#last one is just a drawing of a classmate he wasn’t looking up the girl with a fat blunt

[strbry-shortcakes]

more stupid stuff to fight the sadness i guess

Oc idea for my project below the cut

#girl fear and hunger #mirage ultrakill #sybil pseudoregalia #lamb cotl #last one is just a drawing of a classmate he wasn’t looking up the girl with a fat blunt #section leader really liked the girl page #done in loose sheets cause i don’t even know anymore #hb fights his sadness and HES LOSING #my art

[sourcherryandsprinkles]

I don’t want you like a best friend | Xavier Thorpe x Reader

Summary: You and Xavier have been best friends for a while, but you don’t want to be just friends anymore. Come the Rave’n dance, you decide to tell him

Word count: 2.2k

Warnings: suggestive themes

"Say my name and everything just stops I don't want you like a best friend Only bought this dress so you could take it off"

—

‘’Are you coming the the Rave’n dance?’’

‘’I don’t have a date.’’

‘’You could go with Xavier?’’ Enid suggested with a knowing grin.

You and Xavier have been best friends since your first year at Nevermore Academy. Being away from home for this long and adjusting to a new environment had been difficult. You missed your family and the comfort of home. Making friends wasn’t your strongest, so you ended up very lonely.

Until you met Xavier. Although he was part of the popular crowd, he preferred solitude. He could spend hours on his own, drawing or painting.

One day, his sketchbook fell out of his bag in botanical class and you were amazed by the close to perfection sketch of your mutual classmate, Ajax. You hadn’t been able to stop the compliment that spilled from your lips. Xavier had smiled, a little shy, and thanked you. The next day, he had made a drawing of you sitting in the courtyard, reading a book.

You never talked to him outside of class…until parents’s weekend. You had been anticipating that day for so long — you missed your parents very dearly —, only to hear from Principal Weems that morning that they would not be coming. Sadness had filled your heart and you ended up crying silently between two shelves at the library.

You weren’t the only student whose parents didn’t come. Some parents, like Xavier’s father, were so busy with their work life that they cared very little about their son’s school event. Unlike you, Xavier didn’t come to cry. He was looking for a book. Except he found you instead.

You spent the whole day together, getting to know each other and talking about anything but your parents and, for the first time in weeks, a smile curled on your lips. Especially when he shared with you his little ability of making his artwork move.

Your friendship tightened over the years, friends turning into best friends. You called each other during summer break, and sometimes visited because September was just too far away. The Thorpe manor was massive and Xavier had his own art studio — which was even bigger than his shed on school grounds.

It was nice to have a friend like him.

But since your last visit, some things changed. Your friendship had developed into deeper feelings — non-platonic feelings. You held back from acting on them because Xavier was freshly broken up with Bianca and hurting. You also didn’t want to be someone’s rebound.

‘’I heard he’s going with Bianca,’’ Wednesday butted in, making Enid narrow her eyes at her.

‘’Only because she asked him,’’ the blonde quickly clarified. ‘’It doesn’t look like they’re getting back together though. Like ever. Xavier’s been very indifferent toward Bianca lately.’’

Enid wasn’t wrong. You hadn’t heard Xavier say Bianca's name in the past two months and you were the second person he spent the most time with — after Ajax. He came to you when he had doubts about the genuineness of their relationships, so he would tell you if he was still into her. Right?

That’s how the plans were made.

‘’That means we’re going dress shopping!’’ Enid grabbed her pink fuzzy backpack, looking at you excitedly. ‘’You need a dress that screams ‘stand back bitches, he’s mine’.’’

*

There weren't many shops in Jericho, so everyone ended up in the same one. It’s gonna be a miracle if two girls don’t show up in the same dress.

The bell above Hawte Kewture dinged as you and Enid stepped in. ‘’The dance committee is suggesting all white to match with the team, but that’s not gonna fly with us. If you want to catch Xavier’s attention and make him see you as something else than a best friend, you need to stand out.’’

‘’I’m not gonna wear bright pink, if that’s what you’re suggesting.’’

You weren’t afraid of colors like Wednesday, but brighter tones and pastels were Enid’s palette. Not yours.

‘’That’s not what I had in mind. Come.’’

None of the dresses you tried were to your liking. Too much tule, too itchy, too plain. You needed something that would make the whole place shimmer, to quote Enid.

Time passed and, around you, your classmates were all finding their dresses. All except you. Even Enid had found hers — a white number with a fluffy collar and cuffs. You were starting to feel defeated.

A sigh left your lips. I'll never find anythi—’’ You cut yourself, catching a velvet fabric smushed between the tule and sequins. You plucked it from the rack and held it before you.

‘’What about this one?’’

Enid stopped flicking through the dresses and turned to you, approval flashing in her eyes. ‘’Yes! This is the dress,’’ she confirmed, squealing excitedly.

*

You and Enid were getting ready for the dance in her dorm, both of your makeup bags spilled and mixed up on her bed. It was a complete mess — and will probably be staining her comforter in some places because of a missing cap on a lipstick and a broken highlighter. Sorry, Enid.

‘’If Xavier doesn't kiss you tonight, he is the dumbest guy ever. I mean, look at you. If this doesn’t push him to make a move, someone else will.’’

But I don’t want someone else, you thought to yourself as you applied a light wash of color to your cheeks.

You didn’t want to be that girl, but to your eyes there was only Xavier.

His sweet smile that never fails to make your heart swoon, those pretty green eyes you want to stare into all day, those lips you were dying to kiss and taste. The way only he knows how to make you laugh when you're sad and the warm hugs you never want to break from. He is always real and honest with you, even if his thoughts are sometimes dark. The speckles of paint on his shirts and sometimes on his school uniform — which he always needed your help to clean —, the late nights sneaking in his dorm to talk about everything and nothing.

‘’Y/N! Are you listening?’’

You pulled yourself out of your thoughts, thankful for the color on your cheeks covering your natural flush. ‘’Sorry. What did you say?’’

‘’You were thinking about him, were you?’’ Enid teased, grinning like a teenage girl in a rom-com.

‘’I was not thinking about Xavier,’’ you denied.

She scoffed. ‘’Liar.’’ Enid held up two lipsticks, asking for your input. ‘’Should I do red or pink?’’

‘’Pink.’’

*

When you entered the room of flashing lights and buzzing music, all eyes turned to you.

All except Xavier’s.

His were too busy staring at the layered white tablecloths while Bianca was talking about god knows what. Before him was an empty glass, telling you enough about the fun he was not having.

You bit back a smile, secretly happy to see he was not having fun with his date.

‘’Ohh, look, Xavier’s there,’’ Enid pointed out in the least subtle way, grabbing your arm and looking right in his direction. ‘’He polished up nice.’’

He was wearing an all white suit with a thin black bowtie and his hair was pulled back, showing off his features. You sucked in a breath, feeling butterflies in your stomach. He looked so handsome — gorgeous.

‘’I’m gonna get us some drinks.’’ You tore your eyes from Xavier and went to the table where the punch was. With luck, someone will have spiked it and it’ll give you some liquid courage for later.

As you were filling the second glass with blue smoking punch, someone came up to your side. By the whiff of their cologne, you knew immediately who it was.

‘’I thought you weren’t coming.’’

His eyes raked up and down your body and you held back a smirk. Your plan was working, the dress was working. It was nothing too revealing. You wanted to get Xavier’s attention, not get sent to your room by Principal Weems.

‘’I changed my mind.’’ You grabbed your other drink and handed Xavier the second one. ‘’Yeti-tini?’’

It was for Enid, but oh well.

Xavier accepted it with a soft dimpled smile and brought the glass to his lips. ‘’You look…’’ He swallowed hard and lowered his eyes while searching for his words. ‘’Beautiful.’’ A light flush covered his cheeks, quickly correcting himself. ‘’I mean, you look great.’’

‘’Thanks.’’ You brought your drink to your lips to hide your smile. ‘’Shouldn’t you be with your date? Bianca seems a little lonely.’’

He glanced at Bianca who was sitting alone at a table, swishing her drink in its glass out of boredom, then drew his gaze back to you. ‘’I’m not allowed to come and say ‘hi’ to my best friend?’’

Best friend. You tried not to wince.

Xavier Thorpe was the king of mixed signals. A minute ago, he was complimenting you and looking at you the way a platonic friend wouldn’t, and now he was calling you his best friend. The words hurt like a knife in your chest.

You shifted your eyes to the dancefloor and faked a gasp. ‘’I gotta go. There’s a girl code emergency. Someone is flirting with Enid and she’s giving me the help signal.’’

‘’Oh. Okay. I…I’ll see you later, then.’’

You walked away with your drink and searched for Enid. The night was off to a bad start.

*

Eventually, you got dragged to the dancefloor. Most songs the DJ was playing were normie modern pop, but you tried to not cringe too much. One would think a school like Nevermore would be into more unorthodox music, but they can’t escape the radio hits.

You were dancing with Enid and Yoko, letting go and having fun between girls when you caught sight of an upset Bianca leaving the dance and Xavier sulking in a chair. Abandoning the girls, you snaked through the crowd of students and made your way to him.

‘’I know you are Nevermore’s tortured artist, but you’re allowed to have fun once in a while. Come dance.’’ You extended your hand, waiting for him to take it.

Xavier raised an eyebrow. ‘’With you?’’

‘’Yes. I promise I won’t step on your feet.’’

He accepted your hand with a sigh and you pulled him to the dancefloor as a better song came up. A sliver of a smile curled on his lips as your back was turned to him, hidden from you.

You swayed close to him, moving your arms, hips and shoulders to the music. Xavier chuckled and followed automatically, dancing as he pleased and fully letting go. He pulled silly moves and even made you twirl, making you both laugh. A perpetual smile etched itself on your face and pieces of hair were coming loose from Xavier's hair tie, forgetting about the people around you.

The music switched to a slow song and you both stood there, not knowing what to do. His eyes flicked down to you, looking at you in a way he never had before. You've never been nervous around Xavier before. He was your comfort person, the only one who you could be unapologetically yourself with. But the way he was looking at you sent nervous butterflies in your stomach.

Your hands shaking from holding back from him. You didn't want him like a best friend anymore. You didn’t want him to touch you like a best friend anymore.

As if he had heard your thoughts, Xavier stepped closer, so close not even a sheet of paper could pass between you. So close you could smell his cologne, a mix of pine notes with a softer undernote. His hands found the courage to rest on your waist, his gentle touch sending electricity through your body. ‘’Is this okay?’’ he asked, gulping as his eyes bore into you, the close proximity making his hands sweaty and causing his heart to pick up.

You nodded. It was more than okay.

‘’Xavier?’’

He hummed, his green eyes shimmering from the mirrorballs hung to the ceiling, reflecting the party lights. You curled your fingers around one of the tails of Xavier’s bowtie, wishing you could undo it and attach your lips to his neck and fastening yourself to him like a stitch.

‘’There's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while.’’ He motioned for you to go ahead as you swayed to the slow music. You took a last breath and allowed the words to leave your lips. ‘’I...I don't want us to be friends anymore. I can't keep pretending I'm okay with us being just friends when all I think about when we're together is closing the space between us and kissing you.’’

‘’Like this?’’

Xavier leaned down and when his lips touched yours, all pieces fell into place. You melted into him and slid your hands around his neck, as if you were afraid he would break the kiss and run.

You were both out of breath when you pulled away, eyes filled with desire.

‘’I take back what I said earlier, you look fucking beautiful tonight,’’ Xavier said, his mouth overing over yours. ‘’And that dress— It's killing me.’’ His hands moved up and down your sides while his eyes stalled on the swell over your breasts. He was trying to be respectful with all the chaperon professors around, but his pants were getting a little tight.

There was absolutely no subtlety in the way you and Xavier snuck out of the room to go to his dorm. Your red dress stood out like a sore thumb among all the white.

Your dress hit the floor the moment you made it to Xavier’s dorm and remained there all night. After all, it was the reason you had bought it.

—

Xavier Thorpe taglist: @sofiaadler @partyfly @hoodforcalum @thelilacmourning @ellessecretobsession @su-alteza-emia @achoo---uu @not-leaprvt @xaviersgf @peterparkerdilf @roadworkaheadisurehopeitdoes @dragon-chica @coldtacozinepanda @wrldofsage @eddiemunsonsluvrrr @capriaura @officialsaturn @babyfiva @maevaomizzolo @kelloggs-world @whosljt @ajpanda181 @belovedrey @emerycrt @elizabitchsshit @heaven-hiding @lilithlikestoread @est-liber @moonisu @dessxoxsworld @parker-nite @bellblake121890 @vesperazhier @kaldurahms-lover @beeebo234 @nephilimsss @mayuphoenix @sweetheartlizzie07 @watermelon-18 @snixx2088 @555stargirl555 @robinscardigan @chumchum19 @lilttblog @aphex2winn @heizenka @mystargirl-interlude @hwrtsiren @babygirljay20 @wildflowerlyss @strangersomeone @openfandoms @charlottelaffin @iheartmaddyperez @starless-starkov @ali-r3n

#xavier thorpe #xavier thorpe x reader #xavier thorpe imagine #xavier thorpe x you #wednesday #wednesday netflix #percy hynes white #wednesday imagine

[nobodyfamousposts]

Felix July - Tragic

Yes, I know this is years late. I hope it's worth it.

Follow up to the Betrayal prompt and an aftermath of Party Crasher:

*Click*

With that, the call ended. Felix gave a small sigh of relief.

At least that whole mess was over with. Mostly.

He looked up at the multitude of girls appearing all too pleased.

“I expect you’ll be having quite a few tokens of appeasement waiting for you come Monday. Maybe sooner.” He stated, returning his phone to his pocket.

“Thank you, Felix.” Alya said, sounding almost downright pleasant towards him for once.

“Don’t you think that was a bit mean?” Marinette asked. “I mean, they were doing it for Adrien.”

“The problem isn’t the party for Adrien, it’s that they lied to us about it and left us with all this work to handle by ourselves in the process.” Alya countered.

Mylene nodded. “It took a lot of planning to set this whole thing up and having most of the male portion of the city duck out at the last minute for a party they just set up that day is downright rude.” She looked away, pouting and muttering something about no kisses for a week.

Marinette felt a hand on her shoulder, drawing her gaze up to Felix. “They knew they would likely cause problems by doing this and chose to do so anyway. And so they decided to lie to try to avoid being caught. Whatever happens is a direct result of their actions, regardless of the supposed goodness of their reasons.”

“You’re saying that because they left you to nearly get your eyes clawed out.” Marinette pointed out.

His eye twitched. “But am I wrong?”

Well, he really wasn’t…

“Still…” She remained uncertain.

“They could have just invited Adrien and his bodyguard to help out here rather than start a party.” Rose pointed out.

“And leave all the work for us.” Alya added—because yes, she was still bitter about that.

“I still say we should use them as fertilizer.” Alix grumbled.

“Girls, this is a community project, meant to be for the community, not made up of the community.” Mylene reasoned.

“Even if they deserve it.” Juleka snarked, also still miffed and unwilling to let it go.

Rose smiled, beaming. “Still, that girls’ party sounds like a good idea.”

“It’d be a nice reward after all this.” Mylene agreed.

“Not to mention a nice petty revenge at the boys.” Alix said with a grin.

Marinette laughed, seeming relieved with the peaceful solution. “Better than killing them, at any rate.”

Felix clapped his hands, seemingly nonchalant.

“Well then, I hope you all have fun.” And with that, he turned to walk away.

Only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder and a smiling Alya.

…he did not like that smile. Not one bit.

The increasing grip on his being only added to his trepidation.

Alya, naturally, had no concern for this.

“Don’t say that, Felix! You’re coming too.”

A pause.

“What?”

____________

The week passed in relative normalcy. Emphasis on “relative” as it did still involve the drama of half of his classmates cowering and/or groveling before the other half. As well as much bemoaning, harrumphing, occasional begging, and the daily occurrence of walking into the classroom to be greeted by the sight of an array of flowers, candy, and gift baskets on the desks of one or more of the girls in the class each time he entered.

But it was surprisingly akuma-free, so Felix would consider it normal. An odd sort of normal, but normal nonetheless. It was nice. Peaceful, even.

…if not for the sense of impending doom he could feel creeping on him the more of the week that passed and the closer they got to the weekend—and the time of the planned “party”.

Felix knew that going to the party would be a bad idea. And not just because it was a girls’ slumber party. Or one that the girls in his class were throwing out of sheer spite due to the impromptu party the boys had thrown without them when they were supposed to be working together on that community project. Or because the girls in question had previously threatened his eyes. It was partly due to those things, certainly, but not solely.

He simply did not want to go. Period.

But like with many things in his life, Felix‘s feelings weren’t so much overlooked as they were completely disregarded.

Going to a party for the girls was not something Felix had any interest in. He wasn’t a people person in the first place and a slumber party with a number of teenage females was far from his idea of a good time, regardless of what his peers may believe. Furthermore, he was sure there were rules—or were SUPPOSED to be rules concerning the presence of boys at such things.

But apparently this was his punishment for his part in Lahiffe’s plot. Despite the fact he’d had no interest or involvement in that either. And had even been the one to explain what was going on.

Truly life was cruel.

Or maybe it was just Cesaire trying to make him miserable.

...considering the gleeful smirk on her face when she informed him of this decision, he was inclined to believe the latter.

“Don’t worry, Felix! It’ll be fun!” Assured Adrien Agreste, who was apparently either completely ignorant of what was to come or was simply a masochist.

And no, the fact that he would not be suffering this torment alone was no comfort.

“I’m so excited!” Agreste squeed—actually squeed the way the boy’s own fangirls did. Felix wanted to die from embarrassment on his behalf. 

“I know! I can’t wait!” Agreed Whayhem Marot, whom Felix was sure would enjoy the event regardless simply as long as Agreste was there.

Felix twitched.

Why was he the only one who recognized it as the punishment it was? Even the other males in the class seemed to see this as a desirable or dare he even say enviable circumstance.

“Felix. Bro. We got to talk.”

Case in point: Nino Lahiffe as he grabbed Felix and dragged him across the courtyard to some impromptu meeting with the other idiotic males of the class. And Couffaine.

This was his life now, apparently.

“What is it?” Felix demanded. Demanded quite reasonably, in his opinion—given the grabbing and the forced interaction.

“Dude. While you’re there, don’t be looking at my girl.” Lahiffe warned him. Backed by the other relationship-bound males in the class whom were also giving him stern looks and nodding in agreement in defense of their respective girlfriends and girl friends.

Not that Felix had any interest in observing any of the aforementioned females in states of undress. And again, didn’t want to be there to begin with.

“But get pictures. We need pics, man!”

He wasn’t sure he would be able to be able to take pictures at all with the girls watching him. Much less take pictures of anyone when he wasn’t allowed to look at them.

“And details!”

“Yeah!”

More to the point...

Felix raised a hand in exasperation. “There are two problems with this. The first being that I don’t know anything about slumber parties.”

“It’s…y’know. Slumber. And parties.” Lahiffe frowned before turning to the others. “Guys, back me up!”

“I have compiled a list of top activities that tend to take place at slumber parties, along with their detailed explanations for your purposes.” Kante offered, holding out a ream of papers clipped together that could practically be its own book.

Felix shoved it back to the shorter boy with a glare.

“The second problem is that I don’t care.”

“Man, seriously?” Le Chien demanded, as if the reason Felix should want to go was supposed to be obvious. “This is a party! With girls!”

A pause.

Felix raised an eyebrow.

“...And?”

Le Chien scratched his head. “That’s…kind of supposed to be the reason.”

He turned away. “And I’m done here.”

Frustratingly, Lahiffe blocked his way.

“Come on, Felix! Adrien is going! Would you really let Adrien go to a girls’ party all alone?”

“Yes.” He replied without even the slightest hesitation.

If it was his choice, who was Felix to interfere? Or be needed to put himself at risk? Because that was the difference—Agreste actually WANTED to go and possibly meet death. A brutal, painful, burning, scarring death.

“Dude! You’re really just going to leave Adrien on his own?”

“I fail to see how that would be my problem.”

Or why they weren’t bugging Agreste about getting these desired ‘pics’.

“Besides, Marot is going so he won’t be ‘alone’, as you say.” Felix stated, even going so far as to make ‘quotation’ gestures for emphasis.

Lahiffe coughed. “Wayhem is…cool and all. But he’s a fanboy! And about as innocent as Adrien is!”

“Then they can learn together. Starting with why adolescent males should not be at slumber parties with adolescent females.”

“Oh come on, do you really think those two would do anything?” Le Chien questioned.

