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dont-call-me-baby-posts · 3 years

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Blacking Out and Breaking Hearts - Chapter 12

Blacking Out and Breaking Hearts - Master List

Word Count: 5.9K

Warnings: N/A

Summary: Y/N is a successful musician, trying to navigate the world of stardom along with her complicated feelings for her best friend, Harry.

Alternatively: The one where you decide to be friends, and you write a song about Christian.

A/N: Inspo for Y/N’s song in this chapter is “Happier Than Ever” by Billie Eilish.

Chapter 12

Y/N Makes Her Return to LA, Spends Night Out with Harry Styles

Everyone’s Favorite Besties Back Together Again!

Y/N Looks Better Than Ever as She Spends a Night Out on the Town

The entire world was celebrating, wrapping you in a warm hug. Twitter was a mess, fans arguing over whether or not this meant you and Harry were together.

'Both of their albums are about to be so good!!!!' You read as you scrolled. It felt nice to be in the loop again, reading through the Twitter Highlight about you on the trending tab.

'someone convince me they’re not obsessed with each other... you can’t.' another person wrote, attaching a photo of you and Harry leaving the karaoke bar last night. You were walking side by side, his hands shoved into his pockets but his arm still brushing yours. You understood why he hadn’t wrapped an arm around you like he normally did to shield you from the cameras. Still, a part of him had been touching you, somewhere, all night. In the photo, you were looking up at him while he was smiling down at you. He was whispering something in your ear about how much fun he had had, asking you about your plans for the next day. You continued scrolling.

'My actual mom and dad!!!!!' someone had typed. You let out a puff of air from your nose.

You rolled over in bed, tangling yourself further into your sheets. You felt fuzzy and content today, last night having gone better than you ever could have imagined. You and Harry had sang, drank, and been happy together all night. He never mentioned his girlfriend, only promising that she was doing well when one of Rachel’s friends brought her up. You, Harry, and Logan had found a fast food place to stop at once you'd left, shoving your faces full of the fatty goodness in a small, sticky booth in the back of the restaurant.

“I’m gonna say it.” Logan announced through a mouth full of french fries. She pointed a finger towards you and Harry across the table. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away from each other.”

Harry looked at you, slightly drunk and confused.

“That’s good, though, innit?” He asked, more to you than to her. He took another bite of his sandwich.

“Mhmm.” Logan hummed, sipping her soda. “I’m glad you guys are friends again because I couldn’t stand another month of Y/N sulking around the house. I knew it would all work out.”

Your face grew warm with embarrassment. Logan was speaking so matter of factly, gesturing sloppily with a hand as she spoke.

“Would you please relax?” You asked her. Your tone was serious, more serious than your best friends on either side of you. Things had been so good all night, and you really didn't want the atmosphere to change because Logan couldn't keep her thoughts to herself. Out of the corner of your eye you could see Harry glance at you, unsure what to say.

“We were always friends.” Harry said. He leant over to bump into your shoulder. “Isn’t that right?”

You forced a smile, nodding at him. Harry and Logan continued talking, reliving the night in exaggerated, drunken detail. Harry joked that the only thing that could have made it better was not having to listen to Logan sing.

“I take it back,” She huffed at him, annoyed. “Maybe I don’t like having you around.”

Harry crinkled his nose at her in laughter. He shifted his leg beneath the table so that his thigh was pressed against yours, his foot nudging itself closer to yours. You let it happen, already imagining all of the things you knew would go through your head once you got into bed that night. Your thoughts were tipsy and dirty, making it hard to concentrate on what was being said around you.

You reflected on the night. Harry was cuddly and affectionate, the way he always had been. The way he was with everyone when he was drunk. You talked about anything and everything like no time had passed, just like you had before. These were all good signs, you thought. Signs that things were going to be okay. Just the same as they were back in April.

You also had to come to the conclusion, though, that your feelings for Harry hadn’t changed, even a little. Your body was still on fire sitting next to him. Your heart still quickened when his eyes met yours. You thought, stupidly, that being away for a while would have changed that, but it didn’t. No amount of time away stopped the wetness from growing in your jeans when he touched your thigh, or grabbed you by the wrist when he wanted you to get up and dance.

That was okay, though. It was manageable. It always had been before, anyway. You would move on eventually, finding someone else who had the same effect on you. Then you and Harry could really just be friends, both of you happy in your own relationships. No tension building between you as hours passed. It was only a matter of time, you promised yourself.

But until then, you would just shove everything down like you always had. You would ignore the way his hands felt on your waist. You would smile politely when he talked about her, and listen to all of the details he chose to share with you happily. You could do that. Right?

///

Harry had a few days off, deciding to join you as you headed to the studio for the day. You weren’t doing much recording today, mostly just listening to a few of the tracks you had finished earlier and giving them the green light. When Harry asked to tag along, you agreed almost instantly, only to panic as you flipped through your brain to make sure there weren’t any songs to approve that were more or less about him. You came to the conclusion that there weren’t any this time around, or that if there were he would be none the wiser. You had been pretty subtle, you thought, in all of your references to him. At least you thought so.

Bethany couldn’t hide her glee, seeing Harry walk through the door after you.

“Harry!” She yelled, bringing him in to her chest. She was wearing a puffy sweater in the dead of summer, a pair of thick framed glasses over her eyes. “I thought I’d never see you again!”

“Hi, love.” He said, kissing her on the cheek. She acted bashful, waving at him before excusing herself to go talk to someone about something that you were sure was important.

“Track 10” a voice buzzed over an intercom. You had plopped yourself down on the couch, scrunching yourself up into the fold of the cushions. No one aside from Logan, Layla, and Max had heard any of the new album, you having played a sample of it on your phone one night in Layla’s kitchen back home. The thought of Harry listening to it, here and now, made yout stomach turn. What if he didn’t like it? What if you had to listen to him pretend that he did? You knew the look he got on his face when he was fibbing. You almost yelled at them to stop the track, thinking maybe this wasn't the best time after all. The realization struck that this was the first time you were hearing this song, too, only having heard it in bits and pieces. It was the final track of the album, and the only one you had written while in St. Louis. You remembered that night, you standing in the shower upstairs feeling small and broken. You were thinking about Christian, about how badly his betrayl stung. For some reason on this night you couldn’t forget the way his hand felt on your face, the way his mouth tasted like liquor. You were angry, angrier than you probably ever had been in your life. You had used the shower as a place to cry since you’d been home, falling into the tub and holding your knees to your chest. You cried so hard you almost gagged, pleading with God or whoever might be up there to just make it stop. You had gone for a drive that night, and for the first time in forever the words just came to you.

And now you were here, months later, about to relive it all. Your entire bleeding, broken heart was in this song. You knew that if Harry didn’t like it, it would be more than devastating. You pulled your sweatshirt up over your mouth, crossing your arms over your chest, hoping Harry wouldn’t look at you. He was standing, arms also crossed, listening intently as the soft guitar started filling the room.

“When I’m away from you, I’m happier than ever…” Your voice began. You hated the way it sounded. You covered your eyes with your hands, not wanting to watch anyone’s reactions. Bethany came to sit next to you, wrapping an arm around your hunched body. She rubbed up and down slowly. She must have remembered the day you recorded this, too, stopping more than once to excuse yourself to cry in the bathroom. She knew it meant a lot to you, and she must have known it was hard to listen to.

“Don’t say it isn’t fair, you clearly weren’t aware that you made me miserable…”

The song sounded good. Better than good. You trusted that the geniuses behind the keys and computers would be able to turn it into something amazing, but so far it was exceeding your expectations. You snuck a glance at Harry, who had his mouth in a tight line in concentration.

The guitar changed suddenly, beginning the second half of the song. Your heart started pounding now, and you really thought you might throw up. Bethany squeezed you again, feeling you tense beside her.

You call me again, drunk in your Benz, driving home under the influence…

You scared me to death but I'm wasting my breath. Cuz you only listen to your fuckin’ friends…

You could see Harry’s muscles tense under his t-shirt. He was realizing something. You thought you could see goosebumps start to rise on his arms.

I don't relate to you, I don't relate to you, no.

Cut I'd never treat me this shitty...

Here it was.

You made me hate this city….

Every part of you was tingling. Bethany’s breath hitched as the beat dropped, and she rested her head on your shoulder. She wiped proud tears away from her eyes. You could feel your eyes burning, too, and you wanted to scream or jump or fall onto the floor and cry. The song was good. It was the best one yet.

You looked, unable to stop yourself, towards Harry. He had squated onto the ground, his face between his hands as the song climaxed. He turned to you, his mouth hanging open. His eyes were brimming ever so slightly with tears. You just looked back helplessly, your eyes doing the same. Harry dropped his head, hands tangling into the hair at the base of his neck, facing the floor as the song continued.

You ruined everything good, always said you were misunderstood…

Harry looked back at you again. The base was thrumming through the room, making your chest pound.

Made all my moments your own….

You stared at him. His eyebrows turned upwards in the middle, his mouth fighting a frown. One tear rolled down his cheek, which he was quick to wipe away.

Just fuckin' leave me alone.

The song ended, after a bit of screaming and thrashing and heavy drums. Now, the room was eerily silent.

“Oh my god!” Bethany was the first one to speak, her body beginning to shake as she let out a sob. She hugged you again, wiping the dampness from your cheeks. She smiled softly, looking at you like a proud mother. You smiled back, feeling embarassed and excited and slightly shaken up.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” One of the men in the room yelled. “Wooo!”

You laughed, feeling relieved. Everyone’s voices came at once after that, all telling you how amazing the record was going to be and that you had truly outdone yourself with this track. Your head was inflating, almost distracting you from all of the memories that listening to your words had brought back.

“Let’s, uh, take a break, shall we?” Bethany asked, standing. She gave you one last squeeze on the shoulder. “Sorry I just need to compose myself for a moment.”

Everyone agreed, slowly dispersing. Harry was still bent on the ground, not having said a word. Bethany stopped in the doorway, looking back at you.

“It’s amazing, Y/N.” She said with a sniffle. “I’m so proud.”

She left, leaving just you and Harry in the room together. Once the door was shut, Harry looked at you again, tears still threatening to descend down his cheeks. He walked over to you, kneeling in front of where you sat in the couch. He pressed you against his chest. His breathing was shallow. You pulled away from him after a minute or two, wiping his cheeks with your sleeve.

“Don’t be a baby,” You told him, smiling to soften the blow. He let out a half laugh, his eyes finally meeting yours. His mouth was still turned slightly downwards, his eyes red.

“I don’t even…” He said before losing the rest of his sentence somewhere in his mind. “That was incredible.”

“Thanks.” You said. You felt embarrassed, uncomfortable with all of the praise.

Harry brushed your hair behind your ears. You swallowed, the skin on your neck burning where he rested his hand. He looked thoughtful and sad and sorry.

“We were thinking of making it a single, maybe, or we might just release it with the album-”

You words were cut off as Harry kissed you, hard. You gasped into his mouth before kissing him back. You didn’t have time to think about it or stop it from happening. Your mouth automatically began moving against his, his lips tasting salty with tears. His fingers tangled into your hair at the base of your skull, pulling you closer to him.

“I’m sorry…” He whispered into your mouth. You wanted him to stop talking, to keep kissing you like this forever without giving either one of you a chance to change your mind. “I’m so sorry.”

You didn’t respond, pulling Harry’s body closer between your parted legs. Your emotions were overwhelmed after listening to the song, your chest aching. It was the only relief you had had in months, feeling his lips on yours like this. You didn’t care what this meant, or if it never happened again, as long as you could have a few minutes to make all the hurt go away. You kissed him desperately, mostly because it was him, but partly because it distracted you from all of the horrible things you were feeling.

“Y/N,” Harry muttered again. You brought your mouth to his neck, letting the way his breath caught in his throat distract you from images of Christian screaming at your across the yard. “Y/N, listen to me…”

You didn’t stop though, returning your mouth to his. Harry couldn’t seem to stop you, greedily accepting the kiss. After a few moments, he spoke again.

“Y/N, listen.” He said, firmly this time. You released him, allowing him to lean back to look at you. You were out of breath, your chest rising and falling desperately. He also attempted to catch his breath.

“I’m sorry,” Harry repeated. You shook your head frantically.

“It’s okay.” You said quickly, returning your mouth to his. He wrapped his arms around you, kissing you deeply as his tongue made its way between your teeth. Your hand came down, pressing against his chest. His heart was pounding under your finger tips. He pulled away again, suddenly.

“I’m really sorry.” He said. You didn’t want to hear it. You liked pretending that nothing had ever happened between you, like everything was the same as it ever was. The way he was looking at you, sad and sorry, made that fact hard to ignore. His voice was breaking again as he continued. “I’m so fucking sorry. I never- I never should have left. I shouldn’t have let him get to you like that-”

He was barely holding it together, his body shaking. You could see it on his face, the way he was blaming himself for everything that had happened between you and Christian.

“You don’t need to be sorry.” You told him honestly. Christian was always evil, and vile, and bitter. It wouldn’t have mattered if you and Harry had never fought, Christian would have found a way to get at you eventually.

“It’s all my fault, isn’t it?” He asked. His face pinched, his head falling down onto your lap. He was crying now, really crying, like you had never seen him cry before. His whole body shook and you looked down at him helplessly, not having any idea what to do. He was letting out broken, strangled sobs into your legs. You forced him to look up at you. You could barely look back, though, the way his eyes were swollen and puffy and his nose bright red.

“It’s not your fault, Harry, it’s not.” You brought him to your chest, whispering all the sweet things you knew he needed to hear. He shook his head against you.

“It’s okay,” You promised, over and over until his body relaxed on you. His forehead was damp with sweat as you brushed the hair away from his face.

He regained his composure, rubbing under his eyes. He sniffed hard.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” He said, embarrassed. You couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“It’s okay.” You said, smiling. “Anyway, that was so long ago I can hardly even remember it.”

You were lying, still able to feel Christian’s hands on your body. Harry nodded though, accepting your comforting words.

“God, how are you expecting people to listen to that?” He asked, laughing. “It’s too much.”

The mood was lighter, though slightly awkward, both of you having gotten what you needed to off of your chests. Harry laid on the couch next to you, resting his head on your lap. You were still reeling though, from the kiss and the song. It all happened so quickly that you could hardly wrap your mind around it.

“I’m sorry for kissing you.” You said, unable to ignore it any longer. “I was just overwhelmed and…”

You didn’t need to finish, Harry turning to look up at you. The tip of his nose was still slightly red.

