#most of the time i would just stand under the ceiling fan like a zombie basically asleep thinking about avatar or something

[weremustelidae]

around this time last summer when i would get out of bed multiple times in the middle of the night just to wander around my bedroom because it was so hot i couldn't lay comfortably in bed for an entire night. that was wild

#roo makes a post #most of the time i would just stand under the ceiling fan like a zombie basically asleep thinking about avatar or something

[beautifulletdownfics]

Twenty Good Reasons :: Part Fourteen

Read Earlier Chapters Here My Masterlist

++ 

Part Fourteen, This Is Family

The following morning was like a balloon slowly deflating.

I woke up dozens of times during the night. Nurses would come and go, a night doctor came to check on Laykn a few times, and every time Harry moved underneath me, it tugged me back to the room. It felt like waiting for a flight, there was this restless stillness in feeling like something was coming, and I needed to be ready for this to be the time I woke up to it.

There was a sense that morning would come, and Laykn's doctors would waltz back in and have answers.

What really happened was that my parents returned from their hotel just after seven a.m. and when Laykn's doctor came back to see us, he wanted to wait until the late afternoon before changing anything. I flicked between watching Dr Davies as he spoke and looking to Harry from where he was standing in the far corner to me, giving up his seat so each of my parents could have one. He frowned through the news but gave nods of understanding where he seemed to agree with what was being presented to him.

But I wanted to know now. I wanted Laykn to wake up now.

I felt we had already waited entirely long enough.

"Has he gotten better overnight?" I asked carefully, but I could taste the impatience in the words, right on my tongue, "I just—Is he, I mean …"

Dr Davies gave me a look that said he really couldn't hypothesise, "Looking at the monitoring from overnight, he's definitely not gotten any worse which is sometimes the best news you can have at this stage. We're not seeing any of the things we worry about—a spike in temperature, further bleeding, swelling—so, so far Laykn's doing well. He's doing okay for now. I know it seems like nothing, but I promise you it's not. We'll review and talk again in another six hours, but we'll know even more in twelve. That's when I'd be thinking we'll start to see a shift and be able to talk about trying to wake him up for you."

"Twelve hours," I repeated aloud, mainly for myself. Harry gave me a small but infinitely reassuring nod, "Okay."

"In the meantime, stay with Laykn by all means, but Nina and Harry," he looked between us both, "You should go back to wherever you are staying and freshen up, have a nap, eat something. Laykn's going to need you all as he comes through this, and you're useless if you're not looking after yourselves. And each other."

"Thank you," my mum said for us all as Dr Davies left the room. She turned to Harry and I, "He's right. You came straight off the plane here, you haven't even checked in—oh, is that going to be a problem with your hotel?"

"It's fine," Harry pacified, "I let them know we wouldn't arrive until today."

"A shower and a nap," my mum reached for my arm as Harry started collecting our belongings, "You'll feel a thousand times better, trust me."

I thought about telling her I didn't know that I could feel any better, much less a thousand times so, but instead, I pulled her in for a long hug. I took the handle of my small, carry-on suitcase from Harry as he gave my parents both a hug as well.

"You'll be a new man too, Harry," The warmth in my dad's voice was evident, "Can't imagine you can feel any of your limbs right now after a night of Nina sleeping on you?"

"She's pretty comfortable, actually," Harry returned with a smile, "We'll call you from the hotel. Was there any problem with yours?" He asked as an afterthought, frown settled back on his forehead, "I can—

—Ours was perfect," my mum confirmed, giving Harry an appreciative smile. Something warm chinked together in my chest at Harry's care for my family, "Go now, both of you need showers and something substantial to eat. And you should call your family, Harry. We spoke to everyone at home last night."

++

In the hotel bathroom, Harry stayed under the spray of the water much longer than me.

I stood in front of the mirror carelessly towel drying my hair, wearing the pyjama set Harry packed for me. The steam from the shower and the smell of hotel soap had the whole bathroom giving off the perpetuating clean, warm feeling I enjoyed most.

Neither of us was speaking, and there was no song being hummed under Harry's breath as he stood behind the thin glass pane. When he eventually got out and stood behind me to dry off, he was frowning tersely, as if deep in some thought he couldn't get a hold of properly. I gave him a slight smile and tried to ask the question with my eyes: are you alright? While we ate, Harry called his mum and told her what was going on, and listening in on that conversation added another layer of realism to this whole thing. As if he read my mind, Harry's neck turned away from our reflections, and he gave me a concerned look.

"Your mum is right. You hadn't had a meal since we left London," his hand thoughtlessly gestured out from where we are in the direction of the suite where we'd just finished a couple of plates of room service, "We're going to have to take some food back with us if we're going to spend long hours at the hospital."

I was suddenly too tired to have the conversation I knew needed to happen, "I know," I agreed readily, part of the hollow feeling I'd had for the last twenty-four hours now filled with food, "But right now I swear all I want is to lie flat. Can we nap and then make a game plan?"

Harry paused, if only for a moment, "Yeah, we can."

"We both look like zombies."

Ten minutes later, under the perfectly crisp hotel sheets, Harry rolled over on his side to face me, "This doesn't feel like it's really happening, does it? I don't even know what day it is anymore and it's only been one day."

I hooked my knee up onto his thigh and pressed my forehead against his shoulder, "It doesn't feel like Laykn's even there, does it?" I whispered, "Like, without him being awake, it's like … I don't know."

"We should figure out where he was staying, go get his stuff," Harry said, "His passport and all that."

There was silence then for a few moments then, all I could hear was Harry's breathing and the soft hum of the city outside the hotel room. The sheer volume of thoughts and feelings I'd had in the last twenty-four hours was overwhelming, and as I took in a slow breath, the smell of Harry's clean skin was a final straw.

He heard me sniffle and pulled his arm out from between us to wrap it around my body, "I know," was all he said, which was somehow the perfect thing for him to say.

I cried against his shoulder until the release of it had simmered down all the conflicting emotions rising up in me. Eventually, it was just both our steady breathing, and the only way I knew Harry wasn't asleep was from watching his eyelashes blinking on his profile, lit slightly from a crack in the curtains. His fingers had stilled on my skin, and there was no sound from him. Just blinking. Just staring at the ceiling.

"What are you thinking about?" I whispered.

"The baby," Harry replied easily. "And Laykn. And how quickly life can change without you realising it's going to. No warning for either, you know?"

I smiled minutely, "Well, we had a little warning with the baby. Just didn't know it was a warning, did we?"

Harry's hand fanned out on the top of my back, "That's true. I'm just—I'm glad that in both those things, in both these things, I've got you. I'm so grateful for …" his voice strained. Harry squeezed my shoulder to his side, "For you, and for us being solid but mainly I'm grateful you told me to pull my finger out a few months ago because boy I don't know if that douchebag could've handled this shock to the system. Not well, anyway."

"I'm grateful for you as well," I pressed a kiss to his shoulder.

"I think we should call your doctor in the morning," Harry said quickly, as though it had been right on the tip of his tongue to say, "Tell her what's happened and find out what we should do or even if there's anything we can do."

"You're worried, huh?"

"Yes," he turned his head towards mine, "I'm worried. I'm worried about everything. But I can't do anything about your brother, and I can't make your parents feel any better, and I can't quell your fears either, I can make sure we look after you right now."

"Are you worried about the tour as well?" I said quietly, sure it would be on the list somewhere.

"I'm really not," Harry rolled completely on his side, "I don't give a shit about it, I can do a tour whenever. The only thing I'm—I don't like that postponing dates will …"

"People are going to talk about it," I finished for him.

"Yeah," Harry sighed, "Dan sent through the statement earlier, do you want to read it?"

He was already reaching behind for his phone on the bedside table. The room lit up as Harry unlocked his work phone and held the screen between us, flicking through until he found the Mail app and opened it.

-

From: Dan B.

To: Harry Private

Subject: RE Statement, Clean

Mate, we can make any changes you like x

It is with deep regret we announce the indefinite postponement of the final leg of Harry's tour following a family emergency. At this stage, we do not know when the dates will proceed. We know this news is upsetting and will come as a shock to you all. We ask that you respect Harry's privacy at this time, and the privacy of his loved ones. Full Stop Management, on behalf of Harry Styles.

Will be posted as white text on black background on all channels. Comments disabled where they can be.

Awaiting your approval.

Love to you all, DB

-

We didn't say anything, and I knew Harry was waiting for me to speak first. It was straightforward and clinical, which was often the way with the communication out from Harry's team. This felt different, though, because it was talking about something deeply personal, without talking about it at all. I knew the layer of distance was protection. Harry was very deliberate in putting there.

"I think that's what you have to say, right? Is there anything else you'd like to include?"

Harry shook his head, "No."

"You didn't want it to come from you?"

Harry shook his head, "No, I only wanted eyes on it, I'm turning off my work phone after this. Dan can reach me if he needs to. Otherwise, I'm not working right now. I want this handled professionally, not personally."

"Okay," I wouldn't have minded if he'd felt the opposite, but wasn't surprised to hear him say it. "Well, I think you give them the okay then turn it off."

I watched him type out a quick response and do just that. He didn't hesitate or second guess it, just sent off his approval and that was that. The screen went black a few moments later, plunging the room back into darkness and I wondered if Harry was thinking about the fallout. What the next step he wasn't going to be involved in would mean. I wrapped my fingers around Harry's wrist and brought it to my mouth, kissing the warm skin there and then holding it to my lips.

"I'm not worried about it, Nina," he said eventually, turning his head to the side once more and finding my temple with his mouth, kissing me, "Just want Layk to be alright."

++

I woke up four hours later to Harry's phone ringing.

"Shit, sorry," he jogged into the bedroom and ripped if from where it was charging, "It's your mum."

I sat up in the sheets straight away, the initial shock of waking to the noise increasing tenfold by who was on the phone. Harry had it answered and on speakerphone almost instantly.

"Hi Mae," he said, lowering himself down to sit on his side of the bed.

"Hello, love, we just tried Nina's phone—"

"—I was asleep, I'm here, is he okay?" I cut over her speaking, staring at Harry's face in front of me.

I could hear movement behind her in the speaker, "Yes, yes, yes," she reassured us, I watched Harry let out half the breath he was holding, "The doctors have just been in, and they've made the adjustments that will wake him up. They think it'll still be another few hours—"

—We'll be there within the hour," Harry told her nodding despite my mum not being able to see it.

"Hopefully before that," I added quickly.

After getting off the phone with my mum, Harry and I sat still for half a beat before I realised I'd been clutching the bedsheets too tightly. My white knuckles released the material slowly and rubbed my palms down my face.

"Have another shower," Harry suggested, still watching me, "Wake up properly. I'll order some room service we can pack and take with us."

"Did you sleep at all?" I asked as he stood up and started walking out of the room, I pushed back the covers and rose to my knees.

"Yeah, I got up about half an hour ago to check in with mum and for a stretch, got some kinks in my back from the flight and—

—And me sleeping on you?"

He scrunched his nose up at me, "Maybe a little bit, now go," Harry nodded towards the bathroom door.

The shower helped with the fuzzy shock still hanging in my skull like a cloud. Eventually, the reality of the call with my mum set in and urgency set in. I shut off the water and got out, feeling something close to optimistic hope bloom. As I dried off and found fresh clothes to put on, I could hear Harry moving around the room. By the time I was coming out of the bedroom looking for the shoes I'd deserted when we had arrived earlier, he had a few brown paper bags and pieces of fruit sitting on the hotel dining table ready to take with us.

"Can you see my sneakers?" I asked him vaguely, hopping over his open suitcase that somehow hadn't made it into the bedroom.

He looked up from his seat, "At the door."

I hopped on one foot when I returned to the living area where Harry was, and, eventually, I dropped down onto the sofa beside him to slip on my shoes. Just as I was about to ask Harry if he was ready to go, his phone rang out loudly again.

"Richard?" He said quickly as soon as he answered, Harry, held his phone vertically out between us. "We're just about to leave the room."

"Oh good!" My dad's voice rang out, happy and lighter than it felt I'd heard in days.

Had it really still only been a day?

"Lakyn's awake!"

"What?" I exhaled, "Mum said it would take hours."

"That's brilliant," Harry said after me, a surprised grin on his face, "How is he?"

"Talking to your mum in the room now," dad continued, "He's groggy and a little disoriented, but he's awake."

The tears burst out of me immediately, loud, ugly tears that didn't arrive quietly, "Dad."

"I imagine he'll be asleep again by the time you get here," he told us, "But we told him you're here. He gave us a dopey smile."

"We're coming right now," Harry promised urgently. "Just as soon as Nina can manage to get her second shoe on."

My thumb kept slipping, and my heel would land outside the shoe again, I swatted Harry's shin at his teasing.

"It's because she doesn't undo the laces. And get her to stop crying," dad laughed, "You know how her brother hates any grand show of emotions."

"Shut up," I sniffled to them both, relief flooding through me in waves I couldn't quite believe. I violently shoved my foot into the sneaker one last time and wriggled it until it slipped in properly, "Ah! It's on. We're on our way, dad."

Harry deposited his phone into the pocket of the short sleeve, button-up shirt he was wearing. When I met his eyes, we were both smiling.

Harry shook his head and laughed, "Your fucking brother."

"He's awake!" I squeaked, crawling over Harry's lap and crossing my arms behind his neck. His hands settled on my waist, warm and steady, I planted a firm kiss on his lips, "I love you."

He smiled against me, "I love you too. Let's go."

++

Laykn slept for nearly six hours.

It was nearly 2pm by the time we got to the hospital, and when we arrived, my parents were sitting on either side of my brother, each with a book opened on their laps. A stark contrast to having sat watching him for any sign of movement for almost the entire twenty-four hours previous. There was a new calmness to the room, it felt less like an emergency situation somehow.

"Hi," Harry said behind me as we walked in and interrupted them.

My mum was up and hugging us both hardly a moment later. Harry and I got the recap on Laykn, and what his doctors were saying now he had woken up and fallen asleep. While we were talking, Harry slipped out, and it wasn't until he returned with four take away cups of tea I realised where he disappeared to.

And so then we waited.

Harry and my dad found a deck of cards and worked their way through all the games they knew between them. For a while, I sat to moderate and score. My mum sat at Laykn's side with her book, and about three hours in I pulled out Harry's laptop to try to get a few bars of symphony down. I gave up after another hour or so, his software wasn't up to date, and I couldn't remember the section I wanted to work on. Where momentary relief had cured my mind for most things, it still wasn't in work mode. I could hear the game of Snap starting to get nasty, Harry with his bottom lip between his teeth in concentration while my dad completely crushed him each round. I interfered before the name-calling could get particularly nasty, plonking myself down on Harry's lap and declaring my hunger to the room.

"I'd have beaten you that time," Harry insisted, dropping his cards on the table, "Nina broke my focus."

My dad rolled his eyes, "Sure you would've, son."

"Harry's got sandwiches," I announced, "One of them has mustard in, I had a sneaky peek as we left the hotel."

My mum stood up and stretched out her back, "I" m not quite ready for food yet, we did tell people at home we'd call them when it was morning their time. Richard, I could use a walk?"

My dad stood obediently, and pressed a kiss to my head as he walked past, "Look after our loser," he said of Harry with an amused smile on his face.

"Well," I let a puff of breath out once Harry and I had the room to ourselves, "That was rude? Why didn't they want to eat with us?"

Harry started pushing me off his legs, "Because we only had lunch two hours ago. They' v been in this room all night, I understand the need for a walk. It's good you're hungry, though."

I watched as Harry rummaged around in his backpack and pulled out a brown paper bag and two bottles of water. He returned to the table but took the seat my dad left, resting his elbows on the table and watching me with mild humour as I tore into the bag.

"I have to tell you something."

I frowned through chewing my first bite, Harry's face was unreadable if not a touch guilty, "What?"

Harry's eyebrows dug down as he looked to his hands on the table, "I told my mum … About being pregnant."

An incredulous laugh bubbled out of me, "Harry! You told her? What?"

"I know!" He cried out, "We're not meant to. I know. But with everything going on, I was so worried and stressed and fucking terrified for you. I didn't know how to deal with it all without talking to someone."

"Harry," I said softly. He was so earnest, and the concern was apparent on his face, "I'm okay."

"Didn't know that this morning," Harry mumbled. "I just needed her advice and help with what to do."

"It's okay," I took another bite of mustard and cheese goodness, "What did she say?"

That's when the smile appeared on Harry's face, "She's really happy about the baby. It was hard to keep her on track, really. She had good advice as well, just needed a clear head in on it with me, you know? I mean, then your dad rang and now things are a little lighter."

I knew how much Harry trusted his mother's judgement, and I truly loved it about him. Anne was a steadying force in his life, and when Harry couldn't trust himself, he could always trust her to have the answer. I had come to trust her voice in our lives as well.

"She's happy?"

"Yeah," Harry breathed out, and his smile turned into a megawatt grin, "Bloody elated."

"I'm glad you told her," I said honestly, "I'm sorry you've had to be so worried. I—

"—Hey, no," Harry frowned at me again and gestured to Laykn's bed without looking, "This is exactly where your head is supposed to have been. The baby happened so quickly before we left, it's… It's hard to keep everything in my brain at the moment, really."

"Whose baby?" A voice across the other side of the room said.

Harry and I both shot to our feet and turned to Laykn whose eyes were open and looking at the hospital ceiling, unfocused, but once I was at his side, they were clear and unmistakably those of my younger brother.

"Laykn," I breathed out, "Laykn, hi."

"Hey," he croaked out, "You're having a baby?"

I could barely see him from the tears brimming in my eyes, and just as I was about to evade the question, Harry spoke.

"We are."

"Harry," I hissed through an almost-laugh. "Stop telling people!"

"I might forget," Laykn piped up again, "Although I remember mum and dad saying you two were here … Was that today?"

"Yeah, mate," Harry responded, pressing his hand on the bed above Laykn's shoulder and leaning up over into his line of sight, "You spoke to them this morning. It's nearly 5pm now."

An expression fluttered on Laykn's face but couldn't stay there from the bandages. When he spoke, it strained his voice to try and inflect the humour behind it, "So my brains aren't leaking out my ears?"

"Laykn!" I scolded.

"Not yet, Layk," Harry said evenly.

I watched Laykn's eyes close in an exhausted flutter, "Are you really having a baby?"

Something softened in me at the sudden vulnerability in his voice and the way it was clearly difficult for him to be conscious this short amount of time, "We are," I told him, "We only just found out though, so you've got to keep the secret for us. Mum and dad don't know."

"Ah," Laykn sighed, "I can keep my mouth shut, but it'll cost 'ya."

I sniffed back, tears, "You idiot."

Whether it was our news or the moment, or Harry hovering over him and me scolding him, I watched Laykn's eyes pool as well. The skin around his eyes reddened, and a tear budded and then rolled down his cheek.

"I'm really fucking glad you're both here," he said through the emotion.

"Of course," Harry responded, "We love you. It's so good to hear your voice, mate. You scared us all."

"I scared me," my brother added quietly.

++

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[queenofmoons]

“you’re insufferable” “no. i’m innovative.”

“Okay, I had an idea!” Peter burst into the garage. He was literally vibrating. His hair was a mess, his clothes were wrinkled. He spoke with his hands, “If we can make the nozzle size on my webslingers adjustable, they can be multi-purpose. It’ll be easier for me to change settings. Where’s that really tiny wrench? Oh, and May said that if you wanted to come to dinner on Friday she’s making that soup you really like. The tortilla one. And also I think she’s baking her own bread but I think I’ll buy some beforehand because that usually doesn’t go well for us. Last time she burnt it, and the time before it was undercooked, and before that it didn’t rise. I’ll just hide it in the cabinet and pretend we had it the whole time and--”

All the while, he had beelined past Tony and started pulling supplies out of the cabinets. Tony watched him, and he finished off the second half of his coffee in a single gulp. When Peter motioned, the thermos in his hand made a noise that made Tony nervous the lid was going to pop off at any moment. When he stood in one spot to look into a cabinet, he bounced on his heels.

“Pete,” Tony said. 

“--All the way on the roof.”

“Peter.” 

“--And I told Flash that wasn’t going to work--”

“Peter.” 

“--And when MJ tried to get it she almost fell off the ladder--”

“Pete.” Tony poured himself another cup of coffee. 

“--As if somehow it’s my fault he couldn’t throw a boomerang--”

“Peter,” Tony said, and he could have cried when Peter finally stopped and looked at him, head tilted like a dog. “It’s seven thirty in the morning.” 

And Peter still wasn’t still. He trembled in place like a chihuahua on adderall. 

“Yeah,” he said, and he managed to make it sound like less than one syllable. “I know. That’s what time you told me to be here.” 

“You’re acting like Morgan when she snuck an entire box of pixie sticks,” Tony said. 

“Am I?” Peter just shrugged and turned his attention back to searching through the cabinets. Tony could hear tools rattling in boxes. Peter was talking again, “-- they were in the sewers like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Did you ever watch that show? Was it around when you were a kid? I had bedsheets for it when I was younger. Ben bought them for me-- I also had wall decals. Like those Fat Heads. Why do you think they were called Fat-- OH! I found it!” 

He whirled around and held out the smallest wrench Tony owned. He held it out, proud of it in all its 5/32″ glory. His eye twitched. Somehow, this seventeen year old kid had channeled the energy of Doc Brown-- in that moment, Tony wouldn’t have been surprised if Peter admitted to having stolen plutonium to power his flux capacitor. 

Tony was trying to be more supportive, though. So he let it slide. Besides, if Peter stole plutonium, it would probably be for a good reason,.

“Great,” Tony said. “Let’s get started, then.” He put his coffee on the counter and crossed the garage to stand beside the workbench. “Friday, pull up the prints for Peter’s webslingers. If you wanted to adjust the nozzles--”

“I thought we could do it like a camera. Like the zoom feature. If I made a scrolling pad-- Oh! Like the old DS volume buttons, when it was a sphere you had to roll.”

“Like adjusting a watch,” Tony supplemented, and he couldn’t suppress the look he gave Peter. 

“Oh! That’s a good analogy, too.” Peter grabbed his thermos and took a swig from it. The way he winced when he pulled away was telling. 

“What are you drinking?” Tony asked. 

“Coffee.” Peter put it back down. “We should make me have to pull the knob out, though. That way I don’t accidentally turn the dial-- Hey! What are you doing?” 

Tony ignored him and reached across Peter to grab the thermos. He unscrewed the lid and sniffed it. Immediately, he pulled it away from his face and gagged. 

“Jesus, kid. What the fuck is this?” 

Peter pried the lid from Tony’s fingers and gingerly returned it to its place on the thermos. “Coffee,” Peter repeated.

“Like hell it is.”

“Brewed with Redbull.” 

Tony stopped coughing into his elbow. He looked at Peter over the top of his sleeve. Peter smiled back, sheepish, cheeks flushed. Upon closer inspection (and now that he wasn’t trying to follow a moving target) the bags under Peter’s eyes were obvious. 

“You were out all night,” Tony accused. 

“Not all night.” Peter took another sip of his monstrosity. 

“Stopping home to make red bull coffee doesn’t count,” Tony said. He took the thermos from Peter’s hand. Peter pouted. “Your heart already beats faster than most people’s-- this shit’ll kill you.” 

He crossed the room to the sink. Peter watched dejectedly as Tony dumped it out. 

“I don’t do it often,” he defended himself. Peter crossed his arms over his chest. His fingers still twitched. “I just needed a pick-me-up.”

“You’re insufferable,” Tony grumbled. He ran cold water in hopes of nuking the smell. It didn’t work.

“No, I’m innovative.”

“Yeah, if you’re innovating an expedient path to heart disease. You can’t do this, Pete. You need to sleep.” Tony dropped the thermos into the sink.

“I’m fine!” Peter said. “I’m here, I’m awake, I’m totally present. I’ll count the ceiling tiles. You want me to count the ceiling tiles?”

“When you crash you’re taking a nap,” Tony said. 

“But I--”

“No ‘buts.’” If Tony didn’t already have grey hairs, he was sure this kid would have given them to him. Overnight. Jean Valjean style. “Remember the talk we had about how you can defend yourself on some things but I get the final say? This is my final say. You need sleep. This shouldn’t even be a conversation.” 

“But it’s Saturday!” Peter said. “I need to be ready. I’ll sleep tomorrow.”

“What the hell does Saturday have to do with this?” Tony asked. Somehow, this was worse than the time in college he’d tried coke. That was probably because it was Peter, though. The worst thing Tony had ever seen him do was try a sip of May’s champagne at a party. He’d looked disgusted immediately after.

“The most crimes occur on Saturday,” Peter said, like duh. 

Tony stared at him. He’d memorized crime statistics. Why did this kid have to be so much like him?

“You’re going to bed,” Tony repeated. “And when you wake up, I’ll remind you about all the other heroes in New York that can take care of things on Saturdays.”

Peter huffed. “Fine,” he said. “When the caffeine wears off I’ll go to bed.” He turned back to the hologram. “Speaking of other heroes in New York, did you see that fan theory that Daredevil and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were hit by the same chemical?”

It took five hours for Peter to finally settle down. They’d gotten nothing done. Peter slept for half a day in the guest bedroom and come down the stairs looking like he’d just crawled out of the grave. The pillow had left red indents in his cheeks. His gait was that of a zombie’s. He walked to the fridge, devoured half a pizza, thanked Tony and Pepper for their hospitality, and then fell back asleep on the couch.

#hi have I told u today that I adore you? bc I do #I love this prompt so much thank you so much!!!! #iron dad and spider son #iron dad #iron man #Tony stark #Peter parker #iron dad drabble #spider-man #spiderman #ask #official-impravidus #iron fam #ironfam #tony stark & peter parker

[nmoroder]

L4D(2) Actor AU

This is a (not complete) list of headcanons for the Actor AU me and my bro came up with during our Expert runs and running extremely low on morale. We created this as a sort of ‘happy’ AU which would also give some room to our own ideas, so some of this stuff below may only slightly be related to original. We understand.

This post won’t be updated but instead followed by other ones if something else arises, so check ‘l4d actor au’ tag on my blog for more!

Overall setting

The Left 4 Dead universe itself is a series of 90-min movies divided into first and second season, L4D1 and L4D2 respectively. This list will further refer to them as S1 and S2;

L4D is a series about, of course, zombie apocalypse, but teamwork and forming bonds between people are brought to spotlight. Both seasons consist of episodes where four Survivors try to find a solid ground and safety with every episode ending on a cheerful note but every next one starting with the cheerfulness destroyed. The episodes share their names and events with Campaigns;

Originally, L4D was created by a team of enthusiasts, consisting of friends, families and family friends, so they are all very immersed in process and really giving their best. Their collective is also the reason their funding isn’t very high and they’re mostly using their own equipment and props; this makes the series look less expensive and polished but retains the atmosphere and the main goal: to show people growing warmer to each other and learning to stick together;

The actors’ names are mostly created by combining the face model’s first name and the voice actor’s last name, though some other versions do take place (see S1 and S2);

The safehouse graffitis are inspired by the fans’ responses from forums and contests, so it’s some sort of communicating with audience through screenplay;

The Third Strike, more commonly known as Black and White Mode which occures after second incapacitation, was firstly discovered as a camera malfunction but then the team liked it so much that they decided to leave it as a feature and add the heartbeat effect and stuff;

Main plot line consists solely of canon Campaigns (that means it doesn’t include Last Stand and Cold Stream) but there were also suggestions to shot additional episodes - the Mutations. After S1 success, the authors posted their ideas on different ‘modes’ and fans added theirs as well and thus during S2 some more episodes were made using, for example, a male synchronized swimming team to create the Hunting Party mutation. The original Hunter actor also participated and the swimmers required to copy his behavior; they did it so well that sometimes the whole Survivor team was being overwhelmed once they began the take;

There are no stuntmen on board so every fighting scene is shot with original actors. When it requires to shove someone off with a weapon (e.g. Zoey shoving a Hunter off Louis in the L4D1 intro), after the take actors always ask each other whether they hit too hard, should they improve the movements etc. Different actors have different range so it’s a tricky thing to cooperate but they still manage (I’ll come back to this topic in L4D2 section);

Most Infected, especially Special Infected encounters are improvised, bringing more life and realism to the Survivors’ response. The Hunter is responsible for a fair share of their shock as they noticed him stuck at a saferoom ceiling only after a while (this is a reference to the glitches that allow the Hunter to get stuck under the roof in Versus);

There was a suggestion to run a Kickstarter campaign to gather money for a fanservice episode especially for shippers. While it was most likely a joke from actors who didn’t mind shipping, it’s still a suggestion and not in work.

L4D (Season 1)

Zoey shares the zombie movie obsession with her actress; Sonja was the most familiar with the topic among original team and provided a lot of help with setting up the scene, behaviour writing etc. Along with Louis and Boomer actors, she was the creator of original idea and can consider herself a founder of the series. She is also older than Zoey as a character, being already in her 25s while Zoey is a college student;

The original Boomer actor was a CGI specialist and offered his skills for post-processing while also playing an Infected role. He came up with the idea of a Boomer Infected himself and suggested his large physique to do the role with a little touch of computer graphics and makeup;

While discussing the major characters and personalities worth including, Zoey’s actress instantly remembered her neighbor, the big buffy tattooed guy who was her childhood friend, worked as a driver and spent his weekends with his favorite bike. She figured that it’s a nice image to have in a zombie apocalypse setting, and thus Francis’ actor made it to the set;

When it came to the image of a war veteran refusing to give in to monsters, Zoey’s actress was also the one to suggest another person to fill up the space: her father. He was younger than Bill was written to be but did the impersonating well. He’s got an overall friendly but bickering attitude towards Francis’ actor so most of lines written for Bill and Francis interaction were the ones actors remembered from their own conversations, slightly exaggerated;

Zoey’s actress and Louis’ actor were co-workers for several years and bonded over their mutual interest to zombie theme and shooting. She foud out that Sean attended a shooting range in his spare time and asked him to take her out too; thus she both found out he aces in ambidextrous shooting and got him to teach her how to wield a hunting rifle. The weapon preferences were carried over to respective characters;

Hunter’s actor became a surprise for the team as Francis’ actor brought him over saying that the guy’s got a fantastic voice (and a music band) and physique to make some badass new Infected for them. They got him to voice the crowd extras of common Infected but also came up with an idea of shrieking hooded parkour bastard to rip someone’s guts out, thus creating the Hunter as another Special Infected;

As the next Special Infected concept came out of the shadows - a lanky coughing tongue-twisting zombie who would grab the Survivors and restrict them, Hunter’s actor brought another person to the set. It was his music band co-participant who did drums and back vocals and also had an ability to eject the most horrible coughing sound out of his throat while being (seemingly) healthy. He took over the role of a Smoker;

Hunter’s actor is named Mike after Mike Patton, the voice actor for Infected and SI like Hunter and Smoker. Smoker’s actor is named Mike too but the fact that he plays drums and does back vocals is actually a reference to Faith No More, the band where Patton actually does vocals and Mike Bordin does what Smoker’s actor does. It sounds complicated but originally the idea of Hunter and Smoker actors sharing a name came from Patton voicing them both, and then I found out about the band and two Mikes present so... that was a weird but happy coincidence;

The fact stated above was the reason the team came up with nicknames just for two Mikes on the set - Hoodie and Tongue respectively. The tradition was carried over to S2 where the new Hunter actor would receive a patronizing nickname Kid from Survivors (see S2)

Of all Infected actors, Hunter’s actor was the least level-headed and even Francis’ actor sometimes doubted his past decision to bring him in. Nevertheless, Hoodie’s cheerful attitude and energy helped the collective stay positive and fuelled during especially hard days. It also brought out the less lethargic and melancholic part of Tongue and made him more lively about things;

Despite Hoodie being the Endless Energy Core which people tended to adore, he was still in a lousy relationship with Witch’s actress (her name, by the way, is different from the voice actress - it’s Rose). He kept a charmer’s attitude towards her even though she was a married woman; Rose tended to be neutral or mostly positive towards most colleagues but this behavior pissed her off big time, leading to Hoodie being injured by her stage costume claws after she punched him in the face for a really bad dating joke. Hoodie toned it down afterwards but their relationship didn’t improve much up until the end;

Witch’s actress is keen on baking and sometimes brings some to the filming set;

Since the budget was comparatively low, the team couldn’t afford a lot of crowd extras so they hired a group of people to then create an image of a Horde attacking by using CGI. That’s why there’s so much repeating common Infected on-screen;

The first season included all L4D1 original Campaigns, leaving The Sacrifice out as it was added later in a DLC. As S2 came into development stage, the team wanted to add an episode with the old Survivors team but Bill’s actor was unavailable at the time and was overall not hot with the idea of shooting movies anymore; so eventually they plotted the episode (The Passing campaign) to feature Bill being dead. The fans were shocked to find it out and demanded to know what exactly happened, thus leading to actually shooting The Sacrifice as a bonus episode to S1 (and requiring Bill’s actor to come back despite his attitude).