He said that like anyone would think Agreste and Marot would be the ones to worry about instead of the victims.

Felix expected that there would be bodybags.

…he expected one of those bags to be his own.

But on that note…

“Why isn’t Couffaine going?” He asked, gesturing to the musician who had apparently stopped by to drop off a delivery for the girls that likely had to do with the party in question.

Because surely, surely he of all people wouldn’t have earned the girls’ ire.

“Because Luka joined the guys’ party.”

Felix shot Luka a withering look.

“You disappoint me.”

Luka smiled, nervous and apologetic. “Sorry.”

“Make no mistake.” Felix stated, turning back to the others. “If I had any say in the matter, I would not be going to this party. At all.”

“Too bad you don’t have a choice!” Cesaire chirped, coming upon the group with a vicious smirk that made the other males scramble away like the dirty cowards they were. “We’ll be set for the night and you’re not allowed to run. Or we will know.”

Felix sighed.

How they had gotten his mother on board with this, he had no idea.

“This is a punishment, isn’t it?“

“What?” Cesaire fake gasped. “You’re going to be spending the night with a bunch of pretty girls, eating plenty of junk food and baked goods, and having tons of fun! How is that a punishment?“ She asked, fluttering her eyes at him.

Felix glared at her, unimpressed.

“I despise fun.”

“Careful Felix.” She said all too sweetly. “I would almost think you were rejecting our kind offer.“

Ah, yes. The “kind offer“ to not claw out his eyes at the low cost of one night of humiliation and degradation that would no doubt be used to haunt him for the rest of his life.

...he could learn Braille.

________________

The night of the party came, and at late afternoon, Felix was “escorted” to Le Grand Paris.

And by “escorted”, he meant “kidnapped”.

Not that his mother cared.

“Goodbye, Felix!” She called out, waving happily while seemingly ignoring the fact that he was literally being dragged away. “I’ll see you in the morning! Have fun!”

Evil woman. Evil vile woman.

“Come on, Felix! You don’t want to be late!” Cesaire said, all too cheerfully.

“I could just not go.” He muttered. He could very well hide out under a bridge. That would be unpleasant for the night, but still better than what was to come.

“How cute! He thinks he has a choice!” Cesaire cooed as she and Kubdel each stood on either side of him—likely to prevent him from escaping.

He gave her a flat glare. “Die. Die and come back as something pleasant.”

Cesaire just grinned smugly. Kubdel, for her part, rolled her eyes but went along with Cesaire.

It was clear there would be no avoiding this. All Felix could do was accept his fate and begrudgingly walk with the girls to the car that would be taking them to the party.

The only good thing to come of this was that Rossi would not be in attendance as she had not helped out with the volunteer project either.

Though Felix suspected that was just the official excuse so as to prevent discord during the night between Dupain-Cheng and Rossi…

…as well as prevent him from following through on his threat to jump out the first window available, regardless of relative distance to the ground.

You win this round, gravity.

“Hi, Felix!” Agreste greeted as Felix and his “escorts” entered the car.

Felix merely grunted in acknowledgment as the doors closed and his moving tomb started to head towards their destination.

Somehow, though for the life of him he would never understand precisely how, the girls had managed to convince Agreste’s anal-retentive father to consent to his son going to an all-girls’ slumber party.

Which would quite frankly be a miracle in and of itself. Felix has heard enough of the man over the years to know that this should have been an impossible feat. Even if Gabriel Agreste was the sort of man to believe in something as asinine as “fun”, no sensible parent would want to allow males at a sleepover comprising mostly of teenage daughters. And while Felix did question Mr. Agreste’s precise position on the line between “sensible” and “idiotic”, he had been sure that even that man would know better—if only to protect his slowly dying business from the scandal of his son spending a night with a bunch of girls.

Felix suspected some form of blackmail may have been involved.

Or mind control.

Agreste was clearly excited, practically bouncing in his seat. “This will be my first sleepover!”

“Mine too!” Merot chimed in.

It would be Felix’s as well, but that hardly meant it was a life goal and for the life of him, Felix didn’t understand why anyone would think it should be.

As the others continued chatting, Felix was contemplating the pros and cons of jumping out of a moving vehicle. They weren’t going too quickly. Maybe if he ducked and rolled? Or waited until it came to a complete stop?

Either fortunately or not, his contemplations were cut short as they had rather quickly arrived at the destination.

The Grand Hotel.

“It was really nice of Chloe’s Dad to let us have the party here!” Adrien said cheerfully.

Alya smiled.

Felix did not trust that smile. At all.

While none of the girls explained how they had gotten permission to use the hotel main event room for this party, Felix highly suspected that Mayor Bourgeois’s unusual acquiesce to their request had less to do with any good will than it did the very real threat that the girls involved were classmates of his daughter and could easily tell her that he had gone to that party at the mansion.

Adrien’s mansion.

Adrien. Her “best friend”.

A party SHE was not invited to.

To say she would be furious would be an understatement. And the fact that he had managed to keep his involvement secret from her was impressive in its own right. And maybe it would have worked out for him if Cesaire wasn’t involved and looking for vengeance.

Felix sympathized somewhat with the man. Only somewhat because….well…a grown man—and an easily recognizable politician at that? Going to that party was still an incredibly stupid thing to do. Not to mention somewhat creepy.

Andre Bourgeois seemed to think Felix was a kindred spirit as he smiled shakily at the boy, as if looking for some sympathy.

Or perhaps silently praying for him.

Felix would take the latter. He’d need all the help he could get to make it through this night.

The event room in question where the sleepover would be taking place was one of the hotel’s executive suites. There was a central room as well as two side bedrooms and a separate kitchen area. Not that Felix expected there to be much cooking if the laptop Haprele was opening up to the selection of a nearby pizzeria was any indication.

Lavillant and the younger Couffaine were already present and arranging the food and plates. Kubdel seemed to be setting up the television for various video games and movies.

Which left…

“Sorry I’m late!” Dupain-Cheng’s arrival was announced with an apology and a bang as she tried to open the door while holding several boxed of what he reasonably assumed were various pastries.

And with that, the gang was all here.

“Oh, let me help you with that, Marinette!” Agreste offered.

Felix prepared to step in himself. Knowing that girl’s crush, him coming closer to her would make her more likely to drop her cargo than help.

But he hadn’t needed to.

“No worries! I’ve got it!” Came a cheerful voice as another girl came in from behind her. She had tan skin and short red hair. And she seemed muscled, so the multitude of packages alongside her own bags were no trouble to her.

“Thanks, Odine!” Dupain-Cheng said, looking relieved.

Oh right. He remembered now. That girl was Le Chein’s girlfriend, Odine Soares. But why was she there?

As if sensing his confusion, Cesaire smirked. “Odine was invited to our party since she was also left out of the boys’.”

Soares settled the cartons on the table with a huff. “That was a real jerk move of the boys to make excuses to bail on their commitment, and I didn’t appreciate Kim using our swim sessions as a part of their excuse.” She turned to the others with a smile. “I do appreciate the invite though.”

Felix held up his hand. “Well, if this counts as an additional person for a party with limited room, it would be remiss of me to not give my place to someone more deserving—”

Cesaire grabbed his sleeve to keep him from his less than casual move for the door. Thankfully not his arm or they would likely have had a problem. “Oh come on, Felix!” She said, her grin a bit too wide to be innocent. “There’s no need for that!”

“I beg to differ. You just have fun and—”

The door closed behind him. The slam as clear as his own death knell.

“We insist.” Cesaire stated, her words clearly a warning.

Felix sighed and reluctantly moved to place his bags in the side room designated for the boys. When he returned, he found the girls in a discussion over horror movies or video games. With little option and wanting to open himself up to as little drama as possible, he chose to sit next to Agreste and Merot on the couch. His only allies for this mess of a night. 

“This is going to be fun!”

“I know, right?”

…

…

…

…it seemed his allies had already fallen.

Felix was on his own.

___________________

The sleepover started simply enough.

Pizza was ordered. Soda was poured. Popcorn was popped and promptly somehow simultaneously fought over and used as ammo. Candy was shared.

They started with some Mecha Strike which all of them played—except for Dupain-Cheng, who was apparently banned due to her “mad skillz”. They played in teams that eventually came out with Lavillant and Felix as the winners—which he wasn’t at all smug about no matter Cesiare’s claim.

Then the girls insisted on a dance game. Felix, understandably, chose to sit out. To his surprise, Dupain-Cheng chose to sit out with him as well.

Or maybe it wasn’t that much of a surprise, given her natural clumsiness. No doubt it would be exacerbated due to the presence of her crush.

Still, that she chose to keep him company in his “dark and dreary” corner of the room (Cesaire’s words, not his) was…kind.

“Enjoying yourself?” She asked, polite and considerate and everything he absolutely did not need right now.

He looked away, irritated. Seeing his expression, she frowned and sat next to him.

“I’m sorry you were dragged into this.” She said quietly. “I know this isn’t your idea of a good time.”

She wasn’t wrong. Felix’s idea of a good time was probably the exact opposite of the current situation. Somewhere quiet and alone. Likely his room with a book and some tea.

It was nice that someone at least recognized that. Not that it made a difference.

“I don’t blame you.” He assured her, insomuch that at least it wasn’t her he blamed. She could probably tell that much from the glare he sent towards Cesaire at her place on the couch and cheering on Agreste and Merot’s tag team in the dance game.

Oh yes, HER, he did blame. 

As if feeling his glare on her, she turned to look at him and wagged her eyebrows in his direction.

He resisted the urge to make a profane gesture.

“Honestly, I think they’re just trying to stick it to the other boys for ditching us to throw a party where we’re specifically not invited.” Dupain-Cheng explained. 

It wasn’t necessary for her to try to explain it away. Maybe she could convince someone who didn’t know better, but Felix knew full well that this was more than vengeance against the rest of their male classmates. Cesaire was taking full advantage of the opportunity to vex him as well.

But he would be magnanimous and refrain from pointing that out because she sounded a bit miffed about the whole prior incident and he wasn’t about to try and deny her her right to her fury over the matter.

Dupain-Cheng continued, smiling at him. “Since you at least stuck to your word and told us the truth about what was going on, this is kind of a reward.”

“But for whom? Because from my perspective, this is simply a punishment all around.” He bit out.

Marinette smiled. “But Nino and the guys won’t see it that way.”

Ah, yes. The adolescent male mind would no doubt see entry into this event as a privilege and something to envy.

That’s because they didn’t know better.

No doubt they simply thought of it as scantily clad girls sleeping together or whatever else their hormone-driven brains could imagine.

The truth was that it would be more embarrassing and aggravating than anything. Humiliating. Potentially traumatizing. And may very well end in death—most likely his own.

Felix wondered if letting the other males keep that foolish image would make this night worth it.

…it wouldn’t. He knew it wouldn’t. But he would still keep quiet about it because he blamed them almost as much as he blamed Cesaire since they started this mess in the first place.

And Felix deserved something today.

In his ruminations, Dupain-Cheng had left him to his thoughts, though only for a short time. A little while later, she had returned with some hot herbal tea.

It didn’t make him feel better about what this night would bring.

But it helped.

___________________

It wasn’t long before the group had gotten worn out from the more active video games and had turned to less active and more personal time.

The girls had sat in a circle, back to front. For…simultaneous hair-styling, apparently. They had a number of hairbands, clips, head pieces, and decorations with which to adorn each other while they talked and gossiped. Agreste and Merot excitedly joined them in the circle as well.

“Felix! You should join!” Agreste invited.

“Yeah,” Cesaire said with what could only be an evil smirk. “There’s a spot for your right here!” She patted the space in front of her.

Felix gave her a dry glare. “You’re not subtle, Cesaire. I know better than to trust you anywhere near my hair.”

She pouted but turned to Dupain-Cheng instead.

Felix watched in some limited amusement at the mixture of decent styles and outright monstrosities that were born of the styling circle. Agreste ended up with his hair covered in pink clips by an overly enthusiastic Lavillant. Merot ended up with wild streaks from Kubdel and…wow, he was glad he didn’t join. He hadn’t thought they’d bring hair dye.

Cesaire, much to his vindication, ended up with her hair looking somewhat akin to a hydra after Merot separated her hair into a number of separate mismatched asymmetrical ponytails and then used hair spray to keep them in place. Whatever hairstyle the boy had been going for had failed atrociously, but they seemed to get a good laugh out of it…and only convinced Felix all the more that he was right to avoid it altogether.

If only he would be able to avoid the next activity.

Because then came THE game. The one Felix knew was coming. The one he dreaded.

“Truth or Dare~!”

Was it too late to jump out the window?

He glanced over, seriously considering it. They were only a few floors off the ground. Just 10 or 12. It wasn’t that much, right? He could make it.

Or he would fall into the sweet, sweet embrace of death and never have to experience another night like this.

Unfortunately, Kubdel and Lavillant blocked the path to the window—likely the former knowing more of his plan than the latter, who just smiled at him innocently and asked if he wanted to sit next to her for the game.

“Of course he would!”

Before he could even speak, Cesaire had reached an arm around his shoulders and “guided” him to the circle where everyone was now facing the center and preparing to play.

“I can escape.” He hissed to her. “Don’t think I wouldn’t.”

“Oh sure, you could.” She whispered back in agreement.  Then she smirked. “And what a shame that would be. Marinette would be disappointed. I guess this would leave me with no choice but to distract her from your absence and use this opportunity to continue Operation Adrinette and all of us would be free to ask Adrien so many questions about who he likes.” 

Something about that struck him as more distasteful than remaining at the party and taking part in the game.

And given the way she was looking at him, Cesaire knew it, too.

“Plus you’ll have to go home sooner or later.” She added with a smirk. “And your mother is going to want all the details of her son’s ‘first sleepover’. Imagine her disappointment if she finds out you ditched us?”

…vile girl.

“Fine.” He hissed, moving to join the ‘Circle of Friendship’.

Most of the group seem elated as he sat among them. Kubdel was snickering. Lavillant looked on the verge of squealing. Agreste and Merot smiled at him with their ignorant, oblivious, innocent eyes.

Dupain-Cheng looked nervous. Understandable, given the nature of the game they were about to play and her history of embarrassment at the hands of her so-called ‘friends’. Something that a game like this would only open her up for in spades.

If nothing else, he supposed he could at least try to help spare her the death of embarrassment. If only to spare himself the same.

The first rounds were simple, silly things.

“What was your worst akuma?”

“I dare you to impersonate Hawk Moth!”

“Try to pun like Chat Noir!”

At least Cesaire was keeping to her word with him there, as she had yet to try any of her silly matchmaking shenanigans. And the other girls seemed to be following her lead, as none of them did anything of the sort either.

Then of course, came the inevitable…

“Felix! Truth or Dare?” Lavillant asked cheerfully.

He immediately felt his back straighten.

She was cheerful. And out of all the classmates, the girl was the most kind—seemingly. But also the most naive and impressionable. Cesaire could have put her up to something.

But she wouldn’t willingly make him do anything she knew would hurt him, right?

He felt a grin from the side and resolutely chose to not look at Cesaire.

“Dare.” He said. Against all better judgement.

“I dare you…” Lavillant said, drawing it out as she seemed to be trying to think of something.

“To style Juleka’s hair!”

He blinked.

“Come again?”

“You didn’t get to take part in the hairstyle circle so it’s only fair!” She insisted.

“Yeah!”

“Style something for us, Felix!”

“Use your modeling skills!”

…well, that wasn’t so bad, at least.

“Fine.” He agreed, rolling up his sleeves. All the better to get this over with quickly. And with as little fuss as possible.

“You okay with this, Felix?” Dupain-Cheng asked. At least she was kind enough to have some concern for his comfort. He wasn't fond of touching people, after all.

He shrugged.

“It could be worse. They could have me shirtless and serving them drinks.”

A pause.

A long pause.

“Can I change my dare?”

“No.” He replied immediately.

#ml fic #felix culpa #felix july #felix month 2019 #marinette dupain cheng #alya cesaire #in which alya is evil #and having too much fun #adrien is obivious #only felix understands #and suffers #felix suffers

[myangelhaven]

This is my recommendations of FELIX fics! It will be updated once in a while for new stories I have read. Hopefully the links work (lemme know if it doesnt)

Credits to the authors!! All informations written are taken from the authors' post and has not been modified. Reminder that some fics are NOT for minors, so please read the key and avoid 18+ contents.

HAPPY READING!!

KEY:

[❀]: fluff [𖤓]: angst [☄]: sad [☾]:smut [⟡]:smau [✮]: my favs

˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖✮---------------FELIX--------------✮˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖

ONESHOT

ten things lee felix says when he thinks you’re asleep by @soobnny [❀]

i love you with all the flowers bloom in spring by @starlostseungmin

If the world was ending by @astraystayyh [❀][𖤓][childhood bff2l]

Felix has always been there with you, from the moment you've met him when you were 8 years old, until he suddenly no longer was, and you were left to grapple with the consequences of his absence- and those of his return.

subtext by @forlix [❀][f2l][streamerau] 1.1k NEW

in which you forget that your hot housemate follows you on twitter.

Forever date by @straylightdream [❀][☾] 1.5k NEW

He tries to show he would be an amazing wedding date, and show you why he’s the perfect guy.

I love you with all the flowers bloom in spring by @starlostseungmin [𖤓][☄][unrequitedlove] 1.8k

felix suffers from hanahaki disease

Plush by @charmercharm3r [𖤓][☾][stuffedtoy fcking] 2.1k NEW

These walls are too thin for someone like Felix.

Listen by @jonespicy [❀][☾][intruderxvictim]["stalking"] 2.2k NEW

Fall from heaven with me by @jonespicy [☾][demonxangelau] 2.4k

Dick boy by @xxsanshinexx [❀][soulmateau] 3.8k NEW

Your soulmate just wouldn’t stop drawing dicks on your arm

React by @blossomwritesthings [𖤓][☾][✮][estranged relationship] 4.3k NEW

in all of the time that you've dated him, felix has never dropped the innocent, flower boy persona that he's known for. but perhaps, you'll finally be the one to crack him open to show who he truly is underneath all of the softness and glitter.

That hufflepuff boy by @kkami-writes [❀][𖤓][☾][a2l][hogwartsau][mutual pining] 5.1k

The moment you stepped into the halls of Hogwarts your classmates had deemed you as the princess of slytherin, a title you learned to hate. If only they knew that the cold, seemingly proper girl was absolutely head over heels for Hufflepuff's resident sunshine boy, Lee Felix.

Out With The Old, In With The New by @imagine-a-life-like-this [❀][☄][✮] 7.5k

they've been together for years when Felix admits that he's fallen in love with someone else. but what happens when he realizes he lost his true love for a moment of curiosity?

Hold on tight by @j-0ne25 [❀][𖤓][☾][e2l][cosplay] 8.5k NEW

You can't believe your eyes when you spot your rival at the video game convention that you have been looking forward to for months. You want to be furious, really, but what happens when he's suddenly totally kind and a little too flirty with you, after he realises the both of you are unintentionally attending the event in matching cosplays?

Hey, hey, golden boy! By @staysuki [❀][𖤓][f2l][mutual pining] 11k

deep down you knew that things won't always be the same as it was when you were kids. as you grew up, felix became more and more popular compared to you, who remained invisible in the crowd. although you took this as a sign of drifting apart and denying your feelings for your childhood bestfriend, felix did not.

Anything for you by @luvknow [❀][✮][f2l] 11.2k

felix’s family owns the largest restaurant franchise in the country and your family works under them. you two have spent your entire lives together and somehow you’ve turned into mini versions of your parents with a boss and secretary type relationship. it wasn’t until last year on his birthday when he tells you he loves you while drunk that your friendship dynamic dramatically changes, and it’s not for the better when he pretends it never happened.

Caramel Popcorn by @staytheword [❀][☾][✮][pining][fwb] 11.5k NEW

You are Changbin's fuck buddy. You two are just friends, but you are still something. Felix shouldn't have a crush on you. He still does.a

Solace by @fizzydrink698 [❀][childhood friends to lovers] 11.9k

You slowly opened your eyes, holding your breath.

Felix was sleepily smiling at you, eyes half-closed and dazed. He clearly wasn’t entirely lucid yet, still completely unaware, but he was still looking at you with so much affection.

Your breath escaped in a sudden rush, unable to stop yourself looking up at him.

Oh shit, his eyelashes. His freckles. So pretty.

Young & beautiful by @missinghan [❀][𖤓][zombieapocalypseau] 13.1k

you’ve always thought your soulmate was an idiot to not be there sooner but eventually, everything connects when it started with Lee Felix holding your best friend at gunpoint. 