“You don’t need to apologize.” He said, smiling. “It was an intense moment listening to that, for both of us. Our little secret.”

“Okay…”

Right. "Our" secret. It was more like his secret, though, him being the only one having anyone waiting at home for him. You imagined him meeting her out later that night, giving her a quick peck as he walked through the door. Your secret, being kept safe somewhere locked away in his mind. Never to be mentioned again.

Bethany came back into the room, a tissue waded up in her hand.

“Let’s finish this up.” She said, sitting in one of the chairs across the room this time. You listened to two more songs, running your fingers through Harry's hair the entire time. You traced the shape of his ear with a fingertip. The next two tracks sounded great, and you left that afternoon having given each of them the go ahead. One or two more songs and you’d be ready to release it.

///

You apparently had agreed on forgetting about the kiss. Or at least Harry had decided on it, continuing with the day as if nothing was out of the ordinary. You decided to go shopping, both of you donning sunglasses. You pulled your hood over your head, Harry deciding on the red hat he had been wearing lately. Maybe it was a gift from her, you thought. Maybe that’s why he’s been wearing it so much.

The afternoon was nice, all of the hightened emotions having eventually leveled out.

“You know, I’m not going to sell any albums if the rest of you stuff sounds like that,” Harry told you with a smirk as you entered another store front. You both decided today to ignore the people across the street taking your photographs. Harry usually did anyway, but you would normally have posed or answered questions the way Bethany taught you. But you figured you had been through enough today, wanting to just have a normal, relaxing afternoon.

“When do I get to hear yours, anyway?” You asked him, lifting up a shirt to get his opinion. He shook his head and you placed it back on the rack.

“You can come over tonight if you want to,” he said calmly. “It’s pretty much done aside from a thing or two.”

You heart leapt into your throat at the idea. It wasn’t even about Harry, or the thought or being back in his house after so long away. You were excited as a fan, being as desperate for new songs since self titled came out as anyone else had been.

“I would love to.” You said, trying to sound like it wasn’t a big deal.

“It’s a date then.” He said. He showed you a pair of long, sparkly pants he’d found on a shelf. You squinted at them before taking them from him and adding them to your stack of items.

“You know what I just realized?” Harry asked suddenly, his face falling. “We’ll probably be on tour around the same time next year, don’t you think?”

He was right. Your albums were coming out almost back to back, which would put you both leaving for tour within a month or two of each other. “Yeah, probably.”

“Damn.” He said. “I probably won’t see you then, for a few months.”

It was like he was testing you, watching you carefully to gauge your expression.

“That’s gonna suck.” You said simply. It’s how you felt, though, imagining going another few months only hearing Harry’s voice over the phone or in a video someone took at a concert.

“Yeah.” He agreed.

A few lazy hours later, you and Harry hopped into his car. You left yours behind at the studio, asking Bethany if she could have someone bring it back to the house at some point that evening. Harry’s car smelled familiar, like vanilla and leather.

“I’m getting kind of nervous now, actually.” He admitted to you as he pulled away. You tried to ignore the cameras pressed almost right against the passenger window, trying to get a shot of you and Harry talking. “I don’t know if I can compete with the songs you played for me today.”

“I’m sure they’re amazing,” you said honestly. The sun was just starting to set, painting everything around you pink and orange and a soft light blue. You looked at Harry, who chewed nervously on his lip as he drove. “I mean it, Harry. You’re the biggest popster in the world, you have no reason to be nervous.”

“Stop inflating my ego,” he laughed, throwing a quick glance your way. “I actually really am nervous about this one though. I just have a lot to prove.”

“Well, not to me you don’t.” You said. He tried to surpress his shy grin, biting his cheek.

///

“Maybe we can just watch a movie instead.” Harry said as you sat, patiently, cross legged on the floor. He was pacing back and forth, making sure you had a glass of water and a blanket and a snack to avoid sitting down and playing you his songs as he had promised.

“You know you don’t have to play them for me.” You said, slightly disappointed but not wanting to make him uncomfortable. He shook his head, a lose curl falling onto his forehead. He brushed it away.

“No, I want your opinion actually.” He said. He sat down next to you, fidgeting with the threads fraying from the holes in his jeans. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous.”

He laughed anxiously. He looked adorable, nervous and small. His cheeks were soft pink like the sky outside.

“I’ll go easy on you, okay?” You said with a nudge.

And with that, you were one of the first people on the face of the earth to hear Lights Up. Harry sat the entire time, eyeing you continuously. Next was Canyon Moon, then Treat People with Kindness.

“Please just one more!” You begged as the final notes sounded. You had laid out on the floor, staring at the ceiling as you listened. It reminded you of the first time you heard sign of the time, alone in your bedroom watching your ceiling fan spin in circles. You almost forgot Harry was there, becoming so wrapped up in the music.

“If I show you any more there won’t be anything new to listen to when the album comes out!” He said. He was grinning ear to ear, appreciating the compliments you’d been hurling at him the entire time.

“It’s seriously so good, Harry. So good.” You insisted.

“Really?”

A shy grin played on his face.

“Yes really.”

You had sat up, facing him. There was a quiet settling over the both of you, feeling warm and comfortable.

“So do you have any plans for the rest of the night, or…”

“We should talk about earlier.” Harry said suddenly. He cocked his head to the side, looking at you tentatively. “Shouldn’t we?”

About earlier…

“We could maybe…. Not?” You said, only half joking. He cracked a smile but you could tell his mood had shifted.

“Look, it’s not going to happen again. Seriously.” You told him. And you meant it, at least you thought. You felt embarrassed and stupid and small. You wanted to point out that he was the one who had kissed you in the first place, and really you had just gone along with it. You were always so quick to take the blame for him, though.

“Huh?” He asked, shaking his head. “No, not that.”

“Oh. What then?”

Harry rubbed the tip of his nose with his finger.

“I just feel like we never really got to talk, about everything that happened.”

What more could you say about it? You furrowed your eyebrows at him, your face looking upset and confused you were sure. Your mouth tugged down at the corners.

“I feel like we did.” You said simply. It was only a matter of time, you supposed. But why couldn’t he just leave it? Why did he have to keep trying to fix something that you could just push down and ignore instead?

“Not about us, Y/N. We.. we have that figured out for now. I mean, we never got to talk about you, really.” Harry was in a fit of nerves now, making you nervous yourself as you waited to hear what he had to say.

“I asked you that night what happened with Christian and then it all just went wrong and-" he rubbed his hands on the front of his thighs, his expression twisted with guilt. “And I never asked if you were okay.”

“I’m fine.” You said. You weren’t sure how to feel. More than anything you were annoyed, ready to bury the topic forever.

“No, Y/N. You might be okay now but you weren’t okay when you left. And I was so worried about my own feelings… I should've checked in on you. I should’ve made sure you were alright.”

You sat in stunned silence. You had never held any of it against him. You let is all go, so easily, because it was easier than being hurt. You worried that he might start crying again, knowing that you wouldn’t be able to handle any more tears from him today. But he seemed okay, clearly upset but more concerned with hearing what you had to say.

“You told me what happened and I was just so angry when I should’ve been worried. I should’ve put all of our problems to the side and just… I don’t know. I should have tried to comfort you, or something.”

Harry had begun picking at his fingernails. You couldn’t find any words so he just kept talking.

“And today I heard that song…” he chuckled lightly in disgust, rerouting his train of thought. “You know what’s fucked up? When you came back I really thought we could just move on, and I figured if you weren’t angry at me anymore we could just forget it all but-“ he cleared his throat, his voice becoming slightly hoarse, “but I heard that song and you just sounded so sad. And I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I couldn’t keep pretending like I hadn’t done anything wrong.”

“It’s just been eating away at me, I guess.”

You wanted to go to him, to straddle his lap and hold his face in your hands and tell him it was okay. You weren’t angry at him, not anymore. Not even a little. Not even a bit.

“I know what I did was wrong. I know I shouldn’t have freaked out when you turned me away that night. I shouldn’t have moved on so quickly. I shouldn’t have worn your shirt or ignored your calls or waited until something happened to come back. I know that. You have to know that I know that. But letting you walk away when you were hurting so badly… I can’t forgive myself for that, I can’t.”

You couldn’t take it anymore. You couldn’t take the way he was berating himself, tearing himself down in every possible way. It was killing you, watching Harry destroy himself like this.

He tried to speak again but you stopped him, putting up a finger to quiet his rambling.

“Harry I left LA because I needed a break. I was tired and I just needed to get away. You couldn’t have stopped me from going.” You began. You weren’t sure if that were the case, though, wondering what you would have done had he showed back up the morning after begging you to stay. You had so much to say to him now that the seal had been ripped off. “But when I saw you with her, it felt like getting run over with a truck. I felt so betrayed by you, Harry.”

He nodded acceptingly, his mouth pulled tight in a grimace.

“But I ran away instead of trying to talk to you. That night, I just thought that it would be better for us if nothing changed, and I didn’t realize how badly that would hurt you. And I’m sorry for that. But then to have you ignore me and act like I never mattered at all… how could you do that to me?”

You waited for him to respond. Your voice a threatening to crack as you spoke, and you needed a explanation for him before you lost control. He blinked up at the ceiling, taking a deep breath.

“I was hurting and I guess I wanted you to hurt, too.”

There it was. It was personal, after all, the way he was flaunting this new girl around. You couldn’t help but understand where he was coming from in some twisted, sick way. Harry spoke again.

“By the time I realized how badly I’d fucked up I didn’t know how I could fix it so I just.. Didnt. I wanted to call you, to tell you how sorry I was but I was afraid. Then everything with Christian happened and I couldn’t just sit back and watch.”

You knew he had good intentions when he’d called you that day, the afternoon after it happened. You knew that. You thought about the irony of it all, about how quickly you would have forgiven him if he had come back any sooner. He was afraid of being turned away again when you would’ve sold your soul just to be near him.

“And then I saw you, and you looked so cold. You should’ve seen the look on your face Y/N, it killed me.” He paused, searching for words. “I showed up that night and I wanted to be there for you. But then we started arguing and you were looking at me with this… this blank look on your face. You still looked so beautiful. You're so beautiful. You're like a sunflower.” This is where his voice finally broke, his head turned toward the floor, “I could see the way you saw me in that moment. And it was just… it was impossible not to be hurt all over again. You were so close, and I just couldn’t have you.”

“You could have had me, Harry..."

You sounded pathetic. You knew that.

“But that’s not even important right now, Y/N. Not really. What I’m trying to say is I should have forgotten about all of it and just made sure you were alright. And I didn’t.”

It stung, hearing him say all of that wasn’t important. But you knew what he meant. You thought back at how lonely you had felt that day, how hollow and broken you were and desperate to be held. You just wanted someone to care, or to tell you it would all be alright. You needed him.

“It’a not your fault, Harry.” You promised. “You can’t blame yourself for what Christian did to me. You can’t do that to yourself, I won’t let you.”

The way he cried at the studio that morning, the way he had tried telling you over and over how sorry he was, it all made sense now. You hated how messy everything had gotten, so mixed up and confused. It all seemed so pointless.

“I’m not mad at you, and I don’t blame you for anything. I’m fine now. All I want right now is to have you back. To have us back, the way we were before.”

You finished your speech, out of breath and hoping for the best. Harry looked at you like he wanted to say more, but didn’t.

“The way they were before?” Harry asked. In his words was another apology, and a desperate plea for you to accept it. You nodded.

“They way they were before.” You agreed. He took your pinky with his in a promise, kissing your finger to seal the deal.

You had thought before that you’d let it all out, that you’d ironed out all of the details and dotted all of the I’s. You knew now that things had never really been wrapped up, no conclusion ever being made until now. And it felt good.

“Great.” He said to you.

“Yup.” You said.

The air hung thick around you. Seconds ticked by as you both contemplated what that promise you'd made meant.

“Anyway,” Harry said in an exaggerated fashion, cutting through the tension in the room. “What’s your mom up to tonight?”

“Harold!” You gasped. He shrugged his shoulders, a smug grin on his face. You couldn’t help but smile at him.

“I guess we'll have to call her and find out..” You gave in, pulling out your phone. You’d been meaning to call her, anyway. Harry was quick to take the phone from your hand once she’d answered, walking off into the house as he chatted with your mom about all of the things he’d been up to since April. He asked her about her tomato plants she’d mentioned breifly the first time they’d talked. His voice trailed off as he headed toward the guest room (“her room”, he’d said), your moms familiar laughter trailing behind him.

KEEP READING!!

#Harry Styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles au #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut #harry styles fic #harry styles angst #fanfic #fine line #tpwk #solo harry #lights up #harry #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x reader #harry styles x you #blacking out and breaking hearts #love on tour #hslot

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thetriggeredhappy · 4 years

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sniperscout week day 2 ft. trying to format and play among us at the same time

Day 2: Meet Cute

@sniperscout-ship-week

The Sniper looked up as the doors swung open, a gaggle of people moving through them, some towards waiting cars, some towards the parking lot, some towards the line of taxis waiting outside. He scanned the crowd, trying to spot any of the distinguishing features he’d been told about, sifting through the visual of various men in suits and women in skirts and dresses and elderly folks and small families until finally his eyes landed on one sole man, standing with his back straight and his eyes nearly shielded entirely from view by a baseball cap emblazoned with the logo of some American sports team or another. Baseball, maybe?

He scanned the line of cars, sweeping back and forth a few times, until that pair of narrowed eyes finally swept far enough to one side to land on him. A blink, a visible brightening of his posture as the kid gave him a brief up-and-down, a goofy grin.

And damn, kid really was the word to describe him. He looked like he could be in his late teens, practically, even though gossip around base was that their newest teammate was somewhere in his mid-twenties. And he wasn’t particularly muscular, at least not from what Sniper could tell, and the way he moved as he walked over was so casual, nothing like the walk of their standard hired killer. No glances over his shoulder, clearly not strapped, probably not even carrying a knife, just walking straight up to him.

“Yo, uh,” he opened with, and his tone was easygoing enough, voice louder than expected, “are you uh, that guy that Miss... Pauling, right? That Miss Pauling sent?”

He looked at the kid. “Just get in the van,” he said flatly, and stood up to move around to the driver’s side.

By the time he opened his door, the kid had just popped open his own, looked a little nervous. He was tapping a little rhythm into the door with his fingers. “Uh, pretty sure I heard somethin’ in school about not gettin’ in random dudes’ vans, at least once or twice,” he half-joked, glancing around the inside of the van. “Especially dudes who might, y’know, maybe be armed.”