L4D2 (Season 2)

The collective decided to take a sharp turn on the new Survivors and create them being unacquainted and sort of separated at the start but growing closer as time passes by. The idea of S1 Survivors being almost a family to each other sounded great and played along just right but the team wanted to delve deeper into relationship problems and also have a change of scenery - and so they did;

The Infected team for S2 still consisted of some old faces (Boomer, Tank and Witch) but some had to leave the set for the time being and were unable to rehearse the roles, this being Hunter and Smoker actors. They got into music harder than zombie movies and planned to go on a tour so they could only leave their old Infected sounds as a legacy;

The new Smoker actor was a treasure Coach’s actor brought to the set. Since Coach was in fact a college coach, he kept a close eye on some problematic students under his wing and picked out the one he’d considered perfect and at the same time worth looking after. The guy was recovering from compulsory drug treatment and had some ugly scars all over his arms, making him an easier candidate for makeup;

Hoodie, on his part, brought a replacement on his own, and it was his brother - four years younger, even more insanely into parkour and a huge fan of L4D series, he made a perfect new Hunter. Despite being only a few years younger than Hoodie, he instantly became treated like a restless constant-questioner child, a literal piece of sunshine on the set, so the team came to call him just Kid. He adjusted to the nickname after a couple of weeks, though being seriously surprised at it at the start;

The actors of Ellis, Jockey and Charger all come from one family, being two sons and a father. Coach suggested the family as well, being their close friend for many years and pointing out Ellis’ actor appearance being something close to the laid-back mechanic they wanted for the new Survivors team;

Although fluently speaking in a Southern accent, Ellis’ actor isn’t very fond of it as he tried to get rid of it and move to a different state; the role obliged him to use the accent again though and it wasn’t hard to recreate, but he still didn’t take pride in it and was mostly annoyed with it and Nick’s jokes written in script;

Ellis’ actor is also the one more frequently complaining about amount of money the actors receive for their work on set. Their funding increased a bit since S1′s popularity strike but still;

Most of Ellis’ stories were written based on actual on-set incidents, usually featuring Nick’s actor (see below);

Nick’s actor, Taymour, is married to Witch’s actress and is a big fan of her performance in S1. When she heard the idea of having a snarky self-centered ladies’ man in the new Survivors team, she immediately knew who’d handle the role at his best. She also rehearsed the role of Witch just to make sure nothing bad happens to her husband on-set (also see below);

Nick’s actor suffers from constant bad luck incidents. He can accidentally break or twist something without serious effort; he’s also allergic to artificial blood and he is the reason the filming set actually features painkillers and functioning adrenaline shots. Despite all that, he’s got a positive attitude about bad luck and got used to being in a state of constant non-obvious danger, unlike others who geniunely worry about his well-being and fear that one day an accidental injury might end him once and for all;

This trait is also the reason Nick’s line “Can’t you see I’m limping here?” made it into the script - it was improvised after Nick’s actor badly hit his leg and was the last to make it to a saferoom during a take. The team liked it and decided to leave it in;

Nick’s actor treats his role with all respect and doesn’t consider it a small one despite the not so large fee. He’s also a complete opposite to the character, being a very friendly and kind-hearted guy to everyone on set; he can however switch back to his script personality with startling speed and it scared some of the new actors at first. Despite playing an asshole which is very different from real him, Nick’s actor enjoys it a lot and overall finds great joy in working with the team and bringing them together;

Bringing back the topic of being gentle to each other, Nick’s actor takes great care when it’s required to hit or shove someone in the take, keeping it mildest possible, unlike for example Ellis’ actor who can smash you in the face without a second thought;

Nick’s actor and Witch’s actress keep their loving attitude on set as well, sometimes making it hard to shoot scenes featuring a Witch killing; as they were shooting the Witch Bride scene where the same actress took place but had a different outfit and makeup, they ruined several takes by driving the dialogue in unwanted directions, e.g. “Ellis, go kiss the bride! No wait, I’ll do that myself” or “N: Sounds like my ex-wife... W: I still AM your wife, darling! >:C”;

With her husband on stage, Witch’s actress is probably closest to her role - she will tear apart anyone who dares to hit on Nick’s actor or mean any harm to him (as if his own harming isn’t enough...). The only one she’d go loose is Ellis’ actor, being an old close friend;

Ellis’ actor was the one who introduced Nick’s actor to his future wife. They’ve actually been close friends since the university and Ellis’ actor was among those who obviously saw Nick’s actor and Rose being in love but completely oblivious to it. Ellis’ actor is still kinda jealous that she took his best friend away and they can’t hang out anymore like they used to, but they get quite a lot of time on set so he’s less irritated about that;

Nick’s actor is especially supportive towards Rochelle’s actress, Shanola. She feels self-conscious because of her character’s rating being lower than expected and blames it on her performance, but Taymour keeps reassuring her that she’s doing amazing. Rochelle’s actress is also the one least accustomed to shooting a weapon and handling violence of any kind so it was hard for her to get her head into action. With the team fully supporting her, the progress sped up tremendously;

Ellis’ actor’s name is Jesy and he gets salty about people misspelling it or mistaking it for a female name. It was the inspiration to include the “El kinda sounds like a girl’s name” part of Ellis’ dialogue;

The team is overall friendly towards shipping dynamics in the series’ fandom, with the only one explicitly stating otherwise being Ellis’ actor. He’s espeicially upset with Nellis ship as people started shipping actors over it too; he stated multiple times that he and Nick’s actor have been best friends for so long that it’s simply wrong to imply any romantic and/or sexual relationship between them. He once stated in an interview that he’d rather believe an Ellis/Hunter ship and the fandom exploded with it on the next day, much to the actor’s chagrin. The Hunter’s actor, or Kid, however, wasn’t that upset and supported the idea. The team made no confirmation to any ships yet;

Nick’s actor is neutral to most ships including Nellis and doesn’t see why his friend is so angry about it. His personal favorites are Nick/Witch for obvious reasons and Nick/Hunter for less obvious reasons that he doesn’t state. He jokingly suggests Jesy from time to time to start a Kickstarter campaign for a Nellis-centered episode; it’s still unknown whether they’ll take it serious one day.

#left 4 dead #left 4 dead 2 #l4d #l4d2 #actor au #au #l4d actor au #longpost #morodertalks

[duchessfics]

Fright Night

(https://clqrkkent.tumblr.com/post/179164121180/billie-dean-howard-medium-to-the-stars-in)

(https://yourghostcat.tumblr.com/post/179898885939/what-are-you-talking-about-you-cant-work)

Billie x Fem!Reader x Wilhemina

Warning(s): I don’t think anything??? There’s a haunted house, but it’s not that much

Summary: For Halloween night, you and your girlfriends go to a special haunted house experience. And while you like some scary things, you are glad you have your girlfriends with you to go through it.

Word Count: 3988

A/n: This is the last fall/halloween piece! I honestly can’t believe I wrote and published something for six weeks now. I will definitely be slowing down a little bit since the end of the semester is coming up for me. But I had a great time doing this and I hope you enjoyed each piece as well. This one is a little longer, but it is the idea that made me want to do this in the first place so I hope you like it!

Sentence Prompts from @forever-rogue (Here’s the link to the original post)

12. “I paid $50.00 for this haunted house. I better die.”

19.  “Let’s split up.” “Let’s not.”

30.  “No?? Of course I’m not scared…who gets scared of…floating objects or…um weird sounds? Not me, that’s for sure.”

46. “OH MY GOD SHUT UP THEY’RE GOING TO KILL US!”

52. “Mmm, I appreciated that little murmuring you did in my ear.” “….That wasn’t me.”

67. “Has that scarecrow always been out there?”

The parking lot is packed with both vehicles and people as Wilhemina slowly eases her way into a parking spot. Once she jams the shift into park, she groans, “Why are we doing this again?” Her complaint is followed by a group of teens yelling and laughing. 

You giggle and say, “It’s Halloween! We’ve got to celebrate somehow. And most of these people are going to the lower tier haunted houses, we’re going to the most exclusive one.” Her slender hand twists the keys, killing the engine as she grumbles, “I paid $50 dollars for this haunted house. I better die.” Then your other girlfriend chuckles from the passenger seat and soothes, “Oh Mina, darling. We’ll be back in the car before you know it. And you can count on us to protect you from all of the spooky monsters.” To end her sentence she presses a kiss to the red head’s rosy cheek making you giggle from the back. 

Wilhemina merely scoffs and retorts, “That’s never going to happen. If anything, you’ll both come to me for protection.” Then she steps out of the car, shutting the door with a purpose. You and Billie follow, and the blonde comes around, biting her bottom lip before she purrs, “Would that be that bad, sweetheart?” The only answer is an eye-roll and her grumbling, “Let’s just get this over with.” As you walk to the VIP entrance, you skip ahead of them, looking back with a mischievous smirk on your lips.

You make it up to the ticket booth first and explain that you’ve already purchased your tickets and tell him the name it should be under. By the time he confirms your purchase, you feel both of your girlfriends come up behind you. You look to them and give a small smile, grateful they are doing this for you. Then he says, “Before you head out, we need you to put any valuables and belongings in one of our lockers.” 

Immediately Wilhemina’s eyebrows nearly meet her hairline as she says, “Excuse me?” Oh boy. The man stiffens up and you try to ease the tension as you feel her stiffening and soften her growling tone by saying, “I think what she means is to ask about if something should happen while we are out there.” Adding an apologetic smile. 

The man relaxes a little and replies, “There are staff members throughout who have walkie talkies if something should happen. But we’ve never had anything happen.” From behind, you hear the red head humph, but the three of you drop off your phones and wallets in the locker. Then it automatically locks, and you walk out to a minibus where three other people sit. Billie sits beside you, hugging you close and placing a kiss on the top of your head as the driver begins the journey.

Your nerves collect as butterflies in your stomach and flutter faster as the driver takes you further into the woods. But everyone keeps pretty quiet, preparing for the challenge ahead. Finally, the bus slows to a stop just outside of a creepy abandoned house. 

They turn back to face you and say, “Each group will get a flashlight and a map to find your way out of the ghost town. However, three pieces of the map are hidden throughout the town so you will have to find all of those first. And just as a reminder the scare actors are allowed to follow or chase you around, but they are not allowed to touch you so please do not touch them.” Each person exits the vehicle and you take the flashlight while Wilhemina takes the map—or at least the small chunk of map you currently have. 

Before the driver gets back on the bus, they ask, “Any questions?” You all look to each other, but no one says anything, so they give you a smile and say, “Well good luck! You’ll need it.” Umm...what? Your brows furrow at his comment and you begin to wonder what actually lies ahead. Surely it’s not that intense you tell yourself. They can’t touch you, they were probably just being dramatic. The bus drives off leaving you in the dark with only the sound of crickets and light breeze blowing through the trees.

The other three people practically run in laughing and you hear a scream almost immediately making you stiffen up. Maybe this was a bad idea. Both of your girlfriends look to you and Billie asks, “You ok?” You nod and reply with a braveface, “Yeah.” But you bite your lip and say in a quieter tone, “But could I hold your hand please?” The medium gives you a reassuring smile and murmurs, “Of course, babygirl.” 

She takes the flashlight in one hand before holding out her other for you to take. You relax feeling her next to you and are glad to have her warmth radiating around you. Then Wilhemina follows behind as you and Billie begin to walk into the house and you take a deep breath, trying to keep your cool.

The first room you walk into is strung with spider webs and fishing lines hanging from the ceiling made to feel like you’re walking through the spider webs. Your body shivers at the feeling of them and just as you get through, someone jumps out making you jump and giggle into Billie’s arm with her chuckling as well. Well that wasn’t so bad.

The next room you enter is much gorier and there is a man who carries a chainsaw pacing around. As he revs it up and comes towards you, you giggle and snuggle into Billie. You’ve got this. This is going to be a piece of cake. The house continues, showcasing clowns, zombies, and what looks to be vampires. Finally, you walk out to the back porch of the house and see it overlooks a wild west-style ghost town.

There are a couple people who walk down the main dirt road, looking to their map for guidance, but the whole setting is eerily quiet, the main sound being the wind blowing through the town with an occasional scream. Wilhemina struts forward past you both and looks from the map to the street as she says, “Let’s split up.” 

Oh god. Has she seen any scary movie? You stiffen up at that idea and squeak, “Let’s not.” The red head turns back to face you and takes slow deliberate steps towards you as she murmurs, “If I recall correctly, this was your idea. Now don’t tell me you’re actually scared now, darling.” By now she stands close enough to feel her breath fan over your face, her dark lips curved into a smirk. 

You let out a sad attempt of a laugh and reply in a high-pitched tone, “No?? Of course I’m not scared… who gets scared of…floating objects or…umm weird sounds? Not me, that’s for sure.” And her eyes narrow in response. Even you aren’t impressed with your explanation. 

But before she can say anything, Billie says, “Mina let’s just stick together.” Then her fingers crawl up Wilhemina’s arm as she purrs, “Strength in numbers, right honey?” The woman in purple removes Billie’s hand from her arm before saying, “Well she can take the lead since she doesn’t seem to be scared.” And she hands over the map with an evil glint in her dark brown eyes. So it’s going to be like that? Challenge accepted. 

You clear your throat and try to confidently say, “Well it looks like the first place to go is the saloon which looks to be,” you pause, looking between the map and the terrain before pointing and continuing, “I think it’s the third building ahead.” Once you say that, you look to them to start walking, but Wilhemina gives you the flashlight and says, “Go ahead. We’ll follow our little fearless leader.” Immediately Billie says her name, but you jut out your chin and answer, “Fine.” And there is a little thrill that passes through you as you see the shocked expression within her darkened eyes. Then you begin to take confident strides towards your first destination.

However, as you step onto the creaky boardwalk in front of the saloon, you pause, feeling your confidence quickly slipping away. But you take a deep breath and slowly push the swinging doors open with them squeaking the whole time. So much for subtlety. 

Before you walk in, you turn on the flashlight and take small timid steps trying to get the lay of the land. Your girlfriends follow you in and you shine the light over to your left. But you let out a cry as a bloodied cowboy jumps out at you. Your hand covers your hammering heart and he bursts out the door with his laughter ringing out in the silence. That’s when you see both women stifling their laughter and you smile saying, “So much for the fearless leader thing.” 

Then you walk up to them and say, “You can take the lead. Actually please do.” Billie takes the flashlight once more in one hand and holds Wilhemina’s hand in the other, tugging her along before she can say no. Then the medium looks back to you and gives you a wink before saying, “I’ve got you babe.”

As you walk further into the saloon, someone screams outside making you gasp and look to the door, anticipating the worst. But your attention gets drawn by someone intertwining her fingers with yours. You look back expecting to see Billie, but it’s Wilhemina. She gives you a ghost of a smile and murmurs, “Keep coming, darling.” How can she make you feel like melted butter so fast? 

You silently thank her for taking your hand and let her lead you over to Billie who stands behind the bar. She looks around, using the flashlight, but pauses, looking to one of the shelves as she says, “I think I found it.” Then she bends over to pick up the paper held under a bottle. As she does, Wilhemina lets out a hum of approval, making the blonde ask, “Enjoying the view, sweetheart?” Both you and Wilhemina chuckle and she replies, “Of course.” 

Billie straightens up, holding the piece and murmurs, “As much as I would like to show you both more, the room is a little too dusty and would ruin my discarded clothes.” Then she saunters over and gives you the map piece. You position it to fit with the other piece as her and Wilhemina debate if she would actually have sex in a public place. If you had to bet, you would guess she’s probably already done it. And from the smug look on her face you can tell you’re right.

Once you’ve got it placed, you interrupt their conversation and say, “I think the next place to go is the jailhouse.” They both come closer to look over your shoulder and you find yourself leaning into their warmth. Wilhemina comments, “It looks like it’s four or five buildings down.” Then Billie smirks and says, “I’ll take the lead.” She struts ahead of you both, her heels making a light tap on the worn floorboards. 

You look to the woman in purple who stands next to you and silently ask to take her hand, looking to her through your lashes. She lets out a dramatic sigh and says, “Yes you can take my hand.” You grin, quickly interlocking your fingers with hers before nuzzling into her arm a little and murmuring, “Thank you, Mina.” She begins to walk, guiding you both and softly replies, “You’re welcome.” and you both catch up to Billie.

Luckily no one jumps out at you when you enter the creaky, dimly lit jailhouse. So, you release Wilhemina’s hand, feeling emboldened to look around on your own. This isn’t that complicated and the scares are minimal...somewhat. 

All three of you part from each other and look for the next piece but come up empty handed. So, you walk over and enter the cell Billie is currently in, thinking two sets of eyes may be better than one. Plus you enjoy being close to her as much as you can. 

As you step closer to her, she turns and says, “Mmm, I appreciated that little murmuring you did in my ear.” What? You freeze up, eyes going wide as saucers as you whisper, “…That wasn’t me.” Then a bloodied prisoner emerges from the darkness with an evil grin. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Immediately you stumble back to get away but end up pinned against the cool bars of the cell and all you can focus on is him coming closer to you.

However, as he comes closer you see he holds a piece of paper in his hand and realize it’s the map piece. He holds it out with bloody fingers and you cautiously go to take it, but he pulls it back with a teasing growl making you whimper. Well so much for this being a piece of cake. 

Luckily he holds it out again and lets you take the paper this time. Then he holds a finger to his lips as he backs into the darkened corner once more. Honestly fuck that guy. You just lost six months of your life to him. You inch your way out of the cell, keeping your eyes on the corner until you are outside the cell. Only then do you turn away and rush over to your girlfriends.

The three of you position the new part of your map and see it leads to your last destination: the bank. You can do this. How can it get worse? As you make your way to the exit you let out a small sigh of relief and say, “Only one more piece to go.” However, all three of you stop before you get to the door, seeing something out in the middle of the road.

 Billie is the first one to speak, saying, “Has that scarecrow always been out there?” This was no friendly Wizard of Oz scarecrow. It looks gnarly and terrifying with a bunched-up face and shadowed features. While it’s an obscure fear, you would take killer clowns or dolls over scarecrows any day. 

Wilhemina goes to walk out, but you grip her arm and whisper, “Can we wait a minute, please? It may leave.” Then it’s as if your prayers are answered and they slowly walk away, the footsteps heavy enough to be heard by you. They walk towards another group that’s outside and this is your perfect opportunity.

 Billie offers her hand and you take it, only then realizing you’re trembling. She squeezes your hand and soothes, “I’ve got you, babydoll.” Then the three of you step out, moving as quickly and quietly as you can to the bank.

As you walk, something shifts in the shadows making you curl into Billie, hiding your face. You can’t take much more. The medium merely chuckles and teases, “If I knew this would make you so cuddly, I would’ve done this much sooner.” You giggle as her thumb comes up to soothingly stroke your cheek, drawing you out of your hiding place. Has this really been that bad? Yes you have been scared shitless twice, but cuddling with Billie is a positive thing. And holding Wilhemina’s hand in public? A rare opportunity. 

Finally, you get to the bank and Wilhemina enters first. This is the darkest building you have been in, making you nervous for what other people may be in here. Meanwhile, the woman in purple bangs the flashlight against her hand a couple times, but the light is gone. She lets out a huff and mutters, “This flashlight is a piece of shit.” Then she sets it aside and pulls her phone out of her pocket, unlocking it before turning the flash on.

Both you and Billie look to her shocked and you stammer, “B-but we were supposed to leave those things behind.” Wilhemina scoffs, shining the light on you two as she turns back to face you and says, “Rule #1, never trust a stranger to keep your personal belongings. And don’t worry I have the car keys with me too.” 

Billie chuckles and shakes her head before saying, “You little minx. I should’ve known you would do that.” And you aren’t surprised either. Honestly a part of you agrees with her rule. 

You let go of Billie’s hand to look around, but try to stay close to them, getting exhausted from being so on edge. However, as you step further in, you hear a menacing growl and piercing scream almost directly outside of the bank. Oh, please no. Your head whips to face the entrance to the bank and you whimper, “Umm guys?” But you truly begin to panic when you turn back to see the vault door shutting after both of your girlfriends step in.

You run up to the door and try to open it, but it won’t budge. No, no, no. Shit what should you do? You whimper their names before saying, “It’s locked. I-I can’t get it open.” From the outside of the door, you hear Wilhemina growl, “Oh for fucks sake.” Then Billie says, “Angel, stay calm. We’re ok and you’re ok. Try to look for a combination to unlock the door. It’s probably at one of the tellers’ desks. You can do it, babygirl.” 

You let out a whimper, but reply, “O-ok.” Then you walk away from the door to look through the drawers of the first desk. Unfortunately without a light it’s difficult to see, but there is no sign of a combination. It’s fine, everything is fine. You have no reason to panic. Or at least you try to convince yourself of that. As you go to the second desk however, your blood runs cold as you see the shadow of the scarecrow coming towards the bank. 

Well when it rains it pours. You crouch down under the desk to hide in the foot space. Meanwhile you hear Wilhemina’s muffled voice say, “This is why I keep my phone on me, dear.” Then Billie’s muffled voice says something about taking joy in living in the moment. From their tones you can tell you need to find this combination soon before this ends with an argument and angry sex.

Panic rises within you as you hear the sound of heavy footsteps at the entrance of the bank getting louder and louder as they get closer. Then you nearly cry out when you see the scarecrow peek its twisted smiling face into the aisle of the desks. 

Don’t speak, don’t breathe, don’t even think. 

You keep perfectly still, holding your breath and thank your lucky stars when they walk away. If you lost six months before, you just lost a whole year off of your life. While the footsteps fade, they don’t leave the bank, so you slowly crawl over to the next desk and slowly look for any sign of a combination while trying to keep completely quiet. But there’s nothing so you crawl over to the next desk, holding your breath as listen to the thumping footsteps. You try to keep the cursing in your head quiet as you can, terrified of running into this...thing.

You look through everything and begin to lose hope but find a slip of paper with three numbers on it and you could cry tears of joy. But you keep cautious and crawl back over to the vault entrance where you still hear your girlfriends debating about living in the moment or planning ahead. 

You glance back to see the scarecrow is still here, but you are partially hidden from their view and your desire for your girlfriends outweighs your fear of them. What the hell, you’ve had a good life. So, you begin to twist the dial of the combination lock but hear movement behind you. No please, god. Please not now. You rush through the rest of the combination and the door opens.

As they walk out, Wilhemina says, “All I’m saying is one should be prepared for the worst so they can have the best experience.” To which Billie replies, “But you should also live in the moment or you’ll worry your whole life away.” But you cut them both off, whisper yelling, “OH MY GOD SHUT UP THEY’RE GOING TO KILL US!” That’s when they look down and see you curled up on the floor.

The medium looks around and says, “Darling…there’s no one here.” What? No. Well it’s a good thing, but now you look insane. You shoot up to stand and say as you look around, “But the scarecrow…I heard footsteps.” But you shake your head and look back to them, saying, “Never mind. Just…please tell me you have the map piece.” 

Wilhemina sports a proud smirk as she replies, “We found it and already placed it on the map, so we know where to go.” Oh thank god and the stars and everything else. You let out a sigh of relief and say, “Good. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

You step out of your bathroom into the master bedroom, sleepiness making your eyelids heavy as you walk over to your king-sized shared bed. But you nearly have a heart attack and when Billie jumps out and scares you with a devilish grin. 

You let out a squeak and run over to climb up on the bed, snuggling under the covers and curling into Wilhemina who sits and reads a book. Her warmth makes you feel safe and you keep cuddled into her, practically crawling onto her lap. Then she lets out a sigh and scolds, “Billie did you really have to do that?” The blonde smirks as she crawls up on the other side of the bed and leans against the cushioned headboard before she wraps her arms around you and hugs your body close to her chest.

The vibration of her voice soothes your stiff body as she soothes, “Awe, angel I would protect you from any monster. You know that, right?” and as you look up to her sweet face, you can’t be that upset. So, you nod and reply, “I think so.” Then she pecks your nose and murmurs, “I promise I will.” And you smile as she rubs her nose against yours. That is one of the best feelings in the world. 

You feel Wilhemina shift behind you and turn back to see her reaching for the lamp making you cry out, “Wait!” The images of tonight flash through your mind as she threatens to make the room as dark as that bank. 

The woman in a dark plum negligee pauses her movements and watches you with a questioning stare. You sit up to face her and ask, “D-don’t you want to read some more…maybe?” She raises her eyebrow and replies, “You don’t want the light off, do you?” Well so much for staying subtle. Your cheeks warm in embarrassment and you look down as you shamefully nod.

But she goes back to sitting and says, “I’ll just finish this chapter.” When you both know she would never leave a chapter unfinished. But you thank her, giving her a kiss on the cheek before returning to Billie’s warm embrace. 

Being in between these two feels like heaven on earth and you practically purr. She rubs your back and says, “So maybe next year we can just hand out candy to trick or treaters?” You nod and reply in a drowsy voice, “Sure.” You would agree to anything with the sweet voice she uses. And as she massages your scalp, your body twitches from falling asleep too fast, but just as you begin to drift off, Billie murmurs, “Happy Halloween, babygirl. Sweet dreams.”

Tagged: @marilynroselleprentiss​ @saviorinsilk​ @chokemepaulson​ @versonstar​ @lush-les-lady​ @cordwliagoode​ @psychobitchtess​  @tasyahilker​

Let me know if you would like to be tagged in future works!

#ahs #ahs imagine #ahs fic #ahs fanfiction #ahs murder house #ahs apocalypse #ahs apocalypse fanfiction #ahs billie dean howard #ahs wilhemina venable #billie dean howard #billie dean howard x reader #billie dean howard x reader #wilhemina venable #wilhemina venable x reader #billie x reader x wilhemina #fall prompts #fall 2019 #halloween

[good-rwbyaus]

HellsingAbridged!AU Vampire Tyrian and Watts break into Hellsing's massion, where Alu!Mercury, Seras!Ruby, and SirIntegra!Emerald are. (Basically Ep. 2)

While we do have a no crossover policy going on...I can’t resist this because Mercury as Alucard is perfection because two of my favorite characters as one? Thank you! ~ Green

Yatsu: The following is a fan based parody. Hellsing Ultimate is owned by Kouta Hirano and Studio Madhouse, and licensed by Geneon, Madman Entertainment, Manga Entertainment, and Funimation. Please support the official release... you protestant fuckbucket.

[on phone]

*on the phone*

Sir Emerald: Hello, Mercury. How was your mission in Japan?

Mercury: Eh... I'd say 99... *Switches to zombie at a gate of a high school from the anime, High School Of The Dead* ...point 9 percent done. 'Sup, bitch?

Sir Emerald: I need to talk to you about some important guests coming today.

Mercury: Are they hookers?

Sir Emerald: No.

Mercury: And like that, you've lost me.

Sir Emerald: They're our financial suppliers.

Mercury: Oh man, they have to hate us.

Sir Emerald: They do. That's why they canceled our budget.

Mercury: Oooh, that's bad. We need that, right? Ozpin, we need that right?

Ozpin: Yes, very important.

Mercury: Thank you, Ozpin.

Ozpin: Of course, sir.

Sir Emerald: Over the last couple of years we've had some... expensive claims.

Mercury: Like what?

Sir Emerald: First off, property damage.

*cut scene of an explosion and people running away from OVA 6*

Mercury: Good times.

Sir Emerald: Dozens of noise complaints...

*cut scene to Police Girl and Mercury blasting Nobody by Skindred* 

Mercury: Sorry! I can't hear you!

Sir Emerald: Killing at least a dozen innocent people...

Mercury: Oh, so did Anthony Hopkins, and he got a fucking Oscar for it!

Sir Emerald: And... all of the clothes stealing.

Mercury: ...I'm not apologizing.

Sir Emerald: Listen, I know this is asking a lot, but...

Mercury: But...

Sir Emerald: I want you to keep yourself locked in the basement until all of them are gone.

Mercury: ...I get the distinct impression you're embarrassed of me.

Sir Emerald: Mercury.

Mercury: I'm gonna go with no...

Sir Emerald: This is important, and I don't need you causing another scene.

Mercury: I don't have to take this. I'm going for a walk.

Sir Emerald: No you don't!

Mercury: Oh, what are you going to do? Grab that guy who can stop me? What was his name...? Michael McDoesn't-exist?

Sir Emerald: *Sigh* ...What do you want?

Mercury: What?

Sir Emerald: What.. do I need to give you.. to keep you down here for the evening?

Mercury: I'm going to need a new gun. Also, one for the police girl.

Ruby: But I already have a gun!

Mercury: Get that bitch a cannon; Bitches love cannons!

Sir Emerald: Anything else?

Mercury: A seventy-inch plasma widescreen tv.

Sir Emerald: Really?

Mercury: With Netflix.

Sir Emerald: Should it also be 3D?

Mercury: NO! That's a stupid fucking gimmick and everyone knows it!

*scene changes to the board meeting*

Sir Emerald: Hello, gentlemen. Thank you very much for accepting my invitation.

Sir Shelby Penwood Well, considering the direness of your financial security, we thought it was the least we could do.

Sir Emerald: Now before we begin, I was under the impression our budget was handled directly by the queen.

Sir Hugh Irons: Oh, it is, however, we're having a distinctly difficult time justifying some of these expenses.

Sir Shelby Penwood: Most of them under the name... 'Mercury'.

Sir Emerald: *inhale* Continue...

Sir Hugh Irons: For example, some of them were frankly labeled... "entertainment".

Sir Emerald: Entertainment?

Unknown Council Member 1: Quite. Like in my report; Twenty thousand for a... Candi?

Unknown Council Member 2: That's Candi with an 'i', by the way.

Sir Emerald: I see.

Sir Hugh Irons: Not to mention the priceless antique car... I believe the note on the claim was, "I thought I could paint it red, but I couldn't find enough goats, so I scrapped it".

Sir Emerald: So that's why we found my father's car covered in goat blood and rammed into a Dairy Queen.

Sir Shelby Penwood: Oh, yes, and then there's also the Dairy Queen. Sitting at about ninety-five thousand in damages. *rambling*

Sir Emerald: *thinking* I would do fucking anything right now to get out of this.

*cut scene to Tyrian and Watts walking towards gates of building*

Tyrian: And so halfway through kissin' me, the fuckin' escort OD's on heroin!

Watts: I really don't like discussing my ex-girlfriend with you.

Tyrian: I mean, I still finished, but what kind of shit is that?

Watts: For God's sakes, Tyrian, think of Salem!

Tyrian: ...I ain't jerkin' off right now.

Guard: Oi, You two! The grounds are currently closed.

Tyrian: Aw man, that totally sucks! And we came all the way out here with these foreign exchange students on a field trip through England!

Guard: Where from?

*countless machine gun barrels; MP5 Navy+Suppressor, to be exact, appear from the bus*

Tyrian: Texas! *Snaps fingers*

*Sub-Machine gun fire; guards killed*

Tyrian: Aw shit, looks like we need more prayer in schools.

Watts: If you're quite finished, ready the ghouls. I'm going to find Mercury. You overrun the rest of the mansion.

Tyrian: Alrighty! *ghouls begin filing off the bus* Attention all bitches! Off the bus and line up in order. *Readies dual custom P90s* I've got a class assignment for all of y'all!!

*cut scene back to the board meeting*

Unknown: And while the mime did survive, he'll never walk again.

*lights cut off*

Unknown 2: That's funny, we weren't cutting the power just yet.

Sir Emerald: Oh, shit...

*dials phone*

Sir Interga: Front desk report. What's going on?

Front Desk: Oh um yeah, hold on, just give me a second... whoa. Oh, yeah, it's ghouls. Definitely, definitely... *ghoul snarls* OH MY GOD!