Sugar sugar by @hyunnows [❀][𖤓][✮][exes2lovers][slowburn] 23.7k

Teamed up for the annual Bake-Offs, your ex-boyfriend Felix and you have to work together to win while rediscovering your past love for each other.

SERIES

Happy death day by @staysuki [❀][𖤓][⟡][✮][e2l][f2l][suggestive] 41 parts

rich yet down-to-earth. devilishly handsome yet an angelic sweetheart. before you transferred to your new university, lee "yongbok" had already established a fine reputation for himself—beloved by everyone, a personality that can bring world peace. but something seems off—because you've definitely seen him before, and he's not as sweet as he makes himself out to be.

⠄･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄more to come!⠄･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄

☆-------------------skz masterlist-------------------☆

#skz masterlist #felix x reader #skz recs #felix recs

[ravennm84]

Lila’s Karen Moment

This is a story that I’ve been kicking around for a while, thinking of Lila having a moment where she’s in a bad mood and takes her anger out on someone, not knowing that the person is closely connected to her classmates. And... I just love writing “Lila gets exposed” stories. Warm-Fuzzies and please enjoy!!

Most of the class knew about Max’s cousin, Nick. They had been raised in the same apartment building and absolutely adored each other. Although Nick was a couple years older, he had been diagnosed with autism when he was four years old. Which wasn’t to say he was slow, just a little different. Mostly, Nick was shy and wouldn’t talk to people he wasn’t familiar with. He had a hard time looking people in the eye and didn’t understand social cues.

Still, the class, at least those who had grown up around him, knew just how sweet and caring he was; and how open he could be with people he knew. Kim and Alix would include him in their races, knowing how much fun he had running with them. Nathaniel would do drawings of Nick as a superhero, saving the day and protecting Max, which always put a smile on his face. Nino had a playlist with a bunch of show tunes, Nick was a big fan of Phantom of the Opera and Fiddler on the Roof. Marinette taught him how to do paper folding when they were younger, and he soon became better at it than she was. Even Chloe had a soft spot for Nick after he had bashfully given her a rose made of gold paper and said she was a ‘pretty princess’.

But none of the class cared as much as Max. He would go over to his cousin’s apartment every day in the morning to make sure he got up. Tell him stories about the class and show Nick pictures. Heck, one of the reasons he had invented Markov was to create someone to be a companion for Nick, so he would never be alone. Nick had a tendency to wander off when he was bored or saw something interesting. The few times Max, his mom, or Nick’s parents had lost sight of him; they had gone into total panic attacks. Only for Nick to find his way back to them a few hours later. If Nick had a little companion robot like Markov, it would be a lot safer for him.

So, when Max's aunt asked him if he could have an activity day with Nick, he was all for it. When he told the class, they decided to have a picnic for Nick. They had all been busy lately, it had been a while since they last saw him.

It was a beautiful day at the park. Nino had a full playlist ready to go, along with new songs from Hamilton and Six, he had a feeling Nick would like Haus of Holbein. Marinette had brought all his favorite pastries and a couple new ones he might like, making sure they were organized by size. Even Chloe had come, having Sabrina bring a ream of multicolored paper, perfect for folding. 

As soon as Max, Nick, and Markov arrived, there were good vibes all around. Kim and Alix raced laps with him around the fountain until Kim tripped and fell into the water; big smile from Nick. When No Way played, Nick had Nino put it on repeat over and over until everyone was singing it. When Rose and Juleka got there, they had been running late; Nick came behind the goth and started braiding her hair. He loved touching her hair and had done this many times before. Rose would always watch carefully and would gently tell him if he pulled too much.

Nick was in the middle of creating an entire boutique of paper flowers when the akuma alert went off. Alarms were always too much for Nick and before anyone could stop him, he had covered his ears and ran down the sidewalk. Markov followed as best as his little propeller would let him, but fell behind. 

Even as the swarm of magical ladybugs swept across the sky a few minutes later, signaling the end of the attack, Nick didn't slow down. He only stopped after he ran head first into a familiar girl wearing twin ponytails and an orange blazer. Both teenagers fell to the ground with Nick cowering and quietly apologizing, while Lila glared at the boy. Markov, to his credit, recognized her expression as hostile and began recording in case something happened. And boy, did it.

"You stupid, clumsy retard! What the hell are you doing?" Lila screamed as she stood over the cowering boy. 

"I… I-"

*smack*

Nick curled into a ball on the ground, scared and in pain from the unexpected strike. 

"Shut up, you don't get to talk. Retards like you aren't allowed to talk. How did you even get out of your ward? Things like you should be locked up since your parents weren't smart enough to drop you off a cliff." 

*smack*

Another cry and Lila kicked him out of the way with her boot, grumbling as she walked off that her outfit got dirty and scuffed. Not once did she bother to look up and see Markov hovering above them. The little robot stopped recording and floated down to comfort Nick while sending their coordinates to Max. 

Ten minutes later, the class and Max were gently leading his cousin back to the park. He was shocked and angry to see the bruises and nail marks on Nick's cheek. The marks meant that they weren't the result of the akuma attack. Those would have been healed by the miraculous cure. This would have been done by someone else after the initial attack. Marinette had rushed home to grab a medical kit while the others did their best to cheer Nick up. It wasn’t until Marinette got back that Markov was able to get everyone's attention.

"Max, I was able to record the interaction that resulted in your cousin’s injuries. Including the identity of his attacker. Would you like to see it?"

After Nick was properly distracted by Marinette and Nathaniel showing him a new paper folding technique, and moving a small distance so he wouldn't hear, Markov played it. The class looked on in absolute shock and disgust as they watched their "friend" verbally and physically attack one of the kindest, sweetest people they knew. 

After watching it a second time, to convince themselves that it really was Lila, they went ballistic! Nino was on the phone with Alya, telling her what he'd just seen. Max was angry-dialing his aunt and mother to tell them what happened, Markov had already forwarded the video to his email to send to the adults. Rose and Juleka displayed a surprising amount of strength as they kept Kim and Alix from hunting Lila down themselves. Sabrina had called her father to report the assault. Chloe was also on the phone with her father, demanding that he have the Rossi family kicked out of Paris immediately. 

~oOo~

Lila was beyond annoyed by the time she stomped into her family's apartment. First, her akumatization failed and she was turned back to normal after just a few minutes. That mangy cat even had the audacity to compare her to the fanatic bird guy. Then she got knocked down by some pathetic boy who couldn't even apologize right. She was so angry that she ended up slapping him a couple times before kicking him out of the way. And, just her luck, her phone got damaged from the fall.

When she got home, she barely made the effort to wave at her mom in the kitchen before going to her room. After changing into a new outfit, Lila took a few minutes to think up a good story as to how her phone was damaged and reasons why she needed the newest model to replace it. When she heard her mom talking to someone, she figured she was talking to her father over Zoom. He was back at his school in Italy. Maybe she could convince him to side with her for a new phone. 

However, she was met by two police officers that greeted her by name. Lila didn't get the chance to say anything before the men were arresting her for assault. Her cries went to deaf ears as she was taken away with her mother following them to the station. Even there, she had no chance to spin her lies as her mother and lawyer kept telling her to shut up. The only times they demanded she speak were to questions she didn't want to answer. 

Why did you hit a stranger who accidentally knocked you down? 

Silence.

You were akumatized? How could you not tell me? 

Silence.

How are you already back to normal? You told me how those useless, fake heroes take weeks to defeat a single akuma. 

Not so silent. 

It was the police that indignantly corrected Greta Rossi that time. For a few minutes they were going back and forth while Lila stewed between the four angry adults. She really wished that an akuma would come to her, but none came. Unknown to her; Ladybug, Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Pegasus were all camped out on the surrounding buildings to keep that from happening. They'd already spotted and caught three butterflies. 

Eventually, Lila was released into the custody of her mother, but was warned that they should expect to be contacted with a court date very soon. The entire way home, Greta was yelling and berating her daughter for not only physically and verbally attacking someone who accidentally bumped into her, but lying about the akuma situation. She already planned on personally escorting Lila to school on Monday to have an in depth discussion with her teacher and principal. Lila pleaded with her mother to just listen to her, but Greta wasn't about to fall for any more of her daughter's lies.

~oOo~

Monday turned out to be even worse for Lila with all her diseases and attendance issues coming out during the meeting at school. As well as the incident with Marinette. She tried to cry and tell her side of the story; but her mother, the principal, or Marinette would contradict her with facts. This left more lies exposed, giving her another six months of being grounded without an allowance, and the possibility of an expulsion from school. 

Marinette was soon excused back to class. Lila was formally suspended for three weeks, would have to finish the school year with her class, and then repeat the academic year. If she wasn't expelled, that is. Lila was in tears as she pleaded with the two adults, begging them to just give her detention and summer school instead of holding her back a year. It didn't work. 

Eventually, Lila was sent out of the room and left sulking in the hallway. It was just her luck that Max, Nathaniel, and Kim were going to the library to work on a research paper. The three boys scowled at her, she didn't bother to hide her glare today. When they stopped close to her, she sneered harder. 

"What do you freaks want?" She snapped. 

*SMACK*

Lila cradled her reddening cheek in shock. The other two boys were just as surprised as they stared at Max as he casually adjusted his glasses.  "I would like to state that under normal circumstances, I would never strike another person. I prefer to fight my battles with intelligence and wit rather than my fists." Then his lens glinted, giving him a menacing look. "But then you attacked my cousin. You hit him, called him disgusting names, and then kicked him out of the way like garbage."

Lila sputtered in shock for a moment before snarling at the boy. "Like that even matters. I'll get you expelled for hitting-"

"I can guarantee you that I will never face any consequences for what I just did." Max said, walking forward as he spoke and forcing Lila to back into the wall. "You have already been exposed as a liar, so no one will believe you. The cameras for this hallway are currently malfunctioning. I have no record of violence, ever. And I have witnesses that will support that I never laid a finger on you. If you tried to tell anyone, there's a 99.874% chance that they would say you're lying."

Kim shrugged as he looked at the two of them. "I didn't see anything."

Nathaniel looked surprisingly smug as he said, "I bet she made it up as a way to get back at the family that's suing her. Even the mark on her face, I bet she did it to herself. And it's not the first time she faked an injury to get someone in trouble."

Leaning even closer, and despite being several centimeters shorter than her, Lila felt very belittled by the boy. Since when was Max this intimidating?

"Consider this your first, last, and only warning. If you ever try to hurt my family or friends again, I will ruin you. You don't need to answer me now, I'll be watching."

Then, the three of them walked away, like they hadn't just threatened her! Like she was nothing to them! Just like… like she'd done to Marinette. Gritting her teeth, Lila wanted nothing more than to go after those boys and destroy them!

In the span of a single weekend, Max had been able to record her without her knowledge. Got her arrested for assault. Fired from Gabriel since the brand couldn’t be associated with someone who beat an autistic boy. Suspended from school, likely expelled. And most of her lies were exposed to her mother. Still, she wasn't about to let some nerd with no fashion sense get the best of her!

Lila was trying to decide the best way to get her revenge when her mother came stomping out of the principal's office. Cursing at her in rapid Italian the entire time, Greta dragged Lila out of the school. All the way home she tried to tell her mother about Max slapping her just outside the office and how they tormented her, saying that no one would believe her. 

"Will you stop, already?" Greta screamed at her daughter, catching Lila by surprise. "What makes you think, after everything you've done, that I would believe anything you say?"

"But-"

"No, I am done listening to your lies. Even if some stranger came up to me and said you stole their soul from them, I would believe that person over you."

"I'm not lying! Look! Max left a mark where he slapped me!" She screamed back, pointing at the slightly red cheek.

"After what Marinette told me, it wouldn't surprise me if you did it to yourself as a way to try and get out of trouble."

"But, Mom!"

"I don't want to hear it!"

Lila couldn't believe it, the one time she was telling the truth and her own mother didn't believe her… just like Max said. After arriving back at their apartment, Lila was put on house arrest. She would be forced to study under a very strict tutor until the suspension and trial were finished. After that, she would be sent back to Italy where she would be attending the naval military school where her father, Ciro Rossi, was the vice principal. And no amount of begging, pleading, or tears would change Greta's mind.

Bonus:

Once Max, Kim, and Nathaniel were out of sight, the smallest boy nearly collapsed to his knees in shock. He couldn't believe he just did that. He actually hit and threatened someone! Kim was patting his shoulder, assuring him that he'd been very intimidating. Nathaniel looked just as surprised by what he'd done, but far more accepting. 

"Do you think she bought it?" Max asked, a slight tremor in his voice.

"I would have, you were really believable," nodded the red head.

"Yeah, you were scary, man. I'm so proud of you." Kim noogied his head. 

Pushing the larger boy off of him, he gave Kim a smile before they went back to their project. He didn't like how he acted, even towards a terrible human being like Lila Rossi. But for Nick, he'd do it again.

Taglist:

@2confused-2doanything @7-sage-7 @aadnrsstar @abrx2002 @awkwardromances @bayball @babylovebug18 @botanicalfoxx @back-cats-and-broken-mirrors @caffeinetheory @cheshire5210 @chocolateherringtacofan @city-of-all-tunas @classycollectorreviewworld  @corabeth11 @chocolatechipcookiesandcamembert @darkened-flame @delightfulcookiesrecipespizza @fandom-trapped-03 @ghostmaster @iamblinkmarvelarmy @interobanginyourmom @izang @jesussavedevenme @kazedancer @kitten12113 @lady-phoenix-of-tardis @lilypotter2018 @lunataravler @ladylupuscrow @maskedpainter @miraculouslydumb @nerd-nowandforever @naruwitch @ola-is-dead @pandacatxd @plushbookworm @plz-excuse-my-inner-ravenclaw @pheonix-biach @pandora-fucking-box @raiderofthelostbooks @ramos123 @rowanrouge @rowanyx @ren121 @seesea22 @seraphichana @sashakoi @shypeacekitten @smartlanceisreal @tazer6787 @that-girl-sakea @thecrazyfantrollshasmoved @the-smallest-kittenz @tishwinchesterannabethjackson @t1dwarrior-of-earth @ulmban @with-forward-motion @wonderbat91939 @zoiechance

#lila lies #lila salt #lila bashing #class redemption #max kante #max is the man #miraculous ladybug

[daisy-thetoxic]

Older | Jennifer Jareau

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fem oc- Ava Willing, brown hair & eyes.

Warning ⚠️ ~ smut, power play, gxg, age gap, praise kink, etc. a bit of plot with the smut ✨ mommy core, manipulation, Gory death, killing. Fingering (Oc receiving)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JJ wasn’t sure how it happened or how it started. When she would host Henry’s friends night, his new girlfriend started coming. Gracious smile, ever so polite, truly she had no idea how her son had won you over. She tried to raise him the best she could, but he was in his temperamental broody stage where he didn’t care about anything. So when he brought home a Angel, it left her confused.

And when Ava offered to babysit Micheal for her when her and will worked late, they took it. JJ wasn’t stupid, she knew Henry snuck out, with Ava babysitting he still, which JJ didn’t really care to dig in why as he would only tell her to go away.

JJ would come home at times and watch Ava with Micheal, as she played with him on the counter, or as he helped her make dinner and would always have a fresh plate of food when she got home.

Ava wasn’t stupid either. She was actually a genius, which a lot of people seemed to forget. She saw JJ once when she dropped off Henry at school and since that day something about her left her a burning memory in Ava’s brain that never seemed to go away. At one point she day dreamed a whole class period with such unholy thoughts about her classmates hot mom.

She decided a plan and set it into motion carefully. Showing light interest in Henry, saying hi in passing periods, staring at him from across the cafeteria. She was known to be an Angel and a lot of people wanted her and she knew it. Guys, girls, teachers… like she said a lot of people wanted her. She was no fool, and played it to her advantage, it took over a month for her and Henry to officially be dating. Poor thing didn’t even know the basics of dating. So she had him right under her finger.

She had done her homework before she introduced herself into JJ life. She knew she was an FBI special a gent that dealt with serial killers on the daily, so she wasn’t a dumb woman at all. She was honestly surprised at how gullible JJ really was.

She had stalked JJ, in her white blouse and dark blue and black skirt, a golden cross hanging from her neck as the uniform was school required. She watched as JJ paid for her grocery’s at the counter, the cash register employee discreetly checking her out as JJ had a light blush on her face only making Ava clench her jaw.

Ava stayed behind the building as she waited for the man to clock out to await his independent doom of fate by her hands. She watched as he made his way over to the car as she quietly walked behind him, he turned around when he noticed her reflection in his car window only to be stabbed in the heart with her knife. She watched as he slowly fell, his hands desperately reaching out onto something, leaving bloody hand prints on his car as she watched as he choked on his own blood. A Saint like smile on her face.

