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hopefulromances · 7 months

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I Still Get Jealous - Jamie Tartt

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: Jealousy, some heated activities

Jamie showed up to the club as soon as he could. He told you that he’d be late because of the press conference but that he'd get there as soon as he could. When he showed up, the crowd was pulsing with the music, the lights in the club a dark red color, seemingly swaying with the movement of the crowd. He pressed through the crowd looking for you in the throng.

He spotted you then, just as the song was changing. You were in a ring of friends, all there to celebrate your birthday. Work friends, some of the team, Keeley, everyone there for you. And you looked spectacular. You were wearing that dress you loved, the one you’d picked out ages ago and shown him and your smile was dazzling.

Then his eyes followed who you were smiling at. It was some man he didn’t recognize, probably someone from your office, but the look on his face was less than friendly. Right in front of Jamie’s eyes, the man looked up and down your body as you danced with friends.

Finally, your eyes found Jamie and you lit up.

“Jamie!” you called out, breaking away from your group.

He smiled at you, hooking his arm around your waist and tugging you towards him.

“Hello, darling,” he greeted before pressing his lips against yours. He kissed you harder than he normally would in public, but knowing that man was over there watching you kiss him was egging him on. You made a noise of surprise and brought your hands up to his neck.

“Mm, what was that for?” You murmured against his lips, as you pulled away.

“Happy Birthday, love,” Jamie replied, kissing you again. “You look…” he shook his head as he looked down your body. “Fucking mint.” You blushed under his praise, ducking your head down to avoid giving him the satisfaction, but he brought his finger up to pull your eyes back to him. “My gorgeous girl.”

You shook your head, not being able to help the smile on your face. “Fuck off. Come meet my friends.”

You grabbed his hand and started pulling him through the crowd. You introduced him to some of the people in your circle dancing. Molly, April, Rina, David, and a lot of other names that went right over Jamie’s head. But they were all excited to meet the famous footballer, and he was happy to answer questions, take photos, and do anything to allow his girl to shine.

“And this is Kevin,” she pulled him over to someone new. Jamie looked over and saw it was the man who’d been eyefucking her when he walked into the room. “Kevin, this is Jamie, my boyfriend.”

“How’s it going, Kevin?” Jamie put out his hand. He could be cordial.

Kevin’s eyebrows raised. “Jamie Tartt? Look, (Y/N), when you said you were dating a footballer I thought you meant Sunday church league not… star striker for AFC Richmond.”

“Well, he’s just Jamie to me,” you thrilled, wrapping your arm around his waist and leaning into him.

Jamie pulled you closer to him, turning to Kevin. “So, you two work together?”

“Kevin sits across from me,” you told Jamie. “Isn’t that right, Kevin?”

Kevin hadn’t taken his eyes off of Jamie. “Sorry, I just can’t believe you’re dating Jamie fucking Tartt! I mean how did you two meet?”

Jamie felt you shift against him, clearly uncomfortable with the line of questioning.

“Um, well, my cousin, Colin, is on the team and…”

“Wait, as in Colin Hughes?” Kevin interrupted. Jamie huffed, puffing out his chest slightly.

You pinched Jamie’s waist, silently getting him to calm down. “Yep. My dads side is welsh. But mums from London. Anyways, Colin introduced us at some gala or something and we hit it right off.”

“That’s mental, Jamie, mate, you gotta get me tickets to a game,” Kevin jeered, giving Jamie a friendly shoulder punch. But Jamie did not find it friendly. He found Kevin incredibly grating and condescending.

“Yeah, sure,” he answered shortly. “(Y/N), why don’t we go for a dance?”

He didn’t wait for you to answer, leading you away from Kevin and onto the dance floor. You pulled on Jamie’s hand, bringing him to a stop.

“Can you behave, please?” you whined, pulling him back to you.

“You want me to behave?” Jamie growled, winding his arms around your waist. “Kevin’s a dick you know that?” He started swaying the two of you to the beat.

You brought your hands up to his chest, smoothing out the dress shirt he was wearing. “He’s not that bad. Just excited to meet you.”

Jamie looked over your head to see Kevin was still looking over at you. Jamie’s arms tightened around your waist, pulling you flush against his chest. He felt your hands on his jaw as you pulled him to look down at you.

“Jamie?”

“Hm?”

“Are you jealous?”

Jamie quirked an eyebrow up, smirking. “And why shouldn’t I be?”

He spun you around and brought you so your back was flush with his chest. You gasped, letting your head fall back against his shoulder as his hands slid down the front of your body. He continued moving the two of you to the beat of the music as his lips came down to your ear.

“You see Kevin over there?” He kissed the back of your neck, relishing the shudder it drew from you. “He’s been staring at you all night. Cause you look so fucking sexy.” His lips moved over your skin. “So fucking beautiful.” Another kiss to your neck “And everyone in this room wants a taste of you.” He watched your eyes flutter close as he continued to kiss and nip on the skin behind your ear. “That’s why I’m jealous.”

Your eyes shot open when you realized what he was doing. “Did you just give me a hickey?” You brought a hand up to where he’d been sucking on your skin and felt the welt growing under your fingers. “Jamie!”

He snickered, kissing the mark, happy with his work. “Gotta make sure everyone here knows you’re taken, love.”

“You are unbelievable, what are we teenagers?”

He looked over and saw that Kevin had looked away, he couldn’t help but feel victorious as he guided you back to facing him.

“You’re really jealous, aren’t you?” you giggled, kissing his cheek. Now it was Jamie’s turn to duck away but you grabbed his jaw and pulled him back to you. “Baby.”

You knew Jamie too well to know that his preening was his insecurity shining through. As much as you loved when his strong arms kept you tight and safe against his firm chest, you knew that he just wanted to know you weren’t going to leave him.

“Corse I’m jealous,” Jaime mumbled, resting cheek against your temple. “I know that you could do better than me.”

You let out a deep sigh. How was this man, that you held so much love for, unable to see that there was no way that you could leave him. There was no one better for you than him. You wrapped your hands up so they tangled in his hair, holding his head against you as comb through his locks.

“Jamie, you know that’s not true,” you reassured him, pressing kisses to his face. “I could never leave you.”

“Kevin showed up on time,” Jamie pointed out. You could feel his pout against your cheek and you chuckled.

“Kevin is an ass,” you reminded him. He chuckled, pulling back from you so he could look at you clearly.

He looked around the club - the club both of you seemed to have forgotten you were in. He grabbed your hands and pulled them up to his lips.

“Let’s get you a drink, love.” He started pulling you towards the bar.

You nodded and started to follow him. “Wait, one more thing.”

You yanked him back to you, kissing him firmly. He caught you easily, his hands struggled for a moment to find their placement but he brought one hand sliding between your shoulder blades up to your neck and the other wrapping around your waist to hold you against him. You quickly lost control of the kiss, only able to circle his shoulders, as his hands continued to move around your body. He moved his head back and forth, kissing you firmly and passionately. Finally he pulled back and rested his head on your forehead, noses touching, before coming down one more time for a softer kiss. When he pulled back, you were staring, a little dazed as you smiled.

“What was that one for, love?” He asked, picking a stray hair off your face.

“Hm?”

“That kiss?”

“Oh! Molly was looking at you for a little too long,” you explained, raising your eyebrows at him.

“Alright! Okay!” Jamie rolled his eyes, grabbing your hands again. “Now who’s jealous?”

Just imagine this for that last kiss:

#jamie tartt #jamie tartt x reader #jamie tartt imagine #jamie tartt x y/n #jamie tartt fanfiction #ted lasso #ted lasso show

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luveline · 8 months

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first of all, congratulations on 40k! ur so very talented and all of ur stories r so amazing!

𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 + 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝'𝐬 𝐨𝐤

can i request fat!reader with hotch? maybe the reader is super anxious about meeting the rest of the team (maybe she’s already met rossi or spence or somebody) because shes worried that they’ll think she isn’t good enough for aaron so they push off them meeting for a while but then aaron gets shot (like in the shoulder or something, nothing major) and the doctors call her bc she’s on his emergency contact?

tysm babe!

There are people crowding Aaron's hospital bed. You can name them all from the photos you've seen alone; Morgan, muscled, his skin a deep sable; Reid, startlingly pale and with hair to his shoulders; and Rossi, or Dave, an older member of the team standing by the door.

Knowing them by looks isn't going to make this easier. Maybe because you know that how you look is the very first thing any of them will notice. You aren't like Aaron's previous partners, but you're here, and you'd really like to see him.

"Hello?" you ask, elbowing open the door.

Aaron looks up, sees it's you with a furrowed brow. "Did someone call you?"

Which is honestly the worst thing he could say. You know you don't look like anything special, but when you get a call from the hospital that your boyfriend's been shot in the shoulder, you rush. "I'm your emergency contact?" you say, unsure.

He frowns. "I didn't want them to call you and scare you. I'm fine."

"If there's ever a time for understating things, now isn't it," says Rossi, extending a hand to you. "David Rossi, nice to meet you."

You smile though acid twists in your stomach. "Hello."

"Derek Morgan," Derek says, offering his swiftly after.

"I'm Spencer, but I don't shake," Spencer says.

It's just as well. You don't have much patience left for shaking hands, easing past the men and their welcoming smiles to your grey boyfriend. You hesitate for a moment before giving in and touching his face. "I really would like to be called, you know, in the future." You kiss his cheek. "Even if it's scary."

"Sorry you had to introduce yourself," he says under his breath.

"Where's Emily?" you ask. You already know Emily, and she'd been so nice to you, you almost wish you'd met her outside of Aaron so that you could be friends.

"Fighting a losing battle with the coffee machine," Rossi says.

You straighten up and hold your hands behind your back. Then, self-conscious, you fold them in front of you. You know what you look like and don't usually worry when you're with the people who love you, but meeting new people brings old wounds to light. What are they thinking? you wonder. Do they think Aaron's settling? And that you're the wrong girl for him?

"I can see why Hotch hasn't introduced us sooner," Derek says. Your heart plummets through your stomach, but he winks and smiles, continuing, "He'd have competition."

(You can't know this, but they've all noticed your insecure shifting. Hotch wouldn't usually love such blatant flirtation between you and another man, but this instance gets a pass.)

"You can all go home now," Aaron says, reaching for you with the hand that isn't forcibly incapacitated.

"Aw, boss," Emily says, elbowing open the door with a blonde behind her, "what fun would that be?" She sees you standing by the monitors and grins. "Hey! I wish we were seeing each other again under different circumstances, but it's so good to see you, oh my god!"

Aaron nudges you forward secretly, his fingers at the small of your back. You step forward without more instruction to give Emily a hug. Over her shoulder, the blonde girl smiles. It's an acute relief that she's not skinny, either.

"Hey, mama, you get anything for me?" Derek asks her.

"I did, but now this beauty is here, you'll have to wait! Hi, I'm Penelope."

She's exceedingly eager to hug you as Emily had.

(Hotch doesn't even care that his shoulder feels like someone poured hot casting iron in the wound, or that he'd really like for you to be hugging him right now rather than Garcia. It's nice to see something he knew was worrying you go smoothly. Nicer still to receive the smile you shoot back over your shoulder as JJ opens the door and his room becomes somehow more overcrowded.

"She's just as cute as you said," Dave says with an approving nod. "You've still got it, Aaron. There's hope for all us old timers yet."

Hotch had called you cute, but you're a hell of a lot more than that. Definitely still got it, he thinks.)

#aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner x you #aaron hotchner x y/n #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner fic #aaron hotchner blurb #aaron hotchner drabble #aaron hotchner imagine #aaron hotchner fanfic #aaron hotchner fanfiction #hotch x reader #hotch #hotch x you #hotch blurb #hotch drabble #luveline's 40k party

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zvdvdlvr · 8 months

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i’ve been rewatching ncis lately and was wondering if you go do some fluff for ziva x reader? maybe a little bit of angst idk sorry i don’t have anything specific 😭😭 but i absolutely love your page and your writing!!!!

⎯ ❝ what i want to hear ❞ | ziva david

✰ - synopsis :: ziva messes up and needs to apologize to her beloved girlfriend.

✰ - warnings :: female reader, reader is gibbs’s daughter, r doesn’t work at ncis, angst to fluff >:p

✰ - k.j.’s diary says... sorry abt photos i cant really find any that mach the aesthetic i was going for.

“Please, y/n, for all of us: take Ziva back,” Tony pleaded, on the phone. “She keeps looking at the phone and is all nervous and keeps looking up whenever the elevator dings. I’m actually begging you right now to answer her calls.”

McGee nodded from his desk. “It’s even got Giibbs a little worried.”

Your sigh crackled through the phone. “No. I see no point. If she truly feels remorse for what she said, she’ll tell me in person.”

Tony whined and leaned back on his chair, frustrated with both of his best friends.

“I have to go because unlike you, I do my job,” y/n quipped. “I’ll talk to you, Tim, and Jethro later. Bye!”

Tim and Tony echoed their goodbyes and hung up. Ziva had her hands on her head and was clearly thinking back to the conversation from about 24 hours ago.

“You okay over there Ziva?” McNosy asked from his desk.

“I do not know why she is upset! I answered her question and now she is upset at me!” Ziva burst out, her eyes getting that ’I love her but how the hell do I fix this’ look.

“Sometimes you just gotta tell ‘em what makes ‘em happy,” Tony shrugged.

Nodding, Tim agreed. “For the first time in his life Tony’s right. Tonight go pick up some flowers and sit down with y/n and apologize for what you said.”

“I just told her the truth!” Ziva defended.

Gibbs scoffed as he rounded the corner. “If I know my kid, David, you better tell her what she wants to hear before she pulls the cold shoulder.”

Sighing, Ziva went back to typing reports on her computer while thinking about what she would say to you tonight. She knew the guys were right, she had to tell you want you wanted to hear.

𓇽 - time skip

“Hello my love,” Ziva greeted from the table of your apartment.

You shrugged your coat of without looking her way.

“y/n, please hear me when I say that I’m sorry for what I said.”

Once again, you don’t acknowledge her as you turn to the fridge to grab the pasta that Rossi had given you on your most recent visit. You scoop some spaghetti into a bowl and place it into the microwave.

“I realize now that what I said hurt you and I’m willing to make up for what I said,” Ziva spoke. She wrapped her arms around your stomach and leaned into your back.

“So then say it, Ziva,” you say quietly.

“I… I would love you as a worm. I would make a little container with soil and leaves and flowers you like and carry you around with me everywhere. I’d love you if you were a moth, black widow, pirhannah, australian hissing cockroach, or a rabid wolf. I promise.” Ziva’s words were like the most beautiful song you’d ever head, playing your heartstrings like a cowboy playing a harmonica.