*phone disconnects*

Sir Shelby Penwood: Sir Emerald, do something!

Sir Emerald: Calm down! We have over one hundred trained guards on the premises at all times. We have everything under control.

*explosion*

Unknown: What was that?

Sir Emerald: That was probably the escape chopper exploding. As I was saying, let me just contact communications and get an update.

*dials phone*

Sir Emerald: Communications, come in! We need a full report.

Man On Phone/Communications: *weeping*

Tyrian: Read the fucking paper.

Man On Phone: Hey there, Emerald,

Tyrian: Read it fucking RIGHT, cockhole!! *Clubs Communications just as he says Right!*

Man On Phone: Hey there... you... fat English trollop!

Tyrian: That's more like it, now keep goin'!

Man On Phone: Me.. and my big brother Watts... are killing... all of your men... and turning them into ghouls. So... I... hope... you've made peace... with yourself... 'cause when I find you... I'm gonna... oh god!

Tyrian: Keep reading, or I shoot the other testicle!!

Man On the Phone: Cause when I find you, I'm gonna sting every hole you've got! And then I'm gonna just keep making more holes to sting, until there's nothing left but your riddled corpse full of blood... and venom! Oh god, this is horrible!

Tyrian: You ain't finished yet!

Man On the Phone: So prepare your dried-up quim... for my huge vampire stinger. Now, pardon me, while I blow this bitch ass ginger's brains out -- OH GOD NO-!!!

*gunshot*

Tyrian: *laughing* His fucking face, man! Oh-ho ho ho fuck!! Oh, now that shit is priceless!

*hangs up phone*

Sir Emerald: Mercury, get up here now! I'm locked in with the committee on the third floor and...

Mercury: Listen, I'm going to have to stop you right there. You see, I'm under direct orders from my boss, who is a total bitch by the way *gives off an aroused grunt*, that I am not to leave this room until such time as the committee has left the building. I was even bribed. Imagine that...

Sir Emerald: Mercury, you vampiric asshole, I will --

Mercury: Sounds great, but I'm gonna have to go now, I've just queued up an episode of Adventure Time on Netflix. Bye~...

*Adventure Time sound clip, phone hanging up, Emerald snaps her cigar in utter anger*

Sir Emerald: Ozpin!

*cut scene to mansion; Watts slaughters four guards and picks up a phone call*

Watts: Hello, Tyrian.

Tyrian: So, how's my favorite big brother doing?

Watts: Oh, you know, just killed a group of guards...

Tyrian: Shit, bro, you too? What's your kill count at? Nah, don't tell me. *observes countless dead guards and the ghouls feasting upon them* I'm winnin'.

Watts: *Opens said passageway up* They were guarding a secret passageway downstairs. Not really keeping it a secret if you keep a bunch of armed guards standing around it.

Tyrian: Well, you have fun with that, bro. I'm gonna go skull-fuck that Hellsing bitch... And the old guys... Ah, fuck it. Skull-fuckin' for everyone!! Come here, ghoul!!

*ghoul moaning. Watts hangs up and smiles wryly*

Watts: Well, you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family.

*cut back to board meeting*

Sir Emerald: Alright, Ozpin and his assistant should be here any second now..

Sir Shelby Penwood: But if there's no way to get upstairs, how are they going to -- aaaghh! aaghh!

*Ozpin and Police Girl fall from ceiling, accidentally knocking Shelby over.*

Ozpin: Tally ho!

Sir Emerald: Good to see you, Ozpin.

Ozpin: Of course, sir.

Sir Emerald: The first two floors have been entirely overrun. Communications with the outside have been cut off. We lost all of our men, and Mercury is being --

Ozpin: Mercury?

Sir Emerald: A total ass, yes. Now tell me, do you have any plans?

Ozpin: Of course, sir. I shall do exactly as the butler does, and tidy up.

*cut to mansion hall, Tyrian marching down it with his army of ghouls*

Tyrian: I don't give a shit, I don't give a fuck. I don't give a shit, I don't give a fuck. Though if I give a shit, I might just give a fuck, but I don't give a shit, so I don't give a...

(Ghouls are suddenly slaughtered.)

Tyrian: ...fuck was that?

Ozpin: Hello, my name is Ozpin C. Dornez. Ex-Vampire hunter and butler to the Hellsing organization. I answer the door, I clean up the estate, and I take out the trash. And I also kill self-entitled little twats like yourself.

Tyrian: Well ain't you just the textbook fuckin definition of classy, but guess what, Jeeves, that garrote wire won't do shit for dick against armor this thick. What's that, Alfred, how thick is it? Well, half as thick as my dick, so thick enough that you need a fucking anti-tank rifle to pierce it, and I don't even see a piece on your wrinkly old ass.

Ozpin: Police girl, if you may.

*Zoom cut to Police Girl with said anti-tank rifle at the other end of the hallway*

Ruby: BITCHES LOVE CANNONS! *Fires rifle and kills several ghouls*.

Tyrian: Oh fuck, that's an anti-tank rifle. OH FUCK, THAT'S AN ANTI-TANK RIFLE!!! *Gets shot*

*cuts to Mercury watching Adventure Time; Watts breaks through the wall, destroying the plasma TV*

Mercury: That was a seventy-inch... plasma screen TV. *inhales* So, how can I help you?

Watts: You must be the great Mercury.

Mercury: S'uuup?

Watts: I've heard quite a lot about you.

Mercury: Oh, really?

Watts: The night walker... who glides through oceans of blood. Beyond human, a monster whose power radiates with a darkness that casts a shadow on darkness itself --

Mercury: Oh, you dirty bitch, work the shaft!

Watts: Ex-cuse you..?

Mercury: Oh, I'm sorry, I like to dirty talk when someone's sucking my dick.

Watts: ...Perhaps I should just skip to my point. My name is Watts.

Mercury: And I'm Carmen Sandiego. Guess where I am!

Watts: I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you here...

Mercury: Oh, so am I, and I'm failing, and I'm sorry for that. It's just that I'm so agitated; because this blond little shit strolled into my room, destroyed my seventy-inch, plasma TV, and is trying to impress me like I'm his alcoholic father.

*Watts dashed towards Mercury, Watts’ modified M1 Garand and Mercury's Jackal Pistol pointed at each other's heads at the ready*

Mercury: Be a sport and grab daddy another beer, would you~?

*Watts fires at Mercury in the head*

*cut back to Tyrian, Ozpin, Police Girl, with the ghouls all defeated. Police Girl has Tyrian pinned to the ground in an arm bar hold.*

Ruby: Arm bars everywhere!

Tyrian: Let me go, you stupid bitch!

Ozpin: That's quite impressive, where did you learn that hold?

Ruby: Oh wow, it's almost like I'm a police girl or something!

Ozpin: Sarcasm is unbecoming of you.

Tyrian: Wow, gee willickers, mister, I sure am sorry for slaughterin' all your guards, and tearin' up your mansion. I promise I've learned my le- *Ozpin stomps on Tyrian's hand* Aw, fuck! Take a joke, asshole!

Ozpin: And everything you say just pisses me off! Now you're going to tell me everything I want to know.

Tyrian: Alright, alright... what you do, is you go down to the local pharmacy, ask for something called Viagra, and it will help you go fuck yourself!

*Ozpin loses his patience and prepares his wires, but then more ghouls appear and Tyrian breaks out of the submission hold*

Tyrian: And now, for the upcoming company picnic! *Presents an army of former Hellsing employees now turned into ghouls.* Unfortunately, all your douchebag co-workers are bringing is their own rotten flesh! Still better than potato salad, if you ask me. Now if'n you don't mind, *Jumps over the two of them* I'm-a go eat that Hellsing bitch!

Ozpin: I've got your arm! *Tears off Tyrian's right arm with his wire*

Tyrian: SO SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!!!

*Tyrian laughs maniacally as he busts opens the door, frowning as the Council members draw their guns*

Tyrian: Well, that's not fair at all.

Sir Emerald: I'm sorry, *Draws her Sig P226 as she quips* we don't give a fuck!

*Rapid gunfire tears Tyrian to shreds. Tyrian screams (and curses) in surprise and pain*

Tyrian: Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck... agh! Fuck! *Slumps against a wall* Where the fuck did my ghouls go??

Ozpin: Oh, they've been dealt with.

*Ruby, in a blood rage, slaughters ghouls; Dragula by Rob Zombie plays in the background*

Tyrian: Well, at least I'm gonna die with a raging boner...

Sir Emerald: All right, shit for brains, you're going to spill every single thing you know, or I'm going to have Ozpin here peel your dick like a banana!

Tyrian: *Laughing* I don't know what's fuckin' funnier; the fact that you think that your titless ass intimidates me, or that you think my boss would let me live if you did! *Is suddenly enveloped in blue fire, ala a Dr. Merlot; as he declares* AND NOW I'M ON FUCKING FIRE! SO NOW IT'S FREE GAME! The one who sent me... WAS... NAZIS!

*Tyrian burns to Ashes, leaving only his hand flipping the bird.*

Sir Emerald: I heard George Lucas. Who else heard George Lucas?

Ozpin: I heard Miami Heat.

Ruby: I heard the Motley Crue with my vampire hearing.

Sir Emerald: Wait a second... where's the big brother?

*Back at Mercury's room, Mercury is clearly outmatched by Watts(at least that's what he's making it look like).*

Watts: You can't touch me, I was hand-crafted to kill you. My speed, my stamina, my power all rival, nay, dwarf yours! In comparison to you, I am a demi-god!!

(A Brief silence, as our "hero" registers what was just said.)

Mercury: ...Really? Really.

Watts: Really.

Mercury: Really?

Watts: Really!

Mercury: *Excitedly* REALLY?!

Watts: Really!!

Mercury: Release Restraint, level one.

Watts: Level what? *As in the Cromwell seal restriction has been lifted to level one; Totally not Kaio-Ken, for obvious reasons.*

*Watts loses a leg, thanks to the "dwarfed" Mercury's Jackal, fired ala Baskerville the Big Black Dog. God of War theme plays.*

Watts: Aaagh, aagh, fuck!

Mercury: You know, they say that TV makes you violent, but I say that not having my TV is making me pretty fucking violent!!

*Mercury's shoots his Jackal Pistol at Luke's OTHER leg, blowing the said, right leg clean off.*

Watts: AAAAAOOOOUGH-!!! *thinking* I'm near the stairs! Gotta get to the stairs! If I could just get up the stairs, I... *Suddenly sees just how long said stairs really are, much to his dismay.* Aaaaaw, fuck...!

Mercury: Come on! You were talking all of that good shit a second ago, then I blew your fucking legs off!!

Watts: But, I... you... what the fuck?!

Mercury: What's wrong "demi-god"? Just grow back your legs! *As he SMASHES the leg in his hand* Summon up your demons! Hit me! FIGHT ME!!! ...Give me a hug~!

Watts: Really...? *Baskerville the AFOREMENTIONED Big Black Dog descends upon him as a certain soon-to-be bloody Valentine cries: * OH GOD NO-!!!

*Cut to conference room phone, as the committee members and Emerald listen to Watts being violently eaten alive. By the Big Black Dog. Emerald smiles wryly.*

Mercury (on speakerphone): We're here on Epic Meal Time!! I'm the sauce boss, and tonight, we're eating this blond little wannabe demi-god bitch!

Sir Shelby Penwood: Who... is that, exactly?

Sir Emerald: Oh, that's Mercury, the one we talked about earlier. This is what happens when he has to entertain himself. Oh, so what was that issue with our funding?

Sir Shelby Penwood: Issue?

Sir Hugh Irons: What issue?

Sir Shelby Penwood: I don't see an issue!

Sir Jacques Schnee: Shut up and take our money!!!

(Back at Emerald's room)

Mercury: Ah, and just like that, everything turned out alright in the end.

Sir Emerald: Yes, everything turned out just fine, except that ninety percent of our staff were killed, turned into ghouls, then killed again by the police girl in a blood rage.

Ruby: What's a blood rage, and why don't I remember anything?

Mercury: Oh, that reminds me, for whatever reason, did we ever find out who sent them? 

*Brief Pause once again.*

Mercury: It was the Nazis, wasn't it?

Sir Emerald: No!

Mercury: Bet you I'm right!

Sir Emerald: Bet you you're wrong!

Mercury: Bet you you're a skank~!

Sir Emerald: Bet you you're an asshole!

Mercury: BITCH, I EAT PEOPLE!

#rwby #mercury black #emerald sustrai #ruby rose #ozpin #tyrian callows #arthur watts #yatsuhashi daichi

[lil-purplebird]

Monster Island Buddies: Episode Fan Fiction

Fandom: Godzilla (Monster Island Buddies)

Rating: M

Genre: Parody/Humor

Words: 7,295

Summary: "Werehuman". A self-explanatory legend and an existential crisis. Maybe. Adult language, not for children.

Notes: Rawwrrrr!

So this is just something silly I thought up of out of nowhere and it wouldn't leave for a few days. Figured this would fit better as a “Monster Island Buddies” fic than just a normal Godzilla parody. Yes, I'm insane enough to make an MiB fic, but I know I'm not the only one. To borrow from Destoroyah: “Fuck you.” (Not really, love you guys. But this fic is more-or-less in response to wondering if I'd make more kaiju fics, of which I'mmmmm not telling, but this is still something, I guess. Apparently this takes place before "Destroy All Godzillas".)

Ha ha, well, hope you'll enjoy! I tried.

Can also be read here.

For lunchtime at the bar, Godzilla and some of his buddies were chilling with a game of monster pool. It was called such as the billiard balls were about as big as them all, and they had to be split into teams of three to even carry the cue stick. Stupid in practice, but everything's a great idea in one's drunken state of mind, and they would've declined if Gorosaurus was the one who suggested it and not Gamera.

"Oh, my God, you guys, we're in a tag team!" Gigan exclaimed happily behind Megalon, who in turn was behind Varan. "We're gonna win together as a team! You guys? Am I right? Teamwork rules!"

"How did I get stuck with Gigan, again?" Megalon grumbled.

"Shouldn't I, like, be the one to say that instead?" Varan muttered back.

"Kick my brah's ass, Var!" Biollante cheered from the sidelines.

It was a rare sight to see the couple at the bar, but SpaceGodzilla just had to say something about celebrating their group's founding anniversary with drinks and a bottomless buffalo wings basket or something. Oh, and a friendly battle or competition where the winner (or in this case, the winning team) was going to get free tickets to a concert, and Varan got excited.

Godzilla, Jet Jaguar, and Gamera were in another team chalking up their cue tip waiting for Gorosaurus' team (consisting of him, Baragon in front, and Gabara in the back, who butted in because he had overheard about the tickets) to do the break shot. The robot hemmed to himself, "Why're we believing SpaceGodzilla has concert tickets, again?"

"I don't, but I need to get out more," Godzilla said. "I don't know how you guys can live with me if I can barely stand living with myself most days."

"Yeah, see if I'll take you back under my wing again," Gamera wryly recalled.

Mumbling under his breath, Baragon was taking care to calculate his aim, but Gabara was growing impatient. "Jussth hit the ball!" he shouted, trying to take control of the cue stick.

"I want to get at least two balls in!" the burgundy monster stated, fighting back.

"You guys, we have to work together!" Gorosaurus interjected as group leader.

"Givth me the shtick! Hyouuungh!" Gabara brayed.

"No! It needs to be precise!"

Enough force was put into the tug-of-war that the cue ball was hit, but it scarcely scraped by the nine-ball rack and rolled into the left side pocket. Some of the onlookers hooted at the sight. "Look what happened!" the dinosaur moaned.

"Alright, guess it's up to us to break it!" Godzilla said excitedly, already in place up front while SpaceGodzilla fished out the ball.

"Godzilla, let me be the frontman," Gamera suggested. "Or, I don't know, let me angle the cue stick for you."

"You're in the back, though," he pointed out. "That's what you are supposed to do."

"Maybe I should shoot," Jet said. "I already have the trajectory calculated."

He barely finished his sentence when Godzilla impulsively hit the ball the moment it was set down in front of him, and the rack cleanly broke. The eight-ball was one of the outside balls and halted close to a pocket, but then a ricocheted striped ball hit it in. "Ooh, tough luck!" SpaceGodzilla tsked, smirking at his half-brother's misfortune.

"Ooh, fizzlesticks!" the robot hissed.

"Wait, we're out of the game already?" the bipedal turtle gasped. "Godzilla, did you even aim?!"

The king of the monsters belched. "Oh, sorry, I guess I stumbled there."

"Why're you such a klutz?!"

Gigan hopped in place. "Oh, my God, did we win, you guys? We won, right? Hooray for teamwork!"

"Dudes, it worked!" Varan said in awe, letting out a breathy laugh. "Rubbing my lucky rabbit's foot worked!"

Megalon did a brief double-take. "So is that what happened to the Easter bunny?"

As Varan and Biollante had a victory make-out, Gamera gruffly sighed and threw down his end of the cue stick. Godzilla shrugged it off. "Well, that was fun, I guess. Too bad Rody missed out."

"Are you blaming this loss on me?" Gamera growled, feeling a buzzing headache coming on.

"It's not because of you, man. Now if it was Rodan in your place, one flap of his wings would've broken formation."

"Rodan would've suggested beer pong in your place," Jet said. "No offense, Gamera, monster pool just isn't working out for us."

"It was a brilliant idea! You just don't have the artistic vision to see it!" The monster turtle belched and groaned. "Ugh, I'm getting too worked up. I need to get home and lie down for a bit, maybe cry myself to sleep."

Godzilla almost rolled his eyes. "A one-time fluke doesn't mean it's a horrible idea, Gamera. Maybe it just depends on the team."

Gamera scoffed. "Yeah, guess you're right. So that means you're out of the team, Godzilla."

He threw his hands up. "What?! Why me?!"

"Guys, calm down," Jet tried to pacify, stepping in between them. "There's no need to fight over monster billiards."

"Oh, but there's plenty of things to fight over," Gamera sneered, still not breaking eye-contact.

"Oh, oh, you're going to bring up our college days now?" Godzilla bellowed. "Look, man, if this is about the time-jumping thing, there wasn't room in the machine for all of us!"

"I still got a sweet acting career out of it. But actually, there was one thing about those days I still haven't forgiven you for, and that was the werehuman prank!"

Jet Jaguar looked between them with disbelief. "What's this about a 'werehuman'?"

Godzilla scratched his snout, aimlessly staring at the ceiling. "Uh... can you refresh my memory? I think the coke binge might've warped it into something else. But I have this strange feeling like I've met a wolf man before."

"No, not that Wolf Man," Gamera huffed.

"What, do you have something again Lon Chaney?"

"No, you're just an idiot."

"Guys, what's a 'werehuman'?" Jet tried to ask, but he was ignored as the turtle scoffed.

"You want to know why you never saw my mom anymore after that party? She got paranoid and had to flee the planet so she wouldn't look at another human ever again!"

"Oh, I thought your mom died. I just didn't want to ask because she just seemed so old, and you didn't talk about her much."

"Being in your two-hundreds isn't old, you prick!"

"That just means she wasn't hot."

"Hey, you guys, can you keep it down?" Gorosaurus came in. "You're triggering an early hangover."

While the two continued to argue and insult each other, Jet Jaguar went over to the dinosaur. "Gorosaurus, what's a 'werehuman'?"

He turned to him in surprise. "You've never heard of it? It's a famous monster legend around these parts."

"Really? I've been here for over forty years, and I've never heard of it."

"You've heard of the werewolf, right?"

Jet quickly went through his archives. "It's a half-wolf, half-man, right?"

"No, it's—"

Baragon interrupted, shaking his head, "No, no, no, the Wolf Man is a completely fictional character by Hollywood. But the werewolf is believed to originate from the Mesopotamian story 'The Epic of Gilgamesh', and was adopted and tweaked a little in European folklore."

"Hey, I was getting to that," Gorosaurus complained.

"So what's a werewolf?" Jet wondered.

"A werewolf is a man who shape-shifts into a wolf during the full moon," the actor explained. "It's like a curse, which can be broken with a silver bullet, or by eating wolfsbane. You also turn into a werewolf if you're bitten by another werewolf, but you have to kill that werewolf to lift the curse. Or is that a vampire?"

"Like a zombie!" Gorosaurus added.

"Ohh, so a werehuman is a man turning into a human?" Jet Jaguar paused, then realized what he said when he glanced over at other patrons in the background. "Wait, dammit!"

Baragon laughed quietly. "No, a werehuman is a monster that transforms into a human at sunrise."

"Why sunrise?"

"The cursed monster has to work a nine-to-five office job."

Jet stared, cast his eyes over at Godzilla and Gamera who were still fighting and it was getting more heated, glanced at the bartender, and then looked back at the reptiles before him. "That's it?" When they nodded, he shrugged. "Well, uh... how do you break the werehuman curse?"

"You can't," they said in unison.

"Not even a silver bullet to the heart?"

"I never said you have to shoot a werewolf in the heart to break the curse," Baragon corrected. "But no, not even with silver bullets. All you can do is infect other monsters until you die from overworking yourself."

"My mommy told me once you had to become a vegan," Gorosaurus spoke up. "Monsters don't eat their greens and never will, so they just overwork themselves to death instead."

"Uh... Mothra eats her greens," Jet pointed out. "Cotton sweaters count, right?"

The dinosaur slowly gasped. "Maybe she was the werehuman of legend!"

"But that's all it is—a legend," the robot stressed.

"Do you see other herbivores on a regular basis?" Baragon asserted.

Jet paused. "Okay, you got me there. So... how do you become a werehuman?"

"A human bites you."

His head jerked back in shock. "That's it? Just a human?"

He leaned in menacingly, shadows splitting across his face. "Did you know that human mouths are pretty disgusting?"

"But... you said werehumans infect other monsters, too."

"Yeah, they do. But patient zero always gets bitten by a human first."

Some silence passed between them before Baragon started laughing. Gorosaurus joined in a moment later, and Jet managed to let out a nervous chuckle before backing away. Then in mid-laughter, the subterranean reptile turned to his companion. "Hold on, you said 'mommy', didn't you?"

Returning to Godzilla, the robot noticed Gamera had left. "Hey, Godzilla, what's the matter?"

The kaiju looked like the alcohol was finally getting to him, he had a more fatigued expression on his face and he was swaying a bit. "Man, Gamera's such a fucking sore loser. He blames everything else but himself."

"Uh..."

He hiccuped. "Anyway, when he's better, I'll talk to him. I didn't know that about his mom, so it's no wonder he's got abandonment issues."

"...Yeah..."

"So what was it you wanted to know about our werehuman prank, Jet?"

Jet shook his head. "Oh, never mind. I had too much to drink. Think I'm going to go home, maybe go see Hedorah."

"Okay, bud, see you later," Godzilla said, but the robot had turned his back and left the bar. He frowned, then realized he was being footed the bill. "Oh, goddamn it, Jet!"

Soon after with an emptier wallet, he was on his way back home and walked solemnly past some human crowds, but his thoughts remained back at their fight. He really couldn't remember much about that party, their whole college days was full of weed, alcohol, and casual sex that everything blurred together. But he did meet Gamera's mother once when she had visited for some celebration, he recalled simultaneously chuckling at and being grossed out over her many sags, realizing that was what his roommate was going to look like in a hundred-plus years. He had taken a hit with a bong or something before everyone came over, and he had a feeling some human was somewhere in the crowd.

Not that he hated humans, but it was someone he didn't particularly like, so he had wanted to "frame" the human as well as lighten the mood. So he slipped through into the kitchen area where Gamera's mother was fetching some more snacks (or was making sweets), jumped on her back, said articulately, "Nothing personnel, MILF," and then bit her neck. When Gamera came running in screaming "What the hell are you doing?!", he had answered, "I can't fight my werehuman instincts any longer!" then howled at nothing in particular and ran out of the dorm to terrorize the campus.

Godzilla paused to stare at some graffiti as he reminisced. "...Huh. Just how fucking stoned was I to think she was a MILF?"

Suddenly, he felt teeth sink into his tail, although not by much so it didn't hurt, but it stung. He looked behind him to see a human gnawing on his tail as if it was a corn on the cob, looking like his mind had just snapped. He was not even a hobo like one would think, he had on a suit and tie and his briefcase contents were spilled everywhere.

"Well I'll be damned. I didn't know I could feel that."

And then it hit him—the briefcase did, but so did the situation.

*~*~*

In their living room, Rodan and Mothra were having their afternoon romp. The moth kaiju was somewhat chewing on the pillow while her husband pounded her from behind, trying hard not to set the sofa on fire (again) since burnt leather is a huge turn-off. Also it's embarrassing to confess to the fire department about how it happened, and he didn't want to be featured on "Sex Sent Me to the ER".

"Here comes Rodaaaan, giant peeenilesaurrrr! Here comes Rodaaaan, deep in Mooothra's corrrre..."

And of course Rodan's growling out his theme song, somewhat, being in the heat of the moment.

"Maharaaa—ah! Mahara Mosuraaa—nn!"

Oh, shit, both of them got it in their heads to climax along with their theme songs. And thankfully, the doorbell started ringing wildly before the awkwardness could seep in further.

"Goddamn it, why now?!" Rodan grunted, flailing his wings about.

Sighing to herself, Mothra got up and apologetically nuzzled her husband. "I'll get it. It'll be less embarrassing."

Rodan stared before glancing down as she flew over to open the door. The sight of Godzilla standing there in a nervous sweat took her by surprise. "Oh, my, you don't look so good."

"Mothra, Rody, you gotta help me!" he said, slightly panting. "You guys are the only ones I can turn to!"

The pterosaur came up from behind his wife with his trademark pissed off glare. "Can't this wait? The sex was just getting good."

"Rody, please, after I got in a fight with Gamera at the bar, a human bit me on the tail, I almost lost my voice screaming and running around, and now I'm going to turn into a werehuman and have to go work in a cubicle for the rest of my life!"

The couple slowly looked at each other in befuddlement before facing their friend again. "What the fuck, Godzilla? Did you get back on drugs?" Rodan asked, exasperated his sexy times with Mothra was interrupted by a drug-fueled fit.

"I couldn't make this up even on crack! Please, you gotta help me!"

"What about MechaGodzilla?" Mothra suggested, though she sounded a little unsure.

"That's why I'm so worn out, I just came from there! I've never seen it look so empty before! Does this need a quick flashback, too?"

"Why're you bragging about coming when you interrupted me coming?" Rodan snapped out, getting antsy.

"Give it a minute, Rodan," Mothra said in aside.

"That's what you said the last time!"

Ignoring him, she then made another indication to Godzilla, "How about Jet?"

"I can't find him anywhere, either, I thought he went home!" Godzilla whined, head in his hands. "I don't know, I'm just freaking out and I don't know what to do!"

Her heart going out to her distressed friend, she patted him on the arm in comfort. "Well, come inside and we'll figure things out. But wipe off your feet and that human, first."

They turned to the man still clinging to the lizard's tail, though he was looking stiff and there was blood around his mouth and shirt.

"He's dead!" Godzilla gasped. "Oh, my God, the rabies must've gotten to him!"

"More like cancer from how cancerous this whole situation is," Rodan huffed.

"Rabies?" Mothra echoed. "Are you sure it's rabies?"

"Well why else do humans bite unprovoked?" Godzilla said with a shrug.

"Then why the hell are you going on about 'werehuman' shit?!" Rodan shouted, starting to flip out as well.

After peeking around the corner with a head, their son, King Ghidorah, slinked into the living room. "Oh, you finished having intercourse with each other?" the three heads gave a relived sigh in unison.

"No, your mother just got distracted," the pterosaur insisted, shooting a leer at Godzilla who gave him an odd look as well.

"Well, uh... I need to make lunch now or my blood sugar level's going to drop. The General offered to get lunch, but he's gonna be out a bit longer. So... can you make it quick?"

"Can't you guys do it in the privacy of your own bedroom?" the lizard wondered.

"The living room's the farthest from his room, and General has cameras installed in the basement," was Rodan's claim. "Ghidorah psychic links and public indecency laws have been sucking all of the fun out of it. Mothra's been liking the attention, though."

Mothra giggled a little. "Oh, it's not like that."

Face faulting in horror, Godzilla gestured at the furniture. "...But... everyone sits on that couch."

"But the bedroom's a good idea, Godzilla," she suddenly said a little hurriedly. "Most of my things are up there anyway, so let's get you looked at."

"Oh, Mother, Father, please don't," their son cried. "You're already copulating thrice a day, don't add more to it."

Rodan put his wing around his necks. "Son, worry not about what your mother and I do. Where do you get these crazy ideas from, anyway? I knew getting you that computer was a bad idea!"

"I was the one who built it, Father," King Ghidorah informed.

"I don't care if it was Charles Babbage’s brain, show me your search history! My son's not going to grow up to be NTR'd!"

"Rodan, are you coming or not?" Mothra asked firmly.

Rodan swung around eagerly. "I thought you'd never ask, sweetheart!"

"Not that."

He roared in frustration. "Your timing fucking sucks, Godzilla!"

Entering the bedroom, Godzilla took in the numerous candles, cushions, trinkets, some statues, and other new age stuff he never understood. His eyes fell upon an odd drawing of a moth silhouette surrounded by seven statements (as written in kanji). A green checkmark was inked next to "Three Dragons".

"Hey, what you got here?" he inquired, following a line downward.

Mothra quickly shooed him away toward the circle of cushions and kicked the poster behind a bureau. "Okay, Godzilla, slowly lower the body."

He had to shake the corpse off of his tail, and the three of them stared down at the man's blissful blood-smeared face. "So why did this human bite you just to die?" Rodan questioned suspiciously.

"I don't know, I was just trudging home from the bar, and suddenly I felt something nibbling on me," he relayed his story. "The guy looked like he just dropped everything for a bite, and he wouldn't let go like he superglued his teeth on me or something."

"How long ago was this?" Mothra asked. "He hasn't been dead for even an hour."

"Thirty minutes, I think?"

"If this was a hobo, you wouldn't have come interrupt us because you'd be dead from rabies," Rodan said gruffly.

Godzilla snorted. "Mothra, does the guy have rabies, or no?"

Studying what little life force there was from the body, she shook her head. "No, this guy was just... normal."

"Biting a monster's tail is not normal!" he declared, starting to freak out again. "This normal guy had himself a normal job someplace and he did an abnormal thing!"

"So is that why you think you're turning into a werehuman?"

"Yeah, funny that Gamera brought that up just minutes before my tail became this guy's lunch!"

"A prophet tells prophetic things. Shocker," Rodan sarcastically said.

Humming to herself, Mothra's antennae drooped. "Well, uh... I don't know what else to say, Godzilla. This is new to me."

"Why couldn't it have been Kong or Gorosaurus who got their tails gnawed on instead?" the king of the monsters sniveled. "I don't have the experience to do paperwork, and I'm too much of a klutz for coffee runs!"

"Are you done yet?" Rodan grunted. "My balls have been aching for release since you got here."

"Rody, you're my best friend, you know that?" Godzilla whimpered. "Can you take one for the team and let me do a test bite on you?"

"Fuck off, Godzilla!"

"Please? Just a nibble?"

Mothra stepped in between them. "Godzilla, I suggest you go home. Spend the rest of this time with Minilla and the others."

He paused, thinking back to his household who were none-the-wiser of his predicament. "Yeah... I suppose you're right. How much time do I have left as me?"

"Not short enough," the pteranodon growled. "We're already ten pages into this crap."

Godzilla solemnly stared down at his feet, unsure what to think of his situation. This was a fate worse than death, he was starting to realize why a lot of humans were so miserable all the time, and he hadn't even begun transforming. His stomach churned, and he groaned in anguish.

Mothra patted his shoulder with a wing. "Hey, cheer up. You're only a human during the day. You can come visit us when the sun goes down."

"But eleven-fifty-five is off-limits!" Rodan warned. "It's the only time where I get to hump Mothra well into the next day to feel better about my sexual prowess!"

"You only last for five minutes?" Godzilla asked.

"Goddamn it, Godzilla, let me have this!"

"Hold that thought," he said, and the nausea caught up to him.

*~*~*

Having already been out visiting Anguirus for the day and happened to be passing by, Minilla helped his depressed and sick father back home, feeling the weight of the news bearing down on him. Godzilla had been crying and whimpering to himself about his predicament, and he didn't know what to do to console him. That was the thing about being the Chosen One, you're only prepared for one destiny, the others just sneak up on you.