She grabbed her lipstick, drawing a cross on his car window. She got up, dusting off to the bit of woods that was behind the market, taking a path she was familiar with.

~~~~~

JJ watched as Ava closed Michaels door, the boy falling to sleep to the story Ava told him. “I’m gonna head home Mrs. Jareau.” Ava grabbed her backpack not too worried as her plan was being set into motion.

“Is someone picking you up?” JJ was confused as she didn’t see anyone pull up.

“No, I’m just gonna walk. My house is only a few blocks away.” She shakes her head as she turned her back to JJ, bending over slightly to collect her lipstick and books to put in her bag.

JJ tried not to look as she but her lip in resistance, never having to struggle with self control like she had in the last few weeks when it came to her new babysitter.

“Why don’t I drive you, I rather make sure you get home safe.” JJ straitened her back as she got up from leaning against the door frame.

“Are you sure, Mrs. Jareau?” Ava asks while hitting her lower lip in a unsure way, internally noting the way JJ’s eyes travel down to them instinctively.

“Of course.” JJ smiled at her, her eyes glazing over her as she held a high position in the power dynamic, being older, and well a deadly weapon as she boxed and was an FBI agent but the way Ava looked up at her made JJ think she was in control the whole time.

JJ turned on her car as she started driving. Ava moved forward slightly to turn on the radio as JJ couldn’t stop her eyes if her life depends on it as they glaze of her bare chest form the top of the white uniform blouse. A light pink dotted her cheeks as she tried to look anywhere but the younger girl.

“Are you okay, Mrs Jareau?” Ava asks innocently while she was grinning like a devil on the inside.

JJ didn’t know how it happened but in an instant somehow she ended up parked in an abandoned parking lot with Ava on top of her, straddling her as their lips crashed.

Ava turned up her music as she made the chair scoot back and lay back, kissing her way down JJ bare top. Ava had ripped her shirt open, hickeys forming on their way down as the girl was way to possessive to not fake them.

“No marks” JJ managed to gasp out as she could already feel the forming bruises. “Too late.” Ava hummed with a devilish grin, making JJ cup her face and force Ava to kiss her. Which the brunette gladly did as she straddled her once more. JJ hands wondering her body.

“Do I mention how much I like your uniform?” JJ tilted her head as she left her own bruises down Avas’s neck, down her collar bone before she unhinged the younger women’s bra, her hands instantly replacing the fabric.

“Not… that… I… recall-“ Ava moaned eruplty as the words formers through her gasps as JJ slipped her hand into the brunette underwear. Her fingers sliding between her folds as she used her other hand to continue their kiss as she held the back of Ava’s neck.

“JJ-“ Ava moans, feuding her body into the blondes skillful hand as JJ’s palm found her clit, rubbing it more frequently as Ava sped up her grinding. The blonde only hummed in delight at the sight of Ava falling apart in her lap, it was a enchanting sight, one she’ll remember forever.

“Your doing so good.” JJ praised as she sucks harshly at the younger women’s neck. Ava only righted around her grin gets while moaning at the praise.

“Who knew you were such a naughty girl?” JJ tskd as the other women couldn’t even process anything after JJ slid in two more fingers, the younger woman not lasting long as she came hard onto JJ fingers, resting her head against JJ shoulder as JJ prolonged her pleasure as she thrusted back into her.

———

That’s how it started between them, the fleeting make out session in her bathroom or for JJ to take her home an hour early so they could have their special moments in the abandoned parking lot. She suspects her team thought something was up as she rushed home sooner and took specific days off.

But with the case they have been stuck on they didn’t dig further. Their case popped up about 5 months again, 2 months longer than her affair with Ava. People from JJ area of living seemed to brutally killed, store clerks, mechanics, fast food restaurants, banks, it was random so they didn’t have a clue. The unsub seemed to be one step ahead of them. They had not clue if it was a man or woman as the killings were brutal, but the lipstick drawing of a cross made them lean towards women, or homosexual man/non-binary or drag queen. They had no clue at all.

JJ chain of thoughts broke as she watched Ava walk by her, subtly rubbing her hand against the lower of her back before she walked over to Henry, handing him her drink before putting on her lips stick.

JJ eyes widen slightly as she stared at Ava, who only glanced at her before focusing on Henry. It all clicked to JJ. Way the people where killed the days JJ coincidently saw them or JJ knew them. The way Ava seemed so possessive but her good kind hearted smile had fooled everyone including her. Yet JJ blinked as she hid her emotions, something deep in her gut actually fluttering at the thought of Ava being that possessive over her.

“New girlfriend? Do we like her?” Emily and Penelope walked up to her from the back as they had been watching JJ stare at the girl with an emotion they did not recognize.

“By the way you’ve been staring I think not?” Penelope voices but JJ shook her head, as nobody couldn’t like Ava, she was an Angel.

“No, we actually love her, she’s such an angel, I think she’s perfect for Henry.” JJ put on her poker face as she didn’t want a hint of expression to seep through her facade. She wondered how Ava did it so effortlessly.

#jennifer jareau #criminal minds #jennifer Jareau x reader #jj criminal minds #gxg #carvo* #Spotify

[mllechartreux]

Halloween Surprise

Summary: Your Halloween costume is a surprise for Shoto.

Content: fluff, established relationship, characters are 18-19. 

W/C: 639

Masterlist 

“Love, are you almost ready?” Shoto asked patiently, muffled voice coming through from the other side of the bathroom door. 

“Yea, give me 5 minutes, I’ll be out.”

Class 1-A was having a Halloween party and invited all the third years, even those from different courses. Your boyfriend, Shoto, then insisted on escorting you to the party after you confirmed you would go. You tried to convince him not to trouble himself since you were from the Department of Support and your dorm was pretty far from 1-A’s, but your excuses fell flat. He simply said, “Nothing I do for you is a bother, even so, with my ice I’ll be there in seconds, it’s no worry love.” 

The problem wasn’t the distance or walking with him to the party, your surprise would’ve just been that much more dramatic if you showed up to the party alone. You had been working on your costume for a week now, and it was perfect down to every detail. The outfit, the shoes, the hair and even the makeup, which you were putting the finishing touches on now. 

You flattened the wig to your head one last time, taking a good look in the mirror at your appearance. The door to the girls’ bathroom opened just enough to allow your head to peek out and scan the hallway for Shoto. With the hallway empty, you concluded he was probably in the common area. 

It was the gasps from your classmates who noticed you first that alerted Shoto. He craned his neck from his place on the couch to see what the commotion was about. Here you were, standing before him, as him. Your hair was long, silky straight and dual colored, red and white with bangs, like his of course. Your jacket was blue and a tactical vest was overlaying it, just like his of course, except for the inviting amount of cleavage. Even your belt and boots were just like his, canisters swinging against each thigh and boots slightly platformed from the anti-slip spikes. The only difference and perhaps the most satisfying part was the plushness of your thighs, peeking out from in between the skirt that matched the jacket and a pair of black thigh high tights. 

Silently, with eyes trained on, as far as he was concerned, the only person in the room, he approached you. Still a few steps away from you, he stopped to admire you in full, looking up and down, a light blush adorned his cheeks. How, he wondered, you even had his scar. He noticed all of this yet couldn’t seem, or didn’t mind, to see how you were fidgeting under the intensity of his attention. 

“Sho, please say something,” you smiled nervously. 

He grasped your hands at your sides, “Wow, I’m sorry, but I’m stunned into silence by how beautiful you are.”

“You’re not just saying that because I look like the school’s prettiest boy right?” giggling at his confession. 

“No, you were already the prettiest girl in school before this,” voice low and slightly raspy, filled with genuineness and affection.

“Sho…,” You bring him into a tight hug, smiling brightly but careful not to get any of your makeup on his costume. He was going as a skeleton because he only cared to give the “bare bones minimum”. When he told you that he smiled so innocently, like a child who finished making a drawing for their parents.

He cupped the back of your head and used his other hand to press into your lower back, arching your body against his, “Let’s go show everyone that you make a far better me,” he lulled, before pulling back just enough to see your face and press his lips into yours for a slow meaningful kiss. 

Costume Inspo

#boko no hero academia #my hero acedamia #bnha #mha #class 1 a #shoto torodoki #Shoto x black reader #shoto x you #shoto x y/n #Shoto x reader #mha x black reader #bnha x black!reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #fic #drabbles #one shot #fluff #imagine #headcannon

[uwoo97s]

⁺ ೃ࿔ the girl with the pink glasses - Nishimura Riki

poc reader ! she / her pronouns used ! anyone can read honestly.

“this is y/n , she’s a foreign student here at bighit high. please treat her with the upmost respect!”

the teacher seemed nice, notforcing you to speak up and introduce yourself, which you honestly didn’t really enjoy doing. she spoke for you instead.

“since we have assigned seats.. you can sit at the back in that desk next to the window, since it seems empty for today!”

you nodded your head at the teacher, giving her a small smile in which she returned. pushing your baby pink glasses a little bit. (a nervous habit you had.) up the bridge of your nose.

once you were seated down, you didn’t pay much attention to the people watching you, you were more focused on the cute little blue bird right outside the window.

murmurs could be heard, though they mostly sounded like girl voices. even though now you had in headphones the volume wasn’t too loud, you wanted to be able to hear in case something important was going on.

“he’s here..” “i know.. he’s been gone for a while” “he’s kinda hot though..”

was all you could make out through your headphones before you sighed, turning up the volume of your song.

meanwhile, while you were in lala land, listening to music and drawing a portrait of the blue bird you’d previously saw, ruckus was happening in the classroom.

“riki!” a boy with red hair called out, whose name happened to be jungwon , niki’s older friend but also upper classmen.

ruffling the hair of the black haired boy, causing him to scoff and let out a chuckle. “hey jungwon.”

“you know you’ve been gone for quite a while right? me and the boys had started to worry about you..”

what his upper classmate was referring to was the amount of days niki had missed, niki wasn’t a bad kid of course, he just wasn’t too passionate about getting up and coming to school everyday, which had started effecting his grades along with his spot on the schools sport teams.

“but seeing as your back.. i hope you’ll actually start coming to school again? or else you can kiss going to the soccer tournaments goodbye!” jungwon, nudge his shoulder a bit when saying the last part, causing niki to look at him with a strange expression, making the older male laugh.

when niki had finally made it to his seat, which happened to be the one you were in. the seat the teacher assigned to you a few minutes ago before making her departure.

niki flew confused gazes towards jungwon, who was busy talking with another one of his friends sunoo, who also happened to be niki’s friend and classmate.

“she’s a new student.. foreign actually.” sunoo budged in, stating only the facts. before going back to taking selfies on his phone (that he would soon post on instagram) and pretending to listen to whatever it was jungwon was rambling about.

niki thought to himself for a few minutes before he decided to speak up. “excuse me?” no reply. so the boy tapped his finger against the desk, grabbing your attention. lifting up your head and glancing at the person in front of you.

“this is my seat.” the males voice came out strong, to you he sounded a bit rude but you don’t believe he did it intentionally. nodding your head you got up from his seat, which cause niki to get a better view of you. his cheeks turned a light but bright shade of pink, a blush really, when he saw those big pink glasses of yours, they made you look so.. pretty

he watched as you grabbed your things and walked away, finding another empty desk where you had went back to doing whatever it was you had been occupied with before he interrupted you.

niki couldn’t help but feel, bad he made you move, but also couldn’t help how even though he’d just met you, and didn’t even know your name he thought you looked absolutely adorable in your big pink glasses.

#enhypen #enha #kpop #nishimura niki #niki scenarios #enha niki #jungwon #sunoo #x reader #kpop x reader #kpop x poc reader #poc reader #x black!reader #enhypen scenarios #kpop ff

[all-the-things-2020]

No Better Place - Chapter 17

Summary: Javi comes home for the weekend. Domestic fluff ensues.

Word count: 2100

Javi was exhausted, but in a good way. His first week at work was almost over and it had gone well. There had been far too many meetings for his taste, but that was to be expected when setting up a brand new department. His assistant, Monica, was amazing. A licensed psychologist, she had been working freelance with the police department for over a year, and was enthusiastic about creating programs to help the tweens and teens who would be the focus of their work.

“Rob wants to know if you want to come over for dinner this weekend,” Monica said, as she dropped another bulging file folder on his desk. Rob was her husband, a tax attorney who worked from home in order to keep an eye on their two kids.

“Can’t,” Javi said, stretching his arms over his head. “I’m driving home to Laredo right after work.”

Monica grinned. “Oh, yeah, that’s right, got to go see your girlfriend,” she said, drawing out the vowels in the last word like a middle schooler teasing a classmate. She sat on the corner of his desk. “I remember those days. When Rob and I were first dating, I couldn’t get enough of him. Now, who cares?”

Javi rolled his eyes. He’d met Rob and the kids at lunch on Wednesday and it was clear that even after seven years of marriage and two children, Monica and her husband were very much in love. “You care and you know it,” he said.

“Yeah, I do,” she admitted. She pushed off from the desk and stood up. “In case I don’t see you before you head out, have a great weekend.”

“You, too,” Javi said, already flipping open the folder to see what was inside.

At five, he shut off his computer and stacked the folders and papers neatly on his desk. His overnight bag was already in the car, so he didn’t need to stop at the apartment. After a quick detour to the men’s room, he hopped in the car and headed out.

Traffic heading out of town was heavy but once he’d cleared the city limits, the drive wasn’t bad. Still, it was well after seven by the time he turned off the road into Cassidy’s driveway. At this time of the year it was still light, but getting dusky. His headlights swept across the side of the barn as he pulled up next to the house. There was a light on in the barn and one in the kitchen. He decided to try the house first.

Linus was sitting on the kitchen counter as he walked in, which told Javi that Cassidy wasn’t in the house. “Hey, buddy,” he said to the cat. “You’d better get down before Cass sees you.” Linus just blinked at him.

Javi dropped his bag in the bedroom, used the bathroom, and headed out to the barn.

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

Cassidy knew Javi had arrived because Buster’s ear pricked up and the gelding started to snort. “Is your daddy home?,” she asked. She tried to rub Buster’s forehead but he tossed his head, trying to look over her at the open barn doors. Even though she wanted to run outside and throw herself into Javi’s arms, Cassidy made herself continue with her barn chores. She was almost done tucking everyone in for the night and if she finished up before she went to Javi, she could go with a clear conscience.

As she was double checking the latches on the stall doors (Baby Girl had proven extremely adept with her lips and had let herself and Mama out more than once), Buster let out a piercing whinny. “I missed you, too, buddy,” she heard Javi say.

She turned around and there he was, walking toward Buster’s stall, looking both utterly out of place in his suit and tie and utterly at home. He rubbed the gelding’s forehead and Buster pressed his head against Javi’s shirt, trying to return the favor.

“Someone missed his daddy,” Cassidy managed to say as she walked toward him.

Javi chuckled. He disentangled himself from the horse and stepped toward her, arms open wide. “I’ll bet you missed me, too,” he said, his voice low. “I know I missed you, hermosa.”

She fell into his arms, his embrace firm but tender. He smelled like cigarette smoke and laundry soap and some kind of woodsy cologne. She took a deep breath, letting his scent mingle with the warm perfume of horses and hay that permeated the barn. It smelled like home.

“I did miss you,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest. Reluctantly, she pulled back to look at his face. “Are you hungry? I wasn’t sure what time you’d get here, so I didn’t start dinner. Your dad brought over some nice steaks, but if you’re starving, I can make you a sandwich or something.”

Javi smiled and stroked her hair. “I had some snacks in the car,” he said. “I’m good for now. And a steak sounds amazing.” He kissed her forehead and then turned to Buster. “I’ll see you in the morning, buddy. I promise.” The gelding snorted, his neck stretched out as far as it could over the stall door. He whinnied again as they left the barn, a pitiful sound that lingered on the air as Cassidy bolted the barn doors.

Javi took her hand as they walked toward the house, entwining his fingers with hers. It felt innocent, like they were kids on a first date, not lovers heading inside for dinner and a night of passion. Well, maybe not passion, she thought as she stole a glance at Javi’s face. He looked tired and more in need of a good night’s sleep than a tumble in the sheets.

“Long week?,” she asked.

He squeezed her hand. “Yeah,” he admitted. “A shit load of work and way too many meetings.” He sighed. “But we can talk about that later. Right now, let’s get those steaks going. The sooner we eat, the sooner we can get to bed.” He winked and she shook her head at him.

“You’re going to conk out before your head hits the pillow and you know it,” she said gently. She opened the back door and saw a grey streak as Linus leaped down from the counter and dashed out of the kitchen. “I saw that,” she threatened. “Damn cat thinks he owns the place.”

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

The steaks were delicious and after they’d eaten, Javi felt comfortably full and relaxed. He loosened his tie and stretched out on the couch while Cassidy took a shower. He’d told her she smelled just fine to him, but she insisted she was dusty and covered in horse slobber. By the time she came out, wearing a tank top and baggy sleep shorts, he was half asleep.

“Come to bed,” she said, tugging at his hand. He scrubbed at his face, embarrassed that he’d dozed off. “To sleep,” she clarified. “You’re worn out.”

He let her lead him into the bedroom, where he stripped off his clothes and fell into bed. She slipped in next to him and snuggled close. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “I know you were probably hoping for something more exciting.”

“This is nice, too,” she said. “I’m just glad you’re here.”

“Me, too,” he said, stifling a yawn. “Me, too.”

When the alarm went off in the morning, he was momentarily confused. “Go back to sleep,” Cassidy said. “I’ve got to go feed but you don’t need to get up. I’ll be back.”

He meant to get up, he really did, but the bed was warm and comfortable. The next thing he knew, the smell of coffee and bacon was wafting through the air and Linus was standing on his chest, staring at him while purring loudly. He heard a noise and turned his head to see Cassidy leaning against the doorway, a cup of coffee in her hands. “Morning, sleepyhead,” she said.

Javi sat up, unceremoniously dumping the cat onto the bedspread. Linus gave an indignant meow and stalked away, the tip of his tail twitching. “What time is it?”

“Eight thirty,” Cassidy said. She handed him the coffee. “You looked so peaceful, I couldn’t bear to wake you. But I got hungry so I fixed breakfast. Bacon and eggs, if you’re interested.”

He was. He gulped down half the coffee, took a quick shower and got dressed, then joined her in the kitchen. “I thought we could take a ride this morning, if you want,” she said as he shoveled food into his mouth. “Buster could use the exercise.”

“Sounds good,” he said. “I think Dad wants us to go over for dinner and a movie tonight, if that’s okay.”

She nodded. Javi sipped at his second cup of coffee. It felt so … domestic, discussing their plans for the day over breakfast. Linus wound between their ankles, hoping for a bite of bacon. Through the window, he could see Buster dozing in the morning sun out in his pen, while Mama and Baby Girl groomed each other in the arena. Cricket was rolling at the other end of the arena, a plume of dust rising above her as she scratched her back against the dirt. I could get used to this, Javi mused. If only San Antonio wasn’t so far away …

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

Cassidy had been a little worried that things would be awkward between her and Javi, but the day was amazing. After breakfast, she’d packed a few sandwiches and they’d headed out for a long trail ride. Buster was thrilled to be reunited with Javi, and even more thrilled to get out of the arena. They rode for hours, stopping at a little spot where the creek spread out into a limpid pool ringed with trees. The horses stood in the water, cooling their hooves and drinking deeply, while she and Javi made out while reclining against the trunk of a particularly large willow.

The bark dug into her back through the thin fabric of her tank top, but she didn’t mind. Javi kissed her slowly and gently until his stomach growled and ended the romantic vibe. He laughed. “Guess it’s time for lunch.”

They ate their sandwiches and then swung back into the saddle. Cassidy was curious to try a new trail that she thought would loop back to her property, but she had prudently waited until she had company before trying it. It did lead to her property line, but via a rather steep gully and a stretch of uneven, rocky ground that was no problem for nimble little Cricket, but proved a little too much for Buster. By the time they got back to the barn, the gelding was breathing hard and dripping with sweat. Javi wasn’t much better.

“I think my ass is one big bruise,” he complained as he slid out of his saddle.

“Aww, poor baby,” Cassidy teased. “I can slap some liniment on it for you.” Javi just rolled his eyes.

They untacked the horses and gave them a bath. Buster shook like a dog after Javi had rinsed the soap off him, soaking Javi from head to toe. He just shrugged. “Well, at least I won’t need a shower tonight.”

They puttered around the barn until it was time to head over to Chucho’s for dinner. He’d made his speciality ��� chili con carne — and had rented a romantic comedy and an action film. “Wasn’t sure what you’d be in the mood for,” he explained, as they settled around the table.

“Anything’s fine with me,” Cassidy said. She was happy just to be sitting in Chucho’s kitchen, with a cold beer and a hot bowl of chili in front of her, and Javi beside her.

After dinner, they curled up on the couch to watch a Rambo-wannabe lead an assault on some Nazis or Communists or something; Cassidy wasn’t really sure what was going on, but Chucho and Javi seemed to be enjoying it. She relaxed against Javi’s chest and played with his fingers, content just to be there.

When the movie was over, they drove back to her house, checked on the horses, and retired to the bedroom. Unlike the frenzied, almost desperate sex of the weekend before, now they took their time, making love slowly and carefully before drifting off to sleep wrapped in each other’s arms. Her last conscious thought was, This is gonna work. We’re really going to make this work.

#javier peña x ofc #javier pena fic #javier pena narcos #javier pena fanfiction #javier peña #horses #pedro pascal character fanfiction

[foliosriot]

between the charcoal & the cigarette smoke (6159 words)

artist!steve harrington x eddie munson ao3 if that’s what you prefer :)

