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#this post brought to you by the girl group that hangs out at my local playground
nparksithere · 6 months
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2017 my nephew came to visit. He and my sister were playing Pokémon Go pretty avidly. My kids had told me to try it but I know me. I get addicted to games pretty easily. I took my sister and her son to the park and helped them chase down fire Pokemon for the event.
Of course I added the app and started playing myself. My son introduced me to Discord where I could see if players were meeting up to raid legendary bird type. I started going out with my husband at night to finish research tasks. He was just the driver but I needed help with some of the raids so he let me put the app on his phone. Next thing you knew we were both playing. At one raid my husband explained for the 20th time that he was just playing to help me out when a girl there said “welcome to the addiction” and we laughed. But it was true.
The turning point was when we received the invitation to do a raid at the local mall for Mewtwo. Huge adrenaline rush. It was supposedly really difficult to get the invite. Certain day. Certain time. We met there right after work and started surreptitiously looking around for possible other raiders. A guy asked if we were there for the raid and if we were part of the Bridgeport group. We were there for the raid but didn’t know the Bridgeport group. He told us to head over in front of the Target at the security desk. The guy there would set us up.
That’s when our lives changed. We met Anthony for the first time. There were so many people there… old, young, families, businessmen, blue collar workers and every color of the rainbow. Disney dreamed of this kind of diversity for their movies.
This 20 something year old was in charge. He asked us what team we were on. No idea. What color? Red. Ok he wrote our names on a piece of paper and told us to hang on. The security didn’t like so many people hanging together at one time so move to the side. I was sure we would be forgotten but he came back and put us with a group. Just a mixed bag of strangers.
The egg hatched and the crowd let out a whoop. Anthony directed group after group to go and start the raid. It was finally our turn. We took Mewtwo down easily. The Euphoria! We wanted to thank him but he was so busy. It had been mentioned that they met for raids and posted on a certain site.
We started meeting up most Saturdays. Anthony ran the groups. You followed his directions and everyone got a chance to catch the big prey. The group taught us so much and were so helpful. And Anthony was the best. People could be jerks and he didn’t take crap. His goal was always to help everyone who wanted to play get a chance.
Covid hit and things changed. We stopped meeting up. The beginning of this year, Anthony sent out an invite for anyone who wanted to join him. The first time, I had Covid. The second time, I was in NJ.
This weekend Anthony died in a car crash. My heart hurts. There are no words. This man brought together a community of people like no other. The people telling stories of how he helped them and lightened their life is so heart warming. I can’t believe he is gone. He was a light in this world. Always kind. So patient.
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Have any Danganronpa x Assclass crossover dynamics you would find interesting 🤔
ooo this is an interesting one! I put a "keep reading" thing because this gets long.
(oh man, why are there so many characters?!)
Trigger Happy Havoc:
Okay so straight away, Makoto and Nagisa. "Normal" boy who is also the Ultimate Hope plus "normal" boy who is also an assassin prodigy. Plus, local sunshines. I can see Makoto being "adopted" by the entirety of Group 4 if I'm honest, I just get that vibe.
Aoi I can see bonding with the more athletic students like Sugino, Kimura and Kataoka (especially Kataoka). Also she gets along with Kayano really well.
Byakuya...hmm. I can see him hanging out with Gakushuu and his friends. Karma takes one look at him and I don't think I need to explain where that goes.
Celeste is another hard one to place. I can kind of see her vibing with Kanzaki and Isogai, but what exactly that would involve I don't know. She definitely gets involved if there's some kind of bet going on because of course she does.
Chihiro I can see hanging out with Itona and Yoshida and if you think they don't nerd out about Ritsu when they meet her you're wrong (and if you think they don't immediately introduce Ritsu to Alter Ego you're wrong again) /j They get "adopted" by the Terasaka Squad. They also hang out with Nagisa sometimes but not
Hifumi and Takebayashi, need I say more? He hangs out with Okajima as well but not as often. I can also see him hanging out with Fuwa because fellow manga enthusiasts.
Junko (if we're assuming this is a no despair thing) I can see her hanging out with the girls a lot but I don't really know any specific dynamic, maybe Kayano?
Kiyotaka, Isogai and Kataoka, need I say more? I can definitely see them helping him loosen up a bit, since y'know? Class reps and everything. He's also one of the few kids who don't give Karasuma grey hairs /j
Kyoko, I can kind of see her hanging out with Nagisa and Fuwa because I remember seeing posts about those two being the detective duo of 3-E and I vibe with it. She's also very confused about how no one's managed to figure out what's going on yet.
Leon, my mind immediately goes to Sugino for obvious reasons. Sugino's very confused about this kid who's extremely talented at baseball even though he claims to hate it. The two of them end up playing a few games together, the others collectively fear for whoever ends up playing against them in the future.
Mondo vibes with the Teraska Squad, but especially Yoshida. He butts heads with Terasaka sometimes but it's never anything too major.
Mukuro is another hard one because we don't really see a lot of her, I don't really see her hanging out with a lot of them, maybe the sniper duo? Whatever the case, she definitely jumps in when training is brought up. She probably ends up getting picked up by the Terasaka Squad as well.
Sakura, definitely vibes with the more athletic students like Aoi does. I can't really think of anyone specific right now though.
Sayaka I can see vibing with Kanzaki and Kayano.
Touko probably hangs out with Hazama a lot (I can also see Genocider hanging out with her as well).
Yasuhiro is another tricky one to place. Definitely vibes with Korosensei.
Goodbye Despair:
Hajime also hangs out with Nagisa (because protag) but not as much as Makoto does. I can see him hanging out with the Terasaka Squad mainly (Izuru definitely gets along with Itona and, to a lesser extent, Kayano).
The Ultimate Imposter pretty much just hangs out with whichever group the person he's currently disguised as would. But as for him specifically, I can see him hanging out with Kayano and maybe Kanzaki to a lesser extent.
Chiaki, hehe. Well I've made it pretty clear in the past that I like to think Kanzaki has gamer rage, so new gaming buddy! Also Ritsu, she definitely hangs out with Ritsu a lot. Generally speaking Chiaki seems to be fairly similar to the actual protagonists of Danganronpa when it comes to befriending people, so just throw a few handhelds in the mix and you're good to go.
Fuyuhiko definitely classes with both Karma and Terasaka, no one knows whether or not it's serious.
Gundham, Kurahashi's right there! Need I say more? He also hangs out with Hazama.
Hiyoko...again, I can see her hanging out with the other girls but I don't know anyone specific.
Ibuki I can see vibing with Kayano and Fuwa.
Kazuichi is more or less the same situation as Chihiro, except I don't see him hanging out with Nagisa all that much.
Mahiru, again, hangs out with the other girls but I can't think of anyone specific.
Mikan definitely checks people over after each training session, I can see her being friends with Okuda.
Nagito I've kind of already talked about in a previous ask, but he's definitely one the Terasaka Squad picks up.
Nekomaru, again hangs out with the more athletic students. I can see him having a particularly good friendship with Sugino.
Peko hangs out with the sniper duo a lot, she also respects Nagisa's capabilities. She respects all of them really, but those are the main three.
Sonia I can see hanging out with Isogai, Kataoka, Kanzaki and Hazama. She hangs out with most of them really, but those are the main ones.
Teruteru I can see vibing with Okajima. He also hangs out with the other students who like cooking; Muramatsu, Hara and Kayano.
Killing Harmony:
Kaede gets "adopted" by Group 4, but she gets along with most of the class. I can see her vibing with Kayano and no it's not just because they have the "same" name.
Angie definitely does a few projects with Sugaya, and I can see her hanging out with Hazama.
Gonta befriends Kurahashi pretty quickly, Hazama sometimes hangs out with them as well. Honestly I can see him getting on with a lot of people in the class.
Himiko is another tricky one, I think she'd get along pretty well with Okuda and the other quieter students.
Kiibo, I feel like this one's obvious but Ritsu. Also Itona and Yoshida to a slightly lesser extent. I can see him vibing with Nagisa as well.
Kaito and Sugino brotp when?
Kirumi, again, that's another one for the class reps. I can also see her hanging out with the "mom" squad as well as Kanzaki.
Kokichi, oh boy, he meets Karma and Nakamura and everyone immediately know's they're doomed.
Korekiyo is another tricky one, maybe Hazama?
Maki, just like Peko, I can see hanging out with the sniper duo and Nagisa. She also gets on well with Itona and Kayano.
Miu, same deal as Kazuichi. But I can also see her hanging out with the other girls and also Maehara for some reason.
Rantaro and Maehara brotp when?
Ryoma I can see hanging out with Sugino, but he gets picked up by the Terasaka Squad.
Shuichi, again, he gets "adopted" by Group 4. I can definitely see him being close to Nagisa and Sugino.
Tenko I can see vibing with Yada and Kataoka.
And finally, Tsumugi definitely vibes with Fuwa and Kayano. She's practically a fusion of the two of them /j
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mywjmc22 · 2 years
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July 14th/15th
Yeah… I totally crashed last night, I was exhausted. Would not have been able to write coherently. But it’s the final day, writing this on the shuttle to the airport (😭), so I’m going to combine yesterday and today.
It was crazy yesterday- in the most amazing way. We started out by hanging out on Capital Hill until 3. I was able to meet with a staffer of my House of Representatives representative and talk with her about mental illness issues and policies in schools (specifically my own), which was such an amazing opportunity. Amazingly grateful.
She was super nice, and apparently their offices get stocked with local sort of snacks/drinks? I’ve avoided saying my location, but I WILL say I’ve got the World of Coke, but that’s as far as I’ll go. So, I got a can of diet coke! Believe me when I say I’ve kept that can and definitely will continue to do so.
After my meeting, I still had a lot of time, and my cousin who lives in DC came to eat lunch with me! She brought her absolutely adorable dog Yoshi, and we ate and talked for like 2 hours. It was a great time.
After that, we went back to campus to get ready for our gala! A bunch of the girls in our color group all got ready together, which was insanely fun! And once we got there…
Wow. First off, the food was absolutely divine. Amazing. Then the music and the dancing started… I had to take off my jewelry. An insanely fun time, literally indescribable. We stayed out until around 11! I have so many pictures- I’m going to need to make multiple instagram posts!
Like I said, though, I was passed out after I was so tired. It was a million times worth it, though.
And now it’s today! Packing up and leaving the room was so sad. And then we had one final speaker, Ben Wolfe, who was absolutely super cool (then he got relatable and made me cry).
Then they had the absolute audacity to make a video as a summary (to show you how tired I still am- I good only think of that word in spanish and had to use a translator to find the english word…) of the conference and it was so cute and sad!!
(To show you how tired I still am- I could only think of the word summary in spanish (resumen) and had to use a translator to find the english word…)
It was just sad because of it ending. This has been such an awesome one of a kind experience that I will literally never have anything like again. I’m so glad I decided to do this, even though I’ve never done anything like it before. I’m being so repetitive but it was just so irreplaceable.
It’s not quite a goodbye though! We’ve all got each other’s numbers and socials and a big silver group group chat, and plan to stay in touch. People always say that- but I think it will really happen this time.
When people online don’t stay in touch, it’s because both people aren’t putting in the effort. But everyone seems so determined to keep talking, and not lose this awesome group of insanely cool people, that I think we really will keep up. At least a little bit. And I hope I’m right.
I guess that’s that! Feels weird to not have to keep posting this daily… to quote Shakespeare, at risk of sounding so pretentious, “parting is such sweet sorrow”. And honestly I don’t remember the rest of that- it’s almost definitely not supposed to be used in this context.
Well, check the instagram soon! There’s definitely gonna be multiple posts. One last time!
I guess we won’t really be seeing you :(
-Toby o7
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vampyrbutch · 2 years
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I’m gonna post my dream from last night bc it was crazy
So it starts with my mom my stepdad and I going to France (Paris specifically but this literally effects nothing very soon) and it’s me at like 17 in terms of looks but my brain now. And we go to a cafe or something and some incredibly long winded shenanigans happen (I can’t remember this tbh rn but don’t worry) anyway we like helped out this French girl during the shenanigans and she takes my hand and we’re running from the cafe and I’m like I want to keep hanging out with you I don’t want this to be goodbye! Do you have Snapchat or Instagram or anything? And she’s like no I don’t have anything online but come with me and we’re like crazy chase running through downtown Paris like a romcom movie, we get to this persons house and she’s like this is my new friend and introduces me to this large (like 15 ppl) group of young hip gay ppl and we tell ‘em abt the shenanigans (the language barrier is now nonexistent bc it’s a dream) and she goes to another part of the house n they’re like dang you’re the first one she’s brought in a while but you actually seem cool so this sucks (heavily implying she’s gonna do something bad to me??) and I’m like wtf do you mean pls elaborate but she comes back so they clam up n she’s like r u trying to freak out my date??? N they’re like nnooo lol n it’s a weird vibe. Then one of them turns into a monster and attacks me, I totally get them and win (I either kill them or kick them out) and she’s like I knew I picked a good one, (weird but ok) and then like 6/15 or whatever ppl there morph into ppl I went to high school with n they start like gossiping abt ppl we went to high school with which I am always down for so I was like muahahhah and then they were like remember Brian he’s bi now n I was like fuck yeah man that’s sick n Brian showed up so I patted him on the back bc he was actually a really cool guy lol It gets incredibly weird!
So we leave after that bc she’s like I don’t want them monopolizing u :((( n I’m like ok 👀 n I am not actually me anymore but I’m me in my brain (u know what I mean?)
so I am now like 5’10 and solidly muscled with longish dark hair. Then the setting completely changes.
This is a post-apocalyptic world with sci fi tech but it’s like rotting away and everything is slowly rotting with mold spores and stuff like that (it’s been like that for at least 45-50 years) and animals are like mutated so dogs are completely not domesticated and are dangerous (like most animals) and I go to her family’s compound n they have like a cult type mentality but I’m just like well ok. They have these like hovercraft/pod racer type things and they’re like post apocalyptic space Vikings going against the localized post apocalyptic super fucked up government And they steal from the government to get unspoiled food/supplies and it’s solidly cold outside with like moldering snow so ppl in the protection of the fucked up government get really good masks and breathe well/safely so they steal from them to get like shitty ones N it’s now in America definitely most likely upper east coast and I went with them on one of their stealing runs and it’s like me, the girl I’m into, this literal actual grandma, one of the guys in charge and another older guy in charge. And it’s all going good but suddenly the government’s enforcers show up and are trying to gun us down with these like psycho pass (not a typo, like the anime lol) type plasma guns and it takes out one of the hovercraft and we’re going down this insane hill/cliff with the gravity things failing and it turns out I don’t actually need the breathing mask bc I was a part of this secret lab control group that’s been exposed to the contamination for multiple generations and similar to the animals it’s made me solidly strong and fast so I literally like jumped on one of the enforcers turrets and broke it but the cliff edge is rapidly approaching we need to lose some cargo but it’s food and important supplies and I’m like pretty much abt to sacrifice myself wracking my brain for some sort of idea and the grandma (like this woman is 70 years old and btw we are all decked out like mad max fungal world badass style) literally grabs me and goes don’t worry I’ve figured it out. And I’m like what??? And she jumps onto one of the failing pods fucking accelerates the shit out of her pod to go over the cliff face, screams “VALHALLAAAAAAA” and goes over the edge And we go over the edge too bc we gotta, all the cargo is alright mostly but the bottom of the cliff is the literally mangled body of this woman whose still alive by virtue of all of us being slightly contaminated (me and the oldest ppl the most) and the girl is like sobbing (understandably) and we find that the grandma didn’t use the gravity thing going down until the last possible second so the supplies were protected but the force like 98 percent killed her. She’s then carried into this secret room n I’m like is she getting help or something??? N they’re like no she’s going to Valhalla, she’s in the ritual room n im like what the hell n the girl grabs my arm n is like no you can’t go in or look or you die n im like Jesus Christ ok. And we’re looking over like the scrapbook of the facility over the years n it’s now been like two years since I found these ppl n most of the older generation is dead (literally from either taking greater risk for Valhalla or from the slow rot)
and I’m going on a top secret run with the chief type guy and he’s like listen, I want my daughter (my gf) to be the next chief. You have to protect her ok. There may be some moles on the inside. N I’m like oh fuck man. (Fun fact some of the ppl in the compound are my coworkers so that’s fun) n we’re traveling through the caves and rock formations that the compound is in but the compound barely scratches the service. We’re doing some recon trying to figure out shipments n stuff and we come across these enforcer guard type guys like “we’re finally gonna stamp out those Viking fucks. (Random guy name) sold them out for some mediocre fucking air, what an idiotic traitor, we’re just gonna find out where they are and kill him.” And so we RACE back to the compound and act like everything’s cool but I find the guy (he’s actually a pretty important dude) and I beat him 2 fuckin death and tell the ppl abt his crimes but it’s too late he’s already told them our location so some of the ppl go deeper into the caves like fucking helms deep and me my girl and a lot of the old ppl decide to stand and fight. It’s so scary tho bro. THEN as the enforcers surround us you would never guess what happens. The FUCKING WOLVES START TEARING THOSE MOFOS APART!!!!
and so it’s so fucking sick but ppl are still dyin in the process bc we are ridiculously outnumbered. They try to take the chief guy as a hostage n get the info for the ppl who fled and dude makes eye contact with his daughter, shakes his head n goes. “Valhalla” and they SLIT his throat and kill him. Then his favorite wolf kills the guy who killed him but dies in the process. It’s super super sad but dude we are turning the tide. We kill all the enforcer type guys but it’s literally only my gf and me and like 3 other ppl left so they leave to find their families n stuff and my gf takes my hand n shows me she’s actually wounded pretty badly. She limps into the ritual room and I push the door open, deciding to die with her. We see the corpse of her grandma with like an insane plasma hole through her. The room is like a normal almost hospital type room but it’s absolutely covered with this pulsing bioluminescent fungus, the plasma cannon like merged with the fungus to create a new bio weapon that literally bursts a grisly hole through you and then biologically catalyzes the contamination process to turn you into a fruiting spore for the contamination We r literally like about to kill ourselves but we find a note from the guy who started the compound and the dream then movie-like takes me the viewer into the first days of the apocalypse
So it’s a college guy our age who comes back from winter break to find his dorm/apartment room literally covered in mold spore fungi type stuff that’s like sporing and mixing with the snow, he goes outside and realizes the snow he thought was normal . . Isn’t. And looks around to see if anyone else is noticing it so he yells out DOES ANYONE FUCKIN SEE THIS???? And a guy in the dorm room under him answers so he looks down and the guys balcony doors are cracked open with multi colored spores coming out so our guy curses and covers his mouth n is like “MOTHERFUCKER! Dude close your fuckin door you’re gonna contaminate ppl” n the guy groans and opens his door and he’s been contaminated like horrific body horror like part of his head split open so our main guy curses and is like. Fuck at least the guys door is closed I guess and he’s tryin to climb down the apartments like parkour style to get the fuck outta there and he keeps yelling for anyone else and hears this lady like “stop fuckin yelling I can hear you!!! I don’t know what the duck is going on but my husband isn’t responding and he works at the nearby air force base. “. (She’s like 24 and an RD) he’s like. Well, let’s go find him lady, and she opens the door (it’s grandma) and she takes his hand n goes, “you better not try any funny business. I’m a married woman” and he chuckles n goes, “wouldn’t dream of it” so they go and get as much supplies as they can from their rooms and go on his motorcycle in the direction of the base (which is over a state away) on the way there amassing other survivors and the ppl who will make up the Viking compound in the future. We also get to see how they made a relationship with the wolfdogs/how the contamination has changed since the early days and this letter/scrapbook ends pretty much telling us that the only important thing in this new world is love and living (it’s super poignant but I don’t remember the exact words) this then convinces my girl not to kill herself so it ends With me giving her medical attention and choosing to go out into the contaminated world, tryin to find a new tomorrow, we take these motorcycle/hovercraft with the wolves we’ve bonded with following us and some staying to protect the rest of the group and the dream ends with us traveling and seeing a new day dawn with a sunrise we haven’t been able to see in years
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apocalypticgargoyle · 3 years
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𝙈𝙀𝙀𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙅𝘼𝘾𝙊𝘽𝙎𝙀𝙎. | 𝙠𝙖𝙧𝙡 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙤𝙗𝙨 (18+)
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edit by @raeganlolz <3
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∘ requests: I tried to use as many as I could that made sense! Hope you enjoy!
“the things i’d do to meet edgy karl’s parents.”
“ok but next time you want to write smut for edgy!karl...post pregnancy scare...karl having a fixation on readers tiddies...like the whole time. -🧚🏻‍♀️”
“i stg this is my last thing ill send in today about edgy!karl but karl letting reader dom him completely.-🧚🏻‍♀️”
“CONSIDER edgy!Karl saying ‘that's my girl’”
∘ pairing: edgy!Karl Jacobs x fm!reader 
∘ warnings: nsfw (minors dni), mentions of underaged sex, asphyxiation, domination, this being 4k
∘ word count: ~4000 (im so sorry)
∘ links: 𐐪 ao3 𐑂 𐐪 previous part 𐑂 𐐪 submit an edgy!karl edit 𐑂
∘ disclaimer: I made up all the dynamics and Karl lore. This is also an au and I do what I want so
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You rolled your shoulders, twisting your back to alleviate some of the stress in your back as your mind raced at the possible outcomes of spending the weekend at Karl’s parent’s place. He seemed to deal with the situation in his own way, a cigarette lazily hanging from his lips as he scrubbed the nail polish from his fingers. You wondered if his parents were sticklers for order, then again, knowing Karl, there was no way they weren’t crazy strict. You thought about your own family and what would happen if Karl were to meet your mother.
Karl seemed almost absent-mindedly going through the motions of visiting them like you had nothing to worry about. There were occasions when he even made it clear that you had your life more intact than he did, so it was doubtful they would hate you.
You peered over at him, taking your eyes off the road momentarily as he paused to blow smoke out of his window. “Why do you have to take it off?” You asked, gesturing to his hands.
He scoffed slightly, sitting up and throwing the dirty cotton ball into the small bag beside him. “My mom hates the dark colors,” he murmured, flicking his cigarette bud outside. He moved a hand to settle over your thigh, wrapping his fingers around the flesh. “Don’t worry, I’ll paint them again when we get back,” he chided. “I know it’s the only reason you keep me around.”
You snorted at this, shaking your head at his joke.
The two of you came to a small stop-over town, swapping seats after filling up the tank at the local gas station. Through the crack in the passenger window, you could hear the cashier greeting Karl as if they were old friends, smacking him on the back and walking him out the door with a smile. As Karl sank into the driver’s seat you furrowed your brows. He looked at you with a shrug. “We vacation around here sometimes,” he brushed off, making your mouth twist in disbelief. He was downplaying the extent of his family’s hold over the town.
As the two of you drove through the main street of the town, your eyes snapped to the various stores with his last name plastered on the signs. You nearly asked him about it, instead opting out as you figured he would give you a half-assed answer and only give you part of the story.
His house had its own street, a long winding road that ended in a looped driveway the size of a suburban cold-de-sac. You willed yourself not to let your mouth gape at the sheer size of the mansion as it stared back at you, blocking the moonlight as Karl opened the passenger door for you to climb out. “Stop treating me like the fucking Queen of England,” you murmured, elbowing him as he pulled on his hoodie, shaking out his hair slightly.
He laughed at you, popping a piece of gum in his mouth, and pressing his lips to yours in a nearly heated kiss as if to give you a taste of what he had in store of you. As he broke the embrace, his nose brushed against yours. “I can treat you worse if you want, pet?” He offered, causing you to shove him away from you.
“We are literally in your parents’ driveway. Chill out,” you urged, making him chuckle as he laced his fingers with yours, pulling you towards the front door. Your heart hammered in your ears as he pushed open the door. You tugged on his arm. “Shouldn’t we knock first?” You whispered, making him pop his gum and shrug.
As if telling you not to worry, he pulled you the rest of the way in the house, only to be greeted with an old man barely reaching over your height. “Karl! My god, you nearly scared the living daylights outta me!” He hooted, as Karl wrapped his arm around the old man, the two chattering away like the best of friends.
You smiled at the warmth between the two, watching Karl blossom. He moved to stand by you, wrapping his arm around your waist and gesturing to the man. “This is my nanny, Leslie. He wouldn’t leave so I think he just dusts the books in one of the libraries,” Karl joked, making the man swat the air in front of Karl.
You raised your eyebrows. “One of the libraries?” You repeated quietly as if to make sure you heard him correctly.
