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chocolatecakecas · 3 years

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Rockin' the Suburbs: Chapter 4

chp1 chp2 chp3 or read on ao3

After an afternoon of failed research attempts, Dean found himself carrying an excited Jack in his arms, walking up the sidewalk, hand in hand with Cas. Which didn't immediately send Dean's mind running wild because it honestly was starting to feel natural. Which of course is what sent Dean's mind running, but at least the act of Cas grabbing his hand wasn't the real source of the freak out anymore.

Dean's fine by the way. Totally cool and normal and under control.

"You ready?" Dean asks as they come to a stop at the back gate.

"As I'll ever be" Cas quips, giving Dean's hand a squeeze, which he gratefully returns.

"Holy shit" Dean gasps, jaw-dropping, head quickly snapping towards Cas.

"I agree completely...." Cas trails off, as he drags Dean further into the backyard.

There were people, food, drinks, tents, music blasting, and lights strung up everywhere. And a giant fire pit in the center, with crowds of people hovering around it, roasting marshmallows and hotdogs.

How many people lived in this damn neighborhood?

"So see any fugly faces?"

"If you're talking about demons, then no-"

"Well, what about that lad-"

"No she's no-"

"What about that group, those guys seem kinda-"

"No Dea-"

"Okay well, what about th-"

"Dean if I see a demon I'll be sure to let you know, promptly" Cas sighs, clearly exasperated, which only causes Dean to smile wider.

(read the rest under the cut)

"Okay.....but what abo-"

"Hi guys! Oh my god, we're so glad you decided to come!"

Their heads snap over to see Molly and Jason making their way towards them.

"Time to schmooze with the capitalists" Dean whispers to Cas, earning an elbow jack to the rib, but when he looks over, he sees amusement in Cas' eyes.

"Your home is lovely" Cas gushes when they're within earshot.

"Yeah, this is quite the rager you've got going on back here" Dean muses, earning bright smiles from the pair.

"Thank you! But Amanda's already managed to find at least ten things wrong with the decor, or the lights, or the food" Molly grumbles, as Jason gently rests his arm around her waist.

"Seriously, and Bill picked up every bottle of wine and inspected the year. As if these people aren't drunk enough to even care about the aged taste" Jason continues with an eye roll.

"Oh! Speaking of drinks what can we get you? We've got beer, wine from the wrong years, whiskey, scotch? You name it we've got it"

Shit. Dean hasn't had to talk about this with anyone outside of his family, but his dumbass should have thought about it. He is a party after all.

"Oh um..." Dean starts, but trails off realizing he didn't actually think through what he was going to say. His mouth has been doing that a lot lately.

"Oh we actually don-"Cas rushes in, giving Dean's hand a squeeze, which makes Dean's breath hitch.

Dean was floundering like an idiot and Cas cut in to help. That stupid, undiscussed swirling feeling dancing in his stomach, and he also can't help the dopey grin that spreads across his lips.

"I actually don't drink anymore, not since this little bug came around. But Cas here will definitely take a beer" Dean smiles, giving Jack a little bounce in his arms.

"Dean are you sur-"

"Yeah babe, it's good. I promise. Have a beer, you dork" Dean says turning to fully look at Cas so he gets that he means it. And he must because Cas gives a small smile back, which definitely doesn't make his stomach flip.

They turn back to the pair, praying they get the memo so Dean doesn't have to explain any further.

"Oh! So we have water, seltzer soda. We've got sprite, rootbeer-" Molly quickly moves to offer.

"A coke is good if you have it" Dean interrupts before Molly lists every single brand of soda they've got. And with a nod, Jason jogs off to get their drinks.

"Oh! Jack's probably itching to play with the rest of the kids. There's a whole section set up on the far side of a yard, keeping them far away from that fire pit! But don't worry, a handful of the parents are taking shifts" Molly rushes to add, as she points them in the right direction.

The two turn to follow her finger, Dean's eyes blowing wide at the sight. Four different size bounce houses, two jungle gyms, a huge sandbox, and pretty much every toy you can imagine. And yeah there's things definitely for toddlers, but Dean can only focus on the height of the slides and the amount of kids jumping inside that inflatable nightmare.

His hold only tightens around Jack, as he glances down hurriedly at Cas. But to his surprise Cas isn't gazing horrified at kid-sized deathtraps, he's smiling brightly, eyes shining.

Dean's gotta put his foot down. There's no way, it's too dangerous

"I don't know Jack's neve-"

"Exactly, why he should. There is more than enough equipment his size, and looks like there's plenty of kids around his age. And we both agreed it would be good for him to play with more children his own age, remember?" Cas supplies calmly, resting a hand over his shoulder. The heat radiating through Dean's jacket is doing nothing to put him at ease.

"Yeah but that fire-"

"Is perfectly safe. See, there's at least six parents over there right now. We can even take a shift watching the kids soon if you'd like?" Cas offers in the same tone, eyes shining with sincerity. And Dean manages to pull his gaze away long enough to glance over at the kids' party zone again.

There's a sort of gate squared off in the corner of the yard, with a large and small bouncy house, and what looks like a group of parents watching every move intently.

Cas is right. Jack will be fine. Of course, he will be. And if he's not, they'll just kill whoever's responsible. Stupid angels and their stupid sound logic.

"Alright, you're right" Dean sighs in defeat, as he gears up to walk across the yard. Besides Dean can probably use this as a chance to talk to some of the other paren-

And it happens so fast Dean almost misses it.

But he sure as hell feels it.

There's a heat on his cheek that quickly comes and goes, but there's a lingering warmth that blossoms in its place, spreading across his entire face and down his neck. Lighting shooting through his veins with a jolt, and of course that swirling feeling is back.

What the hell?

Dean's slowly turns towards the source and sees Cas smiling up at him. There's a nervousness dancing behind his features, the kind that's only visible to the trained eye. His hand his still on his shoulder, but he's closer now-wait.

Dean's entire brain short circuits as it works to catch up with the rest of his body, most importantly with his face and that whole lightning thing going on.

Then his brain finally snaps back into action, sending his stomach flipping, that swirling thing looping right along with it.

Because Cas kissed him.

Cas kissed him. On the cheek. Like it was nothing.

And the culprit refocuses in his vision, still smiling up at him anxiously, blue eyes searching his features. And Dean without even thinking, smiles back, which seems to settle Cas.

"I'm very proud of you for making the mature fatherly decision, now go! I'm sure Jack's dying for a turn on that bouncy thing" Cas teases, shoving Dean away, and he vaguely hears Molly giggling behind him. Dean doesn't even have time to process what he said before he's walking across the grass.

Actually, Dean isn't processing anything at the moment.

Because Cas just kissed him on the cheek like it was nothing, and Dean's face is on fire while his heart does its damnedest to pound its way out of his chest. Because now Dean Winchester is having a flustered meltdown over a friggin kiss on the cheek like he's thirteen again?

But it was more than that. Because he sure as hell didn't think Cas would go for it first so what i-

Dean almost stalls, but quickly forces his feet to keep moving as his stomach twists.

Because that feeling, the feeling Dean doesn't talk about is swirling in his stomach, bubbling upwards, trying t-nope.

Dean clenches the hand, that isn't currently supporting Jack, into a fist, nails digging into his palm. It was just a peck on the cheek it didn't mean shit. They had talked all about PDA, and both agreed to it, so that's all it was. It was a kiss for the sake of the case, all for the act.

So Dean tries to shove it from his mind, but failing to get rid of the warmth still radiating through his body and the tingling on his cheek. But hey, he isn't perfect.

He thankfully makes it over to the kid's section in one piece, but unfortunately, an over-excited mom immediately spots him.

"Hi I'm Maria, I don't recognize you, so must be one of our new neighbors!" Maria practically cheers, and Dean doesn't buy her false enthusiasm for a second, but he plasters a smile on his face ready to play the part.

"Yeah I'm-"

"I spotted you and your husband carrying boxes in yesterday! Didn't look like you had very much hmm?" Maria continues as if she hadn't heard him. And Dean didn't miss that little dig and he definitely didn't miss the way she emphasized husband.

"Yup that's me, Dean Richardson, and this is my son Jack" Dean says before she has a chance to cut him off again.

"Pleasure to meet you two! Now I assure you Jack is in good hands, you've got some of the best parents on duty right now!" Maria jokes and Dean has a feeling she's a little tipsy, which only increases his nerves. At least there's some other capable-looking parents standing around.

Maria continues to chatter loudly about god knows what, so he ignores her opting to carefully stand Jack on the ground, crouching to his level.

"Alright Squish, you're gonna hang out over here and have some fun with the rest of the kids! Me and your Dad are going to be right over there" Dean says excitedly, which only makes Jack even more excited.

"So if you need us, you tell one of the other grown-ups, and we'll come right over. And remember the rules kiddo? No mojo, capiche?" Dean reminds, whispering the last part.

"Capeesh!" Jack promises and Dean can't help but smile. So reluctantly, he presses a kiss to Jack's hair, and gently nudges him towards the other kids, watching as he runs away laughing.

"He's such a little cutie! Oh look he's playing with my Ella" Maria gushes while Dean silently prays Jack will drop that kid so he doesn't have to Maria and her false sweetness, ever again.

"Yeah, adorable. Anyway, my husband and I will gladly take a shift watching the little rugrats a-"Dean starts trying his best to sound like he doesn't want to strangle her.

"Oh no I wouldn't dream of it! It's your first party in the neighborhood, we have more than enough capable parents on duty tonight! Get back to your husband, drink, mingle!" Maria interrupts shoving him away, and Dean has no choice but to obey, unless he wanted to cause a scene. Which he did want to, because he was practically fuming from that subtle dig at capabilities at a parent, but he couldn't he had the damn case to think about.

And with a final glance to assure Jack was okay, Dean quickly surveys the crowd, easily spotting Cas' leather. He begins to make his way over, but suddenly the memories from five minutes ago come rushing back leaving him frozen.

Cas had kissed him-yeah it was on the cheek, but it was a kiss nonetheless. And that stupid swirling feeling began to bubble up in his stomach, unable to move as the-

"Dean, over here man!" Jason calls from across the yard, effectively kicking Dean's back into gear, as he made his way over to them.

Stuff it Winchester, focus on the case. It's all for the case.

So Dean jogs, over stopping next to Cas, who was lightly laughing along with Jason and Molly. Jason hands him a bottle, an honest-to-god glass bottle of Coke. They probably had to buy hundreds of these, must have cost a fortune.

"Is Jack all settled?" Cas asks, the slight worry on his face. And so without thinking, Dean takes his hand giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Yeah babe, kiddo is having the time of his life over there," Dean says with a sweet smile, pet name rolling off his tongue like nothing as he meets his eyes. Cas only responds with a smug smirk that says "I told you so", which definitely didn't make Dean's stomach flip.

"So, new neighbors let's get the good gossip out of the way before the bitch squad corners us. Tell us about yourselves! What do you guys do for a living?" Molly teases, effectively snapping them out of their staring contest.

Showtime

"Well I'm a mechanic, still looking for a good space in the area to set up shop, but Cas here is all set with a position at Amherst College in the sprin-" Dean begins, gushing about Cas like a proud husband.

"Dean, of course, is wildly underselling himself. He specializes in classic car restoration" Cas cuts in also like a proud husband, but there's a hint of sincerity in his voice that twists Dean's heart.

"Wow! So that gorgeous Impala really is your's after all?" Molly asks in awe.

"Yeah that's my Baby, rebuilt her after a crash a while back, she's been in the family for years" Dean shrugs, hand instinctively reaching for the back of his neck, but he can't help the little sense of pride that swells in his chest. He feels Cas squeeze his hand, but before he can glance over Jason starts talking.

"And Cas, Amherst that's impressive! What course do you teach?"

"English literature, and global history" Cas answers. They decided to tack on the history on account of Cas knowing pretty much all of history, and that it might be an in seeing as weirdo rich people are often weirdo history buffs.

"Oh I actually teach history over at the high school" Jason reveals, and Dean has to hold back a laugh.

Weirdo rich people, weirdo history buffs. Score.

"Well looks like we're surrounded by academics! Amherst, an incredible school, but that's a bit of a commute from here, isn't it?

"Oh it's not too bad, and the drive is all worth it if we get to live in this beautiful neighborhood. But what about you, Molly?" Cas deflects smoothly shooting them a charming smile-that Dean definitely didn't find charming.

"Oh, I'm a real estate lawyer. That's how we're in this gorgeous neighborhood" Molly jokes, Jason laughing along.

Real estate law, Dean tucks away that info for later because maybe that's how they got their house on the market and sold so quickly.

"Hey everyone, sorry to interrupt but we just wanted to introduce ourselves to the new neighbors," A shorter man says as he appears on the other side of Cas, with another man in tow.

"Oh come join the real party, anything to stay away from those vultures" Molly snorts with an eye roll, earning a laugh from everyone.

"I'm Tom, and this is my husband Stephen" The man, Tom, supplies as they each stretch out a hand. Dean reluctantly lets go of Cas' hand, and as they each shake their's, exchanging greetings.

Turns out Tom and Stephen live right across the street from them. Great, they're gonna have to get in extra good with them, because they might have seen something the night of the murders.

"So, we were giving these two the rundown on our lives, before Amanda and Bill start circling" Molly groans, and Tom and Stephen launch into discussing what they do for a living. Dean, of course, listens very intently, as he tries not to think about the sudden loss of warmth in his hand.

But he really doesn't have to think too long because he finds Cas' arm is curling around friggin waist.

Dean's eyes instantly snap up, as he tries to keep his expressions in check, but he can feel the heat creeping over his cheeks. Cas only gives him a nervous look, which makes Dean's chest tighten at the sight. Damnit.

Because yeah Cas keeps taking the lead, but he's never actually done this before, he's just doing what he thinks he should do. Cas must be anxious as fuck. And Dean's general "lets never talk about emotion or affection" attitude, probably isn't helping. He's the one who knows what to do, he should be helping ease Cas into this more, not having breakdowns every time they make eye contact.

So without really thinking, Dean slightly leans into Cas, causing him to wrap his arm around him tighter. It clearly settles Cas' nerves, because that worried look is gone, replaced with a smile, before he turns his head back to the conversation.

And Dean figures since Cas is listening, it's okay to tap out for a moment. Because excuse him, but Cas' arm is around his fucking waist, not even 20 minutes after he kissed him. Dean's just surprised he isn't passed out on the ground yet.

And that feeling-the feeling Dean of course doesn't talk-about is back and swirling around his stomach, threatening to bubble up his throat. It's making him feel nauseous, as his heart thumps against his chest.

But he can't exactly bring himself to care because there's a warmth washing over his body in waves. The heat of Cas' arm around his waist and shoulder resting against his own, radiates through his jacket. Dean can smell the worn leather mixing with Cas' cologne as he tries to focus back in on the conversation-what is he doing.

He's supposed to be getting info about the neighbors, and all he can think about is Cas' arm around his waist. Which is only there to keep up the act, and it doesn't matter that it fee-nope not even gonna go there.

Focus Winchester.

"-but enough about work, how did you two meet?" Dean catches Molly asking, and thank god he chose that moment to pull it together.

So Dean quickly meets Cas' eye. Both knowing they have to nail this part if they plan to gain anyone's trust. They hadn't exactly rehearsed it, but they are best friends who've spent over a decade lying for a living. They've got this.

Dean takes a steadying breath, ignoring the swirling and the warmth and the heart rate.

"Well, it was back in 2008. I was sort of going through a bit of a rough patch at work and was frequenting the local bar a bit too much. But maybe the hangovers were worth it, because one night this guy with wild hair and baby blues strolled in and happened to sit at the other end of the bar. And just my luck he looked about just as much of a mess as I did-no offense babe" Dean began putting on a show, and Cas rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, you didn't look half the mess that I did" Cas teases dramatically. Cas then gave him a look, leveling Dean with an arched eyebrow, causing laughter to bubble around them.

"Yeah yeah Casanova, we both looked a wreck okay? So much of a wreck that we apparently felt so sorry for each other, that we unknowingly bought one another a drink"

"After the bartender pointed out who bought me the beer, I looked up to see it was the person I had just bought a drink. So I figured he was worth a little conversation, and I moved to sit on the stool next to him" Cas continues, throwing a wink at Dean.

Damn they were good at this.