drawing has been the only thing maintaining steve’s sanity. between school, his parents, and the little gremlins he is somehow friends with, drawing keeps him calm and distracted (most of the time, at least).

because if he were being honest, he never expected to actually be good at drawing when he first started out in middle school. but one minute, he was doodling stick figures on his math homework, and the next, he was submitting his pieces into the hawkins high’s art gallery. it felt great to finally be recognized for a talent that wasn’t basketball or swim.

but as suspected, his parents — most notably his father — did not believe his artistic abilities were going to get him anywhere in life, or provide him with a well-paying, respectable job; that it was blasphemy to believe a talent other than a sport would benefit him in the long run. steve constantly called bullshit on that but would never say it to his father’s face.

however, robin and dustin were the complete opposite, as they were overwhelmingly supportive of his artistic endeavors. they constantly wanted to know what he was working on and would snoop over his shoulder when he was doing nothing but simply doodling. they were incredibly kind and enthusiastic about his passion, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t want to slap both of them on occasion due to their nosiness.

it’s steve’s senior year of high school. he’s taking art classes both semesters, and they’re honestly the only things he is looking forward to regarding school other than graduating.

for first semester his drawing class is the last of the day. he sits in the far back corner, furthest from the door. from there, steve can get away with sketching and doodling his classmates as an excuse to work on different angles of the human body. sometimes, if he likes the sketch enough, he’ll hand it off to that person. (he remembers one time he did a doodle he was incredibly proud of of penny young. the shy, soft spoken girl started tearing up when she realized what it was. the interaction had made steve’s entire month.)

if he had to guess, steve is sure that he has drawn just about every one of his art class classmates at least five times in the first couple months of school. and, much like most forms of art, he never liked the end result, even if he knew subconsciously he wouldn’t be handing it off to whomever he’d drawn.

steve huffed a quiet sigh as he pushed aside his half-finished project that is fortunately due next week. he didn’t have the motivation that the piece demanded at the moment, so he instead opted for people watching, propping his chin up on his palm.

in the front row he spotted noah truman. the kid was one of the best basketball players steve has ever seen, so that granted him instant popularity. but noah was also incredibly kind and humble, something that lacked amongst the popular cliques like a famine.

a row behind noah, three seats to his right, was mary peters. she was an insanely talented artist who just so happened to be friends with robin. mary played flute in band and steve can recall a few instances where robin had mentioned her by name.

to mary’s right in the back row steve saw—

his attention was immediately drawn to the classroom door swinging open, and in walked eddie munson. the wild-haired boy looked a little flustered as he entered, briefly pausing in the doorway before shambling to the nearest open desk. whispers from various people disturbed the quiet classroom at eddie’s entrance.

he watched as eddie fumbled around with what little school supplies he had. he watched eddie's hair bounce against his shoulders and the way his large, gaudy rings glinted in the harsh classroom lighting. the burn rising up his neck that would inevitably shade his entire face in a bright cherry red forced steve to turn his attention away.

eddie is on his second attempt at senior year. he’s known around school as “the freak”, a moniker that has always baffled steve. but it was also something steve didn't want to know more about. although, unfortunately, over the years he's been able to assume just what people meant when they called eddie a freak.

the super senior is the head of the hellfire club, the dungeons and dragons club, and is probably the most flamboyant person steve has ever encountered. his devil may care attitude was undoubtedly annoying at times, but steve couldn’t help but admire it, as well as just eddie himself. eddie is never not unapologetically himself day in and day out. steve wishes he could have just an ounce of eddie's confidence.

steve also finds eddie insanely intriguing for reasons unknown. maybe it was the way he held himself so confidently, or maybe the hair atop his head that looked so soft, or maybe even the way eddie could set ablaze a wildfire inside steve without even trying.

okay, maybe steve was a little hasty with his definition of  “intriguing” . frankly, eddie is intriguing, yes, but he is also insanely attractive. because billy hargrove may have been the one to kickstart steve into questioning his sexuality. but eddie had been the one to confirm his pondering.

steve wishes he could watch eddie play the guitar. the little rugrats have told steve countless stories of eddie, especially the ones of him playing his guitar. he always imagines eddie losing himself in the music as he strums manically and dances his fingers across the fingerboard expertly. he assumes eddie to be very talented at his craft, and the yearning to witness a performance of his in the pits of his soul is twisting up inside him with little to no remorse.

he’s never even had a legitmate conversation with the guy! but steve wishes he could. even if it’s in passing, like when he’s picking up the kids from hellfire. that's the only time eddie ever truly acknowledges steve.

steve knows he should continue working on his assignment. he knows watching eddie munson in the middle of art class is horribly idiotic for many reasons. but he opens up his sketchbook and begins sketching eddie anyways.

eddie is completely unassuming as he scribbles away on a sheet of paper. his hand is sporadically shifting across the page, his pencil squeaking on occasion. steve can’t see much of his face from behind his curtain of hair, but he can almost bet that eddie’s face is screwed up in concentration, solely dedicated to whatever he may be working on. steve aches to know what he may be writing or drawing.

after a few minutes and way too many looks up, steve lifts his head once more so he can get another glance at eddie in order to get his wild mop of hair just right.  but as he does, he makes eye contact with eddie. they both have a certain look on their faces, like they weren’t expecting to be looking at each other at the same time. steve feels his ears instantly burst into flames with embarrassment, and does not hesitate before swiftly shifting his gaze back down to his sketchbook. he hadn’t realized it was steadily becoming filled with countless drawings of eddie.

by the time the final bell rang, steve shoved his things in to his backpack as fast as he could and hurried out the door. he could have sworn he felt someone’s piercing eyes on him as he headed down the hall towards the parking lot, but he didn’t dare look back; he needed to get himself and robin to work in time for their joint shift.

robin was leaning against the passenger side of steve’s car lazily picking at her nails when steve showed up. the best friends greeted each other as they got in to their respective seats in the beamer.

as he drove, half-listening to robin’s rambling about vickie and band class, steve still felt embarrassment digging through his chest from eddie catching him looking at him. it dug deep through his heart and lungs, and he couldn’t understand why. he just hoped it would diminish by the time art class came around tomorrow.

by the end of the week, steve had filled three more pages of his sketchbook of shaky and messy drawings of eddie munson. and he knew he would be drawing eddie even more in the future.

now, here steve sat in art class friday afternoon. he had sneakily angled his chair in a way so he could study eddie. steve wanted to get his facial features and curly, wild hair and his heavily ringed hands perfect. after all, eddie was just too much fun to not draw — his expressions and mannerisms were an absolute riot to scribble down and get just how he wanted.

at least that’s what steve thought before he eventually caught eddie’s eye again. it seemed as if eddie had been watching him long before steve had even lifted his head to look in the metalhead’s direction. when their eyes met, humiliation escalating speedily through steve's nervous system, eddie gave him a small tight-lipped smirk that felt strangely warm. steve couldn’t detect any anger or disgust, especially when eddie shot him a quick wink before casually bringing his attention back down to the piece of paper on the desk before him.

steve was rendered motionless and speechless, because what the fuck was that about? his mouth was hung open, the sensation of his tongue being exposed to the stale classroom air demanding he slam his teeth back together. so he did. the click of his jaw forced steve to silently sputter and look away from eddie’s relaxed form.

that interaction clung to the forefront of steve’s brain for the rest of class. it would not vacate his thoughts, even as robin rambled beside him in his car after school, with dustin cutting in occasionally from the backseat. his friends’ voices were simply serving as white noise as he mulled over eddie’s reaction from art class.

“oh!” the suddenness of robin’s tone shift was finally able to jolt steve out of his head. “did you finish the rough draft of my dnd character? dustin has been pestering me to pester you to get it done.”

dustin let out a yelp from behind steve, spitting out a defensive retort before turning around and just agreeing with robin’s statement.

steve rolled his eyes, momentarily tightening his grip on the steering wheel. “yeah,” he says. “it’s in my sketchbook. somewhere after the drawing i did for lucas.”

robin nodded in response in steve’s peripherals. she reached into the backseat and dug through steve’s backpack at an awkward angle in order to retrieve his sketchbook. (dustin honestly could have just handed it to her.) at last, she got it, and sat back in her seat properly before flipping through it to get to the page she was in search of.

after a few moments of pages whispering, robin spoke up, saying, “steve, i’m not finding it. are you sure you said—“

robin cut herself off, and it genuinely terrified steve to say the least.

”uh, rob? you good over there?” he asked her carefully.

”steve, why the fuck do you have, like, four pages filled with nothing but eddie munson?”

at his best friend’s words, steve could have sworn he stopped breathing. his eyes widened, and he could feel the telltale fiery sensation erupting in his chest of none other than embarrassment. dustin’s yell was no help either, certainly not when the boy lurched forward to join robin in looking down at his artwork.

he’s been fucking caught.

”th-that’s nothing- i didn’t tell you—“

”steve! why have you drawn eddie ‘the freak’ munson so fucking much?” robin snapped at him. her tone didn’t seem judgmental or condescending, or anything of that nature. she just seemed curious more than anything. but the bite in her voice still stung steve somewhere deep inside himself.

steve doesn’t give her an answer. he can feel dustin’s genuine surprise and interest radiating off of him from the back of the car. robin’s eyes were flickering between steve and the book in her hands, impatiently waiting for steve to speak. but he couldn’t find it in himself to say anything.

so he shrugged, leaving it at that.

robin and dustin continued to gaze down at the sketches and doodles of eddie munson in the precious pages of steve’s sketchbook. that fiery feeling had exploded into an inferno as he kept driving, coincidentally, to eddie’s trailer for a dnd night-in. it would be robin’s first proper game, and eddie had apparently made the decision of moving tonight’s session to his own home to give robin a nice, comforting welcome into hellfire. but when steve pulled into the itty-bitty yard out front of eddie’s trailer, a black hole opened up in his stomach, swallowing the wispy flames of the stupid fire within him.

dustin told him goodbye before rushing out of the car. robin carefully closed the sketchbook then set it on the dash. she looked over at steve, who was avoiding her eyes.

”we’re gonna talk about that sooner or later, steve,” she says gently. she opens the car door and starts getting out before pausing and turning in his direction for a moment. “but they’re really nice. you’re incredibly talented.”

then she shut the passenger side and headed after dustin. steve watched her walk inside the trailer, catching a glimpse of eddie just beyond the threshold. that’s when steve decided he needed to get out of there immediately.

putting the car into reverse, steve swerved out and away from the trailer park before heading back to loch nora for the night. at least until he had to go right back again to pick up robin and dustin. the pit of darkness inside of him just kept growing at what that could entail.

when steve arrived home, he hurried inside, hardly acknowledging the empty driveway. the emptiness of the large house felt like a tomb, something he hated even thinking about. so he tried to tune out the screaming silence as he made his way up the stairs and down the hall to his room.

the plaid wallpaper of his room felt pitiful. steve hated the choice but his mother had picked it so he had to be a good son and at least tolerate it. but he ignored the insipidness of his room as he began anxiously pacing.

robin was on to him. she was so on to him! there's no way she isn't, as they are twin flames, two sides of the same coin —  honest to fucking god platonic soulmates.

just from the four or so pages of his sketchbook that she had seen, robin had to have been able to decipher just how steve felt about eddie, despite never really getting to properly meet him. the thought that she had figured him out so fast made vertigo cloud his senses, nausea tugging feriously at his intestines.

it wasn't that the idea of robin finding out that steve is (99.9% sure he is) bisexual isn't what is making him so skittish. because if anything, robin would love him regardless, that is if he liked both men and women, or if he grew an extra head that insisted on being called isildur.

he supposed it had to do with the fact that it would get out to the party eventually, especially if dustin had interpreted the myriad of eddie drawings correctly. either way, the drawings were going to reach the party one way or another, and thus make it all the way to eddie.

in all honesty, eddie finding out wasn't the most glaring side effect of steve's mishap; it was his reaction. for all steve knew eddie could blow up and want nothing more to do with steve. or — and, god, how this one makes his blood congeal in his veins — eddie ends up reciprocating.

steve didn't even know if eddie was gay! but all signs pointed to him being on one end of the queer spectrum or the other.

before he knew it, it was already 10 o'clock, meaning it was time to pick up dustin and robin from eddie's.

and if steve had to splash several handfuls of cold tap water to his face before he left the house, no one would know but him.

steve's entire body was jittery as he drove in the familiar direction of the trailer park. his fingers kept flexing against the steering wheel and his thighs were tense and his shoulders were pushing up towards his ears. he couldn't get his heart to slow down or blink away the faint swirls of black from his vision.

it just got worse as he rolled down the dirt road to eddie's trailer. there, he saw mike, will, and lucas already climbing into nancy’s car. the eldest wheeler gave him a kind wave as she drove past him.

in the pale light of the munson’s porch light, steve could see robin and dustin talking with eddie. the sight of all three of them together made his stomach toss and turn.

dustin gave a grand farewell to eddie before hopping down the porch steps to get into the car. he immediately began babbling on about what had happened in the campaign, even if steve wasn’t fully paying attention. because admittedly, he was much more focused on his best friend talking to his crush in soft voices.

before long, robin finally said goodbye to eddie and made it to the car. as steve waited for her to get in and buckled, he remained looking at eddie, who was softly illuminated by the withering lightbulb up and to the left. the boy was leaning against the front door just watching steve. a small smile was barely visible on his face.

that made steve panic, so he reached for the gearshift and quickly went into reverse before driving back to the main road.

robin and dustin were conversing about the campaign. all of their words went in one of steve's ears and immediately vacated through the other. his heart was rapidly bashing against his chest as he headed towards dustin's house. so it must be a good thing that he could get to the henderson house in his sleep as he had been disassociating the entire drive.

and before he knew it, the car was parked on the curb as dustin headed inside his home. as the curly-haired boy closed the front door behind him, steve released a heavy breath that had been torturing his diaphragm for the past ten minutes.

he shifted gears and they were off once more. but just a few minutes had passed before robin said something to him.

"sleepover?" she prompted gently.

steve shut his eyes for a brief moment. he glanced over at his best friend who was waiting patiently for him to answer.

"okay," he sighed. so steve didn't hesitate to take the road that would take him to his house instead of robin's.

they continued in silence and the trepidation that was looming in the backseat of his beemer was driving steve insane. he could feel it reaching forward with cold, dark claws that would inevitably sink hungrily into his flesh.

when they get to steve’s house, steve hurries and unlocks the front door, but he fumbles with his keyring. he can feel sweat beading along his hairline as he struggles to insert the proper key.

steve finally gets the door unlocked and pushes it open for robin. he steps inside after her, and, as he’s locking it back up, he begins anxiously stammering.

”i-i know you— what you thought w-when you s-saw the, uh, uh— drawings, and it’s not what—“

robin cuts him off. once steve has clearly succeeded in locking the door once more, robin gently slips her hands around his biceps. at the contact steve falls silent. his heart is throbbing violently in his throat and he doesn’t know if he can turn around and face his best friend.

”steve.”

at this point steve is choking on his heart. he can’t breathe, nor can he stop shaking like a fucking leaf. but he allows robin to carefully turn him towards her. once he’s facing robin, steve sees that she’s smiling fondly at him. the pressure from his very life force being lodged in his esophagus was causing tears to build up, thus blurring his vision.

“come on. let’s go upstairs,” robin tells him gently as she moves her hands down his arms until her fingers are laced through his own.

and steve lets her guide him up the stairs and to his room. he lets her close the bedroom door with a soft click. he lets her sit him down on his bed, his brain feeling like mush as they sit in silence for what feels like a century.

“tell me what’s going on,” robin says. her voice is gentle and it soothes steve like no other.

steve breathes heavily for a few moments before he feels ready to speak. he gingerly fingers at the hem of his jeans.

”i didn’t even mean to do it,” he begins. “i didn’t consciously decide i-i was gonna end up with, um . . . with so many drawings of—“

he cuts himself off. he can’t say his name. he can’t utter eddie’s name, because if he does, it becomes real. whatever it is becomes real. steve can’t do this.

”it’s okay, steve.” robin lightly places her hand on his knee. “take your time.”

steve clenches his jaw. he squeezes his eyes shut and he wishes the tears burning his retinas would make him go blind. he wishes that, if that were to happen, robin would forget all about the stupid drawings and just leave it be.

but steve knows he needs to get this out. he knows he needs to figure this shit out. and who else better than his lesbian best friend?

after a rattly deep breath, steve finally goes on.

”for practice, i draw my art classmates,” he explains quietly. “i’ll sketch them a couple times before moving on to the next person. but when eddie came in to class the other day, i just . . . i couldn’t stop drawing him. i just kept drawing and sketching, and i honestly didn’t care when he caught me looking at him. shit, he winked at me!

”but, uh . . . i-i think i’ve always, always had this thing. um, like, just a want to talk to eddie. especially since the little gremlins became freshmen and joined hellfire. th-that’s when i got all the stories of him that weren’t rumors. when i got so much unwanted information about a guy i-i don’t even truly know.

”then it got to the point where i just . . . god, i just wanted to fucking know him. and from there came a little light in my stomach, a-and i—“ steve sniffled deeply. “i haven’t felt like this since nance. i haven’t felt such want since i liked nancy. and i’m terrified. i don’t think eddie even likes me, like, at all. probably still thinks that i’m . . . i’m a douchebag.”

steve pauses. his heart is galloping wildly like a horse inside his chest. he can feel the throbbing of his pulse just under his jawline. he’s uncomfortable, but the look robin has fixed on him is so kind and loving.

”i think i like him, rob. like . . . like him.”

robin was quiet after steve finished talking. she stroked his leg with her thumb idly, her fingernail barely grazing his pant leg.

then she spoke.

”thank you for telling me, steve,” she tells him. “and i need you to know that this does not change my perspective of you. i love you no matter what.

”but, if you want some advice, i think you should tell eddie. either tell him, or start a friendship with him. i think he’d like that just as much as you.”

  steve spent the weekend obsessing over what he was going to say to eddie. how he was going to say it. when he was going to say it. he was obsessing in a way he hadn’t in a long time.

when monday came, steve finally felt prepared enough to talk to eddie. he had more than one personal pep talks in to himself in the mirror, and he felt confident enough that he could at least start a conversation.

however, when fifth period was nearing its end, steve knew he was going to fuck this all up. he knew this would end both in tears and flames if he didn’t back out now. but robin had been so insistent that he talk to eddie. she seemed so sure of a positive outcome.

so with only a few minutes to spare, steve ignored the finale of his teacher’s lecture and wrote a quick note that he was going to subtly drop in to eddie’s locker. he wrote: if you’re okay with it, i’d really like to sit with you during art. -s.h

and he did just that as he was walking past eddie’s locker to get to art. nobody seemed to notice what he was doing or even seemed to care. but steve felt a tidal wave of pride and relief overcome him as he made his way to sixth period.

steve was buzzing with nervous, jittery energy as he waited for eddie’s inevitable entrance. his leg was bouncing and his heart rate was skyrocketing.

by the time the bell rang, signaling sixth period had begun, eddie still hadn’t shone. but was steve truly surprised? no, not entirely. eddie was notorious for being late and skipping classes entirely.

he was quickly losing hope. he couldn’t stand the thought of eddie not showing. because here he was, missing eddie munson. maybe he should give up this stupid crush. maybe robin was wrong, that her odd optimism was misplaced.

steve didn’t bother acknowledging the opening of the classroom door. he was halfheartedly working on his art project as someone sat down in the chair next to him. and that’s when he felt his heart take a nosedive deep into his intestines.

”psst.”

no. this could not be fucking happening.

”hey.”

maybe this was a dream, and steve will wake up in a few seconds.

”hey, stevie.”

fuck.

steve froze. he slowly angled his head to look at the body next to him. his eyes widened to see that eddie “the freak” munson was smiling small at him. eddie’s hair was as wild as ever. his rings were bold and shiny. and his eyes—

oh god, his eyes. his brown doe eyes were so beautiful this close. but there was a smudging of black underneath them. and it took steve a second to realize that eddie was wearing eyeliner.

holy shit, eddie was going to be the death of him.

”hi,” eddie said quietly when steve was finally looking at him, albeit red as a cherry. eddie reached into the pocket of his leather jacket, taking out a folded piece of paper. “i got your note.”

steve was rendered completely speechless. he could not believe what was happening right now. maybe he was going crazy? maybe he really was dreaming, and this was the part of the dream right before it altered into a terrifying nightmare of epic proportions?

but the way eddie was looking at him was mesmerizing. his face was relaxed and happy as he kept on staring at steve. if this was a dream, steve wishes he would never, ever wake up.

”um—“

