#I love this band so much oh my cod

[jawabear]

Could you write gaz's first reaction to reader wearing lingerie for him? Would he like it?

Welcome Home

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick x Reader

Not my GIF

A/N: This is quite short and kind of jumps a lot. But i hope you like it! there's not much about fro Gaz so it's hard to get inspo but i love the idea you suggested! (i'll probably end up re-writing this plot at some point tbh). feel free to send in more requests fro the CoD boys.

Genre: Smut, Fluff

Warnings: AFAB!reader, pet names, fingering, bad description of lingerie, slight overstim

Summary: Kyle comes back home after being on active duty. He comes home to something new...

Kyle let out a heavy breath and laid his head on the steering wheel. Finally he was back home after three months away. He had been away for longer than that before but never whilst in a relationship. Which is why it felt so much longer. He had missed being in her arms. Feeling her skin under his fingers. Kissing her sweet lips. Hearing her whisper sweet nothing to him. 

He felt a smile from on his lips. He wanted to get back up to his flat as soon as he could to see her again. 

He grabbed his bag and got out of the car. His footsteps were uncharacteristically heavy and he dragged himself up three floors to his flat. Kyle fumbled with the keys and unlocked the door. The waft of the smell of home relaxing him. 

He was safe again. 

“Babe? I’m home” he called into the flat. It seems darker than usual but there was a dim light coming from under the gap of the bedroom door.

He tilted his head and made his way to the bedroom, cautiously opening the door “babe? You here?” When the door opened he dropped both his bag and his jaw. 

“Welcome back, soldier” laying on the bed was his lovely girlfriend. Dressed in a beautiful set of black lace lingerie. It left very little to the imagination but still covered enough to make him want to rip it off her with his teeth to see more of her.

He choked on air as he stared at her. Stared at the surroundings. The bed covers were new. A champagne coloured silk. Red rose petals scattered over the room. Candles littered around the room as well. That’s what the dim light was. 

She bit her bottom lip and he noticed how she stiffened a little. “Is it…too much?”

“No baby” he said shaking his head at her “oh no baby. Fuck…sorry. I can’t take my eyes off you. Look at you babe. So fuckin’ sexy” he took a large step forwards and knelt on the bed. “Fuck. Fuck babe” 

She giggled “you said that already.”

“I know but…” he let out a soft growl and grabbed her waist “you look so fucking hot”

He ran his fingers up her belly to the band of her bra. He loved the feeling of the lace under his skin. Loved the way she leaned into his touch. “Part of me wants to rip this off you. But the other part wants to fuck you in it. Wants to cover this pretty set in my come” 

She smiled to him and leaned back a little. She spread her legs and showed him he could do the latter perfectly. There was a slit on the panties. Giving him perfect access to her pretty pussy. Didn’t even need to touch the set.

“Fuck yes” he groaned. He stood and threw off his clothes. Stripping himself down to his birthday suit and climbed on top of her. “Best welcome home gift I could ever ask for” 

“Want to make it special” she gasped when he hit her neck. He ran his tongue over the mark and continued this pattern of biting and licking down to her covered breasts. “Kyle..” she felt his fingers sliding between her legs and stroking at her pussy lips. “Hmm Kyle~” 

“Missed this babe” he muttered against her. He licked over the bra where her nipple was. She moaned and grabbed hold of his shoulders. “Missed your fucking perfect body. Missed stroking this little pussy. Always so wet for me” he slipped his fingers inside. She flung her head back and sunk her nails into his skin. “So fucking hot. So eager to swallow my fingers. Such a desperate slut”

“Be waiting for so long!” She moaned as she bucked her hips, riding his fingers as he played with her nipples through her bra. 

“Me too. Been needing this body for ages. Been needing to taste you. Feel you. Fuck you” 

“Please!” She screamed “please Kyle! Want you to fuck me! Oh god!” 

He pumped his fingers in and out of her at a toe curling pace. She didn’t bother to hold back her moans know he would only tell her to make all the noise she wanted. Especially as he had been gone for so long. He needed to hear her. 

“I’m making you come on my fingers first” he told her. It was a fact. He was going to make her come on his fingers. Always did. She always had to come once before he fucked her. Her pleasure meant everything to him. 

Her moans got louder and higher in her throat. Her mouth hanging open as she rode his hand trying to get there quicker. She was desperate for his cock inside her. Her wall clenching around his fingers. “That’s it baby, that’s it. Your close. Come for me. Come for me and let me fuck your little pussy” 

“Yes Kyle! Yes yes yes!” She chanted his name over and over again as the waves of pleasure crashed into her and made her body shake. Her mind was so numb with pleasure that she almost didn’t register when he removed his fingers and replaced them with his cock. 

“Fuck yes!” He groaned. He slid his hands up though the band of her panties and grabbed her hips. He wanted to fabric to dig into his hands as he fucked her. “So tight baby. Fuck how did I go so long without fucking you”

She could only squeak and squirm in response. Her body still shaking from her orgasm. The overstimulation becoming apparent. Kyle loved it. The feeling of her pussy fluttering around him. Squeezing down on his cock. He clenched his teeth together and pounded harder into her. He needed this. Not just to fuck her again, but to fuck out his frustration. Fuck away the memories of the past three months. He just needed to forget for a while. 

Her body trembled more. Another orgasm drawing near. He needed to feel her come around his cock. He moved one hand and began rubbing at her clit through the panties. The slit only opening for her little hole. But the added friction of the fabric only made her scream and writhe all the more. “Kyle! Kyle! Gonna come again!” 

“Do it!” He growled “fucking come for me baby. Come on my cock. Need to feel it” 

Her legs tightened around his waist as she tried to stop his hand from rubbing her clit as she came. Too overstimulated to move her hand to grab him. “Oh fuck!” She yelled. Her back arching off the bed and her wall tightening extensively around his cock.

“That’s it. Just like that. Gonna make me come. Come all over this pretty lingerie” 

“P-Please” she stuttered our. Her legs fell back to the bed. She felt weak but full of pleasure. Her head spinning as his cock twitched inside her. 

“Gonna come. Gonna come” he repeated over and over. His thrusts getting sloppy. He pulled out and almost yelled out her name as he spilled himself into her chest. Coating the little lace bra in his come. He tugged at his cock until he was spent and fell back onto his knees. “Oh fuck baby. Fucking hell”

“Fuck is clearly your favourite word tonight” she panted but managed a giggle. 

“It’s appropriate” he said. “God babe. You’re so good” he crawled over her and kissed her open mouth, catching her little whimpers she let out. “Such a good girl” she laughed a little more at this. 

“I take it you like the lingerie then?” 

“You know I do. And this is not the only appearance I expect it to make” 

“Anything for you soldier” 

27/1/23

#kyle 'gaz' garrick #kyle gaz garrick x reader #kyle 'gaz' garrick smut #gaz garrick #gaz garrick x reader #gaz garrick smut #modern warfare 2 #smut #fluff #fanfic

[snootlestheangel]

SoapGhost Playlist Ft. My Autism

@thorougly-melted-brains @midnight193 *edit: just realized I should have put links for all the songs, but um... I did not so good luck cause I don't feel like it*

3 Things

This is entirely composed of Imagine Dragons. That's kinda the whole point of this. If you have nothing kind to say about my band of choice, say nothing at all. *Yes, I will still put 'by Imagine Dragons' after every song*

In order of which ones I believe are Most SoapGhost to least. Some songs are entirely because of vibes. I'll explain the best I can for some of them.

There will be mentions of some MW3 spoilers but I don't go into detail. It's more like the reason one of the songs is SoapGhost coded to me is because of MW3 but not like explicitly... That makes no sense, but you'll see (and NO I do not want to discuss MW3 or my opinion on it. My only opinion is it was cheap and who needs canon anyways)

West Coast by Imagine Dragons

Where do I even begin on this one??? The actual instrumental element to it reminds me heavily of like their time in Las Almas for some reason? Which kind of doesn't make sense, but oh well.

"One more day, we'll spend together/Lay your eyes, look upon me for the better/Oh I know, I'm worse for weather/But my love I won't give up/Spend my days, cursing my soul/Wishing I could paint my scars to make me whole/Oh I know, I could be better/But my love, I won't give up"

Like tell me this isn't Ghost addressing Soap upon realizing his love for him. Like tell me this isn't Ghost realizing how far he's fallen for Soap after everything that happened during and after the "Alone" mission!! And actually listening to the song helps so much cause like the melody and the way the words are sung is just so desperate yet so devoted and just *dies*.

"I ain't no superman/I ain't no holy ghost/I'm just the one that keeps you up at night, you love the most/I'll be your strong man/I'll be your west coast/I'll be the sun, I'll be the waves, I'll be the one that loves you most"

The refrain itself gives me goosebumps in like a happy upbeat way. The actual verses are so mellow and almost sorrowful but the refrain is something so upbeat, almost. It's like it's actually Ghost realizing how far he's willing to go for Soap and he's just confessing it with such confidence because he needs to. He loves Soap and Soap deserves something strong.

"I'll change my ways, if you would stay/And all your tears that you have cried will go away/Oh just grant me one more day/Oh, my love, please don't give up"

Soap addressing Ghost this time. Soap believing he's too confident, too cocky, too bold, too much for Ghost. "I'll change my ways if you would stay" literally screams Soap with confidence issues wanting nothing more than to be with Ghost, but so afraid Ghost doesn't want him. Soap seeing all the pain Ghost has been through in his life and just wanting to heal it, wanting to make Ghost whole again, and wanting to help Simon find reasons to smile. Soap begging for time to prove to Ghost he's worth it (either Soap proving himself to Ghost or proving to Ghost that Ghost is worthy)

"See the devil at my door/I see the future of the ones that I've ignored/I guess I was born to be at war/But my love, I won't give up"

Once again back to Ghost addressing Soap. This is such a strong Ghost verse I cannot explain it to you. "I guess I was born to be at war" literally Ghost-coded?? Like literally grew up with an abusive father and struggled with all sorts of shit in his life, even without the military??? But now he's got Soap so he can't give up.

"So my love please don't give up"

Literally both of them, just desperately begging the other to hang on, to keep fighting and loving each other to the ends of the earth.

Just one of the most SoapGhost coded songs I have in any of my playlists, literally listened to it on repeat after hearing it for the first time cause the first time i heard it was back in February when I first fell victim to the COD brainrot. It just immediately struck me as SoapGhost (was definitely influenced by the fact I was thinking of them but still)

Bleeding Out by Imagine Dragons

"I'm bleeding out/So if the last thing that I do / is bring you down, I'll bleed out for you/So I bare my skin and I count my sins and I close my eyes and I take it in/I'm bleeding out/I'm bleeding out for you."

BRUH literally so Ghost-coded it isn't even funny. Like, Ghost being made up of so many scars, some of which still feel like open wounds in his mind, finding this thing of perfection that is Johnny "Soap" MacTavish and suddenly realizing that if he's gonna die it might as well be for Johnny. Ghost not wanting to drag Johnny down into the mess that he is and that comes with 'Ghost' and being like "I'd rather bleed out on the ground than bring you to ruin"

"When the day has come/That I've lost my way around/And the seasons stop, and hide beneath the ground/When the sky turns grey, and everything is screaming/I will reach inside, just to find my heart is beating"

This section is a lot more about vibes and the idea I've been playing around with making a SoapGhost fic where it's based on this song. This segment is so "Ghost falling deep into the dark side of this persona he's created but then remembering the life Johnny gave back to him"

"Oh you tell me to hold on/Oh you tell me to hold on/But innocence is gone/And what was right is wrong"

Um... just realizing this is very much the "Alone" mission after Graves's betrayal and honestly? Kind of MW3 coded ngl...

"When the hour is nigh/And hopelessness is sinking in/When the wolves all cry, to fill the night with hollering/When your eyes are red, and emptiness is all you know/With the darkness fed, I will be your scarecrow"

Tell me this isn't SoapGhost!!!! Just this whole song is actually secretly the way Ghost reveals he's an amateur poet cause he writes this as his declaration of love rather than be fucking normal.

Follow You by Imagine Dragons

More or less about vibes. Some of the lyrics definitely Soap addressing Ghost coded.

"I'm always on your team/I got your back, all right"

Like tell me this isn't Johnny "You know it, Lt." MacTavish addressing Simon "You with me, Johnny?" Riley.

"If the world would only know what you've been holding back/Heart attacks every night/Oh you know it's not right"

Somehow very much the two of them but I can't tell who is addressing whom here... Somehow kind of feel like Ghost being like "I get to fuck John "Soap" MacTavish everyone else go home". I genuinely don't know how to describe the feeling behind this particular line but it's so SoapGhost coded.

"I will follow you way down, wherever you may go/I'll follow you way down to your deepest lows/I'll always be around, wherever life takes you/You know I'll follow you"

Guys... Like this is so SoapGhost. Just both being like "I'd follow you to hell and back" but in a much less cliche way.

"You're only disappointed in yourself, all right"

This is someone, maybe not necessarily Ghost, addressing Soap and his chronic self-esteem issues.

"I wish that I could fix it, I could fix it for you"

Soap to Ghost talking about Ghost's shitty life. Tell me I'm wrong I dare you.

Walking the Wire by Imagine Dragons

"Do you feel the same when I'm away from you?/Do you know the line that I'd walk for you?/We could turn around or we could give it up/But we'll take what comes, take what comes/Oh the storm is raging against us now/If you're afraid of falling then don't look down/But we took the step or we took the leap/And we'll take what comes, take what comes/Feel the wind in your hair/Feel the rush way up here"

*strangled noises* I know this is by far their most like "love song" song but like!!!!!!! "Do you know the line that I'd walk for you?" Um Ghost and Soap both risking their careers cause it's a Sergeant and a Lieutenant (at least Soap cause let's be honest, with Ghost being legally dead it'd probably be pretty hard to actually do something to his career without un-killing him).

"We could turn around or we could give it up" screams the two just being like "well if we don't wanna risk it we could just...not?"

"but we'll take what comes" literally kills me because they're so in love and Soap especially doesn't give a shit about what that does to his career, he just wants to love Simon :')

"Oh the storm is raging against us now" Could be the aftermath of getting caught fraternizing OR the two during the "Alone" mission and anything afterwards.

"If you're afraid of falling then don't look down" so many interpretations here but also the quite literal one which is Ghost sniping Hassan and saving Soap :)

"We're walking the wire, love"

Ghost to Soap during times they could easily get caught

"And there's tears we'll cry but those tears will fade/It's the price we pay when it comes to love"

So strongly believe this is just them being like "we'll go through so much together, but that doesn't matter cause we've got each other" Literally just such a beautiful line in my opinion and yeah

The River by Imagine Dragons

Have no argument for this one other than Vibes and the fact I (somehow) first listened to this song the day I learned about the MW3 spoilers so uh yeah. If you know, you know and uh good luck!

I might do a part 2 someday. I don't feel like going through any more songs tonight but this was definitely fun being able to put down my thoughts behind these songs in particular. I need to spread the brain rot!!!

#simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #soapghost #ghostsoap #ghost x soap #soap x ghost #soapghost headcanons #ghost call of duty #soap call of duty #ghost mw2 #soap cod #ghost cod #soap mw2

[fandom-friday]

Greetings Oh Glorious Karrde!

I come to you once more with Rec's a plenty!

@the-rain-on-kamino has not only given us a heart achingly sweet Commander Cody Fic with Time After Time (and yes you must sing the title) But also a new Clone Commando series with the Omega Squad in Off the Grid. Plus the most Romantic looking stroll through Pabu . Ma gurl got us covered!

@daimyosprincess has hit us with not one but TWO Boba AU's and LORD! The sweetness that is This tender love contrast with the Short but HOLYSHITE-ness of Worth the Risk.

@pickleprickle with Chapters 2 and 3 of Shattered Sunrise with Mace (The head badass himself) Windu... I may be bias.

On the Art Side of things

@snw-faatuatua Did this AMAZING Art of Hunter with traditional Moko facial tattoo. I literally can't get over how cool this is!

@boggsart is doing some awesome stuff with their Republic Troopers art but I gotta send in our boys in blue with the 501st

For all my Boba girlies (gn) on here come take a look @mrs2224 and this lovely rendition of a young Boba. Just in general go check it out!

@pinkiemme with the band batch, aka all our favorite men on the stage and KILLING IT! plus music!!

@bobafettdaily with this cool gif set kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui

On the not Star Wars side:

@the-californicationistcal has me in a tizzy with Riptide. uh yeah grumpy military guys... I have a type.

@bluegiragi has an entire COD 141 monster AU that has me hanging on every pannel of the comic. I will caution that it is Cannon typical violence. but the origin story for The Wraith is so cool and the Art is just... go check it out.

I have a few others but I'm still finishing up with reading but will send along ASAP! Much love and Happy Reading! (Pictured below me racing every week to put in the recs)

This is SUCH A GREAT LIST! Love the variety, both within the Star Wars universe and outside of it. As always, THANK YOU dear friend for putting such a big list together and taking the time to send it in! APPRECIATE YOU AND ALL THESE RECS!

Participate in Fandom Friday to show your favorite creators from this week some love! :)

#FANDOM FRIDAY #creator appreciation #fic rec #art rec #star wars #the clone wars #tcw #the bad batch #tbb #nsft #lemon #lemony lemon #commander cody #commander cody x reader #commander cody x you #republic commando #niner skirata #niner skirata x reader #niner skirata x you #the book of boba fett #tbobf #boba fett x reader #boba fett x you #mace windu #mace windu x oc #OC Danica Morrow #hunter #501st legion #captain rex #arc trooper fives

[barkrry]

Harry x Matty [1D Band Member OC] / Harry x OFC Masterlist “Welcome to Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts, our guest tonight is Matty Forrest!” James Corden announced, gesturing to the solo artist sitting opposite him at the table. The brightest grin on his face, while Matty was looking at the disgusting things on the table.

“Lovely to have you here, as always, Matty,” James beamed at her, with the pair being friends for several years now.

“I don’t think it’s lovely to be here anymore,” she mumbled softly, as she leaned in and took a sniff of the clam juice in front of her, before gagging slightly. “Oh, my god, I regret doing that.”

He laughed at her reaction, shaking his head, “They all do.”

Matty rubbed her lips together, her fingers curling in her graphic t-shirt, glancing around at the audience as James was explaining to her the rules and the different delicacies on the table.

“Wait, I wanna add a rule!” She declared, holding up her finger as she looked at him. He raised his brow, curious about where she was going. “If we choose to eat, we have to swallow.”

James couldn’t help but snort, covering his mouth as he looked at her. “You know there’s cod sperm on the table right now, right?”

“Never swallowed some sperm, James?” She teased him, brushing her hair back over her shoulder as they were laughing together.

“Alright, you’re going first. I think you should eat…” he paused, spinning the table slightly as he looked at the different items. “Bull penis.”

Matty looked at him, raising her brow with a laugh, “Sure, not the first time I’ll have had a penis in my mouth.” And it had obviously slipped out without her thinking, as she was quickly covering her mouth.