He smirked at you, disregarding your surprise. “This is my girlfriend,” he introduced, rather proudly as Leslie’s face lit up. He grabbed your hands and rambled on about how he had never thought Karl would introduce a girlfriend to the family.
“I thought I heard Karl’s voice. Did he make it?” A feminine tone rang out into the foyer, capturing Karl’s attention a beat before she had started talking as if he had sensed her. You wanted to smirk at the vision, knowing he did the same when he heard you.
A woman came around the corner of one of the walls, her hair and makeup applied to a professional standard and her clothes were cleanly pressed. She looked as if she had just gotten home from an office job with a corner office. Her intimidating aura vanished along with his as soon as she saw him, scooping him up in her arms as he chuckled slightly. She held him out an arm’s length away, pinching his sides and calling him a beanstalk. Another man a few years older than Leslie entered the room, draped in a flowery apron. He embraced Karl as well, the couple fawning over him like they hadn’t seen him in years.
Karl gestured for you to come closer as he showed you off to the pair, introducing them as his parents. Karl’s mom immediately embraced you, murmuring about how Karl hadn’t brought a girl home in ages let alone a girlfriend and you were quickly being to notice a theme amongst the group.
The house was massive, which you had quickly noticed was even bigger than it looked outside, as Karl’s mother looped her arm around yours, giving you the tour and explaining the extensive history of the Jacobs family and their impact on the house. Leslie and she served as some of the most entertaining tour guides you’d ever experienced as they giggling and joked. Karl walked quietly behind the group of you, hands in his pockets as he looked up at the ceilings and pictures as if he hadn’t seen them a thousand times growing up.
You peered over your shoulder, making sure he was still with the rest of you. He set you a wink, lips curling at the sight of you getting along with his family members.
After you were finally beginning to lose track of time Karl broke into the charade, and after vaguely mentioning he was tired, his mother when into a mock cuddling mode, cooing to him sarcastically, yet letting the two of you slink away for the night with the promise of finishing the tour before Karl’s brother showed up in the morning.
Soon it was just you and Karl again, him leading you up a flight of stairs. The hallways were lit with small lanterns that at one time had probably fostered candles but were now replaced with electric ones. You weren’t sure where to look as the walls were crammed with painting and photographs. Half of you wanted to admire the architecture while the rest of you was attempting to identify who the artist was that had done most of the artwork.
Karl sighed tiredly, popping open a door and switching on the lights. You bit back a smile at the view of his room in its pristine condition. The various shades of blues and greys accenting the features of his bed and various pieces of furniture. As you looked around, he threw his wallet and keys onto the dresser beside his bed, shutting the door to drown out the faint music coming from the kitchen. You sat in one of the massive chairs beside the fireplace, your mind running blank with disbelief. A fire was already burning in anticipation of his return.
You ran your finger along the seam in the leather. “When you said your family had money… I didn’t picture all,” you paused gesturing around you, “… this…”
He shrugged with a small smile on his face. “Do you wanna know a little piece of Karl lore?” He asked, smugly.
You perked your eyebrows at his words. “You know I do.”
He gestured with his fingers for you to come towards him as he walked closer to one of the massive windows. He settled his hand in the crook of your neck, turning you to look across the pond at a few of the other massive properties. He pressed a kiss to your shoulder before pointing at one directly in front of you. “I lost my virginity in that one,” he stated, making you chuckle.
He wrapped his arms around your waist. “And to whom?” You queried, as his teeth nipped at your ear.
You could practically hear him smirk. “Her name was Ms. Scarlet back then, but I think she’s been married again,” he answered, making you freeze in his hold. “I think she was between husband two and three.”
“Wait, what?” You turned around to face him.
He brushed his lips against yours. “You jealous?”
You furrowed your brows at him, pulling out of his touch. “Were you of age?” You questioned, voice coming out in almost a winded laugh.
He shrugged, plopping down on the bed behind him, leaning his weight back on his hands. “Not the first time.” He smiled up at you. “She’s a friend of mine’s mom. I cut her grass that summer.”
You rubbed your eyes. “Jesus Christ,” you murmured. “Did you hook up again after that?” It was like he had opened Pandora’s box, a mass of questions echoing like bees within your mind.
He looked at the ceiling. “We stopped before my sophomore year of college, I think.” He furrowed his brows in thought. “Yeah, so almost five years.” Your mouth gapped slightly. “But only when I came back for breaks.”
“You were seventeen?” You stressed. “And when you came back from where?” You sat beside him, attempting to decide if you should be worried or not. Obviously, it wasn’t a fact you could change, but the fact that a woman had him at so young-
He hummed slightly. “Boarding school,” he mumbled, trying not to seem smug. He wrapped his arm around your waist. “I know it sounds bad now, but she wasn’t taking advantage of me or anything,” he assured. “I think you’d like her, honestly.”
“You think I’d like a woman that preys on little boys?” He snorted at your comment and you smacked his chest, making him laugh louder.
He dug his face into your neck. “Age of consent is lower here,” he continued to assure. “Baby, I’m okay.” His teeth nipped at your skin. “Plus, I don’t think I’d know how to make you feel so good without her.” That made you green around the gills. You attempted to put the thought of Karl and an older woman out of your mind. “How did you lose yours?”
You swallowed your questions, deciding to save them for another day. “In a treehouse before I left for college. With my roommate’s twin brother,” you murmured.
He chuckled. “Oh, shit. We’re both bad friends, aren’t we?” He jested.
You shook your head, chewing the inside of your cheek. “I was dating him, actually. It was really brief.”
“The sex or the relationship?” He asked, making two gesture two fingers into the air. He pulled away from you, sending you a small smile. “And what’s his name? I need to know who you’re comparing me to.”
You scoffed. “Clay,” you answered, the image of the boy flashing into your mind for an instant.
Karl’s demeanor changed. “Clay?” He repeated, sounding like you earlier as you wrapped your brain around the extent of the Jacobs fortune. “What does that seem so familiar…” he trailed off in thought. You perked your eyebrow at him, knowing full-well the two could have unintentionally crossed paths on campus.
The next morning, you could have sworn you were on the set of a period piece if it weren’t for Karl’s father’s golfing attire and his mother’s tight black dress as they welcomed various family members into the house. You had finally met Karl’s older brother, an accomplished man with a good job and an even more impressive education, yet each time he attempted to boast about his earnings or the progress he was bringing to the family business, he was swatted off only for his parents to gloat about Karl’s fraternity connections and grades.
You peered over Karl’s shoulder as he showed you Todd’s Instagram post, the two of you scoffing before you liked his picture from your account, making Karl roll his eyes as you snickered.
“… And that being said, renting cars is no longer a strenuous task,” Karl’s brother finished.
Mrs. Jacobs nodded her head slightly. Karl had mentioned the family joke of disregarding what his brother said, even if it was impressive or you were interested. It had been a running gag since Karl was in high school and they weren’t planning on letting up anytime soon. “Yeah, that’s neat. Did you hear Karl learned how to do his own laundry?” His mom boasted with a small chirp to her voice as if Karl were the best thing on the planet.
You bit back a laugh as his brother grumbled to himself, his wife patting his arm reassuringly. “He was also one of the most expensive at KA. Very impressive son!” His dad added, sending him a thumbs up.
You stood with Karl in the living room; his arm draped around the top of a bookshelf you were leaning against as you both listened to one of his cousins talk about a new boat they had just paid off.
Your heels felt tight on your feet as you switched the weight from one ankle to the other, leaning closer to Karl. He moved so his lips were near your ear. “Don’t let him fool you. It’s a hollowed-out log with a rudder,” he chided, making the corner of your mouth twist up.
“It’s not much, but it’s honest,” you mockingly defended. “You’re jealous, aren’t you?”
“Inexplicably,” he murmured back, making you laugh quietly. He let a beat of silence pass between the two of you before wetting his lips. “Say the word and we’ll find a random room and I’ll ruin your makeup,” he whispered.
You scoffed, inching closer to him while your eyes remained on the center of the room where everyone was talking. “How can you be horny around your family?”
You could feel his warm breath against your neck. “Because I’m more focused on you in that tight little dress than Kevin’s boat.”
You took a sip from your cup. “Dirty boy,” you joshed quietly.
Karl smirked at you before his eyes drifted to the front door, a new flow of people filing into the house. You noticed him grow quiet, following his gaze to a woman and a boy around your age. They greeted Karl’s parents happily before integrating into the living room with the rest of you. You could tell by the way his face twisted smugly that the woman was Ms. Scarlet. You drew in a breath as she neared the two of you.
Karl stood up a bit straighter and you bit back a laugh, making a mental note on having to tease him about his MILF. The woman smiled brightly at Karl, pinching his cheek. You attempted to piece together who the boy was and if Karl had mentioned him before.
Karl cleared his throat after they shared their pleasantries. “Uh, this is Nick, but everyone calls him Sapnap, and this is his mom… Ms. Scarlet?” He questioned the last part as she charmingly laughed.
“Oh, no darling. I’m Mrs. Donahue now.” Sapnap rolled his eyes slightly at her words, taking a sip of his drink as she winked at him.
Karl smirked. “Right, congratulations. Anyway, they’ve been our neighbors for years-”
She cut him off, squeezing his arm. “Oh, come on! We were trying to marry Karl off to one of Nick’s cousins and finally join the families, but it’s just funny how things work out,” she stated. You wracked your brain, attempting to figure out if it was a dig at you or Karl. The two of them went off on a tangent about the array of Sapnap’s cousins that Karl had had to take on dates and whatnot.
“So, you’re dating Karl then?” Sapnap asked you, more of an aside as they had seemed to forget about you.
You nodded; the fact still rather foreign to you when given the chance to think about it. “Yeah, I’ll claim him,” you joked. “Did you guys go to the same high school?” You asked, attempting conversation.
He looked at you tiredly. “Yeah, yeah. We’ve been classmates since we were little.” You hummed in interest. “I mean, since he fucked my mom we haven’t been hanging out or anything,” he added as if you had been itching to ask.
You had been.
You snorted at his words as he smiled slightly. “Sorry, that’s not funny,” you apologized, covering your mouth.
He shook his head, laughing softly. “No, it definitely is, don’t worry.”
“How did, uh… that affect you guys?” You asked, biting back your humorous response.
He seemed to relax from his stiffened introduction a few minutes prior. He wet his lips. “Honestly, there’s no going back from that, you know?”
You giggled. “No, I don’t.”
He laughed at your answer, covering it with a cough as Karl seemed to remember you were standing beside him. Sapnap’s mom suddenly spotted an old friend of hers, the two parting from your life almost as quickly as they had entered. You leaned against Karl’s arm.
“I like Sapnap,” you hummed, watching the two leave. “He seems quiet.” Karl shrugged beside you. Your mind wandered to whether Sapnap knew Todd. Part of you wished you had asked him, but you were struggling to remember Todd’s real name anyway. “Did you have fun with your lady friend?” You mocked, looking up at him.
He shook his head, biting back a smirk. “You’re my lady friend.”
You chuckled. “Oh? I thought you’d forgotten.”
Before you knew it, you were pressed against Karl in a coat closet in a remote part of the house, unable to make it to his room before his hands were up your skirt and his lips were attacking your skin. He pinned you against the door as if he were worried you would slip out of his grasp as he ground his hips against yours. His teeth grazed against your neck in a mess of hands and hair.
You pushed him further into the closet before he plopped down in a chair towards the back. The both of you shared a look of confusion as to why it was there yet shrugged and went back to carding your fingers through his hair and tugging at his lips with your own. He moaned into your mouth as you climbed into his lap, his hands gripping the flesh of your thighs before snaking up to slip into the top of your dress and take your breast into one of his large hands.
Kissing him felt strange without his tongue ring; if you weren’t so desperate to get yourself off, you would have complained about missing it.
You ground yourself on his lap, groaning at your newfound friction as he spread his legs further for you, his free hand dragging you against his crotch. You pressed your lips against his neck, biting at the skin, determined to mark him as yours. You weren’t doing it to ward off Ms. Scarlet, no. This was for you, knowing full well that Karl always wore your hickeys with pride.
Your hands went to his belt buckle, impatience taking over as you nipped at his skin, earning moans of pleasure as he let you have your way with him. He pressed his lips to your chest as you freed his cock from its cloth entrapment, stroking him with your hand. “Give me your panties,” he whispered, breathlessly as he hooked his fingers around your waistband. You obliged before angling him at your entrance and sinking down onto him. The two of you let out moans of pleasure, swallowing each other’s appraisal.
The air grew warm around the two of you as you began to roll your hips against him. Your head tilting back as you tried to quiet yourself down, knowing the last thing you wanted was for someone to walk in… again.
Karl’s fingers moved to unzip your dress, exposing your chest to his mouth as your fingers moved to tug at his dark locks. He ground his hips up into yours, a thankful moan slipping past your lips as his tongue pressed against the valley between your breasts.
You pushed him against the back of the chair, capturing his lips against your and slipping your tongue into his mouth. He completely submitted to your actions, wanting nothing more than to taste you as you began to ride him harder. Your nails dug into the back of the chair, your other hand moving to unbutton the top of his shirt and wrap around his neck. “Is she better than me?” You asked; your breath husky and demanding as his teeth flashed back at you, his leering smirk mixing with his blissed-out expression as he tried not to roll his eyes at how good he felt with you taking all of him.
“N-no. Of course not,” he groaned. His lips were pink from your teeth, cheeks flushed with lust and adrenaline as his blunt nails raked up your body to claw at your back. “Fuck, you feel so good,” he moaned, voice almost a whimper.
You moved your hand to press your thumb to brush against his bottom lip, loving the pleasured expression on his face as he looked at you like you owned him. “Good,” you answered plainly, swirling your hips and tightening your grip on his neck before you could feel your impending orgasm nearly within reach. He almost smiled up at you. What a little freak.
You moved your hand to fist in the front of his shirt, pulling him up to press your lips against his as you bounced on top of him. He let out a deep moan before you felt him release, making you scoff sardonically. His fingers moved to grip your hips, thrusting against you harder, determined to get you to follow him. You dug your face into the crook of his neck, his teeth digging into your skin.
Shamelessly, you let him drag you over the edge, your orgasm ripping through you with a flash of heat and relief. Karl kissed you roughly, desperate to taste your moans as if looking for your approval. "That's my girl," he moaned, smiling against your lips.
As the two of you straightened your clothing and cleaned up your appearances, you went for your underpants in Karl’s pocket, but he grabbed your wrist, drawing you to his chest. “You got to be on top, that means I’m in charge of foreplay for the rest of the night,” he answered, pressing a brief and sultry kiss against your lips to wipe away your shocked expression.
“Fine, then I’m in charge when we get back and I’ll send lewds to Todd,” you threatened with an empty conscious on the matter. “Just to make it spicy. Stir it up a bit,” you joshed.
He groaned, making you smirk. “You’re playing with fire,” he mumbled.
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0606-hyuck · 3 years
Text
first kiss forum
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♡ everyone has their first kiss eventually. sometimes, you just have to create an online forum to find the right one. and sometimes, the right one is not at all who you expected it to be.
genre: fluff, a tiny bit of angst if you look hard enough, university!au, friends to strangers to lovers!au
paring: na jaemin x female reader
word count: 3.5K
a/n: i have never had my first kiss b4 so the description of it might be a bit off lol but i tried. this is unedited btw. my masterlist is here!
tagging: @nct-writers
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Everybody has their first kiss eventually. 
First kisses are described as an experience every young girl yearns for. An experience classmates sit around in a circle and proclaim their excitement for, and gossip about their own stories. Something that, for some, was everything they'd ever hoped for and more - for others, a memory they’d rather forget. 
A first kiss was something you had not had yet. 
At the age of twenty-one, you were getting to the stage where your lack of romantic life was veering towards concerning. Now in your third year of university, you really thought that by now you would have at least had your first kiss. Or a boyfriend. Or even held someone’s hand romantically, for god’s sake!
You weren’t one to rush into things, though. You didn’t see the point in trying your hardest to get a boy’s attention when you were perfectly fine without it. Some people you knew couldn’t stand being single - for you, it was all you’d ever known. Sure, you’d wanted to be in a relationship before, but you’d always prioritised your education and grades over hooking up with people at random frat parties in the weekend. 
The only problem was, your last remaining single friend, Asi, had gone and found herself a man, and was now just as loved up as everyone else. She was the friend you’d hang out with when everyone else was on dates with their significant other, the friend you’d roll your eyes with when your other friends were going on and on about the latest cute thing their partner had done for them. Now, you were all alone, with no one to save you from the clutches of boredom or second hand embarrassment. 
You were happy for your friends - of course you were, all you wanted was for them to be content in their relationships - but it was worrying you that boys had never really shown an interest in you. You didn’t think you were ugly - in fact, you had a healthy level of self esteem - but you’d never had anyone confess their feelings for you like your friends had. You were starting to wonder if there was something wrong with you. Were you really that boring that no boys wanted to talk to you? Were you just that unlikeable?
Before your train of thought plunged itself off the rails and into a deep pit of self loathing and pity, you reminded yourself that you were, in fact, likeable. Boys had liked you before, of course they had - you were great! Only, it had been a long time since someone had had a crush on you. 
Na Jaemin had been the first boy to show a serious interest in you, back when you were both just sixteen years old. Jaemin was that boy in class that all the girls had a secret crush on. He wasn’t necessarily good looking in an “oh my god he’s so hot!” kind of way, but his bright smile, eyes that shone with curiosity and amusement, and cheeky personality had you hooked on him since the first time you’d met him. 
You’d been classmates with Jaemin since you were fourteen, and you’d had a crush on him for just as long, but it took a few more years for him to return your feelings. It was only after you were paired up for a science project together that you actually started talking to each other and becoming friends. Jaemin was virtually a massive ball of sunshine in the classroom, and ever since you were paired up together he always made sure to include you in conversations, games, and the friend groups he was in. It was a few months after your science project that you heard little snippets of conversations from his friends - rumours started circulating that Jaemin had a crush on you! 
When you brought it up with him, expecting him to brush it off as a joke his friends had started to embarrass him, you were utterly shocked when he admitted the rumours were true. He told you outright that he liked you, but didn’t expect or want to pressure you into feeling the same way back, so he simply grinned and walked away before you could respond. 
A few days later, he came into class carrying a yellow flower. You’re positive every single girl in your class had their eyes fixed on Jaemin as he walked up to your desk and placed it in front of you. The flower was frayed and browning at the edges, and it appeared Jaemin had simply ripped it out of his own back garden, but it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for you. 
After that, he constantly invited you to hang out with him and his friends at the local arcade or basketball court. He was never embarrassed to have you around, and would always make sure you felt comfortable and were having fun above all else. Soon, you would hang out together, just the two of you. You never established what your relationship was, but you both knew you were best friends, and that Jaemin liked you and you liked him just as much.��
And then, he left. 
Just like that, Jaemin was no longer a student at your school. You heard from his friends that he’d transferred to another school a couple districts over. He left without saying a word to you, and you weren’t even upset. You just wondered what would have happened between you two if he’d stayed. 
Bringing yourself back to the present, you finally focused on what Asi was saying. It was when your best friend was going on a tangent about how lovely her new boyfriend was that you made a decision. If you couldn’t get your first kiss the conventional way, then you had no choice but to resort to unorthodox methods. 
You were going to create a first kiss forum. 
It was simple, really. Create an online forum with some crucial questions - name, age, why they wanted to be your first kiss, etc - and then send it off into the online world. It took you less than thirty minutes to decide on the questions, create the forum, and then post it on a facebook page followed by students from your university. You honestly felt a little embarrassed that you were going through this much effort all for a first kiss, and you were worried about what people would say in response to your post, but after an hour all the comments people left were either them being super supportive of your initiative or people tagging their friends to apply for the position of “first-kiss-taker”.
Now all you had to do was sit back and wait a couple of days for the responses to roll in. 
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“So, have you checked the responses to your forum yet?” Asi asked, reclining back into the sofa in your living room and grabbing a fistful of crisps. When you’d told her your plan to create the forum, Asi was hesitant. She didn’t believe you needed to go through all that effort just to get a first kiss - according to her, first kisses weren’t even a big deal anyway - but once she realised your mind was set she did everything in her power to be that supportive best friend you needed. 
“Not yet,” you sighed, fiddling with your phone in your hand. “I’m just nervous, you know? What if no one wants to be my first kiss, and they only applied because they thought it would be funny?”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out, Y/N. Crack that bad boy open and let’s go through some of the responses!”
You’d refrained from checking the forum since you’d posted it thus far, but at this point it had been quite a few days and the hype your post initially received had died down. Pulling up the forum on your phone, Asi leaned over your shoulder while your jaw hung open in surprise. 
“Asi, are you seeing this?” You managed to stammer out. “53 responses? That’s so much more than I was expecting. I thought I’d get, like, five at the most!”
“Damn, that is a lot,” Asi replied, beaming at you. “Now let’s narrow that 53 down to one.”
Huddled together over your screen, you and Asi spent the next few hours deciding between the applicants, searching for your ideal first kiss taker. “How about this guy, Taeyong?” She suggested.
“His responses to the questions were sweet,” you agreed, and then blanched. “Asi, he’s 25! I don’t want to have my first kiss with someone that much older than me!”
“Okay, so someone close in age with you....hmm, how about this dude, Donghyuck?”
Glancing at the screen for a second, you shook your head. “Did you see his response for the ‘why do you want to be Y/N’s first kiss’ question? He said ‘because I have a corruption kink’. No thank you.”
“God, you’re so fussy, Y/N!” Asi joked, shoving you lightly with her shoulder, although your focus was back on the applicants. 
“How about this guy? He simply put his name as J but his responses are so heartfelt,” you pointed out. “In response to the ‘why do you want to be Y/N’s first kiss’ question, he said ‘have you seen her? Y/N is literally a goddess sent down from the heavens and a first kiss is a beautiful experience for both parties and one I would love to share with her’.”
“Oh, so this J is a sweet talker then, huh?” Asi grinned. “I think you’ve already made your mind up, then. Go ahead and message him, he sounds like a good guy!”
And message him you did.
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“What the hell am I supposed to wear?” 
Today was the day you’d agreed to meet this mysterious J and have your first ever kiss. After selecting J out of all the applicants, you’d messaged him with the good news that he’d been chosen. J seemed really excited, and you’d been talking with him every day leading up to when you would finally meet him. The lucky guy seemed almost perfect for you. Somehow, J knew exactly what to say in response to your messages, and every time you checked your phone you were smiling because of something funny he had said. He was genuinely sweet, and you don’t think you could have made a better choice when it came to your first kiss taker. 
Only now, you had spent too long fretting about your outfit and you were running slightly late to your meeting with J. You’d both agreed to meet at this cute little park down near the subway station close to your university - somewhere public, so you felt safe, but also somewhere that was relatively quiet and offered you some privacy. J had sent you pictures of himself before, but only pieces of his appearance - a mirror shot with his face covered by his phone, a corner of his eye and forehead, his hair - nevertheless, you still felt confident you’d made the right decision and that J was the right person for the job. 
You sent J a quick ‘I’m here now, sorry I’m late’ text once you reached the park, and headed towards your agreed meeting spot. There was an old bench secluded under a wide cherry blossom tree that you’d decided to meet J at, and because it was over the other side of the park you picked up your feet and increased the pace. 
You only slowed down when you spotted a figure, already sitting on the bench under the tree. As you got closer, you realised it was a male, around your age, dressed in a knitted brown sweater and black jeans. His light brown hair was wavy and brushed back from his face, and he appeared to be clutching something tightly in his hands. He looked vaguely familiar from this distance, you thought, but you figured it was because you were finally seeing his face in real life, rather than piecing it together through random selfies. 
That was, until you were close enough for him to notice you, and turn around to say, “hi, Y/N. It’s nice to finally meet you again.”
Standing up from the bench was Na Jaemin, your former best friend and crush, holding a bunch of yellow flowers between his hands. Of course J was Jaemin, that was just your luck.
You and Jaemin hadn’t left on good terms. Back in high school, back when you were best friends with him, Jaemin was very popular. He seemed to do everything right - from hotspotting your classmates to helping them with their homework, Jaemin was loved by everyone because of how caring he was. You were lucky enough to bear the brunt of that kindness when you were his friend, but you were also young and prone to jealousy. 
Not only was he loved by everyone, but Jaemin seemed to love everyone back as equally as much. His innate ability to charm literally everyone he talked to - from classmates to teachers to parents - was something you’d loved about him at first, but soon became the bane of your existence. You found it hard to share Jaemin’s attention with everyone else in your class, and, although you knew Jaemin liked you the most, in your eyes it seemed like he was treating your classmates the same way he treated you. 