"And it turned out we were both walking disasters. I was out of a job, and Cas here had just gone through the world's worst breakup-"

"We had been together for years, and I had decided I'd had it. It was a mess, his whole family got involved. But I guess it was a good thing it was such a disaster, or I never would have gotten a drink from the gorgeous man at the end of the bar" Cas cuts back in, which definitely didn't make Dean's cheeks flare.

"Anyway, we got to talking, probably overshared way too much with a complete stranger, and called it a night. But I thought I'd be crazy to let him get away, so I practically chased him down on the street to get his number. And god was I lucky he didn't think I was a creep-"

"Actually I thought it was very romantic. Like a movie, too bad it wasn't raining. But honestly, I was just lucky he didn't think I was a creep when I called to ask him on a date the next morning" Cas jokes, earning another laugh from the group. Dean quickly surveys their faces to see that they're hooked. Time for the grande finale.

"And really the rest is history, we just sorta clicked. It sounds like bullshit, but it was like we were made for each other ya know? Cas just always knew what to say, always knew what to do to, understands me better than anyone else, helps me through every obstacle. I guess you could say he basically pulled me out of hell. And he still does, every day. There's no one else in the world I'd rather have by my side" Dean gushes, tacking on the hell line as a joke, but it didn't exactly sound like one. No, it sounded like the most sincere thing Dean's ever said, and he quickly realizes that it's not part of the act. He really means it.

He glances back over at Cas to see him slightly slack-jawed, gazing at him in soft wonder. Dean's heart picks up again, stomach swirling as he makes a little fist to ground himself.

Because of course, he means it Cas is his best friend, he's family that's nothing new. But it's more than that and yo-nope. Focus. Cas is only looking at him like that as part of the act, he's playing up.

Dean quickly tries to wrack his brain for something to say, but thankfully Molly cuts in.

"God aren't you two just the cutest, sappiest couple in the entire world! Oh my god, you're like a romcom. The perfect couple" Molly practically shouts earning a laugh from everyone and nods of agreement.

"Trust me, it wasn't as simple as a romcom. We fight, and we scream, but we always come back to each other" Cas says earnestly, looking right into Dean's eyes.

And Dean's pretty sure his heart is gonna burst through his chest because Cas' heart eyes look pretty damn convincing and it's sending his thoughts running. But thankfully, Tom and Stephen start telling the story of how they met, so Dean can thankfully push those thoughts aside. For now.

And after an hour of small talk, Dean and Cas have got a pretty good grasp on the people they're dealing with.

They learn that Stephen and Tom are both doctors at the same hospital, they have three-year-old daughter named Elizabeth. And with a glance over at the kids' section, they see that she and Jack are playing together. Another couple, Emma and Rachel come and join them all about halfway through. Emma is a cardiologist, and Rachel is a biomedical engineer, and they're in the process of adopting. They also learn that this entire week is the "Annual Autumn Festival", and there's a different event hosted by a different family each night, ending with a huge block party on Saturday night. Apparently, the school in town gives the kids a whole week off for some "district convention" with the higher ups, so they've been doing this for years.

And honestly, despite everything, Dean's actually having a good time. Yeah, these people's careers are insane, but Dean thinks they're pretty normal, and he's genuinely enjoying talking to them. And they seem to have warmed up to them, so with a slight nod from Cas, Dean goes in for the kill.

"So, we have to ask. We saw some crazy stuff in the news about this neighborhood, of course, it was after we bought the place. But we couldn't find much info about it" Dean begins gently to ease them into the conversation.

"Oh you must be talking about Carol and Mike" Rachel supplies with a frown, and a silence settles over the group.

"We're sorry, we didn't mean to pry. We were just curious sin-"Cas begins to apologize

"No, it's okay. You've got a right to know since it is about your house and all. Not your fault someone paid to keep it out of the news" Ton sighs heavily, and Stephen comfortingly presses his kiss to his temple.

"Carol and Mike were our best friends before they we-before everything" Stephen chokes out.

"We're so sorry for your loss" Dean offers, Cas nodding along.

"The night it happened, we were actually all supposed to go out to dinner. The four of us and the kids, it's a monthy tradition. But when we walked across the street to meet them, Carol answered. We should have known something was off bu-"

"Hello! I'm seeing frowns which is never a sign of a good party!" A shrill voice calls, which earns a groan from the group.

Damnit. They were so close.

Suddenly there's a shorter woman with platinum blonde hair, and a man with enough goop in his hair to grease a pan, who've both clearly had some work done.

"Hi I'm Amanda, and this is my husband Bill. You two must be our new neighbors" Amanda smiles with her too-white teeth, extending a hand with perfectly manicured nails. Of course, they are.

Dean resists the urge to roll his eyes, but with a squeeze on his side from Cas, he's reaching out his hand to shake theirs'.

"Bill, a pleasure to meet you! Nice to see you've already found your people. I know how you guys like to group up" Bill laughs with an equally blinding, white smile.

A pit drops in Dean's stomach. "Your people", who does this guy think he is? And these aren't Dean's people he's stra-

Give it a rest Winchester, you can only lie to yourself about so many things at once.

Fine so maybe they are "Dean's people", but this homophobic assclown has no right to say it, especially not like that.

"Well, not as much as your people lik-"Dean starts, only to be cut off by a pinch to his side and he whips his head towards Cas.

"Just let it go, he isn't worth it" Cas softly whispers in his ear, while he gently pulls him closer. With a huff, Dean begrudgingly lets it go.

He turns back to the conversation to see Bill and Amanda completely ignoring them, as they ramble on about nonsense. Dean quickly locks eyes with each couple, they throw him an eye roll, or a face when Amanda and Bill aren't looking.

"Oh Amanda and Bill, looks like you found the new neighbors" Molly calls slightly strained as she and Jason practically run back over.

"Yes, but sadly we don't have much time to chat with them tonight. There are still some people we must say hello to" Amanda informs, and honestly, Dean could cheer from relief.

"But you two must stop by sometime this week so we can get you properly acquainted with the neighborhood. Maybe widen the variety of your social groups" Bill snarks and Dean opens his mouth to retort but is silenced by a sharp tug from Cas.

"Thank you for the offer, bu-" Cas answers cooly before Dean even thinks about reopening his mouth.

"Perfect! Stop by Tuesday around two, we'll have lunch! But like I said we must be going, try to have a pleasant evening. Oh and Molly, that chicken looked a bit dry, might want to check on that" Amanda proclaims, and then she and Bill are disappearing into the crowd.

Dean turns to glare at Cas, who only gives him a look that reads "we'll talk about it later".

"I'm so sorry you got trapped by them. God, they're the fucking worst" Molly groans in apology

"Yeah can't argue with that" Dean grits out, still fuming from Bill's words and Amanda's stupid smirk.

"And Bill's such a homophobic bastard, thinks he's so subtle. God, what I'd give to shove a-" Emma rants, only to be cut off by a gentle shove from her wife.

"We can try to get you out of the lunch with them, we can sa-"Jason offers, but Cas of all people shuts him down.

"It's okay, if we go once and make them hate us, maybe they'll never bother us again. Oh and I'm sorry, but we really better get going. It's almost Jack's bedtime. Thank you for everything" Cas explains with a smile, shooting a look at Dean.

"Yeah, this was a killer party. So great to meet you guys, hope we see you all soon!" Dean says plastering on a smile despite his bubbling anger.

And with quick goodbyes, Cas' arm unsnakes itself from around Dean's waist. But before he can mourn the loss, he feels his hand in his dragging him silently towards the kids' section. They scoop up an exhausted, but ecstatic Jack, and carefully avoid running into Maria, as they make their way through the gate.

Now that they're alone, walking down the cold, dark sidewalk, Dean can hold it in anymore.

"God we were so damn close then, Barbie and Ken had to show up and shut the whole thing down! And now you want us to have lunch with them?" Dean rages, pointedly ignoring the way Cas' hand that isn't holding a sleeping Jack, squeezes his own. And of course, the fact that they're still holding hands.

"I know they were dicks, but I noticed them circling us for at least ten minutes, and they only rushed over as soon as we started asking about the murders. Isn't that suspicious?" Cas questions.

"Yeah I guess, but wh-"

"So I think they might be the thing we're hunting. I only agreed to lunch so we could check them out, and scope out their house" Cas continues, amusement dancing in his voice

Of course. God, it's so obvious how could Dean miss it? This whole thing is really fucking with his head.

"Alright, no need to be smug about it. But I still don't understand why you wouldn't let me tear that assclown a new one" Dean grumbles, anger quickly returning as they climb their porch steps.

Cas sighs dropping his hand, turning to look at Dean fully. Dean's heart starts up, as Cas levels him with an intense, unreadable stare.

"Because he's just some rich, homophobic asshole, who believes he's better than everyone. But he's not, because he isn't even worth your energy or thought. He doesn't know anything about us" Cas speaks, softly, as he rests a hand on Dean's shoulder. Dean suddenly realizes they're standing almost nose to nose.

"And I certainly don't care what he thinks of me or you, and I certainly don't care what he thinks of us. Because all that matters is how we think about ourselves." Cas continues purposefully, and Dean's throat constricts at the words. Dean of course knows Cas is "indifferent to sexual orientation", but he doesn't know that he-wait is Cas-

"And besides, if he's the monster. We'll get to kill him, slowly" Cas says in a mock-serious tone, which startles a laugh from Dean's throat. He's so close he can feel Cas's breath on his face, and Cas can probably hear Dean's heart racing.

But thankfully the logical part of Dean's brain is still somewhat running because it reminds him that it's all for the act. "He doesn't know anything about us", Cas was talking about the act. These people don't know they're pretending.

Because none of this is rea-

And it happens so fast that Dean almost misses it, again. But now he's watching Cas' retreating form walk through the doorway, and up the stairs. Leaving Dean, standing alone in the cold night air, his hand moving to his cheek without consent.

Cas kissed him on the cheek, again.

But this time. Nobody was around. They were completely alone, nobody to put on an act for.

That swirling feeling his back and wreaking havoc on his stomach again, while that lightning thing courses through his veins, and his mind races a mile a minute.

Dean lets out a breath, aggressively running his hands through his hair, as he stares out onto the empty street.

Because what the fuck is happening.

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loveafterthefact · 4 years

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Love After the Fact Chapter 16: Communion-ity

Keith meets a certain head chef and his tiny half-clone. Said tiny clone is very fond of cats and Lance.

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Keith’s tail twitches nervously. On the other side of this door is one of Lance’s oldest, dearest friends. Given Lance's reputation, Keith can only imagine what they might have gotten up to together. Most likely things that would have him trembling for the better part of the next decaphoeb. After that, probably only disgusted.

“Anyway, Hunk is one who runs the kitchens. He makes every single one of your meals himself. Because, y’know, all of our food apparently tastes disgusting to you.”

“It’s the ‘sweet’ thing. I don’t know what it’s supposed to taste like, but Galra can’t taste it. And apparently you freaks like nothing else.”

“Hey. If Pidge makes that implant for you I bet you’ll love sweet food.”

“Makes a what now?” Keith asks, but Lance throws open the doors, stepping inside with a flourish, bowing halfway amidst a chorus of greetings.

“Alright, everyone. I have my spouse here to see the kitchens, so please be kind to him.” Another chorus from cheery Alteans. Lance holds out his hand for Keith to take, tugs him into the kitchen. Keith stays close, watching Alteans scurry about, preparing to feed not only the royal family, but also the guards and a portion of Altean’s military, the ones garrisoned at the castle.

As Keith walked past, these Alteans stare at him, forgetting themselves for a moment before averting their gazes. It's better than gossip, in a way, but it causes a sort of ache. Loneliness?

“Kitty!” To Keith’s alarm, a very small creature comes running at him, toddling in its chubby legs. Keith grips Lance’s arm, managing not to extend his claws into his spouse’s arm as the child grabs him around the legs in a hug. “Hi, kitty!”

“Rosetta! Rosetta leave the kitty alone- Oh! Oh, gosh! Rosetta, come here!” A pair of very large hands reach down and pry the child from Keith’s legs. “I’m so sorry about that. She’s little.”

Keith looks up to see a very large person in a spotless apron and yellow headband holding the little child. “It’s… fine. It’s all fine. Um. What’s a kitty?”

“You ever seen Honerva carry a little animal around?” the man asks. Keith nods. “That’s Kova. Her cat, also known as a kitty.”

“I don’t look like that.”

“Tell that to a toddler. I’m Hunk, by the way. Nice to meet you.” Keith blinks, looks the towering Balmeran up and down.

“Nice to meet you too,” he mumbles. “Why do you have a child in the kitchens?”

“Oh. My wife is pregnant and needed a break. Toddlers, man. Tiny monsters, I’m telling you. Besides, it’s never too early to begin learning different spices. Isn’t that right?” Hunk bounces his daughter, beaming with delight. He's nothing like Keith had expected.

“You guys are so great,” Lance says, smiling from where he’s leaning against a table covered with produce. “Hunk and Shay are just the perfect little family. Also, they can make cave bugs taste amazing. You wouldn’t believe it.”

“Hey, I can’t take credit for that. My grandmother-in-law taught me that recipe. It’s one of Rosie’s favorites too, isn’t it Rosie?” The child nods, still watching Keith with interest. “So how have you two been getting on? You doing alright?”

“We’re getting on fine,” Lance answers, scowling at a message on his datapad. “Overworked and underappreciated, but fine.”

“I wish I were overworked,” Keith grumbles, ears pinning back against his head. “I mean, what exactly do they expect me to do? Pidge said that all of my devices are monitored until they can find a way to secure my connections and the guards took everything but my knife when I arrived. There’s not a whole lot of damage a lone Galra can do.”

“Hm.” Hunk passes Rosetta to a delighted Lance, who bounces the little one on his hip. “Remember when ‘innocent until proven guilty’ was a thing?”

“That’s only a thing if the commonwealth asks. The reality is that ‘anything to protect our people’ covers a lot of quiznakery.” Lance sighs, tosses his datapad aside in favor of a cluster of some orbed fruits. He takes one for himself, passes one to Rosetta.

“Thank you,” the child chirps.

“You’re welcome.” Lance beams indulgently at the child.

“Thank you, thank you.” Rosetta grins a wide grin at the prince.

“Well you are very welcome, sweetheart.”

Keith silently watches the exchange, watches as Lance expertly handles the child, bouncing her around and chatting with her while Hunk starts in on an enormous basket of some kind of tuber. The prince seems a natural, happy to engage with the child, setting her at a small table in the corner with a collection of toys, playing some game or another.

Something Keith hadn’t realized he’d been clenching unfurls watching his spouse interact with the child. He imagines that Lance won’t reject him when he inevitably must bear them a kit, and won’t reject their kit either. No. Lance will adore their kits, be a good sire, good father, good mate.

“He loves kids. Wants a small army.” Hunk chuckles. “We’ll see what he says after you guys have your first.”

“Hm.” Keith smiles. “Does he have children already? I know his reputation well, at this point.”

“No. He’s always been careful to prevent such a thing, and if any… prior liaison had a child within a given timeframe, he checked to see if they were his by some small chance. Said that he’d take responsibility, make sure they had that second parent.”

“An honorable cad.”

“I suppose. Oh, there’s a tray of samples for you in that coldbox over there. I’d intended it for lunch, but grab it now and let me know what you think. I haven’t had the opportunity to ask about your food.”

“Thank you.” Keith retrieves the tray, sits across from Hunk and his tubers. “And… thank you. For making me food.”

“It’s all good. Fun, actually. I’ve never experimented with Dabazaani cuisine, despite how close Daibazaal is. You guys have good food. I mean, pretty much everybody has good food, but that purple grass you guys use to make bread? Amazing. Rosie loves it, too. She likes it in her stew.”

Keith smiles. “We like to dip it in stew, too... Why do Alteans all eat off their own plates?”

“Most peoples do. Galra don’t?”

“No. Food is… communion. It’s something to be shared. We take from the same pot. We use a sort of flat, crispy bread-like thing to eat softer foods? It’s difficult to explain. We mostly eat with our hands… Sporks are annoying. I don’t use them if I can help it.” Hunk hums, delightedly interested. Keith takes a risk. “It’s why I didn’t eat with everyone for the first few quintants. I was trying to get better at using one.”

“Really? Lance thought you were just very shy. And maybe didn’t like him all that much." Hunk catches Keith’s eye only for the Galra to look away, folding his arms, hunching over slightly on his stool. He is shy. And seems pretty sweet. “Hey.” The Galra shifts, nervous. “Tell me more about what you like to eat.”