“Matty!” He scolded playfully, laughing as well. Before he was picking up his card, looking at the question and laughing even harder, which had her wincing. “You’ve just released the lead single of your upcoming album, Thief. Is the song written about your ex-boyfriend and ex-band member, Harry Styles?”

Matty widened her eyes as she stared across at him, biting down on her lip. The audience ooh’ed at the question, watching as Matty entered a glaring contest with the show host.

“I can’t believe- You know he’s watching right now!” She scolded him, shaking her head. Glancing down at the penis before her, frowning. “He- No, I can’t answer this question.”

Picking up her fork and taking a bite of the bull penis, with James reminding her she had to swallow. Matty made a dramatic show of wagging her tongue before him to show she had swallowed.

“I feel like you should have just answered,” James shrugged his shoulders, watching as she was drinking her water. “Alright, what you got for me, Forrest?”

Matty smirked as she looked at the table, humming softly before she was spinning it. “How do you feel about clam juice?” She asked him, brow raising.

“It’s alright, you know. It’s right there, in front of me.”

They laughed together, as she was reading her card. Her head shaking as she looked around for the producer, cackling loudly.

“Oh god, this is gonna be a good one,” she grinned, looking at him over the top of her card. “You came to my birthday party last year,” she started, holding his gaze. His head was already shaking as he picked up the glass of clam juice. “Is it true you pissed in the pool?”

James stared at her, before looking at the juice. His face screwing up slightly, his lips pressed together. “I’m going to be honest- I don’t remember much of that night, honest- but-”

He took a big gulp of the clam juice, which had Matty squirming in her seat, gasping.

“Oh, my god! Why did you drink so much?” She yelled, covering her mouth with her card. “You’re so nasty! But I respect that you drank because you don’t know.”

James was gulping down his water, before spitting it into his bucket, his head shaking, “I don’t know who wrote that question, but I hate you so much.”

They went back and forth for a little while longer, before getting down to the last question each. James smirked as he looked at the table, before confidently putting the salmon smoothie in front of her. Matty looked down at the smoothie, glaring at it almost before she was looking over at him.

“Will you allow me to read the last text messages between you and Harry Styles?”

Matty deadpanned at him, teeth biting down on her lip. Before she was holding up a finger, pulling her phone free from her pocket and opening it up, opening up the specific text thread. Teeth biting at her lip, as she looked between the host and her phone.

“You could just eat the smoothie…” James suggested, laughing softly. Before he was gasping as the device was being handed over. “Are you sure? I’m going to read it outloud.”

“Just don’t read the- you know,” she mumbled, and he knew exactly what she meant when he read the few messages from today.

“Okay, so Harry says, ‘Heard you’re on with James tonight, good luck, you’ll do great.’” James read, doing his best Harry impression, laughing as he went. “And Matty replies, ‘He’s going to poison me, Redacted, he’s gonna feed me penis and sperm!!!’ With three exclamation points, for emphasis I’m assuming.” Matty covered her face, laughing as she shook her head. “And Harry replies, wouldn’t be the first time, with a winky emoji!” James was cackling loudly.

“He’s gonna kill me,” she mumbled, shaking her head as she took a drink of her water.

“Oh, he’s typing!” James laughed, as he handed over her phone. “Could we see a Hatty revival on the horizon?” He teased, laughing at her red face.

Matty chose to not answer his question, looking at what was left on the table before spinning the table and settling on fish eye. Grinning at him smugly, with her brows raised.

“James,” she said softly, as she looked at her final card.

“Yes, Matty?”

“Seeing as you keep bringing him up,” Matty smirked, licking her teeth. “What’s the better song, in your opinion. My new lead single, Thief, or Harry’s Sign of the Times?”

James’ jaw dropped as he looked at her, his head shaking slowly as he looked between her and the fish eye. “I can’t- you’re both- we’re all friends- you’re both equally talented!”

“Guess you’re eating fish tonight,” Matty teased him, before squealing as he was eating the whole eye in one. “Oh, fuck off! That’s disgusting!”

After swallowing the eye, he was gulping down his water and spitting it into his bucket once more. Before turning to the camera.

“And that was Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts, thank you to Matty Forrest for joining us! She will be performing her new lead single, Thief, later on for us, we’ll be right back after the commercial break!”

-

H✨ Heard you’re on with James tonight, good luck you’ll do great! 😄

Matty 🌻 He’s gonna poison me, Sunny! He’s gonna feed me penis & sperm!!!

H✨ Wouldn’t be for the first time 😉

H✨ I mean, I wasn’t wrong. Not for the first time. Not gonna kill you, Angel. See you when you get back to the hotel. 💞

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles x reader #harry styles x oc #harry styles x ofc #harry styles fanfic #harry styles x selena gomez #hs #hatty #eternity universe #one direction band member oc #one direction au #harry styles au

[yesyourstalker]

Mahi: sucks. I can't celebrate your birthday I got to close tonight.

Warabi: You can celebrate when you come over! Get some booze and order some pizza. Have a nice quiet birthday and I haven't had one of those in a while. Most of my birthdays have been like these all out parties maybe it's nice to take a small break this time.

Mahi: All right, I'll see you later. Don't get too drunk while I'm gone.

Warabi: not making any promises! Buy...... oh my mom's calling..... Hi Ma-ma!

Ma-ma: hi inkdrp, happy birthday! How's my little boy?

Warabi: I'm great! Thanks for my new yacht!

Ma-ma: That's nice. I'm glad you like it. I hope you're having a good birthday. You're growing up so fast you're 24 now. Just feels like yesterday you used to fit in my hand.

Warabi: yeah

Ma-ma: Yes, well there's a reason why I called you...... Well like I said you are now 24 and in our family 24 is usually the age where we-

Dad- we're cutting you off!

Warabi: WHAT!

Dad: we're cutting you off! You waste too much money and you're spoiled! You need to get a job! a real job and make your own money!

Warabi: I have a job. I'm a musician. I literally-I'm literally in a band!!

Dad: no!! a real job!! Something that builds character, something that involves work and labor and patience!

Warabi: dad! Are you serious!! Why are you doing this to me???

Dad: everyone in our family was cut off at some point and this is your point! You either get a job or we can call you your grandfather and we can enroll you to the military!

Warabi: NO! No! no.. I don't want- I can't. Don't put I can't be in the military....please.

Dad: All right fine then get a job. You're very lucky and privileged that you got to have that decision a lot didn't have a choice in that matter so be grateful!

Warabi: ........ Yes dad...

Dad: Don't give me the attitude!...... And besides, it'll be great for you. My father used to make me wash dishes and wash the uniforms of soldiers.... Blood is very hard to clean out.... But you know what it gave me son?

Warabi: second hand trauma?

Dad: no! it gave me a sense of worth a sense of pride and connection one-on-one connection.

Warabi: I get that feeling when I'm doing my shows. You know looking down at my fans and I have friends who aren't .....as rich as me. I had one living with me once, I feel like that's enough.

Ma-ma: sweetie, I understand that this decision may not seem like a good idea but I feel like this is a great opportunity for you. You can learn new skills and gain connections to people outside of celebrity life....... earn money from hard work. You have a gift inkdrop. You're an artist and I see that and I understand that.... You still need something to fall back on. You understand?

Warabi: yeah. What about my money that I make from diss-pair

Dad: that money is going into a savings account that you are not allowed to access

Warabi: what! Why!

Dad: for your future, you're not going to be young your whole life it can be used to retirement!! You need to save your money! And stop spending it the minute you get it!

Warabi: how will I pay rent!?

Ma-ma: fortunately for you inkdrop we found a nice humble apartment that you can afford once you find a job. Once You find a job You will be moving to that apartment and pay the rent by yourself.

Dad: we should have let him look for it himself

Ma-ma: shimi!! Everything is prepared for you sweetie. We support and love you and we're rooting for you. You're a smart boy. I'm sure you can figure it out on your own.

Dad: why don't you try getting a roommate!? How about ikkon person you're always with?! Why don't you live with him? He's your friend, boyfriend or whatever right?

Warabi: DAD!

Ma-ma: like I said we love and support you sweetie. No matter who you love or sleep with. I just wish....... you could have chosen .....an octoling.

Warabi: mom...Cod....... that's

Ma-ma: I've done it!! I've had many relationships with inklings!! I see no problem with it love is love! But It's .......just you are an Octavio .... it's different-

Warabi: we're not in a relationship!!! Can we please talk about something else?

Ma-ma: we'll talk more about this later. Love you inkdrop. Happy birthday baby

Warabi: thank you ma-ma..... Bye..............*Sigh*....... Hey Mahi..... Sorry for calling you again...... I need to ask you something....

Mahi: yeah, what's up?

Warabi: You think you can get me a job?

Mahi: uhhhh

Mahi belongs to @fish-at-fish-fish-resort

#i tried to write Warabi's parents as boomersish as possible #i hope i didn't make his dad come off is too unlikable. I wanted to be loving and supportive but also strict and a little bit out of touch #but yeah Warabi gets a job at RockShok shop #Mahi didn't get him the job ikkan did but mahi helped #Neta is that a place where he tolerates Warabi's presence but he's still in thin ice #Craig broke Octavio's heart so no one in his family is allowed to to marry an inkling it's forbidden #It might be a little bit of adversities with cross species relationships depending on the species and their history #It's 1:00 a.m. and these tags are just full of misspellings and ramblings but it's whatever I'm going to go to sleep

[thokaharuka]

Spill your guts or fill your guts

SUMMARY: Y/N and Harry meet while playing 'Spill your guts' with James Corden

WARNINGS: Swearing?

Hey!! I mentioned a few celebrities,I don't even know if ya'll find them attractive,but they were the first ones that came to my mind hahaha.

"Okey,we're back now,Y/N has joined us,lovely as always" James points at me from the other side of the table,the crowd starts to scream and I simply wave.

"Hi" I say too.

"Then we have Harry,the guest for tonight, but you all know him well,this studio is like his second home,I swear to god he's obsessed with me" James jokes about Harry.

"Heyyy" Harry frowns at him. I really never met Harry before,and we didn't even got to talk before the show,everything we said to each other was an awkward 'hi' before the camera started filming on air.

"Anyways" James starts to choke on his laugh. "This is spill your guts or fill your guts with Harry Styles and Y/N Y/L/N!!!!" He yells at the camera while the band does the little music.

After that he starts to say what we have on the table.

"I don't even know how you convinced me to do this" I whisper looking down at the table. James just laughs it off.

"So we have,bull penis, bird saliva, Salmon smoothie, cow tongue, scorpion, we have ant smoothie and we've got cod sperm"

"Mmmm,delicious, chefs kiss" I say doing the chefs kiss. "I'm first for the cod sperm" I joke and James starts to laugh hysterically and Harry just giggles a bit. Sometimes I don't know If James gets possessed or if he fake laughs everything as if he's gonna die.

"I'm sorry to break it to you Y/N,but you'll start first,pick something for me and then ask me the question." James says.

"Oohh,Okay,well..." I rotate the table and stop at what I wanted. "I pick for you the bird saliva"

James starts to laugh "Okey,now you have to ask me a question"

I take a card and start to read it.

"James you have interviewed some of the pop divas. Rate from least to most Britney,Mariah,Cher and Madonna on how annoying they were" I couldn't help but laugh. James did the opposite, he covered his face with his hands.

"Seriously?" He laughs nervously

"Well,is that or the bird saliva,you choose boo" I start giggling, he looks behind him at his team.

"Cheers" He raised his glass and took a sip of the bird saliva. Gross.

"Ew" I let out in disgust trying hard not to gag.

He immediately spits it out in a bucket.

"Oh my God,now I'm scared" I say laughing.

"C'mon it's not that bad" He laughs. "Okay,Harold"

"James" Harry says back.

"I'm gonna give you" James starts to say while spinning the table. "The scorpion"

"Delicious" He answers back looking at it.

"I know,so the question for you is..." He takes the card. "Harry" James starts to laugh unable to continue.

"Tell me" Harry laughs back.

"Harry,you always say how much you love your former band mates and how you loved being in One Direction"

"Right"

"With which ones do you actually still talk with" James hides his face under the card. The audience instantly starts doing sounds of shock.

"I-uhmm..." He starts to laugh cutting himself off. "I mean, it's not that I don't want to talk to them,it's just that" He laughs, taking the scorpion in his hands. "Uff" And suddenly he takes a bite of it. James starts to laugh hysterically and I just start giggling,then,Harry spits the scorpion.

"Now that was a trip" Harry gets out laughing.

"I think you should text some of them" James laughs out.

"I will"

"Okay,Harry,choose something for Y/N,and read her a question".

"Okay" Harry laughs. "I'm gonna give you the cod sperm,because you wanted it so bad"

"Good" I laugh back

"Okay" He says while taking a card. "Y/N,you have dated a lot of actors"

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot,but okay" I laugh,looking at the producers.

"Say from most to least,which ones are more talented, Dylan O'brien,Tom Holland,Evan Peters, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin"

I immediately hide my face with my hands laughing.

"You've acted with all of them,you can tell us" James says.

"I can't,sorry" I say taking a fork about to take the cod sperm. "Oh my God,I'm having flashbacks with this,what do I do,do I spit it,do I swallow it" I say pointing at it while laughing.

The both of them immediately start laughing.

I take a big breath to prepare mentally to eat it.

"So,the first one will be..." I start,but I can't continue, I'll just have to eat the fricking cod sperm. "Why did I agree to this?" I say and quickly put it in my mouth. I chew for a bit but I start gagging so I spit it. James by now was laughing hysterically.

I turn around at the audience. "It's disgusting" I nod at them.

"Well,my turn now,right?" I look at James.

"Yes,yes it is" He laughs.

"I'm gonna give you the...hmmm" I spin the table. "The cow tongue seems right,yeah" I stop at the cow tongue.

"Thank you,yeah, it does seem right" James nods at me.

"So,James" I say taking a card. As I read the question I start to laugh. "You've had a lot of guests in the show,but,which person do you refuse to interview? Even for the amount of money that you get paid" I tap my shoes on the floor laughing.

"What the actual fuck" He says turning around at the producers with surprise on his face. Wow,James just cussed,that really caught him off guard. Harry starts to laugh too,hiding his face with one hand.

"I can't, sorry" He says and quickly takes a bite of the tongue.

"Now,that was quick" I laugh.

"I've even swallowed it" He laughs. "God,phew" He let's out. "Anyways,Harry"

"James" Harry says taking his hand out off his face. "You better be nice with me".

"I'll try,I guess" James laughs. "I'll give you the bull penis".

"Sounds good" Harry laughs.

"Harry styles" James laughs looking at his card. "What do you thought when you first read that Zayn said that you and him supposedly never talked?" The crowd suddenly gasps. I swear that being in my position everything looks overdramatic.

"I mean" He sighs,slaming his hand against his thigh as if he was tired. "You know,if being together everyday for five years, means you never talked,I think he's right" James starts to laugh in shock. I just simply smile,not knowing what this is about.

"I mean,yeah"

"Okay" Harry says shyly putting his head down.

"Well,your turn now" He gets his head up again,laughing and looking at me.

"Yay!" I fake excitement

"I'm gonna give you..." Harry spins the table in front of us. "The salmon smoothie" Why does he seem so exited? This better not be disgusting.

"So, Mrs. Y/N" He takes a card. "Oh God,I think you'll have to drink it" Harry laughs reading the card.

"Jesus Christ,I'm scared now"

"Y/N,your songs are for sure good,but tell me,how many of them are about Post Malone cheating on you?"

I can't even hide my surprise face. "Who said he cheated on me in the first place?"

"I don't know,I just read what the card said" Harry says nervously shaking the card.

"I don't even wanna comment on this" James nods in disagreement,disbelief on his face.

"Help" I let out. I lean in front of me and take a sip of the Salmon smoothie. It tasted bad,but it wasn't disgusting at least.

"Well,I think you just confirmed something" Harry jokes at me.

"Just shut up" I hide my face with my hands.

"Well..." James says quietly, but suddenly raising his voice. "This was spill your gut or fill your guts with Y/N Y/L/N and Harry Styles!!! We'll be back now,stay tuned".

A few seconds later James tells us we're off air and we get up.

"It was nice meeting you" Harry comes to me.

"Thanks. It was nice meeting you too."

"Would it be okay if we exchange numbers?"

#fanfic #harry styles #imagines #harry styles imagine #solo harry #wattpad

[starshipsofstarlord]

Can you do a one-shot where the reader was born in 1996 and she’s the daughter of Nikki Sixx and Brandi Brandt and is the bassist and songwriter of Wallows and is best friends with her bandmates Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters, and Cole Preston and she helps 5sos write songs for the album Calm and starts dating Ashton and the fans go nuts (in the good way) with shipping?

Wallowing

ashton Irwin x wallows!reader / masterlist

warnings; references to sex, swearing, threats

“Come in babe.” You opened the door, inviting your boyfriend Ashton into your flat. He had been having a hard day at the studio, and had asked if it was alright if he came over. Of course it was, but he had got a warning prior to his arrival, that they would not be alone, and that if he wanted to clear his head, it was certainly not the right place.

“Fuck you, you’re supposed to be on my side man!” At the sound of Dylan, yelling at whom you supposed to be Cole, you pinched the bridge of your nose, squeezing your eyes shut as you welcomed your partner into your home sweet home. Out of all days, they had to be playing COD in your apartment today.

“Sorry bout that.” A light grimace filled your face, but instead of giving you criticism, Ashton simply laughed, following you through the apartment, as you tried to slowly pass behind your band mates who were occupying your living room.

“Not so fast young Sixx, get your well endowed ass back here.” A sigh fell from your mouth as you rolled your eyes at Braeden, pausing your movements as he turned to lean against the back of your couch to peer over at you. “We need to have a conversation little lady.”

Groaning, you threw your head back, smiling a small apology towards Ash. “We were going to go to my room, I’d rather just you guys play my PS4 without needing to interact with me face to face.”

“Would you rather he FaceTime you whilst you’re getting down and dirty, or stand there like a kid’s doll and allow him to pull at your arm?” Dylan mumbled, as you crossed your arms, Ash greeting your band mates as you moved towards the tv, reaching for the side button and turning it off.

“Y/n what the hell?” Cole half screamed, breaking loose as he was close to finally beating Minette and killing his gamer character. His hands flailed as he expected an answer, raising in the air as he held the remote.

“I could ask you the same thing Preston, so what’s the schtick that’s making you keep me here, in my own apartment?” He gulped as you enquired at him, raising your brow, as you leaned back into your partner who stood awkwardly behind you like a supporting shadow.

“Congrats on the album Irwin, it’s great to see our own band member aiding your band. CALM is sick, and she makes me feel the same, just in a different manner.”

“Stop being a salty little bitch would you?” You asked, smacking him on the upside of the back of his head. He rutted his head back, clasping the behind of his scalp with his palm, firmly turning back to cast an icy glare towards you.