“You, Ziva David, are a goddamn sap,” you coo, turning in her arms to embrace her. “I love you too. I’d make a greenhouse just for you if you were a worm.”

Ziva laughed and pressed kisses up and down y/n’s neck. “I do not doubt that, my love.”

As Ziva clung to y/n, a dopey smile pulled at her lips. She really did love this woman… even if she became a worm.

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freddiemercurylegendabovelegends · 2 months

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Today, on 23rd February, 1987

Freddie Mercury released his 7th solo single ”The Great Pretender”/ "Exercises In Free Love" - Successful, reaching No4 in charts.

David Wigg: Do you feel in um, that you have been, that you're, you said you feel you're re-living your life, do you feel you've been the big pretender?

Freddie Mercury: Basically it's, it's what the song really says is a very sort of one to one basis about, that he's pretending because she's um, gone, but he's still pretending that she's still around, basically that's (David: yes) but I thought that you could sort of take it a lot further in, just in the word 'pretender', (David: yes) so that, so that pretence, and for me, the way I'm doing this is that, you know it's tongue-in-cheek and not to take everything too seriously, that all these sort of visuals and these sort of, these images that I've portrayed over the years, is a kind of pretence, because I mean there's no way that I was real on stage, these, I, I wore costumes and I sort of put myself into different atmospheres and different characters, but underneath all that there is a real me which, you know, so, so I just thought why not, you know, I, I've been pretending all this time, you know, doing all this stuff, wearing my bananas on my head, you know, coming on peoples shoulders, wearing glitter, doing this, doing glam, wearing, you know, wearing, it was all, kind of thing, and it's, it's a kind of pretence, yes, whereas I mean, you know, underneath it I'm still, you know, a musician and so I thought I'd, I'd bring it up to the, in that level, where all these sort of costumes, where a lot of people took it so seriously, well I didn't, you know, give a damn, I just thought my God, you know, and they read far too much into it, I just thought that this is a nice way of sort of um, covering this whole sort of era of mine, call it, and um, say that look, it, it's just been a bit of fun, you know actors don't, I know, they portray somebody, they don't become those people, they go back and do something else, you know

- Freddie Mercury interview, Ibiza 1987

by David Wigg

Songs:

- ”The Great Pretender” cover version of The Platters’ 1955 original

- "Exercises In Free Love" written by Freddie Mercury / Mike Moran

Written by Freddie as his impersonation of Montserrat's vocal style. She was so enamored with the song that she insisted on recording her own version. The melody was later reused for 'Ensueño', with a set of lyrics written by Montserrat

📸 Photo by Richard Young

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bella-goths-wife · 9 months

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How the lost boys deal with their daughter escaping

Dwayne

He’s a complete mess

Not only is he having to deal with his baby being gone, but he’s also got to deal with his stab wound

You stabbed him in the shoulder pretty deep, which usually wouldn’t be a problem

If you didn’t use the vampire hunters knife

Dwayne had to resort to human ways of healing, which he finds extremely annoying after centuries of not having to bother with it

He’s also extremely worried

As stated in previous fics, Dwayne is the most protective over you

He’s terrified of you being on your own

Not even on your own, your with someone his body’s age

He doesn’t know this man, he could be a pervert for all Dwayne knows

He can’t sleep, feed or function properly

His times dedicated to finding you

He’s using your clothing to smell you and he tries to track you but he just can’t

So he just holds your clothes close to him so he can still smell you

He’s terrified and he just wants you to come home

Marko

Marko is furious

He can’t believe you’d leave

He and the boys only ever loved you and you decided to run away?

He sees it as a bratty ungrateful move

But don’t you worry, papa is gonna make sure you come home

He takes his anger out by haunting your dreams

He knows that he scares you, but maybe it’ll knock some sense into you

He’d never tell anyone, but he gets a thrill out of chasing you

It’s your fault he’s not able to hunt properly, so you have to make it up to him somehow

He’d never kill you, but he loves the power of you fearing him

He does miss you though

He finds himself staring at photographs of the two of you together from when you were younger, before the incident that broke your trust in him completely

He will get you home, that’s a given

But when he does, your in for a world of hurt

Paul

Paul is surprisingly guilty

He keeps looking at the photo of your mother, and every time he feels a frustrated feeling creep into his unbeating heart

He remembers your mother, he didn’t like her when he met her

But he remembers that he always thought she had the most beautiful eyes he’s ever seen

The same eyes that stared back at him in betrayal during your last conversation

The same eyes that glared at him in hatred

It’s not fair, he’d just gotten close to you again and you left him

He wants to hold you close and whisper that he loves you

The only reason he haunts your dreams is so he can see you

He doesn’t enjoy it one bit, he has to get high just to do it

Speaking of getting high, he’s sees you sometimes

He’s moved from weed to hallucinogenic stuff and when he does, you appear to him

Sometimes your young, sometimes your old

Sometimes your happy, sometimes your sad

He doesn’t care, as long as he sees you

David

The last words you said to David live in his head every minute of the day

“I’m no longer your daughter”

It’s all hears all day, he’s memorised the way you said

You had such a relieved tone, you sounded grateful

Grateful you weren’t his anymore

That’s what you think, you’ll be back with him where you belong soon

He sits in your room most days and surrounds himself with you

He looks around and wonders what goes on inside your mind

As much as you angered him, worried him, crushed him when you left you also sparked something else

Intrigue

You were able to befriend someone, have them help you, save up enough money and create a plan in the space of a few weeks all without him knowing

You’ve fascinated him

How did you manage to sneak out right underneath him?

He also deep down feels the littlest bit of pride

He raised you to be smart, clearly he raised you too smart

But your actions all felt so very…. David like

He’s still intent on hunting you down, thats for sure

You’ve slowed him down by stabbing him in the hand with the blessed knife, which if it was any other situation david would have been proud of you

David feels the need to be in your mind, to think like you and he’ll find you

He’s squeezed enough information out of your pathetic lovers, so he has a general idea

Better watch out baby, daddy’s coming to bring you home

And his punishment won’t be light

#slashers x reader #lost boys x reader #lost boys x child reader #platonic lost boys x reader #yandere lost boys x reader #poly lost boys x reader #yandere lost boys #dad lost boys #the lost boys #lost boy x reader

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we-are-inevitable · 1 year

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hollywood au + flowershop/tattoo artist au ? - asper

oh my fuck. oh my fuck

ty for the ask!! @loving-jack-kelly

***

“Charlie!”

A distant thud, and then: “What the fuck are you yelling for? It’s eight in the morning, oh my God.”

Jack only feels a little bit sorry for him. He should probably feel worse; today is Charlie’s only day off this week, having picked up an extra day at the floral shop he works at, but this— it’s important, truly. “Just— Just hurry up and get in here, man, this is— I— Holy fuck.”

“Oh, yeah, of course, make the disabled guy walk to you instead of come to him. Perfect logic there,” Charlie calls out, his voice getting closer and closer with each word, soon emerging from the small hallway in their shared apartment. “What are you freakin’ out over this time?” He says as he rests his cane against the arm of the couch, plopping down and swinging his bad leg across Jack’s lap.

Instead of replying, Jack just keeps staring down at his phone. Staring at the new notifications. Staring at something that has to be a dream. Right? Because, if this is real— if these notifications are actually there, if Charlie sees them too— then this is going to be fucking insane. This is going to completely change his career.

His hands shake, just barely, as he passes Charlie the phone. “Look. Those— Those ain’t fake. Right? Is that a- a parody account or somethin’?”

Charlie stares at the screen for a few moments, takes it in, and says: “Holy… fuck.”

Instagram: davidjacobs started following you.

You have one unread message from davidjacobs.

“I haven’t even looked at the message yet,” Jack says after a moment, eyes wide. “He, like— that’s him? Like, actually—?”

“His account has the blue check mark and everything,” Charlie says in a rushed voice, and Jack watches him scroll through the Instagram feed after clicking on the account. “This— Look, he just posted photos yesterday from a shoot with Prada. Fucking Prada, Jack, that’s— that’s huge! And this one, he’s on Vanity Fair, and—“

“Give me that,” Jack says, reaching over and ripping his phone out of Charlie’s hands. “Did you look at the—?”

“No, no, I didn’t,” Charlie cuts in, leaning closer to look over Jack’s shoulder. “Open it! Come on, don’t be chicken shit.”

“Will you shut the fuck up and let me think?”

“Will you shut the fuck up and let me see the DM?”

Jack groans, then clicks on the messages tab. There it is, right there: David Jacobs, requesting to DM him. Jack can’t exactly believe it. David Jacobs, the man who won an Oscar just over a week ago, has messaged him. David Jacobs, the hottest man alive, pop culture’s current golden boy, Jack’s biggest celebrity crush, has messaged him.

He takes a deep breath and opens the DM.

davidjacobs: Hi, Jack! I’m looking to get a tattoo soon, and a buddy of mine sent me your page. Your work is incredible, and your style is exactly what I am looking for. I’d love to book you for a session if you have anything available. I’ll be in Manhattan for a week starting on the 27th before heading back to LA; do you have any availability? If not, I’d love for you to shoot me a message when your bookings open up. Thanks. DJ xx

“Oh my God,” Charlie blurts out, putting a hand on Jac’s shoulder. “Oh my fucking God, David Jacobs wants you to tattoo him! Holy— Do you know what this means?!”

“I— I have to open shop on a Tuesday,” Jack says, almost in a dreamlike state. “I’m fully booked for the next, like, month, but I— I can open shop on a Tuesday, and have him come in, and we can- I don’t know, it would be worth it? He’d tip really fuckin’ well, and—“

“He’s willing to wait for you,” Charlie interrupts. “Holy shit. You’re tattooing an Oscar winner.”

“I’m tattooing an Oscar winner,” Jack repeats, nodding his head.

It slowly starts to sink in. David Jacobs, an Oscar winner, a twenty-three year old with 58.9 million Instagram followers, who’s face is on every ad in the country, Hollywood’s newest heartthrob, wants a tattoo from Jack Kelly. Jack Kelly, whose shop isn’t even that well known. He has about five thousand followers on his personal page, and even less on his shop’s page. He only employs two other artists- a guy named Finch and another named Spot- because he can’t afford a larger space for the shop, and he’s been trying so hard to grow their followings and promote his art, his dream, and now…

Jack takes one look at Charlie, and says, “I think I’m going to throw up.”

And an hour later, David Jacobs’ name is on his books.

#i didnt rlly know how to fit the flowershop thing HAH so charlie is a florist #charlie and jack are besties and roommates #davey is jack’s cause of gay panic #and i’m sure jack will cause davey’s gay panic as well #actually. maybe i want to finish writing this. hm.#this was so fun #jack kelly #davey jacobs #david jacobs #crutchie #crutchie morris #newsies #livesies #ask a jac !#newsies musical #javid #javey #jac writes #tattoo hollywood au

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wonderstruks · 1 year

Text

Pictures

Bestfriend! Gareth x Gn! Reader

Summary: Gareth is your best friend and he has a secret collection of photos that he does not want you knowing about.

Warings: Gareth is a bit of creep, mentions of masterbation, and cursing!

I DO NOT GIVE ANY PERMISSION FOR MY WORK TO BY COPIED ONTO OTHER SITES

Gareth didn't know what possessed him to feel the way he did, he didn't know how to deal with his feelings, and he didn't understand why the universe forced him to be in love with his best friend.

All he knew is that he could never tell them. The mere idea of you turning him down was enough to kill the poor boy. Not even to mention what it would do to your friendship.

So, he did what he thought was best, he suffered in silence.

The only thing he had was his pictures. Pictures that he took of you when you didn't notice.

Sure, it sounds creepy, but that was never his intention.

He purely just loved the way you looked, the way your eyes sparkled when you smiled, and the way your smile matched your personality.

To Gareth, you were an absolute dream, and going back and looking at these pictures makes his heart flutter.

Whenever he has a bad day, he'll take the box containing the images and just stare at them, reliving the good days he's spent with you in his head.

Even if you weren't there, you still made him the happiest.

“Gare! You did not just say that!”

“It's true! Ozzy will always be better than David Lee Roth.”

You giggled and softly punched his shoulder.

“Hey, I'm driving here!”

“I hope you total your car, that's what you get for saying that!”

“Dang so evil!”

You laughed again and leaned deeper in the passenger seat.

“I'm sorry! You are okay though, did I hurt you?”

His heart fluttered, of course you would ask that.

His cheeks started to flush.

“You totally broke my arm! Gonna have to chop it off now.” He said sarcastically.

“Jerk.” You joked back.

Soon you pulled up to his house.

A place you have become so familiar with, a place that felt like a second home to you.

“Home sweet home!” You cheered.

Home.

You thought of this as home, and that made Gareth's head spin.

Racing out the car you jogginged up the doorsteps and to the door.

“Beat you!”

Gareth didn't care in fact, he liked watching you from behind.

He rolled his eyes and unlocked the door.

“Hey I'm gonna take a quick shower, that okay with you?” He said, shutting it behind him.

“Sure, but can I watch a movie in your room?”

“You know you don't have to ask, but yeah, unless it's pretty in pink I hate the movie.”

And oh how he did hate that movie.

A girl who's best friend was in love with her, and she turned him down for someone better. It all seemed a little too real for Gareth.

“You love it and you know it!”

You both parted ways, and you started to tear apart Gareth's room looking for his VHS tapes.

You swear every time you come over, he hides them.

Sighing, you fall to your knees and bend to look under the bed.

There was a ton of junk down there, but something caught your eye.

It was a box.

The box was brown with a golden trimming to it.

Gareth had never shown you this before, he's your best friend he shows you everything.

You grabbed the box and pulled it towards you.

Taking a little look wouldn't hurt anything, right?

You pushed it open and took in a deep breath.

“What?”

It was photos of you, most you had no idea existed.

You picked up one where you were smiling while holding an ice cream cone, you remembered that day it was two summers ago, and you begged Gareth to buy you one, but you didn't know he took this.

You sat it back down just as the door opened, revealing Gareth with dripping wet hair.

His eyes turned into pure terror when he noticed what you were doing.

“Gareth, what is this?” You nervously ask.

“You weren't supposed to see that.”

“Gareth, what is this!” You ask more sternly.

“They're pictures.”

You slammed the box down in annoyance.

“Why do you have them? When did you take them? Do you masturbate to them or something?”

“NO! God No.” He interjected.