“I like spicy things. And… meat. Altean adults don’t seem to eat meat.”

“No, they don’t. Infants do, for a while. They go through a phase where they eat nothing but meat, actually. I’ll reach out to my contact in Daibazaal to see about adding some to my shipments. Have you been to the infirmary at all?”

“No.”

“You should go and get checked for any deficiencies. I want to make sure you’re getting proper nutrition. Make sure Altea is agreeing with you and all that. It’s very different, isn’t it?”

“Yes. There are plants covering everything! They’re really pretty! And the animals here are cute and don’t bite a whole lot.” Keith's ears perk a bit, his tail sweeping over the floor in long strokes.

“The animals are very friendly -mostly-, and this planet has a lot of vegetation. My home planet is more like Daibazaal. Or maybe a mix of the two. Plenty of plants and animals, but not quite as many. Balmera grow crystals like spines along their nerves. During certain times of year, they will all resonate, and may create a brand new balmera.”

“What… Is Balmera alive?” Keith cocks his head, ears perked with curiosity. He's got wide eyes, Hunk notices, big and dark like the night, shining with curiosity. Lance is doomed.

“Balmera are mineral-based organisms the size of planets. Most are inhabited by entirely unique species. My people are found only on a single Balmera. We love her and care for her. We exist in a completely unique symbiosis.”

“That sounds nice.”

“It’s very nice. Making the sharing of food a part of your daily routine sounds nice too. Your people must have strong bonds with their friends.”

Keith smiles, strangely emotional. “Thank you. Others don’t say nice things about my people very often. Especially not here… They look at me like I’m a monster. They hate me.”

“Well I don’t hate you. Pidge, my best friend, doesn’t hate you. They seem to like you a lot, actually. As for the Alteans… xenophobia is an integral part of their culture. Lance is frothing at the mouth trying to find a way to take them all down a peg.

“At any rate, don’t pay them any mind. You are not a monster. You’re just a guy, who happens to be a Galra. Just like I happen to be Balmeran. Just like Lance happens to be Altean. Life is arbitrary, but community is not, right? We choose who we share our pot with. I think I’d share mine with you.”

The Balmeran smiles at Keith, and Keith smiles back, eyes suspiciously moist. Poor little buddy. Hunk would absolutely share his pot with him. He’d give Keith a hug, but suspects that he wouldn’t like it. He doesn’t know Hunk well enough. Instead, Hunk finishes preparing his last tuber to be sent to the garrison for the castle’s military, heads to the coldbox.

“I don’t have any pots going at the moment, but I’ve got some dough here for your bread. We can share some of that.”

“Can I help?” Keith asks, looking hopeful. “I can cook. I know how.”

“Of course. Food tastes better with more hands. Lance! Rosie! Come help make bread.”

Lance trots over with the toddler, setting her in a special chair. Keith settles in next to his spouse, teaching him how to knead the grainy dough and twist it into traditional patterns. Hunk and Lance carry most of the conversation, switching from common to Altean every now and then so Rosie doesn’t understand the less appropriate anecdotes and gossip.

Apparently, there’s one particular courtier named Seran who spends most of her time ruining her two children and harassing people for even the slightest perceived inconvenience. They both make good sport out of loudly recounting hyperbolic stories for Keith, complete with exaggerated voices for Seran and her evil, entitled children. Apparently, Seran's wife, Renli, is almost as bad.

It has Keith doubled over with laughter, eyes watering with mirth as Lance recounts the time Seran’s gardener trimmed her moss slightly too short and she’d chased him off down the street while swinging his own rake at him.

It’s not until he and Lance are returning to their room, sneaking loaves of Daibazaani bread back with them, that Keith realizes he’s still smiling. He bumps against Lance’s side, happily twists his tail around Lance’s ankle.

“Thank you. For today, I mean.”

“You are most welcome.”

“Thank you for everything else, too.”

“You’re welcome, Keith. Always.”

#LoveAftertheFact #LAtF #klance #galtean au #galra keith #altean lance #adashi #altean adam #galra shiro #voltron legendary defender #vld

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samwrights · 4 years

Text

Plastic Flowers [ 4 ]

Chapter 4: Desperate to Tame the Beast

Warnings: language, existential crisis.

"Dude, you guys were back there for a long time." The shit eating grin on Kirishima's face was wide with pride as Katsuki finally emerged from the back room of the Upside Down—finally! His stupid, stubborn friend made his move at last! And while Bakugo's face was as disgruntled as ever, the looming anxiety that had been ever present with him previously was no longer around him. "You all good now man?"

"Tch," Katsuki grumbled before reclaiming his seat and downed the lukewarm beer left in his pilsner. "For now." Was all he said, looking away from the red head. From the nature of their relationship, the blonde knew that Red Riot had expected him to seal the deal and form his permanent bond. That was just the kind of faith and confidence Kiri had in Bakugo. But it was apparent that Kirishima only knew of Kohta’s surface personality—not knowing how deep her stubbornness or even her innocence ran.

"What do you mean 'for now'?!"

"We didn't bond. Just taking our time." Katsuki grumbled in a mix of shame. It wasn’t that the blonde was upset that the two still had yet to bond; far from it, in fact. If anything, the blonde wasn't necessarily proud of his track record after learning of how damn near pure his soulmate was. The red head in front of him, being ever the supporter of Bakugo being able to snag women left and right for emotionless relationships, was unable to discern this gloss of disgust on the blonde's face. Kirishima stayed quiet out of sheer disbelief before his mouth began to spill word vomit.

"Wait, you. Y-you didn't..."

"Of course we didn't!" Bakugo snapped, clutching his beer glass with a knuckle white grip. Eijiro was quiet once again, slowly realizing this situation was going to be much more complicated. "S-she doesn't know how the bond is formed. She doesn't know that we need t-to..." Bakugo dropped his head onto the table, burying his face in his arms to prevent his myriad of emotions from showing on his face. No matter how many different ways words were minced, there was no pretty way to explain to someone that the bonding hormone was transferred through intercourse. Whomever discovered this connection had to be some perverted freak, Bakugo thought. His logical mind figured the protein was probably discovered through trial and error, scientific research even, conducted on people in a similar predicament as him. Considering the solution to Bakugo's problem was only temporary, Kirishima grew concerned for what was to follow. Had this been a one night stand type of arrangement, there would have been nothing to worry about and the two of them were in confident in that. It was the simple fact that Bakugo had to confront his own feelings. Which, in some cases, not every soulmate pairing ended up having genuine feelings for each other. There are rather morbid tales of some heinous acts committed amongst pairs—some would rape and abuse their partners, saying it was out of love. Some still neglected and committed adultery; some even murdered their mates. And though Kirishima knew Bakugo would never do any of the aforementioned acts, he was very aware that the blonde was never good at genuine relationships—romantic or otherwise.

In a strange way, Bakugo was a romantic himself, in the sense that he fantasized the way his life, his reality should play out and unfold. In his mind, he called it having a plan. Since he was a young child, he idolized All Might and, after the discovery of his quirk, he knew he was going to be the top hero—better than All Might himself. Katsuki figured if he worked hard, he would eventually get there, according to his plan. The blonde never took into account reality and destiny and fate, and the same scenario reared its head the moment he was branded with his soulmate mark. The day script tattoo appeared on his body, he had no idea what to make of it. With the words "I never want to see you in here again", it was challenging for Katsuki's romantic mind to idealize what situation him and his soulmate would be in, let alone imagine what she would look like. In his mid teens, probably about ten tears ago, he finally settled with the fantasy that his soulmate was an ER nurse that wanted him to stop getting hurt—he thought his marking was supposed to be something along the lines of playful.

Now at twenty five years old, Katsuki Bakugo stood in front of his soulmate that he'd just made out with moments ago, a counter separating the two of them as he grabbed another round of beers and two shots of whiskey as a bonus. Their first meeting shattered the romanticism and idealistic image he once had of his emergency room nurse. Instead, his mate was the owner of a local downtown dive bar; quirkless, lonely, and independent—completely opposite of the doting woman he had pictured. Facing reality was the romantic's worst enemy, and was going to be the biggest obstacle for Bakugo if he truly wanted to make this bond work. "Thanks." The blonde mutters under his breath as he tries to carry both of the shot glasses and pilsners back to his table, making sure to avoid his soul mate's violet gaze. After his brief conversation with Kirishima, Bakugo felt conflicted and knew that making direct eye contact with Kohta would only distress himself further. Each time he looked at her was another taste of the reality the two of them were in. This thin, brunette woman named Hitoko Ohta was his real life soulmate.

Kohta was a flurry of emotions herself. After running away from the orphanage, her sense of self-preservation was at an all time high. The first time Kohta even let down her walls was when Dabi and Toga meandered their way into her little dive nearly two years ago. At first, it started off with simple exchanges of hellos, then small talk. It eventually turned into Kohta sharing her frustrations from day to day business that lead to Toga dubbing the brunette with her nickname. 'Its your first and last name put together! I think it's cute!' The blonde woman had told her, and ever since it stuck.

Now Hitoko Ohta was confronted with her soulmate—a whole other beast of emotional confusion—Katsuki Bakugo. Seeing that she didn't truly gain her first actual friends in life until two years ago at the age of twenty three, the idea of being eternally bonded to someone frightened her. From what she knew of him so far, he was brash and aggressive and while Kohta herself had a bit of an edge, he was light years beyond her. But she knew too well where his angry nature had been birthed from; fear was an emotion she knew all too well. Bakugo had his own walls, walls of resentment and anger that formed a pyramid at which he sat at the very point to prove to himself and everyone else that he was the best. In a strange way, Kohta envied him. How amazing it must have been to be so utterly confident to strive and continue to be the best. To not have to hide from the world due to poor choices.

It was one of the many reasons that Hitoko felt she wasn't even good enough to be Bakugo's soulmate. It was one of the many reasons she wished to keep her distance. But Kohta would be lying to herself if she denied her desire to also be closer to Bakugo. In the midst of their kiss, her mind was clouded with uncertainty; but her body seemed to decide every movement was right. Kohta wanted to continue to chase the first right feeling in her life. Even if he intimidated her, Katsuki Bakugo was still her soulmate. And her soulmate apparently couldn't carry two highball and two shot glasses at the same time, she noted as she watched him fumble with her drink ware. "Katsuki." She called out, catching his attention as he tried to rework his grip. With a shake of her head, she placed the taller glasses side by side in her left palm, with a shot glass sitting near her locked wrist as it rested behind the highballs. The last glass was held by three dainty fingers in her right hand.

Kohta maneuvered around the bar with ease despite the glassware in her hands as she made her way past Katsuki and dropped the drinks off at the table where Kirishima sat. The red haired man gave thanks as the blonde sat back down, only earning a nod from the owner before she made her way back behind the bar to continue tending to her patrons. As she walked away from their table once again, Bakugo's crimson eyes could only follow after her form, a motion not missed by his company. A small smile formed on Eijiro's lips knowingly—it was so nice to see the man he considered one of his closest friends actually show a minuscule amount of a positive emotion for once. Still seeing Bakugo stare and Kirishima being ever the wing-man decided to prod the blonde a little further. "So when are you gonna see her again?"

"Huh?" The question caught Bakugo off guard, as if he hadn't given it much of any thought. To be fair, he hadn't really. He just assumed he would see Kohta again whenever him and Kirishima, or even him alone, decided to return to the Upside Down. But even he knew that only being with her when she was working would leave them in the same predicament of being an unbonded pair. "Tch, fuck I don't know." Katsuki grumbles under his breath.

"Well, I don't think you need me to tell you what to do." The bomber rolled his eyes, silently telling Kirishima that he didn't need the guidance. If anything, he needed the courage, the balls to even ask Kohta when she would be available. While getting women was no difficult task for Katsuki, this situation was entirely new. This was long term, whether he wanted it to be or not, and was something of them neither really had a say in. As a nervous tick, Bakugo checked the gold watch on his left wrist, seeing it was nearing four in the morning. Taking a glance around, he had noticed most of the bar had emptied out. How had time flown so quickly, he wondered. Him and Kirishima only had a few drinks—certainly not enough to grant him the liquid courage he so desperately needed. All he had was an excuse; he needed to close out their bar tab after all.

Kohta was cleaning her draft taps when Katsuki approached the counter, closing down the bar and readying her business for the morning rush of the café. A small cough left his throat, making the brunette woman turn around. "Closing out?" Her tone was quiet, polite even. Much different than what Katsuki had seen from her usually snark. Instead of a verbal response, the blonde just gave a brusque nod, handing her his credit card. The bright glare of the screen in front of her reflected off of her large glasses as she pulled up the check, swiped his card all in silence.

"When is your next day off?" Bakugo asked as casually he could muster as he signed the credit slip, leaving a hefty tip, and handing it back.

"Sunday. The Upside Down is closed every Sunday and Monday." Kohta replies evenly, not once making eye contact with him—a lack of gesture he definitely noticed. She was treating him as if he were just any other bar patron; certainly not like he was the last guest for the evening and even more so not like the man in front of him was his soulmate. Before Kohta could turn away, Bakugo grabbed her frail wrist, turning her around to face him.

"Hitoko, look at me." Despite his patience wearing thin, his voice didn't tremble with anger once and while he used enough force to spin her around, his grip was earnest. "Sunday, you and I are going for lunch."

"What makes you think I'm going anywhere with you?" She bit. There she was, the woman Katsuki barely knew. The blonde let her wrist fall from his grasp, a smirk plastered on his lips; from what he had seen so far, he much rather preferred the sassy side of Kohta.

"You know our business is far from finished." The brunette woman stayed quiet, her previous qualms with their situation coming back and rearing its ugly head. In truth, Hitoko had no idea what she wanted out of this so-called partnership. While their little rendezvous had stirred strange feelings within her, it didn't change her perspective or stance on having a soulmate. She didn't want companionship, or so she thought; she doesn't know how to share her world with another person. Even her friends were kept at bay with a ten foot stick. So when Kohta finally uttered a simple word of compliance, it came from a place of selfishness.

"Okay." She says quietly, only agreeing to satisfying her own curiosity. What was the big deal about soulmates, she wondered. "I'll see you Sunday."

"I'll see you Sunday."

Hitoko "Kohta" Ohta has not seen Katsuki Bakugo since the late night, or rather early morning, that he decided to take her to lunch. The blonde had hoped his absence would instill a sense of desire within the brunette. While it didn't quite work the way he wished, as she didn't intentionally seek him out, her head would perk up any time the front door to the Upside Down jingled open or close just hoping to see the semi-familiar blonde bush of hair. It was currently Saturday night, nearing closing time for the Upside Down. The minute the clock struck half past two in the morning, Kohta gleefully boomed last call for alcohol. Not that many people were present, despite being one of the few bars open later in the downtown area, her crowd consisted mostly of regulars and a couple unfamiliar faces. Most of the patrons has already closed for the night, and were just finishing up their drinks before heading home for the evening.

Katsuki Bakugo had fought himself with every bone in his body to not see Kohta at this time. The receding blood red words of his soulmate mark slowed its transformation to a snails pace, and it was driving him mad. Though he had regained a bit more control of his quirk, his full strength had yet to return. That was his reasoning for wanting to see Hitoko sooner rather than later, but the ache of emptiness that gnawed the bottom of his gut wished to say otherwise. Though he acknowledged the feeling, its presence confused Bakugo greatly. He had never felt such a looming loneliness before, and wondered why the only person he wanted to seek out was a woman he seldom knew. In the end, he rationalized that the whole ordeal was stupid, and he would see Kohta for lunch soon. As if that thought offered him any comfort.

Three in the morning finally strikes on the clock. With not another soul in sight, Kohta locks the front door to the Upside Down for her weekend before nearly bolting for the back room and heading up the flight of stairs to the right to enter her small, one bedroom apartment. Being the owner of tiny, not so busy dive bar and coffee, many people assumed all of Kohta's earning went into making the bar look semi modern while keeping a humble home. It was a fair assumption, considering all tables were rich, undamaged mahogany, granite counter tops, and a ritzy espresso machine to boot.