This was the normal behaviour around here, you all enjoyed getting under each other’s skin. It was a sign of true friendship, that whilst sometimes still triggering some real annoyance, that made your bond of being band mates that much deeper.

They were doing the same thing to you now, speaking prolifically showering your boyfriend in compliments, to side swab you with cockblockery. In all honesty, whenever Lydia or another girl was on the premises, you returned the favour, though that did not your pulsating frustration decrease at all.

“I’m going to assume there’s a problem here. Are you sure now is a good time for me to be here?” Ash asked reassuringly, his gentle touch applying a loving presence upon your shoulder, making you smile despite the situation that was running through the discourse of your veins

You craved him, to feel his body atop, or under, or however else against your own. It was infuriating to endure how your band mates dragged their greeting to him out, all you wanted was to discard his and your own clothing, leaving it as a jumble of forgotten material on the floor whilst the pair of you were caught up in mess upon the mattress, limbs inclined to coil around each arch, and breaths long overdue and escaping into the air.

“It’s a good time for you overall pal, considering that your sales are sky high, taller than this one that is practically trying to hump your arm. No problems with your presence, except the fact that it’s turning little Brandi’s baby’s hormones into overdrive.” Braeden spoke, earning a guttural growl out from your throat, as your nostrils flared furiously at his words.

If you didn’t get on with it, then the Red Sea of the month would cause a flood that would stain your underwear. You’d have preferred to take action before that happened. “The work isn’t just on my shoulders loser, if you want a worldwide selling album, put in some elbow grease, instead of playing stupid games.”

“I’m good, and by definition that makes you stupid, because they belong to you.” He remarked, Cole chuckling and offering him a high five.

“I could just kick you out.” You promptly supposed, as Dylan messed around with his phone, surrendering to the game, as he ran his hand to define the ruggedness of his silvery blue locks.

“Band rules say no to that.” Braeden stated. “And Ash, feel free to replace this one, we could do a switch. You’re basically ready to move in together, so we wouldn’t have to go anywhere else to have rapid fire nights.”

“Do I even want to know what that is?” Your boyfriend asked, and you, without any thought or hesitancy, shook your head. He certainly didn’t need to know about that, it was, least to say, a mess.

There would be dares, and drinks, and tattoos put in the most awkward places with that artist set that you kept very far under your bed. It was a shock that Ashton hadn’t seen the word ‘narwhale’ on the heel of your foot, or maybe he did, and decided against saying anything.

“I put up with these idiots.” Dylan sighed, though as you whipped your head around, you saw that he was not speaking directly to any of you, instead, his

“He’s on fucking insta live.” Cole realised, leaving over to get his face in the mirroring of the stream, waving a hand to the fans that spewed hearts onto the corner of the screen.

“Prick.” You called Dylan out, watching as he laughed at your lack of amusement, and poised the self proclaimed camera towards you, also catching the person beside you in the view.

“Calm.” Ashton softly spoke, sending you a small and reassuring smile, which you were defeated to not permit the same in return

“Funny pun Irwin, but shut up.” You laughed, and shook your head, him finally catching onto what he had said.

“Yes that is the incredibly talented 5SOS member Ashton Irwin. I know right, what is he doing with us?” Cole read, watching as Dylan rolled his eyes at his band member’s behaviour, wanting to get his phone back, though his attempts were lacklustre.

“Or more specifically, her?” Braeden asks, walking behind the sofa and grasping him, dragging him closer to where the phone was propped in Cole’s hand, giving the fans a clear image of his face. “Is he joining the band?” He reads from the flood of comments. “I wish, but we don’t draw that much talent.

“Speak for yourself.” You groaned, walking closer, leaning your head over Ash’s hunched shoulder, releasing an awkward smile as he raised it, gently bumping your chin with the slope of his muscle. “Rude.”

“Where are you guys? Well, we’re at y/n’s apartment. She just got back and dragged this old slugger in off the streets. How charitable.” Cole spoke, smiling up at Irwin as he lightly punched his face, already too comfortable with his hovering presence.

“Why is he there? This one makes me laugh, quick shag, ain’t that right buddy?” Braeden thoughtlessly worded, his eyes going wide in an instant as the fans quickly tended to the realisation of what he had meant. “Fuck, oops I guess.”

To say that you were furious was an understatement; you could feel an ache in your hands, wanting to tear the idiot into dismal pieces until there was nothing salvageable left to fix.

“You guess?” Dylan snickers, covering his mouth with his hand whence he saw your murderous expression conquer features. It was vastly more terrifying than any anger you had ever portrayed, and he could feel the couch moving as Braeden turned, and squirmed from the sight.

“Lemasters, imagine your head on a stick. That is going to happen, when I get my hands on you, your gonna turn cold as I strangle the living shit outta-“ Ashton grabbed you, as your arms tried to grasp and throttle your band mate, flopping in the air, intently furious at his revealing slip up.

“I think imma go.” He bolted, and as you struggled out of Ashton’s grip, you ran after him, out your front door and through the modesty of your building.

“She forgot her key.” Ashton noted, coming around and sitting with the remaining pair on the sofa. “How one of you think it’ll take for them to return?”

“As long as it takes for her to kill him.” Dylan grasps his phone back, fluttering his gaze over the comments. “They’re kinda cute together, found my new OTP. Sorry Dylan and Lydia. Oh don’t worry, that’s fine, we gotta take what we get and currently y/n’s not getting any because we have a tendency to cockblock her.”

“It’s our duty as the men of the band.” Cole spoke, a scream reverberating through from the hallway, audible to those online that were watching the two worlds merging.

“I think she got him.” Ash said, smirking lightly, as he heard your voice bellow out in rage against the male. Yep, your band was messy, but his wasn’t much different. He could certainly get used to it.

#ashton irwin x you #ashton irwin x reader #ashton irwin fluff #ashton imagine #ashton irwin imagine #ashton irwin one shot #ashton irwin fic #ashton fanfiction #ashton fluff #ashton irwin x y/n #5sos x reader #5sos au #5sos imagines #5sos one shot #5sos imgaines #5sos imagine #5sos x you #5sos x oc #5sos fic

[miracleonice87]

Magic in the Hamptons

a Mat Barzal song fic

a/n: this one has been a long while coming. very loosely based on the song Magic in the Hamptons by Social House (woo, Pittsburgh!) feat. Lil Yachty. obviously I don’t own any of this music/lyrics. mostly based on Matt Martin and Sydney Esiason’s wedding, which totally doesn’t make sense timing-wise since I mention the TikTok dance to this song, but we’re rolling with it!

summary: Mat Barzal and his girlfriend travel to the Hamptons for the Esiason/Martin wedding, where their relationship takes a big step, too.

warnings: alcohol. swearing. brief mentions of sex. cheesy singing and dancing. cotton candy fluff.

______

The New York state wedding of the year had finally arrived.

Matt Martin and Sydney Esiason, Mat’s teammate and his fiancé — who were both your close friends — were tying the knot at last, and you, Mat, and the boys were Southampton-bound to ring in the occasion. Mat had rented out a house for a group of you — Jordan and Lauren, Anders and Grace, and Tito, who had chosen to fly solo in hopes of wheeling a single girl at the reception. Other Islanders, both current and former, were staying either in their own Hamptons summer homes or in places they, too, had rented for the weekend, all within a short distance of each other, so the next few days were about to be quite the affair.

You and Mat had flown in on a red eye from Vancouver, and you were grateful that you’d actually caught a few hours of shuteye on the plane, because Mat was now absolutely buzzing with excitement about seeing so many of his past and present teammates in the middle of the summer, not to mention celebrating Marty and Sydney, who had taken the two of you under their wing, affectionately calling you “Baby Matt and Baby Syd.”

On the way from the airport to the property, Mat had stopped at a market to stock up on the essentials — namely, cases of beer, bottles of wine, handles of liquor, and, of course, plenty of champagne. Mat heaved it all into the SUV, and minutes later, the two of you were pulling into the driveway of the sprawling Cape Cod-style abode where you would be staying, the first portion of the crew to arrive.

The two of you unpacked the car, Mat insisting on carrying the majority of the load, and staked your claim on the master suite, which was sure to be something Mat’s older, married captain chirped him about later in the weekend. The two of you walked through each room of the house, soaking in the summer cottage vibes, before making your way back to the kitchen to set up shop.

After Mat poured two flutes of champagne and proposed a toast to Marty and Syd, the two of you sipped the bubbly and discussed plans for the rest of the day, including Mat accompanying Marty to pick up the wedding bands from the jeweler in town. 

Soon, Mat found his way into the living room and spotted the stereo.

“Time to turn up, babe,” he announced, truly a frat boy at heart, pulling his phone from his pocket. When he finally finished fiddling with the Bluetooth sound system, Mat theatrically spun your way as you stocked the fridge with your enormous alcohol order. You smirked at him when you heard the first few beats of the song.

“C’mon,” Mat coaxed, nodding his head toward the open concept living room floor. “You gotta come dance with me to this song right now!”

You tipped your head back with a chuckle, shaking your head as you watched your clown of a boyfriend, who always made time to sing and dance because he loved the way you lit up when he did. As you left the grocery bags on the island and sauntered his way, he started to perform.

“Spot a little hottie when I flipped up the shades,” he began, giving you his best sexy eyes, making you snort and immediately cover your mouth with one hand. “Lookin' like a red ‘Rari sittin' in a driveway…” Mat continued, taking your hands and dancing around the room as you took turns feeding the lyrics to one another animatedly.

“Me and you should get a room right now,” you sang to him, pushing your chest up against his and watching his eyebrows quirk in that endearing way that made butterflies erupt within you. You toyed with his ever-present chain as you delivered the next lyric: “’Cause if it's gold, I'll throw it away, you're worth more than every single chain…”

With that, Mat spun you around, pulling you back into him and situating his lips right above your forehead as he said, “Best drink I take is when I sippin' you…”

Automatically, the two of you broke apart and launched into the TikTok dance for the chorus, mirroring each other as you tried to focus on each move without bursting into hysterics watching one other.

After you danced through the next verse, Mat pulled your back to his chest, hands gripping yours tightly as he said into a low voice into your ear, “…next trip I take is just me and you.” You turned your face toward him and smiled warmly, then both repeated the moves to the chorus that you’d learned together from the cool young kids on social media.

Mat tore up Lil Yachty’s rap verse as you danced in front of him, giggling.

“This is how I feel about you when I’m away…” Mat spoke before switching back to his rap persona, jokingly getting in your face, arms thrown behind him in a playful confrontation. “I'm tired of looking at your pictures, wanna be up in your face.”

You shook your head at his antics, laughing as he continued, spinning you around again and again with one hand like a ballerina. “I wanna dance with you, I wanna laugh, I wanna sing. Take you on the road, have you rockin' all my bling. Don't know if you're the one but if you are, you'll get a ring…”

Mat smirked at you as he said that particular word, throwing a flirtatious wink your way and causing your heart to flutter. You rolled your eyes and tried to play off how excited that statement coming from Mat’s lips made you, even if it was just a line in a goofy song.

Unbeknownst to you two, Tito had just stepped through the front door and lifted his sunglasses to rest atop his head when Mat delivered the final line with an amusing passion.

“And you look so classy, come through with that magic. You know that I'm ‘bout to smash it, it's true.” With that, Mat grabbed a generous handful of your asscheek and bit at your earlobe, your hands finding his face as you squealed, trying and failing to pry him away from you and stop his mischief.

“TMI,” you heard from the entryway, causing you to jump in Mat’s arms as he laughed at his friend’s statement, eyebrows high on his forehead. Tito walked over with a smirk, shaking his head, and Mat wrapped his arms around your waist tenderly.

“Oh, you two,” Tito teased, kissing your cheek and dapping up Mat as the three of you made your way to the kitchen for your second of what would prove to be many rounds of drinks that afternoon.

_____

Mat was content.

He sat beside you two days later in the breezy Southampton afternoon air, long arm wrapped easily around the back of your chair, fingers lightly caressing your shoulder as you listened to Matt and Sydney deliver their vows to one another. You’d been dabbing at the corners of your eyes with a handkerchief throughout the entire ceremony, Mat’s heart swelling at your evident love for Marty and Syd.

As you lifted the hankie once more to your face, Mat leaned in and delivered the most tender kiss to your temple, his eyes fluttering closed as he breathed in your scent and the pure sweetness of the moment. He felt you melt into his touch, your hand shifting from his thigh to grasp his hand tightly in your own, smoothing your thumb over his knuckles. That simplest of gestures intoxicated him, and despite the wedding going on before you, he couldn’t keep from telling you exactly what he was thinking.

“I love you,” he whispered into your ear, breath tickling your neck and sending goosebumps down your exposed arms. You hummed softly in appreciation, leaning further into his body, resting your head on his shoulder.

“I love you, Maty,” you whispered back, squeezing his hand.

As he looked down to your left hand, entwined with his as they lay in his lap, Mat smiled, thinking of the new addition that would soon adorn that one special finger.

And the best part?

You had no idea.

_____

You were feeling yourself.

It could be the alcohol, or the blue satin dress you donned that suited you so well, or the intense way Mat had been staring at you all night, or a combination of all three. You didn’t know for sure, but either way, you were feeling the best you had in a long time.

Which is why you didn’t hesitate to follow along when, as you stood next to Mat at the bar, his arm slung around your waist and hand resting teasingly just above your backside, Tito hustled up to you as London Bridge by Fergie began to flood the room and grabbed your hands, pulling you away from your boyfriend as he looked on with a pout.

“He,” Tito started, pointing at Mat, “can get you a drink. We,” he motioned between himself and you, “are gonna dance to this right now.”

You threw your head back in a laugh, tossing Mat a look that told him you were only slightly sorry, which quickly faded when you and Tito joined everyone on the dance floor. A crowd naturally circled around the two of you, a pair of the most fun-loving of the entire group, who often kept the others entertained at such events, along with Mat, who was currently enjoying just soaking it all in from afar.

Mat couldn’t keep his eyes off you as you mimicked Fergie’s drop-it-low moves from the now-vintage music video, watching how your hair — not to mention your perky butt and breasts — bounced each time you moved. What made him smile, though, wasn’t how gorgeous your body looked — it was the radiant glow on your face, in your eyes, as you goofed off with many of your closest friends. His closest friends. Though Mat loved you just as much on a rainy morning on the Island, wrapped in his sweats and makeup smeared across your face, these were the moments that made you shine the brightest, your love of life bubbling over onto everyone around you.

As Mat admired your magnetizing charm, Marty approached, playfully rubbing Mat’s shoulders like he was a prizefighter in a ring. Mat reached a hand up, which Marty firmly smacked and squeezed before settling his elbows back against the bar, watching his own love on the dance floor, only feet away from you as the two of you laughed together.

“She get suspicious at all the other day?” Marty inquired with a smirk, nodding gratefully at the bartender who knowingly poured another whisky for him and a fresh vodka cranberry for his bride, after setting down Mat’s beer and your rum ginger in front of him.

Mat couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “Surprisingly, no,” he answered, chuckling. “She really bought it when I told her that Syd asked me to go to the jeweler with you to make sure you got the right rings.”

Marty threw a hand to his chest in mock offense. “Wow!” he exclaimed. “Your girl really must have no faith in me. Syd thought it was hilarious, honestly. And she’s so excited she can barely take it.” Mat nodded. “So... when you gonna do it?” Marty asked, nudging an elbow into Mat’s abdomen.

Mat looked down to his shoes bashfully, a flush spreading from beneath the collar of his dress shirt up to his cheeks.

“Soon,” he said firmly. “I’ve already talked to her parents, and I know her sister can barely keep it together, ever since she helped me design the ring,” Mat added with a grin. “Think I wanna plan a little getaway for just the two of us here in the next couple weeks or so. Do it then.”

Marty backhanded Mat’s bicep and let out an excited “whoop!”

“That’s awesome, buddy,” he told Mat. “I didn’t know you were popping the question so soon!”

Mat turned his gaze to you once more as he and Marty made their way back to the dance floor, drinks for themselves and their favorite women in hand. He smiled at Marty before making his final comment on the topic for the evening.

“Would’ve asked her day one if I had the guts.” Marty nodded in understanding and sent a wink Mat’s way before kissing Sydney’s cheek and handing off her drink, Syd squealing her thanks.

Mat did the same, and you were in a fit of giggles as you hooked one arm around his neck and accepted the glass with your other hand, the last strains of the song fading into another. Suddenly, your brows shot up as you gasped dramatically.

“Hot shit!” you exclaimed along with Nelly over the speakers. Mat laughed loudly at you, kissing you before you turned around, grinding against him slightly — had he told you today that you were pure evil, he wondered — and began dancing to the tune.

And there, swaying along with you to Country Grammar, Mat knew that he had chosen the right girl to dance with, tonight and for the rest of his life.

#mathew barzal #mathew barzal fic #mathew barzal fanfic #mathew barzal fanfiction #mathew barzal imagine #mathew barzal one shot #mathew barzal writing #mathew barzal song fic #mathew barzal fluff #mat barzal #mat barzal fic #mat barzal fanfic #mat barzal fanfiction #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal one shot #mat barzal song fic #mat barzal fluff #mat barzal writing #anthony beauvillier #matt martin #matthew martin #sydney esiason #sydney esiason martin #esiason martin wedding #hockey #hockey writing #hockey imagine #hockey one shot #hockey fic #hockey fanfic

[fayfictions]

I was wondering if you would write Blarg x Soup for me with the idea of them slowly realizing they like each other

absolutely god bless u

also this is longer than I was expecting it to be oops

~

it started with their taste in music.

matt had his headphones in, blasting a little too loud on the bus when he felt a tap on his shoulder. he turned, and the kid next to him motioned for him to take his headphones out. he did.

“is that led zeppelin?”

matt nodded.

the kid behind him grinned. “oh that’s sick. can i sit next to you?”

matt moved his stuff, and the kid quickly moved over.

“im dallas by the way.”

“matt. you like rock?”

“oh hell yeah i do. it’s like, my favorite thing to listen to.”

“nice.”

the conversation was cut short by matt’s bus stop, but he had made a seat partner. they’d talk about music for the ride, or sometimes other things in class. even though matt was a year older than him, it didn’t stop dallas from coming through.

lucky for them, they both lived near each other, so they constantly switched bus stops, and their parents got used to having to feed an extra kid.

their video games were next.

dallas had a bunch of old consoles, and one step into his room made it clear that he loved a certain game series.

“you’ve got mario sunshine?”

“of course dude! it’s one of my favorites.”

“oh that’s sick. can i play?”

“yeah, lemme hook it up for you.”

they’d play for hours, sitting elbow to elbow, taking turns if they got stuck on a level or if one of them just needed a break. they found multiplayer games to play of course; cod, battlefield, etc. that way even when they were home they could still connect, and sometimes they’d stay in lobbies longer just to talk to each other.

they grew up together, changing and becoming their own people, but having each other was a constant.

they finally noticed it when it was close for college.

they paid too much attention to each other, to what girlfriends they had, what they were into…it was taking a toll, the tension between them.