Sighing, he sat down the bed.

“Then why do you have them, and why are there so many of them?”

“Because you're the most beautiful person I've ever met, okay?”

You jumped at his stern tone.

Was he mad that you found this?

But you also felt your stomach flutter.

He found you beautiful.

“You think I'm beautiful?”

“The prettiest thing, you have no idea how long I've loved you.”

Your eyes fell to shock, your mouth started to dry, he loved you?

“For how long?”

“Since seventh grade.” He admitted.

You sighed and sat up on the bed with him.

“No, please don't.”

“What?”

“Please not here, please don't break my heart, I'm my own house.”

“Gareth Emerson, you listen to me right now.”

The boy looked up at you longingly.

“I love you too.”

His cheeks flushed.

“What?”

You bent down and grabbed the box, placing it between the two of you.

You pushed around and looked for a certain one, he had to have a photo of it.

And lucky for you, he did.

You grasped it and smiled, shoving it into his hands.

“This day is the day I fell for you.”

It was a photo of you sitting next to his drum set. The whole day he was teaching you how to play, and every little touch he gave you sent butterflies swirling in your stomach you knew that day that you loved him, but you vowed to never tell him, well, that was until now.

He smiled at you.

“You still suck at the drums.”

“Hey you're not perfect either stalker!”

He laughed.

“I am not a stalker. I can't help it, you're just so pretty, I had to capture the moment.”

You giggled as he started at you.

His eyes flickered from your lips to your eyes.

Noticing this, you leaned over and captured his lips against your own.

The feeling was absolutely foreign, you never knew how much you craved this until it finally happened.

You sighed as he pulled away.

“Totally epic.”

You rolled eyes.

“Now tell me, honestly, have you ever masturbated to these photos before?”

“Gareth?”

“GARETH?”

#gareth x reader #gareth emerson x reader #gareth stranger things #gareth emerson #gareth the great #stranger things drabble #gareth fluff #best friend gareth #gareth x gn reader #gn!reader

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tarabyte3 · 6 months

Text

I'm finally home from 10 days of traveling so I can post that

Dallas Fan Festival was last weekend!!

It was so much fun! 😭 I got to see Andy Serkis again and hangout with some of my dear friends (who are also some of my beloved mutuals 💕🥰). We all got autographs and to torment each other in line—some of us (me) more than others. 😇😈 We also got a group photo with him, which I absolutely adore! It's one of my favorite photos ever. He was SO excited when we all swarmed him! We all look so cute and he has a massive grin on his face.

(During the photo, I also rested my hand directly between his flexed shoulder blades and THE MUSCLES ON THAT MAN, DEAR FUCKING GOD, Y'ALL 🥵 trying to MURDER me)

Here are some photos I took of him in the autograph line

I had him sign the covers to Pandaemonium and The Accused 😍🥺 He was thrilled about Pandaemonium and said he really liked that movie. I told him I have a degree in English Literature and Poetry (which he seemed very impressed by 😎 My degree finally came in handy lol), so I really liked it as well. That it meant a lot to me to have a movie actually about poets—even moreso because he was in it. AND I finally got his signature next to Liam Black 🫠 There isn't a lot of open space on the cover so he wasn't sure where to sign it. I said, "We might have to sacrifice Sean Bean's head." He chuckled and, in a fake serious voice, said, "Sorry, Sean." HE'S ALWAYS SO SWEET AND LOVELY AND WONDERFUL 😭🥹

Sunday we went to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas because they were playing Blue Whales: Return of the Giants. Which is a documentary on blue whales...narrated by Andy 😂 The lady checking our tickets said she liked our shirts because of course we rolled in there representing. (The documentary opened with him going, "Can you hear that? Can you feel that?" And we were all Very Normal 😌)

The panel was really good. I know there are people that don't like that actors can't talk about their projects with the SAG-AFTRA strike going on, but I LOVE that we get to hear him talk about himself. He talked about his acting and performance capture, theater, mountain climbing, his love of jazz, and his photography, which he doesn't talk about a lot and was very exciting!! The interviewer was fantastic and asked a lot of fun "this or that" questions (he picked art museums over history museums, vampires over werewolves, but struggled with plays vs musicals lol). Here's a link to the panel if you want to watch it yourself!

I got a Caesar Funko, a Snoke figure, and an OG Cornelius figure. We also ""acquired"" some of the photos you could get signed if you didn't have anything special for him to sign, so I ended up with a David Robey and a Caesar print 🫠😌🥵. (Bless you and your taste for crime, H. I love you.)

Overall, it was such a great convention and an amazing weekend. I loved Dallas. Huge thanks to @communism-bitches, @csboz, @the-eyes-of-andyserkis, and @tarrenterror25 for making the weekend extra fantastic and for being so lovely. 🥹 I love and appreciate you all so much. We're absolutely doing this again soon, hopefully with the rest of TNBF crew to make it EVEN better! 😍💖 Andy Con 2024!

#andy serkis #dallas fan festival #dallas fan festival 2023 #conventions #autographs #the next big franchise #tnbf #andy con 2023

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canirove · 10 months

Text

The Princess & the Football Player | Chapter 18

Author’s note: This chapter was inspired by these gifs from last year. The last one lives rent free in my head since then 🥵

Previous chapter | Next chapter

Masterlist

"Good morning, your Royal Highness."

"Good morning, Declan Rice."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Like a baby. You have the most comfortable bed ever."

"Well, it is a queen size bed."

"What?" I laugh.

"That's what the guy from the shop said. Little did I know..." he smirks, the arm around my waist pulling me closer to him. "Are you hungry? Should we make some breakfast?"

"Not yet. I'm so comfortable and cosy here... Let's cuddle for a bit longer" I say, curling against his chest.

"As the lady commands" he replies, kissing the top of my head. "But do you think David will let us go out for a walk? It would be a shame to spend the day at home when the sun is shining.”

"We can ask. Where would you like to go?"

"Since last week you basically got a tour of my childhood through my photos, what if I take you to the real places? Like my school, the park where I used to play football..."

"That sounds lovely. Should I call him?"

"Do it" Declan smiles.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"I don't think that is a great idea" David says after we've explained our plans.

"Why not?"

"Because someone could recognize you?"

"I have my wig. No one at the stadium recognized me" I say.

"Because you were surrounded by thousands of people who were more interested in what was going on in the pitch than the people around them. Here you will be alone, and with him."

"I'll wear a hat. That has worked before" Declan says.

"Has it?" David asks, raising an eyebrow.

"It has. And most people who recognize me just ignore me, they are tired of seeing me around visiting my family."

"I still think it is a bit risky. If they recognize you and see you with a girl, they may be curious about who she is and..."

"Oh, c'mon David. Don't be a party pooper" I pout.

"Ok, fine" he sighs. "But I'll be behind you all the time."

"Of course!"

"And I'm driving."

"Can't I do that?" Declan asks. "I really enjoyed our ride yesterday after the game."

"It is for your own good, David. You don't want to hear him sing."

"Hey!"

"I'm sorry, Dec. But you were born to play football and be hot, not to sing" I shrug.

"Ok, you can drive" David says. "But where do you want to go? I need to know the route."

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"And I got my first kiss under that sledge over there."

"With Lilith?"

"Nah. Her name was Elizabeth. Lizzy. I think she's already married and has three kids."

"Oh wow" I chuckle. "So this is where you used to hang around all the time as a kid?"

"Yup. And at that building there" Declan says, pointing at the end of the street "is my youth club."

"Oh... Is it open? Can we go?"

"Why are you so excited about it?" he chuckles.

"I don't know. You and your mum have told me so many stories about it, that now I am curious" I shrug.

"Ok, let's go" he says, giving my hand a little squeeze. So far we've been walking around holding hands or with his arm around my shoulders and no one has paid any attention to us. Guess the wig and the hat do work. Sometimes.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Welcome to the youth club, your Royal Highness" Declan says, opening the door for me.

"Thank you very much, Declan Rice" I giggle.

"You will feel at home here" he says, nodding towards a photo of my father.

"He hasn't looked like that in years" I laugh. "Remind me to send them an updated version."

"I should also send them an updated version" he says, stopping in front of a big mural with photos of kids playing football. "I still can't believe they allowed me to leave the house with that hair."

"Maybe that's the reason why they expelled you that one time."

"How do you know about that? Did my mum tell you?"

"You said it on that video with Amelia."

"You've watched my videos?"

"I did my research after I met you" I shrug.

"And you liked what you saw" he smirks.

"Very much. Though I still don't know how Amelia was able to finish that interview and stay focused. You were literally staring into her soul."

"I wasn't" he laughs.

"Yes, you were, Declan. I don't know what I would have done if I had been her, to be honest. Either lay on the floor on a puddle of my own droll, or throw myself at you."

"The second option is the most likely one" he smirks again. "Anyway, fancy a pool game?"

"I... I've never played pool."

"You've nev... Eleanor!"

"What?"

"I thought this was a game everyone played, royal or not."

"We do have a table back home, but I never was interested in it."

"And none of the guys you dated tried to teach you to have an excuse to touch your butt?" he asks, arching an eyebrow.

"They never dared."

"Boring."

"Is that why you play? To touch girls' butts?" I ask, also raising an eyebrow.

"Me? Never. But I am a really good teacher. Do you want me to show you?"

"Ok."

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"That's perfect" Declan says behind me. "Now hit the white ball."

"The white ball" I say, focusing on it... And missing.

"Don't worry, you just need to practice" he says with a smile before leaning over the table and hitting one of the balls.

"Jesus Christ, Declan."

"What? That was like the most basic thing you can do" he says, moving one of his hands all over the table as he gets up, making me feel... Hot. Very, hot.

"I wasn't talking about that."

"Uh?"

"It was the way you were leaning over the table. The way you then touched it. That was pornographic, Declan."

"That was what?" he laughs.

"I'm serious. Just thinking about it... Wow."

"Really?" he asks with a cheeky smile.

"Really. Can you get jealous of a pool table? Because I think I am."

"C'mon, it's your turn."

"What? You want me to keep playing? In this state and after showing you that I suck?"

"Yes, I do" he says, looking me in the eyes like on that YouTube video, staring into my soul and making my body temperature go a few more degrees up.

"This is a mistake."

"We'll see" he says, moving behind me. But this time, there barely is no space between us, and when I bend down, he does it with me, his hands on mine.

"You must focus, Eleanor."

"I can't focus when you are talking to my ear, and I can feel your dick against me."

"Language!" he laughs. "Focus on the orange one."

"Declan..."

"Focus" he repeats. But when I'm about to hit it, he gets up, his hands slowly moving from mine to my waist and then my hips.

"Fucking hell" I say, completely missing my shot. "Was that necessary?"

"Um?" he says, looking down at me, his hands still on my hips.

"You are not thinking about playing pool, are you?"

"I am not."

"And what are you thinking about?" I say, slowly moving up again until my back is against his chest.

"The same that you were thinking about when I was bending over the table."

"Pornographic things?" I ask, moving my butt against him.

"Fuck" he gasps.

"We can't do that here, Declan. What if someone walks in?"

"David is at the door, no one will come in" he says, kissing my neck.

"Still. What if he comes in?"

"Then at least I'll die a happy man."

"Declan!" I laugh.

"What are we going to do with this?"

"With what?"

"With what is going between our legs. We can't go out like this."

"We may have to" I say, moving my butt against him again, making him grunt.

"There is a bathroom over there."

"We are not having sex in the bathroom, Declan."

"It wouldn't be the first time" he says, leaving another kiss on my neck.

"But this is a public place, not a private Italian villa."

"And doesn't that make it more exciting?"

"No?" I chuckle.

"C'mon" he says, letting go of my hips and offering me his hand.

"Oh God, you are serious about this."

"I can take care of this on my own, or we can do it together" he shrugs.

"Did teenage Declan ever do it here?" I ask with a smile.

"Take care of himself or have sex?"

"Both."

"Never. Today will be the first time."

"If allow it" I say, making him laugh while I take his hand and follow him to the bathroom.

The moment he closes the door, he pushes me against it, kissing me, hands going all over each other.

"Did you lock it?" I ask him, throwing away his hat and getting my fingers tangled on his hair.

"I did."

"Check again."

"It is locked, Eleanor" he says before kissing me again, moving through the room until my back hits the sink.

"Careful" I chuckle. "I don't want a bruised back."

"Then I'll have to turn you around" he smirks, doing exactly that. Now we are looking at each other through the mirror's reflection, and again, I feel like he is staring into my soul.

He keeps looking at me like that while his hands move under my dress, his fingers slowly pulling down my underwear until it is on my ankles.

"You know, this sink may not be a pool table" he says, unbuttoning his jeans "but it may do the trick. What do you think?"

"It may" I whisper, my knuckles turning white as I hold onto it.

"I think it will. It definitely will."

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Stop smiling like that."

"How?" Declan chuckles.

"Like that" I say pointing at his face. "Like you just had sex at your youth club."

"I didn't know there was a smile that said all that" he says, turning to look at me while we are stopped behind another car, a smirk on his face.

"Oh, shut up!" I say, moving his face with my hand and making him focus on the road again. After our little... experience in the bathroom, it was almost time to go back home. And thankfully, it looked like David didn't hear anything that happened, though he definitely suspects we did more than just play pool.

"I'm sorry if I can't help but smile. You know you were my crush when I was a teenager, this feels like full circle."

"Instead of just imagining yourself fucking me, you actually did it" I laugh.

"Exactly."

"Wait, you actually thought that as a teen?"

"Of course I did."

"Mason wasn't lying that day at the mini golf place, then?"

"Nope. I have that photo in my room because I loved seeing you on that black dress and think about taking it off. And that was a thought I had many times. Many times" he smirks.

"While touching yourself?"

"Usually, yes" he shrugs.

"Oh my God" I laugh again. "I need to search for it again."

"The dress?"

"Yep. That, or try and find the same one second hand or something."

"You have to find it. Please."

"Want to make your fantasy become a reality?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I want to make my fantasy and yours a reality."

"Mine?"

"Yours, yes. First we'll have a romantic dinner at my place with good food, candles, nice music... And you will wear the dress. Then I'll take you up to my games room, take that dress off you, and fuck you on the pool table. Isn't that what you wanted today?" Declan says, turning to look at me.

"It was, yes" I gulp, my face definitely as red as the light we are stopped at.

"Then you know what to do. Find that dress, and then we'll schedule our date. Deal?"

"Deal."

"May I get a kiss on the cheek to close it? I must keep my eyes on the road."

"You may" I giggle.

"Thank you, your Royal Highness."