But the bars design was made to match Kohta's personal tastes, and her home was no different. All the floors in here home were a deep brown hardwood, luxurious white fluffy rugs accompanying the appropriate spaces such as the living room and a matching runner for the entry way. To the right of the entrance was a large, two door mirrored closet for coats and her shoes with a sleek black shoe rack standing proudly at the bottom. To the left was a half wall that displayed her small, simple dining room. A rectangular, black wood table with a black glass center, as well as matching black chairs with white leather, and a large crystal chandelier took up the entirety of the tiny, often unused space. Kohta took a seat on one of her white leather couches that sat directly in front of her foyer and dining room. One couch had her back towards the door, the other resting on the gray blue wall to the right of her. In the corner was a white, knee height entertainment center with three drawers evenly spaced along the bottom. Perfectly center along the top was an over-sized flat screen TV, one much too large for a singular person. Flicking on the television and turning on some cartoons, Kohta set the remote on top of the round white and gold marble coffee table before getting up and heading to the kitchen directly next to the dining room table, a stone counter separating the rooms.

Kohta knew she should be heading to sleep to wake up at a decent hour, but her mind was reeling with anticipation as she thought of why she needed to be up. With only the dull hum of the television as her company, Hitoko was left with her nagging burdens. While she wasn't necessarily fearful of receiving the answers of what she didn't know about bonding with her soulmate, the idea of sitting with Katsuki for more than twenty minutes terrified her. Not because of him or who he was, but because of who she was.

Or rather, who she wasn't.

Kohta knew she was, for lack of better term, boring. Her hobbies were limited as her only talents were coffee craft and billiards; two things people often found boring or uninteresting. She kept up with news and current events, mostly to ensure that she had yet to be discovered as a master thief. Kohta was as plain as they came, and she knew that—she was okay with that. But she couldn't ignore the heavy weight of her heart at the thought of her soulmate not being okay with her. No, she didn't plan on changing anything about herself—mild villainy and all—but the mere thought that the one person who, in theory, should accept everything about her, didn't? Doesn't? That was a scary thought for her.

Kohta had worked so hard to put up the walls she had around her heart, and she would be damned if she let them down only to face more rejection in her life. Rejection often reminded her too much of her time in the Exemplary Home for Girls. As a young child, before her quirk, before her soulmate mark, Kohta was once full of curiosity. All of her insistent, baseless questions always drove Lady Shougi mad. At first, the headmistress would entertain and humor the young girl. Eventually, growing tired of answering silly questions as to why the sky was blue or if it was raining despite the sunny sky, Lady Shougi just began to say, "No" with nothing else accompanying it. Hearing that single, solid two letter word, hurt Kohta. When she still had her parents, they had raised her to be curious, to question everything. The EHG had broken her. Maybe she partially blamed the Exemplary Home for laying down the brick and mortar of the walls around her.

While her walls usually severed her curiosity, often preventing Kohta from seeking out answers, she could not run from this—Katsuki wouldn't let her. Hitoko could not run; she had to face the truth, she had to prepare for the impending rejection.

Plastic Flowers Masterlist

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Thank you guys for checking out this story! I’ll be updating the chapters every Saturday! Chapter title taken from The Front Bottom’s song “Ginger” off their album “Back On Top”.

Kirishima is implying/asking if Hitoko and Bakugo boned. No, no they did not Kiri.

Taglist:

@wwwwyamd @bubbzibubbles (I’m sorry bb, your handle wasn’t working)

#my hero academia #my hero academia headcanons #my hero imagines #my hero fanfic #dabi my hero academia #bakugo katsuki #bakugo x oc #bnha bakugou #bakugou imagine #katsuki bakugo x oc #Kirishima Eijirou #eijirou kirishima #my hero kirishima #slight dabi x oc #bnha dabi #toga himiko #toga x twice

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vortexofentertainment · 5 years

Text

Ours Are the Same - Chapter 3

“EXCUSE ME,” Abbie yelled as soon as she saw Nicole.

Nicole jumped, startled by the sudden loudness in the hotel lobby. “It’s too early for you to be this excited over something.”

Abbie held her phone up, showing the picture of Waverly’s Instagram post from the night before.

“Were you going to tell me that you had a date with FREAKING–”

Nicole covered her mouth before she had a chance to finish her sentence. There were entirely too many people in the lobby eating breakfast for her to scream out Waverly’s name.

“I can explain, just keep your voice down,” Nicole whispered. She held eye contact until Abbie finally nodded. “Are you good?” Nicole asked, just to make sure. Abbie nodded again. “Okay, yes. I went on a date with Waverly last night.”

Abbie squealed and Nicole quickly covered her mouth again.

“Dude!”

“I’m sorry,” Abbie laughed as she pushed Nicole’s hand away from her mouth. “This is just exciting! What was it like? Is she great?”

“It was incredible,” Nicole said. She could hear the dream-like tone of her own voice and if she wasn’t the one feeling what she was feeling then it would have made her sick.

But that’s just how it was when it came to Waverly. Nicole found herself, over the span of just two days, tumbling head over heels for the youngest Earp. Her mind would constantly wander to the night before, or wonder what Waverly was doing or if she was having a good day. She wanted to kiss her again and eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with her. She couldn’t wait for their picnic date in a couple of days.

“Oh my God, Nicole,” Abbie said, pulling her out of her trance. “I need more than that!”

“I can’t really talk about it,” Nicole told her. “You have to swear to keep this a secret. No one can know yet.” Nicole held her pinky out for her friend to take.

“I promise,” Abbie nodded and hooked her pinky around Nicole’s. “I can’t believe I helped you pick out an outfit for a date with... her. If I would have known, we would have gotten you something a little fancier.”

“What? Did I not look okay?” Nicole asked. She knew she looked fine, but poking fun at Abbie was always fun.

“No! You looked great! I’m just saying.” Abbie shrugged and Nicole laughed. “So, are you going to the panel later today?”

“Yeah, are you?” Nicole asked as she took a bite from her bagel.

“Yep, do you think you can get us front row seats?” Abbie joked.

“Shut it,” Nicole warned with a smile. “We’re not talking about this. I told you that already.

“I’m just teasing,” Abbie smirked.

Nicole felt her phone buzz beside her. She looked down at the name on her phone and suppressed the smile when she saw that it was Waverly.

‘Can you meet me in the autograph room in ten? I told them to let you through.’

‘On my way’ Nicole replied.

She locked her phone and started to gather her things.

“You’re leaving already?” Abbie asked, disappointed.

“Yeah, I’ll see you at the panel, okay?”

“Fine,” Abbie huffed. Nicole ruffled her hair a bit on her way by. She grabbed a handful of grapes from the buffet as she passed and headed towards the autograph station.

Once she was there, she told the people at the door her name and they let her by without question. It was only Waverly in the room. She was leaned up against the table with her picture behind it. When she looked up and saw Nicole, she grinned and immediately reached out for a hug.

“What’s going on?” Nicole asked as she let go of Waverly.

Before the brunette answered, she lifted up on her tiptoes and kissed Nicole gently. It was a quick kiss, but Nicole savored every second of it.

“You taste sweet,” Waverly said as she slid her arms around Nicole.

“I just ate some grapes,” Nicole told her with a laugh. “What’s gotten into you?”

“I just wanted to see you before this crazy day started,” Waverly confessed. “Panels make me kind of nervous.”

“Well, if there’s anything you need throughout the day just let me know and I’ll do it.”

“I have people for that,” Waverly smiled. “God that sounded awful," she seemed to mumbled to herself. "Anyway, I shouldn’t be calling my–” Waverly stopped, a horrified look on her face.

Nicole tilted her head to the side with an amused grin.

“I, um,” Waverly looked down at where her arms rested around Nicole’s waist. “I just have people that already do that.”

“Uh-huh,” Nicole nodded.

Waverly looked back up at her and laughed nervously. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” Nicole asked. She removed her grasp on Waverly’s hips and poked at her stomach.

“All smug and shit,” Waverly giggled. She grabbed Nicole’s hands and held them firmly against her, pulling Nicole closer in the process.

Their lips were just inches apart. Nicole couldn’t stop her gaze from shifting down and really just looking at Waverly’s lips. They were perfect, just like everything else about her. She could see that they had a little bit of red color to them. She wondered if her lips were tinted now from their last kiss.

She couldn’t take it anymore. She leaned down and closed the distance between them, kissing Waverly like she had wanted to kiss her all night. It was Waverly, though, who deepened the kiss. Letting go of Nicole’s hands to grip her jaw.

The first real taste of Waverly had Nicole spinning. The brunette’s tongue slid easily past her lips and the little moan Waverly released made Nicole grip the front of the brunette's shirt to keep her hands from wandering.

When she had to pull back for air, she felt Waverly’s thumb skim over her jaw, making goosebumps form along her neck. She kissed her one more time, quickly.

“I should probably go before everyone gets here,” Nicole said.

Waverly’s eyes were still closed when Nicole pulled back to look at her. She was smiling and biting her lower lip. Waverly’s hand went back and slid under Nicole’s hair. She tangled her fingers in it as she opened her eyes. There was a new fire there, a flicker of something Nicole had never seen.

“I’ll text you later?”

“Please,” Nicole smiled. She took a step away from Waverly.

Her hand slid from Nicole’s hair and all the way down her arms as she backed away. Nicole gave Waverly’s hand a little squeeze before turning around completely and making her way out of the autograph room.

** ** ** ** ** ** **

The day went by quickly. Nicole spent the day with her friends and constantly checking her phone for any word from Waverly. She knew she was busy, but she still wanted to just check in every now and then.

“I love the gay look you have going on,” Chase told Nicole as she and Abbie met up with him outside of the panel room. “It’s on-brand.”

Nicole looked down at her black jeans and denim shirt with the rolled-up sleeves.

“Wait,” Abbie said as she reached for Nicole’s hat. She spun it around and put it back on Nicole’s head backward. “There. Fixed it.”

Nicole rolled her eyes and readjusted her hat a bit to feel more comfortable. She kept it backward though. It was a good look.

They all went into the panel room and split up to find their seats. Nicole found herself in the back corner. Which, she was fine with. She could see the stage well and was afraid if she was sitting closer to the front it would make Waverly more nervous.

She looked down at her phone and decided to send a text even though she hadn’t heard from Waverly all day.

‘You’re going to do great :)’

She left it at that and hit send. She looked around at the crowd that was filling the room. The seats next to her were occupied quickly with excited fans.

The more they talked about the Earp sisters, the less Nicole was able to believe that she was actually dating one.

She tried to occupy her time by scrolling through social media. Her timeline was flooded with pictures of Waverly, Wynonna, and other cast members from the photo ops.

Finally, when the lights dimmed and the intro video started rolling, Nicole sat up and watched the screen. Her phone buzzed about midway through the video.

‘Where are you?’ read the text from Waverly.

‘Back corner to your left’ Nicole replied.

The read receipt came on and as soon as Waverly and Wynonna were introduced and walked out onto the stage, Nicole watched as Waverly searched. She even stopped mid-stage to shield her eyes from the light and look out into the crowd.

Nicole lifted her hand in a wave in a weak attempt to catch Waverly’s attention. She thought there was no way Waverly would pick her out of the humongous crowd of screaming fans, but she did. Waverly almost immediately made eye contact with Nicole and it was like a wave of relief washed over her. Nicole watched her physically relax. She smiled and waved slightly.

“Oh my god, she waved at me!” the girl next to Nicole gushed as she grabbed her friend’s hand.

“Yeah right,” her friend scoffed jokingly.

“She totally did.”

Nicole grinned to herself and sat back down as the crowd continued to scream.

If Nicole was being honest with herself, she felt a sense of pride for Waverly. She had never felt so connected with someone in her life. They had only known each other for a short period of time, but she already felt this natural high when she was just in the same room as Waverly.

The panel started smoothly. Wynonna was being the usual jokester, poking fun at Waverly and bringing her little sister out of her shell slowly.

Nicole noticed a sense of ease when Waverly was with Wynonna. She was more herself and seemed to be more comfortable. It was obvious how much she looked up to her older sister.

She listened to the two sisters answer the lighthearted questions and really work the crowd. She watched Waverly fiddle with the lid of her water bottle and wanted nothing more than to hold her hands to keep her calm.

Every now and then, Waverly would look out over the crowd in Nicole’s direction. When she did, Nicole would try to sit a little taller so that she could maybe make eye contact with her. Once she did and Nicole’s natural reaction was to just wink. Waverly had to suppress a smile and look down to hide the blush creeping up on her cheeks.

“Have you guys gotten to see the town yet?” the moderator asked.

“Well, I haven’t,” Wynonna answered as she looked over at Waverly.

“I’ve seen a little bit,” Waverly answered carefully. “Last night I got to go out and it was truly beautiful.”

“The town or your date?” Wynonna asked, lifting one eyebrow.

Nicole’s heart dropped into her stomach.

“Is it cheesy to answer both?” Waverly asked with a bit of a grin. She looked out at the crowd when everyone either laughed or awed at her answer.

“Gross,” Wynonna replied. “And don’t think I’m not questioning every redhead here today,” she told her sister causing Waverly to cover her face.

Nicole had never been happier to be wearing a hat that covered most of her hair in her life. The last thing she wanted was to be called out in front of what seemed like hundreds of people. She sunk down in her chair a bit, feeling her cheeks light up from embarrassment.

“When we’re ready we’ll make it official,” Nicole heard Waverly say. She looked back up to see the brunette looking at her older sister.

“I’m just joking,” Wynonna said. She nudged Waverly’s shoulder.

The rest of the panel went by quickly it seemed after that. Nicole was ready to get out of there as soon as it concluded.

Being the center of attention was not what Nicole wanted. She usually liked to blend into the background. It was part of her job sometimes. Going undercover was always simple for her because she was good at just hanging back and observing. It was where she was comfortable.

The thought of being thrust into the spotlight with Waverly hadn’t even crossed her mind. It was an aspect of the brunette’s life she would have to get used to. It would take adjustment. That was if it were to all work out between them. Maybe this was just a fling while they were at the con. Maybe it would turn into nothing the moment Nicole got on her flight back to Purgatory.

She found herself back in her room. She immediately turned the shower on and stripped out of her clothes. The thought of steaming hot water pelting her skin and melting away all of the thoughts bringing her down sounded heavenly.

Even during the freakout, she was having, Nicole couldn’t ignore the way Waverly made her feel. She knew she was getting ahead of herself. They had been on one official date. That’s it, but it was okay to dream, right? Nicole could hypothesize over what would happen if they continued with the budding relationship they were building.

She thought about stepping into this life with Waverly. What it would mean for her, for her job, and for Waverly. Nicole didn’t want to leave her position at Purgatory. It wasn’t ideal or where she saw herself when she thought about joining a police force, but it was her home now. Everything in her life that was good came from that tiny town.

A loud knocking on the door pulled her from her thoughts. She cut the shower off and stepped out.

“Just a second!” she yelled as the person started to knock again.

She wrapped a towel and tucked it around her chest. She grabbed a smaller one to start drying off her hair.

Nicole opened the door and froze.

Of course, it was Waverly.

“Hey, I just–” Waverly started but stopped when she seemed to realize Nicole was only in a towel. “Oh, um… wow, I mean… shit,” Waverly shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. Her cheeks immediately turned red and her mouth hung open slightly. She looked Nicole up and down before seemingly forcing herself to meet Nicole’s eyes. “I can come back.”

“No, don’t be silly,” Nicole answered with a grin. It was a little fun watching Waverly get all flustered over her. She reached out and pulled Waverly into the room. “What are you doing here?” Nicole asked as she shut the door. She turned and walked past Waverly and further into her room.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Waverly said. Nicole could still hear the nerves in her voice. Or maybe it was something else.

“About?” Nicole asked. She dug through her suitcase until she found some sweats and a Purgatory Sheriff’s Department t-shirt.

“Well,” Waverly said. She turned as Nicole walk past her again and into the bathroom.

She looked at herself in the mirror, consciously deciding to leave the door open while she toweled off and changed.

“I’m still listening,” she called out when Waverly didn’t continue.

“Right, yeah,” she heard Waverly say. “Um, I just wanted to check in with you after the panel. I had no idea Wynonna was going to bring us up like that.”

Us.

Nicole liked the sound of that.

She pulled her clothes on quickly and ran a towel over her hair one last time before stepping back out of the bathroom.

“Yeah, that was unexpected,” Nicole said, a half-smile on her face.

Waverly was sitting on the very edge of Nicole’s made up bed. She kept a tidy room. It was one of the things that really just seemed to stick from the police academy.

“I’m so sorry,” Waverly apologized again.

Nicole took a seat next to Waverly facing her. She reached over and grabbed Waverly’s hand.

