we actually got to the hotel there was no time for even a nap, so we had both quickly found our room to shower and change. I had been able to muster the energy to make myself presentable, since I was going to be seeing Jeffrey. I had braided my now platinum blonde tresses (the purple had eventually faded enough it toned my whole head almost white.) into low pig tails, paired with simple black winged eyeliner and lashes with dark lipstick. I wore my oversized black Always Keep Fighting shirt and a pair of shorts with my high-top Chuck’s. I finally was able to locate the correct doorway and pulled us both in, Misha immediately collapsing by into Jensen’s sleeping arms on the couch closest to the door. It was barely 8 am and everyone was still half dead.    I was pouring myself a cup of hotel coffee when I felt his long arms wrap themselves around my waist, accompanied by his scruffy beard nuzzling into its favorite place on my neck.    "Too long.” He rasped, us both inhaling each others’ scent at the same time. I leaned back into his chest as I sat the cup of coffee on the table in front of me before raising a hand to his neck to hold him in place. He placed gentle kisses all over my neck before turning me in his arms to face him. He looked down at me for a moment as I raised myself to my tip-toes and pulled him to my lips. He squeezed me tight as I parted my mouth, his brows furrowing into the sensation of having our arms around each other finally. He couldn’t help digging his fingernails into the exposed skin around my waist as I whimpered at the taste of his tongue. I’m pretty sure we could have stayed like that all day if it hadn’t been for Rob clearing his throat behind us, trying to get to the coffee maker.    "Glad to see you two are on better terms,“ He teased with a giggle, taking the cup I had started working on and finishing it the way I liked it for me before working on his own. I took the cup from his hand with a smile before leaning over to kiss him on his cheek in hello.    "We’re getting a long a lot better you could say, Rob” I replied with a raised eyebrow.    Jeffrey threw an arm over my shoulder and bent down to nuzzle his scruff into my temple with a scrunched nose, earning another laugh from Rob as we walked over towards the couches. Jensen had finally stirred and was sitting upright now as we approached, rubbing his eyes, with Misha’s head in his lap, the man still deep in sleep.    "Good to see you, bubz” I said, leaning over to kiss his head before falling onto the couch into Jeffrey’s arms. With a shake if his head he huffed, “you two are stupid.” “You’re stupid” I retorted, nuzzling closer to Jeff.    A young brunette girl with a volunteer shirt poked in her head into the room, “Hey guys, Misha’s morning panel starts in 20 minutes. Mr. Morgan, you have photo ops at the same time.”    "Thanks, sweetie" Jeffrey replied, making the poor girl blush a bright red before she could duck out and hide.    I pried myself out of Jeff’s arms and headed back to the coffee maker, knowing Misha would need some strong tea if they planned on him not being a total ass to the fans. Jared stumbled in and threw himself onto Misha, causing the sleeping man to jerk awake suddenly with a yelp    "Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty" Jensen sang as he ruffled the mans hair while Jared dug around for a comfy spot.    "10 more minutes" he grumbled as he wrapped his arms around Jared’s back. I rolled my eyes.    "Mish, wake up, you have a panel soon.“ I warned, leaning over to knock his head with the palm of my hand. His eyes fluttered open and his brows furrowed in irritation as he looked at me.    "Meh” he whined, finally re-positioning Jared in order to climb out from underneath him. I extended his tea out, which he accepted with a sigh.    "So who are you gonna be following around today, Ky, your boss or your boyfriend?“ Jensen snickered, taking a sip from his own cup of coffee.    Jeffrey and I both tensed at the word, neither of us had discussed what we actually were yet. Sure, he had referred to me as his girl, and the pictures from the airport at New Years were still circulating around the internet, but nothing had been set in stone. Of course I hadn’t even been interested in anyone else, despite my flirtatious nature. I craned my head up to look at Jeff, and he looked down to me with a small smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. Thankfully Misha cut in with his own agenda,    "I actually need her with me for my panel, gonna be talking about Gish and stuff” He explained with a nod of his head before taking another deep swig of tea. “You’re not gonna pull me up on stage, are you?” I whined. “Possibly.”
An hour later I found myself sitting on a bar stool next to Misha. On stage.    "Um, I have a question for Kylin, I love that your doing Gish this year. What are your goals that you want to accomplish with the last hunting season?“ A teenage girl had asked, referring to the scavenger hunt. 
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   "Awh, Thank you! Well, Random Acts and Gish have always set out to accomplish great things. My goal is to make this season the best ever and have the name live on through ya’ll. Ya’ll are the ones that make this happen. Sure, Misha, Darius, and I and the other volunteers put literal blood sweat and tears into it, but it is you, the participants, that make it what it is. I want this last hunt to inspire everyone to continue to make a difference. To have people come up to me in 20 years and say 'Thank you, Random Acts and Gishwhes made me who I am today.’ That’s my goal for this season, and so far, it seems like we’re gonna crush it.” I smiled to the fan as everyone applauded. Misha wrapped an arm around me and leaned his head into my shoulder.
   "Not many people know this, but Kylin helped create Minion Stimulus, the original Random Acts, when she was just 17. She was apart of the first Gish event in 2011. She was the one who inspired me to continue doing it when I felt like we were failing. This girl right here,“ He tightened his grip around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head, “Is truly amazing, and I’m so thankful to have her back with me for the final go around. Her and Vick spend literally 18 hours a day between the two of them going over registration, items, ideas, submissions, everything, they literally do everything, to make this the best it possibly can. I am so thankful.” Tears had begun to well up in his eyes, causing my own to spring forward as he pulled me in for another hug.    The crowd cheered again and I waved once more before saying good bye and ducking back behind the curtain. Rob and Rich both had been listening and engulfed me in hugs, followed by Briana and Ruthie who accompanied me back to the greenroom so I could wait on Jeff.    "I’m jealous, love. Look at him.“ Ruth nodded to the couch where I hadn’t noticed Jeff had been sitting. He was staring at me with that smirk on his face and I couldn’t help the heat rising to my neck.    I giggled as I left her side to skip to where Jeffrey sat, flopping down beside him. He wrapped his arm behind the back of my seat and wound his finger around a piece of hair as he looked down at me.    "You’re amazing, you know that?” He drawled lowly, his voice raising goosebumps as I shook my head. “Whatever” I argued,    "I listened to what you said, girl, don’t play coy with me.“ He chuckled as he brought his nose to my ear, "I know better.”    I scoffed lightly at him while looking at my hands in my lap. I could tell he rolled his eyes as he moved his hand to crook a finger under my chin to force me to look at him. “You’re amazing.” he repeated, kissing my cheek, “You’re passionate.” He moved my face to kiss the other cheek. “You’re inspiring.” He kissed my forehead.    "And I can’t believe you’re mine“ he growled in half a whisper, making my heart spasm before leaning in to finally kiss my lips. "I am?” I asked meekly, my breath faltering as I met his eyes.    "If you’ll have me.“ He said, leaning back to lace his hand that wasn’t wrapped around me into my fingers.    I looked into his eyes as I let his words sink into my soul. I could feel myself falling for him, slowly but surely, and it was slightly overwhelming. The feeling of safety I felt when I was with him was undeniable, and I had never had anyone besides my family try to encourage me the way he did. No one, not even my family, took the time out of their day, every day, to check on me, but Jeffrey did. He knew I was broken and hurt and fragile and crazy and he still wanted to be apart of my life. At the same time though I was terrified. Terrified of him realizing that I’m not all that I’m cracked up to be, of how truly broken I believed I still was, and of attempting to be apart of his life. I knew his world was busy and he was constantly somewhere new, around thousands of beautiful women with established careers who were prettier, nicer, more mature, and better suited to fit him. The idea of him getting tired of me flashed across my mind as I looked down to stare at our hands. What if he saw what Anthony saw, the stupid immature girl who cried over everything and couldn’t do anything right?    He must have seen the scenarios playing out across my face because he leaned his face back against mine, his scruff pressing against my cheek as he rasped into my ear, "Stop overthinking. Let’s just have some fun.”    I smiled weakly at him and nodded as he moved his lips away from my ear to give me another kiss on the mouth before pressing his forehead to mine. I sighed, trying to get my emotions in check.    "There she is! I figured I would find you two here.“ Misha bellowed as he suddenly entered the room, followed by Rich, Rob, and Matt.    "Hey guys,” I said, looking up to greet everyone as they piled themselves around us.    "Ky, you’re gonna sing tonight at karaoke right?“ Rob questioned as he sat criss-cross on the floor in front of me. "Errr. No. Why would I do that?” I scrunched my face    "Because you have the voice of a fucking angel?“ Rich interjected, pointing at me as he joined Rob.    "You hiding something from me, sweetheart?” Jeffrey chuckled, squeezing my shoulder “No. I just only sing in the shower.” I excused    "Bullshit. She’s sang during SNS before a few years ago. Fans loved her. Some said she even sings better then Jay.“ Rob explained.    "Well then, darlin’ you’re gonna have to let me hear you.” Jeffrey grinned as he watched the blush creep up my neck to my ears. I sighed again, defeated.
