#anyway lucky me and my brother has my moms influence and we turned out great | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yuzukult · 3 years

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from home 01 || jjk & reader

title: from home pairing: jungkook x reader genre: richkid!jk, baker!reader, fakedating!au, fluff, angst, e2l, smut in future chapters word count: 7.1k+ prompt: jungkook is the youngest of five boys, the last in line to truly inherit any his parents’ money. but what if his mom suddenly cuts him off due to his current poor behavior and he’s forced to learn how it feels like to be part of the working class?

a/n: i hate cliches but i also love them so i’m gonna write them lol also i know ‘from home’ is an nct song, don’t come @ me. in addition to that, i’m hoping i can expand my writing and be able to lengthen it as much as possible! (well... this chapter only has 7.1k but baby steps...)

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Jeon Jungkook is a disappointment.

Well, kind of. His four older brothers think so, especially when he comes stumbling at noon on a Thursday, hair disheveled, shirt buttoned all wrong, half tucked into his pants with the zipper down. “He’s already fucking drunk.” His second eldest brother, Jonghyun, hisses, standing up from the dining table of his parents’ home. They’re supposed to have a scheduled lunch together, and although Jungkook is surprisingly on time, he’s still intoxicated. Jungsik and Jongseok, his other big bros respectively, only shake their heads in their seats, finding this situation all too familiar. The baby does it again.

The oldest of them all, Junghwan, does nothing. His eyes say it all—the glimmer that once was evident in them was drowned, full of nothingness when he looks at his youngest sibling.

But their mom didn’t think of it that way. She spoiled Jungkook like crazy, to the point that he’s the way he is today. Mrs. Jeon saw potential in him the moment she birthed him in 1997; full of love, life, and glory, Jeon Jungkook was going to be off doing great things.

Yet, ever since Jungkook ripped into the age of 16, everything changed. He started smoking, cigarettes, weed, name it and Jungkook has done it. By the time he turned 17, he was experimenting with different types of alcohol, far and wide, and eventually moved up into sleeping with multiple women consecutively. Coincidentally, they’re rich from wealthy families with nothing but dollar signs in their eyes when they see Jungkook, his beauty just being a perk of the package. In spite of his women endeavors, he had enough respect for his mother not to bring them home.

“Mother,” Junghwan finally speaks up, voice stern and face hard. She comes peering out from the back, the house servants trailing behind her before they all realize the sight of Jungkook, clumsily tripping on his own feet, quickly running to his aid while his mother only gasps in horror. “Jeon Jungkook does it again. He can’t just come to a family lunch, no, that would be too easy. He has to do it while reeking of alcohol, on a weekday, all in broad daylight. This is what happens when you let your child run wild and do whatever they please with all the money in the world. They turn out like him.”

His words are harsh, but they don’t impact Jungkook like they used to. No, not after he discovered his love for vodka, whiskey... all of the above. He learned that before seeing any of his family members require at least a couple servings. Stepping into the Jeon’s residence means being criticized, words that come shooting at him like bullets and in the beginning, they pierced through his thin skin with ease, heart clenching in pain at the men he idolized and admired. His skin hasn’t thickened since then, but alcohol does a great job of numbing it all.

Mrs. Jeon glares at her eldest son, the next in line to take over the Jeon Corporation when their father retires. She loves all her kids equally, yet gifted Jungkook more attention than the rest. To be fair, she couldn’t help herself when she saw those pools of sweet chocolate called orbs, begging for her love and affection. “Jungkook, why are you drunk already, love? It’s only 12:30. You probably haven’t eaten lunch yet.”

“But I’ve already had breakfast,” He slurs, the housemaids attempting to have him seated at one of the chairs at the dining table that extends from one end to the room to the next. Seat big enough for two people, he slides down in it, head falling to the side in drowsiness. “Mimosas. My favorite breakfast drink.”

“What’d you do? Champagne with a sprinkle of orange juice?”

“Mmm, didn’t have champagne. Worked with vodka instead.” The four men grimaced.

Their mother’s face softened at his response. “Jungkookie, baby. You can’t just come marching in here like this. We’re having a lunch, together, as a family. You’re lucky your father is coming here late, or else you would’ve been kicked out in seconds.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t kick you out in seconds,” Junghwan chimes in, expression unwavering. “This is ridiculous, Jungkook. You need to stop acting like some bachelor. What are you? Twenty-three? Kim Taehyung was that age when he proposed to his now wife. Yet you’re still fucking around with mom’s friends daughters who innocently are just looking for love. How reckless is that?”

“Junghwan.” Mrs. Jeon says through her gritted teeth, eyes shooting daggers at her son. “Stop it.”

“Hyung has a point, mom,” Jonghyun interjects, making his way toward Jungkook before sitting on the armrest of the chair beside the youngest one. “What has Jungkook even done other than come to every event drunk, spend all our family’s money, and fuck around with women he has no intention of marrying?”

Mrs. Jeon raises a brow at Jonghyun, sucking in her cheeks in disbelief. “You boys are acting like you guys have never been through this phase.”

“Mom,” Jungsik, the middle child and the most empathetic of all, attempts to console his mother’s anger toward his older siblings, humming soothingly. “We all got over that by the age of 21. Jungkook is twenty-three.”

Despite being completely under the influence, the pain is evidently still there. He regrets not drinking an extra glass or two of that make-shift mimosa. They speak of him as if he’s not even in the room, and it makes him feel sick. He knows this feeling well—and his stomach stirring isn’t from the alcohol. Jungkook can’t even look at his mom at the moment, a bit embarrassed by how all his brothers seemingly gang up on their mom just because she was defending him. He really felt like a baby.

“Well, what do you suggest I do? Tell him to get married? You wouldn’t want that, right, Jungkook?” He gazes at the table. Mostly because he doesn’t know what to say, especially if she’s suddenly taking suggestions. “I take that as a no. So it’s settled, there’s nothing we can do.”

“Why don’t you just like... cut him off?” Jongseok proposes, shrugging at his own idea. “I mean, just until he gets his act together. He’s not getting any younger, and if he actually put his brain to use, he could be part of the company, leading in a division. Jungkook isn’t stupid, he’s just acting it.”

At this point, Jungkook’s consciousness begins to fade, slumber creeping up and drowning him like quicksand. For the first time, he regrets consuming so much alcohol because when he’s awake, he’s sleeping on the couch of one of their family rooms with his mother sitting in an armchair, worry washed over her face.

“Mom?” He jerks up, pushing off the blanket that someone had laid on him while he was asleep. “Everything alright?”

“Jungkook,” She begins, and he can already tell it’s going to be bad news. “I think I’ve spoiled you too much. When I first saw you as a baby, I thought that you needed everything, and I wanted to give you everything. Your brothers just grew up so much more differently than you did, your dad wasn’t so swamped with the company and had an abundance of time with them before you came along.”

His mom doesn’t look over at him. She looks uneasy, something eating her insides, and he feels nothing but remorse for her. Jungkook wants to move closer in attempts to comfort her, but it seems that she purposely sat at that distance. “I thought that giving you everything you needed and more meant that I was giving you the things that your father couldn’t give you and look where you are now... wasted every single time you come home. You haven’t had any real jobs, and when I supported you during your modeling endeavors, you threw all of that away! And for what, Jungkook? I gave you everything... and now I feel like a horrible mother.”

“Mom,” He reiterates, his voice soft and apologetic. “You’re not horrible. You took care of me, defended me against all of my hyungs, and guided me through the hardest times of my life. But maybe you’re right, I can’t do it anymore. I’ll do better, mom—”

She finally turns to see him. Her eyes are bloodshot red from the tears, bags underneath them from years of taking care of her five sons that have increased over time from Jungkook’s shenanigans. “No. Jungkook, I’m cutting you off.”

He nearly chokes on his spit. “What?”

“I’ll give you an allowance every month. It’s not a lot, but it’ll be enough to get you by. You can stay in my studio apartment downtown; I haven’t been there in a while so it’ll require some sprucing up.” She places a manila envelope on the table with Jungkook’s name written across it, wiping the tear that streams down her cheek. “You need to learn to fend for yourself, Kook.”

The next morning, Jungkook finds himself lying flat on his bed, staring up at the ceiling with his legs tangled in his satin sheets. Just like that, in an instant, he lost everything. He should’ve stayed sober before coming, or at the very least, took one shot of vodka rather than... well, a couple cups worth. Sleep didn’t come easy that night but the guilt crept in like a tsunami. All that went through his mind was how he let his mom down, her favorite son, and that she had to come to terms with this new arrangement. Disappointing his brothers was something he’d done continuously over the years anyway, so the chance of finally making them proud has gone out the window but with his mom, there was a little bit of opportunity left to show her that he wasn’t completely a fuck up.

“Thanks, Hyungjin.” Jungkook is grateful that his mom let Hyungjin drive him downtown, and to come up to help drop off his belongings. The older male nods, tipping his hat at him. Hyungjin had been Jungkook’s driver for as long as he could remember; from piano lessons, early and late school drives, to even his one-night stands, where Jungkook would panic call Hyungjin and he’d come almost immediately after. Although he’d hope to see him again, he knows that this may be the last time Hyungjin drives him. “I hope I get to see you again.”

“Of course you will, Mr. Jeon. If you prove yourself to your brothers, I’m sure that they’ll be more than willing to accept you back into the family with open arms.”

Jungkook scoffs, shoving the key to the apartment into the slot of the knob. “I wish. I’m sure they’ll find a way to still keep me out. They hate me, Hyungjin, and I don’t know what else I’m going to do.”

“No, no, Jungkook. They’re your brothers. They have nothing but love for you. Tough love, maybe, but love nonetheless.” Hyungjin carries a portion of the suitcases and bags when Jungkook opens the door to the apartment; the both of them sneezing and coughing abruptly once they step inside. The entire apartment was dusty, dark, and gloomy. The windows had these black long and heavy curtains that blocked any sunlight from seeping through, and the remains of his mother’s paintings and canvases sprawled all across the floor with splatters that coat the wooden floors and brick walls that all were collecting dust.

“Uh... I guess Mrs. Jeon isn’t tidy when her artistic side comes out.” Hyungjin jokes, eyes skimming around the apartment. He walks over to sink, turning the knob of the faucet on, and Jungkook doesn’t even notice that he’s holding his breath until he releases it when the water flows out of the spout. “Least there’s still water? I think your parents are still paying for this place.”

After shoving as much of Jungkook’s personal items into the apartment, Hyungjin brushes his hands off on his slacks, straightening his back afterwards. “Well, Mr. Jeon, congrats on the start of your new future. I know that technically I’m not supposed to drive you anymore, but... if you are in dire need of help, please don’t hesitate to call me.”

Placing a hand on Hyungjin’s shoulder, Jungkook sighs. “Thanks, Hyungjin, really. It means a lot.”

After sending Hyungjin off, Jungkook does some scavenging. For one, there’s some plates in the cabinets that he could use for the time being. No shampoo, no loofah and... when he opens the fridge in the kitchen, his face scrunches up from a whiff of the odor. Milk. Of course, his mother left half a carton of milk in there and hasn’t been back for months. “Guess... I already need to go shopping.”

“Your total is going to be ₩62,636.00.” Packing the groceries that had been scanned into the brown paper bags that were stuffed into another plastic one, you push it down the line for the customer as she’s shuffling through her purse for her wallet.

“You know, I am the bag boy, right? I can do it.” Hoseok, a fellow co-worker of yours, comments at your actions, hooded eyes darting in your direction in annoyance. “I know you’re trying to be nice to me because Hyeri broke up with me last night, but that doesn’t mean I’m incapable of working.”

“Hush,” You demand, yet face blooming with smiles for the customer who replicates the expression, sliding the credit card into the payment terminal. “Have a good day!” You’d cry out with every receipt you handed to a customer as they’d walk out the store, slouching immediately afterwards from the exhaustion that washes over you. “I’m just trying to make today a bit easier for you, Hobi. I know how much she means to you.”

“You’re kidding right? I’m rich, I’m only working here because I’m trying to save some money up to leave that household but I haven’t left yet. I’m thinking of doing some type of yacht party tonight; drinks, girls, all my homies getting drunk, it’s a great way to truly mend my heart.”

You roll your eyes at the male, leaning back against the register. “If you keep spending your parents’ money like that, you don’t have to leave. They’ll just kick you out.”

He gasps. “I sure as hell hope not, not ‘til I’m ready.” Shaking his head at the thought, he freezes as his mouth gapes open. “Ah, speaking of. Mrs. Jeon actually cut off one of her children. Mostly because he’s a brat and needs to be taught how to be humble... and grateful... and maybe not to be such a dick.”

“Oh?” You raise a brow questioningly. “Which one? Is it the one you’re friends with?”

Hoseok wags his finger in disagreement. “Not friend, acquaintance. We’re party buddies, but he and I don’t talk deep things like you and me. But yes, it’s the baby of them, Jeon Jungkook.”

The name is familiar. His face is plastered on almost all of the billboards that you’d pass by on your route to work. Jeon Jungkook was one of the heirs of the Jeon Corporation, and his mother being the CEO of the supermarket and café chain you had been employed at. Despite all of that, he chose to go the path of modeling (from what you know, it’s just for fun and games), and did nothing to help his family out in their business. Although you never found yourself involved with the media, Jungkook was an image hard to get rid of. His news was everywhere, especially since you had no idea how to remove the Apple News notifications from your phone. Tech wasn’t exactly your strongest suit.

“Interesting. Well, that sucks for him. Can’t have it all.”

“You say that because you’re not rich,” He frowns, crossing his arms. “You’d be living a different life if you had some more money.”

Leaning over the counter, you tap Hoseok’s nose with your pointer finger. “And I’m okay with where I am. Working two jobs, saving up money for my dreams while paying off my student loans... I’m okay with that. Yes, I’m tired, and who wouldn’t kill to be rich, but let’s be honest here. Coming from money, and money that’s not yours, sound horrible.”

“And it is,” Someone sighs, dropping their groceries onto the conveyor belt. “Money that’s actually yours being spent doesn’t feel as fulfilling as when you’re spending someone else’s, but having them control how you spend it... well, it’s not the best.”

“I mean, I feel great knowing that I earned my own money and—“ As you turn to meet with this customer, you’re speaking to the devil himself. Jeon Jungkook. “—oh, uh, Hello.” Magazines, pictures on the internet, billboards... all of them do not do Jungkook any justice because he’s not just gorgeous in person, but he looks like perfection on legs. The way he pushes his long locks back when they begin to irritate his eyes, his skin is milky smooth, supple and soft, and when he shoves his hands into his pockets afterwards, all you can think about is how his arms flex in the sleeves of his T-shirt.

“Kook,” Hoseok greets, forehead crinkled in confusion as he extends his hand for a shake. “What... why are you here? I’ve never seen you at a supermarket before. Doesn’t your personal chef take care of those things for you?” He’s feigning ignorance, afraid that his assumptions of Jungkook’s withdrawal from wealth is only gossip spread by the middle aged women. Jungkook lets out another heavy sigh, shoulders dipping in disappointment. “Well, you probably heard from your mom... who heard from my mom. She kicked me out. Cut me off. So... I’m trying to fend for myself now and get some groceries for dinner tonight.”

“Where are you staying?”

“Uh, my mom used to have an art studio downtown. She’s too busy to go there anymore, so she paints at home now. So the studio is pretty much abandoned... therefore I’m residing there now. I’m also getting an allowance every month to live off of.”

You snort. It was truly an accident, but the words coming out of Jungkook’s mouth were unbelievable. His mom made him leave the house yet gifted him an apartment and an allowance? Does anyone even consider this as being kicked out? “I’m sorry,” He turns to look at you. “Is something funny?”

“I... thought you said she cut you off?”

Without saying it, his face contorts to a visual version of an, And?

“Well, if your mother really cut you off, you wouldn’t even have an apartment. You’d be living on the streets or sleeping on your friends’ couches in rotation. Trust me, I know, I’ve been there. And you’re still receiving an allowance from them?”

Jungkook thinks he doesn’t realize that you’re from a wealthy family as well. “You... have been cut off of your family money and kicked out?”

Hoseok bursts in a laugh, hand in front of him in an attempt to stop himself before apologizing. “Ehem, sorry. She’s never been cut out, her family isn’t well-off in the first place. She’s trying to say she did the latter, sleeping on her friends’ couches on rotation. Me being one of them.” As you’re scanning his groceries one by one, sliding them down to Hoseok, he bags them quickly and efficiently as Jungkook’s eyes dazes off in amazement at his skill. “You... said you’re still getting an allowance from her?”

Jungkook nods but he’s completely immersed by yours and Hoseok’s quick movements, shuffling through the bags and scanning the items. When his toothpaste doesn’t beep, he watches as you start typing in some group of numbers into the register. The system recognizes it immediately before you turn back, resuming into your previous actions. He admits that this isn’t the first time he’s been in a supermarket, but the last time he remembered stepping foot in any of his mom’s businesses was probably before he hit puberty.

“So that’s going to be... ₩113,552.00.” Hoseok looks up when he realizes that Jungkook hasn’t moved from his position. “Jungkook?”

Jungkook shakes his head from his daze, quickly rummaging through his pockets for his wallet. “Sorry, I was just... you guys are really good at that.”

“At what?” You ask, confused with your brows furrowed.

He gestures the register and bags with his chin as he pulls out his wallet. “The whole... register thing. You guys move fast and... expertly. Where’d you learn to do that?”

You and Hoseok freeze. It’s weird to hear, exclusively forthcoming from someone who’s known to be arrogant, and yet the expression on his face is genuinely impressed by the show the two of you had just put on for him. “Uh... basic training? They just give you some tips and you just do it.”

“That’s it? It’s that easy?” He says, eyes bulging from his head at the simple response.

“Well, I wouldn’t say easy,” Hoseok rephrases as Jungkook inserts his credit card into the system. “It gets tiring when your shift gets long. But the task itself isn’t difficult, just becomes brutal.” You shake your head in affirmation, wiping the counter down with a rag. “Don’t look down on your local grocery store employees! Where else would you get your groceries without them to help you?”

He laughs, and he’s so pretty when he laughs, but what subsequents after his laugh isn’t so... pretty. “I won’t, but I don’t think I’d ever work in a supermarket either. Not really for me. I think I have more potential than... everyone here.”

Hoseok eyes his friend quizzically. “Uh... I didn’t think I would be either. I didn’t choose to work here, you know. I want to move out eventually, so I’m saving money. Do you think she chooses to work here too? No. This is temporary for us, Kook. But even so, there’s people who have to work here because it’s how they put food on the table.”

He only shrugs. “I guess. I just think I can do better than this. Thanks for the family discount though! Even though the allowance my mom gave me paid for it.”

And with that, he leaves.

“Who the fuck does he think he is?” You jeer, completely appalled by Jungkook’s comment. “Is it because he’s the boss’ son? Is that why? That’s so ridiculous, why didn’t I say something—“ Hoseok interrupts your rant with the sound of your name soothingly coming out of mouth. “Let him be. I believe in karma and it’s going to bite him in the ass later.” You let out a dejected sigh, caving into his words. “On another note... you’re coming to my yacht party right?”

You hate Hoseok for luring you here.

He’s got chicks in bikinis, dancing away with their drinks swaying in their glasses, waists so thin you could wrap your hands around them. Guys are lounging, admiring the view of both the sea and the women, alcohol also accompanying their hands, whispering things here and there when they catch a sight of you— jeans and a crop top. You were not going to let Hoseok see you in a bikini, no matter how nice he is to you. He’s still a slob at heart.

When Hoseok spots you through the crowd, he hollers your name. “Oh my gosh! You actually came! I’m so stoked! Which text convinced you to come? I did all those things, just in case any of them are actually the reason why you came.”

hoseokie [1:03PM]: pls come to my party hoseokie [1:03PM]: we’ve got tacos hoseokie [1:04PM]: we’ve got white claw hoseokie [1:05PM]: we’ve got pigs in a blanket hoseokie [1:05PM]: we’ve got some weird hors d'oeuvres hoseokie [1:06PM]: we’ve got fresh fish hoseokie [1:07PM]: we’ve got... mini sandwiches?? idk i’m running out of nice things to mention hoseokie [1:09PM]: what about.... chick-fil-a? i know chicks dig that hoseokie [1:09PM]: i take that back, i know you’re into the feminist thing and don’t like it when i say collectively chicks like something

You frown. He’s so annoying.

hoseokie [1:12PM]: attachment 1 image

Ah. There it was. The true reason why you’ve decided to come.

The picture mostly shows the food that sits at the table, but the angle that Hoseok takes it from gives you a glimpse of the kitchen, a delicious glance because right there is a take for inspiration for your own that you’d like to see for yourself. With that, you figure you’d hit two birds with one stone; getting to steal an idea for a small kitchen and celebrate Hoseok’s... breakup? You’re not even sure what this is for.

“Uh, where’s the kitchen? I want to wash my hands.”

He’s kind of drunk, so you’re thankful he doesn’t probe for more information, like why the kitchen and not the bathroom. “Downstairs. Do you need me to take you?”

“Nah, I’m good.” You grin, walking in the direction he points afterwards. On route to the kitchen, you spot the catering of Chick-Fil-A. Guess he kept to his word after all.

That’s when you spot him.

Jungkook is sitting on one of the white leather couches that Hoseok’s yacht is built with, arms resting on the top of the seat while surrounded by women who giggle with their hands on his chest with hearts coming from their eyes in admiration. “Kook-ie, you’re so funny! Who knew someone like you would have such a beautiful personality!”

You have to swallow the vomit that’s begging to leave your body.

Finally downstairs, you get to see it yourself with your own eyes. It’s beautiful. So beautiful that you can’t believe that a room can look this beautiful, and on top of that, it looks untouched. Reaching the stove, you almost hold in your breath from all the excitement forming in you, pulling the handle out to peek inside. “Jesus, stainless steel, great for cleaning, so much space, enough for inventory, and so much wattage—”

“Are you getting turned on by a stove?”

Fuck. Slamming it the oven shut, you abruptly straighten yourself. “Uh, no.” Turning to see the owner of the voice, you frown at the sight. Of course, with your luck, it’s Jungkook. “I’m just really curious on how people do their kitchens. I wanna open a bakery and want some ideas on how to work with a limited amount of space.”

Your breath hitches at the view; the shirt he has on is barely even buttoned, exposing his toned chest, and his hair is slicked back with a comma curl that hangs over his forehead. His lips are pink and plump, arms are tight in their sleeves, and when he leans over on the counter across from where you stand, the smile that tugs on the edges of his mouth is so pretty. “Hire an interior designer. Why do you need to do it yourself?” His breath already reeks of alcohol, and the drink in his hand almost screams that it’s not going to be his last either. “I don’t have the money for it.”

“Sure you do, you have two jobs. Why do things yourself when other people can do it for you?” You roll your eyes at him. “Because, unlike you, I have student debt. I need to pay for that and start a business. It’s not easy. I need to make a profit somewhere.”

He shrugs before saying nonchalantly, “I’ll pay for you.”

“With what money?” It comes out faster than you expected, but it’s too late to back down now. “With the money my mom gave me,” He responds calmly, tapping his fingers against the counter. “It’s more than enough to start a business.”

You nearly piss your pants. His mother’s allowance was enough to fucking start a business. Jungkook was indeed not in lack of resources and with the way his mom was taking care of this meant he will never truly learn responsibility.

“Are you kidding me?” You’re almost gasping for air. “Your mom gives you that much money for an allowance? What are you? I thought she was cutting you off. At this rate, you’re never going to actually be an adult. How are you even going to prove to her that you’re capable?”

He gets up from the counter, startled by your sudden outburst. “What makes you think I’m incapable?”

“You were just about to give me money to start a business. This is the second time you’ve met me, Jungkook. You don’t even know me. You don’t even know what the business is for, what my plans are, and where it’s going to be. You were just going to throw away good money without even having any knowledge of what it’s going to be used for!”

Unsure what to say, he speaks the only thing that comes to mind. “I trust you because you’re friends with Hoseok, and well, I trust Hoseok.” How could a guy with five older siblings who all went to prestigious ivy league universities, including attending one of them himself, be so gullible and naïve?

“That means nothing, Jungkook. All it means is that we have a mutual friend. I can’t stand kids like you, strutting around with all the money in the world without knowing what to do with it. You have no real responsibilities, no real life plan, no dreams— nothing! All you do is fuck around and get drunk. What a fucking waste of space.” You shake your head before climbing up the stairs out of the lower level of the yacht, heated from Jungkook. He hasn’t actually said or done anything actually wrong yet you can’t help but hate him. Jungkook was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and all you can think about is how you were born with a plastic one instead.

You’re not actually anyone to Jungkook. No, not really, especially since yes, like you mentioned before, it’s only the second time he has met you. Whether or not if the proposal for paying for those things were serious, he wasn’t sure why he made you upset so easily.

But it hurt. Those things you said really hurt— more than when he speaks to his brothers.

So he drinks. He drinks the pain away or just enough that it fades to the point he doesn’t notice it as much anymore.

When you catch him slouched on the couch alone, cheeks flush pink from what you assume is from the beer sitting in his hands loosely, guilt washes over you. Without much thought, you’re already making your way to the innocent looking boy, buttoning his shirt up and tearing the can from his grip. You figured you’d take him home, it’s the least you can do after flipping him off earlier.

With Jungkook’s arm draping over your shoulder, you wince when the button on his sleeve tugs on your necklace. “Jungkook, could you at least try lifting yourself up so I’m not doing all the heavy lifting here?” He doesn’t say much but mumbles with drool coming out from the side of his mouth, emitting a whine from you.

“Oh my god, is that Jungkook?” Mrs. Jeon drops the book she reads in what seems like a living room, rushing toward your side before Jungkook vomits again on the marble floor. “Hana! Nayeon! Please come clean this up— quickly, quickly, please.” She pulls his other arm over her shoulder, tugging him along with you before reaching the couch, letting him settle down easy. If she wasn’t here, you would’ve thrown him on it. “Sorry CEO Jeon, I wanted to take him back to his place but... I didn’t know where he lived and I didn’t really feel comfortable leaving him by himself like this. So... I googled your estate and here we are.”

She gives you a pained smile, clenching your heart at the same time before she’s draping a blanket onto Jungkook’s sleeping body. “Would you like some tea?”

It feels weird sitting on a tall stool chair at a marble countertop island in such a huge kitchen. There was more than enough space to hire a staff sized for a large wedding venue, and truth to be told, you were jealous of the appliances that were stocked. If only you could touch the deck oven, just one touch...

Mrs. Jeon says your name for the first time since you’ve introduced yourself, interrupting your thoughts. “Ah, yes, CEO Jeon?”

“You keep calling me that. Do you perhaps work at one of my franchises?”

Rubbing the sides of the mug full of tea anxiously, you nod. “Two, actually. I work at one of the supermarkets down in Seoul, and a café at the University. I admire your plans and how you treat your employees, so I based my search on that.”

There’s a smile that jumps upon her lips, and it’s genuinely full of joy in comparison to the one she shares when you dragged Jungkook in. “A hard-working class citizen. I love that.” She brings the mug to her lips, taking a sip of her tea before sitting it down gently. “You brought Jungkook here. Are you two... an item, maybe? I’ve never seen him bring anyone home.”

Hastily, you wave your hands in front of you in denial. “Oh, no, no, CEO Jeon, we are not. If anything, I brought him home.” You pause for a moment as she eyes you carefully. “Oh, wait, no, not like that, I meant brought him to his home, here. Not to my house. Gosh, no, that’s weird.” Mrs. Jeon laughs, leaning back, almost stumbling off her seat and you were already set on your toes in preparation to catch her. “Geez, my son displeases you that much? Honestly, I wouldn’t be so opposed if you told me that you both were in a relationship.”

You blink. “Really? Why’s that? I kind of expected you to hope for him to go for someone who’s a bit more... accustomed to this lifestyle? Not that there’s anything wrong with it... I just... this is a bit different.”

Although you had been preoccupied with dragging Jungkook into the house, there was no missing in the way their home looked. Chandelier hanging in the hall off the ceiling with crystal-like features that you were sure were actually authentic diamonds, walls and floors were marble and granite, portraits and paintings that hung on the walls were originals, and the size of the home itself was... breathtakingly prodigious. The kitchen alone was a prime example— from your own personal research and knowledge, the appliances were top tier products of the industry, only the best of the best were able to afford it. Not to mention that the dimensions of the kitchen was about four times the surface area of your apartment.

Mrs. Jeon shakes her head in lack of approval, tapping her fingers against the ceramic cup. “No, I want my sons to go for love that they feel is real. But for Jungkook, I always hope for more than just that, someone who can teach him that this life of luxury isn’t necessarily everything. He hasn’t found anyone yet, or at least, I still hope it’s you, but I figured cutting him off the money would be the next best option.”