You started questioning whether Jaemin actually liked you at all, or if you’d just read too much into the situation. You tried to ignore the sweet smiles and kind compliments he gave other girls in your class, and looking back now you realised he was only being friendly and that’s just who he was as a person, but you were starting to slip into the poisonous grasp of jealousy and feel like you were no more special than anyone else. 
One day you decided to confront Jaemin about how nice he treated everyone, and how it made you feel like he didn’t behave towards you the way someone would to their crush, and he did not take that conversation well. You don’t blame him, not really, considering you essentially told him to stop being so nice to everyone and focus on you instead. Jaemin said he wasn’t going to stop being kind to people because you felt jealous, which upset you even more, and you didn’t talk to each other in the days following your fight. 
When Jaemin left your school, you two were still very angry at each other, so he didn’t tell you he was having to leave. Quite frankly, you didn’t care. Jaemin could suck it, at that point. If he insisted on treating you the same way as your classmates, who he didn’t have a literal crush on, then he didn’t deserve you at all. You felt like a whole lot of weight and unnecessary jealousy was lifted when Jaemin left, but as you got older you started to wonder how your relationship would have turned out if you hadn’t been so damn immature. 
It’s funny, really. When you were sixteen, you thought Jaemin was going to be your first. Your first boyfriend, your first kiss, your first love. And here he was, five years later, offering to give that to you. 
“I got you flowers. I remember they used to be your favourite,” Jaemin spoke, flashing you a soft smile as he held out the bouquet of flowers to you. Now that he was standing next to you, you noticed all the traces of the sixteen year old version of him that you were familiar with. Although he had gained an extra half foot in height and lost the chubbiness of his cheeks, he retained the stunning smile and bright eyes that you fell in love with all those years ago. He really was handsome now. 
“So, you’re J?” You managed to say, confusion and surprise evident in your voice as you took the flowers. You took a seat back down on the bench and Jaemin followed your lead, sitting closely beside you. 
“That I am. Sorry I wasn’t honest with you about who I was,” he admitted. “I figured you probably wouldn’t meet up with me if you knew who J really was.” You lifted the flowers up to your nose and took a long draw of the flowery scent. Jaemin was right, that infuriatingly attentive bastard, they were your favourite. 
“Right. And yet you still applied to be my...first kiss?” 
Suddenly, you felt very embarrassed to confess you’d never had your first kiss before. Jaemin was gorgeous, and there was no way he was in the same boat as you, you thought as humiliation flooded through your body. 
“Uh yeah, about that,” Jaemin chuckled, a blush appearing on his cheeks. Hold up, why was he blushing? “When I saw your post about the first kiss forum online, I was so surprised that you’d never had your first kiss before. I kept thinking, if we hadn’t stopped talking to each other we probably would have been each other’s first kiss back in high school.”
He paused, and glanced at the ground, unable to keep eye contact with you. “I feel really bad, you know. With how things ended between us. We never dated, Y/N, but I really liked you. When I moved to my new school, I wanted to message you and tell you all about it, but because you never messaged me I thought you didn’t want to talk to me.”
Your breath caught at Jaemin’s words, and you felt a wave of guilt wash over you. “That’s not true,” you revealed, and he finally looked up at you again. “I was so angry at you, yes, but I missed you so much, too. I wanted to talk to you, but my pride stopped me from messaging you first. If you’d sent me a text I would have replied.”
“I nearly did. When I finished high school, I was going through all my old subject books and found a note you’d written me. It was so childish, something about how you would love me forever, with a stupid little love heart beside it, but I suddenly had the urge to wrap you in a massive hug and tell you I was sorry, and that I forgave you. I was going to message you that day, but we hadn’t talked for years and I thought you would find that weird,” Jaemin said sadly. 
He let out a loud sigh, and replaced the very sorry look on his face with a bright smile. “I’ve had my first kiss already, but when I saw your forum I thought it wasn’t too late to give you yours!” 
“Wait, what?” You furrowed your brows, your brain still processing the fact that Na Jaemin missed you as much as you missed him, if not more. “You actually want to be my first kiss?”
“Of course! I couldn’t give it to you when we were sixteen, but it’s not too late to make up for past mistakes, Y/N.” Jaemin placed a hand over your own and pulled it closer to him, wrapping you in his warmth. “Y/N, I would be honoured to be your first kiss, if you’ll have me.”
Unsure as to how to reply, and transfixed by how seriously Jaemin was taking this whole ordeal, you simply nodded your head eagerly. His eyes lit up with pure happiness when you gave him the green light, and Jaemin turned on the bench so you were facing each other directly. He placed a hand lightly on your jaw and tilted your head upwards - not with force but with a dominance gained only from having kissed others before - and searched your eyes for any signs of resistance, finding none. 
One minute you were gazing back into Jaemin’s rich brown eyes, and the next his lips were on yours, pressing softly against your mouth. It was like an alarm went off in your head, screeching to you that your childhood crush, your first love, was in fact actually kissing you and this wasn’t a figment of your imagination. Using his palm to tilt your head slightly to the side, Jaemin deepened the kiss and you grasped for his forearms as he increased the intensity by parting your unpracticed lips. Tremors passed from your head down to every single fibre in your body, and through the pleasure and dizziness you were vaguely aware that you were kissing him back. Kissing Jaemin was exactly how you imagined it would be, yet it was a whole new experience at the same time. A perfect mix of familiar and foreign.
After a few long moments, Jaemin released your lips and leaned back, a smile equal parts bashful and smug crossing his face. His face was red, and you weren’t quite sure whether it was from a lack of air or because of what you’d just done together, but what you did know was that you couldn’t think of someone more perfect to share your first kiss with. 
“So,” Jaemin grinned. “I think we have about five years worth of kissing to catch up on.”
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Just had some headcanons about Machi pop into my head that I wanted to share with yall. So we know this poor girl struggles with "perfect"/neat things right? Well I was thinking about some healthy coping mechanisms she could develop to replace the whole 'breaking property/living in a dump' thing & here's what I got so far -
1. She always tries to wear odd socks (unless she's invited somewhere nice)
2. Ayame & Mine help her find cool asymmetrical stuff to wear, how to make clashing colours/patterns work for her & teach her how to sew up her old clothes in a more "punk rock" way (after Yuki & Kakeru explain some of her issues with perfection)
3. Tohru gently points out that she dosn't have to tie her laces the same way on both shoes if she dosn't want to
4. Haru & Rin (awkwardly on her part) teach her the power of acessorising (ie. wearing only one earing, putting on an uneven amount of bracelets/rings/necklaces, adding paper clips of different sizes & colours to your clothing & Machi later ends up adding stuff like buttons to her outfits/belongings as well which Haru & Rin are tottally surppotive of despite thier difference in style) & hair/makeup which (thanks to Yuki's advice) they make sure to keep slightly messy (Kimi laughed at it at first until Momiji made her feel bad after he told her that Machi had gone to the bathroon & wiped off all the make up & undid the hair style so Kimi bought her some limited edition Mogeta merch, after asking for Yuki's advice, in apolgey & started referring to Machi's new hair/makeup style as "punk chic" whenever anyone tried to mock Machi about her new look)
5. her & Momiji go on a crazy tie dying adventure (much to Hatori's grumbling & Mayu's amusement)
6. Kormaki gets her into collecting second hand fridge magnets which she then later uses in her work (my version of post-serise Machi is an artist) once the magnetism finally wears off
7. Kagura teaches her how to fix up old plushies (Machi likes creating Mogeta inspired characters) & gives Machi all her old cat ones to work on (Machi descides not to ask why Yuki's cousin was seemingly once obssesd with orange cats because she looks rather embrassed & a little sad when she hands over her collection)
8. Kyo reluctantly teaches her how to cook a few simple dishes (Tohru comes over as well & Yuki insists her food is better but Machi prefers Kyo's simple style of presentation so it's eventually descided that Kyo & her will do the cooking & Tohru & Yuki will deal with the cleaning which Yuki agrees to becuse cleaning is still difficult for Machi but Kyo says it's actually because no matter how much Tohru tried to train him rat boy knows he would never be able to do anything in the kitchen but burn water)
9. Kakeru teaches her the skills of 'excessive badge & sticker decorating' as well as giving eachother fake tattoos (Kisa congratulates Hiro on not saying anything rude to Yuki's girlfriend about her appreance after they first meet her)
10. Cuts her hair short (she delibretly makes it very choppy) once she enters university, where the rules are less strict about your apprence (at least it is if your at art college), & she also regulary wears diffrent coloured wigs (her favourites being a dark red one & a rainbow one) whenever she wants to temporarily change her appearance (beacuse she didn't want to commit to just one look, still wanted to have the ability to quickly "become invisable" again & she heard from Kimi that exsseive hair die-ing could permantly destroy her hair & scalp) it takes her until she's 30 to try out shaving all her hair off (she worried she'd look sick/crazy or not feminine enough) & everyone's really surppotive (though Kimi dose cry a bit, Rin & Haru aren't there when her hair is being shaved & Kyo is a slightly confused as he'd always thought women liked having longer hair then guys) especially Ritsu (who's growing out thier hair again) & they all throw her a big party (Haru & Rin are there for the party bit just not the hair removal bit because it brought up some bad memories) where Kakeru films it & posts it (with Machi's permission) & they give her cut off hair to a charity chosen by all thier followers (despite her disbelief Machi has manged to gain a small group of loyal fans from all her art stuff & her apprences on her loved ones social media), Kakeru also later uploads a video where they help Machi rainbow dye her buzz cut, (she later explores many diffrent types of buzz cut patterns such as flowers & geometric shapes but, at Kimi's insistence, gets them done by a professional)
11. She recycles & D.Y.I's like crazy (Momiji started singing Do Re Mi from The Sound Of Music after she told him that her new dress was actually made from curtains & Yuki cried when she gave him a little rat plushie made from felt, after he came clean to her about the curse)
12. She almost never wears an apron while working on her art because she likes getting messy
13. When her & Yuki go out to eat she loves things like fondoe (both the chocolate & cheese kind), eat N mess & is genreually just a fan of finger food & it becomes a tradition between her & Yuki (& later Mutsuki) to go on a stroll through the park after thier meal & (if it's autumn) look for piles of leaves to jump in (Machi & Yuki also like playing a game where they try to look for the weirdest looking leaf to give eachother & whoever wins gets to pick what they'll eat for dinner that evening & the looser has to cook it, Mutsuki is the "impartial" judge)
14. Machi is amazing at scrapbooking & collarge making (Tohru is more of a dream journal kind of girl)
15. When it's Summer her, Yuki & Mutsuki go down to the beach to see who can find the weirdest looking rocks (the less impressive ones often get used in Machi's art work, the coolest ones Mutsuki gets to keep & any that are too perfect get tossed back in the ocean & Mutsuki likes to score the splashes they make on how big/loud they are)
16. She loves helping Yuki out with gardening for lots of reasons (it's therapeutic & she loves seeing Yuki happy) but she can't deny it's also just fun getting muddy
17. Machi, thanks to Kakeru, devolpes a love of paint ball (but instead of using guns they just throw the paint at eachother like in 10 Things I Hate About You because apparently the gun pellets actually hurt) & will bring it up as an activity idea to her loved ones any chanse she gets
18. Decorates as much of her flat (& later her home with Yuki & Mutsuki) with Mogeta merchandise, random things she collects & her own art work as a big fuck you to her bitch "you have 0 personality/hobbies or talents" of a mother
19. Kisa (happily) & Hiro (reluctantly) introduce Machi to the magic of glitter
20. Machi & Rin eventually become proper friends due to bonding over being abounded by their asshole parents & one of the things they like to do together is work on thier seprete art peices while listening to music (Machi dosn't do any of her "aggressive" art, like plate smashing, around Rin though thanks to Yuki & Haru warnings)
21. When stuff gets to be too much & none of thier other coping strategies are working (like watching Mogeta stoned- which Kisa, Tohru & Momiji do not partake in) Machi & Haru bond by going to rage rooms together to destroy shit & scream (Haru obviously dosn't want Rin around for any of that though so Momiji, Tohru, Kagura or Hana will often take the opportunity to hang out with her, one time Yuki offered & it wasn't bad but it was definitely awkward as they had never really hung out without Haru before & Haru teases her for ages afterwards about her ending up liking Yuki once she actually spent some time with him which, like the precious tsundere she is, Rin will forever deny)
22. (I actually made a whole seprete post about this ages ago but now it seems to have vanished so in case other Machi fans are unable to find it l'll add it here) on the days that it's supposed to snow but dosn't Yuki takes her (& later Mutsuki) skating so she can enjoy scratching up the perfectly smooth ice (they would have gone on double dates with Tohru & Kyo if Tohru wasn't freaked out at the idea of having blades on her shoes & Kyo hadn't claimed to "not trust" ice, he's dislike comes from all the times Kagura had forced him to ice skate with her on the lake near Kazuma's place in the winter when they were kids, so they would instead go with Haru & Momiji - they had thought about going with Haru x Rin & Kakeru x Kormaki once but he proudly revealed that he'd been banned from thier local ice rink years ago for trying "perfectly safe" Olympic level stunts in he's attempt to recreate one of he's favriote episodes of Power Rangers, much to he's fiancee's anger, & Machi reminded Yuki that though Haru & Kakeru were fine with eachother Rin isn't reall able to stand Kakeru for longer than 5 minuites)
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blackcatclawsout · 3 years
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Majima x Reader- Bento Box
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I also post to AO3 under the same username!
Morning was always her favourite time of the day. Y/N stirred in her shared bed, nestling into the arms that were already wrapped around her. Majima seemed to already be awake; his grip tightened and drew her closer. He peppered her cheeks and forehead in light kisses, giggling at her sleepy groaning. She swatted away his face, chuckling softly.
"No, I have morning breath," she whined, smirking as he drew her near.
They laid in bed motionless, letting dawn's light hit their blanketed bodies. Everything was soft and warm, as the rising sun began to wake greater Tokyo. Y/N could stay like this forever, pressed against his chest, breathing in Majima. He rarely took showers at night, so she always caught a bit of his cologne in their morning cuddles. Stealing glances at her beau, she saw his face, softened as he breathed softly. She admired his thin face and his high cheekbones. Y/N gently reached up, rubbing the backs of her fingers across his motionless face. She cupped his cheek. Majima's eye opened, locking with her. His grey eye was softened in moments like these, pupil lazily dilating as he stared back at her. Catlike blinks between the two of them communicated their mutual appreciation for the silent moment they were currently sharing. Y/N's eyes darted towards his thin-lipped mouth. The hand she rested on his lean chest felt his heart speed up. The anxious pattering edged her to lean in closer. A giddy feeling rose from her stomach, compelling her to shut her eyes in excitement. The harsh melody of the phone cut through their synchronized breathing.
"Son of a..." Majima muttered, immediately turning to his bedside stand. Y/N sat up, calming her still fast-beating heart. "Nishida, d'ya even know what time- No, I haven't since... Fuck. I'll be there in a sec." He sighed, hanging up. Majima sat on the edge of the bed, fingers massaging his temple. His lover crawled to him slowly, resting a hand on his shoulder. Before she could ask, he stood up, turning around to face her. 
"Shit's hit the fan, I gotta go." His hand extended, resting on top of her head. Fingers wandered absent-mindedly through her locks as his eyes flickered over her partly covered figure. His brows were once again furrowed.
"I understand. You better get going." She nodded, smiling up at the older man. His lips parted slightly, almost to say something, but pressed together again. He sauntered to the washroom, closing the door behind him. Y/N glanced at the clock on Majima's side table.
5:56... yikes. No wonder Goro was pissed off. He doesn't usually get up for another half hour. 
She stretched as she got up, wrapping a robe around herself as she left the bedroom. Something Y/N had slowly grown accustomed to in her partnership to Majima was bento boxes. The idea of making someone a packed lunch seemed… childish to her; at least it did at first. She vaguely remembered her mother making her lunch when she was a child, probably because she couldn't be trusted to pack her own. She had learned quickly to become independent, fiercely so, and the thought of relying on someone else to make her lunch seemed strange to her. It wasn't until Goro explained that she caught the appeal.
"When you're a kid, your mom made one of them for you and your dad. It always had great shit in there- homemade and sometimes with cute decorations. Now, she only did this for you an' your ol' man, the two people she shoulda loved most. So when ya girl makes it, it means she loves ya!"  He flashed a cheeky grin as he explained. Y/N just cocked her head.
"You... don't think of your mom when you eat it?" She asked warily, causing him to burst with laughter.
"Hell no, I don't! I just think of my girl, and how lucky I am to have her." he leaned forward, pecking her cheek as he finished. 
Y/N washed the rice absent-mindedly as she thought back to then. A smile graced her lips as she turned the machine on to hum, beginning to make other parts of his lunch. There was a big learning curve at first; the rice balls would always fall apart, or she’d mess up some recipe. Far too often she had left out an element from the lunch box, only to find it waiting on the counter. Despite it all, Majima took a bento each day, calling after he finished to compliment her work. His praise motivated her, even driving her to go to a local bookstore, looking for any sort of help. Slowly, her skills improved. Her routine became more integrated and quicker with each passing day.
After a short while, she looked at her handy work. The layer bento was stuffed full of edamame, onigiri with fish, steamed vegetables, and leftover meat from their dinner before. She felt proud of her handiwork, even if it wasn’t perfect. Y/N glanced at the kitchen clock on the wall. 
It’s been almost 20 minutes... He should be ready soon.
She packed the food up, tucking his chopstick into the small plastic container. After ensuring everything was ready to go, she padded back to the bedroom, looking around for her lover. Muttering leaked out of their washroom, prompting her to follow the growling. 
“Hey, Goro-chan… You’ll need to be heading out soon,” She popped her head into the doorway,  smiling as she saw him already finished. He turned to face her, an exasperated look already carved into his face. 
“Those assholes…” He sighed as he walked towards her, He was dressed in his usual suit jacket and black leather pants. She could still smell the dampness in his hair and his body wash- one of her favourite smells. Y/N gave a soft smile to him. 
They didn’t often talk about his work, they met in spite of it, and he seemed to prefer to keep it that way. When they first met, he was insistent that he was a businessman- he looked the part then too. At the time, his hair was long and neat, his suit always pressed and clean; he had kept himself well-groomed with a clean shaved face, so it wasn’t much of a stretch then. Of course, life got in the way and they fell apart, only connecting years later by chance. The drastic change in his appearance tipped her off that he was into… different work by now. But she respected his privacy. She wasn’t oblivious by any means; Y/N meticulously knew what he did and where he was most days. After a few months of being together, she began receiving text messages from Nishida, informing her on where his boss was, especially during late evenings. They chatted frequently, even going into topics not associated with work. He was her confidant and seemed to share the image of Majima that she had. 
Goro finished with his hair and came to the doorway, kissing her cheek before heading out of the bathroom. He picked up a few things he left out on the bed before also leaving the bedroom. She tidied the washroom, bringing out the damp towel that smelled like him, and tiding the bedspread before also leaving.
“See ya! I’m off!” Majima called from the door. 
“Call you later!” She echoed from the laundry room, “Have a good day!” She waited for the door to click shut before she continued with the laundry. Household chores weren’t her favourite, she didn’t enjoy doing laundry or cooking. But if it was left up to the two of them, both Majima and Y/N would starve and live the remainder of their days on earth as nudists. On her days off, she tried to get everything done quickly, leaving the remainder of the day to read or do whatever else she pleased. Y/N stretched as the washing machine began to purr lightly. She sighed as she looked around for something else to do.
Can’t seem to find anything else… Guess it’s time for breakfast.
Padding to the kitchen, she used the remainder of the food prepared from before to make herself food. She hummed happily as egg sizzled and soup came to a soft boil. The fragrant embrace of food brought her a joy that nothing else in the world could, and she almost hated to admit it. It was half-way through her rendition of some pop song from the radio that she noticed something in the corner of her eye, sitting on the countertop. Turning she noticed it was the bento box she made. Y/N held the container in her hands, turning it over lightly. She felt her brow furrow slightly, thinking of what to do. Should she bring it to him? Glancing at the clock she sighed,
It’s 7:00 am… If I get ready soon I can drop this off and pop around Kamurocho for a bit
It was 10:30-ish when she was dressed and ready to head out. Just because of the occasion, she decided to wear a knee-length black skirt and a simple creme blouse, pairing them with black penny loafers. She admired her reflection in the hallway mirror, her makeup light and perfect for a sunny afternoon out. Y/N made sure to gently tuck in the bento box to the fabric bag she had slung around her shoulder and headed out for the day. 
Navigating the subways always seemed daunting during rush hour, so she grew thankful when she patted down the steps to find the underground mostly empty. It was a short walk through the underground mall to where she needed to go; the large hall filled with all ages shopping for what they needed. Sweet vendors sold their succulent items to the newly freed students, groups of teenage girls fawned over the newest character items displayed, some with their boyfriends. A light smile played over Y/N’s face as she too had been that way when she was younger. She understood the excitement contained within the first week off of school, how it drove young people to be out with their friends. As she left the mall area and came to her line, she noticed a pair of teens waiting. A boy and a girl stood side by side, rather stiffly. She eyed them, noticing the way they both twitched when talking to one another. How cute. She glanced down at her fabric bag.
I wonder what he was like when he was younger…
The train ride was about 20 minutes, dropping her off in the heart of Kamurocho. Despite the bright sun and lack of neon lights, people swarmed the warming streets, chatting and shopping to their heart’s content. The smell of grilled food, cigarettes, and sun-baked concrete filled her senses as Y/N darted through the crowd. Regardless of being the only foreigner for blocks, she was ignored completely by the other’s around her. It sometimes was the only redeeming quality of the busier areas. Endless roads seemed to carry on for miles, the farthest treks waving and fluttering in the edging midday heat. All of Kamurocho seemed to be gearing up for the impending festival season, which always impressed visitors from far and wide. Passing by, attendants called out in hopes of catching a customer, but their calls falling on deaf ears. The Millenium Tower loomed over the crowds in the bright sunlight, casting a sharp shadow; though it was a ways off, it still acted as a centre, or maybe more of a North star. She dawdled towards the quieter part of town where the Majima family office was located. She had vaguely remembered certain landmarks, like the worn down shrine that always seemingly had a fresh bowl of rice, or the old teahouse they had once stopped at. As she drew near the building, a tense feeling probed her stomach, though she had trouble understanding why. It was not like Goro was ever mean or told her not to come, yet she had the feeling like he had lived his life with her around his work, avoiding involving her in any regard. 
Y/N bit her lip anxiously; She would be lying to say she had not considered heading back. Simply calling him to warn him that he might have to eat out for today, or feign ignorance over his forgetfulness this morning. Yet, the prospect of doing anything else plagued her mind with guilt. Glancing at her watch, she decided to head in, despite it being only 11:22, as she’d rather be giving him his lunch early than late. She cautiously walked into the building,  immediately hit with a wall of air conditioning. She shivered in the artificial cool and looked about. The standard lobby was clean but dated and smelled of old carpet. Thinking back, Y/N had never gotten a good look at the inside, the most she saw was whatever she could see through the window the one time she saw Majima exit from here. The lobby only had a hallway attached, seemingly where the elevators and washroom would be. Gloomy plants sat destitute in the corner of the room. As she finished her look-over, her eyes settled on the high desk that rested on the left side of the room. Quietly, she approached.
The man sitting at the desk was middle aged and pudgy. His clothes and hair would have betrayed him for just another typical salary man and not someone who worked with the Yakuza. Several papers were strewn around him as he wrote on the one closest to him. As she stood waiting, she noticed the permanent fowl look on his face. It was decidedly funny when she realized it was the same face one makes at an offensive smell. Holding back a snicker, she spoke up. 
“Um, excuse me…” her voice almost was a whisper. The man whipped his head up, visibly confused. His eyes quickly jumped about her figure as he rose from his seat.
“No english. Out.” He rattled quickly in english, stepping from behind the desk. In her initial shock, he nearly dragged her to the door before she retracted her hand. 
“I’m here for-” She began.
“No english.” The man repeated once again, turning to face her.
“Is Majima Goro here?” She exclaimed loudly. The man froze where he stood, blinking owlishly at her. The air conditioning above them tousled both their hair, the moment silent, still and cold. He cleared his throat before straightening himself.
“Yes, I believe Majima-sama is in his office.” The man responded quietly, looking her over once more. Y/N sighed in relief, relaxing her own posture. 
“Thank you. Can you take me to him?” 