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   Later that night I was standing in Ruth’s hotel room while her and Kim tied me into my corset.    "I can’t believe I’m being forced to do this.“ I muttered as Ruth threw her knee into my back and pulled on the cords. "Shut the hell up, lady, suck it in!” Kim encouraged while laughing her ass off.    "Your boobs are being ridiculous. Jesus. There. Done.“ Ruth huffed as she finished tying the knot in the back.    I looked in the mirror, pleased at my appearance despite my nervousness. The theme had been Henry the VIII and his wives, and all the ladies of the cast and myself were dressed in suffocating corsets and long skirts and crowns. Kim and myself had fake blood donning our necks, symbolizing Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard. Once everyone was in costume we stood in front of the mirror taking selfies until someone banged on the door.    "Ya’ll better hurry it up, ladies! The party’s starting!” I heard Richard call from the other side as I reached for the knob and wretched it open.    "Jesus, Kylin, don’t you look delicious” Richard smirked as he licked his lips, eyes immediately focusing on my chest squished into the tiny purple bodice. He was dressed in a pair of tights with a cod piece and a fluffy medieval coat. I rolled my eyes, “We’re coming.”    The girls and I all squished into the elevator, which was difficult due to our petticoats and skirts all dragging behind us. Richard ushered us all out of the lift and whisked us to the entrance of backstage, over to where all the men of the cast had congregated.    I was speaking with Brianna about her pretty crown when I felt his presence against my back. Bri’s eyes flicked behind me and a smirk caught her lips as she dramatically bowed, still focused on the man who had wrapped a strong arm around my waist. “Your highness.” She quipped as she lifted herself up from her curtsy.    "Queens" his gravel voice trailed its way down my neck and into my spine as I turned to face him.    He was dressed in worn leather and chain-mail, an out fit similar to the one I had seen on my brother during an episode of the show. He wore a crown with fake jewels on his head, and looked like the definition of a King. He of course, was playing the role of Henry VIII, and my knees went weak as his gaze drifted from my own crown down to where my cleavage heaved its way out of the top of the corset. A growl mumbled out of his mouth as he squeezed me closer and leaned down to kiss me.    "Enough of that.“ Jensen grumbled as he reached for my arm to tug me away, “The shows about to start, get it together.”    I rolled my eyes at him as Jeffrey laced his fingers into mine and shot me a look that said we would be continuing later. Rob and Rich started the show, and pretty soon we were all on stage laughing and dancing with the fans. 
   Jeffrey and I had never discussed how we were going to act in front of the public, and I really hadn’t thought about having to be in front of the fans at all, even after starting to work for Misha. I had always always managed to stay out of the way of the cameras and fans, but here we were in front of hundreds of people. He didn’t go over board, but did dance behind me the entire time with his hand in my hip, the fingers on the side not facing the crowd digging in enough to leave bruises.  He would rasp the the lyrics he knew to whatever song would be playing and we laughed and laughed, and danced and drank until we couldn’t anymore. His eyes went wide when Robbie and I belted out the words to the song one of the girls had picked, earning him a slap on the shoulder and a laugh from Jensen. He said something into Jeff’s ear that I couldn’t make out, but Jeff nodded feverously with a grin in response, eyes darting to me in excitement. The feeling in my gut told me my brother was planning something, but I knew by now to not try to figure it out, so I just let it slip my mind with the distraction that was the party.    Once everyone had gotten back to the hallway  where are rooms are located, Misha drunkenly approached Jeff and I, who were equally wasted, and clasped his arms on each of our shoulders.    "I'mma need you to take the little one tonight, Jeffy.“ He slurred tiredly, "Gotta call my woman.”    Creation Ent. had suckily placed me in the same room as Misha, while everyone else got their own rooms, stating that it was cost efficient and they didn’t know I was coming when they did booking. 'Whatever’    "I think I can handle that, Collins,“ He grinned as he tightened his grip where our fingers were laced together and winked at me.    I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes at Misha as he ducked away from us to bolt ahead to our room. He slipped the key card in and with a two finger salute he rushed in and closed the door with out giving me the time to speak up.    As happy as I was to be around Jeffrey, as ecstatic as I was that he called me his, I was still nervous about the idea of what might happen being finally alone in a hotel room with him. Sure, we’d rutted around on each other at the club two months prior but after that everything had been put on the back burner. It’s not like I’d been with anyone else, not including the attack. Which was another thing that heightened my anxiety to the point where my palm started sweating in Jeffrey’s as we walked down the long corridor towards his room.    "Something on your mind, sweet pea?” He asked when he noticed me worrying my lip and staring at the way my heavy skirt swayed as we stepped. I snapped out of my trance instantly, “Huh? Oh, nothing,”    He gave me a sideways glance with a knowing smile on his lips, but let it drop as we approached his room number. He pulled out the key and slid it before opening the door wide for me to enter first, “M’ Queen” he drawled with a small  bow and a smile.    "Your Majesty” I giggled, giving a curtsy myself before walking past him and the through the door frame.    We kicked off our shoes immediately, both of us letting out a sigh at the relief. I pulled my hair to the side and attempted to work at getting the knot behind me attached to my corset before Jeffrey stopped me. “Here, let me help.”    My nerves instantly shot right back up into my throat as I felt him behind me, fingers working the tangle of cord apart. I grasped my chest with both hands to keep it in place as he undid the laces while slowly leaning down to let his beard brush against my bare shoulder. I closed my eyes and tilted my neck for him, enjoying the way the scruff always felt.    I opened my eyes when he was finished with the strings and started to turn me around to face him. He reached for the front bottom of the corset that I held against my chest and pulled it away from me, leaving me bare against him in nothing but the deep burgundy gowns skirts. My breathing hitched and my chest heaved as I looked up to him to see his dark brown eyes grow incredibly darker.    "So gorgeous.“ He rasped as he let his hands run up my rib cage to my shoulder blades, then back down the curvature of my back. My hands were resting on the chain-mail on his chest and I lifted it up to find it was connected to the hem of the shirt he was wearing. Frowning slightly, I lifted that up too until he pulled it off his shoulders. 