“what’re you gonna do when i go off to college?” matt asked, sitting on dallas’ bed.

dallas shrugged. “i dunno. you’re still gonna call, right?”

“of course man. i don’t wanna leave you.”

dallas just smiled. he didn’t want matt to leave, but he understood that he wanted to do his own thing.

matt looked around the room, spotting all the little trinkets he had gotten dallas over the years. a few mario collectibles, a few music things; dallas told him they were his favorite things he had, and matt held that high in his heart.

“oh, uh, before i forget,” dallas shot up, pointing at him. “i got tickets to this local rock concert. i was uh, wondering if you’d wanna go with me.”

“is it gonna be just us?”

“yeah. i mean, if you want others to go, we can invite them, but I was thinking it could be just us.” dallas shuffled in his spot, and he looked nervous.

“i’d love to go with you. just us.”

dallas grinned. “sick. it’s in like, a week. you good with that?”

“yeah.”

they arrived at the concert, and both were buzzing with excitement. dallas had been to one before but it was always fun. matt on the other hand had never been to a live concert, and he was pumped. “oh man this is gonna be so cool,” he yelled over the crowd.

dallas laughed. “just wait until they actually start playing.”

they got waters, and before they knew it the music had started. they didn’t really know the band, didn’t really know the lyrics to any songs but they didn’t care. both were rocking out, headbanging to the songs, laughing whenever they bumped into each other.

and then a song matt happened to recognize started playing.

dallas had stopped watching the concert and had his eyes on matt singing his heart out, bouncing around. he felt so content in that moment, like nothing could go wrong. here he was with his best friend in the whole world at a concert, and he wanted nothing more than to just grab him and kiss him.

wait.

dallas couldn’t tell if his face was warm from the heat of everyone around him or from how bad he was starting to blush. “i’m getting another water,” he yelled over the crowd. matt glanced over, grinning in acknowledgement.

dallas ended up getting two, one for him, one for matt just in case.

the song before had passed, and matt was looking around for dallas when he finally spotted him.

he paused as he watched dallas’s face change from focused to a grin when seeing matt’s face in the crowd. he properly took in dallas for what seemed to be the first time and…wow. he looked good. his hair was messy, sweat was covering him but yet here he was, making matt want to kiss that grin off of his face.

what?

“i got you a water just in case,” dallas said, handing it to him.

matt took it graciously; his mouth had gotten dry all of a sudden. “thanks.”

the rest of the concert was filled with glances and slight brushes of their arms together. it was all they could think about, but they kept dancing and screaming out lyrics to their hearts content.

the ride home was filled with sing-a-longs of shitty 80s songs that ruined their voices even further. it was better than anything they could’ve asked for.

then dallas drove up matt’s driveway to drop him off. “i had a lot of fun.”

“i did too. i hope we can do this again soon.”

“yeah…me too.”

they sat there a little longer, staring at each other and taking glances down at each other’s lips.

“well, i should uh. get going.”

“oh, uh, yeah. probably.”

matt smacked himself mentally before pushing open the truck door. “uh, thanks again. goodnight.”

“yeah, yeah, no problem dude. have a goodnight.”

matt waved awkwardly and shut the door, walking to his house.

dallas sighed, hitting his head against the steering wheel.

man, were they both fucked or what.

#fayfic #blarg x soup

[keanuquotes]

HOW MUCH IS A PINT OF MILK?

Empire (UK), October 1995

He's the bodacious star of the Bill & Ted films, the hunksome hero of Speed and a romantic GI in the forthcoming A Walk In The Clouds, but does Keanu Reeves know his fresh from his powdered?

by Jeff Dawson

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WERE NAKED IN THE OPEN AIR? Do balconies count?

DEPENDS WHETHER IT'S GOT AN AWNING... I guess it was a long time ago. I can't remember.

SKINNY-DIPPING? Nope, not even skinny-dipping.

CAN YOU ALWAYS GET A TABLE WHEN YOU GO TO A RESTAURANT? No, it's a drag. I might even have to do Speed 2 so I can. People will say to me, "Why did you do Speed 2?" And I'll reply, "So I can get a good table in a restaurant in LA."

WHAT'S YOUR IDEA OF ROMANCE? Well, there are so many, aren't there? Romance is giving joy to someone you love, and giving them something you know they love as well. A moment's gesture, giving your love, giving your feeling. The romance is the specialness of the moment and the event and the gesture.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE TV PROGRAMME? I once saw a documentary by Brunowski, The Ascent Of Man, which was beautiful.

WHAT ELSE? Monty Python.

IS IT TRUE YOU DON'T HAVE A HOME BUT JUST LIVE IN HOTELS? I've been in Los Angeles for about 11 years and I've just been working and travelling so I haven't had time to find a new place.

SO YOU'RE ALWAYS ON THE MOVE? Yeah, but it's not like the Bohemian Gypsy thing - "I need to be free, I don't want any roots." Well, okay, there is some of that going on.

DO HOTEL STAFF WIND YOU UP? Only in Europe. At a hotel in London many moons ago, when I was doing Dangerous Liaisons, I walked in at 1:30 in the morning. I'd been visiting some friends and was probably smelling a bit of the pub, and this man puts his arm on me and says (affects English accent), "Excuse me, sir, are you staying in the hotel? Can I see your key?" So I show him my key. Then I get in the elevator and this girl asks me if I want to party. She was a prostitute. I just thought that was funny. They're trying to kick me out, but I get in the elevator and there's a prostitute in there.

CAN YOU LIVE OUT OF A SUITCASE? Yeah, when I went to Minnesota for the film Feeling Minnesota, I just had one bag. I'm getting very good at it.

WHAT DO YOU ALWAYS TAKE WITH YOU? Seven T-shirts, seven pairs of socks, seven underwears, three pairs of pants, one suit and a jacket. Running shoes, my hat, boots, and a couple of books.

WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING AT THE MOMENT? I just got back into fiction. I hadn't been reading fiction for a long time. And I just read this great book called The Mysterious William Shakespeare, concerning the authorship issue.

SO WAS IT SHAKESPEARE OR SOMEONE ELSE? It's not Shakespeare, man. Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl Of Oxford, he's the author of the plays.

I HEARD IT WAS FRANCIS BACON? No no no no no. Not Bacon. Not Marlowe.

WHEN YOU PLAYED HAMLET IN CANADA, DID YOU GET TO WEAR TIGHTS? And the codpiece, the old codpiece. Got to wear the big cod with the studs, cause I'm a prince, hahaha.

IS GOD A MAN WITH A BIG WHITE BEARD? No.

WHY ON EARTH DO SO MANY ACTORS FORM BANDS THESE DAYS? Johnny Depp's got one but he started in rock 'n' roll. I hear Brad Pitt has one, and Kevin Bacon's in a band with his brother. My band, Dogstar, just got back from Tokyo. I play bass, we do it for kicks.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE SANDWICH? I have a couple: a toasted baguette with peanut butter and apricot jam with really cold white wine. Mmmmm. Philadelphia steak sandwich is really good. Oh, and a really good Italian sausage sandwich. But then you can't beat toasted Swiss and tomato with a little mustard on. Ooooooh, or Black forest ham with German black bread. Oh my god, and coleslaw and Swiss cheese with Russian dressing.

SO YOU'RE A MAN WHO LIKES A BIT OF MEAT? Hey, there's a tomato in there, c'mon.

DO YOU DO YOUR OWN SHOPPING? Yes.

HOW MUCH IS A PINT OF MILK? I don't know. I haven't done it for a long time.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A CARRY ON FILM? Yes.

WHICH ONE? They were in Africa.

CARRY ON UP THE JUNGLE? Yes.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE JOKE? Hahahaha. It's not my favourite, but I heard a good joke recently. I don't come across jokes often.

WHAT WAS IT? Little Red Riding Hood was about to go to her granny's house and her mother says, "Here, take this gun, in case the big bad wolf comes to eat yer." So she's walking to her granny's house and the big bad wolf jumps out in front of her and says, "Show me your titties." And Little Red Riding Hood pulls out her gun and says, "No, motherfucker, you're going to eat me just like the story goes..."

#keanu reeves

[imaginethatneathuh]

The World: Technical Boy - American Gods

Technical Boy x partner!reader, romantic

Technical Boy plays video games while you are on your tablet.

Part of @dragon430’s Tarot Troop, edited by her, too.

Requested by Anon - ... Technical Boy ... and The World...

TW/CW: Marriage proposal, slightly sexual.

Word count: 1.4+ K

•

You and Technical Boy sat on your sofa, both in your own worlds. He played COD: WWII on the flatscreen and you read stuff on your tablet. Your legs lay over his crossed legs.

Looking up, you paused and smiled at Technical Boy. His brow was creased and he moved around as he killed his opponents. You could almost hear his mutterings.

As his character got killed, Technical Boy slumped back and scowled at the telly. “Fuck this shit,” he said. “Stupid fucking game.” With a free hand, he pulled one of your legs closer and rubbed it.

You softly chuckled and relaxed.

Looking over at you, his shoulders relaxed and he smiled at you. You usually had that effect on him. He placed the controller on the coffee table and moved to get closer to you. The god loomed over you before planting a soft kiss on your lips. You kissed back, touching his chest. You could feel the hand not holding him up wrap around your waist and pull you closer.

You pulled away from your lover’s kiss with an adoring smile.“Do you remember back when you could barely even talk to me without stuttering and blushing?” You asked.

Technical Boy shook his head. “No. Nope. Don’t remember that. Not at all.”

A pout formed on your face. “You don’t?” You trailed a finger down his cheek. “Well, maybe, I should remind you. I do have video evidence.”

As you began to open something on your tablet, Technical Boy snatched it from you and turnt it off.

“Tech!” You tried to get it back but he held it just out of reach.

He stood on his knees with his arm held as far away from you as possible. You placed a hand on your lover’s side as you tried to reach your tablet, resulting in a rather intimate position. His face was so close to yours you could feel his breath. Technical Boy grinned with mischief in his eyes.

“What? Something you want, my love?” He asked.

You tried to grab it again and failed, pouting.

He laughed, his forearm pressed against your upper chest. Oh, how he loved it when you pouted.

Instead of trying to grab it again (knowing you’d fail), you cupped his cheeks and kissed your lover without warning. He seemed to enjoy it, responding by wrapping his arms (most importantly, the one with your tablet) around your waist slowly and kissing back. For a moment, caught in the electric bliss of kissing the tech god, you forgot about your prize. The way his soft lips moved against yours was, frankly, intoxicating in the best way possible.

Technical Boy slipped the tablet on the floor as he eased you back onto the sofa. With his hands now free, he pulled your legs over his hips. “Y/N,” he mumbled, kissing down your neck. “I love you.” One of his hands found its way to the bare skin of your back, rubbing it. The other held onto your thigh, squeezing it up and down lightly.

You smiled and tangled a hand in his hair, enjoying his affection. “You’ve definitely come a long way from that blushy Boy I first met.”

The god stopped. He looked up, his eyes searching your face, and kissed you again. “Marry me?” He asked as he pulled away. One of his hands slipped into yours.

You snorted, covering your mouth with your free hand. When you looked up, you noticed his serious and apprehensive face. “Oh,” you said. “You’re serious.”

He nodded.

“Um, yeah,” you said but you could tell from his knitted brow he didn’t fully believe you. “Sorry. Just a little surprised. Woulda thought you’d propose via text or something.” You straightened and sat up.

“Why would I do that? I can’t kiss you as easily after,” he said. “Like this.” He kissed your cheek before kissing the other. Then, he littered your face with kisses, kissing everything he could.

You couldn’t help but laugh at his unusually goofy self. Finally, as you slowed your laughter, you pulled him into a smiling kiss. As you broke apart, the sun shining through the curtains behind you, you asked, “You have a ring? To make it official and all.”

Technical Boy looked to the ceiling and closed his eyes. “Shit,” he mumbled. “I knew there was something I forgot to do yesterday.”

You laughed again.

He looked back down at you with a smile. Interlacing your fingers, the god kissed the top of your hand. “Don’t worry, my love. I got an idea.” He got up from the sofa and disappeared from the room.

You fell back onto the sofa, smiling like an idiot.

The thought of marrying THE Technical Boy, the god of technology and the internet, was as enticing as it was terrifying. You loved him. Who wouldn’t? He was kind and caring in his own peculiar way. He had made it a habit to spend as much time with you as possible. And, to top it all off, he protected you from World and he was terrified of the man, no matter what he said. But there was also the fact that World and Media were a part of his life and they scared you. They probably wouldn’t be happy about a union between you, an old god, and him, a new one.

Picking up your tablet, you turnt it on. The lock screen was a picture of the two of you, your arms wrapped around his shoulders as you both smiled at the camera. You smiled at it before entering your password. Going to photos, you scrolled through them. Picture after picture of the two of you or one or the other showed up. You stopped on a picture of him sitting on your guys’ sofa, playing video games. Another of him pulling cookies out of the oven. It was hard to believe this was the idiot you were marrying.

You scrolled before stopping on a video that you didn’t know you had. You pressed play.

”Hey, lovey,” Technical Boy said, smiling at the camera. “I know you’ll probably be mad that I stole your tablet, but I don’t care. I just wanted to say I love you more than I love anything, even myself and my worship, and, one day, I’m going to marry you and we will have a life together. Hell, I’d even adopt a kid if you wanted to. So be ready for that.” He pressed a kiss to his fingers before blowing it to the camera and stopping the video.

You smiled and laughed. “Idiot,” you mumbled.

“What was that?” Technical Boy asked, coming back into the room.

“Nothing.” You shook your head and put the tablet down.

He slipped beside you on the sofa, one of his hands firmly closed. “Reminder, this is not the one I wanted you to wear all the time, but I forgot to get the proper one.”

The god opened his hand to reveal a band. Multicoloured wires were shaped into a circle. You weren’t sure it was possible for wires to have no opening or end but they seemed not to. Copper wrapped around the outsides, creating small patterns of flowers, grass, and trees waving in the wind, and bunnies and birds running around.

You looked at Technical Boy, mouth agape. “H- How?” Turning back to it, you gently touched the ring and the bunnies ran to nuzzle against your fingertips. The birds perched around them. It felt warm, like it was alive. The feeling was so similar to how Technical Boy felt when you touched him. It was like him but in a ring. At least now you’d always have a part of him with you.

He watched you and kissed your temple. “Magic, my love.” It was the best way he could sum it up for you to understand. Sliding an arm around you, he slipped the ring onto your finger. You reached up and took his now dangling hand. He quickly pulled you close and kissed your forehead before taking back his arm.

You admired it with a smile, loving it more than any garden-variety ring you could get at a jewellery store.

Technical Boy slipped his hand into yours, kissing it and holding it. He rested his head on your shoulder, nuzzling into it.

You wrapped your arms around him and pulled him close. “Don’t you want to get back to your game?” You asked, looking down at him.

“That can wait,” he mumbled as he snuggled close, resting his head in the crook of your neck. He wrapped his arms around you, sighing in content.

The telly shut off.

#american gods #american gods fanfiction #tarot troop #technical boy #technical boy x reader

[crownedbyluke]

Long Road Ahead (Chapter 16)

Estelle Finley has been friends with Ashton Irwin and Luke Hemmings for three years. When the boys bring her along on a jam-packed road trip to Cape Cod with the rest of the band, their adventures are just beginning. Through long hours driving, exploring cities, and hidden secrets, something more is bound to happen on this journey. How will this road trip change Estelle’s friendship with the friends she’s come to love so dearly?

Word Count: 2,527

{Chapter One} {Chapter Two} {Chapter Three} {Chapter Four}{Chapter Five} {Chapter Six} {Chapter Seven} {Chapter Eight} {Chapter Nine} {Chapter Ten} {Chapter Eleven} {Chapter Twelve} {Chapter Thirteen} {Chapter Fourteen} {Chapter Fifteen}

“Dad?” I asked, utterly shocked at the mess that was unfolding before my very eyes.

“What? No acknowledging me?” the familiar voice asked. 

I looked just slightly to the left of my father, the familiar face of my brother Wesley came into view. He clearly hadn’t shaved in at least a month with his scraggly half shadow of a beard. It had been at least two years since I had seen him and now, seeing him again, made me want to scream. 

“What are you doing here?” I asked. 

Ashton had his hand on the small of my back, trying his best to comfort me. It felt like everyone in the house was watching me, like I was living my life out on a television screen. 

“You remember your betrothed,” my dad said, gesturing to the man standing behind Wes. 

My heart stopped. A commitment that I had never agreed to and yet, here was my father bringing it back to haunt me. Aiden Harper. He had certainly gotten taller since we were in middle school. The likelihood of him being less of a giant idiot though was probably very small.

“Aiden,” I whispered, still in shock. 

“Who the hell is he Estelle?” Luke asked, voice full of anger. 

I met his eyes, finding the storm of hurt and rage swirling in them. It took everything in my body to not just run over to him. There were more eyes on us than I wanted for a conversation like that. 

“Oh, I suspect she didn’t inform you. This is the man she is intended to marry in two years time,” my dad said. 

Luke clenched his fist. I felt the anger radiating off of him from the stairs. Before anyone got into a fight, I stepped down from the stairs and stood between the two.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. 

“Well darling daughter, you seem to think that I can’t stop you from seeing this man child over there, so I’ve come to prove you wrong,” he said with a smile. 

It was the same smile I had seen my entire life. One of manipulation and dishonesty. 

“How?” I continued. 

“You see, your friends here, well, they sometimes do great work at covering up their partying or their general misuse of their fame, but myself and my contacts are more clever than their publicist. I have a multitude of photos and videos of them misbehaving that would surely ruin any chance they had at making another album,” he said, the smile widening. 

“You’re lying,” Ashton said from behind me. 

“Oh son, you wish I was don’t you? Doubt you’d like that threesome video from your Vegas trip a year ago to get out,” my dad said, gritting his teeth. 

I felt the whole room tense. This was serious and it was happening right in front of my face. There were stories of how my dad would manipulate people into what he wanted, but I had never seen it happen. Some of them felt more fabricated than reality would allow. Yet, it was reality and he was doing everything he could to stop me. 

“What do you want?” I asked, biting back tears. 

It was no longer a question of what I had to do. I’d do it to protect them. Ashton reached for me again, but I moved away. It was my battle now. 

“You’ll be coming home with me right now. You can move into your new house in August and you’ll stay in your tiny little apartment until then. You will no longer speak to these children or be seen with them in the media. Oh and you’ll be seen with Aiden getting engaged next week,” he said. 

My eyes went wide. Engaged? It meant giving away my entire life to a person who would most likely cheat on me the first chance he got. 

“Elle, you don’t-”

“Fine. If I do this, you leave them alone?” I asked, cutting off Calum. 

“Yes.”

“You will never threaten them or harm them?” I pressed. 

“I promise,” my dad said. 