He shook his head softly, walking back to the desk, trailing her along dumbly. At first she thought he was refusing to help her anymore, but as he sat down, he reached for the desk’s phone and irritatedly called a short sequence. He muttered something under his breath before hanging up the phone and returning back to his papers. An awkward pause played as Y/N waited for any further instruction, standing dumbly in front of the pudgy man. Without warning, the elevator creaked opened, allowing two tall lean men to step out. She took that as her cue, and walked towards them. 
Confusion seemed to be the theme of the Majima family office; Both men took a second to look her over before jumping back into action, patting her down rather roughly. While they avoided the obvious areas, they did seem to paw her skirt a little belligerently. She bit her lip to bite back a rude comment, deciding that it wasn’t worth pissing off men who killed people for a living. When one tried to take her bag, she yelped causing them to jump slightly. Her face was hot as she opened the canvas bag herself, showing them the contents After an additional minute of snooping, they led inside the elevator adjacent; The three of them stood compactly to one another. Y/N felt them shift their body weight. The small box had no air conditioning, quickly undoing the chill she felt moments ago. Her heart beat began to pick up again as they climbed slowly to the third floor, seconds stretching to minutes. When they arrived, she was hit once again with the cooled air. 
The hallway was plain and for some reason nerve-wracking. The lack of scenery gave her less to take in as she tried to calm her beating heart. Checking and rechecking her bag, she made sure the food was in there. Her pulse was loud in her ears and her face felt hot. Why out of all the times she had given Majima a bento, this was the time when she was nervous about it? She thought back to their phone conversations after he had finished his lunch- Was he ever lying? What if he just threw it out at work and told her a pretty white lie? It was only an odd electricity in the room that made her tear her gaze from the bottom of the bag that she had been staring at.
Looking up, she found her gaze land on Goro Majima’s face, his brows furrowing as he looked over her.
“Y/N, are you alright?” His voice had an edge of concern as he stepped out a little from the doorway. She couldn’t help but find herself gawking- he felt too unreal to answer to. She had heard before that you often have trouble recognizing people when they are removed from the typical scenario you see them in; this seemed to be a prime example to her. Before she could answer, Majima led her into his office, draping his arm over her shoulder as he led her in. As she bustled in, he closed the door quickly behind them. 
Her eyes wandered over his office- It was small and rather boring, only a small katana on the wall suggested that he would actually use this space. It was surprisingly clean, save for a large desk which was scattered in various papers. The filing cabinets and tables were covered in papers as well, though neatly stacked into piles. It never had occurred to her that he would have done any other work besides physical. Her thoughts were stopped as Goro came into her view. His grey eye was dark and his brow creased, which only made him look older. His gloved hands rested on her shoulders, his gaze even with hers. 
“Are you alright, Y/N-chan?” His voice quivered slightly. Her face reddened in response, forcing her to break eye contact.
“Y-yeah, I’m fine..” she replied quietly.
A stale silence hung in the air before Majima straightened himself, hands dropping from her shoulders to hold her hands instead. He held her hands up, gently rubbing the backs of her knuckles.
“You’re not acting like yourself… What’s really happening?” His baritone voice was soft and pleading, making his concern more unbearable. The woman let out a shaky breath and urged herself to look at him. Her tongue felt swollen in her mouth and her throat seemed dryer than moments before. 
“You left your lunch at home, but I… just feel silly.” She managed to mewl meekly. Her eyes stayed trained on him while he processed what she said. His face betrayed his confusion before he cocked his head.
“My… lunch?” He repeated. She sighed heavily.
“I came into the kitchen and it was still on the counter, and I didn’t want you to be hungry or to have to go out and stop what you were doing to go buy lunch-” She began only to be cut off by his howling laughter. He held his stomach and keeled over, gasping for air while he cackled brightly. Now she really felt embarrassed.
After giggling to himself for a while longer, he looked up at her, still doubled over and gasping, “You’re too cute.” 
She fumbled with her bag, grabbing the bento and quickly shoving it to him. Even though her gaze was averted from him, she could still sense his smile as he gently took the container from her. He walked to his desk, plopping down in the plush leather chair, setting his feet up on the desk. Y/N drew near as he popped the lid open, surveying the contents.
“Okey-dokey, let’s see what we have... Karaage, edamame- always delicious… Ooh! Even salmon onigiri!” He loudly praised the humble contents of the bento, picking through the contents lightly. His lover settled on the edge of his desk, watching his reactions intently. He ate ravenously, akin to a rabid dog more than an actual person. She was the one to giggled this time, watching his face change with each side dish. 
As he finished, Majima sighed loudly, sinking further into his chair.
“Delicious as always.” 
Y/N cocked her head, “You think so?” He smirked, pulling her forward towards him.I know so.”
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thebookwormfairy · 3 years
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Buzzfeed Unsolved Part 3
Here's my contribution for Spooky season. This will be mainly class salt but there will be a little bit off the maribat team we love and their usual antics
Lila couldn't believe it
The whole point of pushing Marinette out of class life was to isolate her enough so that Lila would be the new class favorite but not enough that she'll leave
Who was suppose to to provide the class with free sweets and plan all the class outings and events
But here Lila was listening to Ms. Bustier as she made the announcement
Ms. Bustier: please take your seats class. We're going to hold elections for Class Representative
Alya: Shouldn't we wait for Marinette, Ms. Bustier? I mean she's the only one running right?
The rest of the class made sounds of agreement and nodded their heads
Lila tried not to roll her eyes
Ms. Bustier: Marinette will actually no longer be joining our class
Class: WHAT?!
Ms. Bustier: Marinette has been given a great opportunity to go to Gotham Academy one of the top rated schools in the world
Lila seeing a opportunity to spin this in her favor decided to speak up
Lila: So Marinette decided to abandoned us, even though she knew we counted on her. I mean who's going to help with costumes, or babysitting, or give us bake goods?
Alya: That's a good point!
Nino: This is going to mean we're going to have to cut down on our dates
Mylene: Oh no! The next school play is going to be a disaster without Marinette's costumes!
Adrien: How could Marinette just abandon us like this! It's not like her!
Ms. Bustier: Okay class calm down. We don't want any akumas now. Let's focus on the election for the next class representative. Are there any volunteers?
Unsurprisingly Chloe's hand shot up
Ms. Bustier: okay we have Chloe, anybody else?
Alya: how about you Lila? You'd make a great representative
Lila: Oh no I'm far to busy with all my volunteering and obligations, but you should definitely do it Alya. You were Marinette's deputy after all
Alya raising her hand: You're right? I mean how hard could it be?
Alya learned exactly how hard it is when she won the election and was told all her new duties
Alya: Are you serious? Marinette never brought any of these up to me
Ms. Bustier: She didn't want to cut too much into your time
It took awhile but Alya finally got the hang of things
Though none of the class events were as extravagant as when Marinette was in charge
She made Nino her deputy hoping it would give them more time together
And it did but it also meant that a lot of her paperwork was late meaning the class couldn't do as much stuff
But did the class blame Alya for this?
No
They blamed Marinette
Because somehow it was her fault that Alya were too wrapped up in her boyfriend to actually do her job
A couple of months later Lila and Alya watched the Ghoul Gang's (a/n: That's Marinette, Damian, and Jason's group name) first video that somehow had 10k views and already had 25k subscribers
Alya: How is she so popular?
Lila: How does she have so many views?
Alya: How does she have more hits then the Ladyblog?!?
They started scrolling through the short list of other videos that was posted
Adrien: Oh are you watching Marinette's videos?
Alya: You knew about this?
Adrien: Yeah it's not really my taste but I want to support our friend dont you guys?
Lila making her eyes tear up: Why would we want to support somebody who abandoned us
Alya wrapping her arms around Lila: Yeah Adrien she makes a good point. Marinette didn't even say goodbye!
Adrien trying to placate the two: Maybe she didn't have a chance
Lila: Oh please if she really wanted to she would had MADE time to say goodbye, right Alya?
Alya: Yeah!
The two girls showed the rest of the class the videos
And they had to admit they liked them
They were fun to watch and it was nice to see the old Marinette again
Lila could see this and it made her seeth
She had to turn this to her benefit
And she knew just how to do it
Lila: I can't believe you guys would support Marinette! It's obvious that she's just bragging and showing off her new life!
Chloe: I can't believe I'm saying this but Lila's right! It's obvious that Dupen-Cheng is just rubbing her new life in our faces! It's utterly ridiculous!
Alya hated that she agreed with Chloe but she also spoke of her agreement
Some of the other classmates agreed with them, but others like the member of Kitty Section and Nathaniel just thought that Lila and Alya were still a little hurt that Marinette left and Chloe was just jealous
They decided they would still watch the show just not talk about it with the rest of the class
A year later and Lila couldn't stand how popular Marinette's little YouTube channel was
She also couldn't stand that she had a richer boyfriend then her own, Adrien
So with the help of Alya, Nino, and of course her boyfriend Adrien they decided to do their own show
That was SLIGHTLY similar (read: rip off) of the Ghoul Gang's own show
They had Lila and Adrien as the host
Because of course they had to be the host, they were models and had more experience on camera
Nino did all the camera work
And Alya did research and worked sound
A lot of people called them out for being an obvious ripoff of the Ghoul Group's show from their name to their editing
But what people found worst that they were a bad ripoff
Lila and Adrien didn't have the same chemistry as Marinette and Jason
Adrien just agreed with whatever Lila said
There was no fun banter
And because neither of them believed in ghost there were no funny freakouts
Their show was mostly watched just for ripping on
Which both Alya and Lila hated
How could Marinette be so popular!
Lila just had to find some way to prove that her show is superior to Marinette's
And she learned the purest opportunity when she saw Marinette and the rest of the Ghoul Gang filming on some random street
Marinette: now we're back the next day at Rue Des Chantres after our terrifying investigation last night
Jason: What are you talking about it Thumbelina? It wasn't scary here last night. We even ran into the local heroes.
Damian: Which we'll be showing in a special bonus video at the end of our Paris series.
Marinette: Thanks Damian. And it was to scary. Remember what we heard on the spirit box, Green Giant?
Jason: Beep dop ga Apple tatter cre mauf
Marinette: No the other thing
Jason: Do you think we could make apple taters? Could that be a thing?
Damian: Focus Todd
Marinette: Anyway thanks for watching and join us next time to see us explore the famous catacombs under Paris. And for now weither the Rue Des Chantres is haunted will remain...
Marinette/Jason: Unsolved
Damian: And cut! Great job guys!
Marinette going over to hug Damian: Thanks honey. Great job filming as usual
Marinette gave Damian a peck on the lips
Jason: Seriously are Apple tatters possible? They sound good
Marinette: Maybe we can do some experimenting when we get back to the bakery.
Jason pumping his fist: Awesome!
Damian: We just have to finish on time to head to the catacombs. You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to get the catacombs to ourselves tonight
Jason laughing: Calm down demon spawn besides this will be a nice bonus video
The trio walked away and Lils felt a smirk grow on her face
If she and her lackies could best those losers to the catacombs they could have a episode before them and it would look like they ripped off her group instead of the other way around
Later that night the Ghoul Group showed up at the Catacombs fully expecting to be let in only to be stopped by secruity
Secruity: Sorry folks the catacombs are close tonight. Apparently their filming something tonight
Lila looking smug: Yes that will be us we're the Ghoul Group.
Secruity: I'm sorry but the filming permit is under the name Damian Wayne. Is that one of you?
Alya: No, but their must he some mistake. Lila said she called and we were clear to film here tonight
Secruity: Sorry but without a permit you can't film here. Please move along
Lila: How dare you?! Do you no who I am?
Marinette from behind the group: No, but I do
Alya, Lila, Adrien, and Nino turned around to see Marinette, Damian, and Jason standing behind them
Damian walked forward to show secruity his ID
Alya, Nino, and Adrien: MARINETTE!
Marinette: Why are you trying to steal our filming location?
Alya: Why did you abandon us?
Marinette: What are you talking about?
Alya: You abandoned us! You left without saying a word! Who did you expect to pick up the slack after you left?! Who did you expect to do costumes for the school play, or run fundraisers or babysit Chris or the twins?! You completely left us in the lurch
Marinette felt any guilt about leaving without telling anybody melt away
Marinette glaring: I thought that the people who I thought were my friends only saw me as an employee, and you just proved it
Ayla rolling her eyes: What are you talking about Marinette? You're being over dramatic as usual
Marinette: That is what I'm talking about! Think back to the final couple of months I was in Paris. The only time anybody in the class talked to me was to ask me to do something for them, not even asking if I have time to do it just demanding that I complete what ever they wanted me to do! And you know what leaving was the best decision I ever made!
Marinette didn't wait to hear what Alya had to say she joined Jason and Damian at the entrance and followed them inside never giving thought to the friends she left behind again
3 months later the Ghoul Group broke up.
After Lila was shown to be working with Hawkmoth she was sent to juvenal hall
Lila, Nino, Adrien, and the rest of the class were left wondering how they could lose such a great friend because of a liar who tricked all of them
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graceslavenderhaze · 3 years
Text
fight night  (jatp crew x reader)
readers home life hasn’t been the best and they’ve been lying to their friends about it. one night it all builds up and the reader shows up to julies, distraught. ( for this the boys are alive bc it just worked out best but other than that no changes.)
this has been sitting in my drafts so i thought i’d post it
trigger warning: family fights, anxiety, depression, past talk of eating disorders.
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For a long time you use to just keep everything buried down. That was your fatal flaw. It wasn’t a trust issue, you just always had this feeling that if no one knew then everything would be fine. But your family had lately been falling apart, your parents always seemed disappointed in you, you were fighting with your siblings more and it felt it a ballon that kept on expanding. you didn’t know when everything was going to explode it just kept getting worse.
Today was the exploding point. It seemed like no matter what you did, it just wasn’t good enough. You were the black sheep in your family, they made you out to be it. They complained about how you dressed, what your room looked like, the music you played, the people you hung out with, and for what? You didn’t do anything that was textbook problem child material. 
You tried your hardest in school, you never asked for much, you cleaned almost everyone’s mess at home, and after a while that became your routine. Never be seen, never be heard and never get any credit for everything you do. Meanwhile your siblings, little miss perfect and the star academic got everything you wanted. Your parents attention, their approval, and their constant reassurance. 
By the time you were in high school, you were emotionally independent. A stranger to your own family pretty much. You went to an art school along with your siblings. Even as the oldest, you quickly fell into their shadows. Your sister a musical protégé on the violin, your parents paid for the best lessons, and without a doubt she’ll probably attend some ivy league. Your brother was in the advanced academics program, with yale and harvard already offering him scholarships in his sophomore year. Then there was you. You were in the art program, and while your teacher swears that all the top art schools have you on their radar. You still felt insignificant.
You worked a weekend job at the local coffee shop, latte love , it wasn’t everything but it helped pay for art supplies for you to build your portfolio. Their you met Julie Molina and Flynn Davis. Two girls who were your age, they attended the music program at your art school. You recognized them, Julie had been like the sun at the school. In the hallways always smiling and then her mom died, the sun went away hidden behind clouds. While Flynn was unapologetically herself and didn’t backdown from telling people how things were, she was fearless. They were also probably the first two people who knew your siblings and were able to separate you from them. 
Then later on in the year the three of you met Luke, Alex and Reggie. Latte Love was hosting its monthly open mic night. It was almost a year after Julie’s mom died, so in an attempt to coax her back into music, Flynn brought her around. You offered free hot chocolate on the house as a bribe if she wanted to come. After an hour of mainly middle schoolers trying to face stage fright, soccer parents who desperately tried to hold onto their high school garage band phase and any other mediocre act who gave it their all in effort. Sunset Curve preformed. 
That night honestly sent all six of your lives’ into a full spiral but in the best way. A month after you had met sunset curve, they formed a band with Julie and became, Julie and the Phantoms. Flynn becoming the band manager and you being the artist for ticket designs, posters and anything else. It helped distract you from everything going on in your life and with your friends you didn’t feel left out or the black sheep. You were you and they loved you for all of it. 
But you could only be happy for so long. Your family always managed to make you feel horrible about yourself, this week had felt like the worst its ever been. Your sister being recruited for a summer symphony in Australia, your brother would be off at a stem camp and your summer plans were just to work, make art and hang with your friends. Your family wasted no time in telling you that you were wasting your time, or that it was just some silly childish thing. They didn’t understand how big Julie and the Phantoms were becoming. The latest gig being opening for panic at the disco at the Orpheum. 
You couldn’t take it anymore, which is how you ended up walking to Julie’s house right in the beginning of a thunderstorm. When you finally made it to Julie’s front stoop you were drenched head to toe. Julie being the one to pull you in the front door. In her oversized smiley face sweatshirt and baggy sweats. The movie night dress code.
“Did you walk here?” She exclaims looking at the outdoor storm and turning back to her best friend. Your eyes red from crying and cheeks raw from wiping your tears rapidly. She’d been expecting you for weekly movie night, especially since her dad and brother had been away for a baseball game for the weekend. Just not in this state.
“More like swam.” You replied with a dry laugh. Trying to desperately hold yourself together. Knowing your friends were all in the living room, you didn’t want to burden them with your breakdown. 
“Hey was that the chinese food! Y/n? Whats wrong bean?” Flynn stated her mood changing halfway through the sentence noticing the state of their best friend. Who looked like she’d just had the world’s worst day. You smiled fondly at the nice name she’d given you, which was a coffee pun. 
“Family shit. Like always.” You said looking down at the floor and the puddle that you were slowly dripping onto the Molina residence’s welcome mat. Both girls smiled sympathetically, they had their fair share of stories of how bad things could get at the L/n household. 
“Come on! It’s movie night, you’re getting into cozy clothes and having junk food with your friends.” Julie said taking your hand and leading you upstairs to her room. Julie handed you spare clothes due to you being completely soaked. Then a towel to dry yourself off.
“Here, once you’re ready to come downstairs, we can put your stuff into the dryer.” Julie said smiling at her friend before leaving to give her privacy. Taking the towel she gave you and trying to dry your hair. Then changing into the cozy clothes she gave you. Your phone blowing up from texts from your family. Your parents wanting to know where you were. Not caring how hurt you were. Your siblings saying half assed apologies they didn’t mean. They’d done this before and they’d do it again. 
Ignoring the messages, you walked back downstairs. The comforting smell of chinese food wafting at you. Julie, Alex and Flynn stood at the table. Meanwhile Luke and Reggie were were at the local 7/11 getting slushies. 
“Did anyone order a hot mess?” You said jokingly getting their attention. Alex standing up and instantly hugging you as if he’d never see you again. Hugging him back. Alex’s hugs always felt as if it was a cloud. 
The Molina residence house phone then rang, the caller id labeling your house. “We can just let it go to message.” Julie said turning back from the phone to you. You shook your head, “I’m so over this bullshit.” Walking over to the phone you picked it up. 
“Hello ever so loving parental unit.” You said with sarcasm dripping off every word. “Pop off!” Flynn said as she bit into a dumpling. You bit back a smile. “Where are you? You can’t run out because you’re upset.” You heard your mom say. You rolled your eye. 
“Where i am every friday night. I told you in advance i had plans so when you take your attention span off miss perfect and genius boy remember you have a third fucking child. Goodnight!” You said promptly and then hung up placing the phone back on back on its home base. “Beyoncé would approve.” Flynn said clapping for dramatic effect.
“How much trouble are you going to be in for that?” Alex said passing your usual that Julie knew to order for you, you shrugged. “Bold of you to assume they’ll remember to ground me.” 
“Wow what a rag tag group of mommy and daddy issues we are.” Reggie announced as he placed the tray of slushies down on the counter. “Excuse you!” Julie exclaimed as she took a slip of her blueberry slushie. “She’s dead, that’s an issue.” Flynn said as she grabbed her green apple one. You choked on your food for a second, “Out of pocket!” 
“She’s right babe.” Luke said hugging her from behind. “You have mommy issues too.” Julie said turning around slightly. “Only the hottest people have both mommy and daddy issues!” Alex exclaimed holding a hand of for you and Reggie to high five. 
“My back hurts from having a healthy parental relationship and carrying that standard.” Flynn said cracking open her fortune cookie. You laughed looking around at your dysfunctional friend group. 
“We are all going to hell for these jokes alone.” You said taking a sip of your slushie. Reggie scoffed, “We’re just warming up.” 
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redhoodieone · 4 years
Text
Wrong Number Part 2
A/N: Here’s Part 2! Uh…I don’t really know what to say other than…enjoy it! Hopefully, I can post Part 3 sometime next week.
Warnings: Language, Sexual Content, Text Message Nudes, and Mutual Masturbation.
I’m in complete shock. I know I’m frozen because I can’t literally take my eyes off the text message Jason sent to me. It’s clear; it’s in black and white, staring right at me.
Do you ever think we’ll meet each other?
He wants to meet me. Jason wants to meet me in person!
I want to text him back, but my mind is full of many ridiculous questions and the fears of Jason being a serial killer, or rapist, or just an insane Arkham escapee blows up in my head.
Before I knew it, I see the three bubbles on my screen.
I’m sorry. That was selfish of me to ask you that even though we’re still practically strangers to each other. Forget I asked, please?
My heart suddenly hurts like fuck. The pain I’m instantly feeling is very familiar. A broken heart?
It’s pure agony when I notice Jason texting me again.
I’m not going to be able to text tonight, sweetheart. I’m working late with my brothers. I’ll text you tomorrow. Have a good night. Sweet dreams.
I can’t believe I did this. How could I do this to a guy who’s been so funny, so sweet, and such a good friend in only just four days through text messages?
I seriously fucked up. And now I have no one to talk to until I fall asleep.
And as strange as it is, I only sleep well after I talk to him.
 ————————————————————————------------------------------
And true to his word, Jason texts me at five in the morning, only to let me know he made it home safe after working with his brothers.
We only spoke about our jobs once. He told me he works alongside police officers and tracks down criminals and helps brings justice to the city. He seemed almost hesitant to tell me and turned the conversation to me as if he doesn’t like talking about work. He made it clear that he would rather keep his work private, and I didn’t push him to tell me more. I didn’t want to ask a lot of questions, even if I’m sometimes curious about it, because I wouldn’t want to make him uncomfortable about it.
I had told him I’m a waitress at the local diner just a block away from GCPD, and how I’m a late-night writer who dreams of publishing my novel on love and loss. And after I confessed about the book I wrote to Jason, I noticed he was very enthusiastic about that and even told me he wants to read it.
And as the shy and insecure person that I am, I became embarrassed and said no.
That only fueled the fire between us. Jason went on to explain he loves to read. His favorite literature consists of Shakespeare (particularly Hamlet), George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm, and even poetry from Edgar Allen Poe.
He even went into depth of how The Tell-Tale Heart mirrors his own reflection of life and stuck with him during a depressing time in his life.
It wasn’t until after we shared our love for literature that I found myself falling for Jason. As ridiculous and insane as that sounds, I couldn’t help but feel as if he’s the missing piece in my life.
It’s as if he’s the words to my story.
Important, but very valuable to a writer.
I was basically on a high that had me grinning like an idiot, giggling like a moron, and jumping in my seat as my stomach twists and turns like a roller coaster, when Jason refused to take no for an answer after I said he couldn’t read my novel. He even said his dad has connections to businesses in Gotham and could even help me get it published.
As much as I would want that, I couldn’t help but feel that it seems too good to be true. What if his dad took my novel and publish it as his own? What if I get cheated out of a contract and didn’t get paid fairly like I should? What if it’s basically a soul-sucking scam to just fuck my entire life up?
Jason must have sensed my hesitation after that, because he then began to tell me about his brothers.
How his older brother Dick still treats him like a kid, even though Jason is taller and stronger than him.
How his younger brother Tim is a computer nerd and often geeks out over the oddest things.
And how his youngest brother Damian is really a demon spawn, who tries to be tough shit, but is really a soft teddy bear.
He even has a sassy but wise butler, Alfred, who frightens him and sometimes reminds him of Vito Corleone from The Godfather. But the older man loves Jason as much as his dad, Bruce.
The stories about Jason’s family are the best. I always find myself excited to see what he texts me about his family.
How he and his brothers fight over their dad’s car, how they wrestle and spar to see who’s the strongest one, and how whenever one’s in trouble, the other three are already finding ways to save or bail the troubled one out.
It all makes me feel good to know they’re a close family. Especially when my cold, harsh reality reminds me I don’t have a family.
My parents died when I was just fifteen years old. I was in the school library alone during afterhours; reading on a beanbag chair because I didn’t want to go home. At that particular time, my parents were hanging around a different crowd. A crowd that was into drugs and gambling, and possibly other illegal activities I don’t even know about.