"Hey, Dad, if it means anything to you, you can become like an ambassador for Monster Island," he finally made a suggestion, trying to remain optimistic. "If it'll keep less missiles from being launched our way, this sacrifice will not be in vain."

Godzilla was still sobbing to himself. "I'm going to look like an uglier Kong, but bald!"

"Is that what you're most bothered about?" his son sighed.

"And even if I do get a human girlfriend, the sex is just not going to be the same. Once you go kaiju, you can't just downsize!"

"Dad, stay focused, please."

He sniffed some mucus back up his nose. "Maybe I'll still be able to grow a beard and join a motorcycle gang, or something to stave off my loneliness."

"This is getting serious. Dad's reaching the acceptance phase fast." Minilla frowned to himself. "Actually, why wouldn't that be a good thing?"

Upon reaching their home, they could see Titanosaurus was standing conspicuously on their lawn and staring into the window. "Oh, damn it," the Chosen One hissed. "Where're the others?"

"Oh, Titanosaurus, did you need something?" Godzilla called, temporarily putting aside his grief.

The dinosaur giggled as he turned away from the window. "Hohohoho! You talkin' to me, Fuzzy Lumpkins? Hohohoho!"

"Well, yeah. Just want to know why you're here at my house. You're crushing my azaleas."

"Stick your gangrened mojo up your powder puff, princess! You're in for a rowdy rough ride! Hohohoho! Hohohoho!" He began river dancing on the lawn, and they had to avoid his swinging tail.

"Just get inside, Dad. We need to let the other Godzillas know about this."

Walking into the living room, they noticed the group had a movie on, popcorn, chips and other junk food littered the area, and the TV's screen looked like it was set on its highest bright setting. "Hey, guys, can you pause the movie?" Minilla asked just to get his face sprayed with crumbs by a shushing Orga.

"See, this is why you can't enjoy a good movie anymore!" he grumbled. "Jackasses are always interrupting your viewing everywhere you go!"

"Orga, you've been coming over uninvited to watch a movie for weeks now!" Godzilla groaned.

"My cable provider hasn't gotten back to me yet, and I need it to make my Orga Reviews so I can pay the bills! Fucking asshole."

"Crash over at Rodan's place, then!"

He chortled. "Dude, have you seen their couch? And I'm not the one who broke it this time!"

All of the alternate Godzilla versions shushed them. "Ugh, why do we always get interrupted by jackasses at the best parts?" the stout lighter-gray Godzilla growled.

Godzilla Earth lumbered into the living room to announce in his booming gravelly voice, "WELL, WE RAN OUT OF THEM LEMONY-SCENTED GOODNESS WIPES AGAIN. DID I MISS ANY BOOBIES ON THE CABLE?"

Minilla snatched the remote to pause the film, ignoring the protests from the others. "Guys, my dad has something important to say."

"Unless he won a million-billion dollars, forget it," Alternate Future Godzilla scoffed.

Godzilla stepped forward, now somber once again. "Everyone, this might be the last time to be me as I am now."

They silently gave him weird looks.

"I know this is hard to believe, but... I'm a werehuman."

"Nothing shocks us anymore," the tiny Godzilla said. Orga almost choked on a chip laughing.

"I was bitten by a human this afternoon, and that means I'm going to be a human by the morning. I'll still come around when it's nighttime, but I'm not going to be head of the household much anymore if I can't be king of the monsters." He turned to his son. "So Minilla, my boy... I'm giving you the keys to the castle. It's been a long time coming, but you deserve it, my son."

Although he was certain the "werehuman" wasn't what it seemed to be, he couldn't help hanging his head in reverence. "Dad, I'm honored..."

"OHHH BOY, I CAN FINALLY HAVE MYSELF A 'M.A.S.H.' MARATHON BUDDY TO WATCH WITH!" Earth exclaimed happily, his jagged smile crinkling his eyes. "YOU BEST NOT FORGET, YOU HEAR?"

"I call your room," Future Godzilla said, raising his hand.

"Damn it, I wanted his room!" Big Daddy G roared.

"Should've called faster."

"Guys, I'm not relinquishing the house just yet!" Godzilla insisted. "I'm still going to be living here until I can find myself a human apartment!"

"Uh... yeah, I knew that. But I'm still going to call it."

Turning to Little Godzilla and Baby Godzilla who were sleepy on their feet, the king of the monsters spread his arms out for a hug. "Come here, kids. I just need to tell you I'm proud of you, and wish you well as you grow up."

The babies stared at him, then babbled something about him smelling like beer and incense.

"So Godzilla Prime, what're you going to do for the rest of your kaiju day?" another Godzilla asked, orange eyes narrowing like he wasn't taking the news seriously.

Thinking back to whatever bucket list he may have had in mind, he hemmed and folded his arms a bit. "Really good question. Let me think about it after lunch. Also get the fuck out of my house, Orga," he added to the alien.

"Alright, alright, sheesh," he huffed, stepping outside only to get tackled by Titanosaurus.

Everyone gathered around the table as he munched on an egg salad sandwich and sucked down some cola. Minilla was cooking up another egg for his father and himself, inwardly consulting with the Hand for guidance while also thanking the Hand for handling the skillet in his place. As Godzilla Prime counted his alternate selves surrounding him in his head, a thought struck him like a lightning bolt out of the blue.

"Hey, Minilla, do you remember what I did with the bible audiobook?" he wondered as he finished his drink.

He turned away from the stove. "What's this sudden interest in the human concept of religion, Dad?"

"If I'm going to be a werehuman, I figured I might as well pretend I know what I'm talking about when debating around the water cooler. Also Larry King just soothes the eardrums just right. I think that's part of what comes with the Jewish package, kinda like how King Ghidorah used to speak."

Minilla wanted to roll his eyes to the ceiling as his father scarfed down the rest of his food. "Yeah, you're going to fit right in with the humans."

"DID SOMEONE SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE CHEWS?" Godzilla Earth queried, his hearing failing him again.

"No, it's Jews," Big Daddy G corrected.

"WOAHHH, YOU BETTER BE CAREFUL ABOUT THEM CHEWS. ONE TIME, I WOKE UP WITH A MOUTH SORE BECAUSE I SLEPT WITH MY MAW OPEN, AND THOSE DAMN PESTS CRAWLED INSIDE TO NEST BETWEEN MY GUMS."

"Actually, I'm going to check to see if it's on Audible." Godzilla fished out an iPod for a look.

"If you're so sure about it, Dad, I can check storage for you," his son offered.

"That's okay, better safe than sorry. Ah, here it is—ohhhh man, it's the big James E. Jones! Now that's a real king! Is it free?" He did a quick scan and then tossed down the iPod. "Forty bucks?! Goddamn it, I might as well just read the actual book, and I don't have the time nor ability to read and do stuff all at once!"

With a sigh, Minilla went to go scour the boxes for any trace of the audiobook. It wasn't that he didn't care what his father would do, but he didn't feel it was going to do or change anything. Besides, he felt like he saw something like this on TV and it felt like a cheap, quick gimmick to avoid actual conflict.

When he found the box with the CDs still unopened inside, he wondered what was even the point, and secretly hoped the CD player was unplayable so his father could actually get off his tail and do something—

"Oh, you found it, son?" Godzilla said from behind, looking over his shoulder. "Wow, I completely forgot about this—oh, hey, that's the same one I was looking at on Audible! Oh sweet, you saved me forty bucks, Minilla!"

He hesitantly handed them over. "Yeah... you're welcome, Dad."

Godzilla put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, boy. I'm still going to be around, even if I'm an ugly hairless ape."

He harumphed to himself, smirking slightly. "You sure change your mind pretty quick."

"Well, you got to keep an open mind, you know. Okay, how do you work this thing, again?"

Getting it strapped (somehow) on his waist and the headphones plugged into the jack, he snapped on the first disc. "I'm heading out."

"Where to, Dad?"

"I've got things to do, places to go, people to see. All that jazz. Byeeeee!" He left the house, leaving Minilla to stare forlornly after him at the window.

"Finally, we can start where we left off!" Future Godzilla sighed, plopped back down on the couch. "Minilla, can you make some more popcorn for us?"

*~*~*

Godzilla lost himself to the sultry, booming voice of James Earl Jones' narration (he'll have to play catch up on the Old Testament some other time), letting the words flow through him as he traveled the land. He never took off his headset when he tried new foods, explored a new cave or lakeside, attempted bungee jumping, even when stopping to have a chat with other kaijus, nodding along in all the right places and saying the right things while his thoughts remained on the narrator. Something-something about parables and healing of the sick, but it was like Mufasa was there in the clouds telling him all of this. It was quite heavenly and took his mind off of the throb in his tail from where the human had bit him. It was more annoying having to change the discs because it took him out of cloud nine, and apparently Minilla had the proper foresight to have snuck him some extra batteries, but that was all the motivation he needed to keep going well into the night.

Luckily, in the middle of Paul's epistles (he liked how James would say "Paul"), he made it back home in time for everyone to be in bed for him to not be bothered, and he snuck by Godzilla Earth snoozing in front of the TV to sit in front of a window that faced east. He wanted to be able to have the morning sun rest on him as he lounged in a chair, and make himself comfortable for the transformation. It shouldn't hurt, for all he knew, should be over in a "twinkling of the eye" as the good book said through the voice of Darth Vader. Something about eye twinkles was romantic and peaceful enough to yield to his fate.

Being a human shouldn't be all that bad, he reiterated tiredly to himself for what had to be the umpteenth time that day. You're only like an office slave for only eight hours. That's not too bad. You have sixteen other hours of the day to just be yourself. Just have to grin and bear it, and I'm pretty good at grinning, if I must say so myself. Yeah, shouldn't be all that different from what I do now. Probably have to cut back on my alcohol intake. Humans can't handle the same alcohol we can. Should start trying out this wine, I guess. All this talk about wine's been making me thirsty.

Godzilla tried to wriggle out of his chair to go get himself a glass of whatever, but his muscles were protesting too much, and he went limp. Oh well, that can wait. Man, I hope the others don't freak out when they see me, if they can still recognize me.

The deep voice rumbled in his ears, "'Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.'"

"Yeah, you tell 'em, Mr. Jones," Godzilla mumbled through a yawn. "You tell 'em..." And he dozed off right as this Peter part of the audiotape began at the three o'clock hour.

*~*~*

The babies were the first to get up and climb out of their cribs. They typically always were the first to greet the new day, it was the only time where they were free to do what they pleased before the grown-ups came to stop them. They put their all into their adventures.

As they waddled out into the living room where the TV was still blasting an informercial in front of a sleeping Earth, they went to enter the kitchen when they noticed a familiar shadow cast across the floor. "Daddy?" Baby Godzilla mumbled, and they looked at the silhouette facing the window. The sun was coming up, and the kaiju was immobile in the chair, arms hung down at his sides. The spindly rays looked like a halo about him, feathering his outlines.

They stared for a bit longer, unsure when their father had come back and what he was doing staring directly into the light, but they decided to let him be. Gesturing to each other, they left the room to go back upstairs. They can play some games up in their room, or find a way to climb out of their window.

It wasn't for another hour before Minilla got out of his room. As his father wasn't in his bedroom, he was hesitant to go downstairs to see what had become of him. A part of him was still unsure if the werehuman was even real to begin with, but Godzilla had looked too serious to have been pulling his leg. He figured before he'd search for him that he'd wait for his visitor to arrive.

Quietly so as to not disturb Godzilla Earth, he stepped out onto the porch in time to see Gamera and Anguirus making their way up the cobbled path. "Thank Blundergosh you're here," he said in a whisper.

"For the record, I'm just here to witness it with my own two eyes," the turtle said a little gruffly. "This is a touchy subject for me, but I think Godzilla would appreciate my being here."

"He's going to need all the support he can get," Anguirus said, a little melancholic. "Like the Hand, we must reach out to him in his time of need."

"So is he here?"

Minilla cricked his neck a little. "I think so, but I just got out myself. Everyone's still in their rooms, so..."

"Let's search around the premises first," the dinosaur suggested. "He may be too ashamed to show his face but still wants to be in the comfort of his home."

"You should go in front of me so I don't punch his face when I see him," Gamera said, flexing his jaw. "I'm sorry, this is just pissing me off."

Putting his paw on his arm, Anguirus gave a nod and started off for the yard. Carefully on tiptoe, they followed and looked around where they think a radioactive lizard—or a human—would hide in. They ruled out underneath the house for the time being, that was to be the last hiding place to check if they can't find him anywhere else. Glancing in the kitchen windows, Minilla was surprised to find it empty, since usually the babies were in there in the mornings.

"First clue: He's here, or has been here," he announced to his companions.

"Alright, keep searching," Anguirus said, still going on ahead. "Can't peek inside the windows for the life of me..."

Shielding their eyes from the sunlight, they turned to the window and through the glare saw a chair was in front of it, and it was occupied. Cupping their hands to their eyes, Minilla and Gamera peeked in, and the actor thought he could hear a molar crack from gritting his teeth to silence a snarl.

Snoring in the chair, head lolled back and drool on his chin, Godzilla was in a deep sleep, scales and all. The headphones had slipped and looked bent from the angle, but only the Chosen One noted that detail he had that audiobook on all night. Maybe it was a source of comfort for him, but he looked way too relaxed for someone who was absolutely certain he was a werehuman.

"Well? What do you see?" Anguirus asked, looking back-and-forth between them.

"False alarm," Minilla decided to say, sounding a little relieved.

"No it fucking isn't!" Gamera shouted, startling the two of them. "The jackass took it too far!"

"Is he in there, or...?"

"That piece of shit believed in his own lies, and he has the gall to sleep like a slob! God, now I wish he was a human so I could crush him!"

Anguirus tilted his head. "This is a bad thing, why?"

Pulling back, Minilla just shrugged. "In all fairness, he's quite human enough, so he wouldn't have been much different. I'd just hate to see him as an actual human."

"He'd be one ugly son of a bitch, that's for sure," Gamera huffed. "Ugh, screw this, I'm going home to sleep. I spent all night meditating for his sake. What a waste of energy..."

"What if your prayers were answered?" the seer suggested, hoping to cull his anger.

"I was meditating for his human self. What a waste." And he sulked off, leaving the two shrugging and letting out rough sighs.

Godzilla's breath caught mid-snore, and he smacked his lips, but didn't budge from his chair. "...May the Force be wi'you, Jonesss..."

*~*~*

"Orga's in the house!" the alien announced, grinning smugly while swirling around a half-empty glass of iced tea. "Well, that was a letdown of a disaster. Given the weird format of this 'fan fiction', I guess the mailbag's been replaced with this 'author's notes' instead. Man, what's up with that? If it's over, just end it, no need to make people read more. Besides, it sounds stupid for fan fiction writers to get fan-mail.

"Who does that, anyway? And with such messages like 'When is the next chapter of Forsaken coming out?' Like what's up with that?" Orga narrowed his eyes in confusion. "What is that, anyway? Sounds like it'd make for a cool 'God of War' or 'Dead Space' fic. Whatever. Hey, kid! You, the one writing this crap!"

The author's small hands stopped moving on the keyboard as Orga peered at her through the screen. "Who're you calling 'kid'?" she warned in an unfortunate high voice.

"Yeah, why're you doing this? Don't you have better things to do with your time like schoolwork or something?" Then he chuckled nervously. "Oh, wait, that joke's gonna age like Madonna if I go any further, and that's already embarrassing!"

The author's hands went palms-up in befuddlement. "Okay...?"

"Stay safe out there, anyway."

"Yeah... thanks—is that why you've hijacked my end notes?"

Orga shrugged. "Well yeah, I have nothing better to do, either! How long were you working on this, anyhow? Did the winning team even go to the concert, or what?"

"...Yeeeeaaa—I guess..."

"You're just making shit up, aren't you? You think you're so 'ha ha' funny, don't you?"

A back-and-forth uncomfortable stare ensued for the next moment while Orga finished off the rest of his drink.

"This is awkward!" he then broke the ice while crunching on an ice cube.

"You're telling me," the author grumbled, insulted.

"Hey, how're you typing this ou

#Godzilla #minilla #gamera #monster island buddies #fan fiction #oh god why #why did i do it

[0stentatia]

we aren’t dead, yet – part 18

a post apocalyptic au with mark & zombie jack, based off of this graphic. (also on AO3)

They traveled mostly in silence for the next hour-- or at least what Mark thought had been an hour. It was difficult to keep track of how much time had passed in anything more specific than rough estimations. Mark had thought, hoped, that maybe Signe would have a watch of some sort, but he seemed to have thought wrong.

The only real speaking they’d done was Mark asking about directions and Signe telling him she had it under control. After he’d asked her about two or three times, he’d stopped asking. She did have it covered and the absolute last thing he wanted was for her to think that he thought she was incompetent or stupid.

If either of them could have been considered stupid, he was sure it was him.

“How long has he been this way?” Signe pulled him out of his thoughts with her question.

He had to think about it for a moment.

“About a year and some change.” He told her, looking over to where Jack was trailing along beside them. He looked straight ahead and Mark wondered for the hundredth time what exactly he saw from behind those murky eyes.

Signe just nodded.

They walked along in silence for a few more minutes.

“How much of what you said back there was bullshit? About having family up North?” He was the one to break the silence this time.

She didn’t answer for a moment and he was worried he’d upset her. Just as he was about to take back his question, she spoke.

“Some, but not all..” She looked down at the ground as she walked, kicking rocks as she went. “I’m not from California. I was going to college up North when it all started-- the outbreak, I mean. My girlfriend Erin and I lived together in a dorm room on campus. It had always been a dream of ours to go to college together in California..” Looking at her from the side, he could see a faint smile on her lips.

“When we both got our acceptance letters it was… It was the best day of my life. Two farm girls from a little town in the midwest going out to school in The Golden State? Incredible..” She chuckled softly, “We were about 2 years in when the outbreak started. I remember watching the news in our dorm building’s common room. Nobody knew what to say, or what to do. It was like something out of a Sci-fi novel. It didn’t seem like it could possibly be real.” She tucked some of her hair behind her ear and then shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket.

Mark knew that feeling well. He remembered feeling the same way. He had gone to the bathroom and cried, only to have Jack coax him out so they could talk about a plan. It seemed silly at the time, to imagine that they could somehow figure out a reasonable way to handle the whole thing. But Jack was sure that if they sat down and talked it out, the two of them would be able to figure something out. He seemed too sure of it.

He looked over at his friend now, no longer able to form a complete thought, let alone any kind of plan. It made his heart ache.

“It wasn’t until we got back to our room that Erin broke down into hysterics. She was sobbing and shaking and for a minute I was scared she’d pass out. She wanted to go back home, to be with our families. But the infection had spread too much by then, it was too bad and too late. They’d shut all the airports down and they weren’t sending out flights.”

Mark fought the urge to look over at Jack again. He should’ve been home in Ireland when it happened. He knew well enough about the airport shutdowns and the worldwide travel ban. He knew about wanting to be with his family, about Jack wanting to be with his own as well. They’d spent many sleepless nights talking about it. It didn’t hurt Mark as much as he thought it would, knowing that Jack would rather be home than with Mark. He didn’t blame him.

“All we could do was sit and wait.. ‘We’re sitting ducks, Signe. Just waiting around until it gets us, one way or another.’.” Her voice sounded a bit uneven. She cleared her throat.

“I was a biology major, one of the top students in my class--”

“That’s pretty impressive,” Mark interrupted.

“I guess so,” She laughed quietly, “When the infection started to hit the campus pretty badly, they put a team together to help find a cure. They came knocking on my door one day..” She paused before continuing,

“This… This might sound selfish, but I didn’t agree right away. I was scared. I knew the risks of working so close to this terrifying “disease” that we knew almost nothing about at the time.. I didn’t want to leave Erin. I wanted to stay by her side. I knew she’d be alone for large chunks of time and I didn’t want to leave her like that.. She’d never quite gone back to her normal self after her breakdown on that first day.”

“I don’t blame her,” Mark said quietly.

Signe nodded.

“She begged me not to go. Said there were enough smart people in the world, that I should let them handle it. But I knew that they needed all the help they could get. They wouldn’t have asked me if they didn’t need me.. It would have been selfish if I didn’t help.. So I agreed.”

She let out a long, heavy sigh. Mark let the silence settle between them. He sensed that she wasn’t done.

“I worked 12 hour days for a month. No weekends, no sick days, no breaks. Most nights I didn’t sleep at all. I was either too busy being paranoid that I’d accidentally contaminate our whole dorm building, or was riddled with bad dreams whenever I did doze off,” She lifted her hands to rub her eyes, “Most of the time it was Erin’s crying that kept me up all night. Sometimes I think she tried to hide it from me, but I always knew.. It killed me knowing she was so scared, and in so much emotional pain, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.”

“I don’t know what she did all day when I was gone.. Anyone I asked about her said she hardly ever left the dorm. For awhile I thought maybe she slept, but the dark circles under her eyes suggested otherwise.. She hardly ate anything unless I forced her to, and she hardly ever spoke anymore…. She’d gone from this friendly, outgoing, loving girl to a reclusive, terrified shell of a person.” She shuddered.

“Honestly?” Signe looked over at him expectantly.

Mark turned his head to look at her.

“I think she just sat in there and went crazy.”

He held her gaze until she looked away. Then, she went silent. There was a feeling in the air like she was still expecting something from him. Like she was asking for something without speaking up. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling a bit stupid, and glanced over at Jack.

“What uh.. What happened to her?” He finally asked, hoping it was the right thing to say.

Signe let out a breath of air through her nose that made Mark unsure of how she felt about his question.

“I remember it like it was yesterday.. She was sitting near the small window in our room when it was time for me to go to the lab that morning. Something felt… off. When I went to kiss her goodbye, she wouldn’t look at me. She refused to make eye contact.. When she told me she loved me, it felt intensely different. I can’t explain it… It was just different.”

Her voice wavered a bit and she took a short pause.

“But I was running late and we’d lost a few team members the week before so I fought against my instinct to stay, to ask what was wrong.”

She pulled the hood on her jacket up over her head and he heard her sniffle.

She was crying, he thought.

“It was a long day and it was well past 11 PM by the time I’d gotten out of the lab and back to the dorm. You might not believe me… but I knew something was wrong before I even opened the door..”

His heart was pounding hard and there was an ache in his chest as he listened to her. He might have been able to guess what was coming next, but he didn’t want to.

“When I opened the door she was just hanging there.. I felt paralyzed. My feet were cemented to the ground. I just couldn’t believe my eyes… She’d lost so much weight that a rope tied to the fan on our ceiling easily support her-- at least enough for her to accomplish her goal.”

She sniffled again. Her voice was wavering and when she lifted her hands to wife her face, he saw that she was shaking. He didn’t blame her, and he certainly didn’t judge her.

“There was no note, no explanation, no goodbye. Nothing.” When she went to wipe her face again, her hood fell off her head. She had streams of tears flowing down her cheeks, one or two tears dropping off at her chin and falling onto the cement to be left behind them.

“I’ll never stop thinking about how she acted that morning. I’ll never forget the feeling I had in my stomach and I’ll never forgive myself for ignoring it. For leaving her.” She shook her head, “If I had stayed…. Maybe she’d still be here.” She took a shaky breath in.

“It’s not your fault, Signe,” He started, but she cut him off before he could go any father.

“Don’t,” She sniffled, “Save it. Please. Don’t waste your breath.”

He swallowed the rest of his words.

After a few more moments, he couldn’t stand the silence anymore.

“I think she’d be proud of you.”

Signe shook her head.

“She never wanted me to work on any of this in the first place.”

“Well..” He thought for a second, “I’m sure glad you did.”

She wiped the remaining tears off her face and looked over at him with an expression he couldn’t read. They held eye contact and he hoped that she could feel his sympathy for her.

Jack gurgled off to the side of them and it broke through the moment. She looked away quickly, casting her eyes down at the ground before running a hand through her hair and sniffling one last time.

“I’m getting hungry,” She said, picking up her pace and walking a bit ahead of Mark, “We should stop and eat soon.”

#markiplier fic #jacksepticeye fic #zombie!septiplier #my writing #i'm so worried that jack or mark are gonna fuckin stumble upon this #and see the tag #and be like 'ew' #IT'S FRIENDSHIP #also it would suck if jack found it cuz like uh #well it's just... I STARTED WRITING IT IN LIKE 2016 OR 2017 OKAY IT'S NOT MY FAULT IM SORRY

[weasley-wizard-writes]

Over The Years Part III (Charlie Weasley x Reader 100 Follower Celebration Series)

Here it is! The third part of the ‘Over The Years’ series! I hope you all enjoy! 

You yawned softly as you woke up, rubbing your eyes and sitting up in bed, giggling softly when a familiar groan sounded from lower down on the mattress. Looking down you could see Charlie’s head just barely peaking out from beneath the covers, small ginger hairs tickling your stomach where your shirt had ridden up. Pulling the covers off of the both of you and looking down you were met with the same sight you had been met with every morning since your bed had been moved into Charlie’s room at the beginning of summer vacation. There was Charlie with his arms wrapped around your hips and his head buried innocently against your stomach, something he had started doing not long after he decided he was going to sleep in your bed instead of his own. It seemed like a big comfort thing to Charlie, in his mind if he could hold you nothing would be able to hurt you anymore. The incident with your mother had seriously affected him more than you had ever imagined it could. It was like him seeing you be so hurt over what she had done had made him determined to keep you safe from anything and everything that could possibly harm you. 

You reached down and ruffled his hair, hearing him huff in response, rolling over and away just so he could glare up at you. Most mornings started this way. “We have to get up, we haven’t finished packing and we go back today.” You reminded him, laughing a bit when he groaned and tried to roll over and go back to sleep, something you, of course, didn’t allow to happen. Standing up before Charlie could curl back up beside you, you immediately tugged the blankets off of the bed so he couldn’t go to sleep again, laughing when he whined as if he were a small child. “Come on Charlie.” You tossed the clothes he had laid out for himself the night before at him, “Get a move on.” You grabbed your own clothing and went to the bathroom to change, pulling on your skirt and sweater before checking yourself in the mirror, making sure you looked okay before walking back out and into the bedroom you and Charlie shared. Unfortunately for you Charlie was a much slower dresser than you, and as soon as you walked into the room you were met with the sight of Charlie in only his trousers standing at the edge of his bed. You blushed heavily and were about to apologize when Charlie casually asked you to pass him the other shirt he had laid out and you realized that he didn’t care in the slightest, which left you wondering why you did. You had seen Charlie without a shirt countless times when the two of you had gone swimming, why was it making you react so weird now? You shook it off and reached over to grab the shirt he had motioned to, passing it to him gently before looking down at your feet, nervous for some strange reason you couldn’t quite understand. The two of you stood there in silence until he finished getting dressed before heading downstairs to eat breakfast with the rest of the Weasley family. 

After breakfast it was time to pack your things before leaving for Hogwarts. You and Charlie rushed to get the remainder of the things you needed together as Molly called from downstairs, claiming that the two of you would be late if you didn’t hurry up. Thankfully the both of you rushed downstairs at the last minute, finally ready to go. Molly took a quick picture of you, Bill, Charlie, and Percy, who was starting his first year at Hogwarts that year and sent you off, confident you all would do fine without her escorting you. A half hour later and you and Charlie sat together in your chosen car as people loaded on to the Hogwarts express. The two of you talked happily about the incoming school year, and you had just finished assuring Charlie that he would make the Quidditch team when the sliding door to the train car the two of you were sitting in opened and in came Bill and Percy, both looking a bit out of breath and frazzled. “Oh thank god, can we sit with you two? It’s packed this year.” Bill asked, going to sit next to Charlie as Percy sat down beside you. “Not so fast Perce.” Charlie said, using the nickname he knew his younger brother wasn’t a fan of, “Switch seats with me.” Percy rolled his eyes but complied, switching seats with his older brother so he could sit next to you like he wanted.  

The four of you settled in for the ride, the three Weasleys talking about their upcoming years with excitement as you watched in silence. In the middle of his conversation with Bill about the Care of Magical Creatures class the two of you were taking that year, Charlie suddenly looked down at you, shooting you a smile that had you blushing softly under his gaze before you shook your head a bit. Why were you blushing like that? It was just Charlie. About half way into the train ride you began to doze off as Charlie talked to his brothers about Quidditch tryouts, your head leaning against his shoulder gently as you listened to his voice to help lull you into a deep sleep that you weren’t yet aware would greatly benefit you later on

When you woke up again it was because Charlie was shaking you gently while Bill pulled all of the luggage out of the carrier. You stood up slowly and thanked Bill as he handed you your trunk, walking out of the train with Charlie right behind you. Before you knew it you were walking into the Great Hall with Charlie at your side, his arm linked around yours the same way it always was when the two of you walked beside one another. The weird thing about it was the butterflies fluttering inside of your stomach at the feeling of his arm linked around your own. You didn’t say a thing as Charlie guided you over to the Gryffindor table like usual, sitting down beside you with a sigh of relief. Shortly after the two of you sat down together the sorting ceremony began and you all sat in silence as name after name was called and person after person was sorted. Suddenly you heard Percy’s name being called and Charlie nudged you with his elbow to make sure you were paying attention as his brother walked towards the sorting hat slowly. The entire time you had known Percy Weasley you had been aware of how different he was from the rest of his family, and you would be lying if you said you didn’t think there was a chance he might not be in the same house as his brothers because of that. The whole room was silent as the sorting hat was placed atop his ginger curls, its quiet deliberation just above a whisper, making its thought process impossible to hear from where you sat. There was a moment of only quiet, a moment where even the sorting had seemed to forget it was supposed to speak just before its familiar loud shout broke through the great hall, “GRYFFINDOR!” The Gryffindor table went wild with cheers as Percy blushed and made his way over, getting clapped on the back and congratulated by many including his older brothers as he sat down, a small smile on his face. It was apparent at that moment that different or not, a Weasley was still a Weasley deep down inside. 

After the sorting ceremony had finished and everyone had eaten it was time for students to head to their respective houses to get some rest. Unfortunately for you, you found pretty quickly that sleep was near impossible for you to achieve. You laid on your back, on your side, on your stomach, tossing and turning to try to find just the right position so you could fall asleep, but you couldn’t no matter how hard you tried. It felt odd not having Charlie sleeping beside you, to not have his arms wrapped around your hips and his head resting against your stomach the way he always did when he slept beside you. Tonks, your roommate slept peacefully in her bed a few feet away from you, the sound of her breathing doing nothing to help how much you missed Charlie. Over the months you had gotten used to his gentle breaths lulling you to sleep as they fanned against your stomach, his soft hairs tickling you whenever he moved his head in his sleep. But now Charlie wasn’t here and as tired as you were you found sleep just wasn’t possible and spent the night staring at the ceiling as the sun slowly rose over the horizon. 

You got out of bed about an hour earlier than you knew anyone else would, heading to the bathroom to take a shower and take a good look at your face in the mirror. You sighed as you poked at the dark circles beneath your eyes, knowing that the only way you would be able to hide those was by using a spell you didn’t know, which essentially meant you were going to have to walk around school looking like a zombie on your first day. Perfect. You took a shower and washed your face to try and get rid of some of the tiredness you felt in your eyes, getting dressed when you were finished. When you walked out of the bathroom attached to your dorm you were met with the familiar sight of Tonks sitting grumpily at the end of her bed, looking like she wasn’t anywhere near in the mood to get up, which you found ironic seeing as you knew for a fact she had gotten plenty of sleep the night before. You waved at her and walked over to your trunk, grabbing all of your books that you would need for the day along with your wand before heading out to the great hall, sadly realizing on your way there that there was next to no chance that Charlie would be there seeing as he never woke up before he had to while he was in school. 