“Fine. I’ll get my stuff,” I said, turning around and marching up the stairs. 

The tears fell down my face as I reached the landing. I was defeated, hurt, and exhausted. All I cared about was protecting them from him. There were footsteps following after me as I opened the door to my room.

“Don’t do this,” Luke said, a waiver in his voice. 

I looked up, seeing the tears in his own eyes that matched mine. 

“If I don’t, you lose your dream,” I said, grabbing the clothes from the closet. 

“We can fight this, make it through this,” he argued. 

“No we can’t Luke! If he has that kind of stuff on Ashton, what do you think he has on you or Cal? I won’t let you guys be collateral damage!” I said. 

“Little dove-”

“Don’t. Please don’t.”

I stopped, balling my fists into the pair of shorts in my hands. That nickname meant so much to me. Luke called me it for the first time after he heard me sing and then he kept using it whenever he was saying something nice or being sweet. It was just our thing. He wrapped his arms around me, taking the shorts out of my hands. His short breaths gave away the fact that he was crying too. We were so close to that happiness I wanted and it was all going away. 

“I love you,” he whispered. 

“I love you too.”

He pulled away, pressing his lips against mine shortly before resting his forehead on mine. 

“Don’t walk out the door,” he begged. 

“I have to or else everything you worked so hard for gets ripped from you by that man and I won’t be able to live with myself if that happens,” I said. 

My hands rested on his cheeks, gently running my finger against the stubble growing. This was it. My lips touched his one last time before I went back to grabbing my things. 

“Bugs, you don’t have to do this on your own,” Ashton said from the doorway. 

“Yes I do. You’ll do amazing on the next album,” I said, wiping at my tears. 

“What am I gonna do without you?” he whimpered. 

“I don’t know, but you’ll figure it out.”

He hugged me tightly, putting every last ounce of love into it. 

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, holding on so I didn’t have to let go. 

“Shh, it’s okay.”

After my things were tucked into the suitcase, I gave my last round of hugs. The sound of us all walking down the stairs felt wrong. Everything was wrong. I stopped just short of the door, turning and meeting everyone’s watery eyes. 

“I am so incredibly sorry for this,” I said, the weight of the apology heavy on my heart. 

“Save it dear. They can watch the wedding online,” my dad said, pulling on my arm to get me moving. 

“Don’t touch her!” Luke yelled. 

Everyone stopped again. Things felt like they were going in slow motion. 

“You might be her father, but you will never be her dad. No dad would put his children through this,” he said, voice laced with venom. 

My father smiled at him, letting my arm go. Wesley took my suitcase and nudged Aiden to lead me out of the house. Luke stood there, waiting, but all my father did was smile. Aiden closed the car door after I got in, making me watch Luke stand there as we drove away. Every piece of my heart shattered as I watched him fall to his knees in tears. Timing was a bitch. 

--

TWO MONTHS LATER

LUKE’S POV

“Luke! Come on dude!” Calum yelled from outside my room. 

I had yet to leave my bed and it was already 5 PM. He came by every day to check on me and almost every day, he found me still in bed. 

“Go away!” I yelled back. 

Getting out of bed never felt right or even remotely okay. Since Estelle left, nothing felt right anymore. Everyday was just a different way of going through the motions, barely existing. 

“You gotta get out of bed today,” Calum said, bursting through the door. 

“Why? We don’t have anything to do,” I said, tucking my face into my pillows.

“Maybe, but you haven’t left the house in two months and it’s time you did,” he said, opening the curtains. 

The bright sunshine of L.A. hurt my eyes. Petunia licked my face as she saw the sun. The look Calum gave me felt like one from my mom when I was younger. 

“If I get up, will you leave me alone for the rest of the week?” I asked, slowly sitting up.

“Sure,” he said. 

I knew he was lying from the smile on his face. My feet dragged as I went to the bathroom. Another routine of washing my face, brushing my teeth, and brushing my hair gone. When I came back out, Calum was holding up new clothes. 

“Why?” 

“We are going out so put on something that isn’t sweatpants,” he said. 

I groaned, taking the jeans and button up from him.

“You realize I’m not bringing anyone home right?”

“Yes Luke. Just shut up and get dressed.”

Legs went through the jeans and arms went through the shirt. It was a facade as to the pain that I felt every single day I woke up and remembered I couldn’t be with my person. Calum messed with my hair and patted my back, ushering me out of the house. 

“Be a good girl piggy!” I yelled before Calum closed the door. 

My phone dinged. 

Mentioned: @Luke5SOS when is there gonna be new music?

The muscles in my face relaxed. No tweets from her...again. 

--

ESTELLE’S POV

The setting sun was blinding through the windows of the cafe. Everyone was going about their evenings, enjoying their coffees or teas. A familiar face tucked underneath a hoodie and a baseball hat walked in, the sun behind him making him glow like an angel. 

“One black coffee please,” he said softly. 

Stress from the week of teaching melted away as I listened to him. My iced vanilla latte swirled as I stirred it carefully. The chair squeaked against the tile as he sat down. I met the hazel eyes staring at me. 

“Hey bugs,” he whispered, taking a sip of coffee. 

“Hi there stranger,” I said, a smile slowly coming out. 

“How’s life?” he asked.

“Shitty. I miss you guys,” I said. 

Our hands touched, the slightest bit of relief washed over me. It felt nice to be able to see him again. The weeks we weren’t able to do this seemed to drag on longer than most. It wasn’t easy to forget about the friends I was no longer allowed to see. The moments I had made me feel more guilty than anything else. He turned his palm over, gently squeezing my hand. 

“We miss you too, bugs,” he said. 

I wanted so badly to ask about Luke, but knew it would hurt more than I was prepared for. Ashton squeezed again. 

“He’s doing his best,” he said. 

Tears welled up in my eyes. If Luke was okay then surely, I should be too. 

“How are the kids?” he continued, pulling away.

“Good. They’re still excited about school and spritely,” I said with a shrug. 

“And you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Holding up. I have to be seen with Aiden once a week so I keep my distance as long as possible until our scheduled outings. He goes around sleeping with women in the off time and pretends to be the perfect fiancé in the meantime. Guess that’s life now.”

“I wish it wasn’t that way,” he said, slightly angry. 

“Ash, you know I don’t have that much of a choice,” I argued. 

“I know, but I hate it. I hate that you can’t come over or see us or come to shows. I hate that we have to tell everyone that we aren’t friends anymore. You’re my best friend and I have to hide you.”

“I should go,” I whispered, suddenly no longer feeling up for talking. 

“Bugs, I didn’t mean to-”

“No, I should go. I’ve got grading and lesson plans,” I said, cutting him off. 

Without looking, I walked out of the cafe. The pain took over once I closed my car door as it always did after seeing Ashton. The relics of the past hurt more and more and when I attempted to go back to normal or confront them, I ended up crying in my car. The amount of times I had driven past Luke’s place just to see if a light was on was ridiculous at this point. My phone screen lit up with a text, my background of me and Luke bringing on more tears. 

Aida: Miss you. Drinks on Friday?

I ignored it, opting for driving home instead. The drive went by like it always did. My house was empty and lonely. Another thing that was meant to be something else. The exhaustion of the day wore on me as I collapsed into the couch cushions, sleep slowly taking over. 

--

The pounding on my front door woke me from the nap I was taking. I groggily got up from the couch and made my way to it, peeking through the window. 

“What the hell are you two doing here?” I asked, finding a very drunk Luke and Calum. 

“Estelle!” Luke cheered, a giant smile on his face. 

“Again, what are you doing here?” I repeated. 

“I might have given your address to the Uber driver on accident,” Calum admitted. 

“Get in here,” I groaned. 

They shuffled inside behind me. I checked the door to see if any of the press had followed them. Calum fell onto the couch, giggling as he did so. Luke kept staring at me. 

“I thought I’d never see you again,” he mumbled. 

“Shush,” I said, helping him into the guest bedroom. 

He giggled as I tucked him in. I put a glass of water on the side table for him in case he woke up. As I went to turn off the light, he grabbed my hand. 

“I missed you little dove,” he whispered. 

His eyes were sincere and it broke every piece of my heart. Luke fell asleep shortly after speaking, his face becoming relaxed and serene. It reminded me of the first time he ever stayed the night at my place. He had slept so soundly that night that he was asleep until one in the afternoon. My heart ached as I looked at him. 

“He still loves you Elle,” Calum said from the doorway. 

I walked towards the door, shutting off the light as I exited and closing the door behind me. 

“I love him too. Now please go rest in the upstairs guest room,” I said with a sigh. 

Calum stumbled his way up the stairs before closing the door. My head fell into my hands, frustration building. The morning couldn’t come fast enough.

A.N: It’s been ages and I feel horrible for leaving this on such a cliffhanger for so long, but I want to finish this story. It’s almost done. It’s mainly all written and it’s time Estelle and Luke get their story told. So here we go.

tag loves: @tommossoccer​ @bbycal​ @cakesunflower​

#d writes #my writing #5sos #5sos fic #5sos fan fic #5sos au #5sos fluff #luke hemmings #luke hemmings fic #luke hemmings fluff #luke hemmings angst #ashton irwin #michael clifford #calum hood #5 seconds of summer #5 seconds of summer fic #5 seconds of summer fluff #5 seconds of summer angst

[cmfan3]

If I Ever Lost You Part 1

Pairing: Jennifer Jareau X Emily Prentiss

Warning: Strong Language & Violence

Words: 6K

With a shaking hand, she reached over and picked up the paper. She opened the note and when she read the three words, her world stopped.

I have her.

A few days earlier

Emily was sitting at her desk in the bullpen chatting with Derek and Spencer. Actually, it was more like picking on Spencer with Derek. The two misfits were pestering Spencer about his new haircut. “Are you sure you’re not in a boy band?” joked Derek while ruffling his hair. Spencer swatted his hand away in annoyance, “yes, I’m sure. Now can I please get back to work? You guys are distracting me.” Emily opened her mouth to respond when she was cut off by JJ rushing in. Out of breath, JJ barely managed to get the words out as she rushed to the conference room, “it’s a bad one.”

The three went up and sat around the table, each in their respective spots. Emily looked up at the screen which was covered in gruesome photos, ones she couldn’t seem to stomach. As Emily began to actually look at the victims, she couldn’t help the gut wrenching feeling that arose as she glanced at the blonde standing in front of her. They all look exactly alike. The thought sent chills down her spine.

Before JJ began presenting the case, she glanced upon the brunette to try and understand how she felt about it. JJ saw what no one else did, the dread and fear that rose in Emily’s eyes. She shook it off and began explaining the situation to her team, “four victims as of now. They’re all in their mid-twenties with blonde hair and blue eyes. They were born in different states, but ended up in Washington. They all seemed to be single, but they were still in contact with their families. They worked different jobs and lived in different areas. All the victims had a different COD-”

“-Then why are we even looking at this case,” interrupted Emily. Locking eyes with her, JJ couldn’t help but soften her gaze at the brunette as she realized just how badly this case was affecting her. Emily’s knee was bouncing and her hands seemed to play with themselves. We can’t take this case. Does nobody else in this room seem to realize just how alike JJ and the victims look. They could be siblings for fucks sake. Emily’s breath seemed labored and she didn’t even want to look at the file in front of her for another second.

Before JJ could respond, Hotch cut in, “we’re taking this case because of the signature.” He nodded to the blonde, in which she then clicked to the next set of pictures. She turned away from the screen, her face morphing into one of disgust, “each victim had a message carved into their back.” The team stared on in horror as they read what was shown. Tick tock. Her time is running out. You won’t find me. I’m just getting started.

“No. Please don’t tell me we have to go look for an unsub who seems to be killing exact replicas of JJ,” stated Emily. She stared at JJ, pleading to see reason and to not take the case, no matter how selfish it seemed because she was keeping a secret no one knew. I won’t let the woman I love willingly put herself in harm’s way.

Hotch responded, “Emily. I know none of us want to investigate a case like this, but we have to. If we don’t, there’s no telling how bad the spree is going to get. That said, Garcia will update us if anything happens and we’ll brainstorm on the plane. Wheels up in twenty.” David was the first to leave the room. Soon after was Derek and Spencer. As Hotch was about to leave, he glanced back at the women for a split second before going to get his things in order.

As soon as Hotch was out the door, Emily shot up out of her seat and rushed towards the blonde, who was still standing by the screen. She grasped both of her hands desperately. “JJ, please, at least tell me you’re not going. You have to see the resemblance between you and the victims. I’m not going to let you get hurt. Please don’t come with us,” pleaded Emily.

JJ squeezed her hands, “well if you’re not going to let me get hurt, then I don’t really see an issue. Emily, even if I didn’t want to come, who’s going to handle the media when things get bad. They already started calling him The Messenger. I’ll be fine, the team will protect me.” She smiled gratefully at the woman in front of her, “I’ll be ok Em, don’t worry so much.” She slid her hands from the brunette’s grasp and walked out the door, towards her office.

Emily ’s heart felt heavy as she watched her retreating form. How can I not worry about you? I love you.

On the jet, the team just ended their call with Garcia, and as soon as she cut the line by saying, “I’m like the wind: back in a flash... or is that lightning?,” the air was so tense, it could’ve been cut with a knife. Dave sat in front of Hotch, the two brainstorming ideas about the unsub. Morgan and Spencer were talking, mostly about the case, but every once in a while, Morgan would try to lighten the mood by talking about Spencer’s haircut. The two would crack a smile before they resumed talking about the horrors of the case.

Towards the back of the jet, JJ was looking through the file when she felt someone occupy the seat next to her. She glanced up and saw Emily place two cups of coffee on the table in front of them. “Oh thank god,” the blonde exhaled, “you don’t even know how much I need this,” she sighed. Pulling the steaming mug up towards her face and taking a deep breath, she exhaled, “I needed this more than I realized.” After taking a sip from the steaming dark liquid, she looked up to see Emily staring at her.

How can someone look perfect while drinking coffee? Oh who am I kidding, she always looks perfect. Realizing she was caught gawking, Emily instantly looked away, a flush creeping up her face. “Sorry,” she mumbled. Trying not to make it more awkward between the two, Emily opened up her case file, “so what are your thoughts about how the unsub kills them?”

Amused, JJ states, “I don’t think they actually know which way they prefer killing yet. Yes, while the unsub doesn’t have any hesitation marks, it seems as if this is their first time because of all the different COD’s. So I think they’re trying to figure out which way excites them the most.”

“The carving of the messages in their backs are exciting enough,” grumbled Emily. She attempted to pay more attention to the photos, but every time she looked at a victim, all she could see was JJ lying there with her eyes open, all cut up and bloody. She shook her head, as if to clear the image from her mind. She turned to see JJ staring at her quizzically. As Emily looked into the blue eyes in front of her, she saw the question are you okay? staring back at her. She nodded her head and gave a small smile, hoping to convince the woman in front of her that she shouldn’t be worried. Emily began to look at the pictures once again. She tensed up when she felt something brush along her arm, but relaxed when she realized that it was just JJ leaning her head on the brunette’s shoulder. Emily felt butterflies swarm her stomach when the smaller woman curled up into her side, seeking warmth. In a matter of seconds, JJ was out cold, leaving Emily to gaze lovingly at her, hoping and wishing that she could keep her safe from harm. Deep down though, Emily knew that not everything was in her control, and she hated it. Making sure no one was paying them any attention, she placed a loving kiss on the top of the sleeping woman’s head and when the blonde curled even more into her side, Emily wanted to capture this moment forever. She’ll be ok. I won’t let anything happen to her. Kept running through her head like a mantra. Soon after, she succumbed to exhaustion and let sleep take her.

Emily awoke to the feeling of the jet hitting the runway. Shaking off her grogginess, she looked down next to her and felt the butterflies rise up yet once again when she saw the blonde still curled up into her side. She smiled at the sleeping woman before shaking her slightly. “Come on Jayje. You need to wake up, we’re here,” whispered Emily.

In response, JJ grunted and shifted farther into Emily’s side. “Not yet,” she grumbled. Hearing a bark of laughter, she peeked her eyes open and looked up at the woman laughing at her. “It’s not funny Em. I barely slept and I’m tired. I need more coffee,” JJ complained. She reached across the table and picked up Emily’s coffee and took a long sip. Looking over the rim of the glass, she saw Emily attempting to stifle her laughter behind a smirk. She gently smacked the older woman’s arm and feigned shock. “You dare laugh at me Prentiss, well we’ll see who’s laughing when I finish your coffee,” joked JJ.

As Emily smiled at her, the blonde could see her eyes gleaming with mischief, but before she was able to act on it, Hotch’s voice boomed over the jet, “Prentiss, you’re with Morgan. You two go to the crime scenes and see if we missed anything. Reid and David, you two go to the morgue and try and find more information about the COD’s and messages. JJ and I will head to the police precinct to set up. Jennifer I need you to start handling the media and get rid of that ridiculous name. It only fuels the unsub’s desire.”

“Sir, I don’t mean any disrespect, but you can’t seriously consider putting JJ in front of all those cameras when all the victims look exactly like her,” argued Emily. She looked at the blonde next to her with worry shining in her eyes.

JJ reached for Emily’s hand and squeezed it softly, “I’ll be fine Em, like I said, I have you and the team to protect me. Hotch is right, I need to handle the media. That’s my job.”

“But-,” Emily started again, but when she looked at Hotch, she knew there was no point in arguing. She excused herself from JJ’s grasp and went towards the bathroom, pulling out her phone and dialing the only number she thought could help.

“Office of Unfettered Omniscience. Penelope Garcia is in. Speak, oh fortunate one,” rang Penelope’s voice through the line. Emily smiled to herself and reminded herself to check if Penelope was on anything. “I need you to do me a favor PG. Can you please keep an eye on JJ? Track her location, make sure she’s ok. It doesn’t matter to me as long as she isn’t in danger,” Emily requested. Garcia’s voice rang out, “of course E, you know how important she is to all of us. I know you guys won’t let anything happen to her, but if it makes you feel better, I can keep an eye on her. Just in case.” “Thank you, I’m just worried about her, and it seems like I’m the only one. It’s frustrating,” fumed Emily. “I know sweet cheeks, but it’s a part of the job,” reminded Garcia. “I know, I know. But it doesn’t make it any easier. Thanks Pen, I’ll keep you updated,” Emily responded. “Over and out,” chirped Garcia. Turning back towards the team, she let her eyes roam over each member before they settled on the blonde who was looking out the window with a look on her face that Emily couldn’t seem to decipher. I have to tell her. She has to know before something happens, because with our team’s luck, something is going to happen. Grow up Prentiss, just tell her. What’s the worst that could happen? We could stop talking completely and she could act like I don’t even exist. Fuck Prentiss, just tell her already. After boosting her confidence, Emily began walking towards JJ in hopes of finally telling her how she’s felt for so long. Emily noticed that when JJ saw that she was walking towards her, a smile lit up the blonde’s face which was immediately mirrored by the older woman. Emily slid in next to JJ and reached for her hands. Clearing her throat and staring down at their entwined hands, Emily began, “Jen, there really isn’t a good time to say this, but I have to say it. Please forgive me, but I have to tell you. Jennifer I-” “We have to hit the ground rolling. Let’s go everyone,” interrupted Hotch. “Just perfect,” Emily mumbled. She looked up into the crystal blue eyes and sighed, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll tell you later.” Or never. The blonde simply nodded and gave Emily one of her dazzling smiles.