"You're welcome, Declan Rice."

#declan rice #declan rice fanfic #declan rice imagine #football fanfic #football imagine

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quicksilverownsmysoul · 2 years

Text

Santa Carla’s Christmas in July

So this is the first of my Christmas in July week!! I meant to do one a week but the month got away from me 😂 I decided to do a lost boys one because I love them all sm and hey it takes place in the summer! so it may be a little rough around the edges but it was fun to write so I hope y’all enjoy it!

Summary: The boys all attend Santa Carla’s Christmas in July hoping to find easy prey, but they end up finding someone far more interesting instead.

Paring: The lost boys x gn reader (can be read as poly or the boys being competitive for reader. However you want to interpret it).

Warnings: fluff, bad banter I guess

David couldn’t believe the gaudy decorations that littered the beach. Poor excuses for Christmas trees propped up in the sand decorated in cheap ornaments and discarded beer bottles from drunk celebrators. They were blasting Christmas jingles from the speakers that lined the boardwalk as tourists flooded the city for the event.

It was Santa Carla’s first ever Christmas in July, no doubt a cheap trick to pull in tourists. And he would rather be anywhere else, but Paul high off who knows what had convinced him and the others to attend the event. Bringing up the point that the celebration would bring fresh prey that was easy to catch. And he couldn’t argue with that. They all looked as out of place as they always did, their leather jackets and piercings clashing with the reds and greens that everyone else adorned.

But it seemed Paul’s genius plan wasn’t as fool proof as he had promised. Despite it being well past midnight the streets were still crowded with families, something that wasn’t ideal for a feeding. There was no way they would be able to get away without an audience to watch and expose them for what they really were.

So instead they stood by their bikes bored as the waited for it to die down. As always Marko and Paul found a way to entertain themselves. He watched with a disinterested gaze as they tormented guests, jeering at them as they walked past and tripping a couple teens here and there. Paul even stole a raggedy Santa hat off a display before sauntering back over to the group. He placed it onto his head with a careless plop. “Very attractive.” Marko snickered.

“What ya think David, I make a pretty good Saint Nick don’t I?” Paul asked, checking out his reflection in his bike.

“You look stupid.” Marko answered, stealing the thoughts right out of David’s mind. Paul turned back to bark an insult and David grew bored of the interaction. He scanned the boardwalk taking in the pop up store that had set up shop. There were ones selling ornaments, another selling postcards and the biggest one was advertising photos with Santa. He snickered as he saw Micheal among the workers at Santa’s workshop, decked out in an elf outfit down to the pointy shoes.

Marko walked over to David, Santa hat now perched on his head. He followed his leaders gaze and let out a loud laugh. “Look at pretty boy!” He hollered, loud enough for Micheal to hear all the way across the boardwalk. Micheal whipped his head in their direction before flipping the group off. They all laughed as they made their way over to the display.

“That desperate for cash eh Micheal?” David teased, arm coming to wrap around the half vampire’s shoulders.

“Oh fuck off David I’m working.” Micheal grumped, shrugging off his arm and turning back to the table he was residing at. He was stacking greeting cards that were available for purchase, just as he finished placing the last one on top, Paul bumped the table causing it all to fall. “Shit.”

“Aw my bad Mikey.” Paul grinned, picking up the cards to hand them back. Micheal reached for them only for Paul to toss them all in the air. “Oops.”

“Will you guys just get out of here.” Micheal growled, picking up the cards that now littered the floor.

“Why do you want us gone so bad?” Marko asked, stepping on the card the other boy was going to pick up.

“Because you are scaring the children and you’re going to make me lose my job.” Micheal responded, stomping on Marko’s foot to make him lift off the card. Marko pushed him back, which would have lead to a fight if you hadn’t interrupted.

“Hey Micheal, Laura wanted me to come help you over here-“ You trailed off as you took in the site before you. Four guys who all looked like extras in an mtv video were huddled around Micheal, jeering at him until the picked up on your presence. Their gazes all snapped to you, they didn’t seem to blink as they all watched you round the table and settle in beside Micheal without another word.

“Or is this why you didn’t want us here?” David whispered, gloved hand coming to clap Micheal on the back. He tsked. “You were trying to hold out on us Micheal. That’s not very nice.” The two began a silent argument as you did you best to avoid the gazes of the other three men.

You kept your eyes cast downward as you restocked the cards, that was until a pair of eyes met yours. Your head snapped up as you started down at the blonde with the wild hair laying his head back on the table. He was leaning backwards against the table, head on the counter as he starred up at you. His eyes were blown wide as he gave you an open mouth smile. “You’re pretty.” He mused causing your face to warm up.

“Very Pretty.” You turned to the other blonde who spoke up. This one had curly hair and pretty eyes. He handed you a stack of cards that he had picked up from the floor, your hands brushed as he smirked.

“Thank you.” You smiled gratefully, placing the cards next to the others. “So are you.” Your compliment seemed to take the boy by surprise, his whole face turned red and he excused himself to go stand by the tall brunette, muttering to himself as he lite a cigarette. The brunette nodded at you, a soft smile on his lips. You nodded back with a smile of your own. It seemed these boys weren’t as tough as you had initially thought.

“Do you have a name princess?” You turned to face the one who you had heard Micheal address as David.

“I’m (y/n).”

“Just ignore these idiots (y/n).” Micheal mumbled, earning him a jap in the side from Paul.

“Don’t take his advise sweetheart, we’re kind of hard to ignore.” David joked, pushing Micheal to stand in between you two.

“Is that so?” You teased, tilting your head to the side as you looked at him. Noting his pale complexion and how cold his touch was when his fingers brushed over the exposed skin on your arm.

“And we don’t take kindly to it.” The twisted sister look alike added, jumping up to sit on the counter.”

“What time to you get off?” David asked, his eyes twinkling with something you couldn’t quite place.

“In about 10 minutes.” You answered.

“Well then we’ll be waiting for you and pretty boy by our bikes. Meet us when you’re done.” That was all David said before he turned and walked off, the others following close behind.

Micheal side eyed you, hands fixing his tilted elf cap. “I hope you aren’t thinking of going with them.”

You smiled, looking at him from under your lashes. “I don’t know they seem like fun.”

“They’re dangerous.” Micheal warned, hand coming to lay over yours.

“Aw, are you worried about me?” You cooed taking his hand in yours, causing him to scoff and pull away, his cheeks tinted pink.

“You wish.”

“Don’t worry Micheal I’ll be fine.” There was a feeling gnawing at you, warning you that there was something off with those men but you pushed it to the back of your mind. “After all, how dangerous can they be?”

#the lost boys x reader #the lost boys fanfiction #the lost boys headcanon #the lost boys x female reader #the lost boys x you #the lost boys david #david the lost boys #david the lost boys x reader #micheal emerson #Micheal Emerson x reader #paul the lost boys #paul the lost boys x reader #marko the lost boys #Marko the lost boys x reader #dwayne the lost boys #fanfiction #christmas in july #the lost boys michael

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zealouscanonindeer · 7 months

Text

Drunken nights

Synopsis: Ethan comes home drunk and gives Aspen a show of a lifetime.

Rating: Teen. Mentions of sex.

Category: Fluff.

*********

Saw these photos of David Gandy and the first thing that my brain said was drunk Ethan.

********

Ethan woke up with the worst headache he'd had in ages, his head felt like a huge rock, pulling him down. He opened his eyes, only to find a dizzying feeling submerging him, he promptly shut his eyes, unable to take the stimulus. He groaned, trying once more, this time he could make out a blurry outline of a woman, her dark hair and white work shirt causing him to squint as she slowly grew into focus.

".. Rookie" He slurred, throwing an arm over her shoulder with too much force causing her to fall onto the bed under his weight.

He heard a shriek followed by distant laughing, he felt her move from under his arms, causing him to groan, a pout situating on his lips. This made her laugh even more.

He groggily tried to sit up and only made it half way before the throbbing in his head escalated. He looked up and Aspen had already moved to the vanity, removing her pearly earring. They locked eyes in the mirror and an amused smirk bloomed on her face which turned into a light snort followed by hysterical laughter.

"What? "

"Nothing." She caught her breath, the smile never leaving her face.

"What time is it? "

"It's 7 30 pm. You slept through the entire day, not that I'm surprised, you had a lot yesterday. " He nodded, the motion sending another spike through his head.

"When did you go? "

"My shift started at 10. Wasn't too long today, only upto 7. I just came back, to find you still in bed." "Be careful, Ethan. " She warned.

"Why? "

"Cause you're getting old, I'm not sure how long you can continue getting hungover. " She laughed.

"I'll show you old. "

" No offence but I don't see you doing any showing, atleast not till you've recuperated. " Besides you did put up quite a show yesterday. " She chortled again, walking out towards the kitchen.

"How do you mean? " Ethan called out after her, pushing the sheets of his legs to get up, to find himself stark naked. He couldn't remember a thing that happened last night.

"Aspen, why am I naked? " He questioned, entering the kitchen,haphazardly holding the sheet against him.

"Cause you just can't stand clothes, they stop you from viewing things you admire the most in the world. " She turned around from the pot in front of her, putting down the ladle on the countertop, pulling the thin sheet from his grasp and wrapping it around his waist properly before tucking the end.

"All your words, not mine. " Now she had moved onto his hair, pushing the locks into place trying to get rid of his bedhead.

He didn't remember ever uttering those words in his life. Wow, he really must have been stone cold drunk, a med school reunion with Tobias does that. He had enjoyed too much it seems.

"What exactly happened last night? "

"Lots of things. " A mischievous glint sparkled in her eyes.

"Penny, come on. "

"I'll give you a preview of your many adventures last night. Wait" She grabbed her phone, scrolling, unsuccessfully biting back a laugh before turned the screen towards him. His face grew red as embarrassment washed over him.

Her laughter got stronger as tears pricked the edges of her eyes.

"Penny, delete that. "

"No chance. " She wagged her finger in front of his face, her face crumpling with amusement.

"You ain't seen nothing yet. "

"NOO" Ethan roared, hiding his face in his hands, slumping into a chair and resting his elbows against the dining table.

Seeing how mortifying this was for him, Aspen slid into the adjacent chair, running her hand over his back in circular patterns.

"Hey, it wasn't bad, just funny, I loved it. "

"Of course you did. "

"Do you want to know or not? "

"Yes, please. "

"Okay, then listen. " She began her monologue, fighting back the occasional fit of laughter.

**********

Ethan stumbled against the intercom button, pushing it continuously until he heard her voice.

"Penny, my love, the love of my life, I want to kiss you so bad right now, the whole..

His words were interrupted by the opening of the building door, Aspen pulled him in, closing the door behind her, pushing him towards the lift.

"Hey, how did you end up here, you were inside the machine, I was talking to you right now. "

The elevator dinged as they got in, his entire weight resting against her. Unable to take his weight any longer, she sat him down against the elevator wall, from where he stared up at her with glazed azure eyes, closing with exhaustion.

"Have you ever wondered, what if we had sex in the elevator, right here right now. I want to make good sweet love to you in the elevator. " With that thought he pushed himself up, swaying crazily. He stumbled towards her, pulling against his tie, throwing it over his head, crashing his lips into her.

She could taste the remnants of scotch against his smooth lips, as they moved expertly against hers. He broke away, suddenly serious.

"I can't stand these pesky clothes, they are like my worst enemy, I can't admire the thing I cherish most with them in the way. "

"Oh, and what's that?"

"You." He slurred, before backing away and pulling his tucked in shirt and undoing the buttons, fingers fumbling. Once he was done, he pulled it of his arms, hurriedly moving to his belt buckle next. Just as he undid it, the 9th floor arrived and the elevator doors opened.

He strutted out, pants sliding down his hips and gathering at his feet , Aspen gathering his shirt and tie behind him, shaking her head in glee. She was for the first time encountering this drunk Ethan. His unnecessarily loud voice called out inside the apartment.

"Rookie! Rookie! Come here. "

She felt sorry for her neighbours as she closed the apartment door behind her. His voice echoed as she replied.

"I'm here Ethan. "

He grinned as he turned around, smiling drunkenly at her.

"How'd you end up there? "

He began walking towards her, hitting his knee against the teapoy, the TV remote clattering to the floor. He got down on his knees, picking it up and brought it closer to his face, breaking into an off beat song.

"Wise men saayyy, only foolsss ruuussshh in.. "

Aspen was absolutely wheezing with laughter at this point, her sides aching. She quickly snapped a photo, she would show him in the morning.Ethan's singing continued as she sat back on the couch, eating her Chinese takeout. After a while, his head whipped around, eyes resting on her food.

"Where'd you get that?? "

"There's some in the kitchen. " He pushed himself up swaying as he walked, she followed him just to make sure, only to find him stuffing his face. Gosh, she hadn't laughed this much in her whole life. He turned around at the sound and she snapped yet another picture.

"Okay, that's enough."

She spoke pulling the box out of his hand, offering her other to him as she lead him to the bedroom. Having seated him on the bed, she went into the bathroom to do her nightly routine.

She entered to find that Ethan had now disposed off even his underwear and looked expectedly at her. She burst into even more laughter at the hilarious sights in front of her.

Clamping her hand to her mouth, she took a deep breath in to try and quench her giggles.

"Let's get you in bed. "

She guided him to the head of the bed, pulling the sheets as he rested on the mattress, his eyes closing as he flipped onto his stomach. Covering him with the comforter, she walked to her side of the bed, setting the alarm for tomorrow.

Oh boy wasn't this going to be fun.

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

She finished, wheezing uncontrollably, Ethan slowly joined in as they laughed until they were out of breath.

"Now, I have an important question for you. "

"Hmm? "

" Can I take you up on that sex in elevator plan or was that all just talk? "

**********

You guessed it! I have to do an elevator smut fic now.

**********

@liaromancewriter @potionsprefect @jerzwriter@rookiemartin @kyra75 @queencarb @peonierose @coffeeheartaddict2 @openheartfanfics @cariantha @genevievemd @choicesficwriterscreations @tveitertotwrites

**********

#open heart choices #open heart fanfic #open heart mc #oph edits #oph fics #open heart #aspen milla kallie #ethan x aspen #ethan ramsey fanfic #ethan ramsey x mc #dr ethan ramsey #ethan ramsey #ethan x mc #oh fandom #choices fandom

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crushofdoves · 1 year

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snippet monday

bc i wasn’t around yesterday xx thank u @spindrifters & @soloorganaas for the tags. maybe @greenvlvetcouch tagged me too? who knows, not me <3

“Well that was certainly an interesting little encounter,” James said, “Did you see his sweater? Looked pretty soft, wouldn’t you say?”