You walked into the great hall with a sigh, looking around for someone to sit next to when you noticed a familiar head of ginger hair that made you do a double take. There, at the gryffindor table, sat Charlie Weasley, the one person you had been so sure would not be here this early. You walked over to where he sat hesitantly, almost not really believing it was him as you gently tapped his shoulder, making him turn around to face you, a half eaten apple in his hand. “What are you doing up so early, Charlie? I’ve never seen you get up at this time during the school year.” You asked incredulously, fighting the urge to reach out to feel his head to make sure he wasn’t ill since it was the only reason you could think of that would explain his being awake an hour earlier than usual. Your question simply earned you a smile and a shrug from your best friend, who seemed a bit amused at how surprised you were, “Woke up a bit earlier than planned on accident, thought I should come down here so I don’t accidentally wake up any of my dorm mates who are still trying to sleep.” It was then you noticed that unlike you, Charlie didn’t have any dark circles under his eyes, he had slept perfectly fine without you there with him. A sudden pang of sadness hit your heart and you were left wondering what on earth you had to be sad about, your best friend had gotten a good night’s sleep, he wasn’t as achingly tired as you were, why would you be upset about that? You shook off your sadness and sat down beside him, more glad than ever that he had let you take a nap on the train yesterday, otherwise you surely would have fallen asleep on his shoulder right then and there. 

The first day of classes went well, with you and Charlie taking all of your classes together as usual, including Care of Magical Creatures, Charlie's new favorite class. After all of your classes were over you found yourself sitting beside Charlie in the library while he read up on a few things about dragons for fun. It seemed that after taking a look into his Care of Magical Creatures book he had fallen in love with dragons, immediately heading to the library to read more about them, dragging you with him for company. You sat beside him as he eagerly read over each page with fascination obvious in his brown eyes, watching him intently as if you had never seen anything so entertaining in your life. A soft blush rose to your cheeks as his eyes flicked upwards to meet your own, that familiar lopsided grin appearing on his lips and making your heart beat faster inside of your chest. “Sorry, Y/n, I promise we’ll head to dinner after this chapter, I didn’t mean to keep you here this long.” He said with a short laugh, making your poor heart do flips in your chest at the sound. You looked away from him as he returned his gaze back down to his book, wondering what on earth it was that had you so wound up over Charlie lately. 

As promised after he finished reading that chapter of his book Charlie packed up and headed with you to the great hall to get some dinner, his arm linked around your own as always as he went on and on about the dragon he had just read about. You nodded every once in a while, unable to focus on what he was saying since you were so lost in thought about what was going on with you lately. Charlie was your best friend, he had always been your best friend, so why were you getting all of these weird feelings whenever he was around? You tried to shake off these thoughts as the two of you entered the great hall, a little bit afraid of your feelings and wanting to just forget you’d ever felt them in the first place. 

After dinner that night you headed back to your dorm with Tonks, thoroughly exhausted after a long day with no sleep. Laying down that night you knew immediately that sleep just wasn’t going to be possible, and you spent your time staring at the ceiling and thinking of Charlie instead, trying not to think too hard about why thinking about him made you so happy. This is how your nights went for the next three days, and on the fourth day, you were a little bit surprised that no one had said anything about how tired you looked. You walked into the great hall early for the fourth day in a row and were surprised once again when you saw Charlie sitting there at the Gryffindor table. Every day since the two of you had begun your third year he had been down at that table even before you were, reading his book quietly and only putting it away when you went to sit beside him. You had expected him to go back to his normal schedule after the first day of waking up early, but apparently, Charlie had made a habit out of it and had no intention of stopping by the looks of things. You sat down beside him, watching as he looked up and smiled before shutting his book, sliding it over to the side as he turned to face you. “Morning Y/n.” Charlie yawned a bit, stretching his arms before grabbing himself an apple and taking a bite out of it, watching you as you gave him a tired sounding greeting and reached for a banana for breakfast. The two of you chatted aimlessly for the next hour or so before classes started, standing up to leave as the grand hall began to empty due to people leaving for their first classes. You turned around to face Charlie as you waited for him to grab his things, knowing he would want to walk together to your class like usual. You watched as he stood and swiped his book off of the table, swaying a bit on his feet in a way that had you raise your eyebrows at him out of concern, something that he responded to by smiling and linking his arm through your own, walking to your first class like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. 

After your first class of the day, Herbology, came Charlie's favorite class, care of magical creatures. As soon as the two of you were outside of your first class Charlie was pulling you along quickly to your second, eager to get there as usual. When the two of you arrived Hagrid had just begun his explanation of what the class was going to be that day, and you listened intently so you would know what to expect. Once the overview was over and done with Hagrid took all motioned for all of you to follow him, and you walked forward a few steps before suddenly noticing that Charlie wasn’t beside you. You turned around on your heel, catching the attention of a few classmates who called out for Hagrid when they saw what you were seeing. Charlie Weasley was standing in the same spot as he had been before, swaying a bit on his feet the same way you had seen him do earlier that morning. “Mr. Weasley, is there a problem?” You heard Hagrid ask from where he stood in front of the class, sounding just as confused as you felt as he watched Charlie remain where he was, unmoving save for that odd swaying motion. “Charlie?” You asked, stepping closer to him and letting out a yelp when his eyes suddenly rolled back and he pitched forward into your arms.    Three hours you had sat there beside Charlie's cot, trying desperately not to look at Bill who you could feel staring at you. He knew. You had begged Tonks, the only person who knew you hadn’t been able to sleep without Charlie, not to tell him, but it was very clear that she had. Steeling your resolve you finally looked up to meet the eyes of your best friends brother, watching as he raised an eyebrow at you, motioning for you to speak as he crossed one leg over the other. You told him everything. By the time you had finished speaking, you had tears in your eyes and your voice was so small you were surprised Bill could even hear it. “I thought I was the only one who couldn’t sleep, I had no idea that he...” You finished speaking with that sentence, looking up at Bill and fully expecting him to look upset or even angry with you for keeping this hidden until now. Instead, he just sat back in his chair and spoke calmly, “Did you hear that Charlie? I told you right from the start of all of this that she was probably having the same problem.” “I know you did.” You jumped in your seat as Charlie spoke from where he was laying in his cot beside you, opening his eyes slowly to look at you, “But that’s not really what I’m worried about right now.” You blushed under Charlie's gaze as he reached out to grab your hand, “She hasn’t slept since that train ride and we do all of the same things every day. if I passed out and she only slept a few hours more than I did she can’t be far behind.” Charlie directed his gaze toward his brother, “We need to find out a way to get me into her dorm without being caught.” 

It had only taken twenty minutes for Bill, Charlie, and Tonks to come up with a plan to get Charlie into your dorm every night so the two of you could actually sleep. Every night from now on you and Charlie would leave dinner a few minutes early so you could sneak Charlie into your dorm room without anyone noticing anything. The plan was so simple that it almost seemed to easy to pull off, and you spent a few minutes worrying over all of the details before realizing that you didn’t really have a choice. If you couldn’t get Charlie into your dorm than the two of you couldn’t sleep, and if they two of you couldn’t sleep then both of you were majorly screwed. 

That night you and Charlie put the plan into action, leaving dinner about ten minutes before it ended and heading up to your dorm together. You were relieved when you saw that no one was around to see anything and grabbed Charlie's hand, creeping into your room with him before sighing in relief and sitting down on your bed, the exhaustion setting in now that all of the fear of getting caught was gone. You heard Charlie chuckle from where he was standing beside your bed before you felt the mattress dip, a pair of hands moving to pull you into a lying down position. Seconds later you found yourself in the same position you had slept in over the summer, with Charlie's arms wrapped around your hips and his head resting against your stomach. Your heart fluttered in your chest as you slowly began to drift off to sleep, the sounds of his slow breathing being the last thing you heard before you were completely dead to the world. 

This was how things went every night from them on, with you sneaking Charlie into your dorm and the two of you falling asleep beside one another on your bed. Unfortunately for you, your problems didn’t end there, in fact, it was almost like they began there. You had woken up the morning after that first night you had been able to sleep beside Charlie once again and realized something while you watched him peacefully sleep beside you. You were in love with your best friend. For most people, this probably would have been something that they wouldn’t be so willing to admit, but for you, it wasn’t even something you tried to deny. Your only problem was that now you had to make sure Charlie never found out, and you had never once been able to keep anything like this a secret from your best friend. You spent most of your days trying to ignore that tugging sensation you would feel in your heart whenever he would smile, laugh, or touch you in any way. So, in other words, you spent a good seventy-five percent of your day in absolute misery, which was probably why you had been so eager to tell Tonks about your feelings during one of the only times Charlie wasn’t around you. A Quidditch game. About a week into the school year Charlie had become the seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, meaning that during any game the Gryffindor team was playing he couldn’t be in the stands with you to watch, he had to be participating. At first, this had upset you a little, knowing that you wouldn’t be able to spend as much time with your best friend, but now that it was three months into the school year and you were about to burst with emotions you had never been more glad that Charlie couldn’t be around during some games. Of course, Tonks has teased you for a little while, and she had even gone as far as rushing off to tell Bill despite how many times you begged her not to. But in the end, both of them had been more than supportive of you when you needed it, which was great because it felt kind of like your feelings were tearing you apart from the inside at times, and the last thing you needed when you felt like that was to also feel alone. 

Not long after you confessed your feelings to Tonks the holiday break rolled around, and off you went with Charlie, Bill, and Percy at your side, all four of you beyond excited to return home for the holidays. Getting on the train was easy, and thankfully the ride didn’t seem too painfully long this time around, and before you knew it all of you were standing in front of the burrow. There big smiles on all of your faces as all four of the Weasley children who hadn’t just come home swarmed around you all, asking question after question about how the school year had been so far until finally Molly called out for them to let you all put your things away. All four children obeyed, stepping back reluctantly and letting the three of you through. You smiled at your best friends younger siblings and promised them you would be back down soon as you headed to Charlie's room with Charlie right behind you. 

Thanks to all of the traveling and the large number of questions from the very energetic Weasley children you found yourself exhausted after dinner, fighting to stay awake as you sat beside a seemingly very energetic Charlie on the couch. At the moment Charlie was talking to his father about his Care of Magical Creatures class, that same spark he always got whenever he talked about it in his eyes as he went on and on about everything he had learned so far. You weren’t about to spoil some of the only family time Charlie was going to have with his family for a while, so you didn’t say anything about being tired, you just tried your best to stay awake until Charlie decided it was time to go to bed. This proved to be harder than you thought as time went on, your eyelids slowly beginning to droop as you leaned your head against Charlie’s shoulder, not even realizing you were falling asleep until it was too late. You woke up a little while later, having no idea what time it was but immediately realizing that not only had the rest of the Weasley family gone to bed but you were still in the living room you had accidentally fallen asleep in. You sat up slowly, jumping when a voice sounded out from the shadows to your left, “Well that certainly didn’t take long, did it?” You looked over to see Bill leaning against the wall with a grin on his face, “Charlie left to go to the bathroom about a minute ago and asked me to keep watch over you while he did to make sure you wouldn’t wake up. I told him he wouldn’t have very long and clearly, I was right.” You watched as Bill walked over, offering to give you a hand in standing up from where you were sitting, something you gratefully accepted. You yawned as Bill walked over to the bathroom door with you, standing next to you so you wouldn’t have to wait for Charlie all alone in the dark. When Charlie finally opened the bathroom door he looked more than a little surprised to see you awake, raising a brow at his brother as he reached out to tug you over to him, a gesture that made your heart beat a little faster than it would have a year ago. “She woke up?” Charlie asked, looking you over as if worried you had injured yourself before settling down when he saw nothing wrong, turning his attention back to his rather amused looking older brother, “I would say so.” Bill responded before letting out a yawn of his own, running a hand through his hair and giving the both of you a short wave, “I’m headed to bed now, I suggest the two of you do the same relatively soon. Goodnight.” You waved as Bill went back to his own room, not even a little bit surprised when Charlie began to drag you up to the one you shared without a word. When you finally got to the room you couldn’t help but smile a bit at the way Charlie flopped down on to the bed, so obviously tired as the long day caught up with him. You yawned again, climbing on to the mattress and forcing your way beneath the covers Charlie was currently laying on top of as you opened your arms, allowing him to get into the same position he always slept in, his head against your stomach and his arms around your hips. You fell asleep for the second time that night a few moments later while playing with those wonderfully soft locks of ginger hair you loved so much. 

The next few days passed by in a blur, leaving you stunned when you woke up on Christmas day with Charlie at your side, messy haired and grinning as he shook you awake, eager to get downstairs as soon as possible. You laughed a bit and rolled your eyes at his childlike excitement, moving your hands up to his chest and playfully pushing him away, which then led to him rolling off of the bed, a short burst of laughter leaving his lips as he sat on the ground afterward, stunned but obviously okay. You smiled and found yourself blushing a bit as he reached back up to you, taking both of your hands in his own before suddenly yanking you towards him with an evil smirk, and you shrieked as you fell off of the bed and on to the floor in front of him with a loud thump. You looked at Charlie for a second, almost as if in a trance before you broke into hysterical laughter, something he followed suit in doing until the both of you were gasping for breath and clutching your stomachs. Your laughter died down into silence and you were left looking at each other, so lost in one another’s eyes that you didn’t even notice the sound of little feet padding towards your shared bedroom until the door opened and the trance between the two of you was broken. A blush rose to your cheeks when you realized what had just happened, and you raised your eyes away from Charlie to look at the door, glad to have some kind of excuse to look away. Ginny stood in the doorway dressed in her warmest pair of winter pajamas, her eyes innocently wide with excitement over the holiday, “Why are you two still up here if you’re awake?” Ginny shifted her gaze towards her older brother only, “Are you hogging her all to yourself again, Charlie? Because I told you to stop doing that, we wanna see Y/n too.” She said huffily, crossing her arms over her chest in a way that made you smile. You had expected for Charlie to correct his sister about hogging you to himself and go downstairs like she wanted, but to your surprise he instead crossed his own arms over his chest the same way she was, a teasing lilt to his voice as he spoke, “I can hog Y/n all I want, she’s my best friend after all.” He smirked at his younger sister and stuck out his tongue as if he were a young child and not a fourteen-year-old boy. Ginny glared at him with a rather angry looking frown, something that made Charlie laugh and lift his hands up in surrender, “Alright, alright, I’ll stop hogging her, we’re coming.” You watched as Charlie got up and followed his sister out of the room, allowing yourself to continue sitting on the floor for a second while wondering what he had been feeling during those moments where you both had stared into each other's eyes as the entire world melted away around you. 

About an hour after you and Charlie woke up was when the presents started being passed around, the whole family alive with the joy of the holiday season. This year you had gotten everyone something different, and as Molly passed around the gifts you had gotten everyone you couldn’t help but smile as they slowly opened them up one by one. Molly went first, her gift being held in a rather small box you had wrapped the night before. She smiled at you, gently tearing away at the wrapping paper until it gave way to reveal the box hidden beneath it, and she gasped when she saw the logo on top of said box. It was the logo from a famous wizard jewelry store. Molly looked at you again, her mouth hanging open a tad in surprise. You smiled at her reaction and motioned for her to keep going, more than a little bit eager to see what her reaction to her Christmas gift would be. You were not disappointed. Molly opened the box and let out a loud awestruck gasp, nearly dropping it on to the couch she was sitting on beside her husband. After a few seconds of simply staring at her gift she looked up at you once again, her eyes wide with surprise, “Y/n, I can’t accept something like this, it’s far too much dear.” You smiled at her kindness and shook your head, “Don’t worry about it, Molly. I could more than afford it and I thought it would be a suitable gift for you after everything you’ve done for me. Do you like it?” The whole family watched eagerly as Molly pulled a chain from the box, a locket piece on the very end. Molly was speechless, her eyes getting a bit teary, “I love it, dear. This is beautiful.” You grinned, “And you haven’t even seen the best part. See that tiny button near the clasp? Do you mind pushing that for me?” Molly looked towards you curiously before doing as you asked, pressing the button in with a small click before suddenly the locket piece sprang outward, revealing seven spaces for seven different pictures. Molly placed her hand over her heart, smiling at you, “This is lovely, Y/n, I couldn’t have asked for a better present. Thank you.” You smiled back at her, beyond relieved that she liked your gift and that you had managed to show her how much it meant to you that she had taken you in when you needed a family most. You jumped a bit when suddenly, you felt Charlie nudging at your side from where he sat beside you, and when you turned to look at him you found him smiling, “That really is a great gift, Y/n. Just make sure to get her one with eight slots next year. You’re a part of the family too you know?” And with that, he slung an arm over your shoulder and it was Arthur’s turn to open his gift as you desperately tried not to blush at Charlie’s actions. 

When it came to Arthur, thinking of the perfect Christmas gift to get him wasn’t hard, it was getting it that was the hard part. That was why, as a backup plan you had gotten him another gift as well, so now you had two gifts to give him, all of them being muggle devices he had shown interest in during past conversations. You reached over and handed him a rather large bag, and he smiled as he reached in and pulled out a can of hairspray, something he had seen while he was helping you move some of your things out of your personal bathroom at your mother’s house and asked you about. “Don’t use a lot of it at once, and if you do use it, wash it out at the end of the day, your hair will feel terrible otherwise.” You watched as Arthur nodded and smiled before reaching back into the bag, pulling out a pack of gel pens. One thing you had never understood since arriving at Hogwarts was why witches and wizards all used quills. It led to the spilling of ink, the shattering of ink bottles whenever one dropped their bag, and many more unfortunate happenings you really found annoying. When you mentioned this to Arthur last Christmas he had immediately been curious of what muggles used instead of quills, and when he found out about pens he had seemed rather interested in getting his hands on some of his own, so this year you had bought him a pack of four gel pens. Arthur thanked you profusely, touched that you had remembered conversations that the two of you had up to a year ago. You told him you were happy to have gotten him things he liked so much, and with that, it was time for the Weasley children to open their own gifts from you. 

This year you had decided to go all out for the family to show them your thanks for taking you in, and with all of the money your father had left for you from his potion shop, you had plenty of funds to allow you to do this. You had bought Fred and George both the newest model of broom that was currently out, knowing all about their love of Quidditch, and once they had unwrapped them the hug you received made the expense more than worth it, you had never seen them so happy. Bill had gotten a Walkman with a few songs by the Rolling Stones and Queen to go along with it since you had shown your own Walkman to him over the summer and he had really liked it along with the two aforementioned bands. After Bill, Ron opened his gift, a box of chocolate frogs he had hinted at wanting all year long, something Molly took from him immediately much to his dismay, promising him he could have some later on. After Ron went Ginny, who was eager for her turn and finally got to unwrap her own gift from you, which was very different from any other gift you had given anyone else that Christmas. From the wrapping paper Ginny pulled out a stuffed bear, and you smiled softly at her as she pulled it closer to her chest, “That was my first stuffed animal... I was going to leave it there when I moved out but I thought that maybe you would like it.” Ginny grinned and nodded, holding the bear at arm's length, “Thank you, Y/n, I love it. Really I do” You let out a small sigh of relief, having been very worried that Ginny would have no interest in her gift at all. The little girl got up, walking over to hug you in a way that made your heart swell with adoration for her, Ginny really was the little sister you’d never had. After Ginny came Percy, and you laughed as you passed him his gift, watching his eyebrows raise at how heavy it was, and he almost seemed hesitant as he slowly began to tear away at the wrapping paper. You held your breath as he pulled out brand new editions of the books he would need for his second year. Over the summer while you all had gone shopping in Diagonally for your own books, you had overheard Percy telling his mom that he really wanted to be able to get new books for his second year instead of using the same one's Bill and Charlie had, and on that same day while he wasn’t looking you had gone off and brought him new versions of the books he would need for his next year at Hogwarts. Percy looked up from his new books after a few seconds of staring at them, his eyes being a little bit more wide than usual being your only hint that he was surprised by his gift, “Y/n, You... You bought me new books? These are new?” You nodded slowly, a little bit nervous that maybe he didn’t like them as much as you had thought he would. Thankfully, your nervousness faded away a second later when Percy smiled down at his gift, “Thank you, this was exactly what I wanted.” And with that, you had covered all of the Weasley children except for one, your very best friend, Charlie Weasley. 

When it came to Charlie the real struggle for you hadn’t been figuring out what gift he may have wanted, but rather which gift of many gift ideas you would get him. It had taken a few months of thought, but finally, about a month before Christmas you had decided on what to get him. Now you just had to hope he liked it as much as you thought he would. You watched nervously as Charlie began to unwrap his Christmas present from you, the suspense of it all making you feel as if everything was moving in slow motion. It seemed to take forever, but eventually, all of the wrapping paper was gone and Charlie was left holding a single book, a single book that he had wanted for over a year but had never managed to get his hands on, an encyclopedia on all types of dragons all over the world. Everyone was silent, it felt as if the whole world was holding its breath as Charlie took a long look at the cover, his expression unchanging even as he turned towards you, making you question whether or not you had gotten him the right book. And then, suddenly that expression melted into that oh so familiar dopey grin that made your heart hammer in your chest, and you were pulled in to a hug before you could even process what was going on. “I love it Y/n, thank you so much.” It was Charlie's voice beside your ear as he hugged you close to his chest that brought you back to reality, and you couldn’t help but smile at how happy he sounded about one silly book, “You’re welcome Charlie, I’m just glad to make you happy.” And with that, you forced yourself to pull away from the hug before the pounding of your heart became too obvious to hide any longer. 

After this, it was time for the rest of the gifts to be passed around, and you smiled when you tore away the wrapping paper from the gift Molly had given you to find another Weasley family sweater, there was nothing you loved more than those after all. This year, without telling you he had done so until the very moment he handed it to you, Bill had also apparently gotten you a gift, and when you unwrapped it you were beyond happy to find a new quill with some ink along with a few new pictures for your photo album. You thanked him profusely, walking over to hug him to help express just how much the gifts really meant to you. After opening your gifts from Bill it was Charlie's turn, and he eagerly handed you two small boxes for you to open. You eyed Charlie carefully as you slowly began to tear away at the wrapping paper on both gifts, eventually revealing two small white boxes one would expect jewelry to come in. Opening one of the boxes slowly you were surprised to find a necklace with a pendant shaped like the letter C inside of it. You looked up at Charlie, only to find him grinning like a madman and motioning for you to open the other box. You rolled your eyes at his antics, reaching for the other box beside you and opening it slowly to reveal another necklace with a pendant shaped with the first initial of your first name. You looked back up at Charlie curiously and watched as he reached for the necklace you had most recently opened and fastened it around his neck, motioning for you to turn around so he could fasten the other on around your own. You blushed softly but conceded, turning around and handing him the necklace, feeling his cold hands brushing against the back of your neck as he clasped the necklace in place. When you turned around again Charlie was smiling, his eyes full of pride, “Do you like them?” He asked, “I wanted to get something we could share together, but also something that can be wholly yours.” You smiled at your best friend, reaching up to gently play with the pendant resting against your chest, “I love them, Charlie, they’re perfect.” With your words somehow Charlie's smile got even wider, and he looked even more prideful as he spoke again, “I knew you would. Now, whenever I can’t be around you you’ll have something to remind you to think of me every once in a while.” Charlie started laughing at his own joke, and you laughed right alongside him, not because you agreed with what he said, but because you found the fact that he thought you weren’t already constantly thinking of him hilarious. 

You and the rest of the Weasley family spent the rest of your Christmas relaxing, the twins playing outside with Ron and Ginny, Percy heading up to his bedroom to have some time to himself, Bill listening to music on his new Walkman, Molly and Arthur chatting happily on the couch, and you and Charlie sitting upstairs in your shared bedroom as he read aloud from the dragon book you had bought him for Christmas. You watched him silently, both of your backs against the side of your bed as he continued to read, so invested in the book that he didn’t even notice you looking at him. That was how a lot of the remainder of your holiday vacation went, with the two of you sitting beside your bed as he read his book to you, the peacefulness of it all making it enjoyable for the both of you, especially when you lived in a house as chaotic as the burrow. 

Before you knew it the final day of vacation hit, and you, Bill, Charlie, and Percy all had to get ready to head back to Hogwarts. You had all just finished your breakfast when Molly called you and her two oldest sons out into the yard to take the yearly photo like usual. Just like last year and the year before that, you stood in front of Bill and Charlie while they each placed one hand on one of your shoulders. After a few seconds of standing like this you heard the shutter click on the camera and Molly gave you all a wide smile and a thumbs up as a signal that you could move again, allowing the three of you to head back inside while she continued to take photos of her other children as they played in the yard. Once Molly finished taking all of the pictures she wanted she headed out with all of you to platform nine and three quarters, giving each of you a short kiss on the head before sending you off to board the Hogwarts Express with a proud smile on her face. 

The train ride back to Hogwarts was uneventful, with Charlie reading beside you the entire time and Bill and Percy sitting with their respective friends in different cars. Because of this, it wasn’t very long into the train ride that you fell asleep with your head against Charlie’s shoulder, not waking up again until the train stopped moving and people began to get off. It didn’t take long for you and Charlie to make your way to Hogwarts from there, happy to be inside and warm after being out in the chilly air for more than a few minutes. Dinner ensued after that, the great hall abuzz with conversation for hours until finally it was announced that everyone was to head to their respective dorms to get some sleep for classes the next day. Of course, you and Charlie had left a few minutes before this announcement knowing you would have to sneak him into your dorm room, and the two of you were already prepared for bed, exhausted from all of the traveling you had done that day. You laid down in bed, sighing happily as Charlie crawled in after you and got into the same sleeping position he always did, arms around your hips and head resting against your stomach. You both fell asleep quickly that night, your fingers gently twisted up within his soft ginger locks as the two of you slept peacefully, just happy to be next to one another. 

Classes started up again the next day and you were very happy to admit that everything had gone very well. Charlie had shared some of the things he had learned about dragons with Hagrid during your Care of Magical Creatures class and had been very smiley about it afterward, you had really enjoyed the lesson in that day's Herbology class, and best of all you had gotten to show off your new necklace to all of your classmates. Of course you weren’t rubbing it in their faces, you certainly weren’t the type of person to brag about your belongings like that, but you did get to wear it around and silently let everyone know that Charlie Weasley was your best friend and you were his, and nothing made you happier than letting other people know just how important he was to you. 

The rest of the year flew by faster than you ever could have imagined, and soon you found yourself sitting in the great hall and enjoying your last meal there for that school year with Charlie at your side. The two of you happily chatted about all of the plans you had for that summer as you ate your breakfast before heading over to board the Hogwarts Express. The two of you sighed happily as you sat down in an empty car, smiling at one another as you relaxed against the seats. It was then and there you decided to tell Charlie something that you had wanted to tell for a little while. “Charlie?” You asked, grabbing his attention and causing him to turn his head towards you, his head tilted in curiosity over what you were going to say, “Yeah?” You smiled at him, a small blush forming on your cheeks as you started speaking, “You know... It was one year ago today that my mother told me she didn’t want to see me anymore...” You trailed off a bit, not quite sure how to continue for a second before you managed to find the right words, “And if it weren’t for you I don’t know if I would have been able to handle that. I wouldn’t have a family the way I do now, and I wouldn’t be nearly as happy as I am today. It means so much to me that you’ve stuck by me through all of this. The fact that my own mother couldn’t stand me says a lot about how much of a burden I can be sometimes and I’m just so glad I met someone like you, who cares enough about me to think that doesn’t matter” And with that you finished, looking up to see a teary-eyed Charlie who reached over and cupped your face within his hands, looking down at you with a serious expression, “Y/n L/n, I don’t know how long it’s going to take for you to realize this, but you aren’t at all a burden. It wasn’t your fault your mother didn’t want you to go home, that was all her being a terrible mother. I’m so glad to hear you say you’re happy with us, but I don’t want to hear you say that it’s your fault your mother didn’t want you to go back home. You’re the most wonderful person I’ve ever met besides my very own mother, you’re caring, and you’re compassionate, and you’re beautiful, and if anyone should be thanking anyone here it should be me thanking you for being my best friend. You mean the world to me, Y/n.” Charlie said softly, his fingers gently caressing the sides of your face as he began to lean in closer. You could almost feel his breath fanning against your lips when suddenly the car door opened and a woman popped her head in, “Anything from the trolly dears?” Neither of you moved, your gazes never wavering from one another as Charlie shook his head slowly, “No thank you, ma’am, we’re alright.” And then the door closed quietly as the lady carried on with her job, and suddenly you felt Charlie’s lips on yours, soft and warm, making your chest swell with happiness even as he pulled away, his hands continuing to cup your face. “There is no one in this world more important to me than you. Please remember that next time you decide to talk badly about yourself.” He said gently, smiling down at you before pressing another kiss on to your forehead and pulling back, grabbing his book and allowing you to lean against his chest, caged within his arms as he read aloud to you. 

MASTERLIST

Ko-fi

Here is where I keep my tag lists, whether they’re permanent or just for a specific series or character. If you would like to be added to my taglist let me know and I’ll add you :)

Taglist ________

@livingoffsavvyillusions

@whysoseriouspadfoot

@storiesbycaroline

@emmelineparker308

@jayrart

@southsideserpentsmoodboards

#Over the Years Series #charlie weasley #charlie weasley x reader #charlie weasley x you #weasley #bill weasley #Molly Weasley #percy weasley #Harry Potter fic #Harry Potter #harry potter series #harry potter blog #harry potter x reader

[mellowgirl01]

Sweet Wine

masterlist

Wordcount: 2290

Characters 11463

people:Eve x Y/N x Adam

Made for: @ladyfluff

Tags: @ladyfluff, @may-bereblog

Request:No

song:Bahamas is Afie; All i’ve ever known & Cigarettes After Sex; Crush

Date:2/12/19

Summary:The first moves have been made, The fresh skin had been touched, a romantic dance

and all. What happens now when the music stops and there’s only three?…or is there?

Warning:Things get a little sexual but nothing heavy…yet ;)

A/N: This is part 2 everyone Hope you like it. Couldn’t get much sleep last night so if it’s a little wonky and or bad let me know. Thanks and enjoy.

Now in the bath Y/N got done washing with the help of Eve. Well, some parts she did herself in fear of getting the room a little to hot. Eve understood. Once done Eve helped her rinse off. JUst another silly excuse for touching her all over. How the water slid down her body was better art than anything. Y/N sat back down in and wrapped her arms around Eve’s waist laying her head on the crook of her neck as Eve ran a hand down Y/N’s head and hair. Racking her slim fingers in her hair. Kissing the top of her head ever so often as well. The bathtub was huge! Big enough for 4 people probably to be in. So the two girls had more than enough leg room.

“Eve..What about Adam? What happens when he finds out that were like this?”

Eve chuckled laying her head on top of Y/N’s

“Why do you ask such a question? Are you afraid that he will hate you?”

“Well, you are his wife. I’m but a stranger who seducid  you.”

Eve laughed this time

“Seducing is one thing. And you did nothing of the sort because you aren't a stranger. If you were a stranger then we would also be strangers to you.”

“Well your not. But you and Adam have history. You both have been together for way more then I have.”

“Yes, while that is ture you need to know that with that history..I know my husband. So trust me Y/N if I love you, So does he. That’s not just because he wants me to be happy now that I have found such a beautiful woman. But because he loves you too. Adam sees what I can’t see sometimes. What he sees in you is something soo so special that it completely wrens the word special.”

“Why?”

“Here's A better question..Y/N, do you feel love equally with me and Adam?”

Y/N took time to think about the answer that she was about to say. As she did she sat up from Eve’s embrace and looked at her once more in the eyes.

“..Yes..I don’t know how or when I did but I think it was when I first noticed that you guys kept coming back after the first month. It really warmed my heart that you only wanted me..Slowly I started to fantasies things. Then, I wondered what it would be like to be with you, both of you that is. I called myself selfish and stupid.”

“Do you feel that way now? Do you really think that after all this time and now, that adam could shove you away so easily?”

“..My heart says no, so does my soul. My brain is screaming for them both to be right. I never wanna hurt him.”

“Neither would he.”

Y/N knew what she meant by her statement. When the water got cold they got out and dried off. Stepping into the bedroom the saw some clothes Adam Laid out. Meaning he heard the conversation that Eve and Y/N had. Eve smilled at her and sat down on the bed getting dressed. Down stair she led Y/N to Adam’s recording studio so that she could listen to his music or at least a snippet. Y/N’s eye widened as the words to a cover song rang softly though the entire room. There was padding all over the walls making it sound proof. Adam made it so that Eve would be able to read and he could be as loud as he wanted to be.

“I know your not a ghost just down the street. I am a spinning man, A living ceiling fan. If two could only hang. The same once again. Now my memories seem to be failing me, What once was fantasy; was all i’ve ever know ~”

So sad was the song. What was even more pitiful was how Adam sang the song. It sound personal to him. As if he could relate to it in every single way.

‘Just what is on in that beautiful head of yours my Adam?’