steve couldn’t utter anything else. his throat was dry and he felt like he was on the verge of having a breakdown. but eddie just smiled bigger at him.

”here let me try this again.” eddie stuck out his right hand, and steve’s attention was immediately drawn to the prominent veins and the tarnished silver ring. “hi, i’m eddie. it’s nice to meet you.”

steve was definitely going into cardiac arrest. he was such a fucking goner.

but he still reached out and shakily placed his hand in eddie’s, and was quickly taken aback by the callouses that rubbed against his softer skin. honestly, it wasn’t unpleasant. steve kind of liked it.

”uh, i-i’m steve,” he stammered. “nice to meet you.”

eddie gave him a toothy grin as he gently retracted his hand. the metalhead folded his arms on the desk before him then laid his head down, his right cheek pressed down so he could remain looking at steve.

”not to be too forward or anything, stevie—“ steve had a tiny coronary at the usage of that nickname again “—but henderson may have mentioned some drawings. i would love to see them.”

steve was going to kill dustin. it wasn’t an if anymore; it was a when and where. he was going to destroy dustin if it were the last thing he would ever do.

although, steve couldn’t blame dustin entirely. dustin saw some doodles in steve’s sketchbook of his other older guy friend, one of whom he looks up to very much. of course, he was going to say something to said other older guy friend.

it took a moment for steve to collect himself before he was clumsily reaching for his sketchbook. with shaking hands, he flipped to the pages that were filled with nothing but eddie. and once he got there, he shoved the book towards eddie and slumped back in his chair.

steve anxiously watched eddie thumb through the various pages that were filled to the brim with his own face. his expression didn’t change, nor did his body language.

finally, eddie gently shut the sketchbook and looked up at steve. there was a certain twinkle in his eyes that had steve’s brain shutting down.

”those are all of me,” eddie whispered.

steve only nodded.

but eddie didn’t seem disgusted or revolted or angry. the same soft look on his face from earlier was even softer, his gaze never falling away from steve.

honestly, eddie seemed overjoyed that he had been drawn. he was now beaming at steve, who had begun drawing into himself. but the obvious flush crawling all over eddie’s face had steve sitting forward again.

”you’re, um . . . you’re really fun to draw,” steve said in reply, his voice just as quiet.

eddie lifted his head and leaned in to steve’s space, though he kept a fair distance between them. steve wished he could close that distance forever.

”yeah?“

that little smirk on eddie’s face had steve’s stomach doing flips.

steve felt himself burning up from the inside out. he knew his face was beet red and his heartbeat was thumping out of control.

steve gave eddie a little nod as he nibbled on his lip.

eddie immediately clocked the action, his eyes darting down to steve’s mouth for a brief moment before locking gazes once more. steve swore he could see flashes of something oddly familiar reflecting in eddie’s irises.

“do you wanna hang out after school?” eddie asked him, his face still fairly close to steve’s.

”yes,” steve said without hesitation.

this earned another wide, nothing but teeth smile from eddie. his smile made steve see stars.

”awesome. you wanna come over to mine? my uncle will be at work.”

and that’s how steve found himself driving behind eddie’s van after school, after explaining to robin what was happening. he had obviously been talking way too fast for robin to understand, but she had definitely seen eddie obviously looking at them from where he was parked a few car spaces down. she had then went in search of nancy.

when they arrived at eddie’s trailer, steve suddenly became nervous. he was scared and anxious and so fucking hot. jesus christ, it wasn’t even november yet, why was he so hot?

then he was walking behind eddie into the trailer, and he was reminded of why he was boiling alive.

eddie didn’t hesitate to lead him down the hall to his bedroom. steve was overwhelmed with the sight of band posters, piles of clothes, stacks and stacks of books, various dungeons and dragons memorabilia, and two different guitars. but he would be lying if he said it didn’t feel like a home.

steve was dragged out of his head by eddie. steve had been looking around the other boy’s room completely in awe, blind to the fact that eddie had been watching him with fondness. but steve finally stepped fully into the room, moving his eyes to his shoes.

”hey.”

and then there was eddie, standing right in front of steve. his presence was so overwhelming but in the best way possible. he smelt like cigarettes and cheap cologne, with an undertone that was so undoubtedly eddie, it made steve’s head spin.

”there you are,” eddie said once steve looked up at him. eddie smiled at him. “where’d you go?”

steve swallowed nervously.

”i just really like your room.”

eddie’s smile softened. “thanks, stevie,” he told him. he then slipped his hand into steve’s. “come here.”

eddie guided steve over to his bed. he had steve lie down on his back, looking up at the ceiling. eddie joined him and then pointed upwards.

”i’ve got some glow-in-the-dark stars and shit up there,” he explained in a reverent tone. “my uncle got them for me a couple months ago. i’ve been wanting to show you since.”

this made steve stop. eddie had something he’s been wanting to show steve for months? that could not be true. never in a million years could that be true.

but eddie sounded sincere. steve felt deep in his gut that eddie was being honest, that he genuinely wanted to show him these glow-in-the-dark stars and planets that were a gift from his uncle.

steve turned his head to look at eddie. eddie was still staring up at the ceiling, but it just gave steve an opportunity to admire his immaculate side profile. he followed the slope of his nose with his eyes, the frizzy bangs against his forehead, the pink of his lips that steve had a sudden urge to kiss and touch.

eddie must have felt steve’s eyes on him as he shifted to look back at steve. steve was honestly and truly stunned by eddie’s beauty, and it made his chest physically ache.

before he realized, steve was reaching forward until his index finger collided with eddie’s chin. eddie froze at the contact, but didn’t do anything to stop steve.

so steve lightly grazed his fingers along eddie’s face, jaw, and neck. he greedily idled on his adam’s apple and the black smudges of eyeliner. he ran his thumb along eddie’s dimple, followed by the tracing of eddie’s lips.

eddie’s lips were soft and plush. they had been stripped of layers and layers of skin, but that didn’t bother steve by any means. he just kept touching eddie.

”i like you,” eddie said out of the blue, causing steve to stop his movements. “i really like you. i’ve been trying to come up with an excuse to sit with you in art for so fucking long. then when dustin mentioned those drawings, i knew i had to do that soon.”

steve smiled gently as he began moving his thumb once more.

”i really like you, too,” he replied. “and it scares me. but i’m okay with that. i’ve been wanting to get to know you since henderson started talking about you.”

eddie returned the smile as he leaned in further, invading more of steve’s space. but even with the heat between their bodies and the too intimate touching on steve’s part didn’t deter either of them.

”that right, sweetheart?”

steve was going to die from all of these nicknames, guaranteed. he nodded anyways, hoping that eddie would call him sweetheart til the end of time.

steve was now cradling eddie’s face. the barely-there stubble was oddly comforting under steve’s palm. eddie couldn’t take his eyes off of steve’s bright pink lips.

”you’re really pretty.”

from eddie’s reaction, steve knows he has never been called that. eddie locks eyes with him, his mouth hung slightly open, his skin an inferno beneath steve’s hand. eddie’s face is flushed and he is more than flustered.

then eddie has his mouth on steve’s, and steve can taste the cigarettes on his tongue and the chapped skin of his lips and the stubble rubbing against his chin. steve shifts his hand to the back of eddie’s neck, with his fingers curling through that wild hair. eddie has his arm securely wrapped around steve, his hand gripping at the material of his shirt.

now, if steve were being honest, drawing is definitely what keeps him sane. but after today it’s become a close second.

#steve harrington #eddie munson #steve harrington x eddie munson #steddie #steddie fanfic #steddie fanfiction #steve x eddie #stranger things #alex! ❪ 𖤐 ❫ #alex’s writing! ❪ 𖤐 ❫

[ashboy-3]

It's Right in Front of You

Written for Dannymay 2023 Day 19 Prompt: No CTRL Z or Backspace Fandom: Danny Phantom Characters: Danny, Wes Weston, Dash, Paulina, Kwan, Star Words: 858 Summary: Takes place after Seance. The A-listers still don't know how to help Danny until one day they come across Wes Weston setting up a booth to expose their hero

Wes was getting ready for his big event of the day. The event that he was planning since earlier the week and he had permission from the staff and teachers to put it on. He skipped his last class of the day to get his small booth set outside the school doors and started to get his handouts ready. Today is the day that everyone is going to know about Phantom and the secret that Genton was hiding.

At the same time, the A-listers had a free period, and perks of making sure their schedules lined up perfectly for the year. They didn’t really see a point in staying at the school so they were all making plans on what to do as they walked out, seeing Wes setting up his booth.

“So what is this?” Kwan asked, passing Wes.

“The truth is finally going to come out about Fenton. The world will believe me that he is Phantom,” Wes declared with a smile as the A-listers gave each other panicked looks.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Star asked.

“Why? Do you know something?” Wes accused glaring at the four.

“Nope just don't want you to be seen as a local loon. . .y’know like Fenton’s parents,” Paulina pretended to be more interested in her nails.

“Speaking of Fenton he’s in for a pounding!” Dash declared as they all saw Danny walking down the hall. “Hey, Fenton!” Dash yelled running after the smaller teen, Kwan following him.

“Why do you guys torture him?” Wes asked.

“Because he s a nerd,” Star stated as if it was obvious,” The girls decided to sit and wait for the boys to come back before they continued on their way to the Nasty Burger.

Meanwhile with the boys Dash and Kwan had chased Danny till they were far enough away from Wes for the A-listers to talk to the Nerd and resident Ghost boy privately.

“Okay, we can talk now,” Dash said once Kwan was done checking the bathroom stalls, making sure they were in private.

“So you guys aren’t here to beat me to a pulp?” Danny asked, confused.

“No. We told you when we discover your secret that we were going to help you. Wes is trying to reveal you to the world. He has handouts and everything!” Dash explained frantically, not expecting Danny to burst out laughing.

“You’re worried about Wes? He’s nothing but a parasite. No one believes him and no one ever does. You four didn’t believe him when he went off of rants in the locker rooms. The only reason you believe him now is because you summoned me. I can deal with Wes,” Danny assured them as he walked out of the boys' bathroom, the two A-listers giving each other worried looks before walking out, following behind Danny, mostly to see what happens and to meet back up with the girls.

“Aww, you didn’t beat up with the nerd for me,” Paulina complained as she saw Danny walk back, her boys following behind.

“We got distracted Polly,” Dash groaned, seeing Wes give the group a strange look.

“Wes,” Danny greeted, walking right up to the booth, and taking one of the handouts. It looked like a children’s drawing made with a pen that labeled all the reasons Danny was Phantom. At the top was the first reason: They had the same first name.

“Phantom,” Wes greeted back, knowing that Danny was going to prove him right, in front of the most popular kids no less.

“You know it’s rude to tell people that your classmate is dead?” Danny asked.

“You know it’s rude to lie to everyone about that you’re alive?” Wes pointed out. 

“But Wes! I am alive! If I wasn’t alive how could I still go to school?” FDaanny pointed out.

“Becasue you are a curse on this earth,” Wes pointed out.

“Or it’s because fact twelve of your sheet is wrong,” Danny pointed out, tapping to fact twelve out of thirty where it mentioned that Danny had a fire core.

“Like if you're going to spread misinformation about me at least do it right,” Danny rolled his eyes as he grabbed a random pen and scratched out the fire with Ice. And you think you know all of my secrets,” Danny rolled his eyes.

“Why aren’t you four doing anything?” Wes asked angrily at the group.

“It’s Fenton. You can say he’s a ghost all you want but I heard a rumor that he was actually ecto contaminated,” Star made a yuck face, trying to scooch further away from Danny, showing she doesn’t want to catch whatever he has.

“You guys are just ignoring the facts that are right in front of you!” Wes yelled right as Danny grabbed a glowing water bottle out of his backpack and started to drink from it. When no one was still giving a response Wes just toree down his booth and marched off angrily, leaving the five in the dust.

“Told you that you didn’t have anything to worry about,” Danny smiled, deciding that he should probably get back to his class by now.

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#danny phantom #danny fenton #dannymay2023 #danny is most definitely a little shit #dannymay #dash baxter #kwan #star #paulina sanchez #wes weston

[scorchieart]

Straight Eights - Chapter 1

Straight Eights - Chapter 1 | AO3

The Princess and the Guard Dog

Rating: T (for implied violence and blood)

Characters: Emma/Belle, Leon Dompteur, Rio Ortiz

Word Count: ~4.9k

[couldn't breach the 5k (∩︵∩)]

Summary: When scholarship winner Emma walked through the doors of her elite high school, she wanted nothing more than to blend in with the crowd and draw as little attention to herself until graduation. But that plan flies out the window when she ends up slapping a boy in the face before the first bell! Being the talk of the school makes her a huge target for these preppy rich kids, especially when it comes her bizarre classmates and unconventional teachers, so she has to play some cards from her old life and learn some new tricks to keep her identity a secret while still maintaining her grades and keep her place in school.

A/N: Part of the Different Universe Same, Love Content Creation Challenge hosted by @xxsycamore and @queengiuliettafirstlady

Thank you both for setting this up, it pushed me to finally start writing this fic!

Prompts: Academia AU, Modern AU, and a smidge of Role Reversal AU

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

When I was a little girl, I slapped a kid so hard in the playground for kicking sand in a group of toddlers’ faces that he ended up with periodic nosebleeds for weeks. Since then people called me Princess Noble Beast, after our district’s mascot, fair and swift in her judgment. I wore that title like a badge of honor, walking through the halls of my primary school like royalty, my hands held high as divine sentencers. Children opened their arms wide accepting me into their friend groups and adults praised me for my poise and commitment to the rules. I stood at the top of the food chain and no one dared cross my path.

But as I stand here, palm stinging and staring up at the dozens of eyes trained on me, a teenage boy cradling his cheek at my feet, I feel less like a princess delivering justice and more like a criminal caught red-handed in the act.

I shakily lower my right hand and slide it into the pocket of my blazer, only to remember I hadn’t yet bothered to remove the thread binding them shut. Is this common for custom-made clothes? Women’s pockets were already small enough, why add on to the struggle with this extra barrier? I manage to snake my thumb and forefinger in between some loose stitching as a tall figure with black hair approaches from within the crowd.

“That’s one way to make an introduction,” he says to me before kneeling in front of the collapsed boy. “A little over-excited for the first day back, yeah?”

“Looking for a fight?” the boy starts, raising his head. But as soon as his eyes meet the other’s he stiffens, face turning beet red.

“No one’s looking for any trouble, friend,” the dark haired figure says, offering his hand. The boy timidly accepts and is pulled to his feet, one hand still on his cheek and his eyes trained on his shoes. “Why don’t you swing by Mr. J’s class before homeroom, get that cheek looked at.”

The boy nods quickly then disappears into the sea of students. Faces from all directions are still pointed at us as an arm extends to me this time. “That was a mighty blow. You hurt?”

His eyes are the color of the buttons that adorn our matching uniforms, golden and resplendent, but that is where our similarities end. He stands a full foot taller than me with broad shoulders and hair that looks almost too untamed to be accidental. The collar of his dress shirt sticks out at an awkward angle from underneath his blazer, hinting that it either wasn’t ironed properly or folded neatly before he put it on. And even though he stands a respectable distance away from me unlike the last boy, I still catch the faint whiff of perspiration and see beads of sweat dripping down his brow, most likely a result of when we all stampeded through the main doors just moments prior.

He beckons lightly and I take it he is offering to check over my reddening hand. I slide the fingers out of the pocket and fold my hand over my other arm, cradling two books tight to my chest as nonchalantly as I can. “I’m fine,” I say, preparing to spin on my heels hoping I can dissolve into the crowd like the other boy.

“Hey, is that the new Heartwringer?”

He’s pointing at the outer of my books, a pink hardcover dotted with dozens of embossed reflective hearts and squiggles. 

“Uh, you read Heartwringer?” I ask.

“No, but I know someone who does. Says it’s got its merits, but every time I open one up I can’t get past the first chapter.”

I’m not sure what surprises me more, the fact that this guy tried reading a mushy young adult romance series or that someone actually recommended it to him.

“You’re not exactly the target audience,” I offer, hoping I sound as inoffensive as possible with the flock of ears still surrounding us. Honestly, don’t these people have someplace to be?

“Hey, if they didn’t want me reading it the publisher would have plastered ‘No jocks allowed!’ on the cover,” he says, and some snickers emerge from the audience. He brushes his swoopy bangs out of his face, and for some reason that irritates me.

 “As long as they can make a quick buck, ads will convince you there’s twenty-one things wrong with your hair and only their product can fix it,” I say. 

“Wait, you mean that gel I bought off that shady website was just a scam?” He says, vigorously running his hands through his hair in an exaggerated manner. The result is his head looking even more like a rat’s nest and the crowd erupting in laughter.

“Better get your money back, dude!” someone calls.

“Yeah, rip ‘em a new one like you did to Jade in the semifinals!” another whoops.

The tension that filled the air only moments ago slackens so abruptly that I have to lean against the wall to keep my knees from melting into jelly. It was so quick and uncomplicated with no threat of violence or fear. He mollified the crowd like it was as simple as combing his hair. The satisfied students disperse soon after, several offering the boy fist bumps and high-fives along the way, and it was as though time was allowed to flow again.

“And that’s why you should never accept opinions from strangers,” the boy says, shooting finger guns at a group of giggling girls as they passed.

“Thanks for the public safety announcement,” I say, pushing myself off the wall towards the front entrance as more students stagger in.

“Hang on, you don’t wanna head back out there. Trust me,” he says.

“What was that about not trusting people you don’t know?” I say.

“Touché,” he says, “but for real, you’re better off staying put. At least for the next five minutes or so.”

“I’m waiting for my friend.” I push past him, but he swipes the two books out of my arms and holds them out of reach. “Return those, please.”

“After the first bell rings. Promise.” 

My hand twitches in the familiar way when I prepare to deliver a slap, but I can’t tell if the smile he wears is conniving or genuine, so I’ll hold off on judgment until his appointed five minutes are up. He barely registers my gracious consideration nor his narrow escape from justice as he opens up the novel. 

“Someone’s been up late,” he says, flipping to the last third of the book where my bookmark lay. “Didn’t this just release the other day?”

“It’s been out for almost a month now.”

“Seriously? I coulda sworn it blew up on Twitter only yesterday,” he says. So he can’t stand reading the books themselves, but he keeps up with the discussion on social media?

“That’s because the Second Prince's review only dropped yesterday,” I say.

Rhodolite isn’t actually a monarchy. We’re the smallest of a cluster of independent districts each ruled by a governor. We each specialize in our own fields of labor and mainly deal with each other only in trade. Though we aren’t hostile towards one another, the neighboring districts aren’t exactly friendly either. We primarily keep to ourselves and only consider crossing borders for nominal purposes, like business or travel or inter-district conferencing. The Second Prince was the first to transcend these borders for entirely personal reasons, and wound up the Saving Grace and Gossip Girl of the bibliophile world in the process.

There was a time before I was born when the ever-increasing work hours and diminishing leisure time of our modern age withered Rhodolite’s printing industry to near extinction. Coupled with the fact that technology was quickly dominating the written word, our district wasn’t holding up so great. We specialize in arts and the humanities; physical media is our bread and butter. We are the leading supplier of printed works throughout the districts, from paper to paintings to sculptures, and having one of our largest industries struggle took a big hit to our economy and national pride. 

Then just when a bunch of big name publishers seemed ready to shut their doors for good, thousands of orders flooded all the bookstores across the district in the span of one hour. No one knew anything about the source of those orders other than that they were all placed under the name of the Second Prince, paid in cash, and picked up by masked gentlemen the next day. Bookstore owners publicly shared the details of the orders out of curiosity, and it quickly became clear that this Second Prince could be no common citizen. The majority of the books ordered were first editions or hardcovers or generally the priciest versions on the market. Some titles were even ordered multiple times from different locations. One enthusiast compiled all this data and calculated the prince’s total bill to be in the ballpark of half a million dollars. 

Naturally, news of this incident spread like wildfire, and people across districts began concocting theories as to the identity of this mysterious Second Prince. Some believed he was a wealthy shareholder who held a lot of stake in the publishing industry. Others said he was one of those big time influencers or corporate heirs with tons of cash to throw around on a big prank. Some even claimed that the Second Prince was actually a coalition of booklovers taking their last stand against the dying industry.

Whatever the intention, the stunt got results. People all over swarmed Rhodolite’s bookstores demanding titles the Second Prince ordered with fervor, and it wasn’t long before mile-long backlogs and waitlists became the norm for all releases. The influx in popularity drove publishers manic and book printing ramped up nearly tenfold over the next decade. We still feel the effects of the prince’s efforts to this day. Books regularly fly off store shelves to the point that many chains were forced to open locations in other districts to meet demand. Reporters claim recreational reading beat out sports for the number one leisurely activity in our district for the tenth year running. Newsprint flourished as the people’s main source for updates as fans wrote in with any info they had on the prince, or as was becoming more common, claiming they were him.

But it didn’t stop there. Just when everyone thought the reading fad was close to ending its course, five years ago book reviews started popping up on a tiny internet blog. These weren’t your typical “Five stars! Would recommend” remarks but full-length literary analyses, complete with scholarly theses and bibliographical citations. Every single book released in the past decade received two, one spoiler-free version and one dissecting the plot and themes to their core, often brutally so, and never totaled less than twenty pages. What shocked readers more than the length though was the signature at the end of each review: From the desk of the Second Prince.