“I’m definitely armed,” Sniper deadpanned, buckling his seatbelt. “I’m also the one driving you to the base. Now get in the van.”

Somewhere between him sticking the keys in the ignition and checking his left mirror, the kid got in the car, buckled his seatbelt, deposited his bag at his feet, and kicked his feet up onto the dash. He was working on rolling the window down by the time Sniper glanced over the check the right mirror, tapping a rhythm into his own leg now. Quicker than he’d expected. He took mental note of that fact. “So, uh,” the kid said, leaning to look back out the window towards the doors of the airport, “is that Pauling lady not gonna show up? She driving separate?”

“She’s at the base,” Sniper said, trying to figure o it what accent the kid had as he pulled out of the line of cars. East Coast, he knew. What was that city called?

“Okay. So are you one of those dudes I’m supposed to be workin’ with? Because she kinda mentioned that I’m gonna be on like a team with people but she didn’t name any names and she said she’s not on that team, so are you one of those guys or are you just kind of a paper-pusher too? Or do you drive full time maybe? Weird that they’d give you a freakin’ camper-van for that, like, what if you gotta drive a couple people at once, you could get maybe two other people in here, or is this not a camper-van? Is it like, weapons and shit in the back? That’d be pretty sweet—“

“Sniper,” he cut in.

“Huh?”

“I’m the Sniper. On the team,” Sniper said, still mentally trying to catch up with what all the kid was saying. “We’ve all got titles. Don’t use real names. Got yours yet?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m uh—“ He stopped to fish through his bag, coming up with some half-crumpled papers, squinted at them. “Uhhh, the uh... Renconin—no, uh, Reconescent and—and Scouting Specialize—uh, Specialite—no, wait—okay, y’know what? Scout. I’m the Scout.”

He wondered, brow furrowing, if the paper was too crumpled to read, or if the jostling of the van was throwing him off, or if the Scout just couldn’t read. “Awright. Scout it is,” he shrugged.

“Hell yeah,” he said cheerfully, sifting back comfortably in the seat again, tossing the papers back down with his bag.

The question was burning a hole through his tongue. “How old are you, exactly?”

“Twenty-three,” he said, and out of the corner of his eye Sniper could see that he was making a face. “And yeah, yeah, I know, look way younger than that, whatever, but it’s totally true. Practically twenty-four, even! Birthday’s only two months out.”

He side-eyed the man, but decided to drop it. Apparently, the Scout didn’t.

“What about you, huh?” he prodded. “Probably like thirty-five, right? Forty?”

“Late twenties,” he said dryly, not particularly wanting to get specific.

“You’re kiddin’!” He leaned over the gearshift to elbow him in the upper arm, and Sniper tensed up at it. “Hey, it’ll be nice havin’ a younger guy around, huh?”

Sniper stared out the windshield and didn’t make eye contact.

“So what’re the rest of the guys like? They cool?” he prodded further.

“We get there in half an hour, you’ll meet them yourself.”

“Yeah, but it’d be nice to know what to expect, y’know?” The kid started fishing through his bag for something. “Any of ‘em Australian like you?”

“No,” Sniper said, voice flat. He paused for a second. “Few Americans, few Europeans, a Russian, one person who we aren’t sure about. Think they’re all at least mid-thirties, oldest nearly fifty. And none of them would be this patient with your bloody badgering, so I’d recommend being a little quieter once we get there. Already I’m about three questions away from leaving you on the side of the road with a map and making you walk.”

The Scout laughed, as if he was joking, and leaned forward to fiddle with the radio, eventually finding a station that was playing music and cracking the tab on the can of soda he’d apparently had in his bag. It was mostly quiet the remainder of the drive.

“Badgering, you said.”

“Did not,” Sniper mumbled.

“You absolutely did!”

Scout managed to roll over onto his front without elbowing Sniper in any soft tissues, the tiny camper-van bed making any maneuvering at all a bit of a challenge, looking up at him with that goofy grin he’d become so familiar with.

“Still annoyed about my badgering?” Scout chirped.

“What do you think?” Sniper drawled, fighting to hide the little upwards tick of the corner of his mouth that always gave him away. From the little huff of a laugh that Scout gave, apparently he didn’t quite manage it.

“What was your deal, anyways?” Scout asked, shifting a little to get more comfortable. “Like, even knowin’ you a little better now I’m pretty sure you had to be in a pretty bad mood that day.”

Sniper exhaled, trying to stretch his memory back that far. It had been a few years by then, and admittedly, his memory was a little fuzzy. “Wasn’t exactly thrilled about the growing trend of me being the team driver,” he said, reasonably sure that was accurate. “Especially such a long drive.”

“Would’ve been a shorter drive if you’d gone over the speed limit,” Scout mumbled.

Sniper shot him a look, albeit with an undercurrent of amusement. “We’re not having this argument again,” he deadpanned.

“No, for sure we’re not. It’s just funny is all that you still use your turn signal in the middle of the open freakin’ desert with no other cars around—“

“Awright, if you’re gonna get on my case for being a safe driver—“

“We’re mercenaries, Snipes, Jesus Christ, what’re they gonna do, pull you over? Are one of the dozens of cops that don’t fuckin’ exist out here gonna pull you over? It’s so ridiculous, why wouldn’t you just speed up—“

Sniper leaned in and cut him off with a firm kiss on the lips, and the second Scout processed it he was leaning into it, argument almost instantly forgotten in lieu of trying to get an arm up over Sniper’s shoulders. When they parted again, a few seconds later, Scout’s grin said that he’d effectively forgotten what they were just talking about.

Or he’d figured, anyways. Because after a few seconds of looking at each other, Scout spoke. “Badgering, you said.”

Sniper picked up the pillow from behind his head and shoved it in Scout’s face, making him squawk in indignance, and tried his damndest not to smile. Unfortunately, that trick hadn’t worked for quite some time.

#sniperscout #speeding bullet #tf2 #team fortress 2 #shut up me #my fanfiction #remember in meet the director how sniper canonically was the one to drive miss p and the director to the base #what if he's just like. the team driver #thought that would be funny

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catflowerqueen · 3 years

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With the resurgence of interest in Hiveswap given the upcoming sequel, as well as me finally playing Friendisms, there’s something I’ve been curious about:

I wonder how much Alternian society changed with each new heiress? Based on some of Xefros’ dialogue, as well as some things that were mentioned in the dreambubbles, it looks like the Empress and heiresses had a lot of direct impact on the culture—what items were available, different trends in advertising, etc.—sometimes by actual, imperial mandate. So with people like Trizza and Meenah, who are very “in your face” with their personalities and actively promote themselves, you see a lot more interest in things like social media, consumerism, fashion trends… stuff like that.

In comparison, Feferi doesn’t really seem to get out as much. Truel, she was a little younger than Trizza is, or at least she seemed to be—it is still a little unclear how old trolls actually have to be for the Maturation trials, but apparently trolls like Xefros and Dammek were nearing it, and they seem to be around the same age as Joey—who is clearly early teens. I mean… sweeps are longer than years, so even if Dammek’s trials were coming “next sweep,” that would still be 2.5 years away or so, which IS a lot of time for growth, since that would put him around 15ish for the trials. But even then… while the Beta trolls did discuss a little bit about their future plans in their introductions and before they entered the game, there was none of that “this is actually impending and coming really soon, time is running out” feel like you got from, say, Skylla’s route?

Anyways… point is, even if we factor in Feferi’s youthfulness, her personality seems to be more… not introverted, exactly, but more oriented on behind-the-scenes planning type stuff? She isn’t really putting herself out there much, is what I’m saying, and she seems to be more focused on safety/fortifying the ranks, as it were, and making sure her mother is appeased over everything else. (And now that I think about it, she actually has a lot in common with her niece [technically, via adoption. And ancestry. Sort of] Joey, as far as animal care and the like goes. Kind of). I’m not entirely sure anyone outside of her friend group even knows she exists, actually, which leads me to wonder about troll society and culture, now that there’s a void where Trizza was.

Now, maybe this is a relatively new thing. Perhaps it’s because Trizza was so out there and public, that Feferi felt the need to hide. Maybe her mother told her to do so because of however Trizza died. Perhaps because Trizza was so influential on the population, Meenah tried to give herself more of a presence than she typically would have when it comes to Alternian youths. Karkat mentioned soda like Tab… maybe that was a relatively new development—Meenah’s response and push-back on the brand Trizza promoted. Who really knows.

Beyond that… I have to wonder what forces are at work when it comes to the maintenance and implementation of all the technology on Alternia. Some of it is probably the kids, sure, but we know that adults do sometimes deal with them directly, even if not necessarily in-person. Those adults the lusus bandits were working with? Or the fact that the Grand Highblood apparently communicated with the churches a lot (though, admittedly, that could be an outlier because of just how weird and complicated the purpleblood caste is). Things like the libraries or clubs… the structures surrounding the mall on Polypa’s route… someone has to be maintaining those structures through each successive generation of children. After all, it isn’t as though the kids take it with them when they go into space. And stuff like movies—it was at least heavily implied that those were created by adults.

But at the same time… it doesn’t look the kids and adults share their internet services or forums (beyond adults probably monitoring them to look for signs of rebellions), so you would lose giant chunks of culture and things just to people going off-world. Like—their accounts would probably still be around and accessible, but nothing new would be uploaded. So unless you had a lot of mentoring situations going on, you probably wouldn’t get a whole lot of lasting, impactful influencers or ideas for subsequent generations.

Which is probably part of the point, as far as quashing rebellions go, but…

It just makes me wonder how extreme the generation gaps would be among the new young adults on the ship, what sorts of culture clashes you would get since the majority of adults wouldn’t be able to access what the kids are doing, to keep up with any new trends or ideas. Especially ones started by the heiresses.

How much loyalty and confusion would there be when the trolls who grew up under the effects of Trizza then made it to the fleets, where Meenah rules? Wouldn’t you see more rebellions happening immediately after enough young adults were finally old enough to join the fleets?

Maybe weeding them out is part of what the trials are about. Or the fleet is big enough that it would be easy to spread them thin.

Going back to an earlier point about Meenah, though, and her possibly increased influence on Alternia while Feferi was growing up…

It is entirely possible that, had the Game not happened and Feferi had continued to remain more-or-less out of the wider social loop… or I guess even if she had, assuming Meenah kept up the presence she was curating… that the trolls of Feferi’s generation would have less of a cultural shock upon joining the fleet (at least as far as actual social aspects, trends, and popular products goes) simply because Meenah was promoting herself both on the Alternian Homeworld and the wider fleet. There would be more familiarity, at least.

And I really do think that’s what she was doing during the period that Homestuck was taking place, since Karkat and the others seem far more aware of the Empress and what she does and likes than what the Friendism/Hiveswap trolls do. Sure, they are aware an Empress exists… but they only really mention being glad she’s busy far away, whereas they actually talk about Trizza by name and act like she’s already ruling everything.

Anyways. Just some ramblings to think about.

#homestuck #hiveswap #friendsims

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arcticdementor · 3 years

Link

Right now I’m in Europe. But I spent the last month living in a hotel room in Chicago visiting friends and family. I didn’t necessarily want to live in a hotel room. I wanted to get an Airbnb like I always do when I travel. But Airbnb are more expensive now. It’s part of the larger unraveling going forward of the urban person’s utopia. Cheap Ubers, cheap Airbnbs, all subsidized by these large companies to get you hooked. Those days are over. Taxis and Hotels are the same price or even cheaper now.

…

I’m reminded of the early 2000s, a different time where TV was a platform to mock people. Remember "Hoarders?” It made fun of sick people so the audience at home could laugh and be shocked. It was very sad watching those people not being able to part with stuff that seemed so irrelevant. They had a whole catalog of addiction shows back then. Shows where you were supposed to laugh at fat people or midgets starting a family.

I work on the computer. It’s easier to keep my home clean than it is my browser. Most psychic pain comes from constantly feeling crowded at the edge of my browser with 20 tabs open I’m not using. Claustrophobic. I’m at the edge of the browser using one tab. Should I close the rest of my tabs? Of course. But sometimes I don’t.

The information contained in one of those tabs could eventually lead to a domino effect that could change your life

…

The downside of the hotel is you’ll never find a decent gym. What you’ll see mostly is machines. Sometimes you’ll see free weights up to 30Ibs and you’ll never see a barbell. I previously wrote about the benefits of using a barbell for real naturalistic weightlifting to stress the skeleton and release osteocalcin. Exercise machines artificially track motion allowing endless repetition of the same movement without the use of the entire body. How much of your skeleton and muscles activate when you lift a rock over your head vs using a strength machine.

You’ll rarely find free weights in a hotel gym and never a barbell.

Why?

The intolerant minority rule is at play. People that prefer free weights and barbells will use machines. But not the other way around.

The same rule applies to parties and alcohol. Once you have ten percent or more of women at a party, you cannot only serve beer. You must serve wine. All men will drink wine but at least 10 percent of women will not drink beer. So you end up just choosing wine for the party and use one set of glasses.

…

It is worth being alert to the intolerant minority rule because it is everywhere. In this article I’m going to go over some places where you can see it. But first, what is it?

What happens when 95 per cent of people are indifferent, but 5 per cent of people prefer something else? The minority wins. Taleb wrote a classic piece on this phenomenon. Society doesn’t evolve by consensus, voting, majority, committees, verbose meeting, academic conferences, and polling; only a few people suffice to disproportionately move the needle. Once an intolerant minority reaches a tiny percentage of the total population, the majority of the population will naturally succumb to their preferences.

There was even a recent study by Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on the Intolerant Minority Rule

…

The disproportionate ubiquity of certain foods can be explained by this effect. Pizza is a hugely successful food not so much because it is loved but because nobody hates it. By contrast, take fish or steak, in any group of five or more people, there will always be one who doesn’t feel like eating fish or steak: their lone veto will prevail, and everyone will end up eating chicken. Chicken being the most agreeable meat. There’s even minority rules inside of minority rules, with cheese pizza being the option people will agree to eat over pepperoni or sausage.

Perhaps one of the reasons Lamb never made it big in America is because its the opposite of the chicken. It isn’t a consistent meat. Highly variable. You get wildly different tastes depending on how you cook it, prepare it or store it.

…

The implications are interesting when you think about it. Most human systems — language, morality, religion — evolve based on a passionate and organized minority. The reasonable majority rarely if ever drive any movement.

Moreover, outcomes are paradoxically more stable under the minority rule —the variance of the results is lower and the rule is more likely to emerge independently across separate populations. As long as the majority is ambivalent or tolerant, the status quo will remain.