You tilt your head to the side, mouth open in hesitation. “But... you didn’t cut him off. Jungkook still gets an allowance.”

“Yes, but—“

“Sorry to interrupt, but isn’t that defeating the purpose? Like... you want Jungkook to go off and learn responsibility and what it means to be a functioning adult yet you’re still giving him money. I don’t want to criticize but...” You’re expecting her to jump at the chance to interject, mention something about how you’re overstepping, but she does nothing. Instead, her shoulders slouch and she frowns. “Am I doing this wrong? Should I take his allowance away?”

Honesty seems like an iffy noun to act on at the moment, but you speak words with it, nonetheless. “CEO Jeon, don’t get me wrong, you are a great person. But if you’re trying to teach your egotistical and spoiled-rotten son some life lessons, putting a step stool down for him isn’t going to make it any better.”

“It was you, wasn’t it!” Jungkook exclaims, stomping into the supermarket with his face flushed red with anger, hair pushed back with a vein popping out on his forehead. He has his pointer finger directed at you, startling Hoseok as he shoves Jungkook’s finger down. “Ok, I get you’re mad, but no pointing please. You may proceed.”

He scoffs. “She did this, you know. My mom cut me off. Completely! Done, I’m so done for. How the hell am I supposed to pay for anything? All she gave me was the money I earned from those modeling gigs in the past. What the hell is that going to do for me two months from now?”

“Uh... I don’t know, get a job?” You say sarcastically, unfazed by his fit of temper. If childish is how he’s going to act, he might as well embarrass himself while he’s at it. “It’s not my fault that she decided to actually cut you off.” Jungkook doesn’t get the right to come in here, full of flames just because of something you suggested to his mother the night he blacked out. He doesn’t, especially not after you learn from Mrs. Jeon why she wants to do this in the first place.

“Where the fuck am I supposed to get a job?”

Hoseok stares at Jungkook blankly for a moment before pointing to a sign behind him, taped to the wall with big letters printed.

CASHIER FOR HIRE @ THE JEON MARKET! PLEASE SEE AN ASSOCIATE FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO APPLY!

Jungkook lets out a heavy breath of defeat, falling back against the counter, fingers raking his strands of hair back stressfully. “Fuck, fuck...” He closes his eyes, head falling back. “... Fuck.”

It’s barely even the start of his first day and he’s presently on the verge of throwing another hissy fit when the apron doesn’t tie around his body like it does for the other workers. “Are you fucking—”

Snatching the fabric from his hands, you can see through Jungkook’s orbs that he’s ready to pounce at you for doing that, but you’re already standing on the tip of your toes as he dips down unconsciously for you while pulling the loop over his head. “This is so much easier when you’re calm, cool, and collected enough to think like a sane person.” He mutters a quick thanks, jutting out a puff of air from his lips. “Also, tie your hair up, will you? It doesn’t look professional.”

“Professional?” He scoffs, shaking his head as you’re slipping off the hair band that’s on your wrist, handing it over to him that he grabs unwillingly. “This place is far from professional. It’s a freaking goddamn supermarket.”

“It’s just... in your face and we have an employee handbook that wants your hair out of your face so the customers can see your lovely smile.”

“You think my smile is lovely?” His heart is warm at the compliment but it quickly fades when you respond, “No, it’s how it’s worded in the handbook. I’m only quoting what I read.”

“Why are you helping me anyway? I thought you didn’t like me.” This was true, notably since you’ve last spoken to him was with fury and fire in your eyes. But you merely just roll your eyes this time, turning away to turn the dial on your locker, pulling a slip of paper out to hand to him. “I was assigned to train you. Here’s your locker combo. Don’t think I’m doing this to be nice to you.”

“I’m still trying to understand what I did wrong that made you hate me.”

Tying your own hair back in the magnetic mirror that hangs on your locker door, there’s clips in your mouth to push your bangs back and Jungkook can’t help but find the action so... attractive. After taking the bobby pins from your mouth and slipping them into your hair, you straighten your shirt before turning to face him. “Because I can’t stand entitled people. And you are one of them.”

His mouth drops and closes several times before he finally gets the guts to speak up. “You don’t even know me.”

“I know enough,” Tugging the apron over your head and knotting the strings behind you, you inhale sharply afterwards. “I know that you’re the CEO’s youngest son, the bachelor, who basically doesn’t really do anything but freeload off his parents and spend their money. You’ve never had a real job before today and if I’m being totally honest, I kind of expect you to fail.”

“To fail?” He exasperates, his posture stiffens, in disbelief of your perspective. “I haven’t even started the job yet and you had this image of me build up before I even get the chance to clock in.”

“Speaking of, come here, I’ll show you how to clock in.”

Trailing behind you to a mysterious machine that hangs on the wall, he can’t help but attempt to sink everything in around him. He’s in the back of a supermarket, his mother’s supermarket, one of many, dressed in their uniform with his luxurious hair tied back, hidden away from all the people to admire. The locker room has flickering melancholic lights that he realized are unflattering when he looks at himself in the mirror earlier, and the people here drag their legs when leaving through the double doors to start the shift, all the way to the end.

“Hello, Earth to Jungkook?” You wave your hands in front of his drifted gaze, frowning at his sudden daydream.

“I can’t believe that it’s gotten this bad. I have to work... like a real job. I’ve never had a job in my entire life.”

“Well, yeah. I mentioned that just moments ago.”

His stare shifts to you, worry written all over his face. “I’m above all of this, above all of the people working here. I know what it’s like to be happy—I have money for god’s sake, I don’t need any of this. I could be working some corporate job right now that requires less effort.”

“Jungkook, I haven’t even started the training yet.”

He still hasn’t learned how to clock in before a shift yet and he’s already prepping to quit this job.

#jungkook #jeon jungkook #bts #bts smut #bts fanfic #jungkook x reader #jungkook smut #gyukultfics

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jackalopefreckles · 3 years

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I feel like Ive aged at least 6 years since covid started. Im angrier. Less adapted to being outside then I used to be- which is saying a lot. This time last year I was?? Actually healthier mentally then I had ever been and looking forward to having the house alone for a month which?? Was the most freedom I wouldve ever had.

A lots fucking changed. I drove halfway across the country- all 30 hours at once with my big brother AND two elderly dogs, plus my cat. All animals on too many drugs (the vet said they couldnt overdose, and then failed to give any further instruction) cami peed on herself twice, unable to move. I had to waterboard her in Phoenix, a truly terrifying hell city where all the roads are raised and overlapping and its a hot as shit cause its?? What june?? Time was so fake this year I mustve just been stoned the whole time till I ran out of weed, and since moving its been a relief to be able to turn off the spinning anxious thoughts for a few hours

my big brother joined us. He brought a new dog with him which?? Is always a lot, plus I have this pack of dogs now cause the puppy wouldnt leave the super cancer ridden dog alone, and Im able to get her cbd regularly here, so shes always comfortable now instead of just?? Sometimes which is a lot nicer. We didnt think shed make it to chrisrmas. I thought shed die with me home alone to take care of everything, like always. It was almost a relief, I wouldn't have to coach my brother through the grieving process at least, and I had already finished. Its hard now even, for me to realize she might even have another christmas (but I wont hold my breath)

I feel safer going outside here then I did in Austin. I only went out a handful of times in texas, for the last few months I was ordering almost all groceries, and only going to the store once mask mandates were mandatory (theyre not anymore. Im so worried for texas. I missed a huge freeze by mere months. I dont think my elderly dogs wouldnt survived it. If I was alone with them, Im not sure I woudlve.

My parents took my brother to mexico with them. I begged them not to go, told them how irresponsible it was to travel across boarders. To visit an island and take all the plane germs with. I told them that even if my mom and brother were staying at home all day with me, my dad was still going to work and he didnt know what his coworkers were doing. That they wouldn't know what the people on the plane were doing. That at any point they could become the stupid americans that killed half an islands population.

They left a week after today last year. The boarders were closed the next day. Their friend has been traveling back and forth ever since. I have no idea how, except for the fact shes white and rich and wont hesitate to destroy a child, so I can only imagine how shed treat costomer service.

I will no longer allow this angry aggressive woman to ever make me feel bad, and I will allow myself to finally fight back. Im an adult, maybe not all the time (cause lets be real I'll always be a bit too eccentric for most) but when I get angry and allow myself that anger, it's not a bad thing. Anger doesn't have to make me feel like Ive done something wrong. Im usually very just in my actions, and I wont allow my parents influence to tell me all anger is misdirected and hurtful for reasons I couldnt understand. Its okay for me to be angry.

I think being alone with animals for months is at least reassuring that my childhood was unreasonable if nothing else. Which of course is a silly polite society term for pretty fucked, if nothing else.

My aunt had to gall to say weve had a good 2020 cause our family wasnt hurt, and I had to walk away from the zoom call. I haven't attempted communication with any of them since, not that I normally do. Of course none of us died, all rich old white people, most of them retired and able to stay home all day (not that all of them did, I learned about my grandfathers routine and just.. Im honestly surprised no one got it yet. Of course I knew from the beginning if anyone was gonna get it and die, it probably wouldve been me. Hence the 8 months of solitude before the move.

Was the move in August?? Im so unsure about time. Even with 2020 vision.

I tried to date when I moved here. Strictly on tinder. What was the point? On and off testosterone due to the wonders of texas, hadnt changed my body nearly as much as they should've a year after being on them. I look much more handsome now. Im also allowing myself to toss gender aside completely. He/him doesn't mean man, and they/them dont mean nonbinary, so why not mix them since Im?? Not really either.

It wasnt even a thought process like that to start. Much more "this is nice" which I think more gender should be allowed to be. Dont gotta be deep just comfortable.

I wont ever allow my parents to forget what they did. I ended up with three dogs I didnt want (I was so looking forward to not having any dogs) and I ended up taking care of my brother. Again. Its easier without my parents at least. Everything always is. My dogs are even happier. Cami finally isnt anxious 24/7. Again, a sad reminder my childhood wasn't great. Daisy is healthier. Trauma can be stored emotionally or with health issues, often both. I think the cancer dog getting better and?? Surviving and thriving so much longer then the vet said (how good was my old vet?) Is another unfortunate nail in thay proverbial coffin.

Im not as soft and openly loving. Im even more touch starved somehow. Harsher. I still want to choose love and compassion, but Im not letting myself fall into the trap of being so nice people wont be nice to you. Fighting back is something I wont feel shameful about, because it never stopped me from doing it completely anyway.

I was already reaching this on my own though. This was just more coffins, more nails. This didnt need to happen. We know our government let this happen. Its still letting it happen. Im not sure when Im getting my vaccine. My big brothers sick of quarentine and keeps trying to get us to go out. Sometimes I yield, and we go to a park, or the top floor of the parking garage. I get a vegan hotdog from nearby. We talk and laugh and were genuinely just. Boys being boys.

I shouldn't have to deal with parent shit anymore. I do though, especially since two out of three are unemployed and we can really only afford to live here cause of them (they owe me if anything though. Especially with my brother and these animals) I hope I can get a job soon. Or maybe even go back to school. Im lucky I had so much saved up (for top surgery, which I guess wont happen before Im 25 like I really tried for. I wouldve done it before now, but texas waitlists and rules kept holding me up. I literally went to an appointment in dallas, a 4 hour drive, just to found out the surgeon canceled on me for the second time)

Its incredibly depressing, and I know Im lucky to have had that stash. So many people didnt have anything and lost so much. People lost people. Half a million at this point. I remember when it got to 300,000 and I just?? Felt so awful it was so close to how many people we lost to AIDS. Its over that by so many now. It doesn't really stop, does it??

Is that catholic guilt?? Or maybe just irish guilt in general. Is it something I inherited or earned through all the end of the worlds and once in a lifetime recessions Ive been through. Im not sure how many off the top of my head, theyve been coming since I was so small and its always more and more. Im not even catholic anymore. I cant stop being irish though, even though the brits tried (and succeeded. Weve lost a lot. The current royal cotastrophy is bullshit as well, the only person who deserves a royal title is from Meniappolos

My home is decorate all inside for st patrick's day. My big brother loves it so Im going all out, and its def making me feel much more irish then usual (which is a lot Im over half)

I think I just wanted to say Im not the same. I hope I can still be happy an obnoxious is public. I wonder if I remember how

#TIRED #happy covid anniversary #time to post this without reading it lmao #long post #rambles

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lovemesomesurveys · 3 years

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Are there any hobbies you have that you don’t perform in front of others? I like to do stuff like surveys, reading, coloring, scrolling through Tumblr, and watching YouTube videos by myself.

What’s one bad or inconvenient habit you used to have but no longer do? I can’t think of a bad habit I used to have, I still have plenty of them.

Do you find it difficult to kick a habit or a routine that’s detrimental? Yes.

When was the last time you had a particularly hectic day? My Disneyland vacation last year. I love Disneyland and had a good time, but the traveling part and spending all day at the park going all over the place is quite exhausting for me. That’s a lot of activity for me. Not to mention all. the. people.

Where’s one place you’ve spent a lot of time lately? I spend like all my time at home except for my once a month doctor appointment.

Is there anywhere you wish you could spend more time? I wish I could go on more vacations.

What do you do when you simply don’t know what to do? There are definitely days where I’m just really bored and my usual go-tos don’t cut it for me and the day just seems to draaag, but I end up still doing those things or mindlessly watching TV cause I don’t know what else to do. Or just take a nap.

When was the last time you felt you were in an impossible situation where, despite what you did, you couldn’t win? I’ve felt that way these past few years with health related things and other stuff in my life.

How did you find out about your current favorite band? I don’t have like a new current favorite.

Where are you most likely to go when you need clothing? Majority of my clothes are from Boxlunch and Hot Topic.

Is anything significant weighing on your mood right now? The usual stuff.

When was the last time you tried to do something yet failed? I feel like I’m just failing at life in general.

Do you think your life is comprised more of success or failure? Failure.

What’s one personality trait that’s not strong in you? Ambition.

Are you a difficult individual to get to know? I wouldn’t have said that a few years ago, but I would now. Well, unless you’re a follower of my surveys. I’m definitely not this open in person. Not that I was before, but what I think would make it more difficult now is the fact that I’m just so distant and withdrawn and have really just kept to myself the past few years. I’ve holed up at home and haven’t had an interest in socializing.

When was the last time you opened up to someone and about what? I open up in surveys all the time.

To whom do you feel the most important? My parents and brother.

When was the last time you changed your mind? Hm. It was probably recently, but I don’t remember right now.

Is there something you want but might not ever have? Better health.

What’s something you’re working to obtain? Nothing. That’s the problem. :/

How do you console yourself when you’re distraught? I cry and then try to distract myself.

Do you tend to enjoy your dreams? My dreams are just super random and weird a lot of the time.

What would you do if you did not require sleep? Gah. I’m glad we do cause I have no idea. There are days that just seem to drag and I want it to end and sleep is a great escape and passerby, so yeah I’m glad we require sleep. I need that time to escape myself and stuff for awhile.

Are there any projects or goals you’ve recently abandoned? I did that a few years ago and still haven’t gotten back on track.

What in life serves to keep you going? My family.

How frequently, if ever, do you want to give up? I feel that way often.

What was the last good news you received? Uhhh.

What’re some of the important things around you? My family, which includes my doggo.

How long has your favorite song been your favorite? I have numerous favorites.

In what ways does music influence your life? It doesn’t, really. Especially lately. I don’t listen to music much anymore like I used to. It’s weird.

Are you more inclined to appreciate sweet or savory foods? Savory. Lately I’ve had a serious sweet tooth, though. I’ve been eating sweet stuff a lot more often recently.

Do you prefer more hot or cold types of food? Hot.

How about hot or cold types of beverages? Hot and room temp.

Who last told you to do something and did you do it? My mom asked me to grab her something on my way by it in the kitchen and I did.

Have you ever felt as though you were unrecognizable to yourself? That’s how I’ve felt the past few years. I don’t know who this person is I’ve become, but I don’t like it.

Are you bothered by any of your physical features? Yeah, all of them.

Are romantic relationships important to you at this point in your life? No.

Who was the last person to apologize to you for something they did? I don’t recall.

Bruises and cuts everywhere? No.

Have you ever kissed someone with a tattoo? Nope.

What did you do today? So far I’ve just watched a few YouTube videos, scrolled through Tumblr, and currently I’m watching Sister, Sister on Netflix and doing surveys.

What did you do last night? Had dinner and watched the first two episodes of Wandavision and an episode of Dare Me with my mom and brother.

Last night, you felt? Alright.

Will you regret your next kiss? I hope not?

Ever had a guy best friend? Yeah, a few.

Is there a movie you’ve seen countless times? Yeah, several.

Do you hate the last guy you had a conversation with? No.

How is your last ex doing? I don’t know. I haven’t seen or talked to him in almost 5 years and he’s not active on social media.

Are you wearing a necklace, who got it for you? Nope. Is there someone who can always make you smile? My doggo.

Are you excited for anything? No.

Anything you’d like to say to your ex? Nah, I’m good.

Do you give up easily? I’ve given up in a lot of ways over the past few years. :/

Do you think anyone has feelings for you? Not of the romantic kind.

Did you deny or accept your last friend request? Deny. It was some random person and I only accept people I know.

Will you talk to someone on the phone tonight? No.

Are any of your friends taller than you?

How much money did you spend today? Zero as of now. I don’t plan on spending any money today.

Are you shy? Yepppp.

Are you completely over the last person you kissed? Yes.

Ever given your ALL to someone? Yes.

Have you ever felt like you weren’t good enough? That is how I feel.

Last thing you had to drink? Water.

Do you ever just lay on the carpet in your house? No. I don’t find sitting or lying on the floor comfortable at all.

Do you prefer ice or no ice in your drinks typically? No ice.

Are you a lazy ass sometimes? Yes.

What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve done lately? Nothing recent comes to mind.

Do you ‘think out loud’? Yeah, I do that a lot.

Do you take gummy vitamins? I used to. If I took my vitamins like I’m supposed to that’s the kind I would take.

How do you know the majority of the people you know? They’re my family.

Are you one of those lucky people to own a walk-in closet? Nope.

Is there a random object you own that has a huge personal significance? Yes.

Do you use Google? Yeah, all the time.

Would you like to go swimming right now? No. It’s wintertime for one, but I don’t like swimming anyway so it wouldn’t matter if it wasn’t.

Can you play electric guitar? No.

Do you have an HDTV? Yeah, I have a smart TV.

When was the last time you drank something through a straw? Just a bit ago. I always use a straw with my drinks.

Have you ever tried to teach yourself a different language? Yes.

How long was your last phone call? Like a minute.

Do you need to repaint your nails? I have’t painted my nails in years.

Has there ever been a horoscope that came true for you? Possibly. I never followed that stuff closely or actually believed in them, I used to just read them for fun when I was younger.

Are you one of those people who chew two pieces of gum, not one? No.

Do you have a wall calendar? I do.

Have you ever taken the pictures from a calendar and used them as posters? I kept a giraffe photo from an old calendar and hung it up in my room.

Can you handle the cold? A lot better than I can handle the heat.

Have you ever been to Canada? Nope.

When was the last time you took a taxi somewhere? Several years ago while on a trip with a friend. It was before the days of Uber and Lyft.

Would you ever join the army, air force or navy? No. I couldn’t even if I wanted to because of my physical disability.

How old is the person you last kissed? He just turned 30.

Is there a friend that you can always rely on to get you out of a jam? My mom.

Have you ever tried to balance the light switch between off and on? Yeah, haha.

Do you believe in ghosts/supernatural occurrences? I believe in spirits.

What was the most expensive thing you’ve broken? A laptop.

Has anyone texted you yet today? Nope.

Did you stay calm during the whole swine flu scare? No, I was really scared about catching it. It’s crazy cause now looking back it wasn’t even close to the seriousness of COVID and how easily its spread.

Is there a light on in the room you’re currently in? Yes.

Are your feet touching the floor? No, I’m sitting on my bed.

Have you ever been in a car accident? No, thankfully.

Can you focus well in high-stress situations? No. I get very overwhelmed and frazzled.

Without the aid of mascara, do you have long eyelashes? No.

Is there a kind of music you listen to that helps you release your anger? No. I don’t turn to music when I’m upset.

Are you one of those people who keep their feelings bottled up? Yes.

Is one of your friends extremely odd but you love them regardless?

Is there anyone you dread going into public with? No. I dread going out in public myself cause I feel I’m trash and I’m super self-conscious.

Are you a victim of writing run-on sentences? It happens sometimes in a survey when I’m really going off in a rant or I’m rambling about something.

Graffiti: an art or an act of vandalism? It can be both, it depends where it’s done and the purpose of it.

Do you buy things online? I do a lot of online shopping.

#personal #text #survey #surveys #long survey

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chibivesicle · 4 years

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Koito Otonoshin is from Kagoshima; what does the city and area reveal about his character.

While on holiday, I was very lucky to have a chance to visit Koito’s very own hometown of Kagoshima, in Kagoshima Prefecture on the southwestern part of Kyushu. I’ve grown more attached to Koito’s character as the manga has developed and I’m more curious to try to figure out what he will do in the manga now that he has been “reunited” with Tsurumi. So, I figured why not go visit his hometown in January when the weather will be lovely [it was]. I will admit that I tricked my Mom to go with me not knowing it was a Koito research trip, but at least told my brother. He was fine with it since he had wanted to visit the nearby Miyazaki prefecture anyways.

This will be a little bit of a different meta post as I’ll present things I observed and try to place Koito in the context of them. This is based on my opinion and how I interpreted and observed things around me. Please keep that in mind when reading!

To get to Kagoshima, I took full advantage of the JR Rail pass for tourists and left from Kyoto to Kagoshima-chuo, the main train station with a transfer at Shin-Kobe. I went down in early January and it was lovely to see the scenery become more green as I went further south. Kyushu has a different feel than the island of Honshu, you see subtropical and tropical plants and it really feels different than other parts of Japan that I have visited e.g. Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. This was my first time visiting Kyushu and I really loved the southern part of the island.

If you are using a rail pass to get there, it will take you some time, it was about 5 hours or so in total from Kyoto. If you go from Tokyo, it will take at least 7 hours and that is just from Kagoshima-chuo to Shinagawa (Tokyo area) station. If you are unable to use a JR pass, like my brother who is currently working in Japan, or you have very limited time, the best option is to fly, say from Tokyo-Haneda to the Kagoshima airport (40 min bus ride from downtown Kagoshima).

The most obvious thing about Kagoshima and the area, is how different it is than parts of Honshu. The entire area has that tropical/subtropical feel. It was January and the weather was quite pleasant, around 14-16 degrees C as the high during the day and lows around 7 or so. It was sunny and there were flowers blooming everywhere in gardens and parks and you are right next to the bay! It was so lovely.

I have somewhat limited travel experience in Japan only able to previously visit cities like Nagoya (for work), Gifu (for work but Oda Nobunaga!), Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Hiroshima, Tokyo and Shizuoka (for maguro tuna) before this trip. What I can say from the start is the feel and look of Kagoshima is different than these other cities. There are more colorful buildings in Kagoshima, some were green, lime green, light pink, magenta and orange intermixed with the more standard, black, grey, white of the modern Japanese landscape. The urban landscape was more varied and interesting than other cities I’ve been to in Japan.

There were many older western style buildings and street lights / lamp posts that looked like they were from 1880-1930. For example here is a public building that clearly looks like it is from 1900-1930 or so. I tried to figure out what it was, but it simply said civic building and likely was now associated with the performing arts center right next to it from about the 1950s/1960s. You can see lots of cycads(!) planted out in front of the building.

The city still runs streetcars that have old lamps as a part of the posts that hold up their electrical cables. I forgot to take a picture of some of the streetcars; half of their cars were old, ~1940s-1950s at the newest as well as sleek modern streetcars. I snapped this photo of the streetcar operator while riding in the city. Yes, it is an old lever operated drive system! It appeared to be made by Mitsubishi, and you can see the flowers blooming in the background.

A great example of a more western style building was this large department store in the downtown part of the city. It is the Yamakataya Department store, and after some quick online searching it appears to have been built around 1917 with other parts added on over time. You can find more photos of it on TripAdvisor.

I spotted other older Victorian and turn of the century buildings in the city which added to the unique vibe of the city. While wondering around the local shopping arcades looking for a restaurant, we stumbled upon an interesting glass ceiling at one of the intersection of the arcades. Four locations are shown on the map, Kagoshima, Malacca (Malaysia), Goa (India) and Basque (Spain).

This one shows Kagoshima and Malacca, with ships, churches and random people meeting missionaries, specifically Jesuit missionaries including Francis Xavier, who visited and converted people to Christianity in Kagoshima in 1550.

The Basque region of Spain, where Francis Xavier is originally from, though he worked throughout Asia. He was a pretty successful missionary all things considered.

It highlights his time as a missionary in Goa, India

And of course in Kyushu, including Nagasaki and other places as well as Kagoshima. I find it quite curious they have the classic Greek constellations on the sky and not the Japanese ones. It is quite clear that the Jesuit missionaries had an important influence on many people in Kyushu and they still have the highest number of Christians in Japan. I would guess that local people commissioned this artwork since it clearly celebrates the life of Francis Xavier and connects Kagoshima to the other places he lived and worked.

Kagoshima is uniquely situated as how far south it is from both Kyoto and Tokyo [Edo]. By road it is between 800-900 km to Kyoto and 1,300-1,400 km from Tokyo. This implies that it would take a long time before modern technologies in transportation to go between the places of power pre-Edo period and during the Edo period.

I was able to visit Sengan-en an estate of the Shimazu family. The Shimazu family held power in the region since around 1300 and were both powerful warlords, but also successful in international trade due to their location on Kinko Bay. As the Shimazu family were still under the power of the Tokugawa shogunate they were required to journey to Edo, but as a result of the distance, they had the longest overall travel time out of everyone in Japan. I’m sure you can quickly realize that having such a distance from the central government also resulted in the Satsuma domain having more freedom than say a powerful samurai family in Shizuoka.

Even when the Tokugawa shogunate closed off most of the country, this region was still able to trade internationally by proxy through the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) and developed more international style cuisine as a result. Sweet potatoes were introduced via Okinawa and the Satsuma sweet potatoes are everywhere. I bought and tried some dried-ish sweet potatoes that looked like twizzlers, but were underwhelming (I think this was a tourist trap, oh look sweet potato things, I’ll try them!). At Sengan-en, we ate some of the baked sweet potatoes of the local variety which were incredibly delicious as just plain potatoes. I’ve had baked sweet potatoes elsewhere in Japan and outside, but this was the best plain baked sweet potato I have every had! I also got sweet potato candy which is delicious, a variant of the famous Bontan Ame (a citrus caramel candy), also invented in Kagoshima! Bontan Ame is also a great candy, I love the subtle citrus flavor.

The sweet potato are the purple caramels on the right and the citrus Bontan Ame on the left. quantivore’s Koito is excited with Tsukishima in between! (quantivore’s artwork can be found on instagram @quantivore ).

Bontan Ame are popular with high school girls . . . for some odd reason I think that Koito would like them too!

I was able to sample some local Kagoshima shouchu, which again, is not surprisingly made from their famous Satsuma sweet potatoes! It tasted good and was pretty strong. I may have had more to drink than I should have with my yakiniku. There were soooo many varieties of shouchu to choose from in the area and they were sold at pretty much every gift shop! I did not buy a bottle since I was afraid to haul it all around Japan and break it on accident.

Recall that the manga highlighted that the Sakurajima daikon are cultivated in the area around the Sakurajima volcano and are the largest daikon in the world as introduced in chapter 197.

I was unable to see a full daikon in the flesh, while visiting the Sakurajima Geo-Park, I did spot some growing in the ground and you could see large leaves! I really wanted to see a Sakurajima daikon, in person. The daikon was found on public city artwork and designs. I had to settle with only seeing their leafy tops while on a bus, though I bought a small daikon charm and my brother found me a plushie at the airport. I did eat some daikon (already cut to a much smaller size) with the regional black pork which was delicious. The pork was richer than normal ground pork and the daikon melted in your mouth as you ate it cutting through the richness of the pork.

The daikon is important to Koito’s flashback as it helps to introduce his contrast to his older brother, who had a pale complexion like a Sakurajima daikon and tolerated Koito calling him that.