Again the enthusiasts had a field day with this new discovery, sprouting fresh theories as to whether this was the same Second Prince from the book drought twenty years ago or just another poser trying to ride the coattails of his fame like in the papers. Would his revival signal a second boom in Rhodolite’s economy? Did it spell another economic decline in the near future? Those who remembered Rhodolite’s last recession went into a panic, the scars of wounded pride still fresh in their minds, and rushed to their nearest bookstores stockpiling copies the moment a new review circulated no matter what the prince said about them. Meanwhile, the rest of us too young to remember or weren’t around for his first appearance adopted a more relaxed approach and take the reviews as they are; literary critiques. I have a feeling it’s what this “second” Second Prince intended for them anyhow. 

As an elected royal myself, I could respect the prince’s dedication to his craft, even if it was exhibited anonymously. I’d spend hours up at night scrolling through his blog, filtering through my favorite genres, on the hunt for my next read. Dedicated fans noticed he typically posts in the late evening, and come morning his verdict is law. To get a glowing review from the Second Prince basically equates to your book’s success, bookstores calling in the printing companies for extra orders by the hundreds. However, fail to impress him even once and your entire career is flushed down the drain into oblivion. It’s a risky business being a blooming writer Rhodolite, but a gauntlet many young authors stepped up to accept, and one I intend to take on someday, too.

“And here I thought you understood my lesson on not trusting people on the internet,” the dark haired boy says, waving me off as he flips to the inside cover. “Whoa, you got a first edition?”

“Yes, and I’d appreciate it if you would handle it with care,” I say, tapping my foot.

“Aye aye, captain.” He closes it extra softly and digs a hand into his stitch-free blazer pocket. “For real though, you gotta let me know how that book goes, I dunno if I can make it to the end in time before it gets memed to death on social media.” He pulls out a slick smartphone encased in a deep maroon cover with a golden lion, and sticks it up to me. I’ve seen this gesture before. On TV when characters want to exchange contact information, they simply touch the backs of their phones together and the data automatically transfers. It’s a feature that was introduced a few years back and all the latest releases nowadays come equipped with it, though I’ve never personally tried it before and freeze on the spot.

He seems to notice my hesitation and retracts the phone. “Sorry, bet that was weird, swapping numbers with a guy you just met. Practice what you preach, am I right?” He smooths down some of his hair strands then opens the second book I was holding; a blank composition notebook. He subtly plucks a pen from the breast pocket of a passerby student, jots something on the first page, then returns both books to me with a smirk. “If you’re ever up to fangirl over some fictional relationships, just give me a ring.”

I flip the notebook open to find he’s scribbled his number and a short note underneath.

I can’t help the snort that comes out. “I’ll consider it.”

Leon D. 

The jock with the cool hair

“Anytime. Oh, and if you ever run into trouble again, it’s cool to give me a call, too, uh… sorry, what should I call you?”

Before I can open my mouth, I hear my name called like it’s a rocket barreling towards us.

“Princess Emma!” 

Hordes of students clap their hands over their ears as Rio yells in his default high volume, but to me it’s as though a nostalgic hymn serenades down these halls.

Rio’s been my best friend for the past three years. He moved to my neighborhood in the middle of the school year, so the kids mostly ignored him when he first showed up. That stopped the moment he beat an eighth grader in a wrestling match during the annual sports festival, and the rest of his friends ganged up on him behind the parking lot after school. A classmate tipped me off to this as we were walking home, and I turned around on the spot. By the time I arrived, Rio had been beaten half to death, his blood sparkling against the patched concrete and his limbs twisted in unnatural angles like fallen tree branches. It only took a raised hand and a verbal warning from Princess Noble Beast before the gang scattered, and I managed to haul Rio’s mangled body back to school where a teacher discovered us and called an ambulance. 

I’m not too certain about the details following that; I wasn’t allowed to ride with him to the hospital. I was told by the adults I’d done a good job and should just head home. But ever since the day Rio dragged himself back into class on crutches we’ve been inseparable. Or more accurately, I haven’t been able to shake him off my tail. He’d sit next to me during the classes we’d shared and follow me around in the hallways with a huge smile plastered across his face insisting I teach him the technique I used to scare off the eighth graders. I had grown well accustomed to admirers flanking me for my coveted slap by that point, but no matter how many times I explained it was merely a Princess’s duty to protect her people he’d refuse to leave my side. It didn’t take long for the student body to come up with another one of their famous nicknames, and soon enough Rio was anointed the Princess’s Pet Puppy. 

It turned out that I’d tire of this nickname more than Rio. Between tailing me everywhere I went, partnering with me for all in-class assignments, and clinging to me as I walked home after school, Rio quickly monopolized all my time. I figured if I showed him indifference he’d eventually lose interest, but that only made him double-down on his efforts to make me interact with him. It all came to a head the day my female friends disinvited me from a slumber party because they didn’t want to risk a boy showing up, and after school when I saw Rio skipping towards me and waving with his big goofy grin I snapped.

“Why won’t you just leave me alone!” I shouted at him midway through crossing the street.

He stopped in his tracks and stared with a gaze so empty it reminded me of when I found him beaten behind school. “You don’t like having me around?” he said, voice cracking.

“No, I don’t! All my friends don’t like me anymore because of you, so just go back to where you came from!”

Middle school is a time defined by mistakes and regrets, and I still consider that to be the most horrible thing that’s ever come out of my mouth. My only solace is that I was cut off from saying any more over the sound of the car horn blaring in my direction.

I should have been hit, it would be fitting retribution for the vulgarity I spewed, a suitable end to the pure-of-heart princess who strayed from her path at the height of her reign. But instead of a steel bumper, the sun assaulted my vision as I laid face up on the opposite curb completely unharmed, Rio bawling apologies over my toppled body.

It’s a funny thing, when two people save each other from certain doom. You develop a sort of bond that’s not quite like friends, or family, or even lovers. It’s more like an unspoken vow, like we can look at each other and know exactly what the other person’s thinking and feeling. 

I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It’s ok, you didn’t mean it. I shouldn’t have intruded so much on you. We cool? Yeah, we’re cool.

I could never truly understand what it was or even put a name to it, though I suspect Rio felt the same way.

Things sort of went back to normal, if you can call it that. Rio still stuck by my side, but I never told him off again. Maybe it was out of pity for the transfer boy with no friends, maybe I still felt guilty for what I said on the street, or maybe some perverse side of me actually enjoyed having a constant shadow watching my back at all times. Whatever the reason, I sort of took him under my wing and taught him the way things worked in our school; what students to avoid, how to best sneak into class when you’re late, which lunch ladies dished out the biggest servings… that sort of stuff. Maybe he was just super excited that I started responding to his presence again because he held onto every tidbit I fed him like it was the gospel, and soon enough he mastered the inner workings of our school as though he lived there his entire life.

I’ve got your back and you’ve got mine.

And so the days went on with the Princess and her now Guard Dog patrolling our tiny neighborhood with an iron fist and adamant authority. Rio quickly proved his victory in the wrestling match wasn’t a fluke as he could take on any opponent one-on-one no matter the size, and he built up a reputation of his own as a harbinger of justice. 

We shared our ambitions, mine of becoming a successful author and him to backpack around the world, and soon enough I was looking forward to seeing him and his dopey grin everyday. Life was turning out well as the years went on and it seemed that our little tag-team was set to last, at least until this June when my acceptance letter to Rhodolite Academy arrived.

Ever supportive, Rio was even more ecstatic at my admission than I was, railing on about how I was the most qualified person on the planet for the scholarship to anyone who would listen till their ears fell off. That unspoken feeling we shared was enough for me to tell it was all a cover though; Rhodolite Private Academy only offers two scholarships a year to incoming high school freshmen, one boy and one girl, and I’d seen Rio crumble in tears by his mailbox from my bedroom window the same morning my acceptance letter arrived.

 I told him going to different schools wouldn’t hamper our friendship, and I’d still be living at home so we could always hang out after school and on the weekends. But Rio was adamant about us sharing our high school experience, and if there was one word I’d use to describe him it would be persistent.

Every morning in July, Rio marched up to the campus at dawn (a full hour on foot each way) with a loudspeaker and perched himself in front of the iron gates demanding to speak with the headmaster. Technically he never stood on school property and presented his case as a minor protesting his right to free speech, so the cops couldn’t legally drive him away without crossing risky territory. I held off telling him that the headmaster probably wouldn’t be at school during Summer Break until the staff finally let him in on the last day of July on the condition that he never bring the loudspeaker again. I remember he nearly bust down my front door at sunset panting and screaming that he got in.

The school couldn’t formally offer a third scholarship on account of some archaic legacy nonsensicality, so Rio’s enrollment was settled under the rug as him taking a part-time job assisting in the main office during his free periods and some weekends. This arrangement ensured money he earned would be put directly towards his tuition and doubled as work experience during his high school career, but I could tell Rio couldn’t care less about the details as long as it meant we could continue studying together.

I have to admit I’d spent much of the summer agonizing over the fact that I’d be moving to a new school alone, far away from my kingdom and people, starting at the bottom of the food chain in a totally new environment full of snooty rich kids who’ve been mastering the trade since birth, but seeing Rio paddle up the stairs and through the main doors with his goofy smile reminded me how lucky I was to have saved the boy with no friends all those years ago.

“I thought you were going to wait for me at the front entrance! We were supposed to take the first step of our high school journeys together!” Rio pants, clutching his knees and catching his breath.

“Sorry, I kinda got swept in the wave,” I say. It was the truth, too. Students trampled the path leading from the gates up to the Entrance Hall with such ferocity you’d think they were trying to escape a mass murderer. I’d done my best to stand my ground at the base of the steps waiting for Rio, but pushing in the opposite direction only proved futile with my arms preoccupied protecting myself and my books, and it wasn’t long until I fell victim to the flow, getting tossed left and right and up like a ragdoll. The boy I slapped earlier shoved me particularly hard into the entryway with his backpack, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“Those ruffians, I’ll never forgive them for stealing this memory from me!” Rio fumes. I figure this is not the best time to bring up the fact that he’s been coming to school everyday without me for the past month for training. Instead, I pat him gently on the shoulder.

“It’s no big deal, Rio, really. We’ve got the next four years to fill with plenty more memories.”

“I know, but first impressions are the foundation to the future. That’s what Bossman said when I spilled coffee on his rug my first day of training, anyway,” Rio says, opening his backpack. “And let me tell you, this first term is not leaving us with much future to look forward to. Look, we only have three classes together!” He flashes two laminated sheets of paper side-by-side in his hands. It isn’t hard to figure out that these are our timetables, and I can tell by the exorbitant use of neon color-coding and comments in the margins that Rio’s already raked through them calculating the maximum amount of time we can spend together each day.

“P.E., Home Ec. and Health. Even with homeroom and lunch we barely scrape four hours. How’s a guard dog supposed to protect his princess when he’s separated from her half the day?” Rio moans.

“I’m sure we’ll manage.” I reach for my timetable, but a hand descends from above and snatches it out of sight. Rio’s arrival brought back my carefree middle school days so vividly that I completely forgot the previous conversation I was having.

“Princess, huh? Does that mean I have to call you ‘Your Highness’ from now on? And this guy’s your guard dog?” Leon asks, scanning my schedule.

“Know your place, knave!” Rio growls. He launches for the paper, but Leon easily raises it out of reach above his head.

“AP Literature and Composition… you’re taking a senior-level course as a freshie?” Leon asks, angling his neck around the hopping Rio to look at me.

“Yeah, I like to read,” I blurt out faster than I intended.

“I got that much, but APs are no joke. You think you can scrape by just because you read a few romance novels? Most kids don’t even think about enrolling in APs until at least third year.”

“If it’s not a challenge, then what’s the point of even paying this crazy tuition?”

“There’s a difference between a challenge and burnout, you know? You seriously wanna walk that line right from the start?”

My throat dries and my hands twitch. Even though I know the hallway is still filled with students and Rio’s so close, it feels as though I’ve been transported to an abandoned tunnel underground with just Leon there questioning me.

“I won’t know until I’ve tried,” I say, willing myself to meet his gaze. “And I’ll need my timetable to get started, Leon.” 

At that moment, Rio ceases his jumping and looks at me with the same gaze he wore when he opened his rejection letter back in June. “Did you just say Leon… as in Leon Dompteur?” 

Rio’s voice is low and frigid, unlike anything I’ve ever heard from him before, and it pulls me out of my tunnel-trance.

“Uh, is that what the D stands for?” I ask.

“Yeah, bit of a mouthful, isn’t it?” Leon laughs. “You heard of me, pup?”

Somewhere overhead the first bell rings, but the sound is drowned out by screams and splatters filing through the main door. Students scamper up the steps, bobbing and weaving and shielding their eyes, trying to evade the onslaught of what appear to be balloons pelting the entryway, bursts of red exploding on every surface they impact as they rupture. Scarlet ooze drips from the ceiling to the walls to the doors, ambushed students are on their knees gasping for breath, and a putrid odor somewhere in between rotten eggs and sewage fills my nostrils and makes my eyes water. As quickly as the attack began it ceased, leaving behind carnage as gruesome as one straight out of a horror movie.

“Whoops, I gotta take care of this. Promise me you’ll stay out of trouble!” Leon salutes us and dashes off to the swarm of suffering students.

Rio doesn’t answer, he doesn’t even look back. Instead he grabs my forearm and pulls me along with the fleeing crowd, my last sight Leon venturing head held high into the faux bloodbath before we round a corner.

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

*looks over shoulder to other wips* yeah I've got time

Tagging: @atelieredux

#ikemen prince #ikepri #different universe same love ccc #ikepri belle #ikepri leon #ikepri rio #scorchie writes #edit: forgot to add cut line again... #edit2: forgot to add chapter title... #emma/belle #leon dompteur #rio ortiz

[majoraop]

Cotton-Candy Ghosts

One day, Usopp recalled his past life.   It happened suddenly as he was eating peanuts during lunch break at school, and he nearly choked on one. Luckily, one of his new classmates knew unblocking manoeuvres and saved him. Usopp had still panicked, of course, so he only remembered a few flashes at first. However, day after day, he started visualising in his mind larger pieces of a bigger picture—a vivid canvas depicting waves, ships, treasures…   —Was that really my past life?   Usopp couldn’t believe it yet. He had been a pirate.   A pirate!   And a brave one at that.   Ridiculous.   And for a twist of fate, his name had been the same.   I am not brave. I never was brave.   Usopp sweated. He remembered things that would give him nightmares for months. Painful fights, countless near-death experiences.   And incredible adventures.   A pang of sadness crept into Usopp’s chest.   Have I lost my mind at last?   Usopp wasn’t sure all of that had been real, but he also remembered having fun like he never had in his current life… A boring, normal student life in an equally boring world without supernatural powers or the other incredible things he saw in his memories.   I had friends there… No, they were more than friends—they were family.   As a pirate, Usopp had felt frightened more times than he thought his current self could survive, but he had also felt joyful. He had sailed across the seas, unbound to anything if not his crew.   My family.   Some of those feelings seeped into his current self, and Usopp smiled as he walked to school, his steps livelier than usual.   Usopp was a high school student. A regular, plain first-year student, to be exact. Just a bit nerdy, probably. He liked listening to music—but not any kind of music. He had highly-specific tastes and only listened to female idols, but only pink-haired ones. And if they had their pink hair tied up into two cute ponytails, all the better.   Usopp put his headphones on and started humming his favourite song:      “Cotton-Candy Ghosts!      Cotton-Candy Ghosts!      I’m your cotton-candy ghost      scaring you in your dreams      (kissing you in the morning)      pink lips, pink cheeks,      pink clouds in the sky      kiss me like cotton-candy      Cotton-Candy Ghosts!”   Usopp didn’t care about the silly lyrics much—he liked that song since its upbeat music put him in a good mood.      “Cotton-Candy Ghosts!      Cotton-Candy Ghosts!”   Usopp didn’t have any particular skill or abilities other than remembering what his favourite idols liked. Sometimes he liked drawing portraits of them, but he was too shy to show his drawings to someone.      “Cotton-Candy Ghosts!      Cotton-Candy Ghosts!” Usopp was still humming the silly refrain of the song when it happened.   That girl…!   As he leisurely crossed the gate of the school, a pink blur dashed past him.   —She looks like one of the people in my previous life!   A new student like him? No, she looked older. She probably was a third-year. Usopp didn’t mind older girls, though, especially when they looked like one of his beloved idols.   I wonder if it was this resemblance that made my old memories resurface…   Usopp hadn’t been able to see the girl closely since she had run past him in a moment—why was she running like that?—but he hadn’t missed her long pink hair tied into two ponytails and the ribbon adorning her school uniform, a slightly richer shade of pink.   Part of Usopp thought she was his favourite idol, while another part saw in her Perona the Ghost Princess, a girl he met in his past life.   This is absurd.   Usopp pinched his arm with all his strength and yelped. No, he wasn’t dreaming. He was fully awake, his throbbing arm proving it.   Why am I accepting it as real already?!   Usopp needed to sit down and did it on the spot without giving a damn about the dirty looks the other students turned on him. He had never been popular anyway; in middle school, to try to enhance his image, he invented stories; in the end, though, everyone saw through him and started calling him a liar…   Uh.   Usopp blinked.   I was a liar in my past life, too?   He felt sick. Was he fated to be mocked forever?   No, in my past life I made my lies turn true. I can do that in my new life, too.   Despite his lies and fears, the Usopp had become a “brave warrior of the sea”—in his memories, at least. He had helped his captain become King of the Pirates—whatever that meant. Usopp’s past life was still blurry, but he also remembered that he had become the world’s best sniper.   Was that this same world but in the past, or a whole different one?   “Urghh!!!” Usopp screamed in frustration, his forehead pressed against his knees. He started swinging back and forth on his heels, hugging himself. He was confused and frightened.   Who am I?   As more memories flooded his mind, Usopp collapsed. --- “Are you feeling better?”   A voice.   A familiar voice. Usopp was scared to open his eyes, but he eventually did and...   —!!!   The school nurse looking down at him with worried eyes was a younger version of Kureha, another person Usopp had met in his past life.   “Yeah…” he muttered, too confused to give a proper answer.   No, I’m not feeling better! What is happening to me?!   He wanted to scream again, but another voice caught his attention.   Oh.   The pink-haired girl, Perona, was in the infirmary too. Usopp glanced at her. Now that he looked at her closer, Usopp noticed she looked different from his favourite idol, but she still was a carbon copy of the ghost girl in his memories.   “I told you countless times to not challenge him!”   Was she scolding another student?   Wait.   Usopp recognised the green hair of the boy on the cot just next to his. There was a divider between them, but it didn’t cover the other student fully.   Zoro?!   One of Usopp’s crewmates in his past pirate life and also his classmate in his current life—same name and all.   Convenient.   “Mihawk is too strong for you!” Perona kept yelling at Zoro. “Kendo isn’t something you can master overnight!”   Waitwaitwaitwait!   That was way too convenient even as far as coincidences and fate went. He hadn’t bonded with his classmates much yet since school had just started, so this was the first time Usopp heard about Zoro’s kendo training.   He was a swordsman—the strongest swordsman—in my memory of him in our past life.   And of course, Mihawk had been his mentor.   Yeah, decisively too convenient to be real.   Usopp evaluated the new info he got, but no matter how much he racked his brains he couldn’t dispel the doubts about the reality of it all.   I got a brain injury, maybe?   He could have invented his past life after an incident he forgot, to create a version of himself he aspired to become.   Do people with head trauma know when they’re hallucinating?   Usopp was more confused than ever. And yet, the bruise on his arm told him that he was not dreaming.   Am I the only one remembering the past, though?   While Usopp was pondering about that, Perona glanced in his direction. For a brief moment, their eyes met, but he immediately averted his eyes.  Dontblushdontblushdontblush…!   Too late. He already felt his face burning.   “It looks like you’re all right!” the Kureha-nurse slammed his back, laughing.   I’m not!   “Are you his classmate?” Perona addressed him with an indifferent tone.   Usopp felt sad. For a moment, he had hoped she would remember him, but her voice didn’t hint at anything like that.   Maybe everything I’m remembering is just in my head. I’ve told lies for so long that my brain is starting to believe them.   “Here, take a candy,” Perona told him next. “You look pallid—you probably need sugar.”   “T-thanks,” Usopp replied, his hand shaking slightly as he accepted the gift.   In his past life, he had first met Perona as an enemy, but then she had become an ally.   …I think.   Usopp’s memories of that part of his past life were still muddled. Anyway, what was Perona to him, now?   Just a fellow student, maybe.   Usopp risked spiralling into depressing thoughts again, but when he remembered the pirate he had been he lifted his chin. He wouldn’t keep living like this. He would change.   I will become more confident.   Perona looked at him with an unreadable expression and then said, “That idiot of your classmate had challenged Mihawk even though he’s a third-year like me. Please explain to him that it’s way too early for him to win against an upperclassman."   