Y/N decided to sit behind him and just listen. Eve never thought of the idea seeing as how he might have wanted his space when it came to his music and what not. On he continued with the song until he strummed the last cord. He pressed stop on the computer in front of him and was about to press play to see how it sound with everything until Y/N and Eve started clapping.

“Adam that was beautiful!! You said you had albums right?! Can you let me borrow one if it’s not too much? I can give it back!”

Adam was stunned at her excitement. He didn’t think he was bad just not as great as she hyped him up to be. He felt a zillion butterflies going up and down in his stomach nonetheless. Her sweet bright eyes laid upon him with such wonder and hope. LIfe and love.

“I’ll do you a better one. I’ll let you have them all if you want. I only really have 3.”

He had 12 full ones

Y/N leaped up and hugged him tight.

“THANK YOU ADAM!!!!”

‘Why must she make me putty in her hands. With anyone else I wouldn’t be such a sucker for. But she? She’s and Eve could turn me into a weakling. And I wouldn't change it for shit.’

“Why don’t you play a song for our lovely guest star man?”

“What would you like to hear?”

“Oh no no, that’s quite alright-”

“What would you like? Little one i don’t take no for an answer.” Adam held Y/N by the waist closing there space apart from each other tremendously.

“Well..can you play crush, by cigarettes after sex?”

“As long as you dance for me and I get something after as well. Then no problem little dove.”

As he strummed the strings of the guitar Eve went upstairs to get the camera. Adam tried to prolong the song just to see his little zombie dance a bit more. Her baggy short poofed up looking like a weird shaped dress. She was smiling with her eyes closed and her hands raised to the sky reaching higher and higher. She was like a supernova moving to every single strum of his guitar. Even when he stopped playing she was still dancing. Her hair flowed along with the movements making her angelic in every way. All the mushy things adam forgot to tell her about herself everyday. Maybe this time around he couldn’t hold back? Didn’t really see any reason to..He took her hand in his and swayed with her to nothing. As minutes passed by the room started to disappear. No longer were the walls that was covered with padding and what not. Leaning in Adam was inches from her lips. Y/N was waiting for him but noticed something in his eyes. Was he? Asking for permission? He just had this face that spelled out touch starved and in need of love. Of something to excite him and make him feel alive. Y/N laughed at the action since every man that she knew would have just taken the moment for granted. This confused and worried Adam. Did he mess up, smell bad, Look stupid? What was it?

“You are one of a kind Adam..And do i love you for that one reason every day. Now please, kiss me.”

Adam got down on one knee still holding her hands. He wrapped your arms around his neck as he did with his right arm around her waist and the left tentangeling his fingers into her sweet hair. To plant a kiss that he waited patiently for. If anyone told him that he would one day be able to once more taste the most juiciest blueberries and richest wine he wouldn't have believed them. If any one told Y/N that she would be tasting some sort of butter sweet and copper mixed with a hint of cotch then she would have called them insane. Yet here they were. Letting their tongues dance along each others just as they were a few minutes ago. Standing up Adam never loses his grip as her legs started to dangle from below the soft carpet. She had no clue of this being so into the kiss nore did she care. Adam got a bit egger and backed into the computer desk sitting down on the edge. Y/N entangled her fingers in Adam’s thick locks this time. Pulling him closer making the kiss a bit rough. Letting out a moan Adam slid his cold hands under her shirt. He soon found out that she didn’t have on a bra. He moaned again from this relaxation as he slowly reached forward and started to knead her breasts. Y/N moaned out in so much pleasure. His hands were hot and cold at the same time. Something strange was happening. Her skin was heating up and cooling down as pure passion flower between the two. Adam saw no need for stopping, that was until Y/N pulled away.

“I kissed Eve too..”

“...Okay..Now you’ve also kissed me too. What’s your point dove?”

Their breaths were heavy form not taking even an ounce of air while the kiss was still going.

“Your not upset?”

“Don’t you love Eve too?”

“Yes but I didn’t want you to-”

“Eve is my wife. I will always love her no matter what may come our way. You said it yourself, me and my baby have history. But Y/N when I saw you I knew that love is truly never a one way street. Complicated to understand manier times but, never vanilla. Like you, your more than just plain milk and ice with flavor. Your magnificent and unique and so much more than that. These eyes have seen many things Y/N bad and good. But Eve and you are the very best things that these old eyes have ever laid upon. I love you so much my little one. Please..won’t you say what’s on your heart too?”

Y/N was saw the tears starting to form in her eyes and she slammed her lips against Adam’s. He let out a small yelp but chuckled in the kiss melting anyways. Pulling away from him she rested her head onto of his chest wrapping her legs around his torso.

“I would scream from the fucking mountain tops how much I loved you and Eve Adam..You're the best things to happen to me too.”

“We know.”

Eve stood against the doorway with a black camera in her hands. Laughing she cocked her head to one of the windows. Blue light was slowly coming through the room. Morning would be soon.

“TIme for bed.”

“Cruel.”

“You can say that again sleepy head. Now come.”

She whispered walking up to the bedroom. Adam laughed. Not letting Y/N’s feet unhook from behind his back as he walked up the stairs with her clinging to him like a little koala. Eve snatched her from his grip spinning her around until the back of her legs hit the bed. She yelled at Eve through her laughter sitting up on top of Eve she turned to stare at her. Eve’s hair sprawled all out on the black silt under her. Unable to help but bend down and kiss her. Looking up though she sees Adam start to undress and she’s hooked to the scene. Eve looked up and giggled covering her mouth from how cute her lovers were to each other. Y/N got off of Eve to lay down next to her. Her back was up against Eve’s chest feeling her fingers softly rub her back. Humming in relaxation Y/N opened her eyes to see Adam without any clothes on but only his boxers. Stretching her hand out to him and scrunching her fingers every now and then to signar her need for him

“Adam~, come on.”

“You don’t mind?”

“I never did silly. Now come, it’s cold here without you.”

Adam couldn’t say no and let his bones relax as he scooted closer and closer to her girls. Y/N was always in the middle. So if anything happened while asleep they would be ready. Adam took the door side while Eve was by the windows.

Speaking of Eve it seems she was the last one to fall asleep before closing a little tiny peak of light that was coming in through the curtains. Not on her watch was her little family gonna get destered or harmed while in such a peaceful state. Climbing back into bed she felt Y/N’s back snuggle back into her chest. One of her legs wrapped around Eve’s while the others was with Adam.

Everything was peaceful and quiet until a crash could be heard downstairs. Y/N jumped up and saw that Eve and Adam were no longer in bed. Almost ready to jump out of bed and go confront whatever was happening. To be stopped by a yell and stomping foot steps up the stairs.

“AVA DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE TOUCH HER!”

The door swung open as Y/N hid under the covers.

“Hello there little snack~..I’m Ava..Your name is?”

#olla #ollaadam #ollaeve #tilda swinton #tom hiddleston #eve x reader x adam #adam x reader #eve x reader #long reads #romantic #romantic fantasy #romance #only lovers left alive #love

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Wan High Weeping (Part 24)

Aang threw a sheet over his head. Toph had told him to go to the party without her, but he didn’t anticipate going so he didn’t have a costume. So sheet ghost it was. Haru, Teo, and Long-Shot would be there so he wouldn’t be totally alone. He removed the sheet once more, frowned, and flopped into a sitting position on the edge of his bed. On one hand, this party would be an opportunity to meet hot, hopefully caring and accepting guys. On the other hand, he was supposed to be tag-teaming it with Toph wearing the most kick-ass costumes they could. That would have really helped considering he was a marshmallow the rest of the year.

 More than that he worried about Toph. Over the phone she made it sound like she was never going to see again. He hoped that she was just being uncharacteristically dramatic. But he had that feeling in his tummy. The uneasy one. He swore that he had some type of sixth sense.

Evidently. he also got the same feeling when thinking about the party.

 But he already promised Katara and Suki that he would tag along, and from the sound of it Sokka would be there too. He didn’t want to miss a chance to catch up with Sokka. He looked at the sheet again. Maybe, just maybe, if he searched the basement hard enough, he would find a costume worth wearing.

 Hopefully it would go better than the last party he had attended. If it didn’t, he vowed to never go to another party again. He twiddled his thumbs nervously; this would be the first time he would ever sneak out of his home. He couldn’t afford to think about it too much, he was already feeling guilty and he hadn’t even done it yet. His foster family had been so nice to him, his foster mom especially and he was about to go behind her back for a stupid party.

 He tried to rationalize; he wasn’t actually sneaking out. He had told her that he would be going out. But he had told her that he’d be trick-or-treating with Toph and Katara.

He wasn’t sneaking he was…fibbing.

A small, teeny, little fib.

That was all.

 He sends Katara a quick text. ‘Are we still meeting up for the party?’

 She took a little while to respond. ‘I guess, but only because Sokka and Suki are going.’ The dots disappear and reappear. ‘I probably won’t stay long though.’ That was find by him, he hadn’t exactly planned on staying long, himself. He’d probably just say hi to Sokka and Suki, have a few Halloween treats, and head home.

 .oOo.

 He had nothing even remotely worth wearing to the party so he stuck with the sheet. He flung it over his head and heads out, at the very least he could hide under it and pretend to be anyone but him. He paused and ran back inside to dress himself in a festive shirt—a simple t-shirt with a friendly looking ghost. He wanted to wear a Halloween-themed shirt, just in case he got tired of wandering around in a sheet.

 It would seem that he had good timing because his foster mother called up, “Aang, your friend is here!”

 He rushed down to greet Katara. She looked perfectly stunning, her hair was braided and beaded with shells and faux pearls woven into it. She wore a skirt that billowed out like mermaid fins and shimmered when caught in the light. “Where are the other two?” He paused before deciding to add, “you look nice today!”

 “Thanks.” She smiled. “They’re going to meet us there.” And then with a chuckle she said, “I think that the sheet ghost get up really suits you, it’s cute and a classic.”

 .oOo.

 He had to admit, the party scene was already rather overwhelming, it was only just started and the house was brimming to the ceiling with people, most of whom he’d never seen before. The entire block must have been invited and then some. No wonder he and Wan High’s other nerds were so easily able to get in. But then, even if the place wasn’t over-crowded he couldn’t see Chan passing on an opportunity to humiliate or mock them. And a party was the perfect place to watch the socially inapt stumble around.

People aside, the music was already much too loud. Granted, he was a fan of the Monster Mash, so he might be able to get used to it. It certainly was better than the overly sexual or overly violent themes of rap and pop. It was also better than the fury and volume of rock and metal.

 Next to him, Katara sighed. “What am I doing here?” She was preaching to the choir. “I can’t believe I let Suki talk me into this. We could have been at home watching Halloween specials.”

 “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind going trick-or-treating with my foster siblings.”

 “Oh, Aang, I wish you would have told me that! I totally would have ditched the love birds to help you watch the kids.”

 Aang gave a lopsided smile. “Sorry, Kat, I didn’t think about it.” Truth be told he was thinking more with his manhood than anything else. He was tired of being one of Wan High’s only students who’d never had a date.

One way or another, tonight would be a game changer for him.

 Aang did a sweep of the party crowd, he spotted the usual attendees; Usha and her clique were dressed as sexy kitties. Jet and his posse took the zombie route. Though, he thought that jailbird costumes would suit them much better. And of course, Chan and his team. Chan himself was a suave vampire in an elaborate tuxedo. It was a little cliché, but at least it wasn’t downright offensive like the rest of his group’s were.  Each and every one of them was dressed in drag; horribly stereotyped and poorly rendered parodies of it anyways.

The three groups gathered in the center of the room.

 Aang averted his attention and spied TyLee in a cute bumblebee costume standing near the concession stand with Mai. He couldn’t tell what she was supposed to be, but he thought that it might have been some sort of Victorian noble. No less, he couldn’t help but smile at the apparent re-connection. It took him a while to pick out more familiar faces amid the crowd. But then, with an ounce of overwhelming dread, he noticed Hide standing by the DJ stand—likely requesting an awful hip-hop number that wouldn’t fit the holiday at all. He cringed, it would seem that there would be a road block after all and suddenly is thankful for his generic ghost costume.

 He spotted Azula too. She was standing on the side of the room opposite to the concession stand. Despite it all, he was curious about her costume. Usually she had the best one. But this year was different. There was nothing elaborate about it and he was left to assume that she had thrown it together just as last minute as he had selected his sheet ghost costume. This year she was dressed as a demon, it was cool enough, but it was missing the flare she usually added.

What truly caught his eye was who she had come to the party with. Teo smiled up at her. Aang thought that his costume was rather creative; he was an aviator and his wheel chair was made to look like an airplane.

 But what Aang didn’t see the person he had come there for. Suddenly, it occurred to him that he was looking in the wrong places. Moo-Chee liked hanging out in the corner, mostly alone, but sometimes with Mai or some of the other goth kids.

 He shifted his gaze to the corner in question. There he was. Dark, brooding, alluring Moo-Chee. He stood there with his arms folded over his chest and a scowl on his face. No one could possibly be cooler than Moo-Chee. If he could score even one point with him tonight, his place on the social ladder could change.

He wasn’t sure if Moo-Chee liked guys, but if school lore was to be listened to, then Aang just might have a chance.

 “You find Suki and Sokka?” Katara asked.

 Aang jumped. “What? Oh! No, not yet.”

 To his dismay, Katara followed his line of sight. “Him? He’s the guy you’re shooting for tonight? What about Haru? Haru is a good guy. Long Shot?”

 “They’re nice, but I don’t know, I think that they’re just friends. I wouldn’t want to make things weird between us.”

 “I guess. But, ‘The Dark One’? Oooo.” She wriggled her fingers.

 Aang nudged her, “I want to give him a chance.”

 “Sorry, I just didn’t realize you were into bad boys.”

 “I had a little crush on Zuko, remember?”

 “We all remember that.” Chan remarked as he passed by. “Why aren’t you dressed as a fairy?”

 “Because it’s Halloween!” Hide shouts from afar. “You’re supposed to dress up as something you aren’t already.”

 “Don’t listen to them, you’re going to find a great guy tonight. Even if Moo-Chee doesn’t work out.” Katara quietly reassured him.

 He sure hoped so, because his night certainly wasn’t starting right. He let Katara lead him over to the chocolate fountain. “We can wait here, Sokka usually goes right to the food.” She remarked. She picked up a pretzel and dipped it into the chocolate. “Suki is going to love these.”

 Aang picked his way through the table until he found the fruits and vegetables until he acquired himself a healthy platter of them. A task made harder by the drag of his sheet, every now and again he’d accidently knock something to the floor.

 Out of nowhere Katara jerked and grabbed his arm, “come on Aang, lets go see if we can catch Sokka and Suki before they get into the house. Might be easier, ya know?” She asked.

 “Oh, yeah, sure.” He didn’t particularly want to risk losing sight of Moo-Chee, but then again, he couldn’t imagine Moo-Chee actually leaving the corner.  He looked over Katara’s shoulder, nothing seemed amiss. He wondered if the spookiness of the season was finally getting to her. He gave the crowd another look and caught sight of a certain zombie merging himself back into it. “Are you sure it’s safe to be here?”

 “I’ll be fine. I have…I’m going to have Sokka and there are so many people here.” Katara promised, but the way she wrapped her arms around herself wasn’t even slightly reassuring. “Besides, I can’t just let him scare me away from everything, right? I have to live my life. If I let him take over every part of my life, then he wins.”

 Aang shifted nervously, he wasn’t so sure. But she sounded so confident…and he was known for being timid and shying away from things. “If you say so.” Trying to break the tension he offered her a cupcake.

 “No thanks, I’m not in the mood for sweets right now.”

 Aang shrugged and scarfed it down.

 He heard a soft tsking. “I come all the way back here from college and you don’t even offer me a cupcake!” Sokka shook his head. Immediately he burst out laughing and slung an arm over Aang’s shoulder and he had to laugh too. Soon Katara and Suki were snickering as well. “Good to see you again, Aang!”

 “How’s the party going?” Suki asked.

 “I guess it’s okay as far as a Chan party goes.” Aang said, trying to push Hide’s petty remark out of his mind.

 “Jet is here.” Katara noted and Sokka’s expression darkened.

 “Don’t worry, he’s been keeping his distance.” Katara stated. “Anyways, Aang, tell them who you’re making a move for.”

 Aang’s face flushed.

 .oOo.

 “No really, I’ll be alright, I’ll just stick close to Sokka and TyLee.” Katara smiled. “Go get him, Aang.”

 Aang blushed, had she really caught him staring? A moment of thinking told him that he had made it pretty obvious. “You sure, Katara?”

 “Yes, Aang!” She urged. “I don’t want to ruin your shot because I’m being paranoid. I haven’t seen a sign of Jet since we spotted him by the concessions. Maybe he finally found a hobby.”

 That sounded like wishful thinking to him. But then again, Jet might be taking a break from his antics to enjoy the party scene. “Are you sure you’re sure?”

 Katara rolled her eyes. “Are you stalling?”

“What!? No!”

 She gave him another nudge. “Then go get him.”

 He hesitated for a moment before shooting her a beaming smile. Now that he had her go ahead, he could take a shot. He took a deep breath and headed towards Moo-Chee’s corner. It was the very same one he had inhabited at the last party. But the closer he got to Moo-Chee, the queasier his stomach felt. He almost wished that Katara hadn’t granted him permission.

 “Hi, how’s the corner?” He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

 “Who are you?”

 Aang chuckled nervously. “Oh, right, forgot…” He pulled the sheet off of his head.

 “Oh. Aang.” Moo-Chee muttered. “You having a good time?” Aang was almost certain that he was only asking out of courtesy alone.

 “It would be better if Toph were here.” He replied. “But, I guess this has been one of Chan’s better parties so far.”

 “That’s true.” Moo-Chee agreed. “This one isn’t as noisy.”

 Aang begged to differ but he agreed anyhow. “So uh…your name is Moo-Chee, right? I’m Aang.”

 “That’s, The Dark One’, to you.” Moo-Chee corrected with an edge. “Never. Call. Me. Moo-Chee.”

 Aang flushed, he wished that he hadn’t removed the sheet. How had he forgotten to use Moo-Chee’s nickname? “S-sorry. I’m uh. I’m just a little nervous because I. Because I haven’t been to a party like this in a while. And Toph was kinda, sorta, supposed to help me through this.” Now he was rambling.

 Moo-Chee sighed. “Forgiven, just don’t do it again.”

 “So, how does bobbing for apples sound?” Aang asked.

 “Perfectly awful.”

 “Oh. Okay. How about, the pinata?”

 “I hate candy.”

 “We can join the costume party.”

 That time Moo-Chee scoffed. “This isn’t a costume, this is my lifestyle.”

 “Oh really? Because it could be a really cool vampire hunter costume. Or that steampunk stuff.” Frankly, Aang thought that he was going for the industrial metal look. Moo-Chee frowned so Aang attempted to save himself. “It’s a cool lifestyle.”

 “I know.” Moo-Chee replied.

 “Do you want to leave the corner?”

 “Not, at all.” He grumbled. “But I will

 .oOo.

 Aang did another sweep of the room. He caught sight of Katara conversing with Mai and TyLee. He couldn’t seem to find Suki and Sokka anywhere. He supposed that they would have to meet up after the party. If he were being honest, he kind of wanted to reunite right then. Moo-Chee was sucking the life out of him. He was undeniably hot, but he was so bleak.

 He had been trying to make conversation with him for well over an hour and it seemed that he kept stumbling upon all of the wrong things. He learned the hard way that, ‘goths don’t cut themselves, that’s what emo’s do’ and ‘no goth and emo are not the same, emos are whiney and give the scene a bad rep’. Shortly after he learned that all of the bands he thought Moo-Chee would be into were ‘poser favorites’.

 But for some reason Moo-Chee still engaged in conversation. Aang took a breath and then a sip of his vampire’s brew, the fruit punch was sweet on his tongue. Maybe he was overthinking things, maybe he was just trying to teach Aang about his lifestyle in his own Moo-Chee way.

 Eventually, Aang decided to take a different approach and talk about his interests. All of his favorite indie artists and his favorite incense scents, healing gems, and songs to meditate to. This was going much better.

 “So like, if you drink the right tea you can transcend?” Moo-Chee asked. “Is it like, drugs?”  

 “Not drugs,” Aang emphasizes, “a deeper, calmer meditation.”

 “And you guys don’t really like the mainstream?”

 Aang doesn’t exactly know what Moo-Chee means by ‘you guys’, but he replied anyhow. “Well, I think pop and rap don’t fit my morals. So I guess you can say I don’t like the mainstream stuff. I’d rather listen to white noise and do some crafts.”

 Moo-Chee nodded. “That’s fascinating…”

 “Really!?” Aang perked up. So far Moo-Chee was the only person save for Katara, Suki, Sokka, and Toph who didn’t think that it was anything but wimpy.

 Moo-Chee snorted, “No. That’s some of the lamest shit I’ve heard all night. Right?”

 Hide slapped his knee. “I told you he was a real fag, Moo-Chee.”

 Aang felt his face grow hot. He made a mental note to never mention making dream catchers and doing yoga again.

 “Real men don’t meditate and make dream catchers.” Moo-Chee remarked. “Even I know that and I wear eyeliner and nail polish.”

 Hide turned to Moo-Chee and gave him a high five. “I didn’t realize that you were so witty. Who knew that making you leave the corner was such a good idea.”

 Moo-Chee shrugged. “Don’t take it the wrong way. He has been stereotyping the goth community all night, I had to pay him back.”

 “Pay me back?” Aang asked. “I thought that you were…”

 “What? Into you?” Moo-Chee rolled his eyes. “Gross. I don’t swing like that.”

 “But…”

 “Rumors, I thought that a dweeb like you would know about those.” He faced Hide again. “I helped you uncover his ridiculous hobbies and went along with his hipster bullshit, now lets talk about getting rid of those rumors I mentioned.”

 “Deal.” Hide shook his hand. “Just do one last thing for me.”

 “Oh right.” He turned his attention back to Aang. “As great as our yoga date sounded, I’m going to have to cancel.”

 .oOo.

 Aang groaned, how had he fallen for that one? He should have known that a pretty guy like Moo-Chee was going to lead him on. He was a nerd. A dork.  A zero. A complete loser.  Of course he wouldn’t get lucky on his first try.

 He wanted to cry but he knew that it would be exactly what Hide had been waiting for. It would be even more ammo, God knew that Aang had given him a supply of that to last a lifetime and then some. He ran his hands over his face. This wouldn’t have happened if Toph were here. How was he supposed to go back to school now?

 Laughter echoed around the room. They were laughing at him weren’t they?

Everyone was laughing at him.

The school priss.

The gay virgin.

 He had to get out of there.

 “Aang!” Katara called. But he wasn’t in the mood for one of her bright-eyed, optimistic pep talks. “Aang, please!” She sounded almost desperate. But he would listen to her motherly speeches later. Right now he had to get some air.

 He rushed for the door, not expecting a race. Azula shoved past him at a pace that would leave the school’s track team in aw. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one having a miserable time. This party was a disaster through and through.

 He made it to the patio when it struck him that he couldn’t go home just yet. Trick-Or-Treating was still in full swing and his foster mother would have a lot of questions if he showed up early. Especially if he did so with neither Toph nor Katara.

 He sat on one of the empty chairs and sulked. This night was going so dreadful and he couldn’t even run home this time. Instead, he had to sit there and hold back tears.

 “Aang?” He looked up to see Haru in the most ridiculous pirate costume. Long-Shot in an equally ridiculous Robin Hood costume trailed behind. Aang could have sworn he saw the boy shoot Haru a thumbs up.

 “Hey, Haru…”

 “What’s going on?”

 “You mean you didn’t hear?”

 Haru winces. “Moo-Chee isn’t that special. I mean come on, he calls himself The Dark One. Everyone knows that he’s a big loser too, he was just trying to impress everyone…”

 “It worked.” Aang frowned.

 “You want to have some real fun tonight?” Haru offered.

 “Depends, what is ‘fun’?”

 “I was thinking, an overload Halloween candy and some spooky, scary movies. Courtesy of Long-Shot and I.”

 “We were going to invite Teo…” Long-Shot trailed off.

 “But he has a date.” Haru finished. “What do you say, Aang?”

 “Where’d you get the candy?” Aang asked.

 Haru motioned to the rest of the block. “Duh.”

 “I thought you were at the party.”

 Haru nearly doubled over in laugher. “What, hell no! I thought about it for a while and we decide to skip it. A good choice, from the looks of it.”

 “A very good choice.” Aang nodded. “Yeah, candy and movies sound great right now.”

#Avatar #Aang #Katara #Haru #Sokka #Suki #Azula #Mai #Tylee #Jet #Chan #Toph #Fanfiction

[h4rr3h]

Harry and Evan were as platonic as platonic could be. Living together does that. You see their unlivable quirks; like how they always leave the toilet seat up, or how they never rinse their dishes, or how they never fully close the chip bag so they end up stale. And after six years of living together, Harry and Evan knew each other’s quirks well. The pair were long gone from their college days and fully immersed in the confusing reality of adulthood. Navigating your twenties is hard, but with your best friend by your side, it makes the whole disarray just that much easier. But, Harry has a secret, one that he’s been hiding from his best friend since the day they met, and she’s about to find out. Especially now that Niall spilled about the “Ohio Incident”. A lesson on facing your fears, being too old for college parties, cronuts (are those even still a thing?) and finding things out just a bit too late.

ohio is for lovers, chapter one evan bosco and the greatest one night stand that never happened

Since they day they met, Harry Styles knew Evan Bosco would take him on the ride of his life.

Sunday, March 25, 2018

185 Bleecker Street, Apartment 11A, New York, NY

Since they day they met, Harry Styles knew Evan Bosco would take him on the ride of his life.

 “Get up! Get up!” She hollers, jumping on the edge of his bed.

 It’s eight o’clock on a Sunday morning. Harry is hoping for another hour of sleep, Evan is hoping for Harry’s homemade pancakes.

 “I want breakfast!” She grumbles, like a child.

 Harry knows he won’t say no. God, he could never say no to this girl, “make them yourself.” He groans, pushing his face into his pillow.

 Evan jumps closer, and Harry grabs her ankle and wiggles her around a bit. She stumbles but puts her palm against the ceiling to stable her balance. She’s wearing one of his jumpers with a pair of pajama shorts underneath. He pretends that he can’t see the eggplant shaped birthmark on her inner thigh. That’s not his territory.

 “Let gooooo - “

 Harry tugs on her leg, pulling her onto him. Evan laughs in protest but wraps her arms around him, hugging him close, throwing a leg over his lap, “Pancakes?” She jets her bottom lip out and he gives in.

 “Pancakes.”

Thursday, August 23, 2012 Washington Square Diner

150 West 4th Street, New York, NY

Harry Styles is not a fan of decaf coffee. But it’s three in the morning and he was about to round his thirtieth hour of no sleep and he reckoned if he had another drip of caffeine he would surely die of a heart attack at the age of eighteen. The chemical always heightened his senses. He was all too aware of the bored waitress sweeping behind the counter of empty display cases that in just a few hours time will hold bagels and pastries galore. Her rhythm is off key when she moves to the left, it’s a sweep, sweeeeep instead of a short quick sweep sweep.

 There are four other people in Washington Square Diner with him; an old man sitting on the furthest inside seat of counter, a punk looking couple, and a simple girl. The old geezer is leaned up so gingerly against the brick facade wall that Harry worries that the slightest gust of wind from an incoming customer might knock him over. He’s clearly asleep, or drunk, or dead. The couple are picking at the paper placemats laid in front of them despite a table full of hot, greasy food. And finally the girl, that damn girl.

 Sweep, Sweeeeep.

 Evan Bosco sits at the other end Washington Square Diner, earbuds in, but nothing playing. People leave you alone when they think you’re listening to music. She picks at her stack of pancakes, so soaked with syrup that they’re sticky and too sickly sweet for the common human. But that was how she liked them. Evan pretends not to notice the red eyed boy staring wide eyed at the scene around him.

 He must be a tourist, she thinks.

 She listens to the peaceful pattern of sweeps from the lonely waitress behind the counter. Another mouthful of pancakes washed down by her cup of black coffee and she’s counted twice now since the boy with bloodshot eyes has caught her sightline again. Old Man Figgins snorts in his sleep and Evan attempts to hide her bemusement. Mitch and Hannah in the front and center booth are high on Molly or X or whatever fad drug they were doing this week. Evan catches Harry’s eye again. Only she doesn’t know him as Harry, at least not yet. For now, he was the zombie boy who caught her gaze in between staring into his untouched mug of coffee and looking around him like he was hiding from something.

 Harry’s shoulders ache. He supposes it’s his bad posture, or at least that what his mother would tell him. He shifts his weight in the booth, the squeak of the fake leather seat whining as he makes a feeble attempt to stretch his sore muscles.

 Sweep, Sweeeeep.

 The air smells sweet like maple syrup and powdered sugar. The scent almost makes him nauseous. He glares down at the room temperature cup of decaf coffee and lets out a little sob to himself. Harry winces before the taste even hits his lips.

 Fucking decaf, he complains to himself.

 He can’t tell if the girl with honey hair sitting on the other side of the Diner is looking at him on purpose or not. Her hair is pulled back in a low bun, strands still falling in her face. She hides almond eyes behind a pair of oversized wire rimmed glasses that look like they belong to the elderly man asleep (or dead) at the counter instead of a young woman. There’s a crinkle in her forehead when he catches her looking again.

 It’s then that he notices the sweeping has stopped.

 Evan rises from her seat, but not without shoving another bite of pancake into her mouth. She licks her sticky lips and crosses the Diner in thirteen strides to the back corner booth where the boy is sitting. He looks even worse for wear up close. His greenish (although they look dull under the pale Diner lighting) eyes are bloodshot to hell and, along with red rimmed eyes, he has bags so dark Evan wondered for a moment if he’d been recently socked in the face. She notices he’d put far too much creamer in his coffee, it sits so beige and stagnant in the white mug with roadmap-like hairpin cracks along the edge of its mouth.

 Something like this wasn’t rash for Evan Bosco. She was used to flighty strangers in the night, whether she was at the park or the Diner, or the Subway station. New York really was the city that never slept, in the sense that the people who inhabited it were walking talking zombies who drank expensive coffee and ate fad pastries instead of brains, just shuffling and grunting onto their next stop. It was these strange hours of the night a few times a month that Evan stepped away from the hustle and bustle of simply existing in such an exhausting city and took some time to pause.

 She met some interesting people along the way, like Hannah and Mitch who would sometimes pay for her pancakes if they were feeling up to it and offered her drugs she’d never take. Or Old Man Figgins, who smelled faintly of cat pee thanks to the dozen or so cats he had collected in his studio apartment around the corner on MacDougal Street.

 Why was she coming towards him? Harry thinks, She’s probably coming to tell me to fuck off.

 But she doesn’t, and Evan slides gracefully into his booth and it takes him a moment to resonate that the girl he’d been staring at for the better part of forty-five minutes is staring back him from across the table.

 And she smells like maple syrup.

 Neither of them speak when she sits, Harry looks into his mug like he’s waiting for it to tell him its greatest secrets.

 “I’ve never seen someone look so somberly at a mug of coffee.” Evan states.

 Harry blinks once, “it’s decaf.”

 That explains it, she thinks. Also, nice accent.

 “Why’re you drinking that?” She questions.

 He shrugs, What an odd question.

 Odd question for an odd girl.

 He rips open a sugar packet and dumps it in, hoping it will mask the flavor (it won’t), “too much caffeine. Been up too long. Need to sleep sometime I suppose.”

 Evan nods her head, “so why do you keep staring at me? Do I have something in my teeth?”

 She curls her lips up and bares a white smile to Harry. He tries his best not to smile too much back at her. He pulls his coffee mug to his mouth to try and hide it.

 “Just wonderin’ what you were doing here,” he mutters, lips pressed to the edge of the porcelain mug.

 Evan rips tiny tears into the edges of the paper placemat, “could ask you the same thing.”

 “This is the city that never sleeps, am I right?”

 She rolls her eyes, what a cliche tourist thing to say.

 “I guess,” she huffs, “this is really the only place around here that’s open twenty-four hours. I come here when I need to think.”

 Harry rolls his eyes, what a cliche teenage girl thing to say.

 “And what do you think about?” He quizzes.