While on the jet, Morgan was able to witness the entire scene unfold. As he and Emily were walking onto the crime scenes, he questioned, “so princess. What was that on the jet?” Nearly choking on the water she was drinking, Emily managed to sputter out, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Derek merely laughed and nodded, “Alright princess, but just know, I’ll find out soon enough.” Emily glared at him as she walked up to the fourth victim’s body. As soon as they arrived at the body and saw the message I’m just getting started carved into her back, both put the topic at hand in the back of their heads and focused on the case.

Spencer and Rossi were chatting amongst themselves as they waited for the autopsy results. “It’s strange that the unsub hasn’t settled on a COD, especially because it seems as if carving the messages is really what gets them off. I would think that since they enjoy carving them in, they would also want the victim to die by knife,“ inquired Spencer. With a grimace, Rossi realized that the kid is right, yet once again, “well, maybe the unsub just gets off on the whole ordeal and it doesn’t matter what they use to kill the victims. Maybe they kill the victims based on whatever’s easiest in the moment.” As Spencer was thinking about it, the forensic pathologist walked in with some information. She began, “so we got the results from the autopsy and let me tell you guys, it isn’t pretty. So it seems as if the victims had the messages carved into their backs while they were alive.” Pausing so she could register the reactions of the agents in front of her, she wasn’t shocked when she saw the disgust and horror flash on their faces. She continued, “based on the laceration marks on their wrists, it seems like they were suspended from something and their feet were barely scraping the floor. They were severely dehydrated and it seems like they were kept for a span of three days, if not shorter. Here’s the crazy bit though, the COD for each victim was actually the same. They all bled out.” Shock ran across Spencer’s features before morphing into understanding, “the victims died when the message was carved into their backs. The rest of it was forensic countermeasure.” At this point, Rossi wasn’t shocked with the news, the only indication that he had even registered what had been said was how his shoulders drooped lower and the fatigue on his face became more prominent. “Alright kid, let’s get back to the team and let them know what we found out,” Rossi sighed. Both agents thanked the forensic pathologist and began their drive down to the precinct.

At the precinct, JJ was attempting to control the media as Hotch began to set up the team’s room. Bracing herself for all the questions, she took a deep breath and began, “I know you all have questions, and I’ll try to answer them as best as I can, but the first thing that needs to happen is the name, The Messenger, needs to be forgotten. Call the killer an unsub. Giving the unsub a name only fuels their desire to kill again. Now, any questions?” A flurry of hands shot up and voices seemed to ring out from all directions. One reporter managed to make his question heard by the media liaison, “should everyone be worried about being next, or does the unsub have a specific type?” “As of now, they do seem to have a specific type, but everyone should be vigilant, and if you see or hear something, say something,” JJ managed to reply before she was barraged with more questions. “What does the police know?” “Do you have any suspects?” “Is there an end goal or is it just for entertainment?” “Where is the rest of your team now?” “Have you ever seen something like this before” Before she was able to answer any of the endless questions, one question in particular made her freeze in place. “You look like them. Do you think you’re the ‘her’ that was referenced in the message ‘her time is running out’ because you look alike?” Unable to form an answer, she simply responded, “that’s all the time we have for questions,” and walked off the stage and back into the precinct. She rushed to the bathroom in hopes of calming her nerves. She leaned over the sink, gripping the edge until her knuckles turned white. After what felt like hours, her breathing finally evened out and the tears in her eyes were no longer there. She washed her face and fixed her hair before she walked out, not noticing the worried look that was sent her way by none other than the brunette.

The team gathered in the room and began debriefing each other on the new information each of them found. As Emily passed by JJ, she reached out and squeezed her shoulder, signaling to the younger agent that she wasn’t alone. JJ looked up at Emily gratefully, eyes shining with a thank you. As Emily took her seat by JJ, she was surprised when the blonde grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers together under the table.

As the room settled, Hotch was the first to speak, “Morgan and Prentiss, what did you two find out?” “Not much that we didn’t already know. We know he has a secondary location because there wasn’t any blood at the crime scene. They were all positioned where the message was clearly visible meaning it’s the most important thing to the unsub. None of the victims were placed in the same place, but all of them were placed in a location where there would be a large majority of people,” Derek informed the team. “So the unsub wants the victims to be found. He wants his message to be broadcasted,” concluded JJ. Emily spared a glance at the woman next to her, giving her hand a squeeze causing JJ to smile slightly. Emily jumped in, “we already know that the unsub’s evil, what did you two find out at the morgue?”

Before Rossi was able to debrief the team on the new information, Spencer interrupted, “evil can’t be scientifically defined. It’s an illusory moral concept that doesn’t exist in nature. Its origins and connotations have been inextricably linked to religion and mythology.” As he looked around, he saw all of the confused faces and decided to drop it, motioning to Rossi to take over. With a smile tugging at his lips, Rossi thanked Spencer for the information, “Thanks for that boy wonder, but what we found at the morgue does explain a lot. It turns out that the actual COD of all the victims was blood loss. They were all alive when they had the messages carved into their backs and that’s how they died.” Hotch intervened, “I think this means that we can believe that this unsub is experienced because their cuts are clean without any hesitation marks. That said, I believe it’s a Caucasian male in their early to mid thirties because as we saw in the crime scene photos, the unsub placed the bodies in an area where there’s nothing there. So the unsub would have to carry the bodies from their car to the drop off location which would take a large amount of strength.” Reid decided to jump in, “unsubs don’t tend to cross racial lines so he would be Caucasian because all of his victims are Caucasian. Since all his victims are in their mid twenties, he should-“

The phone ringing cut Spencer off and when the line was answered, Penelope’s voice rang out, “hello my big beautiful crime fighters. I come with bad news, like bad bad, like all the puppy photos on the internet got deleted bad.” Everyone tensed up waiting for Penelope to continue, “Anyways, back to the case. There’s been another body.” Emily turned towards JJ to see that the color drained out of her face and her jaw was clenched. With her free hand, Emily rubbed small circles on JJ’s back, attempting to comfort her. Leaning into her touch, JJ all but curled up into Emily, seeking protection from the news that was just dropped. “Unfortunately, that’s not all. The message that was carved into her back said I’m coming for her,” Penelope continued. As soon as the words left Penelope’s mouth, the reporter’s question from earlier in the day bounced around in JJ’s head. Do you think you’re the her? The contents in her stomach threatened to come out so she jumped out of her seat and rushed to the bathroom, where she then relieved her contents into the toilet. “Thanks Garcia,” Hotch replied. He turned towards the brunette who was looking where the blonde ran and nodded in her direction, causing her to run after the younger woman.

As soon as Emily opened the bathroom door, she was hit with the sound of sobbing coming from one of the stalls. She cautiously opened the stall and was broken when she looked down at the woman in front of her. JJ’s eyes were getting red from the tears and her cheeks were stained from the falling tears. Emily opened her arms and JJ practically jumped into them, seeking comfort from the only person that she knew could help. “Come here Jen, I got you,” reassured the older agent. JJ clung onto her like she was a lifeline because she essentially was. Emily kept running her hands through the blonde’s hair and rubbing small circles on her back while whispering sweet nothings into her ear in hopes of calming her down. For the two of them, it was like they were in their own little bubble where no one could hurt them. As JJ was finally able to even out her breathing, she pulled back from Emily’s grasp slightly. She looked up into Emily’s eyes, silently thanking her for everything.

As Emily looked at the woman in front of her, she felt the urge to lean in, but she couldn’t do that to her, especially after everything that just happened. So she simply glanced down, wishing that she could kiss the blonde and tell her how she feels. God I love her. When we make it out of this, I’m going to tell her. Instead, Emily pulled her back into an embrace, kissed the top of her head, and pulled her out of the restroom, where the team was waiting for them. Hotch looked at Emily, questioning whether the blonde was ok or not. She simply shrugged and focused her attention back on the younger agent.

Hotch called out, “That’s all we can do for today, everyone head back to the hotel. Everyone gets their own room. Except for Jennifer and Prentiss. I want you two sharing a room just in case something were to happen, it’s safer.” Both women were secretly overjoyed because even if Hotch didn’t give them a room together, they would’ve ended up in the same room.

After a short car ride that was filled with silence, the team arrived at their hotel. Courtesy of Penelope, the team’s rooms were all next to each other. As Derek was closing his door, he called out, “goodnight mom, dad, princesses, and pretty boy.” The women scoffed and shared a quick smile with the agent as they walked into their respective room, locking the door behind them.

“I call the left side of the bed,” Emily said almost immediately, her eyes twinkling with joy. In response, JJ pouted, “you always get the left side.” Emily let out a laugh, “because it’s my side,” and began undressing so she could change into her pajamas. JJ grumbled a reply that couldn’t be heard by the older agent, but she still put her go-bag on the right side. She unzipped it and began shuffling through its contents, looking for a big t-shirt and shorts.

Emily plopped down on the corner of the bed once she was done and watched the blonde carefully. After the blonde shifted through all of the content in the bag, and didn’t find what she was looking for, she turned and looked at Emily, who had her mouth quirked up into a smile. JJ didn’t understand why until she took a closer look and realized that the other woman was wearing the clothes she just spent ten minutes looking for. Before JJ could protest, Emily explained, “you took my coffee earlier, so I’m taking your clothes.” Not to mention, they smell like her. Unable to say no to Emily, JJ simply questioned, “well then, what am I supposed to wear to bed?” Emily reached behind her and pulled out her own pajamas, handing them to the blonde. JJ snatched the clothes from her outstretched arm and began undressing while muttering about how Emily should wear her own clothes. Unable to help herself, the older agent gawked at JJ’s body when she was undressing. Feeling eyes on her, JJ looked up and locked eyes with Emily which caused her face to redden. Emily instantly looked away, ashamed that she was caught gawking. What is wrong with me? I’ve seen her change a million times before. What’s so different about this time?

Once she was done changing, JJ set her go-bag on the floor next to the bed and jumped under the covers, wrapping herself up like a burrito. She patted the empty spot next to her, her head peeking out from under the covers to look at Emily. The brunette couldn’t stifle her laughter at the sight in front of her, so she simply turned off the lights and crawled under the covers next to the blonde, mimicking her burrito position. The smiles that were on their faces reached their ears.

Suddenly, the smile that lit up JJ’s face disappeared and she instantly turned sombre. “Em, do you think I’m the her that the unsub’s talking about? I don’t want to be. God I really hope I’m not, but I can’t come up with another idea of who she might be,” JJ whispered. Emily didn’t respond, instead, she wrapped her arms around the smaller woman and pulled her close, running her hand through the long blonde hair while tracing imaginary circles on her back. This caused JJ to rest her head in the crook of Emily’s neck, breathing in her comforting scent. The two stayed in this position for what seemed like an eternity. When Emily felt JJ’s breath even out, she kissed the top of her head and whispered, “I love you.” Hidden from the brunette, the blonde smiled to herself. I love you too.

The next morning, JJ woke up entangled in Emily’s arms. She shifted so she could gaze upon the sleeping woman next to her, taking in every feature, lingering on her lips. Suddenly, they moved, “didn’t your mother ever tell you it’s not nice to stare at people Jayje?” She gave the blonde a lopsided grin as she peeked one eye open. JJ scoffed, grabbed a pillow, and smacked the older woman in the face, unable to hold in her laughter as Emily feigned hurt. “We both know I’d absolutely destroy you in a pillow fight Jen. You don’t want to start with me,” she joked. Putting the pillows back on the bed, the brunette stretched, hoping to shake off her grogginess. Sighing, she got out of the bed, pulling the younger woman up with her, “even though I don’t want to, we have to get ready and get down to the precinct.” Looking up into Emily’s eyes, JJ asked, “coffee?” The brunette simply nodded with a smile ghosting her lips and went to grab her go-bag so she could get ready for work.

After their quick coffee stop, the women walked into the precinct with a coffee for everyone, the both of them sitting next to each other once again. As they took their places around the table, Morgan called Garica. Before the first ring even ended, the line was answered and Penelope’s voice rang out, “challenge me, you beautiful behavioral analyst.” Letting out a laugh, Morgan requested, “hey baby girl, I need you to find all Caucasian males who are in their early to mid thirties.” “I need more to cut down the list crime fighters. This list is a whopper,” Penelope responded. It was Reid’s voice who cut through next, “he would have a normal job that gave him a lot of free time to be able to abduct, torture, and kill the women. He would have to own a large property because he needs a lot of space and his victims need to be isolated.” Emily jumped in, “he would be single since he doesn’t have time for a significant other because he’s spending most of his time with his victims.” “Ok my beauties, I’ll hit you back when I have more. Garcia out,” Penelope replied as she ended the call. Hotch stood up out of his seat and began assigning his team tasks, ‘’Prentiss, I want you and JJ to try and control the media. They’re having a field day with the fifth victim. Morgan and Rossi, you two try and shorten the list that Garcia has. Reid, work on the geographical profile. I’ll head over to the fifth victim’s crime scene and look over everything we have to see if we missed anything.” As the team walked out to complete their assignments, Hotch pulled Emily back, “Keep her safe Prentiss. I didn’t want her on her own, especially since that last victim.” She nodded in a silent promise that she wouldn’t let anything happen to the blonde.

In the SUV, Emily tried her best to watch over JJ while keeping her eyes on the road. JJ’s knee was bouncing up and down and her breathing seemed forced. Noticing the distress behind the movements, Emily pulled off to the side, putting the car in park. She reached over the center console and gripped both of JJ’s hands, running her thumbs along the soft knuckles. Emily looked into JJ’s eyes, seeing the fear that was shining through. “Come on Jayje, you know you can talk to me. Please let me in,” pleaded Emily. Dropping her eyes from Emily’s, because they were staring at her intensely. “I know I can Em, it’s just hard. Yes I’m scared for my safety, I mean who wouldn’t be, but I’m terrified for your safety,” JJ confessed. Emily was speechless after hearing the blonde’s confession, so JJ decided to remove herself from Emily’s grasp and turn towards the window, letting her thoughts consume her. If I know she loves me, why can’t I just tell her that I love her? Oh God, how I want to be with her. I just can’t let her get hurt because of me. Emily turned towards the steering wheel, unsure of what to do except to keep driving. The rest of the ride to the conference was silent, both women engrossed in their own minds.

Rossi and Derek were looking over the list that Penelope managed to send. Every once in a while, a name would get crossed off because the man didn’t seem to fit the profile. It took a total of roughly three hours and two coffee pots to get through all the names. When Derek finally leaned back into his chair, done looking at the final suspect on the list, he sighed from sheer exhaustion, “Damn Rossi, Penelope was right, that was one hell of a list.” Derek dialled Penelope and after a minute, they heard “He who seeks the Queen of All Knowledge, speak and be recognized.” Chuckling to himself, Derek managed to inform Garcia about the new list, “hey baby girl, we cut down the list to 7 men, we need you to dig deeper on them and let us know what you find.” “Like you even have to ask. Back in a flash,” Garcia responded and ended the call. Rossi stood, grabbing the files on the table, “let’s go see if Hotch could use any help.” The two men cleaned up the office and closed the door behind them as they left.

Reid was looking through the geographical profile that they had in place, updating it with new information from the most recent murder. He was able to map out a circle with a radius of twenty miles. As he looked at the map, he saw a few properties that would be perfect for the unsub. I should talk to Garcia and see if she can find anything out about the houses in this area. After he was satisfied with the geographical profile, Reid left the room so he could update Hotch and Penelope.

The conference took a toll on both agents. Emily spent a majority of her time making sure JJ was ok after particularly difficult questions. As soon as they left the conference, Emily felt as if she was being watched so she glanced around, but when she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, she shook off her chills and resumed walking towards the SUV with JJ. When they got to the car, the women decided to head to the precinct to see if their team had any new leads. Although music was playing in the background, both agents were silent, each sorting through the thoughts that occupied their minds. After what seemed like an eternity, JJ was the first to speak, “Emily. There’s been something on my mind and I have to tell you before it’s too late.” Emily glanced at the blonde quizzically, completely oblivious to what the younger agent was trying to say. You already started, you can’t just leave her hanging, just tell her. You know how she feels about you. Just do it already Jareau. Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, JJ continued, “the other night, when you-”

Suddenly, the car was rammed, causing Emily to hit her head on the steering wheel and lose consciousness. In desperation, JJ grabbed the wheel and attempted to keep the car from crashing, but there was no use. The car drove into a lamppost, causing the airbags to expand. The smell of gasoline that was in the air was easily recognizable. There was destruction everywhere. Pieces of metal and glass littered the ground. Smoke billowed through from under the hood of the damaged car. The last thing JJ saw before she lost consciousness was Emily slumped in her seat, blood pouring from the cut on her head. She reached out weakly, cupping Emily’s pale cheek before dropping her hand. She whispered, “I love you too Em,” and succumbed to the darkness.

#jemily #emily prentiss x jennifer jareau #jemily fanfic #jemily fanfiction #jennifer jareau #jj #emily prentiss #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds #cm

[merinnan]

Time Raiders

Okay, pausing the DMBJ 2 watches to watch the Time Raiders movie instead! I've been told that the entire movie is basically one big crackfic & I want to see how true that is

- Apparently the only place I can find it is YouTube 

- And we open with someone laying down cards which...seem to be making a qilin pattern. Okay. 

- And now we're at the Himalayas, and it seems to be a bunch of white soldiers shooting people? 

- Oh, this leader white guy has a classic villain look. I love the pocket watch, too 

- Wait, he's supposed to be a scientist? 

 - He obviously hasn't read the Evil Overload Handbook 

- And now this is giving me flashbacks to Xiaoge's first appearance in DMBJ1

- Ah, yes, I think this is the Xiaoge for this movie. Excellent. 

- DUDES. You have GUNS. You were using them just before. Why are you now using knives only? 

- I mean, it wouldn't do much better, because Xiaoge, but still 

- This is A Look

- Finally, one of them uses a gun, and it's as useless as I expected it would be 

- Ahahahah, omg, what he did to these two guys is hilarious 

- That is a TERRIBLE hiding place 

- Don't....don't leave him alive. JFC

- This flashback montage is super weird 

- Look, I don't have a tattoo myself, but I'm pretty sure that that's not how you get tattoos 

- And now we move to Wushanju 

- Oh, I think it's Sanshu who's been playing with those cards

- ...you have got to be kidding me 

- Really? We're really doing this? 