As Nassim Taleb pointed out when he spotted this phenomenon, the intolerant minority rule can prevail in many areas. Schools where only 5 per cent of the pupils are Muslim will keep halal kitchens, because it is assumed non-Muslims can be served halal food whereas Muslims will eat nothing but.

…

Take a look at every soda bottle you buy. It’ll have a kosher sign on it. Maybe even half of the food you purchase has this logo. Why? Because you don’t care if food or drink is kosher, but Jewish people care. And so the companies make their products kosher compliant. Minority rule means that we all drink Kosher soda because it’s easier to make all lemonade Kosher for the small % that require it rather than having kosher and not kosher.

…

Let’s start with one example of the Intolerant Minority Rule that most people don’t realize.

The asymmetry: Smokers can be in smoke-free areas but nonsmokers cannot and will not be in smoking ones. One is tolerant. The other is intolerant.

The non-smoking section of restaurants and bars actually appeared very late. Entire private establishments would be open to smoking. The movement to separate smoking from non-smoking happened in the mid 1970s. That was when the first reports of lung cancer and smoking became established. You could even smoke on an airplane back then. It was only after an airplane crashed, killing 123 people in France due to a cigarette left burning in the bathroom did the first non-smoking sections appear on airplanes.

…

Given the historical links between smoking and drinking, it is not surprising that “family restaurants,” many of which sold no beer, wine, or liquor, were among the first to create non-smoking sections. Denny’s announced in 1977 that it would devote 25% of its dining areas to non-smoking. It was not long before Victoria Station, Red Lobster, Bob Evans, and many other chains joined the trend. Big city restaurants, on the other hand, lagged behind.

Numerous restaurant owners who disliked setting off non-smoking sections complained it hurt their business in a number of ways. Non-smokers tended also to be non-drinkers and didn’t come out as much on weekends, thus leaving empty tables in the non-smoking area while the smoking section was full and the restaurant had to turn away impatient patrons. Likewise, the non-smokers had lower check averages.

#paul skallas #substack

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feistypaants-archived · 4 years

Text

False Positive [Chapter 2]

Rating: M Words: 2001 Pairing: Kristanna Summary: When things don’t go according to plan and Anna finds herself alone and pregnant, she looks to her sister’s best friend, Kristoff, and almost makes a huge mistake.

[Chapter Index]

Where To Read: [AO3]

Notes: This is taking on a life of it’s own. Thank you to @frozenwritingcorner for talking me through my panic about it lmao rip our sleep schedules.

Enjoy!

Anna woke up laid out on the couch, her head pounding, and the television quiet, but still on in the background. She looked around, memory of the long, long day quite hazy, but the important things still stood out to her. She was pregnant. Hans wanted nothing to do with her. Elsa was going to disown her. Kristoff…

She sat up quickly, looking around before spotting a scribbled note on the coffee table. Sniffling and wiping at her eyes, Anna reached over to grab it before blinking a couple times to clear her vision.

Had to head down to work. Call me or stop by the bar if you need anything.

- Kristoff

Sighing and placing the note back down onto the table, Anna dropped her chin into her hands. What was she going to do? Hans was probably right. She couldn’t do this alone. There was no way. She was just a child herself, freshly twenty-one, and so, so naive. She had no marketable skills. No experience with anything, really. She had met Hans when she was still in high school and just imagined that that would be enough…

Anna laughed to herself, frustrated that more tears were coming. Her only aspiration in life was to find love, have a family, and be a mom.

She supposed at least part of it was happening for her. But what guy would want to be with a young girl who already had a kid? That was so much responsibility to take on when you were in your early twenties and casually dating. No one would even give her a chance after this.

Maybe…

Scratching at the back of her neck, Anna moved to stand. She knew this was a terrible idea. Knew she’d probably regret it. Knew tricking someone into loving her was a mistake and probably made her a horrible excuse for a human. But she was so desperate to not be alone. And he wouldn’t ever leave her alone. She knew he was too good, too kind, too perfect to be bad.

And she used to have feelings for him. Maybe she still would if she hadn’t met Hans. Maybe she and him would have connected at some point. Maybe they still would. He was the best man she had ever known, and he treated her with such warmth…

Anna sighed, and headed back to her room to change. May as well take advantage of some of her skimpiest party clothes now that she was single and about to blow up like a whale. If it got Kristoff to look at her differently, that wouldn’t be so bad either.

So she got dressed, did her hair, and her makeup (maybe trying her best to look older and less like the kid sister), got into her car, and drove as quickly as she could to Oaken’s Pub a few minutes down the road. Kristoff was the main bartender, and she knew he’d be there, but she hoped to open her tab with someone else.

She didn’t need him noticing she wasn’t actually drinking.

Taking a few deep breaths before she headed inside, Anna smoothed the short, emerald green dress around her thighs before swinging the door open. The pub definitely wasn’t a party spot, but enough young professionals drank here that she was sure she’d garner at least some attention tonight. She wouldn’t act on it, of course, because she was here with a mission - and when brown eyes turned to her, fumbling with the bottle they were previously focused on pouring, Anna realized this might be easier than she thought.

When his attention turned back to the customer who was confused as to why he spilled part of their drink on the counter, Anna took advantage and moved quickly towards the other half of the bar that was being tended by his younger apprentice, Ryder. “Hey, Anna,” he grinned, wiping a spill off of the counter. “You look fancy.”

Anna pushed her hair over her shoulder before sitting up at the bar and setting down two hundreds, sliding them across the wood discreetly. “No alcohol tonight, okay?”

His fingers touched the edge of the bills, eyebrow raising. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I’m going to order vodka tonics… but I don’t want any vodka in them.”

“But-“

“You can charge me full vodka price, I don’t care. But do not,” she emphasized, tapping the counter hard. “Put any alcohol in them. Okay?”

“I’m-“

“Okay?”

“Geez, okay!” Ryder threw his hands up in defeat, before rolling his eyes and pouring her a glass of just tonic water. “Here’s your,” he slid the glass across the table and threw up fingers making mocking quotation marks. “Vodka tonic.”

“Can you not be so obvious?” Anna gripped the glass, annoyed that Kristoff was coming towards them before she had the younger bartender sorted, and her eyes darted between them anxiously. Ryder shrugged it off before snatching up the bills and turning to acknowledge Kristoff, who only had eyes for Anna.

“What?” Kristoff laughed, leaning up against the bar beside Ryder. “Am I not good enough for you anymore? Want some young, new flair on your drinks?” He was definitely a bit more old fashioned, but he never felt threatened by new trends that came up. In the end, classic would always win out.

Anna laughed uncomfortably, scratching behind her ear and taking a sip of the bittersweet soda. “Oh, you just seemed so busy…” she lied, biting at her perfectly colored lips. “And I figured this one here could use some practice.”

“Oh yeah,” Ryder mocked, throwing his hands up. “Vodka tonic. So challenging.”

Kristoff rolled his eyes and threw a towel at the other man, jerking a thumb behind him. “Looks like Sir Duke of Weasels over there has had a bit too much again. Can you handle it?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

Ryder walked off and Anna watched him with stressed eyes, hopeful that she could nurse this small glass long enough for him to come back.

“So,” Kristoff started, smiling as her eyes snapped back to him. “When I left you were snoring on the couch. What’s all this about?” His hands gestured up and down her figure, causing Anna to blush as his eyes followed suit.

“Oh,” she laughed, leaning back slightly to give him a view of the whole dress and just exactly where it landed on her thighs. “I figured maybe I could get a date.” His eyes rose slowly up to hers, something she couldn’t place etched into his features. “... Rebound.”

Kristoff clicked his tongue, nodding, before pressing his lips together. “Gotcha.”

“Okay, judgey.” Anna raised the glass back up to her mouth, not missing his gaze flickering to her lips as they wrapped around the thin straw.

“M’not judging,” he frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “Just…”

Anna noticed a man looking at her from the other side of the bar and smiled, giving him a tiny but flirtatious wink, hoping it would do exactly what she wanted it to.

“Concerned,” he finished, dropping a coaster down in front of her. “Can you use this, please?”

Anna blinked a couple of times down at the coaster before noticing he was walking away, a new tension in his shoulders that she hadn’t ever seen before. But as soon as he was gone, the man from across the way was sitting beside her, his elbow on the edge of the bar and a smile crossing his lips. “This seat taken?” He asked, propping his cheek against his fist.

Pressing her lips together quickly, Anna turned her attention back to the stranger. “It is now,” she giggled, twisting her hips to let her bare knees brush against his. “Anna,” she smiled, holding out her hand.

In the end he was cute, funny, nice, and many other positive things, but Anna knew why she was here, and even though the man whose name she could not remember for the life of her had given her his number, she had no intentions of ever contacting him again.

Besides, Kristoff had waited on him, and Anna couldn’t help but notice that he had been placing his drinks down just a touch too hard, a fraction too far away, in what seemed like attempts to make the stranger look a fool. Whenever Anna laughed at something he said, Kristoff would make a little more noise. Whenever she leaned in closer, he would shove another drink or some food, or something in between them.

And when the guy’s hand dared to rest above her knee as she told him a story, his drink was conveniently knocked off the bar by a clumsy hand and a towel.

“Oh, jeez!” Kristoff howled, sarcasm evident on his face. “Sorry about that, man!”

“What the fu—“

“My bad, my bad.” Kristoff came out quickly from behind the bar, before smacking a hand onto the other man’s back. “Let’s get you cleaned up!”

Anna couldn’t help but laugh, biting down on the straw of her third drink. She was pretty sure that worked exactly how she had wanted it to. Too focused on the hollering that was coming from the bathroom, Anna didn’t notice Ryder come up to her.

“Wow,” he sighed, pushing his hair back from his forehead. “Kristoff’s like, never that clumsy. Wonder what’s wrong.”

She jumped slightly in her seat before turning back to face the younger bartender. “That is strange!” Anna said, dropping her glass back down to the table. “I wonder if maybe he’s not feeling the best?”

Ryder shrugged with a twist of his mouth and returned back to work, waiting for Kristoff to reemerge. They both watched the bar patron leave in a huff, a towel wrapped around his waist in an undignified manner, and Kristoff followed behind, his entire face looking smug.

He sat down beside Anna, leaning his elbows against the bar. “Ryder, I’m done for the night. I think it’s slow enough for you to handle it on your own.” His eyes flicked to Anna as she propped her chin in her palm, eyebrow raised at him. “And bring me like, four drinks.”

They sat in silence for a moment before Anna sighed. “So.” She smiled when he looked at her. “What was that?”

He shrugged and placed his palms flat on the bar as a double shot of whisky appeared in front of him, his focus immediately returning to the bar and the drink. “You can do better than that guy.” He took a sip of his drink, sucking his lips against his teeth, and turned just his eyes back to her. “If you’re going to rebound, make it worth it.”

“Kristoff.” Her voice was tight, unsure of him, and she leaned forward, her hand sliding softly along the edge of the bar. “How do you know he wouldn’t have been a perfectly good option?”

He laughed, his hand brushing her fingertips as he leaned back in his chair. “I’ve worked in bars for many, many years now.” His nose scrunched up slightly, as if he knew this next part was a bit distasteful. “You start to learn which guys… are satisfying the women they’re picking up.”

Anna’s eyes widened, and she pressed her lips together again. “What are you saying?”

“May as well…” he knocked back the rest of his drink, swallowing hard and tilting his head to the side. “Pick someone you know will… help. Someone who will actually make you feel better.”

Anna hesitated, knowing this little comment would either get her exactly where she was hoping to be, or ruin everything completely. “Are you,” she breathed, leaning forward and laying a firm hand on top of his thigh. “Suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” Her heart was racing and she was certain he could hear it, but she made herself stick to the plan.

He shrugged, rolling his shoulders back with a small pop, before turning his head to look her dead on.

“Only if you’re accepting.”

#feistypantswrites #FPfic

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antics-pedantic · 4 years

Text

RALLY CO. #4: THE GATE TO WITHIN, PART 2

“It’s not unlike the one we saw the Golden Shadow’s puppet body use some time ago.”

Solomon tapped at the gate with his cane once more, before taking a greater analysis of the stone arch. It had recently been donated to the Century University archaeological department, with special instructions to allow for a space and equipment, only to be utilized by Solomon himself as well as his approved charges. And it helped that Solomon had collected the spare stone arch pieces from Morocco that were intact, adding them to this gate.

“But of course, old friend.”

There stood a construct of rounded form and malleable clay. Humblest among ancients was the kindly Blockhouse, as children came to call him. Born from the dawn time magicks that filled the volatile, young Earth. Though by no means a magician, Blockhouse saw fit to aid his longtime friend in understanding this occult mechanism.

“Yes… it could still work. Lead us to where that cad departed in Morocco, Solomon. I can feel it still working, if a bit muddled by the action…”

Solomon snapped his fingers.

“Splendid! Help me to organize it proper, chum. I’ve a feeling it’ll be needed soon enough. Have you a guess as to the realm it might take us to?”

The clay construct shrugged.

“There is more than one realm to be had. Modern science has not explored this frontier. It may be too perilous to properly chart.”

“For now, Blockhouse. For now. Until then, let us make the most of what the university has been gracious enough to loan us, eh?”

“Aye. And any thoughts as to our anonymous benefactor?”

Solomon took a moment to turn away and wipe the smudges from his glasses lenses with a cloth.

“None welcomed. Not right now at least.”

And as the two set to work, the rest of Rally Co. set about town in the meantime, leaving behind the campus, and the roadster parked by the science building. No shortage of familiar art deco architecture in this city: More than anywhere else Arcadia, Maryland had boasted more than just a trend. The whole city was stylized carefully as per the wish of some dreamy-minded visionary.

Katrina had insisted on picking up fresh groceries: They hadn’t been to Morocco for too long, but the psychic girl was wary of the produce back at Solomon’s place. A fine excuse for Solomon to grant them some pocket change to stop by a new pharmacy: Mostly since it boasted a soda shoppe.

“Oi, jerk.” said Tycho. “Gimme a tall glass with a few scoops!”

“Tycho! That is most rude.” gasped Katrina.

“Eh?! They’re all called soda jerks.”

“Still. Perhaps say the ‘soda’ part so as to… to differentiate? Yes?”

“I gotcher, dear! Now c’mon and try one o’ these. Nectar, it is, I tells ya!”

Ez picked up a few things from the actual pharmacy, that she would need later for her lab work, before joining Felix outside.