 By now Evan has made it three quarters of the way around her placemat and she’s mentally scanning the rest of the table for things to occupy her fingertips; the napkins, sugar packets, a dollar store miniature coloring book with three waxy crayons in red, yellow and blue.

 She shrugs, how terribly invasive, she thinks to herself. Although it’s exciting. She’s spent most of her time in and out of this city. Between dad’s work and travels she’s seen the inside of airport terminals so often she thought she ought to have a punch card for the JFK airport. There’s something fuzzy growing in her stomach and it makes her want to throw up, but in the most exhilarating way possible. She can be anyone tonight. Anyone to this person. She’s not her father’s daughter who shares the same bright eyes and sense of adventure and terrible nail biting habit. And she’s definitely not the girl that Jacob Huckabee just dumped twelve hours ago in a Starbucks on Bleecker Street.

 “I think about the color blue, and the way that the sky looks right before the sun rises,” Evan plucks out a crayon from the little cardboard box and flips her edge torn paper placemat to the blank white side, “I think about this city and how, despite us being constantly surrounded by other people that we never actually touch them,” she draws a cluster of stick figures inside of a box below a deep blue crayon sky, “sure, we may bump into them on the sidewalk or the subway but we don’t interact with more than a mumble of a sorry or barely even that. All these damn people and then they bump into other people and it just keeps going on and on-,” Evan drags the circle around the box a few times, “for seemingly forever. One-point-six million people just bumping into each other, day in and day out.”

 Harry raises an eyebrow. He pulls the red crayon from the box and turns the paper around to him, scribbling hair and smiley faces  on two of the stick figures standing side by side before presenting it back to her, “and then there’s us.”

 “You never answered my question,” Evan replies, “about what you’re doing here. I’ve never seen you here before tonight.”

 Harry doesn’t like questions, mostly because he never really has an answer. He was at the Washington Square Diner and three thirty in the morning because he was wired on caffeine, jet lagged, stressing about his upcoming first year at university, and well, hungry.

 “You’ve met all one point six million people in this city?” He raises an eyebrow. Evan folds her arms and he caves. “And I was hungry.”

 There’s a wrinkle of questioning between Evan’s eyes that causes her glasses to slip ever so slightly, “you don’t have any food.”

 Harry shrugs.

 Evan reaches for the last crayon, the yellow one, and draws a door that leads out of the stick figure clustered box and past the circle of repetition and to the blank part of the placemat.

 “Want to get out of here?” She asks.

 Harry isn’t sure what this girl is asking. Is she trying to sleep with me? He thinks. Not that it would be the worst way this night (morning?) could end.

 “Sure.”

 Evan smiles and damn near pulls him straight from the booth. Harry grabs the paper placemat with the torn edges and their drawing and folds it neatly, “in case we get lost we’ll always know where to find each other,” he says before tucking it into his back pocket.

 Old man Figgins wakes up when the front door of Washington Square Diner slams shut. It’s a fairly warm night. There’s no wind and the air is stagnant with summer’s leftovers. A slight lick of humidity fills the air; it’s stale, old, recycled. Just like this damn city. It’s a smell that Harry can’t place and one that Evan just calls “that city smell”. It’s mechanical, but still manages to smell like greasy chinese food after its sat out for too long, mixed with the slight wet dog smell of this evening’s rainstorm.

 Harry and Evan run down the sidewalk of West 4th Street towards Washington Square Park. Evan’s not much of a runner, especially with a stomach full of sticky pancakes and black coffee.

 Harry isn’t sure why they’re running. Is it a race? No, she’s not running fast enough for that. Is she running away from him? No, she’s smiling every time he looks at her to check her pace. She grabs his hand and drags him further, her hand is soft in his.

 Evan isn’t quite sure why she’s running. Overtired? Maybe, she should’ve been in bed hours ago. Craziness? Probably, she’s felt every emotion crammed into a half day and still lived to tell about it.

 They enter the park at the corner of Macdougal and Washington Square South.

 With heavy breaths, they fall to the ground in a fit of laughter, two strangers in the middle of the night. If this were a romantic comedy, Harry probably would’ve kissed her. But all he could notice in this moment was the way that the sidewalk lamp posts glowed in the reflection of her glasses and that her blue eyes looked so bright he thought he could’ve fallen in love right there on the spot.

 Harry didn’t really believe in love at first sight or even really love at all for that matter. It was a thing for saps and Hallmark cards. But, by God, he swore he saw the rest of his life with this girl flash in front of his eyes when she shut hers and placed her hand over his.

 “So what’s the plan?” He asks, when his breath finally catches up to him.

 Evan lets out a breathy laugh, “that’s one thing you’ll learn about me, I never have a plan.”

 Sunday, March 25, 2018

185 Bleecker Street, Apartment 11A, New York, NY

 It’s like a dance routine, the way that Harry and Evan work around their tiny apartment kitchen. They’ve mastered the art of passing by the other to get a utensil from the opposite end of the counter. Harry knows to dip slightly to the left when Evan reaches above his head for the mixing bowls; all her weight rested on her right foot, her left one extended backwards behind her. It’s choreographed teamwork.

 “Shit, we’re out of chocolate chips,” Evan groans as she digs through the cupboard.

 Harry’s got his Kiss the Cook apron on, mixing bowl full of raw pancake batter cradled in one arm and whisk in the other, “when did we run out?”

 “I made those cookies for Poll’s party a couple weeks ago.”

 “You didn’t write it in on the shopping list,” Harry tuts.

 Evan glares over the tops of her glasses, “shut up,” she say, kicking him swiftly on the ass.

 He does that cocky little smirk that causes the crease of his dimples to indent even more. Evan swears she’s detested  it since the day she met him, but that’s only because it causes one single butterfly in her lower stomach to flutter for just a fraction of a moment that happens so quickly, the first few times it happened she could’ve sworn she was imagining things.

 “So what’s on the agenda today?” Harry asks.

 Evan shrugs, shaking away the butterfly, “Huck had something he wants to do later. He was scarce on the details.”

 “Isn’t he always?” Harry quips.

 Evan hates when her best friend takes jabs at her boyfriend. Sure, Harry and Huck get along as well as they probably ever could, but there’s those backhanded compliments and little quips between comments that they fire at one another that makes her think one of them is bound to get sucker punched one of these days.

 It’s the second time in the course of sixty seconds that Evan tells Harry to shut up, but this time it’s with a little more fervor and he takes the hint. At least for now.

 “Maybe it’s a surprise,” Harry wiggles his fingers dramatically.

 “Eh,” Evan starts, “he’s not really one for surprises,” she acts nonchalant but her head swirls with ideas.

 They spin together to swap sides of the kitchen, pressed chest to chest for the briefest moment. Evan chuckles to herself at the sight of Harry’s tattoo-laden bare chest under his apron. A sizzling sound sparks in the air when Harry pours the batter into the hot pan, tiny bubbles forming up. Two steps to the left and Evan is pulling out more milk for their coffee that’s been steeping in the French press. They cheers with their matching monogrammed mugs that Harry still insists drinking out of even though his has a chip on the lip.

 “I can’t wait for the day you cut your mouth open on that mug so I can dance around the apartment screaming ‘told ya so!’”

 Harry winks and takes a sip from the side with the chip and the mug rubs against slightly rough spot on the inside of his upper lip where it’s cut him over and over in the past but this time there’s no metallic taste of blood mixed with his coffee.

 Outside the front door of apartment 11A, Jake Huckabee can smell the sweet scent of pancakes outside of his girlfriend’s apartment. While he much preferred waffles, after pulling an all nighter studying for Monday’s exam, pancakes would just have to do right now. He knocks four times in rapid succession and can hear the gentle pat pat of Evan’s feet against the hardwood floors.

 “Baby, you look so tired,” Evan groans to her boyfriend, holding her hands on either side of his face.

 She slides them down to his shoulders, giving them a single squeeze before wrapping her arms around his neck. Jake presses his forehead into her collarbone and peppers kisses along her neck. Evan giggles and pulls him into the apartment, kicking the door shut behind him.

 Harry tries not to stare at their spectacle and finishes up the first round of pancakes, “have a fresh batch ready to go!” Harry says a little too loudly, his voice cracking a bit at the end.

 Evan laces her fingers with Huck and pulls him to the kitchen. The dance is disturbed now by Huck standing like an awkward fucking giant in the middle of the kitchen. Evan bumps into him with a hot pan of cooked bacon and he winces and rubs the rapidly forming burn on his arm, Harry steps on his big toe while backing up to get the syrup from the cupboard.

 “Hey Huck, can you put this stuff on the table?” Harry asks, slightly annoyed, but mostly just to get him out of the fucking way.

 “Sure, man,” he replies, giving Evan a kiss on the forehead before putting the plate of fresh pancakes on the tiny dining table in what was supposed to be the other half of the living room.

 Living in a New York City apartment, especially when you’re barely able to cover rent and food, is like playing a real life game of tetris. The buildings are full of right angles and corners and straight lines, and the rooms take on multiple uses. The living room becomes a dining room on Sunday morning but a dance hall on Saturday nights. The weird corner in the kitchen that’s too small for a table but too big for a bar cart becomes a place for Harry and Evan’s ‘his and hers’ cats to perch and catch some morning rays. The bedrooms double as therapist offices and gymnasiums. And so on, and so forth.

 The threesome settles at the dining table and it’s a symphony of scraping forks and Huck’s cow chewing because of a deviated septum from a broken nose as a kid. They’ve had many a morning like this. Harry would be stupid to act like this didn’t happen every goddamn Sunday morning and now especially since Evan and Huck saw less of each other because of his spastic medical school schedule, time was precious.

 “So how goes Ye Olde Med School?” Harry asks, letting his fork scrape against his teeth for a second or two too long.

 Huck rubs his tired eyes. The classes are exhausting and seemingly never ending, the course load is enough to make anyone’s goddamn head explode, he sleeps an average of four hours a night, and he spends so much time in the library he can’t remember what day of the week it is most of the time.

 “It’s good,” he says simply.

 Thursday, August 23, 2012

Washington Square Park, New York, NY

 “So what are you thinking about now?” He asks.

 “Are you a therapist?” Evan questions in a dry tone.

 She opens her eyes and rolls her head over to face him, she can feel the soft tickle of the grass on her cheek. It’s quiet, and that’s saying something for the city. There’s the ever present sirens in the distance and honks and the other white noise static she’s become accustomed to. After all the places in the world that her father had taken her on his work trips, she detested the fact that he had to settle on New York City when it came time to take the promotion and settle down. Now he was the Editor-in-Chief of Travel Lately; one of those boujee travel magazines that showcased resorts and accommodations only the one-percent could afford. It was a modest upbringing when her father was just a measly travel writer carting his daughter around the world. But he was amazing at what he did and made good connections, and well, things changed. Now he spent 9-5 in an office building surrounded by glass walls and computer monitors the size of big screen televisions.

 “I’m interested in what you have to say,” Harry says, plainly. He’s turned his head over too and Evan can feel his breath feather across her face. He smells of coffee and mint.

 Is he trying to sleep with me? She thinks. Men are all the same.

 Evan rolls onto her side, propping her face up on her palm and surveys Harry. He’s laying on his back, hands folded on his stomach. His breathing is light and steady in perfect rhythm. His heart is racing, and she can hear. Even his heart beat is in sync with his breathing and she wondered how in the Hell anyone could be so in tune. Harry’s eyes are more green than she noticed in the diner; they looked more hazel under the fluorescents and she spots a pair of swallow tattoos just below his collar bone poking out from above his shirt. She reaches out to trace one.

 “I already told you what I think about, and what I was doing in the Diner. How about you answer some questions, buddy?” She finishes dragging her finger across his skin, his body emitting shivers under her touch.

 Harry takes a deep breath to try and recover himself, he wonders if she can hear how fast his heart is racing, “do you want the long or short version?”

 “Long,” she smiles, “we’ve got another couple hours until sunrise.”

 Evan listens intently while he speaks, “well, I got here this afternoon, from England, if you couldn’t tell.”

 She could.

 “I’m starting University on Tuesday and I’m scared shitless. I already hate this city. It’s so loud and lonely despite the fact you are never actually alone anywhere...ever,” he continues, “you have to wait twenty minutes for a seven dollar cup of coffee that takes less time to drink than it took for you to get it. It’s so goddamn loud. I don’t think I’ve heard a second of silence since I’ve gotten here. And there’s tourists, like, everywhere. It’s exhausting.”

 “Shit, I’d hate to see what you’ll be like after a month,” Evan quips.

 “Dead, hopefully.”

 There’s a playful smirk on his face and it makes Evan feel things she shouldn’t feel about a complete stranger, “Where are you going to school?”

 “NYU-”

 “Wait are you shitting me?” Evan sits up, clutching her chest.

 Harry is confused, “no?”

 “I’m going there too! That’s so cool! Small world, huh?” She jabs his ribs, “so what made you decide to cross the world to come to school?”

 He lets out a stream of breath, it comes out as a low whistle, “...my best friend talked me into it. Wanted something different, I suppose. If I stayed home I’d probably be working in my parent’s little pub. Sold me into the whole big city thing and here I am.”

 “So where’s he?” Evan asks.

 Harry shrugs, “probably at home.”

 “What’s his name?”

 “You ask a lot of questions,” Harry tuts.

 Evan rolls her eyes, “so says the guy who wants to know what I’m thinking because he’s sooo interested in what I have to say,” she proclaims with faux drama.

 “Fair enough,” Harry starts, “his name is Louis. We met really young. He’s a couple years older, already in school. His family lived next door to my parents growing up. Parents split and his dad stayed in England so he’d spend summers with him and the rest of the year here with his Mum. We just stayed in touch over the years.”

 “So you just dropped everything to move to the states and be with your best friend?”

 Harry thinks about it. That wasn’t really the full reason why. It was just his easiest way out of a drone life of working the pub and then it would eventually be passed on to him like it was his to his Mum and surely onto his children after he grew too old to care for it. It wouldn’t have been a bad life. It’d be comfortable, he’d marry the girl next door and she’d work in a shop up the block from the pub and they’d have a comfortable and familiar existence together and maybe pop out a few kids and go on a couple vacations. But Harry had known from a very young age that that was not what he wanted for himself. So the easiest way out was taking Lou’s advice and getting the fuck out of dodge.

 “I guess, in a way. It’s complicated back home but entirely not at the same time. I needed to get away from the constant sameness of the day to day. I needed something more for myself than what life back home could offer me and he offered to help me out and here I am.”

 Evan clutches her chest again and finds the whole thing so goddamn endearing she may burst. She wants to ask him about home and the best friend that she can thank for bringing him here and about a thousand other things but she doesn’t.

 “That’s so bromantic!”

 Harry rolls his eyes, “does that adequately answer your question?”

 She adjusts herself so that her head is resting on his chest. His heart is racing so fast Evan can feel it thump gently against her and Harry flushes and prays she doesn’t notice.

 She does.

 “For now.”

 She lets her fingers tiptoe on the grass around her. A silence has fallen between them (if you’re not counting Harry’s furiously beating heart) and Evan musters up the courage to ask what she’s about to, “so where are you staying tonight?”

 Harry fumbles with his answer, “uh just some like cruddy hotel until uh I move into the dorms. Louis’ mum’s apartment is cramped enough as it is without me there. W-why do you ask?”

 “Can I see it?”

 He chokes on air. Holy shit she really is trying to sleep with me. He blinks once, “uhm sure, I guess.”

 Sunday, March 25, 2018

185 Bleecker Street, Apartment 11A, New York, NY

 “Does this mean you’ve finally grown a pair of balls?” Niall asks, sipping his beer,  feet resting on the edge of the coffee table.

 Harry pushes his legs off his goddamn coffee table and leans back in his seat, taking a last sip of his drink before slamming the bottle on the table, “no, I’m just going to start being honest. I can’t stand seeing her with that human Valium.”

 “They’ve been together longer than you’ve known her, mate. I think you need to just keep your mouth shut and accept the fact that it’s never going to happen,” Louis chimes in, always the voice of reason.

 “If you tell her does that mean you’re going to stop bringing up your overdone sad sap trope every time she’s not around and you’ve had more than two drinks?” Niall pips casually.

 Louis tries his best not to chuckle, “yeah man, it’s kind of getting old. Either move on or tell her. And personally, I vote don’t tell her. Not after this long, and you live together…it’s just kind of sad and entirely too creepy.”

 “Thanks,” Harry seethes, finishing his beer and getting up for another.

 “Where is she anyways?” Niall asks.

 “Out with the Valium,” Harry sneers. He’s four beers in and feeling brave.

 “Bitter, table of one.” Niall mumbles into his beer.

 Louis rolls his eyes and mentally adds another tick to his count of how many times he has to smooth over something Niall says for Harry’s benefit. Just a normal side effect of having one friend with no filter and another who takes everything much too personally.

 “How’s Jordan?” Louis asks, changing the subject.

 Oh, right, my girlfriend. Harry thinks. Well, at least this week.

 “She’s good. We’re supposed to be going on a weekend trip up north to see her parents in a couple weeks. That should be interesting.”

 “You’ve met her parents like four dozen times, what’s so different this time?” Louis inquires.

 Mr. and Mrs. Charles Meyers of Troy, New York wanted nothing more than for their first born daughter to marry the man of her dreams. Harry was not this man. They were old fashioned, made Harry and Jordan sleep in separate bedrooms whenever they spent a night at their McMansion upstate. But a little after midnight Jordan would sneak into the guest room and snuggle up to Harry for a cuddle or a fuck or whatever they were feeling at that particular time. There’s just something about that boy, they always thought. He was smart, well put together, made good conversation, was respectful to their daughter, but Mr. and Mrs. Meyers knew that Harry Styles was not the man their daughter would marry.

 “It’s their like thirtieth wedding anniversary or some bullshit. So everyone is making a big deal about it and Jordan is asking too many questions about ‘the next step’.”

 “...you mean like normal couples do?” Louis fails to see the clear annoyance in Harry’s tone.

 He groans and puts his face in his hands, “she’s just - I don’t know how to describe it. She’s all over me all the time and then I’ll say something she doesn’t agree with and she’ll dump me for two weeks and then just show up at my door like she hasn’t been cursing my existence for the last fourteen days.”

 Niall pushes his glasses up his nose, “poor Harry, can’t get the girl he wants, can’t get rid of the one he doesn’t. Life is so cruel.”

 “Remind me again why we keep you around?” Harry snickers.

 Niall grins, “for the amazing commentary and real life wisdom.”

 “Yeah,” Harry snorts, “that’s it.”

 Thursday, August 23, 2012

St. Marks Hotel

2 St Marks Pl, New York, NY

 Harry wipes his sweaty palms against his jeans and paces the length of the tiny hotel room four times by the time Evan is done in the bathroom. He’d never had a one night stand before, unless you counted the time he lost his virginity to his first girlfriend who then promptly dumped him the next day. Harry liked to think there was no correlation, but he was just a lousy kisser and an even worse lay at age sixteen.

 He sits at the edge of the bed and it let out a squeaking groan in protest. Whoever was staying next door was surely in for a (loud) treat. He ponders briefly if he should play some music to help set the mood or dim the lights or shut them off completely. The blanket he’s sitting on is scratchy and he swears he can feel it through the fabric of his jeans. Finally, he hears the click of the bathroom door opening and approximately five thoughts process through his head at once;

 One, her hair is down, swung over one shoulder. It’s precise without looking like she did it on purpose (she did). Harry notices a small globe tattoo at the very top of her shoulder.

 Two, she’s taller than he thought, standing in front of him as he’s seated on the edge of the bed frozen with fear. He’s eye level with her bust and now he can hear her heart too.

 Three, her skin is a lot warmer than Harry expected. His hand cups her hip, his thumb toying with the bottom hem of her loose fitting tee shirt.

 Four, she smells like a mixture of seasalt and French vanilla coffee.

 Five, he can’t fucking go through with this.

 “I - I’m sorry, I can’t.”

 Harry stands and backs himself into a corner, biting at his thumbnail, shoulders hunched over. Evan takes a step towards him and he flinches backwards.

 “Have I done something wrong?” She asks. She’s on the verge of tears, mostly from the embarrassment of flinging herself at a total stranger she’d picked up at a fucking Diner, and partially because she misses her boyfriend, well, ex now.

 “No, no. You’re fine. I just can’t sleep with you. You’re great, honestly. I just...can’t do it.”

 “Oh my God,” Evan gasps, “are you gay? I’m so sorry, I just assumed - “

 “No! No I’m not gay,” Harry corrects, “not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m just, not. I know I’ll regret all of this in the morning and quite possibly the rest of my life -”

 Evan laughs, loud and breathy. It’s more of a relief than anything. She really didn’t want to sleep with Harry either. Although he was quite attractive and interesting and all that but in a way she thought that sleeping with him would cheapen the night. Having sex with him would’ve given the whole spontaneity of everything less meaning and it took him forcing himself into a corner like a terrified puppy for her to realize that.

 “Come here,” she says, sitting down and patting the space of mattress next to her.

 Harry hesitates, his heart still racing as if she were underneath him.

 “I just got dumped,” Evan starts, and he isn’t quite sure why she’s telling him this, “he said that while we were great together, he had to focus on school and his career and I just didn’t fit into that. So I cried, and went to the Diner, ate my weight in pancakes and now I’m here, with you.”

 “I think he’s an idiot,” Harry consoles, holding her hand in his.

 Evan swallows the lump in her throat, “thanks.”

 “No problem.”

 Silence again, and it’s truly quiet for the first time since Harry had arrived in the City. He sighs and savors what he’s sure are going to be far and few in between moments. Evan yawns and rubs her eyes, it’s been a while since she’s been this tired. She’s been tired since she got to the Diner and the night’s ups and downs just added to her exhaustion.

 “You can sleep here if you want,” Harry offers, “or I can call you a cab if you’re not comfortable with that.”

 Evan smiles, “I think I’ll stay here.”

 Sunday, March 25, 2018

185 Bleecker Street, Apartment 11A, New York, NY

 “Where the fuck is Evan?!” Polly hollers from the hallway between apartments 11A and 11B.

 It’s half past seven and the boy’s show at the bar up the street starts in a half hour. Evan never misses show nights on Sundays and Polly is impatient.

 “Relax, maybe she got stuck in traffic,” Louis rubs her lower back, trying to calm down his girlfriend.

 Polly stomps and puts her hands on her hips, “well then she should’ve called! This is so disrespectful. She knows how important - “

 Louis covers her mouth with his palm, “Polls, it’s fine. I’m going to round up Harry and Niall and we’re going to go across the street to get set up. Meet us there in ten?”

 She nods, her stature loosening a bit when he removes his hand, “sorry, I’m PMS-ing,” she defends, folding her arms across her chest.

 “Yeah, I know,” Lou teases before giving her a kiss on the forehead, “I’ll order us a round and you can get nice and blitzed tonight.”

 She chuckles and smacks him on the bum, “go! You’ll be late!”

 Louis goes back into 11A and Polly can hear the faint sounds of him hollering at the other two to hurry up. Pounding footsteps make their way up the hallway and Polly is half pissed, half relieved to finally see her cousin.

 “Finally! I didn’t think you were going to make it,” Polly snapped.

 Evan didn’t respond and just pulled her into the apartment.

 “Everyone to the living room!” She yells excitedly and Polly rolls her eyes and wonders what the hell she’s doing.

 The three boys come rushing into the living room. Huck isn’t far behind and lets himself into the apartment. Evan steps away from her cousin and clutches onto her boyfriend, excitedly biting her lip.

 “What?!” The four friends chime in unison.

 “We’re engaged!” And she holds up her left hand and shiny diamond ring to prove it.

 Niall stifles a laugh into a cough and Harry plans on getting very, very drunk.

 Sunday, August 26, 2012

Goddard Hall

79 Washington Square East, New York, NY

 It had been three days since Evan parted ways with Harry. They hadn’t so much as shared their names with each other, nor phone numbers nor anything else. They fell asleep halfway into an episode of Friends and Evan left when the dawn of morning came. When Harry finally woke up in the early afternoon, he thought maybe she’d been a dream; a toxic combination of too much coffee, not enough sleep and a brand new city. But when he heard a crinkle from his back pocket and pulled out the tattered paper placemat with her drawing, he knew she had, in fact, been for real.

 He couldn’t wait to tell Louis.

 Move in day at Goddard Hall was going smoothly for Evan and her father, Evan Bosco Sr. After believing for months that their daughter was a son due to faulty ultrasound equipment in Cambodia, Mr. and Mrs. Bosco couldn’t decide on a name for their daughter, so they just settled on naming her what they had intended on naming their son.

 “I think that’s the last of it,” Evan Sr. says, dropping the last tote of belongs on the floor of his daughter’s new dorm room, “want me to help you unpack?”

 “Nah,” Evan replies, “I’ll probably just do the essentials tonight, get a pizza and watch some Netflix.”

 Evan Sr. had a swollen heart, watching his only daughter, his only child leave home for college. Even if she really wasn’t all that far from home. The apartment would be quieter, he’d miss their morning cups of coffee while they split the paper; crosswords and the business section for him, current affairs and comics for her. He’d miss (although he’d never admit it) when he’d have to remind her to pick up her dishes or clean up her room. He’d miss having his partner in crime with him.

 “Alright, if you need anything, just call me and I’ll be here.”

 “Yes dad,” Evan groans.

 “I’m not far. Even if you need to get away from your new roommate -”

 “I’m sure the twelve minute subway ride to get home will really be a daunting when I want to shower in private.”

 He laughs, “where is this roommate anyways?”

 “No clue,” Evan shrugs, “maybe I’ll get lucky and end up with a room to myself. Then you’ll really never see me.”

 “Hey,” Evan Sr. turns the rolling chair from the desk and sits in it, “how about once a week, no matter what, we do something? Whether it’s dinner, lunch, shopping, a movie, doesn’t matter. Deal?”

 “Dad,” she starts, she can see the corners of her father’s eyes twinkling like they do right before he cries, “I’m not moving to a different country, just a different neighborhood. You’ll be too busy living up the bachelor lifestyle in your newly empty apartment that you won’t have time to miss me.”

 Evan Sr. stands and pulls his daughter into a hug. He squeezes her tight and plants a kiss on the top of her head before letting her go and heading for the door, “okay, I’ll let you get to it.”

 “Love you, Dad.” She says.

 Her father waves and yells, “Love you too, my little snickerdoodle!” Down the crowded hallway back at her.

 Evan laughs and closes the door, turning to her empty dorm room. She sighs once and lays down on the uncomfortable twin bed and instantly regrets fighting her father to let her live on campus.

 Somewhere in the middle of the third season of Arrested Development, Evan falls asleep, curled into a ball on her unmade bed. It’s dark in the room when she wakes up a couple hours later with still no sign of her roommate. Maybe I did get lucky and end up alone. She thinks. She plugs in her microwave and whips up some cup noodles and settles back into bed. Another hour passes before there’s a the sound of keys jingling outside the dorm door. After a couple of hushed swears the door pops open and it takes a few seconds for Evan’s eyes to adjust from the brightness of her laptop screen to the darkness of the room.

 When the light flicks on she can’t seem to find the words she wants to say so instead, stares with her mouth agape at the sight of Diner boy standing in front of her. He looks at the piece of paper in his hand, “Evan?”

 “Yeah?”

 Evan scrambles to the move in slip on her bedside table with the name of her roommate listed on it, “I assumed Harry was short for Harriet.”

 Harry bursts out laughing, falling onto his bed across from Evan’s.

 Since they day they met, Harry Styles knew Evan Bosco would take him on the ride of his life.

FIRST AND FOREMOST THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LOVE ON THE PROLOGUE. Holy crap. And all the lovely messages too! I’m so excited to go on this journey with you guys and share all of the shenanigans that this gang is going to get into. 

Until next time!

#fic: oifl #chapter oneeeeee #harry styles #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfiction #1dff

[the-gedonelune-times]

Blossoming Romance

Hello everyone! I come with good news xD firstly, *pops confetti* this blog has officially gotten 20 followers and I think it’s amazing! Thank you guys so much for the support~. Secondly, I’ve finally caved in and decided to write my first Lulias story, I had actually planned to write one a while back and I started it, but I left it unfinished, because I lacked the motivation and I felt that the writing for it was terrible. But I recently found it and decided, “why not?”

So here it is! A short fluffy story for all the Lulias fans out there~ I hope you all enjoy it and as always, comments are accepted and welcomed! xoxoxo

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It was just another ordinary day at Gedonelune Royal Magic Academy, students were packing their things and shuffling to get to their next class. One such student with his prominent look and dignified stance made him stand out among the rest, his blonde hair and violet eyes were a dead giveaway for a certain green eyed girl. who now chased after him. "Hey Elias!" the girl called out while waving to him, he would give a gentle smile and would stand there for a few more moments, watching her push her way through the "zombie" hoard of students.

"You know we are going to the same class together right Nadia? Was there really a need to stop me in the middle of the hallway?" Elias folded his arms as he spoke, watching the girl rummage around in her bag. "As a matter of fact, there is. Klaus wanted me to give this to you." As she spoke, she brought out a note and handed it to him

"I won't be attending classes for the rest of the day, I've been excused from it by your brother." Elias let out a soft chuckle "is he finally taking you on that date you were hoping for?" Nadia blushed softly before laughing nervously "if by "date" you mean having to work until my legs are like jelly, then yeah, I'm going on a date." The girl then laughed and said "see you later" before turning around and heading in the direction of the prefect's office.

Elias then took his leave and headed to his next and final class, today it would be potions with professor Merkulova, which for him would be good news, since Merkulova usually gave a small exam for them to work on. For him, this meant that he could finish rather quickly and use the remainder of the time to read. This thought alone gave the will to smile, but that smile faded away rather quickly when he saw that Luca actually showed up for class.

What on earth was he doing here? Luca rarely ever came to class and when he did, it would only be when Nadia would bring in sweets, or when he knew she'd screw up a spell, so he could tease her. Luca turned to look in Elias' direction, that trademark smirk of his was plastered on his face, Elias quickly looked away, his face was becoming warm as he hurriedly made his way to his seat and waited for class to begin.

"Soo my dear prince how has the day been going for you?" Luca's warm breath tickled his  ears as he whispered "it was fine until you showed up.." Elias then hid his face inside the pages of his Grimoire. Luca let out a sigh and headed to his own seat, which at that point, Elias put his Grimoire on his desk and sighed in relief. He'd never admit it to Luca, but in reality, he was glad he had attended class today, in fact he wished that he'd come to classes more often, but he knew thatit'd most likely never happen.

The rest of the class had went well, until Merkulova had insisted that this particular exam, would be done with partners. Of course, Luca took this opprotunity to pair up with Elias, though, much to Elias' demise, he was the one who did most of the work while Luca stood there teasing him constantly. Of course Elias gave a few hisses of distaste when he'd do that, but the truth of it all, was that his heart would race and his thoughts ran wild when Luca teased him the way he always did.

Students ran out of the classroom as the final bell rang out, leaving only Elias and Luca in the now empty room. "You did really well today Prince, determined and regal as usual" Luca's voice filled Elias' ears as he finished gathering up his stuff, and when he looked up, he realized Luca was right in front of his face, a smirk plastered on his face.

"Don't you know when to shut up?" Elias snapped at him and looked away afterwards "guess not, maybe you should make me" Luca's comment made Elias blush, but luckily his back was turn and his face was hidden from Luca's gaze. "Maybe if you came to classes more often, you'd learn how" Elias didn't wait around to hear Luca's remark, instead, he began to walk rather quickly back to his dorm.

Once there, he tossed his bag aside and flopped down on his bed, slightly groaning. "What's wrong with you? Did Luca have something to do with this, or..?" Yukiya, whom had been silently been playing around with Snow, now spoke up and Elias rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling for a few moments before letting out a sigh. "It was Luca, he actually attended classes today, I guess it justt shocked me a little". "You know...I can see how you act with each other in class, I've seen it a few times, today included.."

Elias pushed himself upwards, allowing him to sit on the edge of his bed, looking directly at Yukiya. "What exactly do you mean by that?" "I mean...you act so differently around him then with others.." Elias scoffed at Yukiya's remark before folding his arms. "I act differently around him because he's obnoxious, loud irresponsible, oh I just...I--" "like him.." cutting Elias off, Yukiya looked directly at Elias. "What?!" "You like him Elias, I can see it on your face and by the way you act around him."