Sirius flicked through a stack of records labeled as ‘Beatles, The - Bowie, David’ but which contained only a dozen Bee Gees albums and avoided making eye contact with James, which was an answer in itself and both of them knew it. Sirius thought, “Everything about him looked soft.” “Their record selection sucks,” was what he said instead. “Well - this is a second hand store, so - we’re reliant on what people bring us to sell.” Remus came out of nowhere, popped up from behind the tall record shelving with his wavy hair and crooked, charming nose. Sirius thought about the logistics behind sinking into the floor, or maybe even crawling underneath a table like a startled dog. Wondered which of the two might seem more attractive and mysterious and less pathetic. What happened instead is he squatted down for a moment like a giant bird was about to pluck him off the ground and carry him away. James had his phone out immediately, probably already had sent a photo to Regulus as well as everyone they’d ever met. Perfect. What a lovely day this was. Sirius stood up again, flushed from forehead to neck but Remus was looking at him. Like Sirius was a particularly difficult crossword, a six letter word for longing. Distantly, Sirius realized Remus had probably heard most, if not all, of their conversation. “I quite like the Bee Gees,” Remus said, tapping his cane on top of the leaning stack of records. “Sirius is a bit of a snob, strict upbringing and all,” James said, patted Sirius on the shoulder and looked at Remus with an over-exaggerated frown, “very tragic, I’m sure he’d love to tell you all about it.” “I’ve always preferred love stories to tragedies,” Remus said, and the heat of his gaze threatened to boil Sirius over right there in front of God and the Bee Gees and everyone.

from an untitled lil bookstore au i’m workin on

#i’m a sucker for confident remus tbh #remus lupin #sirius black #james potter #wolfstar #wolfstar fic #WIP

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lovesosweeet · 6 months

Text

better left unsaid // cth

chapter fifteen

in which orion has leukemia, and calum doesn’t know.

calum hood x fem!oc

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december 22, 2017 sydney, australia orion

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’d like to welcome you to sunny Sydney. The local time is 12:18 pm and it is 26 degrees celsius, 78 degrees fahrenheit. Thank you for flying United. We hope to see you on board again soon!” The flight attendant’s muffled voice squeaks through the cabin, and everyone who’d held on to those final moments of in flight sleep begin to wake up.

16 hours trapped in a box in the sky was definitely not my favorite experience, but we had a smooth flight. We didn’t have any crying babies, there was in flight wifi, and the snacks they provided were shockingly decent. I’m excited to finally be in Sydney, to visit a new part of the world, to meet Cal’s family, and get to learn a new side of him, the one where he’s home. I can’t wait to see how Sydney looks on him.

I look to my right and find Calum on his phone, his messages app open to his conversation with his mom.

“Is she here?” I ask. We still have to go through customs, and since I’m a foreigner I’m sure it’ll take a bit to get through, but maybe Joy is anxious like me and doesn’t want to miss the chance to greet us as soon as we get to baggage claim.

Calum sends the message he’s typing and then locks his phone, reaches over to grab my hand from my lap, and give me a tired smile. “She’s leaving the house now. Should get here right as we’re getting done with baggage and customs.”

I nod. Around us, people are standing up, slipping sweatshirts on and off, stretching, and starting to mill about the cabin, heading toward the overhead compartments where their carryons are stowed. The plane isn’t moving anymore, but the door is still closed, so all the movement and noises feel overwhelming, and to top it off, I’m anxious to meet Joy and David and Mali. I know they’re going to be nice, but they’re important to Calum and I want to make a good first impression.

As soon as the plane door is open, people slowly start to filter out. Calum and I unspokenly agree to stay and wait for most of the other passengers to get off, that way we avoid feeling like we’re in the way of the ones who are in a rush. Once most of the people are gone, we stand up and sling our backpacks over our shoulders, awkwardly stumbling into the aisle and trudging off the plane.

My legs feel wobbly after sitting for so long, and I’m so tired, but the air outside of the plane is pleasantly warm and the sun shines down brightly. It’s a nice wake up call. Calum grabs my hand once we’re outside, and I let him guide us into the airport and then through the terminal. He knows where things are here, so I trust that he can get us to customs without my help.

As soon as we step inside, a girl recognizes him. She’s polite when she asks for a photo, so I quickly snap one for her before we continue on inside. Cal’s a celebrity everywhere, but I had a feeling it would feel more like that while we’re in Australia.

When we get to customs, we have to go in separate lines since he’s a citizen and I’m not, so I get his parents’ address and contact info before we split up.

“I’ll wait for you right on the other side,” he says, kissing my forehead. “Just scream my name if you need me and I’ll come running.”

“I feel like screaming your name would just cause a stampede of people to want a photo with you,” I reply, trying not to roll my eyes.

He mockingly laughs at me and then we split up, but not without giving my hand a quick reassuring squeeze. The foreigners line is moving much slower and is a bit longer. While I wait, I connect to the airport’s wifi so I can tell my family I’ve arrived safely. I instantly get replies telling me to have fun and to send lots of pictures, and then I spend the rest of the time scrolling through Twitter from my burner account. I don’t interact except for liking a few Tweets now and then, but I love checking stan accounts for updates on 5SOS. I get to find random photos of Calum looking cute with his fans and, when we were first dating and they were on tour, I got to see what he was up to.

When I open the main 5SOS Australia update account that I check somewhat regularly, I’m surprised to see a very blurry photo of me and Calum walking through the airport just a few minutes ago. How are they so fast? I look like shit, but Cal looks normal and cute and everything. I don't bother to check the replies, since I know what they'll say and I don't need to feel bad about myself right now.

@5SAussieUpdates: Cal and Orion just landed in Sydney! picture attached

I refresh the page to see if there's anything else that's been posted, and then I see another photo of myself, much closer.

@5SAussieUpdates: Orion at the Sydney airport this afternoon. Holidays with the Hood fam?! picture attached

I jerk my head up and look around, trying to find a phone camera pointed at me. It's of me in this line, so they can't be far. Then I spot them, four or five people ahead. It's two girls and presumably their parents, the two girls sitting on their suitcases and whispering to each other, their phones aimed right at me. Jesus.

I give them an awkward smile and wave, then watch their eyes widen and they quickly put their phones down. Thank god. People are so bold these days, and I don't think those girls have any intention of actually speaking to me.

The rest of the time in the line is somewhat uncomfortable. I hate feeling watched, and it feels like every eye in this line is on me, even though I know it's not like that. It's just the two girls.

I hand my completed customs form to the kind woman at the counter, my passport soon after.

"Reason for visiting?" She asks.

"Spending the holidays with my boyfriend's family," I answer. I'm used to going through customs, so I don't get nervous about it anymore, but the Australian customs process is definitely on the more intense side. Besides the US, the UK and Australia are the only places I've been that have felt slightly nerve-racking to go through customs.

"That's exciting," she says. She's scanning my passport and reading through my form, making sure it all adds up. "Is this your first time to Australia?"

"It is."

"Have you met his family before?"

"No ma'am, this is my first time."

She stamps the form and my passport, writing the date inside the seals and then handing me my ID back. "Well, good luck and happy holidays. Oh, and don't say ma'am."

I laugh and take the passport from her. "Thanks for the tip. Happy holidays."

"Next!"

I walk through the next part of the customs line, following the signs for baggage claim, looking for Calum. I find him quickly. How can I not? He has a tiny swarm of girls around him, the two girls from the line among them. It's really only like six girls, their families standing off to the side while they wait on them.

As I approach, Calum somehow quickly manages to catch sight of me walking toward him amidst the chaos, and he gives the girl he's talking to a hug. "Alright, it was so nice to meet all of you, but I've got to go. Hope you have a Merry Christmas." He strides out of the group and straight to me, holding his hand out for me to take, and I gladly do.

"You made it through," he cheers, smiling down at me.

I laugh, giving his hand a squeeze while we walk. "I did."

"Welcome to Australia!" He giggles, gesturing to the airport like it's a sight to see, when it really just looks like most other airports I've been to.

"I can't believe I'm finally here," I marvel. Again, it's nothing crazy different, but yet, it feels so special.

He's directing us toward the baggage carousel for our luggage, intently focusing on getting us there. I don't think he even notices his mom and dad standing by the doorway with the sign that says "WELCOME TO AUSTRALIA ORION" in glittery bubble letters. I break out into a grin. They're so cute.

"Cal, they're here."

"No, they haven't put any of them out yet, see? Those people are from our flight and they're still waiting," he points to the family that had sat in front of us standing by the baggage carousel that will have our suitcases on it shortly.

"No, Cal, your parents. They're right over there." I gesture toward the door and Joy's glittery sign.

"Oh!" He realizes, also starting to smile. We redirect toward the door, and Joy starts running toward us. It's more of a jog, but still, she's quickly meeting us halfway.

Joy instantly wraps me into a bone-crushing hug, dropping her sign to the ground without hesitation. "Orion!" She cheers, squeezing me so tightly that it's almost painful. It's not, but it almost is.

We've met over Facetime a few times, and we have texted periodically, but this is our first time meeting for real. She mostly just sends me pictures of Calum from his childhood and tells me the context of the photo, which I love learning about. I want to know everything about Calum.

"Hi!" is all I can say, hugging her back as enthusiastically as I can manage.

David and Calum are hugging too, though their hug doesn't look nearly as tight as mine and Joy's.

"How was the flight?! How are you feeling? Hungry? Jetlagged? Should we stop for a coffee or a snack? Oh, we have food at the house too, and your room is all ready to go if you need a nap. We thought you'd like to go to the beach this evening and catch the sunset, Calum says that's one of your —" Joy starts rambling on, still hugging me, and Calum has to cut her off.

"Mum, breathe," he laughs, wrapping his arms around us so it's a small group hug.

I just feel kind of frozen where I am, so I just let it all happen.

"Okay, let her breathe now, too." Calum steps back, and I feel him pull me back by one of the handles on my backpack, forcing Joy to let go of me.

I turn to David then, giving him a quick hug. "Hi! It's so nice to meet you!"

Calum gives his mom a proper hug, and I can't help but just feel so happy to be here with them. He doesn't get to come home much, but he does absolutely adore his family, and getting to meet them and spend the holidays with them makes me feel so lucky.

"I'm so glad you are here! Mali is back at the house, we figured all of us picking you up would be a little overwhelming," Joy explains. "Here, Orion, let's go get the car and we'll let the men handle the luggage, how's that?"

I chuckle and glance at Calum to verify that this is what we should do, and he nods. "Sure, sounds good."

Joy and I start to exit the airport. She's not as tall as Calum, but she is quite tall, especially compared to me, but she's not at all intimidating. I follow her lead as she walks outside, into the parking garage, and toward their car. We stop at a silver sedan and she pops open the trunk or the boot or whatever they call it here so I can put my backpack in it.

"Wanna drive?" She asks, dangling the keys.

My eyes widen. "Oh, no, I don't think that's a —"

Joy laughs loudly. Her smile is the same as Calum's. "I'm kidding, you'd have a hard time, unless you're used to driving manual on the left side of the road?"

I sigh, relieved, and then I laugh with her. "Yeah, not the best idea."

She smiles, stepping up to close the trunk, and then she goes to the driver's door, which I almost forgot is on the opposite side of the car. "Hop up front; the boys can sit in the back."

I want to argue, say that Calum's legs are far longer than mine and would be much better suited to the front seat, but something tells me Joy won't take no for an answer. I take a seat up front, trying to come up with something to say, but for some reason, I come up blank.

"We're so excited Cal finally brought you home," Joy says, filling the silence with something so I don't have to. "He hasn't brought a girl home in quite some time."

"I'm really happy to be here," I confess. "I have always dreamt of coming here, and now I get to do it with someone I love very much. I get to see where he comes from, too, which makes it even more special."

Joy then doesn't say anything. She's just smiling as she backs out of the parking space and follows the signs to the exit. "I think he's right about you, you know," she finally says.

"What do you mean?"

"You're the one."

—

After we've all gotten into the car and the suitcases are tucked safely in the back, we make the drive to the Hoods' home. It's about an hour from the airport, and Calum and his family fill the time with catching up on the latest. Joy fills him in on the latest family gossip, who's having a baby, who moved into a new home, and whether or not certain relatives will be at the Christmas Eve dinner at their house.

I take in the sights of Sydney, or the outskirts of it. Not that southern California gets that brutal of a winter, but it's odd to see it being summer in December. It's pretty. I know it's just more suburban life, which we have plenty of in the US, but it's still nice to see. This is Calum's home. This is the place that shaped him into the person that I love.

We pull up to their home. It's a modest, regular family home, with two other cars in the driveway. It's got white siding with navy blue shutters, a bright yellow front door, and a recently mowed lawn. I wish I could've seen a tiny Calum running around, or even teenage Calum, kicking a soccer ball across the front yard.

As soon as we pull into the driveway, the front door opens and the tall, beautiful girl I recognize as Mali-Koa runs out to meet us outside. She waits outside my door so she can pull me into a hug as soon as I'm out. "Orion! Hi! I'm so happy you're here!"

"Me too! It's so nice to finally meet you!"

Mali's hug isn't nearly as tight as Joy's but she's still got a very strong grip on me. "You're even prettier in person."

I scoff. "Says you!" Mali is beautiful. She's tall and has Cal's same deep brown eyes and wide smile. I think she's far prettier than I'll ever be, but I feel that way about 90% of women.

"Oh, please, you're perfect."

"She's right," Calum adds, suddenly standing directly behind me. I can't see him, just can sense and hear him. "Hi Mal."

Mali lets me go then, tackling her brother into a hug. "Baby brother!"

"I've missed you," he says quietly, hugging her back just as tightly.

"Well, duh!"

I laugh, watching their sibling banter take over and then they're having some silly mock argument.

Calum has several forms. There's stage Calum, who's confident, strong, commanding, unafraid. There's almost professional soccer player Calum who's athletic and outgoing. There's antisocial butterfly Calum, who loves to be near the crowds at a party but doesn't want to say much or ask any questions. There's dog dad Calum, who's patient and sweet.

This is true Calum. I see him often, at home, when it's just the two of us, but this is him, too. Happy, goofy, cracking quiet jokes and showing his affection for his favorite people openly. He goes softer, melting into the environment, blending in, like it's exactly where he's supposed to be, and the environment melts into him, too. I love getting to know all of him.

Once we've unloaded the car, Joy makes us all lunch. I try to help, but she completely refuses it and commands that I go rest on the couch with Calum. I think it's a taste of my own medicine, since I never let anyone help me when I host guests.