- I guess this is Wu Xie, then 

- What even did he just randomly put that mask on for 

- That is NOT a newborn

- Awww, kid Wu Xie 

- Yay, creepy old houses. And ofc kid Wu Xie is gonna try to get inside 

- But that is a fucking massive lock 

- Yes, of course, wrap the porch in giant fuckoff chains, but don't lock the front door. Why not? 

- ....k 

- Sure, that happened

- And bratty kid Wu Xie still pinched one of the medallions after all of that 

- Okay, yeah, if you were a kid who had to go to a funeral every month, no wonder you'd be so bored at them

- This movie is all over the place in terms of timeline 

- I think we're finally into the time period of the main story 

- And it seems this one also has Wu Xie as having been an architecture student of some kind

- Oh, yes, that's exactly what you want to find while crawling through a tunnel 

- WX: "Sanshu can never know about this. You didn't tell him, right?" 

WM: *oh shit I'm screwed face* 

- Hi Sanshu, I wonder how you got here

- I love that no matter what version it is, Wu Xie is a little shit XD 

- ...Wu Xie. Moths. Light. No. 

- Wu Xie gonna Wu Xie 

- Wu Xie, what are you doing? 

- OMG 

- Sanshu, this is all your fault for never letting him in anything like this. He doesn't know not to touch

- Wow, that wasn't subtle at all 

- That's some steampunky looking villain lair right there 

- I love how the 'passerby video' getting screened fucking everywhere is just the movie footage of that scene XD That's some high quality passerby video with interesting angles

- That's an interesting drinking spot, Xiaoge 

- I love that so far Wu Xie's instincts for everything is either 'touch it', 'wear it', or 'dismantle it' 

- ....okay 

- Yeah, I....I think this is going to be my reaction to most of the movie, tbh

- Although at least this whole magic Snake Empress and weird ancient technology/magic thing is more interesting than the bland het palace drama randomly dropped into the middle of DMBJ1 

- Oh, finally, some product placement 

- I was wondering what was taking it so long

- I love how all their desks and papers and such are inside what look like coffins, and then fold out 

- Oh look, Xiaoge's sword is inside one of the coffins. 

- And there's Xiaoge 

- Hei Ye gave Sanshu the sword decades ago?

- lol, this is like some Sword in the Stone bullshit right here 

 - I love it 

- a) Was all that really necessary 

- b) wtf even is that sword? 

- It's a really bizarre design, and surely being able to be moved like a mechanical device would weaken it?

- ...okay, that was a cute meeting, I'll give it that 

- Love how the older guys are teasing Wu Xie in the truck here. 

- Oh, Wu Xie's actually a psych student in this one

- And like, Wu Xie, how do you know Xiaoge was looking at his reflection. It's a window, he might have just been spacing out at the scenery 

- You must have been paying a lot of attention to him to notice it was the reflection he was actually looking at, hmmm? 👀

- This is a cute Wu Xie, tho 

- Yes, Wu Xie, despite your lack of modesty there I totally caught that you just called Xiaoge handsome 

- WU XIE WHAT NO DON'T DO THAT 

- Hahaha, Xiaoge had exactly the same reaction

- No, Wu Xie, it doesn't matter that you'd taken the ammo out, you should never stick the barrel of a gun in your face and look down it like that. 

- Even if you're certain it's unloaded, you just DON'T DO THAT

- Wu Xie, lacking impulse control and survival instincts without Xiaoge and Pangzi since....forever 

- (okay, lacking survival instincts was perhaps a bit too far, but still)

- I love Xiaoge's "omg what even are you" look at that 

- This is a very talkative and open to talking about himself Xiaoge 

- It's kind of weird

- lol @ Sanshu locking Wu Xie in the truck so he can't come with them 

 - I mean, really, does he actually expect this to work? 

- He knows his nephew both likes and is good at taking things apart, after all 

- lol, I knew it 

- Oh 

- Oh, that's not a good sign

- Even Coral's logo just screams 'villainous organisation' 

- These mercenaries look like video game characters from like COD or something 

- Oh hi, lady I presume is A-Ning 

- I like the haircut. Looks kinda like DMBJ 1 Xiaoge's haircut, just with the fringe over the opposite eye

- Oh, there's that gratuitous boob shot that @thosch3i​ told me about 

- I really don't see why it was necessary for A-Ning to crawl all over the truck like that when everyone else just walked past it

- There is some really nice scenery in this movie with all the mountains and cliffs and such 

- "What I'm doing isn't about right or wrong, it's about how much" I like this A-Ning. She is refreshingly direct and mercenary

- Damn, I though Xiaoge was going to notice the drone. I mean, it's so close to them! He should notice it! 

- Love Hendrix's surprised Pikachu face at recognising him, though 

- I'm honestly surprised that none of them have looked in the truck at all

- I do appreciate that this movie doesn't even attempt to pretend that they're not tomb raiders 

- And that they have no interest in preserving this place 

- Because BOOM! Let's just dynamite our way in and destroy half the wall

- Oops, no floor there 

- Hahaha, this tomb is a fucking platform game 

 - Lovely, a shootout in a tomb. Just what every good tomb raiding movie need 

 - lol, Sanshu 

- Don't you ever ever again wonder where your nephew's little shit tendencies come from

- I think Xiaoge and A-Ning are the only truly competent people on their respective teams 

- A-Ning, 'keep them alive' does not mean 'try to shoot one in the face at close range' 

- That little boot knife is kinda cute, though 

- Clever move, Pan Zi

- I love the Xiaoge/A-Ning fight. He really is the only one who could keep her distracted 

- I'm impressed at how well she held her own with him 

- IDK why he was holding back

- Also, Xiaoge participating in fight banter, no matter how minimal? Strange, but also kinda cool. 

- I'm going to be giggling about that "Not bad"/"I know" for awhile, I think 

- IDK how they had the time or the ability to stay still long enough to rig up that trap, I'm impressed

- lol, yeah, I didn't think that it would take Wu Xie long to get out of the truck 

- I take back my earlier comment about it being too harsh to say that Wu Xie lacks survival instincts without Xiaoge and Pangzi around

- Wu Xie, there is not enough light down here for you to get good shots without your flash being on 

- I know having your flash on is a BAD idea, but still 

- You cannot be getting good photos in this light

- Why is Xiaoge separated from everyone? He jumped down with them 

- I mean, it's good that he is, otherwise Wu Xie would be kinda screwed right now 

- Huh, bats, there must be an actual entrance to this tomb, not just the one that Sanshu's team made.

- A-Ning's tiny baby drones are so cute 

- The English dubbing in this is surprisingly good compared to the shows 

- Yes, good, the staring is starting 

- ...Wu Xie, you little shit 

 - He's so pleased with himself 

- Xiaoge is so confused until he explains it 

- OMG, a Xiaoge smile

- OMG A XIAOGE LAUGH

- Ah yes, multiple large tornadoes, a way to signify weird shit is going now 

- And weird spinny planets forming an...energy grid of some kind? 

- ...k 

- The mini drones apparently only pick up on people who are part of A-Ning's team, I guess

- JESUS 

- I mean, I had a strong suspicion that was gonna happen, but it still made me jump 

- Xiaoge to the rescue! 

- Damn, that sword is strong 

- This tomb definitely has a spider colony, but given it also has a bat colony that doesn't surprise me

- Those are some creepy looking mannequins 

- This set up looks like a game of Mouse Trap 

- A game of Mouse Trap with fire 

- That's actually a really cool way to light all the candles and lamps 

- I'm impressed that none of the cobwebs have caught on fire

- Oh, so NOW you use your flash, Wu Xie. When the room is all well lit and you don't actually need it 

- CREEEEEPY 

- Wu Xie and his compulsive need to touch things 

- Are all the puppets connected somehow, or are we gonna have spooky magical shit making them all come to life?

- Oh, the puppet band is like the bells, I guess 

- Huh, it seems Wu Xie's the only one who got thrown into memories in these illusions, everyone else's hallucination still has them inside the tomb 

- wtf, a lion is a weird thing to hallucinate

- Magic Zhang blood, go! 

- IDK why he needs to cut himself for each person, though, surely one cut should be enough to get all the drops of blood he needs 

- Good boy, Wu Xie, already so protective of his Xiaoge

- This really is a fucking platform game 

- Guys, this is why you study up on the raid mechanics BEFORE you enter the instance 

- Ahahahah, the music playing as Wu Xie basically dances with the sword trap

- lol, the look on Xiaoge's face as he realises Wu Xie is just...fucking dancing and taking photos 

- And that it's WORKING 

- OMFG, this is basically just a bizarre dance sequence 

- I love it 

- It's so stupid

- The puppets having fucking crossbows 

- Because ofc they do 

- Repeating crossbows 

- ...k 

- So now we have a room full of skeletons stuffed into cages 

- Why not 

- Ah, we're about to have bugs show up 

- Excellent 

- This is what I've been waiting for

- Let the hilarity begin continue 

- Dude, you can quit right now as much as you like, but it doesn't mean you're going to be able to get out of here by yourself 

- I guess this guy's gonna die now 

- For the tropes are hungry and must be fed 

- Much like the bugs

- Yep, here we go 

- Hello, shibie, I've been expecting you 

- These ones don't look as cartoonishly ridiculous as the ones in DMBJ 1, I'm sad 

- OMFG, it's eating the shovel/pick/thing 

- Okay, this is a good effort at cartoonish ridiculousness

- It's a lovely day in the tomb, and these are horrible shibie 

- Poor Wu Xie, so shocked at getting slapped

- And yeah. Yeah, that's about the only thing you can do there. 

- Only way to save the guy is to just give him a quick death so he doesn't suffer from being eaten alive

- They're lucky these shibie move so slowly. It gives them plenty of time to climb up onto those frames 

- lol, weird bendy sword again 

- Wow, good catch, Wu Xie 

- Y'know, Wu Xie, it might have been more useful to give the knife to Da Kui 

- And ofc Wu Xie falls down

- What is a DMBJ adaptation without Wu Xie getting himself into danger like this?

- That was so much wtf all at once 

- First, an unbroken flute just, like, laying there on the ground 

- Then, Wu Xie somehow thinking that playing it would save him from the bugs 

- Then that WORKED 

- He's like the fucking Pied Piper of the shibie 

- What even is this movie

- Haha, the little OK sign he flashes at Xiaoge 

- The wtf look on Xiaoge's face 

- Same, Xiaoge. Same 

- I love how everyone just. Accepts it & congratulates Wu Xie on being an awesome flute player 

- But then ig what else are you gonna do? 

- It's like, well, this may as well happen

- Sanshu's team really likes using grenades, huh? 

- Well, it does work pretty well! 

- See, Wu Xie, this is when you need to summon your bugs back

- On a completely different tangent, I cannot get over how weirdly the subs translate men you ping. I had to look up wtf shtum was. I've never come across it before. Is it something more commonly used in the US or something?

- Xiaoge, when you said you had a better way than digging under the door, I didn't think you meant just BATTERING THE FUCKING DOOR WITH THE SHOVEL 

- Oh, no, it's with your sword

- Because the best way to look after a sharp blade and keep it in good condition and keep a good edge is to...hack at rocks with it 

- Ofc 

- Why didn't I think of that? 

-  OK, ig fucking up your sword's edge did actually work, there's now a giant-ass hole in the door

- This is serious Day After Tomorrow vibes here

- Ah, yes, giant lightning strikes that cause so much force to travel through the earth that they can semi-collapse a tunnel deep underneath a mountain 

- Just your usual tomb robbing dangers 

- Physicists and meteorologists would have a fucking field day here

- Ah, I see we're at this level of the platform game 

- With the collapsing floor you need to get across without falling

- Okay, that's really kinda sweet of Wu Xie here. He thinks he's likely to die, and the most important thing to him is giving Xiaoge the pictures he took of him so that he doesn't lose all his memories 

- And aww, Xiaoge's so worried about him

- Like, I'm totally understanding why the transmigrated Wu Xie in that fic looked at these two and went "wow, we're so gay in this timeline" 

- Even the music in this scene is shipping it 

- Romantic line, and dramatic fall through the floor. Yep.

- I'm amazed he survived that fall, but it's Wu Xie, and he can't die 

- ...yes, ancient Persian architecture totally had anachronistic technology. Sure. This is definitely like that 

- omfg, they're statis chambers 

- 2000 year old stasis chambers

- Guess they're not worried about catching Sanshu and his team to get the key anymore. They've been kinda sidetracked 

- Side quests will do that 

- ...plant golems 

- "Don't shoot the thing that's in the process of murdering your friend! You might damage my research project!"

- Ew, that's not a nice death 

- Yes, good girl, A-Ning 

- That thing was just gonna kill your whole team otherwise 

- ...how did that laptop survive the blast enough for Wu Xie to be using it with no problem 

- That's one tough laptop 

- Where do I get one?

- And hey, I guess the one Chinese guy with A-Ning isn't actually one of her people, since she just, like, left him there 🤣 In the room with a plant golem 🤣 That she then threw a grenade into 🤣

 - ...omg, that's meant to be Pangzi?

- I was wondering why no Pangzi in the movie. I guess 3/4 of the way through isn't too late to properly intro him 

 - Ahahaha, Wu Xie actually thinks his bluff was super successful when there's a plant golem behind him 

- Xiaoge to the rescue again XD

- lol @ both Pangzi and Wu Xie using Xiaoge's sword as a restraint 

- ...surprise A-Ning! I wasn't expecting her to actually come back 

- And she's somehow lost all of her guys

- That's a lot of snakes, but I'm more interested in where all the water is coming from and why you can see the sun behind those shelves 

- Given how deep under a mountain they're supposed to be 

- I do love competent, pretty girls wielding huge fuckoff guns

- This door mechanism is so intricate (like the key/timer). So ofc I'm sure they're going to destroy it all 

 - Because that's how tomb raiding movies go

- Introduce a tomb with intricate and complex mechanisms far in advance of anything else known to that time period and civilisation, and then destroy them in dramatic fight and escape scenes 

- OMG the floor is lava 

 - Of course there's lava as well

- Oh, and it seems it's now all open to the sky 

- Ig the lightning which could mysteriously exert high levels of force must have smashed through the mountain and very neatly cleared it all way so that this part of the tomb and only this part of the tomb is now open air

- Wang Zanghai wishes he could go this extra with tomb building 

- And now Xiaoge being super extra to get across the destroyed section of the bridge 

- So this dude is gonna wake up just before Xiaoge gets there, isn't he? 

- And we're going to get an epic swordfight between them

- At least, it better be an epic swordfight 

- Otherwise this buildup will be very disappointing 

- Ah, yes, good, there we go 

- And all the plant golems are also waking up 

- ...along with a shitton of snakes 

- OMG the snakes have arms 

- The snakes 

- have arms

- OMG Xiaoge's sword is doing what now? 

- That's almost as ridiculous as the snakes with arms 

- It's like a sword designed by a 13 year old weeaboo boy

"it's gonna be ancient, and super strong, and nothing will ever make it blunt" 

"okay, seems like a typical magic sword so far, that's fair" 

"and you can bend it at right angles" 

"...you can what"

"and when it's bent at right angles, you can make it spin really fast and still use it like a proper sword" 

"...it what"

- ...the Snake Empress is reforming in her armour as thousands of little vines all coming together 

- k 

- Sure 

- This may as well happen 

- And her armour has boobplate, because ofc it does 

- Oh, she ain’t happy that Xiaoge just killed her plant golem boyfriend

- Her aesthetics are hilarious 

- It's part Queen of the Damned, part Little Shop of Horrors 

- Okay, snake lady, your worms might change the world but honestly I think that lightning would be more effective if you could control it

- Sanshu and co just randomly walk in through another entrance 

- Oh, and there's the rest of A-Ning's team

- I want the story behind this A-Ning and her team. The way they all call her captain, and follow her without a second word, and are so genuinely happy to see her. This isn't just a throw-together team, or a team that Hendrix put together and put her in charge of. This is her team, and there's an obvious history between them

- And snake lady is suddenly not looking as pretty as she was, for no discernible reason 

- One minute she's jumping around, the next she's all pale and falling apart. At least her face is 

- It's like she's decomposing throughout the fight

- And here come the snakes with arms 

- They move just as slowly as the shibie in here do 

- They jump pretty fast, though 

- RIP the next member of Sanshu's team 

- Yeah, machine guns aren't that effective against regular snakes, let alone magic snakes

- And the plant golems are here 

- RIP more of Sanshu's team 

- Ah, the little snakes with arms are all grown up and off to conquer the world

- ...omfg Pangzi 

- And this time it's A-Ning to the rescue 

- I love how quickly Wu Xie and Pangzi fall into the dynamic of a pair of clowns, regardless of adaptation

- RIP Harry. You went out like a badass 

- Oh wow, both teams are having some fucking epic sacrificial deaths in this fight scene 

- I like 

- And more cute pingxie, this time in flashbacks 

- lol, clearing out plant golem conversion by pure force of will

- ...and channeling blood down the grooves in the sword blade apparently...makes it sharper? 

- At least, it couldn't cut through the vines before, and now it can 

- That's not how magnetic fields work

- Ahahaha, Wu Xie pulling out his flute 

- He's gonna pull that Pied Piper shit again, isn't he? 

- Here come the shibie, come to nom on plant-snake-lady flesh! 

- She's having just as much trouble with them as everyone else does

- Because it's a lovely day in the tomb, and they are horrible shibie 

- Wow, she hits hard, she knocked Xiaoge like halfway across the chasm 

- Good thing there was a random broken pillar there

- Are they getting obliterated? 

- Ah, no, they're getting sucked up by the wind 

- Shibie-nado! 

- You know, I kinda like how bad Wu Xie's English is compared to everyone else who's spoken English so far 

- It nicely demonstrates who speaks it a lot and who doesn't

- Aw, Wu Xie, you're always so optimistic when you're baby 

- And it actually worked. I'm impressed. 

- Oh wow, A-Ning, that's some character development right there, caring about right or wrong instead of money

- Nice Pangi & A-Ning dynamic in this movie, given how they usually hate each other 

- This is definitely the final level of a platform game 

- Hahah, the two teams now 

- Awwwwwwww 😭

 - I think this is the first time I've seen Wu Xie rescue Xiaoge rather than vice versa 

- "I regret not locking you in the truck myself" 

 - Sorry, Xiaoge, I don't think you'd actually have much more luck with that than Sanshu did 

- Xiaoge, you really should have been more careful there, you almost did low Wu Xie 

- Good thing A-Ning was close by!

- ....the sword...is being used...as a boomerang 

- wtaf 

- Hahahah, the snakes' death throes, omg 

- lol what even was that ending

Overall: This movie was just one long DMBJ PingXie AU crackfic, and the author didn't know how to end it so just...didn't write an actual ending. That's the only way I can explain it. 

#dmbj #daomu biji #time raiders

[yesyourstalker]

Neta: *snoring*..mmmmm uh fuck....hello..*sniff*.... yeah....maki-mahi.. what is it? What's up?..... Yeah yeah he has the job he can come in Tuesday or whatever..... Yeah no you can go home *yawn* I don't feel like opening the store today something's come up. No, everything is fine. I'm fine. Just something has come up recently. Don't worry about it......ok bye

Ikkan: *yawn* so he has the job?