So, I chose to stay in the school library that night, sitting in my favorite beanbag chair the librarian allows me to use, reading a favorite horror book, munching away on a hot pocket (a snack also from the librarian), and just enjoy the silence but comfortable environment I would call home.
Then I was told they died in a car accident, but after eavesdropping on Commissioner Gordon and the other cops, I heard there could have been a hit on them.
The car accident happened only a block away from our apartment.
The brakes were cut.
The car was burning too much oil.
The airbags were taken out.
Many noticeable factors couldn’t pinpoint the real crime. Eventually, they just called it a “car accident”, and everything fishy about the case was ignored and never brought up again.
I suffered and struggled a lot in foster homes until I turned 18. I didn’t have any other family members to get into contact with, so I had to make do with the foster care system. After being shipped to three unstable and cruel homes, the last family only dealt with me until I turned 18 and I was soon kicked out. I did get lucky enough to get a job at the diner I’m working at since the new manager needed a pretty young girl to serve the customers.
I even went to Gotham Community College for a year but dropped out when I couldn’t pass any math and science classes.
It was fucking hard.
Science was confusing as hell.
Math was just evil and useless.
I hated those classes so much.
I only passed my English classes because reading and writing only made sense to me.
I even took a creative writing class and poetry class only to discover I want to write.
I want to be a writer.
So, I dropped out of college and decided to work full time at the diner as a waitress. Since no one wants to live and work in Gotham, I’m lucky enough to work morning and night without any issues. As dangerous and scary Gotham can be, I have nowhere else to go, so that’s why I stay here.
Maybe that’s why I’m eager to meet Jason. After everything I’ve been through, maybe I do need a little unpredictability.
Chances.
Risks.
The more I consider meeting Jason, the more I can imagine him being my family.
Or being a part of his.
Maybe.
 ————————————————————————--------------------------------
“You’re not going to meet him, right???” Stacey raises her voice at me in sheer annoyance and panic. She crosses her arms and glares at me to answer her. “Right, Y/N???”
I sigh as softly as I can while wiping down the booths and tables for the night. In the midst of a battle, I find myself growling with irritation when I can’t wipe away the sticky maple syrup spills on the hard surface.
“He could be a fat, old man who picks up on teenage girls! He’s probably some 40-year-old loser who still lives on his mom’s basement playing Street Fighter with kids! What if he tricks you into meeting up in a hotel room and has his way with you? Then what, Y/N?! Does that sound like a good idea to you?!” Stacey snaps.
I exhale deeply and stand up straight; after leaning over the table to reach the opposite side for some time. Turning around, I face Stacey Patterson, a tall, petite, pretty blonde, fresh face girl straight out of high school. She’s a waitress like me, and after only working here for a year, we’ve become close friends; always looking after each other in dangerous Gotham City.
“I didn’t say I was going to meet him, Stacey. We’re just talking about it,” I answer timidly.
Despite being five years older than Stacey, she still intimidates the hell out of me. Whether it’s her 5’11 height, loud voice, or natural evil glare, I can never speak up or defend myself. No matter how hard I try, I just can’t take a stand.
Because what if I actually piss her off? What if she stops being my friend?
Because I don’t think I could live in Gotham and not have any friends and not know anyone.
Stacey is like my best friend, and her friends Amber and Holly hang out in our group. Stacey even says they’re my friends, too, even though I clearly know they only put up with me because of her.
And if Amber and Holly aren’t my friends, then I’ll just have Stacey. And if I don’t have Stacey, I’ll only have Jason.
And who knows if Jason is who he says he is, and if he’s even real.
“Don’t give me that bullshit, Y/N! You’re totally thinking about Jason! You’re thinking about meeting up with him because I could see it in your eyes!” Stacey declares. She waves her arms around to emphasize her point. “You like this guy! You have feelings for a guy you’ve never even met!”
“That is not true,” I argue weakly.
“Yes, it is! And we don’t even know if it’s a guy!”
“Jason is a guy, and I can tell!”
“Oh, really? How? Do tell.”
I stare at Stacey with a serious expression, except my cheeks are burning with embarrassment as usual. “He...comes off like a guy. I know he is. I can tell through his text messages,” I say.
“Anybody can sound like anyone through text messages. That’s how people catfish victims online!” Stacey argues.
“I’m a writer, Stacey. I just...have a feeling, okay? I know Jason says who he is, and I believe him,” I say strongly, as I push a lose strand of my hair behind my ear. “I’m doing this the smart way, too. When he and I decide when we should meet up, I’ll let you know. Maybe we can make it a group thing. I bring a friend. He brings a friend.”
Stacey sighs in defeat when she realizes I’m not backing down. She glances up at me with a stern face. “Fine. When you two decide when you’re both going to meet up, I’ll be there. I’ll be there to make sure he’s not on America’s Most Wanted, and to make sure he doesn’t try to lure you to his mom’s basement. BUT...you have to go on a date. A REAL date with a guy we both know, AND who could be good for you,” she states loudly and clearly.
“But Stacey-”
“Hey! Only until this Jason guy comes to Gotham and we meet him! Until then, I want you to give this guy a chance. A fair chance! For me...please???” Stacey pleads. She pouts and gives me her puppy dog eyes, which she knows I always give in to.
I’m too nice. Mom always said I was too nice, and that one day it’ll get me in trouble.
I’m still wondering when that’ll happen.
“Okay, I’ll give this guy a chance. I swear I will,” I promise and salute her. “But who’s the guy?”
Stacey grins in success and hugs me tightly. “Good! Because you’re like my sister, Y/N, and I just want to see you happy. You deserve it,” she says softly. “And it’s Chace. Remember him? He’s the drummer from, WakeHell. He moved in right next door to me, and I know you two will hit it off right!”
Chace????
Oh yeah. I know him.
He’s a total bad boy. A bad boy I don’t even think I could deal with.
I force a smile but then frown, because the only guy in my life who makes me happy is Jason.
Who I only text.
Who I haven’t even met.
 ————————————————————————---------------------------------
The next day is a lazy day since it’s my day off. I spent the majority of it sleeping, doing laundry, and just doing minor cleaning around my apartment until it’s 9:00 P.M.
And Cruel Intentions is on TV.
Lying on the couch with my second glass of Vodka Cranberry, I find myself really buzzed and horny. Ryan Phillippe back then was hot, and him making out with Reese Witherspoon is doing things to me.
My phone bings. It’s Jason.
What are you up to tonight, sweetheart?
Just a night in, a cup of glasses of vodka and cranberry, and Cruel Intentions is on TV.
I barely realize I’m buzzed and texting Jason. But my horny side doesn’t care.
I sorry I’m buzzed right now lol.
LOL no worries. I just came back from the bar with my brothers. We had a successful night and decided to get some drinks. We even had Tim and Damian use fake I.D’s.
I laugh and snort. Thank God no one heard me do that.
That’s good...we wouldn’t want Tim and Damian to be left out. They’re your baby brothers, Jay.
Jay? I really like it when you call me that. And I especially like you buzzed. LOL.
I like me buzzed too! I think I’m way more fun and free!
LOL!!! Exactly, princess!
I smile down at my phone. I love it when he calls me princess.
You said you’re watching Cruel Intentions? I just found it on TV. Wow...this movie’s old LOL.
Shut up!!! I find young Ryan Phillppe sexy in this movie!
You seriously find him sexy??? The guy’s a whiny brat! A pussy! Fuck, this movie woulda been sexier if we actually saw the douchebag eat out Cecile and saw him fuck Annette AND Kathryn!
I gasp out loud and giggle.
Then it would have been a porno! Not a movie! Hahaha!!!!
That’s fine with me, princess!
I softly whimper at just the thought of Jason watching porn. Closing my eyes, I imagine how he would sound, touch himself, and look when he’s pleasuring himself.
My eyes shoot open when I hear Sebastian telling Cecile he wants to kiss her…down there. I quickly turn my attention to the TV and watch the movie. Even though he takes advantage of a clueless, drunk girl in the movie, just the thought of him eating her out makes me clench my thighs.
It’s been too long. WAY TOO LONG!
The last guy I was seeing didn’t like to eat me out; claimed it was disgusting and unnecessary to do before sex.
As if sucking his dick was glamorous AND fun!
My thoughts are interrupted when Jason texts me.
You’re quiet tonight…does this scene turn you on???
The laughing emojis he texts me should hurt my feelings since I can easily be embarrassed over sexual things but…he’s right.
I’m turned on with just the thought of getting eaten out.
I boldly text Jack back. Unashamed and VERY buzzed.
You have no idea. Just imagining him eating me out, writing the alphabet with his tongue, and making me have an explosion is making me wet my panties right now.
I laugh to myself just seeing that Jason read my text message and is responding fast. The texting bubbles have never looked so good.
You’re…you’re wet right now????
Yes. Soooo fucking wet.
A surge of drunken confidence hits me, and I quickly shove off my pajama shorts until they’re on the floor. In just my white tank top and pink panties, I bravely slip my fingers into my damp panties and rub the wetness against my sensitive clit.
And with my other hand, I raise my cell phone and snap a picture of fingers in my wet panties.
And I send the picture to Jason.
I bite my lip in anticipation when I see he read my text message and saw my picture. The texting bubbles do not appear on the screen. He’s not texting me back.
Frowning, I wonder if I freaked Jason out. Maybe I crossed the line. Maybe I made him uncomfortable. Maybe I’m just not sexy.
Suddenly, my phone beeps. Unlocking my cell phone screen, I see two text messages AND a picture.
Oh, fuck sweetheart…that’s fucking sexy. You’re fucking sexy…
Jason sends me a picture of him wearing his boxer briefs, and his hand holding his hard, thick cock, showing me the outline and shape of his boner.
Delicious. I can feel my pussy clench just from imagining Jason fucking me with his cock.
Fuck doll...you’re doing this to me.
I whimper pathetically and can’t help but continue to rub my clit and respond back. I can see my juices staining my panties.
Are you touching yourself too?
Fuck yeah. Just seeing your fingers playing with your wet, pretty pussy got me hard. I’m jacking off to your picture.
Would you want me like I want you?
Fuck yes, sweetheart. I probably want you more than you want me.
I slip a finger inside my pussy and moan. My thumb runs fast hard circles on my clit, and I’m soon pushing in two fingers. I’m fucking myself crazy, but I imagine Jason is finger fucking me because my fingers wouldn’t get me off so fast.
And his fingers are thick. His hands are fucking huge!
I bite my bottom lip. “Fuck...I can’t believe I’m going to do this,” I whisper to myself. I snap another picture of my fingers shoved in my pussy, and how I’ve gotten wetter. I send him the picture with the truth.
I need to cum so bad. I wish it was you touching me.
Yeah? What would you want me to do to you, doll?
Fuck that picture’s so hot.
I’d want you to finger me. Eat me out. Fuck me hard.
Jason sends me another picture of him stroking his cock but with his hand in his underwear. I can see a wet spot where his tip is; stained with his precum. I want a taste of it so badly.
Fuck I would baby. Your pussy looks so good enough to eat. I’d fucking eat you out until you can’t cum anymore. I bet you taste delicious.
Oh fuck…I’m so close. I want your cock so bad, Jay. You’re gonna make me cum…
Rub your clit harder baby. Fuck your pussy fast and hard with your fingers. Imagine they’re my fingers, baby. I’d fuck you so hard and deep. 
I want to see your cum, okay? Take a picture of that pretty pussy and show me what I did to you.
I do what Jason says. Behind his words, I can feel his authority. Even though I can’t hear Jason’s voice, just reading his words makes me burst like fireworks. My thumb rubs my clit harder, and I crook my fingers just right until I push against my g-spot until I cum. My orgasm is intense, and I force myself to snap a picture of my soaked underwear and fingers. I sent it to him with a lazy smile.
My phone beeps. Jason sent me a picture of his thick, juicy, cum covering his abdominal muscles. I smile a little with pride. 
Fuck that was hot, sweetheart. I needed that. 
Me too. Now, I’m sleepy. 
LOL, I’m tired too. Get some sleep, okay? We’ll talk in the morning.  
Okay…goodnight Jay.  
I roll over onto my side and shut off the TV. Pulling my UGG throw blanket over my body, I snuggle up to fall asleep. My phone beeps again. Opening one eye, I reach over to read the text message. 
Goodnight doll. Sweet dreams.  
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Text
Secrets in the Springs
Document link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WDYCocrod_P7bcyH9DIaacjpIXv9I8r-UEkdmWANdxw/edit?usp=sharing
Sapphire, Pyra, Mythra, Nia and Poppi spend an evening relaxing together in Mor Ardain’s famous hot springs, where a couple of secrets begin to reveal themselves. In the process, Pyra makes an important decision. (1650 words) Replaces the XC2 cutscene “Secret in the Springs” from the start of Chapter 4. Content warning for some description of an old significant physical injury.
Tag list (use this to be added to it!): @softskiesahead | @dragonsmooch | @thatslikesometaldude | @lilacslovers | @insomniaships | @goldenworldsabound | @setzale | @candyforthebrain | @elf-and-a-heart
This is a piece I originally posted to my old blog, but I’ve updated it slightly to reflect some changes to the storyline and figured it would be good to post again! Don’t worry, it’s mostly much happier than the previous writing I posted here - especially once you get to the end, hehe~
Reblogs are appreciated, but by no means required! Comments should be on, and there’s also a transcript of the document under the readmore!
The sandstorms from earlier in the day had thankfully settled down - the evening was still very warm, but a soft wind drifting through Alba Cavanich made the heat much more pleasant. Behind the inn that rested on Smùide Mountain, the group had taken the opportunity to relax in the local hot springs - Rex and Tora had gone earlier in the evening and appeared much more refreshed for the experience, but now it was the ladies’ bathing slot, and all of them were eager to spend the evening enjoying a relaxing bath together.
Sapphire in particular was not used to the arid conditions on Mor Ardain’s Titan, given that her homeland within Uraya was a much more subdued and watery kingdom, so she also relished the opportunity to try out the hot springs. By the time she had gotten ready, Poppi was already happily playing about in the springs, while Nia had her back to the entrance and only her head was above the water. Finally, Sapphire tentatively poked her head around the corner of the changing room, so that it was all that could be seen from within the baths themselves.
“It’s just us here, right?”
“Yeah, don’t worry!” Nia turned her head to smile, though Sapphire did think she looked somewhat nervous. “The inn seemed pretty much empty when we first got here, so I don’t reckon anyone else’ll be coming in.”
Poppi nodded in agreement. “Probability of interruption from other people very small. Therefore, is perfect time for all to enjoy springs together. The water very nice temperature, even for Poppi!”
“Hang on.. Should you even be in the bath?” Nia had turned back to face the mechanical girl, and was now looking at her with a tilted head to show confusion. “Won’t you rust or something?”
In response, Poppi shook her head and kept smiling, eyes bright as ever. “There no problem. Poppi made from special alloy. No rust or need for oil!” The faint orange glow of her leg joints was visible even through the water, showing that she was kicking them back and forth in her usual manner.
Sapphire smiled at this, only to then jump when she realised Pyra was standing right behind her. Except it wasn’t Pyra - where she expected to see kind red eyes instead lay cold golden ones, and the familiar short bob of red hair was replaced by flowing blonde strands.
“Wh- Mythra?!”
“Yeah?” She looked unamused.
“Sorry, mate, you really startled me there!”
Wanting to give Mythra some space, Sapphire stepped out from behind the entrance to the changing room into the proper springs area, prompting Poppi to look surprised and Nia to turn around because of that. Although she still had a towel around her body, the other girls could now all see several swathes of what looked like very old grazes on Sapphire’s arms and the backs of her legs. They seemed to have healed, yet still appeared somewhat serious.
“Wait, what happened to you?!” Mythra was first to speak up, sounding more worried than she ever really had. Her usual short temper still shone through, however - she seemed almost annoyed for not noticing the injuries beforehand.
“Oh, these?” Sapphire raised her arms halfheartedly, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Don’t worry. These are just left over from.. how I got to Uraya. Don’t worry, most of it’s all healed up by now. So nothing’s going to mess up the water or anything, I promise.”
There was a silence.
“..I guess I never told you guys about that, huh.”
“No, you didn’t. Not that I was awake for, anyway.” said Mythra.
“You don’t ‘ave to tell us if you don’t want to, though.” Nia added. “Only share what you’re comfortable with.”
Sapphire nodded. “Thanks, Nia. Um.. this isn’t exactly the place to go all in-depth about that kind of thing, so, ah.. I’ll just say that, from what I know, my parents and I were on a ship crossing the Cloud Sea when it capsized and got washed into Uraya’s Titan. A bit like you guys did, I guess, though there was.. a lot more of an impact. Honestly, I don’t even know how I managed to stick around long enough for Dad and his mercs to find me on one of their checkups.”
“Oh.. Are you sure you’re okay? That must have been hard..” continued Mythra, still looking worried. There was a flash of glowing energy, and suddenly Pyra was stood in her place, looking even more concerned.
“I’m so sorry for what happened to you, Sapphire! Nobody should have to go through such a horrible thing..”
“Pyra, please, I’m fine! It’s okay!” Sapphire said, a little too suddenly - quickly realising her mistake, she hastily tried to recover: “I- I really appreciate that you care so much, but, I promise I’m fine. Come on, let’s just enjoy the springs together.”
As she turned around to put her towel on the rocks behind her before lowering herself into the blissfully warm water, the true extent of Sapphire’s injuries became clearer - the old grazes were nothing in comparison to the massive streak of half-healed scar tissue covering most of her back and shoulders. Parts of it seemed to somehow reflect the low light from the torches and the glow of Poppi and Pyra’s Core Crystals, as if there were tiny specks of something shiny in there.
Nia’s worried expression had returned. “Saph, that really doesn’t look good.. You sure you’re alright?”
“Yes!” She still seemed slightly on-edge, but being in the water was clearly very relaxing for her. “I already said, it doesn’t really hurt. I’ve had all this for as long as I can remember; it’s just how I am. Trust me, it was a lot worse when I was little.”
“Poppi worried about Sapphire..” said Poppi, sounding sad. The stillness of the water and the glowing lights visible under its surface showed that she wasn’t playing about anymore.
“Aww, it’s okay, Poppi!” Sapphire turned and smiled at her again. “I’m fine, honestly!”
Pyra still wasn’t convinced. “You’d tell us if you weren’t, though, right..?” She crouched down at the side of the water and reached over to take Sapphire’s hand in her own.
“Of course I would, silly. Come on in, the water is amazing..”
This made Pyra feel more at ease, and she happily took the chance to sit next to Sapphire, who in turn was all the more grateful to be able to enjoy Pyra’s natural warmth in close proximity. Another silence then settled, though this one was much more natural, and the girls were able to take the time to properly enjoy the heat of the water and relax in the hot springs.
Eventually, never the quiet one, Poppi had something to say.
“Poppi has question for Nia.”
“Huh?”
“Why does Nia have-?” The artificial Blade’s inquisitive tone was quickly interrupted by none other than Nia herself, who at this point was almost entirely submerged in the water.
“Oh, I know what you’re gonna say, I think. Don’t- don’t worry about it.”
At this point, Mythra returned, automatically shifting away from Sapphire as she turned to face Nia herself. “I had noticed, too. It’s true, then, that you’re..?” She trailed off, not knowing how to properly word her own question.
“Mmm.. yeah.”
Mythra nodded. “Do you want us to keep it a secret?”
“I was.. a little bit embarrassed about all this, but.. Yeah, if you could, that’d be grand. Not like I could hide it here when it’s this dark, anyway. As long as you guys are all okay with me being here, then-”
“Of course, mate!” “Poppi is fine!” “Why wouldn’t we?”
The chorus of reassuring voices brought her an incredible comfort.
“Thanks, guys.”
==========
Later that evening, once everyone had retired to their rooms for the night, Mythra noticed within herself that Pyra seemed nervous.
“Something wrong?”
“What? No! I mean.. We share memories, so you’d know if something was wrong, surely?”
“I guess that’s true. But, you seemed like you were coming to a decision of some kind. And I mean, I don’t really wanna pry if I don’t have to.”
“Haha, thank you for that.. And, you’re right about the decision. So, um, Mythra - what do you think about Sapphire?”
“Uh.. she seems pretty nice? But she isn’t someone you want to make angry, given how mad she was at Malos and Akhos. I wasn’t awake yet for all that time you two spent journeying through Uraya, so this was kind of the first time I’ve gotten to interact with her properly. I can’t say I was expecting you to get into a relationship, but.. You two make a good fit for each other, even if she is a little more energetic than you tend to be.”
“You really think so?”
“Wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t.”
“Ah, I suppose you’re right.. Sorry!”
“Why’d you ask that, anyway?”
“Well, it’s just, um.. It was so great for me to know that she’d be able to come with us after we left Uraya. I know she’s probably still worried about Vandham, but.. if his injuries have really been patched up as well as they seemed to, then he should recover without too much of a problem, right?”
“Yeah, Nia said Dromarch was able to get him stable once I took Obrona out and the ether came back.”
“Right, that was it. And, um.. Since we’ve been here in Mor Ardain, I’ve been thinking about something, and.. after that time we all spent together tonight, and being around her like that, I think I’ve figured it out. Sapphire is the person I really want to be with, for the rest of my life. ..However much longer that even ends up being.
I have no idea how I’m going to go about it, but..
I think I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
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shirtlesssammy · 3 years
Text
1x17: Hell House
Then:
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Padiddle!
Now:
Two Months Ago:
Richardson, Texas
Late at night, a group of teens are on a dare to investigate a haunted house. Once inside they find the house’s walls decorated with odd symbols. 
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The leader tells the others that “they say that it lives in the root cellar. It goes after girls. Always girls. It just strings 'em up.” They head down there and one guy looks around and jokes about the place. The others look beyond him with horror-stricken faces. He turns to find a young woman hanging by a noose. 
Interstate 35
Present Day
Dean Winchester, Very Serious Hunter, pranks his sleeping brother while he drives. Sam is having NONE OF IT, and warns Dean that the pranks always escalate and he started it. 
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He then gives Dean the lowdown on their latest case. The local authorities don’t really believe the kids, but Sam read on hellhoundslair.com about their harrowing adventure and it seems legit. Dean’s skeptical. 
They head to the local malt shop and interview the kids about what they’ve seen in the house. The stories...don’t quite match. They tell them that Craig knew about the place. The brothers then head to the local record shop to interview him. 
They ask him about the Hell House and its history. He tells a story of Mordachai Murdoch and how he killed his six daughters and then himself. His ghost haunts the place, killing any girl that wanders into the house.
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He’s freaked out. That dead girl was real and he doesn’t want anything more to do with that house. 
The brothers head to investigate the house themselves. Once inside, Sam breaks out Nerd!Sam and starts talking about the sigils on the walls. Dean recognizes one that Sam doesn’t, but he can’t place it’s origin. 
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They hear a noise and find two PROFESSIONALS in another room. (“Professional what?” Dean wonders. “Paranormal investigators.”) 
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Meet Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spengler! 
They run the website that Sam looked up. And the brothers see right through their bullshit. It’s a thing of glory. They explain EMF to Sam. I just want to squeeze them if I didn’t hate them so much. They also saw heard a vase fall once in a house. That stuff changes you. 
Sam and Dean leave them to their work. They do their own work and find major errors with the stories floating around the house. Dean thinks the HellHound boys made up the whole thing. 
Sam gets in a minor prank as they leave town. 
That night, more teens arrive at the Hell House. Jill was dared to grab a jar off the root cellar shelves. She heads inside, and down to the root cellar. Once down there she hears a noise and drops the jar she was holding. Panicked, she heads further into the bowels of the basement. 
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SNAP. There’s actually a dude down there and he actually hangs her until she dies! 
Sam and Dean check out the crime scene, realizing they missed something. Later that night, they wait until the cops are gone to head inside. While they wait, Howdy and Doody show up. Dean alerts the cops to Harry and Ed while Sam and Dean sneak into the house. 
Armed with their shotguns, they head to the basement. 
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It’s gross and basementy, and Dean delivers an Indiana Jones homage as they head through the room: “I hate rats.” Yes, of course you do, my sunshine. The ghost rears up behind them and chucks them out of the house just in time for Ed and Harry to arrive in full ghost hunting gear. 
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The Winchesters flee the scene as the cops arrive, and Harry and Ed get cornered by the police. 
Back at their...truly amazing western-themed motel...Dean and Sam examine the facts of the case. It’s strange that the ghost seems to keep changing his MO and appearance! Sam heads to the HellHounds site, where he finds a new post that matches what they saw at the house. Life imitates art imitates life. Or...something like that. 