"Orion, how does your family feel about you being here for the holidays? Surely they'll miss you," Mali asks.

I nod, smiling a little sadly. "Yeah, I know they'd like to spend it with me, but, y'know, I only live a couple of hours from them and see them often. We did our own Christmas last weekend. Couldn't miss the chance to spend the holidays with this goofball."

"Well, I speak on behalf of all of the Hoods. We're glad you're here."

Calum wraps his arms around me and kisses my temple. "I think I'm most glad, but it's not a competition," he whispers quietly enough that Mali can't hear.

A few hours later, we've eaten lunch, Cal's taken a nap, and I've gotten the full tour of the house Calum grew up in, complete with loads of baby pictures and stories. We then order a few pizzas and drive to the beach, even though it's a bit of a drive.

It's nice. We sit on a few blankets and share the pizzas, Cal, Mali and I drinking some cheap beers, and we play a few board games. While the sun sets, Joy and David take a walk down the beach, and the rest of us strip down to our bathing suits to race into the water.

Mali and I float with the waves, meanwhile Calum body surfs, wiping out completely at one point, making Mali die of laughter.

"You okay?!" I call out to him. He just sticks a thumbs up into the air.

Mali gets tired of the water quickly, explaining she's not a huge beach person. Calum joins me in floating, eventually just picking me up so we can stand with the waves washing over us. He lets me face the sunset so I can take it in: my first Aussie day.

And damn, is it a good one.

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#5sos #5 seconds of summer #luke hemmings #calum hood #fanfiction #ashton irwin #fanfic #5sosfam #5sos fanfic #calum imagine #mali koa hood #michael clifford #calum fanfic #calum fic #calum fluff #calum x fem!oc

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toothpastecanyon · 1 year

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Noie’s Friends, Chapter 4

A collection of oneshots about Noie's years at college.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

______________________________________________________________

Cutting across the lawn of her old house, Noie couldn’t help but think about all the times she’d made this walk before. She could almost feel a backpack weighing her down, couldn’t she? And someone walking beside her…

She gave a half-glance across her shoulder at that, and rolled her eyes. Hefted the presents under her arm, and stopped at the front door. She gave it a couple knocks, and stood back, fishing something out of her handbag.

She only had a moment. There was a thunk from inside as the door bolt was drawn back, and David opened the door just in time to get doused in a handful of party streamers.

“Happy birthday Grandpa!” Noie blew a party horn at his unsmiling face. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you-”

“Alright, get inside.”

“Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you!” Noie clapped against her shoulder as she was led indoors. “Yay, it’s your birthday! What’s the number now, you old geezer? Only twenty, right?”

“We’re a long ways past twenty, kid.” He closed the door. “Eighty-six.”

“Oh, I’d never have guessed!”

“Heh. Sure you wouldn’t.” David raised his arm, and gave her a hug. “Good to see you, kid. Missed you or something.”

“Missed you too, Grandpa. I gotta come over more often.”

“Yeah, you should. And where’s Dipper? Thought you said he was coming?”

Noie pulled back a bit. “Haha, yeah, me too!” she said, laughing through her teeth. “Me too, but this morning he came down with some kinda cold and couldn’t make it… uh, anyway, where do I put the birthday stuff!”

David’s eyes lingered on her for a moment longer. Then he looked away, and waved a hand in the direction of the dining table before shuffling towards the kitchen. Noie made a face at that, and walked through the living room.

It was a little different from how she remembered. It was almost a little cleaner; of course Noie had cleaned the place when she lived there, but she’d never had the time to dust off the end tables, to shake out all the creases in the carpet. The ever-present rumble of the TV in the back was gone, too, and the pictures… Oh, there were pictures again.

Noie set two presents and a cake on the table, and looked closer at the frames on the counter. There were old ones - she definitely recognised a few from Allie’s office - but there was a photo she’d never seen before; it looked like a young her and Dipper, sitting on the grass with their grandmother.

She picked it up, and saw the way Allie was smiling - not quite as happily as the ones with Leon, no, but there was a quiet warmth there. She had her hand around little Noie’s shoulder, and Noie could remember how that felt.

Stars… she missed her. There was a hand on her shoulder, now.

“I love that one,” David said, softly. “Found it on Allie’s old phone. She had a lot of you two.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah…” David scratched his chin. “I been going through a lot of old pictures lately.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell.”

David snorted, and sat down at the table. Noie sat across from him, and accidentally kicked some kind of heavy box.

“What the-“

“Don’t worry about it.” David picked up a present. “Do I start or what?”

“Yeah, let’s go! That one’s from Dipper!”

“Dipper, huh.” He shook it a bit, and then tore off the packaging. “Doesn’t sound like socks this time, I don’t- huh?”

“What is it?”

With a raised eyebrow, David brought out a piece of some kind of piping. “Looks like a part for the sink? It’s working fine, I dunno why he gave me this.”

“Yeah, no idea.” Noie pursed her lips. “I sure wonder why he didn’t just ask me what to get you if he was out of ideas.”

“Aww, don’t be so hard on your brother.” He set it to one side. “I’m sure he thought it’d be some kind of useful… and what’ve you gotten me? Some kind of book? Feels lighter than-”

“You gotta open the card first!”

David snorted, and reached for it. “Alright, alright. What’s in it, money?”

“Better than money! A joke!”

“Oh, joy.” He tore the envelope and drew it out. “Okay, says ‘Happy eightieth-’ and you crossed this out and put eighty-sixth - ‘birthday. If you can read this far, you’ve got pretty good eyes for such an old fart, I mean esteemed gentleman. And if you can read this far-’ and the text keeps getting smaller. Yes, yes, very funny.” He opened it. “Happy birthday to the bestest grandpa in the world, love from Noie.’ And you’ve written a lot on the side.”

Noie watched him read through it, watched something like a smile soften his features for a moment. If his eyes got a little misty. It was hard to tell; he quickly rubbed them away, closed the card, and said a gruff, “Thank you,” before moving onto the present.

That was alright. Noie grinned for the both of them as he unwrapped it.

“Alright, what’s this… oh, it’s a copy of the Legend of the Shadow?”

“Yeah, I know your old movie disc got scuffed a while back.” Noie snorted. “It was, uh, not easy to find something that wasn’t just on a magiorb, but here it is! So you can watch it again!”

“Oh, that’s real thoughtful of you, kid.” David opened the case to look inside. “Maybe I’ll give it a watch tonight. I haven’t turned on the TV in a while, actually.”

Noie snorted. “Suure… Wait, really?”

“I don’t know what that tone’s for, I haven’t.” He closed it with a snap. His fingers tapped on the corners - almost nervously. “No, I… I’ve been, uh, working on a project, actually.”

“A project?”

“Yeah, I… that was why I was hoping Dipper’d come by too… maybe I can do it separate. Yeah, that’d be okay, I think.”

She chuckled at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Check, uh, under the table.”

Noie looked down, and saw two large, brown, rectangular presents stacked on top of each other. She frowned.

“What are there?”

“It’s for you. And Dipper - no, don’t take the top one. The bottom’s for you.”

Whatever it was, it was heavy. “Hey, Grandpa,” she said as she lugged it onto the table. “You do know it’s not my birthday, right? You didn’t have to give me anything.”

“Ah, it’s not… it’s not a present, not exactly.” David was tapping hard on the table, not quite meeting her eyes. “It’s something I’ve been wanting to give you kids for a while… something to remember me by, I guess.”

“What?” Noie tried for a laugh. “You’re not planning on going anywhere, are you?”

“Of course not. But I’m… I’m getting on in years, and… just open it, Naomi.”

Shooting him a very strange look, Noie started opening it. Whatever wrapping he’d used was rough, waxy, and it took her a long, awkward moment to tear it all away and reveal…

“A big book?”

“Just open it.”

It was a large, leatherbound tome - strangely new, too. Noie hefted open the cover, and the first thing she saw was a bit of his handwriting on the first page.

For my granddaughter Naomi, it read. A brilliant young lady who will change the world in ways I cannot imagine.

Her breath caught in her chest. She looked up sharply, mouth open, but David wouldn’t even look her way now; his whole body was turned to stare out into the porch.

She flipped the page, and found old newspapers, glued smooth and straight to the paper. Old articles, old headlines from the mundane to the gripping: MAGIORB TECHNICAL FAULT FORCES RECALL IN EUROPE, DEMONIC ATTACK IN COLORADO RULED NOT AN ACT OF TERROR, TENSIONS RISE AS CALIFORNIA CONGRESS REVISITS VAMPIRE ‘SUNLIGHT LAWS’

The pictures, the columns all blended together, but Noie noticed one thing under every heading.

By David Argenta.

“I always wanted to be a journalist, you know.”

Noie looked up. David was still staring into space, but there was a shine in his eye. He smiled a bit.

“That’s how I met Allie in college, though she ended up finding a - heh - more direct way of changing the world.” He scratched his chin. “But I wanted to change things too. I wanted to make it a better place, and I tried at first, I really did. It got to me, though - all the problems I reported on that never got better, all the fuckin’ shitty people ruling the world…”

He paused for a long, long moment. His fingers quivered a bit in his lap - then he blinked, sat up, glanced quickly back at her, then cleared his throat.

“Uh, anyway… that’s the result of it. All my old work - that I could track down, at least.” He gave a shrug. “I dunno if any of it means anything, really. I never did anything all that noteworthy in the end… not like Allie.” There was a grim half-smile there. “Oh, Allie. I don’t know if she had something I didn’t - or, heh, if I should’ve just been trying harder - but she was… she was real special.”

Finally, with an effort, David met her eyes.

“Just like you, kid. I see so much of her in you.” He rubbed his face. “You’re gonna… I know- I know I don’t say it as often as I should, but I-I’m really… I… I’m so p-proud of you.”

Noie swallowed.

“I-I am, I- ah, stupid fucking…” He furiously wiped his eyes. “Look, I-I just, I know it wasn’t easy for you growing up, a-and I don’t want that t-to be all you’ll remember of m-me when… when I-I’m gone, I-I wanted…” He stopped, took a breath. “I don’t fucking know what I wanted. Not this… I-I’m sorry, kid, this is a mess, I’ll-”

“Wait!” Noie jerked up when he turned away. There was a lump in her throat as she spoke. “No, this was…! thank you, Grandpa. Thank you for doing this.”

Noie picked up the book. David leaned away as she walked around the table. She touched his shoulder, and he felt so tense he might’ve been stone.

“Seriously… this means a lot to me.” She flipped through the pages. “How long did you spend on this?”

“Hmm… a while.” He gave a flat chuckle. “Then I had to glue it in and shit. I think I borrowed some of your old scrapbooking stuff.”

“Wait, like all my glitter glue?”

“Yes.” He glanced up. “Was that a mistake? I thought those things were like a dollar at the gas station, I didn’t think they were sentim- are you laughing?”

“Yes, oh my stars! My grumpy old grandpa pasting stuff in with unicorn sparkles gluesticks, that’s amazing!”

David huffed and pushed her away. She hugged the book to her chest.

“You’re the best, Grandpa. I’m gonna treasure this.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s yours now, do whatever you want with it. No obligations if you give it away, or…” He gave a snort. “Y’know, It’d prop up a table nicely-”

“No, I’m serious. I am going to treasure this.”

David looked at her. His eyebrows raised a little, and then he nodded.

“Well… thank you. I’m glad to hear that.”

She smiled at him, watched him smile a little at his hands. It was quiet for a moment, and then David cleared his throat.

“Right.” He rose to his feet. “Well, no need to linger on it. Just, uh, tell your brother to swing by sometime, will you?” His expression tightened. “I know he isn’t big on seeing me these days, no rush… maybe round Christmas?”

At that, Noie’s stomach gave a lurch. She shrugged. “Oh… yeah! Maybe Christmas.” Staring at that shine in his eyes, she felt a squeeze on her heart. “Maybe.”

______________________________________________________________

“Breathe.”

A dark void. A blue flame. Alcor walked forwards, each step echoing in the silence, and stopped in front of her. The flames lit his face from below, casting ominous shadows above his cheeks, leaving only his glowing eyes to piece through the darkness, down at her, down through her. He spoke again.

“Now… open your hands.”

Noie raised her eyebrows. “This feels unnecessarily dramatic.”

“Aww, come on. I never get to teach magic lessons, they always find me out.”

“Hmm. Well, can we at least switch the lights back on? This is hurting my eyes.”

Dipper hesitated for a moment, and then with a grumble he shuffled back and flipped a switch, revealing the plain old interior of their dorm room.

“Well great, now it just looks lame,” he muttered, “Might as well just do it in a classroom, get a textbook…”

Noie giggled. “I love you too, bro.”

“Yeah, yeah, where was I… Oh, I remember.” He kneeled down. “Yeah, hold your hands out like- yeah, like that! And I’m gonna put this fire in your hands.”

She gulped. “Okay?”

“It’s my fire, it can’t hurt you. All you need to do is keep it about the same size, okay? Not too big, not too small.” He gave her a smile. “You good with that?”

“Uh, sure. Give it over.”

There was a pit in her stomach as she watched Dipper gently take her hands. In one movement, he tipped his palms, and the fire seemed to slide onto her fingers, onto her. Suddenly she felt it drawing on some deep part of her, bringing it bubbling up to the surface. It flared up brighter and taller, brighter, taller-

“Hey, hey, breathe! Remember what we talked about!”

Noie glanced up at him, and then forced herself to take a breath. Through clenched teeth, she drew air in, held it, and let it out; in, hold, and out. In her hands, the fire stopped growing, settling into a flame about twice as large as the one she’d been given.

“There, there we go! You got it!”

“Uh, have I?” She held it away from her. “It’s still massive!”

“We can work on that, don’t worry. Let’s do it now - I’ll do it with you.”

She watched him sit across from her, holding his own fire. He took a deep breath, and smiled at her.

“Just relax, okay?” He closed his eyes. “Breathe, and try and find the source of it. Know where it’s coming from, get a feel for it.”

Noie didn’t quite close her eyes, but she did force her shoulders down. A deep breath, and then she tried to look inward, tried to find where that magic was bubbling up from again. She breathed, and she felt it, deep in her mind, like a spring flowing from the core of her being.

If she focused, she could control it - sort of. If she concentrated one way, the fire flared up, and if she thought a little differently, it died down. Strange.

“There you go. Yeah, play with it. How does it feel?”

“How, uh, does it…” Noie struggled to pay attention to him and the fire. “It’s, um, weird. Still weird.”