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   "Mmmm” I sighed as my lips quivered against his bare flesh for a moment, pressing myself against him to feel his skin. He wasted no time reattaching his hands to me as he lead me backwards towards the bed. He laid me down, kicking the pants he’d been wearing off as he did so, leaving him in just his black boxers. My lip continued to shiver as he laid wet open mouth kisses to my stomach and his hands ran up my legs under the layered skirts, pushing me further onto the bed up to the pillows. He created multiple wet spots up my stomach to my chest with his mouth, my hands grasping at the skin of his biceps and shoulder as he sucked hickies into my flesh. He moved one hand off my thigh and out of my skirt to bring it to my right breast as his lips enclosed around the nipple of my left. I couldn’t stop the whine that escaped my throat as my back arched into him, seemingly on instinct. He squeezed my thigh harder where his hand was as he lifted my leg to hook around his waist, pushing the fabric up on my stomach as he ground down against the white lace and cotton that was my panties. He pulled his face away and lifted off of me back onto his haunches to run his hands up my thighs again, growling as he pushed my skirt up further to reveal the wet-stained fabric beneath. His hungry eyes darted to mine for a second before he dove back forward to wedge his face into my neck, sucking and biting his way around me as he dug his extremely hard center into my core.    I was a moaning, whimpering mess when he finally snaked a hand behind my back to work at the zipper of the gown, pulling it enough to be able to get the skirts over my hips and onto the floor. We were flush against each other now, save for underwear, and I couldn’t tell where he ended and I began as we rutted our bodies up against each other and shifted our hips with every groan. He eventually couldn’t stand it anymore, I don’t think, because drifted his lips back down and hooked his fingers on my waistband and kissed the flesh being revealed as he pulled them down.    I ran one shaking hand through my own hair and the other through Jeffrey’s as he looked up at me from the most vulnerable position someone had had me in in months. He must have sensed my nerves because he slowly started planting kisses anywhere his mouth could reach, avoiding the more intimate areas until the last possible second. He used his fingers to gently pull apart my folds before lowering his eyes to it, a low indescribable vibration coming from his throat as he did so. I sucked in a breath as the heat in between my legs shot sparks through my eyes, blurring the vision of him as he finally stuck his tongue out and rolled it against my clit.    "Fuck" I grunted as my nails dug into his scalp, earning me a moan from him that sent vibrations through the heat that stopped my breath.    He continued to roll his mouth around my wetness as I writhed below him, his hands rubbing my body and massaging my breasts, never staying in the same place for too long. He was exploring, I could tell, and with every caress I found a new way he drove me wild.    "Don’t stop, please,“ I begged as I felt the tingling sensation I was chasing grow and grow as he lapped his tongue with twists and turns around my heat. His strong hands were gripping my hips now, attempting to hold me in place as the final strands of composure were cut and I slipped over the edge. My body bucked up against his face as the pleasure took over my ability to control it. He moved one hand lower and rubbed a finger through my folds, pushing into me with the intent to prolong my orgasm. That’s not what happened.    Pain seared through me as I let out a scream of agony, all pleasurable sensations wiped out by the burn that spread through me suddenly. He quickly retracted from me as I pulled myself away from him at the same time, sealing my legs shut and pulling my knees against my chin as I cowered against the headboard.    "Oh god, Ky, I’m so sorry,” He apologized instantly, guilt splayed across his face as he reached for me. I cowered again, away from his touch, and he retreated with a sigh, knowing I needed space for a second. He sat cross legged on the bed with his head in his hands, silently beating the shit out of himself for pushing me too far.    The burning slowly died and I blinked through the tears a few times to regain my focus. I looked to him, sitting as far away on the bed as possible, and broke down. 'How is he supposed to be with me when I’m this broken? What’s wrong with me? I can’t even do that right anymore?’    I was so busy in my own thoughts that I jumped again when I finally saw him move in front of me, he had stood up to pick up my panties and one of his shirts for me. With a nervous hand I took them from him as he sat back down on the edge of the other side of the bed. I slipped the clothes on quickly before curling back up in my former position.    "I’m sorry.“ It was me who was apologizing now, squeaked out through a broken sob.    He instantly turned his head to me with a confused look on his face, brows furrowed, “What?”    "I’m sorry I’m so broken I can’t even have you touch me the way you want to.“ I whispered before choking again.    He pushed his hand out on the bed slowly, offering it to me, "Darlin’, this is not your fault. I’m sorry I pushed you. I should have never done that, and I for damn sure wasn’t trying to hurt you.”    I looked from his hand to his face as tears seemed to pick their ways into his irises. “Hold me?” It came out of my mouth as a whimper.    He scooped me into his arms before I could blink, holding me close against him as he moved the blanket and sheet back and curled us both up underneath it. I pawed at his chest, nuzzling into his neck like a kitten as my tears finally dried. He cradled my head as he placed gentle, loving kisses into my hair as he slowed his own heart rate to the sound of mine. “Thank you, Jeffrey.” I whispered as I breathed in his calming scent. “Anytime, Sweetheart.”
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Girl can SING (Part 2 )
A/N: Here is the second installment! Please stroke my ego if you’d like because I’m not feeling confident about this one. Shout out to @jared-padaloveme and @multifandom-slytherin!
The next day when you all woke up, the first thing you did after breakfast was get dragged into a jam session. You all talked music, explaining what your vocal range was like and things you’ve worked on before. Brendon had you do vocal warm ups with him while Kenny warmed up and Dallon tuned.
You felt so incredibly awkward and sang them quietly. Vocal warm ups were silly on their own, with lots of “me meh mah moe moo” and “oooo” runs. Doing them with Brendon, and in front of Ken and Dallon, was weird. You nervous-giggled through the whole thing. Brendon finds it very endearing.
You weren’t confident about your singing around them at first because you didn’t think you were the same caliber. Brendon’s singing seemed way out of your league. Brendon seemed way out of your league. Plus, you didn’t want them to think that you’re using them for their connections. 
Brendon points out where you can add harmonies to their songs and has you try Girls/Girls/Boys out. The boys start to play along. You look both terrified and awkward, your voice barely audible. Brendon locks eyes with you while he sings and smiles. He suddenly takes your hands and makes you shimmy-dance with him, never missing a note. You giggle through the lyrics and he spins you around.
Before you realize it, you’re singing at a normal volume, no longer feeling shy, with a smile on your face. The fact that he knew just how to get you to open up warms your cheeks.
Things only got better from there. Truth is, you had been playing out quite a bit and posted on YouTube all the time before you met them. Once you were comfortable around them, music came to you as easily as it did alone. It was pretty easy to feel confident when the best singer you’ve ever met was impressed by you. The way Brendon looked at you as you sang… it made you feel invincible.
Actually, the way Brendon looked at you in general made you feel invincible. Over the course of a month, the butterflies in your stomach had not gone away. He makes you feel brave.
Singing with Brendon was like living in a dream. The band was so excited to have you around, saying that you brought something special that they had been looking for.
One day when you’re rehearsing, you step out to get some water. You return and stop at the door, hearing hushed voices. You can’t help but listen in.
“What?! You still haven’t made any moves on her?” It’s Dallon, whispering incredulously.
“No,” you hear Brendon reply sheepishly. Oh my god. Are they talking about you?
“Dude, what are you waiting for?” Kenny asks.
“I don’t know,” Brendon says quietly, “She’s just so… so perfect.”
Your heart is racing.
“Brendon Urie,” Dallon teased in his mock-dad voice, “Are you afraid of falling in love?”
“Y/n is perfect for you, Brendon,” Kenny says simply. Your stomach does somersaults and a grin overtakes your lips.
“I know, I know,” Brendon is chuckling nervously, “Soon.”
You replay the word in your head. Soon. Soon couldn’t come soon enough. You’re certain your heart is about to explode. You take a moment to bring your face to a neutral state. You look as though you heard nothing at all and pushed the door open.
As you enter the room, everyone suddenly looks away or down at their instruments. Brendon fiddles with the microphone in his hands, turning it upside down and toggling the on/off switch as if it was broken. Brendon has you in some sort of state, and you do something that was really unlike you: you decided to mess with him.
You walk right up to him with a bit of concern.
“Is something wrong with the mic?” You ask, sliding your hand around it, gripping the cylinder tightly just above his hand. It was very suggestive, yet you looked up at him with an innocent expression. He is bright red. You liked having such an effect on him.
“Uh,” he stuttered, “no I- um yeah it was off for a second.”
“Oh good,” you smile and walk over to where you had set down your mic. You pick it up and turn around, acting like you are completely oblivious. “Ready?” You ask Brendon and look back to the boys. You are met with a few nods and continued on with practice.