The last major regional produce of the area is citrus! There is so much citrus in the area! The Satsuma oranges (as they are known in the UK) came from the Kagoshima region after they went to war with the British in 1863! As a result of a naval battle between the Shimazu family and their fellow Satsuma retainers, this war only lasted a few days and resulted in great damage to the Kagoshima area. The positive outcome of this was increased positive relations between the Satsuma region and the UK as opposed to the influence the French government had on the dying/declining Tokugawa shogunate in Edo.

Here is a Satsuma orange tree at Sengan-en. It had an info plaque about how after the Anglo-Satsuma war they were popular for import to England.

In addition to the Satsuma oranges (aka mikan), there is a distinct variety from the area known as komikan or small mikan. These are grown both on the volcano, Sakurajima (桜島小みかん) and around the Kinko Bay as well (小みかん).

Look at the tiny tiny tiny komikan!

The regular mikan were quite easy to peel and delicious. Throughout the southern part of Kyushu there were lots of different citrus species and cultivars grown. In the neighboring Miyazaki prefecture, they had a yuzu x pomelo hybrid known as a hyuganatsu (also tasty in things!). I digress, the point is Kagoshima as the former Satsuma domain is a place that was able to interact with western nations and it is in part represented by the movement of the citrus fruits from the area to places like the UK and the USA as well where the States actually imported and grew cultivars from the Kagoshima area.

This region was also much more forward thinking that the government in Edo. The Shimazu family were the second largest book publishers in Japan for a very long time and they reprinted Western imported books that included science, technology and maps. I was able to see some of their moveable type for their publishing with both Japanese kanji and kana and the Latin alphabet as well for printing foreign books (I did not spot any Cyrillic, but the museum display was small).

They were the birth of industrial manufacturing in Japan, first trying to build equipment via imported books and later sent students abroad against the rule of the government to study in the UK and the USA. At the grounds of Sengan-en you can visit the first factory in Japan which gives a quick guide in Japanese and English about the development of industrial manufacturing. Unfortunately, you were unable to take pictures in the museum, but they produced various goods including cannons and whatnot which helped in late Bakumatsu period and gave them a weapons advantage over the outdated technology of the Shogunate government forces.

When you get off the train at the main Kagoshima-chuo station and walk towards the bus and streetcar stops, there is a statue erected in honor of all of the young students who risked going abroad to help the growth and development of Kagoshima.

These students also attended a World Fair in Paris or some of them not quite sure if all of them attended it was after their trips abroad. They also circumvented the travel restriction for Japanese by registering not as from Japan but representing the Satsuma domain as an independent delegation. I may not be 100% accurate with all of this info, since I couldn’t take photos in the museums, yet it gives you a good idea of what the Satsuma domain was doing to improve and modernize.

There is also a strong connection between Satsuma and Hokkaido - many of the leaders during the Meiji era that pushed industrialization were from Satsuma and used Hokkaido as the source for raw materials to power the factories in the south. Plus, many people from the region moved to Hokkaido to work either as the frontier soldiers or as laborers in the “frontier”. This has been mentioned before in regards to GK as Noda’s own great-grandfather was a frontier soldier from Kyushu (whom I’ve wondered was also a practicing Catholic based on how Noda depicts Christian theology). I recall reading this in some interviews with him translated by GK Central, but I forget which ones right now.

Another industry that grew up in the mid 1800s was the development of Satsuma cut glass (kiriko) which become more industrialized during the late Edo early Meiji period. Unfortunately, the technology was lost and in the 1980s, it was finally determined how to manufacture it again. As a result production started again and it is only produced in Kagoshima.

On the grounds of Sengan-en they have a fully operational glass works. You can watch the glass being blown, shaped, cooled, marked and cut. It was pretty neat! I thought about buying some; it was more expensive than I expected - small pieces started at about $200 USD and it only went up from there. There were gorgeous sets of two glass that sold for about $500 and it was clear they were wedding presents. It was really amazing and if I had more money, I’d be tempted to purchase some myself. My Mom did purchase a small green and blue bowl after looking at it at the glass works, and then looking at it in a Satsuma local goods store two more times before deciding to actually purchase it.

Since it was unique, the distribution of this from Satsuma helped with international relations and was considered neat by those in Europe who could purchase it. I think the best way to look at the cut glass is that it was an excellent example of a Satsuma [Japanese] product that combined with a European product, illustrating how this region was changing to adapt to modern times outside of Japan. There was also Satsuma porcelain that was made for the European market and it was very successful around the time of Golden Kamuy as an export.

To get an idea of the type of house that Koito likely grew up in, it would be something similar to, but obviously smaller than a place like Sengan-en. The house was quite large and the gardens and other buildings around it made for a place that was large and significant looking. It also had a mix of a Japanese and more Western style for some of the buildings as well as Chinese and Ryukyu influence.

This is the main gate that leads into the area where the house is in a large courtyard. It has a much more Chinese style with the bright red and slightly different roof shape. The English info said it was Chinese style, but I wonder if it wasn’t more Ryukyu since they were the domain that was essentially “controlling” *ahem* them at the time.

This was the inner courtyard of the house. The house had been added onto over time from the 19th into the 20th century as well as some parts being removed like household secretary rooms and other stuff now outdated.

The Shimazu family often hosted foreign dignitaries including Tsar Nicholas II (obviously before the Russo-Japanese war)!!! There were two large vases that were gifted to the family from Nicholas II on display in one of the rooms with lots of historical information about how the family hosted many people from around the world. Many of the people hosted here were from the UK and the Netherlands as well. If I recall correctly, the highest number of foreigners were from the UK (again, that Sastuma orange link).

This is an example of how the table would have been set for dinners for hosting European guests. The vast majority of the house was still completely Japanese in style in regards to the furniture, but this dining room and another (sitting? living) room had Western style furniture. The table setting appears to have Dutch plates, Western cutlery and several types of glasses including the local Satsuma cut glass produced in the local glass works. I believe my Dutch Canadian friend has the exact same plates that you can still buy today.

I took tons of photos of the grounds which featured many tropical and subtropical plants like these cycads and palm tree. You can see some of the buildings in the background and a Western style lamp post as well.

I have no idea what this building originally was, but it was clearly based on a European inspired design and a part of the estate. It is now a Starbucks and I didn’t investigate it any further.

The style of this house makes me think of the house that Koito lived in when his family moved from Kagoshima to Hakodate. There was also a “foreign engineer” house close by where English engineers lived and helped with the development of Kagoshima. I was a moron and forgot to visit it . . . but I did see it from the road.

https://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/136169

I would say it is a toss up if Koito lived in a modern Japanese style house/estate like Sengan-en in Kagoshima or in a more modern house like the white one on the Sengan-en estate or the “Hakodate” house above.

What you get from visiting a place like Sengan-en is what it would have been like to be an elite from the former Satsuma Domain/Kagoshima. Including your personal doctor inspecting your poo everyday . . . These [predominately] men in power were hosting and having dinners with foreigners and were very passionate about the modernization of Japan in the face of the world colonial powers getting closer to them.

This connects with the fact that Koito owns the motorbike. Now it is unclear if this came from a Japanese individual in France or directly from a French person. When I did my chapter meta, I assumed it came directly from a French person but upon reading it again, the translation is unclear what the nationality of the acquaintance is, just a person in France not actually French. What it does show is that Koito’s father is connected internationally as a member of the Meiji elite many of whom came from Satsuma due to their pro-Western technology slant so that the could expel the barbarians [and freely make use of their science and technology for Japan]. I would guess the fact that Koito Sr. served the Meiji government well, indicated he was more in favor of modernization and less about a more hyper samurai opinion to maintain the old ways during modernization (e.g. Saigo Takamori).

Another thing is how the men in power from places like Satsuma linked themselves to the former shogunate through marriage and likely married women from the “losing” side to further integrate themselves into the power base in Tokyo. You wouldn’t want to completely cut out the losing side completely. Instead, with those that likely switched sides sooner integrate with them as you had the “in” to the old government which would become key for the new government fit into for stability. Completely cutting off members of the former government would lead to future issues since many of those individuals were still clearly wealthy and had more local connections in Tokyo than someone from Kyushu may have had.

Recall, when Hijikata fights Inodou, he mentions Enomoto Takeaki in chapter 135 as noted by EHS scans. He was a member of the Shogunate government who was key in founding the Imperial Navy that Koito’s father is a member of.

Another thing I learned at Sengan-en is that one of the Shimazu daughters married the last shogun in part to politically sway the shogun to transition and make way for the new Meiji government. This again shows that those from places in the south were positioning individuals to allow them to create a new government as easily as possible.

Since Koito’s father is a tall, darker complexion Satsuma man, as Koito is, his flashback highlights how different his mother looks. She’s very light in complexion and Koito mentions on his older brother looked like a Sakurajima daikon with very light skin tone.

Koito and his brother got their eye brows from their mother, yet he did not get her lighter skin tone, so on top of his Satsuma accent, other characters can tell that he’s from Kagoshima (or at least someplace in Kyushu).

I find it interesting that Koito’s mother is wearing a kimono in a house that is completely Western in decor and she almost looks uncomfortable in her surroundings. I can’t help but think it would be more socially appropriate for Koito’s mother Yuki, to also adopt Western style dress to fit with her position and role as the wife of an important member of the military and modern society. It is clear they are hosting foreigners in some fashion. When I was visiting Sengan-en, there were many photos of women wearing Western style dress ~1900, so many of them also adopted their fashion like their male family and friends did. Yet, instead, she seems out of place as though she didn’t grow up with this style (somewhere around Tokyo perhaps) and is unsure how to fit within it. Koito in contrast since his introduction at 14, is shown wearing full Western style dress and he’s sporting a much more Western style hairstyle than any other character had as a kid. Does he have an English style haircut?

I always get the feeling that Koito being raised in a more Western learning environment as a child in Kagoshima and being surrounded by a greater mix of people and seeing more differences he is just more comfortable in his role as a future military kid. He may not even realize it, but compared to many of the other GK cast members he’s both sheltered and open to things with his education. He has been spoiled and it shows in his dependence on Tsukishima, yet at the same time, he’s one of the most educated members of the group and has to be multilingual.

His bratty behavior which does not result in punishment from his father is also interesting as I sometimes wonder if his father was hoping he’d out grow things or come to his senses. It sounds like a more Western way to parent, but it is still the early 1900s so I could totally be off the mark here. Plus, in Koito’s flashback he seems to imply his brother’s death resulted in his father detaching himself from Koito, perhaps out of fear that if he did what his older brother did, he too would die? I think this makes sense with how Koito Sr. does rescue him and also when he tells Koito he’s glad he’s alright post-Karafuto-Sugimoto stabbing.

Some more general observations from walking around Kagoshima. People there seemed more relaxed, I observed people jaywalking, crossing a street against a “no crossing” sign and cars honking at each other! The feel is completely different than very stoic cities like Tokyo or Kyoto. Not surprisingly, there were also people with complexions that were darker like Koito and his father as well in Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, so he really is a character based in reality. Not that I doubted Noda, but he really does try to make his characters as realistic as possible. I’m sure with current beauty standards people are more aware of this and try not to tan as much as they would have in the past, but there were quite a few people who just had a different skin tone and it was January, so not a lot of long days of sunlight.

The other aspect of Kagoshima is its relationship with the volcano, Sakurajima. The daikon and komikan are both grown on the slopes of the volcano due to the soil and are important local products. The volcano dominates the region as it is visible from pretty much anywhere in the city. It is also a very active volcano, with ash coming out almost continuously and with multiple eruptions per day. When you walk around the city there is ash everywhere on the ground, under bushes and in corners. The city has active street cleaners/sweepers to remove the ash from the roads.

Here is my first good view of the volcano taken around 5pm from the Dolphin Port area. You can see a little bit of the ash coming out of the right side of the southern peak.

Here is a view of Sakurajima from Sengan-en. The ash is mixed with the light clouds but again it is moving to the left (a southern direction). If you look closely you can see the electric rail line above the wall for the JR Kyushu local lines.

This is the best scenic shot taken from Shiroyama, a view point in a public park again around 5pm. Unfortunately, the trees and bushes obscured part of my view to include the northern part of Kinko Bay (to the left). Yes, that is ash from the volcano drifting off to the right.

A similar shot from the manga is here in chapter 197.

Here is a bit more zoomed in photo showing how the city is right across from the volcano.

I was able to take the ferry across to the volcano a quick 15 minute ride. The volcano was a separate island until an eruption in 1914. Hence the name of Sakurajima even though it really isn’t an island (-jima) anymore. Interestingly, during Koito’s time (pre-1914), the volcano was dormant for most of the previous century but since they were growing the crops that thrived on the volcanic soil they were more than aware of the power of the volcano.

Here is a picture of one of the four ferries in action. These had space for regular passengers as well as cars for the lower decks.

The entire bay and surrounding area are a large caldera. I’m failing to explain this well, but the volcano really is a major presence in the area. Kind of like how you feel when you see Mt. Fuji, Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon etc but more personal. This is from the lookout point on Sakurajima. The volcano rises up in the background.

From the viewpoint you can look back across the bay towards Kagoshima. It was cloudy and overcast the day I visited the volcano; this is looking towards where Sengan-en is.

This is looking south towards the base of the bay eventually leading toward the ocean (it curves towards the left for the ocean).

As we took the ferry back to Kagoshima port, the sunset highlighted the cloud and ash covered top of Sakurajima.

What I’m really trying to highlight is how Sakurajima is a fundamental part of the Kagoshima area (it is part of the city) and it has influenced this area for a long time.

Unrelated, there are lots of stray cats on Sakurajima that are friendly and like to be petted. About 50% of the population all have these stubby tails as I got this shot of an orange and black cat with the volcano in the background. I did pet this cat. My brother also petted some of the cats too.

With all of the things that I learned in my visit to Kagoshima, I will use them to try to understand parts of Koito’s character and what may happen in the future for his character.

1.) Koito as a Satsuma elite -

It became very clear to me visiting museums and walking around the city that Kagoshima is a very European influenced city and prized including a Western education. My Mom also remarked that it appeared much more diverse in architecture and more Western looking (and she had no idea that I was observing this for my meta).

It is no surprise that Koito would have been a well educated young man and also interacting with foreign visitors on a regular basis. Before his older brother died he sounds like he was energetic but likely much more well behaved than his 14-16 year old self. Once he realized he wanted to go into the Army after his “rescue” by Tsurumi, he was an excellent student and excelled at his courses and passed his exams to enter the military college.

He trained in Jigen-ryu and based on his skill he has shown so far in his fight with Sugimoto on the airship and when he attacked the random Russian prisoner. Even if he was a wild child, he must have kept up the practice as demonstrated when he encounters Tsurumi in Kagoshima. He states that he’s the son of an important man, so he’s of course using that to his advantage and he’s upset. (special thanks to @goldenkamuyhunting for letting me use the new volume 20 pages!).

He then challenges Tsurumi with the old man’s cane instead of a sword. Sure he loses for all sorts of reasons - using what appears to be a lightweight cane, letting himself get overly emotional . . . the fact it is Tsurumi.

But after Tsurumi slaps him and leaves him in shock both failing to defeat him and using jigen-ryu, Tsurumi flatters him on his form. I take this to imply even if he is rebelling, skipping school and whatnot, he’s still practicing his jigen-ryu.

Previously, many of us avid readers of the series wanted Sofia and Koito to meet in Karafuto as we wondered if he was fluent in French as required for a military officer. However, after leaning that many people from Satsuma were aligned with the UK and also interacted with the USA around this time, I’m wondering if Koito can speak English instead. Tsurumi purchased weapons from a foreign arms dealer, Mr. Thomas (chapter 31). It is pretty damn obvious with the name of Thomas this man is an Anglophone. Though he’s based on a Scottish man, so he’d have a unique accent.

It is clear in this chapter that only Tsurumi and Tsukishima are meeting with Mr. Thomas in an isolated location. Based on the fact that Tsukishima and Tsurumi are both speaking with him, I would assume that they are speaking Japanese. This does not rule out that they also corresponded with him in English as well. I wonder if Mr. Thomas will reappear in the manga again as an arms dealer. Will the Anglo-Japanese relations of that time period come into play?

@goldenkamuyhunting has previous written about the fact that Mr. Thomas is likely based on Thomas Blake Glover a very successful merchant and business man in Japan who started out in Nagasaki. He also was one of the allies of the Satsuma domain families and involved in sending the students abroad to the UK.

Since Glover was more than willing to work with those in the Satsuma and Choshu domains, eventually leading to the overthrow of the shogunate government, perhaps we are to read that he’d be okay with another rebel faction in Hokkaido? Or since he became successful through relations in Kyushu does Koito Sr. know him?

2.) Koito is a citrus fruit.

This is a bit of an unusual angle, but I’m going to follow Noda’s lead here. Koito refers to his older brother as a Sakurajima daikon. It is clear that was his teasing nickname for his older brother, but it also something that he associates with his brother as a way to remember him now that he is gone.

If Koito Heinojyou is a large white daikon, than there are two options for Koito Otonoshin; sweet potato or mikan/satsuma orange. Sweet potatoes are more of a commoner food (alternative to rice) so a mikan makes more sense. I’m sure rich people still ate fancy sweet potato things, but likely in 1900 not all commoners could eat all the citrus grown in the area. Fresh fruit is always expensive.

Citrus fruits are brightly colored and energetic. All of the ones in Kyushu are various shades of orange and yellow. The mikans are a rich orange and are sweet and tangy. The aren’t a root vegetable like daikon or sweet potatoes, they grown on trees. Citrus need lots of care and attention to thrive. Citrus can only grow in warm climates and until modern industrial agriculture are in coastal regions (we are not discussing the central valley in California for various reasons). They also have fragrant flowers and are associated with people who are fresh, exciting, colorful and energetic. When you eat any type of citrus; lemon, lime, grapefruit, pomelo, yuzu, mandarin, mikan, clementine . . . etc no one would describe the flavor as weak, dull, or subtle. They are sweet, tangy, sour, bitter and aromatic as well. There is a lot of emotion and depth in citrus.

He’s charming and canonically an attractive male character. Sei Kobiyama has tweeted about this when the Vol 16 cover came out and the red eyeliner is linked to him be an attractive young man.

He’s got upper class manners and enjoys his Russian tea time.

Sei Kobiyama also noted that even when he tries to be angry and mean he doesn’t swear like the rest of the cast.

His deadpan upon his realization that he set Sugimoto up with his sabre blade.

The look of absolute horror that he may rip his skin off when trying to remove the cold hammer. I feel sorry with the volume edit where it is clear Sugimoto chased after him and pissed on him . . . why didn’t anyone suggest pouring some hot tea on his hand?

All of these aspects of citrus apply to Koito. His brother was a solid first son, well behaved and stable just like the large Sakurajima daikon. He is a native of the area, but his mother’s background is reflected in him as well. When Koito is rescued by his father and Tsurumi, we learn that Koito Heiji is also a much more dramatic and energetic man rushing in to save his son. These are passionate men who when at their best radiate this energy and warmth.

Koito’s older brother is a boring old root vegetable while he and his father are clearly sassy citrus, needing their sunshine and pruning etc etc. They may be capable men but face it, Koito Sr. spent too much time hiding his feelings and Koito is a very pampered guy who is very concerned about his appearance. Sure, he wanted Tsukishima to get his hand mirror so they could locate Vasily . . . but . . .

. . . but not without fixing his hair before looking!

And one of my absolute favorite jokes in the entire manga. Yes, I think Noda watched the classic comedy/parody “Spaceballs” for inspiration as a Princess has a ton of luggage that she insists on taking with her to the annoyance of commoners who rescued her.

I predict 50% of this contains personal care products for him. He’s so far north he’ll need to moisturize, and his hairstyle likely requires all sorts of products to keep it in such tip top condition. Okay, I’m jesting a bit, but I’m sure a lot of his stuff is for him to pamper himself.

Maybe as things change he’ll become a sweet potato? His hair color is pretty much the same color as one of the local Satsuma varieties - I kind of want to send Noda a message if Koito’s hair color is sweet potato colored. According to Sei Kobiyama he’s supposed have crow feather colored hair, which is considered very beautiful, but I see sweet potato.

3.) Koito comes from a region where people have recently questioned authority.

The most famous individual who helped shape Meiji era Japan and was from Kagoshima was Saigo Takamori. Tsurumi (as Hasegawa) tells Wilk, Kiro and Sofia about the 3 main founders of modern Japan. Sofia was compared to Saigo and he is from Kagoshima. Despite the fact that he lead to the change in government, he found himself in disagreement with the Meiji government and eventually returned to Kyushu to lead dissatisfied samurai of the region in a rebellion against the government.

It was clear visiting Kagoshima that he’s still a very famous and respected man, with many of the sites that you can visit are related to him. There is a statue of him along the art & culture road and he’s found everywhere; in shops, on o-miyage, products. If you see his statue in Tokyo’s Ueno Park, he’s portrayed in a less positive fashion (he’s got a bit of a beer gut as we’d say in English).

What is interesting is that Saigo worked in the Meiji government for some time. He didn’t just immediately fight against those he should be serving. Instead, he worked as a part of the government for some time and his somewhat both logical yet flawed ideas attempted to deal with the rapid social and societal change that the Meiji government was forcing upon everyone. He however, seemed more focused on the military than industrializing which would be counter to what he would have ultimately wanted. I’d say the soft power of the Shimazu family was much more forward thinking as they wanted to pursue industrialization.

Koito has spent a long time of his “focused” life trying to serve Tsurumi and prove to his father that he will be a good soldier. With the flashback in chapters 197-200, and his confrontation with Tsukishima in 210, he almost had a nervous breakdown.

He started to put things together and when Tsukishima threatened him and told him how Ogata killed Hanazawa he just was in complete shock. He was screaming in a non-Satsuma accent as he just did his best to behave how Tsukishima would anticipate he would behave.

I think in part when he got stabbed by Sugimoto when Asirpa escapes is in part due to the fact that he was still in shock. He lacked the usual energy and passion and overall “Koito-ness” that he’s shown in many other chase scenes. I honestly felt Koito was going through the motions when pursuing Asirpa and Sugimoto. Based on his mistake of approaching Sugimoto, I really think this adds to how he wasn’t quite with it during that chapter. He didn’t know what to think or do so he just went with the flow and relied on his training to cover up the fact that he clearly was a mess inside learning about Tsurumi. Even though he’s quite passionate and emotional at times he clearly does hold some of his emotions in and indicated by his distance/sulking post Ogata escape.

He stubbornly tries to get Tsukishima to keep pursuing Sugimoto as he weakly tries to waive him off. He’s trying his best to be a tough Satsuma Hayato (which I think is what he thinks he should be doing/acting as), and he made a mistake fighting Sugimoto even though he did the best he could do. He’s likely feeling very ashamed and still trying to determine what is going on with Tsurumi anyways. I also agree with Sei Kobiyama here that even though he’s a Satsuma Hayato, he’s too “nice” to really be one. I just keep coming back to him and Enonoka.

When we finally learn about his health he tells his father that he’s pitiful. Is he pitiful since he tried to stop Sugimoto? That he realized he’s been used by Tsurumi since he was 14? That Ogata gave him enough information that he sees what Tsurumi is doing isn’t for the benefit of the military and instead it is for Tsurumi’s own personal goals? The good thing about Koito being injured is it will give him a lot of time to think and rest. I really think him cornering Asirpa less than 12 hours after he learned part of the truth from Tsukishima was not a good thing for him.

That pained look on his face as his father looks away before telling him that he’s glad that he’s okay . . . and thankfully when Inkarmat finally reappears, she’s giving him his daily fortune as well as Tsukishima. His blush likely indicates he’s got some sort of crush on Inkarmat. He’s an extroverted guy, so he’d likely get along with someone like her. Even though he doesn’t interact with many females, I get the feeling that he relates to them better than men. I just think of how he was so sweet and respectful of Enonoka and he clearly enjoys Inkarmat’s company. I get the feeling that Inkarmat in canon is supposed to be a very attractive woman and we know she is both charismatic and independent.

Koito has kept himself going by trying to follow the military order and establishment up to this point. For him to question the system and go against Tsurumi, he will have to shatter his entire view of the military and how it operates.

I think Koito will want to seek out the truth as to what is really happening with Tsurumi. We know when he focuses on something he’s successful - just dealing with Tsurumi is going to be very difficult for him.

Thanks to @goldenkamuyhunting, I was able to see this change to volume 20 chapter 200. Koito is able to help himself up by himself from the blows that Ogata dealt to him. Battered and bruised he is able to exit the small hospital and we see a determined yet rough looking Koito. He gives the feeling of a man who wanted to catch Ogata to ask him more. I think Koito is thinking “What do you mean about the Manchuria Railway Ogata? What happened to Hanazawa? Why do you know the word a Russian kidnapper told me?” . . .

We later learn in chapter 210 that Ogata mentioned the Mantetsu (Manchuria Railway) so that Koito would link Hanazawa’s death to Tsurumi’s plans. I think Koito wanted to know what Ogata was referring to. He’s also likely had to rethink his opinion of Ogata based on chapters 200 and 210. He is an officer in the military, he’s an educated elite and he’s putting together big picture concepts that Ogata is dropping him hints about. I think he’s got the potential to be a clever character as well if he can gain confidence in himself. In the revised flashback with Tsurumi when he was 14, he was confidence using his father’s name. He needs to be 100% confident in himself. I hope he can get there!

Really the biggest determent to Koito’s character is how his bratty rich kid attitude prevents him from connecting with others. Time and time again he is not nice to others since he can get away with it. This is the aspect of Koito’s personality that I like the least. The only time that I liked it, is the fact that he is the only character to call out Sugimoto’s bullying and to go head to head with him. I think the rest of the characters may want to stand up to Sugimoto, but they can’t since they aren’t as privileged so they don’t know if they can. Koito however, just uses his baseline sense that he can push back at Sugimoto since “How dare he?” treat him poorly. His reasoning is a bit flawed but his response is what I would like to see others do as well. He really is just like Ogata in that regard, both of them have personalities that developed as a result of their background that makes it hard for others to connect with them. Ogata since he’s so distant refusing to connect with others and being too sarcastic for a lowly superior private and Koito since he’s just used to others obeying him as a result of his family and privilege.

So to stick with the local food analogy - I want Koito to go from being a citrus fruit to a sweet potato. Still important but much more humble.

Another Kagoshima analogy would be that Koito is like Sakurajima. His true potential and skills are dormant, but like the volcano does in his future, 1914, he reaches his full potential and is an amazing leader and force within the country.

Well that is all for my Kagoshima-Koito post. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. I felt that visiting Koito’s hometown gave me a better perspective on him and where he came from. This is something I wouldn’t have know if I hadn’t visited it! I had a great time visiting and learning about Koito, so if you have a chance to visit do so! If people are more interested, I could do a more detailed Koito tourism post in the future.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #koito otonoshin #koito heiji #koito yuki #koito heinojou #kagoshima #satsuma #satsuma hayato #sakurajima #tsurumi tokushirou #tsukishima hajime

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vandergeld · 4 years

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hey everyone welcome BACK to my blog , hi , how are ya ? i’m RUZZY ( or ru , rudy idk if thats too much lmAO ) & i have not been apart of a group in 84 years ............ that graphic is so extra but i was bored & first impressions are everything , ANYWHO this is my mans WARNER played by my mans GRAYSON DOLAN , who lacks f’n resources so i gotta work some magic w/ all these gifs on tumblr lmao so any gif icons are noT mine for the most part they’ll be taken from gifs alr created ( s/o 2 the fly hunnies that made ‘em ) anyway ya’ll don’t really care abt me lmao soooooo here’s warner ! PLS feel free to hmu ANYTIME for the plots & things of that nature u could lit never bother me idc , my discord is 𝐫𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐲𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐳𝐢#1643 if u everrr need to get ahold of me when im not on tumblr !

𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐃𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐍, cismale, he/his. → look out, there’s 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐃. you know, the 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 year old 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 of 𝐁��𝐓𝐀 𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐀𝐃𝐀 𝐌��. you know, i overheard someone say that they were 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄, 𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 , 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 and 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐃. but that’s just rumours. fresh new pairs of air jordan 1's, the roar of a crowd in a stadium, and lost weekends come to mind when i think of them. what about you? [ ruzzy, he/him, 18, est ]

TW : CANCER MENTION , SMOKING MENTION .

// » GENERAL :

FULL NAME : warner evangelino alexander vandergeld ( inspired by the antagonists of white chicks lmaooo ) .

HOMETOWN : new york city , new york .

NICKNAMES : dumbass .

AGE : twenty .

BIRTHDAY : october twenty-first .

ZODIAC : libra .

GENDER : male .

PRONOUNS : he & him .

NATIONALITY : american .

ETHNICITY : german , italian , irish .

LABEL(S) : the golden boy , the lothario , the jock .