“Any errands you’ve got there, private eye?”

“Mmm?”

Felix turned to face the other woman.

“Ah, none come to mind. I should really make a list… Katrina tells me all the time that it would help me remember things.”

Ez however, rolled her eyes.

“Confound the lists, I’ve no need for such things.”

“Really? Then what’s that sticking out of your side pocket?”

“Oh! An arrangement of the names of items on paper.”

“So a list? To remind you of the important things?”

“Getting smart, are we?! And what science are you going into, hm? How’s about I introduce you to the sweet science?”

Ez playfully punched Felix in the arm before the two laughed it off. That is, until a man in a long coat and hat, with a greying handlebar mustache bumped into Esmerelda.

“Ach! Verzeihung!” apologized the fellow. “Esmerelda darling, I’ve not seen you on campus in some time. We are missing our favorite bio-chemist extraordinaire.”

“Mueller, wasn’t it?” said Ez. “Felix, this is Mr. Mueller. Ruprecht Mueller. He’s volunteered to accompany some of our foreign exchange students around town. I’ve been reporting to him as a promise the science majors from his university in Sweden are all in good health.”

“Charmed.” said Felix. But when she offered a hand to shake, she noticed something, and instead fixed her ponytail.

“Apologies! I am buying some night medicines to help sleep properly. I tell you both, the shifting seasons… they are a nightmare upon allergies! Haw haw!!”

With that, Mueller bid his farewell and Ez turned to glance at Felix.

“What’s wrong? Scrunching your nose at his cologne?”

“No, strong as it was—along with that loud laugh of his, I noticed one of his purchases went beyond personal medicines and included chloroform. For those students you mentioned both looking out for? Some experiment of theirs?”

“Ruprecht isn’t on the approved faculty to handle restocking.” said Ez, starting to get suspicious as well.

“What’s say you and I take guard duty at the university tonight?”

“I don’t imagine the security guards will object to having Rally Co. take over some of their duties.”

Later that night, the whole group was on the university campus. Tycho and Blockhouse were in the roadster with the hood up, playing some card games to pass the time. It had been a dull stakeout thus far, but the two were determined to see it through.

“Got any kings?” said Blockhouse. Tycho might have said ‘go fish,’ but found himself startled when there was a sound from the car’s portable radio set.

“Felix here. Tycho? Blockhouse?”

Blockhouse took up the radio microphone and offered it over, giggling as Tycho snatched it from the construct’s hand and spoke.

“Ye ye, we’re ‘ere.” grumbled Tycho, fishing for a pair of binoculars. “Gimme a sec here, the last few sweeps haven’t turned much up—eh?!”

“What is it, Tycho?”

“I see yer lad now. Not on the sidewalk, but the light’s gone on in the gate room! He’s damn near evaded us I’ll bet he has.”

“Alright, we’re going in. See you there.”

Tycho shut off the radio for the time being, scrambling out of the roadster. Blockhouse shifted his shape slightly on the way out, as the two entered the building.

“When will Solomon take my advice about a new car?” said Blockhouse.

“We’d have to total his current ride, and for that we’d get some new wheels—and surer deaths.”

“Oh bother.”

They reunited with Felix, Ez, and Katrina, the three of whom had reached the room and found no trace of anyone. The gate had not been tampered with either.

“Still begs the question of who turned on the lights.” said Felix. Just then, as she was about to search more of the room, she had moved out of the way of a stray stapler: On the ground, scurrying away on all fours was none other than that boastful mercenary, Duke Luke!

“Lemme at that blight!” exclaimed Tycho. “We can figure how he got back here afterwards.”

“Wait hold on—” said Ez. “This fink’s real shaken. Blockhouse, grab him!”

“I should be so delighted, to make him ready for questioning.” responded Blockhouse, taking up Duke Luke by the back of his jacket like a kitten by the scruff after the mercenary started swinging a yardstick at him. But before any questioning could occur, the door into the room opened and a piece of metal gleamed under the light.

“Ruprecht Mueller!” gasped Ez.

“Midnight tidings.” Said Ruprecht, leveling his pistol. “I don’t know about your clay guardian, but if the rest of this motley bunch are meant to survive, you’ll not make a move against me until I’ve given you each a ‘bedtime wishing’ with my handkerchief. Ah, and thank you for bringing Mr. Luke ahead of schedule: he’ll be joining me through the gate momentarily as my guide.”

“You’re aware he’s gone through?” asked Felix. She noticed Duke Luke starting to get antsy in Blockhouse’s grasp.

“Our agents are always watching, miss. Keeping tabs on the most particular of interests.”

With his other hand, Ruprecht moved to a table to soak a rag with the chloroform he’d bought earlier. Felix nodded to Katrina, who nodded back in response and began to focus her telekinesis so that the bottle would slip from Ruprecht’s grasp. Just in that moment, Duke Luke slipped out of his jacket, and ran for the door.

“You can’t make me go back!” cried Duke Luke. “I won’t! Not to that hell!”

Ruprecht fired his pistol off. Duke Luke had stumbled, the bullet shooting a gas valve at one of the tables. In a mad bid to escape before any of Rally Co. could catch him, Ruprecht produced an amulet from his coat pocket, quickly activating the stone gate. Once he felt he was in a safe enough distance, he tore off part of his handkerchief and stuck it into a bottle—not the chloroform, but rather something more flammable.

“He’s gonna toss towards the broken valve!” screamed Duke Luke. “We’ll be blown to smithereens!”

As the bottle flew through the air, Ez grabbed Katrina and dived for the gate. Felix and Tycho were not far off. Blockhouse took special care to toss Duke Luke in with them, before shielding the open gate with his own enchanted form.

“BLOCKHOUSE!!—”

But before Blockhouse could speak, the explosion went off. It tore into his back, causing him to cry out in pain. And then the gate ceased its portal, separating them at last.

“Blockhouse!”

The clay construct was in a daze. The room around himself was charred and blasted. Solomon had made it into the room alongside a handful of firefighters. The two made it back to the roadster where Solomon kept some extra enchanted clay in the trunk. Just enough for the construct to absorb if he had taken sufficient damage.

“Are you well, old friend?”

“Yes… of course Solomon. I have weathered worse.” sobbed Blockhouse.

“What is it? The others—they went through the gate didn’t they? Safe from the explosion?”

“Aye… But I fear we have lost them a great and terrible distance Solomon. If only I’d stopped those mad fools Luke and Mueller. We’d all be safe here, and the university science building intact.”

Solomon looked to the window of the room his charges had just been in not so long ago. He trusted them to fend for themselves if need be, but he hated to leave them without guidance.

“I’ll keep trying to reach Katrina with my telepathy if I can. Let’s see if we can salvage the gate and go after them.”

“Stow it, old man. You’re not the only one on this trail.”

Solomon and Blockhouse were astonished by who they saw before them now: Descending from a perch atop some street lamp came The Junker!

“I believe I’ve found… just the thing. But listen well or I’ll set about this alone.”

Solomon wanted to say a million things. Pertaining to other things, to the matter at hand. To argue that Junker wouldn’t have come here if he could handle this by himself, to apologize for some secret dealings in their shared past.

But for the sake of the others, that had to wait.

“… Hello again, Blockhouse.” said Junker. Somewhat more warmly, fonder than he was used to.

“I am glad you are well, my friend.” said Blockhouse, as he stood up once more, hoping to mediate for the two before him. “Lead on once again.”

Tycho had never quite seen anything like this. After some trudging around through various tight tunnels, Rally Co. had happened upon more of a valley area with some sections of lush greenery that felt not unlike a tropical locale. And right now he was behind cover with his friends, as Mueller—an agent to some unknown party, be it an organization or an agency of some nation, was shooting at them, and dragging the panicking Duke Luke away. He loaded up his impellet gun, and rose from his cover with a battle cry, offering returning fire. Once Felix and Ez had drawn theirs they could outgun the older man, not just skirmish with him.

But then came a responding roar. An ear-splitting bellow that announced the arrival of the terrible lizard: Like the tyrannosaurus rex, but unlike it. Perhaps a little larger, some features different. Rather, this was the T-Rex’s mutated descendant. An inhabitant of the subterranean world. And it was currently barreling right for the group!

“Cheese it, gang!” exclaimed Ez. She pushed Katrina and Tycho forward first. She and Felix pelted the beast with a barrage of impellets. The force of the rounds was a nuisance to it. And while the tranquilizer chemical was taking effect, it was occurring too slowly for an adventurer’s taste. At least, an adventurer that had some greater value for their own continued existence.

A mortifying sort of miracle occurred at least then: As a giant centipede emerged from above, scaling a side of the stony Earth before extending outwards to begin using its dreaded crushing parts of the mouth: The mandibles!

“Ply my trade, I says.” huffed Tycho. “Follow in dear old dad’s footsteps me says. I don’t think anybody outta the cryptozoology department anywhere’s got any entries on those horrors!”

Felix was out of her league, to say the least. Even in their first adventures thus far Rally Co. had the advantage of operating within Arcadia or Morocco, Paris once (to help pick up some things and sell off Katrina’s old apartment). This was more the explorer’s game, less the investigator. But Duke Luke was out there with knowledge on the Golden Shadow’s business. And she was still designated leader without Solomon’s expertise to defer to. Everyone was counting on her—and she’d start slowly by giving Katrina a pat on the back. Ez and Tycho still kept their cool for the most part…

Dieter Leistung had been running for as long as he could remember. He could have sworn he’d ran into a mirage some time ago. After all: What kind of name was Duke Luke? It was almost enough to distract him from this subterranean world that might just have been hell itself, the likes of which no mortal could thrive.

“Halt, damn you!”

Dieter heard that before the click of the pistol’s firing hammer. He turned to look at Ruprecht, who had Duke Luke standing just a step in front of him. And the strangest thing happened.

“… Ha! Hahaha, ha!” cackled Ruprecht. “Of course you found another gate and used it! I’d expect nothing less from one of Arkavalia’s sharpest minds.”

But where Ruprecht knew him, Dieter did not. In fact, he was afraid of this fanatical appreciation. This recognition of service.

“I do not believe we’ve met, Herr?...”

“I’m Agent Mueller, brother Leistung. We will have need of your mind… to make sense of this place. Its secrets, and to form the network that will give our country the world!”

#Rally Co. 4 #Web Fiction

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connorssock · 5 years

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Hungry Eyes

@anuninterestingperson I was your pinch-hitter for the @dbhevents Secret Santa! I��ll also pop this on AO3 when I get a moment, but for now, I hope you enjoy it!

Hungry Eyes

Running a burger shack was fun. It wasn’t in the slightest what Connor had planned to do with his life. He’d had aspirations for Michelin stars and being a culinary sensation. Everything he’d done growing up was work towards the grand plan of opening his own restaurant with Nines as his maître d’. Of course, like all best laid plans, it went out the window as soon as he was in culinary school.

There was no joy in serving small portions for extortionate prices. Catering to the whims of the obscenely rich who could only complain when the tartare of their hand dived scallops was the wrong shade. It drained him, made him wish for simpler times when the most he had to worry about was getting orders out quickly and efficiently. Connor took pride in his food and knew that what he made tasted good. Even if the colour wasn’t exactly the same as the one shown on the menu. In his opinion there was no difference between a buttermilk cream and sand dollar cream but his head chef begged to differ.

What Connor did find pleasure in was watching people take the first bite of something they really craved. The closed eyed bliss that came with the explosion of flavour followed by satisfied munching. Simply the knowledge that the people who ate his food left full and happy, that’s all Connor wanted.

It wasn’t a conversation that was easy to broach, Nines had been steadily working his way up from a simple waiter in a café to something a bit more refined. In his spare time he was learning French, Spanish, German and Chinese to try and be able to keep up with the highflyers of the world. Connor’s heart broke at the idea of making all his hard work go to waste simply because he couldn’t hack the life of a chef in a distinguished restaurant.

“Thank fuck for that,” Nines had sighed when Connor finally confided in him with teary eyes.

Rather than get angry, Nines pulled out his phone and opened up a few tabs. They were all for food trucks, how to get a licence for them and where the best local places were to sell them. Connor looked over them with wide eyes as he took it all in. How Nines knew this was coming was beyond him but he was infinitely grateful.

After his final year in culinary school, Connor graduated with a wide smile. He was picked up from the ceremony by Nines in their new truck which garnered a lot on sneering looks. Connor regally waved from the open window in the back of the truck until they were all out of sight.

They made their truck work. Nines served customers while Connor was flipping burgers behind him. Their regular plot ended up being near the airport and Nines’ language skills came in more handy than either of them had ever really imagined. It wasn’t uncommon to hear him laughing with a German family before seamlessly switching to Japanese for a businessman. Which is why Connor turned around in surprise when he heard him rather coldly say: “we don’t serve your kind here.”

“Oh come on man, I just want a burger to tide me over.”

The man standing by their truck had silver hair, was a little portly and Connor couldn’t help the little gasp when he recognised who it was.

“You’re Hank Anderson.”

“Guilty,” came the reply. “Now are you going to take my money in exchange for a lousy burger or not?”

Pride flared up in Connor’s chest and his nose scrunched. Back when he’d been in the full fever of having a restaurant, he’d dreamed of having Hank Anderson come to critique his food and getting a coveted four and a half star review. Nobody ever got five stars and Connor wasn’t so deluded to think he could buck the trend, but he aimed for four and a half. Now though, he looked at the man, took in his tired eyes with dark bags under them, hair a little greasy and unkempt. It was a world away from the photos in magazine and the one attached to his regular column.

“I can deal with him,” he stepped away from the grill and took Nines’ spot with a small smile. “What would you like, Mr. Anderson?”

“Cut the crap. Just give me the greasiest, cheesiest burger with extra bacon that you can muster up.”

“It doesn’t actually cure hangovers but I’ll get right to it,” Connor nodded.

He heard Nines scoff off to the side but paid him little attention as he got out a burger patty, some bacon and a mushroom for good measure.

A couple of minutes later, he was passing over a burger heaving with filling, grease making the paper transparent.

“Would you like anything else, Mr-”

“Hank. No Mr. anything please. And a chocolate shake would be amazing with this.”

Connor turned to Nines with a pleading look which got an eye roll in return but at least Nines turned to the machine and began to violently throw the ingredients in.

“Bad day?” Hank asked.

“I could ask you the same,” Connor smiled at him.

Food and drink handed over in exchange for money, Connor watched the man walk a little further away to one of the standing tables.

“If he dares slander us in any review…”Nines growled behind him.