“Yeah, it’ll be weird for a while.” A chuckle. “Was for me. Mabel and I spent ages trying to get a handle on it.”

Mabel. Noie’s flame stuttered in time with her breath. She glanced up.

“Mabel?”

“Yeah, my sister. You know-”

“I know she was your sister.”

“Right.” A pause. “Yeah, uh, we used to work on magic stuff - mostly demon stuff. I remember… heh, I remember all the summoning trainings we used to do.” He laughed. “She made me run through all these little intros I’d give, all ‘Who dares summon Alcor the Dreambender!’”

Noie swallowed. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to - he seemed lost in his thoughts now.

“Yeah… heh, I remember my dad walking in on one of those, back in the real old times. It was, uh, effective.”

A laugh again, but this one ended in a sigh. Noie looked up again to find him staring into the middle distance, a misty shine in his eyes. She looked down, and found her fire had gone out. Her hands were cold, cupping nothing; she clasped them against her chest.

“Your… dad?”

“Yeah.” Alcor’s head bowed a little. “He was… it was tough on him, you know? I don’t think he ever quite knew what to do about it. Neither of them did.”

“About being a demon?”

“Hmm?” His eyes flitted up; suddenly, he seemed to remember who he was talking to. “Oh! Oh, yeah, sorry, I got super off topic there, sorry-”

“That’s okay!” Noie said, ignoring the knot in her stomach. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah, here I go off on a big tangent, your fire went out!” He chuckled nervously and floated closer. “Here, hold your hands out again.”

She did so, and took a deep breath as another ball of flame slid onto her palms. It flared up again like before, but this time it was quick, returning to a steady blue burn. She was almost getting used to the feeling.

Bad at first, but getting used to it. Noie frowned. Getting used to all this…

“Dipper?”

“Yeah?”

“You gonna visit Grandpa sometime?”

Noie could almost feel the change in his aura; she felt shock like a shiver down her spine. He stuttered for words.

“Wh-what?” A nervous laugh. “Oh, David, um… I’m not sure! Why?”

“You should do it sometime. You know, he wants to give you-”

“Those journals, I-I saw. A-and I’m sorry I bailed on you guys for his birthday - I thought I could do it, but…” he turned away. “It’s… complicated.”

Complicated. Noie watched the flames flare a bit. He said that for Thanksgiving, too.

“It’s not going to stop being complicated, you know.”

“Yeah, I know, just-”

“In fact, it’s probably gonna get worse the more you wait.” She leaned forwards. “He knows you’re avoiding him. He doesn’t know why. Sooner or later you’re gonna have to-”

“I know!” Dipper snapped. He glared at her. “I know that, okay? And I’m sorry it’s hurting him, I… I don’t want to hurt him.” He looked down. “I’ve done enough of that already, haven’t I. Killed his son, and now I’m gonna invite myself to his house, give him a present, listen to him tell me how much he loves me-”

“Oh, he won’t do that, don’t worry,” Noie said, and watched him shoot her a look.

“I’ve killed a lot of people, you know.” He stared down at his hands. “But I’ve never… he loved Leon so much. I look at him, a-and that’s all I can see. If he knew who I really was…”

And he didn’t quite finish. Noie watched him trail off, watched him go still, watched his gaze cloud with an ancient pain that made her heart beat faster. There was a strange blue glow to the room suddenly; she looked down, and watched the fire in her hands flare up to eye level.

She could feel it burning deep in her chest, too. It almost felt like anger.

______________________________________________________________

“Breathe.”

Eyes closed, feet planted in a wide stance, Noie took a deep breath. In, and out. In, and she could hear the sound of leaves swishing in the breeze, of birds chirping in the distance. Out, and she could feel the wind on her face, the blotches of sunlight that made their way down from a towering canopy.

In again, and she could-

“Think fast!”

A sudden shove made Noie yelp and stumble backwards. She opened her eyes and glared up at Bea.

“Argh, would you stop doing that!”

“I’m just teaching you some reflexes, Silver.”

She watched Bea struggle to suppress a chuckle. “No, you’re not. You just like pushing me over.”

“I mean, that too, yeah.” She reached out a hand. “Makes two good reasons not to stop, eh?”

“And I got dirt on my jeans… ugh, maybe I’m done with magic lessons today-”

“Aww, c’mon, we just started! One more time, Silver!” Bea held her hands up when Noie shot her a look. “Won’t shove you, swear on my soul! Now close your eyes.”

After a long hesitation, she rolled her eyes, closed them, and started to breathe. In, and out. In, and out. The sounds of the forest were coming back to her… and, strangely, something deeper. It was like a hum, or a heartbeat; she didn’t hear or see it as much as feel it, feel the power in the air… the same power within herself.

It seemed to respond to her attention. She felt herself flushing as it all came to the surface, and her hands… they felt like they were on fire. Maybe they were; she had to sneak a look just to check.

“That’s good, Silver. That’s real good.” Bea touched her shoulder, like she was adjusting it. “Now, try that one I taught you.”

“The one that blew up in my face?”

“Yeah, yeah, that one!”

Noie grimaced. She squared her shoulders, extended her arm, and called out, “Caladnor!”

She felt it leave her, and instantly there was a bright light on the back of her eyelids. Opening them, she saw a blinding column of fire streaming out from her palm.

“Hey, good!” She could hear Bea saying. “Now try cutting it off!”

It was hard to stop the flow once it got started, but Noie had practiced. She breathed, squeezed her hands into fists, and focused on cutting off the stream. It slowed, slowed, slowed… and stopped. She felt it stagnate in her body again, and heard a slow clap.

“Now would you look at that flow control!” Bea patted her on the back. “That’s someone who’s not gonna blow herself up on a candle spell. You proud of yourself, Silver?”

Noie looked at her. “Proud? I… guess? I mean it’s cool to get control of it… I guess I don’t really see where shooting fireballs is gonna come in handy in my life.”

“Not with that attitude it won’t!” Bea chuckled as she shook her head. “You are… you are something else, kid. You learn you got the power to twist reality at your fingertips, and you wonder how it goes with your degree!”

“No, it’s cool, it is cool, it’s just…” she shrugged. “It just still doesn’t feel like it fits in with me, you know?” A grimace. “I mean, don’t laugh at me, but the first thing that comes to mind is how I really should get on with signing up for the National Magic Registry. It’s still a misdemeanor in this state.”

“Silver, no offence, I’m absolutely gonna laugh at you for that.”

She pulled away. “It’s always affecting my life. It’s always me having to clean stuff up, me having to lie to people about our past… I feel like I can’t be honest to anybody!”

“I can think of two people.”

“Yeah, yeah, you and Dipper - and that’s great and all, but Dipper’s a bit of a mess with parent stuff and you… and, uh, you…” She suddenly realised she was directly talking about Bea. “Uh, you’re… not always the most sensitive…”

Bea snorted. “Nah, I’m an asshole, I get it. Keep going.”

“I totally went off on a tangent, didn’t I. Also thank you, uh, for teaching me, I don’t think I even said that-”

“No, no, seriously, keep going! Demon drama, I’m into it.”

Noie made a face at that, but she did continue. “Look, my grandpa can be a real jerk. He can, but… I guess, I miss not feeling like I’m lying to him all the time, you know?” She frowned. “And it’s because Dipper won’t lie to him. Like, I get if he doesn’t want to tell Grandpa he killed Leon, a-and he doesn’t have to, okay! That’s fine, but that means he can’t just disappear from his life - he still thinks Dipper’s his grandson!”

“Yeah, no, for sure…” Bea nodded slowly, a smile frozen on her face. “I forget how fucked up your family is sometimes, Silver. That’s a mess.”

“It is a mess.” She sighed. “And the more he avoids it, the more he leaves it to me to cover it up. How long do I have to keep covering for him? I know he’s not gonna come clean for Christmas, either… Wh, what am I even supposed to do, you know?”

“Well, I know what I’d do.”

“What?”

“Probably give up. Walk into the woods and don’t come back.” She flashed an almost guilty smile at Noie. “What, you thought I had a real answer?”

“Hmph. I mean, it’s an answer.” Noie sat there for another moment, and then stood up. “Uh, anyway, I’ll figure it out! Sorry for, uh, the whole word dump… Back to magic, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah!” She clapped her hands. “Back to my comfort zone! What were we doing, some sort of baby’s first spell shit?”

“It was Caladnor-” Noie said, and her heart dropped as a strange surge went through her. Her hands got warm, hot, but they didn’t catch on fire - wait, they didn’t catch on fire! “Bea! Look at that, I did it!”

“More accurately, you didn’t do it.” Bea leaned forwards, a lazy grin pulling at the corner of her mouth. “Nice job, Silver. So, no more lessons, huh? You don’t need me anymore?”

Noie blinked. “What?”

“Well, that was the deal, right? You only wanted to learn enough magic to not blow yourself up - well, I got you there, so I guess we can pack it in…” She made a show of looking away for a moment, before returning with a bright gleam in her eyes. “Unless,” she said, her grin sharpening, “You’d like to take it a bit further?”

Noie felt an odd shiver go down her spine, but shrugged it off and raised an eyebrow. “You mean, keep doing lessons with you?”

“Yup. I mean listen, Silver, maybe I’m just built different, but it’s crazy to me that you’re not interested in your magic! And I think I know why - it’s the dumb human spells we’ve been using.” She rolled her eyes. “Not to be rude, but human magic is, uh, useless? I mean seriously, you guys took your magic, and you diced it up into all these separate spells with their own special little names you can file away in your fancy books… magic, magic doesn’t need any of that! Fact is, it’s better off without it! Look!” She opened her palm, and a flame flashed into life. “Did I need to say some special little stupid phrase for that? No! It’s, it’s magic, it’s a part of me, and it’s a part of you, too!”

Noie stepped back; she’d never seen Bea this animated. “Okay…?”

“All I’m saying is, you’re learning magic the wrong way. That’s why you don’t like it. But,” With a grin, Bea closed her hand, and when she opened it again, an acorn sat on her palm. “I can teach you, how to teach yourself. And I can show you right now, if you’re up for it. How does that sound, Silver?”

The look Bea was giving her… sometimes Noie could picture her as a demon. The way she spoke, her voice brimming with an uncanny glee, and the way she toyed with the acorn in her hands, rolling it between her fingers like die to be cast. But maybe Bea could tell how she was coming off; she seemed to freeze for a moment, and then cleared her throat, and straightened her smile.

“Or, uh,” she said, and shuffled her feet a bit. “Just think it over at least, will you? Maybe I came off a bit strong - I’m not trying to force you into something, I just think…”

She hesitated, and even though her eyes didn’t leave Noie’s face, she got the sense Bea was looking past her, far into the distance.

“I think you hold yourself back a lot,” she said, quietly. “More than you think you do. Maybe… it’s time to just stop taking it from everyone, you know?”

Noie frowned at that. “Is this about earlier?” She said, after a moment. “You want me to, what, talk to him about it?”

At that, Bea just gave her a smile. She tossed her something, and instinctively Noie stumbled to catch it, and then looked at what was in her hands.

It was an acorn - small, yet strangely warm. And Bea spoke again.

“I should probably get going, Silver. But hey - think about it, alright?” She walked over with a lazy smile, and slung an arm around Noie’s shoulders. “Now, let’s get you home.”

#transcendence au #Noie #Noie's Brother #toothwrites

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danopdf · 3 months

Text

The Cutting Edge [Joe Liebgott/David Webster] - chapter 2

chapter 2 - toe-pick

pairing: joseph liebgott x david webster, [hockey player x figure skater au]

The Cutting Edge (1992 film) Rewrite

word count: 3574

summary: David's coaches introduce him to his new partner, turns out, they have their work cut out for them.

warnings: swearing, mild injury nothing graphic at all, some angst

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a/n: chapter 2 is here! I have been working on this and a BoB x MotA crossover so hopefully that should be out soon! I hope the tag list works and please lmk if it doesn't, or if you'd like to be tagged! <3

Enjoy!! :D

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Phillidealpha - 1991

“Alright, I’ll see you guys on Monday.” Joe waved, making his way towards the awaiting beat-up pickup truck. A chorus of “Bye Joe”’s and “See ya man.”’s following behind him.

Joe tossed his raggedy hockey back into the back bed of the truck and hopped in the passenger side, placing his cooler lunch box at his feet, and his hard hat on his lap.

“So, how was school today?” George asked. Joe didn’t have to look over to see the shit-eating grin on the dirty-blond face.

“It was fine mom, can you just drive, there’s a game across town tonight I gotta get ready for,” Joe said impatiently. George threw the truck into drive and began to pull out of the steelworks parking lot.

It was silent on the drive back to the bar George and his partner Joe Toye owned together just the sound of the radio playing some new rock hit softly in the background, as the truck pulled into the parking lot of ‘Easy Company’ the fair sized bar, sitting just off a popular backroad near the city was frequented mostly by the nearby factory workers, and people who come to watch the hockey games on Friday and Saturday nights. The bar itself was in a mild state of disrepair but well-loved by both the locals and the bar workers alike, it may have been slightly run-down but for Toye and George it was a labour of love, practically their second child after that old dog they had adopted together.

Joe hopped out of the truck the second it had stopped, rushing around to the backbed to grab his bag, hauling it over his shoulder. Practically running into the bar, not bothering to hold the door for George, who nearly got clipped by it.

“Joe hey, listen, Gene called in. He got a shift at the hospital so we need you to cover tonight.” Toye greeted from behind the counter, hauling the glass rack full of beer mugs up onto the freshly washed counter.

“Can’t. Got a game tonight- Hey Muck, make me a sandwich! Any mail for me?” Joe yelled into the kitchen.

“Joe, it’s a Friday night, we need you here, and Muck! Don’t make him that sandwich he’s not going anywhere, he can make it himself!” Toye hollered through the small window separating the bar from the kitchen in the back. Skip hadn’t moved from his place on the counter too enthralled with whatever book he was reading, just sticking his thumb in the air to acknowledge the command Toye gave him.

“I can’t Toye, the guys need me out there.”

“And we need you here! Babe’s still coming in, and Donny said he could come in from 9 ‘till close, but we need someone to do the in-between.” Toye slammed the mug he was holding down onto the counter, pointing at Joe, clean bar towel in hand, “Joe, when you moved here 2 years ago we said that as long as you helped us when we needed, we would shuttle your ass to any hockey game you wanted. Now is the time for you to nut up and help us.”

Joe scoffed, pulling his hand back from the back door he was about to walk through.