So, Perona and Mihawk are close in this life, too.   Usopp felt a pang of jealousy as he nodded at her.   No, I must stay positive. She was an enemy and thinking she’s cute is dangerous, but I still have a chance!   Just half-aware of his messy trail of thought (and priorities), Usopp felt his face flaring up.   Luckily, Perona has already left the infirmary.   “Ah, young love…” the Kureha-nurse chuckled next to him. She was watching Usopp with knowing eyes.   He wanted to tell her to mind her own business, but when he remembered how strong and fierce Kureha was in his memories he just chuckled along nervously. Feeling miserable, Usopp looked down; he still had a long way to go to become a “brave warrior of the sea.”   What am I saying?!   A brave student.   I swear I’ll become a brave student—whatever that means.   It didn’t feel like a huge goal or anything, but he had to start with something. --- Over time, more and more memories resurfaced in Usopp’s mind.   He was at a point where he recognised almost everyone in his school, which made his days entertaining but also stressful. He was happy that he could make friends with some of them again, but certain students terrified him. To say it all, it wasn’t really the students who terrified him, but his memories of them. Some of those boys and girls had been ruthless criminals in the past pirate life Usopp remembered, but in the current time, they were regular students like him.   Well, not exactly.   Some of them had brought over some traits of their old personality and mannerisms which genuinely frightened Usopp. However, they weren’t evil masterminds or anything.   Not that I know of, at least.   Usopp had started worrying about everything. He was even afraid of just walking through the corridors of the school alone, especially in the late afternoon when fewer students were around, the majority of them already returned to their homes after finishing their club activities for that day.   Talking about clubs…   In the end, Usopp had mustered his courage—he must have found it in his previous self since he definitely didn’t have it in his current one—and had founded a do-it-yourself club. He liked drawing, after all, and even if he didn’t feel particularly skilled he had decided that he couldn’t keep his illustrations hidden in a drawer forever.   If I want to conquer the girl I like, I must show her my best sides!   Usopp wasn’t sure Perona would consider him drawing other girls’ portraits one of his best sides, though, so he had started drawing something different: ships. More exactly, sailing ships. His memories of his past life helped him with that, and he was genuinely developing an interest in anything sailing-related. Some of his classmates seemed enthusiastic about that, too, so they joined his club.   Of course, you are! You were pirates as well in your past lives!   Not being able to talk with them about that was frustrating, but Usopp couldn’t risk sounding crazy. Besides, he had more important things to worry about: unexpectedly, Perona had also joined his DIY club. She had been in an occult club before, but she wanted to try something different in her last year in high school. Usopp was happy about her presence in the club, but also nervous.   I just need to act normally.   However, even if he repeated that to himself while cleaning up the room of his DIY club, he knew it wouldn’t be so easy. Each time Perona was next to him his heart pounded faster, and her sweet perfume made him melt…   I probably look like a fool to her—she is older than me, after all.   “Stop with the self-pity!” Usopp yelled, throwing a box full of scraps outside the room.   “Ouch!”   Usopp froze.   “Hey, what do you think you are doing?!”   “I-I’m sorry…” Usopp stuttered.   I’m done for.   He had recognised that voice: it was another third-year student, Moria.   I’m utterly done for.   Usopp’s legs trembled when he thought back to the pirate version of him.   I’m sooo dead…!   “It’s ok, things happen.”   What?   Usopp raised his head at that unexpected friendly tone.   “I’m looking for Perona, is she here?” Moria asked, the accident of before already forgotten.   “N-no, she left already.” Usopp couldn’t believe the present-time Moria was so friendly.   “Too bad…” Moria sounded disappointed. “I had the perfect idea for a collaboration between your DIY and our occult club, but I wanted to talk it over with her first.”   Now, Usopp was curious. He forced his voice not to tremble as he asked, “I would like to know more about it if you don’t mind.”   “Well, it’s something we could do for the upcoming summer festival—nothing complex. Just a haunted house.” Moria chuckled. “You were expecting more, weren’t you?”   I was definitely expecting more, but not in the sense you’re meaning here.   Usopp shuddered, but it was just a moment. Then, he smiled at the third-year student. “It sounds like a great idea. I’ll tell Perona myself if that’s ok with you.”   What am I saying?!?!   Usopp was screaming inside. He had always loathed haunted houses and tests of courage. In middle school, he had even gotten lost in the woods once, during a summer festival, and his teachers had found him trembling and crying on a tree. He had been so ashamed that he refused to go to school for a week after that.   “Thanks!” Moria smiled back at him.   —Wow, he’s really friendly.   Usopp could not help thinking that he had only known a side of Moria in his past life. Or, maybe, once reincarnated, they had all changed… A part of Usopp’s mind wondered if he could really become the brave man of his memories, but he immediately drove that thought away; at the very least, delusional or not, he would try.   Do I only know one of Perona’s sides, too?   Usopp’s heart filled with a sensation he was still too scared to call love, and he smiled by himself.   I want to know everything about you, my sweet cotton-candy ghost. --- “I think it’s a great idea!”   Perona’s smile told Usopp that she was sincere, and he smiled back. “Let’s do it, then,” he replied. That was the first time Perona had smiled at him like that, and Usopp was sure his heart had turned into a sugar cube.   Or more probably, a heart-shaped one. Or ghost-shaped…   Usopp felt stupid.   But love makes people stupid, doesn’t it?   Usopp started humming his favourite song, “Cotton-Candy Ghosts.”   Yes, it is love.   Usopp finally admitted that to himself. He glanced at Perona as she went back to sewing one of her amigurumi. They were all shaped like ghosts or monsters, but they still looked cute. Making sure not to be seen by her, Usopp studied her features. She looked like her old self from his memories, but she was younger of course. Her expression was gentler, too. She still looked mature in her own way, but her round eyes gave her a jaunty air.   I want to date you. I want to kiss you. I would even go to a haunted house with you!   Usopp couldn’t recognise himself anymore. Since when was he so daring? He wouldn’t be surprised to awaken his Haki next.   No, that’s impossible.   In his past life, Usopp had been able to see people’s auras with a power called “Observation Haki”.   Something like that would be too out of place in this world. What’s next, Perona summoning ghosts from thin air?   Suddenly, Usopp wasn’t sure anymore that going through a test of courage together with her was a good idea.   “When we’re done building the haunted house for the festival,” Perona told him at that very moment, “we could test it together—I must make sure it will be scary enough.” She giggled.   I’m screwed.   Usopp was glad Perona’s eyes were glued on her crocheted plush since he could feel the terrified expression on his own face.   I’m still a long way from becoming a... Brave Student of the School.   Usopp rolled his eyes at the underwhelming epithet. --- The daunting day had finally come.   The cicadas chirped in the clammy air, happy voices filled the streets, and colourful lights illuminated the night.   It was a perfect day for the summer festival.   Usopp looked proudly at the haunted house his DIY club had built. It was a really good job, considering they were still a new club and everything. Sure, Moria’s occult club had helped, but the bulk of the work had been done by Usopp and his friends.   Usopp’s proud smile soured when he realised the design of the haunted house was based on his memories of Thriller Bark, the ghostly ship Moria’s past self had turned into his lair. Usopp’s eye twitched.   At least, our zombies and skeletons and ghosts are just puppets.   Usopp wasn’t still sure about the ghosts, though. While working on the haunted house, sometimes he had seen strange lights moving out of sight—especially when Perona was present.   IamnotscaredIamnotscaredIamnotscared…   Usopp repeated that as a mantra, but his legs wouldn’t stop shaking.   “Are you ready?”   Perona’s voice made him jump. Usopp turned his head slowly, forcing a grin on his face, and said, “I’m always ready!”   What a stupid, cliché line!   Usopp wanted to kick himself for uttering it, but Perona had already taken him by an arm and was dragging him into Thrill—the haunted house.   I’m utterly screwed.   At least, Perona wouldn’t be able to see his terrified face in the dark. --- “It was perfect!”   Perona looked so happy that Usopp managed to smile, too. His heart was still pounding fast, but at least he had managed not to faint.   I’m sure I saw a real ghost inside there.   “You know, I think I like you a bit,” Perona said with a finger on her pink lips.   —What?!   Usopp didn’t even try not to blush this time.   “You’ve turned red like Mihawk’s favourite tomato juice.” Perona giggled.   Wait, are you sure you didn’t mean “blood” instead of juice?   The Mihawk in Usopp’s memories did look a bit like a vampire, now that he thought about it. And the current one wasn’t much different in that regard.   “Why don’t we go out on a date, one of these days?”   You’re going too fast!   Usopp was at a loss for words. He just stared at Perona, hoping his expression didn’t look too stupid. Still, the idea of going out with a past enemy turned into an ally—someone who looked similar to his favourite idol on top of that—thrilled him.   “You look so silly!” Perona giggled. “But I also like that about you…” she whispered, getting closer to him. “Do you mind if—” With her eyes closed, Perona tilted her head and parted her lips.   —Wait…   When Perona’s soft lips touched Usopp’s, all his worries melted away.   You taste like cotton candy.   Usopp closed his eyes too and kissed Perona. It was an awkward but sweet kiss, and for the first time in his current life, he felt he did something brave.   Love is scary, but I don’t mind risking everything for you.

My Usopp x Perona fanfic for the Usopp’s Fables zine @usoppshipzine!  ^^

#usopero #usoperona #usopp #perona #opfanfic #opfanfiction #onepiece #one piece #majoraop #(This too is a sligtly revised version of the fanfic in the zine since I'm nitpicking like this with my stories... ^^' ) #long post #queued

[sagafiction]

ETERNALLY SINGLE, ROSA ÁLVAREZ - NEERJA PAWAR

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 7

Rosa ambled towards the beige building, pondering upon what Manuel had said. She had decided to walk to work, since the weather had seemed just right. She regretted it now as the sun beat down on her, as if to drive home a point. Manuel was right. Of course, he was right.

Had she lost sight of why she began doing this in the first place? Was she, deep down, embarrassed? She shouldn’t care what anyone thought, but it was so hard not to when the “anyone” were her parents. Was it a difficult subject to bring up? Yes. Had she dug herself into a deep hole with all her little white lies? Sure. But was it because she was embarrassed of her job? Surely not. They would be embarrassed of her job, a little voice whispered in her head. She was doing this for them.

She took a deep determined breath. Right, she was going to do her best to put this out of her mind and focus on why she started doing this in the first place—to help others. It wasn’t about her.

The newly formed logic flew out of her head the very next moment when she saw a familiar face from her past standing right outside her office building. Not Juan, no, although she would much rather it was him. This athleisure-toting gangly girl looked like Jadalyn Perez, an ex-classmate from her former high school and an all-around nuisance for the “girls support girls” movement. Last Rosa heard, she’d officially changed her name to Jaydn, because it “fit her vibe better”. It seemed she hadn’t aged a day past sixteen, and not in a good way. The same tiger blond highlights framed her face that seemed to permanently sneer at the world. A face that, alarmingly, flickered with recognition as it looked right at her.

‘Rosa? Oh my God, Rosa!’ Jaydn squealed.

What in the fresh hell? Was everyone from her town visiting LA?! Not that she had a problem with general tourism, but Jaydn wasn’t just any ex-classmate. She was the town blabbermouth. Once, when they were twelve, Rosa had told Jaydn about her Cabbage Patch boyfriend Dean Smith. The next day, the whole school was calling her Mrs. Smith and drawing caricatures of Angelina Jolie as a Cabbage Patch doll and leaving them in her locker. She didn’t live down the name for years.

Rosa’s flight instinct kicked in and she ducked into the nearest building. She hurried across the lobby—a swanky, shiny place sporting a behemoth chandelier—looking over her shoulder to see if Jaydn was following. She vaguely remembered the building being some kind of production company, but couldn’t spot a sign around. She’d just find a bathroom in the lobby and camp out there until the coast was clear. She looked back again, unable to spot the startling blonde, and smacked right into a broad, intoxicatingly perfumed chest.

‘Oh fuck, watch where you’re going!’ a deep voice complained, and Rosa looked up to see light brown eyes laced with annoyance.

‘Sorry! I—’ She stopped midway as she spotted Jaydn entering the building. Rosa frantically looked around for some sort of escape and saw the turnstiles to enter the main building, but she didn’t have a company keycard to access it. She couldn’t possibly exit through the same gate without being noticed by Jaydn. There were no exits within reach, but she could see one on the far right corner. Maybe she could make a run for it. But she could see Jaydn charging at her, and it was too late to try to run away without raising suspicion. Her stomach sank as she realised: she was trapped in the lobby.

The annoyed man was staring at her, expecting a response or apology. But when she just whipped around a few times, looking like she’d done one too many shrooms, he turned to leave.

‘Wait! Hold on!’ She grabbed his arm desperately, then lowered her voice. ‘Okay, I know I’m probably the last person you want to help right now, but I need you to pretend like you know me.’

‘What?’ The man looked utterly confused.

‘Just pretend like you know me!’

He raked his hands through his thick hair, getting more annoyed by the minute. ‘Hold on, is this some fake boyfriend romcom bullshit? Listen lady, I’ve seen enough of those—’

Rosa cut him off, ‘No! Ew!’ She quickly checked herself. ‘I mean, I’m sure any girl would be lucky to have you. Or guy.’ Although, he’d be wasted on a man, she thought, a flush creeping up her neck. Easily over six feet tall, with a pleasantly asymmetrical face and thick brown hair, the man had every right to be offended. But Rosa didn’t have the time to stroke his damn ego. Jaydn was less than twenty feet away. Rosa got straight to the point. ‘Listen, I’m desperate. Please, just pretend we’re colleagues. There’s someone here who can’t really know why I’m here and here she comes—Hey, Jaydn!’ Rosa greeted her as if she had just spotted her.  

‘The famous Rosa Álvarez! It’s so good to see you! I thought I lost you in the crowd. Didn’t you hear me earlier?’ Jaydn said as she gave her an awkward side-hug.

‘Earlier? When?’ Rosa frowned, looking utterly clueless. ‘I’m sorry I was in such a rush to meet my colleague.’ She turned to the tall man beside her, hoping to God he was on board.

A beat of silence passed between them, and Rosa held her breath, feeling about ready to pass out when—‘Samuel Jackson,’ he smiled politely, extending his hand.

--------------

Audio excerpt read by @themariamccann

#writeblr #creative writing #writing #writing stuff #writing blog #writeblogging #writers on tumblr #romance writing #romance recs #romance fiction #books #booklr #books and reading #books and literature #booksbooksbooks #excerpts #reading and writing #indie authors #indie author #indie publishing #indie books #audio #audiobook #audio fiction #audio drama

[amarrymeinbostonwriter]

NaNoWriMo 2022: Day 27

I didn’t post the update yesterday because it was mostly sex scenes. Yes, really.

None of this is written in order and it’s supposed to depict most of the main character’s life. Yesterday’s writing is like 25 years after today’s writing on the time line. Basically, I go with whatever idea I have that day to write about. Again, this will be a beastly mess to edit. So many loose ends to tie up! ;-;

So instead have this story when little Matilda meets her first butch woman, Miss Penney Smythe, a classmate of her mother’s from her finishing school. They’re all upper middle class Victorian women. Rosie was born in 1848 and Matilda 1850 (roughly) so this is from about 1855. Their Mother and Miss Smythe were both in finishing school in the early 1840′s as girls. 

Day 27 word count: 1,935 Words

Total word count: 80,943 Words 

Excerpt: 

I'll take you back as far as I can remember. Johnny was just a baby, not but two years old. I doubt he can remember. I was nearing five myself and Rosie was going to turn seven. Charlie was the baby in Mama's stomach at the time. There are few memories I have when my brothers aren't yet born. Those are even hazier than this one. 

This one sticks out to me because it happened around the time Miss Holburn first became Rosie's and my governess. Papa got a new Coachman around that same time, a kind gentle soul named Dave. But neither of them had much to do at with the arrival of this third person who came to call on my mother when Papa was out on business. Rosie and I did find her a person of interest; she was a jolly woman who wore pants, a man's vest and jacket. Apparently, she was a classmate of Mama's when they went to finishing school. 

"Miss Penney Smythe, let me introduce you to my daughters, Rosalie-" my sister curtseyed when mentioned "and Matilda." I bowed instead much to Miss Smythe's delight.  

"Well, it's my honor to meet you, Miss Murray and Miss Matilda." She took off her hat, a top hat with a feather in it. I was shy around her because I didn't know women like her could exist. I would purposely go to the drawing room where Mama and her guest talked just to look at Miss Smythe. I was mesmerized.

Rosie, wanting attention, brought out her dolls to show Miss Smythe who kindly entertained Rosie's display. Not wanting to be outdone- I also brought my favorite doll- a doll Papa bought for me at my last birthday, but Mama didn't much like. You see she was a soldier and she fought in the American Revolution. Papa found this story charming. I named her Deborah Sampson after the solider herself. I saw her in one of Papa's books. One of his friends was an American and he brought that book, with many pictures, for Rosie, Johnny and me to share. I liked to pour over it even though it wasn't our history; it was still the story of another nation's past.

Papa found me a funny child because I liked old stories and tales of men and women who lived long ago. My mind was awash with knights and princesses, faraway lands and events long forgotten. I retold these stories to Rosie who loved to be the princess in all of them. Naturally, she was and I would be anyone else in the story. Rosie and I danced in the nursery, pretending we were at a masquerade, looking for our enemies on all sides. 

"I don't trust Duke Champlain. He might be in on the plot to murder our mother, the queen." Rosie said to me as we danced together in the imaginary ball room. We made silken masks and small capes from one of Mama’s old dresses to go to the imaginary masquerade.

We were twins in this rendition of the game. She was the lovely, fair Princess Rosie and I was her protective brother, Prince Matthew. Granted, we made much fuss over all these details which Rosie wrote down in our shared notebook. She had better handwriting than me and I didn't want to make a mess of our book.

#nanowrimo #nanowrimo 2022 #word count #writeblr #my writing #victorian era #victorian lesbians #tilly: the progress of a victorian lesbian and female husband #lesbian characters #lesbian writer #Penney Smythe is the first lesbian that Matilda meets #that she's aware of anyhow #both Miss Holburn and Coachman Dave are also lgbt #good luck with your projects everyone else! #we have three days to go #I can't believe it's almost December already! :O #b. h. avondale

[ichika27]

I found out last night that the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kazuki Takahashi, had passed away in what seem to be an accident.

That got me pretty sad. I have a lot of memories of the show as I was able to watch the original series when I was young and this news just brought back lots of memories. Even though Yu-Gi-Oh! isn’t my most favorite show, it still gave me lots of joy when I was a kid. And cause of that, I want to just recount all of that stuff on this post. (This’d be long and rambly).

Me and my siblings really enjoyed Yu-Gi-Oh when it aired here back in the day. I have so many memories of the series and my childhood around it. I was about 10yo, I think when it was broadcasted here in Filipino dub (and that’s mainly tha language I watched it on). When it was about to air here in the Philippines, they showed a lot of ads for it on tv. It also got featured on an issue of K-Zone and it's why that magazine got my attention which was why I bought it. That was the beginning of me collecting my favorite magazine and I probably wouldn’t have bought it or at least I would’ve started late if it wasn’t for the cover.

There’s also that one time when I overheard a classmate tell another that their mom said Yu-Gi-Oh is a demonic series lol. I was trying not to react at the absurdity cause listening to other people’s conversations is rude and I didn’t want them knowing I was doing just that. We also used to buy Yu-Gi-Oh cards when we were kids. They were all probably fake as they were all really cheap but we couldn't tell as we were little. They were being sold near the church and we either have to buy them after my siblings' school ends (as the school was built in the church itself) or we sneak out of the house to go there lol. We got scolded before for that when our mom found us coming back home one rainy day.

I also had a crush on Atem when I was 10 or 11yo (back when his real name hadn’t been revealed yet on tv and I still only knew him as Yami Yugi) and I remember writing a letter for him... which I ripped apart afterwards cause that was embarrassing lol.

At this time, I could also sort of draw Yugi but I have to copy how he looks like from the photos of the magazine I mentioned earlier so I can’t draw him in any other pose. My brother used to collect anything Yu-Gi-Oh that he can afford. Even a shirt his classmate was selling (their class does illegal selling of stuff in school and I say illegal cause they're not supposed to be selling anything lol). We still have the shirt and my sister ended up wearing it recently (she says it's hers now since our brother isn't using it anyways).

We also have one of the games for PS2 which my brothers have played a lot as well. The show was re-aired on tv on a local cable channel when I got to highschool. It's timeslot was 11:00am and it was back-to-back episode and it was the time when I have to get ready for school. I ended up hurrying when putting on my school uniform and leaving as late as I could (at a time when I know I would arrive at least just before flag ceremony/class prayer) so I could watch as much as I could. I still listen to all the OP/ED from time to time as they are all really good. I also enjoyed watching Yu-Gi-Oh GX when it aired for the first time here! It was awesome seeing an older Yugi giving Juudai a Winged Kuriboh card. I based one of my OCs that time on Juudai's appearance. I remember printing out the lyrics of Kaisei Joushou Hallelujah for a school project that required song lyrics (sadly, I never got it back) and was able to memorize it’s tv version - I can still sing it to this day! Although not as good at the rap part.

I might not play the game but I do have a favorite card based on how cute it is: Toon Dark Magician Girl. One of my brothers gifted me a copy on my birthday years ago after I lost the one I had. I still have the card on the paper he used as wrapping. On the other hand, on the one actual slot for photo on my old wallet which I used throughout highschool and college, I had placed the card Rescue Cat as a sort of charm (it’s a cat and it says rescue lol). That card is now on my scrapbook. Yu-Gi-Oh is an amazing series. It's still on-going with different shows and I might not have been catching up with it but it's awesome how many people still love it and how many more new fans it's getting. Thank you, Takahashi-sensei for giving us Yu-Gi-Oh! I wouldn’t have had all these fun memories without that series. May you Rest in Peace.

#yugioh #sana_post