His eyes were narrowed in hostility at Hank and Connor swatted his arm.

“Play nice and he might even come back.”

“I really really hope not,” Nines rolled his eyes but immediately plastered on a smile when he saw someone approaching their van.

A few weeks went by and Hank was all but forgotten in the rush of work. Tired travellers clutched their orders while those excited to be on their way happily chattered while they waited. Connor was in the middle of flipping a burger when he heard Nines’ voice.

“You again?” It came out as a low hiss and Connor turned.

He could help the smile that tugged at his lips when he saw Hank leaning against the van. At least he looked much better, there were still dark circles under his eyes but his hair was cleaner, held in a small ponytail while his clothes were a little less rumpled.

“Hello again, Hank,” Connor couldn’t help but wave a little, forgetting his spatula was still in his hand. “Same as last time?”

“Please,” Hank nodded. “They’re flying me down to Texas today, I figured anything would be better than food on the plane.”

“I’m glad our livelihoods rank so highly in your revered opinion,” Nines spat and Connor shook his head.

“Look, kid,” Hank sighed, “if you’ve got a problem with me then have the guts to say it. But I highly doubt I’m the one in the way of your deluded daydreams of doing something better than working in some grubby burger van.”

Connor put his spatula to the side and shouldered past Nines to lean over the counter.

“Mr. Anderson,” his voice was cool and measured, “this may come as a shock to you but we’re happy with our van, it is what we wanted to do. I studied at the Institute of Culinary Education for three years. If I wanted to, I could be slaving away, making tiny portions of food for equally tiny minded people in an upmarket restaurant with my brother as my maître d’. But we chose this, it makes us happy. So if you wish to continue your patronage, I would strongly suggest you keep your unsavoury opinions to yourself. Now, would you like mushroom in your burger again?”

Connor smiled so sweetly as he straightened up that Hank could only gape. Under his beard, an embarrassed flush crept up his cheeks and he nodded as words eluded him.

“Wonderful,” Connor trilled and twirled away to resume with preparing the order.

Nines took up his spot by the counter with a decidedly unfriendly smirk and began tapping away on the till.

“Was there anything else you wished to insult? Sorry, I mean order.”

“A large soda as well please,” Hank at least had enough grace to look bashful though his eyes kept flickering back to Connor.

Once again, it was Connor who handed over the food and the drink and he kept an easy smile that Hank was hard pressed not to return. He took his order away rather than camp up by one of the tables though, as Connor watched him go.

“Seriously?” Nines’ disbelieving question drew his attention. “He’s the menace of the food world, insulted us and our choices and yet you make heart eyes at him?”

“He can still be hot,” Connor shrugged. “It’s like window shopping. Admire the goods but never actually buy them.”

Nines rolled his eyes and turned away. Sometimes he just didn’t understand Connor and that probably was for the best.

“Connor, you’re up,” Nines yelled three days later over the sizzling of food on the grill.

Confused, Connor turned to look and grinned when he saw Hank approach the van.

“Couldn’t keep away?”

“I didn’t trust the airport’s sandwich selection. Please could I have the usual but with extra mustard this time?”

Connor turned to make it but twisted so he could still chat over his shoulder.

“How was Texas?”

A look of pleasant surprise flitted over Hank’s face and he breathed a soft “You remembered?”

Something cracked near Nines and the other two turned to watch him twist the broken lid of a fresh bottle of mustard back on.

“And you remembered too,” Hank added dryly.

“Just ignore Nines, he’s only grumpy because I bet him you like mustard and now he owes me a new t-shirt.”

The look Nines threw Connor could have made a dandelion wither but his brother just laughed.

“Go take a walk Nines, it’s quiet, I can handle things.”

“And leave you alone with him?” Nines jabbed a thumb in Hank’s direction. “Fat chance.”

This time, when Hank was given his food, he left his change in the tip jar and took a table closer to the van.

Connor fixed Nines with a stare and it evolved into a hushed argument while they cast Hank quick glances to make sure he wasn’t watching. From Nines’ perspective, Hank was not worthy of Connor’s attention and he hated the way the man looked at Connor. There was no denying that they got off on the wrong foot and Nines hated that if they’d followed their path into having their own restaurant, it was without a doubt Hank and others like him that would have tried to destroy Connor’s happiness with nit-picking reviews. So he bore a grudge against Hank from a life they never led but he could all too easily imagine.

“Well, I like him, okay?” Connor spat. “And it’s fine, you’ll get your way because he sure as heck has better things to do than date someone like me.”

The duality of telling Connor off for putting himself down like that paired with the need to tell him Hank would probably happily bend him over the nearest surface made Nines’ eye twitch. In the end he said nothing and stormed out of the van on the walk Connor had suggested earlier.

He didn’t anticipate bumping into Hank as he made his way back towards the taxi rank.

“Nines, right?” Hank asked.

“What’s it to you?”

In an attempt to placate him, Hank held his hands up, palms facing Nines.

“Just trying to be friendly.”

“That crap might work on Connor but I don’t buy it for one second. Now I don’t control him, but you need to know that if you so much as breath wrong around him, I will not hesitate to throw a breadknife at your head.”

Hank had the audacity to laugh at that.

“I would be worried if you didn’t. But kid, you have nothing to fear. Someone like Connor wouldn’t be interested in someone like me. I’m fully aware that the media portrays a very different image to who I actually am. All Connor would be with me is disappointed.”

Nines couldn’t believe his ears. He thought Connor was bad enough, mooning over Hank. But to have Hank self-depreciatingly wave off even the idea of Connor being into him was too much. Perhaps they really were a match made in heaven.

“You’ll need a better excuse to keep coming to see him. Our burgers are good, but not that good,” he said and turned away from Hank, ready to return to work.

Over the course of the next few months, Hank became a regular. He flew all over the country to review restaurants but he remained loyal to Connor and Nines’ burger van. It became a habit that as soon as Nines saw him approach, he’d let Connor take over the front end while he busied himself with cleaning. There was a fine line between cute and infuriating that the two danced, neither quite daring to make the first move but pushing in the hopes that the other might be braver. Some days Nines was entertained by it but others, he really wanted to knock their heads together and announce “now kiss” as obnoxiously as he could.

“I’ve been thinking about doing a burger van review of the local area,” Hank said between bites as he leaned on the lip of the counter.

Opposite him, Connor was propped up with an elbow on the counter as he smiled serenely.

“That would be quite interesting. Though I there’s less of a structure to them than a restaurant. How would you rate them?”

“Well, quality of service, quality of food, speed of food delivery. The usual stuff really. Maybe even something about the surroundings, whether there’s a place to sit down to eat or if you have to stand on a street corner and juggle your food and drink,” Hank took another large bite and hummed in delight. “You really got the mustard to ketchup ratio right in this one.”

“It’s the dash of horseradish that brings all the flavours together,” Connor nodded.

“Horseradish? In a burger? That’s a little wild.”

Connor’s head dipped as he hid his blush and a hand covered his smile. It made Nines just about ready to scrunch up the newspaper he was reading when an article caught his eyes. An interview with Hank, most of it was boring routine things but the last question asked him about his favourite place to eat.

“It’s actually a burger van. I’m not going to tell you where exactly because I want to keep them to myself. But it’s run by a pair of brothers who never cease to make me smile. One’s terrifying and the other is adorable. Their burgers are the best I’ve had because they’re so obviously made with love. It shines through, how much they enjoy the job they’ve chosen and no Michelin Star can beat that.”

Nines pushed away from the over he’d been leaning against and rudely shoved the interview under Connor’s nose, a finger tapping against the last answer. A single glance at the paper and Hank was blushing furiously and he nervously tucked his hair behind his ear.

“About that,” he tried but Connor cut him off with a small smile.

“That is the sweetest thing anybody could have ever said, thank you.”

He tore the interview out from the newspaper and tacked it to the inside of the service window where nobody but he and Nines could see.

“Were you really planning on doing a burger van tour?”

Hank shuffled his feet as he hummed and hawed. Words and sentences trickled away into nothing as he glanced up at Connor with embarrassment.

“I did mention the idea to my editor?” he finally offered.

He didn’t expect Connor to let out a small laugh and lean fully over the counter.

“Stop me if I’ve misread the situation,” he grinned and tugged Hank in for a kiss.

“Connor!” Nines yelled. “Go outside for that! Think of our hygiene rating!”

With a chuckle, Connor broke away and undid his apron, which he passed to Nines on his way out.

“As it’s a lull in business, I’m taking my lunch break early.”

Nines watched as Hank offered an arm to Connor gallantly and they both burst out giggling, meandering off to one of the benches a little further down the road where they could continue to make out like teenagers.

#hankcon #hannor #dbh: hank #dbh: connor #dbh: rk900 #human au #burger van au #dbh secret santa

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loganlovebeans · 5 years

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Rant : Plastic Straws aren't 'saving' the earth

Yes, it helps that small bit. But do more. Because so far you are trying the bare minimum of 0.03%. Straws mean very little in the grand of things and, yes use resuable ones, but get milk cartons because thats mostly biodegradable as the tabs from milk jugs can end up in birds and other animals, buy sodas and such in glass bottles or throw your tabs and caps out away from the flimsy plastic, as the caps and some tabs can end up in birds and other animals. Plastic waste, and waste in general wont be solved by you posting a video using a plastic cup from Starbucks and a metal straw. Bring your own cup if you want to be better because dont tell me youre too cheap to do that when you got a fancy metal straw and drink starbucks everyday to at least do that small bit better. Im no saint, and if you are unable to do this, dont fall into the mental thinking that using a metal straw to save the sea turtles is going to save the planet. Because its more than simple straws (that these people still take to throw away to show "look i did it". Like no you didn't you just contributed to the issue your trend of people are trying to avoid. If you truly care about wildlife safety, you'll do that small bit more, to the best of your ability, to actually help. Use resuable containers at every opportunity it isnt hard)

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nana-lew-rp · 5 years

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Start By Saying Hi, Ask Her What Her Name Is|| MortiL3w AprilAU

@suzydoozy @felixpierp @crywastaken-rp @wishes-in-the--markmark @jeremydooley-rp @goldenbrowncrownrp

Suzy had really thought he was the one. Guess not, but that was high school she guesses. Arin passing her in the halls made her both weak and angry. Seeing him walk around with her twin sister. She’s smart, at least, and doesn’t bring him to the house when she’s there and lets her know when he’s coming over. It looks like love, it sounds like love. She couldn’t be anything but bitter. Here she was once again: Thursday night karaoke with Ro, Cry, and Felix; drinking all the Shirley temples and burning out their juice and fruit smoothies at the bar; she’s been thinking about how many of her classmates come and do the same thing. Their school always let them out early on thursdays and fridays, even when the bus schedule didn’t add up. Suzy was one of the few girls who had to travel to the private campus everyday in order to get the college-prep education she needed. It was one cross-town train to the local trolley to the closest school bus pickup point. Hence, her friends hang out when they’re not working on thursday nights and drive her home so that she gets home okay. She could feel herself slipping, and her friends made her agree to this after she hadn’t made it home twice already because she had spaced out and missed her connections to get home. Confused, she could hear the voice in her head and hear *that* voice in her head. It had really put her in her paces.

She ignored it for so long and her mom had told her that the doubt monster is trying to come out, so she shouldn't open her mouth and let him out. And she was right, it was dumb. Being hung up on Arin like that. There were plenty of other things for her to focus on...right?

As much as she appreciated her friends, it felt real corny to sit at this bar and nosh on food playing the games, topping each other's scores on the arcade, and singing til they were tired like these times aren't changing soon. Or that, well, she was changing.

---------------------------------------------------- Shawna had to be picked up again from the hospital. Yet another catatonic episode. It was so bad that they considered electro-shock therapy to see if stimulating her nerves would produce different results in her brain chemistry. She had been in such a terrible spiral with Andrew, it was a miracle Ray and Jeremy said something when they could. She had just moved to this private school, and Ray and Jeremy agreed to come, too, so that she had familiar faces up there. So far, so good. She still overall didn't like to talk much. She'd gotten into the random fight here and there, but a fairly b-list child.

It just happened to be passed down to Ray that they could hang out at this little karaoke bar near the school and they could play at the arcade and sometimes the kids who played in bands or wrote poetry would be there. It was almost like everyone was welcome as long as they weren't jock assholes. He'd suggested that Thursday night they miss the usually early train out of the town and go to this place so that he can see about these scores being beat. Jeremy was taken by the word "score" but was totally excited. They brought Shawna because hopefully it'll take her mind off of things- anything but another night in the house helping her lockdown before bed or staying with her until she fell asleep. She needed to be strong, and her training started now. ---------------------------------------------------- "Suzy!" ... "Suze!" ........ "Suzy!!!" "Ugh...huh? What? Uhh I'm sorry. What was going on?" "You froze right before you could say yes-" the waiter began. "T-To what...exactly?.." "Uhh..let's see..she said her usual Cheap Date Cheese fries, a Comedy Comes In Threes with extra mozzarella sticks, a large dirty Chai ChaCha- hold the caramel made with soy milk-, Cresent Moon Burger with mushrooms, and the next available slot on stage-" "Yeah yeah she's good, shell take it," Felix jumped up, "Stagger out the food please but bring the drinks," he smiled at her, "She clearly had something catch her up...and while you're at it, can you throw in a virgin Sex on the Sunrise?" "Sure thing! I'll be right back with those drinks and listen out for your name." "Uhh...thanks," Suzy replied meekly, "Put it on my tab." "Are you gonna talk to her?" Cry asked leaning in and looking across the bar at the other booth to the group. "No!" Suzy bit back, turning her head back and forth, doodling on her napkin shakily. "Why not?" Felix asked, "You should make friends that aren't guys."

"Hmph!" Shawna pouted, folding her arms and leaning back as her milkshake and Comedy Comes in Threes is sat in front of her. I'm just saying that maybe if you weren't around as many of... us..then maybe you'd feel better about guys because a girl told you we're trash said Jeremy, signing to Shawna across the table. "Ew," Ray said, as she received her food, "You like to eat onions..I forgot." "But they're onion rings, they're battered and there's mozzarella sticks and corn fritters, so-" What in the hell is that? asked Jeremy. "The corn fritter?" she asked, sipping her milkshake, he nods, "It's just a cool mix of corn and cream corn fried up." "Ew," Ray interjected. Yum, Jeremy replied. Ray shook his head as he ate his fries and bit into his eggplant burger, Eggs Can't Plant Seeds. They ate quietly and were entertained by all the people going up for karoke and it wasn't long before Ray had pulled them into the arcade. Jeremy sat with yet another order of their Kastu Chicken Pops and a soda as Ray and Shawna competed furiously- yelling over the thumping and clacking of the cabinet controls.