“Why can’t you call Bill, see if he’ll pick it up? He’s usually hanging around here with you guys anyways, might as well put him to work.” He sneered, pushing his way through the back door, to the staff entrance, his bettered hockey sticks leaning against the wall next to the array of lockers, each with a staff member's name on it, some with stickers adorning the outside (like his own, covered in hockey team logos), or photos of family and friends (like Babe’ was, covered in photos of him and Gene).

“Joe,” George pushed through the door, hot on his heels, “Come on we never ask you to come in on Fridays unless we need you. And we need you tonight, this place is gonna be packed-”

“I can’t George you know I can’t. We’re playing our rivals tonight and I can’t leave the boys hanging-”

“So you’re gonna leave us hanging?” George pointed him with a glare.

Joe sighed, leaning his head against the cool metal of his locker.

“George. I heard from one of the guys that there may be a scout coming to the game tonight. They’re down a few bench-men on the US team for the next winter games, and they wanna see if I still have it.”

“Did they say that?”

Joe turned his head to face George, “Did they say what?”

“Did they say that they were coming to look at you?”

He closed his eyes, “No. They’re coming to look at the new kid that’s been playing with us-”

“Shit Joe I’m sor-”

Joe shot up straight, “But George, if I can just show them how far I’ve come,”

“Joe don’t-”

“Then maybe they’ll let me even just be a benchwarmer for practice, which is the first step to getting back on a team. A proper team.”

“Joe! You got a letter from the Flyers,” Joe’s eyes lit up with hope, his heart began beating,

Oh my god, they saw it. They’re gonna put me on the team! This is the start of a new career, a brand new start for Joe Lieb-

“They saw your tape and they don’t think you’re ready yet.” George ripped the bandaid off in one fell swoop, his head turned downwards to avoid the sagging gaze of Joe.

He froze at the news, brain trying to process his future once again falling through his fingers like sand. Joe sagged, fingers going numb, his sticks slipping through his grasp.

“Oh.”

George dragged Joe into a hug, squeezing him tightly. His fingers gripping Joe’s jacket when he didn’t hug him back, he just stood there looking dead over George’s shoulder, “Well…there goes that I guess.” He whispered to himself.

George pulled back from Joe, a sad smile on his face, “But hey listen, on the bright side of things, a man came in today looking for you. By name.” Joe perked up at that, “Said he was looking for a man that could skate, and that there’s a paycheck involved, a pretty hefty one apparently.” Joe turned back to his locker, put his sticks back, and began to change out of his work clothes.

“That’s great George, but if it’s not hockey, I’m not interested.” He shrugged off his jacket, quickly wiping his eyes as he did so, hoping George didn’t notice.

“Joe buddy,” George leaned against the side of Joe’s locker, “we can’t make you do something you don’t wanna do. But we also can’t stand by and watch you put yourself through the wringer every time a letter comes in with your name on it, hoping that this time it’s something good.”

Joe paused halfway through slipping on his clean jacket, “If this is your way to ask me to work for you full time you know the answers gonna be no, right?” he chuckled wetly, George laughed with him.

“I know buddy. That guy was hoping that you’d go by tonight and see what he’s offering…I’m sure I can convince the owners to give you the night off for this, a real job offer.”

Joe huffed, fixed his dark hair in the mirror he had pasted to the side of his locker door, wiped his cheeks, and turned back to his friend, “Alright. Let’s get this over with.”

– – – – – – – – – – – –

David locked eyes with himself in the wall of mirrors as he skated along the edge of the rink. Watching his posture, he lifted his back leg and spread his arms out, one in front and one behind his perfectly straight torso.

David lowered his leg and went into a gentle spin, twirling thrice before coming to a stop.

“Looking good David!” The brunet coach hollered from the side of the rink. David pushed forward skating close enough to the mirrors that he could look at himself properly, he began to fix the curls of his hair and wipe at his cheeks, clearing his face of any sweat that had beaded there with the cuff of his white knitted sweater.

“-last one only lasted just over a month,” The door to the private rink swung open revealing David’s second coach. The redhead guided an unknown man through the doors and walked over to where the first was standing at the side. He pushed off his right foot and hustled his way over to the small group forming on the sideline.

“and before that it was three weeks-” David hockey stopped right in front of the new man, spraying small shards of ice onto his jeans.

“Two and a half weeks actually.” He looked the black-haired man up and down, taking in the slim figure in a worn flannel + jacket combo, jeans, and a backward cap, “He couldn’t keep up.” David sneered at the new man.

“Joe Liebgott, this is my co-coach Lewis Nixon. And this,” He gestured grandly to David, “is your skating partner David Webster.” David’s jaw dropped.

“Him?” David pointed out, “Are we picking homeless people up off the streets now for me to skate with? He looks like he’s never even seen a pair of skates before!” He complained to Winters.

“David, Joe is a hockey player, he’s got the skating prowess and physical strength that we’re looking for.” The redhead explained matter-of-factly.

“A hockey player!?” David screeched, “You’re kidding, Nix’ please tell me he’s kidding!” He turned towards his other coach, who stood from his bent-over position on the rail.

“David we know this isn’t ideal, but he’s got what we’re looking for and he’s an ex-Olympian so he knows his way around a competition. So, you can either suck it up and figure out how to work with him like an adult or you can keep skating here, alone in despair. It’s up to you David.” Nixon crossed his arms, a small smirk already on his face, knowing he had David, who let out a grumble and leaned down to tighten his pristine skates.

“Fine then,” he straightened up, flipping his curls back, “but if he can’t keep up he’s gone.” Joe chucked at that.

“Don't worry your pretty little head princess, I can keep up.” He stepped out onto the ice in his dirty sneakers, a hockey bag on his shoulder.

“David, this is Joe, Joe Liebgott, please play nice.” Winters introduced him, Joe sticking his hand out to David, who skated back slightly at the sight of his raised hand, “What, don’t want to shake my hand? They may be a little rough, but I’ve never had any complaints before.” He winked.

“Real nice. What is this, are you trying to ruin what career I have left?” David asked, offended.

“Hey, hey, hey wait a second, who's checking out who here?” Joe took his hand back, using it instead to adjust the strap on his shoulder.

“Listen, I don’t know how many slap shots you’ve taken to the brain but this is your audition and I can assure you it’s over. I’m not skating with this buffoon.” Joe looked startled at the mention of ‘slapshots to the brain’, something only Nixon had noticed

“Listen, I’m not a figure skater, I’m a hockey player, alright?” He defended.

“Then why are you here?” David skated right up in Joe’s face, staring him in the eyes,

He’s got nice eyes. Shut up, David. “Get him out of my building.” He turned towards Dick and Lewis, who were watching in both exhaustion and amusement respectively. Lewis chuckled at the duo, Dick just sighed, and Lewis reached over to pat his partner on the shoulder.

“Temperamental, they told me that’s what you were and they’re right. There’s another word for that you know!” Joe yelled.

“Who told you that?” David demanded.

“It’s no secret honey, everybody knows it!” Joe turned back to Lewis and Dick, stepping off the ice onto the rubber sideline, “Listen, sirs, I’m real’ sorry, but I wouldn’t wish this on my goddamn worst enemy alright?” Joe patted Nixon on the shoulder and began to make his way out the door he and Dick had walked through not even 10 minutes ago, David skating in the opposite direction of the door.

Dick put a hand on Joe’s shoulder, giving Lewis a look.

“Alright, both of you stop it.” Lewis hollered, the slight echo in the at-home area causing his voice to echo, “David, you’re a duo skater. Duo means two.” He held up two fingers at that, “And you haven’t been able to keep a partner for more than a month, and even then all you did is complain. You’re skating nowhere but in circles, hoping that a partner will just come along and fall into your lap, which they won’t if you keep your shitty attitude up.” David looked down, suddenly finding digging a small ditch with his toepick much more interesting than looking Lewis in the eyes. Joe snickered at the sight of David looking like a kicked puppy, “and you,” Lewis turned to Joe now, who shut up immediately at the parental tone Nixon took with him, “you’re not going anywhere alright? You’re excited every time you get on the ice at your beer league games, or get the chance to skate on the lake, and here we are giving you another chance at an Olympic medal and you're just going to walk away from it? No. You’re going to sit down and lace up because we’re the only people who are looking at you for a skating career.” Lewis finished, chest heaving and hands on his hips. Dick looked down, bringing a hand up to his face, but not in shame like Joe and David were, but to cover the silent laughter he was trying to cover up, at the sight of his partner parenting the two grown men. “So. Joe you’re going to drop your bag, put on the skates Dick gave you and you’re going to get on that ice.” Joe dropped his bag right where he stood with a huff, “And David you’re going to not be an asshole for 10 minutes and we’re going to run through the basics. Understood?” Nix’ raised an eyebrow in challenge.

“Understood.”

“Yeah sure Nix’.” Joe and David grumbled respectively. Realizing that they were both beaten and now stuck with each other.

– – – – – – – – – – – –

“Alright good, now Joe your left hand goes on his waist, and your right comes up to hold his right one outstretched. Get a little closer Joe, don’t worry David won’t bite.” Dick’s hands placed Joe’ where they needed to rest on David’s body, and gently pushed Joe closer so his chest was pressed against the left side of David's back. One of his hands coming up to hold onto his slim waist, the other sliding along David's arm to grab a hold of his hand, “Perfect Joe. Now on my count you’re going to push off your left foot, and go for a lap around the ice, sounds good?” the redhead asked.

Joe nodded his head, hair bouncing off his wrinkled forehead, brows knit in focus.

“Sounds great Winters, let’s just get this over with.” David forced out.

“Wait, wait, hold on a second.” Joe interrupted, “What is this thing on the front of my skate?” He lifted his left foot slightly, showing off the rigged point of the blade.

“That’s the toepick Joe. I wouldn’t let it get in your way.” David teased, unamused at the stupid question Joe had asked.

He leaned down close to David's ear, whispering “I don’t let anything get in my way sweetheart.” David straightened up against Joe’s chest, his neck tingling from where his breath fanned.

“Ok you two, let’s go on, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4!” On the four David and Joe pushed off their left feet in long strides, putting pressure on their left feet to make a graceful turn at the top of the ice, “Great! That looks great you two!” Dick called out from his place on the ice, Lewis in his skates on the side where he was earlier, clapping at the sight of the two skating in unison.

After the graceful turn at the top of the rink, they got to the straight away. David picked up his pace, taking quicker, shorter strides, slowly leaving Joe behind, struggling to catch up to the brunet's pace while keeping a hold of his waist and hand.

“Hey buddy, slow down man we’re supposed to be keeping pace!” Joe huffed, legs moving twice as fast to try and catch up to the brunet's quick strides.

“If you want us to keep pace then keep up!” David turned his head to Joe, taking a few more strides, and effectively leaving Joe behind enough that his grip on David’s waist and hand had him stretching forwards, fingertips barely hanging on, he began to stumble forwards, toepicks catching on the ice ahead of him, causing Joe to go tumbling forwards and crashing onto the ice with a loud SMACK!

“Jesus Christ David! Could you try not to kill the guy on his first day!” Lewis cried out. Dick rushed over to help Joe back on his feet, asking if he’s okay, as Joe brushed bits of ice off his shirt.

“I’m alright, I’m alright. He hits softer than my younger sister, and a tumble on the ice ain’t nothin’ new to me.” Joe turned to David, who was glaring at him from his place at Lewis’ side where he was getting berated by the black-haired man, giving David a smile at the sight of his misfortune.

Dick gave Joe one more once over, “David get over here!” He hollered. David skated over, using the toepick at the top of his skate to stop himself once he got close enough, “David apologize to Joe.”

“What!”

“Huh?”

Dick looked at David expectantly, hands on the hips of his slim black skate pants, “You heard me, apologise to Joe.” David looked at him appalled, whilst Joe had a shit-eating grin on his face at him getting chastised by the ginger.

“Joe,” David gritted out, “I’m sorry that you couldn’t keep up with m- OW!” Winters slapped David's arm giving him a glare, “Joe, I’m sorry, that I on purpose and with malicious intent went faster than I knew you could keep up with so that you would fall.” He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, avoiding Joe's smug face.

“Good, thank you, David. Let’s head back to one and go again.”

– – – – – – – – – – – –

Joe picked his head up at the sound of the beat-up old truck pulling up into the gated driveway of the mansion.

“Going my way?” George peaked his head out the passenger's window.

“If you’re heading to your mom's house then yeah.” Joe joked, standing from his place on the front steps of the large house, he jogged up to the passenger's side, tossing his hockey bag in the backseat and slamming the door.

“Shut up Joe, you look like you’re waiting for your divorced dad to pick you up.” Joe barked out a laugh as he slid on his seatbelt. George shifted out of park and booted out of the fancy driveway.

“So, how was it? You found a new calling in the world of figure skating?” George joked. Joe looked out the window, watching the trees and occasional lit-up mansion pass by his window.

“Yeah, I think so…”

“You don’t sound so sure of that, what’s up?” Joe sighed, running a hand through his wavy hair.

“He’s an asshole, is the issue. Never had to work a day in his life, has been living off of daddy’s money- did you know the rink is attached to the house? It’s not even in the backyard, it's in its own wing of the house!” Joe had started waving his arms around the cabin of the truck at this point, George trying his best to avoid getting smacked by the flailing limbs whilst trying to drive, “and he spent the whole time trying to get rid of me!” Joe took a heaving breath, sitting back properly in his seat, “but I mean other than that, yeah it was great. Dad’s a bit of a wack-a-doodle but he’s the one paying me, so him I can deal with.”

George looked over at him before quickly turning his eyes back to the road, “Well that’s not so bad I suppose. What about the coaches? Are they as big of assholes as your new partner is?” Joe placed his feet up on the dash, which George immediately batted off, “Get your feet off the dash you fucking hooligan.”

Joe crossed his legs at the ankles instead, “Yeah they’re alright, they’re some ex-figure skaters that are married on the side or something, I don’t know man. Talented though that’s for sure, they would demonstrate some of the moves they wanted us to do and it was impressive. I like ‘em.” Joe smiled to himself, finding picking the dirt from under his nails more interesting than looking at the smile George was giving him.

“So same bad time, same bad channel tomorrow then?”

“Yup, tomorrow and, if the paychecks hopefully keep rolling in the way they are now, every day after that.”

– – – – – – – – – – – –

taglist: @hanniewinnix @ewipandora@grumpy-liebgott

#joe liebgott #joe liebgott x david webster #david webster #webgott #band of brothers #dano speaks #richard winters #lewis nixon #winnix #the cutting edge #band of brothers fanfic

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