It had been another couple weeks and Brendon had not made any moves. You started to second guess yourself. What if you had just been a flash in the pan for Brendon, or the boys were pushing him when he wasn’t actually interested? You knew it was too good to be true.
You had been on Brendon and Dallon’s Snapchat stories quite a few times. You’ve also been in a couple of Brendon’s instagram photos too. The fans were beginning to recognize you, and there were lots of comments questioning your relationship to the band– specifically your relationship to Brendon. He always replies that you’re friends. You do the same.
His behavior confuses you. Sometimes he seems flirtatious, other times it’s just business.
They had booked a gig and they wanted you to come, just to experience it. You got to go to the soundcheck and meet and greet, which was really interesting. Listening to Brendon interact with fans warmed your heart. They adored him so much, and he gave them his genuine love in return.
You were all prettied up. They’re not officially on tour or anything, so it was a medium sized venue, packed full of people. The atmosphere was electric. The guys were preparing to go out and you stood off to the side of the stage, watching from the wings.
“Break a leg, Bren,” You say to him before he goes on. Damn, you used that nickname again.
Their set was incredible. You watched in awe, not being able to believe that one day, you might be out there with them. And dear god--Brendon in those pants...
They played their final song, Victorious. Instead of making their immediate exit, they all remained on stage. Brendon began to pace with the gold mic in his hands.
“You know, I’ve met a lot of talented people,” He started, “And I’ve met a lot of beautiful people, kind people, caring people… Two months ago, I met someone who was all of those things.”
Wait. You met two months ago. A distinct waves of tingles passed over your body.
“And when you meet someone like that, they instantly become someone special to you.”
The crowd began to awwww and became excited.
“Obviously, I love music, and I could talk about it all day and all night,” he stated, “But when I heard this person’s voice for the first time, I was speechless.”
He was speechless the first time her heard you sing.
“Her voice,” he said, “Is something I need to share with you all. In fact, She is someone I need to share with you all.”
Your throat was closing shut. You think it all sounds very romantic. Was he  talking about you… Romantically?
“So I’d like to bring out this very special someone,” He looked off at you, “Y/n.”
You shake your head vehemently, but he wasn’t about to take no for an answer. He saunters over in your direction and reaches his hand out to you. The crowd was cheering. You take a moment and hesitantly walk forward, taking his hand. He leads you out and you are blinded by the stage lights shining on you. The crowd is going nuts.
You stood next to Brendon and you can’t contain a huge smile at such a warm reception. You cover your face in embarrassment.
“Now, I know we played Hallelujah for you tonight,” He said, “But we’re going to do some old school Hallelujah for you. This is the first song I ever heard Y/N sing. And I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.”
The crowd was awwing like crazy, eating up the cuteness. This is how Brendon feels about you. Your heart is melting. 
“So here it is,” Brendon announced.
Dallon appears next to you and is handing you his back up mic. You’re staring at Brendon, barely able to comprehend what he was saying. You’re in shock. You take the mic.
You continued to stare at him frozen. He points his mic down so the audience can’t hear him speak. He leaned in and spoke softly in your ear.
“Just like in the shower, Y/n,” He said slowly. “Keep looking at me. I’m right here. You can do this.”
You felt like a deer in the head lights, but you hold his gaze, gripping onto it for dear life. You repeated the words to yourself as the boys played the intro. Just like in the shower. Just like in the shower. Just like in the shower.
You begin to sing. Your voice is a bit shaky. Brendon is softly singing the harmony over you. Your eyes start to wander and dart around, but Brendon gets your attention and points to his eyes.
When Brendon looks at you, you feel invincible.
His eyes are your sanctuary. Your voice evens out and the crowd is quiet, listening intently. While you sang, your thoughts raced over how you felt about Brendon. You could fall in love with him. Truth be told, you already were.
You felt yourself singing the runs spot on. Brendon was smiling so hard. He was so proud.
As you came up on the final verse, Brendon moved closer to you. He lowered the hand holding his microphone down to his side, and stepped up to you. Your bodies were just inches apart and he began to sing into your mic with you. You sing the final word, letting in ring in the air.
Hallelujah
You were so close you could feel the heat of his breath on your cheeks. Everything disappears–the lights, the roaring crowd. He rested his forehead, damp with sweat, against yours and looked into your eyes. His gaze was full of a mixture of love, pride, and even a bit of “I told you so”. He gave you that adorable smirk that you couldn’t resist. You giggle to yourself and lower the mic.
All the noise and light around you disappear. It is just you and Brendon and nothing else. He closes the space between you and gently pushes his lips to yours, wrapping his arms around your waist. He holds you close and you feel like you dissolve into his embrace. It is when he releases you that you come back to reality and are hit with the wall of sound the crowd is producing.
The crowd is going absolutely wild. You’ve never heard such a frenzied sound. Brendon remains just looking at you, taking you all in. You’re about to cry or laugh, maybe both, you’re just not sure.
He pried his eyes away from you and said thank you to the audience. He said something to them about driving home safe, but you can’t understand the words coming from his mouth. You’re too busy attempting to process the pure joy rushing through you.
Brendon takes your hand and leads you off stage. You find the nearest corner and do something a bit out of character for you. You spin him around and gently shove his back against the wall, pushing your body against his. He looks at you a bit shocked but clearly pleased.
“Brendon. Boyd. Urie,” you state with a devious grin. “I’m going to fucking kill you! But first,”  Your face relaxed. “I’m going to fucking kiss you.”
Before he can respond, you kiss him, open mouthed and borderline obscenely. You can tell he is smiling, his teeth brushing yours. He runs his fingers through your hair. You break the kiss and look at him.
“Why were you holding out on me?” You ask softly.
“I felt like I liked you…” he struggled to find the words, “too much.”
“Too much?” You clarify.
“I think I’m falling in love with you,” he blurted.
A smile beamed from your face and your eyes welled up a bit. You had been imagining this moment since the day you met him.
“Me too Bren,” you whispered, “me too.”
This was the start of something amazing.
A/N: Hope you liked it! Be on the look out for the 3rd installment. Like/reblog if you’re feelin’ it!
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liepcrd · 7 years
Text
When you live in Hoenn, you tend to learn some rituals that you may never, ever need. 
Unless fate decides you’re going to need them a lot sooner than you expected.
She’d flown in from Unova for this, on the very last flight of the night, dropping several events she’d agreed to show up to the next day. There weren’t many people there, in fact, there was only a handful of them. Katherine’s parents, Hummel and April, Pokemon Breeder Townsend, and Looker. The rest of them stood a bit behind the former Champion, watching in solemn silence as she wept. It was to be expected, after all, one of her first Pokemon had passed away. The Pokemon she’d named after herself. She shook as she stood over the body of her friend and ally, quivering as emotional devastation wracked her through and through. Maybe it was just the current environment, but she felt as if nothing could go right in her life without something turning sour rapidly. She stood, feeling her tears come to an end. A memory suddenly flashed through her head.
“Hah, a Delcatty? What are you going to do with that?”
“More than you ever will with that attitude! Kitten, Fake Out, now!”
As the memory faded, Katherine felt the tears come back as if a stoplight had switched to green in her mind. She’d won that battle with her newly evolved Delcatty. Though she tried to stand strong, literally and figuratively, she was no longer able to avoid the weight of the situation. Even being away from her Delcatty for so long, she still had quite the emotional attachment to her. Bonds that were true withstood the test of time, as this one had. But-- did her Pokemon know that Katherine still loved her? Katherine hadn’t visited for about three months. Surely, despite the time away, her beloved companion still knew her trainer cared for her? These thoughts made her slowly sink to her knees, her quiet sobs becoming louder at the mere thought she had allowed one of her Pokemon to pass away without her knowing she was loved.
From behind, Looker stepped forward, placing a hand on Katherine’s shoulder. His facial expression was grim. He remembered Kitten well-- hell, he gave Katherine the Moon Stone to evolve her on her birthday. The amount of pride on Katherine’s face when she strutted out of the Elite Four building, her Delcatty donning the Championship ribbon, it compared to none else. It was even difficult for him to speak, feeling like he was watching his own child fall into despair. With a sharp intake of breath, he spoke.