Next Up: Shawna and Suzy! Both girls looked at the stage, nervous. Shawna doesn't usually sing and the song she picked doesn't require a lot of it so she took a few deep breaths and started towards the stage once Jeremy was done massaging her shoulders. Suzy was confused. She didn't know what person had picked to do the song she starts her night with. Nobody that she knows knew that song. And most people who came in wouldn't even utter the song into the mix because of it's tone. The girl hopped up and walked to the stage and saw the girl that had stopped her in her tracks earlier sauntering up to the steps on stage. Suzy was a bit overwhelmed that the girl was around the same height as her and that she smelled amazing. Her small frame didn't really match her huge wavy hair, but it hid her curves on purpose, and up close they could be seen. Shawna looked like she was a normal girl who liked the latest trends and wouldn't even know the song she picked. Maybe they just threw her up here on random because she's new and didn't know what to pick so they filled the space. It's a duet anyway so it makes sense.

Ray and Jeremy had been standing adjacent to the table where Felix, Cry and Ro's booth was located, but not to their knowledge. Felix had noticed and stood up to confront them.

"Yo," he said. Are we in the way? Can you not see? Jeremy asked almost futile when he turns around to see Felix in his face. "Sorry I don't speak not mouth words- Curly Top, you speak english?" he asked. "He asked if we are in yall way. And Curly Top isn't my name, it's Ray, pretty boy," Ray rebuttled. "I'm flattered but I'm taken," Felix replied, pointing a thumb behind him to Cry, "And no, you guys aint in the way. I'm actually wondering if you wanted to sit with us." The two boys looked at one another and then back to the Swede, "And just why would we do that?" Ray asked, making a face. "Why? Our friends are on stage right now. And our girl likes your girl. Maybe we should hang out. Plus you guys are new and we're regulars...Come on, drinks and apps on us," Felix offered, gesturing towards the stage, then to the table where Ro waved at the other boys. "Bold of you to assume we'd be up for it...And how exactly does your girl like Shawna?" Ray asked, pushing Jeremy's chest to hold him up as he had started to walk towards the table to sit down, "You don't know us-" "You go to the same school as us..That's an Institute tie. That's cause for trusting us- we would see each other tomorrow anyway," Felix had said, flipping the boy's loosened tie on Ray's chest, which he swatted his hand away. "Do not touch me, Blondie," Ray quickly replied, "And even then, why should we trust you?" "We hide here from the popular kids and wait for the bus for our girl upstage. We're here today only because she's going through a breakup and could use a distraction. And by distraction, I mean a bi-straction. Is your girl on the spectrum?" Jeremy nods, She's bi, but keep talking- oh! And get back to the food and drinks I want more! "Dude I still don't understand you. You think you could, like mouth your words or something? I really don't speak ASL-" "He said she's bi and he's just asking about the apps and drinks," Ray said, "I'm sure it's a tough time for her, but there's a girl sitting right there, isn't there?" "Yeah but she's taken by someone with a Y-chromosome. Are you her boyfriend or something?" "No but-" "Then let's just give it chance; if it doesn't work then you'll have gotten us out of some food and drinks and we can act like this night never happened-" "Let me finish! Mr. Adonis!" Ray said, "I'm not her boyfriend but our whole reason for being here is because she got out of a very messy relationship as well and she needs to not worry about dating anyone just yet. If you're trying to get her to join some...crazy threesome-" "God! They're about to start, yes or no?!" Felix snapped. "Sure thing...but please also works," Ray shrugged as the moved past him and sat with the rest of Suzy's group. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Those flashing lights come from everywhere... Shawna watched the girl take the other microphone and pull the stand closer to her. The stage lights moved to point to the disco ball that turned in the corny fashion of the bar. The music slowly rose and her hands started to sweat and her heart began to race. She clutched the microphone as the song began and knew she had time to get herself together before the song had any vocal parts. She looked at the other girl next to her. She was intense even in all of this dark lighting, but she could feel her apprehension at them sharing a stage. Suzy had her uniform on but the sleeves of her jacket were rolled up, her long black hair loose and sitting on her shoulders (as opposed to the strict ponytails and braids they are allowed while class is in session) with her tie undone. Her rebellious look contrasted Shawna's wildly and then she hadn't noticed that the girl was trying to get her attention before her voice had brought her out of the focusing she was doing.

The way it hit'er, I just stop and stare, but I... Suzy had scanned the other girl over as she climbed up the stage herself and got in position. It's not the first time that she's had to share the stage with another person during a song that she picked and it's fine usually; however, today garnered more trouble because she had developed a crush on the other girl almost at first sight. She now got a good look at the girl. She's so...simple. Her hair fluffled out from obviously being in two french braids and a bang all day, causing wavy mane that fell just right. She wore light red lipstain over the other's black lipstick, which she couldn't get away from because her lips were so naturally full. Her frame was slight and curvy. She yanked her eyes back up as the music prompted the girl to start. She began slowly and watched the girl. Taking a longer pause with a larger breath into the lyric. Her cheeks were starting to feel hot but she held strong through the musical flourish and looked at the girl one more time to see if she'd fill in the song.

I'm lovestoned and I could swear that she knows. I think that she knows, oh..oh... Shawna jumped into the second verse and turned to the girl next to her and was so intimidated. Even though it was a song they both knew independently, it felt like they knew the song together in that moment for the first time. She bit her lip when she breathed and tried to lose herself in the lights. It made her feel faint, so she tried to side step out of the beam, crashing into the girl. Instead of getting pushed, she felt an arm around her sides, which stabilized her. Her hunched, defenseive state relaxed into the girl and her light perfume she still had on. From where she stood now, Shawna could see her friends sitting with a bunch of other kids who went to the school, a couple she had seen before. Everyone had heard or at least seen the blonde boy with the accent and his boyfriend with the mask. She hadn't been there very long and knew of them. She's friends with those boys? She's way out of her element here.

Those flashing lights come from everywhere (those flashing lights come from everywhere) Suzy joined her and felt so excited by their duet coming together, not to mention the fact that she's holding the girl's side to keep her from stumbling off of the stage. She turns to her and backs up, holding the girl's hand instead as she sang. It was cute that they were around the same height and donned two different styles. However, it just felt like this isn't the end. They continued the duet and her and Shawna finally locked eyes, their brown eyes shining in the light. Shawna's honey pots showed her benevolence and just sweet approach to things, where Suzy was a little rough around the edges in looks and her willingness to remain consistent. No girl in the school really chooses to express her goth style like her, and after years of getting punished for violations to the uniform and petitioned for some relaxation of the uniform policy at the school, which through her diligence and some concessions, she had won. Shawna looked to Suzy like a girl who only has enough personality to follow the guidelines, and feels as though some people can't just not be themselves for the sake of eduaction for several hours. It was the type of plain that made her want to know if there was anything underneath, even if she stole just an additional glance from her it would let her know that she's not always the straight arrow she presents herself to be.

The way they hit'er I just stop and stare (stop and stare), I'm loved stoned from everywhere (everywhere) and she knows, I think that she knows, oh..oh.. Shawna was dazed and really encompassed in the song, especially when she looked into the eyes of the girl in front of her. She wanted Suzy not to leave her side, her touch felt so needed. Everything about her when she came into this restaurant was dead until she touched her side. She was welling up with courage for when the song ended to say what she needed to say and hopefully, find out how she can see this girl at school. She had Jeremy and Ray here, she wasn't about to leave them alone while she either made a new friend or invested time in a new fling, plus she had to go home. However, she would be willing to get chewed out for this. For her, at least. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- They finished the song nearly kissing and their friends looked at one another around the table, knowing that something had happened on stage. Shawna was rosy with embarrassment, her neck exposed from her pushing her hair to one side as to give herself more air. Suzy, who was just as sweaty, hadn't realized they had walked down off the stage hand in hand, and when she released it, she wiped her hand on her skirt. That was the hottest karaoke I've ever seen, said Jeremy. "Oh my god, shut up, Jerry!" Shawna snapped at him, sliding on the end next to Ray, who threw an around her. "Have fuuun up there? It looks like you did," Ray asked, biting into a corn fritter, handing the girl one out of the basket, "Have you had these? Here, eat one."

"Yeah, did you have fun up there, Suze?" Ro asked, smiling at her as she beamed, it gave her such a delight to see her friend full of life again. "She just eye-fucked the hell outta that girl, are you kidding me?" Cry said, laughing as he took another mozzarella stick, receiving a gentle nudge from Felix. "Please excuse my boyfriend, he's had one too many RedBull By the Horns," Felix said calmly, but his smile never left him. "Wait, you two are dating?" Shawna asked after swallowing her bite, "I almost couldn't tell, I'm sorry." "You weren't really supposed to, because the school can be really weird about gay couples, but yes they are extremely gay and in a homosexual relationship," Suzy said, sipping her drink, keeping eye contact with the girl on the other side of the table.

There was a little bit of silence as Shawna at times shied away from her gaze, then returned it, both giggling at each other. "You said you guys were outcasts, I don't think that's true," Ray challenged, not paying attention to his friend engaging in quiet flirting. "We are, most of the people at the school are vloggers, who do you know that's there who bakes, games or even vlogs nerdy dark shit like Suzy? You don'!" Felix explained, pointing a finger and dipping a Katsu Chicken Pop into the sauce and eating it. We're nobodies. And Shawna's new, we're like, transplanted nobodies, Jeremy mentioned. "Hahah...yeah, they get it, Jer, we're nobodies," Shawna said, sipping her drink and then shifting her focus back to Suzy, who gestured they play in the arcade alone. "But we're nobodies who have a bond, we understand ASL," Ray said, not paying attention to Shawna getting up from the table.

"Is that a thing you did for Jeremy, or was it like, something you guys just happened to know?" Ro asked, watching Suzy and Shawna sneak off with their drinks and a basket of Comedy Comes in Threes. "We're not a couple and I've known him for years and he actually taught me for years, labour for the love of friendship," Ray said, "Easy to talk to him privately when people just think you look weird." "I will give you that, it does raise your friend dynamic factor significantly," Cry mentioned, then noticing two girls and a basket of food gone, "Where's the Comedy Comes in Threes?" "Shawna and Suzy took it with them on their first date to the arcade," Ray said, pointing behind them to the arcade where the girls were playing and talking.

"Good, I hate onions," Felix said, shrugging. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shawna and Suzy were laughing it up as they talked at the foosball table, discussing things and various interests. "This is the first time I've seen you around here, and in Institute colours..You new?" Suzy asked, working their way around a pool table. "Uhhmmm, yes..but only a few months," Shawna replied, lining up her shot, listening to the balls clack, the cue ball not making one sink. "Few months, huh?..Well, I've been there a couple o' years as of next August," she replied, sinking her ball and watching the others around it fall in. "Oh..uhh, okay..I-Is it...hard?" Shawna asked, looking up at her again, "You know..getting therapy and going to school up there, like can you keep your grades?" "Yeah, they make it, real easy..even if you miss class because you needed extra treatment..They give you tests and time in study halls to catch up for the next tests and even offer exam prep." "Wooww...The placement test to get in-" "Is just a ploy for the parents to think this is some ivy league college prep school when really it's for-" "People like us?" They gave long stares at one another as they laughed lightly and exchanged glances longingly, wondering what their next move was as Shawna put up their cues and followed her with just their drinks to a Mrs. Pac-Man cabinet. Suzy brushed against the girl's waist with her forearem, causing her to turn around to respond, but found her side against the game's side. Shawna's eyes met with the other girl's in the dim light with other colours surrounding them. Shawna breathed a little, feeling the coolness of the acrylic against her back through her shirt and made her aware enough to look around and realize they're in between two games, and not originally facing the dining room like she thought before. It was quieter and much nicer to hear her and chat, and the game they both wanted to play was right there when they were done. Their legs crossed one another and made it comfortable in this cramped spot, the music just enough, but not too much. She became a little concerned about her safety. Her friends don't know their way around this arcade and she's tucked in between someplace in this dark, crowded bar. She breathed hard and felt fingers on her chin, "Did you know that you beat me?" Suzy asked, looking at the girl across from her. "Huh..huh..what?" Shawna asked, getting more aware again, following the movement to the other girl's eyes, "What'd I do?" "You beat me..in pool. I figured you'd checked out because I touched you..It confused you. Crowded and loud isn't your style," Suzy explained, looking at her and stroking her face with her thumb, "It's alright you can relax. I'm not gonna do anything crazy." Shawna never felt more grounded in that moment. She was looking at Suzy, who had an unsure smile on her face as well. She's been here before and she's certainly done this before. Who exactly had she done this with to figure this out? It doesn't really matter right now, does it? Whatever the case was, she was good at it. Her eyes glowed in the soft light and her hair was cascading over her shoulder. Her hand was soaked with sweat, but it was from her hand, and it trembled a little. She wasn't together, either. This was all rather intimate. Suzy smiled at the girl as best she could, and liked that she smiled back. They continued talking about how they learned to play pool and how they both like quite a few of the same arcade games. They giggled and laughed as they sipped their drinks and spoke to one another, hearing and watching occasional people pass them by, but no one ever noticed. It was their own little getaway in the middle of a crowd. Shawna warmed up as soon as she realized that's what was happening. The next thing she knew the girl was playing with the tail of the bottom of her button down, still glancing back up, but was biting her lip. God, she'd never seen someone bit their lip and turn her on like that. Suzy took her lips in and made eye contact with the girl again. "You know what you're doing, right?" Suzy asked, leaning back and chuckling nervously, her frustration blowing out of her breath. Shawna took her lip in one more time, then nodded slowly with a smile. She still held onto the girl's shirt and started to wind her hand to pull her back in. Suzy obliged and quickly pushed her hands up the side of the girl's face and pressed against her, kissing her lips gently. It took the both of them off guard, Shawna bringing her hands away from her shirt and underneath, pulling the girl in by her waist, feeling her soft skin. Their skin grew hotter even though their position stayed the same.