TROPE(S) : chick magnet , hormone-addled teenager , unwitting pawn , upper class twit ,

OCCUPATION : college student & collegiate football player & full time frat bro .

FRAT : beta lambada mu .

MAJOR : environmental science .

POS : charming , charismatic , brave , athetic , dedicated , eco-friendly , high-moral compass , book smart , kind , energetic , optimistic , loyal ( most of the time ) , respectful , well-rounded , level-headed , ambitious , debonair , life of the paty .

NEG : compulsive , easily-influenced , dimwitted , hypersexualized , problematic , addictive , rebellious , bemused , defensive , clingy , hopeless-romatic , overly-competitive , envious .

INSP : nate archibald ( gossip girl )

// » PAST :

warner was born & raised in the city that never sleeps and is the product of evangeline moretti-vandergeld , an intelligent american-italian socialite turned environmental politician , and captain william vandergeld , a former navy captain , and now a shareholder in some boring fortune 500 company that allowed his wife and son to live an affluent , and privileged life . his mother however , was the real deal , often using their sum of wealth to donate to multiple charities , organizations , etc, she was dedicated to keeping new york city ( and all who lived there ) clean and safe , and she instilled those same values onto her son.

some people are born lucky , and others , lucky to be born . warner was the first option . his childhood was nothing short of happiness , and happiest days were with his mother , for as long as he could remember , any happy moment in his childhood was faded right into her.

things took a drastic change his freshman year of ( private obvy lmao ) high-school . warner’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer , and little to his knowledge , it wasn’t looking pretty from the start . she was frequently in and out of the hospital for a few months at a time and it was not looking good on any fronts . one day when she went to the hospital it seemed like she never left , maybe she didn’t , those days were a blur for warner to be honest . watching his mother lose life , every single day was not a task he was up for .

by then it was just warner and his father , they were all they had in the big city . ( when he wasn’t always away on business ) warner grew up in that big luxy town house all by himself , with the company of loyal maids , chefs , and nannies of course . but in high school , the more he really submerged himself into it , it was a crazy world & he loved it . whilst getting demands from his father in tokyo to attend those boring sailing classes , warner instead headed out to their beach house in the hamptons for an early 20 rager .

warner undoubtedly knew the power he possessed , big man on campus type & it felt good , until about towards the end of his junior year he was honestly all partied out , but of course reputation is everything , in order to keep up thats when he picked up the real ugly habits , that were of course fun . smoking numerous amounts of marijuana , various girls in - and - out every other day was a feeling like no other , he knew it was wrong , he knew his mom would be ashamed , him doing all these things and not carrying on her legacy in some way . but he couldn’t help himself in a all honesty , and no doubt some of that transitioned over in college .

// » AES :

lost weekends partying , chicken wings & french fries , air jordan 1′s , gucci guilty cologne , friday night lights , clouds of smoke & red eyes , diamond encrusted jewelry glistening under bright lights in a dark room , nike sweatsuits , game winning moves , new york city at night , hamptons in the summer , spring break in miami , impulsive decisions .

// » TL;DR :

( and some stuff i probably missed oops ) warner is a conflicted mama’s boy who knows half the shit he does is wrong but can’t stop . after his mothers passing he had an absent father who seemed to always be away on business , only in town for a month or two , missing his sons’ multiple feats to keep himself distracted from the fact that his wife was no longer with them. created immense daddy issues for warner , especially since he was a standout football star & 2x stage champ in high school , and is currently playing collegiality for the irish , with dreams of making it in the nfl cause screw his dad he don’t wanna go 2 the navy , or work for dat company # not gonna happen . warner took great advantage of wealth & his fathers absence , but he’s lowkey partied out in college , or so he likes to say but he fakes it ‘till he makes it bc he doesn’t his brothers to think he’s lame . HE’S LIVING FOR EVERYBODY BUT HIM BASICALLY .

// » HEADCANONS :

warner is on a football scholarship majoring in environmental science bc although he most likely won’t do shit w/ da degree its for mommy .

he can EASILY be manipulated or taken advantage of , he’s book smart but lowkey dumber than a fucking box of rocks

immastonerbyyoungthug.mp3 . occasionally , but , more so than that ? he always manages to flush out his system in time if needed be , but he loves 2 roll up # stress relief

a BEAST on that field ( student athlete meme here )

has all the canon gray tattoos bc fuck what dad thinks . he wears a solid 16 inch gold chain , and another of the same length with his moms’ name on it , never fucking takes it off , showers with it cause he can .

ok ........ he rich , but like not i can do whatever i want rich ??? he may not ever have to work a day in his life , but he don’t got the pull u think he does w/ his dumb ass u probably couldn’t even tell he’s got money with his minimalist fashion sense .

he has a higher moral compass than most of his frat bros , but the stupid shit he does , u most likely won’t even be able to tell , he’s definitely a serial romeo and a heartbreaker , one compliment ? he’s ready to drop his pants & fall in love w/ u .

HE DUMB , but like he can talk his way into & out of anything , most of the time , batting those big brown eyes & a million dollar smile has saved his ass on multiple occasions .

// » WANTED CONNECTIONS :

EX-GIRLFRIEND : i’m thinking his first & only “ serious “ relationship while in college . were going pretty steady until he cheated on her ( hmm wc on who he cheated on her w/ ?? ) , she never found out but that guilt ate warner TF UP so he cut things off with her via text message and blocked her number , ignores her any chance he gets ‘till this day , cause he doesn’t have any balls and cannot face his fears .

FRAT BROS : lowkey what i’m MOST excited for asdfgh like whoever is in beta lambada mu hit me the fuck UP so we can discuss dynamics , roomates , allat .

FOOTBALL TEAM : same for above , he’s lowkey cocky & got sly comments when he’s on the field , he constantly humbles himself but can’t helps it , he is hot shit and he knows it , how does his team feel ab that ?? w/ his defensive ass !

GOOD-LUCK CHARM : prolly a girl ( bonus points if a cheerleader ??? im not picky tho i promise if ur muse don’t shake poms idc ) it happened out the blue , they screamed his name while the team was walking out for a game , and she called that he’d get 3 td’s and thats exactly what he did now they joke ab it and shit ( maybe a goodluck kiss b4 games bc its warner lolol ) idk i came up wit it on the spot but i love it.

// » MISC :

i’m a dumbass & this got way longer than i expected but if u made it all the way thru ily .

#clovers.intro #♔ — ∞ ⁞ @ 𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐃 ↱ OOC.#im so srry this a novel #but woot woot im so excited !!!!

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dopcmine · 5 years

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⋆ 𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑹𝑶𝑫𝑼𝑪𝑰𝑵𝑮 — * ⋆ ╰ hey , did you happen to see DAMON NAM on campus today ? you know , the JEON JUNGKOOK look-alike in our seven am class ? yeah , that SENIOR . ah , well they had their SILVER NECKLACE on their desk this morning and left without it . i wanted to return it … but i have to get to class in five minutes . wait , don’t you see them around at THE APARTMENTS ? oh , great ! can you bring it to HIM then ? ugh , thank you so much. you’re the best ! now i know they get the rep of being EGOCENTRIC but you don’t have to worry . they’re always MAGNETIC . and who knows , maybe you two’ll hit it off ! i know that they’re a INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS major too . well , i have to jet before i miss my exam but i’ll catch you at the frat party later , right ? oh , you should bring DAMON ! it’s always fun having the PLAYBOY around .

𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔 :

fullname: damon nam

nicknames: none

age: twenty-three

d.o.b: april 15, 1996

zodiac: aries sun, leo moon, scorpio rising

gender: cismale

sexuality: bisexual

occupation: tattoo artist @ body electric tattoo and piercing

𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂 :

twt & insta handle: p7ayboy

insta followers: 1.3m

twt followers: 1m

tik tok: 750k

𝒂𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄 :

cruisin’ around l.a with the windows down, drinking cold beers on a hot summer afternoon, old school music playing loudly from his apartment, late night kbbq dates with the gang, old childhood scars from fights and playing outside until late evening, silver jewelry around his neck and wrists, street racing, rolling blunts on the hood of his car, face smudge with oil and sweat working on his car, stumbling around the city on the lookout for his favorite food trucks, tattoos up to his neck and down his arms all the way to his back, a gold virgin mary necklace hanging from his rear view mirror, belting out to romantic spanish music drunk and slurring the words, always moving forward and never looking back, selfish tendencies, playing with people like a deck of cards, carrying a butterfly knife with him at all times

𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 :

born and raised in east los angeles, damon had to grow up a little faster than his peers. he comes from a working class family, his parents both public school teachers trying to get by like every other family. being one of the very little korean-american families in maravilla, damon used to get picked on and bullied to the point he refused to get out of bed in his early elementary days. but like any kid, he made friends with some of the neighborhood kids that went to the same school he did, and they stuck by his side. it gave damon the confidence to stand up for himself now that he had his little group to the point he repeated the bad words they taught him in spanish to the same little boys that would pick on him, not knowing what it meant but knowing it was something about their moms that caused one his many first fights to break out in the school yard. after that, damon and his little band of misfits became a little notorious for getting into scuffles with other students.

he stayed in maravilla up until high school, venturing north to a new house due to his dad being offered the position of principal at a junior high. damon went on to attend lincoln high school but it wasn’t hard to fit in, nor was it difficult to fall into step with a new group of friends ( some of which he knew from his earlier days when he used to sneak out of his house with his friend and venture off ). high school was a ride, even if damon had found a place where he belonged people still loved to talk shit and damon loved nothing more than confrontation. he got into fights behind grocery stores, there was fights in empty parking lots where groups of people showed up before everyone scattered the moment they heard cop sirens down the street. damon did get caught once for a misdemeanor the summer before sophomore year and his parents had to get him out which was a hell of a ride home, both his parents almost losing their voices taking turns yelling at him.

it was that moment that his parents made him attend mandatory after school classes, starting smack in the middle of summer. it’s safe to say he was very angry about it but found no outlet to get it out on when he was confined to the library. he started doodling instead of doing his homework while he was in there, soon off he started drawing more and he had talent. he could draw any picture you put in front of him just by looking at it, and soon he started to create his own. that very same summer, on one of the rare days his parents let him out to go to one his friend’s birthday party, he met their older brother, covered in tattoos from his legs to his arms. old english font and a portrait of a woman he later learned was his wife. he was entranced by the ink that decorated the man, asking him questions as the man grilled the carne asada, coughing every once in a while the smoke blew in his direction.

too keep it short, damon wanted to do that. he wanted to draw permanent drawings on people and he wanted his own. he drew more, filling more sketchbooks with his own ideas and interpretations of others. he started working odd jobs after school, trying to save up for his own tattoo gun and ink, even venturing off to tattoo shops to observe them before he got told to scram. at the age of sixteen he had his own set and it wasnt long before his friends lined up to get their first tattoos done by damon. just little small things that didn’t require damon to worry too much about safety and health. the first tattoo he made on himself was a lucky eight ball and a match, now faded on the sides of his fingers.

at seventeen his got his fake id not only for booze but to get a job at a parlor -- not tattooing -- but cleaning up after them, keeping the store tidy and clean. he had a car at the time, an old beat up chevy, and it took him thirty minutes to get to body electric. the owner new damon was underage but he let him work anyway. point is, he was taken under his wing and became an intern, an apprentice, and by the time damon hit eighteen and got his tattoo license, he was able to work a couple hours at first. from 18 to now, damon has been in the same place with a booming following on social media -- which is thanks to his good looks and talent.

he’s been wanting to drop out of ucla because of how in-demand he is now. he’s tattooed celebrities, from socialites to rappers to all sorts of people. he hooks up his old friends from where he grew up for free, and his close friends at school too. but overall, damon makes hella bank now. which is why he finds school pointless, however, the owner of the parlor he works out told him that if he didn’t finish his bachelors he’ll fire him. the owner definitely grew to treat damon as a son, and wants him to venture out and travel with his talent, but he wants him to be smart about it and learn the ropes of the business industry. it’s why damon stays despite not being too happy about it, but it’s his last year and he’s going to make it one shot of patron at a time.

𝒇𝒖𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔:

damon is trilingual -- english, korean, and spanish ( considering he grew up in a heavily latinx/chincax neighborhood as a child, the language latched on to him ).

he’s very appreciative of the chicanx culture because he grew up around it, and they took him in despite not being chicanx himself he was still treated as family by his close friends. ( and also because i’m biased to my own culture and east los is heavily mexican/latinx )

he almost joined a gang but it was around the time he was forced into after school study where he found his outlet through art.

he knows how to dance pero like cumbias and shit, he’s hella good at it.

damon makes it his goal to be good at everything, it doesn’t even matter what it is.

he has a bmw he fixed up and uses it for street racing -- races which he wins most of the times ( just ask dae lmao ).

he can drive under the influence of weed but i do not condone this behavior !! but he can do it, but he’s beent doing it, don’t try this at home guys, or alone.

damon was a little heartthrob in high school though, going out with the girls and hooking up with some guys.

he was honestly one of the popular kids growing up, he was in THAT group that people longed to be a part of because they were always out mobbing, drinking, throwing parties and being out. they had fun, but they were also notorious trouble-makers.

his tik tok thing started as a joke because damon looked like the eboys that began to trend and now he has dae help him film them just for the hell of it, because why not. he’s got nothing to lose, it’s a good laugh in the end.

is a gym rat, he’s out there doing weights and bulking up and boxing because sometimes he just wants to procrastinate his homework and that’s valid, plus he’s gotta stay in shape with all that heavy drinking and weed intake.

patron is his best friend -- after dae of course lmao.

damon’s actually never been in love??? like he’s had maybe three s/o’s but it was never that serious? except maybe for his first one? but he’s never experienced something where he feels genuine care for a person and love, it’s mostly just lust and like the need to experience what it’s like being with someone but it never rlly takes off

𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔:

gang shit: this one’s already taken up by whoever’s in the no homo chat but like, let me plot out dynamics with you all cause ion know how damon is gonna treat y’all characters if we don’t talk about it lmao

enemies: damon could always use some tbh, those are fun because damon grew up around people that have given him a hard time and he isn’t one to back down from a good altercation

an ex: listen, damon isn’t that great of a person he probably cheated on them only because he didn’t know they were exclusive and frankly, he doesn’t really even remember agreeing to be something but they were and even if damon knew, he still went ahead and did it.

highschool sweetheart, THE ex: listen this one is...particular and super specific. must be a girl/nb but latinx because i picture this being the person who really really taught damon more than he already knew, from dancing to romantic spanish music, etc. perhaps they weren’t in love but they did care about each other, damon even still has a gift i picture she gave him ( a gold virgin mary necklace ) hanging from his rear view mirror. this is like...when we can take up more chars ig? idk just thought i’d write it down

flings: hookups ig? except not people involved with dae cause he isn’t about to fuck no sloppy seconds lmao, if not he venturing out to usc away from ucla lmaooo

idk what else to add im so tired and this is so late and i just want to post it, so if y’all got anything else just hmu tbh

#bruins.intro #im late lol

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scribblescrabblebabble · 5 years

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RoyEd Week 2k19 Day 1!

Title: Seven(?) Days

Rating: T+

Relationships: Roy Mustang/ Edward Elric

Chapter: Day 1- Modern AU (high school theater fluff & dramatic!Roy)

Cross- Posted on AO3 and Fanfic.net links- Fanfic.net AO3

Best quality reading will be through the links, not on Tumblr itself because I’m too lazy to do italics and shit right now. For @royedweek2019 ‘s RoyEd Week!

Day 1- Modern AU

Ed stared bleakly down at the many slides and switches laid in front of him. He had finished his homework an hour ago, so now all he could do was sit in the small booth and watch his classmates argue with the Drama teacher below him.

‘Theater People’ He thought with an eye-roll, ‘Roy’s real lucky I’m such an upstanding boyfriend for helping him like this.’

“Edward, honey, turn on the presets for scene five!” Mrs. Lamine, a Drama teacher very befitting of the title, called from the stage as she directed Ed’s aforementioned boyfriend and a few other students to stand over little strips of colored tape.

Ed gave a quick thumbs-up and pressed one of the preset buttons, and all lights but for some red and blue lights on-stage dimmed or turned completely off (he had watched in trepidation as two techies hung the gel-covered lamps from bars over the stage on a rickety-at-best scaffolding a week ago).

The board had been easy to learn, compared to the “computer stuff” (as Roy dubbed it) Ed worked on for fun. His only real qualm with his current situation was just about everything else about participating in a high school theater production when he could be doing just about anything else. Stupid Colin and his broken legs, and the wheelchair non-accessible light booth. Stupid Roy and Al, too, for their dumb influence over Ed’s emotions. And, most of all, stupid theater for having a production in a week and not enough funding to hire a booth guy.

With a sigh, Ed leaned back in his chair and watched Val Smith screw up her lines for the umpteenth time that hour.

--------

Of everything he hated about staying until seven at school every day for an extracurricular he couldn’t care less about, the sheer nosiness of the actresses (especially Val fucking Smith) got to Ed the most.

They were running a few scenes with just the house lights on for the moment, so Ed had nothing to do until Roy and Jean managed to remember their swordfight choreography the whole way through (and it wasn’t like Ed didn’t absolutely love watching Roy accidentally hit Jean in the shins with the prop lance, but at this point they would actually have battle wounds when they weren’t even really supposed to touch each other!). Suddenly, Ed saw two of his classmates, Christy and Paninya, approach the light booth in his periphery. He hadn’t heard the balcony door creak open as it usually did, so their sudden appearance took him by surprise. Their all-too innocent expressions didn’t a thing to soothe Ed’s irritation, either.

“Hey, Ed.” Paninya greeted quietly as they slid into the booth and crouched next to him, filling up the little free space he had.

“What’s up?” Ed asked nonchalantly. He knew from their smiles that they weren’t just up here to ask after his well-being.

“So… You and Roy are an item.” Christy stated.

Ed blinked, taken off- guard. Sure he wasn’t exactly private about his relationship with Roy, but none of the theater girls had previously so much as acknowledged it (Ed had his suspicions it was because they quietly resented Ed for snagging their dream boy away from them). He slowly said, “Yeah…. So what?”

Paninya shook her head quickly, “No, we don’t care or anything. We think you two are really good together! We were just curious about something. Actually, we have a bet, you see.” The scheming smile was back.

‘Oh God,’ Ed thought.

Christy asked through a little giggle, “Who tops?”

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

“You’re not really still salty about running lights, are you?” Roy asked incredulously. True, it had been a week, but Ed was nothing if not persistent. Plus, he had one more whole week of this ordeal, and if he had to deal, so could Roy. However, Ed hadn’t quite planned on his “salt” affecting his current situation, which saw him straddling Roy in the dark-haired boy’s beanbag chair, an amused smirk cast upon his bright red blush.

Ed scowled through his flushed cheeks, removing his hands from where they had been previously removing Roy’s shirt, “Is now really the time?”

“You’ve never pouted so much during a thrall of passion; I had to ask.”

Ed groaned, “Don’t call it a thrall of passion, ya dork! I was just reminded of stupid Christy and Paninya and their dumb bet.”

Roy laughed loudly, “Oh geez, of all the times!”

“Yeah I know, right?” Ed scowled, yelping a bit when Roy ran his hand lightly up his waist.

“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re helping out. I like getting to see you after school.”

Ed’s blush could have melted ice, “Shut up and continue doing what you were doing, you ass.” Roy laughed, yet compiled all the same.

---

That Thursday night, it was Al’s turn to bear witness to Ed’s tirades (not that he hadn’t had an earful already). It was the night before opening night, and they had just come back home from the final dress rehearsal, Al still smeared in stage makeup, and Ed wearing a scowl to beat all other scowls.

“Fuck the stupid theater!” He growled, throwing his backpack onto the couch as Al pulled out a Tupperware of leftover dinner with the note ‘Left this out for you boys to eat after rehearsals. Dad and I won’t be home until tomorrow morning. Don’t get hurt, we don’t want you two to turn up at work. <3 – Mom’

“Mom and Dad left out some food, Brother. Let’s eat.”

Ed nodded, “Did Mom leave a crappy ER joke?”

Al shrugged, “It’s more of a warning this time. Hurry up and sit, I’ll toss the food in the mic for a sec.” He did so, keeping his back to Ed at the kitchen table as the food spun around cooking, “Ya know, I’m really glad you’re doing this for us. I know you’d rather be doing other stuff.”

Ed huffed, “What? How could you tell?”

“I really hope that was sarcasm, Brother.” Al turned to see Ed, legs kicked up on the table scrunching up the decorative table cloth their mom insisted on laying out to “accent the fruit bowl”.

“Do you know me, Al? I’m made of sarcasm. And anyway, it’s not a huge problem, I’m sure Roy would have just bugged me until I gave in anyway. I just don’t see how you can stand being around those people for so many hours every day!”

Al rolled his eyes over the mild jab at his friends, “I mean, you chose to date a theater guy, so I don’t know what you can really say about that.”

“But it’s Roy.”

“Yes, exactly my point. The biggest personality in our theater class: Roy Mustang.”

“What’re you getting at?” Ed asked.

“Well,” Al responded, “I’m just saying that if you can handle Roy every day and choose to date him, then you can deal with Val Smith for a few hours.”

“But it’s different! Roy’s cute when he’s being dramatic. Val makes me want to punch something.”

Al shook his head, “You confuse me, Brother.” The microwave beeped, and Al served up the warm food. Ed took a large bite of his pasta.

“You nervous about the show, Al?” He asked around the food in his mouth, changing pace.

Al blinked, “A bit, but I’ve got a pretty minor role. I’m more nervous that our poor excuse of a tech class will screw up a set or not get the right stuff onstage between scenes or something like that and throw off the flow of the performance.” Al paused to eat some food before continuing, “What about you?”

Ed cocked a brow, “You know I don’t a fuck about this play.”

“But you’ve got a pretty important job. If you mess up a light cue, everyone will freak out and mess up.”

“So? I won’t fuck it up.” Ed shrugged.

“You’re not even a bit nervous for Roy? You don’t give a fuck about the play, but you do give a fuck about him.” Ed paused, wishing Al didn’t know his thought process so well.

“Well… I’m worried that Roy’ll be a big drama queen about wanting me to do well if that’s what you mean. You know how he is.”

“But I thought you said he was cute when he was dramatic.” Al giggled at Ed’s blush.

“Not when he’s being dramatic over me!”

Al burst into real laughter over his brother’s flustered face, “He’s probably gonna be more nervous about himself messing up than you, in all honesty.”

“But he’s, like, the best actor y’all have (no offense)! He’s got nothing to worry about.” Ed defended. In all honesty, it hadn’t crossed Ed’s mind that Roy may doubt himself onstage. Sure, he had some self-confidence issues (it took Ed ages to convince Roy to come out to his friends- all part of the theater- about their relationship), but he seemed so… relaxed when he acted! Ed just assumed he’d be less unsure in himself in that area.

Al sighed, “He is the best- that’s why he gets super anxious backstage. He’s got a reputation to uphold. It only happens right before he has to go on, so I’m not surprised you haven’t noticed, but he gets all freaked out and panicky. Almost threw up once.”

“Ew, Al, I’m eating!” Ed groaned, squeamish with puke in conversation, “So what you’re saying is that if I mess up, it’ll get to Roy’s head and he’ll have a panic attack?”

“I didn’t say that! God, Ed.”

“Well you don’t have to, because I won’t mess up and Roy will be great, and you’ll kill it, and this play will be a hit. I didn’t waste two weeks on this damn thing to fail my one job opening night.”

Ed stood with that comment, scraping his leftover food into the garbage (Al winced at the waste) and taking his leave to go finish his homework with a quick “Goodnight” to Al. The younger Elric brother to the last bite of his dinner with a smug look on his face, having new confidence in Ed’s secret enjoyment of the theater. All he had to do now was get through opening night, and the rest would be a breeze.

-----

At last, it was opening day, and Ed could see the light at the end of the theater-shaped tunnel. Only today and the weekend to go before he’d have his afternoons back and Roy would be indebted to him interminably. That is, Roy would be indebted to him once he got out of whatever dumb slump he’d been in since that morning. He’d been distracted during all of the classes they shared, and not just his usual “too cool to take notes” kind of distracted! Ed had his suspicions it was because of the play, considering what Al had told him last night.

At lunch, Ed and his friends ate in their usual stomping grounds- the chemistry teacher’s classroom. He’d let them eat there on the conditions that they clean up after themselves and help set up for his labs after they eat. He entered the room, surprised to find his brother and Roy there, chatting with James Slayton (a classmate of Al’s who liked to hang around Ed’s group). It wasn’t unheard of to find either boy in the chem room with Ed, he had assumed they would be eating with their theater friends before the big show.

“I didn’t expect you guys to be here.” Ed said when Roy and Al noticed him set down his backpack and lunch tray at his usual desk, “Not hanging out with the cast?”

Roy shook his head vigorously, “They wanted to run lines for the first act while we ate. If I have to hear that script before tonight, I’ll scream.”

“I tagged along.” Al shrugged, turning back to James.

Roy sat at the desk in front of Ed, turning his body around so that he faced his boyfriend, his chin rested on his folded arms at the end of Ed’s desk. Ed poked him on the nose with his plastic spoon, “You tired?”

“I’ll have you know I slept wonderfully last night… with the help of Melatonin. I just want this show to be over with.”

Ed blinked, “I thought you loved acting.”

“I do! It’s just… opening a show is always nerve-wracking. The first show can really set morale for the rest, so it’s gotta be good. And some actors, not me, of course-”

“Oh, of course.” Ed agreed wryly, receiving an exasperated look from the other.

“-some actors just get progressively worse and worse if they start out making mistakes. It’s a mental thing, ya know? Everyone wants the show to go smoothly, but nobody trusts the other actors to take it seriously and try their best!” Roy sighed.

Ed grinned a bit at his expense, taking the opportunity to run his fingers in Roy’s hair with the hand not holding his fork. Russel and Rose entered the room around this time, immediately making gagging noises at Ed’s show of affection. He put his fork down to flip the duo off before turning back to Roy, who looked like he was trying not to laugh in favor of being dramatic and sad. “You’ll fucking rock it, Roy. You know that. Besides, how can this thing fail if I’m involved? Like I told Al, I didn’t waste two weeks of my life to let my efforts crash and burn. Plus, you get to beat the shit out of Jean with a fake sword! You’re forgetting your blessings here, man.”

“That’s the spirit,” Roy laughed, “Can I snag a fry?”

Ed consented said snag, wondering aloud, “Did you not get your own food?”

Roy shook his head, now lifted from his arms, “I’d throw it all up.”

Ed put down his own fry, “You and Al need to stop it with the puke-talk!” He could hear Al laugh behind him as he exited the classroom with James for more food, Ed presumed.

Roy was going to respond, when Val poked her head into the room, obviously looking for him, “Roy! We’ve been looking all over for you, we need to run lines for scene six and find Al! Meet us onstage in five.” She flipped her hair back and strode back into the hall.

Ed noticed Roy instantly slump back down and couldn’t stop the angry, “Fucking bitch,” from leaving his mouth.

Roy shook his head, “Only on production week. Usually, Val’s sweet.” He moved to stand, looking confused when Ed did as well.

“No, wait a moment!” Ignoring his friends’ joking comments about PDA, Ed pulled Roy into a hug, murmuring, “Don’t let yourself get too worked up, yeah? I’ll see you after school.”

He could practically feel Roy’s smile as the boyfriend in question gave Ed a reciprocating squeeze and stepped back, “See you then.”

He turned with a wave and left for the theater, and Ed sat back in his seat.

“You two are disgusting,” Russel commented. Ed just grinned at him.

-----

As Ed predicted, Roy killed it onstage. Jean probably had a few new welts from that sword, but the scene looked great so he’d let it slide. As a matter of fact, the only person who majorly messed up was Val Smith (which had Ed mentally cheering, unabashed at his own malice. He just really fucking hated Val). Back in the changing rooms, Ed found his boyfriend hugging a few of the actresses in celebration of a well-done opening show, face red from exertion and makeup wipes.

“What did I fucking tell you, Roy Mustang?” Ed asked, making Roy look up. The girls (Christie and Paninya, Ed noticed with a grimace) collectively grinned and pushed Roy out of their arms to Ed, who caught him before they both crashed to the ground. Roy’s laugh was contagious as he hugged Ed tightly, and the blonde found himself chuckling along with him.

The quick (and rather violent, in Ed’s humble opinion) kiss was a surprise, and Ed was still reeling a bit as Roy raved, “Ed, it went so well! You did great!” above the ‘Oooooo’s sent their way by Al and Jean (who was, in fact, holding a small ice pack to his waist).