“Perhaps... now is a good time to perform the ritual you learned.”
In Hoenn, with Mount Pyre and all, there was a ritual that the regional Champion performed for all of the graves. It was most likely just an old wives tale passed down from generation to generation, but in Hoenn lore, it was said that if you wished for a body to go undisturbed once they were buried, you should perform a special ceremonial dance to keep the evil spirits at bay. This included Pokemon known to feast on the souls of deceased Pokemon, an act to make sure the fallen Pokemon had a peaceful afterlife. Katherine didn’t necessarily know it like the back of her hand, but she had seen it performed a few times at Pyre. Officially, only Champions and former Champions could perform it at the mountain, but unofficially anyone could bless their Pokemon with it. Slowly, Katherine looked up to the detective, who gave a pained smile of encouragement. The girl stood up, wiping her tears away and looked around the yard.
“I-- I need... a stick. The ritual involves bamboo, of some sort.” 
Townsend glanced from side to side, spotting a lone pole of bamboo leaning against a tree in the corner of the backyard. He raced over to nab it, hastily returning to Katherine and handing it over. She took the stick and gave him a silent nod of thanks. Looker returned to his original position in the grass behind her, as did Townsend. Her parents said nothing, neither of them too good with comforting during these matters. And, in a way, both of them felt as if Looker ranked higher than they did in Katherine’s book-- they wouldn’t blame her.
The mourning girl swallowed, her breathing still rocky. She raised the stick up and twirled it in her fingers above her head, to the right, then left, switching hands with a gentle swaying motion. As per the ritual, she began to hum a gentle tune. It was a tune of sorrow, a tune of passing. This tune combined with the movements of the bamboo would keep the gluttonous spirits away-- so lore claimed. The Ballad of Passing, as it was called, was unique to every person who sang it. While there was one universal tune at the beginning, once that was sang, you could hum whatever you pleased. Thus, each tune was unique to those who performed it. Now was no exception, after the Ballad escaped her lips, a new tune exclusive to her chimed in, continuing the song and complimenting the previous notes expertly. Tears streaked down her face as she continued her motions, finding them oddly therapeutic in this time of strife. Finally, she repeated the main Ballad once more before gently placing the bamboo in front of her. 
“That-- that was stunning, dear.” Her mother whispered, her fingers lacing tighter with her husband’s.
With a rumble, her father chimed in, “Yes, that was... quite beautiful and heart wrenching, to say the least.”
“The Ballad of Passing is a very delicate tune. It’s even unique to Katherine, as once you sing the primary song, you can change it to whatever you wish.” Townsend marveled. 
With a heavy sigh, Katherine knelt down to the still body of the Delcatty below.
“I’m so-- so sorry I could not be around in your final days more. As your friend, your trainer, I failed you in that aspect. Kitten--” She stopped, holding back a choking sob, “I-- if you c-can hear me, I want you t-to know... know that taking you to the Champion and winning-- was an amazing honor. Without you, we never would have overcame the challenges before us. I-- I hope, if the fates allow, we will meet again. Rest now, forever, peacefully. You’ve fought the good fight-- it is time for you to rest your weary bones.”
She intended to hug the Delcatty’s body once more, for closure, but she found herself unable to move. In her ears, she thought she could hear Kitten’s old affectionate cry sound out. She burst into tears, unable to let go now, old memories with her friend racing back to her all at once. Looker watched, unable to ward off the emotions she must have felt. The pain she must have felt. He could do nothing, along with the rest of the group, watching in silence as Katherine dealt with her emotions the best way she knew how-- outright. 
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vibefrost · 7 years
Text
Just To See You Smile
I got inspiration from the musical episode and decided to write a Killervibe fic about how Caitlin discovers that Barry isn’t the only one in Star Labs who can carry a tune, but then it kinda spiraled into something longer, so anyway just read and enjoy :)
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HR was the one who came up with the whole plan, and surprisingly, it turned out to be one of his better ideas. It was after a long day of working at Star Labs, and everyone was tired of conducting tests and analyzing speed patterns, so HR had suggested that they all go out for drinks to relax a little and relieve some stress. Now, it was entirely possible that when saying ‘drinks’ he was referring to coffee, but the rest of the team had something a bit stronger in mind, and that’s how they all ended up in the bar just down the street, tipsy enough so that everything was hilarious but sober enough to remember what was going on. And it just happened to be on that particular night in that particular bar, that there was open mike karaoke going on, and before long almost the whole team had gone onstage to preform something or other. Barry, as everyone had suspected, was a perfect natural at singing, and managed to sing so beautifully that by the end of the song nearly everyone in the bar was cheering for an encore - drunk and sober and all. But Barry, being a gentlemen, had politely declined and offered the mike to the next member of the team who had yet to preform, which just so happened to be Cisco. No one was expecting for Cisco to have such an aptitude for singing as Barry did, but when he began to sing he proved to be just as talented as the Scarlet Speedster, and rendered the whole team speechless when he finally sung the last chord of the song. After the sudden shock had sunk in though, they all immediately cheered and applauded, amazed that Cisco could have kept such a talent hidden from all of them for so long. Eventually the night drew to a close and people began to depart; first Barry and Iris, then Wally and HR, and lastly Caitlin and Cisco (Julian wasn’t there for he had been gone for a while visiting relatives back in England). Caitlin, who had drunken barely anything, insisted on being the designated driver and escorting Cisco back home, to which Cisco had no objection to. Once they pulled up to his apartment though, Caitlin had turned to him and said in an almost accusing tone, “Why did you never tell me?” Cisco was confused at what she was referring to. “Tell you what?” “That you can sing!” Cisco shrugged. It had never really been something he was trying to keep a secret; he had just never found the need to mention it before. Perhaps it was because Dante had always been the musically talented person in his family, and he had never wanted to have to compete with him, knowing that no matter how hard he tried, he would never measure up to Dante in his parents’s eyes.  “I don’t know,” he answered, deciding to say that rather than go into depth about the reasons behind never telling anyone. “Well, you should’ve told me! You were amazing Cisco! I even thought,” she leaned closer, as though about to share a secret, “you were better than Barry.”
Cisco could scarcely believe that that was true, but the way Caitlin was smiling at him made a small seed of pride begin to bloom inside his chest. “You really think so?” he asked, wanting to hear her say the words again.
“Of course! I would much rather hear you sing over Barry. You should do it more often, though - I like hearing you sing.” She smiled sweetly at him, and Cisco could only smile in return.
“Thanks,” he then said to her for both the compliment and the ride, and then bid her goodnight as they parted ways.
From that moment on, Cisco sang more often. Whenever he and Caitlin would be working alone at Star Labs, he would turn on some music and sing along, although making sure the song was quiet enough so that his voice could be heard over the musician’s. He did the same thing whenever they carpooled together, or whenever they were at each other’s apartments for the evening. And every time, without fail, Caitlin’s face would light up in a smile, and her eye’s would sparkle with delight at the sound of his voice.
That was the main reason Cisco did it: for Caitlin. It was a sobering fact that Caitlin was never as happy or cheerful as she used to be, and if singing along to a song would get Caitlin to smile, Cisco would do it in a heartbeat a million times over.
Slowly the months passed, and when the time came the Star Labs team managed to defeat Savitar, and afterwards there was much celebration and triumph over the facts that Iris had been saved and that Barry had changed the future. Only a few short weeks later Barry and Iris announced their wedding date, and the time up until then was spent preparing and organizing for what was to be the most spectacular wedding any of them had ever attended. What was unexpected for Cisco though, was when Barry came up to him a few days before the anticipated event and asked if he was wiling to sing a song for the couple to dance to. Cisco, surprised at the fact that Barry even remembered that night in the bar all that time ago, readily agreed, willing to do anything for his friends on their special day.  