"What do you think they're doing?" Ro asked, forking around her Pie in the Sky cake. "They're not in the bathroom, so they're not fucking," Ray mentioned, shrugging. "They're probably still in the arcade," Cry said, rubbing a sleepy Felix's arm. I saw them there, but it seems they disappeared, Jeremy said. "Suzy likes to hide between the games when she's overwhelmed and can't focus," Ro explained, "It muffles the sound and the noise." "Great, so they're fucking in between the games in an arcade," Ray said, "I'm not breaking that up." "Ew! And stop saying those things..It's way too gross over there, it's only in emergencies-" Ro began, then her face fell apart at the thought, and she shuttered before her phone rang, "Hello?...Uh yeah, we're still at the bar..I'm waiting for Su-...I'm on my way.." "You gotta go?" Cry asked, looking at Ro. "Mark was just checking in, I'm supposed to uh..he's making sure I get uhh..we have to study..it's getting late," Ro stumbled through the words after the phone call. "Okay you can go ahead, Rosie," Felix said, finally awake again, and getting up, "I'm gonna walk you to the train and Cry can grab the two newlyweds." "Oh..okay..we just gonna drive them home-" Cry began to ask. We're just chopped liver? Jeremy signed, with confusion on his face. "Them includes you two. I don't think it'll matter. We're just gonna hang out until these two gotta go home," Cry continued, "Where does she live?" "Hallowed Grove, off 5th, it's a 2-hour train ride from the school," Ray explained, "30-minute walk to the train station." "Sounds like we're going in the same direction, she lives on 13th a little past Markle," Cry says, "It's a 20-minute walk to the 15-minute bus to the station, 2-hour 15-minute train ride." "Wow, that's far," Ray said, looking at Jeremy, "Well, we can get a ride from Shawna's house." "Fine. We should get going, we've got a test in the morning," Cry said, pulling his car keys out of his pocket. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shawna and Suzy are pulled out of their world by Cry, and they follow one another hand in hand. Their friends all pile into Cry's mom's minivan, and drive off into the night. The ride in the car is fairly quiet due to the energy being drained from the bar. Shawna and Suzy continue to coo with one another and talk quietly while the others sleep and Felix drives. "So uhh...what happened with your ex?" Shawna asked, tracing imaginary lines into Suzy's stomach. "He was cheating on me with my sister, and is currently dating her. She's very respectful about it, but he's..relentless. She tries not to tell me anything about him or what he says, but we go to the same school. It's unavoidable.." She explained, "Wh-what about you?" "He and I hit it off even though we're on two different side of the high school food chain..Then he told me all of this was for his childhood friend who wouldn't date him yet and that I essentially didn't matter. He was the reason I breathed...and then, she died in a drunk driver incident and...he rejected me even after he tried to take his own life for her. And...just like that..everyone hated me, when I liked being ignored better," Shawna sighed, picking the dirt out of her nails and shrugging. Suzy nods and bites her lip, "So..are you really..uh..uhm...or is it for show?" "Are you questioning my sexuality?" Shawna asked, giving her a confused look to which Suzy stares. The brunette giggles and kisses the girl's cheek, "I've known since I was like 13..I didn't do it a lot and at times Andrew would exploit it, but...I hadn't been in a real relationship with a girl before." "Oh..Well I-I dunno.. This all just kinda..felt..right? You know, just for the time. I'm not straight? I just..I dunno," Suzy stumbled, getting embarassed. "It's alright. I'm not in the market of judgement. I blame the song. It's very suggestive of lesbian attraction," Shawna joked lightly, making Suzy smile, "You don't have to care if you don't want to. We had fun tonight, and I know my friends wanted that for me. Plus, I'd tell you when I'd make you my girlfriend...and it's just not something I'm in the business of. I'd hate to do to someone what Andrew did to me...or worse..c-cus..I don't know anything else right now..you know?" "I like that," Suzy said with a nod, cuddling to Shawna, "I'd let you take the lead anyway, because I have no clue what I'm doing at all!" "I wouldn't be so quick to say that..You have a certain way about you that took me out of my usual slump lately, and being on stage with you had me breathless..you've got an appeal. It's not mysterious, but I just was... enamoured about what you'd do to me," Shawna explained, getting lost again in the moments. "Wow...You..you think so?" Suzy asked, looking up at the girl, messing with the bottom of her skirt. "Yeah..we don't have to be..like..together, but if you wanna see where this leads..f-for science reasons-" "You mean like Felix and Ryan?" Suzy mentioned, "Except that..they're like, actually gay? They had a trial period for a while and we're doing it at first for a completely different reason, but now..they're.." "Happy?" "Yeah..happy..I think that's why we have friends and some friends become our boyfriends and girlfriends," Shawna said, giving a weak smile, "That's what Andrew told me, at least when he acted like he really loved me." "I think the words were more true than the person," Suzy added, "We should cast a spell on him." "He's graduating from my old school this year, I think karma's worked a whole bunch in my favor," Shawna rebutted. "Nothing crazy, just some unfortunate happenings and a few nightmares of his twisted game," Suzy said, "That's what I've been doing to Arin." "You're a witch?" Shawna asked, getting more direct, "I mean..there's nothing wrong, but..do you have a coven?" "Well I mean I'm trying..right now it's me, Leda, and Kristen-" "And let me guess, they're together too?" "Nope..Kristen's been trying to cast a love spell on this guy in her history class named PJ, and Leda's...I dunno what Leda does. Sometimes she's with Charlie, sometimes she's not, sometimes she's with Cyr, sometimes she's not. We see her deal with this Cameron guy every once and a while," Suzy said, "So they'd be okay with no strings attached for me and a fourth." "Uhh..I'll see about being a fourth, but I'd like to see about casting the spell on him...as for no strings attached..I'm down if you're down." "GOD! ONE OF YOU SAY YES!" Felix snapped from the front seat. "FUCK YOU!" the girls said in unison, then looked at one another and laughed, sharing a kiss.

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porchsoil0 · 2 years

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This might embody personal protective equipment , similar to gloves, glasses, or goggles, further ventilation, or other precautions. Clean high-touch surfaces a minimal of as quickly as a day or as often as decided is important. This tab may describe alternatives for part-time work, the amount and kind of journey required, any safety equipment that is used, and the risk of damage that employees could face. Information about janitorial and constructing cleansing jobs is out there from state employment service workplaces. This table reveals an inventory of occupations with job duties which would possibly be similar to those of janitors and constructing cleaners. There are lots less staff in workplace buildings today as they move to telecommuting and residential offices. This trend will probably speed up this year, as the COVID-19 virus in the U.S. forces employers to judge more closely just what number of employees they need to come into an workplace each day, versus do business from home. Many areas should be thoroughly cleaned every day, whereas others will require periodical maintenance. The kitchen, coffee area, or any space where meals is consumed should be sanitized daily. The EPA reviews that indoor air quality is amongst the high five dangers to human health in the USA. Studies launched by the agency have established that indoor air often incorporates levels of pollution larger than what's discovered within the exterior air. Is Chimney Cleaning A Diy Job? Chimcare has been providing skilled chimney sweep cleaning services for over 30 years. We use solely one of the best, field-proven gear and procedures to make sure the safety and cleanliness of your home after our work. The type of inspection will depend upon how long it’s been since you’ve had a chimney inspection or cleaning. If you’ve never had your chimney cleaned, you can expect to pay more than if it is cleaned often. If the chimney sweeper discovers problems, they'll share with you their findings and suggest what wants repairs or substitute. Due to claims now insurance coverage corporations are recommending, and at occasions requiring an annual service. By having a thorough sweeping and cleansing of your chimney every year, you can prevent potentially-devastating chimney fires and shield your family from carbon monoxide poisoning. You can depend on the skilled professionals at 2nd Generation Chimneys, Inc. for your chimney companies. According to theNational Fire Protection Associationchimneys and other units by which fires are started must be inspected at least annually. This implies that homeowners should be diligent in scheduling a chimney sweep or no less than an inspection every year if not more for those who use their fireplaces usually. ] Most sweeps are carried out from the underside of the chimney, somewhat than the top, to forestall the dispersion of mud and particles and since it is safer for the chimney sweep to do the sweeping from this position. This is likely one of the most important questions to ask, and it’s a good suggestion to get the value in writing. This is a dark-colored fireplace byproduct that accommodates cancer-causing components. It should be eliminated to improve air high quality and to forestall corrosion on important parts of the chimney. The two gents that came had been very professional and made great efforts to maintain my residence clean as they labored. We are experts in something and every little thing related to your chimney. How To Clear Curtains And Drapes Technicians know the way far to maintain the appliance away from the fabric to prevent it from changing into too wet. Professionals put on protective clothes, acceptable for the job. If the material has water born stains, soap and water are added to the solvent to take away them. Mechanical action, heat, and moisture may cause shrinkage. Inspecting your air ducts can even assist reduce dust and allergy symptoms. Steam cleaning your carpets will take away dust and debris embedded deep throughout the fibers that contaminates indoor air. Our sister firm, Rainbow International, is certified in air duct cleaning and carpet steam cleaning. With state-of-the-art tools and methods, they’ll give your carpet and air ducts a deep clean you won’t find wherever else. Get professional cleansing services to utterly rid your window therapies of undesirable filth, pollen, and different particles. Carpet cleansing services may help you retain that freshness in your home all year long. With speedy dry carpet cleaning services you received't have to. The firm will use a machine that will shortly dry out the mud or dirt that's caught in the strings. Your flooring will look nice and you received't have to fret about your flooring being ruined from mud or dirt. When it comes to accommodate cleaning tips, we recommend starting in the bed room. Leisure Sports Facility Rsf Through this research, we noticed that some gyms were designed and ready based on the owner’s experience within the subject. Sport providers have a legal responsibility of care to protect the welfare of the practitioners and ensure they do not appear to be exposed to risk in any aspect of sports activities delivery. For this purpose, sport facilities and tools ought to meet the standard necessities for safety of the particular sport. This have to be evaluated by a threat evaluation and lowered to a tolerable risk of efficiency in accordance with commonplace regulation ISO/TC 83 . Hallmark Facility Service goes above and beyond to make sure its shoppers are truly glad in every aspect of janitorial care. Another zone could be the pool, fitness room, lockers, showers, and washrooms, where specialized cleaning and sanitization is needed, including non-slip mats. For example, tax is due on expenses for manufacturing, assembling, fabricating or processing products, even when the client offers the raw materials, tools or equipment. Taxable Labor – Photographers, Draftsmen, Artists, Tailors, Etc. The park's natural features include rugged cliffs and rocky outcrops, woodland and meadow, a wetland and a glacial plunge basin lake during which the floor waters and bottom waters don't mix. Hikers could choose from five trails, including the cliff path, which has a ledge overlook a hundred seventy five feet above the water. New York, in Baldwinsville, Beaver Lake Nature Center provides 9 miles of trails and over four hundred annual programs. 5 Cleaners You Can Even Make For Your Bathroom Although the elements in do-it-yourself cleaners (e.g., baking soda for scrubbing, vinegar for slicing grease) are safer, not all are unhazardous. Treat them as you'd some other cleaner, with caution. Diluted disinfectants and sanitizers in spray bottles have to be labeled and saved out of the reach of children. This product is tremendous handy when your bathroom smells less than perfect. Not solely does Lysol NeutraAir 2 in 1 deodorize the air and leave a beach-y scent behind, it additionally kills coronavirus in just 30 seconds. We don’t advocate mixing Clorox® Disinfecting Bathroom Cleaner with different family chemicals, since poisonous fumes might result. The demand for disinfecting wipes could additionally be outstripping provide right now, however there are numerous different merchandise you have to use. Disinfectant products like bleach, soap and alcohol must be used appropriately to be best, well being specialists say. A heavy obligation cleaner and degreaser designed to remove probably the most tough soils. A cleaner that matches within the sturdy alkali class destroys bacteria and dissolves proteins. Household ammonia—containing 5 to 10% ammonia gasoline in water—cleans kitchen vary burners, ovens, windows, and mirrors. You may have already got rubbing alcohol (a.k.a. isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol) or peroxide readily available. And by no means, ever mix bleach with ammonia or anything containing ammonia , or with anything acidic . Doing both will produce extremely dangerous and even deadly gases. Another widely bought wipe, these are EPA-approved too, however they take 10 minutes to disinfect. Tips On How To Clear Blinds? Three Brilliant Blind Cleansing Methods When uncared for, mud can accumulate and have an result on the standard of light penetration and air circulation in your home. Get rid of extra dust and dirt by utilizing the comb attachment and a low suction setting. The brush attachment loosens dirt, and reduces suction so to softly clean more delicate blinds materials that may easily lose shape. Get your vertical blinds ready for a deep clear by closing them completely so that you've got a flat work floor. Place towels on the ground to forestall the cleaning solution from dripping onto your flooring. Fabric Blinds — Fabric blinds ought to be regularly vacuumed and generally handled the best way you treat your upholstered furniture, with occasional spot cleansing. It can be accomplished when cleansing windows, which is something you do each six months. Any mis-measurements reported after 30 days won't be coated, however, new blinds and shades could be ordered with a further 10% discount. Do this gently as additional stress can ruin the fabric. Now, suck out all the mud from the underside of the slats. You can discover extra mud and dust by laying them flat and making them straight. Thanks for sharing bcz some people go for these window remedies however they dont know tips on how to clean them even including me. Prime Roof Cleansing & Strain Washing Firm In Nashville The value of your property declines with a lack of upkeep. 清潔公司 protects your largest investment by rising property worth. A poorly-maintained house declines in value and small upkeep points can shortly snowball into big issues. Spot & Stain is a water spot remover that removes spots on home windows and bathe doors from onerous water, acid rain, sprinkler runoff and extra. Spot & Stain maintains the well being of your glass & prolonging the lifetime of your glass. Gutters are vitally important to the health of your home and must be cleaned in the 2-4 times a 12 months. To apply cleaning soap using the washer, turn on the washer and activate the wand. To remove all the dust from the window sill, trim and glass, aim the wand at a 45-degree angle to the window. This will remove dust more effectively than aiming straight on to the window, plus you're less more doubtless to harm the window. Commercial window washing, we are ready to get the job carried out safely and effectively. Power washing may be a great way to do away with filth from surfaces, but it can also carry dangerous chemical compounds that would cause damage if they enter an open wound. Power-washers typically use strong detergents and acids, which have been shown in research as hazardous when coming into contact with blood. Professionally cleaned glass lasts much longer as properly. If they don't seem to be eliminated shortly and effectively, tiger stripes can lead to everlasting staining of your gutters. Small animals and extreme climate can injury guards and screens, making them ineffective. Gutter cleansing done by our educated service execs is inexpensive and proven to work. Lower energy costs, enhanced privateness & safety, improved appearance and safety from fading are all benefits of making use of window movie to your own home or business.

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