Ed blushed a bit at the compliment, “Hey, I told you I wouldn’t let my wasted afternoons be for nothing. Besides, tonight was pretty fun, at least. Not saying the rehearsals were at all, though.”

That seemed to be the right response, because Roy totally lit up, obviously glad that Ed had had some fun in the subject he adored. Then, however, a smirk blanketed his glee, “So you’d help with the next show too?”

“What? I NEVER said that! You must be diluted or something!” Ed fussed over Roy’s laugh.

But as they left each other’s holds for Roy to finish changing back into his normal clothing Ed realized, deep down, that he would most likely end up helping his boyfriend if he asked. Because, as much as he hated theater, he kind of fucking loved Roy Mustang.

#RoyEdweek2019 #safe RoyEd #royed #fanfiction #fanfic

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everysongineverykey · 6 years

Text

how boy i just wrote the longest solinh fanfic i have ever written

Sophie flopped down on her living room couch and willed herself to think. The Foxfire Winter Ball was coming up in three weeks, and she needed a date. Obviously she could just ask Keefe or Dex or Fitz and save any embarrassing questions. The only problem was that they were just her friends. If she asked them, they’d think she liked them. Keefe, especially, would never let her hear the end of it. She sighed in frustration. There was no other option except not going, in which case she would likely be teased by Stina even more relentlessly.

Of course, there was always Linh…

No, Sophie thought, pushing the idea to the back of her mind. That’ll never work. The mere possibility that Linh might like her back was one in a thousand, and even then, the odds of Linh actually asking Sophie were even worse. But then again, she thought, I’ll never know unless I ask her. She concluded that the only way she would not end up feeling terrible about herself was if she did. She started to brainstorm ways to ask her when the door opened suddenly.

“Hey, Foster,” an enthusiastic Keefe said, appearing in the doorway. “Jolly Grey Giant here?”

“No, Keefe, Sandor is outside. And he wishes you’d stop calling him that, by the way.”

“Aw, he loves me. So, who’re you taking to the Winter Ball?” he asked, smirking. “Will it be Dimply Dex? Fantastic Fitz? Maybe even… Kissy Keefe?”

“How much time did you spend thinking of ‘Kissy Keefe’?”

“Wow. Salty much?” Keefe whistled. “Anyway, I don’t know who I’m bringing, but you’re the Mysterious Miss F! If you can fight terrorists, you can get a date for a little dance.”

“Well…” Sophie hesitated. “There is someone… but I’m just not sure…”

“I knew it! Who’ll it be, Foster? Which lucky guy has the honour of being your dream date?”

“Don’t get mad-or tell anyone-“

“You can trust me.” Keefe’s voice became gentle and serious.

“Well- I like Linh.”

Keefe’s eyes widened. “Yeah, I know you like her, but who do you want to take to the Ball?”

“Linh, Keefe. I told you. I like her.”

“...Oh.” Keefe looked confused. “Huh. I didn’t know you… swang that way.”

“Oh. Well. I do. Is that.. okay with you?”

“Well, yeah, of course, but… does anyone else know?”

“No.”

“Not even your parents.”

“No one.”

“That’s… problematic.”

“Why?” Sophie was apprehensive.

“I mean, shouldn’t they? If you’re going to ask Linh out-“

“I don’t know if I’m going to ask her out.”

“You don’t know? What do you mean, you don’t know? If you like someone, you ask them out. Simple as that. Come on, Foster, how are you so smart and still so dumb?”

“I’m sorry, okay? I wasn’t exactly the popular kid-“

“I know that. But you’ll miss your chance if you don’t ask her now. You need to grab the horns by the cow-“

“Grab the bull by the horns, Keefe.”

“Whatever. The point is, you’ve got to ask her. I’ll even help you. Meet me at your locker tomorrow when you get to school.”

Sophie sighed again. This was going to be the death of her.

When Sophie got to Foxfire the next day, Keefe, being a man of his word, was waiting there for her at her locker. He greeted her with a shake of the shoulders and slipped a bottle of green liquid out of his bag.

“This is clover juice. It’s a million four-leaf-clovers, all ground together. I bought it at Slurps and Burps. It’ll give you good luck. Just drink it all right before you ask her and she’s bound to say yes.”

“You want me to influence the opinions of my friend with a potion?”

“Geez, Foster, you make it sound so bad. Look, I promise it’ll be fine.”

Sophie thought for a moment, then said, “Okay, I guess.”

“Attagirl. You’ll do great. Just be yourself.” He smiled, clapped her on the back, and hurried off with Ro, presumably to ditch somewhere. Ro gave her an encouraging smile as they walked away.

That afternoon, Sophie could hardly hear the sounds of the students running through the bustling courtyard as she scanned the crowd for Linh. She took another look at the bottle in her hand and began to question herself. Was this really the right thing to do?

But her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of an impatient Linh, waiting for Tam at their crystal.

“Linh! Hi!” Sophie waved, pushing through the throng of people. “How was your day?” Ugh. ‘How was your day’? She couldn’t even think of anything original to say. How was she going to do this? Taking a deep breath, she started to unscrew the cap on the bottle, then, when she saw Linh smiling at her, decided against it and quickly shoved it into her bag.

“Hey, Sophie. What’s that bottle?”

“Oh, that? Oh, it’s nothing. Just a little… allergy tonic. Yeah.”

Linh eyed her suspiciously, but if she didn’t believe her, she gave no sign.

“So, um… there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“Oh? What is it?”

This was it. The moment where Sophie would either get a girlfriend or end up with nothing but heartbreak. She took several deep breaths and said quickly, “HeyLinhdoyouwanttogototheBallwithme?”

Linh’s eyes widened. “...Sorry?”

“DoyouwanttogototheWinterBallwithme.”

Silence for a few moments. Sophie could practically feel the foundations of her world begin to crumble. And then:

“Yes.”

Sophie hadn’t been this speechless since Fitz had first told her she was an elf. “What?”

“Yes, Sophie. I want to go to the Ball with you.”

“You’re-you’re serious?”

“‘Of course I’m serious. You’re a really… awesome girl, Sophie. I’ve liked you for a while. I’d be stupid to say no to this.” She blushed furiously.

“Oh. I- um- great!”

“Yeah.”

“So, um… are you…” Sophie wasn’t sure if she should ask.

“What? Out?”

“Yeah. Because I’m not to anyone except Keefe.”

“Tam knows. I don’t really have anyone else to tell… besides, well, you guys.”

“Ahaha. I guess that’s true.”

“You made Keefe promise not to tell anyone, right?”

“Yeah. He said I could trust him.”

“Oh. I hope that’s a good-“

Linh was cut off by a squealing Biana.

“Guys! Guess who juuuust asked me to the Winter Ball??”

“Who just asked you to the Winter Ball, Biana?” asked Sophie patiently. When Biana was excited, it could take a while for her to get to the point, but this seemed to be the rare exception.

“Tam! Your brother! We’re going to have such a great-“

“Okay, Biana, I like you too, but it’s really not that big a deal.” Tam materialized in the area suddenly, a shy smile on his face.

“But it is! You two,” she said, turning to Sophie and Linh, “better find dates. I’m not going without my girlfriends.”

“Don’t worry, B,” Sophie said, “I think we’ve got that down.” Linh blushed even harder.

“Reeeeally? Who’re the lucky guys?”

“Um, actually, the thing is…” Linh struggled to make the words appear on her tongue. “Sophie and I… we’re… um…”

“What Linh’s trying to say is-“

“We’re going to the Ball together,” said Linh, having seemingly regained her composure.

Silence like never before. No one seemed sure what to do, until Biana managed to sputter, “Oh… I didn’t know that. Is it- okay if I tell Fitz?”

Sophie and Linh looked at each other. “Yeah,” Sophie said decisively, “You can tell him. You can tell everyone.”

“Cool. Hey, Fitz,” Biana called, “Sophie and Linh are in love and they’re going to the Ball together. Isn’t that cute?”

Fitz was talking to Dex and Keefe, who all turned around open mouthed, except the latter, who gave Sophie an impressed smile.

Sophie was relieved. This was going to be fine.

Three weeks later, on the night of the Ball, Sophie stood in her room, twirling giddily around in the incredible new dress she had bought for the occasion. Covered in sparkles, the dress went from dark blue at the bottom up to white at the top and was everything she could’ve asked for in a dress. And the shoes. The shoes were out of this world. They were simple flats (because Sophie would rather have murdered her family than wore high heels) with purple sequins and a light blue fabric on them. Her hair was done up in a high bun which had taken hours to create, and Sophie proudly wore the custom crush cuffs Dex had remodeled to say Sophie Foster + Linh Song on her right hand. Linh was waiting downstairs. Sophie had no idea what she looked like, and was anxious to see, so she collected herself and slowly walked down the tails as gracefully as possible so she could look like one of those girls in teen movies. And Linh’s outfit was beyond anything Sophie could’ve imagined.

It was beautiful, strikingly red, like Linh was some kind of warrior queen in her floor-length gown with patterns of roses on it. Her hair was in pigtails, an odd choice for a Ball, but possibly the cutest thing Sophie had ever seen. And her shoes were simple red flats with hearts on them.

When they got to Foxfire for the ball, the place was packed with people. There were guys wearing all kinds of suits, though with less variety than the girls’ dresses. But none were as gorgeous as Linh was to Sophie, who held out a hand to her date. “Shall we dance?” asked Linh, and no sooner had Sophie grinned and nodded than they were on the dance floor, Sophie leading, Linh giggling every time Sophie lifted her up in the air, looking down in those deep, brown eyes that reminded Linh so much of that of those human animals- dogs, maybe? She didn’t know. She didn’t care. All that mattered now was the two of them.

An hour later, Linh was standing on the balcony, having needed a break from all the excitement. She thought of Sophie and of her parents and what they might think if she told them. Would they be okay with it? Even if they were, would it matter? She wasn’t going to visit them anytime soon. And what about the Black Swan? Would they still let her be a part? All of her worries, however, were interrupted by Sophie’s voice.

“Linh? Are you out here? You okay?”

“Oh. Yeah, I’m fine. I just… needed a bit of a break, you know?”

Sophie’s eyes narrowed.

“N-not from you, that is, just the… excitement of it all.”

Sophie softened. “Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. Mind if I join you?”

“Go ahead.”

Sophie walked up next to Linh and leaned on the balcony. They stood in silence for a few moments, and then Sophie suddenly asked:

“Linh?”

“Yeah?”

“Um… this is a weird question, but… um…”

Linh smiled. “Take your time.”

Sophie paused, and then asked, “Can… I… kiss you?”

Linh’s face was redder than it had ever been before. The awkwardness in the air was almost palpable. Scratch that, it was palpable. It enveloped the girls completely.

“Um… y-yeah, okay,” Linh finally said, glancing not-so-discreetly at Sophie’s lips.

Both girls leaned in at the same time. The kiss wasn’t perfect- it was rather clumsy, and Linh might have giggled into Sophie’s mouth. But those things didn’t stop the waves of heat and excitement that shot through both of them. Sophie even got dizzy from it and swayed, causing Linh to pull away. After a moment, both girls laughed and kissed again.

Ten minutes later, they finally stopped and went back inside. Linh’s worries vanished. As long as they were together, everything was going to be fine.

#kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc fanfiction #solinh

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ontheedgeofrecovery · 5 years

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What was different?

Hang tight, this is going to be a long one. I hope it is worth your time to read. Also, I put a hell of a lot of time into writing this, so I really hope it is helpful for someone (anyone!) out there.

So, I was messaging with a friend the other night (and by the other night I mean a few weeks ago because this took me forever to write) who I met a long time ago in treatment (you know who you are and I miss you and love you!). As we were talking about how hard it is to be in treatment, I started thinking about my own last experience in treatment. What made it stick? Why was it that time that I was able to stop the cycle of going in and out of the hospital? I have struggled with anorexia and restrictive eating since about the age of 7. It didn't turn into a full-blown eating disorder until I was 13, but the seeds were there around 7ish when I started to become very rigid about what and when I would eat. Anyway, it's been a long struggle. And then from 13 to 31 I cycled in and out of treatment. I literally have lost count of how many times I have been admitted - I don't say this to brag (I have noticed this is a thing in treatment), but rather to emphasize that clearly something was not clicking for a long time. In the summer of 2014 my treatment recommended palliative care and to stop trying to get better in the hospital. Basically, let nature take its course.

I pretty much accepted that the only thing left to do was die, but then decided to give it one last go and embarked upon one of my longest stays in treatment ever (October 20, 2014 to August 22, 2015). Although to be fair, I "left" many times. Usually for a day or two and then I would come back and resume my stay. I am so lucky I found a place and a treatment team that was willing to put up with my flight impulses and always accepted me back. I went from inpatient to PHP to residential to PHP to inpatient to PHP, and then finally IOP. I really hung in there and allowed myself to get to about 90% of my ideal before I discharged. Which I don't think I had done since being 15 and being at Remuda. While I clearly think this is one of the bigger players in how I got myself stable, there are others.

What was different? How did I allow myself to stay that long in treatment and sit through the discomfort of gaining almost double my body weight?

Well, there is no one simple answer, but I have been mulling it over in my head the past few days and I thought I would jot down my thoughts 1) because I feel stuck where I am at in recovery and maybe this will be motivation and 2) I don't have many readers, but for those of you who are out there maybe this will be helpful? So here they are in somewhat of a particular order (though these have changed over time in how they contribute and maintain my "recovery" (I hate using that word, because I still struggle a lot with food, but I am so much better than where I was and maybe this is what recovery looks like for me?).

Anyway.

1) Cannabis - This is kind of what kick-started the whole journey. I was 31 and had NEVER been high. Not edibles (well, obviously), not smoking. Nothing. I was absolutely terrified of getting high. I had heard so many stories of people getting paranoid and having panic attacks. I am already so anxious that the thought of something making me more anxious was an absolute no go. In addition to that, I am a rule follower and smoking weed was definitely against the rules.

My brother came to visit in March of 2014. I was not in a great space. This gets confusing because my brother and my ex are both named Nick, but we called my brother Nicky growing up so that is what I will call him here in order to differentiate. Nick had been trying to convince me to try smoking for years, pretty much since we started dating in 2008. I was steadfast in saying it was a no-go. However, Nicky made a compelling argument that I had tried everything else and was dying anyway so why not try it as a last-ditch effort to save myself. Or at the very least make the time I had left enjoyable.

I did and it opened my world in so many ways. It made me feel more connected to a greater whole. It made me realize that I am not alone in this world and I felt less isolated. Coming to terms with this made me realize how insignificant I really am in the overall scheme of things. This really helped me put into perspective the amount of time and energy I was putting into something that was not contributing at all to the betterment of society, my relationships, and I was not okay with this.

It also reduced my rigidity. Things just seemed clearer when I smoked. It was kind of like a veil lifted. I had more room for flexibility. Smoking also fills me with a feeling of hope (similar to my feelings of connectedness). Things just don't seem so dire and pointless when I am high. It seems like things could be different, that I can choose a different reality.

And finally (I don't know why this is, but I would LOVE to do research on this someday), I saw myself somewhat accurately when I smoked. For some reason when I am high I am able to see myself more realistically. My distortion doesn't completely go away, but how I see myself is definitely closer to what is real. I would look down and see my body and be like, "oh shit, this is really bad”. This even happened to me tonight when I smoked. All day long I was feeling really uncomfortable in my body and seeing myself way bigger than I actually am. I hate to say "fat," because I don't see myself as fat, I just see myself as a little above average - which everyone tells me is not true. Tonight though, I looked down and was like, yeah, I am at a normal weight, but I am on the low side of normal and I could see it for a little while after I smoked.

I don't know if that makes sense, but basically starting to use cannabis made me see things from an entirely different perspective. Throughout the summer of 2014 I gradually began to believe that things could be different. That maybe the amazing clarity I had when I smoked was how things were supposed to be. Maybe if I could get to a better place I would feel the happiness and hope I felt when I was high. Maybe if I gained weight things would get better. And for the first time in a long time, I believed it.

2) My (now ex) husband drew a hard line in the sand - This was a huge influence as well. I started my treatment journey at Princeton (which I chose because I had never been there before - I also knew they had private rooms and that was a huge draw. Also, to be totally honest, I had been essentially banned from a number of other treatment centers for being a repeat customer and always leaving before I was ready). However, I signed myself out after a month.I had a million reasons - I was the oldest one there, they were making me gain weight too fast, I knew everything they were teaching me, it was depressing, I was sick of being on bedrest, it wasn’t fair, the staff sucked... on and on.

Nick was PISSED. He had finally reached a point where he couldn't do it anymore. He told me I was not allowed to come home. He said if I came home he would either move out or that he would file for divorce.

I was devastated. Nick had never done this before, he was never thrilled when I left treatment, but he also was a little happy to have me home and doing marginally better. I didn't know what to do or where to go, so I knew there was no escape, I had to go back to treatment. I chose a place near my family so I would a) have the support and b) if I stepped down I would have a place to stay. Nick made it clear I was not allowed home until I had put on a significant amount of weight and my treatment was onboard with a discharge from care.

I knew if I was going to save my marriage and get home, I had to at least stay long enough to be appropriately discharged. There was no escaping it. Also, this didn't happen until a little while after, but when Nick did ask for a divorce, it hit me that I had become my dad. My father has a lot of mental health issues and my mom stuck by him through the years. But at some point, he stopped being an active participant in his own care and health. My mom couldn't do it anymore and she left him. The quote, “watching someone drown in a puddle and all they need to do is stand up” comes to mind. She just couldn’t watch him refuse to stand up anymore.

It completely devastated him. I have always been afraid of becoming chronically mentally ill like my father and losing everyone in my life. By continuing to go in and out of treatment and cycle in and out of doing well enough to maintain relationships I was going to follow in the exact footsteps as my father. I see how miserable his life is and I continue to use that image to push to not listen to everything the eating disorder tells me.

3) I wanted my dogs back/needed to get out of where I was living - In May of 2015 (when I was in PHP and living at my mom's boyfriend's - his name is Don - house) Nick asked for a divorce. I was doing pretty well in treatment, still struggling and being non-compliant at times, but continuing to attend every day and slowly weight restore. I still don't know entirely when the scales (no pun intended) tipped, but they did. I don't know if Nick realized how much more peaceful his life was without the eating disorder or if he just didn't believe things would change. Regardless, he said he was going to file for divorce.

I went from "staying at Don's house" to living at Don's house in one phone call. To say I was devastated is an understatement. In fact, I am still devastated. I saw my parent's marriage end because my dad couldn't get sober and now I had done the same thing in my own marriage. I lost the person I was closest with because of the eating disorder. I guess, in a way, this was part of what kept me at treatment as well - the hope that I would get well and Nick would take me back. I still hope this will happen, but I know it won't. Anyhow, I digress.

Living at Don's house sucked. I was living with my mom again at age 32. I felt like such a failure. It wasn't even my mom's house I was staying at, it was her boyfriend's. It was not comfortable living there, it was awkward. It was awkward sharing a space with Don and his son who has a lot of anger issues. My bedroom was uncomfortable. I slept on a twin bed for the first time since I was a teenager and it was lopsided. It was out in rural NH and I hated that all my friends and anything to do was a quite a drive away. Everyone in the house smoked cigarettes and I hate the smell. But what I hated most was I was not allowed to have my dogs.

My dogs are the most important thing in the world to me. I love those little beasts so fucking much it hurts at times. And I hadn't seen them in 7 months. I absolutely needed to get myself out of that house and get my dogs back. However, I could not do this without a job. And I could not get a job while I was still struggling so much with eating and reliant upon the structured schedule PHP was providing for me. I made it my mission to get to a point where I could hold a job and get my own apartment. If I was going to stay well long term and not have to be re-hospitalized, I knew I had to give myself more cushion room in terms of weight gain than I ever have before.

4) Yoga - Yoga has become really trendy lately and with good reason. There are so many benefits to yoga that go far beyond the physical. For me, the primary thing I learned in yoga is that if you stay persistent, the uncomfortable gets more comfortable. And things that seem impossible become possible.

I have a very special relationship with avoidance and perfectionistic behaviors. I tend to avoid things I am not good at or not even try at all. I hate being uncomfortable. Like, no one likes being uncomfortable, but I have a particularly difficult time with it. Not being good at something and building the skills you need to get better is often very uncomfortable. I pretty much have always shied away from things that challenge me to the point of being uncomfortable. This is for a couple of reasons 1) I hate not being good at things 2) It doesn't seem worth my time if I suck 3) Getting better at things requires being uncomfortable at some point and I don't like it.

I often do not stick with things that I am not good at or require discomfort on my part. I will try to pick up a hobby and not be good at it and quit. Or I will try to get myself in better shape by trying to lift weights or run and it makes me feel discomfort, so I quit. Although I go to the gym every day, I will not do anything beyond walking because pushing myself physically is uncomfortable (though I will walk 7 miles in a go, I hate breaking a sweat). I don't like to eat because I have a nauseous stomach and that is uncomfortable. I don't like to try new things because the unknown is scary, so I avoid it. Basically, what I am saying is I never stick with anything long enough to see the discomfort dissipate and the rewards of tolerating the discomfort come through. i.e. weight restoration, facing fear foods, sitting with the feeling of food in my stomach, making choices about what to eat, physical activity, anything I am not immediately good at.

Yoga at first seemed like a thing to get into because I wasn't allowed to really exercise and at least it was some physical movement. I was so desperate to be able to move more that I didn't care that I wasn't very good at it. Also, I went to a gentle yoga studio and everyone there was so accepting and welcoming to people who were just getting into yoga. I kept going to yoga and I actually started to get better at it. I didn't feel any pressure to be getting better, but I began to see it happen anyway.

I started taking harder classes. I started to learn to breathe through the uncomfortable poses. That they would end and that next time I did them they would be easier. A friend of mine sent me a yoga sequence and it was hard. Like, an hour long with a million chaturangas (when you lower yourself like a pushup, into up dog and go back into downward dog). The first couple times I did it I couldn't do all the chaturangas, so I skipped a lot of them. But as I did it everyday, I was able to do more and more. Eventually, I could do the whole sequence and even the jump back from crow into chaturanga!

Committing to doing yoga every day was the first time I really stuck with something through the uncomfortable learning period and allowed myself to see the benefits of my practice. It started t make sense to me that other areas of my life could be similar to yoga - that if I didn't focus so much on the discomfort in the moment and rather on the fact that it would pass and I would be better for tolerating it that I would gain skills. I finally got that part of growing and evolving involves a certain amount of discomfort and acceptance that you won't see results right away. Yoga has taught me so much. To accept my limitations and also to push them, to breathe through discomfort, to not be so hard on myself, and that I am capable of growth and change.

Here is a great little blurb on Reddit about discomfort and yoga: https://www.reddit.com/r/yoga/comments/5hc0b2/yoga_has_taught_me_to_welcome_discomfort_into_my/ 5) I agreed to medications - I have always had a not so great relationship with medications. I have a ton of side effects and I just really don't like taking them. Over the years I have gone on and off medications so many times. I will take them for a while, go off them, fall apart, go back on them, not really get better, have side effects, go off them - you get the idea. Even when I found something that helped I would frequently go off it after a time because I really didn't want to be on meds.

I finally got desperate enough that I thought, hey, it improves my quality of life, fuck it. Even if the medications shorten my lifespan (worst-case scenario) then at least I had some years with decreased mental health issues. I started to really talk to a psychiatrist about finding something that worked. It was trial and error and took a little bit of time to find the right meds that a) helped and b) didn't cause horrible side effects. The two medications I am on certainly do not get rid of the obsessive thoughts or the anxiety, but they certainly make it way more manageable.

I don't feel as much like a prisoner of my brain or that my brain is a prison - either or. And I have remained compliant instead of being like, "oh things are better, I don't need these!" Because I do need them. I have a brain-based illness and I wouldn't turn down medications if I had any other disease of the body, so really this is no different.

6) I went slowly but surely - I stayed in treatment for a loooonnngggg time and took weight restoration pretty slowly. It sucked and I so wanted to get back to life, but every time I have done weight restoration the quick and dirty way in the past, it didn't stick. I would either leave treatment early because it was happening too fast and I was too uncomfortable. Or I would leave treatment and be unable to adjust to my new body and rapidly relapse. I knew I had to do things differently. I was very lucky I had good insurance and a treatment that was willing to work with me. Also, not lucky, but I have comorbid mental health issues (anxiety and OCD) that helped keep insurance covering me.

7) I gave up trying to eat intuitively - This is a big one too. I always thought that recovery looked like eating normally. For me, it doesn't look like what most people would classify as normal. It is very regimented and I eat a lot of very safe foods. And I used to think that meant I wasn't in recovery and why keep trying. I might as well go back to listening to what my brain tells me and not eat. I mean, if I couldn't eat normally, why even bother?

I decided to try something different than what is encouraged in treatment. I began to eat the same thing every day. The same exact thing at the same exact times. No matter how I felt. This helped me for many reasons 1) I got used to the foods I was eating and desensitized myself a little 2) It took the overwhelming choice of what to eat out of the equation. Deciding what to eat is really stressful for me and so I often avoid it. Eating the same thing every day meant I didn't have to make decisions 3) I could stop counting calories. If I eat the same exact thing every day there is no reason to count calories. I did at first but eventually seeing the same number every day seemed like a waste of time and unnecessary. 4) I am super routine, so once I get in the groove of something, I stick with it. Now even when I feel nauseous or I had a rough day and don't feel like eating or I am having an uncomfortable body image day I still eat at my scheduled times, because, well, routine. It is more uncomfortable for me to break my routine at this point than it is just to eat what I have eaten every day for 3 years.

I am not saying this is a great long term solution, but for people with chronic and severe anorexia, it is better than anything else I have found in managing a healthy weight. Like I said, maybe this is what recovery looks like for me right now. I hope it gets better in the future, but I am just happy to be participating in life.

8) I eliminated almost everyone I was in treatment with from my social media - Well, not everyone, but other people who were cycling in and out of treatment like I was. It just wasn’t healthy for me to see their posts. People would post how they were going back into treatment or pictures of them that were incredibly triggering. So, I didn’t want to see that anymore. It made me feel like there was no hope when I would see someone doing well no longer doing well. Or to see the constant treatment posts. Some people glorified being sick or seemed to take pride in how sick they would get or how much weight they had lost. It was just a world I needed to step back from. For me, I experienced a lot of competitive and self-destructive feelings when I would see people thinner/sicker than me. I would feel either a) I wasn’t really sick enough to need help and b) jealous they were thinner than me (I hate this part of the eating disorder and I am kind of ashamed to admit this here).

I also needed to build a community that wasn’t treatment based so I wouldn’t miss it. I grew strong relationships in treatment that I had a hard time finding in the real world. Treatment and the community within it didn’t consciously keep me ill, but when I wasn’t there and I would see group pictures. It made me feel as though I needed to go back to the safety and community of treatment. Again, I just needed to focus on something other than anorexia to escape the cyclical pattern I was in.

I certainly kept in touch with some people who continue to struggle, but these are the people I regularly talk to and have authentic, real friendships with - not people I just followed because we spent time in treatment together. It was sad to unfriend these people, but I just needed to build a life outside of treatment and to focus on my friendships that had nothing to do with eating disorders. It helped me regain an identity outside of anorexia. I needed to be exposed to normalcy around eating after being surrounded by people who struggled with food/weight/body image. I needed to start to have conversations outside of my obsession and dysfunctional relationship with food.

Anyway, that was long, but I hope there were some nuggets in there that helps someone. Thanks for sticking with me through to the end if you read this!

#treatment #anorexia #recovery #cannabis #ocd #anxiety #yoga #divorce #weight restoration #refeeding #distortion #discomfort #cognitive distortions #distress tolerance #eating disorders

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zukoscomet · 7 years

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The Thirty-Something Years of Half Jobs

Chapter 2 (”Not the Deuce”) uploaded here.

“Don’t freak out but I need to tell you something important,”

“Okay, big brother. Hit me,”

Bellamy still struggled to believe that the little girl he’d carried around on his back was now the young woman that sat in the passenger seat on his truck. Not just a young woman; a wife and a mom, too. And a kickass martial arts teacher. Now, it was his niece, Amei, that liked to cling to his shoulders for rides.

Octavia was jet-lagged, slumped in the seat like marionette cut from its strings. Her job took her on awesome business trips that Bellamy had always been envious of. Tokyo, this time. Her hair was down and limp, eyes shadowed, and her skin waxy.

The news she was about to receive would soon wake her up.

“O,” Bellamy took a deep breath in, hands clenched on the steering wheel. “Clarke and I are going to get married.”