Neta: yeah

Ikkan: and you're going to be nice?

Neta: ..........as nice as I can be...... hehehehe Mommy and daddy took away his money hahaha *sigh* I love it

Ikkan: yeah. He's going to be a part of normal everyday society for a little while that's good I think he needs this.

Neta: you think ?

Ikkan: last winterfest he gave me an eight carat tennis bracelet and all I gave him coffee table

Neta: why a coffee table?

Ikkan: it came with the record player and it had a little shelf where you can store vinyls. It was like $300, the bracelet he gave me was more than my first car.

Neta: Cod..............how long are you staying?

Ikkan: I think I missed the train to the airport.... honestly I wanted to stay for another night anyway

Neta: that's good I missed waking up next to you

Ikkan: mmmmm you're sweet....you want to go to fishies get some breakfast or something?

Neta: yeah let me check my sugar and I'll head out.... Cirrina. Morning crab cakes.

Cirrina: what is it dad

Neta: going out to get something to eat. You want me to get you a shrimp scramble and maybe some warm tea. You said you were still cramping you want me to get you something?

Cirrina:ugh......Cod dad.....No! I don't want anything. I'm going back to bed.

Neta: ok.... wanted to see if you're doing ok. I'm sorry I didn't mean to bother you crab cakes

Cirrina: Wait! Can you give me extra lemon for the tea and no ketchup on the scramble

Neta: ok baby

(car ride)

Neta:...........

Ikkan:.........

Neta: so how are things?

Ikkan: it's fine. Diss-pair is on a break, college is good. I'm getting into pottery, I'm now allergic to citrus so is noji now apparently

Neta: I always forget you two are related

Ikkan: yeah, we're the definition of fraternal.... I got offered a job at a school as a teacher for mollusk academy private school. They said after I graduate I can get the job.

Neta: babe that's amazing! You're gonna say yes right please tell me you're going to say yes.

Ikkan: I don't know....it's one of those fancy school..... I'm not really good with kids... What if they don't like me?

Neta: those kids are going to fucking love you babe. I think you should take it. Where is it anyway?

Ikkan: It's in the next city over by Inkopolis

Neta: Cephal City?

Ikkan: yeah

Neta: I think you should take the offer... I really do what kind they want you to do be a band director ?

Ikkan: music teacher....so mostly orchestra. With Warabi working now this could be a nice career change.

Neta: yeeesssss..... Besides it doesn't mean diss-pair has to end.

Ikkan: yeah. You're right....how are things with you?

Neta: it's been great.... The stores doing amazing. My store was featured in a magazine as one of the top 10 stores right under Toni kensa outlet

Ikkan: that's really good to hear!?..... And cirrina? How is she been? She was really quiet when I came over

Neta: she's........... She's 13 now......*sigh* She's growing, developing and maturing......you know....

Ikkan: oh....I get what you're saying.

Neta: she's not my baby girl anymore and I don't know what to do. It just feels like I'm either doing too much or not enough for her.

Ikkan: you doing enough babe you're there for her and you're doing your best to support her

Neta: It just feels like she's pushing me away. I used to be her favorite person. Every time I come home she'd run to my arms. Now I'm lucky if she looks at me.

Ikkan: sweetie, she loves you. She's just trying to find her independence and where she fits in this world and that comes with some boundaries challenging authority. You can't take them personally. She still loves you. She's just going through a lot at that age..... I remember I used to be like that.... Except with crippling gender dysphoria .............but other than that I understand what it's like. This rebellion will soon fizz away and she'll be back to normal. Maybe just sit down and talk to her and ask her how she's feeling from time to time. Maybe that's all she needs at the moment

Neta: I'll try. Maybe start with her behavior in school. Her grades are amazing. Straight A's and everything better than me!! But she's also getting in trouble and I caught her skipping school a lot like I ground her but she goes back to doing it after the punishment is over

Ikkan: maybe she's not challenged enough. Maybe put her in another school if this one isn't working out. She's still playing the cello?

Neta: yeah! She's really good...........You're a good teacher

Ikkan: hehehe.....,*sigh* maybe enroll her in mollusk academy.

Neta:....that's something else I need to think about......... unless.......I've been thinking of expanding the store.

Ikkan: it's already big

Neta: ha! no. I mean I'm thinking of opening another store. You know the arowana mall? they're moving the Rockenberg store to the back and they have a space open..... they offered it to me it's a two story space they left the lounge upstairs with self-serve coffee place

Ikkan: that sounds really cool.....arowana mall is 20 minutes away from cephal city...............

Neta: ..........................yeah it is...... huh-

Ikkan: I graduate in 2 years and mollusk academy is a high school she'll be in high school by then. How long will it take for your store to be built?

Neta: 3 years at best......... But I'll have to move and I'll have to find someone to run my other store

Ikkan: mahi! They're your longest employees? Have them run the store how old are they?

Neta:Mahi? They're 24.

Ikkan: by the time your other store opens they'll be 27, perfect age they can run the store by themselves. Now with Warabi working there they'll have some help

Neta: yeah that sounds like a solid plan. Sooooo what is this? what are we doing? What's going on?

Ikkan: I don't know but we have at least 3 years to figure it out. That's plenty of time.

Neta: *sigh*............... I hope so

Epilogue at

Warabi: so what he say?

Mahi: He told me you got the job

Warabi: That's it. he didn't say anything else? there's no catch or anything. Didn't you say no the first time.

Mahi: He actually said 'hell no' but yeah he did say no the first time. I don't know what convinced him

Warabi: hm... Maybe he just had a change of heart and just-................ Oh my cod..........

Mahi: what? what's wrong?

Warabi: shhhhhjj be quiet. Don't turn around hehehe

Warabi: let me call him............ Hey ikkan. Where are you?..... Oh you're at home?....in splattsville...... that's funny because I see someone standing in line at fishies. Looks exactly like you and he's with your ex. That couldn't be You could it?.................. Your silence is a lot louder than-......... I'm literally staring at you! Don't you fucking!.............He hung up

Mahi: something's come up huh!?.....oh shit.. Hehehehe they're fucking leaving

Warabi: hehehe we're going to get fucking fired for doing that hahahaha

Mahi belongs to @fish-at-fish-fish-resort

[sea-side-scribbles]

Fanfiction: Sympathy For A Downer

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22737214/chapters/80799997

Chapter 71

Birdie was so happy about Nick's offering that she didn't mind staying for a while longer. They chatted and made first plans about what their mutual project should actually be like. Nick showed her his collection of guitars he had in his suite and made use of one of them. He found that their voices sounded wonderful together. And they would look smashing together, too. Nick was very happy to work for such a promising project. He was looking forward to it and it helped him to relax, too. It gave him the distraction he needed after everything that had happened. When Birdie eventually said goodbye to him, they had had much fun, even though none of them had taken Party Favours or got drunk. Nick left his suite himself shortly after, because he had friends to come back to. And when he thought of Virgil while passing by the statue, it didn't dampen his mood. Virgil would've been proud of him, he was sure of it.

At home he greeted his band just as happily and they all wanted to know if Nick's current trip had brought another project into being or solved another problem. Nick implied that he had planned something, but he had to keep them on tenterhooks for now, because he wanted to talk to James first. “You'll make it, Nick”, Matt said and the amount of trust in his voice almost made Nick cry. He visited James in the office and it nearly felt like the good old times. “James, do you have time for me?” Though the half-opened door he could see his new manager leaning over a pile of papers, reading intently. His face lit up when he saw Nick. With a joyful expression, he gestured him to come in. “Of course! What is it? You've been off your own bat for a while now.” Nick grinned mysteriously, entering the room. “This is gonna be great!”, he said full of convincement. He sat down next to James, who couldn't keep his eyes of his rockstar.

“I made my show more phenomenal than it would've been anyway! At the same time I've settled an unnecessary fight!” James lifted an eyebrow. “You remember Birdie? We talked about her, that she might take my place and perform at Memorial Day....She was Virgil's star, too, and she's really good. I finally got to know her. We came closer to each other because of...what we feel for Virgil and I'm convinced we should overcome this together.” He made a pause to take a breath. James didn't flinch. “We'll perform together. I invited her today and she accepted and we have so many ideas...This is gonna be fantastic! The fans will go wild!” Nick looked at James with excitement in his eyes, searching for approval. “This is surely a surprise...” “Yeah! Nobody will expect this! The press keeps claiming we couldn't stand each other!” “Do you really want this?” James gave Nick an urgent look. Nick began to doubt. “What do you mean? Don't you like the idea? Do you want me to cancel it?”

James' expression became mild again. “Forgive me...I'm afraid  my inner therapist is breaking through again...I had to ask. I know that you're sometimes doing things because you feel guilty. Do you feel guilty because of Virgil?” And as so often, Nick took the question seriously and thought about it. “I don't know...It's not the same as with Morrie...It's not that I made him go anywhere dangerous...right?” Nick crossed his arms, pondering. Then he dismissed it with a shake of his head. “Actually, I've put up with it until you asked”, he said woefully. “I'm sorry, Nicky...I'm certain you're not to blame, but it's possible  you feel obliged to help Birdie.” Nick wiped an invisible lint from his suit. “Well...I wouldn't say 'obliged'...I feel sorry for her, that's true...But I also don't want us to part ways without any ado.” “This is indeed plausible”, James admitted. “I was afraid you do this because you think you can't make it alone.” Nick's expression darkened. “What's wrong with not being alone?” “You have us.” “Yeah, and you will be there, too! Everyone who matters to me will be there! This is going to be a fresh start!” “Does she matter that much to you?”, James asked quietly. “James!”, Nick blurted out, then he caught himself a bit. “Are you jealous?” The manager again didn't flinch. “I just don't understand why you want to impair your success.” “Impair?” “Did you never consider she could steal the show?” Nick boldly flashed his eyes at him. “Do you think I'm so unremarkable?” “No, but I don't know what to think about her.” “You can trust me, James”, Nick urged him. “Also, it's impossible to cancel it now. And I would turn her against me for sure.” James gave him a mysterious look. “In that regard, you can however trust me...” “No, James”, Nick suddenly said pleadingly. “Please, don't...” His eyes glazed over, then he closed them. His hands massaged his temples as if he had an headache. “Ah, well...”, his manager answered calmly. “If you want it this way, then this is what you'll get.” Nick opened his eyes again, slowly and blinking, taking notice of his surroundings again. “You...you're helping me?” James took Nick's hand. “I'm at your side, Nick.” Nick thankfully squeezed the comforting hand.

Jack kept his promise. When they presented the project to the band, he appeared to be excited about the idea and supported Nick wholeheartedly. Not that the band would've been very critical about it anyway. Just as Nick had guessed, they found everything smashing and he didn't know what their true opinion would've been. He regretted that he couldn't get through to them anymore but he comforted himself with the fact that he now had the chance to convince them that he was a good band leader and that he didn't exploit them. When they turned sober again, he would have enough proof and they hopefully wouldn't believe anymore that he had done something horrible to Virgil.

After all, he still liked their company. He could talk to Matt again as if they never had a fight, as if they were best friends again. He was moved by that every time. Chris began to show him tricks again, shared riffs with him and stayed with him for long jam sessions. He seemed to forget that Nick wasn't the inexperienced freshman anymore. In the old days he had learned a lot from the lead guitarist. Chris had taken him under his wing back then and Nick had gladly absorbed everything he was told and shown. He had admired Chris anyway. Later, the lead guitarist had claimed that Nick stole all his ideas. It hurt to think about it, but now it seemed to be obliterated. Nick was sure that real forgiveness would feel much better, but it still comforted him that they were friends again. Or even a family. Also Brad had unlearned all mistrust. He often hung around with Matt. The two had gotten along very well from the beginning, since him and Nick had joined the band. When Birdie finally visited them they simply came along. The band accepted her and they took their time to create their style. Nick was sure he had made the right decision.

Arthur looked around with a scowl on his face. He couldn't explain why the sight affected him that much. After all, it didn't change anything. Or did it? A part of him insisted on it, and that was why he could only let out a depressed sigh while his fingers ran along the cradle. The mobile hung above his head, brightly coloured and rather new, in contrary to the ones he had seen in many damaged houses in the Garden District. However, it was just as lonely as them. He assumed the child had a better fate than the ones in the past. Pondering, Arthur gave the mobile a little push. It began to dance, letting shadows flicker over the empty bed. He wondered how Sally was doing right now. How she managed to get out of town, with a baby. Why didn't she tell him?

Arthur punched the cradle in frustration. The next moment he was sorry about it. It wouldn't have changed anything. She got all the help she wanted. Thinking about the cod liver oil, he closed his eyes shut as if he could lock away the obvious. Not for an experiment, not a Sally whim... It wasn't proof that the baby was sick. It could've been pure precaution. Still, Arthur now believed to understand the trouble he had seen in her eyes. And the relief, when Nick offered her his help. Whatever Nick's true motive had been, Arthur wished he had acted more like him, wouldn't have made such a fuss about it. Not everyone wanted to prey on him, that's what it looked like now. She could've fucking said something!

Arthur had slumped down in a corner by now. Did she think he would betray her? Didn't she trust him, after everything they... No. Not again. He shook off the thought. But he wasn't a traitor. Did Nick know? Was that the reason why he had urged Arthur to help her? For a moment he felt betrayed. But no, Nick was just a Wellie. She wouldn't have risked that. Still, he couldn't help but to feel betrayed. She had a baby, from who knows who, and she left for good, leaving an emptiness that Arthur couldn't fill up with anything. But what was he thinking, he wondered. He didn't care about Sally anymore! The emptiness was created by Nick! He exhaled loudly. Oh, Nick... What had he said about concurrently love? In any case, it wasn't a state Arthur liked very much. Especially not after losing both of them. Finally, he struggled up again. Stop crying!, he scolded himself. You lost Sally long ago and you should've been smarter than getting involved with Nick! He had to keep on, clench his teeth. There was a lot to do.

Nick and Birdie goaded each other into giving their peak performance. Nick noticed how the other superstar's presence called him to discipline again and aroused his ambition. Nick didn't want her to steal the show by any means, and he was sure that she felt the same. They would both give their best. According to that, they were exhausted after every session. One night, Nick decided to show Birdie his secret lair. They both were a bit tipsy despite all the discipline and clung to each other while ascending the stairs. He ordered her to close her eyes as he tried for the right combination to open the secret entrance. The guitars on the wall looked a bit more blurry than usual, and it was harder to read the instructions. He succeeded after a few tries while Birdie convulsed with laughter because he couldn't open his own lair. She quickly stopped teasing him when she stood in the great hall.

“They're gigantic!”, she exclaimed, staring at the golden statues. “Are they turning or is that just me?” Nick laughed. “They're standing still. It must be you.” She punched his arm and he liked it. Going further, Nick proudly presented the next room. Birdie examined everything. “Wow, looks like hell broke loose in here!” Nick had fond memories of that. “And that is where you record your songs?” She pointed at the piece of equipment in the left corner. “Among other places”, Nick said. “I guess I created a lot of my greatest hits in here.” “Are they all yours?” She eyed his collection of LPs. “I guess so...” Nick scratched his head. “All my old songs should be here, too.” “How old?” “Ah...very old...” He searched them. Then he froze, holding a record in his hands and staring at it. “Oh...this is making me...I don't know...”, he slurred, fighting the upcoming sadness. “What's wrong? Are you sick?” Birdie was quickly by his side.

Nick pulled out the record and sighed. “It's our first album...I had it here...the whole time...” “Wow, are you sure?” Nick's unwellness was forgotten. “It's forbidden to remember, but sometimes I just have to...”, he said quietly. “They are happy memories”, Birdie pointed out. “Yeah...” Nick ran a finger over his own photo on the cover. “Is this you with sixteen?” “Yeah...”, Nick muttered. “Fancy hair”, she remarked. Nick had to smile. “I felt so free and wild with it...Hard to believe Virgil convinced me to change it.” “I guess the fashion changed.” She shrugged. “Probably...Virgil always kept me up to date...He had Davy to help him.” “Oh, yeah, he's helping us all...” She looked at the photo. “Who's idea was the moustache?” Nick scratched his neck. “I don't know...I guess it was mine...I always liked Morrie's...” He stopped. “He looks hot with it indeed”, she agreed and eyed Morrie's photo, that Nick hadn't dared to look at. “I know, right?”, Nick didn't hesitate to say. “I...think I had a soft spot for him once...”. She tried to remember. “He was always so mysterious.” “He didn't know how popular he really was”, he muttered, surprised that Birdie knew him. “Poor Morrie...”, she sighed. “Yeah...” Nick's face fell.

“Sorry, Nick...”, she quickly said. “I don't know, why I keep doing this. I can't have a normal conversation since...” “Since what?” Birdie winced. “That's...another unhappy memory.” “Hey, I won't melt, you can expect me to put up with it”, he assured her. “Well...” She crossed her arms. “A Downer attacked me once...I can't really close my mind anymore since then...” “Oh...right...” It downed upon Nick. “I...completely forgot about that...” “I should forget it too...We should talk about something else.” “Are you really okay?”, Nick asked softly. His guilty feelings weren't long in coming. She smiled again. “Virgil was with me a lot. He stood by me.” Nick could imagine that the manager's presence had been very comforting. “You meant a lot to him.” Birdie hugged herself again. “I hope so...” They looked at each other and Nick was sure he knew how she felt.

“It's not a bad thing to grieve. I'm grieving too. I also lost someone who had been precious to me”, he blustered out. “Sure...Morrie...Virgil...” She sounded uncertain. “And another one...”, Nick added. “I...liked them as much as you liked Virgil...” “I'm sorry...” For a while they fell silent. “We're some...funny chaps...”, Nick remarked, grinning a little. Birdie's mouth corners twitched as  well. “This is just between the two of us...”, she said and it sounded like a question. “Of course”, he answered without hesitation. “Hey, I have many illegal traits, you could just as well do the dirty on me.” “You know I wouldn't do that”, she said with a soft voice. Nick blinked. “Do I?” She looked at him. “Come on, Nick, put the record on.” “Yeah? You really want to hear that?” “I do. And I want you to dance with me. Let's be sixteen once again.”

There goes nothing, Nick thought. He had the feeling that dancing meant bad luck for him, after what happened the last time. But when he took her hand and saw her beaming at him, his sorrows melted away. They were still there, these people that simply radiated warmth, that made him feel that everything would be alright, that gave him back his strength and showed him that he could still do something right. Dancing with her was the best thing he could do right now. Only the two of them and the music. He could actually be sixteen again, dancing in a club, being free from all worries. She gave him this feeling and he enjoyed it. When the next song began they continued to dance, embracing each other because it was a ballad, and none of it felt wrong.

#we happy few #wehappyfew #whf #whfnick whf nick #nick lightbearer #nicklightbearer #arthur hastings we happy few #whf arthur #whfarthurhastings #whfarthur