"Yukiya, you're wrong, that's not true at all, there's no way that I like Luca, never in a million years." "keep telling yourself that Elias...but you and I both know the truth. You should just admit it to him or at least admit it to yourself...you shouldn't always ignore that feeling you have. Trust me when I say that next time you see him, you should tell him about what you're feeling. It might make you feel better.." Elias was now silent after Yukiya spoke, he knew that Yukiya was right about it all but there were so many factors that came into play with a situation like this.

"What do I do then? How do I tell him? I don't even know what to say or how he'll react or even how other would react, it scares me a little being unable to see what could happen in the future." Elias could feel tears starting to swell and threaten to fall down his cheek, but his composure remained strong as he waited for a possible answer from his friend. "You could always ask Nadia, she's a girl and she's dating your brother, she's can also see the future, maybe she could tell you how everything will play out?"

Closing his eyes, Elias forced the tears back and let out a sigh "I might go and have a talk with her tomorrow. Thanks for the talk Yukiya, I really do appreciate it" "no problem". Elias had changed into his sleepwear a few minutes later and then lied back down in bed. He was on his side, the wall was the only thing truly in his vision, but in his mind, Luca kept appearing. Elias knew that tomorrow was the day he had to confess to Luca, he had to, because Yukiya was right, if he kept hiding and pushing these feelings away, it'd only make him feel worse. Even now, he felt bad, the number of emotions that were swirling through him, made him just want to scream, but he knew that even screaming wouldn't do much good at this point.

Elias guessed that his thoughts pushed him to the brink of exhaustion, because when he woke up, the sun was shining brightly through the curtains of their balcony door. He grumbled softly and got up, rubbing his eyes, he then looked at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was already nine. "Shit!" muttering under his breath, Elias hurriedly ran to go get his clothes and take a quick shower, he'd never been late before in his life and he wasn't about to start now. As he grabbed his clothes, he could hear a faint snoring and noticed the Yukiya was still fast asleep, oblivious to the situation that was taking place.

"Yukiya!" Elias quickly made his way to Yukiya's bed and began shaking him, "Yukiya, wake up! We're going to be late for class!" Elias heard Yukiya mumbled something under his breath before he swatted Elias' hand away. "Yukiya! I'm not messing around, get up!" Elias' voice became louder as he spoke, which prompted Yukiya, who was still half-asleep, to open his eyes a little and look at Elias. "Why are you yelling..?" "because we're going to be late for classes! So get up!".

"There's no classes today Elias...it's a leisure day, don't you remember professor Merkulova mentioning that during our exams..?" Yukiya groggily asked before pulling his blanket up to cover most of his face. Elias stood there with a confused expression on his face, how could forget something like that? Then it hit him, during their exams, Elias had been so fixated on Luca, that it was possible that he didn't hear Merkulova mention it.

"I'm sorry for waking you then, Yukiya" the only response Elias got out of Yukiya, was more soft snoring, Elias couldn't help but laugh a little at this sight, however, he didn't stay for long. He had let and made his way to the bathroom where he quickly took a shower and got dressed, he then sat down and wrote a magic note, telling Nadia to come and meet him somewhere so that they could talk.

Elias had headed out to the designated spot and was now sitting on a bench out by the botanical garden, waiting for Nadia to come. "Elias!" Elias looked in the direction of the voice and saw Nadia running towards him, she looked almost out of breath when she got to him. "I'm so sorry...I..I had to do a few things before coming here. Plus Klaus' training didn't help much" Nadia then took a seat next to him. "I take it that my brother's training tactics caused much needed sleep loss?" Nadia gave a soft chuckle "yep, but that's besides the point, you said you needed to talk? What's up?"

"I...need help with something, see, what if you have something important to say to someone, what would you do? what would you say?" Nadia tilted her head to side a little before putting her hands together "That's a good question, I guess it'd depend on the situation". "What if it had to do with..um..feelings?" Elias' voice trailed off at the last bit of the sentence, causing Nadia to smile softly. "Well...then I can't help you much then Elias." Elias' expression turned into one of confusion "w-wait, what do you mean by that? Why can't you help me?!" Elias' heart almost dropped to the ground as he spoke.

"Elias.." gently patting him on the back, Nadia smiled "for situations like these, you have to rely on this" placing her hand on her chest, where he heart was, Nadia gave another soft smile. "I have to rely on..my heart?" Elias asked curiously, unsure if this would really help or not, "Of course! Your heart can help give you the answers you seek, but only if you let it help you." Elias raised an eyebrow and looked at her, still a little confused "you seem so confident in saying this..." 

Giving a soft giggle, Nadia smiled at the sky, "of course I'm confident, I listened to my heart and now here I am, an official student of the academy, not to mention my relationship with Klaus has continued to strengthen. So Elias, listen to your heart and I promise that you too, can find the words you want to say to your special someone." This time, it was Elias' turn to smile "Thank you Nadia, I'll keep this in mind. I'm sorry to cut this outing short, but I really should get going, thanks again."Elias got up from the bench and began running to where Luca's usual spot was, leaving Nadia to chuckle to herself before she too, headed out her own way. By the time Elias made it to the old small library, where some student came for quiet study, he noticed a figure propped up against the window. The sunlight poured down on the figure, their sleepy face looked elegant in the sun's embrace, not to mention a lone earring shimmered and sparkled in the light. Elias knew right away who it was, but he refused to say anything, because at this point in time, they were sleeping. Elias couldn't look away though and instead he moved closer to the sleeping figure.

“Is this some sort of hidden hobby of yours prince Elias?" "L-Luca?! N-no!, I just...came here to study" opening an eyes, Luca peered at Elias, a smirk formed on his face and Elias swore that if he kept this up, his face would be red as a cherry. "You came here to a cramped area to study, instead of the massive library? Now do tell me, why you'd do that?" Luca stretched and yawned softly before moving to the end of the couch he was laying on.

"Luca..." taking a deep breath Elias then took a step forward, "there's something that I need to say.." Luca locked eyes with Elias' and crossed his arms, while giving a curious look "what is it?" "I...I um..I well..." "I get it prince, you want me to leave you be so you can study." Luca laughed as he got up and headed towards the door and opened it, but as he was about to step out, he felt a tug on his arm and was then pulled backwards, where he came into contact with a blushing faced Elias. "Luca, that's not it!" "then what is it then?! Why can't I leave?"

Having gone silent, Elias was now biting his lip and had his eyes averted from Luca's gaze "if you have nothing to say then I'm leaving" Luca then slid Elias' hand off of his arm and turned around, only to be pulled in again. "Stop doing that! You can't leave! I haven't even told you that I loved you yet!!" Elias then gasped and put his hands on his mouth. "What..?" "y-you heard m-me, I said I love you, you big idiot.." Elias then bit his lip again and looked to the side, his eyes closed and his face, red with embarrassment.

Luca smirked and gently forced Elias to face him "L-luca what are yo--....!" Elias was unable to finish his sentence. Luca had gently placed his lips against his, causing Elias to close his eyes. Luca's lips tasted like macaroons and he wished he could taste them forever, but Luca then pulled away, leaving Elias not only breathless and embarrassed, but also craving more. "So, that's what you wanted to tell me?" "Y-yes...it's not bad right?" Luca shook his head at Elias' question and then gave a smirk "truth is, I liked you too, I probably should have told you earlier, but seeing you be bold like that, made this all worth while."

"S-so...does..this um, mean e're official..?" Elias looked at Luca as he spoke and Luca smirked softly before stroking Elias' cheek gently and placing another kiss on his lips "does that answer your question?" "m-maybe you should confirm it once more..?" a smile crept on Elias' lips as he spoke which caused Luca to smile in response.

"Anything for my beloved prince" Luca then cupped Elias' cheeks and planted another kiss, one that was longer and more passion filled then the others. Once their lips parted, they headed out of the room together, hand in hand back to the dorms, where Elias even mentioned plans for Luca to come home with him one day during a holiday break. Their love was now blossoming into something big and Elias couldn't be happier.

#fluff #wizardess heart #elias goldstein #luca orlem #lulias

[makeshiftstory]

One Shot Comic Script

(The Silhouette of Rita on the right corner of the panel head turned to the gossiping Stage hands as she over hears the conversation.)

Stage Hand One: You’ve heard the rumor right? That orange one, Eleanor, right? She died during that stage accident six months back. The company that made her made a copy of her as to keep the death a secret. (Lifting stage equipment)

Stage Hand Two: You might be onto something, I mean, this one looks nothing like her, especially with that mask on. (has the side of their face on their hand as they ponder)

Rita: (Rita sighs as she shakes her head) (thought bubble) Well she did die, but she wasn’t replaced. Its a lot more complicated then that...

(The scene transitions to the previous six months as  Rita, Honey pie, Maxwell, and Eleanor before her death are there doing a practice rehearsal. The revenue is empty and the group is alone on this as they practice a new song, a song ironically about a zombie.)

Rita: (Narration Text) You know, back then, if I had known, that song would have been a warning. Things were going well, the music sounded great, I looked great, things were going well until.

Honey Pie: (Stops playing the sound mix as they look up) Guys...did you hear that?

Maxwell: (Stops playing and tilts his head side to side in confusion much like how a dog would do when trying to hear something) Hear what?

Rita: (Disgruntled and annoyed as she puts microphone down as she looks at Honey Pie from where she’s at) Its probably just the theater settling, its old and shit so of course its going to make noise. (She picks up the microphone in a huff and clearly flustered from the disruption of the practice) Come on, lets pick it back up.

Eleanor: (Has her head turned upward, looking for the cause of the sound in the background as Rita is speaking.) Rita I don’t think this is...

(The creaking and craning sound from above is getting louder and audible as something breaks loose, falling down as dictated by Gravity. Right towards where Rita is standing)

Eleanor: (Jumping in the way, pushing Eleanor out of the way, and looking upward as the over head light that broke loose falls right on her)

Rita: (Looking on in horror as the realization hits her as Honey Pie and Maxwell runs over to the accident) El....ELLIE!? 

Rita: (Narration Text) Honey Pie took her pulse and stuff, they said there was nothing. (Image of Honey Pie trying to find a pulse before shaking their head.) That night, we had to take Eleanor home with us as it would have stirred too much commotion with the media and we wanted time to grieve alone with her. (Maxwell picking up Eleanor as the group in mourning heads back) We had agreed on calling in the lab the next morning about what happened and figure out a funeral arrangement. No I didn’t care if this was potentially illegal. (Eleanor in a bathtub full of ice) In the morning, just as we were about to take care of the arrangements, there was Eleanor, eating breakfast and watching cartoons on the television. ( panels of the band get up and ready to arrange things as they head to the living room as there on the couch is Eleanor, alive and well eating fruity pebbles.)

Eleanor: (Looking up to her stunned batch siblings) Morning guys! Nice prank there with the ice, still surprised I managed to sleep through that one.

Honey Pie: (Still in a state of shock) But..I took your pulse..there was no pulse!

Rita: (Ignoring the fact that her batch sibling has pretty much came back from the grave) ELLLLIE!!! Don’t you ever fucking scare us like that again! (She hugs Eleanor tightly much to the very much confused Eleanor’s surprise)

Eleanor: (Still really confused) Um..okay whatever you say there Rita...Guys help me out here..

Maxwell: (Without saying a word just goes to pick up and hug both Eleanor and Rita, thumping his tail during it)

Rita: (Narration Box) We had assumed originally that Ellie was just knocked unconscious and Honey Pie simply made a mistake. Things were normal at first (The first box has Eleanor as her original self enjoying a show on the TV) But as time went on (Eleanor starts to look odd with somewhat longer hair on her antenna and dimming eyes as she lurches on the couch) We knew something was terribly wrong (Unruly hairy antenna, black eyes, uneven hair as Eleanor walks in a weird fashion, making weird ‘bek’ sounds much to the fright of the rest of the batch.)

Rita: (Has her hands on Eleanor’s shoulders) Ellie, we love you and stuff, but, you gotta go see a doctor at the lab. You’re scaring Maxwell over there (Points to Maxwell hiding under the table) and frankly you’re scaring the shit out of me.

Eleanor: (Looks horrible as the corner of her mouth is drooping) Nothing..*bek*...is wrong...I am fine...*bek*...(her head goes land on Rita’s Shoulder)

Rita: (Gets angry/concerned) No you are not! For fucksake Ellie, please go to the Lab! Your mouth is dropping!

Eleanor: (in Denial) No I’m not...*bek* (Goes to scuffle walk back to her room and somehow manages to close the door)

(Rita just facepalms at this as Honey Pie enters the Room after doing the grocery run.)

Honey Pie: (They look up at Rita) So, how’d it go with Eleanor? 

Rita: (Looking tired and annoyed) Not so good, she’s locked herself in. I’m going to call the lab tomorrow and arrange an appointment. (She goes to help Honey Pie with the Groceries) Like we can’t trim the fur off, it like stays for like thirty minutes before it all grows back.

Honey Pie: (Nods as they get out the steaks for Maxwell) Well now, we’ll have to tell Ellie something then to get her out.

Rita: (Rolls her eyes at this) No duh sherlock.

(The scene changes to later that night at home when most are still asleep as sounds of crunching and munching fills the apartment. This clearly disrupts the sleep of Rita as she gets out of bed to investigate ala morning zombie)

Rita: (Walking along the darkened, half asleep) Maxwell...is that you making that noise...go back to bed already you’re waking the entire apartment..(She reaches for the light switch and lights up the kitchen)

(There is a moment of silence as the scene is brought to light. Before Rita is what looks to be like Eleanor. Eleanor’s face is now a skull like base as her head open to reveal sharp, drooling teeth as she shreds into the raw steaks in the fridge.)

Rita: (Understandingly looks horrified and fully awake as she screams) JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!

Eleanor: (Head splits open to let out a banshee shriek right back)

(The commotion wakes up the rest of the batch as Honey Pie and Maxwell enter the scene, Maxwell armed with a mop as Honey Pie is in a state of stunned shock. Eleanor screeches as she climbs up the fridge and onto the ceiling of the kitchen much like a spider would, her head turning right behind her.)

Rita: (Slowly turns to her to face her siblings) ......The lab is out of the question.

Honey Pie: (Looking disgusted) She NEEDS To see a Doctor Rita! Look at her! She’s on the ceiling eating raw meat!

Maxwell: (Silently goes into the kitchen and gently pokes Eleanor with the mop end of the broom to get her down. Eleanor responds by  eating the mop with a hiss)

Rita: (Freaked out) Honey! The Lab might put her in formaldehyde and studied or worse put down! Oh god what if they put us all down!

Honey Pie: (Gesturing) ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? Look at her Rita, LOOK AT HER! SHE IS PULLING A LINDA BLAIR IN THE KITCHEN! MAXWELL LET THE BROOM GO NOW!

Maxwell: (Quietly lets go of the broom as Eleanor goes to shredding it)

Rita: (Covers her face with her hands) Look, we can’t, what if they put her down..its my fault she’s like this now...can we like find a back alley doctor instead? Maybe that’ll work.

Honey Pie: (Looking at the scene going on in the background as they sigh) Fine, you win..but if she eats a person then we are taking her to the lab.

Rita: (Narration Box) We managed to find a doctor to look in at Eleanor, but..I think he’s as baffled as we are. (Image of Eleanor chewing on the medical set with the doctor hiding in the corner) She Eventually got better...I think (Eleanor is back to doing music as a horrible zombie GELF at the apartment) We even managed to find Ellie a good mask to put on to hide her face with too, Ellie seems to like it. (A final image of the current Eleanor as she is today) I want to say we have her under control, but..she likes to ‘escape’ from time to time (Flash forward to today as they freak out over the missing Eleanor as Rita sends Maxwell out to find her with some raw meats at hand)

Rita: (Back to the present as she puts her headphones down as the two substitute musicians arrive to fill in for tonight’s show) Oh thank god you two showed up! I’m really glad that you two can fill in on such short noticed.

Substitute One: (Grins in a cheesy fashion) Hey its no problem at all dude! I’m really stoked to be playing along side you guys, I’m a fan of horror themed music.

Substitute Two: (Looks around a bit as they look over to Rita) So, what happened to the other two?

Rita: (Smiles in the last frame as the next panel shows Maxwell roaming the streets looking for Eleanor) (Narration Box) Oh, Maxwell is taking care of our band mate, Eleanor, she needed some Medicine. (Next panel shows Eleanor, hands and masked face pressed up against the glass.) Eleanor, just wasn’t feeling like herself today.

Eleanor: (Is looking inside of the Florist show as Lucy and McKenzie are working on a floral display for an upcoming wedding, the scene focuses more towards McKenzie as Eleanor just stares blankly) Bek....bek....bek...bek...

Substitute One: (As a chibi face on the Narration Box) I’m sorry to hear that, I hope Eleanor feels better soon. (End scene)

#Dolly writes a Comic Script! #GELFs #FanGELFs #Concept Comic #Background story #TW Death #TW Mutation #TW Zombie #Zombie GELF #Eleanor GELF #Rita GELF #Honey Pie GELF #Maxwell GELF #This was fun to write #Horror comic script

[damnzigers-blog]

an old percy jackson OC fic for the anon who wanted to read it. (Warning, I wrote this when I was 16 maybe so it’s not the level of writing I am at now)

The Ring of Gyges by Carly McCloud, daughter of Hermes

Until now, I always thought the angel and devil speaking in your mind was make-believe. I’m not saying little Carly’s’ were standing on my shoulders, one in a skin-tight red suit and holding a pitchfork and the other in a dress with a little harp. In fact, I probably would’ve preferred that. What I got instead were two snakes arguing in my mind.

           My phobia of snakes aside, I was pissed because they were sent from my father, Hermes. One day I woke up, and heard them whispering – at first thinking I had actually got schizophrenia or something. But of course it was good ol’ Martha and George. The thing is: they would not go away. Martha kept trying to explain that Hermes wanted me to do something while George kept asking me every other second for a rat.

           “How are you speaking to me, anyway?” I had asked.

           “Let’s just say some snake magic,” Martha said quickly, “We just need to make sure you get to where you need to go – without telling anyone.”

           “Where do I need to go?” I asked.

           There was some whispering inside my head. I slammed my head against a pillar in the dining pavilion. I had been given some weird looks from my siblings when I was muttering to myself as we walked to breakfast. I decided to excuse myself after pinching a hash brown.

           “Hermes says you just need to follow our directions. We can’t tell you in case you tell someone else. Please, sweetie, can you just-”

           “Is Hermes there? I’d like to speak with him.”

           The two snakes started making up excuses – which he was busy with deliveries and meetings and there was a really pretty girl he had spotted on a business trip. After getting a really detailed explanation on what my father and this girl did, I told them that if I did what they asked, they had to leave my mind for good. But I would do it in my own time. I figured if I waited it out long enough, they’d leave eventually and move on to some other Hermes camper, and I wouldn’t have to do anything. Sadly it did not work.

           On the lead-up to this miraculous adventure I would supposably have, George and Martha’s voice followed me everywhere I went. During battle training I got a bunch of bullshit advice from George – who kept telling me to use laser mode and shoot Lilly in the face, with Martha reminding him I did not have my father’s caduceus. I got some weird looks from Holiday when she saw me telling George to shut up really loudly during campfire and then the snakes decided they had a sense of humour and played saxophone music in my head when I was making out with Mikhail.

           But finally they made me crack. The two reptiles managed to slither in my dreams and play some kind of weird mash-up of a 90’s show intro, images flashing across my mind of dark caves and Shia Lebeouf yelling ‘Just do it!’ over and over again. I found myself waking up at 5-ish in the morning, on the floor of the Hermes cabin, writhing in pain, gasping for air as I pushed up from the ground in a press up manner, choking.

           “You ready now?” George’s voice asked innocently. I felt like reaching into my mind and strangling him, but I collapsed on the floor. The two snakes encouraged me to my feet, and I dragged my feet over to my dresser, retrieving my armour. I suited up, grabbing things the snakes requested me to. I stashed knives and my boomerang into my belt, pulled the hood of my cloak over my head and grabbed my backpack before stepping out of the Hermes Cabin.

           Despite it being summer, the morning air nipped at my skin. “You happy now?” I asked the two snakes while wrapping my left wrist with bandage.

           “Head to the forest.” Martha was not wasting time. I decided against reminding them that Chiron specifically stated that no campers were to go into the forest alone. I was sure I could handle myself, and heck – I was kind of curious about what they had in store for me. And I didn’t want Shia Lebeouf in my dreams again.

           I crossed over from the cabins towards the outline of trees. The snakes ordered me to head deeper into the forest. The further I got, the thicker the undergrowth and trees got. I was beginning to regret ordering a cloak with my armour each time it snagged a branch or something. Despite me being a total mess and stumbling around like a zombie, still half-asleep and grumbling about how stupid this was – the forest was pretty peaceful. Usually it was loud with large monsters crawling around or Ares campers charging at you with large weapons. But at that moment, I actually felt like curling up under a tree and spending a few hours there.

   The snakes kept ordered me to go left, right, left, left – no your other left! Right, right, oops, I meant left, go back again. Sorry… hey don’t use that language, Carly. You kiss your mother with that mouth? Go left again.

   “You want me to go in there?” I questioned my reptilian tormentors when I came to the entrance of my destination. I was staring down a dark hole, slightly hidden by thick grass. It had a small dirt mound around the sides, much like ant hills. I wondered if I could do the five-year old thing and push all the dirt in and leave when no one was looking, but by the looks of it, that hole was pretty deep.

   “It’s really important, trust me Carly,” Martha said.

   “I’m gonna tell you right here, right now that I don’t,” I snapped, gesturing to the hole, “You want me to go down in a dark hole at 5 in the morning? This is starting to sound like a shitty horror movie plot. Where are the cameras?”

   “We promise nothing will happen to you. You just need to retrieve something in the hole. We’re 60% sure there is nothing down there to kill you.”

   I was about to say I didn’t like the sound of those statistics, but I heard a snap behind me. I whipped around, my cloak brushing up against the brushes and making a loud rattling sound. My eyes scanned the area, but I didn’t find anything too shady. It turned out to be just some satyr dawdling around in the woods with a large cup of coffee. I wasn’t too keen to find out what would happen if he saw me. I wasn’t very high on the ‘good citizens’ list in the eyes of satyrs.

   “60 percent sure, right?” I asked the snakes.

   “65 can be persuaded,” George offered.

   I took a deep breath and looked back into the hole. I decided not to think twice about it as I jump into the pitch black darkness.

   . . .

   The hole was tight. Don’t take that the wrong way.

   It was a long way down too. The dirt turned into mud as I sped down the small slope, and was launched into and underground cavern. I rolled onto my back after grimacing in pain for a second. Blinking away a few tears, I noticed that the cave ceiling was glowing. When I finally got to my feet, I inspected closer and realised embedded into the dirt walls were numerous of celestial bronze items. The hue of the glow wasn’t all that bright, but I managed to make out the size of the cavern, and a tunnel leading off into the distance.

   “Where am I?” I asked the snakes.

   “The camp has tunnels underneath them, you know. Some connect up to the labyrinth – however part of that has collapsed, so you have a good chance of not wandering into there. Another part leads onto the mines the Hephaestus cabin built. The myrmekes tunnelled down here and have huge hordes of treasure left behind after being hunted by the Ares and Apollo cabin,” Martha explained. “That’s where your father wants you to go.”

   “To the myrmekes?”

   “To the treasure.”

   “How big is this horde of treasure?” I asked casually, setting down the small tunnel. I had no idea where I was going, of course, but I guessed if there was only on way to go, that was the right way to go. I had liked the sound of treasure. I’m not as big as a fan of antiques as some of the other Hermes campers, but I knew quality stuff when I saw it. I could almost imagine the mounds of gold drachmas and jewellery stacked upon each other. It would have to be worth a lot.

   “You can take as much as you like, but Hermes only wants something specific,” Martha said softly. I came to a three way intersection and stopped.

   “Well, where now?” I asked, feeling defeated.

   “The way that’s brightest,” Martha replied, “Go right.”

   The tunnels were becoming wider now, however I stuck to one side, and made sure my shoulder brushed against the wall. I wasn’t sure how that would help me if I came across some kind of booby trap, but it felt better than walking straight through the middle. “Is the caduceus losing power or something?” I asked, following Martha’s orders.

   “No. Why?” George’s voice was muffled, as if he was talking with his mouth full. I wondered how he was doing that, seeing as the snakes communicated telepathically all the time. I wasn’t really up for debating how the universe worked in regards to how snakes could talk, and left it alone.

    “I just figured if Hermes wanted me to find him something, it would be powerful. Perhaps a new weapon or something.”

   “Trust me, the caduceus is just as powerful as Zeus lightning rod. We got cell-phone mode. Ever see a stick of lightning with the ability to play Flappy Bird? No – didn’t think so.”

   I walked around the maze of dirt for what seemed like ages. I had no real perception of time down there, so I was counting on my ability to do math. If my calculations were correct (which they most likely weren’t) I had an hour or so to find this treasure and get out of the maze, back to the cabin and ready for breakfast if I didn’t want to get into deep trouble from both Chiron and my boyfriend for being in the forest by myself.

   “Are you sure you know the right way?” I asked the snakes for the hundredth time as I turned another corner which looked exactly the same as the last one. The snakes claimed they knew exactly what was going on, but I doubted it. The tunnels weren’t just horizontal, with me having to go right and left a bunch of times. I had to climb up some slopes, and slide down a few. I was starting to low-key worry about how I was going to get out of this mess. The air in the tunnels was becoming quite thin and hard to breathe as it got hotter.

   I wiped my forehead and came to a slope down. I slid down into another cavern. This one was much bigger and brighter than the first one I came across. The view was breathtaking. Piles upon piles of golden coins, jewellery, goblets and gems sparkled. Amongst the coins and jewels, perfectly crafted weapons laid – some even so beautiful, it looked like Hephaestus himself had forged them. I thought I was going to cry over the sheer beauty, but I didn’t have time for it. I was on a hunt.

   I opened my bag and scraped in as much treasure as I could. The drachmas were invited, but so were the jewellery and gems. I ended up putting a few necklaces around my neck and large diamond rings on my fingers. My bling game was so strong, I looked like I had come straight from the set of a rap music video. I knew my bag was going to be a bitch to carry out of the tunnels, but I filled it up as much as I could.

   Just as I felt I was done, something caught my eye.  

   How it caught my eye, I don’t know. It was just a celestial gold ring sitting on top of a wooden box. But it glinted all deadly like. As I approached it and went to pick the ring up, I knew in the pit of my stomach that this had to be what I was sent for. I felt warm in my hand, and as I clutched it tightly in my palm I felt the sense of a job well done. My small quest was completed – I could go.

   “Okay, which way back?” I asked the snakes.

   There was no answer.

   . . .

   “Guys, seriously.” I heard my voice wobble. I hate to say that I was scared, but I was. They had promised that if I had did what they asked, they would leave me alone. They did just that – I found the stupid ring, and then they pissed off. I really hate snakes.

   I hadn’t noticed at that moment that I wasn’t the only one in the room. Creeping out of the darkness was a giant ant mess that came from Greek mythology respectively. It was only a small one – and by small I mean it wasn’t the size of a car. It was the size of a motorbike, and trust me, that’s a good thing when it comes to fighting monsters. Always find a silver lining.

   I couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed at the Ares and Apollo campers. They had boasted a week ago that they had cleared the myrmekes out of the forests. This one couldn’t have respawned in that amount of time.

   I felt the need to grab a knife or my boomerang out of my belt, but I knew this monster’s hide was too strong for that. I would have to break it open, or have better lighting so I could see the weaker points if I wanted to do some target practice. I grabbed a sword from the treasure pile and backed towards the tunnel the led up.

   The myrmekes hissed – if ant can do that – and raised its pincers in the air, ready to spit acid at me. I dodged out of the way of the largest blob of acid, a few droplets managed to catch onto my arm and armour. The armour was fine, but my skin was not. I could feel it beginning to burn and scab up in a matter of seconds.

   I twisted around and brought the blade down on the ant’s back, cracking open the tough hide. I knew it had to be more on the sword’s part than mine when it came to breaking that shell. I large shard of the hide cut into my forearm on impact. Blood slipped down my arm, off my elbow and dripped onto my armour and jeans, but that was least of my worries.

   The ant reared back in anger, nearly toppling over. I took this chance to bolt for the tunnel exit. I grappled up the dirt slope, struggling to climb up due the weight of the backpack I was carrying. I started to panic as I heard the myrmekes start to climb up as well. A large ant foot pinned my cloak down. I was a goner for sure.

   I heard the ant spray once more, this time catching on my backpack. As the acid ate away at the material, the coins and other treasures poured out the holes. The weight eased off my back and I scrambled out of the hole and into the large tunnel. I took a chance to look back as I was scrambling to my feet to see the ant slip as the coins and jewels poured down the slope.

   Then I ran.

   I was making random turns and guessing my way through the maze. I could still feel the ring clenched tightly in my hand. As I began to slow down, I slipped it onto an already bejewelled finger.

   “Carly!”

   The sound of Martha’s voice made me stop in my tracks at a screeching halt and tumble towards the ground. “What?” I asked weakly, wiping my face with my hand. As Martha and George started apologising – saying they had disconnected because either the tunnel was too deep or they had hit some bad service, I noticed I could not see my hands, or my arms. Or any part of my body really.

   “Shut up,” I told the snakes, to which the immediately stopped talking. I felt for my left hand, and touched the smooth band. Slowly, I pulled it off, and slowly I watching my body fade back. The ring made people turn invisible. I had a feeling I knew where this was going from a movie Mikhail had made me watch – with hobbits and one creepy bald creature.

   “The Ring of Gyges,” Martha sighed in relief, “You might have heard it from Plato. It belongs to the king of Lydia, and somehow, like everything Greek, wound up in America. Your father wanted you to have it.”

   “Why?”

   “It’s always good to have a back-up plan when hunting for treasure. Your father has become more into all the ancient artefacts now that people are uncovering all these old relics.”

   “What?”        "He likes treasure hunting."

   . . .

   Martha and George finally left my head for good once I was out of the tunnels and the forest and headed towards the kitchens. I was so hungry that I didn’t care how I looked at that point.

   Mik was waiting out the front. I guess he was worried when he saw I wasn’t with all my siblings going up to breakfast. He looked like he was going to faint when he saw me rock up to the dining pavilion still in my armour. I don’t know why he would look that way – armour and people covered in dirt and blood was a normal sight at Camp Half-Blood. Perhaps it was because I had no make-up on, or my hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and I had clumps of dirt and twigs sticking out. Or maybe it was because I was still wearing all my bling and he was wondering what kind of stuff he could make with it if he could melt it all down.

   Chiron came out to meet me with the look of disappointment I knew all too well.

   “It’s not my blood,” I promised him and Mikhail.

   “And the jewellery, Miss McCloud?”

   “Not mine either, but I was given special permission to go get it from Hermes. You know, god of thieves and all,” I said with my best innocent look. I began to back away from centaur, “So you know, if you expel me, he might not be happy about that and up the price on envelope stamps.”

   Either Chiron wasn’t bothered to deal with me or really was worried about stamp prices, because he let me go back to the Hermes Cabin to get changed. I ignored my stomach growling for food as I shrugged into cleaner clothes. I had noticed the letter on my pillow, which was signed with my name on it in beautiful cursive handwriting that I guessed was my father’s. It took me a full minute to decide if I wanted to open it or not.

   Carly,

   I thought you could use a hobby.

   -          Hermes.

   That was all he had written, but the note from him wasn’t all that was tucked inside the envelope. Numerous of pages with pictures of ancient artefacts circled in pen and accompanied with maps filled my bunk. Some of these treasures were marked to be in other countries – Egypt, Rome, Greece, Russia, Iran – they were everywhere.

   I wasn’t sure why he had chosen me to go all Indiana Jones. Maybe it was the mutual fear of snakes I had with the fictional character. But he wanted me to go hunting. Not for monsters, like most demigods had to, but for treasure.

   I found some kind of rock and roll awesomeness that he had chosen me out of all my siblings. But was I up for the task? I do like treasure.

   A few weeks later I left a note for all my friends: You will find me in the land of the – you know what, fuck this shit. I’m in Egypt, I’ll send a postcard if I can.

#Hermes cabin #pjo