After searching and searching, he found the perfect song that seemed to fit the couple, and by the time the big evening had arrived, Cisco was ready to preform. After the ceremony the dance floor was full of people swaying to the music, including Barry and Iris - who looked like royalty among the rest of them - and when the time came he caught Barry’s eye, Barry nodded, and Cisco proceeded towards the mike where the live orchestra had been playing. After tapping it a few times and gathering everyone’s attention, Cisco gave a short speech in dedication to Barry and Iris’s happines and good fortune, and after everyone had raised a toast to the two of them, he began to sing.
He had chosen the song, ’Because You Loved Me’ by Céline Dion, and had practiced it nearly a thousand times to make sure that it felt more personlized for his friends when he sang it. Halfway through singing, as he was watching Barry and Iris smile at each other and enjoy the moment, his eyes drifted over to Caitlin, who was watching him with a smile gracing her lips, her eyes aglow in wonder. Their eyes met, and Cisco found he couldn’t look away. As he sang the next verse, he couldn’t help but feel as though the song could almost be describing them, and everything they’d been through.
“You were always there for me
The tender wind that carried me
A light in the dark shinning your love into my life
You’ve been my inspiration
Through the lies you were the truth
My world is a better place because of you…”
But of course, it wasn’t supposed to be about them; it was for Barry and Iris. Cisco finished the rest of the song and was awarded with a thunderous round of applause from the audience. It didn’t amount to anything though, because even though the song wasn’t for or about them, he found the real praise coming from the proud and joyous smile Caitlin gave him, looking happier than Cisco had ever seen before. And for the moment, that was all that mattered.
Once again time began to pass by slowly. Various different people entered and exited their lives, the team grew and shrunk until it was just Cisco, Caitlin, Barry, Iris, and Wally. New villians emerged and were defeated. Life just continued on.
Caitlin was still herself, though lately she’d been having trouble with her dangerous alter ego Killer Frost. It was after a particularly frightening instance in which she had lost control and nearly destroyed the main entrance to Star Labs when Cisco knew he had to do something. Caitlin had been more than frightened to say the least, and she would barely let anyone come within a ten foot radius of her, which is probably why she had shut herself up in her apartment and wouldn’t let anyone in, too afraid she’d hurt them. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time Caitlin had done this, but after lots of talking and persuading, she finally allowed Cisco to come over so he could help her advance the power inhibitors in her necklace and in the earings she now had to wear too. Thankfully, Cisco was successful in upgrading his technology, and Caitlin was back to normal again, or as normal as one could be after that type of experience.
But Cisco could tell she was still scared; she was still worried that she was going to lose control again, and it made him sad. He only wished Caitlin could see how much he and everyone cared about her, and that they weren’t scared of her. It had been so long since she’d smiled or was happy, too. Just thinking of these things gave Cisco an idea though, and he immediately went to work on it. For a whole week he spent all his spare time on coming up with the perfect thing to make Caitlin happy again, and finally he had finished it.
Later that evening, it was safe to say that Caitlin was beyond confused when Cisco showed up at her apartment unannounced with a guitar and large grocery bag in hand.
“What’s all of this?” she asked curiously as he entered her room.
“Operation M.C.H.” he told her, which only befuddled her further, but after watching him unload a gallon of ice cream and other varoius unhealthy snacks, she figured he must be trying to cheer her up somehow, though the guitar was still a mystery.
All throughout the evening Cisco tried to make sure that Caitlin was happy. He watched some of her favorite movies with her, made her favorite ice cream sundae, and was on his goofiest behavior, and turned out to be successful in making her both genuinely smile and laugh. As the hour grew late, Caitlin finally brought up the question of what the guitar was for.
“That was my big finale,” he said while grinning.
“To what? You’re operation A.B.C. or whatever? ”
“M.C.H.” he corrected, and then added in a softer voice, “Make Caitlin Happy.”
Caitlin looked surprised, but smiled sweetly at him and said, “You didn’t need to do all of that, Cisco. I am happy.”
Her words didn’t quite convince him, and it didn’t look like they had convinced her either, so Cisco grabbed his guitar and sat down in front of her in the living room. “I, uh, haven’t played in front of people for a long time, so don’t judge,” he instructed, and then slowly began to play. It was a soft melody that was pleasing to the ears, and Caitlin was completely captivated by just watching his fingers skillfully pluck at the guitar strings when he began to sing. His voice sang out loud and clear in the quiet room, and as the tune went on each note sounded more beautiful to Caitlin’s ears.
“…I’ll be there next to you through it all
I’ll help you stand back up when you fall
You should know that I’ll always come when you call
No amount of ice or snow or frost
Will ever make you lost
To me
You’re irreplaceable…”
Cisco sang the last few lines of the song and then it was over. When he looked up, he was alarmed to see Caitlin had tears running down her face, but then she gave a big smile, one thay conveyed more than just happiness, and Cisco relaxed again.
“Cisco…” Caitlin breathed after a few seconds. “You wrote that song…for me?”
Cisco nodded. “I wanted to see you smile. And it worked.” He hadn’t been sure of what she was going to do in response to that, but he sure wasn’t expecting her to kiss him.
Granted, it was on the cheek, but the feel of her soft lips on his face and her hair tickling his ear made his skin tingle. Her lips lingered on his cheek for longer than was probably necessary, and when she finally did pull back Cisco could feel her warm breath ghost across his face. His heart began to thump faster as he watched her move away, and emotions began to contort inside his chest. What was he feeling? Was it happiness? Uneasiness? Love? It was just a kiss on the cheek, so why was it making him feel like his insides were on a roller coaster ride? But by the time Cisco had managed to have these thoughts, Caitlin had begun speaking again, so he focused on her instead.
Whatever it was that he was feeling, Cisco knew that it would change something between them. Just the look in Caitlin’s eyes could tell him that. But for the time being, Cisco knew that one thing would never change: no matter what they faced or went through in the future, they could always look back on this memory and this song, and know that it would be forever theirs. And for the moment, that was all that mattered.
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Roger Waters in L.A. | Review and Synopsis
Published on August 27, 2017 by Charlotte Medina
I attended the Roger Waters’ “Us + Them” concert.
It was stunning.
Roger Waters is one of the leads and composers for legendary progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Their classic status and legacy are attributed to their psychedelic sound, poetic lyrics, and the intense visuals in their music videos and film (The Wall, 1982). Pink Floyd is best known for The Dark Side of the Moon, the album which launched them to international success.
The group hasn’t performed together since 1994, but Roger Waters has toured several times solo, performing songs from his solo albums as well as the Pink Floyd’s hits that he authored.
The Us + Them tour was first announced last year in mid-October after he performed in Mexico City. Waters shared a video on Facebook, performing Pigs (Three Different Ones) at El Zocalo (From the album Animals). It was then when I knew that if he was bringing the tour to the USA, I had to go.
I discovered Pink Floyd at a very important time in my life. I was advancing through my college years and after studying film theory during my second semester, I realized the importance of “meaning” within all art forms: the messages, the metaphors, etc. Of course, all of these tend to be subjective and often open to interpretation (I will be doing a follow-up article on this). Although I had listened to and enjoyed some of their music before, it wasn’t until I started looking into music and culture of the past that I rediscovered Pink Floyd and truly paid attention to their lyrics, which resonated with my experiences and reflected many of my societal views. Most of Pink Floyd’s songs are pretty dark, as they contain gloomy or politically critical themes. The latter is heavily emphasized on Roger Waters’ Us + Them tour.
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My “Back Catalogue” (by Cohen/May/Thorgerson) fabric poster and my college senior self.
On Tuesday, June 27th, Roger Waters, along with the various talented musicians who accompanied him, performed at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. He had already performed the previous week twice, both with sold out shows (and this was an added date!). The line to enter the stadium was still long at 8 pm… I made it inside by 8:30 pm when he had just shown up on stage.
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“Ahh! The concert will start soon! Hurry up, security check-in staff! We don’t want to miss out!”