“You don’t have to apologize,” Nicole said. She pulled Waverly’s hand up to her lips and kissed her knuckles. “I do think we should talk about this though at some point.”

“Yeah?” Waverly asked with a hopeful tone.

“Yeah,” Nicole assured her. “I really, really like you, Waverly Earp.”

“I really, really like you, too,” Waverly sighed.

“Are we crazy?” Nicole asked. She didn't really mean to. It just slipped out.

The feelings she felt were real, but they seemed too much too soon. She didn't know whether to embrace them or run in the opposite direction.

Even though it was all beyond crazy, she had been told recently that it didn’t matter how long someone was in your life. Everyone impacts you differently, and Waverly Earp was like a fucking asteroid crashing into Nicole’s world.

“Maybe?” Waverly answered with a giggle. “But who cares? Who makes the rules?”

“No one?”

“We make the rules.”

“Yeah we do,” Nicole laughed as she placed a kiss on Waverly’s forehead.

“So, we’re officially dating?” Waverly asked quietly.

Nicole smiled. Instead of answering right away, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to Waverly’s.

She wanted nothing more than to date this beautiful girl. The insecurities that were plaguing her before quickly became nothing when she felt Waverly kiss her back tenderly. It was all she needed.

“Yes,” Nicole finally whispered against Waverly’s lips.

The brunette kissed her with more fervor. Waverly leaned forward until her body was pressed against Nicole’s and her hands were tangled in her wet red locks.

Nicole had no choice but to slide her hands back and wrap her arms around Waverly. She let her hands roam up and down her muscular back. She finally let them rest around Waverly’s waist, but not for long.

She eased the brunette back in one swift motion and laid her down flat on her back. She propped herself up, breaking the kiss to look down at the beauty that was Waverly Earp beneath her.

Her heart pounded harder in her chest. She truly was a vision. Her beautiful mane of hair was spread out across Nicole’s pillow. Her face was content. Her lips were a little pink and swollen from the kissing. Her eyes were searching Nicole’s. She bit her lower lip until finally reaching up wordlessly and pulling Nicole down to kiss again.

Nicole wasn’t going to protest, but she also wasn’t going to attempt and take it anywhere further. She was extremely happy just kissing the youngest Earp at the moment. She was learning what Waverly did and didn't like. What she tasted like. How she kissed and what she meant by each one.

Waverly seemed to be on the same page. Even though the kiss was heated, neither tried to take it any further.

This kissed for what felt like hours, but Nicole was sure it wasn’t long enough. But, against every fiber in her being, she was the one that slowed it down until she pulled away and placed a peck on Waverly’s nose.

“You have an early morning again tomorrow,” Nicole said quietly as she lowered herself onto the bed beside Waverly and rolled over onto her back.

Waverly curled up against Nicole, making herself comfortable in the redhead’s arms. Nicole pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head.

“What if I just stayed here tonight?” Waverly asked. “Just to sleep,” she clarified.

“If you want to, I’d love that,” Nicole answered.

Waverly shuffled until she was completely under the covers. Nicole reached over and turned off the lamp before sliding under the covers too. She turned on her side to face Waverly. They were nose to nose but Nicole could barely see her.

It wasn’t until her eyes adjusted that she could make out Waverly studying her as well. A smile crept on her lips as she saw the brunette’s blinks get longer and longer.

Finally, Waverly was asleep, and Nicole couldn’t believe her night. Hell, she couldn’t believe her life right now. This was the last thing she expected when she showed up Friday morning to attend a con for her favorite tv show.

But she wasn’t complaining. How could she? She had an angel sleeping next to her and they had just made it ‘official’ they were dating… whatever that meant.

Nicole reached out and pulled Waverly into her arms. Waverly nuzzled her head under Nicole’s chin and sighed contently. Finally, Nicole fell asleep feeling happier than she had ever felt before.

AO3

#wynonna earp #wayhaught #waverly earp #nicole haught #famous!waverly #wynonna earp fanfiction #wayhaught fanfic #ours are the same #chapter three

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gay-fiction · 5 years

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One For All And All For One

This is the first chapter of “Into Better Days”, a coming-of-age piece in a high school setting with different kinds of themes (and pairings).

Meet the characters and which circumstances brought them together.

Trigger warning for this chapter violence, use of drugs

Mid-September, somewhere in Chicago’s suburbs.

It was just another ordinary day. The sun was peeking through the trees that edged the street and the parking lot of St. Helmsley High School. The scenes unfolding on this first day of school were just as ordinary as the weather was.

The parking lot was mildly crowded. New cars arrived and students greeted each other after the long summer break. Buses arrived and more hordes of students surged onto the high school’s forecourt, mingling with those that came by bike or foot. Already, the typical groups were forming; the alleged cool kids, the nerds and jocks, all different subcultures.

Special attention, of course, was on those students that did not belong to a certain group, did not fit the mold those cliques provided. Like all those years before and all those that would follow, they made their way towards the school’s main entrance alone. These kids, children of different ages, were cannon fodder for those that were lucky enough to belong not only to a subculture but a prestigious one. Did the school have any kind of anti-bullying campaign? Sure, but its success was debatable.

Jimmy got out of his car, stretching and scanning the scene just like all the others did. Contrary to them, he didn’t give a single fuck about what was going on in front of him. His eyes still half closed from the sleep he had been neglecting over the course of the last few days… or weeks… the dark-haired boy just blankly stared at them. He took off his jacket, revealing a dilettantish made tattoo on his right arm. Yawning, he threw it into the back of his car.

On the passenger side, his younger brother exited the vehicle as well.

“It’s quite warm today”, the smaller boy declared, scratching his cleanly shaven chin. Marty, the younger Renfrew brother, obviously got a lot more sleep than his older sibling. He scanned the crowd on the parking lot, swarming towards the school buildings with some more interest. Close-by, he spotted another, tattooed like his brother, guy leaning against the side of a run-down, black Vauxhall. As their gazes met, Marty waved. The tall boy of Dutch decent locked his car and approached them.

“Morning”, he murmured in a deep and sonorous voice. He gave Marty a pat on the back and waved his hand at Jimmy who was actually able to respond with a mumbled “Mornin’ Thomas”. The greeting between the three didn’t turn out as warmly as the ones between the other students. Contrary to most of them, however, the three young men had seen each other quite a lot during the summer break. They Had spent almost every weekend together, as well as almost every weekday evening. That came rather natural to them, after all, they were in a band together – and broke as fuck.

Together, the three bandmates made their way towards the school building. They took a seat on the half-high wall that lined the parking lot right across from the main entrance of the main classroom building. Marty drew a crumpled package of cigarettes out of his back pocket, took one and offered the package to Thomas. The Dutch-born took one, muttering a short “Thanks”. After lightening it, he took a deep drag, closing his eyes and sighing in contentment.

Nothing really changed compared to the previous year, really. Still, some students looked at them in disgust due to the smoke, yet nobody said a word. Probably, they just waited for a teacher to catch and, most probably, expel them. That was none of their immediate concern though.

The three boys remained silent. Thomas brushed a strand of hair that had come loose from his ponytail out of his face. With his eyes closed, he enjoyed the cigarette and the warm late-summer sun on his skin. Jimmy, still tired, stared down at his boots, while Marty indulged himself in watching the students pass by. Some greeted them, rising a hand or even exchanging some words with the two more awake ones.

In the past, jocks and upper-class kids alike had called them freaks – or worse. Yet, Jimmy, Marty, and Thomas belonged to the more popular kids around. Partly, of course, because they were in a band, but also because of their not-giving-a-single-fuck attitude. It didn’t harm them that especially the younger kids admired their grungy and edgy appearances and their music either.

The younger brother let his eyes wander. There were the football players, people he as a scrawny and thin guy could not relate to in the slightest. Of course, they were accompanied by the cheerleaders, all girls that didn’t want to have the slightest thing to do with someone like him. There were the goths; seemingly a more pleasant group, if only they weren’t that stuck up and elitist. The upper-class kids arrived in their brand new, huge cars, sporting clothes where a single item already exceeded the value of Marty’s whole wardrobe. They sure let anyone know how much (or rather less) they thought of them.

There were so many different cliques; the artsy kids, the physics-nerds, different kinds of athletes, the choir and orchestra, the marching band and theater group.

If you dared to take a closer look, however, it was the desolate ones that were the most interesting individuals.

One who definitely was among the desolate was Mark Andrews. He was your average nerd, with a knack for maths and big glasses. He was far from wearing the newest fashion or any kind of distinguishable style. Oh, he was smart, no doubt, not only in maths but other subjects as well. But in school, intelligence didn’t matter much. It was no rival for popularity, influence, belonging to a prestigious group.

Quite the contrary, Mark was the best example for someone who’s intelligence made him a constant target for different kinds of bullies – the more obvious ones as well as the subtle ones. Thus, the youngster had a rather hard time at school. Instead of the solitude and harassment leading him into desperation and sadness, intense hatred and anger grew inside the slender, almost meager, boy, fostered by every hateful comment, mocking slur or laugh behind his back.

Another desolate one was Trent Seven. Quite the opposite of Mark, he was tall with heavy muscles, dirty blond hair, and no fear of bullying whatsoever. While he wasn’t the smartest and had to repeat a year of school already, his stature and the calmness he radiated prevented anyone from really messing with him – except for the staff who constantly nagged him about his bad grades and thus uncertain future.

Yet, there was something heavy on his heart. While bullies stood clear of the young man, everyone else did as well. Always wandering the halls and sports grounds alone, Trent had no one to talk to. Some students simply ignored him while most avoided him deliberately.

Someone who was rather unlikely to belong to this outcast group of people was Tyler Bate, a smart, helpful, and rather attractive passionate swimmer. His popularity with the girls, however, did not stop rumors from spreading. The questioning of his sexuality had not dampened Ty’s popularity with the girls that much and certainly did not affect his cheerfulness, but his male peers were a different story. People just weren’t as liberal and accepting as one would wish in these times.

It happened more than once that Ty had been harassed or assaulted, even if not on school grounds, so on his way home. His rather fragile nature and calm demeanor kept him not only from fighting back but also from reporting these incidents. Once school would be over, or so he hoped, life would become better anyway. So the blond boy decided to simply wait and concentrated on his swimming practice and schoolwork.

All these people were more or less known by Marty. At the very least, he had heard different rumors about them as well; about them and so many other people that attended their high school. But then, he spotted unbeknownst to him. And when this guy made his way towards the school’s main entrance, he surely stuck out like a sore thumb.

Later, the friends would find out that his name was Lee-James, a Scottish youngster that had only recently moved to America due to his parent’s work. The quite excentric looking young man was not at all pleased that he had to finish his last years of school far away from his native homeland. Being the new kid was always a struggle, and Lee felt especially alienated by the warm weather and the attitude he witnessed by most of his peers. They were simply not as progressive, in his mind, as the people back home, where he would hardly get sour looks because of the leather vest and collar, combat boots, and ripped jeans with numerous chains and spikes he sported.

While Marty spotted all of these different characters in the huge crowd of students, he didn’t spend much time thinking about them. His mind was drifting away, back to the prior night, when some chords for a new song had come to his mind. Gifted with a musical ear, he was the one mostly responsible to provide new material for their small punk-rock band. Bit by bit, he was already piecing together a new song in his head, and he couldn’t wait to tell his peers about it over the lunch break. Hopefully, Jimmy would be able to give him his full attention by then.

Mark passed the sitting spot of the three band-mates, trying to push through the crowd that, while not moving, blocked the way into the building. The nerdy boy wanted nothing more but to get inside, into his classroom, and avoid any confrontation. Unfortunately, things never turn out the way you expect them to…

While Mark was making his way up the broad entrance stairway, a hand reached out to him from the crowds. All he felt was a yank on his backpack. With one foot not entirely on the next step, the unathletic boy lost his balance. With an appalled yelp, he fell backward. Helplessly, his arms paddled through the air, but there was nothing that could stop his fall as all the people behind him immediately made way.

Instinctively, the boy rose one hand to his face to protect his glasses. With the other, Mark tried to catch his fall, but to no avail. As he stumbled down a few steps, the motion twisted his wrist painfully. A sharp sting of pain shot through him, starting from where he had hit the back of his head on the hard concrete ground, just barely missing the edge of the step.

Momentarily, everything went black. When he regained consciousness, the pain in the back of his head was almost blinding. Reaching into his dirty-blond hair confirmed what he had thought. Mark had busted his head open, blood coating his fingers as he brought it in front of his face.

Did someone help him though? No. Just like no one had stepped in when he had been falling, not a single person made an effort to help him up, maybe even accompany him to the nurse’s office. Anger welled up inside the young man and he had to swallow the tears of pain, embarrassment, and frustration. Sparing his twisted and throbbing wrist, Mark picked himself up. Filled with anger, he stormed up the stairs while the students nearby just looked on. Some even chuckled when he passed them. And the hurting boy swore to himself that he wouldn’t put up with these things any longer!

“What an idiot”, someone called out and earned quite some laughter for it. Jimmy pulled a face. He was already on the verge of a headache due to his sleep-deprivation and this childish behavior bothered him to no end.

Thomas and Marty, however, who had also witnessed the whole incident from afar, exchanged a look. “Should’ve we gone over there and help him?”, Marty asked but his taller friend only shrugged his shoulders.

“He was up and gone in no time. Damn, that looked nasty. Could very well become a concussion.”

“Whatever”, came a snarl from Jimmy, cutting Thomas off. He jumped down from the wall and angrily marched towards the stairs and the mass of student in front of it. Unlike Mark, he forced his way through them by using his elbows. While many shot him a disgruntled look, no one dared to lay hand on him.

The two remaining boys watched the grumpy youngster disappear inside the building.

“Man, he must’ve had a rough night”, Thomas attested as he stubbed out his cigarette against the side of the wall.

“Or none at all”, Marty added just as the school bell rang. He too put his cigarette out and slid down the wall. “Well, time to go as well. On to another year of fucking school.” He adjusted his denim jacket’s collar, shouldered his messenger back and strutted towards the building. With a shrug, Thomas followed him and the other students.

But this year, this year would be different. At least that was what Mark swore to himself as he sat at the nurse’s office, the elderly woman patching up the gash in his skull. Clenching his fists and biting his lower lip, thoughts and ideas rushed through his mind. No, this year, he would end it!

The bell rang, and in an instant, the corridors were filled with students. Most if not all headed towards the cafeteria or towards the doors leading to the big patio that formed the center of the main classroom buildings of the school complex.

Jimmy was happy that he survived the first part of this day. He stormed out of the classroom with the other students, making his way to his locker. There, Marty and Thomas were already waiting for him. The first day of school certainly wasn’t his favorite day of the year, but at least he had woken up over the course of the morning.

“Let’s go outside”, the younger brother suggested when Jimmy joined them. “I have to show you something. And it’s way too fucking loud here.” The tattooed boys only nodded and together, they made their way to the doors. Outside, they decided to ignore the benches and tables provided. Instead, they walked along the side of the science building towards the sports grounds. The indoor facilities, as well as the swimming pool, lined the different tracks and fields on one side, giving the school a weird, sock-like look from above. A small hill was overlooking the football field and there stood an old oak tree the student body had lovingly dubbed the ‘Old Man’. And truly, with its branches hanging so low, the stem leaning towards the steeping hill, it did resemble an elderly man.

Marty sat down underneath the leafy canopy, putting his bag aside as he pulled out his phone. “I have a new song for us. Well, not all of it, but some interesting pieces.”

“Is it good”, Thomas asked. He had pulled out a plastic bag with a green, flaky substance. Curiously, he looked around. It was risky to bring this kind of ‘relief’ to school, but he couldn’t help it. Only half joking, he usually excused it with his Dutch heritage.

“Of course it is!”, the younger Bate brother exclaimed while Thomas continued mixing the crushed leaves with tobacco. “At least the rhythm and melody. Lyrics are Jimmy’ thing.” Marty browsed the different recording files to find the one from the night prior. “Do you really think I would tell you about a song if I thought it was shit?”

Thomas had rolled out a paper, stacking the tobacco mix in its middle. “Tastes differ”, he noted. “And you have some strange ideas of… ‘good’ at times.”

The smaller boy shot his Dutch-born peer a mad look. “Your constant criticism is NOT appreciated”, he let him know before playing his song out loud. Thomas’s hands shortly paused their work as he listened. Jimmy leaned in closer well. He had heard his brother through the walls the previous night, yet only dully.