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Looking at the mysterious symbol he re-drew on a piece of motel stationary, Dean has an epiphany. He knows where he’s seen that symbol before! They head to the record store again. There, Dean corners Craig about the symbol he’s been trying to understand - it’s Blue Oyster Cult’s logo. Craig spills everything. Bored one day, he and his cousin decorated the abandoned house to look like it was haunted, painting symbols on the wall from musicians and her theology textbooks. The haunted house rumor got picked up by the HellHounds website, and now a girl’s dead and the house is apparently ACTUALLY haunted. 
Later, Dean sprinkles itching powder in Sam’s pants. BBYS. They head to a diner where Sam lays out his current theory: their ghost is a tulpa, brought to life by widespread belief. One of the symbols in the house was Tibetan, and appears to be powering the tulpa.
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Dean wants to know how they’re supposed to kill an idea. (Suggestion: Use Sam’s brain bullets!)
Harry and Ed fret over fame and ghosts in their trailer when the Winchesters arrive. 
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Dean demands that they shut down their website. Harry refuses to stop their bold reporting. Their hands forced, Sam dangles a tantalizing “fact” in front of Harry and Ed: Dean hands over Mordachai Murdoch’s death certificate (that they totally forged at a copy shop an hour ago). The cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. If someone shoots the ghost with, say, a .45 loaded with special bullets, it will kill him. 
Rumor seeds planted, the Winchesters chill out at a diner while they wait for the new belief to take hold. Oh, and Sam superglues Dean’s hand to a bottle. CHILDREN.
That evening the Winchesters storm the house to take out the tulpa. Harry and Ed burst in to record everything. The ghost emerges and the bullets seem to have NO EFFECT. It turns out that after their story got updated, the HellHounds server crashed. So nobody had a chance to read the new lore. Wherps. 
Their fight against the tulpa is going VERY BADLY. 
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Dean sprinkles lighter fluid all over the house and they torch the place. If the tulpa can’t leave (according to the lore) then Dean will burn everything down. “Mordechai can’t haunt a house if there’s no house to haunt.” If only the demonic thought-forms of their tattered childhoods could be so easily defeated.
Later, the Winchesters see off Harry and Ed. The ghost hunters are off to HOLLYWOOD to live their best famous life! As they drive away, Sam gleefully reveals that he called them and pretended he was a producer. Sam’s not the only prankster - Dean dropped a dead fish in their backseat.
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The Winchesters call a prank war truce (for now) and drive off to the strains of Blue Oyster Cult.
Blue Oyster Quotes:
What's the matter Sammy? Scared you're going to get a little Nair in your shampoo again?
Who you gonna call? 
Sweet Lord of the Rings!
WWBD: What Would Buffy Do? 
We're just trying to get a book and movie deal, okay?
Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 
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general-kenobi357 · 3 years
Text
Someday Soon-Chapter 1
Pairing: JJ Maybank x Fem!OC
Summary: The only goal Isabella Bailer has this summer, is to have a good time with her friends, the Pogues. But when they find a ship wreck after a hurricane their summer takes an unexpected turn. 
Note: So this is my first fic that I have actually properly finished and I am so excited to share it. I first posted it on Wattpad but I find that I don't really use that platform much so I wanted to post it somewhere I go on often. I hope you enjoy my twist on Outer Banks :) Also the I have written Iz to be as nondescript as I could so that you can imagine her however you want. 
Word Count: 10.5k (The first chapter is really long but later on the chapters get shorter.) 
🔅🔆🔅
We’re the Pogues, and our mission this summer is to have a good time, all the time.
The soft breeze brought the smell of the ocean to my nose while the sun shone brightly on my cheeks. I had to squint to see my friends through the bright rays. As the sun fell lower the day only seemed to get warmer, the beer in my hand brought a cool relief, after taking another drink a smile grew on my face as I listened to the conversation between Pope and John B. 
“That’s what, a three-story fall to the deck?” Pope asked, looking up at John B who was currently balancing on one foot on the edge of the roof. We were all hanging around one of the many mini-mansions that were under construction in Figure Eight. “I give you about a one-in-three chance of survival.”
“Hm” John B replied as he stuck a finger into the air pretending to check the direction of the wind. “Should I do it?”
“Yeah, jump.” Pope quipped, pointing a drill at him. “I'll shoot you on the way down.”
“You’ll shoot me?”
“Yep. Pow!”
“They’re gonna have Japanese toilets with towel warmers.” Kie told us shocked, as she emerged from the house that was yet to be finished. 
“Of course. Why wouldn’t they?” I inquired somewhat bitterly from my spot sitting next to JJ. Nothing Kooks did surprised me anymore, all they seemed to care about was their own vanity.  
“This used to be a turtle habitat, but who cares about turtles, I guess?” Kie asked, sounding somewhat defeated. I sent her a sad smile, wishing I had more power to change the way things were. 
“I can’t have cold towels.” JJ added sarcastically before we all directed our gaze towards John B. 
“Can you please not kill yourself?” Kie asked him sweetly as he continued to lean dangerously close to the edge of the building. 
“Yeah that would really ruin my summer.” I added, I had protested John B climbing onto the roof in the first place but once that boy got something into his mind, no one could change it.
“And don’t spill that beer. I’m not giving you another one.” JJ warned seconds before the can slipped through John B’s grasp and came crashing onto the deck.  
“Whoa! Oh, shit.” John B exclaimed as he attempted to regain his balance on the roof, I turned to look out at the ocean again, not wanting to see him hit the deck as well. 
“Of course you did. Smooth.” 
“A plus.” Pope commented as he leaned over the side of the deck before looking back at the group. “Hey, uh, security’s here. Let’s wrap it up.”
“Humpty Dumpty, let’s roll.” JJ called to John B while he hopped off of the scaffolding we had been sitting on, before turning around and offering me his hand to help me get down. “Sweetheart?”
“Thank you.” I replied, accepting the hand he held out as I jumped down onto the deck.
“Yeah. Let’s go.” John B agreed as he followed us down. 
“Gary, is that you?” JJ called out to the security guard as we gathered our stuff up. “It’s me. Gary, good to see you, man!”
“You’re just asking for it.” I told him as I shook my head trying to hold in my laughter. 
“Get ‘em! They’re comin’ your way!” I heard one of the guards shout from behind me as I followed Kie towards the van. “Hey! Stop!”
I spared a glance behind me as I exited the house and saw the guard catching up to JJ. 
“Not much of a hugger!” I heard JJ shout as he avoided the guard. 
As I ran down the front steps John B pulled up in the van, Kie hopped into the passengers seat as I climbed into the back leaving the side door open for the boys to jump in whenever it was they decided to show up. 
“Bus is leaving!” John B called out as he honked the horn. I peered out the back window watching as Pope started climbing over the fence, before promptly falling flat on his face. JJ hoped over next and helped him back to his feet. 
“Come on, boys!” Kie called.
I held out my hand for Pope who was struggling to get into the moving van. Once both boys were inside John B stepped on the gas and we all watched Gary hopelessly chase after us. We were all left in a fit of laughter after JJ was done teasing the poor security guard. 
🔅🔆🔅
The Outer Bank, Paradise on Earth. It’s the sort of place where you either have two jobs or two houses. Two tribes, one island. 
All right. So there’s Figure Eight, the rich side of the island. Home of the Kooks. So, guess where we don’t live?
And then, there’s the South Side or the Cut. Home to the working class who make a living busing tables, washing yachts, running charters. The natural habitat of… drumroll, please… the Pogues. 
That’s us. 
Pogues, Pogies, the throwaway fish. Lowest member of the food chain. Okay. So, the downside of the Pogue life is we’re ignored and neglected. But the upside of the Pogue life? We’re ignored and neglected, which means we do whatever we want, whenever we want. So, let me introduce you to the crew.
First up… JJ Maybank, my best friend since the third grade. He's about as local as they come. Latest in a long line of fishing, drinking, smuggling, vendetta-holding salt-lifers who made their living off the water. Best surfer I know. Just don’t tell him I said that. Mild kleptomaniac and a future tax cheat.
Next up is Isabella Bailer but we just call her Iz. A former Kook up until she was ten and her dad was caught embezzling money from his company and promptly arrested, her family basically lost everything. Shortly after that she moved in next door. Definitely the Mom of the group, she basically takes care of all of us, and when she’s not cleaning up our messes, she’s working with her Mom, cleaning houses for the Kooks. Iz is the sweetest girl you’ll ever meet until you threaten her friends then you better run the other way and hope she doesn’t find you. 
After Iz there’s Kiara Carrera, or Kie, as we call her. When she’s not saving turtles or listening to Marley, or getting a dolphin tattoo, she hangs out with us. I’m not really sure why though. So, she’s a rich kid, actually. Foot in both worlds. Her family owns The Wreck, this Outer Banks institution. Total cash cow with the tourists. You know, I’m not really sure how her parents feel about us. But I think we all have had a thing for her at one point or another. 
Finally we have Pope Heyward, the brains of the operation… finalist for the Lucas T. Vanderhorst Merit Scholarship. And the smartest person I know. Little bit of a weirdo. His father’s this legendary character, Heyward. Anything you wanted on the island, Hayward could get for you. Now, I’m not sure Heyward knew what to make of his oddball son, but it didn’t matter. He was a Pogue, just like the rest of us.
So, that’s my crew. And my name is John Booker Routledge. I’ve been living on my own for the past nine months in an old fish shack on the marsh. The Château, as my dad used to call it. Where is my dad? Well he disappeared at sea nine months ago, looking for a shipwreck. Who disappears at sea these days? I miss him. Any other possible guardians who could look after me, might be your next question? Well Mom split when I was three. Last I heard she was in Colorado and Uncle T who is supposedly my legal guardian is currently in Mississippi, building houses… 
Which means it’s just me right now, on my own, hangin’ with my friends. 
🔅🔆🔅
I swung lazily in the hammock that sat between John B’s house and my own as I watched the water. The sun was starting to rise higher and I could already tell it was going to be another long hot day. I was lost in my own thoughts until I felt the hammock dip to the side. Glancing up I gave John B a small smile as he tried to readjust the balance of the hammock. 
“You know I really hate this thing?” He told me still struggling. 
“I know it's ‘cause you don’t know how to relax.” I replied, teasing him as I shifted to help balance the hammock after the change in weight. 
“I’m gonna take it down one of these days.” He threatened, finally leaning back.
“No, I love this hammock, it's my favorite spot.” 
“I know I’m only teasing you, I’m not sure you would ever talk to me again if I took away your hammock.”
“You’re damn right I wouldn't.” I told him attempting to sound serious before letting out a laugh. We laid quietly for a few minutes before I spoke up again. “So do you have big plans today?”
“Um, yes.” He responded after taking a moment to think. “I get to go down to social services and talk to some people about how there are no responsible adults in my life.”
“Oh that sounds like sooo much fun.”
“I know right? You want to come with me?”
“As much as I would love that, JJ said he was going to take me out so I could practice driving the boat.” I had my license but I was not the best driver on land and I had barely ever driven in the water. 
“Oooh you and JJ alone on a boat?” John B asked, stretching out his words and wiggling an eyebrow at me. He loved to tease me about the very obvious crush that I had on JJ every chance he got. At his teasing I took the half empty beer he had brought out with him much to his protest. 
“No, number one, you and I both know that I will never be brave enough to make a move, number two, no Pogue on Pogue macking and number three I think that Pope said he was coming with us.” I rambled about the many reasons why what John B was suggesting would never happen before I downed the rest of the beer and handed back the empty bottle.
“Wow, thanks, I wanted to drink that.” He commented on the bottle in the grass beside us, I shrugged my shoulders as if to tell him he should have expected it after his teasing. “Also if I were you I’d go confirm that JJ still knew this was happening because he’s inside with a girl right now and they looked like they might be awhile.” 
“Seriously?” I groaned trying to cover up my jealousy with annoyance. I knew that I had no right to be jealous, JJ didn’t belong to me and I was far too scared to ever confess how I really felt, not that I could even figure out how I really felt. But it still hurt to see him with different girls all the time. “I guess I’ll go investigate.”
I quickly stood from the hammock before thinking, but it was too late. As I turned around and watched the hammock flip and John B tumble off onto the grass below. 
“Thanks for the heads up.” He grumbled as I helped him to his feet. 
“Sorry. I forgot how terrible you are at sitting in a hammock.” I said trying to cover the smile on my face.
“Yeah laugh it up, your friend just got attacked by a hammock, real funny.” He replied pretending to be upset as he dusted the dirt off of himself. 
“I mean it is kind of funny.” I called over my shoulder as I made my way back towards The Château to find out who was around. “I’ll see you later John B.”
I stepped onto the porch only to find Pope stretched out on the couch fast asleep. ‘I suppose he won’t be joining us.’ I thought as I walked past him into the house. 
In the main room Kie laid on the pull out couch blowing clouds of vapor above her. I sent her a soft smile which she returned before I turned the corner towards the bedrooms in the Château. 
Only one of the room's doors was closed so I figured that was where JJ was. I raised my hand to knock on the door but the sound of a shrill giggle stopped me. I was pretty sure I didn’t want to know what was going on so my hand retracted back from the door and I walked back towards where Kie was. 
I laid down beside her with a sigh. Kie shifted closer to me as we both just hung out. 
“I’m pretty sure it’s some Touron who’ll be gone by the end of the week.” Kie finally spoke up, I raised my head to send her a questioning look. “The girl in there.” She added pointing to the room JJ was in. 
“Oh.” I nodded laying back down. I stared back up at the ceiling, contemplating whether I wanted more details about this girl. “Was she pretty?”
“I didn’t get a good look.” She responded. 
“Huh.” I responded, unsure if she was telling the truth or just trying to make me feel better. “Are you working today?” I asked, wanting to change the subject before I thought about JJ anymore. 
“Um, yeah. I have to leave soon.” Kie responded, glancing at the time on her phone. “Did you want to come with me, I might be able to sneak out fries for you.”
“No, I better stay here. I think my Mom has a few things she wants me to do before the storm tonight.” I responded, I also still half hoped that JJ would want to hang out. 
“Okay, well I’m sure that I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said, smiling as she stood to gather her stuff. 
“Yeah, tomorrow morning we’ll all go out and check out the damage.” I responded, standing up as well.
“Love you.” She cooed, pulling me into a hug. 
“Love you too.” I responded, before we both let go of each other. She then grabbed her backpack and headed for the door. “Stay safe!” I called after her as she walked towards her car. 
After Kie had left I had made my way to the dock, which is where I was now sitting watching the stormy clouds that were forming out in the open water. 
“Hey.” Pope spoke softly, alerting me to his presence, before he sat down next to me. 
“Hey, I figured you were going to sleep all day.” I teased, sparing a glance at him. 
“Yeah, I guess I was more tired than I thought.” He responded with a smile. “It looks like it’s gonna be bad.” He added, referring to the dark clouds that were beginning to move closer. 
“Yeah I just hope it isn’t too loud, last year Emmy had nightmares all summer from the thunder.” I said, remembering how bad my little sister’s nightmares had gotten. 
“Well there aren't any thunderstorms in Agatha’s path so there shouldn’t be much thunder this time.” He informed me. 
“You are too smart for me, Pope.” I said with a smile.
“Speaking of smart things, we should bring in the boat before it ends up in a tree somewhere down the road.” He said, I looked over at the boat which had sat in the water by the dock all day, waiting for us. I was more than a little bitter over the fact that JJ had stood me up. “Iz?” Pope asked, pulling me from my thoughts. 
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, yeah let’s bring in the boat.” I finally responded before standing up to help Pope.
We were able to bring in the boat before Pope had to head home to help out his Dad and I walked back to my house to help my Mom before the storm hit. 
🔅🔆🔅
The next morning I woke up to the sound of someone clattering around in the kitchen. After getting dressed I walked out to see my Mom and Emmy at the kitchen table eating breakfast in the dark. 
“No power?” I asked as I flipped the switch knowing nothing would happen. 
“Nope.” My Mom replied as she walked past me to put her bowl in the sink. “And no water. I’m gonna pick up another tank of water from Heyward on my way home from work. Seems like the storm took out the whole island. Listen I know that you wanna hang out with your friends but I need you to take down all the storm shutters at some point.”
“Mom the day after a hurricane is a free day.” I argued, I knew better than to argue with her most of the time but I still had to try.
“I know and I’m not saying right this minute but at some point it would be nice.” She surprised me with her reply, most days I would get a lecture about talking back. 
“Are you feeling okay?” I asked checking her forehead temperature. 
“Yeah are you feeling okay Mommy?” Emmy parroted from behind us, one of her new hobbies.
“Yes, I’m feeling fine.” She said, swatting my hand away from her forehead. “I’m trying to be nice, this is your last summer before you graduate and I know you’ve been working a lot.”
“Okay…” I replied, still suspicious that this was some kind of trick. Quickly kissing her cheek, I grabbed my bag and kissed the top of Emmy’s head, jogging to the door I left the house before she could change her mind. “I’ll see you when you get home.”
I heard them both say goodbye as I closed the door behind me and made my way over to where John B and JJ were standing clearing branches off the HMS Pogue. 
“Mornin’ boys.” I greeted the pair as I helped them finish clearing off the boat. 
“Someone's in a good mood.” John B suggested as he made his way over to the side of the boat I was standing by. “You and JJ have fun?” He asked in a quieter voice. 
“Nope, he completely blew me off. I don’t even think he remembered.” I replied, biting the inside of my cheek trying to not show my disappointment. “But it’s fine, today is a free day and we are going to enjoy it.” I said putting a smile back on my face as I looked over to where JJ stood oblivious to mine and John B’s conversation. 
🔅🔆🔅
“Well, look who we have here.” JJ taunted as we pulled up to the Heyward’s dock. 
“We have a safety meeting. Attendance mandatory.” John B added pretending to speak into a walkie talkie. 
“I can’t. My Pop’s got me on lockdown.” Pope replied sadly. 
“Come on, man” JJ grumbled from his spot beside me. “Your dad’s a pussy. Over.” he commented speaking into his own pretend walkie talkie. I turned to look at him surprised as I hit his arm lightly. “What? He is?” JJ tried to defend. 
“Oh, I heard that, you little bastard.” Heyward scolded JJ.
“We need your son.” I said as I directed my attention to Heyward. “Island rules. Day after a hurricane’s a free day.”
“Who made that up?” Heyward demanded moving closer to the boat. 
“Uh… Pentagon, I think. We have security clearance.” I added, trying to come up with excuses. 
“Yeah, I have a card.” JJ tried to add to my story. 
“You think I’m stupid?” Heyward challenged. 
“I'll do it tomorrow. I promise. Tomorrow.” Pope told his dad, getting ready to get into the boat. 
“You think... No, no. Hell no. You doin' it right now.” Heyward told Pope as he hopped into the boat. “Bring your ass back up here.”
“I promise I'll do it tomorrow, Dad.” Pope assured his father as we started to float away.
“We’ll bring him back in one piece.” I called back to Heyward as we started to speed off towards Kie’s dock. 
🔅🔆🔅
After picking up Kie, Pope had taken over driving the boat and the rest of us were sitting around watching JJ attempt one of his many tricks that he had tried a million times but that never seemed to work the way he wanted it to. 
“You’re getting beer in my hair!” Kie reprimanded JJ. 
In an attempt to avoid the same fate as Kie I stood up from my spot beside her. But just as I got to my feet I felt the boat shift under me and jolt to the side throwing me off the edge. After a moment underwater I realized what had happened and swam back to the surface. 
“Jesus, Pope!” I heard Kie berate Pope. 
“You okay, JJ?” John B asked, I assumed he had also been sent overboard. 
“I think my heels touched the back of my head.” I heard JJ reply from the other side of the boat. 
“Kie, you okay?” John B asked, shifting his concern away from JJ.
“I’m all right.” Kie answered John B after a moment of pause. “Where’s Iz?”
“Over here.” I called from where I was treading water, a moment later I saw JJ swimming over to where I was. We made eye contact for a moment before he scanned that rest of my face with concern making sure I was good. I gave him a reassuring smile before looking back at our friends on the boat. 
“Guys... I think there's a boat down there.” Pope said looking out from the ledge of the Pogue. 
“Shut up. What?” Kie asked moving to look into the water. “No way.”
“No, no, guys. I'm serious. There's a boat down there.” Pope added confidently. “For real. “
“Holy shit, he's right. Let's go.” Kie said, getting ready to jump into the water.
We all dove down as deep as we could and sure enough a sunken boat was sitting below the surface. 
“You guys saw that?” JJ asks as we all come up for air. A chorus of agreement followed JJ’s question as we looked at each other shocked. “That’s a Grady-White. A new one of those is like 500 Gs, easy. That’s a primo rig.”
“Yeah. That's the boat I saw when I surfed the surge.” John B informed us after we had all climbed back into the Pogue. 
“You surfed the surge?” I asked, concern filling my thoughts.
“What the heck John B?” Kie added in the same tone. 
“That's my boy. Pogue style.” JJ congratulated him, as John B nodded confirming what he had just said. 
“Wait, wait. Do we know whose boat that is?” Pope asked curiously, wanting to know more about the wreck. 
“No, but we're about to find out.” John B replied as he went to grab the anchor of the boat. 
“Dude, it's too deep.” JJ warned as John B made his way over to the edge of the boat. 
“Oh, for the weak and feeble, JJ.” John B challenged as he readjusted the anchor in his grip. 
“Well, I'm not resuscitating you. I'm just making that clear up front.”
“That's fine.”
“Diver down, fool.” Pope said while giving John B a mock salute. 
“Diver down.” We all called as JJ pushed John B off the side of the boat. We all leaned over the side of the boat anxiously waiting for John B to come back up. 
“Should we go get him?” I asked the others in a concerned voice. It felt like he had been gone for ages at this point and I couldn't spot him in the murky water. Moments after I spoke John B broke the surface tension in a fit of coughs. 
“Oh, my God. That took forever!” Kie said, relieved as we all allowed John B some space to climb onto the Pogue. 
“I found this motel key.” John B supplied holding up the key while he got into the boat. 
“Great! We salvaged a motel key.” JJ spoke sarcastically as I inspected the key that John B had found. 
“Guys, we should report the wreck to the coast guard.” Kie suggested “Maybe we'll get a finder's fee.”
“Yeah, and not work all summer.” JJ added, hopefully as we speed off toward town. “Thanks, Agatha, ya batch.”
🔅🔆🔅
After an unsuccessful talk with the coast guard, as in we were completely ignored because they had no interest in what a group of teenagers had to say, we decided to head straight to the source and check out the motel. 
The boat slowed down as we got closer to the motel and began to take in the scene before us. It was a disaster, mattresses thrown on the lawn, windows broken, and trees that had been uprooted or close to it. I had to wonder how much of this damage was caused by the hurricane and how much was caused by a neglectful owner. 
“I thought the Château looked bad.” JJ commented from the front of the boat. 
“This place is a shitshow.” John B added. 
“Doesn't look like a place somebody with a Grady-White stays.” I said, confused as to why someone with such a nice boat would be staying somewhere so rundown.
“No. Looks like a place someone with a Grady-White would get killed.” Pope suggested.
“All right. Here we go.” JJ started jumping out of the boat ready to tie us to the shore. “This is your captain speaking. HMS Pogue comin' in for landing.”
“We good?” John B asked, standing beside me. 
“Yeah, we good.” JJ confirmed. 
“All right. Here goes nothin'.” I stated, while I tried to take the key from Pope’s hand, who had elected to stay on the boat with Kie as lookouts. 
“Hey.” Pope said seriously, while he held the key just out of reach.
“Yeah?”
“Don't let them do anything stupid.”
“Yeah, I’ll try.” I gave Pope a reassuring smile as he passed me the key, still holding a look of uncertainty on his face.
“Uh, be careful.” I heard Kie tell John B from behind me. “I mean it.”
JJ offered me his hand as I jumped out of the boat but I just ignored it, still a little mad that he had forgotten about me the day before. I made eye contact with him for a moment and saw a look of confusion grace his features before disappearing. I began walking away from the boat as JJ waited a moment for John B to finish talking to Kie. I listened to them talking behind me.
“Just be so careful, John.” I heard JJ tease as I started making my way across the front lawn of the hotel. 
“God, you're so weird.” John B replied.
“What was that about?”
“I don't know. Maybe she wants us to be careful?”
“Ever since she heard you're being threatened with exile, she's just been, like, <Oh! Be so careful, John B.>” JJ mimicked what Kie had told John B earlier as we started to climb the stairs to the second floor. “<Oh, just give me that John D already.> Just ask Iz she sees it too, right Iz?” JJ asked me. 
I paused for a moment when I reached the top of the stairs, turning around to meet JJ’s eyes
“Are you done?” I asked in a sour tone. 