The show opened with Speak To Me/Breathe, as I rushed through the hallway and VIP elevator. I heard One Of These Days playing as I was pacing quickly through the hallway, Looking for the right entrance to my seat. Along with my rushed rhythm, the song was the perfect soundtrack for the real life moment I was living. As I entered the stadium through the curtains, my entire being was in awe: there, inside a bowl lined with seats, twenty thousand people submerged in a mix of darkness and multi color spotlights, experienced the sound of Roger and band at the floor.
The concert proceeded with Time, an immortal and also very emotional classic. Next, The Great Gig In The Sky, accompanied by the vocals of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, then the audience’s excitement sparked as video visuals of Welcome To The Machine played on the screen. I sang along to almost all of Wish You Were Here. (I’ve always had trouble memorizing lyrics, so I think about my own performance as a success…) It’s a beautiful song; it’s been rumored to have been written for Syd Barrett, one of Pink Floyd’s early years’ lead members.
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Hanging screens “Danced” to the music by changing size to the rhythm, while colorful concert real-time footage was projected onto them. The attendees who were sitting straight ahead from the stage might have missed this!
Right after, the lights went off. We were submerged in darkness as the song duo that marked the success of The Wall’s album began; with a directed spotlight from the roof that emulated that of a helicopter’s, scanning the stadium, The Happiest Days of Our Lives began playing, everyone only being able to see giant Roger on the screen pointing to us “You! Yes, you! Stand still laddy.” With every beat of the song, a flash... Another Brick on The Wall began playing, with the crowd singing ardently. The lights are on now, revealing to us the band and a dozen of teens standing on the stage, wearing “jail-uniform” jumpsuits. During the instrumental, the teens took the jumpsuits off to reveal them wearing shirts with the word RESIST. Towards the end of the song, Roger added “I don’t need no walls around me. I don’t need no drugs to calm me. I have seen the writing on the wall. Don’t think I need anything at all. No, don’t think I need anything at all. All in all, you’re just bricks in the wall,” backed by characteristic capitalism symbols (mostly big-name brands) on the screen. With all the performers on stage raising their fist and with the screen displaying RESIST (ha, that rhymed), the song concludes and is followed by an intermission… (I honestly never imagined... big concerts have intermissions?! Ok, time to buy nachos and soda! Note how this intermission still contributed to capitalism. Oh, another rhyme!)
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The audience’s attention was called back into the show as loud ambulance sirens lowered a large set of (tubes), from which a set of screens was raised. These topped with large, real steaming pipes: a factory, just like the one in the cover album Animals, was emulated through the cinematic power of projectors. Roger and band performed Dogs, and then… Pigs (Three Different Ones) begins playing. I believe I was the most thrilled attendee in the audience when its first chords strung as I screamed excited, wondering if an inflatable pig with graffiti would roll out for the people on the floor area. The mocking imagery of Donald Trump showed on screens, graphics of him, sometimes with Putin. “Haha, charade you are.” And then, during the instrumental, from behind the curtains a neatly crafted, inflatable really-big pig, with Trump’s face saying “I won!” printed, floated around the factory with the aid of drones. Towards the end of the song, each of the screens displayed the most absurd quotes said individual had mentioned during his campaign. The song ended to a massive applause and cheers.
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“Hey you, White House: ha ha! charade you are...!” As imagery displays on the screens that compare Trump with dictator Hitler.
Then, an apparatus descended from above the stage while Eclipse played, and rainbow-colored lasers showered us, from the roof of the Staples Center all the way to the floor, and then remained static at then became white and remained static at the end of the song. Roger thanked the audience and cheered to us with champagne.
The money came right after. It opened with very capitalistic footage on the screens, but the best part was during the instrumental when the screens would change their length, kind of like bars on a boombox. With its soothing sound, Us And Them commenced, displaying modern yet artistic imagery of humans of all ethnicities, intertwined and taken over by two red hands trying to reach each other, but slowly fading away. This is a very sad and complicated song feels like a dark conversation about war, meant to be listened to critically.
From his new solo album, Is This The Life We Really Want?, Roger Waters performed Smell The Roses, which talks about how humans destroy beauty for money, creating war and the smell of explosives, instead of flowers. Then, Brain Damage began, with a very exciting performance: fog was released, adding a mystic ambience and the notes and lyrics of the song are heightened by the appearance of a laser pyramid traversed with lines, to resemble the art of Dark Side of the Moon’s cover, all while a giant silver ball floated through the stadium. The ball was aided by drones which filmed the fans on the floor and were simultaneously being displayed on the screen.
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Roger Waters performing Brain Damage, in front of a laser pyramid, a floating silver ball, and a lot of loving fans.
Over original cinematic visuals The Wall’s tracks Vera, and Bring the Boys Back Home followed.
The ending of the concert was approaching, and we all knew the show couldn’t be over without said album’s number one track being performed: Comfortably Numb. Another one I almost know all the lyrics too! Everything about this performance was on point: the vocals, the instrumentals, and the famous guitar solo. The whole audience was moved. Behind me, a group of young friends was holding each other's’ hands in the air while singing and dancing. Comfortably Numb ended with lots of bright confetti raining towards us and the same image of the hands holding on the screen, this time holding and exuding shine, with colorful lasers gyrating from every side of the stage.
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Us + Them was an amazing show. I loved every part of the concert: the live music, vocals, original visuals, the scenography... Pink Floyd has always been known to put quite a show, and I’m sure Roger Waters takes deep pride in making his concerts as theatrical and spectacular to make justice to his powerful tunes. When Pigs (Three Different Ones) came up I must admit that, although this was the performance I had seen which made me excited to attend the concert in the first place, I couldn’t avoid thinking, just for a slight moment, that I wanted to be entertained for a couple of hours and escape from the current political nightmare we are living in. Although I had been aware months in advance about the main theme of Us + Them, I did want to disconnect from everything else happening outside the Staples Center for a night. But this feeling only lasted for a little bit, as I realized that we should not forget our truth and we must keep fighting, daily. Also, we must support artists who use their voice and talent to speak up loudly for us.
The tour was named, after all: Us + Them. Notice the plus sign. As in Hey You, my favorite song from The Wall (not performed in this tour) says: Together we stand, divided we fall. We should pay more attention to the message many songs have tried to teach us… Although these messages do not seem to make sense or even on the radar of people in power...
On a lighter note: a big shout out to Benjamin from the box office for assisting me on selecting a seat with a great view, and before the concert started! Although initially, I wanted to see the concert from the floor, I would have missed out on the majority of the visuals, as the dancing screens which later that resembled the factory was hanging right above it.  All this leads me to give you some advice:
If possible, buy the tickets directly from the venue. I did and avoided online and shipping fees as I got them right in the spot.
If this is a big name band, expect a big show. Get seats that have a diagonal view from the stage. It has a better angle: you can see the crowd, the band, and the screens in full if any.
Get there early! Although most tickets are numbered for the seats, remember any proper venue will have security measures and checking in might take a little while.
Learn the venue’s rules and regulations. Although many of these are common sense, there are certain guidelines when it comes to attire and photographic equipment one must follow.
The Us + Them tour has wrapped in California, but take a look at Roger Waters’ official website to see if it’ll be coming to a city near you!
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Successful night for the band! The fans’ excitement could be felt throughout the concert.
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Pride Prompt Month 14/30: Coffee shop
Fandom: Dear Evan Hansen
Relationship: Jarsen
Notes: In a world were Jared didn’t go to Evan’s school and they didn’t know either existed. The Connor Project and the lie never happened, but Connor did attempt suicide. As did Evan (actually more than once), but he didn’t break his arm, but he did get something else. Evan did have to deal with his first three years, pretty much by himself, minus his mom and his songs; which as you can guess, was lonely and stressful.
More Notes: Evan writes songs, as a coping skill, and he “wrote” some I will list
The Lonely by Christina Perri
TW: abuse of medicaition, scared skin, implied suicide attempt
Prompt: Coffee shop
Evan’s Pov
The sun was hanging in the crystal periwinkle sky, when I slipped into the Cherry Tree Coffee shop. Today was the 9th of August and I had been stuck in my head for almost two weeks. On top of that, the pale yellow walls of my room, seemed to squeeze out my ability to focus on anything productive; since it had been a week since I even looked at my last song I wrote, I wanted to change my scenery.