“We can meet up later and I can play it for you in person”, Marty suggested after the short piece ended. “It sounds better live, I swear!”

“Can I play it again?”, Jimmy decided to join the conversation. After Marty confirmed, he took the phone, put the recording on repeat and lay down in the grass. Propped up on his elbows, his eyes closed, he listened. This was way more his thing than school; just lying in the shade, listening to his friends’ banter, letting Marty’s melody inspire him. Soon, he could hum along to the arrangement of chords.

Someone screamed.

Jimmy sat up, opening his eyes again. Puzzled, the three friends exchanged a look. The smoldering joint tugged between his lips, Thomas stood up to get a better look over the football field. “Sounds like it came from the stands”, he commented.

“Maybe someone fell off of ‘em”, Marty suggested with a shrug, but then the same voice rang through the air once more. “Nope, no one fell. Should we go have a look?” He still felt a tad guilty for not doing anything when that nerd had been pulled down the stairs earlier. “Maybe someone needs help. Why else would they scream?”

With a grunt, Jimmy came to his feet as well. “But just because I’m curious now”, he defended his interest. Shortly afterward, the three made their way across the wide field. In the distance, in the shadows of the stands, they spotted a bulk of people.

“Wolverines”, Thomas concluded as they made out the bright red fabric typical for the school’s football team jerseys. The Helmsley High Wolverines had been among the more successful teams of the state, known for getting a lot of their players into college football scholarships. Putting out his joint, Thomas put it into the plastic bag and shoved it back into his pocket. Smoking was already something that, after multiple offenses, could get them expelled. Bringing drugs onto the school property would have him kicked faster than he could finish his blunt. And he would surely not give those jocks something to denounce him!

“Marty?”, the older Renfrew addressed his brother. “Better take your phone out and start recording. You never know…” Marty was a step ahead of his sibling though, the camera already opened on his phone as he planned on standing back a bit anyway.

Most of the people in the small crowd that had formed in the shadows of the stands were indeed members of the football team. In their midst, however, stood a group of very different people. One of them was sitting on the dirty ground, holding his face as blood trickled down from his lip. Through strands of blond hair, Tyler, star of the swimming team, looked up at the jock that, supposedly, hit him.

Even from the back, this particular young man was instantly recognizable. After all, Randal Orton paraded his bulky body around like he owned the place – and the teachers even backed it up. That came naturally when you are the quarterback. And the son of an influential lobbyist. And an overall asshat.

Mark stood behind the boy on the ground, clutching his backpack. He stared at the quarterback towering over them with a fierce expression on his face. To round off the crooked picture, the third one encircled by the group of fiery red athletes, was the expressively dressed new guy in town. Lee, however, rather looked like he had accidentally gotten into all of this. He had just taken some time out from the loud, rude, American school day to relax in the shadows of the stands.

And still, now he stood bravely between Tyler and Orton. Another one of the massy football players had seized the Scotsman by the collar of his vest, a fist risen as if he wanted to punch the black-haired guy.

“Hey!”, Thomas drew the attention of the crowd towards them. “The fuck are you doing here?”, he asked as they approached. Marty started recording.

Immediately, some of the jocks turned towards them, while Orton only turned his head. While Jimmy and Thomas were tall, they were still rather lean, their statures no match for those guys that trained tirelessly, college football and thus getting buff their long-term goals.

“That’s none of your business”, Orton spoke up, immediately taking the natural leader position he was allegedly born with. “Just fuck off and leave this to us! And you, stop recording!” One of the other guys lunged for Marty, who retreated into the shadow of his bandmates even more. He was so not in for a beating.

“Get lost”, Orton hissed once more.

Jimmy and Thomas stepped into the other jock’s way. The three encircled boys watched in anticipation, Mark still clutching his bag while Tyler slowly got up on his feet. “Listen, I’m in a lousy mood already”, Jimmy chimed up with a growl. “I didn’t really sleep last night and I fucking hate the first day after the holidays. Loud people, annoying teachers, stupid and irrelevant stuff… and now you are making a mess to top it all off? Not a fan, really not. So why don’t YOU get lost? Now!”

It was more than evident that the bold words of the inked boy enraged the football player only more. “Who the fuck do you think you are to make such demands. Go make some emo music or whatever, this is none of your business.”

The brute looked over his shoulder and gave his teammates a wave with his hand, the guy who held Lee by the collar lunged out and placed a punch against the new student’s jaw. Immediately clasping his jaw, Lee stumbled back and against Tyler. Both fell over, landing back in the dirt to Mark’s feet.

The pack of athlete’s laughed mockingly and the quarterback turned back towards the band. He spread his arms as Thomas attempted to throw himself at him. “Go ahead! Do you think you stand a chance against all of us? Come! That is if you want to be the one who starts a fight on school grounds with the best quarterback this school has seen in years! Your pal is making sure that there will be plenty of evidence for you attacking me.”

The cockiness and the fact that two more players stepped next to their peer made Thomas halt in his movements.

“Thought so”, the jock exclaimed with a laugh. “You can’t handle all of us!”

“But maybe I can.”

All of them looked around to where the voice had come from, attackers, victim and the three friends alike. Trent just stood there, his massive arms crossed in front of his chest. He had approached all silently – or they had all just been so used to ignoring him that they hadn’t paid attention.

Murmurs arose among the jocks. Making use of the momentary confusion, Tyler pressed his hands against Lee’s side to push the taller boy away from him. Freeing himself, he rubbed a bare arm over his still bleeding lip. Lee got to his feet, helping the slender athlete up as he clutched his jaw. Counting them, the new arrival, and even Mark, the numbers were way more evened now.

“Ugh, let’s go. This is more stress than fun.” Upon the disgruntled command of the quarterback, the circle dissolved. Still shooting sour looks towards them, they walked away across the field. The weird conglomerate of people stayed behind.

Mark was the first to find his voice again. “Thank you”, he turned towards Jimmy, Thomas, and Marty, then towards Trent.

“Fuck, I shouldn’t have held back”, Thomas scolded himself. He was still staring at the leaving group. Calmingly, Jimmy rested a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“They’re not worth it. Even though they’d fucking deserve it. They would have ratted us out to the coach immediately and then?”

“Hey, But they started!”, Daniel disagreed with Jimmy. “They threw the first punch, we have so many witnesses for that! And I have the video!”

Now it was Mark who chimed in with a bitter laugh. “So what? Whose words weigh more, what do you think? Ours that they have attacked and cornered us? Or half of the damn football team and a video of you guys throwing a punch at the star quarterback?”

He was right, and all of them knew it. All but Lee, who looked around in confusion. “Are they such a big deal?”, he asked in his thick, Scottish accent, flinching as the movement of his jaw shot a jolt of pain through his features.

Tyler, still visually shaken up by the beating he had gotten before, nodded in confirmation. “Athletes run this school. That’s normal here. Well, the popular ones do.” He certainly wasn’t one of them.

“I’m so… so sick of this!”, Mark suddenly spat out. Everyone looked at the slightly overweight boy. “It’s the first day and I was already pushed down the stairs, busted my head open, got shoved against the lockers and cornered in the dirt. I’m so sick of this, so fucking sick of getting assaulted on a daily basis!”

Marty, Thomas, and Jimmy exchanged a look. Weren’t the quiet ones, the ones you hardly expected anything evil from, the worst? Over the past decade, reports in the news from all over the country about students taking drastic measures. Especially in the past two years, they had become more and more, instilling a fear inside every student that went to school, praying that they would make it home alive and not end up a mere statistic in one of the papers. Thus, they couldn’t help it. At this very moment, Mark had ‘school shooter’ written all over his face.

Trent and Tyler actually shared this thought, the dainty swimmer actually retreating from where he had been standing.

“Whenever I set a foot into this building I feel like I have a huge target on my back”, Mark went on. In his frenzy, he didn’t notice the concerned looks. “I’m constantly being pushed around by guys that are stronger than me! And all I get from the teachers or the nurse are pitiful looks and advice that’s worth fucking nothing. That’s it! I won’t take it anymore!”

With trembling lips, Tyler dared to follow up the spat-out rant with his own words. “I… I don’t like getting hit in the face either. Or all these rumors they spread about me but…” He rose a hand to his busted lip. “But violence is not the solution.”

Mark furrowed his brows, the eyes behind his glasses fixated on the young athlete. Of course, they all knew which kind of rumors he was talking about. “Who says I’m talking about violence”, the speckled boy defended himself. Looking around, he finally realized what this must look and sound like.

“Jesus! I’m not bringing a gun to school tomorrow, don’t worry. I am not jeopardizing my own future because of these assholes! No, no there has to be another way!”

He looked around, meeting each and every one of them with his gaze. There was Tyler, beaten up on the first day of school, athletic but unable to really stand up for himself. Trent, ignored and neglected, s supposed simpleton that was feared for his strength. Then Jimmy and Thomas, tall and with quite the fanbase, the former lacking severely in the educational department though, the latter one rumored to consume more than just cigarettes. Marty, who probably only got spared because he was Jimmy’ brother. And Lee, his first day at a new school and he had already been involuntarily drawn into this all, let alone being punched square in the face.

The gears in Mark’s head turned, the eyes behind his glasses lighting up as an idea formed in his mind.

“We form an alliance”, he finally exclaimed with utter conviction.

Jimmy snorted and Lee let out a laugh. “Alright, Shakespeare”, the Scott huffed, waving his hand. “You’re delusional.”

“Hear me out!”, Mark spoke up, his confidence not wavering. “We all could benefit from this! I don’t say that we have to become buddies, but it could make school a lot more bearable for all of us. Would you just listen, please.”

Tod was surprisingly the first to speak up. “What do you mean, what do we have from this?”

Eagerly, Mark jumped at the opportunity. Someone was listening. They would all listen to him!

“A loose alliance. Education for protection. Strength in numbers, so to speak. It’s no secret that you already repeated a year.” He looked at Trent before turning towards Jimmy. “And your graduation is endangered as well if I’m not mistaken!”

The bandleader frowned. How did the nerd know this? He didn’t have to nod, his indignant reaction was confirmation enough.

“I can tutor you. Make sure that you actually graduate, maybe even get into a college… or at least community college. Also, it’s not easy to be transferred to a new school. We can offer connections to you.” Now, Mark turned towards Lee who rose his eyebrows. But the nerdy boy’s flow of words was unstoppable at this point.

“In exchange for that, you give us company, protection, a watchful eye on our backs. It’s a win-win for every one of us. We all have our issues, our problems, and secrets. Instead of carrying them alone, why not make some use of what we can offer each other.”

Silence struck after Mark had ended. Expectantly, he looked from one boy to the other.

Tyler bit his lip, regretting it right away as he opened the cut again. Suckling the blood away, he shrugged. “I’m in. I don’t know what I can offer, really, but if this helps me to walk home without fearing someone jumping me, I’m in.”

Next to speak up was Marty. “Come on guys. What harm could it be?” He slapped his two bandmates on the back. “All our grades could use some polishing, am I right?”

After exchanging a look, Jimmy and Thomas agreed as well.

Afterward, it wasn’t difficult to get the agreement from Trent and Lee as well. The Scott actually saw some benefit in having some sort of group to belong to in this new situation, even if it was as wildly mixed as this one. Trent also looked forward to not having to spend his whole school day all alone.

Thus, they all agreed to help each other to their best efforts, not knowing that this would become something much bigger.

#Into Better Days #Fanfiction #Wrestling Fanfiction #Gay Fiction #Creative Writing #Fiction Writing #Story

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willel · 6 years

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Eye to Eye | Will & Eleven | Thematic Twins

Description: A Will and Eleven sibling like fic. You guys, they have so much in common. I’ll be sad if we don’t have a meaningful meeting between these two. They are just…. My babies.

Putting all of my precious Will & El content on this brand new blog. Here is the first chapter of the fic I’m writing~

Original text: THIS post by @willthewisest finally pushed me to do my own thing.

on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12887760

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“Mom mom, I’ll be fine.” Will stressed. Although he and his mother were the same height now, he felt shorter again while sitting on his brand new bike. His old one had gone unused for so long, the chain rusted out. It was more affordable to just buy a new one. A new one that he pledged to start riding every day just like he used to.

“I know I know, but… “ Joyce held her arms nervously glancing from side to side. Nearly two years had passed since her son went missing, lost in the Upside Down. Five months passed since the Upside Down came back to take him again. She knew she should relax and give him more space. More freedom. She knew she needed to let him grow up and be independent but… it was hard. Very hard. Even Jonathan behind her was nervous, but he hid it better.

“I went to Mike’s house yesterday and it was ok, right?” Will explained. He was in no rush to go to Mike’s house, so he spent the extra time reassuring his mom that everything would be ok. For her sake. And for Jonathan’s sake. And, his own sake really. He’d be lying if he pretended not to constantly be eyeing his surroundings like a madman, flinching at the smallest rustle or chirp from yards or the forest surrounding the road to his house.

He was a high school student now. The past is the past. He wanted to move on and be “normal” again. Not completely normal of course. That was a pipe dream. And there was nothing wrong with being a freak, as Jonathan put it. At the very least, he wanted to ride his bike with his friends again. Go out and come back when he pleased. Jonathan and his mom weren’t always around to drive him wherever. It stressed them all out.

“If you feel nervous or scared at all, AT ALL, you can come back home ok? We’ll still be here. Or if you need us to pick you up, you can call us from-”

“I know mom. I’ll call you as soon as I get there and as soon as I decide to come back. Ok?”

Joyce tried to relax. “Alright baby.” Jonathan stepped forward and rubbed her shoulder. “Have fun.”

Will nodded… but didn’t attempt to leave. He stared blankly at Joyce and Jonathan with the smallest twitch of a nervous smile. He almost looked frozen.

“... Will? You sure you’re ready?” Jonathan asked. He and Will were similar. Jonathan would rather keep his feelings to himself to spare everyone else the worry. It worked pretty well for him. People rarely knew what he was feeling, for better or for worse. The only one who could pick him apart in seconds was his mother… but Nancy wasn’t far behind nowadays.

Will wasn’t as good at hiding his feelings. On the inside, Will was just as nervous as their mother. Another moment passed before Will took a deep breath and shook his head, finally lifting his feet off the ground to peddle away.

“See you later!” Will called after he reached a good distance down their driveway.

In the grand scheme of things, Mike’s house wasn’t that far. Nowhere was far in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. It was a blessing and a curse. He could ride anywhere on his bike and arrive in a short amount of time. That also meant it was much harder to find a place to hide since a pursuer didn’t have many areas to search. He learned that first hand.

Will shook his head and frowned. He did his best to ignore the intrusive memories and survival instincts he developed from his time in the upside down. He didn’t realize how bad the thoughts were until he started considering going out on his own again without his friends or family.He didn’t argue about his mom or brother picking him up and dropping him off at school or the arcade or wherever else he wanted to go for the longest time. He didn’t want to be alone. It was… scary.

He was scared. His sweaty palms and goosebumps riding up his neck was the undeniable evidence. He gripped his handlebars tighter and increased the speed of his peddling. Maybe if he peddled fast enough, he could escape the chill running up his spine.

‘Nothing is out there.’ Will insisted as he took a deep breath. ‘Nothing. Nothing is there.’ He repeated. If you tell yourself something enough times, surely it would come true, right?

Will focused on the street in front of him, refusing to scan the forests and yards until he reached Mike’s house. Relief washed over him when the house finally came into view. He wasted no time parking his bike in Mike’s garage and rushing to the front door. The sooner he got inside the better.

Will barely had time to ring the doorbell before the door swung open. Mike blinked and seemed relieved. He must’ve been nervous too.

“Good, you’re finally here.” Mike stepped aside, letting Will inside.

“Finally?” Will glanced at his watch. He got there in record time, especially since he didn’t make any stops along the way. “It didn’t take me that long,”

“Yeah, but your mom has already called twice looking for you.” Will and Mike walked to the kitchen as Will released an embarrassed chuckle. “Here.” Mike push the phone to Will, knowing that he’d need to call Joyce or she would just call herself again.

Will sighed. As he dialed his house, briefly wondered how many times he sighed that day and if it would become annoying for others. He needed to rein that in. If his mother noticed, she might realize something is wrong or make assumptions at least. He remembered when she first discovered he was having visions of the Upside Down after he returned. It happened in the middle of the day and startled him so bad he started screaming. She was right there, and there was no way to hide the visions after that.