He’d been expecting an excited squeal, her hands to fly to her mouth in shock. Instead, he got an eyeroll reminiscent of her teens. “Well yeah, you two have been engaged for what . . . six years now?”

Bellamy suddenly felt ridiculous, his skin turning hot. Octavia and Lincoln had married in less than a year of the proposal.

“No. I mean like we’re actually going to get married,” he emphasised. “As in been to the city clerk’s office, planning it as we speak, getting married.”

He’d finally got his sister’s attention. Her eyes snapped away from her phone. “Shut up. No, you’re not.”

Bellamy couldn’t help but smirk at the look of utter disbelief on Octavia’s face.

“Yes, yes we are.”

Then came the excited squeal. Twenty four years old and bouncing up and down in her seat. “Oh my god, really? You swear? Clarke’s gonna be my sister-in-law?”

He just nodded in return, starting the engine of his truck as Octavia naturally begun to freak out.

“My brother’s getting married, at last. When does Clarke want to go dress shopping? The place I got mine from is lovely. I’ll take her. Is she having bridesmaids? I’ve never been a bridesmaid before, Bell. Lincoln can take you to get a suit. You said he was going to be your best man when you first got engaged, right? I can’t believe this, I can’t-”

Bellamy grinned like a maniac as he listened to his sister babble excitedly. In this moment, he wondered why he and Clarke had waited so damn long in the first place. Octavia seem to come to the same thought.

“So what set things in motion after all this time?” Octavia cocked her head to the side before her eyes widened even more. “Is Clarke pregnant?”

Bellamy just snorted at her assumption, but somewhere deep down, he wished it were true. “No, no. One step at a time, O.”

“Jesus, Bellamy. You’re like 30 already. Learn to run or you’ll seize up,” Octavia laughed, putting her arm out of the window.

Next came the part of the conversation he’d been dreading.

“So when’s the big day?”

He could feel his heart speed us a little in his chest, the blood pumping faster. Octavia was going to be doing a different kind of freaking out when he told her. It took Bellamy three goes of opening and closing his mouth before the fatal word escaped him.

“Tomorrow.”

“Very funny, Bellamy. Fucking tomorrow.”

There was a long silence. Bellamy kept his eyes on the freeway and refused the urge to look at his sister.

“Oh my god, you’re serious.”

“Yep.”

“What the fuck?” Octavia sat back in her seat. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. Typical Bellarke thing to do, if ever I saw it.”

Bellamy sighed at the old moniker that the other kids used for him and Clarke back in high school. It drove Clarke up the wall and everyone knew it so inevitably, it was never going to die.

“Where are you going to have it?” she asked after a moment of contemplation.

“Monty’s place.”

Bellamy and Clarke were damn lucky in that they happened to be best friends with Monty Green. Monty ran a restaurant on Central Park. The rent cost him a pretty penny but it also gave him a small section of land. A really nice bit, too. Enough room for a wedding ceremony for sure.

“Clarke wants you to be her bridesmaid. Raven and Amei, too. I’m taking you back to our place now so you three can sort things out. Or atleast that’s what she told me. And yes, I do want Linc to be my best man.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Bellamy could see his sister recovering from her shock, regaining her posture.

“Want me to call him for you?”

Bellamy did the same, sitting up a little straighter in the driver’s seat. A wedding in less than twenty four hours. He was fucking crazy, but his friends, his family; they were, too.

If anyone could pull this shit off, it was them.

“Call Lincoln.”

“A wedding in a day? Wow, Griffin. I didn’t know you had it in you to be this ballsy. Did you have like really great sex last night or-”

“Stop there, I haven’t had nearly enough alcohol to hear the end of that sentence.”

If there was anyone that Clarke could rely on to bring her thudding back down to Earth, it was Raven Reyes and Octavia Blake. Bellamy could be brutal, but he was nothing compared to them. Her mom had tried to stop her from hanging out with them in high school. A bad influence on her, she’d said. But when Raven and Octavia had climbed the tree in her backyard to get into her bedroom, she’d given up. The girls had tended to use the Griffin’s front door from then on.

The Griffin-Blake-Reyes triumvirate, as Bellamy called it, was fucking unstoppable.

“So, where are we going to acquire a wedding dress that fits Clarke perfectly, looks gorgeous, is affordable, and has equally nice accessories?” Raven asked, tipping the last dregs of red wine down her neck. “Also, we need dresses for me, O and Amei.”

“Suits for the boys, too.” Octavia pointed out.

“Leave that to Bell and Lincoln. That’s their responsibility.” Clarke ruled, breaking the seal on a fresh bottle.

“Still leaves us with the dress problem.” O lent back against the pillows of Bellamy and Clarke’s couch.

In her peripherals, Clarke could see Raven sizing her up. Guesstimating her height. Dark eyes roving over the width of her waist, torso, thighs and breasts. Wasn’t exactly new. She had a short history with Raven, before she had Bellamy and Raven had Luna.

“See something you like, Reyes?”

“Oh, I’m taken and so are you. There’s a reason for me checking you out,” Raven smirked back at her, refilling her glass. “Leave the dresses to me. I know a guy. For me, he’ll fit us today.”

Clarke’s eyebrows quirked up. “Here’s where you tell me that this place is in the Deuce.”

Octavia coughed out a poorly-hidden laugh behind her hand. Raven alternated between scowling at the pair of them.

“I’ll have you know that this is a very legit establishment I’m talking about here. That thing with the Deuce was on like one night out. You guys fucking loved it. Give me a break,” Reyes retorted indignantly. “Anyway, you remember Kyle Wick from senior year?”

The Blake girl snorted. “If that scumbag is the fitter, you’ll have to drag me in there kicking and screaming.”

“Ditto. It’s his sister, Paige, that runs the business. She’s cool. Personally thanked me when I dumped her brother’s ass. Said I could call in a favor when I needed it.”

“So you know a girl?”

“I do.”

“Raven Reyes,” Clarke raised her glass. “You are a godsend.”

“Bow down, bitches, to the Reyes power,”

“I can do our make-up and hair and stuff, easy. Amei can help. She loves all that.”

“So we have outfits sorted. Venue and times set. Guests have been invited. Kane’s letting us use his Porsche to get there,” Clarke ticked off on her fingers.

“Monty’s handling the feasting. Jasper on the discs,” Raven said.

“Linc has the rings.” Octavia added.

“Got a priest?”

“Yeah. Please don’t ask where.”

“Should we be concerned?”

“Probably but we’ll leave it for now.”

“That leaves a nice, hot honeymoon for the lovers.” Raven and Octavia waggled their brows at each other suggestively. Clarke was too resigned to berate them, or even cringe.

“Bellamy’s adamant he’s handling the honeymoon.”

Bellamy and Clarke didn’t go abroad that often. They were in well-paying jobs with no children and a small apartment to upkeep; money was no object, really. It was the time aspect. Clarke worked ungodly hours around the clock at Ark Medical. Doctors were in short supply. Lawyers weren’t so much, but Bellamy the Harvard Graduate was fucking great at his job. Clarke would often wake up in the night to an empty bed, only to find Bellamy passed out at his desk with yet another case under him.

A holiday would be good for them.

Octavia grinned, examining her flawlessly manicured nails. “We’ve got this made, girls.”

“Well,” Raven yawned, stretching her arms. “The bride stays with her maids the night before the wedding, Clarke, You’re gonna have to turf your dearly beloved out to stay with one of his boys.”

“I’m sure he’ll go quietly.” Clarke said, pulling out her phone to deliver him the news.

Raven set her glass down on the coffee table with a loud chink before jumping to her feet, as though propelled by a spring.

“Ladies, let’s go and get our dresses for the long-awaited Bellarke wedding!”

Octavia was up in a second, too, cheering with Raven.

Clarke just sighed.

Fucking Bellarke.

#bellarke #bellarke fanfiction #bellamy blake #clarke griffin #bellamy x clarke

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its-rockimagines · 7 years

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The Day of the Seemingly Inflatable Y/F/A

You know, a normal person would think that their 20th birthday would be 110% fun, joy, and nothing else. However, by then I had already become a hunter, and not just any hunter but a Winchester hunter, so OF COURSE the universe had to slip in a minor heart-attack-inducing incident regarding my little sister Ariel in amongst the joy. Not that I’m complaining! My 20th birthday is one of the happiest memories I have with the Winchesters. It all started on the day called Y/B/D, 2016, otherwise known as the Day of the Seemingly Inflatable Y/F/A. On that that fabulously terrific day, I woke up to the sound and sight of my best friends in the whole wide world/second family Joe, Sam, and Dean walking into my bedroom while singing Happy Birthday. Much to my delight, Jo was also carrying a tray that had a plate of Y/F/B. “Good morning birthday girl!” Jo said happily as she sat the tray down on my lap and Dean leaned in to kiss me on top of the head. “Aww, you remembered! You guys are the best.“ “Of course we did,” Dean said as he sat on the bed next to me. “Eat up Y/N, we have a really fun day planned out for you!” “Okay, cool!” After I ate, Jo walked in carrying a bag with tissue paper sticking out of it. “We aren’t planning on letting you open most of your presents until we get to our location, but this is one that you will need to have before we get there,” she said. “It is from me, my mom, and Ash.” A few seconds later I was holding the most fabulous outfit in my entire wardrobe along with a bunch of ponytail bands. It consisted of a long Def Leppard t-shirt, a pair of leggings, and a pair of matching shoes and socks. “Aww, thanks Joe!” I said enthusiastically as I hugged her from my bed. “Your welcome sis!” Sam checked his watch. “We better get going Y/N, we have twenty minutes to be at our next location. “Okay, give me and Joe ten minutes,” I said as I made a shooing motion in the general direction of my dear brothers. After they left, I took the fastest shower in the history of showers, and then I got dressed as Joe brushed, dried and braided my hair. Thanks to our awesome teamwork, I was dressed in record timing. As we climbed into the impala, Dean spoke. “Okay Y/N, the present from Sam and I has two parts. Well, the first part is more from me then him, but anyways. I hereby declare the ‘driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his pie hole’ rule void for the rest of the day. You get to be our DJ for today.” “YAY!!! In that case, I am so playing Black Veil Brides!” Dean looked back at me quizzically. “Who?” “Dude, I can’t believe you have never heard of Black Veil Brides. They’ve been my favorite band for years, and I think you would like them cuz one of their influences is Metallica.” “Fire them up then Y/N, and crank up the music! I can’t wait to hear them.” Dean commented as he started driving. As Dean drove to our destination, I sang, drummed, and head banged along with my favorite band in the whole world. out in birthday decorations and Ellen was behind the bar, beaming over at me. “Happy birthday Y/N!” Ellen said as she walked over to hug me. “Thanks Ellen! How are you doing?” “I’m great. Actually, I just finished up making lunch for everyone, but before we eat I think you should-” Ellen was interrupted by piercing scream that seemed to be coming from the back of the bar. So I seized the nearest machete and rushed toward the source, with everyone else hot on my heels. What I saw on the other side of the door was a complete and utter surprise. It was my little sister Ariel and my mom! The reason I was so surprised is because they lived on the other side of the country. Needless to say, I was overjoyed, but quite concerned when I saw Ariel crying on the floor. “What happened Arrie?” I said as I scooped her up (she was four at the time). As soon as she saw me, though, he entire face lit up and she squealed. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY Y/N/N! I thought I saw a spider, so I freaked out and fell off of the present mommy, daddy and I made you!” “Oh you did, did you. Dang those nasty little spiders, they always crawl everywhere like they own the place,” I joked. “Where does it hurt sweetie?” She giggled as she pointed to the back of her head. “Here.” Thankfully, upon close inspection I discovered that Ariel hadn’t cracked her head open or anything, so I turned around to greet my mother. “Hey momma, thanks for coming!” I said happily as I hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. “Happy birthday Y/N! Your dad sends his love. He really wishes he could have come, but he had a last minute business trip to go on.” The two of us shared knowing looks. In our family, ‘last minute business trip’ was code for ‘supernatural creature hunt’. We couldn’t talk openly about these things when Ariel was in the room because we hadn’t told her the truth about supernatural creatures yet. We had decided as a family that it would be best to let Ariel have a normal childhood, if possible (yeah, that worked out….well. NOT. That’s a different story, though). “By the way, y/n, getting your family here was the second part of our present,” Sam said from the doorway. “I know you tried your best to hide it, but we all could tell that you really missed your family. So Dean and I worked together to raise money to fly them over here right under your nose. They’ll be staying with us for the next week, and your dad will join us as soon as he is done with his business trip.” With a squeal, i sat Ariel down and ran over to my brothers to give them a giant hug. “Thank you both, this is gonna be the coolest day ever!” I yelled as Sam spun me around in a circle. As soon as Sam put me down, Ariel was at his feet pulling on his jeans and saying “My turn Sammy, my turn!” “Sure!” While Sam kept Ariel busy by spinning her around in the air, I walked over to my mom and asked in an undertone, “So what kind of creature was so dangerous that it couldn’t wait until after you got back?” “It was a shapeshifter dear,” she answered with a slightly worried look in her eyes. “Somehow it managed to break into the house right before we left. We should just consider ourselves lucky that I was able to get Ariel out of there before she saw it.“ I nodded. “Sounds like a close call, all right,” I muttered. “Remind me to give you enough salt to surround the perimeter of your house with before you leave.” “Sissy, you never did open our present,” Ariel whined from Sams shoulder. “You should open it!” “Okay, sissy-” “Wait, wait, I promised your daddy that I would record you opening our present and send it to him!” My mom said hastily as she grabbed her phone. “Okay, ready!” As I ripped, tore, and shredded, a statue of Y//F/A emerged from the mess, and my face positively lite up. “Oh my goodness; he’s so cute! Thanks you guys, this will go perfect in my room. “Your welcome sissy!” Ariel has walked over to me and had proceeded to cling onto my leg. “Can I have a piggy back ride to the kitchen? I’m hungry!” She whined as her stomach growled. Ten minutes later, we were all busily chewing the wonderful lunch that Ellen had made for us all. After that, Jo brought out a magnificent-looking birthday cake. Of course they all sang happy birthday, and I managed to blow out all 20 candles at once! After we finished our cake, I opened the rest of my presents, which included various different movies, video games, clothes, and best of all-enough water guns for us all. Dad still wasn’t there though, so we were a team member short. “Hey Cas-” Dean was about to summon Cas, but I elbowed him in the ribs. Hard. So he pulled me aside and hissed, “That hurt! What did you do that for?” “We haven’t told Ariel about Supernatural creatures yet, so if Cas just suddenly appears here out of nowhere it is sure to freak her out! Go summon him somewhere else please.” “Okay, ok.” A few minutes later, Dean walked back into the kitchen with Castiel on his heels. “Hey, look who just showed up!” Dean said loudly. I faked surprise. “Cas! Goodness, this is such a wonderful surprise. How are you, buddy?” I walked over to hug him hello. “Hey Y/N, Happy Birthday! Unfortunately, Dean here forgot to tell me that today was your birthday. So my presence will just have to suffice for a present.” “That’s fine Cas. Hey, I would like to introduce you to to my mom and my little sister Ariel. Mom, Arrie, this is Castiel. He’s a very good friend of our little family.” “Hello, Mrs. Y/L/N, Ariel. It is nice to meet both of you,” Castile said with a smile as he shook my moms hand. “Are you going to have a water gun fight with us?” Ariel asked excitedly. “Please say yes! Daddy’s not here, so we don’t have enough people to divide unevenly into two teams, which has been a birthday tradition in our family for like ages!” “Only if you are on my team, kiddo,” “Sure! It’ll be Ellen, Jo, Sam versus me, you, sissy and dean . Ok?” After we had agreed on teams, we all piled into the impala and drove to the nearest forest, where we had the most fun and epic water-gun fight ever! At one point, Jo missed me by several feet so I decided to tease her a little. “Did you just throw air at me?” I joked. “You are so going down, Y/L/N!” We played until sunset, at which point we all decided to drive back to the bunker to watch a movie. Ariel was out like a light by the time we got there, though, so I tucked her into my bed when we got home. After that, we watched all of my favorite movies, and fell asleep on the couch. It was a very memorable day that I will cherish for years to come. A/N: I had to write this on my phone, so I apologize it took so long and I hope you like it Bethany! Constructive criticism is welcomed :) @straightasdeanwinchester

#BethanysWritingChallenge

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writr4luvrs · 7 years

Photo

Request: “Some of your thoughts on how much they remember of their previous lives would be cool ;u; idk if that helps any”

A/N: I really enjoyed writing this, so I hope you enjoy reading it as half as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also, last pic belongs to @karuoke

–

The trio continued their walk, leaving the heart of Atlanta, moving nonstop up north. The colder, the slower the dead were able to move, bonus their decay. Their tired footsteps marking the foot high white desert, carrying their backpacks and duffle bags full of whatever food, health, equipment, or plain entertainment. Ellis’ sneakers lost balance, his mustard coat hiding his exhausted face. Rochelle snickering at the groaning man. “Ellis. We only have less than a mile left…. I think… I’m sure.”

“Sounds about right.” Nick agreed, continuing towards the low buildings, shadowed by the white haze and freezing crystals. Rochelle slowing behind to help the countryman up, readjusting his memorable hat under his hood. He bent down to pick his rifle up and the two picked up the pace to catch Nick’s side. They were almost to their temporary “home”, out of the city, small town. Hardened walls to keep out noise, small barred windows that they cover with light blankets, a steel door in the front with multiple locks that mimicked the back door. Candles sat in various areas: on the tables, in corners, on top of cabinets. Only “ homey” thing that sat in the middle of the “home” was the a small stove.

Each member claimed their side in the small home, laying out their sleeping bags (leaving Rochelle the only mattress), blankets, and little entertainments: Rochelle’s past news articles, Ellis finding her pens and markers to complete the puzzles, reading the comics together; Nick had is various pistols, counting the ammo sometimes out of boredom, various literature, telling the tale of Shakespeare’s Iago and the mischievous Elizabeth of Salem to Ellis, usually told with hidden excitement; Ellis happily kept his game cards, easily able to get Rochelle to play with him along with Nick, reading various cook book at finding an old iPod shuffle, lucky enough that this stranger had similar music taste.

The trio let their bags drop in their spots, not bothering to take off their scarves and coats. Nick immediately setting himself down, stretching out his limbs, Rochelle pretzel sat in front of the stove, heating it up, placing soup cans they found about in the middle of it, Ellis sitting across of her patiently waiting.

Rochelle chuckled in the silence.

“What?” Nick immediately groaned out.

“I remember getting hired for Atlanta’s News Corp. I teamed up with another woman to work on taking photos and writing an article for pro-life movements that were protesting at abortion clinics and…”

“Didn’t hear much while I’ll was in the city.” Nicki commented.

“That’s because the movement wasn’t very big and less and less people participate when police began arresting for harassment.” She chuckled at the upcoming memory. “So, when we got to the site to record interviews, you wouldn’t believe the reason for the calls – haha! The pro-life protestors shook people hands but when you look into your hand there’d be blood, well paint to mimicked blood. “This is the blood of the children that are aborted every year.” Haha!

Then, a candidate to be major took children who were suppose to be on a field trip to a museum, and she took them on a new station and on live tv with these confused six-year-olds yelling about the evilness of abortions.“

“Oh my god!” Ellis laughed.

“And how the article go?” Nick questioned.

“Story was reported on TV, they even endorsed us and the company. I remember calling my dad and telling him ” Ya girl’s made it to big leagues now, daddy!“ Her laughs died out. “I had made it.”

Ellis watched the soup steam, smiling at the story. “I remember my fifth sister’s sixth birthday.”

“Your fifth sister?” Rochelle let out, eyebrows raised in shock.

“Yup. Five sisters, two brothers.” Earning a disbelieved “wow” from Nick. “Her name was Amy, she was a bit of a prankster. Doing the usual bucket of water on top of the door, or glue on the silverware, chocolate bar in the seat. But on that day, our other sister Cody thought she would finally get her revenge. We had the balloons, the presents, the decorations all set up. Mom and dad had the cameras set up, now everyone knew about the prank except mom, dad, and my brother Riley, you couldn’t tell him anything, he always went to mom and dad. But, anyways, the camera’s rolling and we brought out Amy’s cake and as soon as she blew out the candles and we picked them out, Cody pushed Amy’s head right into that cake.” Rochelle laughed and Nick covered his face with his scarf, listening.

“But then Amy starts to get this big pouty face then starts crying, she had these being red eyes and wobbling lip. Ha! I had to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening holding her and calmin’ her and rubbin’ her back while Cody apologized. Amy never even opened her presents til to next day.“

“Sounds like you were a good brother.” Rochelle complimented warmly.

“I tried to be. Spoiled them ‘specially when the mechanic business started boomin’.”

“Til the great bang happened, huh?” Nick let out tiredly. “World ending, dead and mutated shits eating the people. Goddamn this place…”

“Always gotta rake away the good don’t ya’, Nick?” Rochelle shook her head, disappointed, not bothering to look at the man.

“Why ice the truth with sappy past stories?”

“Nick!” The reporter and mechanic let out, trying not to allow the frustration raise their tone.

“God, this disease took…” He groaned behind his scarf, rolling his eyes. “It took everything. The disease took everything from us. And you two just sit there talking like it hasn’t.”

“What’s got you worked up?!” Rochelle turned around.

“Yeah.” Ellis smiled. “Join us by the fire, Nick. Let’s open that wound.”

“I’ll pass.”

“You start that up but don’t want to talk? C'mon.” She encouraged him. Nick looked at the two, hopeful eyes planted onto them. He groaned finally scooting toward the stove, not bothering to look at the two, only the boiling soup.

“I had the whole fucking world…” He took a long pause. “We were usuals at this low down bar. We never talked, sat at our usual separate booths til one day she sat in front of me and we just started to talk. We both were just complaining about life, both our fathers left us alone with our mothers, always got into wrong crowds. We went on a few dates, after about a year or two later we moved in with each other –”

“Waited so long?”

“We enjoyed our own space.” He rubbed his neck. “She moved on from her past, got a job as a hostess at this high end restaurant. Me, however, heh…” He shook his head. “I joined up with this… Group. They ran the city mostly, had influences, controlled the police…”

“Gang?”

“What? No. Better. We helped the community while making sure we got our money.” Rochelle rolled her eyes. “One night, she dumped a bag in front of me. It was the money for doing my part in a job. A raise from the boss. I just remember her yelling: “This is our house!” We fought a lot but it was never serious and we always knew we had each others backs, but this…. She hated this and wanted me to move on, but it was mostly how we were living off in our nice apartment, our car, her thousand dollar dresses and shoes and jewelry. That wasn’t what she wanted though… Months later and many, many nights of arguing, she just up and left.“

The other two simply frowned.

“Did you at least see her before it happened?” Ellis questioned, hoping for a happy ending.

“It was a year before the whole incident. But I had gotten a tip, she got a part-time at that mall. I didn’t even get to see her.”

“Like at all?” Rochelle questioned, cooling the stove, standing to grab plastic spoons from her bag. “Not even in…”

“Nope.”

“That sucks.” Ellis commented. The three sat in silence, thanking Rochelle for the soup. “Coach should be here.”

“He did the right thing, El.”

#l4d2 #left 4 dead 2 #l4d2 ellis #l4d2 nick #l4d2 rochelle #left 4 dead 2 edit #l4d2edit #left 4 dead edit #left 4 dead fanfic #original #left 4 dead imagine #left 4 dead 2 imagine #l4d imagine #l4d2 imagine #mine

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danny-reece · 7 years

Text

First Rule of Fight Club

WHO → Daniel Reece & Eliza Oliver

WHEN → Monday, January 2nd 2017

WHERE → Reece Household

NOTES → After falling asleep during the first movie night, Eliza comes over to watch another one. Their evening is filled with fight clubs, handmade remote cars, and kisses - both chocolate and not.

WORD COUNT → 10,415

Eliza was really struggling with the whole ‘don’t look up the synopsis to Fight Club’ thing at that point. It had been a long day for the girl and between having her first day back at school after break and having a mountain of homework to get through to be able to have a decent time that evening Eliza was feeling a little restless. It didn’t help that her text message conversation with Danny earlier that day had left her with a lot of questions and way more feelings than she knew what to do with. So she was thankful when she saw a familiar figure approaching the front door to the Reece residence, a smile immediately springing to Eliza’s lips as she greeted the person she was actually there to see. “Hey!” she started. “I brought pizza. And chocolate. As promised.”

Danny: “Well I would have been very disappointed if you didn’t. I was expecting my courtship chocolate after all. Hey Eliza, good to see you.” Daniel smiled and nodded slightly though he wanted to reach out and give her a hug, he still was a little messy from work. “Let me just wash up really quick and then we can start the movie. It shouldn’t take me more than fifteen minutes to shower and get into a change of clothes. You can um look at my baby pictures or something as entertainment.” He laughed slightly at his own comment before opening the front door to his home and letting them both in. “I don’t actually know where my parents are, but if they show up while I’m in the shower, they’ll probably ask you why you’re here acting all shocked that I can spend time with girls outside of a bedroom.”

Eliza “Good to see you too,” the girl returned even though it really hadn’t been that long since they’d last seen each other in person. She liked spending time with him so yeah, it was good to see him. “Yes, you still get your courtship chocolate even though we decided a courtship was no fun,” she followed up, still amused by the website she had discovered. The girl picked up the pizza box that she had set down just a few minutes earlier, nodding as Danny spoke about how she could keep herself occupied while he showered. “Nice to know I have permission to do something I was probably going to end up doing anyway,” she informed with a grin, only semi-serious. She would probably look around his living room, but she just liked to observe her surroundings. “You would think that the reason why they’d be surprised would be because you invited someone to spend time inside your home at 6pm knowing full well that your parents may be around and not because the location’s a little different than it would normally be,” the girl mused as she walked inside, slightly ignoring the meaning of his words as she headed towards where she assumed the living room was.

Danny: “Yes well, I’m sure they’ll be very impressed and confused by that as well, but since it’s you I’m sure they’ll be delighted. They always are hoping I’ll meet someone to be a good influence and turn me into everything they’ve ever hoped for. Lucky for me, the person who they would love to shove me with actually isn’t half bad.” Daniel smirked slightly as he took off his jacket and went to hang it in the coat closet before looking over at Eliza. “Coat? I’ll hang it up in here so it doesn’t get all wrinkled or messed up. Unless you want to keep wearing it. That’s fine too.” Once that was done, he began to make his way towards his bedroom so he could get into the shower. “Okay, I’ll be out in like fifteen minutes okay? Try not to miss me that hard.”

Eliza smirked as she spoke, repeating words that Danny had once said to her. “That’s me - a parent’s wet dream.” She was pretty sure it had been an insult the first time around, but it had stuck with her and she wasn’t bitter when she repeated it just then. “Oh, right,” Eliza murmured as she slid off her coat, handing it over to the boy before looking around. “I’ll do my very best!” she called out before setting down the pizza and beginning her examination of the room, taking note of all of the family photos and the atmosphere of the space. Everything seemed really... clean. And the photos were... nice, but weird to see considering how Eliza knew how Danny really felt about his family. He had been a cute kid, though. Obviously, since he was a cute adult but... still. After a few minutes of looking around the room she decided to finally take a seat, checking her phone to see if she had any messages from her parents, brother, Seth, or Hazel, before checking a few social media apps. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat... they were quick ways to pass the time and before she knew it 15 minutes had passed on the clock in the room. Weird. But great? She had managed to not start eating without Danny too.

Danny: When Daniel came back into the living room, there was a towel wrapped around his neck and he had changed into gray sweatpants with a tight black t-shirt. “Alright, I don’t smell as much like oil anymore at least. It’s a start. That wasn’t too long now was it?” He flopped down on the couch then leaned forward to open up the pizza box. “I’m going to go ahead and assume that you didn’t ask for any mushrooms on this? I mean, unless you’re the Lakewood killer and this is how you’re going to get me. It would be very rude to kill me on our first date though, just so you know.” He chuckled softly, though he didn’t take a bite out of his slice until he got confirmation. Sure, he had an epipen in the living room and one in his bag in his room, but that didn’t mean he wanted to use them any time soon. Hearing the backdoor open and close then, Daniel couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes. “They’re here.”

Eliza did a quick and hopefully innocent double take of Danny as he came back in the room, momentarily distracted by his current look. Why did that work for him?? “Shockingly I was able to amuse myself while you were away,” she informed him, readjusting her position now that there was someone else on the couch. “I hate mushrooms, but good to know your greatest weakness. I feel like you could easily take out half of this town with food,” the girl joked as she grabbed her own slice of pizza, taking a quick bite of it before she spoke again. “Murder is at least a third date thing. Though if you count Jack Frost as a date we’re already at number two so I guess your days are numbered.” Eliza wasn’t super sure whether or not they were joking about the dating thing or not, but she rolled with it anyway, knowing that if they were serious she’d actually be a-okay with that. “You know, if you did that in a slightly higher voice it’d be like we’re in a horror movie,” the girl murmured before turning to greet the Reece matriarch and patriarch. “Hello Mr. and Mrs. Reece!” she said with a smile.