Cherry Tree was an unknown, yet fantastic coffee shop, off the beaten path. i didn’t like coffee, since my relentless anxiety kept me awake and all caffeine did was make me twitchy.
No, I stuck with frappacinos and smoothies. My favorite part of the shop was, true to their name, Cherry Tree valued plants. Each table had flora growing and potted plants in the corners.
Anyone, who knew anything about me, knew I fell for plants, especially trees. I always chose the little table in the back because on the table was a little garden or succulents and a small tree near the corner. Also because it was pretty sucluded from the rest of the customers.
My orange hardcover journal was tucked under my arm and I twiddled my pencil between my fingers, as I waited in line. it didn’t take long and I chose to go frappacino today, considering I didn’t eat last night and I needed to make up calories. I never went with traditional menu items, I liked creating my own if I could.
Evan’s Signature Frap
vanilla bean frap base
two pumps cherry syrup
half pump almond
extra ice
and extra whipped cream
and, if I felt like it, I also added candied almonds
The manager named it the Cherry Tree Turnover, and he happily added it to the secret menu, so i didn’t have to keep repeating my specific order. I payed for my drink and went to my table to start letting the creativity flow. Madison brought me my drink when it was ready, and a couple of sips, broke apart the block in my head.
The song I was working on had no name yet, but it was something I felt like the name would be obvious.
I'm the ghost of a boy that I want to be most.
I'm the shell of a boy that I used to know well.
Dancing slowly in an empty room,
Can the lonely take the place of you?
I sing myself a quiet lullaby.
Let you go and let the lonely in
To take my heart again.
It wasn’t always easy to write songs, especially when you have no confidence they are even close to sufficent.
I write a couple lines only to sccratch them out and hum a tune to the song I hadn’t even decided will stay, when I realize someone is looking at me. I can’t figure out considering there is literally nothing special about me, to warrant gaze. I glance around anyway, trying to see if I can find anyone, but like normal most people are focused on their drinks or whoever you went with. Turning back to my song, I work til I can’t handle the fact that I KNOW someone is watching me. 
“.....” I look up again and when I couldn’t find anyone looking, I freaked. reaching my had in my pocket I pull out my anxiety medication. It was considerably lighter than the night before, which I only had myself to blame. trying not to tip the whole bottle into my hand, I triple my dosage and pass them between my teeth. they tasted awful dry, but I had gotten used to the soapy flavor, not even remedying them with my drink. It was shameful to misuse them, but as far as anyone was concerned, I took them like a good kid.
The evening passed into night and by the time the stars shined thorugh the windows, I had finished another verse and the bridge remake. I sang the song to myself, all the say home.
The next day, I was hoping to finish the song and maybe start another if I was lucky. Yet, something was strange when I got to my table. A drink was already waiting for me. It was a Cherry tree turnover, like I had yesterday and on the cup was Ernest’s (the manager’s) handwriting.
a frequent ordered this for you, so.....it won’t kill you
 It wasn’t very encouraging to know that, someone ordered me a drink since I literally was invisible to the world. I ignored the drink for about an hour before the pressure of wasting a drink lead me to take a sip. It wasn’t a normal CT turnover, sure there was candied almonds on top, but there was no almond flavor in the drink. I was disgusted, i just had preferences. I still finished the drink and continued writing what I officially named “The Lonely”. The tune was still wavering and unsure, but at least I was happy with the lyrics.
In the middle of brainstorming for my next song, Mom called and asked to order her something for dinner, since she would get home at about 3 am. I always found it funny how she trusted me to be in charge of so much, not realizing that, that was a HUGE mistake.
My mind floats back to the beginning of the summer, the wind on my face and the falling sun over the horizon. The ground was so far away, from the branch I was rocking on and it always looked high enough, no mater how many times I look back, it was always high enough.
Just thinking of that day, made the massive scar on the back of my neck, leading into the middle of my shoulder blades, throb. With my luck, of course i would get cut up by branches and acquire a concussion that lasted for an eternity, but not......I was already slipping meds in my mouth before I realized that I had started tearing up.
I collect my things and rush out, running a hand across the knot of healed flesh on my neck, hoping that I would be asleep, by the time mom got home.
The drinks showing up at my table became a nature occurance over the week I practically lived at the Cherry Tree, but every time something was missing. the cherry syrup, the whipped cream, the candied almonds and so on. It was just one thing, every time. 
It was the beginning of the next week and I would be lying, if i wasn’t wondering what would be missing this time. I saw the drink and immediately took a sip and......it seemed perfectly fine The right amount of cherry, the smooth flavor of almond, extra ice and all the fixings. I wasn’t sure what I was suppose to be getting, or if there was anything to get, so I try to pull out my chair....only to find that it wasn’t there. I had the same chair I sat in everyday, and it just wasn’t there. I look around and not only that, but the other chairs, were either gone or take, except for one.
A teen probably about my age was, watching me, with a sly smile, spread underneath his rectangluar glasses. He was wearing a tight fitted graphiic tee, that showed off his chubby stomach and  unbuttoned shirt on the outside. I looked back seeing if he was looking at someone else, but considering that I up against the wall, it was impossible. I glance back trying to contain my blush.
“Yes, I’m lookin’ at you.” He shrugged, adjusting his frames.
“C-C-Can I help you?”
He beckons me over and offers the seat, across from him, “Did you like the drinks?”
“What?”
“Well, considering I spent like an extra 5 dollars on turnovers a day, I wanted to know if you liked them.”
My brain blanked, wringing my hands, “So......you were the one buying me drink?’
“I just said that didn’t right? Did. You. Like. Them?”
“Well you missed ingerdients like everyday and, they were fine though I like the one I normally gets.” I gasp, when he cocks an eyebrow, “But I did likethegestureand, and  I didn’t say i didn’t appreciate them and, well....thank you.”
“jesus, and I thought you were some tweaking junky, turns out you are just some anxious mess.”
He cackles, with this loud off putting laugh that I couldn’t tell if it was real or not, wiping his eyes.
“What? I’m not a junky? Why....why would you say that?”
He sits up with better posture than before, “Well considering you always carried a pill bottle and took pills often, or a lot at once I assumed you nervous ticks and fidgeting was because you were waiting for you’re next round. Am i close?”
I would have been mad, if he wasn’t close to the truth, though I wasn’t waiting for the next hit....more so just waiting for the meds to kick in.
“So, you’ve been watching me this whole time?”
“Short answer, yes. Long answer, we actually go to school together and I have noticed you for quite some time.”
“You...go to my school?”
He rolls his eyes, “Jared Kleinman.”
I didn’t recognize the name, but them again I didn’t know most people at my school.
“Evan....uh, “
“Hansen. I know.”
“So....can I have this chair, I want to sit back at my table.”
Jared shrugs, “I was hoping you would spend some time with the person who treated you this week. The least you could do.”
I stared at him, unsure of whatever the hell he was trying to pull. Why should I trust him, he seemed like a brash and annoying person. But, I wasn’t going to ignore him, especially if that meant I couldn’t have a chair.
“Um....sure.”
“oh you are so kind.”
I couldn’t help but smile at his sheer stupididty and arrogance, “Yeah....”
We spent the rest of the day, Jared watching me and myself trying not to get up and run. He seemed to enjoy observing, though not as much as he liked talking and laughing. It was strange to have someone else there, for the first time all summer....or ever. The stars broke through the sky and I decided to head home. Jared asked to walk me, but I thought today was enough for one day.
“See, you tomorrow, Hansen?”
“Uh......sure. Bye, Jared.”
“Don’t miss me too much.”
I walked back to my house, unsure of what the hell just happened today. Mom wasn’t home and I settled into my room, trying to get Jared out of my mind.
“What the hell did I get myself into?”
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