“Will?? Will is that you? Can you hear me?” He blinked. He completely forgot that he dialed his mother and that she was nervously waiting on the other end.

“Yeah, yeah it’s me. Sorry. I made it to Mike’s house.”

“Are you alright…?” As always, she sounded so concerned and worried. Will absently wondered if she would ever become “normal” again too or if her anxiety would continue to chip away at her now all thanks to him.

“Yeah, I’m ok. Really. I’ll call you again when I leave, ok?” He tried to sound as reassuring and confident as possible to put her at ease.

“Remember don’t leave too late. Come back before it gets dark. If it’s too dark, CALL me ask for a ride, ok?”

“Ok, mom.”

“Have fun sweetie.” She finished. Will hung up the phone and glanced at Mike. He stood at the counter preparing snack dishes and drinks. Normally Mike’s mother would make their snacks, but Mike’s parents were out tonight and Nancy was babysitting Holly upstairs.

“You can go downstairs without me,” Mike explained without looking over. “Dustin and Lucas aren’t here yet.”

“What are we doing tonight anyway. Are we doing the campaign today, or playing a game?” Will removed his coat and placed it on a chair nearby.

“Probably both.” Mike shrugged. “You can set up down there if you want to. El wouldn’t know how.” Will blinked in surprise.

“El is here?”

Mike turned and frowned, but then his eyebrows shot up. “Oh, that’s right. You left early the other day… El is visiting for the first time. And, not for the last time.” A slight grin spread across his lips. Not very surprising, Will thought. Mike was quite enamored with her. Will smiled too.

“It’s finally safe?”

“Yep. At least, it is for now. Hopper dropped her off not too long ago and she can stay for a few hours.”

Will nodded, and turned to head down to the basement.

“Hey, Will?”

“Yeah?” Will stopped just short of the basement stairs and turned back. Mike looked… concerned. “What is it?”

“Act natural. It’ll be fine.” Mike gave a reassuring nod then turned back to the snacks on the counter, pouring more chips into a bowl.

Will looked down into the basement from the top of the stairs, pausing his descent. He hadn’t realized it before but… he hardly spoke to Eleven face to face. This would be the first time they truly hung out. Will slowly came down the stairs and scanned the room as more of the room came into view.

Eleven lay on the couch, quietly tinkering with Mike’s Millennium Falcon. When a stair creaked beneath his foot, Eleven glanced over. Her eyes widened the slightest bit as she sat up and put the toy aside. Will stopped when their eyes met.

Will and El weren’t exactly strangers. El wasn’t allowed to come out very often, but that didn’t stop her from communicating with them. Every day after school they contacted El on the AV club radio. Mike even bought a new more powerful radio for his basement to communicate with her whenever. He did all kinds of chores and mowed lawns with Lucas until he had enough to buy the radio himself. A far cry from stealing money from Nancy.

Talking on a radio didn’t compare to meeting El face to face, but Will felt like he knew her well enough even though he wasn’t the one having many conversations with her. Afterall, they had a different kind of connection. A special one.

“Hi, El.” Will said, completing his descent down the stairs.

“Hi Will.” She replied. Will came to sit next to her. He leaned deep into the couch, completely forgetting about setting up for the campaign or the games they were going to be playing.

Neither of them said anything else. The room was quiet, but not awkwardly so. It was strangely comforting. El glanced over at Will, and in return, he glanced over at her. It was the first time they got a good look at each other.

The first two times El met him, he was worse for ware. Pale, sickly, and barely conscious or not conscious at all. It was hard to reach him in the Upside Down. It was hard to reach him when the Mind Flayer took possession of him in every way imaginable, so much so, there was little of him left at all. El reached out and poked his cheek. It startled him at first because it was so sudden. He gave a closed smile, but let her poke as she wanted. She smiled too. She backed away looking satisfied about something. Will could only guess what exactly.

“How are you?” He asked.

“Good.” El nodded. A comfortable silence enveloped them again. “... And you? How are you?” Will turned away and paused.

“Good.” Will nodded, mimicking her as he rubbed his hands together. Will started when El’s hand clamped over his. El was very expressive with her face, and she looked unconvinced.

A small feeling of annoyance flashed through him. He understood everyone’s concern for him, but he didn’t want to be babied. He biked here by himself after all. It kinda freaked him out, but he made it. He pushed through. As quickly as the annoyance came, it faded away and turned into something else. She knew. She knew something. Some of his secrets. Now that they were face to face, secrets were hard to keep. Now he was feeling nervous.

Will sighed once again and El tiled her head quizzically. Will released his tight grip on his own hands and gently grasped hers. Her hand felt familiar for some reason.

“Can you… promise not to tell?” Will glanced towards the stairs. Mike still seemed distracted upstairs and Dustin and Lucas were running late. “I… don’t want to tell the others. Not yet.”

“Promise.” El nearly interrupted him before he could finish. Their met eyes. Will turned to face her and she did the same.

“I don’t know how much you know since we haven’t talked much but… I’ll try to explain.” Will spoke quietly so his voice wouldn’t carry upstairs. “Last year… well… ever since I got stuck in the Upside Down and came back… I used to have these visions of the Upside Down. ‘Truesight’. I could see into the Upside Down even if I didn’t want to… it’s how the Mind Flayer got me.”

El nodded. “I know.”

“Thankfully… I don’t get them anymore. Not completely anyway.” Will paused as he collected his thoughts. El was still learning vocabulary and he didn’t want to confuse her. Not on a subject like this. “Sometimes… I still see things. Or feel things. It’s like… I’m on the surface now but just barely… understand?”

El watched Will’s face. Then she looked down at their hands. Then she glanced around the room as her brows furrowed deeply in thought.

“Once… Mike told me that… this place is like a... tightrope.” El gave up searching the room for something and released Will’s hand, trying to demonstrate with gestures as she recalled the lecture. Normal people… they stay on the tightrope. But, then there is a flea that doesn’t always stay on the tightrope.”

“Right… I remember.”

El lowered her hands, pointing to herself. I am a flea… and now…” She pointed to Will.

“So are you.” Will glanced down and pressed his hands together again. El watched him, wondering if it were a habit. She gently placed her hand on top of his again, trying to reassure him. “But… that’s ok now, right? The Mind Flayer is gone.”

“... He’s not.” Will whispered.

“But… we closed the gate.” El explained. Will nodded, but then shook his head.

“Yes but… that just locked him out of our world and killed all his monsters… he’s still there. In the Upside down… but he’s still here too.”

“Where?” El’s eyes widened in surprise. Maybe a little fear? He was certainly a little fearful too.

“I still feel him…” Will looked up at the ceiling, but his mind went beyond that. To a place far above the clouds that was plenty cold and plenty empty. “A piece of him that was in me… it’s waiting up there. Waiting for something.” Will shrugged nervously. "But it hasn’t done anything all year so far.”

“How do you know?” El asked.

“Because… “ Will looked down to meet her eyes. “A piece of him… some of him is still in me too. I’m worried that… if I fall… if I go under like the flea… he could get me again.” El’s mouth hung open, unsure of what to say. If that’s true, wouldn’t closing the gate have killed him? How was he still himself? Will guessed what her questions might be, so he continued.

“It’s not like it was before. I can tell. There’s only a little left. Before it was like… I was lost in a dark cloud. The more he controlled, the cloudier it got. The less I could see or feel or think. But now… I can’t see what he’s seeing anymore. I don’t feel what he’s feeling. The now memories are gone. I feel like myself again and there aren't any clouds. All that’s left… is this … sensation of knowing where he is. He’s in the sky somewhere… usually following me… but sometimes, he follows you too.”

“He’s just… waiting.” He finished.

“Waiting… for a gate.” El concluded. She wasn’t naive enough to think the creature would just go back to where it belonged if another gate opened. “It wants… to come back here.”

“Yeah... probably.“

“... What will happen if there is another gate?” El posed the question though she partially knew the answer. The last ordeal was enough evidence to make a solid conclusion.

“You know,” Will answered. “He’ll want to kill everything. He’ll come for me again… and he’ll come for you too.”

This time, the silence in the basement was slightly uncomfortable. Like a cold unwelcome air entered the room and wrapped all around them. Instead of looking at each other eye to eye, they looked at their hands. At least their warm hands beat back the sudden chill.

“When I closed the gate… the Mind Flayer tried to stop me.” El explained. “But, I was able to make him go away. I closed the gate.” Will’s eyes glistened and he sat slightly straighter as she spoke. “If he comes again, I can stop him… we can stop him, Will. We know how.”

“There’s not much I can do…”

“You can.” El tried to meet his eyes, but Will was quite focused on looking down at their hands instead. “You can feel him. You will know when a gate opens, and you can warn us.”

“... You think so? Will that really help?”

“Yes.”

Finally, Will seemed to accept that and refocused on her face.

“...Alright.” Will smiled timidly, but El saw bravery in those eyes of his. Will was always so brave. “We’ll warn them if a new gate appears… We’ll protect everyone, together. ”

As El looked from one hazel eye to another… she saw a reflection of herself. She saw the vague outline of her face and her hair… but she also saw her past.

She and Will had lived such different lives, yet it was still so strikingly similar. She was taken away from her mother by a terrifying monster named ‘Papa’, just like Will had been taken by the Demogorgon to a dimension unknown.

‘Papa’ controlled her every move. Her every thought. Her everything. Disobedience meant punishment and pain. They hurt her. Will had everything taken from him by him. His thoughts. His feelings. His mind. Even his body. They were used to kill. To spy. To bring terrible creatures into their world.

A terrifying beast named ‘Papa’ still waited out there somewhere in the world, waiting for his opportunity to strike. Maybe waiting for an opportunity take her away again. Always waiting and searching for her. Will lived in fear every day, wondering what the Mind Flayer waiting in the sky wanted to do with him next. Anxiously hoping another gate would never open and allow the Mind Flayer to take him again.

She thought about her sister, Kali. Number 8. Kali used all her fear and anger to exact revenge on people like ‘Papa’. For a while, Eleven thought she could do the same. They hurt her. They hurt ‘Mama’. If given the opportunity, they would hurt all of her friends… but in the end, she wasn’t like Kali. She couldn’t use her anger to hunt them and hurt them. She didn’t care about them.

Will felt the same way she did. Even when fear seized his whole body, Will bravely made it through. That night when he told them to close the gate, Will would have died for them if it meant stopping the Mind Flayer. Their friends wouldn’t understand his feelings, but she certainly did. Whatever power she had… she’d use it to protect her friends. Even if it killed her. She held his slightly calloused hand, and not for the first time. But this was the first time he was able to hold hers back.

El smiled again, but this time a contagious chuckle accompanied it.

“What’s so funny?” Will asked, but he chuckled too. El reached up and ruffled his bangs.

“Brother.” She stated simply.

“GOD DAMMIT!” Dustin’s loud voice nearly shocked them to death. They turned toward the stairs as a waterfall of Cheetos rolled down step by step.

“Dustin! I told you to be careful!” Mike shouted angrily. Lucas behind them rolled his eyes and Max smirked at the scene unfolding before her. Dustin and Mike were carrying down the try of food Mike prepared so meticulously. Sadly, the Cheetos didn’t make it.

“Told you to let me carry it, Mike.” Lucas started to pick up the Cheetos to make sure they weren’t stepped on and rubbed the stairs with their feet. Mike grunted and placed a tray of food on the empty table before glancing around the room.

“Will?? I thought you were going to get everything ready?”

Will blinked in confusion, then sprung from the couch. “Oh right! I forgot. Sorry. I guess we were chatting too long.”

“Now we’re way behind schedule,” Mike complained.

“Ah chill out Mike. We’ll just play a game first and then set up the campaign. It’s not a big deal.” Dustin set down the half-empty tray of food and took a seat at the table.

“It’s kind of a big deal that you spilled Cheetos on the stairs too! Now I have to vacuum first!”

“Well,” Max started. “We’re picking up the Cheetos. Doesn’t look like there are any crumbs to even vacuum.”

“Yeah to you it doesn’t.” Mike rolled his eyes. “My mom will still know that Cheetos got spilled on the floor somehow.”

Will shook his head as he set up the TV. Some squabbling was going to break out no doubt. Will glanced over towards El. She was in a similar state of disinterest toward the squabbling over Cheetos on the stairs. Her deadpanned look was pretty funny to witness.

‘Brother’, she said. What did that mean? Does she see him as a brother?

… Well, he always wondered what having a sister would be like.

This might end up being a series? Who knows.

#stranger things #will byers #jane hopper #el hopper #mike wheeler #my content

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maryhare96 · 7 years

Text

Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

Seth Price and I wrote (and designed) a book together. He and I just got our buddy Jay Baer online to talk about its topic: personal branding. ‘Twas a quickie and a fun little three-way interview.

See, in addition to releasing The Road to Recognition: The A-to-Z Guide to Personal Branding, we’re creating plethora of bonus content including a series of interviews with “Recognition Rock Stars,” like Jay (don’t call me Drew Carey) Baer.

After bantering about which celebrities Jay is accused of looking and sounding alike, the beauty of baldness, and a vulgar book title that sometimes appears when Seth does a search for his name, we got to talking about the history, and development of, a brand called Jay Baer.

You’ll enjoy it.

youtube

Highlights from the 24-minute interview are below.

A Fearless Speaker

Seth: I discovered you watching you speak. You command the stage and tell stories that relate to customer service and marketing in a way that I hadn’t seen before. How did that evolve? You just didn’t wake up one day and command the stage. You seem to have perfected the craft.

Jay: I appreciate that. Yes and no. My mom is an English teacher. My dad is very effusive. My aunt is a big-time corporate trainer. So I wasn’t raised in a house where people were shy about speaking, and I just always was okay with it—never scared.

As a sophomore in high school, I was the guy who was the MC of everything, like every pep assembly, every talent show. But once I started doing it professionally—and it wasn’t just sort of a hobby—and was like, “Yeah, this is actually a significant part of what I do,” then it’s just being smart about it, and practice, and practice, and practice.

I’ve got a tremendous number of great coaches who I work with all the time. But I will tell you where the big shift to me was. You mentioned storytelling. Probably five years ago or so, I was talking to a couple of coaches and they said, “You have lots of stories.” They’re like, “Why isn’t that story in one of your talks?” That was a huge kind of light bulb for me.

I just am working on a new talk right where it’s the same kind of thing. It’s actually more of a stand-up style approach. With most stand-ups, especially in modern comedy, it’s almost always self-referential and self-experiential. So I try to do that now more and more. In my speaking, it has actually really worked out, but it was very, very hard to do that for a long time.

10 Years of Heavy Networking

Barry: I’m going to quote The Visible Expert. I love this book from Hinge Marketing with research on how to accelerate your path to building a powerful personal brand. Lee Frederiksen and his team wrote about and quotes you:

“My network was built on chicken wings and Bud Light. There is no substitute for getting out there and working hard and meeting people.”

Talk to us about some of the lessons that you’ve learned with regard to networking.

Jay: I am deceptively youthful-looking, but an old man. So I started doing all this in the pre-internet days, or at least very, very early when nobody actually knew what the internet was. When I used to live in Phoenix, for years, I went to at least four networking events every week. So I would go to 200 a year. It got to the point when I knew everybody in Phoenix that I needed to know.

That wasn’t because I had a personal brand, or a blog, or a podcast, or a video show, and I wasn’t even doing any speaking then either. It was just that I had put so much time into it that you just kind of ended up hooking up—you just get wired into the town. That kind of work enabled my company at the time to be the number one online marketing strategy firm in the Southwest for about five to six years in a row.

People lose that idea now. It cracks me up when I hear people, typically younger people, who come up to me and say, “Boy, I know I really should be out there doing more in social media and creating more content and working on my personal brand, but it’s just too hard. It takes up too much time.”

I’m like, “Too much time?” All you’ve got to do is sit at your desk in your underpants and send some emails and type some tweets. Give me a break, man! Try having to go to Rotary and Lions and Kiwanis and the Moose Club every night for ten years.

Competitors are just collaborators that you haven’t gotten around to doing a deal with yet. Click To Tweet H is for Helping

Seth: One of the things that you do really naturally—and we have a chapter on the book about it—“H is for Helping.” Barry and I experienced it because you wrote the foreword for our book.

Jay: Make sure you buy the book. It’s awesome. (Now available in hard cover and Kindle on Amazon.)