Danny: “Well it seems I will have to push off any future encounters. The party doesn’t get to count as date number three though because that just isn’t fair. I’m supposed to be driving you so you can’t off me.” As his parents made their way into the living room, there was a noticeable look of surprise on their faces from seeing Eliza there. His mother was the first to speak out of the two. “Hello Eliza. Daniel, you didn’t tell us that you were having Eliza over this evening and why are you all wet on the couch?” He shrugged slightly before putting his arm on the back of the couch, behind the girl. “Had to take a shower. I just got off of work and it was sort of a last minute thing, her coming over. Figured you and dad wouldn’t care since I was just watching a movie.” His mother shook her head then. “No, we don’t mind, we are just surprised is all. Daniel, we saw Liberty on the way home. Is everything alright?”

At the mention of the girl’s name, Daniel stiffened up and looked down at his slice of pizza as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. “Yeah, mom. Everything is great. So…Eliza and I are just going to watch a movie in here and then I’m probably staying in for the night. I’ll talk to you more about all of that in the morning, but everything is fine.” Though it was obvious neither of them believed him, his parents nodded and made their way up to their bedroom, leaving Daniel and Eliza alone again. His arm was still behind her, resting casually on the back of the couch. “Alright then. Movie?” Though he tried to keep his words joyful, his expression was anything but.

Eliza: “Oh? So you’re just going to cut this non-courtship off after date two so you can enjoy all that getting to date two has to offer without dealing with the drama that unfolds with date three? Tragic,” Eliza joked, hoping that he knew she really wasn’t being serious in that moment. “I think it goes without saying that I wouldn’t kill anyone, but I really wouldn’t kill you,” she reassured him before looking over at his parents. They… really were surprised to see her there. Was it because they were in the living room or because it was her? His mom was being cordial, but Eliza could tell that she didn’t exactly approve of all aspects of the situation. Danny was wet and there was pizza on the coffee table and no napkins in sight… it was probably a nightmare for her. It was at that realization that Eliza involuntarily straightened up, a little more nervous than she would’ve otherwise been. She sort of had a… need, really, for parents to like her. Eliza listened as Danny’s parents spoke, looking over at him a bit in surprise after they mentioned Liberty. Why would everything not be alright with Liberty? Moments later his parents had left and it was just the two of them in the room once again… but Eliza wasn’t about to not let her curiosity get the best of her. “What happened?” she asked as she turned towards Danny, concern clear from her tone and expression. “Are you okay?”

Danny: “It’s nothing. I…spoke to Liberty about everything and she just didn’t take it well. When we broke up, I told her that I cheated on her so that she would dump me. At that time, I guess I just knew that I wasn’t really the guy she needed, but she wasn’t going to let me go. I needed her to dump me so that not only would she be free of me, but then she could see that she could do so much better. So, yeah, I told her that and obviously we broke up but somehow we still remained friends and…more sometimes. I told her about what had really happened, about getting scared of being in love with her and just needing her to find someone else and that I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, but I had done it.”

Danny’s hands folded into his lap then as he placed his slice of pizza back into the box. “She didn’t take it well at all. It sort of ended in her saying that she hated me and wanted me to act as if we didn’t know each other. I’ve never really seen Liberty so angry and I know it’s my fault. I should have never lied in the first place. I just never expected her to ask me to forget anything about us and now she says that she doesn’t believe I ever loved her at all. I did though, I really did.”

Eliza: “Hey, it’s okay,” Eliza immediately tried to reassure, placing a hand on Danny’s shoulder. She wanted to do a hug, but she wasn’t really sure if their current positioning or conversation topic really made that the best choice. “I mean, it’s not really okay because you’re not okay, but… it’s going to be okay.” Her clarification sort of sucked, but she felt like it was important for her to emphasize. “It sucks that things turned out the way that they did, but it’s good that you told her the truth. She deserved to know. And now she won’t have tons of unanswered questions about what happened and what went wrong.” She was trying to look on the bright side of things, but it was a little difficult at that exact moment. Honestly, if Danny had said he’d cheated on her, she would’ve dumped him in a heartbeat and never looked back, but things between Danny and Liberty had apparently been so strong that even (fake) cheating hadn’t really kept them apart. So obviously now that things really seemed to be over neither party was exactly going to be okay. “You’re not going to forget, though. And even though she doesn’t want to admit it, she won’t forget either. She has to know that you actually did. I’m positive that she knows, actually,” Eliza insisted before dropping her hand from Danny’s shoulder. “What do you need right now? Do you need to watch Fight Club and eat pizza and chocolate? Do you need to take a walk? Do you need to… steal a tire while I sit here and pretend I have no idea what you’re doing elsewhere, vouching as your potential alibi at a later date?”

Danny: “My parents would have a heart attack if I went out right now even though I tell them time after time that I’m alright and I’ll be alright. I want to watch the movie with you. I know I should have lied to her in the first place. I should have just been honest about how I was feeling, but at the time I just couldn’t. It was scary and I couldn’t do it. I wish I could, but I couldn’t. If I could take back the lies, I would have. I would have told her the truth about everything, but that’s not possible. I told her now though – not to hurt her – because she deserved to know.” Daniel shrugged once again before reaching out to rest his hand over Eliza’s. “I told her everything I told you, really. I told her that I had feelings for someone else and that I did still love her, but just that I know her and I aren’t a good match. She’s not good for me and I’m certainly not good for her.”

Eliza: Eliza: “Okay then, we’ll watch the movie. Which I still haven’t looked at the synopsis for, I’d just like you to know,” Eliza teased before setting down her own slice of pizza, trying to cheer Danny up at that point. He was allowed to wallow, but she just didn’t want him feeling hopeless or like he was an awful person for doing the right thing. Because in her (biased) opinion he had done the right thing. Surprised by Danny returning her touch, the girl looked up at him and tried not to make her surprise obvious it was really the least important thing in that moment. “She did deserve to know. Some people go their whole lives wishing they had this kind of closure. And I know it really doesn’t feel like it right now, but everything will be okay in the end. Better than they would had been otherwise. Now you can both move on and… you know, be with people who are good for you.”

Danny: “Yeah. I know there’s someone out there for her that could be a lot better and I – I like to think I found someone too. I wasn’t trying to rub that in her face or anything or push that I was moving on. I just wanted her to know the truth about how I was feeling and where I was so that we weren’t still getting into the cycle of making out at parties only to know…this wasn’t going to happen again. I didn’t want her waiting to be with me or just for us to get back together when I know that we shouldn’t be together.” Daniel sighed, leaning back into the couch again before tilting his head back and closing his eyes. “Sorry my relationships seem to be sinking the evening mood. I wasn’t going to discuss it but then my mom had to and – “ He heard footsteps and sighed once again. “Speaking of which, they’re back.”

Eliza took in what Danny was saying with a nod, simply keeping her eyes on him as he spoke. At that point she really felt like listening and maybe saying a few encouraging words was all she could do to help. The situation really wasn’t something she could do anything about. It was like Danny and Liberty were going through a breakup all over again… but this time it was final so it probably felt worse. “It’s always better to know. She’s angry right now, but she’s going to go through the seven stages and come out of things just fine. And she’ll probably still talk to you, it’ll just take a while. And when she’s off, happy with someone who’s good for her she’ll realize why it just wouldn’t have worked. Beyond the whole… telling her you cheated on her when you hadn’t actually done so thing,” Eliza tried to comfort, unsure of if her words were having any effect. She heard the footsteps about a half-second after Danny seemed to and she wasn’t really prepared for anything that could possibly happen next. She had just been expecting a nice night of relaxation with a movie about… fighting (was that what it was about??), but things had taken some unexpected turns. “Maybe they’re just grabbing water?”

Danny: “Probably coming to check and make sure we’re not making out” He hissed out in a whisper before he saw his mother finally appear. He wanted her gone, but that didn’t seem as though it was happening so instead Daniel leans back once again and groaned softly. “Yes, mother?” Though the woman tried to look as though she was surprised to be addressed by her son, it didn’t come off very convincing. “I thought you said that you two were watching a movie? Why isn’t there a movie playing?” Then Daniel groaned softly, tilting his head back once again and closing his eyes. “Because Eliza and I were talking, mom. We do that every now and then and we would like to do it without a movie playing in the background so that we can actually focus on the conversation. Was there something you actually needed or were you just coming down to spy?” Mrs. Reece tried to look offended, but that too came off very ungenuine. “I was coming to get my checkbook from the kitchen table. Daniel, your father wants to know what you want to do for your birthday so he can make the arrangements.” At this the boy shrugged. “I don’t know. Don’t really care, whatever you all want I guess. That’s what happens anyways.” Not giving her son’s sass much attention, Mrs. Reece shook her head and went back up to the master bedroom, hands empty which Daniel just chuckled at slightly. “Checkbook, right.”

Eliza: Wait. What? Eliza immediately shook all of /those/ thoughts from her mind as she instead focused on the fact that Mrs. Reece was approaching. And seemed to have a very specific purpose for doing so. Eliza didn’t speak up to answer when she asked a question, instead leaving Daniel to handle his mother while she just sort of nodded along. Prior to that evening Eliza had felt much more positively about the woman… now she realized that she was a little more cold and distant than the girl had originally thought. She could kind of get the soul sucking comments. At the mention of an upcoming birthday, Eliza’s eyebrows rose. She had to mentally take note of that. She’d had no clue. Moments later Danny’s mother was gone once again and the two were left to the silence that had been present immediately prior to her arrival. “Birthday? When?” Eliza didn’t hesitate to ask, already having various plans float through her mind. Birthdays were like… a thing for her.

Danny: “Um, yeah. My birthday is this month, the 19th. My parents usually do something or at least they ask me if I would like to plan something, but really we always end up going out to dinner at a place my dad likes. While there we always see someone he knows and it’s yet again a chance for him to try and push the idea of taking over his business on me which isn’t something I’m interested in. Of course, that opens doors for my mom to try and push her agenda as well. As you can see, my birthdays are great – well celebrated. It’s fine though, it’s just tradition and it’s a good meal at least. I have that to be thankful for if nothing else.” He had leaned back against the couch, one arm behind Eliza still. The back and forth with his mother after discussing his issues with Liberty were starting to actually give him a headache. “Alright, are we ready to start the movie?”

Eliza: “That’s… not a very good birthday, honestly. Give me one to two hours that day?” Was it weird for her to request the time? She didn’t think it was, but she couldn’t be sure. She just knew that no one deserved to celebrate the day of their birth in such a manner. “I promise I won’t throw a party or anything, but you’re turning 20. It should be a little more fun than birthday dinner and business.” How would she make thing fun? What would they do? No clue. But she had some time to figure it out. Eliza watched as Danny leaned back, unsure of if she should say something to comfort him again or if she should just move on from all of the stuff his parents had brought up since their arrival. At his question it became incredibly apparent to the girl that he just wanted to move on, so she didn’t hesitate to agree. “Yes, we are. I’ve been living in anticipation for hours. I really don’t think I can live with the mystery much longer.”

Danny: “You want to hang out with me on my birthday?” It was a simple request – one that anyone would probably make after learning it was his birthday really – but somehow it felt special coming from Eliza. “Okay, yeah, we can hang out. I would actually really like that if we hung out.” After getting a confirmation that they could start the movie, Daniel pressed play and smiled as he reached out to teasingly grab Eliza and pull her closer against him. However, he did let her go quickly after, laughing slightly as he did so. “If my parents are going to keep coming down to check, might as well give them a little bit to go on.”

Eliza immediately wondered if she shouldn’t have asked for the time that she had. Should she have asked for five minutes? Or no time at all, with a simple statement about how it sucked that his birthday wouldn’t be filled with activities he actually wanted to do? Eliza simply nodded at his question, a smile coming to her face when he okayed things. “Good. I will figure out something for us to do,” she told him before turning to face the television, actually excited to finally be watching Fight Club. She had no interest in the movie, but she did want to know what happened. In her peripheral vision she saw Danny moving, but she didn’t fully expect him to bring her closer (and then let go so soon after). And she definitely didn’t expect his words. “Check on what? That nothing inappropriate is happening in their living room? I think they would straight up be down here if that was a legitimate fear of theirs,” Eliza mused, not bothering to actually move all that far away at that point. She had fallen asleep on Danny last time they had watched a movie together, so clearly space wasn’t so much of an issue… plus it sort of seemed like the boy needed some positive human contact at that point. The day had been sort of rough.

Danny: “You don’t know my parents. They have thoughts about how one should behave and I just don’t really meet those thoughts very well. I’m sure right now they’re trying to think of what they can do to apologize to your parents, figuring that I’m down here corrupting you and pulling you into my web of terribleness.” Daniel was smiling though as he wrapped his arm around her then, not bothered by the contact or the fact that she hadn’t pulled away back into her original position. As the movie started, it was obvious he was focusing in a little more. Daniel grew more comfortable as his arm loosened around Eliza just a bit.

Eliza: “Web of terribleness? Luckily I probably fit some of those thoughts, so maybe they’re instead talking about what good choices you seem to be making nowadays. Also I’m eighteen so they really wouldn’t have to apologize to my parents.” There really was no reason to apologize, though. Eliza didn’t get why so many people (including her best friend apparently) just didn’t seem to get that Danny wasn’t a bad person. Yes, he had been in minor trouble with the law, but there were worse things. But that moment wasn’t the time to think of that. It was Fight Club time. Eliza made herself comfortable before doing her best to pay attention to the movie as the events unfolded before her, taking note of what she felt might be major plot points even though she had no idea what the actual dramatic structure would turn out to be… because she hadn’t read the synopsis.

Danny: He wasn’t sure how Eliza was going to take the movie, nor had he even been sure if she would like it in the first place, but as it went on, Daniel glanced over at her every now and again. There had always been something about the movie that really attracted him. Themes of anti-consumerism mixed with violence and disillusion tended to make him think long and hard each time he watched it. However, Daniel was sure if there was anything that was going to turn the girl off from the movie, it would be the violent scenes and the headache-inducing back and forth to conceal the reality of the situation. When the reveal of Tyler being the narrator – or the narrator being Tyler – arrived, Daniel’s hold on Eliza grew a little tighter out of excitement. “And this is why I love this movie.”

Eliza: ...what? Wait. What? That was the only thing running through the girl’s mind when what was clearly the big plot twist came. This wasn’t really a movie about a Fight Club. Well, it was, but… Eliza had been expecting something like Rocky, not a tale of someone with Disassociate Identity Disorder. God she had wished she had ready the synopsis. She really hadn’t been prepared for that reveal - a reveal which clearly Danny loved. “This movie wasn’t at all what I was expecting,” the girl admitted as she kept her eyes on the screen, doing her best to continue to follow along. Were there going to be any other plot twists?? The director was the same guy who had done Gone Girl so probably.

Danny: “I figured as much. No one ever expects it when they first watch this movie, but it’s a cult classic for a reason. It was a huge reveal and just so – I love it.” Daniel leaned forward a bit on the couch then, his hand drifting down from being around Eliza’s shoulder to being on her waist as he sat forward so that his arm was no longer propped against the back of the couch. “It’s just all in his head. Like, everything that was bothering him but also the pieces of him that his own mind was rejecting as being him, they were Tyler. He was Tyler and it’s so fucking awesome because it’s not even like Tyler is his best self either. It’s just bits of the Narrator and he’s there and of course Tyler has similar views because it’s a part of him but also he’s not. Tyler is totally his own person at the same time, just in the Narrator’s body. Honestly the coolest thing. I mean, I know it sucked for him, but the way the movie does it is fantastic because you never think it. Can you imagine?”

Eliza listened as Danny went on and on about how much he liked Fight Club, not even a little surprised when he started to analyze it more deeply than just an average viewer might. His whole shift in touch thing was completely distracting, but she did her best to not have an obvious reaction to it and to instead remain focused on what he was saying. “This is actually a really interesting take on Dissociative Identity Disorder,” she murmured in response to his question, immediately pinpointing the psychology at play. Was that too nerdy? As soon as the reveal happened that was immediately what she thought of. “My future psych career has me really wanting to analyze this with all of the limited knowledge I have so far, but I’m going to wait to do that after,” she continued, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to admit it. They were fairly varied things out of the film, but it was only her first time watching it and clearly Danny had seen it plenty of times. Eliza had done a great job of keeping her eyes on the screen thus far, but she couldn’t help but turn slightly to look over at Danny as she began to verbalize her next thought. “You /really/ like this movie, though. Like, I can feel how passionate you are about it. It’s great.”

Danny: “Yeah, I do. I mean, I can kind of understand how fed up with everything the Narrator is at the beginning of the movie. Everything just sort of sucks and he knows that, but he’s continuing on anyways because what else can he do? Then he meets Tyler – or at least he thinks he meets a Tyler – and there’s a bit of release there. Obviously it isn’t this fix everything thing. He’s still got the fucked up life and things are still hard just as they were the day before, but he sort of created his own personal release in the form of another persona, but he doesn’t know it. It’s just an odd concept, release through such an extreme method, even though he didn’t mean to do that at all.” Daniel shrugged then. “I’ve also watched the movie a bunch of times and it’s just cool with all the fight scenes and the acting too.”

Eliza moved away from Danny just a bit as his words started to grow a little concerning but quickly came up with an excuse for why she did so. “Hey, I almost forgot about the courting chocolate,” she told him as she moved to grab her satchel (which she had dropped by her feet when she had first sat down). Release through an extreme method… was that what he did with his minor crimes? The girl couldn’t help but wonder about what Danny had just said as she dug through the bag to find the bag of chocolate she’d stored there earlier, grabbing it and placing her bag back at her feet before she settled back onto the couch. “I think I’ll have to watch this again at some point.”

Danny: He hardly noticed it as odd as Eliza began to shift away, and instead shifted a bit himself so he could face her move. “Yeah, you’ll really have to. It’s kind of one of those movies that goes to the extreme. That’s part of the reason why it’s so controversial. It’s very violent and twisted in a way that people don’t really want to look at because overall we’re not that way, you know? Well, we are, but not to that level. We all have our little things and bits of life that bother us, but no one wants to look at them because no one wants to find out they have a Tyler in them. Not like an actual disorder – everyone doesn’t have that obviously – but that bit of yourself that’s willing to do that shit. No one wants to face it because they worry it will be too much when honestly, if you did you would see it’s just your basic run of the mill annoyance that everyone has.” Daniel shrugged slightly. “It’s kind of a dark movie to show after Jack Frost, huh? Sorry.”

Eliza: “You have a very intellectual analysis of this movie going on and I don’t even know how it ends yet,” Eliza pointed out as she grabbed one of the Kit Kat bars from her bag of random chocolates, her attention only half-focused on the screen. Or… like, a quarter focused on it. Honestly, Danny was taking up a solid amount of her attention. Plus what he was saying about movie!Tyler was making her think about Nina’s Tyler. Had he sought release through an extreme method? “Yeah, it’s a little different. But it’s not really the holiday season anymore so I guess shaking things up like this really makes that clear. And it’s not like we’re not going to watch one of my favorite movies sooner rather than later. Isn’t this movie on most of those ‘greatest movies of all time’ lists? I feel like I would’ve seen it at some point either way. Better to experience it with someone who will only improve the experience, right?”

Danny: Daniel felt a slight blush coming to his cheeks then when the girl said that watching it with him improved the experience. “Yeah, I guess that’s true and yeah, it is. It’s considering one of the cult classics that just has to be watched eventually.” He too reached into the bag of chocolates, pulling one out and opening it so he could nibble on it a bit. Leaning back, Daniel returned his arm to the back of the couch, though this time he didn’t pull Eliza closer, allowing her to get close herself if she so wished. “You’ll see how it ends soon enough. There’s not too much left in it. From here it’s all just sort of downhill and wrapping it up.” As the movie continued to play, Daniel began to watch Eliza’s facial expressions rather than the screen, wanting to watch her reaction to everything going on.

Eliza: “I wouldn’t exactly consider myself a cult classics girl. I’ve seen Heathers and Rocky Horror and like… Clue, but outside of those this is really a new thing for me,” Eliza admitted before opening up the Kit Kat to break it apart, carefully eating each piece a moment later as she turned to focus her attention back on the screen again. At least, as much attention as she could pay while she was also scootching back to where she had been before she had moved away earlier. “Noted,” she murmured without a glance at Danny, actually determined to focus on the ending of the film. She didn’t want to miss anything important and then just… not get it. Her expression turned to one of utmost concentration as she watched, not even bothering to look and see what candy she grabbed next as she reached into the bag for something else. She actually managed to eat the candy without even looking to see what it was or how best to unwrap it and she was almost positive that she could make it the whole rest of the movie without any distractions. Until she felt eyes on her and realized that Danny was probably trying to judge how she actually felt about the movie just by her facial reactions to it. A hint of a smile came to the girl’s face then, but it immediately left once she watched things unfold on screen. “Is he-what?” she asked once she realized what was going to happen next, her face obviously showing her surprise when the Narrator fired his gun. Realistically that was /not/ the way to deal with DID, but… it definitely worked for dramatic effect. And then... explosions. And the movie was over with a really good soundtrack moment. “Wait, so it ends like that?”

Danny: “Yeah, that’s kind of just it. I suppose it’s supposed to be this idea that he’s accepted this shit he can’t handle and was able to kill Tyler even though obviously that’s not how someone with that actual issue would handle things or should. That’s why it’s kind of an interesting movie that way because the Narrator is able to step away from this other personality when it gets to the point where that personality is ready to kill him. Obviously someone with those sort of issues couldn’t actually do that, but this is a movie and whatnot.” Daniel let his arm fall back into her, wrapping it around Eliza tight and smiling. “But that’s it. He rids himself of Tyler, I guess realizes that Tyler wasn’t who he really wanted to be or needed in his life, and kept going with himself and the girl.” With his free hand, Daniel reached into the bag of chocolates again and pulled out another candy bar. “You really did bring a lot of chocolate, you know that?”

Eliza: “A lot of people with that issue don’t even realize they have it… like, another fictional example, but Bates Motel. Norman Bates clearly has no clue. So they don’t even know that there is something to be handled, but yeah, it definitely goes without saying that Fight Club isn’t exactly a model for how one should live one’s life,” Eliza agreed as she easily settled into her slightly shifted position on the couch. “I appreciate that choice, though. I think he made the right one.” At the comment about chocolate, Eliza reached into the bag a third time, bringing out a Hershey’s kiss only to quickly unwrap it and pop it into her mouth. “The courting was going to be super serious before we figured out that it was a leave room for Jesus thing. I had to come prepared.”

Danny: “Well I’m glad you are taking this courting thing seriously. I do enjoy my chocolate and appreciate it wherever I can get it.” Seeing her unwrapping the chocolate, Daniel smiled slightly. “I want a kiss.” Before the girl could comment, though Daniel did watch to see if her face turned red, he reached into the bag trying to find another Hershey’s kiss. Once he found one, he began unwrapping it and popped it into his mouth as well. “Always did enjoy kisses, just pure delicious chocolate goodness for me to consume.” Noticing that Eliza was still against him, Daniel smiled slightly. “Well there hasn’t really been much room for Jesus here so I think we failed at the traditional courting.” Just as he started to pull away, Daniel heard footsteps once again that made him stay put, arm around Eliza still.

“Daniel where did I – oh Eliza, you’re still here. Daniel, have you seen your father’s briefcase? He swears it was in the study but I know it wasn’t there earlier today.” Rolling his eyes slightly, Daniel used his free hand to gesture towards the door. “He usually puts it down by the table when he first comes in.” The woman nodded, making her way towards the kitchen before stopping. “Daniel, have you asked Eliza if she would like to join us for your birthday dinner? You’ve never actually…brought anyone with you to them.” He looked over at her then, eyebrow raised slightly as a sort of question before finally asking. “Would you? If you’re free, that is. Would you like to go?”

Eliza: “I was taking it seriously. But then we agreed to switch from courtship to dating so now I need to figure out your dating needs. Those might be more demanding.” She didn’t even really remember how the whole courtship thing had started, but she wasn’t opposed to the direction it had since taken. It was almost a wishful thinking thing on her part, not that she’d ever admit to it. At Danny’s comment Eliza did her best not to react too much, her mind immediately rushing to the opposite of the true meaning of what he’d meant. He just wanted the candy. Obviously. Her mouth opened to make a witty comment, trying to hide the fact that she was probably blushing, but no words actually came out. So it looked like she had to settle for a simple factual statement instead. “There should be plenty in there. I dumped like… a whole bag of them in,” she admitted. Were she bolder she might’ve jokingly leaned in as if she was actually going to kiss him, but she was not bold. At all. And that would be a weird ‘get your hopes up only to be let down with a laugh’ moment. “Kisses are indeed nice, though, yes. Gotta love them.” Okay, good, the subject changed a moment later… but the new one didn’t exactly help the situation. “There’s been room for Jesus where Jesus would probably want it most,” Eliza insisted before turning to face whoever had just come down the stairs. Oh, it was Mrs. Reece again. That… was not at all a surprise. Eliza was honestly prepared to mostly be ignored again, so she was caught off guard when Danny’s mom addressed her sort of indirectly. Was she really being invited to the birthday dinner? “Oh. Yes, of course,” Eliza was quick to respond, half addressing both Danny and his mother. “I’ll have to check with my parents, but I would love that Mrs. Reece.” What she was agreeing to she honestly had no clue.

Danny: “Alright then, I’ll let your father know you plan to bring a date. Do you have any food allergies, Eliza? We know Daniel is allergic to mushrooms so that sometimes greatly alters our plans.” Daniel groaned slightly then. “Or we could just go somewhere with mushrooms and you can kill me. That works too. Whatever makes you happy, mom.” Again, the woman paid her son’s sass no mind as she went to grab her husband’s briefcase from where Daniel had said it was placed. Once she was at least somewhat out of earshot, Daniel chuckled slightly. “We at least this year won’t totally suck. Mom’s never actually asked me if I wanted to bring someone along. She never even invited Liberty to go.”

Eliza ’s mind sort of latched onto the word ‘date’ before finally snapping to attention when Mrs. Reece said her name. And then mentioned Danny being allergic to mushrooms. So clearly they were talking about allergies. “Oh, um, grapefruits. Hopefully that won’t alter plans?” Eliza asked, seeing more and more what Danny had meant when he spoke of his mother. She was a little… cold and dismissive of his basic needs. Parents weren’t supposed to treat a child’s allergy as a personal inconvenience. Eliza was sort of expecting Danny to have some sort of comeback to his mother’s words, so when he did speak up Eliza did her best not to have a reaction. She saw his point though. The girl waited until Mrs. Reece had left to make a slight face of horror, feeling like her ‘give parents the benefit of the doubt’ attitude was a little crushed right about then. “She’s… something. I feel like my invitation is a trick? Like she has some sort of plan?” Eliza admitted before turning towards Danny. His ex-girlfriend - the mayor’s daughter - hadn’t even been invited. So why had she gotten the honor of being the first? “You don’t have to bring me if you would rather invite someone else I mean, I’d like to go, but if you want to bring someone else I’d understand.”

Danny: “If you’re going then it means I don’t have to deal with just my parents and maybe the birthday dinner won’t suck as bad. But yeah, my mom really is something. She grew up in a really prissy family so there’s some weird culture lodged inside of her. I wouldn’t put it past her to have a plan though. She is my mother and she is a sneaky one.” Daniel shrugged slightly, not at all worried about exactly why his mother had offered Eliza the invitation as he could already guess. “Well, let’s look at it this way, you’re a good person who doesn’t steal tires. You’re the only person really in my life who doesn’t get up to these sorts of things. So, she probably either hopes or assumes that we’re dating and hopes you will be a good influence. Thus, it’s important to keep you around and make you feel all close. Either way, it means I don’t have to do the dinner alone with my parents.”

Eliza: “I can’t be the only person in your life who doesn’t get up to trouble… but okay. I’ll go. And I’ll even be cautiously optimistic and say that it’ll be fun. Just me, you, and your parents,” Eliza agreed. “Besides, your mom said that she’d tell your dad you’re bringing a date so the unspoken, unwritten rules of our not-courtship basically guarantee that it’s gotta be me. You’ll have to let Raffy down easy for yet another year. I’m sure he’s always dreamed of going to your special birthday dinner.”