“What?” He responded with confusion evident in his voice and the smile falling from his face. I rolled my eyes before turning around and beginning to count room numbers. “Why are you so mad at only me? What’d I do?”
“Dude.” I heard John B start saying. “You completely blew her off yesterday.”
I was curious what else they said to each other but their voices became muffled as I walked too far ahead. Stopping at the end of the hall in front of room twenty-nine. I turned to find the boys jogging towards me, John B gave me a small smile and JJ had a look that almost resembled remorse on his face. 
“This is it?” John B asked as JJ took the key that I was holding up in front of me. 
“Housekeeping.” JJ called out in a shrill voice knocking a few times on the door. 
“Should we try it?” John B asked, pointing to the key in JJ’s hand.
“No power. No security cameras. No one's gonna know.” JJ reasoned as he pushed the key into the lock. It felt like we could still get in trouble if we were caught but before I could voice my concerns JJ was already half way into the room.
“Huh.” I muttered, as the two of us followed JJ in. It was dark and smelled of mildew, definitely not the kind of place someone would stay if they had the funds to buy a Grady-White. 
“Check the bag. See if there's a name on there somewhere.” John B instructed JJ as I moved past the pair to open the blinds at the side of the room.  
“A jacket.”
“No name on the jacket?”
“No. It's a nice jacket, though.”
“Definitely over 50. He's got New Balances.”
I listened to their conversation as I walked across the small room into the bathroom. As I moved through the bathroom and rustled through the medicine cabinet, I heard the beeping of a safe in the other room. 
“Uh… JJ? Iz? You’re gonna want to see this” I heard John B call from the other room. 
Entering the room I looked at John B first who was looking over to where JJ stood with wide eyes. Following John B’s line of sight my own eyes widened as I realized what JJ was holding.
“Is that a gun?” I asked as if it could be anything else. 
“Put the gun back, JJ!” John B tried to reason with him. 
“This is a fucking spendy gatt, man. Just…” JJ said, eyes wide like a kid in a candy store. “Bam! Bam!” He mimicked the sound of a gun as he pointed it around the room.
“JJ, we’re not stealing anything.” John B told him for the hundredth time. 
“Just take a pic of me. Right here.” JJ pleaded with John B, but my attention had shifted to the sound of a rock landing on the window sill. 
I pushed past the boys as they continued arguing with each other, and looked out the window.
“Cops. Cops!” I could see Kie and Pope whisper yell while they pointed in the direction of the door. Turning around quickly I waved at the boys to get their attention. 
“Guys, the cops are here.” I told them in a hushed tone. John B moved towards the door to see if he could hear anything. “How are we gonna get out?” I asked them, feeling panic start to rise through my chest. 
“Out the window?” John B suggested as he pushed open the small window as far as it would go. 
With John B out first and standing to the right of the window, I followed quickly behind him moving to the left so that JJ could get out. In an attempt to keep us from being seen JJ pressed me against the wall of the motel, which meant that I was now pinned between him and the wall. My chest rose and fell unevenly as I squeezed my eyes shut hoping the cops couldn’t see us. As we we’re standing on the ledge I felt JJ’s hand grab on to mine and give it a reassuring squeeze. 
“Listen Sweetheart, I’m sorry I ditched you yesterday. I didn’t mean to forget.” JJ whispered to me, his head was right next to my ear and I could feel his breath fan out against my skin as he spoke. 
“As much as I appreciate your apology, I really don’t think this is the time JJ.” I whispered back terrified of every word that left my tongue. 
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right, sorry.” JJ replied, shifting his weight slightly. 
“Guys! Shut. Up.” John B whisper yelled from where he stood on the ledge. 
As we both turned to look at John B I felt cold metal touch my free hand, startling me I pulled my hand back swiftly and as I did I heard a clattering as something fell from the ledge. 
“JJ, tell me that wasn’t what I think it was?” I demanded as quietly as I could. 
“Well you tell me what you think it was and then I’ll tell you it wasn’t.” He said and I could hear the smirk in his voice, shocking me that he could still be joking when we were about to be caught at any moment, I rolled my eyes at him. 
🔅🔆🔅
After our narrow escape from the motel, myself and the Pogues were headed towards town, discussing what we were going to do next. 
“The cops took everything like it was a crime scene.” John B stated still sounding shocked at what he had seen back at the motel. 
“Did you guys find anything?” Pope asked us curiously. My gaze shifted to JJ as I already knew what he had taken. 
“Did we find anything? No, I don't think so. Oh, yeah, we did.” JJ responded smiling as he held up the gun, and to my surprise a wad of cash. I let my head fall into my hands wondering how JJ could be so dumb.
“What the hell?” Pope asked standing, panic written all over his features. 
“Dude, chill.” JJ started walking over to where Pope stood. “Better than cops having it.”
“I'm gonna lose my merit scholarship.”
“Hey, hey, hey. Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh.” JJ said, grabbing Pope by the shoulders in an attempt to calm him down. “At least you have us, right?”
“I'm living the nightmare.”
🔅🔆🔅
After a trip to the marina and witnessing Scooter Grubbs get taken away by a coroner, we were back at the Château trying to figure out what to do next. 
“Okay. So, um... we didn't see anything.” Pope spoke up as he paced in front of us all. “We don't know anything. We need to have total and complete amnesia.”
“Actually, Pope's right for once.” JJ stated, looking at us all. “See, I agree with you sometimes.” He assured Pope. “Deny, deny, deny.”
“Guys, we can't keep that money.” Kie piped into the conversation. “We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs. Otherwise, it's bad karma.”
“Bad karma to be implicated in a felony, too.” I added referring to the gun JJ was still in possession of. 
“We gotta go dark.” Pope suggested. 
“None of it makes sense.” John B finally said, breaking his silence. “This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about. Same dude that's buying individual cigarettes at the Porthole. Shit, one time I saw this dude begging for change in the Save-A-Lot parking lot because he needed gas. We're talking about a dirtbag marina rat who's never had more than 40 bucks in his pocket, and all of a sudden, he's got a Grady-White? Just sayin'.”
“So how does a marina rat get a Grady-White?” I asked, thinking out loud. 
“Prostitution.” Pope suggested making me laugh under my breath. 
“Okay...” John B stated, trying to move past Pope's comment. “Or maybe they're trying to fly under the radar, no aerial surveillance. They don't do that stuff during a hurricane. What does that mean? JJ?”
“They were straight smugglin'.” JJ finished John B’s thought. 
“Smugglin'.” John B confirmed. “And I guarantee there's a serious amount of contraband in that wreck.”
“For the record, if that is a smuggling ship with illegal contraband on the inside of it…” Pope said and I could tell he was thinking about all the terrible outcomes. “...it probably belongs to someone else.”
“Minor details.”
“They could come looking for it.” Pope warned. “Taking it would be catastrophically stupid.”
“Right. Well, stupid things have good outcomes all the time.” JJ reasoned holding up the money that he had now decided belonged to us. “All we need to do is figure out a way to get into the cargo hold of that wreck.”
“Until then, we just lay low. Just act normal.” John B added. 
“Right. And how exactly do we do that?” I asked. I still felt like Pope was making a lot of good points that the others were not listening to. 
“Kegger?” Kie suggested looking at the rest of us for confirmation. 
🔅🔆🔅
You can't understand the Outer Banks without understanding the boneyard. It's kinda like a three-layer burrito. There's us and our friends, the working-class derelicts. Then, there are the Kooks, the rich second-homers. They're mostly from poncey-ass boarding schools, just rich trustafarian posers. Our natural enemies. And then, there are the Tourons. Totally clueless. Here for a week on vacation with their families. Chum for the sharks.
Later in the day after the sun had set, the kegger was coming to life, basically the entirety of the island's teen population was in attendance and the beach was getting pretty crowded. Earlier on I had been hanging around with JJ, all had been forgiven between us and we were back to cracking jokes. 
Up until JJ spotted a girl he wanted to flirt with and I was left alone. Since then I had started chatting with a couple of Tourons who had taken one surfing lesson earlier in the week and now thought they knew everything about the sport. Desperate to make my escape I searched through the crowd for my friends. Just as I was about to make up an excuse I heard shouting from the water. 
“Sorry, I have to go.” I told the pair lamely. “I think that’s my friends calling me.”
“Okay. Bye.” They replied as I walked away. 
Much to my horror, once I had reached the shore it turned out to actually be my friends shouting, and the shouting had turned into a full out fight. I recognized John B in the water but the Kook he was fighting had their back facing me. I pushed my way through the crowd once I spotted Kie and made my way to stand beside her. 
“What the hell is going on?” I asked, looking at her face which was covered in fear. 
“Topper and John B started arguing and now they're trying to kill each other.” Kie answered, watching as the fight got worse. That’s when I noticed the Kook Princess, Sarah Cameron, trying to calm down her angry boyfriend. 
I used to know Topper when I was young. We had been friends but when I had moved to the Cut we lost touch. Now as he stood over John B I barely recognized him. He wasn’t the young boy I had once known, now he was a cruel person who thought he was better than others just because his parents had money.
“Hey, John B, don't make me drown you like your old man, all right?” I heard Topper challenge John B.
After that comment I had had enough and I was desperately looking around the crowd trying to figure out what I could do to stop them. I felt useless as I definitely couldn’t just jump in there, I had no idea how to fight. But we had to do something before Topper killed John B. 
As my eyes scanned the crowd I noticed JJ who was already looking at me. His once bright eyes looked dark and it seemed like he knew exactly what he was about to do. I shook my head as I tried to make my way over to him, but he was already stalking towards where Topper and John B fought. I had a feeling I knew what he was about to do but I didn’t want to believe it. 
I held my breath as I heard the crowd go silent when JJ clicked the gun's safety off. 
“Yeah, you know what that is.” JJ threatened as Topper pulled away from John B. “Your move, broski.”
“Come on. Chill, dude!” Topper responded, trying to reason with him.
“Put the gun down.” Sarah cried desperately. 
“Did you say somethin', Princess?” JJ asked, not taking his eyes off of Topper. 
“We're good. We're good.” Topper tried to tell him, raising his hands in surrender. 
“Kie! Iz! Can you check your psycho friend, please?” I heard Sarah screaming behind me pulling me out of the trance I had been frozen in. I took a few steps closer to JJ but I didn’t want to get too close when he had a gun pointed at someone. I had seen him get in fights before but never like this, this was different. I really thought that he might kill Topper and that terrified me.
“JJ.” I spoke softly so as to not startle him. He turned to glance back at me but kept the gun pointed at Topper who was looking back at us. “Think about what you’re doing.” I continued speaking calmly, meanwhile I could hear Sarah practically sobbing behind me. “You have to let him go.” I said, at this JJ nodded ever so slightly before pulling the gun away from Topper. 
“Okay, everyone, listen up! Get the hell off our side of the island!” JJ yelled into the crowd of people before shooting the gun into the air. 
The second JJ moved Topper was out of sight and Sarah wasn’t far behind. While Kie and Pope began to berate JJ over his actions I ran into the water to go check on John B. 
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked John B once I reached him, holding his shoulders so he wouldn’t fall back into the water. He mumbled back something incoherent as he swayed in my grasp. “Guys! Can you help?” I asked the three Pogues who still stood arguing behind me. 
With their help we got John B out of the water and closer to the fire that had been started a while ago. We all sat silently there for sometime before John B was able to get up again and we all headed home. 
🔅🔆🔅
After a sleepless night, we were all back together at the Château, I sat next to Kie as she lazily hit a pair of bongos that sat on the table between us and Pope. JJ was further away in the yard throwing god knows what into the grass. I stood up as I saw John B make his way over to us. Meeting him halfway between the main house and where the rest of our friends were I pulled him into a bone crushing hug. 
“What was that for?” He asked, chuckling while he looked at me. 
“I’m just glad to see you’re okay. I can’t lose you, any of you guys.” I explained making myself think back to last night. 
“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” He joked trying to lighten the mood. 
“Yeah, I know.” I said the smile returning to my face. “Hey, by the way I saw the cop car driving away this morning, is everything okay?”
“Eh, it’s alright Peterkin stopped by, told me to stay out of trouble and to clean up the house.” John B explained as we made our way over to the others. “Look, I'm callin' it off. All right?” John B announced to everyone. “Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS.”
“And you believed her?” JJ questioned. 
“Yes, I believe her, JJ.” 
“An actual cop, John B. You believed a cop.” He added, trying to make his point. 
“All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out. It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun.”
“You know what I should have done? Just let Topper drown your ass.”
“Topper was gonna drown me?”
“Sure looked like it.”
“Alright, calm down.” I spoke up trying to get them to stop.
“Come on. They always win, don't they, man? Kooks versus Pogues. They always, always win!” JJ started to raise his voice. 
“Look, it's okay!” Kie reasoned, also trying to help me calm them down. 
“No, it's not okay!” JJ argued, turning his attention to John B. “It is not! They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there, and you know it. I know you do. And I understand why you don't wanna go. You're the golden boy. You got way too much to risk.” JJ added pointing a finger at Pope. “ And you...I mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother?” He asked Kie. “But us three.” He finished looking at John B and I. “We got nothin' to lose!” 
“I don't want to talk about this.” John B told JJ as he began to walk away. 
“So that's it?” JJ asked and I could tell he was losing hope in John B. 
“Just get out of my way, bro.”
“John B, listen to me. I have a plan.”
JJ telling us he had a plan? That was never a good start. 
🔅🔆🔅
We all gathered around Kie who was inspecting the tanks that John B had stolen from the Cameron's. JJ had tried to argue that we were going to return them so technically we were just borrowing them but I didn’t think the Cameron's would see it that way or the cops they would inevitably call if they found out. 
“This is empty. You took empty tanks? I…” Kie told John B sounding defeated. “Okay, this one's a quarter full. It's enough for one of us. Love it when a plan comes together. Does anybody know how to dive?”
“It's kind of a Kook sport.” JJ replied. 
“I... read about it.” Pope responded cautiously. 
“Great, Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die.” Kie reasoned.
“Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?” JJ asked. 
“If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends.” Pope told him.
“Bends like, bend over and…” JJ asked, making me roll my eyes at him. 
“The bends kill you.” Pope said seriously and JJ straightened up.
“I can do it.” I finally said standing up at the front of the boat. “I went diving a few times with my dad when I was younger.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” JJ stated, a look of worry crossing his features. 
“I’ll be fine, it’s like riding a bike, you don’t forget.” I reasoned. “Right?”
“Let me do some calculations real quick.” Pope said while he looked through his bag for a notebook. 
“Are you serious? You’re gonna do some calculations right now?” John B teased Pope with a smile on his face. 
“Hey, let the man do his calculations, alright?” JJ told John B before glancing over at me again. 
“That boat's about 30 feet down. Okay.” Pope stated, thinking out loud. “So it'll take 25 minutes at that depth.”
“Twenty-five.” I confirmed half listening to him half focusing on keeping my hands from shaking, suffice to say I was a little nervous. 
“Which means you need to make your safety stop at about... ten feet. All right? For two minutes.” 
“Okay, ten feet, two minutes.” I confirmed, attempting to remember everything he was telling me. 
Kie suddenly stood up from her spot and jumped off the side of the boat, disappearing into the dark water. 
“What was that all about?” Pope asked, distracted. 
“I don't know, but I liked it. A lot.” JJ commented. 
“Anything else I need to know?” I asked, looking at the boys who were all very clearly still thinking about what Kie had just done. 
“All right. Yeah. Uh, when you... uh, when you're down there, you look for the cargo hold.” John B stated remembering where he was. 
“You stick this thing inside and twist and pull, okay?” JJ told me, holding up a key and miming it in the air. 
“Yeah I think I know how a lock works JJ.” I told him sarcastically, as I took the key from his grasp. 
“Hey! I tied my T-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down.” Kie said finally emerging from the water. “It's where you need to do your safety stop.”
“Okay, thanks.” I responded giving her a smile before pulling the heavy tank onto my back. I could barely pull the straps tight because of how much my hands were shaking. Seeing me struggle, JJ made his way over to me and finished strapping me in. Giving a thumbs up as he took a step back. 
“Keep an eye on this.” Pope said, pointing to the console attached to the tank before handing it to me. “You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress.”
“Okay, how much do I need?” I asked. 
“Unclear.” He answered truthfully after a brief pause. “Breathe as little as possible.”
“Zen. Think Zen, you know?” JJ commented trying to get me to relax. He took my hand in his while I looked around at everyone. 
“Yeah. Got it.” I responded, moving closer to the edge of the boat. 
“Hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we're basically screwed, so... better get a move on.” Pope said. I knew he was just trying to be helpful but it did not help me feel very Zen. 
I was about to pull down my mask from where it was sitting on top of my head when I realized JJ still had a tight grip on my hand. 
“I’m gonna need this.” I told him, holding up our interlocked hands. 
“Oh, yeah, sorry about that.” He said, awkwardly letting go of my hand and rubbing the back of his neck. “Be careful, yeah?”
“I’ll be fine.” I responded, but I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince him of myself. “Diver down?”
“Diver down.” My friends all confirmed as I pulled the mask down over my face before jumping into the water. 
🔅🔆🔅
A couple of minutes after Iz had dove off the edge of the Pogue, the rest of the group sat waiting anxiously in silence for their friend to return. Well everyone but JJ who was currently pacing back and forth across the floor of the small boat, seemingly mumbling something under his breath about how Iz would be fine. The other Pogues watched, baffled as to how he could do things like this and yet still not realize how he truly felt about the girl who had just dove into the water. 
JJ and the rest of the Pogues were pulled out of their thoughts by the sound of sirens and the flashing lights of a police boat. 
“Shit.” Kie said, alerting everyone that the cops were pulling up next to them. 
“Guys, that's the police.” Pope said, the panic in his voice rising with each word. 
“Oh, you gotta be kidding me.” John B said standing up. 
“Yep, that's the police. Just act frickin' normal.” JJ confirmed what they were all seeing, meanwhile acting the least natural the Pogues had ever seen him. JJ never panicked. “Evening, officers.”
“How you kids doing?” Deputy Shoupe asked the group, passing a rope over to connect the boats. “You know the marsh is closed?”
“No. No. Wow. I didn't know that. Why... Why is it closed?” Pope asked, trying to look calm.
“Well, we're conducting a search out here. Boat went down. Seen anything?”
“No. No boats. No.” John B responded. 
“Where's your other friend you always hang out with? Who’s that, Bailer’s kid, uh, Isabella? She here?” Shoupe asked.
“She's working.” Kie lied. 
“Hm.” Shoupe hummed, not entirely convinced. “I'm gonna check your little boat out.”
“Yeah, hop aboard.” John B said, waving a hand. “You wanna check... uh, check her out.”
Meanwhile below the surface Iz had found what she was looking for and began unlocking the hold. 
After Shoupe had inspected their life jackets, he made his way to the front of the boat, putting his sunglasses on and looking out onto the water. From the back of the boat JJ also scanned the water, he thought that he saw something move beneath the surface and prayed that Shoupe hadn’t seen the same thing. 
🔅🔆🔅
After getting into the hold I found a small bag and took it with me as I swam towards the anchor of the boat so I could make my safety stop before heading back up. 
From my spot ten feet below the surface I looked up, noticing the shadow of a new boat and someone looking into the water. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment as if that would help me keep from getting caught before opening them and looking at the console in my left hand. There was less than thirty seconds of air left and I was panicking even more than before. 
Just in time the figure left and moments later the second boat disappeared. With my last breath of air I swam to the surface pulling off my mask as I took a huge breath of fresh air. 
“There she is!” JJ pointed at me letting out a sigh of relief. “Don’t scare us like that!”
“How'd it go down there?” John B asked as I made my way to the ladder on the back of the boat. 
“Did you find anything?” Pope asked, pulling me up.
“Did I find anything?” I answered the question by holding up the small duffle bag that I had found in the hold. 
“Yeah, there we go! That's my girl!” JJ hollered scooping me up into a hug as John B took the bag from me. 
“Jeez.” I laughed as JJ let go of me again and Kie made her way to my side. 
“You okay?” She asked, a look of concern painting over her usual happy expression. 
“Yeah, I ran out of air.” I said trying not to worry her but realizing my words did the opposite of that. 
“You scared the shit out of me.” JJ said, snaking an arm around my waist. I knew he just thought of me as a friend but his actions still gave me butterflies, it was nice to know he cared. 
“Yeah, the cops were up here, but, uh... we took care of 'em.” Pope informed me. 
“Hey, guys? Guys, bogey, two o'clock.” Kie said, pulling us from our previous conversation. 
“Do you recognize that boat?” Pope asked.
“I've never seen it.”
“What are they doing here? The marsh is closed.” John B asked and I couldn’t help but smile at the irony of his words, after all we knew better than to be there and yet here we were. 
“Let's not stick around and find out.” JJ stated, moving to the front of the boat. 
“Should we wait on 'em?” Pope asked. 
“Are you joking?” I asked, helping start the boat up. “JJ, hurry up.”
“Guys, don't wait for me. Go.” JJ told us as he pulled the anchor up as fast as he could. 
“Go right.” I suggested to John B who was standing behind the wheel, thinking if we went further into the marsh they might not follow us. 
“Let's go!” Kie rushed as the boat turned behind us. “Hey, guys, they're following us.”
“This can't be good.” I said as JJ moved to stand beside me.
“Dude, you gotta go faster!” JJ urged John B as the boat began to gain on us. 
“I'm going!” He said while trying to maneuver the marsh that was filled with thick weeds. 
Looking back I noticed that one of the men had leant down and was now standing back up holding something I could quite make out.
“Uh, guys what is that?” I asked as everyone but John B looked back. 
“What the…” Pope started but the rest of his question died out at the sound of a gunshot. 
As everyone one dropped down to the floor of the boat I felt as if I had been pushed, there was a heavy weight on my chest.
“Holy shit!” I heard Kie mutter as I opened my eyes realizing that JJ was on top of me. This was now the second time in the past two days that I had been pinned between JJ and another surface. Had it been under different circumstances I might have been able to enjoy it. 
“John B, get down!” I heard JJ yell as I felt the vibrations of his voice echo through my own chest. 
“We're gonna die!” I heard Pope say hopelessly from beside me.
“Shit! Pope, move.” Kie muttered, I couldn’t see much but I thought I saw Kie walking to the back of the boat carrying something. 
“Get down, Kie!” John B yelled as the man in the other boat continued to shoot at us. 
Then the shooting stopped as the sound of the other boat died out. 
“Oh my god.” Pope sighed, sounding very relieved as everyone started to get back up except for JJ.
“JJ?” I asked, looking up at him. His face turned towards me, inches away from mine as he hovered over me.
“Yeah?” He asked, sounding completely oblivious.
“You gonna let me get up?” I asked, smiling.
“Oh, yeah, sorry about that Sweetheart.” He said standing before he offered me his hand. A look flashed across his face that I couldn’t quite recognize, if I didn’t know better I would think it was disappointment?
🔅🔆🔅
After arriving back at the Château we all gathered on the dock. To take a look at what I had found in the hold of the Grady-White. 
“What do you think it is?” Kie asked us. 
“Gotta be money, right?” John B responded with another question. 
“That or a couple of keys with street value from the low-to-mid-mils!” JJ added. 
“Can we please just open the bag?” Pope let out looking impatient. 
“Wow, Pope. That's a rare outburst of emotion.” John B teased as he stretched out the wait even longer. 
“Okay. You guys are literally killing me with anticipation.” I said in the same boat as Pope, urging them to hurry up. 
“Alright Sweetheart, calm down.” JJ said from beside me putting a hand on my arm to calm me down. 
“We almost died over this.” Pope added to our argument to open the bag faster. 
John B opened the bag pulling out a metal canister. After opening that too he let the contents spill out onto his hand. Disappointment rose up as we looked to see that all it was was an old compass. While taking a second look I thought that I recognized it from somewhere but wasn’t sure. 
“Oh, wow. Yup. That's about right.” Pope stated, standing from his crouched position. “Good job, everybody. We found a compass.”
“Dude, what? It's not worth anything.” JJ told John B who was staring at the compass in awe. 
“This was my father's.” Were the only words that left John B’s lips. 
🔅🔆🔅
After the disappointment of not finding much of anything after we all risked our lives we all headed home. Entering my house the sun was setting outside and it seemed empty. But my Mom’s car was parked just off the road and I could hear faint talking coming from the back of the house. I walked through the living room and kitchen, past the stairs that led to the loft which was my Mom’s room. Past my own room and the bathroom before coming to a stop in front of my little sister’s door. Leaning against the door frame, I saw my Mom reading Emmy a book by candle light, I assumed that the power was still out. 