You’re going to learn a lot. And buy a couple of copies. I guarantee, ten pages into it—actually probably just read the amazing foreword—you’re going to want to give that book to somebody else. So buy at least two.

Seth: The point that I was getting at is you and I were in this speaking group together, and you were amazingly generous, with your time, with your advice and encouragement. It seems to be part of your DNA. Talk to us about how that impacts your business.

Jay: Thank you. I think it is part of my DNA, and I’ve always operated like that going back 25 years. Here’s my operating principle, and I genuinely believe this. Maybe it’s corny, but I feel like everybody is competition, but nobody is competition. Competitors are just collaborators that you haven’t gotten around to doing a deal with yet.

So I’m always thinking about the long game. And one of the things that bothers me about business people and folks who are really struggling to achieve their personal branding vision is that they’re always looking at such a short-term horizon. It’s like, “Well, what am I going to do this month, or how is my business doing this quarter, or what do I want my personal brand to be by the end of the year?” And I’m like, “No, no, no. You’ve got to be thinking three, five, ten years down the road.”

A lot of the decisions I make today are not going to pay off for me for three, five, seven, ten years. And I’m totally okay with that. That’s just how I’ve always operated.

The Trick to Running a Successful Business

Barry: We have a chapter about targeting. We have a chapter about creating a unique selling proposition, whereby you sort of perfect your niche and your elevator speech. And then we have a chapter called “Y is the You Do List,” which is about making choices, the things that you do daily and quarterly and long-term, like you just talked about.

I’m quoting you from The Visible Expert, again, which you could call a book about personal branding. You say “Every year we look at we’ve done. We come up with a list of 15 percent of activities that didn’t get us ahead, and we stop doing them. The trick to running a successful business is to figure out what you’re uniquely qualified to do and then do only that.” I love that.

Jay: People have asked me in the past, “When did you know you made it, or how do you define success?” I get those kind of questions sometimes on entrepreneurship podcasts, and I always answer it the same way. I am there and have been for a while, because I define success thusly: I only spend time on things I want to spend time on—period.

We don’t take clients we don’t want to take. We don’t do projects we don’t want to do. I don’t do podcasts I don’t want to appear on. I decide 100 percent how I spend my time. To me, if you can get to that point, everything else is just gravy. Money is gravy.

One of the ways we have been able to do that as an organization at Convince & Convert is by being wise about who does what and how our resources are deployed. So one of the classic traps entrepreneurs make—and people who I think are interested in personal branding are entrepreneurs of their own success—whether you’re self-employed or not is irrelevant. If you’re interested in personal branding, you are starting a business, and that business is your own recognition. It is a company of your own design.

One of the traps is to say, “I have to do all the things. Because I’m really good at all the things, therefore I must do all the things.” What we do at Convince & Convert is every year we audit my time, and we try to take 15 percent of that time away and give it to somebody else on the team. What happens is that the number of things that I do get smaller, but I’m more concentrated on those things. The more you devote your time to those things, the better off you will be.

Look, I’m not embarrassed to admit, we have a community manager at Convince & Convert who does some of my social media. I mean she sends tweets under my name and does some other stuff under my name. I obviously know what’s going on generally speaking, but I’m not so foolish as to suggest that I have to type every single letter of every single tweet. I don’t have time for that. Nor am I uniquely qualified to do.

Seth: I think that’s one of the entrepreneur’s dilemmas—relinquishing control is the hardest thing.

Jay: That’s such a great point, Seth, and I couldn’t agree more. A lot of times you’re more scared, because you’re like, “If ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Like, I’ve been a control freak forever. Why do you tell me to not be a control freak? Because the reason I’m successful was because I’m a control freak. It’s like, yeah, but at some point you start bumping up against your natural level.

Barry: Somebody asked me once, “Do you have an assistant?” And I said no, and they go, “That means you are an assistant.”

Jay: I love that.

We BS-ed a bit more after that. Watch.

Get a weekly dose of the trends and insights you need to keep you ON top, from the strategy team at Convince & Convert. Sign up for the Convince & Convert ON email newsletter.

http://ift.tt/2pprVOd

#Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

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conniecogeie · 7 years

Text

Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

Seth Price and I wrote (and designed) a book together. He and I just got our buddy Jay Baer online to talk about its topic: personal branding. ‘Twas a quickie and a fun little three-way interview.

You’ll enjoy it.

youtube

Highlights from the 24-minute interview are below.

A Fearless Speaker

10 Years of Heavy Networking

“My network was built on chicken wings and Bud Light. There is no substitute for getting out there and working hard and meeting people.”

Talk to us about some of the lessons that you’ve learned with regard to networking.

Competitors are just collaborators that you haven’t gotten around to doing a deal with yet. Click To Tweet H is for Helping

Seth: One of the things that you do really naturally—and we have a chapter on the book about it—“H is for Helping.” Barry and I experienced it because you wrote the foreword for our book.

Jay: Make sure you buy the book. It’s awesome. (Now available in hard cover and Kindle on Amazon.)

A lot of the decisions I make today are not going to pay off for me for three, five, seven, ten years. And I’m totally okay with that. That’s just how I’ve always operated.

The Trick to Running a Successful Business

Seth: I think that’s one of the entrepreneur’s dilemmas—relinquishing control is the hardest thing.

Barry: Somebody asked me once, “Do you have an assistant?” And I said no, and they go, “That means you are an assistant.”

Jay: I love that.

We BS-ed a bit more after that. Watch.

Get a weekly dose of the trends and insights you need to keep you ON top, from the strategy team at Convince & Convert. Sign up for the Convince & Convert ON email newsletter.

http://ift.tt/2pprVOd

#Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

0 notes

kraussoutene · 7 years

Text

Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

Seth Price and I wrote (and designed) a book together. He and I just got our buddy Jay Baer online to talk about its topic: personal branding. ‘Twas a quickie and a fun little three-way interview.

You’ll enjoy it.

youtube

Highlights from the 24-minute interview are below.

A Fearless Speaker

10 Years of Heavy Networking

“My network was built on chicken wings and Bud Light. There is no substitute for getting out there and working hard and meeting people.”

Talk to us about some of the lessons that you’ve learned with regard to networking.

Competitors are just collaborators that you haven’t gotten around to doing a deal with yet. Click To Tweet H is for Helping

Seth: One of the things that you do really naturally—and we have a chapter on the book about it—“H is for Helping.” Barry and I experienced it because you wrote the foreword for our book.

Jay: Make sure you buy the book. It’s awesome. (Now available in hard cover and Kindle on Amazon.)

A lot of the decisions I make today are not going to pay off for me for three, five, seven, ten years. And I’m totally okay with that. That’s just how I’ve always operated.

The Trick to Running a Successful Business

Seth: I think that’s one of the entrepreneur’s dilemmas—relinquishing control is the hardest thing.

Barry: Somebody asked me once, “Do you have an assistant?” And I said no, and they go, “That means you are an assistant.”

Jay: I love that.

We BS-ed a bit more after that. Watch.

Get a weekly dose of the trends and insights you need to keep you ON top, from the strategy team at Convince & Convert. Sign up for the Convince & Convert ON email newsletter.

http://ift.tt/2pprVOd

#Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

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fairchildlingpo1 · 7 years

Text

Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

Seth Price and I wrote (and designed) a book together. He and I just got our buddy Jay Baer online to talk about its topic: personal branding. ‘Twas a quickie and a fun little three-way interview.

You’ll enjoy it.

youtube

Highlights from the 24-minute interview are below.

A Fearless Speaker

10 Years of Heavy Networking

“My network was built on chicken wings and Bud Light. There is no substitute for getting out there and working hard and meeting people.”

Talk to us about some of the lessons that you’ve learned with regard to networking.

Competitors are just collaborators that you haven’t gotten around to doing a deal with yet. Click To Tweet H is for Helping

Seth: One of the things that you do really naturally—and we have a chapter on the book about it—“H is for Helping.” Barry and I experienced it because you wrote the foreword for our book.

Jay: Make sure you buy the book. It’s awesome. (Now available in hard cover and Kindle on Amazon.)

A lot of the decisions I make today are not going to pay off for me for three, five, seven, ten years. And I’m totally okay with that. That’s just how I’ve always operated.

The Trick to Running a Successful Business

Seth: I think that’s one of the entrepreneur’s dilemmas—relinquishing control is the hardest thing.

Barry: Somebody asked me once, “Do you have an assistant?” And I said no, and they go, “That means you are an assistant.”

Jay: I love that.

We BS-ed a bit more after that. Watch.

Get a weekly dose of the trends and insights you need to keep you ON top, from the strategy team at Convince & Convert. Sign up for the Convince & Convert ON email newsletter.

http://ift.tt/2pprVOd

#Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

0 notes

rodneyevesuarywk · 7 years

Text

Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

Seth Price and I wrote (and designed) a book together. He and I just got our buddy Jay Baer online to talk about its topic: personal branding. ‘Twas a quickie and a fun little three-way interview.

You’ll enjoy it.

youtube

Highlights from the 24-minute interview are below.

A Fearless Speaker

10 Years of Heavy Networking

“My network was built on chicken wings and Bud Light. There is no substitute for getting out there and working hard and meeting people.”

Talk to us about some of the lessons that you’ve learned with regard to networking.

Competitors are just collaborators that you haven’t gotten around to doing a deal with yet. Click To Tweet H is for Helping

Seth: One of the things that you do really naturally—and we have a chapter on the book about it—“H is for Helping.” Barry and I experienced it because you wrote the foreword for our book.

Jay: Make sure you buy the book. It’s awesome. (Now available in hard cover and Kindle on Amazon.)

A lot of the decisions I make today are not going to pay off for me for three, five, seven, ten years. And I’m totally okay with that. That’s just how I’ve always operated.

The Trick to Running a Successful Business

Seth: I think that’s one of the entrepreneur’s dilemmas—relinquishing control is the hardest thing.

Barry: Somebody asked me once, “Do you have an assistant?” And I said no, and they go, “That means you are an assistant.”

Jay: I love that.

We BS-ed a bit more after that. Watch.

Get a weekly dose of the trends and insights you need to keep you ON top, from the strategy team at Convince & Convert. Sign up for the Convince & Convert ON email newsletter.

http://ift.tt/2pprVOd

#Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

0 notes

mariasolemarionqi · 7 years

Text

Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

Seth Price and I wrote (and designed) a book together. He and I just got our buddy Jay Baer online to talk about its topic: personal branding. ‘Twas a quickie and a fun little three-way interview.

You’ll enjoy it.

youtube

Highlights from the 24-minute interview are below.

A Fearless Speaker

10 Years of Heavy Networking

“My network was built on chicken wings and Bud Light. There is no substitute for getting out there and working hard and meeting people.”

Talk to us about some of the lessons that you’ve learned with regard to networking.

Competitors are just collaborators that you haven’t gotten around to doing a deal with yet. Click To Tweet H is for Helping

Seth: One of the things that you do really naturally—and we have a chapter on the book about it—“H is for Helping.” Barry and I experienced it because you wrote the foreword for our book.

Jay: Make sure you buy the book. It’s awesome. (Now available in hard cover and Kindle on Amazon.)

A lot of the decisions I make today are not going to pay off for me for three, five, seven, ten years. And I’m totally okay with that. That’s just how I’ve always operated.

The Trick to Running a Successful Business

Seth: I think that’s one of the entrepreneur’s dilemmas—relinquishing control is the hardest thing.

Barry: Somebody asked me once, “Do you have an assistant?” And I said no, and they go, “That means you are an assistant.”

Jay: I love that.

We BS-ed a bit more after that. Watch.

Get a weekly dose of the trends and insights you need to keep you ON top, from the strategy team at Convince & Convert. Sign up for the Convince & Convert ON email newsletter.

http://ift.tt/2pprVOd

#Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

0 notes

christinesumpmg1 · 7 years

Text

Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

Seth Price and I wrote (and designed) a book together. He and I just got our buddy Jay Baer online to talk about its topic: personal branding. ‘Twas a quickie and a fun little three-way interview.

You’ll enjoy it.

youtube

Highlights from the 24-minute interview are below.

A Fearless Speaker

10 Years of Heavy Networking

“My network was built on chicken wings and Bud Light. There is no substitute for getting out there and working hard and meeting people.”

Talk to us about some of the lessons that you’ve learned with regard to networking.

Competitors are just collaborators that you haven’t gotten around to doing a deal with yet. Click To Tweet H is for Helping

Seth: One of the things that you do really naturally—and we have a chapter on the book about it—“H is for Helping.” Barry and I experienced it because you wrote the foreword for our book.

Jay: Make sure you buy the book. It’s awesome. (Now available in hard cover and Kindle on Amazon.)

A lot of the decisions I make today are not going to pay off for me for three, five, seven, ten years. And I’m totally okay with that. That’s just how I’ve always operated.

The Trick to Running a Successful Business

Seth: I think that’s one of the entrepreneur’s dilemmas—relinquishing control is the hardest thing.

Barry: Somebody asked me once, “Do you have an assistant?” And I said no, and they go, “That means you are an assistant.”

Jay: I love that.

We BS-ed a bit more after that. Watch.

Get a weekly dose of the trends and insights you need to keep you ON top, from the strategy team at Convince & Convert. Sign up for the Convince & Convert ON email newsletter.

http://ift.tt/2pprVOd

#Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

0 notes

mercedessharonwo1 · 7 years

Text

Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

Seth Price and I wrote (and designed) a book together. He and I just got our buddy Jay Baer online to talk about its topic: personal branding. ‘Twas a quickie and a fun little three-way interview.

You’ll enjoy it.

youtube

Highlights from the 24-minute interview are below.

A Fearless Speaker

10 Years of Heavy Networking

“My network was built on chicken wings and Bud Light. There is no substitute for getting out there and working hard and meeting people.”

Talk to us about some of the lessons that you’ve learned with regard to networking.

Competitors are just collaborators that you haven’t gotten around to doing a deal with yet. Click To Tweet H is for Helping

Seth: One of the things that you do really naturally—and we have a chapter on the book about it—“H is for Helping.” Barry and I experienced it because you wrote the foreword for our book.

Jay: Make sure you buy the book. It’s awesome. (Now available in hard cover and Kindle on Amazon.)

A lot of the decisions I make today are not going to pay off for me for three, five, seven, ten years. And I’m totally okay with that. That’s just how I’ve always operated.

The Trick to Running a Successful Business

Seth: I think that’s one of the entrepreneur’s dilemmas—relinquishing control is the hardest thing.

Barry: Somebody asked me once, “Do you have an assistant?” And I said no, and they go, “That means you are an assistant.”

Jay: I love that.

We BS-ed a bit more after that. Watch.

Get a weekly dose of the trends and insights you need to keep you ON top, from the strategy team at Convince & Convert. Sign up for the Convince & Convert ON email newsletter.

http://ift.tt/2pprVOd

#Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

0 notes

byronheeutgm · 7 years

Text

Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

Seth Price and I wrote (and designed) a book together. He and I just got our buddy Jay Baer online to talk about its topic: personal branding. ‘Twas a quickie and a fun little three-way interview.

You’ll enjoy it.

youtube

Highlights from the 24-minute interview are below.

A Fearless Speaker

10 Years of Heavy Networking

“My network was built on chicken wings and Bud Light. There is no substitute for getting out there and working hard and meeting people.”

Talk to us about some of the lessons that you’ve learned with regard to networking.

Competitors are just collaborators that you haven’t gotten around to doing a deal with yet. Click To Tweet H is for Helping

Seth: One of the things that you do really naturally—and we have a chapter on the book about it—“H is for Helping.” Barry and I experienced it because you wrote the foreword for our book.

Jay: Make sure you buy the book. It’s awesome. (Now available in hard cover and Kindle on Amazon.)

A lot of the decisions I make today are not going to pay off for me for three, five, seven, ten years. And I’m totally okay with that. That’s just how I’ve always operated.

The Trick to Running a Successful Business

Seth: I think that’s one of the entrepreneur’s dilemmas—relinquishing control is the hardest thing.

Barry: Somebody asked me once, “Do you have an assistant?” And I said no, and they go, “That means you are an assistant.”

Jay: I love that.

We BS-ed a bit more after that. Watch.

Get a weekly dose of the trends and insights you need to keep you ON top, from the strategy team at Convince & Convert. Sign up for the Convince & Convert ON email newsletter.

http://ift.tt/2pprVOd

#Why Do So Many People Recognize the Jay Baer Brand?

0 notes