Danny: “Raffy, nah. I’m sure he would be completely fine avoiding my parents as long as he could. That is true though. I will have to tell him that our forbidden romance will have to go undiscussed for another year since it’s assumed I’m bringing a date to my birthday dinner. God, every time I say that it sounds so childish – birthday dinner.” Daniel shook his head slightly before leaning back on the couch. “So what now, Oliver? We finished the movie, you brought me chocolates. Where do we go from here?”

Eliza: “Glad that the forbidden romance has finally been confirmed to me, but more glad that your birthday dinner might not be so bad this year.” If the familial interactions Eliza had witnessed thus far were anything to go off of, she could see why things maybe hadn’t worked out so well previously. Moments later all the girl could do was shrug in response to Danny’s question, really unsure of what to say. “Excellent question. Unless that’s your way of sneakily hinting to me that I should leave now, in which case you might want to try a little harder to make that clear. But yeah, honestly I do not know. Anything you’d like to do?”

Danny: “If I wanted you to leave I would say Hey Eliza, isn’t it time for you to be getting home? I’m not exactly subtle or nice so I’m sure I would skip over all the pleasantries.” He chuckled slightly before wrapping his arms around Eliza and pulling her against him, keeping one arm around her waist. “Nah, I like just hanging out with you, even if it’s just watching movies and watching you freak out over surprise twists. It’s nice to have someone other than Raffy to hang out with. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy, but if he were the only friend I had that would be kinda embarrassing on my part. So, I like that you like hanging out with me and that we get to do this.”

Eliza: “You know, that sounds about right,” Eliza admitted before she let herself be pulled closer to Danny. She was very particular with who she initiated touch with, so the fact that she had just kept getting closer and closer to Danny as the evening progressed to the point where she was basically on top of him now (though not actually) was pretty telling to the girl regarding how she felt about him. But she was pretty sure that was obvious to no one but her. Thank goodness. “I like watching movies with you too. Even though this is the first one I’ve made it through without literally falling asleep on you. It’s nice for me to have someone else to spend time with too. I mean, Seth is great, and so is my family, and I love hanging out with Hazel when I get a chance… but this is nice. I like getting to do this too,” she admitted with a smile before reaching for the bag of chocolate once again, reaching in to grab the first chocolate she could find. Which was, of course, a Kiss. “Oh fun. Want another Kiss?”

Danny: “I would love a kiss from you, actually. Thank you for asking.” He smiled as he took the chocolate out of her hand and began to unwrap it. “I guess I don’t really hang out with people much anymore. I hang out with Raffy when I get the chance, but I’ve been working on some stuff for school and looking into a few things that keep me pretty busy. Then there’s the classes that my mom insists I take and those keep me pretty busy. Also –“ Daniel stopped then shifting a little so that he could get up off the couch, offering his hand to Eliza once he was up. “There’s actually something I want to show you. It’s in the garage.”

Eliza handed over the chocolate then, grabbing one for herself and quickly popping it into her mouth as she listened to Danny speak. “Do you like any of the classes she has you in?” she asked, moving to make sure that he could actually get up off the couch once it was clear that was what he actually wanted to do. At the offer of a hand Eliza didn’t hesitate to accept, her curiosity getting the best of her. “What could it possibly be?” she asked as she began to walk.

Danny: “No, I don’t like any of the classes that my mom insists I take, but at least if I take those then every now and again I can take something I actually like.” He held onto Eliza’s hand as he led the girl out to the garage, searching blindly for a light for a few seconds before flipping the switch. Once there was light, he released the girl’s hand and made his way over to a table where something was covered with a small sheet. “Okay so it’s not exactly done and there are still some things to work out, but this is what I do when I’m actually at home and not working on other things.” Daniel removed the sheet to reveal a car the side of a remote controlled toy there on the table. “I built it and once I get some issues fixed, she should be able to actually operate.”

Eliza: “It is quite unfortunate that /that’s/ the way that has to work.” He was clearly intelligent and had an interest in /something/, so the fact that he couldn’t so easily pursue what he actually wanted to due to family pressure was actually pretty upsetting. She didn’t have too long to focus on that thought, though, because before she knew it Eliza was standing in the garage staring down at a sheet. “Is it a mini-Frankenstein?” the girl half-joked before Danny actually revealed to her what he’d been working on. And then everything clicked. “You build things. Machines. That… makes so much sense.”

Danny: “Yeah, I do. Though I don’t see what it makes sense with. I’ll take your word for it though.” He placed the sheet to the side and picked up the car, looking underneath it before placing it back down on the table. “I’m having a little bit of a problem with the circuits and I think I’m actually going to have to replace them. I’m hoping not though. If I can’t get these to work though, that’s what I’ll be doing. But yeah, this is the project that I’ve been working on. Last year I entered one of those robot fighting things that nerds do and got past a few rounds. Ultimately my robot was taken out by this group of dorks in actual square glasses and that sucked, but it was cool while it was going on.”

Eliza: “I just meant that with your job and everything… and you know how sometimes people have interests that when you hear about them they just sort of click like right, yes, knowing what I know about that person that makes total sense for some reason? That’s what I was going for,” Eliza explained as she moved to take a closer look at the car. “You did a Battle Bot competition? I’ve heard those get pretty intense… but I really only have pop culture to rely on for that. Like… Big Hero Six pop culture. Do you think you’ll do it again this year?”

Danny: Daniel nodded then before pushing the car forward a bit on the table to watch the wheels spin. “I might. I haven’t really thought about it yet. If I was, I would have to start building my robot right away so that I could have time to make improvements and time for failures if something doesn’t go well like with the car here. Before all of that, I would have to have a design. Last year I didn’t start early enough so my design wasn’t at its best.” He shrugged then before grabbing the sheet and putting it back over the car. “That’s kind of what I want to do. I like building things and I like working with my hands. I’m good with my parents so I just – my dad wants me to do business, my mom wants a lawyer and that’s just not me.”

Eliza: “Maybe you start now for next year then. Take plenty of time to test and improve before you go back into the ring and take out those square glasses nerds. Or, if they’re not there, any square glasses nerds.” Eliza watched as Danny put the car back under its protective sheet, a small smile on her face due to her happiness that Danny had shared this part of his life with her. It was never something she would’ve just been able to guess but it made so much sense. And it seemed like she had the perfect opportunity to encourage him to pursue his desired field. Clearly he was passionate about it. He had to do it! “I think you should do this. This is like… mechanical engineering. It’s not something to scoff at. And it’s actually probably a more stable field than business and maybe even law. Your parents may want different things for you, but who knows? Maybe they’d surprise you. This country needs some good engineers.”

Danny: “I’ve been looking into engineering degrees, but I don’t know. Anyways –“ He gestured towards the door of the garage then, clearly done with the topic of him applying to get into an engineering program. Sure, there had been many programs he had looked at and thought about, but applying meant possibly being rejected or worse – being accepted only for everyone to find out that he wasn’t as good as he thought. These things were just toys that passed the time. Who was he to think that this could turn into a real career for him? Once they were back inside the living room, Daniel ran his fingers through his hair and smiled shyly. “Well, it was fun. I’m glad you came over. You should do that more. Of course I’ll see you at the party Friday still, right?”

Eliza: “Keep looking into them,” Eliza insisted before following him back to the living room, their night clearly coming to a close… especially since she had school the next day. “Yes, it most certainly was. I’m glad I came too. The jury is still out on whether or not your parents are happy with my presence too, but if I ever turn out to no longer be welcome you know you’re always welcome to come over to my house too,” she informed him before nodding as she grabbed her satchel and moved to slip on her jacket. “Yes, yes. I definitely still plan on attending that. It just might be the biggest Lakewood event of 2017.” She should go. She knew she should, but one or two quick more comments and then she’d excuse herself. “You can keep the rest of the non-courting chocolate, by the way. My gift to you. And whatever pizza is left obviously… but, uh, I should probably go. School tomorrow and everything.”

Danny: “Cool, then I will definitely see you Friday night to pick you up. I mean – not just you. Seth too obviously and Raffy if he wants to go, but you know what I mean. I just figure it’s easier to meet at your house and go from there.” Daniel stood with her at the doorway, trying to help Eliza put her jacket on before simply standing there smiling at her. His eyes flickered down to her lips, though he didn’t make a move to meet them. Nerves were firing throughout his body down to a tingling in his fingers as Daniel swallowed hard and let out a slightly nervous laugh. “I will, don’t worry. So um, I’ll see you around then I guess. Soon, hopefully, or Friday. Whenever. Have a good day at school and such. I’ll try and text you or something.” Though they were saying goodbyes, Daniel made no attempt to back away from the doorway, his gaze still flickering down to what he assumed were the softest lips ever.

Eliza: “Maybe not Seth. I’ll let you know. He said something about a police escort and told me to be safe so… I don’t know. He’ll be there, though, so you can still help him to have the best first party ever. So you definitely get me and honestly probably Raffy too because that’d be convenient,” she began to ramble, her jacket on and everything really ready to go by that point. Or… almost everything. She knew she already had everything and physically she was all good to go but something was holding her back. “Yes! Please text me. Feel free. Whenever, really,” she told Danny as she looked up at him, unexpectedly catching where his line of sight had just been. Wait. Hold on. Hold the phone. Maybe she was just then misinterpreting several moments from the night, but… was that a sign? They had been talking about dating and kissing basically all night in very joking ways (clearly since Danny had an interest in someone that Eliza was pretty darn sure wasn’t her). But… what if those hadn’t been entirely jokes on both of their ends. Because she knew that it hadn’t been on hers. God she was suddenly so nervous even though she hadn’t decided whether or not to do anything about what she had witnessed just yet. She wasn’t brave enough to try anything and she would never want to risk her friendship with Daniel Reece, but… what if this was one of those now or never moments?

“You have a good day tomorrow too. With work and… class if you have it and everything,” Eliza continued as she still looked up at the boy in front of her, her eyes too flickering to his lips… and in that moment she just deciding to go for it. If she was wrong and it backfired spectacularly she was pretty sure Danny would let her know… and he might not even get weird about it. Without a second thought Eliza moved up onto her toes just enough so that their height difference wouldn’t be terribly awkward as she quickly brought his face down to hers to bring their lips together. It wasn’t like she had done it at some sort of super speed, so he probably could’ve guessed what she was about to do before she did it… but she was still really worried that she was screwing everything up with her one moment of impulsiveness. And it was a moment. Eliza made sure to keep the kiss decently short (but not too short) and sweet, pulling back and opening her eyes at the same time to look up at the boy she had no doubt just shocked. “Okay, bye,” she immediately murmured then, turning to leave before things could go south too quickly. What had she just done?

Danny: Eliza had kissed him. Eliza Oliver had kissed him. She was already out the door before he could manage words, but Daniel still wanted to say something. “Wow…” The words were soft, barely a whisper as his fingers drifted over his lips – slightly tingling from the sensation. Sure, it had been a thought in his mind for most of the night, longer actually, but he had never expected it to happen. Considering part of him agreed with Carter, Eliza was far too good for him, he had never expected – and yet she had. Though he wasn’t sure what this meant, had it been just a thing to see or if she actually felt that way about him, there would be time to find out.

#f2f #f2f: eliza #eliza #003

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i-tell-the-truth-blogger875 · 5 years

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Title: Edge of Insanity

Episode 1: Pilot

Nichole walks into Ems bedroom and jumps on the bed next to her. She covers up and lays on top of Em, taking up the whole bed. Nic- Tell me why we can’t skip school again.

Em- I already told you Nic, we are the only thing Luna and Corbin have. We have to get good jobs.

Nic- Speaking of Luna and Corbin, where are they?

Em- They are spending the week with our mothers.

Nic- But our moms hate them.

Em- (signs)

Nic- They say that they look to much like Mark and Daniel.

Em- Why don’t you call Mark your dad? I call Daniel dad.

Nic- Because he has never been there for me. Now my mother was there for me until she had Corbin and your mother had Luna, it doesn’t matter who they look like, they are their children!

At this point Nichole was on her feet! Em looked outside and it was starting to storm.

Em- Calm down Nichole it is starting to storm outside.

Nichole looked out the window.

Nic- Fine

Nichole sat down on the side of the bed and rolled her eyes.

Nic- I don’t want to go to school. I don’t want the kids with our mothers. I DON’T WANT THIS LIFE FOR US AND THEM!

It was storming bad at this point and Nichole was in one of her “mad spells” as Em calls it. There was a knock at the door and Em ran downstairs to open it. It was Owen.

Owen- Where is she.

Em- She is in my room. She is VERY moody today, I would be careful.

Owen- Ok

Owen walked up the stairs and entered Ems room. Nichole turned and faced him.

Nic- GO AWAY OWEN

Owen- No Nic, you need to calm down RIGHT NOW

Nichole looked away from him but then she picked up the lamp and threw it at Owen. Owen caught it and moved closer to Nicole.

Owen- Nic your anger is getting the best of you. You need to stop and think. Calm down now, before you make a mistake you can’t take back. Just stop and come take your anger out on me.

Nic- I don’t wanna hurt you Owen, but I will if I have too.

Owen moved towards her and touched her shoulder. She turned around quick and pushed him away. Owen was a much older and much stronger hybrid so he grabbed her by the arms and pushed her against the wall.

Owen- CALM DOWN NICHOLE! STOP. THINK. FOCUS ON ME.

Nichole tried to push away and began to fight him off. It was doing nothing because Owen was stronger. She continued to push and them she stopped and dropped to the floor.

Owen- Nic?

Owen lowers to the ground and touches Nicholes face. She is in pain and has stopped breathing.

Owen- NIC WAKE UP

Owen shakes her and moves her onto the bed. She starts to slowly wake up.

Nic- What happened.

She tries to sit up but Owen pushes her back down

Owen- stay here and take a short nap. You drained a lot of your power.

Nic- why, how, what happened?

Owen- I will tell you later just take a nap

Nic- NO, I don’t have to listen to you all the time Owen

Owen- Please Nicole, Just lay down and rest

Nic- FINE. But later you have to tell me what happened.

Owen-

Nichole lays back down and Owen leaves the room. He checks the time and it is 6:30. He forgot that he had froze time so that Jack and the girls wouldn’t be late.

Em- how is she.

Owen- She is going to be ok. I froze the time. It is 6:30. Let her sleep for 20 minutes or so then wake her up. Tell her that I said not to use magic. She is very low on it and if she does it might damage her bad. I will unfreeze time in 20 minutes.

Owen walked out the door. Em was surprised that Owen had talked to her for that long. He never talks to her. Only Nichole and Jack

Twenty Minutes Later

Em goes up stairs to wake Nic up.

Em- Nic wake up, we have to go

Nic- we still have to go to school?

Em- yes come on get out of bed

Nic- Fine

Em- go get dressed

Nic- chill out i’m going your not my mom

Em- oh and by the way Owen said not to use any of your magic, you are super low on it.

Nic- whatever

Nichole walks out of the room and into her room, she picks out ripped jeans and a yellow tee that says “Leave” across the front. She puts on her red converse and puts her hair into a messy bun. Em puts on a sunflower dress and a leather skinny jacket over. She puts on short heels. They both meet in the kitchen

Nic- you look pretty

Em- thanks

Nic- like one of Jessica’s little followers

Em- oh shut up

Nic- (laughs)

Em- come on we gotta go

Nic- ok be right there

Nichole grabs her phone off the couch and sees that Owen left her a message that said “Stay Calm”. She rolls her eyes and walks toward the front door.

Nic- ok lets go

Em- Get in then

Nic- shut up

Em- I hope we get a good spot

Nic- yeah me too, hopefully no stuck up brats took our spot

Em- (laughs)

Nic and Em stop for coffee then arrive at school. They see Owen and Jacksons car and a empty spot right next to it. They drive towards it but Jessica’s possy pulls in first.

Nic- Oh my gosh

Em- calm down, we can find another spot

Nic- fine, who buys their teenage daughter a pink honda anyways

Em- (laughs)

Nic- I was serious but ok

Em- ok here is a spot

Nic- finally

Nichole and Em exit the car and Jessica grins at them and starts toward them

Nic- oh no

Jess- Hey girls

Em- Hey Jess

Nic- Uh hi?

Jess- sorry we took your spot, Peyton doesn’t watch around her when she is driving

Nic- Ok what does that have to do with this? Aubrey was driving

Jess- (nervous laugh)

Em- anyways..whats up

Jess- So there is a party at the cory tonight

Nic- we won’t be attending if your there

Em kicks Nics leg

Em- we will be there

Jess- great

Em- see you there

Nic- whatever

Nic walks toward the school and Owen walks out with Jack to meet her and Em.

Nic- hey

Owen- hi

Nic- so there is a party at the cory tonight and I have to go

Owen- oh no, no, no, noooo please don’t make me go

Nic- pretty pleaseee

Owen- fine, it's not like I can say no to you

Em- Hey baby

Jack- Hey

Jack wraps his hands around Em and hugs her tight

Jack- so there's this party tonight-

Em- I already told Jess I would go

Jack- YES

Em- (Smiles and kisses him)

Owen- can we go now

Nic- we have to hang out with Em and Jack

Owen- I would rather hang out with you, alone

Nic- (laughs and rolls her eyes)

Owen- (smiles softly and kisses her)

The group goes towards the front of the building

Owen- why do we have to be here?

Nic- I know right

Em- We have been over this

Jack- yeah Ow we have been over this a million times

Jack- I think that Nicole is a bad influence on Ow

Nic/Owen- Please

Em- whatever, I got to go to class, see you guys later

They all leave each other and go to class. Em scene

Student- Hey Em

Em- Hey

Student- how was your summer

Em- it was great, how was yours

Student- it was great. I kinda wish that you and Jack would break up. He is super cute

Em- (laughs) I know right.

Student- Your super lucky

Em- yeah I am

Student- well see you later

Em- ok see yuh

Jess- Hey Em

Em- Hey Jess

Jess- so how is your life going

Em- pretty good I guess

Jess- So how are you and Jackson, he seems a little out of it

Em- it's just been a hard week for him

Jess- oh no why

Em- Uh I really can’t say

Jess- fine whatever

Jessica stomps away and Jackson enters the room

Jack- Hey babe can you come with me

Em- yeah sure are you ok?

Jack- just come on

Em- ok?

Jackson and Em exit the room and go into an empty closet and close and lock the door

Em- whats wrong?

Jack- I am changing Em

Em- WHAT?! You aren’t supposed to be transforming until tonight.

Jack- well it is happening now

Jack- go get Owen, he can slow down the process until tonight

Em- ok, stay in here and lock the door

Jack- ok

Em leaves the room and goes to find Owen, He is in class and she walks in

Jane- What can I help you with Emmalynn

Em- Uh hi Mrs. Corvell can I borrow Owen really fast?

Jane- he is taking a test

Em- please it is urgent

Jane- fine, only 5 minutes

Em- thank you so much

Jane- go Owen

Owen stands up and follows Em out of the door.

Owen- What is going on Emmalynn

Em- just follow me

Owen- fine

Em- (knocks on the closet door) Jack it's me

Jack- come in

Owen- Jack are you ok?

Em- Help him he is about to transform

Owen- move

He holds his hands on his brothers back “ Malédiction de Confiance” x3

Owen- are you ok Jack?

Jake- yeah i’m fine, thanks brother

Owen- ok I have to get back to class

Em- thanks Owen

Owen- no problem

Owen exits the room

Em- Jack please go home

Jack- no I have to get to class

Em- be careful

Jack nods and kisses her forehead and walks out. Em walks to class and sits down in her seat

Time switch to after school

Nic- That sucked

Owen- yeah

Em- did not

Jack- I liked PE

Owen- Shut up jock

Jack- (laugh)

Nic- come on let's go get the kids

Em- We can’t we have a party to get too

Nic- then lets at least go see them

Em- I can’t we have to go

Owen- I will take her

Jack- I can drive you Em

Em- ok, Nic don’t blow off the party.

Nic- I will be there about 20 minutes late

Em- fine

Em and Jack leave in one car and Nic and Owen go into the other.

Nic- I have got to make sure that the kids are ok

Owen- chill out we will be there soon

Nic- good

Nic and Owen arrive at her mother's house

Nic- ugh I hate them

Owen- remember stay calm and no magic

Nic- got it

They walk to the door and ring the doorbell and someone yells “Come in” and they enter

Trisha- Hey honey how are you

Nic- My name is Nichole and I am fine

Trisha- Let's not be mean sweetie

Nic- you haven’t seen mean yet

Trisha- I also heard that you can’t use magic right now

Nic- STOP SPYING ON ME

Trisha- but you won’t let me spend time with you

Nic- there is a reason for that

Owen- anyways next subject

Trisha- it is so good to see you Owen

Owen- You too Ms. Weldon

Trisha- I assume you are here to see Luna and the other child

Nic- You mean and Corbin. Your son.

Trisha- he is not my son. I am in no way related to him

Nic started to turn red and Owen noticed and grabbed her hand

Owen- speaking of the two. Where are they?

Trisha- they are in the living room watching TV

Owen- thanks

Nichole gets out of Owens grasp and walks toward the living room

Corbin- SISSY

Nic- Hey buddy, I have missed you

Corbin- missed u too

Nic- is everything good here

Corbin- Yes. But mom is playing a game with me

Nic- what kind of game

Corbin- where she pretends i am not her son and she can’t see me

Nichole picked up Corbin and was about to scream

Owen- come here

Corbin- I wanna stay and watch tv

Owen- ok buddy go ahead

Owen- come on. Now!

Nic- Let go Owen

Owen- No

Owen pulled Nic up the stairs and into her mothers room.

Owen- look I get why you are mad but that doesn’t mean you can go crazy

Nic- but-

Owen- listen to me I know that this all sucks and I know you would love to hurt someone right now, trust me I would too. But you need to control yourself. Because if you lose control you will die and then the kids might have to stay here a lot more.

Nic- ok I am calm

Owen- you sure

Nic- yes

Luna- FOUND YOU NICKI

Nic- Hi Luna!

Luna- I have missed you

Nic- oh I have missed you SO much too

Luna- are you staying

Nic- I can’t but if you want I can pick you up tonight and you can come back home

Owen- or you can stay here and spend some time with your mom

Luna- yeah I wanna stay here!

Owen- Ok great! Well me and Nicki have to leave so we will see you guys soon.

Nic- Or we can stay

Luna- No go, I wove you

Nic- ok I love you hun

Luna- Love you too

Owen- lets go

Time change to Em and Jack at the party

Em- how do you feel?

Jack- fine Em stop worrying

Em- answer me

Jack- I feel ok

Em- we can leave if you need to

Jack- I am fine

Em- ok

Jack- so how was your day

Em- it was good-ish

Jack- why only good-ish

Em- because I have been worried about you all day

Jack- Well Em I am freaking sorry I ruined your day

Em- That isn’t what I mean

Jack- Whatever

Em- please Jack, stop fighting with me

Jack- I’m sorry Em, I am just moody

Em- I know

Jack- (kisses Em on the cheek and grins)

Em- Lets go party

Jack- Oh wait there is Owen and Nicole

Owen and Nicole show up at the party

Em- Hey guys

Nic- Hey

Owen- hi

Jack- did you guys have fun

Nic- I guess so

Owen- it was fine. Let's do something else other then standing around and doing nothing

Owen and Nichole go for a walk down by the bridge and Em and Jack go to see other people

Em- So you wanna dance

Jack- oh babe I am in pain I don’t think I can

Em- that's ok

Jack- no it’s not

Em- it really is, calm down

Jack- I’m sorry Em, I wish I could give you what you want

Em- You do give me what I want, you are so amazing and I couldn’t imagine my life without you.

Em- lets go sit down and talk for a little bit

Jack- sounds good to me

Scene goes to Owen and Nichole by the bridge.

Nic- they make me so mad

Owen- Who?

Nic- everyone

Owen- I know how it feels

Nic- doubt it

Owen- What do you freaking mean Nic I have a worse temper than you do.

NIc- (laughs)

Owen- SHUT UP NICHOLE

Nic- I’m not scared of you Owen

Owen- I don’t want you to be

Nic- then stop yelling.

Owen- You just make me so mad. I can’t handle being around you sometimes.

Nic- Then why do you stay around?

Owen- Because I love you Nichole

Nic- I love you too

Owen- then why do you push me off the edge all of the time

Nic- I can’t help it Owen!!

Owen- THAT'S ALWAYS YOUR EXCUSE

Nic- IT'S NOT AN EXCUSE IT'S TRUE

Owen- THEN MAYBE WE SHOULDN’T BE TOGETHER

Nic- FINE

Owen- FINE THEN WERE DONE

Owen walks away and Nichole sits against a tree. She starts to cry and snow slowly starts coming down. She doesn’t care at this point. She feels no reason why she shouldn’t just drain all of her power right now. She stands up and starts to look for Owen but Em shows up first.

Em- what are you doing Nic, I know that it's not supposed to snow today

Nic- Please go away Em, I just have to find Owen

Em- what happened

Nic- GO EM, NOW

Em- fine but if you die I won’t be there to help you

Nic- I don’t care

Em- fine

Em leaves and rolls her eyes. Nichole walks into the woods and starts yelling for Owen. She sees him casting anger spells on the tree

Nic- Owen?

Owen- go away Nichole

Nic- no

She steps closer to him and touches his back

Owen- I don’t want to hurt you Nichole

Nic- then don’t

Owen- Don’t you understand that I can’t control myself around you

Nic- How is that my fault

Owen- (lowers voice and speaks calmly) it is over Nichole

Nic- you can’t just leave me because we got in one little fight

Owen- we are not good for each other. This is a toxic relationship

Nic- yeah we are. But at least we are happy when we are together. At least we can calm each other down. At least we can forgive each other and move on. The way I feel about you is something that I have NEVER felt before. I love you Owen.

Owen- Don’t you think I know that. I love you more than anything in this entire world. I would kill a million people just to keep you from shedding a tear. That is the reason that we are not right for each other. I care to much. You are to much control over me. One of these days you are going to blow up on me and I will let you kill me because I can’t stand the fact of holding you back and hurting you.

Nic- please don’t do this Owen. Please.

Owen- it is the right thing to do.

Nic- no

Owen- I love you Nichole so SO freaking much. But I have to let you go now.

Nic- (starts to tear up) no Owen please. I can’t live without you.

Owen says nothing but kisses her softly on her forehead with pain in his eyes and walks into the woods. Nichole walks back to the party and towards her car. She sees Jessica who is obviously drunk and tries to avoid her. Jessica reaches her.

Jess- Hey Nic

Nic- really not in the mood

Jess- But why we are friends

Nic- I am having personal issues

Jess- boy troubles?

Nic- go away please

Jess- Well if you guys break up that means that someone else can have him now. You got him for 3 years. Sharing is caring

Nic- Your obviously drunk so please go catch a ride and go home

Jess- Is someone jealous, maybe I could get him now

Nic- stop

Jess- I am obviously better than you so why wouldn’t he dump you for me

Nic- get away NOW

Nichole was losing her temper and tried to walk away but Jessica stopped her.

Jess- stay here join the party

Nic- I have to go

Jess- why you don’t have a boyfriend to meet up with anymore

Nicholes face was turning red and her hands started shooting out sparks.

Nic- GET AWAY

Jess- I can do what I want

Nichole closes her eyes and suddenly has a vision. It is a old memory of Owen and her.

Flashback

Owen- Hey babe wake up

Nic- morning

Nichole rolls over and lays on the side of the bed looking at Owen.

Nic- why are you up so early

Owen- it’s 9:00 honey

Nic- oh, nevermind (laughs softly)

Owen- come on get up Nic we have to go

Nic- where

Owen- not telling

Nic- fine

Nichole rolls out of bed and puts her hair in a messy ponytail. She grabs some sweatpants and a sweatshirt. She comes down to the kitchen and Owen is making breakfast.

Owen- come get some eggs

Nic- you are so sweet

Owen- I know

Nic- (laughs)

Owen- here

Nic- they look great

Owen- promise me something

Nic- anything

Owen- you will never leave me

Nic- as long as you promise me the same

Owen- I do

Nic- I do too

Flashback ends

Jess- What are you going to do about it

Nic- Nothing

Jess- so you are weak too

Nic- leave

Jess- NOOPEE

Nichole starts to tear up trying to control herself. But she couldn’t, she shot out all of her power nocking Jessica to the ground. Nicole screamed and falls to the ground, she sees a blurry hallucination of Owen.

Nic- you broke your promise.

Nichole blacks out.

Episode 1 Ends.

#rp #roleplay #read #watch #good #great #chat #new #episode #1 #bestoftheday #cool #vampire #hybrid #hunter #werewold #werewolf #comesee #come #on #see #like #comment #repostwithcredit

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