Walking back to the main room I started to make myself a sandwich, realizing that I hadn’t eaten much of anything all day. Just as I was about to take the first bite. I heard Emmy’s door close and my Mom entered the room, holding a candle in her hand. 
“Hey, Honey.” She greeted me as she set down the candle. “How was your day?”
“Good.” I responded in between bites of the sandwich I had made. “Pretty uneventful.”
“Really?” She asked, almost surprised. “I saw Shoupe on my way out of town and he said that he saw your friends out on the marsh when they were doing their search for Scooter’s boat. He also said that you weren't there. Your friends told him something about you working, but I didn’t know you were working at all for a few days.”
“Oh really?” I said trying to figure out how to cover the real story up. “Um, Mr. Cameron came down and asked if I could pick up another shift. I guess his kids have been spending a lot of time inside since the storm so it was a bit of a mess over there.”
“He drove all the way down here?”
“Yeah well since the phone lines are down he couldn’t call.” 
“Huh, it seems strange he would come all the way down when he could just wait a couple more days for us to come over.”
“Yeah well it was really bad. I would have taken pictures if my phone wasn’t dead.”
“Oh no I don’t need pictures, I’ve met those kids and cleaned that house, I believe that they could make a terrible mess.” She said seemingly believing everything I was telling her, she paused for a moment before asking another question. “You don’t know why your friends were in the marsh do you?”
“Well” I started, thinking about what I could say that would get us all off the hook. “They were actually waiting to pick me up. Yeah. Cause I went up to Figure Eight with Mr. Cameron but I didn’t want to make him drive me all the way home. So they hung out in the marsh I guess while they waited.”
“How’d you call them?” Mom asked, picking apart my story. 
“Walkie Talkies.” I blurted out. “You know the ones that Heyward got Pope and I a few years ago? And that must have been why they were in the marsh even though it was closed. You know cause the walkie talkies only work for a certain radius, and the Cameron house is probably too far from here.”
“Yeah I guess so.” She said moving towards me to grab my now empty plate. 
“Thanks.” I said, as she put my plate in the sink. “I think I’m gonna head back over to John B’s if that's okay.”
“Of course just don’t forget to sleep at some point. You do still require sleep.” She told me. 
“I know, I’ll see you later.”
“Love you!” I heard her call after me as I closed the door and made the short walk over to John B’s where I saw him and JJ lounging on the porch. 
🔅🔆🔅
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Text
The Treatment of Captain Syverson-Chapter Nine: Group Therapy
Characters: Captain Syverson x OFC (Shane Benton)
Summary: A familiar drink brings back steamy memories for Shane (by popular demand), a ghost from the past picks a fight with the present, and the future hangs in the balance for our heroes.
Behind on the drama? It’s cool. I gotchu.
Word Count: 3.7k
Warnings:  Language, mature themes, violence, smut, alcohol consumption, more feels than you can shake a stick at.
Author’s Note: Guys. Listen guys. I know this chapter is a tad late…not that I have deadlines, I just know y’all want more sooner than I can always get it to you. It’s also, though, a bit longer than most of the previous installments have been. I hope you guys enjoy it. I think it’s my favorite chapter so far…I definitely cried the most writing it…you’ll see why…I’m not sorry. Initially, for some reason, it was hard to stay focused. (I blame my own emotions and feelings clouding my ambitions. Can’t let that happen anymore. Even though the same factors apply. I’ve gotta keep my head in it!) I’m actually pretty sad that there won’t be very much more of this story…they’ve been such good friends to me. I may just have to find a way to keep them going in follow-up drabbles. I don’t know. But I’m open to suggestions.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, Henry is not mine, le sigh, and all mention of him, his characters, any characters from his films, or his precious doggy, Kal, are strictly for transformative and recreational use. I neither ask for, nor accept payment for the work I post on Tumblr or AO3. Unbeta’d because this is for fun and escapism.
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Hope I’m not forgetting anyone! If you want to be notified when I post a new chapter or work, I’ll be happy to add you to my tag list! Stricken blogs are getting personal messages from me when a new chapter is uploaded because Tumblr’s faulty tagging system will not stand in the way of me delivering what the people want!(?) lol! (Although…their lackadaisical notification system might…sorry for that. I have no control. lol!)
X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@
It wasn’t top on Shane’s list of things she wanted to do tonight, but it had been ages since she’d gone out with her friends. It wasn’t totally because she’d been seeing Sy. But more recently, he had become the most prevalent reason she ended up bowing out. Because she had plans with him, or she needed to do things that she hadn’t gotten or wouldn’t get done because of plans with him unless she skipped out. They were bad excuses, but those of an introvert weren’t usually top-shelf, anyway.
It was Heather, the other secretary Marsha and her husband Alec, some of her fellow PTs Cory and Juan, and both OTs, Olivia and Miranda there at Cade’s that night. And Shane and Sy, of course. They were sitting at two tables close together, and after dinner, the guys got up to play darts while the ladies ordered a round of shots.
Heather both requested and paid for the tray of tiny glasses full of dark liquor. Shane knew the aroma all too well. Those were full of Jack Daniels. And she got tingly just thinking about the spirit, especially now.
“Let’s drink the first round to Shane.” She passed them around and held one up. “For landing captain sexy pants over there, and for being happier than I’ve seen her in actual years.” Heather clinked to the middled with the other girls as they completed the toast with cheery responses of “to Shane!” With intermittent whoops and cat-calls. She felt funny saluting herself, so she said nothing, silently dedicating her own drink to the guy she wasn’t expecting, wasn’t even asking for, but who’d been gifted to her, by God Himself, it seemed. Whoever or whatever or why ever, she was grateful for him.
She downed the full measure of whiskey, feeling the familiar pleasant burn down her throat and reminisced about the last time she’d had the drink.
~~~~~~
“No you’re cheating!” She slurred at Sy’s kitchen table.
“Not how I see it!” He smirked, that crooked grin mixing with the alcohol in her already impaired system making a heady and dangerous concoction.
“You’re delib’rately using my PT career against me!” They we’re playing “Never Have I Ever.” And he’d just used “never have I ever measured somebody up with a big protractor.”
“Hey, you’ve been trying to get me with ‘never have I army this, and never have I army that.’ And you just can’t and now you’re mad about it.”
“Ugh, I’m not mad, I just…don’t like cheating okay. Fair play. I’m a Hufflepuff, through and through!”
“As a Gryffindor, I resent your implication against my honor! And I say, drink twice.” They’d run out of mixer, and were down to the straight liquor. She was fine with it. She loved the sweet, oaky burn of Number 7 as she held small swallows on her tongue. Relished the burn of it on the tender skin of her lips like a rough kiss. She took two shots at his insistence.
“Never have I ever…fired a gun!” And they both drank because she had chosen a “never” that she “had ever” on purpose. She liked feeling this way with Sy. She liked being able to abandon her control and feel safe in so doing. Knowing that he wouldn’t let anything hurt her. Including herself.
His eyes began to glimmer in a way that she could always tell meant he was thinking something particularly salacious. Which typically meant something good was about to happen.
“Never have I ever…fooled around in a kitchen.” He waited a beat, then slowly stood, taking a long stride to stand directly in front of Shane, towering over her as she sat limp from drinking and more than ready for whatever he was planning. The kiss he gave her was almost instantly hungry, devouring, consuming. A wild fire that would spread throughout the forest of her. He pulled a stool out from under the table near her, barely having to break the contact and sat down in front of her on it. She leaned into him now, the boneless feeling now overtaken by her craving for him. She tugged at his casual blue tank top that stunned her because of the way it matched his eyes so well. She needed him closer. His hands rested on her thighs, mostly bare in the shorts she'd chosen for tonight, simply for their comfort, and not because they provided any sort of easy access. Not on a conscious level, anyway, she told herself.
His grip was tightening but the pain of the pressure didn't matter. His thumbs and fingers were rupturing tiny blood vessels and she registered the pain and the fact that she would have bruises in the shape of his claiming grip but all that really mattered was that he was there. Near. Present. And touching her.  
His hands moved, sliding up her legs, their trajectory shifting inward, their aim to open her up to him.
She was nothing short of willing.
He reached down to the seat between her legs and pulled her closer to him. Yes, she thought. He's too far away. Even though she could smell the whiskey on his breath even as she tasted it, still sweet on her own tongue. He laid a gentle hand on her left cheek, an almost chaste gesture, that snaked into something entirely different as it descended, brushing her neck, between her breasts, and over her abdomen, tumultuous from his touch and the drink.
He made it finally to her apex, easily brushing aside the fabric of her shorts, and teasing her there over her underwear with a soft, measured touch. She threw her arms around his neck, a wordless plea for him to go on. But her body was at odds with her mind.
“Sy, I wanna go slow.” She meant she didn’t want to end up in his bed tonight. Well, not that she didn't want to…
"Don't worry, sunshine. I'll take it real slow." he assured her, pretending to misunderstand her meaning as he teased her over her panties. She couldn't have spoken to correct him even if his lips hadn't taken an urgent hold on hers. His firm but frustrating touch was leaving her speechless and breathless.
Finally, he moved her undergarment aside to touch her, skin to skin. To pull a sweet, euphoric moan from her with just his fingers. He had been right about taking his time. It took him ages to find that space inside her that brought her to her pinnacle, but he made the wait enjoyable, all the same. She had a feeling he could have gone right to it, if he’d wanted to, but since she’d asked for it…
He grinned and chuckled into her mouth a bit as he toyed with her. He finally spoke,
“Hot damn, girl, you should have told me you needed me this bad.” He added a second finger to his game of search and destroy.
She could only grasp at his bare shoulders and the fabric of his shirt in an attempt to ground herself. He quickened, then slowed in sweet torture until her cries of his name became over loud for his neighborhood. The last build up, he added his thumb , brushing it against her aching center.
It hit her in waves of bliss as every muscle in her body responded to his localized, expert touch. Her vision blurred and for a second she could see the electricity flowing through air and matter and into her. Since when did THAT happen to her when she came?
“Sy!” She whimpered, a plea for him to stop but also to never stop.
“I know, darlin’, it’s alright. I’ve gotcha. Go on and let it out.” And she barely realized another climax had been building in her before she was falling headlong into it again, just as intense as the first one. He slowed, gently soothing her body after its small death, rubbing her neck and shoulder on the right side with his free hand.
He took his right hand away from her heat, brought it up to his mouth, and tasted her on his fingers. He poured them both another shot of whiskey, they threw them back, and once she had caught her breath from it all, she said,
“I don’t know the score, but I think you’ve won.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the present, she felt too sober to handle the bombardment of questions coming from her coworkers, no matter how pure their intentions.
“So are you guys a couple, like officially?”
“Have you met each other’s folks?”
“Do you think he’s the one?”
“What is he like in bed!?”
“I bet he’s an absolute fiend!”
“Nah, guys ya think that about are always so vanilla.”
“How big is he!?”
All of these questions seemed to come at one time, or at least before she could answer the previous ones, and it made her head spin.
“Listen, girls. I’m gonna go get myself a strong drink, and when I come back, I’ll answer one question at a time, so figure out the order in which you’ll be asking, and a punishment system for interrupting. Fair?” The hens all nodded their beaks in agreement as she stood to go to the bar. She reminded herself to add a disclaimer when she got back to the table about having veto power over questions she felt weren’t appropriate.
As she stood at the bar waiting for her turn with the bartender, she tensed as she heard an all too familiar voice say her name.
“Shane Benton.” He said in a charming tenor that she now found obnoxiously boyish.
“Elliott Thomas. What misdeed did I do in a past life to end up back in the same room with you?” He ignored her jibe.
“You look well.” He said, surveying her as if he intended to make a purchase.
“Okay.” She would not give credence to half assed, insincere compliments.
“Who’s the guy you’re with tonight?”
“That couldn’t be any less your business.”
“You’ll always be my business, sweetheart.”
She rolled her eyes.  “Funny, you didn’t seem to give a shit when we were together.”
“Come on, tell me where ya met this meat head.”
“Back off, Elliott.”
“Come on. He’s in a plaid shirt. He looks like he’s trying to cosplay the Brawny man. How quick does he pick you up?” He raised his eyebrows, driving home his attempt at double entendre.
The rage came suddenly, without warning, and manifested in a firm slap from her right hand to his left cheek. It landed solidly enough for him to have to stretch his jaw and feel it, as if making sure it was still there.
"Well, still got some spunk. Good to know. Not so fast--" he grabbed her wrist as she stepped away from the bar, but she was saved the trouble of getting out of it with her favorite self-defense maneuver, by the solid wall of red plaid and denim topped with his favorite black Chiefs hat. Sy had apparently noticed her altercation at the bar and elected to step in.
"What's goin' on here?" he asked, not brusquely, but so coolly that it was almost friendly. Elliott let go of Shane's wrist immediately and threw his hands up.
"No trouble here, man. Just a little friendly conversation between two former lovers." he said, oozing pure, stinking hubris.
"Oh, you're Elliott. Nice to meet you, man." Sy reached out to shake the man's hand. "I've actually been wanting to thank you."
Elliott looked confused. So was Shane. This guy had broken her heart. What was Sy intent on thanking him for?
"I wanted to thank you for fucking up so bad with this kind, beautiful woman, this graceful and forgiving saint, that she couldn't stand the sight of you any longer. Who knows. If you hadn't been such a dick, she may not have been free to be with me today." all of this, Sy said with Elliott's hand still in his. Shaking it. Apparently not too firmly. Until Sy leaned in very closely and whispered something to Elliott that made him go several shades of puce, and grimace, pulling his hand away, which Sy eventually relinquished.
After Elliott had tucked his tail and ran away, Shane found herself in a far less merry temperament than she'd come in with. She and Sy decided to leave. They said their goodbyes, Shane promising more answers as soon as she could. And they left, her arm around his waist, and his around her shoulder.
About halfway to Sy's truck, Shane heard a solid ping near her ear and the shattering of glass on the pavement nearby, followed by a low growl from deep in Sy's chest. They halted in their stride, Shane turning quickly around, Sy turning more slowly and intentionally in the direction of his would be attacker.
Elliot stood beside the brick exterior of the bar with three other men, none of them within 50 pounds of Sy, and hardly a match for him…individually…but together, she was concerned. She would absolutely try to help fight these guys, but she couldn't take out more than one with the potential weapons she had on her person that she could inventory off hand. Plus, if she had to fight Elliott…he'd get into her head…she knew it. Thank God she didn't know the other guys. She'd hope to get one of them.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" Sy said, back to his polite self, not worried about potentially getting into a street fight in which they were outnumbered two to one.
"Just thought you'd like to tell my buddies here what you said to me in there. I mean, I gave them the gist, but I think they'd like to hear it from you." Elliott puffed.
"Ah, somebody can't keep a secret." Sy sigh scolded him, wagging his finger at him as if he was a misbehaved child. "I was gonna let it all go as long as you left us alone. Did you mention that to them before you got them into a whole mess o' trouble?"
"Tell them, you fuckin' coward."
"Big talk from a guy who had to make it four to one before he confronted me." Sy accused.
"Four to two." Shane squared her shoulders, standing next to Sy, and attempting to make herself look more formidable, which was next to impossible given the fact that the man beside her was a massive army captain and she was just…herself. But she'd be damned if she stood by and let Sy take all of this on when it was all because of her. Plus, she didn't want him to reinjure himself.
"How about you jump in if I need ya, sunshine." He whispered to her. She didn't move or reply. "But ya know, since ya asked so nicely, I will oblige. I told this piss-ant friend of yours after he physically accosted this lovely lady here, in no uncertain terms that if he EVER touched MY GIRLFRIEND again, he'd be begging for death for hours before I had mercy on him and put him out of his misery and that his body would never be found." He eyed each of the men before him, his fiery gaze a physical force upon them, letting his promise to Elliott sink in. "Now if y'all wanna defend a man who would put hands on a woman, and then proceed to physically assault a United States Army veteran like myself, I can come up with similar guarantees for all of ya. And carry them out here tonight. But y'all look like ya've got a lot o' shit ya still wanna get done in this life with limbs and dicks intact. So I would encourage all of you fine gentlemen to walk away from this situation."
Two of the men, surrendered, claiming Elliott hadn't mentioned that he'd hurt Shane or that Sy was a vet. One of the men asked to shake his hand and thanked him for his service. The smallest member of Elliott's group, however, remained with him. Shane thought she recognized him after getting a better look. He'd been at a few events she'd been to with Elliott's friend group. She thought his name was Kyle. Clearly he was one of Elliott's oldest and most loyal friends. He still looked skeptical. Unsure that the two of them alone could take Sy. Shane thought he was right to be worried.
"Come on, Kyle!" Elliott summoned his friend to the fight.
"I dunno, man. He's a soldier and I mean…look at him. Look at us!"
"You pussy." Elliott walked up to Sy.
"You don't want to do this, friend." Sy warned.
"I'm not your friend, asshole. You stole my girlfriend." he swung wildly at the larger man, but missed. He was unsteady, Shane could see now, from excessive drink. She hadn't noticed inside.
Sy remained still for one punch that landed weakly on his jaw, barely displacing it. "Are you done, there, Mayweather? We even? Now that you got to hit me?"
"We are not done. Not until one of us is on the ground." Elliott insisted.
"Fair enough." Sy socked him with a jab straight to the nose, knocking him dizzily to the hard asphalt of the parking lot. Kyle came up to him to drag Elliott to a nearby car as his head lolled forward like a rag doll.
"I'll get him to the ER. Explain to them what happened. You guys get home safe. And thanks for not killing him. Or me." Kyle said as he opened his passenger door. Sy helped heave Elliott's comatose form into the seat and shook Kyle's hand.
Shane's eyes were still wide at the entire chain of events. Her adrenaline supercharged from her readiness to fight alongside her man. Which, she was both relieved and disappointed that she didn't have to do. But there was another thing on her mind. She had been mentally replaying what Sy had said to Elliott played over and over for more reasons than his chivalrous and heroic conduct.
When they were in the car and headed to her house, Shane asked him about it.
"So…you called me your girlfriend tonight." she looked at him.
"Shit, Shane, I'm sorry. I've been wanting to ask ya for days to make things official, and I just haven't found the right time. I was gonna ask you over drinks tonight in front of all your friends, but then that asshole fucked it all up. I even have a gift for you." he fished around in his pocket for a small, flat box, and handed it to her. She flipped up the spring loaded lid of the black velvet box, and inside, on a tiny pillow of black satin was a silver necklace with a silver charm. An "S" in an elaborate script with a small emerald set in the lower hook of the letter. "And if you don't want to make it official, you can still keep the necklace, because the 'S' can be for 'Shane,' and the stone can just be an emerald, and ya don't have to think about it like it's my birthstone, and I--"
"Sy, hush. Of course I want to be your girlfriend, officially. I've been dying to say it myself. And I love the necklace. It's perfect."
"Really? You mean it? All of it?" she'd never seen him so desperate. She had no idea why he thought she might not be serious. But she did have an idea of how to prove it.
"Stay with me tonight, Sy."
"It's still early yet, babe. I'll have plenty of time--"
"No, I mean, I want you. Tonight." How could she be more clear than that?
"Oh, you mean…but I thought you wanted to wait until my treatments were over?" He asked, as if he didn't want to get his hopes up just yet.
"When you were on the phone with my boss that day, you said something that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. Something that's gnawed at my will and resolve ever since. You said that life was too short, and you didn't want to wait to be happy when you could be happy now." she was verging on tears. "Well, I'm tired of waiting too, Sy. You make me happier than I've ever been, and I don't see the point in ignoring what we really want anymore. Because the fact is, Sy…the fact has been for a while now," she laughed at her own foolishness for stifling and ignoring it all this time, "I love you. And I think I have from the moment you first called me ma'am." She was fully crying now, and the tears had broken through down his cheeks, as well.
He pulled into her driveway and jumped out of his truck, still running, headlights blazing into her yard. He jogged around the front, but Shane, being uninjured had caught up to him without the benefit of a head start. He caught her up in his arms as if she'd stay there forever. They sobbed tears of joy and relief as they kissed each other with abandon, silhouettes against the footlights and exhaust courtesy of the Ford Motor Company, the PowerStroke engine roaring a soundtrack for this moment as it idled.
"I love you, Shane. From the moment you found me dreading therapy all alone that first day and cheered me up instantly. I knew." he brush the tears and hairs away from her face and held it, scrutinizing her features in the high-beams as if he intended to draw her from memory.
"I didn't know you were dreading it." she laughed, lightening the mood a bit.
"I was. A lot. Never had a lot of luck, especially recently, with PT. Until you."
She smiled, and looked at the truck, a third party to their romantic moment now more obvious to her.
"You're wasting gas."
"Hang the gas. I'm wasting time with you. You wanna go inside?" he asked. She nodded.
"You go get your purse. I'll be right around."
Sy shut off the truck and took his keys out, locking the vehicle from the fob after his arm was back around Shane and they were walking up her front porch steps.
Up Next: Chapter 10- Myofascial Release
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elfyourmother · 3 years
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you know...even in that long ass post I never even talked about how cosplay totally fucked with my head wrt gender also
my partner in crime was my white passing mixed white German/South Asian best friend and if I didn’t know anything about misogynoir or colorism before we started cosplaying together I sure found out quick. She absolutely got the lion’s share of attention regardless of what costumes we had on. I didn’t begrudge her the attention, she was a sweetheart and very talented—she made all our stuff.
But folk used to sometimes knock me over to get photos of her at events. Like literally they would step directly in front of me, as if I wasn’t standing there talking to her. Sometimes people would literally ask me to take photos of them with her—even when we were clearly part of a group cosplay, characters from the same show, etc. After a while I felt like her handmaiden or retainer, there to carry her things or something. And she was totally oblivious to all of it—the one time I very timidly brought it up, she said it was because I needed to build my self-confidence like she did and watch Top Model to learn how to pose etc etc. As if I could build any kind of self confidence when people literally treated me as if I were invisible.
One night when we were hanging out, after we’d seen Bebe Zahara Benet perform at a local gay bar and were walking along the West Side Highway drunk af, she was going on about how I should cosplay more dudes because I would make such a gorgeous boy, like I was a bishounen, and another drunk ass acquaintance with us was co-signing her (this other person is toxic af and has always been insanely jealous of me for reasons I still don’t understand).
I know she didn’t mean anything cruel by it, quite the opposite, but it severely hurt me and I didn’t realize just how badly it did until just now as I’m recalling it and I’m literally crying remembering it like the pain is fresh, even though this happened well over 10 years ago
in her ignorance she didn’t understand how loaded a statement that was. She crossplayed before like it was nbd. But no one would ever question her womanhood out of the costume, not with her hourglass figure and vast tracts of land and long hair and striking blue eyes. No one treated her like Unwoman or Off-Brand Girl when the binder came off. It was just a costume.
(The one time I did crossplay it was Duo Maxwell—my fave Gundam Wing pilot—and I was hounded the whole day by 1x2 shippers and 1 Heero crossplayer specifically to the point I was deeply uncomfortable. This was the era of “free hugs!” and glomping and yaoi paddles at cons. We were years from Cosplay is Not Consent, and needed it very badly.)
meanwhile I was tall, flat chested, dark skinned. the “opposite” of girl according to everyone ever. so ofc I had no business playing at being one. real women had curves after all. To me, my friend’s statement was co-signing that, banishing me to the wastes on Unwoman, where I really belonged, even if she didn’t mean it that way. It felt like she was agreeing with everyone who ever stepped over me to bask in her feminine glory.
nobody at the Ren Faires we frequently looked anything like me and so I would wear pants and be a pirate even though I desperately wanted the bodices and flowery skirts and Elizabethan gowns. It was very much Not For Me, I was told subtly and not. so I tried to fit myself in the space where I belonged. I hated how I looked in feminine Ren garb because of it—I still hate my body and prolly always will at this point in my life. I hate the idea that it can and should limit my expression and presentation.
And I realize it’s why I react so viscerally to androgyny being forced on me and why I don’t think I’m “really” a dude—if I’m not 100% a woman, it’s mixed with something else entirely. I don’t like it being imposed on me because of other people’s expectations any more than I liked my mom forcing me into dresses when I was a kid. maybe one day I’ll feel comfortable with it, the way I eventually embraced femininity with a vengeance when I discovered the goth scene and chose it on my own terms in my own way. In theory, divorced from all this, I don’t have an inherent problem w it—I have always gravitated toward gnc men, and maybe there’s a little gender envy there? But for me it can’t be divorced from all this, and feels too irrevocably tied up in misogynoir.
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